This ended up being the shortest chapter for this story by far, but I didn't want to cram too much more into it. What is in this chapter now is exactly what I want to be in it. That being said, I'm planning on posting another chapter this week to make up for the short length. Maybe on saturday?

She ends up sleeping through most of the next two days.

Suzume only comes out of the haze of pain killers long enough to answer the police reports, and talk to doctors about her injuries. It's all hazy and bewildering and she finds she hates hospitals with a passion she hadn't expected.

The one highlight is when Kurono slipped in after visiting hours were over, no doubt having bribed the nurse, to bring Eri to visit her. She doesn't know how they figured out when she wouldn't be drugged to the gils but she's glad to see them all the same.

Kurono shuts the door firmly behind him and pulls his hood off to reveal his clock work hair.

"Kai would have come," he says apologetically, "But you know he doesn't like being around sick people."

"He doesn't like being around people period," Suzume points out easily. Since they've managed to come during one of her more lucid moments, Suzume lets Eri up onto her lap, since her legs are mostly okay, and hugs her with her good arm.

Her shoulder still hurts, and her neck is definitely going to have a scar on the back of it, but she lucked out. There's no lasting damage. She just has to take it easy for a while, and check in with Recovery Girl when she gets back to school.

It could have been much, much worse. She could have sustained nerve damage, or lost the use of her arm entirely. It could have punctured her lungs. And the blow to her neck could have decapitated her.

One thing is abundantly clear to her.

She needs more training. A lot of it.

Eri tucks her head beneath Suzume's chin and sniffs softly.

"I wanna make you better…" she mumbles into Suzume's good shoulder. Her whole neck it wrapped up tight and Eri's jostling makes tears prick in her eyes, but she stubbornly ignores it.

Suzume rubs her back gently.

"I'd like that, but it's not allowed in here. You can only use your quirk at home, or for little things."

Besides, she doesn't add, if Eri gets too worked up I might vanish.

"That's stupid," Eri grumbles.

"I know baby," Suzume softens herself for her niece and hugs her close. Eri's horn bumps against her collar bone. "But the doctors will take care of me, and I'll be fine soon. I promise."

"You pinkie promise?"

"I pinkie promise," Suzume assures, and offers Eri her pinky.

"You have to promise not to get hurt like this again too!"

Suzume wants to say that she can't make a promise like that. She knows she's chosen a dangerous path in her life.

But Eri's chin is jutted out sharply even as her huge red eyes seems to start to tear up.

Suzume feels her will crumble in the face of it.

"Okay. I promise."

It's a stupid promise, but she can't deny Eri. So she makes it, and plays with the girl until Kurono takes her home for the night and promises to tell Kai that Suzume is doing well.

By the time she's released from Hosu General hospital she's been lectured for intervening at least three times, accused of vigilantism once (and laughed in the face of the police officer who did that), and been on so many pain medications for a while she started explaining the theory of relativity to the drapes. In spanish.

When she's released to Nighteye again she spends time on basic lock down before she finally gets the chance she and leaves the Nighteye Agency. Nighteye had come in on his day off to check on her, but she wasn't allowed to go out on patrol with him or do anything strenuous at all. She was allowed to file papers, but she was still varying degrees of loopy, so even that was mostly off the table. They'd definitely given her the good stuff, and every four hours she had to take a small handful of pills. Some were for pain, most were for infections.

Towards the end of the four hours she felt more like a person and less like a somewhat sentient blob of cotton, so during one of those times of lucidity she leaves the agency for a walk. The two sidekicks offer to accompany her, but she waves them off and insists that she needs some fresh air. They hesitate, but let her go all the same.

Her arm is in a cast, and her neck is wrapped firmly in bandages. She'd washed her hair in the sink, but it had been difficult and she couldn't put it up.

She makes quite the appearance when she walks into the Tsushima dojo.

Ryuhei is there. He has a group of small children playing volleyball, but when he sees her he passes them off to his newest protege. Suzume had taught the girl years ago. Higurashi Hiyori, a menace of a girl with green and black serpents for hair and far too many teeth.

Those poor kids.

"Suzume!" Ryuhei looks her over. "I saw the news. And that crazy video they posted online. You are… not looking good."

"Thanks," she says dryly. "I feel like a fucking peach."

"Don't let Shihan hear you say that," he scolds, but his smile is crooked. "I see you've put my gift to good use."

"It's saved my life," she assures. "Thank you, really. You didn't have to."

"I knew you'd keep chasing this crazy dream of yours with or without a weapon," he flips his fingers at her. "I still wish you'd just join the Family. You could do good work there."

"No thanks."

He's not surprised by her dismissal. It's happened a million times before.

"I can't believe how close that was. Hosu… what a wild night. Monsters, hero killers, kids fighting. And there were barely any fatalities outside of those two heroes."

"I still can't believe more people didn't die. It was messy."

"Fights always are," he says breezily. "You're here for my father, aren't you?"

She nods, once.

Ryuhei takes her into the backroom, where she finds Shihan Yuzo sitting on the matts in the dark, his can resting in front of him. She can only assume he's meditating. Ryuhei nudges her towards him.

Suzume bows to the matt, bows to Shihan, bows to Ryuhei, and goes to kneel in front of him.

She waits. For a long time he says nothing before he opens his sightless eyes. Suzume can barely see with the light that filters in through the window.

"You lost."

"I- yes," she wants to contest it, but the truth is if Shouto hadn't saved her she would be very, very dead. Again. "I've been training for years, but I'm still not strong enough. Stain, Chizome Akaguro, nearly killed me. Shihan. I need to become stronger, and fast. The world is becoming… treacherous."

"The world has always been treacherous, no matter what the heroes would have you believe."

"Yes, sir." She knows that well.

"But you are right. You still need to become stronger. My son has very strong basics. Daga is a clever, tricky young woman. But if you're going to be fighting people of that caliber instead of run of the mill villains and punks, you will need more training. You will need to become stronger, or I will have wasted ten years on your education."

Suzume bows to him, her palms flat on the floor.

"Very well. You will have some time off in July for summer break, after the hero school summer camps end. Tell Ryuhei the days. You will need a full week free."

"A week, sir?" her brows furrow. What can she accomplish in a week?

"Yes. My master will have you whipped in shape in no time. If you survive."

Suzume swallows thickly. The whole point of this is that she doesn't want to die! But Shihan Yuzo has never steered her wrong.

Still, she has to ask, "Did he train with them?"

"Akaguro? Yes. Shortly after his parents died, I sent him to her. He only stayed for two days."

If he only stayed for two days, this insane man who had taken so much damage and still brought down a fucking nomu, how long can she last? She's just a kid.

But Shihan Yuzo doesn't blink. She doesn't know if he can actually read her mind, although sometimes she thinks he must be able to. For he says,

"You will go. And you will do better."

It's not a request, or even faith in her. It's an order.

"Yes, sir."

"Good. Now stand. Let's see what you can do without your arm."

"The doctors said that I shouldn't strain myself…"

He picks up his cane and stands. The lines of his weathered face are hard. This close she can see the scar that cuts horizontally down his throat, towards his collarbone. He looks down at her, his unseeing eyes going over her shoulder but their weight no less heavy for it.

"Get up, Kono Suzume. You will fight no matter how broken your body is. You will never let yourself be put down so long as you have a pulse."

Suzume stands.

"Yes, sir."

It's the day she's set to leave the agency that Nighteye calls her into his office.

Togata follows her in, all set to escort her around the city one last time before letting her go home. He's been puppy guarding her since the incident. He feels guilty for letting her get hurt on his watch, even though it wasn't his fault at all and she's told him about a million and one times that he doesn't need to feel bad.

The news is in a frenzy. With Native saying he gave his permission to use their quirks, none of the four of them have been omitted from the coverage, although most news companies have at least blotted out their names, settling for 'UA high school student' or 'interns'. She knows a few pictures got out too, and even if they hadn't her hood was down when she punched Stain in the back of the head. Someone had still filmed his little speech, and consequently her action as well.

It's going to garner more attention than she really wanted. Suzume would rather not deal with what's going to be coming for her with it. Deku should have been the focus of all this bullshit. He's the one with the wild quirk and the shonen destiny and all that crap.

She just wants to be a hero. Nothing more, nothing less.

It shouldn't be this damn hard.

She shakes the thoughts out of her head and goes to sit in the seat across the desk from Nighteye.

"Mirio, you didn't need to come for this," he scolds mildly. There's something weird in his voice. Something that puts Suzume's teeth on edge.

"I wanted to see what you were up to. Information gathering is important for heroes, right Sir?"

Nighteye slowly nods, although there's a small furrow in his brow.

Suzume sits up straighter. She doesn't know what's going on, but she knows that she doesn't like it. Not even a little bit.

He sets a stack of papers on his desk, and when she sees the picture on the front page her heart sinks.

Kai, in his bird mask, stares up at the ceiling.

"You can't be serious."

"You know these criminals," Nighteye says evenly. Togata squints at the papers, trying to figure out what was happening.

"You can not be serious," she repeats, her stomach churning. Betrayal tastes like ashe on her tongue. "… This is it, isn't it? The real reason you invited me to come here. You're investigating the Shie Hessaikai." She should have known. She probably did know, she just didn't want to admit it.

I was a fool.

"They're dangerous people. You need to tell me everything you know about them. I know you were associated with them before your father was arrested."

"They were my babysitters!" she snaps. He stares at her, his eyes perfectly level and unflinching.

"Sir…" Togata mumbles.

Suzume snatches the papers off the desk. Before Nighteye can take them back she riffles through them, searching for any mention of quirk canceling bullets.

There are none. It's just Kai stretching the grasp of the Yakuza in ways that they haven't been able to since All Might came into the picture. Mostly border skirmishes and pushing villain gangs back out of their territory. Violent crime involving civilians has even significantly dropped in the areas that he controls.

But no quirk canceling bullets, and no mention of Eri.

Whatever lingering fears she had had for her niece abate, even as her temper flares, hot and cloying.

"Fine." She slaps the personnel file on Toya on the table.

"This is Setsuna Toya, he's twenty three. If you give him puppy dog eyes, he'll extend curfews."

She puts the next one down. "This is Tabe Soramitsu, he doesn't talk much and he shouldn't be trusted in a kitchen with a gas stove. Even though he's always hungry, he'll give up his portion of desert if you ask nice enough." The next. "Hojo Yu will spend hours mocking new age crystal nuts. He's very good for helping with geography homework." Another sheet slaps on the desk. "Nemoto Shin will let most trouble slide if you own up to it. Rappa Kendo-"

"What are you doing?" Nighteye cuts in, sounding angry for the first time since she got here.

"I told you. They were my babysitters," she sits back, laying the rest of the papers down on the table in a messy stack. "I spent time at their house after school and they watched me for a few weekends. That's it. The most illegal thing I ever saw any of them do is cheat at monopoly. They hardly ever used their quirks around me, and I wasn't allowed in the room whenever someone had to 'talk business'. Especially after I told everyone my intentions of becoming a hero. So whatever help you thought you were going to get by manipulating me into coming here, I can't give it to you."

I won't. She adds silently.

"If you want to be a hero, you need to be willing to make hard choices to protect innocent people. By protecting these villains-"

"They aren't villains. They're yakuza. Organized criminals. It's not the same thing."

Besides. Heroes have never protected me.

She clenches her fists tighter before forcing herself to relax them.

"And I can't help you with them. Sir." She nearly spits the word at him. This was why he wanted her here. Not because he thought she could do well. Not because he believed in her when All Might didn't.

No.

He wanted her here to tell him about Kai and his bullets.

He wanted to use her.

Simple.

Obvious.

And she had chosen to blind herself to it.

Suzume stands. Togata is staring down at the papers, looking more betrayed than even she is. When she stands his face snaps up to hers, white and guilty.

"Yusada, I-"

"Thank you for the learning opportunity," she cuts him off swiftly, her dark eyes fixed on Nighteye. "I will remember these lessons well, Sir."

"You're making a mistake."

"Yeah," she steps back and shoulders her bag with her good arm. "I did make a mistake here."

"Sir," Togata stands with her, "I can't believe you would do this!"

"It's necessary," he stares hard at Suzume, accusation in his voice and eyes. "These are very dangerous people. The Yakuza cannot be allowed to make a come back. Sometimes we have to do things we don't like, to ensure the safety of other people. Particularly in delicate situations like this one. You should know that by now."

"I know that the Yakuza are dangerous! But you should have just asked her outright, not manipulated her into coming here."

Suzume shuts the door firmly behind her while Togata keeps talking at Nighteye. It seems she can add another hero, or at least a future hero, to her small list.

She makes her goodbyes to the side kicks, who have been nothing but kind to her, and leaves. Her cheeks feel hot and her chest is tight. She wants to go get into a fight, but her arm is still damaged and there are just a few too many painkillers left in her blood for her to trust herself that way.

Besides, it's broad daylight.

She can't be getting into fights in broad daylight. Not with regular people and not her classmates at least. If she was at school she's pretty sure she could ask Kirishima, or even Bakugou for a quick match to get the energy and anger burning under her skin an outlet.

But she's not at school.

And her little not-vigilantism escapades require night time and a distinct lack of other people being around to see her work. A few people is fine, especially if they owe her for saving their skins, but it's too bright right now and she's already garnered more attention than she wanted to with the whole Stain incident.

Wasn't Midoriya supposed to be the protagonist here? Fucks sakes.

She's just going to have to deal with the heat buzzing under her skin until she gets somewhere she can kick a few cement blocks to dust. So, Suzume checks the time and sets off.

Let Togata handle Nighteye. She wants to go home.

She misses her mother, and her brothers, and their house.

Being around her home town for so long, she misses her dad.

This world will never let you be a hero.

She takes a deep breath and steps forwards.

I won't give them a choice. Just you watch Dad.