Chapter 15
It was morning on the day the internships began. Gon headed to Endeavor's hero agency, and Killua made his way to the little building Edgeshot worked out of to meet the Pro Hero. The building was a three-story complex in the middle of Tokyo with a very traditional Japanese look. Edgeshot did not have a formal agency and a fancy skyscraper as far as Killua could tell from what he researched about the hero. He pressed a button on the front door and waited. He supposed there was a camera, or multiple cameras, placed around the outside so Edgeshot could see who was at the front.
After a few seconds, the door opened silently to reveal a slim man only a few centimeters taller than Killua. He wore a traditional ninja outfit, a mask that covered his mouth, and most notably, pointed grey hair which covered the right side of his face which looked strangely similar to Shoji's hairstyle. "Welcome, Killua Zoldyck. Please, come inside."
The silver haired teen nodded, but he was confused as to how the door opened without making any noise. There were no squeaks or creaks, but he figured Edgeshot was the type of person to be as silent as he could a lot of the time. Killua stepped into the traditional building which had classical and modern artwork on the walls. As a whole, the interior was quite like a dojo, but it had some artwork and statues here and there. Four pillars near him were uniquely shaped to fit some ninja-like things, Killua guessed, but beyond the four there were no other pillars. There were small statues of various animals and other things along the floor in seemingly random locations.
"I'd like to formally introduce myself," Edgeshot said in his quiet voice with his eyes closed. He opened his eyes and stared piercingly at the teen. "My real name is Shinya Kamihara, but you probably know me better by my hero name, Edgeshot. This is my little hero agency if you would like to call it that. I do not live here. I only use this building for the rare times when I have a sidekick or an intern such as yourself. I typically work alone, and it not often I consider student interns, so this a rare experience for even myself." Killua nodded along. It made sense with everything he had read online while doing his research.
"Now I have a question for you," Edgeshot said with a softer look in his eyes. Killua did not see or feel the piercing gaze anymore. "Do you know why I chose you?"
"Honestly, no, I don't," Killua replied quite quickly. "You don't take interns often, and probably not first years when you do. I did well in the Sports Festival, but I figure I'd have to stand out more than that to get the attention of a hero like you. I don't think you believe a strong or flashy Quirk is what makes a good hero, so I doubt it's that."
Edgeshot smiled lightly from behind his mask, which Killua could not see anyway. "Smart answer. I did not expect you to know why I chose you. Yes, you have a strong Quirk, and you have control with it. You also have a lot of speed for your age. Your skills are there, without a doubt. I have to say, I was impressed with your speed which is part of the reason I sent you an offer. However, I noticed during the final stretch of the first round in the Sports Festival, the minefield, you seemed very light on your feet. Your feet land with little impact, which intrigued me. That is something I do, and what other shinobis do as well. I took notice of the actions you took and the way you moved during the second round as well as your fights in the final round. I was impressed by your technique."
Definitely sounds like he could track me and get away with it, Killua thought and nodded gratefully to what the hero said. "Well, thank you for the opportunity, Edgeshot. I look forward to learning from you."
The Pro nodded and gestured his hand to an area further back. Killua followed him to find an actual dojo training area. "I want to test you briefly. If I deem that you are skilled enough, we can go out for a patrol immediately until the afternoon, and then perhaps again in the evening." He took a few quick and silent steps to the other side of the dojo. "Walk normally towards me," he ordered in a quiet voice. Killua obliged and took steps towards the hero. His feet did not make any noise, and Edgeshot analyzed them attentively.
The hero nodded, and Killua paused his movement. "Did you train to make your footsteps silent?"
I've literally never thought about this… Killua muttered in his head. He quickly came up with an excuse. "I self-trained it. I just thought it'd be cool to do that." Edgeshot had a skeptical look in his eyes, but he did not press further. I can't tell if he's suspicious of self-training or my reasoning for learning this, or both.
"Okay, now try putting a hand on me. I will try to avoid you," the hero said. Killua nodded and sprung off his feet with his hand reaching out. Inches before his fingertips made contact with the hero's clothes, Edgeshot's body transformed into a very thin line and snaked behind the teen in the blink of an eye. Killua's eyes widened huge. "Try again, this time with your electricity. That was just your base speed, right?" Killua heard from behind him.
His eyes narrowed, and electricity sparked around his feet. He whipped his body around and leapt off his feet with his right palm sticking out. Once again, Edgeshot became a thin line and avoided the teen's hand which would have otherwise touched him. "You are fast, and perhaps you will become faster as you train more. It's a good start. One more question, though. What is your hero name?"
The silver haired teen thought back recently when he made his hero name and presented it to his class. "Godspeed," he responded.
Edgeshot simply nodded. "Come, let's go on a patrol." He swiftly turned around and headed for a side door to leave. Killua followed him out the exit.
Downtown Tokyo was very crowded, and there was no shortage of people staring and/or taking pictures of the two – most likely for Edgeshot. The Number 5 Hero did not make public appearances too often unless he was a part of some hero mission and was asked to make a statement during a news conference.
"Isn't this unlike your style?" Killua asked and looked next to him at the hero.
Edgeshot's eyes wandered to the corner and locked on to Killua's gaze. "I will get to that. Let me lay out the rules for patrols. You are not to engage in fighting without my permission, especially no Quirk usage. Do as I say, or do as other Pro Heroes say if you are working with them." He turned his eyes away and looked ahead of him. "Typically, if anything happens, I expect you to evacuate citizens or help them out with anything and stay out of any fights." He paused and glanced back at the teen. "As for this being out of my style," he said, with "this" referring to how he was walking outside in public and not trying to be hidden. "I figured you should have some public spotlight. See what it's like to be a hero in public."
The morning patrol was very boring. Absolutely nothing eventful occurred, and Edgeshot warned him that the evening might become more dangerous. "How do you know that? Is it a typical evening thing, or do you know something's happening today?" Killua asked once they got back to the place they were going to stay for the next week.
"A bit of both, actually," Edgeshot replied. The two were sitting at a table about to eat lunch. "Evenings are typically when villains start coming out more. Of course, different villains work during different times of the day, and overall, they work at all times of the day. There may have been things going on in back alleys and small streets these past few hours that we did not know of. This gets more common in the evenings, and especially nighttime. As for something specific happening," Edgeshot's eyes narrowed, and he paused for a few moments and stared at the teen across the table. "I did not tell you this. I am currently working on an investigation with a few fellow Pro Heroes on a villain group. You may have heard of them. The media calls them Stain's Followers."
"Oh yeah, they've caused a lot of chaos," Killua commented and took a bite from his lunch.
The hero nodded. "They have committed many crimes. We are planning the correct time to go in and arrest them. We know where their hideout is. We just need permission and timing."
Killua sat back in his seat and put his meal on hold for a bit to understand fully what Edgeshot was saying. "And you want me to…do what, exactly?"
"You are prohibited from fighting and using your Quirk," Edgeshot replied, dismissing that thought from Killua's head. "But you will be able to sit in on our meetings if you would like. I am not sure if you would be allowed to come on the day of our raid, however. That would be dangerous."
The silver haired teen internally smirked at the thought of Stain's Followers being too dangerous for him to even watch. If you're the person who was tracking me two days ago, this is the perfect thing for you to say. You would definitely know a thing or two about what I was doing, and my top suspect for the one who told you that is Nezu. We're living under the same roof for the next week, so you'll be the first to know if I leave at any point. I know you'll be watching, if you are my tracker. Knowing where those villains' hideout is would be great. I need to know where to find them, and then I need to talk to them before the raid.
"Well, I'd be happy to sit it on meetings. I think that would be a great experience to learn how heroes plan their actions," Killua told him with a false smile. After a moment of silence and no action, Edgeshot simply nodded.
"I will let you know when our next meeting is," the hero informed him. "It will likely be today."
Elsewhere in downtown Tokyo, Gon had entered a tall skyscraper and was directed to take the elevator up to the top floor where Endeavor's office would be. Once he arrived there, he found himself in a large room with all windows on the far side. There were some sofas and a table where the teen looked in awe at the tall, fiery, Number 2 hero. Standing in front of him was a teen with dual-coloured hair who Gon recognized from the Sports Festival from Class A.
Shoto and Enji Todoroki turned their heads to glance at the newcomer. Both of them gave Gon a very unexpressive look as the green haired teen made his way across the huge room to the desk where the two family members stood.
"Welcome to the Endeavor Hero Agency, both of you," Endeavor greeted in a voice that sounded like he was grumbling. Gon figured this was how the hero sounded most of the time. He did not know what to do; he felt awkward standing here with two people who were related. He felt like an outsider.
"I'm glad you two decided to join my agency for this next week. You both put up tremendous displays of your power and skills," the hero complimented. "Although, Shoto, I had higher hopes for your placing. Regardless, you showed the world what you can do with half of your power, and a small amount of the other half. Freecss, congratulations for winning the Sports Festival." Endeavor still did not smile, and Gon uttered a meek 'thanks'. "You beat that angry boy from Class A in a great fight. I did not send an offer to him. I don't send offers to just any student. You two have earned my respect as hero students, and I expect the same from both of you. Don't fight unless I tell you to. If there's an incident, help civilians and police officers or other heroes if you need to. Leave the fighting to the Pros." Gon and Shoto nodded.
"Now then, let me tell you what is going on with me and my agency right now," Endeavor began. "I've received several requests to take down the Hero Killer: Stain. That is a goal of mine. If we come across him during a patrol, stay away and let me handle it. Only get involved if I tell you to. Stain is extremely dangerous and has taken down many strong heroes."
"We can go on a patrol now, so you two can see what it's like," Endeavor announced suddenly.
For the first time, someone besides Endeavor spoke up. Gon asked, "How often do you go on patrols, Endeavor?"
The hero raised his eyebrows at the question. "Not too often. My sidekicks do a lot of that. I typically get called to resolve cases."
"Most heroes start out with patrols, right?" Shoto asked monotonously.
His father nodded. "That's how they get recognition early on. I did a lot of them when I was younger, but as heroes climb up the ranks, they often get called for cases where their experience matters." Gon and Shoto nodded along as what the hero said made sense. "Let's go for a patrol."
The three entered the elevator without saying another world. Endeavor pressed the ground floor button and the elevator began its descent. He asked the two, "When you're outside, use each other's hero names. What are your hero names?"
"Shoto," his son answered immediately. Both Gon and Endeavor gave him quizzical looks over his choice of hero name.
"Mine is Rock Fist," Gon replied proudly. The two Todoroki family members thought back to the Sports Festival where they heard Gon say the word 'rock' during his fight with Bakugo right before the most explosive part of that day occurred. They figured it was his special move, and Endeavor dipped his head slightly at the boy.
The door to the elevator opened at the ground floor. This was where the reception desk was, as well as some washrooms, but it was not too busy outside of that. All of the technological support from sidekicks and support heroes was on upper floors.
The trio stepped outside the building and into the bright and sunny morning. "Since we're on patrol, we should help with anything we can," Endeavor explained and looked into the distance past the crowded streets of downtown Tokyo. People gawked at the flame hero, surprised to see him outside in the streets. "Small crimes, such as shop robberies and the like, should be stopped as well."
"What do we do if there's a small-time robbery?" Gon looked up to the hero's eyes. Thanks to his Nen, he was aware of the many eyes that were on him. He knew this would happen. For one, he was walking outside with Endeavor. Secondly, he knew the Sports Festival was an extremely popular event for people in Japan to watch, and he was the winner of the most recent first-year competition. He was expecting the attention, but he ignored it.
Shoto and Endeavor saw the attention on Gon, and Endeavor noticed the attention on his son too, which his son was ignoring. After the Sports Festival, and Endeavor's reaction to Shoto using fire which was caught on live television broadcasts as well, the people of Japan knew they were related.
"I will give you two instructions on how to handle it if the time arises," Endeavor responded. "Being a hero isn't like school. You can't memorize things and expect it to work. Situations involving people are more unique than that."
Gon turned back ahead and could feel less gazes on him now. Endeavor is obviously very experienced. I hope something cool happens on this patrol!
After about 30 minutes of walking around, Gon heard a shout from inside a small store ahead of them followed by a few other panic screams. He was alarmed, and he looked to his right where Endeavor and Shoto stood. They still looked calm, which meant they could not hear it. "Endeavor, I heard a few shouts from a store ahead!"
The hero was confused, not knowing if he believed Gon because he did not hear it himself. Shoto looked over past the large frame of his father with narrowed eyes as well.
"Just trust me!" he whisper-shouted so nobody else could hear him. On cue, a plump man with wild orange hair ran out of a door from in front of them with a bag of cash in hand.
Endeavor briefly rolled his eyes at the sight; it had been some time since he last dealt with petty theft, but he was on patrol for the two students, not for himself. Quickly, running through the general strengths of his two interns, he barked out orders. "Rock Fist, run after the thief and restrain him! You have my permission to use your Quirk if you need to! Shoto, get inside and see if anyone is hurt or needs help!"
Gon was immediately on it. He leapt off his feet and ran after the thief, careful not to move suspiciously fast. He caught up within a few seconds and wrapped both of his arms fully around the man's waist. The man felt the arms around him, and he could no longer move because of his restrainer's strength.
"He has a gun!" Gon heard a woman's voice scream from behind. Endeavor turned to the woman, and then back to where Gon had restrained the man from moving. His eyes widened, and he sprinted over with huge steps to where the thief was held up.
"E-Endeavor…!" the thief quivered. "Please…spare me! Here!" He handed the bag of money to the hero who took it cautiously. Endeavor could not see the gun on the man, but he figured the woman was right…unless she was in on the theft too.
Surprisingly, the police arrived very soon after and took care of the thief. Gon and Endeavor hurried back to the store which was just a small grocery store. "Shoto, how are things here?" Endeavor asked his son who was inside talking with customers who were shopping before the thief interrupted.
"It's fine. Nobody was injured. The man did have a gun, but he didn't shoot it," Shoto confirmed after talking to the customers. "He only pointed it at the cashier to threaten him." The cashier, who was still behind the counter, nodded in agreement.
"Thank you Endeavor! And thank you to the interns as well!" the cashier cried out in joy. Endeavor handed the bag of money to the cashier who began putting the money back in the register.
"It's part of my duty," Endeavor brushed it off. He looked at his two interns, one of which was at his side and the other who was in front of him. "The police are here. We can continue on."
In the next hour, nothing eventful happened. Their area was rather devoid of small crime. "We can head back to the agency. Eat some lunch, and then I want to see you two spar," Endeavor told them. The trio had already been walking back to the agency, but it was still about a 15-minute walk away.
"Do you want us to use our Quirks?" Gon asked eagerly. Shoto was the one opponent the green haired teen was still waiting to fight, and this could be his chance.
"Maybe for a bit, but I would also like to see your combat skills without your Quirks," Endeavor replied.
He just wants to see my progress, Shoto thought to himself as he walked along with his father and Gon. His eyes dipped low so he was staring at the sidewalk. And get me to use my fire. What am I going to do then?
The Endeavor agency had a cafeteria, so Gon and Shoto took their lunches and sat at a table. The pair received many types of looks from the other heroes and sidekicks who were also in the building. Some of the looks were friendly, others were satisfied with the interns Endeavor took on, some were impressed that Endeavor even took interns, and some looked arrogant as if they were better than the two student interns.
"Shoto, why do you seem so sad? You're with your dad, the Number 2 Hero in Japan!" Gon whisper-yelled in excitement.
"You can call me Todoroki when we're not outside doing hero work," the Class A student corrected. "But, yeah, we have some family problems."
"Like what?" Gon had to ask, being naturally curious.
Todoroki took a bite from his lunch and did not answer for a few seconds, so Gon kept staring at him in hopes of putting pressure. "I'm not going to tell you that," he finally replied after several seconds and getting the hint that Gon would not give up like that. "It's personal. Just know that I'm not his biggest fan."
"Then why would you intern under him?" Gon pressed more.
"Like you said, he's ranked second in the country," Todoroki responded, his voice still keeping its cool. "He's experienced. I could learn a lot from him, potentially more than from any other heroes who sent me an offer."
"That makes sense," the Class B student nodded and resumed his meal. "Is Endeavor the reason, you were…so hesitant, to use your fire against Killua?" Todoroki did not say anything, but he nodded. "I hope you use it against me today. It's part of your Quirk. You should use your full power when you need to."
Todoroki was stunned at what Gon said, and the two finished their lunches in silence.
Up in a training floor a little while later, the two students were in front of Endeavor and listened to the man speak. "I want you to spar without your Quirks. I saw what you two could do at the Sports Festival. We're in a tall building, so I don't want you to destroy this place."
Gon sheepishly nodded while Todoroki kept a straight face. They split up and stood about 5 meters apart while Endeavor stood on the side with his arms crossed. "Don't try to hurt each other. Just try attacking your opponent and blocking their attacks. It's not too serious," Endeavor reminded them.
The green haired teen started out by rushing in with his right hand curled in a fist. As a backup, if it got blocked, he was prepared to kick out his left leg. Todoroki ducked to his right and put his left hand up, so Gon's right arm was blocked off and slid against Todoroki's left.
The heterochromatic eyes darted down where he saw motion from Gon's left leg, so he jumped back to give himself some space. Gon did not want to give him space and leapt forward with another punch ready from his right hand.
Todoroki caught the punch, but the force behind Gon's attack was still too powerful, so he ended up bending backwards and had to shuffle his feet back to keep his balance. Todoroki swung his right foot out and nailed Gon on his thigh, but the green haired teen stayed solid. He yanked his hand out from Todoroki's grasp and simultaneously pushed the teen away with his left hand followed by a kick to his side.
Todoroki brushed the kick away like it was nothing, so Gon threw his right palm at his opponent's chest. The boy with the large scar threw both hands up to catch the palm, but he was late and only touched Gon's hand when he already got hit to be sent sprawling backwards. Todoroki staggered to his feet and waited for Gon to make a move.
The green haired teen noticed the patience, so he charged in with no visible attempt of an attack. When he got closer, he planted his feet firmly and kicked his right leg out at max distance. Todoroki took a step back so the shoe brushed his clothes but not his body. While Gon was regaining his full footing, the boy with dual-coloured hair closed the gap between them and hooked his right leg around Gon's left shin. With only one foot balancing him, and Todoroki pushing his leg into Gon's, the green haired boy fell over and landed on his arms, and Todoroki withdrew his leg in time to not get trapped under Gon.
"Time out," Endeavor suddenly said. Gon was just about to push off his arms to stand up, but he faced his head to the hero when he heard his voice. Endeavor stared at him with no expression, so he pushed himself up to his feet.
"That was good," Endeavor complimented. "I can tell you two didn't know what you should do because I didn't really give a goal. I only said to attack and not be attacked. But just from that spar, I can see how you fight without your Quirks." He first stared directly at Shoto. "You have good reactions, and you know how to defend. I taught you well for those. The problem is, you stay back too much. You're too reactive up close and not proactive enough. You always waited for Gon to attack first. That might be a result of your reliance on your Quirk, seeing as how you always stand back and create mountains of ice."
Todoroki looked down at the floor before looking up at Endeavor and nodding in agreement. Satisfied, Endeavor shifted his gaze to Gon. "You have a good instinctual fighting style. It's clear to me that you've had training in this before, and whatever it was, it's pretty good. However, most of your approaches are too simple. Be more creative, play mindgames, just make it more complex. Maybe you can use more fakes, but even then, your simple style still works."
"Now, I want to test out your Quirks individually. Gon, you're first. Explain your Quirk to me," Endeavor commanded.
"It's called Boost. It makes me stronger and faster, and I can use it around my body," Gon essentially explained what a Nen Enhancer was. "It's a simple strength enhancement Quirk."
"You say you can use it around your body?"
"Yup, anywhere. Arms, legs, wherever," he clarified.
"Sounds like you have good control, but you can work on increasing your speed and power," Endeavor immediately told him and turned his eyes piercingly to his other intern. "Now then, Shoto. We're going to work on your Quirk."
It was nighttime, and Killua and Edgeshot had finished their dinner. The two were seated at a table waiting for the heroes Edgeshot was working with on this case on Stain's Followers. The doorbell rang, and Edgeshot swiftly got up in one motion and opened the door. Killua lurked from behind.
He saw a couple of familiar heroes like Kamui Woods and Mt. Lady and another guy. What he was not expecting was to see Mineta and Jirou with them.
"Kamui Woods, Mt. Lady, Death Arms, I'm glad you could be here with your interns," Edgeshot greeted.
"You-you're interning with Edgeshot?!" Mineta cried out and pointed at Killua. Jirou merely twirled her earphone jack, not looking too surprised like Mineta was.
"Uh…yeah…I didn't know you two were interning with any of these heroes," Killua responded, but after he said it he realized 'these heroes' sounded kind of disrespectful. He glanced at the heroes and looked them all in the eyes, but none of them seemed to mind.
"I'm with Mt. Lady," Mineta said with a smug smile and eyes squinting like Killua should be very jealous of him. Jirou rolled her eyes.
"Yeah, Mineta's done well today," Mt. Lady complimented with a friendly smile, and it only served to stoke Mineta's ego even more.
"Jirou here is interning under me," Death Arms spoke up and explained her being there.
"We can take a seat at the table and continue there," Edgeshot suggested quietly, and the heroes and students alike agreed to move from the door.
After all seven of them were seated, Edgeshot began the meeting. "So, to our three interns here, you were all briefed with what we are discussing here. We have an open investigation on Stain's Followers. They have committed several crimes including murder, theft, property damage, and more. They have not been arrested yet because of how dangerous they are, so the team is quite small – mostly just us. However, I do think we will need the backup of other heroes as well as the police if we are to arrest them all."
Kamui Woods agreed, and the attention turned to him. "I believe so as well. Just to fully explain what Edgeshot started, you interns are here to see how Pro Heroes plan raids and investigations. Everything we say here is strictly confidential. We hope you three have input for us to consider, regardless of what it is. This is a learning experience for you, so use it wisely. I don't imagine that there are many other students getting experience like this in their first-year internship."
"Right, with that said," Edgeshot called the attention back on him. "Let's go over everything from the top. We are waiting for permission from the government to launch our raid, which we expect within two days time. We are actively searching for other heroes to help us as well. Last time, we considered many heroes who we have since reached out to. We contacted heroes such as Best Jeanist, Air Jet, Snipe, and Gang Orca. The latter three have all agreed to help out, however, Best Jeanist has not responded yet."
"Maybe we should ask Best Jeanist again," Death Arms suggested. "He would be a huge help against dangerous villains like the ones we're after."
"Yes, we should. Have we figured out a raid plan?" Mt. Lady asked.
"It depends a bit on the heroes we have helping us," Edgeshot explained. "The villains do not have any particular leader from what we can see, so there is little reason to target one person over any other." He clicked a button on a laptop he had in front of him for the meeting. A screen rolled down from the wall next to them and showed the pictures of two of their members. One of them was a young man with spiky black hair, but the most unique feature was the massive amount of scar tissue he had on his face. The second was a young-looking girl with blonde hair and yellow eyes.
"Here are the two members who I believe are the most dangerous," Edgeshot told them as the other people at the table kept looking on at the villains. "Dabi is the male, and Himiko Toga is the female. Dabi has been proven to have a fire Quirk, very similar to Endeavor's, but Dabi's is blue. Himiko Toga, while her Quirk is not confirmed, there have been times where we spotted all 10 members, but Toga was not seen. I believe she may have a Quirk that allows her to disguise herself, but I'm not sure how it works."
"You think we should take these two out first?" Kamui Woods asked.
Edgeshot nodded. "Dabi has a dangerous Quirk that can cause lots of destruction in an instant, and that can create distractions for us. Toga, on the chance she can transform into one of our own, can lead to disastrous results as well."
As the four heroes continued talking, Killua sunk into his own thoughts. Stain's Followers. They're my target to recruit for the League. Giran wants me to do it, and Shigaraki and Kurogiri want them. All For One does, too, which is most important because I need to what he says. If they're trying to arrest them before I get to that, he darted his eyes at the heroes who were not paying him any attention, Then I just need to get to them sooner. Convince them to join the League and leave their current hideout so that they don't get arrested. And I have to do it…under the eyes of my tracker, who I believe is Edgeshot.
Thanks for reading, I hope you all liked the chapter! My final exams started (online), but I have almost two weeks between now and my next exam. I'll try to get a new chapter up in that time, but I don't know if I will. Expect the next chapter to be sometime in late April, maybe around three weeks from now.
Stay safe everyone, and until next time!
EDIT: forgot to say this when I updated, but thanks to the guest who suggested the hero name Rock Fist! Sounded cool to me, like Rock Lock from the Overhaul arc. It might be a bit out of Gon's style, but I liked it, so it's fine with me. And there were a few people who mentioned Godspeed for Killua's name, so thanks to those people!
