Chapter 15 : Before the Exam

Today was the day. The License Exam day. Every one was filled with all sorts of emotions ranging from anxiety to excitement.

"Man, I can't wait to see you up there!", said Kukeiko in a cheery way.

She was with Izuku in his room. She knew how big this day was to him and the rest so she decided to pay him a visit. Izuku was putting on his hero costume.

"I'm sorry for before."

"You shouldn't feel sorry for getting sick."

"I meant that I'm sorry for not believing you'd ever be a hero.", said Kukeiko laughing.

Her voice was shaking although she was laughing.

"Don't say that..."

"Neither mum nor I believed in you. I know that your quirk is from All Might, but I shouldn't have given up on you. I have never thought I'll get to watch you take the License Exam."

Her cheery face was long gone. She was looking down at Izuku's feet, then looked at him in the eyes and started crying. Izuku was startled to see Kukeiko act this way. She was never really the one to be emotional and even though they shared a room, tears were something that were almost unseen of. This must've been the reason why she has adapted the overly cheery persona. Before, yes, she was optimistic, but she mostly kept a poker face and had laughing outbursts only here and there, or, when no one else in the room was smilling. But... we all cry from time to time.

"I'm sorry for saying these right before the damn exam!", chuckled Kukeiko still crying.

"Ah!D-Don't worry! This won't affect my performance at the exam! Really, it's oke..."

"Just do your best and beyond at that exam! I'll be watching!"

"Sure!... wait what?! You can watch?!", said Izuku as he flinched.

"Midnight-sensei told us it would be better to watch the exam unravel not only because it's entertaining and a way to take a break, but also to get ideas for future support items. Items that can boost quirks or outright mimic them!"

"Makes sense..."

"But don't worry. I won't be cheering or anything. I'll let you focus. We are not allowed to be a distraction."

"Understood."

"Welp, I'll be walking around my dorm. Maybe read for a while."

"I wanted to tell you. Kendo-chan, class 1-B's president, told me that she has seen Monoma coming from the room you were being nursed in."

"Mhm... Did she ask you to tell me?"

"Yes."

"Thanks! Good luck, Mighty Jr.!", said Kukeiko, giving him a thumbs up.

"Thanks!", said Izuku giving his sister a confident smile.

She went outside and towards 1-B's dorm which wasn't very far away.

'So Monoma visited. It was that boy whom I saw at 1-A's dorm a while ago. Poor boy... I mustn't have been looking good. I hope he's alright. Anyways, we still have three hours so one more hour left to talk with him. Hopefully I can find him in the dorm.'

She was walking through admiring the green grass, the tall, slow moving trees, the ambient sound of the leaves throughout the wind and the chirping of birds. Kukeiko than remembered Izuku's smile. That confident smile. She was so happy, starting to hop and smilling till her ears.

'He'll be a true hero!'

The girl was now at 1-B's gigantic front doors. She pressed the doorbell. It didn't take long for the doors to be opened by none other than Monoma himself.

"Good morning, Monoma-kun!", said Kukeiko with a soft voice and smile.

The boy's face immediately lighted up.

"Midoriya-chan! You're alright!" and went forward to hugging the girl.

Kukeiko hugged him back saying

"Man, you were really worried, huh?"

He let go of her, still very excited and happy.

"Why are you here?"

"I've been told you visited me while I was ill and weren't looking so good. Immediately realised that you were worried and came here to make you feel better! Especially that today it's the License Exam! It would be a shame if you came to the exam without a good mood!"

Monoma's face softened.

"So I see this is your hero outfit, right? What's your quirk?"

"Copy. I can copy someone's quirk if I touch them and can use it for only 8 minutes.", he said regaining the confidence that was usually heard in his voice.

"Woah... so cool... and your hero outfit is really classy. I like it!"

Monoma smirked at this remark.

"Talking about fashion, aren't you warm?", he said while pointing at her sweatshirt and scarf.

"I am! But Recovery Girl told me I had to wear warm clothes so I can heal faster without using as much medicine."

"Understood."

"I'm going to go now. Good luck at the exam! I'll be keeping my fingers crossed!

Plus Ultra!", exclaimed Kukeiko throwing a peace sign high into the sky.

It was rather strange as everyone would raise their fist... not a peace sign. She was one of a kind.

After so many hours of nursing, visiting the boys and walking around, she finally arrived to her dorm.

'Just pick the essentials. Your book, first aid kit, a notebook and a pen. Oh! And my headphones. A must-have!'

"You're well!", exclaimed Akihiro while giving Kukeiko a firm and strong handshake.

'How long have I been out? Everyone's just hella worried.'

"Nice to see you too, buddy! Are you excited for the License Exam? How many of us will come?"

"Actually, it'll be only you, Hatsume-chan, and I."

"What about the rest?"

"They said they have more importanting things to do."

Kukeiko pouted at this. It was expected as the attendance at the exam was optional, but she was indeed hoping more from her dear classmates.

Akihiro started laughing all of a sudden.

"What?"

"I love the sweater!", pointing at her baby blue sweater that said "Smile!". Kukeiko started laughing as well.

"Well it sure works! It totally made you smile!"

The two were walking together towards the minibus. Mei was already inside dead asleep. The ride to the exam centre took about 30 min in which Kukeiko listened to music, Akihiro played on his game console and Mei still sleeping like a baby. Accompanied by Midnight, the three students wondered around, talking to students from other schools and admiring their surroundings. At some point, Kukeiko noticed a girl staring at her for a while now. She had blonde hair and puffy lips and she wouldn't take her eyes from her. That was akward. After 5 min, the 2nd year student finally looked away from her.

'What's wrong with her? Was it my heavy clothing on this hot day that made her stare like that?'

Sensei took the trio aside and gave them a paper which told them the seats they were allowed to ocupy.

"Please don't wonder off on your own. Go to your seats and stay there. You're obedient students so I expect you will respect these rules, alright?"

"Yes!", said the three in unison and went on their way to the humongous stadium.

"Wait, why is there a cube in the middle?", asked Mei, filled with confusion.

She got no response. The three budies were staring at the cube...

"What in the world is that?"

"Look guys, we can wait another 30 min and we'll see!"

"30 minutes?! We're not waiting that long."

"Sensei asked us to follow a very simple rule: stay in our seats. It's not hard at all. We don't want to get in trouble, do we?"

Mei and Akihiro got bad in the seats pouting with disappointment.

They really were curious, but so was she. If there's a cube, just laying in the middle of the exam camp that was filled with landscapes, buildings and so many others. This will be one tough exam.