Two days later, it was time to return to the normality of school, and Kimitsuki was looking forward to it as she had missed all her friends a lot. Izuku and her had met through the two holidays and watched all the Sports Festival on TV, and re-watched their own matches. Kimitsuki had hoped to meet Katsuki, too but she knew that he would only get more upset over his first place if she made him some food for treat – and she didn't want to upset him.
It had been raining all day today and Kimitsuki had left for school a bit late because she had to help clear out the street for the traffic that would pass, knowing that it would only make more of a mess if she didn't; there would jam-packs and even more mess by the cars and pedestrians. She hoped nothing more would build up while she was away at school.
Kimitsuki headed to school with Izuku, and they had caught the same late train – and unfortunately, they had to travel with office workers, all of whom could not help about notice the pair of very familiar teenagers from the first day of U.A Sports Festival.
"Midoriya and Kuroyanagi from Hero Class!"
Everyone had turned to look at them and Kimitsuki as instinctually turned red, trying to hide her face away with her long white bangs, pretending to be buy scrolling around on her phone, and she cursed the fact that she left her earphones at home that morning.
"Good job at the Sports Festival!" said one of the men, giving them a thumbs-up when they glanced at him. "You two were both so close!"
"Midoriya was in the Top Eight and Kuroyanagi in Top Four, right?" asked another man and Kimitsuki felt like she could evaporate on the spot with the attention.
"You both were so cool!" exclaimed a lady eagerly from nearby. "You look like a doll, just like your mother, Kuroyanagi-Chan! I was a really big fan of your mother!"
"He's smaller than I expected," commentated a man. "He reminds me of when I was young,"
"Yeah, it's like he's trying really hard," said yet another woman. "It's always nice to see people who work hard like and are really sweet about like her, isn't it?"
"Do your best, heroes!"
"W-we will..."
Finally, the pair of them arrived to their destination and quickly filed out of the train station, only to find out that it was still raining profusely, prompting them to open their umbrellas as they stepped out to the grey atmosphere of the city outskirts.
"I don't like how gloomy it is," Kimitsuki said, frowning at the sky beyond her purple umbrella. "It keeps on raining... I hope it wouldn't trouble people,"
"I can't believe people keep recognising us," Izuku said, bashful, trying to hide his face with his own umbrella. "It's really stressful, isn't it? I can't believe it!"
"We all worked really well," Kimitsuki admitted. "And we put a good show for everyone... come on, let's hurry or it might get a bit late for us if we get caught again,"
"Good morning,
Midoriya-Kun and Kuroyanagi-Kun!"
Both Kimitsuki and Izuku turned around to see that it was none other than Iida Tenya, marching down the pavement rapidly, his arms moving – but the two childhood friends were distracted and stunned by the get-up he was in.
"P-poncho?" Izuku asked.
"With rain boots...?" Kimitsuki inquired.
"Why are you two walking so slowly?" Tenya questioned as he reached the pair, and then he ran off in front of them. "You're going to be late! Kuroyanagi-Kun, you must hurry as a Vice Rep!"
"Late?" Izuku asked. "There are still five minutes until the first bell!"
"U. A. students should always arrive ten minutes early!" Tenya told them and raced ahead, causing Kimitsuki and Izuku to share a quick look before hurrying after him.
The three of them reached the school, heading toward the Genkan, passing over to the Getabako where they took off their outdoor shoes, putting them away into their lockers. Kimitsuki frowned as a few letters fluttered out and she blushed, stuffing them away into her bag and pulling on her school shoes, turning to look at Tenya as she was very curious.
"Um, Iida-Kun," Kimitsuki said as she put away her umbrella and straightened up to look up at the boy, having been very worried the last two days.
"If it's about my brother, there is no need to worry," Tenya informed Kimitsuki and Izuku, who looked at him. "I apologise for worrying you needlessly. I received your text message,"
"Oh, is that so?" Kimitsuki asked. "In that case... I'm happy to hear that things are better. Please pass on my well-wishes to your brother. I hope he gets well soon,"
Tenya nodded in agreement, and the trio headed to their classroom together. Kimitsuki slid open the door and smiled when she saw that the rest of the class was already here, talking excitedly about everything. She walked over to her seat, bowing her head in greeting to all the people she passed and noticed that Katsuki was here, too.
"Good morning, Ka-Chan," Kimitsuki greeted quietly, blushing over the fact that he had walked her home, and she quickly took her seat behind him.
It wasn't the first time that one of the boys had walked her home; Izuku often did so, and she had even followed Katsuki down to the train or after the train to his home – but it was the very first time that he had walked right next to her for a good fifteen minutes.
That felt new, and nice – because Katsuki was reliable. There were people that Kimitsuki knew would help her out if in trouble, and there were people who might need her help, too – but Katsuki was the kind of person who helped out and stood on the very top.
Well, aside from ditching me in the paparazzi.
Kimitsuki pouted, giving the back of Katsuki's head a look and turned around to look around the class to see what else everyone was talking about today – it seemed the conversation was now setting upon the broadcast of Sports Festival and its reaction.
"It's different when they broadcast the matches on TV after all, huh?" Mina was speaking rather excitedly. "So many people talked to me on my way here!"
"Yeah, me too!" Eijirou agreed quickly.
"People were staring at me, too," Toru spoke up, her hands seemed to be clamped together from the posture she had. "It was kind of embarrassing!"
"Isn't that normal for you, Hagakure-San?" Mashirao asked, sweat-dropping.
"I had some elementary schoolers suddenly tell me 'Don't worry about it'," Hanta told them as he walked over to the talkative group.
"Don't worry about it!" Tsuyu teased, causing Hanta to let out a yell and the others to laugh and Kimitsuki smiled at them all, happy to see them excited.
"You did really well, Sero-Kun," Kimitsuki confirmed and Hanta blushed deeply.
"After just one day, we've suddenly been thrust into the spotlight, huh?" Denki commented.
"U. A. really is amazing, huh?" Minoru agreed.
Just then, the door to the classroom slid open again and Kimitsuki looked over to see that it was none other than Aizawa, free from his bandages and back to his normal self after the mummy that they had grown to see. But it was now that Kimitsuki noticed that he was supporting a scar under his right eye, and that made her frown deeply.
"Morning," Aizawa greeted the class, all of which had rushed to their seats in a split second to avoid getting themselves scolded during the first few minutes of the school day.
"Good morning!"
Aizawa closed the door behind himself and walked over at the head of the class, placing his stuff onto his desk and Kimitsuki was happy to see him normal again.
"Ribbit?" Tsuyu said. "Aizawa Sensei, your bandages are gone. I'm glad,"
"The old lady went overboard with her treatment," Aizawa replied but Kimitsuki knew that he had warned her to not take any injuries to the head easily. "More importantly, we're having a special hero informatics class today,"
Kimitsuki watched as everyone tensed up with the thoughts of what they were to do today – quiz, written tests or even practice? – but Kimitsuki was sure that there wasn't going to be anything too difficult since some of them were still hurt or tired from their first Sports Festival, for example the bandages that Izuku still had wrapped around his arm.
"... code names," Aizawa finished slowly, pulling all the students out of their misery and putting an end to their endless wild imaginations. "You'll be coming up with hero names,"
"We're gonna do something exciting!"
"This is related to the pro hero draft picks I mentioned the other day," Aizawa informed the class, silencing them. "The drafts begin in earnest in the second and third years, after students have gained experience and can become immediate assets to the pros. In other words, for them to extend offers to first years like you shows that they are interested in your future potential. These offers are often cancelled if that interest dies down by graduation,"
"Adults are so selfish!" Minoru shouted, smacking his fist onto the table in disbelief over what was being asked of them and Kimitsuki bit her lower lip.
"So, we'll have to prove ourselves once we get picked, huh?" Toru asked.
"That's right," Aizawa confirmed. "And here are the totals for those with offers," He used the remote to present the offers made for the students on the screen behind them and Kimitsuki looked up, a bit scared over what she would see.
Kuroyanagi –––––––– 4199
Todoroki –––––––––– 4123
Bakugo ––––––––––– 3556
Tokoyami –––––––––– 360
Iida ––––––––––––––– 301
Kaminari ––––––––––– 272
Yaoyorozu –––––––––– 108
Kirishima ––––––––––– 68
Uraraka ––––––––––––– 20
Sero –––––––––––––––– 14
"In other years, it's been more spread out, but all eyes were on these three this year," Aizawa said as he pointed out Kimitsuki, Shoto and Katsuki's names, which were on the top and the only ones that had numbers off in the thousands.
"Gah, there's such a big difference!" Denki groaned, throwing his head back at his lunch.
"Those pros don't know a good thing when they see one!" Yuga said, fuming slightly.
"Kuroyanagi-Chan's first, Todoroki's second, and Bakugo's third...?" Kyoka asked.
"It's the opposite of their placement in the sports festival," Eijirou pointed out.
"To be fair, Kuroyanagi-Chan's being consistent since the start, hasn't she?" Hanta asked. "Scoring the best in middle school... top in the entrance exams... from a good family... well, compared to someone soft-spoken like her, some people are too scared to ask for a guy who had to be restrained on the podium,"
"What're the pros scared of?!" Katsuki shouted at him and the blush that Kimitsuki had blossomed disappeared with a snap as she looked at him.
"Don't shout, Ka-Chan, Aizawa Sensei is here," Kimitsuki warned him and while Katsuki made all sort of face, he finally quietened down for once.
"You're amazing, Todoroki-San," Momo said as she looked over toward the half-and-half hero, who looked as passive as he always did.
"They're probably all because of my father," Shoto dismissed quietly.
It was something that Kimitsuki was starting to think as well, remembering back to what the lady had said on the train – that she resembled her mother, aside from her eyes and hair. She knew she did. She had seen her parents in videos and listened to her pretty voice in the scarce number of interviews she gave. Everything about her parents was too secretive.
"Wow, we got offers!" Ochaco shouted tearfully as she excitedly shook the shoulders of the person sitting right in front of her – Tenya, who nodded his head with each push and pull of the girl.
"Midoriya, you didn't get any!" Minoru shouted as he, too, shook Izuku. "They're scared of you 'cause of the crazy way you were fighting!"
"Let's calm down everyone!" Kimitsuki called out, feeling guilty that someone like her had gotten so many requests, and she wondered if all of them had pure intentions.
Because if they were going to pick her so she could come around and answer questions for them regarding her family or what happened that night then she had no idea what to do. She was not sure what she would like to do with all these requests.
"Keeping these results in mind," Aizawa spoke when people quietened down. "Whether or not anyone asked for you, you will all be participating in internships with pros,"
"Internships?" Izuku inquired.
"Yeah," Aizawa replied. "At USJ, you already got to experience combat with real villains, but it will still be meaningful training for you to see pros at work first-hand,"
"So, that explains the hero names!" Rikido realised.
"Things are suddenly getting a lot more fun!" Ochaco exclaimed excitedly.
"Well, those hero names are still temporary," Aizawa informed his class just as calm as always. "But if you're not serious about it..."
"... you'll have hell to pay later!" Midnight shouted as she pulled open the door to their classroom, stepping inside in her hero costume. "Because a lot of hero names used by students become recognised by society, and they end up becoming professional hero names!"
"Midnight!"
"Well, that's how it is," Aizawa confirmed. "So, Midnight will be making sure your names are okay. I can't do stuff like that. When you give yourself a name, you get a more concrete image of what you want to be like in the future, and you can get closer to it. This is what it means when they say, 'Names and natures do often agree.' Like 'All Might,' for example,"
Kimitsuki bit her lower lip as Aizawa extracted his yellow sleeping bag out of nowhere and headed off to go and sleep in the corner of their classroom. But then again, it was something she should be used to, now that she spent so much time with him, learning.
While everyone was chatting excitedly, Kimitsuki headed to the front to help Midnight pass out the canvases on which students could note down their Hero Names. Kimitsuki took her own canvas and walked over to her seat to think about her name.
It was something she had never thought about making up, and she always shied away whenever she was asked about it – even with Izuku. She stared at the canvas.
How about Wisteria?
Mauveine? Or Purpureus?
Maybe, the Palantinate Hero?
All that Kimitsuki wanted was a name that suited her – something purple and something that sounded nice, something flowery. She didn't want to scare people too much, and she wanted it to roll off the tongue nicely. Something people will remember... or even something to do with her name, something to do with the moon and dark nights.
But as Kimitsuki looked around, she caught sight of Fumikage's canvas, and she noticed that he had already picked such a name – Tsukiyomi – and she decided to not go that route. She looked down at her canvas and picked up her pen to decide something –
Nightshade: Illusionary Hero
That seemed to fit – the flower was a pretty purple with some yellowish-orange touch to it. And as far as she knew, most of the Nightshade family's flowers were purple and white, aside from some orange or yellow few. And it fitted in well with her name.
"Okay, let's start presenting names starting with those who are ready," Midnight announced all of a sudden, surprising all of them and making them avoid her eyes.
Everyone seemed to be feeling a bit embarrassed to do it, including Kimitsuki. But there was one person who was far from shy, and that was Aoyama Yuga, who was ahead to stand by the teacher's desk and raised his canvas up high for all of them to see.
"Here I go..." Yuga said, and Kimitsuki looked up. "Shining Hero: 'I cannot stop twinkling'! Which means, you can't stop my sparkles!"
"It's a sentence!"
"It'll be easier to use if you take out the 'I' and shorten the 'cannot' to 'can't'," Midnight suggested, taking his canvas to fix his Hero name up and handing it back to the blond.
"You're right, mademoiselle," Yuga accepted.
"It's okay?" demanded the rest of the class.
"Anyway, choose one – English, or French!" Rikido exclaimed, and Kimitsuki chuckled.
"Then, I'll go next!" Mina declared excitedly as she walked over to the desk once Yuga had returned to his own seat by the door. "Hero name – 'Alien Queen'!"
"Two!" Kyoka shouted. "Are you trying for the thing with acidic blood? I wouldn't if I were you!" Mina walked off, downtrodden.
"Whether or not with the acidic blood, I think Ashido-Chan suits it," Kimitsuki admitted thoughtfully. "I think she can make it her own! Alien Queen... I really like it,"
"Thank you, Kuroyanagi-Chan!" Mina cried out.
"Ribbit!" Tsuyu spoke up. "Then, may I go next?"
"Go ahead, Tsu-Chan," Midnight offered.
The green-haired girl quietly and calmly walked over to the front of the class, in comparison to Yuga and Mina, and she held her canvas in front of her for them to see.
"I've had this in mind ever since I was in elementary school," Tsuyu revealed and everyone looked forward to it. "Rainy Season Hero: Froppy,"
"That's so cute!" Midnight exclaimed and Kimitsuki nodded in agreement. "It seems friendly – I like it! It's a great example of a name that everyone will love!"
"Froppy! Froppy! Froppy! Froppy!"
"Then, I'll go, too!" Eijirou shouted bravely as he walked ahead in front of everyone, inspired to not be shy from their classmates. "Sturdy Hero: Red Riot!"
"Red Riot?" Midnight asked, taking his canvas to have a look at it. "You're paying homage to the Chivalrous Hero: Crimson Riot, right?"
"Yes," Eijirou replied. "It's pretty old-fashioned, but the hero image I'm going for is Crimson himself,"
"If you're bearing a name you admire, it'll come with that much more pressure," Midnight told him.
"I'm prepared for that!" Eijirou accepted.
"Man, I haven't thought of a name yet..." Denki muttered.
"Why don't I give you one?" Kyoka offered. "How about 'Jamming-yay'?"
"It's like Hemingway, who wrote A Farewell to Arms!" Denki exclaimed. "Sounds smart! It's cool!"
"No..." Kyoka said, laughing into her hand when her joke went over the blond. "It's because even though you're strong... you always end up like that,"
"Hey, Jiro!" Denki shouted, half-pouting. "Stop messing with me!"
Kimitsuki laughed as Kyoka got up and hurried forward with her own hero name, where she held her canvas out to reveal, "Hearing Hero: Earphone Jack,"
"That's good!" Midnight said. "Next!"
"Tentacle Hero: Tentacole," Mezo announced, walking over to show his name next.
"It's like tentacle with some octopus thrown in!" Midnight said, having a look at his name and Kimitsuki felt like it sounded really unique. "Who is next?"
"Taping Hero: Cellophane," Hanta said, holding up his canvas.
"Nice and simple!" Midnight agreed. "That's important!"
"I like your Hero name," Kimitsuki said as Hanta returned to his seat that was just to her right. "It feels really neat to saw 'Cellophane' – good job!"
"Thank you, Kuroyanagi-Chan!" Hanta replied, grinning.
"Martial Arts Hero: Tailman," Mashirao introduced himself, a bit uncertain as he held up his canvas but Kimitsuki gave him a thumbs-up to cheer him up.
"Your name reflects your body!" Midnight commented, nodding.
"Sweets Hero: Sugarman!" Rikido announced.
"So sweet!" Midnight exclaimed.
"Pinky!" Mina re-introduced herself, returning to the front desk with yet another shot at a hero name, which was good even though Kimitsuki also liked Alien Queen.
"It's cute," Kimitsuki agreed.
"Peachy pink complexion!" Midnight said.
"Stun Gun Hero: Chargebolt," Denki said, having finally decided on a Hero name for himself that wasn't teasing him. "Combining 'charge' with 'lightning bolt'!"
"Oh, I feel tingly!" Midnight exclaimed.
"Stealth Hero: Invisible Girl!" Toru introduced, excited as always.
"That's great!" Midnight responded. "Come on, let's keep right on going!"
"Everything Hero: Creati," Momo introduced herself to her classmates, standing in front of them all. "I hope I will not bring shame to this name,"
"Creative!" Midnight replied.
"Shoto," Shoto said as he walked up to the desk and Kimitsuki stifled a chuckle, knowing that it was something just what he would pick for himself.
"Your name?" Midnight inquired. "Is that okay?"
"Yeah," Shoto confirmed as he returned to his place.
"Jet-Black Hero: Tsukuyomi," Fumikage revealed as he walked over to the front of the class with his name and Kimitsuki smiled, nodding in approval.
"God of the night!" Midnight agreed.
"Fresh-Picked Hero: Grape Juice!" Minoru introduced.
"Pop and kitschy!" Midnight said. "Okay, got it!" She gave Koji a thumbs up as he brought up his name 'Petting Hero: Anima', as he normally did not speak much.
"Um, I should go ahead now," Kimitsuki spoke as she stood up and shyly walked to the front, holding her canvas in front of her chest. "I decided to go with a simple Nightshade: Illusionary Hero, or maybe even Deadly Nightshade – it was that or Belladonna. I chose it... because of its flowers and its relation with Atropos... since I can show people anything, even entire lives..."
"Pretty yet nothing to be taken easy – it suits you perfectly!" Midnight exclaimed, giving her thumbs-up of approval. "Excellent choice, Kuroyanagi-Chan! You can pick one of those in due time!"
"Thank you," Kimitsuki replied gratefully, bowing deeply and moving to return to her place. She looked up as Katsuki stood up and moved to the side to let him go.
"All of your names are really good!" Hanta said as Kimitsuki took her seat. "I think Belladonna or Deadly Nightshade suits you the best!"
"I agree!" Izuku pitched in eagerly from behind her seat.
"Thank you very much," Kimitsuki said, smiling brightly and bowing her head in gratitude.
Katsuki reached the front of the classroom, slamming his canvas onto the teacher's desk roughly and turned to look at them with a fairly scary-looking expression, revealing what he had chosen to be his 'perfect' Hero name for the rest of his life –
"King Explosion Murder,"
Everyone was silent as they stared at him, several of them sweat-dropping and Kimitsuki grabbed her head, exasperated over his choice of words. For the life of her, she would never understand just how strange that person was, and she wished to knock sense in him.
"You probably shouldn't use something like that," Midnight advised calmly.
"Why not?!" Katsuki demanded in disbelief.
"You should be 'Explosion Boy'!" Eijirou suggested loudly, grinning, causing everyone to start laughing and Kimitsuki shook her head at the boys.
"Shut up, Weird Hair!" Katsuki exploded and he haughtily returned to his place. Kimitsuki hoped that he would find himself a nicer, cooler name soon.
"Okay, my turn..." Ochaco spoke up as she walked forward. "This is what I thought of: Uravity,"
"Sounds stylish!" Midnight said. "Choosing hero names is going more smoothly than I thought it would! All that's left is Bakugo-Kun, who needs to rethink his, and Iida-Kun. And Midoriya-Kun, right?"
Kimitsuki watched as Tenya walked over to the front with his canvas and silently revealed his name, and she that he, too, had just put his own name in.
"You're using your first name, too?" Midnight asked. "Midoriya-Kun, are you ready?"
"Good luck, Izu-Chan," Kimitsuki whispered as she watched her green-haired best friend walk ahead of the classroom and turned to show them his new Hero name.
Deku
There was a pause and Kimitsuki stared at him in surprise, having not expected him to choose a name that Katsuki had used to ridicule him. It was like if Kimitsuki named herself Class Rep or Kimi-Chan as a Hero name. Others were surprised just as much.
"Midoriya?" Minoru asked, shocked and almost fearful.
"Are you really okay with that?" Denki asked.
"You might be called that forever, you know," Eijirou pointed out.
"Yeah," Izuku confirmed and Kimitsuki continued to stare at him. "I didn't like this name until now. But someone changed the meaning of it, and that had a huge impact on me. It made me really happy. This is my hero name!"
And it was then that it dawned upon Kimitsuki that Izuku's confidence for this name had risen from the unexpected compliment Ochaco had given him. She smiled to herself, and she also felt a bit guilty that she should've made things easier for him, too.
"I like your Hero name," Kimitsuki confessed as Izuku returned his place.
"Thank you, Tsuki-Chan," Izuku replied, grinning.
"Now that everyone's decided on their hero names," Aizawa spoke up. "We'll go back to talking about the internships. They will last for a week. As for where you'll have them, those who had offers from pros will be given your own lists, so you can choose from those yourself. Those who didn't have offers will choose from among forty agencies around the country that will be accepting our interns. They all work in different places and have different specialties,"
"For example," Midnight added into the conversation. "Thirteen would be focused on rescues from accidents and disasters more than fighting villains,"
"Think carefully before you choose," Aizawa reminded them, and Kimitsuki looked down at the forms that they had been given to fill out for their requests.
"Yes, sir!"
"I want to fight crime in urban areas!" Eijirou exclaimed excitedly as he turned to look at the rest of his classmates and most of the students seemed to look forward to that.
"I hope I can intern at a place with floods," Tsuyu said thoughtfully. "I wonder if there are any?"
"Turn in your choices before the weekend," Aizawa said as he picked up his sleeping bag. "Kuroyanagi, check in with me before you leave school,"
"Yes, Sensei," Kimitsuki said as she watched Aizawa head off to leave the room with Midnight once the bell rang, indicating the end of session. "It seems like we've only got about two days to decide,"
"Make your decision efficiently," Aizawa told them, sitting in the doorway. "Dismissed,"
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