She didn't faint. But she did say, "Blue Knees, I think you should go back. You seem like an important member of the team. There's so many people here, I'm sure I'll blend in eventually."

He seemed pained, pulled between a rock and a hard place. "I'd rather not, but I'd be happy to hand you off to someone else if you'd feel safer that way."

Hand her off… she felt like a bigger burden than before. "I'll find someone," Aimi said, getting up uneasily. "I'd feel better if you were where you're needed most. Thank you, though." She turned away from him and began to slide between bodies in the crowd before he could do anything to stop her.

A different teacher near the front of the crowd scolded her for not being in uniform, and Aimi bit back the line she wanted to spit back at them. Instead she just said, "Sorry."

A few people down was a blond teacher she recognised: hair spiked and energetic, he was yelling for order with a louder voice than anyone else. Slipping her way between a few more bodies, Aimi placed herself at his side. "Excuse me?" she said, a nervous few fingertips on his forearm. "You were in the meeting with me, weren't you?"

"Yes I was. Were you alright? Some teachers are looking for you." His yelling died out instantly, the energy levels surrounding him coming down from chaotic to calm.

"Blu– Todoroki brought me here a little bit after the big fight broke out. I bumped into the fake Midoriya and he gave chase. I don't know who it really was. Sorry I left the meeting." She was looking over his shoulder, at some trees far off in the distance. "I feel a bit like a catalyst. I'm sorry."

"That's alright. I'm glad you're safe! I'll call Nezu and tell him, and then we can sort the safehouse out. Hang tight here in the meantime!" He chirped, his energy rising again. Then he turned and screamed: "HEY YOU THERE I TOLD YOU TO QUIT YOUR SHOVING WE'RE GONNA BE ALL GOOD, ALRIGHT?"

Aimi sat behind him, limply, waiting for a chance to get out of here.

A handful of police officers approached her after the evacuation had finished and they were sure the scene was safe. They conducted a small interrogation before they got to their car; did you make contact, what was said, who incited the incident, and on and on and on.

She felt guilty causing so much trouble so any goodbyes she was hoping to say turned silently into dust in the back of her throat. "Do you think I'll see any of these guys again soon?" She asked the policeman driving.

"If we go the safehouse route then probably not for at least six months. Unless you got their contact info on your phone." He shrugged, eyes forward and unflinching.

"I don't have a phone." She sighed. Another six months of loneliness stretched out in front of her, here she was again being stolen away from a life she had only just started. Was a safehouse going to be similar; just a bed and a blanket on the floor, a discarded piece of bread thrown through the door after a few days. Almost as if she was a duck in the park.

Aimi sat back against the leather seat and just let life happen to her: she was taken to another meeting room, a handful of uniformed officers talked over her and talked about her. Every now and then there was mention of a teacher's name she recognised, but if she wasn't going to be able to see the people from the school again then there was no reason to tune into the sound of their names.

Until someone said, "Oh. Todoroki. Hi."

She turned around eagerly, ready to smile, but was only met with the man on fire in Todoroki's phone. Deflated, she watched him with a sunken look in her eye. He glanced at her with a look on his face that spat more venom than his voice over the words: "Is this her? This one?" that he said straight after.

"Yeah," someone else answered, absorbed in paperwork.

"Can I borrow her?" He asked, again to someone else.

And again someone else said, "Sure."

He pointed at her and left the room. She felt a little bit like a ragdoll following him.

On the other side of the door, this Todoroki – this new Todoroki – said, "I suppose I see it. But I wouldn't know for sure."

Then the Todoroki she knew: "I think I'm right." His voice was like a light in a tunnel.

"Hi!" Aimi grinned at him. Then, "Why are you here? And whose this you brought?"

He looked at her with relief tucked away into his eyes. "This is my dad. Endeavour. He's a famous hero, but I thought he might recognise you, too."

She looked back up at him, with an almost entirely blank stare. "I don't know him, even if he might know me," she shrugged. Then, "Are you always on fire like this? Does that not… hurt?"

He ignored her, so she took a few steps back, wishing to God above that she had a phone, or some money, so that other people could stop trading her life around between themselves like a card game.

"You're mother would probably know better than I would, but I'm not letting her come here. You can find out if you can take this girl to her if you really think that'll help, but you can make your case to the police by on your own. I don't want to be at the centre of this. Whatever this is," Endeavour explained, a twitch of anger pointing her way when he gestured over his shoulder at her. "And I'm not housing any strangers."

"I didn't ask you to," Todoroki spat back. Aimi felt uncomfortable being the subject of their fight, but Todoroki softened after taking steps around his father's enormous figure. His face seemed to relax at the sight of hers. Offering a hand to her he told her, "Let's go back in. We'll see if there's something we can do."

He didn't make an entrance per se, but his presence was felt when it came into the room.

"I believe my family knows this girl and her family. My mother is likely to know best – I have reason to believe my mother and Aimi's mother were friends. At the very least this could jog her memory and provide information on the family dynamic, perhaps explaining the reason they were targeted." He stood formally, hands behind his back, almost as if he was an officer himself. She wasn't sure if it was his words or his status that made a few police members mumble thoughtfully, nod in consideration.

Aimi stood quietly behind him. There was nothing to add. She couldn't make a case for herself. If anything, she ached for the feeling of the dorms that morning again, at least she'd felt safe there if a little out of the loop.

"I'm asking for your permission to go to or accompaniment to the hospital so Aimi and my mother can have a discussion. I believe this will help Aimi, but ultimately my motives do have an ulterior as well: I believe this will also bring my mother some peace."

It was decided that two other policemen would accompany them and monitor the discussion. They were considerably less worried about Aimi being the source of an incident, so the institutional grip around her torso finally began to loosen.

"Sorry," she interjected, as some officers were snatching up jackets and bottled drinks. "Am I still staying in the safe house?"

"Yes."

"Can I at least have some contact, or a phone? I'm worried about being completely isolated." And going insane, she "forgot" to add.

"We'll get a smartphone ready for you when you come back later, we've found the school you were enrolled in as well so we can collect any work you missed in the last six months, too, to keep you busy. That and you can give one other key to someone, but since we haven't found your family yet we're not sure if–"

"I can take that," Todoroki piped up. "I don't mind doing visits, if it helps. I imagine this would be safer than staying at the dorms, or alone in the original house. I'd like to shoulder some responsibility."

Aimi wondered why, but consented to this with ease. It was as if he had read her mind.

"Thank you, Blue Knees," she whispered as they followed their two officers out.

"They're not blue," he whispered back. "I'm sorry you're getting thrown around so much today. I'd do more if I could, I think that's what a good hero would do."

"I think you're doing more than enough, considering how full I'm sure your plate is. Did you get back to the fight in the school?"

"Yes, but it was close to over. I tried to find you again, but I couldn't," he hesitated for a few moments, focusing on slipping into the back of a police car. "I was a little worried."

"Sorry. I was with the blond teacher, the one who shouts."

"Present Mic?"

"I think? He did have a microphone."

"In any case," Todoroki said, slipping his seatbelt across his chest, "I'm glad to be here. Will you be okay meeting my mum?"

Aimi snorted. "Could have taken me out for dinner first, at least."

He almost smiled, it was more of a twitch of his lips, that shocked even him. "Maybe afterwards," he said, a serious tone of voice slotted comfortably back into place. "If you're hungry."

Aimi had to laugh.