Endeavor grumbled to himself as he sat in his office at his home, idly drinking sake and going through some paperwork. It was nearly midnight and the first day of the Work Experience Internship had ended just an hour or two ago and he still felt the eyes of his sidekicks and employees on him as they whispered their comments and tried to stealthily take pictures of him. And why? Because he had walked through the building with his son trailing sleepily behind him, and the Midoriya girl passed out on his back. The image of the Flame Hero giving a reluctant piggy back to the adorable child would no doubt be circulating for weeks, if not months. He cursed himself for it though.

He'd severely underestimated the will of All-Might's daughter.

After being defeated by Blade Jester and working up the resolve to try and use her power against others for real, Izuka had thrown herself into the training, attacking her opponent with renewed vigor. Each time, she'd hesitate when going for an attack and for a Pro-Hero, even a newbie sidekick, that was all that was needed for her opponent to get back in control of the fight and defeat her. Each defeat would lead to Izuka furiously scolding herself, then writing feverishly in a little notebook she pulled from the orange pouch on her lower back. Endeavor had been surprised to find the book was written in code, some sort of secret language Izuka and her boyfriend had made up as children to stop All-Might reading their letters. Izuka explained this was because it was her Field Notes, and if she'd written them normally, any villain that managed to steal them would know the weaknesses of the people she'd written in it. That had impressed the Flame Hero, but he soon forgot about it in the face of the girl's indomitable will. Each time she was defeated, she'd get back up; sometimes healing herself from a cut then challenging Jester again. For a while, that tenacity was annoying to Endeavor as he saw no improvements, but very slowly she began to hesitate less often and would get closer to landing a serious blow before recoiling, still unable to fight seriously with an ally (or anyone for that matter).

Periodically, Izuka would fall to the ground, so drained that she couldn't move any more. When this happened, Shoto would bathe her in his flames, which she would absorb to restore her strength then get up and keep fighting. Each time this happened, the time before she collapsed again got shorter; the flame absorption acting more as a temporary boost than a cure for her exhaustion. Finally, after coming close to winning a couple of times, Izuka passed out, simply unable to keep fighting and unable to absorb enough flame to get up again. That was why Endeavor had been forced to carry her (after Embright had taken the sleeping girl and changed her back into her day clothes). When they'd left the Agency and returned to the Todoroki estate, a maid had changed Izuka into a night dress and put her to bed in a guest room, where she still lay happily snoozing away. Endeavor begrudgingly admitted to himself that the girl was impressive, and if she could get over her aversion to fighting seriously, she'd be an amazing hero.

Not to be outdone, Shoto had been a force to be reckoned with in his own training. Strictly speaking, he was an objectively better fighter than Izuka, and would win any fight with her if it weren't for the fact her quirk so perfectly countered his. Endeavor had never seen his son training so hard; the boy threw himself into battling Embright as if she was a real villain, perfectly achieving the mindset that his female companion couldn't reach. He came close to winning more than once, using his ice to try and form blades to cut Embright's hair and trying to discretely create icy landmines by hiding chunks of ice filled with a mix of hot and cold fire in his usual ice wave attacks. It was effective and Embright really had to try hard to not be hurt by the attacks, as well as keep her hair between herself and Shoto, as while her hair was fireproof, her skin wasn't; only her scalp was able to take much heat; the rest of her burned easily thanks to her pale skin. Every now and again, Shoto would be forced to stop and take a break, since he couldn't restore his stamina like Izuka can, and each time, he would watch Izuka fighting with a look of frustration, as if he was upset that he had to stop fighting.

Endeavor had felt a pain in his heart at seeing that; in the boy's childhood, the child had begged to take breaks, worked to the point of exhaustion by his own cruel and uncaring father... by Endeavor. But now, he was almost the opposite; Shoto hated being forced to stop and Endeavor even had to order him to take breaks. It was another reminder to the Flame Hero that he had been wrong in his treatment of his son... and worse, that Endeavor could have still gotten exactly what he wanted without hurting his son, since Shoto was so eager to train to keep up with his comrade. Perhaps if Endeavor had encouraged him to make friends as a child, someone for him to compete with and spur him on, then Shoto would be both stronger and happier. Maybe if he had encouraged friendly competition amongst his children instead of ignoring them for Shoto, he'd have a good relationship with all four of them and had created not one but four powerful young heroes. An equally annoying, though less painful realisation for the Pro was that this was another thing that All-Might effortlessly beat him at; parenting... and since the Number One only had a single child that he'd raised for only five years while Endeavor had four kids over the last twenty plus years, it was even more humiliating.

When training finally ended that day, Endeavor had gently ruffled his son's hair and to his surprise, Shoto didn't recoil, though this was likely out of exhaustion more than a desire for his father's affection. It had been... nice, and the two walked out together, eating a quiet dinner together at home before Shoto retired to his room. For the first time in over a decade, Endeavor felt like a real father... he had decided then and there that he had made the right choice by abandoning some of his pride and harshness.

And so Endeavor sat in his office, swigging the last of his sake before getting up to turn in for the night. Tomorrow afternoon, he would take the two out on patrol; it would be a good test for them.

[THAT EVENING, AT U.A]

Toshinori sat rather uncomfortably on the sofa of the Class 1-A dorms. In the last week, he'd gotten accustomed to the hustle and bustle of his students and now that all the students were gone, he felt oddly melancholic. He told himself it would only be a week, but considering this was also the first time he'd been away from his daughter for that long, he was nervous and restless. Inko had gone to bed early, so it was just Toshi sitting and sipping his cola.

There was a sudden knock at the dorm doors, followed by a beep and click as they swung open, allowing Detective Tsukauchi into the room. "Hey Toshinori. Glad I caught you while you were awake. Got a minute to talk?"

"Naomasa! It's been a while. What are you doing here? It's too late for a social visit." Toshi said, gesturing for the man to sit down.

Naomasa took a seat and sighed; "Truthfully, you're right; this isn't a social visit." he said, pulling a couple of photographs from his coat pocket, "We have new information in the League of Villains case."

Toshi's eyes narrowed; "What is it?"

The detective slid the first photo over to All-Might. It was a snapshot from a security camera feed and showed a blurry image of two figures standing on a roof top. The first was unfamiliar to the Number One Hero; he was a lanky and slouching figure covered head to toe in sharp objects and with a long flowing scarf. The other was unmistakeable: Kurogiri. "The League and an unknown villain?" Toshi asked.

"That villain is confirmed to be the Hero Killer Stain. This picture seems to prove they are on friendly terms, which to us, confirms they are working together." Naomasa explained.

All-Might scowled; he knew this was a possibility and had been theorised for a while, Gran Torino had told him the league had made contact with the Hero Killer and suspected he might have been recruited, but here was solid proof. "I don't suppose the camera feed showed where they went?"

Naomasa shook his head; "Sadly not. They warped away. But that isn't the only problem..." he said, reluctantly passing along the other picture. This one was a basic police mugshot, depicting a fairly muscular man with dull eyes, very large lips and shaggy dirty blond hair. Toshinori gave his friend a questioning look, prompting the Detective to continue; "It was hard going, since your daughter and Todoroki incinerated most of the Noumu that attacked the USJ, but we were finally able to crack the thing's metal bones and test the bone marrow for DNA matches."

"I see. So this guy was who became that Noumu?" Toshi said, not overly impressed by the figure in the picture, "Is this guy someone important?"

Naomasa shook his head; "He's completely unremarkable. A petty criminal whose rap sheet is mostly minor crimes with a few assault and extortion charges thrown in. He was released on Parole and went missing."

Toshi felt his heart sink; "When was this?"

The Detective frowned; "Eight Months ago."

Toshi froze; eight months ago... that meant he had been caught and turned into a Noumu sometime in that period. But that shouldn't be possible, unless... "So this confirms it. Shigaraki was telling the truth; All for One is alive." he said bitterly.

Naomasa nodded; "It's technically not a guarantee. It's possible he had another accomplice who he gifted portions of his quirk too. His notes on creating the Noumus did frequently mention an assistant. However, the odds of that are slim. As of today, All for One is being treated as an SSS-Rank fugitive. The public won't be informed of his return until we get confirmation he truly is alive, but every government across the world has been alerted."

Toshinori scowled; an SSS-Rank incident or criminal was a Global Risk, someone who could bring about an apocalyptic event. "Shit." was all he could say.

Naomasa smiled sympathetically; "I share your sentiments. Are you going to tell Izuka?"

"I'll have to. I can't send her out into the world without her knowing who was lying in wait. I'll wait until she comes back from her Internship. No need to ruin her week!" Toshi said, getting up and heading to his personal fridge in the Dorm Manager's apartment. Cola wasn't enough for this; he needed something stronger. He'd tell Izuka when he saw her on Sunday, so she could focus on her internship.

Little did he know, by the time they saw each other again at the end of the week, Izuka would already be very much aware...

[ELSEWHERE]

The Hero Killer Stain idly licked his lips as he waited. He was stood against a wall in a dingy little bar in the middle of Kamino Ward. He was currently waiting for the two he had allied with to show up; the Villain Brat Shigaraki and the freaky Yakuza guy. For what felt like the hundredth time, Stain questioned why he even bothered showing up to this meeting; neither of these Allies had much to offer him on his crusade.

Stain had been recruited shortly after Ingenium was healed. The Hero Killer was intrigued by the girl who healed him, but aside from her undoing a bit of his work, she was of no real consequence to Stain; he would just need to be sure to kill his next victim like many of the others. From what little he gathered on this Midoriya Girl, she seemed like a Hero that followed All-Might's philosophy, which meant she was spared from Stain's crusade. Shortly after, Kurogiri had warped him to this bar and after a tense stand off, Stain was forced to admit that Shigaraki had potential, with his fledgeling conviction, so Stain had agreed to a minor partnership while they weeded out some of the slightly tougher fake heroes. After all, Stain was only one man, so if he threw some foolish villains to their doom to help bring down a Fake Hero, then he would score a double victory.

Finally, after waiting for ages, Shigaraki returned with Kurogiri and two members of the Yakuza group; The Eight Precepts. The first was their boss; Kai Chisaki, who was a fairly unremarkable looking man in his Twenties with dull brownish hair and bloodshot eyes. His only notable feature was the orange beak mask he wore to cover the lower parts of his face. The other guy was unknown, but referred to himself as Chronostasis and wore a cloak and hood with a plague doctor's mask. Without further ado, Shigaraki had the lot of them sit around one of the tables at the bar with nothing but brief nods.

"Good of you to join us. We have decided to share a little secret with you guys as our allies, as well as offer you a reward for helping us." Shigaraki smirked.

Chisaki raised an eyebrow; "Oh yes, this nebulous reward you keep going on about. The Eight Precepts only agreed to a partnership with you since the League has kept attention away from us, but continue to annoy us with this mystery prize and we'll withdraw our support."

Shigaraki smirked, "That would be a shame, but don't worry; I'll reveal all! Kurogiri, the tape."

The Mist Villain took a small television from behind the bar and put it on the counter, inserting an old VHS tape into it as Tomura slid a picture across the table to Stain and Chisaki. Stain scowled; the picture depicted Izuka Midoriya on the winner's podium at the recent Sports Festival. "So you want this girl? She was the one to escape you five years ago, right?" Chronostasis asked.

"Escaped? Oh no, our Little Bird would never have run away. It was those damned heroes! They kidnapped her and brainwashed her!" Tomura snapped, "But she's extremely valuable to the League, and by extension, this alliance."

Before Chisaki or Stain could ask how, the video began playing on the TV. It was showed Midoriya as a small child, maybe 8 or 9 years old, standing and shivering in the centre of a dark room. "Tomura, begin the test." came a deep and malicious voice and suddenly, a teenage Shigaraki emerged from the shadows behind the girl and put his hands on her. The watching villains looked disgusted as the video showed Midoriya scream and decay until she was nothing but dust.

"What!? You killed her? Is she some sort of clone?" Chisaki demanded.

Tomura smirked, "Watch and see!"

Kurogiri fast forwarded the tape by three minutes and Stain and Chisaki watched with widening eyes as Midoriya was resurrected from the dust, completely healthy. Chronostasis shook his head in wonder; "Amazing. A Resurrection Quirk! Combined with the fire we saw in the Sports Festival, that girl has a Phoenix Quirk!" he exclaimed.

Stain's eyes narrowed, "So I assume you want our help in retrieving her? Why should I help? My crusade is against false heroes and from what I've seen, she isn't one. I gain nothing from involving myself with her."

"Nor do we." Chisaki added. "The Eight Precepts want a return to the way of life before Quirks. Some Immortal Brat is only a minor concern."

Tomura nodded, "I know. But Phoenix isn't her only quirk. My Sensei's experiments helped create a new one within her; Link Evolution. For the Little Bird, this doesn't mean a lot; she can speak to the people she links with in her head and as long as the link holds, she can use a weak form of their quirk, but the issue is the people she links with. Their quirks are made permanently stronger; like a perpetual Trigger effect that can never be undone."

Chisaki and Stain both narrowed their eyes. That quirk would be a problem for both of them; if the Heroes used her to bolster their powers, it would be nearly impossible for the Eight Precepts to survive long enough to complete their plan, and an army of Fake Super Heroes was not something Stain could deal with. "So you want us to capture her and turn her over to you. What do we get from it." Chisaki demanded.

"Once we have her back and turn her to our side again, we'll have her evolve your quirks to make you stronger, plus we'll lend her to you to assist with your plans. Stain, you can kill a lot more heroes with her help and it would work for me too. Chisaki, she could improve the power of your own little pet... what was her name again? Oh yes, Eri." Tomura smiled evilly.

Chisaki scowled. How had this mad man learned about Eri? Perhaps the Eight Precepts had a spy in their midst? He'd need to do some searching later. Stain looked pensive, but ultimately, he had little choice. This girl would be a lethal weapon in his crusade, either against him or with him, so the Hero Killer nodded his understanding to the Villains. "Fine, I'll help. But once this girl is caught, I expect you to fulfil your end of the bargain. I'm going back to Hosu." he said, marching out the door.

"Shall I warp you?" Kurogiri shouted after him, only for Stain to growl bitterly.

"I'll walk! I could use the air!" he snapped. He was furious that he would now have to assist in the hunt for a hero with real potential, but he had no choice. This was for the greater good.

A few blocks away, Chisaki and Chronostasis caught up to him, having agreed to help the League as well, but it was clear from the cruel gleam in Chisaki's eye that they had something else planned. "Stain. I've got a proposition for you." the man said.

"What is it?" Stain asked, his bad mood on full display.

"You know that the League is untrustworthy. They'll use us then destroy us... the goal of the Eight Precepts is in opposition with theirs and at the end of the day, you're trying to revive a true Hero Society while they want to destroy Heroes all together. If the League gets a hold of this Phoenix Brat, it'll only be a matter of time before we are betrayed and killed." Chisaki said matter-of-factly.

"So you want to betray the League and you want my help to do it." Stain scowled. "Why should I fight alongside you?"

Chisaki grinned beneath his mask; "You don't have to. All you have to do is what you would for the League, but if you capture the Phoenix Brat, you deliver her to us instead of the League."

"I don't see how having her be used as a weapon by you is better than having that League Brat using her." Stain pointed out.

"We don't intend to use her at all." Chisaki said, "We have developed a weapon that can destroy quirks permanently. We've managed to synthesise two functioning Quirk-Destroyer Bullets and we've tested one already, proving we have the formula perfected. Currently, the process of making them is too difficult to be adapted for mass production but we have one more left, and we intend to use it on Phoenix. For our goal, we can't allow an Immortal that can upgrade other quirks to exist, so we'll destroy her quirks."

Stain frowned; "I'll be honest, I trust in your conviction more than the Insane Boy that runs the League. What will you do once the girl's quirks are erased?"

Chisaki shrugged; "Who knows. She'll just be some quirkless brat, so it doesn't really matter. I might keep her for my men or sell her. I might give her to Eri as a playmate or might just drop her off somewhere and forget about her. I can give her to you if you want."

Stain shook his head; "If I do this, then I expect you to set her free. No point in spilling the blood of someone pure. I also expect you to supply me with some of those bullets in the future. If I can't use the girl as a weapon against the Heroes, I can at least use the thing that destroyed her powers."

Chisaki nodded; "Then we are in agreement. You bring Midoriya to us. A recent recruit of mine claims she is working with Endeavor for the week, just in case you feel like hunting her down." he said, then walked off with Chronostasis on his heels.

Stain scoffed. He wasn't going to go hunting this kid; he didn't trust the League or the Precepts. He'd only bother to capture her if he crossed paths with her, but she was with Endeavor in Musutafu and Stain was heading to Hosu; there was no chance of running into her. As the Hero Killer began his journey back to Hosu, he thought about his next victim... "Native. He would make a good sacrifice for my crusade" Stain decided.

[THE FIRST DAY OF THE INTERNSHIP: KATSUKI]

Katsuki knew from the beginning that the time he spent with Best Jeanist wouldn't be how he hoped. The Number Four Hero was a famous and very popular hero, actually being Ranked Second in Popularity Polls behind All-Might and while he was incredibly powerful, he was also refined, elegant and flamboyant; basically the opposite of Katsuki... which was why he was the Hero that Katsuki hoped would teach him what he needed to know. When Katsuki had arrived at the Hero's Tokyo office, some Sidekicks had directed him to change into his gear for his first meeting with Best Jeanist. Katsuki silently obeyed, then followed another sidekick (all of them wearing the same blue jeans for some reason) to the top floor of the building, where the Hero was waiting for him.

Best Jeanist looked at Katsuki, eyeing his costume critically while the boy tried to keep his temper under control. It was hard though... he wasn't a piece of meat or a damn fashion model; he didn't like those looks. Finally Best Jeanist spoke; "To be honest, I have no idea what to make of you."

Katsuki blinked; "Huh?"

"When I saw that little speech you made at the beginning of the Sports Festival, I thought for sure you were just another ruffian. Your rage when you didn't win the Second Event furthered that assessment. I had decided then that I would draft you; I've had nothing but Do-Gooders recently, and I hoped to cut my teeth on reforming a ferocious child like yourself." the man fixed his hair, "But then you surprised me. You treated your defeated opponents with respect, and that passionate display before your match with Midoriya... young love isn't something I would associate with someone like you. It was rather moving, and I found myself wanting to work out exactly what kind of person you are. After all, you raged because you didn't win the Second Event, but took your loss at the final hurdle rather well."

"Tch!" Katsuki scowled, "I got angry because of that Copycat fuck messing with me! He was weaker than me and not giving it his all! Beating him like that wasn't a real fucking victory!" he yelled.

"Ah yes, the other blond loudmouth. So your anger was not from losing first place, but from being looked down on? And Midoriya didn't look down on you, so you didn't get angry?" the Hero questioned.

Katsuki was silent for a moment before speaking; "She gave it her all while respecting me. She didn't look down on me. Both me and Izuka gave it our all and I lost; I as the loser have no right to complain in those circumstances."

"Hmm, interesting." Jeanist commented, "I assumed you came here just because I was the Number Four Hero..."

"I did." Katsuki cut him off; "You're the most popular hero aside from All-Might, so you're the one I need to learn from."

"I admire your honesty, but I confess to being disappointed." the Hero shook his head sadly, "I had hoped you wanted more than just Popularity..."

"Fuck Popularity!" Katsuki snapped; "I don't give a shit about it, but if I can't be popular and deal with the fucking public, then I'll just be a fucking weight on her ankles!"

Best Jeanist's eyes widened in surprise; "Her? Oh of course, Izuka Midoriya. I sent an offer to her too, but she chose to go with Endeavor instead. It makes sense I suppose; his quirk is more like hers than mine is, and after Midoriya threw her fight with him, I suspected he might be interested in cultivating her power." the man watched Katsuki closely, but the boy showed no reaction to the idea of Izuka throwing her fight; "Ah, so you knew? I saw through Midoriya's gambit from the beginning. Her power countered Endeavor perfectly; there was no way for Endeavor to win; Midoriya taught him a lesson, then threw the match all so the Public wouldn't lose hope."

"I know that, Dammit!" Katsuki finally snapped; "That's why I want to fucking learn from you! Izuka did what was right, she knew what to do from the beginning and keeps doing things that hurt her just for the sake of others. She's so damn noble, she needs someone to look out for her, 'cause lord fucking knows she won't look out for herself! If I don't get popular, I can't stand by her side and I can't fucking surpass her either! What good am I to her if I'm just dead weight! Izuka said it to Endeavor; Power ain't enough to be Number One!"

Best Jeanist smiled beneath his collar. He was actually rather impressed by the boy; Bakugou understood that if he stayed his abrasive self all the time, he'd become unpopular and if he formed a Team with a popular hero like Midoriya was becoming, he'd just bring her down as all her deeds were blackened by her association with him, but not only that, Bakugou knew he had to be able to win the trust of the Public to become Number One. It was more insight than Best Jeanist had expected.

"All right, you have convinced me." Jeanist clapped, "Tomorrow, we'll start my "Public Relations Boot Camp"! For today, I will give you the tour and introduce you to my Sidekicks. What is your Hero Name?"

"The Big Bang Hero: Burst Magnus." Katsuki answered proudly, "It's the name Izuka gave me."

"Very nice. Out of curiosity, what would you have called yourself?" the Hero asked.

Katsuki grinned; "King Explosion Murder! Izuka would be Queen Inferno Murder!"

"TERRIBLE!" Jeanist screamed; "Forget the tour, we can't afford to waste even a single day! The "Public Relations Boot Camp" starts now! I'll also throw in some of my patented "Be a Better Boyfriend" lessons!"

Katsuki flinched at the intensity in the man's voice and eyed the comb he had retrieved like it was a knife. He had a feeling he'd bitten off a bit more than he could chew...

All across the region, his fellow Class 1-A students were experiencing their own meetings with their Pro-Hero teachers, each raring to go and learn. Back at U.A, Mineta was studying and training hard, having made friends with a really nice girl and begun working with a guy from the Support Course; he wasn't going on an Internship, but that didn't mean he couldn't do his own training! Slowly, their class marched forward on their roads to Herohood, though in the years to come, they'd not remember that week for their Internships... it would be for the Eight Precept Uprisings and the chaos they caused.

[ELSEWHERE]

The little girl tiptoed around the corner, keeping as silent as possible. She needed to escape... she needed to get away! She couldn't take it any more! The Experiments had become more frequent, and now the Bad Man had managed to perfect his weapon; a bullet that inflicted her curse on other people, stealing their quirks forever!

Hours ago, the Bad Man had come back from a meeting with more Bad People and said that she'd have another girl to play with soon, but the Little Girl was scared; these Bad People had what they wanted from her (or at least she thought so) and were now getting another girl! Did that mean they were done with her? Then what would they do with her!? She had to run, so had to escape!

Slipping past her guards and finding the entrance, the Little Girl made a run for it. She would be free... Eri would be free!