"Her will detailed how she want her funeral to be held. I'll make the arrangements." He left again as Jiro got the take out and brought it over.
"Ruby, you able to eat?" She asked while taking out the food.
"I... I think so."
Chapter 26: The Hero Names
School started much the same like every, and as we waited for Aizawa to start class we chatted, about stuff. "Ruby, are you okay?" Toru asked as she stood over me.
"Yeah, just peachy." I say while not looking at her.
"I don't know how it must of felt..." She began but I raised my hand to stop her.
"I said I'm fine." I forced a smile as I looked at her. "She did her duty and unfortunately, things went wrong. I just have to preserve her memory."
That's when Aizawa and Midnight walked in. "Class settle down, I have a announcement to make. It has to do with your internships," He brought up the projector to show us our internship requests, and there weren't many who got requests. "Normally they are much more spread out, but given the result of the UA sports festival, I suppose this makes sense." Most of them went to Todoroki and Bakugo.
As the papers were handed out by Iida and Momo, Midnight spoke up, "Also, you are to make a choice that will affect your entire hero careers. Choosing your hero name." Everyone perked up at that. "It has to reflect your heroic nature." As the white boards were handed out I looked at mine and as I held the marker I thought of everything that had happened since I got here. As everyone else went up and presented their name I began to write down Red Reaptress, as the media had dubbed me that.
"The Sturdy Hero: Red Riot." Kirishima said proudly.
"Oh, going old school, that's reminiscent of the Chivalrous Hero: Crimson Riot." Midnight said with a bit of surprise.
"He was my Idol, I want to walk in his footsteps." He said.
"That means that you have to live up to his legacy." She told him.
"Of course I will!" he pumped his arm.
"So manly." Midnight purred.
As I heard this I erased my board and scrawled down a new name. "I'll go next." I said as I stood up.
"What did you come up with?" She asked.
"The Reaper Hero: Red Huntress." I looked over my classmates.
"Stepping into your mother's shoes? Red Reaptress may be a hard title to shake." Midnight looked me over. "But I think you will live up to it."
"I will forge a path of Justice." I go to back to my desk to sit down.
"That you will."
I sat in my seat eyes unfocussed on my notebook and handful of internship requests. I stayed silent all class until the bell rang. I stood up and just remained walked to the door when someone grabbed my shoulder. "Hey, we need to talk." I turned to Iida.
"Sure." I say as I turned to him.
"Hey Iida, what is this about?" Kirishima asked as he passed.
"It's about internships, I saw that we both have a request to the same hero agency. It would be nice for both of us to have a friend there given... recent events." He explained.
"Oh, I see, I'll see you in the cafeteria." Kirishima said as he left.
"I would have to think about it..." I start, but Iida cut me off.
"I'm going after the Hero Killer, and knowing you, you'll want to find him as well. He crippled my brother, he is not getting away with this." Iida stood firm.
"I... need to kill him, not out of revenge, but honor, what he did to my mothers body, tearing it apart is the greatest insult to the Hunter's family. That's something only the Grimm do." I looked at my class rep and nodded. "Hosu it is."
As I walked to the cafeteria I was intercepted by All Might. "Young Rose, how are you holding up?" He asked.
"I could be better, but... I know what I must do." I said.
"Young Rose, you aren't thinking of going after the Hero Killer? You know that's not your place." He scolded me, I was surprised how easily he had read me.
"Of course not, I'm just... gonna have to learn to let the pros handle it." I said.
"I know your sad, you lost your mother again. That isn't easy on anyone. Just don't do anything stupid." He sighed, "Go eat."
I sat in my room as I sanded down the paint on Crescent Rose, I had a new pattern for the red panels. "You have power tools right?" Kirishima asked from the door way.
"Weapons for Hunters are more then just items, they are a extension of our very being, a conduit for our soul in a way. For it is with these two that they hold back the Grimm, soulless monsters that hunt our people." I sighed, "But don't equate Huntsmen with heroes. While they do serve the people, in practice they are little more then mercenaries, yes some do it to save people, most are in it for the money."
"Why did you want that life?" He asked as he sat next to me.
"I had this romanticized idea in my head, that I would save everyone and find love. My uncle had filled my head as a kid with the idea of meeting some forlorn traveler on the side of the road and as I helped them I would slowly fall in love." I shook my head. "I think we both know how that went." I looked him in the eyes.
"Ruby... I have to admit that is so you." He chuckled, "I have to meet the rest of your family. You have a sister right? What is she like?"
"She's adventurous, strong hearted and strong willed. Yang is a fighter at heart." I smile sadly. "I can only hope that she's doing okay... by now she would have had a replacement arm made... probably from Atlas."
"What of your father? What can I expect from Mr. Rose?" He chuckled.
"Mr. Xiao Long, I took my mothers name after she died... the first time." I sniffled as a tear welled up.
"Oh... hey, forget I brought it...!" I grabbed his shirt and kissed him.
"You big manly idiot." I kissed him again but he was still to shocked to kiss back. "Do I have to do all the work?" I asked.
"Oh uh, no." He held my tightly as he leaned into in, his lips tasted like a steak for some reason. as we pulled away to breathe he said some thing
"For some reason you taste like strawberries and cookies..." He said a little dazed.
"Oh will you two stop face mashing, supper is ready." Jiro said from the doorway, we both became the same color as our hero names.
Chapter 26 is done, well that felt nice to write after the last one, though it wasn't what I was planing.