Chapter 120: Chapter 120: Recommendation
After the fantastic Christmas celebration, Shido brought Eri home. Yoshinon started to complain whenever they displayed their public display of affection from then on, but they never got past that stage since Eri would generally be too embarrassed to do it in front of the public.
Though, when they were sleeping in bed, Eri wouldn't mind one or two pecks on her lips by her loved ones.
New years soon passed, but the work of a teacher is never done. While Eri accompanied her grandfather to the shrine to pray for good luck for the next year, Shido was on his way to meet his new target of entertainment, Endeavor.
He knew that since Endeavor was the number one hero now, the League of Villains would definitely try to either persuade him to join their cause, which was highly unlikely, or to kill him.
So by following Endeavor, Shido would naturally get into some juicy situations as well. One reason was to protect the two interns, but the more important reason was that he wanted to join in the fun. Early in the morning, after Eri had left for the shrine, Shido teleported to Hosu City and checked out the situation.
After checking with all his clones patrolling around the area and ensuring that nothing was out of the norms, he bought some juice before teleporting to Endeavor's agency.
When he appeared in front of their front door, he couldn't help but stop in his tracks as he looked at the building.
Endeavor's Hero Agency was a luxurious skyscraper-type building with various floors. The front entrance was decorated with a stylized flaming "E" for Endeavor.
"Rich...I'm the number two hero, but I don't earn close to what Endeavor earns..."
After he finished admiring Endeavor's affluent wealth, he stepped inside, only to feel the heat.
"Phew, it's warm in here," Shido commented as he took off his jacket and stored it in his broom.
Naturally, seeing the number two hero casually strolling inside their agency made Endeavor's sidekicks all excited. He noticed that many of the sidekicks working at the agency had fire and heat-type quirks.
Seeing that he still had time before Endeavor comes out of his office to pick up his son, he decided to stay with the sidekicks and interact with them.
Over 30 sidekicks, including Burnin, were continually dealing with requests and other hero work for Endeavor.
Also known as the 'Flaming Sidekickers', they were very passionate, and their catchphrase is 'Flame On'. As the new number one Hero's agency, the office stayed very busy, with many remaining on standby or going out on patrol.
Of course, when they were on break, they started talking to Shido as well. Shido didn't refuse and started becoming more friendly with them.
After about an hour or so, Endeavor suddenly slammed open the door with an angry expression.
"Hey! You sidekicks!" Endeavor's angry voice roared as his figure soon came out of the door, "I'm swarming with requests here! What have you guys been doing?! What happened to 'helping out' with requests?!"
Endeavor was about to continue when he suddenly saw the figure he never wanted to see again.
"Phantom! What are you doing at my agency?! Why aren't you at Hosu City or at school?!"
"Yo! Long time no see! I'm here to team up with you." Ignoring everything he spoke, Shido greeted cheerfully while the sidekicks all returned to their work.
"Huh?!"
"No need to be so angry," Shido said as he patted Endeavor's shoulder, "You would definitely get into some sort of trouble at least once during this internship, so I'm here to help you out."
Giving a thumbs up and a wink, Shido continued, "That's why you should thank me!"
Endeavor made a move in an attempt to grab Shido's head, but obviously, he failed as Shido just mosaiced himself.
"Alright, that enough playing around. Isn't it time to fetch the younger Todoroki?" Shido playfully scolded Endeavor like an adult would to a child, causing tick marks to appear on his head.
"You brat!!"
*****************
""Welcome-!!"" Shido and Endeavor smiled brightly in front of the three students and said in perfect synchronization, ""To Endeavor's Hero Agency!""
Shoto, Katsuki, and Izuku were a little surprised at the presence of Shido, but what they were flabbergasted and absolutely astounded by was the smile adorned by Endeavor, the man that was known only to scowl and rage.
However, before they could react, Endeavor's smile disappeared, and his usual scowl appeared, "Psyche. As if I'd be that friendly."
"I didn't know you could actually play a joke on people!" Shido said in mock surprise and laughed as he violently slapped on Endeavor's back.
"Grr...You little brat!!!" Endeavor spewed flames from his mouth into the air like a dinosaur, making people who were nearby wondering what was going on with the number one hero.
"I only accepted you guys because Shoto asked me to!! But to be honest, I wanted Shoto to come alone." Endeavor ignored Shido and growled.
"What are you doing here, Midoriya? I thought you would be going to Nighteye or Gran Torino." After Shido stopped laughing, he asked Izuku.
"Sir Nighteye said that he wouldn't be able to help me master what I need, so I decided to accept Todoroki's offer to intern under Endeavor," Izuku said as he clenched his fist.
"Alright, then." Shido shrugged.
"Thank you for accepting us as your interns!" Izuku bowed towards Endeavor and said, "Please, allow us to learn from you!"
Shido, Endeavor, and the three interns started walking when Endeavor suddenly spoke.
"It seems...Shoto is not me."
"Eh?"
Endeavor suddenly jumped over the railing and started flying to his right. Shido smiled at the trio before doing flying towards Endeavor as well.
"Unfortunately, you don't have any plans to concern yourself with anyone but Todoroki, am I right?" Shido lightly asked as he flew next to Endeavor.
"Hmph! Don't read my mind! If they want to learn from me, watch me from behind!" Without even looking anywhere else, Endeavor said. Moments later, however, he was startled to realize that the three interns were not far from him.
"Your instructions, please!"
The trio didn't slack off and started donning on their respective support gears as they tried catching up with the two pro heroes.
"Watch me!! From behind!!"
Refusing to admit it, Endeavor said to the trio before flying off towards a tall company building.
"You're pretty fast to sense this type of thing, huh? Never expected that from you, honestly." Shido casually said as he flew leisurely next to the number one hero.
"I could say the same to you." Endeavor replied as he landed on the ground with one foot before instantly blasting off to the air where a colossal orb of glass was present.
"Flashfire fist!"
Endeavor zoomed inside the glass, and the ball of glass exploded, resulting in countless fragments and pieces of glass falling towards the ground.
"Glass Manipulation, huh, gramps?" Endeavor leered at the old man who was sitting on the floating balls of glass, "You seem to be quite skilled....but it seems that you don't quite understand. That's not something you do on my turf."
At this time, Shido arrived beside and looked at the old man curiously.
"You're so old already, why not just stay at home and enjoy your elderly retirement funds? Why come out, become a villain, and risk having backache or something?"
However, the old man didn't reply, more like he couldn't respond due to the intense heat that Endeavor was emitting.
"All right, then. Keep your secrets." Shido shrugged at the silent man before turning towards Endeavor, "I've dealt with the evacuation already. Go wild!"
"Tch!" Endeavor only gave a grunt of acknowledgment before chasing after the old man who escaped to an alleyway.
Shido knew that Endeavor would already resolve the matter, so he casually walked towards the scene, only to find a new person present on the scene.
"Hm? Hawks? What are you doing here? This isn't your turf, is it?" Shido tilted his head sideways and asked.
Hawks sweatdropped at Shido's way of calling an area that a hero is responsible for.
"Turf...please don't make us sound like a gang expanding its territory..." Hawks wryly smiled as he looked at the quintet.
"I thought Endeavor might've been in a punch, so..." Hawks started to say as he landed gracefully on his feet.
"Did it look like I was in a pinch!?" Endeavor angrily grumbled as he sat on the villain, preventing him from moving.
"It sure did, didn't it, Shoto-kun?"
Hearing Hawks' sudden question, Shoto was momentarily startled before he stuttered unsurely, "Um...ah...sure..."
"If you were planning to assist, contact me first. Even that little brat came to my agency early in the morning and interrupted me from working." Endeavor pointed at Shido, who just whistled without a care in the world.
"Nah, I really just dropped in on a whim."
*****************
After about ten minutes, the police finally arrived and arrested the villains.
"Looks like there were zero casualties again!" A police officer with elf-like ears tipped his hat at Endeavor and spoke, "This city is safe wherever your light shines!"
While the police were praising Endeavor, Izuku introduced himself stiffly. It seemed that his habit of going into robot-mode when meeting against new heroes never went away.
"My name is Midoriya!"
"Ah, the number one kid." Hawks looked at and thought that reality was often disappointing. Izuku was at the same height as Hawks, but he didn't really radiate the 'I'm super strong' aura. If anything, he released a sense of shyness and naivety, allowing people to become comfortable with him quickly; if he doesn't start rambling on and on, that was.
"I heard about you from Tsukuyomi-kun (Fumikage's hero name). Man, I really wanted to work with him again too..."
"Tokoyami-kun...? Did he not return to your agency...?" Izuku asked curiously. After all, Fumikage never mentioned anything about his internship, so, like his other classmates, he assumed that they returned back to their previous internships.
"I had him go do some sidekick work in his hometown. My schedule has been packed, you see...I felt kinda...bad about it, but..." Hawks scratched the back of his head awkwardly before turning towards Katsuki.
"I was faster back there, you hear!?" Katsuki interrupted before Hawks could even say anything.
Hearing Katsuki's words, Hawks just laughed at him.
"Well!? What business did you have? Hawks! One novice is enough. I don't need more novice by my side."
"Hey! I'm not a novice!" Shido protested at the side, but no one cared about him except Hawks, who tried to rub Shido's head but failed.
"It's not so much business, but...Endeavor-san, have you read this book?" Hawks took out a book from his pocket, and the title made Shido widen his eyes ever so slightly.
"'The Special Ability Liberation Front'..." Izuku read out the title and looked on curiously.
"Man, it's incredible! Did you know? They've been expanding like crazy recently! And they've been getting even more attention after the Deika incident!" Hawks spoke quite enthusiastically, getting straight to the point without beating the bushes at all. It was as though he was genuinely trying to rope the quintet into something, though he was primarily speaking to Shido and Endeavor.
"Even though it's a pretty old book, it's predicted our current society! 'If we only allow freedom to a certain few, the consequences shall fall on those who lack it.' If you have time, just take a look at the parts I bookmarked! What Destro wanted was the ultimate society! One where each person takes responsibility for themselves! Now is the time!"
"What are you trying to say...?" Endeavor asked, his eyes narrowed with Hawks' suspicious behavior while Shido took out his own book and started highlighting some words as well.
"If that ever happens, Endeavor-san, both of us are gonna have too much time to spare!" Hawks didn't smile, but his tone of voice sounded like a very passionate enthusiast.
Hawks' face was deadly serious as he handed the book over to Endeavor.
"Please do take some time to read it, okay?"
Hearing what Hawks had said, Izuku obviously started to analyze his words, causing Hawks to suddenly turn around and hand out the few copies he had hidden in his jacket.
After he finished handing out the books, his wings spread out.
"Hawks, do you need more copies of that book? I have a few of them, but I didn't really enjoy it, so you can have them all if you want." Shido innocently smiled as he took out fifteen copies of the book from his broom.
Hawks' smile turned stiff as he looked at Shido's innocent smile.
"Never stop reading! And that's my recommendation, as number two." Shido's smile remained on his face as he discreetly opened up a page, revealing some highlighted phrases and sentences.
Hawks' eyes widened in shock, but he returned to normal before anyone could notice it.
"Haha! Sure, now I'll have more copies to give to my friends and acquaintances across the country! Going forward, I think that 'liberation' will become a founding philosophy of this society." Hawks obviously got the message as his eyes twinkled with happiness. He turned to Endeavor and grinned, "At the very least, take a look at the parts I've highlighted. That's my recommendation, as the number three hero."
Hawks' wings flapped, bringing him to the sky.
"Well, I've gotta head out. Good luck with your internships, y'all!"
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