'Get up.'

Ever since the day Mariko and Shinso witnessed two teachers receive a text message, there had been a drastic change of energy and mood in almost anyone. All of the UA high staff seemed to be more focused and demanding than normally, which was also affecting the young heroes under their care.

Around a week after Mr. Aizawa told Okaido a fraction of the details surrounding the upcoming mission, she visited the Class 1A dorm, trying to ask around in search of some clues and had a discussion with the students about the recent changes when it came to teachers. It appeared that everyone noticed the shift in energy, but no one could name the reason behind it all.

Mariko looked at her left hand placed at the rough, sandy floor of the UA gym, exhaling deeply, trying to calm her heartbeat. As she inhaled, the air inside her nose seem to burn and she felt the first signs the of dehydration inside her throat.

She looked up at the man grasping a training knife. His gaze was intense, ruthless.

'Get up,' he repeated.

Mariko slid her right foot under her body and pushed herself of the ground.

He still didn't tell her any other details about the mission.

She wiped her runny nose with the top of her hand and prepared herself for his attack, for which she didn't have to wait. The second she froze in the defensive position, he leaped forward, slicing the air with the knife. She backed up, but he caught up to her and sliced again. Dodging the strike aimed at her belly, she extended her left arm to the side, trying to lure him to use his Binding Cloth.

He took the bait and threw the weapon at such an impressive speed, she barely had any time to react. Mariko bent backwards, raised her leg and pressed her foot to the cloth, stretching it towards his hand wielding the knife. Eraser tossed the knife to his other hand and slid the right palm across the scarf, wrapping it quickly around her ankle. He pulled the fabric, knocking Mariko to the ground, then extended it around her neck, kneeled behind her and brought the knife straight to the base of her throat.

'Good idea, awful execution,' she heard him say above her right ear.

He held the Binding Cloth for a few seconds, then released her and turned on his heel.

'I have classes soon. We are done for now.'

She stood up, rubbing the sore skin of her forearm, which was twisted towards her back moments ago. Her eyes landed on the back of the man walking to the exit of the gym.

'What the hell is going on?' she thought to herself, while walking to the bottle of water to take a much anticipated sip.

'Hey, Midnight. I have a question.'

Mariko sighed and leaned on the kitchen counter. She closed her eyes, listening to the faint sound of the fridges and freezers, humming in the quiet cafeteria. As she inhaled the smell of rice-paper dumplings, deep-fried with a crispy batter, her phone buzzed.

'What's up, pretty?'

'Do you know what happened to Eraser lately? Did something happen with Kurogiri or something? :('

There was no immediate response.

'Did he not tell you?'

'Um, not sure? What are you talking about? I know about the mission in around two months, well, sort of.'

'The HPSC reached out to the school and they wanted to grant you a license'

'WHAT???'

Mariko stared with wide-opened eyes at the screen of her phone, the breath stuck in her throat because of a pure state of shock.

'WHAT??? Aizawa said that they gave me a permission to be on the mission! ;o'

'Well, he didn't lie, but he was against you getting the license.'

She felt as if her soul left her body. Her head snapped upwards, away from the screen. She gazed around the school cafeteria, not knowing what to write, say or do. Then, she felt her phone buzz again.

'Go to his ass and talk about that. I was CONVINCED he would tell you, that's why I said nothing.'

Mariko started writing a message, then immediately removed it. She rolled her eyes, then started typing again, just to stop and remove another text a moment later.

'Just go to him, girl. You got this.'

She slid her phone into the pocket and took a deep breath into her lungs. After stepping forward, she grabbed the rice paper dumplings and put them inside a big lunch box, then poured some soy sauce with sesame seeds into one of the smaller compartments. With rage and disappointment slowly fading away, she marched to the nearest fridge and transferred a few condensed milk snacks into the box. She closed the fridge and grabbed the lunchbox's lid on the way outside the kitchen.

The second she stepped into the dining area, she heard the school bell, announcing the end of the lessons. She walked towards the staircase leading to the ground floor, then turned to the right, crossing a small corridor to start climbing another stairs.

A few minutes later, after passing multiple students rushing to their dorms, she stood in front of the empty class 1A. She took a deep breath in and placed her left hand on the wall right next to the gigantic entrance door. She closed her eyes while pouting, then relaxed her shoulders, feeling the stress slowly build up inside of her.

'Stop,' she told herself. 'He must have a reason. He literally always does.'

She nodded to herself and opened the eyes, then took a few steps forward and knocked on the door, looking at the teacher sitting at his desk. He lifted his head from above some papers he was grading and turned his attention to Mariko.

'May I?' she asked.

He leaned back in his chair and invited her with a gesture. She confidently walked to him and slapped the lunchbox on his desk, unintentionally announcing her annoyance.

'Sorry,' she said immediately and felt a small blush appear on her face. 'I brought you something to eat.'

She straightened her body and noticed him staring at her without a word.

'Why? I wasn't asking for anything.'

She closed her eyes for a moment, then turned on her heel and grabbed the nearest chair, sliding it in front of his desk. He observed her carefully, reading through her mask. Mariko looked outside the window, then sat on the chair and put her ankle on her left knee and grasped her hands on her belly.

'First of all, you cannot run on jelly all the time,' she reminded. 'Second of all, I have something to discuss and you might as well eat in the meantime.'

'What do you want to talk about?' he asked calmly and opened the lunch box.

She took a short breath in, ready to speak up, then closed her mouth and looked at the ceiling.

'Calm down, god damnit,' she heard her own voice again, but it was too late.

She stood up, energetically walked to the door and slid it to the side, closing the gap between the wall. Mariko turned around to the man and locked her hands behind her back.

'Why did you turn down the offer of me getting the license? And most importantly why on Earth do I find out about that by accident?' She stared at him, chewing the food. 'And why are you so weird recently?'

He closed his tired eyes, swallowed the bite of the dumplings and licked his bottom lip. Mariko turned her gaze away, annoyed at herself that she almost stopped being angry.

'I turned it down, because I don't think that you should get it.'

She felt as if something tightened her chest.

'Wh-' her voice cracked and she pushed herself of the wall, then started walking to the back of the class, her face hidden from his gaze. 'Why?'

He placed the chopsticks on top of the lunch box and stood up, then leaned onto his desk, watching her carefully.

'The HPSC reached out themselves,' she reminded. 'It's so rare for them to do so. And you turn it down.' He noticed the change of her tone and inspected her body language, which no longer seemed hostile, but sad.

She tapped the desk next to the southern window, her chin aimed at her torso. He slowly started approaching her.

'It's not that I find you not capable of having it, if that's what you think,' he started in a neutral voice. 'It's just that HPSC's decision was based on your performance the day you were kidnapped. And as much as you did great, what we are going to face is a lot more dangerous scenario that what you have been through.'

She looked at him and he was glad that here eyes were normal, not glossy; he hated seeing her cry.

'And the previous year Provisional Exam was truly something else. I am attending these every year and the requirements for the latest one were drastically raised.' He sat at the top of the desk right in front of her. 'You know that I am a fan of challenges, but even to me the scenario they created seemed difficult for some of the Pro Heroes.'

'And I was against a one villain at a time, twice. One of the most convenient situations.' She nodded.

He tilted his head to the side, watching her drop her gaze to the floor.

'Yeah.'

'And still came out injured,' she sighed and rolled her eyes. 'How dare you defeat me with logic and reason?' she asked in a quiet, but humorous voice.

He stood back on the ground and took his hands out of his pockets, then using the element of surprise, grasped her behind the knees, lifting her up to sit on the desk. His hands slid from her legs to the corners of the wooden surface. The feeling of being trapped made her heartbeat accelerate. She inhaled his scent and locked her eyes with his.

'Why didn't I say anything? I admit, I should have told you after I made the decision along with Principal Nezu and I apologize.'

'And there I was, thinking you cannot get any hotter and now on top of all of that you can also communicate and apologize?' Okaido asked and collapsed to the desk in a fake-dramatic moment.

He grasped her forearms and pulled her back to a sitting position.

'And what was your third question? Why am I so weird recently?'

'Yea,' she breathed out.

'I am just the same as I was previously, you just look at me through a non-sensei perspective,' he said quietly, leaning slightly towards her.

'You are very mean during our trainings.'

'Oh?' He raised his eyebrows and a hint of playfulness appeared in his eyes. 'So that was your plan?'

'Plan?' she asked and froze, feeling him transfer her hands behind her back; he pressed them to the desk with his palm.

'Uh-huh,' he looked down at her arms, then locked his eyes with hers. She felt a hint of stress slice through her chest, which rapidly blended with excitement.

He grasped her jaw and moved her head to the side. She looked away, feeling her heart pound inside her ribcage.

'First,' he purred quietly and brought his face closer to her ear. 'You seduce your teacher.'

'Oh my-' she shivered and felt him silence her with his thumb. His fingertip slid across her sensitive skin, sending goosebumps across her body. She opened her legs and he stepped closer, pulling her body towards himself.

'And all of that, for what?' he continued, but the sound of her intense heartbeat, pumping blood to her cheeks, almost muffled his voice. 'To be able to get a head start at a first minor inconvenience that you face? Talk me out of running you through exhausting trainings? And what was the lunch for? Worming your way into me?' As his warm breath slid across the skin of her neck, she felt every piece of self-respect evaporate out of her body. 'Was this your plan, girlie?'

He grasped her throat and made her look up at him. The challenging, defiant expression that he saw on her face, surprised him, but he hid his reaction and instead raised his chin, staring her down with a hint or red in his iris.

'My plan was to come here and kick your ass,' she responded in a lower voice.

He felt himself smirk.

'I'd certainly love to see you try.'

She tested his grasp on her hands, wiggling a bit in front of him. He chuckled and watched her fire him a warning glance.

'Had enough?'

'I haven't even started yet.' She jarred her hands, almost freeing herself; he quickly transferred his other palm from her throat and grasped both of her wrists.

Without hesitation, she pulled her legs to her torso and straightened them, sliding her knees onto his shoulders. He immediately let go of her hands and grasped her thighs, pushing her away as she squeezed his neck. She grasped his right arm and yanked her entire body to the side, making him loose his balance. She rotated around him onto his back and realized that he wants to drop to the floor, so she released him and hopped down behind the man. She dashed further and watched him turn around with a smirk. He reached behind his back and drew out the knife out of the holster. She instinctively started moving around the classroom.

'Should I risk using my Quirk?' she was wondering, slowly walking around him in a circle, as he observed her, the knife in his hand. 'I can either power him up or drain him. The chances are 50/50 from logical point of view, but in reality it's more like 70 to 30, 70 being him getting the power-up. Should I risk it?'

She looked into his eyes and saw a sudden spark lit up his dangerous gaze.

'Having second thoughts, kitty?'

Her entire body froze mid-step and she felt her lips part, as warmth spread over her skin. He tossed the knife to his left hand, feeling the rubbery surface underneath his thumb and approached her like a big, slender cat. She forced herself to stand her ground, as all of her senses were trying so hard to betray her brain. She smelled his fresh scent in the air between them.

'Shinsou was right,' he purred and pointed the tip of the knife at her face. 'You are distracted quite easily.'

Her brain spiraled with a chain of thoughts, until it landed on an idea, giving birth to a plan. She moved her head away, pretending to be scared of the weapon in the hands of the man she trusted with her life. He took the bait and moved closer, enjoying the clear power-play.

She raised her gaze from the knife all the way up to his eyes, then glanced at his lips, just to slowly return to his right eye. He felt his heart sink deep inside his chest and tightened the muscles of his jaw. With a slight hint of a smirk, she opened her mouth and slowly, extremely carefully traced the flat side of the blade with her tongue. He inhaled sharply through his nose and squeezed the porous handle of the knife, making his knuckles white. She kept staring at him, slowly travelling across the metallic surface with her tongue. When she half-closed her eyes and quietly swallowed with her mouth open, he lost his control. He moved the knife away and was about to grab her hair, but then she punched him in the stomach with her knee.

'Talking about easily exploitable, hm?'

She grabbed his scarf and pulled his head backwards, then made him land on the ground, quickly grabbing the knife and transferring it to his throat.

'I am sorry, sensei, it was the most rational deception I could come up with at the moment,' she said to his ear and saw him grin.

'I will make you pay for this, you know that?' he asked her and felt her sit on his back as she put the knife back into the holster.

'I would love to see you try,' she whispered to the back of his head, burying her face inside his raven hair. She inhaled his scent and felt her hips press down to his body in anticipation. 'Fuck,' she breathed out and laid on top of his back.

He pushed his body up and felt her wrap her legs around his waist. Aizawa turned around and placed her on the desk, then grasped her knees and slid her towards his hips. She felt him being hard and collapsed on the wooden surface behind her.

'Just fuck me already,' she said quietly.

'You know that I can't,' he responded, making her grunt. 'Not because I don't want to.' He slowly climbed his toes, dragging his bulge in between her legs. Her eyes rolled back in the skull and he quickly covered her mouth with his massive hand, preventing her from making any loud noises. 'I just can't. We are not going to do it in the school. I am just not able to. Besides, what kind of assurance I have that you will behave normally, huh?'

He slid his hand from her mouth and slowly moved away to his desk, adjusting his pants on the way with a quiet grunt.

'What do you mean?' she breathed out and hopped to the floor, leaning on the desk in front of her. She bit on her lip and frowned, feeling her unbearable arousal.

'Will you be able to hide your feelings for me?' he asked seriously, grabbing the chopsticks and sat down.

She slowly walked to his desk and collapsed at the chair, which she previously dragged in front of him.

'I don't know.' She placed her face in her hand and her elbow on the table.

He closed his eyes, slowly chewing on the food she made for him. After swallowing, he shrugged and looked at her. She leaned back in the chair and frowned, pushing her lips into a thin line. As the thoughts raced through her mind, a feeling of resolve rapidly built inside of her. She stood up and straightened herself, as if preparing herself to salute.

'I want to be with you. I am deadass, I really do.'

He swallowed the condensed milk snack and looked softly at her.

'Cute,' he thought, seeing her concentrated features.

'I will do whatever you want me to and whatever is required. I don't want any troubles for you but I love you and I want to try... If you want as well, that is,' she inspected his eyes. 'Do you want to?'

He looked down at the lunchbox, which he closed and slid across the friction-less surface to the side. He chewed a bit, then finished his meal and raised his eyes to look at her.

'Yes.'

She looked away, feeling as if suddenly the gravity stopped existing. Her mouth twisted in a grin she couldn't had stopped with any resolve of this world.

'Thank you for the food,' he said after a moment, a hint of a smile in his voice.

'My pleasure.'