A lanky young adult with a shock of choppy, unkempt indigo hair sat alone in the U.A. cafeteria at a table in the corner. His shoulders were tense as he kept his small bowl of noodles in a death grip in his lap, and he could barely bring himself to eat. A horrible feeling of pressure continued to slowly build in the pit of his stomach as he forced a few more noodles into his mouth. He tried his best not to think about the sheer weight of the eyes that he knew were upon him, but his efforts were for naught. The man could feel it quite literally, as though every other student in the cafeteria was staring directly at him.

The sudden loud slurp of his noodles caused him to tense up even more, and he closed his eyes as he imagined what they all must be thinking of him. He knew that he wasn't helping matters at all by sitting in a seat facing the corner with his table behind himself as a barrier. He knew that his behavior actively made his status as a social outcast even worse. He knew that the more that he thought about what few insults he could actually hear from the crowd, the worse he would feel. He also knew that no matter how many times his friends had coaxed him out of his paranoid behavior, when he was alone, he couldn't stop.

Every sound within the lunchroom seemed to swirl together into a crushing tsunami of endless noise. Despite the blackness provided by the insides of his eyelids, he could envision jeering silhouettes pointing at him and poking into his sides as they openly criticized his every feature, his every move. He just wanted to eat in peace, safe from the other students and his own overactive imagination. Unfortunately for him, he had made a promise, and eating in his dorm simply wasn't an option. Over time, he began to gently tremble in his seat as the noise and the pressure on all sides seemed to intensify, until suddenly, his oddly pointed ears perked up. His feverish shivering stopped immediately as he tried to zero in on what he thought could be the sound of his savior, and it was less than a second until he got the confirmation he so desperately needed.

The loud clopping noises of bulky, unfitting clogs echoed across the tile floor of the lunchroom loudly enough to cut through the rest of the noise. The man finally worked up the nerve to turn around as the footfalls grew closer to him, believing that all eyes in the room would be on her instead. As he finally managed to bring himself around with several noodles still hanging from his mouth and his bowl held close to his chin, he caught sight of one of his best friends, classmates, and personal saviors. Immediately afterward, his breath caught in his chest, as it did every time he saw her.

Nejire Hado was a cheerful second year student at U.A. University who stood at average height for a woman her age. Though the trembling man who had caught her attention had certainly noticed the mesmerizing depth of her pale blue eyes, the beauty of her matching voluminous hair that trailed down to her ankles in interwoven strands, and her infamously large bust over the past two years, none of that was what made her special to him. To him, Nejire was one of two rays of sunlight in the otherwise dark recesses of his mind, and all she had to do to pull him up from his self-loathing to reach a functional state again was smile. Upon seeing her perfect teeth as she set her tray down atop his table and leaned in toward him, he couldn't help but give her the tiniest of smirks as he sucked in his errant strands of noodles.

"There you are, Tamaki!" Nejire beamed as she slid into her seat and smoothed out her skirt. "I should've known to check the corner tables first!"

Tamaki swallowed hard and took a deep breath before offering Nejire a shallow nod. A moment later, he added two more slightly bigger nods, and placed his bowl on the table in front of himself while keeping his chopsticks in hand.

"…yes, you should have," he agreed. "I did promise you that I would come out today…"

"And you're doing great so far," Nejire reassured as she tilted her head and broke her own disposable chopsticks apart. "How are you feeling, Tama?"

Tamaki looked down at the surface of the table and took several deep breaths in through his nose.

"…nervous. We were on TV, Hado…"

"I know!" the girl exclaimed excitedly before lifting a piece of sushi from her platter and popping it into her mouth. "Apparently, the whole provisional license exam was televised this year, and we got a special spotlight! Highlights from our last stand are being shown all over the place, and they're calling us 'The Big Three' of U.A.! We're the talk of the entire school!"

Tamaki's eyes darted back and forth between Nejire's hands as the woman used them to make exaggerated quotation marks. He immediately looked back down to the table as he felt a sharp, jabbing pain of nervousness in his chest once again.

"T-the Big Three…?" Tamaki questioned as he tried to get his shaking hand under control to pick up more noodles. "That's…"

"Super cool!" Nejire finished for him. "Or, if you want to get into school spirit- pretty plus ultra, if you ask me. You're a star, Tama!"

"I don't want to be a star," Tamaki mumbled, mostly to himself. "I want to graduate, and then…"

Nejire tilted her head as Tamaki trailed off into an uncomfortable silence. She blinked twice and took another bite of sushi before talking through it.

"…and then…?"

Tamaki looked up once again and met Nejire's eyes. For a moment, he found himself realizing just how beautiful she was all over again, and his breathing hitched. He could see so many things in her eyes, from an infinite, insatiable curiosity to a sort of motherly warmth that he so dearly needed in his day-to-day life. Within a span of seconds, his nerves got the better of him once again, and a single thought shrieked through his mind like an unbidden siren.

Stop being so fucking creepy.

A strangled sort of noise escaped Tamaki's mouth as he slammed his eyes shut and shook his head back and forth insistently. His choppy hair bounced wildly with his efforts, and he snatched his bowl from the tabletop as he finally opened his eyes again. Without another word, he brought the porcelain up to cover his face and began to shovel more noodles into his mouth, effectively obscuring Nejire from view.

The woman merely sighed and pulled her mouth into a thin, disappointed line.

"Oh, Tama… promise you'll tell me one day? Maybe before the end of the year, if you feel up to it on a good day…?"

Tamaki lowered his bowl just enough to be able to see Nejire once again over the rim. His heart melted at the sight of her pleading eyes, and he slowly placed the implement back onto the table before clenching his teeth and giving her a quick nod while he swallowed.

"Good enough for me!" Nejire offered with a playful wink.

Tamaki immediately looked away once again and tried to think of a way to change the subject.

"…have you seen Togata at all this morning? He wasn't in the dorm when I woke up…"

Nejire pulled a face as she brought a finger to her lips and cast her eyes to the ceiling.

"Uh… no, actually, I don't think I have. He's supposed to meet us here. Maybe we should text him?"

Tamaki swallowed the lump in his throat. He knew what was coming next, though he still couldn't resist the urge to try to fight it.

"Could… you do it?"

"…I think you should," Nejire said firmly as she folded her hands down into her lap. "It's just a text, and he's your roommate. You can do this."

Tamaki let out a pained noise as he pulled his phone from his pants pocket and hunched over to begin typing. He nearly curled into a ball in his seat as he slowly tapped away at his screen. The thought that the people sitting at a nearby table might be able to see his text crossed his mind, and he let out a small noise of frustration.

"…I just want to go back to the dorm, Hado…"

"I know you do," the woman replied with a frown as she offered a hand halfway across the table. "But you've gotten so much better. We're both proud of you, Tama. Really proud. Keep pushing yourself. One day, you'll be the Suneater that the world got to see yesterday all the time."

Tamaki paused as he finished the text and eyed up Nejire's hand. Slowly, he brought his hand forward and deposited the phone into his friend's palm.

"…does this sound okay? Is it too formal, o-"

"I didn't want your phone, Tama," Nejire chided as she held the device back out to him. "And I'm not filtering your texts. It's just Mirio. It's fine. Send it."

Tamaki took his phone back and hit the 'Send' button before he could stop himself. He immediately turned his phone off and stuffed it back in his pocket to avoid thinking about it, before the sight of Nejire's hand still halfway across the table caught his attention once again.

"If… you don't want my phone, what do you want…?" Tamaki asked hesitantly.

"I bet you can figure it out," Nejire replied in a singsong voice.

Tamaki sucked in a breath long and deep enough to suggest that he might be going underwater sometime soon. The man clenched his teeth as he extended a lightly trembling hand and deposited it atop Nejire's, only for the girl to give him another warm smile.

"So proud of you," she said again.

"I-I… I'm… I'm proud of you, too," Tamaki echoed. "I couldn't…"

Tamaki jumped and pulled his hand back as if it had been bitten as the cafeteria door was thrown open unexpectedly. A tall, familiar figure walked into the room with a distinct swagger in his step as he held three envelopes aloft for all to see. The man looked from side to side until he spotted Tamaki and Nejire, and then began to stroll toward their table with an exaggerated gait and a winning smile.

"Mirio!" Nejire called as she bounced in her seat and waved her hands high above herself.

"Nejire! Tama!" Mirio Togata called back as he approached the table.

Tamaki stared up at his roommate with a quiet and nervous admiration while keeping his hands clasped firmly together in his lap. Mirio's bright golden hair was swooped into an upturned pompadour, and his deep blue eyes gleamed with mirth and a heroic sort of confidence. Despite the man's imposingly muscular frame, his smile and facial expression belied a similar warmth to Nejire's, and Tamaki found himself feeling just a little bit more confident with Mirio in view.

"Togata," Tamaki acknowledged with a respectful nod.

"I just got your text! Principal Nezu actually called me over to his office, so I got a little held up. Sorry!" Mirio explained as he deposited himself into a chair between his friends.

Nejire gasped and put her hands over her mouth, looking worried.

"The principal? You're not in trouble, are you? Is it serious?"

"Not in trouble, but it's very serious," Mirio replied as he held out an envelope to Tamaki. "These came in for us first thing this morning. Apparently, they were hand-delivered to the principal. I think you should have the first honor."

Again, a primal need to run and a horrible pressure seized Tamaki's heart. He imagined himself as a small rodent that had just been sighted by a cat several times his size, and he stared at the envelope with an expression of soul-crushing terror.

"W-what is it…?"

"Open it up and see! I've got a pretty good idea, but I don't want to spoil the surprise," Mirio replied with a wide grin.

Tamaki gingerly plucked the envelope from Mirio's fingers and brought it close to himself, beneath the table. Once again, he hunched over as he slowly tore through the paper, only for Nejire and Mirio to both lean in across the table and stare down into his lap. He smiled nervously as he pulled the folded paper out from within the confines of its envelope. There at the top was an official-looking seal stamped in green ink that consisted of a symbol that Tamaki thought he had seen once or twice before.

"Well? Don't leave us hanging," Nejire insisted.

"I-it's… it's from the pro hero Fat Gum's agency…" Tamaki explained with wide eyes as he rapidly scanned the paper, absorbing nothing at all from the text as it began to blur together in a jumbled mess within his mind. "He… h-he…"

"Come on, read it aloud!" Mirio encouraged. "Or do you want m-"

Tamaki thrust the paper over to Mirio before he could finish. The blond blinked in surprise as he accepted the letter, though his smile faltered as he watched Tamaki bury his face in his hands. Mirio cleared his throat and snapped the letter outward to straighten the paper before beginning to read, and pretended not to notice as Tamaki slowly peeked out from between his fingers.

"Mr. Tamaki Amajiki-

I was among the countless people who had the pleasure of witnessing your incredible skill, ingenuity, and commitment to your friends at yesterday's provisional license exam. Your fighting spirit and quick thinking are admirable qualities that any professional hero would be proud to possess, and seeing those qualities shine through so strongly in a second-year student is incredibly rare."

Tamaki slid his fingers shut as his face broke out in bright red patches. Nejire rose from her seat and walked around the table before slipping her hands over the man's shaking shoulders, which only caused him to tremble more intensely.

"Here at the Fat Gum Hero Agency, we value that same sort of courageous spirit more than any other aspect. I see great potential in you, Tamaki, and for that reason, I would like to extend a formal invitation to take you in for a work study position. If you are interested in joining the Fat Gum family of heroes, please complete the attached forms as soon as possible, and speak to your hero advisor at U.A. University. I look forward to meeting you in person!

-Taishiro Toyomitsu (Fat Gum)"

"Tama, that's amazing!" Nejire squealed as she gave the man's shoulders a squeeze. "You've been scouted for a work study? And that quickly after our exam? I told you that you were impressive out there yesterday!"

"She's right, you know!" Mirio encouraged as he passed another envelope to Nejire. "This kind of thing doesn't usually happen so quickly, if at all. To make it better- all three of us were scouted! I'll be working with Sir Nighteye!" he proclaimed as he held up his own previously-opened envelope.

"S-sir Nighteye?" Tamaki asked incredulously as he finally lifted his face from his hands. "All Might's sidekick…?"

"Yeah! Pretty cool, right? All three of our pros are pretty impressive," Mirio replied.

"Ryukyu!" Nejire nearly screamed as she covered her mouth with a hand and flailed her letter around with the other. "Ryukyu wants me!"

For the first time in a while, a warm, comforting feeling of accomplishment chased away the heavy feeling that so often rested upon Tamaki's shoulders. He accepted his own letter back from Mirio and read it quietly to himself as his friends exchanged enthusiastic high fives. The moment he finished the letter, he looked up to find the pair of his friends smiling at him expectantly.

"I…" Tamaki began before swallowing hard. "…let's… l-let's not waste any time. We should reply immediately."

"That's the spirit!" Miro called as he pumped a fist into the air.

"Yeah!" Nejire added. "Let's go get the ball rolling! Tama, we have to celebrate tonight! Come out with us for drinks! It'll be on me! Please?"

"You'll have a great time," Mirio added as he patiently folded his hands atop the table. "We'll take care of you. I promise."

Somehow, even the thought of being in a bar surrounded by strangers wasn't enough to dampen Tamaki's mood as he brought his eyes back down to reread Fat Gum's letter.

"…okay."

"Yes!" Nejire cried as she did a small leap and thrust a fist into the air.

Tamaki watched her nearly fall over as she landed, and a small laugh escaped him. He shook his head and brought his eyes back down to his letter, rereading it for the third time of what would be nearly a hundred before the end of the day.

Author's Note:

Definitely don't expect daily updates, but I wanted to get this chapter out as soon as possible for many reasons. The Big Three will be a major feature of this story, though Tamaki will be taking the spotlight. Back to Bakugo next round, and then another future U.A. student. Or several…

-RD