Jinya's hand stayed exactly where he'd extended it.
Fushiguro looked at it for a long moment. Then at Tsumiki. Then back at Jinya.
"No."
Jinya's eyebrows rose, just slightly. It was the first genuine reaction Fushiguro had gotten out of him all night. "No?"
"Not that." Fushiguro's voice stayed flat. "I'm not joining anything. I'm not training under you. I'm not agreeing to be clan head, or whatever you're actually offering underneath all of that."
"Then what are you agreeing to?"
"The internship." Fushiguro said it plainly, like he'd already decided this part several minutes ago and had just been waiting for Jinya to stop talking long enough to say it. "One week. I get to see what the clan actually has. Archives, resources, whatever you claim you can do for her." His eyes flicked to Tsumiki and back. "That's it. That's the whole deal."
"And after the week?"
"I decide then. Not now."
Jinya studied him for a moment, hand still hanging in the space between them, unhurried. He didn't look disappointed. If anything, something in his expression suggested he'd expected exactly this.
"You think you can become a proper hero without any of this." It wasn't a question.
"Yeah."
"You're probably right." Jinya finally lowered his hand, tucking it back against his side like the gesture had never cost him anything at all. "That's not really the point, though, is it. You're not doing this because you need us. You're doing it because you'd be an idiot to turn down free information when someone's handing it to you."
Fushiguro didn't dignify that with anything.
"One week," Jinya said again, testing the shape of it. "I can work with one week."
"That's not permission for anything."
"I didn't ask for permission." He moved toward the door, unbothered, the whole conversation clearly having gone somewhere he considered acceptable regardless of what Fushiguro thought he'd just won. "I'll have someone contact your school about the arrangements." He paused with one hand on the door. "You'll find the offer waiting whether you read every page or not."
Then he was gone, and the hospital room went back to being just a room, machines humming, Tsumiki sleeping through all of it the way she slept through everything now.
Fushiguro stood there for a while after the door clicked shut. He picked the gold medal back up off the nightstand, turned it over once in his hand, and didn't put it back around his neck.
'One week,' he thought. 'That's all this is.'
He didn't entirely believe himself. He put the thought away anyway, the same place he put most things he didn't want to look at directly yet, and sat back down beside Tsumiki until visiting hours forced him out.
...
The first problem with winning the U.A. Sports Festival was that everybody had watched him do it.
Fushiguro realized that less than three minutes after stepping off the train the next morning. He'd gotten halfway across the platform when a salaryman walking the opposite direction slowed, looked at him once, then doubled back.
"Excuse me. You're Fushiguro, aren't you?" The man pointed at him like he'd just confirmed something important. "From U.A.! You won the Sports Festival!"
He'd said it loud enough that three people nearby turned at the name alone.
"Oh, you're right!"
"That's him!"
"The shadow kid!"
Fushiguro stared at the gathering crowd. 'Shit.'
A little boy pushed between two adults, eyes practically glowing. "That giant snake, was it real? Can you summon it right now?"
"No."
"Why not?"
"Train station."
The boy considered that seriously. "Oh."
A woman beside him laughed and held up her phone. "Can we get a picture?"
"No, sorry."
"Aw, come on, just one-"
"You beat Bakugo, right?" someone else cut in before she could finish. "That final was insane."
"The copies you made against him," another voice added, "were those actually clones, or something else?"
"What was the elephant called?" a third asked, talking over the second.
"THE TODOROKI MATCH WAS THE BEST ONE OF THE WHOLE TOURNAMENT!" someone shouted from further back, apparently just needing that on record.
Fushiguro stood in the middle of all of it and reconsidered several life choices at once.
His name was out there now. That had been the point. The Sports Festival existed because professional heroes watched it, and winning meant agencies knew him, scouts knew him, people with resources and information knew exactly what he could do. He'd wanted the visibility. He just hadn't factored in that visibility came with civilians stopping him before eight in the morning.
"Fushiguro?"
He looked over. Midoriya stood a few meters away, trapped in a smaller but equally enthusiastic cluster of commuters.
"That match against Todoroki, that was incredible!" one woman was telling him.
"You were amazing even though you lost," said the man beside her.
A third, older man had a hand raised like he was mid-lecture. "See, the key moment was when he switched to close range instead of trading Smashes, because if he'd kept trading-"
Midoriya finally broke free and hurried over, a little breathless. "Sorry, that took a while."
"Annoying," Fushiguro said, glancing back at the crowd still dispersing behind them.
Midoriya managed a tired laugh. "Yeah. Didn't think people would recognize us this fast."
Fushiguro didn't answer that. Someone across the street spotted them a moment later and shouted his name, followed immediately by praise for the snake, and he just kept walking without acknowledging it at all.
They kept walking toward U.A. A few minutes later, a familiar figure came marching toward them with his usual rigid posture, though something about every step looked unusually deliberate today.
"Iida!"
He looked up. "Good morning, Midoriya! Fushiguro!"
Midoriya slowed. "Iida, about your brother-"
"If it's about my brother, there is no need to worry." The words came out clean. Too clean. "I apologize for worrying you needlessly."
"Iida..."
"I'm fine." He adjusted his glasses. "We should hurry. U.A. students should always arrive at least ten minutes early."
"There's still time before the bell," Midoriya said.
"Exactly!" He marched ahead without waiting for a response.
Midoriya watched him go. So did Fushiguro. Iida's shoulders were too stiff. His voice was normal. His face wasn't. Neither of them said anything about it. They just followed him toward school.
...
Class 1-A was louder than usual, which was saying something.
"So many people talked to me this morning!" Ashido said, practically bouncing beside her desk. "It's completely different once they put the matches on TV!"
"Same!" Kirishima said. "Some guy at the station told me my fight was manly!"
Sero slumped over his desk. "Some elementary schoolers saw me and said, 'Don't worry about it.'"
"Don't worry about it, Sero," Tsuyu said, completely deadpan.
"You're not helping."
Kaminari leaned back in his chair. "One day. That's all it took. We're celebrities now."
"Some of us more than others," Jiro said, and several heads turned toward Fushiguro, who'd just sat down.
Kaminari leaned across the aisle immediately. "How many people stopped you?"
"Didn't count."
"More than ten?"
"Probably."
"Twenty?"
"Why are you keeping score?"
"Because you won the biggest first-year event in the country!"
"WHO GIVES A SHIT?!" came from two rows over. Every head turned toward Bakugo, already glaring before anyone had even looked at him.
Kaminari grinned slowly. "You do."
"I'LL KILL YOU!"
The classroom door slid open, and Aizawa walked in. "Morning."
Everyone snapped forward. "Good morning!"
Tsuyu blinked. "Your bandages are gone, sensei."
"Recovery Girl went overboard." He dropped a stack of papers on the desk. "More importantly, we're having a special Hero Informatics class today."
The room tensed. "Special?" Kaminari asked.
"Is it laws?" Kirishima asked, sounding genuinely worried.
"Code names."
Silence. Then the whole class erupted. "WE'RE PICKING HERO NAMES?!"
Aizawa waited for them to burn themselves out, which took longer than he clearly wanted. "This is related to the professional offers from the Sports Festival. Drafting normally becomes more serious during your second and third years, when agencies can judge whether you're ready to contribute immediately. Offers to first years are mostly expressions of interest in your future potential."
The board behind him changed. Numbers appeared. The room went quiet fast.
At the top: FUSHIGURO MEGUMI: 6,418
Below it: TODOROKI SHOTO: 4,307
BAKUGO KATSUKI: 3,781
Then the numbers dropped sharply, Tokoyami, Iida, Yaoyorozu, Kaminari, Kirishima, Uraraka, Sero, everyone else scattered further down with smaller totals.
Kaminari stared at the top line. Then at Fushiguro. Then back at the number. "That's disgusting."
"What is?"
"YOU HAVE SIX THOUSAND OFFERS!"
"So?"
"So?!" He pointed furiously at the board. "You have more offers than some agencies probably have employees!"
Ashido leaned over her desk. "You could spend the whole internship just rejecting people."
Bakugo's desk creaked beneath his hand. Fushiguro glanced toward him. Bakugo caught it instantly.
"Don't fucking look at me."
"Wasn't saying anything."
"YOUR FACE WAS."
Todoroki barely reacted to his own number at all. Yaoyorozu turned toward him. "That's incredible."
"They're probably because of my father."
Aizawa continued before the discussion could derail further. "Whether you received an offer or not, everyone will participate in an internship. Students with offers can select from the agencies that requested them. Everyone else will choose from forty participating agencies around the country."
"Internships," Midoriya said, half to himself.
"You've already experienced real combat," Aizawa said. "That doesn't mean you understand professional hero work. This will give you a chance to see it firsthand."
The room immediately became interested again. Folders began passing through the rows. Fushiguro opened his. The first several pages were exactly what he expected. Major agencies. Regional agencies. Rescue specialists. Combat specialists. Teams focused on urban response. Names he recognized even without caring much about hero rankings.
Endeavor Agency. He moved on.
Best Jeanist Agency. Next.
Edgeshot Agency. That one made him pause slightly. Stealth, movement, capture. Useful. He continued.
Gang Orca Agency.
Ryukyu Agency.
Several dozen other names followed.
Then he reached one page and stopped.
ZEN'IN AGENCY
Agency Head: Zen'in Naobito
Fushiguro stared at it longer than the others. The name sat there like it had already been decided the night before, because it had. His face gave nothing away. He turned the page anyway, out of some habit that had nothing to do with actually reconsidering.
Before anyone could get too deep into comparing agencies, Aizawa gathered the class's attention again. "We'll come back to internship selections later. First, the code names."
That was enough to pull most eyes away from the folders.
Kaminari straightened immediately. Kirishima looked considerably more interested than he had when he'd thought Hero Informatics meant laws. Even Bakugo stopped glaring at the offer board long enough to pay attention.
Aizawa reached for another stack of materials. "These are temporary for now, but there's a good chance the name you choose here follows you into your professional career, so don't treat it like a joke."
The classroom door slid open before he could continue.
"You'll have hell to pay later if you do!"
Midnight swept into the room with enough enthusiasm to make it obvious she'd been waiting for her cue. She struck a pose in the doorway before walking toward the teacher's desk, earning a mixture of cheers, confusion, and one exhausted look from Aizawa.
Kaminari glanced between them. "Were you waiting outside just to do that?"
Midnight smiled without answering him.
Aizawa sighed. "Midnight will be approving your names. I'm not suited for this."
Ashido tilted her head. "You can't judge hero names?"
"I didn't choose mine."
That immediately started another round of questions until Aizawa explained, with visible reluctance, that Present Mic had been responsible for giving him the name Eraser Head years ago.
Fushiguro looked toward the door.
That explained more than it should have.
Once everyone settled, Aizawa continued. "The point is to give yourselves something to grow into. A name creates an image, both for the public and for you. Think about what kind of hero you want people to see when they hear it."
Midnight began passing white boards and markers down the rows. "And preferably give me something I can actually approve."
That warning lasted less than a minute.
Aoyama volunteered first.
By the time he finished presenting what was essentially an entire sentence, half the class was shouting that it didn't count as a name and Sato was arguing that he should at least pick one language. Midnight somehow managed to shorten it into something usable, which only encouraged Ashido to jump up next with Alien Queen.
Midnight rejected it almost immediately because of the association with acidic blood.
Ashido returned to her seat looking betrayed while the rest of the class laughed.
Tsuyu restored some order with Rainy Season Hero: Froppy, a name Midnight praised for being friendly, memorable, and suited to her. Kirishima followed with Sturdy Hero: Red Riot, openly acknowledging Crimson Riot as the hero who inspired him. Midnight warned him that carrying a name connected to someone he admired would bring expectations with it, and Kirishima accepted that without hesitation.
From there the presentations found a rhythm.
Jiro chose Hearing Hero: Earphone Jack, Shoji settled on Tentacle Hero: Tentacole, Sero became Taping Hero: Cellophane, Ojiro picked Martial Arts Hero: Tailman, and Sato went with Sweets Hero: Sugarman. Ashido returned with Pinky, which Midnight approved much faster than her first attempt.
Kaminari spent long enough staring at his board that Jiro started offering increasingly insulting suggestions before he eventually settled on Stun Gun Hero: Chargebolt. Hagakure chose Stealth Hero: Invisible Girl, while Yaoyorozu Momo presented Everything Hero: Creati with enough seriousness to make it sound like a formal oath.
Todoroki Shoto simply wrote Shoto.
Midnight asked if he was sure about using his own first name. Todoroki said yes, and that was apparently all the explanation anyone was getting.
Tokoyami Fumikage chose Jet-Black Hero: Tsukuyomi, which suited him so well nobody questioned it. Mineta picked Fresh-Picked Hero: Grape Juice, Koda quietly presented Petting Hero: Anima, and Uraraka Ochaco chose Uravity.
Then Bakugo stood.
The atmosphere in the room changed before he even reached the front.
Kirishima was already smiling.
Bakugo slapped his board down hard enough to make Midnight glance at the desk before reading what he'd written.
King Explosion Murder
Midnight looked at him for a long second. "No."
Bakugo stared back. "What?"
"No."
His expression twisted. "WHY NOT?!"
"Because you're choosing a professional hero name, not announcing a murder spree."
Kirishima lost it. "Just call yourself Explosion Boy!"
Bakugo rounded on him immediately. "SHUT UP, SHITTY HAIR!"
Midnight sent him back to his desk to reconsider before the argument could become physical, though Bakugo continued complaining all the way to his seat.
The laughter took a while to die down.
Fushiguro barely noticed.
His board was still blank.
He'd listened to everyone else's reasons without finding much use for them. Kirishima had chosen a name tied to someone he admired. Todoroki had stripped things down to his own first name. Tokoyami's fit the image he'd already built around himself.
Fushiguro didn't have anyone he wanted to imitate, and he didn't care about sounding impressive.
His gaze drifted to the shadow beneath his desk.
That was the only part that mattered.
For years, he'd understood Shadow Constructs as a collection of separate pieces.
Each shikigami had a purpose, and he summoned the one that fit the problem.
The Sports Festival had started breaking that idea apart.
Well's Abyss had combined abilities that were never supposed to overlap. Great Serpent had changed its scale when he'd forced more into it. Rabbit Escape had stopped producing rabbits and created copies of him instead. Max Elephant's water had appeared without the elephant itself.
The creatures weren't as separate as he'd assumed.
Maybe they never had been.
Different forms, different functions, all coming from the same shadow.
Fushiguro uncapped the marker and finally wrote.
Midnight finished approving another name and looked around. "Anyone else ready?"
Fushiguro stood.
That drew more attention than he expected. Winning the Sports Festival apparently meant even something as mundane as his hero name had become interesting.
Kaminari leaned forward over his desk. "I've been waiting for this one."
Fushiguro ignored him and walked to the front.
Midnight gave him an expectant smile. "All right, champion. Let's see it."
He turned the board around.
The Shadow Hero: Chimera
The class went quiet just long enough for the name to settle.
Kaminari was the first to react. "Okay. That's actually really cool."
Ashido leaned sideways for a better look while Jiro considered the name with a small nod.
Midnight read it again. "The Shadow Hero: Chimera."
Her attention returned to Fushiguro. "I'm guessing the creatures are part of the reason."
"Yeah."
"Part of it?"
Fushiguro glanced at the board before answering. "They're changing."
That got Aizawa's attention too.
Fushiguro didn't elaborate much beyond what the class had already seen. His shikigami could combine, their forms weren't always fixed, and during the Festival he'd started using individual functions without always manifesting the complete construct.
Midnight's expression became more thoughtful as she looked back at the word.
"So the name describes the whole system instead of any one summon."
"Pretty much."
She smiled. "Then it works. It's memorable, it fits the Quirk people already associate with you, and you're not locking yourself into one particular ability."
She tapped the board lightly.
"Approved."
Fushiguro turned back toward his seat.
Tokoyami watched him pass. "Chimera. A creature composed of disparate beasts."
"Yeah."
Tokoyami gave a solemn nod. "Fitting."
Coming from him, that was practically enthusiasm.
Fushiguro sat down and placed the board on his desk. Across the room, Bakugo had already produced a second attempt.
Lord Explosion Murder
Fushiguro looked at it.
Bakugo caught him immediately. "What?"
"Nothing."
"The hell are you looking at, Chimera?"
Fushiguro paused at the name.
First time anyone had actually called him that.
It sounded fine.
Then he looked back at Bakugo's board. "Still sucks."
Bakugo shot halfway out of his chair before Aizawa's capture weapon wrapped around him.
"Sit down."
"LET ME GO!"
"No."
The room broke into laughter again while Fushiguro looked down at his own board.
The Shadow Hero: Chimera.
He could work with that.
The exercise continued once Bakugo stopped trying to escape Aizawa's scarf.
Only Iida and Midoriya remained.
Iida had barely touched his board throughout the presentations. When he finally stood, the name he showed Midnight was simply Tenya.
She asked whether he intended to use his first name like Todoroki.
Iida confirmed that he did, offering nothing more.
Fushiguro watched him return to his seat. The same stiffness from that morning was still there, carefully hidden underneath everything else.
Midoriya went last.
He looked nervous when he reached the front, though the uncertainty disappeared once he turned his board around.
Deku
Several students reacted immediately. The name carried too much history for anyone who knew Midoriya and Bakugo not to.
Midoriya admitted that he'd hated it for most of his life. Someone had changed its meaning for him, though, and he no longer heard only the insult behind it. For him, it had become something closer to the idea that he could do it.
Uraraka went noticeably still when he glanced her way.
By the time Midoriya declared Deku his hero name, Midnight approved it without hesitation.
Fushiguro leaned back in his chair as the boards around the classroom settled onto desks.
Froppy. Red Riot. Creati. Tsukuyomi. Uravity. Deku.
Chimera.
Names they might still be carrying years from now.
His eyes dropped briefly to the shadow beneath his desk.
The Shadow Hero: Chimera.
...
Once the class finished picking hero names, Yaoyorozu stopped beside his desk.
"Have you decided?"
"Yeah."
She looked surprised. "You already narrowed down over six thousand offers?"
"Didn't need to read all of them."
"Which agency?"
Fushiguro pulled one page free and set it down. Her eyes dropped. Then widened slightly.
"The Zen'in Agency."
Several nearby conversations immediately quieted. Kaminari turned around. "You got an offer from them?"
Kirishima leaned over. "That's huge." It was. There wasn't anybody in Japan who didn't know the name Zen'in. The clan had produced professional heroes for generations. No other hero family in the world possessed the same combination of numbers, history, money, and influence. And at the center of it sat the Zen'in Agency.
"That's an incredibly selective agency," Yaoyorozu said.
Fushiguro nodded once.
"Why them?" Tokoyami asked.
"It's the best agency there is."
That was it. Nobody pushed further. It wasn't the kind of answer that invited more questions, and Fushiguro didn't offer any.
...
Aizawa looked down at the form.
FUSHIGURO MEGUMI
FIRST CHOICE: ZEN'IN AGENCY
He looked up. Fushiguro stood on the other side of the desk.
"Zen'in."
"Yeah."
"Reason?"
"They know something about my quirk."
Aizawa's eyes sharpened. "Did they tell you that?"
"Yeah."
"When?"
Fushiguro paused. "Recently."
Aizawa stared at him. Fushiguro stared back. Neither blinked. Aizawa had spent enough years working underground to know the Zen'in name meant more in certain circles than it did on a hero ranking board, the kind of reputation that didn't get discussed in public interviews, and that alone was reason enough to take the answer seriously rather than dismiss it.
"Be careful," Aizawa said finally, and signed the form without waiting for a response. "I'll be checking in."
Fushiguro left without arguing that part.
...
Internship day arrived. Class 1-A gathered outside U.A. with costume cases and luggage.
Aizawa stood in front of them. "You have your costumes?"
"Yes, sir!"
"Keep them packed while you're in public. Don't lose them. You're representing U.A. while you're working under these agencies, so mind your manners."
Ashido raised a hand.
"Yes, sir?"
"...Yes, sir."
"Good. Go."
The class began breaking apart almost immediately. Tokoyami headed toward Kyushu. Uraraka toward Gunhead. Todoroki had already left for Endeavor. Bakugo was walking away like the rest of them were slowing him down merely by existing.
Iida adjusted his luggage and turned toward his platform. Midoriya hurried after him.
"Iida!"
He stopped. Midoriya hesitated for a moment, then smiled. "If you ever feel hopeless, make sure you let us know."
Iida stared at him.
"We're friends, right?"
A brief pause. Then Iida nodded. "Yeah."
Midoriya smiled. Iida turned and continued toward the train. Neither of them knew how much that conversation would end up mattering.
...
Most of Class 1-A had already left when Kaminari noticed Fushiguro still standing near the curb, costume case beside him.
"Fushiguro?"
"What?"
"Aren't you going to miss your train?"
"No."
"Then how are you getting there?"
An engine answered him. A long black sedan turned into the U.A. drive, understated in the specific way expensive things get understated, and rolled to a stop directly in front of Class 1-A.
Kaminari blinked. "Woah."
Ashido leaned toward him. "That's not yours, right?"
"Obviously not!"
The driver's door opened. A man in a dark suit stepped out, walked around the vehicle, and opened the rear passenger door.
The man who stepped out of it needed no introduction. Midnight, who'd been speaking with Aizawa near the entrance, stopped mid-sentence. Kirishima stared. Yaoyorozu's eyes widened. Even Bakugo, already halfway toward leaving, turned his head.
Zen'in Naobito. There were few active heroes in Japan whose faces were more recognizable. Current No. 6 Hero. Head of the Zen'in Agency. Patriarch of the largest hero family in the world.
Naobito straightened his coat. His eyes moved across Class 1-A, then settled directly on Fushiguro.
"No way," Kaminari said.
"He came here himself?" Kirishima asked.
Yaoyorozu just stared. The head of the Zen'in Agency did not personally collect first-year interns. Not even Sports Festival champions.
Naobito walked toward Fushiguro. Fushiguro's expression flattened.
"You didn't have to come."
Several heads turned. "They know each other already?" Yaoyorozu said, mostly to herself.
Naobito smiled. "I felt like getting out of the house."
Fushiguro clearly did not believe him.
The driver moved to open the opposite rear door. Naobito walked past Fushiguro and paused beside it.
"Come."
Fushiguro picked up his case. Behind him, Class 1-A continued watching. Bakugo's eyes narrowed. Kaminari looked like the unanswered questions were physically hurting him.
Fushiguro reached the car. Naobito rested one hand against the roof.
"Let's go." He waited exactly long enough to make sure everyone left was listening. "Great Nephew."
Silence. Absolute silence.
Fushiguro stopped. Kaminari's mouth fell open. Ashido froze. Kirishima blinked twice. Todoroki's head snapped toward Fushiguro. Yaoyorozu stared between the two of them, the implications connecting faster than she could say them.
"What?" Bakugo said.
Fushiguro turned his head slowly toward Naobito. The old man looked delighted.
"You damm old man."
Naobito laughed and lowered himself into the car. For one long second, Fushiguro considered turning around. Too many faces. Too many questions.
He got in anyway. One week. That was the whole deal, and he intended to hold himself to exactly that much of it and not one day more.
Kaminari finally recovered. "WAIT!"
The driver started closing the door.
"FUSHIGURO, YOU'RE RELATED TO ZEN'IN NAOBITO?!"
The door shut. Inside the car, Fushiguro stared straight ahead. Naobito was still smiling. Outside, Class 1-A collectively lost its mind.
The sedan pulled away from U.A.
...
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150 PS By Saturday = Bonus Chapter on Sunday
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