"The… This… Some...took…"

Riku could barely hear Sensei Cementoss as he floated in and out of consciousness. What was the class? Wasn't...Modern Literature scheduled for this period?

He shifted his eyes up to the clock. He had to squint for more than a moment to combat the blurriness of tired eyes before he could figure out the time. Luckily, he figured, the class would be over in a minute or so, and he finally gave up trying to combat his drowsiness. He fell asleep, head tilted back.

It had been barely a minute or two before Riku slowly woke up, feeling something placed upon the middle of his upper back shaking him.

"Riku!" Sora called. "Wake up!"

Riku groaned as he exhaled into the desk his face was pressed up against. He slowly lifted his face from the desk as he struggled to open his eyes.

While Riku waited for his eyes to adjust to the light of the room, he turned his head to the Sora he could barely make out. "What?" Riku's voice was filled with annoyance.

Sora crossed his arms. "You want food, don't you?"

Finally, Riku could see decently. "Sure," he sighed, before the worried frown on Sora's face caught his eyes. "Sora," his tone of voice audibly shifted to one of concern, "What's wrong?"

"What do you…? Oh! I was gonna ask if you were okay, Riku."

"Why?"

Sora scratched his cheek as he answered, "Well...you fell asleep...and right after the bell rang, your face just fell and hit the desk so loud it scared us."

"Yeah!" a voice on the other side of Riku agreed.

Riku turned to the opposite side where Uraraka stood by his desk.

"It was like...bang!" Uraraka threw her arms out to emphasize the sound. "I just hope your poor face is okay," she smiled.

Riku lifted himself up from his desk, waving her off. "It's fine. Didn't even know it happened till Sora woke me up." He turned to Sora, who was now smiling. "So…"

"Riku." Sora took his hand. "Ochako invited us to eat with her and her friends. Wanna come?" His eyes lit up in excitement. Riku knew just how happy he probably was with the prospect of making a friend or two on the first day.

"Sure." Riku nodded. He had thought about saying no, but he didn't have the energy to refuse Sora, or a backup plan. Though, it's not like he could've refused Sora anyways, especially with the way Sora was smiling.

"Cool!" Sora drug Riku over to where Midoriya and Iida stood between desks.

"...so of course we would get fired up!" Iida pulled his arms to his sides, hands into fists, and moved his hips from side to side as he pumped his arms in a pedaling motion. It was an...interesting little dance to say the least.

Riku started to laugh as Sora exclaimed, "Wow! You gotta be really excited!"

Asui glanced back at Iida. "Iida, you have a unique way of getting fired up. It's weird."

Iida turned to Midoriya. "Midoriya, you don't feel the same?"

"Of course I do," Midoriya answered, his hands balled up. "But something…"

"Deku, Iida, Akarui, Usugurai…"

The four boys turned to Uraraka in confusion.

Uraraka had an intimidating face of confidence, and she spoke in a deeper voice than normal. Unwavering confidence emanated from her in waves. "Let's do our best at the sports festival."

"U-Uraraka, your face…!" Midoriya sweat nervously.

Iida adjusted his glasses, squinting, and Riku took a step back, while Sora's smile grew in fascination.

"It's…"

"What's the matter?" Ashido interrupted Midoriya after she stepped between him and Iida. "You don't look carefree at all, even though that's what your name means."

"She looks fired up!" Sora roared, throwing a fist in the air.

"Everyone, I'm gonna do my best!" Uraraka announced, throwing her own fist in the air.

Riku saw Uraraka's Me Me Bunny jump and move its arms and ears up and down as if to cheer her on.

"Yeah!" Midoriya, Iida, Ashido, and Asui answered back.

Sora turned to the other half of the class, an aura, very similar to Uraraka's, emanating from him. Like Uraraka, he seemed almost angry with how excited he was. "Yeah! She's gonna do her best!"

"Y-yeah…" came a weaker answer out of that half of the class.

Uraraka turned to Sora. "You do your best too!" she yelled at him.

"Let's both do our best!" Sora yelled back.

Riku saw Sora's Meow Wow roll around and bounce in extreme excitement. Too cute…

"What's wrong? Your personalities are all over the place," someone observed.

Sora and Uraraka warred back and forth, shouting for the other to do their best, till they both turned to the class. "Everyone, we're gonna do our best!"

Riku covered his mouth with a hand, muffling his short giggle, and it left a smile on his face. Eventually, he took Sora's hand and pulled him into the hallway, just as Iida and Midoriya both did the same with Uraraka.

The whole thing left Uraraka and Sora hung over their knees, laughing, but it wasn't long till they finally calmed down, and the group of five proceeded down the hallway on their way to the cafeteria.

"Uraraka." Midoriya turned to her.

"Yes?" she replied.

"Why did you decide to come to U.A. and become a pro hero?"

"Huh? Um…because…"

Riku frowned. He never thought about that. What were his classmates' reasons for wanting to become pro heroes?

"...Money…" she answered, embarrassed.

"Huh." both Sora and Riku frowned. They hadn't expected that to be Uraraka's reason.

Midoriya halted on the platform between staircases. "For money?! You want to become a hero for money?"

Uraraka furiously scratched the back of her head, cheeks flushed. "To boil it down simply, yes…" She quickly grew more nervous. "Sorry it's such an unwholesome reason!" she apologized, waving an arm out in front of her.

"But...it's still a reason, isn't it...? Like…" Sora crossed his arms in thought. "My goal...is to make friends with everyone and save a lot of people!" He puts a hand over his heart. "Either way, we save people!"

"I-I guess but…" Uraraka turned away, both hands on the side of her face as if to shield it from view. "You guys have such admirable motivations, it's embarrassing…"

"Why?" Iida steps forward. "How is having a goal to support your livelihood not admirable?"

"Right. But it's unexpected." Midoriya replied.

"Then...maybe she has another reason?" Sora offered.

"My family owns a construction company," Uraraka began, nervously running her fingers through her hair," but we haven't gotten any work at all, so we're flat broke. This isn't really something to tell other people, though…"

Iida, Midoriya, and Sora instantly went into thought. Sora crossed his arms over his chest while the other two put their hands under their chins.

"Construction…" Iida thought aloud.

Riku, on the other hand, just sighed. He didn't really care all that much. Uraraka wasn't his friend. It wasn't his job to pry unless something was wrong.

Midoriya gasped, turning to Iida as his hand dropped from his chin, smiling. "With her quirk, if she's licensed, then it'd bring costs way down, right?"

"She could make any raw material float. They wouldn't need any heavy equipment," Iida realized, smiling.

"Then she wouldn't be broke!" Sora exclaimed.

Uraraka did a one-eighty to turn to the boys, pointing to them as she jumped to her toes. "Right? That's what I told dad when I was little!" She cocked her head to the right, averting her eyes, as her expression and tone of voice shifted. "But…"

Uraraka's tone caught Riku's ears, and he mused pensively, "They probably just...wanted you to be happy… They wanted you to do it for you..." Like...Sora...

Facing the ground, Uraraka clenched her fists, bunching up the fabric of her skirt in her hands. "I'll definitely become a hero and make money," she confidently faced the boys, "and let my parents take it easy."

Iida and Midoriya tensed up at the declaration, the conviction in Uraraka's voice piercing their hearts, while Sora smiled.

Suddenly, Iida stretched his arms over his head and up to the sky, clapping furiously. "Bravo! Uraraka, bravo!"

Sora, Midoriya, and even Riku turned to Iida in surprise. As Iida continued to cheer, however, Uraraka smiled.

A loud laugh boomed down the hall, prompting the five students to turn in the direction of who turned out to be All Might.

"Young Midoriya is here!" All Might announced as he halted before the students, pointing straight at Midoriya.

Riku barely caught sight of the Kooma Panda that came after All Might down the hall before it barreled into him, pinning him to the ground. "Rhgg… Get...off…"

Sora immediately knelt down beside Riku after he fell to the floor, eyes filled with worry. "Riku, are you okay? What happened?!"

Iida also turned, along with All Might, Midoriya, and Uraraka. "Are you okay, Usugurai?!"

"Do you need-?"

"How can we-?"

Sora silenced Midoriya and Uraraka as he looked back at the rest of the group with a smile. "Don't worry about him. I'll handle it!"

The group continued to stare as Sora turned back to Riku. "Riku, what's going on?"

Riku grunted as he struggled to push the Kooma Panda off, "...D...Dream...e...eh...ea...eater..."

"...Dream eater…?" Sora wondered aloud. "Oh! Dream eater! There's a dream eater on you?"

"...Y...yrhg...ye...eh...yes…"

He should've guessed by the way Riku's face looked pressed in and all mushed. "Why don't you just use your quirk?"

"...S...Sora…" Riku forced out, slightly annoyed. He knows the limitations of that.

It took Sora a moment before he realized with a sigh, "Oh, right…" He turned back to the still confused group, observing each aloud and pointing to them in turn.

"...No...can't be him...not Uraraka...who'd have a big dream eater...maybe… Aha!" Sora pointed straight at All Might, eliciting a look of extreme confusion from the hero.

"Wha-?"

"All Might!" Sora interrupted the hero. "Could you give Riku consent? He can't fuse with your dream eater without it."

"Consent? Um...sure…" All Might answered, scratching his cheek in confusion. What's up with the new kids?

"So…" All Might began, "You mean like… Young Usugurai, I give you consent to...fuse with my dream eater?"

"That works," Sora shrugged. Then, he turned to Riku. "Okay, try now!"

Riku gave one last grunt before a short burst of light filled the area. Once the light dissipated, he stood up, and his body was haloed in a soft purple light. He held a large hammer fashioned from the same color of light in his right hand.

"Ooooh!" Sora stared at his best friend, starry eyed. "I love that one!"

Riku smirked as the light haloing him dissipated along with the hammer. "Sora, how'd you know it was All Might's dream eater?" Riku inquired.

"Well…" Sora scratched the back of his neck. "I sorta…guessed? It seems to be a big one and I thought it would probably be All Might's."

"Fair enough," Riku laughed before stepping back up to join the group. "Uh...sorry, guys… Carry on…"

All Might nodded slowly as the rest of the group turned to him.

"So, uh… All Might, what's the matter?" Midoriya asked, his eyes widening as the embarrassment kicked in. Even after all that time they spent training together, it still felt weird to Midoriya when All Might talked to him in public. It always felt like all eyes turned on him the moment he was in All Might's presence, and that always caused his anxiety to kick in.

"Oh, right!" All Might pulled something wrapped in a blue cloth with a white bunny pattern on it from behind his back, holding it by the knot at the top. "Lunch! Wanna eat together?"

Uraraka would've spit out water had she had it in her mouth as she exclaimed, "He's like a maiden!"

"How about it?"

Midoriya turned back to Iida, who was equally wide-eyed. Iida soon nodded, prompting Midoriya to turn back to a smiling Sora, who said, "You gotta go for it!"

"I'd love to." Midoriya, as his head turned back forward, jogged after All Might as he started down the hall. Was he really worthy to be around All Might?

The group started towards the cafeteria once again, and Sora turned to Riku in mild concern. "Riku, you're okay, right? I didn't ask earlier and I had to be sure…"

"I'm-" Riku's hand flew to cover his mouth as he coughed into it. His hand came away smeared with blood across the palm and fingers, but he just curled his fingers up, forming a fist, and let it drop down to his side to hide it. "I'm fine."

Sora looked at Riku, concern etched into his face. "Are you sure, Riku?"

"I said 'I'm fine'," Riku answered, no emotion in his voice.

Of course, Sora knew the limitations of Riku's quirk.

~

"I wonder what he wanted with Deku."

Sora, who was standing beside Riku in the lunch line, addressed Uraraka. "I wondered that too," he admitted.

"I heard that when All Might was attacked by villains during the USJ incident, he rushed out alone to help," Iida said. "Perhaps it's about that?"

Uraraka hammered a fist down on her flattened palm. "Oh, yeah!"

"Probably!" Sora nodded.

"Remember what Asui said on the bus?" Iida continued.

Uraraka nodded in understanding as Sora cocked his head in confusion.

"The boundless power they both have are similar, too, so maybe All Might has taken a liking to him."

Uraraka nodded vigorously, though Sora nodded slowly, brain in thought.

"Maybe All Might and Midoriya are close..." Riku muttered to himself.

Iida tilted his head up at the ceiling as he closed a hand into a fist. "He's amazing."

Sora nodded. "He is! But...what did Asui say on the bus?"

Uraraka hung her head. "...Oh, I'm sorry, Sora! We forgot you weren't there…!"

Iida began furiously bowing. "Oh, I am sincerely sorry. As the class rep I should remember these things. Of course you wouldn't know-"

"Don't worry, guys!" Sora waved them off, a nervous look on his face. "Just...what did she say?"

Riku stopped listening as Iida and Uraraka began apologize-explaining to Sora about what happened on the bus. Instead, he caught the eyes of Todoroki in front of them in line and frowned. Why is he staring at us?

Todoroki's own frown deepened as he saw Riku looking at him, and he turned his head back to the front.

Riku's eyes still bore into Todoroki's back, even as the line kept on moving. What is he planning…? Sora put a hand on his shoulder once they reached the front of the line, diverting Riku's attention from Todoroki to him.

"Riku, what are you staring at? We can finally load up with food!"

"It's nothing," Riku chuckled, forcing a smirk.

Of course, Riku did get normal food like white rice, but when Sora looked over at Riku after they, Iida, and Uraraka sat down, he laughed.

Riku, who hadn't even touched his food yet, turned his head to Sora in confusion. "What's so funny?" And when Sora continued to laugh, he asked, "What? Do I have something on my face?"

Finally, through his laughter, Sora answered, "That's...a lot…a lot of sweets, Riku."

Riku rolled his eyes, "It's not that much."

"Even I didn't get that much taiyaki! Where's my Riku? The one who, a couple years ago, could barely eat a piece of cake? I thought I was supposed to be the one with the sweet tooth!"

Riku hung his head, staring down at one of his hands on the table. "Oh… So you don't like me now, huh…?"

Sora frowned and put a hand on Riku's shoulder. "Riku, stop. You know I'm joking. Of course I like you, you're my best friend."

Riku opened the hand he was staring into. He'd stopped at the bathroom to wash his hands before he, Sora, Uraraka, and Iida got to the cafeteria, so the blood wasn't there anymore, but it was as if he could still feel it as a reminder. I still need to get stronger. If I can't even link for a few seconds without coughing up blood, how can I-

"Riku."

Riku looked up, Sora's voice having shocked him out of his thoughts.

"Are sure you're okay? You still haven't touched your food."

Sora looked concerned, and it caused Riku's chest to ache, but he forced a smile. "I'm fine. I promise." I can't have you worrying about me...

Sora didn't look convinced. "Riku-"

"Hey, relax." Riku picked up one of the Taiyaki and took a bite from a fin. "See? I'm fine."

"Well-"

"Hey, Usugurai!" Kirishima appeared behind Sora and Riku. He gave a wave to Sora, Iida, and Uraraka. "Hey, Akarui! Hey, guys!" He scratched the back of his neck as he turned back to Riku. "So, I heard you can see Dream spirits?"

"Yeah," Riku sighed. "I can see all dream eaters. Why?" Riku finished the first taiyaki and took a bite of a second.

"Yeah! Dream eaters. I just got curious and… Could you tell me what mine is?" He laughed nervously, "And maybe if you don't mind, you could check for my friends too?" Kirishima gestured back to his table where Bakugo, Kamanari, Sero, and Ashido were sitting. "Even Bakugo seemed interested, and he rarely ever seems interested in-"

"I could care less about his stupid quirk, shitty hair!"

Kirishima gave a laugh at Bakugo before turning back, awaiting Riku's answer.

Riku swallowed his last bite of the second taiyaki and sighed, "...I gue-"

"Wait, Riku!" Sora interrupted. "Eijiro, I'm sorry," Sora frowned, "but Riku isn't doing so well right now. Maybe tomorrow?"

"It's okay, Sora."

"But, Riku!"

"Akarui's right, Usugurai. If you're not feeling great-"

Riku interrupted Iida, giving a small smile, "Hey, I'm fine. And it's not like I have to do more than take a look."

"...Fine," Sora released a breath.

"It's not more than a look. No strain," Riku reassured Sora.

"I know," Sora sighed. I'm just...worried...

"Okay…" Riku's eyes shot around the room. "Where… Ah! There." Riku chuckled, "You're lucky this is a big room. So...yours is a Tyranto Rex."

Kirishima's eyes widened in excitement. "What's it look like?"

"...Well...I can't...exactly show you and it's hard to describe, but… Let's just say...it looks like a colorful t-rex."

"Oh, I get it," Kirishima nodded. "How about...Akarui's?"

"Meow Wow," Riku answered immediately. He could never forget Sora's dream eater.

"What's a...Meow Wow?"

"It's sorta like…"

"Imagine a cat and a dog had baby," Sora answered.

"Wow, can you see em too?!" Kirishima wondered.

"No." Sora shook his head with a laugh. "Riku tried to explain it to me once, and turns out I see it in my dreams sometimes."

"Oh...that makes sense…" Kirishima turned back to Riku. "And...Bakugo's?"

Riku stood up from the table to go over to Kirishima's, and Sora took in a breath.

"It looks like his is…"

"What are you doing?!" Bakugo demanded.

Riku peeked under the table, finding a purple ball of spikes with big, round, purple eyes. It had blue and green ears and feet as well as a tail with a purple spike ball at the end, and was currently stomping around. "Oh, there."

"Hey!"

Riku sighed, giving an annoyed look to Bakugo. "You asked me. Calm down if you really wanna know."

Bakugo growled, but he shut up, and rested his angry face on his hand.

"Okay. It's called a pricklemane. It's a cute, purple ball of spikes, but according to its eye color, it's quick to lose its temper. Currently, it's stomping around under there."

Bakugo growled again, "Waste of time!"

"Pricklemanes will act like all tough on the outside, kind of like you, but they usually have a heart of gold. Don't know if I can say the same about you, yet." Riku joked as Bakugo yelled at him.

Riku ignored Bakugo as Kirishima held him back, and he sat back down beside Sora. He mostly focused on eating the rest of his food, especially the sweets, while Sora talked with Iida and Uraraka.

Once the bell rang, Riku and the rest dealt with any dishes and leftovers, and Riku and Sora walked side by side as they followed Iida and Uraraka to class.

Sora looked up at Riku and slipped his hand into his. He squeezed Riku's hand, and the look he gave him said, "Be careful. You know you can always tell me what's wrong."

The sad smile Riku gave back said, "I know."