The walk down to the bottom floor of the dormitory building seemed like an eternity to Katsuki and a prison sentence to Daisuke. While the former remained tight-lipped and stuck to one-word answers to all of Mashirao's probing and well-intentioned small-talk questions, Daisuke took the opposite approach. The lizard-tailed boy put on a façade of good cheer, offering up details and forcing himself to keep the conversation going. Katsuki couldn't possibly have been less interested as they exchanged background information, and he paid no attention to the details. All he saw in Mashirao was another overly friendly stereotypical aspiring hero, and he was beginning to see a side of Daisuke that he hated. The notion that his friend could pivot his personality so quickly to hide his intentions didn't sit well with him, and he found himself losing respect for the other boy by the minute.

Katsuki hated being told not to rock the boat, and he equally hated people lying to him. By the time the trio reached the bottom step, he had reached his internal boiling point. He was done letting situations escalate into something he didn't want to deal with but would ultimately be responsible for fixing. U.A. University wasn't going to be like high school.

"Yeah, it's… looking to be a good year," Daisuke said awkwardly. "You seem to have all of your affairs in order, and like you're ready for the coming week…"

"As far as I know, yeah," Mashirao acknowledged as they assembled before the gym door. "Hey, before we head inside, is everything alright? You seem weirdly tense."

Daisuke made a noise of exasperation as he faced down the other student, suddenly finding it much harder to lie while directly under his gaze.

"I'm good, I j-"

"He's not good," Katsuki interrupted as he moved to stand off to the side between the two boys. "You're the last person he wanted to see this morning, even without knowing you."

Mashirao's expression quickly turned from that of someone among friends to a look more akin to a deer facing down an oncoming car. Daisuke rubbed a hand into the side of his cheek, biting his lip as he looked away from both of the other heroes-in-training.

"I don't really understand," Mashirao said slowly, "but I'm sorry if I did something to piss you two off? Should I go…?"

"No," Daisuke said quickly as he flashed an angry look at Katsuki, who returned the favor. "No, don't. You haven't done anything wrong, I'm just…"

"Out with it," Katsuki encouraged, his tone free of malice despite his annoyed expression. "Get it over with. You know why."

Daisuke wrinkled his nose and shook his head in defiance.

"Hey, we don't have to talk about whatever this is right now," Mashirao offered as he fought unsuccessfully to get his smile back on. He offered Katsuki a confused expression before turning his attention back to Daisuke. "Things are stressful enough with classes starting Monday."

"Bullshit," Katsuki rebuked. "Letting this fester is just going to make it worse over time. This is getting settled now."

"Alright, alright," Daisuke agreed as he put a hand up in Katsuki's direction. "Bakugo and I just got done talking about how I'm feeling… inadequate being here. My Quirk sucks, it's a burden, and it's been medically diagnosed as Inhibited between the two halves of it. I've been scared to death that Aizawa might kick me out since before I even auditioned. Last night, we found out that we have to do some sort of initial rankings between our classes. Then you show up this morning..."

"…with a more functional tail," Mashirao finished. "Out of nowhere, when you're already feeling awful about something you have no control over. So… bad timing."

"The worst timing," Daisuke acknowledged as he reached a hand up to scratch at the back of his head. "Not your fault at all… but I'm not exactly happy to see you right now. That's what's going on. I don't need or want a… I guess a rival? It's hard enough for me just being here and trying to keep up without a direct comparison point in the other class."

Mashirao took a moment to swallow and fidget in place, tapping his sneakered toes against the tile floor as he tried to parse what to say.

"…I get it," the boy admitted. "That's a lot of pressure you're putting on yourself… but we also haven't even started yet. You have no idea what I can do or how you compare."

"But I know what I can't do," Daisuke emphasized. "I know my limits, and they're not exactly impressive compared to what I saw during our combat trial with the giant robots. You were all doing awesome things, but I was just kinda… there."

"Then let me help you out," Mashirao offered. "I don't really want a rival either, but someone similar to train with? That'd be cool…"

"He can also control the wind in a limited area around himself, which gives him flight capability," Katsuki added. "It's not just the shitty tail- he's got some similarities with me, too. Aki, if you're willing to put the work in and this guy isn't actually an asshole, then the two of us can help get you up to speed. It's that simple."

"…I'm not an asshole," Mashirao reassured. "At least, I don't think I am…"

"I'm the asshole here," Daisuke admitted with a shake of his head. "And… thanks. Both of you. I'll take whatever help I can get, but I do want to say one thing- I'm not lazy when it comes to training. I'm not like this because I don't try. I suck at this because it's just… how my Quirk is. I'm sure I'll get better at U.A., but I've been busting my ass for years just to get to this point."

"And a lesser man wouldn't have made it," Mashirao pointed out. "C'mon, let's head inside and forget about all of this. Water under the bridge."

"Yeah, I'll be… just a second," Daisuke replied as Mashirao disappeared through the gym doors.

Katsuki had fully expected his friend to pull him aside, potentially before the conversation had even ended. He knew that Daisuke would have some words for him after he had forced the other boy's hand, but he didn't expect that hand to end up on his shoulder… or for Daisuke to look so apologetic.

"…thanks for doing that," Daisuke offered. "You suck… but yeah, thanks. That was… a lot easier than I would've guessed to just get it all out in the open right now instead of letting it turn into something it doesn't need to be."

Katsuki was quick to brush the hand off of himself as he looked toward the gym door.

"…don't hide what you're thinking, if you want to run with me," Katsuki warned. "I've had more than enough of that shit. I would've let things slide, otherwise."

"Well, I'm glad you didn't," Daisuke replied. "I'll keep that in mind, though. If you want full honesty, then I'll do my best. I wasn't trying to be deceptive, I just… didn't think it'd go like that. Fear and an aversion to drama, I guess."

"Those two things don't mix," Katsuki explained. "Don't be a pussy. Things are better now, right?"

"Looks that way," Daisuke agreed as he, too, looked at the door. "But we'll see how things go from here."

"Guess we will. Now go kick his ass in the boxing ring… or I will."

"…what could go wrong?" Daisuke asked rhetorically as he made his way inside.

Tamaki blinked awake, feeling oddly warm as he stared up at the ceiling of the main room in the dorm suite. He barely remembered making his way back up through the tower with Nejire, though the events of the previous night were slowly coming back to him. After much protest and a few failed attempts to clean his own wounds, he had finally relented and let her take over. Nejire had seen far more of him than he was comfortable showing her, but in the end, he was grateful for her help. Grateful enough that he had ended up cuddled against her beneath a throw blanket on the couch. There were gaps in his memory between undressing and falling asleep, but somehow, he had a feeling he didn't want to know what had happened in detail. He hoped that his stirring had gone unnoticed, but Tamaki knew otherwise.

"How are you feeling?" Nejire asked immediately, her head turning back to tilt her ear closer to Tamaki. "You were pretty beat up…"

"…pretty beat up," Tamaki answered as he stretched out ever so slightly. His hand brushed across Nejire's back, and he noticed that he could feel only skin against his fingertips. "Um… H-hado…?"

"…just rest," Nejire answered, shivering beneath his touch. "You're okay. We're both okay."

Tamaki took a few deep breaths as he pulled his hand back and guided it lower. He let out a sigh of relief as he discovered that he was at least wearing his boxers. Whether or not Nejire had anything on was still up in the air, and he was too afraid to check.

"…Togata… isn't," Tamaki said slowly. "I have to help him… but we can't contact him yet…"

"We aren't even supposed to be talking about it," Nejire reminded as she reached a hand out from beneath the blanket and groped about atop the coffee table. Eventually, she found a pair of infrared goggles and brought them up to her eyes before craning her neck to look around the room. "Clear… I think."

"Good," Tamaki answered. "What should we do? Just trust that he can handle himself?"

"…for now, that's just about all we can do," Nejire insisted as she set the goggles back down. "We just have to wait for him to return to us, and then, hopefully, he'll have a plan or some ideas. If he doesn't… we take over. We're not letting him do this alone either way."

"Good. I wasn't about to just… let things happen around us," Tamaki reassured. "I might have a way into the Shie Hassaikai. I'm going to start exploring my options. Probably meet with Mr. Toyomitsu…"

"That's a good plan," Nejire agreed. "Talk to Fat. I've got a lot to do today. I need to check in on Kaoruko, and Bakugo needs to meet with me. Maybe we should both talk to him."

"Kaoruko," Tamaki repeated as he tried to remember who Nejire meant through the haze of being half-asleep. "Awata. Bubble Girl. How is she…?"

"Not… great," Nejire admitted. "Physically, she's doing better. Mentally… it's a whole thing. Not a good thing."

"I wish I could do something to help," Tamaki offered. "Is there anything I can do to help you? Classes start up again soon. Very soon…"

"Yeah, and I've got a lot of stuff to prepare before then," Nejire grumbled. "I haven't even picked up my books yet…"

"I'll do it," Tamaki volunteered. "Give me a list of what needs to be done, and I'll cover for you."

Tamaki flinched in surprise as Nejire reached back and grabbed his hand, giving it a gentle squeeze.

"That would help a lot," Nejire said gratefully. "I'm not used to taking on so much responsibility and being spread so thin…"

"But you're handling it well," Tamaki let on. "You're making a big difference in peoples' lives."

"So are you," Nejire reminded as she gave Tamaki another squeeze. "Especially mine. I'm gonna grab a shower and then I'll change your bandages before heading out."

"You need to eat something," Tamaki pointed out as Nejire rose from the couch, taking the blanket with her and wrapping it around herself like a robe. Despite the panic that would normally come with his own exposed state, he was far more concerned about his friend's wellbeing. "I'll cook and have something ready by the time you're out."

"Thanks, Tama,' Nejire said as she gave him a nod. "We make a good team."

"Just make sure you remember that we are one," Tamaki said as he sat up, adjusting to his bandages. "See you soon."

Tamaki watched as Nejire strode off to the bathroom, taking the blanket in with her before closing the door. His imagination running wild, he stood up and headed into the kitchenette.

Author's Note:

More gym bros next time.

-RD