The next morning, Ren opened his eyes with the feeling that someone had been drilling into his skull all night long. He blinked a couple of times until the sunlight stopped bothering him, and then he noticed his phone buzzing nonstop on the nightstand.
What the hell is going on now?
He stretched out his arm, grabbed the phone, and held it up to his face. The screen was completely flooded with trending notifications stacked on top of each other, from Instagram, Twitter, and TikTok all at the same time.
"Did somebody important die or what?" he muttered.
He opened Instagram first and what he saw left him breathless. His feed was packed with posts, every single one featuring his face, or more accurately his bald head, popping up at different moments of the festival. There were clips of his fight against Jiro, the semifinal against Momo, the final against Inko, and then...
"Don't tell me they recorded that too."
He opened Twitter and the first trend that smacked him in the face was crystal clear:
*#BALD_HERO_LIFTS_ENTIRE_STADIUM*
So an entire social network is calling me "Bald Hero" now? Guess that's my stage name from here on, perfect, they changed my brand without even asking me.
He tapped on the trend and ran into videos already racking up millions of views. In one, somebody had edited the moment he lifted all the rubble from the stadium and slapped some epic music over it that honestly fit way too well. Another user had made a meme comparing him to a certain bald hero from a famous anime, with massive text on top reading "Why do they look so much alike?"
And then he found the video that had set everything on fire.
It was the moment of the closing ceremony. The camera caught the exact second Nejire jumped out of her seat, pointed at the podium with both hands, and screamed at the top of her lungs:
"AAAAAH, YOU DID IT!" and before anyone could stop her, she pointed at the podium with both arms. "THAT'S MY BOYFRIEEEND!"
A second later the girl blinked in the video, finally catching up to what she'd just done.
"Wait... did the cameras record me too? How many people heard that, the whole stadium, all of Japan?" she stayed quiet for a beat and then lifted her chin with total confidence. "Whatever, he's still my boyfriend anyway!"
The video had eleven million views.
Ren set the phone on the nightstand and stared at the ceiling for a long while, waiting for his brain to fully wake up.
I'm viral for two completely different reasons: my powers and my love life. Just the kind of fame any normal person would beg for.
He picked the phone back up and scrolled through the comments, which ranged from hilarious to flat out disturbing. One read "this guy is the new bald hero of the generation". Another asked "how did a bald dude land such a cute girlfriend?". And there was one buried among thousands that simply declared "the bald guy is my new idol and nobody's gonna change my mind".
"I don't know whether to laugh or cry," he admitted under his breath.
And then he saw Momo's message.
Ren-kun, you were curious about how I looked as a cheerleader... Don't misunderstand.
Below the text, the photo.
Ren opened the image and his mind went blank. Momo was standing in front of her bedroom mirror, dressed in a cheerleader uniform so tight it looked painted right onto her skin. The skirt was scandalously short and left her entire legs exposed, while the top barely managed to contain her breasts, forming a neckline that defied every notion of decency. Her black hair fell loose over her shoulders and her gray eyes looked at the camera with a shyness that didn't match the boldness of the rest at all.
Hold on, is this real or am I still dreaming?
Ren blinked several times to make sure the image wasn't gonna vanish. It didn't vanish; it stayed there, bright and provocative, with Momo fully committed to the cause.
Momo Yaoyorozu, heiress of the Yaoyorozu family, the most proper and protocol obsessed student in all of U.A., just sent me a photo where she looks like the captain of a football cheerleading squad, in a uniform that's basically a bikini with a skirt attached.
He stared at the image for what had to be several minutes, with absolutely no clue how to respond. He'd never been in a situation like this before and he didn't know whether to drop a classy compliment or just say thanks and move on.
She's got incredible legs, he thought, and right away he realized he was smiling alone like an idiot in his own bedroom.
He shook his head, typed a quick message, deleted it, typed another, deleted it again, and finally settled on something he hoped was direct enough to not sound completely desperate.
"Momo, if you keep sending me photos like this I'm gonna have to open a special folder just to save them with all the respect they deserve. By the way, you've got gorgeous legs, and those breasts look like the comfiest place in the world to take a nap. Is this heaven or am I still dreaming?"
He hit send before he could chicken out, and the reply didn't take thirty seconds to arrive.
"R-Ren-kun! That's not an appropriate way to thank someone for a gesture of good faith! And stop talking about my... about those, please. Although... thank you. I suppose. See you in class."
"Definitely heaven," he murmured, putting the phone away with a stupid grin.
---
A couple of hours later, Ren was sitting in the 1-A classroom, doing his best not to think about Momo's photo, while Aizawa dragged himself toward the board with his usual look of existential exhaustion.
"Alright," said the teacher, with zero enthusiasm. "Cut the noise already. Today we're having a special class."
Several students tensed up at once. Kaminari let out a strangled groan and Mineta clutched his head with both hands like it was the end of the world.
"A special class?" Kaminari asked, his voice shaking. "Don't tell me it's a pop quiz, I still haven't recovered from the last one."
"Does this school ever stop throwing tests at us?" added Sero, sinking into his chair.
Aizawa looked at them without moving a single muscle in his face.
"It's not a test. Today we're talking about internships. Hero names come later, Midnight will handle that when she gets here." He sighed. "One thing at a time."
The relief was almost visible across the room. Some let out the breath they'd been holding and others slumped back into their seats.
"As you all know, after the Sports Festival, pro heroes send nominations to students who interest them." He gestured at the screen without much enthusiasm. "It's the hero draft system. Normally this isn't something first year students have to worry about, it usually applies to second and third years. But you're an exception."
He paused briefly before continuing.
"The heroes who nominate you aren't betting on what you are right now, they're betting on what you might become. So don't get confused. If you stop showing potential, those nominations can disappear at any moment. Don't take anything for granted."
He grabbed the remote and clicked it with a sharp motion. The board flickered behind him and switched to a screen with a list of names arranged in columns. The numbers next to each name had half the class leaning forward in their seats.
"These are the draft results," Aizawa explained. "The number represents how many agencies showed interest in each of you."
Todoroki topped the list of classmates with a little over four thousand offers, clearly riding on the Endeavor name. Right below him sat Inko with a slightly smaller figure that was still more than respectable. And what made half the room drop their jaws was the next pair of names: Ochako appeared with more than three thousand five hundred offers, a couple dozen above Bakugo, who trailed her on the ranking with a scowl on his face. The rest of the class came after, with numbers ranging from a few hundred down to barely a couple dozen in the saddest cases.
And at the very top, towering over everyone else, Ren's name shined with a number that left the whole room out of breath.
Mineta was the first to react.
"SIX THOUSAND?!" Mineta screamed, nearly falling out of his chair. "SIX THOUSAND OFFERS FOR THE BALD GUY?! What the hell is going on?! I was in the festival too!"
"Maybe because, unlike some people, I'm not useless," Ren replied without taking his eyes off the screen.
"This is rigged! It has to be rigged!" he grabbed his head with both hands. "The pro heroes are blind! How am I supposed to get popular with girls like this?!"
He collapsed onto his desk.
"Life is unfair and completely anti-Mineta..."
Ochako, on the other hand, had been staring at the screen with her lips trembling and her eyes growing brighter by the second, until the number next to her name finally sank in. She whipped around toward Ren, who barely had time to think oh no before the girl threw herself at him.
"R-Ren?! Ren, look at this!! Three thousand five hundred offers!" she grabbed him by the shoulders and started shaking him without being able to hold back her grin. "I beat Bakugo! Do you get it?! Bakugo!"
Her eyes shined so much she looked about to cry.
"This is incredible! A real hero agency wants me to intern with them! And if I work hard...! If I actually become a great heroine...!"
She brought her fists to her chest.
"I'm gonna be able to help mom and dad! I'm gonna make tons of money for them someday, you'll see!"
"Ochako... Ochako, wait..." Ren managed to get out as the room spun around him.
"And you came in first! FIRST! My friend is number one!" she shook him with every word, gritting her teeth to keep from letting out the squeal of excitement piling up in her throat. "I can't, I can't, it's too much, I have to shake something or I'm gonna explode!"
"What you're shaking is me," Ren forced out, his head bobbing side to side and the world turning into a blurry smear. "Ochako, I swear I'm gonna throw up breakfast all over you if you don't stop."
"Oh, sorry!" she let go all at once, and Ren stayed wobbling in the chair with his eyes spinning in circles. "It's just I'm so happy, I've never been this excited in my whole life."
"I'm super happy for you, really," he said, gripping the edge of the desk until the classroom stopped moving. "Just... give me a heads up next time before using me as a cocktail shaker."
Bakugo, meanwhile, had heard more than enough. He shot up from his seat with a creak of the chair and a vein throbbing on his temple.
"WHAT DO YOU MEAN YOU BEAT ME, ROUND FACE?!" he roared, glaring at Ochako. "Those numbers don't mean a damn thing!"
"Of course they do!" Ochako shot back without dropping her smile. "Agencies don't hand out offers for nothing!"
She brought her hands to her chest, still unable to hold back the excitement.
"Besides... three thousand five hundred is three thousand five hundred! And it's more than yours!"
The second she finished the sentence, she froze for a beat.
"...Ah, I shouldn't have said that."
A nervous smile crept onto her face.
"You're gonna yell at me now, right?"
Ren took advantage of the moment and turned to Bakugo with a calm smile he knew would push him over the edge.
"She's right, Bakugo. The gravity girl beat you, and you lost to me by a way bigger margin. Just think about what that says about your spot on the podium."
Bakugo went mute for a whole second, his eyes flicking between Ren and Ochako, and then his face twisted into a barely contained rage.
"I'M GONNA BLOW BOTH OF YOU UP THE SECOND THIS CLASS ENDS, YOU DAMN LIGHT BULB HEAD!"
"Bakugo, lower your voice," Aizawa called out from the board, without bothering to turn around. "Keep that up and you lose your internships."
Bakugo dropped back into his chair, muttering curses under his breath that he decided not to share with the rest of the room.
Aizawa started handing out the papers one by one, and Ren watched his classmates react as they got their lists. Ochako hugged hers against her chest with almost reverent care, Kirishima let out little squeaks of excitement every time he flipped a page, and Inko reviewed hers with a serious expression that hid the satisfaction clearly bubbling underneath.
When it was Ren's turn, Aizawa dropped a stack of papers on his desk so thick it made a dull thud when it landed, way more substantial than any other student's pile in the classroom.
Ren grabbed the stack and started flipping through. They were offers from dozens upon dozens of agencies, most with names that meant nothing to him, though some he recognized: the Wild Wild Pussycats agency, Ryukyu's, and then one in particular that made him stop cold.
The letter from Mt. Lady's agency came with a note attached, handwritten in a cursive that was way too flirty.
"Dear baldie: you have no idea how long I've been waiting for this moment. After how you treated me at the festival, I think it's only fair you spend some time with me learning what real heroism is. (And by the way, you still owe me an order of takoyaki, don't think I forgot.) With love, Mt. Lady. (Your future boss.)"
A chill ran down his spine.
"What's up with you, Hayashi?" Kaminari asked from his seat, stretching his neck. "You get a juicy offer or something?"
"I got way too many offers, and at least one of them scares the hell out of me," Ren answered.
Aizawa cleared his throat and every pair of eyes in the room snapped back to him.
"Listen up," he said, crossing his arms. "U.A. has agreements with about forty agencies across the country that usually take in students who didn't make the draft. All of you, no exceptions, are doing an internship with pro heroes."
A murmur ran through the class, and several of the kids who'd seen their low numbers finally relaxed in their seats.
"You have until Friday to decide which agency you pick," Aizawa continued. "Don't rush it. Think carefully about what kind of experience you want and which hero can actually teach you what you need to learn."
Ren glanced down at his mountain of offers and then back up at the screen, where his name still sat at the top of the list with the number that had half the class whispering.
So many agencies want me to work with them, and in the end I can only pick one. What a way to start the week.
"Hayashi," Aizawa said, cutting his thoughts short. "Made up your mind yet?"
Ren lifted his head, caught off guard.
"Huh? No, not yet, sensei."
"You have until Friday. Don't rush it."
"Thanks, Aizawa-sensei."
Class went on with Aizawa explaining the details of the process, but Ren had already checked out a while back, going through the offers one by one and wondering which of them all suited him best.
---
By lunchtime, Ren was still carrying the stack of offers under his arm when he sat down in front of his tray in the cafeteria. He didn't get to take a single bite before Ochako dropped into the seat across from him with a thud that rattled the whole table.
"Ren! I need to borrow your brain for a sec!" she blurted out, her eyes burning with determination. "Three thousand five hundred offers! Do you know what that means?! Three thousand five hundred chances to make money to help my parents with the construction costs!"
"I'm still kinda dizzy from when you broke the news to me by shaking me half to death, but yeah, I got it loud and clear," Ren said, swiping a fry off her plate because he knew she was too excited to notice. "You're gonna have to pick really carefully so you don't waste an opportunity like this."
"That's why I need your help!" Ochako leaned across the table toward him. "You've got six thousand offers! SIX THOUSAND!"
She thought about the numbers for a few more seconds.
"...That's a whole lot of people."
She snapped her head up.
"What does it feel like to be that popular with pro heroes?! Do they send you letters?! Gift baskets?! Free food?!"
"Honestly, overwhelming," he admitted. "Half those agencies probably just want me because of the stadium video."
Momo arrived right then with her tray, setting it down on the table, though her cheeks turned a shade of pink the second her eyes met Ren's.
"Good afternoon to you both," she said, her voice a little higher than usual.
"Momo, perfect timing," Ren said, propping his chin on one hand. "I wanted to thank you in person for the message this morning."
Momo's face went from pink to bright red in a matter of seconds.
"Ren-kun," she hissed, throwing a nervous glance toward Ochako. "We agreed not to discuss that matter in public, and certainly not in front of..."
"Discuss what matter?" Ochako lifted her head from her plate at once, gossip radar fully activated. "What message? What am I missing? Momo, you're red as a tomato!"
"Nothing is wrong with me, Uraraka-san," Momo answered, sitting up even straighter, which only made her look guiltier. "The cafeteria temperature happens to be a bit elevated today, that is all."
"The temperature is perfect," Ren said, without an ounce of mercy.
"Ren-kun, I'm warning you," Momo muttered, glaring at him while gripping her chopsticks way too hard.
Ochako looked from one to the other, clearly piecing the puzzle together in her head.
"Hold on, hold on," she said, narrowing her eyes. "Momo, you never get nervous. You're the one who stays calm when the rest of us are losing it. What exactly did you send this bald guy to end up like this?"
"Nothing worth discussing!" Momo exclaimed, nearly knocking over her glass of water. "It was a... a gesture related to a previous wager, perfectly settled and closed, of no importance whatsoever."
"A wager," Ochako repeated slowly, turning toward Ren with a sly smile. "Ren, what kind of wager gets Momo acting like this?"
"A gentlemanly one," Ren answered, shrugging with fake solemnity. "And a gentleman never reveals the details of a wager closed with a lady."
Momo eyed him with suspicion, not totally buying that he'd let her off the hook so easily.
"That's the most mature thing I've ever heard you say," she admitted under her breath.
"Don't get used to it," he said, winking at her. "I save it for special occasions."
Ochako snorted and went back to her food, though she kept eyeing them between bites.
"You two are weird as hell, you know that, right?" she commented with her mouth half full. "Anyway, don't change the subject on me. Ren, I need you to help me pick an agency this week. You get the whole strategy thing and I only care about one thing."
"Money," Ren and Momo said at the same time.
"Professional growth!" Ochako corrected, clearly offended. "...Which later translates into money, sure, but the order matters, ahem."
Momo allowed herself a small laugh, her face almost back to its normal color by now.
"I'd be glad to help you compare the agencies, Uraraka-san," she offered. "I have a spreadsheet prepared to evaluate the reputation, operational area, and specialty of each hero."
"Of course you have a spreadsheet," Ren said. "I'd be worried if you didn't."
"It's the responsible thing to do," Momo shot back, recovering some of her dignity.
The three of them kept eating between jokes and half made plans, and for a while Ren let himself forget that half the country knew his bald head by heart.
---
That night, in a dim bar on the outskirts of the city, Shigaraki watched the Sports Festival clips on a huge screen hanging from the wall. His fingers moved up and down his own neck, scratching the skin with a relentlessness that had no end.
"That one..." he muttered, pointing at the frozen image with a trembling finger. "That's the same bald kid from the USJ. I recognize him perfectly."
Kurogiri approached from behind the bar.
"It appears he has improved considerably since the last time we saw him, Tomura Shigaraki," Kurogiri said. "His control over telekinesis is genuinely impressive."
Shigaraki let out a raspy laugh that bounced off the empty walls of the bar.
"The master needs to see this, Kurogiri. That kid's gonna become a huge problem for us if we let him grow up in peace," he scratched his neck harder, leaving red marks on his skin. "And I don't like problems."
On the screen, the video played again from the start, and Ren's bald head rose once more among the stadium's rubble, completely unaware of the eyes watching him from the shadows.
*******
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