Initially, I wanted to do the whole exam in a single chapter but I wouldn't have made it in time for the end of the month and I like to keep my promises when I can, not to mention how long it became. I hope I'll be able to finish the next half soon, in the meantime, enjoy this.
I'd like to remind everyone this is the June exam, not the one we saw in canon (BnHA S4), that was held in September. This means I had to imagine what the old rules might have been (it's explained in canon that the exam's format changed after the Kamino Ward events) and I had to make up many things on my own, from the participants to the trials. Honestly, it wasn't easy, but I had enough fun.
The site of the exam for the Provisional Hero License was huge and already filled with students of various ages when the group arrived.
The girls turned in at the entrance the fake documents and filed papers that identified them as Lita Rose, Raye Qing, Amy Rivers, Mina Dearly, Bunny and Serena Moon.
Officially, they were all from Millennium High, a small private school affiliated to the unknown Hero agency Moonlight Knight, who acted as their patron, who was none other than Mamoru in a white, Arabian-style costume, complete with cape and turban that covered the entirety of his body and most of his face - Nedzu's idea, it seemed. It'd have been comical, had the situation not been so tense. The principal must be having a good laugh at his expense.
Well, Minako surely had a laughing fit when she saw him earlier that morning, and even Rei rose a brow in mild amusement, but that was before they departed.
Now, even dressed in fake school uniforms - courtesy of Usagi's henshin pen and Minako's V-Compact that were rotated among them for the occasion - which covered their Senshi fuku so they could easily get changed without raising a ruckus with their transformations, they felt as if everybody was staring at them, assessing the competition they could poise. At least until the bus from Yuuei arrived and part of the attention not-so-subtly shifted that way.
Usagi restlessly moved from one foot to another «I hate exams» she muttered.
«The air is so tense» Rei added «There are so many energies around it's hard to tell anything apart. There's so much... even if an enemy was around, I'm not certain I could tell»
«Only about 50% of the applicants will pass, which includes the ones in the other exam locations» Ami supplied «The competition is, indeed, high»
Needless to say, they were all on the edge and this didn't ease their nerves in the slightest.
«Okay, listen» Mamoru started, his voice level and calming as always «You have nothing to be worried about. You had enough training...»
«Hardly» Rei deadpanned, a side-look at Chibiusa and Usagi. The youngest stiffened but stuck her tongue out anyway.
«... and worked hard» Mamoru went on, fully immersed in his "teacher" role «The exam is only to see your capability in the field, and we all know you did plenty well so far. Just do what you'd always do and you'll pass without troubles»
«Aye!» they chorused.
Soon the schools started to be called one by one, the documents barely skimmed over - Nedzu told them the digital documentation was checked in advance - and the applicants were pointed to changing rooms - which they used only to store away the fake uniforms - while the teachers were directed to bleachers from which they could watch the exam.
The Sailor Senshi reached a stadium-sized room along with hundreds of other applicants and started to look around.
It was a good thing most of the participants were focused on the Yuuei students, so only a couple of people gave the Sailor Senshi weird looks and even less seemed to recognize them at all, mixed up as they were in the middle of all those colourful and weird costumes. There were even a couple more teams, similarly colour-coded or with matching accessories, so they didn't really stick out, overall.
Mere minutes after, the site filled and the giant screen on one of the walls lit up with the logo of the exam.
«Good morning, aspiring Heroes» a chirpy woman in a sharp pantsuit took place on the podium in front of the screen «My name is Tomonaga Keiko and I volunteered to be part of this session's exam board! As you may know, the one about to take part here is not the only exam session today, so the total number of licenses that will be released today will be divided between the different locations»
There was a murmur among the kids, but nothing more, as no one was actually surprised.
The woman grimaced a bit «You see, society is, how to say it nicely? saturated with Heroes, simply, there are too many around, so not all of you will be able to pass this session. Or the next. Or at all. Honestly, as far as I'm concerned, I think only super-motivated people should become Heroes and be paid accordingly, given Heroes put their lives on the line. If you came here to become popular, you should have tried to be idols, no? I'm not the kind who tells people how to live their lives, but Heroes have in their hands the lives of so many other people, it's not something that should be taken lightly, or seen as a chance like another to gain public recognition and the likes...»
A man about her same age got close and whispered something in her ear, at which she stopped her tirade and nodded.
«Ah, right!» she cleared her throat with a solemn air and added: «In light of recent events, the Hero Public Safety Commission wants to remind you all that any permanent damage inflicted to your fellow participants will mean an instant ban from the exam and it was added to the rules you will be unable to re-try it for the next three sessions should such an event happen»
There was an uproar at the last news, Tomonaga rose a hand «We understand your worries and we'll take into account the nature of the exam itself in this evaluation, but as future Heroes, you need to keep in mind you're supposed to solve problems and save lives, to damage other people is not tolerable»
The protest shut down with an air of gravity. No one was quite sure what events she was referring to, except for the girls, who suspected it could be tied to Hosu's facts.
«Without further ado, I'll explain the rules for the first test, which I call the Mule test» the screensaver with the exam logo glowed brighter «You're going to be given something to protect. You can consider it a vital piece of evidence against a Villain, or medicine you should bring to the hospital, or anything of the sort, that's up to your imagination. In practice, your goal is to bring two target items to a safe house. On each item, there is written the location you're supposed to bring it to, and a light that will turn green when two are in contact» on the screen appeared a map of a mock city split into five zones, with three points each highlighted as "Police station", "Hospital", or "Courthouse".
«You need to deliver both at once to one of the safehouses intended, so you have to wait for the light on both to be green. The intentional destruction of an item, yours or not, means disqualification from this session, so be careful. And this is it! Simple, no?» then she pointed at a set of doors «Now you'll receive your target item, when you'll be done we'll move to the exam site»
Several men entered from the doors with boxes, starting to distribute cylindric-shaped items, about the same size of 50cl soda cans, to the hero-hopefuls.
«But if we're going to get only one each...» Sailor Moon whispered after she got her own.
«You'll have to fight with someone else to get the second» Mars said, turning the cylinder in her hand with a pensive frown. On one end there was impressed "Police station - area 3", the other end had a tiny red light.
«And protect yours at the same time» Venus completed. She was working to twist one end of her chain to cradle the cylinder at her side and keep her hands free. Her own it could be read "Courthouse - area 1". Similarly, Jupiter took off her gloves, slipped the cylinder into one and tied it with the other to hung the makeshift pouch on her waist, doing something similar for her companions so they all could carry the cylinders with relative ease.
They weren't the only ones with this problem: several of the Hero outfits that could be seen around didn't have proper pockets or had too small ones to store the items.
Chibi Moon was trying to lit up the green light on her item, finding out it did so only with direct contact with another, when they overheard a loud whine.
«Shouldn't we show we can fight Villains and stuff?» a kid nearby was protesting. He had a horse face and some wooden plaques on the front of his uniform, a few of which awkwardly risen where he had stuffed the cylinder in.
«You're dumb as always, Mokuba» another nearby scolded, shaking his head «We are each other's Villains in this»
More than a few people turned his way «Uh?»
The Senshi turned too and the one who scolded Mokuba, a tall boy with bright pink hair and dark scales on his body, smirked «It's everyone against everyone. That's why the points system is like that, they want us to fight. Everybody knows the first phase is always a qualifier to halve the number»
«Naa, Tsuchiura, you know because you already tried it twice» a girl from his group mocked.
«Third time's the charm» Tsuchiura replied confidently.
«If you're all settled, please come this way,» Tomonaga said, effectively interrupting the chatter. The examiners moved towards a giant door, which opened automatically, only to reveal a white folding tunnel, like those used in airports or to board cruise ships. The applicants crossed it in tense silence, each scouting all over around, scrutinizing their opponents and where they'd placed their precious tickets to the next phase.
Tomonaga and her assistants stopped at the end of the tunnel, effectively preventing the kids to look outside, then she clapped her hands and the tunnel opened from above and folded automatically, revealing the stadium they were in and the fake infrastructure built for the occasion.
It looked, overall, like the life-sized diorama of a corner of a medium-large city, with tall buildings in the middle, an elevated railway running over it, a fake mountain on one side and something that could look like a lake or sea on the opposite side, connected to a river that ran in the middle of it all. In fact, there was a certain variety of scenarios, even if for the girls, used to the USJ, it was less impressive than it could have been otherwise.
«What more to say? You'll start in two minutes; while we leave, you can choose where to start, according to your quirks and preferences» Tomonaga chirped «Do your best, you all. I'll see those of you who will pass at the next phase! For everyone else is farewell!» she added and the team of examiners left the grounds.
«Encouraging» Chibi Moon snorted under her breath.
«We'll make them see,» Jupiter punched her palm «I suggest a preventive strike»
«And I suggest to get to a higher ground and out the way first» Mars replied, to which the others nodded and ran towards a building not too far and high enough to check the situation around.
The mock city was rather well-done, the target buildings visible from rather afar thanks to giant signs over them, so even those who didn't have a chance to memorize the map could find them with relative ease.
From their advantage point, the Senshi watched the applicants scatter. There was a tension, lingering under the surface, something aside from the competitive streak overflowing from all over around, that Mars was still trying to pinpoint.
«What do we do?» Moon asked worriedly «We're not even going the same way» she added, keeping in mind her instruction "Police station - area 4".
Aside from Mars' "Police station - area 3", Venus' "Courthouse - area 1" and Mercury's "Courthouse - area 4", Jupiter and Chibi Moon were the only ones who had "Hospital - area 2", but only because Minako switched her own with Chibiusa's when the youngest wasn't looking.
Venus shook her head in disappointment «It's like Nedzu-sensei said, the exam is made for individuality»
«That doesn't mean we can't collaborate,» Mercury replied «I'll calculate a route to reach all the goals in optimal time once we'll have our second each. Doubling up the items would have doubled the goals as well, had they chosen a delivery in two phases, but that's fortunately not the case, therefore we should go on a rotation and drop off our items while covering for each other»
«And if we lose some?»
«We won't» Jupiter affirmed.
They quickly elaborated a strategy: Mercury had started to collect data on the possible quirks of their fellow participants ever since they got there. It was a good baseline to know who'd be easier to face for each of them and who'd poise a harder challenge, even though it didn't give her a complete understanding of each and there were blind spots in her data unless she broke into the quirk register, that was, but Nedzu hinted it wouldn't be a good idea to do so too often for several reasons, the most important ones being: first, the register was public but minors and pro Heroes alike had their data protected and police forces were bound to notice if the same non-authorized person pried into the data too often; second because it was good training for her to try and figure out on her own since often it wasn't possible to gather data about Villains before having to face them. In a sense, the exam was a good exercise ground with more variables than simple training for the real work, given it was a controlled environment, all things considered.
«Did you notice what they're doing?» Jupiter asked all of sudden, looking down.
«What do you mean?»
«Many of the other examinees waited to move until a certain group did. Isn't it weird?»
Sailor Moon and Chibi Moon didn't see it, Mars neither because she was still focused on trying to detect any potential danger towards them, but Mercury and Venus nodded.
«I think those were the Yuuei kids. Maybe they think it'll be easier to steal the items from them than do it on their own since, you know, they already know their quirks 'cause of the Sports Festival» Venus guessed.
«That's not our problem» Mercury interrupted «As long as no one comes after us, keep in mind: we need to pass the exam and no real harm will come to the participants, so we don't worry about anyone else, got it? Stick to the easier targets or who attacks us, once we all get both points we'll have to run and play defense. If we hit the time limit, we leave our points to Moon, Venus and Jupiter, in this order»
«Wouldn't it be better if you got them too?» Chibi Moon asked.
«Out there I can work from the sidelines while keeping inside legality,» Mercury assured «We need Sailor Moon to be cleared for intervention, someone to be with her, and at least one of us active in Juuban. Stick to the list, no matter what. We're not in mortal danger here, but out there we could be, so we need to think the long game»
The one she mentioned was a priority list she preventively made, in accord with their old Silver Millennium ranks and other factors. In order, those who had to get the license with absolute urgency were Sailor Moon, who was the strongest healer, then Venus and Jupiter as the primary guard, then came Mars and Mercury, with Chibi Moon left for last since it wouldn't be a big problem for a child to be discharged, should the police catch her. The reason she planned it was in case they had to choose who to let win in one vs one fights if they got pitted against each other, but it worked for this scenario too.
Of course, it'd be preferable if all of them could pass but, worst come to worst, they needed to follow the exact order, Mercury was categorical in this regard.
There was no chance to reply, soon a loud buzzer sounded and a voice came from speakers: «Exam, first phase. START!»
Immediately, the clamour of ambushes and fights started to rattle the arena, one especially close from some flying-quirked applicants who went straight against the Senshi, having spotted them on the roof.
Without hesitation, they jumped out of trajectory.
«Down!» Mercury shouted, and they all jumped down in the small crevice between their building and the next, where the mobility for flight quirks would be hindered.
Not all of them, though: one of the kids launched himself after them even in the small space, strong of his colibrì-shaped wings. He was incredibly fast, just like the bird, and able to skim the fire and electricity attacks aimed his way with swift mobility, managing to rip the cylinder from Chibi Moon's waist.
«Hey! That's mine!» she shouted as they landed.
«And now it isn't» the other replied, ready to fly away.
Venus was quick and launched her chain at the kid's ankle while he was distracted by Jupiter and Mars' combined attack, then yanked, effectively dragging him down. The impact on the ground must have been quite forceful because he stayed down.
«Wooah» the kid exclaimed «For a pretty chick, you sure are strong»
«Aww, I'll take it as a compliment and ignore the insult behind it because I'm nice, unlike you» Venus replied, tying up the kid's hands with her chain and taking both the cylinders from him and passing them to Mercury, who gave one back to Chibi Moon and the other to Jupiter.
«You'll have more luck next time, cutie» Venus winked at the boy who, in fact, blushed a bit, but had a smirk they didn't like at all.
They proceeded to leave the alley, Venus' chain kept elongating - one of the Chain's abilities she rediscovered in recent times - until they'd be at a safe distance so the boy would stay tied up to the staircase they left him at and couldn't follow them.
«If we go on like this we'll pass in no time!» Moon exulted.
Mars frowned «Wasn't it too easy?»
Obviously, a split second later, they were surrounded.
They had a plan for an ambush, of course. A defensive formation was one of the first things Mercury felt the need to improve after Nedzu told them the number of participants expected for the exam and the failure rate.
It was a clean, simple scheme: a line of fire all around them to keep enemies away, light from Venus and Moon to blind them, after which Jupiter could stun them unconscious with her thunders. In case of a quick retreat, Mercury would use her mist, in need of capture, instead, they had Venus' chain and Mercury's ice.
It wasn't a long scuffle. Some of the other kids' quirks were annoying, like one who could secrete a tar-like material and another who could make themselves invisible at will, plus the various strength enhanced, but all in all, they were six elementalists with above-human strength and agility against a bunch of medium-high levels, albeit well trained, quirks.
In a handful of minutes, it turned from all vs Senshi into all vs all with the Senshi being the only compact group, prompted by some of the applicants realizing they could easily take cylinders from the other participants who were already down and leave with their gain, often followed by the victims of the stealth.
At the end of the brawl, the girls had a dozen other applicants tied up in Venus' chain or blocked in Mercury's ice, plus those blocked in the tar from that one kid. Those included the returned colibrì boy, who now sported a minor burn on his arm, and a very angry redhead with diamond nails who kept trying and failing to cut off the Chain.
«What the hell is this made of?!» she asked in frustration when the chaos was over and the girls started to collect the items they needed.
«It's the power of love and beauty, darling» Venus replied, then blew her a kiss «From a pretty girl to another, I'm sorry it had to go this way» and left, walking leisurely towards a still hesitant Sailor Moon.
She nudged lightly at her princess «What is it?»
The other blonde was holding her own cylinder, which still sported a red light, but was looking at the other applicants, trapped as they were «I feel bad for taking the chance from other people. They really want to be Heroes, no?»
«Think it's for their own good,» Mars said, her own two secured targets blinked green once in contact and she slipped them in her glove-turned-purse «The least competent ones are more likely to fail out there and get hurt. Good intentions aren't enough in a fight»
«They can always try again, but we're in a rush. If we won't stop our enemy, I don't think anyone will be able to» Venus whispered, not to be heard by too many people.
Sailor Moon gave in and nodded, took the cylinder from the adversary closest to her and tucked it in with her other one, at which the green light switched on with a "blip".
Then, after a long look at each other, Mars and Jupiter started to melt and break the ice stumps Mercury made around the other participants, who looked at them in hopeful confusion until Venus' Chain got them too.
«We can't really let you follow us and try to steal from us again, but you could get another shot. Once we'll be far enough, I'll call my Chain off» Venus announced to the group of dumbfounded Hero hopefuls before the Senshi took off. True to her promise, she made the Chain disappear once they put a good distance from the site of the scuffle, much to Sailor Moon's relief.
«It'll take us half an hour at best to reach all the goals in order» Mercury announced «That, considered we will surely incur in more fights»
«We'd do better to split up, then?» Jupiter grabbed Chibi Moon by the waist before loose debris from a crumbling building above could hit her. In exchange, the small girl used her Pink Sugar to destroy them and stun a contender a bit further.
«Absolutely not. We're not at all out of danger, we only don't have the need to attack others» Mercury shook her head, then added: «If anything, we'll need to be especially careful the closer we'll be to the goal»
They had to stop abruptly to avoid being involved in the fight of two kids engaged in a rather violent exchange with what looked like laser beams on one side and telekinetically moved rocks on the other.
«What do you mean?»
Mercury guided them onto an alternate route «With the time ticking down and the resources scarce, many will think it safer to take the easy way»
«Is there an easy way?» Chibi Moon inquired, not getting the point.
«Think about it,» Mars blasted a Burning Mandala at a group of ninja-lookalikes who thought could sneak on them, «If you had no points or you were missing one, there is one place where you'll find it for sure»
«The delivery points?» Moon guessed, preparing for a jump over a now broken bridge, taken apart by a metal manipulator who used the bits to encase many other adversaries.
They landed gracefully on the other end and Venus exclaimed: «That's right! If you wait close to the safehouses, you can go for sure steals from those who already have two points and do the delivery in their place»
«It means the delivery points will be more dangerous than the rest right the more people get their items stolen» Jupiter completed.
«If only we could have handled the first point each already!»
«Nonsense,» Mercury reprimanded, ducking to avoid stray shrapnel «First, we'd break the priority list and risk no one passing at all. Rather than safer, it'd be detrimental. Second, if everyone had had the chance to deliver the first item already, there wouldn't be any chance to get the second point for anyone, that's the reason for the double-item system»
They stopped a block away from Jupiter and Chibi Moon's intended delivery point.
«As expected, I can feel many energies hidden around» Mars confirmed, eyes closed.
Mercury tilted her head, checking on her visor «Not as many as I expected»
«Better, no?»
They used the cover of Mercury's Bubble Spray to impede the visual of any possible attacker,. It wasn't quite enough: a burly kid, probably a third year, attacked them anyway, only to be grabbed and put KO by Jupiter in two seconds flat.
«You know, I think we overestimated this exam» she happily said as they all entered the fake hospital.
Jupiter and Chibi Moon showed their cylinders, which lights had turned blue. to the examiner in the room, who nodded and pointed to a door «You qualify. You can go in that waiting room until the end of the phase»
«What? No, we need to go back out»
«That won't be possible, I'm sorry»
«Wait, you mean we can't go back out again?! What about our team?»
«It's the rules. Once you pass, you can't go back out, please, move to the other room or I'll need to register you as failed. For the rest of you, I have to ask you to leave the premises unless you too have a delivery here»
«Damn it» Jupiter hissed, then turned at the others.
This broke their plan, they all knew it. Usagi was supposed to be the last so they'd all could protect her on the way there without worries. But if the team lost a member for every delivery completed...
«We need to go, there isn't enough time and nothing to do here» Mars pragmatically said, nudging the remaining companions out.
«We'll take care of the rest, don't worry» Venus assured, waving a meek goodbye as Jupiter and Chibi Moon, the latter who kept looking back to her future mother, who only launched her a reassuring smile.
Mercury had already called for her visor «I'll reformulate the route. There isn't enough time for us all to pass if we switch order, so...»
«We'll stick to the plan» Sailor Moon interrupted.
«But...»
«You'll be left for last! Alone!»
«I can handle it» she replied «I can make it. You know I'm the quickest of us, I'll run fast enough they won't get me»
«But...»
«Do you have so little trust in me?»
The moment of hesitation was a tad too long for her taste, but she was okay with that. They had been so focused on making strategies centred around her protection they didn't consider Usagi had grown on her own, thanks to the training with Izuku and her father.
Mars pinched her nose «It's not that we don't trust you, we don't want to leave you alone when it can be avoided»
«But it can't be avoided. We need to do this. I want all of us to pass and this is the best way»
The others exchanged a look, mindful of the time ticking and the danger still around.
«Switch cylinders with me, you'll be the next this way» Venus affirmed.
Moon shook her head and put a protective hand on her own items «We decided to go with the plan, now we do»
«Don't be stubborn!»
«We don't have time to argue,» Mercury interrupted «Sailor Moon, switch with me. You surely can do that, you know I prefer to work from the sidelines anyway»
She pouted but had to give in to her Guardians' pressures and take Mercury's second cylinder and switch it with hers. The two locations were only a block away from each other anyway.
The remaining route went without many itches. They were marginally involved in another fight, had to avoid a few other scuffles and were attacked directly only twice, both dealt with in relative ease.
Knowing they couldn't regroup, they just waited until first Venus, then Mars entered the respective target point from the outside, to spare a bit of time.
Once left alone, Mercury and Moon made sure to watch each other's back and arrived at the penultimate goal with relative ease.
«Come with me,» Moon asked. They had used Mercury's mist to cover up for all of them, up until that moment, and knew there could be someone who could see through it or not care, so it was most logical to go in together, even if only one of them was supposed to get in.
As expected, Sailor Moon had to, more or less blindly, kick in the face someone with a bat quirk before they could enter the fake courthouse.
They were spotted by the examiner in charge and Sailor Moon pushed forth Mercury before the blue-haired girl could protest.
«Here she is, now I go»
«What are you saying...?»
«Rivers-kun, correct? You need to move to the waiting room» the examiner prompted.
«But I'm not the one with the items for this...»
«That says otherwise» the examiner said, pointing at her items.
It was then that Mercury looked down at her waist, where the makeshift pouch Jupiter made with their gloves contained the cylinders... and the lights were blue, as they did when they were delivered to the intended place of either.
Which meant Sailor Moon had switched again when she didn't notice!
«Why did you do that?!» she asked, in more than mild panic. There was no way she could send Usagi out there alone! It was already bad her Guardians weren't with her as a complete force, but without even the cover of her mist...
In all answer, she smiled wide «Because I didn't want you to risk your place. We all worked too hard for this»
«But this way the one at risk is you!»
Moon shook her head and winked «I'll be fine. A-okay, I promise!»
Mercury sighed «It's very irresponsible of you» she reprimanded, then sighed: «Run, you only have less than five minutes»
«Yup! See you later» she replied and ran out, keeping up the easy smile as long as she suspected her friend could see it. There was still a lot of mist outside the door, which allowed her to drop the gleeful mask soon enough anyway.
In fact, dropping Mercury off was strange.
Rather, ending up alone was.
It felt like a lifetime passed since she had to face a challenge truly on her own - and even then, Mamoru or Luna had been by her side one way or another - and she didn't like it, but doing otherwise would have jeopardized her friends' chances and she couldn't accept it. Despite the lists and plans, she wanted them all to obtain the License and avoid any troubles with the police. She could endure this alone if it meant having all her friends with her when it truly mattered.
She shook her head and made her first jump down the road as long and powerful as she could. Luckily, her goal wasn't too far or too hard to find.
A bounce on a wall, towards a roof, skirting away all kinds of attacks that barely grazed her, so fast she was pushing herself with all the speed she could muster.
The speaker announcing: "Two minutes to the end" took her a bit by surprise and she almost lost her footing, but she managed to recover.
"Not the time to get distracted!" she told herself.
"When you have a goal, you need to keep your focus on that, but you should also be mindful of everything around you" her father said during one of their last training sessions.
"How do I do both?"
"Practice, mostly. But the human brain naturally takes notice of everything" he tapped on his temple "Things we think we don't realize are actually stored in our memory nevertheless, we're just used to prioritize what we think we need. That's why training must be mental too: to enlarge our perception and allow us to analyze all we perceive"
Usagi had not understood that conversation when it took place, but Mamoru had taken the time to re-explain it to her.
"It's not that I know when you transform, per se" he told her, to make an example she could more easily get "But your transformation has a ripple effect that influences the energy of the Earth and I can feel that to an unconscious level. I didn't realize it for a long time, but that's the reason I always knew when you transformed and how to find you. It was a process I wasn't aware of but it was there: I felt the Earth feel you and I let it guide me. It's the same with everything else: if you feel danger coming it's not always a mysterious sixth sense but your brain picking up signs from around and alerting you"
"So, what Toshi-papa meant...?"
"Is that it's possible to turn the unconscious feelings into conscious alertness. That must be your goal, to be more aware of what happens around you, even in a fight that focuses your attention. It's the best way to avoid accidents and the likes or know when something wrong is about to happen"
No time like the present to realize what they truly meant. It felt like her whole body was intent on picking signs of attacks incoming, from strange air currents, too close sounds, and, of course, anything she could see and even smell, all her body, although pushing towards her physical goal of reaching the fake police station, was focused on what occurred around her since, and especially more so, she knew no one of her friends could come to her aid.
She landed, a little less gracefully than usual, in the alley next to a building just in front of her goal.
She turned abruptly when someone jumped next to her hiding spot and for half a second both looked at each other in a mild panic to the point the blue mimetic paint the boy looked covered in faltered a bit, only to realize they both already had the points needed, as the green lights on both showed.
The mimetic kid was quicker to recover and with minimum effort changed colour, turning the same grey as the concrete and running off.
Sailor Moon watched as he went forth unnoticed, moving to cross the bridge without apparent trouble...
Until a wave of water came from underneath it and launched him to the barrier, where it stood locked until two kids came out and took his cylinders, soon faced by many other water-based quirks applications.
Right. Area 4 was modelled after a harbour, where many applicants with aquatic quirks had reunited. To stay away from the water was the best possible option for her, that much was clear.
Quickly, she reached for a ladder and got on the top of the small fake warehouse.
She looked at the building in front of her and the swarm of the Hero-hopefuls that turned into a mob desperate for last-minute points like the ones she was holding onto. If she jumped high and far enough, she could reach one of the windows and get in from there, but she'd better hold the items in her arms to avoid them being snatched...
«Thirty seconds to the end!» the buzzers rang.
No more time to think: her goal was in front of her, just a road away, and there was no chance to hesitate and no other option.
She jumped.
Over the fighting crowd, over the water lines and ice spikes, and fishes and whatever else going on underneath, her only focus, this time, the window right in front of her.
Headfirst, she crushed through the glass panel and onto the floor, with the cylinders held tight to her chest, just as the buzzer sounded the end of the phase.
Her head rang from the impact with the glass, her shoulder had taken the brunt of the landing and she felt a myriad of small cuts from rolling on the glass shards, but both cylinders were still in her arms, blue-lighted, and she was in, so even the murmurs and exclamation of the other applicants were background noise. It only mattered that the examiner said she'd make it, but no matter what, she couldn't hear what she needed to...
Someone whistled «That was crazy!»
«Does it count?»
«Well, she came in before the bugle»
«Yeah, but through the window!»
One of the men in suits picked up a phone and started to talk in hushed tones.
Usagi didn't dare to move too much, only sat when a few of the other kids helped her to. Her shoulder hurt a lot and she was scraped and stuff, nothing the Silver Crystal couldn't fix. It was the fate of her promotion, hanging on a thread, that occupied her mind at the moment.
Hadn't she been worried, she would have thought it funny. It was always like that with exams for her, she never knew what the outcome would be until the last minute!
Soon enough Tomonaga came in, followed by a few of her men, and looked at the room, the crushed window, the various aspiring Heroes and the girl sitting on the glass-covered floor, with one hand on her hip. Sailor Moon immediately rushed to get up, unsure what to say.
The examiner in the fake police station explained the situation before she could speak though, and at the end of it, Tomonaga shrugged.
«I don't see any problem» she said.
«Tomonaga-san?» the examiner didn't seem pleased by the reply, but she shrugged it off.
«Oh, come on, you've never worked with pro Heroes?» she replied quite amusedly «They pull this stuff all the time, with even worse outcomes, usually. You know, All Might pushes down walls, and roofs and all kind of stuff when he's in a rush, and he's not the only one of the most damaging by a long stretch! This is only one broken window pane and no one got hurt, right?»
The kids around shook their heads to confirm, and so did one of the examiners, while another opposed: «A real police station would have had fireproof glass»
«A real police station would have had backup for her outside» Tomonaga rebutted, rolling her eyes «She came in before the time was up with both items intact, it's fine for me. It's not like we told them they can't destroy stuff at all» then she turned at Sailor Moon and winked.
Usagi felt the heaviness on her chest ease and thanked the woman with a wide smile and a bow.
Tomonaga dismissed it with a quick gesture, then clapped her hands «Very well, lunch and med break for everyone now, see you all in one hour, patched up and ready for what comes next»
A chorus of variously pitched «Yes, madam!» saluted her as she left.
«You're the worst, you know?» Venus was sporting a huge pout that was meant to mean she was offended, but the way she glanced at the cuts on her Princess' arms spoke more of worry.
«Eeek, I had to»
«You could have let us change route! You could have kept Mercury's item! Or taken mine!»
«And leave any of you behind? Nope. We're in this together»
«You were about to sacrifice yourself, you baka» Mars said «You barely made it!»
«I wasn't going to get hurt for real» she opposed.
«Your shoulder and head beg to differ» Mamoru, pardon, Moonlight Knight replied, still intent in holding her shoulder still to patch it up with his quirk with one hand and pressing the ice pack on her head with the other. Most the scratches from the glass were already gone, thankfully, or he wouldn't have had enough time for it all: the teachers were briefly allowed in during lunch but they'd have to leave soon. It was a good thing Usagi was the only one of the team who got hurt, so he could focus the little time he had on her.
«Good thing she has a thick head» Chibi Moon joked «A normal person would have just bonked her head, but she broke the glass!»
«Your head is the same, you know that?»
«Better for me» the younger stuck her tongue out and they all laughed in a bit of relief.
Jupiter passed over the light lunches she went to pick for all of them, courtesy of the commission, then sat down to eat «What do you think the next part will be?»
«Hopefully, not more fights»
«I wouldn't count on it»
The girls turned in the direction of the newcomer, recognizing the girl with diamond nails. Next to her there was another girl, purple-ish hair in a high ponytail and orange stained hands, probably one of those they fought in the initial rumble, who was now trying, meekly, to hold the former back.
«Kenzaki, come on...»
«I'm not going to have a fight now, Barbara! Damn it, do you think I'm stupid?! And call me by my Hero name, you'll have to get used to it at some point!»
«I think you hate to lose and you have a temper» Barbara muttered.
«Urgh, shut up and let me talk» Kenzaki replied, then pointed a finger to the girls «You! I want to ally with you»
«Eeeeh?!» they all were surprised, including Barbara, who looked at her friend wide-eyed.
«The first phase didn't seem one be to won in teams either, but here you are!» Kenzaki shrugged «Our school's strategy failed because you were cohesive and coordinated, other than strong. Any idiot could see it»
«Uh, thanks?» Sailor Moon replied, unsure whether she could consider it a compliment or not.
«Next phase we will have to fight more, that's for sure. And you are a damn good team, so I want to team up» the redhead completed.
«But we don't even know the format...» Barbara started.
«Doesn't matter» Kenzaki cut off her classmate, still staring at the Senshi «Basically all my class but the two of us is out, we need allies. You have good chances and it's likely all of us will be able to pass this way. What do you say?»
«We'll be happy to work with you, Kenzaki-san!» Moon smiled wide, not an ounce of distrust in her.
«Then, my Hero name's Zazie, call me that» then pointed at her friend, who still looked a bit shocked «This is Hanadera, Hero name: Barbara»
The girl in question hesitantly waved.
«Don't get fooled by her cuteness, she's stronger than she looks» Zazie added, then she turned on her heels without saying more than a «See you later»
Hanadera hid her face in her orange hands as they left while uttering a quiet but clear: «Nagisa I can't believe you did that to me...» at which the other replied with a burst of hearty laughter.
On the other side, the Senshi were frowning at Sailor Moon.
«Why did you agree? She could be planning to get back at us for almost making her fail» Jupiter spoke for all of them.
She tilted her head «But that wouldn't be very Hero-like, no? What kind of Hero betrays their allies?»
«She could be faking» Venus pointed out.
«It doesn't matter» Moon affirmed «It's better when Heroes help each other. The whole stealing thing was awful and it's bad that it's not just for the exam, that out there real pro Heroes do the same to each other. I'd rather be everyone's ally than taking things from others all the time and never trust anyone. Keeping people safe should be a group effort»
There were some weird looks from around, mixed from approval, to disbelief, mostly, but Usagi ignored them.
It was fine they didn't get it yet. Changing the world was a thing to be done one step at a time.
Notes:
Confession time: at first I was very tempted to skip the exam and just say they passed it, but it was a wonderful chance to show the imbalance in level between regular quirks and planetary powers (a few people reminded me of that a while ago and I thought this was the right time for the Hero world to have a taste of it) so I put an effort and I'm almost satisfied on how it turned out. Almost.
Cookies to who figures out where I took inspiration from for the first phase challenge. You may also notice some names are taken from other manga/anime, let's see if you can catch them all, I'll tell you in the next chapter. Take it as a summer game ;)
Every reference to the English dub names is fully intentional, especially so since I grew up with the Italian dub and our localized names (which is one of the reasons why I use the Japanese ones, which are the originals anyone worldwide can recognize).
I'll still be busy until the second half of July. I hope you enjoyed the chapter.
Stay safe! I wish you all a good beginning of summer.