Chapter Twenty
~Amy's POV~
After the Sports Festival, I was surprised to find I had the most offers from agencies out of anyone else in the class event though I hadn't made it past the first event. Bakugo and Todoroki seemed annoyed by this. Midoriya didn't get any offers and rather than feel dejected by it he happily congratulated me. With the Sports Festival over, we were to pick a Hero Agency to intern at and pick our hero names. When it was my turn to present my Hero Name, which I had been planning on going with 'Amelia', Present Mic came barreling into the classroom stole my whiteboard and held up a sign that said 'Princess Might'. Midnight, who had been overseeing our hero name choices, loved it. Mr. Aizawa kicked Present Mic out of our classroom after that, perhaps a little too violently and so my hero name was now Princess Might.
Most surprising of all the offers I'd gotten, was an offer from Endeavor's Hero Agency. Just the thought of interning with him was enough to give me nightmares. I'd also gotten an offer from my Dad's former partner, Sir Nighteye, but that seemed to make Dad nervous. Best Jeanist had made me an offer and I felt like I'd be fairly comfortable interning with him but I was still worried I'd mess up somehow and cause him trouble. He'd been so nice; I didn't want to be a bother for him and I knew I'd feel better if I interned with someone, I felt more comfortable. That left only one choice, Grampa Torino.
I was happy to find that Midoriya was also interning with Grampa Torino and now felt a lot less nervous about the internship. Between Grampa Torino and Midoriya, I knew I'd be safe and they both knew how to calm me down if I lost control of my quirk at any point.
"All Might seemed pretty freaked out about us interning here." Midoriya pointed as we stepped off the train and made our way toward the spot marked on our map to the location of Grampa Torino's place.
"He does get a little weird around, Grampa Torino." I giggled.
"Grampa?" Midoriya paled.
"He's not really my grandfather, it's what I've always called him, he used to visit me and my mom when we lived in The States. I think you'll like him once you get to know him." I smiled.
Midoriya's nervousness seemed to lessen a little. "Then I'm sure he's a great person." He mirrored my smile with one of his own. We reached the building marked on our map and made our way up the steps. Midoriya stepped in front of me to open the door. He had regained some of his confidence but still seemed a little nervous as he poked his head through the door. "H-hello, we're here from UA High, it's Izuku Midoriya and Amelia Takada. I'm really looking forward to- AHHH!!! Holy whoa! He's dead!" He suddenly cried in a panic.
I peered around him to look inside to see Grampa Torino lying face first in what looked like a puddle of ketchup. Before I could try to calm him down and warn him about Grampa Torino's shenanigans, Grampa Torino lifted his head with a casual smile, "I'm alive."
I bit my lip to keep from giggling as Midoriya freaked out even more at this, "AHH! He's alive!"
"Grampa Torino, it's not nice to play those kinds of pranks on people." I giggled.
"Oh! It's my little Amelia!" Grampa Torino smiled as he hopped to his feet. He had a knotted cane in his hand and was currently playing the feeble old man card as he appeared to be shaking as if standing was a lot of effort.
"Grampa Torino, you shouldn't scare Izuku like that." I scolded him as we stepped inside and I glanced around at the small kitchen area for something to clean up the mess he'd made.
Grampa Torino played it off with what he thought was an absent-minded chuckle, "whoopsie, I was carrying a nice big plate of sausages covered in ketchup when I accidentally tripped and fell down, clumsy me." He dusted off his white uniform and looked up at Midoriya, "now who did you say you were?" With my quirk I was easily able to clean up the mess. I shook my head at Grampa Torino as I realized he was in an ornery mood.
"I'm Izuku Midoriya from UA High School." Midoriya replied professionally.
Grampa Torino pretended he was hard of hearing and cupped his hand around his ear still playing the feeble old man card and leaned forward, "you're who now?"
"I'm Izuku Midoriya." I could see the worry lines on Midoriya's face.
"So, what's your name boy?" Grampa Torino asked again.
"Grampa Torino!" I scolded him while fighting off a laugh, "be nice to Izuku."
He turned to me, "Oh, my little Amelia is here."
I fixed him with what I was hoping was a stern look, like mom used to do when he got too ornery. "Grampa Torino, you really scared Izuku with your prank."
"What prank?" Grampa Torino asked still trying to play the feeble old man card.
"Well, if it wasn't a prank, then I'm going to have to tell your doctor you were eating a big plate full of sausages drowning in ketchup, I'm pretty sure he told you to avoid fatty red meats. So, were you playing a prank or eating food you shouldn't be eating?" I asked him while trying to maintain my stern face.
"Ah...I guess you take after your mother too." Grampa Torino chuckled before turning to me with a smile, "Amelia would you mind fixing us up some lunch?"
"I suppose, but try not to be mean to Izuku." I gave Midoriya a reassuring smile before going to see what ingredients I could find in the small kitchen area.
I managed to find some ingredients to make a healthy meal and set to work while half paying attention to what Midoriya and Grampa Torino were doing. Midoriya still appeared to believe Grampa Torino was a senile old man, thanks to his orneriness. Grampa Torino suddenly got serious and told Midoriya to fire off a One for All Smash at him. Midoriya still didn't seem to think he was in his right state of mind and was about to follow me to the kitchen area. I sighed as Grampa Torino flitted about the room. He flew past my head and bounced off the wall in front of the stove.
Next thing I knew, Grampa Torino crashed atop the microwave as I was about to unplug it so I could plug in the portable stove top. I let out a squeak as tiny gears and parts scattered everywhere.
"Ah!" I yelped and turned around only to see the two of them had made a huge mess of the room. "T-Take it outside!" They both froze in place, Grampa Torino hovering in mid air as he'd been about to kick Midoriya in the back as my quirk activated reflexively.
"S-sorry, Amy." Midoriya paled as he realized the mess, they'd both just made.
As I tried to fix them with what I hoped was a stern look all the books that had been knocked off the bookshelf righted themselves. The chandelier that had fallen floated back up and all the parts reattached themselves. In a matter of seconds, I had the room back in order before releasing them from my hold.
"Lunch will be ready in a few minutes." I turned back around and resumed cooking.
"You've improved immensely, Amelia." Grampa Torino smiled. "Ayumi would be proud of you."
My heart clenched at his words as I thought about my mother. Tears welled in my eyes as I realized it was harder to recall her face, smell and the sound of her voice. I bowed my head and continued cooking in silence.
After lunch, Grampa Torino told us to put on our hero costumes. Midoriya and I opened our cases with our costumes simultaneously. The support students had made some changes to our costumes. Mine appeared to be sparkling and glowing on its own. Midoriya's had been modified and looked a little cooler and sturdier than it had before. We went our separate ways to get changed. Both of our upgraded costumes came with a letter of explanation from the business course students. As I pulled the dress out of the case, I noticed tiny blue pieces of confetti that appeared to be in the shape of butterflies fall away from it.
I read the letter quickly. The support course had made my costume more 'princessy' and included little indestructible butterflies that I could have fluttering around me and use as projectiles or just for a cute 'princessy' effect. I changed into my costume and bit my lip feeling nervous. The skirt was a little shorter than before and there was now a diamond shaped cut out in the chest of my costume. It showed way more skin than I felt comfortable with and was now glowing and sparkling and would certainly draw way more attention.
A soft knock came from the door of the room I'd gone to change in. "Amy, are you okay?" Midoriya's concerned voice sounded from the other side of the door.
I nervously opened the door, "I'm not sure I like the changes they made to my costume."
Midoriya's face turned bright red and he nearly fell away from me flailing his arms around his head seeming to be trying to cover his face in some way. "A-Ah! B-but it's r-really c-cute." He stammered bashfully as he took a step away from me.
"You can't even look at it." I pointed starting to feel even more self-conscious.
"What, no, that's not it at all!" He squeaked and hurriedly uncovered his face to look at me. His face was so red I thought he was steaming from the ears.
Grampa Torino came around the corner of the small hallway and paused as he looked at the pair of us. "Amelia, has your father seen that costume?" He asked me curiously.
"Not this version, the support course made some adjustments to it since last time." I blushed feeling self-conscious again.
"Oh dear." Grampa Torino chuckled. "Toshinori is going to have a heart attack." He muttered under his breath before motioning us to follow him back to the main entrance where the small kitchen and dining area were located. What did he mean by that? What was wrong with Dad's heart?!
We got downstairs and Grampa Torino tested Midoriya with his quirk while I just focused on making sure they didn't destroy the building. I was glad he didn't want to test me in the way he tested Midoriya as I didn't like violence but I felt a little bit useless as all I was doing was keeping everything neat and tidy during their test. After that we talked a little bit, watched some news, had dinner and Grampa Torino told us to tuck in early and sent us to the rooms we'd be in for our stay. Midoriya's room was right across the hall from mine.
I changed out of my costume, not entirely sure why I had to put it on in the first place and slipped into a cute pale blue Cinderella nightgown I'd gotten from a trip to Disney with Dad. After my nightly routine, I crawled into bed with my princess bear that dad had gotten me. It made me feel a little scared and anxious to know Dad wasn't nearby. I was used to him being a room away and tucking me in at night. I didn't like not hearing his voice before going to bed. Just as I was about to cave in and call him, my phone started to vibrate, it was him!
"Dad." I answered quickly and cringed as I realized how needy my voice sounded.
"Princess, is everything okay?"
"Yeah...I guess I just feel a little homesick." I admitted.
Dad choked up a little at this, "ah, I miss you too, but it's only for a few days and I'll call you every night to wish you a goodnight and pleasant dreams."
"Thanks, Dad." I smiled as I hugged my teddy bear close and settled into bed.
After a phone call from Dad, I felt much better and thought I'd finally be able to fall asleep. As I pulled the covers up around me and prepared to close my eyes, I jumped as I heard the door across the hall open. Was Midoriya sneaking out? That didn't seem like him. What if it wasn't Midoriya and there was a villain in the building!
Hugging my bear close, I scrambled out of bed and silently made my way toward the door. I used my quirk to quietly open the door and peeked into the hall. Midoriya was dressed in his costume and trying to close his door quietly.
"Izuku?" I whispered his name only to jump and let out a squeak of terror as he jumped and turned to face me.
His face flushed scarlet as he looked at me in my nightgown hugging my princess bear close. "Ah, Amy. I'm sorry, I didn't mean to wake you up." He averted his gaze.
"What are you doing, Izuku?" I asked him curiously.
"I...I was just going to train a little bit in the alleyway. After our talk with Gran Torino, I think I have a better idea of how to use One for All without getting hurt, but I need to test it out to make sure my theory is right." He stammered nervously.
"That doesn't sound very safe, what if you get hurt and you're all by yourself?" I protested.
"I'll be okay." He tried to reassure me.
"I'm coming with you." I scampered back into my room and set my teddy bear down on the bed before stepping into a pair of slippers and scurrying back to Midoriya's side.
"Ah, but, it's late-." He protested but his words fell away as I linked my arm with his.
"Okay, I'm ready." I smiled up at him, "let's go."
Midoriya seemed a little reluctant to let me join him but gave in and led me outside. We made our way to the side alley next to Grampa Torino's building. I looked curiously to Midoriya as he looked up at the towering walls of the buildings on either side of the alley.
"What are you trying to do?" I asked him curiously.
"Well, I think if I can hit there," he pointed to a place high up on the building opposite us, "and manage to balance my output to not go over 5% that in three hops I should make it to the roof." He moved his finger in a z formation and I realized what he was trying to do.
"Ah! That would have been really dangerous if you were by yourself!" I scolded him, "what if you fell down?! You could have gotten hurt."
Midoriya blushed, "I'm sure I would have been okay, I don't want to bother you."
"Too bad, I'm staying. I can at least cheer you on and catch you if you fall." I smiled.
"Thanks Amy." He grinned back at me and prepared to make a leap at the building opposite us.
"Good luck, Izuku!" I cheered.
He leapt upward and toward the wall and I cringed as he smacked face first into the brick wall before using my quirk to gently lower him back to the ground. Blood gushed from his nose and I panicked and tried to remember where I'd seen some paper towels inside the building, the window next to us opened and a paper towel came floating through it. Midoriya jumped and stared at me in awe as it slowed the blood flow on its own.
"Wow, Amy, that's amazing."
"H-huh?" I blushed, "it's not really anything special." I bowed my head, "I should have been paying more attention so you didn't hit the building in the first place."
"Ah, no that's okay, I need to at least do that part on my own, I'll just count on you to catch me when I start falling." He offered me a reassuring smile.
"O-okay."
Izuku smacked into the building a lot. It was painful to watch; I didn't like seeing how bruised up he was getting and had already gone through an entire roll of paper towels trying to tend to his bloody noses from hitting the brick wall with his face so hard. We were at it for hours and I was starting to get tired but forced myself to stay vigilant and awake so I could help Midoriya with his training.
He made it to two jumps before plummeting again. I caught him with my quirk and gently brought him back to the ground before swaying on my feet. It was now well past my usual bed time and it was taking everything I had to stay standing. My knees buckled and I gasped as I felt strong arms encircle me.
My face burned with heat as I glanced up and saw Midoriya smiling down at me, "thanks for all your help, Amy." Even though he was all beat up, he didn't seem the least bit tired. "I'm sorry for keeping you up so late."
"N-no it's okay." I squeaked.
He carried me back inside and set me on my feet once we reached our rooms. We parted ways and I collapsed onto my bed and was asleep before I'd even had a chance to pull the blankets around me.
Over the next two days, Gran Torino and Midoriya worked on combat training while I focused on using my quirk to keep the building standing and everything from getting broken. It appeared Midoriya had learned some way to help him use One for All more consistently without a lot of backlash. After dinner on the third night, they were at it again with their training. I winced as Midoriya was suddenly sent flying into the wall and caught him with my quirk, before he could hit the floor.
"Hm, we should switch up the training." Grampa Torino looked thoughtful, "if you get too used to fighting against my distinct tactics you might start to develop some weird habits."
I looked to him curiously. "now what?"
"Change into your costumes kids, we're moving on to phase two" Grampa Torino smiled.
Midoriya and I went to change into our costumes. I still felt a little nervous and self-conscious in mine. It was so bright and sparkly now and the fluttering butterflies' sort of made me feel like a Disney Princess. I just needed some birds and woodland creatures to talk to. Midoriya and I met up with Grampa Torino at the entrance.
"Hope you're ready, we're going out to fight some villains!" Grampa Torino beamed.
"Huh? Just like that?" Midoriya gaped.
"W-what?" I squeaked.
"Don't worry you'll both be just fine; we aren't going after anyone too big." Grampa Torino reassured us as he hailed a taxi. "The crime rate around here is pretty low so we'll have to go to a bigger city. Now in Shibuya, we'll have plenty of small fights to break up, I guarantee it."
"In Tokyo?" Midoriya paled.
I blanched at this.
We boarded a train to take us to Tokyo. Midoriya messaged Iida as we were going to be passing by Hosu city on the train to check in with him. Our Class Rep seemed a little withdrawn after the Sports Festival. His older brother, the hero Ingenium had been badly injured by The Hero Killer. In the back of my mind I worried Iida had picked an internship in Hosu City to track down The Hero Killer on his own.
As we neared Hosu Station, I heard one of the other passengers on the train say something about seeing an explosion out the window before a voice rang over the intercom. "Passengers please hold onto your seats."
"Huh?" I squeaked as the train jerked, the breaks gave a high-pitched squeal and everyone lurched forward.
"Amy!" Midoriya caught me before I could smack into the seat in front of me as I had been too concerned with trying to keep everyone else stable, I'd forgotten to brace myself. Using my quirk, I was able to keep all the other passengers in our car safely in their seats.
"Wh-what was that?" I trembled as I heard something loud hit the roof of the train car.
Midoriya righted me as the train came to a screeching halt just as something collided into the side threatening to derail the train. All the passengers screamed as a hero flew through the train with a strange looking monster with gangly limbs and strange greyish green skin tried to crawl through the massive hole it had created with the hero's body.
"AH!" I screamed as it reached for one of the passengers, "go away!" My arm swung forward before I could stop myself and the monstrous creature flew out of the hole. "Eep! Sorry!" I yelped as it smacked into a pole outside as the train finally slowed to a stop.
"I want you two to stay back, ya hear me?!" Grampa Torino called as the monster recovered and tried to get back into the train. He used his quirk to rocket through the hole kicking the strange Nomu like creature away.
"Grampa Torino!" I called in a panic.
"Hey! Wait!" Midoriya cried next to me.
"Keep my little Amelia safe, Boy!" Grampa Torino yelled back before barreling into the creature rocketing it back toward the city.
Midoriya set me down in the seat beside him and scrambled toward the gaping hole to get a better look at what was going on. He grimaced at whatever he saw as I rushed toward the hero that had been attacked by the creature.
"Are you okay?" I asked the man with a squeak. He was wearing a white and grey costume with a fur lined hood and had gloves that looked like clawed paws. His eyes were closed.
The passengers were all in an uproar. Children were screaming and clinging to their guardians, the train staff was trying to get everyone calm and to remain in their seats as the train was in a precarious position, it had been derailed when the creature had struck it and half the train was teetering off a bridge.
I hurriedly sent all the little blue butterflies to flutter around the children in an attempt to distract them as I tried to get an idea of how badly hurt the pro hero was. "Amy stay here!" Midoriya called to me, "I'm going after them!"
"Ah! Izuku! Wait!" I cried before he leapt off the train.
The train staff tried to keep everyone calm and get them to evacuate safely. One of them came over to help me with the unconscious hero. The train lurched unsteadily it seemed the portion of the train that had been derailed was about to fall off a bridge, not everyone would be able to evacuate in time.
"Ah! We're all going to die!" One of the passengers cried.
I found my courage and leapt to my feet, "don't worry everyone! Everything's going to be just fine, please stay calm." The glowing butterflies fluttered around to everyone who was panicking and I smiled as I noticed they had a calming effect.
I leapt out the gaping hole and turned to the train. Casting my hands out, I managed to catch the teetering train with my quirk and easily lift it into the air. Inside the train I could hear the screams of panic starting to turn to exclamations of awe and cheers as I managed to get the train back on the tracks properly. Once the train was safely back on the tracks, people started opening the windows and rushing over to call over to me with praise and thanks.
"It's Princess Might!" A few who'd heard Present Mic's commentary at the Sports Festival and recognized me cheered.
I blushed and bowed to them politely, "I'm glad you're all safe, please stay here and listen to the conductor." With that said and one more final bow, I took off at a run in the direction Midoriya and Grampa Torino had gone.
When I reached the city, people were screaming and fleeing in a panic. I spotted a safe path to a police barricade and sent a bunch of butterflies in that direction causing them to swirl around people who were panicking to get their attention and lead them to safety as I sprinted onward in search of Midoriya and Grampa Torino.
As I reached an area of the city where everything was on fire and a bunch of pros were struggling to maintain order, I thought I saw Midoriya racing away and duck down an alley. I was about to call out for him when a massive monstrous creature picked up a city bus full of panicked passengers and flung it toward the heroes.
"NO!" I cast out my hands and caught the bus with my quirk.
"What the-?" The heroes turned to me as I set the bus safely down behind me. It seemed like the doors and windows were all jammed. With a wave of my hand the doors burst open.
"Follow the butterflies!" I called back to the frantic passengers remembering the safe route to lead them. I sent a flurry of glowing butterflies to direct them to safety.
"Hey! Kid! You shouldn't be here!" One of the pros yelled at me.
I bowed my head, "I'm really sorry but please let me help!"
A man wearing a finned helmet and a pale blue costume reluctantly nodded. "Alright, we could use the help, but stay back so you don't get hurt."
"R-right!" I nodded and worked to use my quirk to pick up manhole covers and use them to shift the flow of water pouring from exploded hydrants to try and put out some of the fires as the pros tried to fight off the massive monster.
The giant monster hurled a car at one of the heroes as they fell to the ground and I cast my hand outward catching it with my quirk and setting it down gently as I simultaneously managed to pull the hero safely toward me and out of harm's way.
"Thanks, kid." The man winced as he clutched at a wound on his side.
I offered him a reassuring smile before something hurtled into me from behind knocking me to the ground. I hit the ground hard and winced as I felt something sharp pierce my sides and abdomen as talon like claws clutched at me. A scream escaped me as I was picked up off the ground by another monster of a creature with wings.
"No!" The pros yelled in a panic, "put her down!"
I could feel blood soaking the material of my dress around my abdomen as its claws pierced me. The pain made it hard to focus on my quirk. Tears welled in my eyes and I tried to fight through the pain. Don't be a baby, just think of a way out. Don't cry! I thought frantically as I struggled against my captor's claws.
The winged monster took off quickly away from the pros. I had no idea where it was intending to carry me off to but tried desperately to activate my quirk to find a way to free myself. I uselessly gripped its talon like claws and tried to pry them off of me but I was too weak to move it.
"Please let me go!" I yelled to the winged creature and struggled once more only to let out a cry of pain as I felt the claws sink in deeper as it adjusted it's grip on me. The pain was almost blinding but I struggled to get the remaining butterflies to flap around it's head in an attempt to block its vision and distract it enough to make it drop me.
The next thing I knew a flaming spear pierced through the neck of the winged monster and it lost its grip on me. A shriek escaped me as I plummeted toward the ground. Strong arms encircled me before I could splatter across the pavement. I managed to take a peek at my rescuer and a squeak of terror escaped me as I saw a very intimidating man with flaming facial hair and piercing teal eyes, Endeavor!
"What the hell kind of reaction is that?!" He snarled and all the tears I'd been trying to hold back came pouring out. "Quit your crying!" Endeavor looked uncomfortable and I realized it was really rude of me to scream in terror at the sight of him which only made me cry harder thinking I'd insulted him.
I tried to pull away from him only for my wounds to protest. More blood poured from the puncture wounds and I whimpered in pain. I bit my lip to try to keep myself from crying as my body trembled uncontrollably in terror. He was way scarier than the flying monster.
Endeavor let out a sigh as a nearby fire hydrant rattled as my quirk went berserk, "alright, calm down before you hurt yourself." He adjusted his grip on me so that he wasn't aggravating any of my injuries and carried me after the flying monster that had managed to escape.
My body wouldn't stop shaking. The pain in my sides was too great. I struggled to remain conscious but felt the edges of my vision beginning to darken. "I'm sorry for being scared of you." I sniffled before slipping into unconsciousness.
.........................
When I woke up, I found myself in a hospital room with four beds, only to find Iida, Todoroki and Midoriya sitting up in the other three beds. They all turned to me as my eyes fluttered open. All three of them were heavily bandaged, Iida appeared to be in the worst shape with both of his arms heavily bandaged and in slings.
"A-AH! What happened to you three?!" I squealed in a panic and tried to sit up in bed only to feel a sharp shooting pain in my abdomen and crumple back onto the bed.
"Amy!" All three of them scrambled toward my bedside.
"Why are you guys all beat up?" I cried.
They all exchanged wary looks before brushing away my concern. They were hiding something, but why? Before they could answer me, a horrifying thought crossed my mind and I scrambled to find my cellphone. Dad was going to freak out! Seeming to know what I was looking for, Midoriya handed me my phone.
There were 89 missed calls and 118 unread texts from him. I stared in horror at my screen. Midoriya stared down at my phone screen with his mouth agape. "Oh, whoa, you should probably call him."
I nodded and hurriedly called him back. He answered before the phone could even complete a full ring. His panicked voice had tears streaming down my cheeks.
"AMY! PRINCESS! ARE YOU OKAY?!"
"D-Dad!" I sniffled.
"That's it! I don't care what Gran Torino says! I'm on my way there now!" Dad yelled on the other end of the line; I could hear him frantically scrambling about.
"N-no, it's okay. I'm fine." I choked back tears.
"You don't sound fine!" Dad was a mess and it was making me a mess.
Midoriya was panicking next to me trying to get me to calm down. Iida was trying to calm both Midoriya and I down. Todoroki was avoiding the random things in the room that began to fly around as I lost control of my quirk.
After I managed to convince Dad I was fine and didn't need him rushing over here when he had work to take care of, I got off the phone. Iida went with some doctors for some tests. Midoriya left to call Uraraka and respond to some of our classmates' texts. I was left alone with Todoroki.
Todoroki sat on the edge of my bed and I froze up in panic as he turned to me with an intense look. "You talk in your sleep."
"A-ah, I'm s-sorry." I squeaked.
"Or to be more accurate, you were crying." He frowned.
I bowed my head, "um, I'll try not to do it again." I trembled; I could still feel his intense gaze on me.
"I was so angry at you, when I saw you at that banquet." He began and I flinched. "You looked so happy; it was annoying that the child of the number one hero could have such a happy childhood."
I chanced a glance up at him. He was still frowning but it looked like he was beating himself up over something.
"In your sleep, you were crying for your mother and I realized I've never heard anything about her." He was watching me carefully.
"She died a few years ago."
His expression softened, "I'm sorry."
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