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A/N: votes and comments are VERYYYY appreciated.

Lani POV:

"You don't understand. Mai cheated." I groaned in annoyance, resting my hands atop Yuna's desk.

My boss poured the dressing on her salad with a sigh, looking up at me like I was the fly who'd been pestering her all day.

"I don't remember specifying it was possible to cheat." She alluded.

I ran a tired hand through my hair as I reflected on what went down in the past hour, wanting to bang my head against the wall every time I remembered Mai taking away all my possible hero clients in a span of three seconds.

Damn. I've perfected a great system over the years of dismissing most things. But, today was starting to push my buttons.

"Call me crazy, but I thought it went without saying that using one's quirk to sway the competition would be unfair." I grumbled, watching Yuna pull out a random bag of croutons from under her desk.

My eyes widened as she dumped the entire bag in the little plastic bowl of salad, using the top of the lid to crush and smush down the ones that wouldn't fit.

"Ah. Well you thought wrong. Lani. Mai's just using her advantages." Yuna shrugged over the loud crunching of the croutons, glancing up at me through narrow eyes. "If you had a useful quirk, you could use it, too, you know."

My shoulders sulked with a bit of pout at the jab.

I don't wanna hear about my useless quirk.

"That's beside the point." I grumbled quietly, not bothering to try and challenge the sound of Yuna's aggressive salad wielding.

She forcefully snapped the cap of her overfilled salad bowl shut, shaking it wildly to try and mix the dressing around inside.

The conversation was forced to pause as she assaulted her salad mercilessly, crossing my arms in annoyance until she stopped.

"Listen. Lani—" She sighed, popping the lid off her salad bowl before forcing the plastic fork into the sea of croutons. "Err—your name's Lani, right?"

Gotta love Yuna. Now you see why most interns leave because of 'emotional damage.'

I'm used to this type of behavior in my life though...

"I've been an intern here for almost two years now. But, yes. That's my name." I sighed in exhaustion, glancing at the clock on the wall.

I'm gonna be late for my other job if we don't get this sorted out soon.

Yuna hummed in lazy delight for her salad, opening another drawer before pulling out a giant bar of chocolate to supplement it. "Great. Look, between my new keto diet and Hawks' nudes being leaked yesterday—probably by himself—I really don't have the time for this."

Jesus. Again, Hawks? The entire country's had to have seen him naked by now.

But, hey. All I gotta say is that his girlfriend's a lucky woman, cause damn....

"Well, what am I supposed to do?" I mumbled, resting my head back against the chair.

Yuna held up a finger in waiting to my question, grimacing as the crouton salad cut up the roof of her mouth.

"Mmph. Ow—the task was to get a young hero into the top ten by the end of Hero Season." She said with a harsh swallow, waving her hand at me dismissively. "There aren't any rules about it, just use whatever means necessary. That's what it means to be a journalist."

Use whatever means necessary.

In other words, get sleazier, I guess.

That's the job I signed up for.

"I suppose I could try again tomorrow." I stroked my chin in thought. "Mai's definitely found a hero of her own by now. She won't be at UA university anymore to take the competition. I'm sure of it."

Yuna chewed in silence as she pondered on my words, deciding to continuing spiking my blood pressure for the fun of it.

"I'd actually like you to find someone by tonight."

RIP.

"What!?? Why?!!"

"Because I'm impatient, loving this new stressful side of you—and frankly, really curious to see how this plays out." She chuckled.

"But, all the hero courses at UA University ended over an hour ago." I explained, quickly glancing at the wall clock again. "Where am I supposed to find a young, promising hero at—seven at night?"

Ahhh, and I'm now late for work.

"You ask so many questions." She sighed, breaking off pieces of the chocolate bar before sprinkling it into her salad. "I don't know, but either find one tonight, or pack up your things tomorrow. Your choice."

I already had the next argument in my head, unable to deliver on it when my phone dinged with a text message.

Text Message From: Kai
Where are you? Boss man's getting pissed ur late again...

Pressing my lips together, I quickly gathered up my items and prepared to leave for my next job, continuing to be the hero commission's punching bag.

Whatever gets me the money. Trust me when I tell you....

I really need it. For something important.

"I'll have a hero under my belt by tomorrow morning." I nodded to Yuna halfheartedly, yet she was too busy cutting up a piece of fried chicken into her salad to notice.

Man. Today is just not my day.

***

Shouto POV:

Today didn't really go as planned...

Sure, it started out how it normally does. Wake up at 4:30am, get ready for work, and head into the 'office,' so to say. Greet Midoriya first and listen to him rave about his new vacuum cleaner for the fifth time that week—not that I mind. I bought the same one off his recommendation. It works great.

Most days feel the same and I like it that way. It's almost like I never left high school. I think that's great.

In a way, I guess we didn't. My old teacher, Mr. Aizawa, made a temporary hero agency once our class graduated. It's designed specifically for UA students to be able to work and go to college at the same time.

No other agency in the country would allow their hero employees—especially younger ones—to leave in the middle of the day for college. Any other hero would need to complete schooling separately and miss out on three years of hero experience. Most don't even attempt university for that reason alone.

We're lucky. I think. I assume. There hasn't been anything to convince me otherwise.

Continuing on with the schedule, my classmates and I always break from hero work after lunch and head to campus for five hours of classes. After that, the usual routine is heading back to the agency to finish up the remaining two hours of hero patrol, and then going to sleep...

...somewhere, in between this part of my day today...is where things got disrupted.

It's not the first time a publishing agency has tried recruiting me to their business. As dad's son (unfortunately) it comes with the territory. I've been getting offers to join one since I've been sixteen.

The Hero Commission is no exception. While it's considered to be the 'best of the best,' as people say, I've been throwing out their offer letters for the past four years straight.

My classmates think I'm crazy for it. Even Bakugo can't believe it...

Breaking the top ten as a new hero is considered to be so impossible, the main goal after graduation is just striving to be picked up by a publicity agency instead to further your career along in a short amount of time.

That's not really my goal though.

After growing up the way I did, I couldn't care less about publicity....'status?' I watched it behind closed doors all my life. The reminder of it lived in my house, and if it taught me anything? It's that fame doesn't make a true hero.

I would like to break the top ten someday. But, not to be 'famous.'

To see how strong I can become, and how well I can save others.

And I want to do it on my own. Through my hard work only, without all the nonsense of 'fame.'

That's always been my goal. An offer hasn't ever tempted me enough to consider it—let alone, stay in my headspace for more than ten seconds after the conversation.

It's how my mind works—filtering out all the unnecessary things—things I believe are unnecessary. If I believe they're unnecessary, then surely, they must be.

That's not the only reason though.

I'm also very comfortable with my life at the moment. I don't want anything to change that.

My dad never let me play with kids my age when I was younger. I only got my first taste of interaction when I arrived at UA High School, and everyone just accepted me so much, it creeped me out—except Bakugo. Whenever I look at him, I just see a donkey shrieking because it just got its tail stepped on.

I told him that one time and he started yelling (and made the donkey face). Midoriya said that was rude of me to say, but I didn't mean it in a rude way. I thought it was common knowledge?

Socially, I've always had a cushion between me and the real world. I never spoke to people and when I finally did, I never really needed to change myself—my way of speaking, anyways. The thought of doing that didn't even cross my mind because my classmates never allowed it to.

The social cushion continued even after high school. I've been with the same classmates since I've been fifteen. They know me, they're used to me—and having Midoriya as my very first friend never gave me the chance to experience the bad side of trying to make friends.

Because of this, in the twenty years I've been alive.....no one's really criticized the way I carry myself.

Blunt. Odd. Honestly, that's the worst I've heard, and most of them come from Bakugo. Even so, acquaintances don't care enough to bring up my personality traits, because what I might 'lack' in friendliness, I make up for in skills.

I believe the word for this is....ironic. Because people can criticize my quirk all day and it doesn't bother me. I'm used to that. Growing up with dad, I developed a thick skin. I learned to tune most things out.

But, this criticism has never really happened socially.

Until today.

That woman from earlier just annoys me a little.

I can't even remember her face because she had those big sunglasses on. But, her words unusually stuck in my head long after the conversation passed, and I don't know why...

"Being a top ranking hero nowadays is just as much about social skills as it is about physical-"

"I have social skills."

"Do you?"

Of course I do. No one's told me otherwise. Not that I've really put myself in a position to hear it. But...still...

How irritating. It hurt my pride, and she's a horrible person.

Even the woman I used to date didn't comment on my way of interacting with people.

I'll admit there's a lot of things I don't understand. But, since when has that ever been a problem?

To say I 'get by' in life would be an understatement. I graduated UA Highschool as number three in my class, and now at twenty years old, I'm on the way to finishing college a space ahead of Bakugo—something he continues to passionately deny.

Sure, I might not understand a person's humor, or what's considered 'rude'—and I only saw the value of having friends recently...

But, I know how to use my quirk, rise to the top with it, and unblock dad's number whenever I'm low on money for dinner.

What more to life is there to understand?

I'm trying to tell you that even if I don't get some things, I get the important things, and that's what matters.

So long as I can be a good hero—and the records show that I am, then all the 'other' stuff is irrelevant to my life.

Therefore, it doesn't deserve any of my attention or concern-

BOOM!

The loud explosion in the city broke my daydreaming thoughts, alerting me that Bakugo was backing me up on the other side.

That's right. I'm in the middle of a battle right now. I should probably do something about that.

"Oi, you half-and-half shit!!!" He nagged from the air, looking like a mixture between a chihuahua and a giraffe. "Take any longer with that villain and I'll be older than your old man! Hurry up already!"

I didn't realize I zoned out until he brought it up, giving my head a small shake before turning back to the villain in front of me.

That's odd. I never get sidetracked in my thoughts during a fight. All my attention span goes to my work. That's what thinking about unnecessary things will do to you.

I wiped the blood and sweat from my forehead and shot another block of ice at the guy in a cheap pirate hat. He cackled at my attack, trying and failing to neutralize it with weak seashells.

He's a grade D villain. I should have taken him out by now....

"Ah. This'll be the move." I muttered to myself lowly, boring my intense gaze into the nameless villain as I powered up my ice again-

"Hey, hero guy!" A girl on the sidelines interrupted my focus, waving her phone around in my direction. "Give me a cool quote for my KickTok!"

Ugh. Not again.

This is the part that always annoys me...

I don't know when being at the face of danger became some form of 'entertainment,' but there's always a line of civilians along the sidewalk during these fights.

Instead of running for their lives anymore, everyone sticks around in harm's way—snapping pictures and filming me as if this were a movie.

Whatever. Like I explained earlier, fame and putting on a show aren't important to me. My job is to protect them and detain the villains, so that's what I focus on.

That's what I do.

I simply scoffed at the girl and ignored her, hearing a few offended gasps from the audience.

"Jeez. He's not very friendly." Someone whispered before another chimed in.

"I'll say. Last time a fight in the city happened, Hawks came over and autographed his nudes for me in the middle of battle. What's this guy's problem?"

"Being a top ranking hero nowadays is just as much about social skills as it is about physical." That woman's words echoed.

I groaned at the memory of the encounter from earlier, giving my head a shake to focus on the fight.

But...

What would she know about the hero world, anyway? What she said isn't true. She's wrong. Does she know that? Someone should tell her she's wrong.

And yet, the words of the civilians only made the mystery woman's words from earlier echo louder into my head, causing the aim on my next ice shot to embarrassingly veer off track.

I don't have a socializing problem-

My eyes widened as I watched my ice block slam into a parked car on the street instead of the villain, gritting my teeth stressfully as I prepared to overcorrect.

This is The Woman's fault, and she's a horrible person.

"Shouto!" Midoriya called out before I could, clearly seeing my focus was off as he landed in front of me. "I'll take this one. Push the civilians back a few feet, okay? It's going to get messy!"

I sighed in frustration with myself and nodded, stepping back so I wouldn't jeopardize the fight.

"On it."

Letting Midoriya take over in the street, I jogged to the packed sidewalk of awestruck civilians, forming a long line of ice barricades and gesturing my hands.

"Please back up behind the barricades for your safety. Several feet." I called plainly, watching the civilians begrudgingly walk behind the barricade.

"Mr. Hero, I'm scared!" A little girl exclaimed, gripping the hand of her mother tightly as the two walked behind the barricade.

She's scared? That's fine. I learned this part from school.

"Don't be scared. Everything's going to be okay." I rehearsed straight from my textbook, not even looking down at the girl as I continued to usher people to safety.

The audience awed at the moment, placing their hands on their chests and looking at me with more admiration now.

See? I'm warm. Fuzzy, even.

A little tug at my pant leg caused me to look down, seeing a snotty kid with sticky fingers gazing up at me with watery, doe eyes.

"Is my mommy going to be okay, Mr. Hero?"

That's a question in the hero support textbook, I'm sure. But, I can still make it work. I improvise on the battlefield all the time. This shouldn't be any harder.

"Probably." I said casually, causing a nearby woman to gasp.

"Did you just say probably?!"

Yes?

Civilians on the street began to stop walking behind the barricade and look around the city uneasy, causing me to furrow my brows in confusion at the sudden change.

"Well, there's never really 100% guarantee when it comes to anything. But, with three heroes on the scene, it's a low likely chance she'll be killed." I followed up.

"My mommy could be killed?!!?" Another kid suddenly screamed, sending more little ones into a frenzy.

"What about my mommy!?"

"And mine!!!"

"What about my daddy?!!"

"Any one of your parents could be killed today." I said honestly, starting to panic when loud cries of children echoed through the city now. "B..But, there's a higher chance they won't be-"

People began to yell in distress now, pushing and shoving each other for more space behind the barricade.

"Now I'm scared!!!" A kid shrieked maniacally, starting a chain reaction of sobs and screams.

Did I say something wrong? I never said their parents were going to die...

I looked around the row of screaming civilians, unsure of what to say as the chaos grew louder.

Luckily, I didn't have to think about it for too long as Midoriya appeared next to me quickly, holding a tied up pirate villain in one hand before he spoke to the crowd.

"Oh—ah!!—don't worry, everyone!" He waved his free hand around anxiously, gesturing to the tied up bad guy. "There's no more danger here anymore! See? Please be careful heading home!"

Within seconds, the crowd had calmed down, leaving me to huff tiredly before I nodded to Midoriya with thanks.

"What happened?" He said, causing me to run a hand through my hair in annoyance.

A girl happened. An annoying one.

"Nothing." I simply said. "She's not important."

*******

A/N: thank u for voting and commenting! I'll have a schedule for this book soon. I just want to see how people like it first as we get a little deeper into it<3

Next Chapter Title: It Was A Good Joke, A Great Joke Even.