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Chapter 84: Heroes, Cameras, and Hamburgers
🕑 Added 2025-10-03 16:32:13 +0000 UTCThe third straight day of hero work smelled of stale coffee and the subtle desperation of paperwork. The novelty of the internships, with their promises of action and glory, had faded, replaced by the palpable tedium of administrative reality. In the conference room of Mt. Lady's agency, the silence was broken only by the soft hum of the air conditioning and the rhythmic click-click-click of the pen Izuku was spinning over his knuckles, a nervous tic he had perfected over the last seventy-two hours.
Beside him, Ochako rested her chin in her hand, her gaze lost in a property damage report with the same fascination as if she were reading the back of a cereal box. Toru had given up completely, using Izuku’s back as a comfortable pillow, her soft, even breathing a testament to her profound boredom. Only Momo seemed focused, her hands moving with quiet efficiency as she created an intricate, color-coded filing system that no one else understood or pretended to.
The conference room door burst open. Yu Takeyama entered with a smile so wide and so bright it was clearly a work of art, a public relations masterpiece.
"Attention, my stars!"
Her voice, filled with an artificial energy, cut through the silence. Everyone looked up, blinking against the sudden blast of charisma.
"Pack your bags and your phoniest smiles. Early tomorrow morning, we're taking a business trip to the glamorous and exciting metropolis of... Hosu."
The sarcasm in her voice was so thick you could cut it with a knife.
Toru stretched, lifting her head from Izuku's shoulder.
"Hosu? Is a giant monster attacking a karaoke bar or something? That would be awesome! I've been practicing a new team move."
Yu let out a long, dramatic sigh that seemed to come from the depths of her soul.
"Worse. Much, much worse."
She dropped into a chair at the head of the table, her cheerful facade vanishing for an instant to reveal the tired woman underneath.
"The main sponsor for my new beauty line, 'Gigantify Cosmetics,' was just bought out by a fast-food corporation. So now, the main sponsor of my contract is 'Hero Burger.' And they're opening their flagship restaurant in Hosu. They want me, in all my twenty-meter splendor, to headline the event and film a commercial for their new, revolutionary 'Giga Burger.'"
She paused, staring at the ceiling with an expression of pure suffering.
"It's the pinnacle of my career. Years of training, of risking my life, of fighting villains… all for this. To sell hamburgers."
Momo looked up from her folders, her expression serious and analytical, unfazed by her mentor's existential drama.
"From a business perspective, it's a sound decision, Yu-san. An expansion into a regional market like Hosu can strengthen brand recognition and diversify the agency's revenue streams. Furthermore, Hosu has had predominantly negative media coverage recently due to the rumors about the Hero Killer. A positive, high-profile event, led by a famous heroine, could significantly improve the public perception of the city's safety. It's a brilliant PR move."
Yu gave her a tired smile.
"Thanks, Momo. You call it a 'sound decision,' I call it 'my own personal hell with extra pickles.' But the contract is worth millions, and you all are my 'team of prodigies.' Director Nezu insisted that your presence was part of the deal. Your fame from the festival adds value and youth credibility to the event."
She straightened up, her professional energy returning like a well-rehearsed mask.
"So get ready to smile, wave to local mayors, and eat hamburgers until you want to puke. It's the least heroic part of being a hero, kids. Welcome to the real show."
Izuku watched Yu. He saw past the annoyance and the sarcasm. He noticed the slight tension in her shoulders, the way her smile didn't quite reach her eyes when she talked about contracts. It was the weight of fame, a different kind of burden than fighting a villain, but a burden nonetheless. And for the first time, he felt a pang of empathy for the woman he had idealized from a distance.
Aboard the Shinkansen bound for Hosu, the train’s gentle hum created a calm atmosphere that allowed anxious thoughts to surface. The sponsor had paid for first-class tickets, and the scenery rushed by the window in an orange and yellow blur.
Ochako was the first to break the silence, her voice barely a whisper as she watched the landscape.
"I wonder how Iida-kun is doing. He took this same train several days ago."
Izuku looked away from the window, his expression grim. Worry for his friend had been a constant undercurrent for the past few days.
"I tried calling him again last night. It went straight to voicemail. He hasn't answered any of our messages. Maybe he's just really busy with his internship at…"
He trailed off, knowing the excuse sounded hollow even to himself. A hero like Manual wouldn't isolate his intern from his friends like that.
"His behavior at the station was… alarming," Momo intervened, her tone as precise and concerned as a doctor delivering a bad diagnosis. "His formality was a facade to hide extreme distress. The smile didn't match the tension in his facial muscles. Analyzing his psychological state and the specific choice of Manual's agency in Hosu—the epicenter of the Hero Killer's activity—the probability of him acting recklessly is alarmingly high."
Yu, who had been reclining with her eyes closed and a pair of rose-gold headphones on, took one off. Evidently, she had been listening the whole time.
Her voice, when she spoke, was quiet, devoid of its usual sarcasm, and heavy with the weight of experience.
"Vengeance is a poison, kids."
They all looked at her, surprised.
"It's the most common and the stupidest mistake young heroes make," she continued, her eyes still closed. "You think it gives you purpose. You think it makes you strong, focused. But really, it just makes you stupid and predictable. You think you're the hunter, but you're actually the easiest prey in the forest. It blinds you to everything else: to your opponent's tactics, to the dangers of your surroundings, to your own limits."
She paused, and her eyes opened to meet Izuku's.
"I knew a hero a few years ago. Brilliant. Powerful. A villain killed his partner. He became obsessed. Stopped following protocol. Stopped listening to his team. He just wanted to find the guy. And he did. But the villain was waiting for him. Laid a trap. And the hero, blind with rage, walked right into it."
"What… what happened to him?" Toru asked in a small voice.
"He ended up in a body bag," Yu answered with brutal honesty. "And, worse for his legacy, on the cover of a tabloid for 'anti-heroic conduct and an unauthorized operation.' Vengeance doesn't make you a martyr. It makes you a statistic and a cautionary tale. I hope, for his sake, your friend isn't that stupid."
Her brutally honest comment wasn't malicious. It was a warning forged in experience. The cynicism of a professional who had seen too many colleagues fall for the wrong reasons. A heavy silence settled over the compartment; the team's worry now had a clear and terrifying cause: vengeance.
The station in Hosu felt different from the one in Tokyo. The air was more tense. There were more police officers on patrol, their eyes constantly scanning the crowd. People walked a little faster, their shoulders a little more hunched. The shadow of the Hero Killer was palpable.
As they exited, a small but loud group of reporters was already waiting for them, drawn by the event's press release.
"Mt. Lady! A word for Hosu TV!" "Mt. Lady! Excited for the Giga Burger?"
Yu transformed instantly. Her tired posture from the train vanished. Her back straightened. Her smile became dazzling. She waved, a goddess descending among mortals.
"Hello, everyone! I'm absolutely thrilled to be in the vibrant and wonderful city of Hosu! I've heard your citizens are as warm as your summers, and I can't wait to try that legendary Giga Burger!"
A bolder reporter pushed forward, his microphone nearly hitting her in the face.
"Mt. Lady, your arrival coincides with the growing concern over the Hero Killer. The police seem unable to stop him. Do you have any comment on the threat he poses to professionals in this city?"
Izuku watched, fascinated. It was a masterclass in real-time media handling.
Yu didn't miss a beat. Her smile softened, becoming more serious, more empathetic, but without losing an ounce of its charm.
"The safety of the citizens and my fellow heroes is always the top priority. I have complete faith in the local heroes and the police, who are working day and night to protect this wonderful city. Today, we're here to celebrate something positive for the community—a new business that brings jobs, joy, and delicious hamburgers. Let's focus on the good!"
With that perfect deflection, she waved once more, and her security team guided her through the crowd toward a black van with tinted windows. Izuku and the others followed, feeling like part of a presidential entourage. He realized, with overwhelming clarity, that being a top-ranking hero was as much a battle of perceptions as it was of Quirks.
The newly opened "Hero Burger" was controlled chaos. Thick cables snaked across the floor like black serpents. Technicians in headsets yelled orders. The hot, blinding film lights made the place feel like an oven. Izuku, Momo, Ochako, and Toru were seated at a back table, dressed as "enthusiastic customers" in slightly itchy branded T-shirts.
At the center of it all, under the lights, stood Yu, holding a hamburger the size of a small dinner plate.
The director, a short man with a megaphone and an impending nervous breakdown, was shouting.
"More passion, Lady! More ferocity! I want you to eat that burger like it's the villain you just defeated! Seduce the burger! You are the burger! I want to feel the gigantism in that bite!"
Yu, a forced smile on her face that must have been causing her facial cramps, took a comically large bite. Her mouth full, she spoke discreetly into her earpiece, knowing Izuku was on the same channel.
"Izuku. If you ever tell Nemuri or any other human being about this moment, I will use my foot to flatten you into a decal for her apartment floor. Understood?"
Izuku covered his mouth with his hand to stifle a laugh, hunching over the table. He whispered back.
"Your professionalism is… inspiring, Yu-san. You're selling that hamburger with admirable conviction. The public is going to believe you truly love that Giga Burger."
"Shut up and eat your free hamburger, you smart aleck. And pray I don't choke."
Despite the threat, Izuku could perceive the suppressed amusement in her tone. In the midst of this media circus, they had found a small moment of camaraderie.
Meanwhile, at the back table, the girls were having their own conversation.
"Do you think if I smile wider, the camera will catch me by accident?" Toru asked, subtly waving her arms whenever the camera panned in their direction. "Hi, Mom!"
Ochako took a huge bite of her own burger.
"Mmm, this free hamburger is the best thing that's happened to us in these internships so far," she mumbled with genuine bliss.
Momo, for her part, was analyzing the bun's composition.
"The texture is surprisingly airy. I suspect they use a modified yeast-based leavening agent to achieve this consistency without sacrificing structural integrity. Fascinating."
The afternoon passed in a haze of retakes, angle changes, and yelling from the director. Finally, as the sun began to set, they got the shot.
The team headed to their hotel. It wasn't a business hotel. It was a five-star hotel that Yu had booked for everyone, her way of apologizing for the hamburger torture. She had assigned them a luxury suite with several rooms and a common living area. It was spacious, quiet, and the antithesis of the chaos they had just left behind.
"Alright, stars," Yu said, kicking off her heels at the suite's entrance. "You have the rest of the night off. Order room service, watch movies, do whatever you want. But at eight a.m. sharp, I want you fresh and ready for the official grand opening. That means smiles, pictures with babies, and probably more hamburgers."
She retreated to her own room, closing the door with a sigh of relief.
The team dispersed throughout the enormous living room. Toru and Ochako dove onto a sofa that was bigger than Ochako's parents' car. Momo went to inspect the kitchen. Izuku remained standing by the large window, watching the lights of Hosu switch on at his feet.
