-Shouta's POV-

Today was set to be Shinobu's first day as my sidekick, and I knew it would be a bit stressful for her considering Nezu and I had just confronted her with the proposals yesterday. I was currently waiting at one of the training grounds at UA that I had gotten permission from Nezu to use while training Shinobu with hand to hand combat. There was a chance of us going on patrol, but Hizashi had volunteered to take the patrol for us so that I could do some "bonding" with Shinobu so she wouldn't be so nervous around me.

"Don't get any funny ideas though, Shouta! She's still my baby cousin!" Hizashi had warned with a glare that I guess was supposed to be intimidating. I had rolled my eyes at his comment, but had refused to respond. As an introverted person, I was already very aware of my growing admiration for the silver-haired heroine, but I was determined for it to be purely a platonic admiration for a coworker. No more. No less.

My thoughts were interrupted by the arrival of the woman in question. She was in a black, skin tight long sleeved workout shirt and a pair dark gray leggings with lavender sneakers. Her long silver hair was pulled into a high ponytail with a black headband that kept her hair out of her face. There was a nervous glint to her vibrant green eyes as she approached me with a small wave which I returned with a small nod.

"Alright. You're a bit early, but that doesn't mean we should waste any time," I stated, my expression and tone bored as ever as I tied my hair into a low messy bun, "Today, we're going to be working on your hand-to-hand combat. Your quirk is similar to mine in that it doesn't have any offensive power. I know you carry your scythe, but if you become disarmed, you still need to be able to defend yourself." She simply nodded, looking more nervous before taking a deep breath and looking much more determined than before. I took a roll of bandages out of my pocket and threw them to her. She caught them, but gave me a confused look.

"Wrap your knuckles. It'll minimize injuries during our sparring. Just know, I'm not going to hold back," I explained, showing my already wrapped knuckles. Shinobu didn't respond verbally. She merely nodded before quickly wrapping her own knuckles and tossing the bandages to me, which I then put back in my pocket.

"Is your hearing cancelled?" I inquired, activating my quirk to cancel hers just in case as she shook her head no, "Then, why aren't you speaking?" She looked at me before nervously speaking, her voice hoarse and painfully scratchy sounding.

"Zashi-nii trained me with my voice quirk first thing this morning for 3 hours. It hurts to speak," she explained as she signed along with it, "I'm sorry, Shouta-san… I didn't mean to appear rude." I shook my head, dismissing her apology.

"It's fine. I wasn't aware Hizashi had already started your voice quirk training," I responded before getting into a fighting stance as she did the same, "Luckily, your ability to do combat training won't be affected by that. Let's not waste anymore time." She nodded with a determined look in her eyes that almost made them seem to shine. Dammit, Shouta. She's Hizashi's younger cousin and your sidekick who you are SUPPOSED to be focused on training at the moment. Focus!

Because of my distraction from my internal argument, I just barely dodged a right hook from the petite heroine in front of me. Now that she was off balance, I launched a strong right hook of my own right into her abdomen, successfully knocking the wind out of her and landing her on her ass.

To my surprise, she jumped up in little to no time at all and was charging right back at me, seeming to prepare to give another right hook. As I went to block it, I was shocked to see her kick my legs out from under me before jumping over me and pinning me down in an attempt to immobilize me.

I noticed her face was tinted red, but I was unsure whether it was from the exertion or from our close proximity. Deciding to take advantage of her nervousness, I leaned upward to where our faces were only inches apart and gave her a small smirk. Her face turned a deep red, reinforcing that she was in fact flustered by our position. Using that to my advantage, I leaned up even further to where our lips were almost touching, causing her to loosen her grip on me in nervousness as I quickly freed my arms and flipped her over to her stomach, holding her arm down behind her back.

"Don't let yourself get flustered by a lack of distance with your target. Your technique isn't bad, but your confidence needs some work," I critiqued, pulling her arm back slightly earning a small whimper from the girl below me before letting her go and getting up. She stretched her arm and rotated her shoulder a couple of times before fixing me with a glare.

"Again," she said, her voice a bit stronger than earlier. I nodded, happy with her determination but not showing it on my face. I got back into a fighting stance, and this time I came at her.

-Time Skip (4 hours later) Shinobu's POV-

Four freaking hours. Shouta has been kicking my ass for four freaking hours. After my initial attack where I had managed to pin Shouta, I had not been very successful in my attacks to say the least. The raven-haired man in front of me was insane in terms of physical skill and hand to hand combat. I'm sure my body would be sore and covered in bruises for the foreseeable future.

"Come on, Shinobu. Last time. Try and get a hit on me this time," Shouta stated bluntly, getting into a fighting stance.

Subconsciously, I pushed my sleeves halfway up my forearms before getting into a fighting stance as well, feeling a bit shaky but determined to get at least one last good hit on the underground hero in front of me. Before he could come at me, I ran at him aiming a right hook towards his stomach. He caught my fist and went to twist it, but I flipped with it aiming a kick for his head as I did so. He barely ducked causing me to land awkwardly and twist my wrist that was still in his hand. Fortunately, Shouta had let go before my wrist could snap from the motion.

"DAMMIT!" I yelped, accidentally using my Voice quirk causing a sharp pain in my throat which earned another whimper from me as I held my now limp wrist.

Shouta looked at me with a hard expression in his usually bored looking onyx eyes. He walked over to me before gently grabbing my wrist and turning it to where my palm was facing him. As his eyes zeroed in on my wrist, his eyebrows furrowed and his eyes narrowed. That's when I realized…

"Shinobu, does Hizashi know about these?" Shouta inquired bluntly, and I grimaced as I looked at what had caught his eyes. My wrists were littered with puffy white thin lines indicative of my struggles with depression. That would have been embarrassing enough on its own, but over those white lines were several fresh red lines where I had resorted to my scythe the night before. Shaking my head no, I refused to meet his eyes.

"Shinobu." I still wouldn't look up at him.

"Hey." My gaze stayed fixated on my wrist as though it were the most interesting thing in the world as tears welled up in my eyes. All that effort was for not though as a warm and calloused hand gripped my chin and tilted my head upwards. I looked to the side instead of forward to what I was certain would be an angry and/or disappointed expression on Shouta's face.

"You're not in trouble, Shinobu, and I'm not mad at you," Shouta assured me, his voice much softer similar to how he spoke to me after the attack the other day, "I won't tell Hizashi either, but in order for me to agree to that, I need you to look at me and talk to me." That caused me to look at him in shock. His tired onyx eyes were full of concern and… understanding? He gave me a small half smirk as he released his grip on my chin and held his hand out to me, pulling his own long black sleeve back.

An audible gasp left my lips as I gently traced the raised white scars on his wrist without thinking about it. After a couple of seconds, I realized what I was doing and yanked my hand back, an embarrassed pink blush dusting my freckled cheeks.

"S-sorry, Shouta-san," I apologized, my voice quite small and quivering slightly from nerves. A small low chuckle was heard that caused my face to flush an even deeper red. He should laugh more often. It's nice. No, bad Shinobu. Focus.

"You're fine. And I told you, you don't have to put the -san on my name. I showed you because I wanted to let you know that I understand how you feel. Now, will you tell me what triggered it for you this time?" he soothed, his voice and expression somewhat bored but his words showing his concern.

"I was mad at myself for what happened the other day," I admitted after a few minutes as I wrapped the bandage around my aching wrist that I guessed was more than likely sprained.

"Why were you mad at yourself? That wasn't your fault," Shouta responded, his voice having a very slight edge to it as I shook my head in disagreement.

"I caused an inconvenience to you and caused Hizashi-nii to worry unnecessarily. I'm a pro-hero for god's sake. A couple of thugs shouldn't have even been able to touch me like that. I'm an embarrassment," I vented, my quiet voice growing slightly as I let out the frustration and pain I had felt as I had allowed my scythe to slice through the skin on my wrist two nights prior.

"It wasn't a couple of thugs, Shinobu. It was 7 full grown men. And you managed to single-handedly stop them before they completely took advantage of you… Despite being anxious and terrified and not in your hero costume, you defeated them. That does not make you an embarrassment. You're being irrational about this," Shouta countered, trying to comfort me in his own way I guess. Logical and rationality seems to kind of be his crutch.

"There's more to it, isn't there?" he continued to press, causing me to look down in embarrassment.

"The other part is stupid…" I muttered and signed as I stared at the ground in front of me.

"Whatever is bothering you to the point that it played a part in you self-harming is not stupid. I need you to tell me, so that I know for sure that you're going to be okay," Shouta reasoned as he walked up to me and put a hand on my shoulder. I looked up at him shyly before looking away with a blush.

"That bastard stole my first kiss," I muttered, barely audible, my face turning scarlet. Shouta's hand tightened on my shoulder.

"What? I couldn't hear you," he encouraged leaning down a bit so he could hear me better.

"I said that bastard stole my first kiss!" I snapped, my voice still quiet but louder than usual for me, "I've never been involved in any kind of romantic relationship or anything, so I'm 24 years old and some disgusting thug stole my first kiss. And like a child, I'm upset about it!" Shouta's hand released my shoulder, and I started to run off before he could laugh at me.

To my surprise, his arm wrapped around my shoulder and pulled me into him into a small hug. I tensed up and cancelled my hearing for only a moment before it returned. Looking up, I saw Shouta's onyx eyes glowing a crimson red and his black hair defying gravity before he blinked and deactivated his quirk.

"There's no need to be embarrassed about that, and you're allowed to be upset. That wasn't his to take," Shouta pointed out, "Don't worry about being embarrassed around me. If I can handle being around Hizashi for 10 years, then I don't think you will do anything that I find remotely embarrassing." I nodded and pulled away from his hug.

"Thank you, Shouta," I thanked him with a small smile on my face, "It's getting late. Are we done for the day?" Shouta nodded.

"But don't forget. Your first day as a TA at UA is tomorrow. Classes start at 8AM sharp. Do not be late," Shouta informed me, his teacher's tone of voice back. I nodded in understanding before turning to leave.

"Shinobu," Shouta called out as he walked up beside me causing me to look at him as I walked, "Let me walk you home. It's getting late, and you were getting shaky near the end of training. Plus, I'm pretty sure Hizashi would bust my eardrums if I didn't." I giggled at the thought of my older cousin annoying the kind but odd man beside me. I nodded, smiling slightly to myself despite the emotional night I had had with Shouta.

Maybe these two jobs really will be able to help me to start a new chapter of my life. Here's hoping.

Song: The Last of The Real Ones by FallOut Boy