Katsuki disembarked from the bus without a word, his pocket buzzing incessantly. He totally ignored the sensation as he hopped down onto the sidewalk and began to head toward his destination, not bothering to check if Izuku was following. Sure enough, the shorter boy jogged to catch up and walk at Katsuki's side almost immediately. Izuku had his face practically glued to his cell phone, grinning from ear to ear as he tapped away at the screen.

"Did you see the meme Kirishima just posted?"

"No," Katsuki answered while rolling his eyes skyward. He wasn't entirely sure which one Kirishima was, but he knew it was either the redhead with spiky hair or the shorter, perverted one with the adhesive spheres all over his scalp. "I haven't been paying attention to any of it."

"Really?" Izuku asked, seeming surprised. "Kacchan, c'mon, you've gotta see this!"

Katsuki dipped his head to the side as Izuku turned his phone toward him and thrust it at his face. The boys rounded a corner together and began to head down a new block as Katsuki kept his eyes straight ahead. From his peripheral vision, he could barely make out that the meme apparently involved All Might's head spliced onto a duck, but he couldn't read the text.

"No. No, I don't."

Izuku made a noise of frustration as he pulled the device back to himself.

"Oh, come on. Don't be like that! These are new friends we're gonna have for at least a year! Most of them for four or more! Why not start off on the right foot and make an effort to get to know them a little?"

"Yeah, because the last time we had a large friend circle, it worked out so well," Katsuki snarked.

"Huh? They were nice!"

"Yeah. To you," Katsuki spat. "I got endless shit for not being interested in their constant stupid commentary and questions. They only stuck around and acted like they cared because I could keep them safe from the upperclassmen who tried to harass us constantly."

"Alright… yeah, some of that did happen," Izuku admitted with a sullen tone. "But they didn't hate you or anything. I defended you a lot, you know. Some of them were just scared because you're… uh… you're loud, when you're angry."

"Yeah?" Katsuki asked as he looked over to Izuku. "Well, it got them to shut the hell up. If it didn't work, I'd have stopped doing it."

Izuku looked up hopefully as he watched Katsuki take out his phone and begin to slide his thumb across the screen.

"See? It's not that hard! Just say something in the group chat. People are asking how you a-"

"I muted the conversation," Katsuki interrupted before slipping the device back into his pocket. "The constant vibrating was pissing me off."

Izuku's face fell and he heaved a great sigh before shaking his head.

"…fine. Well… how about this? How about we make a deal?"

"No."

"Oh, come on!" Izuku insisted. "How can you say no when you haven't even heard the terms, yet!?"

"Because I don't want anything from you," Katsuki declared confidently. "I'm fine as I am."

"Well, it's still a few blocks to your house, so I'm gonna state the terms anyway," Izuku insisted as he, too, put his phone away. "You initiate a conversation with one person out of the group we just met, and I'll… uh…"

Katsuki said nothing as Izuku tried to brainstorm. He merely kept his eyes fixated upon his house in the distance, hoping that the onslaught of suggestions would end prematurely. Naturally, he had no such luck.

"…I'll do your laundry once we get to U.A. for a month," Izuku finished.

"What?" Katsuki asked, pulling a disgusted face. "No! I don't want you touching my fucking laundry! You'll screw it up!"

"I'll cook, then!" Izuku offered. "Breakfast. Every morning."

"There's a cafeteria," Katsuki deadpanned. "Can you even cook?"

"…I can learn!"

Katsuki growled in frustration and pinched the bridge of his nose.

"Just… how about if I text someone, you shut up about making friends and hugging and being all buddy-buddy and how important it is to make connections literally forever?"

"Fine," Izuku relented. "If you actually text someone from our group of new classmates- and keep that line open and active- I'll never bring it up again. If you don't…"

"You're such a pain in the ass," Katsuki accused as he opened his phone. "Who am I texting?"

"What?" Izuku asked incredulously. "I don't know! That's up to you! What about Daisuke? The two of you seemed to get along pretty well."

Katsuki navigated through his contacts, only to pause between two entries.

"…which one is he?"

"Seriously?" Izuku asked. "Red hair? Huge tail? Weren't you guys hanging out for most of the day at the entrance exams?"

"…right," Katsuki said as he opened the contact labeled LIZARD and started a new text chain.

6:31pm

Hey.

Katsuki kept his phone out just in case of a return text as Izuku gave him a nod of approval.

"See? That's not so bad, right?"

"Shut the fuck up, Deku," Katsuki snapped immediately as a reply came through.

6:32pm

Hey, man. What's up?

Katsuki continued to walk as he considered what to say, only to settle on the obvious.

6:32pm

My dumbass obnoxious friend is demanding that I text someone from the group because he thinks I need to make friend or some stupid shit, and you're probably the least annoying one. Don't get any ideas.

Just as Katsuki moved to pocket his phone once again, another reply lit up the screen.

6:33pm

Cool. I feel special. Feel free to reach out whenever, but I'll mostly leave you alone unless you want to talk. Some people just can't mind their own business. Tell him we're talking about heroes or whatever if he asks. Later.

"There, happy now?" Katsuki asked as he put his phone away. "We're talking."

"Good!" Izuku beamed as the pair made it up to Katsuki's driveway. "Now just keep it up, and I'll leave you alone about it."

"You'd better," Katsuki reminded. "Safe trip home or whatever."

"Thanks!" Izuku called before waving and beginning to walk down the sidewalk once again.

Katsuki turned toward his house and stepped onto the lawn, only for his pocket to buzz once again.

"Oh, you've got to be fuckin' kidding me," he cursed as he took out the device. "You're going on mute, too, lizard boy…"

Much to Katsuki's surprise, the name atop the waiting message was something entirely different- EARLOBES. He stopped walking for a moment to stare at the preview reading "Hey there, this is…" for quite a while. After a short internal debate, he unlocked his phone and pulled up the full message.

6:35

Hey there, this is Kyoka, in case you didn't get everyone's numbers. I know this is kinda awkward and I said it before, but seriously- thank you for checking in on me and talking me down. I usually have my shit together a lot better than I did back at U.A., but family stuff cuts deep. We've had close calls, even before the attack you heard about. I'm sorry if I made you worry, or if I pissed you off. If you ever want to talk about family stuff, I'm all ears. If you ever wanna just hang out before we get to U.A. or after we're in the dorms, I'm down for that, too. Take care.

A tiny black heart was at the end of the message, which, when coupled with the text, brought about unfamiliar feelings in Katsuki's chest. The feelings were something along the lines of wanting to throw up and potentially hurl his phone into the bushes beside the house, never to be seen again. Despite the immediate reaction of annoyance and disgust, something caused Katsuki to pause and reconsider. Before he was quite sure of what he was doing, he took a deep breath and began to compose a reply.

6:38

No problem. I wasn't worried. I'm not like that, and maybe.

Katsuki paused as he watched a bubble with an ellipsis pop up immediately, warning him of an imminent reply.

6:38

Not like what?

6:38

I don't like talking about family. Maybe to hanging out.

6:39

Cool. Just let me know.

After a moment of wondering whether or not a reply was warranted, Katsuki shook his head and continued forward, headed toward the front door.

"How you do it is entirely up to you. We like to just guide the hips during someone's first time. Making demands this early is a little much, so do what feels comfortable. What feels natural."

"Midnight," Eraserhead said flatly as he watched Momo and Tenya start to blush furiously. "Stop doing… that."

"Oh, fine," the woman replied with a cheeky grin as she moved toward door to the hall. "Still, as long as you all finish, it doesn't matter how you get there. Good luck, kids."

"You'll get used to her," Eraserhead offered as he lingered in the door frame. "Probably. Let us know once you've decided."

The four recommendation students watched as the remaining professional heroes exited the conference room, leaving them very much alone. For a moment, the room was totally silent, until Toru grabbed for the manilla folder sitting in the center of the table.

"I like her," the invisible girl said with an amused lilt as she began to spread out five transcript packets into the unoccupied space upon the table. Five unfamiliar faces of previously accepted students stared back up at her, and she worked to organize each by name. "It's nice to know that not all of our professors are super uptight."

Momo moved to arrange the other eleven transcripts into a grid with the five that Toru had laid out. By the end of the process, all sixteen of the successful first year applicants had been arranged in alphabetical order.

"Professor Midnight is… quite spirited," Momo said carefully as she tried unsuccessfully to banish the blush from her cheeks. "We all have our quirks."

Toru let out an amused snort, while Tenya adjusted his glasses upon the bridge of his nose.

"Please, let's be serious. Team assignment is an important process that we need to consider carefully. Personality, Quirk synergy, academic proficiency… a lot of thought needs to go into making ourselves effective teams."

"I'm with Tenya," Shoto said bluntly as he stepped up to the table and began to look over the profiles of each applicant. "How do we want to do this? A draft pick?"

"I believe that would be the most fair method," Momo agreed. "Todoroki and I choose a student for 1-B, while the two of you work together to pick for 1-A, alternating back and forth."

"Who goes first?" Toru asked. "Flip a coin?"

"…I'm fine with just going second if you are," Shoto offered with a shrug as he looked to Momo for confirmation.

"That's fine with me, as well," the girl acknowledged. "All of them are fine candidates, and from the sounds of things, we'll all be living close together and working as a unified group of 20 from time to time. Shall we take a moment to look over all of the profiles again, and perhaps organize a list before we begin?"

"Please," Tenya agreed as he removed a sheet of paper from his own folder and laid it out upon the table. "While you're correct that ultimately, all 20 of us will become quite close as colleagues… team synergy is still an important consideration for our specific rosters."

Shoto took out his own piece of paper and stood next to Momo as they began to speak quietly amongst themselves while surveying the available students. Toru and Tenya did much the same, whispering heatedly back and forth as Tenya wrote furiously upon their sheet of paper. Neither group was quite sure what the other was saying, though the two pairs naturally ended their discussions around the same time.

"You guys ready over there?" Toru asked as she brought an empty sleeve up in a motion that suggested she was brushing back some invisible hair.

"Yes," Shoto answered. "Make your first pick."

Tenya reached into the grid of papers and plucked a packet from among them before placing it next to his list of students.

"Katsuki Bakugo is our first pick for Class 1-A," he announced.

Momo nodded and offered Toru and Tenya a small smile.

"His spirit and determination, as well as his willingness to take great risks was inspiring. His Quirk is also incredibly powerful… and the others seem willing to rally behind him at a moment's notice. A good first choice."

A moment later, Momo took a packet toward herself and set it next to her own list before crossing off the name at the top.

"We'll take Izuku Midoriya into Class 1-B."

Author's Note:

WHAT A TWIST!

-RD