Wrap yourself up in something soft and lay back. Everything will be okay.

◟(◕◡◕❀)

Endeavour's agency was a tall building. Not quite at the height of skyscrapers, but certainly impressive. Inside it was bustling with activity. There were desks lined with operators, and dozens of sidekicks heading out per dispatch's instructions.

At Endeavor's agency we were greeted by a group of sidekicks while Endeavor went into his office. Their leader was a woman with flaming green hair and a vicious look on her face. She was flanked by several other sidekicks. She barked out, "Welcome to Endeavor's Agency. We're the Flaming Sidekickers! This is the first work-study for some of you, right? You four will get right down to business doing what we do around here. But as you can see, with our 30 sidekicks, we ain't exactly short-staffed. What I'm saying is, you won't get a chance to shine."

"Fun. So we gotta try to beat the pros at their own game?" Katsuki smirked.

"Bingo!"

"That goes for you too, Shōto! Don't assume anything just 'cause you're the boss's kid."

"You kids've gotta sink your teeth into this job."

"This place is so busy," Izuku commented.

"Of course, it's the number one hero's agency," boasted one of the sidekicks off the side. "Most of the time, we're either on patrol or standby. But we also handle over 100 requests every day. From emergencies to escort missions to special events."

Katsuki punched his left palm. "Great. Let's get to fucking work then. I've been pretty ticked off ever since that spoonbill stole my glory."

"You've got moxie, brat, but we gotta wait for Endeavor's orders!"

"He's sitting on his butt? What happened to those 100 request?" growled Katsuki.

"Kacchan, please just clam down!" Izuku fretted.

"Well, the boss only wanted Shōto, so you three will probably be looked at by us!"

"As fucking if!" snapped Katsuki as Endeavor left his office and rejoined us.

"All of you with me," he ordered.

◟(◕◡◕❀)

He lead us to the main gym in the building, a place designated for workers to keep themselves fit, or try out new techniques. Endeavor loomed over us, folding his arms across his chest as his flames lazily flickered around him.

"I'll be supervising you myself. But before we start, you gotta tell me about yourselves. I already know what Shōto wants, but what about you three?" asked Endeavor. "What're you working on now? Tell me what you wanna achieve."

No one spoke for several seconds. Izuku scratched the back of his head as he hesitantly said, "I want control over my power and to have freedom of movement even while at max performance."

"You've got super strength that wrecks your own body, right?"

Izuku had the grace to look sheepish. "Yes. I discovered a method to manage it without hurting myself, but I've, uh, reached the point where... how do I put this? I've got like a secondary power where it manifests in a different form."

"Show me."

Izuku held up a hand, a tendril of something smoky curling around his fingers. His brow creased in concentration. "By focusing, I can just manage this much, but that's all I can handle for now. If I let anymore out, I lose control."

"You said max performance. What's that mean for this ability?"

Izuku took in a deep breath. "Well, the true form of this one is more like a whip. I wanna turn it from a liability into a real weapon. I think I can apply some concepts from my other, new move, Air Force... Oh, I should explain that one. It's a long-range attack that strikes with air blasts. But it demands more power output than my body's currently capable of handling. If we assume my base limit is 10% to 15% then I'd say that Air Force requires about 20%, so I have to go into the danger zone a little bit. Operating at 20% doesn't actually damage my body, but it's painful enough to limit my movement to the point I've trained to boost my power for an instant before bringing it right back down. If I could apply that concept to Blackwhip, then, at least in theory, I'd actually be able to use it in battle but to start with making those precise modulations to power output while moving around is already pretty tough, and adding a whole other element to that would be more than my brain can handle. Despite my efforts I haven't had much luck training to run those parallel processes while also moving my body in any real way—"

"Too long, I'm lost," bemoaned the green-haired sidekick leader, Burnin.

"So... you're hoping to make that tricky balancing act feel like second nature?" surmised Endeavor. He coolly stared down at Izuku, his expression difficult to read. "You've suffered due to your own Quirk. So... you're one of us. Next up is you."

Katsuki flatly said, "Unlike him, I came here to figure out what I can't do."

Blazin cooed, "Ooh! Big talk, little man!"

"Cram it! Why're you even here?!"

"I'm on standby."

"I'm serious, damn it," snapped Katsuki. "My explosion can pull off anything I want it to. I've only got that one Quirk but it's totally the strongest. But then I learned that a strong Quirk's not enough to make me the strongest guy around. To surpass number one I came to find out what I'm missing."

"Sure," said Endeavor. "Now you."

"Ah. I want to get better at combat and prolonged situations. My power is restricted by body, and in a test of endurance I come up short," I said, shifting my weight. "I want to stay helpful, even if I can't use my powers."

Endeavour closed his eyes. "Right... okay. Let's go then. We're going on a patrol."

He lead us out of the building, speaking as he walked. "I'll be watching over you four as a hero. Rescue. Evacuation. Battle. People come to heroes for those three basic things. Normally, when a hero sets up an agency he decides whether to emphasize rescue or battle. One or the other. My agency isn't picky. We tackle all three."

Endeavor shot off to the roof of another building.

He continued, "You gotta know your home turf like the back of your hand so that you pick up on the smallest disturbance. You gotta get to the scene faster than anyone. Keep damage to a minimum and if civilians get close, blast some heat to make 'em back off. That's your starting point. Keep all that in mind while acting at top speed and make those processes your m.o. Think about what you're building up to as you go. At U.A. it's effort... here, it's experience. You need a mountain's worth so your job here is to conquer that experience barrier. This winter show me that you can, just once, beat a villain faster than me."

◟(◕◡◕❀)

At the end of a long first day, I showered and changed into my civilian clothes. Every inch of me ached, but it was a pleasant feeling. I hadn't trained that hard in a while. Endeavor's hero agency had housing facilities for members to use in case they were required to stay the night. The four of us were each given a room.

For our first night, I figured the four of us could eat dinner together.

I headed out to find Shōto. I smiled politely back at the other sidekicks and workers at the agency while I searched the halls for him. I was tempted to teleport, but if he was doing something private, I didn't want to intrude.

Eventually, I found him in one of the empty offices with Endeavor. I stopped short of going in when I realized the mood.

"... she's the one who's been coming over?" asked Endeavor.

I ducked out of sight, my heart skipping a beat. 'Ah.'

"Yes."

"Are you—er—"

"She's my girlfriend now," came Shōto's curt response. "Outside of work, you should treat her well. If it wasn't for her, I don't think I could forgive you at all," said Shōto shortly. "She's the one who taught me to be kind. Not you."

"Forgive—Shōto, does that mean—?"

"I haven't decided anything," cut in Shōto. "But I'm not... opposed. Mom thinks you've changed. I want to see for myself if that's true."

When the silence stretched on for several minutes I decided to enter the room. "Ah, hello."

The two Todorokis had been staring at one another, but upon my arrival, Shōto turned around and gave me a little smile. "Hello, Kiyo-chan. Are you ready to eat?"

"Mn! Um—" I wanted to say something else, but Shōto had already grabbed my hand and was dragging me out of the room.

◟(◕◡◕❀)

Shōto, Izuku, and I had dinner together—Katsuki rejected the notion of eating with us—although we were all too exhausted to do much else than eat.

There was a small ding from the pocket of my pajama pants. I pulled out my phone, curious who was texting me so late.

From Unknown:

Lily of the Valley. I have information for you.

The text came from an unknown number, and as soon as I read it I—

A hammer slammed into my head, I doubled over in pain, clutching at it. Shōto immediately bent over and placed a worrying hand on me. "Kiyo-chan?"

"Ah—" I—We—She—I—He—We—They—

Blessed quieted the other voices, and the pain receded as the memories returned to me.

I offered up Shōto a smile and said, "I think I've got a bit of a headache. I'm going to head to bed. Sweet dreams."

"Sweet dreams," echoed Izuku.

"Okay," he said. "Let me know if you need anything."

"I will," I promised him, then teleported away.

◟(◕◡◕❀)

Dabi

He was somewhere private, anticipating her to teleport to him. The best place he could think of was his room at the Liberation Army. No one would be listening in there, and it was highly unlikely anyone would come near it so late in the night.

He didn't need to wait long. Barely a few minutes passed by after he sent the text did she appear before him.

Same bouncy pink hair. That time she wore pajamas though, and had a small box wrapped in colorful paper in her hands.

"I'm surprised you didn't have a trap waiting for me," she teased, eyes bright with an uncomfortable level of affection.

"Favor for a favor," he said, instantly on guard by how warmly she greeted him.

"You look a little beat up," she observed, leaning toward him. "Get into a fight?"

Dabi pursed his lips, not answering.

"Ehhh? How many more hearts do I have to be at to unlock that dialogue?"

He almost smiled at that. He managed to keep a stoic face as he flatly answered, "Five."

"How many am I at now?"

"Maybe one."

"Oof," Kiyomi cried out, clutching at her chest with her free hand. "I thought for sure I'd be closer!"

"Doing better than any of the other heroes," Dabi generously pointed out. "They're in the negatives."

She brightened. "Ooh!" Pink ethereal butterflies fluttered into existence around her, slowly making their way to Dabi. "Then I hope I have a chance to climb higher."

Dabi did not react as the butterflies healed his acquired injuries and fatigue. Better prepared than the first time, he asked, "Can they heal broken bones?"

"Yes," she said.

"Poisoning?"

"Mm-hmm."

"What about burns?" he asked, gesturing to his scars.

"In general yes. But for you? Only when you're ready for me," she answered.

Dabi's eyes narrowed. "I'm not right now?"

"No," she answered. "But that's okay."

He scoffed at her response. "Here. The picture of the man."

Kiyomi accepted the picture Dabi held out to her. "Ahh... so this is him, huh...? Mm. Thank you, Dabi."

"'S what we 'greed on," he said.

Kiyomi smiled kindly at him. She pocketed the picture then held out the box. "Merry Christmas. Ah, I know it's kind of late, but you didn't call for me on Christmas so I wasn't able to give this to you earlier."

Dabi accepted the box and proceeded to set it on fire.

"Ah," was all she said as she watched her gift be reduced to ash.

When the fire died out, Dabi dumped the ash in the nearby trash bin.

A heartbeat of silence passed until she asked, "... How many hearts do I need to be at for you to accept Christmas gifts?"

"Seven," he answered.

"Ouch. Those were mittens I made for you."

"I'm doubly glad I destroyed them," he deadpanned. "Mittens?"

"Mittens are very comfy," Kiyomi defended.

"They're for grandmas," Dabi retorted

"Are not! They're for anyone who likes warm fingers and wearing comfy things."

"Grandmas," he blandly repeated.

Her cheeks puffed up as she glared. "Brat."

"Ah, lost the heart."

"Nooooo!" she cried out dramatically.

Dabi's lips twitched as he fought back the desire to smile.

Cozy.

That was a good word that suited her. Cozy like a warm sweater on a cold day, or something sweet after a long day. He had thought this is the first time he met her. Even as he was trying to capture her, she still made jokes with him. Despite the volatile situation, she—

She treated him more like a person than a villain.

There was no pressure from her—no expectation between either of them. Her presence was exactly that: cozy.

She did not contradict his goal, nor did she incite it.

No obligation to be her enemy. No obligation to be her friend.

She was just... there. Smiling.

Her friendliness both aggravated and endear—

No.

Only aggravated. Why was she so kind to him, anyway? Why did she approach him out of all the others? Why was she—

Why does she look at me like that?

"How's it feel, talkin' with a murderer?" he drawled out, wondering what kind of reaction she would give. The more he thought about Kiyomi, the more irritated he felt. There was an itch in his head.

She should not be so warm to him. Even Hawks wasn't so... sincere.

She had to understand, right? What he was. They were not meant to be on the same side. Not meant to be more than enemies.

"I assure you, I have no place to judge that," she laughed to his surprise. "But if you wanna know what it's like talking with the boy in front of me—"

'Boy?' Dabi thought, offended. 'I'm older than her—'

"—it feels lovely," she answered. "We can keep talking as long as you'd like."

"Don't got somewhere to be?"

"I do, but family is more important."

Dabi twitched at that word, a seed of disgust sprouting inside him. Coldly, sharply, he corrected her, "We're not family."

"We're not bound by blood," she said in an agreeable tone. "If that's the only definition of family you have, then by your definition we are certainly not family."

"I have no connection to you whatsoever," said Dabi, perturbed by her. It instantly bothered him to think she'd misconstrued their agreement to anything more than that between strangers exchanging favors. Was she delusional?

He opened his mouth to continue to rebuke her, but found that the words didn't come as easily to say out loud as they did in his head. There was that nagging itch in the back of his head. Trepidation made the words die on his lips.

He settled on, "I have no family."

"You can," she offered. "I can be your sister."

The sheer audacity of that statement made him snort.

"See, the power of protagonist pink hair gives me this ability to also become the sister of anyone," she joked. "You can call me Nee-chan, I won't mind."

He scoffed. "I'm older than you."

"Physically, sure."

"What other ways are there?" he returned.

She giggled, putting her hands together. "Come now, Dabi. I sincerely want to be on good terms with you."

"Why? Hoping to redeem me?" he mocked. "Don't waste your time there, princess. This was a one-time deal."

"I just want a happy family reunion," she said with a big smile. "I remember that much."

"What family are you talking about?" he scoffed derisively.

"Mmm, what family indeed?" She tilted her head, red eyes sparkling with mischievous warmth. "Dabi, feel free to call upon me if you ever need. Or if you ever want to talk. I don't wanna miss out on any heart events to become your friend!"

"Get out of here."

She winked at him before teleporting away.

'Freak,' thought Dabi even as he smiled in exasperated amusement. She was as troublesome as an untrained kitten. He was simultaneously annoyed by her and—

And...

Dabi's hands curled into fists.

'Would things be different if you were there?'

◟(◕◡◕❀)

*prepping the sledgehammer I'm about to use on the war arc's storyline*

So I got caught up with the manga. Holy shit. My poor babies.

Answer: Hawks.

Question: Of Class 1-A who would you want to be childhood friends with?

Reviews are love!