ʜᴇʀᴏᴇs | ʙɴʜᴀ

↳ chapter 19

"You cannot be fully dependant on your quirk, in case you encounter someone like Eraserhead, got it?" Hawks briefed me.

Today was the second day of the internship, and instead of patrolling, Hawks decided that it wouldn't hurt to teach me defensive techniques. He held a chopstick in his hand, that was supposed to be a knife. But since real knives we're too dangerous, we were sticking with chopsticks.

"Alright, if you are inexperienced, I recommend that you do NOT disarm the enemy. Especially if they know what they are doing, " he said, before lunging at me. I had no time to react, so he pointed the stick at my neck.

"If they know what they're doing, they'll aim for your vitals, " he paused, using the chopstick to point to my vitals.

"But with your quirk, I want you to try to knock the knife out of my hand, one way or another, " he grinned cockily.

I sweatdropped. Who did this guy think I was? Nonetheless, I switched to a fighting stance. And oh boy, was the fight messy. I teleported behind him, trying to catch him off guard, but he immediately turned around and swung the chopstick under my arm, leaving me confused. My body hit the floor before I could react.

"You're too predictable. I just cut one of your arteries, which means you would bleed out in no time, " he said, extending his hand to me.

I gratefully took his hand as he helped me up. Suddenly, I felt a poke at my neck. I looked down, realizing it was the goddamned chopstick.

"Rule number 1. Do not trust anyone. I could be someone who has the quirk to steal people's identities, " he said strictly.

I groaned internally. This was going to be a long day.

•

After hours of training, Hawks had implemented 1 months worth of self-defense into my weak and frail body. I collapsed onto the floor after narrowly avoiding the feathers he set in my way, which stuck me in the back by swerving around. I groaned in pain, getting up myself again. Deciding that this was enough torture for me, he released his feathers from my back.

"Alright, time for dinner. Wasn't that so fun?" he asked with a smirk playing at his lips.

"Yeah. Absolutely. I would love to do this any day other than patrolling, " I groaned sarcastically, rubbing my back from the attack.

"Good, so we can cancel all of the patrolling days and turn them into training days, " he smiled cruelly, watching as my face morphed into a horrified expression.

"Why don't we get dinner and talk about this later..." I trailed off, laughing nervously. Training with Hawks was terrifying.

In the end, we settled on Udon, ordering delivery because he wanted to continue training. I grumbled to myself about training, a small part of me wishing we did patrol instead. The doorbell rang abruptly, putting a hold on training. I sighed in relief, plopping myself down on a chair in the living room.

We ate the Udon in silence, Hawks wanting to get over with it so that he would train me again, and I ate like it had been weeks since I had my last meal, as the practice was draining. Once we finished dinner, we proceeded back with our training.

"Punch me, " Hawks demanded.

"Wait, what? No! Why would I?" I protested weakly.

Either way, I was forced to comply. As I punched him, he didn't even flinch. I stared down at my own hands. Was I really that weak? Or was he made out of literal steel like Tetsutetsu? Hawks held my right hand out.

"You're doing it wrong. Make sure your fingers are tightly clenched and that your thumb is wrapped securely around your first and second knuckle, " he instructed, pushing my fingers to my palm, causing them to curl together.

"Now punch me like I am the person you hate the most. I want to feel the power in your punch, " he asserted.

I glared at the winged man. I threw all my strength into that one punch, which caused him to stagger backward. If not for his wings pushing him up, he would have fallen down. He looked at me with a proud expression, rubbing my head.

"You'll turn out to be a fine hero one day, " he grinned.

I shot him back a mischievous grin.

•

As we were patrolling the city, everything was fine. Keyword: was. All of a sudden, 3 Nomus appeared out of nowhere, attacking citizens and buildings. At the same time, Midoriya texted me his location. I was conflicted.

"Hawks! I think my friend is in danger nearby!" I shouted at the winged hero, who was flying to the scene.

"Send me the address and go!" he shouted, before helping the people out of the building with his feathers.

I quickly forwarded the address. What was Midoriya doing in Hosu City? And he would only send his location if he were in trouble. I closed my eyes and teleported. When I opened my eyes, I looked at the scene in shock. Tenya and the pro hero, Native, we're both frozen, while Izuku was further down the alley fighting someone. Upon closer inspection, I gasped at the sight. Hero Killer: Stain.

"Hey! Stay away from Izuku!" I yelled.

Stain looked at me in confusion. After all, if I were in his shoes, I would too. What was a child, furthermore, a girl, doing in the alleyway? I heard Tenya's shouts of protest.

"No! It's too dangerous Sakura-chan! This is my battle to fight, not yours!" Tenya yelled. I looked down at the poor boy in his frozen state.

"No it's not. Besides, you look like you could use some help, isn't that what a hero does? Help others?" I yelled back.

I saw Izuku land on the ground, frozen after Stain licked the blood off of his katana. I guess it was just me now. I teleported behind him, kicking him down from behind. However, a blade swung in my face, and I had to back up to dodge it, freeing Stain. He brandished his katanas in front of me. Based on his earlier actions, his quirk depended heavily on blood.

"I like yours and the boy's attitude. You aren't here because of the sake of doing it, you're here because you jumped headfirst into battle. Because you guys are heroes. Not like these fakes, " Stain said in disgust, pointing his Katanas at the injured.

"They may be fakes in your eyes, but it's my job to protect them, " I explained.

I lunged at Stain, diving out of the way and teleporting at the last moment. I teleported one of his katanas to Tenya, and the other to somewhere else which I forgot, and then proceeding back to battle. Now with no weapons, he wouldn't be able to draw blood from me. I was about to kick him when he suddenly drew a dagger from under his sleeve and cut me, drawing blood. Time froze for a second, as I saw Stain lick the blood off of the knife.

It felt like someone had hit me. My joints stiffened, not moving according to my will, and I was paralyzed. Stain proceeded to walk towards Tenya and Native with the intention to kill. Tears trickled down my cheeks.

I couldn't save them this time. Forgive me Tenya.