Katsuki Bakugo was not often exhausted, nor was he the type to simply 'take a day' or allow himself a recovery period from anything other than strenuous physical activity as needed to avoid injury. By the time he arrived back at U.A. University that night, however, he wanted nothing more than to collapse into bed and shut out the world.

It wasn't that helping Kaoruko with odds and ends was physically demanding- it was more emotionally draining in a way that he hadn't expected. Listening to her struggles and thoughts about the situation surrounding Shigaraki and Sir Nighteye, watching the ways in which her missing arm impacted her every movement, and not seeing her smile once despite how she used to appear in interviews took a toll on his mental state. By the time he and Nejire had gotten ready to leave, night had fallen, and the streets were packed with cars in a way that Katsuki hadn't seen outside of specific holidays. He could only assume that there was some sort of public mourning going on near to where All Might had given his address, as the sidewalks were also full of people.

The clogged nature of the streets had prolonged the car ride back to the University, and naturally, Nejire had insisted on checking up on him and trying to debrief throughout the journey. Katsuki wanted nothing more than to close his eyes and try to zone out. What he received instead was a litany of questions, reassurances, and a pounding headache. Even so, he couldn't bring himself to be upset with Nejire- in all honesty, he understood her concern… and to an extent, he shared it. Whether or not he was "okay" or needed anything in the coming days was a question that he couldn't answer.

Upon arriving back in the parking garage, Katsuki said a quick but respectful goodbye to Nejire and headed back for the dormitory building alone. He stepped into the elevator and rode the carriage up to Class 1-A's floor, the droning hum of the machine resonating with the ache in his skull. He kept his eyes closed as he went, doing his best not to think about anything other than falling into bed. It was late, he was wet from the perpetual rain, he didn't feel good physically or mentally, and dealing with Izuku could wait. There was nothing to stop Katsuki from simply putting himself to bed and ignoring all of his problems as he made it to the dormitory door and unlocked it.

Nothing but the roommate he had somehow totally forgotten about.

Eijiro Kirishima was lounging on his bed near the door, wearing only a pair of tartan-patterned boxers. The boy had a magazine about automobiles in his hands and seemed to be winding down for bed himself as Katsuki entered the room. He and Katsuki locked eyes for a moment as the blond entered the room, and their expressions immediately became exact opposites of each other.

"Hey, man!" Eijiro said as he closed his magazine and sat up. He tossed the small book aside to give his roommate his full attention as he drew an arm across his chest to begin a series of stretches. "Everything alright? I was gonna text you to make sure you were okay after everything that happened today, but I know you don't like being bothered…"

For a moment, all Katsuki could think to do was stare and scowl as he kept a hand on the doorknob. He loathed the other boy's friendly enthusiasm, especially as memories of the previous night and early morning came back to him. The fact that Eijiro's uncovered physique was impeccably muscular and completely unscarred also brought forth some ire, though Katsuki knew exactly how petty and unnecessary being annoyed by such a thing was. It was just another thing to tack on to the list, because he wanted to be angry.

"…I don't want to talk about it," Katsuki growled as he finally pushed the door closed and walked into the room. "I don't want to talk about anything with you."

Eijiro blinked twice in surprise as Katsuki took off his shoes and rolled off his shirt before making his way into the kitchenette.

"Dude… is something wrong?" Eijiro asked as he swung his legs over the edge of the bed and stood up. "Seriously, what's going on? We're gonna be living together the entire year, if there's anything I can d-"

"You could start by not being an asshole," Katsuki interrupted as he took down a glass from one of the cabinets and began filling it with water. Despite his annoyance, the words came out without any of the heat and anger he so often used to punctuate his mood. Instead, he just sounded tired in a way that he hadn't intended. "Do you even know what happened here last night?"

Eijiro suddenly got very quiet as he looked down at the floor, feeling ashamed.

"…I wasn't planning on staying with Mina all night, we just…"

"Yaoyorozu had to stay here," Katsuki said before taking a drink. He remained facing the sink, not wanting to see Eijiro's face in case it riled him up even more. "You basically threw her out of her dorm without warning and she had nowhere to go on night one. I had to offer to take her in so she didn't end up sleeping on the fucking couch in the lounge. You kicked one of the damned class monitors out of her own dorm and you probably don't even know her yet."

Eijiro let out a sigh and ran an awkward hand through his hair as he leaned against the back of the couch.

"Yeah, that's… I'm sorry, and I'll personally apologize to her. We probably should've talked about it with her first, and maybe not spent the night together before we all settled in…"

"Yeah. Just maybe," Katsuki snarked, setting the glass down next to the sink for fear that he might shatter it in his grip. With a harsh exhale, he turned around to face Eijiro and shook his head. "And don't even think about bringing your girlfriend here. I'm not putting up with that bullshit, especially with classes starting in a few days. The hero course is gonna be hard enough on its own without having to work around my own damned dorm room being available or not. Go transfer to Mineta's dorm and swap with Aki if you're just here to get your dick wet and cause problems. Or maybe I'll go ask for that anyway. It would probably work out better for both of us."

For once, it was Eijiro's turn to scowl as his shoulders tensed and his voice adopted an uncharacteristic edge.

"Hey. That's not fair, and you know it. Yeah, I made a mistake, and I'm owning up to it… but I'm not just here to party, if that's what you're thinking. I thought we got along alright over the summer, the few times we saw each other. I don't want to be hostile and have this whole thing turn ugly, Bakugo. We're still gonna be working with each other out in the field even if we did swap, and I… I think you seem pretty cool, alright? I don't want to ruin this already."

"Yeah? Well I thought I made it pretty clear, more than once, that this is exactly the kind of thing that would piss me off," Katsuki replied as he abandoned his drink and made his way over to his bed. He stripped off his shorts without a second thought and pulled back the covers, choosing not to pay attention to Eijiro any longer. "If you don't want things to turn hostile, then figure out how to stop making things needlessly complicated and shitty. I'm exhausted, today was a shitshow, and I don't feel like dealing with you or anyone else right now. This conversation is over."

Eijiro opened his mouth to say something as Katsuki climbed into bed, but thought better of it. Instead, he simply sighed and returned to his own mattress, where he laid down to stare up at the ceiling in silence.

Rumi Usagiyama stood on the roof of her apartment building alone in the moonlight. The rain had cleared almost an hour prior, and for all of her tossing and turning, she simply couldn't find sleep. Rumi was exhausted from moving things into and around Fat Gum's office and the situation surrounding Sir Nighteye's death, but even so, her mind just wouldn't quiet down. There were too many questions that were unanswered, too many loose ends up in the air, and too many people to call and check on in the coming days. Keigo had somehow managed to fall asleep, and so Rumi had left him down in their shared bed before making the trek up to the roof. She thought fresh air might help ease her mind, but instead found the cold air and sounds of the city nothing but additional stimulation.

"God damn it…" Rumi said softly to herself as she wrapped her arms around her chest. Her light purple silk pajamas did little to fight off the cold, but she had no desire to simply lay in bed and stare at the ceiling. "Why does this always happen?"

With a heavy sigh, the woman drew her phone from her pocket and checked the time. 2:31 AM. Rumi let out a frustrated groan as she leaned her elbows up onto the waist-high wall around the edge of the roof and began scrolling through her phone. Every news article was about Sir Nighteye, some more respectful than others. It didn't take long to find a shock piece with photos of the fallen hero and Mirio Togata placed side by side with the title "Fatal Fallout? The True Story Behind the Events Leading to Sir Nighteye's Murder." Rumi couldn't help but scowl at the article before turning her screen off and looking over the top of her phone.

A chill rippled down Rumi's arms and across to her spine that had absolutely nothing to do with the weather. Something was very wrong, though she couldn't quite put her finger on just what it was. Rumi squinted into the darkness beyond the well-lit street to a high-rise building a good quarter mile away. There was a small glint on one of the balconies far above her roof, and then pain.

Rumi's head felt incredibly warm for a moment before she registered what was going on. A chunk had been taken out of her right ear about midway down its length, and blood was seeping down into her hair. A moment later saw her phone flying out of her hand as something crashed into the device and sent it flying. Rumi very nearly lost a finger to the projectile before a third crashed into her side, blowing a hole clean through her midsection a few inches in from her side. Before a fourth round made it to her, she ducked beneath the barricade and scrambled off to the side, shaking and bleeding badly.

"What… the fuck.." Rumi stammered as she looked down at her shaking hand, her ring and middle fingers missing bits of flesh.

The hero's phone lay smoking several feet away, and an odd, deep blue spike with a pink spiral around it was embedded into the stonework of the rooftop not far from it. Rumi swallowed hard and ran through her options as her mind raced, trying to determine the best course of action. Another spike tore into the barrier to her left, tunneling through the concrete at high speed and piercing the doorway back down into the apartment complex. It had been timed as though she was crawling for the exit, and Rumi quickly realized that whoever was aiming for her was a professional.

Rumi paused to inspect her side, finding that the makeshift bullet had torn straight through her. Her entire abdomen was screaming with pain and bleeding badly to the point that she knew remaining on the rooftop would be a death sentence. No one was coming to help her, and the exit was being watched. The odds were against her, but the sniper was at a disadvantage- they had no idea who they were dealing with.

Rumi took several breaths, psyching herself up as she crouched behind the concrete wall. She focused through the pain, clenching her teeth and keeping her ears flattened back as she eyed up the far wall. With a final, deep inhale, she popped up and began to sprint for all she was worth. Another shot barely missed her back as she picked up speed and stepped up onto the edge of the barrier before launching herself off the roof and into a free fall over the street below.

Author's Note:

The hunt begins…

-RD