Wow, I can't remember the last time a chapter got so many reviews! The feedback you guys have given for the Hero Names is fantastic and one or two of the names have actually been changed because of it.

Review time:

domingoez, w1lliam, MarvelNinja10, Slayer76, joshiiman02, MyMad-Robotdocter, DragonDavester, darklordlv12, kelissandra, Mumblesnake, cloudpanda961, the_narr_master, Dark White Fang, 61394, bp136714, Anime Insaniac, Xelar8, Jaro45, Byakurai Namikaze, Wan323, Batmarcus, Ooobserver, BoopyDoop745, D3lph0xL0v3r, Chocoboblitz, PokeKing Charizard, sunsetskywrites, Constipated Genius, Corruption of Saints, Howling Armadillo, origamishishou, Tonlor, inFamousSlyMonkey, The Incredible Muffin, BlazerBug, The Keeper of Worlds, Hi, Guest, Gokuu the Carrot, Ravens, Ricku28, DancingMoose007, night, Just a guest, The 0bservanc3, Malchior, Tzekel Khan: I think it's great that so many of you weighed in on the names. A few of the highlights:

Someone mentioned that Aoyama's name would more properly be "Chevalier Etincelant." I looked it up and it seems legit. Nice work. The community seems divided on Alien Queen vs Pinky. Someone actually made an interesting suggestion to give her the combination name of "Alien Queen: Pinky" (probably just Pinky for short) which I kind of like.

Asui, Iida, and Uraraka most people seem to like. Ojiro was tricky and a lot of you seemed to face similar challenges as myself. Someone suggested "Tailblazer" but my immature brain immediately pictures him kicking ass while high as a kite which, while hilarious and awesome, is probably slightly out-of-character for him. The majority of you seem to like "Showstopper" for Kaminari and there are no arguments about "Red Riot" for Kirishima. Someone suggested "Dolittle" for Koda both in reference of how he talks to animals and how he quite literally doesn't do very much either in canon or my fic XD. I might end up using that because it's so true. Someone also suggested "Sugar Rush" for Sato, which isn't bad, but it's already the name of his Quirk and I don't like Earphone Jack for that same reason. Someone also suggested the Muffin Man, which is amazing but has a similar issue as Tailblazer.

The next two are a bit divisive, one moreso than the other. For Shoji, it seems there are an equal number of people that like and don't like "TENDAR." I'll have to do a bit of thinking and pick one name or the other. Many more people weighed in on "Jackie Cardia" for Jiro and the opinions are much more divided. Those who like it seem to absolutely love it and those who don't also seem to feel strongly. Having said that, the most common alternative to this (when one was presented) was the canon "Earphone Jack" which I'm trying to stay away from.

Sero and Tokoyami people seem generally cool with. Todoroki, no surprise, had a lot of weigh-ins, but there was one suggestion that I particularly liked and that he could be easily talked into: "Celsius" or alternatively, "Excelsius" (Excel + Celsius and also an alternate form of Excelsior). One is simple and not too over the top and the other has a few meanings to it that might resonate with him. Maybe he starts with one and upgrades to the other? As for Hagakure, a surprising number of people like "She-Through." I was not expecting that.

Another big player: Bakugo. A lot of you like Baku Don and those that don't had an almost unanimous alternative: Ground Zero. This is a popular fan name and there is speculation that it may become his canon Hero Name but, as a couple of you have pointed out, it isn't exactly original at this point. Plus, I just kind of like "The Godfather of Explosions: Baku Don" better. Midoriya there are no real arguments with, which brings us to Shinso. There were quite a few suggestions for him, but a large number of them ended with something like "but Mockingjay is good too." Combined with the number of people who outright prefer Mockingjay, I think we have our answer. An interesting alternative presented for Yaoyorozu was "Genesis" which I like about as much as Creati.

Celestia's Paladin, darklordlv12, TheJSmooth, Batmarcus, Ooobserver, Constipated Genius, Corruption of Saints, inFamousSlyMonkey, The 0bservanc3: I knew that dropping Hisashi's backstory like that would get people thinking! As usual, I can't confirm or deny a lot of these theories because spoilers, but I will say that nobody has gotten it 100% correct. If anyone DOES get it 100% correct...I'll be surprised. I will be very, very surprised.

DragonBall Shin: I've worked a bit of Vigilantes/Illegals into Stain's backstory, but since the series is still ongoing and it's tough to say where things will end up, I may or may not end up using more of it.

The 0bservanc3: For how quickly the guest pass was gotten...little of column A, little of column B. It is entirely possible that All Might is just moving too quickly to be observed by regular people, but you would think that someone would notice the wind he kicks up. All Might's interest in Hisashi is mostly because he's Izuku's dad and he cares a lot about Izuku. Also because Inko talked him up so he's interested in him as a person.

You are correct that the All Might vs. All For One battle takes place roughly six years ago. However, unless I am very wrong in my research (which I might be, but my notes are already written, so whatever), there is another event that takes place about twelve years ago or so. Hitoshi is Shinso's first name. The popular fan theory about Hisashi is that he is All For One, since Horikoshi is a Star Wars fan and All For One looks like Darth Vader.

Superf7n Guy: I agree with your assessment of All Might's power level during his final confrontation with All For One. It will certainly be a very important fight for me to do justice to and my All Might is definitely a bit better-off than canon at this point due to his fight with Nomu going better and him resolving to be more frugal with his daily power use. As for All Might still being able to briefly assume Muscle Form after losing his power, I think that it's just something that he's learned to do over the years and possibly the dregs of One For All in his system. It's a tough call since we never see the results of anyone else burning out OFA after having passed it along.

TheOkWriter, Mrguy22594, ScepticalOne, RHJunior, King-Dorado, ProjectIceman, Guest, Guest, kit95, StandupSitdown, Guest, Crysist and everyone else: Thank you and I hope that you continue to enjoy!

Now, let's see what everyone's favorite(?) Hero Killer is up to:


Chapter Forty-Seven: Honey and Vinegar

The man formerly known as Chizome Akaguro was rather uncomfortable. As he was essentially a roaming assassin who took whatever meager shelter he could find, this was something of a regular occurrence for him. Indeed, after the first few moves, he had become somewhat accustomed to it, though he never enjoyed it.

No, the reason this particular discomfort was noteworthy was because his battle with Ingenium had cost him more than he had originally predicted. He had managed to pop his dislocated shoulder back into its socket, but his torso was essentially one massive bruise from where he had smashed through a building and struck the ground. Add to that the constant throbbing in his bones and the Hero Killer wouldn't have been surprised to find that he had some hairline fractures in his ribs and a cracked skull.

He had known that Ingenium would be a rough battle, but to land two clean strikes against him when he already knew his opponent's fighting style was nearly unheard of. That and the raw power that the speedster had exhibited was beyond Stain's predictions. He could very easily have lost that battle if his reflexes had been slower.

So, in order to recover a little before his next excursion, the former Vigilante had decided to hunker down for a little while in a non-descript old building. Food and water would become an issue soon enough, but for the time being at least he had shelter and was well-hidden.

"Well, good morning, Hero Killer. I guess it really is true that the encounter rate goes up at night."

Stain's train of thought was instantaneously derailed as he executed a painful evasive flip that brought him to his feet, sword in his hand and eyes darting from side-to-side.

"Hey, take it easy. I'm not here to fight you."

The intruder's voice was coming from a different location than previously. He had moved and he had done so extremely quickly. Due to the lack of power in the building and the dark sky outside, roughly two or three A.M. by his estimation, visibility was very poor. Stain had not been able to catch a glimpse of his opponent.

"You know who I am and you found me far more quickly than should have been possible. Forgive me if I'm not inclined to take you at your word."

The intruder, whoever he was, seemed like a talker. If he could use his voice to pinpoint his location, then maybe he could tag him with a thrown blade? If he did that, then his Quirk would make speed or stealth useless propositions.

"I'm not a Hero if that's what you're worried about. Quite the opposite, actually."

"What," Stain spat, "you think that I'd be more inclined to trust a Villain? You're naïve."

"I'm not asking you to trust me. I'm asking you to put that sword away and come with me."

"A tempting offer." the Hero Killer sneered, "I do have an alternative in mind, however."

"If it's killing me, then you should probably know that even if you succeeded, which you wouldn't, that I didn't find you by myself. I've got party members waiting in the wings."

Skeptical as he was, Stain had to admit that made sense. It would have been nigh-impossible for any single individual to have located him so quickly. Of course he would have had assistance. That also meant their situation was most likely being monitored in some way. If the intruder was harmed, his allies would know and they likely had the ability to make his life difficult.

Well, rule number one of dealing with a talker: keep them talking.

"What do you want?"

"I told you already: I want you to come with me. I feel like we could help each other and besides, one of my party members wants to meet you. She's kind of a fan."

Stain had to admit, whoever this was more or less had him by the balls.

"Besides, some of those injuries look nasty. A bit of actual first-aid might do you some good."

Scratch that, whoever this was had him entirely by the balls. And he knew it.

That didn't mean that Stain was just going to give him what he wanted, though.

"Before I agree to anything, show yourself."

"That's fair."

Footsteps echoed through the room from slightly off to one side, eventually resolving themselves into a thin man with a black outfit, red shoes and disembodied hands attached to various places on his body. He spread his arms and gave a mocking half-bow to the Hero Killer, though his expression could not be read on account of the hand attached to his face.

"Tomura Shigaraki, at your service. Now, we're burning moonlight. You coming with me or not?"

Stain grimaced and sheathed his sword.

"It doesn't seem like I have much of a choice in the matter."

"We always have a choice." Tomura responded, seemingly on reflex.

Stain blinked, this response having caught him off-guard.

"Yes, I suppose we do."

Maybe there was more to this man then met the eye? The Hero Killer observed as he took a phone out of his pocket, holding it in a curious way that kept his pinky extended.

"It's me. Target located and compliant. Bring us home."

For a moment, Stain was suitably impressed by the apparent level of planning and coordination that had gone into Shigaraki's operation.

"Huh? What do you mean 'where?' Where my locator is!" a brief pause, "What do you mean 'how do I turn it on?!' For chrissakes, Kurogiri, we talked about this! This was supposed to be the part where I just whip out my phone and shazam! Instant portal. Flash. Pizazz. Wow factor. First impressions and all that shit!"

Another pause.

"Okay, okay. Do you have the app open? Okay, do that. Now attune it to my phone's GPS. No, remember, we're masking the signal. It won't appear as me. I don't remember! Check the list! It's on the fridge!" pause, "Well who moved it?!"

Stain was beginning to regret his decision.

T – o – r – c – h – b – e – a – r – e – r

After a more sizeable delay than he was willing to admit, Tomura Shigaraki finally managed to get Kurogiri to open a Warp Gate for himself and Stain.

"Right, minor mishaps aside, welcome to the headquarters of the League of Villains." Tomura had instructed Kurogiri to bring them directly into the building just in case negotiations broke down so that the Hero Killer wouldn't know their precise location. The bar was currently closed, so there were no worries that a random patron might stumble in.

"You know me already. The bartender is Kurogiri." the mist-headed man gave a polite bow, "And she's-" Tomura stopped mid-sentence when he realized that the "she" in question was not currently in the bar.

"Ah, Toga-san chose to retire for the evening a few hours ago. As she was not integral to this phase of the plan, I saw no reason to keep her awake." Kurogiri explained.

"Alright, I'll go get her. In the meantime, Kurogiri, patch our guest up a little and pour him a drink or something." the bartender nodded and turned his attention to the Hero Killer.

"Please, have a seat. I shall fetch the first aid kit and be around momentarily. As for refreshments, I think perhaps some water first to rehydrate yourself, but after that-"

Kurogiri's voice faded as Tomura passed through the "employees only" door and descended a rather plain staircase which was dimly lit by recessed bulbs. This was, he knew, so that it would not impact one's vision as they ascended or descended.

In spite of himself, Tomura could not help the twitch at one side of his mouth at the bartender's obvious enthusiasm. In spite of the potential danger presented by the Hero Killer, he couldn't help being happy that he had a new patron. The joy that he found in servitude was one of the things that made him such an excellent underling.

As he reached the bottom of the stairs, Tomura reached into a pocket and withdrew a pair of thin drawing gloves that covered the outer edge of his palm as well as his pinky and ring fingers. Odd though they looked, they were a convenient accessory when he didn't want to be constantly aware of what and how he was touching. He had refrained from putting them on earlier due to Stain's presence and would likely be taking them off again when he came back up, but for the time being it was nice to be able to massage his neck or scratch an itch without fear of disintegrating himself.

They also helped him avoid getting ink or graphite on his hands when he was writing, which was a plus.

After a few minutes (he felt no need to hurry, confident that Kurogiri could handle the Hero Killer for a moment if he decided to get rowdy) he reached a room with a plaque that read "Himiko" with a few hearts drawn around it. All in red ink, of course.

*Knock knock*

"Toga."

No response.

"Hey, Toga."

Still nothing.

*Knock knock*

"I'm coming in. Last warning."

The continued lack of any response caused Tomura to sigh as he opened the door. It wasn't locked. None of the personal rooms were equipped with locks.

As he entered the small room, which featured a bed, desk, dresser, small bathroom and not much else, he found the object of his search quite easily as the dim lighting of the hallway spilled in through the door. She was curled up on top of her covers, cardigan, shoes and skirt discarded off to one side, leaving her clad only in the top of her seifuku, socks and undergarments.

Huh. She must really have been tired to not even bother changing all the way. I guess she has been working hard lately. Then again, we all have.

Tomura sat down on the foot of the bed, closing his eyes for a moment and letting out a tired sigh.

"Himiko, I know you're awake. Even if my knocking didn't wake you up, the bed sure as hell did."

Sure enough, when he opened his eyes and glanced over, a yellow, slit-pupiled eye was reflecting the minimal light back at him.

"You know I don't like you calling me 'Toga.' It sounds impersonal."

True, he did know that. When Himiko considered someone to be her friend, she insisted on jumping to a first-name basis almost immediately.

"I'm being careful." Tomura replied in a low voice, "We've got a new face in the building."

Himiko yawned and rolled over onto her back, propping herself up on her elbows to look at him better.

"It's someone you've been wanting to meet." Tomura teased. He watched as the gears turned in Himiko's tired brain before something clicked.

"Kyaa!" she launched herself across the bed in a flying hug and would have knocked him to the floor if he hadn't been expecting it, "Shiga! Did you really do it? Did you really find him?"

"Yeah. He's at the bar. I came to wake you up because I knew you wouldn't want to wait."

Himiko tightened her arms and squealed in excitement.

"Oh my god, I love you!"

Though this wasn't the first time he had been glomped by the amorous girl, Tomura still wasn't completely used to it. He awkwardly patted her head, causing her to let out an annoyed huff.

"A hug isn't going to kill you, Shiga."

"Yeah, but until recently it would have killed you."

"I still can't believe you never thought to use the gloves that way. Seriously, how did you function?"

"Very carefully. Now, get yourself dressed before you fall asleep again."

"You mean before you fall asleep. I know how tired you are."

"Don't tempt me."

"Oh?" Himiko got up and sashayed over to the desk where her clothes had been tossed, "'Tempted' are you?"

Tomura stood up with a grunt and shook his head in mock annoyance. It was just empty flirting and he knew that. He certainly didn't have any particularly special feelings for the girl and she didn't have any for him. She was just like that.

At least, he had used to think so.

"Toga."

"Ugh, Himiko."

"What's up, Shiga?"

"I've been trying to figure out what character archetype you fit into, but I'm drawing a blank apart from 'batshit crazy.' What's your deal?"

"I'm not really all that complicated. I'm happy as long as I can fall in love over and over again. It makes my heart pound and gives me a rush like nothing else does."

"So why are you so attached to me?"

"Shiga, you've got, like, a bunch of different sides to you and I never know which one I'll see next. Sometimes you even seem like a different person altogether! It keeps you interesting and makes you special. It's why I like you the best. That and you usually smell like blood. Just don't get jealous if I do a little window shopping from time-to-time, okay?"

She was bizarre, that much was for sure. But, when she wasn't literally out for blood, Tomura had to admit that she wasn't so bad to have around.

Kept Kurogiri happy, anyway.

"Shiga? You fall asleep on your feet or something?"

Himiko was trying to peer around Father's hand and see if his eyes were still open or not, which was tough since she was a few inches shorter than him.

"No, just thinking. You ready to go meet him?"

Kind of a dumb question in retrospect, since she was clearly fully-dressed. She simply responded with a fanged grin and grabbed his hand, pulling him back in the direction of the stairs.

Before they reentered the bar, Tomura made sure to take the drawing gloves off again. Upon his reentry, he saw that Kurogiri was once again behind the bar and chatting with the Hero Killer, who was nursing a glass of some clear drink and sporting some new bandages.

"Alright, I've brought her up. Hero Killer, meet Toga. Toga, Hero Killer."

Stain glanced over at Himiko, who had, surprisingly, not immediately dashed over to him. Tomura was momentarily impressed with her apparent restraint until he realized that she was simply taking a long, deep breath and practically vibrating with excitement.

"OhmygodStainI'vewantedtomeetyouforsolong!"

There she goes.

Himiko was walking rapidly towards the bemused man, shooting off questions one after the other without waiting for a response.

"Are those bandages? Were you hurt? Was it from fighting a Hero? Which one? Did you kill them? Is there blood? Do you like clamato juice?"

Kurogiri had a minor coughing fit that sounded suspiciously like restrained laughter and Tomura once again found himself wondering what the deal was with the clamato juice. She had suddenly become interested in it a week or so ago and Kurogiri wouldn't tell him jack.

"It was Ingenium, Toga-san. Remember? We read the article." Kurogiri supplied once he could speak normally.

"Yes," Stain confirmed, latching onto the break in the verbal bombardment, "these wounds are from Ingenium. I would have killed him, but his team intervened at the last moment and I had to make my getaway."

"Yeah, being outnumbered sucks." Himiko sympathized, "I've been interrupted a few times myself, so I know how you feel."

Stain nodded noncommittally and then turned his attention on Tomura.

"What do you want from me?"

"Hmm?" Tomura feigned confusion.

"You brought me here, patched me up, gave me something to drink and I think Kurogiri is cooking something too. You don't strike me as the kind of person to do this for no reason. So, what do you want?"

"For now, nothing." Tomura responded honestly, "I won't say that I'll never have something that you might be able to do for me, but the plan for today was to find you and get you off the street. You're a reasonably high-level unit and specialized besides. It'd be a shame to let that side quest time itself out."

Stain clearly didn't believe him, so Kurogiri intervened.

"Hero Killer-san, I can assure you that our mission briefing did not include anything about harming or otherwise taking advantage of you. We truly believe that we can build a mutually beneficial relationship. As you can see, we have this humble facility which nevertheless provides us with daily necessities and some degree of comfort, which I'm sure would be a welcome change for you. For now, why not simply rest and recover? We can surely discuss the rest another time and I'm sure you'll be in a better mood after a shower and a hot meal."

"You'll stay, won't you?" Himiko gave Stain her best puppy dog eyes, "Please?"

The Hero Killer was silent for a long moment before draining the rest of his drink and setting the glass back onto the bar with a clack.

"I have to admit, the idea of convalescing in a place with a shower, roof and booze is certainly more appealing than my other prospects. I won't pretend that I trust you, but I will accept your hospitality, at least for the time being. I will not seek to harm you as long as you act in the same manner."

"Yay!"

"No hugging."

"Aww."

Tomura nodded in satisfaction and removed the hand from his face as a show of solidarity, accepting a drink from Kurogiri as Himiko hopped onto the stool between himself and Stain. Yes, everything was going swimmingly so far.

After all, you catch more flies with honey than vinegar. Right, Sensei?

T – o – r – c – h – b – e – a – r – e – r

Denki Kaminari was feeling pretty good. He had been drop-dead tired after the Sports Festival, so he had spent the remainder of that day and most of the previous day lazing around, resting and watching some of the recordings for parts that he wasn't there for. Midoriya and Todoroki in particular had put on one hell of a show.

"Man, Todoroki was a powerhouse when he was just using his ice. Adding fire to the mix hardly seems fair." he half-heartedly griped to himself.

*Vmmm vmmm*

"Huh?"

Denki's phone was vibrating on the coffee table and showing that he had an unread private message. He unlocked it and saw that it was a pair of speakers, presumably Jiro.

Huh. She's never messaged me before. Then again, I guess she also wouldn't have had my number before Yaomomo decided that she should create a communal class chat.

The previous day, in response to the difficulty of getting ahold of everyone in Fight Club in a timely manner, Yaoyorozu had taken it upon herself to prevent such an issue in the future by sending everyone in 1-A contact data for the entire class and setting up a general class chat for group announcements and things like that.

Speakers: Hey, Prez. How you feeling? Probably lazing around or something.

Lightning: Lol, pretty much. Arm still hurts a bit, but I'm good. You still deaf?

Speakers: Took the bandages off this morning. Everything's still a bit muffled, but as long as I avoid super-loud noises for another day, I should be fine.

Speakers: Being deaf sucks.

Lightning: I can imagine.

There was a long-ish pause in the conversation and Denki wondered if he was supposed to say something else or if she was just done. A new message answered his question for him.

Speakers: So, I wanted to talk to you.

Lightning: Aren't you?

Speakers: About something specific, idiot.

Lightning: O…K?

Speakers: Sorry. It's about Tuesday. The Sports Festival.

Speakers: But I don't want to do it texting or with a phone call.

Speakers: But it's also gonna be tough to get any privacy at school.

Denki thought about this for a moment.

Lightning: How about a video call?

Speakers: …

Speakers: That's actually a good idea. Wow.

Lightning: No need to sound so surprised.

Lightning: You wanna start it or should I?

Speakers: I'll do it, just a sec.

Denki sat up straight on the couch and turned off the TV. He wasn't waiting very long before his phone said that he had an incoming video call request, which he accepted.

Jiro's video feed came in pretty clearly. She didn't seem to be holding her device, most likely having propped it up on some surface or other. She was dressed casually in a short-sleeved shirt from some band or other and judging from the slight bounce whenever she moved, seemed to be sitting on her bed.

"Hey, Prez. Am I coming through okay?"

"Yeah. Just took a moment for it to stabilize. How about me?"

"Yep. I can see your ugly mug just fine."

Denki was about to act offended, but decided on another approach.

"Yeah, well, I just can't bring myself to say the same."

"Huh?"

"I mean, calling a face like yours 'ugly?' That's just a filthy lie."

Denki grinned as his flattery had the desired effect and Kyoka looked away, trying to pretend that she hadn't just turned several shades pinker.

"W-whatever."

"What's the matter? You can dish it out but you can't take it?"

"Hey! What I said was an insult! What you said…"

"Was the truth. I decided to be the bigger person here, as the Class President should."

"Sh-shut up." she had started twirling one of her earphone jacks around her finger, as she often did when she became flustered. Denki decided that he had embarrassed her enough and sought to get the conversation back on track.

"So, you wanted to talk about Tuesday? What about, specifically?"

Jiro recognized the truce for what it was and latched on to it.

"Well, it's kind of a combination of things. Obviously, I couldn't hear after the second event, so I was kind of out of the loop on anything…sound-related."

"Is this about the speech I gave at the end? Because I'm pretty sure they recorded that."

"…I haven't watched it."

"Huh?"

"I haven't watched it yet! I told you I only took the bandages off this morning and after that I more or less texted you right away."

"…Why?" Denki was absolutely nonplussed. If she had been so curious, then why not watch it as soon as she could?

"Because there was a lot of stuff that happened before then and I want to get my info in order. I want to…you know…react to it properly. As if I hadn't lost my hearing."

Denki honestly didn't know what to say to that. He had known on some level that losing her hearing would hit Jiro of all people especially hard, but he hadn't known how much.

"What are you looking at me like that for? I'm saying I want to hear it from you first, dumbass!"

"Okay."

"…Okay?"

"Okay." Denki cleared his throat, "So…what do you want to know first?"

She thought about that for a moment, a finger scratching her cheek as her eyes flicked from side to side, not really looking at him.

"The infirmary. After we both got wheeled off during the second event."

Denki closed his eyes for a moment before opening them and nodding to show that he remembered.

"You got your hearing back but I was worse. You were taking it pretty hard, probably blaming yourself for it or something. Some of what you said was easy enough to figure out, but you got wordier and…huggier…towards the end. What did you say?"

Denki remembered how he had felt, seeing his friend and classmate laid low by a massive wave of sound, blood trickling from her ears and tears running down her cheeks.

"You scared me." he said, "I hadn't ever seen anything like what happened to you before. You were in pain and there was blood and you couldn't hear anymore…it was bad."

She didn't respond, giving him her undivided attention and showing an uncommon (for her) level of patience.

"I felt like I should have done something." Denki continued, "I still feel that way, if I'm being honest. It wasn't the first time I've seen a classmate get badly injured, but when it happened to Midoriya I was still really out of it, you know? Even when I try to remember it, it's all fuzzy like a half-remembered dream or something."

"But with you it was different. I was alert and watching and…present in a way that I can't really describe. It all happened so fast but when I think back on it, it's like the memories are playing in slow-motion. I can feel the vibrations of the air, I can see the pain on your face and I can hear you screaming just before all the sound cuts out. It hit me hard, is what I'm saying."

She didn't snark at him, didn't scoff, just nodded.

"So, when we were in the infirmary and I didn't know how it was all going to turn out…I was feeling really guilty. I apologized a bunch and then you told me to get a grip because it should've been you losing it and you were worried that you might not get an internship because you didn't make it all the way through. I think…I think you're still worried about that."

"Why are you bringing that up?"

"Because I wasn't about to let that happen. I promised you that I wouldn't lose; that I'd make it to the top and that when they asked me to give some sort of speech or something, I'd tell them that I'd have never made it that far without you. Hearing it from a guy who made it to the finals, they'd have to give it some consideration, right? Hell, you made that even more true when you bailed me out during my match against Shin…so." Denki trailed off as he saw a change come over Jiro, "Hey…you okay?"

A look of sudden realization had come over her face and she blanched as she covered her mouth with one hand, eyes wide.

"You…that means…so, when you…"

T – o – r – c – h – b – e – a – r – e – r

Kyoka Jiro's brain had been dialed up to eleven and had the knob ripped off. Suddenly, everything that hadn't made sense to her about Denki's behavior two days ago was thrown into sharp relief. It was all replaying in flashes inside of her head like some psychedelic remix.

All those hits he'd taken.

How he'd sacrificed an arm but then insisted that Recovery Girl not heal it too much.

How he'd staggered out onto the field even though he was practically dead on his feet.

"I'm trying to say that you've done enough!"

"Why not just give up?"

"This isn't like you! You're the easygoing goofball that nobody in their right mind would ever imagine as a class rep, but who manages to pull it off anyway."

"So…why?"

He didn't say anything for a few moments. It felt like longer.

Then the hand that wasn't currently attached to the arm that was in a sling found its way onto her shoulder. He said something, lips barely moving, before squeezing her shoulder and flashing her that paradoxical grin that somehow managed to be dopey at some points and reassuring, even cool, at others.

She felt like she couldn't breathe and when she finally managed to take a breath it felt like she was going to throw up.

"Tell me…tell me what you said when I tried to stop you from going down to fight Bakugo." Kyoka demanded.

Denki was looking at her with concern from her phone, which she had propped up against her alarm clock on her bedside table.

"Well, that was it, wasn't it? I'd made it to the final round. There was only one thing left for me to do, even if it meant getting beaten up by Bakugo afterwards. I understood why you were trying to stop me, but, well…"

His next words seem to enter her ears twice. Once from the Denki on the phone and another from the Denki in her memories.

"I had a promise to keep."

"I've got a promise to keep."

Kyoka had to look away.

He had seriously done it all for her. In the name of a promise that she hadn't even known he had made. He could have called it quits at any point and just never told her about it. There was nothing stopping him from doing that. Nobody would have thought any less of him for it. Nobody would ever have known.

"The speech…" Kyoka was doing everything in her power to stop her voice from cracking, but wasn't completely successful, "…tell me.

Denki was silent for longer than before. Kyoka was about to say something when she heard the sounds of a crowd and a familiar voice echoing as if through a loudspeaker.

"Actually, yeah. I'd like to say something if I could."

Kyoka turned involuntarily to look at the phone, only to see that Denki was standing next to his TV and playing a particular part of the Sports Festival recording, arm extended out as far as he could so she could see properly.

"We all heard what Midnight-Sensei just said, but I need to set the record straight; I didn't make it this far on my own. I had help and plenty of it. Oh, nothing illegal or anything like that, don't worry."

Kyoka couldn't bring herself to care if he saw the look on her face anymore as she took in every detail of the broadcast that she could. The way the crowd laughed at his stupid joke, the determined look in his eyes, how he stood with his back straight even though he was so obviously exhausted.

"No, what I'm talking about is actually from the second event. My team placed second overall thanks in no small part to someone who should have been able to participate in the tournament with the rest of us. I'm talking about Kyoka Jiro, the girl who effectively sacrificed herself and ended up unable to continue in order to ensure my team's victory. If she hadn't been there, then I could've been hit full-blast by that trap and I might be in the same position as she is right now. Believe me when I say that she deserves to be here just as much as I do."

He had done it all in the name of a promise that nobody except him would have ever known about.

It was the stupidest, most reckless, hairbrained, irresponsible, self-sacrificing, amazing thing that anyone had ever done for her.

Being the cynical person that she was, Kyoka briefly wondered if Denki, like some other guys might have, had done all of that because he thought it might help him get in her pants or something. All it took to dismiss that thought was another look at the face that was once again front-and-center on her phone's screen.

She might have believed it of some other guys. Hell, maybe even one or two from her own class.

But not him.

Not Denki.

He just…wouldn't do that.

"Are you alright, Jiro?"

"Yeah." she said, rapidly running out of ways that she could seem to rub something out of her eye without seeming suspicious, "I've just…got stuff in my eyes."

She would never had to have known. She could have just been happy for him and the rest of her classmates that had progressed that they had made it so far and gotten good internships, taking them one step closer to their goal of becoming Heroes one day.

But now, instead of just being happy for them, there was a chance that she might still be happy with them.

Honestly…what the hell am I supposed to say? "Thank you" hardly covers it.

"…Denki?"

"Yeah?"

"You know how sometimes you try to act cool and stuff?"

"Yeah."

"Was…was this one of those times?"

"Honestly…no. Why?"

"Because I think this is the coolest thing I've ever seen you do. Now do me a favor and fry your brain so that you can forget that you made me cry."

"No 'whey.'"

"…Damn it, Denki."

He was a goof, that much was certain. At first glance, once you got past the surface, you wouldn't think that he was the cool sort.

If you went deeper than that though, you'd find someone who somehow managed to be everything that he pretended to be without knowing it.

He was Kyoka's favorite moron and she hoped that he would never change.


Alrighty, so we ended up not getting to the Midoriya-Uraraka family dinner, but I thought that we might not. The part with the Villains ended up taking more space than I thought it would and I had to spend time digging through past chapters during Denki and Kyoka's conversation so that I wouldn't miss anything.

Still, good times. Also, thanks again for all the feedback on the Hero Names! I feel that there have been a few changes made (detailed up above) that will improve things.

I suppose the question for this time will be more or less the same as last time, since we're closing in fast on the moment when Hero Names become (more or less, since they can change over time) locked-in. Those of you who want to can take the time to read up on my synopsis of the feedback I've gotten and if you have any additional feedback on that, I will of course have a look at it.

Next time, we'll get to the family dinner and we'll also get an answer to the question of just how bad Tensei's injuries are this time around.

And as always, thank you for reading!