Musume

Chapter 19

On her first day of internship, she reached the direction Aizawa-sensei had given her and was greeted at the entrance by Hawks himself.

The Number 3 Hero looked relaxed and carefree, his hands folded behind his head and his piercing golden eyes hidden by yellow glasses. He wore boots, yellow slacks and a black and yellow shirt that marked his muscles. Of course, his big red wings were at his back and caught her attention for a moment as they flexed almost unconsciously.

Yumi bowed respectfully, Fumikage doing the same next to her having both chosen the same internship.

Hawks smiled at them and lead them into his agency’s tower. Soon, he introduced them to his sidekicks and left Fumikage with them to get acquainted.

“You’ll be with me, little bird.” He said then, surprising her and his sidekicks too.

“Y-yes.” She answered, throwing an apologetic look at Fumikage before hurrying after the hero.

Hawks waited for her outside the door of the common room and started to walk once she caught up, leading her to his office.

“Do you have any questions, little bird?” he asked once they entered the room.

“Well… I do have one.” She admitted taking a deep breath. “Why me? Why choose me for an internship? I kind of understand Fumikage, but not me.”

He looked at her pensively.

“I admit, I didn’t think you’d accept it.” He revealed.

“I thought about it.” Admitted her too, looking down at the floor from a moment. “I was afraid I’d not be able to keep up with you, but someone pointed out that’s what an internship is about.”

Hawks nodded, still thoughtful.

“That’s true, I guess.” He said before continuing. “I chose you because you’re like a little bird that doesn’t know how to use its wings. By the time I’m done with you, you’ll have learned how to fly.”

It was obvious he didn’t mean it literally, but for a moment she allowed herself to fantasize. She’d always dreamt with being able to fly, but the closest she’d felt was when she was a child and her father would use his powers to carry her through the air. That had been a long time ago, though, since she hadn’t wanted him to waste precious time on something so frivolous.

She didn’t miss that he hadn’t really answered her question.

“Now, come,” he said picking up a yellow and white warm looking jacket and putting it on in one swift move despite his wings. “we have a lot of work to do before that.”

And thus began her first day of internship at Hawks’ agency.

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“My taiyaki! They’re on the floor!” reached her an old voice full of despair.

“I’ll go buy more!” said another familiar voice.

Yumi shook her head as she entered the run-down building only to find it even less tidy than usual. It looked as if a bomb had gone off.

“What happened here?” she couldn’t help asking.

“Oh, my precious granddaughter, don’t worry, this boy will be cleaning it up as soon as he’s done buying more taiyaki.” Said the old man as he approached and hugged her.

“G-granddaughter?” repeated Izuku looking scared.

Yumi laughed.

“Well, you’re in luck, then. I was on my way to my own internship and decided to drop this taiyaki off with you.” She replied.

“My granddaughter, you’re a godsend.” Said Gran Torino looking utterly serious.

Yumi just smiled before turning her attention to Izuku.

“So how are things going?” she asked.

“I’m making progress!” enthusiastically revealed the boy, surely getting ready to launch into one of his tirades.

Before he could, though, she interrupted him.

“Well, I’m glad to hear it, but I’ve to go; work at Hawks’ agency begins early, I’m told.” She said as she bent down to press a kiss to her grandfather’s cheek. “I’ll make sure to bring you more taiyaki on the way to work every morning, and I’ll come for a proper visit as soon as the internship is over.”

And with that, Yumi waved and left.

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Her second day at Hawks’ agency turned out to be more exciting than the first day of patrols.

She’d been right to fear not being able to keep up, though: Hawks was fast.

“A hostage situation in the bank three streets south, sir.” Said one of Hawks sidekicks after knocking on the door to his office, where Hawks and Yumi were practicing some defensive moves in the gym on the corner.

Yumi tensed. If it was a hostage situation, that meant time was of the essence; Hawks would probably speed there and she’d arrive when the action had finished.

However, she was surprised when Hawks turned to her and idly asked a question seemingly out of nowhere.

“Are you scared of heights?”

“No, why?”

The man smirked and before she knew it he’d picked her up bridal style. She could feel the muscles of his chest pressed against her side and his strong arms firmly holding her under her back and legs.

“Hold on tight.” She barely managed to surround his neck with her arms, her eyes widening as he launched himself out the window.

And then she was flying.

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Toshinori listened intently to Tsukauchi’s explanation of how the Nomu had had multiple quirks.

He couldn’t believe it.

But then his daughter’s words came to his mind. She’d been full of fear, not for herself but for him. She’d also suspected this; that he was acting again.

That he was still alive.

All For One.

His sworn enemy was out there still.

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They arrived at the bank in record-breaking time and Hawks lowered her to the floor carefully before turning to be briefed by the police. Yumi listened too, but she was also studying his profile.

He still had the same smile that had been drawn into her face as soon as he saw the utter delight she was feeling at being flying in the air.

He was such an easy-going man and so young that she sometimes forgot he was an actual Pro Hero, one of the Top Ten, and felt like she was speaking to a friend more than her actual boss.

“Hum, Medusa,” said Hawks turning to her with a pensive look. “your quirk works on multiple people at once, right?”

“Yes, though the number of people I freeze has a direct impact on how long exactly they remain frozen.”

“There’s only four robbers and only two of them are directly holding the hostages. What I need, is for those two to be incapacitated long enough for me to fly in. How long could you hold two people?”

“Fifteen minutes. Ten if I catch the four.” She replied straightening in place.

“More than enough time.” Nodded the hero, pleased. “Alright, here’s what we’re going to do…”

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Medusa didn’t have to feign being scared; if their plan failed and somebody got irreparably hurt… she didn’t want to think about it.

She advanced slowly, dressed as a civilian and making herself look as if she was trembling.

A woman inside the bank had broken her waters and they needed her out of the building so she could receive medical help. It was the perfect chance to get her inside.

So they offered the robbers an exchange: a scared school girl in exchange for a mother and child.

She saw the mom and her older child leave the building and walked past them, not turning to see how the police gathered them up and sent them to a waiting ambulance.

Instead, she walked into the bank, her eyes lowered submissively and her body shaking. One of the robbers looking after the hostages felt she wasn’t moving fast enough and yanked her forward.

As soon as he did, she looked up and activated her quirk. He went to take a step back but his body froze.

“Umiko? What’s wrong?” asked the other when his companion didn’t move or say anything.

With a grin, she turned her eyes towards him and he froze too.

“Umiko! Honchi!” shouted another of the robbers approaching.

She spun around fast and froze him in place too, but the remaining robber seemed to realize partially what was going on and reacted, his hands pointed at her.

He had a quirk that allowed him to shoot bullets out of the tip of his fingers, she knew from the information the police had given them. She realized her mistake then: she should’ve frozen him first. Now she didn’t have time to move or he’d hit the hostages behind her.

Just then a red blur impacted his chest and he was thrown away and into a wall, falling unconscious.

The red feather flew back from him and towards the door, where Hawks was strolling in.

“It’s alright, everyone calm down, you’re safe and the situation is under control.” He said for the hostages’ benefit.

Medusa smiled as she helped him tie up the robbers and turn them into the police’s custody; her first case had been an utter success.