Kei walked to school the next week with an active wall around him. Kuroo had given him a challenge to keep a small wall up whenever he could, and there was no way that Kei would back down from a challenge from Kuroo of all people.

"Tsukki!" Yamaguchi called, running up to the tall boy.

"Tadashi, wait!" Kei warned.

Yamaguchi skidded to a halt before colliding with the wall. He looked up at Kei with puppy eyes. Kei sighed and let the wall down, leaving Yamaguchi room to sidle up next to him and hold his hand. Kei put up another small wall.

"Are you okay?" Yamaguchi asked sweetly.

"I'm managing," Kei gave in a curt manner.

"You're going to exhaust yourself, Tsukki," Yamaguchi advised. "Maybe wait till we're in class?"

"Kuroo said whenever I'm able," Kei recited. He'd been saying that since he got the advice from his mentor.

"Oh, Kuroo said," Yamaguchi repeated with a skeptical tone.

"He wants me to get better at my quirk."

"And I want you to survive your quirk." Yamaguchi stopped them and looked Kei straight in the eye. Kei had to look away from the freckled boy's earnest expression. "Be honest with me, does Kuroo know your limitations?"

Kei hesitated. After a few seconds of debating on whether or not to tell the truth, he answered, "No."

"Tsukki!" Yamaguchi scolded incredulously.

"I'll tell him tonight," Kei mended, continuing on the sidewalk.

Yamaguchi kept up. "We're leaving tonight, Tsukki! For our internships!"

Kei slapped his forehead. "I still haven't called Akiteru."

"Don't change the subject-"

"I need to call him, Tadashi," Kei said, cutting the shorter boy off. He let down the wall, giving Yamaguchi a way out. "You go on ahead, I'll catch up in a second."

As Yamaguchi reluctantly left, Kei dialed his brother up on his phone. He put the phone next to his ear and let it ring. It rang and rang and rang until he heard-

"Kei?"

It was his mother's voice. Why did she have Akiteru's phone? And why did she sound distressed?

"Hi, mom?" Kei answered, brows furrowing in concern. "Is Akiteru home now?"

He heard his mom sniffle over the phone. "No, Kei, he's...not here."

-0-

Tobio stumbled into the school right as the first bell rang. Breathing heavily, he silently cursed himself for not bringing a bicycle to Hinata's house and letting the shorty go ahead of him. He rushed into the classroom once the late bell rang. He sighed, plopping down in his seat.

"Where's Tsukishima?" he heard Hinata ask behind him.

He could almost hear Yamaguchi blushing. "He said he had to call his brother before coming, since we're leaving for internships tonight."

Tobio turned around. "How long ago was that?"

"About ten minutes, I think," Yamaguchi answered. Then he gasped. "Oh no, I shouldn't have left him alone! What if a villain attacks him?"

Hinata shook his head. "I'm sure Tsukishima will be okay. He's tough, and he's got those cool walls!"

"It's those walls I'm worried about."

Tobio was about to ask what that comment was about, but he was cut off by Takeda's voice.

"Good morning, class," he announced. He waited for everyone to utter a "good morning" before continuing. "I hope you all have your bags packed, because we're leaving sooner than expected for your-"

"Sorry I'm late, Mr Takeda," Tsukishima interrupted him.

"Ah, Tsukishima," Takeda greeted. "Any reason why you're late?"

"I had to call my brother," Tsukishima said quietly, and then he sat in his seat and looked out the window.

"Alright, then," Takeda droned slowly. "As I was saying, we're leaving earlier than we expected. Meaning in twenty minutes. You all chose your agencies that you're going to, so all you have to do is prepare yourselves mentally." He looked around at his class. "Alright! Twenty minutes till we leave the school! Talk amongst yourselves." He left.

Tobio turned around to look at Hinata. The brown eyed boy was staring right at Tobio already. They both were going to the Deku agency. The number one hero agency. Usually, the number one hero wouldn't offer to anyone, but he seemed to be especially interested in their class. The only other person he'd offered an internship to was Protector, their teacher. There might have been a reason why Takeda was the Class A home room teacher.

"We're really going to Deku's agency," Hinata said.

"Yeah, we are," Tobio responded. "We're going to meet the number one hero and be his students for a week."

Hinata smiled the smile that reminded Tobio of a frog. "And we're going to be together the whole time, right, Kageyama?"

Tobio blushed. "I guess so, idiot."

"What did I say about that, Bakayama?" Hinata scolded the black haired boy.

Tobio only stuck his tongue out. He watched behind Hinata as Yamaguchi walked up to Tsukishima. Tsukishima didn't react to the green haired boy talking to him, causing the latter to seem upset at the former. Tobio wondered what was going on between them.

"Kageyama," Hinata snapped Tobio out of his thoughts. "Did you hear me?"

"No," he said bluntly, looking back into Hinata's clear brown eyes. "What did you say?"

"I said, do you think we would be able to meet Shoto or Dynamight?" Hinata rocked in his seat. "I heard that they were friends with Deku when they were at UA."

"Maybe," Tobio responded, completely distracted by the scene behind Hinata. Now, Tsukishima was basically staring through Yamaguchi. "What's wrong with Tsukishima?" he wondered aloud.

Hinata turned around to look at the two. "Is he okay?"

Tobio shoved Hinata towards the blond boy. "Let's go ask."

"Why us?"

"We're his only friends."

"He has Yamaguchi-"

Tobio sighed. "We're his only friends besides Yamaguchi." He shoved Hinata towards their friends. "Come on." They shuffled over to Tsukishima.

"Tsukki, if you won't tell me, I'll-" Yamaguchi started, but cut off when he saw Tobio and Hinata. "Oh, hey guys."

Tobio looked down at Tsukishima, who was staring out the window again. "Sounds like you don't know, either."

Yamaguchi shook his head. "He was just fine this morning…"

"And I'm still fine," Tsukishima bit back. "I'm just thinking."

"Tsukki, this is not fine!" Yamaguchi fought. "You're staring out the window, like when-" He paused. "Akiteru wasn't fired, was he?"

"No, my brother wasn't fired," Tsukishima snapped.

"Then what is it, Tsukishima?" Hinata asked.

After a minute of silence, Tsukishima bit his lip. "M-my brother…" His voice cracked. "Akiteru was attacked."

"Attacked?" Yamaguchi said quietly. "Was it a villain?"

Tsukishima nodded. "The doctors don't know if-" His voice caught. Tobio could see a small tear run down his cheek before he wiped it away.

Yamaguchi put a comforting hand on top of the blond's wrist. "It's okay, Tsukki-"

"It's fine, like I said," Tsukishima interrupted. He had regained most of his composure, but his voice was still a little shaky. "Akiteru is a hero. If he couldn't take an injury, then he wouldn't be a good hero." He put his hand on top of Yamaguchi's and smiled up at him. "I'm fine."

"Alright everyone!" Takeda's voice disrupted the moment. "The buses are here and ready to bring everyone to the train station. Grab your bags and let's go!"

A/N: OwO some Tsukki crying? blatant ripping off of MHA? maybe a lil character arc? well, two of those things are true. this isn't a blAtant rip off of MHA, but i did take inspiration in this next mini-arc. don't worry, it's hopefully really good XD