Chapter 27: Internship or interned?
When Izuku opened the door to the unsuspicious Torino Agency, seeing his new mentor lying in a pool of blood wasn't what he expected. However, living with a master prankster (aka Mr. Compress who could marble some "magazine" for Inko to find in her son's room and other little things like that) made him inherently suspicious.
"… Mister Torino, your breathing is obvious. I don't know why you are trying to sleep in tomato sauce, but I doubt it's good for your hero outfit."
If the man was anything like Atsuhiro, he would rise up… Right now.
"Oh? So apparently, you don't freak out easily… ARRGH! Why does your arm bend like that?!"
Izuku, having dislocated his shoulder as part of his training, stretched his limp arm with a smile.
"My trainer is an insane man who keeps insisting on teaching me new tricks. If you want to surprise me, you will have to do better, old man."
Torino, now standing, looked at Izuku's smile. It was Nana's. Apparently, it ran in the family, that and the ability to freak him out.
"Well, at least you had a competent mentor. I also watched your performance at the tournament, and I saw a few things we could work on togeth… SURPRISE ATTACK!"
Izuku, not really impressed, dodged the attack with a breath, moving only slightly to dodge Torino.
"… Even that?"
"Let's say that when we do physical training, he would sometimes pull out water balloons and throw them at me."
"That doesn't seem that bad."
"It is when it's winter outside."
Torino liked how his mentor worked and that he had no remorse for torturing the child if it meant making him better.
"Good. However, I saw during your tournament that you could use more close combat training. When the opponent closes up, you can defend a bit, but there is clearly room for improvement."
Izuku nodded at Torino's analysis, having concluded the same thing.
"I also have several questions about your quirk and how it works, if you don't mind."
Torino didn't have the mind of a true quirk analyst. However, he had several decades of heroism behind him which taught him how to find new ways to use a quirk. Experience over professionalism, one might say. That and helping the blond how to find new ways to optimize One for All's output.
"Well… The general idea is I can summon what is written on cards. The stronger the card, the more it wears me out, though I have recently discovered that using cards that give "mana" or energy could help me ease that drawback."
Torino listened while he cooked two fried fish. Hmm, the quirk was weird. Usually, it was a mix of the father's and the mother's quirk. It could also be a mutation, but still on the theme of one of their quirk.
As an example, Torino's father was someone that could smell from his feet while the old hero could eject air from them. Still, a theme was there, though the quirks were different.
However, if what All-Might told Torino was right, maybe Torino focused on the wrong quirk Izuku got. Was it something descending from One for All, and its stockpile power, or was it from Heart Stealer's quirk?
Hard to tell…
Anyway.
"That is what I thought. However, I have a question for you, young Joker."
Izuku, who was in the middle of removing his suit from his bag, was suddenly all ears. Especially since Torino seemed to do surprise attacks.
"Did the cost lessen because of the card, or because you played by the rules of the game you summoned?"
Izuku, ever the quirk nerd, was going to say it was the card, when something stopped him in what Torino said.
He played by the rules, by sacrificing lesser cards to bring a better monster. It was a really common mechanic if you thought about it, same for the mana reserve or the energy reserve.
Torino saw Izuku's brain in action and smiled. It was nice when youngsters did that and didn't fall into the usual trap that they knew their quirk better than anyone else. Quirk Analysts were there because they could bring an outsider's perspective since people usually had trouble analyzing their own quirk.
"I think… That question needs more tests before I answer."
"Good. Now, I have another question: why did you only burn one card at a time during the battle?"
"Well, because I can summon only one card at a time?"
Torino managed to high kick him in the head this time, sending Izuku flying across the room.
"IDIOT! During the final bout against your friend, you managed to summon several weak cards at the same time! Your power is growing! Now, we need to test its real limits, not the one you think you still have!"
Izuku groaned because of the pain, but he smiled soon afterward. Oh, it was going to be a really interesting internship after all!
—————
"Break for ten minutes!"
When Tooru began her training with Midnight, she expected many things. Work on being marketable and playing with her invisibleness, tips about being an underground hero, things like that. She didn't expect Midnight to pull up a diary that had seen better days, and pull exercises from it non-stop.
"Thanks, ma'am!"
Tooru had trouble breathing, despite her own training, as she lay down on the ground.
"Now, you must be wondering why I train you that hard when people think my quirk is pretty much something that can end a battle instantly, right?"
Tooru couldn't help but nod, as everyone knew that Midnight's gas could knock out people quickly.
She didn't expect Midnight to tear suddenly apart her suit, at her belly level to reveal… a gorgeous six-pack and what was clearly a well-toned body.
Tooru couldn't help but express her surprise at the sight.
"Wow!"
"Impressive, right? Once, like you, I thought my quirk was enough to single handedly stop a villain. So… Well, I might have been a bit of a vigilante on the side. To be fair, it was significantly more common in my days."
"Until one day, when I was around your age, when I went against a mutant who was bigger than me and female. As a result, my gas was pretty much ineffective, and it almost ended badly."
Midnight passed a bottle of water to Tooru, who was listening intently to what her mentor was saying. She then showed her a scar on a part of her belly. The wound was long gone, but the scar remained.
"I was lucky, and the Midnight Nurses found me. They were more back alley doctors than real vigilantes, but damn if they weren't respected by everyone. One of them could produce a slippery oil and use it as some kind of disinfectant. The other could attract small objects and she was… Creative with her quirk, to say the least. She was also the actual nurse in their duo."
The invisible girl didn't expect that kind of serious side in her usually flirty teacher, but she guessed mentorship was also a good chance to discover more about them, just like Shinsho was probably learning under Aizawa.
"The regimen I am making you do is the same she gave me. I know I don't look like it, but I can lift Cementoss above my head. My suit is made to tear easily for my gas, but its real purpose is to hide my real build. So, if I am facing off against a mutant or someone with a gas mask, I can assure you they will have a bad time."
Then Midnight got up and stretched, before making her charge rise again. Their training wasn't over!
"Oh, by the way, I forgot to mention. I will make sure you follow that training, even after this week ends. You don't want to be seen as just Izuku's sidekick, right?"
Midnight smiled, as her student seemed extremely fired up and ran with her. It was going to be an intense week for Tooru, but Midnight had hoped to make her a better fighter… If the girl could learn to use her flashbang on command and KO her opponent by surprise, she would become one of the most dangerous underground heroes, on par with Aizawa, once older.
—————
Katsuki arrived in front of a former gym that was restructured as a hero agency. The giant carrot above it made it clear who was the owner, even if Miruko was always on the move to fight crime, as everyone knew.
When he entered the building, he was surprised to see an otter mutant lady acting as the secretary. To be fair, it was actually normal if he thought about it: it would be hard to be the #8 if you didn't fill out the paperwork, and Miruko, despite being more muscle than brain, wasn't an idiot. Hiring someone to take care of the red tape was a good idea, and Katsuki made a mental note of that.
"Hello! I am the new intern!"
"Very nice. Sit down for a minute, Miruko is busy interviewing your friend." The secretary gave exactly zero fuck about him, as she was on her apparently eighth espressos while taking care of a stack of paperwork. Poor girl.
"Who?"
An answer came to the flabbergasted Katsuki as one wall exploded, revealing a giant gummy bear, and a Yui emerging from it.
"Oh? The second one is here too? Sorry, your friend arrived earlier, and I decided to see if what I saw during the Festival was a fluke or not~"
From the dust, Miruko emerged wearing her hero outfit, her aura exuding her thirst for battle. Instantly, Katsuki assumed a battle stance, while a bloody Yui was rising from her candied protection as she pulled out a gun.
She shot several times, revealing plastic pellets. Oh, right, of course?
No one would be insane enough to give a real gun to a child.
————
Somewhere Mei sneezed.
————
Then the pellets, mid-course, grew to the size of small balloons, all aimed at Miruko.
Katsuki, who understood what was happening, forced himself to relax, as the Bunny hero destroyed all the projectiles with a power crescent kick before landing on Yui, who was trying to dodge and counterattack.
"Will you yield, girl?"
Yui answered that by taking a rock and… Miruko blocking her arm.
"Good! You have good spirits!"
"Damn right she has! Isn't that obvious?!"
Everyone looked at a Katsuki who was sitting, waiting, and irritated to have been forgotten.
"Yui is a mean bitch that loves to fight. It is fucking visible!"
A side-effect of Katsuki's condition that prevented him from seeing faces or reading facial expressions was that it made him very good at reading their body language. One might actually say it was one of the reasons he was so good in battle: he was reading his opponent's body language and moved accordingly.
It also means that to him, Yui, despite her stoic face, was very expressive and she exuded the will to prove herself and fight a good one.
Miruko looked weirdly at Katsuki, before laughing as loud as she could as she let Yui stand up. Apparently, her first two interns had spirit, talent, and bravery.
"Good! Kids, I hope you will be ready for this week! Because I will train you the same way I train myself, we will spar a fuckton and then I will hunt bastards with my side-kicks!"
"FUCK YEAH!"
"Yey."
Katsuki wondered something, though.
Wasn't Miruko known for her lack of side-kicks and going solo in whatever turf she was in?
"MIRUKO, I TOLD YOU A FUCKING THOUSAND TIMES NOT TO DESTROY THE WALL!"
The otter mutant was rising from her desk, clearly pissed at the sight and Katsuki saw something he never imagined was even possible: Miruko's body showed the tiniest amount of fear.
"First lesson: RUN FROM THE MAD OTTER!"
"COME BACK HERE!"
Katsuki and Yui got the full view of a mad otter chasing a scared rabbit across the gym. He got her a cold coke from a vending machine and smiled at her.
"It is going to be fun! Also, happy to see you won't slack on your training."
"I should be the one saying that."
Yui didn't chuckle as her disability didn't allow her to show as much emotion as she really felt, but she heard Katsuki laughing for both of them.
Yes, it was going to be a fun internship.
————
"First lesson, Shouto. Always wear protection."
Endeavor and Rei were looking at their son who hurt his leg, trying to kick his dad in the balls. Sadly for him, Enji knew his son's plan, and he actually wore padded protection there.
"Duly… Noted."
"Good. Now, the real question, Shouto."
Enji kneeled in front of his son, staring at him intently.
"Do you really want to intern under me? Because if it is to attack me every occasion you get, that isn't worth your time."
The glare his son gave him made him and Rei both sigh.
"Your father has a point. You are supposed to learn, and I will be there to interrupt your training if I think your father is going overboard."
Shouto was going to say something, when Endeavor spoke again, with sorrow evident in his voice. All three of them were in his office, so no one could eavesdrop on them.
"I am not asking you to forgive me, Shouto. I just want to know if you would prefer to learn under me, or one of my older sidekicks instead. Some of them, like Burnin, are as good as some of the top 20 and could teach you a lot, too."
Shouto looked at his father as if he grew a second head. His father seemed calm and tired, far from his usual overbearing and sometimes angry demeanor.
"… I could do that?"
Endeavor nodded, waiting for his son's answer.
Shouto was screaming internally. One part of him wanted to try to yeet Endeavor through the window and tell him to fuck off. Shouto called that his inner Katsuki.
The other, more rational part of him was telling him to not do that. He didn't have to forgive his father, but he had to admit that Endeavor was a good teacher, as Shouto had been forced to recognize during the Festival. Most of his lessons were spot on and useful if you forgot how he taught him at first.
If his mother was here, though, it means Shouto could kill two birds with one stone:
-He would get quality training with his mother as a supervisor this time.
-He could make sure his father didn't try anything funny with his mother.
Shouto Todoroki however allowed himself a little treat.
"I get to punch you once in the face and it is a deal for me to intern under you. I still have a lot to let out."
Endeavor nodded.
The next instant, Shouto's fist connected with his jaw, and the number 2 Hero felt the full effect of his training. The punch had been enough to actually throw him off his feet, but not enough to make him fall.
"… Are we good?"
Shouto looked at his father, impressed for the second time. It was one of his most powerful punches and his father took it like it was nothing.
"Ye… Yes."
"Good. Now, you will learn something that was left out of your education for far too long, however it is necessary for a hero."
It actually interested Shouto, until his father took a lot of files from his desk.
"Investigation."
Shouto didn't know why, but he would have preferred fighting to investigation. Rei too, as Endeavor explained to Shouto how to analyze hints at a crime scene and what signs to look for to differentiate a killer from someone harvesting organs for an organization.
—————
"Ouch… Fuck that one hurt!"
Sophie was on an improvised tatami against Gentle Criminal. Since she was living with him and La Brava, she could use a few training sessions against him.
"Maybe you could use your quirk to equalize the fight. I am not using mine."
The con artist sighed before she stood up.
"I can't. My quirk isn't combat oriented at all and it is messy as fuck. I prefer to not use or count on it if I can. Also, no offense, but the fewer people that know about it, the better."
Gentle could actually understand, as La Brava brought some tea for the two.
"Still, I never saw someone who had that much problem with a simple throw, you know."
"Yes, yes. My last teacher also told me that. That son of a bitch was more violent, though."
Honestly, she had worked with Stain before his killing spree began, and they left on good terms, but still. Not a fun teacher.
"Also, you never told us what you were looking for in Mr. Compress' files. I mean, maybe La Brava and I could help?"
La Brava was busy using the papers brought by Sophie to create a few backup identities for everyone on the team, to help with their investigations. The better the preparation, the fewer risks of being discovered.
Especially if they were to attack and take down a corporation that had a link with human trafficking.
Compress' show made it look like it was easy but it needed a lot of groundwork and people like La Brava and Sophie making stuff, preparing back-doors, and planning before they launched their attacks.
"GOOOOOOD MORNING RAYS OF SUNSHINE!"
The boss appeared in the middle of their room, in a puff of smoke. Because, of course, he would.
"So, let's start with the good news: we have an emergency exit strategy, I just finished planning it with the person who will act as our distraction."
Everyone looked at Compress for more information… Which he gave.
"Endeavor will be officially in the same ward as us for a joint exercise with the Ryuukyuu agency. As a result, when he sees our signal, he will intervene with full force to 'intercept us' but he will actually focus on assisting the victims and arresting local criminals. Any questions?"
"Anything we should worry about?"
Compress nodded, under his mask.
"They have their own private hero, Gust Duster. However, everything should be okay on that side. Gentle can probably take him down alone, so the two of us…"
Everyone nodded, smiling.
They didn't know that someone from their group would die during the mission.