"Hi, Shoko!" I wave excitedly at my dual-haired friend, who returns it with a more demure one, but the joy lighting up her eyes and the slight upturn of her lips tells me that she's just as excited for this internship as I am. And I am excited, I didn't really do much with Mirko on the second day except have sex. Well, there was one patrol, but that was mainly us hopping across rooftops for a couple hours. No one caused any trouble so I didn't get to stab anyone. 'Non-lethally', I am required to add. Stupid Nezu and his stupid no murder rule…
"Ijiwamidosagi," Endeavor nods coolly at me, his expression carefully neutral. Hard to say if he's actually happy or annoyed that I'm interning with him. Which is particularly odd considering he requested me. But maybe he just did it because Shoko and I are friends. Hard to say, really.
"Endeavor," I nod back with just as much gravitas. Then I tilt my head while staring at his flaming facial hair. "I've always wondered, how long can you hold the flames on your face before they start becoming uncomfortable? Because you're fire resistant, not fire-proof. But you're also known to go a full day out in public with it constantly active, which means either the flames are weak or you take consistent breaks to ensure you have a minimal chance of overheating should you need to fight."
The man stares down at me, making me consciously aware that I am in fact on the shorter side. Stupid Inko and her stupid height. Why couldn't I have gotten Toshinori's tall genes? After several moments of silence, he speaks. "I can see why my daughter holds your intelligence in such high regards. I suppose this explains why Nezu was so insistent on having you stay at UA."
I shrug disinterestedly as I turn away from him, walking over to Shoko's side and throwing an arm around her shoulders. "Well, we all make mistakes. For example; we're in Hosu because you're hoping to hunt down the Hero Killer: Stain. Right?"
He startles a bit, his composure much harder to break than his usual temperament would have people believe. Or maybe it's a result of the therapy sessions Shoko mentioned that he's been going to? Either way, it's not much of a reaction to my words, but it's enough for me to know that I'm on the mark. Seeming to realize that, he glowers at me.
"How do you know that?" He demands, as if I would ever fear any threat he could make towards me. He should know that I have a very not secret weapon, given that she's currently leaning against me. Which is a bit odd, I'll admit. Is she cold or something? That shouldn't be possible because of how her quirk auto regulates herself as long as she doesn't overuse one side and neglects the other. Which I'm pretty sure we talked about not doing back in middle school...?
Whatever.
To answer Endeavor's question; I smirk at him. "Oh, the LoV has been monitoring his movements ever since we agreed that we don't like each other. He always maims two heroes in a city before killing a third and moving on. Ingenium was number two in Hosu, which means that he's going to be looking for a 'fake' to kill before he moves on." I pause to think about that for a moment. "Well, that was his MO before the Sports Festival. He basically idolized All Might, so I'm not sure about whether or not that's changed after my big reveal. Then again, he didn't believe me when I first told him, so who's to say he believes it now?"
Again, Shoko's father stares at me silently. Really, it's kind of getting ridiculous. At this rate he'll develop a reputation for brooding, or maybe the media will spin it as him becoming more introspective as he continues on his journey to becoming officially old. While I wait for the (almost) old man to gather his thoughts and say whatever it is he wants to say, I turn to Shoko.
"So, how's your internship been so far? Didn't really get to do anything with Mirko except some parkour, stamina, and flexibility practice." I grimace, staring off into the distance with a haunted look in my eyes. "Oh, and paperwork. So. Much. Paperwork."
She hums in thought before answering. "We've mainly been patrolling in Hosu. Not specifically looking for Stain, though we have been making excursions into some of the alleyways we pass by. I froze a purse snatcher's feet to the ground and he broke his nose when he fell."
I have to laugh at that, patting her on the head when I do. "Ha! Sounds like you've had a more exciting start to the week than I have." She leans into my touch like she always does. She's really touch-starved for positive attention so I always make sure to give her lots! I do have to pull away eventually though, much to her annoyance if the whine she gives me is any indication. Aaaand Endeavor is glaring at me now. Did he decide to be annoyed at the fact that me and the LoV didn't kill Stain when we met? Makes sense; it would mean that the heroes he's killed afterwards wouldn't have been killed. Well, not by him at least.
The pro clears his throat to get my attention, and once it's clear he's got it he starts speaking. "Seeing as you have some familiarity with the villain, what information can you provide on him?"
I hum while tapping my chin. This is actually an interesting situation for me. On one hand, helping the heroes capture Stain will be a significant accomplishment for them. It would reaffirm the public's faith in heroes as well as give credence to the fact that villains can, in fact, be rehabilitated into upstanding citizens, thus granting the HPSC more support and shoring up the cracks my reveal caused in their power base.
On the other hand, I really fucking hate Stain for being a self-righteous delusional bastard.
"Don't know what his quirk is actually called, but if he gets your blood on his tongue he can paralyze you. I'm not sure what kind of time limit it has, nor if it scales depending on how much blood he gets from his target. It might also scale depending on blood type, but, again, I don't have enough information to say for certain. He's quick on his feet and exceptionally skilled with blades which, interestingly enough, isn't part of his quirk but just a result of his training. Which honestly makes it pretty impressive despite the fact that I personally don't like him due to how he idolizes a false symbol and our clashing ideologies. Obviously he prefers ambush tactics as opposed to a straight fight though, due to his obsession with his so-called 'mission' in culling fake heroes - can't keep doing what he does if he gets crippled and all that. I'd assume his blades are reinforced - oh! - and while he has blades hidden all over his body in varying sizes and shapes his main weapon is a katana which is just so extra but really fits his aesthetic. His tongue is super long as well, probably to-"
My analysis is interrupted when Shoko puts her right hand over my mouth -which is absolutely freezing since it's her ice side. When I turn my head to raise an eyebrow at her she nods her head towards her father. "I apologize for interrupting, but you lost him."
I look at Endeavor and do indeed see a familiar glazed look in his eyes. I guess I started mumbling again? Whoops. I glance back at Shoko. "You understood me though, right?" She listened closely enough that she could understand my mumbles before I turned to villainy, but has she managed to retain the skill despite not needing it for a year?
Thankfully she nods. "I'll break it down for him while we're on patrol." She holds out her hand and focuses on it for a moment, using her quirk to make an ice funnel that bulges out to either side a bit. She slightly raises an eyebrow. "Water?"
It's so nice that she remembers the little things like this. Even if I can't feel pain from the slight cramp in my tongue or jaw anymore, I'm sure that it would have messed with my ability to talk for a while. Having some nice cool water will soothe them though.
At my nod she conjures a few decently sized ice cubes, big enough that they won't slide down the tube but small enough that she can fit a number of them inside. Using her left hand she puts out a low heat that will melt the ice but not cause the resulting water to heat up. It takes a lot more of a delicate touch than most people would expect and really shows how dedicated she is to training her quirk.
I have no idea how the idiots (and company) of 1-A can possibly think she never shows her emotions, they're so obvious! Really, I can't complain about how accommodating she is all the time. But there is one thing in this specific instance that's, well, not bad exactly, just a bit inconvenient.
"Will you make me a cup?" I ask my friend who's raised the funnel so that the bottom part comes to a stop almost out of reach of my mouth. To actually get the water from it to my mouth I'd either have to crouch a bit and keep my mouth wide open so the stream pours in, or tilt my head fairly far back and wrap my lips around the tip. It's kind of embarrassing, though not enough to get me to blush. More of a vague sense of 'oh, people are definitely going to be watching me do this and thinking dirty things'.
She shakes her head slowly, her eyes twinkling with amusement. "No, no I don't think I will."
I huff at her continuously odd sense of humor before shrugging and going with option two, latching my lips around the tip just in time for the water to start getting past its frozen counterpart. It kind of makes me feel like a hamster as I sort of suckle on it.
After drinking my fill she flares her flames to completely melt the funnel, letting the resulting water drop to the ground. A glance around does show a few people staring, and a few others who seem to be pointedly not staring. I send a wave to Sky, who keeps blinking at me for some reason, before raising an eyebrow at Endeavor. The man's face is redder than usual, his flames competing with his skin while he glares furiously at me. It's a good thing that he doesn't have a passive aspect to his quirk that lets him shoot flames from his eyes because at this moment I have no doubt that if he could, he would!
He doesn't say anything about what made him angry though, instead grumbling about how we need to get going and shoving himself between us. I can agree with Shoko's look of annoyance, but it's not a big deal.
I just hope that today won't be boring.