Chapter 65:

Everybody was excited to head to their internships, well, apart from everyone that knew what it would entail. Those who knew roughly what would happen weren't excited for the extensive amount of paperwork they would inevitably have to fill in after every outing.

Momo had her internship with Sir Nighteye that she was looking forward to, it would be her first big case. Sure, her wife took down the Yakuza boss a few years back, but the Shie Hassaikai was too stubborn to move on from their trigger supplying job, it was a big money earner, even if it meant that they didn't have their boss as a rather powerful shield against heroes.

Shoto decided that he would take his father's internship request because he knew the number two hero would probably turn up wherever he went anyway. Plus, he might as well utilize his father's knowledge of fire-related combat before the court date is announced.

Toga had an internship request from Edgeshot, someone who she didn't expect to send her one at all. Kan was a little upset that Toga didn't take him up on his internship offer, however, he knew that taking Edgeshot's offer would be more valuable for Toga in the long run. Kan knew he could offer her advice, and training, in the future, so he wasn't as upset as his pouting let on.

Mina was offered an opportunity to intern with Wash, which she was very excited about. She could make water with her quirk, or a liquid close to its pH level, so it would be nice to see just how someone more experienced in messing around with liquids would help her. His high ranking, and absolutely zero scandals related to him, also helped a lot in Mina making her decision.

Sakuya's hero database website was a big deciding factor in the student's decisions. The school had vetoed the internship requests from any heroes with criminal activity under their names that weren't resolved. They didn't wish for the students to be caught in any scandals, or be influenced by any corrupt heroes that hadn't been fired yet.

The cleaning process for the HPSC was slow, and the police had been capitalizing on it. The police were arresting the heroes, and showing the world that heroes aren't above the law and that they weren't all righteous people. The image of heroes in the public's eye also wasn't helped by the fact that the police were able to take down those who resisted arrest with relative ease thanks to their new equipment.

The biggest blow to the HPSC, however, was Hawk's interview/interrogation live on the biggest news channel in Asia. Hawks decided to try and save his own skin by exaggerating just how much the HPSC had manipulated him with half-truths. The HPSC, his previous 'benefactors', didn't take kindly to his remarks or falsehoods but didn't pursue Hawks further than firing him.

So, in the end, Hawks managed to obtain his freedom from the HPSC. However, it came at the cost of years of jail time, probably serving a similar sentence to his predecessor Lady Nagant over in Tartarus. In short, the cost of his freedom came at the cost of his newly gained freedom. But, he was happier this way, because he at least would be in his 'rightful birdcage'.

This did, however, mean that Tokoyami couldn't choose Hawks as his mentor. However, it wasn't a large loss, as he was selected by Takahiro, a hero with a bird quirk, in the end anyway. He planned to ask Takahiro how to fly, or if he had any ideas on how to pull it off using Dark Shadow as a basis.

Sato managed to secure an internship with Fatgum, alongside Kirishima, which he was excited about. He didn't think that because of his parent's stand at the festival that he would secure an internship with such a well-suited hero for his internship.

Inasa was interning with the retired hero Captain Celebrity because he was one of the few heroes that could assist Inasa in bettering his quirk. Sure, some back-door deals took place between Captain Celebrity, and a silver-haired demon, to get him out of retirement for the week, but nobody knew of that, not even Inasa.

Melissa was off to Hosu, to intern under All Might's teacher and with All Might himself. She was more excited to meet his teacher, who was a friend of Nana's. She hoped that she could get some blackmail material so that she could force the 'stubborn bitch' to allow her access to the Float quirk.

Everybody else went to the same internships as their canon counterparts, apart from Iida, who was interning with his brother due to him not being stuck in the hospital this time around. They were ready to take their first step into the world of hero work- or at least -most were.

A certain silver-haired woman didn't care about her work, or even needed to go to an internship in the first place. She had already done years of interning under Recovery Girl before entering UA, she knows exactly what the hero world is like.

The only difference between the two types of internships was that she had to experience the nitty-gritty of the hero world that first years would be kept away from. Deep tissue wounds, lost limbs, corpses, and third-degree burns; all of these things were scenarios she had to deal with, the unpublicized risks of living in the MHA world.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - -

(Sakuya POV)

Today is the start of my week-long holiday, and I was ready to relax. Well, my version of relaxing probably doesn't match up with other people's definition of it, but I would have some chilled-out fun.

Sadly, this fun starts with me finally doing something that I had been putting off for the longest time... It's time to awaken my quirk.

There were many reasons for me wanting to put this off, and it revolved around me not wanting to experience the pain or lack of control that awakening forces onto the person in question.

I wouldn't be able to use my quirk, as the quirk factor would be what I like to refer to as 'locked'. I would also be in immense amounts of pain, as my quirk factor for my Chronokinesis is far more complex than others, for an extended period of time.

I could have a clone of me fast forward the process, but I didn't know how it would interact with my version of Chronokinesis that would be undergoing transformation. So, they would only be there in the unfortunate case that something goes awry, and try to keep me alive.

After sending Momo off to her internship with a portal, I started making my way over to my private building in UA. It was set up perfectly for the occasion.

There was fake blood splattered and dried all over the walls and floor, candle-lit sconces lining the walls, chains, and various other weird objects hanging from the ceiling like a hanged Elmo plushie. The masterpiece that tied this all together, however, was the satanic summoning circle in the center of the floor, where I would be chained down.

Why did I bother going through all of this effort?

I wanted to give Fluffy-chan a show. He thinks that I didn't notice the camera he had installed, so I planned this the second I saw the device. It took a detailed illusion being upheld constantly, but it would be worth it for the reveal.

As I scanned my card at the door to unlock it, I made the clones and entered with the clones in tow. I turned to the rather hesitant clones, and addressed them,

"If any of you decide to fuck around with this, I will use my improved quirk to torture you all for eternity, got it?"

"Yes, ma'am!" they all responded with a salute.

After hearing their genuine confirmation, I laid down in the middle of the circle and had my clones strap me in. I didn't want to start flailing around in agony, I would much prefer to be completely constricted in that scenario, so I was chained down firmly.

"You know what you need to do?"

"We start accelerating ourselves and sing Smash Mouth's All Star in an operatic tone."

"And?"

"Hold hands in a circle around you while wearing cultist robes and other assorted satanic paraphernalia?"

"Perfect."

I couldn't be prouder of my clones, especially after watching them all transform into their cultist clothing. I, naturally, had to play the part of the 'virgin' sacrifice to appease whatever Lovecraftian tickle monster that gave me this damn quirk in the first place, so I was clothed in white nun robes.

After taking a few deep breaths, I had my clones place the ball gag in my mouth, and started the process after erasing all of my other stored quirks, which dispelled the illusion. The results were immediate, and every single cell of my body felt like it was being set on fire.

"MMMMMMMMMPPPPPPHHHHHHHH!!!"

The room around me began shaking, I could feel a liquid running down the side of my face, which I hoped wasn't blood, and I was being serenaded by a sped-up version of All Star courtesy of my clones. With this, I could finally confirm that I wasn't a masochist, because this would have been masochistic heaven.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

A certain chimera was having a mediocre day, nothing noteworthy happened yet. He always expected some nonsensical thing would happen due to Sakuya's interference, and those expectations were only raised when he overheard that she was taking a week-long break during internship week.

He found the idea horrifying.

An entire week, where she would inevitably get bored, and make her own fun? That alone could spell the destruction of humanity depending on the level of her boredom and general mood.

If he found out anything about how to 'deal' with Sakuya, it would be that you don't let her get bored, it never ends well. You have to find a way of making her accept duties so that she would be preoccupied. That alone was nigh-impossible as she would send a clone to do whatever it is if she didn't feel like it.

Currently, he was in a meeting, specifically on how to deal with the more troublesome students, namely one Bakugo Katsuki, in the hero course, and how to handle Shinso's catch-up training sessions.

"So, does anyone want to take charge of the new student's, Hitoshi Shinso's, training?" Nedzu asked.

"Shota should do it, the kid idolizes him, and he's also in his class. Therefore, it is his responsibility to teach and train him."

There was a quick round of agreements, and zero objections from the man in question. So, Nedzu decided that would be the course of action regarding Shinso.

"Alright, Shota, I expect you to inform Shinso of your new role by tomorrow. You have a week's worth of 1 on 1 training to try and make him catch up to his peers as much as you can."

"When is your new boss making good on their deal regarding the equipment and facility upgrades? If it is during this week, I would like to know what is going to be available to me before I plan out Shinso's routine." Aizawa questioned.

Aizawa's question got a lot of the teachers curious about this new 'boss' of their boss. They didn't think that the principal would ever have a boss that wasn't the education board.

"They will make good on their deal when I inform them of a suitable time to do so. As for what it entails, I will hand you a list when the facilities are upgraded. Do you wish for the advanced equipment and facilities to be implemented today?" Nedzu asked in return.

"If you believe they can get it completed by today? Then, that would be best."

The chimera opened his phone and prepared to text Sakuya. Before he could, however, he saw her most recent message,

[[Evil Time Bestie: Check the camera.]]

It didn't take much thinking to understand just exactly which camera she was talking about, it would be the rather poorly 'hidden' camera he implemented to her freakshow building. Without thinking, he pulled the live feed of the camera on his laptop.

"What the fuck..."

A collective gasp was heard by Nedzu, he then apologized,

"I apologize for my language, but did you need to react like that?"

"The gasp wasn't for that, sir," Nemuri said.

He looked towards Nemuri and caught sight of just why the gasp was heard. He forgot that his laptop was connected to the board at the front of the room, which was now broadcasting the satanic ritual.

However, even after noticing his blunder, he didn't take down the broadcast. Instead, he unmuted it, only for the room to be blasted with a cacophony of melodic sped-up operatic tones, and muffled screaming. After a few seconds, he muted the feed for good.

"I think my boss is preoccupied at the minute, Shota. I'll try asking her later."

Aizawa couldn't handle it anymore, he wanted to leave, to escape this madness. But, he couldn't, he was contractually obligated to be here. Also, deep down he knew that no matter where he went, Sakuya would haunt him. So, he settled for slamming his head into the table in hopes it would knock him out, even if only temporarily.

It didn't work, but it also didn't make the atmosphere any more awkward than it already was. Sakuya's satanic torture dance already did an admirable job at making the meeting as awkward as possible.

"Do we need to go and save her?" Kan asked.

"Do you think you CAN save her?" Mic rebutted.

"With all those clones around her? Impossible."

Nedzu decided to intervene before All Might decided to be his heroic self and charge over to the building Sakuya is located in.

"You don't need to worry about Sakuya, she's the last person whose health you ever need to worry about. I don't think she would mind this information being shared, as it is in our contract, but she is forcing her quirk to undergo an 'awakening' as she termed it.

The process is extremely painful, and you cannot use your quirk during the time it is awakening. This is why I assume she decided to put on a show because she couldn't just skip over the process.

After the awakening is complete, the person's quirk evolves. A case that you are all familiar with would be Kan's quirk, and how it improved to allow him to puppeteer people through inserting a few drops of his blood into another person's bloodstream."

"She's going to get even stronger..."

"Indeed, she is. I am quite excited to see whatever it is that her quirk evolves into, so please ignore the camera feed for the meantime, I would like to see the process through to the end."

Nedzu didn't bother filing their complaints away about how they couldn't ignore the morbidly fascinating scene, instead opting to sort through his folders for the second point of today's meeting.

"Hush." He silenced the room.

"..."

"Good! Now, let us move on to the next of today's topics, the final exams. Specifically, we will be tackling the first years today, with the other two final exams being the topic of discussion for following meetings."

"Are we not going to just have them fight the robots like previous years?" Kan asked.

"That would have been the plan as usual, however, there are some big threats on the horizon, threats of the human variety. So, fighting robotic opponents wouldn't give them the challenge they need to grow, and potentially survive. Personally? I don't want my student's careers to end before they could even start."

The previously awkward atmosphere in the room instantly turned serious. The few teachers who were still watching the camera feed were now completely giving their boss their full attention.

"How do you know these 'threats' are real?"

"Being on Sakuya Izayoi's side comes with many benefits. One such benefit is access- albeit limited access -to her large amount of information.

She has a certain book, named the 'game plan'. Inside of that book, every single thing was written in code, and I managed to get a glimpse at a page, no doubt because Sakuya let me glimpse at it.

I managed to decode the sliver of text that I managed to read, which confirmed the existence of some rather large threats. I will not go into detail about those threats right now, but you only need to know that they exist, and are currently idle."

Naturally, the staff was angry at the lack of details, with some even marking it down as a prank by Sakuya. However, their opinions on the matter didn't matter, all they could do now was prepare.

- - - - - - - - - - - -

(Sakuya POV)

It was finally over…

I couldn't move anymore, and my sight was dyed red from the dried blood that welled up in my eyes. My chest heaved as I tried my hardest to suck in air, a task that proved near impossible with my fatigued body, even with the gag taken off.

"One of you shut the camera off... while another unchains me..."

Those were the only words I managed to get out before my throat instantly dried up.

As I heard the rattling of the chains and found that I could move once more, I was met with the vilest of sounds. My clothes were soaked through with sweat, blood, and tears, and when I jostled around, a squelching noise reverberated around the room.

"Here."

I felt something nudge me, it was my clone offering me some wet wipes. I didn't bother thanking them, I was too busy trying to gain my eyesight once more. When I cleaned my eyes of all the dried blood, I was met with another surprise.

"What the fuck...."

"It is exactly what you think it is." One of my clones answered my unasked question.

"Here's a mirror for you, ma'am."

My skin was now reminiscent of an ever-changing galaxy, I looked like a sexier version of Eternity from the MCU. As cool as it looked, it would lead to me getting more stares than I would like.

So, I copied all of the quirks present in my clones, and used the Flawless Imposter quirk, a quirk that lets one copy the appearance and voice of another, and changed my appearance to look like my old self once more. I could always change my appearance back, but I preferred my human-looking form far more.

"Can the both of you dress me in something more suitable for relaxing? I don't wish to ever see, or be in these robes ever again."

After getting two affirmative responses, I stood up with shaky legs, and let them get to work. I closed my eyes and trusted them to choose a suitable outfit. I just wanted to go to my baby and cuddle her for the rest of the day.

My clones dressed me in some comfortable clothing with the main piece of clothing being an oversized cream hoodie with a cartoon ducky in the middle. It seems as if they didn't bother messing around with me today, something I greatly appreciated.

After everything was finished, I reverted the room to before it was turned into a cultist's den, hugged my clones for not being annoying, and fixed the camera Fluffy-chan placed. I was sure that I gave him a good enough show.

I then teleported myself to my dorm room, where Eri was playing on the switch and flopped down onto the couch next to her. She didn't even get startled, she was too busy focusing on her game. I used Larceny to grab one of the spare duvets from the storage cupboard, and snuggled into it.

I was too tired to bother Eri for some cuddles, so I went for a nap. It was an eventful start to my break and an even more exhausting one. I made sure to send a message to my clone, saying that she might have to be the one to portal Momo back to the dorm room before I did go to sleep, though.

When I was asleep, I kept being blasted with vague memories that I could only assume to be mine. The only thing I could make out was laughter and the name Victoria. I had no idea what they meant, so I chose to do what I do to my responsibilities, I ignored them when I woke up.