Your jaw was locked into place as you flew erratically away from the cursed house. The wind beat against your face violently, but you forced your eyes to stay open. Involuntary tears streaked across your cheeks and dried quickly as the assault of air blew them away. Nausea built a lump in your throat that you were struggling to keep down. From below, you could just barely make out Touya's voice as he called to you:

"(Y/N) CHILL OUT! SLOW DOWN, I'M GONNA BE SICK!" You tightened your hold on his waist.

"That's it. We're screwed. We're so totally fucking screwed." You rambled allowed, slowing your speed just a bit. What were you going to do? Endeavor had just caught you breaking into his home with a villain. How in the world were you going to explain this? Painful possibilities flooded your mind as you considered what Stiller might do when he inevitably found out about your "extracurricular activities."

"Calm down, we just… uggh, can we- buhg- land?" Touya requested between heavy breaths. He wasn't handling your evasive maneuvers very well. By now, with the speed you'd been going, you were many miles away from the Todoroki estate, but you still weren't comfortable with landing just yet.

"Calm down?! Dude, Endeavor just caught us in his house. I think this is the perfect time to not be calm!" You spat back at him.

Touya's hands raised to cover yours, though you weren't sure if he was trying to comfort you, or his stomach. "He didn't catch us, he saw us."

"Technicalities are not going to help us here, Touya!" You cried as you scanned the ground for a secluded place to touch down. Unconsciously, you squeezed your friend's torso tighter. One of Touya's hands shot to his mouth as he attempted to hold in his gag.

"Please land…" You heard him croak meekly. Usually, you'd feel awful for having put him through the wringer like this. His tendency to get motion sick hadn't completely slipped your mind, but given the situation, you felt that worrying about it wasn't a top priority. Giving in to his requests, you began to descend, albeit, rather suddenly, towards a wooded area, making sure to keep clear of any hiking paths. You dropped Touya haphazardly onto the grassy ground before touching down rather roughly yourself. Sticks and stones pricked your bare feet, but you hardly noticed in your distracted state. You began pacing back and forth and ranted rapidly. Your arms gestured wildly as you spoke.

"I can't believe this. I knew we shouldn't have gone in there- I told you we shouldn't have gone in there, and still, you talked me into it… and I let you! Whyyyy did I let you?" In truth, you weren't sure who to be more upset with: Touya, or yourself. Sure, the break-in was his idea, but you went along with it so easily. You were supposed to be a hero, and yet here you were: breaking the law- because of what? Peer pressure? Had you really let your feelings run so wild that they blinded you from reality? The knot in your stomach was growing larger by the second.

"Hey, calm down." Touya spoke gently as he stepped towards you.

"What are we gonna do? They know we're together now, they're going to be looking for us!"

"(Y/n), chill out a second."

"God, how could I have been so stupid? Stiller would never let me live this down if he- oh shit, Stiller!"

"(Y/n)..."

"Endeavor is definitely gonna tell him! God damn it, I'm so fu-"

In one swift motion, Touya stepped forward, hooked his arm around your waist, and pulled you into a rushed, yet tender kiss. The quickness of his action made him nearly miss your lips. It was awkward, but you were effectively shut up. Your frantic thoughts melted away for a moment- just long enough for you to regain some kind of composure. You'd only just begun to close your eyes when Touya pulled away.

"Shut up for a second." He said as the corners of his lips curved upward the tiniest bit. "Breathe."

Following his command, you inhaled deeply. The breath you released was shaky and unstable, but it managed to calm you just a bit. Touya's thumb rubbed up and down your lower back before he released you.

"You didn't have to do it… like that…" You grumbled grumpily. Under any other circumstances, you would have jumped at the opportunity to kiss him again, but you felt now wasn't the best time. Your friend's cocky grin found its way back onto his face, but somehow, his eyes looked sad.

"I thought you said I could do that whenever I wanted." He teased. You looked away from him with a frown.

"Are you really not going to take this seriously?" You nagged in a softer tone. Reality had set in. The short fairytale you'd been living was coming to an end, yet your heart still struggled to hang on to the remaining strings of hope. Your pipe dream of staying by Touya's side was beginning to fade quickly. "Once Stiller finds out, I'm done for. They'll come for me. I can't have you wrapped up in it." Frustration bubbled inside you. The tail-end of your adrenaline rush now left you feeling physically weak. Leaving Touya was the last thing you wanted to do, but so was returning. You couldn't bear the thought of having to explain yourself to Stiller. You doubted there was anything you could say to him to get you off the hook, and even if you did, you weren't too keen on having him run your life again. The small taste of freedom you'd been given the last couple of days was bliss. Even so, you knew what you had to do.

"I'm going back." You muttered sadly.

Touya furrowed his brows. "What?"

"I'm going back, Touya. I can't just wait around for them to find me and drag me back. God knows what they'll do if I don't come willingly." Your voice was filled with regret and angst. Your friend wasn't stupid.

"No." He said firmly.

"This isn't up for negotiation." You retorted boldly, turning away from him.

"You're right, it isn't. I said no." He repeated. Touya reached forward and grabbed your wrist. "Listen, I don't know what your deal is with these people, but you're not going back. You're too damn proud to say it, but I can see it plain as day: you're scared."

You scoffed. "'Scared?' Of course I'm scared! I'm scared you're going to get caught and I won't be able to do a damn thing about it! Now let go!" You were practically shouting, but Touya remained relatively composed. His grip on you loosened.

"That's not entirely true, though. Is it?" His tone was stern as his blue eyes bore deeply into your own. "You're scared of them."

You were taken aback by his deduction. "What the hell are you talking about?" You growled through gritted teeth.

"Don't play dumb, (Y/n). Take off that damn mask you're hiding behind. There's no shame in it; they made your life a living hell, after all, right?"

He was right, of course, but until now, you'd never had the guts to admit your fear- not even to yourself. In truth, you had no idea exactly what Stiller would do if you didn't return. No doubt he'd scour the country to find you- especially now that he was going to find out about your little escapade with a wanted criminal. Still, you weren't exactly sure what your punishment would be. Normally your misbehavior was met with grueling training or "wild-goose-chase" missions meant to waste your time, but this wasn't like the other times. You hadn't messed up this badly in a long time. Not since...

"They… they're gonna lock me up again." You managed to choke out. Your voice, strained from yelling, was saturated with dread. Your mind went back to your brief period of solitary confinement. After your incident with the aircraft carrier, you were placed under arrest and thrown into a quirk-proof cell with absolutely no contact. No one told you a thing, and the only sign you had that you hadn't been forgotten was the food trays that would be pushed through a slot in the door. It was damn near maddening- quite possibly the worst two weeks of your life. The mere thought of being subjected to that kind of mental torture again sent you spiraling. You attempted to bring your hands up to rub your arms, but Touya's grip tightened and pulled you closer.

"No. They're not." He said. Moving his hands to cup your cheeks, he forced you to look up at him. "They're not gonna touch you. I promised before: I'm gonna keep you safe."

You blinked away the tears that began to coat your eyes. Of all of the things that were running through your mind, one thought, in particular, stuck out. Touya was a villain. He'd proved that to you many times, and even openly admitted to it, but right now, he wasn't the one you were worried about. No; he was helping you. He wanted to keep you safe. For a moment, it was difficult to comprehend. A villain helping out a hero- even with your intertwined pasts, the idea seemed completely foreign to you.

"Why?" You asked quietly. It was a silly question.

"'Why?'" Touya repeated with a soft chuckle. "You're with me now. Why wouldn't I?"

The blush that spread across your cheeks might have been more noticeable had your face not already been beet red from flying so fast. You weren't entirely sure what he meant by that, but now wasn't the time to go all 'what-are-we?' on him. You nodded your head slowly, letting him know that you understood. "Okay." Your voice neared a whisper. "But we have to figure something out. We need a plan to hide- I can't…"

Touya groaned and rolled his eyes. "I swear, it's like you forget who you're talking to sometimes. You ever seen me in handcuffs?" He asked sarcastically. "Trust me, you'll be fine."

You took another deep breath. He had a point. You were beginning to feel a bit calmer. "So, what? Do we… go to the League?" It seemed plausible. As of right now, you could be considered AWOL, and if Stiller didn't already report you, he was going to once he found out. Perhaps running to the protection of the infamous criminal organization might help. Touya's face bore a perplexed look.

"The League? What, have you really fallen that far from heroism?" He almost laughed. Now you felt silly.

"I was just thinking that they could help…" You muttered.

Touya shook his head. "Yeah, I don't think that's such a good idea. Bringing home two heroes in one week wouldn't give them the best impression. I do have a reputation to uphold, y'know." You were confused.

"Uh… two heroes?" You questioned.

"Nah we're gonna hide out on our own for a while." Touya went on, ignoring your question. You sighed.

"Fine. Where?"

"No idea." He beamed at you so nonchalantly. Though you hated how casual he was being about the whole ordeal, you had to admit that his chipper mood was beginning to rub off on you. It made you feel calm... safe. This was ridiculous, but for some reason, ridiculous felt right recently.

"We really should think this through, y'know." You warned, trying to hide the grin that was slowly growing on your face. Touya shrugged.

"Eh… I'm a 'learning on the job' kinda guy." He said, taking your hands in his. "First, though, we need to get you some new shoes."

You glanced down quickly at your bare feet. A chill ran up your spine as the cold finally fit you all at once. "Shit, right. I left them at the house." You remembered aloud.

Touya nodded. "And you were in such a hurry to leave without them, too. I thought you were supposed to be a master of stealth. Not too smart leaving evidence behind like that."

You rolled your eyes. "I was preoccupied, alright."

"Oohh?" Touya wiggled his eyebrows at you with a cheeky smile. You shoved him away from you with a jovial laugh.

"That's not what I meant!" You giggled.

"Isn't it, though?" There was a moment of shy silence before the cold wind sent you shivers throughout your body once more. Touya shoved his hands in his pockets and gestured off with his elbow. "We should get back to town. You're less likely to freeze to death there."

"Right." You agreed. You took a few steps toward him and wrapped your arms around his torso tightly. Touya lifted his hands up to your arms and rubbed them gently.

"Maybe this time though… we could walk." His tone almost sounded like begging. His disdain for your aerial theatrics was clear. You hummed against his shoulder and promptly released him.

"Alright, you big baby." You said. "Lead the way."