I hesitated. Should I confront the villains? Or continue the rescue operation? What would be the best course of action - what would a hero do in this situation?

I stood there wondering - and realized I was wasting time. Choose the course of action Tensei would. The course Midoriya would take.

Back in the entrance exam - I'd seen exactly what Midoriya would do, in a test situation. Prioritize the safety of the victims. As he'd jumped in to rescue Uraraka. I would do the same.

I turned back to the HUC victims and started my boosters.

One was buried beneath rubble, I could hear their cries. I turned and pulled up the debris - pulled them loose, to safety.

"It will be all right," I was firm. "Pros have the situation under control. From here on out, we just need to get you to safety."

I'd made it with my injured HUC victim, a small boy - or a fellow pretending to be one - when -

BZZZZT!

And the announcer said, "AHEM! AT PRESENT, EVERY LAST HUC MEMBER ON THE FIELD HAS BEEN RESCUED FROM IMPEDING DANGER. THEREFORE, I DECLARE THAT THIS TEST IS OVER! THE RESULTS WILL BE ANNOUNCED ONCE ALL THE SCORES ARE TALLIED. THOSE WITH INJURIES, PLEASE PROCEED TO THE MEDICAL AREA. EVERYONE ELSE GET CHANGED AND STAND BY FOR INSTRUCTIONS.

We gathered together before the announcer again.

"IT'S BEEN A LONG BATTLE, BOYS AND GIRLS, BUT NOW IT'S TIME FOR THE RESULTS. BEFORE THAT THOUGH…REGARDING THE SCORING SYSTEM, WE OF THE HEROES PUBLIC SAFETY COMMISSION, ALONG WITH THE MEMBERS OF HUC WERE DEDUCTING POINTS ON TWO ISSUES AS WE WATCHED YOU PERFORM. ESSENTIALLY, WE JUDGED YOU ON YOUR ABILITY TO ACT FLAWLESSLY IN A CRISIS. ANYHOW, HERE ARE THE NAMES OF THOSE WHO PASSED THE TEST, IN ALPHABETICAL ORDER. KEEPING EVERYTHING IV'E SAID IN MIND, PLEASE TAKE A LOOK."

I looked up and saw that my name was there! I'd passed the license exam - p there -

IIDA TENYA

And most of my classmates were cheering.

But to my shock, two names from our roster were not there. Bakugou - and Todoroki.

He was standing right behind me and as I turned I saw the big loud boy from Shiketsu who'd messed things up for him coming to talk.

"TODOROKI!" he screamed, and just stood there looking intimidating.

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!"

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!" Ashido cried. 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!"

I heard Yaoyorozu and Midoriya both murmuring Todoroki's name. Mineta started provoking him, and I pulled his face away. I had no idea what to say to Todoroki. I had no idea what had happened, but - I honestl y never expected him to fail.

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."

I looked over my results. Midoriya came to me. "How'd you do, Iida?" he asked.

"80 points. Overall, they said I didn't make good practical use of my abilities. How about you , Midoriya?"

"I got 71 points. Rather than my actions themselves, it was my conduct before taking action that was the problem. Like standing around and doing nothing."

"I'm just glad we know what we have to work on now!" I pumped my fist, and repressing that unworthy part of myself that was secretly pleased to have gotten more points than Midoriya.

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!" I cried along with Midoriya, 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.