One at a time each classmate shared their name. Midnight praised each student's name as they shared, sending Bakugo back time and time again. Ayumu sat and stared at her paper, her uncapped marker held directly over the paper, but unwilling to make any marks. This name could be stuck with her for the rest of her career. She looked over to Iida who seemed to be having the same problem she was. Ayumu remembered the conversation they had the day prior and wondered if he had made a decision with his name. Trying to refocus on her own assignment, Ayumu thought of her mother's wish for her to take on her father's hero name, but it just didn't feel right. After what felt like an eternity, she wrote down the first thing that seemed to make any sense. Finally, it was her turn.
Ayumu walked up to the front of the room and turned her paper around to show the class. The word 'Mirage' was written in big letters across the page. She looked to Midnight for approval.
"Fantastic!" Midnight shouted excitedly.The name didn't feel fantastic, but it was the best Ayumu could think of. There were a few grumbles of confusion.
"That doesn't really make sense with your quirk though, does it?" Kaminari asked.
Ayumu looked down at the name and then up to Bakugo who had stopped scribbling on his paper and looked up to her. She felt her face begin to redden and her mouth went dry. Why had she picked that stupid name.
"Yeah, are you sure you don't want to pick something a little more linked to what you can do?" Kirishima questioned gently.
Ayumu met Bakugo's eye and bit the inside of her cheek. "Well, it doesn't really fit with accuracy, but… ummm… accuracy isn't my only quirk. I can make illusions like my mom. I just… wasn't very good at it until recently so I never used it."
Bakugo rolled his eyes at her, as if to say, 'was that really so hard' as the class exploded with questions, mostly the 'why didn't you tell us?' and 'can you show us?' and Midorya's never ending string of questions that he asked about everyone's quirk at one time or another. Midnight quickly quieted the class and the frenzy of questions and let Ayumu answer.
"I didn't think it was really that important to share." Ayumu confessed, "I wasn't going to use it, it just wasn't super easy to use. I'm a lot better at it now, though, so I think the name is fitting." She justified again.
The class seemed to agree, still buzzing about not being let in on the secret of her second quirk sooner. She returned to her seat and a few more people showed their names. She felt a little better about her choice after Toderoki and Iida showed that they had picked their own names as their hero names. After a few attempts, Bakugo gave up and did the same, unable to gain Midnight's approval. Midorya had surprised the class with her choice and a few people had tried to talk him out of it, but he was unwavering.
"You'll have to show me how your quirk works later. I can't believe you didn't tell me!" Mina whispered excitedly from the desk beside her and Ayumu nodded, smiling.
It felt like a weight had been lifted off of her after sharing her secret with her classmates.
Once everyone had chosen, Mr. Aizawa took over the class once more.
"Now that everyone's decided on their hero names, we can go back to talking about your upcoming internships. They'll last for one week, as for who you'll be working with, those of you on the board will choose from among your offers. Everyoneelse will have a different list. You have a lot to think about. There are about 40 agencies across the country who have agreed to take on interns for your class. Each agency has a different specialty that its heroes focus on. Keep that in mind."
"Imagine that you were Thirteen. You would want to find a place that focuses on rescuing people, not fighting villains. Understand?" Midnight interjected.
Aizawa nodded in agreement, "Think carefully before you decide." He handed Midnight half of the stack of papers and they began to pass out the lists.
Mr. Aizawa started to leave as the bell rang, signaling the end of the class, "Have your choices turned in before the weekend."
"We've only got two days?" Sero exclaimed.
Mr. Aizawa turned back to face the class from the doorway, "Yeah, so you better start now. You're dismissed." With that he closed the door, locking the class into the room.
Ayumu looked at her paper. It seemed like a waste to have just one agency printed on it. She flipped it over.
"You got an offer." Bakugo leaned against the lockers beside Ayumu's. It wasn't a question, it felt almost like an accusation, but she answered anyway.
Ayumu shut her locker, but didn't look up, "Yeah I did."
Bakugo waited for a moment, but when he realized she wasn't going to elaborate, he decided to pry. "How the hell did you get an offer? You were the only one in our class to not make it past the obstacle course. Even, some people who got into the final event didn't get an offer, what makes you so special?"
She glanced at him for a moment before turning toward where she had stored her umbrella earlier that day. Bakugo used his shoulder to shove himself off the locker and follow her.
"It's my mom's agency." Ayumu admitted, "I could have not participated in the Sports Festival at all and still gotten the offer."
Bakugo fell into step beside her, "I didn't know your mom ran a pro hero agency."
"You never asked."
"That's not exactly something you think to ask."
Ayumu gave him a half smile, "It doesn't really matter anyways. She doesn't really do a lot with the agency, just some behind the scenes stuff. It's also a super small agency. It's not like I'm going to work with the Number 4 prohero."
Bakugo scoffed, "If I'm going to be number 1, I have to work with the best."
Ayumu hummed in response as they made it to the front steps of the school, she could see Shinso standing near the front gate, waiting for her as usual. She stopped for a moment and turned to Bakugo.
"Hey, I don't know if anyone's told you, but I'm really proud of you. I know you worked really hard to train for the Sports Festival and you deserved to win."
Bakugo paused for a moment before rolling his eyes, "Yeah, whatever. I already know I'm the best, I don't need some extra telling me."
Ayumu sighed, "And here I thought we were having a moment."
Bakugo turned away and started down the steps, "Whatever, do you want me to walk home with you or not?"
"Or not," Ayumu motioned toward the gate where Shinso stood watching the interaction. "Hitoshi's waiting for me, but if you're really set on working with Best Jeanist maybe we can ride the train together? My mom's agency isn't too far from his." Ayumu skipped past him and turned to face him as she continued toward the gate, "I'll see you tomorrow."
"Sure." Bakugo watched for a moment as Ayumu laced her arm with Shinso's and dragged him off in the general direction of her house. Once the pair had turned the corner, he made his way home as well.
"So you're going to be gone all of next week?" Shinso asked before taking a sip of his drink as he sat back against the tree.
Ayumu nodded as she stabbed the straw through the top of her cup, "Yeah, I'm going to be staying in one of the rooms at the agency, Takahashi already said I could and cleared it with my mom."
She took a sip of her boba and made a face before setting it down on the grass and looking at the cup as if it had insulted her. Shinso watched her for a moment waiting for the question he knew was sure to come.
"What flavor did you get?"
There it was. "Green tea."
"Do you want to trade?"
Shinso handed her his drink and sighed, "I don't know why you got coconut strawberry. You don't like coconut."
Ayumu happily sipped on the drink Shinso had given her, "I wanted to try something different and I thought the strawberry flavor would like… overshadow the coconut."
Shinso shook his head, "At least I'll have a week without you stealing my drink."
"You tell yourself whatever you need to in order to miss me less." She teased.
Shinso took a sip of the drink before he looked at it again, scrunching up his nose. It wasn't his favorite flavor he's traded for, but it certainly wasn't the worst one. He watched as the sun started to disappear behind the city and pushed himself up off the ground before holding out his hand to Ayumu and pulling her to her feet.
"Just promise me, you'll be careful."
Ayumu laughed, "I'm always careful."