『Hakari Kotaro - 2 Days Later』
The day after my date with Nejire to watch the third years Sports Festival, alongside Toga and the other girls who decided to tag along. The third years at UA were notably different than the first years, they carried themselves with confidence and a certain charisma as well as a demeanor that screamed 'I am a hero!'.
They even had an air of showmanship as they competed, it felt less like watching students beat the shit out of each other and more like an official game show like event. And their events seemed much more geared to showing off their individual specialties than a race of a free for all.
My best guess was that unlike the first years, Third Years all had established presences as almost heroes, they had their own images from their years of interning and being in the spotlight. To put it plainly, they weren't just students.
Towards the end of the festival, when the tournament portion came up, the results were laughably predictable. Mirio came in first place, Nejire in second place, and Tamaki in 3rd place.
It was a sight to witness, Mirio was an absolute beast, he phased through everything and hit like a freight train, making it impossible for anyone to pin him down. Nejire had overwhelming firepower I had experienced firsthand. And Tamaki had variety that matched even my own with being able to manifest the properties of various animals, kicking people with a centaur lower half, guarding himself with armadillo scales etc.
The other third years were decent as well, but in the end, the Big Three ended up as the top three. Unfortunately, I had to watch the whole event through a TV instead of live view since Recovery Girl put me on nurse duty as she went to enjoy the festival.
I didn't object too much though, it was practice for using my Hamon with Healing and I didn't mind giving the old, ancient, archaic, decrepit woman a break. Turns out, if I used Hamon and Minor Aid or Healing Light at the same time, it amplified the healing effects of those abilities.
Probably compounding off of the fact that Hamon could already heal people.
And according to Nejire, who was my last patient of the day, it also felt... pleasurable? She mentioned that it felt like someone was gently massaging her insides when I used it.
Other than very useful information which I shelved under 'Uses for Hamon that involve fucking.' I got a feat out of healing people for the entire day.
Feat Achieved! Serve as the Doctor for the 3rd Year's Sports Festival without messing up
+1x Advantage Silver Trait Gacha ticket
After the festival, I molested all the luck out of Toga and rolled both the ticket I got from wasting that 'Instant Villain' and healing the 3rd Years.
Rolling Silver Trait Gacha...
[Larger than Life]
|Common Trait|
People feel like your presence is larger than it should be. Even if you are a head shorter than them, it will still feel like you are towering over them.
or
[Musk]
|Uncommon Trait|
Your natural smell is incredibly nice, some might even consider it a bit arousing.
...Yeah.
I don't know either man. This thing felt like it was trying to send me a message.
Obviously I picked Musk since I was already a tall dude and hated the scent of deodorant. The choice, other than its obvious use, was actually pretty good. To myself, I smelled somewhat earthy and a bit flowery, with just a hint of sweetness and cool. Like a spring morning.
To Toga though, I apparently smelled like sweet blood. And uh.
I learned that night that Toga could cum just from sniffing alone.
The trait paid itself off with just that.
And after that pleasant surprise, I rolled my second ticket, the Silver Ability I got from defeating Macro Plastic.
Rolling Silver Ability Gacha...
A Rare Ability!
[Freezing Breath]
|Rare Ability|
Allows you to charge and unleash a breath attack of frigid winds that freeze whatever they hit. The longer you charge and the more energy you expend the more powerful the breath is.
First Enflame, now Freezing Breath, I was only two away from becoming an Avatar.
Jokes aside ability was pretty damn great. While it was a Rare ability, it was not very versatile, which was why it instead had a lot of power behind it instead. With this ability, I had the option of massive area of effect attacks. Overall I was very happy with these rolls.
Of course, the short vacation they gave us to rest and recover from the sports festival ended quite quickly.
⚀—⚁⚂⚃—⚄—•⚅•—⚄—⚃⚂⚁—⚀
『Hakari Kotaro』
'Man, it really is fucking everywhere, huh?'
I couldn't help but cringe as I watched the TV on the train showing a video of me fighting off people in the Free for All. It was nigh impossible to not have to see myself on every big screen while walking down the streets. I swear they ran nothing but the sports festival for the last few weeks.
Worst of all.
"Wait, isn't that him? Hakari Kotaro from the Hero Class? Man, you were so cool back there!"
"Wait, it really is, can we get an autograph?"
"Uh..."
"And that's Himiko Toga, isn't she? She is even cuter in person."
"Hehehe~ thank you~. Here lemme sign that for you."
Toga absolutely preened under the attention we got in the train as the entire crowd surrounded us while I felt like a small hamster everyone was pointing fingers at. I swore to myself I'd never be using public transportation after this.
Seeing my suffering, Toga gave me a glance and mouthed 'Follow along.'.
"Yup, yup, here's my signature~ make sure to hold onto it for when I turn into a pro hero m'kay?"
I took a deep breath and grabbed one of the pens and the notebook offered to me by a kid with shining eyes. I scribbled my signature on his notebook which was just my name written in a weird way before handing it back to the enthusiastic boy.
"Here you go."
"Thank you mister!"
"Me too!"
"That sports festival was awesome."
Stiffly signing books and even wallets I just prayed this all would end soon.
⚀—⚁⚂⚃—⚄—•⚅•—⚄—⚃⚂⚁—⚀
『Hakari Kotaro』
Toga and I walked up the stairs to UA high. The rain overhead was blocked by my umbrella formed out blood that floated between us, though I had to occasionally maneuver it to prevent Toga licking it like a popsicle. All the students nearby looked stoked at the attention they were getting and chatted loudly, making me wonder if I was the weird one for disliking the attention.
Scratch that, I definitely was. That's not even a question.
Arriving at the classroom, everyone was already there and chatting excitedly. I sat down on my desk and the moment I did, I was swarmed by classmates.
"Hakari-kun, did you see? They seem to be calling me Shinobi Girl, your training worked!"
Momo excitedly muttered while Mina and Toga clapped.
"Toga-chan, so many people greeted me today, it suuper awesome!"
"I know right~?"
"I even had people I didn't know approach me today-kero."
"Yup, everyone was staring at me today, it was awesome!"
Toru plopped herself on my desk and stretched while exclaiming. We made light conversation about the festival and whatnot before someone approached my desk whose presence immediately silenced the chatter around my desk.
It was Todoroki, who was clutching his bag and struggling to find the words as he looked down at me(<-Sitting down).
"...Hey Hakari."
"...Hey?"
He nodded stiffly and went back to his seat.
That was all?
Was that what he considered a social interaction? Even I wasn't that bad. But then again, my father didn't go for the domestic abuse high score when I was young. Babysteps.
The mood did not have much time to recover as Aizawa entered the classroom shortly after and everyone rushed to their seats so fast it was almost as if they teleported. Ignoring them, Aizawa walked to the podium and set down his folder with her ever-present tired of life expression.
"Morning class. Let's cut to the chase. We're having a special hero informatics class today. That being Code Names. You'll be coming up with your own Hero Names."
The class erupted into excited cheers that he promptly ignored before fetching a remote from his pocket.
"This is related to the Internship offers I talked about before. While they begin in earnest in the second and third years where the students can be actual useful assets, them being sent in the first year means the agency is interested in your potential, if you don't live up to that potential, you can forget about getting a repeat offer from them the year after."
To abridge what he said, Pro Heroes like unpaid interns with applicable skills instead of unpaid interns with potential. Though I was not particularly worried for most of the class, everyone had performed with varying levels of good.
"And here are the totals for those with offers."
He pressed a button on the blackboard and several names appeared, with mine at the top.
Hakari Kotaro - 5221
Shoto Todoroki - 3424
Katsuki Bakugou - 1455
Izuku Midoriya - 1127
Momo Yaoyorozu - 721
...
Mina Ashido - 36
Tsuyu Asui - 23
Toru Hagakure - 4
...
Woah.
That is...
A lot.
Are there even 10,000 heroes in Japan?
Isn't 5221 a bit excessive?
Feat Achieved! Get 5000 internship offers
+1x Advantage Silver Trait Gacha Ticket
Nevermind.
Those are baby numbers, give me 10000.
"Woah, Hakari, you got so many offers, I'm so jealous."
Toru nudged me on the side while Aizawa continued.
"Keep in mind, whether you got any offers or not, you will all be participating in internships. UA is partnered with several agencies who will take you in regardless. Hence why you will need hero names."
Murmurrs passed through the class at the prospect of interning, getting to work together with real heroes they have admired since they were children really lit a fire under their asses. While not to the same extent as I was an outsider to this whole business, I hoped to get a good internship offer.
Hopefully from a hot heroine. Who said hot heroine was did not matter.
"Be sure to be serious about picking your names, if you don't-"
"-There will be hell to pay later!"
Throwing open the door and entering the classroom in a bombastic fashion was Midnight in all of her revealing costume glory. She strutted over to the podium while giving us a quick wink. By the time she had made it to the podium Aizawa had already taken out his sleeping bag.
"When you come up with Hero names, temporary or not, it is what the public knows you by, and the first name is always the one that sticks in their minds. It's hard to change your imaging once that happens."
Aizawa jabbed his thumb towards her and nodded.
"What she said. Since I'm no good at this whole thing, Midnight will make sure you all don't pick a name you will really regret."
He immediately got in his bag and went to sleep in record time while Midnight put her hands on the podium and smiled.
"Your names should be what really feels natural to you, it is what the public will know you as, and what you will recognize yourself as. It is a concrete image of your future. So don't waste this chance and really think about it."
Really think about it, eh?
I looked up at the ceiling as everyone started furiously started scribbling on the boards they were given.
What do I even name myself?
A/N: Hakari is coping, somewhat, he will get over his stage fright eventually, and this internship will probably help him out with that by quite a lot, for sure. That side, these rolls are quite... something. A good aoe freeze ability and... fucking Musk. Of course Hakari gets that. His build must always be a Ladykiller, huh?
Internships and Hosu arc is coming up! I'm sure you guys have an idea of what Internship Hakari will choose but I'd still like to hear your opinions. And what name do you guys think Hakari will choose? Find out in the next episode of Gambler Ballz! What did you guys think about this chapter? I'd love to know.