"Do I even want to know?"

Aizawa Shota wasn't sure he even wanted to know what was going when he walked in on the scene of Present Mic screeching while Masami stood by the side watching with a deadpan look and a sweat drop. The girl looked pretty done with her teacher. And, for once, Aizawa could sympathize. He had been dealing with the man for years after all. At least somebody else finally understood his pain.

"Mic-sensei f-forgot to have the class choose the c-class rep today," Masami sighed, hanging her head in exasperation. She was now in desperate need of some ear plugs and Present Mic was to blame. She actually did have a pair but had unfortunately left them in her locker at the café. So now, she was just forced to suffer. Though, she was already suffering enough, even without Mic yelling.

The meeting had definitely not gone the way she had hoped. She had hoped to be in and out of there fairly quickly with minimal questioning. But alas, she knew that such an occurrence would be too good to be true. It was a pain in the ass, but somehow, the outcome of the meeting didn't particularly surprise her. The world always did seem to find a way to screw her over after all. She'd have to find a way around some of the more troubling aspects of this situation…

Masami was too young for this shit.

Meanwhile, Aizawa just wasn't emotionally involved enough to deal with the shit he was being forced to put up with. "Just leave him," He sighed, waving the daughter of his former classmate over to follow him as he walked off down the hallway. He wasn't sure how he had managed to get himself stuck in such a situation. Honestly, the idea of being the temporary guardian of some timid teenage girl seemed like a bad idea as well as a pain in the ass. If it hadn't been Nezu asking, *cough* demanding *cough*, he probably would have declined. In fact, he was still thinking of a way to convince the rodent like principal that it was a bad idea. But, it's not as though it was the kid's fault, so he supposed he'd deal with it for now.

"Hah! As if you could lose me so easily, Shota!" And just like that, Present Mic had gained the pep back in his choice as he caught up to the two with ease.

"If only…"

Mic only laughed off Aizawa's words and deep sigh, already used to the dreary man's attitude. "Besides, we can use my car to go pick up the Little Listener's possessions!"

Aizawa sighed to himself once more, internally admitting that it would probably be more efficient to go pick up Masami's stuff by car. He normally walked from his apartment to work seeing as it was less than a ten minute walk away, so using his car was kind of out of the question. And none of the trains ran all the way to Shirakumo, so it was either hitch a ride with Mic or be stuck walking. Neither option sounded very appealing… But still…

"... Alright."

Masami sweat dropped at how easily Aizawa gave in. Sure, she understood why. Walking was more of a pain in the ass to others than it was for her. Still… She wasn't exactly sure she wanted to show anybody where she lived in the first place. She didn't really have enough possessions to warrant taking a car. She only kept a few things at her place. She tried to keep only a few things there while she kept stuff like clothes at work. Anything she did keep at her place was fairly well hidden, too. This was mainly due to the amount of squatters that would show up at her place while she was gone and take anything that seemed remotely valuable to them. Masami couldn't exactly be mad at them for doing so, either. After all, the vast majority of people were under the impression that her home was just an abandoned building with no one living in it.

Unfortunately, however, Masami's opinions didn't matter much as she was sat in the back of Present Mic's car. A lot of people would probably consider an occurrence like this a dream come true. Masami, however… Masami was the opposite. She could practically feel the awkwardness in the air as Mic started driving. There was her, who was stiff as a board at the present moment, Aizawa, who looked like he had better things to do, and Present Mic, who still hadn't stopped talking. Masami faintly wondered if he couldn't read the mood. The awkwardness just seemed to encourage him to talk even more…

"Ah, right!" The blonde chatterbox seemed to remember something as he pulled into traffic. "Where in Shirakumo are we going again?"

Ah.

Masami sweat dropped at the realization she had neglected to mention where exactly her place of habitation existed. Quickly and quietly, she managed to utter out an address and some simple directions. And just as quickly, they were on their way to the place Masami called home.

It wasn't really much of a home, but it was what she had. It wasn't all too bad either considering she rarely spent her nights there. It was one of the reasons she had never just gone out and tried to buy a house or apartment. She had enough money, though, thanks to her occupations. Masami just didn't really see the point in getting a place that she'd rarely be at. There were plenty of better things for her to spend her money on.

"Um, Hideyoshi?" Present Mic paused a bit as he gained the girl's attention. "Are you sure this is the right way?" His question was understandable. After all, at the present moment, they had passed by many buildings that looked like they were having to be reconstructed, and not by professionals. There were people crowding the area as well, looking up at the partially destroyed buildings, and they didn't exactly look the healthiest either. Well, they didn't really look sickly or anything, but they definitely didn't look tip-top shape.

Masami could only sigh at the sight. "Y-yeah…" She was already on her phone and texting multiple acquaintances in the area. The buildings had definitely not been in that condition in the morning, so it had to have happened some time while she was at school. "Apparently, earlier today, a l-little girl discovered th-that her quirk al-allows her hair to explode, s-so that's why everything seems so dis-disorderly right now." Her acquaintances had been quick to get her the information after receiving her text.

"Were there any casualties?" Mic asked worriedly. Even Aizawa looked back at the girl, whose attention was focused on her phone, a bit curiously. There was a lot of damage, and it wouldn't be surprising if there were a great deal of injuries.

"S-surprisingly enough, no," Masami sighed a bit in relief as she read her text messages. It wasn't all that often that situations around her ended up without casualty. "Repairs should be f-finished within the next d-day as well."

"You seem to be pretty well informed," Aizawa noted with a raised brow.

"... I-I have connections…" Masami stated 'innocently', looking away from the suspicious stare that came from her teacher. It's not as though it wasn't true or anything. She made it a point to know almost everything that was going on in Shirakumo. Thus, her phone is filled with the contacts of many of the city's residents. "Ah! St-stop right there!"

A bit surprised, Mic slammed on the brakes, jolting the three forward as the car pulled to a stop. After a second or two, the teachers finally took notice of the building that they had stopped in front of. It… it wasn't exactly in the best condition…

"Um, Hideyoshi?" Mic started out hesitantly, not wanting to accidentally offend the girl. "Are you, uh, sure that this is the right place?" He could only blanch a little as he received a confirming nod.

The building itself was still intact, but there were boards covering the windows, cobwebs everywhere, and the door seemed to have knocked down. It was basically the perfect picture of a haunted house. It honestly made Mic a bit hesitant to go in. He may or may not have a slight fear of ghosts.

"Ah, um, y-you guys don't have t-to come in if you don't w-want to," Masami reassured them after noticing the hesitant look on the blonde's face. She was already stepping out of the car along with Aizawa, who wasn't really that fazed. Sure, he was a bit surprised that she was living in such a dump, but to each their own. She seemed to like it well enough. "I-I only have a few things to gr-grab anyways. I'll b-be in and out within a m-minute or two."

And with that, she darted into the building without paying attention to the replies of the teachers behind her. Aizawa had just nodded. They'd probably just get in the way anyways. It's not like they knew where she kept her stuff, and somehow, he doubted that she had all that many belongings in the first place.

"O-oi, are you sure it's okay for her to go in on her own?" Mic questioned, looking up at the building that looked like it was on the verge of dilapidation. "That place looks completely haunted!"

Aizawa didn't even get a chance to reply before they were interrupted by a group of three nearly identical, delinquent looking figures.

"That's because it is haunted."

Mic froze at the proclamation. He had not signed up for anything paranormal on this trip!

"What do you mean?" Per usual, Aizawa wasn't fazed, more curious than anything going by his raised brow. He, personally, didn't believe in ghosts. He could always think of logical reasons to explain the phenomenon away. Besides, if Masami was anything like her mother, Aizawa doubted that she would live in a haunted house.

The three men looked at one another as if contemplating whether or not they would tell. In the end they all gave a unanimous nod to each other before turning back to face Aizawa.

"From what we hear," They started in unison, speaking in hushed voices as though to keep any passerby from hearing. Though, Aizawa wasn't sure who would hear. A majority of the city's residents seemed to be at the site of the partially destroyed buildings. "In the middle of the night, you can hear the tortured soul of a young girl screaming helplessly." At this, Mic's face became even paler. He could practically feel his soul trying to come out due to the sheer horror he was feeling.

"One of our friends actually heard it once, and they went to go check it." They started speaking separately.

"However, as soon as they took a step into the building, the screaming stopped."

"And it's been the same results for anyone who tries to investigate."

"Now, people tend to just stay away from the building altogether."

"But the occasional brave squatter will stay the night there every once in a while."

At that, Aizawa blanched a little, and he now had a complete understanding of why Nezu wouldn't want Masami to be staying in a place like this. He didn't have a prejudice against squatters or anything, but he didn't imagine it very safe to be living in a place where anyone could walk in at anytime.

Honestly, he was sure that he'd never be able to understand the recklessness that seemed to run in the Hideyoshi family.

"Though, the boss would probably be brave enough to go in." One of them added with the others nodding in agreement.

"Boss?" Now that was of interest to Aizawa. He had heard about Shirakumo being similar to its own country within Japan. Due to this, there were many rumors about secret leaders that ruled over the city. And it's not as though they were completely baseless rumors either. A lot of evidence had come to light within the recent months supporting them.

Unfortunately, however, the residents of Shirakumo were very secretive, so none of the information was entirely confirmed.

"Hmph!" At Aizawa's question, the three gained proud, almost haughty looks with a wide smirk plastered on their faces. "Our boss is the second strongest person in Shirakumo, only coming after Shirokage!"

Shirokage? Aizawa had to admit, this trip was proving to be far more enlightening then he originally thought it would be. It helped that the three were absolute idiots.

"No way!" One of them, who shall now be called Idiot #1, disagreed vehemently. "The boss is totally stronger! Didn't you see the way that she picked up and threw that vending machine the other day?!"

"Oh! Oh! I remember that!" Idiot #2 has been dubbed. "She looked just like Heiwajima Shizuo from Durarara when she did that, right?!"

"Yeah, yeah! She's unrivalled in strength!" Idiot #3, who had been the one to make the Shirokage vs Boss comment that started the whole mess, admitted. "But Shirokage has more experience, right? Plus, she has a quirk."

"Hmm, if anything I'd say they're equally rivalled."

The three continued on as Aizawa continued to listen. Their rambling was a bit annoying, but the information was proving to be at least a bit valuable. Though, he was a bit curious about the vending machine incident.

The conversation became so animated that they didn't even notice when Masami finally stepped out of the building until she spoke up.

"Um, is s-something wrong?" She was looking at the group of people in confusion, not quite sure how to react. Present Mic was laying on the ground, his soul coming out of his mouth. For some reason, the idiot trio was there, spouting nonsense. And then there was Aizawa, who was just standing there with his usual bored, slightly annoyed look. Though, Masami could just barely detect a slight hint of curiosity coming from him

"Boss!" The idiot trio shouted gleefully, going to tackle the girl in a hug after all heads had snapped to her. Luckily, however, for Masami, she was easily able to sidestep the three men. Unluckily for them, though, they ended up landing in a pile on the sidewalk.

"Wh-what did I say about calling m-me boss?" Masami sighed in exasperation as she shook her head in exasperation at the three weirdos grinning up at her rather innocently despite their appearance.

"Sorry, boss!"

Aizawa stared in slight surprise at the interaction. He wasn't sure what he expected the delinquents boss to be like, but Masami didn't exactly fit the picture. And, in all honesty, she didn't even look like she wanted to be their boss.

After he got over his surprise, he frowned. If Masami really was supposed to be the boss the three had spoken of, then a lot of questions were definitely being raised. First things first, though…

"What's this I hear about you throwing a vending machine?"

*****

2547 words excluding A/N's

Finished- 3:28 pm on September 4, 2019

Bye~