Chapter 44
The one hundred students who passed the first test milled about in the anteroom, chatting. Schools mostly stuck together. There was still an air of tension in the room.
"Now," the commission announcer said over the intercom, "if you could all direct your attention toward the screens."
Mina looked. "They're showing the arena?" Sero mumbled to her left. "Why?"
Suddenly, loud explosions sounded off. They could be heard both outside the anteroom and through the speakers, rumbling the floor and causing the students to gasp in panic. On the screens, buildings began to crumble and collapse and slid apart. Dust began to billow upward over the arena.
"They're destroying it?!" Midoriya breathed.
The announcer spoke again. "The arena has now become an emergency disaster zone. The next test will be the last. It begins in ten minutes. Use this time to use the bathroom or do anything else you have to do."
He cut off the intercom, leaving the students with many questions.
"I can't believe they can just destroy the arena like that," Sero was saying.
"Well, it's a hero department. The government gives them lots of funding. They're rolling in it so deep that they can just demolish their own site for the hell of it," said Doko.
Mina gave her boyfriend a look. He was still staring at the screen, despite it going blank. "You've thought of something," she said.
He folded his fingers under his chin. Around the two of them, about half of the rest of the class gathered.
"I reckon it's a rescue exercise," he finally said, turning to look at her. "An emergency disaster zone, they called it. They're taking this ten minutes to put out our objectives. Testing dummies maybe. Or real people. In any case, we're going to have to rescue them."
Mina's eyes widened. "And whoever rescues the most gets to pass?"
"There's no way it would be that simple," Sero snorted. "...Right?"
Doko shrugged. "I dunno. It's just a guess, really. I could be totally wrong."
He looked over at some of the rest of the class. Uraraka, Midoriya, Iida, and Yaoyorozu had all been listening, and they had interesting looks on their faces.
"What is it?" he asked.
"The destroyed arena…" Iida said in a low voice. "You all saw it too, right?"
"Yeah," Midoriya nodded.
"It was like Kamino Ward all over again," mumbled Momo.
Doko's eyes widened.
"During that, we were focused on rescuing Katayama and Bakugo. Our field of view was narrow. We forced it to be," Iida continued, now catching the ears of most of the class. "However…"
"There were a lot of casualties," Midoriya finished, looking down at his shoes. "Ones we didn't even consider."
"Class A…" Iida looked up. They had all gathered around him and Momo now, their two representatives. "Let's do our best!"
"Right!"
"Bah!" spat Bakugo. "I'm not sticking around just to fight with you idiots over who gets to save the most people!"
Some of the girls boo'd him, Mina included.
"No, Bakugo has a point," said Doko. "Depending on what happens in there, it might be better to split into small groups this time, like what ended up happening in the first test anyway. The arena is too large. We need to cover a wide area as quickly as possible. Some people may hypothetically have injuries grievous enough to where they need immediate medical attention. If all nineteen of us dedicated ourselves to one place, we may miss people more in need of saving. And besides that, when the buildings fell, it is possible that some of them have scattered debris in a precarious manner. The slightest movement could unbalance them and further trap people, or even kill them. Ideally, the groups should be split into people with diverse Quirks. Quirks good for searching, zone control, and speed. Each group should have at least one of those."
The class all went silent, gaping at him.
Doko blushed slightly. "What?"
A grin spread across Mina's face. "Doko! Where did you learn all that?"
"Quite impressive," Momo agreed, smiling a bit more subtly. "The plan seems sound enough to me, do you agree, Iida?"
"W-well, I…" Iida seemed taken aback, adjusting his glasses. "I believe I do."
"So we should decide on groups now then, right?" Jiro suggested.
They immediately began a group discussion, most of them dividing things up. The exceptions were Todoroki, who stood apart silently, and Bakugo and Kirishima. The latter of the two was trying to convince the former to let them go together.
Meanwhile, Shoji approached Doko. "Katayama, I believe we would make a good pairing. I will be able to spot those in need of rescue, and you will be able to clear debris."
"Sounds like a plan," Doko agreed.
"I'll come with you guys!" Mina tossed in. "Doko, you don't have a reliable source of speed right now. I can slide pretty my fast on my acid shoes, and can help with debris besides!"
Doko and Shoji smiled. "Right, then."
Meanwhile, Tsuyu, Hagakure, and Ojiro had managed to convince Todoroki to come with them. Yao-momo had paired up with Sato and Tokoyami. Midoriya, Uraraka, and Sero remained a trio, like they'd done in the first test. Jiro, Aoyama, Iida, and Koda made up the last group. Kirishima and Bakugo stood apart.
"Well, Katayama?" Iida asked. "What do you think of these groupings?"
"You're asking me?"
"Well, yes. This is your plan, after all."
"Well, I uhh…" Doko coughed, blushing. Mina grinned; it was such a treat to see him shy like this, because he so rarely allowed it to happen.
"Are you guys sure about this," he finally muttered. "I could be entirely wrong about the exercise, anyway."
"We trust you, Katayama-kun!" chirped Toru.
"Ribbit." Tsuyu nodded.
"It is admittedly surprising how much you know about rescue, considering we haven't done much of it in class," Tokoyami pointed out.
Doko looked down at his hands. A soft purple grow wreathed them, reflecting in his eyes. "I've done research outside class. Rescue is what I've been meaning to do the whole time."
Mina's heart skipped a beat.
"I was born for this," he muttered.
"UA!" a voice said, causing them all to whirl.
"Oh, it's Shiketsu…" Kirishima mumbled.
"Bakugo," said the leader of the group approaching them, a boy covered in hair, but still wearing the black Shiketsu cap atop his head. "Did you happen to see a boy with purple hair during the first test? Shishikura, his name was."
"Yeah, I saw him," Bakugo said bluntly. "Knocked him the fuck out."
Hair dude sighed. "I thought as much. He has a tendency to force his values onto others, and it can come off as rude. He has failed the test; that is probably punishment enough, but still, I wanted to apologize on behalf of our school. We would like to maintain a healthy relationship with UA if possible."
"Doesn't seem like it…" muttered Kirishima.
The tall boy with the shaved head, Inasa, was watching Todoroki with daggers in his eyes. Todoroki stared back. Mina looked back and forth between them, confused.
"Anyway, see you on the field," the hair boy said, turning round to leave. As the Shiketsu students retreated, the curvy blonde girl waved at Midoriya with a giggle, and lowered her eyelids in a sultry kind of way.
Midoriya froze, grimacing through his teeth. Uraraka had a very plastered, fake smile on her face, and she was vibrating slightly, her arms stiffly at her sides.
"What's all that about?" Doko asked aloud.
"That reminds me," Sero muttered. "MIDORIYA!" he roared, much louder, grabbing the boy by the shoulders. "How did you do it?! How?!"
"AAAAAAH! Do whAAAAt?!"
"I saved you, remember! I saw everything! Why was she naked? What were you two doing?!"
"NOTHING! N-nothing, I swear! It was her Quirk or s-something, I think!"
Uraraka was watching him with a dark look. Mina skipped up next to her, smirking. "You know," she said to the brunette. "You really ought to make your move soon."
"Huh? Ehhhhh?" Uraraka was broken from her stupor, jolting at the sudden appearance of the pink girl.
Mina's smirk grew further. "If you don't start doing something, Doko and I will take action instead. We'll set you up with Midoriya."
"That won't be necessary!" Ochaco snapped. Then, her face softened, and she seemed distant. "With all respect toward you relationship, Mina…I don't think there's time for love. The League of Villains has us targeted specifically. We have to beat them. That's what we have to do before anything else. I can't look ahead if I'm always looking to my side at…Deku…" Her voice lowered to a whisper.
Mina put a supportive hand on her friend's shoulder. "If that's how you feel, then that's how you feel. But, if you're not going to pursue him, then you probably shouldn't act so blatantly jealous over something that was probably nothing."
Uraraka shuddered. "That girl really was naked, though. You didn't see it, Mina. She was practically assaulting Deku."
Mina opened her mouth to respond, but in that moment, the intercom started up again.
"Your ten minutes are up. The second test is now beginning."
The walls of the anteroom began to fold outward, much like the first room. They were being dropped into the arena again…only this time, it was in ruins.
"In this scenario, Insert City Name Here has been decimated by a terrorist attack. The attack came so suddenly that the pros have not yet arrived, and many, many people are stranded or trapped. Your job is to rescue them and provide support for as long as you can until the true pros arrive. Commission members will be monitoring each of you, and at the end of the test, you will receive a final point value for your performance. That's it. Use any means necessary at your disposal to rescue the citizens. Beginning in ten."
"You were right, Doko," Mina said with a grin, meeting back up with him and Shoji.
"Nine."
"It's a curse, being right all the time," he muttered with dark humor.
"Eight."
"Get ready, everyone!" Iida called to Class A, as they organized into their groups, preparing to take off at a run into the arena.
"Seven."
"Dammit, Kirishima, go somewhere else!"
"Nah, I'd rather make sure you don't shout too much at the civilians."
"Six."
"The other schools aren't organized," Shoji muttered. "Only we managed to figure out the test before it started."
"Five."
"That puts us at an advantage, then!" Mina exclaimed, cracking her knuckles in preparation.
"Four."
"All your doing, Dokkun, ribbit."
"Three."
"Katayama, let us do our best!"
"Two."
"Good luck, everyone. Don't forget to split up."
"One."
"Toward the city!" Mina declared, and began sliding out into the arena, using her acid shoes to propel herself forward, as if on skates. Doko followed close behind, still unable to teleport his legs. Shoji brought up the rear. They headed toward the field of collapsed buildings, while the other students spread, looking for what to do.
…
"Oooh," said Ms. Joke, leaning forward. "My kids are setting up a first aid area to hold the evacuated. Look at 'em go."
Aizawa grunted noncommittally. The first few minutes of the rescue exercise had been chaotic, but his students had been among the first to spread out and take action. Good. Speed will help you. While the second and third years from the other schools definitely had the advantage when it came to rescue training, his class's pure reaction time was not to be underestimated.
He'd seen them split up, too. It was now hard to track due to the massive nature of the arena, but he was fairly certain that they'd spread out quite a bit. That was also good. Hopefully, they knew what they were doing when it actually came to rescuing the civilians.
The company that specialized in professional people-to-be-saved, made up of clever elderly as well as little people that disguised themselves as children, were harsh and cynical in their grading. They'd always been, but since Stain, they were probably being even harsher.
Aizawa knew that he himself was not the best example, but since All Might's retirement, they needed heroes that saved people with a smile more than ever. Saved people with grace, saved them in a way that made everything feel alright. Because out there in society…no one was feeling alright.
In that way, he was worried about some of his strongest students. Bakugo, Todoroki, and Katayama, specifically. The three of them were very powerful, but they didn't necessarily have the temperament for proper rescue…or at least, so he'd seen so far.
"Whoa, what's that purple blast!" Emi cooed, pointing toward a spot deep in the city.
Aizawa perked up, confused. He saw a dome of purple light spreading away from a central point, growing up through the arena before dissipating. At its center was a dark speck that was unmistakably his own student, Doko Katayama.
"Just like that, the boy cleared out a huge amount of debris…and he even took out the larger beams that would have fallen as a result of his impact! Your students are something else, Eraser!"
Shota allowed himself to smile, just a tiny bit. Maybe he didn't have anything to worry about after all.
…
Class A got to work quickly.
There'd been a brief slip-up where Midoriya had approached a "child" in danger and had reacted poorly, only to receive a very aggressive chiding from this now-obvious little person. The civilian had given them advice on how to proceed, and since then, they'd been slowly improving their process.
Momo created beams to hold up debris, allowing Uraraka to float pieces out as carefully as possible. Sero and Sato helped with supports. Tokoyami sent Dark Shadow into tight, narrow, dark places, looking for more trapped people, while Aoyama lit up some of the other spaces. Jiro plugged her earjacks into the ground and listened for cries of help. Midoriya jumped here and there, blasting debris away where he could. Koda sent bugs into nooks and crannies to search for openings that could be safely widened. Iida and Ojiro scouted ahead with their speed, assessing the situation of a particular area before the others arrived.
Shoji was using his own Quirk to find civilians quickly, amidst the destroyed buildings. Mina was skating and bobbing and weaving her way through collapsed debris, melting away what she could, and clearing things up to bring in…Doko.
Doko Katayama was at the front of it all. He used his voice teleport to reassure civilians before he reached them, and teleported debris away in an efficient, almost dance-like fashion, integrating his work seamlessly with Mina's. They complemented each other perfectly, saving people faster and faster as they went along, nearly keeping up with Shoji's impeccable ability to find them. He kept calm through all of it, handling his encounters with the scared civilians in an interesting way. Where Midoriya had repaired his process to save people with a smile, Doko saved people with a calm, detached expression.
One of the professional rescuees who was cleared from his trapped location by the boy's Void Shred ability thought about it for a moment. He's not smiling or taking extra steps to reassure us, beyond the initial voice call with his Quirk. That SHOULD be a point deduction…and yet, the way he looks…as if this is all effortless to him. He's in his element. His mouth may not be smiling, but his eyes are. The way he's going through all of this so quickly, and so calmly…it would make one think that there was never anything to worry about in the first place! Brilliant!
The Commission members watching from the stands were impressed as well. Mera, the sleepy man who'd been talking to the students via intercom all day, leaned forward to the computer. "As expected, lots of people lost points in the beginning due to not processing the situation quickly enough. But…they're learning. The deductions are slowing down, and much earlier than I expected them to."
"So you're saying everyone is doing well?" a deep voice asked from the other end of the line.
"Yes, Gang Orca. I believe it's time for you to make things complicated."
Mera sighed, and his eyes randomly zeroed in a slot taken up by one examinee. Katsuki Bakugo, who was now sitting at a precarious 52 points.
If your points drop below 50, you fail.
"MEN!" Gang Orca shouted to his sidekicks, who were dressed as villains. "LET'S MOVE!"
The doors opened to the arena, and they stepped in, setting off an explosion.
…
"Huh?" Mina looked up, broken from her concentration on melting a boulder. "What was that?"
Shoji's eyes whirled round. "An explosion from the arena entrance. Someone is coming in."
"Of course…" Doko whispered, reappearing next to them. Mina had been overjoyed by their teamwork so far…but it was almost scary how good Doko was at this. Just imagine him at full strength, able to teleport himself as well…
The thought made her want to bed him again, but there would be time for that later.
"What is it?" she asked him.
"The terrorist attack…" he said. "The hypothetical scenario. Of course there would be villains involved."
"WHAT'LL IT BE, HEROES?" Gang Orca boomed. "FIGHT, OR PROTECT?"
Doko clicked his teeth. "Of course; they're testing our ability to multitask."
"Should we go help?" asked Mina.
"There's a few more people here…" Doko scanned the area of debris. "But you two should suffice to get them. Shoji, use some arms to move boulders and speed up the process. Replace me as best you can."
"You're going to help with the fight?" Shoji asked.
Doko nodded. "Aye."
He took off running toward the evacuation area, where Gang Orca and his minions now threatened.
…
"There's only a few more people to be saved here, ribbit!" said Tsuyu, diving back into the water.
Hagakure and Ojiro looked back at Todoroki. "Will you go?" the tail user asked.
Todoroki looked back and forth between the evacuation area to their left, where Gang Orca and his army of masked men where making their way toward the civilians.
"Yeah," he said, making up his mind, and beginning to create the ice slide.
"We'll be behind you!" Ojiro called, as Todoroki slid toward his target.
…
FIVE MINUTES LATER
Without his ability to warp himself, it was taking Doko a very long time to reach the evacuation area. Since they'd been high up on piles of debris, it had been easy to see, but that didn't make it easy to get to. He was running, breathing hard, wishing he was at full strength. If I could just teleport myself, I could have saved all those people even faster…
He wouldn't lie about it. This exercise had made him happy. His blood was singing, his nerves were pumping with adrenaline. It was what he'd wanted to use his Quirk for from the start. Even without his full strength, even knowing it was a test, the power he'd felt in being able to save all those people so quickly…
And yet, he couldn't lean back on that all the time. In every villain fight he'd been in, Doko had failed, to a degree. The only one that could be counted as a success was Muscular, but he'd had a great deal of help. There were other times in which he'd even had help, and not managed to win. The rooftop. The forest. Kamino…
I MUST get better at fighting. Gang Orca won't know what's coming to him. I can do this!
Surely Mina and Shoji would be on their way now as well. And some of the other Class A members, probably. Doko ran up the slope, knowing that on the other side was the fight. He wondered who he'd see. Had they gotten the civilians away in time?
He came over the top, and gasped.
Gang Orca had Todoroki in a chokehold, throttling him with his paralyzing whale-sound attack. Laying on the ground nearby was the boy from Shiketsu, Inasa. Beyond them, Midoriya and many of the students from Ketsubutsu were retreating, taking the evacuated civilians with them.
Only Todoroki and Inasa had remained behind to fight Gang Orca, and behind the whale hero were all of his sidekicks, masked men armed with guns that shot pellets of hardening concrete.
And Doko was behind all of them, unnoticed.
He took a deep breath, reached out his hand, and warped a boulder onto the top of two of the sidekicks, knocking them out.
"Huh?"
Three more of them whirled, and Gang Orca dropped Todoroki, focusing on Doko for the first time.
"So you're here, huh?" the hero growled. "Men!"
They shot their concrete at him. The stuff was gooey as it shot…but solid. Doko dodged best he could without teleporting, and warped the stuff backward, re-angling its velocity toward the people who'd just shot it. Some of it hardened around their arms and their guns, preventing them from shooting more.
"Huh? He warped it into me…" one struggled with his own arm as the concrete hardened around it.
Doko dashed in. He warped up more debris and dropped it on some of the surrounding men, ducked low under a swinging punch, and kicked another square in the stomach. He slid back away from another concrete shot, capturing the projectile with his Quirk and warping it again towards another minion as they closed in. He spun and dodged and warped, landing solid blows where he could. Some of the stuff managed to harden on his arm, but he simply warped it off with the other arm.
Nearly all the minions were cleared out, when suddenly…
Gang Orca roared at Doko, paralyzing him, freezing him on the spot with wave after wave of ruthless echoing sound. The attack enveloped his whole body, causing him to collapse to his knees, wincing. Oww….
Gang Orca subsided the attack, walking slowly toward Doko. Around him, his own men were fallen, some of them knocked out, others struggling to their feet, recovering from the blows that the warper had given them.
"Go after the civilians," the Pro Hero said to his sidekicks. "I will deal with these three."
"Yes, Gang Orca!"
They were running away now, but shorter in numbers. Doko had knocked out about a third of them, and certainly injured another third at least a little bit. He took solace in that with a pained smirk, as Gang Orca closed in.
"Not so fast and slippery now, are you?" Gang Orca asked him, in a villain-like voice. "You did an admirable job trying to save these other two." He gestured back to Todoroki and Inasa, they too paralyzed on the ground like Doko. "Single-handedly, you took quite a lot of my men."
"Who are you callin' slippery?" Doko forced out through the near-paralysis, clutching his own stomach.
"But it won't be enough…" Gang Orca said sadly. "I…"
A combined grouping of wind and flame suddenly wrapped round, enveloping the hero in a hot, blustery trap. Doko's eyes widened, and he turned them as best as he could toward Todoroki and Inasa.
Despite being unable to move…they've trapped him with their Quirks…
"A valiant effort!" Gang Orca shouted from within the tornado of flame and wind. "But it won't be enough to save you!"
In the midst of the vortex, he was pouring water on himself, stopping from drying out.
"In this situation, a lesser villain might give up." Doko gasped, watching the pro stand taller in the middle of the fire. "After making a move, you should already be planning the next one. What do you have after this?"
Gang Orca reared back his head and blasted the fire and wind away with his sound wave. Doko winced, feeling heat wash over him uncomfortably from the force of the blast.
Gang Orca was now walking over toward Todoroki, slowly, inexorably. Does this mean we fail? Doko thought numbly, trying in vain to move his arms, to do anything. Did I fail by coming here? Should I have stayed with Mina and Shoji?
Midoriya plummeted from the sky like a bullet, wreathed in green lightning. "GET AWAY FROM THEM!" he roared, planting his foot solidly against Gang Orca's arm, which had risen up to block his face at the last second. The blow was enough to cause the pro hero's feet to skid backward through the dust, and Midoriya reared back for another attack, snarling…
An alarm sounded.
"All citizens have now been rescued," the commission member announced. "The test is over. This concludes today's provisional licensing exam."
…
Doko met up with Mina at the edge of the arena, where all the examinees had gathered.
"Oh my god, there you are!" She rushed over and hugged him. Shoji, Tsuyu, Ojiro, Toru, and the rest of Class A had gathered up as well.
"What happened?" Doko asked. "Todoroki and I got paralyzed…"
"We managed to reach the evacuation area right as the minions got to it. The Ketsubutsu kids were protecting the civilians, and we helped them!"
Doko sighed in relief. "You guys probably passed, at least."
Shoji raised an eyebrow. "Katayama, what makes you think you didn't pass?"
Doko gave him an equally confused expression back. Did you not hear me say I got paralyzed? "I…"
"Alright, everyone, thank you for your hard work."
They shut up and looked up at the stage, where the Commission had gathered. Behind them was a blank, dark screen.
"Now it's time to announce the results, but before that, we will explain the scoring system. Between us at the Public Safety Commission and the members of the professional civilian group who assisted us today, we developed a two-fold demerit system. Everyone in this exam started with one hundred points and were deducted based on mistakes they made during the simulation. Those who dropped below the threshold of fifty points were failed. With all that being said, those who passed will be displayed on this screen in syllabilic order."
The screen lit up to show a list, and all the students held their breath, searching frantically for their names.
Doko's heart skipped a beat. There was his name…there it was right there. He'd passed.
He'd gotten his provisional license.
"YES!" Mina shouted, pumping her fist into the air. Laughing, she swept Doko into a hug, and he laughed as well, twirling her in a circle. They'd both passed!
The rest of the class began to celebrate as well, as one by one they all saw their names.
"I did it!" Kirishima gushed. "But…" he suddenly grimaced to his left, where Bakugo was steaming.
Bakugo had not made it. Neither had Todoroki.
Midoriya made a face. "Kacchan and Todoroki…failed?"
The class murmured, briefly broken from their celebration. Doko looked at the ice-and-fire user in confusion. We both were subdued by Gang Orca, so why?
Todoroki lowered his head.
"Todoroki!"
They all turned. It was Inasa again.
The tall, shaven boy looked down at Todoroki, and then bowed deeply for the second time. "Sorry!" he roared, driving his head into the ground. "It is my fault that we both failed! I was too narrow-minded! I apologize!"
Todoroki took pause, and then gave Doko a glance.
"I…" the boy sighed. "It's alright. It's my fault, too, so don't worry about it."
"But…" Inasa began.
"The things you confronted me with were things I needed to think about. I will definitely keep growing from here," the ice user completed, steel in his eyes.
Inasa rose, straightening his cap. "Right!"
"You're bleeding again," Doko told him helpfully.
"Thanks! Oh, and…thanks for trying to save us, too!" Inasa said directly to him. "Did you pass?"
Doko nodded.
"No wonder. The way you took all those minion guys out was crazy. Well…see you later, UA!" Inasa left them with a parting wave.
"What a weird guy," Sero mumbled.
"You can say that again," Mina agreed, her arms still hung around Doko's neck.
Bakugo had begun to vibrate with fury.
"Now, we will pass out the scores," Mera continued from the podium. "These sheets contain a breakdown of how you did…"
The commission members walked through the crowd, handing out the papers, and slowly Class A received their feedback.
"61…I barely passed…" Ojiro said sheepishly.
"Saaaame…" Toru drawled. "59…"
"I got 84! Look at that!" Sero exclaimed with a wide grin, gesturing his paper out to the others.
"78, ribbit," said Tsuyu.
Mina exhaled through her mouth. "76…" she whispered.
"Oh, that's pretty good," said Doko, peering at her paper. "What about you, Shoji?"
"I got 81 points," the tall boy replied. "And y…"
"What about you, Iida-san?" Midoriya asked the boy in spectacles, interrupting.
"I was deducted twenty points in total! I went down to 80!" said Iida. "I believe I had trouble with practical application…"
"I got 71 points," said Midoriya. "I guess because of that incident at the beginning where I messed up…"
Jiro gasped. "Yao-momo, you got 94?!"
"Whoa…"
"That's our pres for you!"
Momo allowed herself to smirk a little, proud of how she'd done. "But, I highly doubt I did the best…" she murmured, averting her eyes and turning red. "Surely not…"
"That's right!" Sero put in. "Katayama, what'd you end up getting? Since you were so on top of things this round and all!"
Doko realized all eyes had converged on him, and he coughed, attempting to hide his paper. Too late, of course. Mina had already snatched it from him with a giggle, eliciting several ooooohs from the class.
The pink girl's black eyes nearly bugged out of her head. "DOKO! You got 98?!"
"Whoa!"
"Crazy…"
"That's amazing, Katayama!"
"You probably only made one or two mistakes, then!"
"I bet no one else here got higher."
"Ha, yeah…" Doko said wearily, taking the paper back from Mina. "Right…"
98 points…I guess getting paralyzed wasn't even close to enough to make me fail after all. Then, what really happened with Todoroki and Inasa? Why were Todoroki and Bakugo the only ones in our class who failed?
And why was he so bad at judging how he did on things before they happened? Time and time again, his friends had to reassure him that he was better than he thought he was…
What's wrong with my brain? Why do I keep doubting myself, even in this golden hour of triumph?
"For those of you who passed…" Mera concluded. "You now have permission to take actions like that of a pro. Saving civilians, assisting in disasters, fighting villains…you may do these things of your own free will. But keep in mind that this job also carries a responsibility to society with it. And to those of you who did not pass…there is still a chance for you. Do not lose hope. After a 3-month remedial training course and a final individual test, you will all be able to receive your licenses, as well."
Happy gasps echoed around the group.
Mera's face was a mixture of darkness and hope. "With All Might gone…crime will definitely be on the rise. This test was a gauntlet to see who the most worthy are to fill in the gap that the Symbol left behind…but we also need as many heroes as we can get. It would be irresponsible for us to reject entirely those who can reach that standard with just a little more training."
…
Doko took the picture for his license card in a small booth, in the walls of the arena. This was the last thing they had to do before leaving for the evening.
The commission member scrolled through the computer. "All your info is here, but we need your hero name before we can print the license," the man said. "What is it?"
"Everywhere," Doko told him.
The man raised an eyebrow. "Good name, kid."
Doko grinned.
A minute later, the card had been printed, and there he was, a neutral expression on his face.
Pro Hero: Everywhere.
He had done it.
…
Atsuhiro Sako, villain name Mr. Compress, sighed in exasperation, and nearly set the phone down.
"It's been a bit of time," Shigaraki rasped. "Call her again." The leader of the remaining League, his hands secured on his shoulders and head, slouched against the wall of the warehouse, boxes stacked up in the dark corners. Outside the hangar, the orange light of sunset was streaming in.
They would have finished the exam by now, thought Denki Kaminari, lurking near the wall. To his left sat Magne and Spinner, both quiet. With Dabi, Kurogiri, and Twice all away on their own missions as well, it just left the five of them in the hangar.
Denki wished that Kurogiri was here at least. He was the only member of the League that seemed to understand. Compress and Twice were all right, but…
I got on better with Class A, didn't I?
Denki sighed, watching Compress pace back and forth across the warehouse with the phone to his ear, listening to it ring.
"Hello?" a girl's voice said from the other end, and Denki gasped. Magne and Spinner perked up from their sitting places on the boxes, and even Shigaraki lifted his head.
"Finally!" Compress spat. "We've been waiting for you to pick up for ages!"
"Sorry…" Toga murmured. "I only just got to a safe place. And oh, I had the most wonderful fun today. Most wonderful."
Denki shivered. Despite the air he'd put on around Class A, he really wasn't much of a pervert or into girls or anything like that…he'd just put on the act to seem more of a harmless goof. The test with Midnight…a ploy to try and get Sero to fail. Whoever he'd ended up pairing with in that exam, he would have tried to fail them. One less hero to deal with.
Even if they were my frie…
No. No. Don't think about that.
The point was that Toga scared him. She was his least favorite, especially when she said things like that. What kind of fun was she talking about?
"Don't ignore you regular check-ins!" Compress warned her. "If one of us gets caught…"
"It won't be me," she interrupted him, her voice sultry. "I'm…more slippery than the rest of you."
If Denki could have seen under Compress's mask, he imagined the magician to be blushing. "In any c-case…"
"Oh, I made it worth the while. Tomura-kun will be excited. Tell him…"
"You're on speakerphone, young Toga. They can hear everything you're saying. Tell him yourself."
"Oh! Speakerphone? Can Tomura-kun hear me? Hiiii, Tomura-kun?"
"Enough messing around," Shigaraki growled. "What did you do?"
"I got something for you," Toga purred. "Some of Izuku's blood."
Denki's eyes widened. Midoriya?
Tomura had opened his mouth to respond, but Compress lowered the phone. "She hung up."
"Tsk. She better get here soon."
…
Toga had long since arrived at the warehouse, and the sun had long since set. Denki kicked a pebble around, bored. He hadn't thought it would be like this. All For One…if only you hadn't gotten captured…
The man had always been interesting to talk to. He had such a unique take on the world, and Denki loved to ask him questions, ask his opinion. But these smaller League members…most of them were either crazy, or just had the same opinions as Stain. That wasn't interesting at all.
He wished he hadn't blown his cover. Maybe if it had been just Bakugo on the line, he wouldn't have. But since the villains had gotten Katayama in their clutches, the boy All For One had worked so hard on…he'd felt the need to take action. Who else but him could have helped in that moment?
In the end, it hadn't even mattered. Somehow or another that damn broad Yaoyorozu had gotten her receiver to the pros, and the heroes had blown their plan out of the water. Even worse, All For One had been captured. And now Denki was here.
At least in Class A it was more exciting…even if it was higher tension. The principal had been very, very close to finding him out, Denki could tell. It had been a close thing. Maybe he really had no choice but to be here with the League.
Suddenly, movement outside the hangar stirred him.
"Shigaraki!" Twice boomed, leading the way, his shadow being thrown across the room by the outside moonlight. Behind him, a stranger walked, his face draped in darkness. Denki blinked. The new person had a mask on, a pointy mask. Was this Twice's mission?
Shigaraki grinned under his hand. "You caught us a pretty big fish, huh Twice?" He scratched at his neck, and Toga, Compress, Magne, and Spinner all gathered around him. Denki followed behind, somewhat more slowly.
The man in the pointy mask took a step forward. His hair was brown, and he wore white gloves, one on each hand.
Shigaraki threw his hands out. "Welcome…Overhaul."
…
Next time:
A continuation of this scene…plus, All Might talks with All For One.