"Darling! You came to visit little ol' me?"

You grinned, "They finally let me... how are you?"

It was a nice change to be in the hospital without severe injuries of your own, but seeing Monarch like this - you'd swap places in a heartbeat. How can he still smile like that?

His wings had their own pillows on either side of his body. It looked like recovery girl already did her magic as they looked less like crumpled paper. The burn scars on his body were less prominent, but not gone.

Somehow - SOMEHOW - he looked cooler than before?!

The scar along his cheek and neck looked more like an accessory. Of course, you laughed to yourself, he always had to look fantastic in his way.

Like a metro bad-ass.

"I think my wings have the worst of it," Monarch sighed, "I should've been more careful. These things are strong but not invincible."

"Monarch..." you couldn't tear your eyes away from the top of his head.

"What is it? Oh... my hair."

"Your hair," you whined.

"Well, don't fret over that!" He chucked, "Hair grows back, and I've been meaning to try some shorter hairstyles - now I have every excuse to."

His impossibly long black hair was now lobbed off at his neck. Though, he had it tied back, you could tell by the loose strands that fell by his face just how short it was now.

"Come," he pat the side of his bed, "There's more we should discuss. I'm afraid there's more."

"Don't tell me you're actually dying," you frowned as you took a seat.

"No, but... I am going to be in some trouble. Legally speaking."

"How? Not because of this! Right?"

"No. I'm almost certain what happened was an accident. Almost."

You gripped the edge of the bed, "How? You really don't think it was someone coming after us?"

He shrugged, "There is no proof it was caused by anyone's quirk. No one saw anything. As terrible as it is, it would relax me greatly knowing no one deliberately caused this."

"Then, what are you worried about?"

"Well. Your dear godfather has been in correspondence with men of particular interest to certain hero organizations."

"... What kind of men?"

"The not great kind."

"Monarch," you pursed your lips.

"Just the Yakuza."

Your jaw dropped, "What the hell... I- I mean, I'm not totally surprised, I guess. But the Yakuza? Seriously? I actually didn't know they were super relevant anymore..."

"They haven't been really, not since the dawn of heroes, but one of them has been particularly active and I've been... 'playing with fire,' so to speak. Too soon?"

"What does that mean?" You asked, not humored by his joke.

"When the police investigated my facility after the fire they found some things that might make me look bad..."

"Monarch what does that mean - are you going to jail?"

"Oh, I don't know. That'll be up to the judge and Sir Nighteye's opinion."

"Why were you talking with the Yakuza? What did you have to gain from that?"

"There's a lot to say, dear," Monarch winced, "However, we'll have to save that for another time."

He nodded to the door from whence you came. You had been alone before, but now an officer stood accompanied by a tall slender man with slick green hair and glasses. His expression was intense as his cold eyes glared in your direction.

"Sir Nighteye..." you breathed. To be honest, you only knew him because of All Might. History serves, he was once the numbers one's sidekick.

"Hello, handsome," Monarch grinned.

"(Y/N) Kayama," Nighteye crossed his arms, "What brings you here."

He knows my name? You cringed, oh... a lot of people probably do now.

"Just checking on my... Monarch?" You stood at attention. The officer entered the room, but Nighteye seemed content blocking the doorway.

"I see," his voice void of feeling, "If I'm not mistaken, you have somewhere else to be."

"Sorry, Miss," the officer said, "We have to ask you to leave now."

You resisted the urge to grab Monarch's hand. They weren't going to take him away - right now?

"It's alright," Monarch chuckled, "You have to meet your friends, don't you?"

You looked down at him and searched for any confidence in his eyes. He just winked, making you scoff.

"Yeah... yeah, okay," you pressed your lips together, "I'll see you soon."

You didn't get a chance to tell him anything or ask him more questions. Everything just kept unraveling like a ruined sweater.

My best friend - sort of ex - stabs me, Monarch's totally screwed, and I'm a hero-reject fuckup... this sucks balls.

You kept your head down as you passed Nighteye. You weren't positive how his quirk worked, but avoiding his judgey eyes felt like a good step.

"Take care of yourself, (Y/N)..." Nighteye said, and you felt a cold finger graze your arm.

It froze you, and the same reaction happened for Nighteye. He couldn't hide the surprise that came over his face.

Was he using his quirk? He could see the future or something... right? You looked up at him and waited for him to say something. He could've at least offered to tell my fortune...

"What is it?" you asked after a long silence.

"I- nothing," he said, "We'll meet again, (Y/N)."

"Yeah, sure...?"

What had the man seen? Better question: did you really want to know?

You glanced back once at your godfather. It was going to be a struggle focusing at summer camp while worrying about him, but at least you didn't have to sit in a hotel and wait around for an update. Slowly going mad.

You expected Lenny to be waiting for you in the lobby but, to your surprise, it was your aunt. Midnight waved, but the pity in her eyes told you that she knew.

Instead of preaching about how she "called it" or about how terrible Monarch was, she just hugged you.

"It'll be alright," she whispered.

I hope you're right.

"Come on," Midnight ruffled your hair, "Let's get you on the bus."

It felt strange seeing everyone again.

Aizawa had your entire class waiting outside for the bus to arrive. At first, it seemed no one knew how to react to seeing you. Conversations were awkward, like no one knew what would trigger you. (Except for Mineta, he still said whatever cams to his mind.)

"I don't care what anyone says, you're my goddess-supreme - I can deal with you having multiple boyfriends as long as I'm one of them!"

"Dude!" Denki hissed.

His comment repulsed you a fraction less today. It was better than being shut in your small motel alone, so, at this point, Mineta was moderately-decent company.

"Thanks, Grapejuice," you said.

Mineta made a shocked expression and froze - like a stone statue. Denki waved a hand in his face but eventually gave up. "He's broken," he shrugged.

"(Y/N)!" The voice of your green-haired friend called out to you.

"Deku - hey!" You couldn't hold back your smile. Something about his innocent little face made your chest feel warm.

"Uh... It's good to finally see you again," he said, "It feels like you can't catch a break."

"I'll say," you snorted, "It's alright... any publicity is good publicity, right?"

You could tell he knew you didn't believe that, but he smiled anyway, "If it makes you feel better, the staff at UA really stood up for you - especially Aizawa and All Might! A-and your aunt, of course! I think we'll win everyone over soon!"

"Tch..."

You both looked up to the spiky blond-haired boy walked by, "Let 'em fear you. The villains will too, and then everyone will learn to shut the hell up - especially when you save their ungrateful asses!"

Izuku flinched at his volume. You wanted to respond with something but Bakugo carried on, making his way to the front of the line. You could never really tell with Bakugo, but it felt like he was showing that he cared, in his own... weird way.

"A-anyway, how is Monarch doing?" Izuku asked.

"Oh. He's okay?"

Except that his wings could have permanent damage... and he might go to jail.

"I was really worried after..." he muttered shyly, "They still don't know what happened?"

You sighed, "Sadly, no."

Izuku loved to know things, but you could sense he was holding back for your sake. As he brushed the back on his neck, you noticed something peculiar under his chin - like a scratch or bruise.

"Hey," you pointed to his throat, "What happened here? Training?"

His cheery face fell, "Oh... I forgot to tell you..."

Why did he look nervous all the sudden? Your friend instincts kicked in and you grabbed onto his shoulders, "Hello? Did someone hurt you?"

Izuku blushed brightly, "No! I mean - kind of? It's not a big deal!"

"Was it Bakugo?" You asked.

"No! It's... y-you shouldn't worry about it right now."

You frowned.

"It's just," he looked like a hurt puppy, "You've already been through a lot - especially with the League and all."

"... Shigaraki did this to you?"

"He... held me hostage for like a minute at the mall. Nothing came of it - he got away."

"What!" You shook your head, "Did you report it - I... I missed quite a bit didn't I? What did he want with you?"

"He... just wanted to talk. It was seriously a minute. Uraraka came in time to scare him off."

Izuku wouldn't make eye contact with you. It was obvious he was hiding something, but who were you to press him?

You weren't about to tell him about Shinso harassing you...

"Well... I'm glad Uraraka was there," you said.

Your back stiffened when you heard the voices of class 1-B approaching. It was mainly Monoma's voice shouting nonsense at your class, but you heard the silent person in the crowd loudest of all.

You didn't even turn around. Shinso hadn't called since that day and you had been too afraid to message him. Was he actually waiting for you to confront him?

"(Y/N)?" Izuku tilted his head.

"Let's get on the bus," you said. You hurried forward with Izuku confused and just behind you.

Somehow, you ended up sitting next to Bakugo for the whole trip.

Not really "somehow" - he basically shoved Izuku into the seat across from you two. He didn't say much most of the drive. His determined, crimson eyes relaxed as he set his head back against the headrest. His long legs blocked the way to get to the aisle, so you cuddled up against the window and accepted the situation.

The girls sitting in front of you, including Mina and Toru, gabbed endlessly about how fun camp was going to be. You chuckled to yourself, knowing if Aizawa had a say in it, you were all coming home sore and crying.

Maybe an hour later, you felt something hot against your face. It hit you that you had fallen asleep, as you slowly opened your eyes to rejoin the world. You must have dozed off against the window or something.

Wrong.

Your eyes bulged wide when your vision cleared, and you were staring straight at the Lord of Explosion's crotch. Unable to hold back your alarm, you shrieked, and threw yourself back.

"Fuck!"

The back of your head hit Bakugo square in the nose. The blond fumed while covering his possibly broken nasal passage, "Did you have to scream like that?!" he grunted.

"Yes!" you felt your face turning into a red tomato, "I'm sorry, I'm sorry!"

"You're the one who fell asleep on me dumb-ass!"

"You should've woken me up!"

"Hey, Bakugo..."

The two of you leered at the purple pervert sitting diagonal of you. Mineta wiggled his eyebrows, "Girls hit me all the time, but I haven't had any of them scream in horror at my goods. Must really suck for you."

"... You want an early death, little shit?" Bakugo's chest rumbled.

"Quiet down," Aizawa stood at the front of the bus, "We're almost there, and I'd like you to give my friends your respect and attention."

Flustered, you rubbed the back of your head and peered out the window. Over the cliffside, all you could see was green. You would be hidden in the forest, away from your troubles and worries - finally able to focus on hero skills.

If only you knew then how terribly wrong you were about that.

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