Rizumu was quick to slide off the bed and stand, leaving her sword behind as the two men entered the room. She gave a quick bow to Arowana before turning her attention to Overhaul with a frosty glare.

"I have the situation under control," the woman insisted as she narrowed her eyes. "I was in the process of determining whether…"

Rizumu fell silent as Arowana raised his knobby, unoccupied hand in a bid for silence. His expression bore no malice toward the woman, and he spoke with a dignified calm.

"And I am here to speed that process along," the man declared. "Rise, Togata, and face me."

Mirio swallowed the golf ball sized lump in his throat and got to his feet to stand before the much older man. Seeing him standing for the first time, Mirio was surprised to find that the leader of the Shie Hassaikai was even taller than him, and his musculature was just as impressive despite his age. Overhaul stood off to one side of the man, holding a long pipe from which smoke lazily drifted up toward the ceiling.

"What happened tonight…" Mirio began, choosing his words carefully as his eyes were drawn to the small sphere between Arowana's fingers, "…we…"

"You're nervous," the old man pointed out as he eyed the beads of sweat clinging to Mirio's hairline. "Perhaps this will help."

Mirio watched with confusion as Arowana held out the small, marble-like object toward him.

"Is that…?"

"Your friend," Arowana confirmed. "Go on. I am a reasonable man."

Mirio hesitated for a moment before gingerly plucking the ball from Arowana's fingertips. The urge to simply flee was overpowering, and yet, something stopped him. He knew that it couldn't be that easy, and he would have no way of taking Tamaki with him if he were to simply shift through the floor. Besides- the infuriated expression in Overhaul's eyes alone was enough to give Mirio a bit of satisfaction after the man had complicated things so much.

"I… don't know what to say," Mirio admitted. "Thank you…"

Arowana merely nodded before reaching his hand out to the side. Overhaul deposited the pipe into it without a word.

"As I said- I am a reasonable man. However, I find it quite unreasonable to abide tonight's failure without proper explanation. It is perhaps even more unreasonable to continue to allow you to linger here when your position and motivations have become so suspicious. So far as I can tell, you have brought no benefit to our organization thus far. You're bordering on termination, Togata… and I will give you this one chance to stave it off. Do not waste it."

Mirio didn't want to know what "termination" entailed, though his imagination refused to let him simply brush the word aside. He rolled the orb containing his friend gently in his palm, stalling for time as he tried to think. Rizumu stepped forward to stand beside him, her hand upon his shoulder.

"…don't you think that's a little much?" Rizumu asked. "I'm sure you already know what happened tonight, thanks to Overhaul… but none of us know why. There's a good chance that Togata doesn't know, either. Give him a chance to prove his loyalty."

"That in and of itself is the problem," Arowana mused before taking a puff of his pipe. "This mission was that chance… and with each additional one comes an opportunity to betray us. Perhaps tonight was his first attempt, which ended in failure. What if the second succeeds?"

"He almost got her killed," Overhaul chimed in. "I didn't have time to tell you, b-"

"That isn't relevant," Rizumu interrupted. "He made a mistake, and that's between the two of us. We're working on moving past it."

Arowana eyed Rizumu suspiciously and blew out a ring of smoke.

"…I see. You are correct about one other matter, besides my knowledge of the events- the 'why' is indeed missing. At the moment, I am most interested in why you want to continue this line of work, Togata. Explain to me what you want out of this. Your actions and your tenure here don't seem to line up at the moment. If you can make them align, then perhaps there's a place for you here yet."

It was a question that Mirio had been dreading, perhaps even more than an explanation of what had happened at the cannery. He had tried to put it into words time and time again for multiple different people in the organization, and each time, he had come away totally unsatisfied with his answer. Explaining such a thing would only leave him more unsatisfied, and he had a feeling that if Arowana felt similarly, he, and likely Tamaki, would end up "terminated."

"…what if I showed you, instead of trying to explain?" Mirio began. "What if… I went all-in?"

"As you've been claiming to be doing since you arrived?" Overhaul asked. "An empty promise. Another delay in explanation."

"Let him finish," Arowana instructed.

Mirio watched the swirling smoke around the man distort and wrap around him in an unnatural way. Though he didn't know what exactly was happening, he could tell that something was off.

"…what if I leave U.A. entirely for this?" Mirio offered, his heart sinking in his chest as he offered the only gambit he could think of. "Work for you full-time. Get more involved. Sever my ties to the hero community entirely."

Suddenly, the smoke seemed to stop its motion in midair, lingering in place as Arowana hiked a brow.

"…an… interesting proposition… but I believe I asked you to bring me information on All Might. Your position at U.A. could be useful to me, if you managed to be successful with your reconnaissance efforts."

"Right…" Mirio replied, crestfallen. "Then… to be honest, I just want to help people. People that need help, never got the assistance of heroes when they needed it, and can no longer rely on hero society. I know that the Shie Hassaikai plays a part in that, and that's why I'm here. I don't have a better explanation."

"What's going on in here?" Dabi asked as he appeared in the doorway, looking annoyed.

"Leave," Overhaul commanded as he turned to face the other man. "This has nothing to do with you."

"It's his room," Rizumu snapped.

"Provided by whom?" Overhaul replied. "There is no reason f-"

"Enough."

All eyes turned to Arowana as they awaited a verdict. Suddenly, the levitating smoke dissipated, and he gave Mirio a hard look.

"Take your friend and go. Await instructions before you return here. It will be a matter of days. You will receive your next orders then."

"Master…" Overhaul began, only for the man to raise his hand for silence again.

"Go."

Mirio moved immediately, his shoulder brushing Overhaul's as he left the room. Rizumu made eye contact with Dabi and gave him a nod, after which he turned to follow Mirio.

"…with all due respect," Overhaul began, clearly seething behind his mask, "is this not practically suicide for our organization? His friend will have questions. Our entire operation will be exposed to the professional heroes at U.A.."

"And what will they find here, if they come knocking?" Arowana asked calmly. "Who's to say he hasn't already shared that information? Let them come- we stand to gain something from such an encounter. Besides… his movements are being tracked while at U.A.. I have a plan for him… and for anyone else I find to be disloyal within our organization."

Mirio kept a tight grip upon Tamaki's sphere as he hurried through the underground maze of the Shie Hassaikai headquarters. Fortunately, he had become familiar enough with the tunnels that he knew which halls to follow to reach the exit. He managed to make it up and about twenty feet beyond the staircase leading to the above-ground derelict warehouse before a voice called out to him from behind.

"Hey!"

Mirio came to a sudden stop. He knew exactly who it was, and he knew that there was no easy exit without making the situation awkward. What he didn't know, however, was whether or not Dabi already knew about the events of the evening. No one else was around on the bottom floor of the darkened warehouse as Dabi shut the trapdoor behind himself. Seeing what may have been his only opportunity, Mirio turned around and decided to approach the other man.

"Hey," Mirio began, keeping his tone light. "We should probably talk…"

"Yeah, we should," Dabi agreed as he pulled a cigarette from his coat pocket. With a flicker of blue flame at his fingertips, he lit the stick and pressed it to his lips. "What the hell happened back there?"

Mirio hesitated as he watched Dabi blow a steady stream of smoke from within the slits upon his cheeks. A gentle breeze through the ruined walls of the warehouse carried the grey clouds back around Dabi's back, where they seemed to impact a surface within the air. The smoke briefly wrapped around the invisible barrier, as though curling around something before it dissipated a few feet away. Something about the situation didn't seem quite right, and Mirio couldn't take his eyes off the spot.

"…or just don't say anything, I guess," Dabi replied with a shrug and wave of his hand as he turned around and began to slowly walk back toward the trap door. "Things getting too complicated for your little charade?"

"No, I…" Mirio replied as he watched one of Dabi's coattails brush unnaturally against something as he walked. "Dabi, are we alone?"

Dabi stopped walking and looked back over his shoulder before narrowing his eyes and doing a full spin as he visually swept the area.

"Yeah? Looks that way to me."

The trap door opened slightly, slamming back against its frame. Mirio wasn't convinced that the heavy door could be moved by the wind filtering in through the holes in the warehouse's walls.

"I don't think we are," Mirio insisted as he kept his eyes on the doors. "I want to talk to you about something, but I don't like this. Something's wrong. There's somebody else here, I swear th-"

Without warning, an arc of blue flames flew from Dabi's free hand as he swept it around himself in a circle. Scorch marks manifested on the concrete floor all around him as the fire danced through the air, just barely dying out before reaching Mirio.

"Not anymore."

"Maybe not," Mirio agreed. "Is there somewhere we can go? The club!"

"…seriously?" Dabi asked as he took another drag. "What, you wanna go see some tits after botching a mission? Doesn't sound like you."

"I know, and I'll explain, but… please," Mirio asked. "I need somewhere to talk to you and Tamaki. Somewhere I know we'll be safe."

"Yeah," Dabi agreed. "Fine. Whatever… but this better be good. I'll tell Riz to get up here and go get the car. Who the hell's Tamaki?"

"Thank you," Mirio replied with a desperate sigh. "He's… my closest friend. Another hero-in-training, though I don't think I'm going to fit that description for much longer. Arowana wants me gone until we get further orders."

"Sounds like you fucked up big time," Dabi said with a grin as he approached and clapped a hand onto Mirio's shoulder. "Been there, done that. I'll hear you out… but we're dropping your friend off at U.A., first. We don't need a hero in our penthouse."

"Fine, that's fair," Mirio agreed. "Whatever keeps him safe…"

Dabi couldn't help but laugh as he reached into his pocket and took out his phone, beginning to text Rizumu.

"I wouldn't say he's safe, after all this. You aren't, either. But that keeps things interesting, doesn't it?"

"I'm getting a little tired of 'interesting'," Mirio replied as he formulated an idea. "If we're going to U.A., though… I'll need to make a stop inside. It'll be quick, I promise. It's for our safety. All of us."

Dabi raised a brow and took another puff as the trap doors opened, revealing Rizumu.

"…weirder and weirder. You've got my attention, if nothing else."

"What's going on?" Rizumu asked as she moved over to the pair. "I was on my way up here anyway when I got your text. Where are we going?"

"U.A.," Mirio replied. "And then the club, afterward. I want to talk to you both about… what happened."

Rizumu let out a small laugh and punched Mirio in the shoulder.

"Well, you've got balls. Be right back."

Mirio barely reacted to the punch as he watched the woman jog off toward the parking lot. He couldn't take his eyes off the trap door as he and Dabi waited.

Author's Note:

Looks like Mirio has a plan. Find out what it is next time.

-RD