After evading a few more of his questions and pausing for a much needed bathroom break, the commissioner finally allowed Risa's friends to share the interrogation room with her alone for a few short minutes so they could consider their offer together. Though there was no one else aside from her in the room at the moment, the one-way glass taking up the broad side of one wall and the camera perched high in another ensured that they would only be alone in the physical sense.

The commissioner filed the other teens in one at a time, with Tadashi arriving first. When the tall, raven-haired boy finally stepped into the room, he took one look at the girl who'd been shackled to her seat and felt his jaw practically hit the floor. "Jesus Christ, Risa–What the hell did you do?"

"Nothing!" She was suddenly defensive at his reprimanding tone. "I only bit like, one cop-"

"You bit—" He broke off suddenly, scrubbing a hand down his face before deciding that this just wasn't worth pursuing right now. Moving to take the empty seat in front of her, he had his back to the one-way glass, pointing a stern finger at the restrained girl. "Do not bite anyone else."

"Fine." She rolled her eyes, looking away with a pout, and a beat of silence fell between them. "...I also headbutted someone."

"Risa."

"It was in the heat of the moment!"

He sighed. Tadashi normally had an exceptional amount of composure in these situations, but even he quickly reached his limits when Risa began acting out in her usual way. She was a button-pusher, no doubt, but over time he'd learned to use that to his advantage. "Never mind that," he said, planting both his hands on the table in front of him and leaning in close. His voice dropped enough that only she could hear what he was about to say, his violet eyes searing. "What did they say to you?"

"They tried to tell me that you and Benji were ratting me out."

"And?"

She snorted. "And I made one of them so mad that he lunged at me."

Tadashi looked at her incredulously for a moment before he remembered who he was talking to. "... Of course you did." He sat back, running a hand through his dark hair with a breath of relief. "Good."

The sound of the door opening again stole their focus away from the topic. Finally, Benjiro had arrived. The boy was built like a brick house, large and wide with pointed ears, long brown hair tied back into a messy bun, and scruffy chops for sideburns. He was holding a cup of fries in one hand as he sauntered into the interrogation room. Both Tadashi and Risa stared at the cup as if it were a grenade with no pin. "Where did you get that?" asked Tadashi.

Benjiro looked confused for a moment before he realized what his friend was referring to. "Oh, this? Don't worry, they only gave it to me to keep me from going feral." He took the seat beside the other boy, holding the large cup out toward them. "Want one?"

"No," Tadashi responded sourly, but as he spoke Risa was already stating the opposite and reaching for Benjiro's cup. He scowled at them both.

"Why's Risa all chained up like that?" the boy asked next.

Tadashi's tone was flat. "She bit someone."

"Dude, awesome!" Benjiro laughed, reaching across the table for a fistbump. "Good stuff, Ris! I knew they wouldn't break ya."

"Thanks, Benji!" Risa stood up to meet him halfway, turning around and leaning backward over the table to touch her knuckles to his in spite of the cuffs holding her back.

Tadashi gave the two an exasperated look. Sometimes he couldn't believe they were serious. Benjiro and Risa were both extremely resourceful people, capable of great things on their own, but when the two of them were together it almost felt like they were sharing a single brain cell. "Focus, you two. We need to talk about what happened during our interrogations," he explained, his tone serious. "When they got their hands on my support items, they must have decided that it would be more beneficial to recruit me rather than try for a conviction. They're offering to drop all of my charges if I go with them."

Risa's eyes widened. "Hey, that commissioner guy made me the same offer."

"I know." He arched a brow to the girl. "I told them that I wouldn't accept unless they extended the offer to you two as well."

Though he hid it well, Tadashi really was a big softie when it came to his friends. He'd been there to look after Risa and Benjiro ever since they were children, and though they were all the same age, he soon became something of a big brother to both of them throughout the course of their friendship. He hadn't even wanted a part of the trouble that Risa and Benjiro were up to, but took on the risks alongside them in order to keep them safe. In that regard it wasn't his mess to begin with, and yet here he was, making sure he helped them out of it before he could help himself. Risa couldn't help but smirk at him. "Aww, did you hear that? He loves us, Benji."

"No way!" Benjiro was ecstatic, overcome with relief. "You rock, Tadashi! Group hug?"

The raven-haired boy grimaced, leaning halfway out of his seat to evade the large arm that attempted to swoop him into a bear hug. "Don't get too excited, I haven't accepted anything yet. It would be a big risk, considering how little we know about what they want from us in the first place. If we're not careful, we could just be trading off one form of incarceration for another."

"We can always say no, can't we?" asked Benjiro. "Do you think that we'd have a shot if we took it to trial?"

Tadashi frowned. His silence spoke volumes for itself. "We won't agree to anything yet. Not until we've heard their terms."

Almost as if on cue, three slow raps at the door had interrupted their discussion. The teens glanced back just in time for it to open, revealing the commissioner from before standing on the other side. "Hello, kids. I do hope that was enough time to discuss your feelings regarding the commission's offer. I have your paperwork right here. All I need are your signatures to get you kids out of this station and back into your homes."

He stalked toward the center of the room and laid some folders across the table's cool metal surface, each one of them bearing a name belonging to one of the three. "Look it over and consider it amongst yourselves. I'll be needing your answer before I leave here today."

Tadashi and Benjiro both claimed the folders with their names on it, flipping them open carefully as they began to peruse through the contents. Risa, on the other hand…

"Uh, hello?" She waved her hands to one side, still cuffed behind her back. "Aren't you forgetting something?"

"Oh, of course. Let me get those for you." Without missing a beat, the commissioner came around the table and removed a single key from his pocket, taking hold of the girl's hands to steady them. "I heard about your little exchange with some of the officers who brought you here today, Miss Tanaka. They are being gracious enough to give you amnesty in light of recent circumstances, but they will not be doing you that favor twice over. I recommend you refrain from assaulting anyone else until you get home."

"Yeah, whatever you say," came her dismissive response. When she felt her wrists come free of their restraints, she rolled her shoulders, bringing her arms forward and tracing her fingers over the spot where the cuffs had left a tender ring of red against her normally pale skin. She pretended not to notice Tadashi's glare burning a hole into her head as she reached for her own folder at last.

Inside it were pages of a contract. A formal proposal from the Hero Public Safety Commission to undergo hero training during their last year of school. Following their graduation, there was a detailed plan to continue their hero work by transitioning them into an approved hero firm immediately after completing their programs. Risa's finger followed across the wording on the page as she skimmed over the first subsection of the contract. They were offering to fully pardon their felony charges in return for cooperation with future hero investigations. But what was this bottom clause here-?

"Subjects are required to enroll in and graduate from UA high school?" Benjiro had beaten her to the punch.

Tadashi's brow furrowed at the page. "What's that about?"

"UA has the tightest security system of any other school in the east, and of course, we need to keep an eye on you kids until your training is complete. Besides, we've had some issues with students going rogue in the past, and we wanted a closer eye on our graduating classes before we sent them off into the world of pro heroes. That's where you three would come in." While explaining, the commissioner could see the faces of the three teens falling. It must not have been an angle that these kids were expecting. "Don't look so crestfallen. UA is a top school with elite connections. The skill and experience you will gain there would be outmatched by any other school in Japan."

When they didn't respond, he pushed his glasses further up his face, training his gaze on Risa next with a new tactic in mind. "Miss Tanaka, you're the only one out of the three of you who isn't already enrolled in a local hero school yourself. This is a great opportunity to test your metal against the best of the best, is it not?"

Risa gritted her teeth in response. Of course he would have known that. She'd been forced to enroll in a regular high school after middle school because her father wanted nothing to do with heroes. He thought it too dangerous for his little girl, believed she was too small and frail to succeed on her own. Well, she wasn't. She'd accomplished many feats with Tadashi and Benjiro by her side, feats that wouldn't have been possible if that were true. Risa knew she was capable of so much more. If only he could see that-

"So, we'll be expected to cooperate in future investigations that the commission is involved in," Tadashi read aloud. His voice had suddenly torn Risa away from her thoughts, and when she looked down to her knuckles they were white against the table. Glancing back in his direction, she found the dark-haired teen shooting her a meaningful look, reminding her to stay cool. Right. She could do that.

If the commissioner had picked up on it, he showed no signs. Instead, he affirmed Tadashi's statement with a serious nod. "But of course. We are investing in your training and future employment, after all. It's only natural that we ask for a return on that investment."

Tadashi gave no further reaction, as if he had already deduced that himself. His message to her was clear: don't lose your head. They continued to read along in silence, but the remaining text of the contract was pretty standard from there. Students must answer to UA faculty, abide by their rules, and stay out of trouble. UA was now also a boarding school, which meant they would be moving onto the campus at the start of the next academic year, which was not far away. "What do you think?" asked the commissioner as he noticed the three of them getting down to the last pages.

Benjiro and Risa both looked toward Tadashi. He was the resident decision maker in their little group. He turned over the final sheet of paper in his hands, having finished reading it over a short while ago. Risa could tell he was thinking hard about this decision- it wasn't one he was prepared to make lightly. "What's going to happen to the schematics and designs that were confiscated from me?"

"Well–they're going to be processed as evidence," the man replied.

"For a case you're planning to drop if I sign?" He crossed his arms, his tone firm. "No. I want them back… I don't care what you do with the prototypes."

The commissioner released something akin to a sigh, though his expression hadn't faltered. Risa was almost impressed- it looked like they were making a lot of exceptions to get Tadashi on board. "Very well then," he replied. "You'll have them back before you leave here today. Now, are we in agreement?"

Tadashi glanced at his friends. Both gazes reflected the same determination that was alight in his own saturated stare. With ample confirmation from both of his partners, the boy rose from his seat and held his hand out to the commissioner. "I think we are."

The man grabbed hold of his hand, shaking it in earnest. "Then it's settled. Welcome aboard, Tadashi. Sign those contracts and we'll send you home with the appropriate paperwork to get you kids enrolled in your classes."