I fumbled with the stuffed animal in my hands while I walked down the darkened hallway. The door at the end of the hall squeaked as I pushed it open. A set of cherry red eyes were looking at me from the couch.

As I walked up to Tomura, I noticed his eyes narrow a bit. His gaze moved up and down as if he was analyzing me.

"Where's dad?" I had checked just about every door until I found what I assumed was his room. It was empty.

Tomura scoffed. "Don't call him that, it's weird." I couldn't fathom why. He adopted me, so, that made him my dad. It sounded, from what Kurogiri had told me, that Tomura and I had quite a bit in common. Did he not feel the same about Kurogiri like me? Maybe he just doesn't want to share him?

I sat down next to Tomura. He, in turn, moved over, so there was an empty seat cushion between us. I placed the stuffed animal on my lap. My fingers pinched its little arms as we sat in complete silence.

"What's your quirk?" Tomura suddenly asked. I hummed as I thought about what to say.

I never understood where everyone got names for their quirks. I never named mine, and as far as I knew, Kurogiri never gave it one either. "Paper."

"Paper?" His cherry-red eyes narrowed at me. He sounded confused. "You can make paper?"

"Well, no." Suddenly, it felt like the name I picked wasn't right at all. It might have been a little too vague.

"Can you control paper, then?" he asked. Tomura crossed his arms, his eyes narrowed into a glare.

I lightly chewed on my thumbnail as I thought about his question. Can I? Is that how it works?

"No, that's not right either," I said.

Tomura frowned at me, and my chest squeezed. He looked so upset. "Then what does it do? Show me."

"I don't have any paper." I held my breath, preparing myself to see that disappointed look on his face again. Tomura pointed across the room, informing me that there should be some in one of the drawers. He spoke with a harsh tone, but at least he didn't look mad.

I got up from the couch and followed his directions. Just as he said, there was a thin notebook in one of the drawers. I flipped through it, looking for blank pages. The math questions Kurogiri had given me were in this notebook, I stopped and stared at it for a second before turning to a new page. Notebook in hand, I returned to my seat.

My eyes were fixed to the paper as I wondered what to make. I turned to Tomura. "I like making animals. What kind should I make? What's your favorite?"

I paused. A thought came to me, one that I shouldn't know, but I do. I hesitated for a moment before saying it out loud. "You used to like bunnies when you were a kid. Should I make one of those?" I smiled at him; "I might need help catching it later, though."

"Who cares what you do?!" he snapped. I flinched at his tone. Tomura paused and spoke in a much calmer tone that seemed more like a grumble. "Make a Lion or something."

I frowned at Tomura. Lions are too dangerous. Even though I was a bit apprehensive about making Tomura's request, I did it anyway. After all these years, folding paper animals was like second nature. Then again, for me, it was literally yesterday.

With a smile so wide it made my cheeks hurt, I held up the animal Tomura requested. A white paper lion that was no bigger than a grapefruit.

It lept out of my palm and approached Tomura. The miniature lion then began to rub its paper head against his arm before hopping onto his lap and sleeping. It purred in a low rumble.

Tomura crossed his arms and looked down at the sleeping lion. "If I'm not mistaken, lions are more aggressive than this." He glared at me. Once again, seeing him upset made me feel very small.

I picked up the little lion and cradled it in my hands before crumpling it into a ball. "I can do it again if you want."

The front door swung open. Kurogiri looked over at Tomura and I. "I see you two are getting along well. That's good."

Tomura turned around to face Kurogiri. "Y/n's quirk is useless. I asked for a lion, and I got a kitten. How can y/n possibly be a bodyguard? Let alone mine."

Bodyguard? I wondered if that's why I feel so drawn to Tomura. That nagging feeling in the back of my head that demanded I keep him safe. Ever since I first laid eyes on him, it's been there. Even as I slept, I couldn't help but worry about his safety.

Kurogiri paused. His wispy yellow eyes traveled over to me. "Y/n, do you remember how to fold any of the sharp things you learned how to make?"

I nodded as I took a piece of paper in my hands. Sharp things referred to paper weapons. That's what I've always called them, so Kurogiri did as well. Knives, throwing stars, razors, and the like. With a bit of creativity, there were all sorts of dangerous things I could make.

I chewed on my lower lip as the lined paper folded under my fingertips. Carefully, I held up a little throwing star. "Tomura Shigaraki, could you please try to destroy it without using your quirk?" Kurogiri heavily emphasized without. It made me wonder what Tomura's quirk was. I haven't had a chance to ask.

He picked it up from my hands and pushed down on one of the edges with his thumb. Tomura lightly grumbled as he put more pressure into it. That innate need to protect Tomura kicked in, and I had to force myself not to grab the star from his hands. My nerves were on edge as I watched Tomura struggle to bend one of the folded tips.

"Goddammit!" he yelled. The little star slipped from his hand and fell to the floor, revealing a slow stream of red, dripping from his palm.

I knew I should have taken it away from him! As quickly as possible, I placed my forearm in his palm and pressed down. The part of my arm that came in contact with his hand felt warm and wet. Tomura had stretched out his fingers instantly, I couldn't help but wonder why.

"No, no. Don't do that." A shadowy hand removed my forearm, leaving a red stain on my shirt. "Tomura Shigaraki's quirk is far too dangerous to do stunts such as that. You must be more cautious around his hands."

"I just wanted to stop the bleeding." My head hung down, I didn't mean to cause any trouble for Kurogiri and Tomura.

A hand touched the top of my head. Kurogiri walked away as soon as our eyes met. He rummaged around for a bit, returning with a small box. Kurogiri lightly pushed me to the very end of the couch, sitting between Tomura and I.

I carefully observed what Kurogiri was doing from over his shoulder. Everything from taking a roll of white bandages out of the box to wrapping it around Tomura's damaged palm, and everything in between. Next time, I wanted to do it. At the same time, I hoped I never have to.

"Do you see the potential y/n's quirk possesses now?" Tomura glared at Kurogiri, his cherry-red eyes drifted over to me. I held my breath, and my joints stiffened. Was he mad that my star hurt him? Or maybe it impressed him?

Kurogiri leaned forward just a bit. "Dabi agreed to test y/n. We still don't know everything the doctor did before he abandoned that warehouse. Perhaps y/n has more skills than we all think." That word still put me on edge. Doctor.

Kurogiri looked down at me. "Why don't you go make yourself some sharp things. I have a gift for you in the left drawer of my desk." Curious, I got up from my seat and made my way down to his room.

As I walked away, I heard the two talking. Kurogiri asked Tomura if he was impressed with me. The door closed behind me, Tura's reply was too muffled to understand. Once I stepped into Kurogiri's room, their voices had become too faint.

Kurogiri's room was neat and tidy. His bedsheets were folded and tightly tucked. There wasn't even a hint of dust on the floor. The desk was across the room from me, I walked up to it and opened the drawer.

A stack of decorated origami paper was hidden away. I sat down at the desk, looked at the designs, placing them off to the side once I was done. By the time I reached the last sheet, I had them messily cluttering the desk.

I took the sheet closest to me and flipped it over, so the design faced the desk. I began to fold. One by one, I made a selection of sharp things. Carefully, I set the delicate weapons off to the side, fearing that I might bend the sharpened tips.

I stopped and looked at my arsenal. Throwing stars for range, knives for close combat. Just like Kurogiri suggested when I was a kid. My gaze shifted to the tips of each weapon. Kurogiri said Dabi was going to test my skills. I wasn't sure if I had any skills.

Kurogiri did train me for a short while. He had just begun to help me learn how to best use my quirk to defend myself when that day happened. I gripped one of the few paper daggers in my hand, my fingertips were beginning to bend the handle, and I loosened my hold. Deep down, I wasn't sure if I would do well or not, but I was willing to try.

I carried all my paper creations out of the room. With a huge smile on my face, I pushed the door open. "Look what I made!"

I dropped all the sharp things on the couch cushion by Tomura. He picked up a paper knife and observed it. Just like before, my heart started to race, and my hands began to fidget. Without wasting a single second, I reached out and snatched the knife from his grasp, crumpling it up into a ball.

His gaze shot up at me, and he glared. "What was that for?" Tomura growled.

"You were going to get hurt again." I spoke in a sure tone, if it happened once, it was going to happen again.

"Do you think I'm stupid or something?" he asked. His voice low and aggressive. I held my breath and considered what I could say to make him feel better.

Nothing came to mind. It seems when Tomura is mad, there isn't much anyone can really do to make him feel better. At least, that's what my head was telling me. My mind was yelling at me to walk away and give him some space, but my body wasn't moving.

"Tomura Shigaraki!" Kurogiri snapped. Both of us looked over at Kurogiri. He had his arms folded across his chest, his foot tapped on the wooden floor. The shadow-like man's yellow eyes flickered. He's mad.

"Y/n seems to be very protective of you, just as a bodyguard should be. I don't see why you're taking y/n's actions so aggressively?" As soon as Kurogiri stopped talking, it hit me that I had moved closer to Tomura. The blue-haired male looked at me for a moment.

"Whatever," he sighed. Tomura began heading towards the back room. "Report Dabi's opinions back to me." With that final sentence, Tomura closed the door. Another closed soon after. He must have gone to his room.

"I apologize for him," Kurogiri said. I shook my head and promised it was alright. For one reason or another, I already knew he had a temper, even though I had never met him before.

Kurogiri moved to the small collection of sharp things I had left piled on the couch. "Let's see what you made." I watched Kurogiri pick up and look at each item one by one. He slowly spun and rotated them in his hands as he looked at them at all sorts of different angles.

"These look perfect." He placed the little paper knife back down. I smiled, Kurogiri's compliment made me feel happy.

"I'm glad to hear it's been a while since I made them. I suppose." I tried to make light of the bomb that was dropped on me. Fifteen years ago still felt like yesterday, and I still felt robbed. I feared that the feeling would never go away, and it will always linger in the back of my mind.

"Let's make you a plan," Kurogiri said. He turned and walked away, he motioned to the couch as he walked by.

"A plan?" I repeated. Kurogiri was already out of the room, I was alone.

I sat down in the seat Kurogiri had motioned to. After several minutes, he returned with a cup in each hand. He handed me one and sat down at the armchair.

I breathed in the warm, earthy steam coming from my cup. The heat of the dark-colored water heated the cup and warmed my hands. I made an attempt to take a sip, it burned my tongue, making it sting.

"Dabi has a strong quirk. It's very dangerous." Even though I had told myself that I was going to try my best, Kurogiri's words made my worries reel back. "Considering your quirk, he has an advantage over you." I knew Kurogiri was trying to be helpful, but he wasn't making me feel any more confident.

Kurogiri went into detail about Dabi. I learned he had a fire quirk and Dabi, quirk-wise, he was the most dangerous in the group. Kurogiri tried to make me feel a bit better, promising that Dabi wasn't going to kill me and that he was going to try to go easy on me. "This is just a small test to see if the doctor upgraded your basic survival and fighting skills— not a deathmatch."

I leaned back into my seat. My heart was rattling in my chest, and I was on edge. Kurogiri gave me tips to use against Dabi. His quirk was both his strongest asset, but it was also his weakness. He can struggle with close combat, he relied on his quirk a little too much.

"I don't know a thing about fighting." I fiddled with one of the paper throwing stars, folding and unfolding one of the tips. "I don't want to hurt him either."

"Dabi can take care of himself," Kurogiri said; "for now, worry about yourself above everyone else." I nodded.

We used the remaining time we had left to sit and talk strategy as we drank our tea. I felt a little better the more we talked. The plan Kurogiri concocted seemed solid. We spent the remaining time we had together talking.

"How is the tea?" It was good. The flavor was light, but I liked it. Kurogiri chuckled. "That's good to hear. You hated tea when you were little." Thinking back, I remembered trying tea once before.

I was pestering Kurogiri while he was reading his newspaper. Standing on the tips of my toes, I grabbed onto his shirt sleeve and kept tugging at it until he gave me his full, undivided attention. Kurogiri warned me several times that I probably wouldn't like it. Even after all the warnings that he had given me, I was stubborn about it. The experience ended with me trying a bit of it and spitting it out and onto the floor.

I recalled feeling sad. Although Kurogiri stayed quiet as he cleaned up after me, I knew he wasn't too happy with me.

The creek of the front door opening brought me out of my head. A tall, dark-haired man with weird patches all over his face stepped inside. His icy blue eyes looked at me for a moment before shifting over to Kurogiri. "Are we ready or what?" He sounded bored, or maybe, he just wasn't excited to be here.

A portal manifested in the middle of the room. "Y/n has some last-minute preparations to make. We will meet you on the other side." As he passed by me and disappeared into the darkness, Dabi muttered something about how I should have been getting ready instead of sitting around drinking tea with Kurogiri.

I collected all my sharp things from the couch, neatly folding them and tucking them away into my pant pockets. The white button-up shirt Kurogiri had given me has a single chest pocket. I used that one to hide a few knives and a paper spear.

My hands were shaking like I had eaten too many candies. The rest of my body tensed up before I walked through the portal. My breathing was shallow at best, nearly stopping as I saw Dabi standing a distance away from me.

Behind me, a hand was placed between my shoulder blades and gave me a firm nudge towards Dabi. "Go on," Kurogiri said; "show him what you can do."

A bead of sweat rolled down my face as I approached Dabi. He had his arms crossed, and he was looking away from me. Dabi seemed calm, completely unbothered. I balled up my fists, trying to ease the shaking.

His icy blue eyes glanced over to me, and I froze. "Are you ready?"