The next morning, the lockdown has been lifted, and the students return to class. No intruder has been found.

Sensei McCaffery lowers himself into his chair and stretches out his bad leg in front of him. He clears his throat to do the weekly announcements. "So, I'm sure you're all aware that after the Sports Festival, we usually send students off to intern at different agencies. This year will be no different. While these aren't official work studies, consider them practice for that in future years. We have a list of agencies that are open and willing to accept all our first year hero course students." He brandishes a packet of paper from atop a large stack.

"In addition to this, other agencies have requested certain students specifically. If you have gotten any of these requests, that information will be at the back of your packet. You are not required to accept those specific offers, but you must pick one from your packet. By Wednesday, in fact, so the administration can alert the proper heroes and schedule transport."

He adjusts his wooden cane across his lap as whispers of excitement spread across the class. "These internships will begin on Saturday and will last for one full week, and you'll return on the subsequent Saturday. Lodgings will be provided for you at the agencies. You will bring everything you need with you, including your hero costumes."

The teacher picks up his stack of papers. "Araya," he calls seat number one. "Pass these out, if you would?" Over these past weeks, the boy in question has gotten used to distributing papers for his teacher when he doesn't feel inclined to stand. He's perfectly fine with the job, though, and accepts the heavy stack without protest.

"You will look through these and choose an agency you would like to intern with, then fill out the sheet on top and get that to me by the end of the day on Wednesday. If you have any questions about heroes, feel free to ask any of the staff. Frankly, I wouldn't be the one to ask since I haven't been here long. Besides, you've all got phones, haven't you?"

Araya passes out all the packets and resumes his seat at the front of the classroom. Their teacher moves onto his next point. "Now, with the internships sending you lot into the field for a taste at real hero work, you're gonna need some hero names."

The class doesn't bother to tame their excitement at the announcement. Takara bounces in her chair, her packet of internship offers momentarily forgotten, and makes wide eye-contact with her friends.

"If you would like to begin brainstorming, you have the rest of homeroom to do so," he further explains. "Then at the end, if you have a name, you can present it. But you've got a few days, so no rush."

Takara immediately pulls out her notebook and starts jotting down ideas. Okay, so jade is green, she ponders. Maybe I could make a play on words with some sort of green. She begins by listing every shade she knows. Mentally combing through all the shades in her colored pencils and other art supplies, she makes as long a list as she can.

She's only narrowed it down by a few when they finally head to their first class of the day. 1-A migrates to the science labs, and Takara can be seen skipping with Aiya's hand clasped tightly in her own.

"Any ideas for your hero names?" she asks those around her.

Morita tucks a stray curl behind her ear, almost distracting Takara enough that she doesn't hear when her friend says, "I have a couple ideas, just have to decide which I like best. You?"

"Trying to narrow down the list I've made." She brandishes her notebook to demonstrate the length of said list.

"Damn," Araya exclaims from over her shoulder. Aiya peers over at his exclamation. "You've got your work cut out for you."

Takara scans her list with pride. "I just need to decide what feels right! One of these names will click with me, I'm sure of it."

"I totally feel that," says Morita. "When you know, you'll feel it. It'll feel like you."

"How poetic," Araya quips, sending her a smirk. He has to dodge her hand in return.

They enter Chemex's lab and are just about scared from their skins at her exclamation, "Congratulations! You all did wonderfully at the Sports Festival!"

After calming their racing hearts, the group splits up to take their assigned seats at the lab benches. It's rare that Chemex is this energized before their class. Takara has no doubt she's been awake for a while, still searching in the futile effort by the staff to find that intruder.

However, the teacher doesn't care to enlighten the students on the situation, instead launching right into her lecture for the day. Next to Takara, Morita rifles through her backpack. Her actions become more and more frantic as Chemex delves into the titration they'll be working on today.

Takara glances down at the girl's bag to see it overflowing with dog-eared papers that become even more crumpled as she continues. "Do you have a pencil?" Morita whispers to Takara.

The brunette swiftly grabs one at random from her pencil case and passes it over. When their fingers brush mid-transfer, Takara finds her eyes flicking over to her friend. Morita's face glows in thanks. She sends Takara a bright smile before lowering her head over her notes.

Takara watches the girl's curls sway with the movement. She thinks back to when Morita tackled her the other day, glowing like a supernova.

"Remember to center the flask so you don't get any half-drops," Chemex's explanation begins filtering back into Takara's sluggish brain. She blinks down at her blank sheet of paper to refocus herself.

Even so, her thoughts remain on the Sports Festival and the image that's been burned into her eyes with her friend's brilliant glow. Through the dark, Morita was there, fighting her. Her hair billowed behind her, curls glowing like coals. The girl can't help but wonder how she'd capture the heat and the glow in a picture. How certain paints and colors could be blended to achieve it.

Stools screech around her, and Morita sends Takara a warm smile. "Let's get started," she says. Evidently, the class was instructed to begin the lab, but Takara's brain is lagging behind. She doesn't want to let go of the picture; she wants to put it on canvas. The effect this girl has on her is dizzying.

She gives her friend a grin in return, studying the blended greens and browns of her eyes. "Let's do it!"

•°•☆•°•

The image has sprung from her brain and onto the canvas.

At least, as a sketch.

Once she thought of drawing Morita, there was no turning back for Takara. Instead, the idea burrowed deeper, consuming all thought. She couldn't think of a better subject for her first big painting since coming to U.A.

Now, Takara stares at the sketched lines of Morita's arms, the angles of her shoulders, and wonders where to begin. She's painted images of her friends before, moments frozen in time in her head, but this feels different. This could be her greatest painting yet. With the opportunity to be a masterpiece, she doesn't want to mess it up before she even begins.

A project like this is sacred to break ground on.

The girl looks down at her speckled tubes of paint. She picks up one and twirls it between her fingers. Viridian, the label says. It's a dark shade of green, a slight tone of blue cooling it.

"Warm tones," Takara mumbles, shaking her head. That, she knows for sure. Any picture of Morita would have to be warm to truly capture her glow in every sense.

And yet...Takara's hand pauses before she can set the paint down. The shadows around them were cold. She remembers the brisk wind as it pulled at her. With Endo's blue light, the sentient shadows always seemed a sort of cold black to her.

The girl examines her canvas, seeing where the shadows will creep in at the edges, only to be held back by Morita's halo flames. The blank space that will soon be Morita's face takes form in her mind. She can see the gold and the orange in her glimmering eyes. But there's a touch of darkness. They will reflect the shadows she's holding back.

Takara once again brings the tube of viridian paint up to examine it. In her mind's eye, she can see it tracing the bottom of Morita's irises, bringing out the green of her hazel eyes while also acting to show the shadows as they reach toward her.

"Viridian," she whispers, looking once more at her canvas.

And finally, she begins painting.

•°•☆•°•

The next morning, their sensei allows them to prepare for their internships and time in the hero scene.

"Now, your hero name will be something everyone calls you by, so you shouldn't go getting embarrassed by presenting it," McCaffery warns them, opening up the floor for whoever wants to announce theirs.

Takara shuffles around in her seat, eager to share the name she's chosen. Before she can raise her hand, however, another person beats her to it.

To everyone's surprise, Aiya doesn't even wait to be called on, shoving her chair back and striding to the podium with purpose in each step. She grabs a small whiteboard and scribbles on it before turning it around.

"My hero name is Cygni," she states. Something fractured glimmers in her eyes, even as her jaw remains set in an attempt at confidence. "It's a name I–"

But she never gets to finish her sentence because Kaede has launched from her chair to fly across the room and tackle her twin.

Takara leaps from her desk, ready to break up a brawl, only to see them both kneeling on the floor in tears. Their arms twine tightly around each other as they whisper gently. Takara's ears pick up the word "sorry" from Aiya, the sentiment quickly echoed by Kaede.

"Teaching really is a different profession," McCaffery notes blandly, even as he watches with curiosity.

When their sniffles have subsided, they pull each other to their feet and approach the podium together, hands subtly clasped below. Aiya continues with her explanation. "We designed our hero names ages ago when our sister started out in the hero program. We knew we would follow her path and always agreed to be a team." At that, she squeezes her sister's hand. Kaede squeezes back.

"The Twin Star Heroes: Cygni and Lyra," Kaede announces, eyes shining. "Inspired by our actual favorite constellations."

Aiya looks between Takara and Morita. "When you were talking about hero names yesterday and saying how they had to feel right...it hit me that...as a hero, going forward, it feels right to be a part of our team. It wouldn't be right to do anything else."

"So is this whole fight thing finally over between you two?" Ozaki groans.

Kaede shifts from foot to foot, and Aiya tugs on the sleeve of her uniform. In the end, the blonde is the one to address him. "We still have some things to talk through."

Kaede nods her agreement. "We'll go forward being better than we were. I'll be better," she adds quietly.

"Can you two be done already?" Hirose gripes from his seat.

McCaffery shoots the boy a look, but gestures for the twins to return to their seats. "Thank you for sharing. I hope you lasses can patch things up well. Remember, you can come to one of us teachers with any problems."

When the pixies have settled in the back of the room, their sensei invites anybody else to go to the podium. Takara's hand launches into the air, but another student beats her to it.

"Morita, what have you got?"

The girl shakes her hair back over her shoulders and fixes the class with a confident smile over the podium. Takara finds her eyes watching the motion, wondering how to capture it in paint. After scribbling on the whiteboard, Morita turns it so the class can read it as she announces, "The Fire Serpent Hero: Boitatá!" The class gives a few raucous sheers. "It's something that I feel deeply connects me to my Brazilian roots. It's a name I can wear with pride to incite fear and awe in my enemies!"

She flashes another bright smile, and the applause is even louder as she returns to her seat. Takara's hand is already in the air before McCaffery can open his mouth. He beckons her forward. She stands hastily and strides for the podium.

Her hand shakes from her unbridled excitement. She turns the board, her swooping text facing the room. "The Jade Hero," she announces, "Viridia!"

Araya lets out a whoop from his seat, and their other friends join in. Joy bubbles up in Takara's chest. "It's a shade of green, which can be found in my jade." She pauses to wave a hand at the grey-green rocks on her face. "It's really pretty and has hints of blue to it. Blue is supposed to be calming, so I think it'll give people hope when I arrive on the scene!"

She clenches her fist and allows her jade to protrude from it as the class once again applauds. The girl returns to her seat, an energized spring in her step.

More students take the podium.

Araya. "Beastial!"

Ozaki. "Helios!"

Ohara. "Armada!"

Sugita. "Ultraviolet!"

Hirose. "Mosaic!"

Endo. "Aurora!"

The rest of the class announces their hero names, all earning wild cheers and applause. The excitement from the morning alone is enough to propel them through the rest of the day.

In between classes, Kaede and Aiya can be seen walking together, huddled close and speaking in soft tones. Takara smiles as she watches her friends patch things up.

Featured Character: Kaylane Morita
Quirk: Torch
Likes: Pomegranate

Fun Fact: Morita wasn't supposed to be a big character in this book. But when I was still working out the plot, I did a read-along of the first few chapters with the U.A. Storytellers, and they were super adamant about her being Takara's love interest. So I changed things around to give her a bigger role and incorporate her into Takara's friend group more.