Internships
“Geez. He really doesn’t like you.” Uraraka whispers, glancing furtively between Aizawa and Midoriya. “He’s been giving you the stink eye ever since that horrible test at the beginning of the year, but somehow it feels worse now.”
Tenya glances at their teacher’s way as well. Aizawa had seemed on edge the entire time they all waited for everyone to get to the subway. He keeps a wary eye on both them and the crowd around– since the Sports Festival, they have become public figures and although most just give them a curious, passing glance, others have also tried to take selfies with some of the students. Everytime, a dark look from their teacher is enough to send them scurrying off.And although a few of their classmates seem to preen at the attention, Tenya finds himself discreetly watching Aizawa instead.
“It’s not just me… He’s been pretty hard on everyone,” Midoriya whispers back, giving them a shaky smile. “I don’t know, it’s probably nothing. Maybe just a bad mission?”
Neither of them have the heart to really call him out on the obvious lie, but he and Uraraka do share a look. Their friend certainly knows more than he’d like to admit, and Tenya briefly wonders why that is before pushing the thought away– it’s hardly his business. Still, he can’t help quietly agreeing with Uraraka. The man’s gaze stops on Midoriya (who shrinks on himself as he does) again, lingers there, before moving on to circle their group again.
It has never been a secret that the man disapproves of Midoriya's place in his class (such a dark look passed on his face every time it was Midoriya’s turn in quirk training that it had become a running joke Aizawa was biding his time to expel Midoriya, though those who told it usually tried to keep it away from said boy’s ears) but for some reason, it seems to have gotten worse these last few weeks.
Their teacher seems just a bit quicker to snap at them to stay quiet, quicker to hand out detention or to make them run additional laps– little daily things that quickly become exhausting when in the receiving position. Though with the threat of villains hovering over the school, Tenya guesses it’s no real surprise their homeroom teacher’s so twitchy. The boy doesn’t say as much to his friends– he doesn’t want to indulge in gossip, especially when it concerns one of his teachers.
Uraraka’s eyes narrow. “A bad mission that’s been bothering him for three weeks?”
Midoriya flushes. “Maybe?”
Tenya gently clears his voice. “Midoriya, you do know that you can tell us if something is bothering you?
“Don’t worry guys,” Midoriya murmurs to them. “It’s just…Well it’s as you said, Uraraka. Until I get my quirk in control…” he trails off hesitantly. “I just really have to get stronger, fast.”
“Midoriya. Don’t forget what Tokoyami said, you can’t have more than one iron on the fire.” he chops his arm to accentuate his point. “It would turn out counter-productive to try to rush things on your own. It could even have negative effects if you don’t know what you’re doing.”
Uraraka nods vigorously. “Iida’s right! There’s no use stressing yourself over it. Besides you said the other day the hero you’re interning with can help you with your quirk, right?”
Their classmate smiles tentatively. “That’s right. Although I’ve never met Gran Torino before, I stayed up late last night reading about him– did you know that he was All Might’s homeroom teacher when he attended UA? And that his hero-name is a reference to an old pre-quirk movie?”
Uraraka smiles softly. “I did not know that.”
Midoriya nods, seemingly glad to have been of some help. “And did you know that…”
Uraraka nods just the right amount as Midoriya tackles the conversation subject with both compelling conjectures and overflowing information. Today however Tenya can’t bring himself to listen or even pretend to. He takes a page from Aizawa’s book and wearily sweeps his gaze around their little group. Since Tensei’s injury, he has found himself spacing off more and more often– and although he’s self-aware of this issue, there’s still something pleasant about retreating in his own head.
And he has been feeling exhausted since Tensei’s injury; Exhausted in a way his well-meaning classmates and teachers couldn’t quite understand. His parents have been projecting their worry on him, prodding about school and pushing him to take on more extra-credit work while they had always been content to let him be autonomous before. Whether they thought the additional homework will help Tenya keep his mind off things or if it’s a way to reassure themselves, he’s not sure. In either case, this change has been… unwelcome and stress-inducing.
Fortunately his brother’s injury isn’t career-ending, and Tensei has been going about his physical therapy with as much vigor as he does everything else. And when Tenya had mentioned in passing that mom and dad were more demanding with him, Tensei had quickly told their parents off (in private and in many more pleasant words) which had been nice… And Tenya supposes if he squints his eyes so hard images blur he could pretend everything is back to normal.
But it isn’t; And Tenya, for all that he tries to, is not like his brother. Not nearly as quick to bounce back, or so easy with his smiles. He’d compensated for that with rules– surely if he was more difficult with himself then he’d one day be as good a man as his brother?
Because Tensei has always been the paragon of what a hero should be for him. More than family tradition, it has always been his older brother’s influence that has set him on the path he is on. Seeing him like that– laid out on a hospital bed, vulnerable, with a fragile smile and a body that seemed even more so… It had hurt something childlike inside of him.
It could’ve been much worse, though Tensei had never said. But things have been shifting relentlessly in his mind for weeks– if he can’t be Tensei, can’t be Ingenium, then who is he? What kind of hero does he want to be?
He snaps back to the present when he notices both his friends’ eyes on him.
“Are you okay?” asks Midoriya, who seems to have cut his ramblings short, a worried crease between his eyebrows.
Tenya smiles and gives a stiff nod. “I’m just worried about the internships.”
Uraraka and he exchange a glance, and it’s obvious they don’t believe him, but they thankfully don’t push. “Me too.” she laughs nervously. “I know it was my decision to go with Gunhead, but I can’t help but have the jitters now. I mean– obviously I’m not expecting him to be a bad guy, he’s a hero after all! But I’m worried I won’t be up to the task.” Tenya is grateful for the change of subject, and aware that Uraraka has probably done it on purpose. Between them, she’d always been the most glaringly obvious socially adept one of their group.
Midoriya nods along with what she says; He seems to share the sentiment, which isn’t too surprising. On the contrary, not associating the words nervous and Midoriya in this situation would have been a surprise.
“I’m anxious as well. I mean, what if he asks me to use my quirk and I end up blowing up his house?”
“I’m sure you will both do fine.” Tenya soothes. “Besides, it’s fine to make mistakes. The most important thing is to learn from them!”
Uraraka grins, rosy cheeks lifting with her smile. “True that. Try not to blow up the poor hero’s house though, Deku!”
Midoriya ruffles his hair, blushing. “What about your internship, Iida? Last time you seemed to be hesitating…”
Unconsciously, Tenya’s gaze finds Aizawa again at the front. “... Truthfully, without mister Aizawa’s help, I’m not sure I would’ve ended up going at all.”
Both of them look confused. “The internships are mandatory, though?”
He shakes his head. “What I mean is that I would’ve made my decision far too late and the needed procedure likely would’ve taken too long for me to partake.” He adjusts his glasses. “I’m interning with Nishi. Teacher helped me make that decision and arranged for the whole thing.”
“Nishi? Never heard of them.” Uraraka turns an inquisitive look to Midoriya.
Their classmate looks pensive. “I think… Well… Isn’t that the… He made top 150 last year, didn’t he? And isn’t he a sidekick? Nishi: the sensible hero!”
Tenya smiles, pushing his glasses up again. “You truly are a well of knowledge when it comes to heroes, Midoriya. But yes, that is him. As he is a fairly new hero and a sidekick– officially I’m interning at the Genuis Office, but I’m expecting Nishi to take over most if not all my training.”
“Genuis Office! That’s where Kacchan’s going.” A second later, Midoriya slaps a hand over his mouth before looking around. Thankfully, Bakugou seems too preoccupied with a heated phone call a few paces away from them to notice– the words old hag can be repeatedly heard. Storm avoided, Midoriya turns back to them. “Still Iida, that's amazing!”
“Um, guys?” Uraraka calls, looking confused. “I don’t understand. Is that a big deal?”
“Well, it’s rare for two students to be interning with such a high-ranking office, even if they’re not interning under the same hero! And in Iida’s case… Best Jeanist didn’t even send a sponsor offer, right?”
“He did not.”
“So that means Aizawa really arranged everything! Like, everything.” Midoriya concludes, eyes wide. “‘How’ is the question, though.” It seems the conversation has gone full circle– yet again they find themselves wondering at their enigmatic teacher.
“Him and I had a meeting regarding my internship. He helped me brainstorm.” Tenya starts, frowning. “Therefore I came to the conclusion that I wasn’t looking to train my quirk– my family can help me with my quirk at a later date; And as demonstrated during the Sports Festival, I need to hone up my decision-making skills and versatility. I am wholly unaware of the arrangements that were made, the most I had to do was to write a motivation letter listing all that I hoped to learn from the internship.”
Uraraka pats him on the shoulder. “I think you’re a bit harsh on yourself there. You did real good in the Sports Festival, it’s just…well, it’s too bad that you had to be called away.”
“I suppose.” Tenya says, though he’s still unconvinced. His wins had been…less than graceful and he’s sure that he wouldn’t have fared well against either Tokoyami or Bakugou. Even Todoriki…perhaps he could’ve played the long game, shattered his ice when need be, but could he have won if his classmate used his fire as well…?
Tenya shakes himself from such gloomy thoughts, coming back just in time to hear Midoriya inquire about Mina and the others’ lively discussion. They’re all slouched over Mina’s phone, the pink-haired girl nearly howling with laughter.
“They’re looking at memes on hero.net.” Sero tells them matter of factly.
“Look at this one!” Mina giggles, and the others do the same. A moment later, she flips her phone so his little group can see. It’s a bad-quality picture of a chicken in a cast, the only visible part of the animal being its head. “What the commission means when they tell you ‘Hawks’ injuries were minimal.’”
“It’s true that we still haven’t heard of him…” Tsuyu comments, having joined the group like them after hearing the commotion.
Judging by the shift of her collar, Hagakure is nodding. “It’s been literal weeks.”
“There’s another one.” This time, it’s a chicken balancing on top of a suitcase, staring dead at the camera. “Hawks after getting packed by a villain no one’s ever heard of before. Baha!”
Like everyone else, Tenya knows who exactly they are talking about. It had been the hot topic for a time, and he, like so many others, had dug into articles for non-existent information about the villain. Neji Hyuga, if he recalled correctly. His brother had insisted he documents himself on him, calling it early deduction practice– as Tensei says, most of the time heroes go into tricky situations with naught information about what they’re fighting against.
Trying to imagine his brother coming across such a villain (Tenya had freakishly checked the location on his phone, every intersection, every alleyway…his brother had been horrifyingly close to the whole thing) was not a pleasant thing to do. His estimated diagnosis for such an event had been…not good. It had been fortunate that his brother hadn’t come in contact with this other dangerous villain on top of the hero killer… If he had, the Tenya’s not sure he would’ve ever seen his brother again.
Without meaning to, Tenya feels his face go cold.
“Guys…” Midoriya calls in an undertone, glancing worriedly between him and the others.
“It’s alright.” Tenya says in the following silence, a familiar lumb back in his throat. He clears his voice. “Let’s get in lines… Aizawa looks ready to check attendance.”
Mina quickly pockets her phone, a guilty look on her face. “Yes, class pres’...”
Tenya smiles at her to signify ‘it’s okay’, but he’s not sure the meaning carries on. And because Aizawa has fantastic timing, he chooses this exact moment to, in fact, check that everyone is here.
Aizawa clears his throat, and they all fall silent. He calls every name before asking, “Everyone has their costume?”
They give a chorus of ‘yes.’
“Keep it in your suitcase. It’s prohibited for you to wear it unless your mentor tells you to.”
“Yessir!” Hagakure yells over everyone’s voices, almost jumping with excitement. Aizawa sends her a warning look. She tries to hold back her eagerness, but it’s obvious she can barely stay still.
“You all better be on your best behavior. Listen to the heroes in charge and don’t cause trouble. Keep in mind that you’re all representing UA for the duration of the internship.” he waves his hand. “Now shoo.”
They all scatter.
“Alright then.” Uraraka remarks, obviously doing some kind of breathing exercise. “I’m so nervous but, like, in a good way!”
The three of them form a little circle and spend a total of twenty seconds hyping themselves up and promising that they’ll call whenever they have free time (though Midoriya doesn’t say anything about being nervous, his face has taken a worrying shade of green.) They bid their farewells and separate.
Now alone, Tenya drags his suitcase to the right train track (triple-checks that it’s the good one, it wouldn’t do good to arrive even a second late when Best Jeanist is known for his good manners) and waits.
Bakugou, it seems, does his best to pretend they don’t know each other as they wait for their train. He’s half-sat half-sprawled on a bench, an intent look to him as he stares ahead of him, earplugs in his ears. Tenya does likewise and doesn’t pay him any attention, though remains stiffly standing. He checks the hour on his watch before sending a quick message to Tensei that he’s on his way to his internship.
Bakugou seems to realize something is up when they get on the same train together. They pass multiple stops before the furtive glances the blond boy send his way turn to blatant staring. On his end, Tenya resolutely avoids eye-contact. It wouldn’t be inaccurate to say he doesn’t particularly enjoy Bakugou’s company (and he knows this to be mutual) even if he doesn’t have anything personal against him. Bakugou’s treatment of one of his closest friends does irk him, but it wouldn’t do at all to have hard feelings against one of his classmates, so Tenya keeps his interactions with him strictly civil.
(Bakugou has no such qualms, but then when does he?)
When Tenya steps off at the same stop as him, the staring turns to glaring. “Stop following me!”
“I am not.”
“Oh yeah?”
Tenya pauses, frowning. “Actually, I am following you, but not for the purpose of following you, it’s just that–”
“Yeah, okay.” Bakugou rolls his eyes, picking up the pace. Tenya raises an eyebrow– if Bakugou thinks he can outrun him of all people, then he’s in for an unpleasant surprise. He decides to keep pace with his classmate to convey that feeling.
Bakugou’s jaw is set so hard Tenya worries about his teeth. The walk is long enough however that by the time they arrive at the Genius Office, his temper seems to have faded to mild annoyance.
The blonde teen whirls around. “You’re still here.”
“I am.” Tenya adjusts his glasses, more a nervous habit than anything else. “As I was trying to tell you earlier, it seems that we are both interning at the Genius Office.”
“So Best Jeanist decided that just one UA student wasn’t enough, huh.”
“That’s inaccurate. I am actually interning under one of his sidekicks.”
Bakugou frowns. “Hah? A sidekick taking an apprentice?” Tenya had been surprised too, when Aizawa had brought it up. It is particularly unheard of– an agency owner or a freelance hero, yes, but sidekicks usually only take care of students for short periods of time if the hero they’re under has one under their tutelage and is unavailable. This, or if the sidekick is considered experienced enough (in which case the necessary organization– asking the Commission for permission, getting signatures, waiting for the papers to be processed– is both long and painstaking.)
All that to say, Bakugou’s confusion is understandable. It doesn’t stop Tenya from feeling a bit smug.
“I am aware it’s a peculiar situation, which is why officially I am interning under Best Jeanist. However, he won't take part in my training if that’s what you’re worried about.”
He looks somewhat curious. “Who’s the sidekick?”
“Nishi: the sensible hero.”
He narrows red eyes at him, seemingly knocking the name around in his head to figure out if it’s familiar. A few moments later, the look on his face tells Tenya that 1. he doesn’t recognize the name and 2. he doesn’t particularly care for it.
“Just don’t get in my way.” And with those last parting words, Bakugou goes in first, chin held up high.
Tenya suppresses a sigh. With them having different mentors, at least they probably won’t be seeing much of each other even if they’re in the same agency. Shooting a quick message to Tensei and his mother that he’s arrived, he follows in.
“And who are you?” The stranger’s judgment is almost a physical thing as he looks him up and down.
“My name is Tenya Iida, student at UA High–”
“Wrong. Who are you?” Blinking, Tenya gapes for a few seconds. Apparently, that brief moment of stunned silence is enough for the older man, who the busy receptionist had redirected him to, to lose patience. The door clicks shut.
The boy breathes in deeply, straightening his tie with a slight tremor born of indignation. Bakugou has already gone with Best Jeanist (he’d caught a glimpse of the two heading for the elevator) while he had yet to even meet his mentor.
He knocks again. The same man opens the door, purple eyes narrowing on him.
“Tenya.” referencing his hero name.
“That took a while.” the man comments, tilting his head.
Tenya ignores that and clears his voice. “I am the intern under pro-hero Nishi. Would it be possible for you to notify him so we may begin the internship?”
He studies him. “...Alright, alright. Come on then, you’re already late.”
Deciding he owes no explanation to that rude stranger, Tenya asks instead: “Will you take me to Nishi then?”
“You’re already with him.”
The Genuis Office is both classy and quite humble in its style. Despite being quite a big building it is not nearly as large as several other pro-hero agencies, especially considering Best Jeanist is ranked fifth in the country (Tenya has his family-run agency as comparison.) As he follows the strange man in the corridors, he can’t help but notice that all the people meandering about– whether it be sidekicks or personal– are wearing jeans. With the sole exception of Nishi, who seems quite comfortable with his own unusualness. When asked about it, the man answers he has struck a deal with Best Jeanist revolving around him not wearing jeans, a statement he refuses to elaborate.
“You and mister Aizawa know each other, then?” Tenya asks in what he hopes is a politely curious tone.
“Of course.” his mentor raises an eyebrow. “He was my teacher.”
Tenya’s surprise is, he knows, written all over his face– although this does make a lot of sense (Tenya should’ve thought of that!) The man walking next to him however seems to remain unimpressed with him.
“So you accepted teaching me because you owe him a favor, correct?”
“No. The big boss owes him a favor, not me.” he rolls his eyes. “But of course I’m the one who has to deal with you.”
Tenya will pretend he hasn’t heard this last part. Still, it puts some perspective on the situation. His teacher really seems to have pulled some strings to make this happen, and he does wonder how one acquires a favor from Best Jeanist of all people.
“May I ask where we are going, sir?” A long silence ensues, stretching so uncomfortably that Tenya begins to wonder if he should repeat himself.
“When you see something, you tend to ignore everything else and focus on it. You rush to it.” he remarks out of the blue. “Call it a side-effect of your quirk, a personal flaw, or simple teenage foolishness, but that kind of thing gets you killed in the field. Quick.”
Tenya swallows, taken aback by the unexpected criticism; His indignance is (again) written all over his face. “I would never purposely endanger my life or the lives of others. It is unbecoming of a future hero.”
“Is that so? Well, another piece of advice– that face of yours…” He continues, “Get it in control. No one cares what you feel, and certainly not villains. In fact, they’ll make sure to take advantage of anything you give them.”
He grits his teeth. “Yessir.”
“We’ll work on it.” Humming, Nishi turns away. “Go get one of the other sidekicks to give you a tour. When that’s done, go to the basement and stretch.”
Without waiting for so much as a response, the brash hero walks away.
Tenya walks around the corridors of the large agency like a headless duck for a moment, still reeling from the exchange. He hadn’t been expecting something specific prior to the internship, but this level of bluntness is not something he approves of coming from a licensed hero. His thoughtful wandering stops when a sidekick takes pity on him and takes time out of his day to help him. The chatty hero, a man with oddly coloured eyes, introduces himself as Reigen and lets slip that he’s been recently injured in a villain fight.
“The lunch room is on the next floor… You won’t be seeing any of the top floors as they are prohibited… Mhh, what else… ”
“If you don’t mind me asking, why is access to the top floors prohibited?”
“They’re reserved for Best Jeanist and administration. Us sidekicks stick to the lower floors in case there’s an emergency and we need to leave fast.”
Tenya’s look turns from curious to confused. “What about when Best Jeanist is called on an emergency mission?”
Reigen smiles. “He has sliding glass windows in his office. When there’s an urgency he just… jumps and catches himself with his strings.”
“He jumps…?”
Reigen chuckles. “You’ll find that a lot of the top heroes share one common trait– Eccentricity. Though you didn’t hear it from me!” For a moment, his mind seems to go elsewhere and he mumbles: “Now that I think of it, Ryukyu does that too…”
(Blinking, Tenya internally wonders if this applies to his brother. He’s always thought Tensei covering everything he eats with outrageous amounts of peanut butter was odd, but this does not seem like it qualifies.)
He gets shown the cafeteria, the dormitory (which is really just a room with rows of beds that Reigen tells him is seldomly used), the infirmary, the locker room and communal showers (which he isn’t allowed to enter as he is to change in an individual cabin) and, lastly, the basement which serves as training ground.
With a bow, “I thank you for your help, Reigen sir.”
The man smiles, seemingly both flattered and embarrassed by the address. “No need to call me sir, I’m not that much older than you.”
Tenya nods. “Do you think I’ll be able to meet Best Jeanist before I return to UA? I would like to personally thank him for allowing me to take the internship as I do not want to seem improper.”
Reigen puts a finger to his chin. “Mh… Well, if Best Jeanist hadn’t taken an intern as well I would’ve said no, but since that isn’t the case he’ll probably spend much more time in the building than usual. You’ll probably see him around in the next few days, don’t worry.”
Tenya takes his time stretching the stiffness of his limbs away. He observes his surroundings with an interested eye: the gym is quite large, with various equipment and an entire area covered with tatamis– as expected of an agency of this stature. It’s only when he gets back to his feet that he notices Nishi leaning against the wall, considering him. Tenya hadn’t even noticed!
So for the first afternoon, the man drills him in different theoretical situations where he has to make choices between prioritizing saving one civilian or another, while simultaneously throwing things at him. Oftentimes there is no right answer– it is all very Aizawa-like in its form (except for the throwing things at him.)
Nishi insults his situational awareness at every turn, calls him sluggish, and adds context and circumstances to the situations that confuse him, but at the end of the day Tenya is clad with sweat and confident his reflexes have improved. The next morning, Nishi takes him to patrol where he catches one audacious would-be-thief. Tenya trips the other one who had made an attempt to escape. There is no resistance besides complaining and mild struggling as Nishi rings the police; Other than that the patrol goes smoothly.
They’re back to the agency in the late morning, and Nishi shows him the proper way to dodge (it involves being very light on his feet, which Tenya is unfamiliar with considering he has engines that each weigh seventy pounds in both calves.) Once he has the form and application down, Nishi starts upping the pace and berates him on how telegraphed his moves are.
Tenya’s predicament changes for the worse when the man instructs him to put his hero costume on, as the additional weight significantly slows his movements. The hero says nothing about the armor, but it is a very enlightening day for Tenya– it looks like he’ll be seeing the support department soon.
“You have the rest of the day off.” He mumbles, looking up from his wrist watch. “I have late afternoon patrol.”
Exhaustion makes Tenya’s tongue a little lighter than usual. “I’m not coming with you?”
“You wouldn’t be any help, and you won’t learn anything in this state.” he turns and heads for the stairs, giving a flippant wave. “Maybe once you start dodging more blows than the amount that hits you.”
Resigned, Tenya decides to hit the showers. His muscles relax under the warm water, and the drop of adrenaline makes him become aware of the deep ache in his stomach. It’s as he makes his way to the cafeteria that he sees Bakugou for the first time since their arrival, and the boy is not alone.
Best Jeanist cuts something of an impressive figure. Sharp and slender as a needle, there is a certain effortless poise to the man that Tenya cannot help but notice. What he also cannot not notice is the way the fourth hero’s eyes zero on his pants. In two long strides he is in front of him, Bakugou trailing after (in slim jeans!) with a scowl.
Tenya twists himself into a low bow. “Good afternoon. Thank you for allowing this internship, Best Jeanist sir. I am most grateful for the learning opportunity.”
Best Jeanist regards him approvingly. “That is quite alright. I see I have nothing to teach you about manners, unlike this boy here. Though your pants are…”
Blushing, Tenya hurries to say. “Nishi informed me that I was allowed to wear my uniform pants.” Which is true, Nishi himself has not been wearing jeans, though now he does realize how out of place he is…
The man seems disappointed, although there is some humor in his eyes. “Of course he did. I hope he is not treating you too hard?”
Before Tenya can answer, Bakugou cuts in with fervor. “So it’s alright for him to wear normal pants but I have to walk around looking like a squished up replica of you all day long?”
“Are you insulting yourself or me, Bakugou?”
Bakugou grumbles. “That’s not my hero name.”
Best Jeanist delicately clears his voice. “I am not calling you that awful name you came up with.”
“Hah? I’ll show you awful–” Tenya has to make an effort not to gasp at the blatant disrespect. He eyes Best Jeanist warily, though the hero appears an odd mix of annoyed and entertained.
The older man turns to Tenya again. “I have to take my leave. You boys can spend some time together. Hopefully your good manners will rub off on him.” He flicks his blond bang to the side. “I have not yet succeeded in taming this… wild hairstyle of his.”
Scoffing, “Yeah, good luck. You’re fighting my hag’s genes here.”
Best Jeanist eyes Tenya’s classmate critically, but only shakes his head. “There is still time. Farewell, Tenya. It was a pleasure to meet you.”
“The pleasure was all mine, sir.” With an eye-smile, the lanky hero walks away. Bakugou grimaces, shoves his hands in his pockets, and speed-walks into the cafeteria.
They awkwardly get their platters and settle on a lone table. The blond boy seems either too tired to try and pretend they don’t know each other or too bored to pass up on an opportunity to divert his attention. That doesn’t mean he’s not a little bit reluctant to share his meal with Tenya.
“So you have a hero name?” Tenya attempts.
His classmate raises a pale eyebrow. “Great Explosion Mur–”
“Ah,” he cuts his meat distractedly. “So you didn’t change it.”
“Hah?! Why would I change it? And don’t talk over me!” The noise brings a few disapproving eyes from the other people in the cafeteria, and Bakugou pipes down with a snarl.
“... Midnight did say it was an inappropriate hero name.”
He rolls his eyes. “Whatever. I’m not taking advice from someone whose hero name is his first name.”
Tenya’s eye twitches. “It is a work in progress.”
A brief silence halts their tentative attempt at conversation. Tenya observes his classmate, who he realizes he knows nothing of.. Tenya never eats with Bakugou during lunch break, so the boy’s good table manners are a bit of a wonder to him.
Bakugou eyes him shrewdly in return. “What have you been up to anyway?”
Tenya gives him a brief rundown of Nishi’s odd but effective training (keeping his impression of the man to himself), his plans of visiting the support department, the patrol and the two men they caught…
“You did what?” his blond classmate looks about ready to strangle him or himself. “This whole time I’ve been playing dress up and you actually fought villains?!”
“They weren’t actually villains, just your everyday lawbreakers,” He adjusts his glasses. “I doubt they even possessed any kind of combative quirks, or weapons, on them.”
Bakugou tsk’s, looking like he’s lost all appetite. “I bet even fucking Deku is having a more productive internship than me.”
“A fish… I am a fish.” Izuku mumbles to himself, clenching and unclenching his fist after an experimental rush of One For All. Five percent seems to be all he can reach for now– disappointing, but All Might did say to take it slowly.
Just as he’s about to attempt another bouncing off the walls of the street he is in like Gran Torino does, his phone chimes in his pocket.
“Iida! Hello!” Izuku chirps into the device, the cool evening air ruffling his clothes. It’s been two full days since the start of internships and he’s had zero news from his friend as of yet.
“Hello Midoriya. I’m sorry for calling so late.”
“It’s alright. How’s your internship going?”
Iida sounds tired, but earnest. “It’s been productive. I have been learning things I would’ve never thought useful until now– mostly dodging small objects thrown very quickly at me.”
“Sounds like what I’ve been doing with Gran Torino,” Izuku smiles. “Expect he throws himself at me.”
Tenya gives a surprised laugh, then falls into a contemplative silence. “Nishi…” He whispers. “I am not sure about him yet. I can see he is a competent hero, and that his reaction-speed training is working, but… He’s just so… so…”
“Yes?”
Iida heaves a big sigh. “So blunt!”
Izuku thinks hard about a non-offensive way of articulating what he wants to say. “Well, ah, I understand how that might be, uh, upsetting. But isn’t that kind of like you?”
“What– why would you say such a thing?”
“Um… Iida, remember the entrance exam?” Izuku chuckles, vividly remembering the awkward scene. “When you told me to be quiet in front of a whole stadium? I think that fits the definition of blunt… Not that I’m accusing you! You were totally in the right!”
A pause. “That… I apologize about this, Midoriya, I did not mean any harm…” Another big sigh. “And you’re right, I guess, from a certain perspective… I am blunt.”
“Not that that’s a bad quality or anything!” Izuku reassures.
“Right…” Iida sounds flustered. “I should get to bed. Nishi said we’re rising early tomorrow. We are taking a bullet train to Hosu.”
Izuku brightens. “Oh really? Gran Torino’s taking me to Shibuya! We might see each other.”
The boy can hear his friend’s smile when he speaks. “That would be nice.”
“By the way, Uraraka told me to tell you that she’s doing fine on her internship and that according to her Gunhead is ‘a total softie.’ I think that means he’s nice.” Izuku scratches his head. “I had her on the phone at noon and she says she barely has time to use her phone so…”
“That’s a relief. What about your internship?”
“Great! I learnt how to properly use my quirk– oh, I might be able to show you tomorrow if we see each other. Gran Torino made me realize that I’m just like a taiyaki–”
“A what?”
“-- and I need to channel my quirk in all my body to be warm everywhere. I think that’s why I kept breaking my bones, I was focusing on the specific limb I was using and that wasn’t the proper way to go about it. So now I’ve been practicing jumping on walls like Gran Torino, I’m able to use approximately five percent of my power right now but I think I’m getting the hang of it. Normally I’d write it all down in my notebook but I forgot it at home so I’ve been writing it on my hands and logically speaking it all makes sense and I don’t know why I didn’t think about that earlier–”
“Midoriya! Please slow down!”
Meekly, “Sorry. Anyways I have to go to bed too. Good night!”
An exasperated and what Izuku thinks might be a fond ‘goodnight’ back, Izuku darts back into the house as quietly as possible (he doesn’t want to find out how grumpier Gran Torino can be after an interrupted sleep), and buries himself in his covers and desperately tries to find sleep despite his nervousness urge to keep training. Tomorrow will be the first time he fights villains in any official way.
(Tomura Shigaraki– the pale, peeling face and the wild eyes, the bruised neck, the hand that reaches out, closer and closer… He’d rather forget all about it.)
The next day starts off normal– good weather with a quite cold wind. The subway is a bit stuffed and that makes Gran Torino grumble, but they make it to their seats in the bullet train with no trouble. Izuku fills the silence with engrossed questions about All Might’s student life, to which Gran Torino answers half-heartedly.
Then the train abruptly stops, making the both of them jerk forward on their seats. Izuku bumps his head on the seat in front of him, but that becomes irrelevant when a white form suddenly crashes through the infrastructure of the train. A wave of panic quickly engulfes the stuffed place, people shouting and scrambling to get away from the villain. With thin, elongated arms and a sickly, naked torso littered with scars, the man cuts a frightening figure as it towers over them. But it still goes flying when the little form of Gran Torino delivers it an unforgiving kick. Dragging it out of the train and out of sight of the alarmed civilians, the old man screams at him an order to stay put, which mostly flies over Izuku’s head.
He bounces out of the fuming hole after them, memories of that exposed, pink brain flashing before his eyes. “Gran Torino! That’s a Nomu!” he screams in horror, green sparks already violently flashing about him.
His mentor opens his mouth to reply, but is distracted by the view before them. Huge columns of smoke are rising to the sky from an area of the city. The flames are already high enough for them to see in the distance, licking at buildings and spreading by the second.
Izuku’s heart sinks. “Iida!”
Nishi has disappeared. There was a crash, then a huge hand had closed around his mentor’s neck and they were gone. That is the one fact that goes blaring in his head as he looks around the streets. The second sobering fact is, Hosu is under attack. The third one– which comes cutting through all the others, is that someone’s crying near him.
“Hello?” Tenya raises his voice, concerned. “Where are you?”
A red face tentatively peeks out from the corner of a grocery story. They stare at each other in shock for a moment before Tenya finally gets ahold of himself. “I’m a hero.” he lets slip without thinking. “Come on here. Are you injured?”
The stranger, a boy with ginger hair, shakes his head sullenly. He must be twelve or thirteen, too old altogether for him to carry easily. But there really is no time to think. Tenya awkwardly cradles the not-much-younger boy in his arms, aware that being held between two plates of armor must not be comfortable. “It’ll be alright…” He says, but it ends up sounding uncertain.
The boy clutches at his shoulders, squinting. “Ingenium?”
“His brother.” He corrects gently, heart clenching. “I’m taking you to safety, don’t worry. Where are your parents?”
“I was out alone. Then there was an explosion– I don’t know.”
“Alright. Hold on tight.”
Having someone to protect renders his mind oddly clear as he speeds through the streets. The distant ruckus of police alarms and fighting makes the both of them fall into a grave silence. Tenya’s heading for his brother’s agency– while his seat remains vacant, Idaten is still buzzing with side-kicks and employees: it should be a safe place to be. Then he cuts a corner, and he comes face to face with one of them. He lets a heartfelt curse fly under his breath. The boy tenses in his arms.
Without pause or thought, the Nomu (because it could only be that–) flings itself at them. Tenya braces himself, pivots around the hit, and lets the armored end of his shoe fly into the soft stomach of the villain in an engine-powered kick. But he’s holding onto additional weight and his center of gravity is off– the recovery is sloppy and Tenya isn’t able to deliver a follow-up; Instead he turns on his heels and flees.
The Nomu screeches in outrage and gives chase, but it is much smaller than the one at the USJ, and ultimately no match for his engines in terms of speed. The gap widens at every corner they turn, the creature messily cluttering behind them, crashing into walls and slipping into puddles.
But Tenya eventually comes to an abrupt stop.
“Why are you stopping?!” The boy chokes out, slapping his shoulder plates with his hands, before falling into a frightened silence. It seems he has just entered a warzone– multiple heroes are fighting on the plaza, a veritable army of that thing which attacked them at the USJ. Misshapen, thoughtless creatures who lash out at anyone they set their eyes upon as if possessing a one-track, shared hatred. And, there on the wall is another Nomu, this one with skin black as ink and a grotesque beak-like mouth. It falls to its feet silently, opens its beak and–
A small object, too fast to be discernible, slams into its temple. The Nomu wails in fury, recovering from the strong blow uncannily quickly, eyes darting around to identify the cause. Something else slowly circles the creature, attracting his attention. As he reaches out a large fist to crush it, an unseen projectile buries itself in his brains. A loud, terrifyingly human scream of pain rips through the air before falling silent as it drops dead.
A man arrives at the scene a moment later, looking at the fallen with a solemn expression.
Relief and horror in his throat, Tenya cries out. “Nishi!”
The hero’s neck is a bit red, and he looks ruffled, but other than that he looks fine. “Sorry I took so long. Give him here.”
Nishi scans the civilian boy for injuries before taking him in his own arms, much more easily than Tenya and careful to angle his face away from the massacre. “What’s your name son?”
He gulps, having not seen but heard that last wail. “Haruto.”
“Haruto, you’re going to be fine. I’ll be taking you to the hospital where your parents can go pick you up, okay?” He turns to them, his eyes going rigid once more. “You. Injuries?”
“Only minor.” Tenya says. Before he can say something else, people start rushing to them.
“What was that?” A young hero in a colorful suit asks, face ashen and battered.
“Don’t ask silly questions, now. New heroes these days…” An elderly voice calls from above. A second later, its owner jumps down with another person. They both land lightly on their feet, though one stumbles slightly as if not used to the maneuver.
Midoriya and he both sigh in relief at each other’s sight. “Iida!” / “Midoriya!”
“The situation?” Nishi asks sharply.
The old man, who Tenya assumes is the rumored Gran Torino, grumbles. “All of a sudden they all started to flee. Our wounded are being taken to the hospital but we’re understaffed. Endeavor and his sidekicks are taking care of civilian evacuation as we speak.” Midoriya straightens at this, thinking like Tenya that this must mean Todoroki is here as well.
“What of the Nomu that took you?” Tenya asks, trying to ignore the pink bits of brains scattered on the floor.
His purple eyes narrow. “I took him. And he’s been dealt with. Sir, mind taking care of my intern? I’ll be quick. I’m going to take this boy to safety, but I can’t take multiple people at the same time.” As Nishi talks, Tenya notices the younger boy breathing easier than before.
“Sure, sure. I’m getting used to picking up young teachers’ slack.” Gran Torino rolls his eyes, waving to them. “Now you two come with me, quick. The police need some hands and they’re not just going to appear.”
Nodding as if satisfied, Nishi vanishes with the young boy.
Tenya stares at the vacant spot Nishi occupied. “... I never did ask him what his quirk was.”
“That was kinda badass.” Midoriya’s wide eyes tell him he’s asking himself the same question as him.
Gran Torino studies him. “You’re the mini-Ingenium, aren’t you? I’m going to guess that means you can keep pace.”
Tenya swallows harshly, shaking his head. “Don’t worry about me sir.” He bends into a runner pose. “Midoriya?”
“I can keep up!” Before he can inquire about that, his friend proves his point by rushing past him in a green blur, static energy lighting up the late afternoon gloom. Tenya takes off a second later.
Adrenaline made it so that everything from their departure to their redirection to the hospital passed in a flash. The police had some questions for them, but ultimately it fell on their mentors’ shoulders to answer most of them. Tenya’s heard Nishi in particular had been reprimanded for his actions at Hosu. What they weren’t relieved of however was answering their family’s and friend’s panicked questions. By the time they made it to their hospital room, where they met with Todoroki, they were all so exhausted that no words were conveyed. Tenya went to sleep that night, and the image of that ravaged, fleshy brain stayed with him.
A certain flying Nomu was not seen by the young heroes that day, nor was a certain bloody vigilante.
Bonus
There's a hero slumped in an alleyway.
His blank eyes, no longer alight and flickery with fear, still reflect the image of falseness. He wipes the edge of his sword on the fake’s uniform, and the blade screams as he secures it behind his back. There is so much more cleansing to do. So many fakes and hardly any time– he has to work faster, even faster, all for a better world.
Stain leaves the hero to lay on the cold ground, to be found the next morning by some unfortunate bypassers.