A few days later, most of class 1-A was at the train station waiting for the train that would take them to wherever they would be interning.
Everyone was excited and ready to go despite the early hour Aizawa had required us to be here. At this point, it was just me and Momo waiting for the train that would get us to Ryukyu's. We sat on a bench with our bags next to us, along with our hero costumes in their cases.
"So did you ever go and get your costume changed?" I asked as Momo looked up from her phone. "I never had time to. I have considered your ideas, however, and may implement them into my next design."
Ever since Sasha had done whatever she'd done to poor Momo during that first training exercise, I'd given Momo a few ideas that she could use to change her costume so she wouldn't be so exposed.
It was one of the things that always irritated me when I first watched the show. Yes, these are children training to become heroes, and they need costumes. Yes, they are actively maturing and growing into their bodies. They are still children, and shouldn't be wearing shit that's skin tight, or flaunting their bodies as Momo's costume does.
Even though I'm now technically their age, I still can't get over that. I don't see myself as one of them, not mentally at least. That's why I try not to do so much with Sasha; it bothers me despite her being a great person, but I'm no pedo.
Besides all of that, Momo and I have been talking quite a bit now about what we're looking forward to during our stay with Ryukyu. I was looking forward to seeing how she manages so many sidekicks, something she actually needed since her quirk wasn't the best for fighting around buildings.
Momo was interested in seeing how Ryukyu managed the business side of heroing. Yes, she could have learned that better from Uwabami, but Ryukyu was a real hero, or at least one more focused on saving people rather than posing for the media.
Once the train finally arrived, we said our goodbyes to Aizawa and Mic, who'd been borderline shouting the entire time, and piled into the train. Despite the early hour, the train was packed, so I let Momo take the seat while I stood in the aisle.
It was a bit uncomfortable to be packed in like sardines, and I could tell Momo felt the same. We got over it by talking for a bit before the conversation started to die, so I put on my music and zoned out until we got to our stop.
The station was just as packed, so we forced our way through until we finally got out and found someone waiting for us, two people actually. One was obviously Ryukyu; she held a small sign with our names on it as a girl with bright blue hair hovered in the air.
"That girl looks familiar," Momo whispered as we approached them. "Hey, ready to go?" Ruukyu asked, and we nodded as the blue-haired girl took our bags. "How are you guys? Are you early risers? You two did so well during the festival! How does your quirk work? Can I touch your wings!?" She bombarded them as we got into the car.
Ryukyu must have seen the look on Momo's face as she gave the girl a look as she calmed down and introduced herself. "My name is Nejire Hado, it's very nice to meet you!" She then rattled off another barrage of questions that I tried my best to answer. It was a bit of a headache trying to follow her words, but her personality was so bubbly that it was hard to dislike her.
I could see how some people might not like her, but I thought she was awesome. So for most of the ride, it was Nejire and me talking up a storm as Momo and Ryukyu tried to follow along. When we finally got to the agency, I hurried and got my bags so that she wouldn't have to carry them as they led us to our rooms for the week.
We then had a very hyper Nejire show us around the agency, as well as introducing us to anyone she could catch. She then dropped me off at my room as she showed Momo all the places that 'boys aren't allowed.' Ryukyu must have expected this since she called me to her office soon after.
"You'll have to forgive Nejire-Chan. She can be a bit expressive about her feelings." She said as I waved her off. "It's fine. I think it's pretty cool that she can keep all that energy focused." Ryukyu snorted as if hearing a joke before getting down to business.
"So, I'm glad you two chose to take me up on my offer, but if you don't mind me asking, why? I'm certain that hundreds of heroes, maybe thousands in your case, have sent in offers. Why choose me?"
I thought for a good moment before answering her. "Most heroes tend to only do what they're good at, ignoring the areas they need to work on and generally not trying to get rid of their weaknesses. You are different.
Despite being a hero who can expand in size," She gave me a look, and I coughed, "Turn into a dragon. You don't let the excuse of not being able to fit inside city streets slow you down. Where most heroes with your quirk would only focus on larger villains and monsters, you've gone out of your way to train a group of sidekicks that complement your strengths and weaknesses.
Plus, you don't pose for cameras as Uwabami does."
She smirked at that last bit as she wrote a few things down on her tablet. "Not bad, I didn't think you'd have a decent answer other than, 'big dragon'." That was the only reason . . .
"Anyway, I'm sure Nejire has already shown you where the various facilities are. So get some lunch, then we'll take you on patrol, get you comfortable with the area before moving on." She dismissed me, and I walked out just as Nejire rounded the corner with Momo in tow. 'They must have planned to separate us.' I realized as I waved at the girls.
After eating a quick snack, Ryukyu and the girls arrived in costume, so I changed and met them at the agency's lobby. Ryukyu led the way as we went on patrol, which was mostly just walking around.
"Most of the time is actually spent waiting for trouble, at least for heroes with quirks like mine. If there's a mugging or a petty theft, I can't really turn into a dragon and smash things up; that's where the sidekicks come in.
Most of what they do is being vigilant and reacting to danger before it can hurt somebody. If they run into a villain whose quirk increases their size or makes them too difficult to stop, then I would be called in."
It was a very organized system that Ryukyu ran. Not only did it let her various sidekicks get experience with taking down villains, but it also helped them to learn their limits so that they wouldn't get hurt from overestimating themselves.
Nejire also gave plenty of advice, you just had to pick it out of the million other things she was saying. She did give plenty of advice on how to deal with the media, fans who might recognize us from the Sports Festival, and just tips in general.
One thing that I did notice was that most, if not all, of Ryukyu's sidekicks were female. It didn't bother me, but I'm sure there was a reason behind that. Another thing of interest was that Ryukyu kept checking her phone, often.
So, unless she has some boyfriend the show never talked about, she must be getting information about the Hero Killer. He is currently active, and I'm sure the HPSC has people hunting him, but canon says Izuku and Shoto'll defeat him in Hosu.
I don't think Ryukyu will be called in for that, but after the mess that was the USJ, I'm pretty sure the HPSC has their eye out for any League members or any new nomu running around.
When we were finally done with our patrol of the area, Ryukyu let us go have dinner before sending us to bed. She told us she already had a full week of work ahead of us, and if Nejire's look told us anything, it's that Ryukyu was about to really hit us hard.