Because of the intense battles over the past few days, Endeavor did not allow Igarashi Masata to take part in any further field missions during the final two days of the on-site internship.
As a result, Masata and Todoroki Shouto spent those two long days buried in paperwork and training sessions at the gym.
"This is so boring. Why do I have to sit here reading this stuff?"
Masata tossed the newspaper in his hand aside and slumped back in his chair, complaining openly.
"Information gathering is also an essential skill for a Hero," Todoroki said calmly, his eyes never leaving the paper in his hands as he lectured Masata in return.
"Yeah, yeah, I know that in theory," Masata replied lazily. "But knowing it and actually doing it are two completely different things."
On the second day after returning to U.A., Masata entered the classroom—only to be instantly surrounded.
"Hey! Masata, you're back!"
"Welcome back!"
Kirishima and Mineta rushed over immediately, pulling him into the middle of the crowd with excited faces.
"I can't believe you actually worked with Endeavor and helped arrest the Hero Killer!" Kirishima said enthusiastically. "That live internship of yours was insane!"
Mineta nodded vigorously, talking over Kirishima as the two of them bombarded Masata with questions, barely giving him time to respond.
Meanwhile, Yaoyorozu Momo, Jiro, and Asui had already heard Masata's account of what happened and didn't feel the need to crowd him. Yaoyorozu quietly returned to her seat, while Momo-chan dropped her head onto the desk, clearly trying to catch up on lost sleep.
"What's with all the excitement?" Masata asked, genuinely puzzled. "Wasn't it fine?"
To him, the battle with the Hero Killer hadn't felt nearly as intense as the underground laboratory incident on the first day.
"How could it be fine?!" Mineta suddenly lowered his head, his expression turning strangely haunted, as if recalling something deeply traumatic.
I really hope he didn't get psychologically warped by Mt. Lady, Masata thought.
Judging by Mineta's current state, Masata had absolutely no desire to ask what he'd been through. Whatever it was, it was probably terrifying in its own way.
"That's because we didn't even get to fight villains," Jiro said as the girls gathered nearby.
"Most of our work was rear support—evacuating civilians and maintaining order."
"That's still impressive," Asui said, nodding. "I was on patrol and training the whole time too. In the end, I only helped catch a stowaway from a neighboring country."
"Same here!" Momo-chan suddenly lifted her head from the desk. "I learned a lot about rescue operations under the Vine Hero's guidance. I even helped with a collapsed-building rescue!"
Listening to everyone's colorful internship experiences, Yaoyorozu, sitting quietly in the back row, couldn't help but sigh.
Why did it feel like she'd spent the entire internship filming commercials?
Even though she'd appeared on TV again, she couldn't find any real sense of fulfillment.
Bang!
The classroom door suddenly swung open.
A teenage boy with ash-blond hair walked in, sporting a perfectly neat two-eight-part haircut.
The class fell silent.
Then—
"HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!"
Kirishima and Sero burst out laughing almost instantly.
"What the hell happened to you, Bakugo?!"
"Did you lose a bet or something?!"
Hearing the commotion, Masata pushed through the crowd—and the moment he saw Bakugo sitting stiffly at his desk, his face dark with rage—
"Pfft—!"
Masata completely lost it. The sight was just too much. Bakugo had never looked more ridiculous in his life.
"Stop laughing!" Bakugo roared, shaking with fury. "That bastard forced this hairstyle on me! No matter how much I wash it, it won't change!"
Judging by his tone, this internship had been nothing short of torture for him.
"Didn't Bakugo intern at the No.4 Hero Best Jeanist's office?" Yaoyorozu said, unable to hold back her laughter.
"I heard everyone there has the same haircut—and wears jeans as a uniform."
Her mood instantly improved.
After all, there really was no misery worse than Bakugo's.
"Laugh again and I'll kill you!" Bakugo snarled. "Especially you, magma bastard!"
Bakugo had clearly seen the news as well. Masata capturing the Hero Killer was more than enough to fuel his envy and rage.
"It looks like everyone had a pretty fulfilling internship," someone commented.
"By the way," Kaminari suddenly chimed in, "have you heard that audio?"
"The one spreading all over the internet. Don't you think he sounded… kind of real? Like he really believed what he was saying. Almost cool?"
"Kaminari!" Midoriya's voice rang out sharply from the back of the room.
Kaminari turned—and saw Iida's expression darken slightly. Realizing his mistake, he immediately apologized.
"It's fine," Iida said quietly. He looked down at his arm before continuing.
"I can understand why some people think he was 'cool' for sticking to his beliefs."
"But choosing to 'cleanse' others for the sake of one's ideals—no matter the reason—is still wrong."
Masata spoke up, drawing everyone's attention.
"I was there when the Hero Killer said those words," he said calmly.
"In my opinion, he was an extremely extreme person—someone willing to abandon all restraint for his beliefs. Even if his starting point sounded noble, his actions would never be accepted by society."
"That's exactly why," Iida said firmly, straightening his posture, "I will continue walking the path of becoming a Hero—so that someone like him never appears again!"
He began gesturing energetically, completely returning to his familiar, overly earnest self.
Seeing that, Masata smiled.
Yep. Iida really hadn't changed at all.
Since the person most affected had spoken, and the topic itself was sensitive, the class naturally moved on.
The noisy morning passed in laughter and reunion, just like that.