"Get up." The curtains were pulled open and light filled the room. Shinso retreated into a ball to shield his eyes, attempting to dive beneath his blanket before it was ripped away from him. "Get dressed."

He reluctantly unfolded enough to look up and see the apathetic gaze of his mentor and house head. "Why?"

"I have a meeting with the House of One. You're coming with me." His voice was monotone and slightly hoarse. Eraserhead, head of the Eraser House, was Shinso's mentor and occasional slave driver. He looked like he should be putting himself to bed rather than going to work, but that argument had yet to gain Shinso any slack. Reluctantly, he dragged himself out of bed.

"Where are we going?" Shinso asked. "Why are we going?"

Eraserhead leaned against the wall. "Dress well, we'll be in a restaurant. We're going to scout around the location first."

"That's one answer," Shinso said as he picked through his closet. He looked to his mentor for approval as he selected appropriate attire based on such little direction. He didn't bother to ask for more clarification. He had learned long ago that questions rarely yielded answers. Patience or investigation was the the only way to get results.

"Have you studied the files I gave you?" Eraserhead asked.

Shinso rolled his eyes. "Of course I did. House of One's head is All Might and Midnight is his right hand. There's the elusive Dragon, the cleaner Meltdown, and well known enforcers Monster and Structure."

"I didn't ask you to recite it."

"But you did want me to prove it," Shinso replied.

Eraserhead did not look amused or impressed, but that was his default look so Shinso didn't think much of it. "Listen, you're my successor, so it's time you got the chance to act like it."

"Yeah?" Shinso perked up. He'd been under Eraserhead's tutelage for years now, but he'd rarely been trusted with anything. Unlike his sister successor who'd been on missions with her mentor in increasing frequency. Shinso was like a dirty secret to Eraser House. That was something of a neccessity with his quirk, but it wasn't any less disheartening. There was nothing that guaranteed his position and there was already someone waiting to take his place if he proved to be incompetent.

"Mic won't be able to join us, so you get to choose which of your peers will be accompanying us."

Shinso's eyes widened. "Really?"

Eraserhead was usually very cautious and always emphasized preparation, it was unheard of for him to hand off a decision like that.

"I'll give you a few minutes to decide," his mentor said. "Keep in mind they'll need time to prepare as well, so don't dawdle."

This was either a very large display of trust or a test tossed into an otherwise insignificant task. He was tempted to think it was the latter, but meetings with the other houses were rarely a throwaway matter and Shinso had never been invited to one before.

"I understand," he answered.

Eraserhead nodded. "I'll leave you to prepare," he said as he left Shinso to his own devices.

Shinso couldn't say that he wasn't nervous. This would be his first meeting with anyone in the other families. He wasn't sure if he would be introduced as an apprentice or as House Heir. Would he come face to face with All Might or someone lower ranked? He didn't have answers for these questions and they left nervous tingles running through him.

"Hey," Eraserhead called out. Shinso looked up to see his mentor turned around in his car seat, his eyes serious instead of just tired. "Don't go out there feeling doubtful. Just put on your best face."

"Right," Shinso answered.

His mentor looked him over a moment longer before nodding. He slipped shades over his eyes and turned to Mandalay in the seat beside him. "Ready?"

Mandalay smiled. "I'm ready."

"Let's go."

They'd reserved a table in an isolated area of the room. Mandalay kept her eyes on the room at large and the shades on Eraserhead's eyes kept his gaze hidden.

Mandalay's apprentice Tooru was beside him, but he only knew that because he felt her grip on his arm. Shinso had picked her to accompany them both because having someone unseen would be helpful and because he thought that she didn't get much was often away with he own team and Shinso thought it was unfair that she was so neglected. Perhaps he also picked her because she had little chance of showing him up. He wasn't proud to admit that, but he was willing to do what he could to keep his position.

Eraserhead and Mandalay sat first, right beside each other but facing opposite directions. Shinso sat beside his mentor and Tooru remained standing, unseen and unknown.

"He's going to be late," Eraserhead said. "He's usually late."

"Should we order without them?" Mandalay asked.

Shinso let his gaze wander, keeping half an ear on their conversation. Mandalay's quirk was telepathy, allowing her to speak to others in their mind, so she could easily signal them if there was trouble. Shinso wondered if she often used it in moments like this where they were having mundane conversations out loud.

"This place is kinda empty today," Shinso commented idly.

"I was just thinking the same thing," Mandalay said. He felt Tooru's touch slid away from him. Did Mandalay give her an order? "We did request an uncrowded spot."

"It suits our needs," Eraserhead said.

"It does," she agreed. Mandalay was smiling. It should have put him at ease, but it was having the opposite effect. She hadn't been smiling earlier. "Is this place usually popular?"

"Not that popular. Not this early."

Mandalay hummed in acknowledgement. "It looks very-"

Shinso interrupted her idle commentary. "The waiter hasn't been by."

Eraserhead was frowning. "No, he hasn't."

"Get down!" Tooru yelled.

Shinso was yanked out of his seat and he saw Eraserhead and Mandalay going down just before he heard the noise of gunfire.

"So, what are we supposed to be learning at this meeting?" Mina asked as she bounced excitedly in her seat.

All Might was driving. Midnight was in the passenger seat smiling back at her protege. "You always have a million questions."

"How else am I supposed to learn anything?" she asked.

Izuku shared a look with Kirishima behind Mina's back as she leaned forward. She had eagerly claimed the middle seat and it was now apparent that this was why. Izuku smiled at her antics indulgently while Kirishima just shook his head.

"You ever consider that we'd tell you when you needed to know?" Midnight responded playfully.

"Why bring us if you don't want us to know anything?" Mina questioned.

"I understand your excitement, young Ashido." All Might's voice was powerful even at a low volume and he stole the attention of everyone in the car. "But you mustn't lean so far forward. Safety first!"

She blushed as she sat back in her seat. "Sorry."

"No harm done," All Might said.

"You aren't here because of the meeting," Midnight explained. "You're here to get exposure to the other houses. If you're going to ever succeed me, I need to know how well you can handle yourself."

All Might interjected again. "Young Kirishima, your quirk is useful and you could be a powerful combatant, but I have yet to determine where your other merits lie. Young Midoriya, you are an excellent study! I'm very curious to see what you take away from this meeting unprompted."

Izuku didn't miss the fact that nothing was said about his own skills in combat or anything else. Effectively, he was here to cover his comrades weaknesses. That was fine. He knew he'd messed up by getting caught a while back, but he would prove himself. He'd prove his own usefulness one way or another.

"Alright," Midnight said as they parked. "Don't speak unless you are certain that you understand what is being discussed. Don't ask questions in front of the other house. Listen to our orders implicitly. Got it?"

"Got it," they echoed obediently.

"Great," Midnight smiled. "Let's go."

Izuku and Kirishima walked on either side of Mina as they followed their house leaders. They didn't have to walk far to get to the restaurant and the front was empty when they walked in.

"Who just leaves their post completely unattended like this?" Mina complained.

"Who indeed," All Might echoed as he looked around. "Stay close to me."

"Why? Is something wrong?" Kirishima questioned. He activated his quirk and stood on the other side of his friends, opposite of the adults.

Izuku kept his eyes open as well. Aside from the evacuated post, there didn't seem to be many people around. A few tables were occupied, but he didn't see many wait staff. Something caught his attention out the corner of his eye and he pointed. "What's that?"

The answer came rapid fire as a hail of bullets was unleashed around them. All Might moved in front of them all and Midnight dove toward the ground, pulling Mina and Izuku with her. Kirishima moved to cover them before ducking down himself.

"All Might!" Midnight yelled out as she pulled her pupils close to her body. They were hidden behind the podium where the attendant should have been and she gestured to Kirishima. "The table."

He scurried toward the nearest table, knocking it over and rolling it toward them to provide more cover.

All Might had done the same, though it resulted in him being separated from his housemates. "This isn't aimed at us," he said. His voice was barely audible beneath the noise of gunshots.

"All Might, don't!" Midnight yelled.

"Take care of the kids!" he responded. He took hold of the table and swung it fiercely in the direction of the shots, chasing after it in the interim that followed.

Midnight scrambled for her phone to send out a message and she pushed her pupils closer to the ground. "Reckless idiot," she muttered. She turned her gaze to Kirishima. "Keep them covered. Stay low and do not do anything rash," she commanded.

Kirishima nodded seriously. "Got it."

Midnight nodded back before getting up to follow All Might's path. The silence that followed was nearly more deafening than the gunshots had been.

Izuku reached out to touch Mina's shoulder. "Are you alright?"

"Y-yeah, fine," she replied. She smiled, but her smile was shaky. "It's just... I'm not used to being in a situation where my quirk is useless."

He smiled back at her, probably just as shaky, and moved closer in hopes of comforting her. "That's one advantage of being quirkless," he told her. "I'm used to being powerless when things go wrong. It, uh, makes it easier not to panic?" He laughed a little, nervous and forced. "It's normal for me not to have an easy solution, so I try twice as hard to think of one, you know." He was probably rambling, but no one had interrupted him yet. He looked at his friends. Mina was giving him a look that he couldn't decipher. Kirishima was smiling.

"Wow. you really are manly, Midoriya!"
The silence settled again and Kirishima peeked around the room. He couldn't see much, but there were holes in the walls where the bullets landed and broken glass was littering the floor. It was an unsettling sight. Kirishima moved closer to his friends, trying to cover and block their sight in case they decided to attempt looking around like he did.

Kirishima snapped to attention as he heard movement. "Something's coming."

Mina looked up, pooling acid in one hand as she tried to see whatever Kirishima seemed to hear. Izuku placed a hand on her shoulder. "Wait until we know what it is."

"Dammit!" The quiet swear preceded the sound of footfalls coming toward them. "I can't believe we were so careless." A woman came into view holding her bleeding shoulder as her eyes darted around the room quickly. She stopped as her eyes landed on them.

Mina's arm twitched as if to attack, but Izuku squeezed her shoulder, urging her to wait.

"You kids from House of One?" the woman asked.

Kirishima moved slightly further in front of his housemates. "And what if we are?"

"All Might isn't with you," she said calmly. "But he isn't the type to endanger children, so this wasn't his set up."

"Of course not!" Izuku said. "We were taken off guard, too."

They heard the sound of a car outside and all eyes turned to the door. Mana Ashido walked in, bright eyes scanning the room quickly before turning to her daughter. "Midnight sent for us, what's the problem?"

"The problem," interrupted the bleeding woman, "Is that someone shot this place to hell!"

"Mandalay!" A guy with purple hair that didn't look any older than them ran toward them, clutching a pile of bloodsoaked cloth. "We need-"

"I know," the woman, Mandalay, snapped. She turned to face Mana. "You giving us a ride or what?"

Mana jerked her head toward the door. "Monster has another car outside. Hurry up, kid."

He looked to Mandalay, who nodded, before rushing outside.

"Where's Eraserhead?" Mana asked.

Mandalay's eyes drifted toward the kids again. "With All Might by now, I suppose. I sure I don't need to warn your house not to make an enemy of my own."

"I know the deal," Mana replied. "Monster will take you to out house. Better get going."

Mandalay gave them all one last look before she quickly left.

Mana walked forward and knelled down in front of them all. This close to her daughter, their similarities overwhelmed their differences. They were the same shade of pink with the same hair, though Mana wore hers longer. Mana lacked the black sclera and horns of her daughter, with bright pink eyes that stared hard at them. "What happened here?" she asked.

"That's what I'd like to know."

Mana stood back up and turned as All Might and Midnight returned with the head of Eraser House.

"Been a while, Meltdown."

Mana nodded. "Likewise, Eraserhead."