Chapter 12: What We Want To Be
Normally, the return to classes after the Sports Festival was an occasion that had everyone champing at the bit to get to their internships. However, the mood had been soured by two things. The first was the news of Ingenium falling victim to the Hero Killer, and his resulting retirement. The second was the media coverage of the riot that had torn through Yavin Ward. The police initially hadn't called for any Heroes, it was just the QLF, after all. So why bother them? Not only had the QLF fought back against them with anything they could get their hands on, but they also caused significant damage to the Hero Public Safety Commission's satellite office in the area.
The police finally called in the Heroes to quell the riot. A team of three local heroes -known as The Street Sweepers- had responded, thinking it would be easy, and that there wasn't any need to call for backup.
They fought Eclipse. Briefly.
To be fair to The Street Sweepers, they did well against your everyday street crime, but against the likes of Eclipse? Who would even give top Heroes like Endeavor a run for their money?
The Street Sweepers did not survive.
After the butchering -what other word was there, claimed the media- Eclipse and the QLF had escaped by methods unknown. According to the press conference the police had held the next day, Eclipse had apparently made herself and the QLF disappear into thin air.
This was the dark cloud hanging over everyone's heads as the student body trudged into UA. The media was eviscerating the police and heroes -the irony was not lost on anyone- and that led into a heated debate on Hero Watchdog on whether Heroes could afford to hold back against Quirkless criminals anymore.
Most people turned it off when one of the more controversial commentators said that maybe Thunderbolt had the right idea.
Aizawa hated this. He had argued for postponing the internships for a week or two, just to let this mess fade into obscurity a little. But Nezu had overridden him.
Nevertheless, there was something he needed to take care of before classes started. Namely, addressing Mineta's... behavior.
As the students filed in, he picked Mineta out of the crowd. He had come in alone. Odd, usually he and Kaminari were attached at the hip. "Mineta, we need to have a talk. Now."
Mineta paled. "O-okay. What about?"
Aizawa fought the urge to roll his eyes. He knew exactly what this was about. "Follow." He stalked through the halls, his glare telling everyone who saw him to get out of the way. He opened the door to the Guidance Office and pointed to one of the chairs at the table in the center of the room. "Sit."
Mineta knew better than to argue with Aizawa when he got like this, and did as he was told. "What's this about?" He repeated lamely.
Aizawa stared at him until he started squirming. He hated this part of teaching. Hated it almost as much as he hated the media. But it was necessary. "Cheerleading uniforms."
Mineta froze. "That, ah... that was just a joke."
"No, it wasn't." Aizawa said. "Neither were any of your other... indiscretions. I have had several members of your class -male and female- express concern and disgust regarding your behavior."
Mineta was as silent as the grave. If it wasn't for his chest rising and falling, Aizawa would have assumed that Mineta had some sort of suspended animation Quirk.
He continued, "I would be well within my rights to expel you, right now. You understand that, yes?"
Mineta nodded.
Already resigned to your fate? That won't do. I haven't taught you to give up like that. "Why do you want to be a Hero, Mineta?"
Mineta perked up, he knew a lifeline when he saw it, but he withered again when he realized his answer would never satisfy Aizawa-sensei. "Growing up I always thought heroes were cool, and I wanted to be one so I could be cool too. And that because of that I would be popular and... well, I'm sure you can guess."
Aizawa just looked at him. "Uh huh."
"But after the USJ... after seeing Midoriya be Midoriya... I don't think I have what it takes to be like him, and I just started acting out? I guess?"
Aizawa narrowed his eyes. That certainly did line up with the timeline of the complaints he had received. "Why don't you think you have what it takes to be a hero now?"
Mineta hung his head, "You already know, what's the point in making me say it?"
"Because your potential is not yet zero." Aizawa said, "Now say it."
There was a flash of anger on Mineta's face before he smacked his hands on the table and yelled at him, probably more for catharsis than anything. "I'M A PERVERT AND A COWARD! How could someone like me ever become a hero when there's people like Midoriya and Todoroki around?"
"So, a pervert and a coward." Aizawa said. He discounted the rest because it wasn't relevant to the conversation, "Both of those are things that can be worked on with Hound Dog. And while you might never be a frontline hero, I firmly believe that you can become a great Support-type Hero."
Mineta grimaced, "Support? Really? Those heroes are eternal sidekicks, aren't they?"
Gotcha. "You can ask that to the Hero you will now be doing your internship with." Aizawa said, "Afterward, if you still believe that you do not have what it takes to be a Hero, we'll see about arranging a transfer to General-"
"Err, Business, actually." Mineta cut in, "It was my second choice if I didn't make it into the Hero Course "
Aizawa blinked. "Really?"
Mineta nodded, "Yeah, I've got a knack for it, especially costume design. Or so my dad tells me. He's a car salesman."
Aizawa decided to poke further. "You don't say."
Mineta pulled a notebook out of his backpack. "Yeah, I've actually done a work-up on costume upgrades for Midoriya and a whole new costume for Yaoyorozu- Nothing weird, I promise!"
Aizawa thumbed through the notebook until he found the entry on Midoriya. The green tracksuit remained, -although in a darker color- explained by a scribbled note that Midoriya's completely average appearance would make him more approachable. The plastic face guard was gone, with another note that explained his similarities to All Might and made the case for no mask, although Mineta also admitted therein that some sort of mask with a rebreather would be a good idea in case of a villain that had a toxin based Quirk. The final addition was a pair of iron soled sneakers. Mineta's notes on the matter pointed out that Midoriya's insistence on wearing red sneakers everywhere could be very marketable.
Mineta's idea for a new costume for Yaoyorozu actually impressed Aizawa, more due to it actually being less revealing than her current costume than anything. The most important bits were that her butt mounted bookshelf was done away with and replaced with a wrist mounted computer that could project complicated blueprints, and swapping out her high heels for more sensible boots.
"These are actually quite good, Mineta." Aizawa said, "Run both of them by Midoriya first, and let him present your ideas for Yaoyorozu as his own."
Mineta frowned, "Why would I-"
Aizawa stared at him.
"Oh, right."
Aizawa pinched his nose. "Also, you will be expected to give a public apology to the rest of the class, before our newest member joins us."
"Who dropped out?" Mineta asked.
"No one." Aizawa told him, "As you will find out, the circumstances surrounding your newest classmate are unprecedented."
As Mineta and the rest of Class 1-A would soon learn, that was the understatement of the century.
Despite the more serious goings-on of the past few days, Class 1-A was currently embroiled in a mystery. The mystery of the twenty-first desk. There was many a theory, each more outlandish than the next. The favorite theory was currently Todoroki's idea that it was a psy-op by Aizawa to get them to work harder.
Midoriya glanced at Mineta. He had seemed rather subdued. Was everything okay? Should he even ask? Were they even friends? Then there was Iida. There was definitely something wrong there, considering Tokoyami had been sitting on his desk for a good ten minutes and Iida hadn't said a peep about it.
"For the love of shit, Midoriya, I can read you like a book."
Midoriya didn't even blink. "Is it that obvious?"
"If you're so worried about..." Bakugo paused for a moment before continuing, "About Iida then go talk to him."
Midoriya glanced at the clock, "But Aizawa-sensei is going to be here any minute, so there might not be time for me to say something."
"Then talk to him later." Bakugo said bluntly, "Just don't let it ricochet around your head cause that'll make you all nervous, which'll make Yaoyorozu think I'm doing something to bully you again."
Midoriya looked back at Bakugo for a second. He had used Yaoyorozu's name without needing prompting or needing a moment to think. That meant he had recognized her strength. "She's awesome, huh?"
Bakugo rolled his eyes. "Save your lovesick BS for someone who cares, nerd." Without waiting for a response, he pressed on. "She came at me with brass knuckles. Of course I'm gonna notice the sheer amount of balls it takes to do that "
Any further conversation in the room was cut off by Aizawa entering. Everyone sat at attention, ready to learn. He eyed his class suspiciously, "So, we have a lot of nonsense to get out of the way before we can get to what actually matters." He looked at Mineta, "First, Mineta. I believe you have something you would like to say to the class?"
"Yes, sir." Mineta said. He got out of his chair robotically and made his way to the front of the class. He turned to face his classmates and saw that none of them held any sympathy for him, even Kaminari looked like he had already passed judgement on him. "I'm sorry. My behavior up until now -and especially at the Sports Festival- has been completely out of line and inappropriate. I'll be having sessions with Hound Dog to work on repairing my... uh... personality defects." He fumbled his words for a moment, "I still want to be a hero, even if I don't think I have what it takes." He finished his apology with a bow.
Yaoyorozu glanced at Iida. As Class President it normally would be his responsibility to respond to something like this. After he gave an almost imperceptible shake of his head, she took over. "Your apology is conditionally accepted, Mineta. However, as the Vice-President of our class, I must remind your that actions speak louder than words. If your actions show that your words were hollow, action will be taken."
He didn't say anything, only nodded to acknowledge her, and then returned to his seat.
"Okay, now that we have that out of the way..." He trailed off as he tried to figure out how to lead into the bombshell he was about to lob into the classroom, "You are getting a new classmate, despite us already having twenty. However, I believe that you will agree that his situation is abnormal, and that him joining the Hero Course is the best possible outcome for everyone." He turned to the open door, "You can come in now."
At Aizawa's call, a very tall and very muscular boy walked in, he came to stand at the front of the class
A wave of murmuring washed over the members of Class 1-A; only a precursor of the coming cataclysm. "Introduce yourself, please." Aizawa said, "Give as much or as little information as you like."
The stranger nodded. "My name is Maki Yoshihiro."
"Yoshihiro?" Tokoyami said under his breath, "Where have I heard that name before..."
"My mother is the leader of the Creature Rejection Clan, and is also known as Purity."
Aizawa's instincts were correct. It was like a bomb went off. Koda gasped and clapped his hands to his mouth, Mina burst out in laughter more suited to the gentleman thief villain archetype, Tokoyami's jaw was on the floor, Tsu was ribbiting merrily, and Shoji... well Aizawa couldn't really see what was going on behind his mask.
As a matter of fact, Shoji was the first person to find his voice. "Are you really Purity's son?"
"Yes, I am." Maki said.
"And you want to become a hero because..." Shoji prodded.
"To spite her, among other things." Maki said.
Shoji joined Mina in the Almost Villainous Laughter club. After he calmed down he shook his head, "I think this is the best day of my life."
"Likewise, Shoji." Tokoyami said.
Aizawa brushed his hair out of his eyes. "That's enough of that. We're wasting time, Yoshihiro, take your seat."
Maki walked to the back of the classroom towards his desk. As he did so, he noticed one of the girls -the shorter one with the frog-like face- watching him intently. That made sense, as a heteromorph she was probably trying to see if he was going to be a threat. It was what he would do in her position.
Aizawa continued. "Alright. It's time for a special Hero Informatics class. With the internships beginning in a couple of days, you'll need code names."
Everyone in the room was practically vibrating with excitement, but they knew better than to interrupt Aizawa.
"Midnight will be here soon to oversee this. I'm not good at this kind of thing, especially since I avoid the media." Aizawa explained.
Bakugo raised his hand, "Since we got a few minutes, can I say something?"
Aizawa's eyes flickered over to Bakugo, "What exactly?"
He glanced at Mineta, "If uh..."
"Mineta!" Kaminari whisper-shouted with no subtlety whatsoever.
"If Mineta had to give a public apology, then I should too."
Aizawa stepped back from the front of the classroom and burrowed into a sleeping bag. "Do what you want. Just finish it up before Midnight gets here. You have five minutes."
As Bakugo walked to the front of the classroom, he could feel the eyes of everyone on him. It didn't matter. He had to do this. They had to know. It was the only way he could begin to move forward. As he turned around, he locked eyes with Uraraka. Her expression wasn't the most hostile -that honor belonged to Yaoyorozu. She knew, no doubt about it- but it felt like she was searching for something.
She was probably going to hate him.
He tamped down on the fear clawing at his gut and began. "I've been an asshole."
There was silence in the room.
"I've treated you all like crap. Called you all those stupid insults instead of your actual names, I've treated you all like extras in some shonen battle anime, even calling you all that to your faces." His voice hitched. It wouldn't just be Uraraka, would it? They'd all hate him, and there was no way in hell that Yaoyorozu wouldn't immediately report him after he spilled the beans. He hung his head. His dream was going to die here.
He clenched his fists. All Might wouldn't back down from this, so neither would he. "For... basically half of my life, my hag of a mother has been abusing both me and my dad. We were only just able to get the hell out. She would beat me. Call me worthless. One time... she even told me to kill myself."
No one dared to interrupt. It was like watching a train wreck.
"I was a scared, confused kid with a Quirk that everyone kept saying would make me an amazing Hero. So I lashed out, and I kept lashing out because none of those idiot adults would stop me because they were too concerned with protecting my future instead of worrying about the Quirkless kid I was beating on!"
More than a few of the class had begun to connect the dots. "Oh, shit." Jiro whispered.
"For all of that time... everything she did to me.:. I did to Midoriya."
The reaction was immediate and expected.
"YOU TOLD HIM TO KILL HIMSELF?" Yaoyorozu screamed amid gasps from the others.
Bakugo nodded wordlessly. There was no point in running from the truth.
"You have no idea how unbelievably lucky you are, Bakugo." Yaoyorozu spat, "If I hadn't already promised Midoriya that I wouldn't report you for anything that you did to him before UA, I would be on my way to Nezu right now."
Bakugo continued on, "I ain't up here to ask for forgiveness. There's only one person who can forgive me for the shit I've done, and that's Midoriya." He made eye contact with as many of them as possible. He saw emotions ranging from pity to anger. "I'm standing up here to ask for your help."
"Uh, come again?" Mina said.
"You heard me! I don't have a chance like this! Hell, I barely know how to process emotions that aren't anger or fear because that's all I got at home for so long! I won't use what my mom did to me to justify what I did to Midoriya. If I ever do that, I'll report myself to Nezu." Bakugo looked down at his feet. "Back when we were friends, me and Midoriya always wanted to be the same Hero. Just like All Might. If I'm ever going to be able to stand beside you all, much less become the Number One Hero, then I need your help. Please."
Everyone started looking around, hoping that someone else would be the first to say something. The only ones who didn't were Midoriya, Uraraka, and Maki.
"Erm, Bakugo, would you say that this change of heart was brought about by the impressive -and vulgar- dressing down you received from Uraraka?" Iida asked.
Bakugo's eyes flickered to Uraraka for a moment, "That, and Midoriya kicking my ass."
"And Recovery Girl wouldn't let us leave her office until we had a honest conversation about... everything." Midoriya added.
Maki raised his hand, "Can I say something?"
"Of course, Yoshihiro." Iida said.
"Call me Maki please. I would rather distance myself from my family name." He scratched at his nose before continuing, "Now, I may be an outsider looking in, but what I can see is that Bakugo is trying to leave his old self behind. A persona that is at worst a bigot, and at best a raging asshole."
"Sugarcoat it some more, why don't you?" Sero quipped.
"Can I say something?" Everyone's eyes were drawn to Uraraka.
"Of course." Iida said.
"So, if you don't know already, my parents own a construction company. A couple of years back they were asked to take over building some office building -the original company working it had been found guilty of taking kickbacks, so they were busy having the book thrown at them- and as it turned out, basically all the work done was trash. One villain with any sort of material manipulation Quirk, and that building was coming down. So, dad decided to rip everything out. Even the foundation needed to be redone."
"Oh, I get it." Kaminari said, "That's basically what Bakugo's trying to do, except with his mental and emotional health instead of an actual building."
"Okay, when and how?" Sato asked.
Kaminari pointed at Jiro. Jiro pointed at herself.
"Exactly." Uraraka said, "And I think we should give him a chance."
"You do?" Bakugo said.
"You what?" Yaoyorozu asked indignantly.
Uraraka nodded, "Yep. I mean, it's like you said to Mineta, Yaoyorozu. Actions speak louder than words. And Bakugo has somehow found enough humility to stand in front of all of us and more or less beg us to help him become less of an asshole."
Yaoyorozu and Iida locked eyes again. She barely stopped herself from shaking her head. As much as she wanted to make it so that Bakugo could never come within earshot of Midoriya again, she knew her responsibilities to the rest of her classmates needed to come before that. Instead she glanced at Midoriya, who gave her a thumbs up. She gritted her teeth and nodded at Iida.
"Same deal as with Mineta, Bakugo." Iida said. "Your apology is conditionally accepted. And as with him, actions speak louder than words." After a moment, he said more, "I should also remind you that it is entirely possible that some of your classmates will..."
"Hate me." Bakugo said. "Yeah, I expected that."
Without another word he trudged back to his seat, and an awkward silence descended. A silence that was only broken by Mina feverishly taking notes in her shipping notebook.
"Ashido, what insight into your insanity could you possibly have gotten from that?" Tokoyami asked.
"Midoriya, remind me, did Bakugo ever call Uraraka by her actual name before today?"
Bakugo's eyes went wide as horror and a deep red blush spread across his face. "Shit." He whispered.
"Yeah, after their fight during the Sports Festival. Why?"
Uraraka looked back and forth between all the parties involved. From Mina going to town in her shipping notebook and then Bakugo... why was he blushing?
The realization blossomed in her mind like an explosion. Bakugo had a crush on her.
Before and during the Sports Festival, she would've been utterly disgusted. But now that he had committed to being better? She wasn't against it. Uraraka shut her eyes and shoved the feelings that had arisen to the back of her mind. Bakugo had enough on his plate, plus he had to work on himself. And she had not come to UA looking for a guy -or girl for that matter, she wasn't picky- she had come here to become a hero. If it happened, it happened.
She still couldn't deny that Bakugo looked awfully cute when he was blushing like that.
Fortunately for Bakugo, he was saved from further teasing by Midnight making her grand entrance. "Alright! Who's ready to pick some hero names?" She glanced over at Aizawa, cozy as can be in his sleeping bag, "Yeah, that tracks." She muttered to herself.
Midoriya was grinning like a loon. This was going to bring him one step closer to his dream and...
And he had absolutely no idea what to call himself.
Midnight handed out whiteboards and dry erase markers. "Write your hero names on here, then present them to the class, I'll decide whether they'll pass muster or not."
"Wait, we're presenting these?" Kaminari asked.
"Of course, your Hero names are how the public will know you." Midnight explained, "Make sure to keep in mind three things. First, the right name can make a career, but a bad one can sink it before it begins. Second, villains will also know you by these names. There is logic behind n picking something non-threatening and subverting their expectations, but it usually only works a few times, and then you're stuck with a silly name. Third, above all else, your hero name should reflect the kind of hero that you want to be. Now, get started."
Some of Class 1-A started writing immediately. Midoriya was not one of them. He chewed on his lip as he tried to puzzle out the conundrum in his mind. When he was a kid, he had created multitudes of hero names for himself, all some variation of All Might. For an instant he thought about reclaiming Deku from being an insult by making it his name but discounted it just as fast. Yaoyorozu would probably beat him over the head with an actual baseball bat if he tried that.
Tsu raised her hand. "I'm ready!"
Midnight gestured, "Go right ahead."
Tsu hopped up to the front of the class. "I've had an idea for a name since I was a kid." She turned her whiteboard around, and announced it. "Froppy, the Rainy-Day Hero!"
Midnight flashed her a thumbs up, and the class broke into chanting her name. "Froppy! Froppy! Froppy!"
"Alright, alright!" Midnight said, "Who's next?"
Aoyama was next, and his hero name... was a sentence. However, after some input from Midnight, it was shortened to Can't Stop Twinkling... and accepted.
Kirishima stepped up next. "This is the hero I want to be. The Sturdy Hero: Red Riot!"
Midnight tapped the side of her face, "You're paying homage to the Chiviralous Hero: Crimson Riot. You know, if you're taking a name like that, you'll only have more expectations on you."
Kirishima clenched his fist and pressed it to his chest, over his heart. "I accept the challenge!"
There were complete rejections of course. Mina's first attempt of Alien Queen was summarily denied.
Maki stood up. "I am ready." When no one protested, he walked to the front and revealed his whiteboard. Without ceremony, he announced his name. "Paladin, The Smiting Hero." It was accepted.
They started coming rapid fire after that. Uraraka picked Uravity. Hagakure picked the rather on the nose moniker of Invisible Girl. Shoji picked Tentacole. Jiro picked Headphone Jack. Kaminari picked Chargebolt. Yaoyorozu picked Creati.
Seeing Yaoyorozu smile at him while she was presenting her hero name gave Midoriya a burst of inspiration. That combined with what All Might had said to him at the USJ... yes. This would be his Hero name.
Before he could move, Bakugo presented his. "There's a name I want to use, but... I ain't worthy of it yet. So until then, I'll go by this. The Start From Scratch Hero: Ground Zero."
Todoroki chose to simply go by his name, with the addition of an edited version of Bakugo's nickname for him. "The Icy-Hot Hero: Shoto."
Mina's new suggestion of Pinky was accepted. Sato became Sugarman. Ojiro picked Tailman, despite Midnight warning him that it was a little too boring. Through sign language, Koji revealed his hero name of Anima.
Iida stood next. "As most of you know by now, my brother was attacked by the Hero Killer. Just as our father passed the name to him, Tensei has asked that I take up the mantle..." He turned his whiteboard around, "Of Ingenium!"
Mineta dashed up and chose the name of Grape Juice. Tokoyami selected Jet-Black Hero: Tsukuyomi. Sero chose Cellophane.
Midoriya finally made it to the front before anyone else. "After the League of Villains was driven off at the USJ, there was something All Might said to me. That all of us twisted the hopes of villains attacking, making despair into hope. Making a miracle. That's the kind of Hero that I want to be. So, this is me." He turned his whiteboard around. "Mister Miracle!"
"You know, if you dropped the mister it would be more intimidating to villains." Midnight said.
Midoriya looked at Yaoyorozu and saw her beaming at him. "Thank you, Midnight-sensei. But I'll keep it as is."
"Ugh, finally." Aizawa rose from his sleeping bag promptly. "Thank you, Midnight."
Midoriya did a double take. How the heck did he wake up so quickly?
After Midoriya had returned to his seat, Aizawa continued. "Your next objective is to select which Hero you will intern with. This will consist of two weeks of you effectively working under them. Unlike the work studies you will do in your second year and onward, you will not be paid."
"Damn it." Kaminari muttered.
"I keep telling you it's fine, Sparkplug." Jiro whispered, "It's not like my family's hard up for cash or anything."
"Yeah, but-"
Jiro sighed, "Besides, I said I was going to buy you something pretty, and I still need to make good on that."
Kaminari smirked, "About that-"
Aizawa took notice of the pair. "Do you have something you would like to share with the class, Kaminari?"
Kaminari sat straight up, "No, Aizawa-sensei!"
"Then stop wasting my time." Aizawa said flatly, "Now, as I was saying. About half of you have offers from various Hero agencies to come and intern with them. Some of you have an absurd amount of offers." He pressed a button on a remote, and a graph showing who got offers and how many appeared on the blackboard.
Todoroki topped the list with over five hundred offers. Bakugo had about two hundred, while Midoriya had around one hundred. After that, it tapered off into the fifties and lower.
"Hold on." Mineta said, "How come Midoriya has less than Bakugo?"
Aizawa shrugged, "If I had to guess. they probably didn't like how self-destructive Midoriya was during his fight with Todoroki." He brushed his hair out of his eyes, "Now. If you didn't get any offers, don't worry. The school will find you somewhere to go."
"Holy crap!" Uraraka said, "I got offers? No way!"
Iida nodded, "As did I, it's to be expected Uraraka. Those of us that made it to the finals are at least in the top ten percent of the nation's Hero trainees."
"Hah!" Kirishima said, "Someone noticed how manly my fight with Tetsutetsu was!"
"Holy crap." Kaminari said. "I got an offer."
Bakugo was silent. He knew that Aizawa-sensei had already chosen his internship for him. Mineta did the same.
Yaoyorozu blinked. Even with how she had fumbled her last two fights she had upwards of forty offers. No, it was probably just because of her name, right?
As the packet with all of his offers was placed in front of him, Midoriya was already flipping through it. Okay. Okay. I need to intern with a Hero that can help me hone my fighting style, specifically help me break away from trying to be a mini-All Might. I think that might be the cause of most of my self-inflicted injuries. Fat Gum? No, his fighting style is based around his Quirk. Death Arms? Nah, he'd just tell me to punch harder. He's not called the Punching Hero for nothing. Gunhead does have his own fighting style, to the point where it's an actual martial art. But... no. He focuses on throws and ground submissions, that's not how I want to do things. Who should...
Then it hit him like a ton of bricks. It didn't seem possible. Hadn't she been on hiatus? I thought she didn't work with any other Heroes? Why... "Um, Aizawa-sensei, I think one of my offers is a mistake."
Aizawa groaned. He knew this was coming. He had hoped Midoriya would choose someone else. Anyone else. But no, fate had to laugh at him as it made his life a living hell and laid bare all his secrets. "It isn't a mistake."
Midoriya blinked, "How do you know which one I'm talking about?"
"Because that particular hero called me directly to request you." Aizawa said.
Mineta turned around. "What's the big deal? Why do you think it's-" He choked on air as he saw the hero name Midoriya was pointing to. "You got an offer from Mirko?"
Everyone immediately looked at Midoriya. "I'm sorry, what the hell was that, Mineta?" Kaminari asked.
Midoriya shrunk in his seat. "Um... I'm going to Mirko for my internship?"
It took every ounce of Aizawa's willpower to not facedesk in front of his students.
"What about you guys?" He asked in a desperate attempt to change the subject.
"Uh, Washi." Mineta said.
Mina raised an eyebrow, "Really? I expected you to try to go to some female hero and spend your whole time there ogling them."
Mineta winced. "Okay, I deserve that."
"I'm going to my literal one offer, dude." Kaminari said, "Yoroi Musha."
Midoriya and Yaoyorozu shared a worried glance. Yoroi Musha was one of the heroes that Eclipse had told them was doing dirty work for the HPSC.
"Even if that's your only choice, it's a good one, Kaminari." Iida said, "My brother had cause to work with him a few months back, and he mentioned that he makes a point to request students that would benefit from Support items."
"Makes sense, I guess." Kaminari said, "With his Quirk weapons and items are kinda his whole thing,"
"I'm going to Best Jeanist, apparently." Bakugo said, staring at the choice form that Aizawa had given him earlier.
"I'm going to Fourth Kind!" Kirishima declared, "I want to fight crime in urban areas, so his Agency is in the perfect place for me!"
Yaoyorozu stared at her list of options. "I'm going to... Uwabami, I suppose."
Midoriya whirled around, "Don't go to her. You'll hate it."
"Oh?" Yaoyorozu raised an eyebrow, "Go on, Midori."
Midoriya's train of thought screeched to a halt. "M-Midori?"
One corner of Yaoyorozu's mouth quirked up mischievously. "Trying out nicknames. I'm open to feedback. You were saying?"
After realigning his mental faculties, Midoriya explained, "While Uwabami is a competent Rescue Hero, she fills in the gaps with her fashion line." Midoriya paused for a moment as he gathered his thoughts, "I estimate that a bare minimum of seventy percent of your time at her Agency would be standing around while she does fashion... stuff."
"Smooth." Mineta sweat-dropped.
"Look, there's a reason I thought that Midoriya wasn't able to hold a conversation with women who aren't his mother for years." Bakugo said matter-of-factly.
Yaoyorozu wisely ignored the problem children and their Statler and Waldorf impression. She handed her packet of offers to Midoriya. "Where do you think I should go?"
Midoriya hesitated for the briefest moment before taking the packet from her. He began scanning the heroes listed. "What did you want to accomplish at your internship?"
"What do you think I should be working on?"
Ah, don't tell me... Midoriya froze up in indecision. Did she want him to try to buoy up her self-confidence, or did she want him to give her solutions? Even then, there was no way that Yaoyorozu didn't have any idea of how she needed to improve.
It was almost like she didn't trust her own judgment. She needed to go to a hero that could help her with that... but who...
There!
"You could go to Crust!" Midoriya said, "While his Quirk isn't quite the same as yours, it's still in the same ballpark. Plus a couple of his sidekicks are gadgeteer type heroes, so there should be a workshop or maintenance area at his agency so you can work on any ideas you have for new items to create!"
Yaoyorozu blinked. "Crust requested me? The number six Hero?" How did I miss that?
"Sure looks like it!" Midoriya said cheerily as he handed the packet back to her.
"What about you, Maki?" Kirishima asked in an attempt to engage their newest member.
"I'm not going to an internship." Maki explained, "During the two weeks all of you are gone, I'll be taking a special Heroics course from Aizawa-sensei to help me catch up to the rest of you."
Tsu tapped her chin thoughtfully, "That makes sense. While we might have only a few weeks of classes under our belt, we also had the USJ incident which accelerated our growth a little." She cocked her head, "There's probably the security risks to consider as well, ribbit."
Maki blinked. "Did you just... ribbit?"
Tsu raised an eyebrow. "Yeah. And?"
Maki's mouth became a thin line. Shoji became very quiet and turned to look at him.
"Am I... is it okay to say I thought it was cute? Or is that somehow offensive?"
Tsu laughed, "I'll allow it, ribbit."
As the poster boy for Class 1-A Himbo, Kirishima was confused. "Wait, what just happened?"
Mina cackled, "Tsu actually showed interest in a boy, that's what happened! And holy crap, if they get together, that'll be spicy!"
"Jiro, intervention please." Iida said.
"Heh." Jiro lashed out with one of her earphone jacks and stuck it in Mina's ear before blasting her with sound.
"Okay! I get it!" Mina relented. "Pick internship now, ship later!"
Iida said nothing further, only wrote down where he wanted to do his internship. Then he got up and handed it to Aizawa. "May I be excused? I need to visit my brother."
For a moment, Aizawa considered telling him no. But then memories of that night surfaced. That terrible, terrible night when Shirakumo had... He bit the inside of his cheek to refocus. Later. He could brood later. "Go ahead."
"Hey, Iida!" Kirishima called out, "Where'd you decide?"
"Oh, ah... Manual out in Hosu. I will see you all tomorrow, I suppose."
As Iida left, Midoriya's brain went into overdrive. Why would Iida go to Manual? Their Quirks aren't anything alike and Manual is a C-Lister at best. He's not even in the top one hundred. Wait. Hosu City. Why did Iida think that was important to mention? Hosu... Hosu... wait wasn't that where Ingenium was attacked by-
Midoriya realized why Iida was going to Manual. He was going after the Hero Killer.
"Oh, crapbaskets." He scrambled out of his seat and handed his form to Aizawa. "I'll be right back, I need to go to the bathroom." Without waiting for a response he dashed out of the door.
Aizawa looked down at the form that Midoriya had forgotten to fill out and sighed. Well, that's one thing he has in common with All Might. Against his better judgement, he wrote down Mirko's name in the first choice slot.
Completely unaware of this, Midoriya dashed towards the entrance hall to catch up to Iida. "Iida, wait!"
Just as he got to the shoe lockers, Iida turned back to see Midoriya panting for breath. "Midoriya? What is it?
Midoriya looked him dead in the eye. "I know what you're up to. What you're planning to do."
Iida stared right back at him. "I don't know what you're talking about, Midoriya. I'm going to Manual because I want to see how a smaller agency does things."
Midoriya's eye twitched. "And it has nothing to do with Manual's agency being located in Hosu?"
Iida set his jaw. "Stay out of this, Midoriya."
"You know I can't do that. That I won't do that." Midoriya said, "This is vigilantism, Iida. And if by some miracle you do kill Stain, since you weren't acting as a Hero, that'll be life in Tartarus for murder."
"I know that, Mid-"
Midoriya pressed on, "You'll be a criminal. A villain. Is that what your brother would want?"
Iida's voice became low and threatening, "You don't know what you're talking about."
Midoriya resisted the urge to roll his eyes. "Cut the crap, Iida. You know full well that I keep up to date on Hero news. So I've heard everything that the authorities have made public about the Hero Killer. Ingenium will either die in some Hosu back alley, or burned at the stake as a cautionary tale. Is that what you want? For your family's legacy to end? Or worse, forever be tainted by villainy?"
"You have no idea! None!" Iida shouted, "You haven't seen him in the hospital! Midoriya, the light in his eyes is gone! When I told him about our fight, he didn't make some joke about how I need to stop being so predictable, he just... said nothing! My brother is dead, his body is just too stubborn to realize it!" Tears were streaming down his face now. "Your help... is not wanted." He turned and walked away, leaving Midoriya standing there.
Midoriya looked down at his scarred hand. If words wouldn't stop Iida from this suicide run, then he would have to take action. The question was how. How could he... Wait! If taking me as an intern is Mirko's return from her hiatus... she fell out of the top ten, and will be eager to get that back. It's a longshot, but she has a history of taking on fights she shouldn't and winning anyways. I'll just have to convince her that I can pull my weight...
He drew in a deep breath through his nose and let it out from his mouth. This was going to be reckless. It carried a large chance of serious injury or death. But if he did nothing, then Iida would die.
It was like All Might said. Giving help that's not asked for or needed was the whole point of being a hero.
And Izuku Midoriya wanted nothing more than to be a hero.
A/N: Apologies for the delay. My apartment flooded, so that's a thing I'm dealing with. Anyways, let's take it from the top.
Mineta is on his last chance. This is also his starting line. Same with Bakugo.
As they are his "problem children" Aizawa picked out their internships specifically to help them address their issues. Bakugo still going to Best Jeanist is no mistake.
We start to see the damage done to Yaoyorozu's self confidence by her losses in the Sports Festival. Luckily, she's got Midoriya in her corner.
Finally, Midoriya puzzles out what Iida is planning, and unlike canon, tries to stop it. Unfortunately, Midoriya is not Naruto, and has no access to Talk no Jitsu. (yet) So he's going to stop him the only way he knows how. Boldly and recklessly. In a way that makes all of the women in his life want to strangle him.
(Yes, I know this chapter is all one big scene. There wasn't any way around that. There will be much more action next chapter, promise.)
Till the next chapter.
