After sensei wakes me and has me shower and change, I realize what I forgot. Makeup. I stare at the yellow skin, the purple bruise still visible around my eye and the side of my lip. The lip isn't so bad, I can cover it with my face mask, but my eye…

"ARE YOU READY?" Sensei calls from the kitchen, his voice echoing easily through the bathroom door. He's so energetic. I don't know what to do. I pull the strands forward, but it's not enough to hide the colorful swatches of skin.

I don't want any more calls, you hear me?

"Yes sensei," I say, fiddling with the hair again. But I'm out of time. I exit the room slowly, dragging my feet.

"Oh? What's with the long face?"

I shrug and thrust my hands into the gray vest, looking anywhere else. He's dressed in his leather again, his hair straightened back up into the massive style. He strides forward in big, energetic steps, and leans down, fingers swirling in little circles as he's back in my space.

I blink as his grin falters and fades.

"Rin-chan… What is this?"

I don't really know what to say. He pokes my face when I take too long and watches when I wince.

"I got in a fight," I admit, at last, shoulders sagging. He hums and scratches his chin, backing away.

"You mean you lost a fight?" he says, tilting my head. I shrink a little at the raised eyebrow. "Is this why you've been wearing all that makeup?"

He pretends to powder his face and I cringe.

"Yes, Sensei…"

He sighs, dramatically leaning forward with both hands on either of my shoulders. He drags me forward until we're eye to eye and our foreheads touch. It's a weird feeling. No one's ever been that close to my face. I feel my skin heat in embarrassment.

"Hey now! You shouldn't keep things like this to yourself! If you're hurt, Recovery girl would have healed you days ago. Eh, but it looks like it'll clear up soon. Still, Shouta's going to have a fit. You get this at the home?"

"I…"

He hums when I mumble off, letting me go. I immediately put a good foot of space between us. He shakes his head in amusement. "Well, no time to figure it out now. We've got patrols tonight. LET'S GO!"

I stare, but whatever he thought, he's done talking about it now. He waves me forward and into the hall, locking his door and leading us outside. The black sky looks like an inky mass, coated in pinpricks of light and thin ribbons of clouds dusting the horizon.

"Alright," Sensei says, already walking. I hurry to catch up. "Let's talk codenames on the way there. While we're in the field we'll need to use our hero names, even on a patrol. So I'm Present Mic until we get back."

I nod.

"You really want to be called Nightmare?" he asks, raising an eyebrow in my direction. I frown, looking away.

No.

But I feel like that's what I am.

He seems to understand the emotions I can't quite untangle, and he grabs me in a side hug, squishing me against his hip. He's so much touchier than any other person I've ever met. Hugs and little notes and grins.

"It's fine, you can decide whenever. Sweet Pea."

I choke.

"W-W-What?"

He lets me go and wags a finger in my face, eyebrows waggling.

"Hah, come up with your own name if you don't like it!" he teases before resuming our walk. He uses his speed from this morning, long legs taking strong strides until I'm half jogging to keep up. He moves us to the industrial part of town, through dark alleys and deteriorated underpasses until we arrive at a rather shabby looking warehouse.

"Sensei?"

He gives a little wink and pulls out a key.

"Got to pick up a few things before we do our rounds," he says, smiling.

He jiggles the lock and opens the door.

It's a training gym.

Industrial lights swing overhead, cement floors throughout, and two figures on the other side run drills. I stiffen noticing the purple-haired boy from the Sports Festival and Aizawa-sensei.

My stomach drops.

"YOOOO, Eraserhead! WAZ UP?"

"Present Mic," Aizawa-sensei greets, turning to us. "Hoki."

He leaves Purple doing pushups on the floor and walks towards us. I stare at my feet and pull my hair forward, combing it over my face, certain he'll see the bruises and freak. Present Mic notices and sighs, dragging me over by my shoulder till I'm hugged to his side.

Aizawa-sensei frowns, eyes narrowed.

"Hi," I mumble.

"Hizashi-"

"I know," the blonde interrupts.

"Those aren't new-"

"I know," Present Mic says again, his voice rising and a smile blooming across his face. Aizawa-sensei scowls and shrugs.

"We'll discuss this later," he says, his tone bored but there's something in the way he stands that makes me gulp.

"Yeah," the blonde says pointing a finger gun with his free hand at Eraserhead's chest. Present Mic's other arm stays firmly against my shoulders. I don't know whether to pull away or lean against him. I manage to stand stiffly still, trying not to draw attention. "You guys coming on patrol?"

"No," the dark-haired man says. He turns to me with lazy eyes, reaching into his pocket to draw out something. He hands me a phone. "Here."

"Ah… Thank you," I whisper.

"I've added both of our numbers, they're for emergencies only. It's already charged."

I nod.

Present Mic smiles and lets me go to wave at the purple-haired boy now picking himself up off the floor.

"Shinsou!" Yamada-sensei says. I try not to flinch, but I'm sure they see it. Purple scowls, crossing his arms, staring off to the side. I stare at my feet, picking at my fingers. "I hope you're working hard!"

The other boy grunts, I bite my lip.

Present Mic offers a giant thumbs up.

"ALRIGHT!" he says in English, doing a little dance. "ARE YOU READY?"

"There've been two robberies this week," Aizawa-sensei warns crossly before walking back towards the other boy. "Be careful."

What follows feels more like an obstacle course than what I imagined patrolling to be. Present Mic leads me outside and takes off at what feels like full speed. He climbs a ladder onto the roof and waits long enough for me to clamber over the side before racing towards the next roof.

We traverse most of the city like that. Jumping across rooftops, scouting back alleys, and, at times, sitting silently in the shadows. Those are the worst. When Sensei's green eyes scour the streets from a vantage point, his body pulled taut, his smile more a smirk. In those moments, he looks less like a funny, kind English teacher and more like a hero.

Daddy's jaw breaking.

Ryu and Sora's screams.

"Pay attention the shadows," he says quietly, his voice low and rumbling as he points towards the darkest parts of the night. I swallow and squat next to him, doing as he says. In one, something moves, and I flinch. A cat scrambles from the darkness, shooting out across the empty street. "See how everything moves? That's normal. You can't be scared of all the movements in the dark or you'll hurt yourself in your fear."

Sensei squeezes my neck and I flinch backward at the sudden feeling. He lets go in an instant and I shrug my shoulders, rolling my head at the sudden sensation.

He rises beside me, lips still caught in that smirk.

"Like that," he says, moonlight spilling across his leather, his blonde hair, and the sunglasses still perched across his nose. "You're too stiff. You get too worked up and tense and you'll explode."

He gives me an enormous smile.

"Try to keep up, Sweet Pea!"

He takes off again.

We spend what feels like all night alternating between rooftops, alleyways, and shadows. We go until my legs feel like lead, my body shakes with exhaustion, and my eyes struggle to stay open. The moon settles somewhere in the distance and Yamada-sensei's smile from beneath it is amused.

"It's been a while since I've done a night patrol," he says pulling out his phone and stopping the silent timer. I slump on the wall when I notice the time. 1:55 AM. He flips through the apps and I close my eyes. "Hmm, not bad for the first night. Let's…"

I lose focus and long, skinny fingers shake me awake.

"Let's go, yeah?"

I nod and with exhaustion running through my bones, follow him home.