How did the story go? Alice fell down the rabbit hole, and was lost in a world of madness.

A foreign tale, but one Shuko found herself thinking of as the seething swarms of the media were blanketed in clouds of pale smoke, which billowed out from the agency with a suddenness that could only have been caused by a Quirk.  There was little she could do but relax and let the ghostly mass wrap itself around her and pull her away.

Out of her old life, and into the wild and terrifying unknown.

Which, she discovered a few seconds later as she knelt on a hard floor, was guarded by an average-looking guy with a somewhat patronizing tone.  The moment they arrived, Boro launched straight into a monologue, which Shuko did her best to follow while coughing up smoke and rubbing at her eyes, accidentally knocking her glasses off in the process.  She yelped at this, fumbling about for a few seconds before snatching them up again.  

Slowly rising to her feet, she took a moment to wipe them on her sweatshirt, clearing away any dust or smoke particles that had stuck to them.  The motion revealed a hint of pink cloth under the larger garment, a flash of color peeking out from beneath the dull exterior for just a moment before it was covered up again.  

Once she had her glasses on, she blinked, and glanced about, doing her best to figure out this new situation.

It wasn't so nightmarish as it had been outside, but neither was it a time to relax. Boro's instructions were as vague as they were worrying, especially that last comment of his.  Was he trying to turn the students against each other?  Or was it some kind of test?  Shuko frowned, contemplating for a moment, before remembering the prior instructions.  [i]Right.  Groups.[/i] That part made sense, at least, even if it filled her with the same anxiety she'd felt with the media before.

A roomful of weirdos, and she had to find her place amongst them.

The guy she'd been standing with before had wandered away from everyone else, and she glanced his way, feeling a momentary pang of sympathy.  On some level she wanted to do the same, just stay away until she was grouped up by process of elimination.

On the other hand, she wanted this opportunity.  [i]Needed[/i] this opportunity, if she was going to break free from what she'd done before.  If she let her own insecurities get in the way of something this simple, how the [i]fuck[/i] would she manage when they got to the actual training?

[i]Get your shit together, Shuko.[/i]

Some groups were already forming, obvious enough that even she could see them.  Mr. Satan had somehow recruited a cute guy, a ghost, and a walking plant.  That made four, so no space there, even if she was a little tempted by the one calling himself Yuki.

She looked away, suddenly conscious of her own place in the room.  [i]Focus.[/i]

The other gathering team consisted of the dog-eared boy and a girl she hadn't seen before- one with an unusual but quite charming aesthetic.  That was scary.  She seemed nice, but she was also [i]pretty[/i], and having her in the room made Shuko look and feel even shittier than she already did, simply by virtue of comparison.

So that left the chubby kid and one other she could see, a pale guy carrying two bags packed full of what looked like random junk.  Weird, but she could deal with it.  Shuko steeled her nerves a little, swallowed, then walked over, a little too briskly.

[color=8493ca]"Hello?  I'm Shuko."[/color]  So far, so good.  [color=8493ca]"Um... you're not in a group yet, right?  There aren't many of us left."[/color]

[i]Come on.  Just say it.[/i]

Taking a breath, she blurted out her request.  [color=8493ca]"Team up with me."[/color]

She'd been trying to sound confident, but pushed it too far, and the words came out too loud, less a request and more like a [i]command[/i].  She shrunk back a little, realizing her mistake.  [color=8493ca]"If you don't mind, that is?"[/color]

([@McFazzer] Talking to Tommy)