"Today, we will be simulating a hostage situation." Cementoss explains once we're all assembled. "Regardless of who you all choose to intern with next week, the reality remains that you cannot predict what kind of situations you will encounter."
He raises one of his thick rectangular fingers. "Though you must keep in mind that you do not have hero licenses, nor do you have provisional licenses. As such you cannot engage in hero work without the express permission of the hero you are interning with. If they become indisposed or otherwise incapacitated another hero may grant permission, but you do need permission."
There's a wave of muttering from the hero students, mainly along the line of how they know the laws, but there's a few grumbling to each other about how they're essentially heroes while working alongside pros so it should be fine. It's stupid enough that I find myself rolling my eyes.
Yes, the hero system and the laws around quirks have problems, but they realize that they're still high schoolers, right? Do they really think they would be able to handle stumbling upon Stain right after he kills a supposed fake? Best case scenario, he lets them off with a warning/threat to not fall into the trap of fake heroism. Worst case, two dead heroes at a minimum plus the intern.
Again, not my problem, but they should at least understand the fact that there's a reason heroes have mandated therapy. Maybe we should have shifted some of the focus from the USJ attack to traumatizing the idiots…
"Sir! Would a combat exercise not be more beneficial?" Iida half asks half shouts with his arm trembling above his head. Why even bother raising your hand if you're just going to talk anyways…?
Cementoss sighs. "Even though I said that you need permission from your mentor to engage in hero work, I am more than familiar with how…enthusiastic… hero students can be once they're out in the field. Rescue work can more easily be excused than engaging in combat. Not to mention that you all have much more combat experience than first years typically have…"
I ignore the uncomfortable look he sends towards me, which is swiftly emulated by the students. Well, theirs are a little more hostile and accusatory, but the basic stuff is the same. I just raise my hand and wait to be called on before I ask my question. Like a civilized person. "Who's the hostage?" I ask, followed by a raised eyebrow when he jumps a bit at the question. He clears his throat, looking away from me.
"Ah, well. Given the situation, there will be two hostages that need to be rescued, one of which will be randomly chosen from among you, as well as three villains the heroes will need to evade."
He looks back at the students, almost glaring. "Remember, this is meant to be rescue training, so combat should be avoided if at all possible."
"You're avoiding the question, so I'm guessing I'm going to be stuck playing damsel in distress the entire time?"
"...Yes."
I nod at the admission and turn to Shoko to make a joke about me needing a dress, before coming to a stop. I blink as I fully acknowledge her hero costume for the first time. It's a beautiful dark blue dress that trails down to her knees with flame designs rising from the hem. In similar fashion, the sleeves cut off at her elbows, white ruffles transitioning to flames aiding the invocation of a burning glacier.
A dark green belt wraps around her stomach, keeping the front opened dress closed. Underneath is a white leotard to keep her decent, and black leggings that cling to her legs. A tiara rests gently on her pony-tailed head, solid black except for the green gem resting in the center.
Her entire hero costume gives those who see her the feeling of being in the presence of a graceful princess, one who was frozen, but is being warmed by the flames of hope.
Until I look at her feet, which sport heavy dark blue combat boots with flames sandwiching the laces. I can't help but snort at the sudden whiplash when compared to the rest of her costume, even though I'm fully aware that one of the notebooks I left for her explains in exacting detail how proper protective footwear is incredibly important when traveling through any sort of disaster area.
Seeing me staring, she smiles, and it's a very nice smile. She sways her hips to make the dress swish around her. "How does it look? I merged a few of the costume designs you drew in your notebook."
I cough and look away. "Yeah, you look good."
"...Thanks."
There's a moment of silence between us before sudden shouting right in front of me causes me to jump backwards. "Squeeeee!! You two are adorable! Did you date back in- AH! Where'd you get that from!?"
I glance down and to my surprise see a knife in my hand. I stare at it for a moment before looking up and look at where I think the invisible girl's head is. "I'm honestly not sure. I don't remember grabbing any knives, but maybe I saw one and grabbed it on instinct?" I scratch my head with the tip, genuinely wondering where I could have gotten it from. The only thing I can think of is that I managed to reclaim the one Aizawa confiscated, but he would have noticed, and I definitely would have made sure to remember if only to rub it in his face later.
I shrug, dropping it back into my sleeve with a casual roll of my wrist. "Eh, whatever." I look at Cementoss, who's mimicking Aizawa's 'I'm done with this' look. "So, we starting the exercise yet?"
`~`
The three villains for the first round are the pink girl named Mina Ashido, the purple thing I met at the Entrance Exam dubbed Minoru Mineta, and the frog girl who sits behind me, Tsuyu Asui. My partner in distress is the quick to violence heiress, Momo Yaoyorozu.
Given that it's meant to be a simulation of a hostage situation, none of us are allowed to know who the heroes are, or how many will be participating in the round. Makes sense since the hostage takers would have no idea of knowing who would be showing up. Yaoyorozu and I are just sitting at a table while we wait for the 'villains' to discuss things.
I look over and can't help but raise an eyebrow at her… 'costume'. "You know, there are easier ways to indulge in your fetish than becoming a hero."
Her head jerks back and she gives me an offended look while bringing her hand to her chest. "I beg your pardon!?"
I shrug. "Begging and exhibitionism? Are you really that repressed as a coddled rich girl?"
Her cheeks light up in a blush as she glares at me. "I assure you that I am interested in neither… activity. I simply require exposed skin to utilize my quirk."
I give her the most unimpressed look I can, which is pretty unimpressed. "You're using a large belt for pants. Do you even have underwear on?"
She makes a kind of high pitched whine as her entire face turns into a tomato and clenches her fists in front of her. "I am wearing bloomers, thank you very much!"
I roll my eyes, raising my hand in a calming gesture. "Look, all I'm saying is that you can get your skin exposure without looking like a stripper. It's as bad as Midnight's debut costume!"
She gasps before gritting her teeth, her eyes getting a bit bloodshot from the force she's glaring at me with. "You take that back!"
I wave my hand and snort at how defensive she is. "Do you really not see it? Do you even know what her costume was like back then?"
She pauses for a moment as she thinks before looking away. "No…"
I bark out a laugh. "There you go! Look it up after the exercise and you'll see what I'm talking about. I can even help you come up with something better. For example, go digital instead of having to lug around a giant book hanging off your butt."
She groans. "Is it so hard to believe that I simply prefer for it to be physical? I put a lot of work into compiling this information."
I nod in acknowledgement. "That's fair, but what do you mean by compiling the information?"
She seems a bit surprised that I'm not judging her preferences, but why would I? That's basically the same as kink shaming, and I am in no position to judge someone else's kinks. "Ah, well, I need to know the molecular make-up of whatever I create, so rather than requiring me to memorize everything, I compiled those that I feel would be most commonly used in hero work in my book."
I hum before snapping my fingers. "That's why everything you made for your family back when we first met were all melee weapons! More simple than a gun, not to mention quicker given you'd have to make the weapon, bullets, and gunpowder. Makes the fact that you actually managed to make a functional one at the Sports Festival even more impressive."
"Ah. Well, thank you." Her blush is decidedly more tame this time, only lightly dusting her cheeks. "Your advice was rather helpful, as well as the examples you provided us with."
I tilt my head to the side as I wonder what she's talking about, before realizing that she thinks I have a long-term relationship with Giran. Himi and I only did two more body guarding gigs before he said that it wasn't working out. Apparently everyone was threatened by two people no older than high school students and reacted aggressively. Then they suddenly contracted a deadly disease with a ninety-nine percent fatality rate, commonly referred to as being killed.
Giran did actually put Himi and I in contact with her though, and even if we can't call her a friend, we were at least acquaintances. At least until the USJ when she cut off all contact. Which wasn't unreasonable considering we did attack her class.
Before we can talk more, the 'villains' finish their discussion, with the purple thing looking decidedly unhappy. Ashido is the one to explain, holding her palms together in front of her as she gives me an apologetic smile, though I do see more than a hint of annoyance behind it. "So, sorry about this, but we're planning to split the two of you up to make it harder for the heroes to find. And, well… Bunny, you're going to be guarded by Mineta."
I look at the thing that's blatantly staring at Yaoyorozu's chest with a bit of drool leaking out of the corner of its mouth. She's covering herself with her arms and looks distinctly more interested in my help redesigning her costume.
I wave her apology off as I get up. "Don't worry about it, it's perfectly reasonable." I grab the thing and forcibly drag it from the room despite its protests and struggles. "Let's go have some fun~."