That day, the three of us pretty much just tailed around, following Mr. Musha and trying not to talk too loudly. I'll admit though, while that was boring, watching a Pro at work was not. It seemed as if every few minutes he was answering another call - going after a new villain, attacking, defending. We'd seen our teachers in action at USJ, and Pros on TV all the time, but watching the actual grind of the job was different.
We'd walk around sometimes for hours with nothing happening. Then all of a sudden, there would be screams - people in trouble, freaking out - a robbery here, a car cash there, a shoot-up, an assault - and in a flash, Musha would dive in, there'd be a few minutes where we couldn't see anything, and then - boom, crime resolved, citizens reassured. Musha wasn't exactly an "All Might" kinda hero; no big dazzling smile or cries of "I Am Here". He would simply nod in response to the cheers, as if to say "Thank you, but I do not work for praise".
His sidekicks' faces were almost impossible to see. They were moving as if all this were old hat, just another day at the office. Every time we saw him do something amazing, in a flash as if no effort at all, I exclaimed out - and got immediately told off.
The day had ended, and we still hadn't managed to do anything real. Just observed all day. Occasionally, Musha had turned to us and said "This is the protocol when encountering villains operating on speed" or "this is a common experience on the job", without expanding any further.
Musha's place had quarters for the sidekicks and interns to stay, a small traditional flat where me and Hagakure were housed and Aoyama was in the suite with most of the sidekicks. It made me chuckle a bit to imagine Aoyama trying to hang out with those hyper-serious dudes.
"I feel kinda let down," said Tooru as we tucked in for bed.
"Yeah, I figured we'd have gotten to…well, do something by the time the first day was over."
"Musha's kinda intimidating…" said Hagakure.
We talked like this a little longer, before my curiosity got the better of me, and I decided to call Eijirou to find out how his internship had been; stepping out into the bathroom, I waited three rings until he picked up.
"Hey Ashido! How's the internship?"
"Pretty boring. How about yours? You're with 4th Kind, right?"
"Yeah, and guess who else is here? Tetsutetsu again."
"Oh, really? Wow, you guys really are always doing the same thing."
"We are not!"
"Sure you're not. So how's 4th kind?"
"Kinda grumpy. But he's a great Pro. Not a top 10 like yours, though."
"Musha's pretty grumpy too. What kinda stuff did you do?"
"He had us pick up trash most of the day."
"Huh? What's that gotta do with being a hero?"
"He says it's all about helping people. Making the community a better place. Even in the smallest ways."
That made me stop for a moment. Even if all Eijirou had gotten to do was pick up trash, he'd still learned something - something that sounded kind of important. And even though I'd seen lots of action from a distance, I couldn't help but feel like I hadn't really learned anything. In comparison with him, anyway.
It was a strange thing to think, but as I went to bed, I found myself feeling kinda jealous that Eiji'd spent the whole day trash hauling. Life's full of surprises like that.