The atmosphere inside Class 1-A felt like a small festival. The tension previously brought by Aizawa vanished completely, replaced by bursting youthful enthusiasm. Under the flamboyant supervision of Midnight, the hero name selection process, which had initially sounded like a heavy task, turned into a stage for showing off one's true self.
One by one, the students stepped forward to the front of the class, proudly displaying their small whiteboards. Aoyama Yuga opened the session with a name that was far too long and sparkling, which somehow got approved after a few revisions. Then, more reasonable and determined names began to appear.
Tsuyu Asui stepped forward, placing her finger on her chin in her signature pose. "I've been thinking about this since elementary school. Rainy Season Hero: Froppy."
"So sweet! A name that's easy to remember and very friendly!" praised Midnight enthusiastically.
Next, Kirishima Eijiro pounded his chest with full spirit. "Sturdy Hero: Red Riot! I took inspiration from my idol hero, Crimson Riot!"
Uraraka Ochako followed with a bright, infectious smile as she flipped her board. "Uravity!"
Cheers and praises flowed every time a name was approved. The class was filled with the positive aura of a shounen protagonist that made Nabiel, who had been burying his face on the desk the whole time, feel nauseous from the overwhelming brightness.
For an Outer Observer like him, a name was a concept that bound an entity to a certain reality. In a higher dimension, he did not need a name. However, here in the midst of this hero and villain drama, he was forced to have one additional label.
Just need one inconspicuous name, then I can go back to sleep, thought Nabiel. He grabbed a marker, scribbled a few letters quickly, and stood up.
Unwilling to stay long and waste energy, Nabiel walked forward toward the podium. The oversized sleeves of his white shirt dangled, hiding his hands that were still wrapped in thin bandages. His posture was relaxed, yet there was a strange aura of confidence as he stood in front of the class.
He flipped his name board and showed it to everyone.
"Nabiel!!" he declared confidently with his eyes closed, waiting for quick approval so he could return to the land of dreams.
A brief silence fell over the class.
"Lame. Change it."
Midnight's voice cut through Nabiel's confidence with devastating precision. The R-Rated Hero crossed her arms over her chest and stared at Nabiel with a flat expression that accepted no compromise.
Nabiel's dark black eyes instantly opened wide. The young man flinched in disbelief, his facial expression showing annoyance that he rarely displayed. His shirt sleeves swung as he lowered the board.
"What?!" protested Nabiel, his tone rising slightly. "This is the most perfect name for me! It represents one hundred percent of my soul that wants to sleep at the bottom of nothingness! Nothing is more authentic than my own name. I still want to use this name!"
Midnight continued to shake her head indifferently, waving her hand as if shooing away Nabiel's argument. "Still lame. There's no hero element at all. Think again. There are still many names in this world. A hero's identity doesn't always have to be your real name."
"But!" Nabiel refused to accept it. He turned toward the back desks and pointed straight at the dual-haired young man who had been silent the whole time. "You let Todoroki use his regular name! He only wrote 'Shouto'!"
"That's because his name suits him," Midnight replied casually, giving a wink. "There's a tragic and cool aura behind that name. As for you? You just sound like someone too lazy to think of a name."
Nabiel's jaw dropped in shock. What kind of logic was that? As an entity that manipulated absolute truth through [True> "Who decides what's suitable or not?!" exclaimed Nabiel. This time, his hand covered by the long shirt sleeve pointed directly at Midnight. "My name is my name! You must have a personal grudge against me, right?! Come on, admit it, you biased teacher!"
Midnight's eyes narrowed sharply. A dangerous smile spread across her lips. "Oh? Is that how you speak to your teacher, you naughty boy?"
SWISH!
With a movement that was extremely graceful yet as fast as lightning, Midnight swung her small whip. The tip of the whip did not injure him, but it lashed Nabiel's arms and legs several times with surprising precision.
"Ugh—!"
Losing his balance, Nabiel collapsed to the floor in a very dramatic way. He groaned softly, more from his wounded pride than from physical pain. As an *Outer*, he could have nullified the attack, but he had promised to live life as a normal human, and a normal human would fall if whipped by a professional hero.
"That's not how you treat a teacher, you stupid student," said Midnight while placing her hands on her hips, looking down at Nabiel sprawled on the classroom floor.
At her desk, Yaoyorozu Momo covered her mouth with both hands. The girl watched Nabiel fall in such a ridiculous pose that she almost laughed, yet at the same time, a wave of pity and worry immediately swept over her heart.
"S-Sensei..." Momo half-rose from her seat, looking at Midnight with a worried expression. "Please don't do that. Nabiel is still injured from the USJ incident..."
Midnight turned toward Momo. Her fierce expression instantly changed into a teasing smile. She placed her index finger on her lips.
"Shh, stop it, Momo-chan," interrupted Midnight in a playful tone that she deliberately raised so the entire class could hear. "I can't understand why a girl as beautiful and smart as you would like a lazy guy like this."
Momo's face instantly exploded into a deep red, rivaling the color of Kirishima's hair. Steam seemed to rise from her ears as she frantically waved both hands in panic.
"I-I don't like him! S-Sensei, please don't say things like that!" Momo protested in a high-pitched voice, so flustered that she unconsciously created a small matryoshka from her palm because her Quirk reacted to her nervousness.
Some students in the class chuckled softly at the interaction, while Nabiel merely snorted roughly from the floor. He slowly stood up, brushing the dust off his white shirt. He stared at Midnight with a lazy gaze full of defeat, then trudged back to his seat.
And so, the Observer had to sit back down and ponder. Around him, the class began to calm again. Midoriya Izuku was still staring at his board with an intense look, wrestling with his past and the name 'Deku'. In another corner, Iida Tenya looked tense, the shadow of his brother Ingenium weighing heavily on his shoulders.
Nabiel propped his chin with his hand, staring at his whiteboard that had now been completely erased.
A name... a title? he thought.
He pondered his position in this world. He was not the protagonist like Midoriya, who had a destiny to save the world. He was also not a deuteragonist like Bakugo or Todoroki. He hated the spotlight, he hated conflict, and he preferred to watch everything from the edge of the stage. He was an anomaly in this script, an existence that observed from beyond the pages.
Suddenly, an idea flashed through his mind. A name that was absolute truth, yet for the people in this world, it would only sound like a slightly eccentric conceptual hero name.
After a few minutes passed, Nabiel stood up again. Without hesitation, he stepped back to the front of the class.
Midnight raised one eyebrow. "Have you found something better than your real name?"
"I'll just use this name," said Nabiel in a calm tone that contrasted with his whining from a few minutes earlier.
He flipped the name board. On its white surface, one word was written neatly in capital letters.
OUTER
The class fell silent for a moment. Unlike the previous names that had invited cheers, this name carried a strange nuance. It felt distant, untouchable, yet somehow it suited the aura of the messy black-haired young man perfectly.
"Outer..." murmured Midnight, holding her chin. Her eyes gazed at the name, then shifted to Nabiel's dark black eyes that looked like bottomless abysses. "Interesting. It has no trace of your real name, and it sounds quite mysterious. Why did you choose that name?"
Nabiel smiled faintly, a thin smile that he rarely showed. He looked down at his own name from above, then shifted his gaze across the class, looking at Midoriya, Bakugo, Todoroki, Iida, and finally Momo.
"Because I am a background character who sees everything," answered Nabiel in a soft voice that still echoed through the room.
He was not lying. He was Outer. The observer from outside who now chose to step onto the stage, not as the main star, but as a spectator sitting in the front row, ready to see where destiny would take this story.
Midnight smiled in satisfaction. "Good. That name is approved. Watcher Hero: Outer!"
Nabiel nodded slowly, turned his body, and returned to his seat. The stage had been set, the identity had been chosen. Now, he only needed to prepare to face this troublesome internship arc, while hoping he could find a comfortable place for an afternoon nap at whatever hero agency he would be assigned to later.