Chapter Text
He hid a grin when the students found him, as a few of them murmured about how it's a wonder he isn't dead. He wouldn't dock them points for that, even though he should. He was supposed to be unconscious after all.
"C'mon guys! There's no time to waste. We have to get him out of there!" A girl's voice called.
"But how? None of us have a quirk that would be able to move that debris!" A boy's voice responded.
"Alright then, Flashdance, you're the fastest of us. Go see if you can find someone from a different school who can move the debris. Airy and Soner, go and continue to look for survivors. Water Hose and I are going to stay here and see what we can do to help him in the meantime. Remember, don't do anything to put more lives at risk guys!"
A chorus of agreements rang out amongst the students and He opened his eyes enough to see who the students were.
Ah, UA. Figures. Ever since Allmight retired, UA has turned out record levels of students passing the Provisional Licensing Exam.
"Sir, can you hear me? I'm the hero Restart, I'm here to help you." The girl's voice called to him, slowly getting closer.
He opened his eyes just barely enough to double-check who was speaking to him, and if she was being careful while approaching him. He recognized her.
That's the girl that was saved from the villain Overhaul by a group of UA students over 7 years ago. Unsurprising that she's here now.
He didn't respond. Wasn't supposed to. He had to wait and see what she'd do with an unresponsive person.
"Eri watch out, the ground looks really unstable around him." A boy's voice spoke up. "We don't know if there's anybody else in the wreckage that would be affected if this fell."
"Right. Can you see a good path? I need to check his state."
The boy helped direct her towards Him, and eventually, in honestly the perfect amount of time, she got to him.
"Sir, can you hear me?" She asked clearly. There was a moment's hesitation where she could be heard shifting around. Eventually He felt a light touch on the junction of his neck and shoulder. It was as if she was checking something. Then she felt for his pulse. She shifted away from him and called out. "His pulse is good and he seems to be breathing. But the debris seems to be very heavily weighed on him. There's some bleeding, but from my position I don't see anything majorly broken. Once someone gets here to move the debris, I think we should work on just moving the debris enough to extract him and check for anyone else. I don't want to shift the debris around too much."
Good communication.
"Sounds like a good plan!" The boy responded.
"Kota!" A voice called from a ways away. "There's a fire, we need you!"
"Are you good there Eri- er I mean Restart?"
"I'll be good till reinforcements arrive. Go and do what you can. If you finish up there either come back here or send someone else. If reinforcements don't get here in ten minutes, I'll have to think of something else."
"Sounds good."
He was left alone with the girl as the boy ran to help. He could give her feedback after he was removed. In the meantime, he was interested in seeing what she'd do.
She talked to him pretty consistently, making sure to ask if he could hear her, and restate that they were going to get him out of there.
Soon enough help arrived and they worked on carefully extracting him. Sure to her word, they didn't move the debris too much. And once he was out, she did a quick look to see if she could spot anyone else.
Overall he was impressed.
By the time they were finished, the boy from earlier returned, and the two students thanked the person who came to help, and worked together to carry him out.
"I should ask for a super strong foldable sheet that I could store in a pocket, for helping carry people to safety if we aren't sure about neck injuries." The girl said as the two of them did their best to carry him.
"Yeah, that's a good idea. Because if this wasn't a test, there's always the chance that carrying someone the way we are would only further their injuries. Of course in those situations, you'd be able to use your quirk to help them. But it's still a good consideration." The boy agreed.
He approved of these two, and honestly had no points to dock from them. They did a great job. Though he was curious as to why the girl couldn't use her quirk now.
After a long time of them carrying him, they finally got to a group of people. "We've got someone unresponsive here! Extent of his injuries is unknown and there is a possibility of head injuries and internal injuries." The boy called out as he was laid gently on the ground.
At that moment, he chose to break character. "Good job you two," he smiled up at them. "You handled that situation really well."
The girl squeaked in surprise at his voice, but then a look of relief took over her face.
"Oh good, you're awake. I was really worried. Are you alright?"
"In reality, I'm just fine. In the scenario though, I'm still unconscious. I just wanted to say that you were practically pros at that. My only criticism is that while you were waiting, you could have also been checking for other people in the immediate area, or for other ways to get to me. Other than that, it was a flawless performance."
"Oh thank you sir!"
"No, thank you. Now if you excuse me, I have to go back to being unconscious, so these other students can work with me. I like you so I'll give you one suggestion, you should probably get back out there and keep looking."
"Yes sir." The boy- this was the first time He properly got a look at him, and he also looked familiar- spoke up.
As soon as another student came up to check on him, his saviours went to continue their work.
Later, after the exercise was over, he was glad to see both students excitedly talking to each other holding their reports.
"Hey," one of his coworkers clapped him on the shoulder as they all headed to go shower, "How'd it go for you?"
"Best kids I've worked with yet. You?"
"Eh, I think I docked a solid 10 points in the span of 30 minutes. So you're lucky."
"I guess so. One of the students was genuinely concerned about me, and was pleased when I 'woke up' to report to them after they were done."
"Well, you are one of the best actors here. Nobody else could be put in the exact situations you are."
One of his other coworkers walked up, and she laughed, "That's because all of us would genuinely be injured by the shit they put him through. Isn't that right, Kirishima?"
He laughed and shrugged, "Maybe. It just makes it all the more realistic for the kids."
Kirishima really did love his main job sometimes. Work with the HUC was one of the best decisions he ever made.
.
.
.
As he got ready for his second job, he smiled, thinking about those students from earlier. This wasn't really the place to think about kids. But he was so proud that he was able to be a part of the process of making good heroes.
Shaking the thought of the students out of his head, he finished applying his glitter, and worked on oiling up. He had a long performance that was going to meld with another dancer's performance to make a duet of a sort. They always made a shit ton of money when they did that.
Time to work that pole.
One of the benefits of working with the HUC was that he already had a license to use his quirk for work. Which meant he didn't have to fight to be able to use his quirk at the club. That helped him be able to do some of the more… dangerous tricks.
He stretched before he headed to the backstage of the stage he'd be on. He peaked out to watch the act before his. That guy's time was about to be up, he only rented the pole for 15 minutes tonight. He was a good dancer though, and in even that amount of time he racked up quite a bit of cash.
Kirishima rented the stage for 30 minutes for the first round. He'd have a set later too, but this first set was a good way to get customers for later too, and maybe even some private shows.
He'd been dancing for a few years now. Started it in University, when he had to pay for his own room and board out of pocket. But he grew to enjoy it, and it was good money. He never gave up on his dream of being involved with heroes though, which is why he started working with the HUC. He'd also gotten to be… involved with a few heroes here too.
It wasn't necessarily unusual to have some pros come into the club after their shifts, there were a couple regulars who were openly pros, but most didn't really want to be identified. Kirishima just happened to be great at identifying heroes.
He himself had a couple regulars. One was more of a local hero than a big pro. The other was a pro that he knew from middle school.
Mina Ashido, pro hero Pinky.
She always came to watch his performances, and had talked to him a few times after. At first she'd flirted with him, but eventually they became friends. She brought friends with her though. Sometimes they were other heroes, sometimes they weren't. Nevertheless, she always showered him with money when she was there.
Being a pro had its benefits huh?
Tonight she rented a room for a private show, which he was happy about because half the time they just chatted. He still did his thing, but it was more relaxed. In fact, Kirishima always asked the bodyguard to stay outside the door instead of in the room like the guards here normally did.
Today though Mina seemed on a mission. She waited until the bodyguard left and then she patted the couch next to her. She grinned as Kiri sat, a little confused.
"Okay, so I know house policy is that you guys aren't supposed to really do parties and events and stuff that aren't on premises. But I've got a proposition for you that I think you might enjoy." She spoke just loud enough to be heard over the music, but her excitement was evident nonetheless.
"Let's hear it bro," Kirishima encouraged.
"So, some Pro Hero friends of mine are opening their own hero agency soon, and we're gonna be having this big party for it. However, after that party, we're gonna have a slightly smaller after-party that won't be public. And I want you to perform there. I'll pay you $800 or more for the night, and then the guests will also bring tip money. Not to mention free food, drinks, and I'll be installing a stage and pole for you if you agree. Not a single cost of this will be on you."
"Oh wow, will there be any other performers?"
"Only a dj, who you can give a set list to. Also there will be a few heroes you should recognize, like Cellophane or Chargebolt, who've come here with me a few times. Plus a few I've been trying to get to come with me. It's a great way to further your customer base. Hell, knowing you, you might be able to convince even Dynamight to come with me one of these nights! What do you say?"
"D- Dynamight is going to be there?" Kirishima stuttered a bit. Pro Hero Dynamight was his favorite modern Hero. He was so manly and had such perfect control of what could be an incredibly destructive quirk. Not to mention that he was hot .
Mina smirked at him, "So Dynamight does it for you, huh?"
Kirishima ducked his head and muttered a quick, "I don't know what you're talking about."
"But yeah, of course he's going to be there! He's one of the guests of honor, since he's part of the group starting up their own Agency!"
"Wait, you're talking about the partnership between Dynamight, Tentacole, and Tsukuyomi?" Kirishima got excited, he had been ecstatic when he'd heard those three previous UA students were teaming up. Some of his coworkers with the HUC thought it was a surprising partnership, but it made complete sense to Kirishima. Most of them expected Dynamight to team up with Deku, or Shoto, one of the other two of the Big Three from his class.
"Yeah! So you do know about it! They've been trying to keep it out of major media, but it's been getting out and is probably one day away from being the major news for a week." Mina explained.
"Yeah! I- uh keep up with Hero news a lot." Kiri explained vaguely, not wanting to explain his other job to Mina.
"Anyway, what do you say? Will you perform at the party?"
"Yeah! Uh, when is it?"
"It's a week from Saturday."
Kirishima had HUC work that day, but that was during the morning and he should be finished in the early afternoon. It was a pretty long train ride, but he assumed the after party would be later in the night, so that should give him enough time to sleep a few hours before having to be there.
"What time?"
"The after-party starts earlier than normal, at nine pm."
Or maybe not.
"Oh. Okay, um."
"What's wrong?" Mina furrowed her brow at him, her concerned look was something that Kirishima hadn't been on the receiving end of since middle school.
"Well, I have this other job, and I'm going to be pretty far out of town for most of the day, and I just… by the time I get back, I won't have time to go home and sleep and then go to wherever your place is."
"That's okay! You can head directly to my place and sleep in one of my guest rooms until you need to get up to get ready!" Mina looked relieved that that was his only problem. "My intern isn't really a party person and they didn't want to come to the main event, so they are in charge of making sure everything is set up properly at my place for the after party. They'll let you in and make sure you've got everything you need."
"I- that's so nice!" Kirishima's face lit up, "Then it's settled! I'm all for it man!"
"Awesome! Here's my number so we can exchange details later. Again, let me know if you need anything purchased and I'll give you the money for it!"
"Awesome."