Chapter Thirty-Eight
~Shina's POV~
The plane touched down on the hard, dusty, flat runway in the middle of nowhere. Shina was thankful that the airstrip was maintained by a close friend of hers otherwise it would have resulted in them landing on an empty road, not that that would have been much of a problem considering there were rarely any cars driving around these parts. It was almost totally isolated in this corner of the world. The landing was smooth except for the occasional bumps that Shina had felt.
Shina gazed outside the window to see the large red and white barn-like house that the staff who travelled with them usually stayed in when they came. There was another house that was painted blue that was more circular with a rounded dome that gave Shina a nostalgic feeling in her chest as she gazed at it. Her memories were interrupted by Yoshi's dismayed cry.
"Good god what hellish void is this place?" Yoshi asked as he stared out at the vast desert they'd landed in. His side of the plane didn't give much information on where they were as it was nothing but desert with small shrubs and rocks for miles.
"Home." Shina stated bluntly as she grabbed Kaito's things and put them in his backpack. "Course you're looking out the wrong side if you were expecting to see buildings Yoshi."
"I go now." Kaito stated excitedly in Russian. He was already straining against his seat belt as he wanted to get off the plane.
"Not yet little one." Shina stated calmly. "Have to wait."
"I go now!" Kaito insisted. Shina sighed as she unbuckled him when the plane finally came to a stop.
"Put your shoes on. Make sure you grab your cup." Shina helped him put on his backpack and shoes before she looked around the plane. Yoshi was already up on his feet, gathering his things into his backpack. Dabi didn't bother to move yet, Shina guessed it was because of the motion sickness he'd finally admitted to having after a couple hours of being in the air.
"Miss Shina is there anything more we can help you with?" Mei asked as she came out from the cockpit area.
"No Mei that's alright." Shina assured. "We'll be leaving in a week if you would like to head to the capital city 6 hours south of us? I'm not sure if you ladies would be comfortable staying here in the guest house until then." Mei nodded.
"I will ask the captain and we will inform you shortly." Mei bowed slightly. Shina nodded as she grabbed her carry-on bag pack, slinging it over her back as she stood up, stretching. 12 hours on a flight was more than she liked being in the air. At least Yoshi and Dabi had been able to sleep for the most part. Shina had only been able to sleep when Kaito did. The door to the plane opened finally and Kaito nearly ran for the exit. Shina grabbed him gently.
"Yoshi can you help Kaito off the plane?"
"Sure." He grabbed Kaito's hand as they both headed to the door.
"Need any help there Dabi?" Shina asked in amusement.
"Tch." He got up finally, grabbing his jacket. Shina had insisted that he change out of his villain clothes and into black pants and his regular white shirt. She'd given him an oversized jacket to wear in replacement of his villain duster. Not that anyone out here would have noticed or cared really (they would have probably assumed that he was either cosplaying or was just an emo) but having him change meant he didn't need to worry about sand or dust getting on his villain costume. Shina knew from firsthand experience that he wouldn't be able to get the sand out for weeks afterward.
"Come on, you can get some fresh air." Shina didn't wait for him to follow as she headed for the exit. Yoshi was standing at the top of the stairs taking in the scenery.
"This is where you live?" Yoshi asked. He gazed at the barn-style house with trepidation. Shina snorted.
"No. This is where the staff usually stay when we come here. My grandmother lives in a valley in the mountains, not a safe place to land so I had this place built. I have a friend who comes by every couple of days to make sure everything is up to date." She helped Kaito down the stairs behind Yoshi. Dabi brought up their rear with his own bag slung on his back. He didn't make any comments as he looked around. Shina took in the fresh breezy air and the afternoon heat with ease. Since there was less pollution here she was bombarded with direct sunlight the moment she stepped off the plane. It felt nice.
"Uh Shina?" Yoshi called. Shina hummed looking over at him. "You're glowing." Shina looked down and silently cursed as she realized he was right. She closed her eyes and started to count down from ten while also mentally relaxing her muscles. Since her Quirk relied heavily on her light absorption, Shina had grown accustomed to the diluted light she'd been absorbing from cities with an abundance of pollution in the air. Being in an area with little to no pollution meant it was easier for her skin to absorb and use for her own benefit which resulted in her body 'glowing' as she acclimated to this spectrum again. Good news was it would be easier for her to change her visage with her illusions.
"It's fine." Shina sighed when she opened her eyes when she reached one. "Haven't been in an area without any pollution since the Caribbean. I forgot how quickly I can get to 'Supernova'. Good news is you boys won't lose me."
"Shina, shiney!" Kaito stated with a smile. Shina grinned at him.
"Thank you Kaito."
"Miss Shina!" Mei called. Shina glanced up at the entrance where she stood. "Jane says we will head to the capital city for maintenance. We should be back in three days, and we will stay in the house until you return!" Shina nodded.
"That's fine with me. I'll let Tyler know so he can bring you some fresh food." Mei nodded. "Can you and Chiyo get the bags and load them into the SUV before you go?"
"Of course, miss." Mei went back inside the plane to inform Chiyo, at least that was what Shina was hoping she was doing as she picked up Kaito and placed him on her hip as she stared to walk to the barn-like house. The hard dirt gave away to finer sand that turned to gravel and a stone walkway. There were cacti in clay pots surrounding the front of the house giving the house a nice homey look. Shina had to place Kaito down as she dug the key to the front door out from a fake rock from one of the potted plants. She opened the door and walked into the house.
"Boys you should go to the bathroom while we're here. I would also recommend finding a bottle of water for the drive. It's about another hour to my grandmothers."
"Let's go Kaito." Yoshi helped Kaito to the bathroom Shina pointed out down the hall. Shina was grateful for that as it had been difficult to get Kaito to use the bathroom on the plane. Child was weirdly particular about where he went to the bathroom.
"How far does she live?" Dabi asked, annoyed as he followed Shina to the kitchen where Shina grabbed one of the SUV keys hanging on the key rack. There was a clear line of sight to the trucks from the kitchen that she was able to simply point the key fob towards to open the trunk and start the truck.
"About 45 mins as the crow flies. By SUV?" Shina hummed as she knelt in one of the cabinets to grab the emergency stash of snacks there. "It'll be an hour. We have a lot of driving through the mountains before we reach her." Dabi growled.
"Should've let Twice take over this." Shina bit her lip to keep the smile off her face. She stood up when she was sure she wouldn't start smiling like a lunatic at Dabi's grumbling.
"You sure you don't want to take the motion sickness meds I have?" Shina asked politely. Dabi glared at her. "Hey, I saw the way you looked in the car back in Japan. And you had a hard time sleeping on the plane. You've lasted well over 18 hours being a 'tough guy'. You don't have to prove anything to me by refusing my nice gesture of trying to make it easier on you."
"Fine give me the damn pills." Dabi caved. Shina dug around in her bag for the meds and tossed him the bottle. She also tossed him a bottle of water that was in the fridge, not that he needed it as he took the meds dry. "The hell do you even plan to do when you see your grandmother again?" Shina took a sip of her water feeling it cool her down more as she answered.
"I need to talk with her about the clan that wants Kana. She went to talk with them a few days ago about this whole thing. I haven't heard from her since then. Not sure how open they'd be to a peaceful talk."
"You want to talk peace with people who are trying to force a marriage on a 16-year-old?" Dabi questioned, looking at her like she was dumb. Shina returned the look as she stated,
"Says the guy who tried to force another 16-year-old to join his gang of criminals by force and got his ass handed to him by an old man not even half his size." The scowl he gave her had Shina smiling sweetly at him. "Didn't think I knew about that did you?"
"We're done." Yoshi announced as he led Kaito into the kitchen. "I'm gonna take him to the truck."
"Here," Shina tossed the emergency snack bag to him. "Snacks."
"Thanks." Yoshi and Kaito left the kitchen and house while Shina rifled through the cabinets, taking stock of what the house had on rations so she could let Tyler know what was needed.
"You never mentioned it." Dabi finally said. Shina had to take a moment to remember the conversation they'd been having before the boys came in.
"I was being nice." Shina finally stated when she returned to the kitchen counter. Dabi gave her an irritated look.
"Like hell you were." Shina chuckled.
"Yeah not gonna lie I've been waiting to use that one." Dabi sneered at her.
"Let's hurry up. I wanna get to your grandmothers house so I can ask her who's to blame for your screwed up 'leader-ship skills'." Shina left the kitchen with Dabi following beside her.
"Hey, I'm not the worst leader out there." Indeed, this was true. Dabi clicked his tongue at her in irritation as she locked up. He didn't even bother to wait as he walked to the passenger side of the SUV. Shina made sure Kaito was strapped firmly in his car seat before she hopped in the driver's seat. "We should get to my grandmother's house in an hour. That'll be plenty of time before sunsets for us to get situated."
"Joy." Dabi mocked sarcastically.
"You volunteered to come." Shina reminded him.
"I don't remember volunteering to come to this Wi-Fi wasteland." Yoshi piped up from the back.
"You need to get out of your den. You were growing roots." Shina snapped at him.
"Yeah!" Kaito giggled. Shina grinned at her biased supporter.
The drive through the vast desert was boring. There were hills that the road either curved around or over with mountains in the distance that were only broken by cliffs or other hills. Not many cars passed them on either lane on the highways Shina drove down. There were houses dotted here and there but for the most part it wasn't very exciting. Kaito fell asleep fifteen minutes into the drive. Yoshi wasn't far behind him.
"This place looks boring." Dabi commented drily. Shina nodded in agreement. "Surprised someone like you came from here."
"I'm gonna take that compliment for what I think it is." Shina responded. "And I'll have you know that being in a place like this sure helped expand my imagination and survival skills." That was the last time they spoke as Shina continued to drive. The road started to get curvier the closer to the mountain they got until finally Shina came to a four-way intersection. She drove straight following the twists and turns through tall pine trees until the road split for the final time. Shina turned left and not even 10 minutes later the gravel road turned to a dirt road. The trees fell away as rocky hills turned to sand dunes and then to tall, red mesas that had large holes that had been carved into them by buffeting winds through the ages.
"Does anyone live way out here?" Dabi asked.
"You'd be surprised how many people are living out here. You probably can't see them because of all the trees and hills." Shina answered as she turned down a sandy road. This road was her grandmother's 'driveway' that flowed along the mesa before it dipped down into a dry riverbed that led to a blue house standing beside a mesa. Livestock fences appeared to be built to the right, behind of the blue house. It stretched out to the other mesa that was close at hand that also acted as a wall to keep her grandmother's animals in. Shina slowed the truck and came to a stop just past the blue house.
"Where are we?" Yoshi piped up from behind Shina. She turned off the truck.
"Welcome to the Nara home." Shina introduced.
"You missed the house dumbass." Dabi commented. Shina glanced at Dabi.
"That's not her house. That's where we'll be staying." Shina leaned forward, eyeing the mesa as cats started to appear from the mesa's cave structure. "My grandmothers home is right in front of us." A dark hole shaped like a door speared suddenly from the rock and a woman with dark black hair came out. Shina quickly unbuckled her seat belt. "I suggest you introduce yourself boys, she won't think very much of you if you don't."
"Me!" Kaito suddenly cried out.
"I'm coming Kaito." Shina called as she exited the driver side. She quickly closed her door and opened the back door to get Kaito out. He cooed at the cats he saw before Shina picked him up and put him on her hip. As Shina walked over to the older woman who waited at the front door her heart eased and filled with joy. It had certainly been a long time since she'd seen her grandmother. It was nice to know she was well. Of course, that ease suddenly tightened again when she saw the bruising along her grandmothers arms and the black eye as well as the scratches on her arms.
"Hello baby!" Her grandmother's green catlike eyes flashed as her fangs poked out of her mouth as she smiled at Shina. Shina rushed in and hugged her. "Ooh not so tight." Despite the warning her grandmother still gave her a fierce hug in return. When Shina pulled away her grandmother turned to Kaito. "And who is this little man?"
"This is Kaito. I adopted him." Shina introduced proudly. Her grandmother smiled as she purred at Kaito. He giggled at her grandmother's attention.
"He doesn't look Japanese. You sure you're not taking people babies?" Her grandmother asked. Shina clicked her tongue.
"I wouldn't do that. Not unless I had just cause." Shina took this time to note her grandmother's ears looked like they'd been nipped at as she was missing some fur. When Shina looked down at her grandmother's tail she noted the same thing. She'd been in a fight recently. "The real question is, are you okay?"
"I'm fine." Her grandmother waved off. Shina frowned. "I'm fine baby. You should see the other guys."
"How bad is it?" Shina asked in concern.
"Just some bruising and scratches." Her grandmother then held out her hands to Kaito who leaned closer to her. Shina handed him over willingly for her grandmother to coo over before she fixed her eyes past Shina. "And who are these two?" Shina turned halfway.
"This is Yoshi," She indicated as he half waved, and half bowed much to Shina's amusement. "I also adopted him. Yoshi this is my grandmother, Sarah."
"Hello ma'am." Yoshi nodded at her. Her grandmother nodded back at him before her eyes fixed a bit higher.
"And the big one?" Her grandmother asked. "I doubt you adopted him as well. He doesn't look like a child."
"I'm not adopted." Dabi stated clearly in English making Shina look at him in surprise. "Names Dabi. I'm a friend of Shina's." Her grandmother looked at Shina who quickly schooled her features into a blank mask.
"'Friend' huh?" Shina really had to hold back from face palming at that introduction. "Is that code for something?"
"Grandma! He's just a friend from Japan." Shina snapped back. "I figured he'd be some help. From the looks of your fur, looks like I was right." Shina folded her arms. Her grandmother rolled her eyes.
"I said I'm fine child. Come inside, I made some stew." Her grandmother's eyes lingered on Dabi before she hoisted Kaito further up her hip and turned to go inside the doorway to her home.
"She lives in a cave?" Yoshi asked. Shina sighed.
"I suppose you could call it that." Shina walked forward at that resigned statement. The inside of her grandmother's home was rock from the floor to the walls and ceiling. However, she did have thick support beams in every corner with two beams in the middle of the home. There was a fireplace to the right with a wooden table and wooden cabinets along the wall in what was known as her kitchen. In the back right side was a covered entryway that led to her bathroom of sorts. Her bed was against the left back wall with her clothes set up in a large wardrobe. To the left near the front was a smaller table that her grandmother used to do her sewing and various projects.
"Sit," Her grandmother called as she brought out enough bowls for each of them and put some stew into it. She was quick in getting it onto the table in front of everyone as they sat at the table. "Do you want anything to drink?"
"Water is fine for me." Shina stated. "Juice for Kaito."
"Water." Yoshi and Dabi requested. Her grandmother nodded as she got out bottles of water from the cabinet and dispensed them. She pulled out a pouch of Capri sun from somewhere that had Shina nodding in acceptance when she was shown it. Her grandmother then sat at the head of the table and watched them eat. Shina was polite as she took a few bites of the beef stew before she looked at her grandmother.
"I take it you got your injuries from the wolves?" Shina asked lightly. Her grandmother nodded. "Wanna tell me about it, or do I have to play 20 questions?"
"Gah!" Her grandmother exclaimed. "Can't even finish a homecooked meal before you have to start questioning me." Shina gave her an unimpressed look. "Fine. I went to go tell them your words about Kana being in Japan. They did not like this and demanded I call you and tell you to bring her back now." Her grandmother folded her arms. "I do not like to be bossed around, especially by someone half my age." Shina nodded at the glare her grandmother gave her.
"I mean technically I'm like a fraction-"
"Don't you finish that sentence you smart ass." Her grandmother warned. Shina mimed zipping her mouth shut as a cheeky smile spread across her face. "I told them their claim to Kana's hand was not accepted by Kana herself, her guardian and certainly not me."
"How did they take that?" Shina asked. Her grandmother gave her a look before she made a show of looking at her bruised arms. Shina winced. "Sorry stupid question. I don't suppose you left them in better shape that they will consent to a peaceful discussion?"
"Certainly not." Her grandmother huffed before she started talking in their native tongue. "If these fools think I'm going to hand my granddaughter over to their clan so easily they have another thing coming. They didn't even manage to fracture anything! I put at least three of them in the hospital."
"You're a hero. Should you really be going around beating up members of the community?" Shina asked amused. Her grandmother hissed softly.
"They started the fight by attempting to attack an old woman who was simply wanting to talk." Her grandmother flexed her claws. "I merely made sure to remind them why I'm not someone they want to mess with. Not very smart of them to believe an old woman can't handle herself." Shina sighed as she rubbed her eyes.
"Great. So, peace talks are out. By the way," Shina met her grandmother's steady gaze. "This is Fredrick Hesmi we're talking about right?" Her grandmother nodded. "Did he by any chance say why he was wanting Kana's hand in marriage?" Her grandmother sighed, seeming to age before Shina's eyes as she peered at her guests with wary eyes.
"You know this is a small nation. Word gets around. When someone is doing well, there will always be someone who covets this." Shina nodded. "I've told few people about my grandchildren and what they're up to. However, everyone seems to think they're entitled to know and be a part of this. They know you are well off, enough to have all three of my youngest grandchildren entered in UA to be heroes. This has spawned much jealousy."
"Why? It's not like that would affect them." Shina stated, frowning. "UA is for Japanese heroes." Her grandmother nodded.
"I know this. We have always understood that despite having powers, we are still human beings. We laugh, we hate, we fear... it is the way things go. They know you, my dear, were married and divorced. They also know that you are very well off." Shina frowned. "I'm sorry to say I didn't receive an invitation to that wedding."
"I was never married." Shina snapped before she froze. "Wait did you say I was divorced?"
"That's the rumor going around." Her grandmother rolled her eyes.
"But I…" Shina cast her mind back to the rumors that her brothers and sister had come up with. Technically the story was that she had married someone and divorced him and taken half his assets. But it was just a story. A lie the kids had told their UA friends to explain how they had their wealth. Crap. Shina sighed before she grit out. "I was married and divorced to a rich man. Turns out he was playing patty cake with the gardener." Her grandmother raised an eyebrow.
"Do you really expect me to believe that?"
"Not really but then again, I'm sure you have your own suspicions about what it is we do. Plausible deniability and all that." Her grandmother hummed.
"This is the first I'm hearing about your 'marriage'. From your reaction, I doubt you would ever engage in gossip on this level." Shina nodded.
"One of the kids told someone here about it. I can't imagine why they would, but I suspect it has to do with our cousins. As much as we try not to interfere with them, they do reach out occasionally." Her grandmother tilted her head curiously.
"You've never said they do." Shina shrugged.
"It's not like we ever keep up with them anyway. The only reason they reach out is to tell us how they're doing."
"Then that is where you will have to look if you want to cut off the gossiping. I would suggest you remind the kids not to give any information about what you are doing." Shina nodded.
"I'll do that. In the meantime, do you have any ideas on what to do regarding Kana's betrothal and how to break it?"
"You will need to talk with your uncle. He will need to cancel the contract on his end. I'm afraid even if he should pass, the contract will still be upheld by those damn wolves. Nothing you or I say will deter them."
"Is there any chance you can talk with the prison and get me in to see him?" Her grandmother nodded.
"I already put in a request. It was granted just this morning. I tried to call you, but your phone went right to voicemail." Shina frowned.
"I didn't get any missed calls or voicemails." Her grandmother shrugged.
"Then I'm not sure what to tell you baby. You can visit your uncle tomorrow. Visiting hours would have ended long ago." Shina nodded. "By the way, are you going to sleep with your friend in the Blue House?" She narrowed her eyes at the wording.
"Yes. I had intended Yoshi and Kaito to sleep in there as well. I didn't want to intrude on your solitude." Shina stated slowly.
"Are you sure he's just a friend? The Japanese men are handsome aren't they?" Shina gaped at her grandmother's wink.
"I-Wha- You dirty old woman! Yes he's just a friend!" Shina absolutely refused to look at Dabi as she put up an illusion over her face to keep the blush from being seen. Her grandmother started to cackle.
"Babygirl you know that doesn't work on me." Shina started to pout.
"It works on everyone else."
"Is this really where we're going to be sleeping?" Yoshi asked when Shina had led them to the blue house. There wasn't really any furniture inside the house. There was the natural rock floor that was covered with pieces of rug but only enough to keep to the edges as in the center of the house was a iron stove.
"Yes." Shina nodded as she gently moved him into the house so she could bring in the bedding rolls as well as their blankets. Dabi carried pillows that he immediately tossed onto the table just to the left of the doorway.
"Never figured you knew how to sleep in rundown places like this." He commented drily.
"You hardly know me." Shina reminded him as she tossed him his bed roll. "What you've seen is me in a city, not me on a camping trip."
"I would hesitate to call this camping." Yoshi stated as he laid his bed roll down, so he was sleeping horizontal in the back of the house, opposite the front door.
"Then you can always get out a tent and pitch it outside." Shina stated. "Though you're gonna freeze." Not to mention the animals would probably get curious about his tent and nose at it during the night. Shina set her bedroll down by Yoshi's head making sure to also make Kaito's portion more comfortable as he would be sleeping beside her. Dabi didn't seem to be in any hurry to set up his bedding as he simply sat down and leaned his head against the wall. Shina wasn't going to force him to hurry as it was his own sleep.
"I can't get any wifi." Yoshi complained, bringing Shina back to the present. She shook out her pillow as she responded,
"Then you shouldn't have any trouble falling asleep. You need a break from the technology occasionally."
"I'm 80% technology!" Yoshi groaned. Shina didn't bother to respond as it was true. Yoshi's body was harder, more metallic than a regular human. If she could have called him anything, she would say he was half- android and half real human from the way his eyes were a bright blue that visibly showed some processing power.
"Sorry kid, you can stay in civilization next time we go camping." Shina promised.
"Joy. Nothing like camping." Dabi stated.
"You have to admit this is better than that warehouse I pulled you guys out of." Shina said to Dabi. "Least there's no dust or cobwebs in here." He looked at her from where he sat. He lifted his hand to reveal a small lump of fine sand. "I said dust, I didn't say anything about sand."
"Is there anything else I can bring you before I turn in?" Shina looked at the door to see her grandmother bringing them another blanket and pillow as well as a lantern just in case. Kaito was following after her carrying two juice pouches in both hands and smiling like he'd won the lottery.
"We should be fine grandma." Shina answered.
"Alright." Her grandmother nodded before she put the things on the table before she turned to leave. "Good night!"
"Good night!" Shina and Yoshi chorused.
"Night!" Kaito attempted. His pronunciation was a bit off but considering he'd only been learning English for three weeks now it was sufficient. Shina got up and latched the screen door. Across the valley she could see a grouping of houses that were alight. Shina stared for a moment before she closed the door and locked it.
~Yuto's POV~
When Yuto woke up that morning he was excited to finally realize that they would be going for their Provisional Licenses later that morning. It had been a long summer and he was ready to finally use his Quirk to get that license so he could leave the school and start doing hero work. He wasn't sure about the details on how that would go but he expected Aizawa or at the very least Kana would tell him what was going to go down.
Everyone in the class had been a buzz of energy at breakfast. Denki had been literally vibrating as little shocks of electricity seemed to be coming from him. James tail was stiff and his ears were alert while he ate beside Momo who seemed to be drinking some tea that Yuto guess was supposed to calm her down. Kana hadn't eaten anything, at least until Bakugou had yelled at her which caused a yelling match which ended with Kana taking a very obvious and exaggerated bite of food. There was hardly a calm person among them. At least until Aizawa had come out.
"Good morning." He greeted.
"Good morning!" Everyone else stated. Yuto simply nodded at his teacher who gave a huff.
"Today is the Provisional Licensing Exam. One you finish your breakfast everyone put on your uniforms and grab your hero costumes; those should be packed in your cases. I want all of you back down here in 15. The bus will be outside shortly to take us to the arena where we will have the exam done."
"Yes sir!" Yuto bounced up from his seat.
"I'll see you and Dark Shadow in a little bit Yami!" Yuto called as he raced to the stairs. The elevator was too slow for the energy that was practically gushing from him. Once he was on the stairs he was running as fast as he could to his room. He grabbed his uniform and hastily got dressed before he ran his hands through his hair and grabbed his suitcase. Yuto ran out of his room not even waiting for his door to close before he took off to the stairs again. The elevator door dinged as someone entered onto his floor. Yuto didn't bother to check who it was as he was already falling down the stairs to the first floor.
He was the first one back downstairs because of his frantic running around to get dressed and grab his outfit. Of course now that he was his energy seemed to dissipate and he flopped onto the closest couch. Yuto figured he may as well check in on Yoshi so he pulled out his phone.
'Yosh! You guys okay?'
No response. Yuto checked his phone's clock and realized, quite late, that it was probably too late for Yoshi or even Shina to be awake. Great, there went that distraction. Yuto pulled open the family chat instead.
'I forgot Yoshi was in America and it's late there.'
'Hah! Idiot.' Kai responded.
'Be nice Kai. I'm sure they're fine. Knowing Shina she probably had everyone go to bed early so she can wake up early.' Kira texted.
'I wanted to tell them about today's Provisional Licensing Exam though.' Yuto typed out.
'We'll be here.' Kira reminded him.
'Yeah what are we chopped liver?' Kaito asked.
'You're more like day old spaghetti.' James entered the groupchat.
'Rude.'
'That's an insult to spaghetti J.' Kana entered. 'Kai's more like ice cream. Freezing cold until his kitty boy comes to warm him up then he's nothing but a melting pile of dairy.' Yuto snickered aloud at that.
'Wouldn't that get hairy?' Kira asked.
'I'm sure his sandpaper tongue would ruffle his feathers.' Kana added.
'I see how it is, I ain't saving any of you anymore! You can all die.' Kai texted.
'I didn't add anything yet!' James protested.
'Yeah and I was just wanting to tell someone that I was waiting in the living room so we can get our licenses!' Yuto wrote.
'I'm getting off the elevator now.' Kana's text came in just as the elevator doors opened and Kana exited. Yuto waved at her.
'How are you two down in the living room already?' James asked. 'I'm just barely reaching my room.'
'Not all of us move at a snails pace.' Kana text before she murmured to Yuto in real-time. "Considering he's a cat you'd think he'd move so much faster."
"I ran upstairs and got dressed and grabbed my costume in record time." Yuto admitted. "I'm guessing you just walked?" Kana nodded.
"Everyone either got in the elevator or they took the stairs." Kana said before she chuckled. "They made James wait in case the elevator broke down."
"He was going to take the elevator to the 2nd floor?" Yuto asked. "He usually walks."
"We wanted to make sure it didn't die before we managed to get to our floors." Sero said, coming up behind Kana. Yuto nodded.
"Well that's fair but hasn't he proved that the elevator doesn't break if he's in the stairwell?" Yuto questioned.
"We wanted to be safe." Iida admitted coming around the couch. Yuto stood up seeing half of the class coming out of the elevator. "James is a powerful ally and a dangerous foe, but his luck is neither predictable nor is it safe to call good or bad luck."
"It's a horrible mixture that's for sure." Hagakure spoke. "Is everyone excited about this exam?"
"This is the one time I'm excited for an exam." Denki piped up.
"It would depend on what we have to do." Jiro said. "Does anyone know if this is going to be us fighting one on one or a free for all?"
"Is there any written exams?" Kana asked. "That's my main concern because I haven't cracked open a text book all summer."
"I sincerely hope not!" Denki looked like he was going to be sick.
"I don't think Aizawa would be that cruel." Tokoyami stated as he joined the class.
"This is Aizawa." James growled when he came out of the stairwell. "He convinced you all that there was a ghost in the dorm two week ago just to mess with you. Not to mention he put us through hell these past sex weeks." No one could argue against that as everyone nervously looked at one another.
"Well, if there is a written test," Yuto stated slowly as he raised his hand and gave everyone a three fingered salute. "May the odds be ever in your favor."
They weren't able to confirm if there was a written test from Aizawa as the man kept dodging their questions. Yuto figured he would just wing it and didn't bother asking after the first five minutes. After all it wasn't going to be his fault if there was a written test and the class was unprepared. What Yuto was unprepared for was just how many applicants were going to be here. It became obvious that there were a lot of applicants when they were all ushered into a large hall to listen to the instructions.
There was just one problem: Yuto didn't like being in crowds this big. They were messy and constricting at the best of times while being suffocating any other. It reminded him of the time those reporters had managed to come onto campus because Shigaraki had managed to open the gates. The large halls were packed, and Yuto had had to travel from one person's shadow to the other to avoid being trampled.
Currently he was standing as close to Tokoyami as he could to prevent himself from touching anyone else as the info session for the Provisional Licensing went on. He supposed he should have been listening but honestly, there was only so much he could handle before he snapped, and he fell into Tokoyami's shadow. He supposed he was just being sensitive about being around so many people and should 'man up', but Yuto had never been one to go with the crowd, especially ones of this quantity.
"Yuto are you okay?" Tokoyami asked him.
"Yeah." Yuto nodded. He probably didn't sound very convincing as Dark Shadow came out and wrapped around him, helping to keep him grounded as well as kept against Tokoyami firmly. Yuto silently thanked his shadow friends for their concern but didn't relax until he heard a hissing sound like hydraulics being used. He looked up at the ceiling to see the large room was a box in the middle of the arena that was being peeled open to allow air and sunlight in. Yuto took a deep breathe and worked on calming down.
"Your heart rate has gone down." Dark Shadow stated.
Yuto nodded. "I don't do well with being packed like a sardine."
"Did you hear any of the rules?" Tokoyami asked quickly.
"I may have blacked out after the 'free for all battle'." Yuto admitted. "Can you just give me a quick overview before we're attacked?" The box finally opened all the way allowing the entire arena to be viewed.
"We have to attach three of these," Tokoyami held up what Yuto was assuming were monitors. "To our bodies, they need to be exposed so our opponents can hit us with the balls. We only get 6 balls. If all three of the monitors are hit we're out." Yuto nodded as he attached his monitors to his chest. He glanced around at his classmates to see they were all sticking together well. It was smart to stick with people you could trust, but then, if you could also hit them then that was a moot point.
He glanced up at the sky where the sun was shining on him directly.
"Midoriya's plan sounds smart." Yuto murmured. "But my Quirk works better in the shadows." Yuto glanced at Tokoyami. "Sorry Yami, I'm gonna head elsewhere." Yuto started to run towards the cityscape part of the arena. He could hole up in one of the buildings if he knocked out the electricity. It would be a piece of cake for him to pick off the opponents who went after him from the shadows.
"Then we're going with you." Tokoyami stated as he ran beside Yuto. Yuto glanced behind him to see Kana running off on her own while James stuck with the rest of the class. Yuto nodded.
"Let's go win this thing."