“Did you see that huge fight on the way to school? The villain was a huge elephant mutant!” Naganuma was exclaiming as Yui walked into the room.

“Hey Yui!” Hado waved excitedly at her, “We get to pick hero names today!”

The teen took her seat, “Yeah...you guys were talking about a villain fight this morning? I think I saw that on the news, the damage to the area was massive.”

“Yeah, the elephant guy was going nuts in a shopping district.” Togata scratched the back of his head.

“Hey, hey! How do those shops get repaired? They don’t have to pay for the repairs themselves, do they?” Hado asked, making the rest of the class quiet as they pondered the question.

“Yeah, I never thought about it, it's not like the villain would pay for the repairs...” Hayashi mumbled, a pink flower blooming in his hair.

Yui sighed softly, before she turned to look at them, “Okay, so I’ve been doing research on this. And it’s not too bad for businesses because most have insurance against villain attacks, and subsequently, hero damage. Mostly, it’s our parent’s tax money that goes to fix that stuff. But that’s just one facet of the cost villains and even heroes put on our society.”

“What do you mean, one facet?” Shimizu asked softly, barely meeting her eyes at the question before she quickly looked away.

“Hmmm, well, the money for saving people doesn’t just get taken from taxes. This one incident a few years ago, the damage from saving one child, just one kid, because the villains and heroes both had destructive Quirks, cost the country so much money they had to close five homeless shelters in different cities. I found data showing the deaths of four people due to either starvation or the harsh elements. Unfortunately, it had to happen in the dead of winter.”

Her classmates stared at her in disbelief, no one saying anything before Shimizu’s shaking voice broke the quiet, “B-But...what about the fundraisers? Heroes and the wealthy donate money to the relief funds?”

She couldn’t help but snort softly, “Heroes would have to give up their salaries to put a dent in property damage. Only the top heroes make anything substantial. Present Mic has three jobs, you know, he teaches here, and does his radio show on top of his hero patrols. Snipe teaches a class on sharpshooting on Sunday. Cementoss volunteers his time to help rebuild because his Quirk is so well suited to it, and he’s a really cool guy.”

“My father donates billions to the relief fund, he even donates to universities and U.A.” Tomono stated, his arms crossed as he watched her, “Are you saying that money isn’t helping anyone?”

“Oooh he donated to universities? You know who can go to universities? People who are well off. Sounds like he was just enriching the upper crust rather than helping people who really need it. If you’re going to donate money, maybe start with the homeless shelters, or go help out at the soup kitchens.” Yui watched as the teen’s face flushed a red almost as bright as the streaks in his hair when the door opened and Midnight walked in.

“I hope you’re all ready for a very important step in your hero journey! It’s time to decide your hero names!” She handed out small whiteboards and markers, smiling wide, “You’ll be stuck with it for life, so make it good!”

Unauthorized reproduction: this story has been taken without approval. Report sightings.

Yui watched as the class separated in their little groups. Todani by himself as he looked down at his board, Shimizu and Tomono talking quietly to each other, Naganuma, Hayashi and Yamashi grouping together as they talked. Yui wouldn’t be surprised if they formed their own hero agency, their Quirks worked really well together. Then there was Togata, Amajiki, Hado and Haya, and for some reason they were grouping around her desk.

“Do you know what you’re going to go by, Yui?” Hado asked, she already had a name written on her board in large bubble letters.

“I...haven’t really thought about it before.” She admitted, I can’t go by Hijack or ControlFreak... “Do you know what you’re going with?”

“Nejire-chan!” She smiled brightly, “I want to be someone approachable!”

The teen smiled softly, “You are. It really fits your personality.”

Hado giggled, “Yuyu said it was really cute! Her’s is so cool! Can I tell her? Pretty please?” At the other girl’s nod she squealed a bit, “Yuyu is going to be Velocity!”

Yui grinned, “That sounds badass. I really like it.”

Haya chuckled softly, “Thanks. I kind of wanted to go by Flash, after those pre-Quirk comics, you know? But it didn’t really fit me.”

“Those comics are so cool, they’re so hard to find though. Batman and Robin are my favorites.”

“But they didn’t even have powers.” Togata pointed out, “Superman is my favorite.”

“Of course he is.” Yui huffed, “And Batman and Robin didn’t need super powers to save people. Anyway, we’re getting off track. Do you know what you’re going to go by?”

“You bet! I want to save a million people as a hero, so my hero name is Lemillion!” He shot them a blinding smile and a thumbs up, making Amajiki squint at him.

“Too bright...”

“That’s a great name, Miri!” Hado bounced in her seat, clapping softly as she smiled. Yui and Haya both returned the thumbs up, giving their own support of the choice.

“Thanks! Tamaki’s name is so much better though! Go on, Tama, you gotta proclaim it to the class! Practice on us!” The blonde slapped the navy haired teen’s shoulder, grinning as Amajiki fidgeted with the board.

“I...I really want to live up to this name....I-I want to shine just as bright as Mirio s-someday...so...I will be S-Suneater.” He stuttered out, looking away from them as he held the board in front of him like a shield.

“That’s a great name, Amajiki.” Yui smiled, “Wow, you all have such great names.”

“Oh! We can help you brainstorm! You’re all into techy stuff and computers, right? Maybe you should go by Hack?” Hado suggested, Yui tried not to stiffen at the name as she shook her head no.

“That was a villain’s name.”

“What about Cyber? Like Cyber space?” Togata beamed at her.

She blinked, giving him a blank look, wondering if he was serious, “I’m not going by Cyber...that could be taken wrong.”

“What do you mean?” He frowned a bit, his brow furrowing in confusion.

“Um, look it up when you get home.” She sighed softly, no way was she was going to explain that could be taken as slang for online relations.

“U-um...I-I might have...an idea...” Amajiki squirmed when she turned to him. “I...um...its...ugh.”

“Did you want to write it down, or you could whisper it if you don’t want to say it out loud.” She offered, watching him gulp before leaning closer to her, his warm breath on her ear as he whispered the name. She couldn’t help but grin, “That’s perfect, Amajiki! Are you sure I can use that?”

He nodded, his cheeks tinting pink from the praise. Hado puffed her cheeks out in a pout, “No fair! Tell us!”

“Okay kiddos! Are you guys all ready? Anyone want to present?” Midnight called out, the desks going back to normal as the students went up. Yui writing the names down so Izu could add them to his notes. Naganuma was going by Mire, the meaning dually referencing his swamp Quirk and it’s ability to delay the enemy. Hayashi simply going by Botany, and Yamashi going by Geo. Shimizu choosing the name Remedy, Todani was a bit surprising at Silver Snow, it was flashier than what she was suspecting. Tomono had chosen the name Puppeteer, she’d honestly been surprised he hadn’t gone for something more flashy.

She couldn’t help but grin as she took the podium, flipping her board around, “Thank you Amajiki for the name. I’ll be the technology hero: Haywire.”