Enthusiasm and trepidation clashed within him as he moved down the sidewalk, but his mask was holding him together. It would have to stay on until he was back in the hotel room. Back in his soulmate's embrace. Thinking about her now filled him with such a feeling of love that he started to grin beneath his mask.

He remembered her gentle touch, the soft way she had spoken to him, and the warm flush of her cheeks from just earlier that evening. It was more fuel for the fire already burning in his heart. He loved her and, amazingly enough, she loved him back. It was truly an incredible feeling to be so completely accepted by someone.

"Want to take it down a notch? You're skipping," Dabi muttered beside him.

"I can't help it! I'm excited! Oh yeah?! You take it up a notch and get on my level, Dabi!" Jin pointed at him, his arm waving to demonstrate his frustration and excitement. "This was your idea! How about a little enthusiasm?"

The other villain smirked in response. "She's a member of our team. The leader would want us to keep her from getting grabbed by someone else, right?"

"What does he know anyway? Yeah, you're totally right!" He shrugged and looked up ahead at the bar they were approaching. "This is the place? Ugh, what a dive!"

"It's the ramen place next to the bar."

"What?! Why would they be in a ramen shop? You said you knew where they'd be!" Jin turned his head to study the ramen restaurant with skepticism.

When Dabi said he knew where to find more people that were searching for Neneko, Jin had leapt at the chance to put a stop to their attempts before they could make a move. Now he was unsure of whether this was really a good idea or not. He wanted to protect Neneko, but this seemed somewhat shady.

The half-charred villain continued to the shop's entrance and leaned against the wall about a foot away from the door. "If my source was right, the first guy is going to leave soon. We'll grab him when he steps outside."

Nodding his agreement, Jin went to stand on the other side of the door with his arms crossed. He was silent for a few seconds before a question popped into his head. "Hey, Dabi! You never said where you got your info from. Seems pretty sketchy."

His smirk grew and Dabi brushed some ashes off of his jacket. "People will tell you anything if it's for survival. Besides, if it's a trap then I'll just burn them all before they get too close."

Jin nodded again, but felt a little uneasy. He had known what Dabi would do with the guy that had tried to take Neneko. It was obvious that he was going to kill him. It was wrong, but it was necessary if they wanted to keep the translator safe. Jin understood that, but if he thought about it too much then it added to that horrible feeling that he was going to split apart. Killing was wrong, but he needed to protect Neneko so it was correct. It was too confusing to focus on.

The door opened about five minutes after Dabi last spoke and the dark-haired villain said a name. The man turned to ask how he knew his name and that was Jin's cue. He grabbed the man by the back of the neck and forcefully guided him into the alley to the right of the ramen shop.

As he shoved him face-first into the wall, his other hand pinning the man's right arm behind his back, Jin's thoughts were solely on Neneko. Remembering when he had entered her apartment to find her face bleeding and bruised. The fear and pain she had suffered. The way she trembled when this man's accomplice came after them earlier that night.

"You're supposed to be looking for a woman, right? She's got long black hair and purple eyes?" The question came from Dabi as he sauntered into the alley and stood between them and the street beyond. "Neneko, right, Twice?"

Jin's grip on the man's neck and arm tightened, his teeth gritting when he heard Dabi say her name that way. There was a clenching sensation in his chest, around his heart, but he focused instead on the task at hand. The sooner this was over, the sooner she would be safe. The sooner he could be sleeping next to Neneko and holding her. The sooner he could feel comfortable again.

"Look! It's my boss that wants her! She knows too much so-!" The man hissed in pain, feeling his arm bent sharply upwards.

"You guys just wanna hurt her! What's he want her for anyway?!" Jin demanded. His pulse was racing, imagining the absolute worst.

"I-I don't know what he's planning to do when he gets her! Rumor is that he already killed her and brought her back once!" A howl of agony erupted as his arm snapped.

Beneath his mask, Jin's eyes were teary. He choked back a cry as he drew the man's head back and slammed his forehead against the wall, knocking him out. The unconscious gang member was dropped heavily to the ground as Jin stared blankly at the wall, panic rising within him. She…died?! No! No, no, no! Neneko! She didn't die! She couldn't have died! If he killed her then how's she alive? Come on! This guy's out of his mind!

"Gross. The bone's showing in his arm." Dabi walked over and nudged the toe of his boot against the man's ribs. There was only a faint twitch of the fingers on his good hand. "Whatever. We've got two more that I got the names of." He glanced over at Jin and raised an eyebrow. "Twice?"

He shook his head and gave Dabi an enthusiastic thumbs-up. Leaving the alley ahead of Dabi, he started to feel sick to his stomach. The thought of Neneko dying was too much for him to handle. He imagined her lying dead on the floor of her tea room, skin growing paler and blood running from her mouth. Her violet eyes wide and lifeless.

I'm…not going to let that happen! I'll protect her no matter what! Jin heard the crackle of flames behind him in the alley and kept facing forward. He closed his eyes, trying to imagine what he would do when he got back to the hotel room. More than anything, he really wanted to cuddle with her again. It would be the perfect ending for their date night.

By the time he and Dabi had finished their task of more or less eliminating the men that Dabi knew had been assigned to look for Neneko, it was around three o'clock in the morning. The dark-haired villain had a fresh coat of ashes on his jacket and in his hair. Jin had managed to avoid getting hit with any of them; he was pretty good at dodging, after all.

He had started to feel tired, but now that they were done he felt cheerful. "This was great! She's gonna be so safe now! Until they send more guys!" Looking toward Dabi, he saw the younger man yawn and stretch his arms over his head. "What's your problem? You should be celebrating! We saved Sorrow! For a little while, anyway!"

"Sorrow, huh? Her name's Neneko, right?"

Jin felt that he was sufficiently "together" enough to pull his mask up. He drew his cigarettes from his pocket as well as his lighter and lit a cigarette. "It's…Kuroiwa Neneko. She didn't want anyone to know so-"

"Yeah, yeah. Who would I tell anyway? Leader, maybe. Bet he already knows so what's the point?" Dabi seemed to suddenly notice the ashes on his clothes and hair. With a look of frustration, he started shaking them off of him. "You knew she was Mystic, didn't you?"

The blond man tensed and anxiously ran his fingertips along his scar, his head bowed to try to hide his deep frown. "Y-yeah…I found out."

"You found out? What? So she didn't tell you? She likes secrets, doesn't she?" He studied Jin's expression as the older man took a drag from his cigarette. Smoke blew away in a thin stream and Dabi watched it with half-interest. "What else do you think she's hiding?"

"She isn't hiding anything! Ngh! Don't…say stuff like that! She wouldn't keep secrets from me. We…know everything about each other. We're soulmates." Jin's fingers ran through his hair as he found himself hunching forward a little.

"Seriously? You…sound like an old couple. Lame."

"What's your problem? You're just jealous I've got such a cute girl-! No! Stop! I mean…ngh! Just shut up! I know what you're trying to say and you're wrong, got it?! She…loves me! And I love her! And we don't keep secrets from each other!"

Shift P.O.V

Neneko attempted to stay awake to wait for Jin's return, but it proved difficult. She was accustomed to going to sleep somewhat early since she usually began her translation work around eight o'clock in the morning. Efforts were made to attempt to keep herself awake, of course.

She made black tea for herself and Toga before initiating the first lesson. The girl expressed an interest in learning how to say "I love you" in English first so Neneko set about trying to teach her the correct pronunciation. She was amazed to find Toga picking it up rather quickly.

The blonde girl had inevitably dozed off on the couch around one o'clock and now Neneko was sitting on the floor in front of the coffee table. She was trying to keep herself from falling asleep by creating some handmade worksheets for Toga to work on. I believe she is seventeen…I have to wonder what why she has chosen the path of a villain. Giran did mention that she is no longer in contact with her parents…

She looked across the table at the girl sleeping on the couch. Neneko tucked a loose strand of hair behind her ear and returned to her task. Toga has potential in regards to learning new languages. I believe it would suit her quirk as well. If she were to use her quirk to assume the identity of a foreigner, knowledge of a different language would certainly help her ability to fully play her role.

Neneko heard footsteps approaching the hotel room door and seconds later, it was opened. She was relieved to see Jin unharmed and alone. The translator stood, intending to walk over to greet him. Instead, she found herself being swept off her feet and carried bridal style into the bedroom.

"Jin…are you…alright?" she questioned.

He sat on the edge of the bed, with her on his lap, and closed his eyes. The man's arms wrapped around her, pulling her against his chest. No explanation was offered in regards to what he and Dabi had done when they left. He failed to even tell her where Dabi was. It seemed that holding her was his number one priority.

Seeing him like this made her worry and Neneko's arms slid around his neck, pulling him close into her embrace. She let her fingers run through his hair, gently, and soon felt his hold on her loosen as he relaxed. "Jin? You have me worried. Please…could you tell me what happened?"

The man shook his head and drew one arm away so he could pull his mask from his pocket. It was tossed onto the bedside table shortly before he fell onto his back on the mattress and continued to hold her against him. "Neneko, I…I want to know…everything about you. I don't want us to have any secrets," he said through gritted teeth, struggling with his conflicting emotions.

She frowned and buried her face in the side of his neck, her pale hands clutching the front of his shirt. If I do confide in him, will he keep it a secret from those villains? I have no desire for anyone to know my birth name. Much less the atrocity I committed in my youth…

"If…if I were to tell you…I would need your silence," she whispered.

"We're soulmates! I…I'd never say something that you want me to keep secret!" he argued.

Soulmates…The word made her heart skip a beat and she knew she had to tell him. To continue to keep it a secret would be disloyal. She really, truly loved him and knew he felt the same way towards her. "Very well. My birth name…was Hitokoe Nageku…but I was forced to abandon that name with my past…shortly after my quirk caused my father to…take his own life…"

The young woman quietly told him everything about the terrible event and expressed to him that Hitokoe Nageku was not who she was now. The person she had grown up to become was Kuroiwa Neneko and that was how she preferred to be addressed. Truthfully, before losing contact, her mother had even stopped calling her Nageku and referred to her as Neneko.

She told him about how she was raised, how she had rebelled via foreign language, and included stories she thought he may find interesting. Gradually, they moved from lying across the bed sideways to lying lengthwise with Neneko's head resting on his chest. His arm was wrapped around her, his body heat comforting and gradually lulling her towards sleep.

"This evening…I began teaching Toga-chan how to say "I love you" in English," she eventually told him. "She's actually quite good with English pronunciation. I believe she has the potential to pick up the language if she practices."

Jin, now quite relaxed and most likely drawing in the direction of sleep as well, half-smiled sheepishly and tucked his free arm beneath his head as added cushioning. "How do you say that?"

She said it in English and saw his lips move a few times as he tested the words out. When he spoke them to her, Neneko flushed pink and she closed her eyes. "Ah…your pronunciation…is quite decent, Jin."

There was a certain surge of joy within her. Hearing him say that he loved her made her quite happy. Additionally, she was fond of foreign languages so the bonus of him saying it in English only made things that much better. She leaned up to press a gentle kiss to his lips and found herself being pulled closer to deepen it.