Ayano was in school right now in her usual spot behind Eijiro and she seemed pretty jumpy lately. She had always been cautious, but lately it seemed like something else. And even Denki was starting to notice and when class was over and she got up and she jumped slightly when he came up behind her and tapped her on the shoulder.

"Oh, hey, Kaminari." She greeted as she looked at the Pikachu that was in front of her now. She tried to not seem as freaked out as she was. Lately, she had been having this fear that something was going to happen. She had always had the fear in the back of her head, but lately since she had come back from being kidnapped by The League of Villains, it had amplified and now it was all she could think about.

Eijiro looked over at Aya and he was concerned. He of all people noticed how jumpy she was lately after what happened. So he went up to her and he placed his hands gently on her shoulders and he looked at her. "You okay, Aya?" He asked as he looked in concern and he was really starting to get worried about her! She hardly slept since the incident and she was very much more so cautious than she had been.

"I'm fine." Ayano replied and she kept her voice steady and she had been hiding the fact that she had felt like everyone was out to get her. It sucked! It was like she could never have a moments worth of peace anymore! But, still, she said she was fine. Because she was still used to the fact that she wasn't allowed to show whether she was or not. She honestly sometimes still felt like a robot. Like she was still dead. Like she may as well be dead.

If she was honest, if not for anybody else but for herself, she had thoughts of just ending it all.

She just wanted to finally get some peace for once in her life! She didn't remember a day of complete peace!

Eijiro didn't look so convinced. With how she was acting, she was not fine! How she had been like lately was not fine! "Aya, you know I'm here for you, right?" He asked as he implied that he didn't believe that she was fine. Because he didn't. And if she wasn't saying anything about it, it meant that she was escaping into herself again. And he didn't want her to disappear into herself. He wanted his Aya to stay.

Ayano looked into his eyes when he asked that question and she hesitated before she put on a smile and she nodded her head. "Yeah, yeah I know." She told him and she reached up and she kissed one of his cheeks.

Meanwhile....

Denki had gone out to see Miss Midnight and he and Mina who came with him, told her that something seemed to be going on with Aya lately, and it was starting to worry them, too. They had gotten close with Ayano, and when she was taken it scared them half to death. Knowing she was in the many hands of Shigaraki again.

"Okay, I'll try and talk with her." Miss Midnight said and she had slight concern herself. But whenever she tried to talk with Sunobu about what happened, she would just sit there and say she was fine.

After School....

When school was over, Midnight asked Ayano and Kirishima to stay and talk with her. Midnight thought that she would talk if someone she loved was there with her, and who better than Kirishima?

Ayano didn't know who talked to Midnight and she looked at Denki who earlier had left and didn't come back for a while, and neither did Mina. But, with Midnight being her teacher, she nodded her head and she went with Midnight and Kiri and they went into the Guidance Counsellor's office and she sat down on the red couch and she stared off into space before she started speaking.

"You know, when you're drowning you don't actually inhale until right before you blackout." Ayano started and she kept her gaze on the floor as she spoke and she continued. "The instinct to not letting any water in is so strong that you don't open your mouth until your heads exploding." She said then she continued to talk. "And when you finally do let it in it finally stops hurting." She explained as it was part of how she had been feeling lately she paused for a moment before she spoke again and when she did it sounded as if she was trying not to break.

"I'm fine." She said and she looked up at Midnight now as she spoke trying to not let her voice crack and she paused again before she spoke up. "Yeah, aside from the not sleeping." She started and she kept pausing to gather her thoughts. "The constant overwhelming, crushing fear that something terrible is about to happen."

"It's called hyper vigilance." Midnight said after a moment to let her process what she had shared. This was good, she was talking about her trauma and how she felt. This was good progress. "The...persistent feeling of being under threat." She explained to the girl who had been through so much already and she was trying to reach out, but she just didn't seem to know how.

Ayano thought about it before she spoke again. She was holding Eijiro's hand as she spoke and she had her other hand in her pocket. "It's not just a feeling, though." She explained and she then elaborated on it. "It's like a it's a panic attack." She said and she sounded like she was trying to not breakdown. "You know, like I can't even breathe." She said and she had been looking at the floor again.

"Like you're drowning?"

"Yeah..."

Midnight nodded her head and she had been writing down everything that was being said. "So, if you're drowning." She started and she was trying to think of something to say to this girl. "And you're trying to keep your mouth closed, until that very, last, moment, what if you choose to not open your mouth?" She asked as she was going along with the analogy of what she was trying to say. "To not let the water in."

"You do it anyway, it's a reflex."

"But, if you hold off until that reflex kicks in, you have more time, right?"

"Not much time." Ayano replied as her more pessimistic side was speaking and she was trying to be respectful, but she had always told her to be honest about how she was feeling, and she had already started so there was no point in stopping now, anyway.

"But more time to fight your way to the surface." Midnight said calmly to what she said and she then looked again and noticed she was looking at the ground almost the whole time, trying not to crack.

"I guess..."

"More time to be rescued."

"More time to be in agonising pain, did you forget about the part where it feels like your heads exploding?" Ayano asked and she was trying to figure all this out and how she had been feeling lately. She had looked up from the ground this time then she looked back down as she was gathering her thoughts.

"But, if it's about survival." Midnight started again and she looked at the girl still as she spoke. "Isn't a little more agony worth it?" She asked as she looked at her and she saw when she looked up from the ground again.

Ayano looked back up from the ground again and she had some tears in her eyes coming down. "What if it just gets worse?" She asked and shrugged as she was almost pleading for an answer. She usually had the answers, she usually knew what to do. And it was so frustrating that she didn't this time! "What if, it's agony now and then." She started and she took a deep breath before she finished. "Then, just hell later?" She pleaded as she looked at Midnight and the broken part of Aya was coming out now, and she didn't like it. And yet, she couldn't bring herself to stop.