บท 28: Chapter 28: Names

It's only been the 3rd day since the official start of the school year of Mega Academy. Riley's class, Class 1-V, has not even had a normal lecture and has only been doing combat exercises.

And yet, it almost felt like it had been a year for her. Meeting Riley, finding out he is Darkday, her and her mother's life being threatened, being seen almost completely naked by Riley, kissing him-- all of these might as well be spanned in a year.

But no, it only happened in the span of 2 days. And perhaps the craziest part would be that Mega Academy itself allowed her 'relationship' with Riley, completely making her 'Turn Dark into Light' plan fail miserably before it could even start.

But now, all of that is over. Since there was no use in pretending to be a couple with Riley, she was no longer going to lead him on or make any inappropriate advances. Right now, the only role she was going to play was his instructor, nothing less, nothing more.

She had also spent the entire evening researching about Mega Woman and her whereabouts, asking different colleagues and such-- but they all held the same answer; none of them knew. They know she is being kept in a very strict facility by the government somewhere, but knowing their reach, she could be anywhere from America to the Philippines.

Heck, she might even be on the moon.

"..." And now, without any leads, Scarlet Mage could not help but be slightly anxious as to her next private meeting with Riley. If he knew that she was lying to him and that she didn't really have any information… would he choke her again?

"!!!"

Scarlet Mage quickly shook her head off of the thoughts she was having. Choke? Why did she go straight to that conclusion instead of Riley just killing her? This… is dangerous.

"Ms. Scarlet Mage?"

"Hm?"

"What… are we going to do today?"

"R… right!" Scarlet Mage quickly stood up from her seat as she realized that all of her students were now right in front of her; and instantly, without knowing it, her eyes found their way towards Riley; who was lazily looking at her with his cold, alluring blue eyes that looked like the clearest of skies.

And as soon as their eyes met, Scarlet Mage could not help but quickly look to the side, before clearing her throat and explaining their activity for today.

"Hero names."

And like a bell that woke up each member of the class, all of their eyes turned to look at Scarlet Mage.

"All superheroes have it, our whole identity is based around it. But rarely, do we get to choose our own names," Scarlet Mage then walked around the stage as she looked at the excited faces of her students, "Mine was chosen by the masses, Scarlet Mage."

The students started to cheer upon hearing her name. Scarlet Mage, however, shook her head with a sigh.

"That wasn't actually the name I wanted for myself-- I wanted to be Shinebright."

"Pft," The sound of Gary's snort quickly echoed throughout the room, causing some sort of domino effect that made the other students also let out a small and tiny chuckle; but still, they all tried to cover their mouths so as to not disrespect their advisor.

Silvie quickly shushed, her eyes traveling all around the class as she tried to stop them from laughing; however, in truth, she too was trying her best not to let out a snicker. Perhaps the only one that didn't have a reaction to hearing this was Riley, who seemed to even be nodding his head in agreement.

"It is fine to laugh," Scarlet Mage then shook her head as she let out a smile, "I know how lucky I am that I didn't go through with the name, or else I would be greeting all of you with Shinebright every day."

"Pft!" Gary couldn't help it anymore as he slammed his palm several times on his desk as he burst out in laughter. This time, however, he was the only one that laughed as the rest of his classmates stared at him.

Who even laughs at that kind of joke? But as soon as they remembered Gary's actions yesterday, most of them quickly came to the conclusion that he was just crazy. In fact, one could even say that Riley was now starting to look like the normal one between the two-- one might call him cool.

As a matter of fact, Riley saved some of them yesterday. If it wasn't for him blocking Gary's heat vision, then the ones directly in its path would have surely been injured, or dead. They should probably find a chance to thank him soon.

"Alright, that's actually all I am here to discuss for today," Scarlet Mage then suddenly picked up her things from her desk, "You can wait here or come back in two hours, but Spectacular Mustache Man would be the one supervising the name selections, I suggest you start drafting names now. Dismiss."

And without even waiting for any questions, Scarlet Mage quickly took off.

"...That was abrupt," Silvie could not help but comment as soon as Scarlet Mage left the room, "This is looking more and more like a battle school, isn't it, Riley?"

"It sure is!"

The one that answered Silvie, however, was not Riley, but instead one of the members of the telekinetic group, Bella.

"Especially in your perspective, Ms. Sevelievna," she said as she stood directly in front of Silvie's desk, "I heard you sent the people challenging you into a duel to the clinics again yesterday."

"You… are the one that fainted during the exercise yesterday?" Silvie tilted her head as she tried to remember the name of the boyish girl in front of her, "Ms. Bella, isn't it?"

"...Please forget that memory," Bella chuckled awkwardly, "But yes, the name's Bella. But you can just call me Bell, I am also Riley's friend."

"None of you are my friends," Riley quickly said.

"Oof, cold," Bella sniffled, "And I also heard what you did when I was unconscious. My brother ended up winning in our group… but we both know if you were there, things would be very different."

"I hear my beautiful name being slandered!" And as soon as he was mentioned, Ben danced his way towards their location, stopping right in front of Riley's desk, "And because of that, my dear sister, I will not be sharing you my 1000 Mega Points."

"What!? Not fair, that should have been mine in the first place!" Bella quickly stretched her hands towards Ben. Ben, however, quickly dodged all of her strikes.

"...They are quite a chaotic bunch, aren't they?" Silvie leaned closer towards Riley.

"They are," Riley nodded, "It's as if my sister was split into two people, then sprinkled with a little Gary on top."

"That's… a weird way of putting it," Silvie muttered before glancing at Gary, but quickly avoiding his eyes as soon as he looked at her.

"..." Gary also didn't do anything, as he just sat quietly in his seat. The two really had not gotten the chance to talk yet about the incident that happened yesterday, and with Riley sitting in between them, that wasn't going to happen anytime soon.

"S… shouldn't we be talking about what our hero names would be?" He then joined in on the conversation before letting out an awkward chuckle.

"What about Micro Man for you, my dear berserker?" Ben covered his mouth before letting out a burst of somewhat coquettish laughter, "As for me, I have already thought of my superhero name even before enrolling here, I want my name to be--"

"Wolframtein."

Bella pushed her brother away as she crossed her arms, "I shall be known as Wolframtein, inspired by the strongest metal known to men!"

"There isn't even an ounce of romance in that name!"

"..."

Silvie could only turn her head from side to side as the twins in front of her started to argue. But a superhero name… Silvie has not really thought of one. Her powers, along with the members of her group, closely resembled that of Mega Woman's; but it's not like she could just go with Mega Girl. That… doesn't sound too nice-- Silvie thought as she leaned back on her seat.

"Gah! Let's think about this later!" Bella then slammed her palms on Silvie's desk, causing her to slightly flinch in surprise, "We have two hours left until the exam anyway, let's go buy some things with the points that my brother got yesterday!"

"What!? Why me!? Shouldn't it be Silvie here treating us!?"

"What are you, a leech?" Bella quickly smacked Ben on the head, "Can't you see she's trying hard not to spend any of her points?"

"What, why?" Ben squinted his eyes as he looked at Silvie from head to toe, "What's the use of your unlimited points if you're not using it!? It is such a crime not to indulge yourself in the wonders of free things."

"Because a superhero would never take advantage of his or her status." And, out of nowhere, Silvie suddenly stood up from her seat as she faced not only Ben but also the rest of the class,

"The unlimited points that I have are not for me to abuse, but to protect. I hold unlimited points because right now, I am the top student; and being the one closest to being the next Mega Woman is not just based on strength, but also the will to do what is right," Silvie continued her impromptu speech, "I am sure that once I buy all the things that I wanted, the Academy will revoke my title-- because that's not what superheroes do."

"..."

"I told you so," Bella once again knocked Ben on the head, "Even I would do the same as her. But still, as expected of the Mega Student, suddenly lecturing all of us plebs out of nowhere," she said before letting out a small chuckle.

"S… sorry," realizing what she just did, Silvie quickly sat back down. Someday, she was sure that her competitiveness would get her into trouble. And before she could even lament her sudden outburst, she heard a clap whisper into her ear.

She quickly looked towards the direction of the cheer, only to see Gary clapping his hands and smiling at her,

"I really can't beat that," he then said before quietly mouthing an apology towards her. Silvie, who saw this somewhat sincere action, could only nod her head.

And perhaps because of her sudden speech, the whole classroom became quiet.

"..."

And surprisingly, it was Riley who broke the silence.

"Interesting," he muttered as he looked at Silvie, "Everything you said reminded me of Mega Woman, Silvie."

"R… Really?"

"Indeed. If there is a name that will fit you the most, I believe it should be…

...Mega Girl."

"It kinda fits, doesn't it?" Gary furrowed his eyebrows. And it wasn't only him, the rest of the class were also nodding their heads in agreement, letting out sighs of approval.

"N… no," Silvie took in a gulp as a small sweat appeared on her forehead, "Starbright seems nice, right!?"

"..."

"...Guys!?"