Tamaki wished he could've spent the three days after the festival relaxing at home under a mountain of blankets, but Mirio sadly wouldn't let him and drug him out of the apartment to meet with their friends... at least Miyake let him hide with his large frame.
It wasn't all bad though... Tamaki liked walking around the mutation specialty store nearby Miyake's apartment on the second day, he had even found some nice-looking snacks he was looking forward to trying them later, especially the bag of mice since both Miyake and Iguchi-San highly recommended it since he could eat raw meat without problems due to his quirk giving him an incredibly strong digestive system, one that made it very hard to get food poisoning as he learned when he made the mistake of sharing his lunch when he and Mirio first became friends.
And it was nice being around his friends outside of school activities, training could be fun, but he couldn't deny it was nice to just lay down in a sun beam with Miyake or cooking something up with Hado and Mirio dancing around him in the kitchen, so he tried to focus on the positives of the time spent over the three days.
However, with all this in mind Tamaki was very much unprepared to go back to school when the break was over, especially when the people on the train recognized him and Mirio, which made him want to disappear after a kid asked him if he was the guy who bit someone, thankfully most people were keeping to themselves instead of coming up to them and that was probably only because they also recognized Mirio and were slightly embarrassed... well that's the only reason he could think of that would make people avoid looking at them.
Tamaki was hoping that things would get better once they got to the gates of U.A. but before they could turn the last corner, they were but suddenly grabbed by the collar of their uniforms "Gah?!" he cried curling himself into a ball to protect his abdomen "Hey!? What the- Miyake?" Mirio exclaimed surprised and upon hearing that Tamaki peeked from behind his arms and saw that they were indeed being held aloft by Miyake "Apologies, Mirio-San, Amajiki-San I didn't mean to scare you, but you don't want to that way." Miyake said and Tamaki felt his face turn beet-red from shame over his overreaction.
"We... don't?" Mirio questioned and Miyake nodded then turned to the wall and he saw Oswald sat atop it "One lift for two coming right up." Oswald said before unwinding his hair before twirling them into two thick limbs which wrapped around their waists, Tamaki choked out a squeak as they were sudden lifted way up in the air and over the wall making his stomach turn in knots and saw the apparently waiting Hado and Haya "Heya guys!" Hado greeted with an energetic wave.
"Morning Nejire-Chan, not that we aren't grateful but any special reason for the personal escort to class today?" Mirio asked once their feet were on the ground while Tamaki chose to press his forehead against the wall to help himself calm his upset stomach, he could still hear Oswald scoff from the top of the wall before he stretched his legs to come down from the wall himself "Damn, you guys still haven't checked how the internet reacted to the festival?" Oswald questioned as he leaned back against the part of the wall next to him, sneakily moving a single lock of his hair to be within reach of his mouth and he didn't hesitate to start chewing on it.
"Um... no?" Mirio tentatively answered and Oswald face palmed "Uh, let's just say you left quite the impression Mirio." Haya explained as diplomatically as possible, but Tamaki was pretty sure everyone knew what she meant and Mirio's cheeks turned a bit pink, and he coughed out an awkward chuckle "Ah! I-I see, I guess I should've expected something like that to happen." Mirio prattled off as he looked away from them in a rare moment of embarrassment.
"Yeah, well because of that "impression" the media bloodhounds have been here since before I got here and accosting students as they try to get through them at the gate." Oswald told them jabbing a thumb in the direction of the gate and Tamaki hesitantly lifted his head to glace at it, he couldn't see everything clearly but there was a small crowd of reporters standing at the gates with Aizawa-Sensei and General-Sensei arguing with them.
The idea of having to go through them made him even more queasy "Oh... Sorry, I didn't think- Ack!" Mirio's apology was cut short by Miyake whacking him in the back of the head with his tail shortly after he climbed over the wall "Don't apologize for those vultures, just focus on getting to class." Miyake told them then used his tail to lead Mirio by the hand towards U.A. "Yeah! Aizawa-Sensei can totally deal with those creeps so don't worry about it Mirio-Chan! It's just another thing we're going to have to get used to once we debut." Hado joked waving it off.
"Maybe for you lime-lights but I'm going underground to get away from those animals, sounds like a good plan right Jiki?" Oswald asked pulling Tamaki to his feet with a stretched-out arm and Tamaki found himself sputtering as Oswald was basically cheek-to-cheek with him, which was doing an excellent job of distracting him from just about everything other than how nice Oswald's smile looked as he was lead inside the school building.
Thankfully for Tamaki's heart he could stay at his desk with his head fully buried in his arms trying to ignore everyone else in the room with in him until classes began with Aizawa-Sensei entering the room with a slightly larger scowl than normal on his face "Apologies to those who were inconvenienced by the media outside, Principal Nezu will be dealing with them shortly." Aizawa-Sensei swiftly told them before moving on.
"You have a big class on hero informatics today, so I hope you enjoyed your three-day break." Aizawa-Sensei informed, and Tamaki felt his stomach drop privately hoping it wasn't going to be anything too insane "Today you'll be picking your codenames, something that will be important considering you'll be going off to your internships next week." Aizawa-Sensei told them creating a bubble of anticipation formed in the class and the red-furred 'O Collin's hand shot into the air "Yes 'O Collin?" Aizawa-Sensei asked crossing his arms.
"Do you mean we're picking our hero names?" she questioned her tail twitching from her excitement and Aizawa-Sensei sighed pinching the bridge of his nose "Yes, 'O Collin, you'll be picking your hero names." Aizawa-Sensei confirmed, and the excitement was palpable between his classmates, but Tamaki shriveled up on the inside *My Hero name? So early?* Tamaki thought in despair as he slumped in his seat.
"Don't get so excited, you're still first-years and first year drafts rarely have many offers, and you'll only be doing light duty work at most during the week you're with your mentor." Aizawa-Sensei scolded them glaring at the 'O Collin girls, both of whom sheepishly curled their tails around themselves.
Aizawa-Sensei exhaled taking out the remote for the black board "Here is the draft pick for your class, keep in mind that that the heroes who gave you an offer can rescind their them at any time, so it is very important that you remind professional during your time with them." Aizawa-Sensei said, and multiple little white polls popped up on the board with their names, there were eight out of the thirteen of them and the numbers were about the same.
Unsurprisingly Miyake was at the top of the board with 59 offers, Oswald was a close second at 30 offers and both Hado and Haya were tied with 17 offers, after finding his friends names Tamaki was about to check the bottom of the board for his name only to freeze when he spotted his name under Oswald's with 27 offers "H-how?!" he cried under his breath, why would anyone want to work with someone like him after how poorly he did in the one-on-ones?
"U.A. has plenty of trusted and vetted mentors who can take on those of you who didn't get any offers so do not worry about these results, they won't be too important until your second year when you can try for your provincial license." Aizawa-Sensei mentioned turning off the board and getting together a stack of mini whiteboards "While the codenames you chose today will most likely be temporary, you should still take this very seriously." Aizawa-Sensei advised right before the door was slammed open making him flinch.
"Or you'll have hell to pay later!" Midnight-Sensei proclaimed strutting into the classroom and Tamaki had to force his eyes to his lap to keep his brain from being anymore fried any more than it already was "The codenames you pick today could be the one you're stuck with for life, so you'll need to take care not to pick something utterly indecent.~" Midnight-Sensei purred and he felt Miyake's tail wrapping around his hand to give him something else to focus on.
"Midnight shall have the final approval of your names given that area isn't a part of my forte." Aizawa-Sensei explained handing the boards off to Midnight-Sensei before bending down, likely to fetch his sleeping bag "Keep in mind however that the name you chose will reinforce the image the public has of you and will be your way of telling the world what it is you want to represent as a pro-hero." Aizawa-sensei told them before going over to a corner for a nap.
*Great... as if there wasn't enough to make me nervous enough about this Aizawa-sensei, I don't even know what type of hero I want to be so how can I give myself a name?* Tamaki mentally questioned letting his head hit his desk with a tiny whimper as soon as he got the little white board passed down to him.
A few seconds later he felt his phone vibrate making him jump, Tamaki hesitantly glanced around before he carefully pulled his phone from his pocket to check who was trying to contact him.
[Cannibal crew~ :D]
[Accessory: Welp I'm stumped ... any ideas 4 codenames?]
[Enthusiastic Cannibal: I know r? Y is this so hard!?]
[Casual Cannibal: You could use that name Kaori made up for you Hado.]
[Enthusiastic Cannibal: Gasp(OoO) YYYYESq(*u*q) that will b perfect! Thank u Miyake-Chan~ (- -)v-q)]
[The victim: Guys what fuck are you doing texting in class?]
[Enthusiastic Cannibal: Because we need help with our hero names Oz-Chan]
[Enthusiastic Cannibal: Now we need a name for Haya-Chan! Bestow us with your wisdom Miyake-Chan ]
[Causal Cannibal: I don't know, maybe something like Striker?]
[Accessory: Eh, not really feeling it]
[Accessory: Could use it as a title though]
[The victim: You guys are going to get us all sent to detention I swear... ]
[Enthusiastic Cannibal: Hush! Haya-Chan needs our help so contribute or leave the chatಠಠ]
[The victim: ugh... fine.]
[The victim: Why not use Arcus? I think Aunt Trinity mentioned it was part of the old Latin word for the bow archers use.]
[Enthusiastic Cannibal: Ooh, that will be pretty unique I don't think I've heard of another hero with a Latin hero name!]
[Accessory: That might actually be a good idea, it's got a good ring to it.]
[Enthusiastic Cannibal: YAY! : .｡. o(*V*)o .｡.]
Tamaki shoulders slumped and shook his head *Of course... maybe they could help me though, but could I really risk Aizawa-Sensei's wrath?* Tamaki thought nibbling on his bottom lip as he looked up to see Midnight-Sensei was busy with one of his classmates causing them to be red-faced, and that Aizawa-Sensei's eyes were closed before he turned back to his phone.
[Cannibal crew~ :D]
[Enthusiastic Cannibal: Do u guys need any help with yer names(･ω･)?]
[Casual Cannibal: No, I already picked mine.]
[The victim: Same.]
[Accessory: Cool, what about you Amajiki?]
[Enthusiastic Cannibal: Yah Jiki-Chan! You've got to have a mega awesome name o((*ω* ))o]
Tamaki felt his throat tighten as attention was drawn to him and shamefully ducked his head when Haya glanced back at him concerned when he didn't answer right away.
[Cannibal crew~ :D]
[Main Cannibal: I don't have any ideas...]
[Enthusiastic Cannibal: (＃Д)HOW!? u have such a cool quirk Jiki-Chan! how could you not have come up with anything?]
[Main Cannibal: (T﹏T)]
[Enthusiastic Cannibal: Don't worry Jiki-Chan! will help u find a name ]
[The victim: Maybe you can use an old childhood nickname?]
Tamaki inhaled sharply as the memory of the reason why Mirio started calling him 'Sunny' suddenly flashed before his eyes and he paused to consider it *Maybe... it isn't that bad I think, and if I don't like it I could always change it later.* Tamaki mused in his head jumping when Midnight-Sensei suddenly cracked her whip on the ground getting everyone's attention "One minute left to make your choices little hero-lings.~" Midnight-Sensei announced teasingly making Tamaki's heart drop.
Panicked Tamaki put away his phone and uncapped the provided marker and hurriedly wrote down the kanji Mirio used when he first gave Tamaki that nickname and had exactly ten seconds to reconsider all his life choices before Midnight-Sensei cracked her whip once again making him jump again "Markers down! It's time to present yourselves!" She proclaimed shocking the class "Wait we have to show our names to the class?" the grey 'O Collin sister asked and Midnight-Sensei smirked back at the girl.
"Why of course, these are the names the world will know you by and you might need to seriously rethink your names if you can't show it to your classmates with confidence." Midnight-Sensei explained cocking her hips to the side and there was some mumbling between his classmates "Now let's keep this little show organized and go by class number, so get on up here to present Haku!" Midnight-Sensei ordered and Haku nervously got up and showed off the white board.
Tamaki's nerves got him completely wrapped up in his anxiety that made it hard for him to focus on anything until Hado bounced up to the podium "I'm going to be the ribbon-dancing hero: Sparkler!" She eagerly told them showing the kanji and the little doodles she made on her white board.
Midnight-Sensei hummed "A name like that screams energy with an undertone of elegance, I fully approve!" Midnight-Sensei with a clap of her hands and Hado grinned back at her "Thank you Midnight-Sensei!" Hado chirped nodding her head then went back to her seat with Haya going up after the 'O Collin sisters.
Haya hesitated for a moment then flipped the white board over "I'd like to be known as the Striking hero: Arcus." She said fumbling with the Latin which was quite understandable since it was a dead langue "Arcus huh? Hmm, I don't recognize that word." Midnight-Sensei replied putting her head in her hand and Haya ducked her head bashfully "It's, Latin for bow, you know, like a bow and arrow Midnight-Sensei." Haya timidly explained and Midnight-Sensei's eyes practically lit up.
"Using an ancient langue in order to subtly stay on theme all the while defying gender norms with such a neutral word, how utterly maddening! Approved!" Midnight-Sensei exclaimed hugging herself as she gushed, and Haya found herself flustered by Midnight-Sensei's reaction "T-Thank you Sensei." Haya squeaked out and hurriedly returned to her desk.
A couple more of his classmates went up before it was Oswald's turn, looking quite put-upon Oswald presented his whiteboard "I'm the Pastel hero: Mellow." Oswald said slightly irate "Unexpected, but not much pazazz." Midnight-Sensei commented making Oswald tsk "I'm going underground so I don't need anything flashy Sensei." Oswald replied and Midnight-Sensei nodded.
"Not my favorite but it isn't inappropriate or taken either, so I'll let it pass." Midnight-Sensei told him, Oswald wasn't swayed by Midnight-Sensei's lukewarm reaction and went back to his desk so the next classmate to go up and was the first person to have their name vetoed since it was already taken by an active hero then it was Miyake's turn.
Tamaki found himself reminded of Miyake's size as he stood over Midnight-Sensei and his whiteboard was incredibly small looking in Miyake's clawed hands "I will be the Sleepy hero: Koi." Miyake said and Tamaki sort of expected the simple if flat choice of name from his friend "That's an, interesting choice." Midnight-Sensei said looking a bit puzzled.
Miyake thrilled "I let my sister chose my Hero name since I plan to go into rescue work and Shingleback lizards are also known as sleepy lizards." Miyake explained and Midnight-Sensei's face brightened up "Ah! Short, simple, and slightly educational. A perfect name for a rescue hero! I approve." Midnight-Sensei exclaimed holding back a squeal "Thank you Midnight-Sensei." Miyake said with a nod then sat down again.
And as the last two people went up and got their names approved it was finally Tamaki's turn as the last student left, and he gulped once all eyes were on him "No need to be shy my dear, just come on up and show us what you've written." Midnight-Sensei gently encouraged making Tamaki wish he could just disappear instead of being here.
Taking a deep breath Tamaki walked over to the podium and hid his face behind the whiteboard so he wouldn't have to see anyone's face "I-I- I want to b-be the Eclipsed hero: S-Suneater." Tamaki forced himself to say as loud as he could with his eyes tightly shut, bracing himself for whatever reaction that was going to happen next.
"That is a lovely hero name Amajiki, fairly poetic in some sense, I approve." Midnight-Sensei commented, and Tamaki opened his eyes to look at her and saw she was just smiling at him, no hint of a double-meaning anywhere on her face and cautiously he turned to the class and saw the majority of his friends looked happy with his choice (Hado being a notable exception since she was about to burst from sheer joy), and Tamaki found himself struck with the idea that just maybe his friends weren't just being supportive of his choice but actually liked his chosen name.
*Maybe I will keep it... Mirio will probably be so honored once he hears the name I chose.* Tamaki thought moving back to his desk and upon staring at his messy handwriting Tamaki felt his mouth curl into a tiny smile.