Rinko sighed as she suited up.
Even though she hoped that maybe Oswald-Sempai was right about Best Jeanist and him just not getting along cause their personalities just didn't mesh well.
Unfortunately... that was not the case.
Or maybe she and Oswald-Sempai were closer in personality than she thought they were.
Now that wasn't to say her mentor wasn't a good guy, he had been very welcoming once she had reached his agency.
Showing her around the agency before introducing her to the others she'd be interning with and his work-study students.
But her Sempai wasn't kidding about him getting a touch too involved in how his interns looked.
She had tried to get out of him styling her hair because he could accidentally shock himself.
However, she wasn't the first electricity-quirked person he'd dealt with. Cause he had rubber gloves and a comb ready to brush her hair without shocking himself.
He'd tried to braid her hair into an updo, but thankfully, she was able to get her hair fixed back into her twin low ponytails.
Yes, it was a risk that someone would grab her by them, or they could get caught on something.
But that was why she carried a knife, and anyone who tried to yank her by her hair, she'd give them a nice shock.
And Oswald-Sempai had been downplaying Best Jeanist's speeches; while most of it was common sense, she couldn't help feeling like the way he was saying it was just... so patronizing.
Rinko wasn't even sure why, maybe it was the way he held himself or just his tone of voice, but she couldn't help feeling like Best Jeanist thought none of them had ever heard of common sense before.
At least both Oswald-Sempai and Masao-Sempai had been right about why Best Jeanist had offered her an internship.
Most of her 'one-on-one' time with Best Jeanist was spent in his office talking about the best ways to approach bringing up the topics she was passionate about.
When she wasn't with him, she was in his marketing department talking to the people there about how to promote things in the best ways, both negatively and positively.
Rinko would likely need to find someone in the business course that she could trust early on cause most of their advice was just going straight over her head.
Maybe she could approach them when she got back at lunch? Would they be looking for clients this early though?
Guess she would have to just ask around them and hope for the best.
The most useful thing she'd learned from Best Jeanist in the past three days was how to deal with and file the paperwork that came with being in the limelight.
But now, on day four, she was finally going to be allowed to come out into the field with him for her day of patrolling.
She double-checked everything was on right, her costume hugging her form, and that her helmet was strapped on tightly.
Satisfied her costume was on and wouldn't slip, she walked out of the locker room and up to Best Jeanist's office.
She collected the assignments she'd need to finish before she went out on patrol. In the days she worked so far, she knew that Best Jeanist didn't take the first years out until the schools were getting out at 14:00 and would come back to the agency at 16:00.
But until then, she would be handing out papers to the sidekicks and the other busy work Best Jeanist assigned to them during the week.
She asked the older interns during lunch about how patrols were supposed to go.
"Well, if you're expecting anything other than to walk around then I'm afraid that you're going to be pretty disappointed, kid." Joko, one of the boy's here on work-study warned her.
"You might encounter something small, like a mugging or a purse snatcher, but Best Jeanist will probably deal with it before you can even blink." the second-year girl from the ninja academy place added.
Rinko sighed again.
She was expecting that, she only had a few months of proper training and with this being her first time in the field at all.
But she was sure it still wouldn't go the way she wanted it to go, cause she looked up some of Best Jeanist's patrol videos and had a pretty good idea of what would happen during said patrol.
Best Jeanist just walked around letting people take pictures and videos of him, stopping any crime he happened upon, and the few times he was called in for aid, he hadn't exactly rushed in.
Rinko had the good feeling that he was the 'dignity' type her dad used to complain about and put a lot of effort into their appearance.
A type of hero that only really peaked during All Might's time.
So even once they were out walking and he was prattling on about the importance of why they needed to be seen to reassure people, Rinko couldn't help privately thinking he was a blowhard.
Sure, he was right that keeping public morale up was important by letting them see you, but why the hell did that mean walking around like they were royalty or something?
And maybe this wasn't common but the fact they were stopped like five different times by reporters probably only added to her annoyance.
Especially since most of them were asking Best Jeanist if he was trying to 'correct' her actions and teach her not to be so foolish like she was at the festival.
The damn audacity to say it to her face.
And the worst part? Best Jeanist didn't confirm or deny if he was doing that, just gave the vague answer of "Aiding her to get a better understanding of media effect on social issues."
If he noticed how huffy she was after that then it was a 'him' problem.
How hard was it to say, 'I think that quirkless people deserve respect'?
Who cared if he took a dip in the popularity polls, it just proved that there was a bigger problem in the county.
Halfway through their patrol, they were walking past a school, and naturally, Best Jeanist stopped to sign a few autographs before moving on.
She was ready to keep going herself after being asked what 'working with Best Jeanist' was like by the aspiring hero hopefuls middle schoolers.
To which she answered respectfully that he wasn't all that bad though she'd probably intern with someone else next year to get a more rounded view of heroics.
Thankfully being able to leave sooner than later, so she and Best Jeanest were back on their way.
"Wait! Wait Haku-San!" A boy suddenly called, and not expecting her name to be called like that, she turned around.
One of the boys from the middle school was running to catch up with them, surprising her.
The middle school, Mustafa private if she read the sign right, was at least five or so blocks back and this kid was running after them?
What was his deal?
The boy stopped, bent over with his hands on his knees as he tried to catch his breath after his sprint to catch up with them, giving Rinko a chance to get a better look at him.
Black hair, shark like teeth, small scar over one of his eyes when he finally could face them.
"You okay there kid?" Rinko asked, putting her hands on her hips.
"I-I'm fine, I just- just needed to ask you something really important." The boy managed to say around his deep panting.
"Oookay?" she replied, uncertain where this was going right now and wondering why he hadn't asked before she and Best Jeanist left his school.
Once he got his breath back the boy stood upright again and seemed to try and build up his nerve to ask his all-important question, with a few false starts as his mouth opened and closed a couple of times before he finally asked.
"Do... do you think if I can get over my fears, I could be brave enough to be a hero even if my quirk isn't that useful?" the boy asked his red eyes a mix of emotions, mostly looking more resigned and dejected when she didn't answer right away.
Rinko blinked then she huffed bemused.
"Kid, what's your name?" she asked back grabbing one of the pens from Best Jeanist's pockets, the man in question watching her with a raised eye.
"K-Kirishima." the boy answered surprised when she walked over to him.
"Kiri, have you really thought about the top three heroes quirks before?" Rinko asked, putting her hands on her hips.
Kirishima, taken off guard by the question, opened his mouth then closed it before answering: "No?"
"Well, kid. Their quirks are all pretty basic, a strength quirk, a glorified flame-thrower with legs, and thread manipulation." Rinko listed off for him "So why do you think that they became the top heroes?" Rinko asked afterward.
She watched Kirishima silently trying to figure answer the question, mentally working through it.
"Because they had drive Kiri." Rinko answered for him after a minute.
"My Sensei Deku once told me that four things make a hero. Training, effort, heart and experience." Rinko told him and watched the boy's eyes widen once she mentioned Deku.
"You need to train to be useful in the field, put in the effort to actually get somewhere, your heart in the right place, and the experience to act will come in time." Rinko quoted, then smiled as she leaned in.
"And if you were paying attention, you'll notice that none of those things were a quirk or mention being brave. Because those things don't make heroes kid." Rinko pointed out and looked at her with disbelief in his eyes.
"Everyone gets scared, especially heroes, and anyone that tries to convince you otherwise is blowing smoke up your ass." Rinko said much like her father used to tell her.
"But when I get scared, I just freeze." Kirishima argued, one of his hands clenching his other arm.
"Good! The world doesn't need more idiots that charge in guns blazing. And we're both still kids, you can't expect yourself to just rush into scary shit and that you'd be acting like a professional." Rinko responded with a huff.
"I still get scared of touching other people because of my quirk, but regardless I've worked as hard as I could to have a chance at being a hero, cause helping people is the only thing I've ever wanted to do in my life." Rinko confessed then took the cap off the pen.
"Now do you have something I can sign?" Rinko asked and Kirishima scrambled to pull out a notebook that had an old Japanese hero she didn't recognize.
"And here's a free tip Kiri-Kohai, no real names in the field, codenames only; make sure to remember that when you try out for U.A.," Rinko told them as she wrote down her name on a blank page.
'To my first fan, Flux.'
"K-Kohai?" Kirishima sputtered, looked up to her shocked, and Rinko chuckled.
"Considering you ran over five blocks just to ask me a question you've got the drive to be a hero, just remember that you need time to build up experience. Heroes aren't born Kiri, they're made through years of hard work and effort." Rinko told him, handing back the notebook.
"So, I'll see you around campus next year, Kiri-Kohai; feel free to join my friends and me for lunch sometime, too, kid." Rinko said over her shoulder, giving him a peace sign as she walked away with Best Jeanist.
Kirishima's eyes started to gleam with tears as he realized what she said, and he hugged his notebook to his chest.
"I promise I will Ha- Flux-Sempai!" he shouted back with a grin, before he ran back to where his school was.
Rinko couldn't hold her head high after the encounter, proud of herself for doing so well.
"Flux," Best Jeanist called, and she hummed looking over to him.
"While I do appreciate that you were trying to encourage the boy, I do think you could have done so differently." Best Jeanist commented.
Rinko narrowed her eyes "Oh? How so?" Rinko questioned.
"Empathizing with the boy was alright but do try not to let any of your own weaknesses slip like that again." Best Jeanist told her.
Rinko begrudgingly had to admit the man had a point, she probably shouldn't tell strangers her fears.
It would probably be bad for her fears to be public knowledge.
"I understand Jeanist, Sir." Rinko replied, continuing on with their patrol.