I open my eyes blearily.

I see a white ceiling illuminated by lights.

I smell the chemicals of sterilization.

I feel the bedsheets resting on my figure.

I hear the sounds of machines beeping.

I sigh loudly.

I'm in the school infirmary. Again. Todoroki-kun is right. I need a hospital bed reserved just for me because I'm beginning to spend more and more time here than in the classroom. I might as well attend my classes from here. How do I attend school virtually? Someone give me the registration form.

I raise myself into a sitting position with an audible crack from my elbow and knee joints. I glance down at myself, and thankfully I'm still in my hero costume. Had the medics removed it, they would have seen my knives and the poison on them. How would I have explained that? That was a recent development, something that I had not sent to the designing company.

I look to my right, where my mask is resting on top of the bed stand. Then to my left, where through the window I see the sun is setting.

I don't realize I'm not alone, until Recovery Girl approaches me.

"You had another episode. Fainted on the battlefield. The ambulance brought you here," she explains. She checks my vitals and hands me a glass of water.

As I sip, I ask her, "What happened? There was an attack. Villains broke into the U.S.J. and Aizawa-sensei went to fight them. Number Thirteen tried to evacuate the class but got hurt. I remember being sucked into a warp gate. Then I fell from the sky and landed hard on the ground. Everything after that is black."

"Oh, sweetie. You don't know? Your classmates were separated from each other. They were all spread out over the simulation joint. And they were ambushed by villains. They fought valiantly, just like true U.A. students. Eraserhead and Number Thirteen were severely injured trying to fend off those villains. All Might arrived and sent them scurrying with their tails between their legs. You know our hero. He isn't Japan's Number One hero for no reason. He defeated that monster.

"One of your classmates, Iida Tenya, came back with Principal Nezu and lots of other Pro-Heroes in tow. We won. Midnight was the one who found you. You were lying in open field, unconscious and vulnerable. I'm glad you didn't get hurt any further."

It doesn't escape my notice that she said nothing about Gunshot mercilessly shooting Shigaraki, the noumu, or the damage that All Might endured. I take another sip. "Is that so? Is everyone else alright?"

"Yep. Except for Midoriya, your classmates left the battle with minor cuts and bruises. Midoriya broke his arms and had to be brought here." I look around. Only Recovery Girl and I are in the infirmary. Seeing my eyes gazing around, she answers my unspoken question. "He arrived before you. I fixed him up and got him going." She gives me a painkiller and a bowl of cut mango. Not just any mango, the sweet, golden mango. "Stay here for another hour. If nothing happens, you're good to go." She leaves, and I take the painkiller.

I lie back and close my eyes. After the disaster today has been, that long nap and Black Forest cake are out of the question. And I have to see that bastard Pro-Hero's face again. But at least I won't be punished for coming late tonight. I have to be in "perfect shape" for when he rapes me.

Having thought enough about what awaits in the next few hours, I think about Shigaraki. Despite the fact that earlier I was trying to suppress my emotions by convincing myself business was simply business, I am genuinely worried about him. Shigaraki's arms and legs were shot at again and again by Gunshot. He pulled himself through Kurogiri's warp gate, and both of them escaped. Is he alright? Better yet, is he alive? Were they able to find a doctor? A doctor who would keep his mouth shut with enough money? Or is he still bleeding to death?

And what about that noumu? Just how did that come into existence? This is far more advanced than nuclear weapons. A literal one-man army. Well, it's not quite a man. Just how many quirks does it have? Does it have a quirk like mine? Can it absorb others' quirks?

Will I go to the bar tonight?

That last question concerns me the most. I pinch the area between my brows in anxiety and frustration.

I hear the door to the infirmary open, but I don't look to see who has come in or gone out. Not until I hear a familiar voice call my name.

"Hey Hanada-chan. Glad to see you're alive," the voice says.

I remove my hand and look at the source of the voice. It's Todoroki-kun. He's changed out of his hero costume into his uniform. I can smell the recent shower and soap from him. "Glad to see you're not dead, either," I respond. He pulls a chair beside the bed and sits. I take in his face. There's a scrape underneath his left eye. His scarred eye. "You have a cut on your face," I point out to him.

He pats his face with one hand, trying to find the cut. When he does, his hand and whole body freeze. He averts his gaze from mine and looks down. "I didn't notice," he murmurs.

I take the First Aid box resting on one of the shelves on the bed stand and open it. There are cotton balls, bandages, and a small bottle of rubbing alcohol amongst other things. I open the bottle and dab the cotton ball with the alcohol. "May I?" I ask as I hold up the cotton ball to him.

He's surprised. I can see it in the way his eyes widen just a little. It's not momentary. It runs deeper. He looks between me and the cotton ball and nods once.

I angle myself to better face him and lightly dab at the wound. "Sorry in advance if it stings." He winces but gives a small smile. Though my eyes are focused on the wound, from my periphery vision I can see him watching my face intently. He must see something there because he gulps, and his cheeks tinge pink. Once I finish disinfecting, I open one of the bandages and put it on the wound. As I rub my thumbs over the strips to smooth it, his cheeks redden further. It's sweet. I smile softly as I let go and move back. "There."

He shifts slightly in his seat. "How are you feeling now? You had to be taken into an ambulance when the battle ended. I thought something serious had happened."

I wave off his concern. "Nothing much. When that warp gate pulled everyone through, I fell hard and fainted. Recovery Girl told me the gist of what happened, but I want to hear from you. What happened in the U.S.J.?" I take a bite of the mango.

He sighs deeply before speaking. "All of us were isolated into different simulation structures. I was thrown into the landslide one. I froze the criminals in place and interrogated them. Found out that Shigaraki, the jerk with the plaster hands all over his face and arms, and Kurogiri, the warp gate nuisance, were the ones behind all of this. They hired those criminals to attack the students, while they would attack All Might. They brought a monster with them. 'Noumu,' they called it. It was hideous. Enormous, muscular, humanoid. You could see its brain. Shigaraki and Kurogiri said it was a weapon designed to kill All Might. But All Might blasted it into outer space. Soon after, Iida came back with an army of Pro-Heroes. We would have caught those two, but they escaped through that disturbing portal. The police arrested all the criminals and found the noumu, however. They're keeping them under constant vigilance and isolation. Aizawa-sensei, All Might, and Number Thirteen had to be hospitalized. With a few treatments All Might and Number Thirteen recovered. But Aizawa-sensei ... he was injured the most. His eye socket bones were fractured. He's undergoing surgery."

Even he won't acknowledge Gunshot's actions ...

I need a moment to collect myself. "What now? What does Principal Nezu intend to do?"

"Tomorrow we have the day off. The school and police are scanning the campus. They caught the noumu and are keeping it isolated and under constant watch."

"What about those criminals? The ones you and everyone else fought?"

"They've all been arrested and taken into questioning."

"Hmm. That's good." The situation is bad for the League of Villains. If the League of Villains still exists after today, then I will have a thorough discussion with All for One, Shigaraki, and Kurogiri. No, not a discussion. I'll give them a proper scolding.

Recovery Girl comes back and dismisses me. Todoroki-kun helps me from the bed and gives me my cane and mask. I take out my glass case from my inner pocket to wear my glasses. We leave the infirmary together, but he accompanies me on my walk to the ladies' locker room. "You should go home. I can manage. The ladies' locker room isn't that far."

"And ride the train alone with the obnoxious stench of sweat and pheromones permeating the air? Listen to the cheap music that one person always listens to on full blast? Thanks, but no thanks."

"That stench and music still exist when I'm there. So what difference does it make?" I laugh.

"I can ignore that stench and music when I'm talking to you. That's why."

I have nothing to say to that. We walk the hallways leading to the locker room in silence, until we see Midoriya-san and Bakugou-san. Midoriya-san is trailing behind Bakugou-san, glancing at him nervously. Meanwhile, Bakugou-san strolls confidently with his signature sneer.

We move to the side to give them space to walk through. But that's not their intention.

They're walking toward us.

They want to talk.

I groan internally.

As much as I enjoy drama, I don't want to deal with this right now.

But I don't have a choice.

We're standing face to face now.

Here it comes. Time to muster the two milligrams of patience I have.