Disclaimer: I do not own My Hero Academia. Or do I? MWA-HAHA! No seriously I don't.

Melissa shook her head, pulling her umbrella out. Pretty crazy that everybody was just so curious about the Sports Festival on the train, she mused. It wasn't like she wasn't familiar with how people reacted to Heroes, but having that directed at her was a new experience. So many people had congratulated her on how she'd performed at the Sports Festival, it felt like a dream.

"Times certainly have changed. I remember when displaying any kind of Quirk was liable to get you lynched."

"Yes, that was a bad time Leader. Things are better, at least. These kids get to be official Heroes!"

"Yes, they get to be guided by the mainstream media and government to be what they think a Hero should be. What joy."

"Come on, Leader! U.A isn't like that."

"All I'm saying is that the Hero history lesson completely glossed over the most important vigilantes-"

Melissa was distracted from the odd sense that she was in the middle of a conversation when she heard high speed footsteps behind her. "Come, Shield! We're going to be late for school!"

She blinked as Iida rocketed past in a poncho and rain boots, serious faced as always. "We've got about five minutes before the bell, Tenya," she managed.

"Nonsense! At U.A we must aim to be in class ten minutes before the start to show how dedicated we are!"

When they made it in, Melissa glanced over to Iida, a worried look on her face. "Tenya-"

"Don't worry about me, Shield." Tenya turned around, a smile fixed on his face. "The Heroes are doing their best to find him! Besides, my brother's strong, so the despicable Mastermind wouldn't be able to do anything to him!"

"That's… good." Melissa paused. "You know, if you want to-"

But Tenya had already started heading to class, power walking with his arms held ramrod straight. Melissa sighed, trying to find the words to try and help her friend. The rest of the class filed in soon enough.

The subject on everybody's minds was the Sports Festival and how people responded to them. It was hard to deny the feeling of suddenly being recognised.

"I had all of these people talking to me on the way!" Mina shouted, the rest of the class joining in.

"Yeah, everybody was staring at me!" Tooru exclaimed, pointing to herself for emphasis. "It was pretty embarrassing!"

"You too?!" Kirishima grinned.

Tokoyami looked on gravely. "A lot of people said that I 'tried my best.' It was… interesting."

Kaminari looked at the classroom, something catching his eye. "Dude, we got two new desks! When'd that happen?"

When people noticed that, there was a general clamour, everybody coming up with their own theories. Then the bell rang. Silence blossomed, then in a practised movement that had Tenya wiping a tear of pride from his eye, each student was back in their seats, silent and attentively looking forwards.

Eraserhead slouched into the classroom, Melissa watching expectantly. "Morning," he grumbled. A bleary eye travelled around the room, before sighing. "Acceptable."

His gaze sharpened and he marginally straightened up. "Now, before we start classes, we have some quick announcements. First of all, going forward we will have a new student in this class. Since none of you performed badly enough at the Sports Festival to get expelled from the Hero course, we now have a class of twenty one."

Eraserhead gestured to the doorway, where a short student came forward, purple hair bouncing slightly and a nervous look on his face. "Say hello to your new classmate, Mineta Minoru."

Melissa smiled. It was nice to see somebody else achieve their dream.

—

Minoru adjusted the lapel of his new blazer, sucking in a deep breath. Well, he'd made it. His parents had been overjoyed when he'd shown them the hologram explaining that he had been accepted into the Heroics course, with some remedial classes to make sure he was up to speed. After some much needed stress relief, Minoru felt like he was truly ready for it.

Against all good sense and judgement, he'd asked to go into Class 1-A. Mostly because he was familiar with most of its members and also, well, it wasn't like they were likely to get attacked by Villains again, were they?

The serious guy with glasses shot up. "A pleasure to meet you, Mineta-san! My name is Iida Tenya and I am the Class President of 1-A! Now, I shall guide you to your desk! If you have any questions about the class or would like any help with orienting yourself, please feel free to ask me or Yaoyorozu!"

"T-thank you!" Mineta bowed slightly, heading to his desk. In the rows, various students cheered.

"Go, Mineta! You've got a manly attitude!"

Kaminari flashed him a smile and thumbs up. "Heck yeah, buddy!"

"Try not to die," Bakugou growled.

Shinsou grinned. "Good luck, Mineta. You're gonna need it in this class."

Eraserhead glared at the class and immediately everything was silent as the grave. Minoru gulped, instinctively following their lead. "Now that that's out of the way… you have another classmate for Heroics."

"A-HAHA!"

Minoru flinched slightly as Hatsume kicked the door in, a manic look in her eyes. Instinctively, his eyes strayed to her chest, then he shook his head, dropping into a pushup. His classmates were too busy staring at Hatsume.

She grinned at them. "Hello, future clients! Now, which of you needs new Support gear? Or better yet, who wants to sign my Declaration of Eternal Hatred-"

Eraserhead's Capture Tape lashed out, latching over Hatsume's mouth. He pinched the bridge of his nose as the class watched in horrified fascination. "Now, Hatsume's arrangement is a bit different. She applied for the Support hero course - I won't bore you with the details, but it means that she will be sharing some classes with the Heroics courses, such as this one and practical exercises."

He released her, giving her a glare. "Now, Hatsume will have to keep her grades up with the Support course as well as Heroic courses. I will not tolerate harassment from Hatsume or any student here, though I assume that the former is more likely. Furthermore, Power Loader made the completely irrational assumption that I would need help with Hatsume, so he gave me this."

He held up a pager, giving it a disgusted look. "As if I can't manage my students." He tossed it into the garbage can, then released Hatsume.

Minoru got a bad feeling at those words. Hatsume immediately shot to her seat, grinning at Yaoyorozu. "You can make anything, right? Raw materials as well as complete Babies?"

The taller girl blinked, then a gentle smile crossed her face. "That's right. As long as I understand its molecular structure and general construction, I can create anything I need - well, within the laws of physics..."

Hatsume's eyes glittered. "Say, could you make me some reactor grade uranium?" Yaoyorozu and the rest of the class made a collective choking noise. "See, there's a Baby I've been dying to make-"

Eraserhead was already scrabbling for the pager, a slightly desperate look in the normally stoic man's eyes. Minoru couldn't blame him, not when Hatsume started expounding on wanting to make a miniature nuclear reactor in class. Since Power Loader apparently didn't want her using nuclear material in his labs.

And then, to top it off, Shield, who struck him as a sensible person, shot over with a manic look of her own. The rest of the class cowered as they started talking, apparently trading ideas on how to make this more efficient.

"Oh, but have you tried using this configuration?"

"Shield, you're a genius! This will make the Baby much more powerful! Science isn't about why, it's about why not-"

He groaned, slumping onto his desk. Eraserhead was slamming the button on the pager so quickly his finger was a blur.

Applying for 1-A had been a mistake.

—

Sitting at the desk, Mayumi groaned as the pager beeped. "It's not even the second period and he needs help," she sighed.

Power Loader rubbed his temple. "Midoriya, do you want to go? Mei's doing the thing."

"S-sure thing, sensei!"

As Izuku left, Mayumi sighed, before turning to Kitagawa. "Okay, now that he's out of the classroom, I need help."

Kitagawa blinked. "What do you need help with?"

This was the last thing Mayumi wanted, but there was no choice. "I need your help getting Izuku and Mei together."

As one, the class blinked. Harigane lifted his head off his folded arms blearily. "Aren't they dating already?"

Kitagawa nodded, a smile on her face. "Yeah! They're practically a married couple already!"

Mayumi shook her head. "Nope! They're not dating, they're just… like that."

The class blinked, then a lot of yelling ensued. Power Loader, grumpily, slammed his fist on the table. "ALRIGHT, SETTLE DOWN!"

With some semblance of order restored, he sighed. "Well, Midoriya and Sayuu will be leaving at different intervals to manage Hatsume in her Hero course lessons. I already got approval for this from Nedzu, on the grounds that it will be amusing. Now, we're going to have a talk about internships."

Mayumi tried to focus, but her dream from last night kept creeping into her mind.

Mayumi and Power Loader stared at the crater where the labs had been. In the middle, a rather disrobed Mei grinned. "Whoo! What a blast that was! Was that as good for you as it was for me?"

Next to her was Bakugou, flashing an angry grin. "Fuck yeah! Let's blow up more stuff!"

Mei cackled, pulling herself up. "Oh, that was a rush! I'm never building anything that DOESN'T explode again!"

Mayumi managed to find her voice. "But… Mei-"

"Hey, Mayumi, Power Loader!" Mei bounded up, eyes wild. "Have you met Bakugou? We've been working on baby making this whole time!"

Bakugou grinned, having put on a black leather jacket for some reason. "Yep. I already put a baby in her, so I figured I should go for one more." He pinched Mei, the pink haired girl giggling and throwing herself on him.

Pulling herself off, they could only try to put together words as Mei looked at them. "When the babies are born, it's going to be a blast! I'm going to help them build their own bombs!"

Bakugou gave them a grin. "We figured that you'd want to be the godparents, since we're both so fucking awesome."

In two separate bedrooms, Power Loader and Mayumi shot upright, screaming. The thought of them getting together like that… it far surpassed past nightmares.

Mayumi grit her teeth, seeing Power Loader shudder with her. While the thought of Izuku and Mei's kids made her scared, Mei and Bakugou's kids would be worse. At least Izuku was a kind and sweet boy, unlike Bakugou.

Much as she complained about Mei, she was her best friend. And no matter what, she wanted Mei to ultimately be happy with whoever she let into her life. Even if their kids took over the world.

—

Izuku burst through the door, a smile on his face. The class was in utter chaos, with Eraserhead staring at him like a drowning man seeing land. He wasn't sure why Power Loader wanted him to be near Mei when she was in Hero class - she was perfectly capable of handling herself! "Mei, what did you ask for?"

Mei looked up. "Ah, Izuku! My favourite minion! See, I was just asking Yao-whatever," the taller girl looked like she wanted to be anywhere else, "for some reactor grade uranium-"

"And I had some ideas for making it more efficient, so we thought we could-" Melissa began before getting interrupted.

Izuku held up a hand. "Mei, you know that Power Loader banned you from using those kinds of materials - besides, Yaoyorozu might get radiation poisoning!"

Yaoyorozu raised a hand to talk only for her classmate to put it down. Izuku continued. "And Melissa, I'd love to hear what both of you guys had to say but is Hero class the time to talk about it?"

Melissa flushed slightly, rubbing the back of her head. "Well, I-I got a bit excited, It sounded like an amazing project and got carried away."

Mei pouted. "But-"

"I know you want to make the best Babies, I get that! But working on nuclear material outside of the lab would be a bit risky, wouldn't it?"

She grumbled. "I suppose…"

Izuku nodded. "There we go!" He bowed politely to Yaoyorozu. "I'm sorry for my friend here! She just gets a bit overexcited! I really like your Quirk as well. Mei and I were talking all last night about potential applications!"

Talking with his other best friend helped distract him from thinking about-

No, no! Suppress that! I can't have an emotional breakdown now, but I can have one later as a treat! This is healthy!

Eraserhead sighed. "Thank you, Midoriya. You're officially the most rational child here."

Izuku squeaked. His ruse had worked! "T-thank you, Eraserhead!" He paused. "Oh, I should probably go back to class now if that's-"

Eraserhead held up a hand. "I already checked with Power Loader. He says it's okay for you to stay in this lesson, since most of the information here is being revealed there as well."

Well, it was a chance to get to know Kacchan and Melissa's classmates. Izuku grinned at the rest of the class who seemed to slowly be recovering. His eyes lit up when he saw Mineta. "Ah, Mineta! You made it into the Hero Course! Do you have a costume or-?"

"Ah, um, yes?"

Eraserhead coughed. "As I was saying," he muttered, gesturing for Izuku to sit down on a chair meant for the teacher's aide, "this is a special Hero Informatics class."

Everybody tensed. Izuku found himself on the edge of his figurative seat as well. Was this going to be some special Hero tip about handling the media or something?

"You're going to choose your Hero names today."

"HECK YEAH! OUR TIME TO SHINE!"

Izuku beamed with 1-A as they cheered. That's good too!

—

Shouta activated his Quirk, mildly impressed with how the class went from roaring to quiet in under six seconds, only Mineta and Hatsume lagging. He hadn't wanted to take on two students, but Nedzu had insisted, citing that ridiculous contract. That he'd seen Vlad King quietly slip the principal a wheel of cheese was another frustrating factor.

"First, concerning the Pro Draft picks I mentioned the other day… they're based on which of you the Pros think could be a hero in two or three years. However, that interest can wane at any time, so be sure to make a good impression on any internship you take."

He gestured to the board behind him, pulling it down. "Now, these are the total internships being offered to our students. Normally there's more of a spread, but…"

Trailing off, he let the board speak for itself. Bakugou and Hatsume had thousands of offers, the explosive boy barely edging her out. Right below was Melissa with about 800, and Mineta's name at a shade over 500, eliciting a choking sound from the diminutive boy. Midoriya's name had a mere 300, close to Yaoyorozu's 350. Todoroki barely reacted to the two hundred or so offers, contrasting Tokoyami and Uraraka's excitement at the twenty or so they had. Tsuyu had gotten a fairly impressive sixty offers, the frog girl's face lit up slightly.

"They're in a whole other league," Kaminari groaned, slumping in his chair.

Aoyama fumed. "The pros have no eye for quality at all!"

Mei cackled, and Shouta shuddered instinctively. "Well, regardless of whether your name is up there or not, you will have a chance to work with the Pros." He gave Midoriya an encouraging look, the poor boy seemed mortified. "The Support students have their own internship procedure that is quite different - they will be working with specific Support item companies to work on Hero gear directly."

"Meep."

Shouta looked around the room. "Despite your unfortunate experiences, seeing the Pros in action will definitely help you in your future career paths."

Satou nodded in understanding. "Oh! Which is why it's important to pick a name that'll suit us!"

Shouta gave him a curt nod. "That's right. Try to pick something appropriate-"

"Or else you'll know true hell!"

Once again, the door was kicked in. Shouta sighed internally as Midnight sauntered in, a flirtatious look in her eye.

—

Nemuri grinned at the class, seeing them react with surprise, shock and blushes on both boys' and girls' faces. "The name you pick now may end up being what the world calls you! Just look at Yolo Swaglord in America!"

The Midoriya boy (she had been told that he was going to be here to help manage Hatsume but it was a bit surprising) shot up. "Y-yes! Currently number fifty in America, he's had the same name since graduating from Marvel Hero School! He's the father of two kids and is the winner of the 'Most Embarrassing Hero Name' award for five years running-"

"Yes, you're a font of Hero information, Midoriya," Eraserhead sighed, glancing over to Nemuri. "And what she says is true. Midnight here will be helping assess the quality of the names you come up with."

He levelled a steely stare at his class. "Choose your name carefully. Names reflect a certain character, so choosing the right one will bring you closer to that ideal."

Nemuri smiled gently, giving them encouraging looks. Shouta may not have thought himself a good teacher compared to Kan or others, but he could get the kids motivated like no other. "Alright, so this is how it's going to work. You'll have a whiteboard and marker to write your name on, and when you're all done we'll have you present your names to the class!"

She gave Midoriya an appraising look. "Since you're here and Hatsume hasn't blown anything up-"

"Yet," Eraserhead muttered.

"-You can help me judge their names!"

The boy seemed to jump, an unsure look on his face. "W-what? Me? But I'm-"

Nemuri turned to the class. "Hands up anybody who wants Midoriya to judge!"

It was pretty much unanimous, even Bakugou raising a hand with an expression less than murderous on his face. Gently she guided the tomato red boy to the front, watching as the students got to work, some writing quickly, others sucking on the markers and fretting.

"You were really impressive in the Sports Festival, Midoriya," she murmured. The boy looked up.

"I… I didn't expect to get that far. Especially since I'm, well… Quirkless."

Nemuri frowned slightly. "Did people give you a hard time about that in middle school?"

When Midoriya nodded she sighed. "I wish it didn't happen like that, Midoriya. I can only hope that you've had a better time here."

"It-s-It's better," he managed. Nemuri nodded, just happy to hear it.

Soon enough, it was time for the presentations. Aoyama was the first one up, a twinkle in his eye. Midoriya looked over at him excitedly. "Here I go," Aoyama said. "The Shining Hero: I Cannot Stop Twinkling!"

Midoriya looked confused at that name. "Um… that's a bit long? What if you get called over police dispatch? Those are precious seconds wasted."

On seeing Aoyama's face fall, he hastened to explain. "I like the Shining Hero sobriquet though!"

Nemuri hummed. "It'll be easier to say if you contract Cannot to Can't and get rid of the I," she advised, the blonde boy taking it to heart. Weird names like that could work if you had the confidence for it.

Ashido came up next, grinning. "Check this out, sensei!" She flipped her board to the class, grin widening. "Call me the Ripley Hero, Alien Queen!"

Nemuri frowned at that. "You want to name yourself after the Villain of an old movie?"

"Well-"

Midoriya shook his head. "It could work! Just change 'Ripley Hero' to 'Heartmelting' and it could work!"

Ashido's smile returned. "Heck yeah, that works! Like, I'm melting their barriers down!"

Nemuri considered it. "Not a bad suggestion, Midoriya!"

The class seemed downcast, until Asui stepped up. "This is a name I've had in mind since Elementary School." She turned the board around, and they gasped in unison as they saw the name. "Call me Froppy."

"So cute!" Nemuri cracked her whip. Next to her, Midoriya's eyes lit up, a notebook in hand as he hurriedly wrote down the name. She hadn't seen it on him before, but maybe he just had it on him at all times.

She grinned. "Now that's a name I can get behind!"

As Asui sat down Kirishima stepped up, slamming his whiteboard down. "This is me! The Sturdy Hero, Red Riot!"

Midorioya's pen blurred. Nemuri gave Kirishima an appraising look. "Is that a homage to the Chivalrous Hero Crimson Riot?"

"Old school Hero, formerly a vigilante, considered one of the forerunners for the current Japanese Hero system…" Midoriya muttered, pen blurring.

Kirishima grinned. "Heck yeah! I wanna be a manly Hero like him!"

"Just remember that bearing the name of your Hero adds some extra weight. Think you can handle it?"

As Kirishima answered in the affirmative, the rest of the class seemed to lighten up. Soon, more students were coming up, some with last second amendments.

"The Hearing Hero, Earphone Jack."

"It pops!"

"The Tentacle Hero, Tentacole."

"Nice one Shoji!"

"It's evocative, and I-I like the pun!"

"Taping Hero, Cellophane."

"It's a bit straightforward but that can work too Sero! Speaking of, can you feel the things your tape sticks to, or is it-"

Sero sat down quickly, then Ojiro stood up. "Martial Arts Hero Tailman?"

Nemuri gave a thumbs up. "Good name!"

"Personally I would go with a name like Sun Wukong, except there's already two or three Heroes with that name in Japan alone." Midoriya hummed. "Then again, that's just my personal feeling!"

Satou gave a half-hearted glare at Ojiro. "Copycat," he grumbled. "The Sweets Hero, Sugarman."

Nemuri hummed. "You're interested in baking, aren't you? Maybe something else."

"Sweet-Tooth maybe? It sounds a bit cooler to me," Midoriya suggested. "Or maybe Candyman." Satou hummed, then went back to his desk.

"How's this for a Hero name?" Kaminari stood up, showing his choice. "The Stungun Hero, Chargebolt!"

Midoriya and Nemuri smiled. "Perfect!" They chorused.

"Stealth Hero, Invisible Girl!"

Midoriya grinned. "How's the Support gear working out for you? Mei and I have so many possible ideas for your future supplies-"

"A-haha, Yaoyorozu's next!" Hagakure managed to dash to her seat, the ponytailed girl coming up next.

"I hope I can do this name justice," She said with a small smile. "The Everything Hero, Creati."

Todoroki stepped up next, a flat look on his face. "Shouto," he quietly said, eyes on Midoriya.

Midoriya frowned. "It's… fitting, I guess. But-"

"Yeah. Thank you Midoriya. You gave me a lot to think about after our fight."

As Midoriya frowned at that, Shinsou stepped up. "Well, here I am." He turned his board around and Nemuri considered. "Underground Hero, Purple Question."

Nemuri hummed. "Could work, Shinsou."

"Yeah! It's a cool reference to a pre-Quirk comic character, and it vaguely refers to how your Quirk works!"

Shinsou grinned. "Thanks."

Tokoyami stood up next, his plaque on the desk. "Tsukuyomi, the Jet Black Hero."

Nemuri and Midoriya gave a thumbs up. "God of the Night!"

Koda was quiet, showing his sign. 'Petting Hero, Anima.'

Midoriya gave Koda an encouraging smile and a thumbs up. "I like it!"

Mineta came up to the desk and Nemuri was happy to see that he looked less tense than he had at the Sports Festival. It was just nice to see he had listened to her advice. He gave the class a determined stare. "W-well, this is me!" He managed to hold his sign up. "The Freshly Picked Hero, Grapeshot!"

"That one really pops!" Nemuri grinned, seeing her former student blush, before scurrying back to his desk.

Bakugou got up, glaring at the class. "King Explosion Murder."

Midoriya sighed. "Kacchan, while it's a clever reference to your power-"

"I know it's a good reference, D - Izuku, that's why I'm using it!"

Midoriya sighed. "Kacchan, what kind of Hero has 'murder' in their name?"

"The awesome kind, duh!"

Nemuri shook her head. "Try again, Bakugou." As he slouched to his chair, grumbling, Shield got up next. Her eyebrow raised - she was interested in seeing what All Might's goddaughter had come up with.

—

Melissa had thought long and hard about what kind of Hero name she would take. She had thought about taking a name like Uncle Might's - a name that implied that he had the strength to carry the fight against any Villains out there. But that wasn't what she felt like.

Her role as a Support engineer had never been about overpowering, it had been about protecting. About making gear that would make the Hero who wore it feel safe. Protected.

"I… put a lot of thought into this name." She turned it around, showing the class. "The Defending Hero, Shieldmaiden."

"A pun on your name, huh?" Izuku breathed. "It's cool."

"Plus, it's a reference to my mother's side of the family - they came from Denmark, and… when I thought of the old warrior women-"

Midnight grinned. "I like it! Gives a sense of you protecting people!"

Melissa flushed slightly. "Yeah, I just never thought I'd ever take a name like this before."

She sat down, and Hatsume bounded up. "Alright, future Clients and Minions! Behold!" She flipped the board around. "The Baby Making Hero, Hatsume Industria!"

"Rejected," Midnight bluntly said.

"Eh?!"

"Look, I know you call your inventions 'Babies,' but please, don't make that your sobriquet. I'm begging you. You'll regret it."

Midoriya seemed to have a similar opinion. "Maybe… The Inventing Hero Hatsume? That could work!"

Hatsume pouted. "Fine, fine!"

Midnight looked around. "Perfect. Now all we have left is Iida, Uraraka… as well as Bakugou and Hatsume's second attempts."

Tenya stepped up, a curious expression on his face. He stepped up to the podium and turned his board around. Midnight looked at it with a curious expression. "Just your name, huh?"

He nodded. "I… I am sorry I couldn't think of a proper name. Until then, this is just a placeholder."

Izuku gave him a concerned look. "Are… you sure? Because-"

"It's fine, Midoriya! Thank you for your insightful commentary on Hero names!"

Melissa watched as Tenya went back to his seat. Her heart clenched. She was going to have to try and reach out to him with Ochaco.

Speaking of her other friend, Ochaco came up next, a slightly worried look on her face. "W-well, this is what I came up with," she stammered, before turning it around.

"Uravity!" Izuku exclaimed.

Midnight grinned. "That's a punny name, I like your style!"

Ochako came back to her seat, trading a look with Melissa. They were both worried about Tenya.

Bakugou came back to the front. "Alright," he ground out. "Lord Explosion Murder."

"...Kacchan the honorific wasn't the problem…"

"He does look a lot like you, Leader."

"Yeah, he's got the 'resting bitch' face down pat. It's like looking in a mirror for you, huh? Except he doesn't have the scar."

"Shut. Up."

"All I'm sayin' is, you could have had- OW! Don't use your Quirk to throw stuff at me, you spiky haired jerk-"

"Oh, god. Yoichi, we need a hand here-"

"I like your style, First Place!" Mei cackled, stomping up. "Here we go! The Inventing Hero, Hatsume Industria and her Amazing Babies! Ready to crush Mastermind into a fine paste!"

Midnight shook her head. "The rest of the name is fine, but no references to Babies. People will get the wrong idea."

"Get the wrong idea about what?" Hatsume looked so perplexed the rest of the class looked between each other. Ashido, on the other hand, looked calculating, looking between her and Midoriya for some reason.

Melissa sighed, rubbing her face. Hatsume had some great ideas but the girl was a bit odd. Hopefully the Internships will be quiet… she mused, privately. Maybe she could get a chance to talk to Tenya before he did something reckless.

—

As they went to their other classes, Mei blinked as the Iida boy power walked over to her. "Yes? What do you need?"

His face was hard. "I was wondering… Do you still have that Declaration of Eternal Hatred on you?"

Her face split in a grin. "Of course, Future Client!" Whipping them out, Mei presented them to Iida. "Now, are you interested in-"

Tokoyami suddenly appeared, an unsigned form in hand. "I just want to ask, can I sign this Declaration in blood?"

Mei was slightly confused. "I mean… if you want to?"

Tokoyami gave a little grin. "I've always wanted to do this," he whispered. Man, he was a weird guy.

Iida gave her a determined expression, signing it. "I… I know it's a long shot, but Mastermind took something precious from me. I know that he isn't as dangerous and violent as I once thought he was, but…" He clenched a trembling fist. "If he's hurt him… I'll… I'll…"

Mei grinned, shaking his hand. "Don't worry, Client! I'll help you fulfil your dreams!"

He gave her a stoic nod, then hurried back to his classmates. Mei watched him go, a happy smile on her face. It was always nice to know there were people who shared your opinion on Mastermind.

—

In the bar, Shigaraki cackled. "Oh, this is gonna be perfect!" He flicked through various files, pinky fingers delicately raised. "I was going about this all wrong! I tried to speedrun to what I thought was the final boss, but I didn't have the right strategy guide or party members for that! And then a secret boss appeared! I gotta level up my stuff before I can take him on, right Mon-chan?"

Mon barked, and Shigaraki leered. "I guess I focused on the wrong guy. All Might may be cringe and unbased, but Mastermind is even cringier!"

"So… what do you want me to do, Shigaraki?" Kurogiri asked, opening a tin of tuna for the stray cats outside.

Shigaraki leaned back. "We need better quality party members. People who can agree with us that Mastermind needs to be removed."

He tapped one picture. "Guys like Stain."

Yes, it was perfect. He'd heard on the grapevine that Stain hated Heroes and that he'd been beaten by Mastermind. Now all he had to do was pick the right dialogue options and he would have a fine recruit. Somebody who would be guaranteed to hate Mastermind almost as much as he did.

AN: Not much happened here, I will admit. Still, it's a bit of a break before the storm.

Hero names, yay!

Some differences, some not. And I'm hinting at stuff.

Mineta is part of the Hero Course! And Mei is now sharing some classes with them - she's in this class because it's Hero names. As for why she's not in Vlad's class, Vlad doesn't want his class but in particular Monoma to be infected with Mei's particular brand of insanity.

It took me ages to think about Melissa's name, and then I realised that I forgot Shinsou's name. I think they're good names - I had a little giggle about them.

As always, thank Banchoking for editing this. Next time, we start the Internships!