Nejire Hado stood outside of the main academic building, phone held up to her ear and a worried expression on her face. The other line kept ringing and ringing, but absolutely refused to connect. With every shrill sound, she felt more and more nauseated. Something was wrong.

"He… did text us last night," Tamaki reminded as he gave his partner an uncertain look. "We're just going to have to trust that he'll be here…"

"I don't know if I can," Nejire said as she met the young man's eyes. "The things he's doing, the way he's going about them… Tama, I don't know how to feel. 'There's something I've gotta do, see you tomorrow morning' and then total silence isn't like him. What if he's in trouble? What if we're just waiting around and he needs us? Togata wouldn't just shirk his duties on the first day of classes…"

"Not unless it was important to do so," Tamaki offered. "I'm sure we'll hear from him soon. Let's just… get to class. It will be worse if we're all late…"

Nejire finally lowered her phone with a sigh of defeat. The girl shook her head and leaned closely into Tamaki's chest, breathing in the boy's subtle cologne.

"I know, but… right now, I almost don't care. I want to get out there and help, however we can. Does any of this even matter anymore?"

Tamaki said nothing in return and just pulled Nejire closer. He didn't feel particularly great about the situation either… but he wasn't about to admit it when she needed him to be the strong one. Keeping her safe was more important than anything else, classes included. He took a moment to smell Nejire's hair, letting the heady scent of her shampoo overwhelm him.

"…I don't know either…"

Mirio Togata let out a sigh and rubbed at the side of his neck as he tried to work out a kink in the muscle. The night had been long and rather unpleasant- he had slept on a lumpy spare cot somewhere deep underground with the intent to prove his loyalty by offering help around the compound before bed. Nothing had come of it beyond Arowana's reassurance of his place among them… and Overhaul's continued scorn. At some point in the middle of the night, an argument had taken place somewhere near his room, but Mirio didn't risk investigating and the voices were too far away to make out clearly. The last thing he needed was to be caught snooping around after barely managing to keep his spot amongst the Shie Hassaikai, and so he had remained in bed straining to hear anything significant. Despite his efforts, he had gotten nothing out of it and fallen asleep well past midnight.

After a quick round of check-ins around the tunnels and Overhaul quite literally slamming a door in his face, Mirio decided that it was high time to leave for the first day of classes. Though navigating the tunnels wasn't particularly easy, he did find a way to continue ascending, and so, he marched on through the passageways alone and in silence… at least, until he reached a four-way intersection.

"Great," the boy said quietly to himself. "Now how do I get out of h-"

A sudden force shoved Mirio into the nearby rock wall, resulting in his face smacking straight into the surface. He stumbled and slipped as he braced his hand against the surface to keep from falling down entirely, only for something to grab at his collar and pull him to his feet. The force was strong and coming from something seemingly invisible right in front of him. It wasn't until he heard a voice that he realized what was going on, and his eyes widened.

"You asshole!"

"Wh-…" Mirio began, feeling a trickle of blood flowing down his upper lip from one of his nostrils. "Hagakure?"

"Grandfather called me back from U.A., permanently," the girl hissed, her grip around Mirio's collar tightening. "Your stupid worrying and insistence that I might be in danger just cost me my one opportunity. You didn't talk to me on campus. You didn't ask me anything. You just went above my head and got me pulled back as a first resort. I will never forgive you for this."

Mirio looked down to where he imagined the girl's eyes would be as he collected his thoughts and caught his breath.

"Your… opportunity?" he asked. "Opportunity to do what, exactly? What did the grandmaster have you doing at U.A.?"

Another strike came at Mirio in the form of a double-palmed shove, pushing him back into the wall.

"The opportunity to be a hero!" Hagakure yelled, her voice full of anger and distress. "You think I want to be here forever? You think my dream is to be some Yakuza nepo-baby? I had a chance to get out of here. I had a shot at something else, maybe living my own life like Saku does… but now that's gone, and it's your fault. Watch yourself, Togata. You'll get what's coming to you."

Mirio furrowed his brows and pushed off the wall, standing up again.

"Are you… threatening me?" he asked, only to receive no response. "Hagakure? I… I didn't even know for sure that you were Shie Hassaikai! It was just a theory, and Arowana confirmed it! I wasn't expecting him to do this!"

There was no response, and no matter which way he turned, Mirio couldn't see any telltale shimmer under the overhead lights or distortion.

"Hagakure…?"

Even though he wouldn't have been able to see her anyway, Mirio suddenly knew that he was very much alone in the tunnels.

Katsuki was the last of his small group to enter Professor Aizawa's classroom, and he lingered in the doorway a moment before doing so. The desks were arranged in two rows of five throughout the undecorated room, and some of their number were already occupied. Tenya Iida was sitting with perfect posture in a desk front and center, as close to Professor Aizawa as possible. Amaya Kan was next to him on the left, though the two didn't seem to be interacting at all as she gently flexed her wings and rifled through a spiral notebook. One seat behind her was Tsuyu Asui, looking incredibly nervous and staring at the boys as they entered… and then there was one other individual that Katsuki didn't recognize in the corner of the second row near the door.

Hitoshi Shinso sat alone, looking somewhat disheveled and utterly exhausted. The boy's dull purple hair was standing on end in every direction and he had bags under his eyes that suggested he had gotten little to no sleep. In contrast to the grey uniform with green pants and accents that everyone else had on, Hitoshi wore one of primarily deep blue with gold flourishes. The clothing certainly made him stand out amongst the others, and Katsuki could only guess that it was the suit of those in the General Studies course and there simply wasn't time to get the boy a proper Hero Course uniform overnight. He contemplated taking the seat next to the boy for a second, only for another to beat him to the punch.

"Hey!" Eijiro said enthusiastically as he moved to the open seat next to the newcomer. "You must be Shinso!"

Hitoshi looked up with sheer terror in his eyes as the loud redhead approached. He quickly busied himself with getting out a notebook and trying to look like he was invested in finding something else in his backpack.

"…yes. Hello," the boy answered, avoiding eye contact.

"Nice to meet ya!" Eijiro proclaimed as Katsuki finally entered the room proper and took the seat near the door next to Daisuke, who had settled on Tenya's open side. "You excited for this whole thing?"

"Kirishima," Professor Aizawa scolded in a firm, yet somewhat subdued tone. The man was sitting atop his elongated desk, legs dangling before his students and palms down atop the surface. He was clad in what appeared to be black sweatpants and a matching sweater, with his signature dull, frayed, impressively long scarf wrapped several times around his neck and shoulders. "Volume. The room is small, and I'm quite sure he can hear you at such proximity if you speak softly. Additionally… it's seven in the morning. Your other classmates are going to hate you if you continue that all year."

"Oh! Right," Eijiro said sheepishly as he scooted his desk a little closer to Hitoshi's and began speaking at a near whisper. "So, what's up? I'm Eijiro."

"…okay…"

Katsuki rolled his eyes at the exchange and chose to focus on himself while the two continued talking, taking out a notebook quite like the ones several others had produced. Juzo Honenuki entered the room as he did so and offered a quick nod. Katsuki returned it before watching the masked boy hurriedly make his way over to sit at Amaya's side.

"Hey," the winged girl said with a bit of mischievous flair to her voice. "Ready for this?"

"No," Juzo said softly as he sat down, trying to avoid Professor Aizawa's gaze.

"Pff, you'll be fine," Amaya reassured, brushing the tip of her wing up and over Juzo's shoulder before giving him a playful slap on the chest with it. "We'll talk after."

"There will be no flirting in my class," Professor Aizawa deadpanned. "Save it for the dorms."

"We weren't…" Juzo began, the faintest hint of pink creeping up his cheeks from underneath the mask. He quickly looked down at the desk and nodded, well aware that all eyes were on him. "Yes, Professor…"

Minoru was next to enter, giving a wink and practiced smile to those already seated. He wasn't wearing a tie unlike the rest of the boys, instead electing to leave the top two buttons of his collared shirt open to expose the curly green hairs upon his chest. A golden necklace with the astrological symbol of Mars dangled amid the jungle of fibers, and Tsuyu looked away with an uncomfortable expression… as the boy strolled right up to take the corner seat next to her.

"…there will be no flirting in my class," Professor Aizawa repeated, his stare boring holes through Minoru. "I will not hesitate to have anyone who violates that rule removed."

"Yeah, of course," Minoru agreed, his smile ever-present as he sat down and gave Tsuyu and upward tilt of the chin. "Hey, Tsu. Honenuki."

Neither of the people sitting near Minoru acknowledged him, and he simply shrugged in response before beginning to get out his supplies.

Professor Aizawa turned his attention up toward the analog clock positioned above the door, and then cast his gaze back down to the unoccupied seat between Kirishima and Tsuyu. As though on cue, a breathless Kyoka appeared in the doorway, her chest heaving as she quite literally slid into the open space before hurriedly stepping inside.

Katsuki couldn't help but stare before forcing himself to tear his eyes away from her chest as it rose and fell.

"Sorry!" Kyoka offered as she sunk into a bow. "I… got a little lost, and…"

Professor Aizawa slid off the desk to a standing position and raised a hand for silence.

"You're just in time, though now, you know where we are," the man said calmly. "I expect you'll have your timing sorted out from this day forward."

"Yes, Sir," Kyoka answered as she made her way to the open seat. "Of course."

Professor Aizawa offered the girl a nod before looking around the room to find his students staring at him with rapt attention… other than one, who was busy checking his perfectly manicured nails instead.

"…good morning," the man started, saying the words almost as though the greeting caused him physical pain. "And welcome to the start of your journey as a hero in training. You all know who I am. I know who all of you are, on paper. There will be no ice breakers, no questions about how you spent your summer, no introductory activities, and no questionnaires about parent contact information, favorite colors, or the best concert you've ever attended."

"…thank god," Amaya said under her breath, only for Professor Aizawa to fix her with an impartial stare. She straightened up slightly in her seat and cleared her throat before bowing her head. "…sorry."

"No, I'm with you on that one," Professor Aizawa replied as he walked around his desk and toward the whiteboard, where a projector screen had been pulled down to cover the majority of the surface. "You are all adults here, and I don't plan on infantilizing you in any way… including the consequences of your actions. Class 1-A and Class 1-B are run very differently, and whether or not you consider yourselves lucky to be here rather than next door… I don't particularly care. I'm not a fan of wasting time. You can bond in the dormitory tower and out in the field, through shared experience. When you are here, you are here to learn and grapple with challenges together so that you might grow your skillset for field work. Other professors will not feel the same way… but consider this your warning about your homeroom and Intro to Hero Work class up front. Any questions?"

The students looked around at each other, only to find that no one had their hands up. Professor Aizawa offered a nod and put his hands behind his back, seeming to relax a bit.

"…so. Before you meet the other professors, I have you for an hour. In that time, you'll get your first taste of how this year is going to go. As heroes in training, I expect you to learn to adapt to unexpected situations. I also expect you to know the laws surrounding hero work… so that you might skirt them effectively and know how to make no situation fully unexpected."

Tenya's hand shot up immediately, his eyes widening before Professor Aizawa called on him.

"…Iida."

"Are you suggesting that we… don't always follow the law?" the boy asked, sounding intensely uncomfortable.

"I'm suggesting that you don't get caught not following the law, and that you learn to determine when and where following it is appropriate," the teacher answered. "When it's a situation of life and death, if you have access to information that you technically shouldn't… seize that opportunity. Do what needs doing to save lives, Iida… and all of you. In a less high-stakes example, I expect that some of you already know what we're about to cover due to getting information from outside sources that were told explicitly not to leak it. Kan."

Amaya lowered her hand, folding her arms across her chest as she reclined slightly in her seat.

"Hero Name selection."

"Correct," Professor Aizawa praised. "Research shows initiative, regardless of your sources. Get familiar with going into situations, this class included, with any and all foreknowledge you can gather. Well done."

Tenya stared at Amaya, mouth agape and looking almost offended as Professor Aizawa rolled up the projector screen to reveal a table with two columns. Upon seeing it, Katsuki's face paled and his shoulders tensed. On the left was a column titled "Family Name" in red marker, and on the right was "Hero Name" in blue. Katsuki's name was very close to the top of the list.

"You'll be choosing your callsigns now, in order of last name. Aki. You're up. Come to the board, fill in your row, and talk to us."

Daisuke rose from his seat without hesitation and took the blue marker that was offered. The boy filled in the open space next to his name and turned to face the class, looking quite unbothered despite going first… and how messy his handwriting was.

"What… does that say…?" Professor Aizawa asked as he tried to decipher the scrawl.

"Slipstream," Daisuke answered with a little smirk, more to his peers than the professor. "I'm Daisuke Aki, in case anyone forgot or doesn't know. It's a pseudonym I've been using for years in various places online, and… even some friends back home used it in person. Suits my Quirk, reminds me of home and who I present myself as in a bunch of different spaces, so… yeah. It's already a part of my identity, I guess? I mean, I could change it, if it's not great…"

"Solid," Professor Aizawa said with a nod as he folded his arms across his chest. "Connecting a name to your past that is still relevant in the present is a good approach. You seem comfortable with it, and it's easy to remember while still being unique. Slipstream it is."

"Thanks," Daisuke replied, giving the marker a little twirl between his fingers. "So… it was that easy?"

"It was. Asui."

The heteromorph girl stood and moved to accept the marker from Daisuke before he sat down. Upon taking it, she moved behind the teacher's desk before facing the audience and offering a small wave.

"Tsuyu Asui, just call me Tsu," the girl suggested. "Or… Tsunami."

"Nice," Amaya called with a grin as she watched the other girl fill in her row on the board with immaculate handwriting. "That's great."

"Thanks!" Tsuyu said as she turned around with a sheepish grin. "I've been thinking about it for a while now, and it's… it just seems too good for marketing purposes, and all that. I also wanted it to be something kinda cute…"

"You're not wrong," Professor Aizawa agreed. "That is… inspired, actually. No notes. Bakugo."

Katsuki stood up and for a moment, almost feeling like he was going to pass out. His pulse was hammering to the point he could almost feel it in the side of his neck, and he was already lightly sweating. He moved slowly to take the marker from Tsuyu, keeping his back to the class as he wrote in neat script not unlike Tsuyu's. Katsuki wasn't between names. There was no second-guessing. He knew what he wanted… but he also dreaded turning around to show it off.

"…Katsuki Bakugo," he said quickly as he stood beside the chart. "Atlas."

The rest of the class stared at him in confusion… Professor Aizawa included.

"…explain?"

Katsuki took a deep breath in through his nose as he stared at the section of floor between himself and the first row of desks. He knew that he couldn't explain it- not really- without compromising a situation that needed to remain very secret. The only solution was to act fast and come up with something else.

His mind was blank, and his vision danced with black dots as he felt like he was going to fall forward.

Author's Note:

For those keeping track, and yes, it will matter, the seating chart from left to right facing Aizawa's desk is:

Juzo Amaya Tenya Daisuke Katsuki

Mineta Tsuyu Kyoka Eijiro Hitoshi

-RD