This Time

Chapter 17

"Really, it was mostly cleaning the office and following them around on patrols," Hara said with a shrug before taking a bite of her takeout noodles. They had forgone the dining table in favor of the sofa to have their dinner and catch up on, and she sat cross legged on the cushion across from him as she told him about her week. "We did some drills too, but the only real action we saw was that night in Hosu."

"Sounds about average for first year internships," All Might said, taking a bite of white rice as well.

"Hero work or no, what would any internship be without some grunt work?" she agreed. "Was it the same when you were at Yūei?"

"Surprising little has changed since I went there, actually," he told her thoughtfully. "There's updated gear and newer technology - and the school builds new off campus facilities all the time like the USJ or practice arenas like what we'll use for the final exams - but the main campus itself and operations remain relatively the same."

"If it's not broke don't fix it, I guess," she hummed. She giggled then as something occurred to her. "Heh. I wonder if I could dig up an old yearbook in the library? Now I'm imagining what a little Yagi looked like."

Toshinori about choked on his food, and Hara laughed as she patted him on the back. "Well first of all, I was fifteen when I started and already six feet tall, so "little Yagi" is a bit of a stretch," he said, wiping his mouth. "Secondly, you'd have to know what year to look for and I'm definitely not telling you that."

The girl snickered. "Fine then, surely somewhere you've got a picture of yourself from when you were younger?"

"Precious few, thankfully," he said with a shudder.

"Oh come on, you have got to show me one!" she said excitedly as she set her bowl aside.

All Might raised an eyebrow at the girl. "I don't have to do anything."

"How about a wager then?" she said mischievously, and that definitely caught his attention.

"Oh?" He set his food down on the coffee table too and watched her curiously.

She hummed a moment and tapped a finger on her chin before grinning brightly. "I bet I could beat you in a race."

The number one hero barked out a laugh and leaned forward, eyes dancing. "You're joking, right?"

"Nope!" she answered cheerfully while shaking her head.

Chuckling he leaned back and held his arms out as if to say 'bring it on!' "Alright. So if you win, I show you a picture of when I was younger?"

"Mhm," she nodded.

"And what if I win?"

"You tell me," she giggled. "What do you want?"

He tapped the side of his face with his index finger thoughtfully. "Hm, if I win..." he mused out loud. Of course there were plenty of things he wanted to ask for, but there was no way in hell he was bold enough to try anything like that. Besides... a kiss or a date? That's all rather juvenile, Toshinori. Act your age, he thought. Plus that came a little too close to blurring the line of consent for his liking, and that was a line that should never, ever be blurred in any circumstance. Those both were things he wanted, yes, but only if she did too. "If I win, then you have to do the dishes for a week?" he supplied after coming up with nothing better.

Hara made a face. "That's lame."

"Because you don't want to do it when you lose?" he asked with a half smirk, earning her infamous eye roll.

"No, because I know you can think of a better prize than that. You've gotta make it good for this to be any fun," she explained as if he was the mental one here.