Was it odd that the woman had found herself trying to trade her shifts. Before she had worked evenings and nights. But now she had started to try and find a way to get her schedule in line with his. She enjoyed having a valid excuse to cook him dinner or take over his kitchen when she watched him try to cook. Sure he wasn't a set his kitchen on fire type bad cook but maybe it was some odd thing but just small things he did as he cooked irked her just enough she would. It always started the same way. He would do something just enough that she would suggest a better way to do it, whether it was how he copped his vegetables, or how he pan fried something. Then the next thing she knows her help turns into her doing the cooking. She would always apologize but the green haired man did not seem to mind.

He would always tell her she was welcome to cook in his kitchen any time. And that she was free to kick him out of it any time she wanted. After a few times it started to feel like he did things on purpose so she would end up doing the cooking. Usually being used like that would piss her off. But he made up for it with his kitchen being much nicer than hers. Better kitchenware than she could ever have imagined she would use.

Walking out of the restaurant she was already trying to think of what meal she should try next. It had become a bit of a thing to try and show off. Cooking was one of the few things she could do well. And she liked the praise, even if she may never openly admit that. Still trying to always one up her last meal had become a bit of an obsession. So as she stepped out of the restaurant once her shift was over she never even noticed the way the street was oddly empty. A not so nice area of town with the streets bare often meant one of two things. People were aware of a conflict likely to break out in the streets. Or hero's were in the neighborhood and all the roaches were hiding. Apparently this was the latter.

"Sugahara!" The sound of someone calling out her name had her pause on her way home as she turned to look towards where the all too familiar voice came from. But the sight had her freeze. It was Deku who had called out her name. Decked out in full dark green costume, those odd red shoes and white gloves he always wore. It was not her neighbour who called out to her. No this was the number one hero she was greeted with. Hand waving with that brilliant wide smile on his lips.

She knew eventually this would happen. He had walked her to and from work a few times but never had he done so while in costume. And she liked it that way. At least with either his hair covered, a mask on his face and sometimes even sunglasses as well, he was a bit harder to recognize. It gave a false sense of security that no one would know that she was friends with the top hero. But she knew eventually he would either be recognized or the man would do this. Now there was no hiding it. Eyes in the shadows would see this. He called her by name, he was waving. He knew her and she could not hide it anymore. But him showing up in costume was not the only thing that had ice running through her veins. No, it was the man walking beside Deku.

It was impossible to not know the other man. Red and white hair split perfectly down the middle. His family drama has been the highlight of gossip about ten years ago after it came out his oldest brother was a villian, his father an abusive asshole, and him the young aspiring hero who was just trying to survive it all. Everyone knew who Todoroki Shoto was. And she was no exception to that either.

Although she had seen him a few times in the news, in magazines, on the side of buses and well really just about anywhere. It was still a lot to take in seeing the man in person. Lips a firm line as he seemed to border on some sort of resting bitch face and lacking interest kind of look. The scar over his left eye was impossible to miss, everything about him was impossible to miss. But what had panic coursing through her was the sight of that bright blue eye. It was so familiar, at first almost nostalgic. She knew that eye. But the simple glance over at his grey eye was a quick reminder that those eyes were not the same ones she remembered. Not the same ones from dreams about past times. That blue eye was not the same even if it looked like it.

"Looks like our timing is perfect. We are still on patrol duty. But we can walk you home and then keep on our patrol," Midoriya said, smiling happily unaware of the woman trying, no, struggling to keep herself from the mental break down her brain was having. All she could see were those cyan blue eyes from her past. All she could do was try to keep her breathing normal and desperately keep her panic hidden until she got home. Just keep breathing, was the mantra she was saying to herself as she walked hanging desperately to Izuku's words to help keep herself from just breaking down right then and there.

"It's okay do not worry about it Midoriya," she said quickly, turning away trying desperately to not just run from both men. Both men shared a glance as they quickened their pace on walking on either side of her before she started walking away. She huffed softly but slowed down and let the two hero's fall into step with her.

"We do not mind Sugahara," Midoriya said as he looked at the woman then back at Todoroki who had silently nodded his head when he watched the woman glance over at him before quickly looking back at Midoriya with a sigh.

"If you are sure. I would not want to be pulling two important hero's away from more important matters," she said simply as she looked back at Midoriya even though he was not the one who answered her.

"It's along the way," was the simple words the man to her right said. Which once again earned him only a seconds of a glance before she was looking straight ahead. Trying not to let her panic or anger take over she exhaled a slow breath.

"Ugh I hope you two have not made this area a regular patrol route," she grumbled softly to herself.

"Why? Would it not be best to have hero's patrolling suck a high risk area?" Todoroki asked having both sets of eyes turn to look at him. Aoi looked at the man, she should not have been surprised that someone like him would not understand. He was Endeavor's son, she had heard some times common sense went over his head, but it did not help that she doubted the man had any idea what it was like going even a single day unsure of how he could get his next meal after going days without. How desperate people will do extreme things. Or that not all villains are even because they choose to be.

"Todoroki Shoto. Who do you think would benefit from the presence of a hero in an area where they had been lacking, this is not the same as dealing with some other district. There are rules here; that few brake, that do not apply outside of the district. People do not typically run around killing each other," she paused sure muggings happened a fair bit, sexual assaults were the highest risk for a woman especially one like her. But even then one learned who to avoid bad areas as much as possible. But still a hero's presence she imagines would not stop such things. "Desperate people will still do illegal things. Your presence will not stop such actions."

The man walking beside actually seemed to be thinking over what she had to say. Which was a little surprising, she was used to just being ignored or told she did not know what she was talking about. But he actually seemed to take her seriously and think over her words.

"I see. You are correct, the presence of a hero does not completely stop people from doing bad things. But we do work well as deterrents for more petty crime," the duel haired man said as he looked down at the woman. She sighed softly. It was not worth picking a fight with two hero's who would never see things from her point of view.

"Where are my manners? I know who you are but I never introduced myself. I am Sugahara Aoi," she said quickly, introducing herself even though she was pretty sure the man knew who she was as she paused to bow to the man who returned the simple gesture.

"It is very nice to meet you," he said, his tone so monotone. It was almost a little hard to believe this calm man was the son of the loud and cranky Endeavor.

"So if you are still on patrol does this mean you will miss supper tonight?" the woman suddenly asked, looking over at the green haired hero walking on her other side. She watched him flash her an apologetic smile as he rubbed the back of his head.

"Yeah I don't think I'll be home in time," he said softly.

"Don't worry about it. I'll have left overs if you want them for lunch just swing by once you're home," she said, simply giving him a soft smile as she offered him the option for leftovers.

"Oh I'm going to be pretty late tonight so do not worry about it," Izuku said, smiling softly at her.

"Okay just make sure when you're sneaking into your home you go through the correct window," she said, smirking playfully at the man. He only groaned at her tease with a soft smile.

"You're never going to let that go are you?" The man asked with a soft pink tinge to his cheeks.

"Not until something more fun to tease you about comes along," she answered with a wide innocent smile.

A soft chuckle drew both set of eyes over to the man who had been silently watching the two interact with one another. The other man had been silently watching the interaction. It had interested him to see how his friend talked with someone else, someone not a hero like all their other friends. Both Todoroki and Midoriya had a small circle of friends, and really they all consisted of their fellow hero's and old classmates. But this woman treated Izuku like any normal person even as he was walking beside her fully decked out in his hero costume. And watching the woman get mouthy with the large green haired man was entertaining. The woman seemed fearless, or just did not seem to see them as anything else. All too often it seemed people struggled to see hero's as people even when they were out of costume. But this woman did not seem to have that issue.

"What is so funny?" The woman asked with a tilt of her head and a soft arch of an eyebrow at Todoroki.

"It is entertaining watching you two. It is simply refreshing. Usually people are not so relaxed around us," Shoto answered rather bluntly. Ah well that made sense.

"Ah, people do like to treat you hero's like gods, you're still just people. I'm not about to treat you any differently than anyone else," she said simply with a shrug of her shoulders as she continued to walk, her eyes still carefully watching every shadow around them as they walked.

"It's nice. It's refreshing being treated like a normal person," Izuku said softly as a light blush littered his cheeks.

"Good I don't plan to change that," Aoi said with a hum. She tried to keep her posture relaxed as she walked but it was hard as she swore she felt someone watching them. But she could not see anything off, nor did either hero. It was surely her anxiety fueled mind playing tricks on her. It did not help that she could not meet Todoroki in the eye, unable to bring herself to look into that bright blue eye of his. Everything about her current situation was stretching her sanity. Her body wanted to panic, but she could not allow it to. Not till she was safe and at home alone.

Was it a good thing or a bad thing that the walk to her apartment was uneventful? No one had dared cross their path. No mugging, no assault, no one did anything other than glance at them. But that felt almost worse, she almost wanted to hide behind the two hero's and stay out of sight. That was supposed to be the perk of being quirkless, she was supposed to go unnoticed, not important enough for people to care about. But with two hero's walking side by side with her they drew attention to her. And that only had the stone in her stomach growing heavier. So once her home came into view she almost cried. She wanted nothing more than to run to her apartment and just lock herself away from the world and hide where she felt safe.

"Well thanks for the walk home Midoriya. It was very nice to meet you Todoroki. Be careful on the rest of your patrol," she said bowing to the two men before she straightened and watched as Izuku blushed softly and stuttered about how it was his job. Shoto just blinked his eyes and nodded his head at her thanks.

With simple waves the three parted ways as Aoi nearly ran for her apartment and Izuku and Shoto continued down the sidewalk getting back into their patrol route. The duo had fallen into a simple silence, it was not uncommon for that to happen on slow patrols.

"She seems nice," Shoto said, finally breaking the silence as he glanced over at his friend.

"Yeah she usually is," Izuku said with a soft smile on his face.

"Are you two dating?" The blunt question caught the poor man off guard as he started to choke on his sudden intake of air. Izuku actually had to stop and bent over putting a hand on his knee as he coughed so hard he almost struggled to breath. Shoto had paused, unsure of what had happened as he gently patted the man on the back unsure what else to do.

"N…no not at all. What gave you the idea we were?" Izuku asked once he had been able to stop coughing and breathing again. His face red but Shoto could not tell if it was due to the coughing or embarrassment.

"You two seem incredibly close. You eat dinner at her place a lot, and she's the reason you cut back on all those night patrols you had been taking on top of you day time patrol, I assumed it was all due to her. If you are not dating then why buy her stuff and spend time with her?" Shoto asked completely innocently.

"Well I… guess I do it because…. Ugh b..because I like to spend time with her," Izuku was a blushing, pausing, stuttering mess as if he was non a grown ass man.

"Then why not tell her and just ask her out?" Shoto asked blinking his eyes at his friend.

"It's not that easy," Izuku mumbled, his fingers now fiddling with his gloves.

"Huh how hard is it to ask a woman out?" Shoto asked, having not actually done so. He had never understood the appeal of the whole dating thing.

"What if she says no?" He asked softly, sounding so uncertain. It was almost hard to believe this was the number one hero talking about something.

"Then you know where you sit with her. But how will you ever know if you don't ask? And maybe she will say yes. All you have to do is ask her out," Shoto said simply with a soft shrug of his shoulders still unsure why confronting the woman was so hard. Though Shoto did not understand it was more so the fear of facing his own feelings and being rejected that had his best friend so concerned.

"I guess," the green haired man mumbled softly, still sounding and looking so unsure. But Shoto did not know what else to say so he left the conversation drop.

Izuku was not the only one dealing with internal turmoil at that moment. Aoi leaned against the closed door to her apartment as soon as she was able to rush into the room. Her breathing had picked up and become uncontrollable. To the point she was not even sure if she was able to force herself to breath. Her throat felt like it had closed off. She felt like she was drowning as she struggled to gasp for air as she slid down the door not even trusting her legs to hold her up. Blue eyes, his voice, the cold touch of metal against her skin, the heat that had radiated off of him. Her hands gripped at her hair as memories flashed in her head.

She had not even noticed her vision had blurrier because of the tears running down her cheeks and not from her erratic breathing. Memories flashed in her mind. The blue flames, the wide toothy grin he had given her any time she saw him.

"Dabi," she could not help the broken sob that slipped from her lips as the dark haired man filled her mind. The thought of the man who saved her all those years ago nearly broke her. She still felt so betrayed by him, by him leaving her to join the league and by him going and dying. How could he leave her alone? She had still been a kid. He had been like a big brother. She would never have survived without him. Sure she had always known he was dangerous, selfish, and she assumed he would have ended up in prison at some point. And so much regret hung over her, she felt she should have done something. She could have prevented so much.

How long she had sat on her floor crying she did not know. But when she did finally have the energy to get up food no longer occupied her mind as she dragged her feet to her bathroom hoping a shower as hot as she could get would maybe help before she dragged her ass to bed not even caring if it may have been a little early for her to try and get some sleep. Although sleep would refuse to come to her that night.