Days went by as Class 1-C trained for the provisional license exam. Each day, they spent every second they could working hard to improve themselves and create their ultimate moves. Yamagori watched her students scattered throughout Training Gym Gamma, each of them doing their best.
"They've certainly improved a lot in the past ten days." Cementoss said as he stood at Yamagori's side.
"Well of course. They know that the license exam is no joke." Yamagori told him. "This will be their toughest challenge yet."
"I noticed changes to some of their costumes as well too." Cementoss added.
It was true. Over the past ten days, a few of the students had gone to the workshop on campus to have alterations made to their costumes. Most were small changes, but in certain cases they made big differences. Sarah had new gloves with an adhesive feature that she could turn on and off, allowing her to warp to higher places and stick to surfaces such as walls. Lilina had gotten her gauntlets altered to include a shooting device for her marbles so she could fire them off with more power rather than simply flicking or throwing them. Sakura had changed out some of the plants woven into her costume to give her more options. Jill now had bracers for her legs to add even more power to her kicks.
All in all, many of them felt they were ready for the exam. Marcus however did not have the same confidence as his classmates. Despite constant training and borrowing some books about pro heroes with transformation Quirks from Midoriya of Class A, he still was unable to perform a full transformation while staying in control.
Yamagori took a look at the time. "Alright, that's it for today." she told her students. "Tomorrow is the provisional license exam. Be sure you're well rested for it."
Hearing their teacher's call, the students of Class C stopped their training. It was true that they would need a good night's sleep, especially with how tired they were from all of the hard work they put in.
As they walked back to their dorm, the students chatted amongst themselves. Although they were nervous about being able to pass and get their provisional licenses, there was also a hint of excitement from having the chance to show the results of their hard work and try out the ultimate moves they had created.
Hikari was especially determined to pass the exam. Ever since finding out about her sister, she was more determined than ever to become a hero. She needed to bring her sister back to the right path, and she wasn't going to be able to do that without being able to fight villains legally. If she wanted to have a chance at saving her sister, then this was going to be an important first step.
Shinobu took a look at his cellphone. His parents knew that the license exam was tomorrow, but he hadn't gotten any calls or messages from them wishing him luck. He knew the reason why deep down. He was expected to pass. Failure for this was inexcusable.
'I will pass this exam. No matter what.'
-The next day-
Class 1-C got off the bus as it parked in front of the location for their provisional license exam. Class A and B were at other locations, taking the same exam as them. They couldn't let themselves fail and fall behind their peers.
Vivi's legs shook as she looked at the large testing site. "I'm so nervous. What if I fail? Everyone else here has so much more experience than us."
"Don't think about whether or not you can get your license, Pixi." Yamagori told her student. "Just go in there and get it. You're all plenty capable of passing this exam."
"She's right, Vivi!" Jill said. "We can do this! All of us!"
"If you say so…" Vivi replied, clearly still nervous.
Yamagori addressed her full class. "Remember, this is just the first step towards becoming heroes. So don't let yourselves stumble so early in the game. Like I said the other day, I won't accept failures from any of you, got it?"
"Yes ma'am!"
Students from various schools were all making their way towards the exam site. As Class C looked around, Marcus took notice of one group in particular. The uniforms they wore were a simple white buttoned shirt and dark blue pants, along with black hats. "Hm? Why do I feel like I've seen that uniform before?"
"You should know it." Shinobu said. "That's the uniform of Shiketsu High."
The name Shiketsu was something each of the U.A students picked up on. In Japan, there were two top schools in terms of hero courses. They were nearly on par with each other. U.A was the top hero school in eastern Japan, while Shiketsu was the top in the western part of the nation. Needless to say, they were going to be the biggest competition for the U.A students.
Even without Shiketsu, it was clear that there were going to be many formidable opponents in this exam. They were facing hero students with far more training and experience than them. But they couldn't let that stop them. This was an exam they couldn't afford to fail.
"We should get moving, everyone." Sakura said as she led the way.
Everyone nodded in agreement and began moving. Alicia was in the rear of the group. Her mind was so focussed on the exam ahead that she almost didn't hear the voice that spoke up.
"Well if it isn't Alicia Tsuki."
Alicia turned around and found herself face to face with a teenage girl. She wore a white double breasted blazer with gold trim that reached halfway down her thighs. Underneath it was a dark long sleeved shirt and pants of the same color. Around her neck was a large pink bow, while a white cap sat atop her head of long blonde hair that fell down to her knees.
"It certainly has been awhile, hasn't it?" the girl said.
Alicia widened her eyes, quickly recognizing who the girl was. "Misumi?!"
"Indeed." Misumi said. She looked at Alicia with a nasty smirk. "I must say, I'm a little surprised to see you here, werewolf."
The name Misumi called her stung a little for Alicia. It brought back bad memories. Misumi Kogo, an old friend of Alicia's who was a year ahead of her in school. The two of them had been friends going into junior high. They acted like any friends would. Play together. Laugh. Talk about cute boys. Alicia treasured the friendship she had with Misumi and the other girls with her.
But then came her first sleepover.
Alicia had never told any of her friends from school about what happened to her Quirk at night. She hadn't been trying to hide it, it just never seemed important enough to bring up. But when her appearance changed in the middle of the sleepover, everything else changed with it. Alicia still remembered the horde of insults and mocking laughter that came when Misumi and the others at that sleepover saw her beastly form that night. After that, nothing was ever the same. Misumi had spread rumors all about Alicia and soon nearly everyone in school was calling her names. Even during her last year of junior high when Misumi had already graduated and moved onto high school, the names stuck around to a degree.
"I'm surprised to see you here." Misumi told her. "What, did the others think you'd be useful in hero work as a bloodhound, hahahaha!"
Alicia averted her eyes from Misumi's gaze. She had told herself that she was fine with both halves of her Quirk now. But seeing the main source of her hell during junior high wasn't something she was expecting to deal with now. Tears were trying to form, but Alicia was using every ounce of self control to hold them back. She refused to cry here in front of Misumi and give her that satisfaction.
"I'm surprised a loser like you managed to get into U.A." Misumi told her. "I guess it's easier to get in than the rumors say if they let a werewolf like you-"
"Is there a problem here?"
Suddenly, Alicia found Nene, Sakura, and Fiona standing by her side. The three girls glared at Misumi, who showed the U.A girls an innocent grin. "Oh I'm just catching up with my good old friend Alicia. Nothing more than a friendly chat."
"Doesn't sound so friendly to me." Nene said.
"Who are they, Alicia? You're new friends?" Misumi asked. "I wonder if they know your little secret. Shall I tell them?"
"If you're talking about what happens to Alicia at night due to her Quirk, we already know." Fiona told her. "And frankly, we don't care. Alicia's fine just the way she is."
"Hmph, to think there'd actually be people desperate enough to hang out with a beast like her." Misumi commented.
"You listen up." Nene said. "Alicia's not some monster. If you've got a problem with her-"
"-Then you've got a problem with all of us." Fiona finished.
"Alicia's our friend. And we're not going to let someone like you insult her." Sakura added.
Alicia glanced at the three girls at her side. "You guys…"
Misumi waved away the threat from the U.A girls. "Whatever. It's not like any of you have a chance of passing this exam. I'm going to enjoy crushing you all." she said as she walked away. "Let's go, Rumi! Quit being so slow!"
"Y-Yes, Miss Hogo!" another girl, this one with short brunette hair and the same uniform as Misumi, said as she ran after the girl.
Nene glared at Misumi as the girl walked away. "What a jerk. I can't believe how rude she is."
"Who was she anyway, Alicia?" Fiona asked.
Alicia frowned as she kept her head down. "She's… someone I knew back in junior high."
The three girls soon realized what Alicia meant by that. "So she's one of the ones that used to bully you." Sakura realized. "Well don't you worry Alicia! I'm sure you'll show her just how amazing you are during the exam!"
"Yeah. We've got your back." Nene told her. "It'd be my pleasure to beat her to a pulp."
"Thanks, girls." Alicia said, finally managing to smile again. "Let's go. The others are probably waiting for us."
All of the students taking the provisional license exam gathered together in a small room. It was rather cramped, considering there were well over one thousand of them there. And if the rumors about this exam each year were true, then roughly half of these people would fail.
"There's so many people." Dan noted. "We're going to be up against all of them?"
"Heh, I say bring it on." Hyde said. "I can't wait to let loose and bust some heads."
Small chatter and gossip filled the room as the students talked with their friends to ease the tension. But they all fell silent as a man came up to the podium at the front of the room to speak with them.
"WHAT'S UP, ALL YOU PROSPECTIVE HEROES?! MY NAME IS DAISUKE FROM THE HEROES PUBLIC SAFETY COMMISSION!" the man said in an overly loud and eager voice. "WHO'S READY FOR THE PROVISIONAL LICENSE EXAM?! I CAN'T HEAR YOU?!"
"Geez, what's with this guy?" Hikari asked. "Isn't he a little too excited about this?"
"WOO! WE'VE BEEN SO BUSY LATELY, THAT I HAVEN'T GOTTEN MUCH OF A CHANCE TO SLEEP! GOOD THING COFFEE EXISTS! LET'S GO COFFEE, YEAH!"
'So basically, the guy's drugged up on caffeine from having to drink so much coffee to stay awake.' Lilina realized.
Daisuke managed to settle down a little, but it was still clear he had far too much energy. "Alright, now for the explanation of the first part of the exam! All 1,540 of you will be going head to head in a free-for-all exercise! As you know, our society has tons of heroes roaming around! Ever since the arrest of Stain however, there are many who feel doubt over the current state of heroes! Frankly, I think it's a little crazy to ask someone to risk their life to save people and not expect any reward, but hey to each their own!"
"Even when talking about a ruthless killer like Stain, he's still got this much energy?" Shiro muttered.
"Right now, in today's society, there're so many heroes around that the time between an incident occurring and being resolved is unbelievable short! So you're all going to have to keep up with that speed as heroes! And speed is precisely what you're going to be tested on!" Daisuke explained. "Get ready for this juicy piece of information! The first 100 to fulfill the requirements will pass the first test!"
"Wait… did he say only 100 people will pass the first test?" Daiki questioned. "But there's over 1500 of us here so…"
"Less than 10% are going to pass?!" Sakura gasped.
"This is too much! I thought it'd be hard enough with only 50% passing!" Vivi exclaimed.
Talk began to spread amongst the other students in the room. Having expected about a passing rate of 50%, anyone would be caught off guard after being told the passing rate would actually be less than 10%.
"Now then, time to explain the requirements!" Daisuke continued. He held up a ball and what appeared to be some type of sensor. "Examinees will put three of these targets on their body! Don't get any funny ideas though, it must be on an exposed area, meaning armpits and the soles of your feet are off limits! You'll also be given six of these balls! If a ball hits a target, it will light up! If all three of you're targets light up, you are considered defeated and will fail! Whoever gets a person's final target lit up will have that considered their defeat! In order to pass, you must defeat two people! That's all!"
'This'll be tough.' Marcus thought to himself. 'We each are given exactly enough balls to pass. That means they're likely expecting us to steal the kill from someone else.'
"Alright now, get ready!" Daisuke told everyone. "Once we open up, we'll pass out balls and targets! The test starts one minute after we've gotten to everyone!"
Hyde narrowed his eyes. "Wait… open up?"
Without warning the entire room shook for a brief second. Afterwards, the ceiling began to split apart. The walls also came down. The entire room was unfolding as if it were a cardboard box. After the entire room opened up, the students found themselves in a large open area. Currently they were in a rocky terrain, but different types of locations could be seen in each direction. There were cities, mountains, lakes, everything. Around the perimeter of the entire field was the stands where teachers and proctors were scattered about watching.
"Everyone has terrain they like and dislike, right?! Pick an area that suits your Quirk and do your best!" Daisuke finished. "Hope you liked this big reveal, cause it was actually my idea!"
"This is nuts!" Shiro exclaimed. "Like seriously, isn't this a bit overkill?!"
One by one, examinees were given their targets and balls. After getting their equipment, they scattered and ran off. Before they knew it, Class C was left alone.
"Alright, perhaps we should split up and form teams." Fiona said.
"No, we shouldn't try to split up too much." Daiki said. "Everyone's going to be gunning for us. We should do everything we can to stick together."
"Wait, why would everyone go after us?" Jill asked. "U.A is an elite school so wouldn't everyone try to avoid us?"
Daiki shook his head. "No. Actually, our school's fame is going to be biting us in the butt for this."
"Why?"
Sakura soon realized where Daiki was going with this. "The Sports Festival! The whole country was watching! That means everyone here knows what our Quirks are!"
Several others soon realized that Sakura was right. Having their Quirks all known while not knowing anyone else's Quirk put them at a huge disadvantage.
"You guys do what you want. I'm going alone." Shinobu said as he walked away. "I don't care how many come after me, I'll handle them."
"Geez, that guy never changes." Fiona said. "But I guess if everyone focuses on our large group, he'll probably have less people attacking him compared to sticking with us."
"Let's head to the city area." Sakura suggested. "We can hide in there and plan out an attack."
Everyone nodded and soon took off running. They needed to hurry. The exam was about to begin and they all had a giant target painted on their backs. As they ran towards the city though, the buzzer finally sounded.
"First test, start!"
At the sound of the buzzer, hundreds of students came out of hiding. Class C stopped in their tracks and quickly found themselves face to face with an army of students from other schools. And every one of them had their sights set on Class C.
"What do we do? Turn around and run the other way?" Vivi asked.
"And deal with all these guys on our tail? No thanks." Hyde said. "Besides, there's probably others waiting in the other direction. We'd get caught in a pincer attack."
"Get 'em!" one of the students shouted. Just like that, a flurry of balls came flying at them.
"Crap, incoming!" Nene exclaimed.
"I'm on it!" Fujino said, standing at the head of the group. She took a deep breath and concentrated her vision. 'Focus. Spread out and pick multiple positions one after another.' Suddenly, small distortions appeared in the air all at once. Fujino called out the keyword for her Quirk. "Burst!"
As Fujino shouted, simultaneous explosions occurred, one at each distortion. The force of the explosions blew back a large amount of the balls flying their way.
"How'd you like my ultimate move?" Fujino smirked. "Airborne Minefield: Simultaneous Burst!"
"That was awesome Fujino!" Hikari told her.
Although Fujino's Quirk had stopped most of the balls, there were still plenty of others coming their way. The other members of Class C sprung into action.
Satoshi took his wings and created a large gust that blew the balls near him away. "Whirlwind Tempest!"
Merci manipulated the flowers on his costume, wrapping stems around his fingers before growing them out like long strings. The stems then lashed around rapidly, knocking away any balls they hit. "Floral Lashing: Graceful Puppeteer!"
Although they didn't use their ultimate moves, others in the class did their part to help defend. Dan created a wall of ice for himself and the others next to him. Lilina shot down other balls with her marbles, having practiced plenty with her new shooter. Melody assisted everyone with her singing. Hyde threw up walls in the spots where their defense was weak, though kept them small enough as to not blind their vision. With their combined efforts, they had endured the first wave without a single one of their targets getting hit.
"Aw yeah! How did you like that?!" Shiro said.
"Don't let your guard down Shiro. They're probably about to come at us with an even more difficult wave next." Fiona warned.
As the students from the various schools eyed Class C, one student in particular came out and landed in between the two large groups. It was a male with sparkling blue eyes and blonde hair. His costume was white and resembled that of a prince, as if implying he was the prince charming of a fairy tale.
"Heh, coming out on your own to face us? Not very smart!" Shiro grinned as he charged forward. "You're mine!"
"Wait, Shiro! We don't know his Quirk!" Sakura called out, running to stop her classmate.
The mystery student smirked as he slammed his hand on the ground. Without warning, the ground in front of him turned into a pink light. It spread out and quickly moved forward. The light reached Shiro before he even had a chance to react and the crocodile teen quickly sunk into the light.
"Crap!" Shiro said as he disappeared.
"Shiro!" Sakura exclaimed, but she too was unable to get away in time and found herself sucked into the light.
"It's some kind of warping Quirk! Everyone move!" Alicia warned.
The students of Class C quickly tried to jump back and evade it, but some reacted too late. Fujino, Rekka, and Merci all fell into the pink light and followed Shiro and Sakura to wherever they had been sent. Thankfully, the portal on the ground stopped before it could reach anyone else. Those that were left could only stare in shock as five of them had been whisked away in the blink of an eye.
"What the hell was that?!" one of the many students behind the mystery teen exclaimed. "Which school is he from?!"
"Ah, how I would love to stay and chat. But I'm afraid I must say farewell for now, my fellow rivals." the blonde teen said.
One of the other students threw a ball at the teen, aiming to hit one of his targets. But before they could reach him, he created another portal on the ground right behind him and fell back into it. The portal vanished, leaving none of them with a clue as to where he or the five members of Class C he took had gone.
A/N: What's up readers? Here's a new chapter for Valentines Day, since I love you all. It's totally not because I'm single and have no one to spend Valentine's Day with.
I'm not crying! You're crying!
Jokes aside, hope you all enjoyed the chapter. Next one will continue on with the first exam. Get ready, cause there's plenty in store.
