(Cover Story, Sniper's Redemption part 2, three of the figures take aim at the prison with one figure holding a sniper rifle, another welding a twin pistol, and the final wielding a bow and arrow. The fourth figure runs off to the side with metal claws strapped on their hands.)
It was another day at U.A. and the Heroes Course students had to make a difficult decision: who should be their mentor for their internship?
"I'm... a bit overwhelmed on who to choose…" Jirou mumbled to herself. Currently, everyone was sitting in the cafeteria looking at their list of potential mentors.
"Yeah, same. Who do we even look at to start with?" asked Kaminari, looking down at the sheet.
"I'll go by rank…" muttered Sero.
Right next to him, Kinoko had her head down on the table with steam coming out of her ears. "I have no idea what to do?!" she wailed into the table.
Mineta smiled at who he'd picked as his mentor: Mt. Lady was a hot heroine that was rapidly rising through the ranks. "I know my choice already and I have no regrets!" he proclaimed.
"Of course you'd pick her," remarked Jirou, rolling her eyes at the pervert.
Mina and Pony sat together while looking at their options for internships. "So any takers, horn buddy?" asked Pony.
"Maybe Kamui Woods, he can give me some pointers," replied Mina. "How about you?"
"Hmmm... I'm thinking someone like Snipe might help me."
"Go for it, girlfriend!" exclaimed Mina as she wrapped her arm around Pony.
"Snipe will be my choice, then!" declared Pony as she hugged Mina back. "Horn buddy for life!"
"Hey, I found a Hero we can intern under!" Kirishima and Tetsutetsu piped up simultaneously. Both stared at each other as they looked at who they picked. "Fourth Kind! Wait, are you serious! You are! Sweet choice, bro!" They both then high-fived each other before pulling back to perform a fist bump.
Meanwhile, Kendou was looking at her list of potential mentors. "Who were you thinking of interning under, Yaoyorozu?" she asked the heiress.
"I was thinking maybe Uwabami for rescue training." answered Momo. "She is pretty expired, s-"
"She's useless, Ponytail," Bakugo spoke up bluntly. Momo glared at him for the rude remarks, before he continued. "She barely does Hero work and mostly works as a model."
"Wait really?" asked Kendou.
"You're better off with someone else." He stomped away while looking at his own list.
"Did Bakugo just save us from a bad internship?"
Izuku looked up and was surprised that the blond had, in fact, actually helped his classmates. "I never thought I would see Kacchan give anyone advice. But to elaborate on what he ment, Uwabami isn't useless. It's just that she works in natural disasters, which are too uncommon for her to make money with, hence all the ads." Momo and Kendou took a moment to look at each other before crossing Uwabami from their list.
Izuku however was thinking back to his meeting with Toshinori and Rayleigh before their lunch period.
Flashback
"You want me to train under your old teacher, All Might?" asked Izuku, currently sitting down on the couch in Toshinori's personal office. Yagi himself was sitting on the opposite side of the couch facing Izuku while Rayleigh was resting his back on the wall.
"Y-yes." stuttered out Toshi as he looked at his prodigy with a thousand yard stare.
"Quit being a wuss and get over yourself, Pineapple. The training he did isn't that bad." replied Rayleigh, giving him a look. "Imagine what would happen if he didn't help."
"I still get nightmares."
"Besides, Freckles needs a crash course on how to be a bit more creative with his Devil Fruit ability. Sora will probably have to push him more than you."
Izuku was looking back and forth between Toshi and Rayleigh's banter. "Uh... what do you mean by that?" Izuku asked the latter.
"You will know once you get there. However, there is something I need to address." Rayleigh took a deep breath before looking Izuku in the eyes. "You are not All Might."
Izuku gasped. 'But, I inherited his power. Why bring this up?'
"I've seen the way you try to emulate him during training," the old man elaborated, "And when you fight. What I want you to do is be yourself."
"I mean... how…?"
"You are your own person. What I want to see is not someone who copied All Might to a T. Show me what you're really capable of."
"How can I know what I'm capable of if I don't copy All Might?"
"Like I said, that one is up to you. What will you do with One for All?"
Izuku leaned back on the couch and had to think about what Rayleigh said.
Flashback ends
'With what he said... how can I be myself?' Izuku stood in thought for a bit before he felt someone tap him on his shoulder.
"Deku, are you alright?" Ochako asked her friend in concern. "You were spacing out for a minute."
"Oh. Oh, it's n-nothing, Uraraka," stammered Izuku, blushing bright red. Ochako giggled at Izuku's response since he's being himself. Speaking of which, she looked over at Iida in concern as he was dead silent. Looking down, she saw who he picked to mentor under. The only name on the list was Manuel.
"Uhm, Iida. Why do you have only one name on your list?" she asked the speedster.
"It was the only one that garnered my interest." Iida answered flatly.
"Why?"
"He meets my requirements."
Ochako looked into Iida's eyes. They were dull, but underneath they were full of hatred. "What're you up to, Iida?"
"Nothing," he answered sharply. He then got up and started to walk away.
Ochako then nudged Izuku again to get his attention. "Deku, I'm worried about Iida," she whispered to him, "He hasn't been himself since he got back from his family emergency during the sports festival."
Izuku glanced at Ochako before nodding. "I agree, he's been more cold lately. His brother was on the news because Stain did attack him."
"I think we should ask him what happened to his older brother." Before Izuku could say a word, Ochako grabbed him by the hand, causing his arm to stretch, and dragged him as they ran after Iida.
"Iida, wait!" Ochako called out. Iida stopped in his tracks and turned around.
"Yes...?" answered Iida.
"If there's anything troubling you, you can talk to us. Right, Deku?"
…
…
…
"Deku?"
They looked down to see Izuku was currently sprawled on the floor facing down. The poor boy groaned before getting up on his feet and dusted himself off. "Uraraka, please warn me next time." Izuku coughed.
"Oh sorry!" apologized Ochako before getting back on track. "Iida, what happened to your brother?"
Iida with some reluctance took a deep breath. "Tensei...he was injured by Stain and can no longer be a Hero."
Ochako gasped in shock. "Oh my God... that's terrible!" she choked out.
"Iida, I'm sorry that happened to your brother," emphasized Izuku. "But like Uraraka said earlier, we're here for you and we will help support you anyway we can."
"I appreciate that but I can assure you, I'm fine on my own," reassured Iida with a smile. While Ochako looked relieved that Iida is fine for now, Izuku felt something was off. When he looked at Iida's eyes, they were dull. His smile also felt forced.
'Iida, why are you lying?' thought Izuku. He watched Iida head off to their homeroom.
"I think Iida will be fine,"said Ochako with strained hope in her voice.
Izuku on the other hand felt a pit form in his stomach.
1-A Homeroom
Rayleigh was standing by Aizawa's desk when he noticed Iida coming in and placing his sheet on the desk. The old Haki user then glanced down at Iida's pick. "Manuel…I know he's a good guy, but isn't he usually more for beginners?" Rayleigh asked Iida, who was dead silent.
"He is." Iida responded coldly. "I wanted to practice the basics since I was gone from class."
'I doubt it.' thought Rayleigh. 'Out of anyone in your homeroom, you have the edge in formal training with your Quirk.'
Iida glared at the old man before he returned to his seat. Rayleigh then saw Izuku and Ochako coming in through the door. "Oi, Freckles, Mochi, can I talk to ya both for a moment in private?"
"Oh, that's fine, Silver-sensei," answered Izuku, Ochako nodding in agreement.
Rayleigh ushered them out and made sure no one was around. "Alright, I'm going to be straight with ya: Iida's been acting real odd lately and I figured I ask you two since you're the closest to him in class." he reaffirmed the pair. "Is there anything I should be aware of?"
"Well, Iida has mentioned that his brother can no longer be a Hero because of Stain." revealed Izuku.
Silver flinched as his hunch turned out to be true. 'Damn it, he really is going after Chizome in Hosu.'
"Silver-Sensei, is something going on with Iida?" asked Ochako.
"Nah, just wanted to check in on a hunch I had."
"...and that hunch is it?" asked Izuku.
"Iida might be hurting worse than I thought."
The bell rang to signal the end of the break, followed by multiple footsteps. Soon, swarms of students started to flood the halls as Rayleigh was trying to find Iida in the crowd. Taking a deep breath, the old man tuned out the noise around him to find Iida in the crowd. After a moment, he sensed the boy 30 meters away and was heading south. He sprinted through the crowd to try to catch up to him. "Oi, Iida!" He called out, but Iida ignored him and began to run away. "Damn it," muttered Rayleigh as he began to chase him.
Iida kept running through the crowd, pushing and shoving different students to try to get away. "Move! Move! Move!" While he managed to get out of the crowd, smoke appeared around his ankles and held him in place. "What the!?"
He looked at the smoke and followed the trail to see that Shinsou managed to catch him. Right next to him Rayleigh patted the boy on his back. "Nice work, Smokey, I'll put a good word in for you," praised the old man.
"You're welcome," said Shinsou.
When Rayleigh got to Iida he put his hand firmly on the boy's shoulder. "Now, Iida, I want to talk to you in private." Iida said nothing as the smoke disappeared around his ankles. Rayleigh then brought Iida into an empty classroom and made sure no one was around to eavesdrop on them. "You were planning on going after Stain, weren't you?"
"No..." Iida answered, too quickly to be genuine.
"Now now, we both know that's a lie. You signed up for the only Hero available for internships who was based in Hosu, where your brother was."
"And what do you want me to do!? Let Stain do as he pleases!?" snapped Iida, slamming his hand on a desk near him.
"Do you think the other pro heroes can't catch him? Rather, do you think a student, who's blinded by revenge and only a first year, can do better? Quit acting bullheaded and arrogant." warned Rayleigh. He couldn't help but think back to the 'Dark Fist' as an image of an angry young man appeared in front of Iida.
"He needs to pay for what he did to Tensei!" Iida glared at his teacher waiting for his response.
"How, by hunting him down and killing him?"
"Yes!" Iida responded without hesitation.
"And then what!?"
Iida then took a step back. "... I, I don't know but I know I have to get revenge on him!"
"Then let me spell it out for you, Iida." explained Rayleigh, having to take a deep breath to calm himself. "Do you think you're the only person to lose family to that bastard? Do you think you're the only family of a dead or crippled Hero who wanted to hunt down and kill Stain?"
Iida had to look away from Rayleigh. He couldn't bear to look him in the eyes. "I can assure you, Stain will fall before I do," croaked Iida.
"Even if he does, then you'll come to the second outcome." Continued Rayleigh. "You find Stain, you fight him, and you kill him. Congratulations, you'll get arrested for premeditated murder. In the end, you leave everyone who ever cared for you devastated by your time in prison and why you threw it all away. Just to kill a coward!"
"It won't happen that way!"
"Then how do you see it panning out!?"
"He will die.. and…"
"Didn't you hear what I said not even a second ago?! Did your brother want revenge?! What you're planning on doing will hurt him more than anything Stain can ever do to him!" Iida stood still, never looking back at Rayleigh. The tension in the air was thick as Silver had to calm himself down. "...You're not going, Iida."
The boy's head snapped up, looking him in the eye at last with shock and anger. "What?! You can't-!"
"I'M YOUR TEACHER, IIDA!" roared the old man, silencing him utterly, "Both Aizawa and I, we already knew exactly what you were planning. But you forgot, we are responsible for you, and the internships that you choose. Your application for the Manual Hero Agency is rejected. Choose somewhere else. The pros will handle Stain."
"That's…!" The young man could only glare at him, tears gathering in his eyes as his fist clench. "That's not…! That's not good enough! The Hero Ingenium is gone because of him! Nii-sama entrusted that name to me! If I…if I can't defeat Stain with that name, then the Hero that I looked up to…!" He slammed his fist down on the desk again, "WILL HE HAVE LOST FOR NOTHING?!"
"No."
That simple, blunt refusal made him look up.
"Ingenium is the Hero that inspired you, right?" asked the elderly teacher, "Then keep being inspired by him. Use the name that he passed on to you. Be the hero that you know he'd be proud of. If Tensei wanted you to bear the name Ingenium, then it's because he's alright with not being that Hero anymore. He thinks that you have more than what it takes to be that Hero instead."
Unbidden, a memory floated through Tenya's mind: a dinner with all of his family.
"Tenya, you're not like me. You're smart and talented, you know? Heh. Well what do you know? If someone like you thinks that I'm great, then I really must be! Haha!"
"The Hero Ingenium is not dead, Iida-kun," said Rayleigh gently, "Not until his name is forgotten and he stops saving lives. Do you think you can do that in his stead?"
"I…" tears streamed down Iida's face, now in shame rather than fury, "Can I really call myself worthy, when I was ready to throw it all away…?"
The old man grinned. "Sure you can! And if you don't feel ready yet, well, that's why you're a student!" He lightly chopped the young man on the head. "That's why you got teachers like me lookin' out for you."
"Of course…thank you for your guidance, sensei!" Iida then hugged Rayleigh tightly as he let his tears flow freely.
"Ah, another thing. You really should open up to your friends about this too. They're here for you too, just like you'd be there for them, right?" commented Rayleigh, doing his best to comfort the crying boy. 'Chizome, you've done more harm than good with your damn crusade. Looks like I have another mistake I have to fix.'
AN: Well that was a heavy ending, anyway I hope everyone enjoyed this chapter and I apologize if its rather short compared to my previous chapters. Feel free to DM me if you have any questions. Please fave, follow, and comment.
See you next time