The door to the apartment creaked slightly as it opened and Naoko edged inside. After spending the last few days with Chris and Levi doing some gentle training and patrolling that wouldn't overwork Naoko, she was genuinely scared to be coming home.

It had been so nice there, neither of the two seemed to care that Naoko had just been severely injured... That was just a part of a hero's life.

Hasame on the other hand... Well, that was a whole other can of worms that Naoko was genuinely frightened to get into. Just opening the door felt like she was stepping into enemy territory as a bomb was coming.

"... Hasame?" She asked, poking her head around the corner cautiously, "You here?"

To be honest, her saying that was more for Naoko than it was for Hasame. She knew her aunt was home, and Hasame knew she was here as well, but at least this way Naoko would be less likely to get pegged in the head with whatever object Hasame had on hand.

Not a moment after Naoko spoke, Hasame appeared... The woman stepped into the light, her raven hair shining as she glared at Naoko, her eyes sharp and arms folded... Her posture had Naoko flinching.

This was not going to be a pleasant conversation.

"Oh, you decided to come home in one piece?" Hasame's fingers twisted together in displeasure as she stood stiffly at the opposite end of the entrance hall, "It's funny, I thought you were trying to see how suicidal you could be."

Naoko said nothing as Hasame continued, she simply nodded as she slipped her shoes off and leaned against the wall.

She was like her aunt in more than one way, and her tendency to go on rants when she was frustrated or worried was one of them... And Boy, did Hasame have a lot to say. Everything from how hard it was to keep working when she knew that any moment could be her Niece's last, to how much she disliked coming home to an empty apartment was covered.

It would be rather humorous if the tangent wasn't being directed at Naoko.

As it was, she knew that there was no stopping Hasame, so instead she simply let her rant herself into exhaustion.

"Do you think your parents would want you to keep hurting yourself like this, Naoko? They were the most supportive people I ever knew, but this would kill them... Again. Heck, if they were still alive, I doubt you would be going through with this ridiculous quest to become a hero in the first place.

"It's not that I'm not proud of you, because I am, but if I had known how much this would hurt you, then I would have moved both of us far away from UA... Now that I think about it, UA is the only high school to be dealing with this kind of crap, isn't it? How did you end up in the one class that is a magnet for life-threatening situations? Naoko, are you trying to give me a heart attack?!"

All of Hasame's words were valid, which is exactly why Naoko was able to bear sitting there through the whole thing. It was painful to read at times, but she understood the reason for it. She wouldn't be the one to deny Hasame of her well-deserved venting time.

"I was hesitant enough to let you join UA, and look at what's happened! Despite their claims of safety, you've ended up in the hospital not once, not twice, but three times! THREE Times, Naoko! That's not normal!"

By this point, Hasame was red in the face and Naoko could see the tell-tale signs of tears beginning to show.

"What will happen next time? Have you thought about that, Naoko? You might not make it to the hospital next time!" There was no pause, which was a good sign that it was time for Naoko to take action.

She walked forward until she was right in front of Hasame, "Hasame?" She asked quietly before wrapping her arms tightly around her aunt. "What do you want me to do about this?" She said after a moment of silence, "What can I do to make you feel better? You know my reasons for wanting to be a hero, but if it'll cause you too much stress, then we need to figure out a solution we can both live with."

The moment Naoko's arms went around her, Hasame's hands stopped moving. Hugs like this weren't abnormal in their household, but that didn't mean Hasame wasn't caught off guard every time Naoko did this.

Slowly, Hasame began to unwind and her arms wrapped tenderly around her niece, brushing softly through Naoko's uneven blue hair.

All noise faded out around them as they stood in the entryway of the apartment, each holding the other as though they were about to break and the embrace was the only thing keeping them together.

That... Wasn't too far off the mark.

Both of them were tired, emotionally drained from the amount of peril that had been a constant over the last several months. To some extent, they both wished life would go back to how it had been before high School.

Back when life could be boiled down to a set of three things, work, visits, and practice. It was easier that way... However, life doesn't work like that. Eventually, they had to face the music, which is what had Naoko leaning back eventually.

"I'm serious, Hasame," Her eyes conveyed everything her voice didn't, "You've done so much for me, so if me going to UA is causing you to stress then I can change something..."

She forced herself to fade out before she could say what was on the tip of her tongue, 'It doesn't have to be a hero school.'

The whole Stain incident had really thrown Naoko for a loop. She knew that she wanted to help people, but she couldn't help but feel that the legal system as it was now would do more harm than good. Naoko had been taking a second look at a great many things that she thought she had been sure about in the last week.

Not that she would ever say that out loud. It would only cause more problems than it would solve.

Hasame's sigh was tangible to Naoko, who was watching Hasame carefully, "I don't know." She muttered eventually, tightening her hold on Naoko, "I don't think I can take this away from you, not when you've put more effort into this than I've seen you put towards anything recently."

That certainly was true. Naoko flushed slightly at the statement, but she couldn't refute it.

"But you're right, we can't continue like we have been." Hasame released Naoko and stepped away, "Give me a bit to think about it, okay?" She asked finally, her gaze serious, "I'll let you know what change I need when I think of it."

With that, the conversation was over, and Hasame walked back towards the kitchen, probably to destress without Naoko seeing. As soon as Hasame was out of Naoko's sight, Naoko slumped against the wall. Her hand covered her eyes as she took a deep breath. Facing Hasame when she was ma was horrible, Naoko never wanted to cause her aunt stress, but no matter what she did, stress was exactly what Naoko brought.

Now she not only had her conflicting emotions to deal with, but she also had to help her aunt. Tears began to brim Naoko's eyes as she tried to swallow the emotions that were eating at her, it was all too much. Normal teenagers shouldn't have to deal with this kind of crap.

She wanted so badly to help prevent the suffering of others, but... was that still an option at this point?

***

Naoko's approach to school was tentative, to say the least... True, this wasn't as nerve-wracking as facing Hasame, but it was still scary.

Now, instead of two people knowing about her handicap, the number had doubled in the space of only a few minutes. Midoriya and Iida were relatively trustworthy from what she could tell, but that didn't make her like the situation anymore...

Not only that, but Chris was quick to tell her that Aizawa had been the one to rescue her from her brain-dead state, so she also had to deal with him getting mad over the fact that she had been apart of the trouble group this time. Normally it wasn't her doing the stupid crap, but it looked as though her streak had been brought to a screeching halt.

The overly tall door of class 1-A came into view and Naoko had to physically restrain herself from turning around and running away. It wasn't that she was intimidated... No, that wasn't it... It was more that things had changed so much in so little time that Naoko wasn't sure what to expect when she walked through the door.

Would Midoriya and Iida expect to talk to her privately? Would Aizawa want to pull her aside and chew her out? She didn't know, and not knowing was the worst thing that could possibly happen to her right now.

She edged the door open and forced herself to walk in, keeping her eyes firmly on the ground as she stepped in. She couldn't get in trouble if she had no idea that she was being yelled at, right?

That plan was well and truly dashed when a hand landed on her shoulder, forcing her to look up into a pair of piercingly black eyes, "Stick around after class, we need to talk." Aizawa stood over her, though that didn't last long as he immediately moved to pass her, shifting his yellow sleeping bag over his arm as he walked.

His interruption had stopped several other nuisances from reaching her though, which was something that Naoko noted gratefully as Midoriya, Iida, and Todoroki all were stopped in the middle of walking toward her.

Bakugou was simply watching the situation with a raised eyebrow, but he made no attempt to get out of his chair, or even pull his feet down from his desk as he watched Naoko skirt around the three problem children to her desk. This was interesting, Iida normally avoided Naoko unless he needed to yell at her for something she was doing wrong.

The Bastard Deku, on the other hand, well, that could be anything. He was the type to kiss anyone's ass if they smiled at him, but it still felt odd, especially with half and half in there as well. This whole thing reeked of a secret, which normally, he would ignore.

Who knows why it was bugging him this time.

Class was just as long and boring as it normally was, or at least Naoko assumed it was. She was struggling to concentrate at all, and it wasn't just because she enjoyed spiting Aizawa. Naoko's mind was filled with watching eyes, overbearing dogs, and the threat of a chat with Aizawa.

It was a wonder that she even noticed the others getting out of their seats during the break. She was so deep in thought that those paying attention probably thought she had turned to stone in her seat.

All she was able to tell was the fact that one moment she was as far from the classroom as was possible in her mind, and the next she was standing to silently follow her teacher out of the classroom.

"You needed to talk to me?" She called out as soon as she was certain the door had shut firmly behind her. Her nerves wouldn't let her follow obediently today.

Aizawa stopped in the middle of the hall before his shoulders dipped, "Yeah, but not here," He spoke only once he had fully turned around and quickly enough that Naoko almost missed it, "I'm sure you don't want the whole school talking about what happened, do you?"

A small sigh hazed out of Naoko as she reluctantly followed Aizawa to the teacher's room only to see a small group of teachers huddled together in what looked like a rather intense conversation.

"Sonar and Gangrene told me what happened," Aizawa said after a moment of silence, his expression indecipherable and his vibrations or whatever you wanted to call it just a vague. "Apparently you thought clearly about the situation before you dove in. However, that doesn't change the fact that you fought Stain, which could have cost you your life."

Irritation welled in Naoko for only a moment before she opened her mouth, ignoring the teachers who were watching the conversation attentively, "Oh, don't sound so enthusiastic, Aizawa, someone might actually think you care."

The teachers on the sidelines shared worried glances that Naoko didn't see, nor did she care to see them as she was far from being done speaking.

"And I was told by those same heroes that you were the one to save me, Eraserhead, so don't pull that indifferent crap with me."

"Naoko."

"You know what? You can chew at me all you want, but I think that I handled most of that situation brilliantly. I followed the stupid rules, I gave my comrades a chance to get out, an I even tried to minimize damage." She was in full rant mode at this point. Minus Chris and Levi, everyone who had spoken to her about this chewed her out even though she knew for a fact that she handled a bad situation the best she was able.

Midnight sighed heavily, she understood where Naoko was coming from, in fact, she agreed with Naoko wholeheartedly, but recent... Developments had changed the situation a bit. Enough to where this rant could be seen as damning.

"The only thing that you should be chewing me out about right now is the fact that I went too far, that I allowed my quirk to take control. That is the only thing I feel bad about, and even then, I didn't hurt anyone more than they were already harmed. If that's what you cared about, then half of our class would be getting talked to every day."

"Naoko."

"In fact, where are the other three that were involved with this? Shouldn't they be here too? Why am I the only one here? Isn't this hypocritical to the extreme?"

"Naoko."

"Aizawa, if you really think this is fair, then you aren't the teacher I thought you were. Do you not realize how many times we... No, I've been talked to about this? It's been more than twice, that's for sure."

"That's enough." Aizawa finally took a step forward and allowed his capture weapon to wrap gently around Naoko's mouth, stopping the flow of words as a frustrated look covered the tired man's face, "I agree with everything you've said, but that's not what this is about. I need you to listen carefully now, as it may be the only warning you get."

Naoko could feel her entire body freeze with those simple words. He said he agreed, but what was this about a warning?

Before Aizawa continued to speak to her, he turned to the assembled teachers and shot a flat glare, "If any of you disagree with me on this, you're free to leave now. I've heard enough of your opinion."

A majority of the people left, leaving behind All Might in his shrunken form, Midnight, and Cementos. The only reason Present Mic and a few others weren't here was that they had classes to teach.

"Aizawa?" Naoko choked out, almost feeling whiplash from how quickly her emotions were moving. One moment she was irritated beyond belief, the next she's confused, and now fear was prickling unpleasantly beneath her skin. She had no idea what was happening, and something was telling her that she wouldn't like the answer.

For a heart-stopping moment, Aizawa looked at Naoko with an emotion she' never seen on him, before he rubbed his eyes with exhaustion that Naoko knew all too well.

"There've been inquiries," He said finally, "About you and your quirk. Members of the police, teachers, and even a few concerned parents have banded together to try and get you thrown from the hero course."

The way he spat the last item on the list made Naoko cringe. He was pissed and Naoko would do anything to not be on the receiving end of that look.

As for what he was saying... Naoko's head drooped as she stared at the floor, putting the pieces together, "Is it because of the USJ?" She asked, already knowing the answer.

Most of the teachers in the room winced at her straight forward question while Aizawa simply nodded, "Partially. They also looked at how you lost control during the Stain incident as well as a report from Pro Hero Gangrene that you created plasma and burnt him with it,"

"According to them, the sheer destructive potential of your quirk is too dangerous to allow in public." 

An irritated scoff rose from All Might, which was more than enough to show his opinion on the matter. It seemed as though the other teachers in the room felt the same, as they were shaking their heads right along with him, looks of deep disgust written on their faces.

Naoko, however, remained deep in thought for several moments as she absorbed this, "The way you say it... It sounds more like they're looking to lock me up."

It took a moment for her eyes to return to Aizawa, when they did he nodded solemnly, "That was an option discussed. Unfortunately, it wasn't the most distasteful,"

Of all the things Naoko could be thinking at the moment, it wasn't anything to do with anger or resentment. For some reason, the only thing that was coming to Naoko's mind as she thought was, 'This is new.'

She had been isolated for years because of her disability, her blunt manner and dull eyes put others off the moment they saw her so she was used to receiving opposition, but this... This was different. For the first time, people were scared of what she could do rather than what she had been through.

As much as she hated it, there was a large part of Naoko that understood how they felt.

She felt it too.

"So I should probably lay low for a while, shouldn't I?" She asked finally, looking back up at Aizawa with resignation in her eyes, "I hate to break it to you, but life doesn't exactly give me the chance to lay low."

That caused a small smile to perk at Aizawa's lips as she spoke. Never had truer words been spoken, especially about her... Though that same thing could be said for half of his class this year, Naoko was simply dragged along for the ride most of the time.

All Might stepped forward, allowing his form to swell as he transformed into the Symbol of Peace that everyone knew so well, "Young Fujimura!" He said loudly enough that Naoko could feel the vibration of his words, "As your teachers, we would never tell you to back down from a challenge! Especially not when you've been working so hard to improve!"

Midnight grinned as she pushed up her glasses and nodded, "Don't think that Shouta here is the only one on your side. No one who has seen how hard you've been working would think you're a danger."

As the teachers that remained in the room continued to chime in their support, Naoko's eyes widened and an unsteady hand moved to cover her mouth... These people, who Naoko only knew on a surface level, were agreeing to trust her... to put their faith in her.

This had never happened before.

Her attention was completely diverted, so she didn't notice as Aizawa approached her from the side and laid a hand on her head, "They're right. I hate all of my students equally, but I won't let them paint you as a villain. Not when you've worked so hard to become a hero."

"It won't be an easy path, but we'll be here for you." 

Naoko's eyes were watering frantically as she stared around the room. Thankfully, everyone had waited to speak until she was looking at them, but that also meant that she saw everything they were saying. Now her emotions were welling up and she was struggling to contain them.

It wasn't until this moment that Naoko realized that she still did have some faith in the system... Not the legal system, to be sure, but the heroes behind it. They were amazing people who were worthy of the title, 'hero.'

while Naoko was attempting to compose herself, Aizawa lifted his hand just enough to chop her harshly, causing a slight squeak to erupt from the girl, who was well and truly startled, "Just because we all pledged to support you doesn't mean we'll let you slack off in class, you understand?"

And there it was, the mood was broken, but it was done in the best way possible as Naoko grinned, "Well maybe if you teach anything worth listening to, I'd consider it."

The teachers chuckled and dispersed, leaving Aizawa to scowl heavily at Naoko, "That's the sort of talk that'll get you kicked out. We're working on ultimate moves for fighting today. Everyone has to come up with two, but just for that comment, you'll need to make three. Am I understood?"

Worry was lapping at Naoko's mind as she thought about fighting at all, especially with everything that had happened, but she was too far into snark mode to let it show, "Are you?" She deadpanned, pretending to think for a moment, "I'm not sure, all I heard was a bunch of bruised ego, so you might have to say it again."

***

In the hall, two pairs of eyes stared at the door grimly. Neither of them had heard much, but what they did hear was telling.

"What the fuck happened in Hosu, Half'n'Half?" The explosive blond bit out quietly, not allowing himself to look towards the heterochromatic teenager who just so happened to be standing a few feet away.

Todoroki was staring at the door with an equal amount of intensity as he contemplated what they'd just heard, "I'm not sure I should say," He spoke contemplatively before turning down the hall, "Unless you would like to be caught, we should probably be going."

Bakugou growled but didn't argue as he walked side by side with a boy he wouldn't normally never talk with, "You'd better damn well figure out how to tell me," A small explosion echoed in the hall, "Whatever it was is making people want to lock that idiot up, so it sounds pretty damn important to me."

An image of Naoko lying in the alleyway flashed behind Todoroki's eyes for what felt like the millionth time, "Regardless, it isn't my story to tell. If you feel you need to know, you'll have to ask Naoko. I have some questions for her myself."

That seemed to be something they both had in common. The class enigma was only becoming more mysterious the more they learned about her. Todoroki certainly had a better idea of her background after speaking with his mother several times, but that didn't shed light on much.

Hosu was the most recent incident, but there was still the USJ that they couldn't get out of their minds. And now apparently people wanted to lock her up?

"What do you think about this, Bakugou?" Todoroki asked, breaking the tension that surrounded the two, "You've seen her quirk, if used incorrectly it could prove to be incredibly dangerous. If a villain were to sway her to their side, she could use it to a terrible effect."

Those words shocked Bakugou to his core, "What the hell?" He spat out immediately, "Aren't you her friend or some shit like that? Why would you say it like she's going to become a danger?"

Todoroki sighed heavily, "I'm simply looking at the facts and asking for your opinion. I personally believe that Naoko would never intentionally harm anyone, but there are people who obviously don't see that."

It was a valid point and for a moment, Bakugou was silent as he considered it, "Whatever. That idiot is a lot of things but villainous isn't one of them."

He turned down a different hall, splitting from his classmate as he shoved his hands viciously into his pocket, "And besides, she's a person, not an animal, of course, she doesn't deserve to be locked up for something she could do."

~~~~~~~~~~~

OOOHHHH, the drama is coming guys! Though for now there'll be a bit of a happy break for the final exams!

Thanks for waiting patiently for this chapter, I know I haven't been the best at updating, but I legitimately haven't had the time to write with how much I've been traveling for the past month. 

Thankfully, life is calming down ever so slightly and I'm going to try and make writing more of a priority. No promises, but I hope to be able to finish this book sooner rather than later!

Also, for you lovely people who read author notes, I have some exciting news; this book made it into the BNHA Awards Final! 

I can't tell you how excited I am about it!

If you would like, head over to the book and vote for This Book!!!! The author is BnhaAwards and my story is in the Character x OC category! 

I love you all and have a phenomenal day! 

-klypso01