Itsuka Kendo arrived at UA very early, just in time to see Dokusei leave the main building. He wore a green t-shirt, blue jeans, and a pair of white sneakers. "I'm surprised you still wanted to do this. It's understandable if you didn't," she said as he stopped right next to her. Kendo was wearing a light blue short dress with a large belt on it, a dark jacket, and a pair of blue and white tennis shoes.

"I made a promise, besides, I want to delay the inevitable." He stretched his arms about, grunting in pain.

"Your mom didn't chew you out yet?"

"She didn't want Mimi to hear."

She nodded her head to the festival grounds. "There's still time before the second years start; want to get something to eat?" His stomach grumbling was her answer, which made her laugh. "Well let's get going!"

Dokusei was almost dragged by his arm; he tried to keep his grunts of pain as quiet as possible, but the sudden turns and stops made that near impossible. "Sorry," she apologized, "I keep forgetting that you're hurt."

The two sat on a bench. Dokusei was having grilled chicken kabob with grilled veggies and Kendo was having a black coffee. She had eaten before and wasn't hungry. "How can you drink that?" Dokusei asked as he took a drink of water.

"What?" She looked at him like he was the crazy one. "It's not that bad!"

"Ok..." He shrugged. "Enjoy your overpriced bean water." She slugged him in the shoulder for that. "Hey! Now you're assaulting a cripple!"

"You seemed to be walking just fine not too long ago." She slapped his leg, earning a grunt from him. The two began to laugh. "Seriously though," she started as she calmed down, "are you ok?"

Dokusei's laughter slowly turned into a sight. "Yeah, just sore." He finished the rest of his kabob. "But now that I have food in me, I should be good for the moment." He leaned back and enjoyed the sun on him; the heat was nice.

"You look exhausted."

He just nodded. "Recovery Girl gave me a last minute session to help me move better." He let out a chuckle. "If you think this is bad, you should have seen it when I first woke up; just breathing hurt."

There was a long silence before Kendo spoke. "Why did you do it..."

Dokusei let out a long sigh. "Mina, my mom, and the teachers were who I expected to get chewed out by." He looked at her; she was staring at her coffee. "I never expected you to ch-"

"It's because I care about you, damnit!" she interrupted. "I think of you as my friend, Dokusei, and when I heard Ashido screaming, from the TV, I got scared." She crushed her paper cup; it was already empty. "Then I saw you coughing up blood, and I was sent back to when you used it the first time." She looked at him with a mix of anger, sadness, and worry. "Against me..."

He let out another long sigh. "The why is simple, I wanted to win." He looked up to the sky. "But I didn't think about anything else, the odds of me actually winning and continuing, clearly the people who care about me, and what it would do to me..."

He got up and stood in front of her and bowed. "Itsuka, I am sorry for putting you through the torment and worry. I'll try and not do that again."

She sighed and got up. "Yeah, you better not, or Ashido won't be the only person you'll have to run from." She flicked his forehead.

"Yes, ma'am." He straightened out and covered his forehead.

"Well well, look who it is!" A very sweet voice came from their side, a little distance off. What they saw was a beautiful young woman around their age, about average height with an athletic hourglass body, though with a larger bust than normal. Purple hair went past her shoulders with flowers blooming in it. Her golden eyes seemed to glow in the sunlight, and she had dark green skin.

Itsuka went stiff as a board when she saw her. "Aoki..."

Aoki was wearing a white t-shirt of a j-rock band Dokusei never heard of, tight blue jeans, and a pair of red and black tennis shoes. "Hiiii!~" She waved at them as she dragged over someone else, with a wide smile.

The second person was a very short girl with a slim build, pale skin, and flat bust. She had messy black hair that went to her shoulders. One side of her bangs went over her left eye, only showing her right brown one.

As they got closer Dokusei saw the second girl's outfit more clearly. "Bandages...?" She wore a dull blue hoodie with the sleeves removed, a gray short-sleeved shirt, a pair of dark tan shorts, and a pair of gray slip-ons. Over her hands, wrists, and legs were bandages. She adjusted a brown shoulder bag as she dragged towards them.

Dokusei returned the wave and took a step forward. "Hey, Sunshine. Long time no see."

Somehow, Aoki's smile became wider. "Dokie!" He cringed a bit. "It's so good to see you!" She stopped right in front of them, giving the second girl time to breathe, as she hugged him. "I haven't seen you since Itsukie's last tournament! How have you been!?"

He gave her a few pats on her shoulder. "I've been better." She was hugging him fairly tightly, and a decent ache poured over him. "Can you please let go..."

"Oh right!" She stepped back. "Sorry, I don't know my own strength sometimes." She rubbed the back of her head. She then locked eyes with Itsuka, who was doing her best to try and hide from her. "I'm glad to see you're well, Itsukie." Aoki gave her a warm smile.

"Yeah... you too." She nodded, not knowing how to continue.

Dokusei came to her rescue. "Who's this?" he addressed the second girl.

She jumped a little, probably not used to being addressed that quickly. "I'm Hisoka Matsushita." She bowed. "Nice to meet you all." Her voice was... very flat.

Dokusei returned the bow. "I'm Dokusei Sumiteru. I don't think you're form UA; I would've definitely seen you before." He pointed to the bandages.

Matsushita opened her mouth, but Aoki interrupted. "We're going to Shiketsu!" She then brought Matsushita to her chest, causing a grimace and a light blush to grow.

"What!?" Itsuka yelled. "You told me you didn't want to become a hero!" She was clearly hurt as she came out from behind Dokusei.

Aoki put her hands up in surrender, and Matsushita looked ready for a fight. "No... I said I didn't want to go to UA..." Itsuka clenched her fist so tight it was shaking.

"Then... Then why..." Dokusei could see tears forming in her eyes. "Why did you break up with me!?" She took a step forward. "WHY!?"

"You wanted to go to UA..." Aoki didn't keep eye contact. "I didn't want our relationship to strain because we were going to different schools" –she pressed her two forefinger together– "I thought you'd be happier without my baggage and stress..."

Itsuka's shoulders dropped in pure defeat. "I was happy..." –the tears broke through as her face contorted- "... with you..."

Aoki tried to take a step forward, but Dokusei stood in front of her, and Matsushita grabbed her shoulder. "Hachimitsu," Dokusei said bluntly, causing Aoki to flinch at her last name. "I think it's best for you two to be on your way."

"But..." Aoki tried.

"Sumiteru is right." Matsushita supported his suggestion. "Trying to talk to her now will most likely escalate things and worsen what's left of the standing between you two."

Dokusei put an arm around Itsuka. "Bandaid's got it all in one." He looked to Matsushita. "It was nice to meet you; I hope we meet again, under better circumstances." He gave her a bow as best he could.

Matsushita returned the bow. "Likewise, Sumiteru." She pulled Aoki away and walked towards the exit, giving them a wave as they left.

Dokusei looked at Itsuka; she was holding it together as best she could, but she wouldn't last much longer. "Hey, come on." He put her hand in his palm, and his other on her upper back. "Let's get you somewhere private, can you make it?" She took a shaky breath and nodded.

They walked to the student only entrance of the stadium. Just as they got inside the tunnel, Itsuka broke down and clinged to Dokusei, screaming into his chest. He let out hiss of pain, but he didn't care; his friend needed him.

After about a minute of pure screaming, Itsuka couldn't anymore and just took on deep breaths. "Why...?" her voice was broken, "Why didn't she ask...?" She gripped his shirt, "I would have gone with her…."

Dokusei didn't say anything at first, just drawing circles on her back. "Sometimes..." he started, "We do things that we think are for the best, but can't see the bigger picture at times." He pulled her away, seeing hot tears dripping away. "Love can make people do stupid things," He pulled out his handkerchief, and started to clean Itsuka's face. "What she did was wrong, but she did it because she thought it was for the best."

She harshly grabbed the handkerchief, and started cleaning herself. "I can do it myself, I'm not a baby..."

"Of course." Dokusei leaned against the wall.

Eventually the tears dried up, and Itsuka returned the handkerchief to him. "Why do you have that on you?"

"My tears are toxic, and can hurt someone if I'm not careful." He put the cloth away. "I have it just encase; it neutralizes the toxins I produce, and it's safe for other people."

"Oh..." She walked to the wall and sat down. "And here I thought you were trying to be a gentleman."

He sat down with her. "Mamma didn't raise no fool. She also told me to be as nice as possible, no matter how hard things got."

"I think you're one of the nicest people I've ever met."

He chuckled at that. "Midoriya has me best by light years."

She let out a snort. "He seems too nice."

"Yes, but he can have a back bone when he needs it." She nodded at that.

Dokusei looked at Itsuka; she looked so done with everything. "You still want to go watch the second years'?"

"Not really..." With that Dokusei got up and put his hand out for her. "What are you doing?"

"There's a new food joint I've been dying to try out; it's not that far from UA." He kept his hand out. "I hate to be the only one who has a chance to enjoy good food."

"Well... if you're buying?" He nodded; she grabbed his hand and got up. "How can I say no?" The two let out a laugh as they left the grounds.

"So, are there any cute girls I should keep an eye on?" Itsuka asked with a very innocent sounding voice.

This caused Dokusei to trip and fall onto his face.

AN: I'd like to thank Nightmare Zane for lending Hisoka to me, if you haven't checked you her story yet, The Hand That Bleed, go do so. You won't regret it! Aoki is a OC I made that I can't decide if I want to make an actual story with, let me know if you want to see her in her own story!