NeonHorizon: I'm not sure if I want to do longer chapters or shorter chapters for this series. Chapter one was five pages, chapter two is four. Let me know if you prefer longer chapters.

The cats were meowing. Begging for food, even though there was still a little left in their bowls. Aizawa, being who he was, had no choice. He would have to put off what he was about to do and make sure the bowls were refilled.

As he poured some food into the bowls, he watched them gather. The mother cat, her three offspring, and the hairless cat called Gremlin. One was missing. He finished filling the dishes and sighed, knowing already where he would find the last cat.

Sure enough, the chubby black and white feline known as Panda had waddled into Eri's room and was curled up on the girl's bed at her side. The child was sleeping peacefully and even slept through Panda's loud meow of protest when Aizawa lifted him off the blanket.

As much as Eri loved the cat, as much as the cat loved Eri, Aizawa had reservations about letting Panda sleep in her room. He was a large cat and if he decided to sleep on Eri's pillow, Aizawa could imagine him accidentally smothering the child in her sleep. Looking down at the cat, he sighed and stroked behind Panda's ears. "I'll be back."

No further word was given. He left the dorms without even looking back. After all, this was normal for him now. Aizawa left at night, after Eri had gone to sleep, and went off to search for Grayscale.

He knew she needed help. When he last saw her, the girl's tails were crooked and crudely wrapped in bandage. She was in obvious pain, but trying so hard to act like a villain. Like she had no kindness to offer him. Like he was a stranger. He even had a scar on his shoulder from where one of her stingers had stabbed him.

Aizawa had to save her, even if she claimed to be a villain. No matter what she did, no matter what she said, Grayscale was still Grayscale. They had history together. She had saved his life. She had helped him heal. Now he was determined to do the same for her.

The man went to the area where he had last seen her and began his search. He watched for women with long, pale hair or exposed tails. Unfortunately, tails were still kind of uncommon. White hair was also uncommon; especially in women in their mid-twenties. It was shaping up to be another night of disappointment.

The hours passed slowly and Aizawa's patience started to wear thin. He was tired. He wanted so badly to just go back to the dorms and sleep. However, even more than that, he wanted to find her. Even after everything, he loved her.

He loved Grayscale's sarcasm and how she acted when she was flustered. He loved how she worried over other people and rushed to help out. He loved her laugh and the way she flirted. He had to find her and make sure that she was alright. Aizawa had to save her.

Shift P.O.V

Exhausted from fighting. A bit battered and bruised. A decent amount of feathers missing. He approached the apartment door and put on a smile. At least it was over and now he could relax. Best of all, he had his "project" to look forward to. That was enough to make the grueling day worth it.

Hawks unlocked the door and entered with a cheerful grin. "I'm home!" The door closed behind him and he cocked his head to the side, blinking in surprise. Usually she would be waiting near the window or on the couch. She was nowhere to be seen. "Grayscale? I'm home."

He walked toward the open bathroom doorway, his grin falling. If she escaped, he would have to find her as soon as possible. No one knew she had been staying with him. As far as he knew, the League of Villains had assumed that she went off on her own plan to acquire funds for them. If they knew that he took her, Hawks would be in a lot of trouble. His cover would be blown. Dabi would know everything and his spying days would be over.

"Grayscale?" The bathroom was empty and he felt his pulse quicken. If she escaped, even if the League of Villains failed to recollect her, he would definitely be in trouble for harboring a villain. Hawks, still fatigued from his earlier fight, started planning where he would go to search for her first and had to pause and wonder if he even had enough strength left to do so.

It was as he moved toward his closed bedroom door that he found her. The ex-villain was curled up on her side on the floor behind the couch, sleeping soundly. She was still wearing her glasses and had ink splotches on her hands and wrists. There were a number of papers under and around her, bearing sketches of character designs.

Hawks breathed a sigh of relief and crouched down beside her, running his fingers through his hair. The hero's wings twitched anxiously at the thought of what might have happened. He reached down to pull her glasses off, folding them and setting them aside.

A grin tugged at the corners of his mouth as he stood and continued the walk to his bedroom. For a second there, I thought I lost my "project". That wouldn't be any fun if it was over that quickly. The hero paused in his steps and looked over his shoulder.

The ex-villain's tails lifted and quietly smacked against the floor, the cast making a clicking sort of sound. Dark venom dripped from her stingers, droplets falling onto the floor beneath her. She mumbled something and curled into a tighter ball, arms wrapped around herself.

He saw her nails digging into her upper arms and winced when she began to bleed. "Grayscale? Hey. Don't do that." Glancing to his room and then back to her, his grin fell once more. Deciding he had no choice, Hawks crouched down beside the tailed girl again and gently pried her hands away from her arms. In response, her tails whipped upwards as if to sting him, but the casts severely limited her movement. "Hey; it's okay. You're okay."

Sitting on the floor, he looked down at the sketches. There were small, dead birds scrawled in the margins of her character designs. He rubbed the back of his neck, looking from her slightly frowning, sleeping face and the horrific dead birds.

She had been through some pretty terrible stuff. Hawks knew this already. The moment they first met, when Dabi brought her to a meeting just to show her off, Hawks had decided that he was going to take her so he could help. He could see it in her eyes; she was breaking apart.

These sketches look great though, he thought as he marveled over the designs. His plans for her rehabilitation might have been flimsy and hastily put together, but there was one thing he was absolutely certain of. He was going to get her manga published. He could figure out the rest after that happened.

Shift P.O.V

Yori woke on the floor behind the couch, tears dried on her cheeks. She pushed herself to sit up and looked around, but her vision was blurry. The ex-villain felt around and found her glasses folded neatly nearby. As she slid them on, she felt instant regret.

"Oh cool; you're awake. Dinner's on the table. I'll be right there." Hawks grinned at her from the open bathroom doorway, acting completely unaware of the fact that the only thing he was wearing was a towel around his waist.

She lowered her gaze slowly, trying not to act flustered, and glared at the floor. "You know, I'm pretty sure even birds can get colds," she muttered.

He had started to walk to his room and paused to look at her over his shoulder. His eyes narrowed slightly. The bright grin was suddenly replaced with a sort of smirk as he turned to face her. "What's wrong with that? I could use a day off. Think of how many pages we could get done."

"Yeah, yeah." Yori redirected her attention to the character designs on the floor around her. She had been in the middle of trying to design an antagonist when she dozed off. I was joking before. I thought he'd change his mind if I said it had to be a shoujo manga. I didn't think I'd get so interested in this.

The girl went to sit on the couch, carrying her pages and supplies with her. Looking at the table, she tilted her head. There was a paper bag sitting on the table's surface. What did he get for dinner? If it's scorpions again…Yori opened the bag and found bento boxes as well as a gift-wrapped little box. What's this supposed to be? Is this for Endeavor?

Trying to imagine Hawks presenting this weird little wrapped box to the hero she despised, Yori snorted. She shook her head and bit the inside of her cheek, tails thumping softly against the couch cushions. No way. If he got something for Endeavor, it would be way bigger than whatever this is. He's the kind of idiot that would probably get an Endeavor tattoo on his chest.

Hawks hopped over the back of the couch, settling heavily beside her and reaching for the bag. He dug the disposable chopsticks out first and held his in his mouth as he started getting their food out. "You shouldn't sleep behind the couch. You almost gave me a heart attack," he muttered.

"What? Were you worried about me?" she taunted.

"If someone else caught you, you'd go to jail," Hawks replied, his eyebrows furrowing. "That wouldn't be any fun."

"This is fun for you?" Yori saw him nod as he offered her a bento box. She grimaced slightly at the fact that he had traded his towel for a pair of pajama pants. Just pajama pants. No shirt. Wings spread wide behind him as his feathers dried. Well, what feathers were left. He looked kind of ragged.

Looking at his wings, she frowned. "What happened? Did you piss off the wrong chicken?" she attempted to joke.

Hawks was in mid-bite and grinned. "Awww. Are you worried about me, Grayscale? Want to patch me up?"

"…no…" She began eating and saw him quickly devour his first bento before helping himself to another. How many bento boxes did he get? Looking at his patchy feathers, Yori bit deeper into the inside of her cheek. It was clear that he had been in a pretty brutal fight, but it was also clear that he had no desire to tell her about it.

The ex-villain took stock of his bruises and cuts. She noted the handfuls of feathers that he was missing. Yori lifted another mouthful of food to her lips and chewed. When he got up and went to the bathroom, returning with a medical kit, she expected him to ask her to take care of his injuries.

Instead, Hawks sat beside her and rummaged in the kit for a roll of gauze. He hummed quietly and leaned over. Getting close, he gently moved her right arm so he could wrap her upper arm. Only then did Yori even notice the small, crescent-shaped gouges in her skin. "Can you turn so I can get the other one, too?"