33 Internship Ending

'I barely got any sleep.'

Kirishima hummed, stepping out of bed. He did a few stretches, looking forward to ending his internship on the island. Most of his night was littered with what-ifs. If it wasn't for his superhuman physique, there would be bags under his eyes. He also didn't bother checking his phone.

'I just have to be ready in case anything happens.'

The past was behind him. Yet his mind could not help but wonder. Normally, he'd go out to meet Mark, but not anymore. Stepping out, he met Gang Orca with surprise.

"Good, you're awake," he said, turning and signalling for him to follow.

"The other members have already dealt with the scene; the police and hero association would like to hear from you to aid in the report, but I took care of it with only a few days left before the internship ends. I think you should use these days to relax."

Kirishima was silent as they treaded through the meadow. He froze at his last words.

"Relax? I don't need to; I'm good to go." He smiled, patting his chest.

Gang Orca scrutinised him with no words, and without disengaging eye contact, he spoke.

"You've been up all night, haven't you? Your mind is wondering, If I went with him, what could I have done?"

Deafening silence.

"With a mutant quirk like mine, though it requires focus, I can easily sense someone's mental state through their physical actions. You've been rigid on edge; you try to walk calmly but will pounce on any threat given the chance. So do not take this as just advice but an order from me that you are to take the rest of the days off and recuperate."

Placing a hand on his shoulder, Gang Orca knelt. "This will be the first of many, and the best skill you can hone right now is your ability to bounce back properly."

Kirishima took a deep breath for the first time since they left this morning, and he heard the bustling nature of the forest. He nodded, and that seemed to be enough for Gang Orca as he turned to leave.

"Oh, and one more thing, you should change into some normal clothes and head down to the aquarium."

With a wave, he left the puzzled Kirishima alone. Returning to his room, he changed into a fresh pair of clothes, a buttoned-up red shirt, dark jeans, and a hair band that tied his lengthy hair together.

Leaving the area, he trudged to the aquarium. 'The police work fast,' he noted, seeing the tourist area returning to its normal busy attitude.

As he made his way there, he was stopped by a few of the residents, some wishing their thanks for his taking part in saving the aquarium, and others offering their condolences for Mark's death and serving to resurface the what-ifs.

He would've kept his mind on such a thing if not for his call last night with Mina taking over, 'I need to call back.'

It wasn't anything huge, just that he called Mina by her family name instead of her first name now that they're together.

"Eijiro!" A bubbling voice curled through the crowds at the aquarium's entrance.

"Mina?"

The girl in question, wearing a blue shirt and dark jeans, ran to him, smiling. The two wrapped each other in tight hugs.

"Hold on, what are you doing here? What about your internship?"

"Something about a past case surfacing came up with Burnin, and she was torn between heading back to it and coaching me... but I wanted to check up on you, so she just took that as a reason to call it off early. So she reached out to Gang Orca under the pretence of an important case, and we agreed to take the last few days off. Are you doing alright?"

She leaned her head on his chest, and to Kirishima's surprise, no one paid attention. With a small chuckle, he hugged her tighter. Pulling away, they took a tour of the aquarium, and while doing so, Kirishima unloaded his stress, and Mina did her best to cheer and support him, which worked well.

"Did I ever tell you you're amazing?" He smiled.

"Where did that come from!?"

'Right, her weakness is sweet words,' his smile grew. "It's true! You've helped me feel better in the time we took to explore the aquarium; you're amazing."

He ended with a chaste kiss on the lips: "Ah, well, I only get one kiss."

Rolling his eyes, he kissed her a few more times, making sure to move somewhere slightly out of view.

"Are you happy?"

Mina giggled with rosy cheeks. The day was far from over, though they had more attractions and places to go. But their fun was cut short by a tourist.

"I'm so sorry to disrupt your lovely time, but you're the one who saved the aquarium, right?"

It was a woman with dirty blonde hair in a green dress.

"Yeah, that's me."

"Oh, thank gods, I want to thank you and apologise for the loss of the hero on duty." She said she was reaching into her bag.

"That's alright, thank you," he smiled while Mina gripped his hand ever so slightly. "I'm okay now." He whispered to her.

"Ah, I found it!" She smiled, pulling out two tickets.

"Here you go. These are tickets to a somewhat famous resort for the both of you when you're on your break or have the time." She smiled.

Kirishima was about to refuse, but the lady forced it on him, mentioning how happy she would feel if he took them and went with Mina. So reluctantly, he agreed and took the tickets. With a quick bow of appreciation, she left.

"What are you, a ticket magnet?" She chuckled.

"I honestly don't know. But I don't like it." He frowned.

"What is the free ticket? What's the worst that can happen? It looks like a great place," she eyes the location on the ticket.

Kirishima hummed and put it away; there's still fun to be had.

The day went by well; it was a refreshing change of pace for them both, but it still had a few surprises in store.

"Wait what!?"

"Didn't you check your phone?" Mina asked.

Only now did he realise what had happened—news headlines—the hero Killer Stain had been caught. As he went on to read, his mind couldn't help but wonder, 'Is this the butterfly effect?'

The article mentioned the attack on Nomu's Endeavour, which all occurred around the time he was sleeping well, as well as the currently trending video of Stain's speech, which keeps on resurfacing and shutting down. That and the mention of Midoriya and Todoroki, who aided in capturing him

But Iida mentioned he wasn't at the event. Kirishima assumed it was him helping Midoriya develop his quirk and helping Iida let go of his revenge that changed things.

"When Iida heard, he rushed to them in the hospital to make sure they were alright and thank them; they also wanted to check up on you too," Mina added.

"Me?"

"Yup, Midoriya said something about a lightbulb or something I can't remember, and you forgot you were in a fight with a villain and lost someone. Endeavour, the Nomus, and Stain are huge deals. But what happened here also made it to the news. You haven't checked the chat, but we wanted to hear from you."

She stopped sitting on a bench. Kirishima opened the group chat, stifling a chuckle, and a lot of messages asked about his health. Even direct messages from Iida and Sero.

Mina leaned on his shoulder, peeking at the texts and watching him reply. It was a warm sight, and the smile on Kirishima's face made her brighten up as well.

Once all that was cleared up, the two went about the rest of their day enjoying each other's presence.

"Are you staying at one of the resorts?"

"Hm? Oh yeah, that was sorted out for me before I got here." She answered.

"Why were you expecting I'd be staying somewhere else?" Mina leaned close, brushing her lips across the gap in his neck.

"Yeah, I thought we'd sleep together." Kirishima sighed.

Mina halted for a second. "Well, I mean, we still can," he said in a whisper.

And sleep together they did; their day came to an end, and instead of returning to his staff-appointed accommodation, he went to Mina's room in a nearby hotel.

The room was nothing exotic; the mattress was soft and had plenty of space for the two of them, and yet despite that, Mina crawled on top of Kirishima in a warm hug, resting her head on his chest and feeling the rhythmic drum of his heart.

"Thanks for checking up on me, Mina."

"It's nothing; I can't imagine what it was like; I can't imagine what you're thinking, but I'll always be there for you, and if there's anything more I can do, just let me know." She said she was rubbing circles against his chest.

Grabbing her by the waist, he pulled Mina up and said, "Just being here is more than enough." A warm kiss and embrace followed as he curled his arms around her as they drifted to sleep.

'I don't think I can forget, but this is all the more reason to come stronger! And faster, to do that, I need to talk to Mei.' The idea of his was spurred by his training with Gang Orca.

'If she can build it, then my strength will skyrocket.'