Welcome back, everyone! Not much for me to say in regards to this chapter, except that it's a bit shorter than the last one. I should let you know, the chapters are bound to get a lot longer once we get into Season 3 territory. What you're getting now is essentially a warm-up to what's to come.
Anyways, let's get back to the internships!
"Huh..." Izuku exhaled out of exhaustion as he stood up from the floor. The hero All Might had suggested to him was Gran Torino, a former mentor of his who taught him at U.A. once as a homeroom teacher. And also, he was someone who knew about One For All. Needless to say, he was an interesting one. The speed he had with his Quirk easily surpassed that of the freckled teen by a great margin. For someone so old, he was impressive.
"So you figured out how to use One For All constantly throughout your whole body, right?" he asked Izuku, getting his attention.
"Oh, uh, yeah," he answered, holding up his hands, "So far, I've been able to tick up to five percent continuously without backlash..." he explained, "but I know I'm gonna need to find a way to increase that limit for myself..." he noted, closing his hands into fists.
"From what I saw in the Sports Festival, you only broke your body whenever you felt you had no other choice..." Gran Torino recalled, letting off a small smile, "Reckless as that is, I think it's a good way for you to figure out what you need to do next," he pointed out.
"Yeah..." Izuku responded, taking on a grin of determination.
"How'd you figure out how to use One For All the way you did anyway?" his new mentor inquired curiously, "I doubt Toshinori gave you those pointers..." he added with narrowed eyes.
"Oh... I... have a friend who helped me figure it out," the freckled teen answered slowly to his surprise, "She told me to think of it like it was an Ether-Type Quirk that flowed throughout my whole body," he explained on.
"Really?" Gran Torino inquired with a smirk, "And I'm assuming this 'friend' of yours knows your secret, too?" he guessed.
"Yeah, she does," Izuku confirmed, followed by blinking in realization, "D-Don't worry, I totally trust her!" he stuttered out assuredly, causing his mentor to chuckle before he ate one of the cooked pastries on the plate.
"Well, so long as you do, I don't see the harm..." he mumbled out, "Now come on over and eat up," he insisted, "We got a long day ahead," he pointed out.
"R-Right!" his intern stammered, heading over to the table and picking up a pastry before sitting down.
'I wonder how you're doing at the IUA... Rebecca...' he inwardly noted as he ate his unconventional breakfast.
"Huh... huh..." Rebecca breathed out tiredly, resting on her hands and knees while in her costume. The first day of the internship at the I.U.A. had mostly been spent getting introduced to the facility, along with the heroes and sidekicks that worked there. Getting set up was easy. But day two was proving to be a bit more of a challenge.
"This... is quite an experience..." Momo commented as she was dressed in her costume as well, also on her hands and knees. Standing over them with his arms crossed was Jaguar. He narrowed his eyes in thought.
"I saw both of your efforts in the Sports Festival," he pointed out to both girls, who got back onto their feet as they looked over to their current mentor, "You did well in the events, especially considering the circumstances of your rivals up to when you fought in the tournament," he told them.
"Oh, uh... th-thank you, sir," Rebecca stuttered with gratitude, bowing politely to him.
"Though I'm surprised that you're the one teaching us today..." Momo admitted, "Wasn't Justice the one who had the offers sent out?" she inquired curiously.
"He did... though rather excessively..." Jaguar answered to her surprise, "Nevertheless, he wants to prepare as many younglings as possible for the times ahead," he said firmly to both girls, "And also..." he continued, "there's a potential mission coming up where we could use your help," he pointed out.
"What kind of mission?" Rebecca asked curiously.
"One in regards to the disappearance of Hermit Mio," Jaguar responded. Both girls gasped in shock.
"W-What?" the Leaper Quirk user stammered out.
"I didn't realize she was missing..." Momo confessed, putting her right hand over her mouth.
"Before the new year at UA started, she had been called in for a mission in regards to a science-related matter," the I.U.A. hero explained, "She was helping look into the work of the Müller Royal Laboratories and their rumored experimentation on humans..." he mentioned to them, lowering his gaze to the floor, "Unfortunately, the rumors were never confirmed as she disappeared," he finished.
"Müller..." the Creation Quirk user uttered, moving her hand down to her chin as she narrowed her eyes in thought, "Isn't he the one who was tried for illegally trying to experiment with copying Quirk factors?" she inquired.
"Yes, but the jury held out and let him go," Jaguar replied, "In any case, this mission requires many heroes along with the help of the future generation," he told his interns, "We're here to whip you into shape, both at the agency and in the field," he mentioned with crossed arms.
"Oh, are we going out on patrol?" Rebecca guessed, smiling excitedly. Her mentor turned around.
"Something along those lines..." he responded vaguely to both girls' surprise, "We'll be leaving around sunset for Hosu," he told them, "Be prepared," he advised.
"Yes sir!" the girls replied firmly. As their mentor left the room, Rebecca and Momo exhaled sighs of relief.
"I didn't think we'd get put to work so early..." the former admitted, removing her cat ears as she wiped the sweat off of her face.
"Yes..." the latter agreed, "I must admit, your Quirk is quite unique..." she pointed out as a compliment, much to her classmate's surprise, "I'm sort of the same way in that I have my limits with my power..." she noted, looking down her right hand.
"But you can do all kinds of cool stuff with it!" Rebecca mentioned excitedly, causing her to blink in astonishment, "I only go faster..." she said, folding her arms behind her head.
'And possibly do time travel whenever I can...' she added inwardly, not wanting to reveal the nuance behind her latest ability just yet.
"In any case..." Momo began, closing her hands into fists, "we'll keep moving forward," she decided with a firm nod.
"Yeah, Plus Ultra!" Rebecca exclaimed in agreement as she pumped her left fist up.
The internships were going along at different paces for everyone. Homura was finding herself struggling to keep up with Mirko, who was just hopping about in search of villains to thrash. It wouldn't have been a problem if the Rabbit Hero was willing to slow down for even a moment.
But she was moving with such vigor, it was impossible for her intern to keep pace. She found herself panting heavily with exhaustion as the early summer heat was starting to get to her. Ultimately, she wound up sitting down upon a bench and exhaling a tired sigh. If Valkyrie had worked so hard all the time, she wondered how she would ever be able to reach that level in the future. Before she could even ponder the thought, she noticed a cup of ice cream being held out in front of her.
"Figured you'd have a hard time the first few days..." Mirko noted with a grin, holding a cup of her own as she sat down beside her intern, "Don't beat yourself up," she insisted as she leaned back, "Pros have a hard time figuring out what they wanna focus on most once they hit the big leagues," she pointed out, "I'm sure Valkyrie was the same way," she mentioned to Homura's surprise, "though I never got to know her like you did," she admitted.
"Right..." the Soul Blade Quirk user responded in understanding, "You were not a pro at the time..." she realized, taking a scoop of her ice cream and contently put it into her mouth.
"Valkyrie was my favorite pro growing up," the Rabbit Hero recalled as she glanced up at the bright blue sky overhead, "So when I saw her successor kicking ass and even giving Endeavor's kid a run for his money..." she kept going, "I just knew I had to bring you on and show you the ropes," she told her intern. Needless to say, she was quite shocked that Valkyrie had inspired Japan's current top female hero so much. But it was motivating her as well. She quickly ate up the rest of her ice cream, enduring the sudden brain freeze she gave herself, and stood up.
"I am ready to continue our patrol," she declared firmly to Mirko's surprise. However, she cracked a grin and chuckled, standing up.
"In that case, I know just where we'll be heading for tonight," she decided, putting her hands onto her hips.
"Where?" Homura inquired as she blinked.
"Hosu," her mentor answered to her surprise, "We're gonna find that Hero Killer and take him down..." she insisted with a clenched left fist. And like that, all of the players were ready to converge that night...
And so, we're closing in on the Hero Killer battle! Hopefully, we'll get to it sooner than later! See you all next time!