-Shinobu's POV-

I willed myself not to cancel my own hearing as I walked down the familiar halls of UA, sucking on a cherry flavored cough drop to try and soothe my sore throat from practicing with my quirk so much the day before. It was only 730am which meant I was 30 minutes early. I had snuck out while Hizashi-nii had been doing his hair for the day, so that I could try and calm down and handle the whole thing by myself. Depending on him and Shouta to feel safe would not do me any good.

That was all a good idea in theory until I realized I had no freaking clue where the teacher's lounge was, and I ended up lost. It was 750am now, and I had a meeting in the teacher's lounge at 8am. Ughhhhh! Good job, Shinobu! This is what you get for trying to prove you could handle something without them. What kind of pro hero gets lost in the same school they graduated from? This is embarrassing! My thoughts were interrupted as I ran smack into a firm back and landed on my ass, letting out a quiet sigh of frustration and embarrassment as I looked up to see a large, slightly tanned hand reaching out to help me up.

The man in front of me had on in a red and black skin tight hero suit with a deep v revealing a very muscular chest as well as a concerned expression shown in his red eyes and frown that revealed two sharp teeth that stuck out of closed lips. He looked at my hero costume curiously before commenting.

"Students don't have permission to wear anything other than the uniform except for during hero training," he stated gruffly, "Now whose class are you supposed to be in right now?" He thinks I'm a student? Come on! I don't look that young! I gave him a small glare and opened my mouth to speak, my voice clear after resting it the night before.

"I'm not a student. I'm the new TA," I answered as I hesitantly took his hand, and he helped me up, his red eyes widened in surprise.

"I didn't hear anything about a new TA. Who are you a TA for?" he accused. I resisted the urge to roll my eyes. I should've just come with Nii-san or asked to walk with Shouta.

"She's my TA, Vlad. Back off."

Speak of the handsome devil, and he shall appear.

"Why the hell do you need a TA, Aizawa? You expelled your whole class this year!" the man I now knew to be Vlad asked Shouta, clearly irritated. I looked at Shouta who was in his full hero costume, that while simple, really suited him, and I fought back a blush as his onyx eyes met mine.

"She's training to be a TA for the whole school. As for why she's with me, she has a quirk that she struggles to control at times, so Nezu thought it would be the best option," Shouta responded plainly as he walked up beside me. The two stared at each other for several moments before I cleared my throat slightly to get their attention, earning a momentarily surprised expression from Shouta at my assertiveness in a social situation that should have me running for the hills.

"Sorry for the confusion, Vlad-san. My name is Yamada Shinobu or you can call me by my hero name Muffle. It's a pleasure to meet you, and I look forward to working with you," I greeted respectfully, unable to stop myself from signing nervously as I did so while giving a bow before nervously meeting the large man's eyes momentarily before feeling intimidated and looking away.

"Hmph… Don't worry about it. Sorry for not believing you. And the name's Kan Seikijirou. My hero name is Vlad King," the man responded, his gruff voice much warmer than before as he gave me a small smile I saw out of the corner of my eye. I nodded before turning to Shouta who was looking at me, his expression unreadable.

"Good morning, Shouta," I greeted with a small smile. He nodded in acknowledgement.

"Morning. How's your wrist feeling?" he asked, looking at my still wrapped wrist, "You should have Recovery Girl heal that after the meeting." I shrugged before my eyes widened when I realized…

"The meeting! We're going to be late!" I exclaimed, my voice still quieter than average as I began to frantically look around. Shouta put his hand on my head to get me to stop.

"Chill out. The teacher's lounge is literally right there," he stated pointing two doors down from where I was and I literally facepalmed causing Shouta to remark, "You came without Hizashi and got lost didn't you." I glared at him, my eyes turning black as I cancelled out his sight, hearing, and sense of touch for just a moment, causing him to stumble slightly as the feeling returned back into his legs, earning me a half-hearted glare.

"Ahem," Vlad-san interrupted causing us both to look to him, "We should go before we are late." Nodding in agreement, I followed him, walking beside Shouta. When we reached the door to the teacher's lounge, I took a deep breath to try and calm my nerves before opening the door and walking inside.

"NOBUUUUUUUUU! THERE YOU ARE! I WAs so worried!" The loud quirk enhanced shout of my older cousin rang out in the room accompanied with me being tackled by said blonde, only decreasing when Shouta erased his quirk.

"Awwww! Who is this, Mic? A secret lover? Oooo so scandalous!" an overly seductive voice commented causing me to get more nervous and also grossed out at the thought as I looked up to see none other than the R-rated hero, Midnight. I felt my chest get tight from anxiety as I felt all the eyes in the room move to me and Zashi-nii.

"Nii-san, people are staring," I whispered nervously causing him to release me from the hug before looking at me apologetically.

"Sorry, Nobu! I just got so worried when I couldn't find you this morning," he admitted with a concerned smile on his face.

"Relax, idiot. She's a pro hero. She can manage herself," Shouta's bored voice interrupted everyone staring at us to also stare at him too. My hearing began to flash in and out as I realized I was losing control of my quirk from my nerves. It quit doing this, and I looked over to see Shouta with red eyes and gravity defying hair as I nodded in thanks

"Oh right! Everyone! This is my little cousin, Yamada Shinobu, or the silent hero: Muffle! She's our new TA!" Hizashi introduced me excitedly as I noticed everyone's confused faces turning to one of understanding and I let out a breath that I didn't know I had been holding.

"N-nice to meet you everyone. I look forward to working with all of you," I added, my voice quiet as per usual but a bit shaky from the nerves.

"Are we sure she's related to Mic? She's so quiet," a man I recognized as the pro hero Ectoplasm commented, earning a laugh from the rest of the teachers and causing me to giggle slightly as well.

"Shinobu, come on," Shouta stated, motioning for me to follow him. I did so, and ended up sitting between him and Vlad-san. Hizashi-nii looked a bit upset about this, but I gave him a small reassuring smile that he enthusiastically returned before Nezu came in and started the meeting.

The meeting had been fairly straight forward. It was mostly an introduction of me to the rest of the faculty, letting them know about my two quirks as well as the fact that I would basically be shadowing Shouta for the year until I could get both of my quirks completely under control. Everyone seemed very understanding of the whole situation to which I was insanely grateful for. Despite my anxious disposition, I found myself relaxing a bit by the end of the meeting as each of the other teachers introduced themselves to me.
After the meeting ended, Shouta showed me around campus as a refresher especially after I admitted to getting lost this morning. We went over how the classes work at UA, which wasn't much different from when I had went there, as well as who taught what classes, and what my responsibilities as a TA would be. By the time we finished going over my responsibilities, it was lunch time and Shouta led me to the cafeteria. I ordered a simple miso soup that I then took with us to the teacher's lounge. Meanwhile, the raven-haired man beside me just drank a juice box.

Once we reached the teacher's lounge, Shouta showed me where my desk was before pulling out a giant yellow sleeping bag that seemed to self inflate when he pulled it out of his pocket. He climbed into and zipped it up before laying down on the floor next to my desk and closing his eyes.

"Um…. Shouta-kun?" I called out curiously causing him to hum and open one tired onyx eye in response, "What are you doing?"

"Sleeping. Wake me up when lunch is over," he stated before closing his eyes, seeming to pass out instantaneously as I suppressed a giggle. He looks like a giant yellow caterpillar.

"Aizawa decide to nap instead of eating lunch again?" a gruff voice asked from beside me. I turned to see Vlad sitting at the desk beside me and nodded.

"Good afternoon, Vlad-san," I greeted as I began to eat my lunch.

"You can call me, Seikijirou," the man beside me stated, his voice a little less confident than I had heard it before, and when I looked at him in confusion, he didn't meet my eyes.

"Um… Wouldn't that be rude?" I asked nervously, really not wanting to offend anyone on my first day at the job.

"Hmph… You call Aizawa by his first name," he pointed out bluntly causing my face to flush as I looked down at the underground hero currently passed out on the floor beside my desk.

"Ah… Yeah… He and Hizashi-nii have been best friends for years, so it's kind of the only thing I hear him called," I claimed but even to me it sounded a bit like an excuse, "Plus, he asked me to." Looking at Vlad, I see him give a small smile.

"Well, I'm asking you to as well. Besides, you don't have to only be close to people that Mic is," he reasoned, his face tinted red. I tilted my head to the side slightly in confusion before deciding to let it go and giving the large man a small smile.

"A-Alright, Seikijirou-san. Then, please call me Shinobu. I don't really like to be called Yamada-san or something," I admitted shyly while signing, earning a smirk from the large blood hero. He looked almost proud? What an odd man… Oh well… At least everyone here seems friendly!

Lunch continued with pleasant conversation between Seikijirou and I as we found we both worked under the same hero, just at different times. My mentor, Nightshade, had been his as well. We had a lot of fun talking about the trouble people got into when he was there and all the times I got sent to her office for accidentally pricking myself on one of her less than safe plants.

Nightshade was an older heroine whose quirk allowed her to make poisonous plants as well as create plants that worked as antidotes for those poisons. When I first graduate UA, she was one of the only heroes willing to take on a sidekick that had a known "villainous quirk" as well as struggling to control it. She had taken me under her wing and worked with me to control my sensory cancellation quirk. Unfortunately, her decision to retire is what cost me my job and caused me to have to move back to Musutafu. She had even called Nii-san ahead of time to let him know of her decision and made sure I could come stay with him. Nightshade was my mentor, but she had very much treated me like a daughter; though, I didn't share all this with Seikijirou. These were feelings I hadn't even expressed to her. It made me miss my own mom. Stop, Shinobu. Don't go there. You won't be able to get out of it.

"Shinobu, lunch is over," a low, tired voice stated as a hand was put on my shoulder, shaking me slightly out of my thoughts, causing me to look up to see a slightly concerned Shouta and an obviously worried Seikijirou.

"Hey, Shinobu, are you okay? I didn't mean to offend you by asking… You could just say no," Seikijirou said gruffly, his expression slightly embarrassed. I shook my head in confusion.

"I'm sorry, Seikijirou-san," I apologized noticing the slight narrowing of Shouta's eyes at me calling him by his first name, "I got lost and didn't hear your question." The blood hero looked relieved before repeating himself.

"I asked if you would like to go get coffee with me after work? Ya know, share more stories about Nightshade's agency or what's changed since you left this area," he asked, his face looking slightly more nervous.

I blushed nervously. Now, I had never been in a romantic relationship in my life. But even I knew when I was being asked on a date. The thought made me nervous. I mean yeah Seikijirou-san seemed nice and all, but I barely knew the guy! Nightshade did say I should try and live my life differently when I came back to Musutafu though… What's the harm in going on one date? If it doesn't go well, I can just tell him I want to be just friends right? With that thought, I took a breath to answer but was interrupted.

"She's busy this weekend."

Shouta's usually tired voice had a slight edge to it, and I looked at him in confusion. Seikijirou took notice of my expression and glared at the underground hero.

"Really?" he challenged standing up, towering over Shouta with his massive form, though Shouta looked undeterred.

"Yes. Really. She has quirk training and patrols this weekend as part of her other job," Shouta responded, not looking away from Seikijirou's glare. I sighed. Of course. I forgot I work two jobs now. Standing between the two of them, I looked up at Seikijirou apologetically.

"Sorry, Seikijirou-san. Since I just moved to the area, I'm still getting used to my new schedule," I apologized with a small bow earning a small nod in understanding from the large blood hero.

"No problem. Just let me know when you get used to it, Shinobu. Maybe we can plan for after work on one of your days off from your other job," Seikijirou suggested optimistically with a small smile at me before shooting a look at Shouta before saying goodbye and taking his leave, leaving Shouta and I in the teacher's lounge alone.

"Shinobu," Shouta stated causing me to look at him in acknowledgment, "You do realize he was asking you on a date, right?" I nodded and he quirked an eyebrow. "So you wanted to go on a date with him?" I shrugged. "That's not a very reassuring answer." I shrugged again, not wanting to explain myself to the raven-haired male. Wanting to avoid discussing the issue further, I walked toward the door, fully aware of his onyx eyes boring into my back, so I decided to make sure he didn't follow me.

"Bathroom," I answered his unspoken question of where I was going, leaving Shouta in the teacher's lounge alone with his other unanswered questions and leaving with dozens of my own.

Song: Waves by Dean Lewis