Mirio was beginning to think something funny was going on.

And not the kind of funny that made him laugh.

"Bye guys!" Nejire said quickly, packing her things up as soon as the final bell rang for the day, "See you tomorrow!"

Case in point.

"Wait up!" Mirio called, slightly perplexed by the way Nejire was rushing to leave, "What's the hurry? Weren't you the one getting on our case about missing walking out together last week?"

Nejire shrugged. "Yeah," she agreed, "But I realized it wasn't really fair of me to get upset when you guys had your reasons to be busy. We all live our own lives… plus, I kind of have somewhere to be!"

Tamaki looked up from his desk, where he had previously been planning a diet for the next week to sustain his Quirk. "Where?" He asked, tilting his head to the side slightly.

"Now, now," she chastised them gently, "Where would the fun in telling you be? It's a surprise! You'll see soon enough, but for now…"

With that, Nejire dashed out of the room, leaving nothing but a dust cloud behind.

Mirio blinked. All three of them had their quirks, but Nejire was definitely being weirder than usual.

He turned towards Tamaki. "Any idea what's going on with her?"

The sullen boy shrugged sadly. "Maybe she finally got tired of us."

"Oh, come on," Mirio groaned, "Don't say that! You're letting your head get the better of you."

Tamaki sighed. "Maybe now that she's stronger than us she doesn't want to hang out."

He hesitated - that… may have something to do with it, although he certainly didn't think it was anything as drastic as what Tamaki feared. Last Monday was a prime example of what he was talking about…

–

"Guys!" Nejire shouted, practically teleporting over to where they were practicing at Ground Beta, "Mirio! Tamaki! Let's fight!"

Mirio waved at the final member of their trio, excited to see how amped up she was for training today. "Hey, Nejire," he greeted warmly, with Tamaki extending his own hello to the periwinkle-haired girl, "Me and Tamaki were just warming up. How do you wanna do this, free for all? Tag? Race?"

He was a little partial to tag, if he was being honest. It was the one method of training they had where Permeation had a distinct advantage over Wave Motion and Manifest - even in regular combat his friends both had tools at their disposal to help negate Permeation's near-invincible protection.

Of course, things were a bit different now that One For All had finally been added to Mirio's repertoire. Super strength was hard to explain away as a Quirk mutation, but the ability to become semipermeable at will and control individual limbs was a pretty good powerup, if he did say so himself.

Sir Nighteye was certainly thrilled, at any rate. In fact, he was almost happier about it than Mirio himself.

Back in reality, Mirio nearly fell over in shock when Nejire shook her head. "Nuh-uh!" She laughed maniacally, "Today, we're doing two versus one! You and Tamaki against me!"

Tamaki looked apprehensive. "Huh?"

"...I'm with Tamaki," Mirio said after a moment, trying his best to shake off the surprise, "None of us ever win two versus one unless Tamaki had a really good lunch, and we never even wind up sparring for that long!"

That wasn't entirely true - he'd scored a few victories in their bouts as of late due in no small part to One For All, but the point still stood that Nejire almost never wanted to fight both of them at the same time.

Nejire didn't care for their protests, waving them off with a smile. "C'mon guys!" She encouraged, "I haven't gotten to spar against both of you in forever!"

"Because you never want to," Tamaki replied drily, "You always say you hate two versus one."

She rubbed the back of her neck guiltily, having enough decency to realize that she'd been called out. "Okay, maybe that's true," Nejire relented, "But that doesn't change the fact that I want to do it now!"

Geez. When was the last time Nejire was this motivated to train? Mirio usually had to do the heavy lifting convincing both of his friends to join them in the gym or for a spar.

"Alright, alright, we'll do it your way," Mirio agreed, putting his hands up in surrender before a smirk fell upon his face, "But don't get too mad when me and Tamaki clobber you. Right, Tamaki?"

Tamaki just sighed. "Whatever."

Mirio cracked his knuckles as Nejire hopped up into the sky. Tamaki merely stood up, eyes narrowing as he prepared for what was likely to be a quick battle–

"Go!"

If Nejire was taken aback by Mirio's sudden shout, she didn't show it - instead, she merely floated lazily in the air above the false city's skyline, waiting for the two of them to make their first move.

Tamaki's arms quickly turned into octopus tentacles, with which he began climbing the nearest building with startling speed. "See you at the top," he mumbled, "She won't be able to take out both of us if we attack at different angles."

Mirio nodded. Nejire's Quirk was strong, but she had a hard time aiming her spirals when she had to use more than one - especially when Permeation meant he could just avoid them and Tamaki could manifest clam shell shields.

Scampering up a fire escape with assistance from One For All and using said boost to leap across the rooftops of Ground Beta, it took him no time at all to be face to face with Nejire - well, not quite. Nejire was hovering a few dozen feet above them, spinning around as she lazily waited for Tamaki to arrive - without him, there was just about zero chance Mirio could bring her down to the ground.

He threw some experimental punches her way, using One For All's strength to launch small air-blasts that Nejire easily dodged.

"Come on, Mirio!" She laughed, "You gotta do better than that if you wanna catch me!"

He smirked. "We'll see about that when Tamaki gets up here!"

"I've been here," Tamaki mumbled, standing on the building directly to the left of Mirio and catching him by surprise, "You just didn't notice."

"Sorry!" Mirio said quickly, "You're just too quiet sometimes!"

He sighed. "Whatever. Let's just do this, I guess."

Nejire looked strangely confident. He didn't know why, but he had a funny feeling she knew something the two of them didn't.

"On three!" Mirio shouted, powering up his legs for a leap, "One… two… thr–"

In an instant, twin spirals of energy launched from Nejire's hands. Mirio couldn't even blink, much less begin to phase away, before he was slammed by the full force of Wave Motion's power.

It had never been that quick before.

Judging by the yelp of pain he heard coming from his side, it seemed that Tamaki fell victim to her attack as well.

Nejire's echoing laugh was all that could be heard by the two as they were launched all the way down, through several-dozen stories of pseudo-apartment buildings.

–

All of their training sessions since had yielded similar results, with Nejire consistently using whatever new strategy she had discovered with Wave Motion to consistently dominate the other two members of the Big Three. Even with One For All, Mirio just couldn't match the sheer unpredictability of what Nejire could do. Tamaki was hanging onto his 'strongest student in the school' moniker by a thread at this point, if at all.

"I don't know," Mirio said with a smile to ease his anxious comrade, "Nejire wouldn't think she was better than us just because of a few spars! Maybe she just, I don't know, has a new training regimen?"

Tamaki stared morosely at his feet. "She would tell us if that was the case… maybe she doesn't trust us anymore."

Man. Mirio loved Tamaki like a brother, but he was a real downer sometimes.

"Don't say that!" Mirio threw his arm around Tamaki's shoulder for good measure. "Maybe she's keeping it a surprise for the Sports Festival! She said she really wanted to win this one, remember?"

Tamaki sighed. "Maybe. But she's been acting funny for a while."

Now that was something Mirio could agree with. He still remembered how melancholy she had been a few weeks ago, only for her mood to do a complete 180 seemingly overnight. He trusted his friend with his life, but for the life of him he just could not decipher what was going on with Nejire these days.

"You know…" Mirio began slowly, the gears in his head turning, "She never said we couldn't just, you know, walk with her? Maybe she just wants us to ask and find out what's up?"

Tamaki looked at him strangely. "She kind of did. Nejire said she had somewhere to be."

He waved the Manifest user off. "And it's our duty as her friends to make sure she's okay!" Mirio paused for a moment. "If that means we have to snoop around for a bit, then so be it!"

The shy teen sighed. "Nejire isn't gonna like this…"

"You mean she isn't going to like it if we get caught!" He corrected, "Now come on! If we hurry we might be able to find her!"

–

As it turned out, they didn't have to try very hard to catch up to her. At all.

Currently, the two of them were sticking it out in one of the many large pieces of shrubbery that were lined up just within the confines of U.A.'s main gate, with Tamaki merely sitting within the bush as Mirio peered out towards the entrance. Technically Tamaki was supposed to be acting as the lookout for teachers (or, God forbid, Yuyu), but Mirio was lucky the introvert was even going along with this in the first place. He wasn't going to push his luck.

Nejire was there, a few dozen feet away from them, pacing back and forth in front of the gate anxiously… actually, that wasn't the right word. She didn't look anxious in the slightest.

Excited seemed far more apt.

Every so often she would quickly dart around the sidewalk corner, disappearing from Mirio's sight, only to return to the gate immediately after like nothing had happened.

It was weird. And it looked like she had no plans on stopping anytime soon.

At least, not until a short, scrawny, green-haired kid strolled into view.

"Izuku!" Nejire shouted, loud enough for Mirio, Tamaki, and the kid to hear.

The boy - Izuku, Mirio guessed - admittedly didn't look like much. As previously mentioned he was way shorter than even Tamaki, the smallest of their friend group, with a thin, wiry frame (if you could even call it that) that seemed to be cloaked by his school uniform. Said uniform was for some no-name high school that he'd never heard of, and was host to a smattering of small stains across the coat. His bright red shoes stood out like a sore thumb, and he looked like he just ran a marathon if the way he was hunched forward, leaning on his knees and breathing heavily meant anything.

And Nejire looked ecstatic to see him.

The boy blinked as his name was called, the blank look on his face quickly transforming into a bashful smile as she hurried over to greet him - only for Nejire to misjudge her speed, slam into him, and nearly knock him onto the sidewalk if it wasn't for the fact that she was able to reach out and grab ahold of him mid-fall.

It was an odd series of events, all things considered.

Nejire looked only mildly embarrassed as she placed the boy back down onto his own two feet, and the resigned look on his face gave Mirio the feeling that this was not the first time this incident had occurred. She quickly capitalized on their closeness to start talking, speaking in her usual long-form rambles that he knew from firsthand experience most people found off-putting.

But not Izuku - assuming that was his name, of course. He seemed completely invested in whatever Nejire was speaking about, nodding his head slowly at times and shaking it at others - even giving his own brief input once or twice. He didn't seem uncomfortable, overwhelmed, or even mildly annoyed, and that was when Mirio realized what was going on.

Nejire had made a new friend!

"What are they saying?" Tamaki asked, having now joined Mirio in their little eavesdropping party.

He shook his head. "I don't know," he whispered, "They're too far away and talking too fast for me to hear. Have you eaten any rabbit today? Maybe grow some ears and relay for us."

Tamaki shook his head quickly. "I-I'm a little uncomfortable about eating something that a lot of our classmates have as pets."

Mirio shrugged, before turning his eyes back onto Nejire and her little acquaintance. "I don't think we have anything to worry about, anyways," he said, "It looks like Nejire just found another person who could keep up with her!"

At his words, Tamaki shrunk back into the foliage. "I guess that means she's done hanging out with us for good then…"

As the two out-of-earshot teens shared a brief laugh - one that was noticeably louder and held longer by Nejire - Mirio ducked into the bush to comfort his friend. "Come on, Tamaki," he tried, "This is a good thing! You know how hard it is for Nejire to find people she can talk to! Half our class thinks she's too pretty to approach, and the other half are afraid she'll talk their ears off - literally! She won't stop being friends with us just because she made another one!"

"What if he's cooler than us?" Tamaki mumbled, wrapping his arms around his knees and curling up in a ball, "Or smarter, or stronger, or goes to a better school–"

"I'm gonna stop you right there, dude," Mirio interrupted, trying not to give away their position by laughing, "But he looks like a stiff breeze could knock him over. And what school out there is better than U.A.? Besides, don't you remember what I always say when you worry about other people's status?"

"'Nobody's cooler than you, Tamaki'," he quietly repeated.

Mirio snapped his fingers. "Exactly! We're gonna be fine, bro!"

The purple-haired teen was silent for a moment, so Mirio went back to spying on his friend and the scrawny kid.

Call him crazy, but… something was telling him there was something special about that kid.

Maybe it was the same 'something' that was making him wake up with chest pains and horrible nightmares filled with screaming specters.

"I don't know," Tamaki finally muttered, once again joining Mirio in their espionage mission, "I don't trust him. What if he tries to corrupt Nejire? Remember Aizawa's lesson on abusers and how they gain control of people?"

Mirio blinked. He focused his gaze on Izuku again, watching as he turned as red as a strawberry from Nejire running her hands through his curly hair. "...I don't think we have to worry about that either, Tamaki."

He groaned silently. "Am I a bad friend for not trusting Nejire now?"

He pat Tamaki on the shoulder reassuringly. "No, you were just looking out for her, like she would for us." Mirio fell silent for a second. "But I might be more than a little guilty of snooping when I shouldn't…"

Out in front of the gate, their conversation seemed to come to an end. Nejire pulled the boy in for a brief, tight hug before quickly rushing away down the street, leaving 'Izuku' standing in place, dumbfounded.

"We're gonna follow him home, though," Tamaki said, gobsmacked, "Right?"

Mirio nodded. "Absolutely."

–

Call him paranoid, but Izuku was starting to think he was being followed. It wouldn't be the first time he'd been stalked on the way home (even in middle school Bakugou and his lackeys had pulled this trick on him), but it was the first time he thought he might fall victim to a kidnapping.

Running into Nejire was a nice surprise, even if they had been talking over text messages for most of the day prior. She told him exactly what happened for her agency to send out the order for her to report, a fire started by someone leaving a fork in their microwave that ended up engulfing an entire apartment complex. No one was hurt, thankfully, but she seemed especially keen to share how the newly discovered aspects of her Quirk had helped her fight the flames (and rescue a family cat).

The amount of praise she heaped onto him during the conversation made him more than a little embarrassed, but in a good way.

After that, though, things started getting weird. She left with a wave and a hug for some reason, but all he was left with (after the blushing stopped, of course) was the odd feeling that even though she departed he wasn't alone yet.

He was quick to make himself scarce at that realization. Unfortunately, making himself scarce wasn't good enough.

Memories of last year, of being grabbed by a filthy green tendril, of his lungs burning and his world going dark as filthy bile wiggled its way down his–

Izuku took a breath. He was okay. He wasn't there anymore. That wasn't going to happen again.

Every so often, he'd see what looked like a spark of electricity out of the corner of his eye, or hear what sounded like suction cups from the building behind him. Izuku had absolutely zero clue what anyone would want with him - maybe they didn't know he was Quirkless - but it was certainly the first time since that diagnosis that he feared being abducted.

Even on the train he didn't quite feel safe. He may have been hallucinating, but he was pretty sure he saw someone watching him as he boarded his ride.

And now, as he walked home, he couldn't help but worry that his pursuers may start getting… antsy.

A flash of movement directly to his left had him running for the hills.

"I-I know you're following me!" Izuku shouted, not daring to look back as he sprinted, "I'll call the police! I swear!"

His apartment building wasn't too far away by now. If he was lucky he'd–

All of a sudden, there was someone in front of him. Izuku was running too fast to stop or move to the side, and so he found himself running straight into them.

Bad idea. They were built like a brickhouse, and he wound up with his ass on the sidewalk faster than he could think.

He prepared to scream, bite, kick - do anything to not wind up in the clutches of his would-be abductor–

"Woah, you okay there?" The figure asked, reaching down and offering a hand, "Sorry, didn't mean to knock you over!"

Izuku froze. Did kidnappers usually try to offer their victims assistance?

The sun kind of blocked out the person's face, but as his eyes slowly traced the figure's frame he realized that they were, in fact, as muscular as he thought they were…

And that they were also in nothing but their underwear.

That was what made Izuku start screaming.

"Hey, hey!" They tried, putting their hands up placatingly (to no effect), "Calm down, will you?"

Izuku scrambled backwards on his hands and feet, completely and utterly mortified as he fled.

He didn't get very far.

The man must have realized that this wasn't how an abduction was supposed to go, because he groaned as he looked down and remembered that he was in nothing but his boxers. "Agh, damnit!"

"P-pervert!" Izuku cried out, hoping to grab literally anyone's attention, "Flasher! Predat–"

"I'm not any of those things!" The man shot back quickly, "Look, I know this looks, uh, bad, but I can explain! Please!"

Izuku didn't really trust him. What if he was just waiting for his partner to make a move? He could see what looked like a purple-haired accomplice trying to hide behind a lamppost up ahead, was he just waiting for a signal?

Wait… was that guy wearing a U.A. uniform?

The one in front of him (who had blonde hair, sharp eyebrows, and small, blue eyes) patted the sides of his underpants, as though he were trying to check his pockets before realizing the state of his current attire.

"Damn it!" He swore, "I knew phasing here was a bad idea!"

He turned to his accomplice, who was still pretending to hide being a far-too-thin pole. "Tamaki! I need your Hero license real quick!"

As he called for the other boy, he shook his head fervently "No!" He called back, "I-I can't approach him! I can't imagine his head as a potato! It's not working!"

Izuku froze. Tamaki… phasing… wasn't that…?

"A-a-are you two…" he began cautiously, now (marginally) more confused than scared, "...N-Nejire's friends?"

Both men (although he was more inclined to believe that they were teenagers instead of adults now that he had a good look at them) froze at the accusation, with the purple-haired one, presumably Tamaki, looking ready to bolt.

The blonde - Mirio - smiled awkwardly. "Nejire talks about us?"

Izuku nodded, albeit very slowly. "U-uh… yes? M-Mirio and T-t-tamaki?"

He sighed, rubbing the back of his neck awkwardly. "That's us," Mirio confirmed, a sheepish smile on his face, "Sorry, this probably isn't the best first impression we could've had, huh?"

Izuku, still leaning backwards on the sidewalk, shook his head. "W-why were you f-following me?!"

"What are your intentions with our friend?!" Tamaki shot back loudly, still partially hidden by the lamppost - only to duck back as Mirio and Izuku both turned to look at him in disbelief.

"I-intentions?!" Izuku squeaked, "W-what are you t-talking about?!"

Mirio sighed again. "Sorry about him, um…"

The blonde looked at him expectantly, and Izuku gulped. Was he really going to give these strangers his name? A month ago, the answer would have been a resounding 'ABSOLUTELY NOT!'...

But Nejire trusted them, didn't they?

"...Midoriya Izuku," he finally said, eyeing Mirio with distrust.

The taller boy nodded. "Midoriya, got it." He placed a hand against his chest. "I'm Togata Mirio, and that's Amajiki Tamaki. Please excuse him, he doesn't get out very often."

"D-don't tell him that!"

Izuku stared at Togata in disbelief. "Why did you follow me home?" He repeated, louder this time.

Togata winced. "Yeah, I guess we should probably explain that, huh?" He tried to laugh, but Izuku was clearly not in the mood. "Well, to make a long story short we've noticed some, uh, changes around Nejire - good changes! - over the past few weeks, and we were just trying to figure out what they were! We, ah, stumbled across you guys talking in front of U.A., and we just sort of, you know, wanted to see what you were like!"

The nearly-nude teen offered Izuku a wobbly grin as he took turns looking between him and Amajiki. The purple-haired boy quivered beneath his stare, cracking like an egg as he cried out.

"It was Mirio's plan!" Amajiki wailed, pointing an accusatory finger at his friend, "I knew this was a bad idea!"

Togata rolled his eyes. "You were the one who wanted to follow him home!" He reminded, before quickly turning back towards Izuku. "So, how did you meet Nejire?"

He gave the teen a blank look. "P-please do not follow me home again. Ever."

"Got it!" Togata answered quickly, "We're sorry about freaking you out, Midoriya. This is all just one big misunderstanding, you know? We were just worried about our friend!"

Could it really be called a misunderstanding when he didn't do anything to warrant this response? Izuku frowned slightly. Maybe they just didn't trust him, or maybe they flat out just did not like him.

That wouldn't shock him.

"...Okay." He mumbled.

"W-what is your relationship with Nejire?" Amajiki called again, "A-are you replacing us as her friends?!"

Izuku gave him a strange look. "R-replacing you?" He repeated, "I d-don't even go to the same school as you guys. I met h-her a few weeks ago when we, um… ran into each other in front of U.A. S-she's my… f-f-friend, I guess. I don't have any i-intentions with her, w-whatever that means."

Togata stared at him for a moment, briefly making him fidget in place before he remembered that he was staring down somebody in their boxers in the middle of the street. Either way, he smiled after a moment.

"All right!" He announced, "I believe you!"

"B-believe me?" Izuku repeated, more than a little offended, "W-why would I lie about that? W-why are you even interrogating me about this? Why are you in your underwear?!"

Togata blinked, looking down and remembering once again that he was very close to being in his birthday suit. "...Touche," he replied, "But, ah, just hear me out for a minute please, Midoriya. Nejire's been different recently - again, in a good way - and we just wanted to make sure she was doing alright. You didn't hear it from us, but making friends isn't exactly Nejire's strong suit - not that it's her fault or anything! So when out of nowhere our best friend is suddenly smiling even more than usual, glued to her phone in class, and kicking ass in training, can you blame us for being more than a little invested in figuring out what, or who, in this case, has been making her that much happier?"

A warm flush spread across his face at Togata's words, slowly creeping up from his neck. "I-I'm sure that isn't all because of m-me," Izuku protested weakly, eyes darting to his feet, "W-we're just friends…"

"I dunno," Togata hummed, "You might be selling yourself short, dude. She looked pretty happy to see you earlier, and you seem like a good guy!"

Izuku finally pulled himself to his feet. "T-thanks? W-wait, how long were you watching us–"

Togata gave him a pat on the shoulder. "Don't mention it!" He grinned at Izuku. "Say, you wouldn't happen to–"

"Hey!"

A shout from across the street cut him off mid-sentence. An older woman stared down Togata, a disgusted look in her eyes. "What do you think you're doing in public wearing that?!"

Togata gulped. "Sorry ma'am," he called back, "I was just–"

"I don't care what your excuse is! What are you doing to that poor boy?!" She screamed back, "I'm calling the police!"

"Crap!" Togata groaned, "Not again!"

Izuku blinked. Again? This had happened before?

He spared Izuku a panicked glance. "It was nice meeting you, Midoriya," he said quickly, running back towards the train station in a hurry, "But I think I might've overstayed my welcome! I'll see you around!"

Amajiki gasped as Togata made a break for it. "W-wait, Mirio!" He shouted, already chasing after his friend, "Don't leave me behind!"

Izuku could only stare at their retreating forms, a million thoughts running through his head as he watched Togata and Amajiki disappear.

One stood out above the others, though…

And it was that Nejire had some weird friends.

—

A/N: This is the chapter I was referring to when I said that you should anticipate another shorter chapter. Next two should be a lot bigger! Hope I didn't make Mirio and Tamaki too OOC here but since I have no references I will assume I wrote them perfectly. Also more Nejire next chapter again, I know there wasn't much this time lol.

Let me know what you thought! Hope you enjoyed! See you next time!