ONE YEAR AGO

AFTER AOI AND SHOUTO'S MISSION

Her golden eyes opened. They scanned around the room, realizing that she's in a hospital. Aoi sat up. On the side of the bed was a guy with white spiky hair. He was resting his head on the matress while sitting on the stool beside the bed. Her hand gently shook his back.

"Natsu-nii." She called.

Natsuo opened his eyes sleepily. When he lifted his head up and saw her, his drowsiness disappeared like magic.

"Aoi, you're awake!" He stood up too quickly that his vision turned black for a brief moment.

"Ah, be careful..." Aoi reached out her hand in case Natsuo falls down. Her voice was still emotionless as ever but her gesture was kind.

"No, I'm okay." Natsuo recovered his vision. "Stay there, okay? I'll call someone to check on you."

And before she could say anything else, Natsuo ran out of the room.

'What happened?' Aoi thought to herself.

When Natsuo arrived, she was told that she fell unconscious because of an ambush during her mission with Shouto. However, Aoi could not recall what happened during the mission at all. Her last memories were the meeting between her, Endeavor, and Shouto. That was the time Endeavor gave the mission.

She couldn't even believe that she fell unconscious for two and a half days after the mission. It practically left her little time to continue the internship. Endeavor was also forcing her to rest.

The most unbelievable part for her was the reason she fell unconscious in the first place. She couldn't help but think that they were merely made up stories when they talked about how a group of people tried to target her, then injuring both Shouto and her, poisoning Shouto. Then she healed him.

First of all, Aoi's Quirk cannot heal other people. It cannot control a human being. Her flying ability was only because of her mastery of controlling the wind around her. Healing someone else is impossible.

Is it?

Aoi pondered as she spent her time in this private room. After hours and hours of thinking, her eyes widen in realization.

When she uses her Quirk too much, her head would hurt. If she healed him, she would have to use a whole lot of her power. The cost of her upper limit isn't just headache.

She placed her hand on her mouth in surprise.

If Aoi overuses her Quirk, she will lose her memories.

When the doctor came to visit her. Aoi explained her hypothesis. The doctor was also thinking about the same thing, so they scheduled an MRI scan for her brain. The next day came, and they did the test. It will take a week or two for the results to come out. Aoi returned to her private room and saw someone else inside. 

"Aren't you supposed to be doing your internship, right now?" Aoi asked. 

A cheerful smile escaped from his lips. 

"I requested him to let me off today to see you. Isn't it great!" 

"And here I thought I could spend one more peaceful day without you annoying me." Aoi replied. 

"I know you're happy to see me." 

Aoi walked towards the sofa where the black haired young man was sitting. 

"You know everything. You always do." Aoi sat down.

"Ugh I'm so tired Aoi!~" 

Shin's strong arms embraced Aoi so tight, cuddling her. Her face got buried on his black long-sleeve shirt.  Aoi tried pushing him away but he's too strong.

"Shin...Too tight." Then Shin loosened up his grip, but he was still not letting her go. 

It was enough for Aoi to breath. She turned her head up and looked at the young man's silver eyes. 

"Shin." 

"Hm?" 

"What if one day, I can't remember you anymore. What would you do?" 

Shin stared into Aoi's sunlight eyes. They're still emotionless, but he could see that she's scared. 

"You're talking about your upper limit, aren't you."

Aoi nodded. She sat up straight, and Shin let go of his embrace. 

"I can't remember anything that happened during the mission, because I healed Shou-kun. If... What if I overuse my Quirk again? What if I needed to do it? How much of my memories would disappear? What if all of my memories in UA disappear? What if everything disappears?" 

There were no fluctuations in her voice, but Shin noticed her hand shaking in fear. She looked down.

"What if I can't remember Shou-kun anymore?" 

His silver eyes were serious as he looked at his best friend. Then he sighed.

"That's easy." 

"What?" Aoi's head snapped up at Shin. His left hand was raising up in the air, as if waiting for a hi-five. 

"This is a secret between us, okay?" Shin winked at her. 

"What do you mean?"

"Place your hand against mine and you'll find out." 

Aoi couldn't understand what's going on inside Shin's head, but she trusts him enough to comply. She held up her right hand and placed her palm against his. 

"Close your eyes." 

When she did, it felt like she was dreaming. She could see a scenario playing in her head, then she fell unconscious. Shin caught her body, and carried her up to the bed. He gently placed her ontop of it, then he also sat at the bed, on the space beside Aoi's body. He was still holding her hand. 

After a few minutes, he let go of her hand. Aoi woke up. 

She looked around and realized that she was already in bed.

"What happened? What was that?" 

"My secret. I gathered Endeavor and Shouto's memories of the mission and transferred them to you. I could've gotten your memories too but you already lost them before I could see it." 

"Yes. I hid it since I didn't think it would come in handy. And I didn't want anyone to annoy me about it." Shin uttered. Then he placed his left index finger on top of Aoi's lips. "So don't tell anyone about it, okay?" 

Aoi nodded. 

"Now, if you would ever lose your memories again, I'll be there to return them to you." Shin smiled. 

~*~

AOI 

PRESENT TIME

While staring at the mirror, my right index and middle finger gently touched my lips. I recalled the first time Shin told her about his hidden ability. Now that I know what happened, I couldn't help but chuckle bitterly at the thought. 

"How unfair, you could've just held my hand back then." I muttered to myself, recalling those times at the western house. "You didn't have to kiss me." 

Looking back to my golden eyes, I made them glow then turned it back to normal. 

Yes, I have control now. I can do this. 

"I'll be sure to give you a punch in the face when I see you again, Shin." I smiled at myself in the mirror. 

Then I left the airplane's bathroom.