To Find A Needle In A Haystack.

The rest of the few days Atsushi was sick went fairly normal. Akutagawa taking care of the weretiger and their classmates sending get well soon cards. Now, it's time for the two to get back to classes now that Atsushi is better and off the drug Shibusawa gave him.

The two walk into class, only for it to erupt into chaos. Multiple people rush out of their seats to fret over Atsushi, overwhelming the poor silver-haired boy with their questions and loud voices.

"Oh my god, Atsushi-kun, are you alright?!"

"What happened, man?"

"Kinda scared us when Aizawa-Sensei said you had been attacked."

"Are you ok, Atsushi? Would you like some tea?"

Atsushi desperately looks around to try and find a way out of this situation, his mounting panic making it hard for him to breathe. Then, he feels a firm hand on his shoulder steer him to his seat, and he relaxes as he notices Akutagawa is the one getting him out of there.

"Can't you fools see that your questions are overwhelming the weretiger? Show some respect. He just got better." Akutagawa snarls, and the whole class shuts up. They all hurry back to their seats and get seated just as the bell rings and as Aizawa walks into the classroom.

"Welcome back, students. Today we will be discussing," The teacher takes a long breath, sighing as he exhales, "internships."

The class breaks out into excited cheers, some already talking about who they want to intern with. However, the noise cuts off at one glare from the tired pro-hero.

"Internships are a chance to get in the field experience, as well as other facets of hero work we can't teach here. Yaoyorozu, Iida, please hand out these packets to everyone. These are your internship lists, so look through them and decide which hero you want to intern with. Choose wisely, and pick a hero you think will help you in the future." With that, Yaoyorozu and Iida pass out the packets, some significantly thicker than others, and people break off to continue the next bit of homeroom talking about internship offers with their friends.

Atsushi looks down at his packet, noting that there are a lot of heroes on here that he doesn't know very well. He'll probably have to do a lot of research later if he wants to find the right fit, but oh well. He starts going through the ones he does know, however, but is startled out of his thoughts when someone coughs behind him.

"Jinko, should we stay together for our internship, or head off to different places?" Akutagawa asks, and Atsushi doesn't know.

"I don't know. We should ask Dazai-San what he wants us to do, and then go from there. Which offers are you thinking about taking?" Atsushi asks as he turns around to face the mafioso. The other male sighs, glancing down at the paper.

"There are a few top-ranked heroes here. Endeavor, Best Jeanist, Edgeshot, and Kamui Woods." Akutagawa states blandly, and Atsushi hums in interest.

"That's impressive. You got offers from four of the top ten. The only top ten offers I got were from Endeavor and Miruko." Atsushi says with a sigh, resting his cheek in his hand. It takes a few seconds, but the two notice that the classroom has gone near silent. They look around confused, and then Midoriya pipes up.

"You got an internship offer with Miruko? She never takes interns." The greenette says in bafflement. Atsushi nods, a little confused.

"What do you mean, Midoriya?" Atsushi asks, tilting his head to the side in a way that gives the impression of a lost kitten. A few of the girls coo at the sight, but no one seems to notice them.

"I mean that getting an internship offer with Miruko is unheard of! She's a solo hero without even an agency." The boy says, waving his hands a bit. A few others in the class chorus their agreements, some even saying that Atsushi is extremely lucky and that he should take the offer. After a few moments, the weretiger sighs and rests his head on his arms.

"I'll think about it." Is all he says before ignoring the rest of the class. He hides his face, closing his eyes to block out the light and trying to focus on something other than the loudness of the classroom.

The rest of homeroom passes in a similar manner, and the rest of their studies go on as usual. Atsushi is mildly struggling with math, same with Akutagawa, but both excel in English. In that regard, they're almost top of the class.

When Foundational Heroics start, Aizawa already looks done with everything. To be fair, that is the teacher's normal expression, but the sentiment still stands. Atsushi swallows nervously, and he wonders why exactly the feel of the room is just the tiniest bit off.

"Class, before you decide who you're going to be interning with, you have to pick-"

"Hero names!" Midnight strolls into the classroom, her hero costume on and cutting off Aizawa.

"They're pivotal to your career. You can change them later on, but it will be harder to if you make a big splash during your internships or work studies later on. I'm here to help you choose so you don't get stuck with something like Eraserhead." She continues, smirking and giggling while Aizawa groans behind her. Hero names?! Atsushi hadn't even thought of that! What would he choose? What was Akutagawa going to choose? He is forcibly knocked out of his spiral when something pops into his head. He quickly scribbles down his idea on the whiteboard, a small smile on his face.

After a while, Midnight claps her hands to signal that their time is up. There are so many cool names! There's Deku, Uravity, Red Riot, and a ton of others. Soon, Atsushi goes to stand up at the podium, and flips his board around. On it, in neat, black kanji, is Byakko.

"My hero name will be Byakko." Atsushi says with a confident voice, his smile bright and hopeful. Midoriya matches his smile, hand shooting up in the air.

"Is it because of your quirk? You said it allows you to transform into a white tiger, which Byakko is." Midoriya asks, and Atsushi nods. That had been part of it. Ever since he learned of his ability, he had thrown himself into learning all he could about it, and that meant even the lore behind the animal. It was an interesting deep dive, one he couldn't stop talking about for a couple of weeks.

Akutagawa is next, and last, to go. Akurei is written on the board, and Atsushi has to stifle a giggle. He vaguely remembers the mafioso referring to himself as Diablo when fighting that religious guy from the Guild. Seems he decided that a more traditional Japanese hero name would go over better with the masses, and more people would understand it.

"Akurei? Don't you think that's a bit too frightening, Akutagawa-kun?" Midnight asks, clearly pensive about the name choice.

"That's the point, Midnight-Sensei. I plan on going underground, so it's better to have a name that will make villains tremble in fear when they hear it, rather than something that will gain me any points in a popularity poll." Akutagawa drawls, coughing a bit into his hand after speaking. Nobody says anything more on the topic, deciding that it's a good enough answer for now, and Akutagawa goes back to his seat. The bell rings, and both teachers leave the room so that regular classes can start.

Atsushi is so excited for internships, and to talk to the other members of the agency! He was supposed to give a report after the Sports Festival, but that obviously didn't happen. He shrugs off the thoughts as Present Mic comes in for their English lesson.

Akutagawa is less excited. He can't stop thinking about Shibusawa. He was certain that he had killed the man, but then the body was just gone? It makes no sense, and it sets the mafioso on edge. Then there was the whole Stain thing that happened. He glances over at Iida, noting the other boy's tenseness since the incident. Maybe he should ask about if he should keep an eye on the kid, considering he looks like he might just go off the deep end. He'll have to ask Dazai when the weretiger gives that report.

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Authors note:

AAAAHHHHHHH I'M ALIVVVEEEE

I'm so sorry I didn't post sooner, life has been kicking my ass a lot, and school is a lot more time consuming than I thought. Also writers block sucks. My upload schedule should be a wee bit more constant now that I'm getting back to major plot points, and winter break is coming up, but please bear with me in everything.

As always, drink water, eat food, and love yourself <3