I thought I'd be able to break off as soon as I was in the walls, but the group of students I was with was guided straight into an auditorium. I stood by the door instead of sitting down, but there were teachers or volunteers or some kind of adult at every possible exit.
"Is there a restroom?" I asked a woman with a frankly disconcerting smile.
"Ah, there'll be a short bathroom break before the written test. Take a seat for now." Her voice made it clear that there was no room for negotiation. I nodded and found a seat toward the back, scanning the crowd. No sign of him in here. I had no doubt Moe would be able to get inside, despite the gate debacle. The question was: where would he go from there?
I considered using my quirk to scan the whole auditorium, then escape it, but resisted the temptation. I had already pushed myself today and that nap had wound up making me lose track of Moe in the first place. No, I had to stay alert.
A loud man called Present Mike wowed us with his presentation; explaining that this group would be taking the hero exam; that we'd have just an hour to complete it, then fifteen minutes to change and go to the practical test. He explained something about the points that robots were worth, but I couldn't fully understand, and to be honest, I was distracted, trying to find a very little boy in a sea of teenagers.
"Excuse me." I turned to see a tall boy with glasses and a neat haircut leering at me, "They've dismissed us." Ah, I was blocking his way. I stood and moved with him toward the exit, "I hope you're not this distracted during the test." There was a dash of disapproval mixed in with mild concern; I imagined this was what an older brother would sound like.
"I don't think that'll be a problem." I said with an uneasy grin.
Once we'd filtered out into the designated hallway, out a different door we'd entered, there was a sort of lounge area where kids stood and spoke or studied on their phones. I scanned the room for Moe with growing anxiety.
"OH COME ON!" I flinched as a kid yelled and an explosion erupted from his fists. As the proctors told him not to use his quirk, I jumped at a tap on my shoulder.
It was a meek looking kid with a mess of dark green hair. He gave a shy smile.
"Sorry, but am I right to say it's your first time here?" I felt called out, and sputtered to find an answer, "I mean, not at UA, it's my first time too, I-I mean here to the city? You just seemed startled and on edge and I… I'm sorry!"
"You got me." I told him, smiling kindly to placate him, "I've been here for two hours and already I've seen more quirks and danger than in my whole life." He gave a sympathetic nod.
"I know a lot of people travel into the city for this test, and I just think, well, I think it's cool that you want to be a hero even if you're not used to all this." I blinked at the unexpected and unearned compliment. Little did he know. I gave a tight smile and he frowned, "What is it?"
"You know a lot about this place, right?" He was clutching a notebook like a life vest, and it seemed well worn, not to mention he was incredibly observant.
"Just about everything you can learn from outside the walls!" He confirmed, chipper and interested, "What would you like to know?" I hesitated, but only for a second.
"What would happen if they found an unaccompanied child in here?" I was pretty sure Moe wouldn't be easy to spot, but people here were perceptive and skilled. The boy seemed taken aback.
"Oh. Um, I guess they'd have one of the teachers look after them until the chaos settled down, then they'd be taken to the proper authorities. All the teachers are heroes, so the kid would be safer than ever, at least!" I let go a breath I hadn't realized I was holding. Okay. Okay, that sounded good. "Why? Did you see a kid?" I met his eyes briefly and smiled to let him know I didn't think so little of him as to try and sell a bad lie, but that I didn't know him well enough to tell the truth either. He seemed to understand.
He thrust his hand out to shake, stiff and awkward.
"I'm Izuku Midorya!" He told me. I shook his hand; his palms were sweaty.
"Juniper Manderly. Nice to meet you." He seemed flushed and excited, gripping his notebook and eyeing the classrooms. "Good luck on your test." Before any more words could be exchanged, I moved back toward the door that would take me to the auditorium. Maybe if I retraced my steps, I'd be able to find somewhere that Moe had sneaked to; he certainly wouldn't be in this room full of people.
My hand fell on the doorknob when I felt a harsh shiver travel down my spine. I knew I'd been caught without even turning around.
"…where do you think you're going?" I turned to see if I could outrun my accuser, only to find a man who looked like he hadn't slept for a month. The bags under his eyes were deep valleys, he was sickly pale with a mess of black hair that fell on his shoulders. He was wrapped in what looked like a scarf of bandages. His hands were in his pockets and at first glance, you might think the wind could blow him over.
But something in his eyes told me otherwise.
"Bath…" My lie died in my throat under his scrutiny, especially considering we'd just been told the bathrooms were in the exact opposite direction. What did I say? That I was in the wrong exam hall? Would he kick me out? I'd gone through a whole ordeal to get in here in the first place…
I fell back on one of my old classics.
"I'm not feeling well." I looked at the tiled floor as I spoke, feeling cold, "I thought I might have a migraine coming on."
A beat of silence felt like a full minute. I listened to my breathing as I waited for his dismissal.
Instead, I was surprised to see him move toward me. He grabbed the scruff on the handkerchief I wore around my neck and dragged me unceremoniously toward the classroom.
"Hey!" I sputtered, stumbling at the awkward angle, both indignant and embarrassed.
"Too bad." He said, pushing me into the classroom, then turning to the crowd of students, "Test is starting now." He glared at me in particular. "Take a seat."
I took a seat.