16.04.2020
Hello you wonderful people, it is I the author and I have some more reading material for all of you!
But first, as usual, the comments!:
RandomReader867 - No problem! It's my hobby after all :D
zerobound - I only hope that this Arc can cover up how I messed up in my opinion in the last Arc and that everything just works out the way I want it to.
GunBlade2020 - Indeed I plan on the internship being interesting. I also want Kairo's character to be likable by all of you, because (little spoiler) this isn't going to be the last time we see him in action!
Anyways, let's get on with the chapter!
Something was fucky. At least that's how Midoriya saw the nearest future. He was always a healthy mix of an optimist and a realist. Despite his subtle hints that interning under Manual was not the best choice for Iida, he did it anyway. That's why the greenette was sure that something was bound to happen and that he won't be there when his classmate may need him.
"Iida", he called out to him as both freshmen classes of the Hero Course started gathering at the train station near UA. Aizawa and Vlad King were there already, both with a sheet of paper with the names of their students on them.
"Yes, Midoriya?", the Engine Quirk user answered immediately in his robotic demeanour, but something was still off.
"Where's Uraraka having her internship again? I kinda forgot", the question wasn't a complete lie, while at the same time would allow the greenette to gauge his classmate's mental condition.
"Gunhead Hero Agency", he stated proudly and smiled genuinely.
"Martial arts, huh?", mused Midoriya out loud.
"Yes, I think that she wanted to improve her hand to hand combat skills"
"What do you want to improve then?", the question was more fired then asked and for good reason too. Sometimes, people get so caught up in talking about someone else that they start talking about themselves just as easily. Sadly, that was not the case this time. Iida was being very cautious, which in turn made Midoriya suspicious.
"I decided that interning under a Hero that operated in a small area would help me improve my social skills and make comunicating with civilians easier", even if all the warning lights lit up at that answer there was nothing that Izuku could do at this point.
"I'm glad to hear that you are trying to better yourself as a Hero, Iida", the Engine Quirk user only nodded politely with a smile and then turned to meet up with Uraraka, who just arrived at their platform.
"How's he, problem child?", Midoriya knew that his homeroom teacher will approach him as soon as Tenya left. He sighed before turning around.
"He will go after the Hero Killer, I'm eighty, maybe eighty five percent sure that this is his real motive", the greenette admitted. "But, we shouldn't do anything right now", he quickly added, which took the Erasure Hero by surprise.
"Care to elaborate?"
"I told him a couple of times that he should rethink his choice, but he stubbornly opted to intern with Manual. A teacher can't hold his students' hand on a trail to becoming a Hero. We can only point where it starts and help them out when they get lost"
"You are way too philosophical for your age", commented Aizawa and sighed. "But you are also right. Let's hope that he didn't make too big of a mistake"
"Hope is all we can do for now", Midoriya agreed as they went their separate ways.
Students from both 1-A and 1-B started slowly disappearing from the platform as their respective trains arrived and departed. Midoriya was one of the last ones to leave, but he was not worried about being late, since he was travelling only to the neighbouring prefecture - Yamanashi.
When his train finally arrived, he was surprised that his classmates Momo Yaoyorozu and Mezo Shoji as well as the Class Rep of 1-B - Itsuka Kendo - boarded the same train as him.
"You guys heading to Yamanashi too?", he asked as they managed to find four open seats next to each other.
"Actually, me and Kendo are heading over to Shimane", Momo answered and Kendo nodded in affirmation.
"I'm going all the way to Fukuoka", said the masked student.
"It's a long journey ahead of you then", the greenette commented as he leaned back in his seat. "Are you going to intern under Uwabami too, Kendo?", he questioned after a few moments.
"Yes, it's far away from UA, but at least I won't be alone", the redhead smiled at him and he smiled back.
"I thought that you would prefer to go and intern under Gunhead or Death Arms"
"I was thinking the same thing, but once I found out that Uwabami wanted me to intern with her, I just couldn't turn her down! It's not like I had the chance to show off my skills in the Tournament", she said jokingly, but Midoriya swore that she glared at him for a split second.
"Well, you told me not to hold back", he shot back and they chuckled.
"Yeah… I guess you're right", she agreed, but a hint of disappointment made its way into her voice.
"Don't be discouraged Itsuka", Yaoyorozu said as she tried to cheer her friend up. "It's not your fault that you had to fight against a prodigy", the raven haired girl was looking straight at her crush when she said that second sentence.
Being called a prodigy was something that ticked Midoriya off. Everybody just thought that he was a modest guy and didn't want to be seen as a young genius, destined to do great things.
The truth was much more personal and selfish. A prodigy, someone like Todoroki or even Bakugo, was a person born with the means to achieve greatness, while Midoriya worked harder than probably every single one of his classmates to get so far. Being called a prodigy was like telling that he was… lucky…
Momo knew that something was up, because Midoriya went a bit gloomy at the comment. Again, his cheerfulness came back only a second later, but the feeling of uneasiness remained. This was not the time to dwell on it however. She needed to focus all of her attention on her upcoming internship and learn as much as she could in the following week.
"You really need to stop being so friendly towards every girl that comes close to you", Nana spoke in an almost berating tone as soon as he walked onto the platform in Yamanashi Prefecture.
"What do you mean?", he questioned, positively puzzled, while trying to find a map of the area on the platform.
"First of you get so lovey dovey with Yaoyorozu, Kendo was constantly stealing glances in your direction the entire ride when she thought you weren't looking and I'm pretty sure that Ashido and Jiro may find you attractive", she went over her mental list and seemed satisfied, but quickly added one more name after a sudden thought struck her. "And the occasional flirting with Tokage like in the last joint training"
"I'm only responding to her! Besides, it's not my fault that I'm so handsome", the greenette smirked to himself as he studied the map in front of him.
"Since when did you get so confident?"
"Since when did YOU start worrying about me sending mixed signals?"
"Good question"
"I have a better one", the mental silence indicated that she wished for him to continue, even though she thought that she wasn't going to like anything he had to say. "You wouldn't happen to have a built in GPS, would you?"
"So…"
"So what Momo?"
The girls where currently walking down the crowded streets of Matsue, the capital city of Shimane Prefecture. The UA Campus provided almost everything they needed, so the students didn't leave it very often. Both students were taken amount by the sheer amount of people in the area.
"It would be really bad if a Villain attacked right now", they thought hoping not to jinx it.
"I saw that you were looking in M-Midoriya's direction on the train", the raven haired heroine in training pointed out in a shy manner.
"O-Oh, y-you saw?", being caught on the spot wasn't something that Kendo had in mind. She didn't even know why she was stealing glances in the first place!
"Any particular reason for that?", Itsuka was starting to wonder if this was a friendly conversation or an interrogation.
"I-, I guess that I admire your Class Rep to some degree…", she admitted as a blush made its way onto her face.
"I'm sure that you are not the first nor the last person to ever say that about him", Momo commented and chuckled. "Probably half of our class admires him for one thing or another", she added and her orange haired friend smiled herself.
"It's funny, how certain people seem to attract those around them. He's like an inspirational magnet!", she joked and they shared a laugh.
"I have to agree with you on this one. He puts so much effort into bettering himself and us that we start to wonder if he has the ability to slow down and relax"
"I don't know him that well and I had similar thoughts. Did you know that he jogs like three times a day?"
"No, he is so energetic that it's kinda hard to keep track of him", answered Momo. "How do you know that he jogs three times a day?", she questioned after a few moments.
"Well, my father always taught me to be an early riser and this habit seems to have stuck with me, so I usually wake up around 6.30 AM and catch him coming back dressed in workout clothes", the redhead clarified and Yaoyorozu thought about it for a second.
"Huh, now I start to wonder how much does he train…", the raven haired girl thought out loud and her friend could only agree with her musings.
"Well… I certainly didn't expect… this…", Midoriya said to himself as he stared at the massive building in front of him. Shihai Kairo didn't sound like a big Pro, so the greenette was very much taken aback by the size of his agency.
There was no point in double checking the address, the neon bright inscription that read 'Blackout's Hero Agency' was a dead giveaway.
Deciding not to dwell on the subject too much, Izuku walked up to the front door and stepped in, his hero costume in his right hand and his clothes in the big suitcase in his left hand.
From the outside, the building looked like a normal office - big windows and monotone colors made it blend with city's architecture. The inside however was a whole different story.
The spacious hall not too dissimilar to the one in his mansion was brightly colored with blue and pink dominating most of the walls. A big reception desk in the middle took up almost half the space! Various secretaries were keeping themselves occupied, receiving calls or taking care of paperwork. In the back of the room was a staircase that lead to the higher floors as well as two elevators.
Midoriya managed to shake himself out of his daze and resumed his walk towards the counter. Yet, his eyes wandered by themselves. The right side of the room was occupied by many, mostly free couches and vending machines with snacks, drinks and one dedicated to coffee.
"Hey, you there!", he heard someone call out and turned in the direction of whoever was shouting out of reflex.
He spotted a young woman with short, bright pink hair that had a few azure strands thrown in. She was looking right at him, waving her hand and making her way over to him. Seriously, is having pink hair just making you an over energetic person or something? Because Midoriya was sure that every person with pink hair he knew fit the description perfectly.
"You must be Kairo's intern, right?!", she asked with a wide grin.
"That would be me", the greenette confirmed and felt himself get grabbed by the woman.
"Come on then! He wants to meet you as soon as possible!", yep, pink haired meaned over energetic. "And don't worry about your things, someone will take them to your room!"
"I think that I would have trouble keeping up with her even with Tenfold Acceleration", he joked to himself and smiled slightly. He hasn't even started and it was already getting interesting. "I wonder what Blackout is like in person?"
"Fight me!", color him impressed. Blackout and his agency managed to surprise him for the third time today. Whatever it was that Midoriya expected Shihai to be certainly wasn't… this.
The man was looking very similar to the woman that dragged him all the way to his office. His hair was very bright too, but it was mainly a color that resembled that of a sapphire or maybe slightly lighter than that, with pink strands visible in several places. He too looked young, but Midoriya swore that he wasn't.
"Kairo, what did I say about rushing things?!", the woman berated him and the man was finally able to restrain his energy.
"I'm sorry for the outburst, but I just couldn't contain myself when you decided to intern with me! Ever since I heard that you were using some sort of cybernetics I started wondering if my Quirk would work on you?", he explained himself as his… sidekick? Probably sidekick cleared her throat.
"Didn't you forget something?"
"Oh, right! My name is Shihai Kairo, also known as The Technopathic Hero: Blackout! And this lovely woman next to you is my little sister Kuse", the man introduced himself and his sibling.
"In case you were wondering, I'm also a Pro, The Manipulating Heroine: Puppeteer", the woman added to her brother's introduction.
"Can we get to the interesting stuff now?", he asked, no, pleaded while looking in her direction.
"Ugh, fine. Just don't make him too tired, so that he may start actually learning today instead of wasting his first day for your entertainment", she caved in, though a small smile crept onto her face, which in turn made Midoriya realize that they are just messing with each other on a constant basis.
Few minutes passed in the blink of an eye and the greenette found himself standing in a boxing ring, though it certainly looked bigger than a standard one.
"Most of the Pros and Sidekicks at my agency have some tech related or small scale Quirks, which is why there are so many similarly looking rings, in case you were wondering", the man explained as he made his way over to him.
"So what will we be doing now Mr Shihai?", he asked his temporary mentor.
"Just call me Kairo kid, it'll make things easier for when my sister is around!", the man laughed cheerfully. "As to answer your question, I'm very interested in how much of your augments I can control. My Quirk allows me to kind of sense the things I can control and I get a strong vibe coming from you. You have something in your eyes, limbs, brain and… looks like close to the heart?", Shihai listed and Izuku was impressed with how versatile was his Quirk.
"That's correct", he confirmed and the Pro smiled some more.
"We will start with testing something simple. I'll try to control your right arm, tell me if anything starts to hurt", he stated and closed his eyes.
It took a few seconds, but the greenette started feeling a tingling sensation coming from the augments in his right arm.
"I can't control anything"
"That's not true. I definitely felt something happening with the augs. Maybe you changed the output?", he provided and his mentor for the week looked thoughtful for a moment.
"Let's see if that was the case", the tingling sensation was back.
Midoriya made sure that he didn't 'touch' anything and started slowly moving and flexing his right arm. He definitely felt the soreness associated with severe overuse of the Soft Cap. He looked around quickly and noticed a pair of dumbbells. He quickly went over to them and tried to lift them with his right hand. They were supposed to weigh fifty kilograms, but he managed to lift them almost effortlessly.
"It worked!", he exclaimed with a smile and looked over to his teacher to see him grin in response.
"Well then, let's do some more testing!"
The idea of giving Kairo a sister to quarrel with could be fun, so there she is xD
Shihai Kuse - Shihai for Domination just like her brother and Kuse for Quirk, I'mma let you try and figure out her Quirk for yourself ;D
And yes. Midoriya's augments are in his limbs (kinetic capacitors), eyes (AKoV (still an awesome name btw)), brain (N.A.N.A.) and around his heart.
'But there wasn't anything about augments in his heart up to this point author!'
Wrong! There was one very specific moment, that briefly explained this augment and the consequences of using it. I'm curious if any of you can guess what I'm talking about xD
Anyways, that's all from me for today! I'll catch you in the next update ;D