The next morning, I wake up after a great night's sleep. Ochako was right, I was horribly homesick last night, but I was so tired I fell to sleep pretty quickly. But the facilities here are amazing! The beds are so comfortable, the shower is one of those walk-in wet room things and the bedroom itself has a panoramic view of the city, all lit up against the night sky.

But no stars…

We do our morning patrol through the streets. A couple of people come up to Gunhead, asking for autographs, and then the strangest thing happens.

"Can you sign too, please!" A small boy - about eight, with blonde hair - holds up an open book and a pen.

"Who? Us?" I ask, bewildered.

"Yeah! You were so cool in the Sports Festival!"

Another small boy and a girl appear from behind him, smiling, both with bright green, cat eyes. "You were like, pew, with your shadows-!"

"And then you were like, RELEASE and all the rocks came down!"

Gunhead gives us a thumbs up. "You better get used to this, Uravity and Kurono."

Ochako smiles as she signs the book with her hero name, and I then sign it with mine. As I do so, I notice the girl - who's been particularly quiet all this time - shyly avoiding eye contact, hiding behind her dark hair.

"Hey there, kiddo." I crouch down to her level. "You having a good day?"

"Uh-huh," she nods, pulling her hair to hide her face.

The brown-haired boy sighs. "Don't worry about my sister, she's just scared of you because she's scared of the dark, like a baby."

"I'm not a baby!"

"Are too!"

"Hey, hey, hey!" I wave my hands and try to settle the situation, then turn my focus to the girl. "I like your eyes, they're very pretty." As I say this, I form a set of shadows around her head. She winces back as the dark smoke drifts around her head as it takes shape, but then she realises. "The dark is nothing to be afraid of, it's just a different type of beautiful."

She looks up in awe as the shadows form into a crown of dark butterflies, that flutter off and dance around her. The two boys jump around in excitement and reach out towards the butterflies as they slowly rise up into the air and dissipate.

The children giggle and they run off with their book. I stand up and smile. Yeah, I did a social thing! I mean, I think we all know I wasn't legally allowed to do that, but no one seems that bothered.

"I'm still getting used to people recognising us!" Ochako exclaims as we return from patrol. We're waiting in the main lobby as he had to run off to talk to one of his sidekicks or something.

"I know! And autographs too." I then laugh. "Ha, we're like, more famous than Aizawa."

She laughs too. "How many people recognise him in the street and ask for an autograph or selfie?"

"Oh, the people come flooding in. We have to hose them back!"

"I bet."

"Not gonna lie though, if I was some random kid, I wouldn't go up to him in the street and ask for him to sign my book, Aizawa's in a shit mood most of the time anyway. I choose life, thanks."

Gunhead runs back into the room. "Look alive, kids! A villain's gone on rampage downtown. Precious seconds are ticking by, let's go!"

Ochako and I look at each other, grinning with anticipation. "Yessir!"

People scream, sprinting in the opposite direction as we follow Gunhead.

"So what's the lowdown?" Ochako asks.

"Shoplifter who panicked. He started kicking up a fuss, damaging buildings on the street. The police are on their way." He still maintains his friendly tone, despite the sudden change of scenario.

Gunhead instructs us to stay put and observe from a safe distance as he runs into the fray. Before us stands a hulking, ten-foot-tall figure, covered in dark green scales, with a set of protruding, pointed teeth and a muscular tail that slams into the buildings and the floor. What's her Quirk, Crocodile?

Her head snaps round to face Gunhead, staring him down with piercing, yellow eyes, nostrils flaring as they pick up our mentor's scent.

Gunhead fires a series of warning shots from his arm into the ground in front of the villain. Her lips curl back into a snarl as a crocodilian hiss growls from the back of her throat.

Using my Quirk, I make a small pillar beneath me and lift myself up on top of a nearby lamp post. I sit there quite comfortably and draw a pen from my pocket - I didn't think to bring my notepad, so I pull up my sleeve and write on my arm instead.

"What are you doing?" Ochako asks.

"Old habit." I wave my pen. "I've found the best place to watch and take notes is generally higher up."

My focus returns back to the conflict. The crocodile-woman, following her hiss, launches herself at Gunhead. With surprising deftness, he dodges to the side and punches into her ribs. Her form then whips round as she goes to bite him; I can hear the snap of her toothy maw as it bites into the air. Having leapt backwards, Gunhead then jumps into the air and brings both if his hands into a single fist, before slamming it down onto the villain's head.

The crocodile's chin whacks against the concrete floor. Her balance was off from her previous bite attack, so after the sudden force hitting down on her, there was nothing to stop her falling to the fall. She hisses once more, before swiping a muscled arm under Gunhead's legs.

He falls onto his back as the villain then springs up on top of him. I stop writing for a moment and prepare to get involved as Ochako and I watch the reptilian jaws open, so wide the lower jaw practically unhinges, exposing the dozens of gnarled teeth, over our mentor's head.

With a sudden burst of energy, Gunhead kicks up one if his legs and the crocodile flies over his head and into an already partially-destroyed building. Before she can get up, Gunhead already is on his feet and grabs hold of her tail. His whole body tenses, every muscle visibly straining, as he turns and - by the tail - flings the criminal over his head. The ground shudders as she impacts the concrete, a crater marked in the road.

Gunhead walks up to her and pins her body down with a foot as she attempts to get up. "Lights out."

Thud.

He finishes the fight with a final punch, knocking her out.

Gunhead looks over to us and gives us a thumbs up. "You can come over now, kids!"

I lean back off the lamp post and hook my legs around the metal bar I was sitting in, hanging upside down. I then wrap one arm around the post going down as I swing my body around, wrap my leg around the pole and slide to the ground.

"You've done that before, haven't you?"

"Once or twice."

We catch up to Gunhead.

"That was so cool!"

"She's like, out cold!"

By this time, the press have gathered, along with the police (who are busy arresting and restraining the crocodile-woman).

"Stay by my side. I need to sort some things out with our boys in blue, but I don't want the media getting their teeth into you. They're pack animals, they see someone who can help them write a good story, and they'll single you out, corner you off and drown you with questions and microphones." Wow, I knew Aizawa didn't like the press, but it seems Gunhead doesn't particularly either. He always looks so chill with them. "You gotta learn how to deal with them, they're always looking for a chance to make you slip up, it's easy to get overwhelmed."

As he says this, he leads us over to the police line, where a crowd of reporters are shouting questions on the other side.

"Don't say a word," he murmurs quietly as he suddenly straightens his posture. "The villain is being taken into custody, and any public damage has been kept to a minimum. Not only is this a lesson for any future criminals to have a change of heart, but also for my two young, U.A. interns, Uravity and Kurono." He places a hand on each of our shoulders. "There were no civilian casualties, and we are happy to keep everyone safe. Thank you."

The reporters suddenly erupt into an everlasting onslaught of questions.

"Gunhead! What is it like to be a hero in the big city?!"

"Were damages really kept to a minimum?!"

"Is it safe for high school interns to be this close to danger?!"

Gunhead guides us away and towards the police. "You better get used to this, kids."

My evening is pleasant. I sit with Ochako on the sofa in our room, talking. We both remembered to make phone calls this evening, talking about the villain Gunhead dealt with. Not everyone is enjoying their internships though. Midoriya's mentor, some guy called Gran Torino, turned out to be this little old Yoda who he thought was dead when he first got there, but actually turns out to be a ninja. I'm glad I didn't take my internship with Uwabami too; Momo's been saying that she's just spent most of her time following her around doing ad commercials. Shoto's been dragged to Hosu by his dad - no one's heard from Iida actually.

Then there's Bakugo...I don't think he's having a great time.

'LOOK WHAT THIS BASTARD DID TO MY HAIR!'

The group chat had that name for a whole five minutes before Bakugo changed it back.

Ochako then looks a mischievous grin. "So, you and Todoroki."

My eyes widen. "Er, what do you mean me and Todoroki?! I don't know what you're talking about. We just get along because we've both had shitty childhoods, that's all!"

"Oh, come off it! You like him."

I blush horribly. "W-well...what about you and Midoriya!"

"What?!" Aha! Who's blushing now?!

"Yeah, you know what I mean."

She looks to the floor. "Oh no, you've got it all wrong, we're just good friends."

"Huh, yeah, okay."

I sleepily look over at the clock. '03:27.' Disgusting. I sit up and yawn, for some reason, unable to get back to sleep. I went to bed five hours ago, what's the deal?

I get up and walk over to the window, brushing open the curtains a little. The city glows under the night sky. Distant sirens wail and the odd car drives past below. The streets are empty and the s- hold up. The streets are almost empty. Just catching my eye is a man, standing outside an alley. I close my eyes and try to use my Dark Sense to get a better look, but he's just outside my range (which has grown considerably, I'd like to add).

He looks up at me, his face indistinguishable, hidden behind a pair of circular glasses, reflecting the light of the streetlight to his right, illuminating the half of his body in an orange glow. The other half is obscured by a dark shadow.

He lifts a hand and beckons me with a finger.

I stand up straight and rub my eyes. Was I imagining that? I check again: he's still there, beckoning. I disappear behind the curtains - what the fuck, that's actually terrifying, should I just hide here? Yes, he can't do anything. I'll just go back to bed.

I rush over to the window ten minutes later. He's still there. My plan didn't work. There's this unbearable curiosity that I can't shake as I grab my long, black coat and slip on my shoes. I then creep over to the end of the window and open it. This is a terrible idea. What are you doing, Kurono? You're five storeys up, in the dormitories of a highly respected hero agency, you're safe, and you're just throwing yourself into a shit situation. Why, Kurono? Why are you like this?

I jump out the window and Rift to the other side of the street where the man is. He looks at me with an unsettling smile and I instantly regret my decision to come down here.

But I don't move.

Everything about the man unsettles me, not just his grin, although that tops it. It's a wide, evil grin showing a gap between his two front teeth. His hair is grey, with side-bangs, and short sideburns coming down the side of his face. There is also a tiny moustache and goatee, clearly well-cared for.

His eyebrows seem to be constantly pointed up in the centre, stuck in laidback smirk, while behind his round, gold-rimmed glasses, his eyes are slightly squinted, with brown - almost red - irises locked on me.

The man wears a gold chain around his neck, a purple blazer - which matches his smart trousers and shoes - over a white, button-up shirt. I say 'button-up', he clearly doesn't quite understand this as the top three buttons are undone, exposing the top of his chest. The man looks, what? Mid-late forties? I've never been good at guessing ages.

Everything about him sets me on edge and leaves me extremely uncomfortable. 'Womaniser', 'paedophile' and 'rapist' are the only things I can think of when I look at him. He smokes a cigarette, and blows the smoke into my face before he talks.

"Took you long enough." His voice is honeyed and deeper than I expected.

"Who are you?"

"Really? Well, now I think about it, I'm not surprised you don't remember. It's a real shame though, I quite liked you - 'like' even."

"What are you talking about?"

"The name's Giran. Let's just say we've got a couple of mutual friends."

I take a step back. "Y-you know…"

"Kurogiri? Shigaraki? Oh yes, the League of Villains really are a group to be investing in at this moment." He takes another puff from his cigarette. "I can't stay long, I have a meeting with them soon about a new candidate I've scouted - he's been in the news a lot recently. Perhaps you could join me?"

Claws form around my hand as I pace back up to him, pointing the claws up under his chin. "What do you want with me, old man?!"

Giran chuckles, not even phased. He places a finger on my lips and I freeze. "Shh, you don't want to wake the neighbours now, would you?" And he slowly pushes my claws down, away from his neck. "You are being particularly fun to toy with, you know, but you really want to listen to what I have to say."

I suddenly find myself again and I bat his finger off my face. "If you're gonna try and recruit me, you've got another thing coming."

"I've tried that once already, and it clearly didn't work. It's obvious you won't join the League unless you want to, Kurogiri just can't seem to see that… No, what I have to say is merely to implant an idea in that pretty little head of yours."

"And what is that?" I spit.

"You're friend, Tenya Iida, he's gone on a little holiday to Hosu, hasn't he? And Endeavour's kid, Shoto Todoroki, he's gone off with daddy to hunt down the Hero Killer."

"Yeah? So?"

"Let's just say Hosu is about to be pretty big in the news. The Hero Killer won't be the only card your friends have to worry about when your little brothers come to play too."

"What...more Nomus?"

"Not just a pretty face, are ya kid?" Don't talk to me.

"Why're you tells me this?"

Giran laughs. "Because I want to see if you're worth investing in too."

"Fuck off." I turn around. I'm going back to bed.

"Oh, Kurono."

I stop.

"You really have grown since the last time we met."

I swear, if I hear anyone else say that, hero or villain, I won't be responsible for my actions. "When did we meet? I don't remember that ugly mug of yours. You talk as if you know me."

"Kurogiri sure knows how to work a number on you kids." He pauses, presumably to take another puff of his cigarette. "Hikari, my dear, I recruited you."

Greetings and salutations, my dear readers. I spent some time debating how this chapter would play out, as well as what will happen over this story arc. Originally, I was going to have Kurogiri have this little meeting, but he's a bit busy at the moment. Instead, I brought in Giran - someone I didn't ever intend to use, but I remembered how much he creeped me out in both the manga and the anime and thought he could fit in Kurono's storyline quite well.

Just a reminder that the release schedule has now changed to a new chapter every other day. Hope you're all enjoying my story, remember to leave a review and have a wonderful day :D