"Not counting the kid with crippled legs, everyone else seems to be okay."

I couldn't believe everything that had just happened.

Aizawa was going to be okay, the villains had failed and everyone seemed to be mostly unharmed, excluding Midoriya. Looking around at everyone, they seemed to be thinking the same thing.

I couldn't help but think this was some kind of taunt possibly, maybe some kind of warning.

"How is Aizawa-sensei?" I heard Tsuyu ask.

I perked up, suddenly very interested in the conversation.

"His arms are riddled with comminuted fractures, and he's suffering from facial fractures as well. Thankfully, there was no brain damage."

I sighed.

"It's just... well, the bones around his eye socket area, the 'orbital floor' has been crushed to powder. There's a chance it might affect his eyesight. Or so I've been told..."

I sucked in a breath. Don't cry, don't cry, don't cry.

I jumped up from the rock I was sitting on, dusting myself off. Reluctantly, I approached Detective Tsukauchi, feeling very faint and lightheaded. "Detective?"

He turned around and gave me a very carefree smile as if everything was okay. "Sakata-kun? About Aizawa, I'm sorry I have nothing more to tell you."

"Oh, that's okay," I tried to seem like I wasn't too upset. I guess I was failing miserably because he smiled and me and patted my head. "Is there any way I could go see him?"

He shook his head, "It's best if he doesn't get any visitors for the moment, his condition is still very fragile. You have nothing to worry about, I'm sure he'll show up in the next few days as if nothing happened."

I nodded my head and stepped away from him, not wanting to get in his way.

I tapped Kaminari on the shoulder, he turned around and immediately started wailing, throwing his arms around my shoulders. I couldn't help but smile a little bit because he was acting like a child despite everything that had happened. I guess I could always count on him to never change. "Everyone is going to be okay. You better not be crying."

"Wait a minute," He stepped back, staring at his hands. "You're covered in blood!"

Everyone turned to look at me, worry evident on their faces. Kaminari looked very close to tears. I gulped, "I'm okay, I'm okay-"

"How could you say that?!"

"No, no, what I meant is that it's not my blood."

"You're saying that all the blood is..."

"Not mine." I finished, trying to calm him down but he didn't look relaxed at all.

He stared at me, no words coming out of his mouth. Kirishima glanced at him, then at me and grinned, "Thank God! Kaminari, damn, you had us all worried there!"

I stared at the floor. Most of it was Aizawa's blood.

I felt sticky and horrible, the thought of Aizawa's blood on my body made me feel sick right to my very core. 

I clenched my jaw, and then frowned when I thought that it felt very wrong. I ran my tongue across my teeth and realised that my canines had grown. I almost reached in to my mouth to touch them, but realised that everyone was still around. My nails had also grown and sharpened.

I felt even worse. Too many things were happening that I just couldn't explain.

When Kousuke and Tomomi saw the state I was in, their eyes were filled with a combination of pity and rage. Usually, I would hate the way they looked at me like I was still that weak seven-year-old that needed to be protected from every bad thing ever to exist. However, right now, I couldn't blame them. I did look very pitiful.

They already knew about Aizawa and insisted on reminding me every two minutes that I did all I could and that he will be okay because he's a tough cookie.

I already knew that.

I just wish I was a little faster, or a little stronger, and I wish I wasn't so irrational.

It was very tempting to ask them both about the man I saw and what he has to do with me because I was sick and tired of all the lies and the sneaking around.

It made more sense to wait until Akki got home because he promised to tell me everything so it seemed like the perfect time to get everything out in the open.

Still, I tried my best to reassure them that I was mainly unharmed and that my mental state was doing better than I thought. Of course, I wanted nothing more than to stay by Aizawa's side until he got better because has always been a huge part of my life and I couldn't stand the fact that I didn't know what was happening to him right now.

Even though I tried to tell myself he's vulnerable right now and having someone see him would do more harm than good, the thought was still excruciating.

"I took a lot of villains down." I tried to brag, hoping to lighten the mood.

Kousuke sighed with a small sigh on his face and Tomomi busted a lung, digging her fist into my skull and laughing, telling me how proud she was.

I tore a page out of my note book and wrote DO NOT COME IN in big block letters and stuck it on the outside of my bedroom door with sellotape. I sat down at the base of my bed, and slowly felt the tears build up, a lump forming in my throat.

I cried.

At first, it came out in small sniffles, but it wasn't long until it escalated into full blown sobbing, crying my eyes out without holding anything back. Thankfully, Tomomi and Kousuke didn't come in, but I could definitely feel them lingering.

The more I thought about Aizawa's blood drenching me, the more and more I cried, until I eventually fell asleep.

The next day, the school was closed, which was no surprise to anyone.

My bedsheets were all torn up.

Kousuke insisted that I spend the day relaxing, and I wanted to tell him that training was sure to help me relax, but he was having none of it.

I gave in, hoping it would get him off my back.

I wanted to up my training regime. I wanted to get used to actual hand-to-hand combat and fighting because experience is more important than anything. Doesn't matter how strong your quirk is or how big your muscles are, it doesn't matter at all if you don't know how to actually use them. If something like this ever happened again, then I wanted to be more useful than I was today.

I already asked Tomomi about it and she looked very conflicted.

"I understand where you're coming from, I really do, but for now, just for today, try not to think about anything but relaxing."

She said, with a very serious face.

"But, I'm all for training you," She grinned. "Don't think I'll go easy on you."

That made me happy.

I tried my very best to 'relax'.

I tried my best not to think about the way Aizawa's body lay crumpled on the ground, soaking in a pool of his own blood, I tried not the think about how I could've helped more and maybe reduced his injuries, I tried not the think about that man who looked like he could answer all of my questions.

I took an extra-long bath, letting my tense muscles unclench and let loose. I took my time washing my hair which seemed to be growing longer and longer. It was now down to my lower back.

Maybe I should cut it?

For the first time in a long time, I began to examine all of the scars littered around my body. It was kind of a fun little game I made up, in which I would guess how I got each one.

I also thought I'd try and draw the man I saw. Drawing isn't something I do often, but he didn't look too bad if I say so myself.

By no means was he detailed at all. It was a rough sketch that included his clothes and hair and eye colour. I tried annotating it, adding a few little ideas around it. He was tall, at least 180cm. He had bright yellow hair with a black undercut and the same piercing yellow eyes.

No matter how hard I tried, I could get the tattoo right.

Feeling frustrated, I wanted to head out on a walk, but of course, that didn't come easy. Nothing came easy these days. It was like I had to fight for every decision I made.

"I always go on walks! What's the big deal now?"

"You don't always get attacked by villains on a school trip!"

"This and that are two different things!"

"Your safety has always been important, that has never changed."

"Kousuke, I just want to go on a walk. I have my phone on me, you can track my location, I'll be super-duper safe! You're coddling me so much that it's suffocating."

He silently stared at me.

"No one is going to attack me, and if they do, you know I can hold my own."

He still looked stressed.

"It's just a damn walk! I need some fresh air and to stretch my legs, alone. I swear to God, if you follow me like Izaya did that one time, I'll be very upset."

Without waiting for a response, I stepped outside and slammed the door shut, wanting to make a point.

Grumbling underneath my breath, I buried my head inside my scarf and crossed my arms, huddling myself close. He still treats me like a child, when will he get it?

What do I need to do to get taken seriously?

Breathing in the fresh air and feeling the wind tussle my hair was the most relaxing thing I could do. I was wearing a black crop top with a huge white jacket over it, along with some trousers. As it was getting closer to the night, it was sorted to get a little colder.

That's when I saw an all too familiar face sitting on the park bench.

Despite everything that happened, I couldn't help the smile that spread across my face.

"Todoroki!"

~~~

"This is the second time we've met at this bench and you're still underdressed."

He blew on his hands, "As I said before, it helps regulate my quirk."

"Liar."

I started taking off my jacket and he started complaining, "Honestly, I'm not that cold, you don't have to."

I threw it on top of him and hugged my knees close to my chest, "It's fine, I was a little overdressed anyway."

I poked my thumbs through the holes on the sleeves and repositioned my scarf. I could hear Todoroki grumbling as he slipped his arms through the sleeves of the jacket, but immediately, you could see him start to get a little more comfortable. "Thank you."

"You are very welcome. Next time I see you here, you better be properly dressed."

"Next time??" He said, like he had never thought about it.

"Umm, what's the saying?" I racked my brain. "Oh, that's right. Once is a... something. Twice is a coincidence and three times is a pattern, right? So if we meet again then it's a sign."

"A sign for what?" He questioned, gazing at the sky.

"Never-ending friendship."

He gave me this look.

"Okay, well, I'm not sure yet. But we got to the bench at the same time on the same day, twice now. That's weird."

He shook his head, "I've been here for at least ten minutes before you got here."

I stayed silent after that.

I wanted to ask him how USJ was for him, and I wanted to apologise for leaving him alone in the landslide zone, but I didn't know how to bring it up, and I didn't know if I could look at him right now. If I could do it all over again, I would do the same thing, but still, feel bad for it.

I counted to three in my head.

"I'm sorry for leaving you alone in the landslide zone."

Much to my surprised, he smiled a little. "I wasn't alone, actually."

"Huh?"

"Hagakure was there. Thankfully, I didn't accidentally freeze her with my ice." He said with such a serious expression on my face that I couldn't help but laugh.

"I see, I see, that's good then so you weren't alone."

"I thought I was."

The smile faded from my face and I went back to tracing a circle over and over again. "I just had to go and make sure Aizawa-sensei wasn't... dead."

He didn't say anything for a bit, then he did. "What is he to you?"

I thought about it for a while, "I don't know. Defiantly not a father, not an uncle either. He would hate it if I called him that. Big brother? No, no, not that. He's just someone important to me, I guess."

Todoroki glanced at me, "Does he act the same way outside of class?"

I tried to smile, "He's really annoying, you know. If he wasn't so... injured right now, we would probably be butting heads as usual."

"How did you get to know him?"

I furrowed my brows, "You're asking a lot of questions."

"Oh, I'm sorry," He looked a little disappointed. "I got ahead of myself."

"No, no, it's okay. You don't usually act like this so I was a little surprised."

He raised an eyebrow, "But we've only had two and a half conversations, how do you know how I usually act?"

He had a point there.

"I don't know. I guess it's just from my own judgement of your character? Okay, um, I got to know him because he and my... guardian would work all the time."

That caught his attention, "Guardian?"

"Yeah, I'm adopted." I thought back as far as I could, "I don't remember the first time I met him. I was around seven years old, I think, and to me, I just guess he's always been there."

Todoroki had a finger to his lips, like he was trying to process everything.

"I told you a lot today. Next time, it's your turn."

"If there ever is a next time." He reminded me.

I smiled. "Trust me, there will be."

~~~

Lmao can you imagine Todoroki talking about himself I can't 🤣🤣✋

Kousuke my guy I know you're trying to be protective but it's a bit much ya know 😭😭😭

Also this is more genshin stuff so I'm sorry haha. I GOT BAAL LIKE AHHH I was expecting to lose cuz my last 5 star was Kazuha BUT THIS IS STRESS BECAUSE THICC MOMMY GANYU ISN'T GUARANTEED ANYMORE

It's okay though because as Todoroki once said

"I worked hard."