"HEY! If you've got trash, bring it here!" Bakugou yelled at his classmates, a large garbage bag in hand.

Almost all of the boys handed his their bags, causing Bakugou to accuse them of hoarding it all just for him to take out.

The girls on the other hand were talking about Mirio's empowering speech from earlier.

"It was really moving actually!" Mina gushed.

"Yeah, I'll have to talk to him about some pointers sometime." Hailey piped in, entering the room in some nicer clothes than her regular.

"You look nice, where are you off to?" Uraraka asked.

"Have my prayers been answered that you're going on a date?" Mina exclaimed.

Hailey scoffed, "Not a date, just heading over to Sho's house. Endeavour wanted to talk to me about something. Plus date would equal skirt, so sorry."

Mineta and Kamiari's ears perked up at the sound of skirt, but quickly retracted at the sight of Todoroki approach Hailey, he too in regular clothes.

"My brother just texted me and said that he's waiting out front." He alerted Hailey.

"Neat, does he play good tunes?" Hailey teased.

"Uh, he's mostly into pop and hip hip. I don't know if they are good." Todoroki shrugged, not completely sure.

Hailey chuckled, "Can't be any worst than what my family back home listens to: old fashion country. Besides, you'll be there to chat with."

Todoroki nodded and began to lead Hailey out of the dorms.

"Bye guys, see ya later!" Hailey called to her classmates before leaving, then continued to follow Todoroki out to the front gates.

Showing the security machine their student I.D.'s, the machine dinged and the gate opened to reveal a tall man with white hair leaning against a fancy looking car.

His face lit up as he recognized Todoroki, "Hey there, Shouto!" He greeted and gave him a hug.

"Hey, Natsuo." Todoroki greeted back and when pulled apart from his brother, turned to Hailey. "This is my older brother, Natsuo." He introduced.

"Hey there, nice to meet ya!" Hailey grinned.

Natsuo leaned towards his brother and put his arm over his shoulder, "She's cute, she your girly friend?" He teased.

Todoroki glared at his brother, "No, she's just my classmate."

"Oof demotion? C'mon, Sho, I thought we were friends." Hailey joked.

"We are." Todoroki answered, then proceeded to introduce her to Natsuo. "Natsuo, this is-"

"Hold on, lemme guess!" Natsuo cut him off and pondered on who Hailey's appearance reminded him of. "Mel Roselle?"

Hailey laughed, "Close, I'm her daughter, Hailey Roselle."

"Oh, yeah! Jeez, totally forgot she had a kid, in my defence, you look just like her!" Natsuo chuckled.

"Didn't dad tell you that I was bringing her?" Todoroki questioned his brother.

"Maybe he did, but I only heard that I was picking up you and a classmate." Natsuo shrugged. "I've got selective hearing when it comes to him."

Although Hailey recognized the passive aggressive comment, she understood where it stemmed from.

"Same though, better than listening to possible bullshit." She remarked.

"Exactly." Natsuo smirked, then rubbed his hands together. "Alright, we better get going kiddos!"

Hailey and Todoroki shared a look, Hailey grinned as she was looking forward to what was to come.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The car ride to the Todoroki Household was entertaining to say the least. While Natsuo would crack jokes and tell funny stories about his college days, Hailey and the brothers were playing the sign game, where someone had to spot a sign in the order of the alphabet.

The signs were less and less as they left the shopping districts, Hailey desperately tried to find a sign where the first letter was v, but to no avail.

When Natsuo's car pulled into the driveway, he cheekily grinned.

"Hey, 'Todoroki Household'! Boom, that's a 't'."

Hailey gave him a playful glare as she unbuckled her seatbelt, "You literally skipped seven letters! You were on 'g'!"

"I was busy driving, gimme a break." Natsuo laughed.

"Nope, no breaks for you!" Hailey retorted, "You wanted to play, get some multitasking skills."

The three exited the car and made their way into the house.

"We're back." Natsuo called out, switching his shoes to slippers.

Fuyumi peered her head through the kitchen and her expression lit up when seeing the three.

"Shouto! Hailey! It's great to see you!" Fuyumi exclaimed and hugged the two.

"Hiya, Fuyumi!" Hailey greeted.

Natsuo pouted, "Where's mine?!"

Fuyumi looked up at her younger brother with a raised eyebrow, "I already gave you a hug."

"Is dinner ready?" Todoroki asked his sibling.

"Oh yeah, I just finished making your favourite, Shouto." Fuyumi answered with a smile.

Hailey giggled at the sparkle in her friend's eyes at the mention of his favourite dish being served.

'He looks just like a kid.' She thought in fond amusement.

"C'mon, let's go sit down. Dad will join us in a sec." Fuyumi beamed and led them to the dinning room, where the table was completely set and the steaming hot bowl of noodles and other entrées sat.

"Did I just enter heaven? Again?" Hailey gushed at the sight of food displayed before them.

Fuyumi giggled at her enthusiasm, "I just wanted to make sure everyone got fed, three heroes probably work up a big appetite."

"I love you, can you please be my sister?" Hailey joked.

Natsuo playfully put his arms around his sister, "You'll have to fight me first!"

Hailey laughed as she pulled out a chair and sat beside Todoroki.

"I can only assume all of this liveliness is because everyone is here now." Enji remarked as he entered the dining room.

"Hey, Mr Number One Hero." Hailey greeted.

"Hello, Hailey, Shouto." Enji greeted and sat at the head of the table. "Did you have a good drive here?"

Hailey nodded, "Yep, but Natsuo might wanna work on his multitasking skills if he wants to win the sign game." She teased and shrugged off her jacket.

Fuyumi suddenly gasped, causing Hailey give her a look of confusion.

"What happened to your arms?!" She shrieked with concern.

Hailey looked down at her arms to see a few large splotches of bruises, "Oh jeez, didn't realize I took that much of a beating." Hailey then gave the family a sheepish smile. "Our class had a little spar with one of the third years from the Big Three, so he could demonstrate how intense a work study will be. He wiped the floor with us." Hailey explained.

"You're the one who lasted the longest." Todoroki pointed out, dishing up his plate.

"Anyone else would if they realized what his quirk was, but of course nobody listens to me." Hailey grumbled.

"Hey, don't sell yourself short." Natsuo said, with a mouthful of food. He then gulped it down and continued to reassure her, "From what Shouto says about you, you could be a pro next year if you wanted."

Glancing at her friend, Hailey sent him an appreciative smile.

"You didn't partake in the sparring, Shouto?" Enji questioned his youngest son, gruffly.

Todoroki didn't look at his father when he answered, "No, I only observed."

"A smart move if ya ask me." Hailey defended and put some rice onto her plate. "The dude's quirk allowed him to phase through solid objects, and he was totally on a higher calibre compared to us. I was lucky to stay standing for as long as I could."

Enji let out a 'hmpf' and contemplated whether or not to continue on with the conversation.

Fuyumi decided to change the topic to avoid causing a scene, " How are you guys adjusting back to your classes?"

Hailey pondered on what she wanted to say, while her classmate said that he had no problem easing back into classes.

"What about you, Hailey?" Fuyumi prompted.

Hailey sheepishly scratched her cheek, "Oh well, I guess I'm not really used to it yet, seeing as I just got off of a day of house arrest."

"'House arrest'?" Fuyumi repeated in surprise.

"Why were you put under house arrest? Are you a problem child?" Natsuo asked, as he slurped on some noodles.

"Usually I'm not, but I guess it looked like I was conspiring with the League of Villains when Paralyzer showed up at my house when I went there to pick up some stuff. So the teachers put me on house arrest to monitor me?" Hailey explained, still not sure what the verdict actually was.

"Tch, that school is filled with morons for teachers." Enji remarked, sourly. "I should give them a call, since they didn't bother to tell me."

'Right, mom put me under Sho's dad's care until she gets back.' Hailey was reminded by his actions.

"No, no, it's fine, really! People keep telling me that I was put under special treatment, so there's no need to cause a fuss!" Hailey attempted to coax the large man, nervously. "Besides, it's not a big deal."

Enji let out a sigh, "What's that saying that your mother uses when giving advice?"

"'Never settle for anything'." Hailey answered, trying to remember how many times her mother had told her that phrase.

"Right, I think you should highly consider those words in these types of situations. Stand up for what you deserve, and never settle for the injustices." Enji encouraged, his gruff personality remaining.

'He does have a point.. shit, I always thought that what mom was saying was about boys, didn't really think it could be used in other situations...but then again..' Hailey considered, but her doubts began to flood her thoughts again.

'I'm just going to cause problems.'

'It'll just cause a scene.'

'I'll just create drama and lose friends because I seem self centred.'

"Hm, yeah that's a good point." Hailey forced a smile, "Thank you, sir."

Hailey immediately internally cringed at the fact that she didn't know any other way to acknowledge Enji than a formal manner.

A new topic was brought up as dinner continued, Natsuo, Fuyumi and Hailey being the most engaged in the conversation. Many funny stories were shared and laughs were had during the remainder of the meal.

"That was soooo good!" Natsuo exclaimed, leaning back in his chair and patting his belly.

"It was really good, Fuyumi." Hailey complimented, feeling content with being fed.

"Yeah, thanks sis." The youngest added.

Fuyumi beamed at the compliments, "It's no problem, I'm happy we could have a meal together to celebrate dad becoming the Number One Hero."

"Congratulations on that." Hailey said to the father of the Todoroki household.

"Thank you." Enji nodded before now turning his attention to the young redhead. "Can I have a word with you, kid?"

Caught a little off guard, even though Hailey assumed that's why she was invited, she nodded and followed the pro hero into his office, after sending a slightly worried look at Todoroki.

When entering the office room, Enji shut the door behind them and sat in his desk.

"You'll want to have a seat." Enji pointed out to the young lady.

Hailey complied and sat on the couch that was across the desk.

'Okay this is either gonna be a long lecture or it'll be a lot to take in.' Hailey thought, unsure what to mentally prepare for.

Enji let out a deep sigh before he starting talking in a serious tone.

"Your mother contacted me yesterday."

Hailey's eyes widened, feeling excitement as she anticipated that Enji was about to tell her that she was coming back, but then again.. why would he pull her aside to tell her that? Wouldn't her mother have contacted her?

"I'm sorry, but she isn't coming back anytime soon."

Ba-bump

'What?'

Ba-bump

'What did he say?'

Ba-bump

'No, no, that can't be right.'

Ba-bump

'This can't be real.'

Ba-bump

'There's no way that all that I did was for nothing..'

Ba-bump Ba-bump

'Right..?'

Hailey's mind was racing hundreds of miles an hour in panic, her anxiety and stress beginning to reach a high level. Her heartbeat was loud in her ears and she clenched fistfuls of her jeans.

"..although I tried to convince her otherwise with Robert being in prison, she was adamant that she was going to stay away for a longer while." Hailey heard Enji's voice continue talking. He sighed again. "The second thing is Hondashu. With your mother gone, business has been stalled there. Your mother left the agency in your hands, but I am willing to take that responsibility from you, since your time should be focused on U.A."

Hailey couldn't think, not a clear thought. Too many ideas were spiralling in her mind, so many doubts that made her sweat and begin to lose control over her breathing.

"I know it's a lot to take in-" Enji was about to say, but stopped when Hailey stood up suddenly.

"I-I need to-to leave." She blurted and scrambled out of the door.

Breathing heavily, Hailey rushed down the hall until Todoroki saw her distressed state.

"Hailey." He called, intercepting her from frantically searching for somewhere to go.

"I-I can't! Sho, I-" Hailey whimpered, tears in her eyes as she clutched the fabric of his shirt.

Todoroki realized how her stress had escalated to this state and pulled her into his bedroom, not letting go of her and sliding to the ground with Hailey.

Todoroki held her close and rubbed Hailey's back in an attempt to soothe her. It had worked for him when he was younger, so it was worth a try.

"What did my father do?" Todoroki questioned, wanting to know if it was his old man's doing.

"N-no- he-he- just-" Hailey hiccupped, her breathing still erratic.

'I can't breathe.'

'I can't think.'

'I can't do anything right!'

"She-she's not coming back, Sho." Hailey sobbed. "I-I'm not gonna see my m-mom again!"

Todoroki felt his heart break for his friend, god, life wasn't giving her any sort of break.

"E-everything I did was-was for nothing." Hailey sniffled, holding onto the bicoloured haired boy a bit tighter.

Accepting his self appointed responsibility, Todoroki gave Hailey a comforting squeeze, opting to encourage his friend to gain control over her breathing, becoming concerned when he thought she was on the verge of hyperventilating.

"Hailey, please take in a breath." He urged.

Attempting to, Hailey tried to take in a deep breath, but struggled when feeling overwhelmed over the shakiness of her breath.

Todoroki tried to think of another way to help Hailey, acting upon one that quickly popped into his head.

He pulled Hailey from the comforting embrace so that the two were face to face.

"Watch me, I'll do it with you." Todoroki suggested, in a soft voice.

Todoroki took in a deep breath, slowly. He held his breath for a short moment, before slowly exhaling. He repeated the process, with Hailey copying it and stopped when her breathing wasn't shaky or irregular.

"Do you feel better?" Todoroki questioned.

Hailey sniffled and wiped her eyes. "C-can I be honest? No, I don't think so." Hailey answered and sat beside her friend on the floor, leaning her back against the wall.

"Do you..wanna talk about it?" Todoroki inquired, with a bit of hesitation.

Hailey sighed and rubbed her eyes again, "I-I don't know..I just feel so fucking useless that I thought th-that I did the right thing, sent my dad to jail, but my mom won't come back. D-Do I just do that? Eventually chase everyone away?"

Todoroki shook his head, "No you don't, you aren't to blame for other people's choices. Especially your mom's."

"Then why won't she come back?! Does she-does she see me as.. as a villain too?" Hailey felt her throat tighten as the sensation of tears stung her eyes.

Todoroki gave Hailey a sympathetic look and cautiously wrapped his arms around her shoulder and gave her a comforting side embrace.

"You are nothing close to being a villain, if anyone sees otherwise, they are sorely mistaken." He assured his friend.

Todoroki wasn't concerned about how long they were going to stay in their embrace, it didn't matter, what mattered was that he was there to help his friend out.

He felt a bit of guilt, due to each visit to his home, Hailey faced some sort of unpleasantness. That didn't sit well with him.

Though, Todoroki noted that this was the first time he seen Hailey not mask her emotions with humour or a fake smile.

Maybe this time, there was too much for her to hide?

"I'm sorry about that, Sho." Hailey suddenly apologized, her voice more calm.

"For what? You have nothing to be sorry for." Todoroki responded.

"For being like this.. I thought I was getting better with handling my stress.. but I guess it never goes away.." Hailey sniffled. "I'm just going to bring everyone down if I keep wasting their time like this."

Todoroki shook his head, "Hailey, you've supported everyone in our class since the first day, you've made others laugh and smile. You're allowed to feel stressed, and you're allowed to have someone help you."

Hailey looked at her friend with a taken back expression before giving him a small smile.

"I'm sorry I'm not better at comforting you." Todoroki blurted.

Hailey laughed, "You did just fine, thanks Sho."

"Do you want to go back to the dorms?" Todoroki questioned.

Hailey thought for a moment before taking in a breath, "I better finish my conversation with your dad, I don't wanna leave that stuff about Hondashu undecided."

"Save it for another time, you've had a lot go on today." Todoroki urged.

Hailey shook her head, "It's my mom's business, I don't feel good putting her things aside. Besides, she left me responsible for it." She then stood up and exited Todoroki's bedroom.

She made her way back to Enji's office and knocked on the door before entering.

"Sorry, sir. I just needed to clear my head for a sec." She said apologetically to the man still sitting in his desk.

"It's fine, I'm glad you've cleared your head to give me an answer." Enji said lowly.

"I'll take the responsibility, I just need some help with understanding the bigger decisions. Can I count on you when it comes to those types of questions?" Hailey asked.

"You're sure that you want to do this? You are still a first year in high school. Far too young to worry about these things yet." The pro hero tried to convince her.

Hailey stood firm, "Yes, I watched my mom build her agency the last few years. I know how she thinks and I know what she wants to achieve. No offence or anything but, I don't know what to consider you. Mom sees you as a friend, but you haven't seen the person she turned into the last few years. You may be the Number One Hero, but I don't know you, not in the way that Shouto does. You could be a great business man, but that's all I'll need if I need to rely on you. I appreciate it, but no thanks."

"You really don't understand the gravity of the situation, do you?" Enji suddenly barked. "This isn't a job for a kid! It's a serious matter! Someone with experience should be in charge of an agency! Someone who the world respects! I already own my own agency and am able to be the Number One Hero-"

Hailey felt herself reach a breaking point with her stress returning, but something snapped in her mind, and she reacted.

"Get off your high horse." Hailey said blankly, catching the older man off caught. "You've been at the top spot for a few hours and I don't plan on count on someone who doesn't know how to treat his family. Now I'm leaving, bye."

And with that, Hailey turned and left the room.

Once entering the hallway, she noticed the siblings looking at her in surprise. They were close together, sweating as if they were listening in on the conversation and hoped that they wouldn't get caught.

"I'm ready to go." Hailey told them, her voice blank and dull, then made her way to the dinning room to grab her jacket.

Robotic motions.

——————————————————

The car ride back to the school grounds was quiet. Natsuo had his radio playing, but it didn't ease either of the brothers' concern.

There was hardly any talking, other than Natsuo awkwardly commenting on how it didn't take Hailey long to shut down their father's behaviour. But she only replied with a soft 'yeah'.

It was as if Hailey had shut down, not responding, no enthusiasm.

Todoroki wondered if this was a sort of last resort of Hailey's to cope with so much stress. Not think about anything or have a reaction.

When Natsuo pulled up to the school entrance, he turned to the two and smiled.

"Here's your stop. It was nice seeing you two."

"Thanks, Natsuo." Todoroki thanked his brother and exited the car with Hailey. "It looks like we made it before curfew."

'There was a curfew..?' Hailey pondered But was quick to push away any other thoughts that were trying to come up.

"Yeah." Was all that she answered with, before walking towards the Heights Alliance building.

Soon enough Hailey was in her room, and plopped onto her bed.

Everything was too much to think about, thoughts began to flood Hailey's mind.

Her doubts.

Her worries began to turn into paranoias and soon enough, the panic was settling back in. The anxiety.

So much happening at once.

So much..

Too much...