Tadashi bolted upright out of a sound sleep, the mattress beneath him drenched in a cold sweat. As reality set in once again and the adrenaline coursing through his veins began to fade, he realized he was back in his bedroom, early morning light filtering in through the window beside him. Damn it… Another nightmare? He exhaled a shaky breath, dropping his head into his trembling hands. This one felt so real… But then again, they always did. It was one of the drawbacks to using his quirk that he could never get used to, no matter how hard he tried.

It was still too early to be awake yet. The cot beneath Tadashi groaned in protest as the boy leaned over to grab his clock off the nightstand. The sound of it creaking against his body weight made him cringe. How much noise had he made with all that tossing and turning? Had he managed to wake up Ryuji this time?

He wiped some sweat from his brow with the back of his hand. It was only 5:49am. Tadashi still had a little over an hour before he actually needed to be awake, but he didn't feel steady enough to be able to go back to sleep anytime soon. His heart was still racing, head pounding from the stress. He might as well just get up now and get an early start to the day. He swung his legs out over the edge of the cot, planting both feet on the ground and scrubbing a hand over his face, forcing back the last residual traces of panic from his mind before finally allowing himself to stand.

Tadashi decided to take advantage of the extra time he had this morning and fix himself a scalding hot shower. He leaned against the tiled wall with his forearm, letting the blistering water slide down his back in warm rivulets, helping to ease some of the tension out of his lean muscles. Standing under the steaming water for much longer than usual, flickering memories of Tadashi's dream still plagued his tired mind. The wild look in a pair of violet eyes, blood smeared across a white marble floor. The wooden handle of a kitchen knife sticking out of his stomach. Another strangled breath escaped him, the sound lost to the deluge of water coming from above. The trauma was painful to relive, but to Tadashi, it was a necessary evil. Vital, even. He needed to embrace this feeling. To never allow himself to forget it. The memories would be at the forefront of his mind until the day he died.

He stayed in that shower until the hot water had become lukewarm, and after toweling up, Tadashi stepped back into his room to get dressed. UA had sent him some uniforms through the mail sometime last week: A few white button-down shirts and red ties. They were meant to be worn under a gray jacket with blue-green accents on the sleeves and shoulders, the few pairs of pants he'd received of the same blue-green variety. He didn't particularly love the look, but since it was the standard dress code for the guys he supposed he didn't quite have any other choice but to wear it.

After that, Tadashi went ahead and brewed himself a pot of hot coffee, pouring some into a sealable travel mug to enjoy on the way to school. He preferred to drink it the same way he always had–completely black, with not a drop of cream nor a hint of sugar. He always enjoyed the bolder, bitter flavor of black coffee. It helped keep him focused when he felt like his mind was racing. His father was also a fan of those stronger blends of coffee, so making it a part of his morning routine had always helped Tadashi to feel closer to him in some small way.

He checked the time again, this time on his watch. 7:45am. The others should be here soon. With a glance toward the opened door of the only other bedroom, he decided against saying his goodbyes this morning. Forcing himself through his morning routine had helped settle his nerves a lot, but he was still feeling uncomfortably on edge, and with the recently weird atmosphere hanging between himself and Ryuji, he thought it best to take off now before things got… complicated.

He had just wrapped his fingers around the brass of the doorknob to head outside when the door suddenly shook with a barrage of knocks. Without having to guess who it was standing on the other side of it, he swung it open, wincing at the flood of sunlight that rushed in as he did.

"Tadashi, my man! Look alive, it's time for class!" Benjiro was standing just outside, towering over the boy with a big grin while his elongated fangs showed prominently through his smile. He usually tried to conceal them when he spoke, but Benjiro easily got carried away with his own excitement and accidentally bared them often while grinning. They were fangs similar to that of a canine's, but they couldn't have been more perfect to suit someone like Benji. Like a dog, he had an unbending loyalty to his friends and a highly positive temperament. Tadashi had no doubts that someone with his personality would make a fine hero.

"Good morning, Benjiro." A hint of a smile played on Tadashi's lips despite the tired look in his eyes. He swung his bag over his shoulder, stepping through the doorway before gingerly closing the door and locking it behind him.

Surprisingly, Risa was deathly quiet this morning. She'd been completely dwarfed by the boy beside her, merely standing in the shadow of his mountainous physique with a pout. At just barely over five-foot-five, she was the smallest of the three. "Good morning, Risa," said Tadashi. He raised a quizzical brow at her silence.

She met his gaze with a half-lidded, drowsy stare, only responding with a soft grunt to indicate that she still had a voice. "Mh." Apparently, she wasn't crazy about mornings either.

Risa and Benjiro were both clad in their new uniforms as well, with Risa wearing a pleated green-blue skirt instead of the same long pants that the boys wore. In addition, her hair was loose today and cascading over her shoulders. Beside Benjiro, who was bright-eyed and ready to go, she seemed to be dragging herself along like the walking dead. It was almost a humorous display, given her usual charging and determined attitude.

Tadashi was half tempted to offer her a sip of his coffee to perk the girl up, but he quickly shut down the impulse to do so. After all, a subdued Risa was a Risa who was going to stay out of trouble for the time being. She had a fiercely uninhibited nature and an annoying tendency to act first and think later, so not having to chase after her first thing in the morning was nothing short of a blessing. Besides, fixing her with a dose of caffeine was something he'd never tried before. Tadashi wasn't planning on finding out just what kind of damage she could do on their first day while she was hard-wired on a dark roast.

"You two ready? Let's get out of here." Tadashi strode past them and down the sidewalk, but kept his pace slow enough for the other two to catch up. He wanted to be long gone before Ryuji woke up and had the good sense to come looking for him.

The three friends had barely seen each other for about a week. To be specific, the last time they'd even been in the same room together was the night of the interrogation. Each of them were fully aware of the magnitude of trouble that was waiting for them when they got back to their homes, and had unanimously decided that it was best to let things cool off with their families before they tried meeting up again. "So, Benjiro. How did your parents react to you being dropped off in a squad car last week?" asked Tadashi.

"Dude, it was crazy! My mom fainted in the doorway when she saw me, and my dad- well, he was more mad than I've ever seen him! I had to come clean about everything we were doing behind their backs, and… they were both pretty shocked." Benjiro, always having been one to speak with his hands, was waving them around absentmindedly as he recounted the night while walking down the sidewalk alongside his two friends. "They've been watching me like a couple of hawks since then, but I guess I can't really blame them. We were getting into some pretty heavy stuff before we got caught."

Tadashi gave a thoughtful hum in response to that final remark. Indeed, they were. From what he could remember about Benjiro's parents, they were stage-five clingers, so seeing their precious boy in the back of a police car had probably done quite a number on them. Tadashi supposed he might have been lucky in that regard. What would his parents have done, if they were the ones who'd been called to collect him that night?

"Risa's dad blew a whole gasket," Benjiro went on. "I could hear them arguing all the way from my house. It's kind of been like that all week."

The smaller girl nodded. "Mh."

Tadashi often forgot that Benjiro and Risa still lived in the same neighborhood that the three of them grew up in together. He couldn't help but remember all those nights they spent camping out in Benjiro's backyard, or when they would sneak Risa out of her bedroom window whenever she was grounded so they could ride their bikes together. His favorite memory of the three of them was from his sixth birthday, when he accidentally broke the Hound Dog action figure he'd been gifted by his parents and began to cry. Benjiro tried to cheer him up by changing into a dog and pretending to be the hound hero for the remainder of the party. He'd stayed in that form for so long that he ended up losing control and ate the entire birthday cake while the adults weren't paying attention. The boy had a vicious belly ache afterward, and Tadashi remembered his mother and father being quite upset about it. At the time, however, Tadashi and Risa thought it was pretty funny. It was one of the last memories he had of his mom and dad. A memory he liked to think back on and smile when he was feeling low.

While Tadashi sometimes missed having the two teens so close, hearing about Risa and her father arguing well into the night for a whole week sounded like something he appreciated not having to endure. The trio stopped at a curb, waiting for the crosswalk symbol to illuminate, and Tadashi noticed Benjiro turn to look at him, his voice suddenly hesitant. "So, uh… How'd your uncle take it?"

Tadashi shrugged. "I don't know…. He's been acting pretty weird lately." Though he tried to brush off the small hint of concern seeping into Benjiro's tone, the hand holding his bag reflexively tightened over the strap on his shoulder. Ryuji had given him little to no reaction when Tadashi returned that night. He didn't even seem to be upset that the police had raided his place, or worse, that they had found several incriminating things that had been hidden right under his nose. He didn't even ask about what other kinds of trouble the three of them had been getting into together. The dark-haired teen had been prepared to deal with some kind of anger, sadness, or even disappointment, but this- this was something entirely different. Tadashi prided himself on being able to analyze people very well, but Ryuji was a man that he could never be sure about. He hated how difficult it was to read him. He started walking again as the light changed from a red stop symbol to one of a walking figure. "Guess he was expecting something else when the police came knocking at his door."

Tadashi took a big swig of his coffee, waiting for a response from the other boy that never came. That was fine. Talking about his family was still a major sore spot for him, and with those nightmares of his haunting him whenever he closed his eyes, he was willing to do whatever he could to avoid the subject while he was still awake.

The rest of the walk to the station was silent after that. Risa was usually the one who maintained the chatter for the rest of the group, and since she was still half asleep and nodding off any time they stopped moving, Tadashi didn't expect to hear much out of her. They stepped onto a packed train, squeezing past other commuting students to try and find a viable spot to stand. Risa made a beeline for the first available seat she saw, casting a violent glare at another passenger who hadn't noticed her coming and was about to sit in it first. He backed off immediately at the sight of her with his hands up, not wanting to incur the shorter girl's wrath. Smart kid. She slept with her forehead against Benjiro's leg for the rest of the ride.

The trip took close to an hour, but fortunately for them, the final stop on the train had only left them a short walk's distance from the school. They even made it with about fifteen minutes to spare before their classes were supposed to start.

UA's campus was enormous. Sitting atop a hill surrounded by a perimeter of thick forest, the main buildings stood together in a cluster, each one several stories high. There were a number of other structures that Tadashi could see in the distance, and he noticed with some awe that not all of them were buildings. He assumed they were the school's training grounds for the hero courses and christ, they were vast. Tadashi supposed it made sense. UA was number one in heroics across Japan, after all. It was to be expected that they would also have the best equipment possible for their students at their disposal.

Marching up to the front doors, Tadashi stopped just short of them and rounded on his two friends with a serious look. "We're going to have to split up here. I'm not going to be able to keep an eye on you both from the other side of the campus, so please, try to be on your best behavior."

Benjiro raised his hand to his temple in a joking type of salute. "Aye-aye, captain!"

"Mh."

Tadashi took one last look at Risa in particular, bending down so that he could address her at her level. "And you. Keep your teeth to yourself, got it?"

Her pout morphed into a wicked grin right before his eyes. "No promises," she purred back.

Tadashi held her stare, resisting the urge to reach over and flick her right in the forehead. Risa often liked to agree to the opposite of whatever he asked of her in order to get on his nerves. Whether she meant it this time or not, however, the fact that those were her first words of the day felt like an omen. Regardless, there wasn't much he could do for her if she decided to rebel. He just had to hope that there weren't many students in class 3-A who were going to push her buttons in the meantime. The last thing he wanted was to have to follow her around, apologizing to every third year she came into contact with. At least Benjiro was there to act as a good buffer until the three of them could get together again. Tadashi stood at his full height once more, securing the strap of his book bag on his shoulder before heading off. "Right, then. I'm off to 3-G. Come and find me in the cafeteria during lunch."

"Copy that!" he heard Benjiro call out from behind. "We'll meet you there!"

Tadashi didn't look back as he stepped through the doors of the school. The busy, bustling atmosphere of students and teachers alike hurrying from one spot to the next was almost daunting in comparison to the smaller, local hero school that he'd come from. He'd been keeping a cool demeanor for his friends on the way here, but now that he was alone he could feel his own nervousness creeping in, making his breathing quicken and his palms shake-

No. Now wasn't the time for this. Tadashi took in a deep breath, releasing it with a strong exhale. Slowly, he felt his nerves begin to settle once more. He wasn't going to allow himself to falter just yet–not when he had so much to do. He set off to find his classroom, this time with a blazing determination alight in his violet eyes.

—-

Katsuki knew from the moment he woke up this morning that today was going to be an extraordinarily shitty day.

He pushed past a gaggle of the girls in his class, scowling at the irritating way they collected near the door and chattered back and forth to one another enthusiastically. For fuck's sake, it's only been a month since the last time they'd seen each other. What could they possibly have to tell each other now that they hadn't during their break?

There was nothing to be excited about. Today was just the first day of another shitty year at this shitty school. The spiky-haired blonde claimed a seat in the back corner of the classroom by the windows and dropped his bag at his side, propping his head up with his palm and fixing his ruby red stare out of the window. He kept trying to drown out the annoying prattle coming from the other end of the room, their persistent babbling and squealing only heightening the vague sense of irritation he'd been feeling all day.

Katsuki was on edge. More so than usual. It was something that's been happening from time to time for a long time now. His senses felt-overwhelmed sometimes, to the point that every little thing around him pissed him off to a greater degree. Over the last month he's managed to spare the others from this overly-irritated state of his by simply staying away from them, but he knew he couldn't keep it up forever. He felt like he was constantly teetering on the edge of a total breakdown, and sitting here in class with nowhere else to go had him feeling inexplicably trapped today.

It wasn't long before something solid landed on the wooden surface of his desk, creating a loud thud that diverted his attention back to the classroom. Looking up, a familiar red-haired boy was leaning over the desk with his palms down, an eager grin wide and equally as sharp as the pointed ends of his stupid spiky hair. "Hey dude! What's up?"

Katsuki, returning his gaze to the window, offered him no reaction. "What the hell do you want, Shitty Hair?"

As always, his insults had little effect on the boy. "Aw come on, don't be like that! I keep telling you, your hair's not that different from mine."

To drive his point home, the boy reached out with a finger to prod at the tips of his friend's hair, but Katsuki had ducked away before he could make the contact. "Don't fucking touch me," he growled.

The boy chuckled back. "Whoa-ho, someone's grumpy today." He must have caught a whiff of Katsuki's breath, because his nose twitched, and then his smile began to waver. "...Hey dude, are you–?"

"No." Katsuki smacked his hand away. "I'm not."

He was, though. Just a little bit. He thought it would help him keep his nerves in check if he had a little buzz to take the edge off. It was something he only did once in a while, but lately, his 'once in a while' was becoming more and more frequent, the warm, bubbly sensation he felt when he drank starting to become harder to achieve with each and every sip. Katsuki wasn't stupid, though. He knew how to handle himself in that kind of state. The only people who would even know what he was doing were the annoying assholes like Shitty Hair who apparently didn't know shit about personal space.

"Okay, man. I won't tell you what to do, but if any of the teachers find out what's going on you're gonna be in some serious trouble," he warned.

Katsuki rolled his eyes. "Whatever. You think I care?"

Suddenly, without asking, the boy dropped his bag and began settling into the seat right beside the blonde. There was something about having witnessed the act that pissed him off to some measure, but deep down he knew that he'd rather have Shitty Hair sitting there than any one of those other morons in the class. Out of all of them, he was the most tolerable. Katsuki would probably lose his fucking mind if he had to sit that close to anyone else for a whole year.

"Whoa, look at that–fresh meat." Katsuki's gaze found the door upon hearing his friend's remark, finding two more students he didn't recognize walking into class. One of them was a very large-framed boy with horns and pointed ears, the other a short, white-haired girl. Katsuki had never seen either of them around the campus before, but then, he also didn't give two shits where they came from. They just needed to stay out of his way. The duo wandered around the room for a bit, talking amongst each other while trying to find a couple of open seats. It wasn't until they were both suddenly standing right in front of him that he realized the two desks in front of him were, in fact, available.

Shit.

"Are these seats taken?" the girl asked.

What the fuck kind of question was that? Shitty Hair was about to respond to them, but Katsuki had piped up first. "I don't know, what the hell's it look like?"

He noticed something explosive ignite behind the girl's eyes. Then her brow pinched, muscles going taut. Her mouth fell open to respond and Katsuki briefly wondered if this girl had a fire breathing quirk, but before he could find out a broad hand swung around and covered her mouth, hastily preventing any sound from escaping the girl. It was the larger one who spoke instead. "Ah, you're probably right. Just checking! Thank y- ow!"

He pulled his hand away to inspect the bite on his palm while the girl stuck her tongue out at her friend. She then turned away with a pout, taking the seat diagonal from Katsuki. Her friend gave both boys in the back row an apologetic smile before he turned around as well, taking the seat beside her, which happened to be directly in front of Katsuki. It looked like he was trying to tell her something, but the girl only crossed her arms and looked away, still angry and defiant. Katsuki could already tell that she was going to be a major pain in the ass to sit near.

Great. Just fucking great.

His friend shot him a look of rebuke, but the blonde refused to be apologetic. How the hell did they expect him to respond to a stupid ass question like that? He huffed to himself, scowling out of the window at nothing in particular.

"Hey, don't mind him. He's a really great guy once you get to know him!"

Katsuki scoffed. No. No, he wasn't.

Regardless, the two newbies turned back around, this time setting their sights on the spiky-haired asshole sitting next to him. He wanted to tell Shitty Hair not to bother with these damn extras, but he seemed dead set on making a good first impression. He held his hand out to the duo. "The name's Eijiro Kirishima, and this is–"

"Fuck off." Katsuki didn't need anyone doing his introductions for him.

Shitty hair let it go, but in a lower voice, Katsuki heard him say, "Don't worry. After a while he'll start warming up to you."

The larger boy shook Kirishima's hand first, introducing himself. "Well it's nice to meet you, Kirishima. My name is Benjiro Hashimoto, and this is my friend, Risa Tanaka."

"That's cool!" Kiri said back. "Are you guys transfer students? I don't think I know anyone else who didn't start going to UA in their first year. You two are probably the first."

"Uh, yeah." Chuckling nervously, the one named Hashimoto scratched his bushy sideburns with a smile that somewhat revealed his fangs. "Something like that."

The fuck was that supposed to mean? Katsuki, who'd only been pretending not to listen this entire time, was about to call him out on his vague answer, but at that same moment someone on the far side of the room suddenly stood. The command in her voice claimed the attention of every other student in the class, her long dark hair tied back into a dumb ponytail. It took Katsuki a moment longer than it should have to recognize their class rep. "Okay, everyone, it's time to take your seats! Class is going to start soon!"

In response, the last stragglers who'd been moving around the room ambled back into their seats, the sound of each individual chair scraping against the floor for some reason extremely grating to hear. Katsuki was thankful for the quiet that followed.

Moments later, the school bell rang out, silencing the last of the murmurs before the teacher walked in. His long, black hair spilled over his shoulders in a messy display while his eyes appeared just as exhausted as always. "Good morning, class. I hope you all enjoyed your break." His gaze passed over his students briefly, verifying that everyone was in attendance with a mere cursory glance. "We have two new students joining us today. Risa Tanaka and Benjiro Hashimoto, welcome to UA. You may call me Sensei Aizawa. Whether or not you were at the top of your classes back in your local high schools, we hold ourselves to a different standard here, and we're not going to go easy on you just because you're new. Be sure to soak in as much information as you can. You two have a lot of catching up to do."

From behind the pair, Katsuki could see the two of them nodding at their teacher with stupid determined looks on their damn faces. Morons…He didn't think they had any idea how tough this school could be. The training was rigorous. The students were pushed to always go beyond their limits, and even on days when you felt you had nothing left, you were forced to go harder. This kind of training definitely wasn't for the faint of heart. And if those two were starting at UA in their third year, they were already two years behind the rest of them.

The teacher went on. "Since this is only your first day, we're going to have to assess your quirks. Get your gym clothes on, everyone. We're going to be doing some combat drills.

"Awesome!" Shitty hair exclaimed to the duo. "Looks like we're gonna get to see those quirks in action!"

Katsuki rolled his eyes once again at his friend's enthusiasm. He had better not end up going up against either of them during these drills. If he did, he was going to put them into the fucking ground.