An: Professor Donger: Did someone say four days for a new chapter? The Sports Festival is going to be a shorter little arc, but we hope you enjoy what we have planned!
Damian: This chapter is more of a transition one to lead into the Sports Festival, but we didn't slack. We'll continue to try our best to deliver quality crack for you all! Now enjoy! I'm gonna go get some sleep.
It had been a full day since Izumi's… revelation with Eri. She had taken the day to cool down, canceling the previous day's Hell Class and snuggling Eri and Melissa for the rest of the night, much to Eri's delight and Melissa's confusion. She hadn't told her girlfriend what was happening. Legally because she couldn't, and personally because she didn't want to bother Melissa with that knowledge.
Izumi was… not doing too well. She always hated seeing innocent people get hurt, and to know that there was some psycho out there who had cut Eri up and used her to make ammunition for profit made her want to spend a whole day in the range just unloading into targets. She would go after the fuckers immediately if she could, but unfortunately, her plate was full, what with classes and having to get her students ready for the Sports Festival. She couldn't just go off randomly to hunt down a criminal organization, not without people asking questions as to how she got her information about bullets that she was not supposed to know about.
It didn't matter at that moment, she supposed. What mattered was Eri was safe, and Izumi would keep her safe.
She had to put this on the back burner for a while though, because she had classes to run and couldn't let her anger affect her teaching.
Easier said than done.
"Psst, hey," Ochako whispered to Pony as they waited for their part of Hell Class to start, continuing when she hummed. "Does Flintlock-Sensei seem… meaner to you?"
"What you mean?" Pony asked.
"Well, she hasn't cracked a joke at all today," Ochako said.
Pony hummed as they both looked over to their heroics teacher, seeing her looking at her watch with a frown.
"Don't know, maybe she is just intense about our training?" She guessed.
"Maybe? I don't know," Ochako sighed. "Something just feels wrong, you know?"
The doors to Gym Gamma opening drew their attention, and Ochako scowled when she saw Neito Monoma walking in with Hitoshi Shinso trailing behind. "Right, forgot this guy came here-"
"No!"
Both girls jumped at the commanding voice. Turning to the source they saw Flintlock had looked up and zeroed in on Neito, a pissed-off scowl on her face.
"Get the fuck out!"
Ochako and Pony noped the fuck out quickly, going to the other side of the gym to avoid Flintlock's anger.
Neito was frozen in place, Hitoshi looking confused, not sure if Flintlock was talking to him or not since he was standing next to Neito.
The blonde blinked in confusion as he nervously began to sweat. "I-I… what?"
"I said," Flintlock marched up to him and roughly grabbed him by the shoulder, spinning him around and all but pushing him toward the door, "Get. The fuck. Out."
"B-But Sensei, I-"
"I don't care what you have to say right now," She cut him off. "I heard what happened yesterday, I don't need you coming in here and causing problems. If you think you're so much better than your sister class, then you don't need this training, and I don't need your attitude, so leave. Come back another day with a proper apology for Yaoyorozu and everyone else you insulted, or not at all." With that she turned back to monitoring Tenya as he ran, shouting out "One more lap kid, push past your limits!" before she walked away from the two.
"What…" Neito was speechless, "what just happened?"
"It seems your actions have consequences, Young Monoma," Mr. Yagi said as he walked over toward them with a stern frown on his face as he patted Neito on the shoulder. "But all is not lost, you can come back after the festival and maybe get back into her good graces but for now, I suggest you leave and practice elsewhere." He turned to Hitoshi with his large bony smile. "And you Young Shinso! Come! We have, as the kids say, massive fucking gains to make!"
Hitoshi sighed as he walked towards his doom. "You have ruined that phrase for me, more than it already was before."
Nieto sighed through his nose, trying not to be sad or angry, and turned on his heel to walk out of the gym, only to bump into Itsuka, Yui, Tetsutetsu, and Ibara. Itsuka must have noticed his upset look because her big sister instincts kicked in immediately.
"What's wrong? Is 1-B not allowed anymore?" She asked, more concerned than angry. "Damn it, and right when I decided to give this a shot…"
"No," Neito shook his head, "just me. You all can still train."
"Why only you?" Ibara asked concerned, only for Katsuki to pipe up from a nearby chin-up bar.
"Because he's a dipshit and his actions have consequences."
"That's not very –" Ibara started only for Flintlock to nod in agreement, though her back was still to them.
"No, he's correct," She cut in. "You play stupid games, you win stupid prizes. Like I said I'll see you after the Sports Festival, Monoma. If you've learned some humility you'll be welcome to train here again. The rest of you though," she turned and looked at the new 1-B members, "You're free to join, I'll be with you in a minute."
Nieto continued his march out of the gym while the other students from 1-B nervously stayed where they were. As Izumi instructed Tenya on some cooldown stretches and handed him an orange juice, Minoru made his way over and handed the four new 1-B trainees a towel and refillable water bottle labeled "Hell Class" on the front, before he went back to his own practice.
From where they retreated, Ochako winced at the very hard-to-watch interaction. "Yeah, I think Flintlock is mad about something."
Pony nodded in agreement.
Over the next few days Class 1-A practiced hard, far harder than any class before them had, Aizawa was honestly impressed with them, though he hadn't let it show on his face or in his words.
None of his classes before had thrown themselves so fervently into their training for the Sports Festival, they practiced hard because Aizawa told them to and coasted by on small amounts of hard work, the kind of work you'd put in to get an assignment done or a job done with acceptable results. Not this class though. They were working on everything. They treated each day of training as a way to improve themselves, not for the Sports Festival, but so that they'd never be caught unawares again by a situation like the USJ.
It helped that Izumi was pushing them hard to improve themselves, despite her… odd attitude over the past few days. She continued to constantly encourage the students to go beyond their limits, learn new things, and learn from mistakes when the opportunity presented itself.
Such as when she sparred with Ochako.
Ochako grunted as her back hit the ground for what felt like the hundredth time outside the makeshift ring in the gym, a Twice clone blowing his whistle and declaring her opponent the winner.
"And just like that," Flintlock leisurely walked over and stood over the downed girl, "You lost again."
Ochako groaned at the reminder that she had yet to beat Flintlock once in a spar. She hadn't even gotten close. Every time she tried to get close to use her quirk on her teacher, she'd get grabbed and tossed onto her back like she was nothing.
"What are you doing still on the ground?" Flintlock narrowed her eyes at Ochako. "Get up. We'll go again."
Ochako closed her eyes and sighed, taking a moment to collect herself and calm down before beginning to get to her feet.
"Alright, we're done," Flintlock said suddenly as she turned and started walking away.
"What?!" Ochako yelled, scrambling to her feet. "No! I can go again!"
"Clearly you don't want to," Flintlock said without looking back.
"I do! Please!"
Flintlock didn't even answer as she kept walking. Ochako gritted her death as she got frustrated at being ignored. She rushed forward and reached her hand out to grab Flintlock.
As expected, the Gunslinger reacted quickly by once more dodging the attempt at erasing her gravity and grabbed Ochako's arm before tossing her away, a bit more violently than she meant to.
Izumi turned to keep walking, before sighing. She was being a bitch, she knew, and she needed to cut the shit out. Ochako wanted to learn, she had to teach her, it was her responsibility. A bad mood is no excuse.
"Uraraka, look, I…" She had turned to address her student but blinked when she didn't see Ochako anywhere. "Where did…?"
She heard a small noise above her and narrowly dodged out of the way when Ochako had come down from above and tried to attack her. The young woman instead flew into the ground but maneuvered herself so she rolled across it instead of face-planting, and released her quirks effect on herself as she rolled to her feet.
"...What the fuck?" Izumi was thoroughly confused about what had happened for a moment and then realized quickly. Ochako must have negated her own gravity when Izumi threw her, kicked off a pillar into the air, and tried to drop herself on top of Izumi.
"You sneaky bitch!" Izumi couldn't help but smile.
"I almost had you!" Ochako yelled, still looking frustrated.
"Definitely closer than all those other times." Izumi pointed out before sighing. "Look, let's take five, maybe eat a snack and start again okay? I… kinda recognize that I've been a bit of a dick to you guys, my bad mood is no excuse to push you guys harder than you should be pushed."
Ochako looked like she wanted to argue, determined to keep going until she won at least once, but ultimately relented with a sigh as her stomach growled. "Yes, Sensei."
"Alright, but hey, it was good use of the environment," Izumi told her with a pat on her back. "Keep practicing pulling stunts like that, you'd be a monster to deal with in an area with a lot of places to kick off like you were doing." She tapped her chin. "How long can you keep yourself weightless like that?"
"I'm so glad you decided to join the after-school class, Kyouka." Momo smiled at her friend as they walked towards Gym Gamma in their gym uniforms. They were running slightly late, the class had already started and they could hear familiar explosions and cursing coming from the gym.
"Yeah, figured I probably should use the extra training time," Kyouka said as she winced when there was an extra loud explosion. "I'm not gonna have any of my costume's support equipment during the Festival, so I'm gonna need all the help I can get."
She glanced over at Momo, who had been looking more like her normal self, the bags under her eyes were still present, but not nearly as bad as they had been and she wasn't carrying around a pitcher of coffee anymore, so progress?
"So, how have you been doing?" Kyouka asked. "You don't look like a zombie anymore."
"Oh yes," Momo nodded, "I've been taking sleep medication to help me get a full night's rest. I've been feeling so much better."
"Dope," Kyouka smiled. "Hey, you know you've got me if you wanna talk, right? I'm no therapist, but we both went through the same shitstorm, if anyone is able to relate…"
Momo hummed. "I'll keep that in mind, thank you."
Another loud explosion and a stream of cursing made Kyouka hiss. "Fuck, is he making those things loud on purpose?"
"Here," Momo made some earplugs and handed them to Kyouka, "maybe these will help."
"Thanks." Kyouka put them in her ears and sighed in relief. "So, why exactly is this called 'Hell Class'?"
Momo's answer was simply to open the doors to the gym, letting Kyouka bear witness to the controlled chaos inside.
"...I regret my decision."
"Too late!" Momo grabbed her hand and pulled her into the chaos. "We ride together, we die together!"
"Where the hell did you learn that?!"
She was about to respond when Flintlock jogged up with Pony huffing behind her.
She jogged in place for a moment to catch her breath before speaking. "Hey, ladies! Nice of you to join us. Jiro, welcome," She smiled at her before gesturing over to the makeshift shooting range, where a woman with long blue and pink hair was casually sitting on a block of cement. "Have you guys met Lady Nagant? She's gonna be teaching you how to dodge."
Nagant waved from the shooting range as her arm morphed into a rifle that she quickly loaded with rubber bullets.
Flintlock's smile turned into a Cheshire grin as she spoke next. "If you can dodge a bullet from her you can dodge damn near anything! Good luck! Come on Pony, three more laps to make sixty!" With that she ran off, Pony nodded and followed obediently.
Momo flinched and promised to buy Kyouka something nice for the pain she was about to endure.
Minoru narrowly dodged another rubber bullet from Lady Nagant and tried to retaliate with a ranged attack of his own, pulling one of his orbs off his head and throwing them at her, which she dodged immediately before returning fire.
This time she didn't miss and he fell to the ground, the air knocked out of him.
"If you can't dodge a fake bullet in a simulation you can't dodge a real one in a real fight."
Minoru groaned on the ground. "Well, not everyone is the best shot in Japan."
Nagant huffed out a laugh as she walked over and poked Minoru with the barrel of her rifle. "No, they aren't, but I'm also not really trying here, so if I'm still able to hit you then we have problems."
"Way to rub it in," Minoru sighed as he stared up at the ceiling.
"Come on back to it," Nagant said as she hefted the young man up onto his feet.
"Why do I have to do this? Shouldn't I be doing weight training or something?"
Nagant just shrugged. "You could, but with how small you are it wouldn't benefit you as much, you're always going to be a weight class under pretty much anyone you go hand to hand with." She knocked him on the head with her knuckles causing him to flinch. "You gotta think with your brain and your speed, not your brawn, kid."
She pointed back to the line she had drawn on the concrete, behind a pair of pillars. "Back on the line, I wanna see some improvement."
Minoru grudgingly walked back to the line, deep in thought while Nagant loaded another round.
He sighed as he thought of how to avoid getting hit by bullets. Nagant was a crack shot, and it seemed even he wouldn't be able to go fast enough that she would miss if she didn't want to. He needed another plan, but it was hard to think when his head started to hurt from overusing his quirk. He flinched as he touched the back of his head, figuring he only had a few stable orbs left before he started bleeding…
He'd have to be smart.
"Start!" Nagant called out and trained her sights on the cluster of pillars. She saw the purple blur of Minoru begin to bounce around between the pillars, and she took aim as she tracked him. Leading her shot, she fired.
Minoru dodged to the best of his ability, the bullet barely missing him. He quickly reached up behind him and pulled out one of his orbs before throwing it at the pro hero.
Nagant didn't even put much effort into dodging, she simply sidestepped it and readied another rubber bullet.
'Now is my chance!' Minoru thought as he switched his trajectory, causing Nagant to adjust her aim. As quickly as he could he closed the distance between the two, orb in hand. Nagant looked at him slightly shocked, and before she could fire the barrel of her arm was covered by his orb.
She grinned at him before slamming him in his stomach with her arm/the barrel of her rifle, causing him to fall down with a wheeze.
"Not bad," she said as Minoru found himself once more on the ground with empty lungs, "but you forgot I could just smack you."
"Duly noted," he groaned as he held his stomach.
Nagant held up her rifle-arm and looked at the orb stuck to the barrel. "Please tell me this thing comes off."
"I wasn't feeling too hot when I pulled that one off, so it'll probably deflate and lose its stickiness on its own in like an hour," Minoru rolled over onto his stomach as he caught his breath.
"Oh, joy." Nagant shrugged and walked over to sit next to him, it's not like she was unaccustomed to leaving her arm in a rifle form for long periods of time anyway. She crossed her legs and rested her arm/rifle across them. She handed Minoru a water bottle with a small, yet sincere smile.
"Either way, you did good kid, keep that up and you'll be a force to be reckoned with in no time."
"Thanks." Minoru, still laying on the ground, uncapped the water and opened his mouth as he tilted the bottle…
Only for all the water to miss his mouth completely but soak the rest of his head.
"...Yeah, I think I should take you to the nurse."
"Please do, my scalp is on fire."
Pony smiled as she picked up her tray of food and smiled at the masked face of Twice.
"Thanks, Twice!" She cheerfully said. "Hey, quick question: why have you been the one manning the lunch line? What happened to Lunch Rush?"
Jin smiled though Pony couldn't see. "Lunch Rush noticed me handing out breakfast to the students one day and took an interest in my cooking skills, he decided to become an unofficial mentor and give me something to do outside of Big Sis' hero courses."
"That's awesome!" Pony hopped in place. "Your cooking is some of the best I've ever had, so it's a win for everyone!"
"Glad you think so. Now get out of here!" Twice held up a ladle menacingly. "Your food is getting cold as we speak!"
Pony let out an "eep!" before rushing off, heading over to her usual spot where her friends were already talking with each other.
"Hello!" She happily greeted them as she sat down.
"Someone's happy." Ochako smiled at the sight of Pony in such a good mood.
"Mhm!" Pony nodded as she took a bite of her food, swallowing it before speaking. "This past week was awesome! I get training with Flintlock!"
"Yeah, she had you do the type of training you'd do for a marathon the other day, and you're still so full of energy." Ochako sighed. "I don't know how you do it, I'm exhausted."
From her spot across from them, Momo hummed as she swallowed her own food. "Perhaps that could be from how intense you are taking your own training, Uraraka. I've seen you ignore Flintlock-Sensei when she tells you to take a break and instead keep going."
"Yeah," Kyouka rested her chin in her hand as she looked at Ochako. "You've been really… intense, ever since that day the Sports Festival was announced. It's honestly kind of scary. I mean, Bakugo's been more chill than you, and he's actively blowing shit up."
Katsuki from nearby grunted at his name being brought up but didn't say anything as he munched on a burrito.
Ochako sighed as she slumped in her seat. "Sorry guys, I've just been so focused on getting ready for this festival, ya know?" She slammed her fist into her opened palm as she looked up with determination. "I've gotta get a good internship offer from this! You heard what they said, it could jumpstart my career! I need this!"
"You ain't gonna become a hero any faster than the rest of us, Round Face. If you're that concerned about offers, you should focus more on not getting crushed and eliminated early on in the Festival." Katsuki gave his opinion before going back to his food.
"Why are you so concerned about who sends you an offer anyways?" Minoru piped in. "It's not like we'll get to do much more than paperwork and maybe a bit of personal training, and even then UA is partnered with multiple hero agencies to make sure any students who aren't sent offers won't be left out."
Everyone looked at him, and it was clear from their faces that they were all wondering how he knew that information.
Minoru just shrugged as he said, "I asked. Anyway, other than that, it's not like the agency you go to pays you or anything, just make sure you don't intern under a dumbass for a hero."
"Can't believe I'm saying this, but Tyrion over there is right." Katsuki nodded. "Just go with a hero who you know will teach you a lot and won't just use you for their own publicity. Deku told me she managed to get Uwabami banned from sending requests after she did some research and found out she liked to use interns for her commercials since she doesn't have to pay them."
Ochako hissed and narrowed her eyes at Katsuki in disgust. "That's fucking evil."
Momo gasped. "Uraraka!"
Katsuki however nodded in agreement "It is, you should at least get paid for being a vanilla porn model."
"KATSUKI!" Momo looked absolutely mortified.
"Katsuki?" Kyouka muttered but didn't say anything more.
"What?!" He shook his burrito at her "Have you seen her commercials? I'm surprised the bitch hasn't had her hero license revoked just for that!"
"She's…" Momo sighed "She's a good hero though…"
"And that's probably why she hasn't been fired yet."
Pony was scratching her head. She managed to follow the conversation well enough to understand the main points. "It's weird."
"What is?" Ochako asked.
"Here you have internships, but in America we have apprenticeships." Pony said.
"Oh yes," Momo nodded, "I believe I've heard of those."
"What's the difference?" Ochako took a bite of her food.
"Apprentice gets paid."
Ochako immediately choked on her food.
Tsuyu patted her on the back as she started coughing. "Man if you can't handle choking on a little food you won't be able to handle a di –"
"Asui!" Momo's blush was furious and Minoru slammed his head onto the table.
"This woman is gonna be the death of me." He whispered.
"What did she say?" Pony asked.
"Just, continue explaining…" Katsuki sighed.
Pony shrugged and was about to continue when she paused and looked at Momo. "Umm, can I tell you in English? My Japanese is better, but I am missing a few words…"
Momo nodded and smiled. "I'll gladly translate as you speak."
Pony smiled thankfully at her and continued, while Momo translated in Japanese. "In the US, a hero can offer to take a student under their wing at any point during their schooling career and make them an apprentice. It normally happens during the midpoint of the year when schools allow heroes to come to inspect their students…" Pony paused to take a bite of one of her french fries.
After a second she continued. "Apprentices are like interns but more… personal I guess? Apprentices in America are like what Sidekicks are here in Japan I guess? They do a lot of work for their teacher, like paperwork, maintaining the agency, and minor crime work, but again they're paid and the time they spend with their hero basically replaces heroics classes later in the year." Pony nodded
"Oh, and depending on the state you can start earning a ranking while still in school!" Pony was progressively getting more and more excited with her explanation. "That's how Flintlock became the Number Two hero in Texas so fast! She was offered an apprenticeship by Texas' Number One hero!"
After Momo translated and they gave Pony time to finish her food, Katsuki asked the important question.
"I get that that's a big deal, being taken in by your state's number one and all, but if heroes in the States take on apprentices all the time why do you sound so excited about that? Besides the obvious fangirling for Deku."
Pony looked confused as she tried to fully translate everything Katsuki had said before Momo threw her a bone and translated, which caused Pony to once again grin in excitement.
"You don't understand! The Guy's hero name is The Ranger, but we Texans have been calling him the Lone Ranger for years because he just didn't work with anyone. He never voluntarily teamed up with anyone, he never took apprentices, hell, he only worked with cops because he had to. Being noticed by him is huge! Being mentored by him is even bigger!" By the end of her spiel, she was breathing heavily with excitement waving her arms with a wide starry-eyed smile.
"So of course, when news got out that he took on his first-ever apprentice, all focus was on her!"
Ochako sighed dreamily. "Oh, she must have loved that… think of all the job opportunities that opened up for her…"
Katsuki however, knowing his surrogate older sister, scoffed. "Oh, she probably fucking hated that." When everyone looked at him he shrugged. "She was never really a big fan of attention when we were kids, she trolls and was a loud mouth with me or Inches, but outside of the family she was relatively subdued." He frowned. "How she acts now is a really recent thing, at least for me."
Pony scratched the back of her head as she thought about it. "Now that I think about it, yeah, Flintlock was a lot more reserved when she first came onto the scene. Almost as quiet as The Ranger, and that's saying something since the guy has never talked, at all. People think he's a mute!"
Kyouka laughed as she finished up her food. "Damn, why don't we do that whole apprenticeship thing here in Japan? I'd love to get paid for doing hero work early."
"Different countries do things in different ways," Momo explained as she elegantly cleaned her mouth. "Japanese heroes can't take on apprentices, but perhaps a foreign hero from America could." She hummed. "And I suppose that would mean that Flintlock-Sensei could in theory take anyone she wants to here on as an apprentice, assuming they accept her offer, she is a foreign hero after all."
Pony's eyes went wide in excitement at the thought, and she switched back to Japanese. "That sounds awesome! Maybe I get apprenticeship offer. What you think, Ochako?" Pony turned to her best friend and found Ochako looking down at the table, staring at it with wide eyes as if she was having an existential crisis.
"Ochako?" Pony tapped her shoulder, and Ochako's reaction was instant.
She slammed her hands onto the table and stood up. "I gotta go!" She yelled before sprinting full speed out of the cafeteria, looking like a woman on a mission.
"...What was that?" Tsuyu asked. She hadn't talked much during that whole conversation, but she figured she'd ask what the majority were thinking instead of waiting for their shock to wear off.
"I think Deku is about to have a visitor," Katsuki said as he slowly took another bite of his burrito.
Izumi was walking down the halls of UA, Eri sitting on her shoulders once more as they headed toward her office.
"I'm just gonna do a bit of work in my office, okay Eri? I've put a few toys in there for you to mess around with, or if you want I could turn on the TV," Izumi explained. "JinJin also left us lunch too."
"Okay," Eri nodded, but her face held a small frown. "Why couldn't Cat come with us?"
"Melissa needed Cat right now, so you'll have to go a bit without her, okay sweetie?"
"Okay…" Eri nodded, jolting slightly as Izumi suddenly stopped walking. "Hm?"
"I sense a disturbance." Izumi narrowed her eyes as she instinctively turned around. As soon as she did, she saw a familiar head of brown hair turn the corner at an intersection in the hallway, looking both ways before her brown eyes zeroed in on Izumi.
"...Why do I feel like I should be concerned?" Izumi asked mostly herself.
"Why does she look scary?" Eri asked.
Ochako Uraraka launched herself gull sprint in Izumi's direction. The speed would have impressed her if Izumi wasn't concerned that Ochako was about to ram into her while Eri was balanced on her shoulders. Not taking the chance, Izumi quickly lifted Eri off of her and placed the child on the ground, and made sure to stand between her and the rapidly approaching student.
"Flintlock-Sensei!" Ochako shouted. "I need to talk with you!"
"Okay, kid, calm down, you're scaring the munchkin." Izumi firmly said as Ochako slid to a stop, breathing heavily.
"Need… to talk… important!" Ochako panted out.
"Geez Uraraka, did you run here all the way from the cafeteria in one sprint?" Izumi smirked. "I'm impressed, it seems like that endurance training is already paying off. Now, what was it you needed?"
Ochako took as much time as was needed to get proper air into her lungs, but once she was able to talk again she wasted no time asking her question, standing up and looking Izumi in the eye with determination.
"Give me a job!"
"..." Izumi blinked as she slowly processed that demand. "What?"
"Give me a job! Please!" Ochako asked desperately.
Izumi blinked again and once more picked the still slightly apprehensive Eri up. "Uh, okay, you wanna say that in a different way that makes more sense?"
"Right, terminology!" Ochako shook her head. "I meant, let me be your apprentice!"
Izumi slowly nodded. "Okay, that makes it a lot more clear what exactly you're asking, but-"
"Please! I-I can do whatever you want! The paperwork! Cleaning! Beating the crap out of bad guys! I'll take a bullet if you want!"
"Whoa, okay," Izumi placed her free hand on Ochako's head and gently pushed her back a bit, her student having inched closer and closer until she was practically leaning on Izumi. "Uraraka, girl, you're currently on an eleven, but you're scaring Eri and starting to scare me, so I'm gonna have to ask you to take this intensity down to, like, a seven or something."
"Gah! Sorry!" Ochako stepped back and took a calming breath.
"It's fine, love the enthusiasm, but there is such a thing as too much." Izumi gave Ochako a moment to collect herself before she heard Eri's stomach grumble. "Let's just take this to my office so I can get Eri fed and put her behind the nice and quiet soundproof wall."
"Why can't I listen to you talk?" Eri asked with a pout.
"It's adult business, hon," Izumi told her with a quick pat on the head. "Boring things, like taxes."
Eri looked confused. "Taxis aren't boring, they take you places and sometimes they're game shows."
Izumi blinked at her. "...Who showed you what Cash Cab was?"
"JinJin."
"...You know what, never mind, that's not even what I said. The point is, the adult and her student are going to be talking, so I'm gonna need you to be a good girl for me and behave, okay?"
"Okay." Eri nodded.
"Awesome. Now, Uraraka," Izumi turned to her waiting student, "if you'll follow me."
After getting to her office and setting Eri up to play behind the soundproof glass wall, Izumi sat behind her desk, looking over at Ochako who now seemed much more nervous as she sat in one of the chairs.
"You alright?" Izumi asked, causing Ochako to jump slightly.
"Y-yeah, just realizing I came on a bit strong back there." Ochako chuckled nervously as she scratched the back of her head. "Sorry 'bout that."
Izumi shrugged, "It's all good. I'm now more curious why you're hinting me down out of nowhere to ask for me to take you on as an apprentice, and how you even heard about that."
"We were talking about internships during lunch and Pony brought it up," Ochako explained.
"Ah, of course, she did. I'm honestly surprised Miss Tsunotori didn't immediately ask me like you did just now," Izumi narrowed her eyes, "but then again, she probably knows you're not supposed to ask a hero for an apprenticeship."
Ochako's face went pale and her eyes widened in horror as she realized she might have messed up big time. She put her hands together and bowed in her seat. "I'm so sorry! I didn't know it was rude!"
"Uraraka, it's fine, I'm just messing with you." Izumi waved her off. "It's not exactly rude, but it does make you seem desperate, I won't lie. Is there any particular reason you want me to mentor you so bad that you're willing to say you'd take a bullet if I asked you to?"
Ochako blushed in embarrassment, looking away as she tapped her fingers together. "That, ummm…. That just came out."
"Yeah, I figured you didn't mean it. I mean, what sane person would take a bullet for no reason?" Izumi nervously chuckled at that last part, glad her family wasn't there to call her out.
"Yeah, you're right," Ochako chuckled, not noticing or not caring about her teacher's shifty eyes.
"Anyway, you still haven't told me why you want me to mentor you. I mean, I'm trying not to be biased, but in my honest assessment I believe you're gonna do great in the Sports Festival, you're sure to get a few good internship offers. Why ask me to 'give you a job' now?"
"Well," Ochako looked down at the ground, rubbing her arm nervously. "I-it's kind of embarrassing, really. And it isn't exactly a good reason."
"I'll be the judge of that," Izumi said as she leaned back in her chair.
"Okay, umm," Ochako took a deep breath before just saying it. "Money."
Izumi raised an eyebrow. "Money?"
"Yeah, Pony mentioned that unlike interns here in Japan, apprentices are actually paid. She also said that you might be able to take on a few here in Japan instead of the normal interns so I thought 'hey, an opportunity to start making money early!'"
"That wording suggests that your motivation to be a hero involves money." Izumi pointed out her observations. "I doubt you're a greedy person, so do you wanna add context to that?"
Ochako didn't answer, nor did she make eye contact with Izumi, and it almost looked like she was ashamed.
Izumi sighed. "Uraraka, I should tell you now that I don't really care if your reason to become a hero involves just making money, we gotta make a living after all. What I care about is that you actually do your job and help people, so as long as that is the case, then you and I are totally fine."
Ochako sighed through her nose before looking at Izumi. "Okay, promise not to judge?"
"Of course."
"Alright… I didn't have a lot of money growing up. My parents always struggled to make ends meet and it always… bugged me, to see them so stressed. You see, they own a construction company, and you'd think with all the property damage villain fights cause business would be booming, but that's not the case for us. And it's expensive to buy all the materials and equipment needed for the job. When I was little I used to tell them that I would use my quirk to help them so they wouldn't need to pay for so much equipment, but even then they knew I didn't want to spend my life as a construction worker. They told me to follow my dreams, and not hold myself back for them."
Izumi patiently listened to Ochako, nodding her head. "And so you chose to be a hero?"
Ochako nodded. "Yeah, I always did admire how they helped people. That's what I wanna do, I wanna help people, I want to help my parents. I want to make as much money as I can as quickly as I can, so I can support them like they've supported me! If I could do one thing by following my own dreams, it's helping them!"
Izumi smiled at Ochako, a small laugh escaping her lips. "You know, you might not think it, but that reasoning is actually very admirable."
Ochako's head snapped up, and she looked at Izumi with wide eyes. "Really?"
"Yeah. This is a dangerous profession, you know that now after the USJ, and yet you're still willing to push yourself to your absolute limit to help your parents while also doing something you want to do. Let no one tell you that you're selfish or greedy, because I'll tell you right now that's not the kind of person I'm looking at."
"I… I don't know what to say. I expected a different reaction." Ochako shuddered as she felt her eyes getting watery, quickly wiping the forming tears away. "Thank you, Sensei."
"Hey, nothing to thank me for, I'm just saying it how it is." Izumi sighed. "Look, Uraraka, I'm not gonna offer you an apprenticeship yet." She quickly added before Ochako could interrupt. "But I'll tell you this, being an apprentice is a big deal, and it's a more long-term program than an internship. If I'm gonna give anyone an offer, it's gonna be someone who catches my attention. Someone who I will be interested in dedicating out-of-school hours to training to help them reach their full potential, and someone who is likewise willing to put in the work needed. Do you understand what I'm saying?"
Ochako immediately nodded. "Y-yes, ma'am!"
"Awesome, so we're on the same page." Izumi stood up, Ochako following her lead. "Now, I've got work to do, and you've got a class to get to, so best not keep Aizawa waiting."
As they walked towards the door, Izumi stopped Ochako before she left.
"Oh and one more thing before you go." Izumi placed her hand on Ochako's shoulder and looked her dead in the eye. "I seem to be missing a SPAS-12 from my armory. You wouldn't happen to know anything about that, would you?"
Ochako began to nervously sweat. "I uh… well you see… I may have… kept it?" She braced herself for any possible punishment.
Izumi stared at her for an uncomfortably long time before backing up and giving a closed-eye smile. "Okay!"
"...huh?" Ochako blinked.
Izumi shrugged. "I mean, the thing was modified to only shoot those capture rounds I gave you. I wasn't gonna hand you a weapon that could fire live ammunition. I'm not an idiot. And I'm happy you were honest, so go ahead and hang on to it for now, but don't use it. Got it?"
"Yes, Sensei!"
"Good, now scram." Izumi gently pushed Ochako along, watching as the younger woman ran off to not be late for class.
Izumi couldn't help but genuinely laugh. Sure, she was still upset about what she learned related to Eri, but she's had time to calm down and get herself under control. Which was good, otherwise she wouldn't have the proper temper to deal with her students in such a professional manner.
"Hm, maybe snuggling really is the cure," She thought aloud as she glanced back at Eri, who was drawing on the bed.
Izumi smiled as she went back inside, lowering the glass wall as she asked, "Eri, wanna snuggle and watch more Gravity Falls?"
Eri's answer was obvious.
One day left until the Festival, and everyone was nervous. It was their mandatory rest day, so the students of the Hero course weren't doing any physical training of any sort, instead looking for ways to distract themselves.
Momo however didn't exactly listen. Well, she technically listened. She wasn't doing any physical training. No, she was instead training her mind like always, sitting on the couch with her nose deep in a notebook, making sure she understood how to make everything she may need for tomorrow. Weapons, constructs of all kinds, she wanted to be prepared.
Her thought process was cut off when she felt something hit the back of her head, not hard but just enough to make her flinch. She turned around to see Katsuki glaring at her with a bowl of popcorn in one arm and a large Blu-ray box set in the other.
"Scoot over, we're watching Star Wars."
"Wha –"
"I can see you overthinking from halfway across the room, all your gonna do is tire yourself out before the competition even fucking starts, and I did say I was gonna make you watch Star Wars one day. Well, that day is today, so scoot over."
Momo reluctantly did as she was told and Katsuki plopped down onto the center of the couch "Can you make a Blu-ray player?"
She did so without question and he grinned before placing the Popcorn and box set on the table. He got up and started setting it up while Kyouka came over holding a Pizza in her hands, some cups on top of it, and her jacks wrapped around a two-liter of soda.
"I can't believe you roped me into this." She said as she took her spot on the couch.
"Just be happy I got some basic bitch pepperoni pizza and not something spicy."
Katsuki took out a disk and inserted it, Momo catching a look at what disk it was before it disappeared.
"Why are we starting on 'Episode Four'? Shouldn't we begin on Episode One?" She asked as Katsuki took his spot on the couch.
Katsuki shrugged as he clicked play on the remote. "You never start with the Prequels, if you don't finish the Originals you won't experience the series as it was intended."
Momo hummed. "That's… odd. Though a prequel to stories isn't unheard of, so I suppose it's fine."
Katsuki grunted before quickly tapping Kyouka with her elbow. "Volume warning."
She covered her ears just in time to save herself from the sudden loud noise of trumpets blasting from the TV. She loved music, but she hated how sudden loud noises always got to her.
"Thanks, man." She said as she relaxed.
"Yeah, sure, now shut up and watch."
Izumi sighed as she walked down into her armory. She left Eri up in the living room with Jin, who she had gotten comfortable with quickly, even finding him funny. Izumi wasn't surprised, Jin was a very likable guy.
It also helped that he enjoyed making her apple-related treats.
With a moment to do whatever she wanted, Izumi figured she would go and see what Melissa was up to. Over the past two weeks, her girlfriend had been cooped up in the armory, plotting world domination for all Izumi knew. And honestly? Izumi wouldn't be opposed to helping Melissa with that if it were the case.
It sounded like fun, sue her.
"Hey, Mel?" Izumi called out as she entered the armory.
"Over here!"
Izumi made her way over to where Melissa was looking over a holographic design of some kind of robot. "Whatcha doin'?"
Melissa hummed as she moved some parts of the hologram around. "Some quick design overhauls for a few… side-projects."
Izumi nodded as she leaned against the table, pursing her lips and nodding. "Okay, okay, that's not super ominous."
"Oh, good, I didn't want anyone catching on," Melissa joked as she dismissed the hologram and turned to Izumi. "What's up?"
Izumi shook her head. "Nothing just wanted to see you."
"...Okay, what's wrong?" Melissa deadpanned.
Izumi looked taken aback. "What do you mean 'what's wrong'? Nothing's wrong!"
"Izu, you have certain tones you use when you're flirting with me, and that wasn't one of them, which means something else is on your mind and it's bothering you."
Izumi stared at Melissa and blinked a few times. "...Damn, I don't know whether to be impressed that you're able to get a read on me like that, or turned on. Probably both."
"Don't try to distract me," Melissa flicked Izumi on the nose. "Look, it's not just that, you've been acting weird these past few weeks… you've been more quiet, and a whole lot more cuddly. Now, you know I wouldn't complain about that last bit, but I am a little concerned about you. You left the dorm one day acting like your normal self, then you came back all quiet and said nothing as you just dragged me into a hug. I know we've both been too busy to really talk about it, but we're not busy now. Is everything okay?"
Izumi stared at the ground with her arms crossed. She didn't want to tell Melissa, even if she could. This wasn't her responsibility, it was Izumi's. She knew she could take care of it, and there was no point worrying Melissa for no reason.
"Just… stressing out over everything, worrying about Eri, worrying about the Sports Festival and my students… it's nothing, I can handle it." She gave Melissa a smile.
"Hmm," Melissa frowned and moved to wrap Izumi in a hug. "Okay, but you know you can talk with me if something is wrong, right?"
Izumi's smile became genuine as she hugged Melissa back. "Using my own words against me… I know, Mel. Thanks."
The two stayed like that for a while, before Melissa spoke.
"Where's Eri?"
"With Jin." Izumi told her.
Melissa nuzzled into Izumi's neck and hummed. "So she's distracted for a while?"
"Yeah."
"And you don't have to do any work for the rest of the day."
"...Yeah?"
"And I've been here for two weeks already."
Izumi blinked as she tried to figure out where Melissa was going with this. Then, it clicked in her head, and her eyes widened. She pulled back and looked Melissa in the face, noticing the deep blush.
She leaned in and whispered into the heroine's ear, "What do you say… cowgirl?"
"...Army-Chan, lock the armory," Izumi ordered as she lifted Melissa up onto her workbench, the blonde squealing in excitement before pulling Izumi in for a kiss.
"You two are so gross," The armory AI responded but did as it was told.
Eri concentrated as she kneaded the sticky cookie dough like Jin showed her, face and hands covered in flour. After it was done Jin stopped her and nodded.
"Good job, Eri. Now we gotta add the apples and the cinnamon." She nodded and let herself be led over to the sink to wash her hands. Jin had already peeled and diced the apples, so all that they needed to do was mix them into the dough as well as put the cinnamon sugar in.
"Okay, Eri, let's get this done and then we can watch some cartoons while they bake!" Jin gave the apple bowl to Eri and lifted her onto the little stepstool she used to reach the counter.
"Okay, Uncle JinJin." Eri nodded, and Jin suppressed a scream of joy, happy he was able to get Eri to start calling him that.
They mixed the cinnamon and sugar into the dough and made the cookies into little balls before putting them on the baking sheet. Once that was done they put them in the preheated oven with a nod and cleaned themselves up.
"Right! What do you wanna watch?"
"...DuckTales."
"Woop!" Jin lifted Eri up and ran toward the television, causing her to giggle, her lip twitching a little but not yet forming a grin or smile.
'All in due time', Jin thought as he turned on DuckTales.
He adored this little girl, and couldn't wait for Izumi to finally realize what everyone else had. The two started singing the DuckTales theme song immediately upon it coming on and all was right in the world.
Ten minutes later the cookies and Jin ran to get them on the cooling rack while Eri enjoyed the cartoon. After another ten minutes, the cookies had cooled and Jin had called Eri over to try them out, the little girl paused the show and walked over as quickly as her little legs could take her.
Just as the two were about to dig into their sweet creations the door to the armory opened and a disheveled but happy Izumi came walking out, a just as happy-looking Melissa following right behind her.
Jin gave the two a knowing look, which was impressive that he was able to convey one through a mask.
Izumi resisted the urge to flip him off.
Eri ran up with a cookie and handed it to Izumi. "Miss Izumi!" She tilted her head. "Why is your hair so messy?"
"Uhhh," Izumi quickly thought of what to say, "I'll tell you when you're older."
"Oh, okay!" Eri nodded, and Izumi sighed in relief before noticing the cookie in Eri's hands.
"Oh? What's this?" Izumi asked, knowing the answer but wanting to let Eri explain for her self-confidence.
"Uncle JinJin and me made cookies," Eri leaned in and whispered like it was a conspiracy. "They have apples in them."
Izumi gave a dramatic gasp and faked shock. "Shut up. No way."
Eri nodded, giving a quiet "Mhm!", handing the one she had to Izumi before running to get another one for Melissa.
Izumi took a bite of the cookie, humming as the flavor hit her tongue. She turned to Melissa and nodded in approval. "Gotta say, second best cookie I've eaten today?"
"What was the other one?" Melissa asked, and Izumi just smiled at her.
"You."
"..." Melissa blushed and pushed her face away. "Shut up!"
Izumi went into a fit of laughter. "I'm sorry! I couldn't help it! The joke was right there!"
Eri was looking at the two of them confused as she returned with another cookie, causing Izumi to sheepishly chuckle after she had calmed down and got to her knees to be more on eye-level with the little girl.
"These are really good, are you sure JinJin made them?" She wiggled her eyebrows. "He can't make anything near this good, I think you secretly made them."
Eri covered her mouth and giggled bashfully while Jin nodded in mock agreement.
"I think she's got the makings of a master baker!"
Eri's cheeks turned pink from all the praise, and she looked like she tried to hide behind her cookie. Izumi smiled at her ward, holding her own cookie up. "Have you eaten one yet?"
Eri shook her head.
"Well, no need to be patient. You made them, you decide when to eat them," Izumi told her.
Eri looked at her cookie, staring at it for a bit before bringing it up to her mouth and taking a small bite. She chewed on it for a bit, everyone watching for her reaction. Her eyes then widened into saucers as a squeal of delight escaped her. She hopped up and down in place, and the corners of her lips pulled up higher and higher.
She smiled. Eri smiled.
Izumi covered her own mouth as she witnessed the sight before her, and she was at risk of flooding the dorm.
Jin, seeing the smile, resisted the urge to cry as well but instead, he leaned over and whispered something into Eri's ear.
Eri's smile twitched a little and finally dropped since Eri wasn't used to working those muscles but she looked over at Izumi with concern.
"Mama Izu, are you okay?"
Oh… Oh, she must have died and gone to heaven.
No, wait, she could still feel pain, she wasn't dead yet.
Even better!
Izumi scooped Eri into a large hug and started crying tears of pure joy. Eri looked concerned but returned the hug while Melissa patted Izumi on the back with a teary smile of her own.
After a minute she calmed down and slowly repeated "I'm okay love, I'm okay." She hugged Eri a little tighter and whispered out a soft, "I love you, Eri."
Eri's smile returned, smaller this time and she snuggled into Izumi's hold. "I love you too, Mama."
This was the best day of her life, even if she couldn't be in denial anymore.
"I still can't believe it!" Momo gushed as She sat in the common room. "I can't believe Darth Vader was Luke's father the whole time!"
"Yaomomo," Kyouka deadpanned, "you've been obsessed over that since last night. I'm loving the enthusiasm, but it's too early for this shit."
"Don't listen to Kyouka. She's a fuckin' nark." Katsuki stood next to them, arms crossed. "But on a side note: shouldn't you be getting the extras ready to head out?"
"Oh, crap!" Momo turned and started running through the dorm, gathering the stragglers. Tenya, who had just arrived from the male's side of the dorms after knocking on every door, sputtered at the Class Rep's language while Katsuki chuckled.
"We are horrible influences on her I hope you know," Kyouka added as she twirled one of her jacks around.
"Oh yeah, I know, isn't it great?" Katsuki had a feral grin.
Some time passed as everyone was woken up and had breakfast. Twice had quickly shown up to cook, not interacting with the students much because he "didn't want to show bias" or something. Regardless, the entirety of Class 1-A was well rested and fed for the day ahead of them.
Momo had gathered them all near the front doors, a largely determined smile on her face. "Okay, listen up! We are to go to the event area and stay within it for the entire festival, there will be booths and stands set up around the outside of the stadium which we are allowed to look at, but by a certain time, all of us need to be within our class' designated waiting room and await to be called out into the stadium. Anyone who is not present by the deadline will face immediate disqualification from the Sports Festival, and will not compete. Everyone got that?"
As confirmations rang out among the class, Ochako leaned over to Pony to whisper, "She seems really into this."
Pony hopped in place, a large smile splitting her face. "So excited! And nervous. But I'm also excited!"
"Don't forget that you're giving the opening speech Katsuki!" Momo added as she walked next to him, stopping briefly to whisper to him, "Please tell me you have one prepared."
He waved her off with a grumble. Momo nodded before continuing.
"Alright, Class 1-A," Momo opened the door for her classmates to file out.
"Let's do this!"
Izumi walked with purpose toward the announcer's booth. She had left Eri back with her family in the private booth they were provided and she was honestly feeling pretty good about the day. She couldn't wait to see her adorable little students participate in a bit of blood sport!
Coming up on the door leading into the announcer's booth, she reached for the doorknob…
Only to say "fuck being subtle" and instead kicked to door open, startling Present Mic who was getting ready to start.
"'Sup biiiitch?!~" She sang.
"Gah, Midoriya?!" Mic turned his seat around to look at her. "What are you doing here?"
"I'm your co-announcer for the Festival, obviously." Izumi plopped herself down in the second chair, spinning around in it idly.
Mic raised an eyebrow at her. "But Shouta is supposed to be my partner for this."
"Yeah, he didn't want to do it, so he asked me to instead." Izumi stopped spinning and shrugged. "Pretty sure he knew I'd say yes."
Hizashi sighed but shrugged, "Fair, at least you'll be more fun to do announcements with than Shouta." He grinned. "Welcome aboard, Midoriya."
"You know you can call me Izumi," she said but smiled "We're coworkers after all, and it seems unfair to be so formal when I'm calling you Mic all the time."
"Alright, but during the announcements, I'll call you by your last name for formality reasons, you're relatively unknown here so calling you by your hero name would be redundant and Flintlock is a mouthful."
Izumi raised an eyebrow. "And Present Mic isn't?"
"Hey, it can be shortened to Mic!"
"Fair enough, saying just Flint or Lock would be weird. So, when are we starting this?"
Hizashi looked at his watch. "We've got about ten minutes, we're going to make the opening announcement here in five, introduce ourselves to the crowd, introduce the little listener giving the welcoming speech, the usual."
The two talked casually for a few minutes, Izumi talking about his radio show and how she listened to it even in the States, which honestly flattered him to no end. After the five-minute mark, Hizashi's game face came on and the two turned to the window.
"Let's get this party started!" Hizashi grinned as he turned the microphones on.
"Ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls! Welcome to UA's annual Sports Festival!" He let the crowd cheer their hearts out before continuing. "As always listeners, I'm your host, Present Mic! With me today is my co-host from across the sea, the Japanese turned American Hero, Izumi "Flintlock" Midoriya!"
The crowd clapped politely, not really knowing who the mysterious pro-hero was, the clapping was quiet enough that a loud shout of "NO FUCKING WAY!" could be heard.
Izumi didn't really dwell on it as she spoke. "Happy to be here, Mic!"
"Your Japanese is pretty good for a yank."
"You literally just said I was from Japan."
The crowd let out a laugh at the two's biplay which Izumi took in stride, Hizashi grinning.
"Alright let's all calm down, in a few minutes Class 1-A's very own Katsuki Bakugou is going to come up and give the opening speech! I hope it's as inspiring as last year's."
Izumi was about to respond, intent on telling Hizashi to not get his hopes up (Katsuki really didn't do motivational speeches), when they heard rapidly approaching footsteps from just outside the door to the booth before it was opened with a loud bang!
The two pro-heroes turned in their seats, Izumi unholstering her Glock while Hizashi inhaled ready to scream the potential attacker out of the booth.
Only to come face to face with a blond beauty in a skintight hero costume crying her eyes out and looking straight at Izumi.
Hizashi released the breath he had inhaled with a sigh. "Oh, it's just you Mount Lady." Hizashi quickly muted the microphones so the whole stadium didn't have to hear them. "You know you guys have to ask before coming up here."
"I-is…" the newly named Mount Lady walked slowly forward as Izumi put her gun away, stuttering the entire time. "Is it really you?"
"Uh…Yes, I'm me. Who are you?"
"It's me! Yu!"
"...You're me?"
"Wha- no! I'm Yu!"
"But… I'm me! Who are you?!"
"I just told you, you dumb bitch!" Yu stomped her feet in frustration.
"Wait," Izumi held up her hands, "...are we pulling a Rush Hour right now?"
"Yes! Do you finally remember!?"
"...No."
"Ugh!" Yu reached into her pockets. "I hate that I have to do this. I don't even really wear them anymore." She grumbled as she pulled out a pair of glasses before taking off her mask and putting them on instead a looking at Izumi.
At that moment everything clicked and Izumi's eyes widened comically large. "Yu?"
"YES!" With that Yu lunged at her and began crying once again, this time joined by her former best friend.
Hizashi shuffled nervously before realizing they still had a job to do and quickly turned around, unmuting his microphone and saying, "I'm gonna uh, turn it over to Midnight down on the field for the opening speech."