Author's Notes: Chapter edited and corrected by Vongrak.
September 4, 20xx - Izumi Pov.
The days after the provisional license exam were boring. Well, in the sense that obviously nothing like what happened in canon actually happened. I was able to have fun at the expense of the girls in both classes while I was forced to clean both dormitories. I vaguely remembered that All Might was going to talk to AFO in Tartarus? But that was impossible now that AFO was practically dead.
And the other thing that definitely didn't happen was the fight between Izuku and Bakugou. Since they were dating and Bakugou was actually aware of all of Izuku and All Might's secrets, there was no argument or fight, so neither of them was suspended.
The new semester began just as I expected and remembered: a speech from the principal and the teachers. They didn't say anything we didn't already know. They talked about the Kamino incident, All Might's retirement, and the rise in villains.
I really thought that with the League of Villains operating outside of Japan, things would stay calm for a few more months, but apparently people were idiots enough to continue causing crimes now that All Might was retired.
"Alright... starting today, we'll resume our normal class activities. A lot has happened during the summer break, so this semester we'll have even more intense training than before to help you reach your full potential." Aizawa said as we sat in the classroom.
"Excuse me, Sensei, may I? " Asui said, raising her hand. "I was wondering if you could please tell us more about the hero internships mentioned at the opening ceremony." Tsuyu said.
"Yes, wait, I was getting to that," Aizawa grumbled as he closed his notebook before sighing. "I guess we can talk about it straight away," Aizawa said, ruffling his hair. "In short, they're hero activities done off-campus."
"Think of it as a more formal version of the field training you did after the sports festival. And before you complain about the purpose of the festival, I'm looking at you, Uraraka. The hero internships are an opportunity for you to make use of the connections you made at the sports festival."
"They are not linked in any way to the classes, nor to UA, it is left to the discretion of each student, being the case, if you did not make such connections at the sports festival, it will be difficult to participate in such internships."
"In the past, each agency or office made its own recruitment efforts, but it often caused a lot of problems because they were fighting for UA students, and that's why it's the way it is now."
"Normally, first-year students aren't supposed to get their provisional licenses, but with the increase in villains, we're letting you participate; now you have the possibility of participating in formal, long-term heroic activities."
"And I mean Heroic, and only Heroic; you can't choose a guild or a hunter to do the hero internship, so keep that in mind."
"You are also expected to write about their experiences. Some guests were supposed to come and talk about that, but they are busy today, so we will have to wait until tomorrow for them to come. I will explain everything in detail tomorrow."
"Now, I have matters to attend to. Very well, I'm sorry to have kept you waiting... Mic." Aizawa finished, looking at the door.
"First Period!! English! " Present Mic shouted as he entered.
"Before you keep yelling, Herbert, Miyamura, come here. The principal wants to talk to you about the internships," Aizawa said, interrupting Mic. I frowned, but immediately stood up along with Taylor. We quickly left the classroom and started following Aizawa.
"Did something happen?" Taylor asked worriedly. Aizawa just grunted, but didn't answer. She grimaced. I guess we'll find out when we see Nezu.
"Any idea who you'll choose?" I asked Taylor. Taylor sighed.
"I'm supposed to use my connections, but... I did my internship with your grandfather, he... He wouldn't accept me for the internship again, would he?" Taylor asked awkwardly, and I snorted.
"First of all, Grandpa's not a hero. I don't even know if he has a hunter's license. He just exists, and nobody's going to contradict him." I retorted with a snort. I could hear Aizawa doing the same. "But don't worry. I mean, we should make use of the 'connections' you made at the festival. That means you can call and ask to be accepted into some of the opportunities they offered you during the festival."
"Just because hero agencies aren't allowed to contact students doesn't mean students can't contact them to try to get a boarding school," I said, shrugging my shoulders.
"Wait, seriously? Just like that? " Taylor asked in surprise as she looked at Aizawa.
"You're too perceptive, Miyamura, and yes, those are the 'connections.' Some of the offers may have expired simply because they weren't chosen as the first option after the festival—a bunch of ridiculous people—but most of them were for these boarding schools, not the weekly internships." Aizawa said with a grunt.
"Oh... that... that makes sense." Taylor murmured before looking at me once more. "Do you have any idea which one you'll go to?" she asked curiously. I wrinkled my nose.
"I was thinking, Mirko." I said honestly, and I could see Aizawa stop half a step.
"I don't recall Mirko sending you an offer." Aizawa said with a frown as he looked at me over his shoulder.
"She didn't." I said honestly with a smile. "I was planning to call her directly and try to get the offer myself." I hummed, and Aizawa raised an eyebrow.
"Risky. Mirko has never taken on any student or even a pro hero as a sidekick. She doesn't bother with that. In fact, she's a freelancer. She doesn't work for any agency or affiliate with any institution. She works completely alone," Aizawa said with a frown.
"Wait, and you want someone like that? Didn't you have thousands of other offers?" Taylor asked, confused. I sighed.
"Of course, but after Kamino? I have to reject 95% of those offers. They'll try to use me as a model for their agencies; Ryuma's grandson makes an excellent walking advertisement."
"There are very few options that would give me a complete hero experience without being swayed by my grandfather's name. Mirko is one of them. From what I could gather, she cares little to nothing about my grandfather, only whether I'm strong."
"Also, her Quirk is Rabbit, which gives her the constitution and attributes of a rabbit. I want to see if I can improve my Totality with Rabbit Escape, and if I can improve with that, my other summons should also be possible," I told them honestly.
"Oh... that... makes perfect sense. I guess I'll have to go over everything again too, won't I? I'm also linked to Ryuma's name thanks to Shusui." Taylor said with a grimace.
"I'm surprised, Miyamura... you actually thought of this." Aizawa said, sounding genuinely surprised as he looked at me over his shoulder. I stared at him blankly.
"Wow, sensei, it seems your opinion of me is getting lower and lower with time," I said with a wide smile. Aizawa grunted.
"After you threw that damn party during the provisional license exam, my opinion of you is rock bottom." Aizawa growled, glaring at me. I burst out laughing.
"You're hurting me." I said with an amused smile. Aizawa snorted.
"We're here, let's go in." Aizawa grunted as he stopped in front of Principal Nezu's door, knocking twice before opening it without hesitation. " Principal Nezu, I brought Herbert Miyamura."
"Ah... my most troublesome students, it's a pleasure to see you again." Nezu said with a huge smile.
"Wow, grouping me with Izumi? Insulting me the moment we meet? I didn't expect that from you, Principal Nezu," Taylor said with a slight smile. Nezu laughed loudly.
"My apologies, Miss Hebert! It won't happen again! " Nezu said cheerfully.
"I'll let them both know I took it entirely as a compliment." I snorted dryly as I sat down in the chair across from Nezu. Nezu chuckled as he gestured to Taylor to sit down as well.
"Alright, now that the greetings and banter are out of the way, let's get down to some important discussion. There are... at least several things we need to discuss," Nezu said, his expression turning more serious. Aizawa walked up behind the principal and lazily took his place. "First, Miss Herbert, the Black Widow farm is completely finished and ready to begin silk production," Nezu said cheerfully. Taylor's eyes widened.
"Have you finished it already?!" Taylor asked, surprised. Nezu smiled brightly as Aizawa slid some papers across the table. They contained several blueprints for Taylor's new spider farm. I leaned over to look at them.
"That's... huge. Where did they put it, considering Taylor has to be within range at all times?" I asked, looking at the detailed plans. Nezu smiled broadly.
"Below UA!" Nezu said frantically. "We chose a midpoint between UA's main building, Class 1-A's dorms, and the gyms so Miss Herbert can move around campus more easily."
"And with that said, you are not expected to work on the silk constantly or meet a minimum quota, we do not expect you to miss out on activities, both personal and educational, simply to stay within the farm's range, we expect you to continue with your normal activities on and off campus, even if that means stepping outside the Farm's range."
"You will be compensated according to the price of the silk we previously agreed upon. You may use a percentage of the silk for personal use, but you may not sell any piece of silk manufactured within the farm to third parties. The farm is completely finished, but it can be modified according to your instructions if there are any errors or room for improvement."
"There's no Black Widow inside yet. We don't know if you wanted specific ones or if you'd bring whatever you find around you. We have no experience with that, so it's entirely your decision. Finally, since this is outside the school curriculum, you'll be paid, and it's an agreement between the university and you. Here's the contract; you can read it and modify it as you wish," Nezu said cheerfully.
Aizawa placed a second set of papers in front of Taylor, who still seemed too shocked to grab them, so I took them and began to read them quickly with a frown.
"This... is too generous." I said while skimming through all the legal jargon. Nezu laughed cheerfully.
"Of course, black widow silk fabric will be an extremely valuable material, even at the price we're offering Miss Hebert. Our profit margin is much higher, so we have no problem being generous. You can think of it as... us not wanting to upset our cash cow."
"Technology is advancing rapidly thanks to quirks, but it's almost always focused on heroic and hunter support equipment. There's armor made from monster corpses, and while it's not a problem for mid- to high-ranking heroes and hunters, people still prefer cloth."
"Especially for heroes, unfortunately, using leather and monster parts isn't very good for heroic PR, so the materials we can use are very limited," Nezu said easily, shrugging his shoulders.
Spandex was literally a hero's best friend, and even when it wasn't, they just wore whatever clothes looked good to the audience.
And I was no different from them; I preferred my full kimono to having to wear armor made of leather, metal, or any other material. Even if Taylor hadn't made the inner part of my kimono, I would have chosen to use ordinary clothing to make my kimono.
"I suppose that makes sense, I... I'll see what kind of Black Widows I have to work with, I'll take a walk around the city and bring back all the ones I find, in the worst case scenario, I'll do some selective breeding, I could create several groups that work on different types of fabric or properties, it would take me weeks to achieve it and I don't know if there will be a noticeable difference, but it's possible to have slight variations in the type of silk they produce."
"I'll let you decide which one you want me to work with in those chaotic situations," Taylor mumbled in a murmur as she carefully read the contract. "I... have no problem signing the contract," Taylor finally said.
"Perfect!" Nezu smiled broadly as he handed her a pen. Taylor took the pen, navigated to the indicated sections, and nervously signed the papers. When she finished, she sighed deeply as she awkwardly set the pen down, straightened in her seat, and took my hand out of habit. I squeezed her slightly sweaty hand. "It's truly a pleasure doing business with you, Miss Hebert! I'll send you the duplicates of the contract shortly. I hope it will be beneficial for both of us! "
"And regarding the type of silk, we can create a complete plan if necessary for the different types of fabric!" Nezu said cheerfully. Taylor nodded, biting her lip excitedly.
"You said there were other things to discuss." I asked Nezu gently while letting Taylor calm down. Nezu nodded, his expression becoming more serious as he looked at Taylor.
"Indeed, and it's about the internships you're about to do. I suppose Shota already informed you about that, right? " Nezu asked. We nodded. "Good, you already have a mandatory internship, Miss Herbert," Nezu said seriously. Taylor frowned.
"Mandatory?" Taylor asked cautiously. Nezu sighed with a grimace.
"Actually, yes, it's mandatory, and it wasn't our decision," Nezu said with a sigh as he handed over another stack of papers. "The PRT wants you to complete your internship at the ENE Protectorate in Brockton Bay, it's mandatory," Nezu said solemnly. Taylor's eyes widened.
She grabbed the papers without hesitation and began to read them quickly; I leaned over and read them with a frown without hesitation.
"Is it possible that they'll force me to do that?" Taylor asked shakily. Nezu grimaced.
"Unfortunately, yes. Despite being our student and a temporary citizen of Japan, the US and the PRT still have greater authority over you to enforce this," Nezu said with a sigh. Taylor clenched her fist and crumpled the papers, gritting her teeth.
"They're making their move," Taylor said dismissively.
"They are, they might be soft-selling you, forcing you to interact with the Protectorate, creating a bond so you see the 'good side' of the PRT before making their real move." Nezu hummed.
"Should I... should I ignore it?" Taylor asked cautiously.
"Impossible, you can't ignore it," Nezu said, shaking his head. "If you ignore this, they could force you to return to Brockton Bay permanently." Taylor grimaced in disgust.
"So that's it? I have to go and parade for them?" To work with them as if nothing were wrong? Why work at the same institution as my sister who hates me? " With those who completely ruined things with Sophia?" Taylor asked forcefully while trembling.
"Not necessarily," Nezu said with a small smile. "I mean, tell me... what do you know about malicious compliance?" Nezu asked, his eyes gleaming. I paused for a moment, my eyes sparkling, and bowed with a huge smile.
"This is getting interesting." I said with a smile that matched Nezu's.
"Malicious compliance?" Taylor asked, confused. Aizawa sighed.
"Director, please, the other option first." Aizawa said, massaging his temple. I sighed and lazily sat back down in my chair.
"You're boring, Shota," Nezu said dismissively. "But I suppose I'll give you a choice, Miss Herbert. The most sensible option is this: Go to Brockton Bay, work with the Protectorate. None of them are responsible for the decisions of the PRT and their superiors. You could try to get along with the heroes of the Protectorate. I understand there are several your age, and many of them aren't happy with the PRT's decisions, so you might find some common ground."
"Just... fulfill your internship requirements and work, try to stay out of trouble. It's only two or three weeks. If you don't cause any problems, they won't be able to do or force you to do anything," Nezu said matter-of-factly. "You'll leave as clean as you came in and return to UA. That will give us more time—months—until the internships happen again and they try again." Nezu shrugged.
"Would that... work? Personally, for some reason, I can't walk away from problems," Taylor said with a grimace.
"Are you sure it's you and not Miyamura? He's usually the one at the center of the problems; everyone else is drawn in because of him," Aizawa said dryly.
"Ouch." I said with a huge, lazy grin. Nezu chuckled softly.
"If you're worried, we could arrange some insurance to prevent them from keeping you in the US for any reason. I've already prepared everything; I was just waiting for the right moment. But I suppose it might be a good idea to start now. That's why I called Mr. Miyamura, too," Nezu said cheerfully. I raised an eyebrow in interest.
"And that is…?" Taylor asked cautiously.
"Tell me... what do you think about marrying Mr. Miyamura to solve most of your problems?" Nezu asked with a wide smile. My eyes widened.
"What?!" Taylor squealed, blushing deeply. Mine opened in surprise too. Marriage?