The passing weeks were a blur to you following Yagi's visit. Following your therapist's instructions, you've been structuring more of your life until you get a sense of balance and time again. Wake up at six am, open the bakery at eight am, have Mina come at four pm, close up shop at eight pm, and free time until ten pm. Frankly, it's been boring but it has helped you, so you'll keep it up for a little more until you feel like you can be more flexible.
It's a little before ten pm but you leave your living quarters and go down to the shop floor and check the front door locks. They're locked and you give them a firm shake to satisfy the worry in your head when you hear a loud noise coming from outside. You freeze.

It cannot be All For One because I'm not that important. It must be something else.

"It isn't any of my business at this point, anyway." You say to yourself, unconvincingly. You back away and head to the counter. The door to the stairs up to your apartment is behind it and the allure is there.

It could be someone. It might be someone you know.

The fear in your stomach hardens into courage and panic and you swallow thickly, going around the counter to the locked drawer and unlocking it, revealing your old fingerless gloves and extendable bo staff. It's been... what? Like four years since I was in action? You quickly put on the gloves and pick up the bo staff, whipping it to its full length before folding it back down. It stays in your shaking, sweaty hand and its familiar coolness is a comfort.
A loud metal crash rings and you quicken your pace, hurriedly unlocking the door and walk out into the street, towards the alley next to your home. Your body remembers this feeling and you slink low to the ground, hiding in the shadows.

There are two figures, one vaguely familiar.
He is bleeding out on the concrete next to spilled garbage cans and someone is grabbing his capture scarf and the blood in your ears comes to a roar.

Fuck!

The person above Aizawa is lithe but muscled and has a quirk that appears to be mutant. Parts of him are see-through. Might be a light-bending trick? You are so, so nervous and you crouch and jump, whipping your bo staff to its full length and landing a solid blow on the villain's shoulder. They stumble, letting go of Aizawa's scarf and reels back, their figure flickering before reappearing in front of you. They have a knife and you didn't see that before, your instincts kick in and you flinch back, gasping sharply. Your eyes go to Aizawa, his body off to the side, away from the fight. You are out of your comfort zone and you were never a fighter but you swing again and miss.

Okay, okay. They have a speed ability and a knife. Focus!

You swipe low but miss the knees and their figure jumps in front of you and stabs you squarely in your shoulder. It hurts like hell and you stumble, your back hitting a brick wall and sending a wave of pain through your body. The knife is aimed at your face now but you duck and slam your staff into the person's side, making them stumble and drop the knife. You move off the wall, kicking the knife away and settling in a defensive stance. Your back is to Aizawa's body and you don't know how much time you have. Did I already go over? How many minutes would it be? On reflex, you check your wrist and you are distracted and the villain bowls you over. You didn't kick the knife far enough and they have it again and it's inches from your neck. You grapple them and you might be crying but that could also be sweat and you are on top now. Your back isn't on the concrete anymore and you are shoved off, away from Aizawa's unresponsive body and you feel like a failure. The villain darts to you but you have a plan now. The speed is in five-second bursts and you count almost like you used to and reach into your apron's largest pockets and fling flour into their eyes. They hiss in pain and wipe their eyes and that's all it takes for you to slam your staff into their neck, knocking them unconscious. You take the knife and pat down yourself.

No rope, no capture tape. What was I thinki-

You look back at Aizawa's body. An ill feeling stills in your stomach and you rush over to him, checking his pulse and breathing. It's fine, he's breathing, this is okay. It'll all be okay. You repeat the mantra in your head as you look over his wounds. "Eraserhead, hey. Aizawa, are you there?" Your voice is bordering hysterical and you tap him, waiting for a response. This is okay! This is fine, just take his capture tape and tie up the villain and carry him inside, we will be fine. You untie your apron, smooth it out, and drape it over his body. You don't see Aizawa's capture tape visibly on him and it feels wrong to pat him down so you unravel his capture scarf from his visibly raw neck. You feel nauseous walking away from him but you do and you tie up the villain in Aizawa's capture scarf with cold, shaking hands. "I'll... be back for you later." You announce, mainly to yourself. There's a groan behind you and you turn and Aizawa shifts, his eyes blinking open.

"Oh, fantastic! You're conscious!" Your voice is thin and cracks and you rush over to Aizawa, hovering over him. His eyes look fine and he's awake and that's all you wanted. "Okay, so... We're going to get you inside. Yeah, yep, that's what we're going to do." You are rambling at this point but his dark eyes are focused on you so that's good and you crouch down to lift him up. He's not particularly light, but practically dead weight and your shoulder hurts and you stumble a couple times getting inside your building, up to your living quarters. You set him ungracefully across your bed, stopping a bit to catch your breath and to kick your shoes off.

"You still awake?"

"Yeah."

"Cool, now stop talking."

You then practically run down the stairs to get the first aid kit and a bowl. When you arrive back in your room, the room is spinning somewhat— probably from both your haste and your blood loss—but that's okay. You drop the first aid kit on the bed and go to the bathroom, filling up the bowl with lukewarm water and grabbing a rag. You scoot your rolling chair across the wood-paneled floor to your bed, sit down, and look over the damage on Aizawa. Major bruising, multiple cuts, this is fine. We will be fine. You pull out a roll of bandages and get to work, cutting fabric off, cleaning the cuts, and putting antibiotics on. You settle into a quick rhythm and when you get to Aizawa's last laceration on his body, he tries to push your hands away.

"Aizawa?"

Aizawa's face scrunches up and mumbles your name and points to your shoulder. "What happened?" His voice is quieter than normal, gravelly and hoarse and you quiet him.
"Stop talking, give your voice a break. I'll bring you some... tea or something, let me finish." Your tone is clipped and harsher than you wanted. "I'm sorry. This is more stressful than I remember." You finish dressing his injury and help him up into a sitting position. "I'll be back soon, going to put the kettle on."

"You're bleeding, fix yourself first."

"If that'll keep you quiet until I get you a hot drink, then fine." Aizawa snorts and you fix him a playful glare before you haphazardly try to cut the sleeve of your button-up off with your nondominant hand. After a few tries, Aizawa places a hand on yours and takes the scissors, gesturing you to move closer, which you do. He carefully cuts up your sleeve to your shoulder wound, leaving enough room to dress it without sacrificing your privacy.

"Thanks."

You grab the bowl, used rag, and a new shirt and walk back to the bathroom, pulling out a new washcloth and dampening it. You fix yourself up pretty quickly and change into the new shirt before heading over to the kitchenette on this floor. There, you put the kettle on and get out two mugs and loose leaf tea. You don't really know how you feel, but the adrenaline has left you and you ache all over. The kettle starts to whistle and you pour the water, later adding some honey into both mugs. You carry them back to your room, turn the lights on, and hand one to Aizawa before sitting back down.

There is a peaceful, comfortable silence as you both drink.

"Wh-at.." Aizawa's voice cracks and he swallows before trying again. "What happened?"

"I heard some noises out in the alley and I went to check. You were... not doing too hot." You bite your lip, unsure how to phrase everything. "I got lucky and managed to knock the villain out."

"With... a bo staff?" Aizawa obviously has some questions and you feel gross.
"Yeah." Your mouth is dry and your stomach is rolling and you take a sip from your mug. You made chamomile particularly for your nerves but you don't think it's helping. "I, uh, was a hero. I still renew my weapons license."

Aizawa's eyebrow quirks up but doesn't say anything. "Retired?"

"Yeah." A silence blankets the two of you and you jerk out of your chair, settling your mug on your nightstand. You absentmindedly rub the back of your neck before saying, "Uh, you're welcome to stay the night, it's already late. I can grab you a change of clothes?"

"Are you sure?" Aizawa asks, shifting forward. You give him a small smile and nod. "Yeah. I wouldn't offer if I didn't feel comfortable." Aizawa's features soften and he relaxes. "Alright, thank you. I'd like the clothes, if it's not too much trouble." You wave your hand at his comment and look through your drawers.

"It's fine. Do you prefer long sleeves?"

"Yeah, and pants. No shorts, please."

You quickly find a shirt and a pair of pants and pass them to Aizawa. "The bathroom is on your left when you leave my room, feel free to use anything in there." Aizawa thanks you and he walks to the bathroom, the door clicking shut. You shut and lock the door to your room and sigh heavily. This is actually fine, no worries. You pull out your own sleepwear and put them on and run your fingers through your hair. I... haven't told anyone that I was a hero in a long time. My therapist is right, it does get better after a while. A knock sounds at your door and you open it, letting Aizawa in, before walking to the bathroom. You splash water on your face and do your nighttime routine, then head back into your room.
Aizawa is awkwardly standing off to the side of your bed and asks, "Can I sleep on the couch?"

Co...uch...?

"Uhm, I don't have a couch? You can take the bed and I'm going to go sleep in a chair or pull out some comforters to sleep on the floor." Aizawa frowns and folds his arms. "No. That's not going to be good for your shoulder. We can share the bed, we're adults." He pauses and reddens slightly and tries to backtrack. "Unless you aren't comfortable with that! I don't want you to feel bad in your own home."

"No! No, it's fine." You awkwardly laugh. "Are you okay with that?"

"Yeah." Aizawa's answer is quiet and he moves to the farside of the bed, patting the space beside him before realizing his gesture and stopping. "Sorry."

You shake your head, smiling a little. "It's okay! Don't worry." You turn off the lights and the darkness makes things less nerve-wracking as you slide into bed beside him but leaving a healthy amount of space between you two. "Do you have enough space? Are you comfortable?" Aizawa's silhouette nods, shifting around under the sheets, quilted cover, and duvet.

"Alright. Um, good night, Aizawa." You turn away from him but when he says your name, you look back. "...Yeah?"

"Thanks."

The night is quiet after that and you rest easy.