The Bright Hero, Cobalt
Chapter Eighteen
A/N: Thanks again to all of you! I love doing this stuff! Been too long since I felt great writing fanfiction! Whoo!
"Normal speech."
"Buff Might/AI/SHOOOOOTOOOOO/Kacchanese speech."
"Telepathic speech."
'Thinking.'
'Sign language.'
Later That Same Day
Izuku did his best to focus on his classwork, but he couldn't stop worrying about Tenya. Despite the end of his brother's days of heroics, the teen refrained from taking the name Ingenium. What's more, he ended up deciding on one of the less impressive agencies to intern with, the boy having tens of offers from agencies belonging to heroes higher up in ranking. Concerned, Izuku took advantage of the fact that some of his green aura was still within the boy, and read what was in his heart…
'He took my brother's dream, so I'll destroy him!'
Izuku recoiled at the hate he sensed, then quickly went to take a discreet look at his offers, finding that he, too, had an offer from Manual. Taking a quick look at his secretly distraught friend, Izuku made a decision. 'Gotta prioritize. I'll get other opportunities, but if Iida-kun gets injured or killed, I'll never forgive myself,' the boy thought to himself, circling Manual's name on the list and placing a roman T next to it, to ensure he didn't forget.
A clone of Ectoplasm suddenly appeared next to him, the doppelganger flicking him in the head. "Midoriya-san, I know you're doing well in my class, but please pay attention. You will have time for figuring out internship offers later," the facsimile of his math teacher scolded.
The verdette nodded. "Sorry, Sensei. I'll put this away," he said as he did just that, the clone vanishing as Ectoplasm got back to the lesson. In the corner of his eyes, he saw his girlfriend, the idea still making him blush even now, giving him a serious look and signing under her desk.
'Talk. Later.'
Izuku responded with a feeling of confirmation, not wanting to disrupt class anymore than he already had.
"Now, it you'll all turn to page seventy…"
At The End Of The Day
Tenya walked with purpose. 'I have to leave now. If I look into their eyes again, I don't know if I'll be able to…'
"Iida-kun!" a pair of voices exclaimed, Ochako and Izuku having made their way to the boy in a hurry. "Let's walk to the station together!" the green half of the couple exclaimed, a bit of desperation in his voice despite his attempts to keep his concern hidden.
The blunette sighed. 'So much for that,' he thought to himself, unable to keep his eyes away from the two of them, before sending a smile that physically hurt their way. "Sure, you two! Do you have everything you need?"
The pair nodded, and he got the feeling that their grins were strained as well. 'I've hurt these two with my pain. I'll have to apologize to them later,' the tallest of them thought, a bit of sadness behind his bespectacled eyes. 'None of us is very good at hiding our hearts, it seems.'
The three of them walked in silence for a while, none of them willing to speak of the elephant in the room. Ingenium had fallen in battle. While the person behind the mask lived, Tenya's adored elder brother would never take up the mantle of Ingenium again.
The silence was stifling, and the three teens couldn't help but feel awkward. Nobody spoke until it was time for Tenya to depart the train.
"Iida-kun, you know you can come to us if you have problems, right? We're your friends, after all!" the bubbly brunette, a pained smile of her own on her face, reminded him.
This time, Tenya didn't even smile, his back turned to the two of them. "I'm sorry. This is something I must do myself. Please be safe on your way home, you two," he replied softly. He walked away, determined once again to do what he felt needed doing.
A Few Days Later
The students of 1-A were all at their internships. Despite her worry for her boyfriend and Tenya, Ochako accepted her invitation to intern with the Battle Hero, Gunhead. She was determined to be strong enough that she wouldn't fall behind Izuku, if they were to be a hero team like it was starting to look. She had even found from Gunhead that a fanclub existed for the two of them as a ship now, the man wanting to let the two of them know so that it didn't catch them off guard. The head of said fanclub…
"MINA-CHAAAAAAN!" was heard from Gunhead's dojo as a warcry for a while that day. Izuku found himself blushing at some of the fanart some of their fans had made. Some even had them holding hands!
Shoto interned with his father, though before any of that, he made sure to visit his mother, Rei. She was delighted to see him, and the two took a picture together. It felt like the first time Shoto had grinned like that in a long time.
Tooru was really happy with her new costume. It could turn invisible with the push of a button, and was incredibly colorful when not invisible, like the girl's own personality, sporting a tie-dye look with many hues across the rainbow. She interned with Katsuki, finding that the two of them had both gotten an offer from Mt. Lady. She was enjoying her internship, and while the ash blond would be all tsundere about it, he was enjoying it, too.
Others, like Momo, however, were not as happy with their internships, though the class president did her best to hide this fact, doing her damndest to make this a learning experience. Her upgraded hero suit was less...fanservicey, and a lot better for combat. Several small holes, specifically for blades or other nasty things to emerge from dotted strategic parts of her suit, and a pair of armored shoulder pads had small holes from which she could push out shoulder-mounted weapons. A cape completed the ensemble, the fabric simultaneously lightweight and comfy, meant more to wrap around victims for comfort than anything, along with a helmet meant to protect her ears for when she started firing her shoulder weapons.
Tenya...found somebody familiar when he arrived at his internship. When he got the time, he pulled Izuku aside. "What are you doing?" the blunette whispered harshly.
The freckled empath frowned at his friend. "Prioritizing," he answered simply, before continuing telepathically, "I can't bring attention to it without you getting in trouble, but I will DEFINITELY be making sure you don't get hurt!"
Tenya visibly flinched, and the two of them made their way back to their temporary coworkers. "You didn't have to do this," the irritated speedster conveyed.
Izuku shook his head. "No, I didn't, but if I didn't, and you got hurt or killed, I'd have never been able to live with myself. Now let's just try to get through the day for now, okay? We can talk more about this later," the empath replied, his friend understanding that the boy could have him sent back to U.A. to be reprimanded if he had to.
And so, the two managed to get through their first day with Manual without incident…
Three Days Later
Izuku decided that Katsuki was right about one more thing. Murphy is a bitch, because his law sucks. Everything was exploding, those artificial villains were attacking, and Tenya had been in a different patrol group at the time, Izuku learning that he'd run off the very second things started turning pear-shaped. Izuku contacted Manual telepathically. "I'm gonna get Iida-kun back. I know exactly where he is, so it shouldn't take too long," Izuku said, though the part about it not taking long might have been a white lie. With green aura, the verdette was slower than his swift classmate, so it all depended on whether or not he got to Tenya before the second son of Ingenium got to Stain.
In minutes, Izuku found himself with even more hate for Murphy's Law. Tenya had found Stain, but that wasn't all. The Hero Killer was in the process of one of his purges when he found him. Izuku could sense his friend's fear and hate upon seeing the villain about to kill again. Before Tenya could be hurt, though, Izuku put up a wall of green aura, unwilling to allow the bloodied villain to harm his friend. Though he didn't notice it, the verdette's power bled a bit red as he accelerated to his friend's position.
"Iida-kun!" the boy shouted from atop a roof overlooking the fight, pulling him and Native up and over the roof before he punched his friend in his armored head. "I was so worried! Don't do something like that again!"
The adrenaline leaving his body for the moment, Tenya flopped down to the ground, having properly felt his friend's terror with that blow. "I'm sorry, Midoriya-kun. I'm sorry I made you feel like that. W-we should get back to Manual," the speedster said, making to get up before he was pulled aside by Izuku's green aura, the boy's armor taking the blow that had been aimed at him.
"I was in the middle of something, and suddenly two more targets-WAIT, WHERE THE FUCK ARE YOU GOING?!" Stain shouted as his victims began fleeing mid-monologue. The former vigilante threw knives at his target, only for the shorter armored boy to intercept them, the blades falling to the ground harmlessly after they impacted his armor.
Even as Izuku made sure to take blows meant for the other two, he panicked. "His hate is so powerful! It's terrifying! Please, if somebody is nearby, help!" he pleaded, praying that somebody he had a bond with was near enough to do something.
Izuku did his best to keep Tenya and Native away from their foe, having already concluded that he was fast enough that they couldn't escape. He'd have to find out exactly what it was that determined the strength of his barriers, because this man just pushed them aside like a child knocks down a castle of cards. He did not enjoy playing keep away like this, the man now ranting mad as he attempted to break his armor open with his swords, the verdette doing his best to occupy his attention. He did not need to hold out long, thankfully.
Like a comet, Himiko descended from the sky. "How dare you...HOW DARE YOU?! STAY AWAY FROM MY BABY BROTHER!" she screamed from within her armor as she flew at the hero killer, red aura engulfing her as she bashed the hero killer across the face. Chizome scowled as he flew back at his new target, his hands grabbing hers as the two pushed against one another.
"YOU CURSED FAKE HEROES! I'LL KILL YOU ALL!" he roared, not noticing the back of the armor he was facing off against opening up as Himiko emerged and cloaked herself from her foe's senses, then flanked the man and knocked him out with a blow to the back of his head.
After she finished restraining the man, she turned to Native, pulling off her helmet, the balaclava no longer part of her outfit. "I'm going to administer first aid. Please don't be fussy about it," the newtype-themed heroine said as she made her way over to the injured hero and did just that.
Izuku sat with Tenya, having emerged from his armor to be more comfortable by his friend, who had simply removed his helmet. The verdette cried softly against his friend, who smiled awkwardly as he let the green bean let loose his waterworks. Soon enough, Himiko made her way to the two of them, a scowl on her face.
"You two are lucky I was in the area. Don't do something like this again!" she exclaimed before she, too, started crying, dropping down and wrapping her arms around the boys. "You're too young to die, so please don't scare me like that again."
Izuku chuckled, relieved that they were out of danger. "So, baby brother? Was I right that you're my big sister, then?" he asked with a cheeky grin.
The girl smirked, flicking him in the forehead. "Half sister, but close enough. Let's get this guy in custody, and the two of you back to Manual," Himiko said softly, before the two pros and the two interns rose, her armor holding onto their unconscious prisoner separate from her, Izuku putting his back on as well. They didn't make it far before the verdette was picked up suddenly by a Nomu, the beast making off with the freckled empath who sensed something familiar.
"Tsubasa-san?"
