As one week passed, then two, Izuku found his thoughts of the pink-skinned thief in the cave fading, bit by bit. They were far from gone-just the memory of her eyes was still enough to steal his breath away-but he did manage to function without being constantly plagued with reminders of her. Mostly.

Still, even as Izuku handled the neverending tide of chaos and danger that came with the territory of being a top hero, he found himself surrounded by things that he thought about differently, now that he'd come face-to-face with a mutant woman and seen the rage in her eyes-rage that had been aimed at him.

After that day, whenever Izuku fought villains, he found himself wondering why they were committing crimes. He recognized the hate in their eyes, not as something unjustified or a product of something wrong with them…no, that was the same rage that was in Mina's eyes. And what did that say about her? About the villains who seemed to share her hatred?

What did it say about him? Izuku wasn't sure. He hadn't run into any other mutants since Mina-they weren't exactly common-but he found himself curious about what he would have done if he had. Did every person like her think that they were monsters? Were they right to?

Izuku wasn't stupid; he knew just how dangerous thoughts like that were, especially for the Number One Hero. Some villains may have had the same look on their faces as Mina-anger, mistrust, and more than a little fear-but not all. So very far from all. And Izuku knew that if he hesitated, if he had second thoughts or tried to go easy on any of those real monsters, the ones who went for him not because of desperation but because they simply enjoyed spilling blood, then they would kill him. The fight with Scorpio (and God did Izuku hate how he'd almost died to such a stupidly-named villain) had proved that much. Izuku was tough and strong, practically a force of nature…but that didn't make him invincible.

Still, Izuku couldn't help his newfound hesitancy whenever he went up against the petty kinds of villains, the ones trying to steal a bit of food or pick someone's pocket, and not just because many of them wore cloaks and masks for concealment, meaning he sometimes found himself wondering if it was Mina under there, or someone she knew. No, Izuku knew that he would still give it his all, but at the same time…

His brain was a mess, a warzone of conflicting thoughts. His duty clashed against his experience, years of training brawled with inescapable evidence. He wasn't doubting, not yet…but neither did he share his troubled thoughts with anyone, even Ejiro.

After two weeks, Izuku's worries were beginning to ease. It was getting simpler and less troubling to stop petty criminals, he was still at the top of his game, and he'd finally fully recovered from his near-death encounter with Scorpio. Maybe he'd never see Mina again. Maybe his memories of her would be that one day on a rooftop and in a tunnel in the bowels of the Underground. Maybe the legacy of that day would be a little more understanding of what drove people to villainy, and a little more leniency in how Izuku treated the villains he caught. He could have lived with that. Maybe after years and years, he could have even been satisfied with it, no matter how something at the core of his being yearned for more.

Naturally, because Izuku's life wasn't complicated enough, Mina did show back up in his life. Barely three weeks after he met her, she appeared on his doorstep.

Earlier That Day

Mina had to resist the urge to curse loudly as she sprinted away from the market at top speed. This was what she got for getting cocky, she supposed. She hadn't run into fucking Atlas in a few weeks, not since the weirdest day of her life, and she'd been doing just fine since then. Falling back into old habits and old hunting grounds was as easy as slipping through the maze of tunnels she knew like the back of her hand, and she was an old hand at bouncing back from nearly starving to death.

Unfortunately, that had led to the cockiness that was now very much biting her in the ass. Day after day with barely any heroes around to pose a threat to her had made Mina bolder and bolder, pushing further up the levels of the Underground. She'd stuck to the sixth and seventh levels the first few days, but kept climbing as she succeeded in her thefts again and again.
That had led to her current predicament: high on the second level, clutching a bundle of creatively acquired food, being chased by-

There was a scream as fire and percussion tore a hole in the thin metal roof of the long, low market Mina had been sprinting through. She could feel the heat even through her cloak as the whole structure rung like a gong, and something dropped right through the hole, right on top of her.

If Mina hadn't reacted in time, rolling to the side and slipping behind a recently-abandoned stall that seemed to be selling hand-carved Atlas figurines, she would have been squished by the black combat boots of the hero who had attacked an inhabited building to get to her.

"Jeez, and they think we cause all the property damage," Mina snorted to herself, trying to keep her breathing as quiet as possible so she could hide. The eyes of the really creepy Atlas statuettes bored into her from where they'd fallen down around her. Mina resisted the sudden, bizarre urge to melt them to sludge for being such bad approximations of the real thing's fascinating eyes-

Wait a second. Mina didn't have time to be thinking about Atlas or his stupid fucking eyes. She was ten feet from a very angry hero.

Speaking of that hero, the blonde man stood up as screams and shouts filled the dusty, smoky air; some people tried to crowd closer, snapping pictures, while the smart ones fled out the doors in a stampede that made the long, low building echo confusingly.

Mina stayed very still as the man growled, "Alright, punk, you get one fucking chance, you hear me? Either surrender now, or I blow you the fuck up."

As if to punctuate the threat, the spiky-haired hero's hands began to crackle, tiny explosions going off in his palms. Mina's eyes got wider as she realized just who she was up against.

"Why the actual, ever-loving fuck is Bombshell down here?" she wondered. "Do I just have a fucking talent for finding Top Ten heroes or something?"

Bombshell was the Number Two Hero in Japan, a title he was notorious for hating with a passion almost as violent as his villain captures. Well aside from the inevitable bathroom humor that resulted from his ranking, the man was hypercompetitive, highly aggressive, and quite possibly the best fighter in Japanese heroics, and someone like that definitely wanted-or needed-to be on top of the leaderboards. Supposedly, even Atlas struggled to beat him, and held his position by popularity as much as prowess…though it wasn't like Atlas's fights really deserved the title most of the time, so it was hard to compare them.

But that wasn't why Mina was confused. No, that was because one of the few things she knew well about Bombshell was that he didn't generally work in the Underground, for the simple reason that his quirk's penchant for ludicrous destruction did not go well with the district's confined, delicate spaces, where blowing up the wrong thing could bring down the ceiling on hundreds or thousands of people, or drown them all, or electrocute or suffocate or burn them all alive, if the universe was feeling particularly creative.

"I guess he just came down here specifically to ruin my day," Mina decided sarcastically in the few heartbeats she had to frantically search for a way to escape.

All of a sudden, she found it. Mina's eyes landed on the solid, flat rock wall she was facing, the only obstacle between her and the outside. Like most buildings in the Underground, the market was hewn right from the rock around them, with only a token roof-it didn't rain or snow down here, after all-and the apparatus for heating and cooling and the like stitched on. A wall like this should only be…half a foot thick at most. Probably less.

Despite her racing heart, Mina snorted to herself. Slowly and cautiously, she slumped down further behind the solid wooden stall, extending her legs until both feet could comfortably touch the exterior wall. The quiet hiss of acid flowing through the pores on her boots was quiet enough that it got lost in the excited murmur of the crowd of spectators.

Mina grinned. Now, she didn't have to resist the temptation to insult a hero-in fact, she could indulge herself to her heart's desire. As her feet slowly began to carve through the stone wall, she retorted, "Blow me up? With what, those piddly little popguns?"

The few spectators fell quiet, and Bombshell's growl filled the building.

"He doesn't know where I am," Mina realized as she heard his boots against the stone, a clear sign he was roaming the space. "All the smoke and dust in the air means he didn't see where I went, and the building is so echoey he's having trouble pinning my location down."

"Can it, punk," Bombshell snarled, his hands sparking more and more. "Either you give up and come out with your hands in the air, or you die. End of story."

"Not angry enough," Mina thought, breathing steadily as her foot finally poked through the wall. "He needs to be furious." Both of her lower legs were coated in a layer of potent acid up to the knee now, as she used them to slowly but surely cut a rectangular hole in the wall from the bottom up. She was already almost halfway done.

"I'd be more scared if you were actually smart enough to find me!" Mina called out, making Bombshell's angry growls get louder. "Look at you, fumbling around like a toddler!"

Bombshell spat back, "Enough bullshit. You're a fucking coward, running your mouth while you hide. Come out and die!"

"Nah, I'd really rather not," Mina replied. "I'll just sit here and wait for a real hero to catch me."

There was a half second of silence, save for the hissing of melting stone as Mina brought her legs together at the apex of her rough-but-functional emergency exit. It was wide enough for her to slip out…she just needed to do something about the massive block of stone that sat in the middle of it, far too heavy for her to move on her own.

Luckily, Bombshell seemed to be in a helpful mood. Well…not helpful. More like murderous. He shouted, "That's it, bastard! I'm gonna kill you, we'll see how smart your mouth is then!"

Mina could hear him closing in on the stall she was hiding behind, footfalls getting louder and louder as he stalked towards her. On a whim, she reached down and snatched a couple of the stupid Atlas figurines. Why the hell not? She figured she deserved a souvenir for the dumb, risky, desperate plan she was about to put into action.

She took a deep breath, and jumped up just as Bombshell reduced the stall to splinters with a single strike. She didn't move quite quick enough, though; a long shard of wood managed to hit her in the shoulder, striking deep and sticking in her flesh. Mina was so hopped up on adrenaline she barely felt the pain. All she could think was how bitterly funny it was that the blood dripping from the wound and flowing down the shard that had impaled her was as red as everyone else's.

Mina shook a little as she came face-to-face with the Number Two Hero. His eyes were practically burning with bloodlust, and his wide, toothy smile promised pain. His hands were clenched tight, turning a smoking orange from the heat he was building up.

"There you are," Bombshell sneered, his sheer deadly presence forcing Mina to take stumbling, pained steps backwards until her back was against the wall. He raised a hand as it glowed white. "Any last words, you smug little punk?"

For a moment, Mina wished she wasn't wearing her mask. She wanted Bombshell to see the grin on her face as she replied, "Yes, actually. Here they are: Fuck. You."

Bombshell's left arm shot forwards, and an explosion shot from his palm, flying straight past Mina as she threw herself to the side. She bit back a scream as the motion drove the shard in her shoulder even deeper into her flesh.

When the smoke cleared, Mina nearly laughed. Bombshell was staring at the shattered, missing chunk of wall under his fist with open shock plain on his face. A new window more than large enough for someone to climb through had been punched into the building; the largest surviving chunk of stone, the remnant of the main blockage Mina had cut out, had flown more than fifty feet and ended up shattering the glass storefront of an antiques shop further down the street.

"What the fuck?" he hissed. "Were you trying to get me to-"

He whirled on Mina mid-sentence, eyes narrowing. He began, "You little-"

That was as far as he got before Mina staggered to her feet and charged. Bombshell moved quickly, his fist swinging towards her head, but Mina ducked low, eyes blazing as she brought her knee up right into Bombshell's groin.

There wasn't a man alive who could take a hit like that and not be stunned for a few seconds, Mina knew, and Bombshell was no exception. His eyes bugged out, his words turning into a shocked wheeze as Mina punched him in the chin, shoving them both out of the emergency exit she'd baited him into creating.

Mina and Bombshell tumbled out onto the street, Mina flipping over top of the gasping hero and rolling as she struck the ground. Her body shrieked in pain, a dozen bruises and scrapes opening up as her body scraped across the stone. Her whole shoulder was a white-hot ball of agony, so powerful she could barely move her arm.

Mina's body was moving faster than her mind at this point; by the time she realized she was out of the market, she was sprinting across the abandoned street, ragged cloak flapping as she moved. The nearest building's wall dipped down into a nearly-perfect forty-five-degree angle as it merged into the ground, and it was easy for Mina, even as injured as she was, to sprint up onto the roof, leaping smoothly to the next low, uneven building in the row.

Mina desperately wanted to sprint away, but she was forced to slow down, the adrenaline and the pain shortening her breath. Something in her chest hurt every time she took a deep breath-being so close to that explosion had seriously screwed her up. Even so, she had to resist the urge to laugh. Even the Number Two Hero wasn't good enough to catch her! Mina knew better than to think her skill had done it-her escapes were as much luck as anything-but hot damn did it feel good to outsmart the fucking heroes.

Unfortunately, Mina's luck ran out. An angry roar filled the whole street; Mina chanced a backwards glance as she made her way across the next rooftop.

She immediately wished she hadn't. Bombshell had stood up, bearing nothing worse than a few scratches and a hefty bruise on his pride. His eyes were wild and angry…yet at their centers, there was an odd calm, a terrifying calm. His lips were caught halfway between a snarl and a deadly grin.

There was a ding that Mina tracked to one of the grenade-like gauntlets the hero was wearing. A brief flash of light followed. Bombshell looked down at it, then back up at Mina, who was frozen in her tracks. The jump to the next rooftop was too big to make without more momentum; she would have had to climb down or get a running start or…or something. She didn't have enough time, and the deadly look in Bombshell's eyes was enough to freeze Mina in her tracks.

Mina was familiar with rage and killing intent; live long enough in the Depths, and somebody would try to kill you. She'd dealt with it plenty of times, and the fact that she was still kicking was a testament to her ability to shrug it off. But this-this she couldn't shrug off so easily. Maybe it was because she was already wounded, already trying to run. Maybe it was the fact that this was the first time she'd seen someone with the sheer capability to end her coming at her like this, someone who had so much more power than she did. Or maybe it was because it was a hero, and Bombshell seemed so different from Atlas, than the hero who had sought her out to thank her, had corrected his mistakes, had been kind to her. Yet, they were both heroes, Atlas and Bombshell; the oddness of that struck Mina as Bombshell raised his gauntlet towards the rooftop she was standing on.

For the merest fraction of a second, Mina hesitated; that was all it took. Bombshell raised his other hand to the gauntlet he wore, and said, "Goodbye, punk."

Mina's eyes widened as the biggest explosion she'd ever seen roared towards her. She turned to run, to escape the surge of flame and force that tore through everything in its path, headed right for her. She very nearly made it.

But nearly wasn't good enough. The explosion struck her as she dove off the roof; all searing heat and blinding pain.

And then there was nothing.

Meanwhile, elsewhere on the second level, Izuku was relaxing in his office at the agency, lost in his thoughts. He was off duty, though he was still on call should he be needed, as always. If an emergency happened, Izuku could be in costume and on his way in just a couple of minutes.

Naturally, that jinxed Izuku's hope that there wouldn't be any emergency that day. Almost as soon as the idle thought of his prep time had crossed his mind, the earpiece he always wore while at work began to beep. Instantly jolting from his idle daydream, Izuku hit a button on his earpiece even as he leaped to his feet, ready to move.

"Atlas here. What's wrong?" he demanded, brisk and businesslike.

Ejiro's voice came from the other end, though it lacked the urgency Izuku would have expected if he was being called in to assist with a life-or-death situation. His best friend replied, "Relax, Atlas. This isn't a backup request."

Izuku let out a deep breath, stopping his automatic motions; he'd already gotten past the door to his office, headed right past the agency's side exit and towards the locker room. "Then why are you calling me?" he asked, his voice considerably calmer than it had been.

Ejiro responded, "I thought you should know that an old friend is in town. Bombshell was spotted in the shopping district a few minutes ago."

Instantly, the tension in Izuku's body returned. "Seriously?" he groaned, irritation creeping into his voice. "How many times do we need to tell him he shouldn't be down here?"

"Yeah, because using words with Bakugo always goes so well," Ejiro retorted. His voice sounded half amused, half as annoyed as Izuku was. Izuku knew that Ejiro had always had a…strange sort of relationship with Bakugo, ever since their school days. His redheaded friend certainly admired the sheer stubbornness the man radiated, as well as his combat skill; that was no surprise, though, since Izuku would admit to being similarly impressed. At times, that respect had even seemed to be mutual, as Bakugo calmed and matured while at UA. Even so, the passage of time-and the tutelage of All Might-had made both of them slightly cooler to their explosively violent former classmate. He was certainly a ferociously capable hero, and a terrifying presence on the battlefield-but that was all he was. As much as Izuku knew Katsuki Bakugo wanted his spot, he also knew that the explosive hero would never get it, not as long as he pursued violent strength over all else. There was more to being a hero than endless combat.

Still, Izuku could make a pretty good guess as to why Bakugo would charge into the one place in Japan he was incredibly unwelcome in. "The moron's trying to one-up me again, isn't he?" Izuku grumbled, shaking his head. "Everyone thinks of the Underground as my turf, so he's trying to challenge me with some stupid macho comparison of how good he is at policing it."

"Hey, your guess is as good as mine," Ejiro replied, the tone of his voice suggesting that he was invisibly shrugging. "But if that's his plan, it ain't going so hot for him."

Izuku rolled his eyes. "What did the trigger-happy idiot do now?" he asked, already resigned to dealing with the cleanup.

"Blew up three buildings trying to catch a petty criminal stealing some food," Ejiro told him, his voice full of amusement, though tempered by the seriousness he always retained while on patrol.

Izuku sighed deeply, though he forced himself to focus, ignoring the odd worry that stole over him at the description of who Bakugo had been chasing. Could it have been Mina? Maybe…though it was unlikely. There were lots of petty thieves down here-surely it was just one of them.

"Injuries?" Izuku asked, turning to walk back to his office.

"Not sure yet," Ejiro answered. "Seems like most of the bystanders weren't stupid enough to sit and watch when fire was getting slung around in the Underground, and as for the actual thief…well, they haven't been found yet, so we don't know."

Izuku nodded to himself. "So they probably got away, then," he said, thinking of Mina. "Typical Bakugo."

"Or they got incinerated," Ejiro pointed out, making Izuku's gut twist into knots. "Which would mean we'd have to deal with all the mess that news will cause."

Izuku could see the headlines already. The press, always just as happy to tear heroes apart as polish their images, would have a field day using Bombshell's brutal and unnecessary violence to condemn all heroes. Hell, they wouldn't even be wrong-Izuku had seen way too much excessive force used on low-level villains to believe that Bakugo was an isolated case. But even so, he very much didn't want to have to deal with hungry journalists suddenly flocking his agency for comment.

He sighed. "Well, either way, keep me posted, alright?" Izuku said.

"Of course," Ejiro promised.

Once again, Izuku nodded to himself. As one last thought struck him, he began, "Good. And if you need backup on any sort of cleanup, I'll send Holo over to you-"

Suddenly, there was a loud knock on the agency's side door, on the far side of the room Izuku was still standing in. He whirled, eyes narrowing in confusion. Who the hell would be pounding on the door like that? All the heroes in his agency had access to the much easier-to-find entrance on the roof, why would they-

The knocking got louder, more insistent. Sighing to himself, Izuku told Ejiro, "I'll call you back, alright? Something just happened here at the agency."

Ejiro made some affirmative comment, but Izuku barely registered it as he made his way across the room, towards the door. He turned off his earpiece, and opened the door.

A gloved fist, aimed at the door that had just disappeared, instead swung right into Izuku's powerfully-built chest. It bounced off without doing anything, but Izuku nearly staggered back anyway, his eyes wide.

"M-Mina?" he said incredulously. "What the hell are you doing here? And…what the hell happened to you?"

Mina Ashido tottered a few steps into the building on unsteady legs. She looked like she'd been through hell; her clothes ripped and torn and burned, the whole right side of her body was equally messed up, littered with burns and cuts and bruises, not to mention the shard of wood spearing her deeply in the shoulder. The only reason Izuku had been able to recognize her was because she'd yanked her mask off, revealing a truly magnificent black eye, and just as much blood as stained the rest of her. A few stray curls of her hair looked singed.

Still, the weak light in her eyes was oddly playful. "Hey there, Atlas," she said teasingly, swaying. "Long time, no see."

Then, she pitched forwards, into Izuku's arms. Her eyes fluttered shut.

When Mina came to a few minutes later, she was lying in a too-white bed in a too-clean room. A heavily muscled man was puttering around the room, grabbing at objects she didn't recognize.

As Mina regained her senses, she became aware of an agonizing stinging feeling running up and down her body, over every single wound she'd gotten on her back and legs thanks to Bombshell. It sucked, but at least the burns had gotten way less agonizing, somehow.

At last, memories flowed back to her. Nearly dying, hauling herself across the second level with her body on the brink of collapsing, desperately realizing that she only had one option to survive. Mina laid her head back, sighing as it sank into a pillow that was too soft.

The sound finally got her savior's attention; he turned to her, green eyes lighting up with a half-frantic light. "Oh thank God, you're awake," Atlas said, sounding more like a nervous schoolboy than she was used to hearing.

Mina turned her head to look at him; she didn't dare move anything else, it hurt too much. "Yeah," she confirmed. "I'm awake. Yay."

Atlas-no, his name was Izuku, wasn't it-quickly returned to her bedside, bringing a roll of white bandages. "I brought you to my agency's first-aid room," he explained. "I'm not the best at it, but I know the basics, and you clearly needed my help, so-"

Mina interrupted, "Atlas, I literally almost died. A bit less babbling, a little more making sure I don't bleed out, please?"

Izuku stopped, mouth shutting tightly for half a second as he seemingly took her words to heart. "Alright, good plan," he agreed, hands reaching for her shoulder. Mina forced herself not to flinch as his fingers expertly cleared the site around her most serious wound-the wooden splinter deep in the fleshy part of her shoulder-of any remaining fragments of dirt or clothing.

"This is gonna hurt," he warned her, eyes full of nervousness.

Mina was well beyond the point of caring. She met his gaze, and bluntly told him, "I've had worse. Are you gonna help me or not?"

Once again, Izuku seemed to recalibrate himself, then nodded. Without another word, he braced his grip against her shoulder, and removed the shard of wood, making Mina grit her teeth and hiss in pain as it was wrenched free. Thankfully, there weren't any splinters left in the wound-it came out clean. Mina figured that she deserved that, after the bullshit day she'd had.

After spreading a clear gel Mina realized was probably a disinfectant over the wound, Izuku began to quickly wrap her shoulder in bandages. Despite his obvious confusion, nervousness, and awkwardness, he was skilled and efficient, and his hands didn't shake one bit.

When he'd finished bandaging the worst of her injuries, Izuku sat back for a moment, as Mina prodded at the tender bandages, examining herself with the practiced motions of someone used to taking stock of injuries. Mostly smaller bruises, burns, and cuts, it seemed like-the only really bad wound was her shoulder, though the blast had still managed to leave her generally singed and hurting. Her clothes were messed up, but still mostly serviceable, she decided-she was still hidden, and nothing was exposed once she wrapped her long-suffering cloak around herself.

Izuku met her gaze, and told her, "You should be fine. I put a special healing gel on most of your injuries-it should have them all taken care of within a couple hours, a day at most."

Mina raised an eyebrow. Sure enough, a lot of her cuts didn't even hurt anymore, she realized. The gel she'd thought was only a disinfectant was also now glowing faintly blue in a few places, creating an odd contrast with her pink skin. Mina suppressed the urge to hide the few signs of pink skin that showed through her torn clothing-old instincts were hard to break. Anyway, Izuku already knew she was a mutant. And for whatever reason…he'd still helped her.

Mina rolled her eyes. "Special healing gel," eh?" she muttered. "You abovegrounders and your fancy gadgets."

Izuku replied, "It's based on a few old healing quirks. Scientists managed to figure something out about how they worked, so-"

Weakly, Mina raised a hand. "I don't need the history lesson," she told him. "All I care about is whether it works."

Izuku hesitated for a second, still struggling to keep up with Mina's mercurial conversations. Eventually, he replied, "It works. I've used it plenty of times."

Mina raised an eyebrow. "I thought you were the invincible hero," she said lightly. "You're telling me Atlas is just like all the rest of us dirty mortals?"

Izuku flushed red. "I've never claimed to be invincible," he told her. "And you know better than most how mortal I am."

Mina remembered the alleyway, the barely-alive heap about to be killed by a monster. All humor vanishing, she replied, "I suppose I do."

They sat there in silence for a minute or so after that, before Mina shifted herself to sit upright in her bed, grunting from the exertion-it still hurt to move.

"Although," she mused, "You did just save me…so I guess we're even now."

Izuku shook his head, to Mina's surprise. Wouldn't he be glad to be rid of her? Izuku corrected her, "No. I don't like thinking about this stuff in terms of debts. I didn't help you because I thought I would get something out of it, or to pay you back, or anything like that."

Mina had never encountered anything like that. Almost everything she'd ever done was for her benefit, and so had everything she'd ever seen anyone else do. The only other time she could remember feeling this kind of surprise that someone was helping her for the sake of helping her was…no. That wasn't a memory Mina intended to bring up again.

"If I look back, I'm lost," she thought, forcing herself to return to the present.

Softly, she heard herself ask, "Then why did you do it?"

Izuku met her gaze, and his smile was soft and kind. "It was the right thing to do," he replied. Mina found that she didn't want to scoff quite as much as she usually did in response to things like that. Instead, she just sat quietly, feeling the soft tingling of her body healing.

After a moment, Izuku leaned back in his chair and said, "Now, that being said, I would like to know what happened to you, if you don't mind telling me."

Mina raised an eyebrow. "Why?" she asked challengingly, regaining a bit of her spirit by sheer determination.

Izuku met her gaze, no longer blushing or stammering quite as much. "You showed up at a hero's office with injuries you almost certainly got from a fight," he said. "Why did you come to me?"

Mina grinned weakly. "Well, I had a choice between you or bleeding to death," she replied. "You won. Barely."

"Barely?" Izuku repeated dryly, raising his own eyebrow. "Do you really hate me that much, or is it just heroes in general you don't like?"

Mina's smirk grew harsher as she said with equal wit, "Well, seeing as it was a hero that gave me these injuries, I think I'm pretty justified in not trusting any of you."

The mood in the room shifted instantly. Mina swore she saw sparks jump from Izuku's eyes as he absorbed the information, and the smell of ozone filled the air. His jaw set, and his eyes grew angry.

"Is…is he really so worked up over me?" Mina wondered, shrinking into herself a little on instinct. "Is he angry because I got hurt, or because it was a hero who hurt me?"

If Izuku cared enough about her to suddenly get so obviously furious…then why did he care? Mina shoved the thought away, just as she shoved the part of her that grew more intrigued by the power he seemed to throw around so casually.

"Who was it?" Izuku asked once he'd reined in the crackling power a little bit. His voice was deceptively calm.

Mina had to admit, she did find the thought of Atlas maybe-possibly-hopefully beating the shit out of Bombshell pretty funny. Besides, it wasn't like the hothead didn't deserve it. She answered, "It was Bombshell. He and I got into a bit of a tiff over a teensy little bit of light thievery, you know how it is."

Out of all the possible responses, Mina did not expect for the anger in Izuku's eyes to deepen, the sense of danger rolling off his crossed-arm, stiff-backed figure increasing to the point where it triggered every last one of Mina's fight-or-flight instincts. It was like the sense she'd gotten from Bombshell-only stronger. Somehow, she found that comforting, as well as terrifying. She still wanted to run…but that was mostly muscle memory talking, old survival instincts rearing their heads.

"Of course it was," Izuku growled. "One of these days, I'm going to see that little shit and-"

Before Mina could find out what, exactly, Izuku intended to do, there was a loud knock on the closed door of the infirmary. Both of them jumped as the angry pounding was replaced by an all-too-familiar snarl.

"Oi, Midoriya, you shitty bastard!" shouted the unmistakable voice of Bombshell, also known as Katsuki Bakugo. "Get out here right fucking now!"

Mina was halfway out of the bed before Izuku caught her by the arm. It took everything she had not to burn him, until she saw the careful look in his eye.

"Stay here, and stay quiet," he mouthed wordlessly. "I'll deal with him."

Mina hesitated, not sure whether she could afford to trust him. She could move right now, yes-but she was still weak, and hurting badly. She could probably make it back home, but it would be slow going-she'd never outrun a hero chasing her. She was stuck.

Reluctantly, Mina sat back down, though she remained ready to dash at a moment's notice. Izuku stood, walking a few feet towards the door.

"Hello, Bakugo," he called out, voice far too calm to be real. "What brings you here?"

"If you don't open this fucking door, I'll break it down," Bakugo snarled, not even bothering to answer the question.

Izuku simply rolled his eyes. "Bakugo, if you break into this room, I will throw you back out of it," he replied. Mina was stunned by the calm threat he radiated with every word. "Now, if you want to talk to me, go back to the lobby and wait there like a good boy."

Mina's eyes bugged out, and she had to cover her mouth with both hands to avoid giggling madly and giving the whole game away. Bakugo growled angrily, and she could hear the popping of mini-explosions in his palms.

"I'll kill you for that!" he shouted. Izuku shot an incredulous look at Mina, as if asking, "Can you believe this shit?" Mina giggled even harder to herself.

"You'd get your ass kicked, and we both know it, Bakugo," Izuku dryly retorted. "Now, fuck off. I'm busy right now."

There was a moment of silence, and then Bakugo snapped, "Fine, you piece of shit. You better get out here quick, though."

He stomped away, the echoes of his exploding palms growing fainter and fainter. When he was finally gone, Izuku and Mina both sighed with relief.

"Damn, that was hilarious to watch," Mina chuckled. "I never thought I'd watch the greatest hero in Japan call the second greatest hero in Japan a "good boy."

Izuku snorted. "Honestly, that's up there as one of the easiest ways to piss him off," he said. "I should know, I've been pissing him off on purpose since we were in school."

Mina blinked, before shooting an odd look at Izuku. "Oh yeah, I forgot all you heroes go to the same weird high school," she said. Izuku looked insulted, but when he opened his mouth, Mina shot him another look, and he wisely shut up.

Now, though, Mina's curiosity was too strong to ignore. Slowly, she asked, "Hang on, what's the best way to piss him off, then?"

"Be better than him, of course," Izuku answered dryly, arms crossed over his chest. "That's the reason he hates me so much. I've been better than him ever since we've known each other, and it makes him furious. The arrogance he has is half the reason I hate him back."

Mina tilted her head in curiosity. "And the other half?" she pressed.

Izuku hesitated for a moment, but seemingly had little control over his own words. He responded, "He was always a bit of a bully. And I hate bullies. I've got enough shitty experiences under my belt to recognize one when I see them."

That only raised more questions for Mina. The greatest hero in the country had been bullied? By who? With a jolt, she realized that it was the first hint of his past he'd ever given her.

As if he'd come to the same realization, Izuku suddenly announced, "Well, I'm gonna go deal with the asshole, before he comes back. You wait here, alright? I won't be long."

Mina frowned. "I should probably just get going," she replied.

Izuku shook his head. "You just barely escaped getting blown into tiny tiny pieces," he retorted. "You're going to stay right there."

Then, he left, giving Mina one last nod as he did. As soon as the door swung closed, though, Mina was hesitating, wondering if she should stay. There was a window in the infirmary, plenty big enough for her to slip out if she wanted to. It was definitely the smart thing to do-a building full of heroes was no place for a thief. But…Izuku was expecting her to be here. And for some reason, she knew she would feel guilty for coming here, letting him heal her, and then disappearing again. And yet…she couldn't let herself be caught. She couldn't take the risk.

Sighing to herself, Mina spotted a pad of paper on one of the shelves, along with a pen. Right next to it was the package she'd managed to steal-Izuku must not have bothered looking inside, or just figured he had bigger issues. Gritting her teeth, she reached for both of the items. Maybe she could make a concession or two to her conscience.

Izuku marched to the lobby, fighting back sparks of electricity that rolled off his body as he walked.

He was pissed, and he didn't even know why he was pissed. Sure, Bakugo was a reckless and destructive asshole, but that was nothing new, nothing that should have caused him to be so furious.

Except…this time he'd hurt someone Izuku knew. Someone he was just getting to know, who had the most beautiful golden eyes he'd ever seen, who was funny and sarcastic and could cut with her words as easily as change his entire world with them.

Okay, Izuku really needed to figure out what the hell was going on with him. He was helping a villain escape other heroes…and he didn't feel the slightest bit of guilt about it. Why?

Because it's Mina.

Izuku forced himself to focus as he strode into the lobby. There was nobody in it except for Bakugo, and Ejiro, who sat next to the explosive blonde, a sheepish look on his face.

As Izuku took a seat across from Bakugo, exchanging a daggerlike glare with him, Ejiro said apologetically, "Sorry, buddy. He insisted. Figured it was better to let you deal with him than to start a big scene in public."

Izuku sighed. Ejiro had made the right decision, and he knew that. But dammit, did this have to happen right now? He wanted to run back to the infirmary, to make sure Mina was okay. He'd been so terrified when she collapsed into his arms, unconscious and bleeding so badly.

Gritting his teeth, Izuku said, "Don't worry about it. It's not your fault this moron doesn't understand the fact that his quirk has limitations."

As Izuku pointed at Bakugo, the Number Two Hero bared his teeth in a snarl. "Fuck you, I did just fine," he snapped.

Crossing his arms, Izuku asked, "Ejiro, how much damage did he cause this time?"

Ejiro winced a bit as he pulled out his phone to check the reports. Izuku kept his gaze fixed firmly on Bakugo the whole time. "Two buildings damaged so badly they'll have to be condemned," Ejiro read out. "Two others-including a market-with serious damage, potentially millions of yen. Various claims being made by people in the immediate area for hearing damage, smoke inhalation, and injuries caused by shattering glass. And no successful villain capture."

Izuku stared meaningfully at Bakugo, who just kept scowling. "Just fine," you say," he said mockingly.

Bakugo scowled, but they both knew there wasn't really anything he could say.

Izuku leaned forwards and told him, "You know why nobody wants you to patrol down here. Your quirk, as strong as it is, does not work down here. Not without causing more harm to the people you're trying to protect than the villains do, that is."

"They were fine," Bakugo scoffed. "A bit of damage, that's all. You're telling me you'd rather let the villain get away?"

"Yes!" Izuku hissed. "If my options were hurting a lot of people or letting one petty thief escape, I'd pick the one that hurt nobody! You, on the other hand, chose to hurt everyone, and badly, too!"

Izuku finished speaking, only to realize that both Bakugo and Ejiro were looking at him strangely.

"Izuku," Ejiro began, "There weren't any serious injuries from what Bakugo did. We haven't found the thief, either-it looks like they did get away."
Izuku froze. He'd been thinking of Mina as he spoke-and now he'd gotten himself stuck. What was he supposed to say? "Actually, there was a serious injury, and I'm treating them behind your backs because I'm maybe-sorta-kinda crushing on them?"

Forcing himself to think, Izuku managed to say, "Sorry, got the facts mixed up with the last time you did this. My bad."

It was a weak dodge at best, and Izuku knew it-he was far too good at recalling details for something like that-but Bakugo didn't even seem to care. Ejiro, though, gave Izuku a strange look, before he too let it slide.

Breathing a sigh of relief, Izuku continued, "Anyway, that's beside the point. If you ever come down here to try a stupid stunt like that again, Bakugo, I will punt you into the stratosphere, and don't you forget it. Now, get out."

Bakugo grumbled insults and curses under his breath, but obliged, and soon Ejiro and Izuku were alone again. Izuku's best friend asked, "Are you okay, man? You seem awfully annoyed about something."

Izuku rose to his feet, already distracted by thoughts of getting back to Mina. "I'm fine," he replied, waving Ejiro off. The redhead went to follow him, then hesitated. In the end, he just watched Izuku disappear down the hall, nearly running.

When Izuku got back to the infirmary, though, he found it empty. His eyes landed on the open window, and he instantly realized what had happened.

"Of course she left," he thought, instantly deflating. "She'd never let herself be stuck in a place so full of heroes, she'd vanish as soon as her body let her move in the slightest."

Izuku walked into the room, closing the door behind him. He spotted something on the empty bed. Two somethings, actually; a folded piece of paper, and-

"Is that a shitty figurine of me?" Izuku wondered as he picked it up, and the paper it had been sitting on. He unfolded it, revealing a note written in hesitant, chicken-scratch handwriting-as if the person writing wasn't used to holding a pen. It read:

Hey, Atlas,

I'm really sorry about this. I didn't want to just up and vanish on you-it feels a bit too much like I'm taking advantage of you. But I figured it's safer for both of us if I don't stick around in a hero-infested building. Sorry again.

Tell you what: my damn conscience won't leave me alone, so how about we meet again? I'll be at the Craton and Faultline statues on the first level in…let's say five days? Feel free to show up if you want to keep being all weird and heroic. Or don't, I don't really care.

See you then, or not.

-Mina

(P.S. Enjoy the figurine. I stole a couple of them while running from your old buddy, mostly because they irritated me enough I couldn't do anything but take them. Every time I look at it, I get annoyed and want to punch something. The resemblance is uncanny.)