When Midnight asked for a volunteer to start, the task was quickly taken by Aoyama, who enthusiastically walked up to Aizawa's desk… and presented a name that Made Izuku's name feel well prepared and thought out.
"Shining Hero: I Cannot Stop Twinkling."
It was a whole goddamned sentence!
...
It was a terrible name. What was more insane though, was Midnight's reaction to it.
"It will be easier to say if you take out the "I" and contract "Cannot" to "Can't"."
THAT was her only problems with it?
Izuku and Venom weren't the only ones literarily tilting their heads at the name either, as the entire class was struck by the sheer stupidity of the name.
Well everyone except Mina who just grinned, and as Aoyama tanked Midnight, she volunteered to go next.
"Alright! I'm next! Call me…" She flipped her hard up, to showcase what it said.
"Black Cat: The Second of her name!"
-Well, at least it implies something grand like a royal dynasty!-
Midnight did not embrace it with open arms, however.
"Well… Your family currently Owns the name Black Cat within Japan as far as hero work goes… So I can't exactly deny you using it… I assume your mom won't have any problems with it?"
"Nope! She was the one who suggests I used Second of her name to differentiate us."
Midnight looked at her in silence for a moment, then sighed.
"Well kiddo, for your sake, I hope you and your mom don't have a fallout. I've seen pretty awkward aftermaths of parents and children sharing names, then it all blowing up."
Mina snorted.
"That'll never happen with me and mom."
Midnight looked at her with a melancholic look that was one of an older, more experienced person looking at someone who really didn't have much of any.
However, she nodded, then called up the next in line, which turned out to be Tsuyu who presented the "Rainy season hero: Froppy", which Midnight loved a lot more.
After that was Kirishima's "Sturdy Hero: Red Riot" which was an obvious tribute to Crimson Riot, without just taking the name wholesale.
Kinda like what Izuku was doing. He suddenly felt rather uncomfortable as Midnight gave her a rather positive opinion on the name, and asked him about the obvious parallel to the hero of old.
Kirishima's obvious respect for the hero he was taking his name off of was also very obvious, and made Izuku feel a bit… Guilty.
He tried, really hard to think up. An alternative as the names rolled by, but he just… Couldn't think of one, as his classmates presented their names, one after another.
Kaminari. "Thunderbolt"
Jiro. "Hearing Hero: Earphone Jack."
Sero. "Taping hero: Cellophane."
Shoji. "Tentacole."
Ojiro. "Tailman."
Sato. "Sugarman"
Momo. "Everything Hero: Creati"
Shoto. "Shoto" Just… Shoto.
Tokoyami. "Jetblack hero: Tsukuyomi"
Mineta. "Fresh picked hero: Grape Juice."
Koda. "Petting Hero Anima"
And then there were only 4 left.
Katsuki, Uraraka, Tenya, and Izuku.
-OH this ought to be good.- Venom snorted as Katsuki stepped up to the desk.
Izuku, who despised Katsuki had to admit that he was kinda curious about what Katsuki's name would be.
"Bakusatsuou." King Explosion Murder.
Izuku got a look of disgust on his face, not too unlike Bakugou's reaction to his first attempt at a name.
That… holy shit that was a childish name.
That Katsuki could say it with a straight face without even a hint of being tongue in cheeks or smiling, was a testament to what kind of person he was.
He had essentially mangled the Kanji in his own name to make it sound like something completely awesome, and the name could not have sounded less mature and more like the name, a child picked to sound cool.
Which… Might actually be the case, Izuku realized. This might actually be the name Bakugou had chosen for himself when he was a child, and unlike Izuku and his silly all might inspired names, he just had refused to abandon it.
Midnight's expression was a blank one, as she simply turned it down, and told him to try again.
After that there was… Uraraka.
Of all the names today, it was far and away the one Izuku had been most curious what it would be.
What would Uraraka, All Might's heir choose as her name? Would it be blatant, about who she was, or would she go her own way with something new?
Uraraka laid her card down on the table, so the top was clear to see by all the class.
Ururaka wore an expression that reminded Izuku of when they had fought. It was the face of someone who had decided playtime was over and was steeling herself for what was about to come.
The name, however, Izuku didn't get at all.
"Shimura. That will be my hero name."
"Um okay. If you're sure, then… Go for it kiddo."
He wasn't the only one who was confused by the name. The rest of the class also had looks of confusion.
Shimura… Was just a name.
But it was a name Uraraka greatly valued for some reason.
He was really, really interested in knowing the exact origins of the name, but he was rather certain that if he asked her, Uraraka would tell him a prescripted lie.
Not that he blamed her for it of course. He understood if there were things she needed to keep to herself. God knows he wasn't in a position to judge.
After her was Tenya, who just went with his own name as Shoto had.
In his case though, he looked… Quite troubled by the fact.
Izuku thought back to what Venom had said about him feeling down today, and was about to try and feel just how down he felt when he was suddenly thrust into the spotlight by Midnight calling for him to come take the stand.
He hastily grabbed the piece he had been writing on and hurried up to the table.
Then, feeling that old nervousness begin to pipe up once more, he showed the name to the class.
He swallowed, waiting for the reaction.
To his sheer relief, there wasn't much negative reaction, just some low key positives ones, and a few confused ones.
Kirishima in particular seemed really supportive, giving him a huge grin, and two thumbs up.
Both Uraraka and Mina gave him encouraging smiles, Mina also giving him a wink and a thumbs up, but Izuku was pretty sure that had far, far more to do with the fact that both of them were his friends than his name being amazing.
Hakagure was the only one to give a real negative comment.
"It's kinda… generic isn't it?"
Venom snorted. "As if you're one to talk "Invisible girl""
Midnight was a bit more critical, but she did give him a warm smile.
"Drop the -. I'm guessing you put it there to differentiate yourself from Yamashiro Takuya, but by doing so, you would instead associate yourself with Komori Yuu, and trust me kiddo, you DON'T want to be associated with Komori Yuu."
"Um… okay."
He wasn't particularly familiar with Yamashiro beyond what Kaminari had told him in passing, and he had absolutely no idea who this Komori Yuu was.
Maybe he should read up on both of them. As quickly as possible.
"Also, it's standard procedure for those taking a name that's free, to add their own moniker to it so no one confuses you. So you're gonna have to choose a moniker different from the other two before you, so something different than "The Emissary from Hell", or "The Amazing"."
"How about-" "No, I'm not gonna let you call yourself "The venomous".
"We were actually gonna suggest The Lethal protector!"
"... No, just… No."
Izuku, however, remembered something when Midnight had said the English word Amazing.
Something amazing! Something spectacular!
"W-Would spectacular work?"
"Spectacular? Sure kiddo, just add a "The" in front and you're set."
He did so, removing the - and adding the words, "The spectacular" in front.
The spectacular Spiderman.
It… Was not a name he had had in mind before this, but… It was his now.
It was as good a name as any.
...
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