The class was abuzz for the rest of the week. Between discussing and choosing which heroes they wanted to intern with, they could hardly focus on the classes ahead of them. Much of the class had narrowed down which hero they would be interning with, but Izuku found the list to be overwhelming. So much that he was once again looking through the list during his lunch period.
"Midoriya, have you decided which hero you're going to intern with next week?" Uraraka asked, seeing Izuku surrounded by his packets.
"No, there's so many heroes here. And from what I'm researching about them, none of them seem like a good fit." Izuku replied with his head in his hand. Though there were plenty of heroes in the top 20 who wanted him to intern with them, none of them seemed to fit him well. It was beyond frustrating especially as Izuku got deeper into the list.
"What about you, Uraraka?" Izuku questioned seriously.
"I'm going to be interning with Gunhead. I want to improve my fighting so that I'm not as hindered ever again." Uraraka replied determinedly. Izuku met her stare before focusing back on his list. There weren't many options that looked that good, so he'd probably end up interning with the highest ranked hero he saw on his list. When suddenly a hand slammed down a piece of paper.
Izuku looked up suddenly to meet Mr. Aizawa's deadpan stare. "Good to see you aren't busy, problem child. This is a late offer from a hero that wants you to intern with them." Mr. Aizawa sighed, mumbling something about rationality before walking off back in the direction that he came from.
Izuku stared off after his teacher before turning his attention to the piece of paper. He stared at the piece of paper for a bit before he smiled ferally. "I guess this will be the hero I intern with then." Uraraka stared at him questioningly before Izuku turned the piece of paper to her and Uraraka read the name on the page.
"AH, that's amazing, Midoriya! But that reminds me why I came over here. Iida told me who he was interning with. Have you ever heard of the hero, Manual?" Uraraka inquired. Izuku thought for a moment before he pulled out his phone to look the hero up. Reading through some of the information, he was not surprised to see one crucial piece of information.
"Manual is based in Hosu, interesting," Midoriya mumbled. "That's the last place they saw the Hero Killer, isn't it?" Uraraka nodded. If Izuku had to guess, then he would bet Iida would go after the hero killer. Someone he cannot beat right now.
Izuku sighed, "We'll just have to believe he's better than that. Because he is." Izuku sighed as he finished his internship form and headed for homeroom. There wasn't much he could do if Iida already turned in his paper. He'd just have to hope that Manual could keep Iida out of trouble.
It wasn't many days after that the class found themselves at the train station being led by Mr. Aizawa towards the platforms. "Now remember, you aren't to take your costumes out until you reach the agency and only at the order of the hero you're interning with."
The class echoed a 'yes sir' in unison before they were excused and left for their trains. Izuku and Uraraka exchanged a look as Iida walked off alone and came up behind him. "Iida," Uraraka started. But she was quickly interrupted.
"Don't worry, I'm not going to do anything reckless." Iida replied with a smile on his face. Izuku nodded to him as Iida turned and walked towards his platform. Izuku also turned around and started walking towards his train before he looked over his shoulder.
"Fucking liar." Izuku mumbled before he headed for his own train. The agency was a bit away, so he had time for a short nap. Izuku's nap was plagued with the thoughts of Iida being cut down by the Hero Killer, Stain. Eventually, he settled for playing on his phone as he waited for his destination to come into view. Finally, it did and Izuku made his way through the city.
It took a bit of searching to find the building he was told to find, but it was a simple building a couple mile from the center of the city. The building itself didn't stand out much except for the moving van in front of it. Izuku walked up the stairs leading to the building and went inside.
As he made his way through the building, he came into a room that was almost completely empty. Suddenly, Izuku felt a wave of hostility. Ducking quickly, Izuku saw a blur fly over his head and dropped his case rolling out of the room and assuming a fighting stance. The direction the blur went was consumed with dust as it crashed into the wall.
"I thought you would be able to dodge that; but just in case, I held back a bit." The blur said as it emerged from the dust. "I'm the rabbit hero, Miruko, welcome to hell, newbie." Miruko said with a feral smile on her face. Izuku focused on Miruko. You could tell what her quirk was simply from the mutations on her. And her muscles were ridiculously toned. Izuku could tell it was not for show either due to the hole currently revealing the hallway behind Miruko.
"Thanks for having me!" Izuku grinned.
"Now, I'll explain a few things. Try and keep up or I'm sending you back to UA." Izuku nodded as Miruko continued. "You'll be under me for this week, so you'll operate as I see fit. That means you answer to me and all your actions are my responsibility. That also means I'm going to be trying to show you the ropes because I was impressed by your Sports Festival performance. Any questions before we get started?"
Izuku paused for a moment before he replied, "Is this your usual office space? It looks a bit run down." Izuku inquired "And also, get started with what?"
"This isn't my office. It's a building I got special permission from the city to use for the week. And the second answer is-" Miruko interrupted herself by shooting forward yet again and attacking Izuku this time forcing him back into the large-scale training room. "I'm beating the softness out of you." Miruko came forward again. None of her attacks were close to landing, but Izuku soon realized his fighting style was being taken advantage of. This was proven true when Miruko smashed her leg down on top of Izuku.
It kicked up another cloud of dust, but when it cleared Izuku was using his forearms to block along with a pair of flaming arms for support. "Jeez, is this really teaching me anything?" Izuku grunted out as he held Miruko up.
"It's teaching me if I can take you out on patrol with me or if I need to leave you here." Miruko called back as she swung her other leg forward, breaking Izuku's guard. He slid back and Miruko came forward suddenly, leg pulled back for a kick. Izuku prepared to launch a counter.
'Iai Chop: Fir-' Izuku suddenly felt a change in the intent of the kick. 'Shit, she's not joking. She'll kill me if I hold back.' Adjusting his positioning slightly, Izuku prepared a more powerful counter. 'Seventh Form: Sun Wheel.' The attacks collided, sending Miruko upwards and Izuku backwards. Miruko easily adjusted her positioning and landed on her feet.
"I see. So, you can sense when people get serious too and make quick and effective judgements to counter. You have a good head on your shoulders, but what I want to bring out of you is the killer instinct you had against the business girl." Izuku looked at Miruko wearily as his instincts calmed. "For now, you'll be good enough to take on patrol around the city. Go get changed and be ready to go. Down the hall and to the left is a bathroom to change in."
"Yes, ma'am," Izuku replied as he grabbed his case and headed down the hall. He found the bathroom and got changed quickly. He had spent a couple days working with Hatsume to finish the support gear and now was the chance for it to all come together. Izuku exited the bathroom and made his way to the front entrance.
"Looks fancy. Are you sure you can fight in it?" Miruko asked. It was a fair question. Izuku's costume now consisted of a full suit with a green shirt and black tie. The suit was covered on his shoulders with Izuku's fire coat from his first costume. And included a set of white gloves over both hands. Izuku replied with a nod.
"From now on, you have permission to use your quirk to keep up with me until further notice. Got it?" Izuku nodded as Miruko made her way down the street. Suddenly, Miruko took off running down an alley and then in a couple of jumps she was a building away. Izuku ignited to follow behind her quickly. It was sudden, but she hadn't gone fast enough to completely disappear from his sight. And eventually she leapt down from another building ahead of Izuku.
When Izuku came to a stop at the roof of the building, three thugs had already been dispatched. And Miruko was placing a call to the police to come pick them up. Izuku stood behind her as she interacted with the officers who responded and then continued down the way. Miruko made another turn and then her ears twitched again, and she took off like a bullet. This time Izuku thought he was better prepared, but she went even faster than the first time. This time she was stopping a bank robber mid heist as Izuku arrived.
This continued for a couple more hours. As Izuku began to catch up, Miruko would increase her speed even more. Eventually though, she allowed them to stop for a break. "We'll eat and then call it for the day. Good job keeping up." Izuku was surprised by the kindness with food, but he was quickly snapped back to reality as they returned.
It was a training session that saw Izuku clash with the rabbit hero. Izuku found himself being overwhelmed by the hero's power consistently. Izuku jumped back breathing ragged from effort. "Maybe you winning the sports festival was luck. I'm not really impressed." Miruko chided as she circled Izuku. She hadn't made any critical hits, but he hadn't landed a single blow.
Izuku focused and called his matoi out from a pocket in his fire coat. Sending them forward quickly, Izuku sent them around Miruko to attack from different angles. This forced Miruko to avoid them by dodging to the side and suddenly Miruko focused trying to make her way towards Izuku. As she was pushed around the room by the matoi, she suddenly found herself in front of Izuku ready to land another attack.
'Snap' And suddenly, Miruko was blown away by fire and sent tunneling back towards the wall and out into the connected hallway. She grinned as she looked up and Izuku was in front of her, matoi held just inches from her face.
"Impressive. It took a bit to get it out of you, but there is some fight in you, I suppose. I'm impressed as it was definitely strong for a first year. I have to ask though, what are those tools?" Miruko inquired.
"The first are special gloves designed to create a spark. It's less work on myself to manipulate existing fire than creating a new one. The others are matoi that I use for ranged combat that needs more force."
Miruko nodded as she got up and stretched her shoulders before responding. "What about that technique that you used at the sports festival then?"
"It was something my quirk can do, but do you see the marks around my eyes?" Miruko nodded, questioningly looking around Izuku's eyes. "These show how much I can use that technique the fuller they are. Currently, it's around half so I could barely use it for half the time in I did in the sports festival."
Miruko nodded with understanding. "Smart not to rely on such an unreliable power. Anything else then?"
"I have three more similar powers, but they're harder to explain the markings for so I keep them wrapped up. My back and my entire right arm are usually covered." Miruko nodded once more before deciding. "We'll get you into better shape because you've got potential. Maybe you'll even be able to put up a good fight."
Izuku grinned. "By the end of this internship, we won't even be in the same playing field!" Izuku declared confidently. Miruko stared him down and smiled for a moment. It looked as though the markings around his eye had moved a bit more to fill, but that was a tomorrow problem.
And so Izuku's internship with Miruko came into full swing. The next day saw Izuku and Miruko getting up early to exercise. Miruko had brought in equipment that she used to help build and keep muscle. And from the early morning until just before noon, they worked out like that. Around noon, Miruko once again told Izuku to suit up and they went on patrol around the city.
Today though, Izuku was much quicker and decisive in his movements. He ended up becoming something more similar to Miruko's shadow. "Listen, you can support me in fighting villains, but you don't have the authority to do such things by yourself as an intern." Izuku nodded as he continued to follow Miruko. Suddenly, Miruko changed directions and Izuku followed swiftly.
This time Izuku got to watch how Miruko operated in close combat. There were about eight men involved in a small brawl. People were starting to run away as Miruko quickly knocked two of the men unconscious. Izuku followed suit also dispatching two of the men quickly. The remaining four were quickly defeated by Miruko in one move as Izuku did his best to take in as much as he could from her experience.
That night after they returned from patrol, Miruko once again insisted on sparring in order to gain more experience against a stronger opponent. And so, they began again. Though this time, Izuku noted that more of Miruko's power and speed was on display as compared to their first fight. Another thing Izuku quickly became aware of was the speed and precision that Miruko dodged with, easily evading some of the attacks Izuku had previously used. And eventually it got late enough that Miruko called the training session for the night. Neither of them had landed any significant strikes though.
The next day saw a similar patter emerge, but while they were out on patrol Miruko struck up a conversation for once. "You're definitely strong, so why is it that you felt you needed to intern with me? At this point you're just missing experience and you could definitely fight against almost anyone."
Izuku thought about it for a moment before he responded, "I felt like the things that I wanted to learn could only be learned from you. You're a hero specializing in combat so it's polishing my strengths and getting a different angle to look at my weaknesses. Besides, you're one of the few heroes I actually look up to these days." Izuku felt like Miruko fiercely attacked his weaknesses and he was forced to close them up quickly or admit defeat.
Miruko suddenly took off. "Keep up then newbie or you won't learn a thing from me!" Izuku was probably mistaken, but he thought he saw a soft smile on her face. Which was quickly replaced with a maniacal grin as they made their way through the city, putting villains away even quicker than before.
Izuku and Miruko finished the day with more sparring. This time Miruko brought even more intensity, allowing her killing intent to show severely which forced Izuku to fight at his full power. Though he ultimately lost and was rendered unconscious.
When Izuku awoke the next morning, he couldn't feel any of the injuries he felt the previous night. And Miruko was dressed in her hero costume ready for patrol. "I let you sleep in since you managed so well yesterday but pack your bags and get in costume. We're making our way to Hosu to find the hero killer!"