Later, in one of the staff rooms, Senji met with Eraser and Nezu. She fidgeted nervously while Eraser tended to her leg. He wrapped it carefully, and she was desperate for this experience to be over.

"Are you going to explain?," Eraser sighed, finishing up and returning the remaining first aid supplies to a kit that had been brought in. He moved to Nezu's desk, rifling through a stack of papers the principal had just finished reading through.

"At the exam. One of the Shiketsu students, they…Himiko Toga. With the League. Her Quirk lets her transform to look like others, but she needs their blood. I have the real student's location, I sent it to, um, an investigator earlier," Senji explained in a rush, hoping there wouldn't be too many more questions. Nezu nodded, as did Eraser, but neither said anything more.

"Um," she spoke up after a long silence. Their faces were hard to read and she was feeling more and more exhausted as the day had progressed. Her body felt warmer, and heavier. Eraser finished first and sat down on the couch beside her. Once Nezu was done reading, they started.

"Aizawa Senji," the principal addressed her formally. Both her and Eraser tensed up a little bit with that. Nezu continued, "This report leaves a lot out, which bothers me greatly. However, it looks like there were some extenuating circumstances behind what happened and your actions. I want to give you a hard time, but you'll have enough of that with the media and in other areas. For our decision, instead, we'll have you continue your classes here."

"What? Really?," Senji blinked at him, surprised.

"Ah, but…Eraser?," the animal-like principal looked at the pro sitting beside her. Her teacher, mentor, and something like a family member.

"Senji," he looked straight ahead, avoiding her gaze, "you already know that I didn't like you taking on that…assignment. I said you weren't suited for it?"

"Yeah..," that memory was seared into her mind, and all the negative feelings that came with it.

"I meant it, but it wasn't exactly the truth. You were good at what you did, too good even. But you aren't a cold person, and you genuinely care for those around you. I may not agree with your presentation, but you're working just as hard as the rest of them. I had the final say in whether you stayed or not," he finally turned to face Senji. She was stunned by how direct he was, while still showing a softer side. She floundered with words for a moment, then it was her turn to look away. She stared at the floor, fighting back the tears that had been threatening her eyes since the events in Kamino.

"There are some conditions to it, though," Nezu took his turn again. "Eraser will have to watch you closely, and has worked out a deal for you on that part too. You're making him take on a lot of extra work here. Next, you'll have the pressure from the media and knowing you've deceived your classmates. We'll let that serve as a punishment of sorts for your various misdoings. And finally, you'll be attending some of the extra lessons for the provisional licensing exam. Along with Bakugo and Todoroki. Got it?"

Senji confirmed that she understood. She was trying to find words for her feelings toward Eraser. Guilt, worry, and several other things all stacked on top of one another. They didn't come in time, with him ruffling her hair and dismissing her. She walked slowly back to the dorms, passing two students out past curfew. Stumbling a little on the stairs, she made it back to her room and let her body collapse under its own weight.

…

"Hot…"

Senji leaned against the door frame to the bathing area, the cool metal feeling especially nice against her skin. The rest of the students in the dorm were in class, while she had just finished a bath after being largely unconscious for the past three days. She ended up developing a fever, likely from the stress both physical and emotional after the eventful summer break. After a moment of rest she walked through the common area, but her vision started to fade out and there was a staticky ring in her ears.

"Shit," she fell forward, losing consciousness. She was feeling a lot better, but the heat from the bath must have been too much. That's what she thought as she fell, resigning to her fate. But she never hit the floor. Instead, something caught her midsection and she was kept from face planting.

"The hell are you doing!," a familiar, angry voice rang over the static in her ears. Senji stayed silent for a moment to catch her breath as her senses cleared. She went to push herself off of him, but her left arm wouldn't form right now. So instead she gripped his shirt and tried to steady herself.

"Bakugo? Sorry. Looks like I got a cold," her voice was weak and her whole body trembled. Her face flushed for several reasons, but it was easy enough to blame it on the resurged fever. Bakugo softened a little, something he kept doing despite himself. It was frustrating him to no end.

"Anyway. Why're you…here?," Senji asked him, and felt him tense for a second. He grabbed her wrist forcefully, pulling her hand off his shirt. She thought he meant to fight, but instead he wrapped her arm over his shoulder to help support her weight.

"Had a fight. House arrest," he gave short answers. The question clearly irked him, but something else was bothering him more right now. Their classmates were out for the moment and he wanted to get her to her room quickly. Before anyone saw either of them like this. He started walking that way, and Senji followed along without any argument. She did manage to laugh weakly at his answer, despite her weakness.

"Your arm," Bakugo asked her about her now missing left arm. He remembered that it was covered in a ton of her scales back at the bar, with the league. And she had been keeping it that way ever since. There was something bothering him about it.

"Shigaraki," she gave similar short answers, fiddling with the key to her room for a moment.

"Kamino?," Bakugo pushed the door open and tagged it with his foot as they passed through. He walked her to her bed where she sat down, panting a little from the exertion to get that far.

"What-"

Bakugo was turning to leave when something caught his shirt. Senji had reached out frantically and grabbed hold without thinking. The move had caught her by surprise as much as the boy who's shirt she clung to. Both of them froze for a moment, processing. Before she could say anything, he plopped down next to her on the bed. Senji stared at her now empty hand, but her mind was too foggy so she just rolled with the situation.

"Um-"

"Don't get it," Bakugo cut her off. He was quiet, his voice softer, but Senji still flinched.

"Why you were there, I mean. I don't get it, but whatever," he paused for a moment to glance at the girl beside him, then continued, "What they said then. About you. It wasn't true, was it?"

"It…it was. I gave them the information on you, because," she shook her head. "Doesn't matter why. Everyone…because of me..sorry."

"That ain't-!," she flinched again, so he adjusted his tone. "That ain't what I meant. Even if it was your fault they got me. You kept me…you fought back. And got hurt way worse than me."

Senji trembled beside him, and for a moment he panicked thinking he'd really scared her. This sort of thing was really out of his field. It was far easier to be harsh and loud than to be this open. Vulnerable. He reached toward her, unsure what it was exactly he was going to do, and froze. He finally realized that she wasn't afraid, that would have been unlike her anyway. She was shaking for a different reason, a different emotion. Or too many to be named in that moment.

"Sorry," she choked out another apology, her voice strained and hard to hear. She tried to wipe away her tears with her right arm, and coughed a little bit from trying to sit up for too long.

"That ain't right," Bakugo muttered. He meant it, too. He was there with her for the past few years. Not really paying attention for most of it, for sure, but he was still uncomfortable seeing her behave in such a drastically different way. Normally she looked calm and collected, even with the weight of whatever her home situation was and balancing work and school. They even butted heads a few times and got into a couple fights. That was the only time she showed any kind of feeling really. That goofy grin that pissed him off so much.

"Sor-"

"Shut up," he decided that since he had come this far, he might as well commit to it. Whatever it was he was doing, that is.

His body moved on it's own for a moment, reaching out to her. Redirecting that, he pulled her body into his and rested against the wall to his right. He didn't miss that she tensed up at his touch, something that pulled out more weird feelings he stuffed back down. After a few more minutes her crying stopped, along with her pathetic apologies and some other incoherent mutterings. She was asleep.

"Wait. Hey, move," he realized his mistake too late. While she drifted off, her tail had wrapped around him from behind and the end twitched a little beside his lap. Even if he tried to move, she'd fall into the wall and he didn't want to risk waking her. Her physical condition was obviously bad at the moment and she needed to rest. Something else he just noticed was that her door hadn't fully closed earlier and was cracked open just a bit. The idea of anyone walking by stressed him out more than anything in this moment. Both because he would die from embarrassment at this situation, and because the girl sleeping against him clearly didn't want anyone to see her missing arm. He tugged at the blanket and pulled it up over her shoulder. Resigned to sit there and hope no one came in, he propped his head against the wall and let himself doze off.

…

A little later, after class ended and the others were filtering back in to get changed. Mina and Jiro had noticed that Senji's door was open a little bit. They knew she hadn't been in class for a few days, so the peeked in to check on her. There they spotted a scene that was just too funny, and struggled to hold back their giggling fits. Mina snapped a picture on her phone, the sound waking up Bakugo.