Contrary to what you may think, I'm not dead! Yet! Sorry I've let so much time go by with no update, but life kinda happened. In fact, life is starting to happen a lot, so updates will be on more of a Viridescent-style schedule from now on (AKA whenever I want to and have some scraps of time). I'm not completely stopping away from fanfiction, but I'll be taking my sweet ass time. I know you'll understand, but I still wish I could do these more quickly.
Anyways, the results for Shinso's name were pretty one-sided. And despite some convincing arguments for certain names, I'm going with majority rule. Also we reached 1k favorites on Active Pheromones, hoorah.
Also I think last chapter got more reviews than any of my other ones so far! Although not many people actually said anything other than voting on the poll or "nice chapter."
Reviews:
Blaze1992: I mean, yeah. I've been pretty clear that Izuku and Ochako are the pairing since the start.
moonstar31548: And since when has Mina been a stickler for manners?
KahunaLagoona: I feel you on the lack of romantic experience. At least I did until recently. ;) That's part of the "life" stuff that delayed this chapter btw.
Hawke Nightblade: That's actually really good and I would have considered it if the response to the poll wasn't so one-sided.
Mondler123: I don't have a set end, but I would like to go to the Overhaul arc eventually.
Benjamin (guest): Nice idea on the agency huh!
ILiekFishes: Fluff actually is a decent focus for this story lol. I always planned to have it play a big role alongside the action.
A potato (guest): He'll get OFA if and when he gets it! I already have that part planned out so shush!
btn29: Yeah, great minds haha. Also your dedication to posting chapters is insane with the consistent quality, it makes me feel inadequate lol.
Orbital: Now I feel bad because I'm slowing my update schedule. :(
carl9390: I don't like to reiterate, but Izuku has limits on his ability to control sentient bodies if they resist.
~Shoutout time~
Deku: Hero of the Elements by ShadowK54! It may be a harem story, but it's so much more! I'm also a fan of some of his other works that may also involve Deku having a harem, but I don't want to advertise those kinds of stories on this one. Well okay, maybe I already advertised my own smut piece, but that's totally different. But I really like the author in general and their stories are worth a look-see!
~End shoutout time~
I'm sorry if the chapter seems awfully disjointed, but it was written and revised over the full course of 3 weeks and might not be my best work. But it's about what I wanted to get at, whether or not the in-between stuff is as good as normal.
Still, I hope you enjoy!
I do not own Boku No Hero Academia or any of the characters portrayed in this story.
_
Getting Set Up To Intern!
"Mom, I'm home!" Izuku called as he walked into their apartment and locked the door behind him.
"Welcome back Izuku!" Inko replied from the kitchen. "Can you come here?"
"Yeah, what's up?" Izuku turned the corner into the kitchen, where his mother was pulling food from some grocery bags.
"Could you help me unload these groceries?" she asked. "I had to get more ingredients for dinner since Ochako's parents are stopping by, and just decided to stock up on some other things that we needed."
"Yeah, sure," he said as he walked in and started grabbing groceries out of a bag.
"So, Izuku," Inko asked after putting away a few items, "how was lunch?"
"Good," he replied. "We went and got mochi after, and that was good too."
"Hm, good, good," she nodded. "How's Ochako doing?"
"She's doing good. She's happy that she made it so far in the tournament, but kind of wishes that she did more. Which I get, but she did more than enough to stand out I think."
"Probably," Inko nodded, eyeing her son. "Anything else?"
"Um... Like what?" Izuku paused and tilted his head.
"Well... It's not every day that you go out and get lunch with a girl, sweetie."
"Mom," Izuku groaned, "we've done this before, you know. And we work out together every week."
"Yeah, I know," she admitted. "But there is something, right?"
"Well, I mean..." he looked away and scratched the back of his neck.
"Izuku, I could tell something happened the moment you walked in," she smiled. "You have an even bigger smile on your face than you did earlier."
"Y-Yeah, something did happen I guess," Izuku sighed. He returned to putting away the groceries, but he could still feel his mom's stare.
"So, what is it?" she asked.
Izuku slightly flinched. He didn't want to lie to his mom (he was raised better than that), but he was hoping to avoid this rather embarrassing development. But it was looking unavoidable.
"Well... Uraraka and I decided that... it was... it was a d-date."
There. He said it. He really had no idea how his mom would react, though she had never been anything but supportive of him in everything. But this was different, and he had heard of mothers being overprotective of their sons–
"Really? That's great!" she smiled as she pulled him into a hug. "I guess this is a big day for you, huh? First winning the sports festival, then your first date!"
"Uh... yeah..." he nodded. She wasn't acting very surprised.
"Oh, well now I'm even more excited to meet her parents!" she said as she turned and started putting groceries away again. "Oh, and the sports festival for all 3 grades is recorded on the DVR for you to watch after we're done with this."
"Thanks," he smiled.
And so, after helping put away the last of the groceries, Izuku plopped onto their couch to watch the festival. Of course he was impressed, and made note of plenty of cool Quirks and what people did with them. He tried to watch for a second year girl that looked like the mochi shop's cashier, but couldn't quite pick her out. Anyway, none of the top four looked similar to him. Then in the third year showing, he did take note of the blonde boy whose clothes... fell off. Well that's an interesting Quirk.
After viewing those it was almost time for the Urarakas to arrive. He helped his mom finish with some of the food prep, and they finished it up with time to spare. All that was left to do when the doorbell rang was to let it sit for a couple of minutes. Also the doorbell meant that they had arrived, and Izuku was once again nervous. Had Ochako told her parents that they decided it was a date? What if she didn't, and if his mom mentioned it they would get mad at her for not saying it?
"Coming!" Inko called as she made her way to the door. She opened it and smiled at the three people outside. "Ah, Ochako! And Mr. and Mrs. Uraraka, I presume."
"Mrs. Midoriya," Mrs. Uraraka smiled. "It's so nice of ya to offer us dinner like this!"
"Oh of course!" she laughed. "Always nice to have guests! Especially since Ochako is around so often, it's nice to finally meet you two."
"Hm? She's around a lot?" Mr. Uraraka raised an eyebrow.
"Yes, they work out together on the weekends," Inko said. "Go on runs, exercise, you know."
"Honey, Ochako already told us 'bout that," Mrs. Uraraka laughed lightly.
"Hey Deku," Ochako greeted with a smile as the green teen showed up behind his mom at the door, before lightly blushing and glancing away.
"Hi Uraraka," he smiled. Then he slightly dipped his head to her parents, "Mr. Uraraka, Mrs. Uraraka."
"Young man," he nodded.
"Hey there Midoriya!" Mrs. Uraraka beamed. "I never asked, but do ya mind if I call ya Izuku?"
"No, it's fine," he smiled.
"Great!"
"Anyways, why don't you come in?" Inko offered as she stepped aside from the doorway. "Dinner is just about done."
The two families made their way to the dinner table and made idle chatter until Inko began setting the table and serving the food: her homemade katsudon—Izuku's favorite—and red rice.
"Mmm! This is really good!" Ochako exclaimed as she rested her cheek on her hand. "I can see why it's Deku's favorite food!"
"It really is good!" Mrs. Uraraka agreed. "Inko—is it okay if I call ya that?—ya just gotta give me this recipe!"
"Yes, it's fine," Inko chuckled. "And I'd be glad to share the recipe."
"Well I'm sure we have a couple of recipes of our own to trade," Mr. Uraraka said.
"Oh for sure!" Mrs. Uraraka agreed.
"Well that's nice and all, but we really aren't here to talk about recipes," Inko said with a wave of her hand. "We're here to celebrate these two doing so well in the festival!"
The two teens, who had started quietly talking about work-out plans for the next couple of days, flinched at the sudden hand gesture Inko threw their way.
"Ehe, don't lump us together," Ochako giggled as she scratched her neck. "Deku's the one that won the tournament."
"Yeah, but getting into the tournament alone is a big accomplishment," Izuku said. "Considering there are hundreds of first year students and only 16 got into it."
"Yeah Ochako, you did great!" Inko nodded.
"But the obstacle race round!" Mrs. Uraraka exclaimed clapping her cheeks. "You were holdin' onto him so hard!"
"M-Mom!" Ochako blushed. "I-It's embarrassin' enough if you don't keep bringin' it up, y'know?"
"But you were so cute!" her mother laughed.
"No, I looked like I was holding on for my life," she sighed. "It looked pathetic."
"Listen, Ochako," Mr. Uraraka said seriously. "... Ya did look pretty cute."
"Not you too!"
"I didn't think you looked too bad on the replay Uraraka," Izuku offered. "It was your first time going that fast, so I think you actually handled it pretty well."
"Yeah what he said," Mrs. Uraraka said.
"You guys teamed up for both of the first two rounds didn't you?" Inko asked.
"Yeah, it made sense to because of how well our Quirks cooperate," Izuku said.
"But only for you," Mr. Uraraka said. "Her Quirk just lets you maneuver better, right?"
"That was the best way to use it in the festival, yeah," Izuku said. "But in real life there would be plenty of situations to use it on her instead of me, or even other people or objects."
"That so?" he grunted before taking another bite.
"Um, y-yeah," Izuku said with a nod.
"Ah, this is real good," Mrs. Uraraka said as she got seconds. "Oh, I can get more right?"
"Yes, I made extra on purpose," Inko nodded.
"Good, cause this is so good!"
"Glad you like it," Inko chuckled.
"So," Izuku said quietly to Ochako, "you think you can keep up the whole 4 kilometers tomorrow?"
"Oh be quiet," she sighed. "You know I can't. But how should we do this? We have two days off, so should we only run one and not the other? We do have the weekend coming up after Friday so we'll do it again soon enough."
"Yeah... How about the first day we don't run? We can work out our legs and back, maybe core too. Then the next day we can run then do some upper body."
"We'll do legs the day before running?" Ochako giggled. "That was rough the last time we did that."
"But it helps loosen the leg muscles," Izuku argued. "And it only hurts for the first half mile at the most."
"Meh, fine," she relented. "So... I wonder if we're doing anything special on Friday."
"Hm? You mean aside from getting the internship requests?" Izuku asked.
"Yeah," she nodded. "Think about it. It's two days off, one day at school, then the weekend right after. It's only one day at school, so it has to be something special, right?"
"Not necessarily?" Izuku mused. "Present Mic might just skip out on teaching English, but other than that I don't know what we might do."
"What was his name Ochako?" Mrs. Uraraka suddenly burst into their conversation.
"H-Huh?" Ochako asked. "Whose name?"
"That guy ya fought in the tournament that had the red hair," Mrs. Uraraka said while making quick hand motions around her hair.
"Oh, Kirishima," she said.
"YEAH, that Kirishima boy! She just threw 'im straight inta the sky!"
"Hm, hm," Mr. Uraraka nodded with a smile. "That's ma girl!"
"Oh, but that frog girl!" Mrs. Uraraka hit the table (lightly). "She got ya out!"
"Y-Yeah, she deserved the win," Ochako laughed and scratched her neck.
"And Izuku!"
"Yes Mrs. Uraraka?" he tilted his head.
"You know you're kinda a celebrity!" she said.
"Ah, yeah, I'm aware," Izuku said with a small blush.
"Oh yeah, I forgot to ask," Inko said, "how are things on your social media?"
"A-Ah, well... Someone found my actual Twitter account, and I've been getting followers nonstop since about 3 PM."
"Oh goodness!" Inko gasped. "That sounds exciting! You really are like a celebrity!"
"It's kinda embarrassing," he said. "But this... It's just extra training for when we become heroes. Because we'll have to deal with publicity and everything once we become pros."
"But Izuku, your fight with that ice boy!" Mrs. Uraraka exclaimed. "That was really cool ya know!"
"Ah, thanks," he scratched the back of his neck.
"That boy was the son of Endeavor?" Mr. Uraraka mused. "Musta been tough out there."
"Yeah, it was," Izuku said. It really was tough, and not just physically... The whole day was catching up to Izuku now.
"Hey Deku, you okay?" Ochako asked, seeing him leaning on his hand and sighing.
"Yeah, just tired," he sighed. Then he smiled at her, "A lot happened today, you know?"
"Y-Yeah," she smiled too and blushed a bit.
"Oh, you mean the date?!" Mrs. Uraraka asked as she leaned across the table.
"H-How did ya even hear that?!" Ochako asked.
"Oh yeah, Izuku did mention that they had decided their little lunch outing was a 'date'," Inko said.
"Well he's already popular, so he's probably going to make a lot of money once he's a hero!" Mr. Uraraka laughed. "So I'm okay with it."
"Dad, that's an awful reason to be okay with it!"
"A-And I wasn't even talking about that," Izuku clarified. "It's just been a long day in general."
Ochako glanced at the adults then took out her phone. They'd already been there for more than an hour, and she was, admittedly, feeling tired as well.
"Hey Daddy," Ochako said to her father who was sitting next to her. "I'm gettin' a little tired too. Could we go soon?"
"Yeah, that's alright," he nodded. "First let's let yer mom exchange whatever recipes she wants to."
And that's exactly what they did. Inko gave Mrs. Uraraka her katsudon recipe, and in return received two recipes—one for donburi, and one for daifuku in case she ever needed it.
"I'll see you tomorrow Deku," Ochako smiled as she stepped out of the apartment. "I'll try to keep up on the run!"
"Yeah, see you then," Izuku said with a wave.
_
The next day Izuku and Ochako decided against running. They did run the second day though, and Ochako was able to keep up for 3 kilometers out of the 4. That was good, and so was the workout, but the adrenaline from exercise did little to prepare them for the news they saw online towards the end of their workout.
Ingenium was permanently crippled, and he would retire as a hero.
Izuku and Ochako each sent Tenya text messages of course, but this time received no reply. Izuku looked back at the text he'd gotten from his friend two days prior, and confirmed: Tenya never did say that Ingenium would be alright, only that his injuries weren't life-threatening. But despite his worry,he received no reply that day all the way until he had to fall asleep.
The next day, perhaps fittingly, was raining. Aside from the many people on the train that recognized and congratulated Izuku, plus the now constant buzz on his phone, Izuku saw no reason for the day to be anything but gloomy.
"Everyone on the train was so energetic," he sighed as he walked up to U.A. carrying his umbrella. "I wonder if Iida will be here... He has a good reason not to show, after all."
"GOOD MORNING MIDORIYA!" Tenya called as he rushed past Izuku. "This is no time for an idle stroll! We could be late!"
"Iida!" Izuku called as he ran behind his classmate. "Wait, late? We still have five minutes before the first bell!"
"U.A. students must make it a point to arrive ten minutes early!" Tenya exclaimed as he stopped in front of his locker.
"Yeah, I guess," Izuku said. He closed his umbrella and shook it off before saying, "Hey, Iida..."
"You needn't worry about my brother," he cut him off as he took off his poncho's hood and smiled at him. "He's in good spirits despite everything. I apologize if I caused any unnecessary concern for either myself or him."
Then, before Izuku could say anything, he quickly turned and made his way to class. Izuku joined him soon enough, as did the majority of 1-A. Ochako, when she showed up, also showed concern over Tenya's brother, but he told her the same thing that he had told Izuku.
"Anyways, I had a ton of people recognize me on my way here," Mina said as she walked in with a few other students. "I mean, they all pretty much said 'nice try', but it was still cool."
"Oh, me too!" Toru exclaimed. "All the stares I got were so embarrassing!"
"I somehow doubt that," Mashirao commented.
"What about Midoriya though?" Eijiro said excitedly. "He's totally a celebrity!"
"Oh yeah, Midori!" Mina called, grabbing the green teen's attention. "How are you liking all of those Twitter followers?"
"I dunno, I guess I just wish I didn't have to mute my Twitter notifications to stop by phone from buzzing," he said.
"Sounds tiring," Hitoshi sighed.
"How did they even figure out which account was his?" Denki pondered.
"Ehehe, I wonder!" Mina announced.
"Ashido, you didn't," Eijiro said.
"Well, I didn't do a lot of things," she giggled. "But I might've announced to the whole world what Izuku's account is called."
"I don't know if you did him a favor or not," Rikido mused.
"It's totally a favor!" Mina said. "Who wouldn't want to be constantly observed by thousands of strangers online?!"
"Mina," Ochako sighed.
"Oh, Ochako!" Mina whirled around towards the brunette. "Speaking of Midori–!"
"No no no! Silence!" Toru argued as she covered Mina's mouth. She whispered, "She can't know we eavesdropped on them!"
"But Toruuuuu!" Mina whined as she tried to wrestle from her grip.
Ochako slightly blushed at the mention of their green-haired classmate, who she realized she hadn't said good morning to yet. Well, might as well.
"Good morning," Aizawa sighed as he walked in. "And shut up and sit down."
'Guess I won't say good morning to him then,' Ochako thought with a pout.
"I'm glad to see you're better Aizawa Sensei, kero," Tsuyu said, noting the fact that he was no longer covered head-to-toe in bandages and only had a small scar under one eye.
"Yeah I'm better, although the old lady's treatment was... excessive," he sighed. "But nevermind that. Today we have a special hero informatics class."
"Bleh, hero law and stuff?" Eijiro sighed under his breath. "I stuck at this stuff."
"A special class? What's that mean?" Denki asked. "I hope it's not a pop quiz!"
"Today, you'll all come up with your hero names."
"WOOHOOO! YEAH!" the class cheered.
"BUT FIRST!" Aizawa announced as his hair stood up on end and his eyes flashed red, silencing the room. "Concerning the pro heroes that'll be drafting you for internships... That's based on who they think will be ready to join the official ranks of heroes after another two or three years of experience. So, it's essentially their way of showing that they're interested in your futures. But there's still plenty of time for them to lose interest and revoke their offers. It happens all the time."
"They're just flaunting their power at this point," Hanta sighed.
"So that means that those of us who are ahead now will have to try harder to stay ahead in the future?" Toru asked.
"Exactly," Aizawa nodded. "Anyways, here are the draft numbers. There's usually more of an even spread, but... There were a few standouts this year, as I'm sure you're aware."
Izuku Midoriya–5,347
Katsuki Bakugo–3,960
Shoto Todoroki–2,878
Tsuyu Asui–354
Momo Yaoyorozu–215
Ochako Uraraka–76
Tenya Iida–70
Mina Ashido–37
Denki Kaminari–24
Hanta Sero–15
Eijiro Kirishima–13
Fumikage Tokoyami–1
"Woah woah woah, why does Deku have so many more?!" Katsuki shouted.
"He displayed better strategy," Aizawa said quickly. "Besides the fact that he placed first in every event and is easily the most well-known U.A. first year student at this point."
"Man, they're all in a whole other league," Denki sighed.
"The pros simply have no eye for real talent," Yuga said.
"Hey, why's Todo so high up?" Mina asked. "He got out in the second round."
"Well, he showed an immense amount of power and did almost beat the one who ended up winning it all," Aizawa guessed.
"Well done as always, Todoroki," Momo said with a nod.
"Hmph, it's probably just my dad's influence," he sighed.
"OH MY GOD IIDA WE GOT OFFERS!" Ochako gushed as she shook Tenya's shoulders.
"Yes, it is exciting!" he agreed.
"I wonder who asked for you Tokoyami," Rikido mused. "You didn't even make it into the tourney."
"It is indeed perplexing," the bird headed teen tilted his head forwards.
"Anyways, now that that announcement is out of the way," Aizawa sighed, "whether or not you were picked, you'll all be working with pros. There's a predetermined list of 40 heroes that you can pick from who will be accepting interns. And I do realize that you have... extra hands-on experience with villains, but seeing the pros in action and helping them out will still be more than beneficial."
"Oh, so our hero names will be used when we work with the heroes!" Rikido realized.
"Ooh, this'll be fun!" Ochako pumped her fist.
"They may only be temporary," Aizawa said, "but you still want to pick names that are appropriate–"
"Or else you'll face REAL HELL!!" Midnight yelled as she burst in. "Sorry Eraser, you were taking your time."
"It's fine," he sighed.
"Anyways, these names might still end up being your permanent hero names," she said to the class. "It's happened before, you know."
"Yeah. Anyways, Midnight is much better with social things than I am, so she'll be in charge of deciding whether or not your names are appropriate. What do you want to be? What's your identity? These names should go towards cementing your character as a hero, like 'All Might'."
They passed white boards back down the rows of desks, and began contemplating their name choices. It came easy to some, while others quickly became overwhelmed by the pressure. 15 minutes later, Midnight began allowing people to present their name choices.
"Alright, we can start with whoever is ready!" Midnight called. "Come up and show the class your name!"
Yuga immediately stood and began walking to the front, where he dramatically halted and slammed his whiteboard down on the desk, which read (in English): "The Shining Hero: I Cannot Stop Twinkling!"
"It's a whole sentence!" someone shouted. "Besides, are you French or English? Pick one!"
"Hm, you should take out the 'I' and replace 'cannot' with 'can't'," Midnight advised.
"Wait, that's okay?!"
"Well then here's mine!" Mina said as she ran up. "Ridley Hero: Alien Queen!"
"From Aliens?" Midnight asked. "Why, because her blood was acidic? That's terrible! It should be heroic, not villainous. Besides, James Cameron directed Aliens, not Ridley Scott. He only directed the first one."
"Darn," she sighed and stepped down.
"I'm next, kero," Tsuyu said. "I've had this figured out since primary School: The Rainy Season Hero, Froppy!"
"That's so cute!" Midnight gushed. "And super approachable! Perfect!"
After that, the names started coming in one after the other. Shoto and Tenya each only put down their names, oddly, and Katsuki's "Bakusatsuo", or King Explosion Murder, was unfortunately declined.
"Ah, my turn," Ochako said nervously as she walked up. "I came up with Uravity!"
"That's a double pun! Nice!" Midnight said. "Okay, so who's next? All that's left is Bakugo's revision, Midoriya and Shinso. Wait, is Shinso asleep?"
"Hm?" Izuku turned around. He nudged his sleeping classmate, "Hey Shinso, you pick a hero name?"
"Hm? Yeah," the purple haired teen sighed before picking up his whiteboard and walking to the front of the room. "I went with Mockingbird."
"Isn't that backwards?" Mina asked. "Since you're the one that's always getting annoyed by us and asking for quiet."
"But he activates his Quirk by getting a response to a question," Eijiro said, "so in a real situation it actually makes sense as a strategy."
"Ugh, whatever," he sighed before moving back to his seat.
"Bakugo? Midoriya?" Midnight asked.
Izuku hesitantly stood and made his way to the front of the room. Then, he placed the whiteboard on the front table.
The Telekinetic Hero: Deku
"Woah man, you sure about that?" Eijiro asked.
"You could be called that for life, you know?" Denki said.
"Yeah, I know," Izuku said. "I used to hate this nickname, but... Someone helped me see it in a new light, and it makes me... really happy. I'm the Deku who always does his best!"
Ochako's face flushed and she felt something akin to immeasurable joy filling up her chest.
Katsuki made his way up next, "If I can't be King Explosion Murder, then I'll be Lord Explosion Murder!"
"Still no!" Midnight stopped him right there.
He ended up going with simply "Explosion King" after several more revisions.
_
"Hey Deku, you decided on anyone for your internship yet?" Ochako asked as she walked over to his desk when class was being let out for lunch.
"I... kinda have a lot of requests to go through," he chuckled.
"Yeah, I get that," Ochako giggled. "I was thinking of going to Gunhead's hero office."
"Oh yeah, you were thinking of getting better at close-quarters combat and grapples to make better use of your Quirk, right?"
"Yeah," she nodded. "Lucky he requested me, ehehe!"
"I actually do have a couple of ideas," Izuku said. "You know, three of the top five heroes requested me!"
"Really?!" she asked, wide-eyed. "I guess we already knew All Might and Endeavor wouldn't, so that's pretty much three for three!"
"Actually, Endeavor did request me," Izuku said.
"What?" Shoto asked as he stood up from his desk behind them.
_
Notes: Full disclosure, I didn't even think of Endeavor when I started writing this chapter. It just kinda made sense that he would request Izuku since he beat Shoto and won the tourney. I could totally imagine him saying "Look Shoto, you should be as good as him." But no, that's not the internship Izuku will pick. And also no, it wouldn't apply to canon Bakugo because Shoto didn't use his fire against him.
Anyways, sorry again for the wait and I hope you don't mind another one! Or indefinite amounts, since there may never be a time when I have as much free time as in the past again. Yay!
As always, feedback and input are greatly appreciated and I'll see you guys in the next chapter!