Amber eyes glared up in defiance at a boy who stood slightly taller, a smirk etched on his face as he cracked his knuckles menacingly. Stood beside him were four other boys, all simply watching with grins of their own as the closest boy opened his mouth.

"What are you trying to prove, pipsqueak? Trying to play hero while your daddy's away?"

The young girl continued to stand in front of the boys despite her being outnumbered. While many would be worried in a situation like this, her eyes were filled with a fire and determination that would not be quelled.

"I told you to stop picking on them. Just because your Quirk's are strong doesn't mean you get to bully other people who don't have a Quirk for fighting."

The boy sneered. "It's not bullying. It's showing who's better. People that get Quirks like theirs end up doing boring jobs anyways. Not like the Pros that get to beat up bad guys every day. We're just proving why we're better. Besides, who are you to talk when you don't even have a Quirk?"

"A Quirk isn't what makes someone better!" The girl shouted back, her hands clenched into fists at her sides. "It's the person that uses it!"

"…Are you serious? What did you get that from, some cheap comic?"

"It's what my dad tells me every day! And he's a REAL Hero! He'd show you jerks in an instant!"

"Well…he ain't here right now. And you're still in the way. So I'm just going to beat the same lesson into you that I was going to those other weaklings."

The young girl glanced behind her to look at the very people the boy was referring to. Two girls stood fearfully holding onto each other, a few bruises lining the arms of one girl who was standing almost protectively in front of the other. Both of them were silent as they watched the scene unfolding in front of them.

"I won't let you hurt them anymore." The young girl stated with a strong voice as she turned back to the group of boys.

"And how do you plan on stopping me? Gonna swing your fists and try to do something to prove why you're better?" The boy's voice dripped with sarcasm as he parroted back some of the words the girl had previously spoken.

"…" The girl was silent for a moment before she started running at the older boy, her arms flailing wildly and without abandon as she sought to hit the boy anywhere she could. Her eyes were scrunched tight in concentration as she focused purely on trying to hit something as she sprinted forwards.

"Oooooh, she's a fiery one, isn't she boys?" The boy commented to his nearby group as he sidestepped the girl's uncoordinated assault. "Should we let her land one to make her feel better?" The group of boys all nodded knowingly as their leader turned back to face the girl that had turned around for another pass. "Well, you heard 'em. You get one freebie before I teach you your lesson."

The girl opened her eyes in confusion for a moment before she ran at the boy again with her eyes tight once more. As she neared the boy, one of her fists swung out and collided with his abdomen…only for his torso to stretch backwards almost comically for a moment before snapping back and slamming painfully back into the girls hand with a loud smacking noise.

The girl stumbled back and fell to her rear with a pained look on her face as she clutched her injured hand to her chest. The boy stood menacingly over her as he moved closer. No longer was his face that of someone joking around. Now, his eyes seemed to glint in the shadows formed from his downturned face as he glared at the girl on the ground.

"I gave you the chance to walk away. I gave you the opportunity to just ignore what was happening here. But no. You had to play Hero just like your lame-ass dad who doesn't have a power near as cool as some of the other Pros out there. What can he do, grow? He doesn't have an elemental Quirk or something that he actually has to be clever with using. He just makes himself bigger so that he can punch harder. What's so cool about that?"

"It's still cooler than being made of rubber." The girl spat out as she glared up the boy towering over her.

"Oh, you think growing is cooler? Let me show you where you're wrong." The boy swung one of his arms back as it started to stretch into the air for a few seconds. In the next instant, the stretching stopped and the boy brought his arm back fist first as it sailed at the girl with more momentum than an average punch could have. A sickening crunch echoed through the air as his fist collided with the girls face, knocking her onto her back before it returned to its normal position.

"And THAT is why your father's Quirk is lame. I can reach things far away without having to make myself obnoxiously big and still punch someone better than the average person. My Quirk is better suited for different situations than just growing. Now stay there or run away, I don't care." The boy turned to face the two girls standing off to the side once more. "Just stay out of my way from now on."

"…No."

The boy turned back with a surprised look as the girl slowly pulled herself to her feet. An ugly bruise covered one side of her face as she spat out a tooth that had been dislodged by the boy's fist.

"Wait, you're ACTUALLY still trying to stop me?!" The boy stated with a look of genuine surprise for a moment before it grew bored again. "You really are hopeless, you know that? YOU DON'T HAVE A QUIRK! How do you plan to stop me without any powers?!"

"As long as I'm still standing I won't let you lay a finger on them."

The boy gave her a calculating look before another smirk found its way to his face. "Really? Even when I can reach them faster than you can?"

The girls eyes widened in realization as the boy wound up a fist before swinging it towards the two girls, his Quirk activating once again as his arm stretched to allow a longer reach. In her eagerness to try to hit him, she had allowed a fatal error into her plan - she had taken herself out of the boys path. And now they were about to reap the consequences of her actions.

"Get out of there!" The girl yelled as she ran towards the two girls with one hand outstretched despite her chances being nonexistent. "Run! He can't catch you if you keep moving!"

In that instant, a strange thing began to happen. As the girl ran towards the two figures huddled next to each other, a tingling sensation began to crawl all across her body, and her vision seemed…almost brighter for a second. Then, before anyone knew what was going on, a purple hand barely the size of a soccer ball appeared in front of the boys fist, stopping it in its path towards the two other girls.

Everyone stared in shock at what had just happened, from the boys that had started everything to the girls standing off by themselves. But no one was more surprised than the lone girl as she stared at the floating hand in shock before glancing over towards her own glowing hand. A sudden understanding passed over her as she looked back to the purple hand protecting the two girls before she turned back to the boy that had hurt her and the other girl.

"…That's how I'll stop you."

The boy's face contorted into a look of rage as his eyes wheeled to face her. "You little brat! You just couldn't leave it alone, could you! Now I'll REALLY teach you a lesson!"

In that following moment, the boy's first punch retracted back to his body as his other arms lanced out, this time for the girl that had dared to stand in his way. The girl tried to move the hand she had somehow made to block his attack once again, but realized with a look of fright that in the time she had looked away from it…the hand had disappeared and her own hand was back to the way it was before. In the final moment before the fist collided with her face and turned her whole world black, a loud male voice shouted in the distance.

"Kaori!"

Kaori woke with a shock in a slightly uncomfortable bed with an ache in her hand. Ironically, it was the same hand as the one she saw glowing in her dream…though it was better to call it a memory, as that was what it had happened to be. Her eyes trailed through the pristine white hospital room she appeared to be sitting in, a light breeze coming in from a nearby open window. No one else seemed to be in the room at the moment, so she decided that she should see just how bad it was. After all, she could still remember the searing pain that had been lancing from her hand after muffling an explosion single-handedly. Literally.

As her eyes moved down to her side, they came to spot the ugly casing covering her entire hand. As it was she was unable to even twitch the extremity. Whether that was due to the cast or the damage it had sustained in the backlash of her Quirk, it was hard to say. Thankfully, it had been her non-dominant hand and she would still be able to write and such when she went back to U.A. in a few days following the end of her internship. The only question that seemed to remain was…what would she do for the remaining time with a broken hand?

Her mind quickly snapped back to her surroundings as the sound of a turning door handle filled the quiet room. The door to her space opened as two faces she wasn't expecting to see so soon walked into the room with some packages of food on-hand. That was quickly followed by some of the packages of food falling to the floor as one of the two suddenly let go of them and ran over to her.

"You're awake!" Yori's voice shouted out as she wrapped her arms tightly around Kaori's torso, the white-haired girl so caught off guard she was barely able to process what was happening as she felt Chi's arms wrapping around her from the other side of the bed moments later. The feeling of both of her friends wrapping their arms around her and showing that they were safe gave Kaori a powerful feeing of relief as she relaxed into their arms.

That moment didn't last long as Yori's body suddenly pushed Kaori's cast into her side from how tightly she was holding onto her. The gasp of pain that ensued from her throat caused both of the standing girls to jerk back from her body with looks of worry before glancing over to her wrapped body part. A stern look came over Chi's face as Yori sheepishly returned an apologetic look to the girl before she turned back and smacked Kaori on the shoulder.

"I can't believe you went and got yourself hurt defending us…again!" Yori chided Kaori as the girl awkwardly reached over to rub her shoulder without putting weight on her broken hand accidentally.

"To be fair, that was like 10 years ago." Kaori responded with a small smirk even as she winced at Chi's stern look turning on her due to her comment.

"Yeah, well…try not to get hurt being a Hero next time, huh?" Yori replied s she rested a hand gently on Kaori's arm just above the cast. "We'd like to not see our friend in bandages and casts every time they play protector."

"No promises." Kaori looked past the girls towards the door to her room. "Where're the others?"

"You mean the Pro you're interning with and her sidekicks? They were just down the hall talking to each other when we came back with some food…that I dropped on the floor. Whoops."

"Not ALL of it, thankfully." Chi commented from Kaori's other side as she turned to show that she had set her food calmly on a small table in the room before she had walked over to hug Kaori as well. "But now we'll have to share our food a bit."

"I wouldn't worry about that too much." A voice came from the doorway as all three girls turned to face the newest entrant to the room, Blink…and apparently her sidekicks. All with ominously serious expressions on their faces. "I can go grab some more food in a few moments once I'm done talking to Kaori here. I just need a few moments, okay girls?" Her mouth started to move even as the girls moved to interject. "Don't worry, she won't be going anywhere. You have my word."

The two girls acquiesced as they walked out of the room, though not without parting smiles to Kaori as they left.

"…They seem like good friends." Blink commented as Kaori turned to face the woman. "I can see why you wanted to save them so badly. On that note, we need to discuss your actions when you came bursting through that window."

"Look, I'm sorry, okay? I couldn't just stand there and let you and the girls get hurt like that, let alone all the other people in that building when they threatene-"

"Thank you."

Kaori's brain fizzled for a moment as she was cut off not by reprimanding words but instead a proud look and smiling face. "What?"

"Thank you." Blink repeated as she moved over to gently place a hand on Kaori's shoulder. "What you did that day saved countless lives, myself included. If you ask me, you've already proven yourself as a Hero, no matter how old you are."

Kaori felt her mouth move as she struggled to find the words to reply to Blink's statement. Instead, a warm feeling filled her eyes as tears of unbridled joy streamed down her face and onto her lap.

"But that's not all we needed to discuss with you today. There's also some bad news I wanted to fill you in on before you go back to your school in a couple of days."

Kaori looked to Blink with a confused expression even as a few stray tears still leaked from her eyes. "Wait…a couple days? I thought we were only on our third day though?"

"We were." Bulkhead spoke up from nearby. "When the hostage rescue happened. You've been out for two days on the mend due to the medicine they gave you to help your recovery along."

"Two days?!" Kaori exclaimed. "How?!"

"One of the doctors here has a Quirk that allows them to work with different herbs and plants to craft medicines for different cases. They made you a potent remedy that helped your body's natural healing process along to escalate the healing in her hand, though it wasn't able to fully heal the damage that had been done to an entire handful of bones all fracturing and breaking at the same time. You'll still want to go to Recovery Girl at your school when you get back to heal any remaining damage to normal. This way it's not all at once when you go to see her."

"I guess that was the bad news, huh? My hand is still broken for the rest of the internship?"

"I wish that were the case." Blink replied with a frown. "No, the bad news is this."

A newspaper was tossed into her lap by Brick as he nodded towards the front page that as facing her. In bold letters the words read HERO KILLER APPREHENDED. PRO HERO INGENIUM RETIRED DUE TO INJURIES.

"Someone named the Hero Killer got arrested? What's bad about that?" Kaori gave the others in the room a confused look.

"It's not the Hero Killer that you need to worry about. It's the other part of the headline you should be concerned with."

"Ingenium? I have no idea who that is. I'm not exactly up to date on current Hero stuff to be honest."

"Ingenium was his Hero name. His full name is Tensei Iida. He's the older brother to one of your classmates. I thought you should be aware of this before you got back to school in a few days and heard about it there from your other classmates or the news."

Kaori felt a chill wash over her as she shakily looked back to the paper and skimmed over to a part that talked about Ingenium as well as including a picture of him in his Hero costume. It was obvious who it was that Iida had modelled himself after when she saw the man's robotic looking suit.

"He's not…dead is he?" Kaori asked as she gave the others a worried look.

"No. Thankfully. For whatever reason the Hero Killer simply paralyzed him rather than killing him outright like he has his other victims. But he still won't be able to ever work as a Hero again."

"…Damn it." Kaori whispered as a few fresh tears leaked from her eyes as the newspaper crinkled in her grip. "I was hoping no one I knew from school would ever have to go through the pain that I did when I lost my dad. I can only imagine the pain Iida must be going through right now."

"That's why I wanted to let you know ahead of time. You can sympathize with him, but this way you'll have time to collect your thoughts before you speak with him instead of scrambling for something if you heard about it right at school."

"…Thank you for telling me." Kaori stated with a sullen tone.

"For now, I'll let you keep resting and let the other girls back in so you can speak with them some more. I'm sure you'd appreciate the chance to catch up."

As the group started to leave the room, Kaori looked over to them as she called out. "Blink."

The older woman turned to face Kaori with a straight face. "What is it? And for the record, when we're in private Nozomi is fine. You've more than earned the right to call me by name."

Kaori felt a smile grow on her face even as the tears stopped falling. "I just wanted to say…thank you. For giving me the chance to learn from you…but also for telling me about my dad. It's…not a topic my mom and I do well getting into."

Blink's expression more motherly as Kaori spoke. "You deserved to know, even if some of it may have been hard to hear. And for the record? If your father were here I'm sure he would be incredibly proud. I know your mother is. She gave me a call the moment she heard about what happened on the news. She would have come barging over here had I not convinced her that everything was handled and she could afford to wait until you got back."

"Either way, I'm glad I decided to work with you."

"Me too, kid. Me too."

And here's the followup to the last chapter and also tying into events going on whilst everyone else is off doing their own thing in their internships. I had to think of some way to avoid direct involvement with the night of the attack in Hosu, and what better way than recovery time for the damage Kaori sustained in the bank heist? I know that it might be kind of lazy, but her being aware of Midoriya's message sent to his classmates likely would have resulted in her informing Blink of the events taking place and needing to be there. This way, between the injuries sustained and everything that just happened, no one would interfere from Kaori's place of work.

On a note of that, the reason locations have sounded vague lately is because...I have zero knowledge of the overall layout of Japan and its districts/wards/towns. I was tempted to try and figure something out for where Kaori would be exactly within the country...but it really didn't matter in the end. Regardless, I hope that these last few chapters have been good in terms of further development/backstory as well as showing where things still have room to progress. Reading the occasional review where people comment on both the way scenes have played out as well as the general flow of the story has been nothing short of gratifying. Nothing worries me more than if I'm doing something wrong or making a mistake in the way a scene is supposed to play out. So thank you SO MUCH to everyone that has commented on this story so far. Your words mean a lot.