wsg gang!! I'm on vacation so maybe have some time to myself finally... hopefully... maybe...

hope all is well with y'all!

omg also ignore the og chapter name i forgot to change it when i published💀

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I didn't utter a single word as the Chairwoman worked, shuffling between folders and typing a few words on her laptop and then back to her papers again. Like a ghost, I remained silently at attention in the corner, even as my legs began to ache with weary.

"What have you learned?" the Chairwoman spoke after what felt like hours. Her eyes remained trained on her computer.

I inhaled a sigh, running over the facts in my mind. There was no warning I'd be in Hosu. Yet, in order to have been as prepared as they were — with the tank and the Nomu— the League must have had an inkling I'd be there at some point during my internship. I already knew there was a spy, but I hadn't considered that I'd be a focus of theirs — that I was a target of the League.

If they could catch me impromptu in Hosu, they could find me anywhere— That was the biggest takeaway. At this moment, there was nothing I could do to prevent that. There was only one option available for me.

"I need to become much stronger," I answered.

The Chairwoman closed her eyes, signalling an imperceptible nod. "The next time you find yourself in a sticky situation... it would be best if you could avoid drawing Hawks' into it."

I felt a small twinge in my chest.

"Your actions, understandable as they were, triggered events far removed from yourself. I now have a number of influential figures I have to appease instead of focusing on other pressing matters." She tapped the papers into a neat stack and placed them in front of her. Her icy blue eyes met mine. "I understand that Hawks' cares for you— and that I cannot intercept that. That is why I am asking you, for his sake amongst many others, to get stronger. And quickly."

I lowered my eyes from her gaze and dipped my head. "Yes, Ma'am."

I made my way to the basement, surrounded by damp cement walls and flickering fluorescent lights. My legged ached with a sharp throb— your average healer left much more to be desired compared to Recovery Girl. There were no open wounds, but internal bruising remained. The breaks in my ribs and forearm had been healed, but it was more of a patch-up job— they were very susceptible to breaks until they finished healing on their own. The Commission gave me supplements to help speed up the process so I would be in good enough shape to return to class once the internship period was over.

I sat at the desk in my room and pulled out my workbooks and laptop. How could I have handled that situation better— At the level that All Might could?

It was an impossible question— my Quirk Factor was no longer within myself. All Might's strength came from his body, as did Endeavor's flames. Mina's acid, Bakugo's explosions— no matter where they were, they could still use their Quirk. On the other hand, without the Earth, I was practically Quirkless.

Specialized heroes exist, I countered, and just as quickly banished the thought. Sure, some top heroes were more effective in certain environments than others, but if my Quirk remained as exclusive as it was now, I would never be strong enough.

I already had the Diabase knives. If I could've cut through the metal somehow— that level of force would require an extreme amount of acceleration, but in a space that small...

I jotted down a couple of notes about instantaneous acceleration and projectiles in my workbook. Hopefully that would take care of a significant portion of my weaknesses. The other, at the moment, was mobility.

I tapped my pencil against my desk. How did Transmutation and Manipulation Quirks move? I pulled out some old hero and Quirk documentaries and popped one in the VCR while I scrolled through the Hero Wiki.

By the time night came, my notebook was full of scrawled notes about reversal jet streams, sand, floating, platforms— every comparison I could conceivably make. As the hours rolled on, my sleep-addled mind began to think back to Endeavor's words.

"The Life in All Things"

What if that was my Quirk? I had felt the thought in the recesses of my mind, but had been too threatened to address it in full. What did it mean? It would explain what had happened at the Sport's Festival and again at my internship— the way Bakugo and Todoroki's cells had suddenly felt tangible with an electric liveliness.

The soil was a muddled stew filled with microorganisms and minerals that had been processed through centuries of plant and animal life. It had vitality, but it was muffled in a way— the Life was so imperceptible it became one mellowed unconscious beast.

The human was different. It was electric. Its life was powerful, it was willful — it was thousands of cells and minerals and organisms working in harmony to create a living, conscious thing.

I knew intuitively that it was not something to be tampered with, and playing with the thought felt like staring the abyss in the eyes. Still, a faint question lingered in my mind— what if there was some sort of compromise? Something in-between?

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The classroom was rowdy as ever as I pushed open the doors. Some blonde kid was a few paces in front of me, and Kirishima and Sero were cackling at him. "Seriously? Seriously, Bakugo!"

You're telling me... the kid with a slick-back side-part in front of me is Bakugo?

"Stop laughing!" Bakugo was raging. "My hair's gotten used to it, so it won't go back even after I wash it!"

Sero and Kirishima laughed harder. I stifled my own laugh.

"Stop laughing! I'll fucking kill you, nerds!"

"I'd like to see you try, side-part boy!" Sero cackled, and Kirishima sprouted tears in his eyes.

"What'd you say!" raged Bakugo. His hair exploded back to normal.

I burst into laughter at last. "Bakugo, what the hell happened to you at Best Jeanist's!"

"What the hell, pointy..."

Kirishima and Sero stared at me. "Akiharu, you cut your hair!"

I rubbed my neck, where my hair stopped. I always liked shorter hair. It was breezier. Besides, it was getting pretty close to summertime.

"It looks so good!" Mina cheered. "Now we match!"

Everyone was chattering about their internships and their various roles throughout. When I took my seat at my desk, Bakugo pointedly avoided my gaze. "What the hell did you go through at Jeanist's place?"

"What'd you do to end up getting your ass kicked by a Nomu? Weakling."

I blinked. "Who told you that?"

"It was all over the fucking news!"

"Nobody mentioned my name, though!"

Bakugo rested his chin on his hand with a sneer. "It wasn't that hard to fuckin figure out. Endeavor was in Hosu, and those three idiots were struggling with one pussy ass villain."

He had me there. "Ah, well... yeah."

"If it had've been me, it would've been Shigaraki getting sent to the hospital!" he bragged.

"Probably," I agreed, leaning back in my chair. Actually, pretty much anybody in our class would've had an easy time getting out of the water tower. I was the only one who was pretty much useless— Of course, it was a trap designed for me in the first place.

My stomach chilled. They knew I would be useless trapped in a water tower. For Kurogiri to have noticed me in that alley, they would have to be looking. They had already prepared a water-based Nomu, which are all but useless in most situations. They must've gone to Hosu with the goal of getting me in that water tower in mind. I really was a target, wasn't I?

My hand reached for the leather cord around my neck as I fiddled with the stem of a new feather. Why not set a trap for Midoriya, the one Shigaraki seems to loathe? Why me?

"Fucking freak," Bakugo's mutter broke me away from my own mind. I had gone suddenly silent for a minute or two. I simply shrugged and turned my attention to the blackboard. "You think it was targeted?" Bakugo spoke under his breath. The rest of the class was too busy clamouring around the Three Musketeers about their run in with the Hero Killer to notice us.

"...Yeah." I muttered dryly.

"Then why aren't you dead?"

My jaw clenched and my stomach twisted. "That's what I'm trying to figure out."

The regular lessons passed quickly, and this time, I could keep up with class— My extra studying had payed off. After lunch, Hero's basics rolled around.

I slumped in my costume, stifling a yawn. I was dead tired, even with the additional days off from my internship. Lately, my dreams were filled with inky black water. No matter how hard I kicked, I could never find the surface. I often woke up gasping for breath and couldn't manage to fall back asleep.

Still, I preferred these nightmares over the other ones — the dreams of foggy memories that hung just out of reach as if to torment me.

All Might led the class to training ground Gamma for the afternoon. "Long time no see, boys and girls!"

It was my first time seeing All Might since I learned of his condition from the Chairwoman. He looked nothing like a dying man. My eyes scoured over him, but I could see no sign of his critical injury, not so much of a wince at the brunt of his chronic pain. After all, it was one of the first lessons taught in Heroics — the importance of hiding pain and panic from civilians at all times. I supposed to All Might, even the average hero was practically a civilian, too. He was the pedestal in every definition of the word.

"We're going to have some fun today with a rescue training race! Field Gamma is a dense area filled with factories laid out like an intricate labyrinth. You'll break up into four five-person groups and go through the training one group at a time. Everyone will start at the outskirts of the city, racing toward a distress signal I'll be setting off. Whoever rescues me first will win! Of course, you'll have to keep damage to buildings..." All Might wagged his finger and pointed directly at Bakugo. "—To a minimum!"

"Don't point at me!"

I rolled my eyes at Bakugo's antics, though a frown found my face. A field filled entirely with metal— The ground of the field would be made with concrete, but the factories were packed so densely there was little I could do without causing damage. If I moved below ground, tracking the distress signal would be impossible.

I shifted my weight between my legs testily. A dull throb came from the leg the Nomu had torn into, but it was otherwise healed. It shouldn't cause me much trouble for the exercise, especially if I found a proper solution to my overall mobility problem.

Moving through urban areas often meant I had to utilize concrete to push myself forward in a wave. However, I additionally had to focus energy into reverting the distorted concrete back to normal, because a Hero should always cause minimal damage.

"The first group is filled with excellent mobility," Tsuyu observed.

"Hm, perhaps Midoriya is at a slight disadvantage," Yaomomo hummed.

My classmates murmured assent while I hid a small smile. Midoriya'd had some sort of breakthrough in the first few days of the internship that the rest of the class had yet to find out about.

As All Might called for the match to begin, Sero launched himself forward with his tape. Mina slid easily along a pipe while Ojiro used his tail to launch himself into the sky. Iida dashed with his superior speed, and Midoriya...

The resemblance in his moves clicked instantly. He was making ground at a speed approaching Iida's, using compact rolls and hops propelled by strong kicks off the ground – similar to moves Bakugo used with his explosions.

Speaking of Bakugo... I hadn't seen him look this pissed since the first day of Heros Basics.

My brow furrowed as I watched Midoriya move. Aside from Bakugo, there was something else familiar about his Quirk. Clearly, he was able to modify a kind of super-strength throughout his body. In the past, it hurt him significantly, and he seemed to only activate one part at a time, but he'd found a way to balance it throughout his entire body simultaneously.

I was in the last group, and so had a long while to wait before I had to prepare for my race. "You've figured a lot out during your internship, huh!" I called as Midoriya came off the field.

"Um, yes!"

"Who did you intern with again? That old man, right?"

"Um, just an old retired hero. His name is Gran Torino." He took a polite seat nearby. "You interned with Endeavor? How was that?"

"It was... challenging?"

"I'm excited to see what you've learned!"

I grinned. "Thank-you."

The next few races flew by and soon I found my position in Gamma. I thought back to the way Endeavor moved, with flame gushing out from his feet. I had gone to that internship intending to steal from him, and had hopefully thought up a way to increase my mobility— though I hadn't taken it for a test drive yet.

I carefully pulled a channel of dirt up from the ground and stepped onto it. The stream wavered under my weight but managed to hold me up. Okay... enough pressure to hold me, but not enough pressure to damage the buildings...

"Start!" All Might's announcement echoed. I launched myself forward on the stream of dirt, and it showered harmlessly across the first series of metal pipes. My forehead beaded with sweat from concentration as I fought to keep myself balancing on the steady stream without using enough pressure to cause a single dent to any metal.

I could hear rumblings of distant explosions rapidly approaching. Bakugo shot above a nearby group of buildings, firing off dozens of explosions from his hands to continue shooting forward without touching a foot to the ground.

If I wanted any chance of surpassing All Might, I'd have to surpass Bakugo first. I shot forward on the stream of dirt, faster, and faster, sending tiny pebbles raining against dense pipes and windows like wind chimes.

A sudden twinge of pain shot through my thigh. I lost my control for a moment and began to plummet. I caught myself on a pillar of earth smaller than my foot, shooting up through the ground and angling between the tiny gaps in the pipes. I breathed a sigh of relief before stepping back onto the stream and firing back toward All Might. I cringed to see Bakugo arrive a moment before me.

He turned to me with a cruel smirk. "Looks like you learned shit while with Endeavor! I'm one step ahead!"

I twisted the concrete at his feet to make him slip. "Looks like the only thing Jeanist managed to fix about you was your shitty hair."

"Fuck you!"

I followed the girls back to the changeroom as they bantered and flattered each-other on the versatility of their Quirks. "Akiharu, you keep pulling out new tricks! How're the rest of us supposed to keep up!" Hagakure whined, latching onto my arm.

"I'm not the one you have to watch out for," I laughed. "If you wanna look at well-rounded, look at Yaoyoruzu or Asui."

"Call me Tsuyu," Asui called from across the changeroom.

"Sorry, Tsuyu," I called back as Hagakure released my arm. I began to pull my shirt off when my ears pricked at a grating whine echoing from the boy's room.

"My little Mineta is already a criminal act!" My eyes trailed to the wall as I heard Mineta's distant wail. "Yaoyoruzu's ample yaoyoru-boobs! Ashido's slender waist! Hagakure's floating underwear! Uraraka's fine uraraka-body! Asui's unexpected boobies! Akiharu's toned–"

My eyes latched onto a small, yen-sized hole in the wall. I smashed my fist into the concrete, sending cracks shooting through the wall. Simultaneously, an explosion sounded from the other room. I marched directly to the boy's change room, kicking the door open.

"We're changing, Akiharu!"

"We-we told him off already, so–!"

"Telling him off isn't enough," I scowled, finding a singed, half-nude Mineta cowering behind Sero. "Move."

"You didn't even need to ask," Sero nodded, sliding to the side.

"W-Wait! It was just a joke, I promise!"

"Your existence is a joke." I grabbed Mineta by the head and threw him at the hallway ceiling. The concrete fastened him there, half-naked, with the word Pervert engraved above his head. As the door to the boys change-room shut, I heard the quiet murmurings from inside.

"I didn't know girls could get that toned, man."

"I need to start hitting the gym more...."

"Me too."

I realized I had marched in there in a sports bra— without a shirt. My ears burned with embarrassment. I threw the door to the girls changeroom open. "Mina!" I rambled, "My shoulders — Do my shoulders look okay?"

"What do you mean okay?"

"I wasn't flexing, but they look okay, right!?"

"Akiharu, your muscles look great, we promise," Ochako soothed, petting my head. "You're so cool, don't worry."

"Are you sure? You're not lying?"

"I can't believe that's what you're worried about..." Mina sighed, pinching her brow. "It's not maidenly at all."

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