A/N: By the way, I never said this was going to be a slow burn ;) picture above is the character I created as the villain of this story, not necessarily the big bad but he'll definitely be playing a large role in Emi's story. You'll learn more about him as the story progresses. And isn't he just so nice to look at. 

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"You WHAT!" Kirishima shouted. He couldn't believe it; his friends outed him. "How could you do that?"

"Bro, don't worry, we're pretty sure she feels the same." Kaminari smiled and threw his friend two thumbs up in support.

Now that sent Kirishima's mind into a frenzy. Were they just saying that, or had she said something this morning? "How do you know?"

"Come on, man, it's obvious." Sero stated. "We've all seen you pining after her, and in return she's always blushing around you. Neither of you are good at hiding your feelings. We might've just helped Emi realize hers."

"Yeah, as a girl I can speak on this." Jiro raised her hand before continuing. "She definitely has a crush on you. But she's also never been on the receiving end of this whole crush thing, so she didn't even realize it until this morning."

"Wait, Emi has never had someone crush on her before?" Midorya asked. Even he could understand that, he himself hadn't recognized Uraraka's feelings until she had to tell him outright.

"There's no way." Kirishima objected, shaking his head. "She's beautiful, she's smart, and kind... how?"

"Sounds like she's dated some grade A douchebags in the past. She said something about always being the giver and never the receiver." Sato told Kirishima, a sad look on his face. Everyone in the room had felt pity at Emi's confession, realizing that her obliviousness was not her fault.

"So why did she run out of the room when I walked in?" Kirishima questioned, turning to glance at the stairs. She didn't even look at him as she passed by. Were his friends wrong?

"I don't think she knows how to talk to you about it yet." Momo said. "But give her some time. This seems to be somewhat new for her."

Kirishima had been bursting at the seams to tell Emi how he felt. Every look, every touch, every time she laughed, he'd wanted to blurt it out without hesitation. If she needed time, he could wait until she was ready.

And he wanted her to be ready.

___________________________________________________

Emi had spent most of the day pacing in her room, rehearsing the words she wanted to say to Kirishima. Everything she'd tried sounded wrong. She didn't want to scare him off or make him regret anything. All she worried about was whether their friends were right in their assumptions.

She had finally worked up the courage to leave her room, but only to immediately leave the dorm altogether. Emi waited at the bus stop to take her into town. She finally had a plan.

It had taken hours of indecisiveness but finally, when she prepared to return to the dorms after her excursion, she was ready. She had picked out the perfect gift for Kirishima, along with the right words to say when she saw him.

This was what she had always wanted, right? Emi had always felt deeply about things, and people, only to not receive the same in return. But Kirishima wasn't like anyone else she'd had a crush on. This felt fully reciprocated, and even if it wasn't, she was prepared for that. Years of heartbreak had steeled her for disappointment.

Emi pulled out her phone, and texted Uraraka and Momo an update. She told them where she was and what she had been doing, along with what she wanted to do. They both responded almost immediately with their support, and a lot of happy gifs that made her smile.

Everything was going to be perfect.

Until she heard someone shout on the bus, causing most of the passengers to go to one side and look out the window. They pointed and yelled, enough to cause Emi to stand from her seat and investigate as well.

"Where are the heroes!" One of the passengers shouted.

"That guy is a villain!" Another screamed.

Without hesitation, Emi was off the bus. Sure, she was in her third year at UA, but she had to do something. These people were frightened and through the screams on the street she heard glass shattering. She followed the noise until she came upon a storefront, with its windows and doors shattered.

Emi's stomach lurched as she stepped into a pool of blood. Quickly, she reached down to touch the concrete below her, and let it spread across her body. "Whoever is in here, you might as well come out! Pro Heroes have been called and they're on their way!" She yelled, hopeful that her lie was closer to the truth. If anything, it might scare away whoever was causing this chaos.

A civilian ran past her to get out of the store, still screaming. She had long since forgotten about the gift bag she left outside and now focused solely on making sure any other civilians were safe. Slowly, Emi crept into the store, scanning around for more people.

"Please, help us." A woman whimpered from behind the counter. Emi leaned down and grabbed her arm, pulling her up from the ground.

"Let's get you out of here." Emi whispered, guiding the frightened woman to the exit when suddenly, she felt the weight pulled from her grip. She could only watch as the woman seemed to float to the back of the store like her body was not in control of itself.

"Don't steal my things, hero." A low voice spoke. Emi steeled herself before facing the villain, turning to fight.

"Maybe don't scare people and I won't." She snapped, preparing to confront the man that now stood in front of her, holding onto the civilian's hair. "Why don't you just let her go, then you and I can talk this out."

"See, I tried to grab you instead of her." The man let his head fall to the side, curiosity dripping from his gaze. "I guess with your quirk I couldn't get a good hold on your blood."

So, his quirk had to be some kind of blood manipulation, she thought. While her quirk did in fact cause close to a molecular change, she hadn't truly realized it changed that deeply. No matter, quirk or no quirk she was still ready to beat the shit out of him.

"Let the woman go, or I'll have to make you." Emi warned, taking a step forward.

"You said Pro Heroes were on their way, does that mean you aren't one?" The villain asked, dangling the woman in front of himself. He was using her as a shield.

"Pro Hero or not, I will rescue that woman and stop whatever you're doing." Emi continued forward, slowly, trying to get within arms reach of the woman who was frozen in terror. If she couldn't get her out of harms way safely, Emi would never be able to apprehend this man.

"You heroes really are no fun." Before Emi could say something in response, he threw the woman at her as a distraction. She caught the woman quickly before shoving her towards the door.

"Run!" Emi shouted, moving to follow. She knew she wasn't supposed to do this alone, without an adult, even if every instinct was screaming at her to stay and fight.

Suddenly, the blood at Emi's feet swirled, forming whips and wrapping around her legs. "Even if I can't control your blood, that doesn't stop me from using anyone else's." She turned to bare her teeth at the villain as she struggled to move. "I wonder, could blood pierce your so-called armor?" As an answer, she felt pain in her legs, like tiny needles seeping through the concrete she was using as skin. This is not good, she thought. "Ah, I see it can. Well, isn't that fun."

She felt another piercing sensation in her back, turning to find a dagger made of blood sinking into her. Emi's eyes followed the hand holding it up to meet the man's eyes. When she could finally see his face, her body turned rigid.

"Kazuo?"

_____________________________________________

"We are following the incident as closely as possible. It seems that a villain began reigning terror moments ago, and police are waiting for a Pro Hero to arrive on the scene." The newscaster explained, civilians standing in fear behind her. Kirishima sat on the couch watching the TV with Midorya, Bakugo, Uraraka, Shoto, Sero, and Tsuyu. They had called on Aizawa to request permission to go but hadn't been able to reach him. Each student watched in anticipation, waiting for their leash to snap so they could leap into action.

"Which Pro Hero do you think will arrive first?" Midorya asked, his notebook in his lap waiting to take notes.

"Endeavor is out of town, so it won't be him." Shoto responded.

"Maybe Mirko?" Uraraka wondered, quickly checking her phone to see if Emi had responded to her numerous messages. The last one went unanswered, where are you Emi?

"I don't understand why we can't respond. We're third years, we should be out there fighting and kicking ass." Bakugo grumbled from his spot on the couch, arms crossed in frustration. "I bet whoever it is wouldn't stand a chance against me."

"Guys be quiet, the news lady is back." Sero said, and they all focused again.

"We have a civilian here ready to comment on what's going on. Ma'am, did you see who was doing this?"

"It was a man, h-he came into the store on a rampage. He had blood coming from his fingertips." A woman on the screen spoke, tears staining her face. "I was hiding when a woman found me. She was so brave. Her skin... her skin looked like concrete. I think she was wearing a school uniform of some kind, but I can't remember where it was from. I thought she was right behind me but when I turned around, she wasn't there. She must've stayed back to fight. Whoever she was, I want to thank her."

The common room went silent. No one dared to breathe after realization crossed their minds.

Skin looked like concrete. School uniform. It couldn't be, could it? Kirishima's heart was pounding in his chest. That description sounded a lot like...

"She was on a bus back. Emi should've been here by now." Uraraka whispered. Bakugo and Kirishima turned to look at her, their eyes wide. Midorya kept his eyes glued to the screen. Sero and Koda were too stunned to move. Tsuyu began calling Aizawa again.

"What do you mean she was on a bus?" Kirishima questioned, his voice low. Uraraka couldn't look at him. Before she could respond, the front door opened to reveal Aizawa and All Might, both looking ragged as if they'd be running.

"Students, we must inform you-" All Might started.

"We already figured it out." Bakugo cut him off, still staring at Uraraka.

Kirishima stood quickly from the ground, marching over to Aizawa before saying, "Now you have to let us go out there. Our classmate is there, she could be in trouble."

"Hawks is almost there. Emi can handle herself until then." Aizawa stated, putting his hands out to try and calm Kirishima down.

"No! You don't know what kind of villain is in there!" Kirishima shouted, causing Bakugo and Sero to join him in standing. "That woman said he had some sort of blood quirk. Do we even know if Emi's quirk can withstand something like that? Are you willing to take that risk? Because I'm not."

"We have to go out there, teach. She's our friend." Sero argued.

"Let us kick some ass!" Bakugo yelled.

"You and the rest of the class will be staying here." Aizawa commanded, crossing his arms. "We can't risk putting more of you in harms way. As I said, Hawks is almost on the scene, and once he arrives, he will instruct Emi to get out of there."

Kirishima felt like all the blood had left his body. Emi. Emi are you safe? He had to think about how strong she was, he knew how she could handle herself, but what if? Kirishima couldn't go against the rules, at least not with All Might and Aizawa standing right in front of him. They'd know if he snuck out, otherwise he'd be out the door in a matter of seconds.

All he could do was turn his attention back to the TV and wait for more information. Uraraka still looked at if she'd seen a ghost, so he sat down next to her and put a hand on her shoulder. Maybe to comfort her, maybe to comfort himself, he wasn't sure.

Emi you better be kicking ass right now.

_____________________________________________________

Emi's world had flipped on its axis.

"Kazuo?" It was a recognition she wished hadn't crossed her mind.

As if the same thought crossed his, the man leaned back. "Oh shit, Emi Kaneko." Kazuo grinned, moving back more to take in the sight before him. "What has it been now, two years?"

"What the hell are you doing?" Emi questioned, still in pain from his jabs.

Kazuo chuckled, before saying, "Straight to the point as always. Well, right now I'm catching up with an old classmate that interrupted my fun."

"I mean, what are you doing acting as if you're a villain?" Emi snapped while still trying to get away from the blood spikes holding her legs in place. The dagger he'd stabbed her with was still lodged in her back, as if in their moment of catching up, as he'd put it, caused him to forget about it. "We were classmates during our first year in America. You were supposed to become a hero, not this. What happened to you?"

"Long story, we'll save it for another day." Kazuo smiled at her, and a sick feeling settled deep in her stomach. This wasn't the same kid she'd known two years ago, starting his hero journey and wanting to save people with his quirk. "Besides, now it won't be as fun to toy with you anymore, so I better get going before those Pro Heroes you mentioned arrived."

As he started to walk away to escape, Emi shouted, "Kazuo, don't do this! You can't come back from this! I can help you, if you need someone to help, I can be that person! Don't go down this path!" Before she could say anymore, a blur of red caught her peripheral, and the side window of the shop shattered as a body flew through it. Red wings. It must be Hawks, she thought. "Hawks, wait!"

As the Pro Hero landed in front of her, Kazuo finally had another body of blood he could manipulate, and she realized it at the same time as he did. With a flick of Kazuo's wrist, Hawk's body flew backwards, slamming into her and sending the both of them out the front of the store. With the wind knocked out of her, and the pain searing in her legs from her injuries, she struggled to gain footing as Hawks leapt off her.

"Emi Kaneko, I presume?" Hawks asked, offering a hand to her. She took it and let him pull her from the ground. "I was told by a very upset Eraserhead that you have to stand down. Get out of here, kid. I've got it from here."

"No." Emi said firmly, causing Hawks to look at her for the first time since his heroic entrance. "I know him. I'm not leaving."

Something was sparkling in her eyes, and Hawks couldn't tell if it was determination or stubbornness. Either way, he wasn't about to let a student get hurt on his watch. "Not your call, princess. Now go." He told her, before sending one of his feathers to snatch her shirt and carry her away. He could hear the curses leaving her lips as he walked back into the store.

He knew that by now, the villain would be gone. And yeah, he could chase after him, but he had sidekicks for that. All Hawks wanted to do right now was examine the scene to gather intel on who and what this guy was.

Once Emi was set down beyond the barrier the police had set up, she pulled out her phone. She scanned through her list of contacts, trying to decide if she should call a teacher or a friend. Emi settled on the former, figuring it was best to have a pick up and face the lecture she knew she'd get on the way back to campus. After a few rings, she said, "Eraserhead... yeah yeah I know... what was I supposed to... okay... okay... I get it... can you just come pick me up now?"

As she waited for Aizawa to arrive, she sat on the curb, avoiding cameras and newscasters as they began questioning anyone around them. She was so deep in her thoughts that she almost hadn't noticed someone sitting down next to her.

"Hey, kid." Hawks said, leaning back against the support of his hands. Emi didn't bother looking at him. "I heard you saved a civilian back there."

"Yeah, she was terrified." Emi responded.

Man, she really doesn't want to talk, Hawks thought. "Well, good job. And, that woman said you left something behind." Emi turned to look and saw Hawks holding her gift bag in his hands. The one with Kirishima's gift in it. "She had grabbed it once the chaos subsided and asked me to return it to the 'nice lady who saved her'." She grabbed the bag from his hand before muttering a short thanks. "I'm sure you're thinking you should've done more, trust me, I've been there. But you're just a student."

"I knew him." Emi stated quietly. Hawks' eyebrows raised. "We went to school together in America. During my first year at hero school, he was my classmate. Then, he fell off the face of the earth. I know he wasn't like this, and I don't know why he's doing this."

Hawks thought of Lady Nagant.

"I wanted to kick his ass before I realized who he was, and that made me slip up." Emi confessed as she rubbed a hand over her face. "I should've put my feelings aside."

"Sometimes, that's hard. Even for a Pro Hero." Hawks told her, watching Emi closely. If he could pull more intel from her about the villain, it would make his job a hell of a lot easier. Give me more, he thought. As if the universe hated Hawks, he sensed Aizawa walking over from a waiting car. He'd have to get information another time. "Eraserhead, glad you finally made it to the party."

Aizawa didn't bother responding to the Pro Hero, and instead held out his hand for Emi to take. "Let's go back to campus. Your friends are freaking out and I can't keep control of them for much longer before they start breaking down the walls." Aizawa said to Emi, who accepted his hand and stood.

She turned to say one last thing to Hawks. "If you find him before I do, think about treating him the same way you treated me today. What was it you said? Just a kid."

A kid. Sure. Hawks thought. A kid who can control blood, a substance readily available and deadly at all times.

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