HOLAA913: Thank you! I make Gunhead such a sweetheart in this one.
Galaxy Creator of Pisces: They just aren't interested at the moment. I guess they could be asexual or aromantic, but not every 15 year old looks forward ten years into the future about getting married or anything. They just want to focus on their career. So they could be asexual I guess.
When they went the next morning, everyone was gathered at the train station, backpacks on and holding their cases of costumes. They'd all been repaired and cleaned awhile ago and were ready to go. "Remember, don't wear your costumes in public, don't be rude and mind your manners with the heroes at your internship. Off with you now," and the students dispersed.
"Good luck Midoriya, Uraraka and Iida. Do your best!" The other three agreed and wished them well, too. Ace and Luffy excitedly got on the bus outside and took it to USJ, which had been repaired quickly. When they walked out, they found Thirteen there. This one was for rescue practice. There were no disasters at the moment, and this was the best place to train.
Surprisingly, there were two others from their class. Sato and Ojiro. "Hey, guys!" the twins said excitedly, all four of them changed into their outfits. The other two were happy to see them. "Is it just us? We're getting tutoring?"
Sato said that people inside were being set up for them to rescue. If there was a real disaster, then they'd be there but there wasn't. No storms on the way, no earthquakes, tidal waves, huge wildfires. The country was pretty stable at the moment, so the only way for them to get good training was a simulation.
"I'm kinda nervous about being back," Ojiro confessed. Ace and Luffy nodded, saying it had been a scary experience, but had helped them in the long run. The other two nodded and Thirteen came out.
"Hello, Ace, Luffy, Sato and Ojiro, it's good to see you. I'll be calling you by your hero names for now. I'm surprised more didn't come, but that's good for you. I know all of your quirks and how they could be good for rescuing. Let's get started, shall we? And there will be no villains this time." The others nodded and followed her inside. "Do you remember my speech about the ease of accidentally killing someone?"
Ace and Luffy nodded solemnly. "That is why we're practicing with dummies first, and then real people. I will tell you how you will help. Usually you'd learn yourself, but with rescuing you need to know the basics, there will be no secrets, but you will improve." They nodded.
"Lu's power is best for bringing attention. Being in the air and directing help to people who need it. Based on what I've seen already, he can carry up to three people. He can also move debris. So his power will be useful in that sense." Ace was wondering what she'd say about him.
"Firefist's would be used more for infiltration or getting to trapped people. Like you did at the villain attack, you can create doors. And when saving people in a wreckage, destroying things isn't wrong. He can melt through rock, meaning he'd easily melt through walls.
"I was told that you burnt through stone without having any of it drip down when melted. That could be of help, and you seem to have control over the temperature of your flames. Yours would be used for emergencies.
"Sugar Man is large, and though Firefist and Lu are very strong, they aren't tall like Sugar Man. He's strong and can lift debris higher due to his height. Lu is for directing help. You two could be a good team at not only fighting but rescuing as well.
"Tailman, your tail is strong and can act like a fifth appendage, correct?" he nodded. "You could move people with your tail. It could support multiple people on your back, keeping them upright with your tail against their back. It's also strong and can break things, giving you an advantage."
All four of them felt praised and Ace and Luffy linked pinkies, grinning. Thirteen told them they'd get into practice. There were life-like dummies around the settings, which they started in fire, first working to realize which spots were safe to get through. It was basic training on how to deal with a fire, how to realize if there's a fire inside, if the door knob is hot. Stay low so the smoke doesn't harm you as much as it could by standing.
After an hour of doing that, they moved on to using their quirks. Ace easily sucked up the flames, leaving the area smoldering but no longer on fire. The fires were turned back on, a machine for creating them that spit them out. Plus, the broken or intact buildings were painted with flammable solutions.
Luffy stayed above the fires, looking for the fireproof dummies, a ball of air around his mouth and nose so he wouldn't breath it in. but that had a time limit depending on how big the ball was. But it worked.
He burst air through doorways to jump in safely. He rescued the dummies, and then burst a hole into the ceilings until he got one to the top. He created a spiral staircase, blowing smoke away and using a shield on one arm to keep any debris from fling directly on them.
The dummies suffered smoke damage, so it wasn't the best course of action. Thirteen was there and said, "Perhaps there's a way to project air from the rest of your body?" Luffy wasn't sure, and she told him to practice on that for an hour and then come back. For anyone else an hour would be too short, but maybe in Luffy's case it wouldn't be.
Ace was perfect at this. Sato had more trouble, unable to lift debris without burning himself. So, he just went to where the dummies were who weren't out of his reach. Ojiro was able to knock debris away with his tail, the burns barely there as it had happened so quickly. He was able to carry more dummies, one under each arm and three on his back, supported by his tail.
"Nice!" Ace congratulated. Ojiro thanked Thirteen for telling him. He said he wouldn't have figured it out on his own. She said that sometimes it's best to give the answer than to wait for someone to figure it out. Especially in this training.
By the end of the hour, Luffy was unable to project it from all body parts, but had been able to get it at a fast enough speed that it surrounded him the whole time, blowing smoke away. He could only carry two people at once, both over his shoulder so he could keep a shield above them.
Luffy could make air armor, but it was thin and feeble, easy to break if he wasn't paying attention well enough.
Three hours were spent in the fire zone. Then there was lunch, and after that, real people were in the fires. But, they were in fireproof suits like the one made for Ace. They were safe, and the debris was not rock anymore, but foam with weights on them. Still heavy but they would not crush the people.
Ace worked with Luffy in this, them practicing together since Ace could bring people out of the fires easily by getting rid of them completely. So he worked with Luffy, putting out fires and giving the people to Luffy to carry up. It was slow going but Ace was getting the fire away, and Luffy was blowing it back every time he reached the building again, putting the survivors in the safe zone.
They got everyone out, Ace able to pull the stones up while Luffy took them out gently but promptly. When there was a room that they couldn't get through, Ace melted a hole in the wall, so hot the rock burnt away before it turned into any liquid. He kept the heat from getting outward and burning anyone else. They both hurried inside and got people out, evacuating them all.
During the week, they'd work in a different disaster each day. Today was a fire, next an earth quake, next a shipwreck, next a storm, and then a mountain with snow on it to save stranded people.
After they were done, all but Ace nursed light burns but nothing too bad. They would heal quickly. But they were all exhausted. "Who wants to go out and get something to eat?" Ace offered once they were back in their normal clothes. All three of the others raised their hands.
They went to the nearest eatery, a sushi bar. They didn't go there much and none of them were overly fond of it, but they were absolutely starving and it was the only restaurant around. So they got the food and ate it rabidly.
"It's nice we're the only ones there. A lot of focus. And I'm glad Thirteen is giving us the answers and advice. I bet none of the other trainees are getting that," Ojiro said. They all nodded, expressing thanks that she was doing this. Then he turned to Ace. "I haven't brought it up yet, but thank you for exposing Shinso. I talked with his other victim later after everything was over." He looked down. "They poor guy was in tears, said his mom had been cheering him on and now he couldn't make her proud. Shinso deserved the reaction from the crowd he got.
"I'm not usually a guy out for vengeance, but he needed to get backlash for his actions. We were a team, he didn't need to brainwash us," he finished. Ace smiled and said he wasn't usually the one to do that either, but somebody was hurt and that needed to be exposed. Even if it hadn't been Ojiro, he probably would have said something. The Tailman nodded with a smile and the four of them finished the food before going back to the train to get home, all going to need a lot of rest for tomorrow.
The week was going great, all four of them were improving, where Luffy and Ace were best in the places that tampered with their vision. In the storm setting which was mimicking a hurricane the most. Sato was best at saving people from the shipwreck since he was bigger and could carry more people on his back. Luffy shined on the mountain one, where he easily found the survivors. Ojiro was best in the rock slide, his tail able to push him off of the ground before he slipped. It was very strong and was able to propel him forward.
Thirteen said that they were stars out of all of the students she'd trained during this week. That they were the most dedicated and versatile with their quirks. It made all of them feel awkward but happy with the praise. They went out for food each night, but not just at the sushi bar, since they became more able to deal with the exhaustion as the week went on.
It was fun and helpful.
When they heard from everyone about their different internships, most of them were for patrolling and dealing with villains on the street or how to be responsible. Few were about fighting, though many had been looking for that.
Tsu and Uraraka were very happy with their internships. Some of the others weren't even doing anything heroic, but were waiting on their heroes. To be honest, the twins thought their training was the most successful. They trained and learned about multiple subjects. And on the last day of the week, on the last hour, Thirteen gave them a pop quiz. They were each able to answer every question correctly. Thirteen was very happy with this, and said it was a pleasure to work with them.
The four gave each other high fives. It was a satisfying experience. And every night, Gunhead made sure to make time to hear all about it. He hadn't called them "his boys" again, but when they thanked him for feeding them on a night they were feeling down and a bit useless, he sternly said that was what decent parents did, and none of them acknowledged the words.
-x-
The next hero class they had with All Might was to show off their new moves, apparently? But the four of their fellow rescue trainees hadn't improved much in that sense. So some might not do best.
Before they went in the first batch, they asked All Might if they could work together on this one. They'd been working apart for a while in the hero classes, and wanted to work together on something like this. He told them that was fine as they were striving to be a duo.
When they were ready, against Ashido, Sero, Iida and Ojiro, and it started, Luffy jumped into the air and propelled himself forward with a blast of air from one hand. Ace, however, was hanging off of Luffy, one arm gripped around his neck and shoulders and sent fire in the way of everybody, blocking all their routes. They shouted profanities at the two, but they reached the end goal in less than two minutes. When they made it, Ace released the fire, which hadn't damaged anything. Ace and Luffy gave high fives. "You were a little tight around my neck, and I also need to move my hand closer to the middile for my back so I don't swerve. But I think it was good for a first try!"
All Might complemented their ease of fighting together. They thanked him, and the others raced each other, all the way behind the winners. They demanded All Might if that was fair. "They are striving to be duo heroes. It makes sense to have them work together," he pointed out. They dropped, but admitted that was true.
"No hard feelings?" Ace asked. They huffed a "yeah, yeah". But the next round, they were shocked with Midoriya's sudden control! He wasn't hurting himself but using his power to propel him forward! They were so relieved that he might have control enough not to damage his body. Bakugo wasn't happy, of course, with Midoriya's improvement. But also because their friend was mimicking what he'd seen of Bakugo's movements. Midoriya was improving, whether Bakugo liked it or not.
The rest of the class seemed happy with his improvement, though. But he didn't win and slipped on the pipe, falling and losing. But it was definitely better than before. They were proud of him.
A week later, they were told it was two weeks until their final exam. Much of the class protested loudly that they'd just been done with their hero internships and needed a break. Ace and Luffy just were taking notes on what the teacher was saying about the exam. Nobody knew what it would be like.
Aizawa asked, "Do you think pro-heroes have breaks between their jobs?" Ace and Luffy exchanged a glance, thinking Aizawa was going overboard. The pro-heroes had shifts. Gunhead had shifts, he wasn't working 24 hours, 7 days a week. But the others didn't know that besides Todoroki since he had a parent in the hero business.
The class drooped. Aizawa wasn't done explaining and told them it wasn't just a written exam, there was a practical component with it as well. "Make sure you train your mind and bodies at the same time. That's all." Then he left.
Multiple students shouted in panic that they hadn't studied at all. Ace and Luffy didn't understand procrastinators. It seemed to only make the experience worse than doing it on time or ahead of time. Momo sighed, and exchanged glances with the other two smartest, who shrugged.
With the midterms, Momo was the top, then Ace, then Luffy, then Bakugo, then Iida, then Midoriya, the top 6 of the class. Bakugo was behind Ace and Luffy once again. Always was. Honestly, if Ace and Luffy weren't so likeable and friendly, they'd probably be resented for being the top of most things. But everyone also knew they worked themselves to the bone like no one else could or wanted to.
They weren't snobby and didn't look down on anyone else, even if they were the stupidest person or the meanest. And the two were glad when nobody asked them for help and only Momo. They had things to do and weren't allowed to bring anyone to the house since it was Gunhead's residence. Nobody really knew there was a house attached in the back since the dojo was so damn big. And it was hidden in the backyard by trees before the grass field made up the rest of the yard.
Momo seemed more than happy to do it. Uraraka did approach and ask if they were open to helping her out. "I don't think our way of working would help anyone, to be honest. We're kind of intense about it."
Midorya told them that they'd learned everything from elementary school to junior high in four months instead of six. Said they'd been homeschooled and nobody pointed out that they wouldn't need to learn all of that in four months if they'd been homeschooled. "Sorry," Ace said awkwardly.
"It's fine, I understand. You guys are really overachievers, though! I don't think I could handle that much at once," Uraraka said, and then was welcomed to join the larger study group with Momo at the head.
At lunch, they were talking about the exam and what they thought would be possible for it. Not the test, but the practical part. Luffy said, "Maybe there will be matches again like at the sports festival, only harder."
Ace nodded. "We could be against pro-heroes, but that might be too much. But we did all fight against villains." Uraraka said she really didn't want to fight the teachers. Ace said, "I don't know, I think it'd be fun. Then we could use the ultimate move we came up with." Luffy beamed and nodded. It was very powerful.
"It accidentally destroyed part of our yard. Fried the grass and fence." The others looked at them blankly. "Well, that's why we'd want to fight a teacher." They were all brainstorming before a weird guy from class B bumped into Midoriya's head and started to taunt them. Ace and Luffy were unaffected but the others grew angry at what he was saying.
Finally Luffy asked, "Why are you rude to us? Do you think we liked being attacked by villains? Do you think that was fun? Going through something like that, don't you think we deserved a little more experience? Many of us would have been happy to be less strong but also not having to go through a near-death experience. You should respect everyone, even if you think something they did was wrong. Because if you don't, then you'd be in the wrong," and he went back to eating. The table was silent before the guy walked off.
"Wow, you got him to go away!" Uraraka said.
"Being the bigger person is always the right thing to be," Luffy said simply. "The best way to deal with a bully if you can't ignore them is to make them feel bad about what they were doing. Don't let them win by letting them bait you. Not everyone needs to be a Bakugo."
Tsu asked where they learned that if they were homeschooled for so long.
Ace honestly replied, "Books. And then finding it works in junior high." Midoriya pointed out that they were like the bug spray of bullies last year. Uraraka wished she could be perfect like they were. Both of them frowned deeply. "We're not perfect and we don't want anyone to think we are," he said a little sternly.
Tsu said, "They're talented and determined. Nobody is perfect." Luffy nodded in agreement with her.
Ace and Luffy never had and would never see themselves as perfect. They were good at a lot of the things they attempted. But that wasn't them. They had huge abandonment issues, low self esteem and self worth, and couldn't be away from one another without freaking out. They still sometimes felt that Gunhead would kick them out and they'd lose every blessing they'd been given.
No matter how many times the pro-hero promised them he won't kick them out, it was a knee jerk reaction to be afraid of being on the streets again. They couldn't help it and were grateful that Gunhead never got mad at them for it. Just assured them calmly that that wouldn't happen.
Once they were done talking, a girl with red hair in a side ponytail came and told them that the practical exam would be combat against the robots. The twins did not think that was it. They'd dealt with them twice already. It wouldn't be challenging to do it a third time. They still thought it would be something much harder. And they hoped it wasn't boring.
When they got back to class, everyone started to cheer at being against robots. The two didn't want to burst their bubbles, but they also didn't want them to fail. "I don't think it will be against robots," Ace said loud enough for everyone in the class to hear. "We've all already been up against them twice, we know their weaknesses. What would the point be of testing us on something so easy?"
They were all quiet, thinking it over. Ashido asked what they thought it would be then. "I would assume it would be against pro-heroes. They're the hardest obstacle, right?" The class looked horrified. "Don't freak out! Just, be prepared to fight people, I guess."
Todoroki said, "I agree. The robots are outdated for both classes." The mood was gloomy. Bakugo then exploded after Uraraka said he was upset over Deku's improvement. He threatened Midoriya with actual death and then blew up at Ace and Luffy next. While Midoriya looked uncomfortable and shocked, Ace and Luffy kept a calm straight face.
It pissed him off more, as Midoriya was still uneasy around him and used to being afraid. Ace and Luffy had never taken his bait and had never acted afraid of him. So he was angry at them for pretty much existing.
