The trek to Moss and Mei's dorm was mercifully short, ending just around the first corner of the hallway. While the door was incredibly nondescript and simply labeled with a golden plaque denoting 'ROOM A-1', the interior was anything but plain. After being invited inside, the group shuffled into the space only to find an area the size of a typical classroom, though nowhere near as orderly. It was almost a tiny workshop in and of itself… though far, far less professionally maintained.

A single small bed shoved over in the corner was one of the only few hints that the room was meant to be a living space at all, alongside a closet and a single free-standing dresser overflowing with clothing. The walls were absolutely plastered with posters mounted at odd angles, most musical and others pornographic, with several of them old enough to be faded, peeling, or partially torn. All about the room were other various odd objects in random places- a guitar leaning up against the foot of the bed, a laptop left open on a table in the middle of the room, and a comically large dildo on the bookshelf the most immediately eye-catching.

Most of the rest of the space was occupied by various mechanical devices, workbenches, tools, screws, and varieties of tape unlike anything the first-year students had ever seen. Though none of them could even guess at what some of what was being worked on entailed, a few of the projects were rather obvious- namely, a variety of mechanical limbs that looked like they would fit Moss, and partially assembled firearms and weapons of other types. From appearance alone, several of the students got the feeling that the weapons weren't exactly up to code or even strictly legal, and the idea that they were squirreled away in an apparent student dorm instead of out with the other projects only served to reinforce that notion. Seeing the works out in the open in the room, though, left them all with confusing and conflicted thoughts… as did literally everything else on display.

"…okay, this is friggin' cool," Eijiro said with a wide grin as he immediately walked toward what appeared to be some sort of broken-down gatling gun. "You guys build stuff in here, too?"

"Don't touch it," Mei warned. "Don't touch anything that looks mechanical, actually. Some of this stuff could kill you, or worse."

"…worse?" Momo asked, lingering near the door and trying desperately not to look at the sex toy on the shelf. Everywhere she glanced, it seemed like something else scandalous or inappropriate popped up, including a few other lewd implements. "How could it do worse?"

"That's a matter of perspective," Moss let on as he approached one of the free-standing tables and swiped an old-looking socket wrench from it. "But yeah. This is where we live. The other, unoccupied dorms are… let's go with undecorated, and you guys can store whatever you'd like in there. We won't pry. Any time you need us outside of classes, you can probably find us out on the floor or in here. Just don't bother knocking if there's some random clothing on the door."

"Noted, and agreed on this place being cool," Mina echoed as she began looking over the various band posters. "You two have good taste."

"Subjective," Shoto said quietly as much like Momo, he tried to keep his eyes on either the floor or other people. "Where do we find Power Loader?"

"Here."

The sudden, gruff voice that echoed out behind Daisuke caused the tailed teen to jump and turn around only to find a tall, imposing figure had somehow managed to sneak up behind him. Power Loader stood in the doorway, hunched over and still occupying the entire space with his impressive frame. The workshop professor wore an incredibly heavy looking two-part yellow helmet resembling the angular jaws of an excavator's scoop, effectively hiding the majority of his face. A shock of long, raggedy orange hair flowed out from beneath the helmet and spilled down over his bare shoulders, as the man curiously elected not to wear a shirt. His lower body was covered by a pair of heavy-duty work pants, and he wore chunky, partially mechanical gloves that matched his helmet. There was nothing more distinctive about his appearance other than his bulging muscles befitting one who worked with heavy machinery… and the streaks of grease and oil pocking his exposed flesh alongside several scars, burns, and discolorations.

"Professor Maijima," Momo offered with an immediate polite bow. "A pleasure t-"

"None of that shit, just call me Loader," the bulky man offered with a wave of his massive glove, quite nearly smacking Daisuke across the face and causing the student to dip out of the way and take a few steps backward. "Moss. You have my specialty wrench?"

"Of course," the older student answered as he tossed the worn tool clear across the room. "It worked."

"'course it worked, it's mine," Power Loader answered as he caught the device in his glove and gave it a spin. "Customized tools work better, so long as there was a goal when they were made. You can have this thing once I leave or I'm dead, whichever comes first. This lot worth a damn?"

"Seems like it," Mei answered with an amused smirk as she hopped up to sit on one of the workbenches. "They're inquisitive, and their Quirks will be useful down here in The Hole."

"…The Hole…?" Daisuke asked, taking another step back from Power Loader.

"It's what we call the workshop," Moss let on as he leaned against an open spot on the wall, folding his arms across his chest. "Just not when we're first introducing it, since… well. Doesn't sound too welcoming."

"Who cares?" Power Loader asked rhetorically. "It shouldn't be welcoming. Stay the hell out of my kingdom unless you're useful. If you are useful… then take, use, destroy, and fuck around with whatever you'd like… unless it's mine, specifically. Then ask first, and do all of those second."

Eijiro blinked in confusion, copying Momo's bow in a sloppier fashion before jabbing a thumb into his chest.

"Gotcha. I'm, uh, Ei-"

"Eijiro Kirishima," Power Loader finished before extending a finger and trailing it around the room from individual to individual. "Mina Ashido. Shoto Todoroki, Daisuke Aki, and, amazingly, Momo Yaoyorozu."

"…amazingly?" the girl questioned, her shoulders tense.

"Your family's a bunch of assholes," Power Loader answered immediately, not bothering to give her any further attention. "Hopefully after your time here, you won't be. Same to you, Todoroki."

"I… yes, Sir," Shoto agreed, not wanting to fight back. "How did you already know all of us…?"

"Details are my job," the professor answered, giving the wrench one more spin before stashing it on his tool belt. "Something small gets ignored, someone down here could lose a limb."

One by one, the first-year students looked over to Moss and his set of mechanical prosthetics. He lifted his gold-plated arm and flexed the fingers, balling them into a fist as Momo looked away in embarrassment at being caught.

"…no, that's not how any of this happened," Moss said flatly. "I'm careful around machinery, believe it or not. Usually. My limbs are a story for another time."

"Especially when these kids have a schedule to keep," Power Loader added. "You two idiots have the walking tour handled? I don't feel like giving speeches right now."

"We'll handle it," Mei reassured. "Working on something fun in your office?"

"Fuck off," Power Loader answered with another sweeping, borderline dangerous swipe of his armored hand. The man turned and headed for the door, only to think better of it at the last minute and turn back to the younger students. Slowly, and almost as though it caused him great pain, the man stooped into a semi-formal bow. "…and welcome to U.A. University, you lot. We'll have some good times down here, so long as you don't piss me off. Looking forward to working with all of you. Have a good set of classes… though the next one won't be fun."

The burly professor trundled off into the hallway without another word, his heavy footsteps leaving Daisuke wondering how the man had possibly snuck up on him.

"…that was… interesting…"

"Is he always like that?" Momo asked, her expression making it clear that she hadn't yet recovered from the man's words.

"Yep," Moss said simply. "Maybe not your speed, but you'll get used to it in time. That's one of the best parts about U.A., actually- lots of different personalities, and everyone's encouraged to just kinda do their own thing, professors included. Things wouldn't run as smoothly down here with Present Mic or Midnight running the show."

"Especially not Midnight," Mei said with a smirk.

"Why wouldn't…" Shoto began, only to shiver and shake his head. "…on second thought, I don't want to know. I would like to clarify one point, though. Endeavor is an asshole, yes, but the rest of my family… they aren't. Not in the same way, at least. It isn't…"

"Hey," Mei said, her tone softening and taking on an almost motherly tone. "Only thing either of us, or Loader will judge you on is you. That's an iron-clad promise, alright? Everyone's got their own baggage, and we don't need to make yours any heavier. So long as you're cool, we'll be cool."

Momo took a deep breath, hugging herself all the while as she avoided making eye contact with anyone.

"…I do hope that offer extends to me as well. I'm sorry, for anything my family might have done to any of you…"

"What does your family do, exactly?" Mina asked. "I know they're rich, but…"

"Maybe save that for later?" Daisuke suggested, noting how Momo was becoming more visibly uncomfortable. "Let's not bring the mood down even more. Whose class are we headed to? Who doesn't Loader like?"

"Professor Akaguro, the new one," Momo answered, giving Daisuke a thankful half-smile for the diversion.

"…he's the guy with no nose, right?" Eijiro asked.

"…Eiji, don't be a dick," Mina scolded as she cuffed him upside the back of the head. "Yeah, that's him, and I get the feeling we should literally never bring that up. His class is… something about ethics?"

"Applied Hero Law & Ethics," Shoto recited. "It's an… interesting course, in theory. I do wonder what Power Loader has against Professor Akaguro."

"We've heard some of it," Moss offered. "Apparently there was big meeting before the year began with all of the professors, introducing the new ones and primarily focusing on All Might. Loader's got a habit of talking about whatever's on his mind, even if it's supposed to be kept on the down low. Apparently that Akaguro guy is pretty quiet and mostly keeps to himself. Doesn't like engaging in arguments of any kind, and just immediately folds when someone disagrees with him. Given that Loader loves to argue and debate literally everything, that rubbed him the wrong way."

"There's more," Mei reminded as she stood up off the bed. "He also uses a bunch of support items and wouldn't let Loader even see any of them. That's what really pissed him off. Total refusal to even consider optimizing his equipment along with apparently not trusting the two of us? That's rivalry material right there."

"…so he's the suspicious, secretive type," Eijiro mused. "Don't argue with him, and let him feel like the smartest man in the room. Got it."

"Don't be so sure," Daisuke warned. "His stoicism might be stemming from something else. I think the best move is not judging any of the professors before we really know them… Power Loader included."

"Listen to him," Moss advised. "And also- get moving. We'll do the full tour later on, given the detour things just took. Don't be late for that first real class… and especially not for a professor we can't help you with. Best of luck, kids."

"Well… you all heard the man," Daisuke said with a gesture toward the door. "Let's get moving. I have a feeling things are about to get really interesting…"

Author's Note:

Onward to Not-Stain's class…

-RD