AN: Forewarning, after the first passage from Denki's perspective, there is a timeskip of two days.

-\ XXX /-

"I want you to know that… I appreciate how much of a friend you were to me." Denki's eyelids fluttered as he laid on one of the beds in the Nurse's office. "If it weren't for you, I don't think I would've gone this far. Made this choice." Midoriya was standing before the bed, still in costume, and leaning against the wall. "I wouldn't have met Shinso, Ashido, or Jirou." At the foot of the bed, his hand rested atop his helmet as a weak chuckle escaped his lips, "Think Camie-Senpai might've forced herself to be my friend either way, though…"

"What're you saying…?" thought Denki.

"You know… out of everyone? I thought you would understand." He pushed off the wall, standing firmly. "You saw something in me that I didn't. When I thought I was worthless or a hack, you believed in me; supported me." He lowered his gaze; a weak smile graced his lips, "You… You looked at an utter failure and saw something worthwhile…" The smile faded, turning downwards. "But… then everything changed, right?"

"Damn right it did…!"

"I get that… I think…" His brow furrowed, shaking his head, "But… still… I can't believe you'd make that choice for me. That'd you stick me in a box and expect me to just accept it! And I know that was… some way of showing you cared, but…" His hands took hold of his helmet, "This is what I want to do—need to do. And…" He stared into his visor, "If that's the line in the sand?"

Midoriya smiled at Denki, "Then I guess that's that." He slipped the helmet onto his head, "Out of respect, I'll let you decide if you want to tell the others. They were your friends first."

"W-Whey~," forced out Denki. "Hang on…! I need… I'm not…! That isn't what I meant…! I just wanted to help…!"

"They said you were gonna be like that for a while…" Midoriya shook his head, "But even if you weren't, this… isn't a conversation. It's a statement. This is over." He turned away and towards the door, "Dr. Yaritezawa should be back soon, and class should let out in a few too." He opened it, "Good luck on your internship. Hope you learn something worthwhile." And the door slid shut behind him.

Denki was fried. He couldn't move normally; talk either. What he wanted to do was smack his palm against his face, but instead, it jutted out from his side with a thumbs-up. "Dammit…" He wanted to smack his other hand against the bed, but it just jutted out too. "I just… wanted to… Goddammit…!" He sucked in a breath and cried, "WHEY~!" Another breath; another, "WHEY~! Whey, whey~!"

-XXX-

Ashido Mina wasn't one to brag, but she was pretty sure that she was adept when it came to reading people. Though, maybe that wasn't really necessary when it came to those two. First, it was that weird fight. Then, it was lunch. Kaminari used to sit next to or across from Midoriya. They've been pretty quiet for a while, but they still chatted with each other. Now, it was pretty obvious that they were avoiding each other. On opposite sides of the table, they sat, even asking the others to move so they could keep their distance.

She wasn't surprised – none of them were. Kaminari had been on the 'Because He's Quirkless' train for a hot minute. It was only a matter of time before that shoe dropped. But whenever they asked Kaminari, he would say, "I don't know what you're talking about," or "I don't want to talk about it."

And Mina thought, "If you didn't know what we were talking about, then how do you know that you don't want to talk about it…!?"

Midoriya wasn't any better, saying, "Everything's fine. You're worrying over nothing," or the classic, "I'm not sure what you mean."

"Midori's way better at deflecting than Kaminari…" Mina pulled her cap tight on her head, "But my golden irises see all…!" She struck a dramatic pose in the entryway of her dorm. "And I see you're both full of shit…!" However, she had a plan… something that just so happen to fall in her pocket. On her phone screen, she had a message from one… Midoriya… Inko!

Inko: [Would you care to come over during your internship? I understand that you and some of Izuku's other friends will be in the area, so I thought I'd be nice to have dinner together! \(`▿´)/]

Mina: [Oh, I would love to!]

[Actually, since you brought this up, I was kinda looking for a place to stay in the area.]

[I'm just worried about that late night commute. It's so scary at night.]

[I hope I'm not overreaching! (/￣ ￣/)]

Inko: [Not at all!]

[I wouldn't mind. Izuku will be staying over as well, if that would be an issue.]

Mina: [No worries!]

[Midori's a good friend. I trust him!]

Inko: [That's great to hear!]

[Read*]

[I'll make sure he brings you over!]

Mina: [Can't wait! o(ω)o]

Inko: [ *:.｡.o(≧▽≦)o.｡.:* ]

"God, her texts are so cute~…" thought Mina as she descended the dorm's stairs with an overnight bag. On ground level, she made her way over to the lot's gates, finding Midoriya, Shinso, and Jirou. They were all in uniform and holding their costume cases like her.

Shinso shrugged, "So, the guy took a cab for his internship."

"He isn't leaving town?" asked Jirou.

"Well, he didn't tell anyone where he was going."

"There's only a few agency's nearby, but I can hazard a guess," said Midoriya, crossing his arms.

Shinso rubbed the back of his neck, sighing, "It's not that hard of one."

Jirou looked in between the two, "…" When neither of them answered, she prompted, "Well?"

"Not my place to say," said Midoriya with a shrug. His phone buzzed, causing him to fish it out. "What the…?" is what he muttered at the screen.

Jirou asked, "Something wrong?", when Shinso's phone buzzed too.

Shinso shrugged, "Well, Midoriya's mom just invited me out for dinner."

Then Jirou's phone buzzed, "Oh, me too."

Midoriya slowly turned to the approaching Mina, "Why is she telling me you're staying over?"

"It's dangerous at night, Midori," she replied.

"Staying over?" echoed Shinso.

Jirou walked over, whispering, "Ashido, you can't stay over at a boy's house!"

"Why not?" asked Mina in a whisper in turn. "His mom's gonna be there."

"Got anything embarrassing in that place?" asked Shinso.

Midoriya's eyes were closed, "I'm walking through it in my head, right now, and nothing's coming to mind."

"Are you seriously okay with this?" asked Jirou.

Midoriya's face contorted, "Well, my mom seems really excited by it." He showed off his screen, "She's breaking the stars out."

"She really does seem excited," said Shinso.

Jirou frowned before shaking her head, "Yeah, that's pretty cute."

"And, you know, I don't really live there anymore?" Midoriya scratched his cheek, "I think I'd be more embarrassed if she stayed in my dorm than my apartment." He blinked, "I mean… should I be embarrassed?"

Jirou muttered, "I would be."

"Guys, it's not that big of a deal." Mina smirked, "The most I'd do is check his closet."

Midoriya got defensive. "I don't even wear those clothes! I left them there for a reason!"

"But you would wear them if you had them," countered Mina.

His face fell flat. "…" He looked off to the side, "No comment."

Mina shook her head, "I swear if I find another gag shirt."

Shinso raised his hands, "Alright, poor fashion tastes aside—"

"Oi."

"We need to get to the train station on the soon side," finished Shinso.

Mina pointed onward, "Lead the way, floof-man!" as they departed their dorms.

"Don't call me that," said Shinso.

Jirou grinned, "Mindfreak!"

"No."

Mina and Jirou's eyes landed on Midoriya. "…" It took him a moment to catch on. "Shinji!"

Mina giggled, "Imagine if your Hero name was literally just Shinji."

"Like a half-assed secret identity," chuckled Jirou.

Midoriya quoted, "Get in the robot, Shinji."

"Wow, you guys are hilarious," deadpanned Shinso.

Mina tilted her head, "Aren't we?"

-XXX-

Shinso Hitoshi, like his friends, saw the writing on the wall. What Midoriya wanted was in opposition to what Kaminari wanted for him. Now that it was the three of them with Midoriya on this train ride, "It's like we chose a side in this…" However, rationality said that, "Then again… Kaminari and Midoriya were the ones who made their own choices…"

Hitoshi felt like he had more of a view behind that curtain, more than Ashido or Jirou. "Kaminari was looking for ways to stop Midoriya… to convince Midoriya not to go through with it…" He sighed, "Midoriya's right… It isn't difficult to guess where his internship is… He kept it a secret from everyone… It's so close he doesn't need to take the train…"

And the conclusion left him with a question, "What is he expecting to get out of Ingenium…?" He could hear Kaminari's voice in his head, "Hey, my friend got you to sign off on his internship, why'd you do that…? Don't you know he's Quirkless…?"

It put everything in perspective, "He kept going on about how he was just worried… That he was looking out for Midoriya… But… It sure as hell seems like he's doing everything in spite of Midoriya…" Hitoshi wasn't going to deny the concern. A Quirkless person heading out to fight villains sounded like something more out of a comic book than reality. "But how is that so different from the rest of us…? Jirou, Tokage, Awase… Hell, me…. We don't have Quirks that give us an offensive edge like Kaminari or Ashido… We have to work hard to keep up… to even match them…"

The final nail in the coffin was the classic experiment of empathy, putting himself in Kaminari's shoes, Midoriya's. "I would've had a conversation… I would've raised my concerns… But I wouldn't pick a fight like that…" He crossed his arms, "If Kaminari got in the way… Told me that I couldn't… That I shouldn't… Picked a fight… What…? Try to put me in my place…?"

Hitoshi chuckled at himself, "I guess I did pick a side…"

"He looks kinda creepy when he smiles to himself like that," murmured Jirou.

Ashido muttered, "What do you think he's thinking about?"

"How he mustn't run away?" offered Midoriya.

"Will you stop with the references?" spat Hitoshi. "No one's getting them and no one's laughing."

Midoriya raised his hands, "Okay, touched a nerve." He then added, "And ouch."

"Those were references?" asked Ashido to a shrugging Jirou.

Hitoshi sighed, "Well, what?"

"Before you so rudely zoned out, we were talking about our internships," said Ashido. "Midori said Kamui Woods has a bio-pic coming out soon."

"Oh, yeah, I heard about it," recalled Hitoshi. "Surprised he's getting one."

She tilted her head, "Yeah, do you think we'd get invited to the premiere if he likes us?"

"I doubt it," he answered. "I mean, after all, we'll only be with him for a week. Those kinda events are for family, you know?"

Ashido cooed, "I wonder if those carpet events are as nice as they look on TV."

"Probably not. They seem like a flashy mess that's filled to the brim with uncomfortable outfits," spat Jirou.

Midoriya shrugged, "You can probably wear whatever to one of those."

"Not unless you want to embarrass whoever invited you," she replied.

"Yeah, Mount-Lady will never take you anywhere with that closet," joked Ashido.

Midoriya countered, "It isn't that bad!"

Ashido, Jirou and Shinso all disagreed, "It is."

"You know, why did you go with Mount-Lady anyway?" asked Jirou. "She's not that active of a Hero. Think I see more of her on TV than anywhere else."

Midoriya shrugged, "She's close to home." He teetered his head, "And, I know how worried everyone is about me so I went for the softball."

"You shouldn't have to do that." Hitoshi frowned, "You should pick a Hero you actually want to go to."

"It's perfect for me," replied Midoriya. "I'm happy with my choice."

"Think you're in for an easy ride then?" asked Jirou.

"Probably gonna be stuck working IT," suggested Midoriya. "Even though I'm definitely not qualified for it."

"What're you gonna do then?" asked Ashido.

Midoriya shrugged, "The Internet's a wonderful thing."

The quartet's conversation was cut short as the train's bell chimed above them. They collected their cases as the train slid to a stop. And, because they couldn't help but all agree to Ms. Midoriya's dinner invite, before they set off for their internships, Midoriya took them on a short trek through his hometown to show them his apartment building.

-XXX-

"Boys are stupid…", that's what Jirou Kyoka thought. What was the deal? "Who knows…?" Why did it happen? "I can make a pretty good guess…" Was it any of her business? "They're definitely making it clear that it ain't…"

"Kaminari probably put his foot in his mouth or Midoriya was sensitive about the topic and lashed out… Or both…" She spared a glance at the back of Midoriya's head, "If they're not gonna say anything about it, then I'm not gonna think about it…"

"Come on, Midori!" Ashido nudged him, "Give us a tour! It's your hometown."

"Ah, well…" He rubbed the back of his neck, "There's a convenience store over there…" His index finger pointed, "And an internet cafe over there." A shrug, "There used to be an arcade, but that got torn down."

"Was it a villain attack?" gasped Ashido dramatically.

"No, burned down, overnight." He quickly added, "No one got hurt."

She deflated, "Oh…"

Midoriya pointed again. "There's a riverbed where you can catch some frogs or small fish."

Kyoka's face contorted, "Ew."

"Gross!" said Ashido.

Shinso chuckled, "You were one of those kids?"

"N-No… uh… I used to follow one of those kids…"

"Ah…"

"Awkward…" thought Kyoka. "I blame Ashido… She put him on the spot…"

"Uh…" Midoriya snapped his fingers, pointing to a bridge, "Oh, that's where uh…" He hesitated. "Where All-Might fought a slime villain!"

"Ooh~," cooed Ashido.

"Didn't see that on the news." Shinso blinked, "Wait, was it a part of that news story of a slime villain attacking a middle school student?"

"Yeah! I totally remember that!" Ashido swung her arm, "One of his classmates went charging in to save him before All-Might showed up!"

"Did you see him fight?" asked Kyoka.

"Not… really?" Midoriya scratched his cheek. "I mean, I was kinda getting… suffocated by… the slime… villain…" He was really trying to not finish that sentence.

"Suffocated?" echoed Shinso.

Ashido's brow furrowed, "By the slime villain, the one that was trying to kidnap the other kid?"

Kyoka blinked, shaking her head, "How—what?"

Midoriya opened and closed his mouth, "…" He spun on his heel, pointing onward, "So, my apartment building's over there—" One of her jacks wrapped around his neck while the other jabbed his spine. It unwound and he followed the motion, facing them.

Ashido crossed her arms, Shinso looked at him incredulously, and Kyoka tapped her foot.

Midoriya fidgeted for a moment, "So… apparently… the slime robbed a store and was chased by All-Might, and fled into the sewers. And came out of that manhole while I was walking home from school."

"He just attacked you?" asked Kyoka.

"Y-Yeah!"

Shinso shook his head, "Why would he bother? Why not just keep running?"

Midoriya rubbed the back of his neck, "W-Well, um… I can't quite remember… on account of… the suffocation, but… I think… he said… he was… trying to… hijack my body…" Another sentence he didn't want to finish.

Ashido's hands found the sides of her face, "You were suffocating because he was CRAWLING INSIDE YOU!?"

"Shush! Please, we're in a public space!" cried Midoriya as he spotted the stares of passerby.

The trio cried in turn, "Midoriya!"

"How many near-death experiences do you have!?" questioned Shinso.

Midoriya blinked, "Ha, heh… It's, uh… that's, surprisingly, a bit of a complicated answer."

"MIDORIYA!" cried the trio again.

Shinso blinked, "Wait a minute…"

"W-Wait, uh…" Midoriya coughed, "We should really get going… If we don't pick up the pace, we're gonna be late for our internships."

Kyoka wasn't taking the bait.

Ashido definitely wasn't, "What'd you find?"

"Remember that news story?" Shinso held out his phone, "Doesn't that mop of green hair look familiar?"

Kyoka shook her head, "Midoriya."

"Does your mom know about this?" asked Ashido.

"Honestly? No idea." He scratched his cheek, "I mean, if it was on the news, she must've seen it."

She followed up, "About the suffocating bit?"

Midoriya's voice turned high-pitched, "It never came up?"

"Kaminari was dead wrong, apparently." Shinso sighed, "Midoriya's just used to near-death shit. No wonder that whole Hero Killer thing didn't get to him."

Ashido shook her head, "I've had my scares, but… yeah, nothing like that."

Kyoka checked the time on her phone, "We should put a pin in this, you guys."

"Yeah, I still kinda want details." Shinso added, "If you're up for it."

Midoriya fidgeted, "Y-Yeah, we can talk about it some more."

Kyoka looked him up and down. She noticed his tensed shoulders and how his eyes weren't leaving the ground. "Chill, dude. It's not like we're upset with you." He looked at her for a moment before chuckling and rubbing the back of his neck. "Just wildly concerned."

"Y-Yeah, I know…" Midoriya chuckled, "You're the first people I ever told about this stuff…"

"And we appreciate that trust," said Shinso.

"Yeah." Ashido punched Midoriya's shoulder, "Come on, let's say hi to you Mom before we get started on our internships."

Kyoka nodded, "So, lead the way, big guy."

-XXX-

Denki's eyes kept dropping towards the ground as he walked. He couldn't really bear the idea of meeting anyone's eyes anymore. "I fucked up… Royally…" he thought. His concern was valid, he knew that much, but everything else? "I panicked… put my own foot in my mouth… fucked everything up…" He couldn't help, but sigh.

"Look, kid, I know it sucks that Ingenium ain't here, but it was an emergency," said Sensoji Arata or Mr. Blaster. He was giving a tour to Kaminari through the Team Idaten building.

"I-I know! I…" Denki trailed off before rubbing the back of his neck. "Sorry, my mind was somewhere else…"

Sensoji stopped in his tracks, putting his hands on his hips, "Go through something?"

"Yeah, kinda."

"Well, kid, my advice is that you drop it right now," said Sensoji with a shrug.

Denki blinked, "Huh?"

"I'm not the one in charge of you. And I ain't training ya." He scratched his nose, "But let me tell you, getting zoned out on the first day is not a good look."

"R-Right."

"I'm not trying to dismiss your sh—problems," he corrected. "But you gotta focus. Ingenium isn't going to put you in harm's way, but you will be expected to perform. People will be counting on you, one way or another."

Denki slowly nodded, "Of course… sorry…"

"Don't be sorry, kid. We all hit the wall sometime." Sensoji explained, "But, we're Heroes. We buckle it in and keep going. People are counting on us out there."

"Understood."

Sensoji scratched his cheek, "If you… need to talk to anyone about it, your best bet would be Hashida, Bigshot. Guy always seems to have his head on straight."

"Right." Denki smiled, "Thank you, Mr. Blaster."

"When we're not on mission, you can call me Sensoji." He rubbed the back of his head, "And well… I might end up being one of the people who's counting on you. We'll say I'm just looking out for myself." His thumbs hooked on his belt, "I got a reputation to protect."

Denki chuckled, "Gotcha." As Sensoji continued the tour, he thought to himself, "He's right… I gotta just focus on my internship and just ignore all this Quirkless crap… Won't even bring up Midoriya to Ingenium… It'd just be a waste of time… If I'm lucky, I'll be able to fix all of this when I get back…"

"Hope you learn something worthwhile…"

Fighting another sigh, Denki bit the inside of his cheek, "Me too, Midori… Me too…"

-XXX-

Izuku stepped into the agency's lobby, moving before the receptionist's desk. "Hi, I'm Midoriya Izuku. I'm here for my Field Support Internship." The man behind the desk was young – a bit younger than Mr. Haimawari. Height couldn't be measured because he was in a chair, but he was certainly bulky. His wide shoulders and thick arms didn't quite look right in the three-piece suit he was wearing – especially with that newsboy cap on his head. (Ashido's voice popped into his head, "Like you can judge someone for their fashion sense…") Stubble decorated his chin while chops framed his jawline. And his name tag read Namimaru.

"Right, from Shiketsu." The man looked Izuku up and down, "Ya look the part, but… I need to see your student ID to confirm."

Izuku blinked, "Oh, uh, of course." He set his costume case on the ground before fiddling for his wallet.

The ID was pulled and handed over. "Thank you." It was then swiped in a reader before it lit up green. "Okay, you check out." Namimaru passed the ID back, "Sorry, kid, we gotta be careful." He swiveled and stepped out of his chair, "Follow me."

"Wow, he's about as tall as me…" Izuku tilted his head, "Is there a security concern?" He chuckled, "I mean do a lot of people pretend to be students to get in here?"

Namimaru sighed, "Not recently." He shrugged, "But, we just moved into this building not too long ago."

"Right, I remember. Mount-Lady destroyed the first one."

He nodded, "Second office got discovered by her… fans and well, now we have extra security." They turned a corner and stood before an elevator with a keypad instead of the usual buttons. "We change the security code every day." The machine beeped as the doors slid open. "You'll be looking for a man named Ichimoku." Namimaru held the door so Izuku could enter. "He's got crappy hair and a visor slapped onto his face. He knows you're coming. Just confirm your number and he'll text you the new code."

A nod, "Gotcha."

"When you exit the elevator, you'll be in a lounge kinda area," he added. "If you see Mount-Lady there, do not bother her. She lounges when she's stressed out or in a mood. You will not get on her good side."

Again, Izuku nodded, "Heard," as the doors slid shut. "Mount-Lady in a mood… What kinda mood…? Well, not in a good mood, obviously…"

He looked down at his case in hand. "Stain… The Hero Killer…" He rubbed the back of his neck, "Mount-Lady is a potential target… But potentially not the next target… Is there a way to guarantee his attention…?"

"Are you really going to use this Pro-Hero as bait…?"

"I'm not using her as bait… I'm…" He reasoned, "—protecting her… I'm watching her back in case he shows up…"

"And if the solution pops up…? To guarantee his attention…? Are you that desperate—that fucked in the head to do that…?"

Izuku's jaw shifted before the elevator beeped again and the doors opened. "I'll cross that bridge when I get there…" He then put on a smile and walked through.

-\ XXX /-

AN: Another month; another chapter, a transitional one. We're moving forward into our internships. Kaminari's in a state of rebuilding. Ashido, as a character not involved in Midoriya vs Kaminari, has saw fit to get involved. Oh no, boy and girl underneath the same roof~. (Uh oh, Mom's around.) Shinso's picked a side. Jirou's abstaining. And all three learn of the Slime Incident.

I sort of realized that that event wasn't really mentioned again under the gaze of Midoriya almost died. To quote, "It'll only hurt for about 45 seconds... then it'll all be over." I didn't even remember that this was a near-death scenario. And because of that, I do assume that this wasn't a traumatizing experience for him, somehow.

Lastly, the timeskip. It's a minor one, but I wanted to leave the school setting. Also, felt like that one-sided conversation needed to happen to sort of finalize the events of the previous chapter. Putting a bow on it and linking back to their conversation in Chapter 13: Popping a Cork. While lines from Midoriya's speech were called back in Chapter 31; lines from Kaminari's were referenced here.

Thank you for reading and criticize away!

Update Window: May 20th - 30th

Intended Due Date: May 20th - 25th