It was Monday morning of the following week, we were at the boarding station bidding goodbye to our classmates as everyone became prepared for the week ahead of us.
I was tense, tugging at my fingers in anxiety with the thought that I wouldn't be home for the week with Shota, nor would I be around my best friends. Mina and Jirou were pressing me into a group hug with the other girls, promising that we'd update each other at least once a day with photos and texts in our group chat. When we separated, Uraraka pulled on my sleeve, tugging me away from the gathering of students. "Hey, you gave Iida your phone number right? We should text him constantly and make sure he's okay." Uraraka glanced down, twiddling her thumbs as she casted a worried look in Iida's direction.
I pressed my hand on her shoulder, "Don't worry, I'll bother him everyday with calls if it means well." She smiled, giving me a private hug as Jirou approached us. I waved goodbye to Uraraka as she ran to Izuku and Iida, their trains were leaving ten minutes earlier than ours. To my surprise, Izuku spun on his heel bounding back in my direction. He grabbed my hand saying, "Text me occasionally so I know you're okay!" I smiled, "You too, Izuku. Don't go out there hurting yourself." He nodded and took off.
Jirou kept an arm casually around my waist, she grew more affectionate towards me since the sports festival, so I figured we were warming up to each other greatly, which made me happy. I nudged her shoulder, asking, "You excited to intern for Gang Orca?" She kept a nervous look but said yes.
"I gotta go, call me when you get to Endeavor's okay?"
"I will, Jirou. Have a safe ride." She waved, before I was standing awkwardly in the center of the platform. I saw the angry chihuahua named Bakugo standing by himself so I used the opportunity to talk to him.
"Bakugo."
"Ugly crybaby."
"You're going with Best Jeanist, if you see a cute pair of jeans that are my size, make sure to bring it back." I knew my poor attempt of a joke would probably irritate him.
He scoffed, flicking my forehead. "You could put on anything and still be ugly."
I grabbed my stomach, pretending to be in pain, "That really hurt, Bakubro, you're always so mean to me," I lifted my head up to smirk, briefly flashing him my favorite finger. He glared, "Don't call me that."
"Okay, then what, Katsuki?" I raised my eyebrows, analyzing his expression. There was an irritation, but also a satisfaction, I was unsure where it derived from but as long as he wasn't bitter or angry, I was glad.
"I don't care, but not those stupid nicknames Kirishima gives me." His eyebrows were pulled in as he glanced me up and down.
I might get stabbed for this. I dropped my voice to a whisper, "Is Kacchan fine?"
I spent the next ten seconds worming away from his headlock as he playfully punched the top of my head repeatedly. "I'm kidding, Bakugo! Let go! I surrender." I cried out, pawing helplessly at his muscular forearm. Finally, he released, pushing me off like if I was the one who put myself in a headlock.
He took out his phone, checking the time as the train station was beginning to filter out with students. "I gotta go, my ride leaves right now," he stated calmly, blinking before turning on his heel to walk away.
I grabbed the cuff of his jacket, "Be careful, but also text or call if you need anything, I know you're not like that but still, you're my friend and I just wanna know you're-" I couldn't finish my sentence since he lightly pressed his knuckle to the entirety of my face.
"Shut up, crybaby. I know what you're trying to say, if you do anything stupid with Endeavor, I'll personally see to it that you get sent to Recovery Girl's office."
That was his way of saying that I take care of myself, too. I smiled, nodding in agreement before I gave him a small wave as he stalked off to board his train.
I turned, seeing that only Todoroki and Denki remained in the station, along with Aizawa. Denki was boarding soon, but he couldn't say much to me since Aizawa had him wrapped around his scarf, telling him something. The electric user looked rather terrified as he kept shaking his head. Eventually, he was released and he stood in front of me, fear drifting through his pupils.
"What did Aizawa say to you?" I questioned worriedly while I fixed his ruffled clothing. "N-nothing, Florence! Don't stress about it." He tried to come off as reassuring, but it failed and I only sighed. He squeezed my hand, "I'll see you in a week, take care, angel, I can't hug you because Aizawa is watching and he looks scary."
Did Shota say something to him? I nodded, squeezing back and telling him to take care of himself, too.
When he walked off, I stomped to Aizawa, tugging on his scarf with a glare. "Sir, were you getting mad at Kaminari?" I asked, before releasing the scarf and crossing my arms with a huff.
"Yes, you're my kid right now, so I have every right to." He was still stoic, but I saw the amusement dawning on his countenance. I rolled my eyes, "Okay, Mr. Father, but you were the one telling me to make friends." He pressed his pointer finger to my lips, gesturing for me to hush before patting my head lightly. "Go on with Todoroki, I'll see you in a week, Reyna. Keep me updated on what you do and please be safe."
"Bye, sir!" I smiled, before turning to approach Todoroki and board the train with him. When we got settled into our seats opposing each other, we were both quiet, as my eyes drifted to the outer world, marveling at the blurring hues of green and blue with each passing second.
After about twenty minutes, I found myself fluttering my eyelids, ready to succumb to a much-needed nap, but I felt Todoroki's presence beside me. I glanced, smiling quickly, before returning my gaze outside. "I consider you a friend, Reyna, I would like to get to know you more." He stated, voice quiet and low. Todoroki was always so straight-forward but I knew he meant no ill intention in his manner of portrayal, he simply knew as much as I did about interacting with others properly.
"Sure, Todoroki, ask anything you want, and I'll let you know what I will or won't talk about."
He hummed, showing his acceptance of my response as he began with random questions, asking of how many siblings I had, what foods I liked or disliked, my favorite movie, simple matters before fading into deeper subjects. I returned the questions and it became a sort of game, both of us pressing on as the subjects were random but specifiable enough to be answered thoroughly.
"What's your mother's quirk?" He asked, eyes staring at me lazily. "It's called Premonition. She has dreams that can pinpoint certain events that will happen, but the accuracy is always a hundred percent, she rarely gets proper layouts of the timing of these events though unless it's clearly stated in the dream," I explained, recalling how fearful my mother would become if she had a bad dream that foreshadowed the future, often times she predicted people's deaths and why they'd die, even reaching so far as to have interactions with the non-living through her dreams in order to communicate a message. It was a quirk that drained her, but she wouldn't like to use it daily, it sometimes forced its power onto her, demanding that she sees what's necessary.
He used my opening conversation about my mother to speak of his, going over their strained relationship and how he's working towards restoring their bond by visiting her at the facility she was staying in. I told him how I was proud of him for wanting to move forward with himself when he passed me the smallest of smiles.
"Is there a man in this world that you would trust with your life?" His question caught me off-guard as I reiterated my head's position to look at him. Is there a man I trust with my entire life? Men always proved to be creatures filled with betrayal, I had a hard time comprehending the idea that not every person is out for some hateful vendetta to harm others.
"I trust my grandfather and Mr. Aizawa." I finally replied, twirling the loose strands of my hair. It was true, my grandpa was the only man I would give up everything for, he was much too kind and pure for the world, and he sacrificed so much of his time and life to raise my father who took such a strong love for granted. I wouldn't see him often enough because he resided in the very city that my father was in, so the time spent together came few and far in between, but my love for him was immeasurable. Mr. Aizawa had snuck his way into my heart, settling there as someone who I was beginning to look at as a parent, someone I admired and felt comfortable being around, whatever armor and defenses I had raised throughout the past years became dismantled the more time I spent with him.
Todoroki dwelled on my answer before seeming content, he was discussing how he couldn't trust Endeavor as a father, much less love him like one, but that he was glad that I had agreed to intern with him. With that, our train stopped and signified to us that we had arrived to our destination.
Meeting Endeavor was a struggle, the man immediately disregarded the idea of working with me properly as he told me that he only offered the internship because of the way I beat Todoroki. He irritated me so I demanded that if I didn't learn some new skills within the week, I'd see to it that his name gets slandered online. Todoroki had to drag me away from continuing the verbal attack to the large, red haired man, and with that, my internship properly began.
We had spent the rest of the day performing trainings and sparring battles that were just as intense as my fights with the QAP, I spent my time getting thrown left and right by Endeavor's sidekicks and Todoroki. Endeavor finally caved in and pulled me aside.
"Your quirk can definitely be powerful, but you're close-minded on your different attacks, you need to use your nature to create anything and everything that will aid you. Create weapons, safety nets with vines, anything that comes to mind that can aid in capturing a villain or protecting civilians. Think outside the box and maybe then you'll be a challenge to my Shoto when he finally uses his fire." He said, glowering with an irritation that would rival Bakugo's fierce stare.
"Yeah, he used his flames on me at the Sports Festival and I still beat him." I replied, before adding, "Thanks for the advice, by the way, but if Todoroki hates you, I gotta stay loyal as a friend and hate you too." Before I could walk away, he yanked on my hero costume, forcing me to stumble backwards.
"You're friends with my Shoto?" His voice was demanding and I only rolled my eyes. "Of course I am, I see him for the amazing person he is, not just some kind of creation used to usurp All Might." He released me, stunned, as I only wiggled my eyebrows and fingers simultaneously, leaving to go back to sparring with Burnin'.
We spent the next day training for twelve hours before walking around the town, Endeavor explained the purpose of patrolling and kids would stop every now and then to compliment Todoroki or point me out as the girl who won second place at the Sports Festival. It was an insightful day, but it grew boring when we arrived back in the office to take the heavy load of paperwork that was left to Endeavor. Before he could leave us to finish the task, he told us to wrap it up quickly because we'd train tomorrow for another twelve hours before leaving for Hosu City.
I raised my hand as if I was a student in Endeavor's classroom. "What is it, Reyna?" He asked, already frustrated since I had been inquisitive all day on learning all the inner workings of a pro-hero's life.
"Why are we going to Hosu City, Mister Endeavor?" I replied, noticing the way his face morphed into a scowl at my dubbed name for him.
"We're investigating the Hero Killer Stain." I stiffened with those words, I wonder if Iida is faring off well over there.
I had called him yesterday and today, but he was maintaining the short and dry attitude he had been holding for the past week, so our conversations ended rather quickly. Endeavor left after that statement, and Todoroki and I spent our time chatting every so often while acting as secretaries.
The next day, more training carried on from five in the morning until five in the afternoon. Todoroki and I's bodies were yelling in fatigue as we dragged ourselves to the train, preparing to leave for Hosu City. The two-toned boy and I discussed how we found new techniques with our fighting, and I grew excited in explaining the details of how I found new items to create out of the stone, rock, and vine combo that I typically dealt with. Todoroki listened patiently and added suggestions every now and then. When we arrived, things were relatively calm as Endeavor met up with pro-heroes and began discussing the reported sighting of the Hero Killer.
The city was eerily quiet until the sun set, it was as if a flip had been switched so briskly, forcing us to become serious as the police began panicking over Nomus appearing in a downtown area.
There's more than one Nomu? What if the others are even worse than the one All Might fought with at the USJ? My stomach tightened in discomfort as I felt a deep fear embed into my skin. The idea of confronting another monster that had been derived from humanity was forcing me to shrink closer to Todoroki. By the time we arrived on the scene, a fire had broken loose, it seemed this section of the world was engulfed in flames as those distorted creatures were flying about, threatening to harm innocent bystanders.
"Reyna! Shoto! Lead civilians to safety!" Endeavor cried out as he ran off to target the Nomus. With that, Todoroki and I got to work, leading others away from the deepest parts of the flames. I would release vines and cast them away quickly, touching bodies left and right to send the healing quantities of the best plants I could think of. Eventually, most of this part of the town had been evacuated properly, as Todoroki and I followed Endeavor again, looking towards the night sky littered with stars as we wondered what our next moves would be.
The heterochromatic boy and I jumped simultaneously, both of us yanking out our phones from the vibration we received. The weirdest feeling occurred in my spine and it began working its way to my throat as I received a rather simple text. It was a dot that radiated Izuku Midoriya's location. He's in Hosu City? I thought he went with Gran Torino. Panic crept its way into my muscles, I held up the screen for Todoroki to see as he replicated my move.
He got the exact same thing.
Without speaking, we both spun around and took off sprinting towards the direction that the dot was in.
Something bad's about to happen.