All UA students were given a break after the Sports Festival, to rest for a day, but they were back again on Wednesday. Izuku walked into the classroom and saw everyone already there, ready for the day. It was a rare time when everyone was excited for school, even those who usually didn't like it, like Kaminari and Ashido.
Izuku walked to his seat behind Bakugo, who was looking at him strangely, and sat down. Catching Iida's eyes, Izuku thought he saw something dark in the boy's look, but brushed it off as his eyes playing tricks on him. He turned back to Shinso, who looked like he was asleep with his eyes open. He wasn't, due to him looking at Izuku as he had sat down, but he could've fooled anyone with that thousand yard stare. Izuku chuckled at it, getting a quick look of agitation from Shinso.
"How was your break?" Izuku asked.
"It was fine. My cat scratched my arm, but it was fine," Shinso said, a small smile working its way onto his face.
"You have a cat?" Izuku asked, stars in his eyes.
"Yeah. His name's Charlie and he's an asshole, but I love him," Shinso said, grinning like a madman.
"Oh, man! I always wanted a pet, but I always got told that they're too expensive," Kaminari chimed in from the right.
"Yeah, right? I've always wanted a dog, but I never got one," Kirishima said, pouting.
"Oh, shut up! We all know you could get one if you want," Sero said, playfully.
"What do you mean?" Kirishima asked, looking nervous.
"Everyone in the D&D campaign knows that you're rich, Kirishima. Give it up," Jiro said, smirking.
"I'm not even rich!" Kirishima argued.
"You're not?" Kaminari asked, aghast.
"We saw your house, dude!" Ashido joined in.
"You can't say anything! You went to a private middle school," Kirishima said, pointing an accusatory finger at Ashido.
"We went to the same middle school!" she yelled, a big grin on her face.
"This is ridiculous! Midoriya, you're with me, right?" Kirishima asked, kneeling at his desk.
"I mean … they're not wrong," Izuku said, trying to suppress his laughter.
Kirishima looked like a kicked puppy, walking back to his desk with a defeated expression on his face. Izuku laughed, seeing that he had been overwhelmingly outvoted on whether or not he was a rich kid. It was true, after all. Izuku had seen Kirishima's house, and his whole neighbourhood looked like it could rival UA's budget, which was seemingly endless.
A few minutes later, Aizawa walked in, looking like he hadn't slept a wink. Izuku remembered what he had said to All Might during the Sports Festival; that he was going to tell Aizawa about One for All. He had already been planning to tell the man, but now seemed like more than perfect timing to do it, since he needed help with getting One for All to respond to him again, since it had locked itself until he figured out what he had been doing wrong, which the vestiges refused to tell him.
His thoughts of One for All stopped when Ochako walked into the room, making everyone else as quiet as him. They had all been giving her well wishes through her recovery, and it was finally time for her to get back into school and start training with them all again. Everyone was silent, waiting as she walked to the front of the class and took a deep breath in.
"Hi, everyone! Thank you for the support during my recovery. I really look forward to training with you all again!" Ochako said.
"Yes, welcome back. Now, if you take your seat, we can get on with our lesson," Aizawa said, standing next to her patiently.
"Ah, sorry," Ochako said, walking a bit faster than normal to her seat.
"Good. Now, for something that could impact the rest of your lives," Aizawa said, readying a stack of papers on his podium.
The class devolved into whispers. Izuku heard things like 'What now?' and 'Are there more Villains?' and 'I'm hungry!'. He thought that the last one was Shinso, but he wasn't sure. Aizawa took in the nervous energy in the room, savoring it for a moment before clearing his throat and turning on his Quirk, his eyes glowing red and his hair standing on end.
"You're all aware that the purpose of the Sports Festival is to allow Pro Heroes to scout capable students for future work and temporary internships while you're still students. We've tallied up the requests for all of you, and we're ready to show you," Aizawa said, his eyes dulling and his hair coming to rest on his back.
Aizawa pressed a button on a small remote, and the projector at the back of the room turned on, displaying the different amounts of requests for internships the students got. First was Todoroki, with four thousand, one hundred and twenty three requests. Izuku almost flinched at the number and the name they went to, remembering that he still had to talk with Todoroki about his father.
Second was Bakugo, with three thousand, five hundred and fifty six. It was no surprise, since he had come first in the Festival, but it was surprising that he was below Todoroki. Maybe his intensity scared the Pros? It was probably that, since Izuku had watched a recording of all the matches that he had missed, and it had looked bad for Bakugo when he hadn't been able to get Todoroki to use his flames to fight back, dominating due to his type advantage over his opponent.
Then, there was such a large gap that it drew a little gasp from Izuku. It went from Bakugo's three and a half thousand to Izuku's one thousand. It was the largest gap in the list, and while he didn't really expect to get many votes either way, he was still shocked by the sheer magnitude of the gap. That shock then turned to excitement as he realized that he had votes. This was incredible! People wanted him. It was a nice feeling.
A few others, like Iida, Tsu and Shinso got between a few hundred and a dozen, and Izuku couldn't be happier for them. What was weird was that it stopped at Ochako, with only one request; probably Death Arms holding himself to his word and requesting her due to her efforts the day before. She was the last on the list, despite only being eleventh person on the list. That meant that nobody else got requests. Izuku was about to voice his question about that, but Aizawa spoke up before he could.
"If you see your name on the display, congratulations. If not, don't fret. Even if you didn't get invitations, all of you will be participating in an internship," Aizawa said, turning the display off.
Izuku heard a few sighs between the small cries of people like Kaminari, who looked to be praying similarly to the girl he had fought at the Festival, Shiozaki. He had never really met anybody religious like that, but was always open to new possibilities.
"To do that, however, you need to do something first," Aizawa said, looking like he wanted nothing more than to go to sleep.
A hush fell over the class. Izuku held his breath. Aizawa really had to stop doing that, but he could tell that the man liked striking fear into the hearts of his students, and Izuku couldn't say he blamed him. It could be satisfying, getting a large amount of people under control. Izuku knew that.
"You'll need-" Aizawa said, deliberately pausing for some reason.
"Code names!" Midnight cheered, hanging off the doorframe theatrically.
Izuku smiled at her entrance. Midnight had always been one for flashy moves, even when in a professional setting. She winked at him, smiling sweetly before letting go of the door's frame and beginning to walk to the podium to meet Aizawa.
He saw some of the students, mainly Kaminari, Sero and, funnily enough, Jiro, looking at her with hungry eyes, and it made him sick. Izuku had gotten a peak at the woman behind the mask, the real person, and seeing his classmates, his friends, look at her like she was this thing to be desired made him angry. If he had access to Blackwhip, it would be aching to be released, but he did feel his own anger rising in its place.
"A Hero's name is as important as their costume. It says something. You want your name to be something that represents what you are as a Hero, as well as what you wish to achieve. A Hero name is like a promise in that way, since you're telling people what you'll do when it's needed," Midnight said, flipping her mask, which doubled as eyeglasses, up onto her forehead.
"That's right. You can't just casually do this thing. You need to seriously think about what you want your name to be. You'll regret it if you don't," Aizawa said, getting a haunted look in his eyes.
"Yep. I remember that you let Mic pick your Hero name, and he's never let you live it down," Midnight said, giving an evil smirk at reminding Aizawa even further about his mistake and getting the students to laugh at him under their breaths.
"Shut up. You have fifteen minutes to brainstorm," Aizawa said, slipping into his sleeping bag.
Izuku was passed a whiteboard and marker from the piles of the two going around, and began to think. All of the names he thought of when he was a kid were out, because they were all variations on 'All Might but better'. He began to think about different names that told people who he was and what he could do. After a few minutes, his mind settled on a name he had left behind … 'Deku'. No, that was a dead name to him. He couldn't go back to letting people call him that derogatory nickname, even if he could turn it into something positive.
He tried to think of something else. Something, anything but 'Deku'. It couldn't be 'Deku'. He searched his memories, trying to find a different name he had ever heard that applied more to him than 'Deku'. Then, he found it.
Nexus.
All for One had called him that, during their battle in his vestiges' realm. It was accurate enough, though nobody else could get it as he thought of it. He was a melting pot for the previous One for All users' Quirks. Izuku thought about what kind of Hero he wanted to be, and he supposed that it made sense in that context, as well. He had wanted to be an 'everything Hero' for the longest time, wanted people to be able to see his fearless smile and know that they were safe. He wanted to be a convergence point for positive energies, being the Symbol of Hope that he and All Might had talked about.
A nexus of hope and strength.
It was perfect.
When the time was up for them to think of names, Midnight cleared her throat and addressed the class way more professionally than many were expecting.
"Alright, is anybody ready to present?" Midnight asked.
"Wait, we have to present these?" Kirishima asked, suddenly nervous.
"Aw, crap!" Kaminari groaned.
"Yes. Now, let's go by seat number. Aoyama!" Midnight said, calling the first of the students to the front.
"Watch as I shine, mademoiselle! I shall be the Shining Hero: I Can Not Stop Twinkling!" Aoyama said, posing extravagantly next to Midnight.
The class froze, in shock at the sentence-long name. It was a little out there, but that was the Aoyama that the class had grown to tolerate. Izuku could hear Ochako giggling at the name, and a few snickers throughout the class, but he didn't want to write off the name as Midnight wore a contemplative look on her face.
"What if you shortened the 'Can Not' to 'Can't', and took out the 'I', then it becomes 'Can't Stop Twinkling'. Better?" Midnight said, taking Aoyama's whiteboard and correcting the words, written in bold, english letters, which was weird.
"Splendid!" Aoyama said, making his way back to his seat.
A surge of surprise that Midnight had actually allowed that name, with some minor corrections, went through the class. Suddenly, everything was viable and nothing could be rejected. For all Izuku knew, he could call himself 'All Might: The Sequel' and he'd be approved.
"Ashido?" Midnight called out, looking the pink girl dead in the eyes.
Ashido made her way up to the podium, smiling all the way. Midnight was excited for the name, Izuku could tell. She had that glint in her eyes, different from her usual sadistic glint, that meant that she was genuinely enjoying this.
"Alien Queen!" Ashido shouted, grinning wildly.
"Uh, like the horror movie monster with acidic blood?" Midnight asked, to which Ashido nodded vigorously.
Izuku perked up at the mention of it. He had seen that movie, and had enjoyed it quite a bit, though it was too scary for his mother. Izuku was glad to have another old movie lover in the class, and was excited to get to talk with Ashido about their shared love.
"Maybe something a little more friendly will be better?" Midnight asked, a nervous look on her face.
"Huh? Why?" Ashido asked, her perpetual smile dampened a bit.
"It may not be the best choice to name yourself after a monster that kills people by planting eggs in them," Midnight said, offering the most professional smile she could.
"Oh. Okay. What about Acid Queen?" Ashido asked, a small bit of hope returning to her.
"That's perfect," Midnight said, winking at the pink skinned girl.
Ashido headed back to her seat, grinning like she had won the lottery. It was clear that she had wanted 'Alien Queen', but was happy with what she was able to have. She sat down, letting Tsu walk past her and walk to the podium, croaking with what Izuku could only describe as anxiety. He had never really seen Tsu get very emotional, so it was a strange sight to see. Even stranger was the small mumbling of Shinso behind him that he could tell was worrying about Tsu.
"I've had this name in mind for a long time, so here it goes. The Rainy Season Hero: Froppy," Tsu said, smiling as best she could.
Izuku liked it. He knew that Tsu could do anything a frog could do, and it seemed that she was leaning into that by styling herself after a frog in looks and in spirit, her costume being an assortment of dark greens and black, and her goggles being styled after the bulging eyes of a frog. Before he knew it, the class was chanting 'Froppy, Froppy, Froppy', as it had been the only immediately approved name so far, giving hope to the others that their names could be accepted without having to alter them in any way.
Next up was Iida, who walked up to the podium with a set expression of neutrality on his face, something Izuku knew was put on. He put his whiteboard on the podium, showing all the words written on it.
'Tenya'.
"You're using your given name as your Hero alias?" Midnight asked, perplexed.
"Yes. I've … not earned the name I wished to call myself by," Iida said, looking at the ground intensely.
Izuku knew what he was talking about. The Iidas had been Heroes for generations, and it was Iida's turn to take up the profession with his older brother, Ingenium. The thing was, that Ingenium had been attacked. Izuku had seen it on the news the day before while walking back to UA, that he had been attacked by who they suspected was the Hero Killer, Stain. He was an infamous Villain that had been killing Heroes for a few years now, but had remained out of the Heroes' reach. Izuku hoped he was caught soon, but he couldn't help but want to see who Stain deemed as worthy of murder. He wondered what Stain wanted to achieve with his murders, what kind of goal he was aiming at.
With Ingenium out of the field, he likely wanted Iida to take up his name, but he understood that Iida may not have felt ready for that. Izuku wanted to help Iida through whatever issues he may have been facing, but he knew that it wasn't exactly his place to do so.
"Alright, Uraraka. This should be a nice way to get you fired up after your return," Midnight said, smiling at Ochako sweetly.
"Thank you," she replied.
Ochako ran up to the front, smiling excitedly for her Hero name. He had heard it once before, as an offhand comment during a conversation about what they thought they would be like ten years into the future. Ochako had mentioned the name to him, but had been embarrassed to say it again since she thought it was childish and too cutesy to be a real Hero's name. Izuku wondered if she was going to go with the same one, or if Ochako would branch out and try something different.
"This is the one I thought of. The Gravitational Hero: Uravity!" Ochako said, a nervous smile on her face.
"Oh, I love that! It's so cute!" Midnight squealed, and Izuku couldn't help but agree.
Izuku and Ochako met each other's eyes, giving each other a huge smile that nobody missed. She walked away, head held high as she was congratulated on her choice on her way back to her seat. The next student to be called up was Ojiro, who passed in order to stall for time to come up with a name.
Instead, Midnight called on Kaminari, who gladly got up and walked to the front, grinning slyly as he did. He set his whiteboard on the podium, letting everyone see what he had written on it. The board read 'Chargebolt', and Izuku thought it was pretty cool sounding, as well as a brief summary of Kaminari's powers. He could both charge things with electricity, as well as himself, and fire out bolts of lightning at people. All in all, a good name that Midnight approved of.
Kirishima went next, and Izuku had already been told his Hero name, so he kind of tuned out. He had heard it while the D&D group had been playing, and he liked it. It sounded like a strong name that people could trust and could feel safe when hearing.
"I'm Red Riot: The Sturdy Hero!" Kirishima announced.
"Red Riot? Is that an homage to Crimson Riot?" Midnight asked, to which Kirishima nodded energetically.
"Yeah! He's my favorite Hero, so I thought that I'd give him a shout-out for inspiring me to live life to the fullest and do what I wanna do without having any regrets," Kirishima said, looking like he had just had Christmas come early.
"I like it! Very chivalrous!" Midnight said, playing into Kirishima's love for the old Hero.
Kirishima walked away, smiling like an idiot. Next up was Koda, who walked up to the front while keeping his eyes on the ground, not daring to make eye contact with any of his classmates. Izuku felt for Koda, he really did, but he had been making progress with using his voice in front of people. Izuku was about to get ready to translate, as the others still didn't have a very good grasp of JSL, which was understandable considering the fact that they had only been learning it for about two weeks.
"Um …" Koda said, which startled everyone in the class. "... I'm Anima," he concluded, an unsure smile on his face.
The rest of the class, Izuku included, knew that it was probably best if they didn't do anything like applaud or clap for Koda, since he'd probably dislike that more than anything. Koda moved back to his seat, and the next person, Sato, walked up.
"I'm Sugarman!" Sato said, flexing his large muscles for some reason.
"Oh, sweet!" Midnight said.
Sato gave up his place at the podium to Shoji, who simply stood tall and said one word.
"Tentacole."
Then, he was off, back in his seat before anyone could even react to the name. Izuku watched with the ease at which he snaked through the aisles, probably due to his prehensile nature from his Quirk. He could move his limbs far easier than regular humans could, and that was going to come in handy during Hero work.
Jiro, giving Shoji a wide berth, walked up to the front while nervously fiddling with one of her earphone jacks. Izuku had seen her do it a lot, mainly when talking to Kaminari. Izuku wasn't stupid, he knew what it meant. He just didn't want to say anything in fear of getting stabbed by one of her jacks like he had seen done to Kaminari a few times.
"I'm the Hearing Hero: Earphone Jack," Jiro said.
"Ooh, nice!" Midnight cheered.
"Thanks," Jiro said, a small smile growing on her face as she sped back to her seat.
Sero got up next, strolling to the front with an exaggerated confidence that rivalled All Might's. He walked up to the podium and waved to the class casually. He placed his whiteboard on the podium and smiled, knowing that he had a golden name picked out.
"I'm the Taping Hero: Cellophane!" Sero said, smiling widely.
"With such a catchy name, you'll be a hit with kids!" Midnight said.
Sero walked away with a large grin on his face. When Izuku thought about it, he realized that Sero never really stopped smiling, just had differing degrees of a grin on his face at any given time. Izuku admired that, always being able to smile, even when in the face of adversity. That was what he wanted to be, but he wasn't quite there yet. He wasn't complaining, it was just that he couldn't smil yet, knowing what the future held.
The next up was Tokoyami, who walked over to the podium with a practised silence. Izuku briefly wondered how long Tokoyami had gone without manifesting Dark Shadow, wondering if it was a cumulative type power, where the longer he went without letting Dark Shadow out the more difficult it got, or if it was based on some external factor.
"I am the Jet Black Hero: Tsukuyomi," Tokoyami said, his voice low and dark.
"The god of the night?" Midnight asked.
"Yes," Tokoyami said, before walking back to his seat in silence.
Todoroki was next, and Izuku was nervous. He hadn't bothered to get out of his seat during the introductory lesson at the start of the year, and he doubted that Todoroki would bother now. To his surprise, however, Todoroki stood and started to make his way toward the podium, whiteboard in hand and scowl on his face. It was the expression Izuku had seen him wear most often, other than the contemplative look he had during the Sports Festival.
"Frostbite or Freezerburn, I don't care which," Todoroki said, glaring at Izuku.
"I think that Freezerburn best describes your abilities. Just a bit better than Frostbite," Midnight said.
"Alright, then. I'm the Polar Hero: Freezerburn," Todoroki said, never taking his eyes off Izuku.
So, he was really leaning into the ice part of himself now. Izuku was nervous, because that meant that it would be all the more difficult to convince him to start using his fire. At least he was admitting that he even had fire abilities with the 'burn' part of Freezerburn. That was something, though not a lot.
Todoroki walked back to his seat, tearing his eyes from Izuku's for the first time in about a minute. He didn't see Hagakure stand up, but he heard her, giggling at what he thought must have been her chosen name. She was visible right now, so he couldn't see through her hands and see what it was. She had decided to stay visible all the time outside of Hero work, having taken to wearing the Invisi-Pad at every moment of her day, and was loving it.
"I'm the Stealth Hero: Ms. Appear!" Hagakure said, smiling brightly.
Izuku liked that. It had a very nice ring to it. Ms. Appear. It was both a description of her powers and a pun, which was always a good combination to have. Midnight seemed to like it, smiling wide and chuckling at the name. Hagakure got a few laughs and 'nice joke's from the class, and it was deserved.
"Very good name, Hagakure. That's a play on 'disappear', correct?" Midnight asked.
"Yeah. I'm kinda proud of myself for that one. It took me a while, but it came to me. A few weeks ago, I wouldn't have even been able to call myself that, because my powers were so limited back then. Now, though, I'm on track to be the kind of Hero I wanna be," Hagakure said, flashing a bright smile at Izuku, who shot one right back.
"Alright, my turn," Bakugo said, roughly interrupting Hagakure.
As Hagakure walked back to her seat, Bakugo took her place at the podium, shoving his whiteboard onto the podium and almost cracking it. He grunted as he did so, though he seemed to be more tame compared to his usual perpetual anger.
"Gren-Aid."
Izuku almost audibly choked on his breath. It was … actually okay. It was more than okay, actually. He liked it. It was the same as Hagakure's name, a mixture of a description of what he can do and a play on words. Izuku had expected something like 'King Explosion Murder', like the name he had come up with when the two were four, but this was something that admitted that, if Bakugo was on the scene as a Pro Hero, his job was to help, and not to harm. That made Izuku's mind flash back to the words he had said to Bakugo right after their first battle trial.
"Being a hero can be comforting a frightened child, or clearing the rivers after a hurricane," Izuku had said back then, and it looks to have gotten through to Bakugo, even if a little.
"Aid? Like 'to help'?" Midnight asked.
"Yeah, what of it? I'm a Hero. A Hero doesn't just fight. They help where they can. I've learned that," Bakugo said, shooting a glance at Izuku.
"I think it's marvelous!" Midnight said, cheering for Bakugo's chosen name.
Izuku smiled at Bakugo, who just looked away in response. The blond stomped his way back to his seat, and Izuku realized that he was next. He got up and grabbed his whiteboard, quickly making his way to the podium. He stood tall, cleared his throat and spoke.
"I'm the Hopeful Hero: Nexus," Izuku said, smiling brightly.
"Like a point of convergence?" Midnight asked, the meaning lost on her.
"Yeah. It's the kind of Hero I want to be. I want to be a person who can have faith placed in them and not disappoint. I want to be able to be a converging point of hope and strength, so that I can defeat any enemy in my path," Izuku said, not wavering for a second.
Midnight, as well as the rest of the class, looked at him with differing expressions of shock and fulfilled expectations. He knew his Hero name was going to be something cheesy, so he kind of leaned into it. He could have sworn he saw Aizawa smirking at him from his sleeping bag, but brushed it off.
"I like it. Go ahead and sit down, kid," Midnight said, and Izuku did as she said.
Next up was Shinso, and Izuku was excited for his name. He had called himself 'the Hypnotic Hero' during the USJ Incident, while facing off against Shigaraki and Kurogiri by himself, so Izuku expected that epithet to be used in front of his actual name.
"I'm the Somnolent Hero: Hypnos," Shinso said, staring dead ahead at the wall.
"Like the god of sleep?" Midnight asked.
"Yeah. Kind of ironic, since I don't get any, but he's always been a favorite of mine," Shinso said, smirking at his self-deprecation.
Shinso walked off, sitting in his seat behind Izuku, who congratulated him on his name. There was only one person left now, Yaoyorozu. She stood up, flattened her skirt, grabbed her whiteboard and made her way to the front, walking with such rhythm and posture that Izuku may as well have been a stuttering mess when he had walked up there. He felt bad now, knowing he always had just a bit of a slouch to his posture, but that was nothing that couldn't be worked on.
"I'm the Everything Hero: Ms. Maker," she said, smiling politely.
"Like that really old kids' show?" Sero asked.
"Oh, yeah! There was a show called Mr. Maker where he just made a bunch of stuff from scratch for twenty minutes," Kaminari said.
"I … was not aware that there was a television show with the same name. I'll change it immediately," Yaoyorozu said, rushing away from the podium with a frown on her face.
"Wait! It's alright. If you're worried about branding stuff, it's okay. That title has been in the public domain for decades! Like Sero said, it's really old," Izuku said, stopping Yaoyorozu in her tracks.
"Oh. I guess it's alright, then," Yaoyorozu said, making her way back to her seat at regular speed after that.
Izuku looked around, everyone having said their name. Oh, wait. Ojiro. He walked up to the podium with an embarrassed look on his face, and placed his whiteboard on the podium, the board simply reading 'Tailman'.
He looked like he really hadn't been able to think of a really good name like some of the others, and had just put whatever random thing he thought of. Izuku thought he heard someone say the name was boring, probably Ashido, but he didn't want Ojiro to be discouraged so quickly.
"Do you think that something like 'Tail Flail' will work better?" Midnight asked, beating Izuku to it.
"Uh, yeah! I didn't think of that," Ojiro said, brightening up significantly.
With that, everyone was done. Aizawa quickly stood up, surprising everyone who really thought he was sleeping. After the USJ, Izuku wouldn't be surprised if he found out that Aizawa tried not to sleep in case of a Villain attack. The man walked over to the podium and addressed the class. He looked a few people in the eyes, the people that had announced extremely good names, Izuku noticed, before looking back at the whole class.
"Alright. That concludes our session on code names. Come to the front to get your stack of papers if you have one. If you don't, grab one of the recommendation sheets beside them. You have until Friday to decide who you'll intern with," Aizawa said, before walking out of the classroom with Midnight.
Izuku walked over and grabbed his papers, nervous to go through them and see just what types of Heroes wanted him to come and work with them.
Author's Note: Welcome to the new arc, internships!
In other news, if you like my writing here, then you should check out my tumblr at:
blog/view/dexhopper
I can't promise the same level of quality, but some of my original writing is there and other writing and media related posts and stuff. You don't have to check it out, but if you like A Point of Singularity, you'll like my other stuff. Until next time, see ya!