Hero internships.
Hero…. Internships…
Internships…. With Pro Heroes.
…Hm.
Maybe it was because of just how hectic the last few days had been, or maybe it was because of the memories of what had happened the last time he'd gone on an internship with Gran Torino. Maybe it was because of the kidnapping, or his relationship with Mina.
So much was different from just a few months ago, that Izuku sometimes struggled to recognize his own life. If someone had told him what his life was like now – That he'd be dating Mina, the pretty hyperactive girl from his class, that everyone would know about One For All and his Quirkless origins, and that Bakugou would apologize to him, all in just a few months – he'd think they were absolutely insane. If he was given all the detailed specifics about the last few months, he'd think whoever was telling him about it had lost their mind.
He struggled to recognize himself sometimes. There were still factors about him that remained the same as always. He still occasionally got flustered when he was talking to Mina or he was being lauded with praise, though he had improved on that front. But that was a lot rarer these days. After everything he'd been through, suddenly talking to girls didn't seem like such a big issue. After a lifetime of being pushed and shoved around, he had lacked much sense of self respect, even after getting into Yuuei. He had Mina to thank for that change. After everything….
…After everything, he had nearly destroyed himself from the inside out.
Once more, and that could be the end of his chances at becoming a Hero. Maybe it was that thought that was making him pause.
….No, it wasn't that. While he knew it was dumb, he also knew that, when push came to shove, he'd do whatever it took to save someone – Anyone. And he couldn't save anyone if he let the fear of what could happen to him control him. And he was well beyond the point of letting fear control him now. There wasn't anything quite as scary as being helpless at the hands of Villains.
If anything, that motivated him even more. That feeling of helplessness and terror at the hands of someone who had no ethical boundaries restricting them to getting what they wanted… He knew what that was like now. Granted, he'd always had a feeling of something similar thanks to Bakugou's torment, but this was different. He wasn't letting fear make him pause this time. He'd never been more motivated to become the best successor to All Might as he could.
So, what was it?
What was making him pause?
Izuku didn't know, but he found himself seriously thinking about internship placements.
Initially, it had only been incredibly briefly mentioned during the principle's speech at the beginning of the new term, and it was primarily in reference to the second and third years. Aizawa had explained it in homeroom afterwards – A formal work placement with Pro Heroes, that took place outside of school hours. Somewhat like the Sports Festival internships, only this version didn't permit the days off and freedom from study that the sports festival did. So, they were essentially like formal part time jobs that you took alongside your schoolwork.
First hand Hero work. Real Hero work.
While he was possibly the only exception, Izuku knew from just about everyone else that the Sports Festival connections had been a lot more like showing up as guests than being potential future co-workers. Then again, back then, society hadn't been shaken by the loss of All Might, and as Aizawa had explained, those were aimed more at making connections than formal Hero work – Even if it had been something that had wound up getting Izuku, Iida, and Todoroki all caught up in a fight with the Hero Killer.
A great deal of debate had gone on behind closed doors before the teachers decided that, if following a rule of good track records with interns, first years would be allowed to pursue them.
Those with Provisional Licences, anyway. Bakugou and Todoroki weren't eligible for placement – Something Bakugou was verbally displeased about.
Izuku had Gran Torino to call, and he had his phone in his hand. Right now, he was just hovering over the contact details in his phone. All it would take was a single tap, and he'd be talking to All Might's tutor again. If he would have him, Izuku could find himself with a formal internship which could greatly benefit him and his options once he graduated. What was making him pause?
He wanted an internship. After everything he'd faced and gone through and learned, he couldn't afford to just sit back and hope for the best. He needed to be out there, doing everything in his power to become the very best Hero out there. He owed that to All Might, to the previous users of One For All, and himself, after everything he had put himself though.
….More than anything else, he felt he owed it to Mina. And that might be wrong of him to feel that way, but he couldn't help it. Without Mina, he wasn't sure if he'd be here right now. Something about that made him feel guilty about now feeling he owed it more to the man who gave him his Quirk, but…
…It was like All Might had fired the starting pistol, but Mina was the one he was running the race with.
Maybe that was why he was hesitant. He and Mina were supposed to be in this together. Team Awkward Energy was still a thing, even if they had failed the vocational entrance group. They would try again.
And maybe they should be taking these internships together as well. Maybe that was why he was hesitating to call.
Would Gran Torino accept the pair of them as interns? Taking on two people was a lot different from taking on a single person, to be sure, and it would probably end up being more expensive on top of that. That didn't even involve the fact that Mina wasn't even tangentially involved with One For All aside from both knowing about it and dating the current holder of it. The last time they spoke, Gran Torino mentioned that he had only ever gotten his licence so he could use his Quirk freely, and one of the reasons or doing that had been so he could help train All Might. He was willing to teach Izuku because he was All Might's successor.
That wouldn't apply to Mina. Given the kind of person that he was, he might even see her inclusion there as being a detriment to his own training.
Then again, maybe that wouldn't be an issue. This wouldn't be training, strictly speaking. It would be a workplace internship, so Gran Torino wouldn't need to teach her anything. And it wasn't like Mina didn't know about the secrets behind One For All.
… Would that be fair to Mina though?
Assuming Gran Torino was fine with taking on even one intern, never mind two, would it be fair for one half of them to be subjected to being what amounted to a hanger-on? Hero Teams like theirs were supposed to be equals in all things. Yes, they had specialization, but that didn't mean one could be more focused on in training.
One For All was an unusual Quirk, and Izuku still had a long way to go with it before he could state with certainty that he had made it into his own. But he couldn't ask Mina to put her own development aside just for his sake.
….Then again, wouldn't that be better than nothing?
If Mina couldn't get an internship with her own connections, wouldn't going somewhere be better than going nowhere?
Today had certainly been proof of that.
He thought back to the third years that the class had been introduced to today – The Big Three as they seemed to be known as - The top student at Yuuei. All of them had internships, and all of them were reported to be exceedingly powerful…. If a little eccentric.
One cripplingly shy guy by the name of Tamaki Amajiki, who made Izuku in his middle school years look positively social with a thousand friends, and one exceedingly hyperactive girl called Nejire Hadou, who made Mina seem relaxed - And who Mina had to almost fight off to get her away from prodding and poking at her horns.
The standout without question was Mirio Togata. Easily, he was considered to be the strongest of the three of them by the other two's admission, and he had demonstrated that strength with one of the biggest shows of force Izuku could have ever conceived.
He had clobbered just about all of 1A in under a couple of minutes.
His Quirk, combined with his skill at using it, and just how much he had clearly trained when it came to his Quirk, was on full display as he took out everyone he perceived as the biggest threats – The long-range users – In just a few seconds. Izuku hadn't even been able to see the man as he shot between him and Mina, gut punched the pink girl, and then moved onto Sero, then Jirou, and then Shoji, and anyone else who could attack from a distance. Then clobbered all the close ranger attackers with roughly the same amount of ease.
And with a Quirk that was, frankly, terrifying. Not from what it could do – It was a Phasing Quirk, kind of similar to Mina's younger brothers - But from what it did to its user. Make them unable to breath, see, or feel anything aside from a falling sensation…
The weakness of his Quirk was obvious as well – At least, to Izuku. If he wanted to harm someone, he had to turn back into a solid mass, so that would make his time to strike the time to strike against him – But he had even prepared for that. That was how he ended up leaving Izuku a pile of winded flesh on the ground before him.
Mirio had credited the development of his Quirk in no small part to his internship. Real experience, acting like a real sidekick to a Pro Hero – Those had helped him become someone who was so strong, he seemed invincible, even with such a flawed Quirk. It put everything into perspective for everyone, Izuku especially.
He wanted to find someone he could intern with. But he couldn't intern alone. He couldn't leave Mina in the dust like that.
Izuku sighed. Thinking about things like this wasn't going to get him anywhere. If he wanted to get anywhere, he was going to have to start making inquiries, and see what happened.
Maybe he'd get lucky, and something would work out for him.
He hit the call button on his phone, and awaited a response.