Early in the morning, Aizawa crawled out of his sleeping bag and stretched. He looked at his desk, seeing the plate with half of the cheesecake and a cup of cold coffee.

'Mariko,' he thought to himself, the name echoing through his mind.

He closed his eyes and faced the window, took a deep breath, then reached to the mug to sip the cold coffee. It was not as good as a fresh, hot one, but still absolutely delicious.

Once Shota finished his early morning snack, he grabbed the dishes and twisted the door handle, then headed towards the staircase. He glanced towards Eri's room and walked to the common kitchen, then placed the mug and plate in the dishwasher. After another back stretch, he eyed the electric kettle and decided to make some tea for Eri and Mariko.

When the water boiled and he poured it into two mugs, he heard someone walking down the stairs. Shota listened closely to the sound of the footsteps and before the person showed up in the common area, he already knew that it's Present Mic.

'Hey, Shota,' the blond man greeted and joined him in the kitchen.

'Hi,' he responded and looked at his friend, who locked his eyes on the kettle.

'Is there any water left?'

'Yea, I just boiled it, go ahead.'

Hizashi nodded and reached towards the kitchen cabinet next to Aizawa, then grabbed his favorite, blue mug. Aizawa moved his head out of the way and glanced at Hizashi, who was already looking at him.

'How are your eyes?' he asked with a hint of surprise.

Shota opened his mouth to respond: 'As usual,' but then, he realized it is not quite true. He frowned and reached to his pocket, pulling out his phone. He turned on the front camera and examined his eyes.

'Healed,' he said after a long pause.

'Did you change your eyedrops?' Hizashi poured some water over a white tea bag, peeking at his friend.

'I haven't even used them since yesterday.'

'Oh?'

Shota shrugged and added one teaspoon of sugar to one of the mugs, then mixed the brewage. With his other hand, he messaged Mirio and asked him if he can come over and take care of Eri, as he will be absent for some time soon. Hizashi moved to the fridge and decided to grab a slice of the cheesecake Mariko offered yesterday. Eraser grabbed the cups and headed towards Eri's room. He passed Recovery Girl on the way upstairs, so he greeted her with a good morning.

As he stood in front of the door, his phone buzzed. He held both mugs in one hand and checked the displayed message from Togata, saying 'I'm on it,' and a thumbs up emoji.

Aizawa nodded to himself and slid the smartphone back into his pocket, then opened the door with his elbow. He was not sure if Eri was asleep, so he decided to check on her first. As the door pushed open, Shota noticed Mariko, laying on the floor, balancing Eri on her straightened arms, supporting the kid's weight with her right leg. He hid his small smile behind the Binding Cloth.

'Hello, Mr. Aizawa,' Mariko greeted him and slowly lowered her hands and right leg, transferring Eri back to the floor.

'Hello,' Eri smiled at the man and observed as he placed the two mugs of tea on the small table next to the couch.

'Morning,' he replied in a sleepy voice; something that Mariko found oddly attractive.

She sat at the floor and looked at him, then noticed his well-rested eyes. The woman frowned and locked her sight with the man, as he took a seat in the middle of the couch.

'Is this your doing?' he asked her meaningfully.

Okaido switched positions and sat on her feet, kneeling around two meters in front of the teacher.

'I don't know,' she replied honestly, though there was a small blush on her face.

'What happened?' Eri asked.

'My eyes are no longer dry, at least not until I use Erasure.'

Eri followed Aizawa's gaze and looked at Mariko, surprised. The young woman shrugged and turned on her Quirk, covering both her eyes behind a green flame; dark, swirling energy settled around her legs.

'We discovered something recently,' she informed the child. 'It's apparently no longer the Drain, as I can also do this.'

Senchi looked at the teacher and her brain displayed an image of both of them fighting shoulder to shoulder; her body and mind filled with resolve, as a goal engraved in her heart.

'I will protect anyone from danger, but the ones I love are in almost constant danger. I will not let anything happen to them.'

She closed her eyes and breathed out, then opened the eyelids again, seeing the energy transfer from her to Eraserhead. It all happened in a matter of second, but it still felt like she should work on activating the power-up without a delay.

'So the teachers were testing me a few days ago,' Mariko explained. 'And this happened. And then I lost.'

'Is this why you were in the school hospital again?' Eri asked, worried.

Mariko chuckled, hearing the kid say: 'Again.'

'Yea,' she admitted.

The three of them went silent and just observed the energy slowly swirling around Aizawa's body. Okaido tilted her head, burying herself into her own thoughts. Eri grabbed her mug from the table and pointed at the other.

'And this one?'

'That's for Okaido,' the man replied and snapped Mariko out of her thoughts.

'Oh, thank you!' the student said and crawled on her knees to the table, then took a sip of the tea.

As she swallowed the drink, she realized that the man did not add any sugar into it. She forced herself not to make a comment on that and instead just peeked at him and smiled slightly, nodding her head in another 'thank you' gesture.

'How will you name it, then, if it's not a Drain?' Eri asked, still looking at the dark, transparent fog, which was now swirling around the teacher's arms. She took a sip of her tea and turned her head to the woman.

Mariko stood up and looked outside the window. The naked trees and grass covered with a layer of melting snow reminded her of the upcoming spring. She thought of the leaves blooming out of the first buds, birds starting the morning with beautiful melodies and the warm sun dancing on people's faces, as everything around was waking up back to life.

'I have no idea,' she responded, turning back to Eri. 'It's quite annoying, to be honest. I thought I got the hang of it and it feels like I am back where I started.'

'Except, you are not,' Aizawa corrected.

Mariko sat back on the floor and stared a the man with a tired expression on her face.

'You can already put it into use.'

'But the...' She raised her hands and let them fall to the sides a second later. 'Every time I answer my own question, another one appears. I can drain everyone around, but then I end up being in pain. I can drain singular target, but the stored energy has it's limit. Exceeding it can shatter my bones. And now I can also buff others up? And to what does it respond? It's not like I want to protect only you, sir. I want to protect everyone... Why is this Quirk so complicated?' She looked down at her knees. 'I am just so tired of it sometimes.'

There was a moment of silence. Eri, listening closely to Mariko, saw the sudden change in her mood. The kid placed the mug on the table and walked to the woman, then cupped her face in her small hands. Mariko lifted her gaze and looked at the girl who was smiling at her slightly.

'But you do not need to drain Mr. Aizawa. You are on the same side. You don't need to worry about that. I know how it feels to not understand your Quirk... We can improve together! I want to start my training as well.'

Mariko's face softened and she gently grasped kid's hands into her own and brought her closer for a hug.

'You are the purest, sweetest, best little girl,' Mariko said quietly and twisted her body to the sides, while holding Eri slightly above the ground.

The kid chuckled into her ear, tightening her arms around the woman's neck.

'Eri is absolutely right. Togata had a very rough time with his Quirk as well, has he ever told you about it?'

'He did.'

'Then think about it. Let it sink,' Aizawa requested. 'Complicated Quirks are uncommon, but mastering them always pays off. Don't loose confidence in your skills. You wouldn't have recognized yourself from jut a few months ago.'

Mariko hugged Eri, hiding her face in kid's hair. She felt as if someone lifted up her chest and electrocuted her heart. Warm feeling spread across her body and she felt like she would not be able to move if it wasn't for the fact that she was already sitting on her knees.

'What did you do just now?' she heard Aizawa and opened her eyes, looking at him.

'Me?' she asked, but the second her eyes laid on him, she immediately understood.

The previously dark, swirling energy started spinning faster and changed into a lively green color.

'How...? I- Is it still active?' she managed to ask. 'I thought I stopped it? Can you try to cancel it?'

Shota lifted his gaze from his arms to Mariko. His eyes turned red and his hair and scarf started floating. Her heart dropped at the sight of his Quirk, but the energy was still swirling around man's arms.

'It's still there,' Mariko said and frowned. She put Eri back on the floor and walked on her knees closer to Aizawa. 'It doesn't make sense, does it?' she asked him.

'Have you ever heard of a Pro Hero Fat Gum?' he asked her, staring her down with his red eyes. She sat on her feet and made eye contact with the teacher.

'Are you saying it's like Fat Absorption, sir?'

'It would appear so.'

'But the Erasure has always worked on me,' she noticed. 'It's the first time it stays active.'

'It's the first time the power up is transferred to someone else,' he responded and her lips parted as she raised both of her eyebrows. 'Also, my eyes aren't drying out but the energy slowly vanishes. It seems like it is preventing me from getting the dry eyes.' He looked down at the green, fog-like aura around his arms.

Mariko frowned, thinking intensely. Eri, standing a bit behind the woman was curiously inspecting the two of the adults and listening to their conversations, observing the active Erasure.

Then, Okaido stood up and slapped her left palm on her right fist.

'So the energy is accumulating, like Fat Absorption, but because it is not a material thing, but - well - energy, if it is on me while Erasure is active and I'm the target, it will vanish. But I can transfer the power up to you, sir, before that happens and then it will not be affected, as it is now assigned to someone else. So what if I do not have a limit to a drain, but I have a limit to how much energy I can keep on me without damaging my body? That makes sense right? But how do I even test it, I cannot just randomly drain people around?' Shota stood up and placed a hand on her shoulder, snapping her out of the monologue. 'Can I use the gym, sir? Maybe I can learn how to manipulate my own energy first?'

'No,' he responded and deactivated Erasure. The scarf landed on his shoulders and the hair covered the sides of his head, a long strand falling in between his dark eyes. He slid his hand from her shoulder and pulled out his phone to examine his eyes. They were intact. 'It explains why I woke up with healed eyes,' he murmured to himself.

She looked at him with a pleading face. He glanced down and waited for her to speak up.

'Why can't I use the gym, sensei? I need to figure out the Quirk.'

'We will do that, I need your help first,' he informed and watched her expression change in front of him.

'Ok, what do I do?'

'First, reply to my question. What did you do with the power-up?' He raised an eyebrow, inspecting her face.

'I just felt,' she started, then glanced down and to the side, avoiding Eraser's gaze. 'Warm and fuzzy,' she admitted quietly. 'It responds to my emotions quite well, apparently.'

'It sure does.' He smirked slightly. 'Eri, Togata should be here any moment, he will stay with you for some time.'

'Are you guys leaving?' Eri asked, looking at Aizawa and Mariko. 'I thought we will hang out a bit.'

Shota took a step towards the child and crouched next to her.

'Don't worry, we will be back shortly,' he said with a soft smile on his face. 'You are safe here, remember, Eri.'

The kid nodded vigorously and hugged the man.

'Please come back safely!'

'You won't even notice us leave,' he said.

'Hello!' The door suddenly opened and Mirio stepped inside, making a silly pose. 'Hi everyone!'

'Togata, we are leaving to a store, we should be back in around an hour,' Aizawa stood up and turned to Mirio, explaining him the details.

Mariko followed the Pro Hero with her eyes.

'An hour just with him? Jesus Christ,' she thought immediately. 'How am I gonna breathe and function?'

Eraser glanced at Mariko from the corner of his tired eyes, then flicked his finger at the woman, signaling her to follow him. His piercing gaze made her weak in the knees and she immediately dropped the eye contact and followed the teacher like his shadow.

'Take a jacket, it is cold outside,' he reminded and she quickly turned to her room and re-joined him soon after, dressed in a grey winter jacket, gloves and a simple winter hat.

'And you, sir?'

'I'm wearing another layer of clothes below. I'll be fine.'

'Alright.'

They stood in the corridor in front of Eri's room, turned their head towards Mirio and the girl, then waved to them and headed towards the staircase. When both of them left the teachers' dorm, Eraser led Mariko to the parking lot where a few cars stood, covered in a thin layer of snow.

Shota reached to his pocket, pressing a button on the car key's, unlocking the vehicle's door. A car with the most amount of snow on top, blinked it's lights. It was an all-terrain, all-purpose kind of vehicle.

'Sick car,' Mariko complimented.

'Does it's job,' he responded lazily, not quite impressed with her enthusiasm.

She pouted and looked at the ground before her. The woman walked to the passenger's door and before she opened it, Aizawa reached towards the handle, pushing the door open for her.

'Thank you.' She smiled at him and sat at the leather seat.

He nodded, closed the door and walked around the car, then got inside. Mariko fastened her seatbelt and realized that none of them had breakfast.

'Oh,' she said and turned her head towards the man, who put the keys inside the car. He glanced at her from the corner of his eyes. 'We haven't eaten anything, have we?'

'I had the cheesecake from yesterday, but we can stop somewhere for a quick takeaway,' he informed.

'But only if you will grab something as well, I don't want to be a problem.'

He placed his hand on the backrest of her seat and twisted his body to look at the back window, checking if the snow will fall from the glass. He put on the heating and waited a bit before turning on the wipers.

'If you are hungry, then we will stop.'

'But I just know that you don't like wasting time,' she said shyly, as they waited for the windows to heat up.

A chunk of snow slid across the windshield, leaving a wet trail behind.

'I don't want you being hungry, either,' he informed and turned the keys, starting the engine of the car.

Eraserhead glanced at the back window again and nodded with approval, seeing the snow melt away, no longer blocking his view. He checked the mirrors in the car and then fastened his seatbelt.

'Where are we going, by the way?'

'Eri's quirk works only on living things, she is not able to rewind inanimate objects. So, I thought that we could use lizards. They loose their tails, so it will be easier for Eri to see when to stop the Rewind.'

'Ohhh! That's a good idea,' Mariko agreed. 'Does she like lizards?'

'I don't think she had seen one.'

He started driving the vehicle and immediately turned to the right, driving out of the parking lot.

'They can be cute,' Mariko informed.

'Cats are cuter,' Aizawa argued.

'Yeah, they are supreme. Perfect. The best. But there are still other cute animals.'

'Cats,' he said quietly and pulled to the main road.

Mariko stared at his gorgeous profile and continued her internal struggle to keep a compliment to herself. She glanced at her legs and then at the road. After that, she glanced back at the man and again in front of herself.

'You are clearly dying to speak, so talk,' he requested.

She looked to her right, quickly glancing outside the window.

'You are like a cat.'

He stopped at the crossroads and turned to the road on the left side, after letting another car drive by.

'What do you mean?'

'Supreme. Majestic. Perfect. The best. The coolest and the cutest.'

'That's the most biased opinion I have heard in my entire life,' he said with a straight face.

'It's an actual fact.'

'That's not how this works.' He quickly glanced at her with a shadow of a smile on his face. The corner of his mouth twitched. He continued down the road, then reached towards the stick shift, gently brushing Mariko's knee.

'Oh, sorry,' she said and moved her leg to the side, making more room for the man's hand.

He didn't respond, just glanced at her in a weird way, completely confusing her; his eyebrows were slightly raised and he pinned her down with his eyes. He turned his head to the road.

'Yes?' she asked, trying to make any sense out of the way he looked at her.

'I didn't say a word.'

'But your expression, sir?'

'Hm?'

'What was that about? It confuses me.'

'Let it stay that way,' he replied with a strict face, though she could have sworn there was a slight change to the tone of his voice.

She looked away from him and pushed her back into the seat of the car, gazing through the front windshield. The roads weren't as crowded as they would be at the same hour in the middle of the week; most of the people were still in their beds, enjoying the first day of the weekend, or curing their Friday hangover.

Mariko placed her knuckle on the window to her right and traced an invisible shape. She wanted to talk with the man as much as possible, but at the same time, she did not want to annoy him. He was the type that seemed to prefer some silence and meaningful, straight-to-the-point conversations.

'Any ideas on the Quirk name, yet?' he asked her and she couldn't help, but smile at him, before responding.

'I think I will change it from the 'Drain' to 'Kiryoku', but then again, maybe an English word would be better, for international use, just in case?'

'It's better to make them as simple and short as possible, while displaying what the power does. There are some exceptions, but generally simplicity and lack of confusion is recommended. And yes, English words are usually a way to go.'

'Energy Manipulation, then?'

He murmured an agreement and turned the vehicle to the right, then again to the right, pulling to the parking lot of a shopping mall. As soon as they left the vehicle, they moved towards the entrance. The second they stepped through the automatic sliding door, a wave of warm air hit their bodies. The mall looked just like any other shopping center - spacious, with a lot of displays and sounds coming from speakers from the stores around. All the shops and cafes were already open, but there weren't many customers in sight.

'I've never been here before,' Mariko admitted.

'I thought you were here with Midnight once?'

'No, she drove somewhere to the south of school,' she explained, following the Pro Hero walking in front of her. They passed a few wooden benches and a small, decorative tree placed in a tall planter box.

'Uh.' He nodded and then looked to the side. 'Want something?' She followed his gaze and noticed a display of a fast food restaurant. 'They have great fries, I can recommend.'

'So you do like some food!' she noticed.

'Who doesn't like some cheat food?'

'I never had it before to be honest,' she admitted and noticed a slight change in his neutral expression. His eyebrows raised. Whilst she was examining the menu of the restaurant in front of them, he hunched over to reach her ear.

'It appears that you get to live a lot of first-times with me.'

Her eyes snapped back to him, before her mind fully registered the message. She blushed and became hyper-aware of her own body, feeling as if she had to use her entire brain power to keep her arms relaxed at her sides. She moved awkwardly and tilted her head, trying to hide behind the curtain of her hair, forgetting that she is wearing a hat.

He chuckled, watching her reactions. Sparks lit up her eyes, as she gathered all the courage inside of her and looked back at Eraser.

'Sir, are you enjoying yourself?' she taunted back.

'Very much, thank you,' he replied, glaring at her from half-closed eyelids. He gave her a grin, to which she couldn't help but smile in response.

She shook her head and took of her hat and gloves, feeling the warmth of the shopping mall. Then, she walked to the cashier and requested a tofu burger, large fries and a spicy cookie.

'Make it two, for the fries,' Aizawa added from behind her back and paid the cashier for the entire order.

'No problem.'

'Thank you!' Mariko responded and smiled at cashier who disappeared to the kitchen.

The young woman turned to Eraser, who leaned onto a pillar. His eyes traced the display with some cakes, muffins and cookies, while Mariko examined his silhouette, hidden behind a baggy hero costume. Of course, it didn't remain unnoticed.

'Are you enjoying yourself?' he asked her, the piercing pupils suddenly snapping back to hers.

She smirked, looked down and turned to the counter, checking out their order on a large TV display, mounted above the cashier's head. They were first in the queue, but the meal was not ready yet. Mariko started humming a melody, gently slapping the sides of her legs to the rhythm of the song, trying to distract herself from embarrassment; she was caught examining her teacher's body, after all.

The memories of yesterday appeared in her mind, covering her sight. She stared at the display, but didn't register anything happening, as she recalled the story Midnight had told her. She immediately stopped humming and thought about the tears she had seen on the man's face. Her own expression dropped and a slight frown twisted her eyebrows. She hated seeing him sad and not because she felt like she can almost sense his pain physically; she hated seeing him cry because he had already suffered through so much.

'He deserves the world,' she thought to herself.

Her head turned to the man, who was already looking at her. After taking a few steps towards him, she stopped and looked at him seriously.

'I am sorry for yesterday,' she apologized.

'For what?'

'For being so invested in your private life. I shouldn't have done that, it feels like an invasion of privacy, so I apologize if I crossed any of the boundaries.'

There was a moment of silence, during which he examined her features, as she looked away from his face.

'Thank you.'

She looked back at him, leaving her head tilted to the side.

'That invasion of privacy was much appreciated. And I don't think I ever slept better than today.'

'I can help you fall asleep more often,' she suggested shyly.

'I will keep that in mind,' he replied quietly.

'Order 11!' they heard a shout.

Mariko turned to the counter and picked up the order, showing the receipt as the proof of the purchase, then returned to Eraser and gave him his large fries. The man nodded a thank you and then led her towards the pet store, as she slowly devoured the food on the way.

'Fries are a banger,' she admitted, rolling her eyes in pleasure. 'And the burger is great as well. Thank you.'

'You are welcome.'

A few minutes later, they both stepped inside the pet store and discussed the equipment that they need. Mariko typed down some things on her new phone and suggested that they should split to make it as efficient as possible - to which Eraser gladly agreed.

As both of them were wandering around the store, gathering necessary items, Mariko has found a section with cats for adoption. The second she noticed the fury babies, her jaw dropped and she immediately ran to her left, passing through the shelves in the store, until she found Aizawa.

Her lack of focus threw him off and he scolded her.

'Okaido, remember what we are looking for,' he reminded with a harsh tone, as she stood in front of him with an innocent smile.

'They have cats.'

She continued grinning at him for a few seconds. He dropped his arms to the sides, holding a terrarium's thermometer in one of his hands. His eyebrows slowly relaxed.

'Where?'

She chuckled and turned on her heel, leading the man to the heavenly section of the store. The second the Pro Hero laid his eyes on the kittens, his expression went back to a neutral one, but his eyes brightened, observing the pets, eating from bowls, drinking, playfully jumping and attacking each other. He crouched next to the gigantic cage and for a second forgot about the goal of the journey to the shopping mall.

'I will get the basket and everything else,' she suggested and quickly left, before he could respond.

The man stared at the back of the girl, his body relaxing. He looked back at the cats and noticed one approaching him from inside the cage. He reached with his hand to scratch the pet on the chin and felt himself smile, as the pet before him purred at his touch.