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By the time Aizawa walked into the room, class 1-A was sitting silently in their places. As much as they were curious, none of them had touched the papers on their desks.
Everyone in class had at least one sheet, apart from Todoroki and Kaminari; their desks were barren.
Aizawa drained his coffee, setting the mug on the lectern. “Today, you will be selecting your next round of internships. The papers on your desk hold further details, as well as information on any heroes or agencies that have already offered you an internship. You should all also have the paperwork necessary to select an offer. Use this time to choose an agency and start filling in the paperwork. You have until the end of the week to submit the final forms. This set of internships will last one month. ” The class started murmuring excitedly. “Todoroki, Kaminari. Nedzu wants to speak with both of you in his office. Go now.”
The teacher slipped in earplugs and snuggled into his sleeping bag to nap, blissfully ignoring the rising volume and chaos of his class.
Todoroki and Kaminari sat uncomfortably on the hard, plastic chairs outside Nedzu’s office. It took about fifteen minutes, but eventually the secretary waved them in.
“Kaminari-kun! Todoroki-kun! Please, come in and take a seat, this is a very interesting situation you two are in.”
Kaminari paled, remembering his first year exam.
“Now, this is regarding a rare opportunity that some of our students get for internships. I thought it was best to explain it in person. Someone very special has requested you for internships.”
Nedzu took two white envelopes from a drawer and placed them on the desk in front of his students.
“You are free to look iri up, but Australian Pro hero Nightshade has offered the two of you internships. I have worked with iri in the past, and all prior interns have returned with immense improvements. Additionally, though iris agency is outside of Japan, ir has a teleportation quirk on staff to get you there and back.”
Todoroki immediately grabbed the envelope. “I accept.”
Kaminari was a bit more hesitant. “Are there heroes I would know that went there?”
“Indeed there are, Kaminari-kun. Native went there, I believe Mirko spent some time there, and in fact Eraserhead spent a few months over there a couple of years ago.”
Kaminari picked up the other envelope.
Nedzu grinned. “Well then, fill out the forms and contact the number provided, and myself and Shade will handle the rest!”
Denki sat awkwardly in the office. He thought it was a nice office, but it was covered with so much paper that it was hard to tell.
Someone that had introduced themself as Callum, had shoved them into the room and then left, leaving the awkwardness behind.
They turned to talk to their classmate, wanting something to break the stagnant silence. Before he could say anything, a rattle sounded above them.
Both boys’ eyes snappeds to the source of the sound, shifting in their seats so they could leap up at a moment’s notice. A vent clattered to the floor, and a green haired someone no older than them dropped neatly into the unoccupied chair opposite them.
“Sorry I’m late, Ingrid managed to set another forest fire and panicked.” The newcomer smiled brightly at the two, “Well, let’s get on with things, shall we?”
He glanced at one of the papers covering his desk and sighed “There’s some official stuff I have to say, but once that’s out of the way we can move onto introductions and the fun stuff!” He cleared his throat and straightened his posture.
“Welcome to Conifer Grounds: base camp of the Ivy League Agency. We believe that autonomy is key to learning and improvement, however, we do ask that you follow a couple of rules.” He started to tick them off on his fingers.
“One. Listen to the staff. We have training in our specific areas of expertise, and we know how to safely use the equipment. We are here to help you, and to make sure you stay safe. Two. We do not tolerate discrimination or hateful speech or actions full stop. Conifer Grounds is a safe space for people of all races, genders, sexualities, quirk statuses and ability levels.” He stared at nothing for a moment, but regained traction quickly. “Third. If you have a question, ask it! You are here to learn, and our staff will do their best to give you a satisfactory answer. Lastly, feedback and help will always be freely given here, because both are required for you to grow into the strongest hero you can be!! On a more serious note, if you consistently violate these rules, or do so in a manner that endangers another person, your internship will be cut short, and you will not be allowed back to Conifer. Apart from that, run wild! We hope you have an enlightening and enjoyable month!!”
Immediately, the boy relaxed back into his chair, kicking his feet onto his desk, sending paper fluttering to the ground. “Well, that’s the official spiel done, now introduce yourselves!! Name, pronouns and any information relevant for me please.” Kaminari hesitantly raised his hand.
“Uhh, what is ‘relevant info’?” The worker laughed awkwardly.
“Oh! Sorry, I always forget to tell people. I’m a combat analyst, so I’m the one that gives you suggestions for improvement and feedback, as well as providing analyses on villain attack patterns, and what their weaknesses are. I’m Izuku, he/him, by the way. And relevant info is injuries, quirk backlash, things you want to focus on, known weak points, and any issues you have, whether they be physical, quirk based or even psychological. If you’d prefer, I’m happy to do this one on one, to keep it more private. Would you like that?”
Kaminari shrugged. “I mean, I don’t really care.” He looked at his classmate, who looked as blank as ever. “I don’t think he does either. But I’ll introduce myself first. Hi! I’m Kaminari Denki, you can just call me Denki though. I use he/they pronouns and masculine and gender-neutral terminology. If I overuse my quirk, I go into what has been termed ‘Yay mode’. I don’t actually know what happens, but I basically go braindead for about an hour. My current top limit is 1.3 million volts. I’d like to try and learn more about my quirk backlash and try and gain greater control over my output. I have ADHD and dyslexia, so if we could try and keep away from written stuff as much as possible, that would be great. Oh, I’m also on my period for the next couple of days, so I’m going to explore and maybe try and plan a little bit?”
Izuku nodded, producing a blank notebook and pen and making some notes. “Yeah, that all sounds really great! We can work together to make a suggested schedule, but you don’t have to stick to it if you don’t want to.” He looked expectantly at the other teen “You go next.”
Todoroki sat stiffly in the seat. “Nothing I say or do here will be relayed to my father, will it?” Izuku looked horrified.
“Oh gods no! We are a safe space for everyone, and we want you to feel comfortable being yourself. If it helps, there aren’t any cameras in the buildings, only on the grounds and around the perimeter.” Todoroki relaxed a bit and nodded.
“That does help, thank you. My name is Todoroki Shouto, and I would prefer to be called Shouto. I use he/they/it pronouns and masculine or neutral language. I’d like to improve my fine control over my quirk. I refuse to use my fire quirk, do not try and make me.”
Izuku looked at him in confusion. “What do you mean?”
Shouto sighed “I inherited my father’s fire, along with my mother’s ice. My father is a horrible man, and I refuse to use his quirk because of that.”
Izuku’s confusion only deepened. “But… you don’t have a fire quirk…” Shouto froze.
“What?”
“You don’t have a fire quirk? Or an ice quirk, for that matter. Your quirk is basically overpowered temperature control. You’re limit temperatures are insane, and you can heat the air quick enough for combustion, which produces flame, or drop it enough to freeze the water out of the air. It’s why your ice attacks drop in quality so quick; there’s much less moisture for you to use.”
Todoroki blinked.
“So, I don’t have my father’s quirk?”
Izuku smiled gentler this time “No. your quirk is entirely your own, and honestly the biggest thing you can do against your dad is to not let him factor into your decisions. Stop caring about what he wants or thinks of you. it will hurt him the most.”
Shouto grinned, wide and manic. “Oh we’re going to get along great”
Denki perked up when the doorbell rang, but Mina got to the door before they did. No one could see much from the lounge, but Denki caught a flash of green and the corner of a notebook.
“Zu-chan!!!” he raced over, sweeping the newcomer off their feet in a massive hug. Said hug was ended almost immediately when ‘Zu-chan’ let out a strangled yelp of pain. “Izuku what did you do this time?” Denki sounded unusually sardonic, which made Izuku wince.
“Can I borrow your med kit? I just need a disinfectant.” Denki nodded, annoyance melting into concern.
“Sure, one sec.” He took a deep breath, turning towards the stairs. “KING!! CROWN DID A STUPID AGAIN!! ALCOHOL AND GAUZE”
While they waited for the dichromatic teen to appear, Izuku pulled off his dark red hoodie and black tank top to expose a deep slash mark across his ribs. Gasps echoed around the room.
As if on cue, Shouto walked into the lounge with a package of cotton rounds and a half empty bottle of vodka. He looked at the slash and sighed.
“My love, I adore you with every fibre of my being, but what the fuck? How do you get yourself into these situations so regularly?” Izuku looked sheepish.
“Sorry Sho-chan. But I can’t help if a guy tries to mug me…”
While the three discussed the incident, Izuku and Shouto soaked cotton rounds in vodka and none-too-gently disinfected and cleaned the wound.
Once it was all clean, Izuku turned to his partners’ classmates awkwardly. “I’m really sorry that this is your first introduction to me, but my name is Midoriya Izuku and I’m-” He was cut off by Bakugou bursting into the room, palms crackling.
“DEKU!!! WHAT TH-” He froze as his gaze swept over the now clean injury, shifting to stare at his muscled torso. “What the fuck?”
Shouto and Denki glared, but Izuku ignored them. “What are you referring to, Katsuki? The fact that I have muscles, the fact that I’m in UA or the giant slice in my side?”
“Katsuki? What the fuck happened to that cutesy Kacchan shit?”
Izuku raised an eyebrow.
“Well, I now have Ki-chan and Sho-chan, and they don’t make a habit of attacking me with their quirks.” He smirked wryly, “Well, they make sure to get consent first.”
Bakugou went slack. Hagakure choked on her juice. Denki went red. Shouto just smiled.
“That is an incredibly unheroic and inappropriate thing to say!” Iida coughed “And while I am glad that you are getting consent, it is not something to discuss in polite conversation.”
Izuku leant over to whisper in Shouto’s ear.
“I reckon he’s jealous.” Shouto snorted, drawing attention back to them. He regained composure quickly, leaning back and raising a hand to his mouth in thought.
“I suppose I could see that, but given that his wouldn’t translate particularly well, do you think he’s jealous of the concept as a whole or of one of us specifically?” Izuku glanced at Iida, who was studiously looking at the wall, and not at Izuku, who was still very much not wearing a shirt.
“You.”
Denki smirked, walking over to Iida and whispering something to him. The engine clad boy turned cherry red and blue screened, no longer responding.
Izuku pouted “Aww, Princelet you broke him. I was having so much fun, too.” He shrugged “Oh well, back to introductions. Hi, I’m Midoriya Izuku, he/him. I’m in an open, polyamorous relationship with Denki and Shouto. I technically work as a freelance combat analyst, but I basically work for The Ivy League Agency. Also, as you can see,” he gestured to his side “I’m very good at getting injured, and add the fact that I’m quirkless onto that, means that I have very overprotective partners.” He grinned ferally at Bakugou. “And I haven’t told them shit about you, and you would not survive if I did, so watch your tongue.” Shouto and Denki both turned to glare venomously at Bakugou, who paled dramatically.
“Yep, message received! Call them off now…please…” Izuku smiled victoriously and hauled his boys back by their collars.
“I win! But I need to go. Gotta get to Octavius before Ivy finishes patrol. If ir finds out about this, I’d have to get Kuboro to stage a kidnapping just to leave the house.” He looked thoughtful as he redressed. “Which wouldn’t be too hard, but it would be a bother, and a waste of resources” He kissed both his partners briefly, saluted to the dazed class, and sprinted headfirst out the window, smoothly diving into a roll on the grass and continued running.
“What the fuck just happened?”