Chapter Text
“All right, this building should be where her office is…” Koko muttered to himself as he glanced between his phone and the brick building in front of him. He hoped this meeting wouldn’t take too long, after all, it should just be a quick discussion with one of their instructors and then they’d officially be part of the ZIA with him. He knocked on the door and waited for a response.
“Come on in,” the teacher’s voice called from behind the door. He opened the door and wasn’t quite sure what to think of the place. It was certainly messier than Zenith would let Koko get away with. Assorted papers were strewn about the desk, most prominently a stack of exams that she was evidently in the process of grading. On one of the walls was a replica of a feudal era Japanese ink painting. Delilah White sat at her desk, drumming her red pen against the desk waiting for him to take a seat.
“Good afternoon, Miss White,” Koko said as he sat down, and placed a folder onto her desk. Eying the woman, he was caught off guard by how young she looked. She looked young enough to be a student. “You are a professor, right?” he asked.
The professor rolled her eyes and pulled out her ID. “Now then, you wish to enroll two of my students into your agency?”
“Sorry, yes I do,” he said with a nod, “As I expressed in my email, their attempt at dealing with the Vine Snake before I arrived was exemplary, and-”
“Yes, yes, it was a lovely email, I asked to meet in person so that I can know the man I’m about to trust my students’ safety with,” the woman said, looking at him like she was trying to analyze his reaction. “Is this your first time taking interns?”
“My first, yes,” he admitted, “Is that an issue?”
“Not necessarily, as long as you understand what position you are in. You’re not just their boss, you’re going to be their mentor.”
Koko nodded, “I’ll keep that in mind, thank you, Miss White.”
“May I be blunt for a moment?” she asked, looking at Koko with a strange expression he couldn’t quite read.
“I suppose so,” he said cautiously.
“I don’t like you HPSC types, and if I had the authority to deny this internship I would.” Koko found her words harsh, but not unwarranted. He didn’t like a lot of those bureaucrats either. “That being said, you also don’t seem the HPSC type yourself. How’d a guy like you end up working for the ZIA?”
That question sat with Koko for a moment. He tried remembering how he joined Lord Zenith, but all he could remember was the cold, a hospital bed, and the serum that Zenith had injected him with. “Honestly, couldn’t tell you,” Koko said with a sigh. “Anyway, since you can’t stop them from joining the ZIA either, I assume this means they’ll be excused from classes for field missions whenever that comes up?”
Delilah looked defeated and nodded with a sigh. “Yes, they will be, but make sure they know they’ll have to make up their non-heroics assignments!”
“Thank you Miss, your advice is appreciated,” Koko said, bowing respectfully and walking out of the room. “Now then, time to meet my interns.”
“Okay… when I asked what I missed, I meant in terms of assignments. Second of all… what do you mean we got requested to join that guy’s agency?” Penny asked, holding her face in her hands as they walked towards the heroics building.
“Yeah, isn’t it exciting?” Mizu asked with a smile.
“Do you know anything about the ZIA, other than the fact that they’re a hero agency?” Penny asked, sounding a slight bit sarcastic as she tried to process what Mizu was signing herself up for.
“A little. In addition to heroism they carry out research for the HPSC. Robotics research,” Mizu emphasized, nudging Penny with her elbow. Penny rolled her eyes a little, but couldn’t help but laugh at how earnest Mizu was, especially because she knew exactly how to entice her.
“Okay, okay, maybe it wouldn’t be the worst agency to check out, I just hope we don’t have to answer directly to that arrogant windbag,” Penny said, crossing her arms.
“Bad news, but the only other person you could answer to would be my boss, and trust me, you wouldn’t want to,” called the voice of said arrogant windbag. Penny whipped around to see Koko leaning against a nearby building. “Also, I’m not arrogant, that snake was just weak.”
“You were listening to music while fighting a villain!” Penny stated with a glare.
“Yeah, and I defeated the villain in the middle of the first verse, so no harm no foul,” Koko replied, waving her off as he approached. Mizu chuckled as the two of them argued.
“Actually, forget about that, what are you doing here?” Penny asked.
“Wait, yeah! It’s nice to see you, but why are you here?” Mizu asked, looking at him curiously.
“Had a meeting with your professor. I was on my way out when I saw you two and figured I could talk face to face while I was in the area,” Koko replied with a chuckle, “So then, I take it you two are gonna accept the offer?”
“You bet!” Mizu said excitedly.
“I guess so, as long as I can get a stipend or access to some of that Robotics research,” Penny said.
“Great, your first training session will be on Sunday,” Koko said before walking off, “Meet me at the main gate at eleven.”
Mizu was bouncing with excitement as Koko led the girls to the school’s training arenas. They entered the forest zone and he began leading them through the trees, ending up in a small clearing.
“So, what’s the training gonna be?” Mizu asked excitedly after they came to a stop.
“I’m going to test your combat abilities,” Koko said before raising his right hand into the air and making a fist. A sword materialized in his closed fist, surprising both girls and causing them to back away slightly.
“Where did you get a sword?” Penny asked, looking at it like she was trying to analyze a puzzle.
“I dunno, I just sorta summon it and it shows up in my hands,” Koko replied dismissively, which caused Penny to cross her arms annoyed. He began using it to carve a small circle within the clearing before turning to the girls. “This circle is going to restrict my location. I cannot cross this line while you two have the entire arena at your disposal. Your aim is to each land a single hit on me. Any questions?”
“What counts as a hit?” Mizu asked, eyes filled with determination as she already worked to come up with a plan.
“Once both of you manage to hit my body either physically or with a projectile, you two succeed,” Koko said, giving Mizu a smug smirk in response.
“If I hit you once, can I still hit you again?” Penny asked confidently.
“Of course, but that’s a very big if! Now you two can have the next few minutes to yourselves to come up with a plan. Whatever you think will be able to take me down.” Koko put on his headphones and began listening to music.
“So… you got any ideas?” Mizu asked as they ran into the woods.
“Maybe, I need you to buy me some time to figure out how his headphones work, then I’ll be able to make an opening,” Penny smirked excitedly.
“Alright, I trust you,” she agreed before taking out a water bottle and opening it. She ran towards Koko and launched it at him, aiming to blast him with a large sphere of water. Koko gracefully dodged the blast and smirked as he looked at her.
“Looks like you girls already came up with a plan. Although where’s Penny?” Koko asked as he continued dodging Mizu’s water. Mizu circled the ring around him, eyeing Koko as he sang along to whatever pop song he was listening to. Was he not taking her seriously? Well, she wasn’t about to refuse that opening. She swiftly ran at him, poised to strike. She swung her arm at his exposed back. Koko turned around, grabbed her arms, and judo flipped her onto her back. The sudden impact made her lose her concentration and she got splashed in the face by her own water.
“How can you fight while listening to music?” Mizu pouted annoyed as she got up and tried to keep fighting again, deciding to try saving the water for a sneak attack this time. As the two of them fought, Penny was approaching from the side.
“Cause you two really haven’t given me a reason to need my full attention,” he teased as he landed a fairly harsh kick to her stomach that sent her flying backwards a bit. He turned to look at Penny who was charging a repulsor blast from her gauntlet. “So, you finally decided to make a move? Let’s see what- AGH!” Koko flinched and threw his headphones off as Penny used the opportunity to blast him directly in the chest, knocking him out of the circle.
“How’s that for a reason?” Penny chuckled as Koko got up and groaned.
“You hacked my headphones to increase the volume on me? Pretty clever. I guess I’ll have to take you two seriously after all,” he said, beaming at Penny’s trickery. “Of course, you did force me beyond the line, so I guess this means that everything but the circle is at my disposal now?” Koko smirked before running towards the trees.
“Where do you think you’re going, coward!” Penny shouted as she ran after him into the trees. Mizu followed as well. As the duo entered the forest they realized that it was getting hard for them to track Koko anywhere.
“Hundred Winds: Second Wind - Gust!” A massive gust of wind appeared behind them, tearing through the trees and blasting splinters of wood at the girls. Penny quickly converted her gauntlet to shield mode while Mizu had to deflect the splinters with her water. The two girls were also blown back, landing on the ground among the rubble of the destroyed trees.
“Not cowardice to move the battle to the right environment,” Koko explained with a chuckle as he walked over to the girls and smirked. Penny tried blasting him again, but her gauntlet arm was pinned under a fallen tree trunk. Mizu got up with a groan and faced him down once more. “I gotta admire your guts Mizu, but it’s okay, I’m planning on calling this one a tie.”
“Hah, an actual villain wouldn’t call this kind of a fight a draw,” Mizu replied, eyes fixed with determination. She just needed to find another source of water, any source of water, and she’d have a chance. She wiped her forehead and flicked the sweat off of her hand as she searched her surroundings. Wait, sweat! Mizu concentrated on Koko’s face and moved her arm to collect his sweat in a ball next to him and fling it back in his face. Koko was taken aback by the sudden blast but ended up chuckling.
“Well played Mizu,” he said, clapping for the girl as he approached her. “Although an actual villain wouldn’t consider getting splashed in the face by their own sweat to mean defeat, you did manage to beat me,” he stated proudly. “Now then, need help getting up, Miss Rothstein?”
“Oh gee, I don’t know, maybe you should ask the tree you knocked onto my arm,” Penny replied sarcastically.
After the other two pushed the tree off of her, Penny got up and dusted herself off before inspecting her gauntlet for damages.
“Alright, not too bad. So, when can I get access to that robotics research?” Penny asked with a smirk.
“In due time, I’ll ask my boss about it during the next meeting,” Koko said dismissively before pausing. “He might actually say yes… hmmm…” his tone shifted as it looked like he had put something together. “I’ll stay in touch, see you guys around,” Koko said before hurriedly running off.
“What do you think that was about? Mizu asked, looking at Penny who simply shrugged.
“Lord Zenith, I’ve returned,” Koko stated as he got down on one knee in front of his boss.
“Welcome back, Nadir. How did the two of them handle fighting you?” Zenith asked with a smile.
“Well, I must say I’m impressed, both girls managed to land a hit on me, and in creative ways too. Penny wished to know when she could gain access to some of the robotics research you get up to,” he added, trying to gauge his reaction.
“Is she now? Hmmm… I’ll let her have it after she completes her first mission.”
“Isn’t that a little… generous for your standards?” Koko asked, trying not to cross any lines.
“That girl has a synergy with that sort of technology, giving her these machines to study will be to our benefit,” he explained, “If her quirk is anything like mine, she’ll be able to detect flaws without even needing to disassemble the mechanism.”
“A pretty impressive quirk for a random orphan to have,” Koko said, offhandedly. Of all the times he’d tried to gauge his boss’s reaction, this one seemed to be his most effective, Zenith’s smile shifted into a scowl and his yellow eyes flashed for the briefest of moments. Then Zenith disappeared. Koko felt a tug on the back of his shirt and flinched as he turned his head back and saw Zenith standing above him, looking like he had just reconsidered hitting him. Koko swallowed, Flash Step, he thought, terrified.
“Forgive me for my outburst, Nadir,” Zenith said, letting go of his shirt and walking back to his desk, sitting with a sigh. “To answer your question, she’s not a random orphan. Although I suppose I have kept her relationship to me a bit of a secret until now. You see, she’s my daughter.”
“I… didn’t think you were the type to have children,” Koko said, the implications of this revelation swirling around his mind. He had a daughter? Why would he abandon her for 18 years only to take an interest in her now? Who the heck was the mother? Why do I have a feeling that I can’t let these two meet face to face again?
“Don’t worry, I won’t show her any favoritism when she has her place at the agency, you’ll still be my Nadir. This report has been enlightening, and I’ll have a mission for her shortly. You are dismissed,” Zenith said, and Koko stood up and walked away, he looked back for a moment before turning away to head out.