Maneko [Shouto Todoroki x Reader]

27. Maneko

The bell rang and Aizawa-sensei entered all recovered from his wounds. He told us that today we were going to pick our hero names. But before that, he showed us the numbers of offers each of us had from pro heroes.

Four...Four thousand... Whoa, Shouto and Bakugou sure took the spotlight. I had like 300 and I was contented that some heroes picked me. On the other hand, Deku, even though he was on the top ten.....;;;

When we each got our lists of offers, Midnight entered the classroom to help us with our hero names. Well, that was easy for me. I quickly grabbed the marker and scribbled down the name on my board and waited for my turn.

....

"Here I go..." I held my breath nervous for what was going to happen next.

"~I CAN NOT STOP TWINKLING~! ☆" 

....

I mentally face palmed like twenty times because of Aoyama's hero name and I know everyone did too, but to my surprise Midnight accepted it! Fortunately, there were some normal hero names and... well, there was Shouto being Shouto. I snickered quietly at his simplicity. He returned to his seat and I got up next and stood in front of the classroom. I turned the board and read out loud.

"Fortune Hero: Maneko!" I gulped nervous as I waited for their reactions. I didn't think it would be this nerve wrecking. "Kawaii~ Just like a Maneki Neko~" I blushed when Midnight said that the name was cute, and I was glad that people could guess it was the abbreviation of Maneki Neko.

I returned to my seat and Shouto asked curious "Why Maneko?" "Um, the truth is my best friend picked it for me when I met her." I smiled as I recalled the memory.

Flashback

This was around the time my mother died. Kids were bullying me again and I didn't defend myself like I did before. The only thing I did was put a broken smile knowing that I deserved it. But this time someone stood up for me and fought them to my surprise. It was the new girl that transferred this year. I knew her name was Hana, but I never talked to her before. She was always wearing flashy things and make up, and the girls didn't like her at all saying that she was a slut or whatever. As for me, I simply never talked to anyone at all.

Anyways, the boys left us alone when they got bored but we were quite bruised. Out of curiosity I asked her why she helped me. "Because I don't understand why they bully you. I think your quirk is badass! Like, if you think about it, it's like you are the luckiest person in the world whenever you use your quirk! I'm jealous, I just have this lame quirk that lets me grow silk out of my nails." She said while wiggling her fingers spookily and large strings of silk began to pop out. 

I didn't really understand what she was talking about. "What do you mean by that? I just bring upon bad things to people and it's horrible. I hate my quirk and I'd prefer to be the unluckiest person in the world if it meant that I wouldn't hurt people anymore." I said hating myself for being born this way.

"Hmmm... in that case why don't you become a hero then?" "What?" I was confused as to why it has led to this topic. "Yeah! That way you'll help people with your quirk, you know, like attacking villains to keep people safe. You'd be just like a Maneki Neko! Hmm... I think the black one was the one that wards off evil. Bad luck against bad luck, ha!" She snickered at her last remark thinking she was being clever.

Her way of thinking was weird, I'll give you that. I mean, by that reasoning then every hero is like a maneki neko. But for some strange enough reason, everything I thought about my quirk suddenly became trivial and meaningless. Like, it isn't wrong to use your quirk, even if it's a despicable one, if you use it against villains to protect people, right?

It's funny how a few words from a stranger can make you view things in a different way. What she said about me being a hero became more and more alluring the more I thought about it and it made me wanna try it out. Bad luck against bad luck, huh?

Suddenly Hana gasped "I know! Your hero name will be Maneko!" I got out of my thoughts when I heard the name. "Or.. Cat Noir? Black Paws? .....Lucky Blacky....?" She continued thinking hard about hero names, and each time they were getting worse and worse, but I ignored them.

"Maneko..." When I heard myself saying the hero name she came up with, suddenly the idea of becoming a hero felt much more realistic and like I was a step closer to my new goal. "I like it."

"Oh yeah! It has a nice ring on it!" She excalimed as if she wasn't the one that came up with that name, and I laughed. We became the best of friends after that.

End of flashback

My mind returned to the present and I quickly added "Hmm, let's just say it's the reason why I accepted my quirk." I winked at him as if we were accomplices. He thought about it for a second before he returned a smile after getting it.

After a while, Iida, Deku and Bakugou finally decided on their names. It was strange how Iida ended up choosing his first name, and he seemed kind of bothered when he presented it. He wasn't his usual class president-self. I wonder if something happened to him...

But what surprised us all was when Izuku used Deku as his hero name. He started explaining the meaning behind it and I eyed Ochako with a grin remembering the first day of school when she told him that same thing. She caught me staring at her and blushed a little. Hehe, I'm starting to see why she enjoys bothering me with such things.

Either way, it was now time to choose the pro hero we'd like to be with. But heck... it was hard to choose from all these pages full of neverending names... I was mindlessly reading the long list until a certain name made me do a double take.

It was soon lunchtime and we headed to the mess hall without Deku as All Might had something to talk with him about. We ordered our foods and sat on our usual table.

We were talking about which heroes we chose for the internship. I asked Shouto who he was going to train with, and I didn't believe my ears when he said he was going to train with Endeavour. I was happy for him though, because then it meant that he was over the matter with his father and he was just doing what's best to pursue his hero career. And what's better than training with the number two hero?

He then asked me who I chose to train with and the people around us were eager to hear me out. "Um.. I guess I'll go with Levi..."

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(A/N): ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)