Loud tapping on the window could be heard in the poorly lit room. The power was gone due to the terrible weather of the night. The only source of light was provided from the five candles that were placed on a rather large table, and each one was set in front of a certain person that was seated at the table.
The five figures at the table silently observed one another. It was completely silent. Their dinner had been paused.
"What are we doing? Is this, really right?"
"Of course, it is! Everyone is happy!"
"But at what cost?! Being slaves to a single man?!"
"Let's think about this... he has granted us what we desired... this is what we wanted. So, of course it's right."
"Please... just... can we just set this aside?"
"What we've been seeking is finally in place! Can't you see that?"
"That doesn't justify murder!"
"They went against him, they were a threat to what we worked so hard to achieve!"
"Yet we remain shackled in chains to commit his deeds."
"If only..."
That night, the clouds were beginning to darken, there were signs of an upcoming storm and strikes of lightning as the rain started pouring heavily. The sun was beginning to become less and less present as time passed.
Mizuha aggressively shook her umbrella to try and shake off as much water as possible. Rainy weather was always the worst. It was like playing hopscotch in the rain to try and avoid those gigantic puddles that blocked all your possible paths. It's as if whatever god in charge pouring the rain on earth was bored out of his mind and just wanted to watch humans try and avoid water, like as if they were some kind of TV show.
The girl literally threw her umbrella in the spot available in the rack closest to her class' lockers.
Annoyed first thing in the morning. What a great start.
For once, she arrived at school a little later than usual. Apparently, the rain caused her bus to arrive a later than usual causing this chain of effect to happen. It was hell in that bus since the waiting line started getting pretty long. She could still feel the irritation she felt when someone shook their umbrella in front of her seat. It made her want to press the button on her umbrella while directing it at the other passenger's face.
When she entered the classroom and closed the door behind her, she heard her name.
"Hyoumei!"
Mizuha blinked, immediately recognizing their voice and looking straight at them. Kirishima was the one to call her out. He was already seated in his seat and he looked like he was talking with Ashido, Sero, Tsuyu and floating- uh Hagakure.
Mizuha waved at him.
"Ne, ne! Hyoumei! Come here!" Ashido called while gesticulating her hand cheerfully.
Maybe she didn't have to worry to much about leeching off of Byakuren after all. It seemed like a certain classmate was already helping her stand on her two feet.
...
...
...
"We're having a special Hero informatics class today. Code names. You'll be coming up with Hero names."
The class instantly reacted.
"We're gonna do something exciting!"
Mizuha slumped in her seat, Oh god...
She needed to come up with name that would identify her? What if she hated her name? Could she still change it? Thinking of a name right now seemed already hard enough. How can everyone be so pumped up about it?
Their excitement was brief. Seeing Aizawa activated his Quirk made everyone quiet down in their seats, not wanting to face whatever he had in store if they continued acting all excited that way. Mizuha was near the front and seeing her teacher's eyes glow red somehow reminded her of a demon in front of its prey. Weird.
"This is related to the Pro Hero draft picks I mentioned the other day. The drafts begin in earnest in the second and third years, after students have gained experience and can become immediate assets to the Pros. In other words, for them to extend offers to first years like you shows that they are interested in your future potential. These offers a cancelled if that interest dies down by graduation.
Mizuha felt nervous all of a sudden. She actually didn't want to know if she made a good impression or not... she didn't want to be disappointed if the results weren't as good as she hoped.
"So we'll have to prove ourselves once we get picked, huh?" wondered Hagakure.
"That's right. And here are the totals for those with offers." Aizawa pulled out a remote, pointed it at the blackboard and pressed a button.
CLASS A NO. OF OFFERS
Todoroki - 4123
Bakugo - 3556
Hyoumei - 1500
Tokoyami - 360
Iida - 301
Kyouran - 290
Kaminari - 272
Yaoyorozu - 108
Kirishima - 68
Uraraka - 20
Sero - 14
Mizuha silent stared at her number. She got exactly a thousand and five hundred offers. Perhaps she could have gotten more offers if not for her mistake in her first match.
"In other years, it's been more spread out, but all eyes were on these three this year."
"Gah, there's such a big difference!" exclaimed Kaminari, throwing his head back.
"Those Pros don't know a good thing when they see one!"
"Todoroki's first... Bakugo's second... Hyoumei's third?"
"Except for Hyoumei, it's the complete opposite of their placement in the Sports Festival." realized Kirishima after remembering the final results of the event.
"I guess some people are too scared to ask for a guy who had to be restrained on the podium."
This remark from Sero did not go unheard by mister first place, who immediately twisted in his chair and snapped at the boy, "What're the pros scared of?!"
Mizuha sweat dropped, your personality perhaps?
But she honestly didn't know what to think of the results. She figured she should be happy she at least got a big number but she couldn't help but wonder how many more she could have gotten if she didn't act rude towards Mokuen. Public image seemed to be very important. Bakugo served as proof.
"Keeping these results in mind…" the black-haired teacher brought back the attention to the front. "Whether or not anyone asked for you, you will all be participating in internships with Pros."
"Internships?"
"Yeah. At USJ, you already got to experience combat with real Villains, but it will still be meaningful training for you to see Pros at work firsthand." he explained.
"So that explains the Hero names!"
"Things are suddenly getting a lot more fun!"
"Well, those Hero names are still temporary."
Mizuha let out a sigh of relief, "Thank god..." she muttered to herself.
"Though you have to be serious about it. If you're not-" Aizawa was suddenly cut off by the classroom door opening.
"... You'll have hell to pay later!" a womanly voice finished.
Midnight was the one who spoke but she wasn't alone. She was followed by a certain slouching teacher with dull eyes; in other words, her uncle.
"Because a lot of Hero names used by students become recognized by society, and they end up becoming professional Hero names!" Midnight explained while walking in a rather... suggestive way.
Eijin scoffed, "So unless you want to known as something ridiculous and embarrassing, you'd better come up with good names. Trust me, there have been those who came up with the worst names, and guess what? They are still called that much to their dismay."
Eijin and Midnight both stood at the front of the class.
"Well, that's how it is. Midnight and Joker is here to make sure your names are okay." Aizawa reached down, "I can't do stuff like that." he pulled out his infamous sleeping bag.
"When you give yourself a name, you get a more concrete image of what you want to be like in the future, and you can get closer to it. That is what it me they say 'names and nature often agree'. Like 'All Might', for example."
With that, Aizawa retired and allowed Midnight and Joker to take over.
"Alright, we'll be handing you markers and white boards, so pass them along." Joker instructed. Midnight handed the whiteboards to the front of the rows while Joker distributed the markers.
Just as he passed by Mizuha's desk, she grabbed his wrist and stared up at him with desperate eyes, "Uncle..." she whined, "I don't know what to come up with." she admitted in a low voice. She was starting to feel the pressure of coming up with a good name and she was not handling it very well.
Her uncle grinned at her, and she released his wrist. He patted her shoulder with his free hand once he placed a marker on her desk, "Don't worry, you have plenty of time." he assured her before continuing his distribution.
Mizuha frowned.
The two teachers allowed the students to come up with names for a certain period of time. The squeaking against the whiteboards and the occasional whispering between Midnight and Joker were the sounds heard in the classroom. And during the whole time, Mizuha's marker remained closed in front of her.
She understood that it had to be linked with her Quirk.
She didn't want her name to be a phrase. If she could just come up with a name with one word or two then it would be perfect. Was there even a name like that? Maybe she could come up with something related to water?
... Leviathan? No... if she remembered correctly, there was already a hero who claimed that name.
Bubbles, wait no.
Eijin, from his spot at the front, watched his niece with amusement. It looked like she was having an internal struggle. She was probably having her own big bang theory inside her head.
...
...
...
"Okay, let's start presenting names, starting with those who are ready," announced Midnight.
Mizuha's mouth dropped open. She didn't even write anything yet!
Then, Aoyama stood up from his seat and walked to the front of the class, not hesitating one bit in his decision to be the ice breaker.
"Here I go…"
You know... maybe this guy could actually come up with a cool name-
"The Shining Hero: I Can Not Stop Twinkling! Which means: you can't stop my sparkles!"
Never mind. And he actually made a dang sentence!
Joker stared at his whiteboard with his arms crossed, "... Seems quite long don't you think?"
"Non, I think it's fine."
"In that case..." Midnight picked up his whiteboard and started writing on it, ""It'll be easier to use if you take out the 'I' and shorten the 'can not' to 'can't'."
"You're right, mademoiselle," Aoyama agreed.
Joker stared at the name silently before uttering a word, "Sure." he still thought it was too long.
Ashido got up from her seat and skipped towards the front, "Alright, I'm next! Hero name: Alien Queen!"
"A-Are you trying for the thing with acidic blood?" asked Midnight, horrified. "I wouldn't if I were you!"
Dejected, Ashido walked back to her seat.
Then it was Tsuyu's turn.
"I've had this in mind ever since I was in elementary school. Rainy Season Hero: Froppy."
"That's so cute! It seems friendly. I like it! It's a great example of a name that everyone will love! What do you think, Joker?"
Mizuha looked at her blank whiteboard.
... what can I come up with?
...
...
...
"Ehh, well I really couldn't choose. So I put: Vortex and Tempest." Byakuren smiled while showing his whiteboard to the class.
"I like Tempest!"
"Vortex sounds cool!"
Mizuha snickered, "Call yourself Hurricane Irma."
Byakuren shot her a tired look.
Joker opened a marker, "If I were to choose... I'd pick Tempest, but that alone sounds too plain so..." he tapped the marker against his chin several times, then stopped when he suddenly got an idea, he started writing on Byakuren's board.
"Tempesta." he revealed the name, "It's the same thing but in Italian. In my opinion, there isn't really a big difference but it sounds better than Tempest and Vortex. What do you think?"
Byakuren nodded, pleased with his revamped hero name.
...
...
...
Now, there was only a few more people who hadn't shown their hero names. Iida, Midoriya, Bakugo and Mizuha. The class and the two teachers were patiently waiting for them while reminding them about the time.
Mizuha groaned in frustration. This is even harder than exams! Todoroki used his first name. Maybe I can-
Wait.
Maybe...
Mizuha wasted no time in taking off the cap of her marker, not wanting the name to disappear before she was able to write it down. She wrote it clearly in letters and not in katakana. When she finished writing the last letter, she slowly moved away her marker and stared at the name on the board.
Yeah, that sounds right. I like it!
She looked up with a grin. Joker, who was watching her while leaning on the desk, grinned back at her and tapped the wooden desk, telling her to come up and show the name she had written down. Mizuha didn't even bother raising her hand she went straight to the front.
Joker moved away and allowed her to step behind the desk.
"So, Mizuha. What did you come up with?" Joker asked, trying to peek at her board.
Mizuha turned up her whiteboard, revealing her hero name to the class.
"Celsius. Water States Hero: Celsius."
Joker's eyebrows shot up, "Hey, that's pretty smart." he commented.
Midnight nodded, "It embodies your Quirk perfectly!"
Mizuha bashfully scratched her cheek with her index finger.
With the names finalized, Aizawa woke up from his nap and took over the podium.
"Now that everyone's decided on their Hero names, we'll go back to talking about the internships They will last for a week. As for where you'll have them, those who had offers from Pros will be given your own lists, so you can choose from those yourself. Those who didn't have offers will choose from among forty agencies around the country that will be accepting our interns. They all work in different places and have different specialties."
"For example, Thirteen would be focused on rescues from accidents and disasters more than fighting Villains." explained Midnight.
"Or," interjected Joker, "You can choose a place that doesn't necessarily focus on things your Quirk is most suited for. A Hero needs to have more than one trick up their sleeve. A versatile hero can be pretty good." he advised.
"Think carefully before you choose." Aizawa finally added before distributing the papers.
"Turn in your choices before the weekend."
"We've only got two days to pick!?" Sero said, feeling pressured.
"Make your decision efficiently. Dismissed." the black-haired teacher said before exiting the classroom with his two colleagues.
Mizuha picked up her paper and started checking the names printed on it. She was able to recognize a few of the agencies remember where they were located. One of the agencies happen to be one that was nearby the incident that happened five years ago.
There first twenty names didn't seem to really call out to her.
She actually wanted to follow her uncle's suggestion about being versatile. He was definitely right about how versatile heroes weren't so bad. After all, he was one.
Mizuha's eyes widened at a certain name.
Isn't that...
Sorry if the first chapter was a little boring but I wanted to start off easy while in a way explain the name of Book II. It's pretty obvious now why I called it Celsius Hero. What do you think of her Hero name?
If anyone is curious whether or not I will include the movie... YES I WILL. I WATCHED IT IN THEATERS. HOW COULD I NOT?!
Anyway, let me know what you thought in a review!
