Chapter Nineteen: Fresh Interns

.

rie: Uh, heyy :)

rie: This is minamoto. Testing!

Todoroki Shouto: Hello.*

Todoroki Shouto: Glad that I gave you the right number.

rie: ... haha

rie: So I just wanted to say

rie: Thank you for the kind review when you haven't seen the painting yet. I look forward to becoming friends too :)

Todoroki Shouto: It's not a problem.

.

Morie stopped herself from sighing when two minutes into the start of their uneasy acquaintanceship, the conversation had already died. Unbeknownst to those around her, she was in fact cursing herself for using the smiley emoticons twice - she was a fool! Using so many emojis at once seemed to just make it clear how uncomfortable she was feeling.

Presenting to you two socially-awkward kids trying to be friends. You'd think that birds of a feather could flock together, the voice in her head chimed dryly.

The dark-haired girl was not one who gave up so easily, though. She racked her brains for something to ask him.

.

rie: So i heard from the others that you're headed to your dad's place? How are you feeling?

Todoroki Shouto: Yeah.

Todoroki Shouto: I don't feel anything in particular for now... but I do hope to master my left side.

rie: I see, all the best then! i hope it will be fruitful for you :)

Todoroki Shouto: Thanks.

Todoroki Shouto: :)

.

Oh well. She tried. And judging from his smiley, he was probably trying too.

Raising her head from her phone, it was then did Morie register the yellow-haired Kaminari making his way towards her, his bag casually slung over his shoulder. A grin curled upon his lips as he hurried over to her, walking with a type of unnatural swagger, beating to her to the punch as her mouth fell open to speak.

"What connexion can there have been between many people in the innumerable histories of this world, who, from opposite sides of great gulfs, have nevertheless, been very curiously brought together!" As the yellow-haired boy finished his small recital, a slight smirk curled upon his lips. "Don't you think fate brought us together here today, Morie-chan?"

The Pikachu ended off with what he probably thought was a suave grin, and the dark-eyed girl on the receiving end of the impromptu rehearsal wondered when the hell she signed up for this. It took all her willpower to stop her from remarking back snidely that 'no, I'm pretty sure the train did,' but she stopped herself. No harm in playing along, right?

"Charming," a chuckle escaped the short-haired girl as she crossed her arms. "I didn't know you read Charles Dickens - aren't his works pretty difficult?"

If possible, Kaminari's grin only widened further; he was seemingly pleased that someone had recognised the prose.

"Nothing's too difficult if it gets me a step closer to winning your heart, my lady," he teased.

(As much as she was acting cool, her traitorous cheeks were now tinted pink. The girl was just not used to getting hit on, period.)

"Stoppp, you're making me blush," Morie deadpanned unironically - though she couldn't help but giggle inwardly at how utterly ridiculous this situation was. "Didn't I turn you down the last time?"

"Nope," he leaned in inadvertently, sending her a wink. "You said 'might', and that I was 'probably' better off asking someone else."

Ah, the day when polite speech patterns come back to bite me in the ass. Thankfully, the unsuspecting girl was soon saved.

"Dude. You're seriously at it again?" Someone stepped in to join them and she recognised the plain-faced Sero, who she grinned at for his timely intervention.

The black-haired boy stepped up, slapping Kaminari over the back unsympathetically. "See, this guy asked out all the Class B girls but got rejected," he explained, sending his buddy a flat look.

"Wow, okay. So what do you want, Kaminari?" Morie asked, glancing up.

He cleared his throat, yellow-eyes settling onto her with a hopeful, almost puppy-eyed look. "We should totally grab lunch together sometime. Please consider."

And so she did, squashing down her natural instinct to say no.

Lunch couldn't hurt, and he was her friend- not to mention, being turned down by all the girls in two classes had to sting to some degree. At the same time, she definitely did not want to lead him on in any way so she fumbled about for the best (and perhaps, the safest) solution.

(Besides, the Pressure user had a sneaking suspicion that there was more to his request than it seemed. It seemed out of the blue, even for a die hard flirt like him. Had something brought this on?)

Running a hand through her short, choppy strands, her dark eyes raised themselves to meet his yellow ones.

"Uh, I don't mind," Morie stated softly, an amused look flickering onto her expression at how Sero's jaw positively snapped open, before hastily adding. "I don't like you in that way, and I doubt you actually like me in that way, so let's hang out sometimes as friends."

Kaminari's yellow eyes widened in astonishment as he looked quite literally dumbstruck. Then a grin grew on his face as he turned to Sero excitably.

"Did you hear that? Woah. I just got myself a date with a girl- " He smoothed the back of his yellow hair down as he collected himself, eyes flickering over to meet hers. "Thanks, Morie-chan!"

... had she not placed enough emphasis on 'as friends'?

Sero echoed her thoughts, snorting loudly in disbelief. "Dude, more like you got friendzoned, why are you so happy?"

"Nah, the tides are totally changing," Kaminari nearly looked star-struck.

The black-haired companion turned to face her, shaking his head. "You're just lucky that Minamoto is nice."

"Yooo!" Kirishima popped up then, a bright look in his red eyes as he moved to join the group, an arm raised in greeting. "Uh, did I miss something?"

"Not really," Morie shrugged, beaming at the energetic redhead. "You headed off to Kyushu?"

"Yeah man, can't wait!" The redhead beamed back. He nearly dropped his cellphone in his moment of excitement as he seemed to have remembered something. "By the way, you guys, I just realised that we haven't exchanged numbers! We should make a group chat for ourselves and everything, then we could totally keep in touch over this week."

Morie liked that idea very much. Her phone book was a sad, sad place, with her only friendly contacts being Ren, her parents and her hot-blooded cousin (though calling him a friend might be a bit of a stretch).

"Sounds good," she voiced out, sending him a thumbs-up.

"Oh, so a group for the lunch buddies, then?" Sero questioned, before adding offhandedly with his signature wide grin. "I don't mind that, actually."

Hold up. In that case, wouldn't that mean...?

Her suspicions were confirmed when Kirishima whirled around, only to call out abruptly.

"Blasty, my man! C'mere!"

"Hah?" The aforementioned 'Blasty' looked up from his spot several metres away, predictably scowling at the offending red-haired boy. His crimson eyes darted over to the group and after a few moments, he grudgingly relented, trudging over with his hands stuck fast in his pockets.

"Bro," Kirishima was admirably straight to the point. "Let's exchange numbers!"

Bakugou's expression was simply priceless, and she lifted a hand to stifle a laugh, the gesture not going unnoticed. It was as if his fuse of a temper had been lit, though he seemed to relent at Kirishima's pure, wide-eyed expression.

"Do whatever the hell you want. And stop that, it's gross." He huffed, turning away in visible irritation much to the red-haired boy's confusion ("Huh, doing what?") - but she couldn't help but smile at the sight of the two polar opposites interacting.

"Shitty hair-for-brains." The ash blonde bit out. He impatiently snatched the redhead's phone out from his grasp, aggressively punching in some numbers before practically shoving it back into his hands. A bright smile lit up over the red-haired boy's features.

Damn.

There was seriously no one in the world who could not warm up to Kirishima, not even someone as prickly as Bakugou Katsuki - he was just that likable.

.

(・`ω´・)(・`ω´・)(・`ω´・)

.

It was considerably awkward afterwards, however, as the group parted ways to head to their various workplaces, and she realised that her mother's workplace was near the Hero Office Bakugou was heading off to - meaning that they had to go to the same station together. Frankly, she was thankful that there was not much animosity between them, owing to the whole cookie-giving fiasco that had occurred only recently.

(Moral of the story; it seemed that food really was an effective way in winning someone over.)

The train ride was dead silent after the others alighted, and as she waved Sero and Kirishima goodbye, Morie stood a little ways in front of the blonde who was still with her. All she could think to do was stone at her phone just because she had no idea what to say. All of a sudden, her Wattsapp application popped up on her notifications, and she clicked on it with a furrowed brow.

The group was titled Manly Men ('Ah, totally Kirishima,' she giggled) and it was created a mere minute ago.

.

(unknown number): Yoooo

(unknown number): This is Kirishima!

rie: Heyy

rie: Rie here

(unknown number): Lol

(unknown number): Im Sero

(unknown number): sup bois

(unknown number): kaminari btw;)

(unknown number): tf

(unknown number): the hell is this.

.

Morie cast a glance at the ash blonde boy behind her, and to her surprise he did look pretty damn confused. His red eyes were squinting intensely as he glared into his tiny phone screen.

.

precious dude: Exchanging numbers!

Sparky Sparky Boom Man: fuck this shit

Sparky Sparky Boom Man: im out

precious dude: Blasty nooo

precious dude: This is gonna be cool, I swear

Tape man: Cmon man giveit a go

rie: We're lunch buddies

Pikachu: ^ lol man relax

Pikachu: your number's safe with us

Sparky Sparky Boom Man: whatever

precious dude: :/ mina's not online rn!

(unknown): i'm hereeee

pinky: okay but we need a name better than Manly Men, we have 2 girls here :(

Tape man: Any ideas then?

precious dude: Ok what about

precious dude: the Bakusquad!

pinky: LMAO I like that

Tape man: Same lol

Pikachu: bakubro our mAN

rie: BAKUBRO

precious dude: Ok so bakugou read the message and didn't say anything, guess he's cool with it :D

[precious dude changed the group name to the Bakusquad.]

rie: Thanks man

rie: All the best for your internships you guys!

.

The group fell silent then following a chain of 'all the best!' and one 'what the fuck' sent by the unofficial leader of the Bakusquad himself. She was surprised to see that by some miracle, he had decided not to leave the group, leading her to chuckle softly.

Geez, it's like he secretly likes us or something.

Then it was her station, and Morie impulsively waited for Bakugou after exiting the train. Realising that they were going opposite ways after exiting the station, she silently freaked out a little, furiously debating on how she should bid her companion goodbye without adding on to the existing awkwardness. At last, she settled on a reserved wave.

"See you, Bakugou!"

The words were barely uttered out and she could feel herself shrinking away into herself almost immediately. Yet the brown-haired girl could have sworn that the Explosion user's head had jerked down in the briefest of nods before he walked off, his hands shoved into his pockets. In spite of her gawking astonishment, Morie couldn't help but break out into a smile as she went about her merry way.

Coriolis' Office was a stone's throw away from the station, situated among a cluster of other buildings in the vicinity. It was sleek and fairly tall with tinted windows - to say that it looked like an industrial building however would not be an understatement at all. Hero agencies nowadays tended to be on the flashier side, similar to the loud adverts they plastered everywhere in the shopping districts; overall, she highly appreciated the feel of this quiet building in an even more quiet town.

Pushing open the door, Morie stepped inside into what she assumed was the lobby. Quietly shutting the glass doors behind her, she took her time in examining the place - after all, she did have the luxury of being early (as usual).

The floor was shiny, almost speckless; the sofas seemed to be made from shiny black leather, carefully placed over some modern-styled textiles. The room was empty, cold and almost eerily bright. Somehow, a sense of déjà vu washed over her - Morie was certain that she had been brought here as a child, even if she could not remember it.

Would anyone show up soon? She hoped so. Heroes were busy people, after all.

Sighing a little, Morie stopped fiddling with her fingers and was shooting another sweeping glance around the room out of habit - when she nearly had a damn heart attack.

Seated in one of the stiff leather sofas was a girl. One who had definitely not been there a second ago, yet looked like she had been sitting still there for all eternity.

Uh. So my mom's office is haunted.

With quirks being the norm, one would think that she would have grown used to possible supernatural events - especially considering that her quirk involved controlling what she could not see, meaning that for the most part she had to build up a strong sixth sense. Chika had helped her a lot in that regard, yet Morie was beginning to suspect she was just a natural coward.

It was an obvious and easy choice - Morie stood by her spot next to the wall and pretended not to notice the girl who had seemingly popped out of nowhere. Human or not, social interaction with strangers of any form was just way too much, especially not this damn early in the morning.

Imagine her utmost horror when after five minutes of silence, the girl suddenly stood up from her seat, and began to move towards Morie in slow strides, a large smile plastered on her doll-like face. The stranger's footsteps echoed against the marble flooring, looming and almost ominous.

Oh helllll no.

The (frankly) terrified brown-haired girl stared as the stranger inched closer, only stopping when she was a meter away. Morie blinked, taking in striking blue eyes contrasting against long coal-like black hair, styled in a ponytail; last but not least, there was a grey Yuuei uniform hanging on her petite frame.

Caught between her flight or fight impulses (the girl was way too damn close for comfort), but Morie surprised herself by breaking the silence first.

"Hey, sorry I didn't see you there," a tiny smile spread upon her face, practised and almost automatic. Fake it 'til you make it. Right. "What's your name?"

"You may call me Tsubasa," the other girl quipped brightly, her hands tucked behind her back; there was a strange, dream-like quality to her voice which Morie could not place. "You must be the other intern from Yuuei!"

"I guess I am," she decided to play along. "You may call me Minamoto. So which class are you from?"

Tsubasa's smile tightened if it was possible, forming a fine painted line. "Why, I'm in General Education. Same class as Shinsou-kun, if you know him."

The 'if you know him' gave her the impression that Tsubasa already knew that she was acquainted with him - anyone who was paying attention to the Sports Festival would know that they had teamed up for the Cavalry event.

Morie let her shoulders raise in a shrug, and a smile crossed her face. "We might have met before, I'm not sure."

"Oh," Tsubasa's reply was punctuated by small, sporadic giggles. "I'm sure you have."

Morie laughed along with her, but beneath her calm demeanor, in reality her mind was a whirling mess. Was she imagining it, or was the girl before her somewhat ... strange?

Shit. Now I feel bad for acting like a judgmental bitch.

Apprehension was rising in her throat now, and she hoped that it was not too obvious - by now she was making a conscious effort to stop herself from fidgeting or backing away.

Should I just ask her about it? After all, with quirks anything is possible nowadays... Despite her discomfort, that thought jolted her into action.

"Uh, well… Tsubasa-san, what is your quirk if you're alright with me asking? You don't seem to have a physical presence, would that be one of your abilities?"

Physical presences were made up of liquid and solid particles respectively - while those were harder for Morie to detect, she had by now grown accustomed to how the 'pressure' of humans felt like. She reasoned that Tsubasa could possess a quirk that enabled her to have an incorporeal form. To her quirk, the space where Tsubasa's body should have been occupying felt like the usual bunch of air particles yet nothing more.

Tsubasa frowned at that question.

"What do you mean?" The girl reached out and grabbed one of Morie's hands, and the abruptness of it all made her cheeks flush pink. "I'm right here."

Indeed, Tsubasa's hand was smooth, warm and felt very much solid. Yet alarm bells were ringing in her head, this time for real.

Firstly, she dodged the question. Secondly, why is she trying to convince me that she is solid?

Her suspicions were hardly assuaged at all, but Morie willed herself to be flustered (which came all-too naturally for her.)

"I'm very sorry for doubting you earlier, I guess I was feeling nervous that I've never seen you around during the Sports Festival." The Pressure user let go of her hand gently and slowly, she sank downwards in apology.

Tsubasa seemed to get mildly flustered as well by how overwhelmingly formal she was acting. "Oh my, please get up, Minamoto-san! It's no big deal, really- "

A green marble burst out of Morie's pocket, barely visible to the untrained eye. She took the chance to straighten up from her bow, watching as the marble soared through Tsubasa's abdomen cleanly, clacking loudly against the floor where it landed mere moments later. The spot where the marble had passed through looked distorted, like a pebble that had been tossed over the surface of a lake.

"Yeah, it's really no big deal," the Pressure user responded amiably. "You don't have to lie, you know. I just want to know who you are."

Her dark eyes focused on her marble a few feet away. She was glad that as much as the girl before tried to assuage that she had a solid form, the fact that solid objects could indeed pass through her with no problem suggested the opposite.

Perhaps a type of illusionary quirk was at play here, since Morie's own senses had been convinced that she could feel the girl's hand. In that case, would her quirk still work on Morie had she put up her mental shields? In that case, she could not trust that the marble that she had seen passing through Tsubasa had actually done so - the Pressure user quickly did a check; she sensed the round object's own unique presence that was indeed lying on the ground.

It does seem like my surprise attack succeeded. Unless there's just something I'm missing here...

Tsubasa's blue eyes were boring into her with a manic intensity now, with an emotion she couldn't place. Her face seemed to contort then bend and break, and Morie backed up as much as possible into the wall she was cornered against, feeling pure horror descend onto her.

Then the stranger's face flickered back to normal before the black-haired girl began doubling over in hysterical laughter.

"Man, you got me!"

It took a while, but the girl finally calmed down, and interestingly her manner of speaking shifted - she now seemed to talk like a guy. "Don't know what I was expecting, but you're a weird kid - the boss is absolutely gonna love you, if she doesn't already. Go on and head on upstairs. Top floor, end of the hallway."

At that, the black-haired girl jabbed a thumb over to the corner of the room, where an entrance to a staircase and a lift lobby seemed to appear to her for the first time. It went without saying that Morie was freaked out, but nevertheless she softly thanked the strange entity known as 'Tsubasa' before she hurried off to the lift area, not forgetting to swipe up her marble from the floor as she left.

Tsubasa kept an eye on Morie, flicking her coal-black ponytail over her shoulder. When the small brown-haired girl hurried into one of the lifts, disappearing from sight, a wide grin spread over her painted lips. She threw back her head and let out a sigh.

"I sure hope meeting the next one will be just as fun…"

Vaguely, a shuffling noise could be heard echoing outside the building, indicating the presence of another newcomer. By the time the glass doors swung open once more, Tsubasa had vanished.

.

(*•̀ᴗ•́*)و ̑̑(*•̀ᴗ•́*)و ̑̑(*•̀ᴗ•́*)و ̑̑

.

'Level 10.'

An electronic voice chimed as the lift doors opened, allowing Morie to step foot on the carpeted floor outside.

There was always a special feeling she got from being on the top floor of buildings. Perhaps it was subconscious, with the lower air pressure having a calming effect on her. Perhaps being further from her ground made her feel more in her element. Nevertheless, there was a little skip in her step as she approached the door at the end of the hallway. Her stomach twisted in anticipation as she brought up her fist and rapped on the mahogany. Once. Twice.

"Come in."

The door clicked open and the brown-haired girl tentatively stepped inside.

Her mother was seated at a table, frowning over piles of paperwork. Morie was sorely reminded that professionalism was important as it took her all her willpower not to tackle the older woman in a hug. Instead she distracted herself by looking around the office, inwardly chuckling at the sight of a model of the globe sitting in the corner of the room - much like the one her mother had in her study at home.

If it was not obvious, something noteworthy about her mother was the fact that she was an absolute geography nerd. Heck, Fū was the one who came up with her name.

(Morie meant 'bay', which ironically seemed to fit in with her quirk somehow. The maritime and continental effect was a phenomenon which took place due to pressure gradients between the land and the sea - and these very pressure gradients were the very foundation of how she used her quirk. Not to mention that her mother named herself after the Coriolis effect, which often was the force behind the deflection of winds at the equator. She herself had followed suit, naming herself after the continental effect which could occur at the bay. Bay. Get it?

... she liked to think that her name was clever, at the very least. Midnight had approved of it.)

"Morning," Morie greeted.

Her mind laughed at this bizarre situation and she couldn't help but feel at awe at the sight of her mother in her Hero costume: her sleek white bodysuit accented with bands of silver and cerulean, the dark cloak which draped over her shoulder snugly and hung over her head, and perhaps the most integral feature - the textured dark visor which hid her facial features from the world; Morie always thought it was fashioned from one-way glass or the like.

It's like I'm greeting her during breakfast.

Her mother looked up at her. Even though Fū's features were shielded with a dark visor, she could already imagine her mother's iconic eye smile behind the mask.

"Good morning," Fū greeted back warmly. 'Good to see you here, kid,' went unsaid. "Why don't you take a seat? You can start to fill in some paperwork for me."

Nodding, Morie settled into the closest seat, rolling herself closer to the table where Fū sat. The brown-haired girl pulled out a pen from her pocket, and began filling out the forms that were passed to her. It did not take long for the comfortable silence of the office to be disrupted, however, as there was a sharp rap on the door a mere five minutes later.

Fū rose to her feet.

"Ah, looks like he's here," she remarked, before raising her voice a little. "You may come in."

So mom did nominate someone else, then. The thought flitted across Morie's mind as her attention turned to the doorway. I wonder who it is?

The door swung open, and her dark eyes widened somewhat as in stepped a figure she recognised immediately.

Hair the shade of cobalt, tinted purple. Dark violet eyes, which looked particularly impassive. Defined bags under those said dark eyes.

A wave of surprise washed over her - she certainly had not expected to see this guy so soon after the Sports Festival. A smile tugged on the corner of her lips involuntarily as she called out briefly.

"Hey, Shinsou."

Upon hearing her greeting, the aforementioned boy's dark defined eyes swept over towards her with muted surprise. She could almost hear the gears spinning in his head.

"Minamoto." The boy nodded curtly, before turning to face her mother, who was watching the exchange with a considerable amount of interest. "Hitoshi Shinsou, from General Education. I am grateful for your nomination." He sank downwards in a humble bow.

"And thank you for choosing to accept my nomination." Coriolis responded evenly, moving to mirror the gesture. Without skipping a beat, she slid over some forms across the table. "Take a seat, Shinsou-kun, and please fill out these forms. There are some matters I would like to discuss with the both of you."

The two students settled into a sort of silence as they waited for the older woman to continue with her introduction.

"As you might have heard, my name is Coriolis, the Wind Hero," there was a pause, and Morie could almost see in her head a corner of the woman's lips curling up. "If it is not clear yet, the forms you are filling in are combat authorisation forms. At this agency we don't have a specialisation, but we do tend to veer heavily towards rescue efforts and dealing with crime - it goes without saying that you will be taking part in some of these efforts under our instruction. Next, there's someone I'd like you to meet - "

"You called for me, boss?" Tsubasa, bright eyes and all, appeared at the doorway with a cheeky glint to her eyes. Coriolis chuckled softly.

"That's enough," she chided lightly. "Show yourself, Hikaru."

Tsubasa's smile froze. Abruptly, she began dissipating into nothing, shattering into shards of light. A few (rather anticlimactic) moments passed, but eventually thudding carpeted footsteps could be heard from outside. A new figure emerged moments later, striding through the mahogany doorway. He rested against the side of the doorway, eyes set in silently scrutiny.

"He's one of my sidekicks - graduated from Yuuei four years ago," she introduced. "You'll meet the others soon, but he will be assisting me for this internship."

The young man known as Hikaru straightened up from his slouch. His sharp, sky-blue eyes were visible even through his bold, black glasses, which sat atop a fair complexion. Black strands not unlike the color of coal framed his face - he was the spitting image of Tsubasa, the not-student from Yuuei she had encountered only a while ago.

"Good morning," he spoke, a smile spreading on his lips- and it looked nearly blinding. "It was nice meeting you. I go by my Hero name, Hikaru."

Hikaru caught her eye, and Morie didn't miss the flash of amusement in his expression, which he covered up with a smile.

Oh no. He's kinda cute, the brown-haired girl couldn't help the pink that tinted her face. Shitttttt.

She could sense her mother's gaze on her - the girl did not have to see the older woman's eyes to know that they were practically gleaming knowingly through her dark visor as Morie fought her hardest to keep a straight face.

(Gentlemen, she thought, were the bane of her existence.)

"Hikaru will be helping me look after the two of you when I am unable to. I would like to ask that you give him your fullest attention," Coriolis spoke, a hint of amusement to her tone, "We'll be bringing you to patrol this half of town today - the other half is Jeanist's - so please change into your Hero costumes immediately afterwards. Meet us outside when you're done."

With that, the coal-haired sidekick gestured for the two students to follow him back outside. Morie could not help but notice the showy, almost flamboyant way he walked, as if he was a performer with a particularly heavy set of heels.

As he led them to the changing rooms, the black-haired assistant's gaze shifted back noncommittally at the duo who was trailing after him. "We're generally quite a peaceful town, but we do get our fair share of incidents popping up from time to time. All I can say is - brace yourselves!"

He ended off with a dry laugh, as if he had just said something particularly humorous. Morie raised an eyebrow.

I guess we kind of know what to expect, at least - wait, did he just reference that meme?

... oh my gosh, he definitely did. Wow.

As if echoing her sentiment, Shinsou let out a soft scoff. They briefly exchanged glances - it was that special type of empathy achieved by two individuals who were practically raised on the Internet.

(The grin that flashed over the older man's features was missed by the both of them.)

.

(・∧‐)ゞ(・∧‐)ゞ(・∧‐)ゞ

.

As the office was cleared and the door swung closed, Coriolis' dark eyes rested back the completed forms piled on her table, stamping through them with her seal. Her eyes settled over the form for her own daughter, and she couldn't help but smile as pride rushed through her.

Hikaru had come to her the day before, asking if he could 'have some fun' with the new interns before the internship started (as he did in the four years he had been with the agency). Specifically, he loved targeting the student interns from Yuuei - which made sense, since he had been highly fond of his alma mater.

This time, the Wind Hero was admittedly curious as to how it had went, considering that her own daughter was involved; though judging by how Hikaru seemed livelier than usual, she would guess that it went well.

Truth be told, Fū never would have expected that Morie would one day be in this building again, not as her daughter but as a budding Hero - not when she had not expected that her quiet daughter would want to be one in the first place.

Bzzt!

Fū's silent musings were interrupted when her phone began to vibrate, the screen lighting up abruptly. Moving to receive the call, a familiar, prim-sounding voice spoke from the other end of the receiver. A smile flashed over her face in recognition as she rose to her feet.

"Jeanist? Ah, yes, about this week..."

.


A/N:

*they're not friends yet, and rie barely knows him well, so Todoroki doesn't get a silly nickname. Yet. But Bakugou does ;)

Thus officially begins the internship arc, I'm truthfully not sure about original content so I'm drawing from my own chaotic and busy intern experiences.

I do hope it's not too weird that Shinsou was the other nominated student - it'll be (kind of) covered later, but I reasoned that anyone who caught attention at the Sports Festival would have a reasonable chance of getting nominated. But yes, he's a favorite of mine and I believe he needs more screen time.

Morie meeting Tsubasa was a hard one to write. I kept thinking, how would rie react to meeting a shady 'ghost' in a horror movie-isque style? And I thought that she would definitely try to ascertain that she was not crazy, at the risk of seeming crazy (remembering the events of chapter one here.)

tldr; Kaminari gets a Friend date, the Bakusquad group chat is finally a thing, and the internship arc has formally started.

Let me know what you think! Reading your reviews really makes me feel warm and fuzzy inside :')

Thank you for reading!

- C