"Alright, please pass forward your essays from last week," Aizawa announced as soon as the sounding bell finished sounding. There was a series of shuffling noises as the students all began to hand each other their papers. He waited until they were all passed to the front of the rows before picking them up and placing them in a stack on his desk. He then got out his pad and set up the holographic presentation for the day.

"Today's lesson is on the difference between daylight and underground heroes," he stated as the screen displayed the words 'Daylight vs Underground'. "There are some pretty big differences between them, and they each fill different roles of heroism. So, can anyone tell me what the biggest difference is?"

"Is it that daylight heroes care about popularity rankings?" Ojiro asked hesitantly. "They work in the public eye, get filmed by the media, do interviews, and all kinds of other stuff that gets taken into account by the popularity charts. Underground heroes operate below the radar, right?"

Aizawa nodded, flicking to the next slide that had two columns, one labeled 'Daylight' and the other 'Underground'. There was a short list in each column, with some examples about what set them apart.

"Mostly correct. Due to the nature of their jobs, daylight heroes work in the open - which does tend to lead to popularity rankings, since most daylight agencies take that into account when hiring potential heroes." Gesturing to the 'Underground' side of the slide, he continued. "In contrast, underground heroes have to be more discrete. Most of their work happens at night due to the nature of the jobs they take on. Information gathering, infiltration, quiet takedowns, hostage rescues, etc. There's as much variety as there is for daylight heroes who specialize in combat, rescue, disaster management, and more."

"But don't daylight heroes also take on jobs at night?" Uraraka spoke up, looking curious. "During some of the bigger raids that happened recently, a bunch of daylight heroes joined the nighttime work."

"Honestly, there's more overlap than most people assume," Aizawa acknowledged, nodding at her. "Though it's easier for daylight heroes to cross over to underground work, it does happen in reverse too - Midnight is a good example. She's a well-known hero who started out in the underground but also does a lot of work in the daylight. Can anyone explain why it is that few underground heroes cross over into daylight work, even though plenty of heroes do the other way around?"

There was a moment of silence across the class before a quiet sound of realization emerged from among the silent crowd of students.

"Sorry, Sensei! I was raising my hand out of habit and forgot I wasn't wearing my gloves today," Hagakure piped up sheepishly. "It's because of Quirks, right? That's what Midnight-sensei told me when she suggested I try going underground after graduating due to my invisibility. Part of the reason a lot of underground heroes go underground in the first place is because their Quirks rely on stealth or being relatively unknown to work - like mine, yours, or Shinsou-kun's!"

"Exactly," he nodded in her direction, pleased to hear at least one of his students was considering underground work as a career. "Quirks play a big part in that decision for many heroes. Another reason though could be that they don't want to work with a hero agency, or they just prefer the kind of work underground heroes do."

"What do you mean about not wanting to work with a hero agency?" Shouji asked, his multiple limbs somehow conveying confusion even though his expression was concealed. "Don't all heroes need to work under an agency? Agencies are the ones who provide insurance, and all operating heroes are required by law to be ensured due to how common property damage is from villain fights."

"They are. Does anyone know why underground heroes aren't required to be a part of an agency like daylight heroes?"

Silence filled the air again as Aizawa waited for an answer. When it became clear that none of them knew the answer, he flicked to the next slide, having anticipated reaching this question. On the slide was a short list of different names.

"The reason that underground heroes can get away with being more independent is because they work for the government rather than a private agency," he explained, gesturing towards the short list. "Whether that be working with the police, the Hero Public Safety Commission, or another branch of government entirely, underground heroes are licensed and insured directly by the government."

"So is the process of getting hired different then? Since the job description and the people hiring are different from the daylight heroes?" Midoriya asked, frowning thoughtfully at the screen. Aizawa nodded, leaning back against his desk.

"Yes, when it comes to underground heroism, you have to submit your information to the specific agency you want to work for," he said, settling in as the students listened attentively, the topic apparently interesting enough to hold even the most distractable students' attentions. "If you don't have a preference or don't know, there is a way to submit your information to the Department of Heroism directly, and they'll assign you where you would be of most use."

A few of the students broke into murmurs at that, and Aizawa decided to allow it, glancing at the clock. After a minute or two he broke into the quiet conversation, causing the students to immediately fall silent again.

"Alright, if there are no questions then we need to be moving on," he stated, waiting a moment before continuing at the resulting quiet. "This week you are to write two pages on what specialty you would go into if you decided to be a daylight hero or an underground hero - and you have to write about both. If you don't know for whatever reason, explain why that is and what steps you would take to resolve that."

The sound of hurried writing filled the air as the class wrote down the assignment. After giving them a moment to finish, Aizawa narrowed his eyes at them in his usual fashion.

"Now, if you have any questions about this that you think of later, feel free to ask me after class, but right now you should go change into your hero costumes for our next activity. You have ten minutes to be at the usual training grounds."

Chairs screeched as the students scrambled to get to the changing rooms, not wanting to face their teacher's wrath if they were late.


AN: I like to imagine that after this, all the students collectively realize why their teacher is always so tired - because he's a hero all night and a teacher all day, haha! I'd be tired too, working two jobs with a schedule like that.