"Internships are starting, huh?"

"Mm."

"Exciting, right?"

"Mm."

"You're being kinda weird, aren't you?"

"Mm—wait, what?"

Uraraka let out a weary sigh, slumping her shoulders. The week of internships had just begun; currently, your class was making its way over towards the train station with equipment in tow. It was inevitable that you would each be going your separate ways, but Aizawa was chaperoning you until the starting point. Every now and then, you would steal a glance towards Katsuki, feeling your bottom lip quiver when you recalled your ever-present dilemma. You were very much out of it—so much so that you'd been completely zoning out your best friend.

"C'mon," Uraraka prodded, "Something's up. Why won't you tell me what's bothering you? It feels like ever since you found out who your soulmate was, you've been icing me out..."

You swallowed thickly. What she was saying was true, but even so, how could you bring up what was happening to you? It's not like she would understand; she had no way of possibly understanding. Besides, what were you supposed to say?

"Oh it's nothing, I just found out that my soulmate mark is fading away—and there's a chance it could kill me."

...Yeah, right. You'd sooner take this secret to the grave than tell Uraraka and turn her into a weeping, anxious mess. She was serious about becoming a hero, and you didn't need to distract her with your drama. Not now. Not until after internships were over.

"Sorry," you mumbled. "I know it feels like I've been a bit secretive and distant, but I guess I'm just really stressed about everything that's going on. I keep overthinking this whole soulmate thing...it's keeping me from focusing on school, too. It's hard to explain, and I just feel like I would end up annoying you if I talk about it."

"What? Of course not!" Uraraka spluttered, teetering backwards to place a hand on your shoulder. "[Name]-chan, you can tell me anything—no matter what's on your mind, I promise I'll hear you out. You would never annoy me. If something's bothering you, I want you to tell me about it. I want to help," she smiled. "So you don't need to worry about that, okay?"

Your stomach began to churn. The guilt alone made you want to smack yourself.

"Yeah. You're right. I'll come to you if something's up."

The brunette flashed you a blinding smile, cheeks rosier than ever. Seemingly satisfied with your explanation, she pranced along behind her classmates and Aizawa. You hung your head and sighed, inadvertently glancing over towards Katsuki.

You flinched. He was staring right back at you.

Katsuki stuck his tongue out at you, and then moved his lips to mouth "Smile, moron."

Your chest hurt, but you smiled nonetheless.

—

"I read over your student profile, and you mentioned wanting to become a healer, correct?"

You bobbed your head in response. The silver-haired lady before you—a heroine by the name of Lotus—was who you'd chosen to intern for. She was a relatively new pro hero, who tended to stay out of the spotlight, but you liked the aura she gave off. Not only did she dabble in healing and surveillance ops, but she sort of reminded you of yourself; subdued and gentle.

"I want to be like Recovery Girl someday. Not that I'll be as good as her," you added hurriedly, "but I'd like to be able to help people the way she does. She's sort of my inspiration for training to become a hero."

The heroine smiled at you. "That's lovely. At the end of the day, helping people is our ultimate goal—the fact that you want to see to others' health tells me that you've definitely got the mindset of a hero."

"Oh. Thank you, Lotus—"

"Hana," she corrected. "Just call me Hana. Codenames are for when you're on the job; calling each other by our real names is much more personal, isn't it?"

You blinked. "Aren't we on the job right now?"

"That may be true, but I'd still like to get to know you better. Is that alright?"

"Yeah," you smiled. "Of course."

I like her.

Hana grinned back at you. "Come along, then. Let me give you a run-down of the office. I'm sorry to say that it'll mostly be patrolling and bureaucracy today; we'll have to move onto the training starting tomorrow."

"That's fine. Everything's an experience. I'm just glad that you offered me a position."

"Oh, aren't you cute?" she chuckled. "You know, you remind me of my little sister. Or me—back when I was younger. Or actually, me right now. Ah, sorry—I'm rambling again."

She smiled sheepishly, ushering you along through the rest of the quarters. The life of a pro hero definitely came across as coveted and exclusive, but you knew full well that it was nowhere near as glamorous as it may have seemed. There was a great deal of paperwork involved, judging by the mounds of binders and looseleaf spilled out on the tables. The whole place was actually a bit messy and clumsily strewn together, which only made the heroine more endearing.

"Right," she huffed, clasping her hands together. "First off, I'm going to show you the basics of filing off all the citizen requests, and how we keep track of everything around here. I gave my usual crew the day off since I wanted us to have a chance to get to know each other properly, but umm—" she scratched the back of her head and pouted "—I realize that may have been a mistake now. Oh, well."

You stifled a giggle. She really was adorable.

"It's no problem. Just tell me what to do and I'll buckle down and get to work."

"Great!" Hana brushed off her side-braid and smiled again. "I'll be much obliged, [Name]."

She began handing you folders and stacks of dilapidated papers. Once she'd glossed over the basics, your fingers began moving dutifully as they sorted everything out. It was just desk work, really, but you found yourself smiling nonetheless.

For just a little while, your problems had melted away.

—

"It was lovely meeting you!" Hana had grinned. "I'll make sure to be more organized tomorrow, I promise!"

She'd waved you off with her trademark smile, and with that, your first day of interning had officially come to an end. All things considered, you thought it had gone well. You hadn't actually gotten a chance to do anything too exciting, but you really liked Hana—you could tell that working under her was going to be a lot fun. At the very least, you'd hit the goldmine when it came to picking your mentor.

Unfortunately, with the day having come to a close, your worries resurfaced. You'd been trying to force the whole soulmate tattoo thing to the back of your mind, but it was becoming increasingly difficult to do so. Even now, you still couldn't understand why Katsuki's mark was fine but yours wasn't.

I need to talk to Monoma-kun when I get back to school. He may not have all the answers, but someone; ANYONE, needs to help me.

That was how you found yourself dragging your feet along the streets, with the amber-lit skies overhead, and colliding chest-first with a passerby.

"S-sorry!" you spluttered out, hurrying to regain your bearings. "I wasn't watching where I was—oh. Todoroki-kun?"

The bi-color haired male nodded dully. "It's fine. I wasn't paying attention, either."

"Ah, okay. Did you just finish off your first day as well?" You spared a glance to your surroundings, but you couldn't remember which other hero was stationed nearby. Unless it was—?

"Endeavor," Todoroki cut in, finishing your thoughts for you. "My dad. I ended up deciding to go to his office for my internship."

You blinked repeatedly, trying (but failing) to mask the surprise in your expression.

"...Oh. Cool," you smiled. "I'm glad that you decided to do that, even though—I-I mean, uhh—"

"Even though?" Todoroki frowned, studying your expression. It only took a few moments for him to let out a weak sigh. "Oh. I was wondering why you were so adamant about screaming at me back during the Sports Festival—you overheard what I told Midoriya, didn't you?"

"Uhh, not really. Heard what? Sorry, I'm a little confused..."

He rolled his eyes. "You don't need to lie to me. It's fine. It makes a lot more sense now; you knew why I was holding back on Bakugou, and that's why you stood up for him."

"...Ugh." You slumped your shoulders, eyes betraying your guilt. "Sorry. You guys were just talking in the underpass, and I happened to walk by. I didn't really think that it was any of my business, but then I went and got involved anyways..."

Todoroki shrugged. "Nothing to apologize for. If anything, I should be thanking you."

"Uh, okay. Why?"

"It just got me to thinking," he murmured, running a hand down his dual-shaded locks. "I wanted to stop comparing myself to him—Midoriya said something similar, as well. At the end of the day, it's my power, and I shouldn't limit myself because of him. Don't get me wrong," he added, "I still hate his guts. But I decided that I would try and learn something from this internship."

You straightened up. What you'd heard back there had tugged on your heartstrings, but his eyes, well...they looked different from before. They were no longer hazy and muddled; they were now bright and shining with a clarity they'd never had. Your little "speech" had really been more so for Katsuki, but you were happy to hear that it had helped Todoroki, too.

"Well, I'm glad that you're feeling better now," you smiled. "Again, I'm sorry for eavesdropping. Just hope things start looking up from now on."

"Yeah. Same here."

An awkward silence settled. Todoroki was staring at you pointedly, as if studying your expression. You imagined that if left to his own devices, the two of you would just continue standing there without saying another word.

"I-I guess I should get going then. See you later, Todoroki—"

"Is something wrong?"

You blinked. "Excuse me?"

"I mean, I don't know." He shifted awkwardly in place, pursing his lips. "You seem a little different than usual. I'm not the best at deciphering peoples' feelings, but you look...sad. I think. Like you're forcing yourself to smile."

"Oh."

You didn't really know what else to say. Uraraka was a given, since she was your closest friend, but if even Todoroki—the king of indifference—could pick up on your melancholy, then you were probably doing a real shit job of hiding it.

But I'm tired of hiding it.

With trembling lips, you slowly nodded your head. "You're right," you mumbled hoarsely. "I'm not...feeling too good right now. Some things have happened recently, and they've really bummed me out."

"So I was...right?" Todoroki reaffirmed, looking almost impressed with himself. "Huh. I'm a little surprised, I have to say. Well, never mind that—did you want to talk about it?"

"I don't know. It's my problem, not yours, and I feel like I'd just be bothering you..."

"I wouldn't have asked if it was a bother."

You swallowed thickly. This was something you hadn't even told Uraraka yet, but you needed to get it off your chest. In a way, maybe telling someone like Todoroki was better—the two of you didn't really know each other all that well, so it was unlikely that it would affect him in any way.

Maybe you just wanted to be heard.

"Okay, well," you began, "You know I have a soulmate tattoo right? Back at the Sports Festival, I'm pretty sure you saw it."

"I did."

"And see, the thing is—" you bit down on your bottom lip " —I lied. About not knowing who my soulmate was."

Todoroki's placid expression shifted just slightly. "Oh. But why—?"

"It's Katsuki-kun," you blurted out. "I found out on the very first day of school, and things have been a mess since then."

"...Ah." The male appeared at a total loss for words, but slowly straightened up, giving you a gentle nod. "Somehow," he admitted, "that doesn't surprise me. I've noticed that you spend a lot of time together. And it makes even more sense with how you stood up for him during the Sports Festival."

"I guess so..."

"What's the problem then?" he frowned. "Are you just struggling to come to terms with the fact that he's your soulmate?"

You merely shook your head, finding it difficult to muster a response. The words were getting caught in your throat now, and your chest was burning like never before.

Finally—

"...It's fading."

Todoroki blinked slowly, brows kitting together. "Beg your pardon?"

"It's fading," you repeated, tears beginning to blur your vision. "Mine is—but not his. M-my soulmate mark is fading away, and I have no idea why. I have no idea why, Todoroki-kun, and I'm scared—"

"[Name], wait," Todoroki urged. "Please try to calm—"

"I'M TERRIFIED, OKAY?!"

The boy's eyes widened, watching as you choked out a heavy sob. Your tears were rolling freely down your cheeks now, with no end in sight; people on the street were turning their heads to look over at you, but you couldn't have cared less. You felt it now—the fear you'd been so desperately trying to contain. It surged out of you like a dam breaking apart, and all you could do was crumple against Todoroki's chest.

"I just don't know what I'm supposed to do," you sobbed, clinging onto his shirt for dear life. "Something's wrong with me—it has to be me. T-that's why I'm the one whose mark is fading. I'm the fucked up one. It's only me..."

Todoroki was as stiff as a board. His arms hovered above your back, unsure of where to place them; eventually, they fell loosely around your frame. You felt his hands press you closer; what was likely the male's best attempt at a consoling hug.

"I don't really know anything about this stuff," he murmured. "But...I don't think you're fucked up. And even though I can't give you an answer as to what's going on, I think you'll be okay. It might not make sense right now, but you'll figure things out soon. It's just what I think."

You sniffled, wiping your thumb across your waterline. "Really?"

"Yeah. That's the feeling I get."

"Okay. Thank you...Todoroki-kun."

The flush in your chest still had yet to desist, but you felt a bit better. Even if he wasn't able to help you, it was nice just finally telling someone. Having him hold you in his arms was comforting, too—you were actually a bit disappointed to have to let go.

"Sorry I couldn't help," Todoroki breathed out. You thought his cheeks had more color than before.

"No, you've already done more than enough. I just really needed to get this off my chest." You wiped away the last of your tears, managing a genuine smile. "I think I'll head home now. Glad I ran into you."

"Yeah. Me, too."

You waved the boy off, heading in the direction of the train station. Todoroki was right. If you just gave it a bit of time, things would start making sense.

They had to.