Chapter 1
The Gunshot Wound

It didn't surprise Aizawa that he remembered Hiruma Rin – frankly, he remembered most of the students from his first year as a teacher. Even the more unspectacular ones. What did surprise him though, was the fact that he was apparently the only emergency contact listed in Rin's hospital file. Or rather, that he was still the only emergency contact, even after such a considerable number of years.

As one of his first ever homeroom students, Aizawa had had no particular feelings towards Rin. She'd always gotten acceptable marks, was a hard enough worker from what Aizawa remembered. However, she'd apparently struggled to form close relationships with the other students and had no relatives anywhere near the school. Which was why Aizawa had offered his name and number as the emergency contact in any situation requiring it. Including hospital visits, of which there had been many in the three years he'd taught her.

Since then, however, he'd heard very little of Rin. In one cursory letter that had come sometime after her graduation, she'd said she'd gone on to become an underground hero by the name of Lady Chi. She liked it. Was working with a group who went after drug lords and child trafficking rings. She hoped he was well. Nothing else besides that.

Nothing. No news and no emergency calls.

Not until earlier that day, when Aizawa's lesson had been interrupted by a call from the local hospital.

Hiruma Rin had been shot. She was stable, but had lost a lot of blood – her quirk would be affected.

Now, in a clinical walling of white and machinery, Aizawa considered the oddly familiar face of his former student. Connected to IVs and a chest tube. Disconcertingly still, breathing with steady slowness while she slept. She looked pasty and worn: the mass of white hair tangled in messy knots, her face bloodless and damp. Such sickly pallor was a feature Aizawa recognised without shock, along with the nearly bruise-like darkness surrounding her lids and the sharp angling of her cheekbones. Apart from some new maturity in her features, Rin hadn't changed much.

At her bedside, the doctor explained things simply. Rin had been after an escaped convict two nights ago and things had gone awry. She hadn't managed to catch him, taking a nasty shot to the chest instead, after which she was brought to the hospital by the police. Fortunately, apart from some tissue damage, no harm had been done to her vital organs – though it had been a close call. She'd been given a blood transfusion. Several stitches.

"Considering the nature of Miss Hiruma's wound, it seems unlikely that she'll be able to resume hero work for a while."

"Quite unfortunate," Aizawa droned in turn. He glanced back to Rin for a moment with a dull sense of the impersonal – a former student, older now and seemingly very much the same as she always had been; however, it was also very much like looking at a stranger. Of course, Aizawa was concerned, but it was the type of concern one would have for a thirsty houseplant.

The doctor nodded, tapping a pen against the clipboard he held. A pause of little meaning passed between them before he spoke again, more hesitantly this time, "Miss Hiruma is going to require a lot of rest as part of her recovery. Possibly someone to help oversee her care. Are you a relative of hers, Eraser Head?"

"No. I'm not a relative."

"I see," the doctor murmured, eying out his clipboard once more. "You were the only person listed as an emergency contact."

Aizawa stared. "So I've been told."

"Are you aware of anyone else we might be able to get in contact with regarding Miss Hiruma's circumstances?"

No relatives. No friends from high school he could remember. There were the other underground heroes, of course – though Aizawa hadn't exactly made friendly chit-chat with any of them for quite some time. He wouldn't know who to suggest on that front. "Unfortunately," he said to the doctor with impending uneasiness, "There's no one I can think of."

The doctor stared skeptically, as though to question Aizawa's status as this poor girl's only saving grace. "I see," he hummed.

Another pause, this one much more potent than the last, weighed heavily by looming expectation. It had been suggested over the phone that Rin would need some sort of assistance in her recovery. That someone would have to be there for her. The implications had been clear – and Aizawa, in his rush for the hospital, had reasoned that it would be easy enough to discourage it. Only now, faced with the actuality of the possibility, he wasn't so sure he'd be able to bring himself to do so. Not if he was the only person to whom Rin had any apparent connection.

In low tones, seeming to speak less to Aizawa than to himself, the doctor began again, "I'll have to ask Miss Hiruma for some more information when she wakes up. It'll be much easier for her if there's someone to help her out when she–"

"She can stay with me."

A wide-eyed stare. "Pardon?"

"Hiruma Rin can stay with me when she's discharged," Aizawa repeated. Of course though, she wouldn't exactly be staying with him – not in the UA dormitories. However, his apartment wasn't far from the school: if it really came to it, Rin could stay there until she was ready to do things on her own again.

Bringing the pen to his lips in a thoughtful gesture, the doctor considered Aizawa seriously. "While it would be ideal to have someone keeping an eye out for her, you're under no obligation to take Miss Hiruma in. Alternative plans can be made."

"It would be the most rational thing," Aizawa said. "That is, if there's no one else who'd be able to help care for her instead."

Without offering any further hint at objection, the doctor thanked Aizawa and said they would be in contact. He expected Rin would have to remain hospitalized for another three days or so to be monitored; when she was discharged, Aizawa would be given the run-down of medications and any other requirements for her care. The doctor assured him it wouldn't be anything serious – things like helping out with the occasional errand and making sure she was following her treatment plan. This last detail was mentioned with particular emphasis as, apparently, Rin was a frequent visitor to the hospital and had made herself known for not following doctors' orders.

That evening, Aizawa left the hospital with a peculiar knot in his stomach. Apart from the odd biographical detail and some knowledge of Rin's quirk, Aizawa knew very little about her. Shamefully little, as a matter of fact, and it was hard to say whether he had made the right call by offering his help. His help – his apartment – his presence. Already, he had a rowdy group of second years to be responsible for. Now too, he (possibly) had an invalid.