I adjusted my backpack slightly as I opened the door to the alley. I half expected to see Katsuki's face on the other side of that door – but I was yet again met with the collage of dozens of old concert posters tinged with age. Why was I getting my hopes up? He had not even sent me a message or a phone call since Kamino. I sighed, face downturned as I closed the door behind myself. I exited the alley and turned right onto the main street. I let my feet carry me away from the train station – I could not go home.

Should I ask Akari about Kamino? Maybe if I did so in private, she might give me a proper explanation. Akari was different now than when we started school – so different. I had been avoiding spending any extra time at home just in case we crossed each other's paths. I was not sure if I could even stomach facing her right now, either. I swallowed hard and turned off the main street to a park. Akari was still my sister. She had to have a good reason why she was there.

I sat down on a park bench in front of an elegant fountain and set my backpack on my lap. I pulled out my phone and opened up Instagram, uploading a photo of some panda foam latte art I had done the other day. Yaoyorozu and Jiro had come by the quaint café then for a cup of that expensive French tea. Once I was done uploading the photo, I went to Katsuki's page. There were no new uploads. I frowned, hugging my bag into my stomach. I exited the application and opened our stream of text messages. My last message to him was five days ago – the day after we rescued him. I scrolled back up to the top of our messages. Our first messages to one another were so short and to the point, but after the sports festival, they changed to long passages of text. There were a few more dinner invitations, but I had declined them all as I had to work – but this was before he knew. The day after he and Kirishima had studied at the café, he started asking for my weekly work schedule. He always showed up to walk me home. Always.

My phone went off with Redemption's ringtone. I exited my conversation with Katsuki and answered his call. "Hello?"

"Where are you?" Redemption groaned. He was annoyed – what had happened?

"Walking home from work," I answered, zipping up my bag. "Is something wrong?"

"Eraserhead is here. How far are you from the hideout?" Why was my teacher with him?

"About ten minutes," I stood from the bench, swinging my pack onto my back, and started toward the train station.

"See you then." He hung up. Strange, he was not coming to sweep me off my feet like last time. What was preoccupying him? I sighed. I would be finding out shortly anyway. I boarded the train, heading into the city centre. Every news article or program I passed discussed All Might's retirement from his hero duties. All Might had retired at the height of his career – defeating one of the worst villains of the century. I had been too focused on Akari's shifting colours to watch the fight and had to view it on the news the next day.

I exited the station and started toward the agency. I stopped in front of the coffee shop with the girl Redemption fancied. I pulled out my wallet, quickly counting my change for two lattes and an americano. I had enough. I entered the café and the same purple-haired woman behind the counter.

"Ah, welcome back, Polaris! On your way to see Redemption?" She cooed, letting a lazy smile span her face at his name.

I nodded, surprised. Did she remember me? "Yeah, just visiting, though."

She smiled, tilting her head slightly, "you've got to visit more often! The usual for you two?" She quickly punched in the drinks we had ordered last time. That was at least a month and a half ago and she still remembered.

"Y-yeah, and an americano without room, please." I opened my wallet to pay.

"Don't worry about it; I'll add the charge to his account with us!" She quickly exited the transaction and rested her elbows on the counter. "So, Redemption seeing anyone?"

I shook my head. "No, I don't think so." She hummed, twirling her hair on a manicured finger. Was that what girls were supposed to look like when they fell in love? In a moment, the two lattes and Aizawa's americano were slid into a drink tray beside the purple-haired dreamer. She lazily slid the tray towards me – I quickly lifted it off the counter before it fell off the edge. "Thank you." I exited the café and walked the final three blocks to the hideout. Hideout – that seemed like such a villainous name to call your agency headquarters.

I stopped in front of the older brick building – the new panelled windows were covered in a light protective paper. It was surprising that Redemption was planning on sprucing up some of the dilapidations when the inside was even worse. I smiled. Maybe he was making it a better home for him and his sidekicks. I entered the agency, closing the door behind me with my foot, before joining Aizawa and Redemption in the living room.

Redemption perked up as I set the drink tray on the coffee table. It was clear for once. I gently took out their drinks, setting them on the side closest to their respective seats. "Is that from Ryoko's café?" So that was her name.

I nodded, "she put it on your card too." Aizawa lifted his americano to his lips and took a small sip. Redemption rolled his eyes as he leaned back into his seat, taking a long drink from his. I picked up my drink and moved to another sofa to Redemption's left that still sat across from Aizawa. I dropped my bag on the floor and leaned into the arm of the sofa. My left hand, dressed in gauze and covered in a black latex glove, tapped at the side of the to-go cup.

"So," Aizawa scratched the back of his head, "All Might and I went by your home yesterday to speak with your grandmother regarding returning to school."

My stomach dropped. "How did that go?"

"It didn't. She slammed the door in our face as soon as we mentioned your name. Since Redemption is your godfather, I've asked him to make the decision with you." Aizawa added, holding his drink with two fingers as he leaned forward. "We are implementing a dormitory system at UA. So, for now, until you graduate, we wish to keep you all under strict supervision due to the increase in villain activity surrounding your class. You can opt-out if you wish and switch to another school."

"Will I be able to work at the café still – at least until I pass the provisional licensing exam?" I gripped my drink tightly. Mrs. Haruka would need more than just a couple days' notice to fill my position if I did pass. She had helped me the moment I came into her café with my resume. I would be living on the streets if it had not been for her.

Aizawa nodded. "You can still work for now. Make another mistake as you did in Kamino, and you'll be on house arrest." He drank from his cup. I swallowed hard and nodded.

"I think it'll be good if you move into the dorms. Your sister will be in another, and you won't be near that beast of a grandmother. To think they called her the kind-hearted hero back in her day!" Redemption let out a snort, crossing his arms. "Sound good?"

"Y-yeah." I nodded. Would our grandmother be okay on her own without either of us? "I'd like to."

Aizawa took another long drink. "You have today to pack. The school will be providing you with the basics, but you can bring whatever you wish with you. Show up Monday in uniform." He stood and made his way to the front door, his hand stopping on the knob. "Whose dumb idea was it to rescue Bakugo?"

I stared at my coffee lid briefly before turning to face his lazy and annoyed gaze. "Mine." He let out a low chuckle before exiting the hideout.

"You have some guts – but you're an idiot just like your father." Redemption sighed. "What if you got caught by the wrong villain? You don't have enough hands-on training yet!" He leaned forward and crushed his coffee cup on the coffee table, the remains of the contents spraying across the table.

I blinked at him. He was seriously that mad at me? "Nothing bad happened – we all got out of there fine." Redemption's jaw tightened as if he was about to retort, but he swallowed it down. Okay, I was still sore from landing in that pile of debris – but that was beside the point. "My class has been attacked by the League of Villains twice now." I stood and grabbed my bag from the floor, walking to the door.

"Hey – where are you going?" Redemption leaned forward on the sofa.

I put my empty cup in the waste basket. "I was prepared to rescue him alone. I wasn't going to pull any of my classmates in. We're not children anymore." I rushed out the door toward the train station.

[B&M]

I sat back on my knees, my final bag packed. I had left a change of clothes out for tomorrow with my uniform – everything else was packed into a duffle bag and two boxes. I wonder if my grandmother would still be wanting me to pay rent while I was in the dorms. I hung my head – it was probable. I jumped – my phone buzzing in my pocket. Who was messaging me this late at night? It was almost midnight.

K: I'm outside.

I blinked as I stared at the message. He had finally responded after almost a week – and he was outside. Why was he outside?! I quickly typed in my reply as I stood.

M: Aren't you supposed to stay at home?

K: Open your damn door!

I was already walking out of the guesthouse and towards the front. I hurried through the main house to the front door, undoing the latch, and pulled the door open. Katsuki stood on the stoop, hands shoved into his eggshell shorts with a tight black tank top. I took his arm and pulled him inside, closing the door as quietly as I could. I frowned at the blonde, "it's still dangerous for you. Please tell me you didn't walk all the way here. Why are you here anyway?"

Katsuki looked around the entryway. "Where's your room?" I frowned at him; he had walked all the way here in the middle of the night.

"You came all the way here to see my room?" I gawked. He shrugged. I rolled my eyes, took his left hand in my right and led him through the main halls. I had never had anyone – let alone a boy – over. I did not want to find out what Grandmother would do. Why was I worried about her? She wouldn't care anyway. We exited the main home and started to cross the large cement walk.

"What the hell, Makoto – your home is huge. Why does that hag have such a huge stick up her ass?" Katsuki started to walk beside me. I kept walking towards the guest house. I stopped in front of the door, using my free hand to slide it open. My shoulder blade screamed.

I led him inside before closing the door painfully. "This is it."

Katsuki looked around briefly before facing me again. "You're shitting me, this entire house is yours?"

"Yeah," I let go of his hand and headed into the living room, sitting cross-legged on the sofa, "I don't get to stay with Grandmother and Akari." He followed me, standing at the edge of the sofa.

Katsuki grunted, "at least tomorrow will be your last day here." I looked around the empty and dull room, nodding. I had always lived here but never had anything to personalize the space. All I had was that scrapbook. "Where's your first aid kit?" I got up and entered my bathroom, opened the cabinet under the sink, and removed the small kit.

"Did you hurt yourself on the way here," I asked as I re-entered the living room.

"Take your shirt off," Katsuki demanded as I set down my first aid kit on the coffee table. I opened my mouth to question why. "You took a hard fall on those bricks the other day, and you don't get the recovery hag to heal you. Just take it off!" I watched him for a moment before I sat cross-legged on the couch with my back to him. I lifted my shirt up and over my head, balling it up in my lap. I felt him sit behind me and heard the zipper of the bag. I felt his rough hands on my back. They slowly grazed the bumps and bruises and danced over the cuts. A chill ran through me. He unclasped my bra and let the band fall to the side. His hands slunk around my waist. His forehead rested against the base of my neck – hair brushing my skin.

"K-Katsuki?" I stammered, his hot breath hitting my bare skin. I could feel his warmth.

His lips danced on my skin as he spoke. "Why won't you let her heal you?" His hands tightened on my hips.

"I, uh," I took an uneasy breath as I stared at his large hands at my waist, "don't have enough control over my quirk yet. The mitochondria in my cells work overtime to provide my body with enough energy to function – but sometimes, there isn't enough. My body doesn't have enough to spare. I would die if she used her healing on me. If I can somehow lower the energy my quirk needs, I could potentially be healed by her - but that's a long way off."

Katsuki's grip on my waist tightened. "Why put yourself in harm's way then? Even when you fought your psycho sister – you were covered in your own blood." He lifted his head.

"I will protect people no matter what. Even if I scare everyone. Even if I get stuck with the jobs, no one wants. I will be a hero," I turned my head to smile at Katsuki. His eyes glistened as he looked down at me, lips parted. I stared up at him, biting my lip off-centre.

His head fell against my shoulder. "I don't want to be the end of you like I ended All Might." I felt hot, wet tears against my skin. Katsuki was crying. Had this been in his mind all week?

I shook my head, turning to face him, holding his face in my hands as I wiped the tears away. "You didn't end All Might – that was just an intense fight for him at his age. I will be fine. I'm not going anywhere. It's just skin. They're just bruises. It's all a part of becoming a hero – I will be just fine." Tears swelled in the corners of his eyes again, and I felt my heart constrict as if it was locked in a vice grip. Katsuki pulled me into himself and buried his face in my chest as quiet sobs racked his body. Grandfather would always pet my head when I was upset. I hesitantly wrapped one hand around Katsuki's back while my other ran through his hair. It was so soft. I frowned, watching his shaky breaths. It hurt my heart to see him in so much pain. He was so terrified of what had happened. Hell, he had walked here in the middle of the night to make sure I was okay. I had never imagined that Katsuki could be this distraught. I laid my chin on top of his head and pulled him into me. He smelled like caramel.

We remained like that for the next while until Katsuki pulled himself away from my chest. His eyes were slightly puffy, and the tip of his nose and tops of his checks were blushed red. He cleared his throat and motioned with a finger for me to turn around. I complied, returning to a cross-legged position in front of him. I looked down at my hands as Katsuki went through the first aid kit. Thankfully, my cups had somehow remained in place without slipping. That would have been embarrassing. After a few moments, Katsuki began to spread a cool cream over the cuts on my back. He withdrew his hands after a few moments and shuffled around the first aid kit. "So that's why you've been passing out when we've been training." Katsuki placed two bandages on my back. "Is there anything that can help?"

"Y-yeah, I get a transfusion to refresh my blood supply." I swallowed hard. He redid the clasp on my bra. I started to slip my shirt back on as Katsuki stood and brought the first aid kit back into the bathroom.

"Hey, where do you keep your blankets?"

I turned, my shirt half on. Katsuki stood at the entrance of my bathroom with his head tilted back. "There's some in my bedroom – door to your right." His head snapped forward and pulled my door open quickly before stalking inside. I pulled my shirt over my head and set it back in place. Katsuki stalked out of my bedroom, his arms full of my comforter.

"There's nothing in there – did you already pack?" Katsuki put the comforter down on the sofa and picked up the television remote, flipping through the channels.

"Y-yeah," Katsuki settled on a Nightmare on Elm Street marathon, put the remote down, and then returned to the sofa. He let the blanket drape around my shoulders before settling in beside me.

"No Kirishima and no popcorn," Katsuki spoke under his breath, his arm resting on the arm of the sofa.