You and Touya headed back inside the apartment and found Toga and Twice still carrying on a rather loud conversation. With the pair distracted, and Compress still out for the count, the two of you went unnoticed as you passed by. To the right of the sofa was a hallway, which ran parallel to the living room. At one end was a bedroom, and at the other sat the bathroom. On the wall at the midpoint of the corridor, there were two doors: one opened up to a small storage closet, and the other to the toilet. Touya led you down the hallway to the right, into the bathroom, and shut the door behind the both of you.

It wasn't huge by any means - a typical Japanese-style bathroom found in most small apartments. On your left, there was a white shelf that ran the length of the wall at about chest height with all kinds of scrubs and soaps. The shower head was fixed to the adjacent wall and had a full-length mirror just underneath it. Just beside that, there was a cream-colored tub for soaking. A couple of used towels were strewn carelessly across the floor. Touya sighed.

"Animals." He grumbled, bending down to collect the saturated linens. You looked at him curiously.

"Oh, like none of those are yours?" You teased. Judging by the muddy boot-prints you'd seen on the couch, you got the impression that he wasn't the neatest guy anymore. Touya re-erected himself, arms full of partially wet towels.

"I don't really do showers." He said. You couldn't help the look of aversion that took over your face.

"What?" You questioned with a bit more disgust than you intended. Picking up on your tone, Touya sighed again.

"Calm down. It's not like I don't want to bathe. I can get infections if water gets trapped in the sutures." He informed, pointing to his face. You felt a bit bad about your comment, now. It should have been obvious; the ferocity with which he used his quirk all the time never allowed his injuries to fully heal - his scarred and stapled skin was essentially a series of open wounds. It made you sad to know your best friend wasn't able to care for himself properly. You found yourself scouring your mind for a solution.

"Well… what if I could help with that?"

Touya raised a brow at you. "Help me shower?" He asked.

You nodded, giving him a small smile. "Yeah, why not? I could use my quirk to keep the water away from the stapled spots or pull it out if it got in - it wouldn't be hard." It sounded so innocent when you said it.

Touya stared at you plainly, and for a second, he didn't say anything, likely waiting for you to realize what you were truly offering. When the genuineness of your expression didn't fade, he thought he should make it known: "You want to shower together?" He questioned with a confused tone.

Your eyes went wide, and your cheeks flushed with embarrassment as it sunk in. Truthfully, the awkward implication of your offer hadn't crossed your mind, but in reality, that's exactly what you were saying. You stumbled over your next few words, unable to come up with a good reason for your forwardness.

"I- I mean… I guess… Yeah, I guess that's what…I mean, if it would help…"

"That's alright." He interrupted. "It's thoughtful, but not necessary."

"O-oh." That was all you could say. Of course, you understood his apprehension: he may have stripped you out of necessity before, but that didn't mean he was comfortable being naked in front of you. Still, for some reason, there was a small part of you that was disappointed. You hadn't meant to come across as a pervert, but now you feared you may have made your partner uncomfortable. Touya cleared his throat and moved his gaze to the floor.

"I'm gonna go get you a towel and a change of clothes. Feel free to use the tub when you're done." With that, he exited the bathroom. The volume of Toga and Twice's voices increased for a moment when Touya opened the door, and decreased again when he closed it.

"Hey, shut up. You're too loud." You heard Touya reprimand the pair just as the door clicked shut. You were left alone in the quiet bathroom, only the muffled sound of your new friends' conversation could be heard through the walls. You raised your hands to your cheeks and dabbed them softly with your fingers. There was an undeniable heat radiating from them. Even though Touya had gone, you were still drenched in embarrassment.

'Why the hell did I say that?' You mentally scolded yourself. How many times were you going to make a fool of yourself in front of this man? More than that, why had you suddenly become so clumsy and awkward in the first place? Sure, graceful social interactions had never been your thing, but this was getting ridiculous.

'This whole 'crush' thing really isn't for me.' You sighed. You shook your head as you tried to drive away your mortification. You could apologize later. You turned to the knobs on the wall and fiddled with them for a minute while you found the right temperature.

Stepping off to the side, you slipped off Touya's coat and removed your dirty clothes. Though it hadn't been terribly humid, you felt as though you were literally peeling off the layers. Your shirt and pants came off easily enough, but when it came to your underwear, it seemed to cling to your skin with all of the sweat that had accumulated over the last few days. It was gross. You were grateful to be able to correct it now. Now fully disrobed, you strode over to the steamy streams of water raining down from the showerhead. Its warmth as it touched your skin was instantly soothing. The tension you'd been holding in your muscles was beginning to release as the hot water widened blood vessels in your limbs. You took a deep breath in and released it contentedly. The muscles in your chest and shoulder relaxed as you exhaled, leaving you standing a bit slouched. You cupped your hands together in front of you, collecting a fair amount of liquid before splashing it on your battered face. Small cuts on your cheeks and eye stung as they came into contact with the hot water. You hissed through your teeth but repeated the action in an attempt to clean yourself properly.

You looked up at the mirror on the wall to get a better look at yourself, but the steam had already fogged it up. You left the warmth of the water to step up to the glass and used your hand to wipe away the condensation. You created a small opening just big enough for your face to be seen and examined your skin closely. The bruising around your eye was beginning to yellow - a good sign that you were healing. You began to pick at bits of crusted blood around your lip and eye socket, slowly revealing your lovely face. You smiled at yourself in the mirror.

'Damn… I look like shit.' Your inner monologue joked. Reaching your hand up to the mirror once again, you decided to wipe away the remaining fog. Upon clearing it, however, you nearly shrieked at what you saw. When had he come back in? Touya stood in the background, partially hidden by your shoulder. His shirt was half off, pulled taut in front of him as it still hung on his arms. It appeared he had already kicked off his boots. His bare shoulders appeared flexed as he suddenly stopped moving when you looked at him. You spun around quickly to face him, an overwhelming sense of self-consciousness suddenly overtaking you.

"Touya?" You spoke in a curious tone as you attempted to casually cover your chest and crotch. For once, you thought you saw a bit of guilt on his face.

"Is… that offer still open?" He asked, looking down at the shirt still on his arms.

You smiled at him softly, grateful now that you hadn't put him off after all. Even with the relief, though, you couldn't help but blush at the sight of him pulling his shirt off.

"Of course." You assured him with a soft tone. You ran your hand nervously along your bicep, still attempting to rigidly cover yourself. A wisp of a smile formed on Touya's lips as he let his shirt fall to the floor. You couldn't stop your eyes from wandering all over his torso. At first, you expected a bashful giddiness would come over you; however, upon seeing his body, a pang of worry hit your heart. You didn't know the extent of Touya's burns, but you hadn't expected them to cover so much of him. The skin on his right arm was completely charred by a burn that trailed across his chest, and up his neck to his jaw. His other arm, though still mangled, was only damaged up to his deltoid. Completely encircling his midriff was another deep purple scar - smaller on his right than his left. You let out a breath in surprise, but Touya didn't seem to notice. He took hold of his belt and unbuckled it before undoing his button and zipper. He hooked his thumbs around the rim of his jeans but stopped just short of pulling them down. He eyed you playfully.

"Turn around." He commanded.

You scoffed. "What?"

"You heard me. Face the wall."

You raised a brow at him. "I'm literally going to have to see you either way for this to work." You said.

"Don't care. I need my privacy." He replied.

You huffed out a chuckle. He was mocking your previous behavior. It was silly, now that you thought about it. Only a few days ago you hadn't wanted him to see you change your clothes, and now you were standing ass naked in front of him (albeit, a bit uncomfortably.) You decided to humor him, rolling your eyes as you crossed your arms and turned around. The mirror had begun to fog up again, blurring your view of the man behind you. You focused your gaze upward out of respect so as not to look at the reflection. Still, it would be funny to mess with him.

"You know there's a mirror here, right?" You asked teasingly. There was a brief pause before Touya's voice growled deeper than usual right in your ear.

"Then you better not be looking in it, you brat." The unexpected closeness and rigor in his tone sent a chill so strong down your back that you involuntarily arched forward. Touya let out a chorus of chuckles as he noted your reaction. You turned around to face him, providing him with an amply annoyed look.

"Oh, I'm the brat?" You did your best to focus only on his face, but you'd have to look down eventually.

Touya rolled his eyes before changing the subject. "So, uh… how does this work?"

You allowed your eyes to slowly descend down his body, hoping your explanation would be enough to distract from your gradually reddening face.

"You've seen me use a barrier to block attacks, right? It's the same concept, just all over your body."

"How am I supposed to get clean if the water doesn't hit me?" He asked.

"I won't be covering your whole body." You went on, your eyes finally coming to rest on the large scar across his waist. You touched the discolored skin around his stables tenderly. "Just the stapled parts. If I concentrate, I can put small barriers over them. If any water does manage to get through, I can use my quirk to extract it afterward." The heat in your face began to die down as your thoughts became more clinical. You finally found the courage to look at the rest of his body.

You'd seen your fair share of naked men in your line of work - more than a few times you'd apprehended suspects right when they were getting busy. Arrests were always easier when you had the element of surprise on your side, and, oh boy, your sudden presence at such a vulnerable time was likely the biggest surprise of some of these criminals' lives. What's one more penis in the grand scheme of things?

Your eyes followed a thin line of white hair that trailed down his crotch leading to his shaft. You were almost relieved to see he was flaccid. Lord knows the kind of embarrassment you'd face if he wasn't. You couldn't help but giggle a little at one minor detail, though.

"Don't laugh when you're looking at my dick, (Y/n)." Touya sighed, bringing his hand up to cover his face.

You chuckled again. "Sorry. I'm not laughing at that. It's just…"

"Hm?" He hummed curiously.

You looked up at his face with a smile and held back another giggle. "So the carpets match the drapes."

"Shut up." Touya rolled his eyes, but by the shy smile he bore, it was obvious he was trying not to laugh.

Surprisingly, his pelvis seemed nearly devoid of scars. There was one that crept ever so slightly over his hip bone, but also covered the entirety of his right leg. His other leg was nearly the same, only this scar crested over his mid-thigh before ending. You knew from what he had told you before that they didn't hurt him anymore, but that fact didn't provide much comfort.

"Okay. Turn around for me, please." You requested. Touya obeyed, allowing you to get a good look at his back. The scar over his neck continued over his upper back. Just as you had suspected, the one on his torso met at the back. The large one on his right leg and hip also covered a good portion of his buttock on that side.

"Looks like your right side got it the worst." You hadn't meant to say it out loud.

"I guess so." Touya replied plainly.

You sighed as you continued to scan every inch of him, hoping to memorize the location of every split in his skin. From his ankles to his eyes, you gently ran your fingertips over the paths the sutures took, creating a topographical map of his body in your head. You pictured small, tube-like domes arching only a few centimeters over the spaces where burned flesh met healthy skin. You went to work activating your quirk to create the small barriers in your mind's eye, snaking them over his body carefully. Once you were finished, you took a step back.

"Alright. I've got a decent idea of where they all are. How does that feel?" You asked.

"Weird. Feels like the air is pressing into me." He noted.

You nodded in understanding. "Yeah, that sounds right. All I've done is bring molecules in the air extremely close together - it's essentially hyper-dense. Usually, those particles would heat up under pressure, but I've learned to disperse the energy as I go." Your eyes were still fixed on his body, making sure your barriers stayed in place. "Now, they won't just stick to your skin. They only go where I tell them to, so if you move, they won't follow. I'll try to move them with you, but… it would be a lot easier if you didn't move around too much."

"Sounds inconvenient." Touya criticized.

"A little, but I've got it." You took a couple of steps backward, returning to the running water. "Here, walk to me." You held out your arms and motioned toward yourself. Again, Touya did as you asked and came forward a few paces. You concentrated deeply, compelling your power to move as he did. That was when you say it: just a glimmer, but it was definitely there. A series of faint iridescent veils that traversed the same path as your invisible barriers. You furrowed your brows at the sight of it. Touya took one final step, joining you underneath the shower. The lines were gone now.

"What…was that?" You wondered aloud.

"What was what?" Touya inquired.

"I don't know. I thought I saw… I'm not sure. It was like an outline in space where my quirk was activated." You couldn't think of another way to describe it.

"Don't you always see your quirk?" He asked as if it should have been obvious. You shook your head.

"No. Never." It certainly was a curious sight. You stared at Touya's chest for a while longer to see if the shimmering outline would return. It did not. You shrugged it off. "I think I'm just good at visualizing."

On the shelf beside you, were many fragrant bottles, along with a couple of used razors and a bright orange puffy loofah. You selected one of the sweet-smelling shampoos from the shelf to your right and squeezed a small amount into the loofah. "Alright, hold still, please."

"Wait, you're gonna wash me?" He seemed confused.

"Like I said, it's easier for me if you don't move." You held the scrubber under the water for a moment to lather it up.

"Come on, let's get you clean."