Two days after the exhaustion of the Sports Festival, the weather was, unfortunately, miserable.
The spring air, once filled with the scent of blooming flowers, had given way to the damp, sticky arrival of the rainy season—the time of year that shares its name with our very own Tsuyu.
"ARE YOU READY, EVERYBODY?!"
"YES! NICO!!"
Despite the gloom outside, the heat in here was reaching a fever pitch. The train car shook with enthusiasm as a rhythmic beat vibrated through everyone's eardrums. In a train that had been transformed into a makeshift concert hall, I sat perched on Kacchan's shoulders, responding to my audience.
"Are you feeling the vibe, babies?!"
"YES! NICO!!"
I waved to the cheering crowd, holding my smartphone like a microphone.
"Neither rain nor wind shall stop us! To everyone working hard today, I dedicate this ultimate track! Nico Midoriya, performing: 'Song to the Sky—!'"
"HOW MUCH LONGER ARE YOU GONNA DO THIS ON TOP OF MY HEAD, YOU BRAT?!"
"Nya-fu?!"
"Uh oh! The boyfriend is mad!!" the crowd cheered.
"I'LL BLAST EVERY LAST ONE OF YOU EXTRAS!!!" Kacchan roared.
"WOOOOOOOO!!"
After narrowly escaping the wrath of the station staff following my "underground concert," I donned my newly purchased cat-ear tiger poncho and headed toward school. Kacchan was using a plain, boring umbrella.
I seriously questioned his aesthetic sense.
"I'm the one questioning yours," he barked.
"Hah? This is beyond adorable. You should be worshiping me."
"Keep dreaming or I'll blow you up."
Just try it, jerk. It would be war.
As we walked, I noticed other students from our school staring at us. I figured they wanted autographs or a handshake, so I offered them a friendly wave, but for some reason, they all ran away. I asked Kacchan why, and he just said, "How should I know?"
How strange.
As we reached the main gates, I heard the sound of frantic splashing behind us. I turned to see Four-Eyes—Iida—sprinting toward us in a full raincoat. He even had rain boots on. Truly a man of preparation.
"Why are you two walking so leisurely?! You're going to be late! Good morning, Midoriya! Bakugo!"
I asked Kacchan for the time. We had five minutes before the first bell.
"Is your watch broken, Four-Eyes? We've got five minutes."
"A UA student should always arrive ten minutes early as a matter of principle!!"
"Well, then you've already failed. Let's just take it slow," I said, grabbing him by the collar. He started coughing as the fabric tightened.
"Gack—cough! S-stop that! For a second there, I think I saw the gates of the afterlife!"
"What are you talking about? Come on, let's just stroll. At this point, whether you're five minutes late or an hour late, it's all the same."
"I strongly disagree with that logic..."
I bragged about my poncho as we entered the building. Iida gave me a half-hearted compliment, but since I didn't feel any soul behind his words, I gave him a score of zero. Even flattery needs quality, people.
Inside the classroom, everyone was buzzing about the aftermath of the Sports Festival. Apparently, everyone was getting stared at in public. Ashido said people were calling out to her constantly—not surprising, since she's cute.
On the other hand, Sero mentioned that a group of elementary schoolers had given him a "Don't Mind!" chant. Poor guy. Tsuyu gave him a sympathetic "Don't mind" as well, so I hopped on the bandwagon and gave him one too.
He gave me the most incredible "drop dead" look. I'd really like to know why Tsuyu gets a pass and I don't.
While we were chatting, the bell rang and the Mummy-teacher walked in with a quiet "Good morning." The bandages on his face were gone, which felt like a massive nerf to his design. Oh well, doesn't matter!
I gave him a high-energy greeting, mostly because I wanted to check the status of my summer vacation.
"GOOD MORNING!!!!!"
"Morning. You're unnecessarily loud, Midoriya."
"Yes!! I am at two hundred percent power today, sir!!"
Aizawa looked at me with a very flat expression.
"I heard the rumors. Apparently, you had quite a 'fun' commute to school this morning..."
Hah! The Mummy-teacher is as sharp as ever! He already found out!
I pulled out my cat poncho—the crown jewel of my rainy-day wardrobe—and showed it off with pride. Aizawa's eyes twitched slightly.
"Yes! Nico Midoriya arrived at school in high spirits!"
"..."
"━━━Hm?"
For some reason, I got a very bad feeling. I expected him to be frustrated or annoyed, but his gaze was turning cold. Sharp. Dangerous.
"Midoriya... The train."
"Eep—!!"
Realizing exactly what he was referring to, I immediately sat down in a perfect seiza position on my chair and quietly hid my poncho.
"See me in the faculty office later."
"Eeeeek!!"
Bad! Very bad!! If I go there alone, I'm headed for hell! He's going to lecture me until my ears bleed!! I frantically looked for a way out and my eyes landed on the scowling Kacchan.
"K-Kacchan was there too!! He was part of it!!"
"What?! You traitor!!"
"Bakugo, you come too."
"WHY THE HELL ME?!"
Yesssss!! If I'm going down, I'm taking him with me! That's what you get for trying to let me suffer alone!! Mwahahaha!!
"Poor Bakugo," Uraraka whispered.
"Ribbit. But he is the only one who can handle her," Tsuyu added.
"Silence," Aizawa commanded.
"..."
"...Ribbit."
After handing down our death sentences, the Mummy-teacher stepped up to the podium. Apparently, today's Hero Informatics class was going to be special. While everyone else was tensing up with excitement, I was face-down on my desk in despair.
"It's time to think about your 'Code Names.' Your Hero Names."
The class erupted in cheers. "The dream segment is here!!" someone shouted.
Must be nice for you guys. My future holds nothing but the faculty office and suffering.
Aizawa cut through the excitement and continued with the technical stuff. He talked about pro drafts, and how second and third years work... I tuned out halfway through, but the gist was that we were getting nominations from pro heroes based on the Sports Festival results.
"Anyway, here are the tally results."
A chart appeared on the board showing the number of nominations for Class 1-A.
Kacchan was at the very top.
Todoroki was second.
I was third.
I lost again. I even lost to Peppermint. Dammit.
"Usually the results are more spread out, but this year, the attention focused heavily on these three," Aizawa noted.
"The pros really have no taste," someone muttered. I looked over to see who was brave enough to commit suicide by words, but I didn't recognize the guy.
Who is that? Was he always here? A transfer student? ...Maybe he was suspended? Oh, wait, I think I remember him.
While I was distracted by the mystery blonde, Sero looked at me. "Looks like second and third place swapped. Guess that's the difference in daily behavior, huh?"
Sero... I'm going to remember this. The moment the Mummy-teacher leaves the room, your life ends.
Ojiro, on the other hand, tilted his head. "To be honest, Bakugo's result is the one I understand the least..."
Every guy in the class except Kirishima and Iida nodded in agreement.
"THE HELL WAS THAT?! SAY IT TO MY FACE!!" Kacchan barked.
"I mean, look at what you did to Iida at the end..."
"And you totally pulverized Uraraka. That doesn't leave a great impression."
"You basically just screamed insults the whole time..."
"Your face was terrifying."
"A literal demon."
"I'LL BLAST EVERY LAST ONE OF YOU!!"
While the boys were bickering, the girls were giggling. For some reason, they kept looking at me and whispering. What now?
"Quiet," Aizawa snapped. Everyone slumped back into their seats.
"Based on these results... whether you received nominations or not, you will all be participating in what we call 'Workplace Experience.' You've already had a taste of it, but this time you'll be training under pros to make your growth more substantial."
I see. So that's why we need Hero Names. I poked Kacchan in the back.
"What, stupid woman?"
"Want me to pick your Hero Name for you, Kacchan?"
"Huh?"
He made a face, so I leaned in and whispered in his ear.
"The Explosive Hero: Earl Explosion Bomba-no...!"
"Screw you! Why would I pick a lame-ass name like that?!"
"Hmph... fine. What would you pick then?"
Kacchan put on a smug face and opened his mouth.
"The King of Explodo-Kill...!"
...Hmm. I see.
Wait.
Hmm...
"That's lame."
"STEP OUTSIDE, WOMAN. IT'S WAR."
As we started grabbing each other's collars to head for the hallway, the Mummy-teacher gave us a very standard scolding.
WE'RE SO SORRYYYYYYY!!
***
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