Senji woke with a start, sometime after the sun came up but before the day had really kicked off. Bakugo was shouting at someone in another part of the office, and loudly. Senji squinted at the bright overhead light, waitint for her senses to confirm her surroundings. Her eyes finally adjusted, through slit-like vision, and she caught a big rush of red in the corner of her vision.

"Hey! Bakugo, quit-! Oh, you awake?," Kirishima turned back to face her, looking down at where she had been resting her head in his lap.

"Kiri?"

She blinked, still groggy and not fully registering everything. Her brows furrowed, creasing her forhead in the middle. Kirishima beamed down at her, holding back a chuckle and somewhat nervous. His cheeks were just slightly redder than normal, which he could have blamed on the island sun if he really wanted to.

"Bakugo was here, but he jumped up and you moved around in your sleep. Didn't wanna wake ya," the redhead explained.

"Why..? Whatever,"Senji's face returned to normal, and she rolled up to a sitting position beside Kirishima. She pawed at her eyes, rubbing out the morning gunk and frowning at the small amount of moisture in the corners. Kirishima just watched as she stretched her arms over her head and let out a massive yawn. Her arms fell like rocks at her side, hands resting in her lap and tail swishing lazily between her and her impromptu pillow.

Kirishima held out one of the hashbrown patties he was eating for breakfast out for Senji, who looked at him with a somewhat unsure expression. He looked over at her just in time to see her taking a big bite out of it. Her eyes lit up at the crispy texture and the warm salty flavor. She happily accepted his tribute, and her tail was nearly wagging as she ate.

Kirishima felt his heartstrings tugging tight in his chest, overloaded with the cat-like way his classmate and friend behaved sometimes. He only had a moment to bask in that feeling before Senji started choking on a bite of the food. He slid over a glass with some orange juice in it, and she chugged it down to dislodge the greasy potato that nearly ended her life. Kirishima couldn't hold back his little laugh in time, and caught a nasty side eye from the girl. He held up his hands defensively, and she thwacked his palm with her tail.

"I'm heading out to help with the fields. Oh, you're up Senji? Were you still helping out today?," Izuku peeked into the room.

"Oh shit! I did agree to that, didn't I?," Senji cursed her past self a little for that one. "Yeah, lemme get changed and we can head out. Sorry."

She wolfed down the remainder of her breakfast, taking care to chew properly this time. With another swig of orange juice, she jumped up and disappeared upstairs. In a matter of minutes, she was back down and scrambling to clear up her mess on the table.

"I got it,"Kirishima offered. She thanked him and sped out in a hurry, her tail brushing the wrappers of her late night meal. He quickly scooped it up, along with the mostly empty energy drink can, and tossed them in the trash before Bakugo came back and threw a fit about it. He recalled another time, fairly recently, that the two had a heated argument in the dorm lobby about Senji's questionable diet and eating habits. While it was humorous in some ways, it was not a moment he wanted to experience twice.

…

"Ready?," Senji did some stretches outside with Izuku.

"Yeah. You?," he returned the question, voice somewhat strained.

"Mhm. Alright," she formed her wings and gave them a couple test flaps. She adjusted her position for swift takeoff, Izuku doing the same for a hard sprint. They had started this routine a while back, in the early mornings before school. "Ready, set….GO!"

And they were off. Senji flew at blistering speeds, grateful that Kirishima had remembered her sunglasses at the last moment. Deku kept pace easily on the ground, hardly slowing down around corners. They raced down the crumbling streets, out past where the roads became mere dirt tracks in the grass. Further out, into a large field, stopping just short of the long driveway. Senji slid along the ground, landing roughly and toppling over into the dirt. Izuku tumbled just behind her, making her the winner of this particular race.

"You kids out to wear yourselves out before we even get started?," an older man greeted them, eyebrows raised at the pair now collapsed on the ground in front of him.

"S-sorry!," Izuku stammered out and rolled up in an instant.

"Old habit, for training. My bad," Senji offered a much less formal sort of apology. Izuku held a hand out, and she happily accepted it to pull herself up. She shook her head to loosen any gravel that had gotten stuck in her hair, then remembered a hair tie and pulled it back as much as she could.

"Right. Let's get to it then."

Senji worked silently alongside Izuku in a rice paddy, carefully planting stalks and pulling out any weeds or detritus. She wiped her brow, frowning at her reflection. Her forehead was creased once again by her furrowed brow as her mind wandered. Tasks like this always got her mind racing, wandering into areas she didn't particularly enjoy revisiting. Her nightmares were getting worse again, but she couldn't rely on someone else to come in and calm her down anymore. Not that she had that for too long, either.

She stood up to go get a drink of water, and instantly realized her mistake. She felt hot, then cold. Dripping sweat, and her vision blurred before fading out around the edges. Her scales started creeping up over her body, as she swayed side to side. Izuku shouted from nearby, just over the road between their paddies. Her scales were covering his arm, as well. Her final warning before she collapsed into the shallow water.

"Senji!," Izuku rushed to her side, his anxiety reaching new heights when he spotted her face down in the water. He quickly scooped her up and rolled her around so her face was toward the sky. She was hot, and sweating buckets. Her unbuttoned school issue jersey was drenched, along with her loose shorts. Her breath was shallow and way too fast, as was her pulse.

"Shit," Izuku let one of his rare curses slip out. He'd gotten so lost in thought while working that he forgot about her condition, and the heat.

"Huh? Dammit," Senji came to just as quickly as she'd passed out. Izuku kept a hand up to support her as she rested in a sitting position. She ran a finger through her now soaked hair, pushing her bangs back so her face was clear and could feel the slight breeze.

"Sorry."