Izuku glanced at Katsuki from a distance as the whole class was gathered at the train station in order to set off for their separate internships. They had a fight about Izuku interning under Gran Torino and the ash blonde refused to talk to him ever since. Izuku didn't like it when they fought like this, the silence between them carving itself into his being, making him tense and on edge.
He could still sense that Kacchan was worried about him. That's what led to this situation in the first place... Izuku had tried to reassure him, to wave it off as not a big deal, nothing dangerous, nothing to worry about. That had only angered his childhood friend more though and now they were where they are now. Izuku sighed. Hopefully they'll be able to resolve things soon...
"Oh, Iida's train is almost here" Uraraka said, making Izuku perk up again. Their friend was interning in Hosu, the same city where his older brother was severely injured by the so-called Hero Killer. Izuku had a bad feeling about it, knowing that Iida hadn't fully recovered from the news yet. He might've caught a glimpse of his emotions using his vision quirk and well, it wasn't looking good. Izuku just hoped that things would be alright...
He could only offer his support, do his best to cheer his friend up and show him they were there if he needed them. He could sense Uraraka was also worried about him as they waved him off, but there was nothing the two of them could do for him now... Neither of them would be interning anywhere close to Hosu and even if they did, they doubted they'd see much of each other while working.
"Midoriya" Aizawa called out, giving him a knowing look. Izuku's homeroom teacher had advised him against going, but Izuku was determined to see things through. He couldn't pass up an opportunity like this. For one, he could prove his innocence. And secondly he would be able to learn from someone that even taught All Might how to fight and be a hero. The experience would be valuable and it's going to be a nice touch to his resume.
"I trust you not to get yourself in trouble"
"I won't, Aizawa sensei" Izuku smiled, giving a small bow to be polite before going over to his platform and taking the train to where he needed to be. It would be evening by the time he arrived, but that didn't bother him. He just hoped everyone else would be okay... Iida had deliberately chosen something in Hosu, which worried Izuku. He just hoped nothing bad would happen.
Uraraka was going to be interning under a combat hero, so she will probably get back all bruised and beaten from training... Izuku didn't see her as frail, but he didn't like to see her hurt either. Then there was Todoroki, who had decided to intern under his father... His family situation was complicated, to say the least, and Izuku hoped that he would be okay for the upcoming week.
Kacchan was going over to Mirko's hero agency, so the green head was sure he'll be having a blast. Their personalities are a perfect match, after all, and Mirko is a high ranked pro hero too. Maybe it'll put him in a mood that's good enough to forgive him for his recklessness and they could move on? Ah, one could only hope...
When Izuku finally arrived at the location a few hours later, he had to double check whether his info was correct. This place didn't exactly look in the best condition and the neighbourhood wasn't particularly...inhabited. It felt odd. Something was off about this. Was it all some kind of trap All Might set up? Izuku didn't think he'd do something as reckless as that after the USJ... The school will have his head if Izuku were to somehow vanish on this internship and the media will demand an explanation.
It would be too risky to try and kidnap him, so maybe they just wanted to trick him into using his quirks? This area looked pretty much abandoned at this time of day, seeing as most buildings were factories and organisations and all their employees already went home. Izuku sighed. Well, if it was a fight they wanted, he could give them that much. He'll just have to make sure not to slip up, but that wasn't a hard thing to do. Certainly not with these stakes.
He knocked on the front door and waited a little while before knocking again. No answer...
"Uhm, hello?" he called out, frowning a bit.
"It's Midoriya Izuku, I'm an aspiring hero from UA's hero course and I'm here for the internship?"
He pushed the door a little as he tried to listen for any sign of life. It was open... An invitation..? It could still be a trap.
"Hello? Pardon the intrusion. Is anyone here?" Izuku asked as he stepped into the house. His detection quirk only found one person in this building, so he was sure it wasn't an ambush. All For One was also quick to provide him with info regarding their quirk. A speed type. As soon as AFO located him, Izuku saw him lying on the ground, red liquid surrounding him. It wasn't blood.
Izuku had a quirk that could sniff out any scent he had smelled before, being able to identify different dangerous gasses and sniffing out injuries pretty quickly. He knew what blood smelled like and that wasn't blood. Was it...jam? Why was he laying on the ground in jam? Suddenly the old man jumped up, taking Izuku by surprise, making him yelp and take a step back.
"Wha! A-are you okay..?!" Izuku exclaimed. All the old man did was laugh at that, saying he had a funny face. Izuku frowned at that, starting to doubt his sanity. The old man's mood turned around as soon as he saw the jam on the floor. He started whining about how he fell and now his food was ruined. Izuku didn't know what was going on here, but if this was All Might's equivalent of a joke, he wasn't liking it.
This was just a waste of his time, wasn't it? Izuku was sure that if he went back to UA now, he could still start another internship somewhere else, even if it was a day or two shorter than the normal internships.
"Hey! Where are you going?! Aren't you here for your internship, Midoriya Izuku? All Might specifically suggested you to me, you know?"
Izuku froze up, staring at him with big eyes.
"Y-you are Gran Torino..?" Izuku asked, rather surprised. He looked like a grandpa in hero pajamas... Was this really All Might's former mentor..? Guess his glory days have passed by now... Izuku didn't know what he was expecting, to be honest. Of course someone who has taught All Might would be old and retired by now!
"Ah? Who are you?" he asked, acting all dumb again. Izuku frowned, taking a deep breath before sighing.
"I'm Midoriya Izuku, sir!" he stated, bowing to show the man respect. If this was some sort of test, it sure was a weird one. But he was determined to prove his innocence so he'll do everything in his power to show this man he was just a regular hero course student.
"Right... Well, show me what you've got" Gran Torino responded. Izuku gave him a confused look, not really understanding what the man meant by that. He didn't actually mean attacking him, right..?
"W-what? I-I'm not sure I understand..."
"Of course you do! Come on, let's see if you're able to land even a single hit on me" Gran Torino grinned, activating his quirk.
Before Izuku could say anything else, the man was bouncing all around the room, making it difficult for Izuku to keep track of him. Ah, so it's this type of speed quirk huh? Interesting... Well, if he was asking for a beating then Izuku would gladly give him one. The only problem was the fact he couldn't use any quirk besides his telekinesis, which wasn't exactly the best quirk to land a hit on someone with this speed.
He could use his surroundings, sure, but was he allowed to destroy the furniture? And did the hit need to be a direct hit or could it be from a thrown object? This exercise wasn't explained all that well, but Izuku wasn't surprised about that. All Might himself was a lousy teacher too from what he had heard. Never a clear or decent plan, just going with whatever the students decided on. A terrible teaching method, honestly.
"Too slow!" Gran Torino exclaimed, kicking him straight in the face, making Izuku fall over.
"What the-?!" Izuku growled, seeing the old man bounce all over the place before he could even glare at him. Alright, so we're playing dirty huh? Izuku can do that too. He allowed his telekinesis to take hold of several objects, making them float and moving them around to disturb Gran Torino's path and slow him down.
That way it was easier to follow him with his eyes and he was able to grab his leg as he came in for another kick, using his momentum against him to slam him onto the ground. Gran Torino didn't move when Izuku put all the furniture back in place, making the green head worried. What if he seriously injured him?! Or worse?! What would happen if he accidentally killed All Might's previous mentor?! Oh that would be bad...
"Uhm, Gran Torino..? A-are you okay..?" Izuku asked worriedly as he crouched down next to the man, putting his hand on his shoulder and gently shaking him. He yelped when the man suddenly shot up, as lively as ever.
"Alright! That's it for today!"
"A-are you sure you're okay? I didn't hurt you, did I?" Izuku asked, still concerned.
"I watched the sportsfestival kid, I know what you're capable of! You've got wits, I'll give you that" Gran Torino stated.
"Oh, t-thank you sensei" Izuku smiled, giving him a small bow. With that he was excused and pushed upstairs, where Izuku's temporary room was located. It wasn't much, but it was better than what he expected when seeing the building.
He overheard Gran Torino call All Might when he was sitting on his bed, hearing them talk about him. About his quirk. Seemed like he'd been able to keep up the act for now. Just a full week of this to go. Izuku sighed, falling down upon the sheets. He just hoped the others were having a better time at their internships...
...
Aizawa glanced up from his paperwork as Shinsou entered the room. He was sitting at his desk in class 1-A, which was completely empty now that all his students were out on their own internships. Shouta enjoyed the quiet here, taking this time to get away from the loud and noisy teacher's lounge and get some work done. Also maybe some extra naps. But that was disturbed when a certain purple head knocked on the door.
"I'm sorry to interrupt, Aizawa sensei" Shinsou started.
"But I was hoping I could talk to you"
Shouta knew who Shinsou was, even though he wasn't part of the hero course. Of course he knew him, the boy would have a criminal record if it weren't for him. He vividly remembered how they met.
Aizawa caught him shoplifting on one of his evening patrols one time. The things he tried to steal weren't even all that expensive. A bag of chips, a pencil, a notebook... They had talked for a while after that and Eraserhead soon learned about Hitoshu's home life, about him hopping from foster family to foster family after his own parents disowned him. That they didn't provide him with a lot of things and that he needed new school equipment but couldn't afford it.
Aizawa ended up buying it for him and kept taps on the boy, knowing he tried for the hero course at the start of the year. He was also happily surprised to see him make it that far in the sportsfestival. General studies students rarely made it to the final round. It just goes to show that this kid has the talent and determination to become a real hero. Aizawa did have a free slot right now that he expelled someone, but he'll need to discuss things with the board before he'd be able to transfer Shinsou.
"Of course" Aizawa said as Shinsou closed the door behind him.
"What is it you want to talk about?"
"My, uhm, personal circumstances..." Hitoshi breathed, peaking Shouta's interest.
"I uh... I was recently handed an opportunity to get away from my current foster family and, well, I wanted to talk with you about it to be sure I'm making the right decision"
Aizawa waited for Shinsou to walk up to his desk, his eyes widening a bit when he placed down a flyer about a very familiar home for troubled youth.
"Did Midoriya give this to you?" Aizawa asked.
"So you know about this place then?" Shinsou asked. Shouta nodded. He'd investigated it thoroughly after finding out about All For One.
"I was offered a place there and I went to visit it earlier this week to see what it was all about but I wanted to know your opinion of that place before I make my final decision" Hitoshi stated. Shouta understood where he was coming from. If something seemed too good to be true, it almost always was.
Aizawa knew that this place was legitimate though, but the catch was that it was owned by the former super villain All For One. Yet not a single child that had passed through there had been harmed or committed a crime after leaving there. Whatever they did there seemed to be working and after hearing Izuku plead to him to stay quiet and that the former holder was trying to better his life, Shouta was almost sure that place was probably the safest place for someone like Shinsou.
"I think you should take it" Shouta answered honestly.
"I've done my fair share of research, believe me. They have a lot of resources and have one of the best track records I've ever seen for places like that"
"I'm glad to hear that" Shinsou smiled.
"I see... You already made up your mind, you just wanted my confirmation" Aizawa hummed.
"Do you want help getting the paperwork in order?"
"If it's not too much trouble"