Katsuki knocked twice on Juzo's dorm room and braced for the inevitable narrowing of eyes he would receive if the boy opened the door. There were realistically only two options, and he wasn't particularly looking forward to either of them.

"So, what are we doing here?" Daisuke asked as he leaned against the wall adjacent to the bathroom door, his tail curling around his feet to rest atop them. "You inviting Iida?"

"No," Katsuki answered quickly. "Or… maybe we should? But that isn't why we're here."

The door opened to reveal Juzo Honenuki, who immediately looked away from Katsuki and shook his head.

"Look, I'm not really in the mood t-"

"This isn't about earlier," Katsuki interrupted to shut the other boy down. "I'm here to talk to Iida. Is he in?"

"I'm here!" Tenya called before showing up behind Juzo in the doorway and adjusting his glasses. The boy was wearing a U.A. t-shirt and black shorts, showing off his disproportionate calves and the exhaust pipes embedded within them. He offered Katsuki a firm nod and put his arms behind his back as he stood up a bit straighter. "What can I do for you, Bakugo?"

"We want to talk to you in private," Katsuki let on as he nodded toward the empty hallway.

"We do?" Daisuke questioned with a raised brow.

"Very well," Tenya said as he stepped outside of the dorm room and allowed Juzo to close the door behind him. "What about?"

Katsuki cast a brief glance to either side of himself, making sure that they were truly alone before he spoke in a low voice.

"…there are cameras in the halls, right? You have access to 'em?"

Tenya furrowed his brows, looking wary of the question as he eyed Katsuki suspiciously.

"There are, yes, and I do indeed. For what reason?"

"We need to see something around a certain time period," Katsuki explained. "Can you get us the footage if I give you a time period?"

"I…" Tenya began as he watched Daisuke's face shift from one of confusion to understanding. "…I-I don't know if I can really… especially so early in the year, that is quite an odd demand with more than a little red tape around it. I would have to check with Professor Aizawa, and then submit formal paperwork t-"

"Then check with Professor Aizawa and bring a pen with you," Katsuki ordered. "We've got reason to believe someone's sneaking into dorms while people are out and rifling through their shit."

"What?" Tenya asked, his voice full of venom. "Who would…?"

"Hagakure would," Katsuki said without missing a beat. "And I think she's up to no good in general. Aki and Mineta have had things moved around in their room while they were out."

Tenya balked at the accusation, looking intensely uncomfortable as he raised his voice and tried to fill it with authority.

"Accusing my class representative counterpart of such a thing is a serious charge, Bakugo! Not to mention, gaining access to security camera footage would hardly be of help, given her Quirk!"

"Would be pretty obvious if a door just opened on its own," Daisuke offered with a shrug. "Or didn't close after someone let it go. You two have master keys for our floor in case you need to do an inspection, right? Mineta would have a rough idea of the time frame we need, and it would only be an hour or two. Come on, do us a solid, Iida. Our privacy might have been breached, and the alternative is Mineta setting up cameras in our room. I don't exactly want that to happen, even if it might be warranted…"

"He shouldn't be…" Tenya began, growing increasingly flustered. "Doing such a thing must go against something in the handbook, a-"

"Keep it down," Katsuki emphasized as he fixed Tenya with a glare. "For all we know, she could be trying to listen in right now. You know what else is probably against something in the handbook? Walking around the halls and campus completely naked, and I've caught her following me and listening in on conversations before. We just want to look over some footage of a specific hallway. Is that too goddamned difficult for you to help us with?"

"I…" Tenya started before hanging his head and finally lowering his voice. The boy let out a colossal sigh, his rigid posture deflating. "…Hagakure… she has told me of some family problems she has been having lately, and I know that some of you dislike her for her recent absences. To an extent, it is justified, but… she has reason for being so difficult to contact, lately. That cannot be the basis for starting a witch hunt against her specifically when there is no proof…"

"Are those family problems going to impact her ability to be a class rep?" Daisuke asked, trying his best to sound sympathetic. "Because that's not fair to us, or her. Issues within 1-A are going to come up, Iida, and this could turn into a much more serious one if she's actively spying on us. There's also the fact that if she's constantly missing, all of our problems will fall on you by default. Maybe someone else should take up the mantle."

"I do not know," Tenya admitted. "It's all rather serious, and… perhaps such a thing would be for the best, if this pattern continues. If you did catch her doing what you accuse her of, though, that could greatly expedite… you know for a fact she's been following you?"

"Ask Nejire Hado," Katsuki said as he folded his arms across his chest. "She was there when it happened. I don't really feel safe with her walking around, untraceable and capable of doing literally anything she wants."

Tenya removed his glasses and rubbed at his eyes as he let out another sigh, his voice a near whisper.

"…I understand your concerns, but… such accusations…"

"Are very serious, I get it," Katsuki snapped. "I'm not bringing this up for fun, or because it's easy."

"Not only that- this could be seen as Quirk-based discrimination, and that is a very slippery slope, Bakugo. We need to be extremely careful with how we approach this."

"You mean, you need to be careful," Daisuke corrected. "If you decide to approach it at all."

Tenya scrunched up his face as he looked back up at the pair, his expression one of exhaustion.

"May I ask what was touched…?"

"Some kind of journal," Daisuke answered. "Mineta was pretty upset about it, so I think it's personal. It was on a shelf above his bed, and then suddenly down on the mattress when he came back from lunch. I figured it just fell somehow, but… I mean, that does seem unlikely on a flat shelf, and with what Bakugo's saying…"

Tenya exhaled through his nose and gave Daisuke a nod. He jumped a bit as Juzo opened the door directly behind him, and took a step off to the side to let his roommate pass.

"…sorry," Juzo offered as he looked between his classmates. "Bathroom."

"…Honenuki," Tenya said as the other boy put his hand on the bathroom door. The masked student looked over his shoulder, offering Tenya his full attention. "Have you… noticed anything out of place in our room?"

"What do you mean?" Juzo asked.

"Things seeming to move around," Tenya explained. "Objects not being where you had left them, for example. A strange question, I know…"

"Not that strange," Juzo denied with narrowed eyes. "Some of my facial gear was out of place this morning. A mask filter was in its case upside-down atop the others, and the bag I keep it all in wasn't zipped completely closed. I figured you were just being nosy and couldn't resist rifling through it all. I wasn't going to say anything unless it happened again., since it wouldn't be the first time someone's done that sort of thing to me."

"I would never," Tenya began, looking offended before he blinked. "Wait- this morning? When this morning?"

"I noticed it after I showered," Juzo said. "You weren't in the room when I got back."

Tenya experienced a full-body shiver as he looked over at Katsuki once again.

"…I'll talk to Professor Aizawa right away. We're getting to the bottom of this and nipping it in the bud immediately."

"Yeah? Good," Katsuki replied. "We're headed down to the cafeteria if you want to join us afterward. Most of 1-A is there."

"Let's head down after Honenuki gets back," Daisuke asked. "I feel like we should watch the door until then if Iida is leaving now."

"Uh… alright?" Juzo offered, sounding confused. "Thanks?"

"I'll explain later," Tenya added. "Go ahead. I'll be back… at some point, tonight."

Juzo nodded and entered the bathroom, leaving his roommate with Katsuki and Daisuke.

"Right. Go on. We'll stay here for a few minutes," Katsuki said.

"Thank you," Tenya replied with a small bow. "And… please, keep this between the four of us, for the moment? I trust your judgment, Bakugo. You've more than proven yourself to have good instincts, and I owe you."

"Whatever," Katsuki said as he looked away. "Just get going. The sooner this is over with, the better."

"Agreed," Tenya said. "Enjoy your meal."

Katsuki turned his head to watch Tenya turn the corner, only to jump slightly as Daisuke suddenly spoke.

"He owes you?"

"Don't worry about it," Katsuki deflected. "It was a long time ago, and I was just doing what anyone that isn't an asshole should have done in the situation. He doesn't owe me a goddamned thing."

"…I wish more people saw this side of you. It's pretty clear you give a shit, no matter how many walls you put up."

"I give a shit when it matters," Katsuki clarified as he turned to look at this friend. "And I don't care who does and doesn't see this 'side' of me. First impressions are shallow bullshit. If someone wants to get to know me, they'll put in the effort over time. Even then, I might not bother."

Daisuke chuckled and folded his arms across his chest while shaking his head.

"I'd expect nothing less. Still, though… some people here just don't get you at all."

Despite his desire to simply table the discussion and fall silent while they waited, Katsuki found that he couldn't resist inquiring further. It was almost like an itch he couldn't reach on his own, bothering him in a way he couldn't quite explain.

"…the hell does that mean?"

"Mineta's not a fan after you set him straight with the girls," Daisuke said. "He talked some shit about you last night, and I just let him vent and get it out of his system before defending you. He's… got a colorful vocabulary, to say the least."

"Not as colorful as mine will be if he says something to my face," Katsuki threatened. "I don't give a shit what he thinks of me. He's a coward and a pervert."

"He's… listen, Kats, I don't think he's all bad," Daisuke tried, looking conflicted. "We talked a bit earlier today, and he's got some issues he's dealing with that I don't think he understands how to deal with in a way that isn't… uh…"

"Obnoxious?" Katsuki tried. "Shitty? Self-serving and disgusting?"

"…sure," Daisuke relented. "He's got a lot of work to do on himself, but the important thing is, he knows it."

"Doesn't make him special," Katsuki said with a roll of his eyes. "I've got issues and a lot of work to do, too."

"That's kinda my point, yeah," Daisuke said. "We all do. I see more in you than just the prickly exterior, and I see more in him than the slimy, irritating, self-proclaimed 'stud.' I think we'd be better off if more people on the floor gave him a chance. He's got to be here for a reason… right?"

Katsuki closed his eyes tightly as his own words from his conversation with Juzo came back to bite him in the ass. He made a noise that wasn't quite a sigh or a growl, but somewhere in between as he cracked his neck.

"…we've all gotta work together anyway," Katsuki said. "It's not like I'm gonna refuse to talk to him or go off on him unless he gives me reason to. If Mineta can redeem himself, then fine. I'll play nice. That being said, if he's giving any of the girls shit or just generally being an asshole, I will come down on him like a fucking hammer. None of the other guys on the floor except maybe Iida seem like the type to be as harsh on him as they should be."

"That's all I ask," Daisuke replied with a nod. "Thanks, man. I just want us all to get along and try to understand each other. Being misunderstood on a level where people have no idea who you really are is… it's not a great feeling."

"No, it's not," Katsuki confirmed as he gave the bathroom door some side-eye. "Is Honenuki taking a massive shit in there? We've got places to be."

"What, is talking to me one-on-one really that awful?" Daisuke teased with a smirk. "And here I thought you were my closest friend on campus."

"…yeah, well," Katsuki began as he leaned against the opposite wall. "Maybe. Maybe that wouldn't be so terrible…"

Author's Note:

She can't keep getting away with it.

Can she?

-RD