The detective moves our meeting to a small side room of worn gray floors, dreary and dark walls; cameras gleaming in several corners. It's… uncomfortable, even knowing they aren't for me. But I swallow and ignore it, instead sliding into a chair between both Aizawa-sensei and Uncle Zashi. The large metal table in the middle of the room is bolted securely to the floor, with huge metal screws holding it down and deep, worn scratches etched into its top.

Is that from a fight or something else?

Is that… normal?

I try not to consider it too closely, sinking quietly into my chair.

The entire atmosphere is suffocating, especially under the pale, overhead light shining on my guardian's streaky tears.

Shirakumo…

Does that mean he wasn't actually dead?

"So," the detective says, sliding into the seat across from us with a frown. "I read through those files you sent me. They're… concerning, to put it lightly, especially considering the level of corruption they imply. After reading through I put some of my trusted contacts on alert, and I'm glad I did. We caught two separate officers attempting to tamper with evidence. When the initial investigation traced them back, that found another commanding officer being bribed. I have no idea how deep this runs, but I've no doubt they're there. We've got those suspects all on suspension until we have time to do a full inquiry, but it's clear we're onto something."

"Damn," Uncle Zashi says, making a face. "That didn't take long."

"No, it didn't," the detective sighs, placing his tan hat on the table and rubbing his forehead. "But that's just the beginning. After speaking with one of the victims, Matsuo Kagura, the officer she… convinced to retrieve the majority of those files has been silenced, and the family of the officer whose computer they were stolen from is currently missing along with the officer himself."

Sensei sighs, leaning back in his chair.

Rubbing his jaw, he seems to sag in the chair, expression blank.

"So they're watching. We'll need to bait them if we've any hope to draw them out," Sensei says, his baritone voice unenthusiastic. "You've got too many rats. If you go in forcefully, you'll miss too many."

"That was my thought as well," the detective says, nodding solemnly. "I know you said you got an anonymous tip that heroes were involved? The Owl?"

I twitch at that.

Anonymous?

"Yeah, no one willing to come forward and testify though."

"Heteromorph or quirkless?" the detective asks with a raised brow.

Sensei doesn't answer, scowling as the detective smiles.

"It's her brother, isn't it?" he asks, quirking his lips slightly. He leans forward, resting on one arm. "I wondered if there wasn't something more. Any idea how he got past my quirk?"

"Riiiiiight," Uncle Zashi says, looking weird without his jacket. He leans back in the chair, balancing it precariously on two feet. "As interesting as this all is, weren't we here to come up with a plan?"

The detective shrugs.

"Yes and no. I don't think anything concrete can be decided, but the overarching plan is pretty straightforward. We'll need to put together a team, find people we trust that can be discrete, and the biggest thing will be finding something, or rather, someone to use as bait."

I sit up, eyes wide.

"I- I can do it!"

Nobody looks surprised, but unhappily, my teachers both trade a look over my head. The detective frowns, and Sensei sighs again, leaning back far enough that all of his hair cascades behind his chair. He pulls out his eye drops and drips several drops into each eye. Then, blinking slowly sits back up.

He rubs his jaw, seeming as if trying to coax it into movement.

"Sir?" I ask, not really sure why they're all just looking at each other.

They're so weird…

"They're going to be after Rin either way," Sensei says flatly, expression grim. "They've no idea how much she knows, and they aren't likely to leave the liability unaddressed. It'd be more rational to address it on our terms rather than theirs."

The blonde grimaces.

My head snaps towards him, confused.

Wait… What?

"I thought you'd say no," I admit, eyes wide.

"You have to join an internship regardless," Sensei says, not meeting my eye and removing his hands to set them against the table. "If we can at least find a reliable hero that can be trusted, we can kill two birds with one stone. We'll set up a mission to stop your brother, which will attract the Owl and probably lead to some sort of attempted ambush. He won't let an opportunity like this go."

"Agreed," the detective says, not looking particularly enthusiastic.

"The problem will be dealing with his illusion skills, he's notorious for being able to use visual hallucination to confuse and restrain villains. At one point there's documented evidence of him restraining upwards of four or five people. If not for his bad attitude and misogynistic comments, he'd much higher on the hero chart."

Uncle Zashi reaches out, his hand falling on my shoulder and squeezing. I turn and meet his green eyes. In the barren room, noticing immediately how dark they seem.

"Hey, kid, hold on. I know you're volunteering and all, but are you sure you're really okay with this?"

I don't even have to consider it.

"Y-Yes, sir!"

Absolutely! Anything besides waiting.

He doesn't look reassured at all.

"Alright," the detective says. "So best case scenario…"

.

.

.

The plan really is pretty straightforward. I'll intern with a hero from a list Sensei puts together of people they find trustworthy. From there, whoever they are will also be aware of the situation. Detective Tsukauchi will then begin putting together a team with the sole purpose of arresting the Asps, a group of vigilante terrorists that have been secretly fighting the same human trafficking ring all this time.

They'd gone into more detail than that, but most of it had been about logistics. How do we communicate? What code do we use? Who is setting up the report and how long should we expect overall to plan for?

In the meantime, I have until next weekend to find, contact, and earn a real internship.

The idea is somehow both terrifying and amazing.

The ride back to school probably would have been full of chatter about it, but Sensei, clearly done with everything and everyone, had stuck some cat-shaped headphones (I didn't even know he owned headphones) on his head and ignored everyone.

Yamada-sensei, while willing to talk, unfortunately, had no clue who would be suggested.

Apparently, underground work wasn't his forte.

Thankfully, the ride back takes much less time than the ride there. And while the idea of missing class to clean the dorms wasn't exactly appealing, it all still felt… almost too easy. Sensei had said expulsion… I'd… I'd been expelled enough times to know it didn't usually end in cleaning chores.

Normally I would have been kicked out, and while I was grateful, it felt… unreal. It left me feeling that uncomfortable itch Tulutho said was called anxiety.

Were they going to change their minds?

Would Sensei?

"Rin."

I nearly jump, blinking quickly as I jerk toward Sensei's voice.

He raises an eyebrow, judgment written all across his face, and I pink.

"S-Sir?"

Sensei narrows his eyes and pauses for a long second as if debating whether or not he wants to address that. He must decide not to though because he stuffs his hands in his pockets and continues down the path back to the dorms.

"Your sitter will be at the dorms when we arrive. Minasu Ryoushinteki. He's a 3rd year here at U.A.. I've given him my number along with strict instructions that you're not to leave his awareness for more than 10 minutes, so I expect you to listen to him. He'll be there any time I or another teacher are not able to. You're to treat him respectfully and follow all of his instructions, am I understood?"

I slump at the reminder.

The sitter…

I'd forgotten about that.

"Yes, sir," I sigh, leaning forward to stare at the ground.

A warm hand falls on my shoulder and I flinch.

Sensei, frowning, stops. With a look that's almost sad, he gently pulls against my shoulder so I'm facing him, before stooping forward. In a gentle motion, he sweeps the loose strands of hair that had fallen from my braid from my face.

"Rin," he says, and there's more emotion in his voice than I think either of us expects.

Blinking, I'm surprised at the feeling of tears rising up unexpectedly.

"S-Sir?"

"Are you… crying?" he asks, brows furrowing. "About wh… seriously?"

I sniffle and quickly turn away, hiding my quickly reddening face behind my hands.

"S-Sensei!"

He sighs, hands reaching out and slowly prying the fingers away.

"Stop that," he huffs, before pulling me into a hug. I bury my face in his work uniform, feeling my skin redden as the heat of my own quirk reflects off the black fabric even as the weight of his capture weapon falls comfortingly against my head. "Why are you acting so skittish?"

I…

I don't know.

I shrug, not answering, and he sighs again.

"Rin…" he says, one hand rising to brush back my braid. "I know we just got back, but I can't help you if you don't talk to me. I'm not asking for a novel, just tell me what you're thinking or feeling."

I…

I breathe deeply, closing my eyes and feeling the warm touch of his hand, the quiet strength in his arms, and the familiar scent of home as his uniform brushes across my lips.

"I'm sorry."

Taking a steady breath, I try.

"I'm sorry for being bad, for leaving and not listening and running away and- and-"

"Rin-"

"And I should have told you when I found that stuff. I- I didn't want to though, cause I was afraid. I thought you were gonna take it away, 'cause you don't like me looking up things about Kaito, and I know it's cause you say I'm obsessive and maybe I am, but I was right, and I shouldn't have-"

"Kid-"

"Because I found those people and it was horrible. They were dirty and Nee-chan was hurt and they were locked in rooms like- like rats. And I know you said they did, but-but it didn't feel real. And it was worse, cause they were all helpless, and I felt helpless, and they said they hurt Kaito and- but- But today was worse. At least I could stop it, and I could fight, but that—that was your friend. He was your 'Toshi, and- and whoever did that is horrible. More horrible than anyone 'cause that was your friend, and it made you cry, and it makes me wanna cry and- and- I don't want anyone to hurt you 'cause your kind and family and- and- I love you."

Sensei separates and blinks, his eyes wide as he stares down, arms fully outstretched. I stare back, misty-eyed and certain I'm about to sweat blue again.

"What?"

I don't know which part he doesn't understand.

I swipe quietly at my eyes, trying to reign in the sniffles.

He releases me and blinks again, long, slow blinks as if he thinks this is all some misunderstanding. I frown.

"I'm sorry."

"I… see," he says slowly. He takes several steps back and looks at me weirdly. "You… you need to go get started on your chores. Your expectation is to clean the entire dorm, top to bottom, over the next three days, and if you finish that, you can work on your essay."

He nods toward the dorms, and I stare at him for a long moment before I realize he wants me to go. Alone.

"You're not coming?"

"I… I have work. I'll see you this afternoon. Listen to Minasu and do what your told."

"Oh... Umm… Okay."

.

.

.

Minasu Ryoushinteki is… well, honestly, he's rather bland.

Dressed in the typical UA uniform, he looks more like an extra on a set than he does anything. Dark short hair, a traditional Japanese face, and no visible signs of a quirk, he would be nearly invisible in the chaos of my classmates' nonsense.

As it is, he rises, introduces himself, and after a boring greeting, immediately returns back to work, hardly even looking up after that as I go to gather supplies to clean.

The dorm is quiet after that.

I'm reluctant to admit it, but it's… kinda relaxing.

For the first time in a while, I have something mindless to do. Tying my hair up instead of my traditional braid, I wrap a clean cloth around the top of my head to protect it from dust and grab a duster.

Dusting is first.

Starting at the top of the dorms, I spend quite a bit of time sweeping up small corners of spider webs, and on the fifth floor, pulling tape off the ceiling. Strangely, while the floors are rather clean, the ceilings and walls need much more effort. Outside of Asui's room, I find sticky spots where I guess she accidentally tongued the wall? The ceiling outside of Midoriya's room has footprints on it, and I'm unsurprised to find sticky residue on all the stairwell ceilings and exhaust build-up along the baseboards.

It takes only a little bit of time and scrubbing along with one of Yui-san's old hacks of using lemon juice mixed with vinegar to get it all off. Of course, that leaves the floors to sweep and mop, the carpets to vacuum, the windows to wash, and the trash to take out. But someone had already taken it out this morning, so there wasn't really even that.

Cracking my neck, I stretch and start on the sweeping.

Either UA bought some really nice brooms, or Momo did. I'm not sure which, but it's actually nice to sweet with a broom that isn't half bent out of shape. Mopping has a steam mop, which is fun, cause I've never used one, and I maybe spend about 10 minutes playing with it before excitedly going through and moping the entire floor.

Then someone bought these really nice squeegees and-

"Hoki-san," Minasu-senpai says, and I nearly jump out of my skin when I realize he's right behind me. He stares back blandly. "You should stop and take a break."

I blink.

A break?

"I'm supposed to be working," I tell him, frowning. "This is a punishment."

"You have an essay do you not? While I understand the hero course expects its students to push past their physical limitations, rest and taking care of your body is actually important. You cannot fill other cups when yours is empty."

You will follow his instructions.

I furrow my brow, putting away the squeegee reluctantly and then washing my hands.

It isn't until I go to sit that I realize exactly how hungry I am. Heading to the kitchen, I collect an apple before returning to sit at the same table as the upperclassman. He nods, as if in agreement, before turning back to the laptop and pile of papers he's been reading through all day.

I take a bite out of the apple and consider the older student curiously.

"Are you a hero course student?"

Minasu actually looks up from his computer at that, blinking before breaking out in a large grin.

"Me?" he asks as if I've just told the best joke he's heard. "Absolutely not. Eraserhead pulled me from the business course. Third years with enough credits can participate in a self-study, which is why I'm able to sit in here with you."

He shakes his head, chuckling to himself, and turns back to his computer.

"I'm not enough of a meathead for that kind of job."

Meat… head?

I wrinkle my nose at the other boy and finish my apple in silence.

Then, rising, return to the windows.

.

.

.

"Hey! You guys, does it look different in here?"

"Ohhh! What's that smell, is that lemon?"

"Dude, look! Look! Someone must have cleaned up, 'cause look! Look! The floors are sparkling!"

"Is that food? Oh man, I'm starving!"

Poking my head out of the kitchen, I give my classmates a weird look as several of them stampede across my freshly cleaned lobby.

"OMG! Rin-chan! Where have you been?!"

I nearly get knocked back when a floating uniform slams against me, and a moment later invisible arms are wrapping around my neck.

"Riinnn-chhhaaannn!" Toru squeals, nearly sending us sprawling. "I knew you weren't going to be at school, but it's not the same without you! Where have you been? Why are you in trouble? What is going on?"

"Girl, did you cook?" Mina asks, nearly gliding in her socks.

"Ah… yeah," I admit, shrugging off the invisible girl and trying to keep my skin from going red. It doesn't work particularly well, and both girls giggle as the walls take on a pinkish hue. "I finished all of the cleaning and I… I thought you guys might like something…"

Twisting my toe into the ground, I try not to feel particularly self-conscious as several of the others come over. Ojiro smiles, Sero grins, and Mina makes a face like she's about to drool.

"Mind?" Kaminari asks, his loud voice carrying over all the others. "Rin-chan, you can cook for me any day!"

Mina nods excitedly, and as she passes me to go grab some of the food, Koda shifts towards Toru and I nervously, a blush on his cheeks along with a kind of sheepish smile.

"H-H-Hi R-Rin-chan!"

I smile uncomfortably, Toru's giggles filling one ear as Kirishima's excitement joins in with Mina and Kaminari's behind me.

"Uh… hi."

"I… I saw you on the news, this weekend I mean. That… That was r-r-really amazing what- what you did."

My smile strains.

"Oh… uh, yeah."

"Rin-chan! Don't be modest, you were really awesome! But seriously, how do you still not have a hero name? We need to get one together, tonight! Or… well, at least this weekend!"

I don't know what to say to that, so I just kinda shift. And Koda, thankfully, seems to understand, because he blushes and smiles and before I have a chance to really even come up with something, he's squeaking past and nearly running into Bakugou and-

Oh.

I meet Bakugou's dark, beady eyes and cringe.

He glares, stomping over furiously.

"Oi! Idiot! What the fuck is wrong with you?"

Several of my classmates go quiet, and even Toru relinquishes my neck as the human-sized explosion comes over.

"Uh… Ka-chan, maybe uh… maybe you shouldn't-"

Midoriya's voice is drowned out as the blonde pushes past him, his blonde hair spiking everywhere. He stops centimeters away, his body leaning forward and looming.

"Don't fucking ask me stupid ass questions as an excuse to make stupid ass decisions!"

My eyes narrow.

Stupid ass decisions?

"Excuse me?" I scowl, stepping forward and easily into his space. I square my shoulders and glare up, annoyed. "I asked you a question, you didn't have to answer."

"You ran away from the fucking school and almost got expelled," the blonde snarls, teeth barred. "That shit's annoying. What the hell is wrong with you? You trashed those villains, and then like always you fucking choked. Stop acting like a fucking extra and get your shit together, you here to be a hero or not?"

Hot, black flames rise from my very soul.

I let them envelop my hair and can feel the heat from them. I know Bakugou can feel it, but he doesn't budge, doesn't even flinch.

"I want to be a hero!"

"Then start fucking acting like it," the blonde snaps, his hands popping with powerful blasts that only increase the heat between us.

I open my mouth, but someone behind us claps.

Bakugou and I turn as one, irritated at whoever it is.

Only it's Minasu, staring bored at both of us clapping.

"Can you two be any more melodramatic?" the upperclassman asks coolly, and I'm reminded instantly of his meatheads comment. "Hoki-chan, don't you have dishes to wash? And you… aggressive blondie, go eat a snack, your hanger is showing."

I blink, the flames in my skin snuffing out instantly.

Hanger?

"Who the fuck are you?" Bakugou snaps, the pink in his cheeks either anger or embarrassment.

Minasu sighs, opening his mouth to say something, but Midoriya, who looks like he's about to start bouncing, quickly spills into some sort of mumbling rant. I hear something about upper years, watch, and I think maybe something about self-study, but it's kind of difficult to make out.

Bakugou actually twitches, his brow ticking angrily and his teeth grinding.

He must not like the mumbling…

Minasu, however, seems grudgingly impressed.

"My name is Minasu Ryoushinteki, and I'm here to… supervise," the other boy says shrugging. "You may address me as Minasu-senpai, and hopefully there won't be any further issues. I'm also busy, so if you're not going to burn down the dorm…"

He gives Bakugou and me a look.

I slump, remembering his promise to tell Sensei everything at the end of the night, and reluctantly head back to wash dishes.

Toru, latching onto my arm, follows.

"Rin-chan!" she whispers, "Rin-chan, oh my gosh, he's cute!"

I give her a weird look.

"He thinks heroes are meatheads," I tell her, exasperated.

I imagine if I could see her face, she'd be wrinkling her nose.

"Ugh… well, that's annoying. He's still nice eye candy though."

"Candy?" Ochako asks, coming over with a plate and fork in hand. "What candy? Oh, Rin-chan, this food is really good! You know, if you didn't want to be a hero, you really would make an amazing chef!"

"She could always be both, ribbit," Tsuyu teases with a finger at the corner of her lip.

"You do need a hero name," Toru giggles, letting go to avoid the water I splash around as I drain and rinse several of the pots. "The food hero, Rin-chan!"

I wrinkle my nose at both of them, causing Ochako to laugh.

"No way! Rin-chan has more of a light and dark theme, doesn't she? What about the monochromatic hero?"

"Hoki-chan's quirk is hardly that of light and true darkness," Tokoyami says, his expression serious as he stops to lean coolly against the counter. "Her hero name, therefore, should encompass all of her strengths."

I pour some dish soap onto a scrubber until it bubbles, then quickly begin washing out the largest wok.

Should encompass all of her strengths.

You'll want to pull attention to other parts, your best parts.

It's anarchy and its madness and it's like staring into a galaxy in my hands.

"Galaxy…" I say, thoughtful as I scrub. "I… Maybe something… something space related?"

"Oh! Like thirteen?" Ochako asks, finishing her food and going over to fix herself another plate. Kirishima, who had just entered as well, grins happily at her before waving in my direction.

"Hey, Rin-chan!"

"Hey," I smile, washing the wok and setting it over to dry. Toru pushes away, grabs a hand towel, and sets immediately to dry the dish before putting it away. I bump shoulders with her, grateful.

"A meaningful name, one that ties you to the abyss… I approve."

"Hehe… edgy," Toru giggles, putting away the pot.

I can't help but snort, shaking my head as I do and feeling the long hair slap against my shoulder blades.

The hair…

"Toru-chan?" I ask, looking over toward the invisible girl. "Could… Could you do me a favor?"