The next morning Katsuki met Booster on the training floor.

"Hey! Dauntless! Good to see you! Hope you slept well. Now, since you're learning to use your boots, I figure that you're best off running the obstacle course today."

Booster guided Katsuki to a different door. Inside was a massive obstacle course that simulated several different obstacles and various training areas that could be used.

Booster clapped his hands.

"Now I figure that experience is the best teacher here. So for now, head to the start of the course, then start going when I trigger it. I'll call out advice from the observation booth. We're gonna go through this until you can get through the entire course without falling."

Katsuki nodded and rushed towards the start of the course.

The rest of the morning was mostly Katsuki attempting to run the course over and over again whilst Booster shouted out comments over the intercom.

Some of the comments were fairly helpful, but for the most part, Katsuki felt he was improving more from just running the course over and over.

The obstacle course did a fairly good job of ensuring that the runner didn't just memorize the obstacles by randomizing their timing and specifics with each run.

Eventually Booster called for a break.

"Great work. You're definitely getting better with those boots of yours. You still need to work on the timing for when you use them, but you're not sending yourself flying into a wall anymore.

"Getting towards the end of the week if you can keep up this level of improvement, we'll see if we can get you started on aerial maneuvers and take you out on patrol for a bit. Those boots may not let you dash midair but from what I've seen, if you can get some practice in the should be usable for midair adjustments."

Finally, towards the end of the day, Booster moved them to the same training room he had sparred with Musha in.

"Alright, you're definitely getting better at traversal. Now it's time to work on combat maneuvers. Ready?"

Katsuki nodded. In a blink Booster was jetting towards him, flame jetting from his back like a rocket.

Surprised, Katsuki brought up his bat for a swing, only for Booster to pause his motion with a jet from his chest, then rush in once bat had already passed.

Still maintaining control of his bat, Katsuki struggled to respond as Booster launched a jet powered fist straight to his chest.

Launched backwards, Katsuki quickly recovered while Booster waited for him.

"You need to have your boots ready to go at all times. If they aren't spun up, then they aren't useful when you're facing a speedster."

Katsuki nodded, spinning up his boots.

He'd need to discuss some options with Mei for alternate firing modes.

Still, this wasn't the time to get distracted. Moving in, Katsuki rushed in to see if things would go better with the initiative.

The rest of the day was mostly sparring with occasional breaks. Katsuki had to admit he found Booster's combat style frustrating.

The sidekick was ridiculously good at dodging his attacks, then going in for counters. The only time he'd managed decent success was when he'd begun using his boots to dodge the retaliatory strikes.

Still, he was definitely improving.

At the end of the session Booster called them to a halt.

"Alright then, that's gonna be our basic schedule while you're here at the agency. Obstacle course and agility training in the mornings, and the occasional spar in the afternoon."

Katsuki nodded in response.

"Great! Lets get going then! That delicious dinner is calling my name!"

The next couple days were mostly the same thing over and over again. Katsuki was starting to get cabin fever when on Thursday Booster finally said he was cleared to patrol with the Recon squad.

Booster spoke up as Katsuki was preparing for the patrol.

"Now that you're used to the boots, time to let you try them out in the actual cityscape. Now, as an intern, you are not meant to engage villains without pro-hero approval.

You will also be required to stay close to me during the patrol. Got it?"

Katsuki nods, tightening the boots of his costume.

"Alright then, lets get going."

Katsuki follows Booster out of the building, taking to the rooftops.

After running the obstacle course, Katsuki was far better at gauging the strength of his boosts.

Once everything was all good, they set out.

The patrol itself was a bit of a letdown for Katsuki.

Booster kept them in the area relatively close to the agency, and they didn't run into a single villain.

Partway through, Katsuki mentioned it to booster. The older hero responded with a smile.

"Of course there aren't many villains around here. We're still pretty close to the agency. They may not be the smartest, but what villain is dumb enough to try and commit a crime this close to a top 10 hero agency. Even then, this is a daylight patrol. Most crimes don't occur until later at night."

Finally, after an hour or so patrolling, they went back to the Agency.

After they'd changed out of their hero uniforms, Katsuki was done for the day.

Heading down to the training rooms after the patrol, Katsuki heard noises from one of the rooms he hadn't used before.

Opening up the doors, Katsuki found Highway doing some training on the track, throwing disk shaped projectiles at the various targets throughout the room while she skated around the course on a pair of disks attached to her legs.

Finally, after a few minutes spent watching her practice, Highway took a break to get a drink from her water bottle.

Spotting Katsuki near the entrance to the room, Highway called out.

"Hey kid."

Not seeing any reason to ignore her, Katsuki walked over.

"Heard you went on patrol today with booster. How'd it go?"

Katsuki shrugged.

"Fairly boring honestly. I kinda thought I would get to fight villains during this internship."

Highway let out a laugh at that.

"I guess after that whole villain attack thing that happened and the sports festival, this might seem a bit boring for you. Just how it works sometimes. My first internship was a lot like yours."

A smile suddenly grew on Highway's face.

"But if it's combat experience you want, you at all interested in a spar?"

Katsuki stepped through the doors to the training room, costume now on, to see Highway waiting for him, now wearing her helmet along with the rest of her costume.

"You good to go?"

Katsuki got his bat into position.

"Yep."

"Good."

Immediately Highway launched one of her disks toward Katsuki and started accelerating around the room to build up speed.

Deflecting the disk, Katsuki attempted to rush the heroine with a boost from his boots.

Unbothered by the attempt, Highway jumped over Katsuki's telegraphed swing, continuing her erratic zipping around the room as she pelted him with disks that always seemed to return to her hands.

Katsuki attempted the same several more times, to equal amounts of success until Highway finally reached her maximum speed within the training room, blurring around the room at speeds Katsuki struggled to track.

Wanting to force Highway out of his space, Katsuki started spinning up his bat, letting out the line to force her back.

For a few seconds it seemed like it worked with Highway stopping her rain of disks. Then Highway decided to get more personal with her attacks.

Next thing Katsuki knew, Highway jumped over his spinning bat and went for a kick.

Unable to pull in his bat fast enough, Katsuki let go of the line with his left hand and tried to block using his bracer. The moment her foot impacted his arm, Katsuki knew he'd made a mistake. Katsuki instantly lost his balance, his bat moving too fast to easily control.

As Highway closed in for another attack to press her advantage, Katsuki decided to try something.

Angling the boot that had been forced into the air towards Highway, Katsuki released the trigger as she closed in.

Instantly Katsuki 's foot shot forwards, Highway ducking to the side as Katsuki attempted to regain his balance.

Not giving him that chance, Highway closed in, a streak of gold visible as she landed a full power kick to his abdomen. The impact sent Katsuki flying through the air, bat moving in a different direction as Katsuki let go of the ribbon.

When he finally landed and rolled to a stop, Katsuki looked up to see Highway standing above him, extending a hand. Katsuki took it and she pulled him to his feet.

Katsuki moved to grab his bat as she started her advice.

"Alright, so you can take a hit pretty well. Most other people I've gotten with a hit like that would still be lying on the floor. Now, big thing. You need to give up on spins as an area denial tactic. Sure, it does okay, but leaves you unable to counter properly the moment anyone gets inside the radius."

Katsuki thought it over, then nodded. He had been struggling with that.

"That makes sense."

"Good. Your big thing, is you need to get better at using your bat in close range, and learning to close distance. Otherwise you're always gonna struggle massively with speedster villains. And trust me, any of the higher rank villains have a tendency to get ridiculously agile in a fight"

Highway rolled her neck, a smirk still on her face.

"So, still feel like another round?"

The next couple days at Musha agency were mostly more of the same.

More practice with his support gear, some light sparring with Booster, then sparring with Highway in the evenings while she pointed out places for him to improve.

The final night of the internship, Katsuki was brooding on one of the benches in the sparring room after his sparring session with Highway.

The heroine took a seat beside Katsuki and elbowed him.

"What's with that face? Upset I kicked your ass again?"

Katsuki grunted.

"Pfft. As if. I was just thinking about your situation here at Musha Agency. It's really shitty. And I feel like I should do something..."

Highway derailed Katsuki's train of thought by ruffling his hair. She talked while Katsuki tried to ward off her hands.

"Aww, worried about little old me? Alright kid, time to tell you the lesson that you don't get told until after you need it in the hero business. But I'm gonna tell you now."

Katsuki sat up and focused on Highway as she continued, leaning back on the bench.

"You can't save everyone. No matter how hard you train, how strong you get, there will always be people you fail to save. And it's gonna suck like nothing else ever will."

Highway paused to let Katsuki digest that for a minute before he voiced his opinion.

"But isn't it our job to try to save everyone?"

Highway nodded, expression serious as she answered.

"That's true. As heroes it's our job to try and save everyone, but there's a follow up lesson to that last one. You aren't responsible for everyone either. Now, my situation is kinda shitty, but it has benefits. I get paid well. Hell, I get paid really well. There are some really good employee benefits to working here, even if this is far from what I wanted or expected when I came here.

"Now here's the thing, if I was free to make the decision again, I would make a different decision in a heartbeat. But you aren't responsible for me kid. I'm a full professional hero. I made my choice, now I live with it for the next 2 years. You have different problems Mr. 'First Quirkless Hero Student' that need to come first."

Highway's voice took on a more teasing tone as she continued elbowing Katsuki again.

"Still, if you manage to hit it really big, I would 100% accept a cushy job where I get to kick ass and take names and get a huge paycheck."

Highway rose to her feet, stretching out.

"Come on, go get changed and take a shower. Tomorrow's the last day of your internship. And both of us need a shower before we turn in."

The next morning, Katsuki met with Musha in his office once more. The older hero was once more going over paperwork. He looked up with a small smile as Katsuki entered.

"Ah yes, Dauntless. Booster has only good things to say about your progress this week. I'm glad to hear you've been adapting well during your time here. I learned much the same way you are during my time as a sidekick."

Musha let out a sigh, his eyes no longer looking at Katsuki for a moment.

Thinking through his response Katsuki answered.

"It's certainly been a learning experience sir, to find out how a top Hero agency functions."

Musha nodded at that, standing up and extending a hand towards Katsuki.

"Well, I'm glad you've learned a lot during your time here. Should you maintain your performance at UA going forwards, Musha Hero Agency will always welcome you back."

Katsuki shook hands with the hero, then headed down to the room he'd been using for the week.

Packing up his costume, Katsuki had to admit to himself, that while he'd definitely learned a lot during his time here, he definitely didn't mesh with this style of heroism.

On the way out the doors of the agency, Katsuki caught Highway giving him a thumbs up.

[Chizome Akaguro]

Chizome sharpened his knives on a rooftop as he observed the city of Hosu, scouting for his next target. He'd spent longer then planned here, but heroes here tended to patrol in groups too large for his typical tactics.

Chizome gritted his teeth.

He would be what this world needed. A cure to the blight of fake heroes he had discovered in his youth.

Suddenly, Chizome heard the sound of multiple objects whistling through the air behind him. Without even turning around, Stain dove into the alleyway below, drawing his sword.

Landing on his feet, Stain scanned the air above for his assailant.

Suddenly a voice echoed through the alleyway, coming from behind him.

"Wow. You really do have some insane reflexes."

Spinning, Chizome attempted to draw his throwing knives, only to find himself pinned to a wall by…feathers?

Looking up, Chizome met the lazy golden-eyed gaze of the number 3 Hero, Hawks.

Growling, Chizome tried to pull himself free as he thought back to everything he knew about the hero.

A lazy hero that coasted on the strength of his quirk to save others. A fake no better then the rest!

"I've restrained villains stronger then you. You're not getting out of that. This is where it ends for you Stain. Or should I call you Stendhal, your vigilante moniker?"

Ignoring the taunt, Chizome continued to struggle, glaring into Hawks' gaze. He only needed a drop of blood for his quirk to activate. Just a drop-

"I refuse... The fakes must end! Those who pursue the path of heroism in the name of fame and fortune! There must be an end to it! I am merely as symptom of the rot that has seeped into our society! Hero! I will reclaim that word! The only one who is worthy of killing me, is ALL MIGHT!"

Rather then being shaken by his words and struggles, Chizome was startled to see Hawks maintain his easygoing posture as he walked towards him.

"You really are an idealist, huh Stendhal? Well, aside from all the murder and the refusal to accept that people are complicated, heroes included. Heroes are people Stendhal, no one is perfect."

Chizome growled as Hawks leaned forwards, staring into the villain's eyes.

"When the commission sent me after you, I took a look through your list of victims. It's full of popular heroes Stain, not bad ones. People who saved the lives of others, even if it wasn't for the purest of reasons in some cases. You want to hear my dream for the future?"

Hawk's voice grew quieter then, as if he was telling Stain some great secret rather then one he'd said loudly in many interviews over the years.

"I want a world, where heroes can be bored."

Chizome stared deep into Hawks' golden gaze and saw something he'd never noticed in any videos he'd seen with the avian hero, and the furthest thing from what he expected.

Conviction.

Chizome couldn't control himself as a hysterical laugh escaped his mouth.

"Ha…Hahaha…HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA."

Chizome broke down laughing, it growing increasingly more manic as time went on. He was only silenced when Hawks covered his mouth with multiple feathers, smothering the laughter.

"Time to bring you in Stain."