Chapter 15: Hero of Thunder
As Midoriya lay on his bed the night after the Sports Festival, he was glad that he had two days to recover while the second and third years had their own Sports Festivals. The day itself, between the fighting and the celebratory feast Thor had prepared in Asgard, left him completely drained of energy. The tryptophan in the turkey might not have helped either.
His eyes must have closed and he had drifted off to sleep. The vibrating of his phone against his nightstand began to rouse him from his slumber.
"Yeah... you can see my hammer Asui," Midoriya muttered as he rolled over in his sleep, trying to shut out the noise.
But as the buzzing continued, he groggily opened his eyes and reached for the phone.
His eyes widened in shock - it was actually Asui calling him. And at midnight?!
"H-hello?" He answered quietly; he didn't need his mom asking him about late night phone calls.
"Kero, sorry if I woke you, but - but!" Came a frantic voice from the other end of the line.
Deku nearly dropped his phone; Asui almost always sounded calm and level, even in dire situations. It was one of her strengths in hero training. So hearing her so shaken snapped him awake. "Tsuyu, are you okay?"
"Kero," she croaked. "Sorry... just... remember when we didn't see Iida after your fight with him?"
"Y-yeah, of course," Midoriya replied. "What happened?"
"Well... I just heard from Uraraka. It was his brother, Ingenium..."
Asui spoke slowly and explained in detail all that happened; Ingenium has encountered Stain, villain and Hero Killer. Upon hearing this detail, Midoriya feared the worst, but Ingenium had been one of the lucky Heroes who had lived to tell the tale of the run in with the notorious scoundrel.
But, luck only gets you so far. The news reports Uraraka had caught had stated Ingenium's Hero career was all but over; he had been crippled.
Neither Asui or Midoriya spoke for a minute once she had finished retelling the tale. Izuku's mouth was dry as he tried to shake himself, mentally. He forced himself to swallow. "Has anyone... has anyone heard from Iida?"
--
The next morning, Uraraka, Asui, and Midoriya stood outside the Iida residence, and rang the doorbell. After a few minutes, it became clear that no one was home.
"They're probably at the hospital still, kero." Asui reasoned.
"Should we try and find out which one?" Uraraka asked.
"That seems like a family matter, they probably don't want to be crowded right now," Midoriya replied, shaking his head. "We should at least text Iida and see if he needs anything or wants company before barging in on something like that."
The other two agreed. They all sent Iida messages of varying concern. And while he read all of them, it became clear after an hour they were not going to get a response.
"Now what?" Uraraka asked. They had migrated to a nearby park as they waited for Iida to reply, and she had taken to levitating as many acorns as possible.
"I think the ball's in his court, kero," Asui replied, handling Uraraka another acorn. "I don't think we should force him to come to us if he's not ready."
"Yeah, maybe we should just call it a day. We can ask him in school. If he doesn't answer us. Here you go Uraraka," Midoriya said, handing her another acorn.
"This is just a rock," she replied, but levitated it anyway, "it's a pretty one though. I guess you guys are right..."
Not in the mood for small talk, the three parted ways shortly after.
--
The three didn't hear from Iida again until he arrived late to class, extending a bow and an apology to Aizawa. The teacher talked about something that took everyone's minds off the Stain attacks:
Internships.
"Whoa, look how many internship offers Midoriya, Bakugou, and Todoroki got!" Kirishima said loudly in class after Aizawa had finished his explanation.
Midoriya sank into his seat, embarrassed at the attention.
It was the following week for class 1-A, and while some of the excitement of the Sports Festival lingered - all of the class was recognized on the streets and subways - Aizawa was quick to direct the class' attention towards internships.
Did he have to show how many internship offers we each got though, Deku thought as he covered his face in his hands.
"I'll pass out the papers. You'll pick your internship by the end of the week, but tomorrow you'll be picking hero names," Aizawa droned on, sounding bored. "Midnight will be assisting tomorrow, but you should give it some serious thought tonight." Aizawa looked at the various papers on his desk and frowned. Nah, he thought. "Iida, as class president, pass these out."
Midoriya's mind raced as a stack of internship offers was plopped on his desk by Iida wordlessly. Iida hadn't made eye contact with him and that was nagging at him, but Deku had not given much thought to his hero name situation since his prior talk with Thor. And as he skimmed the agencies, his heart almost jumped out of his throat. These were High Profile Hero agencies! He could learn so much from some of these Pros. Did he go for the highest ranked one? Or did he go for one that played to his strengths? Or learn to cover his weaknesses?
This weighed on his mind for the rest of the day, until Hero Training let out for the afternoon, signaling the time to return home. Unlike most days, Iida was the first one out the door. It probably helped that he was the fastest person in class. Midoriya grabbed his fat stack of papers and rushed out the door. Uraraka and Asui followed suit and were at his side quickly.
"Iida!" Midoriya called after him in the halls, but the taller boy seemed to just pick up the pace. "IIDA!"
It wasn't until they were outside that Asui did something drastic; she shot her tongue out and grabbed Iida's left arm. He turned, curtly, and looked to his friends without acknowledging them.
"Midoriya was calling for you, kero," Asui said as she retracted her tongue.
"Yes, well, I was ignoring him." Iida replied, shortly. "On purpose."
"And I stopped you." Asui answered, clearly not in the mood for his shit, "on purpose. We're just trying to talk to you."
"We're just worried," Uraraka added, her tone a bit more gentler with the circumstances considered. "We can't imagine what you're going through."
"But if there's anything we can do to help you..." Midoriya trailed off.
Iida stared at them, his eyes shifting between the three before finally settling on Midoriya. His expression softened a bit. "Thank you... you guys are wonderful friends, but I'm afraid I need to go through this alone." He gave a small bow, "I'm meeting with my family now though, so I must be leaving. My apologies."
He left with no objections from his friends this time, but Midoriya, Uraraka, and Asui couldn't help but exchange worried glances again.
"Deku?"
The three of them jumped, not realizing someone had been listening in. More surprising was that it was Todoroki, who was standing just a few feet behind them.
"I'm not used to someone other than Bakugou calling me that," Midoriya replied, breathing a sigh of relief. "What's up?"
Todoroki squinted slightly. "Is... is that not your name?"
Before he could answer, Uraraka piped in, "no, it's just a nickname Bakugou gave you as kids, right?"
Midoriya blushed slightly. "I mean... I guess that's a nice way to put it."
"What do you mean, kero?"
"Well..." Deku rubbed the back of his neck. "Growing up, we thought I was Quirkless because mine... developed late. So Kacchan always called me Deku. You know... useless."
"Oh yikes!" Uraraka said with a gasp, "I just thought it was cute."
"It's kind of dumb of him though," Asui argued, "because you kicked his ass."
The four of them all laughed a bit. "Do you not want me to call you that, then?" Todoroki asked.
Deku thought a moment. "To be honest, I've kind of gotten used to it. And I've been told it means not to give up, which is actually pretty cool."
"And it's still cute!" Uraraka argued, making him blush a bit more.
"Well, as long as you don't mind..." Todoroki shrugged. "I was just going to ask about Iida, but you guys beat me to it. You... you have a knack for sticking your nose in other people's business, don't you?"
Midoriya's blush worsened and he laughed a little nervously. "I-I guess so, huh?"
To his relief, Todoroki smiled. "I don't mean that in a bad way. I appreciated it, anyway. I actually wanted to ask you about that."
"How so?"
"It's about internships..." Todoroki explained.
--
Thor Odinson was a lot of things but patient was not one of them. Sitting in the principal's office of UA didn't really feel at home either. "I'm still not sure why my input is needed here, All Might."
"Like I told you," All Might replied, coughing and wiping a trickle of blood from his chin. "If you hadn't grabbed Midoriya as soon as you did, I would have chosen him as the successor of One for All. So I think you have a good eye for this. But..."
"But...?"
"Well, I grew up Quirkless, like young Midoriya," Toshinori shrugged. "And the only two people whoever acknowledged my potential were my own mentor and... well, you. To be honest, your opinion holds a lot of weight for me."
Thor was not expecting that answer and was a bit taken aback. He looked down at the files for two students that All Might had narrowed down on the list. After a moment, he looked up. "And you still hold the same opinion you had, all that time? That we shouldn't combine the powers of One for All and the God of Thunder?"
"Right," All Might nodded. "One for All is a stockpiling Quirk, and that much power in one person could be dangerous for a whole lot of reasons."
"You have your reasons," Thor admitted, begrudgingly. "But I don't know these students. I couldn't possibly tell you more than you already know."
"That's why I want you to sit in on some of the Hero Training sessions. We can just say you're an associate from my Hero Agency!"
Thor made a face like something incredibly smelly had walked into the room. "The King of Asgard masquerading as an associate? That - "
"It will also give you a chance to check on Midoriya's progress after his own internship." All Might added quickly.
"Well that's not fair," Thor grunted, leaning forward in the armchair with a big sigh. "Fine. But," Thor looked up sternly, "You've been the Number One Hero in this part of Midgard for years. This self-doubt doesn't suit you, Toshinori, and I'm not here to hold your hand as you make hard decisions. Are we clear?"
All Might nodded and tried to hide a gulp. Few people could still make All Might nervous, but Thor was one of them.
The final bell rang for the day, signaling the students would be leaving.
"I'll get in touch when the students are back from Internships, so you can help me pick my successor." All Might advised as the two stood up.
The Symbol of Peace extended his hand, and after a moment of contemplation, Thor shook it before leaving.
Thor tried to exit as discreetly as possible from the side entrance - though still drawing some looks as a towering blonde man that wasn't All Might, so he could get back to Asgard. But then he saw a mess of green hair running towards him.
"Young Midoriya?" He asked. "I wasn't expecting to see you today."
"Thor," Deku panted, "you're the one at my school unannounced."
"Er... well, yeah, that's fair," Thor admitted. "What's up? Looks like you ran over here for a reason."
Deku straightened up. "I just... can I talk to you about choosing my Hero name?"
Thor smiled. "I always have time to give my protege counsel."
The two began to walk away from the school, and once out of earshot, Thor asked, "What is it that I can help you with?"
"Well," Deku asked, rubbing the back of his neck, "before we get assigned internships, they want us to pick our Hero names so that we can get our first real experiences as Sidekicks. And, at first, I was thinking of using the name Deku."
Thor shot him a confused look, causing Deku to laugh and continue. "I know. Someone told me it has this alternative meaning of never giving up, and I thought it'd be a good way to inspire hope to people, but..."
As they walked, Midoriya paused and looked down at his feet.
"But?" Thor echoed.
"I... I hate being called that." Izuku replied. "I don't want to be Deku any more."
"Then don't go by that name," Thor chuckled, patting his smaller protege on the back. "You hardly need me to tell you not to pick something you hate as a Hero name."
"I... I'm getting to that," Izuku said, hesitantly. "I know... I know that when I first took up Mjolnir, you had said that I'm not you. And I know you didn't mean that in a mean way or anything... but..." he sniffed.
Calm on Midoriya, hold it together, he scolded himself. "Even if I'm not you, or as good as you, I wanted to know if you'd give me your blessing to use Thor in my name."
Thor took a step back, shocked. "What?"
"Just... people have already made the connection that I'm like you." Midoriya answered. "You're such a historical figure. But... you believed in me! When no one else did! When I didn't believe in me! So... So I want people to believe in the name Thor again! I don't have to be Thor though, I could be like... Mithoriya if you want or something."
Thor abruptly embraced Midoriya, which caused a lot of looks on the street as this tall blonde viking guy hugged a teenager, but most people just walked around it. "Of course you can, my boy! There's no need to cry about it!" Thor pulled away and turned around, because he most definitely wasn't crying and didn't want Izuku to see him crying. Not that it mattered, because he wasn't. Not at all. "But, let's be frank," he said, wiping his eye. "Mithoriya doesn't sound great. I had another weapon, and I think it might make a good name for you..."
--
The next day, Midoriya watched as his friends all picked Hero names. He clapped as Uraraka and Asui picked the names Uravity and Froppy, and held in laughs when Bakugou's names all got rejected - King Explosion Murder, Lord Explosion Murder, Murderface, Lord Murdersplosion 5000, and Murderboom. For as smart as he was, he wasn't seeing the common link that was getting his names rejected.
Iida and Todoroki merely went with their names for the time being, which was acceptable but risky in some ways.
Finally, Midoriya was called up.
It struck him as he stood up there that... public speaking had not gotten any easier for him. "So, I gave this a lot of thought... and well, some of you have pointed out that my powers are similar to the legendary Avenger, Thor."
Kirishima snapped. "THAT was his name!"
The class laughed a bit.
"So, I thought it would be cool to pay tribute to him in my own Hero name, without just taking it. So I named myself after another weapon he used."
He scribbled the name on the white board and flipped it around.
Stormbreaker, Hero of Thunder
"A subtle tribute," Midnight mused, rubbing her chin, "but it gets the point across. Are you sure?"
Izuku nodded. The class seemed supportive, though maybe not to the extent of some of his classmates.
He didn't think anyone thought anything of it until he left the building with his friends, and someone called out to him.
"Hey, Deku."
This time, it was no mistaking Bakugou's voice. Midoriya turned around to meet his gaze, his friends turning as well with natural curiosity. Bakugou hadn't said a word to Midoriya since the Sports Festival. He'd actually become rather quiet since the encounter. So to be stopped in such a way was a bit surprising. "What's up, Kacchan?"
Kacchan jerked his head to the side, ushering Midoriya over for a private conversation. Waving as his friends continued, Kacchan stood over by a tree as the students filtered away.
"Your name." Bakugou grunted.
There was a pause, Izuku clearly expecting that Bakugou would say more. "... what about it?"
"It's more than tribute." Bakugou huffed. "Thor's still alive, isn't he?"
Midoriya paused. "I... I don't know - "
"DON'T LIE TO ME!" Bakugou yelled, but didn't make a move to threaten Izuku. Instead, he shows his phone screen to his childhood friend, showing the photo of Deku being hugged by Thor and Valkyrie after the Sports Festival. "You've been hanging around this blonde guy for months."
"Have..." Midoriya squinted, "Have you been following me?"
Bakugou ignored him, and then pulled up a historical photo of Thor, standing with the other Avengers. He held it up to Deku and flipped between the two photos. "That weirdo you're always with, he looks JUST like Thor. Is it... it it him?"
Midoriya gulped, gripping Mjolnir a bit tighter.
"You never...NEVER had a Quirk." Bakugou frowned, pocketing his phone again. "Then suddenly, you show up with a hammer, shooting lightning." Bakugou scowled down at Mjolnir. "And no one else can even lift it, can they?"
"You're the only one whose tried," Midoriya answered, lamely.
"JUST ANSWER ME!" Bakugou yelled, punching the tree behind him. "Did Thor give you his Quirk?!"
The two made eye contact, and Deku frowned.
"Yes."