27 Chapter 24: My Name\Beautiful Stranger...

"Your tea ma'am"

"Thank you!"

"You're welcome"

"Ah wait, come back!", the woman called out to Akutagawa who was turning to leave. Pausing, he moved back to her wearing a business smile. "A problem?"

"Nonono, I just wanted to ask, you're Akutagawa right? From the Sport's Festival?", the woman asked with a bright expression on her face. His smile slowly softening he nodded his head.

"Yes, that's me"

"Amazing! You did great back there. Your class was really amazing too! I couldn't look away from my screen for a second!"

Chuckling, Akutagawa bowed his head slightly. "Thank you for your kind words." The woman looked like she wanted to continue talking but Natsuko called out to Akutagawa. Cutting the conversation he walked over.

"A lot more customers today don't you think?", Natsuko said as she arranged a vase of flowers on the desk before her. The vanilla scent of orchids tickled his nose. Currently, Akutagawa was spending his rest day working in his family's tea house. He wore a white yukata with black petals spread out on it.

"Yes, some of the regulars must have recognized me and spread the word that our family owns this place", Akutagawa said softly. Usually, the tea house is quiet with a few regulars that fill slightly more than half the place, but now there were several new faces. Hushed chatter filled the room with a buzz.

"Do you want to go rest for a bit? It is your day off after all."

"No, it's alright. Helping out around the shop keeps my mind off things. It's relaxing in a way."

"Okay then. You should catch a break soon though, I can see you're a bit tired from constantly keeping conversation with the customers."

Akutagawa nodded as he received the pot and other items from Iwao on a tray and walked off to serve some more customers.

>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

Class 1-A was abuzz with excitement from their encounters in the morning. Each of them recounting their experiences on their way to school.

"Settle down. Today's lesson will be a bit special. You'll be choosing your hero codenames."

"HELL YEAH!"

"Draft nominations have come in from numerous pro hero agencies for some of you here. These are merely these agencies showing interest in you, it can just as easily wane if you're performance isn't satisfactory, okay?" Aizawa said after settling the class down. "Now, for the tally of nominations."

Todoroki ▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄ 4,123

Akutagawa ▄▄▄▄▄▄▄ 3, 876

Bakugou ▄▄▄▄▄▄ 3, 556

Tokoyami ▄▄▄ 360

Yaoyorozu ▄▄▄ 347

...

"The top three pretty much dominated this year's nominations. It's usually balanced..."

"Damn, my eyes are hurtin looking at the clear favoritism", Kaminari whined and leaned back in his chair.

"Yeah! What about the little guy!?", Mineta joined in complaining about the nominations.

"Ah, I guess I got none huh...?", Midoriya said nervously before looking at the other nominations. "Wow Kacchan, you got so many!"

"Shut up! It's only natural I stand above you, loser!", Bakugou screamed back at Midoriya before turning to the front and clenching his fists. His face was scrunched up in anger.

"Now, regardless of whether you got nominations or not, you will still be getting some work experience. You've experienced some pro hero stuff pretty early on, but it's best you see first-hand what we pros deal with on a daily basis."

"And so that brings us to why you need hero names. Of course, it can just be temporary but it has to be relevant-"

"BECAUSE THE NAMES YOU CHOOSE NOW-"

*Boing*

"THAT ARE TO BE KNOWN BY THE WORLD-"

*Boing*

"MIGHT STICK WITH YOU THROUGHOUT YOUR PRO CAREER!"

""Midnight!""

Midnight walked into the room alluringly. Aizawa sighed and nodded his head in agreement.

"What Midnight says is correct. The names you choose will reflect what type of hero you are, your image, etc. You have a few minutes to start thinking about your names. Midnight will be reviewing your pro hero names during this lesson."

Akutagawa sat in thought before feeling a tap on his back. Turning around, Mina leaned over to whisper.

"Ryu, you got any ideas for your name?"

"Hmm, no. Not yet, how about you?"

"Hehe, I know what I want my name to be, but I'm not telling!"

*Sigh*

<<<<A few minutes later>>>>

"Okay, times up. Once you're ready, come up to the front and show the class what your name's are"

'Dammit, I still haven't thought of a good name yet!'

'Tsk'

Most were complaining in their minds about their hero names as Akutagawa stood up from his seat and walked to the front. He hadn't put much thought into his name for the most part and just chosen something synonymous with his given name.

"What've you got Class Prez?", Midnight asked with anticipation.

"Well, it's not much Ms. Midnight but... this is the name I chose"

Turning over his card he showed it to the class.

"Hero Of Destruction: Ryuuichi"

(A/N: Eh, don't bash my name choices, it was either this or the nick he got during the sport's festival Crimson Beast, but that felt like a straight rip off of Kirishima's inspiration from Crimson Riot. If there are better names you have you can tell me and I'll consider changing it if I feel it clicks, ye?)

"Ohhh"

"Destruction huh?"

Midnight held her chin as she looked at Akutagawa's hero name. He stood with a blank expression as he waited for her judgment.

"Well...can you tell me why you chose this name? I have an idea as to why you did but I'd like to hear your reason."

"Well, my quirk Rashomon tears through most things as you've observed. It's pretty destructive so Hero of Destruction came from that. Ryuuichi was just because it's similar to my name."

"Hmm, well the destruction in your name is a bit much. As a hero, you're going for a positive image to the public. But it's not bad, you can always change it before your second or third year so it's acceptable. Good job Akutagawa."

Akutagawa bowed slightly and made his way back to his seat, Mina running up from hers and giving him a high-five. She smacked her card onto the desk with a wide smile on her face.

"ALIEN QUEEN!!!!"

"EH!? Like the man-eating alien? Not accepted!"

"Aww, but Ryu's was super edgy! Why's mine not accepted...", Mina pouted and sat back down with a pout. Next up was Asui with the same name. Most of the students had the same name as in canon. The only one left was Midoriya now.

"Wait wait, Midoriya are you sure about that name?"

"Yeah, isn't that kinda..."

"Y-yeah. For a while, I didn't like this name at all. But someone changed its meaning for me. It flipped my view, and so I want to change its meaning to everyone else as well! My hero name...!"

"Is Deku!!!"

"...", Akutagawa ignored Midoriya's passionate speech as he fiddled with the vial in his pocket. Lately, he's been absent-minded since the trip from the hospital. Should he doubt the words of the doctor, or put his trust in him and believe O3-Red won't harm him?

"KING EXPLOSION MURDER!!!!!"

"Rejected."

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!!!!!!!!!!"

>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

"You got a few nominations Mina?", Kirishima asked as he, Mina, and Jiro crowded around Akutagawa's desk.

"Yeah! Not as much as Ryu but hey! I still got some!"

"So who are you going with then?"

"Probably Thirteen. She mostly focuses on rescue operations and stuff so I thought it would be a good idea to get to know that field, still thinking though...", Mina scratched her head as she looked at the sheet of nominations in front of her.

"Well as for me, I'm definitely gonna be going for Fourth Kind. His agency's out in Kyushu and I wanna get some experience in an urban setting y'know?", Kirishima said excitedly. "I'm really stoked for this, I can't wait!"

(A/N: do people still say stoked? It seemed like a Kirishima thing to say so I'll stick with it)

"Hm, your excitement is infectious...", Akutagawa said with a slight smile as he looked at Jiro. "So, Earphone Jack, who're you gonna go with for your internship?" He had a teasing smirk on his face.

A vein popped on Jiro's forehead as she frowned at Akutagawa's teasing expression before taking one of her own.

"Well, if you must know, Ryuu-i-chi... I thought going with Death Arms wouldn't be a bad idea, but like Mina, I'm still thinking", she explained.

"That's a totally manly choice", Kirishima gave a thumbs up, his sign of approval, and Akutagawa just shook his head with a smile. "Well, you've got time to decide."

"Two days, sure."

"What about you Ryu? You got an agency you wanna go with?"

"Not really. I was thinking of going with Best Jeanist since we both manipulate cloth, so I might gain something from going there. I'll discuss it with my parents though, they should have a better idea of which I should go with", Akutagawa said as he looked at the sheet of paper in front of him.

*Bzzt*

"Hm?"

Taking out his phone from under the table, Akutagawa clicked on a message from his mother.

[Ryu, don't go to the tea house after school. We've got a guest over and they want to see you]

[A guest?]

[You'll find out when you get home okay? Love you]

[Oh, yeah okay. <3]

Akutagawa sat quietly while thinking. A sudden guest? Who could it be? And they want to see me too. I don't remember there being anyone to who my previous self was quite close to aside from my mom and dad...

"Awww that's so cute. Ryu's sent a heart to his mom", Mina peeked over his shoulder while he was in thought and blurted it out. The next second Jiro covered her mouth as she struggled to hold in her laughter.

Akutagawa frowned as his ears turned red. "What's so funny?"

"Pft...ha...hmmm...nothing-g. Don't mind me...mama's boy!", Jiro held her stomach as she finally couldn't contain her laughter. Gritting his teeth, Akutagawa tried to fight off the embarrassment.

"C'mon Jiro, don't tease him. Something up at home man?", Kirishima patted his shoulder as he peeked at Akutagawa's phone.

"It's nothing serious. We've just got a guest over, so I might not be able to hang out too much after school. Sorry", Akutagawa made an apologetic expression as he turned off his phone and slipped it back into his pocket.

"Ah, no worries man. You got stuff to do, we understand," Kirishima said, flashing his signature toothy smile.

"Mh," Akutagawa hummed in response as they continued talking about trivial things for most of the lesson.

>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

"I'm home!", Akutagawa called out as he slipped off his shoes at the door and put on some slippers. Hearing no answer in response he made his way along the hallway. Nearing one of the rooms he heard some chatter. Two women and a man. Must be his parents and the sudden guest.

Standing outside the door, he tapped it softly and tried calling out, but before words could leave his mouth, the door was suddenly pulled open and a woman appeared in the doorway.

Lustrous shoulder-length black hair that swayed like waves, pale skin like his own, and eyes like obsidian that were sparkling with excitement. She had oddly red lips that you'd think was lipstick but was natural. All in all, she was quite beautiful.

"Who-"

"Ryuryu!"

He was enveloped in a crushing hug from the beautiful stranger.

/////////////////////////

Maerdy Note: Heyoooooooo. I bet ya'll are surprised. I already know what yall were thinking. "Oh, he uploaded so he's def gonna be gone for like a week again or smth, fkn b#llsh!t, why they doing this to us" and all that jazz, and i get u, i rlly do. Im sick of my cr@p too. I actually skipped school today cuz like, as i made my way out the house, i slipped on the sidewalk and hurt my left arm, so its numb.

Bruh, istg, i have some of the worst luck. there isn't a day that goes by without me getting into some dumb sh#t, getting hurt, etc. I just can't win, so I was writing this chapter with my left arm numb. I had a nap like earlier in the day but still tired asf. And i don't know wtf i was supposed to do for homework or class, got assignment due on Thursday. Cant win man, honestly.But I'm not finna whine too much, gotta be positive, its better than just moping all day honestly. If i thought abt the bad sh#t all the time id be in tears rn. Ouch my ear hurt for a sec. Why did i type that? this is so stupid lmfao. Im going insane fr.

anyways, there yall go, his aunt makes an appearance. Imma put her pic in the paragraph comment since it helps with the imagination ye? Gonna be a headache from here on out. Many ideas but difficult to put to paper yknow? I actually cleared this authors note many times since like, id ramble and say too much and some like it but there'll also be some who don't so i wanna keep a crisp in between.

also

HAPPY VALENTINES LOVERS! I know I'm late but hey, hope u had a great day. even if u didn't get a love confession or any of that other bullcrap, ill give u all the loving replies u want, best i can rlly do yknow. so ye, love you <3 stay safe out there, have good day or night, sleep well, work hard, stay happy, and thank you for reading cuties. headpats ples.

ps. i might also edit this and remove some things later down the line but ill tell yall if it comes to that. gotta polish sh#t and all that but hopefully it doesn't and i can make everything mesh well