"So why did you go to Hosu?" Dabi asks, arms crossed. It's the same night, he somehow got the okay to talk with me before they do a proper damage check on my leg. The knife is out and my calf is wrapped up, but they want to make sure there wasn't any other damage to it.

"You know why I was there." I state "You honestly should be glad it's me since I already know about this." I gesture to his hero costume.

"The only other person that'd go and get it is Compress." he says "But that still doesn't tell me why it was you that went and not him."

"Like it matters since it's too late now." I eye roll. Shit, at this fucking rate I'm going to loose my voice.

"Why the hell do you have to be so damn stubborn." Dabi sighs, running a hand through his hair. I give him a shrug "You should get going and finish your internship."

"I guess. I'll be back in the morning to check on you. 'Kay?"

"Okay." Not like I'd be able to change his mind. Toya leaves the room, I lean back. Sure the hell hope I'll be out before school, there's no way I'm missing school just because Stain got me with a knife. Besides, it'd be kind of hard to explain to Shinso why going to Hosu was so important and how the fuck I got into a fight with Stain without telling him I'm a villain.

It doesn't hurt too bad right now so I could probably hide it with leggings or something.

>> Next Morning <<

"I have to say, you're a lucky young lady." Chief Tsuiagumae tells me "Hardly anyone can just join a fight with minimal injuries from it. Nevertheless against The Hero Killer."

I give a shrug "I was born into a house full of boys, gotta be able to handle myself." Please don't talk long, sleep helped my throat but my voice will probably go out within a couple days.

"Normally you would be in serious trouble for fighting even without a quirk, since you weren't initially attacked." the Chief says "But given the situation and that no one but those that were there saw it, I am going to let you off with a warning.

"The paper and reports say that it was Endeavor that caught Stain. It would be best if you kept the truth to yourself."

"Planning to do so anyways." I give a brief smile "I hate to rush you, but I am hoping to get out of here to at least attend my afternoon classes."

"Of course." the Police Chief gives a bow before leaving the room only for my doctor to come in with a clipboard. "Well, the good news is that you can go home without any issues. But it's advisable for you to keep walking to the minimum until it's completely healed." she tells me.

"I'll do my best." I sign the discharge papers.

"Alright, I'll have a nurse come in with your things and some extra dressing for you to take with you." I'll just be glad to be out of Hosu.

I leave the hospital checking the times for public transportation and stop to get to UA. "Need a ride kid?" I look up to see, leaning against a car almost right in front of me is none other than Dabi.

I give a bit of a sigh "Yeah." Toya opens the door and I get in, myself behind the driver that is Endeavor, while Toya is behind the passenger who I am assuming to be one of the hero's sidekicks. Not that it really matters who it is. I check the time on my phone: 0631. Shit, I might need to let the school know that I'm going to be late. Fuck.

The car is silent, which is fine by me, saves my voice for later though I might get some tea to help, but that can only do so much when you're not using your vocal cords in a more relaxed state, if that makes sense. Definitely doesn't help that I was yelling a lot last night.

"Thank you for the ride." I say, grabbing my hospital bag before heading into HQ; 0745, shit "Welcome back Queenie." Toga greets me. "Do you have a pair of leggings?" I ask as I head up stairs to grab my school bag and to at least get my school shirt on. Damn you Stain, you did a good one on my leg.

"No! But I got knee high socks!" Toga calls up as I put a beanie over my pink wig.

"Knock knock." Toga taps before opening the door "Here you go. Black will work right?"

"Yeah, thank you." I smile, putting on a pair of biker shorts. I'll look crazy, but I'll be able to slip my skirt and blazer on at school.

"Anything else you need?" Toga asks, rocking on her heels.

"No, thank you Toga." I give her a brief smile before slipping my shoes on and heading out the door.

"Made it." I huff just outside my class door before walking in, praying that I don't have a limp in any form. I don't need anyone asking about it. "Excellent timing Azula." Inva greets me as the final bell rings.

I give a smile before heading to my seat and getting out my notebook. "What got you running this late?" Shinso asks quietly.

"Slept in." I reply in the same hushed tone. Ugh I think I would've preferred it if Hawks flew me to HQ, would've been a lot faster.

—

"Hey, you okay?" Shinso asks after lunch, my leg killing me thanks to the stairs. "Yeah, just a cramp. I got some pain pills in my bag." I assure him. The doctor did give me some before I left the hospital, but I'll probably not use them for my leg. I can save them in case any of the others get badly hurt or period cramps; heard those can hurt like a bitch.

"Okay, just don't overwork yourself."

Okay, those pain meds don't work as well as it should've. Been 20ish minutes since I took the amount prescribed and my leg still hurts. It took some of the bite off but not all that much. I can't just numb it until I get back and not worry too much about having to walk around without a limp is the most I'm asking for at the moment.

"Something the matter, Azula?" Ectoplasm asks.

"No sir." I reply, don't tell me I was making faces.

The end of the day comes and I gather my things, putting them in my bag. I am so close to going to Recovery Girl and asking if she can heal me up. But Dab would notice and probably connect the dots.

"Are you sure it was just a cramp?" Shinso asks as we leave campus.

"Yeah, just lingering a bit." I lie as we walk to the station, I just walk with him for company and to play off that I don't live near the school. Also helps with fooling the gang that I'm not going to UA.

"The fact that you're limping slightly isn't reassuring." Shinso remarks.

"The pain pills aren't worth shit." I shrug.

"I can probably find some better ones at my house. If you want to come over." he gives a half shrug "Kind of figure you need a bit of a break from whatever is going on at your place."

"That'd be nice." I reply "I'll just let them know."

We get our tickets and I send a group text and of course Dabi sends me a text privately saying that I shouldn't be using my leg with the injury but I just mentally wave it off.

"No issues on your end?" Shinso asks as I put my phone away. "Nope." I smile, "Just a concerned idiot." before having to pull my sock back up, it's annoying.

My leg still hurts during the train ride, but not as much now that I iced it a little, not quite numbing it; I'll have to change the bandage before I go to bed, but that's to be expected.

The train ride was quiet between the two of us. But when we got off and started walking to his house, my leg started flaring up but not as bad as before. Are the meds finally kicking in? Some slow ass release shit.

"You sure it's nothing?" Shinso asks, sounding a little more concerned than before.

"I'm fine Shinso." I insisted, "Besides, it feels like the meds are kicking in now."

"Azula, you're looking paler than usual." he tells me "Hell I can see the foundation or whatever that you put around your eyes."

Don't tell me I started bleeding without noticing. "I'll be fine, how much further?" I ask him.

"Couple more houses." Shinso says before sighing "Did you get hurt last night?"

"What makes you ask that?"

"The fact that you keep making a point to fix your socks and you've never worn knee-highs before."

"How aren't you in the Hero Course yet?"

"Doesn't answer the question." he states. I rub the side of my neck a little "Maybe. I can't really talk about it."

Thwack! "Oi! I fucking need those brain cells bitch!" I exclaim.

"Clearly since you tried to hide the fact that you got hurt. Come on, my house is this one."

I follow Shinso up the front steps, rubbing the back of my head. Geez that hurt. "I'm home!" he calls out "And I brought a friend!"

I take off my shoes as he hands me the guest slippers and someone calls back "Is it actually a friend or did you mind controlled someone to come over?" before laughing like it's some sort of joke.

Shinso shrugs it off, leading me to the kitchen where there's a woman with long apricot pink hair over by the stove, cooking dinner from the smell of it. "Hello." I say as Shinso grabs some snacks from the pantry. The woman turns around, looking surprised. "Well well, you actually did it Hitoshi. You fucking kidnapped a girl." she remarks, catching me off guard a little partly from the tone that she said it. And the "joke" she said before also didn't seem right even for me who throws these sorts of jokes a lot back with the VAS.

"I wasn't kidnapped." I state kindly but pushing it.

"I'm just messing with you." She smiles, "Hitoshi never seems to be able to make any friends." Okay, I guess that covers the last statement but the first thing?

"Is Asahio and Shinbaka back?" Shinso asks.

"Hitoshi! Shouldn't you be introducing me to this young lady?" the woman scolds, causing my friend to eyeroll a little.

"Sorry, that's on me." I fake smile "Just the comment caught me off guard a little. I'm Xiao Long." I lie.

"Nice to meet you." she smiles back "You can call me Gesuyarō-san."

"Come on, you promised to help me with that paper from English." I say to Shinso.

"Yeah, let's go." Shinso says, leading me out of the kitchen and upstairs to I'm guessing his room. "Sorry about that." he tells me after closing the door "She's like that sometimes."

"It's fine." I then huff "Feels like she should be apologizing for those shitty jokes."

"Don't worry about it. How's your leg?" he asks, changing the subject.

"Hurts but not as bad as before." I shrug, taking a seat on his bed as he directed.

"Shouldn't you check on it?"

"I will, let's get some of our homework done."