Disclaimer: I do not own Boku no Hero Academia.
The empty hallway echoed the sound of her heels, Ayame hiding a wide yawn behind her hand as she made her way through school. It has not even been a day yet since her return from I-Expo but she received a call from her homeroom teacher last night to come to class. Then, her phone began blowing up with notifications from her fellow 2-A classmate's chatroom; everyone received the same request from Ume.
The chat was bursting with curiosity and everyone tried to guess what the reason could be but no one provided them an answer. Over one week had already gone by since their summer vacation began and some of her classmates were already doing their internships. But with the sudden call, they reconvened back to U.A.
My own internship is supposed to start soon, too.
Since she applied to Erasure Head this time around, Ayame hoped he would be able to show her something new. Her uncle's Quirk, as powerful as it was, limited much of what he could physically do. That was why he trained tirelessly since young to build his physique to prime form in order to hold his own against tougher enemies. Yume trained under Aizawa as well since their Quirks were similar and paired up with her flexibility from ballet, LullaCry was able to keep up with a lot of the top heroes.
A head of messy black hair rounded the corner and Ayame blinked at the tall man, wondering why just as she was thinking about her uncle, he appeared. A wide smile appeared on her lips as she bounced over, waving her hand happily to her family.
"Good morning, Shouta-oji!"
Aizawa looked up from the bundle of papers in his hand to the loud girl. Glancing at the time on his watch, he noted she was nearly late for her class meeting soon. He tucked the stack of paper under his arm to hide the main contents from view and waited for Ayame to catch up.
"You're going to be late to your class," reprimanded Aizawa.
"Eh?! How do you know?"
"I heard you got into some trouble at I-Expo," he switched the topic instead, leading them both towards the upper floor where the second year's building was. Aizawa was heading the same way too, much to Ayame's obliviousness.
"N-not me personally!" Ayame huffed; she bet Yume already told their uncle about their vacation already. "But it all worked out! Ne, oji-san, what are we doing for our internship?"
Erasure Head does not take interns often, much less appearing in any television interviews. As a teacher in U.A., he was more focused on educating the future heroes and honing their natural abilities to their fullest. Maybe Ayame was a little lucky to have him train her before she was even a student in U.A. but back then, she rarely appreciated the gesture.
"That'll be for you to learn later." They stopped in front of the classroom, motioning his hand in for her to join the rest, "It's 'sensei' during school hours. How often do I have to remind you?"
Aizawa sighed, smacking her head with the stack of papers not to hurt but to lightly reprimand and Ayame hissed. Rubbing her head with a pout, she headed inside the classroom to see about half of the students there. Greetings echoed out in the classroom as everyone mingled with each other and Ayame hopped to the back of the room to where her seat was.
"Hotaru-chan! How are you?"
The two girls caught up in small talk about their vacation so far while waiting for their teacher. Light chatter filled the room of the ten students but everyone was curious about the sudden summon. A few classmates even mentioned how they had to pause their internship to return and the ones unable to return were going to miss out on today.
Huh, weird…
Soon, Ume walked through the door followed by Aizawa. The class blinked at the two teachers, scrambling to sit back at their seats and waited for further instructions. It was rare for other teachers to join the class; even rarer for them to be called back in the beginning of their summer break.
"I know you all must be confused," started Ume calmly at the podium, "But we received a special request by the Hero Public Safety Commission. Today, you will be taking the Provisional Hero License exam."
Silence filled the classroom for only one second.
"HUUUUH?!"
"Today?!"
"Right now?!"
"Really?!" Ayame stood up from her desk in excitement, looking between Ume and Aizawa in anticipation.
"Settle down," Ume smiled while motioning with her hand and everyone quieted down. "The test is normally taken twice a year in June and September. I did not believe you all were ready this time but after the final exams, I was more than impressed with all of your improvements. The Hero Public Safety Commission will be holding a small exam as a test with a few new rules they want to implement. Whether you pass or not, it will be up to your abilities."
The class erupted into cheers of excitement. Finally, the past year and semester were leading up to this moment. Although the Provisional Hero License will not grant them full hero access or authority unless it was an emergency, it would be the first step.
"What about the rest of the class?" Natsumi looked at the empty desks around. Although ten of them had arrived for the summon, eight did not.
"Unfortunately, due to their internships, they will be unable to join us this time. They will have to wait until September."
"No way!"
"Soharu-sensei, what about Class 2-B?" Nao followed up.
"They will be taking their own test but at a different location to avoid students from the same school fighting each other," Ume explained.
"Gather your hero suits. We're leaving now," Aizawa instructed, "Don't think this will be easy because of a special request this time."
"Yes, sensei!"
Quickly, everyone scrambled to gather their hero briefcase and followed after the two teachers to the school bus waiting for them in front of the school. The buzzing excitement from the classroom carried into the car, everyone excited by the exam and the prospect of becoming a hero soon.
"Sensei! Can you give us an idea of what the exam may be?" Natsumi asked near the front.
"No can do," Ume rejected, "This is a test to see what you've learned in U.A. so far. We have taught you the basics in the first year and refined it in the second."
"Besides, the test is randomly generated every year," Aizawa added.
"When we pass the exam, will we be getting our Provisional Hero License on the spot?" Even Noeru was curious about the details of the test.
"Usually, yes," answered Ume.
"Hey, Takarada, you're that confident you'll pass today?" Ayame turned her head to look at the front row of the bus, grinning at the class representatives sitting together. It may have been due to their adventure on I-Island but Ayame did not shy away from them regardless.
"Are you not?" Takarada countered blankly, "What have you been training in U.A. for?"
"Of course I am! We can almost be considered heroes with what we did on I-Island!"
That caught the class's attention as they turned to the duo.
"What happened at I-Island?" Usagi asked with a twitch of her bunny ears.
Ayame stiffened. Wait–she wasn't really supposed to go into details about the villain attack! She only told her family because she knew they won't say anything but what about leaking it to the class?
"Ayame saved us," smiling, Yuu was the one to save the tongue-twisted Ayame from explaining, knowing she would be a terrible liar if probed to speak more. "She was like a real hero, jumping after us from a tall tower and scooping us in her arms."
An odd image appeared in their minds from that brief explanation. Even Ayame looked weirded out by Yuu's choice of words, mentally imagining both of the 'princes' turning into 'princesses' instead and her–the hero savior.
"That did not happen," Noeru scowled.
"Are you denying Ayame from saving us or…" Yuu chuckled.
"The latter," Noeru immediately answered. He may be prideful and lost against her but he was not known to lie.
Ayame looked at the two, smiling as she puffed out her chest happily at the slight praise.
"And don't you forget it!"
"Is it me or…does it actually seem like they're friends," Nao whispered to Gin on the side.
"Frankly, Nao," Gin gave his friend a deadpanned look, "I don't care."
They soon arrived at a large building spiraling upwards with red and yellow stripes running down the side. Dozens of other school buses were stationed right by them, many students exiting the buses wearing their own respective school uniforms. As they made their way into the building, Ayame could not help but notice the slight chill in the air from the glares directed their way.
"Did we do something?" Ayame's eyebrows furrowed at the odd looks.
Shyly, Hotaru inched closer to Ayame. Sensing the meek girl to dislike the attention, Ayame linked her arm with her and smiled in reassurance. When she looked up, she caught the attention of a boy from a distance away, looking at her under long black hair hiding his eyes. An uncomfortable chill ran through her skin at his gaze but when she blinked, he was already hidden amongst the hundreds of bodies.
Weird…
"Let's go," Aizawa instructed and led the way.
Everyone had a few minutes to change into their hero costumes where hundreds of students were gathered. Ayame waited off to the side as the rest of 2-A students finished up. Conversations buzzed around them as everyone else stood and waited around, excitement and anticipation high in the air as less and less people entered the room.
From the conversations she accidentally overheard, many other notable schools such as Isamu, Seijin, and Seiai floated in her ears. But what caught their attention was the talk of another famed school, their reputation rivaling U.A.'s in the West.
"Shiketsu High School…"
"Are you curious?"
"Woah!?"
Ayame jumped back, startled by the stranger who appeared out of nowhere behind her. Lilac eyes widened at the black suited student, matching long hair hung over his eyes that Ayame could not even see what color they were.
Who the heck is this guy?!
"Sasaki-san…right?" He asked again, voice mumbling and soft–not speaking any louder despite the noises around them. "I really don't want to but it's only polite to introduce yourself first, right? I'll get this over with. I am Shinta, from Shiketsu. I will see you on the battlefield soon."
Without waiting for her response, the boy named 'Shinta' disappeared amongst the crowd. Ayame shivered again, wondering what was the reason for him to appear in the first place. And what did he mean by that?! Was he declaring himself to be her rival?
"Do you know him?"
Ayame nearly jumped again, turning towards the familiar voice of the icy haired boy with calculating eyes. For once, Yuu was not looking at her with tease but rather, a sharpened look at the direction where the unknown boy had disappeared off to.
"You need to stop popping out of nowhere," Ayame mumbled more to herself, settling a hand over her rapid heartbeat for getting scared twice. "Absolutely not."
Yuu calmed his expression back to his usual smile but his thoughts lingered on the person that just left. It seemed someone may have eyes on their sports festival winner. He and Noeru were not oblivious to the stares directed at them as they entered the building. Besides being heirs to their own respective families, both have learned to differentiate between hostility and flattery of people's eyes. While most students were definitely looking at U.A. in hostility, that boy from Shiketsu was looking at Ayame in…ghoulish fascination.
"Oh–Hotaru-chan!"
And just like that, Ayame shrugged off the earlier interaction to bounce towards the girl. What a classic simpleton she was, never pausing to consider why she may be targeted and going back to her cheery self.
"She doesn't let anything weigh her down, does she?" Yuu mused to himself.
"Who was that?" Noeru ignored his friend's quiet whisper to glance at the direction of the unknown boy, adjusting the black gloves on his hand of his hero uniform.
"Shiketsu High School. He's going to be tough," answered Yuu.
"That will be nothing," Noeru did not relent. "U.A. will be the only one at a disadvantage here since they've broadcasted the sports festival. Since the beginning, everyone has been looking at us as the main targets."
Yuu chuckled, glancing at the oblivious brunette again as she brushed off the non-discreet look of the other students looking at her. With her win in the second year surprising not only their class, but also nationwide for her Quick, Yuu was not surprised by the attention she garnered. Adding onto her similarity to LullaCry, there were bound to be more rivals than fans amongst the schools.
"How exciting," yet Yuu cannot help but smirk in anticipation, icy eyes sharpening more as he glanced at the hundreds of students around while studying their costumes. It would be the first step to determine what type of Quirks they will be facing against.
Noeru glanced at the Shimizu heir, recognizing the calculating look in his eyes, and said nothing more.
The microphone crackled to life as everyone turned their attention to the podium. Many men in suits were standing by the side while a scruffy blonde was hunched over the microphone. He tapped the microphone twice to ensure it worked before sighing into it tiredly.
"Alright, let's do this provisional license thing so I can get some sleep… I'm Mera from the Heroes Public Safety Commission and I will be supervising your exam today. Nice to meet you. Please finish soon so I can go home already."
Everyone stared at the representative with a nervous twitch. This person…will he be fine supervising the exam?
"As you've heard from your school, we are testing out a new type of exam to filter out the best heroes applying in the future. Honestly, they can just wait until September to try out the new changes but lucky you, you all will be our test dummies first."
Ayame and Hotaru shared a look with each other.
Test…dummies?
"Since this is still in development, we've only asked a handful of schools to send their students in. But, there are still 680 of you all applying and only 50 will be able to pass the license today."
"Over six hundred?!" Ayame gasped.
"I-It used to be fifty percent a-are able to pass!" Hotaru shivered.
"Now it's less than one percent!" Usagi followed up.
"Ever since Stain's arrest, many have shown doubts about the current state of heroes. Well, as a private citizen, no matter what the motivation, to tell someone risking their lives to save others not to seek any reward is… Right now, heroes are oversaturated in the world. Whether they are fighting for momentary fame, money, or genuine benevolence, we will never know. You are all here trying to receive your Provisional Hero License and will be swept up in this tiresome mess soon. If you do not have the strength to continue, you are not cut out to be a hero," Mera explained.
The huge television behind the supervisor changed. Electric words sparked to life as the words 'Free-For-All' lit up on the screen.
"I will explain the rules now," Mera pulled out two metal pins about two inches in diameter out from under the podium. "Examinees will receive two pins they can put anywhere on their body as long as it is exposed outside; you cannot hide it under your feet or armpits. Your objective is to destroy those pins from each other while protecting your own. The last fifty examinees to remain standing will be considered passing. There is a 45 minute countdown to this battle. Oh, but if contestants decide to hide and wait until the end, do not bother. These pins will track your every movement and will record your Quirk usage to determine your abilities. Even if you are one of the fifties to pass, there will be other hidden factors to determine whether you will be a hero or not."
The group of men began to head down the stage with boxes of pins, passing it out to the students as Mera continued to explain on stage.
"The exam will begin one minute after everyone places their pins on their body. We've prepared specific terrains for you all as I'm sure there are specific areas you've preferred. Work hard, future heroes."
A sudden rumble shook the room as they all looked around at the walls folding downwards. They were in the middle of a large field with different types of terrains surrounding them. A mountain area with dozens of high cliffs and jagged rocks, tall buildings of a busy city, a lush forest off to the side, and a riverbed cutting through the forest and into the mountain rocks.
Hotaru nervously looked at the collapsed wall then to the mixture of landscape around them. A small shaking next to her caught the short girl's attention, bright eyes turning towards her friend as Ayame clutched the pins with a wild smirk.
"This is just like this year's sports festival," clipping one of the pins to her upper chest and the second one by her waist, Ayame tied up her long hair behind her seriously. "This should be fun."
Quietly, Hotaru admired the confidence of Ayame as she looked at the two pins in her own hand. With renewed determination, she clipped them both to her waists and stood up straighter. Somehow, with her friend so fired up for the exam and remembering how she also fared well against the sports festival's battle royale, Hotaru believed they could last until the end.
"Why did you come?"
Ume had her legs crossed as she looked down from the benchers at the stage. Dozens of staff were stationed around the stadium with their own tablets to monitor the examinees while even less teachers occupied spots to observe their own students. Next to her, Aizawa's eyes did not move away from the stage as he spotted the sparkly blue cape of his niece dashing away with a few of her classmates.
"I thought you were scheduled off duty today," Ume added when Aizawa remained quiet.
"I am," he confirmed, "But since the sports festival, I've realized I'm only looking at that brat on the surface level."
Ume did not correct him, knowing Aizawa was only referring to Ayame as that affectionately.
"I've never really bothered much for Yume's ballet competitions or talent shows. I'm always late to my sister's family's birthday parties. Suzume seems scared of me every time I show up but it is due to her sisters that she's willing to hug me. I'm so wrapped up in my duties that I even overlooked the reason why Ayame did not bother to tell her close-knit family about such an important event like the sports festival."
"She's grown since then," Ume interjected softly, realizing that Aizawa was only here today for just one person, "Sasaki-san is blossoming into her own person."
"There's going to be tough battles waiting for her in the future. Even if I am not her homeroom teacher any longer, she is still my niece. I will unlock her full potential," Aizawa silently determined.
People often say Aizawa was a ruthless professor and more so as a fearsome hero. But since high school, Ume only saw him as a softly who secretly cares for the ones he loves by protecting them from the shadows. Seeing him so proactive with his niece put a smile on her lips as she turned back to the stage. The battles will be starting soon.
"And if she ends up failing here, I will raise the difficulty of her internship with me by tenfold so she will have no excuses in the future."
Ume did not need to turn her head to know Aizawa was glowering at the stage with an upturned grin.
Ayame, Hotaru, Natsumi, and Usagi ran off together in the same direction as soon as the competition began. Whether they wanted to or not, their class was accidentally split up amidst the crowd of people. Natsumi had urged the others to stay together; they would only be easy targets if separated, but Gin ran off on his own–which resulted in Nao and a few others to follow them. Meanwhile, no one was worried about Noeru or Yuu as both were considered the strongest in their class.
"That Gin-kun! Why didn't he follow us?" Ayame huffed in dissatisfaction.
"From the looks of things, every school seems to be targeting us," analyzed Natsumi, "They've probably seen what our Quirks can do and are trying to take us down."
"Because of the sports festival?" Hotaru quietly commented.
"Well, doesn't that mean we're amazing?" Unperturbed, Ayame turned to face the girls with a grin, "They think they can beat us cause we're from U.A. but we'll show them why we're accepted in the first place!"
Ayame may not be the best strategist in their class but her passion was unrivaled. Ever since the school year began, she has been showing bursts of confidence and power with her actions and causing her own classmates to subconsciously look at her in faith. With a wild grin and unwavering back, they feel their own morale boosted by her own determination.
"You U.A. are always so arrogant."
"You're not the only hero school in the region!"
The four girls stopped at the edge of the mountain range right before the cityscape. Dozens and dozens of examinees surrounded them from all over, eyes blazing at the small group in the center. Ayame slid to a stop and looked at the ones in the front, smirking at their appearance without fear.
"Aren't you the arrogant ones for approaching us so suddenly?" She asked back.
"Isamu High School, let's go!"
Immediately, the students sprang into action. Students surrounding them began to use their projectile Quirks aimed at them, hoping to break off the pins with a wide range attack. Hotaru immediately grabbed Natsumi and teleported away. Usagi hopped high in the air to dodge the attacks while smoke manifested around Ayame, forming the familiar beast of her ookami to dash forward.
"We're not that easy!"
Usagi landed on one student with her bunny legs, kicked off of him to land on her hands, and swung around to kick another student. Hotaru reappeared with her teleport Quirk with Natsumi, the girl had long needles sharpened from her hair strands as weapons to throw at the nearby students in deadly accuracy. The needles shattered a few pins and Hotaru moved to teleport away, causing a disturbance amongst the enemies as they tried to catch the firefly student.
"S-sorry!" Hotaru squeaked out when fellow classmates ended up hitting each other.
In the front, Ayame reached the group of Isamu students with her mount, jumping off the ookami to let it wreck havoc against three while fending off the two closest ones. One boy had bones protruding out of his joints engaged in close combat with her while one girl stayed away in the distance to throw projectiles at her.
We'll be easily outnumbered like this…
Ayame blocked the bone arm from the Isamu student, thin trails of black smoke emerging from her hand to form two little serpents to slither on his body. He quickly let go of her to try and rip the serpents off but they were already gnawing on the metal pins.
We need to dwindle the numbers somehow.
She rejoined her ookami shortly as the ghostly beast swung its paws and tails against the students. Whenever it was attacked, the smoke quickly reattached itself in repair for the beast. As Ayame engaged in another close combat with more students, the corner of her eyes were keeping track of her classmates. Hotaru was doing well in causing confusion around others while Usagi was a trained fighter with her hit-and-run tactics. Natsumi kept the students with the projectiles away with her own, hiding and dodging between rocks to avoid close encounters.
I'll have the attention be focused on me so it'll be easy for the others to take them down!
With that determined, Ayame jumped within her ookami, smoke tendrils surrounding her to link with the existing summon for it to grow in size. Her eyes closed in concentration when she could feel the mass grow around her and multiple disturbances attempting to stop the wolf but she did not relent.
I'm counting on you, Hotaru-chan, Usagi-chan, Natsumi-chan!
From another side of the stage, Noeru and Yuu stood around the mountain and riverbed with multiple jagged crystals surrounding them. Yuu admired the shiny ores with a light smile, glancing towards his friend who was rubbing the stiff joints on his shoulder from Quirk overuse.
"You've gotten stronger again," mused Yuu.
"It's just rearranging the preexisting minerals to solidify into gems," Noeru dismissed easily, "Nothing to it."
Around them were dozens of students lying on the ground in fatigue, their metal pins destroyed amidst the short battle. Yuu smoothed back his icy hair and in that moment, a student ran out from behind a crystal structure to throw a softball at them. Yuu moved his right hand, eyes sharpening in precision as he activated the gauntlet on his wrist. Water fired out like bullets in three quick shots to intercept the ball. It exploded upon impact, causing smoke to rise and surround the stage.
Water behind Yuu rose up amidst the smoke before dissipating into thin air, mixing in the misty fog with the smoke. Yuu smiled again as he took a step forward, dodging to the left and grasping the wrist of the student who closed in on them during the smokescreen. Unfortunately for him, Yuu was able to determine his location with his own steam as sensory.
"Too bad," Yuu chuckled, icy eyes sharpening more as he twisted the wrist, causing the student to drop the other softball from his hand. With his free hand, Yuu reached towards the metal pin on the student's shoulder, ripping it from his uniform in succession and crushed it with his clenched fists.
"Damn U.A…!"
Yuu tossed him aside as the smoke cleared, eyeing the empty terrain around them once more as the failed students made their way to exit the stage. Noeru sat upon a crystal nearby, waiting for anyone else who dared to approach the two powerhouses. With his crystals covering nearly the whole mountain range, Noeru was free to control the gems at will as long as he could touch them. Meanwhile, Yuu was the perfect partner with his water Quirk, able to sense bodies amidst the steamy fog and control the existing riverbed to his will.
In just a short time, they were able to create a safe haven with their Quirks without needing to hunt anyone down. The other schools had made it easy for them by trying to attack first. Their defense was their best offense and leaving this area would be foolish.
"It has been 15 minutes since the exam began. There are still 482 students remaining."
The intercom echoed across all the terrains with Mera's tired voice.
Amaterasu disappeared in wispy smokes with Ayame's Quirk usage. She rested her palms on her knees, breathing hard from the giant summon and wiped the sweat from her forehead as she looked at the dozens of students collapsed around them. With her plan as bait and others focused on Ayame and Amaterasu, it left her classmates to weed out the examinees when they were too distracted to defend against the giant wolf.
"Take it easy, Ayame-chan. We still have thirty minutes left," Usagi stationed herself on a pillar, glancing around for any potential students they may have missed.
"Don't worry, I'll be okay," Ayame waved off with a reassuring smile. The headaches did not last for long and it may have been her improvement recently but she did not feel the strain to be as throbbing as before.
Natsumi collected the fallen needles on the ground, reattaching them to her belt to reuse again with the brief intermission. Right as she bent down to pick up another needle, the earth beneath her began to crumble.
"Natsumi-chan!"
Hotaru's cry brought all of their attention to the unsuspecting girl. Natsumi stumbled backwards with the shaky ground as vines shot upwards from the cracks. Before anyone else can move, waves of bright beams shot towards the vines to hold the attack back while Hotaru disappeared, reappearing by Natsumi's side and teleporting both of them away to safety.
The vines retreated back underground and Ayame smiled widely at the new addition of help, waving happily at their fellow classmate who was also the third place winner during their sports festival.
"Osuke-kun! You found us!" Ayame waved.
"Yo!" He waved back, golden blonde hair sparkling under the sun.
The vines returned with a vengeance, aiming towards Osuke as the boy turned towards the grass with a smirk. His hands glowed bright again, another wave of light shot at the vines and scorched the leaves to dust.
"Looks like you girls got yourself into a pickle!" Osuke laughed at his own joke while the girls shook their heads at him. "Have no fear, Osuke-the-great is here!"
At that moment, a large boulder slammed into their classmate. Osuke barely managed to block the rock with his energy hands, gasping for air while the girls rushed in to help. Before they could take another step, dozens of students appeared in the next wave.
"What's so 'great' about that?!" A rival school student laughed at the blonde boy, the pebbles floating below his feet to aim towards Osuke's other side. "We'll take you out!"
They watched as the pebbles rushed towards Osuke's exposed pins in deadly accuracy, eyes widening in panic while the boy was still occupied by the weight of the boulder. In a blink of an eye, a see-through glass mirror shielded Osuke from the pebbles, another figure appearing behind it with navy blue hair.
"Reflect!"
The pebbles bounced back towards the original student who attacked first. Everyone grinned at the sight of their classmate and Osuke managed to shift the boulder away with the extra time, sighing in relief at the assistance.
"This is why I told you to not show off, Osuke," the boy sighed towards his friend, brushing his dark hair back to look at the girls. "Need some help?"
"I think you're the one that needs our help, Mitsuaki-kun," Ayame laughed with a wave in greeting. With two additional classmates here to help, Ayame was sure they could defend against anything.
"Everyone, focus up! There's more of them coming!" Usagi cried out from the top.
Standing tall again, black whispy trails wrapped around Ayame as multiple summons emerged by her feet. Rest time was over.
"25 minutes and 233 students remaining. Keep it up, examiness."
Yuu sat against the crystal rock as Mera's voice echoed all over the stage again. Steam cloaked both heirs' presence as they caught a breather within the battles, taking out another thirty-some students by themselves with their ruthless defense. As the disgruntled students made their way to exit the terrain, Yuu turned his attention to a body hidden behind one of the pillars.
"You there," Yuu greeted in a light tone, "Do you want to come out now or have us drag you out?"
Noeru glanced in the direction Yuu was speaking to, the fog lifting just for them to see a dark figure emerge from the side. At their distance, they recognized the black hero uniform and trademark Shiketsu hat over jet black hair.
"How bothersome," Shinta mumbled, "I wanted to pass by quietly but they just had to call me out. Should I just run? They're not the one I'm after."
As always, Shinta was mumbling to himself in a depressing tone, barely acknowledging the two U.A. students as he turned around to make his escape.
"It's not polite to turn away in the middle of a battle," Yuu helpfully reminded.
Jets of water streams shot towards the boy but he easily evaded attack, his body movement more fluid than the slouched form he was standing in. The smile disappeared from Yuu's face while Noeru stood up, both representatives decided to face him seriously.
"Sensei says apologies are necessary if you are rejecting someone. So, sorry. I'm not interested in you."
Just like that, the Shiketsu boy disappeared amidst the smoke, leaving the two class representatives behind in bewilderment. Obviously, they recognized the odd uniform and jet-black figure of this student to be from the rival school but the bored words spoken by him gave them an odd twist of apprehension.
There was only one person he had shown interest in during the day–and it looked like he was determined to find her.
"Should we chase after him?" Yuu asked playfully yet it lacked the usual lightheartedness.
Noeru glanced around at the defense they built themselves. Crystal rock structures covered nearly the whole mountain at his disposal to control. A steady river of running water crossed the mountain and gems for Yuu to manipulate. There was no safer place than for them to remain here.
A pair of lilac eyes flashed before their mind, sheer panic and worry conveyed on her face as she fell down the tower to reach them. Noeru let out a frustrated sigh as he brushed back his dark sparkling hair, his feet already dragging their direction after Shinta.
"Damn Sasaki," he could not help but curse, "She always attracts the annoying ones."
Yuu smiled and followed after him.
"There is only 15 minutes left but there's still too many of you around. Explosions are going to go off on the perimeter of the stages, the middle will be the safe zone. Try not to get hit. Or do. We can only have 50 passing."
"Explosions?!"
"Are you kidding me?"
Half an hour had already gone by since the exam started. More than half of the students were eliminated and luckily, Ayame and the rest of 2-A were holding out strong. They were not kidding when they said this test was a battle of strength–but also endurance. Pushing their Quirks past their limit and defending against hundreds of different Quirks was truly how a real battle will be.
"Hey, wait," Ayame looked around from her position on a cliff. Their location was still the same as the beginning, between the rocky mountain and the edge of a city. "This is the closest to the middle of the safe zone."
"All we have to do is wait for them to come to us," Mitsuaki added.
"Bring it on! I'll just blast them away! Mwahaha!" Osuke laughed with his arms crossed.
Ayame shook her head at the lively Osuke, a small smile on her lips as she scanned their surroundings. Each classmate of hers were stationed apart to defend their little space, sometimes teaming up with each other to take a particularly difficult opponent down but always ending victorious.
However, Natsumi, Usagi, and Osuke had one metal pin left on their body amidst the battles. The rest will be focused on trying to take those three down so the others planned on running to their rescue whenever time permits. As Ayame has one of the widest range Quirks here, the ability to create multiple summons to defend against the attackers, she took it upon herself to rush first into battle.
"Here they come!" Hotaru's voice brought them back on track as students began to emerge from the distance.
They all engaged in their own battles again as the remaining examinees appeared. Ayame kneeled down to concentrate, eyes closing from the world as she visualized the next summon. The battle turned to static noises in her ears as she imagined Amaterasu again, trusting that as one of her strongest summons with how often she uses it.
"I found you."
Her eyes snapped open at the deep voice, head whirling around to see a black figure jump right at her. Ayame did not even have time to react when they stumbled backwards from the cliff, both of that boy's hands were gripping her bare shoulders.
"Ne, Sasaki-san. I said I'll see you here, didn't I?" Shinta smiled widely, "Did you know? Not a lot of things fascinate me. My Quirk isn't particularly strong. But, what I can do, is force others to activate theirs to the limit. Sometimes, they faint from overuse. Other times, they may be damaged forever. Ever since the sports festival, I've been really curious of which you'll be."
The hands gripping her shoulder began to tingle under her skin. Her eyes widened in horror as they began to fall backwards. Any shouting of her name from her classmates were lost in her ears as Shinta fell with her. The wind blew back his long bangs to reveal bright pink eyes staring wide into her shocked lilac ones.
"Show me, Sasaki-san. Show me that All Might again."
His Quirk activated beneath his fingers, an electrifying tingle sparked on her skin and spread over her veins. A splitting headache was beginning to form in Ayame's mind as a whirlwind of smoky tendrils surrounded them.
Amidst the wind, the examinees fighting, and the collision of one Quirk with another, was an ear piercing screech.
"Show me," Shinta whispered crazily again, leaning in close to her ear despite Ayame's scream of pain, "What is your limit?"
The smoky trails blew him back and Shinta flipped backwards to sluggishly land on his feet. His bright pink eyes were staring in amazement at the mini tornado of black smoke before him; Ayame right in the center of it all.
"What the hell is going on?!" Gin arrived at that moment to this scene, both hands holding his bloody whip as weapons.
"Is that–Ayame?!" Nao slid to a stop in his werewolf form, stopping right next to his friend as everyone momentarily stopped their battles.
"Ayame-chan!"
The smoke began to form in an arrangement of summons. The disfigured form of a wolf head appeared–only to recreate itself into a serpent–then changed to something else. Grotesque summons were threatening to leave the vortex and in the middle of it all–something gigantic was beginning to take shape.
"Her Quirk is going out of control!" Ume stood up from the stands. Even in her position, they can see black whirlwind of her Quirk.
"We can't interfere," Aizawa reminded in a clip tone, his fingers clutching his forearm tightly as the scream echoed through the stadium.
It hurt it hurt it hurt it hurt it hurt
Something was slicing in her brain. Her temple was going to split open. Everything was pulsing around.
It hurts it hurts it hurts
Tears formed in her eyes yet she could not feel the water dripping down her face, the liquid brushing past her skin to join the smoke. The hair tie snapped, releasing wild brunette hair loose from its hold and flying back from the whirlwind.
Stop it hurts stop it stop
Anger and irrationality. Ayame just wanted the pain to stop. She clutched her head with both hands, folding into herself and closing off herself from the world. Feral and broken, distrustful and anxious.
It hurts I'm scared it hurts
A fox's head stabilized above the smoke, nine large tails formed behind and a giant paw broke through the vortex to slam down on the ground, creating a small rumble over the earth at anyone in its path. The giant fox head tilted upwards with its jaws wide open yet the only noise emerging from the creature was Ayame's anguished scream.
"10 minutes remaining. It seems civilians are being caught in the crossfire of battle. Please ensure their safety for the remainder of the exam."
"The exam is still going?!" Osuke gaped in astonishment.
"What are we going to do–with Ayame?!" Natsumi looked back and forth between her classmates.
The giant fox was stationed within the vortex, not moving from position but near the bottom of the creature, more smoke was emerging from within. Different unstable summons rushed out to blindly attack anyone in its path, mirroring the pain their creator was feeling with their wild nature.
"What the hell did you do?"
Noeru hissed in aggravation, crystal rocks trapped Shinta from escaping as they caught up to the rest. All they managed to see was the Shiketsu boy jumping on Ayame and suddenly–she erupted with power. Shinta broke out of his amazement of the girl to look at the boy, his hand reaching out to grasp Noeru's arm but he was faster. Noeru gripped his wrist and encased it in crystal, taking his other hand as captive in one fluid movement to prevent any Quirk usage.
"How do you reverse this?" Yuu demanded.
"Why would I reverse this?" Shinta giggled to himself, "Look at how strong she is. Fascinating, isn't it?"
All they could hear was her continuous screech of pain.
"I don't give a damn about your personal fascination," Noeru threatened lowly, his fist raised to clutch the front of the boy's uniform tightly. "My classmate is in pain. It is my responsibility as the class rep to ensure she will not die from this exam. Now, tell me about your Quirk before I force it out of you."
Sparkling gems emerged from Noeru's exposed arms, aiming dangerously close to Shinta's neck as crystal eyes glared down at the boy. Yuu took a step closer and reached out to Shinta's uniform, clutching one metal pin tightly in his hand to crush it before moving to the second one.
"You have one chance to stay within the exam," Yuu said quietly.
Shinta lost the smile on his face, frowning as he was cornered from all sides. He turned towards the vortex of the Kyuubi again in a lovesick manner, imagining the girl within screaming in pain. From below the Kyuubi, small summons of ookami, serpents, and foxes escaped the vortex to attack anyone on sight. The students began to defend against them, shocked as they struggled to dissipate the summons while protecting the civilians.
"I like strong Quirks. I just want to know if she is as strong as everyone made her out to be. Sasaki-san is truly a beautiful girl," Shinta smiled and raised his crystal covered hands. "I need to touch her again to release her Quirk."
That was all the confirmation Noeru needed.
"Class 2-A, listen up!" Loud in tone yet commanded authority with each word, Noeru scanned the classmates present as they looked at their representative hopefully. "Usagi, Natsumi, Mitsuaki, and Nao, rescue the civilians from the rubble and take them far from here. Work with the other classes if you have to! Gin, Osuke; protect them from those summons. You must aim with the intent to kill to disperse them."
Following his instructions, they sprang into action as they spotted the Help Us Company rescuees around the rubble. Despite the unexpected circumstances, the professionals continued to act as requested while students rushed in to save them. Any school rivalry was thrown into the wind when they all unified to stop the uncontrollable Quirk of the U.A. girl.
"Yuu, you know what to do. Stop the summons and buy us some time," Noeru glanced at his friend. Based on the blank look on his face, he knew Yuu was unusually upset. "Hotaru, come here! We need to stop her."
Hotaru reappeared before them within a second. All around was chaos with Ayame's Quirk running rampant. Fellow students from all schools moved to help each other to block the small summons while many others were guiding the H.U.C. away.
"W-what can I do?" Hotaru asked nervously, the sound of her friend's scream echoed in her ears but she looked at the class representative in determination. If there was anyone who would have a solution–it would be Noeru.
"Teleport us to where Sasaki is," he motioned towards the trapped Shinta next to him. He does not trust leaving Shinta alone with Hotaru and if he tries to escape, Noeru can handle him easily.
"I tried earlier–" Hotaru tried to explain, neon green eyes sparkling in tears as she looked at the vortex, "But I couldn't get close enough. Her Quirk forced me back–it's like–in self-defense mode."
"Don't worry, Hotaru-san," Yuu took a step forward. A handful of ookami and foxes were running in their direction, "We'll create an opportunity for you."
Water appeared out of thin air to rush straight at the wolves, striking through the middle of the bodies and connected to each other. With a wave of his hand, Yuu split them apart and sliced through the ghostly summons, his anger radiating off by his Quirk usage.
Without wasting any more time, Noeru released the crystal restraints on Shinta's feet but his arms were still trapped. Hotaru placed a hand on each of them, neon eyes bright and freckles glowing with her Quirk activation as she teleported all three of them as close as possible to the vortex. Yuu stayed behind as water filled the mountainy field, creating a lake of his own and manipulated the water to support them from behind.
Usagi and Natsumi guided the pretend civilians to a safe place, reassuring and kind as they bounced between the dozen of them to check over their vitals for first aid. Nao transported anyone who were unable to walk themselves on his back in his werewolf form, being one of the fastest in class and strong enough to carry about two at a time.
Whenever a ghostly summon got too close to the civilians, Gin and Osuke were right by their side to dissipate the creatures with ease. Aimed with the intent to kill was easy to follow–they just hadn't realized how annoying they could be.
"Why is it always her?" Gin groaned in aggravation, his bloody weapons changed shape to a large bat to swing at an approaching fox.
"Think you still have a chance to beat her now?" Mitsuaki sarcastically asked, creating another light barrier as his thumbs and pointer fingers touched together.
Even the usually zealous Osuke kept quiet as he shot another summon, eyeing the Kyuubi thrashing in the middle of the vortex. Waves of its tails swiped left and right on the field, causing the stage to rumble in disturbance and causing mini quakes on the ground.
None of them answered Mitsuaki's question. They already knew the weakling they once considered was no longer here.
Hotaru reappeared with Noeru and Shinta just right by the edge of the vortex. From the inky trails of the whirlwind, new summons spawned from within to drag itself out. Crystal spears spiked up from the ground to dissipate the newly formed ones from the front. Noeru grabbed a spear and broke it, using it as a polearm to swing at the few that escaped. Any other ones that were fast enough to pass them had to deal with Yuu's water.
"Ayame-chan!" Hotaru cried out, trying to reach her within.
Ayame's scream echoed from within. Whether she heard them or not, they do not know.
"We have to force our way in from here," Noeru rationalized, "Go help with the civilian rescue. I'll take care of it from here."
Bright green eyes looked at Noeru nervously. It was not that Hotaru did not trust him–he was one of the strongest in their class–but Ayame and Noeru never got along and she was worried for her friend.
"P-please be careful!"
She disappeared in a flash.
"She's still holding on."
Noeru glanced at Shinta, crystal eyes glaring at the boy yet he paid no mind to him. Shinta was looking at the vortex in admiration, a slow smile appearing on his lips while wide pink eyes were focused in front.
"Normally, most would have fainted in exhaustion by now. My Quirk forces activation on others. Quirk overuse will result in fatigue and your body will naturally shut down to protect itself. But Sasaki-san…she's truly amazing."
"What happens if she holds on any longer?" Noeru cannot help but question. From the screams echoing within, Ayame was in pain. The whole class knew her Quirk overuse will result in headaches but what about now–when she's forced to activate it nonstop?
"Maybe…permanent damage?"
Noeru did not need to listen any longer. He dragged Shinta in with him, hands still bound by crystals while defending against the miniature summons. They could hear their classmates behind them as they communicated with each other to protect the civilians while dealing with the creatures that escaped. Noeru put a decently sized crystal shield up connected to his forearm, using it to cut through the wind as they walked in.
"There are civilians here!"
"Please hang in there ma'am, we will get you out of the rubble soon!"
"Don't worry, this injury is only a skin wound. You will recover, sir!"
Mera observed the remaining examinees through the laptop before him. There have been fifty examinees remaining long ago; they only released the Help Us Company once the number was confirmed. But with the unexpected development from the U.A. student's Quirk going out of control, he did not pause the exam. This was the perfect opportunity for these aspiring heroes to handle any type of emergency situation in a high pressure setting.
Whereas for the girl who was currently acting as a villain with her uncontrollable Quirk… Mera will wait and see how the others handle her–and how she will react after.
Someone help it hurts it hurts it hurts
Yume-nee help
It hurts so much
Where am I
What is this
Stop it please
"Sasaki!"
It hurts it hurts it hurts
Make it stop
Someone please
"Wake up, Sasaki!"
Is anyone there
Oji-san
Onee-chan
It hurts
"You're hurting others, Sasaki!"
Who?
Me?
They're hurt?
But I am, too?
"Is this how a hero should act, Sasaki Ayame?!"
The dozens of summons outside the vortex paused. The creatures wobbled around unsteadily, shaking their heads left and right in confusion. Osuke and Gin panted, looking at each other in confusion when the summons stumbled around, lacking the vicious vigor it once did. Nao and Hotaru took that time to escort more civilians away amidst the calm.
The summons moved again, twitching and jittery with each other amongst the crowd.
"Get ready, they're coming again!" Mitsuaki warned.
But before they even attacked, the summons attacked each other, first. The wolf ran into a serpent, the fox stopped a wolf. The students were stunned into bewilderment while the summons thrashed around on the field, not hurting anyone in its path any longer.
Noeru burst through the cyclone, dragging Shinta with him and shoved the boy in. The crystal clumps broke apart from his hand and Shinta stumbled to his knees. Dark within the vortex, wind continued to tunnel upwards and around their figures as Ayame was folded within herself. The smoky ink trails drifted from her body yet as Noeru studied closer, he realized she was holding onto something.
Even amidst the pain of her Quirk and unsteady mind, Ayame had conjured a small nekomata to hold within her arms. Pitiful and wretched, afraid and alone.
"Do it."
Noeru kneeled down next to her. Ayame did not even register anyone to be around. Her eyes were shut tight, face pale from the lack of light and pain with sweat dripping down her forehead. Shinta kneeled down on the other side of her, bare hand reaching out to touch her bare shoulder again. His Quirk activated, forcing the activation on Ayame to stop and slowly, there was a calm.
The inky black smoke began to dissipate. The whirlwind stopped itself, kyuubi disappearing along with it. The summons beyond her view lost their stability and disappeared, leaving the destruction behind of the havoc she caused.
The nekomata in her arms dissolved with it and without anything holding on, Ayame swayed–into Noeru's arms. His hand reached up to feel her forehead, a slimy hotness mixed with his hand from the strain she suffered through while a low groan escaped her lips.
Ayame barely registered what happened. What had transpired in the past few minutes felt like an hour of hell with the continuous pain. With the force stop of her Quirk, she slowly lifted her head up to see a blurry vision of sparkling eyes.
"Taka…rada?"
He barely released a sigh of relief at the sight of lilac eyes, lips thinning out into his usual nonchalance to see Ayame still recognized him. She pulled back lightly to stabilize herself, one hand reaching up to clutch her still aching head as she observed the damage around her. As soon as she turned her head to one side, Shinta was observing her closely with pink eyes in admiration, just inches away from her face and–Ayame fell back again to try and scramble away.
"Y-you!"
It was his face she saw last that caused her to go berserk! Ayame may not remember much of what she did but–she knew it had to be his fault!
"You remember me?" Shinta asked in amazement, another wide smile appearing as he attempted to lean in closer.
But an arm shot out to stop his movement, crystal eyes glaring down at pink ones as Noeru became the barrier between them.
"Back off."
Ayame looked between the two boys in shocked silence. Since when did he care what happens to her? Maybe they just didn't want her to go out of control again? Her hands lifted up, looking at the dirt and scratches over her palms carefully and wondered–exactly what happened to her?
"Help! Someone, help!"
A loud cry ran out somewhere besides them. Ayame snapped her head in that direction, seeing an adult(?) child(?) crying amidst the rough mountain terrain. She stumbled to her feet, heading towards that direction with no hesitation at the call for help.
"Not you–stop!" The child pointed at Ayame accusingly, tears running down his face when the girl froze, "You're the scary lady that caused all of this! I don't want your help!"
Something tugged in her heart for the accusation, guilt and disappointment in herself for losing control ate away from within. Ayame smiled helplessly as she took another few steps closer, kneeling down near the child again despite the teary glare he aimed at her.
"I'm sorry," she bowed her head straightforwardly. She knew she was in the wrong. "I lost control and hurt a lot of people but I promise–I'm not a scary lady! My Quirk–can make cute things, too!"
She lifted her head up to smile brightly and concentrated, head throbbing in pain again while sweat dripped down the side of her face. A tiny nekomata was barely able to materialize again as the cute little cat bounced over to the child. Whenever Suzume was scared or sad, Ayame always made this to cheer her up.
The child watched the summon with weary eyes, looking between the ghostly figure then to the aspiring hero. Despite the calm facade Ayame tried to put up, the hands resting over her knees were trembling.
"I don't like cats!" The child acted one more time, wiping the tears away as the creature hopped over to him, "I want a dog!"
"Okay, okay!"
The nekomata shifted, smoky black trails changing and reconstructed itself to a shiba inu instead. The tail wagged playfully around at the child and finally, he seemed to have forgiven Ayame. At that time, Noeru walked over to check the boy's injuries, thankful to find none and scooped him up in his arms.
"The rescue center is that way. Let's go."
Ayame forced herself to stand, following Noeru leading the way with the shiba inu in the child's arms.
"Time's up. All the H.U.C. civilians have been rescued. The exam is now complete and we will tally up the scores. Please check for your injuries and standby after you change."
Hotaru gave her a tight hug as soon as everyone changed back to their school uniform. Ayame had minor injuries over her body but a large patch of gauze was taped over her forehead. Luckily, all of her classmates only sustained minor injuries as well but most had rushed in to check on her afterwards.
"I'm so glad you're okay," Hotaru pulled back to scan Ayame for injuries again.
"Y-yeah! You sounded like you were in so much pain," Usagi looked at her worriedly.
"Are you sure you're alright, Ayame?" Natsumi asked softly.
"What?" Ayame blinked at all of their concern, feeling the flutter of her heart warm for their friendship and grinned in reassurance. Her head still ached and her vision may become unfocused occasionally but she cannot let her friends worry! "Of course! That just showed how powerful I am, didn't it?!"
"Baakaa," Gin crossed his arms, "It's more accurate to say you got an unbelievable power boost without knowing how to control it."
"Hey! That's just my latent potential!"
"Oi, Sasaki! Let's fight after this!" Osuke jumped into the conversation with determination, "I'm confident I can take you on!"
"As if! I'll win!"
"Okay everyone, thanks for your hard work," Mera's voice echoed from the podium once more; a giant television was stationed behind him. "Before I announce the scores, let me explain how the scoring system works. Between those of us at the Heroes Public Safety Commission and Help Us Company, we had a demerit system to deduct the points of any actions you used during a crisis. Essentially, we had to test your strength of Quirks and how well you worked with others and then the second hidden test of rescuing civilians afterwards."
Although…the surprise attack may prove to be a good additional test in the future.
"Anyways, the names listed behind are the passing examinees. We will also hand out your final score and detailed notes for you to improve on in the future. Congratulations," Mera clapped.
Everyone read the names listed on the board as soon as it lit up. Ayame leaned in closer, trying to quickly breeze through the alphabetical order of the surnames with speed to go near the end. She recognized a few names of her fellow classmates along the way but as she neared the end, the familiar 'Sa' kanji appeared and–she gasped.
'Sasaki Ayame'
"I'm in!"
Ayame turned towards the girls as she confirmed their names as well, jumping into the three of them without warning and nearly sending Hotaru, Natsumi, and Usagi crashing to the ground. The others barely managed to stabilize each other with Ayame's weight yet none of them cared when they bounced along with her, Ayame's energy was infectious amongst their class.
"We did it!"
"We passed!"
"Yesssss!"
Besides their own cheering, Osuke, Nao, Gin, and Mitsuaki cheered along with them. The energetic bunch of a few danced around each other and after a few more seconds of celebration, Ayame turned her attention back on the board to see the remaining names. 'Shimizu' and 'Takarada' were also listed amongst the passing students, not that surprised her or anything, but Ayame did catch a smile emerging on the stone-faced boy and Yuu to have a genuine smile on his.
One of the examiners handed a sheet of paper to Ayame as she calmed down, her personal score and notes were written on it for clarification throughout the whole process. Surprisingly, the score was much higher than she anticipated at a '91'. Notes were praised for her teamwork with others and her combat ability during the first portion of the test. Deductions were marked down due to her Quirk instability but–the committee was hopeful for her improvement in the future. Lastly, they praised her mental fortitude to recover from her berserk mode and was even able to calm down the H.U.C. civilian in the end.
Nearly hugging the paper close to her chest and wrinkling the page, Ayame let out a huge sigh of relief for the results. The past few months reawakened her drive to be stronger, to be better, to be a hero. If it was not for the attack at USJ…if it wasn't for her to realize how much she was lacking against real villains–maybe she would have been the same. Maybe she would still be the same flippant girl as Takarada once saw her as and she would not have been able to awaken her potential during the sports festival.
So many contributing factors had led up to where she was now. Ayame knew there was still a lot she was lacking but for now, she felt hopeful for the future.
"For those of you who passed, from now on, during emergency situations only, you may exercise authority the same as that of pro heroes. In other words, fighting villains, saving people from criminal actors or accidents; you may act on your own judgment in these cases without the direction of a hero. However, that means each and every action carries with it a responsibility toward society."
Everyone focused as Mera continued to speak on stage.
"Right now, we need heroes more than ever and you young people will someday become the center of society. You must become exemplary heroes and become great enough to suppress crime time, all you have received is your provisional license to perform hero activities. I would like you to think of yourselves as fledglings and be even more diligent in your studies at your respective schools. You are our future."
Although he does not look like it, Mera gave an exceptional speech to boost everyone's morale. The exam has officially ended and the only remaining thing left was for their provisional licenses to be printed. After another hour of taking the student's photos and processing the information, Ayame held the little license within her hand in amazement.
"Oh, picture! I gotta show Yume-nee!"
Quickly, Ayame took a selfie with the license right next to her, grinning widely on the screen and sending the message to her sister. With the rest of 2-A students gathering up to leave, Ayame pulled everyone together.
"Everyone! Let's take a picture together, too! This is our first step to becoming official heroes!" Ayame adjusted the camera to show the seven students on screen. "Yuu-kun, Takarada, you too! This was a joint-class effort!"
"Ah, I feel bad for the rest of the class who couldn't make it," said Natsumi.
"This'll show them what they missed. Mwahaha, that means we're ahead of them now!" Osuke cheered.
"I can finally go to sleep," Mitsuaki sighed in relief.
Ayame smiled, angling the phone properly to catch them before pausing to realize–wait how was she going to join the picture? She looked left and right, spotting the familiar messy black hair and waved for her uncle over.
"Oj–sensei! Please help us take the photo!" Ayame waved to Aizawa.
Ume giggled while Aizawa begrudgingly listened to her request, tuning out Ayame's ramble about taking the photo from this angle to catch their good side and just waved her off to stand with the rest. Holding up their license proudly, the ten students faced the camera with enthusiasm. Once the photo was taken, Ayame bounced back to Aizawa, grinning at her uncle almost expectantly.
"Well, what do you think, sensei?" Ayame grinned.
Aizawa sighed. This cheeky brat of a niece of his somehow manages to make him proud and annoyed at the same time. Right when he thought he needed to supervise the exam and personally put a stop to her rampant Quirk, her classmates surprised him instead while she herself recovered.
Well, whatever. The school basically knew they were related already. He can allow himself to be a little biased now.
"Your technique can use more work," Aizawa glowered, causing Ayame to pout at him–before gasping at the affectionate head rub he settled over her messy tan hair. "But, you passed. Great work, Ayame."
She grinned, saluting proudly by his praise.
While they were waiting for their school bus to arrive, Ayame checked her phone again to receive a reply back from Yume. Remembering something, Ayame added the class photo of their license in 2-A's group chat. Afterwards, she tapped the 1-A chatroom and grinned, sending the selfie without any message and will wait for her kouhais to understand the meaning soon.
"You look so happy, Ayame-san. Ah, excuse me, I know we just met today and it may be too forward of me to use your name already but I heard how everyone calls you that too so…"
Ayame startled, taking a large step back and away from the Shiketsu boy again. Does he have no presence?! How does he keep sneaking up on her? And wait a minute–her name?!
"O-only my friends can call me that!" Ayame rejected heatedly.
"Oh," Shinta nodded, taking a step forward again despite her obvious refusal, "Then, let's be friends, Ayame-san. Better yet, I like you, a lot. Let's be more than friends."
"What the–?!"
"That's a no-no, Shiketsu."
An arm wrapped over her shoulders and neck, bringing her back into a wide chest with a familiar voice just behind her. Ayame stiffened, not needing to turn around to know the usual princely boy was once again behind her. The arm around her shoulder did not relent even with her minor movement to escape from Yuu's hold.
"I'm not too keen on giving Ayame to anyone who did not obtain their Provisional Hero License," Yuu chuckled softly.
Two things registered in her mind right then. One, why was she treated like an object?! And two–Shinta did not receive his license?
"It can't be helped," Shinta sighed, "I only joined because of sensei's recommendation but I guess it was worth it to see something interesting today. My Quirk is not made to be a hero."
"That's not true."
Ayame finally shook off Yuu's arm, staring at Shinta seriously while keeping her own distance.
"Your Quirk is strong, Shinta-kun. You can stop a Quirk with a touch or power them up by tenfold. That's an amazing ability to have for any ally."
Shinta blinked behind his long fringes, gazing into clear lilac eyes and felt his feelings renew.
"Ah, I really do like you, Ayame-san."
"T-that's not what I meant!"
"I know," Shinta smiled, "But I guess I will have to work hard to not fall behind, right? The next time we meet, I'll have my own Provisional Hero License."
He made his way to step by her. At this point, Shinta knew she would not be able to acknowledge him just after today. He already accomplished his goal with coming here to meet the U.A. girl who he could only admire from the television screen for months.
"By the way, Ayame-san," Shinta smiled and held up three fingers, "I'm a third-year student."
Ayame froze.
"You're my senpai?!"
"I will forgive any offense if you agree to go out with me."
"No way!"
"Shinta! Time to go!"
Ayame nearly cried in relief when his teacher called him away. Meanwhile, Shinta looked disappointed that their conversation was cut short. He could only give another smile and wave, leaving U.A. behind as he headed back towards Shiketsu's school bus. Ayame looked at the back of the boy in a daze, oblivious to her classmates teasing look as she brought a hand to her flushed cheek.
"Was that–a real confession?"
The ride back to U.A. High School was just as exciting with the students calling their parents and showing off their new license around. Meanwhile, Ayame had settled to take a short nap as soon as she sat down. The extensive Quirk overuse left her fatigued as always and the minor throb of a headache was still in the back of her mind.
Aizawa allowed her an extra few days of rest in the end. After suddenly returning from I-Island then straight into the Provisional Hero License exam left her exhausted in just a few short days. He did agree to go to the Sasaki household to celebrate after he finished up some work at school and that left Ayame to go home first.
Everyone said goodbye again after wishing each other good luck on their internship. The sun was starting to set after the long day and Ayame paused to admire the orange rays shining down on the city buildings through the train's glass windows. Her phone buzzed with messages she had forgotten as she yawned, trying to stay awake long enough to make it back home.
Messages from Yume sent from an hour ago confirmed their dinner plans tonight in celebration for her exam passing. Angry and regrettable messages from her classmates were blowing up the 2-A chatroom, upset to have missed out on the opportunity when they were doing their own internship.
Ayame giggled as she replied to a few of them before moving onto the noisy 1-A chatroom, nearly laughing out loud at how the first to reply was–Bakugo's angry remark about not believing the license to be true. But any of his messages were drowned out by dozens of others congratulating her for passing. Ayame smiled again, sending a quick 'thanks' with a 'v' sign in response before setting her phone back down to admire the passing scenery.
Her phone buzzed again, catching her attention once more at a personal text sent to her. It was not from any of the class chatrooms and it was not from her family. She blinked in curiosity at the calico cat avatar next to the sender's name, opening the simple message up to reply.
'Where are you?'
Punctual even in texts, Ayame's heart fluttered for a beat before settling back down to answer Shoto's message. If she remembered correctly, he did not send any message in the 1-A group chat after she sent the picture of her license.
'Heading home now!'
Todoroki Shoto was not an impulsive person. Or at least, he never considered himself to be. Methodical and tactical, yes, but impulsive? Usually not. He always had a plan in mind with his actions, observant in his surroundings and in others. He would not want to make a wrong decision ever–especially during training or in a battle against villains.
But that message he sent to his upperclassman?
That was impulsive.
An impulse filled with a desire within to see her because surely–it hadn't been a day since they were separated and she made leaps beyond him already. The license had to be real. Ayame was not the type of person to joke about that and plus–she was a terrible liar. He knew so much about her but why can he not pinpoint his own reasoning to send her that text?
Yet as soon as he received a reply, he left the house. Fuyumi was shocked to see him rush out and he barely managed to reply to his sister to not wait for him.
Was it another impulsive action on his part to leave?
Absolutely.
He did not even know where she was heading home from. But Shoto was curious–he wanted to confirm for himself if that was true. For some inexplicable reason–he really wanted to see Ayame again. Even though he was running on blind luck, he wanted to reach where she was.
Because in that selfie she sent to the group chat, her class representatives were in the background, too. And when he remembered how they had joined their class for barbeque just yesterday right before they left I-Island, he was reminded once again that Ayame was not part of 1-A. Sasaki Ayame was chasing her own dreams with others who had been her classmates for over a year–a place where Todoroki Shoto has no part of.
The train station that normally would have taken him fifteen minutes to walk to was cut short to seven. Shoto ran from his house to the station, accidentally bumping into pedestrians once or twice but he only muttered a quick apology before continuing on. The rational part of his brain told him this was ridiculous–there was no reason for him to be here or to have even run into Ayame at all.
But there was a hopeful part of him that knew he could. Just like all of their encounters before, whether intentional or not caused by him or her, they were bound to meet.
Like serendipity.
He will bet on it.
The rush of people exiting the station obscured his vision. Rush hour was the most packed time of the city where hundreds of people were leaving work and heading home. Many civilians walked by his sight, colorful hair and some animorphs drew attention by their outstanding features yet they were not who Shoto was looking for.
It was the sight of long, tanned hair he was seeking out. The color was soft, not an eye-catching bright red like Kirishima or annoyingly sparkling like the Takarada heir's. Ayame had a subtle presence drawn to her, easily passing off as any other high school girl with her white blouse and teal skirt but Shoto can always spot her within the crowd. And when those lilac eyes looked up to meet him, he could recognize the flash of surprise on her face before settling into her usual bright smile.
The summer heat beat down on his tired form after running to the train station. Waves of people entered and exited the station but he remained stagnant. Even with the approaching lilac eyes zoning on him, her figure appearing before his eyes, it wasn't until the floral scent reaching his nose did Shoto realize he won his bet.
"What are you doing here?" Ayame asked with a tilt of her head, the messy hair following along as she smiled at him, "Shoto-kun?"
"Looking for you," he admitted quietly, heterochromia eyes not once breaking from surprised lilac ones. "Congratulations…Ayame-senpai, on your Provisional Hero License."
The silence following his statement was lingering. The noises from the others were lost to either of them when all they could focus on was each other. Ayame let the words ring in her mind for a second longer before a small laugh escaped her lips, the obscurity of this situation reaching in her mind because there was no way–Shoto came all the way here–just for her–right?
"You could have messaged me that," she laughed off any implications that may come with it, crushing any hope within her because there should be none in the first place.
"I know," Shoto realized that long ago. But whenever it came to her, he turned impulsive and rash without understanding why.
Ayame opened her mouth to say something but a random bump behind her back caused her to stumble forward. Shoto reached out, his arm reflexively reaching out to stabilize her and her head knocked against his shoulder. The aching headache throbbed again from the sudden pain and Ayame stayed still, leaning against him for support because the coolness of his right side was refreshing against her forehead.
Maybe it was due to her fatigue that Ayame did not pull away first. Maybe it was their fault for standing in the busy way of the train station. So many other 'maybes' could have contributed to the actions they tried to rationalize for this meetup and her craving for his support but she did not dare to let the idea abide.
"Sorry," she mumbled quietly to him, "Let me stay like this for a bit. I worked really hard today."
His hand reached up to pat her head, smoothing down a knot along the way as he acquiesced to her request. Their close proximity only caused the floral scent to be more prominent, distracting Shoto from his rapid heartbeat as he allowed her to stay for as long as she needed. It did not matter if the passing strangers were giving them odd looks; Shoto was never one to care for others' opinions no matter what he did.
What mattered now, to him, was giving Ayame a shoulder to lean on. There was notable redness around the rim of her eyes that he was only able to see once close. Puffy and swollen, Shoto did not know what was the cause exactly but he can say for certain–she did cry and that left an uncomfortable twist in his gut to know.
"Yeah, I know you did," he acknowledged. "But I'll catch up soon, too."
Ayame paused, finally pulling away to look at him in amusement. Was that a declaration of war, too? Did Shoto also consider herself a rival now?
"Sure," she chirped happily, "But I'll also continue to get stronger, Shoto-kun. I'm still one year older than you!"
She held up one finger playfully, laughing lightly to herself as she spun on her heels to leave. Shoto followed right after her, easily walking in pace side by side as he mulled over how to improve his powers to get his own license next. Neither questioned the reason for Shoto to walk Ayame home and both fell into a comfortable conversation with each other as they proceeded together as if it was the most natural occurrence for them.
At that time
One year felt like a hurdle
I could not overcome.
Later on I realized
One year was insignificant
Compared to our accomplishments.
[Entry 21]
Author's Note:
They are in love, your honor.
I spend more time fantasizing fictional characters than I do with my life. Noeru and Yuu always steal the show so often I forget this is a Todoroki fanfic too LOL. This is gonna be a slow, slow romance but the feelings are there. Hope this chapter will fix up a little bit of the plot holes from before with the provisional license!
Nothing fuels me more than reviews but I hope everyone else also enjoys this story.