"I can't believe I didn't even get an offer from the Moe Kawaii Cutie Agency!" complained Green Bean as he pouted on his desk. "I'm super cute!"
He was chatting with some of his classmates during their lunch break. Ninja-sensei and Sadist Lady had told them to review their offers or select from the list of Hero Agencies that were affiliated with UH. They had to submit their selections before the weekend, which was in two days.
Green Boi, having received no offers, was extremely disappointed. Blushy, on the other hand, was excited. "I got an offer from the Moe Kawaii Cutie Agency!" she started punching the air. "I'm gonna learn how to be a badass while still being super cute!"
"Lucky!" whined Bean Child.
"I think I'm going to intern at the Sea Faring Swash Buckling Agency, Ribbit," said Froakie. "I want to save people from floods."
Pinky the Acid girl replied, "Oh that would work well with your quirk!"
"Thanks! How about you?"
"I'm either gonna choose the Super Cool Avengers Agency or the Awesome Tough Warriors Agency."
Red Head Hard Head overheard, and shouted, "Oh if you do the Awesome Tough Warriors Agency, I'll do it with you!"
"OMG yes! Let's do it!" she replied with a high five.
Green Bean laughed. Then he glanced at Explochan. He saw the stack of papers full of offers on his desk. He approached his friend and asked, "That's a lot of offers. How are you gonna chose in two days, haha?"
"I'm a fast reader, jerk," he retorted, angrily.
"Oh, yeah, that's true. You can read three or four of my fanfictions in a single night, haha. But I can write three or four in a night, so I guess we make a great team."
"Can you even fucking type?" Explochan said, reaching for Green Boi's busted up hand. He clasped the bandaged hand with both of his. "Ruining your fucking hand for the Sports Festival. I should kick your ass. I should beat you so bad they kick you out of the school."
Green Bean snatched his hand away. "I'll be fine. Stop worrying about me. Damn." He walked toward Earphone Girl and Red Head, who were talking with Pikachu Dude and Duct Tape Lad. "What agencies are you thinking of?" he asked them.
Red Head, who was more interested in gossip than agencies, asked, "Why do you keep flirting with him? You're sending mixed messages."
"Who the fuck is flirting? Green Boi shot back.
Rolling her eyes, Earphone Chick said, "I hate guys that won't let go of their exes. Either you like him or you don't. Pick one."
"WE NEVER DATED," Green Boi insisted. He couldn't stress this enough. "We just went to the same middle school." He sighed. "And I'm not flirting. I was just asking him about his offers."
Duct Tape Dude said, "If you still have lingering feelings, that's understandable. We're young and love is a new feeling for us. But also try to think rationally. Sometimes he's nice to you, but you can't date someone who treats you like shit overall."
Pikachi Dude agreed. "Just because he picked a good name for you doesn't mean he's suddenly changed as a person. Even a broken clock is right twice a day."
"I don't think that's the right metaphor to use," Earphone Girl said. "But I get what your trying to say. Just because he does one nice thing doesn't excuse all the mean things he's done and will continue to do. He needs to change as a person before you can take him back."
"Ugh, we never dated," Green Bean complained.
Meanwhile, Explochan was sitting right there. He was listening in on the conversation. I need to change as a person? He wondered. He lowered his head. What is so damn bad about me? Why does everyone hate me? And why does it feel like shit all of a sudden? I never thought I'd care about what these dick sucking losers think about me. He sighed. Maybe I already have changed as a person.
Speaking of character growth, The Prince Of The Classroom was sitting at his desk, quietly scanning over his 9,571 offers. He was offered internships from literally every hero agency in Super Japan, and some overseas ones. Looking through all these offers was going to be a hassle. In his quick scan of the hero agencies, he saw one that caught his eye. "Hot Like Hell Hero Agency. That's Daddy's agency…" He actually sent me an offer for an internship. Wow. Well I should have expected it. But… He stared at it. It was an offer for an entry level position. "Crime Scout I. Unpaid internship. Entry level position. Seeking an ambitious, highly talented high school student hero with or without a provisional license to assist a professional hero in basic crime patrol for petty misdemeanors… So he wants me to start from the very bottom."
Interesting.
Weird.
He didn't know how to feel about it.
Of course, any hero would want to work for one of the best agencies in Japan. But the fact that it was his father's agency was so off-putting. But at the same time, his father wasn't showing favoritism by offering his son a great internship position right at the start.
He remembered his own words from the Sexy Sports Festival:
"You know what, I too want to be a fucking hero."
He covered the left side of his face with one of his hands. "Mommy, what should I do…" he wondered aloud.
…
Somehow, Green Bean had managed to slip away from Red Head and the others who were giving him relationship advice. He returned to Blushy, who was sitting down at her desk, eating from her bento lunchbox. Green Bean asked her, "Do you want to go to the cafeteria with me? I wanna buy some jam bread."
Blushy shook her head. "Nah I think I'm just gonna eat here today. Maybe Glasses-kun wouldn't mind though." The two of them turned to look at him.
The dark aura surrounding him seemed so intense.
In all of the day's excitement, they had almost forgotten one very important thing.
Engine Legs' brother had died.
So the two of them pulled up seats next to him. Blushy set her bento down on his desk. She held up an octopus sausage to his face. "Want some?" she asked.
He was so lost in his own thoughts, staring forward into space that he didn't reply until she tapped him and asked the second time, "Glasses Boi?"
"Huh?"
"Want some octo-sausage?"
"No thanks."
He patted his own cheeks and returned to looking at his offer letters. Green Boi said, "I'm about to go to the cafeteria to buy some jam bread. Want some?"
"No thanks."
"Oh. Um… well I'll be right back—"
"BUY ME SOME TOO!" shouted Explochan.
"Okay, okay! Sheesh," replied Green Boi as he left.
So it was just Blushy and Glasses sitting at his desk. Glasses was quiet. Blushy quietly ate. She tried to think of something to say to lighten the mood while not being insensitive. She decided to talk about internships. After all, wasn't it good to keep his mind focused on the present? Right as she opened her mouth to say something, she noticed that Engine Legs was holding his head down. She also noticed that little drops of water were landing on his offer letter papers.
He was crying.
Maybe she shouldn't talk. She simply patted him on the back.
…
"Ah, what can I do to cheer him up?" Green Boi wondered. "Is there anything I can do? He lost his brother. I can't do anything for him…" As he was thinking that, he was suddenly yanked aside by none other than Blonde Super Teacher. Face to face with his hero in a small, dimly lit hallway, Green Boi suddenly got an idea for a fanfic.
Blonde Superman said, "Young Green, I have news for you!"
"Uh, oh, um, yes?"
The sad look on the young man's face made Blonde Superman sort of sad. "Listen, kid, I know you didn't get any offers at first, but don't look so beat up about it."
"Oh, um, I'm fine."
"And you did end up getting an offer."
"R-really?!" Green Boi's face brightened.
"Yeah… but it's from the man who used to be my homeroom teacher…"
Green Boi's face radiated joy. "REALLY?"
"Don't look so happy, kid, that monstrous-son-of-a-bitch will grind your spirit into dust and then use it to bake bread."
"R-really?"
Blonde Superman nodded. His knees were shaking. "Really." He handed the offer letter to Green Bean. "By the way, he knows about your quirk, Deus ex Machina."
"Really?"
"Yeah. He was the most trusted ally of my teacher, the woman who gave me Deus ex Machina." Pouting, Blonde Superman added, "I think he asked for you to intern with him because he thinks I'm a horrible teacher."
"You're the best teacher that ever existed in the universe!" Green Boi replied.
With a chuckle, Blonde Superman answered, "You're adorable kid." He petted Green Boi's head. "Keep up that spirit, okay?"
So many fanfiction ideas raced through Greenie's head. He probably wouldn't do his homework today. He had waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay too much to write material to write about. "O-okay!" Happily, Green Boi clutched his offer letter to his chest and skipped away.
Sadly, Blonde Superman walked toward the teacher staff room. "I remember when I still had that much naïve, youthful energy." He sighed.
…
Engine Legs went home.
He was dealing with too much grief to make it through the afternoon classes. As soon as he turned in his paperwork for the Internship Selection, Glasses Guy went home. Green Boi felt like absolute shit, because there was nothing he could do to help his friend.
As the two walked home together after school, Greenie could tell Blushie was feeling the same way. They both sighed.
They walked in silence.
All of a sudden, Blushy said, "He started crying during lunch time."
"He did?"
"Yeah, he did. He was looking through the internship offers, and I think he saw one that made him cry."
"Which one?"
"He got an offer from Average Mediocre Hero Agency."
"…Why would that make him cry?"
"It's in Crime Infested Japanese City. The same city his brother died."
"Shit."
"That's the internship he chose."
Green Bean's eyes widened. "Shit."