I honestly don't like this chapter, but it's just set up, so yeah. Uh. It's one of two I'm planning on posting today.
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"An internship?" Chiron asked as he sat outside. The sun was bright and nice and instead of being cramped in the staff room, the Centaur had bid his coworkers their best and took his papers outside to look over. Astolfo was currently flopped over his flank while Gray sat in front of him, Add next to her and a book in her lap.
"Mm," Astolfo nodded, patting his side, "I have a few ideas where I want to look, but also, I wanted to see if I could just skip the application and work with you, or something."
"I'm afraid I'm going to be off working on something with the police in that time," He admitted, "Gran Torino found something and he wants help with it." Astolfo sighed but nodded again. "That's fair... What about you, Gray? Any ideas?"
Gray blinked, looking up from her book. "Originally, I had been thinking about Gang Orca or ask Aizawa-sensei about other Underground Heroes he might know, but..." she trailed off, looking up at the sky. "Apparently, Toshinori wants me to go with Midoriya," she said after a moment and Chiron nodded.
"So, Sir Nighteye, then..." he mused, "I recall that he had talked to Midoriya and Mirio about it. I didn't realize he wanted you to join them."
Gray nodded. "This weekend," she confirmed, "Mirio was heading out then, so I'm going to be going with them to meet Sir Nighteye."
"Good luck then," Astolfo said, pulling his phone out, fiddling with it. "I wonder if Musashi can get me in contact with Red Beryl? She's with Kamihara still, and Hakama and Kamihara are good friends, so maybe she knows? I could contact Hakama directly though..." The Rider hummed again, shrugging as he yawned. "Oh well, I'll figure it out."
"Good luck then..." Gray hummed, smiling and tilting her head. At the lack of response, Chiron blinked and glanced back. He shook his head, chuckling softly as well at the sight, carefully reaching over and taking Astolfo's phone from his hands, setting it next to him.
"He falls asleep quite fast," he mused and Gray giggled softly.
(x)
One early morning getting dragged out of the dorm by Midoriya and a stiff, hour-long train ride later found Gray standing outside of a large building with Midoriya and Mirio. Her green-haired classmate was still as stiff as a board as he gazed up at the building.
"Hey now," Mirio told him as Gray tugged her hood down. "Don't be too formal! It won't get you anywhere!"
The blonde turned towards them, hands in his pockets as he spoke. "I failed to mention it before, but Sir is quite strict."
Midoriya nodded. "I'm aware," he said before launching into a speech about the man. Gray wasn't exactly sure what else she expected from him, though. From what she knew, Sir Nighteye was able to see the future. Chiron had commented that her own Eyes of Sybil (as they had ended up dubbing it) would either impress him or make him more standoffish towards her.
The man was already apprehensive to one more intern, apparently. If she was to do this the legal way in order to comply with her Master's wishes, she would have to convince the Hero that two interns would world for him. If not... she would have to forfeit the hero industry entirely and act solely as a Servant in order to work with Midoriya— which wasn't a bad thing, but she quite liked the "school life" she was allowed to have at the moment. Legal conditions were quite... bothersome at times.
She blinked, pulling out of her thoughts as she saw Mirio start to walk. She adjusted her hood before she followed him into the building, Midoriya not too far behind them.
"The most I can do for you both is an introduction," Mirio was saying as they walked up the stairs. "Sir will be the one to decide if you'll be of any use to him or not. I do want to help you as much as I can from here, but from here on out, you two have no choice but to make Sir acknowledge you on his own."
Midoriya gazed up at Mirio, a look that was almost admiration crossing his face before being replaced by questioning one.
"I know it's a bit late to be asking this, but why are you being so good to me, to us, even though we just met?" he asked and Mirio hummed.
"Well, for you specifically, Midoriya, it's not as if I was trying to be good to you or anything, but you've got a crazy objective. And you're doing your absolute best to realize that," he told them. "If there's someone in trouble who needs help, meddling in their affairs is standard for a hero, right?"
The blonde chuckled. "As for Gray. Well, I just think she's neat."
"Um, thank you?" Gray asked and the blonde nodded.
"And she's the only one who could read me like a book! And with her eyes closed! I was impressed, so when All Might asked me to take her with us when he said that he wanted me to introduce you to Sir, I couldn't say no!" he added. "Were you having trouble finding a hero to work under, too, Gray? I was kinda hoping that the horse-teacher would come to talk to me about helping you, but All Might's not bad, ahahaha!"
Gray sweat as they approached a door and Mirio cleared his throat.
"Now then! It's just beyond that door!" He told them, walking over to it. "Hey there! I brought the First Year I told you about yesterday!" the blonde called as he threw the door open. Gray blinked, eyes widening at the sight before them.
"Seriously what the hell is this place?!" Midoriya cried.
A blue-haired and blue-skinned woman was attached to some sort of... tickle-hell device? A tall, lanky man with green hair stood in front of it and Gray narrowed her eyes.
"Stop, please!" the blue-haired woman cried out between laughs.
"So what's going on here, exactly?" Gray asked Mirio and the blonde hummed.
"Bubble Girl, his Sidekick! It seems she didn't have enough humor, did she?" he asked her.
"I don't think that's the problem, blondie," Add uttered and Gray sweat before the man turned. Gray felt her body freeze.
Green hair. Two stripes of yellow. Dull yellow eyes.
She ignored Midoriya as he introduced himself, making a face that was very similar to All Might's signature smile.
This was him. This was the man she saw in her vision.
But if that was true then... then...
Then Sir Nighteye was going to die very soon...
She stood frozen on the spot, her eyes shadowed as her mind raced. Around her, Nighteye was talking, scolding maybe, Midoriya. Mirio was helping Bubble Girl, glancing at her with his brows furrowed.
Sir Nighteye was going to die...?
And soon...?
Very soon, if what she saw was right.
But it wasn't always right, the other timelines proved that. She wasn't sure which line that vision was from.
Could she stop it from happening?
"Are you just gonna be replicating the Gorgon Medusa from now on or what?" Add's voice droned and she snapped out of her thoughts, realizing that the others were staring at her. Her eyes flickered orange for a moment.
Nighteye was sitting behind his desk, looking unimpressed as she walked up to stand next to Midoriya. Green eyes met gold and she only adjusted her hood.
The man in front of her was going to die.
She was standing in front of a man who was on his way to death in a few days' time. A month at tops.
She moved numbly, feeling detached as Midoriya pulled his application out. She reached into her cloak and set her's down too. Her hand brushed the Pro's as he picked them up to look at them.
Was she supposed to stop his death?
Was she supposed to tell him in order to prevent it?
A sharp tap jolted her from her distanced state, eyes snapping orange before changing back as she gazed down at Nighteye's hand. He had set the papers down sometime while she was lost in thought. The man had missed stamping Midoriya's application and the boy voiced as such.
"That's because I don't feel like stamping it," the man said as he continued to tap the stamp on his desk.
"Midoriya, was it? I'm already aware of the merits that you would reap from working here," he continued, "And Miss Velvet, from what I've read, your skills are indeed something to be praised, but the fact remains: how am I benefited from you both working here? This office gets by just fine with two Sidekicks and one student Intern. How exactly would I profit from taking one of you, let alone both of you, in?"
He raised a brow, head tilting as he tapped the stamp again and again. "What can you contribute to society? How can you be of benefit to others? If you wish for me to acknowledge you, you must demonstrate that to me," he continued, "All Might demonstrated it using his abundant power and humor. He granted hope to those frightened by crime. That is why the masses accepted him."
"How can I be... useful to society...?" Midoriya asked and Gray reached up, rubbing her eyes.
Nighteye stood, walking around the desk as he spoke. "What profits can my company gain from your presence? You are to demonstrate that to me... not with words, but with actions."
The hero held the stamp up as he gazed at them. "Three minutes. I challenge both of you to take this stamp from me in three minutes. Midoriya first, then Velvet. If you wish to work at my company as a hero, then stamp this paper by yourself."
Midoriya looked startled as Nighteye ushered Mirio, Bubble Girl, and herself out of the room.
"Soo..." Mirio started when he closed the door. "What was that all about?"
"Hm? Oh, the stopping and staring? He looked like someone I knew," Gray lied as they walked down the hall. Crashing sounded from behind the door and she glanced back.
Midoriya didn't exactly have a chance, considering Sir Nighteye's Quirk.
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Yeet