As the various memories of abuse flashed in her mind, she closed her eyes, not wanting to look at it anymore. She didn't even remember some of the scenes her brain uncovered just now. As much as it was painful, it was also helpful. It was as if she was allowed to observe her own life in a spectator mode and was able to interpret each memory and how exactly it has backfired in her future life.

While she was looking away, all of the voices vanished and she heard a loud sound, making her feel like everything was crumbling. She looked to her side and saw many figures covered in a shadow, all of them standing on a platform made of light. At first, she was scared and covered herself with her arms, but then she noticed some of the features of the shadow people. There was a boy with green, curly hair, a girl with frog-like appearance and a much taller student with blond hair and an iconic smile on his face.

She tilted her head and noticed another person in the very front of the group. As her lips parted, trying to call his name, no sound came out of her mouth. The world below her was gone and there was a huge gap between the group and Mariko tied to the branch.

She woke up, still swinging upside down. Mariko felt the blood coming down to her brain, making her head heavy.

'I have to break free,' she thought to herself.

She tensed her muscles and tried bringing her head closer to her knees, but was unsuccessful. Her body dropped down and she sighed. The rage, the hate and the fear were gone. Somehow, she was at peace.

Okaido took a deep breath of fresh air and in one, swift motion, stretched her spine and then pushed her body towards her knees, grabbing onto the Binding Cloth. She was struggling a lot, but eventually, she managed to climb the binding weapon, all the way up to the branch.

'It's just a pull up,' she said to herself, as she got her hands on the oak tree.

She pushed her body above it and grasped as hard as she could, not allowing her body to fall down. She had to do the same motion one more time, and then she would be free. She switched the sides on the perch and pulled herself up again and then slipped, falling to the ground.

She managed to land safely on her bottom, immediately trying to untie the scarf-like weapon.

'What have I done?' she asked herself and for the first time ever, she felt the need to say so much, but she didn't know how.

As she freed herself from the bonds, she stood still for a few minutes, trying to get rid of the dizziness. She grabbed all of the Binding Cloth, then, she turned towards the teachers dorm.

'I have to... I have to see him. But what will I say?'

And then, the realization hit her.

The vent book.

The notebook was not supposed to be a place where she accumulates all of her hatred towards people, it was supposed to help her figure out why she feels that way. She never saw that, even though it was so obvious.

'You know what is your biggest problem, Okaido?' Aizawa's voice appeared in her head.

'How I never asked myself why,' she finished and broke into a run, rushing through the forest.

She entered the teacher's dorm so suddenly, she scared Present Mic, who was siting at one of the bar stools at the kitchen island.

'I am so sorry, Mr. Yamada. Have you seen Mr. Aizawa?'

'I think he went to the bathroom.'

'Alright.' She looked at the entrance to the men bathroom and jumped towards the steps, going to her room as fast as she could.

The second she was behind her door, she dashed to her bed and pulled the notebook from under her pillow. She carefully read through all of the mean comments she has written throughout the entire week. Most of them were about Aizawa, but some of them were also about the class 1A.

Mariko sat down on the floor and closed the notebook, keeping a finger inside of the page she was currently reviewing. She closed her eyes and put the vent book against her forehead, trying to figure out why was she so mean to everyone around.

She was thinking intensively and after a few minutes, she flipped the notebook to a plain page and started writing.

She had no idea how long did it take her, but when she was done, she smiled through the tears freely falling from her eyes. After that, she left the teacher's dorm, greeting All Might on the way, who was visibly concerned about her red eyes.

She broke into run again and stormed straight to the Class 1A dorm. She knocked on the door and soon after, she was allowed in by Tokoyami.

Pushing herself out of her comfort zone, she asked the boy to call Midoriya, Kirishima, Kaminari, Yaoyorozu and Jiro in the common area. The boy asked if he is needed as well.

'Yes, please. It won't take long, I promise.'

A few minutes later, the group of 1A students was sitting at the couch, feeling a little bit confused by such an urgent request. Mariko stood in front of them and before she said anything, she bowed with respect.

'I am deeply sorry, everyone.'

'Huh?' Kaminari grunted.

'Let her continue.' Yaoyorozu placed a calming hand on Denki's shoulder.

'I want to apologize to you and I am not expecting any forgiveness. We might not see each other anymore and I do not want to be remembered as the person I was a day ago,' she started and noticed Bakugou, leaning towards a wall in the corridor, clearly listening to the conversation. 'This goes to you as well, Katsuki.' Mariko turned her head towards the spiky haired boy. 'This goes to anyone in the school and outside of school, but I felt like I could have affected you in here the most,' she addressed the group. 'As you may know or not know, I am an orphanage kid. I was struggling with many things throughout my life and while this is not justifying anything I have done, I am hoping that you will consider giving me a second chance.'

The students looked at each other, very confused.

'But what have you done?' Kirishima asked.

'I was very mean to you.'

Izuku scratched his head, trying to recall any situation involving mean behavior from Mariko. Before the boy denied that, she explained:

'Mostly indirect, that is.'

They looked at each other, still confused.

'Do you remember, like a week ago you all were trying to help me out with figuring out my Quirk and then you suggested that I start doing the vent book thing?'

'Oh yea, I remember!' Denki answered.

'I was mean towards you there,' she explained and bowed before them again.

'Oh,' Izuku said.

'That is why I came to apologize. You were all kind, all willingly helping me, but I was an ungrateful little bitch and I want to become a better person starting from now on.'

Izuku stood up and walked to Mariko, then bowed before her.

'I accept your apology,' he simply said and smiled at her.

Mariko felt the tears forming in her eyes. She turned her head for a second, calming herself down.

'And then you, Yaoyorozu,' Mariko addressed the dark-haired girl. 'I was extremely mean towards you, when you refused to craft me a notebook. I am sorry for wanting to use you back then. Your denial made me sick and I was thinking of you as a spoilt-rich kid, without even knowing you. I am very sorry, I will never say anything like this again.'

Just like Izuku, Yaoyorozu stood up and instead of bowing, she hugged Mariko. This gesture broke her and she started crying again, feeling comforted for the first time in years.

'It's OK,' Yao said quietly.

Bakugou looked away outside the window, putting up his typical unapproachable image.

When Mariko calmed down, she thanked Jiro, Kaminari and Tokoyami for all their help and purest intentions, apologizing to them for being ungrateful. The entire group was now a lot less stressed and they all accepted apologies from Mariko, some of them even tearing up after witnessing such a vulnerable moment.

'I have one question, though,' Jiro said, after letting go of Mariko.

'Yes?' Okaido asked, wiping her eyes.

'Why did you say that we may not see each other?'

'Mr. Aizawa expelled me,' Mariko informed.

The students looked at each other suspiciously.

'Did he do it again?' Kirishima asked, scratching his neck.

'Oh, he scared us like this as well.' Yaoyorozu rolled her eyes. 'At the very first day of school.'

'Yea, I thought I will say goodbye to the school,' Izuku admitted.

'So he lied?'

They looked at each other again.

'I mean, he is known for doing things like this,' Denki said. 'There are rumors about him in the school, you know. Most of the people don't like him.'

'He can be harsh, but he is a softie deep inside,' Jiro giggled, looking at Yaoyorozu, who smiled to herself.

'But then again, we don't know what is the exact plan with Okaido,' Tokoyami reminded. 'I hate to break it to you, but your situation might be different.'

'True,' Kirishima confirmed, avoiding Mariko's gaze, as if he was ashamed to say it out loud.

'I am aware, I need to confront him. No matter what happens, I am glad I got to meet all of you.'

'We could meet up at some point after school, can you give me your phone number?'

'I don't have a phone,' Mariko admitted, slightly shy.

Yaoyorozu looked down at the older woman and slowly pulled up her sleeve.

'Yao?' Kaminari asked.

'How will you contact heroes or authorities in case of a crisis?' Yaoyorozu asked, a tip of a smartphone slowly materializing from her skin. 'Surely this is not selfish use, if it's meant for one's safety.' She winked and smiled at Mariko.

'Please, I-'

'It's OK,' the younger girl assured.

Kaminari and Tokoyami looked at each other, Kaminari visibly excited.

Yaoyorozu handed over the phone to Mariko, who hugged her again.

'Thank you so much!' she said.

'You do not even need a SIM card. There is this app that we are all using, let me show you,' Jiro said and stood up, taking the phone from Mariko. 'You can just connect to a public Wi-Fi and we can chat anytime!'

About half an hour later, Mariko left the dorm, feeling happier than ever. She could not get over the fact of how cool the class 1A was.

'I am so ungrateful,' she said to herself and grasped her hair, looking up at the sky. 'No. I was like that. It's time to start all over.'

When she entered the teacher's dorm, she felt her heart sink. She was stressed, even though so many good things happened in such a short time.

'Oh?' she heard Midnight's voice coming from the couch.

Mariko looked in that direction, standing in front of the entrance to the building. Midnight pushed herself up to her elbow, just enough to look at the girl. Okaido was very confused, so she just greeted the teacher and slowly walked to the staircase, constantly looking the older woman in the eye, in case she needed something, but she never said a word. Mariko went upstairs, followed by a weirdly seductive look of the R-rated hero and her smirk.

The young woman stood at the top of the stairs, looking to her left.

'First room on the left,' she recalled.

Her heart was beating fast and it didn't seem to want to slow down. She clenched her right hand on the notebook and brought it to her chest, breathing deeply.

'I got this,' she said quietly and took the first step forward. 'OK, no.'

She twisted her hips, trying to run away, but her own determination stopped her in one place.

'He out of everyone else deserves the biggest apology. He knew what is going on and helped me crush everything about the old me. He is the one to be apologized to. I cannot leave until I solve this with Mr. Aizawa.'

She put her hand on her knee and leaned forward, trying to calm down.

'Oh, God...' she sighed, feeling the pressure build up in her chest.

She took another step forward and then slapped herself on her face. Another step forward. She was about two meters away from his door and she was terrified. How will he react? Will he allow her to speak? Will she be forgiven? Could he give her a second chance?

All of the questions raced through her head as she stood in the middle of the corridor.

'Is everything OK, young Okaido?' she heard All Might right behind her and she jumped to the ceiling, startled. 'Oh, sorry. Didn't mean to scare you.'

'Mr. All Might! I mean- All Might- I...' She took a deep breath. 'Do you know if Mr. Aizawa is in his room right now?'

'I have no idea, you should just knock,' he advised.

'Well, I've been trying to do that for the past two minutes,' she admitted quietly.

All Might chuckled and cheered her on with a small smile. There was something about his true, non-muscular form, that she found extremely comforting.

'You got this.' He showed her thumbs up and something told her, that he might know the reason of her visit.

All Might walked past her, going to his own room, further down the corridor. Mariko breathed again and shut her eyes.

'OK.' She clenched her fist and swung her hand a few times, straightening her back.

She made two, fast steps and forcing all of her will into her arm muscles, she knocked on the door, feeling her heart hit the floor she was currently standing on.

When he opened the door, she could not find the words she was forming so carefully for so long. He looked down at her, his hair tied up in a ponytail. He was dressed in his black, casual clothes: long-sleeve, nicely fitting golf and simple, loose pants.

Mariko opened her mouth and immediately closed it again, taking a step backwards. She turned her face away from him and looked at the floor.

'I came to apologize,' she announced.

She glanced up at him, visibly flustered because of his appearance. Shota noticed her tentativeness and put his forearm on the doorframe, leaning his hips to the side. He raised his eyebrows and very much enjoyed seeing a light blush on her face.

'I already went to your class, sir, and apologized to them and I was forgiven,' she informed and then blushed even more, swinging her hands in a defensive motion. 'No, that's not what I mean! I mean they did forgive me but it's not like-'

Aizawa sighed and moved outside of the doorframe, pointing with his thumb towards his room. She brought the notebook to her chin and stepped inside, watching him close the door behind.

'I'm listening,' he said and sat at his chair, turning towards her.

His room was empty, very minimalistic.

'Can I sit on the floor?' she asked and he nodded. 'So... I...'

She took a deep breath and rotated the vent book in her hands.

'First and foremost, I want to clarify something, but I think I know the answer already.' She put her foot on her thigh, sitting in cross-legged position. 'Mr. Aizawa, you wanted to... how do I put this...'

He allowed her to think, saying nothing, but just listening.

'You wanted to destroy and rebuild me, right?'

He nodded, closing his eyes for a moment.

'I didn't realize,' she admitted.

'It would be pointless if you would,' he replied.

'Oh,' she exhaled. 'But I... Yea, I wanted to thank you for everything you did. I needed this, maybe even more than you initially thought.' She looked up at him, not sure if he is still listening. He was. Very carefully. 'When I was dangling from the tree, I had some visions. I think I lost consciousness and then I saw some things that happened in the past.' She paused.

'Should I continue?' she asked herself in her thoughts, unable to interpret his expressionless face.

He leaned forward, placing his elbows on his knees, giving her his undivided attention. She took a deep breath, receiving the assurance that she can continue.

'And I know it will not justify anything that I did and my past behavior still remains extremely bad, but I wanted to tell you, that the hostility was the only self-defense mechanism that I knew. I would always use it, whenever I felt like my sense of reality is being undermined. And when I came here, you started digging with a fucking excavator,' she smiled and looked down.

'Language,' he reprimanded, but smirked.

'Sorry, sir,' she replied. 'I owe you the biggest apology in existence and I would never forget what you did for me.' She leaned forward and bowed before the man, placing her forehead on the floor of his room. 'I apologize. If you are willing to give me another chance, I will be the most hard-working student that you have ever had. I will never ever disrespect you, I owe you my life.'

As she was about to finish her sentence, her voice broke and she hit her forehead on his floor, trying to stop herself from crying.

'I am sorry, it's so lame. It's like fourth time today,' she admitted and felt his hand on her shoulder.

She lifted herself up and looked up at the man, crouching next to her.

'It tends to happen, if emotions were hidden for so long,' he explained in a calm voice.

Mariko wiped her face with a shaky hand and crossed her legs again. She didn't dare to look him in the eye. He slid his hand from her shoulder to her arm and sat on the floor.

'Do you want to be left alone, or comforted?' he asked.

She felt her eyes burn, as new tears formed in her eyes. Her throat was too tight to speak, but he knew the answer. Aizawa pulled her towards his shoulder and allowed her to put the side of her head against his arm. She trembled because of all the emotions.

'Shh,' he said quietly. 'Breathe with me.'

Soon after, she found herself synchronizing her breath with his own, completely calmed down. They sat in silence for some time, until he eventually spoke up:

'I have a schedule for you.'

'Thank yo-'

She trembled again and lowered her head.

'Okaido!' he groaned with annoyance.

'I am sorry!' she laughed through her tears and placed her hand on his shoulder, pushing her face into his arm. 'I a tryng' she said against his skin, her voice muffled.