Nozomi released a nervous laugh and shook her head. "League of Villains? Sorry, mister, but you've got the wrong person. Why would the League of Villains care about where a mangaka is? I doubt any of them are huge manga fans! What a silly question!"

On the inside, she was starting to panic again. She had let her guard down since he was asking so many innocent questions. Now it was one hundred percent certain that he knew who she was, if there was even a question of that to begin with. Not only that, but the thought of the villains knowing her whereabouts terrified her.

If she put Eri and the students in danger just by being in the dorms, she would never forgive herself. She wanted to protect them. All of them. Her caretaker instincts would never let her stay if the villains came for her.

"Hiyori-"

"Sir…I think you're a little confused. My name's Nozomi. Tsukihara Nozomi."

"Hiyori, listen-"

"I have to take lunch to the kid now. Have a good day." She quickly plated a portion of food for Eri, not even caring about getting food for herself at this point. She just wanted to get away. Nozomi wanted to get back to Eri and resume playing their games or working on her manga.

The ex-villain heard Yagi talking, but ignored it. In her haste, she subconsciously let her tails fall from around her waist and the stingers anxiously started to click together. She walked to the door as quickly as possible, but was stopped by a hand gripping her upper arm.

She froze, amber eyes narrowing and lifting to meet his gaze as she scowled. "What do you want, old man? You know, you're…really pushing it. Calling me the wrong name. Asking about villains."

"Hiyori, stop it. I know you."

"You...shouldn't call me by that name." Her words dripped with venom as she spoke, her tails lifting and stingers clicking louder. "Yagi. Let go."

"I'm sorry." He did as she said, but followed her out of the kitchen. "I know you've been through a lot, but-"

"You have no idea what I've been through." She gritted her teeth, walking with her head bowed and trying to hide the wet sheen of her eyes. "I…don't even know what "Hiyori" or "Yori" are supposed to be like anymore. I don't feel like them. I don't even know "Nozomi" enough to know how to act. I shattered…after the last time I saw you. The things that happened…the things I've seen and felt…the things I did. I broke apart and…I'm still trying to reassemble."

Yagi came up beside her, resting a hand on her shoulder and half-expecting her to shake off his touch. Instead, he found her moving close and leaning her head against the side of his arm. "Nozomi. I'm sorry. I won't push you again, alright? I just wanted to know that you're safe. That was why I asked. If they do know where you are, I won't let them take you."

She took a deep breath, trembling with a blend of fear and frustration. Arms encircled her and the ex-villain's eyes went wide as she found herself pulled into a hug. Strangely, her pulse remained even and calm. There was no rush of terror, like when other men got too close to her. No moment of panic or flashes of memories of pain.

Tears slid down her cheeks and she released a sigh. "…not even Shouta can touch me…without me feeling like I might break apart from fear…" she mumbled. It was an awkward hug; a side-hug befitting a hero like All Might trying to be respectful. Still, it brought her comfort. "I never felt afraid of you. Not even when I was a villain. Heh. You're too pure-hearted, Yagi."

"Don't say embarrassing things like that," he muttered.

She snorted and shook her head. Pulling out of the hug, she half-grinned. "I forgot how cute you get when you're embarrassed," she taunted. "Did you want to eat with me and the kid?"

"You didn't get any food." He rubbed the back of his neck as he watched her tails slide up into her shirt and settle around her waist again.

"I'm not that hungry anyway." It was a lie. After all, she had skipped breakfast since she gave the portion she had set aside for herself to Bakugou. Her stomach was quietly growling, but she ignored it.

"No, that's okay. I'll just eat in the kitchen."

With a shrug, she turned and continued back to Eri's room. The little girl seemed to really enjoy the food, which brought Nozomi some joy. If I can make people smile, that's enough for me. I don't really need much else, right? And when I was a villain, I could never do things like this. The only person I was supposed to make smile was Shigaraki.

Unfortunately, just thinking his name was enough to trigger certain memories. She remembered him complaining that her glasses got in the way of her actually looking at him and destroying several pairs of them until Kurogiri finally convinced him to stop. Getting beaten up when she fought people in a game store to get him a limited edition game for Christmas. Sitting with him and watching him play a dating sim for hours. Playing the game herself when he insisted.

Sadly, she did have memories of him that were less painful and annoying. Memories of tending to his wounds. Memories of running her fingers through his hair to calm him down when he got angry. Memories of sleeping next to him and feeling him cling to her for comfort. It was odd and it made her chest feel tight. Like she was in pain. For a brief moment, she wondered where he was and if he was alright, but then forced herself to push those thoughts away.

Instead, she found herself wondering where Hawks was. He was supposed to pick me up this morning. I would've thought he would at least come in to see why I wasn't waiting out there for him. She ran her fingers along the braid in her hair, skimming her fingertips over the red feather woven into her golden locks.

Eri saw her staring out the window and frowned. "…you…have to leave…?"

Nozomi shook her head and smiled. "Nope. Not yet, anyway."

The child nodded to herself before she resumed working on her picture. "I…I don't like it when you leave."

Hearing such sadness in the kid's voice, she turned away from the window and sat beside her on the couch. "I wish I didn't have to, but I'm not safe to be around," she tried to explain.

Looking up at her, Eri tilted her head. "Your tails…?"

"Oh. Um. Well, those are dangerous, too. But there are…bad people…after me, Eri-chan. If I stay here for too long, they might find me and-"

"He won't find you! He's…locked up."

Nozomi's eyes widened, realizing that Eri was talking about Overhaul. She thought that Nozomi was afraid that Overhaul was going to take her. This sent a chill down her spine and she bit the inside of her cheek. "No…you're right, Eri-chan. He can't hurt either of us anymore. You're right." She let the child move closer when she seemed to get a little anxious.

When Eri went for a nap, the ex-villain went to the window again. It was afternoon. She knew classes had ended a bit ago so soon the students would be returning, as well as Aizawa. Her gaze skimmed over everything she could see outdoors; trees, buildings, the road itself, every blade of grass, ever pebble.

Overhaul can't hurt me anymore, but if the League of Villains finds me, I…might not make it out alive. I need to strategize. If I do get caught, who would still be on my side? Twice and Toga. That's fine. But if I get caught by Dabi or Shigaraki…I'll definitely get hurt. Compress is a wild card; there's no telling whose side he's really on. Spinner's too neutral to pick a side. Could Twice even stand up to Dabi and Shigaraki if he had to?

The door behind her opened and closed. Footsteps approached her, but paused a few feet away. "What are you doing?"

She jolted, tails falling from around her waist and straightening in surprise. Looking over her shoulder, she found Aizawa staring at her in what seemed to be fatigued curiosity. "Strategizing."

"For what?" He rubbed at the back of his neck, grimacing when he rolled his shoulders and they made a sound. "Where's Eri?"

"She's taking a nap." Nozomi turned to face him completely and almost smirked as she felt a flicker of her old self surface. "Need a massage, Shouta~?"

"Yeah."

The ex-villain blinked in surprise. She had expected him to get upset about her teasing him, but he seemed to not care. "Heh. Okay so sit down and I'll get started. Shoulders and neck, right?" She got behind the couch when he sat and began rubbing to the best of her ability. He had shed his scarf so that it made it a little bit easier at least.

"Maybe if you didn't slouch so much, it wouldn't hurt," she commented.

"What'd you do today?"

"Heh. Are we playing house or something? Oh, darling! What do you want first? Dinner, a bath, or me~? I made breakfast for everyone, played some games with Eri, worked on the next volume of my manga, made some lunch, talked to Yagi, and now I'm giving a massage to this hot, scruffy guy that asks too many questions."

He was silent for a moment and then released a groan of pleasure when she seemed to loosen a knot in the muscles behind his right shoulder. "So did you have a good day?" Aizawa finally asked.

"I mean, I cried, but it was still a pretty good day. Hawks never showed up, though. Did he call you today?" She slid her arms around the front of his shoulders, giving a slight hug and pressing a teasing kiss to the side of his neck.

The hero slouched forward, resting his elbows on his knees and letting his dark hair fall to hide his face from her. "Do you want to leave?"

"It's not that. I'm legitimately worried about him. He didn't call or send you a message or anything?"

"No." He heard her walking around the side of the couch and watched from the corner of his eye as she sat on the opposite end from him. "You had a good day?" he asked again.

"Yeah. It was a good day," she assured him. "Not super exciting, but it was pretty calm and I liked hanging out with Eri."

Shift P.O.V

Hawks had called him. Several times. With each call, he sounded a little more distressed in the messages he left. He needed Nozomi to stay at the dorms for a bit longer than expected and Aizawa had the suspicion that it was due to villains finding out where the two lived. It made sense since Hawks had the habit of flying everywhere he went, drawing attention to himself.

She can't leave. If I'm going to ask her, now's the time. However, he was still hesitant. It was illogical to wait to ask, but he was a bit anxious about how she might react. He knew her pretty well and had a feeling about which way this might go.

Turning to look at Nozomi directly, he saw she had her legs drawn up to her chest and she was toying with the red feather braided into her hair. Nervous. Defensive. Like she was still a little afraid of him, but he tried not to be angry about that. After all, she had been through a lot and he was trying to help her heal.

If he told her about the messages Hawks had left, she would become even more afraid. So, logically, he chose to keep that information from her. Especially since that knowledge would sway her answer to his question. "I want to hire you to be Eri's caretaker while I'm working. It would be for about nine hours a day and it would be easy work; just take care of her, cook a little, keep her room clean. What do you think?"

She glanced over, her glasses sliding down her nose a bit. There was alarm in her sharp amber eyes and it seemed like, for an instant, she was reliving some of her trauma. "…Eri's…caretaker…?"

He sighed, frustrated. Realizing too late that this was probably the same way Overhaul had asked her to work for him. "I should've worded that differently. I'm sorry-"

"So. Try again then," she murmured, head bowed now. Her fingers ran along her braid over and over, trembling.

"Okay." Aizawa rubbed the back of his neck, trying to figure out how to do this. How do I word this in a way that won't remind her of what happened? The answer came when he looked down at the drawings on the floor. Crayon drawings by Eri that showed herself, Nozomi, and Aizawa surrounded by cats. "I want to hire you to be her mom."

There was a moment of silence, in which he was worried she might refuse and ask to call Hawks to pick her up. He saw her shoulders tremble and leaned over to apologize, but then realized she was laughing. Laughing so hard that tears were springing to her eyes. "Nozomi?"

"Shouta, that was…heheheh…that was hilarious! That sounded almost like a proposal! Heheh! Workplace harassment much?" She shook her head and ran her fingers through her hair, pushing it away from her face. "But, yeah, I'd love to. Especially if it means seeing your sleepy, scruffy cuteness every day."