Eijiro

Fat, Tetsutetsu, Amajiki and me headed down the road on our regular patrol. Fat was chowing down to build himself up for any villain threats of the night, while Tetsutetsu was trying to get Amajiki to talk.

"SO WHAT HAPPENS IF YOU EAT CHOCOLATE-MANZU? DO YOU DEVELOP CHOCOLATE POWERS?"

"ermph…"

"OR WHAT ABOUT COFFEE? MORNING COFFEE? DO DRINKS COUNT?"

"Might wanna lay off the tough questions," I told him gently as Amajiki started trembling and turned away.

"IT'S JUST SUCH A COOL QUIRK!" Said Tetsutetsu. Then, a little less loudly, "Since mine's a bit generic, is all, it's always cool to hear about what unique quirks other people have and how they use them."

"Tell me, Real Steel," asked Fatgum, as we continued down the street, keeping our eyes open, "what're you hoping to learn about during this work study - besides Amajiki's quirk?"

"I feel like I haven't gotten much real-world experience, out in the field," he replied. "Not like K-Red Riot over here," he pointed at me. "I've faced a villain once, during the - training camp…" his voice trailed off for a moment, and I nodded, my mind flashing back unpleasantly to that evening.

"But besides that, I haven't seen up close what it's really like. Day-to-day, dealing with villains, fighting in the field."

"I see. And you, Red Riot? What are you hoping to achieve with this?"

I thought about it. I mean, I was here at least partly because everyone was doing work studies this fall. I hadn't really thought up a specific goal.

"Well - Um - " I sighed. "I feel like I still have a long way to go…during our last in-class training, I got captured quickly, could barely help my team…not to mention how quickly I went down during the fight with the Shie Hasaiikai. I feel like there's still a lot I have to learn about really fighting on a team, as part of a group…"

ASHIDO:

"What do you three hope to accomplish during your work study here with me?" Musha asked us as the van sped along the highway. We were really getting into the country territory now, and there was winter snow in every direction. It was both kinda pretty, and kind of creepy.

Poor Hagakure!

She was the first to answer Musha's question. "I feel like I need better offensive moves. During our last big training session I got taken out of the fight way too easy. I need to be able to fight better!"

"The best defense is often a good offense," Musha told her. Then he looked at Aoyama. "And you?"

"I wish to be able to fight better on a team," he replied, winking in his usual way. "To be captured so easily - no!"

"Teamwork's becoming a bigger part of hero work nowadays," said Butterfly from the back seat with a smile. "Not sure where we would've been all these years without each other."

She grinned at the other two, who slapped hands.

"And you, Pinky?" Musha said to me.

I thought back to our last fight. I mean, our team had won, sure, but there were plenty of ways I wished it'd gone differently. Not to mention on the island, fighting with Tokoyami, how easily that villain with the slicing hair had taken me down. If only I could harden like Eiji, then I'd be golden!

"I need a good defense," I answered. "I keep getting hit or almost taken out in fights and not being able to really take down major villains. It's a bummer! I need a shield - something bigger than just acid veil."

"Ah, your Ultimate move," said Musha, nodding.

Splatter asked, "Maybe you could ask the costume designers for something? I mean, can only conceal so much."

Goggles nodded. "Or a support item?"

"Dunno," I replied. "Relying on that stuff could get old quick, especially in an emergency. Like if villains attack when you're on vacation."

"That's right. You all three were attacked on your…sojourn," said Musha. "As well as during your training camp. You have experienced more than most freshman at UA…I imagine that will lead to much vigilance."

Eijirou:

"Fighting in a team requires having a thorough knowledge of your teammates' strengths - and weaknesses," Fat was telling me as we rounded another street corner. "For instance, Red, now you know about my ultimate move, if we ever end up in a similar situation to the one with Shie Hasaikai, you'll know what I can unleash, given enough time and impact."

"OOH, WHAT'S HIS ULTIMATE MOVE?" Asked Tetsutetsu -

But before I could explain, there was a loud HOWWWWLLLL! Sound, and our first villain of the work study appeared.

It looked to me like a massive animal at first - but as it tore down the street, ripping things apart with its teeth, and I got a better look, I saw that it was in fact a person, with human pants and - Yeah.

"Werewolf quirk?" I suggested, as Tetsutetsu turned to steel, Fat took up a defensive position, and Amajiki peered away from the wall.

"Looks like," said Fatgum, preparing to get in the wolf-man's way. "Best let me-"

But the werewolf, instead of jumping into Fat as expected, leapt upward and sunk its teeth into his shoulder, digging its claws into his arms and avoiding completely his stomach.

"FAT!" I shouted, as Amajiki's tentacles seized the wolf and pulled it away from our sensei. He'd placed his hand on his shoulder, which was bleeding badly. He looked pretty shaken up.

"He can't bite us!" Tetsutetsu proclaimed, as he and I stood in front of our Sensei like shields. The wolf was biting and clawing at Amajiki's tentacles, drawing some blood, but Amajiki was holding him firm.

"Be careful, Suneater!" Said Fat. "I'm not sure that guy even knows what he's doing!"

"AHH!"

The wolf had wriggled loose enough to clamp down his jaw onto Amajiki's upper arm, and Amajiki bent over in pain, though still holding him.

"Let's knock him down!" Said Tetsutetsu, preparing to strike.

"Wait, Tetsutetsu!" I called as he ran forward, preparing to knock the wolf down. But just as the blow was about to land on its head, the Wolf moved in a kind of spasm, twisting itself in the wrong direction so Tetsutetsu's blow hit Amajiki's arm instead.

The Wolf twisted free and was leaping right at us.

ASHIDO:

"We need to stop for gas," Goggles told Musha. "This is about the area anyway. Let's have the interns stay with the truck while we look around."

"Stay with the truck!?" I gasped.

"But how're we supposed to learn anything here?" Asked Hagakure.

"You'll learn the art of doing as you're told," said Musha, as he left us with Splatter to watch the truck fill with gas.

"Like we're a bunch of children," I huffed as we sat there, doing nothing on our big work study case. Splatter had bought us some barbecue at the truck stop, which was great, but not exactly useful experience.

"We've dealt with villains before!" Said Hagakure. "Pro-villains!"

"Oui," said Aoyama. "What will sitting here accomplish?"

"You haven't dealt with villains like this," said Splatter quietly.

"What do you mean? We've faced supervillains," I pointed out.

"In some ways, guys like this are worse. Supervillains can often do terrible things, but they often have grandiose plans - large-scale ideas - large egos. People like this - " She sighed. "It's just a lot for kids like you to have to deal with, this young."

We were quiet at this, staring out into the silent, snowy ground all around the truck.

"They sure are taking awhile," said Hagakure, who was currently wrapped up, but would probably have to fight naked in the snow if anything happened.

"I'll radio them," said Splatter, stepping outside to get a good signal.

"This case sure is gross," I said, chewing on some barbecue. "I do want the experience but- But I kinda hope we just, you know, catch em easy and get back to the city, y'know?"

"Oui, C'est vrai," said Aoyama. "This countryside is - eerie."

"Yeah," said Hagakure. "I don't know if I wanna patrol the countryside much. There's nowhere to-"

We were interrupted by hearing Splatter's voice raised, frantically, on the radio outside.

"Goggles?! Butterfly - Sir?! Please, over! Do you copy? Report!"

We all looked at each other, then jumped to our feet, pushed open the van doors and hurried to join Splatter.

Her face was very pale.

"What happened?" I asked her.

"You don't-"

"Please, Splatter," I said, standing up straight and doing my best to look professional.

She said, her voice shaking, "I was on the radio with Goggles. She said they were investigating an empty house where the suspects had lived - and she was cut off. I could hear a -"

She gulped, then whispered,

"It sounded like a chainsaw."