"Aizawa. Aizawa! Senji."

"Huh?," Senji snapped to attention. A teacher had been trying to get their attention for a few minutes now. Standing at the door to the classroom, snickering, was their classmate. Two of them, and two she had hoped to be done with soon. Being around them was exhausting, to say the least.

"Principal's office," the teacher sighed and thumbed at the other two students. They, like so many of the other staff, were obviously worn out by their students' behavior the last few years. Senji wasn't exactly an exception either. They hadn't been loud, or gotten in too many fights. But they definitely looked the part of a delinquent.

"Right, sorry," Senji shuffled their stuff together and headed for the door. They struggled to remember what might have lead to the principal wanting to meet them, especially alongside the other two. The three walked into the office and sat down, an awkward tension hanging in the air around them. The principal was visibly stressed by that palpable strain, but quickly adjusted himself.

"So, uh," he started, flinching under the stares of the three students. "I wanted to say. Well. Any students from our school getting accepted to somewhere prestigious like UA is amazing. But three? Remarkable. Congratulations, all of you."

"Huh?!"

Senji and the blonde exclaimed at the same time, though for slightly different reasons. Senji had really been looking forward to a quieter high school experience. The dark-haired kid, seated in the middle, flinched and started stammering some sort of explanation. The blonde was, thankfully, focused on him. The principal excused them quietly, so Senji left while the other two were occupied. They checked their phone in the hallway, getting a glance from a passing teacher. There was an old message congratulating them on passing the entrance exam, but nothing else. Senji sighed and shoved their phone back in their pocket.

"No responses yet."

They stopped by a window, their mind overflowing with stressful things. The bell rang, dismissing students for the day. Senji checked their reflection in the window as students started shuffling down the halls. Their hair had grown out quite a bit again, the darker roots showing through. Senji fiddled with their hair as they walked to the class to get their belongings.

"[Maybe I should cut it, or dye it again soon?]"

After changing out of the soon-to-be forgotten uniform at home, Senji headed out. They peeled a notice off their door and tossed it inside. Rent wasn't fully paid again, and it was adding up. The little scuffle a couple months ago had cost them their job. Searching for new work in the area was proving difficult with the reputation they had built up, too. The teen shook their head, chasing out those thoughts for now. More important stuff was going on this evening, despite their desire to just go start a stream. They wandered quite a ways from home, through back streets and alleyways, before ending up at a hidden bar. They steeled themself at the door, then headed in.

"Look who it is."

"Hey, hey. Senji, whaddya think of this?"

"Tch. Late as usual."

They were greeted by what had become a familiar group of people. There was a range of ages and personality types, but the small group stuck together somehow. Senji had met their so-called leader through an online game. With some work, they had ingratiated themself among the group. The strangest looking one, dressed as a bartender, offered them a soda.

"Thanks," Senji said curtly. They sat down next to a younger girl, one who was odd but not unbearable. She pulled up some net article about a hero killer, and was gushing over the rather gruesome photos included. Senji feigned some level of interest before the leader called everyone to attention.

"So," he started. "You got into UA, huh?"

"Sure did."

"Woooow, nice. Should I congratulate you?," the dark-haired man in the corner offered a snarky comment. Senji knew he was just trying to instigate, and rolled their eyes at him.

"Got any work for me to do?," Senji asked the white-haired guy sitting across from them.

"Rent due?," the man in the corner continued poking, grating Senji's nerves fast.

There was a drawn-out discussion among the group. As well as an introduction to the newest member, a hero-killer fanatic. Other than his choice of fandom, he seemed pretty normal. The girl that was so chatty with Senji sympathized with his idol, though for different reasons. There were a few interruptions, and snaps between Senji and the instigator of the group. The conversation had to be pulled back several times by the bartender. The group had settled on a name for themselves. A somewhat comical one, given how some of them had met. Senji was given an assignment for the next semester, one that was pretty easy to see coming.

Once dismissed, Senji left the bar and flew up to the rooftops. Quirk use was forbidden without a license in today's world, but as long as you weren't stupid enough to get caught a lot flew under the radar. Senji extended their wings and felt the breeze push through the cobbled-together mass of scales. Things were getting stressful for sure, but this freedom was nice. They liked to do this from time to time, in the dead of night. They'd hang out on rooftops or unoccupied balconies, listening to the nightlife of the city. Occasionally, like tonight, they'd also break up petty fights or stop the odd purse-snatcher. Senji wasn't worried about random passerby or that concerned with their well-being. At least, that's what they convinced themself. Besides, sometimes people they rescued would offer some type of reward. Food, cash, or even sometimes a drink. Was hard to do this when work schedules got too busy, though.

They used to hang out on the trash dump of a beach nearby, but someone had cleaned all that up. Senji spotted them a few times, along with a pro hero. The freshly cleaned beach area was nice, too. But it meant more people showing up, so it wasn't as good for hanging out or stretching the wings.