You tapped on the desk of your uncle's office, as the computer switched on. Time seemed to go so slowly as the screen brightened up, asking you for a password. I should've known.

As you bit your lip, something under the desk caught your eye. A briefcase. If you remembered right, it shared an uncanny resemblance with the one your uncle had handed to that stranger at the train station.

You went down on your knees and examined it. You ran a finger on its lock. Unlike the dusty books under the table, the silver briefcase looked pristine. Uncomfortably pristine.

As you heard someone swing the door open, you held your breath. You curled up your knees, making yourself as small as possible. You heard him give a few steps towards you, so you quietly unplugged the computer's cable, forcing the computer to shut down. Your uncle's mobile phone rang. You listened in for anything suspicious, though he did not say much. He then gave out a couple of vicious coughs before leaving his office and locking you in.

There was a small window which could serve as an exit. Though you knew you only had a limited amount of time before your father and uncle started worrying about your whereabouts. Especially because of how on edge your dad seemed to be since the USJ incident.

You scanned the room for clues, both for the computer's password and the 4-digit passcode on the briefcase. You gulped as you caught sight of a picture of your family on one of the bookshelves, feeling almost as a traitor for not trusting your uncle. Having grown up in a caring environment, you struggled to believe that he would ever mean any harm to you.

However, as you eyed last month's calendar hung on the wall, Todoroki's words resounded in your ears.

Not everyone who pays you a favour is a friend.

You flicked through the calendar back to December. Nothing stood out to you in particular, but for the faint pencil markings on that fateful day - the day of your father's accident.

Suddenly, you heard your dad call your name. He wanted you to have dinner with him. He was still in bed, having regained little mobility so far. You studied the window in the corner of the room. Yes, it was wide enough for your frame. As you slid down the wall, you realised that you should have probably cleaned your fingerprints off the briefcase.

---

Having been paired up to fight one-on-one against Midoriya during the hero training exercise, you dug you nails into your palms, leaving some marks which evidenced your vexation at the freckled boy.

As the rest of the class gathered around the two of you, Bakugo narrowed his eyes. Bakugo glared at Midoriya and you, reading himself to bark out a few insults to snap Midoriya out of his anxious state, or at least to make his obnoxious muttering stop. 

Neither of you were giving it your all, so what was the point?

Not that he cared, of course. But it was so pitiful to see the pair of you just stand there. Until, that was, he noticed you tense up and take on such a determined stance.

You stomped on the clay as you brought your fist in front of you. "Just take me seriously, okay, Deku? Is that too much to ask?" You caught up your breath before added, "I'm sure I can rival you, so knock yourself out trying, okay?"

You lunged towards Midoriya to get a hold of him, but he stepped to the side, and began circling you in an attempt to confuse you. At least, he thought this would make it harder for you to catch him until he could work out a better plan.

Closing your eyes shut, you forced yourself to identify Midoriya's presence, which became harder as more of your classmates surrounded the arena you were standing on.

Midoriya chewed on his bottom lip, his forehead puckering as he toyed with the idea of abandoning his previous strategy of staying on the low. "Y-yeah, but I'm not doing this to look down on you! I don't want to hurt you because I can't control my quirk yet!"

Your stomach sank. If there was one thing you had grown to hate more than anything was being considered useless. Useless, helpless, pathetic. Heaven knew why those bitter words had to play over and over in your mind, though you didn't want to believe them.

Although you thought of Midoriya as your friend, to have him pulling something like this - deeming you unworthy of using his full power - made that mosh pit of unresolved emotions unravel.

"Try me, please," you insisted, sweeping some sweat off your forehead.

The muscles in Midoriya's face tensed as he caught sight of Todoroki nearing the arena. Instead of bearing a vacant expression, Todoroki lifted his chin in defiance, his unrelenting gaze setting on Midoriya and then on you. As if he was threatening Midoriya to listen to you, putting him between a rock and a hard place.

Caught off-guard by Todoroki's sudden zealous behaviour, Midoriya looked down at the scar tissue on his hand. With the way your quirk worked, this could go either amazingly well or terribly wrong.

Had he known the regret he would have to bear later on, he wouldn't have been so hasty in his decision.

---

"You ought to take more care of yourself, (y/n)!" Recovery Girl put her hand on your forehead as you laid on the nurse's office's bed. The elderly lady shook her head at you. "Even when I was young, I was never as foolhardy as you."

"I'm sorry," you said softly, still feeling drowsy.

All Might came through the door, in his weakened form. "I am here! Where is young (y/n)?"

Fortunately for him, Recovery Girl pulled up a curtain. You sat up to greet your teacher, but Recovery Girl pushed you back down, not allowing you to see him. He activated his quirk before drawing the curtain open.

"How are you feeling after your fight against young Midoriya?" All Might took a seat by your bed, guilty that he had not disrupted your fight against Midoriya in time as he hoped it would serve him as training.

"I'm perfectly fine. I don't feel too different than before the hero training exercise. Thank you for asking, All Might."

"That is great to hear! Do you feel ready to join our class again, young (y/n)?"

"Yeah, I'm good to go," you said, straightening your back.

Recovery Girl shook her head sideways, nudging you to settle down. "All Might, I appreciate that you encourage your students, though this time you are taking it too far. This is the first time (y/n) goes beyond her limit of absorbed vitality, so we cannot know what effect that will have on her body yet."

"Did you borrow young Midoriya's energy as he used his quirk, young (y/n)?"

You nodded, remembering the blinding emerald light. Only an hour ago, you had taken enough energy to bring down a house, which made you shake uncontrollably, frightening many of your classmates. More than a glass that had been overfilled, so the liquid could pour over, your quirk worked as a box which could store the energy for later use. For this very same reason, Recovery Girl feared for your life.

Who was to say what would happen next time you went over your limit?

"All Might, with your permission, I will inform the rest of the staff to look out for this happening again. I will keep a close eye at young (y/n)."

"Yes, I understand the severity of the matter." All Might gave you a reassuring smile. "I am here to make sure nothing bad happens to you. Are you happy with receiving some guidance on your quirk from Recovery Girl?"

You took a deep breath in, realising for the first time the weight of the situation. In the world of heroes, everyone needed to know their limitations to work on them. In some ways, you could be grateful that Midoriya had helped you discover that blindspot, even if it had hurt you in the process. "Yeah, I'm happy to do that. Thank you for all of your help."

---

After the long school day, Midoriya waited for you by the lockers. You had agreed that you would discuss your quirks so that both of you could improve together. Midoriya smiled as he saw you walk towards him. His eyebrows lifted when noticed Todoroki strolling back into school. The half-and-half boy had been waiting by the gate since the bell rang.

"Hey there, Deku," you said. "I'm sorry I'm a bit late."

"It's no problem. W-we can still make it to the train station in time if we hurry up."

You went on to change your shoes to your locker, but got distracted. You spotted Todoroki by the glass door. He beckoned to you.

"Shoto, were you waiting to walk down with me?"

Todoroki looked down at you. "I didn't have anything else to do."

"Wait! I forgot the key for my locker in the classroom. I'll be right back," you said. As you turned around, you almost bumped into Midoriya. You put your hands together. "I won't be long."

"S-sure. Please, do take care!" You heard the green-haired boy say as you parted ways.

He still couldn't help but blame himself for damaging your hands during today's lesson. He was unable to stop 'the egg in the microwave' from exploding, scorching his finger. Given that One for All destroyed his body every time he used it, thinking what effect it could have on you made him anxious.

You ran up the stairs two at a time. Soon as you rushed back, and changed your shoes, you noticed that Midoriya wasn't there anymore. You had a look around, but the only person left waiting for you was Todoroki.

"Hey, Shoto, have you seen Deku?"

"Yeah, he seemed in a hurry. He said he needed to feed his cats or something."

"Cats? The more you know," you said, sounding disillusioned. Midoriya had never told you he had any pets. "I was hoping I could apologise to him after what happened today."

Todoroki hummed to himself as he started walking. You soon followed after him. Why is it like he was always a lap ahead of me? I'm always having to catch up. You thought as you walked up to him to be by his side.

"Shoto? Can I ask you something?"

"Yeah."

"Is there such a thing as an honourable criminal?" You said, echoing your uncle's words over his phone conversation.

Todoroki shook his head. "Some criminals like to convince themselves that what they're fighting for is right. How come?"

"Nothing too important. I was just wondering if that's to do with any particular organisation."

Todoroki's lips curled up into a guarded grin as he looked ahead. While for him it didn't seem like anything serious, this matter continued to eat away at you the deeper you delved into it.

You relaxed your bandaged fists, letting out a breath that you didn't know you were holding. The fact that you talked to Todoroki about it was a big step in itself. You were relieved that he didn't dismiss your worries, yet still feared what you might uncover next.