Chapter 22 Deku: The Telekinetic Hero by sremiehzla

The Internships

Shoto was upset, angry, on the verge of accidentally activating his flames, and on his way to have a word with his father. And he had no idea why any of those were the case. Sure, his old man had extended an internship invitation to Izuku, but that wasn't any real reason to set him off, right? Maybe his emotional problems with his father were worse than he realized. That little revelation could be set aside for the moment though, since he had more important things to do.

Shoto opened the door to Endeavor's training room—normally the only place that the hero could be found when he wasn't on the job or sleeping—and half-shut his eyes at the burn of smoke and heat coming from the room. His father heard the noise of the door somehow from over the roar of his flames, and quickly dialed them back as he looked at his son.

"Shoto," he said gruffly. "... You don't normally come to me. What do you want?"

"You requested Midoriya for the hero internships," Shoto said in his trademark flat tone. "Why?"

"Hmph, why is that of your concern?" Endeavor scoffed. "Worried that he'll show you up on our patrols like he did in the tournament?"

"Not at all," Shoto stated. "He won't be visiting your agency."

"What?" Endeavor asked, his voice gaining a bit of heat but not quite shouting. "Then who is he interning with?"

"Why is that any of your concern?" Shoto asked. "Upset that you aren't good enough for him?"

"SHOTO!" Endeavor shouted as his flames spiked momentarily, before he regained his composure. "It's none of my concern, I was simply curious. I don't care much for that boy, but he is a fine example to you on how much better you could do by using your full Quirk."

"Don't pull him into this," Shoto said, narrowing his eyes.

"Tch," Endeavor clicked his tongue before firing another blast and frying a training dummy. "Is there anything else?"

"... No, that's all," Shoto sighed before turning and opening the door outside again.

"Oh, there was another thing I wanted to ask you about," Endeavor called, causing his son to turn towards him again. "I heard that you went to visit your mother."

"... What of it?"

"You shouldn't do that again," he said loudly. "That crazy bitch already permanently scarred you. We can't afford to risk any worse damage, else you stop being able to fight. We're lucky she only burned you the first time."

"Mother is fine," Shoto said. "She's doing well, and we... talked. And for the record, I don't blame her for this." He touched his scarred skin.

Endeavor let out a heavy sigh. "... Then you plan to go back and see her again?"

"I'll make my own choices," Shoto said.

"... Geh, fine," Endeavor grunted before resuming his training.

—

"Everybody have their costumes?" Aizawa asked as he led the students onto the train platform where they'd all be traveling from.

"Yeaaaah!" Mina exclaimed.

"Don't slur your words Ashido," he scolded. "Now remember, wearing your costumes in public is prohibited until you have permission from your supervising hero. Still, you have to make sure not to drop them anywhere." He shooed them away as he sighed, "Behave yourselves, now go on."

The students all began moving their separate ways. Many were taking the same route as each other, at least partially, so some groups formed on their ways out. But Tenya, much to the interest of both Izuku and Ochako, began walking away alone. They both caught up to him, and Izuku grabbed his shoulder to get his attention.

"Oh, Midoriya and Uraraka! I don't believe I wished you well on your internships!" he said with a small smile.

"Well, no," Izuku said, "but we just wanted to let you know that you can talk to either of us any time you want. If there's ever anything bothering you or you just want company, we're here."

"Yeah," Ochako nodded. "We're your friends, y'know?"

"Ah," he said, losing his smile. He looked to be considering something, before he nodded and smiled slightly again, "Of course. You as well."

And then they all went their separate ways. Izuku rode on the bullet train for about an hour before finally getting off near Tokyo. Was he nervous? Of course he was. There were always heroes he saw locally, then there were the teachers at U.A., then there were heroes like All Might and Endeavor who he knew through special circumstances. But this... he had made the choice himself, yet he wasn't exactly sure how to approach this particular hero. He requested Izuku, so he had thought that would have been enough to calm him down when it came to the moment of truth.

It wasn't.

He walked into the building, a relatively plain and unassuming 5-story business, and up to the reception desk.

"Hm? Hello, how might I—?" the receptionist began asking before she recognized the U.A. costume case and—of course—the famous student who was holding it. "Ah, you must be here for the hero internship! We're honored you accepted our agency!"

"Ah, yeah," he smiled. "Glad to be requested. So, um, where should I go?"

"Oh, take the elevator over there to the 4th floor," she said, jutting her thumb towards an elevator that was just emptying its most recent haul of people. "Take a left and it'll be behind the large red doors. No need to knock, he'll be expecting you."

"Thank you," he said with a nod before going on his way.

The hall was busy and so was the elevator, so Izuku had to wait for about 5 minutes, pressed against the wall to avoid the foot traffic, before the elevator finally reached the first floor again. And then he had to wait for the flood of people to empty out before he entered himself along with several others. Izuku didn't particularly think the elevator could hold the amount of people that had walked out of it, but as he rode up to the 4th floor and stopped at every one in between, he saw the size of the crowd in the elevator go from manageable to packed tight and then back to manageable again.

He finally reached his stop and followed the crowd into a large hallway—much larger than the one downstairs, he could almost consider it a room instead of a hallway. He did as the receptionist had said and turned left. He saw the wooden double doors immediately, and walked up to them. They were ornate, and painted a dark red with golden accents. Izuku grabbed the handle and pulled one of the doors open. Inside was an unexpected—if apt—scene. The far wall and right wall were completely glass, letting sunlight in and giving the room a natural look. Oh, or that might have been the plants everywhere, or the rocks of the indoor zen garden, or the wooden patio that Izuku found himself on. And on the largest rock of the garden, sitting in an almost cliché meditation pose, was the current #5 pro hero, Edgeshot.

"U-Um, hello," Izuku said hesitantly as he walked to the edge of the hardwood. "I'm Izuku Midoriya, from the hero course at U.A."

Edgeshot's one visible eye opened and quickly focused on the student. "Ah yes, Midoriya," he said. "I'm pleased that you accepted my offer. I'm sure you had others, after all."

"I had a few, yeah," Izuku chuckled sheepishly with a scratch to the back of his neck.

"Did you have any from heroes ranked above me?"

"Yes, I did. I got invitations from Best Jeanist and Endeavor."

"Endeavor? Really?" Even in Edgeshot's one visible eye, surprise was evident. "You received a request from Endeavor, yet you chose to accompany my agency? Well then, I suppose you aren't here just because of my high rank," the hero said as he stood up on his feet. "To what do I owe this pleasure then?"

"I... had some vague ideas for new applications of my quirk," Izuku said. "But I really don't have any idea how I should approach it."

"And you think I might have the knowledge that you need?"

"Yes, but not only that," Izuku admitted. "I've been having trouble focusing recently. My quirk needs pretty precise control, and I'm worried that it might get in the way. I know that you're all... zen and everything, so I was hoping that you would be able to help me—"

"To quiet your mind?" he cut the student off. "I may be able to assist there, yes. We can start immediately."

"Immediately?" Izuku echoed, excited that he'd be able to get started.

"Yes, but first I'd like you to talk to you about whatever is distracting your mind. What is it, exactly?"

"E-Erm, I don't know—"

"Anything new, different, or otherwise unnatural to what normally happens in your life could knock your mind 'off-balance', so to speak. Or, it could be an old problem that's festered long enough to bother you in a distracting manner. Did anything happen that fits any of those descriptions?"

"Well, there are a few..."

Edgeshot used his Quirk to zip over to a round wooden table on the patio, and sat down. An inclination of his head requested that Izuku also sit down in the chair across from him, and the young hero-in-training did so, setting his hero costume case on the floor next to him.

—

Ochako Uraraka set her clothes down on the bed in her room at the Gunhead hero agency. She had gone through the orientation, and had just changed into her hero costume to begin her first training session with Gunhead. The hero was satisfied with her reasons for going to his agency, and seemed to agree that the applications of hand-to-hand combat in conjunction with her Quirk would be invaluable to her.

She thought about Deku for a moment. He was, no doubt in her mind, working hard to become a great hero at that moment. She felt her cheeks get warm as she thought about his great determination, then slapped them to psych herself up. She wasn't falling behind.

—

Edgeshot had to admit, Izuku did have a lot of things on his mind. An ongoing rivalry with a boy he repeatedly referred to as "Kacchan", his worry over the home life of the Todoroki family (yeah, Edgeshot worried about that too, every time he spoke with the number 2 hero), Ingenium's younger brother seemingly withdrawing from his friends ever since the pro's career-ending encounter with the Hero Killer, and finally the fact that Izuku had recently gone on a date with one of his classmates.

Edgeshot didn't see the rivalry as a bad thing—it should spur Izuku forward if anything—but the others were certainly obstacles. At least his worry over his friends told Edgeshot that he had a kind heart, although those were the kinds of things that he couldn't let distract him when on an operation. As far as girls go... Edgeshot had no experience.

He wasn't a "ninja" just because it fit his Quirk or personality, he wanted to become a ninja-based hero because he was always a ninja-loving dork who loved ancient history relating to them. They just seemed so cool to him. His ninja-otaku personality essentially made everyone ignore him in school until he got into U.A., but even then he had no luck with the ladies. One time he asked out a classmate as part of a Truth or Dare game, but...

He could still hear their mocking laughter.

So he couldn't give the boy any advice on the matter and told him not to think about it. Like that'll help.

"Woah," Izuku said aloud as he looked down at his newly donned hero costume. "They've changed it a little bit along with repairing it."

His jumpsuit was a more durable material than before. It had small white shoulder pads, and the white lines on it were now black. His respirator was now a sleek metal design rather than his earlier plastic one, and without the obvious reference to All Might's smile. He felt the extra weight on his belt and grinned. His requested tools must've been approved.

"Now that you have that on, try clearing your mind," Edgeshot suggested. "Try to learn that you want to focus when you wear this. It's easier if there's a mental connection."

"Okay," he nodded. 'Now, how to clear my mind... Just ignore it. I can't do anything about those problems now, so they aren't important. It's completely out of my hands for now. I wonder if the others might be thinking about them... NO, focus! Don't think, don't think, don't think, don't think—!'

"No!" Edgeshot cut off his train of thought. "Don't think about not thinking! If you do that, then you won't be not thinking! You just have to stop thinking about that stuff altogether and focus on the here and now. It should be as natural as possible."

"O-Okay," Izuku nodded. "Sorry..." 'Don't think about ignoring the other problems... Instead, just focus more on what's in front of me...'

—

"Tenya," Manual sighed, "I'm not joking about this. I realize that you must think that I don't understand, but you have to think about your future as a hero."

"... I know," Tenya nodded.

The two were approaching Manual's agency after their first day patrolling. The day was quiet for the most part. They stopped a purse snatcher and investigated a ruckus down an alley, which turned out to be a few kids rough-housing, but there were no real developments. Normally that's good, but Tenya was obviously disgruntled.

"I'll prepare dinner for you," the hero offered. "Go take a shower in the meanwhile."

Tenya shoved off to the bathroom, and Manual made some pasta with meatballs. When Tenya didn't show up for a while after the water shut off, he got worried and checked on him. He was already asleep. With a sigh of disappointment, Manual left the dish by his bedside before going off to file the night's paperwork with a sidekick.

—

Izuku hit the sheets with a deep exhale. He hadn't actually done much physical training—they really didn't have enough time—but he was mentally exhausted. Trying to calm his mind was more taxing than he thought. He was so used to analyzing everything that it was hard to turn that function off. Edgeshot told him they would work on it more the next day, which he was dreading, but he was too tired to think about that. His eyes were already heavy, and as he drifted off, he thought about everything that he would have to not think about. Then his mind rested on Ochako just before he dozed off.

—

"Oi, what the fuck does Deku think he's pulling?" Katsuki mumbled as he sat through another application of hair gel. "The bastard beat me in the tournament, then got a request from Endeavor. Now he goes to the agency of the hero ranked below Best Jeanist, which I bet is way better than this shit, just to fucking mock me?!"

"I don't know Midoriya myself," Best Jeanist mused, "but based on the mannerisms he showed at the festival, I doubt he'd even think of that."

"Shut the fuck up!"

"Behave!" Best Jeanist scolded.

Katsuki only complied because he was too tired to argue; the pro didn't let him sleep the previous night until he gave in and allowed some hair styling.

—

"Finally... Just over 3 hours and you've cleared your mind," Edgeshot sighed. He could tell just by looking (he was experienced after all) that Izuku was fully focused on his training. "Good, now stop focusing."

"W-What?" Izuku asked. "Why?"

"That focus is what will help your precision. No other training is helpful in that regard. As for other things you can do..." He dropped a few books in front of him. "These are all about physics or anatomy. Learn where pressure points are and how physics affects objects, then use your intense focus to make use of that knowledge. We can clear your mind again after an hour or two of studying. Then, lunch."

"Y-Yes sir, Edgeshot," he sighed as he picked up an anatomy book.

—

Shoto leaned against the side of a building as his father talked with police about a criminal he had just caught. Even though he didn't like his old man, Shoto had to admit he was impressive. That had been the 7th villain they'd caught, and it wasn't even noon yet.

Endeavor walked back and looked down at his son. "What is it with that glare you're giving me? Still sulking that I requested your friend?"

Shoto had genuinely not realized that he was glaring at his father. He quickly looked down.

"No... Just observing," he said. "You're certainly a top hero."

"... You can be too," he said gruffly before setting off down the street again. "Come on Shoto. Let's continue our patrol."

—

"Well done Midoriya," Edgeshot praised as his student relaxed and breathed. "You were able to reign yourself in within 10 minutes that time."

"Hah... better than the last time..." Izuku grinned.

"Better than the last 6 times," the hero said. "Alright, that's enough for today. Go wash up and then eat dinner. Tomorrow we're going to go out on patrol."

"We are?" Izuku's eyes lit up.

"Yes," he nodded. "We'll go to several different spots throughout the day, so you can get used to adapting to any new place rapidly."

"Alright!" he cheered. "I can't wait to go on a patrol!"

"Yeah, well don't wait to take a shower either," the pro said. "You're stinking up my dojo."

—

Ochako was exhausted from everything Gunhead had thrown at her. She was already sore, so she dreaded what it would feel like in the morning. She just got out of the shower and changed, and now was laying down in bed.

Despite her exhaustion, she was restless for a while. Everything Gunhead taught her was swirling in her head and she was struggling to keep everything down. She had a few more days with him, but she didn't want to dedicate much time to relearning everything the next day. She needed to focus on working hard, just like Deku.

Deku...

Ochako: Hey Deku, just wanted to see how your internship is going. Hope it's going well! Mine is good, but it's real hard work haha

'Just a text to check in,' she thought. 'Nuthin wrong with that...'

She waited anxiously for a solid 50 seconds before the 'typing' notification popped up.

Izuku: Hi Uraraka. My internship is really tiring, but I think it's been worthwhile. Edgeshot said that we're going on a patrol tomorrow, so I'll get some work in the field.

Ochako: Lucky! I wish I could go on a patrol, but Gunhead said I need to train for my entire time here to really make improvements.

Izuku: That makes sense since you're learning combat from the ground up.

Ochako: Yeah, guess so.

Ochako's finger hovered over the keyboard as she contemplated what her next text would be. There were plenty of questions in her head, ones that she wasn't brave enough to ask in person. They had gone on a date, so what did that mean? Could they go on another one soon? Were they just friends or—?

Izuku: I'm struggling to stay awake rn haha, so I'm gonna go to bed and rest up for tomorrow. It sounds like you should too. Goodnight Uraraka!

Ochako: Yeah, goodnight Deku

She sighed as she set her phone down on the nightstand and plugged it in. She hadn't been thinking about it much earlier, but ever since the moment she thought about how she needed to keep up with Deku he had started to fill her thoughts more and more.

She respected him, and looked up to him, and thought he was the coolest guy she knew. Even though he seemed so amazing, he was also so nice, and warm, and dorky in such a cute way. She liked him. A lot. But the problems and questions plaguing her mind eventually lost against her exhaustion, and she passed out.

—

The train ride to Izuku's first patrol area was relatively short, but long enough for him to focus his mind. Once they arrived, Edgeshot essentially told him to follow and keep quiet. They travelled along rooftops, watching over the city below. Izuku was able to use his Quirk on himself enough to keep up, since his focus seemed to lessen the pain he regularly felt from the act.

"Aah!" he heard a man's voice yell from the left.

Edgeshot apparently heard it as well, since he immediately leapt in its direction. Izuku followed, and landed next to the pro on the sidewalk. He glanced up at the coffee shop in front of where they landed (there was outdoor seating), but then immediately looked back down as he saw the threat. Sitting at one of the tables was a stone statue of a man, and standing across from him was a rather tall woman with snakes in her hair. Izuku readily assumed that she had a Medusa Quirk, and that the statue was once a living, breathing man.

"Deku," Edgeshot said quickly, "don't look. I'll handle this."

"Yes sir!" Izuku replied, but the hero was no longer next to him.

"Alright, it's handled," Edgeshot said.

Izuku looked up and saw the lady on the floor with closed eyes, and Edgeshot reforming his body over her. The hero looked up at the stone statue of the man, then back down at the woman.

"Can he be fixed?" he asked.

"Aah... W-What happened?" she gasped.

"The paralysis is temporary," he said coolly. "I hit your pressure point. Now, tell me, can the effects of your Quirk be undone?"

"Ah, my head," she groaned.

Izuku watched in awe as Edgeshot handled the situation, all the way through when the police showed up. The police bound her eyes shut and arrested her to take in for questioning, then also took the man. Izuku shivered a bit at the thought that the man had simply turned to stone.

"Deku," Edgeshot said as he nudged the boy's shoulder. "Come on, let's go. We have more villains to capture."

"That man..." Izuku said quietly.

"I hope he can be restored, but... There's nothing we can do but move on from this. It's regrettable when we can't save everyone, but we have to focus so that we can save as many as we can. Losing one doesn't mean we have to lose the rest too. So refocus, and let's go see if we can be of use to someone else."

"Right," Izuku sighed with a nod, before taking a minute to silence his thoughts.

—

"Uravity, that was sloppy!" Gunhead exclaimed as she hit the mat. "You shifted your weight too far to the left, and your grip was weak!"

"S-Sorry Gunhead Sensei!" she said as scrambled up. "Got distracted!"

"Stop! Take five," he said, raising his hand. As Ochako sat against the wall and took a swig of water, he sighed, "You've been getting 'distracted' too much. You were pretty driven yesterday, but most of our spars today have been lacking."

"S-Sorry Sensei," she sighed.

The day before, she had thought about Deku and felt driven to compete with him. But the more she thought about him, the less she thought about competing. She thought about their date... for about the 10th time.

"I got it," Gunhead said. "Let's just sit down and have a little chat then."

"A chat?" she asked.

"Yeah, about whatever is distracting you," he said as he walked over and grabbed a collapsible chair that was leaning against the wall of his training room. "I'm sure you'll do better if we get your mind off it."

"A-Ah, no that's n-n-n-not necessary!" she exclaimed, waving her arms.

"Nonsense!" he said with a laugh as he sat down in front of her. "I requested you to take you under my wing, and I need you to be completely honest with me. No secrets, okay?"

"I-I, um... O-Okay," she sighed.

—

"Shoto," Endeavor said, "it's time to go for our evening patrol. We'll be going to Hosu today."

"Why so far out of the way?" Shoto asked.

"That's where the hero killer was last spotted," he said. "The law enforcement requested my presence there, but the large amount of requests I've received recently delayed its arrival. Anyways, we should get there soon in case he strikes again."

'... Iida,' Shoto thought.

—

"This'll be our last stop," Edgeshot said, pointing out the window at the approaching city. "Hosu is normally pretty calm—it's a nice, quiet city—but there has been some activity there recently."

"Hosu... That's where a friend of mine is interning," Izuku said.

"Well, it's also where the hero killer, called Stain, put 2 heroes out of commission recently," he informed him. "We've done enough standard patrolling. I think you would benefit from some investigative with as well."

"W-Wait, the hero killer attacked Ingenium in Hosu?!" Izuku asked. "My friend that's interning in Hosu is Ingenium's brother!"

"You... You don't think he's trying to hunt Stain down out of revenge, do you?" Edgeshot asked.

"He... He idolized his brother. He's probably too angry to think clearly!" Izuku sighed as he mentally berated himself for not realizing sooner.

"I'll contact the hero he's interning with," Edgeshot said. "Do you know who?"

"I think it's—"

*KROOM*

Izuku looked out of the window, and saw that the train station they were approaching had been heavily damaged and was on fire. He was about to move, to do something, but the train's brakes activated abruptly, knocking him and several others onto the floor.

"Deku," Edgeshot said. "I'm going to break the window and head out through there. You either follow close to me or stay put, okay? I can't be worrying about where you are at a time like this."

"I-I'll follow!" Izuku said as he stood up. "Wait, look! Out the window!"

"What? Wait, what is that?" Edgeshot asked when he saw a hulking blue beast with an exposed brain running through the street.

"It looks like Nomu, the villain that attacked the USJ!"

"The monster from the USJ invasion?" the hero asked. "That means this must be the work of the League of Villains! Let's go, no more delays!"

Edgeshot broke through the glass emergency exit and shot out towards the beast. Izuku enveloped himself in his Telekinesis and leapt to the ground, before running to catch up.

—

"Tenya, we still don't know who the threat is," Manual called. "So be ready for anything!"

"Yes sir!" the intern replied.

"No matter what, always keep the civilians in mind as well!"

Manual kept running until he found where the heart of the commotion seemed to be. There were massive fires, crowds of people, and already several heroes trying to control the damage. At the center of it all were two grotesque beasts, with blue, leathery looking skin and exposed brains.

"Tenya, go help the heroes with evacuating civilians!" Manual called. When he didn't receive a response, he looked around and called, "Tenya?!"

He was gone.