Hitoshi didn't really understand why they all had to go to the train station together, but he figured it must have something to do with liability and making sure people didn't sue the school or something. Or maybe it was just that Aizawa didn't trust them to actually leave on time if they were left to their own devices. He could see some of the other students sleeping in and missing the train or getting lost or something, but they were hero students, so they should be better than that, right?

Kaminari: Technically but...

Kuroiro: Many of us do not bide well in the early hours.

Well, it didn't really matter, because they were all here, clustered around Aizawa as he lectured them on professionalism and politeness. Hitoshi adjusted his grip on the case for his brand new hero costume. He still hadn't gotten the chance to wear it, so he hoped it would fit correctly and look okay. He didn't know that much about costume design, so besides the voice changer, he'd mostly left that up to the support department. As long as they didn't put him in skin-tight spandex, he'd be fine.

Uraraka: Yeah I don't really like skin-tight clothes either but I'm getting used to it.

Power Loader: You'd better. Loose clothing can be a problem.

Midnight: Yep, they're more liable to being caught on things or a villain somehow using them to their advantage.

Mirio: Is this why capes are going out of fashion?

Gran Torino: Mm-hm.

The class scattered to their various platforms as Aizawa finished his lecture, leaving only Hitoshi and his teacher by the doors. Aizawa sighed loudly and ran a hand through his hair, "Good riddance. Nobody had better get in trouble this week, I really don't want to have to deal with the paperwork." He glanced down at Hitoshi, who instinctively stood up a little straighter. "You ready to go?"

Hitoshi nodded and fell into step behind his teacher. He was still having trouble believing that he was actually in the hero course, much less that he was interning with Eraserhead, who had been his favorite hero practically ever since he'd learned about him. He'd gone through a phase near the end of elementary school where he had intensely researched every hero with any quirk that could be seen as villainous just so he could prove his bullies wrong. It hadn't really worked because it turns out they just liked being mean and no amount of reason and evidence was going to convince them to be nice, but it had given Hitoshi hope that his dream wasn't as impossible as it seemed, so it had still been pretty useful.

Toga: I wanna go stab the meanies.

Mina: Wait why would Aizawa-sensei's quirk be seen as villainous?

Sero: Yeah it's perfect for hero work.

Aizawa: I can make you quirkless by looking at you. How do you think the other kids took that?

Everyone: ...Oh.

"So, Shinso, how are you getting along with your classmates." Aizawa asked

Hitoshi hadn't really pegged Eraserhead as one for smalltalk, but he supposed life was full of surprises. His classmates were nice, but... maybe they were too nice. It just seemed like it was only a matter of time before they stopped wanting to hang out with the villain. Maybe Midoriya was the exception to the rule, considering his own quirk situation, but he still didn't trust the others.

Hagakure: Hey we'll be nice!

Kirishima: Yeah we promise.

Instead of going into all that, he just shrugged and repeated the mantra he'd had since he came to UA, "I'm not here to make friends."

Todoroki: That sounds familiar.

Aizawa scoffed, "Yeah, good luck with that. You're planning on going underground, right?"

Hitoshi nodded, "It makes the most sense with my quirk."

"I agree. I can think of a dozen situations off the top of my head where your quirk will come in handy. But I'm gonna give you a word of advice." He stopped walking and stared at him intensely. "I was like you early on. I was fiercely independent and thought friendships would only hold me back. But over the years, I've learned that underground heroes are a tight knit community. We rely on each other to stay alive in ways that daylight heroes don't have to worry about. I'm not saying that you have to make friends, but I am saying that you should be open to the possibility, because there's going to come a time when you're going to have to trust your colleagues to have your back, and that's a lot easier to do when you actually trust them."

Mic: Yeah definitely.

Joke(teasingly): And it's even easier when you're closer than friends.

Aizawa: Joke stop that already we're not in love!

It took a few seconds for Hitoshi to realize that Aizawa had already started walking again and he had to jog to catch up. What was that? Eraserhead was known to be independent and harsh, he didn't have friends, did he? He didn't need them! At least, that's what Hitoshi had always believed, but that's not what Aizawa had said. Hitoshi frowned; maybe he should be more open, but... maybe he could test it out. He hadn't come here to make friends, but allies would undeniably be useful, so he'd start with Midoriya, and then if that didn't work out, he would never have to do it again. That would work.

Bakugo: Well it's definitely going to work out because for some reason the nerd can't stop collecting extras.

Aizawa led him to a nondescript building in one of the poorer parts of town, just a neighborhood or two away from UA. He pulled out a key and let Hitoshi inside.

"Welcome to my agency, kid. That door's the bathroom. Get into your hero costume and meet me in the gym at the end of the hall. We need to see where your combat abilities are at."

Hitoshi nodded and hurried to get dressed.

Midnight: Oh I pity you Shinso. Shou's training tests are no joke.

1A: You're telling me?

Izuku frowned at the key and piece of paper that Nezu had given him during their last lesson. The paper was supposed to be an address, but... apparently Nezu had decided that the best way to start his internship was with a riddle.

Recovery Girl: Of course.

Izuku wasn't complaining, he liked riddles! He just wished that he didn't have to drag around his luggage while trying to find where Nezu lived. It would just have to count as muscle training, right?

Mirio: That's a positive way to think about it.

Oh, and the riddle was in English, so there was that.

Kaminari: Ugh English... I know it's important but it's so hard...

Though I am only two words, I have thousands of letters.

Tsunotori(excitedly): I know! Post office!

Two words... thousands of letters... maybe it had something to do with the longest word in the English language? A quick internet search later and Izuku was back to square one. The longest word referred to some kind of lung disease, but he didn't think that was quite what Nezu was going for. Hmmm... well, a lot of riddles relied on puns or wordplay. Was this Nezu's way of telling him not to slack off in Mic's class?

Mic: Yeah you'd better not!

Okay, words didn't have two meanings, nor did thousands, so... maybe letters? Letters were characters in English writing, but they must have another meaning as well. He hoped that Nezu wouldn't get too mad at him for running the word through his translate app, but he was just using all his resources, right?

Nezu: Oh of course I wouldn't get mad. If you're not using all available resources when you're allowed to then you're not as smart as you seem to think you are.

And... there! Letters were also what was sent in the mail! So two words... thousands of letters... post office!

Tsunotori: I was right!

Izuku grinned and started toward Musutafu post office. He wondered what Nezu would have waiting for him there, because that obviously wasn't his final destination. Was this going to be a full-on scavenger hunt? He looked at the key again. Yeah, that seemed like something Nezu would do.

UA staff: Definitely something the rat would do.

When he reached the post office, Izuku looked around for his next clue, but didn't see anything obvious. He could always ask the people at the desk, but he didn't know if Nezu would have wanted to include other people on his hunt. Izuku pinched his lip as he thought about what Nezu might have in mind. What had he given him? Just the note and... Izuku looked over toward the PO boxes, then grabbed the key from his pocket. Sure enough, there was a number engraved on the handle.

209

Mina: Oh he must've put something in one of the boxes.

Izuku found the right box and turned the key, smiling slightly when he heard the lock click. He opened the door and grabbed what was inside. A puzzle box. He locked the PO box again and made his way outside where he could find a bench to sit on while he figured out how to open it. Hmm, maybe if he moved that piece to the left, then that other piece down, then...

Mei: Wow that's a complicated box.

It took him almost twenty minutes to solve the box, which he hoped wasn't too much longer than Nezu had predicted. He didn't want to disappoint his mentor when Nezu had been so eager to have him for internships. But maybe he'd planned on it taking that long. The first riddle had been pretty easy, so Nezu had probably put in a variety of different difficulties.

The only thing inside the puzzle box was a note written on the same stationary as the first clue and Izuku realized that it was another riddle.

Kaminari: And still in English...

There is a place we go for a walk

The children play and we can talk

Find this place if you want a lark

The answer you seek is in the...

Tsunotori: Park!

At the train station, Shoto had heard a few of his classmates worrying that they'd get lost on the way to their internships. He didn't have that issue, considering that he was just going home. He'd been hesitant to intern with his father, but... if he was going to use his flames, he needed to learn how to use them and his father was the best flame user in Japan. But just because he'd decided that this was the best option didn't mean he was necessarily looking forward to this week, especially the training.

Endeavor was already waiting for him when he arrived, so Shoto changed into workout clothes as quickly as he could and made his way to the training room. He opted for a tank top and shorts this time, since he would be practicing his fire rather than his ice this time, which meant that between his flames and his father's, it would most likely get very hot, very quickly. He took a deep breath and opened the door. It would only be one week.

Todoroki: Yes... one week...

Dabi: One week of absolute hell.

"I'm glad you've finally come to your senses, Shoto." Endeavor grinned. "This week will be invaluable when it comes to making sure your fire is even stronger than your ice."

Todoroki(glaring): You're not better than mom.

Shoto grit his teeth. Leave it to his father to start off his hell week by implying that he was better than Mom. Shoto took a deep breath. Mom had given him permission to use his fire again. He was doing this to make her proud, he just had to remember that.

Shigaraki: Sheesh you really shouldn't have gone with him.

Toga: Yeah just stab him already! Wait Dabi wants to do that. Nevermind! You don't get to stab him!

"Let's begin by seeing how long you can keep your flames up before you pass out from the heat." Endeavor continued. He got out his phone and showed Shoto the screen. It was on the stopwatch function. "Begin!"

Dabi: Well that's familiar. Except for me it was how long before I started getting burned.

Katsuki walked toward the building, which looked like it had been repaired so many times that the workers had stopped trying to match the exact shade of paint, and rang the bell. There was a long moment without any response and Katsuki was considering knocking the door down when there was a yell from the inside.

Bakugo: Time to see if this internship is better than stupid Jeanist's.

"Come the *&^#@ in!"

Hawks(chuckling): This is going to be fun.

He rolled his eyes, but slammed the door open. Inside was one large room with a few couches, a TV, and a set of stairs leading to the upper levels. Mirko was lounging on one of the couches playing on her phone and didn't even bother to look up when he came in. Katsuki stood in the doorway for a moment before stomping over to stand right in front of her.

"Yo! Bunny @#$*(! You gonna train me, or what?"

Mirko grinned and tossed her phone down on the couch, "I guess that depends, Blasty. You gonna make me?"

Mina: Ooh! Those two are going to have fun.

Katsuki looked at her in shock. Hadn't she been the one that requested him? Was she not gonna do her job?

"Tch," Mirko picked her phone back up, "and here I thought you had some fight in ya. May as well go back to middle school if you're gonna turn down a fight. Heroes have gotta be willing to throw down at any time."

All Might: True.

Katsuki scowled and took off his blazer. If Bunny &*@$# wanted a fight, she was gonna get a fight! He screamed and threw an explosive punch at her phone, but she managed to react quickly enough so his explosion hit only air.

"Now that's what I'm talking about blasty!" She grinned and stood, cracking her neck. "Now let's see how you handle this!"

She aimed a kick at his stomach, which Katsuki dodged using his explosions. As soon as he landed, he turned to counterattack, but was met with a kick to the back instead.

(everyone winced as they saw him fly into the wall)

"Lesson number one: never take your eyes off an enemy, especially not one who's better than you." Mirko said. "And stop making your movements so obvious. You're taking all the fun out of it!"

Katsuki grimaced as he peeled himself off the wall and saw the sizable dent his body had left. He was starting to see why this place had been repaired so many times, "I'm gonna make you pay for that, Bunny @#(*&$!"

Hawks: Yep Rumi just doesn't care about her house apparently.

Mirko laughed, "I'll believe that when I see it, Blasty, right now, you're getting your ass handed to you!"

Katsuki grinned as he dodged another kick and immediately launched an explosion at Mirko's face. This week was gonna be awesome!

Bakugo: Oh come on I should've gone with her instead of Jeanist!

Mirko: Yeah you really should've.

Mirio hoped that he wasn't in the wrong place. He swore that this was the address All Might gave him, but maybe he just wasn't reading it right? Gran Torino was a hero, retired, yes, but still a hero, so he couldn't live in such a rundown place, right?

Jirou: Well apparently he does.

Hesitantly, he knocked on the door, only for it to open on it's own like the opening of a bad horror movie. Okay, he could go completely intangible, so he could probably avoid getting murdered if he went inside. Hopefully.

(everyone laughed)

Mirio slowly opened the door and waited for his eyes to adjust to the darkness of the room. Okay, so the inside was a little better maintained than the outside had been and... oh no. He froze when he saw a short old man in a white cape lying face down in a puddle of what looked suspiciously like blood. Oh, no, Gran Torino was dead, All Might was going to be so sad and what would Sir think? Had he been close to Gran Torino as well?

Midoriya: Why does that keep happening?

Gran Torino: Don't give the joke away!

Midoriya: What joke?

Mirio took a deep breath and forced himself to move forward. He was going to be a hero, he could handle this. He thought back to his crisis management classes from second year. First off, he should check for signs of life, then call the police. He crouched down to check for a pulse, only to scream and fall on his butt when the body suddenly raised its head and smiled.

"I'm alive!"

(a few people screamed but mostly everyone was laughing)

Mirio stared at him for a moment before bursting into laughter, "All Might never mentioned you were a prankster too!"

Recovery Girl: That's because Toshinori's still embarrassed from the one time he got his head stuck in a wall.

All Might(groaning): Don't remind me.

Midoriya: Hang on you did that on purpose Gran Torino?

Gran Torino: Of course!

Tsukauchi(muttering): Seriously sometimes we still get calls from people reporting a murder only for us to get there and this old man is asking us to clean up ketchup.

Gran Torino got up off the floor and helped him up, "Probably because Toshinori's too embarrassed for falling for so many of them back in the day! Kid's got a good heart, but he's kinda an idiot sometimes. Now go get a mop and help me clean up this ketchup!"

Mirio grinned and went to find the kitchen. This guy's prank game was so on-point that he managed to convince a third-year hero student that he was dead, but Mirio could only freak people out if they didn't know his quirk yet. Gran Torino was a master of the craft and Mirio got to spend an entire week learning from him.

This was gonna be so much fun!

Mirio: Oh yeah it's definitely going to be!

Nejire: See Tamaki? You don't have to worry about him!

Tamaki: Sure...

Izuku read through all the clues again, wondering if he'd missed something somewhere. The last clue had led him to an apartment building, which seemed correct, but he had no way of knowing which apartment was Nezu's. Was he supposed to knock on every door and ask where the principal lived? Considering that he was probably the only animal living there, his neighbors almost definitely knew which apartment was his. But that couldn't be what Nezu had in mind.

Nezu: Oh come on, use your head.

He looked through the clues again. Most of them were riddles, with the exception of the PO box key. Wait, a key! A key with a number on it! Which number was it again? Izuku dug in his pocket and looked at the handle. 209. It might not mean anything, but he'd known Nezu for long enough that he knew that he rarely did something for no reason. It would be just like Nezu to hide a clue in a random object that would likely be dismissed as having already fulfilled its purpose.

(several people looked at each other, thinking that they probably would have never figured that out)

Izuku climbed the stairs to the second floor and knocked on the door to apartment 209. There was a long moment and Izuku had already started drafting his apology to the actual resident of the apartment when the door finally opened.

"Ah, Midoriya, perfect timing!" Nezu grinned and stepped aside to let him in. "Dinner is almost ready."

Uraraka: Well looks like everyone's internships have started.

Iida(sighing): We are probably going to see me run off and attempt murder again aren't we?

Todoroki: Yes.