'Be on your best behavior, Okaido,' Mr. Aizawa said, waving a finger at the young student.

They were standing on the platform in the crowded Naboo Train Station. People, who were waiting for a train alongside with them, kept glancing at the small group from the UA, eying Mariko's hero suitcase with curiosity.

'Yes, sir. I remember,' Mariko replied and glanced at the railroad, checking if the train is coming. 'No wearing hero costume in public, no fighting villains on my own, unless this is a self-defense situation. No arguing with Ms. Joke, no sharing UA secrets and so on,' she started listing.

'That's a lot of rules,' Eri noticed, grasping Mirio's hand.

Mariko smiled at the little girl and showed her thumbs-up. Eri looked up at the woman, a worried expression on her face. The kid let go of Mirio and took a few steps forward, hugging Mariko.

'Please come back safely, sister.'

Senchi closed her eyes, raising the inner corners of her eyebrows. She placed her left palm on her heart and then picked the girl up to spin around a few times. Mirio grinned widely and looked at Mr. Aizawa, who observed the two girls with a soft expression on his face.

'You are so cute, I'm going to have a heart attack.' Mariko stopped and held Eri above her head.

'A heart attack?' the girl asked, worried.

'Not literally, it's more of an expression. In this situation it means you are so adorable that I had this funny feeling inside.'

'Funny feeling?'

'It's when you get so excited about something or you are so happy, that your chest feels lighter and you get a sudden boost of energy,' Mariko explained, placing Eri on the floor. 'It makes you wanna jump so high up and just express to everyone how full of joy you are. Have you ever felt like this before?' Mariko asked.

Eri placed her small finger on her mouth, thinking intensely, as Senchi played with the girl's hair.

'First time was when Class 1A was singing at the school festival. It was so cool, they were playing and dancing and there was some snow falling and lights spinning!'

'Snow falling?' Okaido asked. 'Was it maybe Todoroki's ice?'

'Todoroki?'

'You know, the boy who has white and red hair,' Mariko pointed at her scalp, as if wanting to draw a line on top of her head.

'Maybe?' girl wondered.

'Anyway, I promise I will be back. And when we see each other again, you will hop on my back and we will swing together on the grapple. What do you think?'

'Yes! I can't wait,' Eri said, holding her thumbs in her fists in a sign of sheer excitement.

'Nice!' Mariko responded with a smile and all four of them heard the approaching train. 'But now, I have to go.'

She bowed to Eraserhead and waved to Mirio. A few minutes later, she was gone, and the group was standing at the platform, looking at the leaving train.

In the vehicle, Mariko choose the least crowded area and sat right next to the window. She pulled out her phone from her pocket and laid the hero suitcase on the seat beside her. Mariko stretched her legs and breathed in, grinning to herself. She put the headphones in her ears and connected them to the phone, putting on some English R&B music. Mariko half-closed her eyes and started humming to herself, looking outside of the window at the changing landscape.

As she stared at the city through the window, she felt her phone vibrate. The lock screen feed displayed a notification about a message from Midnight.

'Stressed?'

Mariko smiled to herself and accessed the messaging app.

'Hyped as hell :)'

'Good! Be careful and listen closely, Pro Heroes will teach you a lot.'

'Oh, I bet. Also, please tell me when they get home 🥺 I wanna know if they are back safe'

'I will send you a photo of Eraser 😈'

'No need to... (PLEASE DO 😩)'

Mariko slid the phone back into her pocket, her smile immediately widening. She brushed off invisible dust from the window, laying her head on the glass pane.

Around half an hour later, she got another notification.

'You're so gonna love this one,' she read.

'Oh?'

She saw the three floating dots, and a second later, her heart dropped. It was a photo of Mr. Aizawa sitting in the armchair with Eri playing with his hair. He either did not notice or forced himself to ignore Midnight taking the picture, so his face expression was neutral and not annoyed.

'Thoughts?'

'He is literally so cute I cannot control myself.'

'Easy there, you are on a train 🤭'

'WAIT, WHAT DID YOU THINK OF???'

'Nothing ;)'

'You are unhinged haha'

Mariko chuckled and looked around. All of the people seemed to be either engaged in conversations with their travel partner or enjoying the view from outside the window. She turned her head to the right and spent the rest of the journey listening to the music and constantly playing with her phone; denying that the only reason she keeps turning the phone on is to stare at Aizawa's picture.

When she finally arrived at the destination, she grabbed her hero suitcase, adjusted the backpack she was carrying and left the station. She decreased the volume of her music and checked her location on the map. Mariko headed south from the platform and then left the building, heading towards the closest busy street. After that, she caught a bus and bought a ticket. Four stops later she left the vehicle and checked the map again.

'It should be around the corner,' she said under her nose.

Just as she was about to slide the phone back into her pocket, she saw a message from Midnight.

'Are you there yet?'

'Literally just left the bus. I have around 100m of a walk and then I will begin the internship! :D'

'Awesome! Good luck! Keep me informed in your free time.'

'Alright'

Mariko hid the phone and straightened her back, looking at the gorgeous cherry trees growing on exterior side of the pavement. She tightened her grasp on the hero suitcase and took a deep breath, starting energetic hike down the street.

The building that she was heading to had a very odd design; it consisted of quite bold color-scheme; the walls were orange with some navy-blue accents and the window frames were turquoise. The building looked pretty much like the hero costume of Ms. Joke - there were even some yellow smiley faces painted on the walls. The hero agency was quite small and it definitely stood out from the rest of the neighborhood.

Mariko stepped through the threshold and heard the door bell signaling her arrival.

'Welcome to Ms. Joke Hero Agency! How can I help?' a secretary sitting at the desk right in front of the office greeted Mariko.

'Hello! I am Okaido Mariko.' She bowed before the woman. 'I am here for the internship.'

'Oh, yes. I see. Please take a seat. Ms. Joke should be back from her patrol soon.'

'Alright, thank you.'

'Do you want some tea or coffee? Or water, perhaps?'

'Tea would be great, thank you,' Mariko replied and folded her hands in the gesture of gratitude.

Mariko sat at the comfortable, navy blue armchair and crossed her legs, looking at the street through the tall window. The secretary left the desk and accessed a small area behind the reception, equipped with a few kitchen counters, coat racks, cupboards, a coffee express and an electric kettle. After a short moment, the woman handed Mariko a cup of hot tea.

The girl managed to finish the drink and just as she took the last sip, she noticed Ms. Joke crossing the street, heading straight towards the agency's door. Mariko asked the secretary where to put the empty mug and then turned towards the door, ready to greet the Pro Hero.

'Good morning, Ms. Joke.' Okaido bowed before the older woman, who greeted her back.

'Hello, how was your journey?'

'Very comfy, thank you.'

'Great. Take your stuff and let's go upstairs.'

The Pro Hero was wearing a winter version of her hero costume - it was pretty much the exact same as the standard uniform, but instead of shorts, the woman was wearing normal-length orange pants with teal stripes.

'So you are from Eraser, huh? How is he doing?'

'Good, I guess. Busy,' Mariko replied.

'Oh, always busy. He never has time to visit me,' she complained and Mariko eyed her suspiciously.

The two women quickly climbed the staircase to the left of the reception and entered the first floor.

'What's up with you?' Ms. Joke asked.

'Sorry? I am not following?'

'You should be a Pro Hero by now, why did you start internships at the age of twenty?'

Mariko looked down, feeling slightly uncomfortable. Ms. Joke led her to the right through a small corridor, towards the windows, where a big, wooden desk was standing. There was an entrance to a hero dressing room in front of the desk; It was full of different, modern-looking lockers and racks with some hero accessories and copies of Ms. Joke's hero costume.

Okaido opened her mouth to answer the question, but Ms. Joke waved towards the dressing room, signaling Mariko to leave her stuff and get changed.

The walls in the office were teal and there were two sofas inside; above one of the couch, Mariko noticed a huge TV which was currently turned on and muted. It was displaying some local news. The rest of the empty space on the walls was mainly covered by framed awards and prizes, recognizing Ms. Joke as a trusted local hero.

The Pro Hero grabbed a remote and unmuted the news.

'He was last seen in the house around two days ago. The police refuses to share any progress regarding the investigation and assures us that they work as hard as they can to find out the group of serial kidnappers.'

Mariko glanced at the TV from inside the dressing room, zipping up her pants and putting on the vest.

'They are all over the news recently,' Okaido noticed.

'And we still didn't manage to find anything,' Ms. Joke replied, furrowing her brows. 'I hate all criminals, but I have a special spot for people doing bad things to kids.' She rubbed her knuckles with a psychotic smile on her face.

Mariko put one of her foot on a wooden bench and tied up the laces, still staring at the screen.

'So far all of the incidents were happening at the various districts of the city. No pattern of kidnapping has been yet discovered, except for the fact that the primary target seem to be children barely above the age of 5.'

'Age of Quirk manifestation,' Mariko murmured under her nose and Joke nodded.

'We do not know any motives nor cannot predict the next strike, that is why we appeal for precaution. Do not leave your children alone at any point in time. Make sure that they are safe and with you at all times. If you are travelling for work or for holidays, leave them only with the most trusted people.'

Mariko finished putting on the hero costume and walked to Ms. Joke, standing beside her. The older woman moved her head to look at the student.

'You look so sad.'

'Why?'

'You look like some special military forces. The only color that you have on except for black is dark green. No lively vibes.'

'Is it bad, though? I want to stick more to the shadows, be low-key.'

Ms. Joke laughed.

'Wow, we have an Eraser JR. here.'

Mariko's eyes darkened and she looked at her grapple with a sad expression, as if realizing something depressing. In the next second, Ms. Joke slapped her back and laughed.

'I am joking! Just kidding, relax. Though you could add some funky colors to the suit. Public, and especially kids would love that.'

Mariko reached to her vest and opened one of the Velcro tabbed pockets. She pulled out a small notepad and a pen, writing down the suggestion from the Pro Hero.

'I like that!' Ms. Joke commented. 'Alright, let's get to work. Tell me all about yourself and let's start another patrol. We have to keep our eyes open at all times, but with all the kidnapping around we have to be even more careful.'

Okaido nodded and both of them walked down the stairs. Mariko was not a huge fan of such detailed introductions, where she had to explain all of the functions of her Quirk and the hero costume, but she knew that this is a must.

'So your Quirk makes you more of a support-combat type of a hero?' Ms. Joke asked. 'I hope I didn't offend you by that...'

'Oh no, I actually want to be a support-combat type. My goal is to support those with incredible fighting abilities and make sure that no one gets hurt. Heroes included.'

'That's a great goal to have in mind!' Ms. Joke approved as they slowly walked on the side of the street, patrolling the surrounding area.

'Can I ask you a question, Ms. Joke?'

'Shoot!'

'Why do we patrol the street that is quite close to the hero agency? Shouldn't we go further away? Aren't villains less likely to strike near your office?'

'Wow, you do ask a lot of questions. We will go for a long patrol route, covering some areas further away from the agency.'

'Why not just grab a vehicle to make it more efficient?' Mariko asked, looking at the people who passed them on the street.

Okaido's eyes landed on a sea-green haired lady, who was holding hands of her two, little children; a boy and a girl. Mariko made eye contact with the boy, who raised his eyebrows, impressed by her hero costume. The UA student waved at the kids who glanced at each other, exchanging smiles. Both of the siblings had the exact same hair as their mother, tiny, cute noses and some freckles on their bright faces.

'With a vehicle, it is a lot easier to miss details, which are crucial in this job,' Ms. Joke explained and Mariko wrote down another note. 'And also, we have to keep the other hero agencies in mind. We cannot sneak on someone else's territory. Do you know how heroes get their salaries from the government?'

'Oh yes, I've heard. It's calculated from participation in accidents, rescues, investigations and other similar things as well as the yearly Civilian Satisfaction Surveys.'

'Correct!'

Mariko looked behind and noticed that the kids are still looking at her. She made a goofy face and made them laugh from far away.

'Oh, this is definitely not something Eraserhead would teach you,' Ms. Joke commented with a grin.

Senchi put on a focused face, paying attention to everything around her. Her heart was beating slightly faster for the entire duration of the patrol, as if anticipating sudden action. However, nothing extraordinary happened. At some point, the two heroes took a lunch break and in the evening made one last patrol. Afterwards, Mariko was training hard while Ms. Joke relaxed in the office and when the time came, she was accommodated in a guest room in the Joke's hero agency.

'It's quite boring to be honest,' Mariko said on the third day, while talking on the phone with Midnight during one of her breaks.

'Well, in our job it is actually good when it is boring. Means that there is less villain activity, right?'

'But the kidnapping makes me so anxious. I wanna do something about that.'

'Sweetie, remember that you are not licensed yet,' Midnight reminded and Mariko kicked an empty soda can laying on the pavement. 'You are literally forbidden by law to do anything by yourself.'

'I know that,' Mariko sighed and picked up the can, crushing it with her left hand and throwing in the 'metal waste' bin. 'It's just... It makes me frustrated, you know?'

'That's a good sign.'

'Mmm.'

Mariko looked up at the street and then behind herself, seeing Ms. Joke talk with some friend of hers.

'And apart from that, how is it?'

'I have so many mixed feelings. But I feel like I would complain to you too much,' the girl admitted.

'Well, that is why I called in first place, to ask if everything is all fine. If there is something you feel like will help you when you share, then please do it.'

'OK, so...' Mariko turned on her heel and started slowly walking down the street, glancing inside the shops and around her, making sure everything is in order. 'She doesn't seem to want to improve me. Like, I train a lot more in UA, so I started adding more training myself. She mainly lays down theory, and don't get me wrong, she answers all of my questions perfectly, it's just I am not sure if I will improve a lot more than what I would at school.'

'Baby steps, girl. Everything will come. Rome wasn't built in a day, you know?,' Midnight responded and Mariko nodded again. 'But you know what makes me very happy?'

'Hm?'

'You recognize those things and work on them yourself. It seems to me,' she put on a jokingly mocking tone, 'that you don't like wasting time like a certain someone.'

Mariko smiled widely and stopped, looking down the street.

'It actually reminds me, do you know how much Ms. Joke talks about Eraser? She keeps asking me weird questions, it's so annoying.'

'Slightly jealous?'

'Nooo?'

'You absolutely are,' Midnight giggled. 'Cutie pie.'

'Also, she has such a cool plushie of him. You know, like they make those of All Might or Endeavor, but Eraser one. She noticed that I like it a lot and she just bragged saying it's custom made. And you won't find it anywhere in stores.'

'Would you like a plushie like this?'

'Hell yea, it's cute as...' Mariko paused, noticing a man with two kids crossing the street. At first, there was nothing extraordinary about that view, however something made her incredibly uneasy. 'um... Midnight. Just to clarify, the usage of Quirk is illegal, but acting when I think something is off is not illegal for me, right?'

'Yea, what's going on?'

'I'll find out. If I am not back in ten minutes, there has to be something wrong,' she announced and with that slid the phone back in her pocket without hanging up the call.

On the other end, Midnight put her phone in a speaker mode and maximized the volume. She sat at her bed, cross-legged and closed her eyes, focusing all of her attention on the sounds from the phone call.

Senchi stepped forward, looking straight at a tall, silver-haired man, who was grasping hands of two little kids - the sea-green-haired siblings, that Mariko was sure she had seen before. Both of them had their eyes shut and they looked as if they were struggling to walk straight - the man was basically pulling their small arms and leading them into a specific direction.

'Excuse me, sir,' Senchi said, smiling nicely at the silver-haired man.

He turned towards her and only then she could see his completely white eyes. The lack of visible pupils gave him a creepy look, but his face was very handsome. He had a chiseled jawline, was clean-shaved and had a hook nose, which nicely fit his thin lips.

'Yes?' he asked her, stopping as she approached him.

The kids hid their faces in the fabric of his long, light-grey coat.

'Is everything alright with your children? They seem quite scared.'

'Oh yes, don't worry about that,' he shot her a slight, charming smile. 'They don't really like being around strangers, so we were just heading to our house.'

The boy, whose face was buried in the man's coat, tilted his head to look at Mariko. She kept the eye contact with the tall man, but from the corner of her eye she saw his pale face and watery eyes.

'I see, I hope I didn't cause them any more troubles by approaching you,' Mariko stepped back and the man nodded, closing his eyes for a moment.

'Don't worry about that, really. Unless there is something else you would want to ask about, we will just keep going.'

'Oh, sure. Please go ahead.' Mariko turned on her heel and slowly started walking in the opposite direction.

She pulled up her phone, noticing the call being still active, but instead of talking to Midnight, she raised the phone and turned on her front camera, using it to look behind her without glancing over her shoulder. The man behind her was already gone and the only path he could have taken was a small alley between the bakery and a shoe store.

Mariko quickly grabbed her small notepad and wrote the following note:

'Silver Hair

Hook Nose

No pupils?

Bakery & shoes'

She folded the note and put it behind her phone case and then fired her grapple at the street light above her. She quickly swung her body, gaining some momentum for another jump. She shot the Binding Cloth again and jumped from the top of the street light to the side of the building, grasping the edge of the roof. Mariko brought the phone to her ear and pulled herself up with one hand.

'Hey, Midnight,' she started, but the second she said it out loud, a punch was delivered straight to the bottom of her jaw.

It was an immediate knockout, making her drop her phone, which fell from the roof right in front of the bakery building, shattering at the impact with the sidewalk.