Chapter 11

Third P.o.V

Hotaru had gone home at three in the morning. She could no longer train, as she had run out of energy and Kamihara was worried about how much blood she was sacrificing. Once the seal on her eye began to sting, she snuck into her own home and fell asleep on the couch. When she woke up and returned to her internship, she repeated the process of trying to light one candle at a time. This was what she two days. On the third day, Kamihara gave her a break and, instead, took her out patrolling with him.

"You've done well with the candle training. I now need you to get a sense of what it is like to be out on the field," he lied. His real reason was that he wanted her to get outside. She was starting to get pale and he didn't want her to take away only one lesson from her visit. The purple-haired girl nodded. As soon as she was equipped with her hero costume, she and Kamihara headed to the city to keep watch over the streets.

"Do you know why we heroes are sent out on patrol?" the pro asked once they made it into the city.

"So that the citizens know they have people to protect them," Hotaru muttered after pausing to think. Kamihara nodded.

"Precisely. Being a hero is also about being a figure ordinary citizens can look up to," he clarified. Hotaru followed behind him as they walked along a sidewalk. She noticed a few people staring and even smiling at them. Fame was definitely not why she wanted to become a hero.

"Of course, some take the attention better than others," Kamihara noticed her nervousness. She looked up to him with an unsure look.

"You also have to be able to work well with others," he pointed out another hero who was passing by.

"Edgeshot. Didn't know you were patrolling this area today," the hero called Best Jeanist approached them. He looked down at Hotaru.

"And who is this young lady?" he asked as he raised an eyebrow. Hotaru bent at the waist.

"Anzai Hotaru. I'm working under Edgeshot as an intern from UA," she explained politely. Best Jeanist seemed to find something she had said funny.

"Well, at least yours has manners," he looked back towards Kamihara. Hotaru raised an eyebrow. She understood what he meant when a familiar boy charged towards the man.

"You damn jerk! You left me on purpose!"

"Oops, my mistake. Don't know how I could misplace someone as loud as you," Best Jeanist mocked a certain blonde who rolled his eyes at the comment.

"You should really take lessons from this little lady. Honestly, Edgeshot, if I could switch with you, I could," the pro hero sighed. Hotaru didn't know how to react, so she simply gave him a sheepish smile. When the boy on the other side of Best Jeanist looked past the hero, his eyes widened.

"Lizard Girl?"

"Katsuki," she nodded, face lighting up with an ear-to-ear smile. Bakugou blushed at the fact that he had been called by his first name.

'Out of all those stupid kids in that class, why her?' he thought.

"Who said you could call me that?!" he shouted. Hotaru tilted her head slightly.

"If I remember correctly, you never said you were against it," she hid her deviousness behind a smile. Bakugou frowned and clicked his tongue against the roof of his mouth.

"Cause I didn't think I had to say it, dumbass," he grumbled. The purple-haired girl's giggle had filled his ears.

"This is the first time I've seen her smile or laugh since she started her internship," Kamihara leaned over and muttered to Best Jeanist as the two kids continued to talk.

"And he seems...less mad," the blonde hero had also noticed their change in behaviour.

Hotaru's P.o.V

"So you chose Edgeshot?" Katsuki asked me. I nodded with a big, prideful, grin.

"And you got...him?" I raised an eyebrow as I glanced over his mentor's appearance.

"I messed up," Katsuki grumbled. I smirked.

"It's only a few more days. I'm not doing well with my training, but when I think about what you and the others are doing, it makes me want to work even harder," I said without thinking. Katsuki stared at me for a bit.

"Do you have any idea how fucking stupid that sounds?" he furrowed his eyebrows. I swear I saw him blush. I pouted as I crossed my arms.

"Well, fine then, jerk," I hissed. Katsuki's eyes narrowed and he averted his gaze.

"Whatever," he mumbled. I sighed as a bead of sweat fell down my forehead.

'He's hopeless...' Kiyo spat.

"Let's get going," Kamihara called. I nodded before looking back to Katsuki.

"I guess I'll see you when we go back to UA," I smiled. Katsuki grinned and held a fist up.

"You better get stronger, Lizard Girl," he ordered. I giggled as I held my fist up and connected it with his.

"You don't slack off either," I said with a sly tone. After noticing that Kamihara was already a few feet away, I picked up my pace.

"Bye, Katsuki!" I waved before running off to join my mentor.

Later...

The patrol was starting to get boring. I was glad Kamihara let me come with him, but I'd much rather do more hands-on stuff. Currently, we were just standing and waiting for something to happen.

"Sir, can I fight if we come upon a villain?" I asked as I looked up to Kamihara. We had yet to do anything but stand and watch.

"No. You're not ready for that, yet," he said. I frowned.

"You seem to forget that our whole class fought real villains during the USJ incident," I muttered with a slightly ticked off tone.

Kamihara looked to me from the corner of his eyes, "And you seem to forget that you're still just a child. No child put under my care will put themselves in danger." I sighed.

"Can I at least follow you?" I asked, hopeful. There was a long moment of silence between me and Kamihara.

"Just make sure to stay back," he finally caved in. I smirked with satisfaction.

"Will do."

About thirty more minutes ticked by and I heard a scream. Apparently, Kamihara heard it too. As he jumped into action, I grinned and ran after him. When I caught up, the pro hero was glaring at three men with guns pointed at a little boy who held a bag.

"G-Go away! I worked hard for this!" the boy shouted, body trembling.

"Cmon, kid. We need that as much as you," one of the men began closing in on him. I sat on top of a building, biting my lip in anticipation as Kamihara approached them. I felt Kiyo's anticipation to fight when the seal began to tingle.

"I doubt that," the men jumped. They quickly spun around. With his quirk, Kamihara pinned the men to the corner of the alleyway. As the men groaned from the force of being pushed against a building, another one ran around the corner.

"Guys, we gotta go there's-" he froze when he saw the pro hero capturing his companions.

"Now?"

'Now.'

I grinned as I jumped down from the top of the building, using my tail to balance myself and land, crouching on a lamp post. Kamihara jerked his head in my direction

"What do you think you're doing?" he hissed. I gave him a fanged grin.

"What does it look like?! I'm going to catch a bad guy!" I called, knowing he was too busy to try and catch me. I darted off in the same direction that the final guy ran in. I saw him turn a corner. However, when I also turned, I couldn't find him.

"Damn it..." I mumbled I stared down the dark alleyway. With barely enough reaction time to register what had happened, I saw a body lung towards me and tackle me to the ground. I winced as I fell over. When I got back up, the thug was running down the street.

'Go after him!' Kiyo shouted, the seal now burning. I clenched my jaw as I ran after him. Using my tail, I propelled myself into the air and landed right in front of him.

"Hey," I called before grabbing the boy by his shirt. I managed to catch a glimpse of his face. He looked to be a few years older than me...I tugged on him until he fell to the ground then sat on top of him, holding his arms behind his back. I heard sirens and instantly jumped to my feet, pulling the boy up with me. The police had arrived and by the time Kamihara got to me, I could already tell he was already pissed off.

"I told you to just watch," he snapped. I frowned as an officer took the boy from me and put him in a police car.

"He was getting away and I caught him, didn't I?" I raised an eyebrow. Kamihara sighed.

"It's not a matter of if you did, but of if you should have," he explained before walking away to greet the police. I let out a heavy exhale as I rubbed my temples.

'He has a point. If anything, you should take that information and keep it,' Kiyo agreed.

I groaned, "Whatever..." Suddenly, felt something small wrap around me. I flinched as my arms raised themselves in defence and my eyes widened.

"Thank you!"

The little boy from earlier still had his money and his life. Now, he was thanking me...I stared at him for a bit before looking towards Kamihara who sighed.

"There are also people who become heroes for the reward of simply helping others," I couldn't help but smile at his words. I looked back down at the boy and gently placed my hand on top of his head.

"You're welcome."

Special Thanks To...

YaoiMonster