Tamaki stared up at the glittering, monolithic wall of glass before him, suddenly feeling very small. His eyes traced their way up the surface of the polished, thick barrier all the way to the top of the steel frame, and then back down to lock with their own reflections. Tamaki began to shiver, the hood of his hero suit jittering in his hand like a white flag in the wind as he quickly pulled it down to cover his eyes and held it in place. Ever so slowly, he let his hand and the cloth rise until he could see through the obstacle before him, and he swallowed hard as he looked through the glass.

Out beyond the protective wall were tens of people, milling about, laughing, and gesturing to each other. He knew that they were just waiting for him to make a move before they would snap their collective attention to him as if they were one hive-minded entity. They would stare and their voices would drop to hostile whispers, their words conspiratorial and criticizing as they sized him up. The trees at the edge of the fields beyond the glass twisted and creaked into ghoulish figures before Tamaki's eyes, and the sky seemed to darken into an unnatural, sinister shade of oppressive dark purples and blues as the very air grew heavier. The boy felt his throat close as every single person in view slowly turned their heads to look at him, their eyes hollow and soulless as they began to approach in lock step.

"…uh, Tamaki? Are you gonna open the door or not?" Mirio asked from behind him, jolting him from his nightmare vision. The blond hero in training wore a rather simple hero suit of a white breastplate with the number 1,000,000 printed across the front in gold, matching boots, deep blue pants, and a dark red cape that reached to the floor.

"I've got it!" Nejire called as she thrust her arm out and pushed open the front door to U.A.'s dormitory building. She offered Tamaki an encouraging smile before grabbing his wrist with her other hand and wrenching him forward into the courtyard, where no one paid the pair any attention at all. "C'mon, Tama! We can't be late!"

A gasping, choking sort of noise left Tamaki as his hood tumbled up and over his head to hang behind his neck once again while he was dragged along. He quickly looked back toward the safety of the massive glass-walled tower, only to catch sight of Mirio marching along just behind him with his familiar and peculiar exaggerated arm motions.

"And here we go!" Mirio called with a smile. "Don't worry too much, Tama! Fat Gum's gonna be really impressed with you! Just believe in yourself, and keep in mind- we're the only second years with work studies right now! That's gotta count for something!"

"R-right," Tamaki stammered before turning his attention back toward Nejire. The girl had transitioned her fingers to grip his, and her touch was pleasantly warm. His eyes rested momentarily on her shoulder blades as he watched them protrude and flex through her skin-tight mint green, white, and deep blue bodysuit. The sight caused his breath to hitch, and the thought of letting his eyes travel any lower terrified him. Tamaki loosened his grip on his friend's hand before jogging forward to walk at her side, while doing his best to keep her figure out of his mind.

"So, do you think we'll get field work on day one?" Nejire asked as she looked up at Tamaki. "Or maybe they'll interview us? Maybe we'll get to interview them! There's so much I want to ask Ryukyu! I hope she's friendly. Do you think she's friendly?"

Tamaki considered the question and pulled his hood up the moment he noticed a bystander looking at him from a good fifty feet away. He used his other hand to pull his long white cape around his body, concealing as much of his figure as he could from the onlooker.

"…she's a dragon," he said slowly. "I would assume that she's… very protective, and imposing…"

"Dragons can be friendly, you know," Mirio pointed out as he made his way to Nejire's other side, his crimson cape billowing heroically behind him. "Lots of dragons in legends end up offering travelers great wisdom, or power. Usually after climbing up a dangerous mountain to find them, which is more or less what we're about to do."

"We could become legends," Nejire teased. "We're already making history, a-…"

The girl paused as she caught sight of four imposing figures on the path ahead. Mirio quickly shook his head as Nejire looked to him, and then jerked it sideways toward Tamaki, whose vision was obscured by his hood.

"-nd I think we've got a pretty good shot at keeping that trend going!" Nejire finished as the first of the four began to walk toward them, splitting from the other three that waited by the curb.

"I think we should temper our expectations," Tamaki warned as he kept his eyes locked on the sidewalk and his hood pulled down in front of his face. "We don't even really know what sort of work we'll be doing, or what kind of unexpected th-"

Tamaki seized up and his heart stopped as a strong hand wrenched his hood up and off his head without warning. He stared wide-eyed at the hand responsible as it returned to the side of a short, dark-skinned woman standing mere inches away from him with her other hand on her hip. Two large, fluffy white ears extended from her equally snow-colored and unbound hair, and she wore a tight white leotard that hugged her athletic curves while leaving very little to the imagination. She flashed her teeth in a predatory smile, and Tamaki took a step backward.

"Suneater," the rabbit hero Mirko interrupted as she tilted her head and folded her arms across her chest. "Lemillion. Supercoil," the woman added as she looked to Mirio and Nejire, respectively. "I know you're all busy, but this was my best shot at finding you. I've got an offer for the three of ya."

Tamaki swallowed hard before giving Mirko a series of shallow nods. He looked over to Mirio, who offered a hand along with a wide smile.

"And we would love to hear it!" the man encouraged as Mirko seized his hand in a tight grip. Mirio's eyes went wide as Mirko pulled him down to her eye level with a single hard shake, and he let out a mirthful laugh. "Whoa! You're strong!"

"And you're one hell of an opponent. I like that," Mirko lilted before letting go of Mirio and offering Tamaki her hand. "As are you. The pair of you nearly kicked my ass, back at your provisionals. Best fight I've had in months."

Tamaki stared at the proffered hand for a moment before taking it with his own in a firm grip. He inhaled sharply as he and Mirko shook, and managed to stand his ground as he preemptively put a bit of extra resistance into the motion. Mirko gave him a nod and smirk before slapping her hand onto Nejire's shoulder and showing off her teeth in a confident smile.

"That being said, you seem like the party person of the group. Am I right?"

Tamaki watched as Nejire's expression shifted to mirror Mirko's, and a sinking feeling overtook him at the sight.

"Oh, you have no idea. Please tell me you're inviting us to something fun?" Nejire asked as she rocked back onto her heels.

"You bet your sweet ass I am," Mirko confirmed as she pulled out her phone from a pouch on her hip. "Give me your number? I want to take the three of you out for dinner, sometime soon. My schedule's pretty bullshit, and I know you're all about to start work studies, but we can make it work. I'll try to drag Edgeshot along, too. We'll make a night of it, shoot the shit, and I'll help you guys out with any questions you might have about the pro hero life."

"Really?" Mirio asked excitedly. "We would be absolutely honored! I would love to learn from you, and I doubt I'm the only one here!"

"That would be so cool," Nejire agreed before reciting her phone number and watching Mirko punch it into her device.

"…and how about you?" Mirko asked as she looked up at Tamaki.

Tamaki was vaguely aware that both Nejire and Mirio were staring over at him, and many more people in the courtyard had their eyes on Mirko. He licked his lips as his instincts fought against the notion that he knew his friends wanted him to go along with the trend and keep things simple. Despite wanting so desperately to please them, a single word escaped his lips before he could stop himself.

"…why?"

"…why?" Mirko repeated as she raised a brow and stuffed her phone back into its holster.

"…why do this for us?" Tamaki clarified. "We're… unproven. We got lucky against you and Edgeshot, a-and… yes, I would appreciate the opportunity to learn from you, but I… I don't really feel worthy of this attention. Miss Mirko, you said yourself that you're incredibly busy, and we're really just a trio of second years who performed well once in front of you. Wouldn't your time be better spent on other affairs?"

Mirko took a long, steadying inhale through her nose before she shook her head and cracked her neck. The sound was sharp and loud enough to cause Tamaki to wince, and he found that Mirko's playful and confident expression had changed to an uncharacteristically serious one as he opened his eyes and brought them back over to her.

"…a few things, Tamaki," the woman began. "First- I like to keep things simple, casual, and fun when I'm off the clock… and that's an important part of being a hero. If you can't relax when you're not actively needed, this job will eat you alive. Second- I'll be real with you. You did not get lucky… and you also didn't 'win' against the two of us. You held your own for a set time, and you three would have gone down eventually… but you lasted long enough to be impressive, in my eyes. The only reason you pulled that off had nothing to do with luck- it was teamwork. Teamwork is the next big thing, whether other pros are willing to admit it or not. There's only one All Might, and only one Endeavor. The rest of us… we can't stand up to some of the newer threats popping up around Japan alone."

"…new threats?" Mirio asked, his own expression turning dire. "Mirko, what's going on?"

The rabbit hero let out a noise that encompassed a mixture of frustration and amusement as she shook her head and wagged an accusatory finger.

"…not so fast, Mirio. A lot of what I know is classified, but I can tell you this- villains are getting smarter. They're starting to team up, and they're starting to coordinate attacks across multiple districts at once. Pro heroes aren't the only ones with organizations anymore, and there are rumors that some big villain organizations are starting to form, and re-form in the shadows. Pros and sidekicks won't be enough before long, and people are going to have to set their egos aside to fight back what's coming. Too many pros think they've 'got this' and that they'll be fine on their own… but they're wrong. You three embody that spirit of teamwork we're going to need already, and I want to make sure you stick together. If that means you'll work with me and my crew in the future, so much the better," Mirko explained.

Tamaki paused to process the information, and found his anxiety beginning to bubble up once again. He licked his lips nervously as Mirko turned her eyes up to him, an expectant look upon her face.

"Is that good enough for you?"

"…it is," Tamaki confirmed. "I'm… I apologize for being so…" he paused as he searched for the words, and Mirko waited patiently for the boy to find them. "…difficult. I'm trying to break away from my obnoxious habits, Miss Mirko. I know that I'm… different."

"Pff," Mirko offered as she blew a lock of silvery hair from in front of her eyes and placed her balled fists upon her hips. "Obnoxious? Try quirky, and I don't mean that as some cute little pun. Idiosyncrasies make people interesting, and I'd rather you speak your mind than hold it in and lead to a misunderstanding, later. Oh, and one more thing- it's Rumi. Rumi Usagiyama, but you three call me Rumi from here on out. Got it?"

"Got it," Nejire replied before Tamaki could protest. "We'll stay in touch and settle on a date soon!"

"You'd better," Rumi insisted as she turned and offered a backward wave while looking over her shoulder. "Now, I'd better let you go, before your assigned work study partners get annoyed. Just don't go blabbing about what I told you to other pros- they might not be so open with information. Oh, and give my number to the boys. Text me if you have any questions!"

"…thank you!" Tamaki called as he stepped forward and offered Rumi a wave of his own while she made her way down the sidewalk. A moment later, his obviousness caused a flush of panic within his chest, and he threw up his hood once again before turning away from the pro hero and moving to stand beside Nejire.

"…so, am I the only one a little worried by what she just told us?" Mirio asked as he turned his back to the figures waiting at the curb and leaned in closer to his friends.

"…no, you're not," Nejire admitted as she began the process of sending Rumi's number to the boys. "I think… we should pry for a little more information. Slowly."

"…we have three pros waiting for us," Tamaki pointed out. "We can get information from them, but we'll need to be subtle. A-and… probably not ask about it today. We do have time."

"Tama's right," Mirio offered as he moved back to his original position and looked to the curb. "But still… let's not keep our pros waiting any longer. After all, first impressions count."

"Mm-hmm," Nejire agreed as she bumped shoulders with Tamaki. "Come on, let's get moving."

"…o-okay," Tamaki said as he turned around. Almost immediately, the sensation of Nejire's fingers interlocking with his sent a rush of warmth up his spine, and he gave her a small smirk as they began to walk once again.

"And away we go!" Mirio called as he moved to the front of the pack a confident smile plastered upon his face.

Author's Note:

A few quick hits-

First, a lot of hero names will be changing in this story. There's no way in hell I'm keeping "Nejire-chan" as her official designation, and a few others that bother me, such as Froppy and Uravity, will also get shifted to something else. "Red Riot" will absolutely be staying.

Second, we are now 100% on a weekly update schedule, if I forgot to actually confirm that before. Which day of the week this story updates will be semi-random, but it will update every week… until some point in the far future where it needs to pause to see what moves Horikoshi makes in the canon story. That is a long, long way off, though, and this story will take a pretty hard swerve away from canon after a certain arc… and then an even bigger one almost immediately after.

Finally, next chapter will actually be The Big Three again, and a direct continuation of this one. After that, we'll hit up Bakugo, and then Kirishima/Mina. Chapters split across multiple scenes will be a thing, but probably not until we reach U.A., which should happen around Chapter 15 or so.

-RD