Shouto was headed for the observations room when a small figure bumped into him. He sighs, not even needing to look down to know who it is, but he looks down anyway.

"Akemi..." He trails off, she is hugging her own arms, and the look on her face is... Conflicted, jarring, a little blank. Her hair is down, and surprisingly long.

"Todoroki..." She glanced up towards him, and opens her mouth to speak, only to close it and turn away. " ...'scuse me." She brushes past him, and marches down the hall, hunched over and looking smaller than usual.

Shouto stares after her, the scene familiar to him. She's walking away, clarely hurting and troubled, and he's watching as she's leaving. He watches her figure round the corner, just as Midoriya dashes past him, following the girl.

Shouto sighs and walks away, knowing that the girl is in good hands.


Akemi exits the door of the examination facility. She isn't supposed to be outside the building, but whatever. Rounding a corner she leans against the wall and slides to the ground, hugging her knees.

It's... Conflicting. All her life she've been hiding, enduring. Waiting it out. Leave it be, it'll all be okay. It'll all work out. But now... Izuku's fixed something. He'd acted and something actually turned out for the better. He faced his problems, and it worked. And Akemi... She can't. She really can't fix what's going on. She don't want to. She won't, she isn't generous enough, she is too petty to do so.

Then don't. Whispers the ever present voice in her head, then don't.

She really, really don't want to do anything.

To be honest how it all escalated to this was partially her fault. Her father wasn't as harsh at first. Her father wasn't as demanding at first. But Akemi didn't listen, she didn't reach out and tell him no. She merely did the exact opposite, she riled him up and left things be. She, like always, turned her back on her problems and left them be.

She'd always been one to reach out and help others with their problems. She'd always been one to like logic puzzles and challenges, she loves helping others but when it comes to herself she'd just... Leave things be.

Does that make her selfish?

She grips the pendant of her necklace, she's got so much at stake. A simple footage, and she's helpless. He isn't even here and she's frozen with a knife at her throat and she'd lie, again, again, and again.

Lying is so easy.

She pulls her knees closer, and burries her face in them.

"Akemi?"

She startles. Wha... Looking up to the source of the voice she blinks at the familiar head of green hair.

It's Izuku.

The teen is currently standing next to her, looking concerned before he sat next to her on the dirt, never taking his eyes off of her.

Akemi wiped at her eyes, the consealer under her eyes were gone and she's pretty sure she looks like she was punched.

"... When is the last time you slept? I'm pretty sure your eyes got worse."

"... I don't normally sleep a lot." She admitted. She never really outright told anyone except Hibiki and her sister how little she slept and most importantly, why. " I barely scraped half an hour last night." At this he jolted, and Akemi really can't blame him.

"That can't be healthy." He whispers, and Akemi huffed out a laugh.

" I don't sleep." She repeats herself, " not a lot, anyway. I seldom gets any more than eight hours... Well, eight hours per week."

At this, Izuku startles and looks at her worriedly. "Aren't you tired?"

"... Not really. My quirk can keep me energised, and I just chug milk and coffee." She shrugs, " not that big of a deal, really... I'm used to it."

Izuku hesitates, he seemed conflicted and looks as if he's about to protest, but ultimately stays quiet.

Akemi is actually somewhat glad he that he didn't push her to talk or tell her that she need to sleep. Kōki was horrified when she told her how little she actually sleeps, and Hibiki instantly blew up and tried to get her in a bed. They ended up fighting and it was one of their worst. It's also how she learned about... About...

About that.

Akemi leans back against the wall. Opens her mouth, and speaks.

"It's weird." She almost whispers.

" Hum?"

" It's weird." She speaks out loud, "all my life I've just been waiting it out, I was just thinking that one day it'll all work out, but then you just up and acted, and... And it worked, and it's just weird since everytime I try to fix my own problems it gets worse." She burries her face between her knees, " or I just don't like facing my problems, I guess."

For a few moments, he doesn't reply. "I don't think anyone do."

There was silence. Neither of them spoke, and then she shifts, moving to brush her hair up and away from her face, gently weaving the locks into a diagonal braid along her scalp, before twisting it a little and holding it there.

"... Help me hold up the braid?"

"Huh? A-are you sure?" Izuku wrings his hands, eyes wide as he stutters and Akemi softly smiles.

"You've got good hands." The boy across her flushes a dark red, and gently takes her hair into his hands.

"Well if you insist, then... Okay."


Current Poll Results~ (from both the poll and the reviews)

Akemi's paring:

Todoroki Shouto: 17

Midoriya Izuku: 2

Iida Tenya: 3

Seiba Hiroi: 0

Ueno Hibiki: 3

Bakugou Katsuki: 3

Iida Tensei: 1

Others (Please state in review!)


Hibiki's pairing:

Todoroki Shouto: 0

Midoriya Izuku: 0

Iida Tenya: 4

Seiba Hiroi: 0

Kimura Akemi: 3

Shinsou Hitoshi: 7

Others (Please state in review!)


Izuku and Akemi moment! And seriously her hair is loooong. (I'm planning on getting a hair cut actually, try out a more boyish look) These two don't get enough bonding moments I swear... Big thank you to all the new Favourites and Follows! New stuff over at Another Story, go take a look! Love you all and stay safe!

Anyway, onto the comments!

To darkpaladin89: Akemi: *Gingerly pets Smudge as Izuku's does her hair*

To Thundqh: Not completely, since Akemi still don't really like him, but she will. Soon.