Chapter 29

The sound of his footsteps echoed down the dimly lit hallway. Normally, he would use his quirk to hover through the air, like a storm cloud, but in times like this, he needed to conserve his power to be ready to serve his former boss. He entered the last wooden door at the end of the hall, not bothering to knock or give notice to his presence. There waiting for him was the man himself sitting in a chair with his bright red sneakers propped up on the table, playing his PSP.

"Shigaraki, I've successfully located the Sui Man."

The game beeped loudly and boomed, signifying the death of his last avatar. Though the set of dead hands had covered over his pale face, he could tell that he wasn't in the mood for distractions. Frustrated, he huffed a breath, shut off the game, and tossed the device lazily onto the table.

"Warp him here."

"Yes, sir."

Without a minute to spare, Kurogiri released his quirk, opening the portal through his dark purple cloud until the middle-aged man appeared through it and stumbled across the room. The man was unable to catch his balance and ended up falling to his knees on the concrete floor. His eyes darted all over the place, confused, trying to figure out where he was, but stopped the moment they landed on Shigaraki.

"Who're you? Where am I?" he asked, growing even more uncertain by the second. "... What is this?"

"So you're the one Kurogiri hired to capture the kids from U.A." Shigaraki began "I must say, I thought he'd pick better than you."

"Just what the hell's going on?! Who's this kid?!"

"You're a noisy one, aren't ya? Why don't you shut up and let me explain."

"What, d'you work for him or something? Ya could've just called my burn phone."

"On the contrary, he works for me... Now I'm gonna ask you some questions and you're gonna answer me."

"Listen, Kid, I don't take orders from-" His voice was cut short by the cold chill of a sharp metal knife pressed against his throat. He could faintly make out the dark purple smoke coming off his attacker's arms. He cursed in his head.

"If you value what's left of your pathetic life, you'll do good to answer him." His deep voice sent goosebumps across his skin as he pushed the blade slightly harder. He could feel a small trickle of blood drop down.

"Now, how many of them were you able to get?"

"How many what?"

"How many students did you manage to take?"

Asano hesitated, knowing he wasn't going to be happy with what he was about to say. "Two... We got one who ran away from home after her parents took her out of U.A. and another who joined us willingly."

"Out of those two, were either of them the main target? I'm sure Kurogiri gave you all the information when he took you in."

He grit his teeth and gulped down his fear before he spoke again. "N-no. None of them are the Hattori girl."

Tomura sat up straight in his chair and began to angrily scratch his neck, trying to pass his growing anxiety through pain. "Because you failed to cover your tracks, we ended up losing one of our main bases! The hero society knows about the drugs now, and it's slowing us down! The minute I've got a new dealer out in the streets, another one's taken down by a hero! I'm losing all the fire power I've spent months building up!"

"Calm yourself, Shigaraki."

"Hey, I made sure to leave no trace. I handed her the note, just like you said, but she still hasn't shown any sign of leaving U.A. She needs better persuasion. I can barely keep tabs on her while I'm out selling your stuff and keepin' the fuzz off my ass!"

"Your job was to bring her to me alive."

"Her family's security doesn't make it easy, nor does the school's. If you couldn't get her, what makes you think I would on the first try?!"

"I'm sick of hearing excuses. You're of no use to me... Kill him."

"W-wait! Wait! Don't kill me! No, no, don't kill me, please!"

Kurogiri pulled the knife back to allow him to speak.

"I can still be useful, I swear! Just give me another chance! No more excuses. Give me anything and I'll do it."

Shigaraki then stood from his seat and walked over to the man who was now on his knees, trembling. His devilish red eyes glared down at him, giving his final judgement. "Fine. Since I can't afford to lose anymore men, I'll let you live. You have one month to get us a new base. We need to honor our agreements to our allies by keeping up with their demands. I'm certain they all have a grudge against the heroes who've put them away and would like to take matters into their own hands. Find a new base and start spreading it like wildfire. I want it to be everywhere that even the hero society can't trace where it's all coming from."

"Y-yes, sir!"

Kurogiri removed the blade and allowed him to step away freely. He inched his way closer to the exit as Shigaraki proceeded to return to his chair and pick up his PSP again.

"... Sui."

The man halted in his tracks and turned back to him with wide eyes pleading for him not to change his mind about letting him go.

"Fail me again and I'll turn your body into dust." The device in his hand began to crack and crumble, falling apart as if it were dry clay. He let the pieces slip through his fingers to the floor with a series of loud thuds and the man immediately sped out the door. Point made.

Kurogiri returned the knife to his person. "Forgive me, Shigaraki, for not keeping a close eye on him."

Tomura sighed as he reclined back in his chair. "Where do you keep finding these people?"

"I did as you ordered and found what I could... What do you wish to do about the girl?"

"We'll just have to put it off for now. There are other things that need our attention at the moment. A war is coming... Besides, I've got another plan in mind for her. Master has asked us to form a team that will infiltrate Tartarus, but it'll have to be when the hero's society is at it's most weakest. At that point, their security will be compromised... Once we do that, the girl will come to us of her own accord."

"How so?"

"We're gonna plan a little family reunion..."

With her side propped up against the arm rest of the suede couch, Akane stared blankly at the digital clock sitting on top of the bookcase. She was only about fifteen minutes in and she was already ready for this session to be over. Why did she have to do this twice out of the week? Even if it was just for an hour, it was incredibly annoying that it took so much time out of her hero training. She was already behind as it is. Taking a small breath through her nose, she let out a quiet sigh. For the last few weeks, she had started to be a little okay coming here with the counselor, but today was different. Bakugo was supposed to come back from his internship with Todoroki and Midoriya. He didn't say what time, but she knew it was today, and she really wanted to talk to him about the experience. Ever since that one night, they haven't really had much time to talk, or rather - she did, but he didn't. He said he would get up every day hella early in the morning and that he wouldn't get back to the hotel until late in the evening, and even then, he was too exhausted to do anything, so she didn't know much about what all went down.

"Hattori?"

"..."

"Hello? Akane?" She spoke louder.

She immediately jolted and sat up straight. "Oh, sorry!"

"So Akane, you seem pretty distracted today."

She sighed again, this time louder. "I'm just ready for this day to be over..."

"Oh? Did something happen today?"

"No."

"Did something happen that you're not comfortable talking about? That wasn't written down in the journal?" Mrs. Tokihira waved the black and white notebook in the air, the book she insisted for Akane to write in since day one. It was mostly for whenever she couldn't talk about her issues face to face or say them out loud. Things about her average day to day school life, things about her home, her studies, and relationship with her Mom and peers. Y'know, the typical stuff. It was actually kind of relieving compared to talking.

"No, nothing happened. It's just been a long day and I'm ready to go back to my dorm and relax."

"You didn't seem to feel that way the last time we were here. What changed?"

"Well, the teacher's just announced that the finals are coming up. I also have my second group training test in a couple of weeks, so I've been pushing myself through studies and workouts." Akane explained matter-of-fact-like.

"Are any of those things making you feel overwhelmed?"

"Not as bad as they have before."

She took out her notepad and pen and began jotting down some things. "And what about the things we said we'd try to do? Have you been opening up a little more to your friends?"

"Yea."

"How's that going for you?" she asked, the very question making Akane a bit hesitant.

"It's okay, I guess..." she answered while she adjusted in her seat.

"Well, I know it may seem like I'm pushing you, but if you don't step outside your comfort zone, you could be missing out on a lot of friendships. Do you feel as though you've gotten closer with some of your friends?"

Now that she thought of it, perhaps she did become slightly more sociable. She joined in on a game with the dorm, her new friends text her almost every day, and she helped Bakugo outside school twice now. Those were things that past Akane wouldn't even think about doing.

"Yea, I do."

"That's good. That means that it must be working, right?"

She nodded.

"But sometimes we don't take the opportunity to do these things because we're scared. I want you to know that it's okay to be scared to try new things, but there's always a chance that those things will turn out better for you in the long run."

"It could also make it worse..."

"Why do you say that?" she asked, which of course she'd be curious.

"How do you know those people you've opened up to won't hurt you in the end?"

The counselor paused her writing and parted her wavy hair over her ears, meeting her gaze through those thick-rimmed glasses. "We don't... As difficult as it may be to grasp, there will be times where the one's you've devoted your time and effort to will take advantage of that or turn against you, but I guarantee that it won't always be like that. Not all people are that heartless. As humans, we're meant to experience the hardships of our own life and from the world. Sometimes we feel good enough to give kindness, love, and attention to those we care about, and when it's returned, that forms a relationship. It's only natural. At the same time, the unpredictable can occur and change your entire outlook on life. Sometimes its from incidents that we can't control or even by someone else. You may get depressed, sad, or angry and that's okay, but at the same time, you just gotta remember that when you're upset, you must've experienced something really good in order to feel that bad when you got hurt. So, you gotta take the good with the bad. It's all balanced, as we all should strive for to live a healthy life."

Akane took a moment to think about it, but in the end, it seemed pointless. "You wouldn't get hurt if you kept to yourself..."

"That's true, but what kind of a life would that give me if I never tried? At least, in the end, I would know."

Akane's eyes drifted to the floor as she fiddled with the ends of her sleeves. "... Sometimes it's safer that way."

She could already hear her scribbling again. "Then let me ask you, have any of your friends given you any reason to think that you're better off going back to introvercy?"

"Sometimes it's like I'm a spectacle for them... They stare blankly whenever I talk to someone."

"Akane, people look at you because they want to be more direct. On the other hand, you're just now coming out of your shell, so they're probably not used to you speaking so much about yourself just yet. Give it time."

"Okay." She muttered, not wanting to argue meaninglessly with her. Soon after, she went right back to staring at the clock again. Not even five minutes. This was taking forever!

"How're your training sessions going?"

"I think I'm becoming more aware of my triggers. I try to stop myself before I know it's about to happen."

"That's good. Are you willing to let me in about these triggers today?"

She adjusted in her seat nervously and shook her head.

"Alright, just thought I'd ask. I'm letting you know that I'm willing to wait until we've built up enough trust between each other. I won't force you to talk about it if you don't want to, it's ultimately your decision. Just know that I'm here when you're ready. And if it's too painful or embarrassing to say out loud, we always have the notebook."

"I know..."

"We still have a few minutes left. Is there anything you wish to talk about?"

"Not that I know of. Can we just call it early?"

"Why the rush? You got some after school activities after this? I know they won't be starting the new club committees for another month until the following year."

"My groupmate's intership ended and he'll be here today. I... I wanted to ask him about it when he got back."

Akane clenched down on the edge of her sleeve more tightly, biting her tongue to keep from spilling out anymore detail. Unfortunately, the signs of her changed in behavior wasn't something the counselor could turn a blind eye too. To her, it almost looked as if she was caught in a lie, but she wasn't entirely sure why. Akane adjusted in her seat again, still taking a few glances over to the clock on her bookshelf. Whatever it was, she didn't appear to be comfortable talking about it. She really wanted to leave. It was so bizarre because she had proven to be truthful since the first day they met. What was she so anxious about? Was she really going to go see her friend or do something else? The color in Akane's pale face began to flush into a dark pink, and that's when she finally understood.

"I see... Very well, if there's nothing more to discuss. We can pick this up next week."

Akane's eyes beamed with joy as she instantly stood and snatched her bag off the floor. "Thanks, Mrs. Tokihira."

"Remember what we talked about and continue to be more open to others. Even saying that you're uncomfortable counts as expressing yourself. And that's a step in the right direction."

"Yes, Ma'am." And with that said, she flung open the door and left the office.

She paced her way down the hallway to the stairs and went down until she reached the double exit doors. Once she was out, she was welcomed with the rush of chilling windy air. The snow was gone, but it was still incredibly cold out. The winter months were always annoying, especially because of the poorly insulated girls school uniform. The only change in the winter uniform were the thigh high stockings, but that didn't come close to keeping her warm. Seriously, couldn't they allow the girls to wear pants for the winter months, or maybe a long, dressy skirt that went down to their ankles? No! Hastily, she jogged down the sidewalk path that led back to the dorms until she made it outside 1-A's building. She joined the other students who were also getting back late, among them she saw Kaminari, Sato, and Kirishima.

Kirishima noticed her instantly and waved to her. "Yo, Hattori! What's going on?"

"N-nothing m-much." She spoke, her teeth chattering from the shivering breeze. The three of them stopped as he held open the door and allowed her to be the first to go in, like a gentleman. The air instantly relieved her body with warmth, but she still preferred the comfort of being snuggled up in her own cozy clothes.

"You're back early. Didn't you have counseling today?"

She nodded. "I got out early. Didn't have a lot to talk about."

They made their way across the foyer into the living area, where most of the 1-A students already were, lounging around, unwinding themselves from the pressures of the school day. Her eyes scanned across the many faces in the room looking for Bakugo, but sadly, she didn't see him, nor did she see Todoroki or Midoriya. She thought for sure that at least Deku would be down here bragging about his experience with Endeavor, but no, he wasn't there. Maybe they're not back yet. Annoyed, she let out another sigh and decided to just go on towards the elevator. At least she could kill some time by getting out of this uniform and finishing up some of her new sketches.

"Hattori! Wait up!" Kirishima called distantly from behind. She turned around to meet his friendly smile. "Some of us are going into town to get some groceries and stuff. Ya wanna come with?"

"I was gonna wait for Bakugo to get back, so I can ask him about the internship."

"Oh, I just texted him earlier. He said they won't be back until late, like after dinner or so."

"Oh..." Well that sucks. She wished he told her that sooner, but in any case, she saw no reason to deny going out. She didn't plan on doing her reps until tomorrow and she already spent her free period studying for the finals. It was just going to be another evening doing nothing but drawing. "Well, then I guess I could use some fresh air."

"Awesome! We're gonna get dressed and then head out. Seeya in a bit."

Before she knew it, he went back down the hallway until he disappeared out of sight. She then went to push the elevator button to go up and once she made it to her floor, she walked over to her and Ochako's room. She swiped her card key and walked through the door, where Ochako was akready sitting on the edge of her bed, messing with her phone. She had already put on her normal clothes and appeared to be too occupied with her phone to give her any attention, which oddly wasn't like her.

"Hey." Hattori waved to her.

"Hey." She answered, still not looking up. Akane paid it no mind and dropped her book bag down on the ground. She then opened her dresser drawers and pulled out a nice pair of jeans and one of her favorite band shirts. After changing, she topped it off with her most comfortable black hoodie before grabbing her sneakers. Just as she went to grab her wallet, she took another glance at her roommate. Uraraka's brows drooped down glumly, which definitely wasn't a mood she saw her make often. Did she get some bad news or something?

"You okay?"

She glanced up in surprise. "Huh? Yea-yea! I'm fine. Just- waiting for a message."

"From who?"

"Ummm... Well, you see-"

"Is it from Midoriya?"

Ochako's face instantly glowed red as she stiffened her body. In an instant, she waved her hands around, as if shooing her answer away like there was a bee in the room. "No! No! Why would you think that?!"

"No need to get so defensive. It was only a question..."

Uraraka stopped herself and looked away, embarrassed that maybe she had just given it away by overreacting. "I'm sorry."

"If you're wondering when they'll be back, Kirishima told me that it won't be until after dinner. It might even be past curfew before they get back."

"I see..."

"You really like him, don't you?"

Her eyes grew wide in shock. "What?! How did-?"

"I see how you light up when you talk about him, and when he's around, you get all fidgety and nervous. I had a hunch..."

"If it's that obvious, I'm surprised the whole class hasn't figured it out. I haven't told anyone this."

"It's okay, y'know. I just sorta pick up on these things, but your secret's safe with me."

"So you must really know a lot about this stuff, right?"

Akane shook her head. "Not really. I just read a lot of shojo manga. And I wouldn't be surprised if he likes you back."

"What? Really?"

"Of course, any guy would be lucky to have you like them."

"That's nice of you to say. So then, do you have someone you like?"

Akane parted her lips to answer her, but strangely, no words came out. It was only natural for her to ask, but for some reason, she couldn't put the words together to say it out loud. She wanted to say it, she really did, but then what? What would happen if she found out? How would she react? What if she ended up telling everyone else about it and Akane got made fun of for it? What if that rumor reached him? What would he think of her then? There were so many possibilities of how it could go wrong, but her gut was completely against the idea that Ochako would ever do such a thing. The silence started to become awkward after a few moments went by.

"You don't have to tell if it's too embarrassing. I'm just curious, like you." She assured. Akane hung her head low.

"In all honesty, I'm not sure if I want to be dating right now."

"Oh, I see. But you're quite popular around school, and you're very pretty."

"It's not the kind of attention I want..."

"But still, lots of guys would be happy to date you, so why don't you have a boyfriend?"

"Just... never found the right one, I guess."

"Well, I'm sure there's someone out there that's perfect for you. You just have to keep looking. I hope you'll find them one day."

"Thanks, Ochako. By the way, I'm going out with Kirishima and the others to get some stuff, did you need anything?"

"We're out of toilet paper and feminine things... but other than that, nothing comes to mind." she said with a hand on her lip, thinking about it.

"Do you want anything?"

"You don't have to get me anything. I'm fine."

"Come on, it's the least I could do since you're letting me stay here." Akane assured with a smile.

"You really don't have to. I'm okay... but... if you come across any strawberry mochi?"

"I'll get it."

Once that was said, she gave her a wave before she walked out the door to go back downstairs. Kirishima, Shoji, and Ojiro were grouped together by one of the tables, talking about who knows what while they were waiting. As soon as he noticed her, Kirishima stood from his chair and broke away from the group to her.

"Ready to head out?"

She nodded.

"Wait!" called the one known as Yaomomo from the side of the room. Her black ponytail swished as she approached them. "Mind if I come? I'm down to my last serving of Imperial Golden Tips tea and need to restock."

"Sure thing. I'll add it to the list, if you want me to." Kirishima proceeded to pull out the super long strip of paper. It looked like they handled their dorms just about the same way, where once a week they put a student in charge of stocking the fridge for the class. The school provided the cooks to come make dinner for them twice a week, but a majority of it fell on the students. The class rep would create a menu throughout the week based off of whatever was requested and the class would vote yes or no. Whoever was cooking that night would have to list whatever ingredients were needed and they'd send someone out to get it for the week. The school gave a budget of around fifty-seven thousand yen a week for food. Aside from that, everyone had to pay for their own snacks and personal diet meals.

With everyone ready, they braced themselves and walked out in the tense cold air. The breeze whipped their hair and nipped at their cheeks. Most of them engaged in small talk along the way to take their mind off the weather, with Akane mostly listening instead of talking. That was usually how it went for her and it was actually comforting to hear what all went down with her peers throughout the week. Her therapist may have encouraged her to be more engaging with her friends, but as long as she was making an effort, even baby steps had to count, such as listening. Before long, they made their way to the closest market, and immediately everyone went to check Kirishima's list. They decided that the easiest way to go about it was for everyone to take a small portion of the list and go find the items. Once they were done, they could all meet up together at the cart before paying. Seemed like a smart idea. As soon as they got their small list, the group swarmed like flies up and down the aisles. Giant sack of rice, salmon steaks, soy sauce, ginger, mirin... Having five people to help, they took no time at all filling up the cart. Normally with one person, it would take an hour or so. Just before they were about to check out, the boys each grabbed a small basket each for their own personal things and went back down the aisles, leaving Akane alone with Yaoyorozu.

"Hey, wanna go with me to The Secret House? It's the shop a few blocks away that has the tea I'm looking for." Momo asked out of the blue.

"Sure, but I need to stop by a convenience store on the way back for some things. This place doesn't have everything I need."

"There's one close by. We should let the boys know to meet us there."

On cue, she checked each path until she found the one called Shoji and filled him in on their plan. He nodded in understanding and assured them that he'd let the others know as well. Once that was said and done, they made their way out the front door with Akane following closely behind her. She had no idea where this place was, but from what she could make out, it was heading in the direction just on the border of the city line, not too far from U.A. Now that she thought of it, this was actually the first time she had gone out shopping since they moved in with 1-A. The last time was when they all went to the mall together, where Midoriya saw that creepy guy stalking her around. It's crazy to think that all that happened almost two months ago, and he was still out there. In any case, she was certain to be more careful now. Wherever this place was, she was confident that Yaoyorozu wasn't going to take her anywhere sketchy.

Soon, their feet halted outside what appeared to be just a normal looking house. How unusual... At that moment, she understood why Bakugo felt so skeptical when she took him to Takami's. No one would think that this of all places would be a tea shop.

"Is this really the place?"

"Yep. I know it doesn't look like much, but the old man who runs this place has been selling this stuff for a long time. It's the only place to get it in the entire city. It's a shame he might be going out of business soon."

"Why's that?" asked Akane.

"Well, not everyone knows about this place. They don't really see it as a tea shop when they pass by."

"Do they have other things besides tea?"

"He has some of the best cheesecakes I've ever had. Well, besides Sato's. I'll get us some, if you'd like?"

Akane was never the one to turn down a good cheesecake. And if Ochako was asking for sweets, maybe she'd like some too. She gave her a nod before she reached into her pocket to pull out a couple bills from her wallet and handed it to her. "Get some for Ochako too, please."

"Sure, but you're not coming in?" she questioned, her hand holding the door knob.

"I'm gonna go to the convenience store across the street and get what I need, if that's okay?" She threw her thumb over her shoulder, gesturing to the building behind her.

"Oh, right. Sure. I'll just be a sec, then I can meet you over there."

She gave her a nod and went to check both sides of the road before crossing. The double doors slid open as she entered the store, walked over, and bent down to grab a basket. She went to the sections and got all the items Ochako asked for, being sure to include an extra bag of mochi candy. Even though she didn't ask for it, that didn't matter to Akane. She wanted to get it just because. If anything, she figured she owed her that much. While she was there, Akane found herself drifting over to the health aisle, the one that held the vitamins, weight control pills, and protein powders and shakes. She knew that she still had a decent amount of protein bars back in her room, but her canisters were getting low, more often than usual ever since Bakugo demanded that she push through harder workouts. The extended use of her quirk had left her so groggy and muscle fatigued, but the shakes would always help her bounce back. At first, she thought he was only giving her these reps because he wanted her to suffer, but amazingly, she could feel herself getting stronger. Maybe his ideas weren't so bad after all.

Reaching down, she grabbed a few cases of her favorite chocolate-flavored, organic shake powder and the basket was instantly full, with no room to carry much of anything else. There was still no sign of Yaoyorozu yet, but she didn't think much of it, so Akane decided to go pay and then go meet her outside. Right when she turned the corner of the aisle towards the register, the hairs on the back of her neck stood up as her feet stopped frozen in her tracks. There, standing not so far away from the cashier was a boy near the magazines, reading the cover of some sports issue. He appeared to be around the same age as her, yet his snowy white hair and handsome face looked all too familiar... dangerously familiar. Oh shit! It's him! Akane flicked her eyes back to the cashier who was helping ring up a customer before glancing back to him. Thankfully, he hadn't noticed she was there, since his eyes remained glued to the magazine. The chills on her neck continued to glide across her skin as she contemplated whether or not to go and pay. Perhaps if she put her hood up and was quick about it, he wouldn't notice. In and out, that's it. That's all she needed to do.

"Hattori?" a voice called very closely behind her. Her neck snapped as she quickly turned around, her free hand balled into a fist, ready to strike down, but the second she realized who it was, she stopped herself. Yaoyorozu's eyes brimmed with concern as Hattori took a breath and removed her hand, trying to force herself to relax. Thank God, it was just her. Momo went to touch her arm, but paused mid-way when she noticed something was up. "Are you alright?"

"Y-yea, I'm fine... It's just... This store, it um- ran out of my special vitamins... I think I'm gonna go to a different store." She lied through her teeth as she looked back to the boy. Yaoyorozu peered down at her overflowing basket and raised an eyebrow. Hattori had more than enough strength capable of holding onto the basket, yet for some odd reason, her hand was trembling. What was going on?

"Umm, alright. Is that all you need?"

The red-haired girl hesitated, with her attention still drawn to the mysterious young man.

"Are you finished here then? Hattori?"

"Huh? Oh, y-yea."

Momo moved a little closer to meet Akane's gaze, but she still didn't move, her eyes focused elsewhere. That didn't seem like her. She decided to turn in the same direction and as soon as she saw the boy, it clicked. "You know him?"

Just before she could get a word out, the boy put down the magazine and turned his body towards them. A twinge of panic rushed through Akane and she immediately spun on her heels and bolted. She couldn't let him see her. Now even more puzzled, Momo chased after her. Something wasn't right. Just what the heck was going on?!

"Hattori, what's wrong? Where're you going?"

The boy's ears perked when he heard the name and followed the sound to the two girls. They moved towards the exit, one of them he didn't recognize, but the other... There was no mistaking that short figure and long, red hair. "Hattori?... Hey! Hattori!"

Akane's adrenaline flooded hearing his voice trailing behind, and it only fueled her to move even faster towards the exit. Suddenly, she stopped at the feel of Momo tugging on her hoodie sleeve. Damn it, she didn't have time for this! She needed to get out of here!

"Who is that guy? It sounds like he knows you, Hat-"

"Shh! Don't say that out loud. I don't want him to know it's me." Akane quietly yelled to her.

"What? Why?"

"I can't now, I'll explain later." Just when she took a step forward, she yanked on her sleeve again. Now this was getting annoying. "What now?"

"We can't just leave. We still have to pay or we'll get in trouble."

She glanced down at the basket in her hand, and had completely forgotten that it was there.

"Hattori? Akane Hattori?" the boy turned the corner and when his bright blue eyes locked onto hers, she tensed up. Shit!

Fuck it! She dropped the basket to the floor, yanked her classmate by the hand, and passed through the sliding doors. She could answer her questions later. Nothing else mattered except getting the hell out of there. Once they were outside, she let go of her. Yaoyorozu stumbled behind her, wanting desperately to ask what the problem was. She was definitely going to great lengths to avoid this person who clearly knew her, but if he was a bad guy, calling her name would only put her at risk. She just didn't have enough information to know what to do about it, so she had to go along with it. The doors slid open again and his footsteps started to close in.

"Hey, wait!"

The frustration finally overtook her, and Akane decided to stop. This was getting tiresome. Knowing him, he wasn't going to leave her alone. If anything, he probably would've followed them all the way back to U.A. She needed to get rid of him and fast. It didn't take long for him to catch up, and once he got a closer look at her face, a devious smile curled his lips. Akane cringed as the air around them darkened. He definitely looked the same.

"I thought that was you."

This was weird. To Momo's assumption, on first glance, the guy didn't appear to be like some kind of villain. He didn't seem threatening or scary at all, and he didn't dress like he was some kind of creep either. In fact, he was rather handsome. So why in the world would she want to be away from him?

"I... I think you're mistaking me for someone else..." Akane muttered, almost in a whisper.

"I'm sorry, who're you?" Momo interjected, taking a step in between them.

"Name's Ren, Sweetheart. I'm a long-time friend from Junior High." he turned to Hattori. "Right when I saw you, I just had to come talk to you. It's been a while, hasn't it, Akane?"

She stared at her two feet and took a small step back, fiddling with the ends of her sleeves as she did. "Seriously Mister, I- I don't know you..."

"Is that so? How cold of you. And here I'd thought you'd be different, but you're still the same shy girl as before... and still quite beautiful. Can we quit pretending you don't know me? I'd like to catch up. It's been years since I last saw you."

"I don't think so..."

"C'mon, let's go to a cafe, just for one small coffee or something. I'll buy." He offered, inching his body closer towards her. The small act of rubbing her sleeves didn't help as the tension only grew.

"I don't-"

"Geez, you don't have to be so nervous. What's the big deal? Don't tell me you're still mad at me."

All of a sudden, the panic vanished and was instantly replaced with anger. She clenched her hands as she gazed up at him with hateful eyes. His smile subsided at her changed look. So he was right, it is her.

"So you are still mad, huh?... Look, that was a long time ago. I've changed a lot since then. Really, let's go out and I'll show you what I mean. With your looks, I won't even think about your quirk. It's not like you're allowed to use it anyways, so that won't be a problem. I'll forget all about it in no time. How about be bury the hatchet already? We can start over again, just like when we first met."

Her glare darkened. "No..."

He took another step forward and crossed his arms with a distained look. "What's your problem? Look, I'm sorry for what I did, but let's face it, no one else is gonna look at you the same way with that quirk."

"Okay, stop right there!" Momo stood her ground to meet him face to face. "How can you say things like that? Can't you see that you're making her uncomfortable?"

"Hey, I'm not doing anything. If she's the one who takes it differently, then that's not my fault, is it? I'm not doing anything wrong. I thought she was a friend from school and I wanted to talk. Is it so wrong of me to do that?" His sly demanor was quite canny. She wasn't buying it. He was still the same as he was back then, a sly, sinister little snake.

"She just said she's not her."

"Well, whether she's her or not, she's still a pretty girl that I'd like to take for a drink. Forget all the stuff I said and let's start over, like complete strangers. So how 'bout it?"

"I don't think so." Momo answered for her.

"C'mon!"

"She already told you 'no.' Whatever you're offering, she's not interested."

His icy blue eyes flicked over to the short red-head, her eyes still narrowed with hate, and he snickered with a shrug. "Fine. Alright... Then how about you, Sweetheart? Would you like to grab a drink with me?"

Was he fucking serious?... Her brow creased in annoyance as she held out her hand. In the middle of her palm, her pale skin began to sparkle as the object took the form of a small dark bottle. Without hesitation, she offered it to him. "Why don't you have a drink by yourself..."

As soon as that was said, Momo gestured for Akane to keep walking. Ren observed the small bottle in his hand. When he turned it over, he felt his heart stop at the sight of the lable. There wasn't any words, only the image of a skull and crossbones. He couldn't contain himself as he let out a chuckle. Eventually, that chuckle grew into a very creepy, loud, maniacal laugh that echoed all around him.

"Oh, you think you're so funny, don't ya?! That pretty face might fool everyone, but not me! Nothing could ever mask such a hideous quirk! Damned tease!"

The girls ignored his array of insults and continued to head back in the direction of the market, or just about anywhere. It didn't matter, as long as they were away from that asshole. What a fucking jerk! Finally, when they felt they were at a safe enough distance, Akane found herself an empty bench and plopped right down. At this point, she couldn't even find the energy to collect herself. Momo took the seat down beside her, unsure of what to say. That was a very weird situation, but definitely not one she'd encountered before, and even though she was the smartest one in the class, she didn't know how to handle this. Akane sunk her body lower into the wooden bench. It was in no way comforting.

"Who was that guy?"

Hattori's lips parted open to say something, but sadly, no words came out. Frustrated, she closed her eyes and huffed a contained breath of air.

"Did you really go to junior high with that - that jerk?" she asked. Is this the first time she's ever called someone a bad name?

Without a word, Akane nodded her head.

"Was he always like this? What kind of person would purposely act like that and then blame you for getting uncomfortable about it? It's sickening!"

"It's kind of hard to talk about..." she finally answered. Momo felt her heart sink with sympathy.

"Well, I understand now why you were so quick to get out of there."

When the tension at long last eased up, she no longer felt the need to play with her sleeves. Somehow, for whatever reason, her counselor's voice started speaking in her mind. She reminded her that it was okay to be vulnerable to her friends, that if they really cared about her, they would accept her, no matter what kind of shit she's been through. It's okay to speak your mind because sometimes, all you need is someone to listen. When she got kicked out of Junior High, she hoped that she would never see his face again, but fate was cruel. Those past few years had changed her quite a bit, but not him, nor her fear of confronting him and what he'd done. Seeing him again, it brought back all those bottled up feelings, which made her feel sick just thinking about it. Her fingers curled into a fist as she took in a breath of courage.

"He wasn't always like that, y'know..."

Momo scooted a bit closer. "What'd you mean?"

Akane hesitated again. "Do... do you promise not to tell anyone about this?"

"Cross my heart." she gestured her fingers across her chest, swearing it.

"He was... actually my first crush."

She blinked in disbelief. Did she hear that right? "What? Seriously?!"

"Yea, hard to believe, right?..."

"But- but how? Why?"

"It's been a long time since then. He was quite popular in our grade, mostly for his looks. Everyone liked him, and he always seemed like such an approachable person... I wasn't like that at all. I didn't really care to make friends and focused a lot of time on studies. For a while, everyone thought I was the weird girl who just liked being alone. I was teased for it a lot, and people tended to avoid me... One day, our Science teacher gave us a group project and I was forced to work with him. I did all the research and put him in charge of the presentation because he didn't have any problem speaking to the whole class, like I did. But when it got close to the due date, I found out that he didn't even start on the presentation, he just slacked off to go hang out with his friends. I was angry, but I wasn't going to get a failing grade because of him, so I told him off and we spent three nights straight putting it all together... At the end, we were exhausted, but we managed to pass, thank God. In that time we spent working, we butted heads left and right, but there were moments where we did really well together. I was actually able to see why everyone liked him so much. He can be deviously charming... When it was over, he offered to take me out to a cafe. I denied him out flat, but he still kept offering many times after, and that's when things started to get really bad..."

"What happened?"

"Even though he was popular, Ren never had a girlfriend, but that didn't stop other girls from following him around all the time. What was weird was that no girl ever sent him a confession letter. If any girl tried, they'd have to deal with his fan group, the Ren Zen Club. A girl once planned on giving him a love letter and it caught wind to the Ren-Zen's. Later that day, she was found hiding in the girl's bathroom with all her hair cut off and badly beaten..."

"Did the school do anything about it?"

"Unfortunately, those girls came from very prestigious families and convinced the Principal to keep it quiet. As long as they apologized, they were still allowed to attend."

"How awful... All that for someone like him?"

She nodded and continued. "When Ren started asking me out, the rumors quickly spread that he liked me. Everyone thought it was crazy how someone like him could be into a weird girl like me. Even I thought that was bizarre... One day at lunch, he overheard his friends talking about me, calling me awful names, and he yelled for them to leave me alone. Then when they questioned why he was so defensive, he openly confessed to me in front of everyone."

Momo hated that this was actually starting to sound incredibly romantic.

"Since then, I began to like him. Maybe it was because no one had ever did something like that for me before. I don't know what I was thinking, but I was an idiot for falling for him... Before long, I was actually starting to consider accepting his feelings, but the fan girls got to me first. They cornered me in the girl's bathroom and tried to fight me; thought that if they ruined my pretty face, that he'd never look twice at me again... I was pushed to my breaking point and it - it triggered me to use my quirk. That was the first time I've ever fought someone while using it. I don't remember exactly what I did, but the next thing I know, when I finally came to, those girls were sent to the hospital and I'm being restrained by the police."

"Geez..." Momo couldn't believe it. She had no idea that she had it so hard all this time.

"I was suspended from school until the Principal and our parents came to a compromise on what to do with me. Sadly, I got expelled, but my mom was able to pull some strings and get me private tutors, so I could still keep my education. But I also had to start going to therapy. She paid their hospital bills as well, on the condition that the families don't press charges and that the incident would remain off my record..."

"Sounds like you have a very caring mother."

"Yea, I do... Despite all that, I still wanted to give him my confession letter, but when he walked by, I could remember the look of horror on his face. He completely ignored me from then on. Soon after I left school, the rumors of what I did to those girls was all over the social media. It got pretty out of control, and soon everyone thought I was a monster with a scary quirk, soon to be the next great villain... I did my best to ignore what everyone said about me. Some days, it was really difficult. I still continued to follow Ren on social media. That's when I found out it was his username that started most of the rumors."

"No..." She couldn't believe he would stoop so low. "If he really cared about you, he would've asked YOU what happened and gotten the real truth of what went down. You did what you had to do. Those girls definitely got what was coming to them, and you shouldn't be punished for it. Given, you probably didn't need to send them to the E.R., but still."

"But you've seen how unstable my quirk is."

"That doesn't make you a monster, Hattori, it makes you powerful. Your quirk, it's strong! The only reason it's unstable is because you still need time to hone your skills and learn to control it. That guy is too blinded by his own convictions to see your potential and how far you've come."

"I know I shouldn't listen to him, but... it really gets to me sometimes... I wish I never met him. Maybe then, I wouldn't be doubting myself so much."

"Hattori, listen to me - nobody is worth that. If they make you question who you are and try to change you, that's only for their benefit. You don't have to change what you can't help being. Your quirk is a part of you and I've seen it do amazing things. When you become a great hero, he'll see how strong and talented you really are and he'll regret what he did."

"Thank you, Momo. I only wished I realized that back then."

"But without that, you wouldn't have learned to value yourself better. So forget about that jerk. He's truly appaling. I've never met someone like that and hope he'll be the last. And the fact that he automatically turned to me after you rejected him, that tells me that he probably did that to a lot of girls. I hope in time, whatever kind of woman he meets, that they'll come to see him for what he truly is and leave."

"Maybe..."

"Don't worry. Even if he was your first crush, that doesn't mean your next one won't be good. Maybe your next crush could be 'The One.'"

"How does anyone ever know that they've found 'The One'?"

"Oh, you'll know." Momo said with a grin. In that moment, seeing her smile made her feel a little better.

"So have you found yours yet?"

Almost immediately, Momo's smile turned into a straight line. She hesitated before she looked away to hide her pink glow. "I think I have..."

"Who?" Akane blurted out. In that moment, she quickly realized how pushy she was getting and regretted it. "Sorry, if it's too personal-"

"No, it's alright. It's only natural that you'd want to know. I think... I think I might've fallen for Todoroki."

She raised her brow in surprise. "Really?"

She nodded.

"Have you told him?"

"I want to... but when I see him, he's just so amazing at almost everything. How do I even measure up to someone like that? What would I have to offer that could make him see me that way?"

"But love shouldn't be about what you can give or what you can take... It should be about what you would DO for them."

Momo deadpanned; she hadn't really thought of it that way.

"If you feel so strongly for someone, you should let them know. We're gonna be heroes, so that means we'll be put in danger more than anyone. Not to say that we won't make it out alive, but there's always that possibility we won't. I wouldn't want to die wondering- if I had just said how I felt, what could've been, y'know?"

"I know what you mean... But if I do tell him, it would devastate me if he said no."

"Well, no one wants to be rejected. Guaranteed, it will hurt, but would that stop you from being friends?"she paused "In the end, at least you would know, right?"

"I suppose so." Momo replied with a sigh. She was right, she'll never know unless she tries. "You seem to know a lot about relationships."

"I read a lot of romance manga." There was a moment of silence between them before Akane spoke again. "Did you really give him a vile of poison back there?"

Yaoyorozu snickered with a deviant grin. "Of course, not. It's just water. I put the label on it to make a point."

"You have a really dark sense of humor..." Akane smiled. "I like it."

"Then can I ask who your cr-"

"Hey, there you are!" Kirishima interrupted as he stepped up with the guys to the bench. The many bags of groceries in his arms appeared to be cutting off circulation, as his hands were turning beet red, but it was even more distressing that he didn't seem to care to notice. The other guys also carried quite a bit of bags. Geez, how much did they buy? They really ought to bring a wagon with them next time, or some kind of cart.

"Are we ready to head back?"

Shit, Akane cursed. She left her basket back in the store and still needed to get the stuff for Uraraka. Momo gently placed an arm on her shoulder before she stood up. "Almost. We just need to make one final stop. Why don't you guys head back to the dorms and we'll meet ya there?"

"Sounds good. I'll let Aizawa know you're still gonna be out. We'll seeya later then." And with that, the boys turned and headed back to campus.

The girls ended up going to a different convenience store a few blocks down to get everything all over again, only this time, Momo stayed by her side to keep an eye out for that jerk. He would be really dumb if he decided to come back and bother them again. Once everything was bagged up and paid for, they engaged in small talk and walked straight back to U.A. to their dorms. Surprisingly, once they made it back, they noticed an expensive, black sports car parked out front, with a license plate that they've never seen before. As soon as they saw the patch of red and white hair, their eyes lit up. They were back! Todoroki stood beside the car, talking to an older gentleman with the same red colored hair and incredibly built body. Was that really his dad? Endeavor? It was a little unusual to see him in normal clothes instead of his costume. It looked like he wanted to see his son off to school, which the gesture instantly made her question their complicated relationship. Todoroki almost never had anything good to say about his old man, but he didn't seem like that. Then again, she wasn't raised by him.

The two girls stopped about halfway and turned to each other one last time before heading in. Akane smiled and gave her a little nudge on the arm to go talk to him. She needed to tell him how she felt, but Momo only hesitated. Maybe now wasn't the right time to say it. Hopefully, she would work up the courage soon.

With a shrug, Hattori continued on and walked through the front door of the dorms. Carrying the bags in her hands, she made her way across the foyer into the living area and scanned the many student's faces until they at long last landed on Bakugo yelling at Kirishima for his now-messed-up-looking arms. He didn't notice her yet, but that didn't matter. The very sight of him after such a long break was enough to fill her chest with warmth. She couldn't wait to talk to him about the internship and hear what it was like. Quickly, she made her way to the elevator and went up to her and Ochako's room. As soon as she was inside, she immediately noticed that Ochako wasn't there, probably because she was downstairs with the others and she just failed to notice. Akane put up their items and placed the bags of mochi on the bed for her before she fixed her hair and went back out the door.

"Akane, we need to talk."

Her body jumped as he stepped towards her, too close for comfort. His dark brown eyes bore down on her with hate. No doubt that this tension had been building up for a while. She couldn't stop herself from mimicking his energy and glaring back. She made her point very clear, but he just wasn't going to let up. Ignoring him, she turned away from him to continue walking towards the elevator. Luckily, there wasn't anyone else in the hallway to hear.

"Akane!" He teleported his body in front of her. She tried to move around him, but he got in her way, and again, and again. "When are you gonna stop?! This is getting ridiculous!"

She could already feel her red strength starting to bubble up under her skin. "I have nothing to say to you, Yuto."

Once again, she tried to move around him, but he completely blocked the elevator doors. Hattori had to force a deep breath to keep her composure as she was starting to lose it.

"Move... Now."

He shook his head. "No, I'm done with us avoiding each other. I'm not letting you go without an explanation."

"What's there to explain? I said you're dead to me, so that means I want nothing to do with you anymore."

"After all we've been through, you're gonna cut me out, just like that?" The volume in his voice began to rise.

"Yuto, you were there! At Ground Omega, you were there before the teachers even got there and you did nothing! You knew I was losing control and was gonna hurt him and you just stood there!"

"At least the fucker would've learned his place for putting you through so much hell! Why does that make me the bad guy for wanting him to have a taste of his own medicine?!"

"He could've died!"

"Then I probably did the world a huge favor by doing it! He's a stubborn, crazy fuck who just wants to dominate anyone and everyone he comes across! No one will ever see him as a hero!"

She paused and blinked at him. "No. That's not why you did it. Everything you've said, they're just excuses that you made to somehow justify what you did as right."

"?!"

"As a friend, you always had my back, but as soon as we started the group training, you've become so controlling and manipulative."

"I'm not-"

"Let me finish! You wanted an explanation, well now you've got one! Ever since the group training begun- no, ever since I started hanging around Bakugo, you've acted like this and it's only gotten worse. You somehow always know where we are, it's almost like you've been stalking us. You try to make it seem like he's such a bad guy when in reality, he's not. You don't even care to listen to my side of things because you can't let go of your grudge against him. And then you get upset every time I'm with him, even more now than before and try to make it seem like you're reasons are legit, when they're just petty acts of jealousy."

"What? How can I be jealous when I'm just trying to protect you?!" He snapped.

"So I'm the reason you're acting like this?"

"Yes!"

"Yuto, I can't be the reason for you to obsessively pry into my life. I can't be the reason for you to selfishly allow others to be put in harms way just because you don't like them. I can't be the reason for you to do anything! That's on you! And those things, that's the things that only a villain would do!"

"!" His breath caught in the back of his throat, completely stunned at what she said.

"You're not protecting me, that's not the reason... Call it what you want, but this isn't it. If you really cared about me, you wouldn't be trying so hard to make me seem like I am the problem, or him."

"Okay, fine! Maybe I did get a little jealous! Maybe I hated seeing you walking back to the dorms that day! Maybe I hate that you got him a Christmas gift and not me! Maybe I got tired of you spending so much time with him!... You two just seem to be close, and I didn't want to believe it after what he did to you when you first met, but now... Maybe I wanted to be that! I wanted to be close to you, Akane!"

A painful tightening of the built up emotions managed to split her heart in two. In the back of her mind, she had a feeling that this was the underlying reason for his behavior, but it was just too late. She bit her lip to keep from crying.

"That isn't enough for me to forgive you for what you've done... I'm done apologizing. I'm not going to be the reason for you to do this anymore... I can't. If anyone's really hurt me, it's you." She nudged his arm away from the elevator button and pushed it. Defeated, Yuto moved aside.

"So it's really over then..."

"I'll say this one last time. You're dead to me. I don't want anything to do with you anymore." The elevator dinged open and she stepped onto the platform. She endured the pain in her chest to give him one final look goodbye.

"Wait... You like him, don't you?"

She held her tongue and pushed the button to close the doors.