My Hero Academia: Thunder God

Sunday marked the start of a new school week at U.A. High.

"Look, it's Kaminari Denki!"

"I heard his new song dropped today, it's called Blue Bird, right?"

"He's not just handsome, he's smart, strong, and a great singer too. He's perfect! I wish he were my boyfriend!"

"Kaminari is mine! I love him so much!"

As Kaminari and Tetsutetsu rode the Shinkansen to Shizuoka City for school, excited murmurs and fangirl squeals filled the train. The two couldn't even hold a proper conversation amidst the commotion.

"Kaminari, you're way more famous now than you used to be," Tetsutetsu said, looking around at the excited girls. "Just look at them."

Kaminari shrugged lightly, flashing his usual relaxed smile. "You're not exactly invisible either, you know. People talk about you online all the time. Search your name if you don't believe me."

He gestured casually. "It's just that you're with me right now, so it doesn't feel like it. Trust me, once we're back in the classroom, our classmates will probably be all over you, talking about how popular you were."

Sure enough, as Kaminari and Tetsutetsu approached the classroom, they could already hear lively chatter from inside. Kyoka, Momo, Ashido, Midoriya, and others were all discussing the two of them animatedly.

"Good morning!" Kaminari called out, stepping into the room with a smile. His greeting was immediately echoed by the rest of the class.

"It looks like everyone's fully recovered," Kaminari said, hanging his bag on the hook beside his desk and glancing at his classmates.

"Yeah!" Ashido grinned, stretching her arms above her head. "Recovery Girl patched us up right after the festival. And as for mental recovery, all we needed was a good night's sleep!"

"Speaking of recovery…" Mineta suddenly cut in, a mischievous glint in his eyes. "How many girls hit on you today?"

The abrupt question drew amused chuckles from some of the others.

"A lot of girls came up to me this morning!" Mineta added, puffing out his chest proudly.

Kirishima tilted his head in confusion. "Wait, you got approached? But you didn't even make it to the one-on-one matches, right?"

"Yeah, so what?" Mineta said, standing taller. "All I had to do was casually drop my identity while they were talking about the sports festival."

"Identity?" Uraraka Ochako asked curiously. "What do you mean?"

Mineta grinned smugly. "I told them I'm a U.A. student and a participant in the sports festival! As soon as I said that, bam, instant popularity!"

His grin widened as he continued, clearly relishing the attention. "The girls were all over me, asking questions, super excited! It was the first time I've ever been surrounded by so many girls!"

But then his expression faltered, turning sheepish. "…Though, uh, most of them just wanted to know about Kaminari and Todoroki."

A silence fell over the room. Kirishima, Uraraka, and Midoriya all exchanged awkward glances. Finally, Kyoka pulled out her phone, opened the class LINE group chat, and showed it to Mineta.

"Hey, 'Grape,' why don't you just quit the group?" she said flatly, holding up the screen for him to see.

Mineta froze, speechless.

---

Amidst the teasing, no one noticed the unusually quiet presence of Iida Tenya. Sitting in the corner, the usually uptight class rep was uncharacteristically subdued, his head bowed in silence. Normally, he'd be the first to call for order and insist everyone take their seats.

But today, he didn't move or say a word.

---

The sound of the door sliding open drew everyone's attention. Standing at the entrance was their homeroom teacher, Aizawa Shouta.

"Good morning," he said simply, stepping inside.

"Good morning, sir!" the class replied, their voices loud and synchronized.

In an instant, the students scrambled back to their seats, sitting up straight with serious expressions. Kaminari watched the scene with faint amusement.

Asui Tsuyu was the first to notice something different about their teacher. "Hey, Mr. Aizawa, you've taken off your bandages. That's great!"

"It's not a big deal," Aizawa replied, his tone indifferent. "Recovery Girl just overdid it with the bandaging."

Without wasting any more time, he placed a finger against the remote control in his hand and continued, "Let's move on to today's topic. It's part of your Hero Information Science course, and it's… a bit special."

The word "special" immediately grabbed everyone's attention.

"Special?" Kirishima wondered nervously. "Is it going to be some kind of quiz? Or maybe laws and regulations about Hero work? Ugh, that stuff always gives me a headache…"

But then, Aizawa's next words set the room buzzing with excitement.

"It's time to think about your Hero names."

"WHAT?!"

The room exploded with energy. For most of the students, this was a moment they had dreamed of since childhood, choosing their official Hero names.

They'd spent years imagining this day, testing out names in their heads, and now it was finally happening.

---

"Settle down," Aizawa said, his red eyes glowing ominously as his bangs floated with an eerie energy.

The classroom went dead silent. Even Kaminari, who'd seen Aizawa's "look" plenty of times, couldn't help but wonder if his teacher's Quirk had a subtle mental effect. Or was this just an intimidating side-effect of Erasure?

"Now then," Aizawa continued, "this ties directly into the Professional Hero Recruitment Applications I mentioned before."

He pressed the remote, revealing a chart filled with text and numbers on the blackboard behind him.

"These applications won't officially take effect until you've proven yourselves as combat-ready in your second or third year. For now, it's more about Heroes showing interest in your future potential."

He paused briefly before adding, "That said, if that interest fades before you graduate, it's not uncommon for those applications to be withdrawn."

Toru Hagakure raised her hand. "So, basically, the applications are a form of pressure on us, right?"

"Exactly," Aizawa replied matter-of-factly.

Turning to the chart behind him, he gestured at the data displayed on the board.

"Now, these are the application results the school has compiled so far."

---

Hero Recruitment Applications – Class 1-A

Kaminari Denki: 6,589

Shoto Todoroki: 4,123

Tetsutetsu Tetsutetsu: 3,262

Katsuki Bakugo: 1,562

Fumikage Tokoyami: 1,025

Izuku Midoriya: 356

Tenya Iida: 342

Others: 168 or below

---

"Wow…"

The students stared at the numbers in shock. Aizawa, unfazed, continued, "Compared to previous years, this year's applications are heavily concentrated at the top."

"Wait," Kirishima said, puzzled. "Why are Kaminari and Todoroki so far ahead of Tetsutetsu, who placed first in the finals? Isn't the ranking supposed to determine applications?"

***

For every 500 PS = 1 extra chapter. Support me on patreon to read 55+ advanced chapters: patreon.com/Blownleaves.