Katsuki pulled down the overhead blocker as the U.A. towers appeared before him, glittering in the midday sun. Traffic had seemed to slow to an absolute crawl, and the boy grimaced as he managed to inch his vehicle forward just a few feet once again. Upon checking the mirrors, he found that the line of cars behind him was just as long as the seemingly infinite procession in front, and he leaned his head back into the headrest with a sigh. With an annoyed grumble, Katsuki slipped his phone out of his pocket and made a call before placing it upon the dashboard. The device rang only twice before a familiar voice came over the line, full of energy.

"Kacchan? What's up?"

"You there yet?" Katsuki asked.

"We just got into the parking garage," Izuku answered. "How about you?"

"Somewhere between ten minutes and the heat death of the universe," Katsuki growled. "Traffic's ridiculous. I left too late and got caught up in a line of everyone and their mother trying to move in. Probably literally."

"…you're coming alone?"

"Yeah, I'm coming alone," Katsuki snapped. "I borrowed Mom's car, and she's coming to pick it up from the parking garage tonight. I don't have that much to move in. Kirishima's bringing the TV, so there isn't anything huge I need someone else for."

"Gotcha. I'm here with my Mom, so we can wait for you and h-"

"No," Katsuki said quickly as he drove forward a few feet within the line of cars. "You're on 1-B. Just go in and get yourself figured out. Waiting for me would just slow things down and accomplish nothing."

"If you're sure," Izuku replied disappointedly. "I guess… good luck? We'll see each other inside, then. Hopefully traffic lets up soon."

Katsuki rolled his eyes and grabbed the phone off the dashboard.

"Yeah. Hopefully."

Katsuki moved to hang up the phone, only for the device to start vibrating in his hand. He spared a quick glance at the screen before accepting the call and placing it back upon the dashboard once again with a raised brow.

"…Aki?"

"Hey man," Daisuke answered. "Just call me Dai. If I'm judging right by the hair, I'm behind you."

Katsuki spared a quick glance up to the rearview mirror only to find a familiar redhead at the wheel of the vehicle behind his own.

"Seems that way. What do you need?"

"Nothing in particular," the lizard-tailed student replied. "Just figured I'd ask how things are, since we're both stuck in this jam and you're probably bored. How'd the rest of summer go?"

The image of a spectacled man appeared in Katsuki's mind. Though he hadn't been there to see it himself, he could so clearly visualize the man's jaw beginning to decay and slipping from his face as Bubble Girl had described in her report.

"…uneventful," Katsuki lied. "I guess I'm just… looking forward to this? I guess?"

There was a pause before Daisuke spoke again, during which time the cars moved forward yet another agonizingly small distance.

"…listen, man…" the other teen began. "It sounds like something's bothering you, but I'm not the type to be pushy and obnoxious. I'm guessing you probably don't want to talk about it, but if at some point you do… I mean, I'm down. Just let me know."

Katsuki's instinct to snap at his classmate was strong, but something held him back. He furrowed his brows as he tried to figure out just why he didn't have it in himself to tell Daisuke off. The truth of the matter was a rather simple thing, and yet, that didn't make it any less important. After Izuku had insisted that Katsuki reach out to someone from 1-A, Daisuke had promised not to bother him unnecessarily.

That promise had been upheld.

"Maybe," Katsuki replied. "But probably not. Just focus on what we need to get done today. You have a lot to move in?"

"Almost everything that's being shared between the two of us. Would you trust Mineta to decorate a room?"

An entirely different mental image filled Katsuki's head. The reactionary chill was so strong that he involuntarily shivered.

"…no. No, I wouldn't."

"Exactly," Daisuke agreed. "How about you? Need any help?"

"No, I'll be fine," Katsuki answered as he finally began to pull onto the campus proper. Various signage directed him toward a parking garage, and he began to follow a subset of cars headed in that direction. "I'm not bringing much."

"Lucky."

It was Katsuki's turn to pause as he read a sign posted near the front of the garage directing all first-year students to park on the top level.

"…if you need someone to carry shit, I can lend a hand…"

"I might take you up on that. See you up top in a few?"

"Yeah."

Once again, Katsuki hung up. As he slipped his phone into his pocket, he began to take a look around at what was going on inside of the garage. Several upperclassmen were parking, unloading, and milling about on the lower and middle levels. Most of the students were people Katsuki had never seen before, though he did see Nejire and Tamaki speaking to another hero-in-training off to one side. Nejire made eye contact with Katsuki and gave him a small wave along with a grim smile. He returned the gesture, feeling incredibly awkward. Within seconds, she was out of sight as he made a turn to ascend yet another ramp.

Upon reaching the top level, Katsuki coasted his vehicle into a parking spot on the far side of the upper level. Only one other car was parked near him, and a figure was bent over and rummaging through the trunk. Katsuki paid them no mind as he turned off the car and made a swift exit, popping his own trunk as he walked hurriedly toward his cargo. Just as he arrived at the trunk and prepared to make a grab for one of his suitcases, the student one car over straightened up from reaching into his own vehicle.

Katsuki did a double take as he looked over the unfamiliar student. The lanky boy's hair was incredibly similar to his own, though he wore it down in a shaggy style rather than spiking it up like Katsuki. His eyes were wide and looked almost perpetually frightened, highlighted by thin black markings all around their edges as though he was wearing eyeliner. Despite his rather odd natural features, the most striking thing about the student was his mask.

Upon the newcomer's face was an elaborate device that tightly hugged his jawline from about halfway up his nose downward. The center was made up of a black mesh for breathability, while the sides were a bright, eye-catching orange. Upon the sides were black ports resembling those upon a gas mask, and the entire device was secured to the boy's head by a rubber strap that disappeared back into his messy hair. As he spoke, his voice came out somewhat muffled, though there was some sort of amplifier within the mask that made the sound audible while also adding to its distortion.

"Uh… hi," the student said hesitantly as he stood up a bit straighter. "You're a first year, too?"

"Yeah," Katsuki answered as he slid one of the suitcases toward himself and propped it up on the edge of his trunk. "1-A. You?"

The boy's eyes widened, giving off the impression that he had become even more frightened by the revelation.

"…me too. Juzo Honenuki…"

"Katsuki Bakugo," he answered as he turned his head to watch Daisuke pull up and park beside his car. "He's in 1-A, too."

"Oh," Juzo replied before swallowing hard. "That's good…"

The sound of a car door closing announced that Daisuke had departed his vehicle. His heavy reptilian tail dragged across the concrete as he walked around to meet the two other students with a pair of sunglasses propped up into his hairline.

"Hey, man," Daisuke said to Katsuki with a nod and smirk. "Daisuke Aki," he added as he gave Juzo a friendly smile and extended a hand.

"…Juzo Honenuki…" the boy said again as he took the hand and shook it. "We're in the same class, apparently."

"Cool, cool," Daisuke acknowledged as he withdrew his hand and slipped it into the pocket of his torn jeans. "See anyone else from the gang on the way up?"

"I wasn't really looking," Katsuki answered.

It was the truth- from the moment he had seen Nejire, Katsuki had tried to shut out all thoughts other than finding a parking spot as far away from the main crowd as he could. He didn't like the thoughts that seeing her facial expression ushered in.

"I saw a few, but I haven't met any of them," Juzo added. "One of the girls was on the phone, and she looked… really, really upset. I think something's going on. That's why I parked over here."

"One of the girls?" Daisuke echoed. "Describe her?"

"Uh…" Juzo's shoulders rose slightly as Katsuki and Daisuke looked at him expectantly. "Long… green hair, in an elaborate knot? Big eyes?"

"The frog," Katsuki said immediately.

"…Asui," Daisuke corrected as he gave his friend a disappointed look. "We should probably go and check in on her, if she's still around."

"She was parked over there," Juzo replied as he pointed across the lot to a lime green van. Two girls stood near the car, seemingly deep in a heated conversation. "The one with the wings wasn't there before…"

Katsuki followed Juzo's finger, only to see Amaya standing next to Tsuyu's vehicle with her hands on her hips.

"That's not a good sign."

"No, it isn't," Daisuke agreed. "Let's check it out."

As Katsuki opened his mouth to tell the other two boys to leave it alone, a blast of green, swirling wind rocketed Daisuke up into the air. As the redhead sailed across the lot, Juzo seemed to melt down into the concrete itself. The stone rippled and bubbled as Juzo slipped through the ground as if he was swimming, leaving Katsuki to watch while the surface deformed and then snapped back to its original smooth state. The two boys were next to Tsuyu and Amaya within seconds.

Katsuki chose to walk instead, his hands in his pockets as he muttered obscenities about wasting time.

By the time he arrived on the scene and entered earshot, introductions had clearly been made and Amaya had her arms folded across her chest as she glared at Tsuyu's phone.

"…is fucking bullshit, Tsu. Once is understandable. Twice is obnoxious. Three times?"

"…it's five," Tsuyu said, sounding equally annoyed.

"Even worse," Amaya declared. "This is ridiculous. I wouldn't even bother talking to Iida. Go straight to Aizawa after we get everything else sorted out."

"What's going on?" Katsuki asked. "We haven't even moved in yet, and there's already drama?"

"It's nothing new," Tsuyu replied as she gave Katsuki an apologetic look. "Hagakure isn't here again. I'm responsible for bringing a lot of stuff to our dorm, and 'something came up', so I'm stuck doing it alone or putting the burden on other people. She barely even apologized. It sounded more like moving in was the inconvenience than whatever she's got going on."

"Again?" Juzo asked. "It's the same thing over and over?"

"Hagakure's been ghosting Tsu all summer," Amaya spat. "Asking her to take care of shit while she runs off to work on 'family matters.' I'm not saying we need specifics, but I am saying that the move-in date was set months ago, and she's leaving her roommate high and dry. She's one of our class leads. This is supposed to be her job."

"It's not a good look," Daisuke added as he shook his head. "And something sketchy is definitely going on. Sketchy, or uncomfortable to the point where she's embarrassed to talk about it, but I can't really see how that would lead to her just completely disappearing like this over and over. At this rate, she won't even show up for class."

Katsuki cracked his neck and shook his head.

"…my family went through a bunch of shit this summer... and so did Jiro's. If my situation was impacting my ability to do hero work or screwing over Kirishima, I would've handled things differently. This doesn't sound like family drama. This sounds like she's bitten off more than she can chew and is prioritizing her life away from U.A. instead of her job here."

"It does," Tsuyu agreed as she gave Katsuki a pointed look. "But I also don't want to assume anything about my classmates without knowing exactly what's going on. Maybe there is a legitimate reason, and she's sneaking around because she has to. I would understand that… once she bothered to explain it to me. Maybe I'll find out when she actually comes to the dorm."

"Maybe," Amaya mused as she walked around the vehicle and began peering in the windows at all of Tsuyu's cargo. "Or maybe she's just an inconsiderate bitch and someone else should be the second class rep. Someone reliable that has a knowledge of how this whole hero thing actually works."

"Well… whatever the answer is, you've got literally half of 1-A here to help you move in," Daisuke said as he flicked his sunglasses down to cover his eyes with a grin. "Right, people?"

"Right!" Juzo answered immediately as he checked Katsuki and Amaya's faces. Neither of them looked particularly amused. "Uh… right…?"

"Of course," Amaya agreed. "What kind of hero would just leave a teammate with a problem like this? You've got a lot of shit to move, girl. Let's get to it."

"Thanks, you guys," Tsuyu replied with a small bow. "I'm so sorry to hold you all up. This shouldn't be your problem at all."

Katsuki pinched the bridge of his nose and closed his eyes for a moment.

"…whatever," he added as he let his hand drop and gave Tsuyu a firm nod. "Let's get going…"

Author's Note:

That just leaves Ojiro and Tokoyami to be introduced.

For now.

-RD