𝙃𝙀𝙔, 𝙁𝙇𝙀𝙓 𝙏𝘼𝙋𝙀 // 𝙨𝙚𝙧𝙤 𝙭 𝙧𝙚𝙖𝙙𝙚𝙧

twenty-one

I walked to school the next day. Hanta texted me that he was taking the train, so I waited at the station for him.

As soon as his train arrived, a swarm of people exploded from it.
"Ah! I-Irezumi, help me!" a voice squeaked. I looked over and saw Midoriya getting dragged away in the crowd.

"Good luck with that, Midoriya!" I winked, before turning back and waiting for Hanta. I caught sight of him eventually and smiled.

"Hey, Flex Tape!" I called out. He glanced over and walked to me, grinning.
"We're gonna be late, we should go!" he said. I nodded and then grabbed his wrist, pulling him along.

It started raining lightly, but that then turned into heavy downfall. I squealed and Hanta and I both started laughing and running through the rain to UA.

We came across a group of kids who stopped us and asked for autographs and stuff, despite the horrible weather.
"Waow! You're the girl who came second at the sports festival! What's UA like?" a girl marvelled, "can I have an autograph?"

"U-uh, sure," I answered unsurely, pulling an All Might themed pen from my pocket and signing a notepad the girl held out.
"You're really pretty!" a boy with two sharp canines said, "here! Please take my eraser!"

He held out an eraser which was Eraserhead themed. Huh, typical. I smiled gently and closed his palm.
"Keep your eraser, please. It isn't mine to take," I said.
"Aw, okay..." he replied.

They looked up at Hanta.
"Hey! You were in the sports festival too!" the girl said. Hanta scratched the back of his neck.
"Aha, yeah..." he said.
"Well, you made a good effort!" the boy replied.

"Th-thanks," Hanta said.
"Hey, we're gonna be late," I said to him, "see ya, kids!"
I waved over my shoulder at them before starting to pull Hanta along again.

"C'mon, dude! We're getting wet!" I laughed. We eventually got into the school, then the classroom itself.

"I had all of these strangers talking to me on the way here, it was so weird!" I heard Mina say.
"Same here! So many stares... it was really embarrassing!" Hagakure said.
"Me too!" Kirishima added.

Hanta and I walked over.
"I had all these grade schoolers telling me I made a good effort," he groaned. I giggled.
"One little event, and suddenly the whole world has its eye on us!" I said.

"That's UA for ya," Kirishima shrugged. The bell went, and a few moments later, Aizawa walked in.
"Good to see your bandages off, Mister Aizawa," Asui commented.

"The old lady's treatment was excessive... but never mind that. We've got hero informatics class today, and a special one at that," Aizawa replied. At the mention of Recovery Girl, I recalled my now-healed fractured wrist. It made me look around for Todoroki.

I could practically hear Kirishima and Denki thinking panicked thoughts.
"You'll be coming up with your hero aliases," Aizawa said. Everyone stood up and started cheering.

"Bur first, concerning the pro draft picks I mentioned the other day..." he continued, "it's based on who the pros think will be ready to join the hero workforce in another two or three years of experience. So you could say that it's a way for them to show interest in your futures."

"But there's ample time for their interest to wane before you graduate," he added, "and any and all offers can be arbitrarily revoked. It happens quite often."

"That's not fair at all..." I mumbled under my breath.
"So if we're picked now, that means there'll just be higher hurdles in the years to come!" Hagakure exclaimed.

"Yes. Now, here're the complete draft pick numbers," Aizawa answered, "there's typically more of a spread, but our top three stole most of the spotlight."

He stepped aside to reveal a board with a few names scrawled on it. I had the most offers, with 4,131. Todoroki was close behind me with 4,123, and then it was Bakugou with 3,456.

"They're in a whole other league!" Denki exclaimed.
"These pros have no eyes for talent," Aoyama huffed.

"Didn't they get first and second the wrong way round?" Kirishima asked. I looked his way.
"Guess they were just scared of the guy who was literally chained to the winners' stand," Hanta shrugged. I frowned at the memory - it still felt so wrong for that to have been a thing at all.

"What the hell are the pros doing getting intimidated?!" Bakugou yelled.
"With that settled..." Aizawa cleared his throat, "you will all have a chance to work alongside the pros. It's true that you have already experienced more than most, but seeing the pros in action and taking part yourselves will still be worthwhile training."

"That's where our hero names come in!" Satou yelled.
"This is getting really fun!" Uraraka exclaimed.

"They're only tentative, but you still want to pick something appropriate," Aizawa sighed.
"Or else you'll know true hell!" a voice called. The pro hero, Midnight, entered the room.

"The name you pick now may be the name the world ends up calling you. That's happened to plenty of pros out there!" she said.

"Yes, true enough. And Midnight here will be assessing the sensibility of your names," Aizawa said, "what future do you see for yourself? The name you choose will bring you ever closer to cementing a certain image. Because names are capable of reflecting one's true character."

.
.
.

"Let's finish up," Aizawa said, "we can start with whoever's ready."

Aoyama immediately got out of his seat.
"Sheesh! that Yuuga guy's got guts..." Hanta commented.
"Yeah..." I agreed.

"Shining Hero: I Cannot Stop Twinkling," Aoyama announced.
"It'll be easier to say if you take out the 'I' and contract 'cannot' to 'can't,'" Midnight said.
"I see, mademoiselle," Aoyama agreed.

Mina went next.
"Call me Alien Queen!" she said.

I facepalmed and laughed silently.
'These names are seriously ridiculous...' I thought, 'although, I'm in no place to judge. I have nothing I've come up with either.'

"Can I go next, please?" Asui asked. Midnight nodded and Asui walked to the front.
"I've had this idea since elementary school..." Asui said, "call me Froppy."
"So cute! It makes you sound like you'd be easy to get to know!" Midnight exclaimed, "the rest of you, take note. This is a perfectly lovable name!"

Kirishima went with Red Riot, a homage to Crimson Riot. Jirou went with Earphone Jack, Shouji went with Tentacole, Hanta went with Cellophane, Ojirou went with Tailman, Satou went with Sugarman, Mina tried again with Pinky, Denki went with Chargebolt, Hagakure went with Invisible Girl, Yaoyorozu went with Creati, Todoroki went with Shouto, Tokoyami went with Tsukuyomi, and Koda went with Anima.

"King Explosion Murder."
"No."

Uraraka went with Uravity, which I thought was quite funny. I wasn't sure what name I would give myself. Only Iida, Midoriya and I hadn't been, and Bakugou had to try again.

Iida stood up and went with simply Tenya.
"You too, huh?" Midnight said. Midoriya stood up next, and held up his board. I smiled. Deku... sounds like you can do it.

"This will be my hero name," he gave a shaky smile. I nodded my head.

"LORD EXPLOSION MURDER."
"Still no."