For the rest of the week, Bakugou and Kia found themselves pulling eighteen hour days into the weekend. They were called all over Tokyo to help with both large scale and small scale villains. By the time they got done with the paperwork, they barely had time to eat and sleep before getting called back out. They even had to split up a couple of times so they could cover their own patrol routes. Before they knew it, another week had started and they had a mountain of paperwork to get through.

Kia stopped by a coffee shop before making her way to the agency, picking up a double shot for both her and Bakugou. Walking through the front door, she couldn’t hold back a yawn.

“Wildside!” Nina called out.

Turning around, Kia saw the assistant walking towards her.

“Nina… what can I do for you?” Kia asked as the woman reached her.

“I was wondering if you had any luck with that apartment I found for you.” Nina asked.

“I have an interview with the building manager tomorrow,” Kia replied. “Hopefully I will be able to move in by the end of the week. I really do appreciate your help in searching.”

“It was my pleasure! You and Ground Zero have been busy lately. I hope you aren’t over doing it,” Nina said.

“I’m a little tired but, hopefully things will slow down soon,” Kia said stifling another yawn.

“Well, make sure you are not overdoing it,” Nina said as she turned to leave. “Let me know how the interview goes.”

“I will,” Kia replied, heading to the elevator. When she got to their office, Kia opened the door to find Bakugou lying back in his chair, sound asleep. Grinning, Kia stepped in and slammed the door behind her.

Startled, Bakugou almost fell out of his chair. “What the hell?” he blurted as he caught himself.

“Morning, sleeping beauty,” Kia said, setting a coffee down on his desk. “Hard at work I see.”

“What time is it?” Bakugou asked, reaching for the cup.

“It is only 8am. How long have you been here?” Kia asked, sitting down at her desk.

“Since five,” he said, taking a drink.

“I don’t know about you, but coffee is the only thing keeping me going,” Kia said, drinking her own coffee. “Is it usually this busy?”

“No,” Bakugou replied. “I’ve been trying to find out why there are so many active villains, but I haven’t found anything yet.”

“No links between the different cases?” Kia asked, sitting down at her desk and pulling out a file.

“Not that I can find,” Bakugou said, waking up his computer.

“I’m going to finish up the paperwork for the last incident we took care of,” Kia told him.

“Alright, I was thinking about taking a patrol down Mr. Kawahara’s street today. Should be a peaceful day,” Bakugou informed his partner.

“Sounds good,” Kia said. “By the way, I need to take off for about an hour or so tomorrow. I’m looking into getting an apartment and I have a meeting with a building manager.”

“That should be fine,” Bakugou replied, stretching.

A couple hours later, the two heroes were suited up and headed to patrol. It was early June and the weather was nice as they headed towards Mr. Kawahara’s store. The old couple was outside working as they made their way down the street.

“Hey, you two!” Mr. Kawahara called out as they approached the store. “You have been pretty busy lately.”

“How have things been around here?” Bakugou asked.

“Peaceful. Nothing has happened since you two caught those thugs that stole from our store,” Mr. Kawahara replied.

“My dears, you both look exhausted!” Mrs. Kawahara said, hurrying over to them. “Have you been eating properly?”

“It has been busy but we are sleeping and eating when we can,” Kia told the woman.

“Stay here and I will go get you something,” Mrs. Kawahara said, rushing into her store.

“Wait, you don’t have to…” Kia started, but the old woman was already gone.

“So, I’ve seen you two on TV a lot lately. Your partnership seems to be going pretty good,” Mr. Kawahara said.

“B isn’t as scary as he thinks he is,” Kia laughed.

“You’re just stubborn,” Bakugou replied nonchalantly.

“Well, please continue doing a good job. We are all counting on you!” Mr. Kawahara told them.

“Indeed we are,” Mrs. Kawahara said as she came out of the store. She had two bottles of water, a bag of bell pepper slices, and a small container of strawberries in her arms. “Please, take these you two.”

“I appreciate it ma’am, but you really don’t have to,” Kia said.

“Oh, take them anyway, even if it is just to give this old woman some piece of mind.” Mrs. Kawahara smiled.

Kia took the food from the woman, thanking her again for her kindness. Waving goodbye, she handed one of the bottles of water to Bakugou as they continued on their patrol.

Kia reached into the bag of peppers. Pulling out a slice for herself, she stuck it in her mouth before reaching into the bag and pulling out one for Bakugou. “Here, it is probably hard to reach in the bag with your gauntlets on,” she said, holding out the slice for him.

To her surprise, Bakugou bent over and grabbed the pepper from her hand with his mouth. “You’re welcome,” she said, pushing aside the weird feeling in her chest. They walked down the street checking over all the businesses as they shared the bag of peppers. Kia opened the small container of strawberries. Popping one in her mouth, she hummed as the sweet taste spread over her tongue.

“So you like strawberries?” Bakugou asked, looking sideways at his partner.

“I love spicy food, but I also like sweet things too,” Kia replied. “Strawberries happen to be my favorite fruit. We have a small patch back home and my brother and I would fight over who gets the first berry every year.”

“You have a brother?” Bakugou asked.

“Yep! He is a couple years younger than me and I have a sister that is about ten years older than I am,” Pausing, she looked at him curiously. “You are really talkative today. Why the sudden interest?” Kia asked.

“Well, you don’t seem to be going anywhere soon, so it might help to know a little about you,” Bakugou replied matter-of-factly.

“How about you? I bet you are an only child,” Kia says.

“What makes you think that?” Bakugou asked, raising a brow.

“Well, for one, you don’t play well with others,” Kia teased. Bakugou just snorted and rolled his eyes. “I will take that as a yes,” Kia grinned.

Turning down the next street, they heard some familiar voices call out to them. “Ground Zero, Wildside!!” They turned around to see Haru, Hiro, and Kuro running towards them.

“Your quirk is awesome!” Haru exclaimed, coming to a stop in front of Kia. “Can you turn into a full dragon?”

“You’re a dragon, so can you breathe fire?” Kuro asked.

“Who do you think would win in a fight, you or Ground Zero?” Haru asked.

“Can we see your wings, please?” piped up little Hiro.

“Easy guys, one at a time,” Kia laughed. “Let’s see… first off, thank you, then yes, yes, me, and sure, since you asked so nicely.”

“Huh?” Bakugou said, catching her answer to Haru’s second question.

Ignoring her partner, Kia turned around. “Alright, step back, you three,” she said as her wings unfurled from her back. Gently, she spread them out for the boys to see. Her wingspan was more than twice her height, so she had to be mindful of what was around them.

“WOW!” the boys said in unison.

“Can you turn into a dragon all the way?” Haru asked excitedly.

“Not on the street. There isn’t enough room!” Kia deflected.

“Can we touch your wings?” Hiro asked.

Kia crouched down, folding her wings in so the boys could reach them. She smiled as the boys ran their hands over the primary feathers on her right wing.

“They are so soft,” Kuro said.

“It looks like they are made of jewels,” Haru added.

“Thank you, boys… that’s really sweet of you to say,” Kia replied. All of a sudden, she felt a hand on her left wing. Startled, she turned her head to see Bakugo had taken off his glove and gauntlet and was running his hand over her feathers.

“Did they really protect that little boy from Ground Zero’s blast?” Haru asked.

Looking back to the boys, Kia replied. “Yep, they are as hard as my scales.”

“Can we see those too?” Kuro asked.

Kia paused, looking a little uneasy. She relaxed as scales formed across her face and hands. Rolling up her sleeve, she held her arm out for the boys to see. All three of the boys rushed in to touch her.

“They are warm,” Hiro said.

“I’m warm blooded, so of course they would be warm,” Kia replied.

“I thought you would feel like a snake, but your scales are soft too,” Haru told her.

“Why are these ones a lighter color?” Kuro asked, pointing to the scales around her wrist.

“Those are scars from an injury. I’m not completely invulnerable so if an injury is bad enough my scales will grow back a lighter color.” Kia answered.

Bakugou knelt down next to Hiro and reached out to run a finger down her arm to her wrist. “How did it happen?” he asked.

Kia pulled her arm back, her smile disappearing from her face. “That is a story these boys don’t need to hear,” she replied, standing up.

“Wait! Do you have claws and fangs?” Haru asked, jumping up and down. “What about a roar?”

“You are just full of questions, aren’t you?” Kia said laughing at the boys’ enthusiasm. She knelt back down so the boys could see her fangs and gave a growl that had the boys bubbling over with excitement.

Bakugou stood back up and pulled his glove back on to watch his partner as she entertained their young fans. He couldn’t help but wonder what Kia had gone through in her past that would leave scars like that.