In Your Shadow [Chapter 3]

[Chapter 2]




“Start over.”

Katsuki scowled, refusing to meet the stern eyes that he’d rarely seen so dark in the media – he hadn’t even handed over the essay yet, and he was already being told to do it again?! The asshole hadn’t even looked at it!

“Go to the door.”

“Haah?”

“Go to the door.”

Despite his scowl deepening, he obeyed, walking back to the doorway and waiting pointedly.

“You’re going to do this politely, this time. Start by knocking.”

“Are you kidding me? You told me to come here at this time and-”

“Knock.”

Seething, Katsuki thumped on the door a few times, glaring at Deku the entire way through.

“Who is it?”

“Seriously?”

Deku just waited, this time, and finally with a growl Katsuki caved.

“It’s Bakugou Katsuki.”

“Oh! Good, I was expecting you! Come on in, close the door behind you.”

Katsuki threw the door closed, and Deku sighed faintly.

“Open it.”

“Haah?”

“Open. The. Door.”

Despite every muscle in his body screaming against it, Katsuki reached for the handle, pulling it open once more.

“Close it sensibly.”

Katsuki obeyed.

“Much better. Now you can come and stand beside the chair.”

Katsuki barely managed to not stomp his feet like a petulant toddler as he crossed the room, and as he reached for the chair, Deku sighed at him again.

“Good morning Deku,” Deku said pointedly.

“Ugh. Good morning, Deku.”

“Good morning, Katsuki! Please, have a seat!”

Katsuki finally fell back into the chair, relieved that the ordeal was finally over, but the moment he looked up at the tired green eyes he knew he’d spoken too soon.

“Sit nicely, Katsuki. Uncross those arms, and sit up straight, stop slouching. Hands in your lap, or on your knees.”

It took a lot longer for Katsuki to obey this time, but Deku didn’t repeat himself – Katsuki hated to admit it, but he kind of respected that. Say it once and make it heard, instead of blabbering on and on.

Finally he dragged his spine into some semblance of straight, linking his hands in his lap so he could squeeze them hard and take his frustrations out on his own body. He suffered through what felt like hours of small talk, even though a small part of him knew that it was probably closer to two minutes, and finally, finally, Deku got to the point:

“Did you finish your assignment?”

“Yes.”

Deku burst out laughing when he saw the essay being thrust into his hands with vigour, only halting when he started to flip through the pages.

“I was expecting a massive font or something, this is all essay? Genuinely?”

“You told me- Oh. Uh, yes.”

In Deku’s hands were twelve pages of research and argument about why he would make a valuable addition to the agency – Deku’s background history, carefully researched, and the similarities to his own; his affinity for Pro-Heroes and their quirks, with particular emphasis on All Might; the pros and cons of the way Deku had modelled himself after another hero, and how it led him to where he was; Deku’s agency values and beliefs, and how Katsuki aligned with each one; and finally, what he could contribute to the agency if given an opportunity, rather than purely taking from them. He was honestly kind of proud of it, considering it was less than a full day of work and his fingers had hurt like hell after typing it up.

“Alright, you’ll have to give me a few minutes to get through it,” Deku chuckled. “Go down to the gym, you’ll find Lemillion there waiting. He’ll give you some pointers, and if you stay, he’ll figure out a workout plan for you for your time here.”

“Okay.”

“When you’re done with your morning workout, you can come back up here to discuss your schedule for the day.”

“Okay.”

“Yes, Deku,” Deku corrected him.

Katsuki pulled a face, but he’d already had that damn internal debate with himself overnight. Despite the brief setback over knocking and small talk, he knew his stubbornness was not worth losing out on an internship with the number one hero, he just had to suck it up and do what the asshole told him for a few weeks.

“Yes, Deku,” he repeated reluctantly. “Understood.”

“Good boy. Off you go, remember your manners with Lemillion too.”

“Yes, Deku.”

He breathed a sigh of relief the moment he stepped into the hall, hands trembling with how hard it was to not bite back and be snarky at the guy. He was so full of himself and Katsuki hated it. He reminded him far too much of Half and Half – although he wasn’t quite as bad as the halfie’s father he supposed.

Next on his agenda was gym time – he was grateful to have Mirio at least, although he wasn’t really sure when that word, grateful, had come into it – but it was still infuriating that he’d come all this way and Deku wasn’t even taking him to the gym himself.

Then again, he was stuck reading a twelve page essay, maybe he would do it himself another time, when he wasn’t as busy. Katsuki just had to keep following his stupid rules until the nerd gave in.

The irony of thinking of him as a nerd was not lost on him, but he tuned it out as best he could.

Sure enough, he found Mirio lying on a bench in the basement, sweating as he pushed a heavy barbell up and down, one of the sidekicks watching him for any sign of failure or giving up. Katsuki waited patiently for him to finish – even he didn’t interrupt people mid-set – then walked closer when Mirio sat up and reached for his water.

“Deku sent me,” he explained.

“Oh! That was quick. I guess he liked your essay, then.”

“He’s still reading it.”

“Really? He didn’t make you wait while he flicked through it?”

“It was twelve pages.”

Mirio’s laughter echoed through the gym, and Katsuki couldn’t help but crack a smile of his own – he was still pretty pleased with himself for the whole thing, and Mirio’s laughter was surprisingly infectious.

“Was it a sensible twelve pages, at least? It’s not gonna piss him off?”

“I contradicted his ideas a few times.”

“But there was effort there?”

“You think I wrote twelve pages of bullshit?”

“You’re not very good at giving straight answers, are you?”

Katsuki grimaced, remembering Deku’s stern reminder, and huffed quietly as he thought it over.

“Yes, I put effort into it. I was pretty proud of how it turned out.”

“Then I’m sure he’ll accept it. He’s a good guy, he just wants to know that you’ll do what he asks and not be a sulky brat.”

“I’m not-”

“Uh-huh,” Mirio cut him off, grinning. “Come on, let’s work out, I want to see what you can do.”

“Whatever.”

─────

Katsuki took a deep breath at the door, bracing himself for what he was about to do – if what Mirio said was true, this was the moment he was going to be accepted for real, and Katsuki wasn’t stupid; he didn’t want to screw it up at the last hurdle.

He raised his hand, curling it into a fist, and knocked lightly on the wood.

“Who is it?”

“Katsuki.”

“Come in!”

He turned the handle, pushed it open, gently closed it behind him, and took a long, shuddering breath as he forced himself to stand like an idiot behind the spare chair.

“Good morning, Deku.”

“Good morning, Katsuki! Have a seat!”

Katsuki sat as if he had a stick up his ass, keeping himself carefully straight (for the first time in his life, he couldn’t help but think – har har) and his head bowed slightly to avoid Deku’s face. He could tell just from the feel of the room that Deku was so damn pleased with himself, and Katsuki wasn’t sure he’d be able to refrain from wiping that grin off his face if he saw it.

“You’re a very quick learner, Katsuki,” Deku praised, glancing at the essay on his desktop. “If you will keep acting like a responsible young hero, I will gladly take you in as an intern.”

“Thank you.”

“So these are for you,” he continued, picking up another plain folder and sliding it across the desk. “Let’s go through it together, shall we?”

Katsuki nodded, flipping it open, and Deku pointed first to a little keycard tucked into a special pocket within.

“This is your access card for the building, so you don’t have to buzz for the receptionist every time, and it can also be used at the convenience store or the local supermarket. We have lunch available at the agency Monday to Saturday, and occasionally other meals as I mentioned previously, but you will be responsible for everything else. So please use this card to buy yourself some supplies for the next two weeks.”

“How much money is on it?”

Deku smiled at that, and Katsuki met his eyes for the first time, regretting it immediately.

“There’s no limit,” Deku informed him. “I’m trusting you to be a responsible adult and choose what you think you need for two weeks here. You can shop multiple times, you don’t need to buy it all at once, but you can if you wish. I will not be tracking your spending like some kind of weird test, and I won’t cut you off if I think you’ve spent too much or anything like that, I’m just putting my faith in you as a future hero to not go and abuse it by buying… I don’t know, a car or something.”

“Okay.” Katsuki swallowed hard. “Um, thank you.”

“My pleasure. Now, this is your timetable for the day. You will meet with me every morning to get your schedule for that day, so we can discuss any new additions and I can give you any feedback from the previous day. Please be prepared for whatever I might throw at you. You can of course return to your room to shower or change clothes and such where needed – once again, you’re an adult here, if you’re late to a session there are no detentions, you are only hurting your own learning. Understood?”

“Yeah- Oh. Uh. Yes, Deku.”

“Good boy. These blocks here are your patrols with various sidekicks – they will leave without you if you’re late – and you may wear your costume for those, weaponry and all. Gym times you can choose what you prefer to wear, you may prefer your costume if there’s a patrol on either side, or you may prefer normal gym gear if your costume is dirty. These sections here are your schoolwork and break times, and I may assign you homework of my own occasionally to take care of in those periods too. While there aren’t any on here for today, some days you will have recovery massage or physiotherapy and the like as well. Does that all make sense?”

“Yes, Deku.”

“Good. So you have your first patrol starting in half an hour, shadowing a couple of my best sidekicks. I suggest you go change into your costume, have breakfast if you haven’t yet, and meet your patrol group with plenty of time to spare.”

“Yes, Deku.”

“Any questions?”

“No.”

“Then you’re dismissed.”

He really didn’t want to admit that he was getting a good deal – all expenses paid, his own apartment, patrol and training experiences with a bunch of different heroes and sidekicks, and all he had to do in return was say “Yes, Deku” “No, Deku” “Three bags full, Deku” to keep the damn guy happy? Most of his classmates would have killed for his set up. Was his pride gonna take a hell of it a hit? Absolutely. Was anyone going to see that? Fuck no. What he did and said in private was his own damn business, no one ever had to know he was such a prissy asshole for a couple of weeks.

Wow, Best Jeanist wouldn’t have even recognised him if he’d walked in on that internal monologue.

He shook it off, heading to his room to change, and snapping a photo of the timetable on his phone, just in case. After his first patrol would be a debrief with the heroes he’d worked with, and then schoolwork for a few hours – he should make sure he had a notebook and pen at the debrief, but other than that, he didn’t need to worry about carting his stuff around.

Honestly, Deku had been more than fair with the balance of his timetable, and Katsuki… Kind of hated it. The guy was too perfect, he had to have some kind of crack or weakness, but so far… Katsuki wasn’t seeing it.

Damn nerd.

He changed into his costume and went to meet the sidekicks he’d be patrolling with, already mentally exhausted by the time they stepped out into the streets. All of them were so loud, so vocal about what Katsuki should be doing, how he should be standing, the way he should be talking. They were almost as bad as the damn Deku himself – worse than Jeanist, even with the hair bullshit. At least Jeanist had been able to teach him something.

It was maybe the longest three-ish hours of his life, walking through the streets with them, but finally they got back to the agency and their little meeting, where Katsuki scribbled some pointless notes that he was sure he’d never look at again. So much for the excitement he’d woken up with.

He was surprised to find Mirio waiting for him when they got back from their debriefing, and honestly it was kind of… Nice. Mirio had welcomed him instantly, while the heroes had treated him like he was a waste of their time and energy.

Then again, Katsuki was self-aware enough to admit that… Maybe he was. If he were a sidekick under the number one hero, he would probably be equally annoyed about having an intern around. They didn’t know anything about him, had no real use for him, he was just taking up their time and space. No wonder they were all so short with him.

“How did it go?” Mirio asked, slinging an arm around Katsuki’s shoulders and leading him away. “Deku is going to ask them if you behaved yourself.”

“Ugh,” Katsuki grimaced, looking away stubbornly. “Why does he give a shit?”

“Because he won’t keep an intern here who treats his staff disrespectfully,” Mirio said pointedly, eyebrows raised. “Were you respectful?”

“I don’t fucking know!”

“Oi, cut it out with the language. I’m trying to help you, Katsuki. Do you want this internship or not?”

“Of course I do, I wouldn’t be here otherwise.”

“Then I suggest you start thinking about the things you do and say. It won’t kill you to hold your tongue once in a while.”

“I thought you were the cool one here,” Katsuki grumbled. “Why are you nagging suddenly?”

“I’m probably the only one here who will warn you that your actions have consequences,” Mirio answered bluntly, glancing back at where Deku was already talking with the heroes from the patrol, his eyebrows a little lower than usual. “If you really wanted to do this right, you’d go over there and apologise for being rude to them, but I know that’s not going to happen.”

“What the hell is that supposed to mean?”

“Come on, Katsuki, I’ve known you for two days and I already know you’re not the kind of person who apologises to people. If you want to prove me wrong then by all means, go ahead. Otherwise, just try to do better next time.”

Katsuki huffed, but he didn’t bother to argue – he may not be someone who apologised for things, but he was someone who could admit when he was wrong, even if it was only to himself.

Then again… If he pissed off all the other heroes, Deku would be stuck working with him himself, right? He could move from the shitty sidekicks to the number one hero as his mentor. Who did Deku go on patrols with? Was he always solo? That didn’t seem like his style. If nothing else, he’d want someone to call an ambulance for injured civilians while he was fighting villains.

“Who does Deku patrol with?”

“Hm?” Mirio blinked at him. “Right now? He doesn’t patrol much, he’s working on a case with some other heroes.”

Damn.

“Usually, though. When he does patrol.”

“He just joins one of the groups you’re working with, he doesn’t have a dedicated team or anything like that. He likes to spread his time around so he can pass on as much knowledge as possible to the people in the agency.”

“Ugh, what a nerd.”

“Why do you ask? Are you holding out for some time with the big guy?”

Katsuki didn’t answer, his cheeks a little warmer than usual, and Mirio ruffled his hair like he was some kind of puppy to play with.

“Just keep working hard and being respectful, he’ll get to you eventually.”

“I don’t have eventually. I’m only here for two damn weeks.”

“How long you’re here for is entirely up to you, Katsuki. Make good choices.”

Hah. Katsuki would show him what good choices looked like.

[Chapter 4]