Chapter Text
Aizawa flung the door of 1-A's classroom open and stepped inside, his body no longer covered by bandages. Izuku would have normally expected Iida to stand up and greet the man and wish him well, but he wasn't exactly in the mood for that. Ever since his brother was taken down by Stain, Iida was subdued. Izuku couldn't blame him, of course, but it definitely put a damper on the whole class atmosphere.
"I'm happy to see you well, sir," Momo said from the back of the room.
"Yeah, thanks," Aizawa said dismissively. "Down to business. Today is an important day for all of you; one that could potentially affect your entire hero career."
The class sat silently, listening.
"I see you all read the syllabus," Aizawa continued, a small note of approval in his voice. "Good. Then let's not waste any more time. Midnight will oversee your hero name selections and then we will discuss internships. Remember that these code names should embody the type of hero that you wish to be. Think of All Might for example."
He paused, looking around the room. "This name is likely to stick and it's what will give people their first impressions about you. There's a lot in a name, so choose wisely. Good luck."
With a wave, Aizawa left as quickly as he arrived, letting an exuberant Midnight and chipper Nejire into the room after him.
"Good morning, students!" Midnight called joyfully.
"Good morning, professor," the class responded in unison.
Nejire smiled and hummed happily as she handed a stack of five whiteboards and markers to the first person in each row.
"As Aizawa said," Midnight began, "you'll be selecting your hero names today. I have final approval over your selections, but you're a bunch of smart young adults, right? I'm sure you'll all make wonderful choices. Now, unless there are any questions…?" She looked around the room, but saw no hands. "Excellent. I'll give you some time to think over your selections and then we'll start by taking volunteers."
The class set to work scribbling on their whiteboards with earnest while Izuku stared down at his own whiteboard and marker with a small smile on his face. He held up his left hand and formed scales across it, admiring the color and sheen of his scales. A sigh escaped his lungs as he reminisced about all he had gone through to get to this point.
This name was more than just a code name for him. Because of his instincts, he had to be extra careful to choose correctly.
Izuku closed his eyes and thought back on his life. He thought about the incident in school when he and Katsuki were kids, the time when his father lost his arm, when he met All Might for the first time. He recalled the entrance exam where he had first met Ochako and had saved and been saved by her. He thought back to the battle trial where he had to fight his instincts and his confessions with Ochako and Mina.
His quirk pulsed with power.
Izuku remembered the USJ. The fury he felt when Kurogiri had threatened his class, the way he had rescued Tsuyu and Mineta and the way he had stopped Shigaraki from killing her by talking him down. He remembered Terrorflame and the way he had thrown away all of his reservations and fully embraced his instincts. He remembered every earthshaking blow in their deadly duel and how he had struck the first solid attack and pumped poison into the villain's veins.
He remembered how Terrorflame had just been toying with him.
His quirk pulsed harder, scales growing at the edges of his face.
He remembered All Might saving him and the flurry of half-coherent memories of all his classmates visiting and speaking with him. He remembered waking up surrounded by people he cared about and who cared for him.
He remembered Ochako and Mina confessing their love to him and his reciprocation.
His horns grew thicker and longer on his head.
He thought back about Nejire joining the class as a TA and the hell she put the class through that week. He remembered Ochako's speech and him winning the race with ease. He ran through the cavalry battle again, grimacing slightly as he remembered how furious he had been when Shouto had stolen his headband, which he still had stashed safely in his room back at the dorms, thank you.
He remembered Shouto telling him about his monster of a father and how he had learned of Monoma hurting Pony. He remembered the cold fury when he had first introduced the world to his breath as he punished Monoma for his insolence. He hadn't even felt satisfaction, it was simply the natural order. Those who harmed his hoard were to be punished.
He remembered his "fight" with Shinsou and how his instincts had fully merged with him once again. He remembered meeting Endeavor and barely being able to contain himself before Momo saved him. He remembered his fight with Shouto and his victory in more ways than one.
He remembered losing to Ochako and being so proud.
He thought about his family and all they had done for him, both good and bad. His father, his mother, Ryuko, Aunt Saori, Uncle Seizou… Uncle Hatsuo.
He remembered Ochako calming him down at the battle trial, Mina being able to stop him when he had lashed out at her for breaking into his lair, and Momo saving him at the festival.
After everything he had done and with everything he wanted to do and who he wanted to be, there was no other name he could choose.
Something about it felt right.
A hero name.
'Something for people to call me when they see me coming.'
A name to inspire and to cause fear.
'A name that embodies who I am and what I aspire to be.'
With a fanged grin, his eyes opened, reptilian slits replacing his round human irises as they glowed with potent green light.
My name.
Ochako finished writing her name down on her whiteboard fairly quickly. She had thought of this name years ago and she was still proud of it, so it had to be a good one, right? Sure, it was a little bit of a pun, but it fit.
She glanced around the room, seeing most people still writing or debating internally. However, what really caught her eyes was Deku. She watched him sit completely still with his eyes closed, seemingly deep in thought. Her eyebrow raised slightly as she saw scales forming on the edge of his face and his horns growing slightly. Deku was clearly engaging with his instincts, which was to be expected. Ochako had been there in the hospital when Stormclaw had spoken to Deku about their hero names; Deku wasn't just picking a name for people to call him, he was picking a name to call himself.
Ochako smiled. She was sure whatever he picked would be great. She looked forward to calling him and Mina by their hero names and hoped they would like her choice too. The three of them had kept their choices secret on purpose, hoping to surprise the others in class.
Several more minutes passed and it seemed everyone had finished. Midnight glanced over the class appraisingly before asking for volunteers. With his patented flair, Aoyama was the first person to raise his hand, seemingly eager to get it over with, or perhaps just to show off.
Aoyama almost pranced to the podium and held his whiteboard close to his chest. "Prepare to be dazzled!" he declared.
Yeah, it was the latter option.
He flipped the board over proudly. "I am the Shining Hero: Soleil!"
Ochako blinked. That actually… wasn't bad. She was expecting something much more pretentious out of the blonde; maybe Deku's speech the previous night had done some good. The class seemed to share her sentiments and murmured approvingly.
"I like it!" Midnight cheered. "It has a flair that can't be denied!"
Aoyama sparkled as he smirked. How did he do that?
There was a noted pause in the class as Aoyama took his seat and Midnight asked for another volunteer. Ochako saw Mina's hand begin to raise, but Tsuyu's was faster.
The greenette walked to the front of the class and paused at the podium for just a moment. "I've known since elementary school what I wanted to be called," she explained as she turned the board around. "I'll be the Rainy Season Hero: Froppy."
More murmurs of approval shot around the classroom. "It's adorable!" Midnight squealed. "And so friendly! I like it!"
The class agreed as Mina yelled "Yeah! Froppy!"
Cheers of 'Froppy! Froppy!' went off around the room, Ochako joining in eagerly. She felt her heart swell as Tsuyu's mouth turned up into a small smile as she saw everyone supporting her so whole-heartedly.
She sat down, carrying her shoulders a little higher than she had before as she walked back to her seat. The awkward, hesitant ice that had settled over the class had been shattered by Tsuyu, leaving everyone excited rather than nervous.
Student after student raised their hand to go up. Shouji was the Tentacle Hero: Tentacole, Sero became the Taping Hero: Cellophane, Tokoyami became the Jet-Black Hero: Tsukuyomi, and Kouda quietly called himself the Petting Hero: Anima.
"My turn!" Eiko declared as she slammed the board on the podium. "I'm the Sturdy Hero: Red Riot!"
"Oh, is that inspired by Crimson Riot?" Midnight asked.
Eiko nodded confidently. "Absolutely! He's my idol and my inspiration. I'm going to be a chivalrous hero who stands strong no matter what and always gives their all just like him!"
Ochako sighed. There was something so undeniably cute and, honestly, attractive about Eiko's enthusiasm and determination. In many ways it reminded her of Deku; maybe that was why she liked it so much.
Momo went next and became the Everything Hero: Creati. Ochako loved the way she had begun to carry herself more proudly and confidently after Deku had talked with her last week. It made her even more beautiful than normal and really reminded her just how powerful Momo was. With her brain and her quirk, was there anything she couldn't do?
Kaminari became the Lightning Hero: Chargebolt and Satou called himself the Sweets Hero: Sugarman. Ochako nodded. It was classic.
Mineta had to hold the sign above his head to show it above the podium. The Fresh-Picked Hero: Grape Juice wasn't exactly Ochako's favorite name, but maybe she was just letting her bias against the little creep get the better of her judgement.
Mina walked up next, holding the sign proudly with her distinctive energetic smile. "Acid Hero: Alien Queen!"
Ochako furrowed her brow. 'Alien Queen' sounded a little scary for the adorable woman she called her girlfriend, but Mina wasn't one to shy away from that sort of thing. Unfortunately for Mina, Midnight seemed to share her reservations.
"I'm not approving that one," Midnight muttered, "even if I wasn't worried about copyright laws coming down on you."
Tsuyu tilted her head. "How can you copyright something so generic?"
Midnight shrugged. "Look, I'm not a lawyer. Pick something else, Ashi-"
Mina was excitedly rubbing the whiteboard with the sleeve of her uniform and quickly turned it back around with a massive grin. It now read 'Acid Hero: Queen'.
Ochako's mouth opened slightly. God, she loved that woman.
Midnight pondered for a second. "I… like it! Approved!"
Mina squealed and jumped up and down a little as she hurried back to her seat.
All in all, it seemed that everyone in class was getting into the hero names. Well, everyone except the man sitting in front of her.
Ochako knew that Iida was going through a tough time. She had done her best to comfort him and be there for him ever since he returned to the dorms, but there wasn't much she could actually do for him. He had been silent ever since class started, staring at his blank white board like it was going to tell him the answers to his problems. Or maybe like the whiteboard was his problem.
Tenya wasn't really listening to the rest of his classmates. He knew that was inexcusable, but he couldn't help himself right now. He had more important things on his mind right now.
The thing being the same thing he had burned into his mind for an entire week at this point.
Tensei.
Tensei laying in a hospital bed, tubes and other medical equipment covering nearly every square inch of his body as he slowly recovered.
Although, to Tenya, 'recover' was a cruel, untrue word. Tensei would never recover. He would never be the same again. His career, his future, his life as he knew it was all over.
And it was all because of that bastard Stain.
Rage and fury were emotions that were mostly foreign to Tenya. He had felt anger and indignation when the villains had attacked the USJ, but those were overshadowed by his determination to help his classmates. It wasn't anger that drove him to run as fast as he did back to find All Might and the other faculty when he had escaped the USJ, but duty, righteousness and perhaps a bit of fear.
When he had walked out of the arena under Shinsou's control and lost the tournament, he had felt angry, but that was again overshadowed by his disappointment, sorrow and shame.
He had felt anger before, but this was beyond that. Rage and fury and hatred clawed at his heart and his mind, not dominating him, but always lurking below. Every day... it grew stronger.
But the time for revenge was later.
Why was he sitting here in class while his brother couldn't even breathe on his own? Why was he getting ready to pick his hero name when his brother couldn't ever be a hero again? It wasn't fair. He would give anything to trade places with Tensei; it was only right.
But he couldn't. He didn't get that choice.
Tenya shook his head and gripped his marker hard enough that he might have almost broke it. There was no point thinking himself in the same circles he had been trapped in for a week again. It was time to get this over with.
His hand shook as he wrote. Every single stroke felt like blasphemy, but he pushed himself forward. He just wanted it over with. He wanted the pain to stop. As he finished, he looked down at what he wrote with revulsion. Not for what he had written, but for daring to think himself worthy.
He remembered Midoriya's words. They had seemed wise at the time, but it wasn't until later that he realized just how profound they were.
"Iida, lean on your family for strength, because some day, they may rely on you for your strength."
He shot his hand into the air to go next, using all of his willpower not to throw the whiteboard onto the ground.
'This isn't about you,' Tenya repeated to himself for the thousandth time as he walked to the front. 'This is about Tensei. You can still walk. You can still be a hero. Do it for him.'
He paused at the podium, staring at the whiteboard one more time. It was now or never. Once he turned it around, there was no going back.
Midnight was standing behind him and saw what was written down. She placed a gentle hand on his shoulder and whispered quietly. "Tensei could not be more proud of you. You might not see it now, but you're doing the right thing, I promise you."
She was right. He couldn't see it.
But again, this wasn't about him. This was about his brother and doing what he wanted, no matter how wrong it felt to Tenya.
It was the least he could do, but it was also the most he could do. He couldn't help his brother, but he could at least fulfil his wishes.
Tenya turned the board around and tried to speak, but found his throat unwilling to make any noise.
However, the entire class saw the sign. The damned, blasphemous, arrogant sign that nobody deserved to be holding.
The sign that read 'Turbo Hero: Ingenium'.
The class was silent as Iida held the sign, but everyone understood the implications. Izuku noted the anguish and frustration in his eyes, but he also saw the rage and hatred beneath them. Now wasn't the time to help him, but Izuku wasn't about to let Iida go through this alone. His hoard was suffering and all of Izuku wanted to see him healed.
Iida sat down and there was a small pause before anyone dared to raise their hands.
It was Jirou who finally broke the silence, walking up to the podium and holding the sign that read 'Hearing Hero: Heartjack' with a small smile. Izuku liked the name.
Pony raised her hand next, stepping up with her sign in hand. Izuku had noticed her trying to write the name in kanji several times, but erasing it as she made mistakes. Finally, she had made a crude approximation of her name, but had wound up writing it in English as well underneath for good measure. "I'm Horned Hero: Stampede," she declared firmly, her voice steady and determined. Izuku really admired her tenacity and drive. It was something he could really learn from her. Maybe it was time to finally organize those English lessons he had talked about the first week of class.
Ochako walked up as Pony sat down, holding her sign nervously. He had loved Mina's hero name and he was sure that Ochako would pick something that suited her. She was a simple girl in many ways, but it suited her. She turned the sign around with an unsure smile; it read 'Gravity Hero: Uravity.' Izuku's smile nearly fell off his face as he grinned wide, which seemed to bolster Ochako's confidence as she glanced over at him. She smiled back softly and quickly retreated to her desk. God, he loved that woman.
That left only four students. Hagakure hurried up to the podium and held her sign close to her chest. "I was going to go with something less cool, but then someone gave me a hand coming up with a much better hero name!" She turned the sign around and held it proudly. "I'm the Stealth Hero: Spectrum!"
"Oooh, it feels like a secret agent code name!" Midnight cooed. "Really playing into that infiltrator motif, I approve!"
'Spectrum?' Izuku thought curiously. She had told Shouto that she was going to 'tell him about her quirk', which meant that there was certainly more to her quirk than met the eye. Or rather, didn't meet the eye.
Puns are beneath me.
'Oh, hush. I'm not nearly that proud.'
But I should be.
Izuku rolled his eyes as Shouto walked up with his sign. He noted with curiosity and approval the small glance and smaller smile that Shouto shot at Hagakure when he unceremoniously turned his sign around. It read 'Elemental Hero: Flashpoint'.
Izuku's quirk pulsed with satisfaction in the back of his mind. He was certain that Shouto was going to go with something unimaginative or overly simple, or maybe even something to explicitly spite his old man. He even had thought that Shouto might just go with his name; that would have truly been terrible.
Izuku remembered the explosion and blinding light from the final clash of their fight at the festival. Yeah, Flashpoint was a good name for him. Hagakure had done well to help him out and Izuku would be certain to nurture their relationship in the future; it would be good for the both of them.
Katsuki looked back at him, as the two of them were the only ones left. Izuku gave him a small look that silently communicated that he was free to go up. "You're going with that old name from when we were kids, right?"
"Go to hell," Katsuki hissed as he stood up.
"Aw, come on," Izuku teased with a small chuckle. "King Explosion Murder is a great name."
"Fuck off." The dirty look he shot at Izuku was only marred by the small smirk on his face.
With one hand, he placed the sign on the podium and glared at the class, daring anyone to say anything. "Explosive Hero: Ground Zero," he declared flatly.
"Ooh, that's one of the best ones so far," Midnight chirped approvingly. "I must say, your entire class has been excellent. With the exception of Ashido, I haven't had to turn anyone down. That might be a new record!" She looked over at Izuku. "That is, assuming you chose wisely, Midoriya."
Izuku smiled confidently as he stood up. He was sure he had.
Why had Izuku waited to be last? Maybe he had a flair for the dramatic or maybe he just wanted to observe all of his hoard. Whatever the reason, he walked up to the podium and looked over the classroom.
"I've been thinking this over for a while," Izuku began, "and I've finally got it. Some of you might be expecting me to go with something like my father, Stormclaw or my grandfather, Thunderwing. Something like Poisonmaw or Venomfang." He shot a quick glance at Shouto, who smiled slightly in recognition of the fake name he had used during their bout. "While I considered those, I decided that they weren't right for me."
Izuku stood up a little taller. "Instead, I took a page out of my great-grandfather, Gallant's book." He looked over at Eiko, whose eyes were widening in surprise and whose mouth was curving into a huge grin. "This name defines who I am and what my path is. It is a central tenet of my very existence, in the face of all manner of foes."
Izuku turned his sign around and slammed it on the podium, patting the top of the whiteboard once confidently with his hand as he gazed over the class with a fanged grin.
"I am the Green Dragon Hero: Defiant."