"No."

The girl sits across from the U.A Principle Nezu, cuffed hands lazily resting on the cold grey table. The quirk repressing handcuffs clink against the table in a monotonous, irritating and constant beat as she taps, taps, and taps, trying her hardest to get under the principal's skin. Her eyes are piercing as always, stone cold save for the flickers of indignant rage that only Nezu can cause. Police guards stand in each corner, muscled chests seeming to be a single button away from bursting their navy uniforms, their mouths set into a firm and exasperated line. Only half an hour with this girl and they're ready to stab someone. The teen girl with the gunmetal grey eyes can only be described as one thing: infuriating.

How she portrays herself and her current train of thought are two separate entities, however. Her mind is whizzing at Mach 20 speeds, trying to solve the situation as best as her puny brain can handle. Despite being snarky, she has somewhat put-together thoughts as she weighs the pros and cons of the situation.

"And why not?" Smiles the principal.

"Not a vibe," comes her response.

The interrogation room isn't the friendliest of all places, but the Yamasaki Yui is familiar with it. In fact, she'd prefer to be her, for this conversation, than anywhere else. It's been a while since she's been out of prison, and honestly, this room is less scary than the outside world at the moment. Plus, her stepmother stands behind the one-way window, and even though she'd be disappointed right now, Yui knows she has full, unconditional support. However, it only makes her feel guiltier. She'd probably accept on behalf of her mum.

More pressingly, she is really hungry for instant ramen. Accepting Nezu's proposal will surmount to a more efficient route of getting hot ramen in her stomach within half an hour.

"It would be beneficial for both parties, Yamasaki-san," the small furry beams brightly, and a little irritated 'tsk' escapes the girl's mouth before she can stop it. She's usually the one pushing other people's buttons, but the UA Principal seems to be even better than her. Behind the mouse stands Midnight, the R-rated Pro Hero who is taking satisfaction out of the strangely wonky conversation and at the same time just as exasperated as the hunky policemen. Yamasaki Yui scowls at the two UA spokespersons.

"This is stupid. I'm not benefitting jack shit if I have to babysit a bunch of teenagers. I can't even babysit grown men," she jerks her thumbs to the direction of the buff policemen, who clench their jaws as she antagonises them again.

"We are aware of your capabilities. Eraserhead has detailed us of your excellent quirk usage and application. You have managed to efficiently execute tasks given by him, which is no small feat. I am sure that you will be fine with, ahem, babysitting teenagers your age." Another beaming smile, and the girl is one smile away from ripping his head off.

Midnight pinches the bridge of her nose, no doubt thinking about how painful it would be to have another teenager with angst issues conversing with equally angry children. At least Yui managed to get under the boob-lady's skin.

The teen exhales, and shifts her posture slightly. Her presence, despite being rather naive and young compared to the rest of the people in the room, seem to take up the space between the grey concrete walls. She debates on their proposition. No doubt it would be nice to have some friends her age who weren't daughters of drug kingpins or sons of bribable politicians, but fraternising with heroes? That is a whole different case. Yui genuinely doesn't mind the heroes themselves, not as much as all her other clientele or associates, but to associate with heroes this closely would bring disasters onto her reputation.

The two pairs of expectantly waiting eyes push her mouth to blurt out another "fuck no" before she can even stop herself. Ah, youthful rebellion.

"Your mother wants you to," Nezu reminds her with that happy-go-lucky vibe he always carries.

"Don't talk to me about my mother," she snaps back. "It's not my fucking fault she's a cougar for hunky, youthful heroes like Eraser."

Behind the window, the mentioned woman heats up angrily and starts banging on the glass. Yui can't see or hear anything, but she knows it would something along the lines of, "you little shit have some fucking respect for your mother and think before you badmouth me or I swear to god I'll—"

Yui hesitates. Positives would include getting out of jail, being a decent daughter and a decent human being. Cons include association with heroes in training and having to put effort into something she doesn't really care about.

"Why would you trust me? I don't specialise in infiltration or conning. What makes you think that I, a part-time drug trafficker and bank robber, will help your little mole case in any way?"

"Indeed, your skills are superficial at best," Nezu says brightly and Yui reacts in a less than friendly way. "But you claim that you are a vigilante of a sort, no?" He leans forward. "In the government's eyes, vigilantes and villains are but the same. This is your chance to show that you're not just another villain who belongs behind bars."

"Still haven't answered my question, big dumb."

Midnight cuts in this time, quite sharply and evidently has had enough of the rude girl.

"Despite our efforts, we have not found the person in UA who has been leaking information to the villains. We are pressed on time, and I'm sure you, despite not liking heroes, are aware of how important the Symbol of Peace is," she explains in a chilly voice. "As a person who is young enough to not cause immediate suspicion, and as a person who has worked with villains, hopefully you can bring a new perspective into the case."

"Your mother was given a chance to redeem herself. Why not you, too? You are young. Don't restrict yourself from opportunities just because of your hubris, Yamasaki."

"Why, I oughta— " she lunges at the principal, but the cuffs rattle alarmingly and strain, snapping her back into her seat.

"Think about the privileges you will gain," Midnight argues. "You get out of jail— and as a hero, I know what kinds of people are put in there. As a student, you will have the protection of all staff and overtime gain access to all sorts of facilities. You will have your own room, your own shower, and buy your own things."

Yui sways for a moment. Not from Midnight's convincing speech, but from hunger. Oh, she'd kill for ramen.

Nezu and Midnight exchange a glance, no doubt ready to bring up their final resort. Midnight quirks an eyebrow almost disbelievingly, as if to ask, no way will this work, and Nezu just had that plain expression he always wears. He leans forward towards the raging girl, as if to tell her a secret.

"That ramen company your mother said you really liked, what was it, Nuudles? They shut down, didn't they?"

Yui looks at him suspiciously.

"I'm friends with the ex-owner. I can get you some, personally made by him, every week. For free."

"Deal," she says abruptly.

Midnight chokes.

-
Lol this is somewhat a crack fic atm but hopefully I'll get my shit together and make it proper