The rest of Camie's visit to UA had passed uneventfully, and Bakugo was secretly a little baffled by how little she'd bothered him still. Mina said Camie was cool, and she hoped she visited more often-- Mina really just wanted someone to ship with.

Jiro didn't like Camie nearly as much, as Camie had asked her if she had a bf. (Camie's idea of keeping the whole crush-thing to herself was simply to just not accuse Jiro directly of liking someone. Asking was fair game.)

Shine said that Camie might be visiting again soon-- but not officially.

"You don't want us to tell Aizawa, right?" Mina said.

"I don't see how he could stop me, but it's up to your discretion," Shine said.

"You know... what Aizawa doesn't know won't kill him..." Mina hissed to the other girls, "After all, she's cool, and it's not like it's hurting anyone if she visits. It's probably against some rule, but she can just slip in and out, so who's to know?"

Tsuyu said she wouldn't tell, but she thought it was a bad idea, on record.

"You think everything is a bad idea," Mina and Tohru complained. They were getting a little tired of Tsu's stickler attitude.

Tsu gave them a strange look.

But no one told Aizawa.

***

Momo felt better now that she'd made up her mind, but she also felt unsettled, like she'd entered some kind of new, uncharted territory.

Todoroki thought something was still odd about the situation: Momo was suddenly talking to Shine and Wally again.... Everything seemed fine. Bakugo kept glaring at all of them but saying nothing...

Bakugo had other reasons to be annoyed, though. It was true that some parents were dropping in to check on the students.

So far, just Mina's, Ojiro's, and Tsuyu's, but Bakugo wondered if his would come. He didn't think his mom would really bother... but you never knew with that old hag.

Shine was letting Wally handle the parents' questions. He had a way of putting everyone at ease. Luckily, none of them seemed to realize that the supervisors actually lived there in the dorms.

Two days after the talk with Momo, the Iida family paid a visit. Even Tensei was there.

Shine liked him. She would have liked Mrs. Iida better if she'd not started by demanding to know if her son was getting the proper care and upholding the family name.

All the parents also said this phrase, "Thank you for taking care of my son/daughter."

Iida himself did more of the tour for them than either of the DJs. He was convinced anyone else would mess it up.

Perhaps he should have made that less obvious, because at the end of their visit, Mrs. Iida spoke to her son, "I can see you're doing well here at this school. The training is not too easy for you, is it?"

"Oh, no mother," Iida said.

Wally scoffed. "Easy? Easy to break bones in maybe!"

They all looked at him oddly, even Tensei.

"Mr. West," Iida leaned closer, "now is not the time to spout your negative views of our training."

But Wally was the type of man that only egged on.

"What do you mean, sir?" Mrs. Iida asked.

"Oh, just the training's been cranked up more and more since internships began," Wally said incorrigibly, "I'd say the students get hurt on a daily basis now."

"Well, that is part of hero training," Tensei said good naturedly.

"Is students nearly killing each other?" Wally said.

"What?" Tensei said.

"What?" Mrs. Iida repeated, puzzled.

"He's exaggerating," Iida said.

"Am I?" Wally said smugly.

"I'm sure it's just part of the training," Tensei said.

Shine walked out of the kitchen with some tea. "Oh, we could tell you some stories," she said, taking a sip.

[Yes, this joke was intentional.]

"Really?" Mrs. Iida raised an eyebrow.

"Yes, for example, would you like to know that a building almost fell on your son in training while he was rescuing a hurt classmate, and the students responsible were not reprimanded for it?" Shine said casually, before Iida could stop her.

"You're kidding," Tensei said.

"Real heroic behavior," Shine said dryly, "And that's just the students. The scenarios they put them through are getting more ridiculous by the week. But I suppose it doesn't matter. Plus Ultra, right?"

Mrs. Iida frowned. "Well, I don't know about that... Should we be concerned about this?"

"I'd be," Wally said meaningfully, "but that's not our department-- it's Nezu's. He makes the final decisions. And the hero course teachers."

"Is that so?" Mrs. Iida said, "Well, in that case... Tensei, I think we'll need to pay a visit to the office before we leave."

"Uh... sure," Tensei said, "ut isn't Dad expecting us?"

"He'll understand." Mrs. Iida briskly left the dorms. Tensei wheeled after her.

"Are you two trying to interfere with my training!" Iida demanded, upset.

"Yes!" Shine said vehemently.

"Someone has to," Wally said.

Iida was speechless for a moment. Then he said, "Does it ever occur to you we might need this training to be as harsh as possible to prepare us?"

"Yes, of course it has," Shine said, shocking him (and the other students who were eavesdropping), "all the time."

"Yeah, I've thought about it," Wally admitted.

"Then... why?" Iida said.

"Enough bad stuff happens in life that is out of our control, Tenya Iida," Shine said, somberly, "Tragedy, heartache, suffering. With all that happens to you kids, maybe we just don't want death-by-training to be one of the things you need to worry about."

"Doesn't that strike you as selfish?" Iida said, "Putting what you want ahead of our training, your personal feelings."

That would certainly have worked on anyone else he knew. Whether he knew it or not.

"Not in the least," Shine said candidly, "What do we have to gain by it? Perhaps our ideals are different from yours, but considering that the school has your whole society, several Pros, and Government funding backing it up, surely you don't need to worry about the paltry influence of a pair of nobodies like us."

Iida shook his head. "Even a small spark can set a forest on fire."

"And a little rudder makes a whole ship turn. Let's see what happens."

"But, but... you---" Iida sputtered.

"Iida, I have no reason to have a problem with you, but I really don't care about your opinion either," Shine said, rather crushingly, "I have no reason to trust your judgment in this case. You're younger than me, less experienced, and have seen less of this world-- and other worlds. Did it ever occur to someone with such hubris as you that maybe, just maybe, we have a reason to think the way we do? I've been to other schools, you know. Other places like this. Seen people use very similar logic to your own.... It has never, ever, ended well."

She paused while that sunk in.

Iida gaped at her.

"I couldn't have said it better." Wally snapped his fingers. "And on top of that, it's just not right to put kids through stuff like that on purpose. Preparing them for the world, or whatever. Just what world are they being prepared for?"

"Indeed," Shine agreed, "It's like they think war is coming... Perhaps it is, but if so, we don't wage war the same way... We wage war by far different means, recognizing that not by might, nor by power, but by something else far less measurable is war even won. Iida, you can follow UA if you wish, but don't expect us to cater to your ignorant wants if we think we know better."

She really didn't need to be that harsh, the others thought. Iida was left speechless.

***

Bakugo was trying to study in the common area when his worst fears were realized.

"KATSUKI! WHERE ARE YOU, YOU LITTLE BRAT?!!" his mother's voice thundered, as the door banged open.

Mysteriously, all the other students were upstairs and didn't hear her.

Bakugo got up. "WHAT THE H--- DO YOU WANT, HAG?!" he yelled back.

His mom grabbed him by the arm and smacked him. "DON'T YOU DARE TALK TO ME THAT WAY, YOU LITTLE PUNK. WE CAME ALL THIS WAY TO SEE YOU, AND THIS IS HOW YOU GREET US?"

Bakugo yanked free, but before he could retort anything, Shine walked back into the room.

"What on earth is all the screaming about?" she said loudly, thinking it was just students. "Bakugo, how many times have I told you to take..." She stopped. "Oh... hello... you must be Bakugo's mom."

The resemblance made it impossible not to guess.

"Or maybe his older sister...?" Shine guessed.

"Sister?" Mitsuki said, "Do I look that young to you?"

"You look pretty young," Shine said.

Mitsuki smirked.

Masaru, Mr. Bakugo, looked nervous as he entered the door. "Uh, sorry if we disturbed you."

"Who the frick are you, anyway?" Mitsuki asked.

"I'm the supervisor." Shine bowed politely. "I keep the class safe while Aizawa is off with his other charges. Someone has to."

"Ah," Mitsuki said, "Then you're the perfect person to talk to. I want to know if my son is staying in line."

"SHUT UP!" Bakugo yelled, because he was not going to listen to this!

"BE QUIET!" Mitsuki smacked the back of his neck. "AND DON'T EVEN THINK ABOUT USING YOUR QUIRK!"

Shine visibly flinched at the loud noise.

"Uh, dear, I think you might be scaring the nice lady..." Masaru tried to calm things down.

Both wife and son told him to screw off-- in less nice words.

"So, how is he doing?" Mitsuki turned back to Shine with a completely normal voice. "I'm sure he's given you lots of trouble. He's quite the handful. I apologize for that."

Shine got a tight look in her eyes. Bakugo glared sullenly at her.

"Well, I've had a lot worse students," she said coolly, "Actually, Katsuki is one of my favorites."

"What?" Mitsuki didn't need to sound so blatantly surprised. "Ah, you're kidding. Good one." She laughed.

"No, I'm quite serious," Shine said, "He's a good kid. Honest, reliable, brave. You know, I'm sure, he's your son after all, but I'm sure you must get this from his teachers all the time."

Mitsuki looked at her oddly, then squeezed Bakugo into an arm lock. "I've heard it a lot from his other teachers back in elementary school, but I always thought they were overlooking some key things. UA seems to understand him pretty well... You don't have to lie to cover up-- I know he's a brat."

"That's as it may be," Shine said, "but I think that depends on our point of view. Anyway, I make it a point not to criticize my students in front of other people."

"Ah, you don't have to be so polite," Mitsuki waved it off.

"It's not politeness, it's principle," Shine said.

Mitsuki didn't seem to know how to understand that.

"Ahm well... So how's he getting on with his classmates?"

"Oh, pretty well." Shine waved, nonchalantly. "But why don't you just ask him?"

Bakugo glared at her. "Shut the heck up!"

"Don't talk to your teacher like that!" Mitsuki yanked him.

Shine looked away for a moment.

"I see you're as belligerent as ever," Mitsuki scolded Bakugo further.

Shine seemed to snap at that word. She looked back up, eyes blazing. "Ma'am, do you mind?" she said in a dreadful tone.

Shine only used "sir" or "ma'am" when most people whip out profanity.

"Huh?" Mitsuki looked genuinely puzzled.

"Is humiliating your son in front of other people your usual parenting strategy?" Shine said.

This was nothing anyone else would have dared to say. Even Bakugo couldn't believe she'd have the nerve.

And even in America, it was a bit of a taboo to be so blunt, but Shine was clearly too angry to care.

"What?" Mitsuki said, "Just who do you think you are?"

"I don't have to be anyone in particular. I can see clearly enough that you're behaving in a way that's unacceptable," Shine said, very pedantically, "If you insist on talking to your son that way, I suggest you take it somewhere private. I can assure you, I won't stand here and listen to it."

"Why... why, you little b---!" Mitsuki's temper was kindled now. "How dare you talk to me that way! And just what do you know about parenting, huh? Are you a mother?"

"Are you?" Shine retorted.

"What?" Mitsuki came closer to her as if to slap her.

"You provoked him to act that way," Shine said calmly, "You shouldn't scold him for it if you started it, Ma'am. That is my point. It's a shame when parents are less mature than their children."

Mitsuki slapped her.

Bakugo and Masaru winced identically.

Shine straightened back up after that blow.

"No one talks to me that way!" Mitsuki said, "And mind your own business."

"That is always what people with something to hide say." Shine didn't know when to quit.

Mitsuki might have hit her again, but she caught her husband's eye and seemed to recall she was at a school. "You're lucky I'm not in my younger days-- I wouldn't let an insult like that slide."

"And you're very lucky I have the self control not to retaliate," Shine said crisply.

"A twig like you couldn't beat me in a fight," Mitsuki scoffed.

"Wow... things make more sense all the time," Shine said.

"What?" Mitsuki said.

"Just deja vu," Shine shrugged. She stepped away from Mitsuki. "I'm sorry, Katsuki. I guess I should know better than to provoke your parents. It just...reminded me of something, is all. I guess I always wanted someone to say something about it."

"Uh... what?" Bakugo didn't get why she was apologizing to him.

"What are you on about?" Mitsuki seemed oddly calm for how she'd just acted.

"Oh, it's just, I've always been belligerent too, according to my parents," Shine said to Mitsuki, "I call it hav0ing grit and nerve, but tomato, tomato, so I got a little bit triggered. But I should know better."

"Eh?" Mitsuki looked confused again.

"Clearly, it's not right to just blow up at someone like that," Shine said, with heavy sarcasm.

"Wait, are you mocking me?" Mitsuki said.

"Only if you think this applies to you," Shine said.

Mitsuki nearly choked on rage.

"I'd better go," Shine said. She exited the room.

"What... was that?" Mitsuki said.

Bakugo tried to hide that fact he was smirking. "She's just crazy."

"Well, at least she apologized for being rude. She's a nice girl," Masuru tried to smooth things over.

"I'm not sure someone like that is qualified to supervise here," Mitsuki said, "She'll never last."

Bakugo twitched. "Likstar's tougher than you think. She's just not gonna waste her time fighting you."

"Don't sass me!" Mitsuki jerked him.

"Perhaps he has a point though," Masuru said. "Don't you think you were a little harsh on her, Mitsuki?"

"She was pissing me off!" Mitsuki said, "She shouldn't speak to her elders like that."

"You're not that much older than her..." Bakugo muttered under his breath.

"What was that? Speak up!" Mitsuki said.

"NOTHING!" he yelled.

"Well, if she's really so great, why did she walk away like a weakling?" Mitsuki said.

"Dear..." Masuru began.

"I don't think they should employ someone like that. What is this school thinking?" Mitsuki huffed, "A hero would stand up for herself more."

Then Shine walked back in deliberately. "I'm not deaf, you know. So, you think I'm a weakling? I don't really care, but I'd hate to have you feel disappointed in UA."

BS. She'd love that, Bakugo thought.

"Why don't you fight back. then?" Mitsuki accused her, "You seem like a wimp... Likstar, was it?"

"I've been called that before... but not by anyone who knew me," Shine said flatly.

Silence.

"I couldn't care less what you think, though-- Mitsuki, right?" Shine said, "I don't actually hold your opinion in high esteem. But if you want to fight with me, by all means, give me an excuse to tell Aizawa it was self defense." She frowned scarily.

Mitsuki stared at her.

"We don't want any trouble," Masuru spoke, "Right... Honey?"

Mitsuki smirked in a very Bakugo-like way. "Nah, it's not worth it. I have errands to run today. I don't want to have to re-do my outfit." She shrugged.

Shine refrained from making another jab. "I agree."

"Well, I guess everything here is going fine," Mitsuki said, changing the subject and eyeing Bakugo suspiciously, "No more fights, right? And no wandering off alone."

"Duh!" Bakugo snapped.

"Don't you 'duh' me!" she snapped back, "I swear, you can't just give a straight answer! I ought to pummel you...! But nevermind," She nodded at her husband. "The school will have to deal with it. It's not like he's ever listened to us anyway."

Masuru tugged his collar nervously.

"I actually think Katsuki has listened to you far more than you think," Shine interjected in that sly tone that was always just on the edge between sincerity and mocking, so that people constantly mistook it for one or the other.

"What makes you say that?" Masuru said hopefully.

"The way he's comported himself since I've known him, it's all too clear to me he's your son, now that I've met you," Shine said, in the same voice. "If anything, UA has influenced him hardly at all."

"Well, that's disappointing. They were supposed to improve him," Mitsuki said flatly.

"Perhaps they find he has an ungovernable temperament," Shine said, just as flatly, "It's hard to say where he would have developed that, though, with the tight rein you keep on him. I blame the public education system usually."

"Well, I do think it was partially that that made him get such a big head," Mitsuki said.

It was surprising to Shine that Bakugo did nothing to interrupt or contradict this, just stared at the ground.

"I guess he's always been at the top, then." She couldn't resist this chance to learn more about Bakugo, since he never talked about his past, though she knew he'd hate it.

"Always, ever since he got that stupid, awesome quirk," Mitsuki said, waving dramatically like she was exasperated, "Never could convince him to simmer down, no matter how much we told him he's not that big a hot shot."

"I see your method is a bit unorthodox," Shine said.

"What? Isn't it normal to raise your kid that way? Lots of discipline." Mitsuki flexed her arm proudly. "But Katsuki's always been too hard to manage even so. Unwilling to admit his own weakness."

"I see," Shine said. She was analyzing Mitsuki's manner.

"I guess we could have done better..." Masuru tried to divert the conversation.

"Oh, I don't know. If he wasn't so d--- weak, he never would have been kidnapped by that league. I just didn't want him to be a little b---" Mitsuki said quite casually, like it was a completely normal statement.

Shine hadn't been listening very closely, but that last part made her head snap up. "What did you just say?" Her tone was straight up dangerous now, not that sly one from before.

"I didn't want him to be a--" began Mitsuki

"No, before that, about being kidnapped."

"Uh, that is was because he was so weak. Yeah, I told him that when it happened too," Mitsuki said.

"You did?" Shine's shock was not concealed in the least.

"Yeah... so?" Mitsuki slowly realized this reaction was bit more explosive than the UA staff's had been.

Bakugo glanced up at Shine because he knew that tone. "Don't," he said in a low voice.

"Don't you tell me what to do, Katsuki." Shine warned.

"Is something wrong?" Masuru said.

"Yes... something is wrong with you." Shine was furious. "How could you say something like that to your son, after such a traumatic experience, too?"

"Traumatic? He's fine," Mitsuki said, "That's why I said it. He never takes anything seriously because he thinks he's invincible."

"Do you even know your own child?" Shine was too angry to be tactful. "That's the complete opposite of the truth. That incident bothered him a lot."

"He--" began Bakugo.

"You shut up," Shine said to him.

Bakugo didn't want to get it in front of his parents, so he shut up... to their amazement.

"He doesn't think he's invincible," Shine said, "but he does think he should be. I think that's because of you. What kind of mother tells her son he's weak after getting kidnapped by freaking villains? You do realize they outnumbered him, right? And they're killers. Do you want him to think he should try to attack them if they show up again? Hmm? Are you crazy?"

"Now wait just a minute--" Mitsuki began.

"No, you wait. I'm not finished." Shine's eyes flashed gold, startling them. "I know it's none of my business how your household works, but I swear, winding you son up like that only makes our job harder at this dumb school. If you can't help him, you could at least not make it worse by blaming him. What happened was purely the fault of UA-- and those villains themselves. It takes a strong person to even still want to be a hero after that. You should be proud of Katsuki, not berating him."

"I--" Mitsuki tried to interrupt again, but Shine barreled on. "And I know, you're going to say he's too proud. Well, he is. Too proud to ask for help. I wonder why that is. Maybe it's because someone told him it was weak to do so. I hope, when that leads to him getting seriously hurt one of these days, you're happy with yourself, Ma'am. Letting the school cover for your poor parenting strategy is one way to save face, I suppose."

Mitsuki was angry all over again at her, but for some reason, she didn't attack. 

"Well, I shudder to think what your childhood was like if that's how you treat someone who needs help... Victim blaming is not how we solve things... I pity you, honestly. Ugh, great, I'll be hearing about this later from Aizawa, I've no doubt..." She rubbed her forehead. "I never can keep my mouth shut... Well, I've gone this far-- might as well finish big."

She looked back up at them fiercely. "I've heard that, here, parents don't apologize to their kids... and I believe it. I reckon if there's troubles between families, no one talks about it, and no one knows how to fix it... I won't say apologies work-- I've been given too many fake ones, but if you're the type who never apologizes and never humbles themselves to their children, it can really do wonders to try it. If you actually love your son-- and I can't honestly tell if you do-- you'll stop pushing him like that. That's all I'm going to say to you. Don't punish Katsuki for this. I swear he did not put me up to it. Very sorry you had to see it." She directed this at Bakugo himself.

"But I'm not apologizing for speaking up for what's right. If you'll excuse me, I'll go prepare to get chewed out again."

She stormed out of the room.

This time, they were sure she wasn't going to come right back in.

The silence was dreadful.

Finally, Masuru said, "I think we should just leave, Mitsuki."

 Privately, he was just glad no one else was around to see that.

"Yeah, I guess." Mitsuki surprisingly didn't yell about it.

Bakugo was afraid to ask, but he said, "Are you going to the principal with this?"

"Eh? No, I'm no snitch." Mitsuki made a fist. "I'd bash her face in myself first... but looks like I won't get the chance today. We'll just have to come back some other time. What a little upstart! Err! I'll kill her next time I see her."

"Uh... well... " Masuru seemed to know it was pointless to argue right now. "I think it's best to get to our other errands..."

"Well, what are you standing around for!" Mitsuki yelled. She stormed to the door. "And Katsuki--
She paused. "Be careful around that woman. She looks weak, but I didn't like that look in her eye just now. Might be a dragon underneath it... What's her quirk, anyway?"

"Teleportation." Bakugo decided to just give a standard-sounding answer. He couldn't just say she didn't have one.

"Eh? That could be bad," Mitsuki said.

"It's good quirk for a supervisor to have though," Masuru said.

"Well, anyway, don't piss her off," Mitsuki grumbled. She slammed the door.

Masuru glanced at Bakugo nervously. "I... wouldn't worry too much. She'll forget about it in a few days."

"Sure." 

"That lady didn't seem very respectful," Masuru said, "Honestly... she reminds me of you."

Bakugo gave him quite a look. "What the h--- does that mean?"

"Calm down." Masuru held up his hands meekly. "I didn't mean it that way.... Just... untamed, I guess. Kind of like your mother... but different. I guess I can see why you get along... I'm surprised she's employed here, is all. UA has such a prestigious reputation."

"Well, maybe she's better at the job than it looks," Bakugo grumbled.

 He'd never actually say it, but Shine was probably better at her alleged job than the teachers were at their real ones, as far as successes went. 

"I suppose." Masuru wasn't the type to argue. He cleared his throat... "You know... uh... so... I know it's not like we really talk about it... but... I was real glad you came back unhurt."

Bakugo gave him a bizarre look. "What?"

"Yeah... your mom was too. She just doesn't know how to say it." Masuru rubbed his head. "And... we're both proud of you, really... You're doing well here. Eh, maybe we should say it more often."

Bakugo couldn't believe this. "What's that supposed to mean?"

"It wasn't supposed to mean anything." Masuru waved his hands. "I just thought... well, maybe that lady had a slight point about it. I mean, of course, you should be careful, but it's still a hard thing to overcome that, so you should be proud of it... Well, I don't want to keep your mother waiting."

"Masuru! Where are you! Let's not wait till next year!" Mitsuki could be heard yelling right at that moment.

"Coming!" Masuru said, running out the door.

***

Bakugo was left with a very weird feeling about the whole thing.

He stormed into Shine's area later. "What the h--- was that?!"

Shine looked up. "I told you, I lost my composure. Sorry."

"Yeah, but what was all the crap you were saying?" Bakugo said.

"What crap? I meant all of it." Shine sat up. "I hate it when parents call out their kids in front of others like that."

"Yeah, well, what business was it of yours? And you didn't need to say a bunch of weird sounding s--- just to cover it up!" Bakugo said, "I don't need your d--- help!"

"I'll take that as gratitude from you." Shine rolled her eyes. "I suppose this should not surprise me. I'm sure you didn't want help, and you don't think you need it, but this may shock you: I don't actually care. Whether or not someone needs help, I still owe it to Good to try to help. Because it's not for us to know when it is and is not needed, just to be ready when it is. I'd do the same for anyone else."

"Well, you should piss off, because I don't need it," Bakugo insisted.

"Could you ever just, you know, give it a rest?" Shine said, in a rather bland voice, considering how angry he was acting, "I'm sure you didn't really think saying that was going to change anything for me. It's done.... Forget about it."

Silence.

"Yeah, well, my dad might have actually taken something you said seriously," Bakugo said.

"Did he get angry at you?" Shine said with actual concern now.

"No!... Just... you gave him a bad idea! Now he'll worry about me!" Bakugo said, "And I don't need anyone to worry about me. I'm fine!" He clenched his fists.

This wasn't fooling Shine. She stood up and came closer. (They were in the other common area at the far end of the dorms.)

"It's okay. He won't worry about you any more than he already has," Shine said, "It's only natural for a parent to worry about their kids, no matter how old they are, believe me... You're lucky, actually."

"Huh?" Bakugo said oddly.

Shine sighed. "I... My parents... I didn't leave home a whole lot as a kid... my mom used to say she let fear stop her...then, I was picked on by other kids and other people... and she never said a word to me to let me know what was happening-- or how I could defend myself. Usually, she just asked me if I did something to start it.... Imagine that."

"So why the heck are you telling me that?" Bakugo said. He'd never have admitted something like that to her.

"Because I think you'll understand me," Shine said, "how those two rather contradictory messages affected me. My dad, now, he bullied me...I don't stand up for myself very often. I stand up for other people. I can justify it if it's for them-- I'll say anything. But for me? I feel like it's not worth it, that maybe people are right to think badly of me and say whatever they want. Wally thinks I shouldn't just take it from them. Well, he never does."

She tugged her hair. "You're like me in another way. You let people say whatever bad things they like about you, except that you're weak... Did anyone ever tell you that's not really normal?"

"Huh?" Bakugo gave her a weirded out look. "What are you on about? I don't care if people say stupid s--- about me." 

"I get why now," Shine said, "It's those mixed messages." She shrugged. "I can't fix that for you. But, for whatever it's worth, you can be sure I will not give you those. I intend to tell you exactly what I think of you, the good and the bad... And you know... just because your mom says it, doesn't make it true. She's clearly had her own background to deal with... I don't think she's all bad, even, after meeting her... but she shouldn't blame you for what happened. I hope you know that."

Bakugo didn't understand why he was having a hard time even speaking... or why his hands were shaking.

Shine noticed. "It's okay.... I won't tell anyone about it. No need to yell at me... But I don't take it personally. If you came in here to reassert your strength to me, to feel better after that, I get why. But it's not necessary. I know you are strong, Bakugo... I know you're weak too. Didn't I tell you before? It's all the same thing, just depends on how you look at it. I'm weak too. I'm also strong. I can accept that about myself. There'll be a day you can do that too, mark my words... but I won't gloat about it. I'm just hoping you'll be a little easier on yourself."

"Shut up..." Bakugo's tone was barely even annoyed.

Shine chose nicely to ignore how obviously upset he was. "Why don't you get on and leave me alone. You always come in and interrupt me when I'm trying to have some quiet time. Go do some actual work!"

Bakugo seized the excuse to storm off readily enough.

Shine sighed and flopped back. "That was hard. Geez, Wally sure missed it today."

Wally heard the whole story later and agreed, he had missed it-- He wasn't too broken up over it though.