Chapter 36 - Approved?

15 minutes later…

“Let’s finish up. Who wants to present their hero name first?”

Midnight asked. At this moment, Aizawa had already huddled back into his sleeping cocoon and lay silently in the corner, giving his fellow teacher all the authority for his class.

“Mademoiselle, I’ll go~”

Aoyama raised his hand and stood up. He walked towards the front with certainty in his every step, and confidently turned to the class, the whiteboard written with his hero name held in his hand.

“Shining Hero: I Cannot Stop Twinkling!”

“That’s a whole sentence!”

Everyone collectively sweatdropped. Well, except for Midnight, who seriously gave suggestions on how to make Aoyama’s hero name work.

Next up to present their name was Mina, whose Ridley Hero: Alien Queen got outright rejected. Then Tsuyu’s Rainy Season Hero: Froppy name was approved, as well as Kirishima’s Sturdy Hero: Red Riot.

The others followed suit. 

Sero, the Taping Hero: Cellophane

Shoji, the Tentacle Hero: Tentacole

Jiro, the Hearing Hero: Earphone Jack

Ojiro, the Martial Arts Hero: Tailman

Sato, the Sweets Hero: Sugarman

Kaminari, the Stun Gun Hero: Chargebolt

Toru, the Stealth Hero: Invisible Girl

Momo, the Everything Hero: Creati

Tokoyami, the Jet-Black Hero: Tsukuyomi

Koda, the Petting Hero: Anima

Uraraka, the Gravity Hero: Uravity

“Psst, Hiro, let me see yours. I need inspiration!”

Just when Bakugo was about to present his hero name, Hiro’s shoulder was tapped and Mina’s soft voice reached his ears.

The pink skinned girl leaned over from her seat. Her eyes roamed curiously on the small whiteboard that was flipped down on his desk.

“Here. If you still have no idea, how about Acid Queen? Or since you love to dance, Breakdown? Mixing your Quirk and your own name like Acido sounds great, too.”

Hiro casually suggested. At the same time, he raised his whiteboard to let Mina see what he wrote.

“Ohhh, thanks! Those sound really great- whoa!”

Mina gasped. She glanced at what Hiro wrote, and then at the white-haired boy’s face, then back at the name again. Her eyes were wide open in disbelief, as if Kirishima just wore a princess dress before her and she had to double check whether she was hallucinating or not.

“What’s the matter? Is it bad?”

“No, no! It’s a cool name! I just, uh, didn’t expect you to choose such a flamboyant title.”

Mina scratched the back of her head and awkwardly laughed. From his usual demeanor, she thought Hiro’s chosen hero name would be more like a defender or protector of peace, not…that. 

In their class, only a guy like Bakugo would call themselves something similar. And speaking of said blond.

“King Explosion Murder!!!”

“Rejected!”

Mina chuckled as the explosive teenager fiercely defended his chosen hero name to Midnight. Leave it to Bakugo, even the name he thinks is so aggressive.

…judging by how she’s the only other person to get rejected, maybe she doesn't have the right to laugh at him?

Mina shook her head. She couldn’t let that be!

As Bakugo begrudgingly went back to his seat, Mina hurriedly scribbled down one of the names Hiro suggested that she liked the most and went to the front.

“Dadan! The Acid Hero: Acido!”

“A bit repetitive, but I like it! Approved!”

Mina beamed. She skipped back, gave Hiro a high five as thanks for the suggestion, and sat down on her seat.

After her, Todoroki presented his chosen name, Shoto. While Midnight gave some comments due to its simplicity, she still approved when Todoroki insisted.

At this moment, only Hiro, Iida, Midoriya, and Bakugo hadn’t chosen their names yet. 

Iida and Midoriya seemed to still be indecisive about their names, while Bakugo’s was too violent to get approved. Seeing this, Hiro stood up.

Everyone in class subconsciously leaned forward. Except for Mina, who had a contemplative expression, they were all curious about Hiro’s chosen hero name. 

Hiro maintained a gentle smile as he stood in front. He nodded to Midnight, then flipped over his whiteboard.

“I had been thinking about whether to choose a name based on my Quirk or martial arts. In the end, I chose one based on my goal.”

“The Strongest Hero: Genesis”

Midnight raised an eyebrow. The other students in class stared at Hiro in surprise. At the back, Bakugo clenched his fist at the name’s insinuation. Aizawa’s sleeping bag in the corner also twitched.

“That’s…quite a choice. However, you should change the Strongest to something like Powerful or Indomitable. They possess the same meaning, but the latter two will invite less controversy.”

“Thank you for the suggestion, Midnight-sensei, but I prefer to keep it as is. Besides, they don’t mean the same thing at all.”

The smile on Midnight’s face cracked. Of course she knew they didn’t mean the same! She was being euphemistic!

“Ryugamine-kun, do not underestimate the word ‘strongest’ in the public’s perception. As soon as your hero name is revealed, your every action henceforth would be placed under great scrutiny. Not to mention being targeted by villains for fame, with the presence of All Might, the masses won’t take your name seriously.”

Midnight said, her tone as if coaxing a child. 

“I know, sensei. But time will tell whether I could live up to the name or not. And as for All Might? Right now, I can honestly say that I don’t think I’d lose to him.”

Hiro said with such seriousness that Midnight and the other students of 1A were unsure how to react. Well, except for one.

“You bastard! Don’t think just because you won the Sports Festival once you’re already unbeatable! Let’s fight! Right now! I’ll blast your soaring ego back down to the ground!”

Bakugo roared. His chair fell with a clang as he stood up, his palms sparkling.

“Wonders of the world. I didn’t think there would be a time when I would side with Bakugo instead of Ryugamine.”

“Did the win really make him overconfident to this extent?”

“To be fair, Hiro-chan didn’t exert his full strength during the whole tournament. Being more confident is understandable.”

“But to the point of believing he can defeat All Might?”

Midnight sighed as the whole class became filled with murmurs. She ordered Bakugo to sit and the others to be quiet down, before she turned to Hiro.

“As you can see, even your friends and classmates find your hero name problematic, your claim about All Might notwithstanding. Genesis is no problem, but you should change the first part if you want to get my approval.”

Hiro didn’t immediately reply. At some point, the gentle expression on his face had disappeared, and was replaced with solemnity. His gaze swept past Midnight and then to the entire class, before he spoke in a calm and unhurried voice.

“When All Might returned from the US, he debuted as the Symbol of Peace- promising to serve as the beacon of hope to the people. Many expressed their doubts and skepticism whether he had what it takes to shoulder such a grand role. Villains targeted him for his actions and ideals. But in the end, his actions let him live up to that title and Japan achieved its most peaceful period.”

“Let the villains and mockery come. Just like All Might, I’ll prove myself worthy of being called the strongest. Sensei, if I insist on facing the controversies head-on, you have no reason to disapprove of my hero name, right?”

Midnight frowned. She studied Hiro for a couple of seconds, before opening her mouth and saying…

…

“Still rejected, huh? Midnight-sensei is stricter than I thought.”

“Pfft! Dude, at the end there, I really thought you convinced her with your speech. Great speech, by the way.”

In the cafeteria, Hiro and his friends were chatting after they finished their lunch. Kaminari chuckled as he slapped Hiro on the back.

“She only removed the strongest hero part. Genesis is still a great hero name.”

“Thanks, Momo. I guess it is better this way. Now that I think about it, naming myself the strongest is kinda cringe.”

Hiro said. The only reason he even thought of calling himself that was because of his Strongest Hero System. So even though Midnight rejected him, Hiro didn’t take it to heart. Much.

“Hero names aside, what do you guys think about the internships? Like, have you already chosen?”

Mina jumped into the conversation in her usual bubbly voice. After the whole class had chosen their hero names, Aizawa woke up and distributed the list of pro heroes each student could select to work alongside with. 

“Aizawa-sensei gave us time to choose until Friday. Therefore, everyone should study their choices carefully to make the most appropriate decision.”

“Momo-chan is right. But in my case, I only need a day to check all of my choices. Hiro-chan though…”

Everyone turned to Hiro at Tsuyu’s prompt. Remembering the thick stack of papers Aizawa gave him, they felt a slight schadenfreude.

“Heh, I guess being too good also has its downsides. Good luck going through all of those, Ryuga.”

“Don’t worry about me, I already finished and decided who I want to intern with.”

“Eh? That fast!?”

Hiro smirked and nodded. With his eyesight, he only needed a second to flip through all the papers and remember everything written inside. 

“Who did you choose? It’s definitely someone from the top 10, right?”

“Yup. Rank number 7, Rabbit Hero: Mirko.”