"What?" Mirio asked, horrified. He was standing on the Amajiki family's doorstep and had come over to see Tamaki since he hadn't seen him since Mirio's first day at U.A, which, speaking of U.A, Tamaki didn't get in and that honestly blew Mirio's mind. It's been a week since he started his new life at U.A and not starting it without Tamaki almost hurt him. Sure, Tamaki was physically present, the two of them walked to the campus together, but Tamaki wasn't going to be with him all the time like he use to be.

The whole week had been so crazy that he couldn't find the time to ever even reach out to Tamaki and Mirio had tried to call him a few times just the day before, but no answers. So here Mirio was, standing on his best friend's porch, being informed that he hadn't been seen since Monday morning, that morning he had started U.A. Mirio's mind was running a mile a minute trying to wrestle the image of Tamaki's sudden disappearance into a frame. Did Tamaki run away? Was he taken? What was he doing now? Was he hurt? Was he even still alive? It was all painful to think about.

Tamaki's mother, Tsukareta Amajiki, seemed to see the nervous cogs turning in Mirio's head and put a sympathetic hand on his shoulder to give him a pained reassuring sort of smile. "Togata, Tamaki is strong, if he were in danger, he could get out of it," she says this somberly, stating facts, but not really believing in them herself.

Mirio grabs the hand on his shoulder and squeezes is gently. "Of course, Tamaki is great, I should probably get out of your hair," he says, stepping back a bit before continuing more softly and sad. "Could you... tell me if you hear anything though?"

Tsukareta nodded, not trying to force a smile this time, and she turned back inside, closing the door behind her. Mirio was now walking down a surprisingly quiet street, it was about 4 PM and the once sunny and busy day was suddenly cloudy and silent, but he wasn't mad since it definitely complimented the mood he was now in.

He soon came back to his own home, entering the house without his usual, cheerful, announcement of his arrival. His dad poked his head out of his study to see who was there, confused that it was his son wasn't his usual happy and bright self and seemed to be thinking gravely over something.

"Mirio?" He questioned, not getting any better reaction out of him. No reaction at all really since Mirio just kept his head down and made his way to by his bedroom, too deep in thought to register his father calling out to him. Once he made it to his door, his father called out again.

"Mirio? Is everything alright?" This time, Mirio was snapped out of his thoughts and he looked over to his dad, or what he could see of him poking out of his office.

"Um, dad, I don't think I can eat dinner tonight, I'll be staying in here," Mirio said, entering his room and closing the door behind him without waiting for a response.

Mirio mindlessly changes out of his school's uniform and into his sleepwear. He flopped onto his bed stared at the ceiling, holding a pillow and thinking, worrying, even more about his dear friend. Glancing over to see what time it was, he saw a keychain hanging from the lamp on his bedside table. Mirio remembers the day he got that keychain and smiles softly to himself as he recalls the memory.

It was a warm day in April around 7 years prior and Mirio was teetering along the curb stops, Tamaki not too far away and walking normally on the sidewalk.

"Aren't you worried about falling?" Tamaki asked at a volume best described as just above a whisper.

"Huh?" Mirio questioned, quickly spinning to face Tamaki, too quickly, as he stumbled and nearly toppled over. "Oh, well, I guess it's just that..." he thought for a moment, stepping over the stop and closer to Tamaki. "If I were to fall, you'd be there to help, right?"

Tamaki looked shocked at his answer and was oddly determined with his. "Of course, what else would I do," He says, almost lunging at Mirio with the reassurance.

Mirio laughed and held his hands up in surrender. "Then there's no need to worry!" He exclaimed, earning a confused look from Tamaki which only made him laugh more. "If you're gonna be there to help then there's no need to worry and I can have all the fun I want,"

Tamaki blushed and bowed his head, allowing himself to be dragged along by Mirio. "It's weird to know you rely on me..." he mumbled after a few moments.

Mirio had, at this point, gotten used to having to strain his ears to listen for Tamaki when he needed, so Mirio just smiled back at this. "Don't act surprised! Were gonna be heroes one day you know! You're born to help, but come on, I'll race ya to that post over there!" And with that, Mirio was off.

Mirio was already at the post when he looked back to see if Tamaki was behind him, to his surprise, Tamaki was not only back where he left him but was crouching down to look at something.

Mirio ran back over to him, worried that his friend had tripped or something, but once Mirio was close, Tamaki stood up again. "Look," he said, dangling a keychain that he had found in front of him from his index finger and Mirio got in a little closer to examine the little charm.

It was a sparkly blue and yellow charm of all might's cartoonish head, a little larger than a traditional Canadian toonie, and had a few chips and scratches around the rim, probably due to the fact they found it on the edge of the sidewalk.

"Woah, cool! Are you gonna keep it?" Mirio asked, reluctantly pulling his eyes away from it and looking at Tamaki. He thought for a moment, looking at the keychain before shaking his head. "Huh?" Mirio asked. "Why not?"

"Mmm," Tamaki hummed, thinking of a good response to give. "I don't want it, at least, not as much as you do, right?" He answered, shoving the chain closer to Mirio who instinctively opened his hands in front of him and let the charm fall into his palm.

"Me?" Mirio asked, as if there were anyone else Tamaki was talking about. Tamaki smiled lightly and Mirio could have sworn he nearly laughed, which would be the first time Mirio would have seen it.

"Yeah," Tamaki said softly, just barely nodding his head. "Your eyes were sparkling almost as much as the charm," he mumbled, clearly not intending on Mirio hearing him, but he was heard and Mirio smiled so widely his cheeks hurt.

Mirio closed his hand around the keychain before throwing his arms around Tamaki and hugging him in a bone-crushing grip. Tamaki made an involuntary squeak due to the unexpected contact but quickly eased into the hold. That was short lived though because Mirio suddenly felt Tamaki tense and start frantically patting his arms, begging to be released. Mirio quickly let him go and Tamaki gasped for breath.

"I- I couldn't breathe," Tamaki admitted meekly after a moment, almost guiltily.

Mirio couldn't help the laugh that escaped his chest at his friend's statement. "Don't worry, that's my bad, here," he stuck his hand out to Tamaki and he, reluctantly, took it. Once he had a firm grip on him, Mirio pulled Tamaki along the sidewalk to continue the journey to their destination.

Mirio kept that charm on him all the time for nearly 4 years until one day the clasp that attached it to things broke. Since then he kept it dangling off the lampshade on his bedside, it's sparkling design catching his eye every now and again, just like right now. Mirio was probably only alone in his room with his thoughts for about an hour and a half before his father knocked and poked his head inside the room.

"Mirio?" He asked, clearly worried. Mirio responded with a low hum from the back of his throat, inviting his dad to continue. "Is everything alright?"

"Yeah, it's okay," Mirio said, rolling over in his bed, his back facing his dad. He hugged the pillow closer to his chest. "I just," Mirio paused due to a sudden burning sensation in his nose but continued. "I need some rest."

Mirio could feel in his back the skeptical look his father gave him. "Okay, just know you can talk to me whenever," he said, reluctantly leaving after Mirio made no effort to respond.

Mirio layed there in his bed for who knows how long, staring at the wall and absolutely hating reality. Reality was where his best friend had gone missing and he was one of the last people to have seen him. Reality was where Mirio had no idea what happened to him. Reality was where he had no way of knowing anything. Reality was where Mirio couldn't be a hero, one thing he wanted more than anything, to one of the most important people in his life...