A little bit later in the same evening, Okaido finished her Heroics class, which she was taking with Hitoshi. The two of them left the 1A classroom and waved a goodbye to All Might, who headed straight towards the staircase.

'Can I ask you something, Hitoshi?'

'Sure.'

'Or maybe not ask? It's more of a guidance, I guess?'

'Doesn't matter, fire ahead.'

'How well do you know Mr. Aizawa?' she asked, surprising him.

The purple haired boy looked up at the ceiling of the corridor. The two students slowly walked down the hallway, the last rays of the orange sun shining on their faces. The boy glanced to his right, watching a group of students from General Studies hanging out outside the building.

'A few months now. I wouldn't say I know him very well, but maybe a little bit more than most.'

'Alright. Do you know that today is his birthday?'

'Yea, I already wished him a happy birthday,' Hitoshi replied, looking back at the girl; there was a frown on her face.

'Did you give him something?'

'No, why?'

'Because I wanted to give him a gift, but I am in a problematic situation.'

'House arrest?'

'What? How did you know?'

'He mentioned,' Hitoshi smiled at the girl, who was quite shocked. 'So what's the problem, besides you not being able to get anything from the store?'

'Well, this is the issue. I was talking with Midnight, and she had a suggestion, a very tempting one as well. But only tempting for me and it could get Eraser to kill me,' she laughed and Hitoshi raised his eyebrow, still smiling.

'Like what?'

'We were thinking that maybe I should just pretend that I am inside the dorm, but actually leave.'

'Oh, that's BAD,' he chuckled.

'Yea, I was thinking for hours about that and the situation is as follows. I am not supposed to leave, but I can just run away from the house arrest, but then...' She paused and took a breath. 'Let's say that I do go to the store with Nemuri, right? So then what? Like, what do I even buy?'

'Do you mind me asking how did you get some money?'

'Principal Nezu was extremely kind and suggested that I can make some money by regularly helping in the cafeteria. He is so nice! That's also why for the first time in my life I can actually choose what to wear.' She grabbed her new, black, cargo pants and a black pull-over hoodie.

'That is really awesome,' he admitted.

'But anyway, the money is not an issue right now. I could get something, but if I was in the store, what would I get? And Eraser is not dumb, he is one of the smartest people I've met and I know he would easily connect the dots.'

'True.'

'But then again, he wouldn't be able to prove this to me. Midnight's got my back,' she smirked devilishly. 'And at the same time, I know I would feel very bad lying to him like that.'

'Hmmm,' Hitoshi looked outside the window again.

They were halfway across the longest corridor in the school.

'I know that he likes salty licorice, the Northern Europe snack and he absolutely loves cats.'

'Really?' she asked, pleasantly surprised.

'Yea. The other day,' Hitoshi chuckled. 'We were having a sparring, he was testing if I improved at fighting. So, he knocks me down a few times and then says that I need to work a lot, so then I put on this expression,' he stopped and pointed at the end of corridor with a surprised face. 'And I just say that there is a cat. So Mr. Aizawa turns around and asks me 'where?'. Mid-combat, can you believe that?'

'No way,' Mariko grinned.

'And then I leap forward and give him a taste of his own medicine.' He swung his fist in the air, as if trying to hit someone.

They both laughed out loud and continued walking down the corridor.

'I had no clue! I always thought there is something cat-like about Mr. Aizawa, but I never thought he is a cat person.'

'Something cat-like?' Hitoshi asked, curious.

'Yea. He sleeps a lot, and when you first see him, you don't expect him to be so strong. When you think about it, cats are like that as well, cute and fluffy but when they hunt...'

They turned to the left and stepped on the staircase.

'Is he cute and fluffy as well?' Hitoshi joked and looked at Mariko's face.

She lowered her dreamy gaze and smiled to herself.

'He is cute when he sleeps. And hot when he is mad.'

'Oh.' He raised his eyebrows and his expression dropped for a second. 'Are you a fangirl now?'

'I guess so,' Mariko admitted, making eye contact with Hitoshi.

'That's... That's...'

'Creepy?'

'No.' They stepped on the first floor and continued going down the stairs. 'Very unexpected. You didn't like him, did you?'

'Did I like anyone, though? Not even myself. He changed me, I owe him so much.'

'Then why don't you just say this to him?' Hitoshi suggested.

'Hm?' Mariko grasped the guardrail and peered into the boy's face.

'He is a teacher. He knew how to destroy and rebuild you. Don't you think that just proving him that he succeeded and expressing gratitude would be a great birthday gift? He doesn't seem like a materialistic person, Mr. Aizawa is basic, but in a good way.'

Mariko frowned, thinking about the boy's suggestion. She opened her mouth to say something, but the boy continued:

'And also, I feel like you don't want to be too obvious, do you?' He smirked at her. 'So if you were to buy him something cat-themed, but you know that he likes cats from me or someone else, let's say Midnight, then he would figure out that you were asking around. It would make him suspicious, wouldn't it?'

'Or he would appreciate the effort.'

'High risk, high reward game,' he said.

'Mmm,' she nodded. 'I think you are absolutely right, it's just it is super difficult for me to talk to him like that. He intimidates me and I get shaky and it's a mess...'

'Damn,' Hitoshi raised one of his brows, a hint of a laugh audible in his voice. 'That sounds like more advanced fangirling stage, if you know what I mean.'

'Stop,' she warned and slapped his arm, making the boy chuckle.

They both went quiet as a group of students from the second class approached the staircase. Mariko and Hitoshi headed towards the nearest exit and soon stepped outside the building.

'But I think I will do it,' Mariko said. 'I just need to let Midnight know, that I am out.'

'Are you sure?' Midnight asked, when Mariko was standing inside the teacher's room.

'Yea, I still would want to give him something, but I think it will be better if I just follow his orders.'

'That's so submissive of you,' Nemuri commented. She crossed her legs and looked at Mariko with a seductive expression. 'And I think that you are doing the right thing. I like the power dynamics of the two of you.'

'What?' Mariko opened her mouth, flabbergasted.

'Well, Shota doesn't like insubordination, but whenever he gets a chance to, he likes to punish. To me it always seemed like Aizawa is a brat-tamer and you are his biggest one yet.'

Okaido crouched and covered her face with her hand. The older woman laughed and stood up. She was dressed in her civilian clothes, ready to go out to the shopping mall.

'I hope you don't say things like this around Eri,' Mariko said quietly.

'Of course not! It's just around my friends.' She put her hands on her hips and looked down at the young woman before her. 'I like to tease Shota that he must be boring in bed, but I know for a fact, he will use his bonding knowledge very well.'

'Nemuri, please.' Okaido collapsed on the floor. 'Please, get out of my brain, I don't want to have...'

'Fantasies?'

'Yea,' she said against the bright wooden floor.

'Why not? They are normal.'

'But maybe not for my teacher?' Okaido raised her head to look at the woman; she looked completely defeated.

'Well, it's not like you control what your heart feels. I don't have anything against that, and I would like both of you to be happy, doesn't matter if you are single or together or something else. I just root for you two. But I would still see the two of you in a relationship.'

Mariko pushed herself up and stood on her feet.

'You are the best,' she said and hugged the woman.

They held each other for some time, slightly rocking their bodies to the sides. At some point, Nemuri reached to her pocket and pulled out a smartphone. She unlocked her homescreen and accessed the gallery.

'By the way,' Midnight started, still holding Mariko. 'I wanted to show you something, because I know that you might have not seen it.'

'Hm?'

'Check this out.' She showed her a picture on her phone.

Okaido tilted her head to look at the screen and felt her mouth drop. This was a picture taken a few months ago, around the time when the UA first announced their dorm system. Kayama, who took the picture, was sitting at the couch in the living room of the newly built teacher's dorm. Her camera was pointed straight at a tall, dark-haired man in a well-tailored, black suit with a light blue tie with black lines on it and a white shirt. His facial hair was shaved and hair well groomed. He also looked a lot less tired.

'Is that Mr. Aizawa?' Mariko asked, still not believing her eyes.

'Well, you already know the answer.'

'Wow,' she whispered and kept staring at the screen. 'But I like his stubble so much.'

'Wait.' Kayama looked at the phone and slid her finger across the screen a few times, finding another photo. 'Like that?'

She showed Mariko another picture. This time, Kayama was standing in front of the teacher's dorm and was taking a picture of All Might and Eraserhead, who just returned from visiting the parents of all the students from Class 1A. They were both wearing white shirts and suit pants. All Might had a navy blue tie covered with white stripes and Shota was wearing a plain, slightly desaturated blue tie. Toshinori was smiling and waving at the camera, while Aizawa was shooting a murderous glance straight at Midnight. This time, his hair was still tied, but the stubble was already visible.

'My God,' Mariko gasped and Midnight giggled.

'But now, I need to go get Eri and leave to the mall. We should be back soon,' the woman announced and let go of Okaido.

'Alright.'

The women walked down to the first floor of the teacher's dorm and then parted their ways. Okaido was about to open the door to her room, but stopped with her hand a few inches before the knob. She lowered her arm and tilted her head; a tense expression on her face. She reached for her phone and checked the hour. It was a little past 8pm.

She still had some time left to think how to phrase her feelings and what to wish Mr. Aizawa. However, deep inside of her, she was aware that no matter how much time she would spend on preparation, she would still be awkward... Well, at least to some degree.

She took a deep breath and turned on her heel.

'Should I make him a cup of coffee?' she thought, as she walked down the corridor. 'Yea, it's not too late. I hope.'

When after some time, she stood in front of Mr. Aizawa's door, she felt her heart race and her hands sweat. She wiped one of her hands on her pants, then switched the one holding the mug and wiped the other palm. She breathed deeply and knocked on the door, then took a step back. A few seconds have passed and there was still no response.

'Oh,' she sighed and after a moment turned to walk away from the door and then saw Mr. Aizawa looking at her.

'Looking for me?'

'Yea,' she responded and stood in front of him, handing him a cup of coffee. 'I'm not sure if it's not too late. I don't know your preferences, sir.'

He accepted the mug and smelled the brewage.

'Thank you,' he said.

Okaido looked him in the eye and put her hands on her stomach, playing with her thumbs.

'I heard it's your birthday today, sir. I wanted to wish you a happy one. Not just this day, but like... in general.'

He nodded, examining her face. She was still focused and was now moving her thumbs a lot faster. He knew she wants to say something more, so he just let her speak.

'I had a very dumb idea,' she admitted. 'I really wanted to give you something more, but I couldn't, due to my own stupidity.'

She opened her mouth and closed it, looking for words. He laid his hand on her right shoulder and gently pushed her towards his room, recognizing that this might take a moment, and they shouldn't stand in the middle of the corridor. Okaido rotated on her heel and quietly followed the man.

Aizawa opened the door to his room and let her in. It was just as basic and minimalistic as she had remembered. He stood in front of her, taking a sip of the coffee.

'Just as good as the first one,' he thought to himself, closing his eyes for a moment.

'Continue,' he requested with a softer tone.

'I had a dumb idea,' she repeated. 'That I knew would make you mad, sir, but I wanted to give you a gift. But then, when we were outside with Eri, I remember that you said that I keep going my way. I never wanted to annoy you, sir. I have a lot of respect for you.' She looked to the side, avoiding the eye contact. 'You are my biggest inspiration and you are the best teacher I know,' she added, looking back at his face. As he took another sip of the coffee, her gaze slid across his jaw and neck. She quickly looked down at her hands, hoping he didn't notice. 'So I just wanted to sneak out without your knowledge, get you something for your birthday and then give it to you as a token of my appreciation. But I figured that this is not really how you would want me to act, so I didn't do that in the end and I am sorry that I even considered it.'

He looked at her with a neutral, hard to read expression.

'So because I don't have any gift,' she continued, not sure how to feel about his current mood. 'I wish you a lot of health, a lot of time for comfy naps and a lot less situations where you have to use your Quirk and strain your eyes,' she finished.

'Thank you,' he said with a very neutral tone.

Mariko was expecting him to be annoyed, mad, furious, anything really, but surely not so calm. Something was definitely off.

'So, I will just?' She pointed her thumb towards the entrance of the room and slowly turned towards it.

The second she wanted to take a step forward, she felt his hand on her shoulder.

'When was this?'

'Sorry, sir?'

'How long did you think of sneaking out?' he asked her, his voice still neutral.

She froze in place, kind of worried of what he had in mind.

'I- I am not exactly sure. I got the idea around lunch.'

He pushed her to her knee without saying a word, clearly playing with her. She twisted her head and looked up at him, raising the inner corners of her eyebrows.

'Sir?'

He put all of his energy into keeping a straight, completely emotionless face. He put his hand on top of her head and slightly pushed her face towards the ground.

'How many hours ago?' he repeated, still holding her head.

She swallowed, feeling her throat dry out.

'Six,' she repeated.

'Six push-ups then,' he ordered, letting go of her head.

'Oh,' she exhaled and straightened her legs, extending her arms towards the floor. 'Just six?'

He stepped towards her and sat on her back, cross-legged.

'Do you want more?' he asked, as she hissed, feeling his weight.

'No!'

'It's ten push-ups, then.'

'No, please.'

'Twelve. Keep going, Okaido, I am enjoying it.'

She shut her mouth and lowered her body to the ground, trying to push it up as fast as possible.

'What a little cheater,' he commented and wrapped the Binding Cloth around her forehead, pulling her head backwards. 'Eyes facing forward and slow, controlled motion. Don't abuse the momentum, or I will add more.'

'Yes, sir,' she said through her gritted teeth.

'Louder.'

'Yes, sir!' she shouted as she lowered her body again.

'Good, and keep it steady. I am trying to drink here.'

'Yes, sir,' she responded clearly, making him nod with approval.

'Brat,' he thought to himself with a hint of a smile on his face.

Mariko lowered her body again, forcing all of her will to complete her current task. She was looking straight ahead, but she was barely seeing anything. At the fifth push-up, she breathed deeply a few times and only then noticed a bass guitar in the room.

'Oh, do you play, sir?' she asked, lowering her body again.

'Sometimes. Quite rarely recently.'

'Well, then I wish you more time for that as well,' she said as she pushed her body upwards and took a few breaths.

'Stop wasting my time and I just might find some for the bass,' he scolded.

'Sorry.'

She performed two more push-ups and then groaned, trying hard not to swear under her nose. Aizawa smirked. Okaido pushed her head towards the ground, trying to make the next push-up easier. He pulled the Binding Cloth, forcing her to look in front of her.

'Two more.'

'Please,' she begged.

'Two more.'

'That's an actual power abuse,' she responded, twisting her head to look in his eyes.

He inspected her flushed face and foggy, tired eyes. Midnight was absolutely right, she did look very appealing.

'Two more, Okaido. It's sixteen now and you are only halfway.'

She blinked at him, her lips slightly parted as she breathed in. He tensed his jaw muscles, feeling his chest getting slightly heavier. He tightened his grip on the Binding Cloth.

'Keep going.'

She looked away from the man and continued on with the push-ups. When she was on the fourteenth one, he asked her:

'Where did you learn to brew coffee like that?'

'When kids in orphanage,' she began, lowering her body with a groan 'get older, they sometimes have those programs of apprenticeships at various places. I really wanted a place where coffee and tea is served and maybe some drinks. So that's how I know.'

'I see.' He took another sip and made the same, low, purring noise as when she served him the coffee for the first time.

She stopped mid-push-up and tilted her head to look at him. He lowered the mug from his lips and was frustrated to see the bottom of the cup. The woman turned her head again and finished the set. When she was done, Aizawa removed the Binding Cloth from her head and slid from her back, standing to her side; watching her fight for her life on the floor before him.

Mariko rested on her forearms, supporting her tired body by laying her legs on the floor. She was breathing deeply, trying to calm her heart. A few moments later, she sat down and looked at the man, with the same flushed face.

'Because you wanted to disobey me, I expect a cup of hot, freshly ground coffee waiting for me every single morning,' he announced.

She showed him a thumbs-up and pushed herself to stand up.

'We need to talk about the hero internships, Okaido. I think it is time you go somewhere and see how the real thing looks.'

'But I wasn't scouted by anyone,' she reminded, brushing the hair from her face. 'Who could possibly want me, sir?'

'Well, you can ask the teachers around if they have any contacts.'

'Do you have any contacts, Mr. Aizawa?' she asked immediately, adjusting her hoodie.

'Yes. I have someone in mind.'