Arthur POV
I sit in my chair, I hear the rain from outside pitter patter against the window and grounds, it reminds me of my shower. Kaminari stretches his hands overhead beside me, his joints popping.
"Can't believe we're getting recognized by people on the streets," Kaminari says with a wide smile, almost as electrifying as his quirk. "Yesterday some kids asked me for an autograph! Me! It finally feels like we're heroes." He pauses, turning to look at me. "Though I guess you're used to it, being famous and all."
I shift uncomfortably in my seat, I no longer grip Excalibur's hilt like I used to, even though a small part of me wants to. "I never liked cameras, so no, I'm not really used to getting recognized."
"I don't think he even goes out of U.A.," Tsu says as she also leans back in her chair, her large eyes blinking slowly. "How'd he get recognized, ribbit?"
"True that," Mina adds, spinning her pencil between her fingers. "You should get out more Art, not just coming out with us to karaoke, but I don't know, feel the sun on your skin, pick up a hobby or something. You got a good voice, why don't you become an idol? I'll be your backup dancer, yo."
Kirishima leans forward from behind me, his sharp teeth showing in an enthusiastic grin. "That's actually not a bad idea! You could be like that American hero who does concerts!"
"Can we please not talk about this," I reply, feeling heat creep up my neck. I don't like talking about myself. I'm already too embarrassed to say anything else.
Thankfully, they do stop talking about me, but not because of my request. The door slides open and Aizawa-sensei walks into the room. Yes, walks.
I still can't believe it worked. The healing through Avalon actually worked. My eyes track him, searching for anything that could show me he is still wounded, maybe a limp? But no, he's perfectly fine. I smile because of it.
"Aizawa-sensei," Midoriya mutters from his seat. "You're okay. Your legs..."
The rest of the class seems to notice it too now. Some gasp, others ask questions.
"Yes, yes, Recovery Girl went a bit overboard with the healing," Aizawa says dismissively, his eyes as tired as always.
"But, how?" Tokoyami asks from his corner. "I thought you said your legs were too damaged? That the nerve damage done was irreversible?"
"I'm fine, that is all. Now let's stop talking about me and focus on the lesson. Today's hero informatics period is a little special." He pauses for effect, and I see Kaminari wonder if we have a pop quiz, I hope not. "You need codenames. Time to pick your hero identities."
"FUCK YEAH!" Bakugo explodes from his seat, his palms crackling.
The classroom erupts. Almost everyone rises from their seats, shouting and cheering. Mina actually jumps onto her desk, pumping her fist in the air. Kirishima and Kaminari high-five so hard the sound echoes. Even the Yaoyorozu and Todoroki the more composed of the class, smile a bit.
I'm a little taken aback by the intensity of their excitement. I had never thought much about my hero name when I was a vigilante, they had called me Arthur and I had accepted in kind.
Aizawa's hair suddenly levitates, floating around his head. My instincts scream at me. He's activated his quirk, and with it, everyone falls silent instantly, calm in their chairs.
"This is related to the pro hero draft picks that I mentioned last time in class," he continues, his hair settling back down. "Normally students don't have to worry about the draft yet. Not until their second or third year actually, but your class is different. In fact, by extending offers to first-years like you, pros are essentially investing in your potential. You have three years instead of the usual two to prove yourselves worthy of their faith."
So this is why Nezu had said I should stand out in the festival. Had he somehow orchestrated extending offers to first-years because of me? No, that seems too self-centered. Then again, with Nezu, you never really know.
"Any offers can be rescinded before your graduation," Aizawa warns, his voice taking on that edge that means he's deadly serious. "So make good impressions. Maintaining a professional relationship is just as important as establishing one. Now, let me show you the offers each of you received."
He pulls a remote from his desk drawer. With a click, a hologram materializes above the board, blue light coalescing into numbers and names.
The numbers appear one by one, starting from the top.
Arthur Pendragon: 8,764
The number seems to hang in the air, impossibly large. I hear several sharp intakes of breath around me.
Shoto Todoroki: 4,123
Katsuki Bakugo: 2,873
Fumikage Tokoyami: 412
More names and numbers cascade down the list, but they're significantly smaller. I see Toru make a small fist pump when her name appears with eight offers. Mina got four, Kirishima got two. Kaminari got two as well.
"In past years, it's been more spread out," Aizawa says, his tone as monotone as ever. "But as you can see, there's a pretty big gap this time."
I notice Midoriya's name is conspicuously absent from the list. Despite placing in the top eight after his loss to Todoroki, he received zero offers. The way he's gripping his pencil tells me he noticed too. Breaking his fingers repeatedly during matches apparently didn't inspire confidence in the agencies.
"Despite these results, you'll all be interning with pros for the next week," Aizawa continues. "Got it? Even those of you who didn't get any offers will have agencies to choose from. You all experienced real combat in the incident at USJ, but it's still valuable to see how pros operate in their daily work."
I feel several pairs of eyes land on me at the mention of USJ, I try not to mind them, but I am still reminded of the Nomu.
"But more importantly," Aizawa says, pulling something from under his des, his yellow sleeping bag, "these hero names will likely be temporary, but take them seriously or..."
The door slides open with perfect dramatic timing, and a familiar voice fills the room with theatrical flair.
"You'll have hell to pay later!" Midnight saunters through the doorway. "What you pick today could be your codename for life!"
"Yes, Midnight will have final approval over your names," Aizawa says, already climbing into his sleeping bag with practiced efficiency. "It's not my forte. A codename tells the world what you represent, so take this seriously."
With those words, he zips himself up completely and falls to the floor with a soft thump. Within seconds, I can hear his breathing even out into sleep. How does he do that?
Midnight opens a drawer from the desk and pulls out a stack of whiteboards and markers, handing them to the first person in each row. They take one and pass the rest back. I uncap the marker with a pop, and feel the smoothness of the whiteboard. It feels nice.
What should my name be? Arthur? That's what everyone knows me as, but is that who I want to be as a hero? It was the name given to me by the media during my vigilante days, inspired by Excalibur and my apparent knightly behavior. But does holding onto it mean I'm not really moving forward?
I tap the marker against the board, creating tiny black dots that I quickly erase with my thumb. Around me, I can hear the excited scratching of markers on whiteboards, occasional giggles, and frustrated sighs as people cross out attempts.
"Alright, students!" Midnight calls out after about ten minutes. "Who among you is ready to share?"
Aoyama practically leaps from his seat. He struts to the front with the confidence, I've seen only Aoyama have.
"The Shining Hero. My name is: I Can't Stop Twinkling!" He reveals his board with a flourish. "Mon amis, you cannot deny my sparkle!"
The class goes silent for a moment, processing.
"It's certainly memorable," Midnight says, tapping her chin. "How about taking out the 'I' and making 'cannot' into 'can't'? Flows better."
"It's stunning, mademoiselle!"
More students begin going up, emboldened by Aoyama's enthusiasm. Tsuyu chooses "Froppy," which gets immediate approval and emboldens several classmates. Kirishima goes with Red Riot after his hero Crimson Riot.
Mina bounces up with Alien Queen but is told no, Kaminari chooses Chargebolt after crossing out what looked like Jamming-whey, a name Jiro advised him out of, and by advised it was more like insulted in to changing it, and Todoroki simply writes Shoto, causing Midnight to ask if he's sure he doesn't want something more creative.
"It's my name," he says simply. "It's what I want to be known as."
Soon, only a few of us remain seated. Iida, Midoriya, Bakugo, and myself. My whiteboard now has several crossed-out attempts.
I've thought of a few.
Noble Hero: Caliburn has been my first but it felt a little pretentious.
Knight Hero: Pendragon was my second.
I finally write my decision and stand. The walk to the front feels longer than it should. Finally I am in front, and I turn the board around.
"The Knight Hero: Arthur."
Midnight tilts her head, her whip coiling at her side. "So heroic, so capturing, but also so... old. Wasn't that also your vigilante name?"
"Yes, it was," I answer. "But it makes sense, doesn't it? Even though I was a vigilante, that's where my hero journey began. It's also my actual name, and it's what the public already knows me as. Everything falls quite naturally into place. I don't want to run from who I was, I want to build on it."
Midnight considers this for a long moment.
"Well said. I like it! Approved!"
I head back to my seat, passing Iida as he walks up. His board simply reads Tenya, his real name.
Finally, Midoriya approaches the front, his board clutched against his chest. When he turns it around, it reads Deku.
"Are you sure?" Midnight asks.
"Someone changed the meaning for me," Midoriya says, glancing at Uraraka. "Now it sounds like You can do it! to me."
As if awakened by magic like sleeping beauty, Aizawa's eyes snap open and he emerges from his sleeping bag like some kind of caterpillar becoming a butterfly.
"Now that everyone's decided on their hero names, we can go back to talking about your upcoming internships. Those of you who received offers will choose from among them. For the rest, we'll be providing you with a list of forty agencies that have agreed to work with U.A. students."
He begins handing out packets, thick ones for those with offers, thinner ones for those without. Mine lands on my desk with a substantial thump, nearly nine thousand agencies summarized within.
I guess this was going to take longer than I thought.
Narration POV
In a darkened alley across the city, a man crouches over a fallen figure. His tongue extends unnaturally, licking blood from the edge of a worn katana. His eyes widen at the taste.
"You heroes have poisoned this country," he speaks to his paralyzed victim, whose eyes dart frantically, the only part of his body still capable of movement. "You have desecrated what it means to be a hero. So much so that a child, a mere child, decided he could do better than all of you so-called professionals."
The man rises, his blade sways as he places it above the hero's head.
"And he succeeded. He succeeded so easily it's almost laughable."
He crouches again, bringing his face close to his victim's, close enough that the hero can stare into his own eyes.
"All Might is the past, an ideal of what you should have been but failed to achieve. Arthur represents the future, an ideal of what others will strive to become. But I? I am the present. I am no ideal, no symbol. I am the present's knife, its vendetta, its reckoning. I will cut away the rot of false heroes so the future can grow untainted."
The katana rises. The paralyzed victim's eyes widen, he tries to scream but his paralyzed vocal chord fail him.
The blade falls.
A wet squelch echoes through the alley as blood spreads across the concrete in dark rivers. The man raises the now red katana to his face, his tongue extending to taste the fresh blood, savoring it.
"I am the Hero Killer. I am Stain. And this society's false heroes will know my blade before Arthur's future can truly begin."
A/N: I've been rereading the Red Rising series and it has influenced my writing, fuck! I can't write in past tense right now, only in present as you can probably tell. It's grating but I can't control myself, maybe I should reread ASOIAF or Eragon or something else written in past tense lol.
Thx for reading. That is all. Send those stones. I'm also close to being done with the patreon chapters. I'll have 10 at least plus the secondary fics, which I'll update sporadically.
Author out.