We finally got to the waiting room. Good, I was tired. The doors opened, revealing a lot of people.
"There are a lot of people here."
I nodded. "But there have been over 50 passes, remember?"
"Hm." Todoroki went to go sit down. I shrugged and went over to the food. I hope there's real food here, and not snacky crap. I grabbed a plate, and put a bit of extra food on there for Todoroki as well, even though I was really tempted to just slap him. I got two bottles of water as well.
"Currently, 56 people have passed. Don't panic, but please hurry and do your best."
I went to go back to Todoroki when a boy wearing something that looked like armor, stood in the way.
"Hey, you need a hand?"
"Uh, well I-"
"I saw you came in with that Todoroki guy. Are you with him, or is there a chance for me, huh?"
My face went blank. "Are you for real?"
The boy lifted his eyebrows at me and gave a weird grin. "Oh come on. You can't say that you wouldn't think about it..."
This guy is like Mineta and Aoyama got together, had a love-child and he's the result...
He reached out for my arm, but stopped short of touching me. I felt hands on my shoulders. I would have grinned, but this wannabe annoyed me. I mean, me and Ice-man? Hell freaking no! Gross, man.
"Is there a problem?"
I cocked my head at the boy, who had started to shift uncomfortably. "Well? Is there?"
"Uh...A what?"
"A problem." Todoroki said in this dead calm voice. "Is there a problem?"
The boy shook his head and waved his hands. "N-no. No problem. I better be going." He turned a ran off.
I sighed and shook my head. "Rude much. He didn't even say goodbye. Here. I figured you might want this." I handed him a bottle of water and we went to the seats.
"Who was that guy?"
I shrugged and opened my own bottle of water. "No idea. He had this weird notion about you and me."
"What notion?"
"I don't know. He said something about me and you being together, or some such bullshit." I made a face.
"Better me than Mineta or Bakugo."
"Oh, ha ha fucking ha. You're hilarious, you know that?"
"Hm."
I stayed quiet for a minute, watching the screen that showed the area outside.
"We're currently at 70 people. It'll be over after another 30."
"I know, you know."
A tick mark appeared on my head. "And what is it exactly that you think you know, huh, Ice-man?" I looked up and grinned.
"I know that-"
I pointed. "Knew you guys would make it! A bit slow catching up, though, don't you think?"
Tsu, Shouji, Momo and Jiro walked right up to us, clearly happy to see us there. "Oh shuddup! We're not like you, ok?!" Jiro huffed at me. I just grinned. "Yea, I'm glad you passed too."
"What about the others?"
"They haven't come yet. We were first, then you guys."
"Wait, you two teamed up?"
I scratched my head. "Uh, for a bit. Didn't want him on his own. Turns out I was right, huh? 1-A was targeted?"
Momo nodded. "Yea. Right from the start."
"Hm. Tsk. Figures." I grinned and lifted my fist. "Called it."
"Shut up."
"You shut up!"
"Parasite."
"Wanker."
"You really think so?"
I stared at him. "Aww, maaate..." I lashed my arm out, aiming for his stomach, but Shouji grabbed me and picked me up.
"Aww, come on Shouji! Lemme hit him! Just once! He deserves it! Look! Look at that smug look!" I struggled for a minute, while Shouji laughed at me.
I stopped when Momo spoke. "Only thirty people left..."
"I hope everyone passes..."
I sighed and settled on Shouji's shoulder. "Hey! You're forgetting who you're talking about aren't you? You really think the rest of them are gonna let a bunch of-"
"Don't say it..."
"-fine." I pouted. "But you get what I'm saying. Can't give up on them yet." I looked up at the screen. "Start getting worried when there's ten spots left, and nobody's here, ok?"
Everyone nodded and looked up at the screen too.
"Hey look!" I pointed to a group of people walking towards us. Bakugo, Midoriya, Kirishima, Sero, Ochako and Kaminari.
"I'm glad you're all safe! I was so worried!"
"Don't be soft on them, Momo! Here." I tossed them all a bottle of water. "Took you lot long enough! Was worried that all these-"
"Don't fucking say it!"
I shut my mouth, trying not to laugh as Bakugo shouted at me.
"Momo, we're safe! Man, you guys were pretty fast!"
"We also just finished. These two were the fastest."
"Wait, you and Todoroki teamed up?!"
I growled. "Why does everyone say it like that, huh? It's not like we can't tolerate each other."
"Experience says otherwise."
"Shuddup, Tsu..."
"I thought Bakugo would definitely be here already, but I see it was because you were with him, Kaminari."
I scoffed. "Oh yea. Definitely. I agree with Jiro!"
"What?! You two are mean!"
I high-fived Jiro. "You're right. This is fun."
"Told you so."
"Eight people just passed at once. There are ten spots left!"
"This guy is starting to sound more and more excited, huh Shouji?"
"Yea. The man must really want to sleep."
"Hey, look! Is that Sparkles?" We looked up at the screen to see Aoyama's laser light up the sky.
"What's he doing?"
I shook my head. "No idea, but I really hope he has a plan because otherwise he's screwed."
"Wow."
"What?"
"That's a shit ton of birds..."
I looked up again. "Chiiieeet..."
"Maybe they do have a plan..."
"I'll be sure to ask them when they finally get here, huh..."
"Two more have passed! Eight left! Seven left!"
I grinned and shook Shouji's head slightly. "They're gonna make it!"
"Six left! Five left! They just keep coming! In the final moments, UA came together and pulled off some great combos to pass!"
"Come on guys! Don't let these dicks pass you!"
"Would you shut the fuck up?!"
I scowled. "I'd be shouting for you too, if you were still out there."
"Four left!"
"I'll muzzle you..."
"Three left!"
"Try it, pipe-bomb!"
"Oh, we've got one from Shiketsu High right now, so two left!"
"I fucking hate you..."
"Thank-you! And zero! One hundred people! All the spots just filled up! The end! Whoo-hoo!"
"Yes! Ha, and that Mera guy is ecstatic too."
"Everyone in UA passed the first test!"
"Amazing! This is amazing!"
"That's good..."
"Yea."
"It's brilliant! Shows up everyone else, of course!"
"You shouldn't say things like that, Kitia..."
"Why not? They're all being cocky just because they're older than us. Age doesn't mean shit, clearly."
"And now, unfortunately, those who failed will have to withdraw. Everyone, please leave promptly."
"Wow. That's a passive aggressive way to say 'get the fuck out'."
"You should leave promptly..."
"Shut the fuck up..."
"Well, for all hundred of you who past the first test, please watch this."
We all looked up at the screen which showed the areas from the first test.
"It's the field."
"I wonder what's going to happen..."
Buildings on the screen started to explode and collapse. So did the mountain. Everyone around me seemed shocked. I was for a few secounds until I started to think about it.
"This is..."
"The next test will be the last one. We will have you perform rescue exercises as bystanders in this disaster site."
"Bystanders. They're people who happen to be at the scene. We learned this in class, remember?"
"It can also refer to ordinary citizens, though."
Tooru and Momo lecturing the boys. I smiled and shook my head then looked back the screen. If they wanted us to do rescues, what did that mean for us all to compete?
"We will assume that those of you who have passed the first test have received your provisional licences and test out how well you can carry out suitable rescue procedures."
"There are people in there."
"Huh?"
"Elderly and children?!"
"Of course. This is a rescue test, right? What did you think we were going to rescue? Dummies?"
"You're really annoying, you know that?"
I grinned. "I just thought I'd state the obvious. Seems you had the same idea, LXM."
Bakugo glared at me as I made the reference to his hero name idea.
"They are people who have undergone training to be professional people-in-need-of-rescue and are in high demand right now. The 'Help Us Company' or 'HUC' for short."
"Professional 'people in need of rescue'?"
"There's lots of jobs out there, huh?"
"It's one adapted to this world where heroes are so popular."
My heart squeezed as I heard the comment. I shook my head to clear it as Mera continued to explain the test.
"The people from HUC have dressed up as injured victims and are on standby throughout the disaster site. We will now have you all carry out their rescue. In addition, we will score your rescue based on points and if you have more points than the bench mark at the end of the exercises, then you pass."
I frowned. Exercise's'?
"We will start in ten minutes, so please use the rest room and take care of any other necessary business right now."
I sighed and slumped in one of the seats, close to where Kaminari and Mineta were.
"Hey, something amazing happened! Listen to this." I looked over to see Sero run over to the two boys.
"What's the rating?"
"R-18!"
Oh, Hell. This shall be interesting...
"I'll listen."
"Yea, same." I scooted over a few more seats towards them. They looked at me, then came a little closer.
"You know that bodysuit girl over there, from Shiketsu?"
Kaminari nodded. "Yea."
I nodded, then shook my head.
Sero pointed. "Her."
"Ah. Right."
Mineta looked over to her. "If you're just going to say she's hot, that's not good enough. I've been watching her this whole time..."
I nodded. "Have to agree with Grapejuice on this one. Sorry Tape-man."
"No, just listen! I saw her completely naked in the shadows by the rocks with Midoriya!"
I choked on the water I was sipping from my water bottle as Kaminari and Mineta started to freak out. "Midoriya!"
They rushed over to him, dragging me along with them, then started to grab him and hit him.
"What were you doing, bastard?! When the rest of us were working so hard!"
"Were you making light of life just because it was during a test?!"
"Ow! Stop that! What?!"
I couldn't help laughing. This is great. I'm going to have to stop them in a minute though...
"Don't play dumb! What did you do with that person over there?" Mineta pointed at the girl and she turned to look at us.
I scratched my head and sighed. I lowered Mineta's arm slowly and tried to block her view, smiling at her. She just smiled back and waved. Hang on; do I know her? The thought was interrupted by Mineta's shouting.
"That's a greeting exchanged secretly by a man and a woman after they've progressed to a certain point in their relationship!"
I rolled my eyes.
"I misjudged you, you smooth-talking, curly-haired bastard!"
I tried to stop them from hitting him more. Though I was getting hit in the process.
"Oh I see...It was Sero."
I looked at him. "Yea. He told us that you were hiding behind some rocks with that girl who was naked."
"No! I'm telling you, that's not how it is!"
The boys backed off from leaning over me to get to Midoriya. "Then what was it?!"
"It was because of her quirk."
"Her quirk?" I frowned. I turned to look at the girl again. She saw me looking and started waving again, still smiling like she knew me.
"I didn't know what was going on. It was super scary."
"But you saw her naked, didn't you?!"
"W-well..."
"You saw, didn't you?! And she's STILL waving at you!"
I jumped as Mineta and Kaminari pushed past me and started shaking him. "How far did you two go?!"
I face-palmed. "Oh Hell. Can you two just please stop..."
"I told you, that's not how it is!"
"Shiketsu's coming this way."
I looked up. "Since when were you two standing there...?" I didn't get a response from either Bakugo or Kirishima as four students from the Shiketsu school came up to them, including that girl.
A boy fully covered in hair, who was clearly leading them, started to speak. "Bakugo."
"Huh?"
"Did you see Shishikura? The guy whose eyes look like slits."
"Yea. I knocked him out."
Figures...
"That's what I thought. I think he probably acted rudely. He must have caused offense. He has a tendency to impose his own values on others. He probably couldn't help himself after seeing you, since you're pretty famous."
Well, that was a veiled jibe...
"I would like to build a good relationship with UA. I apologize on his behalf."
"'Good relationship'?"
"It doesn't seem that way at all..."
I glanced at Mineta and Midoriya, and nudged them both. "Relax, will you..."
The Shiketsu students walked away and I let out a breath I didn't realize I'd been holding. I turned and nearly bumped into Midoriya. "Hey, what are you-" I looked up to see him watching something. I turned my head to see what it was and widened my eyes. "Oh Hell..."
That loud boy from Shiketsu, I can't remember his name, was towering over Todoroki. This can't end well...I crept over slowly to stand just behind Todoroki.
"-I'm sorry, son of Endeavor.."
I tensed. I already wanted to knock this guy...
"..But I hate you guys. You've changed a bit since then, but your eyes are the same as Endeavor's."
"Yorashi, what's wrong?"
"Nothing, sir!"
"There will be in a minute..." I muttered and stepped forward, but Todoroki held his arm out and Midoriya grabbed my wrist. I let out a breath and took my wrist back gently. "Sorry. I didn't mean to get like that. It's not my business..." As Midoriya went to stand next to Todoroki, I turned and nearly walked into a girl.
"Sorry, I-" I realized it was the girl who'd been waving at me. She lifted her finger to her lips and winked at me.
"See ya."
"R-right!" She giggled quietly and walked away as Midoriya replied to her. Did he even realize she had spoken to me? Probably not, the clueless idiot. Who was she anyway? She was from a different school, how the hell did she know me?
I didn't have time to think on it, because Kaminari and Mineta bailed Midoriya up again.
"What do you mean 'Right'?!"
"You sexual maniac..."
"I told you, it's not what you think! She's super scary!"
"You're acting disgraceful!"
"Don't worry, Momo. I got these two..." I grabbed Mineta and Kaminari's collars and dragged them back to the seats.
"Are you two crazy? You're lucky Momo doesn't get Iida or, if you're horrendously unlucky, Bakugo or Kirishima to smack you upside the head! She's right about acting disgracefully, you know..."
"Hey! You were just as pissed off about it as us!"
My face went slack. "You serious? Why would I care?"
They both looked at me with skeptical looks.
"Oh ok. Now this I gotta hear! Come on, enlighten me! This shall be good..." I dropped my chin into the palm of my hand. "Well? Out with it."
They looked at each other with the same look before I got dragged into a shop filled with bathers...
"It's just that we know-"
We all looked up as an alarm sounded.
"Sorry, boys. We got a test to pass." I got up and walked over to the screen, them following behind.
"Villains have begun a large scale terrorist attack! This is occurring in all areas of this city. Due to buildings collapsing, there are many injured. Due to heavily damaged roads, the first group of rescue workers have been delayed! Until they arrive, the heroes in the area will lead the rescue efforts."
The room shifted and unfolded the same way the first room did. "Well, this still creeps me out..."
"Save as many lives as you can."
I grinned. Kaminari looked at me like I was crazy and Mineta grabbed my wrist, shaking me.
"What? Why are you grinning like that?!"
"It's showtime."
"Well then, start!"
"Called it."
