Guild Master here once again.

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Outside of the rundown office building that Izuku was certain was some sort of preschool at some point in it's lifespan was Izuku himself and Gran Torino. It was finally the end of the internship and all that was left was for the student and teacher to bid each other farewell. It was slightly bittersweet, but Izuku was more than happy to have learned so much with such a powerful hero.

"Thank you again, Gran Torino. Everything you've taught me will be with me for the rest of my life. Even in my fight against Stain; I managed to beat him with the-"

Gran Torino whacked Izuku in the ankle as the boy was trying to pay the old man a compliment. It was just his way to get the boy to pay attention to him over what the truth of the matter was.

"Don't get full of yourself! When they cut Stain open; they found bruises on his stomach and leg deep enough to reach the bone. Just know that if it wasn't for whoever had their way with him before you fought him, you and them boys would be far worse off had Stain been at one hundred."

That wasn't the most comforting thought in the world with all the close calls him and the other two had with the villain. It would explain why it was that the speed of which Stain was moving felt so inconsistent. Not for throwing off his opponents, but because he was working with a limp. Izuku asked the final lingering question as to why a powerful hero like Gran Torino was never in the public eye with such a powerful quirk.

Turns out that he never had any interest in being a hero in the first place and only did so to serve a different goal. As Izuku was walking away; Gran Torino couldn't help but feel that somehow both Yoshinori and Izuku were both so different yet intrinsically the same. He would have been a likely choice that Nana would have gone with had Yoshinori and him swapped places.

"Hey kid!"

Izuku turned at the beckoning of Gran Torino to see what it was he wanted from the boy.

"... Who're you?"

He honestly thought both of them were already past this bit. Izuku gave his full birth name and was cut off with Gran Torino telling him that wasn't what he asked. The gears were turning and finally; Izuku arrived at the correct answer the elderly hero wished for.

"Emerald! It's the Emerald Paragon!"

A truly great name for the symbol of hope for the future. Being an elder made him only jealous that such youth were privy to learn so much and accomplish what they wanted. The next best thing was to help such eager youths with his own knowledge and keep the ball rolling however he can.

The Next Day

It was another day of buzzing gossip for the classroom of 1-A with everyone solely focused on talking about their experiences during their internships. One thing that also stuck out was someone who was known for being rather unrefined was now sporting a haircut with a decent looking face on the sides and short length that looked rather sharp for his usually unruly blonde hair. Nobody had expected such a well groomed look to be something that Katsuki would be sporting willingly in public.

"Lookin good, man!"

"Sharp. I dig it."

He was drawing way more attention than what he had been accustomed to with the cut that he received while at Best Jeanist's office. It was something he wasn't accustomed to and it was unnerving him to have so many eyes on him. Though, it was far better than what was previously going to be his style before somebody else rescued the boy from such a demeaning looking style previous to this one.

A Few Days Ago

Inside of the agency that Best Jeanest operated out of was a selection of different studio spaces dedicated to the arts of aesthetic beauty and creation. One studio of note was a hair salon with rows of chairs that were occupied with a multitude of clients, models, and stylists. Seated at one of the many chairs was Katsuki with his hair being manipulated by Best Jeanest himself. Doing a seven three split that looked quite unfortunate with how much volume was making his head look like a yellow bowling ball.

Being on the chair while being briefed in what sort of patrol pattern they were to take as a group; Best Jeanest spoke to the rest of the group while he tried to comb back Bakugou's unruly hair. Most of what the hero said went right past the head of the stressed out Katsuki. Seeing such a rather tacky looking hairdo was putting him in a bit of a foul mood. He wasn't one to solely focus on looks alone, though even this was too much.

His hair popped up again after another failed attempt to control the explosion of blonde strands. Going for another attempt; Best Jeanest was going to go for another attempt when a familiar voice stopped the heroes shaping attempts of Katsuki's hair.

"Sorry to interrupt, but may I steal your client for a spell?"

The ever evasive Haru arrived standing next to the stylist station that Bakugou was being held against his will. It was some time after Haru's last visit to the agency that he narrowly escaped from. HIs ensemble was a light acid wash pair of jeans with white skate shoes and blue navy button up with silver watch and assortment of bead bracelets on the opposite arm. A rather flashy ensemble that had enough simplicity to it for Haru to wear himself.

As much as the hero wanted to get Haru under his umbrella of fashion models and influencers; the man had a different plan for how he was going to spend his time at the studio. Beating the hero to the punch; Haru asked for permission to do Katsuki's hair if he would allow him to do so. The boy was certain that Haru was going to pull him out of this like last time. To see him take up a belt of tools for hairstyling felt like a betrayal in the highest.

Though it was rather odd how Haru seemingly knew which tool did what as he checked the shears and combs tucked inside the leather accessory. He even was able to look the part with how he observed and checked the angles of Bakugou's head before he began to actually start cutting. Just as he was about to reach for another tool; Haru looked at the group standing next to them in absolute silence and spoke out over their hovering of his work.

Getting them to acknowledge that the time a stylist and client had on the chair was supposed to be a private affair with minimal interruptions removed the unwanted company. Now with just them at the station; Haru got to work first creating a fade all around Bakugou's head. His experience with haircuts was usually a short affair with a barber and a ten minute time limit. Feeling experienced hands working to create a sharp and stylish look was a very alien feeling to the teenager.

Time marched on as Haru kept shaping and cutting wherever necessary to work away the unruly head of blonde hair and shape it into something cleaner and more mature. No movement was wasted as the man kept checking his angles and brought the chaos down to something even Bakugou found himself liking the look of. A question ran across the boy's mind that was rather relevant to what was going on.

"Where did you learn to do this?"

Harmless as it was; Haru paused and looked rather serious as he was reminded of something from a very long time ago. It was an expression that Katsuki had rarely seen from the usually jovial and confident man.

"... My dad. When I was growing up, he was the only one to have ever cut my hair."

Hearing Haru talk about his own father was an alien experience for Katsuki. For years the man who pestered him over such a difficult topic was now himself acknowledging his own father. Bakugou could only listen on as Haru told a short story about who his father was.

"He was a man who worked all the time to provide for his family. When I got older, I wanted to get closer to him by working for the salon he owned. I studied under him and eventually I earned my license. That's how I know how to cut hair."

This was nothing like the other stories Bakugou had heard from the white haired man for the year's he's known him. Usually it was a much shorter tale said with levity or wasn't explained at all. What Bakugou heard and saw was something that really meant something to Nakamura. It made Bakugou think a little as Haru announced the new hairstyle being finished.

"Here we are! All clean."

The hair was blown off with a hairdryer while Bakugou admired the style given to him from Haru. A good amount of length disappeared with a look that naturally sat without the aid of product. It really did help mature the boy a little as it worked to compliment Bakugou's head shape rather than make it look like a globe. Although he wasn't one to go out of his way to mind his aesthetics; something like this felt rather nice to have from someone he looked up to.

"... Thank's…"

"No problem, kiddo."

Haru swept his fingers through the shortened locks a little to check for anything else he may have missed. After nothing came up, he brought Katsuki to the wash station and shampooed the last of the hair stuck to him before toweling him off and giving one last blow dry to complete the look. He almost didn't recognize himself with the transformation.

"Looking good. Glad it fits you well."

It was only proper that Haru cleared out the hair below before he left. Going for the broom and dustpan made Bakugou react and grasp at the cleaning tools before Haru could use them.

"... Let me do it. Y'know, for being nice or whatever."

Nothing more was said against Katsuki's request to return some of the kindness.

"Sure. All yours, Bakugou."

Watching the teenager sweep up the mess of his own hair reminded him of when he did the same back at his dad's salon. It got him thinking about a lot of things that he had left behind quite some time ago. So much of his past that he was reluctant to unearth for how little it mattered if it was reminisced over or not.

"Haru-san, did you-"

Turning to see where Haru was revealed the scissor holster that was used on Katsuki was left on a rolling tray with the white haired man to be nowhere in sight. He wasn't quite sure, but perhaps it would have been better for him to consider the story a one time experience with the amount of sadness he saw on his mentor's face when the subject of his father came up.

Present Time

It was hard to deny for the other students in the classroom that Bakugou had a rugged handsomeness about him now that his hair was working to compliment his look rather than making him look insane. Unknown to Bakugou was the attention he received from the female student body on his way to class that morning.

The others in the room were sharing their experiences with the other agencies they were assigned to. Tsuyu was happily munching on a rather interesting jelly cup that had fruit in it that none of the others had ever seen in any shops nearby the school. She shared how her internship was on a patrol ship that caught foreign smugglers sneaking in a criminal from overseas into Japan. Her attitude was quite flippant to how impressive of a task it was to accomplish.

Gossip of the other female classmates was pretty mild in comparison and was mostly them feeling disappointed together with how average their experiences were. In great contrast to them; one female student was looking measurably different from what she had been like before the internship program.

Ochaco was in a state of enlightenment with her remaining in tune with everything gunhead had taught her. Nobody wanted to get too close in fear of being her practice target without her even knowing what she was even doing. Another person who was significantly changed by their experiences with their internship was Mineta. What he thought was going to be a week of admiring and sneaking peeks at one of Japan's hottest heroes was nothing but doing constant errands and busy work that she couldn't be bothered with. The stress and unfulfilled desires had driven him rather deeply into his pit of despair.

Comments over Izuku, Iida, and Todoroki facing Stain were eventually brought up while the aftermath was also a topic of discussion for the students. As interesting as it was to talk about the trio's experience fighting the serial killer; there was still the one who shot the hero killer out of cold blood who was never caught or identified. Such an elusive and controversial figure was of the highest interest for most people in general for how divisive of a topic it was. Was it an act perpetrated by heroic associations to stomp out civil arrest; or was it another villain group seeking to put out the competition?

All of this was water cooler talk in comparison to the practice lessons planned for the class for their upcoming exams. Something that did dictate their futures here at UA Academy.

Later

The class of 1-A all stood in front of All Might while he was giving his usual greeting that usually had quite a bit of extra showmanship in how he presented himself.

"Hello, I am here… Is what I usually start on. Anyway, onto today's lesson…"

An underwhelming greeting to what was usually expected of the well respected hero. The time limit that has been All Might's greatest challenge so far was truly taxing every bit of energy he had available. The explanation of the course work was easy enough in concept for him to breeze through with little questions asked by the students to clarify the information.

A rescue mission exercise that had one team approaching from the outside while the other team was set to defend the target. Since this was technically the first time the class has engaged in this sort of scenario; the primary focus of the exercise was to allow the students to take on the challenge while only allowing one side to participate at a time. First up was Izuku, Mina, Iida, Ojiro, and Sero.

The kids all got lined up and were ready to hit the ground running while the seconds were counted down. Once it hit zero; nobody spared any effort in being the fastest possible to reach the center goal. Amongst the spectators were those trying to figure the fastest of the contestants to reach the goal. It was a bit of a mixed bag with Mina, Sero, Iida, and Izuku drawing the most discussion. Ojiro simply couldn't catch a break for being so neutral.

Sero was indeed making a good amount of progress with his tape quirk allowing him to launch himself through the air with all the obstacles being a boon to his ability. He was drawing the favor until Izuku flew right past him on a brilliant display of linear speed. What he had learned with Gran Torino was his trick of how it was he was able to be so consistent with finding the most ideal placement for himself when he went careening across the environment. Only All Might could identify where it was that Izuku was able to learn such a technique that would boost his speed. That old man really was an accredited teacher based on the merit of his experience.

The race ended with Izuku being first, Sero second, Mina third, Iida fourth, and the unfortunate Ojiro being fifth. The obstacle course was unfavorable to Iida as he was used to moving along a level surface for his mobility. As Izuku was returning to the waiting area for those not directly involved in the active exercise; His ears picked up on his mentor whispering something rather interesting discreetly to the boy alone.

"Good job, young Midoriya. Your progress is astounding. Meet me in the teacher's lounge after the exercise."

What he said was his responsibility towards his selected inheritor of One for All."

"I will tell you everything. The story of me and One for All."