Yo, and welcome back to this wonderful story that has very inconsistent updates, especially since it is Summer, but hey, don't expect too much from me. I'm just trying to do my best in the meantime.
Anyways, a few people did answer the question that I had asked in the previous chapter, which kind of made me slightly irritated since I kind of expected more responses, but hey, I can't force you guys to answer my questions. But, I'll ask it once more here, do you want each name to be named, like in every action anime, and in MHA, or just me describing the attack without the character actually saying it? Do leave your answer in the reviews, or PM me.
Oh, and another thing, I'm still looking for some beta-readers that would like to help out with this story. So, if you'd like, then feel free to do so.
Another major topic, I MIGHT be posting this on AO3, since a couple of my friends prefer that site over this one, so I may upload this story there and continue with the rest of my stories there. SO, do let me know if you want to see the transfer from here to AO3. I hope you give your opinion.
One last major topic, my Fire Emblem story and Fused Hero. As for my Fire Emblem story, I've put it off for literally a long time, and I'm devoting myself to getting that out. I'm just wondering if I should post it on AO3, which ties back to the previous question. If people want me to go to AO3, I'll probably still update the story on both of the websites. Fused Hero, haha, well...that story is not discontinued. The main issue with it is I feel like a dug myself in a hole with it, again… So, don't be surprised when I redo it a third time after I've thought it through thoroughly. I want that to be a great story since I love Persona and SMT, so expect something to happen with that story. I may even revise the first chapter and release a second update to it as well. Anyways, hope you'll put up with my discombobulated self.
Hmm, what else? Eh, the usual, do enjoy the chapter and I hope you do enjoy the chapter. If there are any ideas for this story or any of my stories really, then feel free to express them. This is probably a rude request, but please do read through to the latest chapter of this story before giving critics. It helps when the reviews and such are pinned to the latest chapter, really helps to view them.
Anyways, I hope you enjoy this chapter and we'll keep the same routine, through and through!
Also, I'm very sorry for the late updates, not really an excuse, butI've been putting this off for a bit. Anyways, now it's time for the chapter!
Chapter 23: The Exams and Beyond
When Midoriya made it back to the testing site that everyone else was at, he ended up following Recovery Girl to the observation room, where everyone's progress was being monitored. He saw both Mina and Ojiro watching the action spanning across each of the screens. They both turned once they heard Midoriya's footsteps and waved to their classmate before turning back towards the screens once the greenette was close by.
"Heya Midoriya!" Mina greeted him with her usual spunk.
"Greetings Midoriya, I take it you finished your exam just now, correct?" Ojiro asked. Midoriya nodded and skimmed through the different screens, taking extra time to watch such as Yaoyorozu, who was behind some kind of barricade as lasers were zipping past here. With her was a dummy robot that looked like it was cowering in fear as if mimicking an actual bystander. He then saw her create a smoke grenade and tossed it in front of her before creating a full-body riot shield and escorted the robot away from the danger zone. A marker was placed on the ground where Yaoyorozu escorted the robot to, and then a siren horned in, signaling what appeared to be a completion indicator. Midoriya then looked over at a screen that had Todoroki on it, and it looked like he was holding a collapsed building with his ice while similar-looking, like Yaoyorozu's, were crawling out from the surrounding wreckage.
"Are these exams mimicking hero work and various scenarios that we may come face to face with?" Midoriya asked, looking over at Ojiro and Mina.
"Yeah, at the start of it, we are given a set of directions through the intercoms and we follow them. On the way, numerous scenarios happen in random succession." Ojiro explained. Midoriya nodded and turned back towards the screen.
"If that's the case and the rest of the class is still on their exams, why are the two of you here?" Midoriya asked, and he swore he could hear slight coughing and choking from Mina while Ojiro laughed nervously, causing Midoriya to raise an eyebrow at his classmates.
"Both of them failed in aiding the citizen bots that Hatsume created. Mina ended up destroying the citizen robot while she was clearing a path through an unstable environment while Ojiro got farther than her, but his robot ended up falling while he was scaling a building." Midoriya turned and saw Aizawa walking up to them, several clipboards in hand.
"There is also a physical/combat aspect of the exam towards the end. Initially, we were planning on having each of you guys engage each other to observe and decide rather or not you have improved your quick control, or that your awareness and ability to handle a situation." Midoriya nodded before looking back at the other two students in the room.
"I did pretty well against Hatsume's combat shell, or whatever she called it. It was crazy strong, and it felt like it was reading my every move! Luckily, I was able to catch it off guard and melted it to goo. Hatsume was pretty upset about it though…" Mina said. Midoriya nodded and looked at Ojiro, who also stated that he was able to beat the combat shell. He had explained that it fought as if it was a counter to his combat style, forcing him to change up his strategy and was able to beat it.
"Hmm, so Hatsume has been really busy as of late, but wouldn't put it past her to be extremely excited to produce something new. I wonder how she managed to give the combat shells the ability to adapt and to put up a challenge. Plus, I was under the assumption that the faculty was going to be the ones that they had to fight." Midoriya thought as he went back to watching his classmates take the exam, faintly hearing Aizawa and Recovery Girl engage in conversation, but couldn't make out what the two were saying.
"I forgot to see you off, but I have some business I need to take care of, so do be ready for the upcoming training camp. And, remember what we discussed on the way back. You'll need to stay alert from here on out, as I fear something out of our control will happen. Anyways, do have a good day, my champion." Amaterasu's voice rang through his mind before fading away, leaving her words for Midoriya to ponder what's going to happen during this training camp. Of course, he wanted nothing to happen during the training camp, but with the increasing activity from the League of Villains, the incident in Hosu with Stain and the Nomus, and the increasing amount of crimes happening around Japan, this is something he needed to be wary of. Midoriya clenched his fist as he looked at each of his classmates through their respective screens as they continued their exams, some reaching the combat phase of the exam as they readied themselves against Hatsume's combat shells.
"Now that I think about, Hatsue can be very dangerous is she can construct combat shells that can provide a challenge against some of the members of Class 1-A, I wonder if Kendo and Class 1-B are going through something similar," Midoriya mumbled to himself as he took out his notebook and began scribbling his observations of Hatsume's creations, looking through each of the screens. He watched Kirishima's brawl with his robotic opponent, both of them matching each other's strikes, currently at a stalemate. He then transitioned over to Iida, who was running in circles around the robot, before bursting in quickly towards the mechanical puppet. He kicked at the robot, intending to hit the central area of the shell, but the robot evaded the attack and punched right at Iida, who blocked it and contorted his body to carry the weight of his missed attack to launch yet another kick. Midoriya turned his attention to Todoroki's screen only to see the combat shell completely frozen, but there was a faint glow that engulfed the shell and it slowly began to melt away at the ice. Todoroki already saw what was going on and launched ice spears at the robot's exposed head, colliding with the intended target, but there wasn't any visible damage to it as the ice stayed on the head of the robot and began to melt. The icy-hot hero trainee huffed in annoyance before looking around and spotted wires near where the robot was standing. Keeping his eyes on the combat shell, he sent fireballs and shards of ice while eyeing the opportunity to give the robot an electrical shock. He waited while the combat shell melted his eyes, a sizable puddle began to form around the robot's feet. When the robot was out of its ice confines, Todoroki quickly summoned an ice sword and dashed for the wires, but quickly skidded to halt and summoned a dense ice wall in front of him as small explosions rang out in front of him. The combat shell began firing lasers at an increased rate, destroying Todoroki's wall quickly. Midoriya looked down at his notebook and began furiously writing on the pages, noting the different behaviors of each of the combat shells from observations. He was so engrossed with his notebook, he failed to notice the presence lurking right behind him. Midoriya then heard maniacal laughter right behind him. Before he could turn around, he was smacked on the back by a surprisingly strong slap, causing him to drop his notebook.
"How's it hanging, Midoriya?" Hatsume asked with a big grin on her face. Her face dirtied from creating all of the combat shells, but the excitement and enthusiasm radiated off of her that it also put a smile on Midoriya's face as he bent down to pick up his notebook.
"I'm glad to see you're doing great, Hatsume. I'm impressed with your combat shells, seeing them in action is something else." Midoriya told her, causing her to beam at him before talking out a juice box and began sipping on it. The doors to the observation room opened and Todoroki and Iida walked in, waving towards their classmates before joining Midoriya and Hatsume.
"I feel like I outdid myself once again! It was fun creating very specific and unique babies for each person of your class. All that observation and specs that I acquired from watching every one of you was simply fantastic, although, I am saddened that you didn't get to battle against your combat shell, Midoriya! I spent an extra amount of time making sure yours was a bonafide badass!" Hatsume said, disappointment clear in her voice when she spouted the last bit but was quickly overshadowed by a massive grin. Midoriya chuckled before patting Hatsume's shoulder.
"I'm sure you did. If it's alright, I can come by the workshop and test it out for you. I'm sure you'll be able to obtain data and information that will help you with upgrades to my equipment, no?" Hatsume grinned and nodded furiously before taking out her phone. She fiddled with it for a couple of minutes before shoving it right in Midoriya's face
"How does this Saturday sound?! I'm sure I can get Teach to let me use the workshop and a simulation site." Hatsume said giddily.
"Oi, what's with going on, eh Midoriya? Hatsume looks like she is about to burst into her eccentric mode when she constructs something." Midoriya looked up from Hatsume's phone and saw both Shiozaki and Shinso walking over to them, both sporting some dust splotches on their faces and their combat uniforms.
"It's good to see you, Midoriya. I take it your exam went well?" Shiozaki asked as the two walked up to him. Todoroki and Iida both nodded to them, which they reciprocated, before going back to talking about the exams and what they did.
"Yeah, it was very tough, but I managed to pass it. I assume both of you passed it as well?" Both of them nodded.
"Yeah, but my quirk certainly didn't help, had to rely on my capture tool and good ol' hit and run tactics," Shinso said, scratching his neck before taking out his ripped capture tool.
"It certainly took a beating. What about you, Shiozaki?" Midoriya watched Shiozaki's expression mold from her usual calm and stoic expression to a grimace as she reached for her hair, twirling it aggressively.
"Oh, she had to go up against fire, and it ended up setting her hair ablaze after she let her guard down." Shinso snickered as Shiozaki glared harshly at him, which sent chills down Midoriya's spine. Shinso just continued to snicker as Midoriya patted her on the back before looking as the rest of the class was beginning to pile in, along with several of the teachers acting as proctors. Yaoyorozu saw Midoriya and the rest of the group and rushed over, giving a quick hug to Midoriya before greeting the others.
"I'm glad you're doing well, from the look of things." She said, beaming at him. He smiled back while watching the rest of the class entering the room, from Mineta complaining about something while Kirishima and Kaminari were talking to Mina, Ojiro, and Hagakure. Midoriya wondered what Hagakure's combat shell was like. The rest of their classmates grouped up and talked about what happened. Midoriya saw All-Might and smiled, waving at his mentor. All-Might grinned before his facial expression changed to a more serious look before motioning towards the door and walked out of the room with Midoriya in tow. Shinso and Shiozaki watched as their third group member exited the room, concern painted across Shiozaki while Shinso brought his hand to his mouth, pondering what was going to happen.
Midoriya walked out of the observation room and looked around for All-Might until he looked up and saw him on one of the simulation site's rooftops. The hero waved over. Midoriya nodded, closing his eyes before closing his eyes and Light Stepped over to him, landing gracefully by the mentor. When Midoriya opened his eyes, All-Might reverted to his old form, the familiar lanky-build man appeared and was quick to wipe the blood that trickled out of his mouth.
"Listen, kid, we need to talk about One For All. As you can see, my transformation is beginning to decrease in time. That is the effect of passing OFA to you, young man. But, it is a result I am willing to accept if it means that someday you will surpass even me and bring this world to a brighter future, one that is brighter than ever before." Toshinori said, bringing out a juice box and started to drink from it. He tossed one to Midoriya, who thanked him and began sipping on it.
"I am assuming that your OFA energy will diminish soon. So what does that mean now? What will happen in the future for you?" Midoriya asked. Toshinori sighed before gazing up at the sky.
"I suppose I'll have to retire being the #1 Hero and being active as a hero. Suspicions of OFA will skyrocket and the threat levels of villain activity will also increase significantly, I am sure of it. Midoriya, the road ahead will be treacherous, and I'm sorry for putting that burden on you, but I'm certain that you will be victorious in your efforts." Midoriya listened in, contemplating his mentor's words. The thoughts bearing through his mind, however, his mind was already made up and he wasn't going to shy away from this. He was already in too deep and he accepted the fact that he was taking on a much bigger role when he accepted the quirk of OFA and the reality of the situation settling in for him. The dangers of having OFA, and the numerous people that will be targeted because of his affiliation with the quirk. He clenched his hands as his mind wandered through the number of people dear to him: His mother, his classmates, Hatsume, Kendo, Yaoyorozu. He needed to overcome the dangers to protect them.
"This is just like the hero movies and TV shows I watched when I was younger. Now I understand the feelings in those movies. What a turn of events for me." Midoriya sighed softly before walking up to Toshinori's side.
"I don't see a reason for apologizing to me. I accepted OFA knowing that there were bound to be challenges along the way. It'll be tough, but I know we'll be able to continue in your light, to the hero world, and the whole world. I swear it." Midoriya said with conviction, causing a small grin to form on Toshinori's face.
"Kid, you are starting to sound like me in my younger years, what a small world this is. But, I'm glad your conviction is brighter than ever. Don't worry, I still plan on helping you cultivate OFA even after time as All-Might is over. So, you won't be getting rid of me that easily, young man. You'll have to put up with me for a while." Toshinori laughed and slapped Midoriya's back, hard. The boy cried out in surprise as he dropped his unfinished juice box, and watched it drop to the ground. The boisterous laughter of the Pro-Hero continued as Midoriya sighed before chuckling softly.
"Ah, I see the two of you are here." The two of them turned to see Principal Nezu standing there with a cup in his hands.
"Principal, what is it that you need?" Toshinori asked.
"Oh, I need you to come with me to go over the exam scores and to discuss the training camp for the hero courses. Of course, we will be giving you the details later once they've been decided upon, young Midoriya. Good work today as well." Nezu said before walking off, leaving the two. Toshinori nodded and patted Midoriya's back.
"The wheels are slowly turning Midoriya, be ready for anything." He said to the boy before leaving him all alone on the rooftop. Midoriya held his gaze at the door before turning back to see the sun beginning to set and rubbed the back of his neck, letting out soft breaths before dangling his arms on the railing and closed his eyes.
"The training camp, huh? Wonder what's going to happen there…"
And done! Two months and some days and it is finally done! I apologize.
Anyways, I hope you enjoyed this chapter.
Once again, I'm looking for a beta-reader, and also thinking of doing a cross-platform with AO3 for this story and all of the other ones to come!
I appreciate everyone who has stuck with this story for the longest, shoutouts to you!
If you have any ideas and stuff, feel free to leave a response.
I also have discord, been trying to find some good anime and gaming discords.
My other stories should come out soon, should…
It's been fun, hope everyone is safe, and I'll see you in the next chapter!