Beta'd by kylekatarn77 and Poliamida
38. A Test of Mercy
When I was a boy and I would see scary things in the news, my mother would say to me, "Look for the helpers. You will always find people who are helping.
-Fred Rogers
"So, you thought cheating on the License Exam would be a good idea?" Mr. Aizawa demanded as he strode up to them.
Izuku swallowed, stepping forward. "It's my fault, sir. Mei just...wanted to help. I had Yaoyorozu make the radios like she did in Kamino and the Training Camp, and well, Mei just sort of started coordinating us like she did then, too."
"It wasn't cheating, anyone can make a radio," Mei grumbled. "You can even just buy them at the store!"
"Hey, don't take the blame for this, Midoriya," Todoroki said, stepping forward as well. "Any of us could have shut it down or taken our radios out, but we didn't."
"Didn't seem right to," Kirashima said, looking down at his battered hands. His knuckles were sunken and bleeding; even with his quirk he'd taken and given quite the pounding. "Hatsume's part of the class, we-"
"I keep telling everyone to call me Mei! Hari's right there! How am I supposed to know who you're talking to?! She's Hari, and I'm Mei, how hard is it?!"
"I don't mind if she doesn't," Hari said with a shrug. "But maybe we have more important things to worry about, Mei?"
"It was on all of us, sir," Iida said, hanging his head. "I'm sorry we let you down."
"Oh don't worry, you didn't," Aizawa said, suddenly grinning. "That was perhaps the most impressive display I've ever seen. Do you realize they originally suspended the test because not enough people were going to pass?"
"What!?" the class looked up in shock.
"But, I mean, we only got like a 1000 points or something right?" Kaminari said, sounding puzzled. "Did they just put out exactly the right number of points?"
"You may have only collected 1167 points, but you also put down so many testees that are going to require medical attention that they weren't going to have enough left over to pass," Aizawa explained. "They only realized Mei was feeding you information when she hopped onto their radio line and started explaining to them how flawed their process was, and when someone noticed that Hari's camera still had the lense cap on."
"Crap," Hari muttered. "I knew I had forgotten something."
"Their design is seriously flawed," Mei ranted. "Look at how many people got hurt! If you want to make people heroes you can't go around having them beat up each other, you should only beat up bad guys! And for people like Izuku who rely on power and equipment, there's no way to refit and refuel during the test! I explained to them I have a system for refueling Izuku mid-fight if he needs it but-"
"You do?" Izuku asked, surprised.
"Well, I will, I came up with the idea just now but it will be very easy to implement, along with the surveillance drones," Mei said with a dismissive wave of her hand.
"Who cares how it happened," Bakugo said, not even bothering to open his eyes from where he was sprawled on the seats. Uraraka was next to him, snoring softly.
Izuku felt like laying down and joining them; he was utterly exhausted from his exertions during the test and his arm stump ached horribly. He really wasn't fully recovered yet.
"Whatever happened, they caught us, so we failed. Big whoop. We're gonna get expelled or something now?" Bakugo demanded, opening one bloodshot eye. "I figure we can all just go vigilante. Too much paperwork to be a regular hero anyway."
"Bakugo!" Iida cried in horror. "We cannot just go vigilante!"
Bakugo cracked open his other eye and smirked. "You gonna hang up your engines and swear off hero work if they kick us out?"
"Well, no, but I mean, that's against the rules…" Iida trailed off, blushing.
"And we've not been following the rules since at least Kamino," Todoroki said with a shrug. "Going vigilante would really irritate my dad off though."
"What, so you wouldn't do it?" Shinso demanded.
Todoroki chuckled. "No, that just makes it sound like an even better idea."
"You're not going vigilante," Mr. Aizawa said sternly. "Besides, I never said you all failed."
"But...but we cheated?" Izuku said, his tone making it a question.
Mr. Aizawa shook his head. "Turns out, they actually never put in the rules that you can't have radios. You definitely flagrantly violated the spirit of the exam, but the rules just say your teachers or mentors can't help you while you're taking the test."
"Wait, what about Big Sis then?" Ashido asked, pointing to Hari. "She's like, a mentor or something."
"The hell I am," Hari said, shaking her head. "I'm just the chauffeur."
"Non, you are much mairé than zat mademoiselle!" Aoyama protested. "You aré our beeg seestair, la un who looks oot fair and takes caré of us all!"
"Guys, shut up. If you can just stay quiet maybe Mr. Aizawa can get us out of this!" Jiro hissed.
Everyone fell silent immediately, save Mei, who had started humming to herself and bouncing on her toes. Izuku put an arm around her again and she quieted slightly, but didn't stop.
"Just so you know, it wasn't what I did that made them decide you were going to pass," Mr. Aizawa said. "It was the fact that I'm pretty sure half those government flunkies thought you were all out for their blood just for touching Hatsumei, that is, Mei, and didn't want to think about what you'd do if they tried to tell you none of you were going to pass after collecting the most points in exam history."
Izuku blushed, but didn't look away. "I was just...worried. Mei sounded scared, and then...and then I was...back there…"
"Just think about your actions more carefully. You're supposed to be heroes, not villains," Aizawa.
"I wasn't going to let someone hurt her again," Todoroki growled, his fist clenching as frost coated it. "I failed once. Never again."
"If they mess with one of us, they mess with all of us," Kirishima agreed.
Mei let out a soft sigh and seemed to relax slightly, pressing herself up against Izuku. He realized he had a death grip on her and let up slightly, which made Mei start to hum again. Reluctantly, Izuku squeezed a bit harder, and Mei relaxed again. He was worried he might hurt her, but figured Mei would actually say something if that was going to happen.
"So, we pass?" Sato asked, sounding unsure of himself. He'd eaten enough sugar over the past hour or so that his cognitive function had to be pretty impaired, as Izuku knew he got dumber the stronger he got, which was tied directly to his sugar intake.
"You all pass, questionable methods notwithstanding," Aizawa agreed. "You're to reenter the stadium once they've finished cleaning up after you. You left quite a mess behind, you know."
Izuku looked out and saw that there were several teams of workers picking over the various places that Class 1A had gotten into their brawls. He winced slightly. "I hope we didn't hurt anyone, or worse…"
"First kill should be a bad guy," Bakugo muttered.
Aizawa glared at Bakugo. "It is strictly against the Hero Code to seek to kill, Bakugo."
That just made the boy shrug. "I'm gonna blow someone away someday. Even All Might had a body count. Quirk like mine, risk of doing business. I might not be trying to ice someone, but if I gotta choose between a villain and a friend or a civvy? I'm not holding back."
The very thought made Izuku sick, until he looked down at Mei. He'd attacked One for All with the intent to kill him. Maybe he and Bakugo weren't all that different.
"It appears I have more left to teach you than I thought," Aizawa said with a heavy sigh. "But get ready. They're not going to just toss you out on your ears. Especially not since this entire farce was being broadcast live. You've got a lot of fans out there, all of you."
"There's another part to the test, isn't there?" Kirishima asked with a groan. "Crap. We're still going to fail, aren't we?"
"I can't tell you anything more. Take the next few minutes to rest. They've rounded up a handful of other testees who will be joining you," Aizawa informed them.
Izuku sank down into a chair along with the others, groaning slightly. Mei immediately got out a few tools from the various pouches on her pants and belt, and started tinkering with the suit, humming to herself once more. Izuku just closed his eyes and let her work as she refueled and refitted what she could in the limited time.
"I was worried," Mei said as she tinkered.
"Yeah. I was too," Izuku said. "About you, I mean. During the test...well, that felt natural."
Mei nodded. "You're good at it. You're a good hero. A great hero. But I was still worried about you. I didn't like it."
A ball of acid formed in Izuku's stomach, and his mouth felt dry as sand. "Um, Mei...being a hero...it is dangerous."
She nodded, frowning as she applied a patch to a damaged area on Izuku's arm.
"Mei, you know...you know I'll get hurt again," Izuku said quietly. "Hopefully...not like I did before. But...but it's going to happen."
"I know. I don't like it. I don't like seeing you hurt. I don't like seeing our babies get hurt." Mei's goggles started to fog up, and she lifted them up onto her forehead as tears started to trickle down her cheeks. "I didn't like seeing any of you get hurt. You all got hurt, every one of you. And my babies weren't good enough to keep you all safe."
"It's part of the job, Mei. Just like, well, you get hurt sometimes when we're working."
"That's only 'cause I do something dumb," Mei countered, sniffing as she wipped at her face with her forearm, then continued working.
"Mei...I don't think I could stop," Izuku said quietly. "I know I can be a hero now. I can't do this without you, but…"
"I'm not going to ask you to. I just...I don't know. Hari said that sometimes when you love someone it hurts. I didn't understand that. Because how could you ever hurt me? You always look out for me, help me, remind me to eat and sleep and wash myself, even when you're tired or hungry. And you love me. But seeing you get hurt, hurt me. I never felt like that before, except when you saved me from the Mask and the Hand Man."
Izuku nodded, unsure of what to say. He gently reached up, wiping away Mei's tears with his left hand. She paused, closing her eyes and leaning into him slightly, pressing her face into his hand.
"Do I hurt you?"
Izuku blinked. "What?"
Mei opened her eyes, which looked so wrong now. Mei's eyes shouldn't be normal brown ones. They should be yellow, with odd irises.
"Do I ever hurt you, Izuku?" Mei asked again.
Izuku hesitated, then nodded. "Yes. Sometimes you do or say things that I don't like, that hurt my feelings. But the thing that hurt the most was when I saw you fight Bakugo, or when the Villains kidnapped you. That hurt more than losing an arm ever could."
Mei nodded. "Do you still want to be my boyfriend?"
"More than anything," Izuku said quietly. He leaned forward and gently kissed Mei on the lips. She returned it, reaching around to grab the back of Izuku's head and press him more firmly against her.
After a moment they broke apart, and Mei nodded. "I guess that means you love me, and I love you. Because I still want to be your girlfriend, even when it hurts."
There was a sudden strangled sob, and Izuku jumped, turning his head to look behind them. Hari had out a blue pocket handkerchief, and was quietly crying into it, wiping at her eyes and nose.
"Hari, are you OK? Did those tester guys hurt you?" Mei demanded, suddenly standing. "Izuku can beat them up if they did!"
"What? Who hurt Hari!?" Uraraka snapped, suddenly jumping up. She looked around wildly, clearly still groggy from her short nap. "We'll teach them a lesson! Bakugo, get up!"
"Huh?" Bakugo said, jerking away from his own doze. "Wazzat?"
"Someone hurt Hari and I need you to hold them down while I teach them a lesson," Uraraka declared.
"Fine," Bakugo grumbled, standing and cracking his back. "But you'll owe me one."
"No one hurt me," Hari blubbered. "It's just...it's just...my baby sister! She's all grown up!"
"Huh?" Uraraka said, her eyes seeming to snap back into focus.
"Oh goddamn it," Bakugo muttered, slumping back into his seat. "The nerds are just making moon eyes at one another again."
Uraraka turned to glare at Bakugo. "Well I think it's sweet!"
"Oh shut up. You were ready to beat the stuffing out of someone a moment ago," Bakugo said, closing his eyes. He let out a yelp of surprise when Uraraka kicked him in the shin. She stalked away to sit by Iida, leaving Bakugo to rub his leg and mutter under his breath. He stopped, turning to glare at Shinso, who had developed a sudden coughing fit. "What's so funny?"
"Nothing, just got something in my throat," Shinso managed, still coughing. He held up a half eaten muffin. "Sato's handing out snacks. Want one?"
"Not one with your slobber on it," Bakugo snapped.
"Hey, you guys want a snack?" Sato asked Izuku, holding out a basket full of baked goods. "I'm trying to refuel, I baked these last night, but you can have some too, I made extra."
"Is that caramel?!" Mei demanded, and dived for a caramel bar. She moved it halfway to her mouth, then quickly did a headbob towards Sato. "Thank you! Oh, what would you like, Izuku?"
"Um, I'll take a bran muffin," Izuku said, carefully selecting what looked like one of the healthier treats.
"Um, those are actually carrot cupcakes with a light glaze. That OK?" Sato asked.
"Relax Midoriya, it's our 'cheat' day," Kirishima said around a mouthful of cookie.
The rest of the class groaned, then broke out in laughter. Satou even offered Bakugo a treat, which he accepted with a muttered thank you. Both Yaoyarozu and Satou divided what was left between them, quickly consuming far more baked goods than nearly the rest of the class combined. As both of them had quirks fueled by food, it only made sense they'd learned how to force feed themselves at need.
The PA system crackled to life. "OK, well, after that little interruption, the test is going to resume. Hurry up and get back to the center of the training field, this is taking too long anyway and I'm already short on sleep…"
"It seems our rest has come to an end," Iida said, standing. "Everyone ready?"
"Ready or not, here we go," Kirishima said, grabbing on to one of the tape ropes still attached to the railing. "Let's ace this baby!"
"I'll still be in contact with all of you over the radio," Mei informed them. "They dropped it when they saw you guys coming."
"Is that really a good idea after we already got in trouble for it?" Jiro asked.
Ashido laughed. "No, but do you really think anyone can stop Mei from helping us?"
Jiro considered that, then shrugged. "I mean, she might if Midoriya told her to, but I don't even think I'd want him to do that. We work better with someone coordinating things anyway."
Giving Mei one last quick hug, Izuku hopped down after the others, jogging with them towards the center of the training arena. He still felt tired and worn down, but he couldn't quit now. Not when they were so close to passing.
It took only a few minutes for the group to arrive at the center of the arena, especially since this time there was no one trying to attack them. Izuku spied about 40 or so other testees waiting around, far fewer than the prescribed 100 even with their numbers. None of the others seemed eager to confront Class 1A, and not even Ashido and the more outgoing members of their clique were all that eager to make nice with those they'd fought with only an hour or so ago.
"What? Oh, you're ready," the tired voice said over the PA. "Well, let's get this over with then."
All around the arena, sudden explosions rang out; Izuku snapped into a guard position, looking around as class 1A assumed defensive postures.
"Guys! They're blowing holes in the Arena walls and floors!" Mei cried over the radio. "There's a bunch of kids and old people coming out of them?"
"What?" Iida exclaimed. "Kids and old people? What are they doing here?"
The PA came back to life, and there was a loud yawn. "As you all know, being a hero is about saving people right? Well, now's your chance. We're going joined by members of the Help Us Company, or HUC now. Your job now is to save them. Get going, this test has taken long enough already."
"Dammit, I suck at saving people," Bakugo muttered.
"Don't screw this up for us Bakugo," Kirishima warned as they all started moving forward. "We're here to help these people."
"Yeah, yeah," Bakugo muttered as he jogged. He looked over at Shinso and Uraraka. "Look, I know I'm an asshole. Just...I'll follow your lead, alright? And kick me or something if I'm not being… nice."
"Just think of them like Kota!" Uraraka said brightly. "You were good with him."
"And also, don't say anything," Shinso said with a chuckle. "I mean it, you're better off just keeping your mouth shut."
Bakugo's only response was the rather loud grinding of his teeth.
"We'll need to split up again to cover more ground," Izuku said. "Tsu, can you lead the recovery effort in the swamp? That's basically your home territory."
"You got it, ribbit. Ashido, Aoyama, Tokoyomi, Shoji, come with me," Tsu said as she hopped towards the murky waters. A boat wreck had bubbled up out of the depths near the center of the mire, and there was debris and bodies floating there.
"I'll scout ahead and report from the city, the damage looks the worst there," Iida said, sprinting forward. "Uraraka, Bakugo, Shinso, and Hagakure, you can follow after me."
Bakugo looked like he wanted to spit nails at being told what to do, but he just looked to Uraraka, who smiled and nodded. "You got it Iida!"
"I'll scout out the canyon since I can use my mobility the best there," Izuku said. "Sero, Jiro, Ojiro, Kirishima, will you come with me?"
"Of course," Ojiro agreed. "On you, Midoriya."
"I guess the rest of you are with me," Todoroki said. "Let's head for the forest and see what we can do to help there."
Izuku took off into the air, grateful Mei had been able to restore his fuel levels so he didn't have to worry as much about draining his power.
"Izuku, I can see a lot of people scattered throughout the canyons," Mei reported. "They're trapped in crevasses or laying on the top like they're hurt or something. I don't think they actually are, they put on makeup and stuff. Hey, Jiro, do you think these HUC people are trying to attract boys?"
That brought a bark of laughter from Jiro. "No, I don't think so, Mei! It's to help them pretend to be injured. It simulates injuries."
"Oh. Well that's dumb," Mei complained. "We had all those hurt people from before, why not just use them!"
"Um, I think maybe they actually needed medical attention," Izuku pointed out. "We were, er, maybe a bit too hard on them."
"I don't think so, they were trying to crush you, and they should have known better," Mei proclaimed. "Alright Izuku, three people climbed down into that collapsed area you're approaching."
Izuku landed on the lip of a crater that had formed from a rock slide, and peered down to see three people. One was half buried in rubble with blood coating his face, and seemed to be unconscious. Another was cradling a leg that appeared to have a bone sticking out of it along with a lot of blood. The third was a small child that was standing and crying; he had a shallow head wound that had bled a lot, but looked minor.
"Izuku! Be careful! They're the same mean people from before! I bet they're going to try to trick you or something," Mei said over the radio as Izuku popped the visor on his helmet.
That made Izuku hesitate. He'd been about to ask the boy if he was alright, but he realized he was supposed to be acting like a first responder in this situation. "Oijiro, Jiro, I need you. I've got three cases. One is a child with what looks like a minor superficial wound. The other has a serious compound fracture and appears to be going into shock. The last is unconscious, and buried. I'll need you to scan the area to see if it's safe to remove him, Jiro."
"Got it," Jiro said. She hurried, stucking her earphones into the ground and carefully sending out sonic probes to check on the stability of the rock.
"This is Sero, Kirishima and I will continue on to look for more survivors to aid. You guys catch up when you can."
"Understood," Izuku agreed. He called down to the cry child. "Hey, don't worry, everything's going to be alright! Class 1A is here, and we won't leave anyone behind!"
"I think I can get down there without disturbing any more rocks," Oijiro said after inspecting the landslide. "I'll need to treat that leg immediately, it looks serious."
"I'm scared!" the boy called. "Please, you have to help me! My mom is trapped under the rocks!"
"I know, but it's alright," Izuku replied. "Just hold on, we have to make sure that it's safe to go down there before we try to move any of you. Oijro, get down there if you can. Jiro?"
"It's stable, for now," Jiro said, standing. "I'll get that woman out, but Midoriya, you need to fly that leg wound out right away."
Oijiro hopped down, darting from rock to rock, then carefully began to bandage the injured man's leg. Izuku descended more slowly, making sure not to step where he could trigger another landslide.
"Ok, he's ready," Oijiro said after splinting the leg with a piece of wood he'd found nearby. "Get him back to the center, Mei's coordinating the dropoff of the wounded there."
"What about me?" the boy with the head wound whined. "I'm hurt too!"
Izuku shook his head. "I'm sorry, this man is hurt much worse. Oijiro can help you back up, but you'll need to walk back on your own while we treat more serious cases. If you start to feel dizzy, sit down and wait for someone to come and help you. Mei Hatsume is watching everyone from her observation post, she'll see you."
Suddenly, the boy's entire demeanor changed, going from a half shocked victim to a shrewd measuring look. "Hmm, not bad, you guys are triaging pretty well. Guess that's what I should have expected from the Heroes of Kamino. Full points!"
"I knew it! They're trying to trick you!" Mei cried. "I heard that! Tell that little boy if he tries to take any points away from you I will be very mad at him!"
Izuku just chuckled, taking off into the air. He noticed that the fragment of "bone" sticking out of the woman's leg had been glued on, and that the blood was just ever so slightly the wrong color and viscosity for the real thing. The man stayed in character until Izuku landed at the first aide station, where some of the other testee's were rendering aid.
"Hey, I found this one, he's showing signs of shock and has a compound fracture," Izuku told one of them.
"Yeah, OK, put him over there," the girl helping the wounded said. "Damn, you kids from UA move fast. Iida's already been back here twice, and Shoji ran back three at once."
Izuku blinked at having his classmates referred to by name by this stranger, but he set the simulated casualty in the indicated spot and flew back to the canyon, where he met up with Kirishima and Sero. They'd found a woman who was supposed to have a serious gut wound. Izuku sprayed it with some antiseptic from his suit's medical system, then flew her back as well. He had just set her down when there was the sound of a distant explosion from the direction of the city.
"Finally!" Bakugo's voice sounded, his tone eager. "The real party's here! I can see some bad guys! A bunch of little minions, and- oh. Shit."
"What?" Mei demanded, her tone worried. "What is it Bakugo?"
"Todoroki, get your ass over here," Bakugo growled. "Now."
Izuku felt ice run down his spine. Bakugo never called Todoroki anything but derisive nicknames. If he was using their classmate's real name…
"What is it?" Todoroki demanded. "We're on our way, but we've got injured we're bringing."
"Drop them. Your dad's here," Bakugo ordered, his voice punctuated by a series of explosions. "And he looks pissed."