After that long day, Shine and Wally still needed to talk, but Shine made him wait until she had some time to worship on her own.

Probably for the best. Wally knew deep down they were both stressed. He was still mad about before...but after taking some time to reflect on it himself, he thought maybe he overreacted. Shine probably wasn't really trying to lecture him; it was how she talked to everyone. He'd heard it himself.

When they finally did speak, he was less miffed.

"We shouldn't fight in front of the kids," Shine said, just like a wife of several years might have. "It's bad for morale."

"Well, I'd prefer not to fight, period," Wally said, rubbing his head, "I kind of felt like you were saying I couldn't handle it though."

Boy did that feel uncomfortable to say.

"I suppose I sounded like that..." Shine reflected, "What I meant was...well...Bakugo is sensitive, and I think he could hear you."

"He could?" Wally said, a little guilty.

"He sure looked like it," Shine said, "I wanted to stop the conversation. But also, I don't necessarily think you were handling it the best way."

There was that bluntness.... Well, he dated her.

"Maybe, but did you have to say it like that?"

"How else can I say it? You were getting mad at him. Wally, this isn't about competence," Shine said carefully, "I don't mean that I think you're incapable of doing it, but if you're getting mad...then no one is capable when they are angry. This is stupid," she got a little impatient, "You know perfectly well what I mean. Why am I walking on eggshells around you?"

"Okay, calm down." Wally held up his hands. "I think...both of us are a little tired right now. Let's not lose our tempers."

"Sorry..." Shine bit her lip. "I...got a little triggered, I know that. It... you know I'm not trying to pick on you or insult you, right?"

"I know, I know," Wally sighed, "But...I don't know. It's just like no one takes me seriously, and that little brat doesn't either. It got under my skin. I got mad because I get sick of being put down."

Shine nodded. "I'm sorry about that happening."

"Eh...it's not your fault." Wally felt kind of like a jerk now. "You've always stuck up for me. I heard what you said to Bakugo after I went inside.. The window was open. It's just me getting in my own head about it."

"Both of us know we have problems with feeling like people put us down," Shine reminded him, "And...let's face it, I'm pedantic at times, and you do sometimes make too light of things...which does not bother me much because I know you better, and you usually know what I mean by what I say...but then, we've known each other for, like, 2 1/2 years, and the kids have not known us for hardly 4 months. But I know myself enough to know, I'm going to forget that at times and still get upset with you... So I can't expect it not to happen the other way. I thought about it for a bit, and I decided you're stressed too, and I shouldn't be taking it so personally. Is that fair enough?"

"Yeah..." Wally said, ignoring how much like a court case this sounded.

Shine tended to talk that way whenever she felt someone might have a problem with her. "Look, relax. How about we both apologize and forget about it?"

"Okay...I'm sorry if I put you down," Shine said, "I didn't mean to, but I forget how I sound."

"And I'm sorry for getting all worked up over it when I should have known better." Wally held up his hand like a boy scout. "Truce?"

"Truce... Glad that's over," Shine sighed, putting her head on her knees, "I didn't need to add a fight with you to the list of things that went wrong today."

"I'm sorry." Wally put a hand on her shoulder. "I know... Uh, anything come to you about Dabi's...problem?"

"Nothing so far except to trust and wait..." Shine sighed again. "We'll have to tell them, though. It's only fair."

"Maybe hold off on that... You never know what could happen," Wally said, "But I still think I could stop the LOV...at least part of them."

"And if you failed?" Shine said, more alarmed, "What would happen? They wouldn't hesitate to kill you. If they can block my powers, they can block yours too."

"Shine--" began Wally.

"And then I'll be here alone," Shine said, now upset, "Which ought to concern you, right? So don't do anything stupid. I don't know what I would do if you were't here. I'm just hanging on by a thread and the grace of God as it is."

"Okay, okay, calm down, Shine." Wally hugged her. "I'm not going to fight them right now... You really think they're that dangerous?"

"I've never thought they weren't. Did you?"

"They seemed like pushovers to me...but maybe I'm just used to tougher-looking villains."

"It's still against the rules to interfere like that even so..." Shine said, "But if we can't do that, and we can't do anything else...what can we do? Nothing?"

Nothing. Wally didn't like the sound of that.

"I just hate that I wasn't where I should be when you were in trouble," he admitted quietly, "How can the fastest man alive not be there on time? It just doesn't make any sense."

"And how can someone who can know about people just by talking to them be surprised by a trap? What's the point of asking?" Shine said, "I'm not blaming you. Don't blame yourself."

"But you're blaming yourself, aren't you?" Wally challenged her, "I heard you. You really think this is because of you? I think you've hung around this stupid school too long."

"I think that I did things to lead to this happening."

"And that means those jerks aren't responsible for their own actions? Don't start thinking like that. You really want to excuse that fire-shooting prick on the grounds that you brought it on yourself? So sue you for having a little faith in people. Is that so wrong? Why's it wrong to give someone a chance?"

"I expect you to think that," Shine said, "That's why I keep you around...but sadly, you're the only one. No one else is going to let me off the hook. Maybe I'm just preparing myself for that."

"If they want to judge you for trying to reach out to people everyone else is afraid of, and nobody ever gave two craps about anyway, then screw them!" Wally said emphatically, "Why should you feel ashamed of that? That's what we do."

"Hmm...yeah, you know...you are right." Shine smiled a little. "But I'm too tired to believe it right now. Can I just feel sorry for myself and wallow in regret?"

"No," Wally said, "That's not allowed."

"Wally!"

"Okay, okay, you can if you want, but I'm not taking it seriously," Wally said, "If I know you, by tomorrow you'll be back to saying you don't regret anything, and that whatever happens happens. Don't let those moody teens get you down, right? Rock and Roll... I think I might be getting into this too much."

"Was that the speech from School of Rock?" Shine asked.

"I think it might have been..." Wally mused.

"Well, it was cute. Thank you." Shine patted his shoulder. "And you know...you're right. I'm not myself right now...so with a great effort, I'm going to stop talking like this and go to bed. Maybe I'll feel better tomorrow...and then Camie--"

"Maybe stop thinking about that for a while," Wally interrupted, "Be more like me-- I don't worry about nothing until I have to."

"I think I'd have to have a personality switch for that, and this is not Freaky Friday." Shine got up. "But you know, I'll try. Okay? Thank you... You always make me laugh about things like this, so I don't feel as bad."

"You always have such solid advice, so we're even," Wally said nicely, "Good night."

Shine left.

Wally kind of wished she didn't have to sometimes. Letting her out of his sight could be a little nerve wracking whenever they were in danger...but had to respect the rules... Yeah...he should probably get some shut eye too...

* * *

Momo had a sort of half nightmare about what happened that night, but it ended with Dabi's strange intervention on her behalf, and then she woke up in a cold sweat from the fire and smoke...

Was she reliving this now?

She decided to try Shine's method of handling bad dreams...and it actually worked. She was able to get back to sleep soundly.

The following morning, it was the end of the school week, so at least she would have a bit less to do after today. Though they still had training on weekends.

Todoroki seemed a little better today, and Bakugo was at least not snapping at everyone who tried to talk to him. He and Todoroki were not talking or looking at each other.

Kirishima did try to get Bakugo to train with them. He said no.

Momo was glad at least it wasn't as tense... Maybe they'd recover in time from the incident.

Shine seemed better too. Wally and her kept exchanging glances like they were having a silent conversation, though, and it puzzled the other students.

"So...Momo, should we study and then chill or something?" Jiro asked her.

Momo had a feeling there might be a secret team meeting later. "We'll see. I'm not sure I can."

"What else do you have to do?"

"I don't know."

Shine looked at the students now. "Wally and I were wondering if Camie could come here today... I feel bad about her being alone with what happened all this time. But I don't want to make it weird for you all."

"As long as it's when school's out, it won't interfere, right?" Kirishima said willingly.

"I don't mind her coming again, if she wants," Mina said. 

"Do you think she'll want to be here after what happened?" Tsuyu asked.

"But who else would get it as well as us?" Kaminari said sagely.

Jiro just gave him an odd look.

"Kaminari, you are a gem." Shine was pleased. "That's a very good point."

"But why wouldn't she prefer to be with her own class?" Iida said, "I'm concerned we may be stressing her out with all this going back and forth."

"Well, it's nice of you to be concerned, but I think she's fine with that part," Shine said. She was glancing at Bakugo. "It is okay, then?"

Bakugo said nothing. No one else had any objections. Todoroki didn't look so good though. He slunk away pretty soon.

Shine talked to him before he left though. "I think if you just apologize to her, it would be fine. She won't hold a grudge. She's very laid back. Just...accept it. That's what I would say."

"Is that really enough to make it up to her, though?" Shoto said.

"I told you, you can't play catch up. Maybe some day you'll get a chance, but don't worry about it. Goodness knows she has her own things to make up for. Would you demand she do it if the roles were reversed?"

"Well, no. I'd just say it was part of her flighty personality," Shoto said. 

Shine laughed at him. "I'm sorry...but...do you hear yourself...? Nevermind... It'll be fine, sweetie. I'll see you later."

"Sure..." Shoto walked away from her. Shine's manner really was a little too familiar for him. He wasn't sure he liked that he was starting to like it, too. It felt...kind of wrong to do so.

Momo waited for him though. "Everything okay...? I mean, I know if she comes it might be a little awkward."

"I think it'll be okay," Shoto said, "Anyway, I suppose I should just face it instead of avoiding it. But I don't think it'll be enough for Bakugo."

Bakugo was glaring at him and muttering stuff to himself.

"If he sees it's okay, he'll probably relax...maybe..." Momo said uncertainly.

* * *

"So, I'm going to hang with Emi a bit later," Shine told Wally, looking up from her new, new phone, "The kid should be okay here for today.... I mean...he gave us three days..."

"Okay," Wally said.

"You should get out some too. Aizawa will be around if they need anything, since it's Friday," Shine said.

"Yeah.... I don't know what I'd do though. Hang with the guys at the restaurant?" Wally said.

"You really need some friends here," Shine said.

"Tell me about it." Wally missed his buddies. "Well, I could at least run around the country maybe. Who knows?"

"Who indeed...?" Shine said seriously.

* * * 

The class was a bit surprised that both of them left directly after letting Camie in, with only a few words to say they'd be around the city.

"But you're not supposed to leave after what happened," Iida said.

"I'm a grown woman, Iida. I can leave if I want," Shine said, "And it'll be fine-- I have it on good authority. I'll be with a Pro anyway, so why worry?"

"Well, I suppose that's okay, then." Iida said easily the most laid back thing he'd ever said to her. Perhaps even he felt a bit bad for Shine.

"Eh, Likstar's tougher than most Pros anyway," Bakugo commented.

"You think so?" Kirishima said.

"Well, she survived half the LOV," Bakugo said, "Like me, so that makes her almost as tough as I am."

"Technically, didn't you all survive that?" Kaminari said. He was kind of glad Bakugo was finally referring to what happened, even if it was just to brag. Good sign, right?

"Whatever." Bakugo didn't even argue.

Camie was with Mina at this time, talking girl talk, but eventually Mina asked the squad if they wanted to get on the Switch and play stuff.

"What about homework?" Kaminari said.

"What about it? We have all weekend," Mina said.

"Okay, true," he said.

"Dude, that was literally that one vine about Level 40 irl," Camie said, "I wish I was Tic-Tacking that."

"Do you play video games, Camie?" Kaminari asked.

"Eh, here and there," Camie said, "I'm better than Bakugo is though."

"The flip you are!" Bakugo hadn't spoke to her until this point, but now he did.

"Prove it, man," Sero said. 

So he did.

Shoto kept wondering if he should say something, and finally, when they took a break from playing, he did come up to her. "Uh...Utsushimi...?"

"S'up, Pokeball?" Camie said.

"Wel--what did you just call me?" Shoto said.

"You look like one." Camie pointed to his hair. "(Or Voltorb.) I think you might capture Kaminari honestly. Not sure who his trainer would be... Probably Bakugo."

Sero, Kirishima, and Mina all stared cracking up.

"Uh...sure... Anyway, I wanted to apologize for the other day... I didn't mean to forget about you. When I saw the fire, my focus just went to stopping it. But I shouldn't have left you alone." Shoto bowed, which was a new thing for him. But Yoarshi did it, so he just kind of thought he should.

Camie thought he looked just like Yaorshi too-- and had to smother a grin.

"It's chill, fahm. I get it was mad stressful. Honestly, I don't even care."

"You don't?" Shoto said, looking up.

"Nah, it all worked out, right?" Camie shrugged, "I mean, sure, I was a little pissed off at the time, but, like, it all got so whacked. No one knew which way was up anymore, so it's kind of hard to be all harsh about it."

"Oh...well...thank you..." Shoto said, "I guess Shine was right about you. But I still hope I get a chance to make it up to you someday."

"Well, you could make it up to me now," Camie said.

"What?"

"If you let me take a selfie with you T-posing or something," Camie said, "Please? I'm dying to do it, and illusions just aren't the same."

"When did you make an illusion of that?" Kirishima asked.

"For Bakugo. He thinks that crap is hilarious," Camie said, "Like, someone who'd never actually do meme stuff meme-ing is just too funny."

"You know, I think I'd fine that more freaky than funny," Kaminari said.

"That's just Bakugo's sense of humor tho," Camie said.

"It is not!" Bakugo snapped, "I just laughed because Icyhot is an idiot."

"Geez, I'm kind of jelly she can make Bakugo laugh. No one can do that," Kaminari sighed.

"Well, don't worry. You make most of us laugh by just being yourself," Jiro told him dryly as she passed by.

"Thanks--wait, that was mockery wasn't it?" Kaminari said. 

"What do you think?" Jiro shrugged.

"I don't know what t-posing is, but I suppose if it would help..." Shoto said.

"It's like this," Camie showed him. 

"Okay, let me get my camera on." She took out her pone.

"What's going on?" Momo came in.

[Image by cowboy knight call that knecko]

"Todoroki's making it up to Camie by t-posing," Sero explained, "And I have to say, it is one of the funniest things I've ever seen."

He and the rest of the squad started laughing really hard.

"I don't see why you think this pose is funny..." Shoto didn't get it. "It's just...a T..."

"That's why it's funny." Camie took at least 5 pictures. "Well, I've had my fun. We're gucci now, no sweat... Baku, want me to send you this picture?"

"The frick would I want that?!" Bakugo growled.

He frowned at Todoroki like he was still mad at him.

"Bakugo, I'm sorry, but there's nothing else I can do." Todoroki unconsciously began falling back on Shine's advice. "Maybe in the future, but isn't it better to just let it go for now and move on?"

"Huh?" Camie was confused.

"Oh, Bakugo's been really pissed at him for what happened," Sero, who never knew when he shouldn't tell people things, said slyly, "They had a couple real bad fights about it."

"Shut the h--- up, Office Elbows!" Bakugo yelled at him.

"What? It's true," Sero said.

"Sero..." Momo warned. 

"I understand why." Shoto was also clueless...but at least his was innocently meant. "But it's just a waste of energy to keep fighting about it. I'll try to be more careful in the future. If you were so worried though, you could have just said that."

"I don't think this is the right time to talk about this," Momo hinted rather firmly.

"Oh..." Shoto realized she might have a point. "Right... I'm going to go study." He made his exit quickly.

Camie was still confused. "But what did they fight about?"

"Nothing! D--- it!" Bakugo stormed out of the room the other way.

"It was a little tense around here all week, is all," Momo tried.

"Oh, come on Momo. She deserves to know," Mina protested, "Bakugo was on Todoroki's case for abandoning you all week. He took it really personal... We think he was just worried. But then, Kaminari thought maybe it was because of how you two have some stuff in common, you know... Uh, is that okay to say?"

"Maybe that's something you should have asked before you said it." Momo was salty, for her.

"Oops..." Mina said sheepishly, "Sorry."

"Oh, it's no big, sis," Camie sai,. "So Bakugo was mad, huh? Wow...now I feel better about myself."

"Really? Why?" Sero said.

Camie chuckled nervously. "I blew up at one of my classmates too."

"Oh, really?" Sero didn't know because Momo and Todoroki of course had not said anything about it, and Bakugo wouldn't anyway.

"Yeah, he got on my last nerve, you know? But I thought, hey, I'm probably just uber stressed and stuff... I feel a little better knowing I'm not the only one...or is that bad?"

"Well, I would too," Mina said, "So if you're bad, I'm just as bad. Who was it?"

"Oh, please tell me it was that jerk Shishikura," Kaminari said.

"Uh, yeah, kind of," Camie said.

"Yes!" Kaminari fist pumped. "He had it coming. I wouldn't even feel guilty about it. What did you say to him?"

"Oh...I, uh...told him to flip off or I'd kick his butt," Camie said.

"Wow... What set you off?" Sero said.

Camie eyed the floor. "Well, he was being majorly negative about what happened, and I kind of thought, bro, you need to chill. Like, you think I planned it or something? Sheesh. And then he was like, high key, 'Camie, you shouldn't be chilling with that Bakugo guy because he's a bad person blah blah blah.' And I was like, b----, you don't even know because he actually low key saved my life, and you've never saved anyone. And he was super mad... So yeah, kind of lost my cool there, but I mean, it's like... you know, how ungrateful can you get? It's just a little...extra for me."

"Wow, I can't believe he'd criticized Bakugo when he didn't even do anything wrong," Kaminari said, "I mean, he was kind of the hero of the whole thing, and I heard he didn't even start a fight this time."

"No, he was actually wonderful," Momo said nicely, "He followed Shine's orders and saved Camie and got to the police and everything. I was never so glad to have him around. All the rest of us made mistakes, I think, but Bakugo is a natural at this stuff even on the field. I kind of envy him."

"But you were MVP too," Jiro pointed ou,. "Todoroki's the one who screwed up...but not that bad. He still helped. I mean you were all good."

"Actually, I think Camie is the reason we survived," Momo said, "Shine said something like that."

"She did...?" Camie was blank. "What did I do?"

"Well, if you hadn't helped Todoroki escape, I think we'd have died in the fire," Momo said, "At least, I know Shine would have... He told us about your plan... I wasn't sure I should talk about it, but, really, Camie, I'm impressed. It was a good plan."

"Bakugo told me you fooled Compress too," Kirishima said, "I guess he had to tell the police about it, so he didn't care if I knew. Way cool."

"Yeah, I didn't think you were that smart, honestly," Sero said.

"Sero!" Mina smacked him.

"What?" He was puzzled.

Camie blinked. "Wow...geez, you guys are so excellent... I didn't really think of it as any big deal, y'know. Just trying not to die."

"Well, still..." Kaminari said, "That's what counts, right?"

Camie smiled. "I guess... Whoa, you're really different than my class..."

"How could they not think it was cool, though?" Mina said, "Didn't you tell them what happened?"

"Actually, I don't think I really got a chance to flex about it. Shishi started in with the 'irresponsibility' crap as soon as I walked in the door," Camie said, "And no one really asked about it after that. I probably scared them by blowing up. That's kind of funny." She laughed.

They all looked at her oddly. Good plan or no, she sure seemed a little spacey... Camie was just an enigma none of them could solve. Maybe they should just give up trying.

"She's kind of like you," Jiro told Kamainari flatly, "Dumb but smart at weird moments."

"Hey-- Wait, huh?" Kaminari gave her an odd look.

"What?" she said defensively, "Just an observation."

Kaminari thought Jiro was being weirdly less mean these last few days. What had gotten into her?

Kirishima slipped out once the conversation turned back to video games. He found Bakugo sulking outside, staring at the pile of firewood still left over from the night before (no one had dared ask about it).

"Eh, man, it's cool. We're all chilling in there if you want to come back in. It blew over."

Bakugo said nothing, just granted a non-enthusiastic response.

Kirishima stood next to him, though a few feet away so he wouldn't get all antsy. 

"You know, Camie was telling us about getting mad at one of her classmates... Apparently he insulted her...and you too, man, but she told him off.... Honestly, she's pretty cool. I didn't think she was that focused before, but maybe she's kind of got different sides. I dunno."

Bakugo looked at him sideways. "Huh? What do you mean? I thought she got in a fight with Shishikura over the attack."

"Yeah, but also he said something about you being a bad influence, and she lost it." Kirishima grinned. "Pretty awesome, right? She flipped him off and said you saved her life and it was ungrateful and stuff. Isn't that great? I really like her now. It's weird-- she kind of fits in around here in a strange way. I mean, anyone who's manly enough to stand up for their friends is okay by me...so, you know, I don't think she's going to feel weird about the whole thing you had going with Todoroki. She said she felt better knowing she wasn't the only one stressed, actually. So you should just go hang with her and stop being weird, or she'll think you're avoiding her."

"Did I ask your advice!?!" Bakugo said angrily.

"Well, no, man, but you don't have the best people skills." Kirishima was a bit brutally honest. 

Bakugo was actually too caught off guard by it to react. He just glared.

"I just thought, you know, if you knew it was okay, you'd come back inside maybe... It's kind of cold out here anyway... Anyway, if you don't face it, it's just gonna get more awkward." He went back inside after that.

Bakugo waited a while because he didn't intend to look like he was actually listening to Kirishima, but eventually he slunk back inside, and everyone was smart enough to pretend they didn't notice.

Bakugo watched Camie closely.

So she blew up over that, huh? Stupid moron. Like he needed someone to defend his actions. Shishikura was an imbecile anyway. Didn't know when to keep his mouth shut. But still...at least she wasn't a pansy. He kind of wished he'd been there to see it actually. Camie was so laid back it was hard to imagine her losing her temper at someone. Would have been funny.

Camie finally caught him staring and gave him a weird look. He pretended to not have noticed and looked at the wall.