Hello all, and welcome back to A Hero's Creed: Brotherhood! It's been a long while, and other than working on my One Piece story and my full-time job, I've been mapping out where I want to go with this Work-Study Arc and the rest of this "book". I should warn you all, though: this arc is going to get VERY dark. Like, I'm-changing-the-rating-to-M dark. Izuku has seen some of the darkness of the word, but he's going to see something that will set him on a downward spiral that will change him forever. Not this chapter (it's more of a set-up), but you have been warned. Now then, on to the reviews!

Coach Blahk: Yes, poor Jiro. She's stuck between a rock and a hard place, but this is the start of something I've had planned for a while and will greatly affect Japan in the future. Or, at least, mitigate some disaster. Mei? Moral compass? That's like saying she has a filter. Like, maybe it's there, but I don't think it was installed properly. Anything goes if she gets to keep tinkering!

Gamelover41592: Glad you enjoyed it!

LEGOBRICK13: I will unrepentantly admit to cackling while writing that reveal, waiting for your reaction. I know how... prevalent Setsuna is in the fandom for various not-to-be-mentioned reasons. (*BONK!* No Horny!) But no, Kuroiro's Quirk is more suited toward the Assassin/spy lifestyle than Setsuna's. Plus, if I'd gone with her, people would have shipped her with Rin or her with Ibara and I don't want to go that route.

maxperseus130: I never said Saito Tatchi's family worked for Abstergo. I have an idea for how his Quirk works, and it will be a little less "reliving the past" than an Animus, but you'll just have to wait a little longer for those scenes. Still, I'm glad you enjoy this story so much!

mikel97: Probably not Ochako, much as I like that pairing. I'm just letting the story unfold as it may and letting the characters take over. Izuku will end up with whomever feels right in the moment.

Monkey D. Conan: Maybe, maybe not. Who knows? And you're right. Nezu is a threat to the Templars since he's such an influential figure they can't convert, similar but different to All Might whose rejection they fear would cause him to move against them.

Monster King: And so we continue.

stevenpiskunov2: Mei is sort of like a maniacal, female, pink-haired Da Vinci, I suppose. Any inuendo between Mei and Shinso just happened naturally; I had not planned for it. As to Izuku infiltrating the Templars, probably not. There's a long history of Assassin spies in the Templars flipping sides like Lucy Stillman did. And I do have plans for P.O.E.s, but those will have to wait for the break between Izuku's first and second years. You know, beyond Canon. But overall, yes.

zakan: Thank you.

And to Axccel, who apparently loves pain and has nothing better to do with their time than to hate-read and hate-review my story telling me what a shitty writer I am when they have exactly zero (0) stories of their own to show any understanding of the intricacies of worldbuilding nor storytelling: Screw off. Prove you're better than me with a story of your own or shut your trap, you whiny baby.

[Note: Bakugo section revised 11/7/23]

Chapter 54:

Work-studies, Start!

Izuku doublechecked the address on the page in his hand, his brows furrowing. He knew Mirko didn't have a specially-built office like most other Heroes —working alone and not having employees meant all she really needed was an emergency number and a place to sleep, and even then she had a room in the den— but the building before him looked more like an old hotel on its last legs. It was brick and mortar on the outside for a more western aesthetic, but the disrepair to the outside made Izuku question if its interior still lived up to Japan's regulations. Certain that it was the correct address no matter how much he wished it was one of the newer buildings on either side, the Hero student and Assassin Apprentice shook his head and pressed the buzzer.

"Who is it?" the voice of the Rabbit Hero demanded through the speaker after Izuku gave a second ring.

"Mirko?" Izuku questioned. "It's me."

"The green runt?" she asked. "You aren't supposed to be here until Monday."

"Uh, it is Monday."

There was a moment of silence. "...Shit, it is. Sorry, I was up all night. Take the fire escape around the back. I'm in the penthouse." The speaker cracked as it shut off, leaving Izuku alone. Accepting his instructions, the boy hurried around the building.

The fire escape was definitely not up to regulation standard anymore. At just a glance, Izuku could see latter rungs missing, serious rusting, and at least four instances where the bolts holding the platforms up had come completely out of the wall.

"Oh, we're Assassins," Izuku muttered, rolling his eyes to himself. "We pride ourselves in old-fashioned parkour. We can't take the elevator like normal people."

Of course, the elevator in such an old building may no longer function, but he'd rather try it first. Still, he'd come prepared for something like this. A quick stop by the Design Studio and Hatsume had gotten him a pair of magnetic straps to turn his costume case into a backpack. He'd already tested them, considering he felt he needed to since she built them with one hand, her eyes and other hand never leaving the scarf she was making for Shinso.

Tossing the thought aside, Izuku traced a viable path up the rickety fire escape and noted the danger points where he might need to recover quickly. Certain of his route and with his costume case firmly under his backpack of essentials, he turned around and ran at the wall on the other side, kicking off at his highest point to hook his fingers onto the lowest platform.

The climb up was tedious but not dangerous, the verdet barely panting as he reached the topmost level and knocked on the window. Unlike all the others, light shown from within. When Mirko did not answer, Izuku reached for the butterfly knife he kept in his shoe, flipping it open and shimmying it between the window and the frame until the latch within moved enough to grant him entrance. He slipped inside, closing the window behind him.

"Not bad, Runt," Mirko commented from the other end of the room. She was only a couple inches shorter than the student, the white rabbit ears rising from her head making up the difference. Her dark skin was lean and muscular, something Izuku knew from seeing her in her Hero costume on the news, but the pro Hero was dressed in a large, black sweater that hung down to her knees, the clothing decorated with a smattering of carrots. Her white hair flowed down her back against the dark clothing, her red eyes glancing Izuku's way. She spoke through a carrot stick hanging from her lips like a cigarette. "I guess you did learn something from the kitty, the golden child, and the ninja."

"Something like that," the student replied, flipping his butterfly knife closed but keeping it in hand. "Master Kamihara had me do something similar at the start of my Internship with him."

"I would say he stole the idea from me, but he put more effort in." She turned her eyes to the table before her, papers and pictures strewn across its surface. "You can drop your stuff anywhere. You'll be sleeping on the couch."

"Great…"

Izuku took the momentary break to study the penthouse Rumi Usagiyama had made her most recent residence. It was a mess. Take-out boxes and containers were strewn over the floor and counter space alongside crumbs of what Izuku suspected had been carrot cake. The kitchen and living room were connected with only a shift from tile to rug noting where their boundary met. A short hallway led to an elevator door, other doors in the hallway likely leading to the bedroom, a bathroom, and a closet. The only furniture in the living room were the table, a single stool, and a worn couch. The lights were not on, only a few candles providing what light the pair needed to see.

Most of said candles were focused on the table Rumi hunched over, Izuku stepping over to see what had her so transfixed. His eyes widened.

"Those are pictures of Gammu," he said, dropping his bags as he made his way over. The boy in the photos was a couple inches taller than him with hair a dark pink. Freckles covered his face, neck, and arms, each a different color of the rainbow, and his eyes were the same pink as his hair. Mirko had used bits of carrots and other foodstuffs to form lines between photos and slips of paper.

"You remember him?"

"We trained together during the Hero Course boot camp," Izuku explained. "He trained with you if I remember correctly. Got into Ketsubutsu." The boy paused, remembering Yuifum's note from the Provisional Exam. "I heard he was M.I.A."

"They found him just under a week ago," Mirko said. Her ears drooped. "He's dead."

"Dead‽" Izuku echoed.

"His body washed up on a riverbank in Kansai, bloated nearly beyond recognition with a pair of deep cuts, one up each arm. Police have ruled it a suicide."

"But he was a first-year Hero student," the boy breathed. "He wouldn't do that."

"I know he wouldn't," Mirko agreed. "I trained him for a month, but I didn't have any official connection to the kid so I can't claim any public interest in the case. With you here, though, I can at least bullshit my way through a Covert Investigation Training claim if we get seen. We're gonna get to the bottom of this."

"Alright," Izuku sighed. "What do we know?"

"I managed to talk to Apprentice Yuifum," the pro Hero began. "He said something had caught Gammu's attention about a week before he went missing. Something about a childhood friend starting to act strange. After a few days, he said it would be resolved and didn't require Assassin intervention. Couple days later, he didn't come to school. Yuifum later reported to Mentor that he never made it home the night before. That was about a month ago, shortly before the exams. Based on what Yuifum could find, Gammu's been dead for a couple weeks based on the water damage to his body."

"Templars?"

"Unlikely." Mirko shook her head. "They tend to cremate Assassins they kill once they've taken everything they can from the body. This looks more like gang activity. I should know since I saw this kind of stuff a lot as a delinquent."

"Why would a gang kill a Hero student? It sounds like Gammu had backed off and they risked pissing off Ketsubutsu."

"That's the million-yen question, Runt. We need to learn what Gammu did to get their attention and what they thought warranted his death. Whatever it is, it can't be legal." Mirko's frown turned to a feral snarl. "They killed one of ours. One of my runts. No one gets away with that."

"Mirko?" Izuku questioned, getting the woman's attention. "One of my classmates is interning with a Ketsubutsu teacher at their school agency. Specifically, Ms. Joke. If we give him a few days, he and Ms. Joke might be able to find something without arousing suspicion. Trust me, we'll get to the bottom of this, but rushing headlong into it knowing nothing when we aren't on a major time crunch can't be a good idea."

"You're right," Mirko sighed. "Fine, we'll let your contact try to find something on the inside first. Besides, I need to make sure where you can keep up with me and where I have to cover your ass. Go change into your costume and meet me on the roof. We'll do training the Hero way for now."

Izuku swallowed heavily.

-AHC-

Shinso stared up at the building before him, certain it was the place. He was dressed in his Hero costume already, a purple-black bodysuit similar to Aizawa's with the scarf Hatsume had made for him. It was mostly an off-white, but the upgrades he'd asked for had caused it to have an interweaving of the three primary colors to give it a semi-rainbow-esque design. A metal half-mask hung around his neck, ready for deployment over his mouth, and a belt on his waist held the speaker drone the pink-haired inventor recommended. A black domino mask with an elongated nose similar to a bird's beak covered the area around his eyes.

The building in question was a Hero Agency. Specifically, the Ketsubutsu Agency which employed every Ketsubutsu teacher, other Heroes with the qualifications to act as a substitute teacher, and a number of alumni of the school. The Agency also acted as the school's method of giving their students on-the-job experience without outsourcing to other Heroes. And, occasionally, other schools' students could intern or work-study there with the right connections.

Taking a deep breath, Shinso walked up the front stairs and opened the door. The main entrance was a massive hall, Ketsubutsu's logo hung above the front desk where a pretty secretary with black hair typed away at a computer. The walls and pillars were made of polished granite, several Heroes and/or upper-year students talking amongst themselves near a coffee machine and water cooler.

Acting like he belonged —for that was one lesson that translated quite well into polite society— Shinso walked up to the front desk and rested an arm on its oak top, tapping two fingers to get the secretary's attention. She looked up at him, three piercing green eyes looking him up and down.

"Yes?" she asked. "How may I help you?"

"Can you please inform Ms. Joke that Mockingbird has arrived?"

"Oh, you're the UA kid," the secretary realized. "I'll shoot her an email. Her office is on the second floor, room 24. She should be there waiting for you. If not, she'll be on her way shortly."

"Thank you." Shinso offered her a nod and a two-finger salute before stepping away toward the stairwell. No one questioned him as he moved through the halls, though he did try to avoid the tall boy boisterously laughing with a group of his classmates, Shinso only recognizing Ono Yuifum from Izuku's description of the redhead. The purple-haired student made his way to room 24, a female voice within talking. Hoping not to interrupt but not wanting to stand awkwardly in the hallway, Shinso let himself in.

"No, honey," Ms. Joke said into the cell phone she held. Her eyes glanced at Shinso as he entered, one of her hands coming up to silently tell him to give her a minute. She paced as she spoke, Shinso closing the door quietly. "You're not in trouble. I've done the same thing plenty of times. …Yes, I'm serious. It just happens sometimes. Do you remember where the cleaning spray is? …Yeah, that's the one. Just grab a few paper towels and clean it up, ok? …I promise it won't break anything. The microwave insides are designed with accidents like that in mind …Ok, anything else? …Dad will be home in a couple hours, but I'll be a little later. I know you'll be good. Love you. …Alright, see you later."

"Trouble at home?" Shinso asked as she ended the call. Emi huffed and rolled her eyes.

"Eri's first time using the microwave alone didn't quite go to plan," she chuckled. "Our… babysitter got called away on an emergency, but I know she can handle being alone for a couple hours." Emi knew she didn't need to hide anything from her new, temporary Sidekick, but she figured avoiding too much language about the Assassins while in her secondary place of employment would be better for precaution sake. "I trust the trip wasn't too bad?"

"A surprising number of people recognized me from the Sports Festival," Shinso commented. "Or, at least, my uniform tipped them off. I decided to change before coming in and no one looked at me twice, which is perfectly fine with me."

"That's good to hear." Emi sat at her desk, gesturing for Shinso to sit across from her. "So, your Hero name is Mockingbird."

"Aizawa-sensei and I decided on it when I interned under him shortly after I transferred into the Hero Course," Shinso nodded. "Since my Quirk is dependent on receiving a response of some form, we figured the name fit without giving too much away."

Emi leaned back in her chair with a sigh. "Looks and attitude like Sho but a Quirk so similar to mine. I almost wish you were our kid. Too bad we didn't know each other when you would have been born. Oh well. Got anything for me?"

"Oh, right." The student reached into his bag and pulled out an envelope, Emi's Hero moniker written across its surface in rough —almost scratchy— handwriting. She recognized it instantly.

All but snatching the letter, Emi used one of her nails to slit the tape and pulled out the paper within. Shinso gave her a minute to read the contents, an irrational part of him scared at what Aizawa could have written. Sure, he knew the man wouldn't betray his trust, but the memories of the discrimination he received in middle school from even teachers had instilled worries that did not go away so quickly.

"New gear, huh?" Emi paraphrased, taking a closer look at Shinso's outfit. "Sho says here you're decent with his Capture Scarf, which means you could probably stop most thugs with it in a straight fight, which I know he's told you to never do if you can help it."

"Honor should never stop justice," Shinso quoted. Emi smiled and rolled her eyes, remembering when her lover had told her the same thing years ago.

"Well, go ahead and run me through all this gear you need to test. Then I'll give you the skinny about how the Ketsubutsu Agency works."

"The skinny?" Shinso echoed with a raised eyebrow. A chuckle bubbled in his throat against his wishes as Emi metaphorically tickled him with her Quirk.

"Unlike your Quirk, which only needs a response, my Quirk requires the other person find something a least a little humorous. Old or foreign turns of phrase tickle a lot of people's funny bones, you know. Now then, your gear?"

"Well, I had a Support Course student build me a new Capture Scarf," the boy began, holding up a part of said scarf so Emi could see the lines of color going through it. "Now it can chill, heat, and spark, but not enough to actually cause any damage, much to her dismay. Power Loader insisted I practice with scaled-down effects before ever touching the final product. Trinity Scarf, she calls it, since it can control cold, heat, and electricity. Theoretically at the same time."

"A fair argument on Power Loader's part," the teacher nodded. She didn't know the UA teacher personally, but Ketsubutsu's Support Course couldn't hold a candle to UA's because of that Hero's genius. Only Shiketsu came close, and even then their teacher wasn't also an active pro Hero. "Best to work your way up slowly before getting to anything that can kill with a wrong twitch of the finger."

"I also have a voice modulator and a speaker drone. I don't know how to fly it yet nor if my Quirk will still work through a speaker, but they'll be very useful if it does. After that, I mostly use hand-to-hand right now as my back-up."

Emi nodded at her notes. "Trinity Scarf, modulator, drone, hand-to-hand. Anything else?"

"Not at the moment. I have very little field experience, though."

"Alright, then let me run you through how Ketsubutsu does things. As you can tell, we don't outsource internships or work-studies to other Heroes. We do all those internally, dividing students by skill level and Quirk for the most part. By the time they reach their third year, students are hand-picked as teams to work under different Heroes in the agency, typically working one or two weekends a month until their graduation. You, however, will be working with me and a few first- and second-years with sound-based Quirks."

"What's the living situation?"

"Students are given two-person, same-sex dorms for the length of their work-study," Emi answered. "You'll be placed with a Ketsubutsu student. I took the liberty of assigning that one myself since you're working directly for me, not the school. I imagine you to will have plenty to talk about."

"I don't tend to do a lot of talking after people learn about my Quirk."

"I don't think he'll be too worried about that. You'll see what I mean."

Shinso shivered at the mischievous spark in Emi's eye. She was his boss for the next three weeks, so I wasn't like he had much room to argue. "…Ok. Does anyone here know about Eri?"

"No, and I'd rather keep it that way for a while. If they learn about her, they'll want to meet her and she's not quite ready for that."

"Alright, I'll keep that under wraps. I guess you get to go home?"

"Of course. Unlike some Heroes, I don't live at the agency. I have a life outside of Hero work. Now, some people will say you're never off the clock as a pro Hero, and while that may technically be true from a legal standpoint, that doesn't mean you can't have days off or time to yourself."

"I know," Shinso said. "I don't plan to live my whole life as a workaholic until some Villain kills me."

"Good," Emi nodded. "That's the first step to a long career. Now then, it's almost dinnertime. Let's take you to the mess hall and introduce you to the other students. I mean, they know I'm taking in a kid from UA, but they don't know which one."

"But, I thought only ten Ketsubutsu students passes the provisional exam. I know all the ones that went to Site 1 failed."

"Sho's kids told you, huh?" the teacher replied. "Yeah, those ones won't be out on patrol or anything. They're stuck here in remedial classes and the training rooms, but you'll still have training with them. Come on. We need to hurry if we want to get some of the katsudon. It's so worth an elbow to the ribs."

-AHC-

It was a goddamned glorified treehouse.

Bakugo felt an eyelid twitch as he scowled up at what he'd mentally judged a gilded prison, a Sakura tree larger than any he had ever seen to the point where it could only be the result of a Quirk. He didn't know how Yokai had done it, but his work-study with North Squad Go had been approved by the principal before they had even returned to the school after the provisional exam. With his unwanted work-study set, he was given no chance to search for a new one, leaving him with two options: go and hope to get something out of it or don't show and receive all the punishments and repercussions that result. If he did that, his grade would be the least of his worries.

"Of all the rotten fuckin' luck," the blond muttered under his breath. He glanced to the side at the plain-faced, black-haired girl staring at him. "Why the fuck are you here?"

The girl blinked, only holding up a costume case so similar to the one Bakugo carried in answer.

"Whatever." He stomped forward. Perhaps starting sooner would not finish this work-study sooner —it was to last three weeks, after all— but he refused to linger outside in a childish attempt to delay the inevitable. He would be the number one Hero, dammit. All Might never hesitated, so neither could he.

Reaching the door set into the trunk of the tree —'NSG Agency' stamped on it— he pounded on its surface. Though he tried to dent the door, it refused to do more than rattle.

"Oi! Open up! I'm here like you wanted, bastard!" Bakugo's fist beat against the metal door set into the tree, the student unrelenting. "Don't keep me waiting!"

A panel slid open beside the closed entrance, the bark of the tree rising to show a speaker with buttons under it, like one of those advanced doorbells.

"Oh, so you're the kid Yokai told us about," a gruff voice commented. "Is Kodai with you?"

"Who the hell is that?"

The girl stepped forward, tapping twice on the speaker.

"Ah, good to have you back, Kodai."

The girl smiled slightly. She nodded. "Hm."

"Let us in already," Bakugo demanded.

"Don't get your panties in a bunch," the voice on the other side replied. "We'll let you in. Hey, Yokai! Your little punching—!" The speaker cut off.

The metal door hissed, opening to reveal an elevator. Resigned but refusing to show any weakness, Bakugo shouldered his bag and stepped inside, the girl following quietly. There were no buttons for the blond to press, Bakugo crossing his arms as the door closed and the elevator began to rise.

It practically spat the pair out into a wooden condominium. The floor, walls, and ceiling were all the meant to appear to be same wood as the Sakura tree, but he was pretty sure it was not. The main room was decorated with a rug of interlocking circles, a kitchen on one side and a living room on the other with no separation between them. The walls of the living room held shelves loaded with books of all kinds, one window ringed with pink Sakura petals hiding the interior from the outside. A hallway on the other side split, its paths hidden around their corners. How there could be a window with a hallway clearing arcing that direction, he didn't know.

Two individuals were there when Bakugo stepped out. CoolBlue, the one-eyed, blue-haired woman Deku, Icy-Hot, and some extras fought during the exam, sat on a couch leafing through a book. She wore a casual kimono in shades of light and dark blue. On the other side, leaning against the kitchen's counter, stood a man with long pine needles for hair. His skin was too dark for a simple tan, amber eyes studying Bakugo without a twitch of the mug of tea held to his lips. He was dressed in a t-shirt and shorts, the former with the words [happy little trees] in English. Based on contest clues, this was Evergreen.

"Alright," Bakugo growled, breaking the silence. "Where the hell do I drop my stuff and whose ass do I have to kick first?"

"Oh shit," Evergreen sighed, turning his eyes to CoolBlue where she looked up from her book. "There's another one."

CoolBlue blew out her response, the words 'THEY'LL REPRODUCE AND/OR KILL EACH OTHER. MAYBE BOTH' forming from the liquid nitrogen caused by her Quirk. 'THIS WILL BE FUN. AND KODAI, WELCOME BACK.'

"This will be a headache and they better not reproduce; I don't need the screaming of the process or the offspring in more than my nightmares," Evergreen replied before turning to Bakugo and Kodai, gesturing with a thumb to the hallway. "Yokai's set up a room for you near ours. Kodai, yours is the same room as before. You two can drop your stuff by the doors on our way to our fearless leader."

'I'LL COME, TOO.' CoolBlue breathed. 'I DON'T WANT TO MISS THEIR FIRST MEETING.'

"I've already met the Glowstick Bastard," Bakugo said.

'THAT'S NOT WHO I MEANT.' CoolBlue replied as Evergreen covered his mouth. Bakugo couldn't tell whether Evergreen was amused or horrified at his nickname for the man's boss. Kodai, also, sent her fellow student a look. The pro Hero shook his thoughts away quickly and drained his tea, setting the mug in the wooden sink.

"Come on, kids. Let's get this over with."

Led by Evergreen and followed by CoolBlue, the Heroes guided Bakugo and Kodai into the hallways. He dropped his bags by a door (frustratingly labeled with a cartoonish, chibi, angry dog face as opposed to the regular, chibi faces on the other doors, only one of which was also angry) while Kodai sis the same just across the hall from him. Her chibi-faced door label held the exact same expression as the girl. Specificially, blank neutrality. The dark-skinned (or what it bark-skinned? Bakugo couldn't tell) man led the pair to a staircase, taking them up into a room at the top of the tree, its ceiling rounded to match its arboreal exterior. A circular table filled the center of the room, its surface far more technological than anything else Bakugo had seen since the elevator. Yokai, Length, and a woman were in the room, the former leaning against the table as he glanced between floating note boxes of different colors.

"Ah, good," the man with fox traits grinned, turning away from his notes and banishing them with a wave of his hand. His casual clothing—a pair of grey sweatpants and a yellow tanktop with a red swirl— also showed the pair of red-orange fox tails that waved behind him. They must have been hidden during the test to not expose his identity immediately. "You actually showed."

"Not like I had a choice," Bakugo shot back. "You basically bribed my principal."

"I didn't need to do anything like that," Yokai laughed. "Nezu seemed practically eager to approve my request post-haste."

"Fuckin' rat and his fuckin' games," the student hissed under his breath.

"Wait," the woman said. She had swirly, purple hair and pointed sunglasses as well as a bodysuit of concentric circles in various shades of purple that did nothing to hide her slim figure. She stood the same height as Evergreen —about half-a-head taller than Bakugo— but looked young to the point that the blond would have thought her a tall middle school student if not for her costume and wide hips. "I knew we were taking in the quiet brat again, but she's quiet. Why the fuck is there a another, loud runt in our hideout?"

"I'm not a runt, Washboard!" Bakugo yelled, shoving a finger in her direction.

"I'll rip your goddamn head off, pipsqueak!" she yelled, grabbing at her sunglasses as her other hand moved to her chest, clearly offended. "I'll turn your punk-ass brain to mush for that!"

"You can damn-well try, but you aren't gonna pull off shit when there's no wiggle room in your suit!"

"Oh my god, there's two of them," Length muttered as Bakugo and the woman continued to growl and hiss at each other, the man (dressed in a white t-shirt and camo cargo pants) sinking down into his chair to cover his face with his hands. The student and Heroine crashed their foreheads together, as if trying to push the other backward. "Boss... why? Oh, hi Kodai. Good to have you back."

"Mm," Kodai nodded. She'd learned a lot from Length during her first internship, so she was looking forward to a whole month with him.

"Well, on one hand, I thought it would be funny," Yokai answered through a grin, turning to Length and the student he'd asked to mentor after the UA Sports Festival. "On the other hand, the kid's got raw talent and a nugget of potential. I figured we could put in a little work as a team to water that seed."

"So you didn't bring him here just to watch him argue with Mesmer?" Evergreen asked.

"I can kill two birds with one stone."

'THIS IS JUST AS ENTERTAINING AS I HAD HOPED IT WOULD BE.' CoolBlue breathed, though there was no change nor twitch to her ice-like expression. 'DOES ANYONE WANT POPCORN?'

"I think this is a terrible idea," Length commented as Bakugo's palms started to spark. As if in response, a violet miasma started to rise around Mesmer.

"I'll take some popcorn," Yokai said, prompting CoolBlue to move to his side and offer a bag. The group's leader shoved a handful in his mouth. "As f'r th' kid, I fig'red.." He swallowed. "I figured since we did so good with Kodai, we could use a tougher team-bonding exercise. Plus, he's too angry for a Hero student. We need to tone him down before he goes vigilante and gets himself killed or goes dark."

"Sounds like what you were like as a kid," Length muttered, remembering the scrawny fox-boy he'd met all those years ago, ready to throw hands for a half-eaten sandwich and a dozen yen.

"Are you just trying to justify yourself, boss?" Evergreen questioned.

"I'm the team leader, so I make the decisions," Yokai replied, sticking his tongue out maturely. "And I decided we're gonna make this kid a respectable Hero, even if that means breaking him in half first."

"I think Mesmer wants to do that literally."

"I am a pro Hero and you will respect me!" Mesmer hissed.

"If you're what counts as a pro now, they should just give me the license already!" Bakugo shot back.

"This is going to be painful," Length muttered.

'THIS IS GOING TO BE FUN.' CoolBlue disagreed.

"Alright, that's enough," Yokai ordered, stepping over to the arguing pair. His tails moved forward, grabbing each by their waists and shoving them apart in a prehensile showing impossible for normal fox tails. Whether this was simply an ability of his heteromorphic features or if he was manipulating them with his Dark Chakra Quirk, Bakugo did not know. "Kid, you are our Sidekick, our employee, for the next month. Listen to your superiors. And Mesmer, you need to chill. You're a pro, for god sake. Act like it. You should be above arguing with snot-nosed brats."

"I'm not a fuckin' brat, Glowstick!"

"He called me flat, boss!"

"You are flat, Mesmer." The woman looked like her leader's blunt words had shot an arrow into her heart, the woman slowly sinking to her knees. She looked down before her eyes unconsciously moved first to CoolBlue, then to Kodai, and back to her own comparatively-lacking area. Yokai turned slightly and covered his face with a hand as Mesmer began to sniffle. "Dammit, I thought we were past this."

"Ahahahaha!" Bakugo laughed, pointing at the crying woman. One of Yokai's eyes twitched, that hidden movement being the only forewarning the student had before the man spun, his leg coming up to kick the blond square in the face. The force blew Bakugo backward out of the tail's grip, his body crashing into the doorframe where he ricocheted, bouncing down the stairs with a colorful stream of curses.

"And you!" the redhead yelled down the stairs. "You will not insult or pick fights with the members of North Squad Go! Or anyone, for that matter! Are we clear, runt‽"

The corners of Kodai's lips twitched upward. She'd missed the controlled chaos of the NSG Agency.

"This everything you wanted, Blue?" Evergreen sighed.

Coolblue crunched down on another fistful of popcorn before breathing. 'EVERYTHING AND MORE, GREEN.'

-AHC-

Dinner had not been as awkward as Shinso had expected it to be, more of the Ketsubutsu students welcoming him into their midst than not. It probably helped that Emi seemed to be a favored teacher, the woman having stayed long enough to get a single bowl of katsudon (having gotten the last one right before Shinso, unrepentant) and introduce him to the group. She'd then skipped out, going home to take food to Eri, though Shinso was decently sure he was the only one who knew that.

Now, Shinso sat on his bed, maintaining awkward eye contact with his new dormmate, both dressed in bed clothing. Ono Yuifum stared back, his fingers rapping against his knees.

"…So," Yuifum started. "Joke-sensei says it's my job to keep an eye on you when she's not around."

"I wonder why that might be?" Shinso replied with a roll of his eyes. "Does it have something to do with the fact that my Quirk can take over people?"

"No. It probably has to do with the fact that she says you and I have similar friends. I'd like to know what she means by that."

"The only real friend I have is Izuku Midoriya."

"I know that guy," Yuifum grinned. "Shorter side, fluffy green hair? I met him at the exams."

"I think you met him before that." Shinso hinted, raising an eyebrow as he studied the redhead's reaction. Yuifum didn't give anything away, but his lack of reaction was clear enough. "I guess you weren't made aware that Ms. Joke was informed of our… shared extracurriculars."

Both of Yuifum's eyebrows rose, the boy looking over the UA student in a new light. "And who might have told her about that?"

"That is not my information to tell," Shinso replied. "The reason is for Joke-sensei to reveal when she feels ready."

"And why do you know this information?"

"It was part of what was given to me when my teacher explained how the training would work and why certain people take it up," the purple-haired boy said, still dancing around the specifics. "You can ask her and see if she'll tell you. I, however, don't know what I'm allowed to say."

"Can you at least tell me who did most of your training?"

"Shota Aizawa. Eraserhead. He's like a mentor to me."

Yuifum inclined his head, showing that he understood what Shinso meant. "I see."

"Anyway—" Both boys jumped as a ringtone echoed through their small room. Shinso reached for his back, checking the caller ID. He blinked, answering. "Hello?"

"Shinso," Izuku said on the other end. "Can I ask you for a favor?"

"That depends, Midoriya. What kind of favor do you need?"

"I need you to snoop around Ketsubutsu for some information. Mirko and I are doing some investigation around it and you're the best contact either of us might have. Sure, we could go to Ms. Joke, but I'm afraid it would be too… sensitive."

"Is there someone in particular you want me to talk to?"

"Have you met Ono Yuifum yet?"

"Funny you should ask. He's my dormmate. Ms. Joke's doing. In fact, he's right here."

There is silence on the other end of the line for a moment. "…Convenient. Pass the phone to him for me, would you?"

"It's for you," Shinso joked, offering the redhead his phone. Yuifum took it.

"Midoriya, what's up?"

"Hey, Yuifum. Sorry, this isn't just a house call. In fact, I don't think you're going to like this one bit. I know you've already talked to Mirko, but what can you tell me about the last week of Gammu's life?"

End of Chapter 54

And so the Work-Study Arc begins! Izuku and Mirko investigate the death of an Assassin spy, but what will they find at the other end? Bakugo is pressed into service with North Squad Go and he doesn't seem happy, but when does he ever? I do hope it makes him a better person! And Shinso gets ready for his time with Ms. Joke! What do you all think of Trinity Scarf and will his Quirk work through speakers and voice distortion? Do you want to see snippets of the work-studies of our other students of interest? Tell me what you think!

Read and Review!

-SwordOfTheGods