(Please note that this chapter has been edited to account for an error I made when I didn't check up the official language of a country that is mentioned in this chapter. As such, I want to apologise to my readers for making such a foolish mistake and a promise to be more careful in the future.)
Alright, we are back with a new chapter. But before we get into that, I would like to thank all of you that have read my story and have shown your support either by reviewing, approving of or even following. As it stands, we have reached 270 reviews, 1,160 followers and 993 favourites with no signs of stopping. Really, I appreciate all of you. There was an error I made in the last chapter though, in the author note at the end, I meant to say his parents weren't bad, auto-correct error.
Now in this chapter, we can kick off the internships which means we will see the hero offices of many pros, including the equipped hero which as of this chapter commission(04/04/20) has not been seen in both manga and anime. We know that different pros will have different sized and structured offices as we know that both All Might and Endeavour have large skyscrapers-(Which according to wiki, is any continuously habitable high-rise building that is over 40 floors and is taller than 150m or 492ft)-for offices while Heroes like Best Jeanist and Nighteye have a smaller building with Best Jeanist having one only 4, maybe 5 floors tall and Sir Nighteye has an office 5 floors tall. As far as I can tell, the size of the office building depends on: Your own hero ranking; How much work you get done regularly; The work your sidekicks get done; How many sidekicks you employ.
As far we know, All Might never mentions sidekicks besides Nighteye so we can assume he's agency is that big due to his title of the symbol of peace and the safety he embodies. Endeavor on the other hand does more work them All Might and his sidekicks seem to follow that as there is always activity within his agency even before All Might retired. So it's safe to assume that many of the top ten pros have pretty large agencies.
Crywolfseven: Yeah, I know. I'm gonna try using Grammarly in this chapter and see how it goes.
D3lph0xL0v3r: Thank you and yes he is, since we know next to nothing about the pro, I thought he would be a great fit for me as I can make up whatever the hell I want so long as it makes sense. Well, you did ask for it more than once and who would I be if I didn't take the opinions of my readers into account as I was the one who asked for your thoughts in reviews in the first place. Also, I should really get down to reading Quirks & Magic when I get the chance.
PhantomKnightPercival: Always a pleasure to help out other authors. Though I man curious about what ideas you took from this.
raw666: It's neither. As Death Arms said: 'a good pro doesn't make a judgment without all the info'. The fact that Todoroki was allowed to continue with the festival should throw some doubt on the whole cheating theory but not disprove it, so more than likely-they still want interns with powerful quirks but to also make their decision after meeting them.
Zukafew119: Well they are dating so they need to have moments like that in between all the action. Plus it allows me to add to their characters and fill in gaps in how their relationship dynamic works. (Though her cooking isn't that good, I don't want people having foodgasms here) Also, I wanted to show that he does have supporters as I didn't want the entire world to be against him…just an overwhelming majority . It was fitting for Tokoyami to drop that line so I made him be the one.
The intern offers for some stayed the same while others didn't mainly due to performance as like cannon, Sero is beat in the first round of the 1v1 but he did perform quite well in the first two rounds. As I said, an overwhelming amount of people don't think he has it in him so even though he won the tournament without any major incidents like cannon, he still wasn't the most popular choice, though the number he got is still pretty damn high. For the Midoriya/Mineta scene, I have already established that Izuku says shit like this all the time just for chuckles, plus I would imagine Present Mic would love it.
And yes, his parents will troll him for a while with that book. In fact, I have something in the works that will make him wish he burned it and buried the ashes when he had the chance but that will come up later.
I don't think Jiro is that mean to Kaminari but that could be just me comparing her to my own friends as we couldn't and still can't go 10 minutes in a chat without someone roasting another in said group. As for Bakugo's hero name, I don't have a solid name in mind for him as there was a tweet about one choice which was a play on Midoriya's nickname for him and explosions but for the life of me, I have no idea where I saved it to.
All Might's reaction was a given as we know that he fears that old man for all the times he kicked his ass during training so of course when he saw that name, he would have a small heart attack from the flashbacks. As for Yu, she chose Mineta because she knows what he is, don't worry there is a reason there that will be explained during this small but crucial arc in the story. Besides, we all know that if those two worked together, there will be more sexy times when hero times and I can't handle writing all those sex jokes or sexual situations yet. As for the nicknames, I'm still working on the permanent one for Tetsutetsu as writing his name every time he's on-screen or mentioned is getting annoying. I also tried to make his own reaction to All Might's true form the same as Izuku's from cannon, only he's more ready to fight this 'imposter'.
A Friendly Guest: Well, there wouldn't be much the Winged Hero could teach him as in terms of personality, they are somewhat similar to being generally laid back and relaxed but focused and calm in the field. What he needs is a teacher that can instil discipline and other virtues important to hero work.
GunBlad2020: Thank you. Lock-down here is still going on but it could be worse.
Crywolfseven: No, he meant how much power he still had left in his fuel cells, not the performance of the equipment itself.
tacktician: Oh yes, that fight will be entertaining as I put a lot of thought into it to ensure that it's up to par.
Blaze1992: Well they would focus more on the matches he wasn't in for even the 2nd and 3rd year stages as UA did have three days' worth of festival to broadcast.
bauers374: You would have to send me some kind of link to this clip as I have never watched Top Gun before. If I like it, maybe I can use it. Well as someone who didn't really have access to comics growing up, I will be using material that is mostly MCU for marvel. As for your last statement, she was in the princess room in Wreck-it Ralph 2 so she counts, even if she is technically a queen in her own universe.
Chapter 27: Get ready for Internships
(The following Monday morning – Regional Train Station near UA)
"I hope you all have your hero costumes, right?" Vlad King asked the two hero classes they all stood in the Regional train station. It was early morning but rather than be in homeroom, they were all here so that the students may board their trains to head towards their respective internships. Sure some chose local heroes like Death Arms or Mt. Lady but since the majority did not, they found themselves here.
"Yep!" Ashido chirped as she held up her case with her gear safely stored inside. Her positivity was appreciated by the students but not by their teachers.
"Ashido, speak clearly, it's 'yes sir' not 'yep'." Aizawa corrected her with his usual frown. Deflating the girl of her energy as she responded properly.
"Yes sir." Ashido said with a pout as some smiled at the amusing sight though they do not dare speak.
"On the matter of your costumes, you are not to wear them as you please. They are for official hero work only, is that understood?" Vlad instructed them all as he was in no mood to receive complaints from their agencies about teens acting like teens. They didn't get that luxury.
"Yes sir!" They all replied in perfect order as some other people walked on by, some pointing at them as they recognized them.
"Remember to behave on your internships, not only may you one day end up working there but you are now acting representatives for UA and by extension, the next generation of heroes." Aizawa reminded them all to which they all looked back at him with serious faces, showing they understood.
"We will sir, we won't let you down." Kendo replied, sure as rain that no0-one will try anything stupid.
"And if someone can't, Kendo and I are more than willing to put them back in line." Midoriya joked as he shook his case at the groups, they all knew what he was stored in there…and they didn't want to be the victims of them. It was made scarier as Kendo didn't deny his words but rather cracked her neck to the side, producing an audible crack which now made everyone gulp in fear.
'Don't they realize that both classes are scared of what they can do in a fight?' Aizawa asked himself with an eye-roll though he didn't care, so long as they behaved. "See to it that you do."
"Yes sensei!" They all barked as they all got into smaller groups to speak with other one last time before they left while others simply walked off to find their trains. One of those who was making their exit being the resident speedster of 1-A, which didn't escape the notice of his friends.
"Iida!" Uraraka called out to him as he walked off, getting him to stop as the trio caught up with him. "You know if you have something on your mind, that you can talk to us, right?" She asked him, concern for him showing on her face.
"We're your friends Iida, and well," Midoriya took it from there. "We're worried about you is all. You've been distant lately." This was an understatement, the guy had barely been active on the group chat and during school hours, he almost always ghosted them. It was as annoying as it was worrying. Iida at first didn't say anything but then he slowly turned to them with a somber expression that caused alarms to go off in all three of their heads.
"Sorry about that, I have just been dealing with a lot of things lately. I appreciate your concern guys, I do. But I'm getting there…I just, I just need time." Iida said to him clearly without any of his usual quirks before he started to walk off, this time no-one stopped him.
'Stain, the hero killer who has already killed 21 pros and dealt crippling injuries to another 27.' Midoriya thought to himself as he recalled the info he dug up on the net about this particular villain. 'One of those victims being your elder brother Tensei, and now you've taken an internship in the very city he was last seen in?' He continued the thought as Iida disappeared into the crowds. "I hope that my gut feeling is wrong about this." He said aloud, sacred that his theory may be right but hoping against such a scenario.
"I too have a suspicion about his the root of his choice and recent behavior, but we must put faith in him that he won't fall to his base anger." Tokoyami agreed with him but he placed his hope into the integrity they had seen from the taller boy.
"He has to, he knows he can't take on Stain, doesn't he?" Uraraka asked the two, she knew it was suicide to take him on, the guy had taken down fully trained and experienced pros. They on the other hand, hadn't even completed a full school term yet.
'Sometimes, when emotional, logic no longer factors into the equation.' Midoriya thought to himself but wisely kept that to himself. "There's no way he does something like that. Hopefully he just wants to help around there, people do need to feel safe, don't they? And the best way to feel safe to have capable heroes around." He said t try and encourage the others to change the topic to something less sad.
"By the way, you're heading to Kyushu, right Tokoyami?" Uraraka asked Tokoyami, picking up on what Midoriya was trying to do and going with it.
"Indeed, and yourselves?" Tokoyami said as he held up his two tickets which was stamped for Kyushu. The first being a train ticket to the southern tip of the main island and another for a small ferry over the strait.
"Kyoto. To be honest, I've never been there so this will be a sight-seeing trip as much as an internship." Midoriya showed off his ticket with a smile. He always wanted to see what the 'Cultural Heart' of Japan was like.
"Best of luck, you guys! See you soon!" Uraraka said as she gave the two of them a quick hug before she ran off, most likely heading to her internship.
"Bye!" Midoriya yelled back as he started to walk off.
"Farewell, I will speak with you all again tonight." Tokoyami said as he took out his phone and went to find his transportation.
'Now, my train's supposed to be….' Midoriya said to walked along the platform looking for his train, he wasn't any help when he heard the whistle indicating one was ready to leave but it seems luck was on his side as he found that the train leaving was his own. 'Here, just made it.' He said to himself as he quickly got on board just as they closed the doors. Signing in relief of not being made to take a bus, he walked along the aisle looking for his assigned seat. His luggage wasn't much as aside from his larger than normal briefcase-carrying his gear, he had brought along a backpack and a wheeled carry on.
"Now just have to get to my…." He said as he approached his seat and right next to it was someone he wasn't expecting. "Seat. Kodai?" He asked as the girl turned from the window to face whoever was talking to her and true to his observation, it was the kundere of 1-B, dressed in the UA girls uniform in a manner that reminded him of Yaoyorozu.
"Oh, greetings Midoriya. Are you on your way to Kyoto as well?" She asked him without making any face or expression, though she was surprised that he was here.
"That's right, I imagine that your internship is there as well?" Midoriya said as he placed his luggage in the overhead bin and the smaller back-up in the space under the seat.
"Hmmm, although I wasn't expecting such an offer." Kodai replied as she watched as he took his seat next to her with his briefcase on his lap much like her own.
"Really, from who?" Midoriya asked, he didn't pay as much attention as he wanted to as he didn't know a lot about many pros outside the top 20, though he did know that three of which were based in Kyoto.
"Yoshi Musha." Kodai replied to him, shocking him at the coincidence.
"No shit, I got an offer from him as well." He replied while still somewhat shocked, he wouldn't have pegged her as someone who would wish to study under him.
"So it seems we will be seeing a lot of each other for the coming week." Kodai at least looked like she was also caught off guard by this new development? Okay, he wasn't the best at reading people like her but he would like to believe she was caught off guard.
"Looks that way," Midoriya said as he settled in for the long haul before he reached out a hand towards her. "I promise to be a good alley and co-worker."
"As will I." Kodai responded as she took his hand into her own and gave it a firm handshake before they broke the hold. "By the way, congratulations on winning the sports festival, you must have been drowned in offers." She offered in a tone that was different from when they first met, it had like 2% more emotion in it, so he was getting closer to her, that was great! Shame it wasn't the best time for that happy thought.
"Not even close, people don't appreciate my unique skill set, got the third-highest in my class with 189." Midoriya revealed as he was still kinda sore about that. How the hell did thousands of agencies across the board not want him?
"What was the highest?" Kodai asked him, wishing to get a better picture of this before she did anything.
"Mr. Iceberg Lounge with a whopping 2,201." Midoriya answered with a chuckle as they both could guess who he was referring to.
"That does seem unfair, though I can see the appeal his quirk brings to the table." Kodai had to admit, despite her feelings towards the son of Endeavour, he was quite the catch if you considered physical ability alone.
'Oh yeah, it all about that quirk, isn't it?' Midoriya thought to himself as he felt an angry-looking cross form on his forehead at that foolish line of thinking before he calmed himself down. "How much did you get?" he asked to draw attention away from his issues. Life wasn't about him and just cause he had to deal with shit half the time didn't make him special.
"Quite a lot actually, 71. This was the best agency on the list." Kodai revealed her offer count with a tone that sounded like she was pleased but he wasn't too sure. "Monoma was quite displeased by the fact he only got 14." At that little info, Midoriya laughed a bit as that guy is always looking to start a fight with 1-A so it was quite satisfying to hear he wasn't the most popular kid on the block.
"Now that is good news. Though I can imagine that Kendo got a higher number." Midoriya said as he stopped laughing.
"Hmmm, her fights with you and Tokoyami put her name on the map. I believe she received….about 2,156. Tokage got the second most with around 2,112." Kodai agreed with him as she recalled his bashful their class rep looked when Kan told them this, Tetsutetsu and Tsunotori were very proud of her and wouldn't stop cheering till Vlad told them to.
"Can't say those two didn't deserve it, they really know their stuff. Tetsutetsu got 68, right?" Midoriya asked as he had already found out from the boy in question his offer count over the weekend. He wished to know more about what kind of training Midoriya could help prepare for him.
"Hmm, last I heard, he was doing his internship with the Fourth Kind." Kodai answered as she looked out the window at the retreating city in the distance as they crossed into the residential area of town.
"The Chivalrous hero?" Midoriya asked her to be sure and when she nodded her head, he leaned back into his chair in thought. "Kirishima chose him as well." He said as he recalled the rather passionate redhead telling Bakugo and Sero that. Speaking of that explosive ass, he chose best Jeanist which wasn't the weird part. The weird part is that he had been avoiding him like the plague ever since the festival, even on the way to the station, he kept his distance and never made eye contact with him.
"Well, they'll learn themselves soon enough. Tokage went for the offer with Edgeshot which makes sense but Kendo's choice didn't." Kodai said as she remembered how Tokage thought it would be the best choice for someone with her skills.
"Who she choose?" Midoriya asked he had to admit he was quite curious with her as he knew that if she chose a really good agency, she could return with heaps of experience and new tricks up her sleeves.
"Some pro called Gran Torino, I have heard the name before so…" Kodai said before she went quiet by the end, still trying to figure out if she had ever heard that name before. At the reveal of the name, Midoriya tried to recall pros with such a handle but like his blue-eyed friend, he was drawing a blank.
"Me neither. Maybe they're underground, like Aizawa-sensei." He suggested as it was a valid point, there were hundreds of underground heroes who preferred to work away from the limelight of the profession. Sure most mostly focused on the more….questionable aspects of hero work but it was part of the job, even if they left most of their captures with life-long scars and crippling wounds.
(Later – In Kyoto)
"Man, this place is huge!" Midoriya said in awe as he and Kodai got off the train at their station, the large windows giving them an excellent view of the Kyoto skyline. "I didn't think Kyoto was so…large."
"Well the years have been good to her, I did my second-year middle year book report on it." Kodai stated as he rolled along her wheeled carry-on along with a briefcase of her things. "All the tourism along with hosting a few good business schools and being the cultural hub of Japan have helped it boom." She pointed out as they walked towards the exit of the station unto the busy streets. "Last I checked, the city has a population of around 7.93 million people." She said as they walked along the sidewalk, taking in the sights of the place.
"And Yoshi Musha stands a hero for all of them. That's quite the task." Midoriya observed as they already knew that the city was different from others in Japan in how the city was built but it was quite the experience to walk down the streets of Neo Kyoto districts.
"How large do you think his agency is?" Kodai asked as she looked down at the directions they had been given.
"Don't know. Never really looked it up. But he does have a lot of sidekicks, around 40 so it's bound to be a large space." He replied as he knew that sidekicks needed space for their affairs so having more sidekicks required a larger space. It was the main reason that Iida's family agency was a 65-floor building right in the heart of Tokyo.
"Hmmm, we'll see it when we see it." Kodai answered before she looked at the time and saw they had to pick up the pace. "Maybe we should take a taxi?" She asked him.
"Good call, I have no idea where this address is nor do I have any knowledge of this place, don't want to get lost on the first day." Midoriya said as they walked over to a taxi stop and not a minute later, an available cab pulled up to the curve. They quickly placed their stuff in the trunk before climbing into the car.
"Where to?" The driver asked as they took off from the curve and re-joined the busy mid-morning traffic.
"Here." Kodai said as she handed him the address they needed to go to. It didn't take the driver long to realize where they were heading once he heard it though.
"Oh, the Equipped Hero's agency?" he asked them as he looked at them with the rear-view mirror. He didn't know why but there was something familiar about them.
"That's the destination." Midoriya said as he looked out the window at the numerous tall buildings and smaller-more Japanese looking structures. He just hoped that they weren't made out of paper and wood like the actual things.
"Hold up, I recognize you two, from the UA sports festival!" The driver realized as she finally recalled where he saw them from. Man he felt like an idiot for not seeing it sooner.
"You got us, names Midoriya and the quiet princess is Kodai." Midoriya figured that they would be made sooner or later, at least the guy didn't go for the quirkless thing right off the bat so maybe he was a fan.
"I'm not a princess." Kodai corrected him with a raised brow, why did he think that?
"Oh man, you two tore it up during the cavalry battle, I was on the edge of my seat the entire time!" The driver praised them as they took a corner onto an even busier street.
"Well we're glad that you enjoyed the show, we did give it our all." Midoriya replied, feeling good that their performance did what it was intended to.
"Hmmm, I wish that I was able to put up a better fight in the 1v1 though." Kodai added, feeling sad that she was taken down so easily like that. And she even had a solid game plan going into the fight too.
"Don't sweat it, the ice bastard got what was coming to him, isn't that right Midoriya?" The driver brushed her loss aside with a joke as he looked at the boy in the backseat with the rear-view mirror once more.
"Yeah…" Midoriya weakly answered as he didn't take pride in his match with Todoroki then and over the weekend, he just felt more ashamed by it. He wasn't normally a violent guy but at the time, his emotions were riding high enough for him to make the exception with him. Even now, he felt cheated out of a good match but he didn't feel the need to beat the crap outta him anymore. It didn't help that just about all the sports channels ran reruns of the sports festival all weekend long, and that his match up along with the ones for the second and third years were always in the highlight heel.
"Hey, since you're heading over there, are you going to work with Yoshi Musha?" The driver asked them with a smile.
"Well, we're interning there so maybe." Midoriya answered as it was quite common for students to start their careers at the agencies they intern with during their school career. Some never left those agencies and stayed side-kicks their entire lives which wasn't a bad thing as you didn't need to break off and start your agency as doing so was a risk on its own. Hero work was still a job after-all and like with business, were prone to fail with 1 in 6 start-up agencies failing within the first two years.
"Well I hope you do, it'll be nice to have more capable heroes around here, certainly keeps the crime levels down." The driver told them as he was quite nice to live in Kyoto as even though it was a large city, crime was pretty low due to the work of the police and local heroes. Afterward, they drove in silence for about 15 minutes before they came to stop across the street from their destination. "Alright, we're here. That'll be 1,435 Yen." He asked after he used the built-in fare calculator to figure out how much they owed. He was fully capable of doing the math off-head but it as city regulations for cab drivers to use the computer as it kept a digital log of all their transactions and payments that city officials could review at a later time.
The two got out of the cab and Midoriya walked over to the driver window with money from both of them. "Right, here you go." Midoriya said as he handed the man their fee as Kodai went and got their stuff from the trunk.
"And for the conversation, a tip of 235 Yen." Midoriya joked as he handed the man the extra cash.
"Thank you kindly, enjoy your day." The river chuckles as he took the fee plus tip and entered the extra amount into his computer as 'tip' before he drove off, leaving the two to turn around and stare at their destination in wonder.
"So…"Midoriya asked as the two walked across the street towards the agency, not really able to describe the building. "This is it?"
"Hmmm." Kodai answered with a nod of the head. "It's, larger than I was expecting." And she wasn't lying. The building was quite large as from their count, they could see 24 floors worth of floor. The architecture was a mix of modern and old-fashioned from the clear signs of Edo-period castle designs mixed into the structure. Hell, the first 9 or so floors looked more like some medieval castle. There also the giant red foot emblem blazed across both the main doorway and the path leading up to it which they both knew was the symbol that Yoshi Musha had chosen for himself. As far as anyone knew, it was an old emblem of his clan so they didn't look too hard into it. Plus it showed his age as the practice of using emblems like the comic book characters they owed the concept of their profession to had long since died out decades ago after people ran out of ideas for good emblems.
"Well, no sense standing here, let's head inside and check-in. he must be expecting us to arrive any minute now." Midoriya asked his schoolmate, to which she nodded their heads as they picked up their stuff and walked into the building. Like any large office building, the door opened itself for them which allowed them into the interior which was just as one would expect from a pro who based himself off traditional Japanese concepts and design. Sure it had what you would need from a lobby but the indoor koi ponds and gardens did allot to make the place much more calm and peaceful.
"Just like any office space." Midoriya noted as they walked over to what they hoped was the receptionist's desk, along the way they passed actual trees growing in the lobby, no wonder the place at a ceiling 12m up, they needed the room. "How the hell did they get trees to grow in here?" He asked Kodai, who just shrugged her shoulders, they had better things to worry about then the flora. After that little exchange, the two of them reached the desk they were aiming for which had a simple enough looking guy in a dress shirt and slacks working one a computer terminal.
"Good morning and welcome the Yoshi Musha Hero Agency, how may I help you today?" He asked them as he turned to greet them with a small smile, not one that was fake as hell but one that still looked like it was part of the job.
"We're the new interns coming in from UA." Kodai said to him. To which he nodded his head before reaching his hand to them, revealing this his hands are covered with red scales.
"Identification." He asked them two, not taking his eyes off them. In response, the two reached for their pockets and took out their student IDs. That should be enough, right?
"Here they are." Midoriya said as they handed them over to him, he took the cards in hand and looked over their details before typing something into his computer. After a moment, he was able to confirm two UA students matching their cards were expected.
"Hmmm, yup. You both check out. It says here you are going to be around here for the next week, correct?" He asked them as he saw how long they were expected to stay with them.
"That's right, our internships only last a week." Kodai replied as she looked around as a couple of sidekicks walked right on by as they discussed something work-related.
"Yeah, they tend to do. He's expecting you to meet him in the training hall on the fourth floor." The receptionist told them as he handed them their student IDs and two small foldable maps of the building. "Here is a map that will help you find it quickly which I advise, he doesn't like tardiness." He advised them as he went back to work on whatever he was doing before they walked up.
"We'll keep that in mind." Midoriya said as they pocketed their IDs and walked off, following the directions they were given. It took a flight of stairs and an elevator ride to reach the fourth floor and another minute of walking but they soon reached what they thought was their target as they walked towards a balcony which going from the sounds coming from below it, hid a training area as they could people working out, training or fighting.
Along with that, they could make out the voice of an older man but somehow his voice was rich in baritone and authority.
"Work on your reaction speed!" He said, presumably to someone. "You! Your punches are getting slow, toughen up!" He went off again. "That's not how you deal with multiple attackers, that's how to get overwhelmed!" He yelled at another. It didn't take a rocket scientist to figure out that was the person they were looking for.
"Sounds like he's busy." Midoriya stated they reached the ledge and saw that what they thought was a ledge was merely a walk-way that went around the entire space which was easily four times the size of a baseball court. Along the walk-way, some stairs led down onto the training ground floor. It was a large space indeed with everything one would need for training from exercise bikes to a small climbing wall. And this was supposed to be one of seven different training rooms in the building? Insane, right?
"Hmmm." Kodai responded before the scale of the place seemed to dawn on her. 'Oh my….' She thought to herself as she saw just as expansive the place was.
'This is a training hall?! Its take-up like three stories worth of space!' Midoriya thought to himself as he looked up and saw the ceiling was extra floor up and from it-hung over three dozen gymnastics rings, though you would need to have some kind of propulsion or jump assist to reach…or you go from one to another as near one was a ladder leading to a climbing board.
"That's him…." Kodai said as they both looked down and saw their master for the next week standing proud in the center of the room as he directed traffic. Even from a distance-he was imposing. "Yoroi Musha, The equipped hero."
"Well, he certainly fits the description." Midoriya joked as the guy was no joke. Clad in samurai-like armor and tattered but somehow aesthetically fitting seeing how as a veteran, he has no doubt been in more fights than most, though now that they were there, he didn't look all that tall to them. Sure he was taller than they were but seeing how they were teens in a room of adults, they weren't exactly the minimum bar.
And just like magic, the elder pro turned to look up at them, having heard them walk in. he locked their gazes with his own burning orange eyes before he turned back to the sidekicks he was working with. "Alright, keep working as usual. I will return soon." The elder said to the people he was working with before he turned to face them fully before he bellowed at them. "You two, stop standing around like flag-poles and get down here!"
"Y-yes sir." They both stuttered as they quickly made their way down the two flights of stairs to meet him. "Geez, this guy can be scary." Midoriya muttered to Kodai as they reached the training floor itself and hurried towards the pro.
"Hmmm." Kodai sounded in agreement as they finally got to him, standing a mere couple feet from him and just like they both noticed, he wasn't the tallest person in the room but somehow felt like the biggest one there.
"I assume you are the UA students here for your internship?" Yoroi Musha asked the two of them as he appraised them, his gaze making them both stand straighter.
"Yes sir. My name is Izuku Midoriya." Midoriya introduced himself as he bowed to him.
"I am Yui Kodai." Kodai followed his example and bowed as well and as one,
"Thank you for hosting us." They finished their introduction. Hoping that all the times' Eraser or Vlad ran proper manners into them wasn't for nothing.
"Hmph. At least you have some manners. I was afraid that I would have to teach you such simple things." And much to their relief, they weren't as they stood straight once more. "Now onto business. Do you know why I requested the two of you?" He asked the two of them.
"No sir, we do not." Kodai answered as she could not come up with many reasons as to why he wanted them or even her.
"Because I recognize your potential as future heroes. During the festival, I saw how you and your little team were able to turn a bad situation into a more favorable one. You have skills at keeping cools heads and thinking, unlike many children your age." He told them. Making it clear he was impressed but they didn't let this praise get to them, the last thing they needed was to come off as cocky.
"Thank you sir for your kind words." Midoriya answered him with a small bow.
"Yes, it brings us joy to know that our performance caught your eye." Kodai replied as she did a bow herself.
"For now, we will be shown to your quarters for the next week. Don't expect this to be easy and I will work you to the bone and rebuild you into suitable heroes worthy of the title. If you think you can't handle that, then leave now. Is that understood?" Musha told them with a glare as he gestured for the walkway out, but both of them were not planning on leaving without a fight.
"Yes sir!" They both replied. He analyzed them for a couple of seconds as if he was checking if they were legit before he clicked his finger and called out to one of the sidekicks.
"Good, Xever." He said aloud as a dark-skinned man with fish-like features walked up to them from behind Yoshi and bowed.
"Yes sir?" The man asked, his voice hinting at the fact he was a foreigner as he spoke with a bit of an accent.
"Show them to their rooms." Musha instructed him as he turned and walk off to attend to another group, leaving the three of them alone.
"At once sir," The sidekick by the name of Xever it seems replied just before the man was out of earshot before he stood straight and gestured for them to follow him. "Came along pequenos heróis(little heroes), we have a schedule to keep." He said as he walked off towards the stairs, not even looking behind himself to ensure they listened.
"Right. After you." Midoriya said as they both started to follow him up the stairs and away from the training hall, down a hallway they didn't come down.
"Are you not going to say anything about the appearance?" The man asked them as they approached an elevator where he pressed the 'up' button and stood waiting for the doors to open.
"We didn't want to be rude." Kodai explained as the elevator dinged and the door opened, allowing them all to enter.
"Ha, teens that don't want to come off as rude, I never thought that will happen." Xever laughed at that as he pressed the button for the sixth floor.
"Mr. Xever sir-" Midoriya started but found himself interrupted.
"Just Xever, unless we're on the job-then it's Mister X." Mister X corrected him.
"Oh, then Xever. Are you of South American descent?" Midoriya asked him as he didn't seem like he was Asian. Sure there were dark-skinned people in Japan such as Lock-Rock but he had Asian ancestry as his mother and her parents were Japanese, this guy didn't have aby physical trait of the home islands at all.
"Born and raised. Tell me, am I the first South American you've seen?" Mister X confirmed as he turned to look at him with one eye, the brown of his eye seemingly bouncing his confidence.
"Well yes, I've only ever met Americans." Midoriya said as even on I-island, he rarely ran into other nationalities but that could be because he spent most of his time in the labs with the Shields.
"But why would you wish to live and work in Japan?" Kodai asked him, she knew South America was a place that pros could be useful and still make a living.
"I suppose you could say, I owe Yoshi a debt. Straight truth, I was a thug back home. The best thief in all of São Paulo, and because of that. Gangs would hire me regular to…acquire items of their interest." Mister X told them without shame, their shocked faces not registering as he had long since moved past that phase of his life. "One day, my luck ran out and it was arrested, but rather than rot in some filthy gang overrun prison. The man I was hired to steal from approach me and gave it a choice. Rot in prison, or use my skills for something more…legal. You can guess who that person was." He said to them with a smirk as he took out his butterfly knife and started to do some tricks.
"Yoshi Musha saved you from prison?" Kodai asked, now that she looked at him with that new knowledge, the blade skills looked a little more unsettling.
"Yes, though I had to wear a locator bracelet for three years but I got that removed eight years ago." He joked as the elevator came to a halt and dinged again before the doors opened. "Agora, sou um homem livre(Now, I'm a free man)." He said in what they both knew was Spanish as they walked out of the elevator into another hall. Shame they didn't know what the hell he was saying.
"Never thought I would meet a former felon." Midoriya said as they walked down the rather traditional-looking hallway but from a closer look at the walls as they walked and the sounds their feet were making as they went, he could tell that it was all just made to look like wood and paper but was built with concrete and steel. It was somewhat comforting to know that the building wasn't a giant tinder box waiting for one careless idiot with a cigarette to set it ablaze.
"Yes, I have been told it's quite the experience." Mister X replied as they reached the end of their little trip. "Well here we are. The first door is for the young lady and the one opposite is yours, little man." He pointed out for them as he gestured to doors before he handed them both the keys for said door.
"And before you ask, they both have showers and restrooms so there will be no awkward morning hallway business while you are in our care, get me?" He joked before either of them could ask where the washrooms or toilet and even though they tried to hide it, they blushed a bit at the mental image he gave them.
"Crystal." Kodai said as he coughed to alleviate her blush and try and get her composure together again.
"Oh, before I forget. You have a session with the master in 20 minutes." Mister X instructed them as he walked on off to do who knows what. "Don't be late." He said as he backhandedly waved at them before he turned a corner and disappeared.
"Well, this was new." Midoriya said as he wasn't expecting this kind of treatment, but to be honest he didn't know what to expect.
"You're telling me." Kodai agreed with him before she put down her case and reached for her door. "Anyway, we have to unpack and get dressed. We'll head there together, is that acceptable?" She asked as she twisted the key and opened the door.
"I can do that. See yer in a bit." Midoriya replied as he did the same and with that, Kodai walked into her room with her case and gently closed the door behind him. He followed suit into his moments later. When he turned to inspect the place, the room reminded him of an old samurai movie with how it was designed and decorated. It didn't even have a western-style bed like he used to but rather a rolled-up futon that he had to get ready for use. He walked around and saw that he had windows which gave a reasonable view of the city. He also found out he had a small closet, drawers and just like Mister X had said, a small bathroom with a shower.
'It's…not that bad, considering who we'll be staying with.' Midoriya thought to himself as he found himself putting his clothing into the drawers. "Good thing I've stayed in a traditional hotel before." He said as he reached for his case and opened it up and looked inside with a grin as he inspected his gear.
"Okay, let's see my new gear." He said as he pulled out his helmet, now finished with a dark green coating, unlike when it used it during combat training and the USJ incident as back then, the armor parts of his costume had yet to be painted.
(Flashback)
"New gear?" Hisashi asked as he saw his son working on something on his iPad.
"Yeah, my first one got trashed during the whole attack on the USJ, so I've been working on an even better one." He answered his father without looking from.
"Is it that one?" Hisashi asked as he pointed towards the box which had his gear for the sports festival in 2 days, ready to be shipped to the school ahead of time.
"That one? Oh no, that's a show model. It has everything the real one had except capability with the rest of my hero gear, connection to Neko nor a long-lasting energy cell, at best the thing can perform for 90 minutes." Midoriya explained as he pointed to the model he had designated as a base model.
"You don't intend to use your best for the festival?" Inko asked as she stuck her head around the corner. This was odd behavior from him.
"I can't use my best for the festival, I'm still waiting on my circuit boards parts to be shipped here and Neko is still creating 3D parts of the alloy for the paneling. The earliest it'll be done is next week Thursday." He said as although he wished to bring his A-game that was impossible at this time, still the show model wasn't anything to scoff at.
"I see, what would you call this new one?" Hisashi asked him, gaining a smirk from the boy.
"What else," he asked as he looked up.
(Flashback end)
"Mk IV-Delta." He said aloud as he finished strapping in the last bit of gear of his armor. He wore everything except his helmet which was on the drawer top. He walked over to a mirror and looked himself down and was quite pleased with the new appearance even though he didn't change much other than painting the armor parts dark green with white highlights and trimming here and there. The flight-pack looked nearly identical to the one he used during the festival other than the fact it was slightly larger. "At least the power cells last longer, four and a half hours' worth of charge isn't too bad." He smiled as this was his best one yet, though he could guess that he would need to improve upon that as the year went with one of his goals for the school being able to create an energy call that could last a full 6 hours. "Oh, gotta bring the extra energy cell. Can't forget that." He said as he went to walk out the door but before he did, he made sure he had the spare power bank on him.
"You've made changes I see." Kodai noted as they met up outside their doors. Her costume was the same as always.
"Yeah, well the last one was trashed so I had to make a whole new one, there was room for improvement so I took it." Midoriya responded as they started to walk away but not before locking their doors.
"It looks good on you, perhaps I should put in a request to the support class to upgrade my own." Kodai complimented before she looked at her costume.
"Why bother, I could handle that myself." Midoriya flexed(not literally) as he could design combat ware that would be a big help to her.
"You know women's fashion?" Kodai asked him, already knowing the answer.
.
.
.
"I have a friend that could assist me in that department." He corrected himself as they found the elevator and entered it before pressing the button for the fourth floor.
"Naturally," Kodai let him off the hook for that one. "What is it you think he will have us do?"
"I figure he would want to test us first to know where we stand. Old masters always do that." Midoriya suggested as he thought back to every teacher he had for martial arts and even Aizawa, each of them wanting to know what they were working with first. After that, they'll into a silence as they rode the elevator down and headed towards the training hall, arriving a minute early.
"You're early, excellent. While you are here you will learn that I hate lateness. Always try your best to be on time." Yoroi Musha said as they walked up to him and bowed.
"Yes sir!" They both replied to him.
"Now, here is another lesson of my agency. I don't care what quirk you have," He said as he looked straight at Kodai as they two stood straight. "Or what special support gear you make use of." This time, his gaze found Midoriya. "The number one rule for working in this building is that you must be proficient in at least two martial arts or fighting styles as the uncultured would call them." He instructed them as he pointed around the hall at all of the sidekicks, most of which were training in some form of combat while the rest were working out.
"Midoriya, you clearly have a background in martial arts, correct?" Yoroi correctly guess and when Midoriya nodded his head, he went on. "Which are?"
"Sir, I've been training in the arts of Crane Style Kung Fu; Aikido; Judo; Taekwondo; and some Hapkido, though with that last one I've just achieved orange belt." He replied, somewhat proud of the fact he had trained in 5 martial arts when their mentor only wished for two.
"Hmm, we'll work in that later. Do you have any experience in martial arts, girl?" He turned his attention to the second student who looked at him straight on, though she did look somewhat bashful now.
"Yes sir, however I've only learned Judo, though I am a nidan(Second dan) black belt." Kodai told him, proud that she was so accomplished in her one form but embarrassed that she only had one form to her name.
"That's something, we'll see what are your strengths and weaknesses and train you in an art that fits you best." Yoroi told her, not planning on shaming her as what she did have was impressive for an average person nowadays. "But first," He went on as he steps back from them and rolled his shoulders.
"Attack me." He told them.
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.
.
"What?" Midoriya asked, confused by such an order.
"I said attack me, I need an example of your level of competence in hand to hand. No gear, no quirks." He told them again as h got into a combative stance. They two looked at each other in apparent confusion by this but resolved to do as they were told, even if it was going to be painful.
"Oh, why I have a feeling this is gonna hurt." Midoriya asked as he raised his hands and charged the older man. "Here we go!" He yelled as he tried to land some testing blows with his fists but each one was easily redirected or simply blocked. Within seconds, he found himself on the defensive as Yoroi fought back with equal if not greater intensity and precision.
'For an old guy, he's fast!' Midoriya thought to himself as he ducked under a strike that would have cleaned his clock and blocked another with his forearm, even with his costume on, he could feel the power behind that blow. 'I can barely keep up!' He figured out just as he was kicked in the chest, he quickly went with the flow and rolled backwards onto his back and up onto his feet with his fists raised.
"Your reaction time is certainly above average." Yoroi stated, catching his opponent off guard as Midoriya saw his stance relax, was this fight over?
"Above-OOF!" Apparently, it was not as faster than he could intercept, Yoroi closed the distance, grabbed his hand and kneed him in both the face and the gut before tossing him to the side. As he landed on his ass, he was thankful that he wore a helmet but also made a mental note to develop armored padding for his stomach because that last hit, it hurt like hell.
"But you get distracted too easily by simple chatter, focus on the fight and," Yoroi said before he suddenly turned around and landed a round-house right to Kodai's side, kicking her away from her attempt to sneak up on him while he was distracted. "Always be aware of your surroundings."
"Kodai!" Midoriya yelled as she painfully landed, a by instinct he ducked to the side to avoid Yoroi Musha's continued assault.
"Eyes on your opponent!" He older barked at him as he caught him with a chop to the shoulder which knocked off-balanced and made him kneel a bit, a mere moment later, he was kicked right in the face. This went on for a while as Kodai jumped right back in and tried to use what little boxing knowledge she had to try and strike him but the elder proved to be too much for them.
'Cripes, every time I go for a grapple, he dodges or breaks it. And he hits like a tank.' Kodai thought to herself as Yoroi avoided another grapple attempt as her.
"Excellent form Kodai, but." He said as he caught her fist, surprising her as she could just see this ending badly. "Always be ready of the possibility your first strikes fail." He finished as he swung her around by her hand as if she weighed nothing and threw her into Midoriya who was coming in for a dropkick. The result: His kick hit her already hurt side and threw him off course, both landed on the mat.
"You okay?" Midoriya asked as he helped Kodai to her feet, feeling regret for having hurt like that.
"No, you hit harder than I thought." She told him as they both got ready for round 2, while noticing that a small crowd had gathered, one which was Mister X who just smiled at them.
"And we got an audience." Midoriya noted.
"Don't look at us, look at him." Mister X said loudly as Yoroi dashed towards them and for the next couple minutes, he showed why someone his age was still a pro as he soundly defeated them at every turn, the strength of speed of his strikes overwhelming them.
(After a humiliating beatdown)
"Enough. I've seen enough." Yoroi said to the two hero students as they lay on the floor, completely beat up and exhausted.
"More(huff) like, oh damn that hurts." Midoriya started as he reached for his stomach which had been targeted more than once, he could already feel the bruises forming. "More(huff) like you've beaten us enough."
"Maybe I should cut my hair." Kodai muttered to herself, the pro had used her long hair against her more than once when he grabbed her. How the hell did pros like Miruko and Midnight work with such a weakness?
"Don't get up, rest up for a bit." Yoroi told them as one of the side-kicks walked up and gave them two bottles of water. "For the record, I wasn't expecting you to win but merely to see how long you could fight and how you adapted as time went on. I'm pleased to say that the two of you are," he started before he finished his sentence. "Acceptable."
"Oh great, you hear that ma, I'm above average." Midoriya said to himself so he wouldn't feel like a dog that went up against a bear. At the same time, Yoroi took out a stopwatch they didn't notice and looked at the time on it.
"As for that little match up, you two lasted a whopping 2 minutes, 24 seconds. For reference, most new sidekicks I get last 3 full minutes so you're not that far off." He showed them the timer for their benefit.
'I'm not sure what's worse, the fact that we were not as bad as he thought we would be, or the fact most can't even last a full five minutes against him.' Kodai thought to herself as she had seen Kendo last at least 5 minutes against Vlad. Was he holding back, was she simple better than her, was this pro simply better? She didn't know and to be honest, in some part of her mind, she figured it was all three.
"From that little exchange, I can tell two things about the two of you. Kodai." Yoroi started as Kodai sat up. "You may have a firm grasp of Judo and its potential but you need to learn another style of combat, one more suited towards offense. We'll work on that throughout your internship." He instructed the girl who bowed her head.
"Yes sir." She responded. She had a flaw and she needed to address it, hopefully, this internship would help.
"Midoriya, you have an extensive background in the arts but almost all of them are leg centric. You may know Crane style and Aikido but you don't make full use of them. Learn that you need to utilize your entire body in combat, not just your legs." Yoroi told him harshly, though it was warranted as during their short but painful fight, he barely used his hands and favored kicks and knees.
"Yes sir, I will put more effort into learning more upper body aimed combat forms." Midoriya responded, glad that no-one from his class saw that.
"Also, you are not creative enough." Yoroi told him as he turned around, giving them his back.
"Sir?" Midoriya asked him as the man folded his hands behind him.
"You have gauntlets with claws yet you did not use them, why?" Yoroi asked him as Midoriya looked down at his gauntlets and the before mentioned claws which he triggered to come out.
"Sir, you said no weapons." Kodai answered for him, only for the man to brush her answer aside.
"I said not gear. Hero gear by law, is defined as equipment or apparatus that assist for makes up for the shortcoming of a quirk, weapons don't count due to this loophole. But your claws don't count as gear as you don't have a quirk-do they?" He asked the two of them, turning his head to look at them out of the corner of his eye.
"Well yes-" Midoriya started as they technically correct.
"Meaning that they could have been used, yes?" Yoroi asked him again.
"Well no, they don't-" Midoriya tried to answer but found himself cut off again.
"Then you were free to use them. Learn to see between the cracks, read between the lines. Hero work will require some underhanded tactics but if it saves lives than its okay in my book. The law these days is too rigged and slow to change but it does have loop-holes, you will need to learn to walk the line between legal and criminal in this profession." Yoroi explained to them as he recalled times when heroes had more freedom to carry out their jobs but with age, came changes.
And not necessarily for the better.
"Now, get up." He told them as he pulled back up to their feet as if they were little kids before he pointed over the exercise equipment. "We're going to work on your physical fitness. Head over the tread-mills and put in a speed of 15km in. I want to see how long you two can move before you drop." He told with a look in his eye that told them he was serious, after that beat-down he wanted them to run?
'He's gonna kill us!' They both thought to themselves as they accepted their fates and dragged themselves over to the treadmills.
(Same time –Hosu City)
"Well, normally we heroes mostly wait for calls from clients such as local police or private investigators. Sure you can just patrol and stop acts as they go down but more often than not, you'll simply not be present when an incident breaks out as most criminals are smart enough to not start something if there is a hero visible present." The Normal Hero: Manual explained to his intern as the two walked down the streets of Hosu. "Though recently, things have been kinda hectic here in Hosu so more than usual are out and about patrolling." He finished.
"So patrolling and being visible is a way to prevent crime?" Iida, dressed in full costume with helmet, asked as the two strolled along.
"Yes it is but it never hurts to keep public spirits up by being visible but man," Manual said as he waved at a couple of students on the other side of the road. "It's crazy that the younger brother of Ingenium is interning at my agency, you must have had offers from better agencies." He said as he turned a bit to speak with him.
"I thought it would be to expand my horizons." Iida lied as he looked around the place, his ire, and feelings in a jumble. 'The hero killer…so elusive that barely anything is known about him. To be able to escape the net of modern society speaks of his stealth skills.' He thought to himself as he saw only one thing in his mind's eye.
And that thing wore a blood-red scarf.
'I know that this might be in vain but, even so. How could I not for after him?' 'How can I forgive him?' He asked him as he came to stop, not noticing Manual had kept on moving thinking he was still right behind him as the boy looked at the rooftops and alleyways as if he hoped to catch a glimpse of the man he was here for.
(Same time – At Kurogiri's bar)
"Now I understand," Stain started as he stood, watching the seated Tomura who held a glass of might have been an alcoholic drink in hand. "You're the ones who attacked UA last month?" He asked to which Tomura nodded his head. "And you want me to join you?" He asked again as he could guess that was the purpose he was invited here.
"That's right. You have so much experience as a villain. It would benefit us greatly if I could add you to our little group." Tomura told him, seeing no point in lying about it when he had a golden opportunity to gain such a noteworthy ranger to his party
"What I want to know is, what are you after? What do you hope to gain from all this?" Stain asked him, his eye never leaning the hand covering the other's face, or the shadowy one standing behind the bar.
"My goals?" Tomura asked, sounding confused by the question before he shrugged his shoulders and answered. "For now, I just want to kill All Might. I want to destroy everything that I hate really," With his answer, Stain felt his ire rising at the disappointment seated opposite him. He did capture his interest again when he pulled out photos and dropped them onto the table.
"Like little shits like this. Quirkless brats who don't know their place in the pecking order." Tomura practically growled in anger as Stain looked over the pictures of the 1st year hero students from UA. It was clear that these were taken during last's week's festival but most of them were of three boys in particular. The son of Endeavour; the Blonde explosive's user(Stain doesn't know what his quirk is, only how it looks when I use) and finally, the only one whose name he bothered to remember.
Izuku Midoriya.
"It seems I was a fool to even be interested in this." Stain said as he glared at the fool that thought he was something big. "You are the type of person that I hate the most." He said as he reached for his blades attacked to his sides.
"Oh?" Tomura asked as Kurogiri for if this turned ugly.
"You want me to lower myself to your level and partake in this childish tantrum?" Stain asked him as he gripped his blades, sounding like the very notions disgusted him. "What meaning there is there for killing without convictions?" He said as he bent over, readying himself for the attack. Something both villains noticed.
'Hero Killer: Stain,' Kurogiri thought to himself as he noted how the air was getting tense and how his charge looked agitated by this, which normally meant something needed to be replaced soon. 'A man brought in to spur some growth in Tomura Shigaraki since as it stands now, he only cares for destruction, but this…' He observed as Stain slowly drew both blades from the holsters. "Sensei, is it alright to allow this to continue?" He asked the screen which like always, had no picture.
"Of course let it continue! There's no point if we just tell him the answer, he has to learn this for himself otherwise it won't stick." The voice instructed him as they watched all this going down through the multiple cameras in the bar. He already knew that as Tomura was now, there was no chance Stain would join them but, that didn't mean he wouldn't end up helping the boy.
Even if he didn't realize it himself.
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Before some of you get confused, the city lay out of Kyoto will be explained in the next chapter as some of you must have been confused when Midoriya said Neo Kyoto, and no-the old one wasn't destroyed in some war with the dolphins.
Before you all start to wonder, Yoshi Musha doesn't have an official height as far as I could tell but from comparing his height to the heroes we stands next to in the latest episode(Episode 24) we can estimate his height. Five of which on the stage we know the heights of. As he is standing right next to Ryukyu who has an official height of 166cm, we can tell that although he may be taller- wouldn't say by much as from the shot of 8 heroes on stage baring endeavour, he more or less matches Kamui Woods(168cm) but appears shorter than Crust(Unknown height), Edgeshot(170cm) and Hawks(172cm). so as far as I can tell, the equipped hero is around 167cm in height.
As for the sidekicks at this agency, it should be clear who I based them off. Though please don't kill me for Xever's Portuguese lines as I used Google translate for them. It was entertaining writing how both of them got their ass kicked by what is essentially an aged up, not evil Shredder. Like Gran Torino, he will be a recurring character even after the Stain arc is done so expect to see more of him soon enough.
