Chapter 24: Internships II

Chapter Text

"Ask me what?"

Dabi sighed as he heard Kagero call out from behind him. Of course.

"Aren't you busy with your new member? Why are you here and not with him?"

Kagero shrugged, "I am with him. But I'm also here. That's the neat thing about his quirk. He can make doubles of anything, living or not. Granted, he can only make two at a time, but that can be more than enough."

Dabi squinted, looking Kagero over for any noticeable differences, "So am I talking with a clone or with the real one?"

"Does it matter either way? The clones are the same as the original as far as I was able to find out, albeit less sturdy."

Dabi responded by shooting a wave of fire at Kagero, who split the attack in half with his own, setting the walls beside him aflame. Kagero took a deep breath in and the flames on the wall receded, showing up again in Kagero's left hand, the fire still burning a bright blue before it went out. Kagero's hand started to drip.

"Well that wasn't very nice," Kagero tutted, now confirmed to be a clone. Dabi just looked at him impassively, the Kagero clone rolled his eyes and turned back around, waving his good hand dismissively, "Fine, fine. I'll go get the real one. He'll meet you up top."

Dabi left to go find his way back upstairs. Before long, the Kagero clone couldn't hold its shape anymore and broke down into a pile of mud.

In the training room, Jin perked up from his seat on the floor, "Oh. Looks like your clone met its threshold. Wow, you're a really weak boss."

Kagero was writing in a notebook, "So you can sense when your clones are damaged. Is it completely gone or is it just injured?"

"It feels like it's gone. Living and breathing just fine!" Jin replied, his hand resting on where his chin would be.

"Do you know what caused it to break?"

"Nope. Of course I do."

"Do you know what it was doing before?"

This was the main reason why Kagero was testing Jin. If the clones Jin makes retained any sort of experience after it had been destroyed and he was able to relay that, then the return on investment for Jin multiplies.

"Don't reply immediately," Kagero commanded. "I want you to focus. I don't know what you're feeling, but whatever signal or indication you get when a clone gets destroyed, leaf through it. Filter it. Try to put yourself in the clone's shoes."

Jin does as he's told and falls into a position that looks like he's meditating. Kagero can hear him breathing beneath his bag, starting slowly, but gradually getting more erratic.

"I- I can't. It's too much! There are too many of them!" Jin started to claw at his bag, making sure that it's covering his entire face. Whatever he was going through, it was enough to keep from contradicting himself, "They're the clones! I'm the clone! I'm the real one! They're the real one!"

Kagero wasn't expecting this kind of reaction and was caught way off guard. Not sure what to do, he resorted to something he knew would make Jin stop. He took his notebook and whacked Jin in the head. Immediately he crumpled.

He looked over Jin's prone form, "Fuck. That didn't turn out like what I was expecting." He carefully took the bag off Jin's head, finally getting a proper look at his face. Jin's hair was brown-blond and he had some stubble over his lip and chin, the most prominent marking was a scar that lined from the top of his hairline down to the middle of his eyebrows. That might explain some of his problems. Kagero pulled back one of Jin's eyelids to see if there was any reaction, but he was solidly out. "Hope I didn't cause any further damage."

Kagero maneuvered Jin's body so he was laying on his back and grabbed his right leg. Rolling forward over his body, he brought Jin over onto his shoulder and stood up, bringing him into a fireman's carry and carrying him to his room, "Guess we'll finish whenever he wakes up."

Upstairs, Dabi looked as bored as ever but he was growing more anxious. The Kagero clone had said he would be up soon, but it's bordering on ten minutes now and still nothing. He knows that Kagero likes to follow his own schedule, but that didn't ease his worry. He has questions he wants to ask, and now he was finally going to get some answers, but then why did it feel like he was walking on a razor's edge?

He hid his worry by idly tapping on the bar top, pretending he was deep in thought.

Kurogiri was back behind the bar, but he couldn't bring himself to order a drink, too afraid of the spirit loosening his tongue a notch too far. Toga and Mustard were doing something together in one of the booths, surprisingly not making any loud noises, so he couldn't even scold them to pass time.

Eventually Kagero showed up wearing dark pants, a white t-shirt, and a dark green jacket, leafing through his notebook, going over what he found out with Jin.

"Finally," Dabi dragged out. "I was beginning to think you actually blew me off."

Kagero looked up from his notebook with confusion on his face. He flitted his eyes between Dabi and Kurogiri to see if they were in a conversation, "What?"

"You. Your clone said you would meet me earlier. Where have you been?"

Recognition dawned on Kagero, "Oh, you're the reason why the clone died. How did you kill it?"

"Kill? It was still walking when I last saw it. And I attacked with my fire, but you- it, redirected it for the most part." He shook his head, "We're getting off topic. You free to talk?"

Kagero finished writing his notes down and closed it, "Sure. Kurogiri, to the tower."

Toga stood up from her seat and started to scoot out of the booth, "Ooh, ooh. Can I come?"

"No." Dabi stonewalled, standing between her and Kagero.

Kurogiri wordlessly opened a portal. Kagero walked through first, Dabi following a few seconds behind, after making sure Toga wasn't going to follow. When he re-emerged, Kagero was standing at the edge of the building they were apparently on.

His jacket was blowing in the breeze. Night was in full swing, but the view before them was breath taking. The Ferris wheel's cabins were glowing with an amber light, a few booths and cafes still had their lights on, some people were seen milling about on the streets, everything being reflected off the water.

"Never took you for a sightseer," Dabi commented, walking to stand next to Kagero. "I've never been to Yokohama."

"Well now you have. What'd you want to talk about?" Kagero asked, his gaze still overlooking the city.

Dabi took a second to contemplate how to ask the questions, taking in the view before him. He lamented wasting the time he had at the bar. He didn't want to stay quiet too long, but he also didn't want to ask a stupid question.

"Before that," Kagero interrupted his thoughts. He turned his head, seeing Kagero looking at him, his green eyes showing hints of gold from the lights below, "Do you want this to be your favor?" Dabi opened his mouth, but Kagero raised his hand, silencing him, "If this is your favor, then I'll answer your questions as fully as I can. If this is just a normal talk between two people, then I won't."

Dabi's mouth hung open, unbelieving of what Kagero just said. He thought he had everything planned out, but Kagero had him hook, line, and sinker and he was none the wiser. The way Kagero was looking at him, Dabi knew he was found out.

He gave a small smile and chuckled, "Don't look too shocked, Dabi. There is very little that happens in the bar, hideout, or any of the businesses we frequent in the underground, that I don't have at the very least, an inkling about, especially if it's about something or someone connected to the League."

Dabi was gob smacked. He was sure that he was conducting himself in a covert manner, but somehow Kagero saw through it.

"So you know what this is about," Dabi stated more than asked. "You're dancing around the subject just for the hell of it.

"More or less," Kagero shrugged. He turned back to face the city and sat sideways on the edge, his left leg dangling over the edge and right tucked up, leaning on his left hand while resting his right on his knee, "I know you're starting to have questions, but not exactly about what. Is this your favor?"

"Unbelievable," Dabi ran a hand through his hair. "You planned this from the start, didn't you? Do you even want to meet with Stain? Or did that have an ulterior motive as well?"

Kagero stared up at him, his gaze looking over every inch of Dabi's face. He said nothing.

Dabi stared back, trying and failing to win a battle of wills. He eventually gave in, "Fuck it. Yes. This is my favor, now answer my questions."

Kagero smirked and puffed a small flame, briefly illuminating Dabi, the shadows giving him a ghoulish look, "No, I didn't plan this from the start. I fully intended to owe either you or Toga a favor if you set up a meeting with Stain, whom I do want to speak with again. A good strategist can adjust their plans on the fly when an unknown variable is introduced. I expected someone to be sniffing around a little, but didn't expect it to be you, nor have it happened so soon."

Dabi hummed, "If you were expecting one of us to betray you from the beginning, why bring in anyone at all?"

"Being betrayed implies that there's trust between the involved parties. Out of everyone in the League and those you've met in the underground, who would you trust with all your schemes and secrets?"

"Nobody," Dabi replied immediately. "They'd sell me out the second they could make a profit."

"Exactly." Kagero nodded, "So explain to me why I should tell people, whom I've known for barely a week, why I do the things I do? What exactly have you done to earn my trust, other than try to find Stain, with whom you have a somewhat personal stake in interest in?"

"So all of this is just a waste of time?" Dabi spread his arms out wide, "Even if I ask questions, I'm not gonna get a straight answer from you?"

Kagero turned his head to look over the city again, "I never said that. I told you that I would answer you as well as I could, and I never go back on my word. Whether or not you believe it is up to you."

Dabi growled in frustration. Talking to Kagero was like asking a teacher for help. They'd give you hints and nudges in the right direction, but at the end, you would be the one that helps yourself. It's backwards logic that Dabi always hated. There was a reason he was so blunt. He couldn't be bothered with trying to filter and guide his thoughts.

Kagero was more than content to let Dabi stew in his thoughts, his attention now on the skyline instead of him. The tower fell into silence, with only the ambient sounds of the city below and the wind blowing. Dabi stayed stood across from Kagero before dropping to the ground, his arms loosely hugging his knees. Kagero turned his head back, a question obvious in his posture.

"What would've counted as a favor?" Dabi eventually asked, ultimately deciding to ask small questions.

Another puff of flame occupied the space between them, Kagero's voice was light as he chuckled, "Atta boy. Whatever you asked, so long as the result was worth the effort."

"So I could've asked you to… assassinate the Prime Minister."

"Sure. I might've asked you to change it because there would be little reward for me, and the result wouldn't have been worth the effort, but possible."

"All Might."

"Pass. That's not my fight." Kagero replied bitterly.

Dabi quirked an eyebrow but didn't press for more, "How many more people do you plan on adding to the League before you're satisfied?"

"Probably about three. We've got a decent spread of skills, but I wouldn't mind some more combat types. Maybe a jack of all trades, but no more than that."

They lapsed into another lull of silence. Dabi really wanted to ask the big questions, but Kagero was really leaning into the role of the teacher that helps you by making you help yourself, so he doesn't. He hung his head between his arms, deep in thought. He tried putting the pieces he held together, but they weren't fitting.

"Remember what I said when we were watching the Festival?" Kagero asked after an indeterminate amount of time.

Dabi made an 'I don't know' type of sound as his response.

"I said that I wanted us to get a little closer. Maybe not as friends, but at the very least, as proper teammates. I can't be the only person making plans and have the League rely on me. If for whatever reason I get taken out, the League would crumble without my guidance, especially in its infancy."

Another non-verbal affirmative.

"Toga isn't leadership type, Mustard is a kid, and Jin isn't stable. Anyone else that we pick up are obviously out of the question." Dabi looked up when he heard this. There was no way Kagero was saying what he thinks he was. "How about another deal? Exclusive. Take as long as you need. Investigate on your own, answer your questions, then let me know what you think's going on. If you're close, you'll be second in command in all but name."

"What's in it for you? Not to complain about getting a promotion, but this sounds way too stacked in my favor." Dabi pointed out, "I thought you said you didn't trust anyone. Why would you put someone new in such a high place of power?"

"Insurance."

After his breakdown with Yagi, Shimura was feeling frayed at the seams, too emotionally raw. When Thirteen finally finished their teaching duties, he was notified to meet at Gym Gamma. He made a quick stop at the locker room, changing into his hero costume.

Its overall design looked reminiscent to a space suit's underlayer, mainly white with two black rings around his forearms, and black armored padding covering his torso that looked like defined muscles. White lines trailed his chest that followed the muscle fibers. Around his neck sat a silver brace, its front portion slightly raised so that it could act as a breathing apparatus. Crossing his chest in an X shape were red straps, with a matching belt around his waist, lined with pouches filled with first aid supplies and snacks. In the middle of his belt was a silver buckle, shaped just as his grandmother's was in homage to her. On his left thigh was a tactical hard case where he kept his phone and other, more delicate objects. He wore yellow boots that laced up to just above his calves, black knee pads topping them off. On his hands were black gloves that covered only his ring and pinky fingers. When he flicked his ring and pinky fingers against his thumbs, they retracted, granting him access to use his quirk.

Walking through the excessively massive doors, he stuttered and almost tripped when he caught sight of Cementoss and Nezu in attendance as well, the former waving while the latter nodded his head.

He shifted awkwardly on his feet as he came to stand in front of them, "I uh, I didn't know that anyone else was going to be joining us, Thirteen-san."

Despite their head being covered in a helmet, Thirteen appeared to be embarrassed, "I would've preferred to handle your internship differently, but you can't exactly turn down Nezu. When he brought Cementoss into the mix, with some ideas for training, I knew it had to be done."

Shimura looked to the two for an answer. Nezu was first as he walked forward, paws clasped behind his back, "I do apologize for hijacking a portion of your internship, Shimura-kun, but I felt that this was an opportunity that we couldn't pass up. Simply put, we would like to see and test how much control you have over the spread of your quirk."

Shimura winced at the mention of his quirk, already understanding what is to come. Thirteen picked up on the change of expression and spoke up before Nezu could continue, "I know that it isn't exactly what you're expecting, but I promise you that this is for the best. When I was still training, the most instruction I had when practicing with Blackhole was 'don't aim it at someone'. I imagine you had similar instruction, yes?" He nodded, "As I said to your class, quirks aren't meant to harm people, but that doesn't mean they can't. I didn't know, or rather, I wasn't aware of how strong a vacuum was needed for injuries to be inflicted on a person, so when I got to my internship, my instructor had me work on control and focus."

"Well put, Thirteen," Nezu agreed. "I understand that you haven't had the opportunity to practice finer control, instead just letting the decay spread until your target was ash, correct?"

Another nod.

"There is nothing wrong with that. It is a tried and true use, but imagine this: You need to enter a building through an alternate way and choose a wall at random, but unknown to you, someone was laying against it on the other side. If you used your quirk right then, would the decay spread to the person as well? Would the decay continue to spread to the rest of the building even after you removed your hand?"

Shimura brought a hand up to retort but paused. He moved the hand to his chin as he thought over Nezu's scenario. Nezu's eyes twinkled at the sight of someone taking his words seriously. Before long, Shimura nodded resolutely, "I'm in. So how are we going to do this?"

Nezu clapped his paws, "Excellent! We shall get started immediately. Cementoss, if you will?"

Cementoss nodded and knelt to the ground, his hands glowing as his quirk went into effect. Suddenly, cement fixtures sprouted from the ground, some as simple as a series of walls that increase in thickness, others as intricate as a small house. When he was done, Nezu produced a small remote and clicked a button. One of the gym's walls opened and a small army of realistic robots walked out and stood at attention in front of the new structures.

"These robots will act as human stand-ins," Nezu explained. "They have been set up by the Support Course with artificial pain sensors and responses so we will know if they are affected through secondary contact with your quirk." Nezu had more to say but paused. He thought over the next portion of his explanation, thinking about the best way to bring it up. When he spoke again, it was slowly and carefully, "Should you feel up to it, we could also test to see how a body reacts if in direct contact as well."

Shimura's hand flared up in pain, his mind bringing him back to the USJ when he was touching the Nomu. The echoed scream of the Nomu was giving him a headache. He fell to his knees, clutching his head and covering his ears as he tried to block it out.

"Shimura-kun?" he heard through his hands, the voice warbled as if they were speaking from behind thick glass.

He registered movement as Thirteen, Nezu, and Cementoss closed in on him, worry painting their features. None reached out to him, afraid of upsetting him further. He could see their mouths moving but couldn't hear their voices. Instead, he focused on Cementoss, arguably the calmest looking out of the few. Thankfully, he noticed and took the lead on bringing Shimura back down.

Cementoss started to move his hand as a conductor would, following a slow four-fourths count. He mouthed the count as well and exaggerated his breathing, matching it so he breathed in for four counts and out for another four. Shimura followed Cementoss' guidance and eventually calmed back down, slowly bringing his hands down from his ears. When he gave a signal that he was alright, Nezu walked up and bowed.

"I apologize for springing that on you, Shimura-kun," his body still bent over, his voice rueful. "I promise you that we will not be tackling that portion of training unless you say that it is okay. Given the circumstances, I am more than happy to stand down and have Thirteen take over as they initially planned. Should you want to continue, just say the word, but please, do not feel rushed into this."

Shimura took a few more beats to compose himself before responding, "Thank you, but I think that would be for the best, sir. I don't- I'm not up for that just yet."

Nezu nodded, "Of course. Cementoss-"

"No, I mean," Shimura cut him off, "I still do want to try what you have in mind, but I don't want to do the… second option. I know I should get to it soon, but when I think about it, well…"

"I understand," Nezu replied. "If you feel uncomfortable with anything, please let us know."

Thirteen used this time to speak up, "Shimura-kun, you don't need to force yourself to do this. I'm more than willing to help you run through some simulations instead, or give you my perspective on how to deal with a particularly… volatile quirk."

He shook his head, "Thank you, Thirteen-san, but at least for today, I would like to see what Principal Nezu has in mind. He did bring up some points that I hadn't considered, and I would rather test them out with someone who could add a little more in-depth explanation."

Thirteen looked a little downtrodden but understood, "Very well." In a short burst of confidence, they turned to Nezu, "I will be setting up the scenes and creating scenarios for Shimura-kun to work through that could lead him to running into situations like these. This is still my internship, so I would like to take the lead on this."

Nezu smiled at them, "Of course! I had no intentions of taking over, I only wanted to use your internship to help Shimura-kun figure out any nuances that might show up with his quirk."

Appeased, Thirteen set about moving the robots into various states of disarray. Shimura sat back and waited for Thirteen to finish, flexing his hand and testing the dexterity of his fingers dutifully, exactly how Recovery Girl instructed him should the pain flare up again.

After some time, and a little adjusting on Cementoss' end, Gym Gamma was redesigned to look like a city suffering from an earthquake.

"Alright!" Thirteen clapped, "The stage is set. The scenario is this: An earthquake of a seven-point-two magnitude has hit City Gamma!" They giggled at the cheeky reference, "Buildings have collapsed, people are trapped under falling debris, and you show up as a first responder. There are fifteen people buried under the rubble. You'll have to think quickly and critically to save them all before the aftershock hits but be careful! One wrong move, and the rest of the buildings will fall, crushing both you and the victims. Genesis!"

Shimura lit up, hearing his hero name called out, "Their lives are in your hands now. Let's make sure you get them to safety."

Shimura smiled brightly, warmth spreading throughout his body as he prepared to take his first step into heroics. For a quick second, all shadows of a doubt left his mind. Being a hero just felt so natural and freeing, "Right!"