Secrets [Todoroki]

*Chapter Thirty*

Backup arrived an hour after the call was made. Miri had tended to the wounds of the troops and watched from the top of a crate as they escorted the twenty-five men who broke into their base into evacuation vehicles.

Within the cages and carts the men had brought with them, there were women and children tied up. They were hungry and dehydrated, but were fed and treated by Miri and anyone at hand.

Getting the boss out of the metal crate was difficult at first, but once they got the vehicle out of the way, he too was escorted into a vehicle of his own because of his massive size.

Once everything was handled, Miri, her grandfather, and the other troops were sitting at a table with their dinners in front of them. Miri told them about her adventure within the training room and listened to them as they told her about their experiences around the base.

Once everything was settled, and everyone had finished eating, Miri slipped off to check her phone.

She saw she had several missed calls from various classmates, but no one beat Uraraka's eight missed calls.

She sucked air through her teeth. "I hope they haven't sent a search party over here..." She hit redial and held the phone to her ear.

"MIRIANNE GENIA SHOTOMOTO!" Uraraka's enraged voice filled Miri's ears, and she held the phone away, wincing. "Why the hell haven't you answered your phone!?"

"Uhhhh..." She sighed. "I see you've talked to Midoriya...and about half the class has as well."

"Well, duh!" She growled. "With how your phone call with Midoriya went, do you think we'd sit on our butts and twiddle our fingers? You scared us all."

Miri smiled. "I'm sorry to have worried you all, but I'm fine. Something just came up at a bad time, but everything is fine now."

Uraraka sighed. "That's all that matters. How has your internship gone otherwise?"

Though Uraraka couldn't see Miri, the girl shrugged. "It's been eventful. I've definitely learned some things. How about yours?"

"I don't know, I feel like I'm getting somewhere though. It's just a little harder than I expected." She sighed.

Miri leaned against the wall. "Any knowledge gained is worth more than having nothing at all. I'm sure everything you're learning through Gunhead will be useful at some point." Then she added after a bit of silence. "If it's hard, then you might be doing it right. If it came easy, then it's probably wrong."

"You're probably right." Uraraka laughed. "Are you applying what you learned in math class to right now?"

"I guess Ectoplasm was right. We will need what we learn in math in the actual world." She smiled.

The both of them laughed. "I've missed you, Mir."

Miri's heart warmed. "I've missed you too."

"No," Uraraka said. "I missed hearing your laugh and your stupid little jokes. I was scared we wouldn't get that you back after the festival, but it seems like it's getting there."

Miri stared at the ceiling, tears burning her eyes. "It's been hard, but I've had help." She thought about Recovery Girl telling her she didn't have to face it alone, and she smiled once more.

"I guess our internships were about more than just learning how to be a hero." Uraraka mused. There was some shuffling from her end. "Oh, Miri. I have to go. I'll talk to you later, okay?"

"Yeah, no problem! Bye!" She pushed herself off the wall.

"Bye!" Uraraka's cheerful voice filled the line one last time before the call ended.