"…but you love seafood!"

"…I do."

"And you like small, dark places…"

"…also true…"

"And we're probably gonna be in a private booth."

"I know…"

"So, what's the problem?" Nejire asked while throwing her arms up in exasperation as she continued to walk backwards upon the sidewalk. "It's just Mirko and maybe Edgeshot. You've met them both. You've fought them both. Just ignore the other people there!"

Tamaki pulled his hood down, holding the frontal peak in place with his fingers. People swarmed all around the trio known as The Big Three while they made their way to the designated restaurant, and the constant threat of physical contact had Tamaki on edge. He kept his eyes on Nejire's boots as she walked, and kept his focus on breathing slowly.

"…something about all of this feels… off," Tamaki said slowly. "Mr. Toyomitsu thinks so, too. He… told me that Mirko isn't like most pro heroes."

"And we're not like most other second year students," Mirio encouraged from his place swaggering along at the head of the pack. "Besides, if she's up to something shady… we have connections to those legitimate 'normal' heroes that we're working with, all the way up to All Might."

Tamaki furrowed his brows, feeling incredibly conflicted.

"…so long as she isn't doing anything blatantly illegal…"

"…you'd rather not feel like you're forced to go after someone just for doing things differently?" Nejire finished for him.

Tamaki nearly ran into Nejire as she came to a sudden stop, her hands on her hips and head tilted to one side. The boy barely managed to move out of the way by stepping past her and gave her a small nod.

"…right."

"Well… we're here!" Mirio announced triumphantly as he pointed up at the sign reading FISH SHACK proudly displayed above a delipidated wooden door.

The rest of the building was in equally rough shape, with deep green paint that was moldy both in shade and in a literal sense. The shutters were misaligned and partially falling off the windows on one side, and the walk-up was covered by a mat stained with muddy footprints. The smell of fish wafted from inside of the restaurant, and the muted sounds of loud conversation and creaky floorboards echoed through the flimsy-looking walls.

"…well, it looks… like people come here often!" Nejire said with a cheery smile as Tamaki turned to stare at the building in horror. "And that must mean the food is good!"

"…it looks haunted…" Tamaki replied in a near whisper.

Mirio simply shrugged and clapped a hand onto Tamaki's back, ushering him toward the door.

"Then I'll just use my Quirk to convince the ghosts that I'm one of them, and they'll leave you alone. Come on, let's not keep a pro waiting!"

Try as he might, Tamaki couldn't resist both Mirio and Nejire literally pushing him into the building. The overpowering smell of seafood and alcohol hit him like a smack to the face as he made it through the door, and Rumi Usagiyama's voice calling from across the room only added to his confusion and panic.

"Yo! You guys made it! Over here!"

Tamaki looked all around the room in a blind panic, and quickly realized that there was only one room. Rumi and a blond man that Tamaki didn't immediately recognize were sitting off in the far corner, beyond a maze of rickety wooden tables and clearly drunken patrons. Rumi was waving wildly as her companion sipped from a small saké cup, looking less than impressed. The man's eyes were hidden behind a pair of dark sunglasses, and he wore a brown leather vest with what appeared to be a red scarf around his neck.

"That… is not Edgeshot…" Tamaki observed as Nejire walked in front of him and grabbed his wrist before beginning to pull him through the restaurant.

"So? She said she'd try. Maybe it's another pro? New friend!" the girl said excitedly.

"Whoever it is, we'll hear them out, and keep things casual," Mirio reminded. "It's okay if you don't say much beyond introductions. Leave that part to us."

"Right…" Tamaki agreed hesitantly.

"About time!" Rumi said with a smirk as she watched the teens approach. "C'mon, take a seat!"

The trio of friends made their way to the table and began to sit one by one, only for Nejire to pause halfway down to the bench. Her face paled as she stared across the table at the scruffy man sitting next to Rumi.

"Hey, I know you!" Nejire exclaimed proudly. "You're Hawks! You're another one of the top ten heroes in Japan!"

Tamaki did a double take from under the flap of his hood, and quickly realized that the bright red on either side of the man's neck wasn't a scarf, but a pair of folded, brilliantly crimson wings. The man smirked at Nejire's observation and took another sip of saké, before giving her a slow nod.

"Yeah, I am. But call me Keigo, because Rumi apparently wants to be on a first-name basis with all of you."

"Hey!" the other pro complained as she cuffed the man upside the back of the head, nearly causing him to spill his drink. "Is it a crime to keep it casual among friends? I'm sick of getting 'Mirko' this and 'Miss Usagiyama' that all damned day, and nothing about this is conventional. So, you're Keigo, now, and you'll like it."

"Uh-huh," Keigo replied boredly as he took another sip. "So, you're The Big Three. I didn't watch the footage, but you look alright to me."

Nejire finally sat down between Tamaki and Mirio and offered the professionals a wide grin.

"Yup! I'm Nejire Hado!"

"Mirio Togata," the boy next to her added as he began to eye up the spread of food that had already been laid out before they had arrived.

"…are you working with M-… Rumi, directly?" Tamaki asked as he slowly pulled his hood back just enough to reveal his face to Keigo. A swift kick to the shin under the table caused him to wince, and he could tell that Nejire was glaring daggers at him within his peripheral vision. "I-I meant… Tamaki Amajiki. That was… rude. Sorry."

Keigo chuckled softly as he finally set his cup down upon the table.

"Keigo Takami, though it sounds like you're all well aware. As for your question, yeah, I am. Rumi and I aren't 'partners' on any official documents, but we might as well be. We don't like other pros snooping around in our business."

Tamaki shifted uncomfortably upon the bench and began looking over the spread of food. His pointed ears twitched in irritation at the loud conversations going on all around them, and he had the sudden, overwhelming urge to stand from the table and take his leave. Wordlessly, he tried to locate the bathroom until Mirio spoke up, giving him pause.

"…but you're okay with us getting involved?" Mirio asked, his tone full of uncertainty. "Even though we're doing work studies with other pros?"

Tamaki smirked as he watched Keigo stiffen across the table, while Nejire looked back and forth between the two with a frown.

"…told you they wouldn't be that stupid," Keigo said flatly. "Gah!"

Keigo twitched and pulled a face as something that sounded distinctly like an oversized foot crunching another one into the floor echoed out from beneath the table.

"That's exactly why I wanted to talk to you three now, actually," Rumi began as she narrowed her eyes. "You're on the cusp of becoming a big deal, but that fame could easily fizzle out in a year when some new hotness comes along. You're barely on any hero registry at the moment, and you're still provisional. Sure, pros looking for fresh talent are really paying attention, but to the whole of Japan? You're having your fifteen minutes of fame, and it's definitely deserved… but it could easily disappear, too."

"…wow. That's… really depressing, actually," Nejire sulked as she picked at a piece of edamame.

"It's also an opportunity," Keigo reassured as Rumi picked up her own cup and drained it in a gulp. "The next time your names will be in the public eye in any real, official capacity will be when you graduate. If a pro picks you up as a sidekick, or you strike out and try to make it on your own, then sure, you'll get recognized again. You'll probably even have the public's support based on what you accomplished two months ago. But for the rest of your time at U.A., you'll be pretty much anonymous to most of Japan. It's a big country, and you're just three kids."

Tamaki wrinkled his nose as he listened intently to Keigo. Suddenly, something clicked, and he leaned forward slightly over the table.

"…you want to use that borderline anonymity for something. Something that pro heroes can't accomplish, and something that they don't think is important enough to dedicate resources into investigating yet."

Keigo raised his sunglasses and exchanged a look with Rumi, who offered the teens a grin wide enough to put Nejire's to shame. The woman leaned into Keigo's side and draped an arm around his shoulder as she tilted her head and lifted the other arm in a nonchalant shrug.

"Told ya they were smart. And here you thought we'd be able to control this entire situation without them catching on."

"Did I?" Keigo asked as he looked sideways to the woman leaning upon him. "I'm pretty sure you were the one who was banking on them needing an explanation."

"Details, details..." Rumi said flippantly as she idly traced a hand up through the feathers of Hawks' wing before plucking one of them and holding it aloft.

"Hey!" Keigo seethed through clenched teeth as he bristled and dropped his sunglasses back down over his eyes. "None of that. I hate that..."

"In public, you do," Rumi sassed with a knowing smirk.

"Aw, you two are adorable…" Nejire cooed, only for Mirio to interrupt by clearing his throat.

"…you were saying you wanted us for something?"

Tamaki nodded, his voice adopting a more assertive tone as he folded his arms upon the table.

"We are interested in listening to you, Miss Usagiyami, but we need to know what we're dealing with. Please."

"Rumi," the woman corrected as she leaned off of Keigo's shoulder and rolled her eyes. "Fine, fine, I didn't think we'd get away with that, but it was worth a shot. We'd both appreciate if you kept the other pros out of this, though."

"Why?" Mirio asked immediately. "You told us that teamwork was going to become a priority, sooner than later, and that other pros were becoming resistant to it. Why exclude them entirely, even if they can't help directly?"

"And why not go to other 'unknown' students in their third year? They already have licenses, and they've proven themselves better than we have," Tamaki added as he sat up a bit straighter.

"And maybe most importantly," Nejire began as her expression turned cold, "why so much secrecy if this is so important?"

Keigo busied himself with picking up the jar of saké and pouring himself another cup as Rumi wrinkled her nose at him.

"…you can jump in and help at any time now."

"Hey, you dragged my ass here for the intimidation and celebrity factor," Keigo replied with a noncommittal shrug. "Explaining it is all you."

"Asshole," Rumi grumbled as she rubbed at her ears with her hands before slumping over the table and folding her arms atop the surface. "Alright. What do you know about the Shie Hassaikai?"

"The who…?" Mirio asked, quirking a brow.

"Like… the Yakuza?" Nejire asked as she put a finger to her bottom lip with a curious look in her eyes. As she caught sight of Tamaki and Mirio eyeing her warily, she shrank down into her seat. "What? I watch a lot of crime dramas…"

"…the Yakuza, yeah," Rumi confirmed. "What do you know?"

"Well… they used to be a big deal, back in the day," Nejire began to explain as she sat up a bit straighter, "but since villains started striking out on their own or in small groups, big crime families kinda just… fell to the wayside."

"Ha," Keigo chuckled, earning a confused look from Nejire. "No, they didn't."

"Publicly, they did," Rumi clarified. "But we've got reason to believe they've just been biding their time. Sure, a lot of 'the families' got subdivided and broke apart as even the lowest-ranking grunts suddenly started figuring out their Quirks would let them be more successful on their own… but we're seeing callsigns around petty crimes that pros tend to ignore. Shie Hassaikai masks and known members showing up in places they shouldn't be. People with powerful Quirks disappearing, and then showing up again halfway across Japan with no explanation near the Shie Hassaikai HQ. We're pretty sure they're recruiting."

"Recruiting?" Tamaki asked, swallowing hard. "But… for what?"

"We don't know," Keigo admitted. "But it can't be good. Their sphere of influence is expanding, and it's only a matter of time before they make a move, if we're right about this. Rumi and I would rather know we're right and end it early than let it build and build until we get another mall incident from last month. I heard two of you were there. I doubt that's the kind of thing you want to see more of, and the Shie Hassaikai were known for spectacle in their prime. If they're going to make a statement, it's going to be a big one."

"How can we find out?" Tamaki asked immediately. "What do you need us to do to help stop it?"

"…well… in a few months, you'll be pretty much out of the public eye, but you'll have a reputation among the types that pay attention to hero work," Rumi said slowly. "We need insiders. Keigo and I can't do that."

"…you want us to join them?" Mirio asked incredulously.

"What?" Nejire asked, looking distraught. "But… we're heroes! We can't j-"

"No hero is entirely clean," Keigo interrupted, his tone cold and serious. "That's something you're going to find out very, very quickly, probably before your work studies are over. We're all hiding shit we aren't proud of, and sometimes, you have to do… unsavory things for the greater good. We're not going to force you into this, and we definitely don't expect you to decide today… but we've got evidence. You could save lives that might otherwise be lost because the Shie Hassaikai 'aren't a threat' right now. Think it over, and get back to us when you do."

"…now you see why we don't want you bringing in other pros," Rumi said. "We're laying our shit out on the table for you to see, and the others wouldn't be cool with using undergrads as double agents. Come by Keigo's office sometime soon, and we'll show you what we've found. I know it's a lot to process, but we need you to take this one seriously. Talk about it as a group, when you get the time. Just… we would both appreciate it. We can't do this on our own, and we're apparently the only ones who give a shit right now."

All three of the teens fell silent, each unsure of what else to say. Tamaki pulled his hood down entirely and began rubbing at the back of his neck with both hands beneath the fabric, as Keigo stretched his wings and cracked his neck.

"…but enough about that, for now. Let's not kill the mood… or attract any attention we don't want. How's school going?"

For once, Tamaki couldn't pay attention to Nejire's words as she began to answer. Everything around him seemed to swirl together into an undefinable mess of color and sound, and he slammed his eyes shut. For the rest of the evening, all he could focus on was the mental image of bloody words smeared upon a wall and unmoving bodies being rushed to a hastily constructed medical tent within the mall.

Author's Note:

FISH SHACK FISH SHACK FISH SHACK

-RD