Denki was eating slowly, looking around the room as he chewed, bored out of his mind. Every time he met the eyes of the technician who was keeping an eye on him, he'd hurriedly look away. It was awkward and Denki missed his new friends already, and it was only five minutes since the others had left for the cafeteria across campus.

Momo had drawn him a map of the place, which would be helpful if he wanted to attempt another escape, but he figured he'd better not. He liked his new friends, the days weren't terrible (except right then as he was awkwardly eating alone), and he didn't want to accidentally shock anyone who would try to hold him down if he tried to escape again and got caught. Also, where would he go? Home? His parents were the ones who admitted him here in the first place, so Denki didn't really have a choice when it came to staying.

Denki glanced over the map that Momo had drawn, eyes tracing the steady and precise lines. She was an expert in all things except winning card games, but Denki suspected that she might be good at that, too. Maybe she had to downplay some of her strengths to keep her friends from becoming bored with her perfection. The thought made Denki sad. He had felt entirely accepted by her, and he would be ecstatic if his new friend was amazing at literally everything, card games included. It would be a challenge to overcome, and he wouldn't give up and play with someone else just because he probably wouldn't win. Though, he was used to not winning in a lot of things, so maybe her other friends would prefer to win every once in a while, to keep entertained with her company.

Denki traced his finger along the path on the map that his unit mates would have taken to get to the cafeteria from their unit, Unit Beta. It had looked huge and scary when Denki was first brought here, but the map helped him feel better and more in control. Knowledge was power, after all.

Unit Beta was right next to the cafeteria, and actually shared a wall with the children's unit. At certain times throughout the day, Denki could hear knocking and slamming and faint yelling coming from the shared wall. He felt lucky that he was on one of the teenagers' units because it sounded like absolute chaos on the other side of that wall. Momo had explained that they were near the age that they could be moved around if there were problems. There was a frequent flier here who had been released three days before Denki showed up, and he was unhinged. He would pick fights with anyone and everyone.

Momo had Kyoka and Denki in a trance as she told them about the infamous Neito. How he was beaten up by two of the older kids on Unit Echo, the unit for the older teenagers that was across campus. Denki's eyes trailed over to the rectangle that acted as Unit Echo on the map as he recalled her storytelling. Apparently, Neito had instigated the older kids on the unit until they snapped. One kid, probably 16 or 17, had grabbed Neito to hold him still while the other one, probably about the same age, punched him over and over again. Neito had been bragging about it when he arrived on Unit Beta. The technicians had to yell at him over and over again to keep his shirt down as he continued to pull it up to show the bruises on his stomach that matched the ones blooming on his face, but every time someone would show interest, there he'd go again, raising the hem of his shirt to show of the bruising and abrasions with a smug smile on his face.

According to Momo, when Neito tried picking a fight with Denki's current roommate, Touya, he was then transferred to the children's unit. A day after that, he was transferred back, with even more bruises than when he came from Unit Echo. He made the younger kids so mad that they all ganged up on him and held him down as they stomped on him and punched him. Touya had smirked every time Neito had winced from his various injuries but didn't start anything new and Neito was too sore to risk starting a fight with Touya.

Even with the quirk-nullifying drugs given every morning with the vitamins and other drugs, Touya was strong. Denki thought of his roommate. He was so fun when he played the air bass guitar with him, so Denki couldn't exactly picture him being mad, but thinking of the build of the older teenager, he figured that it was better if he never saw him mad.

When Touya was out of the group room, Momo had hurriedly whispered to Kyoka and Denki that Touya was 17, and should have been on Unit Echo, but he got into fights with the older kids. Momo guessed that Touya was fine if no one instigated him, which made Unit Beta the best place for him… well, when Neito wasn't on the unit, of course.

Denki jerked in his seat, startled by the voice that started singing in his head. He scolded himself for it quietly when the technician gave him an odd look. What is more pathetic than being startled by your own hallucinations? Denki scowled down at his plate, appetite gone. He picked up his plate and threw it away, walking toward the door slowly. When the technician didn't stop him, he moved out into the hallway, looking down the hall to find a blonde boy sitting on top of the main desk like he owned the place, swinging his feet and rocking his head back and forth.

Denki squinted, and it looked like the boy was saying something, but he didn't see anyone else in the hallway. Denki inched closer, planning to introduce himself and hopefully make the new patient feel at ease the way the others had helped him, but he stopped dead in his tracks and stared when he had realized something.

The boy's lips were moving in a way that perfectly matched the voice in his head. Denki felt the panic bubble up his throat. He didn't understand why his mind was playing cruel tricks on him this way. It was bad enough that the voices existed, but now they were merging with his reality to make him feel even crazier than he already was.

Denki jumped when the technician spoke suddenly from behind him.

"Neito! Didn't last long on the outside, huh? I thought you said you'd never be back!" the technician spoke as he walked up to the desk, completely ignoring the fact that the blonde boy was sitting on the high ledge of the desk.

In turn, the blonde boy, the infamous Neito, apparently, ignored the technician in favor of continuing to sing. He did, however, hold up his finger to indicate that he had heard him and would be with him as soon as he was able. Neito wasn't ignoring the technician just because; he was busy. It seemed to Denki like they had a fun relationship with the teasing banter and lack of discipline from the technician and the chill, calm atmosphere around Neito, which was exactly the opposite of what Denki had expected from Momo's stories.

Honestly, Denki was in awe of the whole interaction. If he ever ignored an adult and put up a finger to tell them to wait, he'd be in huge trouble. But this technician just respected Neito enough to understand that he was busy, even if he didn't understand what he was busy with.

Neito continued his whispered singing and the voice in Denki's head matched the words effortlessly until Neito stopped as two technicians stepped out of the weird hallway with the curtain-bathroom with a disheveled boy with purple hair and tired eyes. He was too young to look so tired, but there he was.

"I'm not here for me, this time," Neito muttered without turning around to look at the technician, hopping down from the desk and following the technicians back.

Neito was already pulling his shirt over his head as he turned the corner around the hallway, making the technicians grunt and mutter about acting indecently. Denki hid his snicker behind his hand, appreciating that Momo was so detailed in her gossiping and that Neito lived up to his reputation.

"I know the drill! Let's get it over with!" Neito had responded to their muttered objections, throwing the shirt backwards towards the technicians without looking back at them.

"I'm Denki," he had introduced to the purple-haired boy, holding out a hand. Denki was immensely proud of himself for remembering to only use his given name.

"Hitoshi," he muttered, easily taking Denki's hand in his own.

"Come here often…?" Denki joked, leaning against the desk with a wink and shooting finger-guns at Hitoshi.

To Denki's delight, Hitoshi cracked a smile. It was easier than he thought it was going to be to get a positive reaction from him.

"First time. What about you?" Hitoshi asked, relaxing just a little more before immediately tensing up again. "I mean! No! Uh… tell me if you have been here before," he slowly corrected himself, thinking about each word before it left his mouth.

"It's my first time, too. I got here yesterday evening, and I was not nearly as calm as you are!" Denki complimented.

Hitoshi visibly relaxed once again when Denki took his mess-up in stride. He didn't yell at him for asking a question or refuse to answer or even demand to know why he reworded his question so awkwardly into a command. If people don't already know about his dangerous quirk, people just think he's rude and don't want to talk to him. If people do know about his quirk, people know he's dangerous and don't want to talk to him. Normally, either way, people didn't want to talk to him, so Denki was a breath of fresh air in that he just glossed over the awkwardness to keep the conversation going, and Hitoshi liked him already.

Hitoshi briefly wondered why he didn't have a soulmate like Denki, but immediately felt bad afterwards. Neito was… irritating on a good day, but he had his redeeming qualities, too. He should be thankful that he gets a soulmate at all. Some don't. He should also be thankful that Neito is going through this with him when he very well could have objected and left Hitoshi on his own. It was Hitoshi's fault and his own problem after all, so Hitoshi was very grateful that Neito didn't push him off to the side to experience this alone.

Hitoshi had been terrified, but if all of the other patients were like Denki, he might have been able to handle it on his own… Maybe not, though. Maybe Hitoshi was open to Denki's welcome because of the support that Neito offered by coming here with him. It made him feel even worse. All Hitoshi has done was use others as a crutch or shield, and he wasn't brave enough to do this on his own. Sure, there were benefits to having his soulmate come along for the testing, but in all honesty, he knew Neito demanded to come along just to make him feel better. Neito might pick fights with him, but he puts in the effort when it matters. Hitoshi was quickly starting to learn more about his soulmate, even after being classmates since kindergarten. He never really paid Neito much attention until they found out they were soulmates, and what a shock that was!

Hitoshi knew that the staff must know about his quirk, but they hadn't muzzled him yet. He wondered why the technician that sat behind the desk, working on intake paperwork, didn't warn the bright-eyed blonde about how dangerous it is to talk to him. He wasn't one to look a gift horse in the mouth, however.

Before Hitoshi could inquire about Denki's experience to keep the conversation going, they heard a squeal followed immediately by maniacal laughing. The boys heard the footsteps before they saw Neito coming back into view of the hallway, hopping on one foot as he tried to get away from the quickly gaining technicians while simultaneously trying to put his shoe on. He tripped; it was no surprise with the floppiness of the shoe on his other foot that no longer had its laces to secure it to his foot. He landed sprawled out on the floor with a deep thud and lied there, stunned, staring at the ceiling for three seconds.

Hitoshi sighed under his breath and Denki took a step forward to help Neito up when Neito burst into even more maniacal laughing, only to jump up, kick the shoes off completely, and take off down the hallway and… right into Denki's assigned bedroom.

He came back out just as quickly, frowning as he looked again into the room, but from the hallway.

"I wanted to be Touya's roommate, but someone's already set up in there," he pouted, stomping his foot.

"Why?" the technician behind the desk snorted, leaning back as leisurely as the stiff plastic chair would allow. "You want to get pummeled?"

"What are you talking about?" Neito sassed, narrowing his eyes in challenge of the technician. "I could take him!"

Neito took this time to flex his arm, that was very lanky and not muscular, as was expected of a 12-year-old boy.

"Maybe you should have thought about favors you wanted to ask before playing your dirty tricks, Neito!" one of the technicians that had gone back to strip search him had scolded, flailing his hand around that held a fake, plastic cockroach.

The technician behind the desk immediately burst into belly-clutching laughter and was scolded by the other technician. "Don't encourage him!"

Denki watched the interaction with a lazy smile on his face, enjoying the theatrics. He also glanced over at Hitoshi a few times to gauge his reaction. Hitoshi's eyes flipped back and forth between the arguing parties, but his face remained expressionless. Denki was jealous already of Hitoshi's self-control in his facial features alone and was excited to see what other areas Hitoshi showed perfect control over.

They did end up moving Denki from Touya's room, but they put Hitoshi in there in his place instead of Neito, much to Neito's dramatic and loudly proclaimed disapproval.

They moved Denki to the room that was right next to the center desk and directed Neito into the same room, telling him to make his bed and put his things away. Denki kept glancing over at Neito as they quickly made their beds, pulling boring white sheets over their respective vinyl mattress.

Neito had met Denki's eyes twice before he whipped around.

"What's your problem? Huh? New kid? Take a picture! It'll last longer!" Neito spoke loudly and clearly.

Denki had raised his hands and mimicked holding a camera in front of his face, making a small spark of electricity dance across his fingers to act as the flash as he pushed down on the imaginary trigger.

Denki missed Neito's dumbfounded expression when he opted to stare at his hands, startled that his quirk was working.

"An electric type, huh? What's your name, Sparky?" Neito said, quickly recovering from his roommate's odd response and taking a step forward, extending his hand in greeting.

"Denki," he greeted, pleased at the quick change in tone, putting his hand in Neito's. "I already know you're Neito. I heard a lot about you," he admitted sheepishly.

"Yeah, yeah. Everyone gossips, I know," Neito muttered as he pulled his hand back from Denki's. He was more focused on his own hands as his roommate's quirk flashed across his fingers, startling him. He'd never gotten to use an electric quirk before, so this was new and exciting. It made it even more exciting by the fact that he was absolutely not supposed to be doing this and he was in for a hell of a lecture if any of the technicians or nurses caught him using his quirk in here before they had the chance to shove the quirk-dampening pill down his throat, not that it would have made a difference either way.

"You're an electric-type, too!" Denki practically squealed, temporarily forgetting that he wasn't supposed to have his quirk to begin with in his excitement about meeting someone with a similar quirk to his own.

"Nah, this is your quirk," Neito said, shrugging like it was no big deal as he lifted his eyes from his own sparking hands to Denki's expression full of awe and wonder.

Neito hated to break the news to him, but he was going to find out sooner or later. He was surprised that Denki knew of his name and reputation, but not of his quirk.

Neito explained that he could copy quirks with a touch, and to his surprise, Denki looked even more impressed.

"You can copy quirks?! That's so cool! That's like having all the quirks!" Denki drawled as he stared at the familiar electricity in unfamiliar hands.

"It's called Copy," Neito offered. "I can copy someone's quirk for up to five minutes, so far. I can copy up to two quirks right now, but I can only use one at a time."

Neito wasn't one to be stingy with the details, especially not while the wonder lasted. He soaked it up while he could because he was sure that his new roommate would soon connect the pieces together. He was second-rate because he could only copy other people's quirks. If he was in a room full of quirkless people, he'd also essentially be quirkless. Denki would ask him what he wanted to be when he got older, and he would laugh when he would proudly say he wanted to be a hero before exclaiming that he would be too much of a liability like Neito had never heard that or thought of it himself before.

Hitoshi stepped into the doorway then, hoping to connect with the other two boys who were the only other patients on the unit at the time, only to sigh when he saw electricity dancing across Neito's fingertips.

"Knock it off, show off," Hitoshi grumbled without any force behind it. At this point, it was more of a habit than an actual correction to grumble at Neito when he did something he wasn't supposed to do, which was very, very often.

"So, they can't room soulmates together, then?" Denki mused, sitting on top of his newly made bed as Hitoshi stepped further into the room. "You'll like Touya! He's great!"

"Touya is not great!" Neito objected automatically. "I thought you didn't want to tell anyone that we're soulmates because you're so embarrassed by me!" Neito said then, flinging the accusation toward Hitoshi.

"I didn't tell anyone anything," Hitoshi defended, trying to keep the snarl off of his face. It was hard to remember that Neito was doing him a huge favor by being here with him when he instigated fights whenever he saw him. "And it's not because I'm embarrassed, jerk!"

The soulmates studied each other for a second before turning to look at Denki, who was awkwardly watching the interaction that was simmering in hostility. Denki didn't know that soulmates could be like this, but to be fair, he had never met new soulmates. They were young to have found their soulmates so early, and his only other experience with soulmates interacting was with adults, like his parents and teachers.

"How did you know that we're soulmates, Denki?"