For the rest of the internship, Sam and Rumi kept sparring and exercising. At lunch and sometimes at dinner, they would talk. Sam learned a lot about Rumi and her childhood.
He found it funny how similar her younger self was to her current self. Muscle-headed and always raring for a fight.
They have become friends. And Sam has begun to accept that. Whenever he thought about Charles or Zola, he would remember failing them. They both died so he could live. He didn't want to admit it, but he was afraid of it happening a third time.
But, when he told Rumi about this fear of his, she only laughed. He would never forget what she said to him.
"You aren't giving me enough credit! I'm the number 5 pro hero! I ain't going anywhere. You can bet on it!"
She said that with a cocky smirk. Sam saw no deception in her statement. And no lies in her eyes.
He still struggles with letting people grow closer, but he feels like allowing her to be a friend would be a step towards recovery.
Sam knew he was a broken human being. All the evidence was in that mess he caused in the streets, where he beat up and nearly killed some heroes.
He knew he needed help. And he didn't dislike his therapist. But he still feels broken.
But lately, being around Rumi has been pleasant to Sam. He trusted her enough to tell her about himself, and that trust was well placed as they grew to understand each other.
This makes the current situation much harder for Sam.
Right now, he was getting ready to return to U.A.
The internships have officially come to an end. And he was on the front porch, which is still broken, with Rumi, who is in her casual clothes.
"So… I guess this is it."
Sam says.
Rumi nods.
"Can I ask? Why you decided to send me an internship recommendation?"
She scoffed.
"Honestly, I just wanted to kick your ass after getting away from me that day."
Sam rolled his eyes.
'So petty…'
"But… I grew to respect you. You are strong. Not just physically, but mentally. I grew to consider you a friend. So while my intentions may have been simply to beat you up, I'm glad I got to know you, Sam."
Sam smiled.
"And I'm glad I got to know you, Rumi."
And he meant it. Rumi was his friend. His first friend since Zola.
"Well then, I will see you later."
Sam walks away after waving off at Rumi.
"Wait, asshole! Where do you think you're going?!?"
Sam turned around to find her walking up to him with crossed arms.
"Did I forget something?"
She scoffed.
"You did."
Sam raised an eyebrow at that. He was sure he got everything he brought.
"Give me your phone."
"What?"
"Now!"
She yelled and Sam flinched and took it out and put it in her hand before he even realized.
She then began typing into it.
Finally, she returned it.
"May I ask what that was about?"
"I gave you my private number, obviously."
Sam looked skeptical.
"Y-you're not coming onto me are you-"
Before he could finish she punched him square in the face.
———
Sam couldn't believe what he just saw when he entered the classroom.
After saying goodbye to Rumi, and getting punched in the face, Sam returned to U.A.
He was pretty tired and just went to bed. He still had nightmares, as those are not easy to be rid of.
By the time morning came, he was looking at the ceiling, eyes bloodshot. But he was snapped out of it by a text.
He grabbed his phone and saw it was a text from Rumi. That lightened him up after another miserable night. Talking to her was like a breath of fresh air. He was glad he found a friend in her.
Now, he was looking at the others and anticipating their changes during the internships.
The most obvious and hilarious change was Bakugo.
"Well, well. My little Chihuahua got groomed."
"WHAT DID YOU JUST SAY, SCARFACE?!?!?"
He screamed at Sam. Suddenly, his hair popped back to its original spiky form.
Sero and Kirishima were both cracking up at the sight. Sam just shook his head with a slight smirk.
Bakugo was fuming and ready to rip the laughing students a new one.
Sam walked to his seat.
Suddenly, he felt some attention on him.
He saw a lot of the students were staring at him. Even Kirishima and Sero glanced at him after coming down from their laughter.
"What?"
Kaminari stepped forward.
"Dude! How are you able to walk around so calmly after gutting Stain?"
Sam raised an eyebrow.
"What the hell are you talking about?"
He then showed Sam a video of it.
Sam sighed.
He hated being watched.
"I forgot that was filmed. How popular is it?"
Kaminari didn't say anything and just showed Sam a bunch of memes.
Sam's eye twitched when he saw the memes, the threads, the news, and the discussions about it.
Sam just hit his head against the desk as he sat down.
'I'm finished. Those fuckers will find me.'
Sam lamented this cruel error.
'I just had to go crazy. I just had to fight the Chihuahua on live television. I just had to gut stain in front of cameras. Fuck. This.'
"That was so manly!"
Kirishima looked at Sam like he was a legend.
"Dude! You were so cool! You just shut him down with just a gut punch!"
Sero also got excited.
Sam had to clean this mess.
"I only knocked him out. It was the flaming piece of crap Endeavor who weakened him."
Sam saw Todoroki with a light smirk at that title for his dad.
"Yeah, but still, you four changed the most out of all of us."
Kaminari said.
"Huh?"
"You, Midoriya, Iida and Todoroki."
Sam nodded.
The others approached his desk, along with Iida, Midoriya and Todoroki. The other students tried to ask about what happened.
"So you saw Endeavor's fight? So cool!"
Sam saw Todoroki clench his fist at the question.
"Yes."
Todoroki answered plainly.
"He's pretty amazing!"
"Yeah, but that hero killer was something else. If he was at the U.S.J., I could only imagine the damage he could cause."
Ojiro pipes in with that thought.
"I know! Did you guys see those videos released? Despite Sam gutting him, a lot of people still uploaded his message. Also, videos with his manifesto were released. They were really creepy. But also, wouldn't you say he was kinda cool?"
Sam could see Iida stiffen. Midoriya also saw this.
"Kaminari!"
Midoriya chastised him.
"Oh! Sorry Iida."
Kaminari hastily apologizes to Iida, knowing how much he hates the hero killer.
"I admit, I can understand why some people may see Stain as 'kinda cool,' but it's important to remember, he took a lot of lives for his own personal beliefs. Sam, you said it best. He was a tyrant."
Sam nodded.
"Yup."
"Huh? What's that mean?"
Mina asked, as not all of the students understood what Sam meant.
Sam saw that and decided to enlighten them.
"Well, Stain clearly has a belief that he believed so strongly in. That's not a bad thing. In fact, I encourage it. But that should be done through conversation. At the most, Stain should have just organized a peaceful protest outside HPSC. Hell, I wouldn't mind supporting such a thing."
The students gasped.
Sam clarified.
"Just because I hate Stain, doesn't mean his message is wrong. In fact, I agree with a lot of his beliefs. But I would never force anyone to think the same way I do. That's fascism. That is tyranny."
Sam spat out the last few sentences with venom.
"Whoah…"
Mina and Kaminari thought Sam was so cool, dismantling the Hero Killer's beliefs so easily.
The other students also couldn't help but admire Sam. He is truly knowledgeable.
However, Iida sees the time. He stiffens up and starts chopping the air.
"Everyone to your seats! Class will soon begin!"
Sam and Midoriya both felt relieved to see Iida back to his original self
———
Sam wasn't too pleased to see All Might again.
Right now he stood in Field Gamma. Everyone was dressed in their costumes, except for Sam.
Despite going on the internship, Sam had no desire to be a hero so he is sticking with just watching.
"Today, we're going to be conducting a little race. Take everything you learned from internships and apply it to this rescue training."
Sam raised his hand.
"You aren't forced to participate, young Suzuki!"
"I know. I feel I must ask this question. I understand that being fast is important, but isn't a race really a good way to teach them? After all, heroes only win when a life is saved. Who gets there first means nothing. Right?"
All Might starts sweating.
The other students start chatting about Sam's logical question.
All Might clears his throat, catching their attention.
"You are correct, Young Suzuki! All that matters is if someone is saved! Well put! But making it a race will push them to go faster. Then we can see what they need to work on."
Sam smirked.
'Nice save, All Might.'
Sam sees the students understand and get pumped for this.
"The arena will be a labyrinth of industrial buildings and other hazards. Proceed with caution."
All Might warned them.
"Oh! And please keep property damage at a minimum!"
He pointed at Bakugo.
"Why are you pointing at me?!?"
"Why wouldn't he be pointing at you?"
"Shut up, Scarface!"
After that, the first group was called.
Midoriya, Iida, Sero and Ojiro.
"Who's your pick? I'm betting on Sero!"
Kaminari thinks about it.
"If I had to guess… I'd go with Ojiro."
"I choose Ashido because she has such an athletic body."
Mineta says with a pervy face.
"I'm sure Deku will be last!"
"Even if he is still recovering, I think Iida's got this."
Uraraka says and Tsu agrees.
Kirishima then looks at Sam.
"Yo, Sam! Who do you think will win?"
They all turn to Sam, even Bakugo.
"Hmm…"
After thinking for a bit, he answered.
"I'm going to say Sero. He has a versatile quirk. Perfect for urban terrain. Midoriya is a possibility, but he will likely screw the pooch because he always overthinks things."
They were all shocked at Sam's opinion.
"So I was right! Sero is the best bet!"
Sam nodded.
"Indeed. Sero is more than likely going to win this."
"Let's watch."
Kaminari says as they all watch the race.
The moment they set off, everyone is shocked to see Midoriya moving and not destroying his limbs.
I notice something from Midoriya's movements.
'Is that… Bakugo's moves?'
Sam got a personal glimpse at Bakugo's moves when they fought at the festival. So of course he would recognize it.
He looked over at Bakugo and saw him fuming as he also caught Midoriya copying him.
Sam watched them all traverse the labyrinth. Just when it seemed Midoriya was about to win.
Bonk!
He rammed face first into a pipe. Making the victor Sero.
———
The rest of the races were uneventful. Sam saw the progress they had on their quirks. But the one he was most disappointed by was Yaoyorozu.
'Who was the hero she interned with'
Sam decided to just ask her.
"Momo. Who did you intern with?"
It was after the races were wrapped up, and they were all in their uniform, talking.
Momo was shocked by his question and felt a small blush reach her cheeks at this question, since it was fairly embarrassing.
"Umm… Uwabami."
Sam just looked at her like she was dumb.
Sam knew Uwabami. How couldn't he know Uwabami? Her advertisements were not native to Japan. They reached Africa.
'I remember seeing that broads advertisements in the impoverished streets of Senegal.'
Sam recalled a mission that was in the country Senegal. It required undercover operation in the city without alerting authorities.
He saw Uwabami's advertisements in such a poor city. Almost as if she was taunting them.
"May I ask you why?"
Sam inquired.
"W-well! She is a very well known and respected hero! So I thought that I would learn a lot in my internship… but…"
Sam sighed.
"Did she make you her groupie or something?"
She shook her head.
"No. She made me and 1-B's Kendo do advertisements with her."
Sam felt like facepalming.
He could see how embarrassed she was. Seeing that she regretted it, he didn't feel the need to chastise her for it.
"I see."
'How disappointing. All that potential, wasted on advertisements. Rumi actually taught me some new exercises during the internships. But Momo only learned how to show off her body. A tragedy.'
Sam walked away, leaving a confused Momo behind.
He walked back to his seat and so did everyone else.
Then, the hobo hero arrived in his signature fashion—in his damn sleeping bag.
After the class was finished he had one more thing to say.
"Alright, that's it for class. But there is only a week left until finals. I'm sure you're all studying, right?"
Sam was pretty well educated. Those Pale Hand bastards forced them to be book smart. Sam was at the top in the lessons that the child soldiers took. He was tied with Zola.
Sam sighed. Once again, painful memories entered his head. Oddly enough, he hasn't been feeling the heart crushing pain as badly as before. He still hurts over her, but he feels he is taking a step towards healing.