Chapter Nineteen

The sun had just touched the skyline when Katsuma, dressed in a set of his gym clothes, was making his way across campus at a steady pace, a set of escrima sticks strapped to each leg. Eri had texted him with a location to train that the class had not used yet, meaning he'd had to look it up in a map of the UA campus in the student handbook.

After a good ten minutes of jogging, he found himself at the gates of Training Ground Omega, a circular area completely enclosed by a high wall broken only by a tall gate. He thought he could see the tops of trees over the wall. He looked around and fished his phone out of his pocket to text Eri, but the slow opening of the gates interrupted him. Eri stood framed by the doors, clad in her own gym uniform with her hands on her hips and a wide smile on her face.

"Hi, Katsuma!" she said cheerily.

"Did you have me come later just so you could do that dramatic reveal?" he asked, a chuckle in his voice.

Eri pursed her lips and looked away, teasingly stretching out the word, "Maybe."

They laughed together and Eri led him inside, the gate doors partially closing. The entrance area was smooth, soft grass for several yards before it transitioned into a forest of trees that looked almost natural. A gym bag was settled nearby and Eri unzipped it to pull out a coil of capture scarf that she set aside, and then several bottles of water.

"Hydration?" she offered, holding up one of the bottles.

"Please," he replied, taking a few sips from the bottle before leaning into stretches almost without thought. Eri did the same, mirroring him with her own practiced ease. Katsuma blinked and then grinned, moving on to more advanced stretches to see what she would do. Eri did not disappoint, gracefully mimicking him with no apparent difficulty and smiling with innocent teasing all the while.

"Okay, how about we get started," Katsuma said once he felt sufficiently warmed up. He unstrapped both pairs of escrima sticks and handed one set to Eri. "Okay, show me a stance that you would use for these," he instructed. Eri nodded and shuffled her feet into a fighting stance, holding the escrima sticks vertically in the same vein as a boxer. Katsuma looked her over critically before stepping close and gently nudging her knees and hands to adjust her stance and the position of her escrima sticks. "There," he said brightly. "Much better."

With that, Katsuma took up his own set of kali sticks and took up a matching stance. "Try to copy my motions," he instructed. He swung slowly, and so did Eri. He nodded at her form, thinking that her previous experience in martial arts lent her coordination. Katsuma guided her through a series of katas to get her used to the wooden weapons, then took a place in front of her and began demonstrating how to go through them with a partner.

"Remember to keep control of your pace," Katsuma said as they swung their sticks, the wood clashing with sharp clacks. "It's easy to get excited and speed up, but that-" He cut off with a yelp of pain as Eri's next swing slipped and struck him across the wrist. Eri gasped and dropped her sticks to take Katsuma's wrist in a gentle grip.

"Are you alright?"

"Fine," he grunted out, his cheeks pinking at the soft touch. "I've been through way worse while I was training." He chuckled. "When I did that to Mr. Morita, he'd do this really painful chop to the top of my head. It didn't ache afterward, but it sure hurt in the moment."

Eri wasn't smiling as she looked into his eyes, a tinge of worry in those ruby irises. She sighed through her nose and her horn began to leak motes of yellow light — a sign of her Quirk working at a trickle — as she passed two fingers over his wrist, the welling bruise disappearing without a trace.

"There," she said, her Quirk stopping as she let him go. "Good as new."

"Eri, you didn't have to do that," Katsuma said, rubbing his wrist and finding it, unsurprisingly, in perfect order without even an echo of pain. "Your Quirk stockpiles; mine would have worked just fine on a small abrasion. You didn't need to waste your power on me."

"It's not a waste, Katsuma," Eri said, her voice a perfect mix of sweet and stern. "You're my friend and my misstep caused it." She picked up her escrima sticks. "It's only natural that I fix it if I can." Then she resumed her stance, sticks prepped and ready. "Shall we?"

By the time Katsuma called a break after showing her some exercises to practice alone to maintain and hone her burgeoning skills, they had been at the training ground for an hour. "You're a quick study," he praised her. "Practice for thirty minutes, six days a week, and you'll see further growth."

"So you're not going to train me anymore?" Eri asked, half-teasingly.

"Oh, I will," he said with a grin. "But self-training is really important."

"Right, like I didn't know that already," Eri commented, taking up the capture scarf that she had brought along.

"Fair point," he conceded with a blush, and Eri laughed as she handed him one.

"Okay, show me what you can do," she instructed.

For several minutes, Katsuma tried mimicking the motions he had seen Eri use several times throughout in-class training, but did not get near the results. When he tried to throw one end at a tree branch, it came up too short. When he tried to swing it around, it latched onto the wrong target or even swept around and tangled him up. Eri laughed at that one and freed him with a few deft tugs at the coiled fabric.

"This is harder than it looks," he commented, glaring sourly at the length of grey-white material. "And it looked really hard to start with."

"I know," she said consolingly. "That's why I had you try it out first." At his questioning glance, she took the scarf from him and continued to explain. "You're used to your escrima sticks, which are tough and relatively straightforward to use. Swing, swing, smack, smack. Right?" Katsuma considered that before shrugging in agreement.

"Uncle Aizawa's capture scarf is not exactly … intuitive to learn," she said. She tossed the end of the scarf directly at a tree branch, the scarf's end looping quickly around and tightening into a secure hold with a simple tug. Then with a flick of her wrist, it loosened and she pulled it quickly back to her, catching the end with her free hand. The entire action had taken only a handful of seconds.

"First off, you need to loosen up," she said.

What followed was another hour of Eri guiding Katsuma personally through the motions of using the scarf she handed him, standing behind him to guide his stance and position just as Shinso had once done for her under Aizawa's watchful eye.

"Nice. You've loosened up," she said kindly, having stepped back to let him try on his own. "Don't get frustrated if it takes a few more sessions to start getting the hang of it. It took me weeks to get comfortable with it. Granted, I started at age eight."

"I think I'm starting to get it," Katsuma said, his brows knitted in concentration as he moved his arms to get a feel for the weight of the scarf. He swung his arms wrapped in the coils wide and let the scarf slide through his loose grip, the material following the motion … and quickly wrapping around both himself and Eri from ribs to knees. He panicked and tugged, and the bond tightened and secured, cinching their legs close, their bodies closer, and sending them both falling with cries of surprise to the grass below.

Katsuma, on sheer intuition, shifted his weight as he fell to take the brunt of the fall and cushion Eri. He grunted as the wind was knocked out of him, her slender frame still heavy with muscle. Both of them were panting with shock as they tried to adjust, the loops securing their upper arms and thighs, but leaving Eri's forearms free.

"Stop moving," she said breathlessly. "It'll just tighten it more."

"Sorry, I just gotta-" He strained for a moment before relaxing to catch his breath, Eri doing the same. They locked eyes … and the absurdity of the situation bright laughter rising up between them. With that, the tension was swept away like a sandcastle in the tide. They quieted and looked at each other again, smiling happily.

And then another kind of tension arose.

Both of their smiles slowly faded as their eyes remained fixed upon one another, like cherries on cocoa, and they also became aware that Eri was basically stradling Katsuma. She realized how firm he was, as he noticed how soft she was. Both of them began to blush as emotions welled up, fostered by chemistry that had been growing in the background for weeks. Without thinking, Eri began to ease forward, Katsuma lifting his head to do the same. Their lips drew close … and then rational thought came crashing back to them and they jerked their faces backward, Katsuma's head audibly thumping on the grass.

"Um, hi," Katsuma said hoarsely.

"Hi," Eri said back, a faint tremor in her voice. "Um, uh, let me-" She seized part of the cloth and tugged, and as if by magic the scarf loosened and they were able to carefully extricate themselves from within. Eri wound the scarf in loops as Katsuma rubbed his back and shoulders, his hands glowing with Cell Activation. "M-Maybe that's enough for tonight," she said.

"Yeah, it's late," he agreed. "Plus, classes resume tomorrow."

"Yeah, and we can't be late for lights out," Eri added, brushing a lock of hair behind her ear.

"Mr. Aizawa will be mad, for sure. Not to mention Ms. Jiro," Katsuma rambled, rubbing the back of his head. He packed up his escrima sticks and then picked up her bag to hold out for her. Eri couldn't help but smile at the small, kind gesture and stowed her capture scarf before shouldering the bag.

"So, how about another training night in two weeks?" she suggested.

"Sounds good," he said with a nod. They began making their way back to the gate, the huge doors sliding open to let them pass before closing behind them. "Look, I'm sorry about earlier," Katsuma sighed, gripping his upper arm with nerves.

"It was an accident," Eri said soothingly. "I can't tell you how many times I did that while I was learning." She giggled. "Getting out of that is one of the earliest tricks I was taught. Guess I'll have to start with that one next time."

"So you're not mad?" Katsuma asked, both wary and hopeful.

"Not at all," Eri replied. "It was actually really funny."

"Yeah, it kind of was," he chuckled, letting his arm go and walking more smoothly, naturally.

Then Katsuma felt something warm brush his hand and pressure around his pinkie finger. He looked down to find a pale, narrow pinkie wrapped around his, connected to a slender arm, then a UA gym top, and finally Eri's ruby eyes glittering in the light of the lamps that lined the sidewalks.

"Is this okay?" she asked, her voice hardly more than a whisper, pink blooming high on her cheeks.

"Y-Yeah," he answered, too distracted to say anything but the truth as pink climbed up his neck to paint his cheeks in return. "It's more than okay."

That seemed to be the right answer as Eri's pinkie held his tighter, and he returned the grip. A sense of peace settled upon them both as they returned to Heights Alliance.

Kota was not a natural morning person. He could power through it, but he was quieter and grouchier after waking up than during any other part of the day. He didn't let it stop him from schoolwork or anything else he needed to do, but a morning smile on Kota Izumi's face was about as rare as the planets aligning.

This morning, the planets might as well have been aligning.

Kota couldn't keep the grin off his face as he tromped down the stairs of the boys dormitory toward the communal area. He adjusted his trademark hat, skipping down and over the steps with lighthearted hops that were so out of character he must look like he'd lost his mind. And it was all thanks to the weight in his blazer pocket.

He was carrying his bronze third-place medal on him today as a kind of pick-me-up and good luck charm. He palmed the outside of his pocket and felt the pride and joy from his placement well up inside his chest. Today, he decided, was going to be a good day.

He made his way down the last of the stairs and into the communal area to hear the sound of Eri giggling so he looked up with even more happiness at such a lovely sound … and then he stopped cold, his grin dropping like a stone in shock, at the sight that greeted him. He distantly noted that Satsuki was sitting on a couch to the side, also watching, but the rest of his attention was laser-focused on the duo on a couch in the middle of the room, sitting very close to one another, leaning against each others' shoulders, talking low with their faces close, giggling and laughing quietly with pink tinting their cheeks.

Eri and Katsuma, both of them looking to any outside observer like besotted fools.

Kota's good mood shattered, and something heavy and poisonous, like hot lead, began to pool in his belly. He clenched his teeth so hard that one of them might have cracked and he began to step forward to break up this — whatever this was. As he shifted to begin that heavy step, he took a breath to snap and snarl, his vision tinting red.

"Nope!" came a stern, decisive voice and Kota was yanked by the elbow in the opposite direction, his mid-step balance off and his anger being muted by sudden confusion. He stumbled more than walked as he was dragged away with surprising force to the kitchen and pantry area. The door slammed behind them, prodded by a long tongue, and Kota recovered his balance before dredging up dregs of his former anger and turning his gaze upon the one he knew had brought him here.

Satsuki looked back at him with steel in her eyes, unmoved by his glower.

"What the hell do you think you're doing?" Kota snarled.

"I was going to ask you the same thing," Satsuki said, her voice low and dangerously calm.

"I was going to-!" Kota was ready to say "break them up," but the words suddenly tasted bitter on his tongue.

"Make a scene," Satsuki said flatly. "Hurt their feelings by accusing them of something that they haven't actually done."

"Haven't done?!" Kota asked incredulously. "Look out there!" He gestured through the kitchen's pass-through window at the two of them, both still talking and laughing together, blind to everything around them. "They're flirting, dammit!"

"I mean they haven't tried to hurt you, Kota Izumi," Satsuki said, her tone heavy as she crossed her arms under her bust. "They're spending time together and enjoying themselves. That's it."

"They can't-!" Kota began, but was cut off again.

"They can," Satsuki said, the weight of her words brooking no argument. "They are, and they have every right to." Her eyes narrowed. "Why would they not?"

"Katsuma can't just-!"

"Why not?" Satsuki asked, her voice finally rising, eyes gone from steely to blazing. "Eri's a free agent. Who or what's to stop Katsuma from showing interest?"

Kota tried to stay angry, but Satsuki's words were hitting him in all the right places. She was objectively right, no matter what Kota's ego or poorly-hidden feelings had to say about it.

"Look," Satsuki said, her voice calmer but no less firm. "If you've finally decided to act on your feelings for Eri, I can't stop you. But," she lifted a finger leveled in front of his nose, "I will stop you, my friend, from doing something monumentally stupid. You wanna try for Eri's heart?" Her usual froggy stoic expression broke into something hard to decipher but clearly very emotional. "Then wait."

"Wait?" Kota asked. "For what?"

"For after internships," Satsuki said. "You heard what Mr. Aizawa and Ms. Jiro said. It's a crucial time for all of us, and Eri doesn't need the distraction. Neither do you, honestly."

Kota growled between clenched teeth, but he couldn't deny that Satsuki was right. He cast another dark look out to the communal area at Eri and Katsuma, neither of whom seemed to have even noticed that he or Satsuki had been there, still laughing together. He curled his hands closed for something to do, the entire scene still radiating coupley vibes that seemed to grate against his skin, and then relaxed as much as he could.

"Fine," he sighed.

"Promise me," Satsuki said, not budging an inch. "Promise me on your parents' graves."

Kota whirled to face her, his anger and jealousy shoved aside by utter shock. Satsuki knew him well enough to know what such a promise would mean to him. If it had been anyone else, anyone he respected less than his second oldest friend, he would have done something rash. And violent.

But it was Satsuki. She knew what this promise was worth. "…Fine," he said again. "I promise."

"Good," Satsuki said, her countenance relaxing a bit. "Now come on. We still have class."

As Kota followed Satsuki from the kitchen, he stuck a hand in his pocket and felt the weight of his medal. The weight was still comforting, but it seemed somehow less so than before. As they returned to the communal area, Satsuki called to Eri and Katsuma. The spell around them broke and Eri brightly greeted her other friends, Katsuma doing the same.

Kota gripped the medal in his pocket even tighter. Maybe he was wrong about today being a good day.

It seemed he'd just have to wait and see.

"As we told you after the sports festival, now that it's passed and you've gotten some exposure to the public," Jiro announced as class was underway with Aizawa nowhere in sight, apparently leaving today's class to her — she ignored some snickers at her use of the word exposure — "we'll be moving on to internships." She lifted a finger. "But before that, we will focus this class on hero informatics."

"Informatics?" Tategami asked.

"Is that like advertisements?" Fujiwara asked, stifling his own snickers. Jiro looked at him with hard eyes, one of her earphone jacks waving, and he settled and averted his eyes.

"Not exactly," Jiro said with a small grin. "It means you'll be picking your code names."

There was a quick pause before the class started cheering at such a beloved part of hero culture. What kid hadn't come up with prospective hero names for themselves, friends, or family when they were kids? Jiro plugged her jack into a speaker on her glove, and the squeal of feedback got the class's attention for them to settle down.

"I know it sounds like fun, but it's also an important part of your future careers," Jiro said. "Which, of course, is even more true of the internship draft picks. As early as you are in your education, an internship offer is an investment by a hero in your career. These offers can be rescinded by the third year, so the heroes you intern with, any you encounter during the internship, and even any heroes your internship boss talks to after will get an idea of how you might fit with them. Or not fit."

"So we still need to work hard to put our best foot forward," Hito surmised. "How we perform during these can boost or damage our pro reputations before they even begin."

"Exactly," Jiro said with a nod. She clicked a button on the classroom remote, and a line graph of numbers of offers appeared on the board. Those who placed highly in the festival such as Tategami, Satsuki, Kota, or Wani, Joren, Eri, and Katsuma, had higher numbers than the rest. The top three had numbers just shy of the thousands mark compared to the upper hundreds for the next six or seven places, and then trickling into the double digits and then the singles.

"In case any of you have been slow on the uptake," Jiro said, "these internships are for every student, not just those who received outside offers. For those who didn't, the school makes arrangements from a list of voluntary pros. Bottom line: everyone will be interning."

"Why's that such a big deal that the school puts in so much effort?" Rasen asked.

"Because hero work is intense and multifaceted," Jiro explained. "It's never a bad thing to see them at work up close and personal. To get experience that will be invaluable moving forward."

"Which means we need hero names to be a part of hero work," Joren said. "Even if it's only on the fringes of it."

"These names you choose today can be temporary," Jiro assured, "but they will also act as a first impression before you meet anyone in the field. If you don't take them seriously, you could have hell to pay later. Whether you mean for them to be a placeholder or not, these names have a tendency to stick. And if you pick one that's a poor match or leaves a bad impression, it will haunt you for the rest of your career."

The class started to whisper to each other as the weight of their "assignment" began to settle upon them.

"Now, we'll have some help today," Jiro said, gesturing to the door, which slid open to reveal a faculty member that all of them were very familiar with by now. In her purple dress and with her purple-and-pink streaked hair, Lady Nagant strode into the classroom with calm detachment, taking a place next to the podium in something like a soldier's attention.

"This isn't a game," Lady Nagant said firmly. "The codename you choose acts as an extension of yourself. A well thought-out title reinforces your image and the style of heroism you want to utilize. But a poorly thought-out name can do the exact opposite. And though a name may mean something unique and specific to you, those who hear it without the context of your own experiences can interpret it very differently. As such, I will have final approval of your codenames."

Jiro passed out dry erase boards and markers for the class to write with before leaning against the wall with her arms crossed to observe. Lady Nagant stayed in her rigid position, eyes passing over the students with all the command of a drill sergeant. When a student asked if he could check his phone for a list of previous names he'd made up as a kid, Jiro gave a nod and suddenly others were asking, too.

After ten minutes or so, Jiro asked with a faint smirk, "Okay, who's ready to present their name?"

"Wait, we're presenting these?" Yumi asked.

"It's a good way to get honest feedback from several people," Jiro replied. "My class had to do it and it was kind of a fun time."

Before the class could do much more than look at each other in unease, someone stood and walked heavily to the podium. Yayoi, with all of his usual brash, over-the-top confidence, placed his board for all to see. "I am the Glittering Hero: King Midas!" he declared, eyes blazing.

Everyone groaned at his choice, at his continued insistence that his Quirk resembled gold. "While I appreciate the mythical reference," Toreka spoke up, casually raising a hand as he did, "I think you've got it backwards. King Midas turned other things into actual gold. Not himself."

"Then we reverse the name," Lady Nagant said, briskly plucking the board from Yayoi's fingers and rewriting with another dry erase marker. She turned the board to reveal, "Gilded Hero: Midas King."

"Oh, I like that," Yayoi said, eyes shining as he took the dry erase board back to examine. But his smile faltered and his fingers gripped tighter on the board. "Gilded? As in worthless?"

"The word means covered in a thin layer of gold," Lady Nagant said evenly. That seemed to mollify Yayoi and he held up the board again like a trophy before returning to his seat.

"Who's next?" Nagant asked.

"Yo! I got it!" Teashi shouted, racing up to the podium to present, "The Rubber Hero: Monkey Luffy!" He smiled wide at the name, which drew some lighthearted laughs and whistles of approval from the class.

"No," Lady Nagant said firmly. "You will not name yourself so boldly after an anime character. Come up with something more original."

As Teashi returned to his seat with his head hung low, Satsuki approached the podium. "I've put a lot of thought into this one," she said. "When I was little, I wanted to reference my big sister, but now I want to show that we are different as much as we are alike." She turned her board and presented, "The Rainstorm Hero: Kogo."

The class started murmuring, apparently trying to figure out the significance of the name, before Toreka spoke up again. "Aha, that's clever!" Everyone looked at him and he shrugged. "It's one of many possible names for the kappa," he said. "An amphibious yokai that resembles a monstrous turtle or shelled frog, known for its strength and cleverness."

There was a round of appreciative murmurs and even a few claps. Satsuki blushed and returned to her seat.

After a few minutes, the next to approach the podium was Joren, the joints of her spider legs clicking before she presented her name. "I am Arachne: the Ensnaring Hero." She gave a sultry wink as she spoke, and most of the boys blushed.

"Another mythical name, and one after my own heart," Toreka said, his voice tighter than before as he tugged at his collar. "Arachne from Greek myth. The weaver turned into the first spider."

"It's also the actual word for 'spider' in Greek," Tategami added.

"Just so," Joren said. At Lady Nagant's nod of approval, Joren returned to her seat, only to be replaced by Toreka himself.

"Might as well get the obvious one out of the way, yeah?" he asked, growing a wing on each side of his head. "I'm the Winged Hero: Mercurius. Named after Mercury of Roman myth, who was Hermes the winged messenger god in Greek myth."

"You don't want Suisei?" Hito asked, adjusting his glasses. It was the name for the planet Mercury in Japanese, also meaning "comet."

"Nah, I like the mythic link more than the planetary one," Toreka said with a shrug. Lady Nagant nodded and he returned to his seat.

Next up came Fujiwara, his red, spiky hair bouncing as he walked. He held his board in one hand and used the other to conjure a spinning disc of flames, announcing "I'm the Pinwheel Hero: Fireside!"

"Both a lighthearted and approachable name," Lady Nagant commented. "Approved."

With the ice not only broken, but thoroughly shattered, more students began announcing their names. Wani was the "Unbreakable Hero: Dragoness," referencing her armored scales. Senko was the Vanishing Hero: Phantasm, Hotaka was the Fisticuff Hero: Knuckles, Yumi was the Targeting Hero: Issha, referring to a Japanese archery term for the act of shooting a single arrow.

As the names went by, Kota listened with half an ear as he puzzled over his hero name. This very facet of hero work had been a bit of an issue for him for years as he struggled with a certain question, one that had silently shoved the idea of a hero name to the side in his mind for years. He groaned through his teeth as he silently conceded that Satsuki had a point: they needed all of their focus for the upcoming internships if simply choosing their hero names was so important.

In tiny letters at the top of his board, Kota had written "Water Hose," the codename shared between his parents. Part of him wanted to adopt their name as his own to continue their legacy … but his gut told him no. Not only did he want his parents' legacy to remain untarnished, but there was the matter of his own past. He had spent so long of his early childhood defined by his parents' death in the worst possible way. It was big bro Midoriya who had broken him free of that childishly self-inflicted burden, and taking up the Water Hose name seemed like a betrayal of that growth, a regression of himself as a person.

He loved his parents and their memory dearly, even more so after he had realized why their deaths had been so truly heroic. But he wouldn't be defined by them. That being said, he could still pay homage to them. Deku's friend Kirishima had paid homage to his inspiration, Crimson Riot, with the name Red Riot. Kota could do something like that.

Kota snorted as he mentally discarded the "hose" part of the name, thinking it was better left with his parents. The "water" part was a given considering his own Quirk that was a near-perfect fusion of his parents' Water Shower and Hydroplay Quirks, which allowed them to generate and limitedly manipulate water respectively.

As he puzzled over the second part of his name, more students announced their own. Teashi tried again with the Bounce-Back Hero: Rubbery Man, which Lady Nagant reluctantly approved. Hito was the Mechanized Hero: Pneumatic, and Rasen was the Swirling Hero: Vortex.

Up next came Tategami, and Kota dragged his gaze away from his board to pay full attention. "Togata suggested the title," she said, nodding at Eri, "from Present Mic's commentating." She spun her board to reveal, "The Mythic Hero: Fu Lion." She even held up a spear hand pose with a hammy kung fu shout, which got some laughs from the class.

Kota glanced over between Eri and Katsuma, neither of which had gone yet. Eri seemed to be struggling, and he drew a bit of solace from something they had in common. Katsuma, on the other hand, seemed to have several ideas and was having trouble narrowing it down. Kota shrugged and got back to his own work.

Next up came Silver, who presented the title and name, "Fearsome Hero: Mister Moth." Then came Yoru as the Dusky Hero: Long Shadow, Shirudo the Ironclad Hero: Magnetite, and Knight the Forceful Hero: Kickback.

"It seems all we have left are Izumi, Shimano, and Togata," Lady Nagant observed. "Gentlemen, lady, whenever you are ready. But sooner would be better than later."

Eri looked up and waved her understanding at Lady Nagant with a smile … then she blinked as her mouth fell open in something like an epiphany. Kota almost expected to see a tiny lightbulb light up above her head.

Katsuma stood and timidly made his way up to the podium, dry erase board in hand. He took a deep breath, and Kota suddenly wondered if part of his wait had been fighting off nerves. "When I was a kid, I thought my Quirk was no good for hero work. Too weak, not good for fighting villains, you know?" He chuckled with self-depreciation, rubbing the back of his head. "It was Mr. Deku that told me two key things when I was six: that my Quirk was amazing for hero work, and just-" He blinked his eyes and brushed away gathering tears. "That I can be a hero." He clenched his fist. "I know my Quirk is best for support, but I still want to protect the helpless from villains, too. Just like he did for me, my sister, and my island home. That's why it was so hard to come up with a name, one that mixed healing and fighting without sounding too corny."

He turned his board around and everyone whispered at the name. "The Restorative Hero," he declared. "I am Medicorps."

"That's certainly unique," Lady Nagant said. "The 'medic' brings healing and medicine to mind, while the 'corps' implies organization and soldiery." She huffed with a small smile. "Approved." Her smile turned wry. "And I'll be sure to tell Midoriya about that lovely speech of yours."

"Would you?" Katsuma asked, eyes bright. Lady Nagant's smile faded as her teasing backfired and she nodded before motioning him back to his seat.

Kota looked down at his half-finished name and, despite the incident earlier that morning, felt a pang of connection with Katsuma. Very much like at the sports fest. He'd put a lot of thought into crafting a meaningful name, and he didn't even have a legacy to base it on like Kota did. So why was this so hard? He had water, he didn't want to use hose …! Just something cooler, like-

Kota's eyes opened as a word occurred to him and he wrote it down. Yep, that was it. He stood and made his way to the podium, presenting his name with confidence. "I'm the Cascading Hero: Water Jet!" There were claps and even a few cheers from the class, and he smiled and left the podium without another word.

"That just leaves Ms. Togata," Lady Nagant said.

Eri stood and approached the podium, turning her board to reveal the name, "The Healing Heroine: Lady Recoveri."

"Hey, you misspelled 'recovery'," Fujiwara said. Then Hito cuffed him on the back of the head, drawing an indignant yelp from the redhead.

"She spelled it to incorporate her name, man," he said with exasperation. Then Hito looked up and said to Eri, "I'm guessing you drew inspiration from Recovery Girl?"

"I did," Eri confirmed, her cheeks pinking. "Of all the heroes that have taught me and helped me control my power, Recovery Girl inspired me to be a medical hero. She's taught me a lot and I want to carry on that legacy."

Kota carefully hid a smirk at another similarity between himself and his oldest friend.

"What about the 'lady' part?" Toreka asked, then blushed. "Uh, sorry! Bad phrasing!" The whole class laughed, and even Jiro and Lady Nagant cracked faint smiles at the boy's floundering.

"I had the idea when Lady Nagant said 'gentlemen and lady'," she explained. "And Lady Nagant herself is a lot of how I want to act as a hero." She turned to face the heroine herself, her eager eyes meeting Kaina's confused ones. "She's calm, elegant, and always seems to know what to do. I want people to be reassured by my presence like she reassures us." She smiled and chuckled. "It's also why I want to be called the 'heroine.' No other lady hero seems to embrace their femininity like that."

Lady Nagant looked away, her face carefully neutral. "Thank you for the approval, Togata," she said. "Your name is also approved."

Jiro clapped her hands once. "And with that, it's time to discuss your internship choices. And joining us for that decision," she gestured at the door, "we have another special guest."

The door slid open and everyone gasped.

And here we are with chapter Nineteen, heavy ship tease, and codenames! This chapter has a special place in my heart, and I really hope you like it too.

*The location that Eri and Katsuma trained was where Jiro and Koda had their final exam against Present Mic.

*Katsuma's comment about his teacher was taken from Uncle in the "Jackie Chan Adventures" animated series. I was never a dedicated fan, only saw a few episodes, but that chop thing Uncle does apparently stuck with me.

*Fair warning: I am not a practitioner of escrima and have very little practical knowledge of the art besides reading and watching YouTube videos, as well as some basic trivial knowledge. Any actual practitioners reading this who see flaws in my deliberately vague writing, please don't hold it against me.

*I've been planning the capture scarf mishaps for AGES and I am absolutely thrilled to finally have it on metaphorical paper!

*Yayoi going first was very much inspired by his influential character Aoyama being the first to present his name. The correction was less of a nod to that and more of a meta-commentary on how I came up with his name. My brother devised the base character turning into actual super-resilient gold, while I adapted it to give him a huge chip on his shoulder covered up by an even bigger ego. As such, my bro's suggested name was King midas, and I flipped it on its head for much the same reason as described. Also, his original title "Glittering" was a nod to the expression, "All that glitters is not gold."

*Toreka being a mythology buff both comes from me myself, and as a natural extension of his costume being Greek myth-coded from the very beginning. Other options for the folklore nerd place were Joren (spider) and Yoru (shadows).

*Teashi's original option was definitely a play on his hero outfit and powers being influenced by Monkey D. Luffy. Besides, how many of us as kids made up unoriginal names based on our favorite superheroes?

Here's hoping it was a fun addition! Leave a review if you like! And may your own inspirations flow freely!