We were already home, and after a well-deserved shower, we relaxed on the couch, scrolling through our phones.
With my head resting on Himiko's lap, I skimmed through the news, most of it about the sports festival.
I went through some TV show segments, interviews with pro heroes, and random internet comments.
The second and third years received quite varied commentary, but the main focus was definitely the first-year sports festival.
At one point, I clicked on a clip of our award ceremony and scrolled down to read the comments.
[RonaldSonSon123: "Don't you think the first and second place from UA are way too aggressive?"]
[RonaldSonSon123: "I mean, just look at the first-place guy, he didn't change his expression during the entire festival, he looks more like a villain than a hero"]
[RonaldSonSon123: "There's also that creepy quirk of his, and I don't even need to say anything about second place"]
[CapelessBaldGuy: "Exactly! I was thinking the same thing, look at his torso, full of scars, he's definitely a delinquent"]
[FreakBirdo6769: "That blond almost killed someone in the middle of the tournament, seriously, how can someone with such a strong quirk be so reckless???"]
[HRomeuPeiTiNhO00: "Japan is doomed if these are our future heroes…"]
"..."
'Meh.' I shrugged, it's not like the opinions of internet weirdos would affect me.
"..."
I closed the app, leaving my phone on my chest and enjoying Himiko's head pats.
Sigh
I couldn't deny that I felt a bit down. I searched for quite a while and couldn't find my speech, not even the moments where I helped my classmates get up after their fights.
All the videos were extremely biased, only showing me beating my opponents senseless, my scarred torso, and my arm regenerating.
Bzz-bzz!
My phone vibrated.
I picked it up and checked, it was a video sent by the director of the orphanage where I grew up.
I opened the video.
All the children from the orphanage were gathered in front of the TV, some of them hugging small brown teddy bears made of knitted fabric.
"Is that big brother, aunt?" One of the kids pointed at me on the broadcast, where I was jumping onto a zero-pointer's arm.
"Yes, that's him, Kaito-kun," one of the caretakers replied, looking at the broadcast with pride written all over her face.
"Wooow, he's so cool." The other kids nodded, squeezing their teddy bears.
"Go, big brother!!" they shouted in unison, a messy chorus that made the caretakers laugh.
The video ended, and I saw that the director had sent me a voice message:
"Congratulations on your victory, Kaneki-kun, we're very proud of you! The children can't stop talking about how their big brother is the coolest," she said cheerfully.
Then her voice softened.
"I also want to thank you for the teddy bears you sent, the little ones loved them."
"Good luck with your hero work, come visit us whenever you can."
A smile appeared on my face, and that bad feeling disappeared.
Himiko noticed my improved mood out of the corner of her eye, nodding to herself with a smile.
─── ◆ ───
The next day.
We were heading to UA by bus, sitting in a row near the back. And as always, people threw glances at us.
Before, it was mainly because of the prestigious school uniform, but this time it was because of the festival.
They were just murmurs, no one actually came to bother us, until two high school girls approached me.
"Hi~~ You're the one who got first place in the festival, riiight?"
"Hehe~" The other let out an annoying giggle behind her hand.
"... Yes, and?"
"Can we exchange contacts? My friend and I think you're really ho—"
"No." I answered immediately.
(0O0) (0o0)
They were left open-mouthed by the instant rejection.
"He is very much taken, excuse me~" Himiko leaned forward in her seat.
She had a scary smile on her face, a vein popping on her forehead, clearly holding herself back from slitting the girls' throats.
They let out a squeak upon recognizing Himiko from the festival and ran to the opposite side of the bus, getting off at the first stop they saw, even though it was raining outside.
"Hmph, sluts," Himiko muttered, clinging possessively to my arm.
─── ◆ ───
Already in the classroom, we were all gathered, waiting for the teacher to arrive.
"People recognized me on the street!" Kirishima exclaimed, looking excited.
"I got all embarrassed, hehe."
"Same here!" Mina raised her right arm, waving it side to side.
"Same, though people were more consoling me than anything…" Kaminari scratched his head.
I made the wise decision not to mention our experience of being recognized, Himiko had finally gotten her good mood back, and I wasn't about to poke the bear.
"Good morning." Aizawa entered, finally free of bandages, looking to be in good health.
"Good morning, sensei," the class said in unison.
"I said yesterday that I would show your recommendations, but before sending you to pro heroes and agencies, we need to do something important:"
Thum!
The door suddenly burst open.
"Your hero codenames!" Midnight appeared, finishing the sentence.
"OHHHH!!"
'They planned that beforehand, didn't they?' She was definitely leaning against the door waiting for the perfect timing…
"Midnight will help you with choosing your names. Be careful with what you pick, it can affect your career forever, even if you later decide to change it."
He then clicked the classroom projector remote, making the recommendation chart appear on the board.
I was in first place with 4,317 recommendations, Todoroki had 4,123, and Bakugo had 3,556. The rest had much lower numbers than those.
Aizawa then wrapped himself in his sleeping bag and lay down in the corner of the room.
We were given 15 minutes to decide our codenames, and when the time was up, the first to present his name was Aoyama.
He basically chose an entire sentence as his codename: "I cannot stop twinkling," and somehow it was accepted after a small adjustment.
Mina went next, choosing "Alien Queen," which was rejected.
And the line continued, with Uraraka as "Uravity," Tokoyami as "Tsukuyomi," Toru as "Invisible Girl."
And Bakugo… chose "Great Explosion Murder God," which was obviously rejected.
Himiko stood up from her seat and showed her board.
"Scarlet!"
"That's a good name! Well done!" Midnight gave her a thumbs up.
"Teehee."
I stood up after her and turned my board toward the class.
"Ghoul…"
"..." Everyone glanced at each other, unsure how to react.
"Ghoul? Like the monster from mythology?" Momo asked curiously.
"Yeah."
"..."
"Are you sure about that, Kaneki?" Midnight asked me seriously, staring straight at me.
"Mm-hm."
"Then approved!" She raised two thumbs up at me with a smile.
'Then why was mine rejected???!!!' Mina complained internally, though deep down she knew the name wouldn't suit a lady.
Todoroki and Iida chose their first names as codenames, becoming simply "Shoto" and "Tenya".
Since they were their own names, it would make it easier when they decided to change to something more fitting later.
In the end, Mina and Bakugo chose "Pinky" and "DynaMight," respectively.
Midoriya chose "Deku."
'Like the Deku Tree from Zelda?' I thought, wanting to ask Midoriya, but I let it go.
Probably not, no one knows those good retro games in this era, only those awful All Might games and other famous heroes' titles.
─── ◆ ───
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