"Thanks for coming in early," Shouta kicked his door closed as he followed Bakugou and Todoroki into his office. Setting down his coffee and pastry bag, he shrugged out of his coat and scarf hanging them on the rack.

"Is that your scarf?" Katsuki peered at the white wool fabric, it didn't look the same. A black look crossed his face. "Oh, fuck, sorry," he held up his hand. "I sounded like Denki, didn't I?"

"You did," Shouta sat, opening the pastry bag, he dumped some rolls onto his desk, picking one up he stuffed it in his mouth. "Want some anpan?" He muffled around the bread, pointing to the others.

Grunting, Katsuki picked up two and handed one to Shouto, biting into his far enough to get to the bean paste.

"So," Shouta swallowed, logging into his computer. "You are somehow my favorite and my most troublesome pair already."

Katsuki looked up, "what the fuck did we do?"

"Nothing and yet everything, rattled someone higher up on your first fucking day." He checked the paper on his personal printer. "I called my friend Nakama Arisu, head of the NPL, and asked about that case needing a password." He thinned his lips, "guess who was standing at my doorstep last night." A few people wandered past his office window. Jumping to his feet, he closed the blinds and locked his door.

Wide eyed, Shouto and Katsuki watched their normally calm teacher move nervously around the room. "Nakama?"

"What?" He spun around, "what about her?"

"She was on your doorstep last night?"

"Oh, right, yes, yes she was." The printer made several whirring noises and began sliding over the paper slowly. Hovering over the machine, Shouta grabbed the sheet as it began to spit out. "I can't get the password." He slumped back in his chair, "not a lot of details but she did give me this." He threw the paper towards them.

"No password? What the fuck Captain?" Katsuki swallowed the rest of his bun.

Grabbing the paper, Shouto read through the list. "This looks like the list of items acquired by the museum." Opening his bag, he pulled out a copy of the list that Kaneko had sent to him the night before.

"You got a list too?" Eyebrows shot up as Shouta dropped his bun back on the desk stunned. "Already!?"

"You did say we were your favorite pair," Katsuki smirked, leaning over to look at Aizawa's list.

"Wait," Shouto laid them on the desk side by side. "There's more stuff on yours." All three men crowded around the two sheets of paper. Shouto grabbed a pen and began circling the missing artifacts from Kaneko's list.

"A total of eight that are on the list Arisu gave me, but not on this one." Shouta glanced at Todoroki. "Where did you get this?"

"Shingo Kaneko, he managed all the trades and buys for the museum."

"Maybe those weren't purchased?" Katsuki propped his butt on the desk.

"If they were a gift, he still listed those," Shouto pointed to the column that showed the type of transaction. "See," he gestured to a row with Dynamite in the first column. "Your suit is listed as a donation."

"Arisu's list doesn't give the donors, only the gear." Shouta studied Kaneko's information, "but he gave you the actual person he acquired the item from?" He glanced up, scowling, "you beat me and I have the head of the NPL on my side." Katsuki gave him a cocky grin while Shouto dipped his head down hiding a smile. Sitting down he huffed, "here I thought I was giving you a major lead." He picked up another bun and sniffed it before taking a bite.

"This is a lead," Shouto tapped the pen on the desk. "There's a disconnect here, which means Kaneko is hiding something, or someone hid it from him." He took a picture of both lists, "I'll attach this as evidence in the case file, but we need to figure out why these are different."

"I think we should head to the museum, find out if they ever got these eight pieces." Katsuki sat down, stretching his legs out. "I bet Kaneko identified them, which he claimed he could, took them off his list and hid them from us."

"Maybe," Shouto sank down in the chair next to him, "or Kaneko never even saw them." He pushed the list towards the captain. "What about the people he identified here? There're some serious high-ranking officials. They may be hard to interview but one of them might know about them?"

"Then there's the case file, does anyone on the list have access to the system?" Katsuki snagged another bun and bit into the soft dough.

Studying the sheet, Shouta's eyes went wide, "is this a fucking joke?"

"No, but you're right." Shouto nodded, "it's a who's who of the government."

"Shit even Kezu Kioku is on here."

"The Defense Minister?"

"Yes, him." He paused, "hell, Arisu is on here too." His lips pursed, "I didn't realize she even collected that shit. She definitely has access, in fact," he threw the paper on the desk. "All of these people could get access to the system if they wanted, especially Arisu."

"Well then, she might be our next stop after the museum." Katsuki reached for the last bun on the desk.

"Bakugou," Shouta snapped, grabbing the bun. "You are not interrogating the head of the National Fucking Police!" Sitting back, he stared at them both. "Besides, it wasn't her."

"How do you know Captain?" Katsuki watched the emotions play across his face.

"She admitted that the order to close and protect that case came through upper channels, right when she received her commission." He glanced at the door again. "She didn't even know the passcode." Shouta played with the last pastry. "We have to work with what we have, these lists are a good start. Only interview the absolute musts off this list and get prior approval from me." There was a knock on the door.

"Captain?"

"Kiri?" Shouto got up and unlocked the door, swinging it open to see the big red-head outside in the hall. "Hey Kiri." He paused looking at him, there were dark circles underneath his bloodshot eyes.

"Hey Todoroki," he croaked, walking into the office. "Captain, just wanted to let you know we created a new case file and everything is in there, not that it's much."

"What the fuck happened to you?" Bakugou immediately recognized someone that hadn't slept the night before. How many times had he seen his face look like that in the morning?

Looking at Katsuki, Kiri opened his mouth, then snapped it shut, he wasn't sure how to explain. "Yesterday at the homeless camp was tough and then," his big shoulders rolled in a shrug. "I had a rough night."

"Sorry man," Shouto patted him on the back, "anything we can do?"

"No, um," he stared at Katsuki before glancing away. "I'm gonna get some coffee," he mumbled as he headed out of the office.

Hopping up, Katsuki followed him, "I'll be right back." Trotting down the deserted hall he saw him disappear into the break room. "Hey Eijirou." He stepped back out of the door and smiled weakly. "Need coffee too, hold up." Catching up with him, he put his arm around his shoulders. "What's up?" The break room was still quiet as most of the investigators wouldn't arrive for another hour. "Anyone even made coffee yet?" Pulling down the large container of coffee, he side-eyed Kiri. His friend was huddled up into the corner, one arm thrown over his stomach, like he was protecting himself. "What did you want to talk about?" Katsuki fiddled with the coffee machine as he poured in the grounds. Eijirou was silent. Flipping on the switch for the water, he could hear the machine begin gurgling as it percolated hot water through the grounds. Not looking up he waited.

"When you found him," Kiri's body started to shake, he stared at the floor, "what did he look like?"

"Fuck," Katsuki remembered the bloody corpse they'd found. "Not good, like someone crushed under debris," his voice strained. He gripped the coffee machine tightly, "why?"

"I had a strange dream last night."

Flinching, Katsuki held his breath, he was scared to ask. "What of?"

"Remember at the funeral, I was on the far-right side, near the front of the coffin?"

"Yeah," he nodded numbly.

"In my dream," Eijirou's voice cracked, "the coffin fell, we dropped it or something. And then, um, the lid, man, it fucking opened." He looked up, tears running down his cheeks. "It was empty."

"Oh shit."

"Yeah, we were all running around looking for him but in weird places, you know? Not the funeral home or anything, but in this office building. There were all these stairs with hidden doors and strange rooms. Then I saw his green hair." Sniffling he dragged in a ragged breath. "H - He kept running and I was yelling at him, telling him to stop."

Closing the distance between them, Katsuki wrapped him up in a hug. Kiri sobbed, his head buried on his shoulder, he let out an aching cry. "Fuck, I'm sorry," Katsuki closed his eyes.

"It was so - so strange," he sputtered, "he ran and then stopped and waited for me, kept calling me to - to follow him." Kiri tried to breathe but the words were tumbling out with his tears. "Finally, he ran down some stairs, so I raced after him but there was this loud humming noise, so fucking loud I thought my ear drums would pop." Kiri squeezed his eyes shut as he clung to his friend. "That's when everything disappeared, even him." He leaned back, his bloodshot eyes so puffy they were just slits. "I was alone in an empty space. Then I heard the screaming and that's when I woke up."

"Here," Katsuki grabbed a box of tissues and handed it to him. "Fuck, man that sucks." He squeezed his shoulders tightly, "dreams of him are the worst."

"You get them too, right?"

"Sometimes, not that one, but there's a new one." The image of Deku screaming at him from under the rubble sent a shiver up his spine.

"A new one?"

"Yeah, usually the nightmare is of that day, buried under the mountain of crap, but instead of being bloody and crushed this time, he was fine and looking straight at me."

"Oh," Kiri whispered.

"Yeah, it freaked me out, especially when he screamed at me."

"Screamed? What did he say?"

"Um, he asked for help," Katsuki's voice shook.

"Wait, he asked for help from you too?"

"Kiri, are you saying he asked you for help?"

"He did, last night, when I was alone at the end of the dream, there was all this screaming. At first it was just babbling, like someone in a lot of pain, but then the sounds kinda became clearer and I could hear it better," he clenched his fists. "It was him, I know his voice Bakugou, he was screaming for help."

"Did he say your name?"

"No, he was just screaming help, over and over." He wiped his face with another tissue. "It fucking sucked, couldn't get back to sleep after that."

"I know that, a lot of sleepless nights these past four months." The machine softly gurgled, spitting out the last of the water.

"Coffee ready?" Shouto walked into the breakroom. Stopping, he looked at both men standing together. "You alright?" He could see Eijirou's eyes were red and puffy, tear stains on his cheeks.

"Nope, he is definitely not alright," Katsuki shook his head, Kiri choked out a laugh.

"That's for fucking sure," wiping his face roughly, Eijirou sucked in a breath. "I better go wash up before the meeting." He thumped him on the shoulder. "Thanks, Bakugou, I'll - I'll get some coffee later," he headed out the door.

"Sorry if I interrupted," Shouto closed the door as Kiri walked quickly towards the restrooms.

"We were about done," Katsuki grabbed a mug and poured himself some coffee. "Do you think?" Stopping, he clicked his tongue. What was he thinking? They were just dreams, but two so similar? Watching Shouto fill his cup he felt a familiar warmth, more than desire, it was the aura of calm that seemed to emanate from him, his whirlwind thoughts around Deku begin to ease.

"Do I think what?"

"Nothing, just strange fucking dreams."

"The one where he yelled at you?"

"Yeah, I guess Kiri had one too, different but he was still calling for help."

Leaning on the counter, Shouto blew on his coffee. "It's a normal type of dream."

"You said that."

"When you lose someone that you feel you could've saved, it's common to have dreams of them needing help, or having them in a position to be saved." Shouto sipped his coffee carefully, he could see him thinking through what he was saying.

"Yeah, that's probably it," reaching out for a moment, he let his hand drop. "On the clock," he let out a frustrated sigh. Setting down his coffee, Shouto leaned on the door. "C'mere," he opened his arms. Without hesitation Katsuki leapt into him, wrapping around his body.

"You sure?" His voice muffled against his shoulder.

"No one's really here yet, you look like you need this."

Laughing harshly, he nodded, "you don't even know." Katsuki kissed him, feeling the warmth from his mouth spread through his body. "You feel good." Laying his forehead on his shoulder he let the images that had sprung into his mind fade away. "Thanks, Sho."

The door handle wiggled, "hey did someone lock the breakroom?"

"Fucking Dunce Head." Katsuki backed up, turning as he wiped his eyes. Shouto unlocked the door, opening up for Kaminari.

"It was locked," Denki huffed accusingly.

"We locked it to keep Neito out," Shouto smirked, the look on the small blonde's face was worth the lie.

"Really?" He breathed out.

"No, idiot," Katsuki clicked his tongue, "we made coffee and didn't want to share it with anyone."

"You suck at lying Bakugou," Denki's gold eyes widened as he stared at Todoroki lowering his voice. "Are you really trying to lock out Neito?"

"Seriously?" Katsuki snarled, and walked out of the breakroom. "You think I'm the one fucking with you?" Shaking his head, he went back to Aizawa's office. Everyone was huddled around his desk.

"It goes out to at least this street," Kiri pointed to a map laid out on his table. He glanced at Bakugou as he came in, giving him a quick smile. "There was a cafe where I used to get coffee on my route, I saw a part of the sign."

"So, from there," Shouta ran his finger across the map, "to here? Momo, you said one street north of the main train station?" He let out a low whistle, "that's huge."

"That's not the whole thing either, we have to head back to the western portion today."

Sitting in one of the chairs Katsuki listened to them talk, letting their conversation keep his mind off Kiri's dream. The red-head had cleaned up his face, but his eyes were still puffy and red.

"Hey guys," Denki waved a photo at them. "I think this might work better." Momo reached out and snagged it from his hand.

"Is this Suguta?" She blinked, the woman was completely transformed. Dirt streaks now on her face, her hair matted and disheveled. The crisp uniform that was up to her neck in the original photo was now a tattered scarf. "Where did you get this?" She held it up for the others to see.

"I photoshopped the picture," he grinned. "Looking at all the people in the camp yesterday, I realized if Suguta was there, she probably didn't look like this anymore." He held up the work photo they'd been handing out the day before. "Not if she's really been homeless the last couple of weeks."

"Damn it, Kaminari! This is amazing!" Momo slapped the photo down on the desk.

Confusion flickered across his face, "wait, is that good or bad?" He stammered trying to understand.

"It's good!" She laughed teasingly, "if you keep coming up with brilliant ideas, you'll solve this case on your own." Elbowing him, she threw the photo on the desk. "Let your partner have a turn!"

"Thanks Momo, I thought it was good too. I'll make some more copies so we can use them today." A goofy grin cut across his face as he spun around and raced out the door.

"This is amazing," Ochako picked up the photo, the woman could've been any number of people they saw yesterday.

Voices rang out in the hallway as more people arrived in the office. Shouta noticed the time, "let's finish this up and get to the meeting early." Eyeing Bakugou, he ran a highlighter around the section they'd identified on the map. "I want to be sure we keep everyone separated."

"Captain Aizawa," Katsuki drawled. "Why do you always look at me when you think about problems?"

"Because, if you aren't causing them, you're instigating them." He bent back over the map. "Okay, show me where you're going today." He could hear the blonde clicking his tongue.

"Todoroki and Bakugou, thank you for the update on those counterfeit items." Commander Imai moved to the next slide. Two pictures now showed on the screen, one of Suguta in her work uniform and the second one was Denki's alteration. "Captain Aizawa's team provided this mockup of our missing person. Part of the team went to the homeless city yesterday to look for her. No sightings yet but the original photo didn't feel like it would represent our subject properly if she's really lost in the camp." A sharp scoff sounded from the side of the room. "Neito?" The Commander turned to see him shaking his head dramatically. "Do you have an update? I understand the case file was corrupted yesterday?"

Jumping from his chair, Monoma pulled out a small notebook. "It was, Commander and thankfully Matsuura and I were able to get it recreated late last night." He cast a sideways glance at the group across the room.

"Good to hear, Neito, any other updates?"

"Actually, Nishi and I received a tip this morning. It seems our missing person was seen checking into a hotel almost 100 Kilometers from our prefecture."

"Suguta Ren?" Imai's voice jumped an octave in surprise.

"Yes sir, this was just two days ago." Monoma's voice smug, he wanted to look back at the group again but he kept his gaze on the Commander.

"Have you verified this?"

"Only with phone calls, Nishi and I are heading there today to visit the witnesses."

"Witnesses? Do you mean more than one person saw her?"

Flipping open his notebook, Monoma couldn't resist, he cast a quick smirk at Kiri. "According to a couple that were on vacation, they were behind a woman matching Suguta's description at their hotel. She was checking in for two nights. We were able to find out that she used the name of Kitamura Yumi and the hotel sent us a copy of the identification. We ran it through the system and it came up as a forgery."

"Great work Neito."

"Thank you, Commander, based on this information, I think that the rest of the team should be released from the case."

"Sir!" Kiri jumped to his feet.

"Kirishima?"

"With all due respect, as Neito stated, this still needs to be verified. That could take at least two days with travel time. Days that would be wasted if they find out this isn't our missing woman."

"Take a look at the picture, Kirishima!" Monoma held up the photo. "It's her face on a fake document. I know you've been an investigator for all of two days, so let me help you, this is called e-v-i-d-e-n-c-e," he drew out the word. Muffled laughter could be heard from around the room.

"Neito-" Imai barked.

"To hell with you Monoma!" Kiri blasted back. "You're the one that corrupted the file yesterday and you know it!" He stalked across the room. The chaotic emotions from earlier were bursting out as he loomed over the smaller man. "If you'd shared what you were doing, we could be up there right now verifying this! But you're so caught up in the past, you had to get your fucking petty ass revenge! You've only ever cared about yourself and it's obvious nothing has changed." Kiri slammed his hands into Neito's chest, pushing him back into Nishi.

"KIRISHIMA!"

"At least I'm a real fucking investigator, what the hell are you?" Monoma shoved back at Kiri. Growling he stood on his toes pushing into him. "You're nothing but some low-life assholes sucking on the government's pocketbook and taking good jobs from people that work fucking hard every day!" Neito's face was beet red as spit flew from his mouth. "All because everyone thinks you're special!"

"At least we work as a damn team no matter what!" Kiri lunged forward headbutting him, he connected perfectly with Neito's forehead.

"Ugh!" His blue eyes crossed as he stumbled back, Nishi grabbing him as he fell.

Captain Aizawa flew at Kirishima, wrapping him up and dragging him backwards. "Stop it!" He hissed in his ear.

"THAT'S ENOUGH!" The room fell silent, everyone staring at Kiri and Neito. The Commander's intense gaze fell on Neito as he stood back up. "You! Get that verification as fast as you can, I want a personal report the second you verify that it was or wasn't Suguta Ren." Looking at Kirishima being held by Aizawa, his expression hardened. "You! Get in my office, now! Wait for me there." Slamming his portfolio closed, he nodded curtly to the group. "You're dismissed." Everyone leapt up and quickly dispersed back to their offices.

"Dammit Kiri," Shouta scowled under his breath. "Get to his office now and shut the fuck up so you don't get fired." Pushing him out of his arms, he watched as he headed down the hallway to the Commander's office. The rest of the group quickly followed after him. "Where the hell do you think you're going?" He grabbed Ochako's arm. Shaking herself free, she ran out the door with the others. "Shit!"

"Having trouble with your team?"

"Uh," Shouta rubbed the back of his neck. "No, not at all, Sir."

"I'll let you know the outcome of my meeting with Kirishima, but I will say that right now I am more than disappointed with today's outburst. I need to think hard about this team staying here." He stormed out of the conference room.

"Shit," Shouta groaned, covering his eyes as the Commander disappeared into the hallway, this was going to be the shortest employment stint ever in his career.

Stopping for coffee, Imai grumbled under his breath, he hadn't wanted the first ever pro hero investigators in his unit and already he could see it was going to be a huge headache. "I don't need this," he muttered. He'd always thought of Pro Heroes as vigilantes unlike the trained professionals that served the police force. Opening the door to his office, he stopped. Standing stiffly in front of his desk was Kirishima and along the wall were the others. "Get out!" He shouted at them. No one moved or looked at him.

"I'm sorry sir, we can't do that!" Momo jutted out her chin. Katsuki rolled his eyes but kept himself in line.

"I need to speak to Kirishima, alone," he emphasized. "So, get out."

"No, we aren't leaving."

Snapping his fingers, he stalked to his desk and sat down, Kirishima continued to look at the wall. "You're all very irritating, you know that?"

"I think that was the point," Katsuki snapped sarcastically.

"Shut up!" He barked at him. Leveling a dark gaze on Kirishima, he threw his portfolio on his desk. "What the hell happened today?"

"Sir, I believe that Neito and Nishi were intentionally trying to sabotage our attempts in assisting with the case."

"I don't care if he's screwing your wife, I don't want to hear about it in the damn meeting!"

"I don't have a wife."

"What?" Imai furrowed his brow, then his eyes narrowed. "Don't get smart with me, you know what I mean!" Slamming down his coffee, the liquid sloshed on his desk. "Shit!"

Darting to the side, Kiri grabbed a tissue and handed it to him. "Sorry, Sir." Ripping it from his hand the Commander wiped up the spill.

Denki raced to the corner and grabbed the trash can, holding it up. "Can you make it, Sir?"

"Denki!" Momo seethed but watched as the wadded-up tissue flew through the air, landing into the can. Kaminari smiled and set the can back down, running back to his position.

A smile ghosted Imai's mouth. "Look, I know this isn't easy, for any of us, but you have to understand. My investigators worked their butts off to earn these positions, the same positions you've been given after one week."

"Excuse me," Ochako huffed.

"Uraraka?"

"Last I checked, we are investigators too," she bit out. "The difference is we've been training since high school. I'm sure you know what we went through back then, the cost all of us have paid personally to be a Pro Hero." She looked at her friends. "If I haven't earned this position by my actions and hard work then please accept my resignation."

"You'd all quit because of this blockhead?"

"We'd rather not, but we'll all quit because this blockhead is one of us. To respectfully disagree with you, he was right."

Glowering, Imai crossed his arms. "I didn't want you, not one of you." Staring into their hard faces, he sighed. "But I guess you didn't want this either, did you?"

"No, we didn't," Momo

"Fine, until Neito gives me definite proof that the person at that hotel is Suguta, you have a green light to continue what you were doing." He chewed his lip. "Neito and Nishi will be gone until late tomorrow, so that should be enough time for everyone to cool off." Jabbing his finger in the air at each one, he glowered. "But don't you dare start shit with anyone else and if his lead is wrong, then I expect you to solve this case, or I might just accept that resignation, starting with you!" He shouted at Uraraka, "since you so kindly offered." Waving at his door, he barked at them, "now get out!"

Katsuki held the door as the group filed out, slamming it shut behind them.

"I told you to get out Bakugou, what the hell are you doing?"

"Just wanted to remind you of the Sora case." He saw the Commander's eyes grow wide. "I didn't connect the dots until today, but hearing your voice, it clicked into place."

Pressing his lips together Imai glared at him, he'd never forgotten about that one. "It was an ugly scene."

"It was, do you remember who covered for your error and cleaned everything up? And saved," a cocky smile swept over his face, "was it six or seven civilians?"

Frowning, Imai ran his finger tip across his desk, flicking off non-existent dust. "I believe it was One For All, Dynamite and Shouto," he muttered, refusing to make eye contact with him.

"It was us, wasn't it?" Opening the door, he studied him. "Is that why you resent us so much?" The Commander just stared at his desk. "I wouldn't let it mess you up too much, I barely remember your fuck up." Laughing loudly, he let himself out, leaving the door open, he heard him swear. Smiling, he followed the group to the captain's office.

"What was that?" Shouto looked back as the Commander stalked towards his open door. "Did you just stir a hornet's nest that we calmed down?"

"No, just reminded him of something."

"What?"

"You don't recognize him?"

Stopping Shouto turned around, the Commander was still watching them, he looked away quickly and slammed his door shut. "No, should I?"

"It was a few years ago, I think he was a captain then, they had that serial killer trapped but our commander there missed one of the side exits and he took those kids hostage."

"Oh shit!" Shouto let out a gasp. "That's him?"

"Yep."

"He looks so different."

"Guessing he's lost about 100 kilos or so, but it was his voice, I recognized it when he was yelling at us."

Laughing, Shouto shook his head, "I'm betting you reminded him who saved the day for him?"

"I sure as hell did."

"Are you fired?" Captain Aizawa jumped up as Kiri came through his door. "Where did all of you go?" He growled as the rest came in behind him.

"Went to stand with our friend," Momo hooked her arm through Kiri's elbow.

"What?" Shouta's face drained of color, "you all went in there?" He put his face in his hands. "So how long before we have to leave."

"About twenty minutes," Kiri checked his phone.

"That's it? Okay, okay, I'll call Arisu to see if we can get you into another precinct."

"Why?" Kiri smiled playfully.

Looking up, Shouta noticed they were all smiling. "Wait, what happened? What's in twenty minutes?"

"We have to go back to the homeless park and solve the damn case." Kiri picked up the stack of Denki's photos. "See you later today, Captain Aizawa," he smirked. "You should go to the nurse by the way, you look sick." Laughing, the group headed out of the office.

"I'm gonna kill all of you," Shouta collapsed on his desk.

"If we don't kill you first," Katsuki teased as he slammed the door behind him.

"Fucker."