Chapter Fifty-One
Mirko sat in the uncomfortable chair, out of costume, dozing, a skill she'd picked up on far too many stakeouts. Never had done this before, and for good reason. She'd been a solo-act for, well, forever. It'd been practically impossible to find someone that could keep up with her awesomeness, though, if she was being honest, the kid wasn't quite there yet.
It was kind of surprising that she didn't really mind that.
It was just as surprising that, while Midoriya couldn't keep up with her, Hawks could.
Thinking about it, she shouldn't've been shocked. His entire thing was being fast, but she'd thought he was all flash and no substance, like the other speedsters she'd worked with, usually only for a job or two. Instead, he'd hit hard and kept on going. Not as hard as her of course, but he was good with those blades of his.
She could still take him.
But the two of them had worked well together, and she'd appreciated the help pullin' her sidekick out of the fire.
Literally.
And what a sidekick the kid was. Brat had tracked down the Hero Killer and kicked his fuckin' ass. She was so proud. She'd also wanted kick his ass from here all the way back to his mother for that stunt, but Endeavor's kid had been clear that he'd only been there to save Ingenium's brat, who needed his butt kicked 'til it fell off.
And then there was that other thing. That big red asshole. For the life of her she just couldn't figure out what the hell the guy's Quirk was! How did being on fire and super-strength and super-healing and laser eyes all fit into one Quirk, even a hybrid one? And that suicide move? Wolf-man told it to 'fight 'till the end', normal Supervillain BS, but then the dude actually did it.
She'd been doing this for just about seven years, and the number of times she'd seen flunkies actually go out fighting, not just go down fighting? Six, when the guy in charge didn't have a psychic Quirk to make 'em, and two of those were iffy. 'Cept she'd found out that all of the brain-guys last night had fought 'till they literally couldn't, or they died.
That was some cult shit right there, and those never turned out well.
Whoever this 'League of Villains' were, they weren't a flash in the pan. Hittin' UA was a big move, but she'd expected them to lie low, not double down. She hadn't gone there herself, but anywhere that had All Might on the teachin' staff was no joke.
Her thoughts were disturbed as Midoriya stirred in his hospital bed, and Mirko had to shake her head. The kid was hurt, bad, but Hawks' had said he'd make some calls, and some dudes in suits had come in, along with an old fart, who'd done something to the kid, breathing out gold mist that'd faded into Midoriya's skin, and the worst of his injuries had, over the next couple hours, vanished. When she'd asked the healer his name, he'd just shaken his head and been ferried out the door.
Now the green-haired teen stirred, eyes blearily opening. "Ms. Mirko?" he asked, voice hoarse, and she got to her feet, grabbing the drink the doctors had told her to give him. She hadn't liked them expecting her to stick around that long, she was a busy bunny after all, but it'd only been a few hours.
"Yeah kid?" she asked, handing him the drink, but making sure he didn't drop it. "Take this first."
He did, grimacing at the taste of the yellow concoction, but dutifully downed it. "I, I had a dream about you."
She couldn't help but grin. "Sorry kid, you're a bit too young for my tastes." Right amount of strong though. No! Down girl!
Seeing the kid sputter was fun, and helped her push dumb thoughts out of her head. "No, nothing like that! Not to say, I mean, you are, um, I dreamed you saved me?" he ended with a wince. "With Hawks."
"Wasn't a dream," she told him. "You weren't half-bad, kid. Though, what'd I say 'bout bitin' off more than you could chew?" she questioned, crossing her arms and tapping her foot loudly.
The teen's head dropped. "I'm sorry, but I couldn't call you! I don't have your number! And if I left, Ida and Bullrush would've- oh no, are they okay?" he demanded head jerking up, expression hoping, but knowing he was going to hear bad news.
She grinned, happy to prove him wrong. "They're both fine," she reassured Midoriya, who looked at her in disbelief, before his face split open into a wide, dopey grin.
"Really?" he asked, eyes half filled with happy tears, which wasn't really a good look, but he was a kid.
"Really," she nodded. "Bullrush was touch and go, died a couple times on the table, but he pulled through. If engine-legs hadn't got that medi-foam on him, he wouldn't've made it to the hospital."
Midoriya sighed, murmuring, " The white," to himself, before looking up at her. "And Stain?"
Mirko felt her smile drop. "Got away with his League buddies."
The boy frowned as well, but shook his head. "I, I don't think they were working together. Stain tried to save me from Inugami, and tried to kill him." He looked up. "Inugami wanted me to go with him, or he'd kill the others, but they wouldn't let him take me."
From the way the kid said it, he was obviously thinking he should've gone. " Good," Mirko nodded, the kid looking surprised, and she kept going before he could say something dumb. "Villains like that, they don't keep their word," she told him dismissively. "And the only reason they're giving you the option is they think they can't do it on their own. Nah, that kind of 'trade their lives for yours' shit's a bad move. Now pretendin' you're doing it, only to turn around and hit 'em where it hurts, is great, just be prepared for them to expect you to do that, so look out for their counter. They never expect ya to see them seein' through you, so that's when you get 'em!"
Midoriya blinked, before nodding seriously with a "Yes Mrs. Mirko," that was just adorable, and she couldn't help but rustle his hair as he replied with a "Hey!"
Leaning back, she looked at her sidekick. "How ya feelin'?"
"Um, good, actually," he said after a moment, confused. " Really good. Normally, when Recovery Girl heals me, I'm really tired."
"Who?" she asked, unsure, but shook her head. "The Doc was an old man. You think you'll be ready to go back at it tomorrow?"
Midoriya looked at her, with hope in his eyes. "I, you still want me as your sidek-intern?" he asked catching himself, with an "Ow!" as she flicked him in the nose. "What's that for?"
"Ya kicked Stain's ass. Ya made the best of a shit situation. And ya got the potential to be almost as awesome as I am," she informed him with confidence, a little annoyed that the kid wasn't seein' what he'd achieved. "I'll pick ya up from your house tomorrow. And don't worry 'bout the bill," she added, waving around the hospital room. "The Commission's got it, for takin' down Stain, even if he got away, and getting them some serious need-to-know intel."
The teen's eyes went wide, "Oh, I didn't even think of the cost, I-"
The door slammed open, an emaciated blond man yelling, "Young Midoriya! Are you alright!?"
"All-" Midoriya started to say, glancing at her. "Better!" he continued, and she frowned, the kid obviously hiding something, and he was incredibly nervous.
"Name's Mirko," she said, walking around the kid's bed, and putting herself between the new guy and her sidekick. "This brat's Mentor. You are?"
The man looked at her, then at Izuku, and let out a sigh of relief. "Toshinori. Toshinori Yagi. I'm a teacher at UA, and young Midoriya is one of my students. I only just heard he was injured, and rushed over as quick as I could."
The man looked like shit, with the sharp, skin-stretched features that you normally saw on people who'd been held captive by truly evil assholes. His eyes, though, were oddly intense, and reminded her of. . . someone, though she couldn't put her finger on it. As far as heteromorphic traits went, having the whites of his eyes pitch black, while the centers glowed blue, was pretty minor, but it definitely was distinctive.
"Kids fine. Not half bad, if I say so myself," she said, and the man smiled widely, nodding. That smile. On the guy's face it looked. . . wrong, but. . . "We ever meet before?" the rabbit hero questioned.
"I'm sorry, I don't think we have, Ms. Mirko," the man told her, still smiling. "And you seem unforgettable."
She grinned, "Got that right." Sashaying out, she walked by the man, who stepped inside the room. "Seeya tomorrow, Midoriya! Eight am sharp!"
"I will Ms. Mirko!" the boy agreed, grinning, and she slid the door shut.
And then she walked just far enough away that she was out of sight of the window, and waited.
People looked at her and focused on her legs, which, fair, they were awesome, but her ears weren't for show. On one hand, she should probably respect the kid's privacy, on the other Midoriya got really nervous as soon as he saw this Yagi fella', and if both of them weren't hiding something she'd swear off carrots.
"Are you sure you're alright, Young Midoriya?" the man asked, unsure and worried.
The boy sighed, then laughed a little, obviously relieved. "Yeah, yeah I am All Might. But thanks for coming. It means a lot."
. . . wut.
Mirko froze. That smile. Those fucking eyes. She'd run into the Number One a couple times, and his eyes had always seemed shadowed, though his pupils had always shone unnaturally. It'd been striking, to say the least. Only, they hadn't been shadowed, had they? They'd been black. They weren't always, but pictures where you could see the guy's eyes had kinda disappeared lately, not that she paid that much attention. But that guy was. . . no, it couldn't have been.
There was the faint, faint sound of displaced air, and that distinctive voice replied, " How could I not come when my successor was injured?" Then another sound, of a faint vacuum, and sickened coughing, as Yagi's voice continued. "You nearly gave me a heart attack, Izuku. Fighting Stain of all people? I know you want to live up to my record, but you're still training!"
. . . . . . Holy Shit, that's really All Might, she thought, heart hammering in her chest. Did she say something? What did she say? She didn't know what to do and she hated it.
"I had to save them," Midoriya replied helplessly. "And, I. . . can you talk to Ida? I think he's better, but-"
"I will," Yagi promised. "I know what it's like, to feel what he's feeling, and I should've talked with him sooner. But I never thought he would. . ." the man trailed off.
There was an awkward silence. "There's something more," the boy said. "Inugami, the one from the League of Villains. He said his boss wanted me. I, is it because I won the Sports Festival?"
The older man sighed. "No. No it isn't."
It isn't? How does he know?
"Then why?" Midoriya asked what she was thinking. Good kid.
The Hero hesitated. "It's, because of our Quirk," he admitted.
"One for All?" the boy asked, and Mirko frowned, as the teen's Quirk hadn't had a name, just an indication that it was a power type, at least on his records, which she'd looked over after he'd accepted her offer.
"Indeed. There is a Villain. A terrible Villain. He calls himself All for One, and, and he's the enemy of everyone that's had our Quirk," All Might revealed. "He killed the last holder of One for All, and I wasn't able to stop him, only run away as she held him off," the man said, through grit teeth. "I thought I'd killed him, years ago, but he survived, somehow. And now he's making his move once again."
Mirko couldn't believe what she was hearing. Her sidekick was All Might's kid? That. . . made sense actually. Kid was strong as all hell, and she'd thought he was just a fanboy, aping All Might's attacks, even calling them out like All Might did, but if he was the man's son? A son the Number One Hero couldn't openly claim, at least before he was strong enough to handle all the assholes who'd take a shot at just him for being All Might's Kid?
She understood completely.
Heck, when Midoriya wasn't being a frightened little mouse, they even sounded a bit alike, and had some of the same habits, at least from what she'd seen of the Number One on tv, when she was growing up. And there was a Villain that he was worried about. A Villain that'd killed All Might's mother.
This was. . . this was some heavy shit.
"But, you're All Might," the kid said, with just the kind of tone you'd hear from a kid talking about his father.
"How could I fight someone and lose?" the Hero asked wryly, and she could almost picture her sidekick nodding earnestly. "Because All for One can take Quirks, and use them himself, or give them to other people. That's how he's lived for centuries. That's how he made the Nomus."
And another piece of the puzzle clicked together. The big red guy. He hadn't had one Quirk, he'd had many.
"Inugami, he said that Nomu was meant to kill Endeavor," Midoriya revealed. "And, he could, couldn't he? Endeavor's strong, but he overheats. If it ate his flame, like it ate Todoroki's, and then got close, and was on fire. . . Endeavor would've died, wouldn't he?"
All Might chuckled, "You might be surprised, Young Midoriya. If All for One has one flaw, it's that he only sees the worst of people. Sees them like he is. But Heroes like me, and like Endeavor, we can surpass our limits and go Plus Ultra. I believe in Endeavor. He would've survived. Just like I survived against the Nomu meant to kill me. And that's why we'll win. But promise me, promise me, Midoriya. If, for whatever reason, you meet him, don't fight him. You're not ready. I'll handle him."
"But you're hurt!" the boy objected. "And your Quirk-"
"I know," the Hero interrupted, and Mirko really wanted to find out what they were talking about. "I know, young man, but trust me on this. You aren't ready, and if you're going to surpass me, one day, you need to survive."
There was a pain in that man's voice that was unmistakable, obviously thinking of the loss of his own mother. All Might had always been tight-lipped about his family, and for good reason, but to hear the man talk about it seemed. . . intimate, to a level that made Mirko feel guilty for eavesdropping.
Help the kid get better, to make his old man proud, she resolved, in order to set this right. She shouldn't've done this, but she'd been worried, which was really unlike her. But Midoriya was just. . . different.
As All Might started to ask about the details of the fight, she silently slipped away, glad she wasn't in costume so she didn't have to worry about her steel shoes clicking on the tile. She'd ask Midoriya about It tomorrow, and let him brag while they patrolled. One thing was for sure, though.
I made the right decision when I sent him that internship offer.
For the second time that Saturday, Katsuki Bakugo woke up.
Fuck. I lost.
Blinking his eyes sleepily open, he lifted his hands to rub the grit out of them, finding the weights on his arms the mismatched. Holding them in front of himself, he looked at his gauntlets, shaped like grenades. The left one was dented in three places, while half of the right one had been sheared right the fuck off, leaving twisted metal and the torn open tanks that'd normally collect his explosive sweat.
Right. Shishido had torn it off.
The man had kept his word, and had gone all out against the Bombing King.
And it'd been fuckin' glorious.
They'd fought, and Bakugo had thought the Pro had been going easy on him at first, but he hadn't been going easy, he'd been cautious. As he damn well should've been. But the second Bakugo had lowered his guard, thinking to make Shishido regret looking down on him, the asshole had been in his face and punched Bakugo hard enough to dent his gauntlet, and even then only because the explosion expert had desperately blocked the blow in the nick of time.
It was only when Bakugo had set off his gauntlet, point-blank, in the other man's face, that he'd started to get an advantage. Not because he'd put the man off his game, if anything Shishido had come at him twice as hard, and twice as fast, but he'd gotten sloppy, and Bakugo had started to slam explosion after explosion into his foe. He'd even turned his gauntlet getting torn open by the Pro's clawed fingers into a win, setting it off and breaking the man's hand, even as the blast broke his own arm.
He'd worried Shishido would call it then, since they were injured, but all that'd happened was the man's frenzied eyes had cleared, he'd glared at Bakugo, and he'd rushed him again.
They'd fought, and fought, and fought, until Katsuki had broken his own fingers from setting off too many explosions, too hard, and too quickly, but he hadn't stopped, until he'd fuckin' dropped.
And when he had, darkness dragging him down as he'd struggled against it, Shishido had looked like shit.
. . . I'm okay with this, Bakugo decided. Not with losing, he'd never be okay with losing, but he'd gone hard, harder than anyone had ever let him, and had finally gotten a good idea of where he was. He wasn't the best, not yet, but only a fuckin' moron thought they were the best right off the bat. No, he knew he had a long way to go before he challenged All Might for the title of Number One, but he wasn't as far away as he'd feared.
Shishido was in the top one-hundred, and he was a hero who lived combat, just like Bakugo did. He wasn't some prissy bitch that looked pretty or pretended not to be fuckin' dangerous to make people like him, dude lived, breathed, and shit violence.
Just like Bakugo.
So if this guy was an example of what a top-tier combat hero was? No shit Bakugo had lost. But the fact that he'd been able to hurt the fucker? The fact that he'd hit him hard enough to, even for a minute, crack his control?
Fuckin' A.
It was only then that he'd realized that, while his injuries ached, his arms weren't broken, and neither were his fingers. Sitting up, he blinked, finding himself in Shishida's office, the guy at his desk, looking a little tired, but was otherwise fine, when Bakugo knew he'd given the man a black eye, and a whole lot else on top.
"Hmmm, you're up," the Pro commented, still clacking away at the keys of his workstation. "Took you long enough."
Katsuki frowned, before looking out the window, and seeing it was already sunset. It'd been one in the afternoon when they'd fought. "We got a healer?" he asked, frowning. He'd never been patched up by the school nurse, but everyone said they felt fine, just tired, while he could still feel his injuries.
"I have one on retainer. I called her over when we were done," Shishido informed him blandly. "Called your mother too, and told her you wanted to finish up a project before your internship ended, so you'd be running late."
Shit, Bakugo thought. Either she'd be mad at him for 'making the Pro lie for him' or she'd start goin' on 'bout how he was 'finally growing up'. Either way, it'd be a pain in the ass. "And she believed that?"
"Not at first," the Pro replied, with a nod. "Then she asked if you were being a 'Stubborn pain in the ass'."
"That sounds like the old hag," Katsuki sighed.
"And I told her you were," Shishido said, and the Bombing King winced, that hitting him hard for some reason. The older man stopped typing, long enough to send a slow look his way, "Which is why, when you start doing work studies, you'll have a place here. If you want it."
Wait, what? Bakugo had gone hard against the hero, and fucked him up hard enough that he'd needed a healer, and he still wanted him around? People had always been impressed by the Bombing King's Quirk, as they should, 'cause it was fuckin' awesome, but they'd also been afraid of it. Even Deku. Especially Deku.
But Shishido had taken it head on, hit back twice as hard, and wanted more.
Just like him.
Bakugo felt a sharp-toothed grin spread across his face. "Fuck yeah. I haven't kicked your ass yet."
Shishido's grin was smaller, but held the same kind of feral danger as the teen's. "Then you better train, Bombing King. Because I will be too."
Yaoyorozu walked into the mall on Sunday, looking for Mina, not seeing her. She was fifteen minutes early, so she could wait for her best friend. Best friend, she thought the feeling filling her with warmth. It'd been so long since she'd had actual friends, that she still was getting used to the delightful circumstances she found herself in.
That wasn't to say she had been unhappy before, of course not. She wanted for nothing and had all the resources to make her dream, that of being a hero, come true. But so often those who sought her favor, in actuality, sought her family's favor. Either directly, or by being proxies for their parents.
She'd had friends when she was younger, but, with time, that had changed. The pressures put on them by their parents had gotten more obvious, or they'd grown enough to understand them. Momo hadn't understood it at the time, and had just been confused when, suddenly, one of the girls she'd grown up with had told her they couldn't be friends anymore. Not because of anything she'd done, but because of Yaoyorozu's parents. So Momo had gone to her parents, heartbroken, and demanded they tell her why they'd hurt her friend like that, had hurt her.
And so they had.
It had been difficult for her to understand, at age eight, but her friend's parents had tried to use their child's friendship as a bargaining chip in trade negotiations. They'd demanded that Yaoyorozu's family give them favorable terms, or they'd strike at her parents through her. And her parents, the good and moral people they were, had refused. And her friend's parents, believing that to be a bluff, had made good on their threats.
Her parents had felt terrible, but they'd taught her that doing the right thing only meant anything if you kept doing so, even if it was hard. She'd tried to talk to her friend, to explain it, but her friend had just blamed Momo's parents. Had called Momo 'selfish', and blamed her for not making her parents do what she wanted, as if that was something she could do! And so she had lost her first friend.
Such was the life of an heiress.
She hadn't had that many friends to begin with, and, over the next few years, she'd lost the others. None so bad as that first, thank goodness, but some had moved, some were used by their parents, and one tried to use her, to get Momo to find information her parents had insisted shouldn't be shared, or else the boy wouldn't be friends with her any longer.
So they were no longer friends.
But she'd had her dream, and something to work for. She'd studied, and trained, and had tutors, and her pushed herself, and succeeded. It all seemed so far away, until it wasn't, standing on that podium, receiving recognition from All Might himself.
Momo had worried she wasn't good enough. That, compared to others, like Midoriya, or Bakugo, or Todoroki, she wouldn't measure up, her Quirk not nearly as powerful as theirs. But Denki, her other friend, had talked to her in his direct, indelicate, and some would say even say brusque manner, sharp, like the lightning bolts he threw, and blasted those doubts away, the last vestiges removed as they'd stood in front of everyone, hand in hand.
She. . . she still wasn't sure how to feel about that, blushing a little at the memory. Of his warm, oddly uncalloused fingers grasping her own, firm, but not painfully tight. Enough that she could've pulled away, had she wanted to, but sure that she wouldn't, as he declared their. . . something to the world.
She still wasn't really sure what he was declaring, which was something of an issue. Their friendship? It seemed a bit much for that, if it was. Were they something more? What about Mina? She was well aware that her best friend was. . . involved with her other friend, but how. . . involved they were with each other was something she didn't know, and had been afraid to ask.
And the girl herself had been no help in understanding that boy's intentions. Mina had been happy they'd been standing together, and said they'd looked good up there, only wishing she could've been there with them. A statement that she'd then ignored Momo's hints to elucidate on. Did she mean she was wishing she was there instead of Momo, with her friend? Did she mean she wished she was there instead of Denki? Or did she mean she wished she was there with both of them?
That wasn't how the tournament worked, there were only two people in third place, and, if Momo was being honest, there should've had a match between her and Denki, so there would only be one third place winner. Normally, she'd say it would be Denki's win, but the boy had been thoroughly weakened by his bout with Midoriya, so maybe she would've won?
She hadn't realized how bad her friend was hurt until, when they headed for the locker-room that last time, he'd nearly collapsed. He'd seemed so strong, so unassailable beforehand, maybe he would bluff her like she bluffed Ida?
No, she decided, no, I would've fought anyways. And she would've won. Is that what confused her about it? That she should've been the only one up there? She shook her head at the question. No, she'd not want to have won that way, merely because her fight with Todoroki was a shut-out, while his fight with Midoriya had left him a bleeding, battered mess.
And seeing him, blood dripping from broken limbs, stagger out of the hole in the arena, was another thing she wasn't going to forget anytime soon. He'd been fine shortly after, enough for her to, in the moment, forget how badly he was hurt, but he'd taken far worse than anything she'd ever experienced, and hadn't hesitated to walk up to Midoriya with a smile.
Like a Hero.
Thinking about it, she decided she'd much rather it had been all three of them, up on that podium, together. With Mina on one side of her, and Denki on the other. For some reason, the image made her blush again. But why would-
" Momo!" her best friend cried, running up to her without a care in the world. "Ohmygod, it's felt like forever since I've seen you!" The pink-skinned girl clasped Yaoyorozu's hands, and the creator couldn't help but notice the same lack of any calluses.
Momo smiled broadly, "I agree! It has only been a week, but it's felt like much longer! How was your internship?"
"It was the best!" Mina crowed. "I learned so much, and I kicked twelve kinds of tushie! How was yours? I know you were worried, since you were with that old fuddie-duddie!"
"Armor Warrior is not a 'fuddie duddie'," Yaoyorozu chided, which just caused her friend to smile wider, "And I was wrong to be worried. He was certainly an. . . intense individual, but only because of the high-standards he holds, both for himself, and others."
The other girl shot her an odd look. "Intense, huh? Anything like a certain sparky-boy?"
Momo froze, trying to imagine her easygoing, confident, combat junkie friend, as the austere old man who held deep worries of the future, and moved with the weight of ages on his shoulders. She couldn't. Only, they did have a bit in common. While it wasn't often, Denki could get oddly quiet whenever they talked about graduating. And then there was the other thing.
"Well, they certainly both liked to talk a lot," she smiled, getting a laugh from her friend, "but no, they were very different. How was Bentonita?"
"The best!" Mina replied. "But let's get some grub! I'm totes starving!"
Without waiting for a response, her friend turned away and started walking for the food-court, and Momo hurried to follow. They got their food, and found a spot to sit and chat, as the heiress reflected on how different her new friends were.
Yaoyorozu had money, a lot of money, compared to her friends, but they'd never ever suggest she pay for them. When she'd offered, they'd told her she didn't have to! She'd even argued that, since she had the funds, it was less of a hardship for her, but Denki and Mina had just shared a look before he'd told her that, if she wanted to pay for it, she could, but the two of them split the cost of things, so, with her there, they just did the same thing three ways.
He'd done so, as if it were obvious, as if he were honestly confused as to the cause of her confusion. However, she had caught a flash of understanding after he'd said it that told her he understood what she'd meant a moment later. But he hadn't pressed the issue, and neither had she, and, when they'd went to go see a movie, the three of them, they all had paid for their own tickets, contributing a few hundred yen each to get a giant tub of popcorn that Mina had claimed with a grin, plopping herself down between the two of them, the three of them sharing it while Momo had tried, and failed, to keep a fond smile off her face.
Now, though, they talked about their training. Momo about the combat practice, the studying of blueprints, and the Quirk exercises Armor Warrior had put her through, utilizing some of her Quirks properties, like how partially-formed creations were 'anchored' to her body, to half-way create a tool and use it as if she had a Transformation-type Quirk instead of an Emitter Quirk.
Mina's surprised, then excited expression as Momo partially created a fork to spear a piece of takoyaki, as if it were nothing as the utensil was anchored to her fingertip was quite amusing, and got her to talking about other techniques she'd worked on.
Her best friend was quick to talk about what she'd learned as well, which mostly revolved around the telekinetic control of her Quirk-created acid, and learning to compact it into ersatz armor, compressing it, but also how to shift mental gears to turn what a Villain thought was a passive defense into a blast of restrictive goo.
Unfortunately, Mina's Quirk was such that, unlike her mentor, she couldn't bind and forget, as, the second she broke contact, it would return to a fluid state, but even as a way to capture a single opponent, Yaoyorozu could see the utility of it.
The other thing that the two, intern and mentor, had talked about was beauty techniques. Momo was no stranger to such things, knowing, from her parents, how much appearance mattered. The image you presented to others spoke just as loudly as your words, and those who could not put forth the effort to maintain a presentable appearance likely would not put forth the effort in other things as well. She knew she looked good, and put in the effort to do so, but she was also aware that, compared to Mina, she was outmatched.
As she listened to her friend, that was clearly evident, Yaoyorozu knowing enough to follow the explanation she was being given, but unfamiliar with a great deal of the techniques and processes being off-handedly mentioned.
"Is that how you got rid of your calluses?" she asked, as Mina talked about using her acid for exfoliation.
"Calluses?" the pinkette echoed, looking down at her hands. "Huh, haven't had to do that since..." she trailed off, eyes widening in realization. "Oh, uh, no, that was for general care. I guess training my Quirk took care of them! Hey, I'm pretty sure I could figure out how to do the same thing for you!"
Yaoyorozu frowned internally, keeping her expression pleasant. That. . . that hadn't been a lie, but her best friend was certainly hiding something. That was certainly a topic change, but for something that Mina had quite obviously just figured out herself. Smiling, Momo nodded, "That sounds lovely, Mina, we'll have to try it sometime. Now, you said you fought Villains? I wasn't able to, the sidekicks handled everything. How was it?"
Her best friend laughed in relief, and opened her hands up. "Oh my god, it was, like, the scariest before we started, but they were, like, complete pushovers! Okay, so, there we were, on patrol, just two gorgeous guardians cleanin' up the streets, and then we hear the sound of glass breaking. Like, a lot of it."
Momo leaned back in her seat, listening to her best friend. This week had been a wonderful experience, but a tiring one, and she was glad to be back with one of her two friends once more, returning to what was quickly becoming her new normal. In a way, she'd been disappointed that she hadn't been able to fight any Villains, but she'd had enough of that, thank you very much, and was glad they'd have until late fall, and their work-studies, before she'd have to do so again, at the earliest.
Author Note: As always, the next three chapters are up on .