AN: Thanks for reading and leaving a review, everyone!
Shoving her favorite pair of stuffed animals into her bag, Himiko zipped it up and shouldered it. Grabbing her case, she left her room, only to see Mom and Izuku standing there in the living room, waiting for her.
"Oh Himi, I'm so proud of you!" Inko said, looking at her daughter. "Going on your first internship!"
"Be sure to take lots of notes!" Izuku reminded her.
Himiko looked like she bit a lemon. "I'm going to enjoy the week away from you and Song!"
"Aww," Izuku pouted. Himiko hated when he did that - she knew she couldn't say no to him when he was like this.
"Maybe I'll tell you about it when I get back," Himiko said with a pained sigh.
"Yay! You're the best," Izuku exclaimed.
Despite her feigned aggravation, she smiled as she hugged her family goodbye.
Exiting the train station, Himiko pulled out her phone. She followed its instructions as it led her to a generic-looking building, a small sign filled with logos the only indication that it was an agency. It was certainly less flashy than she was expecting, but given Mr. Brave's ranking, she probably should've expected this.
Shoving her phone into her pocket, she entered the building, only to be greeted by an unmanned front desk. The wall behind it was decorated with the same logos as she saw out front, only this time the image was blown up to fill the entire wall. There she saw Mr. Brave's logo, along with half a dozen others that she failed to recognize - other heroes who shared the building with him, no doubt.
"There you are Carmilla! Welcome to my agency," A voice called out from the elevators.
Himiko turned toward the source of the voice to see the hero himself standing by the elevators. She flashed him a toothy smile. "And you must be Mr. Brave!"
"Indeed I am," The hero chuckled as he approached. "I hope you didn't have any trouble finding my agency."
"Nope!" Himiko chirped.
"Great! Let's go upstairs and I can show you around," Mr. Brave gestured toward the elevator.
Bobbing her head, Himiko followed him into the elevator. The first stop was the small suite of hotel-sized rooms. While most heroes don't live in their agencies, Mr. Brave explained, they often have to work late or odd hours and so it was nice to have a proper bed to sleep in. More often than not they were saved for visiting heroes or, during this time of year, interns.
"Since you're the first one here," Mr. Brave explained as he opened a small lock box, "you get your pick of the rooms. Which one do you want?"
"It doesn't matter to me," Himiko shook her head. "Unless one has a cute view!"
"Sadly not," Mr. Brave gave a low chuckle as he took out a key and tossed it to her. "I'll give you the corner room at the end then. Not the best view but it's the biggest. Why don't you go drop off your bags before we continue?"
Bobbing her head, Himiko took off down the hallway to the room number that matched her card. Swiping her card, she opened the door and stepped in, examining her new home for the week. It was barely larger than her room at home, but it did have a private bathroom! She wouldn't have to share like the other rooms would!
Dropping her bags on her bed, she returned to the hero mentoring her and they continued on their tour. The agency had all of the basic facilities she had expected to see - although the support staff, meeting area, and gym were shared between everyone. Mr. Brave did have his own private suite though, a pair of connected offices, complete with a wall that showed off his modest awards and newspaper headlines.
After showing off the small kitchen, stocked with cartons of blood to accommodate her, and the recreational area the pair returned to the elevator.
"And that concludes our tour," Mr. Brave said. "Ready to get down to business?"
"Yep!" Himiko chirped.
"Great! Change into your training clothes and meet me at the gym. I want to see what kind of things UA's been teaching you."
When she entered the gym, she saw Mr. Brave standing off to one side, near an open weapons locker. As she approached him, he gestured to the locker. "Pick anything you'd like."
With a grin, Himiko grabbed a pair of long knives, similar in length to those she had hidden throughout her costume. Much to her disappointment the blades were dull, but she should have expected that. Matching her choice, the hero grabbed a pair of shorter knives before they moved to an open sparring circle.
"Don't hold back," The hero said as he slid into an easy stance.
"I won't!" Himiko promised as she dropped into a semi-crouch, before leaping at her opponent.
Two hours later Himiko collapsed on a bench. She had been put through the paces at UA, but this was a whole other level!
"I'm impressed you held out that long," Mr. Brave said as he offered her a bottle of water.
"So am I," Himiko said as she opened the bottle and chugged its contents. "I'm going to look super uncute tomorrow when I see those bruises."
The hero laughed as he sat down next to her. "What, is there someone you're trying to impress?"
"No," Himiko shook her head. "But it doesn't matter! I always want to look cute!"
"I see," The hero examined her critically. "That's the risk you take by sticking to knives. They offer a distinct advantage over nothing but you've gotta get close, and if you're not decisive you risk getting hurt in return."
"Don't care," Himiko said. "That just means I need to get better!"
"I thought you might say that," The hero gave her a wry smile. "The good news is your fundamentals are solid. But you're lacking in experience - although I'd be worried if you actually had more!" He laughed.
Himiko giggled. "I've been practicing lots, but I haven't really had to fight anyone yet."
"Hopefully that doesn't change this week," Mr. Brave admitted.
"But then how will I get experience?" Himiko asked, disappointment creeping into her voice.
The hero smirked and held out one of the practice knives. "I have a few ideas to improve your techniques. Ready for round two?"
Himiko groaned. Izuku should have warned her what she was getting into!
After another hour Himiko felt a fresh round of bruises.
"You're getting better!" Mr. Brave complimented her.
"Thanks," Himiko deadpanned as she took the offered bottle of water. "It doesn't feel that way."
"It may not feel like it, but you're learning fast," The hero smiled. "I know we've only got a week together, but I think that's plenty of time."
"I hope so," Himiko grumbled.
The hero chuckled. "Now then, onto patrol! Why don't you grab a shower and meet me out front?"
"Okay!" Himiko perked up. The training was rough, but patrol should be fun!
As they began to walk along one of Mr. Brave's patrol routes, Himiko was filled with nervous energy. This is when the action's supposed to happen, right?
So why was she feeling disappointment every time they turned a corner, only for everything to be so normal and unexciting?
"You were expecting more excitement, weren't you?" The hero asked as if he sensed her discomfort.
"N-no," Himiko shuttered out, feeling her cheeks heating up.
"I know patrols aren't the most exciting thing," Mr. Brave explained as he waved to an old lady tending a vegetable stall. "But it helps the people you are protecting feel safe. And when they're safe, they trust you more."
"That's a problem?" Himiko asked.
"It is when you turn your hair into swords," The hero replied, pulling out a tuft of hair to demonstrate.
"Oh," Himiko said.
"Now do you understand how important they are?" The hero asked knowingly.
Himiko bit her lip as she saw a salaryman politely greet Mr. Brave as he passed by. They treated him as if he was normal, that his quirk wasn't weird or messy or scary.
"Can I be like that?" Himiko asked.
"Of course you can!" Mr. Brave replied. "You're a hero, just like me. Even if your methods aren't traditional."
Looking around, Himiko saw a couple of children staring at her. Deciding to try his advice, she gave them a polite smile and waved. The kids brightened at her response and waved back, prompting her to give them a toothy smile in return. They didn't flinch, nor show any signs of finding her creepy! Instead, they simply returned to playing their game.
"See what I mean?"
"Yeah," Himiko said as she watched the kids. "I'm starting to get it."
The smile never left her face for the rest of the patrol.
For her next patrol, she was filled with a different sensation. She felt like something was off - like she was being watched. Himiko spent most of the patrol on high alert, constantly searching high and low for the source of the sensation. If for no other reason then she wanted to know who was interested in her.
About halfway through the patrol, the sensation increased. Spinning around, she finally found the source of the sensation. Across the street, there was a tall woman standing there, staring at her. She was smart - she wore a baggy jogging outfit that concealed most of her features while not looking out of place, and she was wearing sunglasses, leaving her hair as her one defining feature. It was a two-tone pink and navy, a rather unique combination.
Himiko made a note of it as she tried to stare down the woman - which was hard to do when she was wearing sunglasses! But even with the barrier, she felt the other woman's eyes boring into her.
She refused to back down.
"Is something wrong Carmilla?" Mr. Brave asked, noticing her distraction.
Blinking, Himiko turned toward the hero. "I saw a woman-" When she turned her attention back across the street, she saw the other woman was no longer there. "-she's gone!"
"Hmm," Mr. Brave rubbed his chin. "What did she look like?"
"She had sunglasses and a jogging outfit," Himiko explained.
"Sounds like someone out for a run," The hero said. "Was she doing anything suspicious?"
"No," Himiko admitted. "It just… it felt like she was watching me!"
"Do you think she recognized you from the Sports Festival? You did make a splash on national television after all."
"Maybe…" Himiko bit her lip, feeling her fang sinking into the soft flesh. It could have been that, but it didn't explain the feeling she experienced.
"Let me know if you catch her watching you again. It might be nothing, but if your instincts are telling you otherwise…" The hero looked at his intern. "It's good to trust and hone them."
Himiko nodded. "I will!"
"Let's keep going then."
"Alright!" Himiko agreed before falling in alongside the hero.
She wasn't sure if she felt better or worse about the fact that the sensation didn't return the rest of the patrol.
On the third day of the internship, Himiko finally saw her first combat.
Partway through their patrol they heard a commotion. Himiko looked at her mentor and he returned her gaze. "Be ready Carmilla."
"Yes sir!" Himiko chirped.
The two raced forward, Himiko drawing a pair of knives while Mr. Brave pulled a tuft of hair out to form a sword.
Moments later they arrived at the scene, where a crowd of civilians were forming a loose circle around a pair of thugs - who were holding a hostage. Himiko looked over the thugs, trying to put her lessons to use as she evaluated them. One of the two had long ropey arms that he had wrapped around the woman, holding her up in the air. The other man was a large muscled figure with a huge shark-like mouth, and waving a knife menacingly.
"Lady, all you had to do was hand over your wallet. Then we would have left you alone and everything would be great. But now look at the mess you've made!" Shark-mouth complained.
"This is your one warning," Mr. Brave announced as he pushed through the crowd. "Unhand her now, before anyone gets hurt."
"This is just great," Rope-arms complained. "Now the heroes are here!"
"Stay back!" Shark-teeth ordered as he held the knife closer to the woman's throat. "Or else!"
Himiko looked at the villains, and an idea began to form in her head.
Maybe…
She slipped her knives into their holsters and raised their hands. "Fine, you win!" She began backing away from the villains.
"Carmilla, what are you doing?" Mr. Brave hissed.
"I'll make an opening for you," Himiko whispered back. "I just- need a moment!" Mr. Brave frowned, letting her know exactly what he thought of this idea. Himiko gave him a pleading look. "You said to trust my instincts, right?"
Mr. Brave stared at her, before giving her a single nod. He then turned his attention back toward the villains and took a sidestep to place himself between them and his intern.
"Looks like the girl's lost her nerve," Shark-mouth boasted. "What about you? Don't you care about this woman?"
"My intern is still young and inexperienced," Mr. Brave explained. "But I can't let you go! I have a job to protect these people!"
"Seems like you're doing a poor job of it," The villain taunted. "Admit it, all you really care about is putting villains away. Well guess what? We're not gonna let that happen to us!"
As her mentor kept talking, Himiko carefully picked her way through the crowd, trying to get as close to Shark-Mouth as she could. As she got closer, she tried to steady her breathing - her heart was pounding at the thought of what she was about to do! She's used her disappearing trick so often that it's become second nature to her, even in her mock battles at UA, but this is different! The woman was counting on her!
If she screwed up, the woman could be hurt… or worse.
I believe in you Himi! Izuku's voice silently cheered from the back of her mind.
"I won't let you down, Izu," Himiko whispered.
Well - if she didn't get kicked out of her internship. She didn't exactly tell Mr. Brave how she was planning to cause a distraction, after all!
Shoving all of her doubt aside, Himiko took several steadying breaths before she stopped breathing. Determination filling her face, she stepped out of the crowd towards Shark-mouth.
Everything happened so quickly after that. Reaching out, she grabbed his knife hand and twisted it, watching the knife clatter to the ground as she pulled his arm behind his back. "Sorry not sorry."
From the corner of her eye, Himiko watched as Mr. Brave leaped into action, charging toward Rope-arms. The villain yelped in surprise as he realized what was happening, and threw the woman between him and the oncoming hero. Mr. Brave anticipated the maneuver and pirouetted to the side, driving his sword into the villain's shoulder. Crying out in pain, the villain's grip loosened, giving the hero a chance to pull her free.
Unfortunately for Himiko, her moment of distraction gave Shark-mouth the time he needed to recover. Using his enhanced strength and durability, he wrenched his arm free and drove a meaty fist into Himiko's stomach, causing her to double over in pain. Backing up a step as she coughed, Himiko saw the man retrieve the knife from the ground.
"You'll pay for that," Shark-mouth growled as he took a swing at the young hero-in-training.
"Too slow," Himiko said as she brought up her own knife, blocking the blade. "You're gonna have to do better."
"Grr! I'll show you!" The man said, throwing out another punch and forcing Himiko to jump back.
As she landed, Himiko flashed a predatory smile as she drew a second knife. "I'd like to see you try."
Changing tactics, the villain opened his mouth wide and tried to bite down on Himiko's hand, seemingly uncaring about her knife. With an uncharacteristic cry (so uncute! The only person who's heard it has been family and she wanted to keep it that way!) she pulled her hand back, not wanting to test if a knife in his mouth would even work.
"Look at what you made me do," Himiko complained as she danced backward. "Now I've gotta make you pay!"
Dashing forward, Himiko cut a gash along the villain's arm, hoping to make him drop his knife - and to buy time for Mr. Brave. She saw the beautiful trail of crimson that she left behind on his muscled arm, but all it seemed to do was make her opponent angrier.
Guess that means he's got some sharklike instincts in him, oops.
The villain seemed to stop caring about his knife as he simply charged, focused on trying to bite Himiko. The good news for her is in this state his movements were sloppy and predictable, making it easy for her to dodge. The bad news is he was quick enough, and durable enough, that she couldn't find an opening to stop him herself.
"Why don't you pick on someone your own size?" Mr. Brave asked, grabbing a new tuft of hair as he joined the fight. As Himiko glanced behind him, she saw that he had disabled Rope-arms, whose hands were wrapped around his body before being bound in handcuffs.
It looked uncomfortable, but it did the job.
"I think I will," Shark-mouth growled before spinning around and charging at the hero. With his longer weapon Brave took the risk she didn't, forcing the villain to bite down on his hair-sword.
Himiko took the moment of reprieve for all it was worth and stood up. She had to do something to help! Her knives weren't working - she'd have to risk seriously injuring the villain if she wanted to stop him.
That's when she got an idea - of course! Eyeing her knives, she saw the rivulets of blood that still clung to them, and smiled.
Mr. Brave felt his weapon hold against the villain, but his strength was another story. He was forced to concede in this tug-of-war game, letting go of his hair blade and watching it collapse into a normal pile of hair as Shark-mouth stumbled forward, spitting out the mouthful of hair. He was already reaching for another tuft of hair, when he saw another Shark-mouth barrel into the first, slamming him into the ground.
"Carmilla?" The hero shouted in surprise.
"I'll keep him pinned," Himiko shouted as she grabbed his arm. With her quirk simulating the man's muscle mass, she found it much easier to hold him.
"Get off of me!" The villain growled from underneath her, struggling to get her off. For all his strength, he wasn't used to fighting someone as heavy - or as strong - as he was.
"Nope!" Himiko chirped, giving him a too-wide smile that she imagined looked incredibly creepy with the rows upon rows of teeth she had right now. "Why don't you surrender?"
The villain continued to struggle until he saw a pair of hair-swords enter his vision as Mr. Brave stood over him. "I agree."
Seeming to regain some of his senses, the villain looked up at the hero and thought about his options. It wasn't looking good, and with his buddy disabled, there wasn't a lot he could do. With a growl he finally ceased struggling, his body relaxing under Himiko.
Wasting no time, the hero kept one sword pointed at the villain while he pulled a pair of handcuffs from his belt and tossed them at Himiko. Taking a chance, she freed one of her arms to catch them, and quickly cuffed the villain's arms behind his back. Finally relaxing, she eased herself off of the villain.
"That was some quick thinking on your part," The hero complimented Himiko as he offered her a hand.
"Thanks!" Himiko chirped, taking his hand and pulling herself upright. Releasing her transformation, she felt Shark-mouth's large and uncute form slough off of her, disappearing into a pile of gray sludge around her feet. Padding back to her discarded attire, Himiko began pulling her boots back on - while her bodysuit was crafted to specifically survive when she used Transform, the rest of her costume wasn't, so she had to quickly rip her boots and jacket off. Once she zipped up her coat, she spun around to face the hero, who had managed to get both of them standing.
"Unfortunately for you," the hero continued, "we are going to have to spend time working on your communication skills."
"I don't know what you're talking about," Himiko said, feigning ignorance.
"Carmilla…" The hero said, in a tone that brooked no argument.
Himiko felt her face heating up as she tried to shrink into the collar of her coat. "Remember my stealth technique? It seemed like a good idea at the time!"
"But there were two of them, what if the other guy caught on? That could have ended badly for you - or for the hostage," The hero chided her.
"I know," Himiko sighed. "I considered it, but it still seemed like a good idea!"
"At least you understand what could have happened," The hero crossed his arms, but Himiko swore she saw the ghost of a smile on his face. "Go make sure the civilian's safe while I call the police."
Feeling herself relaxing, Himiko walked over to the lady who was currently sitting on the ground. Kneeling next to her, Himiko asked if everything was ok. The woman gave an unsteady nod before she spoke, saying she wasn't hurt - just shaken up. She was grabbed by one of Rope-arms arms and dragged into an alleyway where they tried to intimidate her into giving them her wallet. She tried to run, but they caught her, and then the heroes arrived.
Himiko recalled her training and tried to calm the woman down, reassuring her that everything was safe. It took some coaxing, especially since this wasn't one of Himiko's strong points, but eventually the woman began to relax.
At the sound of sirens, Himiko helped the other woman stand, guiding her to the waiting paramedics.
That was when she felt that sensation again.
Spinning around, Himiko immediately found her. The lady with the navy-and-pink two-tone hair and jogging outfit. Even through the sunglasses, Himiko could feel the piercing gaze, as if it was studying her, looking for something.
Making a decision, Himiko glanced back at the paramedics and saw they were now talking with the woman. Once she confirmed that she was safe, she turned her attention back to her mysterious watcher - only to see she had disappeared again. Unable to help herself, Himiko ran over to where she stood moments ago, but the woman was gone.
Confused and disappointed, Himiko returned to where the hero was speaking with the police.
"And there's my intern now," Mr. Brave said with a hint of pride in his voice. "Officers, I'd like you to meet Carmilla."
"We heard what you did," one of the officers said.
"Hey, I remember you - from the Sports Festival!"
"Yep!" Himiko said a little too quickly. "That's me!"
"It sounds like you've got a bright future ahead of you," The second officer said. "I can't wait to see what happens."
"Me neither!" Himiko said, feeling herself relax slightly. Looking at the hero, she saw him giving her an approving smile and felt her stomach unclench. Even though he didn't approve of her methods, he wasn't mad.
After giving her side of the story and answering some basic questions, the officers dismissed the heroes. As they walked away, Mr. Brave turned to his intern. "Unfortunately our patrol's gonna get cut short today. However! I figured out the perfect punishment for you disobeying me."
"W-what's that?" Himiko asked.
"When we get back to the agency, I'm going to give you firsthand experience in a part of heroics that I know you're going to absolutely love." Based on his cheeky grin, Himiko knew she was going to hate what he was about to say. "We're going to fill out this police report together."
Himiko let out a loud groan.
After her final training session, Himiko showered and donned her costume to participate in one last patrol with Mr. Brave. However, as she went to the lobby to meet with the hero, she saw he wasn't alone. There was a man dressed in business casual attire waiting alongside him… as well as a little girl who was hiding behind his legs.
"Ah, and there she is now," Mr. Brave smiled as he gestured toward Himiko. "You're lucky, today is Carmilla's last day before she returns to UA."
"M-me?" Himiko asked, confused and surprised.
"Yes," The hero gave her a knowing smile. "It turns out you made the news thanks to Wednesday's attack, and they found out you were here. So they called the agency and asked if they could meet you."
Himiko froze. "Why would you want to meet me?" She asked, feeling as nervous as her brother usually was!
"It's my daughter," The man said with a polite bow. "I am Dr. Andou, a trauma surgeon at the local hospital. My quirk," he held up one of his hands, which began to glow with warm red light, "is well-suited for my line of work. If I activate it, I can dull all sensations in the area I'm touching. It is quite an amazing gift, and I can use it to help so many people. My daughter has inherited my quirk - quite possibly an even stronger version of my quirk. However, her quirk also mutated - its activation condition is different from mine."
She didn't need Izuku to figure out what he meant. As the force of the information hit her, she knelt in front of the man, so she'd be closer to the little girl's height. "What is your name?"
The girl poked her head around her father's legs to look at Himiko. "My name's Kyoto."
As she spoke, Himiko's suspicions were confirmed when she saw them - four little fangs. She looked up at the girl's father. "Her activation trigger - it's drinking someone's blood, isn't it?"
"Yes," The doctor nodded. "If little Kyoto drinks someone's blood, she can completely control their ability to feel pain temporarily."
Himiko looked back at the little girl. "And you wanted to meet… me?"
"I saw you at the sports festival!" Kyoto replied as she stepped out from behind her father. "It was the first time I ever saw someone like me!"
Like me. Someone with fangs and a blood-based quirk.
Reaching out, Himiko pulled the girl into a gentle hug. She realized she probably should have asked as she felt Kyoto stiffen in surprise, but her worries quickly faded as the child hugged her back.
"When she saw you on the television, she broke down in tears," the doctor explained. "We know how uncommon blood-based activation for a quirk is. Kyoto's never met anyone like her before. To see someone else out there - someone trying to be a hero no less…"
Himiko pulled back to look at the girl in her arms. "Can you smile for me?"
Kyoto nodded before giving Himiko a wide smile, and Himiko could see her fangs. Himiko didn't even have to try - she already felt herself smiling back, her own fangs prominently on display. "You've got the cutest little smile! Don't you dare let anyone tell you you don't!"
"Thank you!" Kyoto cried out before attaching herself to Himiko again.
Wrapping her arms around the girl, Himiko stood up to look at the doctor again. "What about her… dietary needs?"
The father seemed to sense her concern and gave her a reassuring look. "Don't worry, we know all about them. When she started complaining about headaches - a little after her quirk finally appeared - we took her to a specialist. That's when we found out about her malnourishment and why her body was showing conditions that closely resemble anemia. Now she gets a glass of special juice at every meal."
"It's tasty!" Kyoka replied. "Mom and Dad say it keeps the headaches away!"
Himiko smiled fondly at the girl. "It'll help you grow up to be a big, strong girl someday. And if you want, you can use your quirk to help lots of people, just like your dad!"
"Yeah!" Kyoto said enthusiastically. "I want to become a doctor someday, just like he is!"
Himiko could feel the tears running down her face as she set the little girl down. "When you do I'll be sure to come and find you if I need surgery, okay?"
"Okay!" The girl said excitedly.
Standing back up, she swiped the tears away to look at the doctor. "I'm glad you came by, thank you!"
"Really, we are the ones who should be thanking you," Dr. Andou replied. "What you did… I think it's safe to say my daughter may be your first fan."
Looking down at the girl, Himiko smiled. "I promise I won't let you down!"
Once she got her tears under control, Himiko gave the family an autograph and took several photos with little Kyoto. She watched them leave in silence, the smile never leaving her face.
"How are you feeling Carmilla? Up for one last patrol?"
Himiko turned to face the hero, feeling a new energy invigorating her. "I'm looking forward to it!"