Being in class again was an experience to be sure.

Naoko had smiled more in the last few hours than she had in years. Mina was practically glued to her side and Midoriya was about to blow up from all the questions he had, it was fun. Of course, there was the fact that Bakugou was shadowing her with a scowl, but she couldn't hold it against him. She had saved his life, after all.

He was just emotionally constipated. If she had to guess, Naoko would say that he just was trying to figure out how to thank her without being seen as a pansy to the rest of the class.

Should she push him?

No, she'd let him stew, for now, that would cause more internal damage... and be infinitely more fun when he blew up.

"How though?" Kaminari was staring at Naoko with fear and disbelief in his eyes, "Café's have food, edible food. If your aunt is worse than you... That's got to be some kind of violation!"

Well, that was just insulting. She was just having a lovely time talking about what she'd been up to and here he was, saying that they were poisoning their customers. Not that he was wrong about their cooking, but still... The assumptions were real.

Naoko flipped him off, "Fuck off. For your information, we make the coffee, we brought someone else in to do the cooking, so you can keep your opinions to yourself."

Rei was turning out to be a surprisingly good cook, she and a local boy took care of their simple snacks. They also bought a bunch of stuff, but hey, she didn't need to clue him in on that, he could think they were some kind of super team.

"You can make coffee? You sure it's not poison?"

Naoko deadpanned; he was insulting her coffee? Did he want to fucking die?

There was a moment where Naoko's face must have given away how pissed she was because Kaminari's face drained of all color. The whole class looked at Naoko nervously. After the summer camp, they'd just assumed that Naoko was terrible at anything food-related, so they might have been agreeing with Kaminari, but they'd never admit it...

Bakugou snorted, drawing most attention to him, "You don't know anything, sparky." He slapped the back of Naoko's head... but like... in a friendly way?

"This bitch and her aunt make the best coffee I've ever had."

***

Mag could feel her teeth grinding together as she and Dabi sat on the roof together.

They were keeping an eye on the Yakuza base next door because of some unusual activity, but Mag was about ready to start doing something else.

For the last hour and a half, Dabi had been subconsciously humming the Sesame Street theme song over and over... and over. Mag had never seen the show as a kid, but even she knew it, and now she'd heard it more than she ever wanted.

Would he stop if she punched him? Like... a fistfight wasn't on the agenda for today, but it might happen if- and he was starting again. Hmm... She was big enough, just a little bit of pressure on his neck and she could shut him up...

No, he was her teammate... she must have patience.

"Stupid," Dabi grumbled under his breath and Mag paused.

"What?" Thank God, he'd stopped humming to complain. It wasn't perfect, but it sure as fuck was an improvement.

Dabi looked at her, "This. The yakuza tell us everything when they come in for their daily social hour, why the fuck do we need to stake out their hideout? Seriously, I could be doing important shit, but I'm here! And why did she say that we both should be doing this?"

Here they go, "Then go, I can watch this. You know damn well why Naoko wants us on the case, she's not stupid... Though I don't know why both of us have to be here either, we both know what Overhaul looks like."

"..." There was a moment of silence before Dabi sighed, "Chris pushed that. He said something about safety in numbers. Like... As an excuse or in case we need to throw down... I told him we were both strong, but you know how they are."

Now they were both grumbling.

"If you want, you can go," There was an opportunity here. If he left, she could get rid of both Dabi and his songs, a good trade-off, "I'm sure this will just be boring!"

He shot her a side-eye, she was too excited about this, "You trying to get rid of me?"

"What?" Give this woman an award, the way her hand went to her chest and the fake look of hurt covered her face was worthy of one of the old southern American films, "How could you even suggest that!"

It was too overdone, Dabi's eyes narrowed, and he leaned towards Mag, "It's because I have a song stuck in my head, isn't it?"

So he was self-aware, was he? Mag's hurt face increased by 100% and she even willed tears to come, "What? Why would I be irritated by something so... simple as a song? You know I love you, Dabi, I accept everything about you!"

Suspicious.

"Even your Sesame Street Kink!"

It took a moment for what Mag said to sink in, but when it did, Dabi jerked back, his eyes widening and his jaw-dropping.

"What the fuck, Mag?!"

***

Coffee steamed as the class watched Naoko brewing yet another cup of coffee. Their eyes were wide and those who tasted the coffee (and were able to tell the difference in quality) were flabbergasted.

After learning that Naoko was apparently a master coffee brewer, they basically made three types of coffee pots appear and now here they were.

Shinso and Aizawa were the first to get their coffee, each sitting back and watching with humor as the whole class had their world destroyed by this knowledge. Hasame was better at this, but Naoko was no slouch, her movement practiced and near-perfect as she took orders.

Some were simple, a coffee with cream or black, a latte, etc.

Others were orders that would give a Starbuck barista a headache, yet Naoko whipped them together without an issue.

Where all the ingredients were coming from, Aizawa didn't want to know (Students had been dispatched to get them from Lunch Rush, who didn't have the heart to refuse), but she had made his triple strength, and he was content to just watch for now.

The room smelled amazing and at least one of the kids was having an existential crisis as they stared at their coffee. Midoriya, for example, hated coffee, he liked caffeine, but coffee made him cringe. He'd asked for a simple coffee, but Naoko had come back and given him something that he... Loved...

Like, she ignored his order entirely and now he was drinking some fruity, sweet drink that apparently had coffee in it. How did she know?

Kaminari had been given decaf without being asked (everyone breathed a sigh of relief at that, he was already close to short-circuiting), Momo was given a lovely milk tea (where that came from, no one knew), Mina was given black coffee, and Todoroki was given a cup of steamed milk with peppermint flavoring.

None of them asked for those things, she just did it. Now the class had to ask themselves if she was psychic or just damn good.

When Shouji came up for his coffee, He stared at her for a moment before patting her on the head and she smiled. He was one she wished she could talk to more, he just seemed calm and kind, someone who wouldn't be exhausting to talk to.

He'd been worried about her, but the rest of the class worried more than enough for him, so he kept quiet until now. Seeing her smiling and without the bags that had been under her eyes for so long in class was refreshing. She was someone who he wanted to talk to, but she couldn't read the lips that he created, so for now... He'd let it be.

"Hmm." Naoko tilted her head while looking at him, "I never did thank you, did I?"

Shouji's eyes widened as his hands waved, she didn't need to thank him, he hadn't done anything worth being thanked for!

"Thanks to you, I got through that stupid forest without dying, you could've just let me be, but you took care of me. Thank you."

She handed him a drink, an americano with an extra espresso shot and patted his chest (as high as she could comfortably reach), and turned to Aizawa, "Hey, can I bring something to All Might?"

The tired teacher nodded and stood, handing his sleeping bag off to Shinso before walking out of the room.

Naoko waved at the class before following him out, waiting until the door fully closed before she caught up to her teacher and grabbed his new capture weapon to stop him.

Aizawa turned slightly, admittedly, he was a bit offended that she was seeking out All Might first. He'd helped her, didn't he... No, he was just her teacher, he couldn't be jealous. She had every right to thank one of the heroes who helped save her.

He wasn't mad that he had only seen her once since the incident, everything was fine.... Everything was fine.

The two stood in the hall in silence for a moment before Aizawa actually looked at Naoko.

Her head was slightly tilted down, but as he stared, he noticed something he'd never seen before. Tear tracks were rolling down Naoko's cheeks as she held his scarf. Her knuckles were white, and she was trembling.

"Mr. Aizawa?" She looked up and his breath caught in his chest. She really was crying... There were so many emotions in her eyes and for a moment he desperately wanted to hug her.

He held himself back, but she didn't.

There was no hesitation as she stepped forward and wrapped her arms around him, still not letting go of his capture weapon. "I fucking hate this scarf, you know that, right?"

He chucked, his chest feeling oddly tight as he returned the hug and tapped her on the head so she would look up, "Well, you did melt my old one so it's kind of your fault."

"I guess so..." She shook her head and tightened her grip, "I... I never got to say thank you. You saved my life twice... You defended me and you were nearly killed to save me from All for One. I don't know how to thank you enough."

Oh, that did it. He could feel tears of his own forming as his head bowed. She had nothing to thank him for.

***

The Sesame Street argument carried on for longer than either Dabi or Mag would've liked, now they were sitting across from each other on the roof, not even slightly paying attention to the Yakuza base as they got ready to arm wrestle.

"If I win," Mag was serious, the irritation that had been building up over the last few hours finally starting to boil over, "You have to tell everyone downstairs that you have that you're an irritating bitch who doesn't have the patience to follow simple instructions."

Dabi was smoking with rage, "You're on an awfully high horse there, Maggy. Fine. If I win, you have to tell Levi and Chris that they show too much PDA and they make you uncomfortable."

He wasn't about to hold back here. Horror mixed with determination as Mag nodded and they clasped hands.

To most people, the outcome of this was obvious, Mag was a powerhouse that was built like a tank, and Dabi was muscled, sure, but he was wiry and relied more on his quirk than physical strength. Somehow, Dabi had convinced himself that he could beat Mag in an arm-wrestling competition.

This was painfully untrue.

Even the gods and Yakuza who had started to gather on the opposite roof as the argument continued to escalate could tell that this was a painfully unbalanced fight. There was money exchanging hands, but it was mostly based on how quickly Dabi would lose and if he'd break any bones.

A dangerous aura started to develop around the two and cracks were already forming in the table below. If Mag won, Dabi would never be able to hum that stupid song ever again.

She would make sure of it.

"Three." Mag ground out, allowing herself to squeeze Dabi's hand tightly.

"Two." Dabi was trying not to wince as he matched Mag's energy. A thought was just starting to emerge in his brain, was he maybe a bit out of his depth here?

"One?"

The energy that had been building completely died out as the two yelped, looking up. In the sky hovering above them was a figure.

The sun was right in the way and it took a good few seconds of squinting to see who was talking to them, though... Once they knew, both of their faces drained of all color. The yakuza were fleeing off the roof and Dabi and Mag both blinked at them, how long had they been there?

"Well, this is interesting!" A peppy voice that sounded like he was about to crack open an energy drink while streaming Fortnite slowly descended to the roof, "Here I was thinking that today would be boring."

Dabi and Mag couldn't help but stay where they were, frozen from shock as the number two hero, Hawks descended on the building.

"Of all the things I thought I was going to see today, the supervillains Dabi and Magnetic getting ready to arm wrestle wasn't one of them. How's the League?"

Shit.

"Not going to answer? Huh, I didn't think you two would be at a loss for words."

Mag snapped out of her chair; panic was written all over her face. This wasn't supposed to happen. If they got caught here, then the police would come and Rei would be brought back to Endeavor, Eri would go into the foster system, and Naoko and Hasame would go to jail... They couldn't let this happen!"

Before either of them could even speak, they were stopped by bright red feathers swarming them, wrapping around their hands and legs, some going over their mouths to stop any noise. Within a moment, they were both pinned to the ground.

"I was just investigating some rumors over here about the Yakuza, Hmm... Is the League perhaps working with the Yakuza? That'd be irritating." Hawks yawned as he stared down at his two captives. "You two really aren't the brightest, are you? Sitting on the roof with no care for your surroundings is basically asking to be caught."

He smirked down at them, his shades adding a whole new layer to his cocky attitude, "Hey, base?"

Shit... Shit, he was radioing out. Was it going to end like this? Mag and Dabi shared a quick glance, nodding, they had to take him out before word got out.

"I'm over in the industrial district, you'll never guess who I ran into."

The feathers around Dabi began to smoke as he activated his quirk, it had to be quick, they couldn't give him time to fight back.

"Yeah, I think we found the Le-"

"You two okay up here? One of those nice Yakuza people stopped by and said to check in on you." Rei walked through the door to the roof, a plate of cookies and two glasses of tea balanced precariously on her arms, "It's been a while, so I thought I'd bring you some..."

She faded off as she saw Hawks, who was staring at her with big eyes, his jaw dropped, "Um... I'm sorry, who might you be?"

To her eternal credit, Rei didn't show any of what she was feeling, her eyes simply flitted to Dabi and Mag before she looked back at the hero, smiling gently. If you didn't know her, you wouldn't see how guarded she became at that moment.

Hawks, on the other hand, was completely floored. He knew this person... Well, he knew of this person. "Rei Todoroki?" He asked, his voice much higher than it had been before.

Rei grimaced, "I suppose you could call me that. Please just call me Rei though." Without acknowledging the situation, she walked to the cracked table and set down her tray, "I don't know who you are, but would you mind releasing Touya and Maggie? They don't look terribly comfortable."

If Hawks was surprised before, that was nothing compared to the shock that was going through him now, "But... They're villains." He faded off before coughing and shaking his head, "I'm afraid I can't do that, Ma'am, these are dangerous villains that need to go to prison." He sounded much more certain that time.

"Are they?" Rei sat down, her mom voice coming out, "Young man, I think you're acting without understanding the situation. Perhaps you would care for some tea and I can explain why you won't be arresting them today."

Everything in Hawks wanted to obey her, she just radiated such... motherly vibes that he felt like he needed to apologize for inconveniencing her, but he couldn't. He was a big strong hero who would not be folding like this.

"Sorry, Ma'am, I can't do that. I will be bringing these two in, if you cooperate with me, perhaps we can avoid sending you to jail as well."

Rei simply smiled, "I don't believe I was offering you a choice." Her smile was starting to get scary, "Now how about we be civilized. I believe you'll regret not hearing me out."

He jerked back; was he really being threatened by Endeavor's wife? "Was that a threat?"

"Oh no, dear." Rei sipped the tea that had been meant for Touya, "I'm simply telling you the truth. Please sit. Or... I suppose if you'd feel more comfortable with it, we could go downstairs to continue this conversation."

"Hawks, report, what's happening?" Static sounded as Hawks comms flared to life and the winged hero jumped.

"It looks like you have a choice right now, dear." Rei was still calm, still smiling, though she was sparing glances for the two on the ground, shaking her head. If they fought, it would all be over.

Hawks stared intently at Rei for a moment before sighing and touching his headset, "Sorry, I misidentified someone. I'm putting out that fire now."

Rei nodded as Hawks sat, his wings shrinking, "So, what is the wife of Endeavor doing with two members of the League of Villains?"

***

It took a while for Naoko's tears to dry, honestly, it took her a good thirty minutes to collect herself completely. It had been a while since she'd cried sincerely, and Aizawa didn't help.

He kept patting her back and being kind and shit, which just made her cry harder, which made him try harder to comfort her, and so on. It truly was a vicious cycle.

At some point, Aizawa had picked her up and carried her to the faculty room so that no one walking the halls would stumble in on the tears that Naoko didn't want to see. Not that that was any better because as soon as Mic saw her, it was all over.

The softy was the first to run to Naoko to help, and while she refused to let go of Aizawa entirely (or did he refuse to let go of her? It was hard to tell), they did relocate to the couch where Mic forced her to look at him and he told her how awesome she was and how much he missed her at school.

He didn't have anyone to chat with in English now, and Aizawa was 'boring' and didn't want to talk philosophy with him, so he was missing his buddy.

When did they become buddies? Only he knew, this was the first Naoko was hearing about it, she, like everyone else, kinda just assumed he was terrified of her and only going along with things because he was intimidated.

Midnight and All Might were teaching a class, but Cementoss was over in the corner, recording the whole thing so he could have blackmail material later, and that was fine. Aizawa saw him, he'd get Shinso to delete it later anyways.

How that boy was able to do some of the shit he was able to do was a mystery, and Aizawa felt it was probably better to keep it that way.

The time the three spent together was much needed and many stories were told as Naoko recovered, like how Sero had gotten stuck in his own tape while trying to do a Spiderman move. Aizawa wouldn't tell her which move he was trying, but the amount of defeat on his face as he told it was a story in and of itself.

Mic was just as quick to throw her classmates under the bus (According to him, she was fair game now that she no longer attended) as he retold the story of how he had expelled Mineta and the time when he found Jiro listening to old American Ska bands. Naoko had no idea why that was shameful, but he was the expert, so she was happy to take his word on it.

Naoko happily told stories of her roommates that they would never in a million years want the heroes to know. It was interesting skirting around the fact that she lived with two people she had kidnapped, two villains, and two heroes, but she managed.

God, her whole situation sounded like the setup to one of the cringy sitcoms Hasame watched on her days off.

"So kid, I hear you're running a café," Mic eventually said, a glint in his eye, "Where is it? What's it called? How has it been doing so far?"

Yup, here were the questions. It didn't stop at those three, but Naoko eventually tuned him out the longer he rambled. He was a very caring person who wanted to know everything there was to know about Naoko's life, but it was... a lot.

She smiled and nodded as he asked, her grin never fading as he asked everything from what the aesthetic of the café was to whether she'd gotten a taro reading before opening the café to see if it was a good idea. Most of these things... well, she'd let him come figure it out for himself because he would come to figure it out, and the rest...

Well, there was no harm in a little mystery here and there to hide the illegal shit, right?

Finally, there was a break in the stream and Naoko decided it was time to stop him, "Well, I mean..." She looked down at her lap, "It's not much. Hasame and I got some help from people in the town, but it's still pretty boring."

"That can't be!" Mic was absolutely scandalized over on his side of the couch, "No, this place has to be the best damn place in town!"

Naoko had to stop herself from laughing, it was just too easy to get Mic riled up.

"Nah, we have good coffee and shit, but it's still an old warehouse that has a river between us and anyone who wants to come. I bet we shut down before the year is out."

Aizawa, surprisingly enough, was the one who got Naoko's attention next, "Not gonna happen." His face was way too serious for this conversation. "You're the girl who took out a villain that All Might Struggled with. If you market it right, everyone will come."

Huh. Marketing advice from Mr. Antisocial himself? Maybe God was real.

That or Mic had blackmailed him into saying that. Naoko wasn't saying that he had... but the possibility was there. "Thank, Mr. Aizawa," Naoko said calmly, "Blink twice if you're being threatened."

Both men stared at her with confusion for a good few seconds and Naoko stared at her teacher, serious about her question. Maybe Mic hadn't blackmailed him, maybe it was that rat Nezu, this sounded like one of his schemes.

When no blinks came to show Aizawa's plight, Naoko shook her head, "Forget it, I should get going, Hasame'll kill me if I make her close alone."

She stood and stretched before walking to the door, "You two should stop by some time. It's not fancy, but we've got the best damn coffee in town... And..."

Naoko looked back at them with a wide, genuine smile, "Thanks again. If you guys come, it'll be on the house. The least I can do for my favorite teachers, right?"