Percy let out a slightly frustrated breath as he scratched through a note in his notebook. The school gave them a "reading week" before their final exams. Essentially it was just a week of being allowed to study for their exams, something Percy was honestly rather thankful for. Between classes, the Sports Festival, losing a hand, and everything else, he'd been missing out on actually preparing for anything. He had been sorely tempted to take Yaoyorozu up on her offer to study at her parent's home with some of their other classmates, but given that they were studying a wildly different curriculum than he was, he decided he was better off on his own.
Which was what led him to the small cafe just on the outskirts of campus. The owners were discreet, which was nice given that ever since his encounter with All for One, people had been recognizing him everywhere he went. But so far, Percy had been able to spend the majority of the week in peace, spending several hours at a time in the small cafe. He was fairly comfortable now with his Japanese and Global History lessons, and was just getting started on his review of Japanese Heroism Laws when he was distracted.
Someone sat down in the empty chair across from him in his corner of the cafe. Looking up, Percy was greeted by the smiling, and overly relaxed visage of a man about his own age, maybe only a few years older, with dark blonde hair, and bright golden eyes that were hiding behind the frames of yellow tinted goggles. The man was dressed in a strange combination of a flight suit and bomber jacket, but easily the most eye-catching feature of the man, were the blood-red, feathery wings that were protruding from his back.
Percy was quick to deduce that the guy was a pro, not just from the ridiculous looking get-up the man was sporting, but from the looks of the other patrons in the shop who were whispering to one another and pointing excitedly at the grinning blonde-haired man.
Eyebrows rising, Percy calmly removed the earbuds from his ears and stopped the music playing from his phone. Placing the earbuds on the table, he leaned back into his chair, and crossed his arms of his chest,
"Hello?" Percy asked,
"Hey man," The blonde said cheerfully, relaxing comfortably in the chair, "I've been looking all over for you,"
"And you are?" Percy asked, but the man was spared the effort of answering, when a small boy meandered up to the table, a phone clutched tightly in his hand,
"M-mr. Hawks," The boy said, his small voice squeaking nervously, "Can-can I please get a picture with you sir?" He asked. The man, Hawks apparently, chuckled, and leaned down and plucked the small boy off the ground,
"Of course you can buddy," He said, prying the phone away from the now beaming boy, he took a quick picture before sending the small youngster on his way.
"Hawks then" Percy said, when the boy had toddled off to his mother, wondering why that name sounded so familiar to him.
"Guilty," Hawks said happily, reaching out grabbing one of the semi-cool dumplings on Percy's plate and tossing it into his mouth,
"No, please," Percy said sarcastically, "Help yourself,"
Hawks laughed, uncomfortably rubbing the back of his head, "Eh heh, sorry about that, just been flying around all day looking for ya, it builds up an appetite ya know? You're a hard man to track down,"
"And why have you been looking for me?" Percy asked, once again sizing up the pro in front of him. He didn't look like much, but appearances always could be deceiving, and no sooner had Percy had that thought, than a server carrying a tray of dishes slipped on a wet spot on the floor. Unconsciously Percy turned and made to get out of his seat, but was stopped when a bright red quill detached itself from Hawks' wings and soared through the air, catching the woman before she fell to the ground. She didn't even drop any of the plates.
"T-thank you sir," The woman said thankfully to Hawks who just waved a dismissive hand,
"My pleasure, you be careful now." He said back, and Percy became slightly more wary of the strange man. The kind of precision needed to do something like that was likely immense, meaning the man was far more competent than his relaxed demeanor suggested.
Deciding to have a little power play of his own, Percy casually waved a hand through the air, and dispelled the water on the ground.
"Impressive," Hawks commented, looking at Percy appraisingly, "Looks like Miruko hasn't been exaggerating, though I guess that little showdown of yours a week ago should have told me everything I needed to know about you."
"You know Rumi?" Percy asked, "Didn't think she had any other friends. She doesn't play well with others,"
Hawks let out a hearty chuckle, "That much is true," He said, scratching at the stubble on his chin, "Nearly took my head off when I tried to help her out a few years ago. Wouldn't necessarily call us friends, but we see each other often enough. I get around plenty, and she hasn't been able to shut up about you."
"Oh," Percy said skeptically, "Don't know if I should be touched or concerned."
"Well, it's not every day that some newbie can keep up with someone like her," Hawks said with a shrug, and Percy racked his brain for where he had heard the name before. It was possible that Rumi had mentioned the man in passing a few times, but that didn't seem right.
"So, what is this then?" Percy asked, "Rumi's been talking about me so you wanted to meet with me?"
"Well, not exactly," Hawks shrugged, "Though I will admit, having her interest, definitely makes you more interesting, just gave me more reason to track you down. I gotta admit, I was a little disappointed when you took her internship offer rather than mine, I don't normally do internships."
That was when it clicked for Percy, "Wait a second, I know you," He said snapping his fingers at Hawks, "Tokoyami did his internship with you."
"Bingo," Hawks said, "When you took Miruko's offer I almost didn't take him, but I wanted to talk to someone from your class so I took in little Tokoyami, that and I guess you could say that we're birds of a feather."
"Why did you want to talk to someone from my class? And why did you want to talk to me so badly that you tracked me down?" Percy asked, his eyes narrowing suspiciously,
"I wanted to talk to someone who was there for the villain attack." Hawks said, "Someone who had an up close and personal experience with this League of Villains."
"Then why are you here?" Percy asked crossly, annoyed at having his studies interrupted for something like this, "I'm sure Tokoyami would have answered whatever questions you had."
"He did," Hawks nodded, as he flagged down a server, "Hey can I get a green tea please? Appreciate it," As the woman bustled off, Hawks turned his attention back to Percy, "But, Tokoyami doesn't quite have your…experience with the League, does he? You fought those Nomu, he didn't, and then there's what happened over in Kamino."
"I don't know what you're talking about," Percy said, turning his attention back to his notebook,
"Hey, hey, hey man, relax." Hawks said, "I'm not here to accuse you of anything, besides, I already know what happened. The Commission filled me in already."
That got Percy's attention,
"Excuse me?" He said,
"Yup," Hawks said, as the server brought him a piping hot cup of green tea, "Thank you so much, by the way, I'll be paying for all of this," He gestured to Percy and his meal,
"Thank you," He waited for the server to leave before taking a deep sip of the tea, "That's the good stuff," He sighed happily, cupping the tea with both hands,
"Where was I?" He laughed awkwardly, "Sorry, sometimes I get so caught up with delicious food that I lose track of myself, oh right, the Commission." He took another sip of the drink and set it down on the table, "See there are some of us Pros that the Commission trusts to tell certain things, like what really happened at Kamino and hey-hey man, relax, like I said, I don't want a fight," Hawks hastened to say, as Percy had subconsciously begun to channel some of his power and his eyes had taken on a slightly fluorescent shade of green.
"I just want to know what happened, did you get any information, stuff like that." Hawks said hastily, and Percy tried to calm down his racing heart.
"What does it matter?" Percy demanded through clenched teeth. "All for One is in jail, Shigaraki and Kurogiri are dead, that's the end of it."
"No," Hawks said, all traces of good humor leaving his face, "No, I promise you that it isn't. All for One, Shigaraki, Kurogiri? Yeah they were big players, top of the food chain so to speak, but the buck didn't stop with them. There were others, nearly a dozen or so, all pretty big players in their own right and dangerous as hell. I've been looking into these guys for months now, doing some digging, and I've been finding some downright terrifying stuff, and I don't just mean with the Nomu, though that has been immensely worrisome."
"I thought the Nomu were all captured when I destroyed that facility?" Percy asked,
"The ones we know of for sure, but since when have the bad guys ever put all of their chips in one basket?" Hawks asked seriously,
"Never," Percy agreed with a groan. He cast a glance around the room for a moment before leaning in, "I didn't get anything out of either of them before I killed them, all right?" He admitted, and Hawks rolled his eyes and sat back in the chair, exasperated,
"Oh don't give me that," Percy said bitingly, "How the hell was I supposed to know the Commission was worried about more."
"How about you think before you act kid," Hawks said, playing with the rim of his cup
"Don't patronize me pal," Percy snarled, his eyes flashing dangerously, "I've been doing this shit since I was twelve, and the monster's I've gone up against make guys like All for One look like kids playing at recess. Look, I'm sorry that I wasn't clued into whatever bullshit investigation you're running, but I don't particularly care. You know what I do know? Is that I saw the sons of bitches who tried to kill me and my classmates, and I did something about it, which is a hell of a lot more than I can say for you were doing."
"You ever think there was more going on than met the eye," Hawks shot back, getting back in Percy's face as well, as the quills on his back started to pulsate slightly, "That maybe, maybe, there was more going on? That maybe these guys weren't acting alone?"
"How the hell should I have known that?" Percy demanded, "I've been here less than a year asshole, I don't know how this shit works," He said waving a desperate hand around him. Grinding his teeth together, Percy leaned back into his chair.
"Then maybe, you shouldn't have executed the only known leads I had," Hawks said sarcastically,
"That's some grade A bullshit right there," Percy said, pointing a finger at Hawks and laughing slightly, "You just said that you were looking into other parties!"
"Who have since disappeared!" Hawks growled in frustration, "Ever since word's gotten out about what happened to Shigaraki and Kurogiri, they've gone underground, we're back to square one!"
"Which means they are too!" Percy said, "If you're scrambling, then think about what they're doing. Look, I don't know how shit works here, but back in the day, you take out the head guys in charge? And all of the low-lives who were following them tuck tail and run for the nearest hills."
Hawks snorted, and picked up his drink, downing the rest of it in one hearty gulp, he reached into his pocket and threw a wad of bills onto the table.
"For your sake, and the sake of all the innocent civilians that might get caught in the crossfire, I hope you're right. Thanks for the talk kid, I'll see you around." And with that, the man strode from the room, the bell to the shop tinkling behind him as he left.
He tried in vain for a couple of minutes to complete some work, but it was an exercise in futility. He was frustrated and annoyed. Annoyed at Hawks to be sure, but equally as annoyed with himself. Mostly because the Pro Hero had made a good point and it was killing Percy to admit it. He was more experienced than most, he should have known better than to simply execute Shigaraki and Kurogiri, he should have known that there was more than met the eye with them. But he'd just been so angry. They had targeted kids, kids who barely had any actual training, and had tried to use a manmade abomination to slaughter them in cold blood. It still drove his blood to a boil just thinking about it.
It wasn't that he was bothered by the act itself, but rather by his lack of foresight. It had always been a problem of his, when he got too emotional he simply acted or reacted, without actually thinking through anything. He should have waited, should have called it in, should have waited for help to arrive, but would it even have been worth it? At the end of the day, All for One was locked up too, the head of the monster was gone, and so too were the other leaders. Surely, if there had been others pulling strings, then they would have been at the bar when Percy ran down the villains.
His head was starting to throb painfully and he needed to get away from his studies and cool off. Knowing exactly what he needed, he packed up his things and exited the cafe, thanking the proprietor quickly on his way out. He needed to relax, needed to clear his head, and there was only truly one way to accomplish that, so he went back to his dorm, dropped his belongings off in a pile on the kitchen table and left once more.
The best part, in Percy's opinion, about living on an island nation was that he was never too far from the ocean. It was only a few blocks of walking from the dorms to the nearest beach. Not even bothering to disrobe, he waded slowly into the warm waters of the sea, reveling in the comforting caresses of the waves lapping against his legs. Before too long, he was completely submerged in the water, and as he saw further out into the sea, he felt himself relax fully. It had been entirely too long since he had indulged in just allowing himself to relax like this. To just to fully submit himself to the safety and comfort that the vast ocean provided him. His father may have been gone, but his lasting touch on the world's waters was everlasting, and even now, it felt as though Percy were being blanketed in the warm embrace of care.
Closing his eyes, he allowed himself to float through the sea, enjoying the freeness, the calm, and the weightlessness of the water. Opening his eyes, he watched as a school of fish darted playfully in and around him. Curiously approaching him, before darting away just as quickly. Knowing what he needed. Percy flipped himself around, so that he was right-side up, and rocketed through the water. Deeper and deeper he went, and the further he swam, the less he could feel the connection to the landmass behind him. Getting out into open water like this, it was his greatest escape, the best way for him to rid himself of his stress and worries. A happy laugh bubbled up from his stomach, and his face broke out into a large grin.
He lost track of time, completely ensconced as he was in playing in the ocean, dancing with dolphins and swimming amongst pods of whales. He was no longer burdened with the mundane worries of his natural life, no longer worried about the horrors that the next day might bring, or the guilt he'd been feeling over his conversation with Hawks.
He was simply happy.
Letting out a happy sigh, he finally began making his way back to the surface. The sun had set by the time he approached the beach, and the moon was just beginning to rise over the horizon, bathing the beach in the soft-white, and milky glow of its glimmering splendor. He breached the surface, as dry as he had been going into the water, and waded slowly to the beach. Only, the sandy embankment wasn't empty, there was someone waiting for him, perched in the sand, waiting patiently. Percy sighed, as his good mood and feeling of relaxation quickly ebbed out of him.
"Hey Rumi," He said, walking over to the woman, and plopping down into the sand next to her, "Long time no see."
"Hawks is pissed," She said without preamble, "Called me a couple hours ago bitching about you, told me I needed to 'get you under control' or some shit."
"What'd you tell him?" Percy asked,
"To fuck off," She said, and Percy laughed, "What happened? Don't think I've ever even seen the guy get mildly agitated before, but he seemed actually mad. It was impressive,"
"I have a gift for pissing people off," Percy said,
"You couldn't have understated that more if you tried," Rumi said dryly and Percy groaned and collapsed backwards so he was lying in the sand, staring up at the stars. He unconsciously found his gaze drifting over to a particular grouping of stars, a pattern he knew well. Gazing up at Zoe's group of constellations in the heavens, he was suddenly overwhelmed with a pang of sadness at the realization that somewhere, up in the heavens, was likely a pattern for Thalia too. Maybe even Reyna. Though that was hard to say, if they didn't start to age until after Artemis faded, then would they have become constellations? Probably not, part of him, a very selfish part of him, hoped that they hadn't. He liked the idea that at any point, he could gaze up into the stars and know that he had friends up there, looking down on him.
Rumi nudged Percy's leg with her foot,
"Hey, quit ignoring me asshole," She said, annoyed, "What did you say to Hawks to get his wings so twisted?"
"I just told him what he didn't want to hear," Percy said apathetically, "Told him that I merc'd Shiggy and Kurogiri before I got any useful intel out of them. He got all pissy and started telling me about how I fucked up and how I ruined his investigation or something,"
Rumi snorted, "Asshole,"
"No, he's right," Percy said, rubbing tiredly at his face, "I fucked up. I shouldn't have killed those guys, should have realized that there was more going on and that I should have just brought 'em in. I was just so godsdamn angry." He sighed and let his arms fall into the sand. He moved his metal arm through the sand, feeling at the same time not feeling as the granular particles slipped through his metallic fingers. Rumi watched him, a sour expression on her face,
"It's not your fault Percy," She said, "Not like you knew that Hawks was looking into those clowns, all you knew was that they were the bastards that tried to kill those kids and took your fucking arm. Pretty sure you had every right to be pissed."
"Yeah, but I wasn't thinking, again." He growled, sitting back up, "I got too up in my own head, and acted without thinking, which is exactly how I ended up here in the first place!" He slammed his fist into the ground in frustration sending a cloud of sand scattering through the air. He fell back into the sand, staring up at the collection of constellations,
"I just keep fucking up," He muttered,
"Yeah well," Rum said, laying down on the sand next time, "If you're done with your second pity party of the week, you ready for a heavy dose of reality?"
"Don't think it would stop you if I said no," Percy grumbled,
"And miss the chance to rub your nose in it?" She scoffed, "Hell no." She shifted around for a minute before she seemed to get more comfortable,
"You keep fucking up because you aren't thinking? Well quit whining about it and fucking do something to change the problem. I think you're overreacting to this whole thing anyway, but that's a different conversation than what I think you need to hear."
"And you know what I need to hear?" Percy asked disbelievingly,
"Damn right I do," Rumi said, "You need to get your shit together, and throwing a fit ain't going to cut it." She sighed, and rested her hands in the sand behind her head,
"With All Might gone, there's going to be a scramble to fill his spot, which means we're going to need people with the power and ability to step up to the plate. Like it or not pal? That probably means you. Your little showdown last week has a lot of people talking, and I've been hearing a lot shit about how you might be the next big thing or something. Like it or not, you got a following now buddy, you got people you never even met who are going to start looking up to you as a leader. People who are going to look to you as a pillar of strength, symbol of hope, or whatever the hell people want to call it."
"And if I don't want to be the people's personal champion?" Percy asked bitterly, "Anybody ever think about that?"
"Too little too late for that Percy, you're neck deep in this shit now. And I got some news for you, it's not going to go away any time soon, just you ain't going to stop fucking up. You're never gonna stop making mistakes. 'Cause you're human, and guess what humans do, they make fucking mistakes, they screw up, they get emotional and they do shit they probably wouldn't do normally, but you no longer have the luxury of getting to deal with that sort of crap like a regular person. Heroes have to be more than that. So, you need to learn to deal with it."
"Why do you even care so much?" Percy asked suddenly, "Why even bother coming to me about any of this?"
"Maybe because I don't like seeing one of the few people, I actually give a damn about, constantly self-destructing," Rumi snapped, turning on her side to glare at him, "Maybe because…just because you're this fucking glass bottle of regret who wants nothing more than for this to be a dream, doesn't mean that I'm not thankful as hell to have you as part of my life." Percy winced at having his own words thrown back in his face like that. Rumi continued glaring at him for a moment, before letting out an agitated breath and falling back into the sand again,
"I know I'm the last person who should be telling you this, but you can't go through this shit on your own. You can't second guess every decision you make because that's no way to live. You got too much here, and you got too many people who give a damn about you now to be questioning whether or not you belong here. And if that's not enough, then how about this, there are an awful lot of innocent people out there, who are probably going to live now because of what you did. Because regardless of whether or not you should have killed those two soulless mother fuckers, they were heartless murderers and deserved to be put in the ground, and if you didn't who knows how many people would be dead because you didn't act, and those two were still allowed to breathe."
Rumi shifted again, and Percy turned to look at her, meeting her eyes as he shifted onto his side,
"Besides, Hawks can shove his investigation up his own feathery ass. Even if those two were still alive, I'm willing to bet my arm that they wouldn't have said anything about anything worth hearing, and he'd be in the same position he is now, only those two assclowns wouldn't be dead like they deserve."
Percy just met the woman's gaze, and didn't say anything for a while. Finally, he let out a breath, and raised his arm into the air,
"Wouldn't recommend making that bet, doesn't have a good track record." He said with a smirk, and Rumi rolled her eyes before shoving him playfully in the shoulder.
"All of that, and that's all that managed to make it through the block head of yours?" She laughed,
"I have ADHD, gimme a break," He laughed, rolling once more onto his back. They laid their in silence for a while, just staring up at the night sky.
"Thanks, Rumi." His said, his voice little more than whisper, "For always being there to tell me what I need to hear…especially when it's not necessarily something I want to hear,"
"It's what I'm here for." She said back, her voice just as soft. And Percy just nodded, looking up at the stars, just knowing that if Thalia really did have her own place in the clouds, that she was cackling at him, looking down from on high. Unbidden, a small laugh escaped his lips,
"What?" Rumi asked,
"It's nothing," Percy said, "It's just-well okay, so back, back in my day,"
"Okay Grandpa." Rumi said, and Percy tossed a handful of sand at her and she swore and tossed some back at him,
"Don't be an ass," Percy said around a laugh, "So back in the day…there was this…I don't know, I guess you'd call it a tradition. There was this group of girls, they were called the Hunters, and when-when one of them, you know, died, their leader, Artemis, would give them their own place in the sky. Kind of like an immortal reminder of everything they'd done, and what they'd sacrificed to make sure the rest of us were safe. My cousin, one of my best friends, she was part of the group. And I was just sitting here, thinking that if she really is up there somewhere, looking down at me right now, she'd be laughing her scrawny ass off at what a kelphead I really am."
Rumi laughed, "She kick your ass?"
"I gave as good as I got," Percy said, his eyes once more finding Zoe's set of constellations, and smiling,
"But yeah…she was a lot like you in that way."
BREAK
"And time's up, pencils down" Ragdoll sang from the front of the room. Percy finished writing his last sentence on the exam, before setting the pencil down and collapsing back into his chair with a groan,
"That wasn't so bad now, was it?" Ragdoll asked,
"That was worse than any exam I took in college," Percy groaned, laying his head on his desk, "At least there I got a few days between exams,"
"Ah quit your whining," Tiger grumbled, thumping Percy harshly on the back, "It's unbecoming,"
"I'll be unbecoming my foot up your ass," Percy retorted eloquently,
"That didn't make any sense hon," Pixie-Bob pipped up from her place perched on the head desk,
"Relax Percy," Mandalay said gently, as always taking command of the group, and rubbing Percy comfortingly on the back as she collected the papers from his desk, "I'm sure you're fine,"
"Thanks," Percy said, sitting back up and stretching his arms high over his head, enjoying the feeling of several satisfying pops as his back cracked. "Oh gods, that felt good," He groaned in satisfaction as he stood up, taking a quick glance over to the clock on the wall, "Guess I should probably go get geared up."
"Probably," Mandalay nodded, looking over to the clock as well, "You're going to want time for a big entrance,"
"How come you aren't the ones doing this by the way?" Percy asked,
"Too busy setting up your exams and getting the training camp squared away," Tiger explained, "We're actually heading out now,"
"Sorry we won't be there to watch your exam in person," Ragdoll chimed in,
"But we'll have it up on our phones as Tiger drives us to the camp." Pixie-Bob said, winking merrily at him, "Wouldn't want to miss it, it's going to be a hell of a show."
"Still not going to tell me what I'm going to be dealing with here?" Percy asked. He'd been trying, unsuccessfully, for a week to get the Cats to tell him what his exam was going to be, but they had been annoyingly tight-lipped about the entire thing.
"Nope," Ragdoll said cheerily, "It's a lot more fun watching you squirm,"
"Thanks," Percy said sarcastically, slinging his bag over his shoulder and making to head out of the door, "You guys going to be around at all next week?" He asked as he was about to head out the door,
"We'll poke our heads in," Mandalay said as she joined Percy at the door, "We'll want to celebrate you finishing your first semester here, now c'mon, I'll walk you to the locker room," After biding the rest of the Cat's goodbye, Percy and Mandalay started their slow procession to the locker room.
"So what did you want to talk about?" Percy asked, "I'm assuming that's the reason for you escorting me to class,"
"I'm getting that easy to read am I?" She asked, giggling slightly, and Percy nudged her jokingly with his shoulder,
"Nah, I've just spent enough time around you now to know you, so what's up?" He said, stopping outside the doors to the locker room.
"The other's thought you might get overwhelmed if we all did it, so we decided I'd do it for all of us," Mandalay said, looking up at him with a proud smile on her face, "We just wanted you to know how proud of you we all are. When we first met…you were just this lost young kitten…so sad and just kind of floating around." She wrapped one of her paws around his metal arm, and she gazed intently at it,
"But you've come so far in such a short amount of time. I know that some days are harder than others, and that you're still adjusting to life here, but just know that we're proud of you." She wrapped Percy up in a hug, which he was all too willing to return.
"Thank you," He said softly, tightening his hold on her ever so slightly, "I honestly don't know where I'd be right now if I didn't have all of you with me, so thank you. Thank you for putting up with me…I know I haven't made things…easy for you."
Mandalay laughed, her shoulders shaking slightly against his, "Understatement Percy,"
"Yeah I guess so," He chuckled, "But seriously, you guys have done so much for me…I can't thank you enough."
They held the embrace for a few more moments, before Mandalay stepped away, dabbing slightly at the corners of her eyes, though Percy suspected they weren't tears of sadness if the smile on her face was anything to go by.
"You're welcome," She said, her voice somewhat squeaky, "Now get out there, and show those kids how a real hero works,"
Grinning, Percy nodded at her, and pushed open the door to the locker room, time to see just how far these kids have come.
BREAK
Izuku fidgeted slightly with the gloves on his hands. His stomach was a tight knot that would stop constricting as the class made their way to the practical exam staging area. His nerves weren't helped by the fact that apparently all of their teachers were there, if what he could see from the distance they were at was correct.
"Geez, wonder what they're all doing here," Kirishima said,
"Maybe they're here to judge us? Kind of like the entrance exams?" Sato guessed as he adjusted his belt.
"I'm more curious about where our Class President is," Tokoyami mused, and Izuku cast a quick glance around him, as did many of the others. Sure enough, Percy was nowhere to be seen.
"Yaoyorozu, you seen him around anywhere? Or he tell you he was going to be late or something?" Shoji asked,
"No," Yaoyorozu said with a shake of her head, biting at her lip as she cast a worried glance over her shoulder at the entrance to the locker rooms, "Perhaps his exams took a little longer than anticipated, he is working with a different curriculum than the rest of us."
"Wouldn't be surprised if he didn't need to take a practical exam at all," Kaminari said, his arms lounging behind his head, "After what happened during the internships, seems like it would be a waste of-Ouch!" He yelped in pain, rubbing at his side where Jiro had plugged him with two of her jacks,
"Stop," She said in an undertone, and Izuku could see as she tried to point conspicuously at him out of the corner of his eye,
"Oh, right," Kaminari said, and stopped talking.
Unwillingly, Izuku once more felt his fingers clench into tight fists. His classmates had been acting like that around him all week. They all seemed to know just how fond of All Might Izuku was, though the true extent of their relationship was still unknown to them.
The truth was, Izuku was still truly shaken by what he had seen on the news. His classmates thought he was just shaken by what he had seen happen to his idol. That the illusion of the world's greatest hero had been shattered for Izuku. But they were wrong, sure, watching his idol fight to his last breath had been…difficult, but that wasn't why Izuku was feeling so shaken. He'd been to visit his Master a few times since the accident, and he had revealed to Izuku who his opponent truly was. And Izuku had been made painfully aware of the reality of the situation he now found himself in. Izuku was the now the last true wielder of the most powerful quirk on the planet, the successor to a long line of the greatest heroes ever seen. Knowing that now, the responsibility and true weight of what that meant fell on his shoulders? How could he be prepared to deal with that? He still barely understood how to use One for All without destroying his body completely, and he couldn't harness more than a fraction of its power. How was he supposed to carry on the mantel? How was he supposed to carry on the lineage? How was he supposed to be, All Might? He was…he was just a quirkless nobody.
So caught up in his thoughts, that he didn't realize that they had arrived at the entrance to the exam area, and was only saved from walking right into Iida's back when Uraraka reached out and stopped him. As always, Aizawa wasted no time in beating around the bush.
"With the written exams over, now is the time for your practical examinations." He began, his eyes sweeping over the collected class, and Izuku gulped nervously. "As you remember, if you want to go to the training camp this summer, then don't screw up."
As always, his homeroom teacher had kinds words of encouragement that Izuku always appreciated and valued.
"I expect that you all did your best to gather information before hand, to best determine what you would be up against." Aizawa said, and he was right. They'd heard from a couple of students that they were likely going to be going up against the same robots that they had fought in the entrance exam.
"In previous years, we simply tested you against the exam robots, however this year, things are going to go a bit…differently." The rescue tape around Aizawa's neck shifted for a moment, before Principle Nezu popped up from the coverings, hopping up onto Aizawa's shoulder,
"I'll take it from here Eraserhead," The principle said cheerfully, before turning to beam at the class, "As your teacher was saying, we'll be doing things a little differently this year, as opposed to years past. As a result of the uptick in villain attacks over the last several months, as well as the attack on the USJ, myself and the rest of the staff feel that we need a more…comprehensive test of your abilities." He climbed down from Aizawa, using the man as a ladder, before landing softly on the ground.
"Which means that you'll be doing more person-to-person fighting." The small rodent's face contorted into a rather sinister looking grin, "You'll be split up into teams of two, and you'll be tasked with fighting one of the teachers behind me." Several of Izuku's classmates audibly gasped in shock, and Izuku felt his stomach clench painfully.
"We've already taken the liberty of splitting you all up into teams, and assigning you your combatant. These combinations were determined, at my discretion, based on a number of factors. We looked at class scores, type-matchups, and interpersonal relationships, to determine what would be the best outcome for your individual matches." Izuku listened intently, as Nezu explained which of the teams were going to be, and felt his breath leave his body as slowly but surely, the number of students he would be paired with boiled down to one…
Shakily, he looked over his shoulder and caught Bakugo's gaze, who simply glared at him, having reached the same conclusion.
"And finally, we'll have Midoriya and Bakugo." Nezu said, solidifying what Izuku had already suspected.
"Wait a second," Bakugo growled, looking around at the teachers, "All of the teachers have already been assigned, so who the hell are we-"
"I'm so glad you asked," Nezu said happily, "We had originally planned to pair the two of you against All Might." Izuku's heart skipped a beat, "But for obvious reasons, that will no longer be happening, so instead, we'll be pairing you up with someone…different."
Izuku had a sudden and horrifying idea of just who the principle was likely referring to, apparently Bakugo had the same thought,
"Oh you have got to be shitting me," He snarled,
"Indeed," Nezu said, a devious looking grin on his face, "Your opponent for this exam, will be-"
At that moment, a swirl of water vapor materialized in front of the gathered teachers, and Izuku's worst fears were suddenly and rapidly realized, as Percy appeared before them.
"Me," Percy said, a happy smirk on his face as he cracked the knuckles on his left hand,
"Can't wait to see what you boys are made of."
AN: So this arc has been fairly introspective and character driven so far, and not that there's anything wrong with that, as a matter of fact I prefer that to nothing but action, but I feel like you guys deserve some fun. So the next two chapters are pretty much nothing but high-octane, ass-whooping action. Got a lot of cool stuff that happens, and a lot of fun action-sequences lined up for you. I think you'll really, really enjoy what I have written for Percy's exam in particular. As always shoutout to Double0Sxvxn for being an awesome Beta and dealing with my bullshit and as always if you enjoyed this but haven't checked out my other work, give them a try you never know you might find something else you like. I'm also on discord now, where I and a bunch of other writers hang out, chat and brainstorm ideas, you just have to copy the link that's in my profile bio if you want to come and hang out with us. Stay safe, stay healthy and have an awesome week.
All My Love and see you next week,
LilDB