Chapter Five

The rest of the week went by pretty slowly and as we got closer and closer to our first day of work study, I couldn't shake the look on Shiori's face after class that day. Now the two of us stand outside of the Endeavor agency building, finally all geared up and trembling with anticipation and nerves.

"You know, I heard Deku, Bakugo, and Todoroki are a part of this agency too" Shiori notes absently and I grimace, gritting my teeth together.

"Seriously?" I complain, having forgotten that completely. Shiori eyes me.

"You didn't know that?" she wonders and I sigh.

"I chose to ignore it" I admit and she gives me a flat stare.

"How's that working out for you?" she asks, devoid of sympathy.

"Shut up" I retort and the two of us go inside. I don't think either one of us knows what to expect but I do know that I'm meeting Endeavor today. I don't care what else happens after that. Today, I meet the number one hero. The man whose title I'm hell bent on taking.

The Endeavor Agency building is an enormous skyscraper, well-lit and well decorated with expensive furnishing and tasteful accents and artwork. Being inside of it is a little intimidating seeing as even when mom was alive, me and Shiori never really spent a lot of time in places that looked like they had real money. This is all new.

"Do you think he has a personal driver?" I ask Shiori once we're in the elevator. She gives me a look.

"Why would anyone need a car when they can literally fly?" she asks and I shrug.

"Fair point. But seriously... he didn't have to go this hard" I murmur, touching the cherry wood paneling on the inside of the elevator wall. The wood is smooth and cool beneath my finger tips and solid as a rock.

"Be serious. I heard he's really hard to impress" Shiori whispers and I can sense her worry. I grab her hand and squeeze.

"Don't sweat it. He wanted us for a reason" I remind her and she sighs.

"I guess" she replies and I give her a look.

"Trust me, if any one here has to worry? It's me. I mean, be honest, out of the two of us, who's more likely to screw something up?" I laugh sheepishly, scratching my neck. Shiori smiles at this.

"Yeah, you've got a point" she says and I laugh again.

"See?" I grin and her smile loosens up a bit. I'm definitely not the studious one but if there's one thing Shiori can always count on, it's my absolute and limitless ability to act like a complete knuckle head no matter the situation. The elevator doors finally open to a smattering of maybe thirty cubicles, some of them full and others neatly waiting for their employee's return. I march into the office with stars in my eyes.

"Whoa, look at all of this!" I whisper shout, excitement making my adrenaline spike. Shiori shakes her head, a more comfortable smile on her face now.

"Come on, we have to find..."

"Hi! I'm Burnin'. You're the Ito twins, right?" a woman asks, coming up to us with an enthusiastic smile and proud stance. Wow. She's even more full of energy than I am and that's my quirk.

"Yeah, hi, I'm Kaida..." I start but she interrupts me with a flurry of hand gestures.

"Come on you two! We've got a lot of ground to cover and not a lot of time before we hit the road! You get to come on patrol with me today, which, if you ask me, is pretty lucky since I'm probably the best to work with out of the bunch!" she teases, a crazy wide smile on her face. Shiori and I follow her mostly out of confusion, both of us trying to keep up with everything coming out of her mouth.

"What about Endeavor?" I manage to sneak in between her energetic paragraphs. Burnin' pauses for a fraction of a second.

"Endeavor doesn't personally train or work with new recruits. He's far too busy to be..."

"What about Bakugo? Where is he?" I demand, feeling irritated already. I came here to work with Endeavor. No offense to Burnin', but I'm not looking to be the next number one sidekick. She grimaces at me, a funny look in her eyes.

"Bakugo is out with your other classmates. The three of them already have two years of experience working with Endeavor's agency and other agencies in Japan, not to mention all of the hero work the three of them have already completed combined" she replies, a bit shortly.

"Of course" Shiori begins, but I'm pissed. That damn Bakugo, thinking he's so great. I clench my fists.

"What do I have to do to meet Endeavor?" I demand and Burnin' places a hand on her hip, eyeing me with interest.

"Listen squirt, you don't get to the top just by showin' up. You're gonna have to work a lot harder than that if you wanna work with the number one hero" she says and I grit my teeth. It's not my fault that these kids just so happened to be targets of massively powerful crime syndicates when they started school. It's like these people never watch TV. Shiori and I were at the top of our game in America. What's the deal here?

"We'll work hard" Shiori assures her, nudging me with her elbow. I grit my teeth but I know she's right. I can't pick a fight with one of the Flaming Sidekickers on the first day of our work study. Burnin' seems to accept this and walks us through the office, talking non-stop about Endeavor Agency's work with the community, what it means to be a hero, and how we'll be expected to behave. As it turns out, over the last two years, almost every agency has had trouble with getting it's academic students to listen to orders so they've tightened up their rules immensely since. Regardless of the situation, none of the agencies can afford their students going rogue anymore.

It seems like Burnin' goes on for hours with all of the new policies, rules, and personal advice. In fact, by the time we finally leave with her and another Sidekicker, it's already midafternoon.

"Kaida! Shiori! Hi!" Izuku Midoriya races across the street to greet us, surprising us both. Midoriya's been nothing but friendly since we arrived but we don't exactly talk much. Maybe it's a cultural difference.

"Hey" Shiori smiles and he grins.

"You guys finally got here huh?" he asks, still smiling. I frown at Burnin'.

"We've been here since eight in the morning" I grumble and he makes a face.

"O-oh" he starts and I can sense his awkwardness. I sigh, feeling bad for acting so grumpy.

"Burnin' was just showing us the ropes" I say, plastering a smile on my face. Shiori rolls her eyes.

"First day stuff. It's a lot to go over for people who didn't grow up here" she explains, emphasizing the last part for me. It's like she's calling me a pain in the ass without even speaking. I shrug.

"I'm more of a hands on learner" I say and suddenly, there's an arm around my neck.

"Come on, hands on learner! What's wrong?!" Burnin' asks, driving her knuckles into the top of my head. I shout in pain, struggling to get free.

"Ow! Okay! Stop it!" I complain, yanking myself free of her grip and trying to right my head piece. She smirks at me, a mischievous look in her eyes.

"That's gonna be your punishment from now on" she informs me and I gape.

"What? Punishment for what?!" I demand, rubbing my head and she gives me a look.

"Acting out! Now let's go!" she instructs, marching away. I practically leak agitation at this point but Shiori and I both say our goodbyes to Midoriya before setting out on our first patrol here. Disappointment is a heavy companion with me the entire time but I keep reminding myself that it's only a matter of time. Endeavor will meet me and I will impress him. There's no doubt about it in my mind.

_____________

Back in my room after a long day, I collapse on my bed, freshly showered and exhausted. Sheesh, Burnin' is a real pain in the ass... I roll over, looking at mom's picture again. I'm gonna make her proud. No matter what. Even if it means putting up with Burnin' for a little while longer. At least Shiori did well today, patient to the very end. Even after our altercation with the new Sidekicker. I press my lips together at the thought. He grabbed Shiori once, trying to pull her out of the way during a minor altercation with a drunkard and I snapped at him, throwing a powerful pulse at his chest and watching him fly to Shiori's embarrassment.

"You idiot, what did you do that for?!" she demanded but I was less worried about one of Endeavor's precious employees and more concerned about people touching my sister without asking. He could've told her to move, but Burnin' had an earful to give me after that.

I roll over again, unable to sleep. What the hell? Part of me thinks about bothering Shiori, but she's had so much to do today... it's better to let her rest. Instead, I walk out into the hall and make my way downstairs in my pajamas to the dorm kitchen. It's quiet when I get there and thankfully empty, so without turning on the light I rummage through the fridge for something sweet. I find a few plastic cups full of something that might be yogurt and decide to take my chances, grabbing a spoon and leaning against the counter to eat. The top pops off easily and I'm fascinated by the difference in container as I dig in. Yep, definitely yogurt. The flavor is a bit different, but the texture suits me perfectly right now. I sigh heavily, tapping the bottom of my spoon against my chin.

So working at the agency isn't going to be exactly what I expected in the beginning, so what? I should be happy they accepted me, not mulling over the details. I can change my situation easily, just work hard and keep pushing. So why? Why do I feel so... I drop the spoon back into the container and put it on the counter, licking my thumb when a little bit of yogurt comes off on it.

"What are you doing?" Todoroki's voice asks, rugged with sleep. I look up at him in surprise as he walks into the kitchen and opens the fridge. He stares at it a minute more before looking over at me with heavy lidded eyes and a frown.

"Is that my yogurt?" he asks and I'm thankful for the darkness of the room when my face flushes. Crap. I thought it was fair game. I bite my lip.

"I might've taken one" I admit and his frown deepens, almost making me laugh.

"Why would you take someone else's yogurt?" he asks, as if it's the ultimate offense and he can't wrap his head around it. I try to stifle a laugh, knowing he probably doesn't think it's funny.

"It was an accident" I tell him honestly and he sighs heavily, taking out one of the other yogurts and opening it to eat. For a moment he just stares at it like he can't quite remember how. Wow, he must be exhausted. I grab a spoon from one of the kitchen drawers and put it in the cup for him and he looks up, face completely changed.

"Thank you" he says so earnestly it almost breaks my heart. I blush, upset by how cute I think he is right now.

"No problem..." I half mumble, watching him swallow an enormous spoonful of yogurt before yawning.

"So sleepy" he says then just leaves his unfinished yogurt on the counter and makes his way into the living room, plopping down onto one of the couches and falling asleep immediately. I gape at him, wondering if he was ever even awake to begin with. At that, I reseal the yogurts and put them in the fridge, his on top and mine on the bottom shelf. I rinse off the spoons in the sink, put them back where they belong and walk into the living room where Todoroki is fast asleep.

"What did you even do today?" I murmur out loud, mostly to myself. I've never seen him look so vulnerable before, but while he sleeps I make my way upstairs. Once I'm in my room, I rummage around for an extra blanket, knowing if I were in the same position, I'd be thankful if someone took care of me. When I find it, I take the plushy blue fabric and jog back downstairs where Todoroki hasn't moved. I shake my head at him. I'm definitely not gonna drag his ass back to bed, but he should at least be comfortable. I unfold the blanket and drape it over him, watching as he rolls over in his sleep and pulls it up to his face. For a moment, I almost think he smiles, but I ignore the look and start back for my room.

On my way back I flinch, making a face. I'm never getting that blanket back, am I? I look back towards the living room with a slight pang of regret until I remember the look on his face and something in me softens a bit. Whatever. He can keep the blanket. I'd rather lose the blanket trying to care for someone than either get it back or tell him it was mine. So what if he keeps it? It's just a blanket.

When I get back to my room, I climb into bed and get comfortable, trying to find my peace in the sight of the moon through my window. Today didn't go the way I planned, but now, I'm certain. I'm going to claw my way to the top even if it kills me. Nobody can stop me from becoming the number one hero.

You're so strong, Kaida. Mommy's proud of you. I close my eyes against the sound of my mother's voice in my memories. I might've been just a kid when she said those words to me, but I'll never forget them. I'll never forget the way she smiled that day. Even if it makes me wonder sometimes... if she'd still be smiling for me now.