Disclaimer: Boku no Hero Academia characters and plot events belongs to Horikoshi Kohei.

To Be a Hero

heart of a hero

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Shiro, barely three, was giggling as she ran down the old dusty hallway and towards the creaky staircase. Silver-blue hair flowed behind her as she whipped her head back to make sure that her playmate was still behind her. "Come on!" she encouraged.

"I don't want to run…" the boy, older by a few years, grumbled. His voice was meek compared to the excited little girl's, but she only grinned and tugged at the approaching boy's long sleeves. They were both wearing old hand-me-down clothes, but the boy's shirt looked more tattered due to small fingerprint shaped holes littering across the sleeves. The girl didn't care and continued to tug.

"We'll get in trouble…"

"But I want to play with you," Shiro pouted with big ruby eyes looking up at him. It was curious, because it was in the middle of a hot summer and the boy still wore the hood on his shirt up, and along with his messy bangs covering most of his face, she couldn't see him clearly but she was obviously very familiar with the strange boy.

"..."

"How about we see who can get down the quietest… The fastest!" she continued in shushed tone, looking around to make sure that no one was near. She was quick to adapt and just wanted to have some fun; what little kid didn't?

Looking around as well, the boy finally agreed and the girl was smiling with glee.

"Okay! Ready? Set… Go!"

Quickly, the two children tip-toed down the stairs as fast as they could. Any harsh movement would cause the old wooden boards to creak and crack, so to prevent that, they were shuffling their feet. But it was hard to move so slow when the second objective was to get to the bottom of the stairs the fastest, so at a second of rushed movement Shiro tripped over her own feet and let out a panicked scream.

The boy panicked as well and shot out his hand to grab her shirt. Because of his frail body however, he was quickly losing balance as well so he quickly grab onto the old wooden rail with his other hand and held on as tight as he could.

"S-Safe," he sighed, but the two's relief was short-lived when a loud crack and crumbling was heard as the boy suddenly found himself falling forward with the girl again, his hand gripping to thin air. They tumbled down the rest of the stairs loudly and crashed onto the dirty floor with a loud bang and thump!

Footsteps immediately resonated down the hall and a heavy-set woman looked down from the top of the stairs at the commotion and damage with a scowl.

"My rail!" she screeched angrily when she saw that a piece was missing and stomped down the stairs. Shiro cowered behind the older boy, and his frail body trembled. "You again! I ought to throw you out of my orphanage for all the damage you cause!"

"I-I was just trying t-to—"

"Shut your mouth and go to your room! I swear if I have to replace another thing in the house because of you, there will be no dinner for a week!" the woman shouted as she started dragging the struggling boy away and down the hall and towards a small room before throwing him inside and locking the door from the outside. Shiro started to cry, one because she hit the ground hard, and two because she felt it was unfair that the woman only ever blamed and picked on the boy when there was trouble. She tried to run towards the door but was stopped by the woman.

"Leave him! From now on you stay away from him, got it?"

"B-But," Shiro's lips trembled while she tugged. "I—!"

"What I say is final!" the woman chidded and dragged the crying girl away. "Tenko… He is a disaster."

Tenko.

Tenko...

...Tenko?

BEEP BEEP! BEEP BEEP! BEE—!

Shiro groaned as she was forced awake from her dream before pushing herself up from under the covers. She felt an unsettling swirl of emotions in the back of her head but she chalked it up to being awoken so early; she did set the alarm at seven in the morning to allow herself ample time to plan and observe Gang Orca, after all. Still, she thought back to that odd dream.

The boy in her dreams… Tenko… She seemed close with him but she couldn't remember anything. If it was a real memory, she hoped that he was doing well after the fire, seeing as it didn't look like he was very well liked in the orphanage...

"Agh, now's not the time for this," she finally mumbled and threw back her covers. Her days haven been fully occupied with only two goals: to learn new hero skills and to find a way to retrieve that bell from the Pro Hero. So the thought was pushed back into the crevices of her mind.

After getting ready and quickly changing into her hero suit, she set off to mentally prepare herself for the day ahead of her. She's been calculating it in her head after many tries; with the hero's fast reflexes, she needs at least five seconds of distraction to get close enough to the bell and another three to actually grab and take it away.

Eight seconds was her limit.

Eight freaking seconds.

Shiro grunted, and with a large exhale, she allowed the dials in both of her eyes to flash briefly as she made her way down the hallway. Let's see if something interesting happens today.

Splash!

Despite Gang Orca's sheer size, he was as agile as ever as he dove into the giant swimming pool that was for his private use without causing large splash-back. He was as swift on land as he was in water, but because of the nature of his Quirk, he often gets dehydrated when he's out of the water for too long and the only way to make sure that he was in tip-top shape and stay sharp was to be in water whenever he's got the time.

Even though he was rigorously doing laps, it was a form of relaxation for the hero, especially since he had previously been away on a long mission. Taking on the UA internship gig was a pretty good deal for him.

Which is why, then, he paused mid-lap and surfaced with a low chuckle at the newcomer who dropped into the pool room with stealth.

"Looking for this?" he lifted himself up from the water to reveal the silver attached to a small belt on his swim trunks. The silvery-blue haired girl stayed emotionless, though he could see the corner of her eyes twitch. He glanced at his white robe that was hanging on a lounge chair and then looked back at Shiro. "You didn't expect me to be careless enough to leave it with my things while I went swimming, did you? Even if this is a private pool."

Shiro, though annoyed that her presence was so quickly revealed, had expected this and shook her head instead. "Sorry for intruding… I didn't realize this was a restricted area." She had tracked the hero down to this particular section of the building and wanted to try her stealth not knowing that it may be off limits to her.

"No," Gang Orca laughed out loud this time. He gave Shiro a slightly impressed look. "I'm surprised you managed to get in and stay undetected until I heard your steps towards these chairs. Well, my hearing is ten times better underwater than on land," he boasted good naturedly as he stepped towards her. Seeing that she was next to the robe, Shiro grabbed it and handed it over to the hero.

"Ah, thanks—" he narrowed his eyes when the threads of the robe started to rapidly fall apart before fastening around his outreached hand in a locking bind, much like he had witnessed during the sports festival when the girl was forced to use her shirt as a weapon.

Three seconds.

Immediately, Shiro jumped, pulling the bound arm away to access the bell on his right side and Gang Orca responded by using his left arm to block the girl. Being much faster and closer to his own body the hero was able to deter the girl from his front side and he was prepared to then block another one of her attacks by shifting away from her leg, but to his surprise, she shook the loose white threads off his bound arm and right before his eyes it morphed back into an intact robe. Five… As his attention shifted to swipe the large cloth away from his face, Shiro crouched down.

That rascal… Gang Orca's eyes narrowed even more as she reached for the bell, intending to grab it and slip under his legs.

Eight…!

The light ring of the bell echoed through the pool room just before Shiro found herself propelling into the pool with a loud splash! Quickly surfacing, she spat out the water and coughed to relieve the burning in her nose and throat.

As if to taunt her, Gang Orca dangled the bell above her form with an amused grin. "So what did you learn from this?"

"Catching you by surprise doesn't work," she replied gloomily.

"On the contrary," the hero stretched out an arm to pull the girl up. She was head-to-toe drenched and water continued to pool around her from her wet hero suit and hair. "You've managed to touch the bell. I'm impressed."

Shiro was thoroughly surprised as the hero chuckled and dropped the white robe on her head. She was ready to hear more of the hero's taunts and lectures, but this was an unexpected development indeed.

"We're going patrolling today," he added.

"...Really?"

Gang Orca grinned. "Dry up first, and there's still training today. We'll be patrolling in the afternoon."

The first few days of internship was bad for Bakugou.

Best Jeanist may be the number four hero in the country, but this was absolutely fucking ridiculous. His red eyes strained as he glared at himself in the mirror with that prissy looking hairdo. His normally spiked up blonde hair was somehow glued to his scalp, completely ruining the entire aesthetic of his wild hero look. Every morning, he was forced to resemble one of them.

"A hero must give the people who need rescuing peace of mind. You must appear capable, of course, but your physical appearance, speech, and actions must be elegant if you're a hero. Do you understand?"

"Best Jeanist knows best!" the hero's entourage chorused while Bakugou couldn't even find words to sputter out in his shock. He had seriously come to the wrong place! Aside from ripping on his appearance and mannerisms, the hero had not given him a single task to enhance his hero skills in fighting villains.

With a final sweep of the comb, Best Jeanist stepped back from his seething masterpiece. "Now, I've managed to salvage your appearance to be more elegant."

"Are we finally gonna fight some fucking villains?!" Bakugou's scowl widened, but this time with excitement.

"Of course not," the hero dismissed immediately. "What did I just say? A hero must control how he speaks and acts as well. You are merely on the first of many reforming steps."

"Then what the fuck are we doing—?!"

"Being a hero doesn't always mean fighting villains. You must learn how to deal with your anger and pride especially in public."

The heat from the blonde's seething head was enough to cause his newly gelled hair to explode back into angry spikes. I'll burn this agency to the ground…!

Being out and smelling the salty air made Shiro smile. While the time training inside with Gang Orca was valuable, she was excited to finally get some real life experience. Being out also meant that she can find more oppurtunites to ambush the hero for his silver bell.

"In an urban area like this, there is a lot of crime. Thus it's crucial for heroes to regularly patrol the city. The higher the population density, the more trouble you'll find at every corner," Gang Orca was explaining as they patrolled through the populated city. Many civilains saw the Pro Hero and watched with amazement; being a top ten hero always gave him a spotlight, however his towering form and menacing aura caused many of the fans to only admire him from afar. This worked out well for Shiro since the abundance of attention would only distract her.

"M-Mama! Scawwy!"

They turned their attention to the little girl who was pointing at the Orca hero from across the street with a scared look. She couldn't have been older than three years old, and the mom in question was pulling on the child's arm in a hushing manner when she realized that Gang Orca and Shiro was looking their way.

"Sorry about that!" she apologized warily before walking away fast.

Shiro heard the hero sigh softly and grew curious. It seemed that he was quite affected by the little girl's comment. Gang Orca didn't seem like the type that would care to seek out fan attention, but she's learned that looks can be deceiving. However, before she got to comment on it, there was disturbance up ahead that gained both of their attention.

Just a block up ahead, there was a loud explosion from a jewelry store and from the cloud of smoke a two villain jumped out with stolen goods in their bags.

"Are you ready, Shiro?" Gang Orca's voice was calm. "When the public is in a panicked frenzy like this, it makes it harder for heroes to apprehend the villains. Don't engage with the villains. You'll help with clearing the area and checking for any injured people, got it?"

"Got it!" Shiro was happy that the hero trusted her enough to let her contribute. As the hero jumped ahead, the dial in her right eye spun as she rushed to help guide the scared civilains to safety. The smoke and debris from the destroyed building made it hard for people to leave quickly and a few of them had gotten small cuts from the initial explosion, but she was able to get them out of the way from where Gang Orca was fighting the villains. She saw that he landed a punch on the skinny-looking one and was about to subdue him when a flurry of metal objects came pelting their way.

Shiro was able to jump out of the way, but to her surprise, the pieces that were flung behind her started to boomerang back. She realized that it mustve been the burlier villain's Quirk—he was like a magnet that can attract and repel metal. The skinny villain took the second of distraction to get out of Gang Orca's grasp and he used his wind quirk to whisp over a small child.

"HE'S GOT MY BABY! HELP!" the mother cried. The child and the mother was the same ones that they saw just minutes earlier.

"If you want this little girl unharmed, then move out of the way!" he snarled. The villain was hurt so he was taking the coward's way out. He knew that while it was easy for Gang Orca to take him down, he couldn't do so without hurting the civilian. The hero's hesitance gave the magnet villain the go to wreck havoc.

"HAHAHA! TAKE THIS—!"

BOOM!

Gang Orca, Quirk: Orcinus.

While the hero couldn't touch the wind villain, he was still able to target the other one with his hypersonic wave and paralyze him. The soundwaves had caused an invisible explosion and the force had blown her back several feet.

"L-Let me go! M-Mama!"

The cries from the little girl grew even louder as the villain threatened her and held her up like a shield to prevent the hero to get too close. His partner was already being apprehended, so he was growing desparate. "Stop squirming or you die!" he shouted with a knife waving dangerously close to her neck.

Shiro looked around; even though the hero had ordered her to not engage, she needed to do something.

Think!

There was a broken pipe sticking out from the blown up building, which was just a small distance from the villain and the little girl. Her eyes lit up with an idea and her legs moved without hesitation while she undid the ribbons in her hair.

"Gang Orca!"

"What do you think you're doing?!" Gang Orca bellowed when she jumped in front and used her ribbons to swing herself from the pipe towards the villain.

"Please trust me on this! Use your hypersonic wave now!"

The hero didn't have time to reprimand the girl as he caught on to what she was trying to do. Within seconds, she was in front of the shocked and angry villain and in one motion, she kicked him hard enough for him to loosen his grip on the hostage and she wrapped her ribbons around to catch the girl. The silent but powerful soundwave followed right after to prevent the villain from making another move. Shiro had just enough time to close her hands over the scared little girl's ears before the soundwaves hit them all. If she thought the force of it was powerful before, being the target of it was downright excruciating. Her body was paralyzed immediately and she fell to the ground with the little girl safety on top of her.

"M-My baby!" the mother rushed towards the fallen girls while the wind villain was finally apprehended. Her tears streaked her face as she pulled her little girl safety into her arms.

"Mama!"

The authorities have arrived at this point, so while they worked to take statements and direct the people who needed medical attention towards ambulances, the woman stood with her child and bowed deeply to thank the Pro Hero. "Thank you for saving my little girl. Thank you, thank you! I can't thank you and your sidekick enough!"

"This is what heroes do," Gang Orca said with a grin gracing his face. "No need to thank us."

Despite his scary demeanor, the little girl was no longer scared of his appearance and even reached over to hug the hero.

"Thank you, hewwo!"

The hero was visibly estatic and it didn't go unnoticed by Shiro. However, it was hard to move or speak right now after being hit by the hypersonic wave. She knew it'd hurt, but boy did she regret it. She can only be happy about being able to save the little girl.

"Miss hewwo!" the little girl bounced up to Shiro with curious eyes. "Awwe you hurt?"

"I'm okay..." Shiro smiled, but it was quickly followed by a wince when Gang Orca's shadow loomed over her. From her angle on the ground, the orca's red eyes gleamed intimidatingly at her. "B-Boss..."

"What a reckless sidekick you are," he bellowed, his voice firm with reprimand. However, he bent down to help her up. "Know that I can't excuse you for disobeying my order. You will stay out here for community work to help restore the damages."

She had to refrain from sighing. Gang Orca never did make anything easy.

"Yes, boss..."

A dark cloud swirled on top of a tall building as the portal opened to reveal Shigaraki and Kurogiri. Stain was crouched at the edge of the building, looking over the city without paying any mind to the two villains.

"Hosu City looks nicer than I expected," Shigaraki commented. "So, what are you gonna do?"

"I'm going to reform this city. In order to do so, I require more victims."

"Is this what you meant the other day when you said you had business to take care of?" Kurogiri realized. The hero killer had a pattern of taking out a certain number of heroes in each city before moving on to the next, and Hosu hasn't met that quota yet.

"I see you're someone who understands," Stain stood back up. It was an obvious diss at Shigaraki, and it didn't get past the male too kindly as he was reminded of the pain from the knife wound on his shoulder.

"What're you trying to say about me?"

"'Hero' is a title given only to those who have accomplished great deeds!" Stain ignored the villain and pulled out his sword in preparation. "There are too many... Too many who act like heroes but are really money-worshippers. Until this world realizes its mistake, I will continue to appear."

In a flash, the hero killer was gone, jumping from building to building until he slipped into a dark alleyway to seek more victims to finish his work. Shigaraki scuffed.

"He talks all high and mighty like that, but he's basically trying to start a grassroots movement. He's so noble I could cry," he mocked while scratching at his neck while Kurogiri observed calmly.

"You shouldn't make fun of him too much. The reality is that in all the cities where Stain has appeared, the crime rate has fallen. Some critics attribute this to a rise in heroes' consciousness and shoot him down, though."

"That's wonderful, isn't it? Heroes are working hard to bring down the cost of food, huh? So the 'hero killer' is also a 'hero breeder'!" Shigaraki exclaimed enthusiastically, but then his shoulders dropped with a look of disgust. "It's too roundabout. We can't agree on a basic level and he annoys me... Kurogiri, bring out the Nomus."

The portal swirled into view and one by one, monstrous beings known as Nomus stomped listlessly. The master was able to produce many more in such a short period of time; they weren't as strong as the first Nomu of course, but the numbers make up for it.

"You think you can get away with stabbing me? If I want to kill you, I just will. That's all," Shigaraki mumbled with a wild look in his eyes as he stood proudly over the army of Nomus. He looked at the direction where Stain disappeared to. "It'll be a wild contest. I'll crush your honor and your pride, sir... Release half of them into the city, Kurogiri."

"Half?"

"Yes... I'm angry right now so I want to play a game."

"Ah, thanks for all your help!" one of the construction workers praised. It was around seven in the evening and they've been cleaning up the jewelry heist mess for over four hours. "Gang Orca's agency really have the best people. You're a bit young to be working with him though, aren't you...?"

"Don't you know? She's an intern from UA High. You know the one with the sports festivals?"

"Now I remember! You won third place, right?" the worker asked as he looked at Shiro with regonition now. "Wow, that's quite amazing!"

Shiro offered them a small, appreciative smile as she continued with picking up the trash and debris around them. She really shouldn't be so surprised that people are still talking about the sports festival, since it is a nationally broadcasted event, but she still didn't quite know what to say whenever people talked about it.

But the workers were all really nice. She didn't mind being out here doing community work and there were a few of Gang Orca's men also helping with the clean up, but the downside is that while she was out here she can't continue with the test. It was a fitting punishment, she supposed, for not listening to orders and putting herself in danger as an intern.

"Our future is filled with capable young heroes, and we'll need them!"

"Yeah, you've heard about the Hero Killer: Stain, haven't you? It makes me uneasy knowing he's put so many heroes in the hospital without a chance of recovery. I heard he's probably still in Hosu City..."

As the men shifted the topic to the news, Shiro felt the worry return. Iida had told them his brother survived the attack, but the fact was that many of the other heroes weren't so lucky. To have such a ruthless killer out and about was unnerving...

Ping!

She reached in her pocket to pull out her phone for a message. Earlier in the week she had exchanged a few messages with Midoriya about Iida's behavior and she wondered if the green haired male was able to get Iida to open up more the past few days.

Midoriya Izuku: No updates from Iida-kun. He may just be busy... I sent him a message about passing by Hosu tonight but he never responded.

Aisaka Shiragiku: Hoping for the best. Isn't Hosu a bit of a distance away from your internship?

Midoriya Izuku: Yes... Gran Torino wanted me to get real life experience with fighting villains... TTTT so we're heading to Shibuya... How has your internship been, Shiro-san?

Aisaka Shiragiku: Been tossed around, but I think I'm making progress. Currently doing community service as punishment for engaging with a villain during a jewelry heist.

Midoriya Izuku: ?!

Midoriya Izuku: I have so many questions

"Kids these days with their cellphones," Gang Orca loomed over Shiro as he commented. The girl jolted and met with the hero's grinning face. "Boyfriend?"

"I don't have one," she replied honestly and slipped the phone back in her pocket. The hero chuckled and ushered her to follow.

"I hope you understand why I put you up to this?"

"Because I went against your orders," Shiro replied with a blink.

"That's right," Gang Orca nodded. "Interns, sidekicks... It is necessary for them to follow the hero's orders because not doing so can very well compromise a mission. You put yourself in danger today and if your plan hadn't worked, the little girl's as well. However, being a hero means that you follow your heart and do what you think is right, and you did that today. I'm certain you'll be a fine hero because you've already showed me that you can."

"So today's work..."

"While this may seem like grunt work, it's actually important for a hero as well. Heroes not only serve the city by protecting them from villains, but they also help out the city in whatever way they can. Being present in the community is just as important as fighting villains," he revealed and patted her head. "The workers are thankful for your help. Good work today."

His praise made Shiro's chest swell with a sense of pride. She smiled as they walked back to the agency when out of the blue another ping from her phone caught her attention.

It was from Midoriya, but this time he wrote something in their class groupchat. Or rather, he pinned an address from Hosu without any context.

Hosu... Could it be that something happened to Iida?

Her worries were temporarily interrupted when a monstrous shriek echoed through the night and Gang Orca grabbed her just before a dark, muscular Nomu crashed through the wall and slammed his fists down where they were once standing. Shiro's eyes widened in horror.

A Nomu...!?

It's been a while :o BUT IM BACK! I'm super stoked for season 4 to come out in October and I'm getting antsy! Hopefully I can pump out more chapters so it catches up to current events hehe :)