Chapter 108: The Heroine Who Finds Everything!

All Might's office was too plain, which didn't really fit the world's number one hero. Ren settled into the chair across from the desk while the Symbol of Peace flipped through a folder with two enormous fingers.

"Thanks for coming so quickly, young Hayashi," All Might said, setting the folder down on the table. "I imagine you have a lot of questions."

"Only about a thousand," Ren replied. "But let's start with the important one. Are you finally gonna tell me who this mysterious mentor is who understands mental Quirks better than anyone? Because I've spent days picturing some old lady floating in a cave."

All Might let out a laugh that rattled the window glass.

"HA, HA, HA! I'm afraid she's a lot more colorful than that." He turned the folder so Ren could see the photograph stapled to the first page. "Her hero name is Ragdoll. She belongs to a team called the Wild Wild Pussycats."

Ren looked at the photo and immediately recognized the green-haired woman with cat ears and a mischievous smile. A pleasant feeling ran down his spine.

The Pussycats. Of course. Mountain rescue, rough terrain, three heroines with cat costumes and cereal-commercial energy. I think this is shaping up nicely.

"Her Quirk lets her track up to a hundred targets at once," All Might continued, clasping his hands. "She knows their exact location and their weak points, all at the same time, without losing her mind in the process. She's the only person I know capable of handling that much information in her head without breaking down."

"And you think someone like that could teach me not to crack my skull every time I push my power to the limit," Ren said, putting the pieces together.

"Exactly." All Might's smile softened a little. "Recovery Girl told me what she found during your last checkup. Forcing a mental Quirk comes at a price, young Hayashi, and you've been paying it for weeks without realizing it. Ragdoll lives with a similar power every day. If anyone can show you how to carry that weight without breaking, it's her."

Ren stayed quiet for a second, going over the proposal. The funny thing was, he'd already had his answer ready before walking into the office.

"There's a small detail you're gonna love," he said, pulling a crumpled letter from his uniform pocket and sliding it across the desk. "The Pussycats already sent me an internship offer. It came in the first wave, before the draft turned into an avalanche. It's right there, underneath Mt. Lady's, which I'm still avoiding touching for safety reasons."

All Might picked up the letter, read it, and let out another booming laugh.

"HA, HA, HA! Magnificent! It seems destiny has already done half the work for us! That simplifies things enormously! Now I just need to contact Mandalay and confirm the transfer details. Everything is going splendidly!"

"I accept," Ren said before he could finish. "Whatever I have to sign, I'll sign it gladly. I've spent way too long learning to use this power through trial, error, and headaches that would scare a neurologist."

"Don't you want to think about it for a bit?"

"I already did. A real teacher doesn't come along twice." Ren shrugged. "Besides, if I screw up, I can always blame you in my autobiography."

All Might stood up, recovering some of the presence that made entire stadiums tremble, and held out a hand.

"Welcome to the program, young Hayashi. I suspect the Pussycats aren't ready for you, but that's part of the fun."

Ren shook the giant hand and smiled.

I gotta be up there anyway. There's stuff that happens near that mountain I'd rather not leave to chance. But for now... for now I'm taking the mentor. Finally.

He found Inko in the hallway, leaning against the wall next to the vending machine, frowning at an agency pamphlet.

"Let me guess," Ren said, stopping beside her. "You still haven't decided where you're doing your internship."

"It's more complicated than it looks," she admitted, lowering the pamphlet. "What about you?"

"I got a mentor. A heroine who understands how Quirks like mine work." Ren leaned against the wall next to her. "Turns out I've been wrecking my brain from the inside for weeks every time I push the power too far. Recovery Girl just about forced me into retirement when she told me."

Inko turned to face him, and her expression shifted completely.

"Your body breaks down from the inside too when you use it?"

"Internal bleeding you can't see, tissue damage, that kind of party favor. Why are you making that face?"

She looked down at her own hands, opening and closing them slowly.

"Because the same thing happens to me," she said quietly. "Every time I use my Quirk at full power, I feel like something inside me is falling apart. Broken fingers, torn muscles... I didn't think the same thing happened to you."

I know better than you can imagine, Inko, Ren thought, keeping the truth to himself. Carrying One For All without being ready is exactly that. Your body still hasn't learned to contain something so big.

"So we're two idiots destroying ourselves for the cause," he said instead, with a half smile.

Inko laughed, and for the first time in the whole conversation she seemed to relax.

"I guess so." She glanced at him sideways. "It's weird, but it makes me feel better knowing I'm not the only one fighting against her own body. Sometimes I thought it was just a weakness of mine."

"It's not. It just means we're both carrying powers that are still too big for us." Ren gave her a soft tap on the shoulder. "You're gonna make it, you know? You'll learn to control it. I've seen you fight. A girl who takes half a stadium on top of her and gets back up doesn't give up over a few broken bones."

"That's exactly what I'm gonna say to you next time you complain about a headache," she answered, and pushed him back gently. "You're gonna make it too, Hayashi-kun. We both will."

"Deal." Ren tilted his head. "By the way, do you have anything in mind for your internship or not?"

Inko's face lit up immediately.

"Hosu! I decided on an agency in Hosu. I'm so excited, you have no idea. I'm gonna get to meet All Mi..."

She stopped abruptly, catching her slip. Both hands flew to her mouth, and color rose up her cheeks in seconds.

"I-I mean..." she stammered, "it's a normal agency, n-nothing special, I just liked the city, and... and..."

Gran Torino, huh? Lucky for me that part of the canon's still intact, Ren thought. Relax, Inko. Your secret's safe, even if you don't know it.

Ren didn't move a single muscle in his face. Instead, he stretched his arms above his head with an exaggerated yawn and looked at the ceiling.

"Hosu, lucky you. I'm going to a mountain full of cats." He sighed. "You know what's the only thing I'm really excited about with all this? Learning to give some villain a beating without walking away with a brain hemorrhage as a parting gift. It's a pretty modest dream, I know, but it fills me with joy."

The tension left Inko's shoulders instantly, and she let out a relieved laugh.

"That sounds like a perfectly reasonable goal."

"I'm a man of attainable goals." Ren pushed off the wall. "Go on, go pack. And don't break anyone's face on the first day, you'll make the class look bad."

"No promises!" she shouted as he walked off down the hall, and they both laughed.

The UA rooftop was the only place where he could be sure no one would overhear them. The afternoon wind carried the smell of dirt from the training field below, and the sky was already starting to turn faint shades of orange. Ren had called the four girls up there for a very simple reason: what he had to say couldn't be said in a hallway full of people, and he was too embarrassed to take a slap in public.

Toru showed up first, given away by her uniform floating on its own. Tsuyu came in behind her with her usual calm, a finger resting on her lip. Ochako arrived twisting her hands, already nervous without knowing why. And Nejire bounced in, eyes darting everywhere with curiosity.

"Ren-kun! This is all so mysterious!" Nejire exclaimed, clapping with excitement. "Are you gonna propose something exciting? A secret mission? An adventure? Are we gonna steal something? Why the rooftop? Does it have to do with villains? Why do you have that nervous face?"

"One question at a time, Nejire-senpai, my circuits are gonna blow," Ren said, raising his hands.

He waited until all four were gathered in front of him. He took a breath, and for once he didn't have any mental tricks prepared, no power to fall back on, nothing but words.

"I want to talk about what happened at the haunted house."

The silence hit like a bucket of cold water. Ochako went red up to her neck and stared at the floor. Tsuyu blinked without flinching. Nejire tilted her head, intrigued. And Toru's uniform gave a little jolt.

"I need you to know what really happened," Ren continued, looking each of them in the eye. "What happened that night... the way everything felt so impossibly intense... it was an accident. I have an ability similar to telepathy, and I can make people feel things more strongly. I was joking around with Toru, turning up her sensations just a little... but I lost control. My power overflowed and ended up reaching all of you who were nearby."

"Hey, hey, hold up! Pump the brakes!" Toru exclaimed, quickly stepping in front of Ochako, her empty sleeves crossing in front of her in an exaggerated way. "Before anyone starts blaming Ren, I gotta say something! The one who started it all was me! It was my idea! So if anyone has to apologize here... it's me!"

She paused, and even though no one could see her face, you could hear from her voice that she was smiling.

"Buuut...!" she laughed, scratching the back of her neck. "To be fair, it wasn't just me! When it was all over, Ochako didn't exactly seem in a rush for it to end either, huh? So... don't pin it all on me!"

"TORU!" Ochako shrieked, hiding her face in her hands.

"What? But it's true!" Toru replied with a giggle, shrugging. "I'm fine with what happened. It was crazy, yeah, but it was also fun, and I don't regret it! Though... well, I don't expect everyone to feel the same. I'm sure Ochako-chan's been overthinking it and feeling guilty, so I figured it's better to put the whole truth out there at once."

Ren looked at her and felt a wave of gratitude for the way she'd jumped in.

This girl. I just confessed I can get inside her head, and the first thing she does is throw herself in front of everyone to defend me. There's a reason she's my adorable invisible girl.

The wind filled the silence for a couple of seconds. Ren braced himself for shouting, for slaps, or for someone to bolt.

What he got was very different.

"Oh! That explains everything!" Nejire exclaimed, hopping in place. "I knew something weird was going on! That night everything felt incredibly intense, way more than normal, and I couldn't figure out why all of a sudden my body..." She stopped, thoughtful, and then lit up again. "But it makes sense! It was you!"

"Nejire-senpai, you're taking this surprisingly well," Ren said cautiously.

"Why wouldn't I take it well?" She tilted her head, genuinely confused. "I know, Ren-kun. I'm not stupid. I know what happened was important for everyone. But for me it was... revealing. I learned things about myself I didn't know. Things I wanted to know."

And then, true to form, she opened fire.

"Now tell me, how does the telepathy thing work exactly? Do you read whole thoughts or just bits and pieces? Can you hear what I'm thinking right now? And the sensation thing, can you amplify anything or just body stuff? Could you make a dessert taste better? And how far does it reach? Why are you bald, does it have to do with the power? Does your head hurt when you use it?"

"That last one, yeah, a lot!" Ren replied, almost dizzy from the barrage. "I'll answer the rest if you let me breathe between questions."

Tsuyu brought her finger to her lip and delivered her verdict.

"Kero. It was an interesting experience. Unplanned, but not unpleasant either. I don't regret it and I don't have any complaints."

"You're incredibly practical, Tsuyu," Ren said, blinking.

"It's my nature. I don't see why I should complicate things with feelings I don't have." She looked at him with her big, calm eyes. "I'm fine, Ren-kun. And if you ever need to talk about anything, I'm here. But you don't need to apologize for something we both enjoyed."

Only one was left, and she was the one he was most worried about. Ochako still had her face buried in her hands, completely red. Ren waited, giving her time.

Little by little, she lifted her head. The embarrassment was still burning in her face, but the hesitation in her eyes was starting to fade.

"I... the truth is, I've felt awful this whole time..." she admitted, dropping her gaze a little. "I always thought these kinds of things were supposed to happen a different way, you know? So... that night kept going around in my head over and over. I thought it was your Quirk that made me act like that... because it was the only thing that made sense to me."

She swallowed and took a deep breath before continuing.

"But... if the effect had really worn off already... then the decision was mine." She blushed even harder, though this time she held Ren's gaze. "It wouldn't be fair to blame you for something I also decided to do."

She gave a small, shy smile.

"So... I'm not mad at you, Ren-kun. I'm super embarrassed thinking about everything that happened... really, really embarrassed! But I'm grateful you told me to my face. I think I would've kept blaming myself and going in circles if we'd never talked about it."

Ren let out the breath he hadn't realized he'd been holding.

"Thanks, Ochako... that means a lot to me."

"Alright, alright! That's enough rooftop drama!" Toru exclaimed, clapping her hands enthusiastically. "The important thing is nobody hates anybody and we're all still perverted friends! Case closed."

"Hey! Don't lump me in with the 'perverted' part..." Ochako protested with a nervous laugh, putting a hand to the back of her neck. "B-but... I'm glad we're all okay, at least."

And then Ochako seemed to remember something, and the blush gave way to an excitement that made her eyes shine.

"Oh, that's right! With everything that happened I almost forgot!" Ochako said, grinning ear to ear and bouncing on her toes. "I'm doing my internship with Ryukyu! She accepted me at her agency! I'm so excited! I'm gonna learn from one of the best heroines in the country... I'll do everything I can to live up to it!"

Nejire's eyes went wide and she let out a high-pitched squeal of joy.

"Whaaaat?! Really, Ochako-chan?! You're doing your internship with Ryukyu-san?! How exciting! That means we're gonna train together! And we'll get to fly together too! Oh, I can't wait! I'm gonna teach you a ton of stuff and we're gonna have a blast!" Nejire exclaimed, throwing herself into a hug with so much energy she almost lifted Ochako off the ground.

"N-Nejire-senpai! W-wait...! You're squeezing too hard!" Ochako laughed between little giggles, hugging her back without trying to pull away. "But I'm so happy I get to work with you guys too! I'm gonna give it my all!"

"One of our own!" Toru cheered. "And the other one bald! Well, the other guy. Ren, you don't count, you're going with the cats."

"I feel so loved," Ren said.

"Hey, is nobody gonna ask me where I'm doing my internship?" Toru's voice climbed, vibrating with bottled excitement. "Nobody? Seriously? Fine, I'll tell you anyway!"

Before anyone could react, two hands landed on Ren's bald head and started drumming on it with an enthusiastic rhythm.

"Ba-da-ba-da-BAM," Toru hummed. "Drumroll, please! Ladies and gentlemen..."

"Why is it always my head?" Ren protested.

"Because the acoustics are perfect!" Toru closed out the drumroll with two final taps and let out a yell that echoed across the entire rooftop. "I'M DOING MY INTERNSHIP WITH EDGESHOT! THE NUMBER FOUR HERO IN THE COUNTRY SENT ME AN OFFER! THE NINJA! THE GUY WITH THE COOLEST TECHNIQUES! ME!"

And before Ren could even congratulate her, he felt a pair of lips plant themselves firmly on his cheek.

"Thanks for putting up with my drum solo!" she said, laughing. "I'm too happy to keep it to myself!"

"Number four, huh?" Ren rubbed his cheek, smiling. "Makes sense. The perfect stealth match for the girl no one can see. Edgeshot's gonna have the best undercover agent in history."

"Exactly! That's what I thought!" Toru spun in circles, brimming with energy. "We're gonna be invisible AND ninja at the same time! It's destiny!"

Nejire was still hugging Ochako, already planning out loud everything they would do at the agency. Tsuyu watched the scene calmly, a small smile on her lips. And Ren, in the middle of all of them, felt the weight he'd been carrying for weeks finally loosen all the way.

"Hey," he said over the noise. "Tomorrow we all split up. So tonight, dinner's on me. I'm paying."

"YES!" Toru and Nejire shouted in unison.

"Wait, you're paying?" Ochako blinked a couple of times before smiling in disbelief. "Hold on... what did you do with Ren? Give him back right now!"

"Enjoy it, 'cause it's not happening again," he replied, already heading for the stairs. "Come on, before I change my mind and remember what a bottomless pit Nejire-senpai is."

"Hey! That was just one time!" Nejire protested, chasing after him. "How do you know how much I eat? Did you read my mind? Can you see how hungry I am right now? Ren-kun, wait, I've still got like forty more questions!"

And they went down the stairs laughing, with the sky lit up behind them and the internships waiting for all of them in the morning.

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A/N: Quick note on why I wrote the chapter this way: I really can't stand drama. Sorry in advance, but when I first got into reading, there was this one story that leaned way too hard into drama, and that's honestly what pushed me to start writing my own stuff. Still a little salty about it, not gonna lie, haha.

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