"We really need these extra lessons to make up for our work studies?" Aiko asked, "Don't we need to be deciding the festival activity we're doing with our class?"

Earlier in the day, Aizawa had told the class about an upcoming school festival, and that they'd be putting on an event of some sort for the rest of the school. Aiko personally wanted to do a coffee/library cafe of sorts, but nobody agreed with her. Aizawa nodded and said, "Let the others figure it out," and pulled all of the work study students into class. About an hour in, Aiko heard distant shouts. 

She perked her head up, listening for more shouts. "Haru?" she asked.

Then, Haru came barreling into the classroom and said, "Eri's awake!" 

Aiko's eyes widened as Aizawa grumbled, "Distracted, Gessei?"

"Haru came back, he said that Eri's awake!" she exclaimed happily.

Midoriya and the other work study students all sighed with relief, happy that she's okay. "I know, they called me a little bit ago," Aizawa stated, "I was actually about to tell you and Midoriya..."

"Lemillion, Spectre... and the green hero..."

"Eri has requested to see you two, alongside Mirio. The hospital was against it due to her quarantine..." Aizawa said, the students deflating, "But Nezu insists that we let her see you. She needs some light in her life. And with me there, she'll be of no risk to you."

Aiko felt relief and warmth flood her chest, knowing that she was going to be able to talk to Eri now that she was awake. 'I'm so glad...'

.

.

.

Aiko walked through the door of the hospital room, her eyes landing on Eri. She was staring at them with wide, scarlet eyes. Relief flooded her chest. 'I know that they told me she was okay, but seeing her awake is much more reassuring...' she thought to herself. "Hey there, Eri. I'm glad to see you're awake," Aiko said with a gentle smile.

Eri's eyes lightened a little as Aiko, Mirio, and Midoriya all grabbed chairs and sat beside her bed, Haru standing in the corner of the room by Aizawa. "How are you feeling?" Mirio asked.

"I feel okay..." Eri answered softly.

"Why did you want to see us?" Midoriya asked.

Eri's eyes drifted down. "When I had a fever... all I could think about was all that you had done for me, but... I don't even know your name. I know Lemillion and Spectre's names, but that's it," she answered.

'She's so precious,' Aiko's heart wept as Haru cooed.

"Oh, my name is Izuku Midoriya, but my hero name is Deku. Deku's easier to remember, so you can just call me Deku," Midoriya answered.

"Hero name?" Eri asked.

"It's like a nickname," Midoriya said.

"Like my hero name is Spectre, but my actual name is Aiko Gessei," Aiko answered with a soft smile.

"Hey, you hungry? What's your favorite fruit? I'm gonna guess... it's a peach! Because you're a real peach," Mirio said with a smile.

Aiko chuckled as Eri answered, "Favorite...? I guess I like apples..."

Then, her eyes drifted back to where Aiko and Mirio sat. "Spectre... Lemillion... Deku... and that man with the glasses... you got so hurt trying to save me... why? It's my fault you all got so hurt, but you kept trying to save me..." Eri cried.

"No... precious baby..." Haru whispered, trying not to cry.

Aiko felt tears of her own start welling in her eyes. Mirio put a gentle hand on her head and said, "And we'd all do it again. You know what we're all thinking? Man I am so glad that Eri is safe and able to smile again!"

Eri looked around at them before she started pulling on her face. The teens in the room all tilted their heads in confusion before Eri stopped. "I'm sorry... I guess I forgot how to smile..." she whispered.

That statement felt like a punch to the gut. "Overhaul is lucky that I don't know where he is... because I'd kill him myself right now..." Haru growled. 

'She hasn't really been saved... not yet...' Aiko thought to herself before she reached out very slowly and gently and put a hand on Eri's cheek. "That's okay, kiddo. We'll teach you," Aiko said with a smile of her own.

Midoriya shot out of his seat, "What if we invite Eri to the school festival?" he asked Aizawa.

Aiko's eyes brightened as she also leapt from the seat. "That would be perfect! Please Aizawa?" she plead alongside Midoriya.

Aizawa thought about it for a moment and said, "I'll have to talk to the hospital and the school... but we'll see. I think it's a good idea."

Aiko smiled and turned around to see Mirio explaining the school festival to Eri. "You're going to love it! I bet there's going to be candy apples there too!"

"What's a candy apple?" Eri asked.

Mirio smiled, "It's an apple that they cover in really sweet sticky stuff. It makes it taste even sweeter!"

Although her face remained mostly neutral, Eri's eyes sparkled. "Even... sweeter?"

"Yeah! We'll definitely have to try one during our festival date!" Mirio remarked.

"A date?" Eri asked.

"It's when two people who really like each other go out," Mirio explained.

"So, we're going on a date?" Eri asked innocently.

Aiko and Haru laughed as Midoriya said that that was enough. Then, Eri's eyes landed on Aiko. "There's one more thing that's been on my mind..." she said.

Aiko quirked a brow, "Oh? What is it?"

Eri looked around, "What happened to your friend? The one with the bright green hair. I saw him during the raid and he said he was your friend, but I was only able to see him for a tiny bit of time."

Aiko smirked and looked over at Haru. "You must be talking about Haru. To explain that, I'd have to explain how my quirk works," Aiko stated.

Eri sat quietly, silently begging her to explain. Aiko smiled and scooted a bit closer. "Well, I basically have all of the powers of a ghost. I can make myself untouchable, I can move objects, I can take energy from things, and I can even go invisible. That's why I was untouchable by the spikes whenever I was flickering. Because of that, I can also see and interact with ghosts. Haru is one of those ghosts."

Eri frowned, "He's a ghost...?"

Aiko nodded and Eri remarked, "But he wasn't scary... ghosts are scary..."

Aiko's expression fell as memories played through her mind. 

"That's a villain quirk!"

"You're creepy!"

"You're probably going to make ghosts haunt us!"

"Ghosts aren't all scary. Haru's very friendly, he's been friends with Aiko here ever since she was a little kid!" Mirio remarked, pulling Aiko out of her thoughts.

Everyone else in the room turned to face Aiko. "Really? You've known Haru since you were a kid?" Midoriya asked.

Aiko nodded shyly and said, "I met him before I even knew my quirk had appeared. My mom just thought he was an imaginary friend, and I didn't really understand why no one else could see him. But then when I went incorporeal in front of my parents they put the pieces together and realized that Haru was real."

"So... he's a friendly ghost?" Eri asked.

Aiko nodded and asked, "Would you like to see him?"

The small girl hesitated, looking at Aizawa, Midoriya, and Mirio for approval. All of them nodded in reassurance, and so Eri did the same. Aiko reached out slowly and gently grabbed Eri's hand, and suddenly, Eri felt the feeling of a cold trickle of water go down her back, what she had felt in the raid when Aiko had used her quirk while holding her. Then, Eri looked around the room and noticed a boy with tan skin and green hair smiling at her. "Glad to see you're awake, Eri," he said with a wave.

Eri gulped before returning the wave. "Thank you for helping me and Spectre during the raid," she said quietly.

Haru nodded before Aiko deactivated her quirk, and Haru disappeared. Aiko then thought of something which made her nervous. As they were leaving the building, Aiko stopped Aizawa and asked him something quietly.

.

.

.

Aiko and the others got home from the hospital and were met with a proposition that they'd be in a band for the school festival. "Uhhhhh" Aiko started.

However, Mina then grabbed her shoulders and said, "You're dancing with me!"

Aiko felt a shiver in her core. "No offense... but I'm not particularly good in the spotlight..." she whispered.

"Really? But you're like a total badass," Kaminari remarked.

Aiko blushed, "Fighting and stuff is different than performing..."

Bakugo sneered, "Stagefright is for losers, if you wanna keep being my sparring partner, then you better do this and kill all of UA with your dance moves!"

Aiko gulped and glanced at Haru, who gave her an encouraging look. She took a deep breath and said, "Ok... I'll do it."

"YESSSS!" Mina exclaimed, rocking Aiko's shoulders back and forth, making the girl incredibly dizzy.

Aiko smiled and laughed with her classmates as they began preparations for the school festival that night, delegating people onto teams and coming up with the overall idea.

'I hope Eri likes it...' Aiko thought, 'Maybe this will be what she needs to relearn how to smile...'