Takeyama Yu was in a mood. In her costume, she was splayed across her office's couch. Her shoulders were draped in a cardigan and her feet were adorned by a pair of horned slippers. "I'm really only a year into this and this is my third office…" Usually, she snacked on something or read a magazine, but today, one hand laid towards the ceiling while the other fell towards the floor. "I thought being on call was neat… Only work when I gotta… Granted villain spotting…" She finally reached up and peeled off her horned mask, placing on the nearby coffee table. "Turns out they don't need a giant woman on the regular…" Her hall of memories was filled with the most recent batch of mail, specifically, all the bills. "What am I going to do…?"

She blinked when she heard the elevator door open. Facing away from it, she guessed it was, "Namimaru~… Can you get me a drink?" Her head upturned, "Namimaru?" Her eyes widened when she saw some freckled boy with curly, green hair. It caused her to immediately sit up, and her first thought was, "Fuck…! Did some fan get past him…!?" Then, she noticed the uniform and the… normal smile…?

It was an awkward, running into a teacher at the mall type of smile; nothing like running into a celebrity. She knew what those smiles looked like – the ear-to-ear type, the way-too-many-teeth type. Then, with the obsession needed to stalk someone and break laws to meet them, it would be accompanied by some wide eyes, open pupils, and quivering irises. None of which were displayed; caused her to relax slightly.

"Excuse me," he said before walking onward and towards the separated desks. "Hello, I'm looking for an Ichimoku?" he called out.

Ichimoku's head popped over the walls of a cubical, "Ah! You must be Midoriya." The man adjusted his necktie and visor before walking over to the teen, "Good to see you." They shook hands, "Come this way. Let's get all that nasty paperwork out of the way."

"After you," replied Midoriya with a nervous chuckle.

"Oh, right… That internship thing…" thought Yu as she recovered her mask. She blinked before her eyes widened once again, "Crap…! I totally forgot…!" She scrambled around the lounge, ditching her slippers and stripping off her cardigan, "Crap, crap, crap…!" Pushing through the ladies' room door, she stumbled in front of the mirror to pull her mask back on. "The last thing I need is this kid going on some website to gossip about me…!" Thus, the struggle to get her mask's horns to perfectly sit behind her curly, blonde locks.

Despite the fact she heard his voice and its high-octave, her mind still gave him a deep, nasally voice, "Jeez… I went to internship under Mount-Lady and she was lounging around like a complete slob…!"

Her palms landed on either side of the sink, "Oh, yeah…!? You try keeping it up twenty-four/seven…!" She glared at herself in the mirror. Her eyes slowly relaxed before a sigh escaped her lips. Her fingers pressed against her temple, shaking her head, "I'm getting in my own head…"

She turned away from the mirror, leaning her back against the counter, "What was I thinking…?" Her hand raked through her hair, "What am I even supposed to teach this kid…?" She shook her head before making her exit.

She blinked when all she saw was Ichimoku and no kid. "Hey, Boss," he greeted.

Yu's hand landed on her hip, "Where's the kid?"

"Oh, don't worry. I already set him to work." He shrugged, "I got no idea what a Field Support is, but his file did say he was in the Support Course, and those are like tech guys."

Her face contorted, "If you don't know—what do you have him doing?"

Ichimoku chuckled proudly, "Don't worry, Boss. I got him set on an impossible task." He jerked his thumb towards the elevator, "He'll be stuck on it all day – if not the whole week."

Yu just… stared at him for a moment before her palm met her forehead, "Why'd I hire this guy again…?"

-XXX-

Izuku was right – not precisely but technically. He knew that he'd be put to work on something he was wholly unqualified to deal with. Though, he did expect it to be some IT problem: password recovery, file recovery, and so on. It wouldn't be difficult, but it wouldn't be—shouldn't be his job. In the end, none of that forethought really mattered, but still, trying to fix the sputtering engine of a van definitely counted. It certainly didn't help that he was fifteen, a minor, and couldn't legally start a car without an adult. However, they did give him the keys already and he did say he'd try.

Ichimoku was kind enough to take his cap, costume case, and bag. So, armed with his laptop, phone, and the… office toolbox, Izuku rode the elevator down, past the lobby, and into the sub-level parking. He wandered past few cars before finding the sole van in the lot. It wasn't particularly lavish or even new – in fact, it was definitely used.

"We called it the QCV, Quick-Change Van, but that, uh… never really caught on," explained Ichimoku. "When Mount-Lady used to patrol, whenever she got tired of the cameras – or hell, just plain walking, we'd send a lady out in it. She'd pick her up, drive her somewhere private, and let the Boss get changed into civilian wear." He shrugged, "I mean, yeah, sure, she still got recognized, but to the passerby, that split second of, 'is it really her?' saves her a ton of trouble." He dangled a set of keys in front of the teen, "Which is why, I'd like you take a look at it."

Izuku picked out, "Used to…", from the conversation. "Mount-Lady's been making appearances on TV, but not in the public…" He pinched his brow, "I should've realized…" He set up his laptop on the hood of a nearby car, connecting to the office's internet. "Throws a wrench my way, but I won't think about it now…" He started his task by searching the van's make and model. "Should just figure out what I can for now… and make up a plan later…"

That being said, gone was Scheming Izuku and in came Fix-it Izuku who… needed to figure out how to pop a hood.

-XXX-

She should probably go down and check up on him, right?

It was a thought that plagued her mind for the last… few hours? "Oh, jeez… Time flies when you're napping, huh…?" Yu's cracked eye left her phone screen as she set it face down once again. She let out a groan as she sat up on her couch, stretching. "Ichimoku?"

The visor-faced man walked over, "Yeah, Boss?"

"Where's that kid?" asked Yu.

Ichimoku shrugged, checking his watch, "He… hasn't come back up – probably still working on that van."

"U-Um, sir?" interrupted a lady in a suit. If Yu remembered correctly, her name was Kaguya.

"Yeah?" replied Ichimoku.

She held up a folder with Shiketsu's trademark 'S' upon it. "I finally got around to looking up what a Field Support Agent was…"

"Oh?" Ichimoku asked, "Wha—"

The elevator door pinged before Midoriya stepped out. His jacket was wrapped around his waist, and his dress shirt was unbuttoned while his sleeves were rolled up. "Why does his undershirt say 'undershirt'…? And he's really beefy for a fifteen-year-old… It's kinda gross actually…" Yu's eyes widened for a moment before focusing on part of a scar that peeked out from his tank-top. "The hell…?" She was still a layman when it came to scars and wounds, but it wasn't hard to tell that scar wasn't from some simple accident. Her gaze then fell to his forearm, a particularly red portion of it.

"Midoriya," acknowledged Ichimoku.

"Mr. Ichimoku," replied Midoriya. "Mount-Lady, I'm done."

"Oh, you fixed the van?"

Midoriya gave a flat look, "No, I'm done for the day. My internship ends at 6 PM."

"O-Oh," stumbled Ichimoku.

Midoriya set the toolbox down, "I did what I could." He moved past Ichimoku, recovering his cap and his bag. "And I can tell you what I could find out." He meddled with his phone, "One of the spark plugs is dead. You need a new fuel filter. I cleared out your fuel injectors so that's fine. And there were some tubes in there that were leaking so I just wrapped them up in duct tape." He tapped his screen before putting his phone away, "Those are the Internet's most recommended parts and nearby auto-shops."

Ichimoku's phone buzzed and he pulled out before nodding at the school, "O… k…" He blinked when he noticed Midoriya wince as he pulled one of his sleeves down, "Are you okay?"

Midoriya shrugged, "Engines get pretty hot, apparently."

"You actually got burned!" Yu stood, "We have a first-aid kit—hang on."

He waved his hand, undoing his jacket from his waist, "It's fine – I'm fine." A shrug, "There's a clinic close to my apartment building. I'll just go there."

"Yeah, right!" spat Yu, walking over and pulling him aside. "Sit down." Midoriya was pushed upon the couch, "Don't act like some tough guy after wincing like that." She waggled her finger as she went to retrieve the first-aid kit. "Roll that sleeve back up!"

"Uh… o… k…" replied Midoriya as he stayed in place.

"Ms. Takeyama!" called Kaguya.

"What is it, Kaguya?"

She whispered to the Hero, "A Field Support agent's basically a sidekick." Yu's unclasping of the kit from the wall slowed. "He isn't interning for the office; he's interning for you. Hero stuff." The whisper was spoken with panic and worry lacing it. "If he convinces his teacher or the school that we aren't teaching him the right stuff, they might pull his internship and the pay!"

Yu nearly dropped the kit for a moment before clutching it tight. She looked between Kaguya and the distant intern. Her jaw shifted for a moment before shaking her head and walking back over. "How… How bad is it?"

"It stings, but I've had worse," said Midoriya as she sat on the coffee table

She took a breath before setting the kit next to her, "Oh, yeah? What's worse exactly?"

She held out her hand to take his forearm, and as she did so, he turned his rest to show off his off-colored appendage. "Getting your thumb cut off is pretty bad."

Ichimoku jutted in, "You got your thumb cut off!?"

"No, actually, this is a fake tattoo," replied Midoriya with a smile and a flat look. He then began to pinch the edge of the gray-ish skin. "Actually, if I dig hard enough, I can probably peel it off."

Ichimoku gagged, "N-No-No! Don't do that!" He fought another gag, "I… I don't…" Another one followed, "I gotta go," before the visor-faced man rushed to the restroom.

Midoriya chuckled in a way that made her think of him as a gremlin.

Yu shook her head before focusing on dabbing ointment on his forearm, "How did you manage that?"

He winced before humming to himself, "…" Then came a shrug, "Being in the wrong place at the right time."

Yu gave him a flat look, "That's stupidly cryptic."

"W-Well!" He wheezed, "I guess—ah!"

She rolled her eyes, "Stop being a baby!"

"Why're you rubbing!? It's a burn! Dab it, at least!" he cried.

Yu huffed, "If you can't take this, then maybe I shouldn't take you out on patrol tomorrow." Midoriya froze, widening his eyes for a moment. "That shut him up… Okay, so…" She lifted her head high, "Yep, today was a test. To see if you were actually gonna put in the effort. And you know what? You really did." She then lowered it and looked off to the side, "I didn't expect you to get burned in the process… That's my bad. I'm sorry."

Midoriya's free hand rubbed the back of his neck, "N-No, it—it's fine." He chuckled, "I'm just… I'm glad I passed that test." His legs bounced excitedly, "Gosh, I can't wait to go out on patrol!"

"Ha…! He ate that up like cake…! Phew…" She began to bandage his forearm, "Well, if we're gonna do that, you gotta keep this wrapped and make sure you get healed up, okay?"

"Yeah, you got it… Boss." He held out his other fist.

Yu wasn't really for the gesture, but to really sell her shtick, she reciprocated, "Just make sure you keep up, alright?" He chuckled, nodding, before standing up and recovering his bag. With a bullet narrowly dodged, she bid the kid goodbye before letting out a groan mixed with a sigh. "I have to come up with a patrol route… What a pain…!"

-XXX-

"What a load of bull…", thought Izuku as he walked down the sidewalk underneath the setting sun. He balanced holding the strap of his bag with taking off his jacket. "Work on a van for six hours… It'll show me you're dedicated… Yeah, right…" He shoveled his jacket and cap into his bag. "I'd believe it if they were watching me… But they didn't even check my work before saying I passed… For all they know, I just goofed off the whole time…"

The action caused him to not notice the lamppost ahead of him, bumping into it – specifically, his burned arm. So, he winced and hissed before he realized that the only pain he felt was the bump. There was no stinging heat nor spike of electricity through his nervous system. He blinked as he set his strap across his torso before rolling up his sleeve.

The white fabric was rolled up, and the bandage was shifted. As the material rubbed his forearm, he felt nothing other than the brush of its coarse surface across his skin. He blinked when he patted his arm, "The hell…?" A smirk slowly dawned across his face, "Cool…" He rolled his shoulder before continuing down the sidewalk, "I'll tell Dr. Yaritezawa about it when I get back…"

-XXX-

Some would say that Ashido Mina wasn't the type to look before leaping. And she would disagree, most of the time, but this time, "I may have overstepped…" It truly seemed like a great idea to root around Midoriya's childhood apartment for some way to pressure him into talking about Kaminari. However…

"Having second thoughts?" asked Shinso as she and he had left long left Kamui Woods' Agency.

"What?" replied Mina as she was taken from her thoughts. "Second thoughts? Third thoughts? About what?" She laughed, holding up her palms.

Shinso had his cap tucked under his arm with his hand in his pocket, "Staying over at a boy's house?" He pulled out his phone, fiddling with it, "It's only a two-bedroom apartment."

"I can sleep on the couch," she said, waving her hand.

His eyes rolled, "Right because, of course, Midoriya and Ms. Inko are totally the type to let a guest sleep on the couch."

"Huh?" She blinked, stopping on the sidewalk, "W-Where else could I sleep?"

Shinso stopped too, but didn't look up from his phone, "There's always Midoriya's old bed."

"His old bed, but… W-Well… I guess it's not he's been sleeping in it, right?" she offered, fidgeting slightly.

He nodded, "Yeah, true, true…" He chuckled before wiping his hand across the twilight, "But it is the one he started the stairway of puberty in…"

Her face flushed, "I… uh…" She cleared her throat before fishing for her phone, "H-Hang on, um…" In the corner of her eye, she spotted the upturn of a smirk on his face. "W-Wait a minute!" She jabbed her finger at him as she walked over to his side. "You're just trying to convince me not to!"

He shrugged, "Yeah, I guess I am."

"Why?" Mina shook her head, "They're our friends and they're fighting. We should be mediating this or… just figuring out who's in the wrong so we can talk some sense into them!"

Shinso tucked his phone and hand into his pocket, "I'm pretty sure they knocked some sense into each other."

"Are we gonna pretend that's healthy? Or okay?" she questioned. "Midoriya socked Kaminari. Kaminari electrocuted Midoriya!"

"Well, pressuring him into talking isn't going to help. Cause I think we all can guess what happened."

"But we don't know."

Shinso shook his head, "We know enough—you know." He pulled out his cap, looking at the shine of that 'S' underneath the warm light. "People go around and tell us that we can't be who we want to be." His arm drooped as his jaw shifted, "I've been told plenty that my Quirk is a villain's Quirk. Hell, the jackass I was partnered with for the tournament gave me a pamphlet about dangerous Quirks." His hand tapped against his chest, "That lack of faith feels like shit and it's worse when it's supposed to be someone who's your friend."

Mina's face contorted for a moment before her gaze lowered to her hand.

"I think that fight was Midoriya proving Kaminari wrong." He shrugged, "And I haven't heard an apology yet, and I don't think Midoriya's the type of guy to hold a grudge against someone who's legitimately sorry what they've done." He shook his head, "And yeah, I don't really know if that's what happened, but that's what I'm leaning towards."

When Mina was silent, he continued, "Kaminari was my first friend at Shiketsu. It's because of him that I started talking with everyone – with you and Jirou. And I'm really glad he was." He shrugged, "But, I don't know if I want to be friends with someone who… makes a judgment call about who you can and can't be and then tries to force your hand."

Mina shook her head, "We… We all saw the writing on the wall. We all knew Kaminari was… fixated on all of this, but we didn't say anything. Or, at least, I didn't try and stop him or convince him. Just… let it all play out and… it ended in a fight. And now, there's big drift between them and… I just…" Her arms crossed and her shoulders tensed, "I feel I could've done something – stop this all from happening, but… boys will be boys, I thought… That they'd just handle it on their own and be back to being buddies again…" Her head lowered, "I used to be good at that sort of thing, you know?"

Shinso sighed, "Ashido, that isn't fair to yourself and you know that."

She rubbed the back of her neck, "…" Then, her head slowly nodded, "Yeah… I do…"

He patted her shoulder, "Come on. Ms. Inko's probably got dinner ready. I don't know about you, but I'm looking forward to some proper home-cooking. No more instant ramen and egg for dinner for a while."

"Yeah." Mina lifted her head and puffed out her chest, jabbing her thumb towards herself. "And I'm gonna be getting it for a whole week!"

Shinso chuckled, "Lucky~."

-XXX-

Izuku smiled as his mom giddily plated her signature rice bowl of the pork cutlet variety. He was with her in the kitchen – he was helping, initially. "Stop, you're doing it wrong," said Inko as she smacked his hands away from the bowl. With five people eating, she had already finished three bowls and he was working on number four.

"It looks exactly like yours!" he said with a chuckle and smile, backing away from the counter.

Despite her words, a smile seemed permanently plastered to her face, "Shush." She waved her hands, "Go give them their drinks."

He bit back a laugh, "Mom—"

"Go, go, go," she said, waving a towel at him. "I'm almost done!"

It took some effort but he was able to gather the cups and head over to the dinner table. "She's almost done, Midoriya. Jeez, give her some space," teased Jirou as a cup was placed before her. All of the students were dressed down versions of their uniforms, leaving their caps and jackets neatly folded upon their bags atop of the couch.

"Ha-ha," he replied.

Ashido thanked Izuku for the cup before asking, "So, how was your internship with Mount-Lady?"

"Busy work," he said, shrugging. "They didn't even know what a Field Support agent was…"

Shinso's jaw hung slightly, "Seriously?"

"I don't even want to think about it honestly." Izuku took a seat at the table, "Promised to take me out on patrol tomorrow." He shrugged, "Eh, we'll see what happens." He took a sip, "But enough about me. What about you guys?"

"Death-Arms started us on a patrol," answered Jirou with a shrug. "Just around the block, though. It was more of a lecture than anything. And he wanted to learn everything he could about my Quirk to figure out what to do with me."

Shinso nodded, "No patrol – Kamui Woods kept us in his agency's gym. Think he was trying to figure out the same."

"You should've seen his face—err—well, uh… I guess we just saw his eyes, when Shinso used his Quirk," started Ashido. "Or, after Shinso used his Quirk, he was walking around wonky afterwards."

"Guess the papers are different from reality," chuckled Shinso. "He knew what it was but I guess he had a different expectation of it."

"Well?" Izuku smiled, "Come on, he had to have thought something of it."

"Useful." Shinso smiled, "His face was covered, but I think he was interested – probably saw the potential in it."

Ashido raised her hand, "I wowed him, of course." She flexed her arms, "He seemed surprised by how athletic I was~."

"Okay~!" sang Inko from the kitchen. "Dinner is ready!"

"Dinner is ready," echoed Izuku as he moved to help his mom. "One second guys."

"To home-cooking!" cheered Shinso.

Ashido and Jirou laughed, "Woo!"

-XXX-

Mina's fingers tapped on her knees as she sat on the couch. "Ha… ha… The atmosphere was so much nicer with more people… Heh… heh…" Despite the fact that the white noise would ease her, she didn't dare reach for the remote for the TV. Midoriya was saying goodbye to Shinso and Jirou who were going to walk each other to train station. Inko was in the kitchen, cleaning the dishes – despite her son's protests.

"Good night! Thank you, Ms. Inko!" called the departing pair.

Midoriya shushed them, whispering loudly, "We live in an apartment building not a house! Thin walls! Thin walls!" He laughed, "Get outta here."

Inko laughed from the sink as the door swung shut. He was silent, fidgeting with his hands, when he walked into the living room. Their eyes met before they swiftly looked away from each other.

Mina sang internally, "This is weird~… This is more weird than I thought it would be~…"

"Um… Should probably get changed…" he muttered.

"Right, Ashido, do you need to take a bath?" asked Inko from the kitchen.

Mina blinked, looking over, "Oh, uh… I-I guess."

Inko looked over from the kitchen, "Izuku, why don't you draw her bath?"

Midoriya froze stiff.

"Eh…?" She sprung to her feet, "Y-You know w-what?" Her hands waved through the air, "I actually don't want to. Uh, cause, um… I left my shampoo at the agency! So, uh… I can't because I got a very sensitive head and can only use… that shampoo."

"O… k…" replied Inko before turning back to the sink.

After Midoriya let out a chuckle, he asked, "Mom, where'd you leave the futon?"

"I left it rolled out in your room to dry!"

Mina thought to herself, "Ah, a futon… The classic…!"

"Thanks!" Midoriya offered again, "Are you sure you don't need a hand?"

"Yes!" Inko added, "Why don't you show Ashido to her bed?"

"Right," said Midoriya. "Follow me."

"W-Wait, am I seriously sleeping in your old bed?" asked Mina. "What about you?"

He blinked, "Futon."

"Wait…?" Her face flushed, "In the same room?"

His face flushed in turn, "N-No! I was just gonna move the coffee table and sleep in the living room!"

"I couldn't make you sleep not in your room," said Mina.

Midoriya looked in his mom's direction before turning to her and whispering, "You literally invited yourself. What'd you expect?"

"I didn't mean for this to happen!" she whispered back.

"W-We-Well, wha-what did you mean to happen?"

"I don't know anymore!" She crossed her arms, "I didn't really have a plan…"

Midoriya's arms crossed as if covering his chest, "What would you need a plan for?"

"Is everything okay?" asked Inko.

"Yes!" they both replied quickly.

Midoriya took a breath before crossing his arms, "You're a guest, Ashido. You get a nice place to sleep." He shook his head, "It's not that big of a deal."

"Damn you Shinso… Maybe I was second guessing myself but you made me crumble…!" Mina wiped her face as she followed him, "Whatever… I made this bed… I gotta just sleep in it for now…"

-\ XXX /-

"Bad example" by Takayan

AN: Mount-Lady's Agency, we get a single panel/clip of it in canon and now, I get to write whole arc about it. I'm just turning pennies into quarters here and that does come with all of the material and logistical issues expected of such a task. Then, we have Ashido, a deeper dive into her perspective on things, and then some fluffy bits. Is it the beginning of something?

Who knows. Initially, I did say in one of these notes that I plan on treating the ship of the story with a bit less forcefulness. To be specific, I was going to write the story and see which one felt the most natural. In the planning of the overall story, three stuck with me: Jirou X Midoriya, Ashido X Midoriya, and Kaminari X Midoriya.

KXM went down when I brought the guilty complex into Kaminari's character. It sort of shifted the whole trajectory of their relationship. With that, it made me want to go in a particular direction with them. And I won't go into that because it's kind of a spoiler.

10/2024, SLIGHTLY EDITED:

JXM is more of a personal ship than a narrative one. QH:D was JXM and I never finished that story, so I could finish that romance here. Issue: I don't know if they fit in this story. QH:D was completely built on that ship and the Iron Man aspect. Though, I really do want to write them.

So, AXM, personality-wise: I've been writing her as emotionally-intelligent, upbeat, and stubborn which allows her to be a very good challenger to Midoriya and his future decisions. Characteristics: there are a lot of things about the world of BNHA/MHA that she's connected to that I would like to explore.

With all that said, I've decided that this be a truly finalized decision by the end of this season.

And so, thank you for reading and criticize away!

Update Window: June 20th - 30th

Intended Due Date: June 20th - 25th