The drive to school the following week gave you plenty of time to regret the many texts you never answered.

Everyone was responding to the media in different ways. Some of your classmates were excited while others were jealous or concerned. Bakugo's texts were usually short - he just wanted you to respond. After the fourth "you let him know you were just busy.

Now you had to face them all.

Hopefully, they would be too distracted by today's class. Midnight was actually coming with you this time. It was the significant event in your lives of choosing your hero names...

That's far more important than your love life! You smiled, victoriously.

Aizawa already had the class frazzled and in their seats before you and Midnight entered. "You will be choosing your hero names..." he grumbled.

"What! You made it sound so scary!" Ashido beamed, "This is totally cool!"

"It is an important decision," he said, "These names will follow you for the rest of your life, so choose wisely..."

You took your seat but your mind was as blank as your mini-white board. Midnight kept everyone's excitements up by either ridiculing or gushing over the names they chose.

"LORD EXPLOSION MURDER!" You jumped when Bakugo's voice dominated the room. Honestly, that was better than Aoyama's "Can't Stop Twinkling"...

"Do you have a name yet?" Tsu asked you.

"N-no. I have no idea. I thought it would come naturally, but I'm stumped."

Tsu tapped her chin, the tip of her frog-tongue poked out from her mouth, "Well. Think about your quirk and then something that makes it personal to you. You're strong, clever, but not overly seductive as the media makes you out to be. So nothing too suggestive..."

"That would be best..." You sighed. It felt like you needed more time with your quirk before naming it.

"How about... Kiss of DEATH!" Mineta suggested.

"That doesn't sound right," Tsu shook her head.

"Oh!" Ashido jumped in, "Smooch would be kinda cute!"

You grimaced, "I think I liked Mineta's better."

"Focus less on her lips," Todoroki muttered. He tried looking indifferent about the conversation, but it didn't fool Ashido.

"Hmm," Ashido scoffed, "What's something that takes energy?"

"A lot of things, but she specifically takes it through human connection it seems," Tsu said.

"Like a succubus..." you heard Mineta giggle.

"Maybe we're overthinking it," you said, "I'll come up with something."

You were a bit jealous everyone seemed to know their exact path and identity already. The marker you had was drying out from how long you stared at the board.

Nothin...

"Just your name?" Midnight asked the next student curiously.

Apparently, both Iida and Todoroki opted on using their given names. You were surprised by Iida's choice most of all. But then...

Oh. Oh - you idiot!

The news, while also covering the sports festival, hadn't given up on their search for Stain - the hero killer.

The hero he attacked that very day... It was a relative of Iida's. Their costumes are identical, you thought; both robo-boys. Now, you really felt awful for not reading your texts. They probably weren't even about you.

I'm so sorry, Iida. You knew he was quieter than normal today, but you were so focused on yourself...

He must be devastated.

"(Y/N)?" Midnight called, "What have we come up with?"

"Um. Can I have more time?" you asked.

"Well, okay. They're supposed to come before your internships... but we'll discuss it."

"Yes, ma'am."

The first thing you did when class ended was approach Iida. He was too stiff of a personality to accept a spontaneous hug, although, that's all you wanted to do when you saw the lost expression on his face.

"Iida," your head dropped, "I'm so sorry. I didn't connect the dots until now. How are you?"

"Oh," he sounded surprisingly calm, empty, "I'll be fine. Yes, Ingenium is my brother. One of the best."

He stopped putting books into his bag, "You've seen the hero killer before, right?"

"Yeah. Not my fondest memory."

"Is he as terrifying as they say?"

You shrugged, "Hearing about him and seeing him in person are two different horrors."

"I see. Where do you plan on taking your internship? You had a few offers."

You hadn't looked at the list of names yet, but you had a lot of requests - more than expected.

"Not sure. I had an offer at the party by someone named Monarch... heard of him?"

"Monarch?" Izuku joined the two of you at Iida's desk, "Is that who you're interning with, (Y/N)?"

"I'll see you two around," Iida bowed. You watched him leave, not glancing once at you or the others.

"He's really hurting," you said aloud.

"Yeah, I can only imagine what he's going through," Izuku mulled, "It's hard to know what to say."

You noticed it was only you two left. It felt like so long ago you were teaming up with Izuku and telling him all about your quirk. He'd been as freaked out as you were. So much changed since then.

He didn't stutter nearly as often. You could still see the uneasiness in his eyes, but he'd improved his heroic-poker face. You looked down at his empty hands and frowned, "Did you not get any offers?"

"Uh, no I actually did get one! But, yeah I guess my quirk still seems too out of control for the professionals."

"Same boat, although it looks like I got a weird variety of offers..."

When you looked down at your list, you recognized a few names, none of which you considered complimentary to your skill set, but you never knew what they could teach you.

Your face scrunched and Izuku leaned in, "What is it? ...ENDEAVOR?!"

Todoroki's father's agency was on your list. Why? No doubt he would only be interested in his son.

"I don't get it," you said, "If he has Shoto why extend more offers."

"Maybe in case Todoroki doesn't accept?" Izuku shrugged, "He's a proud man with high expectations but in the end he's still the number two hero."

You swallowed. That would be intimidating - to work under that fire monstrosity. Would it be beneficial, though?

Your eyes continued down the list until you hit the Ms, "What do you know about Monarch, Izuku?"

He pulled a notebook out of his bag and flipped through some pages. You waited patiently but not without suppressing a giggle.

"Let's see, not much," he said, "He's a mysterious character because while he's flashy in appearance, his hero work is pretty underground. You probably won't see him in the streets in broad daylight like Mt. Lady. I had to do some research online..."

"Why do you think that is?"

"It could be that, physically, he's not a force. He's quick, agile, and can fly, but his strength is pretty low. He also relies on things like toxins that he forms in his body."

"Weird... kind of like my aunt."

"Oh yeah! Midnight's quirk of putting others to sleep. Exactly!"

"He..." you hesitated, "apparently, Monarch was a friend of my parents. He asked for me personally."

Izuku's jaw dropped, "The... Um. That's kind of scary. Are you sure you want to intern with someone like that?"

"At first, I didn't think so. My aunt isn't fond of the idea. But if he knew them then he could probably teach me about my quirk, don't you think?"

"I see," he closed his notebook, "Then, that does make perfect sense. I would probably choose him too."

You would look over the list again, but your mind was basically made.

"I guess it'll be a while until we see each other again," you said.

"Oh. Yeah... that's true."

"I'm excited for you, though. I can't wait to hear all about it!" You watched his sad smile lighten.

"I'll keep in touch! A week is a long time, huh?" He sighed.

"Not when were going to come back better than ever."

"Right! Well then..."

You faced each other for a long moment. He was sweating and not making eye contact. You suddenly thought about your dream again and got nervous.

But what is he nervous for?

"Um! I'll see you! Do your best!" Izuku ran off. You snorted, waving goodbye, even though he didn't see it.

"You have your phone on you?"

"Yup."

"If he asks you to stay tell him I'll kill him."

"Aunty..."

Midnight tapped her foot nervously while the two of you waited outside a dome-shaped palace. It reminded you a bit of the USJ building, except this was clearly a greenhouse. You could see the condensation on the windows from the humidity inside, and the shadow of organic shapes.

The doors opened, and out stepped the magnificent, full wing-span of Monarch. His eyeshadow was a striking yellow today with thick black eyeliner. He looked like a theatrical performer and wore a thin jacket with two long coat tails.

"I've been waiting!" He had thin lips but a brilliant smile. His teeth were so white you wondered if they were fake.

You felt Midnight moving closer. Her shoulder brushed against yours. "Take her to the train by 8pm... please."

"Fine," Monarch he flicked his hand, "A real ray of sunshine you are."

Midnight turned to you with worried eyes, "Are you sure?" She whispered.

"Mhm..." you nodded. You'd already talked the entire way here. Monarch was a couple hours from your home, so you weren't ready to open another can of worms.

She embraced you tightly. It was like you were dying or something. You chuckled, and pat her wild hair, "I'll be fine,"

"Alright. Keep me posted." She shot Monarch a glare and stomped away back to her car.

Monarch grinned down and you and stepped to the side for you to enter the greenhouse, "Welcome, my dear!"

You bowed your head to be polite, and took hesitant steps into the sticky, warm air inside. Did you make the right choice in coming here?

Midnight didn't leave the driveway until the doors shut behind you.