Hero Work-Studies: Round 2

Hero Work-Studies is a program that allows U.A. High School students to be employed by Hero Offices throughout the school year.

Following the Hassaikai Incident, the program was put on hold. It was reinstated around Christmas, before U.A. High School's winter break.

Prologue
In December, the U.A. Faculty meets to discuss the sudden return of the Work Studies. Principal Nezu explains the Hero Public Safety Commission is requesting it under the guise of practice field testing.

Vlad King argues they're trying to forcibly mobilize the students for war. Midnight questions why they're low on personnel and Ectoplasm adds that this has something to do with the incident in Deika City. Nezu agrees that this request from the commission is a message in itself. He announces they must contact Japan's most renowned heroes.

Endeavor Agency
During their Christmas feast, Shoto notices that neither Izuku or Katsuki have a place to go yet for their Hero Work-Studies. The Nighteye Agency is too busy for to take Deku on and Best Jeanist is missing, so neither boy has an office to return to. Rather than allowing his friends to be sent to a random hero by the school, Shoto decides to ask them both to join him by training under the current No. 1 Hero, his father Endeavor.

On the first day of their Work-Study, Endeavor appears to give them a warm greeting, however, he quickly turns cold and tells them he only cares about training Shoto. His son tells him to stop complaining and Katsuki says that he realized Endeavor was a jerk from their Provisional License Training Course. Deku notices that Endeavor doesn't have the same menacing aura as he did during the Sports Festival. Before they left, All Might encouraged both boys to learn as much as they can from the Flame Hero.

As they're patrolling the city, Endeavor notices a disturbance that no one else picks up on and jumps the nearby rail. He tells the boys to stand back and watch him but the trio arm themselves with their support equipment, eager to help. A villain named Starservant is causing havoc in the city and Hawks appears within the area as well.

Endeavor uses Flashfire to speed away toward the area of disturbance, leaving the boys struggling to keep up. Starservant begins collecting all the glass in the area into a giant sphere, but Endeavor completely destroys it in seconds. The villain flees from the hero's heat and leads Endeavor down an alley to be ambushed by his allies.

Izuku and Katsuki spring into action, ready to stop the secondary villains. However, Hawks suddenly appears and takes them all down with blinding speed. Endeavor restrains the villain and seems irritated with Hawks for not telling him he was in town. Izuku introduces himself to Hawks, and the Winged Hero reveals he's too busy to work with Fumikage at the moment, who's back at the Kyushu Agency. Annoyed, Katsuki interrupts and claims that he was faster during the fight against the villains, but Hawks merely humors him before moving on to speak with Endeavor.

Afterward, Endeavor and the boys go to the Endeavor Agency building, where the boys are introduced to Burnin and the Flaming Sidekickers. Burnin claims the boys won't have any time to shine because the Endeavor Agency has over 30 sidekicks, but Katsuki just takes this as a challenge. Kido explains the agency takes over 100 requests a day, meaning the heroes respond to several emergencies, escorts, and special events.

Endeavor emerges from his office after deciphering a coded message from Hawks. To ensure Hero Society survives the coming battles, Endeavor listens to Hawks warning and decides to train the next generation as insurance. Burnin believes that Katsuki and Izuku will be stuck with the sidekicks while Shoto goes with Endeavor, but instead, Endeavor decides to take all three of them out with him.

The Flame Hero reveals he'll be supervising the trio himself and asks Katsuki and Izuku about their abilities. More specifically, Endeavor asks what the boys are working on and what they wish to achieve. Izuku reveals that he wants to be able to use Blackwhip as if it's second nature, applying the same concept he uses for Air Force in order to turn it into a weapon rather than a liability. Katsuki wishes to learn what he's missing in order to become the strongest. Endeavor prepares to move out, but Shoto interrupts and reveals he wants to be treated the same as his friends.

Endeavor accepts Shoto's words and they all move out to patrol the city. The Endeavor Agency responds to requests for battle, evacuation, and rescue, all three of the main tasks for a hero. The boys must learn their turf, act quickly to pick up on any disturbances, and keep damage to a minimum. Endeavor tasks the boys with conquering the experience barrier by defeating a villain faster than him before the winter is over.

While chasing someone who committed a hit and run, Izuku thinks about how to quickly master his abilities. Endeavor stops the villain on the bike and Kido restrains them. The Flame Hero points out how the boys were one step too slow and Katsuki blames it on the winter. Shoto points out to Katsuki that Endeavor condenses his flames and shoots them out of his feet to move at top speed.

Kido keeps the villain restrained and tells the boys to keep following Endeavor. As they move to the next area, Endeavor admits Katsuki is fast but simply not fast enough. The winter excuse isn't going to cut it if a hero is too late to save others. At the same time, Endeavor stops a moving truck from striking a civilian, hammering home his point.

The No. 1 Hero tasks Shoto and Katsuki with learning to focus their power by condensing it and releasing it at full power for only a moment. He tells Izuku he must learn to use air force subconsciously and then add learning how to do so with Blackwhip once he's done that. Endeavor encourages the boys to take advantage of training by his side and adds that no matter how many times they fail they'll never impede his work.

A week later, the boys get to the agency at the crack of dawn for work. Burnin teases that they won't easily be able to take down a villain quicker than Endeavor. The boys remain positive that they're making progress and Burnin is happy to see the boys don't need her to tease them in order to get fired up.

They move out on patrol and while Endeavor stops a thief, he reminds the trainees to keep up the effort until they can focus on using their powers effortlessly. After another day of work, the boys go to the Todoroki abode to have dinner that was prepared by Fuyumi. Natsu storms out due to his tattered relationship with his father and a villain notices him outside. The villain Ending is obsessed with choosing how he dies and he wants his death to come at the hands of Endeavor's bright flames.

After dinner, Endeavor prepares to drive the boys home. However, while being chauffeured, everyone notices Ending in the middle of the street holding Natsuo hostage. Ending's Quirk allows him to control road paint and he boosts his abilities with Trigger. Endeavor confronts Ending directly and the villain demands his own death or else Natsuo will die.

The boys burst out of the car and the chauffeur gives them their support gear. Ending is taken off guard by the boys allowing Endeavor to close the distance. However, Endeavor stops cold in his tracks due to the fear he notices on Natsuo's face. Shoto uses Endeavor's training to focus his flames to a point and releases them for a moment at maximum heat in order to counter Ending's white line attacks. The villain attempts to kill civilians by flipping cars in the air but Katsuko condenses his explosive power and in a quick burst, saves Natsuo from the clutches of ending.

Deku manages to use Air Force subconsciously to propel himself in the air and then adds Blackwhip on top in order to secure the falling cars. Endeavor is amazed to see that in just one week, the boys have completed all their tasks. With a finishing blow, Shoto defeats Ending and Endeavor embraces Natsuo.

Shoto restrains Ending with his ice and the civilians who were saved express their gratitude to Deku. Katsuki quickly checks on the situation and then turns around to challenge Endeavor's big winter assignment. Endeavor admits the boys have done excellent work and were able to step up when he fumbled. Endeavor apologizes to Natsuo, horrifying Ending, who was expecting the old mean Flame Hero. Endeavor's driver points out that he's been targeted twice in just a few days and there is plenty of darkness lurking out in the world. Now optimistic about the future, Endeavor believes that the future heroes shed a light brighter than any threat that may come their way.

Ryukyu Agency
With the beginning of the Hero Work-Studies, Ryukyu hosts a small welcoming party to celebrate Ochaco, Tsuyu and Nejire first day back, in which Ochaco shows her new Hero Costume. The next day, the girls are watching a news report about a factory that produces the Quirk-boosting drug ‘Trigger’ exploding and putting a mountain on fire in a country called Kaflin.

Later, they receive a team up request from the hero Selkie to search for a group of smugglers who are trying to escape Japan with chemicals necessary to craft Trigger, taking refuge in a nearby island chain known as Verize Islands. Unable to properly monitor the entire area with the Oki Mariner, Selkie needs Ryukyu's help as her ability to fly should make monitoring the area much easier. Ryukyu accepts the request and brings her three young work-study students with her.

When Ryukyu and the others arrive, Selkie informs them that the smugglers aren’t likely to come out of hiding till nightfall, so he lets the girls have fun on the beach until then.

At dusk, the two teams set out in search of the villains, finding them within hours and surrounding them. The smugglers use a smoke screen to escape but the heroes were counting on it. Selkie sneaks onto the smuggling ship with Tsuyu and defeats two of the smugglers, taking control of the ship. However, the leader of the gang had taken advantage of all that to deploy a seaplane with which he fled, taking the drugs with him.

Tsuyu tries to board the plane before it takes off, but fails. Selkie is worried they'll lose them, but his sidekick Sirius reminds him not to give up too soon. She helps Ochaco to board the airplane, and once inside, the young hero takes down the smuggler leader. Then, with the help of Ryukyu and Nejire, Ochaco safely lands the plane on the water.

The mission ends in success, the smugglers are arrested and the drugs confiscated by the police. Selkie reports to Ryukyu that the smugglers were couriers for an anonymous employer and that the drugs were headed to Otheon, in Europe. The girls return to recreational activities on the beach before returning to the agency.

Aftermath
By the time the next spring term rolls around, the Work-Studies have been going on for the majority of the winter. At the start of the final term, the students of Class 1-A meet at Ground Alpha to share their experiences and accomplishments during Winter Break. Everyone openly showcases their new abilities against a swarm of Villain Bots.

Yuga can now form a Navel Saber and Toru Hagakure can use her Quirk to warp light, allowing her to manipulate Yuga's beam. Mina Ashido has learned to max out her viscosity, able to create an Acidman that covers her body and protects her from attack. The three of them studied under the Equipped Hero: Yoroi Musha. He has so many offensive and defensive skills that the trio needed to develop new moves and combos to keep up with him.

Mashirao and Rikido were taught to read ahead and strike with a flurry of moves by the Lion Hero: Shishido. Kyoka Jiro and Mezo learned advanced searching techniques from Gang Orca while Minoru and Hanta learn team maneuvers from Team Lurkers. Manual shows Tenya how to have a lighter approach, Wash teaches Koji smoother communication.

Even in Hawks absence, Fumikage improved on all fronts and Fat Gum continues to teach Eijiro how to deflate a villain's confidence. Ochaco and Tsuyu gained determination from working with Ryukyu and Momo learned to move and act more efficiently working under the Magic Hero: Majestic.

Katsuki learned to raise the bar while Shoto gained speed and Izuku learned to better use his secondary Quirk, all working under the Flame Hero.

Three months pass, and the students continue to do their Work-Studies simultaneously with their school work. In late March, they all participate in the Paranormal Liberation War. In the aftermath, the Hero Public Safety Commission lost some of its core members and as a result were unable to control the remaining Heroes which halted the program according to Hawks.