''It is.'' She grinned, happily handing her the tea. ''Two oldies in the hero business testing out if they can still balance on well enough on their feet to go down a mountain safely.'' She took a small sip as she listened to Iphi talk. ''Right? We're relatively new to the hero scene and yet sometimes it feels like we're being treated as veterans. As for our popularity...'' She grinned smugly behind her thermos, before pointing a finger at Iphi and giving her a small wink. ''I bet you're driving up the interest! Who wouldn't want to work closely with Recall herself? That's a huge career boost for anyone!''

''Ready as I'll ever be!'' She stretched her arms as she got out. ''Now that you mention it...'' From the parking lot to the trail heading up, had this place changed at all since they were last here? ''Isn't it kind of like a time capsule? Almost like time hasn't passed since we were last here.'' She stood there for a moment, just amazed at it all before she grabbed her backpack. ''How confident are you in your abilities? Are we going to the intermediate slope, or the beginner slope first?'' She smiled, thermos in hand and her equipment on her back. ''It's funny, I never thought to come here alone.'' As they started their climb she started feeling sentimental for some reason. It wasn't that she didn't have the free time to come here, but there was something about it that just didn't feel right unless she did it with Iphi, unless it was for the sake of their fun little tradition. Besides, if she wasn't going somewhere with Iphi, she was most likely taking her sister places or going on dates with Felix. Rin wasn't the snowboarding type and there was a plethora of other, more romantic things she could do with Felix in the city.

''Do you like the cold, Iphi?''

Iphigenia Pavlina

She let him speak and listened attentively.

It was probably what he needed right now. To vent and get all these horrible things he had experienced off his chest so he could hope to move forward. As long as he continued to work towards becoming a hero she could support him this way, but she wouldn't blame him or any other students who had gone through all that for dropping out after going through hell. ''Yeah. That's true, everyone has their reasons, even vigilantes, even villains.'' It sounded like he had got in a lot of fights, perhaps more than just fighting the elemental golems? Or had all this happened in the same encounter? It wasn't unthinkable that villains or vigilantes had gotten involved with the Rumbling Golem. If anything, they had been able to confirm villains were present for the other ones.

''Absorb you? Do you think your own quirk was trying to hurt you?'' She scribbled down a few notes. Beyond anything else Shion had mentioned, this was the most disturbing development. Had his quirk always had the capacity to hurt him, or had it evolved to hurt him? There were plenty of quirks that inflicted harm on their wielders, but she hadn't heard of a case where one evolved into doing it later in life. Either way, this was something she couldn't just ignore. She might need to call in another expert.

''Nonsense.'' Her voice was soft and comforting. ''You made it through all that and still came back to school, and came into my office to open up about it. If that doesn't make you a tough cookie, I don't know what does.'' She eyed the broom she had placed in the room for Shion. She was definitely going to get rid of it and not bring it back if he came in for more meetings. ''About Toto... I think it is best that we get in touch with Iphigenia Pavlina-sensei. She's our resident expert on quirks and quirk development and I think she could help you. If you want me to I can put in a good word for you.''

Shion Utsui

Initially, she was shocked to hear that Gabriel was guilty. She didn't know him particularly well personally, but she had seen him at work plenty of times. It was always disturbing when ugly truths came out about people who were close enough that you were familiar with them. With the meeting in the small room everything started to make more sense. ''Isn't that a bit harsh-'' Her voice was a mere whisper as she was about to come to the defense of Gabriel as he was called attention-seeking and self-absorbed. However, before she could he straight up just agreed to the deal.

She turned her attention to the government official and nodded, taking notes all the while. This was going to be an absolute headache for Ouros to handle publicly. An employee turning to crime and getting sentenced for it? They were never going to hear the end of it. She was already mentally preparing herself for the kinds of questions the press would ask them, a burden which was hers to carry. As smart as her business partner and co-owner of the Ouros Agency was, Iphigenia shouldn't concern herself with any of this. The reporters would just get in the way of her work and knowing her, her answers would probably be efficient and ruthless, not at all what the public needed to hear.

Still, none of that compared to the stress Gabriel was putting himself through. Working at a hero agency was one thing, but as a double agent? A mole had to blend in with the enemy and risk it all. He might never be able to let his guard down again, or risk certain death if he did. ''Got it.'' She let out a small sigh as she couldn't help but worry for him. ''We at Ouros have his back.'' She regretted not getting to know Gabriel sooner. If only she could have invited him for a cup of coffee before he had to embrace a life of crime.

CHIRP ♪♪

She almost couldn't believe that the Shion she first talked to not too long ago was the same one that had come before her today. She heard of the horrors of the recent events and could only imagine what it must be like for a first year like him to go through so much. Still, as much as she felt for him she needed to remain professional too, she couldn't get caught up in her own feelings, she needed to remain in control of them.

''What did you see?'' Her voice remained soft, more inquisitive than prodding was what she was going for. She got the sense that she needed to take a calm and patient approach with him. He had seen horrors that made him question everything, he was probably in a sensitive state so it was best for her to take her time and let him leave when he wanted to. ''What do the strangers say? What do you think you're missing?'' She would take notes occasionally as he talked, listening attentively even through his rant.

''Toto scares you?'' She side-eyed the broom she had put in the room. Just what had happened to Shion? Toto, who was perhaps once his closest friend had become an entity he feared. A fear of his own quirk? Shion wouldn't be the first one, but usually people didn't go from liking their quirks as much as he did to downright fearing them so fast. Him mentioning he wanted to hold weapons was a bit alarming, but she couldn't jump to conclusions.

Her gaze shifted down to his teacup as a small black line appeared, the tiniest of cracks.

''Shion Utsui.'' She put her note and pen away and reached out a hand, if he wanted to, he could take it, but she wasn't going to force him either. ''You're still you. No matter what you see, or go through, you will always be Shion and no one can take that from you.'' She tried a reassuring smile, not to expect one in return from him, but to try and ease some of the tension he might be feeling. ''You're a bright student with a heart of gold. You're affected by what you've experienced, and that's one of your strengths. You'll succeed in life because you ruminate on these things. Because you take it to heart. It's tough, it feels awful, but you do it anyway, right? That's a strength. It may not feel like it in the moment, but I want you to remember this, Shion, fear is but a precursor to valor.''

Shion Utsui

''H-H-Haven't I?!'' She stammered out, her face tomato red as she cleared her throat. ''Yeah?'' She cracked a smile, ''You can't tell from just a glance? I mean.. A-Anyway!! We're not here to talk about him.'' Even though she could, for hours, probably. ''I'm sure you will in time, she's in the hero course after all.'' She stretched her arms one last time to get cozy, setting herself up to get spooked by the incoming movie.

She was mid sip when Iphigenia called out her recklessness. ''That's rich coming from you, Iphi, weren't we both a bit gung-ho back then?'' Maybe it was just her memory playing tricks on her, but she recalled times where she got wheeled into the nurse's office, just to find that Iphi was already occupying one of the beds with her own set of injuries. It's why she couldn't be mad when the current first years got a little reckless. She still remembered her own early UAU days, and how the entire education had a way of humbling you through every single year you progressed forward. ''Hopefully not!'' She chuckled, still occasionally having nightmares about their second year exam. ''Well, I heard they made the exams easier now, right? Not that Rin and Aella couldn't handle it of course!''

''Yeah mega famous, I feel like every other movie I put on he's in it. If I was an actress I'd want his agent.'' Never ending acting jobs! Although she had to admit she quite liked her current career and didn't feel any call to the big stage. ''Really? Is that so?'' She smiled, appreciating the pat and the distraction with weirdly specific facts that could take all the horror out of any movie. ''Yeah? You like it?'' Her face lit up as she lowered her pillow again. ''Wait, but you're not even scared. They don't call you 'Iron Iphi' for nothing.'' No one called her that.

Iphigenia Pavlina

''Yeah. Sadako, or Gleipnir, whichever you prefer.'' She smiled, having all of May's best interests at heart she only wanted to see her succeed, as she did with all the other students. She returned the bow. ''Don't worry, there's no need to be formal with me.'' She rather wanted to strike a balance between being an educator, but also a friend. Since she wasn't a teacher like many of her colleagues, she was in a unique position, and being that she was a counselor, establishing friendly, yet professional relations with the students was key.

''I admire your optimism.'' She put her hands together softly. ''It goes a long way in this career path.'' May might not know it, but the ability to bear the shocking, or the surprising, or maybe even downright bad, and then turning it into something better was not something just anyone could do. It required practice, but above all else a strong will. ''That's right. Keep away.'' When she separated her palms again, a chain started to emerge from one of them, a chain which she gripped tight in one hand and began swinging around like a lasso.

''You're full of energy, aren't you?'' She couldn't hold back a giggle. ''Then, here I come!'' Throwing the chain forward, Sadako started out with a simple attack just to test May's reflexes. Aiming the chain up near the top of her shoulder, she tried to snatch the bow from a position that would be quite easy to dodge or defend against.

May Twenty-First

Back at the UAU offices, one guidance counselor had chosen to stay behind late into the night to get some more work done.

''Man, the moon's already out.'' She yawned, having walked over to the window of her office to stretch her legs. ''I can't tell if I regret staying behind to get some more work done. Guess it'll depend on how I feel in the morning.'' Some people might feel scared still being at the school this late, but not Sadako. She watched plenty of horror movies and still it didn't phase her. If anything, UAU was easily ten times more safe than her own apartment and she had never experienced any attacks on her personal life. She had only ever had to fight whenever she was on duty.

Sitting down to look through some more student files, her eyes lingered on one that had her stumped for the last couple of hours. This boy had a quirk that changed the properties of his entire body, but it wasn't your typical mutation power up. Suddenly it clicked. How couldn't she have thought of it sooner? Taking a sip from her energy drink, she turned to her laptop and started pulling up the numbers of other heroes, namely UAU alumni.

Her finger hovered over the call button on her phone. Wasn't it really impolite to call her this late, and on her work phone too? Oh well, she could always ask for forgiveness later. For now, she needed to prioritize finding a way forward with this student.

''Helloo, is this Pretender? ~ Yeah, it's Gleipnir calling on behalf of UAU. Do you remember me? I believe we first spoke in your first year. The camping incident, exactly. Well, I'm sorry to be calling you this late, but I'd like to ask you a few questions regarding your quirk.'' Really this was more Iphi's ballpark, but she could always wing it now and double check it with Iphi later. ''Yeah, there's a first year student who just enrolled with a quirk that's pretty similar to yours. It's not a complete match, but his body is kind of gel-like too. Being that you're a pro hero, I figured you can relate to what he's going through.'' She turned a few pages as she looked over his file, before grabbing a pen and a notepad. ''Fantastic! Could you repeat that?''

After the call she stretched her arms above her head. She had a page full of notes she could go over in the morning now, what a save, Mochi Ogawa to the rescue! If only she had thought about calling her sooner so she wouldn't feel so bad. ''Hm?'' Did her ears deceive her? Did she really receive an email this late? An email from Apparel no less.

''Daiki Kaneko targeting Kaida Ikarashi?'' She woke up right quick reading that. ''Daiki Kaneko..'' She immediately walked over to a drawer and looked through a stack of paper. ''Don't ever let anyone say I slack off at work.'' She muttered to herself. ''Kaneko, one of the Kaneko children. Daiki specifically is the prime suspect of the Missing Heads Case.'' She almost dropped her papers as she stormed back over to read the email again. ''Targeting Kaida Ikarashi?! A student? But why... Should I call her in for a meeting? She's probably shaken, but she's been through a lot. I don't want to force her into a conversation either..'' She let out a sigh. She was definitely going to forward this. She could already tell her and Iphi was going to have a lively conversation tomorrow morning at Ouros. Apparel's email reassured her that Kaida was safe, but there was no way of telling if Kaida would become a target again in the future.