I stand at the front of the classroom, all of the students' eyes on me. I'm wearing my pro hero suit. It's a black and grey full bodysuit with black gloves and combat boots. A red utility belt is at my hips and shoulder holsters at my sides.
"Class, this is a very good friend of mine," Fuyumi says. "You may know her by her pro hero name: Nova."
"Hi there!" I wave with an excited smile.
The class greets me with smiles and awes of amazement.
"She looks like a soldier!" A girl comments.
"We can start with questions," Fuyumi instructs.
"You there," I call on a student.
"Can you explain your quirk?" A boy asks.
"Great question! My quirk is known as Supernova. I have the power of a collapsing star. Does anyone know what kind of energy a dying star has?"
"Gravitational potential energy," a girl responds after I point at her.
"Exactly! In simpler terms, it's nuclear energy. With this quirk, I have the ability to heat up my body with nuclear energy."
"Does that make you fireproof?" A boy asks.
"It does! My body is resistant to nuclear energy and basically any form of heat."
"So if you were to enter a nuclear reactor, you wouldn't die?" A boy asks.
"Pretty much!" I chuckle. "My quirk allows me to generate, harness, and absorb nuclear energy into myself."
I radiate bright energy around my fist as I hold it up. The students awe in fascination at my quirk.
"So do your clothes burn up when you use your quirk?" A boy asks.
"My normal clothes do," I say. "But this hero suit I'm wearing is designed to adapt to my quirk. It'll only fail if I reach a very high level of my quirk, which I don't plan on doing often."
"You don't wanna end up naked!" A girl says.
"Right you are!" I laugh with the class. "Any other questions?"
"What's the hardest thing about being a hero?" A girl asks.
"Hm. That's a great question… For me, I'd say it's being able to figure out the best possible solution to a situation. It's not always black and white."
"What's your favorite part about being a hero?" A boy asks.
"Being able to help others," I rest my hands on my hips with a confident smile.
It's late in the afternoon. After finishing with Fuyumi's class, I went out for lunch. I'm now heading inside the Endeavor Hero Agency, my desk at the top floor of the skyscraper.
"Hey there, Akira," Burnin greets.
"Hey, what's up?" I sit at my desk.
"Endeavor wants you to report to his office."
"Oh I wonder what for."
"You might be in trouble," she teases.
"In trouble? Nah, I haven't done anything wrong."
"Let's hope so!"
I laugh as I make my way past her down the hall toward two large doors and enter. Inside, I'm surprised to see Shoto standing by Enji's desk.
"Hm? Shoto?" I'm surprised.
"Hello, Akira," he politely greets. "It's been a while."
"What brings you here?"
"Now that our class is advancing, we're able to intern at hero agencies."
"After your performance at the Sports Festival, I'm sure you received a great amount of offers."
"It's true. Though I decided to choose my father's agency."
"Really?"
Just then the doors open and Enji walks in.
"Akira," he closes the door. "Good. Now that I have you both here, I'll get straight to business."
Shoto and I stand ready to listen.
"There's been some suspicious activity going on in Hosu," Enji explains. "Stain is still on the move."
"The Hero Killer," I say. "What makes you think he'll be in Hosu?"
"I'm basing it off his movements. He attacked Ingenium there. If this incident follows precedent, then the hero killer will appear in Hosu City again."
Enji then turns to the door.
"Go home and get ready," he continues. "We will go to Hosu for some time on a business trip and work there."
We watch as he opens the door.
"Contact Hosu City immediately!" He exclaims to a sidekick.
"Yes, sir!" They respond.
I'm at the Todoroki estate, having finished dinner with them. Shoto and I are awaiting Enji to depart to Hosu. It's late in the evening now.
"You really did well with my class this morning," Fuyumi compliments.
"Thanks!" I say. "You've got a smart group of kids."
"I'm surprised you didn't bore them to death," Natsuo teases me.
"Shut it, bookworm," I retort to which he laughs. "How are your studies going?"
"It's a lot of reading, but it's going well."
"I can imagine considering you're going into the health and welfare field."
"I've got a long road to go."
"You'll make it," I give him a soft smile and he returns it.
"Anyway, I'm gonna go to my room and finish up some reading," Natsuo heads away. "I wanna leave before he shows his face."
I watch Natsuo leave. He's always been cold toward Enji, especially since those years ago.
"Sorry," Fuyumi apologizes.
"I know…" I gaze down.
Fuyumi goes to the kitchen to clean up a bit more. I turn my attention to the room nearby, making my way inside. I kneel in front of an altar, a framed photo of a young boy in the middle of it. After bowing my head for a moment, I gaze up at the picture. His white spiked hair lays just over his lidded turquoise eyes. I stare at the photo in silence, longing to see him again.
"Time to go," Enji says from the front door.
I snap out of my thoughts and head to the front door. Shoto stands outside ready with a suitcase and mine next to his. Enji takes my suitcase and is about to grab Shoto's but Shoto snatches it away from his grasp. Enji looks a bit annoyed at him. Fuyumi and I sadly look at each other before I follow them to the car.
"Be safe!" Fuyumi waves at us.
"Thanks!" I wave. "I'll text you when we get to Hosu!"
Once our luggage is in the trunk, we step inside the black limousine and it drives off.
It's late in the evening. Enji has gotten us a suite with three separate bedrooms in a hotel. Our suite is on the tenth floor of the building, looking down at the bright colored lights of the city. I lean on the ledge of the brick balcony, gazing out into the distance. The glass door behind me slides open with Shoto coming through.
"Can't sleep?" I ask.
"Yeah," he slides the door shut.
He stands a few feet to my right, also leaning on the ledge of the balcony. Both of us stare off into the distance, the bustle of the late night city life filling in the silence.
"So what made you intern at your father's agency?" I ask. "I know you don't see eye to eye with him yet."
"It's a series of events that got me here," he replies. "A friend of mine at U.A. helped me realize something about myself."
"Oh yeah. Izuku Midoriya."
"During our match at the Sports Festival, he said something that resonated with me… I spent years making sure that I never resorted to using my left side. All to spite him… But Midoriya changed my way of thinking about my quirk."
It's true. All my years knowing Shoto, not once did he use his fire quirk. He only relied on his ice quirk which he inherited from his mother.
"It's my quirk...not his," Shoto continues. "That's what Midoriya said to me. Just a few words…Those few words… He was right. It's my power. Not his. I've come to accept my fire side which has lifted a weight on me. Everything was so simple, yet I didn't see it…. This newfound freedom urged me to see my mother. She cried and apologized, forgiving me with a smile surprisingly quickly… She said that for me to move forward without anything holding me back would make her happy and be her salvation… The old me would definitely not have been able to choose my old man's agency for the internship. It's not that I've forgiven him, and I have no intention of doing so… It was just so I could experience the fact that he is the number two hero with my own eyes and body and accept that. No matter what a scumbag he is, I had to appreciate the judgement and instincts of the man called the number two hero."
I keep my gaze into the distance in thought.
"I'm glad you've come to terms with that," I say. "I'm proud of you, Shoto."
I give him a soft smile which he returns.
"Now you must properly look at what you want to be," I continue. "Having had this realization of yours, things will become a lot easier on your path to becoming a pro hero."
Shoto turns his gaze forward in thought at my words.
"Thank you, Akira," he says.
"No problem," I reply.
We gaze out into the distance, again enjoying the city lights.