NeonHorizon: This is a lengthier chapter than usual. Somehow, the chapters with Tamaki end up being longer than normal. Which is weird since he doesn't talk that much.

Shirayuki's second day as an intern was much calmer than her first. She was grateful, but slightly disappointed at the same time. I…need to get stronger. I need more experience…if I want to be like my father…if I want people to be able to rely on me for protection. Trudging along beside Amajiki, she had her head bowed and her right hand toyed with the hairband on her wrist.

Fat Gum insisted on her upperclassman walking her home again. When she tried to protest, not wanting to make the boy go out of his way, the hero simply grinned. He explained that he wanted them to try talking so they could push past their shyness a little more.

The first day, their walk home was mostly silent with the exception of Amajiki occasionally asking if she felt shaky at all. Both teenagers were still extremely anxious. Both were too nervous to attempt an actual conversation. Especially after what they had gone through on their first day working together.

When she thought about how she had needed him to anchor her, she felt guilty. Bakugou-kun showed me how to stand. I shouldn't have needed help. What if…what if Amajiki-senpai had gotten hurt?

"C-cats…"

She looked over at the older student with timid curiosity, peering through the curtain of her dark violet hair. "…cats…?"

"Uh…you like cats…so I…did some studying last night…" He trailed off, eyes narrowed into a glare that he directed at the ground as he continued walking beside her. "What's your…favorite breed?"

"…ah…um…w-well I…I like all cats, but…um…i-if I had to pick one…that I like in particular…I-I'd say…exotic shorthair…" Shirayuki felt her face growing warm behind her mask. She was a little embarrassed to get so excited, but cats were something she really enjoyed talking about. The girl loved anything even remotely involving cats.

"…exotic shorthair…" Amajiki nodded to himself, moving a little closer as they got into the station to wait for their train. "They're the ones…with flat faces? And…um…their hair is short, but…kind of fluffy…right?" He saw her nod from the corner of his eye. "D-do you have any cats?"

"…I have…seven cats right now…um…m-most are just temporary…my grandmother and I…we take in cats until they find new homes…but…we have a kitten now…my classmate wanted to adopt her, but…he can't have her at home yet so…we're watching her for him…"

As they boarded the train, he gave her a curious glance. "That's…a lot of cats," he quietly commented.

Shirayuki stood beside him in silence as the train began to move. Both had their heads down to avoid making eye contact with the various strangers around them. She felt bad that she had not researched butterflies or something else he might like to talk about. He…researched cats…so he could try to talk to me….

There was a group of other teenagers standing near them, huddled together and seeming to be playing a mobile game on their phones. They were wearing uniforms from a different high school so these were strangers. The other students were being pretty loud and rowdy. Whatever game they were playing seemed to be exciting because when one of them slammed into Shirayuki's back in their enthusiasm, they failed to even notice.

She stumbled forward, releasing a quiet squeak of surprise and flushing pink after making that sound. A hand held her shoulder, steadying her as the owner cast a frown in the direction of the other students. "…I-I'm okay…" she assured him.

Amajiki still looked a little upset, but lowered his gaze down to her for a moment and then away. "…sorry…" He released her shoulder, moving back a little. "I'm…not really any help, am I? Even yesterday…all I could do was try to support you. You had to stop that truck…I couldn't do that without getting closer..."

"…n-no…I…um…I couldn't have done it without your support though…!" she protested. "…I…definitely would've fallen down…and I would've lost my focus…the blast would have faded and…I-I really…appreciated your help…!"

His face started to turn pink and he turned his head to the side. "You don't have to say that."

The rest of the ride to the station was spent in silence as they both reflected on the past two days and mentally, as well as emotionally, prepared themselves for the next day. No one else bumped into them. No one bothered them. The calm was shattered upon reaching the station, though.

"Tamaki! Shirayuki! Over here!" a voice cheerfully called to them.

The girl turned to find Togata standing near their stop with an older girl beside him. This girl was taller than Shirayuki and had long, really smooth-looking periwinkle blue hair. Who…is that? Her crimson eyes widened as the girl rushed over with Togata close behind. "…ah…?!"

"This is Shirayuki? She's so tiny!" the older girl exclaimed. She smiled and leaned down so she was at eye-level with Shirayuki. "Your quirk converts calories into energy blasts, right? That's so neat! You can probably eat as much as you want and never gain any weight, right?"

"…I…um…th-that's…actually a problem…for me…"

"Shirayuki, this is Nejire. Nejire, this is Shirayuki Ume." Togata beamed, almost as if he was proud of this meeting. Almost as if he had set this up intentionally. He put a hand on Amajiki's shoulder when the dark-haired boy looked like he planned to sneak away from the group. "What do your friends call you, Shirayuki? You have a nickname?"

"…m-my friends call me "Yuki"…" she admitted.

"Awesome! Okay, that's what we're going to call you then! We're friends, right?" The blond student gave her a smile as bright as the sun that no one in their right mind could have frowned at. He saw her give a timid nod and put his other hand on her shoulder, not so subtly nudging her toward Amajiki.

"Yay! Friendship!" Nejire giggled, walking with them as Togata began guiding the other two out of the station.

"You could say I "ship" Tamaki and Yuki," Togata joked. "Friendship! Get it?"

"…Mirio, please…" Amajiki was visibly trembling.

"That was a joke! Darn! I was hoping to make Yuki laugh a little!"

"Hey, hey! We should go somewhere for food. I bet you're super hungry after working, right, Yuki?" Nejire gave her a hopeful stare.

"…I…um…I-I have to get home…I'm sorry…" she apologized, bowing her head.

Togata and Nejire shared a look of faint disappointment, but conceded. "Maybe some other time," the boy assured her.

Shirayuki separated from the three older students and watched from a distance as Amajiki seemed to relax little by little in Togata's presence. Togata-senpai…really is a sunny person…like a real hero. I wish…I could be as confident as he is. She turned to start walking home and spotted a familiar figure in the clusters of people around the outside of the station.

Is that…? Shirayuki quickly lowered her head as she tried to avoid meeting their gaze. Behind her mask, her mouth twitched into a frown. The figure in question looked like Bakugou, mostly. Except that his hair was different. It was smoothed down and neatly brushed so she glanced up again to be sure it was him.

The girl walked slowly, her gaze drifting back to him frequently. He had been looking her way at first, but now he was storming off down the sidewalk in a huff. She kept a distance and felt a little creepy about watching him, but this was so strange to see. It was the same level of strange as when she had seen one of the cats sit back in a corner of the couch like a person so it could clean its stomach.

Why…? His hair looks so different. What happened? He seems…angrier than usual…? Shirayuki continued to walk behind him for a few blocks, very confused by what she was seeing. It…almost seems like…he had a bad day.

As often as he picked on her, she felt sad when she imagined him having a difficult day. He did pick on her pretty often and he scared her a lot of the time, but there were so many times when he showed a weird soft side and would try to push her to be stronger. She wondered what could have happened to make him so upset. This seemed to not be from anger, but frustration.

The girl was so distracted, so deep in thought as she watched her classmate, that she was not paying attention to where she was walking. Shirayuki stepped out into the road, while the light flashed the signal to not cross. Everything happened in a blur. One second she was crossing the street, the next second a hand was yanking her backwards onto the sidewalk by the back of her uniform blazer as a van sped past just a foot in front of her with its horn honking.

Shirayuki's crimson eyes widened, tears blurring her vision as it sank in that she had almost been hit by that van. It was going really fast and definitely would have broken some bones, if not killed her. Knees trembling, she looked over her shoulder to the kind stranger still gripping the back of her blazer.

The man stared down at her with concern for a moment and then looked away, grimacing. "Be careful," he muttered, the cigarette between his lips twitching as he spoke. He waited for her to seem more composed before he let go of her blazer and mumbled something to himself.

Her gaze briefly flitted over the stranger's features, lingering on the deep scar on his forehead. "…th-thank you, sir…"

"You shouldn't walk with your head down; you're gonna get hurt doing that."

"…I…I'll watch where I'm going…thank you…um…" She rummaged in her bag and withdrew a few of her extra little cakes. They were individually wrapped so she hoped he would accept these small tokens of her gratitude. "…I-I know it isn't much, but…please take these…"

When the light changed, Shirayuki walked as swiftly as possible across the street to get away from the awkward situation. I…could have died! Because I was…watching Bakugou. That would have been so embarrassing, even if I just got hurt! A hero…getting hit by a car because they were staring at someone! She shook her head, trying to shake off the image of her classmate with neatly combed hair.

Her grandmother greeted her with a modest meal waiting in the kitchen. "Goodness, Ume! You look pale! Are you feeling alright? You kept your blood sugar up today, didn't you?" She approached to feel the girl's forehead, checking for a fever. "You don't feel warm. Is it your blood sugar? Ume, you shouldn't push yourself too hard, you know."

"…I know, I'm…I'm sorry…"

The old woman tilted her head, frowning. "Are you alright? Did something happen?"

It would be embarrassing to admit what had happened. She bowed her head, trying to hide how her face was turning pink with shame. "…n-nothing, I just…um…Grandmother, I made another friend today…she's a third year student…"

"Oh? Another third year friend?" She beamed. "You're just like Umetarou; making so many new friends!"

Just like Umetarou…just like my father. Hearing that brought a smile to her face and she put her arms around her grandmother in a warm hug. I wish…he was here. I wish my father could be here to help me through this. I wish he could see…my friends…and see how hard I'm trying to become a hero.

She ate dinner and listened to her grandmother talk about a sale at the supermarket that was happening on Sunday. "…I could…get the groceries that day…" she offered. It was a big step for her. The supermarket would be really crowded and she always feared large crowds, but she knew how difficult it would be for her grandmother to try to manage so many bags.

"That would be nice. Oh! You know what? Ume, you should ask Shinsou-kun to tag along and help you! We could have him over for cake afterwards. Oh, he's such a sweet boy! I know he'd help you."

"…I'll…I'll ask him…" Shirayuki helped wash dishes and then went to her room, sitting on the edge of her bed with her phone in her hands. Shinsou. We haven't spoken since the day before yesterday. I want to talk to him, but I'm…nervous. I'm not sure what to say to him now that we're not…There was a sharp banging sound at her window and she jumped, nearly dropping her phone.

She went to the window and opened the blinds just a crack to peer out. Crimson met crimson and she jolted backwards. "…B-Bakugou-kun…?!"

"Unlock the window, Ume! Let me in!"

Panic made her heart race. Does he know I was looking at him?! Is he angry? I didn't see him look back though! What does he want? She peeked out again and realized that he had apparently gone home to change out of his uniform. Now he was wearing a hooded sweatshirt with the hood pulled up to hide his flat, neatly combed hair from view. "…um…it's…kind of late…"

"Let me in or I'll make you wish you did it the first time!" he snarled. He waited for the lock to click before sliding her window open and hauling himself into her room. "What the hell are you blushing about?"

"…you're…in my room…"

"So what? It's not that big of a deal!" he argued. The boy saw her trembling and his glare softened. "Whatever. I'm hanging out with you, got it? I'll leave when I'm ready."