Chapter 12 - Names

Class 1-A and the American students arrived at their classroom, and the day began as usual. First was homeroom, then language arts, and then math. After those classes, lunch came around, and all students were gathered in the 'LUNCH RUSH' cafeteria. While they were eating, the students paired off into their own groups to eat with their friends. Joshua, Murdock, and Annabelle went to eat with with the their team from the day before, while Matthew, Milo, and Sunshine did the same.

"And so it begins." Sunshine said in a quiet, yet comical tone. "The dividing of our group has begun."

"Yep." Matthew replied, sitting down on the right side of Midoriya at a cafeteria table for eight. "But hey, look at the bright side; we have a good crew."

Sunshine nodded in reply and sat down next to Uraraka, who was on her right side. Milo was sitting beside Ashido, who sitting to the right of Iida. At the moment, Milo was eating some white rice very quickly, with Iida and Ashido both staring at him.

"Slow down, Milo." said Ashido, a small smile on her face as she put a hand on his shoulder. "You'll either choke or give yourself hiccups."

Milo stopped, swallowed slowly and replied, "Sorry Mina, but this food is so good. I gotta give that Lunch Rush credit; his food is a lot better than the slop they serve us back in Justice High!"

"Now Milo, that's uncalled for." Matthew spoke up, his tone joking. "The cook used to work in a fast food restaurant; you can't blame him for not having any cooking skills."

"Yeah, and let's not forget the chili incident that happened with the last cook." Sunshine added.

Milo choked on his food in shock and began coughing, hitting his chest with his fist! The other six at the table pulled back, at least until Milo cleared his throat and was breathing normal again!

"Are you alright?" Iida asked, his tone somewhat worried.

"Yeah, I'm fine…" Milo replied, his voice hoarse. He looked at Sunshine with an upset look and asked, "Why did you have to remind me of that, Sunshine? I was just forgetting about it!"

"Sorry Milo; I know it was uncalled for, but it seemed like a good time to mention it." said Sunshine, her tone apologetic.

"What's chili?" Uraraka asked innocently, which caused Milo to groan. "And what happened?"

"You just had to ask?" Milo asked, putting his face down on the table.

"It's a type of food, Uraraka." Matthew replied. "It's a kind of a stew made with meat, vegetables, tomatoes, seasonings, spices, and it tastes delicious. In fact, Murdock's parents down in El Paso make a pretty mean batch of it; they came up one time to Justice High and made it, and it was great! Anyway, during our ninth grade year, the cook at the time didn't know how to make chili, so he winged it. At first, when we ate it, we were fine, and it actually tasted reasonably good. But afterwards… oh boy…"

"We were all sitting in class when a wave of heat came over us." Sunshine began, her tone sounding like she was telling a scary story. "Then we started… pardon my saying so, but we started burping. They were small at first, but then they started getting bigger and bigger. After that, our stomachs started hurting and our limbs felt weak; even our teacher at the moment, who's quirk allowed him to eat and bite through pretty much anything, was clutching his stomach in pain. And then something in us snapped, it started coming back up, and we were off to the restrooms like our life depended on it!"

"It was terrible!" Milo added, sounding genuinely frightened. "I heard and smelt things that nobody should! We were all lying on the bathroom floors, all feeling like we had just been turned inside out! The school nurse's office was racked up with patients, and the cook decided at that moment he was going to retire! Either that, or wind up in jail for manslaughter, and do I mean slaughter!"

"Hence the reason we call it 'THE CHILI INCIDENT', and try our hardest to never bring it up." Matthew finished. "It was a dark day for Justice High, I can tell you that much."

Midoriya, Uraraka, Ashido, and Iida all looked at them with a look that showed they were shocked and weirded out at the same time. They probably were, as that story was one of the strangest they had ever heard!

"You guys talking about the chili incident?" Murdock asked, using his stretch quirk to stretch his neck over from another table.

"Shut up!" Milo said quickly and fiercely.

"Sorry…" Murdock replied dejectedly, stretching his neck back to where he was.

The seven students went back to eating, or at least tried to. After hearing that story, they all had lost their appetites. Each of them were trying to think about something to talk about, but what do you talk about after hearing a story like that?

"Uh…" Matthew stuttered, trying to think of something to talk about. "Since we're all becoming friends and all, how about we tell our hero codenames to each other?"

"Sure!" Midoriya replied.

"Anything to get my mind of off that story." Uraraka added, her tone sounding weary.

"You had to ask, kid." said Milo. "Now then, who wants to go first?"

"Ooh! Ooh! I'll go!" Ashido replied cheerfully. "My hero codename is 'Pinky'!"

"That's cute." said Milo, a loving smile formed on his face. "It fits you perfectly."

"Actually, that was my second choice." Ashido added. "My first name was 'Ridley Hero: Alien Queen'. However, it freaked people out, so I had to choose another."

"Alien Queen, huh?" Matthew asked. "Reminds of that movie with that guy who had that thing in his chest."

"Believe it or not, Murdock told me he had a cousin who had an alien come out of his chest." Sunshine spoke up. "But then again, he did mention that his cousin's quirk allows him to give people hallucinations."

"Really?" asked Midoriya, interested in that topic.

"Yep. He works as a pro hero; calls himself 'Hallucination Hero: Mirage'." Sunshine replied. "He's pretty famous back in America. Anyway, how about you Uraraka; what's your hero name?"

"I chose the name 'Uravity'." Uraraka replied, her tone cheerful.

"Another good one." Matthew spoke. "I like the play on words; it combines the name 'Uraraka' with the word 'Gravity'. Has a nice ring to it, too. How about you, Midoriya?"

"My hero name is 'Deku'." Midoriya replied.

"Deku?" Sunshine asked. "You mean like what Uraraka keeps calling you?"

"Bakugo also calls him that." Matthew added. "Though when he says it, it sounds more like a taunt than a nickname."

"It is a taunt." Midoriya said solemnly. "It's short for 'Defenseless Izuku'. When I was younger, I didn't have a quirk. I was a late bloomer, so it didn't show up until I started high school. When I was little, I was friends with Kacchan; that's what I called him at the time, and I still call him that."

"I had a feeling that was a nickname." said Matthew. "When everyone else called him 'Bakugo' and you didn't, it made me realize his name wasn't 'Kacchan'. And then when we were fighting the other day, and I called him that, he angrily yelled out 'DON'T CALL ME THAT!' before firing himself at me. Anyway, sorry that I'm interrupting; please continue…"

"As I was saying, I used to be friends with Kacchan." Midoriya started again. "I followed him everywhere, and I looked up to him like he was my brother. But when he gained his quirk, he started changing; he became prideful and angry, thinking that he didn't need help from anybody. When he found out I didn't have a quirk at the time, he began calling me 'Deku', and the taunt stuck. However, once I gained my quirk, and became more sure of myself, I wasn't going to let him use that against me any longer. From that point on, Deku became the name of a hero."

"And Uraraka calls you that cause she thinks it cute?" asked Sunshine, her tone playful.

Midoriya became flustered and started stuttering, while Uraraka began blushing. Milo laughed and Ashido giggled, while Matthew and Iida just stared at what was going on.

"You're on a real trouble streak today, aren't you Sunshine?" asked Matthew.

"Sorry, I can't help it!" Sunshine giggled.

Matthew rolled his eyes and then asked, "How about you, Iida? What's your hero name?"

"My hero name is 'Ingenium'." Iida replied proudly. "It belonged to my father, and was passed on to my older brother. Now, I'm the current holder of the name, and am doing everything I can do to honor its legacy!"

"Yeah, Iida's from a family of heroes, and they're really rich and famous!" Uraraka spoke, her tone excited.

"Nice." said Sunshine.

"Hey, what about you guys?" asked Midoriya. "What are your hero names?"

"Milo, you want to go first?" asked Matthew, in response to the question.

"Sure thing!" Milo replied cheerfully. "I had a ton of different ideas for my codename, but none of them really fit with my style. So, after a length of time trying to think of one, I came up with the name 'Slime Hero: Orange Fury'! What do you think?"

"Sounds fierce!" Ashido replied.

"Fitting for a hero with your type of quirk." Iida added.

"How about you, Sunshine?" Asked Uraraka.

"My hero codename is 'Shining Star'." Sunshine replied simply. "It was pretty easy for me, considering my quirk."

"Yeah, it really fits you." said Midoriya. "And you Matthew; what's your hero codename?"

Matthew was quiet for a few seconds, and then replied, "Well, its kind of in the same vein as your hero codename, Midoriya. You see, back in Justice High, and here in U.A, I'm running with people who have quirks. Now, not to sound prideful or anything like that, but it takes a lot of guts to be doing this. There's no place for somebody like myself to be afraid, being quirkless and all. So, thinking about that, and putting everything in perspective, there was only one word to describe myself and what I was doing. I chose that word as my name; my hero codename is 'Fearless'. I want that to be the name of a hero who inspires others, gives hope to heroes, and strikes fear in the heart of villains. I want to be the kind of hero that laughs at danger, sneers at death, and chuckles at catastrophe. And I have that name, 'Fearless', to show that fact…"

After he finished speaking, they were all looking at him solemnly, and with respect. Matthew then asked, "What's up?"

"Nothing, just that we have a lot of respect for you and what you're saying." Milo replied. "It's not easy being in your shoes, Matthew. And being here, despite all that's happened, is quite amazing. You really live up to your name, I'll give you that…"

"Thank you…" said Matthew.

"How about your friends?" Ashido asked, her tone curious. "Joshua, Anna, and Murdock? What are their hero codenames?"

"Joshua chose the name 'Feral Unleashed'." Milo replied. "He chose that before he met us. Annabelle chose the name 'Lift Hero: Uplift', and Murdock chose the name 'Elastic Hero: Stretch'. That's pretty much it."

"Yeah…" said Matthew. "Anyway, now that we all know our names and all, let's get back to finishing lunch."

They all nodded in reply and continued eating, occasionally chatting with each other about any subject that popped into their minds. However, Matthew was in deep thought about what Midoriya had said about not gaining a quirk until he started U.A. It seemed kind of coincidental that he didn't have a quirk all his life, only just to gain one when he reached this certain age. Of course, he heard of the concept of people who gained their quirks later on in life, but it was about as rare as being quirkless, maybe even more so. So, there had to be multiple possiblites on how Midoriya gained his quirk, even though he had been quirkless all his life.

But, they were all theories anyway, and they required more time to be thought about…