Some people will tell you life is unfair. That your place in the pecking order is decided the moment you were born. That what you are born with is what you end with, gifted and ungifted. The gifted are raised to where the ungifted are not allowed to...
"We'll be doing hero interview practice," Mt.Lady announced.
Izuku watched as Todoroko was called up for practice first, and a few times had to keep from laughing.
"What kind of hero do you aspire to be?"
"Someone whose presence would put others at ease."
"Brilliant answer, but if someone as handsome as you came to save me I'm sure my heart rate would double."
"Do you have heart problems?"
Things kept on like this until finally, it was Izuku's turn. "Personally, what did you think of your own performance."
"It was good."
"It seems your fighting style is similar to other styles, yet at the same time it is quite unique."
"Yes, it is something I've created myself after studying the different techniques out there"
"I'm sure it has been hard to get to where you are today. What would you say to those who doubted you?"
"Well, there were definitely more who tried to keep me down than there were who support me. But, to those of you who have doubted me, who still doubt me, I started at the bottom, look at me now, and keep watching as I continue to rise up and become stronger."
Soon after that, the interview practice came to an end, and a few days later, it was Christmas Eve. And by then, they received some interesting and sudden news.
"I can't believe they're telling us to get internships so suddenly like that," Jiro complained. "I bet we're the busiest freshman in the history of UA. I'm guessing you and Tsu are going back to Ryukyu?"
"Yeah, I guess so," Uraraka answered. "What about you Deku?"
"I guess I could go to Sir Nighteye or Fatgum's agency. But they tend to focus more on investigations and while it would be helpful to learn that side of the hero business, I think it might be better to work with a more combat oriented hero in order to further refine my technique. Specifically, one who makes use of some form of martial arts. Maybe I can see about Gunhead, or perhaps someone else. Though there might be some who'd turn me down due to my quirklessness. What about you, Kacchan?"
"I don't know?"
"Well you had a lot of options before, back after the sports festival."
"At this point, I don't feel like learning from some nameless rando."
"Hey, why are we talking about school," Mineta yelled.
"Mineta has a point."
And per the point made by the grapist himself, they began their christmas feast during which Eri and Aizawa showed up. There was food, there was singing, and at the end, there was a gift exchange. Everyone grabbed a gift, tied a ribbon to it, put it in a pile, and everyone grabbed a random ribbon before pulling a gift from the pile. At first, Ojiro was slightly worried when he saw Tokoyami, but that changed to a panic when it was Eri who got the sword.
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But in the end, it was taken care of and the sword ended up in the hands of someone more fitting. The only one in the class with any sword experience, Izuku.
Of course, once it was all over, they had to clean up. And as they were doing so, Todoroki walked up to Izuku and Bakugou. "Hey, if you don't have anywhere to intern at, would you like to intern with me at Endeavour's?"
Later, as Izuku was picking himself off the ground on the first day of internships, his body aching all over, he had to wonder about two things. One was if he would survive the time with this fiery hero.
The other was if he should have gone to Endeavour's agency for the internship instead of to Mirko's.
When Todoroki asked Izuku and Bakugou if they wanted to go to Endeavour's with him, Izuku said he would if he couldn't find someone else to intern with as Endeavour relied on his quirk rather than any martial arts. And then there was how their last interaction had gone, with Izuku threatening Endeavour. Not that anyone other than him and Endeavour knew as far as he was aware.
So Izuku looked into interning with different heroes, those he felt he could learn from. And that was when he learned something interesting. Mirko was interested in taking him on for an internship. And seeing how she was ranked the number 5 hero and was a master in hand to hand combat, he gladly accepted. And while he wasn't expecting it to be easy, and at first it went pretty normal. She didn't belong to a hero agency, so he showed up at a location given to him beforehand. Then things began to take a turn. Right away, she had him suit up, and then began to completely beat him up. And that, that was how he now found himself lying on the ground in pain.
He slowly began to get up, and as he did, Mirko began walking towards him. "Don't tell that's all you got! Come on, you're the quirkless kid who won the UA sports festival, who's fought villains, including that guy on the island! You gotta have more fight in you than that!" She shook her head as he broke into a coughing fit.
She began reaching for him when suddenly he lunged at her and swung a fist at her. But she pulled back in time to avoid the blow and moved to deliver a kick, but when she did, he managed to not only avoid the attack, and in the split second, the single moment she was left open, he delivered a quick strong jab to the sciatic nerve which he knew causes pain before throwing another punch, this time, aimed for the hero's throat. But before the attack could connect, he was knocked back down to the ground as Mirko delivered another kick that Izuku was unable to avoid.
"Is that really all you got," Izuku wheezed as he got up. Once he was back up on his feet, he once again took a fighting stance, staring her dead in the eye. He could feel it, this wasn't just some sparring match to see what he knows so far, this was some sort of test. And even if it wasn't, he wasn't one to go down easily.
Mirko grinned at him when she heard those words and saw the look in his eyes. It was a look she knew well, the look of a fighter. "So it seems you do have some fight in you after all. Now then, let's see how well we can work with it."
And thus began Izuku's time in hell. The training Mirko made him do, it was beyond even what Zatoichi would pound into him in their training sessions. Whenever they were not eating or sleeping, there were constant sparring matches, training, as well as hero work. Everything from the basics to advanced information and training.
Constantly, over and over, Izuku fought and trained all while taking in all the information needed not only for his fighting style, but also hero work in general. The need to learn the area, to arrive on the scene quickly, pick up on any and all disturbances, and to do their job while keeping the collateral damage to a minimum.
Yeah, I know this chapter isnt as long as usual. I didn't really have the creative spark or motivation to be able to create much of anything from this arc. It was also made difficult due to the fact that other than what was already covered, there weren't many substantial moments other than training.
"The biggest room in the world is the room for improvement." - Helmut Schmidt
