You weren't sure what to expect from running away with Touya. You'd never had to be in hiding before. To Touya, the idea was second nature; you, on the other hand, were skittish and overly cautious at every turn. Once you'd gotten back to town, you took it upon yourself to lift a pair of shoes from a shop while Touya kept watch, using his coat to hide your face as you zipped into and out of the store in seconds. If you were going to be on the run like a criminal anyway, then there wasn't much of a point in denying your needs when thievery could take care of them. It shouldn't have come as much of a surprise that your friend was very familiar with all of the abandoned buildings in the city- he had spent the last ten years living in them, after all. Tonight, you'd be in an old factory. With the help of your quirk, the both of you managed to move some heavy machinery, effectively closing off all but one of the entrances to the old building.

Your second (conscious) night with Touya wasn't at all like your first. With, what you assumed to be, the entire country out looking for you, comfort wasn't a luxury you could indulge in anymore. Every little sound made you jump out of your skin. Always, just when your exhaustion was about to overtake you, another bump in the night would startle you fully awake again. Sleeping, it seemed, just wasn't an option. Your insomnia, combined with the freezing night air was excruciating. Touya was kind enough to lend you his jacket again and had taken it upon himself to keep watch all night so you could rest. Even that wasn't enough to put you at ease, though.

The next morning wasn't much better. You'd used your quirk quite a lot during the day, and your body craved rest. Your constant jumping from conscious to unconscious left you with a throbbing headache. Though you'd managed to scrape most of the dried blood from your face, the areas you'd hurt were still quite tender. The swelling in your left eye had gotten worse as the night went on, and a deep purple bruise was now painted over the socket. On top of that, you were getting pretty hungry. All of the food and first-aid the two of you had was in the bag you left back at the Todoroki estate. All-in-all, things weren't going well. You leaned groggily against the corner of the wall as the morning sunlight brightened the large room. From your dark hiding spot, you could make Touya out clearly. He sat atop a wide pipe that had broken free of its connection and now hung down from the ceiling at an angle. His perch was situated beside a rather filthy window. He had been stationed there the entire night just staring outside. His vantage point gave him a perfect view of the building's only entry point. It was a touching notion- him sacrificing sleep and warmth for you. Perhaps chivalry wasn't dead. You only wished it hadn't been in vain.

Touya glanced down at you from atop his rest. His typical emotionless expression changed quickly upon finding your eyes open. He smiled kindly at you.

"Awake?" He asked.

"Never went to sleep." You huffed. Touya furrowed his eyebrows in a disquieting look.

"Damn." He hummed. The metal underneath him creaked irritatingly as he got to his feet and used the ladder mounted on the wall to join you on the ground.

"I was hoping you would be able to get some sleep at least. If I knew me playing look-out all night wasn't gonna help, I would've just stayed down here with you." He moped, rubbing the back of his neck. You sighed and stared down at the floor. Guilt began to build in your heart. Even with Touya's past reprimands, the words came out before you could stop them.

"I'm sorry, Touya, I…I mean… uh…" Your migraine pounded away at your skull, pushing your train of thought off its rails. You shut your eyes tightly in a pained wince and brought your hands to your head to rub your temples. Touya copped a squat beside you. His hand came up to tenderly cup your puffy cheek.

"Don't be. I probably wasn't gonna sleep anyway. I just meant I would've rather spent the night beside you." He said as he carefully lifted your face to get a better look. Touya kissed his teeth as he assessed the damage. A tiny smile formed on you as he ran his thumb along the length of your busted lip. A shy serenity replaced your anxiety for a moment as you watched his face.

"Hey…" He began, moving his thumb and index finger to hold your chin. "You think you'll be alright here on your own for the day?" His tone was reluctant, yet held an unignorable seriousness. You were shaken from your love-struck daze.

"What do you mean?" You questioned quickly. Surely he wasn't planning on leaving you here alone while every hero in Japan was out looking for you. Half your vision was fucked up, and you were exhausted- if anyone did find you right now, you wouldn't be able to put up much of a fight.

Touya sat back on the balls of his feet and dropped his hands onto your lap. "I'm just gonna go out to get some stuff for your face." He said. You sat up onto your knees swiftly, eager to get out of the stale air of the old factory.

"I'll go with you, then. I feel like shit, but I'm more than capable of running an errand, Touya." You lectured. Touya placed his hands on your shoulders and sat you back down.

"I'm sure you are, soldier, but I've got some other things to take care of, too."

You cocked your head and knit your brow. "Like what?" It wasn't like you didn't know Touya had his own life; it was just a strange concept. You'd only been with him a few days, but it felt right. Like you were supposed to be with him, but the thought of him having other things to do somehow slipped your mind. Touya sighed.

"The League is gonna start wondering where I've been. We don't need them snooping around, too." Placing his hand on the back of your head, he brought your foreheads together. "Just please, wait here."

The proximity of his face awakened butterflies in your stomach, and you couldn't help but crack a smile. You didn't like the idea, but he was right: the last thing you needed was villains looking for you. You let out a dejected sigh.

"Alright." You relented. It wasn't the ideal situation, but, then again, neither was being on the run. Touya backed away and grinned sweetly at you.

"I'll try to grab you a bite to eat while I'm out, too." He said as he stood up.

That wasn't good enough.

"How long will you be gone?" You asked, worry still drenching your words.

"I'll be back tonight. Just stay inside." He instructed as he stood up. You still weren't entirely convinced.

"What if someone shows up?" You weren't sure if your questions came from genuine concern, or if you were just trying to keep him there longer.

"You can fly alright, right? If anyone comes in here, just take off and keep hidden 'till I find you." Was he being serious? Sure, it was highly unlikely that anyone would come snooping around this creepy old place- it smelled of dust and mildew and looked like it might collapse any second. Still, you hated the idea of Touya leaving. You followed, quickly getting to your feet and taking his hand in yours as he'd begun walking away. You looked at him with eyes that were nearly pleading.

"Are… you sure I can't come with you?" Your question was almost childlike. Touya's expression, initially surprised, softened just a bit.

"I'll be back tonight, love. I promise."

'Love?' Did he really just call you that? Even if he wasn't a violent criminal, you never expected Touya of all people to be so openly affectionate. It felt extremely out of character. Bringing your hand up to his lips, he planted a tender peck on your knuckles. A red hue tinted your cheeks, and you moved your gaze to the ground with a timid smile.

"This is some Stockholm syndrome bullshit." You commented playfully.

"Big time." Touya chuckled as he slipped his hands out of yours. "Just stay inside for today. I'll be back before you know it."

"Hey, wait." You stopped him momentarily, removing his coat from your shoulders and extending it out to him. "You'll probably need this."

Touya shook his head. "Nah, keep it. I got another one." With that, he headed out the door.

"Oh. Okay, uh… Bye." You squeaked out. Touya waved farewell to you just before disappearing behind the door.

The room was quiet once again. Too quiet. The uncomfortable stillness of the air allowed you to become hyper-aware of every tiny sound around you. Somewhere in the corner, water dripped incessantly onto the ground; the flapping of birds' wings as they awoke outside echoed in your skull, and the hollow wind that blew in through a shattered window seemed to fill the warehouse completely.

You were alone.

Now what?

Your normal routine usually had you training or on patrol by now, but seeing how fatigued you were, you doubted you'd last through a session. Instead, you managed to busy yourself throughout the day by stacking together some shelving in another area of the factory to create a sort of hiding spot for yourself. It wasn't a cushy pillow fort by any means, but it would do in the case of an intruder. You spent most of your time within the metal walls of your makeshift stronghold. It was a good place to safely heal up; you kicked yourself for not thinking of it sooner. Back when you first began training with Stiller, he taught you a little trick to reduce swelling, similar to using an ice pack. Ever so gently, you began to pull heat away from your inflamed eye and cheek. It was uncomfortable at first, given the fact that the air around you was already chilly to begin with, but after a few minutes, you did notice a decrease in swelling. You were even able to open your eye a bit more, despite the nasty bruise. There. At least you could check that off the list. Next, was the matter of sleep. It was far too cold during the night to be comfortable, and the temperature hadn't risen very much throughout the day. Sure, Touya had lent you his coat, but it likely wouldn't be enough. You'd have to use your quirk. Luckily, you had a fantastic source of thermal energy: yourself. Much like the insulation of a jacket, you could use your quirk to keep heat from escaping your body, at least until you got tired or fell asleep. Feeling a bit safer now that you'd cocooned yourself in steel (and effectively warmed every part of your body besides your numb face), you curled up on the floor like a puppy with Touya's jacket draped over you and gradually dozed off.

It was dark when you finally awoke. You weren't entirely sure how long you'd been asleep, but it was much harder to see now. You would've expected all of the warmth you'd accumulated to have dispersed by now, yet you didn't feel cold at all. Your ribs were sore from having laid on the hard floor, and your face still stung, but besides that, you were feeling much better. Slowly, you began to stretch your limbs and back, letting out an involuntary whine as you did.

"Sleep well?" The deep voice that sounded from the other side of your metallic fort sent adrenaline pumping through your bloodstream. Touya's coat flew off of you as you bolted toward the source of the sound. You landed on top of him, one arm pinning him down, and the other cocked back, ready to deliver a solid punch.

"Woah, woah, hey! Easy, it's just me." Touya announced, lighting up the right side of his face with a small blue flame.

"God, damn it, Touya!" You cried out in exasperation as you released him from your deadly grip. "Don't sneak up on me like that. I could've killed you!" You nagged. Touya simply chuckled in response.

"I've been here for a while, actually. This is a cute little cave you got yourself. Nearly gave me a heart attack trying to find you." He admitted with a mildly upset look. "Y'know, for someone who complained they were getting out of shape, you sure are strong." You'd been given such a fright, you hardly noticed you were still on top of Touya as he sat upright. Your legs straddled either side of his thighs, yet you sat comfortably on his lap. He rubbed the back of his neck and turned his head from side to side in an attempt to realign his spine. The fire he emitted sat on his shoulder and cast dark shadows on his scarred face. You noticed him wince just the slightest bit at its heat.

"Here, give me that." With the utmost concentration, you reached out your hand and stole the tiny light source. Making sure to keep the actual flame suspended above your hand, you held it between the two of you. It sure was dark in here.

"What time is it?" You asked nonchalantly. Touya didn't answer immediately; instead, he steadied his gaze upon the flickering azure fire floating just above your palm. He bore an intense look. It concerned you.

"Uh… Touya?"

"Hm?" He hummed, still staring off into the flame.

"I asked… what time it was…" You repeated slowly as you studied his hardened features. Behind his initially cold look was something that bordered fervency. Just an ember of the boy you'd known before.

Touya looked up at you only briefly and shrugged. "I dunno. Nighttime." Very helpful. Before you could express your dissatisfaction with his answer, he returned his attention to the light in your hands.

"How… are you doing that?" He questioned with a look of intrigue.

You raised a brow at him. "Uh, dude, energy manipulation. We've been over it a million times- you've seen me do it." You scoffed. In your mind, it should have been obvious. The two of you had trained together for years, and just yesterday he'd helped you enhance this exact power. Touya shook his head a bit.

"I've seen you put out my flames." He corrected.

"It's the same concept. All I do to put out your flames is disperse the thermal energy in the air- flames are just points of concentrated energy fed by oxygen, but oxygen only burns if it's heated up enough. Fire is hot already, so it's basically self-sustaining since it heats up the oxygen around it enough to ignite it. If you take away one of those, either the thermal energy or the oxygen, then the fire dies- get it?"

"Uh-huh." Touya responded with a slow nod. He definitely did not. Not that it mattered. You were all worked up now, and you were going to finish your overly-complicated explanation. Your tone grew more excited and child-like as you droned on.

"So, by dispersing the energy, the oxygen doesn't get heated up enough to ignite. The air overall gets warmer, but since the energy is so diluted, it doesn't feed the flame."

Touya looked as though the only thing in his brain was a dial-up noise. It did seem that he had grasped some of the information, though. "Is that... how you stopped my hands from burning yesterday?"

You nodded. "Yeah, just removing the energy from your body and letting it go into the air." Your smile grew at the impression that Touya had actually understood your jumbled mess of a science lesson.

"Alright…" He began slowly. "So what is this?" He asked again, gesturing to the consistent flame between you.

"Oh, that's simple. I just take the energy of the flame and move it wherever I want. Instead of dispersing it, I keep it all together. Like I said, fire is self-sustaining, so keeping it lit isn't hard. It takes a little more concentration to keep the energy away from my skin, but it's nothing I haven't done before." You smiled into the soft blue glow of Touya's flame. You'd never held fire before; it was always too scary for you. Somehow now, perhaps because it was Touya's, you felt pure bliss.

"You could control my flames the whole time?!" Touya raised his voice a bit, not angrily, but this was definitely news he was still trying to process.

You shrugged. "I guess so. I've never actually done it before, but it seemed simple enough."

Even in the dead quiet of the abandoned factory, you could still only just make out Touya's whisper: "Pft. Simple." Finally, his eyes returned to your face. They were wider- happier. A genuine smile rested on his lips. "You really are amazing, (Y/N)."

You shrugged. "Ehh, I probably couldn't do a whole lot at a time. Just keeping this one little flame from burning my hand takes a lot of concentration." Touya raised his hands and placed them gently under your own to cup them in his palms.

"It's a start." He said, gazing into your eyes with an enthusiasm you thought you'd never get to see again. "Stop selling yourself short. You can do this much already, and I know you can do more. This is… so much more important than you know."

You couldn't hold back the brilliant smile you gave him. His unusually upbeat mood was just too infectious. Touya went on.

"We already knew you could help me keep from burning myself, but this is something new entirely. You were so busy getting excited over my power, but you never even showed off everything you could do."

You shrugged half-heartedly. "I can't really do that much." You told him bashfully. Before you could say another word, Touya had taken hold of your face, cupping your cheeks in his hands. "God, shut up." He demanded with a smile. "The way our powers work together… I never would have thought in a million years we… Think of everything we could do, (Y/n)."

Touya softly stroked your cheeks with his thumbs, and your breathing hitched as you listened to his touching words. For the first time in a long time, you found yourself feeling useful. More than that, you found yourself feeling wanted- loved... special. Sure, you were something special back home, but not a single person you met actually wanted you around. Praise was hard to come by with Stiller. Often, you were left feeling inadequate, but now, despite having been told multiple times before, you were beginning to feel genuinely powerful. You stared back into Touya's brilliant blue eyes. There he was. It was different somehow, perhaps his intentions had changed over time, but you could still see it. The fiery boy you'd met so many years ago- the longing you'd thought had been extinguished for so long- had been reignited. He didn't just want you to sit still and look pretty by his side, no. He longed to see your true power; your better self.

'This is what friends do. What… more than friends do.' In that moment, your heart felt so full of warmth and admiration for the man in front of you. You made a decision right then and there. Whatever he needed, you wanted to be strong enough to help provide it.

"I'm gonna need your help." You said.

Touya leaned in, stopping when your faces were just a couple of inches apart. "I'm all yours."

He was so close. You were growing used to it. You quickly closed the gap between the two of you and pressed your lips passionately against his… only to pull away again the second the fire nicked your chin.

"Ah!" You softly exclaimed. Touya chuckled lowly.

"Clumsy." He teased, gently taking hold of the spot on your chin where the fire had stung. "It can wait until tomorrow. Come on, put that out. I brought you some food."

You released Touya's flame and got to your feet quickly, tugging Touya up as well. Before ducking out of your dim hiding spot, you used your quirk to drape Touya's coat over your shoulders. Your companion offered his arm to you as you emerged, and you took it happily. You clutched onto him tightly, occasionally snuggling your face into his newer-looking black coat.

'Huh. So he did have another one.' You dropped your hand down to his and interlocked your fingers as you reentered the main area of the factory. The meal you sat down to was nothing like any you'd had before. You were always so used to having food that was pre-planned for you; every nutrient needed, every macro met. Your body never wanted for anything. This, on the other hand, was very sloppy and thrown together. It didn't matter. Touya had brought it for you, and, in your eyes, that's what made it special. As the two of you began chowing down, you knew there was no place you'd rather be than in this shithole of a place with Touya Todoroki. You didn't leave a single bit of food behind. You'd need your strength, after all. Tomorrow, the real work would begin.