Chapter 46: Internships

"They may have allowed it, but I'm against their decision," Aizawa was keen to let her know. Hikari's grip around the handle of her costume case tightened. Tokoyami was waiting outside and she had no intention of running late on her first day, but their homeroom teacher was blocking the exit.

"I'm honoured by your care, sensei," the girl bowed, "but I have to do this. I need the experience. I need to keep up with the others, and I need to get stronger. Please let me through."

He sighed in defeat, knowing there was nothing he could do.

"Just one thing," the teacher pulled something from his pocket. "Your arm."

Baffled, the girl held up her limb and watched him wrap a black digital watch around her wrist. It was quite plain with yellow digits showing the time and date.

"It's a tracker."

"What?!"

"It's inactive," Aizawa added quickly, "but there's a panic button. You can activate the signal by pulling this screw all the way out. Once you do, it will send an alarm and your location to both mine and Hawks phone. The device will also monitor your vital signs, giving us a clue about your physical well-being."

She didn't know how to feel about it. On one hand she knew he was only trying to protect her, on the other, she wasn't eager to be constantly monitored. What happened to the little freedom she had left?

"Thank you, I guess," Hikari simply stated, staring at the watch with a blank expression. Finally, Aizawa moved out of the way.

"Don't do anything stupid."

Izuku gulped. Endeavour's agency was huge. But what else did he expect from the newly crowned number one? Taking another deep breath, Izuku braced himself. He still couldn't believe he had accepted Todoroki's offer to ask his father to let both him and Bakugou come for an internship. Sure, Endeavour was the top hero, and Izuku wasn't getting an offer like that every day, but he couldn't forget what Todoroki told him about their relationship. A man who would go through such lengths only to beat All Might, in a weird, twisted way… Was that really a man he wanted to work under?

He didn't have a choice. Izuku still lacked control over his flames, and all the sidekicks here had fire-based quirks, if anyone could help him, it was them.

He avoided her first attack by pushing himself off the ground. With a bat of his wings he sailed across the gym, eluding the streams of particles she sent towards him.

Just a short assessment, sure. Hawks was toying with her, and there was nothing Hikari could do. Not losing another sore thought on the matter, the U.A. student created more golden particles from the soles her feet. The thrust sent her soaring through the air and she had to use the black legs coming from her back to dampen her ascend. Seems she had miscalculated the force of the output a bit. It was worth seeing the surprise flash across Hawks' face, though. The girl flung herself into his direction, but he evaded again with ease. Not giving in, Hikari tried to save the attack by grabbing him with her spidery legs, but he was going too fast. With nothing but frustration on her hands she hooked her spider legs around the climbing frame on the wall in front, swung around the bar and landed on top. Meanwhile, Hawks reached the ground soft-footedly, not breaking a sweat. The look in his eyes demanded to see more.

This was different than her training with Aizawa-sensei. Since his quirk wasn't physical, the teacher relied more on tactics. By now Hikari knew that her best chance at beating him was to get into close range, somehow blind him before attacking. But Hawks… She couldn't even get into range to use her quirk properly. None of her medium range attacks worked. Even though she had put so much effort into changing her style so it would suit both her quirks and be affective against her brother, she couldn't even touch him… Had all that been for nothing?

There was a soft swish. Hikari dropped from the climbing frame, narrowly avoiding being hit by red feathers. Using her black legs properly, she was able to jump from quite impressive heights without getting hurt. Not that this would change anything about the outcome of this fight, if it could even be called one.

Time for a change of plans. The student clapped her palms on the floor, then pushed herself off. Ready to meet her mid-air, Hawks also rose, but before his feet fully left the ground, he was pulled back. Golden particles, previously sent towards him hidden beneath the floor, wrapped around his ankles, anchoring him in place, if only for a second. Hikari charged, ready to take the chance, but more feathers came rushing towards her. She could feel a gust of air tug at her hair as she ducked and they soared past her. Three more came, which she deflected with her quirk. She almost got in reach when the feathers turned around and wrapped themselves around her quirk.

No. She wasn't done yet. The black particles disappeared, leaving nothing but air in the feathers' grasp. That, Hawks hadn't seen coming, since it took her other particles longer to dissolve. As soon as she heard the metallic clank of the feathers hitting the floor, Hikari jumped. She deflected the arm trying to keep her at bay and aimed for the hero's neck, since he wasn't much taller than her – to no avail. More feathers detached from his wings, wrapped themselves around her legs and tore her off her feet. The girl slithered across the gym, coming to a halt not too far from the exit. She still had enough stamina left to continue. She could try again, but… It was pointless, and they both knew it. Hawks had seen enough.

Feeling the weight of utter defeat lasting on her shoulders, Hikari had barely enough motivation left to push herself up. Not bothering to retract her sprawled out legs, she looked up at the hero closing in, "That was embarrassing. I'm sorry for being such a disappointment."

"Not quite! Don't be so hard on yourself, Kumogane-chan. It's your first day and you did get in range for close combat, that's more than many can say. Or what did you think, Tsukuyomi-kun?"

Hikari spun around. Tokoyami was standing by the door, arms crossed in front of his chest. How had she not seen him coming in? How long had he been standing there?

"I've never seen her fight before," the bird head admitted, "so I can't say much."

Hawks nodded. "I see. In my opinion, it was very insightful. Kumogane-chan, I think you're very smart and fast-thinking, but it almost seems like you haven't had much practice using your quirk. Your timing and your output seem a bit off. I already noticed during the licence exam."

She couldn't deny it. "I, uhm… I only recently changed my fighting style? I don't have everything figured out yet..."

"Because your quirk was affected by Trade?"

"Trade?" She repeated. Tokoyami shifted uncomfortably, avoiding the questioning look she sent both Hawks and him.

"A drug meant to be a quirk suppressant, but it has rather unpleasant side effects. So far, only very few cases have been reported. As I've heard, you have been exposed to a vast amount of it."

A quirk suppressant? Her mouth went dry. Could it be? Was that the thing Dragon's men had injected her with?

"What… What side effects?"

"It attacks a person's quirk factor," the hero began, his gaze directed at the floor, a hand on his chin, "the quirk mostly recovers, but not without going through changes. In certain cases, it led to the quirk being crippled, leaving the person unable to use it. Luckily, even less of these cases have been reported. Judging by your statement just now, I assume it did something to your quirk as well."

All colour faded from her face, she could feel cold sweat accumulate on her front. That drug, Trade, went that far? If she really had been repeatedly infused with it over the course of three days… It could have crippled her. Compromised everything she worked so hard for. Considering all this, the changes her quirk underwent were a miracle.

"Kumogane-chan?"

"Ah," she shook her head, "sorry. I… Yes, I guess that this… Trade did alter my quirk. The part that looks like my brother's… I've only had if for a bit over a month." Hikari would need some time to wrap her head around this revelation.

"In that case, I'd say you desperately need more practice. Especially with said brother of yours still lurking around. We all know that at one point, he will come for you. And I want you to be prepared, after all, I did offer you the internship fully knowing about these complications." For the first time, he addressed the elephant in the room. "I'd say we get some extra lessons for you, both of you," he looked over to where Tokoyami stood, "what do you say?"

When Hawks offered them extra lessons, she expected to spend her next weekends here at the agency, not half of her evenings as well. School wasn't slacking down as well, and they still had homework and exams. To her own annoyance, her grades weren't as high as she used to be at Seishin. In her defence, they had very specific hero related subjects in the hero course she never heard of before, but the general subjects were on a much lower level. She should be doing better.

In addition to that, she only got to train with Shinsou once this week and had to cancel her sparing with Midoriya altogether. He still owed her that talk he promised at the festival, and the things she wanted to discuss were stacking up. Sometimes, if felt like her brain was ready to explode. If only she could call Neko…

No, Hikari shook her head, don't think about her.

"Alright then, let's call it a day! Good work, interns," Hawks dismissed them at the end of the week. Tokoyami thanked him politely and turned to leave. Hikari, exhausted to the bone, could barely hold herself upright. Tokoyami looked back at her, but she signed him to go on. There was at least one thing she needed to get off her chest tonight.

"Hawks? Can I have a moment?"

"Of course! What's up?" The pro walked over to the pile of water bottles stacking up besides the door. He offered her a fresh one before satisfying his own thirst. Hikari didn't quite understand why and more importantly, how he always found the time to train the two of them. He was already spending the whole day and night doing his hero work. She had seen him munching a sandwich when he arrived at the agency a few times, but when did he sleep? And how did that smile remain on his face all the time?

Because it's not real, a voice in her head said. She tried to ignore it, but… Something just felt off. No matter how charming it looked, her assumption proved right two days ago. That night, they had been training just like today. For the first time Tokoyami and she managed to pull off that combo move, and she just so happened to look at the pro in that exact moment. That moment where, following surprise, a grin spread across Hawks' face. It wasn't as charming, rather sharp actually, but also a bit proud. It was so different from the expression he usually wore, so… Honest. The shock it sent through her body caused Hikari to screw up her next move, probably why they ended up losing again, but it proved her intuition wasn't off. Hawks was hiding something. Whether it was some sort of trauma or anything currently happening, she obviously had no idea, but it made her think. For two days she pondered whether to talk to someone or ask the hero directly, but there was no one to talk to. No one she trusted with this, at least.

"I've been thinking," Hikari began, carefully weighting her words, "and there's something that's been bothering me for, well, months. It didn't have anything to do with you at first, but then… I just- I can't help it." Now that she was so close to asking him, it became harder finding the right words. She did like Hawks. He always treated her with respect, listened to her and never showed any signs that he was bothered by her family background or precarious situation. All those things made this only harder.

"Fire away," the winged hero waved her to continue, still smiling.

"Okay, so… First off, why exactly did you offer me this internship? You must have gone through a lot of trouble. My teacher told me."

He scratched the back of his head. "Well, you're not wrong, there were a lot of people opposing my decision. But I haven't changed my mind. You and Tsukuyomi-kun are making great progress. I might just take you on patrol by the end of next week!"

It was a very subtle attempt at changing the subject, but Hikari wouldn't let herself get distracted that easily. Summoning up all her courage, she asked the question that had been sitting on the tip of her tongue for so long, "Are you planning to use me as a bait to lure out my brother?"

The smile didn't completely fade and the piercing glance sent a shiver down Hikari's spine. She gulped, before pushing her boundaries even more, "Tokoyami-kun might have mentioned you're involved with a league of villains' case…"

Hawks finally blinked, releasing her from his stare. The girl had to take a deep breath.

"That's quite the accusation, Kumogane-chan. Do you really think I would so light-heartedly abuse the trust U.A. has placed in me?"

Hikari bit her lip. Playing the innocent wasn't going to work on her. "I'm not accusing you - okay, maybe I am, but - I mean, I wouldn't judge you. It's a good plan. I was wondering why the commission hasn't tried anything the like yet. I just – I want to know. I need to know. Whatever your answer is, I… I won't judge you. I won't tell anyone. They wouldn't understand, but… I do. I've been in this business long enough. I know it might be the only chance to lure him out. And with all the training you're putting us under… All I want is the truth. Nothing more."

He didn't speak. Hawks studied her, a fist resting against his chin. Unable to bear the silence she was rewarded with, Hikari spoke up once more, "I know you're a good person, Hawks, or you wouldn't go through such lengths making sure I stand a chance. I've read the files, I know it was you who saved me from Doom Fist and Dragon." She might still not remember it, but they did give her access to a workstation and the least confident files here at the agency.

"I guess what you saw there was also one of the reasons for this internship?"

Hawks chuckled. At last, a reaction, even if it was one she didn't expect. The winged man stretched his arms above his head as if they were talking about the weather or something trivial, not about endangering a life to finish a job. He rolled his shoulders before crossing his arms in front of his chest.

"Technically," he began, "I didn't save you. You were both unconscious when I arrived, I just happened to carry you over to the ambulance. You were the one who ended that fight and saved yourself."

It still wasn't an answer to her initial question. Hikari frowned. She wasn't backing down, even if she had to wait all night for an answer.

"You know, Kumogane-chan, you might just be a little too smart for your own good."

It took them over a week to clear him for patrol. While Izuku buzzed with excitement, Bakugou, who had been stuck training with the sidekicks with him, while Todoroki-kun went out with his father, fumed. Of course, he wouldn't be as enthusiastic about finally going out, he hadn't been stuck within U.A. for the past months. Deciding to ignore his childhood friend and to make the best out of his, Izuku jumped after the sidekick named Burnin. She had been the one looking after them most of the time. While the heroine was very outgoing and easy to work with – she had no problem dealing with Kacchan's outbursts – she didn't quite grasp what Izuku was trying to tell her about his quirk. Unsure how to describe it, he had told her he was able to turn the energy he used for his apparent super-strength into some kind of flames. He hadn't been willing to show it in front of everyone, though, not after realizing they knew about the protection program he was under, but not the reason for it. They didn't know Dragon was his father. How was he going to explain the colour of his flames without revealing everything?

"Watch out!" Burning yelled, warning them not a second too early. Izuku narrowly avoided the tree standing in the middle of the square. The ornaments chimed in the gust of wind trailing after him, but luckily nothing fell.

Right, tomorrow was Christmas Eve. Yesterday had been the last day of school this year, and since Christmas fell on a Monday, today would be their last chance to work as interns until the holydays were over. Not that the heroes weren't working during that time, but it had something to do with them being students and a mandatory amount of days off.

As they passed one of the main streets, Izuku's eyes fell on a toy store. Maybe he should have gotten Eri another gift. Aizawa-sensei promised to bring her along for 1-A's Christmas party tomorrow evening. The class already planned to make more candy apples for her, but he wished he had gotten her something more personal.

"Looks like we're a little late," Burnin announced. The two interns landed behind her, taking in the scene in front of them. It took them less than four minutes to get here, how was everything already resolved?

Stupid question. There, between blaring police cars and a gawking mop, stood none other than the flame hero, Endeavour himself, having resolved the case before they even got here. How ironic. By now, even Izuku couldn't help the frustration soaking through. Two weeks, and the first time they got called out on a mission, there was nothing left for them to do. Silently, Izuku agreed with Bakugou's furious yelling. Then, a fleeting thought came to his mind. If Endeavour was here, didn't that means…?

"Midoriya, Bakugou."

The voice instantly lifted his mood. "Todoroki-kun! Seems you've already got it handled, huh?"

"I wouldn't say so," Todoroki fanned his left side which steamed quite a bit, "I didn't get to do anything, I was too slow. He was already done when I got here."

"Oh, I see." Looks like he wasn't having a blast either. It made Izuku feel a bit better about the situation. At his other side, Bakugou cackled, hissing something that only made his inferiority complex more apparent. Ignoring him, Todoroki informed them, "I tried to talk to Endeavour…"

His tone told Izuku everything he needed to know. He shook his head. "It's alright, Todoroki-kun. We know you're doing everything you can."

"The hell he is!"

"Still," Todoroki ignored Bakugou again, his conscious still not cleared, "maybe if I-"

The dual quirk user stopped mid-sentence, some tiny emotion akin to surprise flashing over his features. Izuku traced his gaze back to Endeavour, who wasn't standing by himself anymore. With his bright crimson wings outstretched, the number two hero, Hawks, exchanged a seemingly one-sided conversation with his colleague. The younger pro's eyes locked onto the interns and he flashed them a grin. It wouldn't be unusual, if Izuku didn't catch him whispering something to Endeavour while doing so.

A low tap behind them alerted All Might's successor. He redirected his attention to the sound, finding their classmate Tokoyami, still wrapped in Dark Shadow's arms, standing behind them. He must have flown after Hawks.

"Good day, Todoroki, Midoriya, Bakugou. It appears your improvements leave to desire just as have ours."

One more member to add to the failed-to-keep-up-squad. Before Izuku could return his classmate's greetings, another 1-A member crashed beside the bird headed teen, a lot less gracefully than him. Hikari stumbled towards them and Izuku got ready to catch her, but she eventually regained her balance without assistance. She took a deep breath before rubbing her temples.

"All this jumping and swinging around is making me nauseous. I think I'm going to be sick."

"Nah, don't worry," Hawks appeared out of nowhere, "you were already faster than yesterday! Hey," he turned to Izuku and Bakugou, "are you two also Endeavour's interns? I wasn't aware he accepted anyone besides Shouto-kun."

"Y-yes! I'm Deku! It's a pleasure to meet you!"

"Ah, the finger-breaker-kid!"

"Tch, interns my ass," Bakugou interrupted him, "wasting our time dealing with nothing, that's what we are!"

"Ka-kacchan!"

Luckily, Hawks wasn't offended and found it rather amusing. "Well, we all start somewhere. I'm sure he's gonna recognize your potential soon enough! Either way, Tsukuyomi-kun, Kumogane-chan, I called Ripple, he's on his way to get you. You'll be working on that assignment I told you about yesterday. There are a few things I need to take care of myself, so I won't be able to assist."

The two students bowed and promised to do their best. Satisfied with the reaction, the pro bid all five students his goodbyes and took off, sending cold air towards them. It was going to be a freezing Christmas, sadly without snow.

Bakugou went on complaining about being stuck with him, interrupted by Todoroki telling him that it wasn't nice to talk about his friend like that, with Tokoyami watching them disconcerted. A few months ago, Izuku would have intervened. After the whole ordeal with their remedial classes he had noticed the relationship between those two change, though. Bakugou might still be yelling all the time, but he wasn't actually mad at Todoroki. They were getting on pretty well, Todoroki even went as far as to call his explosive classmate a friend.

"No luck either, I presume?" Hikari stepped closer to Izuku, apparently recovered from her dizziness. At least she looked less pale than before.

"No, not really," it had been a while since they talked, "so, uhm, you free tomorrow morning? There was something you wanted to talk to me about, and I know it's already been two weeks, but If you'd still…"

"Yeah, sure! Don't worry, it's not you who wasn't around. And also thank you for remembering." She offered him a soft, sweet smile that evoke a strange sensation in his chest. Izuku ignored it, there was something else on his mind.

"You changed your costume again?"

"Not much, just a few improvements. It was getting a bit cold, so they added sleeves and closed my back." Hikari turned around to showcase eight, fist-sized, metal framed holes remaining where the large cut-out had been. "It's a shame I had to drop the glasses though, they kinda looked like Hawks'. But now that my eyes do this weird thing when I activate my quirk, it would be nothing but a fashion statement. That would be a bit weird, wouldn't it?"

Izuku eyed the changes. He noted that her boots and gloves had been elongated, they reached up to de middle of her tights, respectively her upper arms now. There was also a black string running across her face, just wide enough to cover up her scar.

"Ah, sorry if I talk too much," she apologized before he realized he hadn't said anything in return, "it's just that this is only my second day out. I haven't been outside U.A. since… You know. I get thrilled by the smallest things, I think I'm already annoying Tokoyami-kun…"

"N-No, no, don't apologize! I'm actually extremely excited, too! Same reason, and, your costume doesn't look weird at all, it looks great."

"Oh, okay," she relaxed a bit, "thank you, Midoriya-kun." The girl had started fidgeting with a black digital watch wrapped around her left wrist Izuku hadn't seen before. He was about to ask, when Burnin returned.

"Alright, listen up, interns! Nothing left to do for us here. Endeavour's got-" She stopped, the shadow of said man looming over her. His presence was all too menacing for a hero, if Izuku was being honest.

"Shouto," the flame hero spoke, "you'll be going back to the agency with them."

Todoroki's expression grew confused, "Why?"

The number one hero stared at his son as if contemplating something, then decided to fully ignore him, "Burnin, take them back. I have some urgent matters to attend."

Not waiting for another protest, Endeavour turned on his heels and strut off to wherever he was going. Somehow, Izuku couldn't bel but feel like those "urgent matters" had something to do with whatever Haws whispered to the man before. Meanwhile, Burnin patted Todoroki's shoulder roughly to comfort the boy.

"You heard him, kids. Must have his reasons if he's sending Shouto as well. Anyway, Flush Rush's back from his week off, pretty sure he can give you some tips. He's a bit less dense than the rest of us." With those words she pushed Todoroki away from the scene. "Come on, you made it here in three minutes, you can make it back in two!"

Bakugou only snarled. He glared at Tokoyami and Hikari, not sparing them a word, he was in an even fouler mood than this morning. Izuku on the other hand made sure to properly see them off, reminding them in an Iida-like fashion not to come back too late, they had lots of things to prepare tomorrow. Satisfied by their promise, he turned around, when a strange feeling overcame him. He had had this feeling before, but always ignored it. Something… Something was going to happen today. He couldn't say what or how, but it was nothing good. He turned around one last time and called out to his friends, "Hikari, Tokoyami-kun… Please be careful!"

"We will," Tokoyami confirmed, behind him Dark Shadow gave a thumbs up. At their right, Hikari waved.

"You three, too!"

Hardly could they have guessed that less than two hours later, yelling would be heard throughout the whole agency.

"Turn on the TV! Endeavour and Hawks are fighting something crazy!"

A/N: Next chapter: Battles on two fronts! Will one of the most anticipated conflicts be resolved? It doesn't look too good for their Christmas party…

Thanks a lot for the faves JK12345, badass50, loweel, angelcat12 and Raggamix!

Thank you so much for the reviews, Midnight Angels Say GoodNight! I hope you liked the "cliffhanger" in this one. your comment: I wouldn't necessarily call Izuku and Hikari oblivious. They're not really "there" yet, imho, Neko is just incredibly observant and can detect every single hint Hikari's giving away, so she saw the potential lying there. And they'll have more important stuff to worry about.