After what happened, my friends had agreed we weren't going to separate until we got some answers. My hand held a tight grip on the note that was left with Kaito earlier, but I refused to look at it. Instead, I just looked down at the ground, unsure what was going to happen.

Ollie was in trouble. Kaito was still unconscious, so there was a chance that he could very well not remember anything. No. He would remember. He was just knocked out. It was more than likely Nightshade used her Quirk on him. She doesn't make people forget. That was his job. There was no way he would've come all this way if he could just send someone else to do the work for him. If he would have been there, he probably wouldn't have stopped until he had his hands on me.

"He's going to be fine, Tami-tan," Sakura assured as she looked at me.

Instead of looking at her, I lifted my head towards Raiden, who was carrying Kaito on his back. Raiden refused to look at me, keeping his head forward. I didn't look at him though. My eyes were glued onto the orange haired boy, who looked as if he was taking a nap.

Memories of when Ollie and I were younger started to replay in my head. During the summer, Sakura, Ollie, and I would go out and play in the park. Sakura and I would hang out on the swings while Ollie would run around, meeting the kids who had also tagged along. Most of the time, Peter and Mom would come with us, being that we were young, but it never failed that by the end of the day, Ollie would tucker himself out.

Seeing Kaito hoisted on Raiden's back reminded me of that. Sure, Peter would always try to offer to carry Ollie on those days, but I was always too stubborn to let him do that. Somedays, I was lucky and would wear my special made outfit that would grow or shrink alongside my Quirk. When that happened, I would turn into Peter or someone else who was taller. I would just never turn into a hero because I knew the people around us would get pretty confused.

Seeing Kaito like that made me realize it wasn't him I was worried about. It was Ollie. Ollie was my brother. I was always the one there for him when he needed help. At least, I was. Thinking about it, I haven't really been able to be there for him lately. I might have still helped him with his homework, but that was it. Last week, I was too caught up on doing homework about that fraud of a hero with Kaito and had gone to a festival with my friends that I didn't really think about Ollie.

No wonder why he was so angry with me when I told him I didn't want to be a hero. Ever since I had gotten into that hero school, I was always doing something for that rather than being there for him. If only I had told everyone the truth sooner, then maybe I wouldn't have been in this mess. Things could have been easier for me. But no. I had to be the one to keep it from him, from everyone.

To make matters worse, he wasn't just kidnapped; he was kidnapped by the same people who had me. I didn't want to even think about all the things they could've done to him, but that was all I could think about. They could have made him into a giant meatball, or Nightshade could force on those horrendous nightmares on him.

Most of all, I was scared of what he would make my brother think if he would use his Quirk on my brother.

"Hey, Tami-tan," Sakura tried once again. "We're going to get him back. All we have to do is tell the teachers at U.A., and they'll handle it."

A sigh escaped my lips as I looked down at the note, reading the warning once more.

"But what if it's not enough?" I asked. "They want me. Anyone else and—and they'll hurt him."

"Who's to say they haven't already?" Raiden suggested.

"Raiden!" Sakura hissed.

My eyes squeezed shut as I tried not to think about it. Unfortunately, that was all Raiden could think about.

"These are villains we are talking about, Sakura," Raiden pointed out. "They're not the kind that goes in and robs a bank and leaves. They make people forget their Quirk. Hatsuko has been looking into this case ever since Tami was taken. There have been at least thirty cases of people forgetting their Quirk within the last month, Eto being the most extreme with his hand being chopped off. Tami has every right to be scared. I'd be concerned if she wasn't after everything she's been through."

"But she didn't lose her Quirk, so there has to be somewhat of a chance Oliver-Kun will be okay, right? I mean, Tami-tan, you do know you can turn into other people, right?" Sakura asked.

I nodded my head before looking up, seeing the U.A. building standing right in front of us. If we were here, then I knew the questions were going to be piling down on me. The less I talked about it now, the better it would be then. I don't know if I had the strength to tell everyone the truth. It was hard enough to tell my friends that I didn't want to become a hero. I didn't want to imagine what it would be like when I told them who was behind this whole thing.

~*~*~*~

I sat in the hospital wing, looking over at Kaito laying on one of the beds. It was a mystery how long he would actually be knocked out, giving me some time to think.

Sakura and Raiden both ran off to find a teacher, hoping to find someone to help us out. They knew I wasn't going to talk more about it until we got professional help. I felt torn. In a few moments, they'd find out everything, and even though they were supportive of me not becoming a hero, I wasn't sure if that'd hold up when they found out about Kannon.

Would they even believe me? I thought to myself. After all, he was supposed to be a hero, a hero that everyone looked up to. Mr. Elastic claimed he worked with him, but I learned that wasn't true. Kaito and I even did a research project on him which made Kaito think he was this amazing hero, despite the limited information about him. If he shared that information with the rest of the class, no one would ever imagine him being the one to do all this.

Except, no one could remember his Quirk. How did we not figure this out in the first place?

"Tami!" Kaito's voice gasped.

I snapped my head over towards the orange-haired boy who shot up into a sitting position. He snapped his head towards me, his chest was rising and falling extremely fast. His face was white.

"Oliver, the pink haired woman, I'm so s—"

"I know," I told him.

"It was all my fault," Kaito exhaled as he looked down at the bed he was on. "I convinced Sakura-chan to take Ollie-kun with us to see you instead of taking him home because he really missed you. We all missed you, and all we wanted to do was make you happy and see you once school was out, but she just came out of nowhere when I tried finding Ollie-kun."

My response should have been immediate, but I could barely squeak out the words, "I know" once more. Somehow, I did, but it didn't feel right. From what Raiden told me, they all worked hard in trying to get me back to the best of their abilities. There was only so much they could do though since we were only students, not heroes.

Still, something felt off. I couldn't put my finger on it. Whatever it was, I felt like it wasn't his fault or anyones, but I still felt guilty. It wasn't because of who my father was either. This feeling was a bit deeper than that.

There was a moment of silence between the two of us. It had been days since I had last seen Kaito. We should have been talking up a storm. No, we should have talked earlier to one another, but he never answered. If he was worried, he would've answered last night, or called me first thing in the morning like Raiden said he would.

It was childish to hold that over him though. Maybe he thought I wanted some space. It was what I needed when we were at the festival, but that was what also got me kidnapped. Besides, the first thing he claimed he did was bring Ollie over to see me. That was nice, but if he didn't do that...

No, that would be unfair to push that onto him, I thought to myself. It wasn't Kaito's fault. There was no way he couldn't predicted that from happening. Nightshade, alone, could easily outsmart anyone. We were lucky that day in the library. Had it not been for the heroes, everyone there would've been taken.

"Hey, Tami, you're not mad at me, are you?"

His words took me off guard that I snapped my head up at him. Kaito didn't look like himself. His cheerful demeanor washed away as he scratched the back of his head and looked down at the ground. It was so strange seeing him like that.

"N-n-no," I said, hesitating on what to say. "I-I'm still processing everything that happened these past few days. That's all."

Kaito nodded his head. His smile still didn't return. "They didn't do anything to you, did they? Like, your Quirk is still there, right? You can still become a hero."

I shook my head, even though he wasn't exactly looking at me. "I'm still me. Didn't Raiden tell you how I escaped?"

"No. He—we haven't really had a chance to talk about it," Kaito explained.

"Oh," I said, not asking much of an explanation. I wanted to ask, but I didn't exactly want to intrude on what was going on between the two.

While I didn't want to ask, I still wondered what was going on. Sure, Raiden seemed pretty cold most of the time, but I would have thought he would have told Kaito about what happened. If not that, then I would have thought Kaito would have asked. Those two did seem like great friends, especially since they were always together.

Maybe it was because of school, but even then there would have been lunch. It started to worry if something happened between the two of them, even if I couldn't quite pinpoint what that could have been.

After a small pause, I realized Kaito was still waiting to hear what had happened, so I explained everything. For as long as I was back, I had yet to tell anyone my story, but I didn't think it was appropriate. The Yamamoto's knew parts of what happened: three people locked me up in a room, forcing me to witness things I didn't want to until I had to escape as a rat. That wasn't something I thought was even possible.

I wasn't talking to any of them. I was talking to Kaito, my boyfriend. We had only dated a week, maybe a few days over a week, but I had to be honest with him. Raiden taught me that much over the past twenty-four hours. I needed to be honest and not take the blame, or so he said. He might think differently the moment he found out who I was, who my father was.

I started out with the festival, explaining how I snuck away from Raiden and went back to the tent, where they were waiting for me. As I explained most everything that happened after that, I tried to get a read on Kaito, to see if he somewhat knew what happened. He didn't react to anything, only to the parts where I was...tortured, though I was vague when I told him about those nightmares. No one needed to know the exact details of that. Besides, it was childish to even bring it up when villains did that sort of thing all the time. It probably wasn't even the worst thing they could've done.

Besides, those nightmares were personal. They showed my worst fears, and I wasn't ready to let anyone, not even Kaito, know about that.

When I told him how I escaped—by turning into a rat and running outside—Kaito's eyes widened. He snapped his head towards me in total awe. I told him how I had no idea I could do that, but that didn't phase Kaito in the slightest.

"The important thing is that you're okay," Kaito said as he turned, so his legs were dangling off the hospital bed and that he was facing me. "Not only that, but if you can turn into animals, you can really use your Quirk for an offensive blow as a hero."

My body stiffened as he said the last word. Did he not listen to what I had to say back at the restaurant? It wasn't a joke. I meant it. Hearing him say that made me wonder if he was even paying attention.

"Kaito," I whispered, "I was serious about what I said. A hero isn't something I want to be, especially after what I had just been through."

If he didn't understand that I was serious back then, I thought being kidnapped would be. Unfortunately, that wasn't the case as he stood up and sat next to me on the bed I was sitting on. He was careful not to touch me, but I could feel him inching in as close as he could to be beside me.

"Tami, don't let one bad experience scare you," Kaito told me. "Next time you come across them, you can turn into something like a bear, or maybe even a dragon, and you can tear them apart without—"

"Stop it," I muttered as I looked down at my hands. My finger tips curled up into the palms of my hands, before I squeezed my eyes shut. "Don't take this lightly. I don't want to be a hero. I-I never did. If I don't back out now, I won't ever be happy. Please, please try and understand."

Once again, that should have been enough, but Kaito insisted otherwise.

"Why don't you want to be a hero?" Kaito asked, before he wrapped his hands over mine. I stiffened under his touch, but he didn't let go. "You entered into U.A. for a reason. If you didn't, then how would we have met? Besides, everyone wants to be a hero. You're just in shock. Give yourself a few days to think things over because you are going to make a great her—"

I snapped my head towards Kaito and glared at him. The tears had escaped my eyes, dampening my cheeks. I could feel my body shaking from what I was about to do, but I had to. I had to be the one to stand up for myself, otherwise I'd be pushed back into a place I didn't want to be in.

After all I had gone through, and hearing Raiden and Sakura's support, I realized I couldn't go back into training to become a hero. It'd hinder me in being who I was meant to be, whoever that was.

Seeing my expression, Kaito's eyes widened.

"Won't you listen to me for once?" I begged, pulling my hands out of his grasp. "I-I don't want to be a-a hero. I was tortured in there. I was locked up in a room with no way out. The only food offered to me was moldy bread that the rats took. I was helpless, and—and there was no one to save me. I had to be the one to escape. If I continue down this path, I-I'll die. I don't want to think about what some villains could use me for if they caught me, or what could happen if I did something that could hurt others. Being a hero is terrifying. I can't do it. I don't want t-to do it, so stop telling me otherwise."

I stopped to take a deep breath. My hands started to rub away the tears that were running, but they wouldn't stop. I couldn't stop crying. If I couldn't stop crying, how could I become a hero? A hero was someone who was brave, not afraid. I was more than afraid; I was terrified. Not because of what happened, but with everything that could happen.

Things would just be worse if I became a hero.

Kaito closed his eyes as he let out a sigh. "Please don't get mad at me. I'm just trying to make sure you don't make a mistake here. I want you to be happy, but would it be so bad to become a hero?"

I froze. He didn't really just ask me that, did he? Here I was, afraid of everything that had happened and what could happen, and all he could think about was becoming a hero? Something I didn't even want to happen. All I wanted was for him to be supportive of this decision. After seeing my brother's reaction, I thought he wouldn't have pestered me about it. Besides, Sakura and Raiden seemed okay with me not becoming a hero.

Unless it was an act.

No, it couldn't have been. Sakura would have never lied to me. She would have broken down really quickly. As for Raiden, he had to witness what happened the second I had escaped. My family might not be as supportive, maybe they would, but seeing my friends' reactions, I thought Kaito would've done the same.

Especially since he was my boyfriend. Wasn't that what couples did? Weren't they supposed to be supportive of each other? I was still new to this whole dating thing, but I was almost positive I knew that much of it.

Taking in another deep breath, I nodded my head to his question. "Yes, because I don't want to end up like my father," I heard the door to the room we were in opening, but I ignored it. "I don't want to end up like Justice-Core, the man who was behind my kidnapping."

Not even a second passed and I could hear Sakura giving out a small gasp. I whipped my head towards the door, seeing Sakura and Raiden standing there with Mr. Elastic towering behind them. All three of them were shocked with what I had just said.

The only good thing about them walking in at that moment was that I didn't have to explain myself twice.

Author's Note:

Ouch, Kaito and Tami are having their first, extremely bad, fight. Will TamiXKaito survive (do they even have a ship name? Taito is it? Oof).

I want your thoughts on this: Do you still ship Tami with Kaito? If not, who do you think she should end up with?

Character Spotlight: Kaito Oba
Quirk: Light
Likes: Chocolate Dorayaki

And yes, this is Kyo from Fruits Basket. And yes, he has the complete opposite personality as Kaito. But hey, this makes him look like Kaito for a bit with how happy he is.

Song: Greenpath from Hollow Knight