Chapter 508 - 43-46

Chapter 43: Halcyon days

Izuku was relaxing in his room when he heard Himiko rush in.

"Izu!" Himiko exclaimed dramatically. "It's time!"

Izuku spun around in his chair to see Himiko proudly holding a movie case up like some sort of prized trophy.

"Curse of the Crimson Demon? They made a fourth movie?"

"Yep!" Himiko grinned brightly. "And I've been saving it just for your classmates!"

Izuku rolled his eyes. "Himi, in the span of a month, I think you've managed to convince everyone in 1-A that you are the single most terrifying person at school. And that includes Uraraka, who spends enough time with us out of school to know what you're really like."

Himiko stuck her tongue out at her brother. "Sorry, not sorry. You know the class ritual."

"Of course, but I'm still going to be the one who has to deal with it tomorrow." He rolled his chair over to Himiko so he could playfully shove her. "And before you ask. No, I haven't warned Uraraka, despite her pleading to find out what type of movie you're bringing."

"Thank you!" Himiko wrapped her brother in a hug. "Oh, this is going to be so much fun!"

Just as quickly, Himiko left to finish getting ready for the evening.

In the two weeks since the sports festival, school has settled back into a routine, at least until internships begin in a little over a week. That meant the girls of class 2-B decided to take advantage of the free weekend and organized their second movie night of the year, inviting the girls from 1-A as well.

Since it was the second movie night with a new group, that meant it was time for them to let Himiko pick the movie.

With the addition of the 1-A girls, they had to move movie night out of Atsuko's apartment, and Tomoe had volunteered her family's house for the larger crowd. Their living room was large enough for the fourteen girls to sit comfortably, and they arranged themselves on the various pieces of furniture, with the class two girls sitting in chairs and on the couch, while the girls of 1-A sat on the floor, directly in front of Himiko.

It started when the series' titular crimson demon claimed its first victim. While Himiko knew that what she was seeing on screen was supposed to be blood, from her perspective she saw the young woman on the screen coughing up strawberry jelly, before she began dissolving into a pool of red jelly. It caused her to start giggling.

She saw the girls in front of her start tensing up, with Kyoka, in particular, starting to shiver. Meanwhile, Ochako was the only one brave enough to turn around and give her an incredulous look. She responded by giving the gravity girl her best innocent smile. Even though Ochako should have known it was an act, she couldn't help but feel a sense of satisfaction when she caused the girl to flinch.

Himiko knew that in the age of quirks, special effects had become even more creative to compensate for the day-to-day reality of life now, but there were some things they still couldn't replicate. For someone with a blood-based quirk, a movie studio would have to resort to using actual blood to achieve the desired effect. Otherwise, the effect would simply look like a red sauce, ketchup, or jelly to them, depending on how the studio tried to simulate blood.

Himiko only knew of one film that ever tried using actual animal blood for their special effects, a small indie horror film. It was a prized movie in her collection - despite its low budget; it was the one film that let her feel the suspense and tension that most people felt watching horror movies.

But the potential health and sanitation problems of using that much animal blood during filming meant most studios had given up on trying to replicate the effect for people with quirks such as Himiko's.

That was ok, she still found herself enjoying the films. Just not in the way the directors intended.

As the next person fell to the crimson demon, Himiko broke into full-out laughter.

When Izuku arrived at school Monday morning, Ochako was already standing by his desk, waiting for him.

"Deku, why didn't you warn me?" She demanded the moment he had entered the classroom.

Izuku smiled nervously and rubbed the back of his neck. "Um, surprise?"

"How can she- she- just laugh like that?"

"It's a side-effect of her quirk," Izuku explained. "Because she needs blood to use her quirk and well, to keep herself from starving, she can always tell if blood is real or not. And that has given her a rather, um, unique mindset when it comes to watching movies?"

"So while we were seeing all the blood coming out of people on the screen…"

"From Himiko's perspective, it looks like a cheap special effect," Izuku finished her sentence. "so a scary scene loses all of its tension."

Ochako frowned. "And class 2 just lets her show these movies to them?"

Izuku looked like he was about to continue, but was ambushed by Mina.

"Midoriya, what the hell? Is your sister psycho?"

Izuku winced. "No, she and her class knew exactly what they were doing."

"Good luck convincing us your sister isn't the most terrifying person in the school, kero. And that includes the teachers and Nezu," Tsuyu said as she joined them.

Izuku laughed nervously. "So um, last year the girls of class 2 decided to let her pick out a movie one night. Atsuko knew what was coming, but didn't say anything. And well, her classmates decided to turn it into a rite of initiation."

Kyoka came in next, looking pale and shivering as her eyes darted around the classroom. "Is it safe? Is she here? She's not hiding disguised as one of you, right?"

"Poor Jiro doesn't do well with horror, to begin with," Mina explained. "And I think your sister made it worse."

As Mina was patting Kyoka on the back, Izuku offered her a sympathetic look. "I'm sorry, if I had known how much it would get to you I could have at least warned you not to go."

"Your-your-your sister is terrifying. I'm glad she's on our s-side." Kyoka managed to stammer out.

"Agreed!" Ochako said. "Imagine if she was a villain and we had to fight her!"

The girls of 1-A collectively shuddered.

As she was walking with Atsuko towards their homeroom, Himiko saw Emily rush down the hallways, only to grab her and begin dragging her down the hallway. Caught off guard, she almost tripped and fell as she tried to adjust to her friend dragging her along.

Meanwhile she was suddenly forced to wonder why her cheeks were heating up.

"W-what's this about?" Himiko protested as she finally regained the ability to speak.

Stopping, Emily kept facing away from Himiko. "Today's our last free training period before internships. C-could you help me figure out how to use those boots I got from Hatsume?"

Himiko looked confused. "You didn't ask anyone else for help?"

Emily shook her head. She was staring out the window, trying to focus on the scene outside. She didn't know why she was so insistent about asking Himiko for this. Or why she felt so embarrassed by it. It's not like they haven't partnered up before. Recently they've been partnering up more frequently.

But for some reason, this idea flustered her.

After the sports festival, she was having a hard time handling her feelings toward Himiko. Something about the way she looked at Ochako during their fight made her both intensely jealous and hopeful that maybe she had a chance.

If only she knew how to process these emotions. Romance was never something she ever seriously considered until Himiko Midoriya stormed into her life.

Hopefully, she could corner Izuku during their internship and she could get information out of him.

Her thoughts were dragged back to the present when Himiko laughed.

"You're hopeless."

Emily jumped as she realized how close Himiko was. Trying to hide the rising heat in her cheeks, she crossed her arms and turned her head away from her friend. "Yeah well - you are at the top of our class when it comes to quirkless movement, after all."

"True!" Himiko beamed proudly. "Although Tomoe's catching up. Give her a couple of months and she could be my equal."

"I don't need help in a couple of months, I need it today!" Emily protested. "After all, internships start on Monday! And I don't want to embarrass myself by showing up at Majestic's agency with a piece of untested equipment!"

Himiko giggled. "Of course not."

Emily sputtered. "It's a matter of pride!"

Himiko gave her a fierce grin. She knew she had the other girl on the defensive, but decided to take pity on her. "Fine, I guess I can teach you the basics."

"Thanks, Himi!"

Emily grabbed Himiko and pulled her into a hug, causing Himiko to blush slightly.

"H-hey, let go! We need to get to homeroom before class starts or Yamada-sensei will give us an earful!"

"Right!" Emily let go, looking embarrassed. "We should hurry!"

Emily missed the handhold and felt gravity winning as she was pulled to the ground, landing in a tangled heap.

"Ow."

Himiko grabbed the rails of a nearby ladder and used it to slide down the side of the building.

"You ok Emmy?"

"Why are the stupid buildings so tall!" She complained.

Himiko snickered. "Anything hurt?"

"Just my pride," Emily admitted as she sat up.

"Must not be that bad then."

"Hey!" Emily pushed herself up to a standing position, examining her electromagnetic boots to make sure they were still functioning. "I'm just having trouble getting used to these, is all. That Hatsume girl is actually pretty good, for a first year. Using plates and electromagnets to create a responsive launch system, plus the ability to briefly latch onto exposed metal."

"So when are your parents gonna hire her?"

"Not this semester, their company didn't give her an offer. But the next round of internships? They absolutely will try."

"I guess at least some good has come out of this, then."

"Just give me time!"

"Don't I know it," Himiko admitted. "I bet you're gonna spend all weekend at a training facility trying to figure out how those boots work."

"Not all weekend! We're still getting together on Sunday, right?"

"Yep!"

Since Emily will be away for a week on her internship, her parents scheduled a flight back to I-Island to handle business there. Unfortunately due to a scheduling conflict, they had to leave Sunday morning, leaving Emily alone for the day. So she invited herself over to the Midoriyas for the evening.

Himiko teased her about it, saying if she was feeling lonely she could have just asked. Emily, in her usual way, deflected the accusations without actually denying them. It wasn't doing anything to help Himiko with her confusion towards the other girl, but it did make her feel warm inside, knowing that she was the one Emily wanted to spend time with.

"Good. You need to be careful though, otherwise, mom's going to adopt you like she's adopted Uraraka."

Emily felt her cheeks heating up, so she covered it up in the best way she knew how: by throwing her head back and laughing. "My parents would fight her."

"You say that, but mom's convinced Uraraka's parents. Now they're conspiring."

"Must be nice," Emily grumbled under her breath.

"What was that?"

"Nothing!" Emily practically shouted. "I want to try scaling the buildings again!"

Himiko debated pressing the issue but decided she'd try getting the information out of her later. Right now she had to teach her how to do basic parkour without falling and hurting herself.

The morning of internships had everyone arrive at UA early.

With Momo's help, Izuku made sure all of his classmates had arrived and got on the bus before he finally boarded himself. Looking over, he saw Ochako smiling as she waved at him.

"Deku, we saved a seat for you!"

Returning the smile, Izuku sat down next to her, before turning to his friends, where they began talking about their internships.

For the first half of the trip, Tenya had been uncharacteristically quiet, staring down at his costume case. Eventually, during a lull in the conversation, his head snapped up and he looked at Izuku as if he had suddenly come to life.

"Midoriya, I must thank you."

"Thank me?" Izuku asked, surprised by the suddenness.

Tenya adjusted his glasses. "I must admit, I had less than noble reasons for choosing Manual for my internship."

This caused Izuku to frown. He had his suspicions when he learned that Tenya had chosen a lower-ranking hero who was also in Hosu, but he didn't know how to confront him directly about it.

"However! After talking with Tensei, I am feeling much better." Tenya slammed his fist into his open palm. "Therefore! I have resolved to make the most of this opportunity, and learn everything I can from Manual! Even if I choose to not follow in his footsteps as the leader of Team Idaten, I intend to base myself out of Hosu, and will strive to learn as much as I can about the city!"

Izuku smiled at his friend. "I'm glad you feel that way."

"It's all thanks to you," Tenya told him.

Izuku found himself blushing. "Y-you're welcome. I just wanted to help."

"That's just like you, kero."

Ochako nodded in agreement. "You're always trying to help everyone out, it's really inspiring!"

Izuku tried to sink into the seat, suddenly very thankful that Himiko was on another bus.

At the train station, Izuku and Momo performed their duties by taking a headcount, ensuring everyone had arrived. Once they had confirmed everyone was there, their classmates split up to find their respective trains. Izuku, meanwhile, stayed back.

"Are you waiting for your sister?" Ochako asked.

Izuku nodded. "Yeah, I want to say goodbye. Also, since Emily and I are interning with the same hero, I am waiting for her as well?"

Ochako blushed slightly. "R-right."

"Is everything ok?" Izuku asked.

Ochako shook her head. "No! Everything is fine! I'm just jealous- I mean I'm jealous that you get to spend a week with one of your friends at the internship! I'll be interning by myself with Gunhead."

Izuku smiled at her. "I-it just worked out that way. I'm sure Majestic is going to put us both through enough training that we won't have too much time to relax next week."

"I'm glad. I mean, I'm glad that you'll be learning so much this week!"

"Hopefully you'll learn a lot from Gunhead too!"

Ochako nodded and pumped her fist in the air. "I can't wait!"

It didn't take long for Himiko and Emily to appear. Like Izuku and Ochako, they were dressed in their school uniforms, although Emily's normal shoes and leggings had been replaced by the pair of electromagnetic boots that she had acquired from Mei.

"Izu, are you ready for your first internship?"

Izuku smiled and nodded at his sister. "Yeah! It's exciting!"

"Don't worry Himi, I'll make sure he stays out of trouble this week!"

"You'd better!" Himiko glares at her friend. "I know where you live."

While Emily blushed and stuttered under the threat, Himiko turned back to Izuku. "Please try and stay out of trouble? You know what happened after the whole USJ incident."

Izuku blushed. "I'll try not to overdo it. But I can't make any promises! Majestic's in the top 20, so if something big comes up he'll definitely try to help!"

Himiko frowned. "I know. Just- for me?"

Izuku tried to give his sister a reassuring smile. "I promise I'll try. Hopefully, none of us have to deal with any major villain attacks next week!"

Himiko gave Izuku one final hug. Turning, she then pulled Ochako into a hug, causing her to let out a startled squeak before she reciprocated. "You be careful too! You'd better learn how to fight properly this week!"

"T-thanks!" Ochako managed to get out.

Once she let those two go, Himiko pulled Emily into a long hug, which Emily happily returned. Using the moment, Izuku turned to Ochako. "I guess I'll see you in a week?"

Ochako nodded. "Y-yeah. At least we can message each other?"

Izuku smiled. "I plan on it!"

That caused Ochako to smile. "Good. I don't want Song taking up all of your time."

Ochako stepped in and gave Izuku a long hug before she backed away slowly. Turning around quickly, she ran into the station. Izuku couldn't help but watch until she disappeared from view.

He was shaken out of his thoughts by a hand on his shoulder.

"You'll have time to think about Uraraka later! We have a train to catch!"

Izuku blushed as he nodded. "Y-yeah, let's get going!"

Picking up his costume case from the ground, Izuku gave Himiko one final wave before he departed with Emily.

Grabbing her things, Himiko descended into the station, making her way to the correct platform. As she stood there waiting for the train, she heard a voice behind her that made her freeze.

"Hey, it's cat girl!" The voice of Nejire called out from behind her. "I almost missed you because you changed your hair!"

Himiko whirled around to see the upperclassman approaching her, and felt a sinking feeling in her stomach. "Is this your train too?"

Nejire smiled and nodded. "Yep! I'm interning with Ryukyu this week! What about you?"

Himiko couldn't help herself as she groaned. "I'm also interning with Ryukyu."

"That's amazing!" Without asking, Nejire grabbed Himiko and pulled her into a hug, despite her flailing in protest. "We're going to have so much fun together!"

"Le-let go of me!" Himiko finally managed to pull herself out of the hug, looking at the upperclassman.

She was staring happily at Himiko. "Your quirk was super impressive during the sports festival! I didn't know you could do that! You came such a long way from our finals last year!"

Himiko found herself blushing. Given Nejire's rather infamous airheadedness, she was surprised that she noticed. "T-thanks."

After a brief announcement, a train pulled into the station, its doors opening to await passengers.

"Oh, that's our train! Come on, let's sit together!" Nejire grabbed Himiko's hands and began pulling her towards the train, and Himiko barely had time to grab her bag off the ground before she was pulled inside.

She already knew she was in for a long week.

Chapter 44: Internships (1)

When they arrived in Tokyo, Izuku shoved his notebook back in his bag, while Emily did the same with her tablet as they prepared to disembark. Letting Emily lead the way, Izuku followed for the short trip to Majestic's hero agency.

Entering the door, they saw the hero speaking to one of his sidekicks, who quickly left through a side door before he turned around and clapped his hands.

"Magnificent! Both of you are here!"

"Of course we are! We traveled together after all!" Emily responded.

The hero shook his head. "You misunderstand, I am glad you both have accepted my offer! I am sure that with the talents the two of you have displayed, you had many tempting offers to choose from. I am merely a lowly support hero, lending my aid so that others may succeed."

"You may speak humbly about yourself, but you are still the number 14 hero," Izuku pointed out, "and while you aren't in the top ten, there is still a large gap between you and the next hero who is classified as a support hero."

"What he said! You're underselling yourself on purpose!"

The hero seemed to give a satisfied smile as he clapped his hands together. "It seems I was right about the two of you, you are both very intelligent," His face turned serious, "and so before we begin. I need the two of you to answer a very important question - why did you act the way you did during the sports festival?"

The room became silent as Izuku and Emily froze, the two looking at each other before turning back to the hero.

"I didn't deserve to win," Emily finally blurted out. "Since you saw through what I did in the elimination rounds, that means you already know why. I abandoned my friends and hurt them. Such behavior is unbecoming of a hero, and I didn't deserve to win."

"I see," Majestic rubbed his chin thoughtfully, "so you realized the consequences of your actions. While the focus on victory is important, sometimes the cost is too high, and too many people would get hurt. Let me ask you this - If you had the chance to capture a villain, but ten civilians could be hurt or killed in the process, what would you choose? To save the civilians, or capture the villain?"

Emily paused. "If you asked before the sports festival, my answer would be to capture the villain. But now, I know the right answer is to save the civilians. Even knowing that, in the heat of the moment, there is a good chance I would choose to capture the villain."

"Hmph. At least you recognize that about yourself," Majestic then turned towards Izuku, "and what about you?"

"I would save the civilians, no questions asked," Izuku said.

"And how do you explain your performance at the sports festival? I heard your declaration at the beginning about young Todoroki. And then throughout the match, you were presented with several chances to push him out of the ring, so why didn't you?"

Izuku blushed and rubbed the back of his head. "Um, because he was refusing to accept part of himself. As you probably know, I don't have full control over my own quirk without hurting myself. knowing that he was holding back half of his strength bothered me."

"And do you know why he was holding back?"

Izuku looked down. "Yes. But it's personal so I'm not going to get into it."

Majestic looked at Izuku as if he was evaluating him, "As long as you have your reasons, I won't pry." He clapped his hands together then. "Well, it appears the two of you are polar opposites in a way. However, you ultimately are both flawed in the same way."

Both students looked at him in confusion, and he pointed a finger accusingly at them. "Despite your different goals, you both seek to achieve your personal goals above all else. No matter what the cost, to you or those around you."

Neither student tried to argue this fact, which Majestic saw as a good first step. They both were aware of their own weakness. He smiled at them.

"And this is why I am glad both of you decided to intern with me. Over the next week, I will help you learn the ways of the support hero! Our goals are still the same - overcoming the villains, rescuing the civilians, and saving the day. However! We have one major difference - we seek to analyze the situation and lend our aid to those who can achieve the best outcome. Whether it be you, or another hero on scene."

Emily groaned, "and I thought I was going to spend a week simply learning mobility training!"

This earned a chuckle from the hero. "Oh, don't worry. This week will be filled with physical training, as well." He waved his hand and two of his signature disks appeared, beginning a slow orbit around him.

He clapped his hands together. "Well then, let the show begin!"

Majestic turned and began walking further into his agency to begin the tour, and Izuku and Emily followed him.

Ochako was walking towards Gunhead's agency and dojo when she saw the hero waving toward her.

"Uraraka! Right on time!"

Ochako looked confused. "On time for what?"

"I'm about to go on my daily patrol, and I want you to join me," the hero explained.

Ochako froze, "Patrol already!? Isn't that sudden?"

Her confusion caused the hero to laugh. "Not at all! As a hero you don't get any warning when a villain strikes, why would I treat your internship any differently? Think of it as your first lesson."

Ochako looked down at her bags, "W-what about my stuff?"

"Oh, of course! Follow me." Gunhead pushed open the door to his agency, allowing Ochako in. Once inside he led her to his agency's locker room. "You can leave your things here, just change into your costume and I'll be waiting out front for you."

"Ok!"

Taking a moment for herself, Ochako sent off two quick messages: one to the class chat, and one to her parents, telling everyone that she had arrived. Setting her phone down, she pulled out her costume case and quickly changed, before rejoining the hero.

When she exited the agency, she saw Gunhead casually stretching. "Are you all ready to go?"

Ochako gave him a determined look and pumped her fists for emphasis, "yes!"

"Oooh, I like your enthusiasm. Come on, we'll talk while we walk."

Ochako nodded and began following Gunhead, staying half a pace behind him.

"That was a pretty good fight you put up at the sports festival."

Ochako frowned, "It didn't feel that way, since I lost."

"But you were at a significant disadvantage the entire fight, and you still forced your opponent to go all out to win."

Ochako was quiet as she thought it over. It was one thing to hear that from her friends since she knew they were trying to support her. It was different to hear it from a pro hero. "Do you really mean it?"

"I do. Your technique needs some work, but you've got potential!"

Ochako found herself smiling, "well, I'm ready to learn!"

"Oh my, such enthusiasm!" Gunhead turned his head sideways to look at his intern. "Is there a particular reason?"

Ochako went silent for a moment before she answered. "Did you hear about the USJ incident?"

"The one where your class was trapped in a school facility with a bunch of villains, yes. It was one of the reasons I was paying extra attention to your class."

Ochako frowned but shoved that detail aside for now. "Between that and the fight with Bakugo at the sports festival, I realized it wasn't enough to want to be a rescue hero. I need to learn how to fight too! After all, at the USJ Thirteen got really badly hurt due to her lack of situational awareness. I don't want to end up in a situation where I am trying to help others, only to end up needing to be saved."

Gunhead stopped walking and turned to look at her. Ochako shifted uncomfortably under the gaze, his mask hiding his face and making it hard to tell what he was thinking.

Finally, he struck a cute pose with his hand covering his mouth, or what would be his mouth if his mask wasn't covering it. "So cool!"

Ochako was dumbfounded. She was not expecting that type of reaction from a pro hero.

"Oh, I'm going to teach you so much this week! Those villains aren't going to know what hit them when I'm done with you!"

Ochako felt herself blushing. "T-that sounds great!"

Momo arrived at a building stylized to look like it was transported through time from the Shogun era. The home of Yoroi Musha's hero agency.

Entering the building, she saw the older hero sitting there, waiting for her arrival. Walking up to him, she bowed deeply.

"Yoroi Musha, I am honored to be your student for the next week."

"Miss Yaoyorozu, you honor me," the hero responded, causing Momo to blush. The older hero stood up, "Come, walk with me."

Momo settled into a pace behind him as he gave her a tour of his agency. As they went through, she saw the shared facilities for everyone in the building, his rather extensive support department to maintain both his equipment and that of his sidekicks, and the offices where they handle planning and paperwork. Finally, he ended the tour at the room she will be staying in for the next week. It was little more than a closet compared to what she was used to, but she gratefully accepted it.

After dropping off her things and changing into her hero costume, she was led back down to the ground floor, and what appeared to be a traditional dojo. The hero walked to the middle of the room, before pausing and turning around to face Momo.

"Now then, Miss Yaoyorozu, you clearly have a powerful quirk, what do you hope to learn from me this next week?"

Momo blushed. "While my quirk is stronger than I originally thought, I have only recently discovered that my greatest weakness is my own way of thinking. I was trained too rigidly, which hampers a quirk such as mine."

The hero put a hand to his mouth as he stared at her thoughtfully. "I see, and you believe I can help with that?"

Momo bobbed her head. "Yes. I have seen how you fight - your quirk gives you telekinetic control over your weapons and armor, and even though you dress in the attire of a traditional samurai, your gear is surprisingly advanced, and has many hidden adaptations contained within them, allowing you the flexibility to deal with any situation you find yourself in."

Momo held up her hand and produced a matryoshka doll. "Since my quirk allows me to produce what I need on the fly, I hope to learn your way of thinking, so that I can adapt my strategy as easily as you adapt yours on the battlefield."

Yoroi Musha frowned. "Miss Yaoyorozu, I believe you are mistaken," Holding up his hand, he summoned a katana to it, before he took several swings with the sheathed blade. "You see, what I do is nothing special. Rather, it is years of experience talking. It is said that if you practice a sword swing 1000 times you will master that swing."

The hero then demonstrated by performing several other techniques with his katana. "What I do is no different. Over my lifetime, I have built up a library of techniques and simply call upon the right one for the situation at hand. Over the course of many fights, I have learned patterns and signs, and apply that knowledge to achieve victory."

Momo looked crestfallen at the news. "So you're saying you can't help me?"

The hero sighed and shook his head, "while I cannot teach you directly. I can teach you the fundamentals you need to begin your journey. It will be up to you to take these fundamentals and begin building your own codex of solutions."

Momo perked up. "That sounds like my quirk analysis class! I can definitely apply knowledge like that!"

Smiling, the hero held up his arms in a T-pose, and Momo saw a suit of armor sitting on a training dummy begin floating in the air before it flew towards the hero, encasing him in his signature outfit.

"Well then, how about a quick spar to see where you are on your journey?"

With a sly smile on her face, Momo tossed the doll in the air, revealing the flashbang contained within. Quickly turning around, she created a pair of sunglasses and earplugs to protect herself from its effects as she held out her hand, creating her signature staff.

Hearing the hero moving behind her, she spun around just in time to deflect a blow from her sword, causing the hero to laugh as he stepped back and assumed a defensive stance.

"Very good! I see you have already thought about the opening engagement. However, you need more variety. I had already seen that from your matches during the sports festival," the hero stepped back and dropped into a ready pose, "now then, let's see your follow-up."

Seeing that the hero was waiting for her to make the next move, Momo happily obliged.

Bakugo looked down at his phone, then up at the building in front of him with a scowl on his face.

The address he was given for Mirko's hero agency led him to the middle of the warehouse district. Now he was standing in front of an otherwise unimpressive warehouse.

"Tch, if the Number Seven hero can't do better than this, it just goes to show that even the heroes know that the number one spot is the only one that matters," Bakugo muttered to himself as he approached the door, pushing it open.

He walked down a small hallway and pushed open the second set of doors, revealing a tired-looking otter mutant sitting at a desk, furiously typing on a computer. As he approached, he saw her raise a coffee mug to her lips, taking a long sip of its contents. As she set the mug down, he saw the words 'Worlds #1 Assistant,' next to a rabbit paw print clearly displayed on the side.

"Oi! is this really Mirko's agency?"

The otter mutant looked up in surprise as her concentration was broken. "Oh! You must be Katsuki Bakugo!"

"Of course I am! You'd better remember me because I'm the future Number One Hero!"

The lady sighed as she stood up. "Of course you are. I am Mrs. Kawauso, Mirko's assistant. She told me to send you in when you arrived."

The lady opened a side door and guided Katsuki to a locker room. "You can leave your things here, Mirko wanted me to tell you to change and meet her inside the training facility," she gestured to indicate a door on the far side of the locker room.

Katsuki felt anger rising within him, "What the hell? Doesn't she know who I am? Why is she having an extra like you telling me what to do?"

Mrs. Kawauso made a sound conveying her annoyance, "I'll have you know, that Mrs. Usagiyama trusts me to handle all of the logistics and paperwork for her. She wouldn't last a day without me, and she knows it. You'd do well to learn a thing or two about the people around you. You won't have the time to reach your vaunted position if you are buried under a mountain of paperwork, after all."

With that, the assistant left, slamming the door behind her with more force than Katsuki was expecting. Grumbling, Katsuki set his bag and case down, quickly changing into his hero costume and entering the training facility.

As he entered, he finally understood why Mirko's hero agency was a warehouse. The bulk of the space had been transformed into a massive training area, with makeshift buildings set up all around. As he was walking, Katsuki saw old vehicles and construction equipment parked, or flipped, throughout the warehouse.

"Oi! Mirko! I'm here! Where the hell are you?" Bakugo called out as he began to walk through the facility.

As he was exploring, he couldn't help but notice the damage to the industrial equipment. He saw massive dents and holes, all sharing a similar size, and couldn't help but feel impressed. Mirko was clearly training herself hard - maybe this internship wouldn't be a waste of time after all.

After wandering for several minutes, Katsuki felt his anger rising.

"Stop wasting my time, dammit! What the hell is the point of an internship if you're not even going to show up?"

After his outburst, Katsuki sensed movement behind him. Relying on his instincts, he used his explosions to dodge out of the way, but he wasn't fast enough as he felt a metal boot connect with his right arm, its force enough to send him to the ground.

"Good, you managed to avoid my kick to your head, there may be promise for you after all."

Katsuki tried to use his right arm to prop himself up, only to realize it was numb and useless. Growling, he used his left instead. Once he propped himself up, he saw Mirko simply standing there smirking with her arms crossed.

"What the hell?!"

"Oh come on! I saw you at the awards ceremony at UA. You were livid that your opponent didn't come at you with his full strength. Do you really expect me to hold back?"

That made Katsuki pause.

While he was distracted, Mirko immediately launched herself at Katsuki with a flying kick, which he couldn't dodge in time. Taking it in the chest, he was sent flying and was merely able to slow himself down with explosions from his left hand before he crashed into a pile of boxes.

"Oh good, you're still conscious," Mirko said as she walked toward him.

Katsuki jumped up and got into a fighting stance. Even though he didn't have any feeling in his right arm, he held up his left aggressively, letting small pops dance over his hands. "You have a lot of nerve!"

Mirko laughed, "Oh, I like you. You've got guts."

"Of course I do! I'm going to be number one, just you wait!"

Mirko gave him a menacing glare, "And you know what kid? I'm currently the number seven hero. If you want to be number one, that means you're going to have to get through me."

"With pleasure! Die!"

With an angry yell, Katsuki launched himself at Mirko, who was simply standing there smiling at her new intern.

Even though it took roughly three hours by train to reach Nagoya, it felt longer to Himiko for one simple reason: Nejire Hado.

Once she pulled Himiko onto the train, she started talking about everything and nothing at the same time.

"So how did your quirk awaken?"

"Are your cat features a part of your quirk, or were they an extra mutation?"

"Look, the view is so pretty!"

"So why did you dye your hair green? It looks good on you!"

Himiko was bombarded with questions and topics of conversation, her senior constantly shifting topics as thoughts entered her head.

It took over an hour before Himiko found her breaking point, shifting uncomfortably when Nejire started asking about her childhood.

"My life only started two years ago," Himiko found herself snapping at the upperclassman. "Before that, the old me is dead!"

Nejire stopped, a look of hurt on her face. Himiko felt herself blushing, glad that the car they were in was mostly empty, so nobody had to hear her outburst. She looked down at her hands and began clenching and unclenching them.

She didn't expect what happened next, until she found the older student pulling her into a hug, her face burying itself in the older girl's chest.

"I'm sorry Himi-chan! I didn't know!" The older girl sounds genuinely remorseful.

Himiko felt her face heating up as she struggled out of the upperclassman's grip, before looking at her. Nejire looked genuinely remorseful for asking the question.

"I just - don't like talking about it," Himiko admits, "besides, I now have the best family a girl could ask for!"

Nejire tilted her head as she gave her a warm smile. "That means the story had a happy ending, right?"

Himiko smiled back. "Yeah, it did."

"Well then, can you tell me about your mom?"

Himiko sighed but gave in as she told the other girl about Inko Midoriya.

The rest of the time passed in much the same way. Thankfully, Nejire finally fell silent as they reached Nagoya and began the trip to Ryukyu's agency. When they arrived, they saw the Dragon hero standing outside, arms crossed as she was waiting for them.

"Ryukyu-sensei! We're here!" Nejire called out as she was waving.

"Ah! There you are. Welcome to my agency," Ryukyu called out. "I was hoping that one of you would accept my offer, and now I am spoiled to have both of you for the next week. Hado, even with your quirk's inherent disadvantage, you managed some impressive feats during the sports festival, only losing in the semi-finals to the eventual winner."

Nejire smiled. "Togata is strong! After the last year of his training, I don't mind losing to him."

"Hmph, and you're humble about it, too." Finally Ryukyu turned towards Himiko. "And you seemed to be the biggest surprise out of this year's sports festival. I think you may go down in history as the first person whose quirk awakened in the middle of the festival like that. I'm honored that you chose to intern with me."

Himiko felt the heat rising to her face as she listened. "It surprised me too! My quirk awakening, that is."

"I'd love to hear all about it," the dragon hero replied, "it rarely happens nowadays, in the Era of Peace."

Himiko found herself blushing. "S-sure!"

Ryukyu gestured towards the door to her agency. "Now then, I'll be taking an afternoon patrol today around the city, and I'd like the two of you to accompany me."

"Yes!" In her excitement, Nejire ran towards the building, pushing open the door and waiting for Ryukyu and Himiko.

Himiko picked up her bags, as well as the bags Nejire had forgotten and discarded and began following Ryukyu into the building. Once inside, Ryukyu gave the two girls a brief tour of the building, before finally stopping at two adjacent apartments and offering them keys.

"And these will be your rooms for the next week. Why don't the two of you change into your hero costumes and then we can begin our patrol."

"Sure thing!" Nejire grabbed one of the keys and dashed into her room.

Himiko took the other key before entering her own room and set her costume case down. After changing into her costume, she withdraws a package that Emily gave her on the bus this morning containing her newest weapon: her Needles.

She held one of the two up and examined it. From the outside, it looked like a simple riot baton, but then she pressed the button and flicked her wrist, and it extended to its full length of approximately 80 centimeters. And on the end, instead of a weighted club, was a grooved tip, designed to draw blood and let it drip down into the vial stored within its handle.

She still didn't know if she could learn a villain's quirk on the fly like Emily thought she could, but she appreciates having something with a little more reach than her usual knives.

Smiling as she tested the weight of it in her hands, she collapsed the weapon down into its handle and pulled the holster for the device out of the package before attaching it to her belt.

Smiling as she gave herself a once-over in the mirror, she stepped back into the hallway.

Despite having to intern with Nejire, she can't help but feel like it's going to be a good week.

Chapter 45: Internships (2)

Shoto extends his hand and launches a bolt of fire toward the training dummy, in an attempt to hit the target in its arms.

Unfortunately, his aim was off, and he caught the shoulder of the training dummy instead.

"Shoto! You are better than this!" Endeavor began one of his tirades, "it seems we will have to redouble your training to recover the skills you have lost during your childish rebellion. How can you ever hope to surpass All Might with skills like these?"

Endeavor expects his son to make a quiet apology, and concede to his demands like he has in the past. This time is different, and Shoto surprises him instead. He simply turned toward his father and stared into his eyes.

"After the sports festival, I went to the hospital to talk to mom."

Endeavor felt his rage halt, the rest of his lecture catching in his throat. "You went to see Rei?"

"I have seen her several times, actually."

Shoto turned back towards the training dummy and unleashed another bolt of fire. This time it failed to hit the bullseye, but it at least landed on the paper. "I wanted to ask her if it was ok to use my fire, instead of proving myself with just my ice."

Endeavor felt a rage surging in his chest, anger bubbling to the surface. "There you go again! You are my greatest creation! You are the perfect fusion of our quirks! But then you've let yourself get distracted and held yourself back!"

"Like you let yourself get distracted over your one-sided feud with All Might?" Shoto asked, before launching a third bolt of fire, once again hitting the paper, but missing the target. "After the sports festival, I also talked to Midoriya, and he told me about your conversation with him."

Shoto paused his training as he looked at his hands. He began recalling his conversation with Izuku from the previous week.

"Your quirk is a part of you, just as much as your hands are a part of you. If you refuse to use your fire because of Endeavor, you may as well use a rope to tie one of your hands behind your back. After all, he is just as responsible for your hands as he is for your quirk."

That was the day he asked his mom if she was ok with him using his fire. He still remembers the day she burned him, only to soothe him afterward, sobbing out apologies before Endeavor took her away from him.

Shoto began imagining the feeling of his mother's hands in his, from his first visit to her after the sports festival. It was their first contact since she had burned him, and it filled him with a warmth he hadn't even realized he was missing before that moment.

Wrapping himself in those feelings, he easily formed a small pillar of ice in one hand, and a sphere of fire in the other, before turning towards his father. "And I agree with him. I don't want to be part of your feud with All Might either."

"What?" Endeavor bellowed.

"I still intend on becoming a great hero, and I still intend to be the number one hero, surpassing both you and All Might. So you will get your wish. But I will do it for my own reason, not because of you."

Shoto dismissed the elements in his hands, as he kept his eyes locked with his father's. "I don't know what that reason is yet, but I finally understand why I chose Midoriya as my rival. It doesn't matter what his quirk is, his strength comes from a different source. Even if he held the weakest quirk in our class, he would still be a worthy rival to measure myself against."

Shoto looked back down to his now-empty hands. "Without a motivation of my own, I will never surpass him, and I can never hope to be stronger than either you or All Might."

Endeavor stood there, feeling his anger bleeding away, as he found himself filled with pride. He couldn't help but think about his conversations with Toya, leading up to the tragedy on Sekoto Peak. He was terrified of Shoto following in his brother's footsteps and had let that tragedy consume him, like it consumed Toya.

But staring at his son, he saw a spark of something new growing inside of him. As he saw him standing there, he knew Shoto would not follow in Toya's footsteps, and had taken his first true step towards surpassing him.

Endeavor relented, and for the first time, Shoto saw him with a genuine smile on his face. "In that case, I will continue training your body and quirk, and I will leave you responsible to find your own motivation. You had better find it though, or you will find yourself even further behind this Midoriya."

Shoto felt the corners of his lips twitch upwards. "Don't worry, I will find it."

Turning around, Shoto called up another bolt of fire and launched it at the target, landing a bullseye.

"You look so festive in your costume Himi-chan!" Nejire exclaimed as Himiko stepped out of the room that was to be her apartment for the week.

"F-festive?!" Himiko asked, confused by the older girl's words.

"Now that you've dyed your hair green!" Nejire pointed to her hair. "You have green hair and a red coat! It's like you're ready for Christmas!"

Himiko felt her face heat up. "D-don't ruin my look for me!"

"What?" Nejire tilted her head to the side in confusion, "I think it looks great!"

To cover her embarrassment, Himiko grabbed the older girl's arm and began dragging her to the elevator. "Come on, Ryukyu's waiting for us on the roof!"

"You don't need to pull me Himichan! I know where we're going, too!" Nejire protested as she kept pace, not even showing a hint of surprise as the two made their way to the elevator.

Once inside, Himiko hit the button for the rooftop. Stepping out of the elevator, they made their way down a short hallway, opening the door at the end of it onto the roof itself, and the waiting hero.

Ryukyu smiled at her two interns with satisfaction. "My, you two look like quite the upcoming heroes already. Now then, it's time to see what you can do. It's time to begin our patrol!"

"Yay patrol!"

"Wait, why are we on the roof and not in the lobby?" Himiko asked, suddenly very concerned. She had her suspicions, but there was one very important detail she was missing.

"Isn't it obvious? I fly during my patrol."

"I know she can fly," Himiko said, pointing a finger at Nejire, "but what about me?"

"Well, for the first part, you get to ride on my back," Ryukyu said as if it was the most normal thing in the world.

Without giving Himiko a chance to protest, the dragon hero walked to the center of the rooftop, and transformed into a dragon, before looking at Himiko expectantly. Reluctantly, Himiko walked forward and scrambled up her shoulder, before finding a comfortable position to sit on her neck.

"Must be nice," Himiko looked longingly at Nejire, who simply took to the skies and was floating alongside them.

"Don't worry, you'll get your chance to fly later," Ryukyu reassured her, before taking off.

For the next several hours, Himiko found herself flying above the city, while Ryukyu explained how the citizens liked seeing her flying overhead. It was a constant reminder that she was keeping their city safe and a warning to any aspiring villains. There is a lot more to being a hero, but whether she liked it or not, visibility was important.

Himiko thought about what Izuku said as she listened to the dragon hero. Would people be willing to accept her as someone in the spotlight, like they have accepted Ryukyu? Izuku seemed to think so. Not that she was willing to doubt his words, but it was reassuring to hear something similar from the dragon hero.

Eventually, far from her agency, Ryukyu began her descent, landing on the top floor of a parking garage, with Nejire landing next to her. Cautiously, Himiko slid down off her back, moving to stand alongside Nejire while Ryukyu returned to human form. Smiling, she turned to Himiko.

"Now it's your turn."

Himiko's eyes went wide as she realized what was being asked of her. "You want me to transform into you?"

"Yes, we are still going to patrol for a few more hours, and I want to see what you are capable of."

"I don't actually know the limits of my transformation," Himiko admitted, "if I have enough blood, I could theoretically hold a transformation for days. But since my quirk awakening, I don't know how long I can hold a form while using someone else's quirk."

"Well, it's time for you to find your limits," Ryukyu held out her arm, "take as much blood as you need. We are going to see if you can hold your quirk for the next two hours while also using my quirk."

Himiko gulped nervously, as she reached into her coat to withdraw a syringe and a pair of vials. Based on Izuku and Emily's theories, each vial should be enough for her to transform for a couple of hours with regular quirk usage, so hopefully, two would be enough to meet the dragon hero's request. With practiced ease, she inserted the needle into the hero's arm and drew blood, impressed by her resilience. After taking the two vials of blood, the dragon hero showed none of the symptoms of blood loss.

Himiko quickly drank the crimson contents within both vials before storing them in her coat, before she took off her coat and boots, which Nejire quickly retrieved. Then, taking a deep breath, Himiko activated her quirk, turning into a duplicate of Ryukyu.

"Impressive," Ryukyu said as she looked over Himiko, "other than the difference in posture, it would be impossible to tell us apart."

"Yep!" Himiko replied, "it's a perfect copy."

"I see, so now the matter of activating my quirk."

Himiko looked at the dragon hero awkwardly. "So my quirk doesn't actually tell me how to use other people's quirks. I need you to explain it to me."

"Oh? Interesting. I had hoped that you could adapt to my transformation easily. Very well. Search inside of yourself. In the core of my very being rests the power of a dragon, waiting to be unleashed. When I wish to transform I simply seek out that power and call upon it, giving it the freedom to rise to the surface."

Himiko closed her eyes and began searching inside herself. On some level, she understood what the dragon hero was talking about, but rather than a dragon, she saw a shapeless form, a blank slate waiting for blood to give it shape.

Wrapped in Ryukyu's form, she found something had changed within her, and she saw what the hero was talking about. There was a new form inside of her, the power of Ryukyu's quirk, waiting to be released. Taking a deep breath she used it and felt her body changing shape, growing to the same draconic form of the hero in front of her.

"Yay! Himi-chan did it!" Nejire cheered from below her.

Himiko probably looked extremely weird as she tried to break into her signature grin while in dragon form, but she didn't care. She was finding new quirks that she was capable of using! She began to wonder if all transformation quirks were similar, and if she would be able to apply the knowledge of how Ryukyu transforms to others, or if each one is unique.

She didn't get very far in her thought process before Ryukyu interrupted her thoughts. "Now lower yourself to the ground, so that we can get on your back," she instructed.

Himiko didn't know if she was capable of blushing or not in this form, but she felt awkward as she knelt, allowing her two companions to scramble up her arm and settle on her neck. The weight felt strange, a new experience alongside all of the other new experiences the form brought her.

"Now remember, if your transformation gives out, I can transform in an emergency, and Nejire is capable of flight. But I did just lose a lot of blood, so I can't guarantee my reflexes are fast enough to catch you."

While she detected a hint of teasing in the hero's voice, Himiko suddenly felt nervous - she didn't want to mess this up. "I'll do my best!"

"Good, that's all I ask, now then, take us to the sky."

Using extra limbs always came with a sense of weirdness to Himiko, so it took her a minute before she was confident enough with her wings before she lifted off. Once airborne, she managed to achieve something akin to hovering.

Ok! I can do this. Himiko told herself. I'm not going to screw this up!

Slowly, carefully, Himiko began accelerating until she was moving at a pace similar to what Ryukyu flew at, as she felt Ryukyu lean forward, yelling directions into her ear. Not trusting herself to talk, she simply turned and flew toward where the hero was indicating.

Once she grew comfortable flying, Himiko began to take in the gaze of the city, and her thoughts began to wander. What would have happened if she never met Izuku? Would someone have taken her in? Would she have gotten help? Or would she still be living on the streets?

She was almost certain that she wouldn't be here, flying above Nagoya as a hero-in-training. Surrounded by people who helped her find herself, and accepted her for who she is, even the damaged parts that would never fully heal. Sure, there was an occasional hiccup; the encounter with Ochako's parents was particularly uncomfortable for her since she knew how close Izuku and Ochako were. Even then, she felt warmth every time she remembered how Inko rushed to defend her, in a way that her biological parents never would.

Himiko soon discovered that time passed much more quickly when she was the one doing the flying, and before she knew it, she was being directed to land on the rooftop of Ryukyu's agency. She lowered herself to the ground and allowed her companions to slip off of her back before she returned to Ryukyu's human form. From there, she proceeded to let that form dissolve around her as she dropped the transformation, a huge smile on her face.

"So, how are you feeling?" Ryukyu asked.

Himiko was about to answer before the world suddenly started to spin, and she started to fall over, only to be caught by Nejire. "Himi-chan, what's wrong?"

Fear gripped Himiko's heart in its icy grasp as she realized what was going on. Somehow, her quirk had used a lot more blood than she realized, and she was feeling the effects of starvation and anemia. To make matters worse, these feelings were bringing back old memories, memories of a locked door and abusive parents.

"B-blood," she stuttered out.

Nejire and Ryukyu looked at each other and nodded in understanding. Nejire had Himiko lean against her as their mentor guided them to the elevator. Ryukyu pushed a button and led them down to the agency's kitchen, where she pulled out a carton of pig's blood.

"UA sent me information about Midoriya's dietary requirements, so I made sure the fridge was stocked ahead of time."

Standing at the counter, Himiko managed to find a glass in a cupboard and took the offered carton, not caring about appearance as she filled the glass with the crimson liquid and immediately downed it. As she gulped down the precious liquid, she felt the edge being taken off of her headache.

"Ever since my diet's been fixed, I've never had that happen before," Himiko admits, as she pours herself a second glass of blood, "normally my transformation just drops when I run out of somebody's blood."

Meanwhile, Himiko began following the steps her therapist taught her. She filled her head with happy memories - of Inko and Izuku, reminding her of her real family, to drown out the bad thoughts that had surfaced.

Once she saw color returning to the younger student's face, Nejire finally asked. "Does it have to do with the fact your quirk has awakened?"

"Probably," Ryukyu speculates, "I can't imagine it's easy for your body to simply copy another quirk factor and use it without some sort of drawback."

"At least now I know," Himiko peered into the carton. "I'm going to need a few more cartons of blood to last the week though."

"Don't worry, I'll order some more tomorrow. Especially since we're just getting started - I am going to push you even harder later this week, but we don't want you to have a backlash. Just let me know how much we should get."

Himiko looked at the hero, then down at the half-empty glass in front of her, and finally back to the hero. Despite her waning headache and dark thoughts, she felt a smile forming on her lips.

"I'm looking forward to it!"

"That was rough," Emily complained as she collapsed onto a couch, rubbing her side, "what's the point of having support gear if you're not allowed to use it?"

"Majestic does have a point," Izuku called out as he was pulling his meal out of the microwave, "if you don't have the fundamentals down, then it doesn't matter what your support gear does. It should enhance your inherent skills, not be used as a replacement. Besides, what would happen if you faced an opponent who disabled or destroyed your support equipment?"

"That's easy for you to say! Your quirk lets you go flying around the arena. My quirk doesn't even let me propel myself around like Blasty's does."

"Did you forget how many times I slipped and slammed into the wall?" Izuku countered.

Emily sighed. "I just never realized how far back I was when it came to training my body."

"Too many heroes have grown complacent thanks to All Might," Izuku pointed out, "which is why the gap between the top heroes and everyone else has grown so large. So many heroes are ok with simply being good enough."

Emily waited for Izuku to continue, but nothing came. Curious, she peered over the couch, only to see that he had pulled his meal out of the microwave and was preparing to eat. With a groan she stood up and made her way to the fridge, pulling it open to grab one of the prepared meals that Majestic had made available.

"You and Himi are so similar, always pushing yourselves. It's why I need to get better." Emily softly said to herself as she closed the door to the fridge.

"What was that?"

"Nothing!" Emily sighed. "I just wish I wasn't so sore after training."

Izuku gave her a sympathetic look. "My training was rough, but in the end, it was worth it."

"Of course it was! You got that crazy quirk out of it!"

Izuku blushed and rubbed the back of his head. You don't know how right you are.

"I-I just got lucky. If people weren't so quick to write me off, you know I would have gotten it sooner."

"Story of your family," Emily heated her meal in the microwave before she collapsed into a chair at the table.

"What do you mean?" Izuku asked.

Emily looked at him as she grabbed a pair of chopsticks and pulled them apart. "Everyone kept underestimating the two of you, and look at you now," she twirled one of the chopsticks in her left hand while she pointed the right one at Izuku. "Both of your quirks are crazy powerful. It makes me a little jealous."

"W-well, who knows what would happen if your quirk awakened?"

Emily frowned, "You know how rare those are. Even in a life-or-death situation, there's only a slim chance of it actually happening. Otherwise, everyone would put themselves in mortal danger to try and force their quirks to awaken."

Izuku felt the pieces of the puzzle click into place. "You're pushing yourself this week because of Himi, aren't you?"

Emily squawked and dropped one of her chopsticks. "Wh-what makes you say that?"

Izuku smiled. "Well, your reaction told me everything I need to know."

Emily squeaked as she retrieved her chopstick. "You know your sister was the first one to call me on my bullshit - she always was one step behind the rest of the class. Her quirk doesn't give her a direct advantage in combat the way most of ours do, and we both know how she does on tests. But! She has that drive of hers, pushing herself to prove she deserves to be in our class just as much as the rest of us. In many ways, she's just as stubborn as I am."

A faint blush dusted Emily's cheeks as she thought about Himiko. "And then her quirk awakened. You know just as well as I do that she's not going to let that make her complacent. I just - I don't want to be left behind."

Izuku was giving Emily a funny look, trying to work out the deeper meaning in her words when his phone went off. Looking at his phone, he saw it was a message from Ochako. Smiling, he looked at the message before typing out a quick response.

"Sounds like you're not the only one pushing yourself," Izuku said as he set his phone down and looked at Emily. "Uraraka was also complaining about how hard Gunhead's training was today."

"Yeah well, not all of us tortured ourselves for ten months. Compared to that, anything you do this week would seem easy."

Izuku laughed. "I guess you're right. Maybe you should try some intensive training over summer break?"

Emily glared at him. "I am going to push myself, but I am not going to torture myself."

Izuku laughed and shook his head as they dove into their meals, eating in relative silence. Once they were both finished, they moved to the common area and pulled out their quirk analysis notebooks. Nezu had assigned them homework to analyze the quirks of Majestic and his sidekicks, and they were looking forward to a couple of relaxing hours going over the new quirks before calling it a night.

Chapter 46: Internships (3)

The next morning, Himiko pulled herself out of bed much earlier than preferred and made her way down to the kitchen space. When she got there she saw that the fridge had been stocked with additional cartons of blood, filling her with warmth. Even though she had gotten used to people accommodating her quirk, it still served as a pleasant reminder that this is how things always should have been.

"I hope that's enough for the rest of the week," Ryukyu said from behind her. Startled, Himiko spun around and saw the Dragon hero standing in the doorway.

"Yes! At least, based on how much I needed yesterday," Himiko responded.

Ryukyu smiled and gave her a satisfied nod before she walked to a cupboard and retrieved an energy bar for herself. "Good. I was serious that I want to know how far you can push your quirk. It's important to know."

"I tried to find my limits with my brother and friends, but we haven't pushed it to the level you are making me," Himiko admitted.

"Well, hopefully after this week you will know exactly what your limits are. And then you can learn how to overcome them," Ryukyu smiled at her before she walked to the dining table and sat down.

"Are we going on patrol again today?" Himiko asked as she pulled out a carton of blood.

"Of course. Today, the plan is for you to transform into Hado for the first half, so you'll want to prepare yourself."

"Himi-chan's going to be me?" Nejire asked, just as surprised as Himiko at the news.

"Not only do we need to push both of your limits, but Midoriya's quirk depends on her ability to learn how her opponent uses their quirk as quickly as she can. Or failing that, to have a wide variety of blood on hand so that she can transform into someone with an appropriate quirk for the situation."

"But my spiral waves aren't the easiest to use," Nejire admits, "It's taken me years to work out how to aim and use them properly."

"That's why it's a good test for Midoriya. If she can work out how to use your quirk on even a basic level, that experience can be applied to a quirk that's easier to use.

Nejire put her index finger to her mouth as she thought about that. "That makes sense! Ryukyu-sensei has thought a lot about this!"

While she agreed with the older girl, Himiko wasn't about to vocalize that fact. Instead, she pulled out a carton of blood and a bottle of orange juice, as well as two glasses from the cupboard. As she placed everything on the counter, she calculated how much blood she should drink based on yesterday's events and began pouring herself drinks.

The three ate in silence, and after cleaning up from breakfast made their way to the roof. It was time to begin their second patrol of the week.

"Ok Himi-chan, I'm ready!" Nejire cheerfully announced as she rolled the sleeve of her costume up, exposing her arm.

Carefully, Himiko extracted two vials of blood from the older girl before putting a bandage on the wound. Once Nejire was patched up, she drank both of the vials of red liquid.

"How are you feeling Hado?" Ryukyu asked softly.

"A little blood loss isn't going to stop me!" Nejire smiled and gave a thumbs up. "I can't save people if I let a wound like that slow me down!"

"Good. Now then, Himiko?"

Nodding, Himiko transformed, turning into the older girl. "So now what?"

"Well, my attacks are pretty complicated," Nejire began, "since my quirk doesn't shoot in a straight line, but floating doesn't use precision, so that makes it easy!" She demonstrated by floating upwards a few feet before she gave a little twirl. "You just need to use my quirk out of your feet! And then use short blasts from your hands to maneuver!"

"I need a little more information than that." Himiko pointed out, slightly annoyed that Nejire seemingly forgot about her explanation from yesterday.

"Oh! Right! Um, how do I explain?" Nejire tilted her head and put a finger on her lip as she thought about how to describe her quirk in words. "Oh! I know! Imagine your body's circulatory system, except instead of blood, it's your energy! So like, glowy blood? Then try directing that to your hands and feet!"

Himiko blinked a couple of times as she tried to work out what Nejire was saying. "So if I do something like this…" She held her arm towards the sky and tried imagining the veins that ran through her arms. Frowning, she tried thinking about it in several ways, before she finally yelped in surprise as a spiral beam shot out of her hand.

"Yay! You did it!"

"You're not kidding, your quirk is hard!"

"All the better to practice with," Ryukyu said with a satisfied look on her face. "Now then, see if you can fly the same way Nejire can."

It took almost fifteen minutes and a lot of coaching from Nejire before Himiko was finally airborne, and able to float around the top of the rooftop.

"Yay! That's my kouhai!"

"K-kouhai!?" Himiko practically shouted.

"Yep! I'm your senior at school, and now I'm teaching you how to use my quirk, which means I'm your senpai. That makes you my kouhai!" Nejire explained it as if it was the simplest idea in the world.

Himiko groaned. "I'm not allowed to change internships now, am I?"

"Nope!" Nejire exclaimed happily. "You're my kouhai now!"

Despite her cheery tone, Himiko also caught the undercurrent of the statement. One that told her that Nejire wasn't going to let her argue her way out of this. Himiko also realized that the other girl was proud of the fact that she claimed her as her kouhai. Which she thought was strange. As the top female student and member of the so-called "Big Three," she could mentor anyone she wanted to.

So why pick her?

Rather than dwell on the implications, Himiko instead gave a resigned sigh. "Fine, but I refuse to call you Nejire-sempai!"

"Yay! You said it once!" Nejire gave her a bright smile. "That's enough for me!"

Below them, the two heard a chuckle. "Well, if you two can banter while floating around like that, that means I'm not working you hard enough. Let's start our patrol." Stepping back, she transformed into her dragon form and took to the skies. "Follow me!"

Unlike yesterday, it took all of Himiko's effort to try and keep pace with Ryukyu and Nejire. While having a transformation quirk seemingly gave her some advantage in using Rukyu's quirk, the same couldn't be said about using Nejire's Wave Motion quirk. So when they approached the same car park as yesterday, Himiko was thankful that she could finally land, and immediately dropped her transformation.

"How are you feeling?" Nejire asked as she landed next to Himiko.

"Not great," Himiko admitted. She was feeling a headache coming on, but fortunately, it wasn't as bad as the one she dealt with yesterday.

Nejire put a sympathetic hand on her shoulder. "My quirk is exhausting to use! I can't imagine how strong Himi-chan is to use it like that."

"Nejire's right," Ryukyu said as she took a small bag off before she reverted to human form, carrying the bag to Himiko, "she's spent years building up her stamina to use her quirk for as long as she does, and you just used it for almost two hours just like that."

Himiko grabbed the bag and frantically dug through it, pulling out a thermos and downing the contents, letting the crimson liquid course through her. Even though she prepared beforehand, she still felt the effect of the blood loss and wondered if that meant different quirks had different strains on her body.

I'm sure Izu and Emmy will have a field day with this when I tell them.

She thought about the implications as she swirled the last drops of blood around in the thermos, mesmerizing herself by their beauty as she tried to organize her thoughts.

"When you two are ready, we can finish our patrol. Hado, do you think you can fly the second half today?"

"Yep!"

"Good, I let you off easily yesterday, but I'd like to see you complete the whole patrol if you can."

"I understand!" Nejire nodded emphatically, "Someday I'll have my own patrols and can't rely on others, right?"

"Exactly."

As Ryukyu watched, Himiko finished the last bits of blood from the thermos, before she shoved it back into the bag and removed her coat and boots. Donning the rest of her hero costume, she turned to the pro. "Ok, I'm ready!"

Ryukyu smiled. "Good, but you get to ride for the second half. I have something special planned for this afternoon and I need you fully recovered before then." She turned to Nejire. "Same for you Hado. If you get too tired during the patrol, land and I'll follow you down. You won't be able to nap this afternoon, so be sure to save some of your strength."

"Ok!"

After they returned to the Agency the three had a long lunch to give Himiko and Nejire a chance to recover, before their afternoon training began.

Ryukyu led the pair back down to the lobby, where they saw another pro hero standing there, along with two students who were likely interns of his.

"Shishido, it's been a long time," Ryukyu said as she entered the lobby.

"Ryukyu, it's a pleasure as always."

Stepping to the side, Ryukyu waved her hands at her interns. "And these are Nejire Hado and Himiko Midoriya, they will be my team for today's little exercise."

"Midoriya," the girl with pale blue hair said, before turning to Shishido, "you didn't tell us we were going against a shapeshifter!"

This caused the pro hero to emit a deep laugh, "But what's the point if it's not a challenge! But where are my manners?" The hero swept his arm. "Meet my interns, Kashiko Sekigai and Habuki Mongoose, from Isamu Academy."

"Yay new friends!" Nejire called. "This is going to be fun!"

"Now don't get ahead of yourself," Ryukyu cautioned, "This is an exercise, after all."

Himiko looked at the other two girls, trying to get a sense of their quirks. Mongoose was a partial snake mutant, which meant she could reasonably guess what she was capable of. But Sekigai was a total mystery. Finally, she turned to her mentor for the week. "So what is the exercise?"

"In short, we are going to be playing a little game of capture the flag," Ryukyu said, as she crossed her arms. "We are going to give Shishido a five-minute head start. Then your goal, assisted by Nejire, is to tail him and find where he plans the flag. After that, you must evade capture and return the flag here. Meanwhile, Mongoose and Sekigai will try to prevent you from returning the flag. If Shishido catches you following him, he can call Mongoose to begin her hunt early. Otherwise, Mongoose has to wait until after he plants the flag."

"So I'm not allowed to intervene?" Nejire asked.

"Correct. You are Himiko's eyes in the sky, as it were. But you also have to watch out - if Shishido catches you, he will call it in and his interns will be able to start early, same as if he catches Midoriya."

"And the same applies to those two?" Himiko asked.

"Precisely," Shishido explained, "In a similar vein to you two, Sekigai will guide Mongoose, while Mongoose will be the one actively trying to catch you."

Sekigai raised her hands and a holographic map appeared in front of them. "While I can't fly, I can use my quirk to monitor the movements of the two of you, and feed that information to Mongoose."

"So Mongoose and I have the hard jobs," Himiko gave the other girl a predatory look.

"Indeed, I can't wait to see what you can do." The other girl gave a deadly stare in response.

Shishido guffawed. "Such enthusiasm! I can't wait to see who comes out on top."

Ryukyu smiled at her interns. "So do you two have any questions?"

"Nope! I just have to track Shishido for Himi-chan and then help her evade Mongoose-chan!"

Himiko nodded in agreement. "And I just have to follow him and get back here, it'll be easy!"

"Shishido is about half a kilometer away, but he's starting to slow down."

Twenty minutes later, Himiko was weaving through crowds, trying to tail the pro hero while Nejire was hopping from rooftop to rooftop to keep her eye on the Lion hero.

"Just let me know if he changes direction, but I need silence for a minute," Himiko replies. She was about to pass through a large crowd and wanted to get a blood sample, so she needed to concentrate.

As she was passing through, she reached out with her nails and scratched the arm of a middle-aged woman, only to immediately use her blanking technique when she saw the woman recoil from the pain. As much as she wanted to laugh at her confusion, she had a job to do. Instead, she quietly raised the droplet of blood to her lips and swallowed it. It wouldn't give her more than a few minutes, but she knew that may as well be a lifetime when trying to evade capture.

"That's three," Himiko quietly announced.

"Himi-chan is good at this!"

Himiko couldn't help but feel herself smirking. "Of course I am, I had to set myself apart somehow."

"Oh! Shishido just went left, he's going down a back alley."

Himiko dropped her smirk. Time for her to be in hero mode. "Just tell me where I need to turn."

"About 70 meters ahead, right before the waffle shop."

"Ok, then where?" Himiko was worried by the silence as the older girl took too long to respond. "Nejire?"

"I can't find him on the next street! He may have stopped in the alleyway?"

Himiko continued past the alleyway, before ducking into the next one. She stripped off her coat and boots, stashing them behind a dumpster, before activating her quirk, transforming into a salaryman. Retrieving her belt, she put that back on, hiding it underneath the jacket her transformation came with.

"Ok, time to investigate."

Changing her mannerisms, Himiko stepped back out of the alley and peered down the one where Shishido disappeared. As she stepped in, she saw a door slightly ajar, and several others that were closed.

First things first - test the closed doors. While two of the three were locked, she smiled as the third one clicked open, and she carefully opened it, peering inside.

It appeared to be a storage room of some sort. Stepping inside, she eased the door shut, leaving it open just a crack before she gave her eyes a moment to adjust. Thankfully, whatever secondary mutation caused her catlike eyes also made it easier for her to see in the dark. It looked like a storage room for whichever shop she had entered. She made a mental note to avoid making too much noise - she didn't want to cause an incident, after all.

A few minutes of searching later, she found what she was looking for - a large neon orange flag with Shishido's face on it. Why he would have such a thing she didn't know, but it made for a good target for their little exercise. Wrapping it up as tightly as she could, she held it in her hand and quietly opened the back door, slipping back out.

"Going somewhere?"

Hearing Mongoose's voice above her, Himiko reacted by leaping forward, tucking into a roll to dodge the snake-headed girl's attack. Unfortunately, she misjudged how wide the alley was and slammed into the wall.

"Crap! Mongoose is here!"

Scrambling up, Himiko dodged out of the way and sprinted out of the alleyway, attempting to activate her blanking while on the move.

"Himi-chan, Mongoose-chan is still following you!"

Of course, her blanking move wouldn't work on Sekigai, and she was feeding directions to Mongoose, which meant that even if Himiko got a lead, it wouldn't take long for the other girl to catch up. Although, given the rules of the exercise, Himiko just needed to gain enough of a lead so that she could escape.

Daring to glance behind her, Himiko saw Mongoose was a good 20 meters back, as she ducked into a crowd she ripped off her belt and held it in her hands as she dropped her transformation and activated another one, turning into a middle-aged woman out for a stroll. Given the reaction from the crowd, she cursed, as she realized she may have made things worse.

"Nejire, where can I go?"

"There's an alleyway across the street. It leads to another busy street on the other side."

Himiko looked across the road and saw it. Weaving her way through the stopped cars, she practically dove into the alleyway, changing form once again - this time to an elderly grandmother. Putting the belt back on, she emerged on the street and mingled with the crowd.

"I only have one more transformation before I have to use something more obvious," Himiko announced as she looked at the pouch on her belt, pulling out a vial of Inko's blood. She both loved and hated transforming into her mom. It felt so comforting to be transformed into her, which is why she hated using it during a high-stress situation. But she has burned through all of the blood she was able to collect, and she suspected Mongoose was at least aware of her classmates.

Putting the vial to her lips, she drank the liquid, feeling the warmth of love as the liquid trickled down her throat. Just as quickly she put the vial away, before shuffling towards Ryukyu's agency.

"Mongoose is on the street now, but she hasn't seen your current form. I'm sure she's looking for your belt and flag."

Himiko grumbled about the obviousness of a grandmother with a utility belt and orange flag as she walked, trying to get as much distance as she could before ducking into a tea house.

Once inside, she activated her quirk again, allowing herself a moment as she was wrapped in Inko's form. It felt like a hug, and she wasn't about to let the feeling go to waste. Always supportive, her mom even helped her by letting Himiko dress her up one day, wearing an outfit specifically designed to hide Himiko's support equipment while transformed.

Once again putting the belt on, Himiko tried her best to shove the flag into a pouch, before stepping out. Mongoose was close, but looking in the wrong direction as she slipped away.

She had about thirty seconds before Nejire spoke again. "Mongoose-chan is following you again."

Himiko let out a sigh. That was probably her best shot of escaping and it only bought her that much time. "How much further do I need to go?"

"About one kilometer."

"I guess it's time to see how good she is at running."

Giving up all pretenses, Himiko broke into a sprint, letting Inko's form slide off of her so that she could move unhindered. She heard the girl shout from behind her as she was running, but she refused to turn around. Instead, she simply pumped her legs as hard as she could, making it back to the hero agency minutes later.

"Looks like my team won," Ryukyu announced as Himiko burst into the doors of the agency, panting from the exertion.

"I must say, that was impressive considering the advantage Sekigai gave Mongoose," Shishido said.

Mongoose burst into the door a few seconds later, hissing at the girl. "Damn it, I couldn't even smell you while you were transformed!"

Himiko stuck her tongue out at the snake girl. "Of course! My quirk is awesome."

Sekigai collapsed the hologram she was looking at in the corner of the room and walked over to her fellow intern. "I'm sorry, I tried my best."

"It's not your fault," Mongoose assured here, "I'd have lost her immediately without you."

Finally, Nejire landed outside the agency and pushed the doors open. "We did it Himi-chan!" Without asking she pulled Himiko into a deep hug.

"Well, I'm happy with how that turned out," Ryukyu turned towards the other hero. "What do you say?"

"Aye." Shishido turned toward his own interns. "You two had the odds against you, and you still forced her to use quite a few tricks to make it back before you caught her."

Ryukyu finally turned toward her interns. "Well, I'm impressed by what I saw. Nejire - your coordination and Himiko - your stealth worked quite well together. The real reason I asked Shishido to help today was to test the two of you, and you both passed. I want both of you to help with tomorrow's operation."

"Operation?" Nejire tilted her head sideways in confusion.

"My sources tell me that there's a large shipment of Trigger coming through the port tomorrow. We were originally planning on intercepting it and shutting down the operation. However, Midoriya's given me a new idea. I want to let it through, and see where it's going," Ryukyu turned towards Himiko, "and Midoriya's the key to making that happen."

Himiko just stared wide-eyed at the hero. She doesn't even have her provisional license yet, and Ryukyu is telling her she is key for a real mission?

How did she ever think her quirk was a curse?

Kurogiri and Tomura turned as they heard the knock on the door, a familiar pattern letting them know it was Giran. A moment later, the information broker entered the bar, with a lanky individual covered in tattered clothing and armed with a variety of blades following him.

"You don't know how hard it was for me to track him down, but here's the guy you wanted to talk to." Giran stepped aside and swept his arm to indicate his companion. "The Hero Killer himself, Stain."

"Hmph, and what do people like you want with me?" Stain asked, looking at the two judgmentally.

"I'm here to interview you. You see, I need more party members, and you come highly recommended, given your line of work."

"Party members?" Stain turns to Kurogiri. "What's he on about?"

The black mist gave what could only be taken as a sigh. "The young master enjoys video games in his free time. This has caused him to adopt some terminology for everyday activities. What he means to say is that we are recruiting."

"I see," As he stood there, Stain appeared to be evaluating Tomura. "Tell me… what are you fighting for?"

"What kind of question is that?" Tomura asked with disdain in his voice, causing Stain's eyes to narrow. "Not about loot or exp, but morality?"

"Yes. And if you want me to stay, you will answer the question."

"So it's that kind of dialogue tree," Tomura grumbled, "very well then. I hate heroes. I hate everything about them."

"On that, we mostly agree. There are too many false heroes in the world. What do you plan on doing to the fakes?"

"Oh, I am going to kill them." Stain appeared to be waiting for Tomura to elaborate further, eliciting a frustrated growl. "What else do you want me to say? I want to bring society to its knees. Sensei told me that I can destroy what I hate, and I hate this society and its worship of heroes."

This seemed to anger Stain. "I see, we are done here."

"Now wait just a minute!" Tomura protested, reaching out with his palm, only to feel Stain's sword pierce it, just enough to draw blood. Feeling his old wound, he pulled his hand back instinctively, anger overtaking him. "Damned hireling!"

Stain licked the blood off of his blade and activated his quirk, causing Tomura to slump onto the counter, while Kurogiri stood there impassively. Leaning into Tomura's face, Stain continued.

"Hatred without conviction is meaningless. It makes you a rabid animal. Nobody will follow you without belief, and a desire to follow through with it. My mission is to reform society by killing false heroes. If you merely want to kill heroes just to cause anarchy, then we will never see eye to eye." Standing to his full height, Stain turned to Kurogiri. "And I have work to do. Send me back to Hosu, as you promised. Tonight, I will finish leaving my mark on the city."

Kurogiri looked down at Tomura and back at Stain, before opening a portal, allowing Stain to leave.

"W-why did you do that?" Tomura blurted out as the portal closed.

The monitor behind him lit up, and he heard the voice of his Sensei coming through. "Even if he rejected your offer, that does not mean he is useful, nor does it mean he cannot be convinced in the future. It is rash to discard someone so easily."

"Grrr…." Tomura growled his frustration, "Fine, if he wants to show his ideals in Hosu, I can show him mine. How many Nomu are ready?"

The voice on the monitor replied. "Oh? You wish to use the Nomu again, instead of waiting for more party members?"

"They will be sufficient. It turns out that waiting for Giran isn't enough. I need something big to attract new party members. If they see what we can do…"

"I see. I have six ready, but I cannot tell you when the next batch will be ready, so choose carefully."

Tomura finally felt the effects of the quirk wear off as he managed to push himself up, before collapsing back into his chair. "Three then, and we will save the others for a future mission."

A long pause. "Very well then. Make your preparations, and the Nomu will be ready for Kurogiri to transport them."

Tomura picked up a glass, drinking the last of the water in it before he touched it with his pinky, completing the five points of contact and disintegrating it.

"Hero Killer. If you think my hatred is meaningless, I will show you what I can accomplish! When I am done, they will be so busy talking about me, that your little 'mark' on Hosu will merely be an afterthought!"

After cleaning up from dinner, Izuku and Emily were looking to retire to the common room and continue their quirk analysis homework, when Majestic entered the room.

"After a successful day of training, it's time to go on patrol!"

"Patrol?!" Both students exclaimed.

Majestic clapped his hands with a smile. "Yes! We haven't been out on patrol today, have we? I think a little trip to Tachikawa City is in order."

"Isn't that a little far?" Asked Emily, "Almost an hour away by train?"

"Yes. But!" Majestic spread his arms wide. "It is also one of the busiest cities in Japan, with constant hero and villain activity! It is the best chance for us to interact with heroes and lend your support."

Izuku pressed his thumb to his mouth as he thought about this. "He is right. Locally we may not even encounter a single villain over the next week, due to the presence of Majestic and Wash, not to mention the heroes further down in the charts. If we want to get hands-on experience, Tachikawa City would make a lot of sense."

"Precisely! Now then, time's wasting. Go change into your hero costumes and the show can begin!"

Izuku and Emily looked at each other and nodded before they followed the hero to the elevators and pushed the button to the dormitory floor.