Chapter 60

"Well, I half expected at least one of you to not do so well in the morning," Maeda commented, looking somewhat amused as she glanced between Kazuki and Kendo, who were sharing the table with her for breakfast. Speaking of the meal, it was, just like their meals from the previous day, already part of a diet. It seemed the two of them would follow one for every day on their internship. Furthermore, Uwabami had told them that they could get the details of the diet once they had to leave, if they were interested. Kazuki already had his mind pretty much set on that, since he couldn't see a reason why not to do so.

It'd be interesting to do. Besides, it could also help him a little, he supposed. Living by himself, he often didn't even really know what to make for himself. At least this would be a nice nudge and maybe he could set up a schedule for meals. It'd be better than spending a good half an hour deciding what to do before every meal.

"I got into the habit of waking up early when I was little," Kendo replied to their mentor for the week with a shrug.

"Sort of same? Not really when I was little, but when I started at U.A." he explained fidgeting with the spoon in his hand. "I wanted to give a good impression at school, I guess, and it sort of stuck," he added with a shrug of his own.

Instantly, he knew that had been the wrong thing to say. Uwabami clearly picked up on why he'd felt that way and she wasn't a fan. Annoyance and pity in equal measure spiked inside her. Kazuki almost wanted to ask why or something along those lines, but he held back.

"Well, it's a good habit to have," the hero said instead, masking her emotions on the outside expertly. "And it means we get to make the most of the day, which is even better. Lots to do in a week, after all. We don't want to waste any time, right?" she asked, winking at them. "Speaking of making the most of it. Have either of you decided if you want to join me on this ad I've got to do this afternoon? If not, it's fine, you can still come with me and see the behind the scenes stuff. I still have a lot I can teach you without having you actively participate and I know this isn't hero work."

"I'll pass," Kazuki said instantly, not even having to think about it. For one, he didn't think the people that had hired Uwabami for the thing would agree to put him on the ad. For another, he didn't want to hit the heroine's reputation quite like that, even if it was inevitable that it would happen. There were also probably better ways to go about getting him out there too, he was pretty sure. "Unless you think I should?"

Because he definitely would if she thought so. She was the expert. If he couldn't trust her with that kind of call, then why had he gone there in the first place?

"I don't think it's the best option for you, but I've got something else in mind, Kazuki. Don't you worry," she told him, a little sad at the start but plastering a smile on her face by the end. "I had to move my schedule around to make this happen sooner, but one could say you did me a favor with this. It's my favorite gig, after all," she told him and she sounded like a child saying that Christmas was coming early. Now he was finding himself curious… "How about you, Itsuka?"

"I'm… not really sure," the girl mumbled, hesitantly.

"That's fine," Maeda told her softly. "But in that case I think the best option is not to go for it. If you are going to stand in front of a camera, you need to show your best. Hesitating, looking like you are uncomfortable and things like that can really have an impact on how the people see you," he said, and Kazuki almost itched to go for his notebook to write that down. Then he reminded himself that he'd already written similar things when they'd had their speech lesson the previous day. "So, it's better if you don't put yourself out there like that unless you absolutely have to."

"I understand," Kendo replied, more decisively. "I don't think this is for me, Maeda-sensei."

"And that's fine. Now, for the next question," Uwabami continued with a pleased smile. She liked being called sensei, as it turned out. "Do you want to come with me for the behind the scenes, as I said, or do you want to stay here and learn from my staff while I'm there? It shouldn't be too long, but if it is, I'll have to have someone pick you up and take you there. Internship requirements, you understand? Other than that though, you can avoid this as much as possible if you want," she asked then, offering them an out in case the modeling thing really didn't interest them.

Which it didn't, not really. However, Kazuki didn't want to pass up on the chance of getting some more nuggets of wisdom from the hero. Who knew, maybe she'd have stuff to say that he could apply out of that kind of situation. He didn't want to pass up on any chance to learn and get better.

He needed all the help he could get.

"I'd like to go, if it's all the same to you," he said, trying to keep his self-consciousness under wraps. 'Hesitating, looking like you are uncomfortable and things like that can really have an impact on how the people see you,' he repeated in his mind. That was a lesson that he definitely had to learn by heart.

"I'll go too," Kendo said, much less sure, but still squaring her shoulders a bit.

"Great," Uwabami replied, beaming at him. "Now, as for how we are going to do this and what you can expect…"

[}-o-{]

"... And that's why lighting is so important," the man besides Kazuki said and he nodded in understanding.

The trip to the place where Maeda had to shoot the ad was fairly uneventful. There wasn't even that much chance of anyone noticing Kazuki either, which was nice. Uwabami had forbidden him from using anything to deliberately hide his identity, so he was basically using normal clothes. Hell, they were clothes where anyone would take note of him and likely recognize him.

Why the woman was so desperate to ruin her own reputation, he didn't know.

Then again, she likely realized that it'd happen anyway. Still though, Kazuki would have been fine helping her delay it for as long as possible. Alas, she wanted nothing of the sort. It was… disconcerting, he supposed, weird. Why wouldn't she want to put off dealing with the mess for later? That'd just allow time for preparation and such.

"I think you've heard me go on for long enough, haven't you?" the man that had given him an impromptu lecture on set lighting asked him, to which he nodded again. Maeda was free for the moment, so it was better to go with her. Kendo was already there as it was.

"Thanks for teaching me," he stayed there to say, drawing a smile from the guy. While the ad was being shot, Kazuki and Kendo had been allowed to wander a bit and talk with whoever they wanted. With that in mind, he started asking questions here and there to the people on set. There were some actually pretty good things to pick up on here and there, as it turned out.

Most of it was to get the best shot, of course, but that was good for Kazuki. If he was going to talk to the public, he was sure there'd be cameras involved. Any advantage, all the advantages, he needed them. This was, for him at least, more important than even the Sports Festival. He needed to do the best job of it, or his life would be a nightmare.

That thought was the only thing that helped get him through his days, keep him motivated. If he failed, then it'd be back to square one, almost. Straight back to those days right after the Sports Festival when he didn't even want to get out of the apartment.

"Not sure how much it'll help to know all this," the man told him with a smile. There was also some embarrassment that Kazuki could sense, for whatever reason. "But I hope things go well for you, Endo. You are a good kid," he said then.

"Thanks. I appreciate any help," he replied before turning to leave.

It had been very… uplifting, to enter the building and not have anyone show any distaste for him in any way. He was just another kid for these people. It was… nice. Very nice. After all, by then, there couldn't be anyone in Japan that didn't know about him, right? With the way he'd been all over the news, he rather doubted it.

"Was that good?" he asked when he reached his mentor for the week. He was no expert, but the last one had looked particularly good for him, from what little he'd learned through his time there. "That looked good," he added, a little nervous but trying not to show it.

He was doing his best to take Maeda's advice to heart.

"It was, yeah," she confirmed, looking very pleased. "They are checking it over to see if there's not something obvious that they missed. If they don't find anything, then we are done here," she told them, running a hand through her hair. "Sorry for taking time from your internships though."

"It's no problem," he told her, waving off her apologize. "The internship is about following you as you do your own thing so we can learn, right? That's what we are doing. That you aren't a full time hero is another thing altogether."

"That's kind of you to say," Maeda replied with a grateful smile as she patted his arm appreciatively.

"It looked kind of fun actually," Kendo commented, unaware of the wide, excited eyes that her words inspired in their mentor. "Almost wish I could have given it a shot."

"Well, say no more. We can get you a scene or two no problem, Itsuka," Maeda said, drawing a surprised expression from the girl. "I offered getting you an in before, didn't I? Let me talk with a few people and you'll be on TV in no time."

"Really?" she asked, getting an affirmative response while their mentor stalked off to get her the scene in question. The redhead then turned to Kazuki, who gave her an amused look. "That… Is this really happening?"

"Looks like that," he commented with a chuckle. "What happened to this not being what you wanted?"

"I mean, it's not, but… It's like you said. I'm already here. Might as well try to make the most out of it, right?" she asked, giving him a shy smile, as if she were unsure of what she was saying. "Besides, what girl doesn't dream of being like the women on TV? At least once, at least a little. This can be my chance."

"That's the spirit," he told her with a grin and a thumbs up. "Go for it. No harm in having a little fun while learning, right?" he added, drawing a more open smile from her. He couldn't lie to himself and say he wasn't a bit bitter that the whole thing was… less serious for her and probably most other students out on internships. Alas, it was what it was.

"Indeed," Maeda said, appearing out of nowhere and making both of them jump. "You need better awareness," she added with a giggle.

"That was fast," Kendo said, placing a hand over her heart to calm herself down. "So, was that a quick no, or…?" she added and Kazuki didn't need his sensing to pick up how self-conscious she was feeling.

"A quick yes, more like," Maeda told her, drawing a wide, beaming smile from the redhead.

"Congrats. You'll be one of the women on TV," he told her with a grin of his own.

[}-o-{]

"So, what do you say?" Uwabami asked Kazuki as she walked around him, giving him an appraising look. "Much more stylish than your previous costume, right?"

Well, that was… debatable, in Kazuki's opinion.

One of the things Maeda had decided to do was look over their costumes and judge how they looked. For Kendo, she'd said that the costume fit her style and theme very well, actually. She'd only had some minor things to discuss with the girl on top of how she could go for a winter version. For Kazuki though…

Oh boy, had there been a lot to say.

It boiled down to his costume being too basic though. Uwabami had more or less said that he'd gone for something too "average hero". Tight costumes were a sign of the old age, for the most part, with All Might and Endeavor favoring that. Stuff like loose pants or cargo pants, boots, more minimalistic upper clothes for the most part, or what she called "casual look" costumes were something that had slowly been introduced since then. At least for men, from what she said.

In her opinion, Kazuki's best choice was to avoid the norm, go for something a little off the beaten path. He was already going to stand out as it was, so going for something simple, unoriginal, was only going to work against him unless he was lucky. Thus, she'd told him that she'd run a few ideas past him.

'So, this is why she wanted my measurements when we arrived here,' he thought wryly as he looked at himself in the many mirrors around. 'Well… I don't look bad?' he mused, twisting and turning his body this or that way to check.

"I'm surprised it doesn't feel more… stifling," he commented, because Maeda's first choice and the one she liked the most was formal wear, it seemed. Shoes, dress pants, shirt, vest, tie, the works. She'd told him to take off the jacket though, saying that it might be too much. Most of it was black, but there were red details here and there with stuff like the tie and the buttons, and the shirt underneath it all was white.

Apparently, one of the things she was aiming for with this change was for people to relate his appearance with Gang Orca, funnily enough. He was a hero that dressed formally, sort of, and he also had some villain connection, fake as it was. So, if people saw him and thought of him, then it'd work out better for him. Their colors even sort of matched, which certainly helped, according to her.

"Support companies can literally make anything and not have it be cumbersome for hero work," Maeida told him, a smile on her face. "At least, if you can pay, which I can."

"You sure you should be spending so much?" he asked, because the clothes she'd gotten for him and Kendo couldn't be cheap, and now she was spending who knew how much on customized costumes for him to try out?

"Kazuki, Kazuki, what's the point of being rich if you don't get to spend it?" she asked him, waving off his concerns with a smile. "Don't you worry your handsome little head. Now, what do you think about the costume, do you like it?"

"I guess?" he replied hesitantly. He still didn't feel too good taking her money like that, but if she was sure… Back to the costume, he looked it over once more. "I don't look silly?" he asked instead of answering. He'd never worn something so formal in his life, he was sure of that much. It made him feel out of his depth, like he was trying to be something he was not.

"Not at all," Kendo reassured him, but her words kind of fell short with how shyly she delivered them. He understood though. He'd felt similarly when he'd been buying clothes with his friends and he had to comment on the girl's choices.

"You look perfect," Maeda told him, looking very pleased with her choice. "The important part is, how do you feel? It's the same as with regular clothes. If you can't be comfortable in your own clothes and costume, then you are a step behind."

"I'm… not uncomfortable, if that makes sense. It's just weird for me. I've never worn anything like this," he admitted, still moving around and trying to get a good feel of the clothes. Because it was more clothes than costume. Then again, there were other costumes that looked like normal clothes too, he guessed. If it worked…

"And that's a crying shame. Girls everywhere should be disappointed, right, Itsuka?" the woman asked, bursting into giggles as the redhead turned… well, red. "In seriousness, I do believe this works for you, but it's your call," she added then, her face softening as she smiled at him.

Kazuki paused for a moment and looked at his reflection in the biggest mirror.

He guessed he could take Maeda's word for it and he didn't think he looked bad. It was probably all boiling down to the fact that he felt a little out of place. If he was learning something with Uwabami though, it was that one needed to be confident or at least pretend to be.

'Fake it till you make it,' he thought, taking a deep breath in and calming his mind. Then he schooled his features, adjusted his stance and then let the air out. 'Yeah, I don't look bad.'

"Yeah, you definitely can pull it off, Kazuki. Have some faith," Maeda told him, her smile turning into something much more… confident. As he looked at her, Kazuki took another deep breath in and mimicked her expression. "Oho~ Feeling bold, are we? That's what I like to see. People will love you in no time, believe me," she said then, giggling once more.

Kazuki could only hope she was right, but…

Looking at the mirror, he thought she just might.

[}-o-{]

"Hello~hello, Boss!"

"You all are going to call me that until the day I die, aren't you?" Kazuki asked tiredly, dropping down on a seat. He'd get some messages going with his friends, but first he had to address one of them in particular. "How's it going, Hatsume?"

"Going great. I have so many ideas for what we talked about! I've made a bunch of babies, but… None of them feel right," she said then, completely ignoring his first question, and he could almost see her narrowing her eyes as her voice dropped the usual excitement. "Want me to send you some blueprints and pictures?"

"That sounds great, but it's also why I'm calling you," he said, feeling himself a little nervous. However, there was no point in avoiding talking about it. It'd just make things worse, actually. "I might have to change my costume."

"Eeeeeh?!" he heard her exclaim and he grimaced. Yeah, one of the reasons he was a little reluctant to change costumes was because Hatsume had already gotten started with his support equipment. He didn't wanna make any of the ideas that she might have had be for nothing. However… "What's it gonna be now? Can you send me the specifics? I might be able to salvage some things or it might give me new ideas. What is it? What is it?"

"..." He paused for a moment, temporarily taken aback by how… easily she shrugged off the inconvenience. He'd almost say she was excited, actually. "I think I'll be going with formal clothes as my costume. I'll send you some pictures and such later, but it's basically a suit, with just a vest and no jacket."

"Heeee…" he heard her and he could almost see the gears turning in her head like they had back when he'd first approached her for equipment. "I think I have a few ideas. I might even be able to adapt something for that. Doesn't allow for anything too big but… Maybe… Yes, that can work."

"Good to know you are as full of ideas as usual, Hatsume," he commented with a smile.

"Of course, Boss. It's what I live for!" the girl exclaimed and he heard her laughing from the other side of the line.

"I hope it doesn't ruin any of your work though. If it does, then I promise I'll make it up to you," he said, grimacing to himself as he fought off the guilt of having to drop this on the girl. She was already doing him a solid by working on his equipment, after all.

"You can make it up to me by only using equipment that I make!" she told him then, instantly and without hesitation. "I'll even make your new costume all on my-"

"I kind of already have it though," he said wryly, but he had a smile on his face. "You know what? I promise I'll only get stuff from you from now on. How does that sound?"

"Sounds perfect, Boss," he heard the girl say and he liked to imagine she had a smile on her face similar to his own. "Yes, I think I know what I'll do. It'll be a little tricky, but this seems a lot better than what I had anyway. This'll be a lot of fun."

"Glad to hear that, Hatsume," he replied, shaking his head.

"I told you that you had the best of ideas, Boss! I'll have plenty of things for you to try when you come back. Be ready!" she said and Kazuki couldn't help but think that that sounded like a threat. Hatsume was proving to be great though, so he decided not to take it as such.

"Anything else I can do for you? I feel kind of bad making you do all this work for me," he commented, rubbing the back of his neck.

"Just keep the ideas coming, Boss," the girl told him dismissively and he heard some sounds from the other side that made him think she was already tinkering away. "I wouldn't say no to some snacks though."

"Count on it," he said instantly, because at that point, he'd take it. Anything not to feel like he was taking advantage of the girl's enthusiasm. He knew that was kind of what the Support Course did, but he felt a little bad just making her work for him like that. Especially with the sudden change he'd sprung on her. "So, what do you have in mind already? Wanna brainstorm a little?"

"Of course, you might even give me better ideas for babies. Can't say no to that!" she exclaimed and he chuckled.

From there, he listened to the ideas she had for equipment. His new costume didn't really allow for much since it was formal wear. If he added anything, it was bound to clash horribly. Uwabami had even warned him about that and asked to run any ideas he might have to cover for that issue with her just in case. He would have anyway, but he rather liked the fact that she genuinely seemed to want to help him.

So, they had to work with something that could go unnoticed. That, or something that could work entirely detached from his person. The idea of a drone was floated around – no pun intended –, but they weren't very sure. Kazuki was fairly certain that Hatsume would make all the ideas anyway just in case, but he didn't know if that'd be too much.

Alas, it wasn't like he could convince her not to do what she wanted, but he could try to curb her impulses a little.

He didn't think he was very successful though.

"Talking with you is great as usual, Boss! Maybe you can call more!" the girl said, her voice still as boisterous as usual but also distracted. She was clearly working on something already. Her words gave Kazuki pause though, because he had never really talked with her for the sake of talking, he was pretty sure.

'No time like the present, right?' he mused to himself, glancing to the side where Uwabami was, still talking over the phone. Kendo was, meanwhile, resting on a seat, much like him. Checking on his mentor, she seemed very concerned about whatever the conversation was about, so maybe it'd take a bit. She'd been the one to dismiss them so…

"How about we talk some more now? Any other projects you are working on?" he asked, a smile on his face. He could always use some more friends, after all.

"Of course! I have some other ideas I wanted to run by you-"

"I mean, that's great, Hatsume, but I meant more, other projects or other things you want to talk about, maybe? We don't need to talk only about the stuff you are making for me," he interrupted, explaining himself a little better.

"I-I mean… if you want to?" she asked, and suddenly it was like Kazuki was talking with another person entirely. He wondered, at that very moment, if it'd have been the first time he'd have picked up negative emotions from her. Alas, it was not to be, considering they were apart by quite a bit.

"Sure thing. Your ideas are crazy."

"Crazy good or crazy bad?"

"Yes," he answered with a chuckle.

"Well thank you," she replied with a nervous giggle of her own.

"Kazuki, Itsuka!"

"I'm getting called. We'll talk later alright?" he said quickly, his back straightening at the sound of Uwabami's voice, it sounded serious. Which was weird, considering how their mentor seemed to talk most of the time. "I promise, but Uwabami is calling me. Later."

"Sure thing. Later, boss." And as soon as she said that, he hung up. He felt bad for leaving her like that but, well, duty called, it seemed. Maeda looked more serious than he'd ever seen her so far.

"Kazuki, you flew on one of your creatures in the Sports Festival, right?" she asked him, and he blinked for a moment.

"Yes," he answered with a nod, a little confused.

"Can you fly the three of us? To another city?" she asked and he was understanding even less than before.

"Depends on where, but it should be… doable, maybe. My reserves are topped up, if I can keep them like that even after making three Nevermore, yeah I can do it. Going faster would make it a little harder on the energy but it should be doable," he said, frowning in thought as he tried to think the problem over. Why would she want to go somewhere else on one of his grimm instead of-?

"Good, I'm counting on you. Let's go, both of you," she said, nodding for them to follow her as she started leaving the building. "Hosu needs heroes."

[} Chapter End {]

Hey guys! How's it going?

You know, I'm a little confused right now. Does Uwabami criticizing Kazuki's costume choice mean she's just criticizing him or me? Can I be considered the one to have thought of his costume? Does this mean I'm criticizing myself?

… I'll just leave it at Uwabami criticizing Kazuki, I think.

Stupid sapient characters.

Oh, and there's shit going on in Hosu too, I guess.

I hope you enjoyed the chapter.

As always, if you can't wait until next week for next chapter, or if you just feel like supporting my writing, there's up to three new chapters in my Pa tre on:

P a treon . com (slash) AdrianKing

Discord Link: discord .gg/UTDransjJZ

Random Question: What's the last thing you ate? I ate some cookies with a mug of tea I prepared a few hours ago.

See you.