MHA Universe, Earth, Japan, Tokyo.
"Damn it!" Tomura shouted, drawing attention to himself as he flailed around angrily on a side street in Tokyo. "Where did they go? They have to be cheating! This is, so, unfair!"
*Ring!* *Ring!* *Ring!*
At first when Tomura heard the sound of a phone ringing, he grew even more angry. However, when he felt the vibration coming from his pocket, he suddenly realized that it was his own ringtone.
Completely angered, Tomura reached into his pocket and pulled out the smartphone. Thinking to disintegrate it immediately with his [Quirk], he began wrapping his fingers around it with a gleeful expression at the thought of blowing off some steam with some good ol' fashioned destruction. Luckily, however, he happened to catch a glimpse of the name on the screen. And when he saw that it read: "Sensei," his anger cooled as if he had been dunked in freezing cold water.
Then, while making sure not to activate his [Quirk] by mistake, Tomura answered the call before putting the phone to his ear.
"Hello, Sensei." Tomura said, making his voice sound as calm as possible. "Is there anything you need from me?"
{"For one..."} All for One replied in an exasperated tone. {"I would appreciate it if you stopped making a scene in public. Our informants in the police department just contacted me about a young man with pale blue hair acting crazily in Tokyo. And I would rather not have to send Gigantomachia to break you out of prison... again."}
Hearing that, Tomura stiffened. Then, he cautiously looked around. When he did, he saw quite a few people looking and pointing at him, who had been throwing a tantrum in public. Then, he snarled at the onlookers, causing them to run in panic.
"I understand, Sensei." Tomura replied after taking a deep breath. "I apologize."
{"Don't worry about it."} All for One replied uncaringly. {"Just get away from where you are before any of those annoying Heroes show up. Now is not the time to begin toppling this corrupt Hero society."}
"I understand, Sensei." Tomura replied. "I'll leave immediately. But what about the target, I've lost him."
{"He has more than likely used his [Quirk] to return to Musutafu."} All for One said. {"And that was why I did not have much hope of you successfully completing your self-imposed mission."}
Tomura pouted at that. But when he remembered that Tatsuo could do that, he had nothing to say. He then made his way out of Tokyo before the authorities could show up. But along the way, he remembered the pauldrons he bought.
"Oh, and Sensei, I was able to acquire the items that brat was interested in." Tomura said, a victorious tint to his tone. "I don't know what he found so interesting about them, but no one else in the shop seemed to put any importance on them. So, there must be something that only he noticed."
{"Bring them back."} All for One replied casually. {"I will perform some tests on them to see if there was anything worth noting. Until then, wait with Kurogiri until the time is right to act. I'm sure we won't have to wait long."}
"Yes, Sensei." Tomura said, sounding a bit happier. "I understand. Then, I will talk to you again when I return."
Hearing that, All for One ended the call without another word. And because he had gotten used to the way his Sensei operated, Tomura simply put his smartphone away and hurried out of Tokyo before contacting Kurogiri to pick him up when he was no longer in the range of any kind of surveillance.
MHA Universe, Earth, Japan, Musutafu.
"Looks like you two had fun." Alfonzo said, a teasing hint to his tone, as he addressed Tatsuo and Sakura from the kitchen of his apartment. "You two have been holding hands ever since you got back. On top of that, that happy flush on Sakura's face doesn't look like it's going anywhere any time soon, either."
Hearing Alfonzo's teasing, Sakura lowered her head in embarrassment, her chin almost getting lost in her cleavage. Meanwhile, Tatsuo only shrugged his shoulders, completely unbothered by this level of teasing from Alfonzo after living together for the last year, or so.
"We would have had even more fun if we didn't have a stalker from the moment we stepped out of the station in Tokyo." Tatsuo replied nonchalantly.
"A stalker?" Alfonzo asked, raising an eyebrow in curiosity. "Don't tell me it was Mirko, trying to find a good time to ask you for a fight. I mean, she's been wanting to fight you again ever since she saw your performance in the Sports Festival yesterday."
"Do you really think she would wait until she 'found a good time?' Tatsuo asked with a deadpan expression on his face while making air quotes around the last few words of his question. "Knowing her, she would just make her own 'good time,' and completely interrupt our date."
"Fair enough." Alfonzo replied with a shrug. "Then, who was your stalker."
"Shigaraki Tomura." Sakura replied with a pout. "Having him follow us like that was so annoying. I really wanted to just suck him into the shadows and let him fade away."
"That's kinda dark." Alfonzo said with a grin.
"Really?" Tatsuo asked in a deadpan. "A shadow pun?"
"It seemed fitting." Alfonzo replied with another shrug. "Anyway, what do you think he was doing there? Because there was no way he knew you two would be there."
"If I had to guess, he was probably on his way to Akihabara." Tatsuo replied. "We just happened to be there when he got off the bullet train."
"Makes sense." Alfonzo replied as he plated the dinner he was cooking, steaks, mashed potatoes, string beans, and freshly baked rolls.
"He should have just gone to Akihabara, though." Tatsuo said with a growl. "Instead, he followed us around all day, being creepy as hell. Then, that asshole had the audacity to take a treasure I had my eye on."
"Uh oh~!" Alfonzo intoned. "Someone done fucked up, huh?"
"Damn right, he did." Tatsuo replied in a fiery tone. "And when we raid his base, I'm gonna show him the folly of his ways in a very painful way."
"I know we planned to spend your internship in Yokohama..." Alfonzo said as he placed the plates on the table in front of his, Tatsuo's, and Sakura's seats. "But finding him won't be that easy. We don't know where that bar is, you know?"
"Irrelevant." Tatsuo replied. "As long as I'm alive, he'll never be able to hide from me."
Thinking about Tatsuo's power set as he took his seat, Alfonzo's eyes finally lit up when he realized what Tatsuo was talking about. However, before he could voice his conclusion, Sakura beat him to it.
"Tatsuo-Kun put a marker on him." Sakura said in a gentle tone. "So, we'll be able to hunt him down no matter where he is. And I'll help Tatsuo-Kun make him pay for bothering us on our date."
"You two are kinda scary when you wanna be." Alfonzo said with yet another shrug. "Well, at least we won't have to stumble around blindly during that week. And since the Hosu incident probably won't happen, we won't be bored, at the very least."
Receiving a pair of smiles, Alfonzo decided to drop the topic, it was not exactly the kind of topic that was suitable for a meal, anyway. And just like that, the three had dinner together before Tatsuo took Sakura home.
The next few days passed quickly with Tatsuo, Alfonzo, Akatsuki, and Sakura spending most of their time training in Alfonzo's gym. And before they knew it, it was time for the three students to return to school, U.A.'s Sports Festival finally having finally come to an end.
"Alright, listen up." Shota said from the front of Class 1-A. "As I'm sure you are aware, you've all entered the public eye after your performances at the Sports Festival. And that includes the eyes of many Hero Agencies."
"Yeah, I've had a lot of cute girls recognize me on the streets over the last few days." Denki said with a smile. "It's totally awesome."
"I wonder how many of them were just there to laugh at that stupid look you had on your face at the end of your match with Ochaco-Chan." Kyoka said in a flat tone.
"It-It wasn't that many." Denki said, defending himself in a hesitant tone.
"You can make fun of your classmates unfortunate showing later." Shota said, cutting off the discussion before it could go on for too long. He then continued with a slight curl to his lips as the students, other than Denki, who pouted viciously, chuckled at Denki's expense. "And today, we'll be focusing on the attention from the Hero Agencies and what it means for your immediate futures."
The laughter in the classroom died quickly, all eyes focusing on Shota once again.
"Not long from now, all of you will participate in a week long internship with a Hero Agency." Shota continued once he had the class's undivided attention. "Many of you, thanks to your performances at the Sports Festival received offers from Heroes all over the country to intern with them. And you'll be expected to choose from the available options for the Heroes you think you can learn the most from during the internship. Naturally, you will be graded on your performance during the internship by the Hero you choose, as well."
Hearing that, most of the students began to cheer excitedly. Working with an actual professional Hero was a dream come true at this point in their Hero careers. Yet, there was one student who was thinking further ahead… Or rather, listening more closely than the others.
While the others were animatedly discussing which Heroes they would like to intern under, Tenya quietly raised his hand, signaling that he had a question. And after receiving a nod from Shota, he stood up causing the rest of the class to fall silent.
"I noticed that you said 'most' of us received offers from heroes to study with them during the internship period." Tenya said, his posture rigid as he moved his arms back and forth in a robotic manner. "That would insinuate that not everyone received offers from Heroes."
"That's correct." Shota replied with a nod.
"Then, my question is, does that mean those who did not receive an offer will fail this part of the curriculum automatically?" Tenya asked.
Tenya's question caused all the students who knew they underperformed at the Sports Festival to fall silent with nervous expressions on their faces as they looked towards Shota for an answer.
"No, it doesn't." Shota replied dryly. "It only means they will have fewer, and less famous options to choose from."
Reaching that point, Shota turned around and tapped a few buttons on the side of the digital blackboard hanging at the front of the class. When he did, a list of names and numbers appeared on the screen as he continued to answer Tenya's question.
"The school has an agreement with forty Hero Agencies for occasions where a student does not garner attention from any Heroes." Shota continued. "So, you'll have forty options to choose from. AS for those who were scouted by Heroes specifically…"
*Bang!*
Shota slammed his hand on the digital blackboard as he continued.
"… you will have to decide who will fit you the best and can teach you the most from not only the forty choices that everyone gets, but also all those who showed interest in you." Shota said. "But remember, these offers are based on the potential you showed during the Sports Festival. Meaning, if you were to somehow do worse in next year's Sports Festival, you could lose any number of these offers at this time next year. Of course, the opposite applies, as well. Those who make a better showing next year will receive more offers than they did this year."
Since no one at U.A. was a complete idiot, all the students eventually understood everything Shota said. And when he saw the light of understanding in his students eyes, Shota nodded before moving on.
"You'll have until Friday to turn in your applications for your internship." Shota said. He then patted a stack of papers on the lectern before continuing. "Class rep, please make sure all your classmates have one of these forms. And students, please make sure to include three choices on your forms before turning them in. As for the lists of Heroes each of you will have to choose from, they've all been sent to your emails. So, you can check them on your own time."
Grunting in annoyance, Tatsuo stood up and walked to the front of the classroom to pick up the forms. Meanwhile, Shota continued speaking.
"But there's one more thing you'll have to decide before you can begin your internships." Shota said, once again gaining the class's undivided attention. "And that would be your code name… Or rather, your Hero Name. The name that the public will know you by."
That immediately caused the students to be excited again. The thought of choosing their Hero names was something that every aspiring Hero had given a lot of thought to over the years. In fact, most of them probably gave it more thought than they gave to their school work.
"My Hero name is gonna be so manly!" Eijiro cheered loudly as he pumped his fists into the air.
"I want something cute." Toru said with her usual bubbly enthusiasm.
"I hope I can come up with something good." Rikido said in an uncertain tone.
Like that, the class broke into excited chatter. Meanwhile, Tatsuo quickly, and efficiently, passed out the forms Shota asked him to pass out. Though, because everyone was so excited about choosing a Hero Name, most students did not even notice.
"Unfortunately, this kind of thing is not my expertise." Shota said, his words cutting through the uproar at the same time Tatsuo retook his seat. "Instead, someone else will help you with it. As for me, I'll just take a nap. *Yawn*"
*Bang!*
At that moment, the door to the class room was slammed open, the loud sound drawing the attention of everyone in the room. And while most of the students were looking towards the door in confusion, Shota did the same, though with annoyance in his gaze rather than confusion.
"Homeroom isn't over yet." Shota said flatly.
*Click!* *Click!* *Click!*
With the sound of high heels clicking against the floor, swaying hips, and a Cheshire grin, Nemuri completely ignored Shota's complaint as she surveyed the students of Class 1-A, her eyes stopping a beat longer on Tatsuo with mischief swirling in her eyes.
"Now, I'm sure you've all put quite a bit of thought into what your Hero Names would be over the years." Nemuri said with a seductive purr. She then turned towards Tatsuo with the mischief in her eyes practically overflowing and continued. "But there is at least one of you who won't have to put any effort into choosing a name, as the public has already chosen for them. Isn't that right, Prince of the Void?"
*Bang!*
As soon as Nemuri's teasing sounded, the class started to laugh. Meanwhile, Tatsuo let his body flop forward, his head slamming into his desk hard enough that the sound overshadowed the laughter.
"I'm going to kill Present Mic." Tatsuo muttered in annoyance. "No, I'm gonna teleport him into a female ape enclosure during mating season. Then, he can be Prince of the Apes."
Tatsuo's muttering only made the laughter increase in volume and intensity, Katsuki laughing the loudest at Tatsuo's misfortune.