A/N: I LIVE!

Deepest apologies for my extended absence and for returning with a short chapter! I promise I am not giving up on this story, life just got in the way of writing and posting :( Thank you all so much for sticking around and for your patience! I can't believe how much this fic has grown and there are so many things coming up that I am so excited about (including the much-anticipated dorm-duty "episode"!)

Chapter 34 – Watch Me Bleed

Aine dumped yet another bucket of red-tinged water down the bathtub drain before returning to the living room.

"I still think we should call Tsukauchi." Shouta spoke as he tied off another trash bag of splintered wood from the smashed remains of her coffee table.

She shook her head, "Like I said earlier, I know he can be trusted to be discreet but something like this…" she gestured to the wall where a slight pink haze still clung to the wall where that cursed name had been. "People are already whispering about a villain – a traitor – on campus, all it takes is one person seeing him... Besides, everything is accounted for…" Including the flash drive she thought to herself.

Shouta let out a frustrated exhale as he tossed the bag into the dining room with the 3 other bags of broken or destroyed belongings. "Will you at least notify Nedzu? Then, come stay with us tonight until we can find a new place for you."

Aine sighed as she filled the bucket up with another round of soapy water from the kitchen. They had argued back and forth about who to call, what to do, what not to do, and what next steps to take as soon as they had finished taking inventory and pictures of the damage. Silence interrupted by the sounds of broken glass, wood and other materials being gathered into a trash bag once again filled the air as she went back to work on the wall.

There had been 2 other similar "decorations" in her bedroom. Surprisingly, the only room in the apartment untouched had been the kitchen.

She dropped the rag into the bucket before bringing it up again, listening to the water pouring before pressing it to the wall.

"I'll call Nedzu."

It was a matter of moments after the phone call was placed before the principal was knocking at her door, still clad in his nightclothes and slippers. The largest majority of the mess had been cleaned up minus a few items scattered or piled against the wall.

Aine allowed Shouta to take the lead on relaying the events of the night to Nedzu while she dumped out the bucket and refilled it in the tub.

"It sounds like you had quite the interesting night, Miss Satterfield." Nedzu mused as he looked through the pictures on Shouta's phone of the damage, his eyes narrowing on the graffiti images, "I wholeheartedly agree with Mr. Aizawa that you most certainly cannot stay in this apartment even after the damage is repaired. As such, we will need to find new accommodations for you until a suitable location is found." He shook his head, "We only built enough dorms to accommodate a certain number of staff so I'm afraid there aren't extra units available. Unfortunately, my dear, it appears that we may need to accept the Commission's offer…"

"I could stay at Mr. Aizawa's apartment." Aine interrupted, gesturing towards Shouta, "He has offered that I can stay there just for tonight, and we can revisit this in the morning."

Nedzu looked to Shouta who nodded once in affirmation, "It is settled then. We will discuss a more permanent solution in the morning."

"Thank you, sir."

A short nod from the rodent principal, "I will stop by first thing. Goodnight." He turned and stepped back out of the apartment letting the door click closed behind him.

"We should get going as well." Shouta put the trash bag he had been working on atop the pile in the dining room as Aine stepped around him to dump the bucket into the kitchen sink. She wrung out the rag in the sink before hanging it to dry and placing the bucket back into the closet.

"Let me grab some things and then I can meet you at your apartment."

Shouta looked as though he was going to protest, shaking his head while looking around what remained of her living room. "Are you sure that's the wisest idea? I have no problem waiting for you."

Aine leaned against the wall separating the kitchen from the living room, "I'll be fine. If anyone was going to try anything they would have hung around, no?" She pushed away from the wall, "Besides, then you won't have to explain to Togata why I'm at your doorstep with my belongings."

She could almost see his mind running through scenarios and any rational excuses he could give her before he crossed his arms in acquiescence, "15 minutes?"

"If even that."

He didn't try to argue but gave an acknowledging nod before leaving the apartment.

Once the door shut, Aine quickly set about gathering her belongings. In short order, she had gathered enough clothing for a day or two and tossed them into a small suitcase before digging the thumb drive out of its hiding place. Burying it under the clothes, she took one last look around the room.

That's when her eyes caught on her duffel bag. Whoever had tossed her room must have deemed the equipment inside to be of no importance because it had not even been disturbed from its place on her desk. After checking to ensure that her visor and weapons had not been disturbed, she slung the bag across her back.

Grabbing the picture from her nightstand, she flipped off the light without looking back into the room.

A couple of hours and one extremely excited 6-year-old settled into bed later, Aine dropped heavily onto the couch in Shouta's apartment. A few moments later, Shouta emerged from the kitchen with a warm mug of coffee.

"You could just stay here for the time being." He handed her the mug; she smiled in gratitude and took a sip when she saw her thermometer already sitting in the glass.

Aine shook her head, "We both know that is too much risk. Especially after tonight." She leaned forward, her elbows resting on her knees and the warm mug held in both hands. Shouta joined her on the couch in a similar position, minus the coffee mug. Aine sighed, "One night is one thing but any longer than that increases the risk. The more ways I try to look at it, the more it looks like the only choice I have is to either go to the Commission safe-house or try and hide somewhere." She absentmindedly started to fiddle with her necklace. "Shouta, I don't want to run again but I know the minute they get their hands on me… I'll disappear. Legal protection or no."

Cold-clawed panic began to wind its way around her heart as she allowed her thoughts to dwell on what it would mean to "disappear" under the Commission's watch.

"Hey, hey, hey." Her mug was gently pried from her hands where she had unconsciously held it in a death-grip, she followed it with her eyes as Shouta placed it on the coffee table. "Look at me." He gently grabbed her hands and turned her towards him. "You don't want to put Eri and I at risk by staying here, then we just find somewhere else on campus for you to stay. There has to be…" his voice trailed off before he stood abruptly, "I'll be right back."

Aine watched after him in confusion as he disappeared into his bedroom and reemerged with a stack of papers. He started shuffling through them one by one before he dropped one down on the table. It was an email – with a simplified printout of the dorm blueprints.

"What is that?" Aine scooted the mug over to give more space.

"When the dorms were originally brought up, the students were going to be the only ones on campus in the dorms. Teachers would still live off-campus, commute and so on with only one difference…" he pointed to a room hidden just barely off of the main living area. "When the dorm duty schedule was set up, the plan was that each teacher would live for a week at a time in the dorm to keep an eye on things." He stood back and crossed his arms, "Of course, that was after the kidnapping and before the fight in Kamino Ward. After we witnessed first-hand what exactly the League was capable of, the police, the Commission and Nedzu made the decision for all staff to move onto campus too." He rubbed the back of his neck, "I'll be honest with you, I've never thought to check if that room was still included in the final floor plan."

Shouta sat down back on the couch next to Aine, "We will present this to Nedzu in the morning. If those rooms exist, maybe he can place you with one of the classes in their dorm for the time being."

Aine stared at the roughly drawn and printed out sketch, "And if not?"

"Then we keep looking." Shouta stacked the papers on the end of the coffee table, the blueprint sitting on the very top. Aine let herself lean heavily against his shoulder; he gently placed his chin on her head while wrapping his arms around her. She allowed the steady beating of his heart to soothe her even as her mind continued to race.

"We won't give you over to them without a fight." His hand rubbed small, gentle circles on her back. Aine pressed herself tighter into the comfort of his arms. "For tonight, get some rest and we will tackle this in the morning."

As he rose to leave her with a kiss, Aine couldn't help but feel like rest was going to be the last thing she could do.