Hero names were one of the most important things about a hero. It was what everyone would call them. It was something they picked in school; sure, they could change it, but most hero students began making a name for themselves once they have their provisional license making it difficult to change their hero name.
Class 1-A had just returned to school after the break they got after the Sports Festival, and were now being told that along with choosing who they would intern with, they were picking their hero names. As Midnight said "there will be hell to pay" if they do not pick carefully, so everyone was left to think about their name.
***
Izuku had taken his whiteboard and thought back to the time where his mom was still alive, and he would ramble about what he wanted his hero name to be. That was when he loved All Might, before he knew that All Might was quirkist, so most of his hero names back then were different renditions of All Might's name.
There was the name Deku, a name Bakugou had given him when they were kids and he read his name wrong, but became an insult when he was diagnosed quirkless. Uraraka had pointed out that it sounded like Deriku, and he really liked that, so he was debating on using it as his hero name. He had Deku written out on his board, but he still wasn't convinced that Deku was the name he wanted to be known as.
Deku meant worthless, that would never change. No matter how good of a hero he became, it would never change. It probably didn't help that he wanted to go underground rather than limelight, so maybe not Deku. If he wanted his name to mean 'you can do it' then he was better off calling himself Deriku rather than Deku.
With Deku off the table, and Deriku on the back burner, he searched his brain and asked himself what kind of hero he wanted to be; he eventually decided that he wanted to be a hero who would save everyone, who would protect everyone, no matter who they were. It didn't matter if they were a civilian with a weak, 'villainous', mutant quirk, if they were quirkeless. It didn't matter if they were rich or poor, old, or young. It didn't matter if they were a hero or a villain. He would save them all, he would protect them all, and do it all from the shadows. With that thought securely in his mind, he began to think of his hero name.
During this time, his classmates had been presenting their hero names to either be approved or shot down by Midnight. Some had gotten through like Froppy, while others like I Can Not Stop Twinkling were shot down and had to be changed.
People were getting either excited or discouraged, however everyone soon found a name, and Izuku had found his as well.
He knew he wanted his moniker to be The Protection Hero, as the Saving Hero would have been redundant as it was a hero's job to save people; they were supposed to protect them as well, but most heroes only saved people. That was the easy bit; the hard part was figuring out his actual hero name.
Since he was going underground, not many people would know it, and he would not have merch made. Sure some people might make handmade merch like they did for his dad, but there wouldn't be any licensed merch.
He also knew that he was going to bring about change in Japan, becoming Japan's first quirkless hero, underground hero or not. He was not the first, first quirkless hero, as smaller countries with a larger quirkless population, or even larger countries that were not as discriminatory as Japan had quirkless heros. It wasn't uncommon elsewhere, but Japan had one of the lowest, if not the lowest, quirkless population, and quirk discrimination was common. It didn't help that Japan was not overly fond of the quirkless, leading them to have the highest suicide rates, abandonement rates, traficing rates, hate crime rates, etc...
Thinking about the change that becoming a hero would cause, caused him to realize that he liked the thought of being known as change. He could be The Protection Hero- Change, a hero who protected everyone and brought about positive change while he was at it. It was a thrilling thought, and one that he hoped would be approved and liked by the class and his teachers.
When he presented his name, he was ecstatic to have it approved. He could see his dad hiding a smile at his chosen hero name, and Midnight's eyes softened just a bit. He could not be more thrilled, especially considering that the class also liked his name. He was afraid he would have to explain it, but he just had to present it; it was common knowledge that he would be going underground, so that helped a bit in getting it approved.
While he was heading back to his desk, he could see Hitoshi smile at him, and when he sat down, he felt Hitoshi bring a hand to his back to pat it. He knew that, if he could, Hitoshi would be hugging him, but that would have to wait for the next break.
Eventually everyone had picked their hero names and were now pouring over their internship offers, trying to figure out who would be the best fit for what they wanted to learn from them, the best fit with their fighting styles and/or quirks, and the best fit to help them become the heros they wanted to be.
