Around me, one after another, my classmates were cheering and smiling. One after another they passed. While I stood there staring at that awful gap with no Todoroki Shoto.

One growl told me I wasn't quite alone. Bakugou, of all people, was hissing out "No..."

Yoarashi was stomping towards me. I had noticed, without noticing, that he had failed too. Dammit, are you gonna pile on me more?

"TODOROKI!" he screamed at me. Then he bowed his head into the ground again.

"I'M SORRY! IT WAS MY FAULT THAT YOU DIDN'T PASS! MY PETTINESS IS TO BLAME! I'M SORRY!"

I was a little shocked. This is just another part of my journey, as his son, on the path to becoming a new hero. I can't let that weigh me down.

"Nah, I started it back then. There's no need for all this. You approached me openly and honestly and helped me realize some things..."

My classmates were coming over to me. "Todoroki, I can't believe you failed!" said Ashido. Next to me, Sero said "So neither of our top two dudes passed!"

"Time to clean up your potty mouth, huh? Words matter, y'know!" Kaminari was saying to Bakugouo, who was about to explode. "SHUT UP IF OYU DON'T WANNA DIE!"

Mineta had come up to me and was smirking in a very obnoxious way. "The two of you are both top class, and consequently the egotistic and self-centered portions of your personalities backfired, one might say." He was about to grab my shoulder. "The hierarchy has crumbled -"

Iida grabbed him and pulled him away.

"Oh man, Todoroki," I heard Midoriya mumbling.

Next to him, Yaoyorozu sighed. "Todoroki, I'm so sorry."

Guess you're surpassing me, now.

The announcer said, I ASSUME YOU'VE ALL HAD A CHANCE TO VIEW THE RESULTS. NEXT, WE'LL BE HANDING OUT SCORE SHEETS. WE'VE EXPLAINED THE SCORING SYSTEM IN DETAIL, SO READ THEM OVER CAREFULLY."

It wasn't too surprising to see why I'd failed. I'd gotten points off until I'd gone down to 36, for arguing with Yoarashi, for putting people in danger.

Dammit.

The Announcer, after a few minutes, chimed in again. "GOING FORWARD, THOSE WHO PASSED NOW HAVE THE LEGAL RIGHT TO ACT IN A HEROIC CAPACITY, BUT ONLY DURING EMERGENCIES. THAT MEANS FIGHTING VILLAINS, RESCUING PEOPLE IN DISASTER SCENARIOS. EVEN WITHOUT A PROFESSIONAL HERO'S GUIDANCE, YOU'RE PERMITTED TO TAKE ACTION ON YOUR OWN. BUT KEEP IN MIND THAT EVERY ACTION YOU TAKE COMES WITH A HEAVY RESPONSIBILITY TO SOCIETY. AS YOU ALL KNOW, THE GREAT HERO ALL MIGHT IS OUT OF COMMISSION. HIS ACTIVE PRESENCE SERVED AS AN IMPORTANT DETERRENT TO CRIME. WITHOUT THAT FACTOR HOLDING THEM BACK, WE CAN BE SURE THAT THE MORE BRAZEN VILLAINS OUT THERE WILL START SHOWING THEIR FACES. THE BALANCE HAS SHIFTED AND THE WORLD IS BOUND TO START CHANGING IN A BIG WAY. WITH THAT IN MIND NOW, KNOW THAT YOU, THE NEXT GENERATION, ARE THE CENTRAL PILLAR OF SOCIETY. NOW AS HEROES, YOU WILL SET A STANDARD. YOU MUST BECOME THE NEW BULWARK KEEPING CRIME AT BAY. BE AWARE THAT HTE LICENSES YOU NOW RECIEVE ARE PROVISIONAL ONES. THE ROAD AHEAD IS STILL A LONG ONE, SO STUDY HARD AT YOUR RESPECTIVE ACADEMIC INSTITUTIONS. NOW THEN, AHEM. AS FOR THOSE WHO DIDN'T MAKE THE CUT. "

I jumped.

"DON'T BE DISHARETENED BY YOUR SCORES. YOU DON'T HAVE TIME FOR THAT. ESPECIALLY BECAUSE THERE'S STILL A CHANCE. IF YOU SIGN UP FOR AND COMPLETE A SPECIAL THREE MONTH TRAINING COURSE AND PASS THE INDIVIDUAL TEST AT THE END, YOU TOO WILL BE AWARDED YOUR PROVISIONAL LICENSES. YOU MAY RECALL THAT I JUST SAID GOING FORWARD. LOOKING TO THE FUTURE, WE NEED AS MANY TOP CLASS HEROES AS WE CAN FIND. THE FIRST ROUND WAS BASICALLY A QUALIFIER, AND YOU HUNDRED WHO WERE CHOSEN TO MOVE ON ALL HAVE HTE POTENTIAL WORTH CULTIVATING. THAT'S EXACTLY WHY WE MONITORED YOU ALL TO THE VERY END. JUST BECAUSE YOU FAILED DOESN'T MEAN THAT ALL HOPE IS LOST. RATHER IF YOU GO BACK AND WORK ON YOUR DEFICIENCES, YOU HAVE THE POTENTIAL TO SURPASS EVEN THOSE WHO TRIUMPHED TODAY. ATTENDING THE TRAINING COURSE WHILE MAINTAINING YOUR REGULAR COURSE WORK WILL MAKE FOR A PACKED SCHEDULE BUT IF YOU'RE UP FOR THE CHALLENGE, THE NEXT TEST IS IN APRIL."

"HELL YEAH!" I heard Bakugou snarl.

"Isn't that great news, Todoroki!" said Midoriya and Iida, running over to me. All my friends, being so supportive.

"I'll catch up soon."

We stood outside of the test site, Class 1A, while the teachers said goodbye.

Yoarashi ran up to me.

"HEY! TODOROKI! I'LL SEE YA AGAIN AT HTE SPECIAL TRAINING, Y'HEAR?! BUT HONESTLY, I STILL KINDA DON'T LIKE YOU! SORRY! "

"That was nice of him, I guess," said Kirishima.

"I'll just have to make the best of it," I sighed.

"Oui," said Aoyama. "That man is rather audaicous, one might say. But also quite sensitive. Indeed, he holds both of those qualities within him."

Things were wrapped, then.

We got on the bus and headed back to UA. It was alittle awkward. Everyone else was talking and so excited about having their licenses. Midoriya was chatting with Iida - far enough away from me, I assume they didn't realize I could hear - but they were talking about how cool it would be to save hpeople in danger professionally. Yaoyorozu was with Jirou as usual, and they were talking with Kaminari about what they expected would happen next.

Only one other person on the bus could probably understand how I was feeling right now. But I had no idea how to talk to him. I had the feeling that if I even brought it up, he'd probably explode at me. Not that I could blame him. I didn't really want to talk to anyone about it, or have anyone bring up that I'd failed.

Bakugou...

I looked back at him. He was looking at Midoriya. The look on his face was strange, and I didn't understand it at the time. But it was a different way to how he normally looked at Midoriya. It wasn't angry or hateful. It was...odd. Almost broken.

I turned away before he could notice me watching him. Maybe I'll ask him at the remedial course. Or - no, I shouldn't interfere. It's their business, Midoriya and Bakugou's...

The next day, we learned that Midoriya and Bakugou would be on lockdown for the next four days, because they had snuck out in the middle of the night and had a fight at ground beta.