"Come on! You can do it! I know you've got what it takes!" Fat Gum stared down at Shirayuki expectantly and saw that her head was bowed. The girl was trembling, her face flushed pink. He shook his head and sighed. "Come on. You've gotta at least try. Just once."

"…I…um…" She fidgeted with the sleeve of her costume and lowered head a bit more. I wanted to be brave today. I wanted to…show that I can be brave like a real hero. Like my father. So why…can't I do something as simple as this?

"Tamaki, you try."

The older student tensed and lifted his narrowed, dark indigo eyes to look at the hero. "I-I can't…"

"Are you two really friends? This should be easy! I'm really not asking for much here. How can you expect to speak up in front of other people if you can't do this? You're both pretty quiet so I thought it'd be easier for you to talk to each other."

"…I can't…c-call Amajiki-senpai…by his first name…" Shirayuki protested quietly. Why? I just…want to be able to be a hero so…why can't I talk to him?

"Are you two really friends?" he asked again.

"Y-yes," they both answered at once. The two students exchanged a glance before looking away. Shirayuki bowed her head again and Amajiki tugged his hood forward to cast his face into shadow.

We're friends…The girl glanced toward him a second time, still struggling with the idea that she was friends with third year students. Togata-senpai said that we're friends and we…talk about cats and butterflies…and he's been walking me home when we finish here in the afternoon. We're friends.

"I-I'll try again," Amajiki conceded. He turned toward her, his eyes still narrowed with intensity as his face began to turn a faint pink. He closed his eyes and took a deep breath, summoning forth his courage. When his eyes opened and met hers, they were narrowed and intense. "Y-Yuki."

"Yeah! See? I knew you had it in you, Tamaki! Good job!" Fat Gum patted him on the back, inadvertently pushing him toward the girl. "Okay; now it's her turn. Go ahead and try."

She dropped her gaze to the floor again as she tried to swallow the lump of anxiety forming in her throat. Shirayuki could feel sweat forming at the back of her neck and on her hairline. Her pulse was quick and harsh, her limbs tingling and shaking. Her hands curled into fists at her sides and she forced herself to look up from the floor. "…T-Tamaki…!" she stammered.

The boy's eyes widened a little as his face started to turn red. He swiftly bowed his head and let his hair fall over his eyes. "You…you don't have to push yourself…" he muttered.

"There we go! See? Not so bad, right?" Now it was Shirayuki's turn to be patted on the back, nearly propelling her forward off her feet and into the older student. "Okay! Now that we've got that training out of the way, let's go patrolling!"

Shirayuki walked on Fat Gum's left while Amajiki walked on his right. Of course, both of them stayed a bit behind him as well. She could see her upperclassman from the corner of her eye and she frowned behind her mask.

She knew that their mentor was right; they were both quiet, anxious people. Even now, their postures mirrored each other's. Heads bowed, shoulders a bit hunched. Trying not to draw attention to themselves and failing miserably due to their hero costumes.

The shopping area was fairly busy when they reached it and Shirayuki soon found herself feeling even more anxious. She picked at some loose skin around her left thumbnail as she looked around. It's…so busy. What if I get separated from Fat Gum? What if a villain attacks? With so many people…I can't use my quirk. I might hurt someone or-!

A hand suddenly clasped hers as she was about to get carried away by a crowd of shopping housewives. Amajiki pulled gently, drawing her closer. "C-careful." He turned to look away from her, but kept a grip on her hand. "Fat Gum…said we should patrol this block and he'll take the next one. If you'd rather go with him…"

"…n-no…it's…it's okay…" She looked down at where his hand still held hers and felt warmth rising in her face. "…S-Suneater…?"

"R-right. Sorry. Um…just stay close to me," he mumbled, releasing her hand. He started walking ahead of her, but slowly enough for her to keep pace with him.

The shoppers had no issue with stopping the two and asking them a plethora of questions. Almost as if the civilians did not take the two students seriously. Questions were asked about what school they went to, how old they were, who designed their costumes. Both were extremely timid and nervous, but Amajiki seemed to have decided that he had to take the lead.

When he saw Shirayuki starting to get panicky, he excused them from the group of shoppers currently bombarding them with questions and he took the girl with him. Standing in a secluded area with vending machines, they tried to calm down from the stressful situation. Amajiki saw the wet sheen of her crimson eyes and instantly recognized her look of anxiety.

She had only briefly spared him a glance before lowering her eyes to the ground and trying to take deep, even breaths. The combination of the morning's earlier training with Fat Gum and Amajiki, mixed with this crowded shopping center, was a recipe for a panic attack. She shook her head and tried to push away her fear, but it lingered.

"H-here…I got this for you." Her upperclassman's hand came into view above the ground, holding a can of juice.

"…th-thank you…" She accepted the juice can with trembling hands and hesitantly drew down her mask so she could drink it. The sweetness of the pineapple orange juice soothed her nerves a little and she softly thanked him again. I need to be stronger than this. My father would have been able to handle that crowd without feeling this way. I know it.

The boy leaned against the wall beside her, his own head bowed and hood pulled forward to keep his face in the shadows. "It's…it's not a problem. I know what it's like."

The girl felt a tightening in her chest upon hearing these words. When she started to withdraw like this or act anxious, it was rare that someone sympathized with her. More often than not, the other person would try to assure her that everything was alright; that she was safe, that she had nothing to be afraid of, that she needed to be louder and bolder. Looking over at her upperclassman, she knew without a shred of doubt that he knew exactly how she felt.

"Oh! Hey, hey! You're a hero, right? Can you help me?"

The two students looked in the direction of this high-pitched voice and found a girl around twelve years old standing nearby. She was wearing a worried expression and was approaching them with caution. Shirayuki saw Amajiki tense and tug at his hood. I need to be brave. I need to…be like my father.

She gave a nod. "…we're…both training to become heroes…what sort of help…do you need…?" To Shirayuki's surprise, the girl grabbed her arm and started pulling. "…ah…?"

"I need you to come with me! It's bad! My friend was playing around and fell and he got hurt! I need help for him!"

"W-wait. We should call an ambulance," Amajiki started to protest.

"There's no time! Please come with me!" the girl pleaded, tugging on Shirayuki's arm.

The violet-haired girl had a sort of anxious twisting feeling in her gut, but ignored it. She had been so nervous among the crowd that it made sense to her that interacting with this stranger would leave her unsettled. What happened though…? Is her friend still alive?

Shift P.O.V

Something was wrong. Amajiki followed at a distance as Shirayuki was led through the crowd by the girl. Someone this girl's age should be in school at this time of day. A bad feeling started to develop as he picked up his pace.

He wove through the pedestrians on the sidewalk, keeping his eyes on his underclassmen and the girl. His pulse quickened as he saw the younger girl try to draw the teenager into an alley. He broke into a sprint, the bad feeling in his gut increasing and making him almost nauseas.

This was a trap. It had to be. Why else was a girl that young not in school and why was she so desperately trying to get Shirayuki into the alley? He saw the child's expression turn vicious when the dark-haired girl shook her head. "Kcal, wait!" he called, reaching out.

The young girl turned to glare in his direction and an evil grin took form on her face. Her left hand tightened on Shirayuki's arm and her right arm started to bulk up into a horrific, muscular appendage that tore her sleeve. It drew back, readying to smash into his fellow hero in training's face.

Amajiki reached the two just in time. He grabbed Shirayuki's shoulder and drew her to him, his free arm shifting into a large, hardened crab claw to act as a shield for both of them. The force of the young girl's strike pushed him back a bit, but he planted his feet to stabilize himself.

This was a tricky situation. His opponent was a girl that could only be twelve at the oldest, but she was clearly out for blood. Her expression was twisted into a horrible snarl as she readied herself to attack the two young heroes again. Amajiki was reluctant to fight a girl her age, but she was clearly some sort of aspiring villain to come after them like this.

Shirayuki was trembling in his hold, most likely from shock. She closed her eyes and clung to her upperclassman as the girl struck at his armored crab claw again. They were pushed back a bit more and Shirayuki shook her head.

I have to think of something. We can't fight her; she's just a child. We have to stop her somehow. What can we do? I need to think of a way to detain her without risking hurting her. He realized then that he would need to let go of his underclassman. "Stay behind me."

Shift P.O.V

Guilt began to settle in her stomach as Shirayuki was pushed behind him. She knew this was her fault. She should have stayed with him. She never should have let the younger girl lead her away. Now there was nothing she could do.

Amajiki withstood another strike from the younger girl's bulky, muscled arm and then reached forward with his free hand. Long tentacles took the place of his fingers and wrapped tightly around the girl to trap her arms against her sides. She snarled and shook her head, screaming at him and trying to kick the tentacles away.

"Watch your language, kid! Is that any way to talk to your elders?" Fat Gum approached from the crowd, frowning down at the girl. She swore and attempted to kick him when he got close. "What's going on here?"

"She was trying to lead Kcal into this alley…"

"…I…I'm sorry…" Shirayuki spoke, bowing her head.

"What? Wanna explain yourself here or at the police station?" The hero gave the snarling girl a stern look that made her go still.

After a lengthy amount of questioning, it was uncovered that this girl was actually part of a group of young delinquents. She had been acting as bait to try to lure a young hero into the alley so the group could beat them up and brag about it later. Like hero hunters. The police were notified and the girl was taken into custody.

Needless to say, Shirayuki was a little shaken by this occurrence. It was one thing to fight villains, but this girl had been just a bit younger than her and a civilian. The sort of person that she was supposed to protect as a hero.

Her disheartenment did not go unnoticed by her fellow student. Amajiki walked a bit closer to her when they went to the station to go home. Sat a little closer on the train. Kept a more careful watch over the crowds as they made their way to her house.

"Y-Yuki…are you okay?" he finally asked, his head down.

"…I…don't know…" She was also walking with her head bowed, nervously fidgeting with her hair band as she tried to calm herself. If he wasn't there…what would have happened? That girl…wouldn't have killed me…would she? Her pulse quickened with fear and she felt like her heart was sinking into her stomach.

They were nearing her house and she summoned forth some courage to say what she knew had to be said. "…T-Tamaki…thank you…for saving me…"

He blinked in surprise and looked toward her from the corner of his eye. "I…couldn't let you get hurt." The boy lowered his head a bit more, trying to hide his eyes behind his hair. "W-we're friends, right?"

"…we're friends…" she agreed, nodding.

"And friends help each other…s-so…it's not a big deal," he murmured, looking away. Amajiki was silent for a moment as they drew closer to her house. When they came to her gate, he opened his mouth to say more.

Her phone suddenly pinged with an alert and Shirayuki drew it from her pocket. "…s-sorry…one second…" She looked at the screen and frowned. Midoriya-kun? Why is he…sharing his location?