Author's Notes: Chapter edited and corrected by Vongrak.
September 8, 2xxx – Izumi Pov.
"Then, after class I'll go pick up Mirko with Mai. Luckily, it seems she's been working in Nagoya, in Aichi Prefecture, these last few days, so it's not a long trip from here," I told the girls while eating my lunch.
"Oh, right, Mirko is independent, isn't she? What does that mean?" Ruby asked, confused.
"She's not bound to any agency or institution, nothing. She basically works for herself. Normally, those kinds of heroes would have a small, defined territory where they work, similar to agencies and all that, but much smaller. But Mirko is special. She travels all over Japan without limiting herself to one area. She simply goes where she feels she's needed, where she's called, or where she can face strong enemies. Apparently, her last stop was Nagoya." I explained simply, and Ruby simply nodded.
"I see, I wish you luck, and since you're going with Mai, she can make sure you don't get lost." Taylor said, shrugging.
"And she's sitting here at the table." Mai complained with a grimace as she ate her lunch, moaning softly. "It's really unfair how good your quirk tastes." Mai muttered, looking offendedly at her food.
"And that's why we keep him close, make sure you don't lose him in Nagoya." Azula mocked, and I snorted amusedly.
"I still can't believe that disorientation is real," Mai complained, and they all shrugged.
"You'll get used to it. In fact, we called a meeting of Izumi's harem. As his weapon and the person who will constantly be by his side, we now declare it your job to ensure Izumi doesn't end up in another country." Taylor said with a smug grin. Mai clicked her tongue.
"I knew there was fine print to this whole deal." Mai grunted, and I huffed loudly.
"I'm really feeling the love, especially from you, my dear wife." I said dryly, Taylor just smiled mischievously at me.
"And you should, I'm making sure you're always taken care of, darling." Taylor mocked, and I rolled my eyes.
"Ha ha, let's change the subject, have you already chosen who you'll do your Work Studies with? None of you mentioned anything." I accused them while pointing with my chopsticks. Azula was the first to shrug.
"I was considering Ryukyu, and I was also looking for a heroine with lightning powers, but for some reason, they're extremely rare, so I'll probably just go back to Endeavor," Azula said with a sigh. I nodded while humming to myself; she wasn't wrong. I couldn't think of a heroine with an electricity quirk that immediately came to mind.
"Yo! I got accepted into Team Idaten along with Penny! " Ruby announced happily, my eyes widening.
"Team Idaten? Like that huge group of heroes? " I asked in surprise. Ruby nodded several times.
"Yes! I already received an offer during the sports festival thanks to my speed quirk. I was talking to the leader of the agency, Ingenium, and it seems I'm going to be placed with his younger sister, I think her name was Tenya Iida." Ruby said excitedly.
"The girl we helped with the Hero Killer disaster?" Azula asked, a glint of recognition in her eye. I blinked a few times. Ingenium. I blinked again. That… wait, I had to think about that.
I had ignored it, in fact, I had completely put it aside; the problem had been resolved as in the canon, Stein was arrested, nobody was hurt or killed and that was it, there was nothing more to look at.
But thinking about it… Ingenium, the original Tensei Ida, who was still male even though Tenya Ida was female, was still alive, I mean, in canon too, but here, unlike in canon, in this world there are plenty of strong healing quirks.
If Team Idaten was able to pay any of them to heal Tensei, then it shouldn't surprise me that the original Ingenium is still active. That… I really didn't see that coming.
Tenya should have done her Work Studies with Manual, the same hero from Hosu with whom she did her internship during the whole Stein disaster, but if her brother is active and well, I can really see her going to Idaten for Work Studies, or whatever Shiketsu has as its equivalent.
Tensei's recovery should have been covered by the news, Team Idaten was quite important.
"Congratulations, Ruby, it's a truly impressive group." I said honestly, and Ruby smiled broadly.
"Congratulations." Darkness repeated excitedly, and Taylor and Azula echoed it with smiles.
"Thank you! I should start on Monday. I have to go to her agency and sign all the papers and stuff. I'll go with Penny when classes are over," Ruby said, practically bouncing with excitement.
"And you?" I asked the rest.
"I can't go back to Heathcliff and his hunters' guild, unfortunately, but I managed to get a job with Fat Gum," Darkness said shyly. I froze slightly before grimacing. Fat Gum—that means she'll be involved in the whole Shie Hassaikai business. "I also heard that Tanya and Visha are currently talking to Lady Nagant about signing their contracts," Darkness added excitedly.
"Well, I'm happy for you, Darkness. Fat Gum is a good heroine, and I see Tanya and Visha are back with Nagant, that's good." I said happily for the three of them, and Darkness nodded.
"I see you're really making progress in the world, and with some really big names. I barely had a few offers from completely unknown pro heroes," Mai said dismissively. We all looked at her worriedly before she snorted. "And look at me now! This afternoon I'm going to fight Mirko. Screw all those who said I couldn't do anything!" Mai growled as she started eating furiously.
We looked at each other confused before shaking our heads playfully.
"And you, Taylor?" I asked curiously. "When do you have to go back to Brockton Bay?" I asked, and Taylor made a huge face.
"This afternoon, in a few hours," Taylor said dismissively before sighing. "Today's Friday, so I won't really start patrolling today. I'm supposed to go sign all the necessary paperwork and introduce myself to the rest of the group I'll be working with."
"The Brockton Bay Protectorate has different groups, and because of the time difference, my shift would be after midnight, so I have no idea who they'll put me with." Taylor sighed wearily.
"Wait, Brockton Bay? Where on earth is that to have a time difference of more than 12 hours? " Mai asked incredulously.
"The United States." Taylor sighed. "It's... a long story. Izumi can tell you everything you need to know later. I think it's about a half-hour train ride to Nagoya, right? Just tell him to explain it then." Taylor said with a grimace.
"So soon? I really didn't know the meeting was today." I said, surprised. Taylor snorted.
"Yes, I tried to ignore it and pretend it didn't exist," Taylor said dryly. "Unfortunately, my downfall is slowly creeping along, and I need to prepare myself," Taylor grumbled.
"I suppose you're going to tell them about the change in your marital status to married?" I asked curiously, Taylor nodded.
"Yeah, like I said, I want to get it over with and all that." Taylor sighed. We all fell silent; I just hummed.
"Just do it, it's not like they can complain at this point, but putting that aside, are you planning on using the new part of your costume?" I asked curiously, Taylor nodded.
"I'll do it," Taylor said easily. "I've got it. It's something I've been thinking about for a while. There's no point in delaying it—new practices, a revamped costume, and all that." Taylor said easily, and I nodded. "Strider's supposed to pick me up after classes to take me to Brockton, then bring me back." Taylor wrinkled her nose. "I'm supposed to meet her at the helipad. I didn't even know we had a helipad," Taylor said, confused. I sighed.
"It's UA, I'm surprised we don't have an airport on campus." I said dryly, Taylor stopped and snorted herself.
"Touche." Taylor said dryly, and I chuckled.
"And the others? Do they know anything about internships? " I asked curiously while glancing at the other members of class 1-A. Unlike the canon, where during the first round of Work Studies only a few members of the class participated, here the whole class was frantically trying to get a job somewhere.
Although Aizawa and the teachers kept advising us to be careful because of the increase in villains due to All Might's retirement, everyone in Class 1-A had a different mindset.
There was a marked difference between us being 18-19 years old as opposed to the 15 years of the canon, most of them were more mature so they understood the consequences and problems, but most importantly, they wanted and needed the experience of working under a hero.
Even in this world, work experience was everything, and no one wanted to be left behind.
"Wait, where did you say Yunyun was going?" I asked as I returned to the conversation.
"With Mt. Lady, she's already signed the contract and everything," Azula said immediately. Oh, sweet summer girl, there were certainly worse options like Uwabami, but Mt. Lady was pretty high on the list of bad ideas, at least at this point.
"And who did Yunyun do her internship with? Couldn't she have asked them again?" I asked, trying not to grimace.
"She had them with Mt. Lady," Azula said directly. I closed my eyes and sighed.
"And... how was Yunyun's internship? Now that we're on the subject, I don't recall her ever mentioning it." I said curtly, and I guess she knew why now. Azula shrugged.
"She said it went well, that's what she said nervously while avoiding eye contact and trying to change the subject... that idiot." Azula sighed with a groan. "They were awful, weren't they? " Azula asked directly.
"Wait, you can know something like that?" Mai asked, confused. I just waved my hand dismissing the question.
"More like that, future vision, remember? I didn't see Yunyun doing her internship, but I did see SOMEONE doing their internship with Mt. Lady, and Mt. Lady basically treated her like a servant, making her clean and do other menial jobs while she lazed around. I don't think she taught her anything heroic during her internship." I said with a grimace. Azula and everyone else frowned.
"That... that's not right," Ruby said worriedly. I sighed.
"No, it isn't, but if Yunyun has already signed with Mt. Lady, there's not much we can do. Even so, I'll talk to her," I said with a sigh. Azula made an annoyed face.
"Can't we accuse her of noncompliance or hindering a hero's training, or something?" Taylor asked, frowning.
"I don't think so. Yunyun already accepted the internship, she even signed the contract. Terminating it could damage Yunyun's reputation. I don't think other heroes would want to hire her if they knew she broke contracts, not even before the internship started. Besides, Mt. Lady can call any activity 'training,' and technically, she would be doing it. Malicious compliance and all that." Darkness said with a grimace of disgust. Taylor blinked.
"...oh, that's what Director Nezu wanted me to do." Taylor muttered to herself. I chuckled before sighing wearily and stopping.
"Wait, I think I remembered a news story about Mt. Lady." I said quickly as I pulled out my scroll. I could see them all trying to look. I just placed it on the table while I searched, and I quickly found the news story I was looking for.
"The Lurkers?" Ruby asked as she read the news.
"The Pro-Heroes, Edgeshot, Kamui Wood, and Mt. Lady, form a new team called The Lurkers in response to All Might's retirement after the Kamino accident to face the new wave of villains," Taylor read aloud. "Is that good?" Taylor asked.
"Should be," I said, sighing in relief. "With Edgeshot and Kamui Wood around, Mt. Lady won't have time to be lazy and she'll actually teach Yunyun something. Mt. Lady is a good heroine, laziness and ego aside, honestly. She's just a recent debutante. Well, it's been two years since she debuted, but even so, she's still a bit... green?" I said with a grimace.
"If you say so," Azula said, still frowning.
"I hope so." I said with a sigh.
"Wow, you really seem to know Mt. Lady personally. Were you able to learn all that with your Haki?" Mai said curiously. I shrugged.
"I had a vision of a future, I don't control what I see or who I see, I tend to filter the important things from the useless ones, or sometimes so many things just accumulate that I tend to forget them even if they are important." I said with a sigh.
"I see, is there anything I should know about Mirko?" Mai asked, getting ready. I sighed.
"She's completely insane, she's capable of continuing to fight even if both her legs and both arms are cut off, nothing will stop her if she wants to keep fighting." I said dryly, Mai's eyes widened.
"...now that's... dedication." Mai said with a grimace. I chuckled.
"So, what about the others?" I asked curiously. We started talking again. I had only spoken to a few of them personally, like Jinx. I knew she would be going back to Lady Nagant, along with Sinon, but remembering what Darkness said, Nagant would then have four students.
That was quite impressive. I didn't know how Lady Nagant worked, but four students was a lot of students; I'd have to keep in touch with them to see how they were doing.
"Does anyone know who Louise is going with?" I asked curiously. Everyone froze, especially Darkness, before shaking her head.
"I... I don't remember her mentioning anything," Darkness said. I hummed softly.
"I'll have to talk to her too. She's been avoiding me for days, ever since I gave her the earrings," I said distractedly. "I thought she'd get over it, but I see she hasn't. I'll have to take a more direct approach," I said simply.
"What if she's in love with you?" Mai asked distractedly. "I don't know her, but from what little you've mentioned, it seems that way," she said, shrugging.
"Then I'll cross that bridge when I get there," I said, shrugging. Just then, the bell rang loudly. We had all finished lunch, so we quickly gathered our things and stood up. "Well, one more class and we're off to Nagoya, okay?" I asked Mai. She just nodded.
"I'll wait for you in the dorm," she said simply. I nodded. "Meanwhile, I'll go find my idiot sister who skipped lunch again. I'll see if I can get her something to eat," Mai said, pointing to where Lunch Rush was near the food. I smirked.
"Have fun," I said playfully. Mai glared at me, grabbed her tray, and walked away.
"Let's go to class." Taylor said as she also picked up her tray, I hurried to follow her.