Chapter 61: Conversations

"I didn't expect Aizawa-sensei of all people to give the rest of the day off!" Kaminari commented as they walked through the campus.

"I mean, it has just been a few days after the tournament. Lot of us are still recovering," Izuku replied, "And sensei did tell us to get all our costume problems sorted out so that Power Loader can get them back to us before we head out to the internships."

"I don't really have a lot of adjustments yet. I'll have to learn about stuff during the internship and then incorporate them. What about you Izuku?" Kaminari asked.

"My quirk's mainly power so I don't have much to add. Maybe just some stronger gauntlets since my power output's slowly rising. You should get some conductors Kaminari! Most of your gear is insulating, but just imagine ejecting electricity with a sword or something like that!"

"Oh, that would be awesome!" Kaminari grinned, "Say, Watanabe, why are you so gloomy? I've never seen you this quiet."

Watanabe jerked his head up, "I was just thinking…"

"About what?" Izuku asked. He had never seen his cousin this anxious.

Watanabe fidgeted for a bit before sighing, "I may have told Nedzu about Shouto's past."

Izuku's eyes widened, "Watanabe! How could you!?"

Kaminari thought, and had a completely different reaction, "Finally! It took you much longer than I expected!"

Both Watanabe and Izuku turned to Kaminari with a questioning look, "What? You really expect Watanabe of all people to keep a secret like that! I mean he literally kicked your secret out into the internet for all to see."

"Huh?" Izuku was confused.

"The article?" Kaminari reminded.

"Well, yeah," Izuku admitted, "But at least I was anonymous! Shouto is too famous as Endeavour's son and this will directly affect him."

"My guy, your court case was televised live in front of the entirety of Japan. It's the same thing, almost." Kaminari explained, "Besides, if Watanabe had not informed your parents, you'd probably still be getting harassed and Bakugou wouldn't turn out to be good as he is now. Can you say that you would rather have had Watanabe not interfere? Would you rather be still living like Bakugou's punching bag?"

Izuku shook his head, "But still, I feel bad for breaking Shouto's trust."

"Don't worry, I'm not that mad."

The three turned white as a sheet and jumped, "Shouto! When did you get here?" A surprised Izuku asked.

"A while back."

"You aren't mad?" Watanabe asked.

"I don't know," Shouto admitted, "I was feeling angry, I think. But then with the talk from Nedzu, I feel kind of relieved as well? I'm not sure what I'm feeling, to be honest. But you interfered with Izuku's life and it turned out to be for the better. So maybe you can help me too."

Watanabe smiled at Shouto's explanation, "Don't worry, we'll try our best."

"I still feel a bit guilty though." Izuku whispered to Kaminari who snorted, "Says the guy who tattled on Iida."

"How the-"

"I'm not as dumb as you think," Kaminari responded shortly.

"Tattled on Iida?" Shouto asked, as confused as Watanabe.

Izuku sighed, "Iida's going to Hosu for his internship. That's where his brother was attacked a couple of days back, so I think he's going to get his revenge on Stain. He convinced Aizawa sensei that he's just going to be closer to his brother but, I don't think that's it at all."

"What if we tell Nedzu?" Shouto asked.

"Aizawa-sensei tried it. Nedzu would rather have him going to a rescue hero than a combat hero to minimize the risk. There are a lot more offers from Hosu for Iida to choose from."

Shouto nodded, "By the way Kaminari, Nedzu wanted to talk to you too."

"Right now?"

Shouto nodded, "I wonder why he wants to talk to me. You better not have told him anything." Kaminari accused Watanabe.

"Please, the biggest secret you have is that you pee yourself every time you short-circuit." Watanabe grinned.

Kaminari turned red and simply turned towards the principal's office.

"Say Shouto, you really aren't angry at me?" Watanabe asked.

"Oh no, I definitely am. I simply understand your reasoning is all." Shouto replied.

"So, am I forgiven?" Watanabe asked, unsure of what Shouto was talking about.

"Only if it all goes well," Shouto replied with a smile that lasted only for a moment.

"Come in!" Nedzu said gleefully as he heard a knock on his door, "Have a seat." He motioned to Kaminari, "Tea?"

Kaminari shook his head with a smile, "No thanks. I had lunch a while back."

"You don't seem as anxious as one would expect."

"I know I haven't done anything wrong. So, either you called me because of something that happened in the sports festival, or it has something to do about Izuku and Watanabe, or something to do with Shouto." Kaminari grinned.

Nedzu chuckled, "You should really give credit to yourselves. You're much smarter than what your teachers say about you."

"Eh, not always. So, how can I help you?"

Nedzu snorted, "Not always huh? From what I see, you are simply not academically inclined. Smartness and intelligence don't go hand in hand. And from our brief interactions, I'd say you could give Watanabe a run for his money with some underhanded tactics."

Kaminari smiled weakly at the praise, "Maybe only because I have known him for a long time."

"Ego is a troublesome thing," Nedzu admitted, "But so is a lack of confidence." Nedzu reminded his student warmly.

"It's less of a lack of confidence-" Kaminari started.

"And more of a persona?" Nedzu finished with a chuckle as Kaminari gave him a bewildered look, "I have to congratulate you on doing that. Usually, it's a traumatic event that makes you put on a fake persona to make people underestimate you. Sort of like with Izuku. I'm not aware of any such events in your life." Nedzu probed.

Kaminari chuckled, "It's just something I picked up from Watanabe I suppose. Anyway, what was it that you really called me for?"

Nedzu smiled and cut to the chase, "Who have you planned to intern with?"

"Uh, who I'm interning with?" Kaminari asked, unsure. He couldn't understand why Nedzu would be interested in that.

Nedzu nodded his affirmation.

"Well, I am not 100% sure yet. But I think I'll go with Present Mic. He learned to control his voice so I think he might be able to help me control my electricity." Kaminari explained.

"That is an excellent choice," Nedzu admitted, "But would you perhaps be open to interning with another hero? Especially since you can always catch him after school."

"Another hero?" Kaminari asked, now getting confused, "Why?"

"I assume you are familiar with Shouto's relations with his family?" Nedzu asked.

Kaminari nodded.

"Well, I implemented the rule that you can't intern with family members to protect Shouto and in retaliation, he has sent in a last-minute offer for you," Nedzu informed.

Kaminari stared at Nedzu, blinking owlishly as Nedzu's statement registered within his mind. An immature part of him wanted to yell, "Hell no!" but he pushed the thought aside and cleared his thought, "Though I don't really want to intern with that guy, I assume you want me to take the offer?"

Nedzu nodded, "But why?" Kaminari asked with unhidden disdain.

"What I am about to tell you cannot leave this room. The only ones you are allowed to discuss this with are me, Aizawa, and the rest of the UA staff. Not even Izuku and Watanabe should be informed of anything until my permission is given. And I don't even have to tell you that none of these words should reach the hero commission or Endeavour's ears. Is that UNDERSTOOD?" Nedzu asked with an authoritative tone.

Kaminari gulped and quickly nodded. It was the first time he had seen Nedzu act as a proper, serious principal and not put up his normal huggable demeanor.

"Good." Nedzu smiled warmly like he hadn't just threatened Kaminari's very existence, "The reason I want you to take the Endeavour internship is that I need you to infiltrate his agency."

"Whoa, whoa, hold up," Kaminari held up his hands, "Infiltrate as in sneak around and gather information?"

Nedzu nodded grimly, "To tell you the truth, I'm sure Endeavor only wants you to intern with him because he believes the rumors that you are All Might's son." Nedzu admitted. Kaminari grimaced at that. The rumor was really getting out of hand. It didn't help two random people kept arguing about whether it was him or Izuku who was All Might's son.

"What does that have to do with anything?" Kaminari asked.

"He only wants you to stunt your growth. While your classmates, including his son, gain valuable field experience, he'll bench you and completely ignore you so as to hinder your progress."

Kaminari snorted, "He might outright try to cripple me considering all the shit I have pulled on him." Kaminari reminded the court of electrocution.

"I may not have been able to correct Endeavour's ways, but I am more than aware of how he thinks. Trust me on this. And you need not worry about any physical harm. Not even the commission is stupid enough to hurt one of my students. The results would not be pretty." Nedzu vaguely warned.

Kaminari let out a heavy sigh, "Even though this is going to strip me of my valuable learning time, I have no choice but to accept. Izuku and Watanabe are definitely going to use their Storm and Chaos personas to help. So, this is the least I can do."

Nedzu nodded, "I am glad we have come to an understanding."

"Now, now wait for a second," Kaminari stopped Nedzu, "I need to get something in return!"

"Other than the stealth training you are about to get?"

"That would have been part of my original training with whoever I chose to intern with," Kaminari said, eyes gleaming, "I still get a personal favor from you."

Nedzu guffawed. He really didn't know why he thought Izuku and Watanabe's friend would be any saner than them, albeit the persona he put up, "Fine, what is it?"

"Aizawa-sensei said whoever failed the end-of-term exams would have to take remedial classes during summer camp. I'm more or less destined to fail the written part so I want you to ensure that I don't have to take remedial classes." Kaminari tabled his offer.

"That would be unfair to the other students."

"I'm not saying pass me. As you said, Mic sensei can help me after school, so I will take remedial lessons then. Don't have to take them at camp."

That wasn't a very unreasonable offer, "Deal!" Nedzu exclaimed, "But you still have to try. No slacking."

Kaminari nodded, "Wouldn't dream of it."

"Now that that's out of the way, let's hope you can survive Aizawa and Snipe's impromptu class on stealth!" Nedzu said with a gleam in his eyes that made Kaminari wince.

"Maybe I should have saved my favor on something better…"

A/N: Short chapter, I know. But still trying to get into the rhythm of things. Leave a comment to let me know if you like it.

Soon we'll be moving onto the juicy parts and hopefully with regular updates!

Let me know what you think of the new summary and point out grammatical errors if you see them. Didn't really proofread this before posting.

Hopefully see you soon!