Author's Note: Hope you enjoy! Action and Dabi in the next chapter.

Disclaimer: I don't own MHA or its characters. Original characters are mine but that's it. Story is rated for sensitive subject matter and content both mentioned and written.

Chapter 54 - Not All Heroes Are Good

Jin sat in a comfortable chair on the interview side of a large desk, in the office of Pro Hero Hook Shot. Ranked #230 his quirk allowed him to control projectiles with his mind once he threw or fired them from his left hand. He could also return it to his right hand if it was curved like a boomerang or disk. Hook Shot had been a Pro Hero for almost six years, and had worked his way up to his current ranking through large caseloads of civil and criminal cases for Southern Fukuoka. Hook Shot was tall, with brown hair that was cut military short, black eyes that looked like targets at a gun range, and dexterous fingers that were sifting through Jin's application.

The pro hero was built like a marine, and his office was full of military fatigues and memorabilia to give the idea he may have been one. Jin had put his application for sidekick work into the Hero Public Safety Commission registration system, and Hook Shot was his ninth interview since graduation. Jin had dressed in a suit, with his hero gear stored in a small case brought with him. He wore his tinted glasses, hair neatly brushed back with his ears down. Jin was now 18, and looked a lot like his father with his blended bat and human genes. The scars around his left eye were noticeable, but not off putting in his opinion. They would eventually heal into thin silvery scars that would disappear into his skin. He had bulked up a bit in the arms and back to support his flying and maneuverability.

"So, Echo. You did your internship with Molten Arms, who raves about you here, but you haven't done any real field work since your injury. The gunshot to the face. Too scared to get back in the field until now?" Hook Shot peered up at the teen who smiled politely. "No thir. I made my full recovery a priority tho I could come to work at a hundred and ten perthent." The pro narrowed his eyes and let the papers drop to his desk as he pointed at Jin. "That lisp. Is it always so pronounced? Even during hero work?" Jin blinked and shook his head no, moving to open his case and remove the voice synthesizer he used. "The lithp ith permanent, but I have thith thupport gear that I wear when working that hideth it completely." He adjusted the device and flipped it on. "See? Lisp is completely gone, sir."

Hook Shot nodded and went back to looking at his paperwork. "Good. Keep that on at all times in the building and while working. I hate not being able to understand my sidekicks. This also has a list of heroes you listed as references. Some of these are not small time. Joke, Madam Medic, Hawks- " Hook paused and looked up. "That new flashy winged kid? Same guy?" Jin nodded with a tight smile, irritated that he was being judged by his lisp. He was beginning to regret this interview, but Jin kept getting turned down for lack of experience and his previous injury being a mark against him. Despite the medical records to show he had made a full recovery, too many pros were afraid his vision was compromised and he had been lying. Jin knew this because his interview ended with the pro hero telling him the same thing.

"Yes, sir. He and I grew up together as children. He was Commission trained, but we practise regularly and work out together when we can. We're looking to move in together if I can secure a job in the area." Hook Shot grunted and opened a drawer on his desk. "As long as you work for this agency, you don't fraternise with other pro heroes while working. I don't care about your own time, play around or room with the hotshot, but on the clock, you're my sidekick not his." Jin blinked at what was said and nodded quickly. "Yes, sir!" A packet and some paperwork was pushed in front of him. Hook Shot had already signed off on some of the paperwork and stamped a few pages.

"Alright Echo. I'll take you for six months on a probationary test. Read my agency manual, and all the new hire paperwork. See my secretary for your identification and filing what you need. Get your gear updated with our people and you'll start next week once everything is filed. I run a tight military style agency, and you are at the lowest level right now. You earn your way up and you do as you are told. I demand respect to give respect. Do you understand me, Echo?" His voice got louder at the end of his sentence. Jin's heart was pounding as he jumped up with excitement to stand at attention. "Yes, sir! Thank you sir!" A nod of approval before Hook Shot seemed to ignore his very presence. "Dismissed."

Jin grabbed the packet and paperwork happily as he headed out of the pro's office. He smiled to the secretary and was about to remove the synthesizer, but remembered his new boss's orders, leaving it on. "Hello ma'am. I need to get this paperwork filled out and filed? Plus my credentials?" The secretary kept her headset on to answer the phones and smiled at Jin as she took the papers he handed her. She seemed more approachable than Hook Shot, although she was dressed in a simple army green skirt uniform. That seemed to be the uniform for all agency employees. Jin wondered why it had felt more like he was joining the military. It didn't take them long before Jin had everything set and he was practically skipping out of the office as he threw his fist in the air and yanked the synthesizer off his throat.

"Yeth! I did it! I'm a pro thidekick!" He flapped his arms quickly to get airborne as his case was grabbed easily by his toes and headed for his grandmother's apartment. He couldn't wait to share the good news. Jin was excited to actually have an agency now. Six months would put him into the end of the year, just in time to join Hawk's agency once he started it. Jin was conflicted about the way the guy seemed to resist his lisp and the fact that he wanted Jin to cover it up while working. The synthesizer wasn't made for too much use, and if he was going to have to wear and use it in the office and while working all the time, he may have to get that upgraded with his other gear. He had a voucher for a support company that worked for Hook Shot's Agency ao he could check with them tomorrow when he got his gear looked at.

Right now, Jin wanted to tell his grandmother the good news, and tell Keigo what the plan was.

/

Mila was sitting at the table tracing dotted letters and numbers in a book with a pencil. Sion sat next to her, praised her when she did it right, a tsk when Mila got it wrong. At five, Mila was going to be registered to the nearby primary school. Sion would pick her up after school and help her until Azumi or Soji got home to pick her up. While it was a few months away, Soji insisted on having everything figured out in advance. He also wanted Mila to learn her letters and numbers before entering, Azumi and Sion trying very hard to ignore his muttering and swearing about the inept education of the public foster system. He wanted both of his children to have every educational opportunity they wanted made available to them.

Mila made a happy chirp as Sion praised her for finishing an entire row of letters and reached for her juice box when Jin burst through the door excited. "I got it! I got the job!" The little girl giggled as Sion stood to hug her grandson, her little blue wings flapping excitedly as she caught on to the happy environment. For Mila, she didn't truly understand what was going on. Mila knew Jin had been trying to become her brother's sidekick when Keigo opened his own agency. But having been raised in the foster system, she learned it was always a good thing to react the way everyone else in the room was. If whatever he got made him this happy, she would be too!

So when Jin scooped her up and spun her around the room, she whistled and squealed as her little blue wings flapped quickly. Jin and Dabi were as close to her as Keigo. They all felt like big brothers to her and made her feel safe when they picked her up or hugged her. When Jin finally put her down, he started showing Sion the paperwork while Mila sat back down to keep working on her letters and numbers. Sion went to look up places for a celebration dinner as Jin sat next to Mila and crossed his arms on the table, head resting on them sideways.

"Hey, little bird. Think you can keep thith a thecret until I can tell your brother?" Mila nodded with a smile as she turned her blue eyes on him. Jin couldn't help himself as he admires her face. Her bird features on her face were perfect. Like makeup to accent her eyes. Since she had healed his eye, and he had no alternate illusions to what really happened and how, Jin saw her as his personal angel. Showering her in affection and spoiling her whenever he could. He was startled when she reached out with her hands to gently poke his nose.

"I thought you wanted to be Nii chan's sidekick? Why are you with a different hero?" She sounded confused, but not upset. Jin pursed his lips a bit before he leaned his chin on one hand. "I do. I have wanted to be Keigo'th thidekick thinthe we were your age. But you know, you need to go to thchool before you can get a job, right?" She nodded eagerly. "And you need to practithe a thkill a whole lot to do it like an ekthpert, right?" Mila nodded again as she pointed to her letters and numbers she was practising. "Like writing!" Jin grinned and nodded as he tapped her notebook with a clawed hand. "Yup! Tho. To be the betht thidekick for your brother, I need to be a good thidekick for another hero and get ekthperienthe under my hat."

Sion walked back to the table and took a seat on the other side of Mila. "I found two places we can go, but I won't make a reservation until you tell Keigo and the rest of his family." Jin nodded and rested a hand on Mila's head as he stood to get his phone out. He heard Sion going over what amila had done so far as he called Keigo. The pro hero was working, but Jin knew he could chat and fly since he did it all the time. Hawk's cheerful voice answered after the first ring and Jin felt a grin spread across his own face.

"Hey! Echo! I'm mid patrol. How you doing?" Hawks was flying and the wind blowing in the background made that apparent as his best friend spoke using his headphones to take the call. Jin didn't beat around the bush, and relayed the good news to Keigo before he burst. "I got it! I got the job! I thtart nekt week!" There was a whooping holler on the other end of the phone as Hawks did a loop in the air. "Congratulations! Dude that's fantastic! Are we celebrating tonight? I can tell mom and dad unless you want to do that." The older teen flopped onto his bed and looked up at the ceiling where he had a mirror taped up.

He had done that on recommendation from his therapist because of his scars. According to them, waking up and not seeing yourself scarred right away, gives you more of a shock when you see yourself later in the day. "That thoundth perfect. I'll tell grandma to make the rethervation for tonight. I'll tekt the detailth." Hawks was still grinning and it could be heard in his voice. "Alright. Man this is perfect! I'm so stoked and you're gonna have a hell of a lot of fun!" Jin smiled and tried to put his reservations and concerns about the potential position out of his mind as he chatted with his friend. If Hawks wasn't worried about it, he wouldn't be worried about it.

/

Soji was in a client meeting when Keigo left the message with Rubi to give to his dad. The client was a former sidekick of Endeavor's, who was attempting to do something legal about the way he claimed he had been treated. They had been talking all day, with a break for lunch, and Akina had come in to help take notes even though it was Soji's case. The sidekick's real name was Hatsu Itigome, and he was 24 years old. His quirk allowed him to raise and lower temperatures around him, and until two weeks ago Hatsu had been a sidekick under Endeavor. The more experiences talked about, detailed the abuse he went through, the more upset Soji was getting.

It wasn't all word of mouth either. Hatsu had video evidence of conditions he was forced to train in daily. Photos and medical reports of injuries he had suffered at Endeavor's hands. Eyewitness statements from other sidekicks and heroes about treatment in the field. With all of this solid evidence that really couldn't be refuted, Soji was curious about what Hatsu wanted from this lawsuit. He waited until his client was done speaking and had collected himself, looking towards the large whiteboard on the wall as he pondered before giving the nervous sidekick his full attention.

"Hatsu, I want to state right away you are such a strong sidekick to be able and willing to bring this to light. You definitely don't deserve this treatment and I'm impressed you have so much evidence. I'm in this with you to the end, and I promise to be honest and forthcoming with your case. So it's your call on what you want. If you decide to blow the whistle on him, he is the number 2 hero and I know I don't need to tell you how big his law team is." Hatsu looked at the table and nodded. Soji smiled and tilted his head down to look into his client's face. "Alternatively, if you're ready for the potential kickback, reputation wise, we could sue for financial compensation to help make things easier on you. We can get your license file altered or sealed as far as why you are no longer under his agency, even get the HPSC to reassign you elsewhere with a better contract."

Hatsu looked up at Soji and had a hopeful look on his face. He leaned forward, hands on the table as he spoke. "Soji, I wanted to be a hero. I have wanted to be a hero since I was able to walk! My entire family have been respectable heroes. It was so hard to get my provisional license just to be a sidekick with my quirk. That man promised to help me get there. He trained me to exhaustion and forced me to take quirk enhancing steroids just to be able to stand beside him and say I'm on my way there." Soji watched as this young man teared up. His hands held palms up as he continued in a broken voice. "The doctors say it could be a year or more before I can regulate temperature correctly. I have no one to train me now. No one to take me until that happens."

Soji gently rested a hand on Hatsu's shoulder as he stood from his chair. "Hey. Hey, it's alright. This isn't a decision to make now. This is our first consultation and the goal is for me to help you in any way I can. Whether it's to talk, help you find someone to help get you back on track with training, and of course make sure Endeavor cannot do anything to ruin your life from this point forward." Hatsu took a shaky breath in and nodded as he let it out. Smiling, Soji eased his client to a standing position. "How about you go home, rest and relax and I'll look into some options and ideas. I'll call you in a day or so and we'll go from there. Your emotions are heightened from reliving everything and the last thing I want is to overwhelm you. Alright?"

With a nod and grateful handshake, Hatsu walked with Soji to the lobby. Rubi took over from there, offering to make him a cup of tea to go as Soji took some notes from her and headed back to the conference room to clean up and secure the evidence given to him. He saw the note about Jin and a celebratory dinner, a note from Azumi about meeting him at the restaurant if it's easier and a few from other clients. The lawyer tossed them onto the table and leaned on it with both hands, staring at the empty bottles of quirk enhancers and pictures of burns. Slowly and carefully he gathered it all up and set it back into the client's box.

The box was cataloged, locked away in a safe room and the conference room cleaned up. It took a bit but he got his head back into his family for that night. His son and his friend were so entrenched into the hero world, it scared him to think that this could be either of them. These sorts of cases are the reason he ran the firm the way he did, but he knew despite the positive atmosphere and celebration he was about to go to, the broken voice of Hatsu and pictures of burns were going to haunt him well into tomorrow.

It was yet another reason for Soji to lose respect for Endeavor, and Soji really didn't like that thought.