An interview is set up! Shoto performs some experiments. Himiko visits someone! Momo learns to let loose a little. Katsuki broods. And an interview is had!

Alright, on my new biweekly schedule with this one! Hope you guys enjoy!

"Um…what?" Izuku asked, confused, as Aizawa looked at him with tired eyes. His teacher had asked him to stay after class for a quick discussion, so he'd waited patiently for the rest of the class to finish leaving, promising he'd catch up after.

"You, Toga, Uraraka, Todoroki, Ida, and Bakugo are being asked to sit for an interview. Normally they interview the Sports Festival winners alone, but between the whole debacle with the Hero Killer and how much damage four of you caused to the arena, they wanted to interview all six of you. You all will likely only answer a question or two each with there being six of you, but still."

"...do we have to?" Izuku asked.

Aizawa shrugged. "No. I'm not a big fan of this media foolishness myself. However, exposure is important if you're going Limelight. Not to mention the gaze on you all already, from the takedown of the Hero Killer. It's probably better to deal with it now. I'll be on hand so any overly personal questions are halted, there are laws to consider when it comes to students and privacy. And it's not a live interview. Everything will be edited down and Nezu has final say on what's permitted to air."

Izuku let out a deep sigh, his shoulders slumping. "I guess we should deal with it now. I'll tell the others."

Aizawa nodded. "Good. It's set for Saturday morning, you'll be exempt from classes for it, although you'll still need to make up the work. Do make sure your stories are straight when it comes to the Hero Killer…Native wasn't awake to confirm or deny anything you did." Aizawa paused for a moment, his normally uncaring tone softening slightly. "She will ask you about the Nomu…will you be alright to answer?"

Izuku nodded slowly. "Y-yeah. I can deal with it. So can Kacchan. We'll um…we'll be sure to be prepared."

"Alright. If you're certain. I'll let you get back to your dorm then." Aizawa dismissed Izuku, standing up and beginning to gather his papers. Izuku gave him a nod, walking out of the room and heading back to the dorms, contemplating the best way to spill the news.

Shoto was on a mission. Sort of. He'd been feeling a bit awkward around Izuku lately, and he needed to figure out why. He wasn't really sure when it started, but sometimes he just felt warm around Izuku, especially on his face and in his chest, and not the type that came from his Quirk. It happened a lot when he hugged the other teen, which he'd been doing much more often recently. The feeling was comforting, in a different way than his family had been.

So, as a proper student and believer in the scientific method, he had to try to see if he got the same feeling if he hugged another student. He had carefully considered his choices…most of the class he wasn't quite comfortable with, if he was being honest. He liked them just fine, and he slowly was coming to terms with the idea of having more friends, but something just didn't feel right about it just yet.

So his options were limited to the ones he had already hugged, back in the hospital room after the Hero Killer incident. Himiko, Ochako, Momo, Tenya, and Izuku himself. Obviously, Izuku was now out. So he was left with the others. He approached Tenya first.

It wasn't hard to hold a conversation with Tenya, really. In fact, he was one of the ones he found easiest to speak to. Tenya understood one facet of his life better than even Izuku did…that pressure that comes from a heroic family legacy. He wasn't speaking of the issue with his father; as far as he knew, Tenya came from a heroic family that had no such skeletons in the closet, or at least, Tenya had made no mention of them. No, he was more referring to the external pressure…eyes were on him, as the son of Endeavor. And though the Idaten Agency wasn't quite the same level as Endeavor, it wasn't something people ignored. Ingenium had been a household name for decades at this point. So Tenya's pressure was somewhat different, but at least he understood the legacy issue.

Figuring out how to ask for a hug was the harder part. It wasn't that he was embarrassed…Izuku made it clear there's nothing wrong with hugs, and he didn't feel any embarrassment. But Tenya may not be comfortable. Izuku had drilled it into his head that he should always consider how others may feel, and he was trying to keep up with that.

Luckily, he had a moment pretty quickly. Tenya got up early to go for runs most days, and today was one of those days. Shortly before the teen left on his run, with no one else in the kitchen, he'd asked. Tenya had seemed shocked at first, but he'd ended up accepting with little fuss.

Hugging Tenya was both similar and different to Izuku. They had similar solid builds, though Tenya was taller while Izuku was nearly Shoto's height. The sensation of someone taller than him hugging him was…different. Shoto couldn't say he minded though. But the odd thing was he didn't get that same warmth in his chest and face he had from Izuku. He felt warmer still, it just…wasn't quite the same.

So after that, it was onto the next choice, which was one of the three girls. Himiko he'd let bite him a few times, and had partially embraced her during it; more like, she latched onto him and it was…surprisingly nice. It was different from a hug though, and he wasn't sure if he was up to asking her for one yet. She was…odd. Not that he wasn't, but he found her excess energy hard to handle all the time.

Momo made him nervous and he wasn't sure why. He did enjoy spending time with her though. She made the best tea in class (Katsuki had begrudgingly admitted to that), and there was something incredibly calming about sitting with her, sipping tea and enjoying just the peace that came in her presence. Even when the class was being chaotic around her, she would be an oasis of calm in a sea of energy and action. That he enjoyed…but asking her for a hug just felt…weird, right now. He was a bit off when he was around her, so…process of elimination!

Ochako was his choice for comparison now. She was very much like Izuku in some ways…driven, strong, but often soft and understanding. She'd never made fun of him for his awkwardness, and though he'd accidentally offended her she simply laughed it off and forgave him immediately, which made him feel much better about it. Sometimes he felt a bit warm around her that reminded him of Izuku, but there were some subtle differences. But hugging her would be another good piece in his dataset to compare.

When he explained it to her, she blinked at him in confusion before giggling. He wasn't sure what she found so funny, but it made him happy to see her happy, so he figured that was good enough. She happily accepted the hug, smiling at him with that bright smile he felt he needed sunglasses to look at, wrapping her arms about his chest and holding him tightly.

Hugging Ochako was very different from Izuku. For one, she was a good head shorter than him, so instead of their heads being next to one another, hers was tucked just beneath his chin. He could feel her soft brown hair beneath her chin and found it…nice. For another, she just felt differently pressed up against him. Izuku was solid. A solid wall of muscle and firm pressure, a higher body temperature than most that was odd for him with how split he often felt. Ochako was firm in her arms and abdomen, like Izuku, but her chest was much softer against his. The feeling was definitely different…but he didn't dislike it either. His face did feel a bit warmer with her than with Tenya, much closer to how he felt with Izuku, even if Tenya resembled his body shape closer. This required further research.

He broke the hug, unable to halt the small half-smile crossing his face in response to her happiness as she beamed at him. He thanked her for helping him with his research, watching as she giggled again. She gently wrapped his arm in hers and pulled him to the counter in the kitchen.

"So, what're your results so far then?" she asked, still smiling at him.

"Hugs with Izuku make me feel warm inside and on my face. I enjoy them. He is very solid. Tenya's hugs are also solid, and I do find them enjoyable as well, albeit I do not feel that same strange warmth. I was under the impression it was due to Izuku's higher body temperature, but I have found that same warmth when hugging you, although you are not nearly as solid as they are, at least not at the chest level, although your arms are very similar in strength. You are also shorter, which created a different experience when your head was underneath mine. I cannot reach a proper conclusion from this information yet. So far, I have determined that the external physical similarities are more pronounced between Izuku and Tenya, however, the internal physical reaction appears to be more similar between you and Izuku. Do you have any theories that may explain it?" He asked, tilting his head to the side as he glanced up at Ochako.

When he met her gaze, he was surprised to see her cheeks flushed, the pink tinge to them a more drastic color than normal as she stared at him wide-eyed. Blinking, he waved one hand in front of her face in an attempt to get her attention. She jolted, shaking her head rapidly as she gave him a nervous grin.

"O-oh, well, I mean, t-that could be any number of things, Shoto. You might need more research, I think."

"Can you list those things? I can proceed to investigate each of them then."

Ochako froze for a second, her face twisting in a way Shoto had only seen her do a few times before. He waited patiently, unsure why she looked like she swallowed a lemon, but confident she'd tell him if something was wrong. She was pretty open like that, he felt.

"Um…I'll tell you later, okay? I don't want to give you any false leads, you know? Let you go down a weird path or something. I'll uh, do some stuff on my own and get back to you! Okay?"

He thought about it, before giving her a nod of agreement. Her logic made sense, he wouldn't want to share something he wasn't at least somewhat assured of. This was acceptable. "Alright. Thank you for your help, Ochako. I really appreciate it." Expressing his gratitude earnestly was something Izuku had suggested he do too, he said people would like it, and he found that making others feel better was something he was enjoying a lot.

She gave him a warmer smile, the strange pink in her cheeks slightly dimming. She hesitated for a moment, before her hand reached out and grasped his own firmly, her pinky raised so as to avoid triggering her quirk. She patted his hand gently. "Anytime Sho, anytime."

Himiko took a deep breath to steel herself. She felt her hand get squeezed and glanced over, smiling widely at Tsuyu next to her. "Are you really sure you wanna come with me for this? It's not exactly a fun place to go for a date."

"I'm not here as your date, ribbit. I'm here to support you. I know this means a lot to you," Tsuyu replied.

Himiko couldn't help but lean over and peck Tsuyu on the cheek, enjoying the slight pink that rose to the frog girl's cheeks. "Thanks, Tsu. It means a lot."

She was distracted from further conversation as the man behind the counter glanced up from his computer and nodded at her. "Well, you're all set. He's in room 422."

She thanked him and, accepting another squeeze from Tsuyu's hand, began to walk down the corridor heading to the elevator. Stepping into the first one that opened, she hit the button for the fourth floor and waited as the elevator rose. Himiko bounced on the balls of her feet for a moment, feeling another gentle squeeze of reassurance from Tsuyu. She glanced down at the shorter teen, Tsuyu giving her an encouraging look as the doors slid open.

They exited the elevator, following the path alone and checking the numbers as they went. A few orderlies walked about, but didn't seem to pay much attention to the two young women beyond the occasional glance in their direction. They managed to find the room with little trouble, the door currently cracked open and the sounds of a daytime talk show audible from a quiet television.

Himiko took one more deep, bracing breath, before squaring her shoulders and reaching up to knock on the door. A voice she was at least somewhat familiar with answered her, saying to come in. Plastering a smile on her face, she called out in reply as she opened the door slowly. "Mr. Jin? It's me, Changeling? Do you remember me?"

As the door opened, she got her first glance at the man she'd met in the alleyway. He looked much better, his unkempt blonde hair now trimmed and clean. A large scar ran down the center of his forehead, with a five o'clock shadow of a beard on him as he glanced up to see her and managed a small smile. His eyes shimmered for a brief moment as if flooded with emotion, as he stood up from the chair he was seated in, towering over the two significantly shorter young women.

"You…you actually came to visit me?" he asked softly.

"I promised, didn't I?" she replied in the same tone, a gentle smile on her face. She glanced over at Tsuyu and squeezed her hand, pulling her closer. "This is Tsuyu, she came to visit too!"

"It's nice to meet you, ribbit," Tsuyu said, bowing slightly.

"You too!" He responded with a bright smile and cheer…that struck Himiko as faker than she liked.

She cleared her throat. "Um…how have you been?"

"It's uh, it's nice here. I uh…It's easier to, you know, stay me I guess? Um, yeah," he stuttered, a little bit nervously.

Himiko tilted her head to the side. "Is something wrong here?"

He shook his head rapidly, his hands flailing in front of him. "N-no! No, they really are nice, it's just…" his shoulders slumped as he sighed deeply. "I have to leave soon and I just dunno what I'm gonna do, is all. No one wants to hire the crazy homeless guy after all."

Himiko felt like someone had just stabbed her with one of her own knives. A brief flash of memory, of days blurring into weeks into months of desperately seeking something to keep herself going, of a haze of pain and fear and cold in the dark, damp alleyways, of struggling with other unfortunates in the same place and having to be very afraid to be a young girl alone in the dark in the back alleys. That life…no one deserved that life, no one should have to live that way.

But what could she even do? She didn't trust the system, because the system failed her, just as it failed Jin here. Even the fact he was being kicked out, she had kind of expected that…they never really kept people once they got a bit better, it was in and out. Even the staff who cared had little to no control over it, there was always someone else in need and never enough room, you had to send people off and hope they could make it because programs to help people sucked.

The silence had stretched on in the room for a bit longer than she was comfortable with, but Tsuyu decided to fill it. She tilted her head to the side. "What are you good at?"

"Huh?"

"What sort of things do you think you're good at?"

He paused, blinking at her for a moment before shrugging. "I…I dunno? I've not had a lot of stable work. I uh, I'm pretty good at measurements cause of my Quirk, but otherwise…not much."

Tsuyu nodded. "Do you have problems with any type of work, ribbit?"

"Not really. Gotta do what you gotta do to live, right?"

"What're you getting at?" Himiko asked Tsuyu softly.

"Nothing. Just thinking. We can look up some jobs when we get back home and maybe find something that'd fit?"

Jin stared at the green-haired teen before him. "You…you don't have to."

"Well, yeah, of course I don't have to, ribbit. I want to. I wouldn't have chosen to be a hero if I didn't want to help people," Tsuyu said.

Himiko couldn't help the sudden surge of affection in her chest…Tsuyu had come here, giving up her free day just so Himiko wouldn't be alone, and her first instinct was to try and help the man she had no connection with besides Himiko wanted to help him. It wasn't appropriate right now, but dammit the second she got the girl alone she was absolutely going to kiss the hell outta her.

"...I'd like that," Jin whispered, his body language a strange cross between relief and guilt. Tsuyu smiled at him.

"Is there any way to contact you?" Himiko asked, wondering how she'd be able to talk to him.

"Um…they said they'll give me a prepaid phone when I leave."

Himiko went digging in her pockets for something to write with, but found Tsuyu already handing her a small pad and a pen. She blinked down at the shorter teen. "Why are you carrying that?"

"Izuku always seems to need paper. I figured I'd carry something in case he forgot."

Himiko stared at her for a solid ten seconds…before shaking her head and taking the pen, quickly scribbling down her number…and adding Izuku's and Ochako's just to be safe. She reached out and handed it over to the tall, blonde man with a wide grin. "Once you have it, please send me a message! And then, if I find anything, I'll let you know! Oh, but if not, we'll still be friends, right?"

"...you want to be friends…with me?" he asked.

"Of course!" she replied cheerfully, flashing her fangs as she grinned. "Alley cats like us gotta stick together, right?"

She couldn't help but smile at being treated to hearing his actual laugh for the first time, a high pitched near giggle that barely skirted the line of being manic, and yet…she was just happy to see him actually smiling at her. She couldn't help but beam back at him, not realizing how much her smile resembled Ochako's sunshine one in that moment.

A second later, there was a knock at the open door and an orderly poked his head in, eyes softly glowing purple. "Excuse me, sorry to interrupt but it's time for your next session, Mr. Bubaigawara?"

"Oh…right," he murmured, his smile fading slightly.

Himiko really didn't like that look…but she knew he needed to go and do this for his own health. She smiled at him reassuringly. "It's okay Jin! Like I said, once you get your phone go ahead and send me a message! We'll see about hanging out sometime, or if we found something you can do! And you can meet my other friends too, I'm sure they'll love you!"

"You really think so?" Jin asked.

She nodded vigorously, her entire body shaking for a second at her exuberance. "I am!"

"...all right. Um…if I lose the number…"

"Just come to UA! If you approach the gate and ask for first year Himiko Toga, they can come get me! I'll make sure the staff knows I'm expecting you, okay?"

"A-alright. Yeah. Yeah, I'll do that," he replied, giving her a shaky smile.

The orderly behind them politely cleared his throat, still smiling. Himiko nodded, turning around and taking Tsuyu's hand once more. "See you later, right, Jin?"

"Yeah. Be seeing you," he replied softly as Himiko gave him a little wave, Tsuyu mirroring her. The two girls stepped out of the room, the orderly taking their place and speaking quietly to Jin as the two of them started to leave the ward.

Himiko was quiet for some time as they left the building, not that Tsuyu minded. She kept her hand in Himiko's, gently rubbing her thumb over the back of the blonde's knuckles as they walked. Tsuyu knew Himiko would speak up when she was ready and was willing to be patient and wait for her moment.

"I wish we could do more for him," Himiko murmured as they sat on a bench at the station, waiting for the next train to bring them back to UA.

"You did everything you could. And I meant what I said, ribbit. We can see if there are any job openings in the city. I'm sure we can find something."

Himiko sighed, slumping slightly and leaning against Tsu, the green-haired teen bearing it stoically. "I know. I just…hate feeling helpless. I want to be a hero to make sure no one else is left alone in an alley…and it feels like nothing I do will actually stop that from happening."

Tsuyu paused for a second to consider her words, her free hand reaching up and tapping her index finger against her lips. "Realistically? We can't fix everything ourselves. It's not like homelessness is a new problem, or discrimination. A lot of people were very hurtful to me because I'm a heteromorph, ribbit. And you, it was because your Quirk wasn't seen as 'normal'. Some people just want others to hurt others and I don't think we can fix that."

She turned to Himiko, reaching up and gently pressing against her cheek to make the blonde meet her gaze. "But, that doesn't mean we shouldn't try. You still helped him, Himi. He's got a second chance because you were willing to fight for it. If we can save one person, help one person get out of that alley, isn't that worth it?"

Himiko let out a choked half-sob, tearing welling up in amber eyes as she leaned forward and pressed her forehead against Tsuyu's for a moment. Her voice thick with emotion, she said "You're right. I know you're right. Thank you. You always know how to cut through the bullshit."

Tsuyu gave Himiko's cheek a soft pat, her own smile widening as she pressed her forehead back against her. "It's what I do best, ribbit."

Himiko pulled back slightly, looking into Tsuyu's dark eyes for a moment, seeking permission and seeing what she needed. She leaned in and pressed her lips gently against the other girls, feeling Tsu press back against her just as softly, their lips releasing after a brief second as Himiko let out a nervous giggle. "You know, for someone new to this, you're really good at it."

"I know. It's because I'm awesome. Ribbit." Tsuyu replied, a smug tone creeping in that made Himiko's giggle even louder. Himiko felt so drained, so exhausted from the day. She'd been tired before the day began, and all this just added onto it. She leaned against the shorter girl, feeling Tsuyu leaning back and resting her head on Himiko's shoulder. Tsuyu was right. They'd find a way to get Jin a job, and let him start over with his second chance. After all…Himiko had a second chance in life. Izuku had one too. Maybe they could make sure to give others the same benefit.

"Are you three really sure about this?" Momo asked, fidgeting with the small purse strapped to her side.

"Oh c'mon, Momo, stop worrying! We're all in this thing together now, let's just have some fun tonight!" Mina replied, scooting up next to Momo and giving her a gentle poke in the side that made the taller teen jump away and glare at her.

"Don't push her, Mina, this is new for her," Kyoka scolded. She brushed her hair back out of her eyes, letting out a puff of air.

"Yeah but that's the point, it's a new experience!" Toru exclaimed, the bracelets on her wrists jangling as she did a little shimmy.

"I'm not against this, I just am afraid I will embarrass myself or one of you. I'm not entirely certain of club procedures and standards," Momo replied.

Mina rolled her eyes. "Momo, hun, that's not a thing. We're just going in there to dance and have a bit of fun. We're not even drinking. We'll find ourselves a little booth in the corner to set our things down and just dance. Okay?"

"I…I suppose. But I've only ever trained in classical dancing, I doubt it would translate well to the type of dancing done at this establishment."

"You know how to move and that's the most important thing. Besides, we're not here to show off for anyone. It's just for us to have fun. Dancing is about being free, Momo, not about trying to impress someone else. Not even us. We're just going on a date hun, and it's a date to have fun," Mina reassured her, smiling up at the taller teen next to her.

"Yeah. I'm not much of a dancer myself, I prefer to play the music, but…it's just a break, Momo. I-I wanted to spend more time with you, and this kinda makes sense, you know? We're gonna be with Mina and Toru a lot too, so…why not have a bit of a group date?" Kyoka said, looking away from the other three and brushing her hair behind her ear.

"Exactly! It's no pressure, nothing forced! We're just here to have fun!" Toru gleefully said, hopping in place.

"I-I suppose you are right. We're just out to have fun. I can do that…yes. I'm going to have fun tonight!" Momo reassured herself, plastering a confident smile on her face that had Mina letting out a wolf whistle.

"Watch out, four pretty ladies coming through!" Mina cheered, grabbing Momo by the hand and pulling her along, the taller teen almost tripping as Mina yanked her along. Her protests were swallowed up by the noise of the club they were approaching, vanishing quickly as Mina stepped up to the door and began speaking to the man standing by it quietly.

Kyoka rolled her eyes, but jolted as she felt smooth fingers slide into her hand. She glanced over, blinking as she saw Toru had come up next to her and had apparently grabbed her hand. "C'mon Kyoka, let's go!" Toru didn't wait for a reply, pulling her along much like Mina had done to Momo, the punk girl feeling the urge to roll her eyes once more but allowing herself to be tugged along, a nervous smile on her face as she felt herself getting caught up in the tangible excitement coming off Mina and Toru. Maybe tonight would be fun? Maybe she could relax and just have a good time with her new…um…girlfriends, she guessed. She let out a small yawn, blinking slowly, before shaking her head to clear it. They were right. Time to have fun!

Eijiro let out a jaw-cracking yawn, stretching his arms above his head with a hum. Katsuki glanced up at him from the paper he'd been working on. "You okay?"

"Yeah man, just tired yanno? Been real busy lately."

"Mood," Hanta muttered, scratching his head and reaching for his coffee. He drained the mug, glaring down into it in consternation for a moment before having it snatched out of his hand by Denki, the blonde passing by to refill his own and Hitoshi's, the purple haired teen scratching the back of his neck as he glared at the math worksheet before him. Denki quickly poured three cups, adding copious amounts of sugar to his, a dollop of creamer into Hanta's, and leaving Hitoshi's untouched. He slid Hanta's over the table to the other teen, Hanta giving him a cheerful salute in thanks as he took a sip from the new mug.

"Gods…all this homework is running us ragged," Denki sighed, sitting back in his chair next to Hitoshi and cupping the mug with all the reverence that one would give a deity.

"Yeah, even Tenya's been too tired to go for his morning runs lately, and I thought nothing would ever slow him down," Hitoshi remarked. He shook his head in annoyance as he let out an annoyed huff. "Ah shit…I have no idea how this equation works."

Katsuki leaned over the table, glancing at it before pointing at the third line. "That's the negative, you want the absolute value there."

"Dammit. Thanks," Hitoshi murmured, erasing the offending lines and starting it again.

"You okay, Kats?" Eijiro asked quietly, noticing how Katsuki had been unusually quiet during their study session.

"Like you said, tired," he grunted, re-reading over one of his notes.

"You sure that's it?" Eijiro asked once more. He reached out and placed his hand on Katsuki's back, rubbing it gently and enjoying how the blonde's back arched into it almost like a cat. He couldn't keep the smirk off his face, completely ignoring the indulgently rolling eyes of Hanta at the duo.

Katsuki stared at his notes for a second longer, before letting out a huge sigh and leaning back into Eijiro's arm. The blonde teen rubbed at his eyes for a moment. "Have to go to this stupid interview thing with Zu, Fangs, Cheeks, Glasses, and Half and Half. They wanted the sports festival winners and the Hosu people."

"...which means they'll ask you about…?"

Katsuki stared up at the ceiling, not bothering to reply beyond a tired nod. Eijiro shared a quick glance with the other three at the table, none of them seeming to know the right thing to say. Hitoshi inclined his head at Eijiro, silently telling him that he was likely the one best able to deal with this at the moment.

"Stop trying to fix it, dumbass," Eijiro's churning thoughts were cut off by Katsuki's drawl, the blonde teen lazily dropping his head to eye his boyfriend. "You can't. And I'll be okay. I told you before, I'm not an idiot like Zu. I know how to deal with this. It's why I'm here with you idiots. I just need to brood for a bit, okay?"

"So you're going to be more surly than normal? Exciting." Hitoshi deadpanned.

"Fuck off Eyebags," Katsuki replied without any heat, flipping the other teen off. Hitoshi replied with a smirk and his own middle finger in return, the two sharing a glance before they both broke off into quiet chuckles.

"Seriously though Kats…you sure we can't help?" Denki asked quietly.

Katsuki was silent for a moment, before letting a small half smile cross his face. "You already are."

"Aww, Katsuki, that was so manly to admit!" Eijiro cheered, wrapping his arm around Katsuki's shoulder and pulling him closer, ignoring the feeble attempts to escape his grasp.

"Oi, shut the fuck up with the mushy bullshit, we have studying to do!" Katsuki snarled, but his anger had little force with how he wasn't exactly resisting the pull into Eijiro's grasp.

"Yeah, yeah, we get it," Hanta replied with a smirk. His eyes turned to the stairs, where Tokoyami was currently trudging down, looking exhausted and being half-supported by Dark Shadow. Hanta blinked in confusion. "Tokoyami, you alright?"

"The darkness was not my friend last night, and I found myself trapped in a vicious vortex where no light could escape," he replied with a groan, stumbling over to the coffee pot and fumbling with it. Hanta shared a worried glance with the rest, getting up and placing a hand on his back and gently pushing his classmate out of the way, grabbing the mug and pouring it for him.

"It's weeeeiirddd," Dark Shadow whined, wending about Tokoyami's body and resting it's arms on top of the slumped teens head. "Fumi keeps dreaming weird things, it's hard to sleep!"

"Sleep's hard to come by these days, that's for fucking sure," Katsuki said. "But it's what the hero course is. Gotta work our asses off to be the best."

"Whaddaya mean by 'weird' dreams, Tokobro?" Denki asked, ignoring Katsuki.

"I remember not. I simply did not rest well," Tokoyami said, more lively now that he'd had some coffee.

"Man that sucks, I hate when I have dreams I can't remember," Hanta remarked.

"Yeah," Eijiro agreed, sighing deeply. He took another draw of his energy drink, before looking back down at his paper. "Hey uh…Kats? Can you…"

Katsuki looked down and snorted, pulling the paper towards himself. "Yeah, yeah. Lemme see what you fucked up."

"Oh my gosh, that was so much fun!" Toru gushed, waving her hands in excitement as the four girls left the dance hall.

"I am pleasantly surprised by how good of a time I had," Momo said, a tired smile on her face.

"Yep! A good night of dancing wears you out but boy is it worth it!" Mina winked at Momo as she said it, bumping the taller teen with her hip. Momo giggled, returning the gesture playfully.

Kyoka didn't bother speaking, just smiling at the other three idly. She had been just as surprised as Momo at how much fun she'd had with the chaotic couple…the idea of this weird double date that was more of a quad date had been a bit awkward at first, but once they got past the initial parts she realized; it wasn't really that different from the times the girls just…hung out. It's not like she didn't spend a lot of time with them…Mina loved to listen to Kyoka play, especially when she was coming up with new music. The pink-skinned teen would sit, enraptured, for hours as Kyoka just tried new things and came up with new tunes, happily cheering her on as she went. Somewhere along the way, Kyoka had stopped thinking it was weird to have her there, and started thinking it was weirder not to.

She was pretty sure she didn't have any special feelings for Mina, at least not right now. But she did like spending time with her. And this night was really nice for that…Mina and Toru were a force of nature when it came to cheering people up and having a good time. And the fact they got Momo on the dance floor was…

Kyoka hunched her shoulders as she flushed, the memory of Momo's dancing playing on loop in her mind. Momo may not have known how modern dancing was done, but apparently classical dancing lessons were more than enough for her to adapt quickly. She'd been the darling of the dance floor, something that Mina had been gushing about for the past ten minutes since they left, to the consternation of the dark-haired heiress, who seemed unused to this amount of genuine positive attention.

Toru sidled up next to Kyoka and giggled. "Thanks for coming out with us tonight, Kyoka. We really enjoyed having you guys with us. I know it's not really your scene any more than it is Momo's…so thanks."

Kyoka shrugged, nervously smiling back at where she knew Toru's face was. "Nah, it's cool. I had fun. I uh…I wouldn't mind doing something like this again."

"The dancing, or the date?"

"...either."

Toru let out a contemplative hum for a moment, before shimmying in place. "Okay, but then next time, you get to pick where we go. Seems only fair!"

Kyoka's nervousness faded at that, a gentle smile crossing her face. Next time?...yeah. She was okay with that. That…sounded like fun. "Okay, yeah. Next time."

"Well hello there, I'm Chitose Kizuki!" the blue-skinned woman said with a wide, guileless smile as she waved at the teenagers entering the room. "I'll be the interviewer for this piece! I'm so glad you all agreed to see me so we could discuss your amazing accomplishments."

"Uh…yeah. Hi?" Izuku replied awkwardly, a bit thrown by the effusiveness of the reporter before him.

"Hi! I'm Himiko!" Himiko replied with her own bright smile.

Ochako politely stifled a yawn before smiling at the woman as well and offering her own greetings, Shoto and Tenya following suit.

"Bakugo," Katsuki grunted, hands shoved in his pockets.

"It's wonderful to meet all of you! No need to stand on formalities, please, have a seat on these couches here. I'll explain the way we'll do this real quick and we can get started shortly, I don't want to take up all your time today!" Kizuki said, gesturing to the two couches set across from where she indicated she'd sit.

As the group began to find their seating, Izuku leaned over to Ochako and murmured in her ear. "Are you okay?"

She waved off his concern. "I'm fine, I'm fine. All this work has me tired is all."

He nodded at her. It had been a lot of work recently, he'd noticed most of the class being more lethargic recently. Maybe he should speak to Momo about it, perhaps they could come up with a new studying schedule to give people more time to sleep. His thoughts were interrupted by the reporter beginning to speak once more.

"So we only have so much time and there are a lot of you. And since this interview is doing double duty, we'll go over the Sports Festival first, and then the Hosu incident. But don't worry, my questions were all reviewed by your teacher and headmaster, so no gotcha questions, okay?" Kizuki waited for them to nod at her, before returning the look as she glanced down at the paper in her hand, tapping at it with her pen. "Let's see, let's see…Ah, yeah. I understand there were some tough moments in Hosu, and it was a tragedy, so if at any point you feel uncomfortable just let me know. We can and will edit anything out necessary, and the final edits will be sent here for you to review before we take the interview on air. Any questions?"

The group shared a glance, everyone shaking their heads after a moment. Kizuku smiled brightly at them all, tapping at her pad with her pen once more. "Excellent! Please, have a seat, let's begin!"

The Sports Festival questions had been rather simple, mostly the reporter gushing and talking up their abilities and impressive uses of their Quirks. Izuku found it odd how excited she seemed while talking about them, and got a weird emotion off of her, but his lack of closeness to her meant he wasn't really reading the emotions the same way he did his friends. It was just a vague sense of odd excitement he was receiving, and it really did throw him off.

But it was Hosu when it became…different. Miss Kizuki was making a genuine attempt to avoid upsetting them, Izuku could tell, but she still had a job to do. It was hard to explain how Izuku knew Tenya was in trouble without going into the details of his Quirk (they'd settled on the idea that his energy could 'connect' to people he cared for and let him know their status). Explaining how they actually fought off the Hero Killer and what it was took even longer, considering they had, at best, theories about it, and those theories sounded pretty insane when spoken aloud.

But when explaining what it could do, the nightmares came up. And the fact everyone involved froze or flinched was…unfortunately very noticeable. Miss Kizuki was a skilled reporter however, and managed to steer the conversation away. They got through the discussion of the Hero Killer without too much issue…and then it came to the Nomu.

"So, Mr. Midoriya, to clarify: You were able to communicate with it?"

Izuku's jaw was clenched, but he kept his tone level and spoke calmly. "Yes. The Nomu was capable of sign language."

"And it informed you of the explosive within its chest? You believed it?"

"As mentioned earlier, I can 'see' Quirk's. I was able to identify the Quirk and see that the Nomu had been 'armed', so to speak."

"Couldn't it have lied to you?" she asked, tilting her head to the side.

"The Nomu could have. But what I see with my vision isn't a lie. Once I confirmed the danger, I took it into the sky."

"Why up there? Was there nowhere else to take the danger?"

Izuku shook his head. "I didn't have a lot of time. I made the best call I could."

"And you were there when it exploded? How did you survive?"

In answer, Izuku held up his hand, a green disc floating about it gently. "I put one of these around myself. It protected me from the explosion. I had to keep the Nomu in the sky as far as I could safely fly."

"I see. Do you think there was another option?"

Izuku swallowed, before shaking his head slowly. Outside the view of the camera, he felt Himiko taking his hand and squeezing it gently, keeping her plastic smile plastered on her face. They all knew the questions were coming, but didn't change the fact none of them were enjoying the reminder…especially Izuku and Katsuki. The blonde teen was stone still, his expression carefully neutral…but it wasn't hard to guess how much he disliked this conversation.

Izuku cleared his throat and spoke quietly. "No other options presented themselves to me at the time. I'm sorry that it added to the panic, and that it caused some structural damage…but I'm not sorry that no one else got hurt from it."

Kizuku paused, tilting her head to the side with her reporter smile on her face. She glanced down at her notes for a moment, before looking back up. "Alright. I understand that night was quite the ordeal, so thank you for telling us what went on in your own words. Now, I have only one more question…is there any truth to the rumors that the body that the Winged Nomu was created from was someone you knew?"

Izuku's entire body stiffened, eyes going wide as Katsuki nearly leapt off the couch with a snarl…but no sign of his Quirk visible as Aizawa snapped from out of sight of the camera. "Sit down, Katsuki! And you! That question is not on the approved list! Cut it! Camera off, this interview is over."

Kizuki held up her hands placatingly. "Alright, alright, I'm sorry for pushing it. We'll keep that out of the final video. But we do want an outro, don't we? Otherwise it'll look very odd and people will wonder what we're keeping silent about."

"I don't give a damn what it'll look like," Katsuki snarled, but at the glare from his teacher he sat back down and crossed his arms over his chest.

Kizuku sighed. "I am sorry. I realize I struck a nerve and I do apologize. People are scared, and being scared, they want as much information as possible. It's a rumor that exists already, and I thought we could confirm or deny it here so it doesn't get more outlandish is all."

"UA and the agencies from the heroes involved will handle fielding any requests for specific information about the attack on Hosu. You don't need to ask the students, you can send a request for information, same as anyone else," Aizawa said with a steely gaze.

"I understand. Can we record an outro at least? Again, it'll look odd otherwise."

Aizawa glanced over at the students. Izuku met his eyes and gave a silent nod. Aizawa sighed. "Fine. Outro only, don't sneak anything else in."

"Of course," Kizuku replied, smiling once more. She waited for everyone to get situated and turned the camera back on, easily falling back into the same tone she'd used before as she gave her praise for their efforts and for answering her questions. The gathered students did manage a mildly convincing bit of small talk at the end, but it still felt a bit more stilted and uncomfortable in the room as she wrapped up and started gathering her things.

The students began to get up and start to move out of the room, but Kizuki stepped forward and gave a small bow. "I'd like to apologize once more for upsetting you all."

Izuku worked his jaw for a moment before letting out a deep sigh. "It…it's fine. I get it, you're just doing your job."

"Still. That said, I'd like to make it up to you all. There's a nearby diner that I like to frequent that has excellent food and an atmosphere. And no, this isn't an attempt to weasel more information out of you, I swear. I just wanted to talk in a less formal setting, maybe tell you a bit about my work if you're interested," Kizuki said with a wide smile.

Izuku blinked at her, a little bit confused by her statement. He glanced over at his friends, the gathered teens seeming as confused as he was. He focused on her, trying to figure out what her feelings were showing. It was difficult…he'd never intentionally reached in, especially not with a stranger. It was muffled, muddled, fuzzy…but he didn't sense any negativity. If anything, the idea seemed to excite her more than anything else. She seemed like she wanted to tell him something, rather than ask him questions, and that was…interesting.

He glanced back at Aizawa, the teacher shrugging his shoulders. "You're adults and are free to go off campus. If it's the diner I'm thinking of, it's a safe place. No one will bother you there."

Izuku looked at the reporter…he wasn't really sure about this, but also…he was curious. She wanted to say something away from the school, but it had nothing to do with the Hosu incident. Color him stupid but he was intrigued. He glanced back at his friends and then shrugged. "Yeah, sure. We can meet up there in…an hour?"

"Wonderful! I look forward to seeing you! It's only a few blocks away." Kizuki clapped her hands together once, grabbing her bag and giving a small wave goodbye as she left the room.

Izuku started, realizing he'd never asked the name. He spun about and called to get her attention, the blue-skinned woman spinning about to look at him. "Wait, what's it called?"

"Heat Rush."