Disclaimer: Boku no Hero Academia characters and plot events belongs to Horikoshi Kohei.

To Be a Hero

the train to internship hell!

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The days of rest went by for the rest in relative peace. The students were all heading back to school on the third day, well-rested and injuries mostly all healed. Because the sports festival was broadcasted on national television, with the focus directed especially at class 1-A, people on their way to school would recognize them and call them out in congratulations. While this was a notion Shiro appreciated, she didn't think she'll ever get used to the attention.

It was raining when she reached school campus and she had to make sure that she didn't step on any puddles to avoid soaking the bandages on her leg. It was the only part on her body that was left to heal on its own as Recovery Girl's little punishment for her overexerting her Quirk again. Of course, she's heard an earful from Aizawa as well, but she was fine nonetheless because he was clearly not that angry at her to begin with.

"Shiro-chan~!" Hagakure called from behind while Shiro was putting on her indoor shoes. Ojiro was right by the girl as they walked over. She couldn't see the expression on the invisible girl's face, but it didn't take much to know that she was hyped about something and probably grinning. "Ojiro-kun and I were just talking about how we've become even more popular after the sports festival. I even got a few stares on my way here. It was kind of embarrassing!"

"Isn't that normal for you...?" Shiro tilted her head in question of the girl's statement. The girl is invisible.

"Ojiro-kun said some even stopped to talk to him, too," Hagakure exclaimed without any indication that she heard. "They all thought his decision was very honorable!"

"I just felt it wouldn't be fair to move on without doing any work is all," Ojiro replied bashfully while putting on his own shoes. When he came back up, his cheeks were still tinted red as his eyes landed on Shiro. "Moreover, I bet you gained more attention. Going against Bakugou isn't easy and you got third place out of everyone."

"I didn't stop to talk to them," she stated bluntly.

"Of course you didn't," the male chuckled.

The three finished their business by the lockers but Shiro was drawn to a certain locker a few spots down. News had come out the other night about the culprit behind Ingenium's hospitalization... She wondered about the state of Iida's mind in knowing that the Hero Killer was still on the loose.

"Good morning, Shiro-kun, Ojiro-kun, and Hagakure-kun!" The three turned to see the aforementioned president sprinting towards them with a bright green poncho. "Why are you guys still chit-chatting out here? You're going to be late!"

"Eh?" Ojiro blinked with bewilderment. "But there's still five minutes until the first bell."

"U.A. students should always arrive 10 minutes early!"

Before they could question further, Iida already switched his rain boots with his indoor shoes and was ready to head to class. Shiro looked at the male with concern as he seemed to carry on like normal despite what happened to his family.

"Iida-san," she called while they were all heading towards their classroom. "Are you al—?"

"There is no need to worry," he reassured immediately. With the idle chatter happening around them, only the two were aware of the conversation. "My brother's condition is stabilized. I apologize for worrying you needlessly."

If you say so... she blinked as the male only left it at that and entered the classroom. He was already at his seat and was immediately bombarded by Uraraka's questions. Meanwhile, Shiro was pulled in by Hagakure and joined the bustling excitement of her classmates recounting their mornings.

"Morning, Shiro-chan!" Kirishima greeted in between Sero's distraught retelling of some elementary school kids telling him 'Don't mind'. "Hey, you're all healed up from your injuries! Bakugou really did a number on you, huh?"

"Yeah," Shiro replied while glancing at the angry-looking blonde. It wouldn't be surprising to know that the results of the sports festival was still irking him. "It's nothing compared to someone's bruised ego, though."

Bakugou slammed his fist on his desk, "Who said my ego's bruised, huh?!"

"I didn't say it was yours," she said with a challenging smirk. "But it sure sounds like it is."

"How about I give you a real bruise to talk about!"

"You've already done that during the festival, number one."

"AGGGGGHHH!"

Kirishima laughed; it was always entertaining to watch the two banter. "Hey, hey!" he broke the fight with a charming grin nonetheless. "We all did our best in the sports festival. We should all be happy!"

"Shut up, Shitty Hair!"

"Hey, we basically have the same hair!"

It was evident that the mood of the classroom was in high spirits after the sports festival. For the most part, at least. Shiro could still sense that there was something wrong with Iida... But what can she do?

All the chatter stopped suddenly when the classroom door opened and in walked Aizawa. The man strolled to the front of the class as he muttered out his greeting and gave each one of them his usual stare. Tsuyu pointed out his lack of bandages.

"The old lady went overboard with her treatment," Aizawa replied as he rubbed the underside of one eye. There was a deep crescent scar below his right eye; the aftermath from Nomu's attack. "Anyway," he continued on, "We're having a special hero informatics class today. You'll be coming up with hero names."

There was an unanimous cheer from the class at the mention of something as exciting as making up code names, but of course, it was immediately silenced with a glare from the hero. "This is related to the Pro Hero draft picks I mentioned the other day. The drafts begin in earnest in the second and third years after students have gained experience and can become immediate assets to the pros," he explained. "In other words, for them to extend offers to first years like you, it shows that they are interested in your future potential. These offers are often canceled if that interest dies down by graduation."

"Adults are so selfish," Mineta knocked on his desk with a mutter.

"So we'll have to prove ourselves once we get picked, huh?" Hagakure remarked with great interest. The hero nodded and turned to the board with his projector remote.

"Here are the totals for those with offers."

The class watched in bewilderment as a chart with their names and number of offers appeared on the board one by one. Todoroki stood as first place with more than 4000 offers, followed by Bakugou who had over 3500. Shiro was surprised to see her name right under the blonde's even if her amount of offers paled in comparison. The rest followed in more modest numbers.

"In other years, it's been more spread out, but all eyes were on these two this year," Aizawa explained, pointing to the top two students.

"Gah, there's such a big difference!" Kaminari groaned.

"Those pros don't know a good thing when they see one!" Aoyama added with his face puffed and ego bruised.

"Look at the order though," Jiro raised a brow with surprise. "Todoroki's first while Bakugou's second... It's the opposite of their placement in the sports festival."

"Some people are too scared to ask for a guy who had to be restrained on the podium," Sero supplemented. It seemed the most logical, but of course it hit a nerve with Bakugou as he whipped his head around and threw the simple guy a demonic scowl.

"What're the pros scared of?!"

"Still, they're amazing," Shiro mumbled. To see that there was still such a difference between her and the top of the class was telling. She was happy with her result, but her competitive streak wasn't having it. "I've still got a ways to go..."

Besides her, Midoriya blinked at her envy and awe. "You got 581 offers, Shiro-san! That's impressive, too! U-Unlike me..." he deflated.

"Midoriya, you didn't get any offers!" Mineta shook him from behind. "It's probably because they're scared of you 'cause of the crazy way you were fighting!"

"Yeah..."

"Keeping these results in mind, whether or not anyone asked for you, you will all be participating in internships with pros," Aizawa finalized, catching everyone's attention again. "At USJ, you already got to experience combat with real villains, but it will still be meaningful training for you to see pros at work firsthand."

Sato pumped his fist with excitement, "So that explains the hero names!"

"Well, those hero names are still temporary, but if you're not serious about it..."

"You'll have hell to pay later!" Midnight swiped open the door and sauntered in. "Because a lot of hero names used by students become recognized by society and they end up becoming professional hero names!"

As some of the guys drooled over the sexy hero, Aizawa waved a hand in dismissal. "That's how it is. So Midnight will be making sure your names are okay," he said while taking out his sleeping bag. "I can't do stuff like that."

That made Shiro think about the origin of Aizawa's hero name, as told by Present Mic, and she distinctly remembered her four-year-old self vowing to never let the Voice hero name her as well.

"When you give yourself a name, you get a more concrete image of what you want to be like in the future, and you can get closer to it. This is what it means when they say, 'names and natures do often agree.' Like 'All Might', for example," the Erasure hero informed before giving the task to Midnight to take care of and slunk down to rest.

A concrete image of what I want to be...? Shiro pondered as the name boards were passed down her row. She stared at the blank canvas and thought of what she wanted to be in the future.

"Okay, let's start presenting names starting with those who are ready," Midnight announced after some time have passed. Her words shocked many people as they didn't expect to have to tell the class their hero names, too.

Aoyama was the first to raise his hand. Boldly, he walked up to the front of the class, "Here I go..." he lifted his white board proudly. "'Shining Hero: I can not stop twinkling!' Which means, you can't stop my sparkles!"

It's complicated, but it suits Aoyama-san, Shiro thought seriously. After getting to know him more during the sports festival, she wasn't as opposed to his "shinning" personality anymore.

It's a sentence! The rest of the class, on the other hand, blanched.

Despite the absurdity of it all, Midnight seemed perfectly fine with it and only suggested a few structural changes to make the name more catchy. She motioned for the next person to volunteer and Mina skipped up happily.

"Hero name, 'Alien Queen'!"

"Are you trying for the thing with acidic blood?" Midnight immediately rejected. "It sounds too evil!"

"Dang it..." Mina trailed back to her seat to try again. Tsuyu raised her hand next.

"Then, may I go next?" she walked up to the podium and turned her board around. "I've had this in mind ever since I was in elementary school. 'Rainy Season Hero: Froppy'."

The R Rated hero clapped her hands together happily, "That's so cute!" she praised. "It seems friendly. I like it! It's a great example of a name that everyone will love!"

As Tsuyu brought back the flow of the hero names back towards normal, others were willing to share their names more at ease. One by one, the students went up to and explained their names. They all had an image in mind that they wanted to strive for, and it was true that their names were telling of their strength or characteristic.

When it got to Todoroki, everyone anticipated what the top student in their class had thought up. They were greatly surprised, if not a bit disappointed, to find that he decided to simply go by his first name.

"Shoto."

"Is that okay?" Midnight asked, and the male nodded. "Very well. Next!"

A few more went before Bakugou stomped up to the podium with such a fierce look on his face. It had taken him a while to think up of the perfect hero name. "King of Explosion Murder," he declared.

"You probably shouldn't use something like that," the R Rated hero advised.

"Why not?!"

"You should be 'Explosion Boy'!" Kirishima suggested instead.

"I'll kill you!"

Shiro shook her head as the hero sent the blonde back to make some changes. He could be so unreasonable sometimes. At this time, Uraraka went up and introduced her name as Uravity, which was both fitting of her cute nature and the characteristic of her Quirk.

"Alright! Now, all that's left is Bakugou-kun who needs to rethink his name, Iida-kun, Midoriya-kun, and Aisaka-san!"

At the mention of her name, Shiro tightened her grip on the marker in her hand. She was honestly stumped. She kept on thinking back to what drives her to become a hero... Perhaps she picked up Aizawa's inability to make up a creative name as well.

It would be simple to go with something that related to her probability Quirk, but she wanted her name to have more meaning. Something that will reflect who she is as a person.

She thought back to her past. Her only memory of her past self was that she was named Shiragiku and nothing else, but even something as simple as her name was told by the hospital staff. While she was told there was an unnamed hero who saved her from the burning orphanage, Aizawa was the first person and the first hero of her memories after the accident.

He was broody and not at all charming the first time she's ever met him, and she was even apprehensive to go with him... But he took her in and new memories with the Pro Hero quickly replaced her blank slate.

She was no longer just Shiragiku who couldn't remember her past and family. Aizawa became her family. With that in mind, she glanced at the sleeping man at the front of the class before writing a name down with purpose. "I'll go," she said and walked up to the front of the class and flipped over her board to show everyone.

In bold, it simply read: SHIRO.

"Shiragiku's a mouthful. I'll just call you Shiro."

After all... Despite his insistence, Aizawa wasn't all that terrible at coming up with names.

After the bell for the end of morning classes rang and in rolled lunchtime, Shiro and her classmates were still looking over their options of hero agencies to internship at. Even for those who didn't get any offers, there was a list of 40 agencies around the country. For people who had over a hundred choices, choosing an agency became a tedious chore to pick out the best one that can enhance specific skills of interest.

"Hey guys, have you decided what pro agency you're going to yet?" Mina asked with a sense of resign as she plopped her upper body on her desk.

"I'm going to Mt. Lady!" Mineta answered swiftly. As soon as he saw his options, he knew he was set.

"Mineta-chan, you're thinking about something perverted, aren't you?" Tsuyu stated as she walked past.

"O-Of course not!"

"Ashido-san, you made it pretty far in the tournament, too," Ojiro interjected in response to the pink haired girl's resignation. "It's weird that you didn't get any offers."

"Right? You said it!"

"Deku-kun, have you decided already?" Uraraka asked, though it was almost pointless to ask as the curly haired male was still in his state of muttering and weighing over his choices. "Ah... What about you, Shiro-chan?"

Shiro looked up from her stack with a slow blink. So far, most of her options have been capture-type agencies much like Aizawa's specialty. She figured many would categorize her skill to be most efficient with quickly capturing villains, but she wanted to expand her horizons. "I'm not sure yet. Have you decided?"

"Yup! I'm going to Battle Hero: Gunhead's agency!"

Hearing the announcement, Midoriya snapped up from his concentration with surprise. "Huh? Gunhead's a huge battle type!" he remarked. "You're going there, Uraraka-san? I totally thought you were trying to be a hero like Thirteen."

"Ultimately, yes," the girl threw a practice punch in midair with determination. "But fighting Bakugou-kun at the sports festival made me think. The stronger I get, the more possibilities I'll have! If I only do what I want, I'll have a narrower perspective!"

"I see..."

Both Shiro and Midoriya regarded the girl's resolve with respect. It was a true and very rational decision on her part to better herself. Shiro was thinking the same thing as her only focus was to get strong enough to hold up in combat so that she can protect the people she cares about.

"Say, this has been bothering me for a while, but..." Uraraka gave Midoriya's slightly shaking form a perplexed look. "Why are you trembling?"

"Oh, this?" the boy stared down at himself. Since the start of the class, he had been working to keep his sitting form hovering just above the chair for some extra practice. "It's the air chair exercise."

"Air chair?! Don't tell me you do that all through class?"

The group's attention on the boy was wide with awe. Just how did he have the strength or energy to do such a thing for so long?!

"There's no way!"

"That's such an old-fashioned exercise."

"What are you saying? The isometric muscle contraction of the air chair means it's an easy way to train without moving..."

As her classmates continued to discuss about the curly haired male's extraordinary training during class, Shiro's ruby eyes shifted back to her list of agencies and flipped through it with thought. Everyone was working hard to reach their goals by picking the right agency to work under, so she can't slack off either. Then a name towards the bottom of the list caught her eye with surprise.

It seemed that it was one of the last to send in a request, and justifiably so, since it was rare for students to receive offers from any of the Top Ten...

"Internships, huh?"

"Yeah," Aizawa's eyes stayed trained on the forms he was reading over as Snipe walked by his chair. He'd given his students two days to research and look over their internship options, and he's already gotten a few forms turned in by the end of the day. "A few already decided."

"It's an important event. Make sure they think about it properly," Snipe remarked. "There are some third years that still have regrets about it."

"Yeah..." the Erasure hero nodded as he flipped over another sheet. It was Shiro's desired agency form. Since he was currently an instructor for U.A., his agency was not currently operating but there were plenty of other agencies like his that wanted Shiro as an intern. But what caught him by surprise was not the girl's top choice, since he knew her to be someone to grab at the best opportunity when it showed itself, but the agency itself.

The hero Shiro chose was really going to push her to her limits...

However, what was more concerning was Iida's choice when he flipped to his form. The hero was sure there were better choices for the male to choose from, but this one in Hosu City must have stood out somehow... If he remembered, Ingenium was currently recovering in Hosu City. The news of Ingenium being hospitalized by the Hero Killer was not secret among the Pro Heroes, but the villain was still on the loose and it was putting pressure on all of them especially when they are sending out their students.

Aizawa just hoped that Iida's choice wasn't going to be one that he'll regret approving.

The day of the internships came faster than a blink of an eye.

"You all have your costumes, right?" Aizawa addressed while the group gathered at the train station to go to their perspective cities for training. "Remember, you aren't allowed to wear them in public. Don't drop them or anything."

"Yessir~!" Mina replied with great enthusiasm as she waved her hero suit briefcase in the air.

"Speak clearly! It's 'yes, sir,' Ashido," the hero immediately reprimanded.

"Yes, sir..."

"Make sure you mind your manners with the heroes at your internships. Now, off you go."

Shiro couldn't help but think that Aizawa sounded completely like a dad sending off his children and grinned to herself. "Yes, sir!" she chorused along with the class.

Straightening up at the dismissal, she clutched the briefcase in her hands tightly and went to search for her train. If she were to be honest, she never liked trains that much. She remembered going on it a few times with Aizawa as a kid and she would often get dizzy during the ride. She really hoped that she'd grown out of that phase... While searching, she noticed Iida walking towards the train going to Tokyo. She was about to call out to him when Midoriya and Uraraka beat her to it. Instead, she stood by Todoroki who was looking in the same direction.

There was a certain determination in Iida's eyes when he turned to bid them goodbye, but Shiro couldn't decipher if it was a good look or not.

"I'd be lying if I said I wasn't concerned about him," Todoroki said softly. "I hope it goes well."

"Yeah..." Shiro tilted her head. There was just not much for her to say when Iida wasn't accepting empathy. She turned to the male besides her, "Hey, where are you going for your internship?"

"My old man's hero agency."

She blinked in surprise. "Really?"

"I have no intention of going the path he wants me to go, but there are some things that I have to learn from him," he looked at his left hand.

"That makes sense," Shiro nodded. "He is the number two hero. If only I didn't find my conversation with him so irksome, I don't think I would pass up on the opportunity if given the chance."

While the prospect of having the chance to train with her was appealing, Todoroki knew that Endeavor would never take a second look at anyone unless he could find something useful about them for his own agenda. Him and his siblings were the perfect example. "Which hero agency did you choose?" he ask curiously. At the very least, they might be on the same train.

"It was surprising," she stated with an excited grin on her lips. "I'm going to—" Before she could finish, the announcement came on about a train leaving in five minutes and she widened her eyes. "Shoot, that's my train. I'll see you after the internships, Todoroki-san!"

Seeing the girl wave before frantically running the opposite direction of him to her train, Todoroki let out a small sigh. He couldn't get everything now, could he?

Meanwhile, Shiro hopped into the train and went to search for a place to sit. Most of the seats were taken, but she found one at the back that seemed to be empty. Making her way down the isle, she was still thinking about Iida's quiet demeanor and Todoroki's voice of concern. While she was hoping that her worry was nothing, she realized a little too late on why the seat in the back was empty.

Anyone would avoid it if their seatmate was going to be the well-known, angry blonde from the U.A. sports festival broadcast.

"Ha...? You're fuckin' with me."

"Trust me, I wish I was," Shiro glared at him and looked around to see if there was any other seat available. It looked like luck wasn't on her side willingly today. If it wasn't bad enough that she had the potential of getting train-sick, she was going to be train-sick in front of Bakugou. Putting away her hero suit case, she begrudgingly plopped herself down on the seat.

"Who said I want to sit with you?" he sneered.

"You can move if you don't like it," she shot back.

Bakugou's face scrunched even more as he sunk deeper into his seat. "Whatever," he crossed his arms across his chest and looked out the window as the train started moving. He stayed like that in silence for a few minutes before he peeked over at Shiro again. She seemed to be struggling internally as her lips pouted and eyes twitched ever so slightly.

"Oi," he called out to her. "Talk to me."

He received a weird look from the girl as she turned to him. "What?"

He rolled his eyes, "It's fucking obvious that you have motion sickness. I don't want you to puke all over me so stop concentrating on the movement of the train and start talking, dumbass."

While offended, Shiro couldn't deny how accurate he was at reading her. He just had to be all smart about it. "The likelihood of me throwing up is small," she indicated with a huff. "I just get dizzy and tired."

"Heh, sure," Bakugou smirked, causing her eye to twitch.

"Maybe I will puke on you so you can wipe that and the smirk off your face."

"I'll throw you out the damn window before that happens."

"Wow, dumb move for a hero," she taunted while he flipped her off with another threat. Though, she realized that his threats lacked the usual bite. It was like he was just egging her to keep talking, and she was feeling less dizzy.

Bakugou could be kind in his own way, sometimes. Maybe this train ride wouldn't be so bad...

The train whistled as it zipped past a green pasture. Bakugou was staring out the window again, but this time he was doing so involuntarily.

No, he just couldn't bring himself to look the other way because otherwise he'd look like the biggest fucking creep in the world. There was no way he was going to stoop down to Mineta's level. After an hour of rather harmless banter, Shiro had grown tired and dozed off. It was all fine and dandy on his end for a while, but then she decided to use his shoulder as a headrest.

He didn't know what to do, but he had made the mistake of looking at her sleeping face. Was it really his fault that she literally had the face of an angel when she was not annoying him with her sharp remarks? Of course not! Normally, he'd push whoever dared to use him as a furniture off and give them a piece of his mind, but...

He was probably out of his damn mind.

The train jolted ever so slightly when it passed through an uneven track and Bakugou wanted to blast the conductor and track workers to the next station over for being so careless because it caused the girl to stir. He stiffened when she moved slightly but didn't wake up, and just when he thought he was safe, she snuggled closer towards his neck to get more comfortable.

Her soft breaths were simultaneously sending chills down his spine and making heat shoot up his neck and face. He was really out of his damn mind for not pushing her off. "Fucking shitty Pigtails..." he said halfheartedly, trying to maintain what little tough image he had left. His words seemed to get through her, though, because it made her pout.

He couldn't dare to say it made her look cuter.

A piece of her hair was tickling his neck, so he tried to swat it away without moving all that much. He cursed silently when his finger accidentally grazed her cheek and he froze when she mumbled something.

"...hnng... Stupif Bakugou..."

His eyes twitched but his lips rose to a small smirk. Even in her dreams, she was still throwing insults back at him.

"You're so fucking lucky I like you, Pigtails."

Shiro was jolted awake when the train came to a stop; looking around, she quickly realized that it was her stop. The seat next to her was empty and she can only assume that Bakugou had left the stop before her. Though, she wondered how he was able to get past her without waking her up or how she slept in such an uncomfortable position... And then she realized that there was a rolled up shirt between her neck and seat.

"Huh...?" she unfolded the shirt and saw that it was a very simple black tee with a skull graphic in the middle. Is this... Bakugou's?

"Passengers, please be sure to take all of your belongings before getting off the train. Doors will close in two minutes."

Having no time to think about it, Shiro grabbed the shirt and the rest of her stuff and stepped off the train. Immediately, she was met with a hit of city air with a bit of fresh ocean salt. One of the highlights of the agency she chose was that she was near the port but was also surrounded by many developed cities with numerous opportunities for hero work if she was to go out on supervised patrol.

Making her way to agency, she was feeling nervousness biting at her because of the reputation that her hero of choice had. But, she was feeling excitement pumping in her blood as well.

"Welcome!" the receptionist perked when Shiro walked through the large glass doors of the hero agency. The architecture inside the building was shimmering with an aquatic aesthetic; it was like she walked straight into an aquarium.

"Hello," she replied softly, her ruby eyes focused and determined. "I am a student from U.A. High coming here for my internship. My name is Aisaka Shira—"

Before she got to finish her introduction, she was cut off by a large rumble caused by someone jumping down right behind her and a deep voice resonated through the building with authority.

"Hero name, 'Shiro', correct? I've been waiting."

Shiro turned and met fact-to-face with the towering hero she will be interning under and took in a deep breath to calm herself. Clad in a white suit and his signature orca-like pelt, he was imposing as ever.

Gang Orca, the current number 10 hero.

She found that she could only nod in response to his imposing question, and the hero's deep, white ringed eyes narrowed as he scrutinized her. "Sports festival results aside, I will assess whether you really got what it takes. You have one week to prove yourself to me."

This is it. She was here to get stronger. Shiro nodded once more with a firmer look at the hero, "Yes, sir!"

Gang Orca smirked.

"Then let's get to it, hero!"

Was anyone surprised that Shiro is going to train under Gang Orca? I always thought he was interesting even before his appearance in the anime hehe. Anyway, please leave some reviews bc I get lonely over here in the author's corner and would like to know if I'm doing a decent job at keep your attention ~ uwu ~