Class 1-A is abuzz with activity as one student after another goes up to the front, introducing their decided hero names.
Some are rejected, with the student going back to their seat to come up with another. The rest that are accepted settle in their seats to cheer and/or tease those that have yet to have their names approved.
Katsuki slouches in his seat, a firm scowl settled on his features. It’s the end of the year and it makes sense that they would be going over this, but that doesn’t mean that it isn’t annoying.
Not to mention the one-day notice. Aizawa had literally just told them the other day; it would have been appreciated if they were given a few extra days, at least.
“You’ve interned at chosen hero associations, apprenticing under pro heroes to gain practical experience in heroism,” Aizawa says in a slow drawl. “Naturally, you’ll be doing more as second years.”
He cards through the stack of papers in his hands with a sigh, bloodshot eyes seeming to droop further. “Some of you have already chosen hero names, but the majority of you haven’t. You need to go home today and think about your names – which is something you should have been doing this entire year – and Midnight will be here tomorrow to finalize it.”
With his piece said, Aizawa had dismissed the class and gone on his way, no doubt to sleep in the teacher’s lounge or something. The class was left to disperse, some staying after class to animatedly discuss their potential names, some leaving because they had no reason to stay.
There are those who already have their hero names, some of whom have had them since their first year. Uravity, Ingenium, and Deku are amongst these few.
Katsuki isn’t. Katsuki is amongst those that still have yet to choose a hero name.
(He wants to say that he did choose his name, he decided on several in fact, but the sleep-woman rejected every single one of them. Which equates to getting exactly jack shit done.)
So after being dismissed, Katsuki had headed home, his mind preoccupied with potential names.
It isn’t like he’s been slacking, though. Fuck no. Several times, he has gone to Midnight with a new hero name, only to have them shot down for one reason or another.
It pissed him off, it pisses him off. Bakugou Katsuki doesn’t fucking fail, and he’d sooner die than let himself fail at choosing a goddamn hero name.
Something that strikes fear in his enemies, something him – powerful, commanding, impossible to ignore. That’s what he wanted, wants; that’s what he wants the world to know him by.
But when he walks up to the front of the class, flipping over the board with his chosen name – “VILLAIN EXPLODING SMASHER” – Midnight gives a drawn out sigh, as if she’s the only one fucking done with all of this, and shakes her head.
“Bakugou,” she says, tapping her whip. “You need to take this seriously. Everyone else has chosen their names, and you’re the only one that has been this difficult.”
Katsuki slams the board down on the podium, fingers smoking. He is taking this seriously. Very, fucking, seriously. It isn’t his fault if the bitch doesn’t like his names; it’s his hero name so why should that matter?
The other students are snickering, he notes distantly. It’s slightly irritating but easy enough to dismiss – he needs to think of a name, a name that’s “approved” of by Midnight, god-fucking damn it –
Something moves in his peripherals. He glances up, and locks eyes with the worried gaze of Deku – of course – and sees the board the other boy is holding perpendicular to his desk.
‘Don’t give up Kacchan!’
His fingers tighten around the edges of his board as he ducks his head, giving a silent snarl.
Fuckin’ Deku.
Stupid shit, he thinks to himself, doesn’t know when to fucking give up. Doesn’t know when to keep his nose out of other peoples’ business. He just doesn’t. Fucking. Know.
He’s always there. He has always been there, always the first to rush to Katsuki’s side in anything. Where Katsuki pushes, shoves, threatens with explosive retribution, Deku has always pulled, tried to convince, to reason. And Smiled.
Stuttery, nervous, hesitant, and fucking nerdy, but always positive with that shaky smile.
An Echo of his favorite fucking hero.
One of them, Katsuki thinks, recalling the boy’s words. His fingers disengage from the board with a crack, and his hands stop smoking.
They have a bad history together, which is obvious. To say “bad history” is putting it lightly, even. Deku has always been a spineless coward, and Katsuki a volatile, angry shit (something he actually can admit, now). But since entering Yuuei, they have both changed.
Where Deku would have cowered before Katsuki’s explosive rage, he began to stand up against him, he became something more than just “that spineless, quirkless nerd.” Where Katsuki would have continued to dismiss Deku as an insignificant ant crossing his path, he began to see exactly who it was that once shadowed him, who it is that Deku has become.
Who it is that he is steadily becoming.
From tormentor and tormented, to fighters on equal standing, to something resembling a rivalry. And, maybe, if he were to squint…
Maybe. Maybe, there is something like acknowledgement there, too. Respect.
Friendship.
Deku, Katsuki thinks, grabbing his marker and popping off the top in a fluid motion. The name doesn’t have a hint of resentment. Only ever Deku, the fucking nerd.
He holds up the board with his new chosen name, and suddenly, chatter dies down. Midnight turns to him already preparing her disapproval, but then she looks at the board and blinks.
“… Are you certain?” She asks eventually, a smile creeping forward. “This is what you’ll be known as for the rest of your hero career.”
Ignoring the wide-eyed looks from his classmates, Katsuki gives a bored nod.
“Yeah. This is what I’m going with.”
It’s not like it can’t be terror-inducing. Katsuki is fully capable of that himself, and someday, people will tremble in fear as they slowly whisper his name. They will think of his power, of his victories, of him, and they won’t dare look at him in any other way.
It’s a reputation to be earned and maintained, one that isn’t simply given due to a name that only sounds intimidating. That’s what makes it worth it, he thinks.
On his board, the name stands proudly in quick, short strokes.
‘KACCHAN.’
~~~
Bonus:
Basically yeah I think Bakugou deciding on his hero name being “Kacchan” is pretty cool. We’ll see though haha
blacknovelist55 