Once Again From Better Days

Morning seems like it comes to quickly. Katsuki wakes up almost as tired as he was when he went to bed, and his eyes are reluctant to open. When he finally manages to pry his eyelids apart, his gaze falls on his homework notebook on his desk. Right, he didn't do it. He has time to scribble answers for about 90% of the questions, and then he has to leave or he'll be late on top of everything else.

Iida scolds him when he skids into the 1-A classroom about 3 seconds before Aizawa rolls through the door in his sleeping bag. Izuku gives him a questioning look. Katsuki shrugs him off, but his attention lingers on the white bandage around his neck. It's just visible above Izuku's shirt collar, but if he didn't know it was there, Katsuki wonders if he'd notice it. Katsuki slips into his seat just as the morning chatter settles down. He can feel Izuku's eyes on the back of his head and tries not to let the feeling bother him.

Aizawa makes a disgruntled face before he explains the absence of the 20th student. Everyone turns to look at Izuku once his name is mentioned. Katsuki scowls back at the concerned look Kirishima gives him.

"There are pro heroes and policemen searching for her now, so I don't want any of you to go looking." 

Aizawa's eyes rest on Katsuki's seat for a moment. When he faces the rest of the room again, he apologizes for the lapse in security. The staff will thoroughly check the system and examine Himura's file for anything suspicious.  In the meantime, students are cautioned against walking around alone, even within the school's campus.

Asui raises her hand. "Is someone else going to be added to this class?"

"Most likely. There are always students who want to get into the hero course." Aizawa looks around the room. "If there are no other questions, it's time for you guys to decide your hero names. A lot of you will go by these names off for the rest of your career, so choose carefully."

The door opens and Midnight walks in. "I'm not good with this kind of thing, so I asked her to help," Aizawa explains.

The moment she steps forward, he recedes into his sleeping bag. They're each handed a board to write their names on. Aoyama hardly waits for her to ask for volunteers, but everyone else needs some time to think. The chatter increases in the room again as people start giving each other suggestions, both real ones and less real ones ("rockhead" for Kirishima or "shocker" for Kaminari or "sticky elbow man" for Sero). Izuku sighs heavily. Katsuki turns halfway around in his seat.

"Didn't you come up with a list of ten or so possible hero names when we were little?" He asks.

Izuku makes a face. "They're all childish. I can't run around calling myself 'Minimight' anymore… or All Might 2."

"Well 'all' is a little ambitious, so what about 'Half Might?'"

Izuku tries to poke him, and he can only dodge partially without falling out of his chair.

"You are not being helpful, Kacchan."

Katsuki shrugs. "I don't know, what do you want to do as a hero?"

"Save people," he answers quickly. "I want to do something that befits a student of All Might's–so something big, I guess."

"Then…you could be 'the next big thing.'"

"No." Izuku sighs. "Just let me think."

Katsuki faces turns around. He watches Iida walk to the front of the room. Iida doesn't have the burden of a legacy like Todoroki does because of Endeavor, but he does have to follow in the footsteps of an older brother who's a relatively well-known and well-liked hero. Katsuki picks up his own board and waits for Iida to sit down. Unlike them, his biggest worry isn't about legacy or even being a hero–not really. His biggest worry is that things will still go wrong, and he'll never turn seventeen–that Izuku will never turn seventeen. He breathes in deeply. If he lives to see himself be a pro hero, maybe he'll try to change his name. But right now, they're entering a battlefield.

The room goes silent when he places the board on the podium. He sees Izuku raise his head and take in every letter he wrote. For a moment, he's almost nervous. Midnight leans in front of him to see what he wrote, and his eye contact with Izuku is broken.

"Greek god of war?" She says as she straightens up. "That's a big name to live up to."