Alright, another week, another upload, and I've watched the 4th episode of Arcane season 2, and yeah, it wasn't bad, well within the quality range Arcane has set for itself. Still, it does feel…rushed, like we don't see any of Caitlyn's more…well, I can't say since that could spoil, but you'll get what I mean if you watched it. But hey, that's just one episode; maybe episode 5 will prove me wrong, as I'll watch that later.

As for this chapter, not much happened while I wrote it, and I'm pretty happy with the final product. I was worried about a part of it, but then I realized that worrying about that was a bit silly. I think you'll see what that part is soon enough, but for now, I hope you enjoy this as it's the second and last chapter of the year for me, and I'll be taking most of December off. More was planned, but it seemed like it would cross the limit, so I had to cut things where I did.

Chapter 43: Prelude to Internships

It was the early morning commute, but one with no sun. It had started raining sometime in the early morning hours, and that didn't change even now. To handle this, those who walked down the streets did so with raincoats and umbrellas to shield them from the rain. At the same time, those who drove largely respected such folk who didn't speed and avoided the patches of water that gathered on the edges of the road, moving towards one of the many drainage holes.

Riding a train that traveled above the streets, Midoriya yawned into his hand, shivering right after he looked out at the cool weather, which for many might have been a great way to start the day, but for him? He preferred it being sunny and warm; it would have made it easier for him and Koharu to leave the warmth of their beds.

Rather than focus on that, he recalled how his weekend had gone for him, which, for the most part, was incredibly fun as he got to spend an entire day with his friends, showing off a part of himself that he cherished before that he had had an engaging and peaceful visit with his therapist that Friday morning, having moved his appointment around thanks to there being so school. His Friday afternoon had been spent with Hado-sempai, which, as he had come to love, was as fun and unpredictable as he could take and more.

She took them to an arcade before the movies, where they had fun watching some showings of old-school hero movies from a pre-All Might world. Seeing the state of things in the film, Koharu and he agreed that things couldn't have been so bad that entire neighborhoods could be leveled and just…left alone. Through it all, she had been as curious as ever about his quirk's new features more than she was interested in his confrontation with Bakugo.

After the festival, he had contacted Ryukyu for help in getting any paperwork done to account for the change, something his therapist agreed with, but for the most part, as his quirk hadn't changed, at least on paper, all he had to do was film himself doing some of the new stuff, add those abilities to the list and send that in. All these things took him only Friday evening to finish. One thing that Ryukyu did suggest that completely slipped his mind was that his hero costume would need changes made to it, if only for his new head since, as it was, his crown would never stay on his head.

He would have invited Hado when he went out with his friends, but she turned him down because she planned on celebrating things with the other members of the Big 3. Their final festival had been much better for all of them than their previous ones. Togata-sempai managed, despite the odds and the nudity, to take first place, while Hado-sempai came tied for second.

She was adorable as she pouted that she only lost to Togata because he kept letting her attacks pass through him. Amajiki-sempai took fourth place, though when she called him and Togata, she and her walking ray of sun shrine agreed that Amajiki-sempai could have done better if he had the confidence. He had smiled when he saw how flustered his senior could get. Still, Hado-sempai turned the attention onto him, and he joined Amajiki-sempai in that corner of shyness.

His Sunday had been spent attending Shiozaki's church in Kanagawa, which meant waking up his mother early so they could take the 2-hour train and get there in time. Still, it was worth it when he saw how happy she was to see them be one of the first to walk in, and he brought his mother along with them. For the Midoriya, who, before he vanished into the mountains, wasn't particularly religious, entering a Catholic church, attending mass, and praying along with the rest was a new experience.

After that, Midoriya and his mother could say they weren't converts to Shiozaki's faith, having primarily gone along with things to be polite. Still, she didn't mind as she appreciated their efforts. At the same time, Izuku loved meeting with many of the people that Shiozaki had known her entire life and spoke highly of, from the priest who all but raised her, the older members of the congregation, and the younger ones that she helped to care for, even teaching Sunday school classes to the little ones.

By the end, he had already planned more trips for the atmosphere and his curiosity.

But as fun as his weekend off school had been, reality returned that morning as he stood on the train, scrolling through the news on his phone. Izuku frowned as he saw a few updates on Ingenium's attack. Still, it wasn't anything useful other than more details of how it happened. He said that his condition was improving but that the Iida family had requested privacy in such times. Something that seemed to have been ignored by some more…ambitious news sites, but he respected his classmate enough as a person and fellow hero to avoid those.

'So Ingenium's still in the hospital, but that didn't say anything about the rumor that he was seriously injured…I hope that he's okay.' Izuku worried that it wasn't the case, as Stain had a high body count for a modern villain, especially one as notorious as he was.

'But maybe there's something I can do…' Izuku pursed his lips before his eyes lit up with a burning determination. 'No, there is something that I can do.' He could already see it in his head; he had tested such before, even if he was often the guinea pig, but he hadn't had complications yet. All he had to do was talk with Iida; maybe he could ask-

"Excuse me…Excuse me!" Izuku was pulled away from his thoughts by something calling out to him; looking to his right, he saw a man dressed like the typical salary worker, with a face that, as much as he didn't like to say it, was remarkable, the sort of people that Ka-Bakugo would call an extra.

"Y-yes?" Midoriya asked him.

"I know I recognized you, you're Midoriya, right? The kid who won the sports festival." The man asked, which seemed to be the alert for the rest of the train car. Not a single person had given him the time of day when he boarded, and he had no issue with that. Now, it was like half the care wanted to speak with him,

"I watched it with my girlfriend; you were insane in the field."

"What?" Midoriya repeated.

"My cousin has a fire quirk, and she spent the entire weekend trying to copy your moves. Can I get an autograph for her?"

"Pardon?" His face reddened, though he felt pleased to hear that someone else was embracing their flames like he did.

"He's shorter than I thought it would be."

"Am I?" Midoriya looked at himself; he didn't feel like he was small. He wasn't the tallest in his class, but he wasn't the shortest either. He was middle of the road…right? Koharu called him dumb for letting them say stuff about his height before she also called out something else.

Midoriya sighed as if he hadn't missed it. Despite the praise thrown his way, they all kept their distance. He had been standing in the middle of the train car, but now that they all knew his identity, they all started to shift away from him, many not what he would call subtle about it. Seeing that, while they all kept up the smiles on their faces, stirred something in him, something he didn't quite like.

"Do your best, hero!" They all gave him big thumbs up, smiles, and pleasant vibes.

So why didn't he believe any of it?

Walking up the hill that U.A. sat on, the rain still hadn't let up, much to Izuku's chagrin, as Koharu took it as a chance to snuggle up closer to him. However, how she could do that when she had already made her hope on his shoulders was something he couldn't figure out. She nuzzled her head to his cheek, hissing something which had her giggle into his hand.

"Hey, I wouldn't have minded staying in bed today, too, but we must get to class. We can't miss the first day back." Midoriya reminded his scaly friend that, as a vice-class rep, he couldn't just do that, especially when he and all those who helped him worked hard to get him this chance.

"You could if you called in sick," Asui said, approaching them with a yellow and green umbrella. But I doubt that you can even catch a cold."

"Morning, Tsu. And I can't. My body burns too hot for colds and flues to get me." Midoriya boasted, as his immune system was naturally tough. It would take the sort of infection or toxins that would kill an elephant to even make him feel sick, and if he didn't well, he could just set himself ablaze. "But that also meant I didn't get sick days at home like the other kids."

Asui hummed at that reply; no doubt she had memories of days when she would have stayed home and relaxed while she recovered. Or rather, she would have if she didn't have siblings, as she had been helping her parents with them since she was 8. She didn't regret it, quite the opposite. Still, it meant that genuine free time was hard to come by, as even sick days meant keeping her distance from the else they caught whatever bug she had, which meant remaining in her room for most of the time.

"Morning. I enjoyed the weekend trip. I never thought I would work at a shrine, but I can see why you like it. My siblings weren't happy about it." She focused on that, which made Midoriya a little nervous.

"Did…did they not want you to come?" She shook her head, finding his nerves about it a bit funny.

"(Kero) No, they wanted to come with, but I didn't think there would be much for kids to do." She replied as they hadn't been happy when she told them so. While they promised they could still behave, her parents, who were home, took her side. That didn't make them any happier when she returned hours later with some of the excess food from the dinner they had.

Midoriya breathed a sigh of relief. He liked those two kids, and so did Koharu, as they had been incredibly gentle with her. He didn't want to accidentally put a wedge between them and their sister. "Oh, well, I'm sure we could find something if you want to return sometime. How are they, by the way? It's been ages since I saw them in person."

"Pretty well, Sami's in the 5th grade now, and he's been hanging out more with his friends from the 4th grade. He was sad that one of them wasn't with them as their family moved during the winter break. Suki's adjusting pretty well to being in the 1st grade, though she's been cranky that they don't have naps anymore." Asui explained as the two continued to walk up the road towards campus; other students were around them, but it was few, with it being more the rain than humans that offered them company.

"Maybe I can visit them sometime and bring some homemade snacks." Midoriya smiled, thinking of the little kids in question.

"You know how to make stuff like that?" Asui asked, which only got him to smile wider.

"Of course, my mother taught me, and I worked hard while I lived at the shrine to make sweets. Granny Tomako taught me these great recipes of Dorayaki and Castella that I'm sure they'll love!" He hadn't just spent his days tending to the temple and carrying out his duties; he had spent time learning about the town and its people, which included cooking so he could have snacks prepared for visitors.

"Just don't spoil them too much; else they might refuse to eat anything." Asui crocked back, but she seemed happy with things. Koharu noted that they should meet her parents as well, though there was something else he should ask her.

Nodding his head, Midoriya's smile shrunk before it vanished. "But there was something I wanted to ask you about."

"(Kero)?" Asui tilted her head to the side but made no move to stop him.

"It's about-!

"What are two doing?" He was interrupted by a familiar voice, and the two turned to see Iida approaching. The speedster was not using an umbrella but had gone with a thick green poncho and boots. Which made sense as he wasn't walking like them but was jogging up the hill and rapidly approaching.

"Why are you two walking so slowly? We'll be late for class!" Iida continued as he jogged past them, forcing the two to up their pace.

"(Kero) But first bell isn't for another 5 minutes." Asui reminded him.

"U.A students should always arrive at least 10 minutes early!" Iida replied with his typical gusto before running towards the entrance, leaving them behind. He was perturbed as Koharu nuzzled Midoriya's cheek.

"Was…that normal for him?" He asked Asui, who shook her head and had a frown on her face.

"Yes, and that's the problem." She replied as they reluctantly jogged up to the entrance. Getting inside and out of the rain, they shook their umbrellas to get rid of the excess water before putting them in the provided rack for them. All the while, Iida silently removed his poncho and boots, putting them into his show locker after pulling out his indoor shoes.

Watching this, neither green-haired student could stand by any longer. "Iida, I wanted to-"

"If it's about my brother, there is no need to worry." Iida interrupted Midoriya, turning to him with a smile on his face, but one that neither he nor Asui believed. I apologize for worrying you all; it was…an emotional time for the family." Iida explained though he didn't let the smile drop from his face.

Asui wasn't willing to just let things stand as they were, not when she could tell they were not okay. "We understand that, but we were more worried about you. If you need to talk or just sit down and we can-"

"I appreciate the gesture, but we should get to class." Iida cut her off, turned around, and walked off without another word.

"That…was rude…right?" Midoriya asked Asui.

"Which is all the weirder coming from Iida, but considering how things are, it's not unexpected." She replied as she finished drying her umbrella and putting it away before reaching for her shoe locker. Midoriya's concern only made his resolve harder as he looked at Asui.

"Tsu, can I ask a favor?"

"It was incredible! People wanted to talk to me all the way to school." Tsunotori jumped for joy as even a week since the festival, their time in the spotlight hadn't wavered as reruns of the entire thing, for 1st, 2nd, and 3rd years, had been broadcast over the weekend, with commentators adding their own flare and analysis of things. So many people wanted to talk to her about how much of a bad-ass she had been in her fight with Sero, even though she had lost.

"No kidding, so many wanted to tell me I was the better man for my fight with Todoroki. It was insane." Tetsutetsu added that he hadn't done it because he thought it was cool or that he would be praised. He had surrendered his chance to win because it was the right thing to do, and as someone who wanted to be a hero, what other option was there?

"You watch any of the festival?" Tsunotori asked Midoriya.

"I little, but I focused on the 3rd years since I was there for ours." He replied, which got Tokage's attention as she slid over, an arm wrapping around him.

"You wanted to see Hado-sempai dazzle the crowd, didn't you?" She teased him, which made him go red.

"Tokage!" She laughed at his response, as they knew he was friends with a cure 3rd year. Awase joked that Midoriya had a serious game. Still, his friends made it clear that it was less 'Izuku could date this girl,' and more 'extrovert adopted his introverted butt, and they just vibed now.'

"I watched some of it with family over the weekend, though I must admit that viewing oneself in action is quite an experience," Shiozaki admitted, as she had watched some of it over dinner Saturday and Sunday, her family teasing her a little about it, as well as finally asking questions about why her male classmates dressed up. Safe to say, her aunt wished to smack Mineta and Kaminari with a bible afterward.

"Well, we might need to get used to it. Heroes make the news all the time." Honenuki added, as most days, you couldn't turn on the news for more than 10 minutes without something about some hero popping up. Granted, most were just fluff or gossip, like how, for a while now, there were rumors that Hawks was dating some mysterious woman seen around his agency.

The winged hero laughed when he was asked that, revealing that she was just an intern for his PR team, one that he freely admitted he liked nudging into getting him fried chicken as he was always too busy to pick it up himself.

"Yup, for good and bad, so you better not be caught in any scandals, " Kendo said, turning her gaze towards someone in particular. The rest of the group followed suit.

"Why is everyone looking at me?" Monoma narrowed his eyes at them.

"Because you could start an argument with a child over class B being better," Tetsutetsu replied, the image of Monoma doing that forming in their heads far too quickly.

"I wouldn't start an argument and state an easily observable fact." Monoma's response didn't help his case. "Besides, I have, you know, I have better restraint than that. Some kids tried to insult me for losing in the first match, and I didn't stoop to their level."

"That must have taken some serious restraint, especially since you lost to a general studies student." Honenuki joked.

"Nah, it probably took less, as Shinso was like the wild card. If it was someone from class A, he would have blown a casket." Tokage teased, her sharklike grin on full display.

"Your faith in me is appreciated." Monoma gave them both a deadpan look.

"I show as much as you have backup." Tokage retorted with a laugh, getting some chuckles from the rest of the class.

"I dealt with my people, and my neighbors congratulated me on my performance." Shishida stated that he was on good terms with most of them, enough so that his elderly neighbor had even baked him a cake as a reward for placing 3rd, saying that she knew he would take 1st place next time.

"It must have been nice; most people didn't even notice me." Komori bemoaned, as outside her family, she didn't get any mention of her performance at the festival. She got it; she wasn't a showstopper or a lynchpin to any team, but it still hurt.

"Well, we didn't get that far in the festival," Fukidashi stated; he wasn't all that happy either, but he wasn't upset about it either.

"Still, I did my best, and all they talked about was the finalists," Komori replied as Kuroiro comforted her.

"Well, we can train to improve ourselves and leave a better impression at the next festival, so we have almost an entire year's worth of studies for it." Yanagi pointed out.

"Yup, but you gotta admit that hosting the festival that early kinda sucks as sure. The upperclassman has training we're expected to show off with just a month's training?" Kaibara asked.

"It could be because of that whole thing where general studies students could also do well enough that they could make the case to transfer. If we had more training, it would kinda made it even harder for them." Tokage suggested.

"Yeah, but what about those in 2nd and 3rd years? Or is that transfer thing only open to first years." Honenuki countered that if he were in business and wanted to transfer, he would have terrible odds of doing that in their 2nd year. The only ones with a real shot would be support since they could produce whatever support items they wanted to make up the difference in training and skills.

"I would assume so as if you just changed courses a year in, you'll be stuck playing catch-up the entire time," Kendo replied, as it just seemed unfair to her if that didn't have some sort of limit, as it would be like expecting newbies to spar with experienced students in marital arts and telling those newbies that couldn't be accepted into the dojo if they lost or didn't impress.

"People wanted pictures," Kodai added, with Monoma turning to her.

"You say that like it's a bad thing, Kodai."

"People always want pictures, so it's normal for me." She added, which left Midoriya and the rest wondering how to take that. He wasn't alone in thinking that she was pretty; she was probably one of the most beautiful girls in the class, despite her rather aloof nature and tendencies to not emote, which made it hard to get a read on her. But in their rare conversations, she seemed pretty pleasant and soft-spoken but honest and kind. Someone that he could see people wanting a picture with, but she wasn't all that famous, so it couldn't only be for her looks…right?

Then again, people on the hero forums he frequented could get…intense and extremely weird about pictures of some of the more attractive pros; when one of the long-time forums' members bragged about having a rare picture of Mt. Lady bending…well, he turned it off after that to preserve his innocents. When it returned, they had moved back to the regular stuff, like talking merch and track records.

"Kodai, maybe you should start walking to the station with one of us…just to be on the safe side," Kendo suggested. Midoriya and Tokage agreed with her as that sounded like the start of a stalker slasher flick.

"My mom packs me a taser." Kodai reached into her bag and pulled out the self-defense weapon. The model was nothing like what one would expect, as this wasn't something granny kept for a chance of a purse snatcher; this thing was the side of a flashlight, bulky, and seemed to have enough juice to take down a horse. Kodai even revealed that it came with a small knife attachment if the power ran dry.

Seeing her hold a multi-purpose weapon like that with her straight face just made for a more bizarre image. They could picture her not emoting as she used that on some poor bastard who tried to make a move. Heck, Midoriya wondered if she couldn't make the darn thing bigger. If her quirk could supersize mass, could it do the same for energy? If that was the case, then whatever battery that thing had could have the power to electrocute small lakes.

Koharu reminded him not to get on her wrong side, as you wouldn't even know if you were till she made a move, which was a terrifying thought.

They had questions about them, plenty of them, but they would need to wait. The morning bell rang, and the door opened. "Morning, students." The students standing quickly scurried to their seats as Vlad appeared, right on the dot they had come to expect.

"Good morning, Vlad-sensei!" The class replied as the Blood Hero walked up to the front podium, but there was something different about him today.

"Sir, it looks like you're back in fighting shape." Tokage noted that Vlad didn't have a single bandage on him, looking as good as he could.

"Yeah, Recovery Girl saw to me this morning. She would have preferred that I head home and rest, but we have a busy schedule today." The blood hero replied, leaving out the part where Recovery Girl had smacked his shins repeatedly as he tried to leave her office. As for your long weekend, I hope you used the time well to rest and plan, as you'll have few chances to do it here or when you go pro."

"What if we fake being sick?" Monoma asked in jest.

"Then you'll get very real detention, and if you pull such stunts like a pro, you'll be lucky to be reprimanded and have your license suspected." He lowered his hand at Vlad's straight reply. "But we can discuss ways you can ruin your lives later. Right now, we have an important hero informatics class."

"Hero informatics?" Midoriya asked if that was like analyzing data or something.

"Code names, you'll be working on your hero names." That announcement spurted celebrations among the students, Vlad letting them have their moment to do so as this was one of those parts of hero work that so many dreamed of. Yet, so few would ever find themselves in the position to seriously consider it. Of course, it was a class assignment as people might have names they thought were good, but when spoken out loud? Well, they were glad that they had teachers that could save them the embarrassment.

Eventually, he had to get things back on track, so he clapped his hands, the loud echo of the impact silencing his students. "Yes, this is exciting but important, so let's not get sidetracked. As I was out that day, did Principal Nezu inform you about the drafts?"

Kendo raised her hand. "He mentioned that doing well will mean that hero agencies could offer us a spot with them."

Vlad grunted at that. "Yes and no. It's true that your performance could see you working at some impressive agencies; however, what you'll be offered as internships is a lower position than a sidekick on account of your still being students."

Keeping his eyes on them, he made sure each understood how serious this was for them and their careers as heroes. "Remember, this typically happens for the 2nd and 3rd years and those who get the most offers. The fact that you, as 1st years, got offers tells you much about what potential they see in you and that they wish to help nurture that potential."

"Oh yeah, that means we're top tier, right?" Tetsutetsu cheered at that.

"Well, they wouldn't bother with it if they didn't think so," Komori added with a pep.

"Don't get big heads. You're not some diamonds in the rough to them or our staff; you are a rock that could present diamonds if carefully cut and washed. But you can just as easily just be rocks, worthless. Because of that, these aren't employment contracts, and they can be canceled as easily as they are sent, so don't start slacking off because you could have got a big offer. If anything, take that offer as motivation to train even harder to live up to and surpass their expectations."

Vlad cut that off before they could get cocky. He had seen it plenty of times, both from his students and students from other schools and teachers over the years. Students would get offers, some from pretty big-name agencies, then get complacent despite warnings. Thinking that 'I got their attention, they won't drop me' or 'I got it once, I can get in again'. Such were in for a shock when they were told without ceremony or warning that they were being dropped. And once an agency lost interest, it was nearly impossible to get it back.

It was a harsh lesson, but he wished more pros embodied it, as he had seen far too many in recent years get as complacent as students. He had made several complaints to the commission about it. Still, little was ever done about them, so long as nothing bad had happened, there was no reason to act, even though it would be better to whip people into shape now to prevent those bad outcomes from arising.

"That feels a little unfair," Komori noted, but Yanagi saw it differently.

"Is it? It makes sense not to fully invest in us now before we've borne true fruit. It's the same reason you don't start selling apples before they fully grow." She replied that if they were so good that they could be expected to retain offers without putting in work, then why wouldn't agencies hire them now?

"So what? All we got to do is prove to them why we're in U.A. and that we're gonna be the best when we finish and become pros." Kamakiri scoffed as if he would settle for second best at anything. He worked his ass off to get into U.A., and he'll work even harder so he will be in that top 10 before he is 25.

"I like your attitude, Kamakiri. I hope the rest of you are of the same mind." Vlad smiled at his student before looking over the others, who sat straighter in their seats.

"Yes, sir!"

"Sir, what is an internship, anyway? You said that they're lower than sidekicks, but what does that mean?" Yanagi asked.

Vlad nodded before he explained things. "It's as the name implies if you understand the concept for most workplaces. You'll spend time at these agencies instead of attending school for classes or training. Ideally, you'll be shadowing the pros that made you offer in their day-to-day operations, learning how they act, why they act, etc. You'll also be given minor tasks around the agencies or in the field if they deem it practical to allow you to accompany them or someone else under them."

"That sounds like we'll be lackeys and coffee boys," Kaibara replied. He wasn't so excited about whether he would be running around moving papers, getting people's coffee, and other grunt work.

Vlad crossed his arms. "I won't lie, that is part of it, but it's far from not being important. Learning parts of the administration of running an agency is important, as is learning basic hospitality, both for disasters when victims need comfort and to handle people who might come to the agency directly to seek help or report crimes."

Midoriya's ears perked up at that. "He's right," he called out. Others looked his way, which made him wilt, but he kept going, imagining their heads as tomatoes like Amajiki suggested. "A hero's agency needs to be as welcoming as them. Ryukyu even has space set aside for people to stay there if they need it, like if they are running from trouble at home, their homes were damaged or destroyed, or travelers who can't return."

Koharu licked his cheek, reminding him of another feature. "Oh, she even has spare clothes on hand for people." He still had those clothes she had given him, wearing them now as his new PJs.

"That is an excellent example of hospitality skills for a hero, Midoriya," Vlad spoke up, an approving look in his eye before he turned his attention to the class as a whole. "Most don't go as far as Ryukyu, but you can see why the idea behind it."

"Caring for people when they need it. So would we be doing all that or something else?" Kendo asked as she could see the reasoning behind such a thing. Plenty of heroes had some pretty big agencies. Endeavor, for example, had a large tower in Tokyo. She wouldn't be surprised if he had space for that…okay, she would. Endeavour didn't seem like the type, but he had the space and resources.

"I would assume that you'll be doing a mix, but it depends on the agency," Vlad told them before he pulled out a remote.

"So, with that explained, here are the totals of those who got offers." Vlad pointed the remote towards the board, pressing it to present the offers as they were counted that morning.

The next chapter will be out on December 10th.

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