Mirio felt like he had somehow lost part of his life, as though he had jumped through time and simply skipped everything in the interim. The very moment Mr. Compress had touched him, everything had faded to total blackness. Mirio could feel nothing other than a vague sense of existence- every one of his senses had shut down, and even the process of progressive thought grinded to a halt. Just as quickly, however, it all came back, and he found himself on the floor of an unfamiliar room and blinded by harsh overhead lights. His vision was blurry and the very act of squinting his eyes caused a great deal of discomfort. Everything felt strange, from the need to breathe to the customized suit rubbing against his skin. It took Mirio entirely too long to realize that the tip of a blade was mere inches from his face, and that his hands were being bound behind his back.

"Don't even think about moving."

Mirio's eyes widened as the reality of his situation finally set in. He was in a room he had seen before- Dabi's, specifically, with its simple cot and messy décor. Rizumu stood over him, looking furious and holding the massive curved sword she had brought on their outing close to his face. Shadows loomed over Mirio from behind, and though he couldn't tell exactly who they were, Mirio had a decent guess. Despite knowing that he was surrounded and facing someone who could very well be an enemy, the fledgling hero maintain his sense of calm… until a single thought leapt to the forefront of his mind.

"…where's Tamaki?" Mirio asked, his own voice sounding strange to him as he glared up at Rizumu. "Where did you take him?"

Rizumu held Mirio's gaze, unblinking as she kept her sword steady. After several seconds, she flicked her head upward and nodded toward the door.

"…leave us."

"You expect us to trust the two of you alone?" the voice of Overhaul called from behind Mirio. "This has conspiracy written all over it."

"You think I don't know that?" Rizumu snapped. "I outrank you, and I need to have words with him. You're not the one he left vulnerable in the middle of combat. Get out."

"Come, Overhaul," Mr. Compress lilted from Mirio's other side. "Best not to be around the princess when she's in a mood."

Mirio remained silent and hung his head, waiting for the argument to blow over. He heard the flexing of leather gloves behind him and could perfectly picture Overhaul clenching his fists.

"…whatever it is you're doing, you'd better make it count. The boss won't tolerate failure like this, and I refuse to shoulder the blame for it. Think about what you're risking for the sake of this pretender."

Rizumu said nothing more as footsteps echoed behind Mirio, leaving the two alone together. The woman was the first to speak, and to Mirio's surprise, there was a good bit of sadness amid the anger.

"…I trusted you," Rizumu said, placing emphasis on the word. "Dabi thinks you might be something special, and I think you've got your heart in the right place despite how inconvenient you've made everything. I saved all of our asses and had the mission back on track, and you left me completely vulnerable. What were you thinking?"

Mirio bit his bottom lip hard enough to hurt as he collected his thoughts. He knew that a single wrong move could spell disaster for not only him, but his missing friend. All he could think to do was tell the truth.

"I wasn't," Mirio said simply. "Tamaki is my closest friend. I saw him in danger, and I just… I acted on instinct, instead of doing my job."

"Then what the hell kind of hero are you?" Rizumu asked, her voice dripping with disdain. "Who among the pros would leave someone high and dry because they see one of their partners struggling in a fight? Are you seriously telling me that with all of your training, your instinct was to just leave me on my own in enemy territory because you were worried about your former hero friend who signed up for this?"

Mirio said nothing, a lump forming in his throat as he listened to the critique.

"And for that matter… what real danger was he in?" the woman continued. "Fat Gum wouldn't have done anything worse than knock him out and drag him back home. What you just said tells me that we were the danger… which means you either don't trust us enough not to just randomly kill a hero in training because you think we're impulsive, irrational, morally bankrupt monsters on the same level as the Nue… or this entire thing was a setup that you were in on, and you panicked when it didn't go according to plan. So, which is it, Togata? Are you totally incapable, or are you a mole? Or both?"

Mirio's eyes widened as he stared at the floor. He had to say something, and quickly… but he felt very much that if he made another misstep, it would all be over. Suddenly, a wild idea came to him, and he decided to throw caution to the wind.

"…you know I can make myself intangible, right?" Mirio said softly. "So binding my hands and threatening me with a sword… really doesn't amount to much. If it was all just a setup, if I was in on the heroes arriving at the cannery and fucking everything up, I could just escape right now and cut my losses. All I would need is to know where Tamaki is so I could get him out of here safely, and the heroes I'm working with would chalk this up as a botched opportunity to spy on the Shie Hassaikai with no other drawbacks. And yet… I'm staying put. I'm not struggling, or fighting back, or just ghosting my way out because I know I made a mess of things by having a lapse in judgment. I want to work this out, because I do care about our organization and stopping the Nue. To answer your question about what kind of hero I am… the answer is not a very good one. I'm sorry, Saku. I let you down."

Rizumu pulled a face before closing her eyes and letting the tip of her sword fall ineffectually to clink against the floor. With a heavy sigh, she brought her free hand up to her forehead and swept aside some of the hair hanging in her eyes.

"Yeah, you did, and I'm pissed. Dabi will absolutely kill you if he ever finds out what you did… and with Overhaul being a petty jackass, there's a pretty good chance of that happening. You might want to beat him to the punch and apologize profusely to have a better chance at surviving."

"And you want me to survive?" Mirio asked as he finally dared to look up at his captor. "Even with everything that happened tonight, and being unsure just how dedicated I am to the cause?"

"…stop calling it 'the cause,'" Rizumu demanded as she slowly worked her oversized sword back into its deep blue sheath. "The Shie Hassaikai is barely holding its shit together. Whatever overall directive you think we might have… not everybody's dedicated to it. I'm not even fully committed, and neither is Dabi, but I get the feeling you already know that."

"I do," Mirio confirmed. "So… why stay?"

"Where would I even go? U.A.?" Rizumu asked as she tossed her weapon aside to land atop the mattress. "Abandoning the Shie Hassaikai means abandoning my club, and the club and Dabi are all I've got. I'm not making that trade to fall in with a group of heroes who aren't getting a damned thing done."

Mirio shifted off of his knees and moved to sit cross-legged upon the floor, letting his hands remain bound.

"…what if there was another option?" the boy proposed. "Mirko and Hawks aren't exactly well-liked within the hero community, and even being somewhat outside of it, I can tell you with total certainty that they would love to operate out of a strip club. Your part of the Red Light District is neutral ground, right? They could help keep it that way if you break it off with the Yakuza."

"You seem awfully ready to help me break away for someone supposedly all-in on the organization," Rizumu pointed out.

"You're not happy here," Mirio replied. "Dabi's definitely not happy here. I like you guys more than I like the Shie Hassaikai thus far, and I might be able to help you two out. That's all."

Rizumu paused, seemingly dumbfounded by the suggestion. With a quick shiver, she shook her head.

"…I don't understand you at all… but I like you, too. That being said, you'd better not pull something like what you did tonight again, no matter how things shake out in the future. You pretty much broke the most fundamental rule of working alongside me."

"Yeah, I'm seeing that, now," Mirio confirmed. "And again- I'm sorry. I could've gotten you killed, and I didn't stop to think about it at the time."

"Go ahead and phase through those bindings," Rizumu said with a nonchalant wave of her hand as she sat down upon the mattress. "You're not in danger with me, as much as I'd like to punch you in the gut at least once."

Mirio did as instructed, momentarily rendering his arms intangible to let the leather cords around his wrists fall away. He brought his hands around to his front to rub them gently as they reappeared, and then finally, he stood up.

"…maybe I'm not, bu-"

"I don't know where Amajiki is," Rizumu admitted. "As far as I know, he's still in Compress' pocket. You're going to have to play your cards very carefully to get him out of here safely."

"…shit," Mirio cursed. "Any ideas?"

"Not particularly," Rizumu said with a shrug of her shoulders. "This situation is bad, Togata. Really bad. Everything about that outing was a total loss, and that's before we know whether or not Hawks and Mirko even made it out alive."

"You think they might not have?" Mirio asked, sounding surprised. "They may be mostly independent, but they're good at what they do. I'm not worried."

"You should be," Rizumu cautioned. "Did you see him, right before Compress did his little trick?"

Mirio wracked his brain, trying to remember what the woman was referring to. Somehow, in the frenzied retreat and his sudden appearance back at the Shie Hassaikai base, he had forgotten the last thing he had seen at the cannery. Out in the parking lot, a figure had appeared, their head a plume of purple and black smoke. Whoever it was, they appeared to dress rather formally, wearing a suit vest and slacks along with black gloves. Mirio didn't recognize them even by description, but something about their very presence had filled him with dread on sight.

"…I did," Mirio said slowly. "Who was that?"

"That thing is known as Kurogiri," Rizumu began as she crossed one leg over the other, her leather thigh-highs creaking against each other as she bent her knee. "No one knows his real identity, but he's the leader of the Nue. The one who ordered the hit on Sir Nighteye, and the guy responsible for a lot of problems in Japan. He's top of the chain in the Yakuza underworld, so far as we know. For him to show up personally… there's more to what happened tonight. I don't think two pros could handle him."

"Then it sounds like our trouble is just beginning," Mirio considered. "We need to be careful, moving forward… and I need to set things right with everyone here- you, Dabi, and Overhaul, specifically. That being said, I need your help getting to Tamaki. Please. I know I already owe you, b-"

The sound of the door to the room opening gave Mirio pause. Upon seeing Rizumu's complexion grow pale, he tensed up. While he was hoping for Dabi so that he could begin work on an apology with Rizumu present, Mirio had a feeling that he wasn't quite so lucky. With a deep breath, he finally turned around to see a tall, imposing figure looming in the doorway.

"Good, you're still here," Arowana said calmly as he strode into the room with Overhaul maintaining a respectful distance behind him. The man had a small black and white orb held within the fingers of one hand, and he casually rolled it back and forth between them as he walked. "Perhaps you can explain to me what occurred tonight, and why I should continue to entertain the notion of allowing you to walk among our ranks…"

Author's Note:

Because the situation wasn't bad enough already.

-RD