There it was, my name on the pass list. YAOYOROZU MOMO.

"Steady diligence pays off," I whispered. And there too was JIROU KYOKA, and I heard her breathe a sigh of relief. My eyes traveled down the list to see who else had passed. Almost all of our class was there, Bakugou surprisingly had failed and -

No "Todoroki Shoto".

Todoroki failed? But - how? It looked like he was doing well...

I turned to look over at him. His expression is always hard to read, but he did seem sad. The tall boy from Shiketsu high came towards him rather abruptly.

"TODOROKI!" he screamed, and then after a rather stiff pause, 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!"

Oh, I see...I'm not sure what he could have done, but it makes sense - if Todoroki was to fail, it would be like that.

There was a moment of silence, then Todoroki said "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..."

"Todoroki, I can't believe you failed!" cried Ashido. 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 started provoking him, and Iida thankfully stepped in and stopped him. I had joined with Midoriya somehow, to look on at Todoroki. He looked deeply unhappy.

"Oh, Todoroki," I murmured. Next to me Midoriya too whispered his name.

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."

Next to Jirou and I, Ojiro sighed, looking at his score sheet. "64 points, I barely made it."

"Hey guys, I got 84! Turns out I'm pretty great at this stuff!" said Sero.

"Hold up, Yaomomo!" gasped Jirou, looking at mine - which I couldn't resist showing her. "You got 94 points?"

I smiled and blushed a little, proud of her praise.

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. 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, as we all ran over to him.

"I'll catch up soon, he smiled back to us.

And that was it! We wrapped up the test, and headed back to Heights Alliance, for a cup of relaxing tea alongside Jirou and the others. It was finally, finally time to relax!