Provisional License Exam

Today was the day that class 1a would take their provisional license exam. Estelle wouldn't be joining them because she feared a spirit would track her scent. She was still being careful due to the intrusion that happened yesterday. Thankfully nobody else caught wind of the fact there was an intruder apart from the class and UA faculty.

Estelle didn't know what the right thing to do was and if she should have agreed in the first place.

'If Bakugo was here, he would have hit me again', Estelle chuckled in her mind.

Shinsou had attempted to stick around after the ordeal but was pulled away by Mr Aizawa, considering he was there when he should have run the other way. The teacher mumbled about troublesome kids for the rest of the day. Estelle found the whole thing amusing. On the other hand, the class seemed to have gotten the impression that Estelle was now their friend.

Estelle was still trying to understand the strange feelings that surrounded her. They had strolled back into the dorms and gathered around her immediately so they could all talk about her quick mastery at taking the creature down.

"You moved like you knew the thing from the back of your hand!" Ochako exclaimed within the crowd of her classmates, who were also saying their own words. Why do they have to talk over each other so much? Estelle responded since it was the only sentence she had picked up from their insistent rambling.

"That's because I do. I've fought spirits since I was a child."

The class quietened like usual whenever Estelle spoke. They never wanted to miss any of the information Estelle would give. To them, it seemed that they would never know it all. Her words caused a jolt to their hearts. First, she tells them that they like to eat her kind and now, she had fought them when she was a child?

"How is that even allowed?" Yaoyorozu asked quietly.

"I think you forget that my world is really different; this world is extremely tame compared to my own", Estelle started with a vacant expression. She was getting fatigued from all the social interaction, and it seemed like the class needed time to process. With that, Estelle proceeded to depart from the students to head for her dorm.

"Don't go yet. Hang out with us!" Ashido yelled out, causing Estelle to freeze in place.

Without turning around, Estelle stonily responded, "No, thank you, I may have agreed to stay. But that still doesn't make us friends yet. I have to get to work."

"Man, it's like taking a step forward and then two steps back", Estelle heard Kirishima mutter to Bakugo quietly on her way out.

Estelle felt a glimmer of guilt which she shot down with imaginary bullets. This was for the best. Attachments make you weak, and Estelle was not feeble. Estelle would remain how she always was. Alone.

"Tch, didn't you hear? She said 'yet'. Sounds like progress to me."

Due to her solidifying thoughts, Estelle didn't say goodbye to her fellow students as they got on the bus for their exams. She observed from the window whilst they left and felt the same glimmer of guilt when they attempted to look for her on the bus, only to find her missing. With that sight, Estelle left UA, her phone ringing as she headed outdoors.

A few students fiddled with their things as they stewed in their nervousness about the exams about to take place. Other's wondered about Estelle and why she didn't come with them to cheer them on.

Turning to Mr Aizawa, Tsu asked, "Hey Mr Aizawa, why did Estelle not come with us? She could have watched with you."

"Estelle requested that she remain at UA. She was called out, plus, she didn't want to attract any potential spirits."

"That sucks! She didn't even say good luck or anything! After all, she did help a bunch of us." Kirishima piped up, gaining nods of approval for his excellent choice of words.

"Don't tell her I told you this", Mr Aizawa started, causing the class to perk up and listen in. "But she also said, 'Why do I need to go watch all of my classmate's pass? That's boring.' Seems like she has faith in you all. I suggest that you don't prove her wrong."

"Yes, sir!" The class responded brightly at the unexpected words of Estelle.

Mr Aizawa smirked from the front seat. He could see the renewed determination on their faces - just from a fellow classmates words. He wondered if Estelle knew the extent of her influence on her class because he sure did. It was strange to see his kids look to another for guidance, but Estelle fit that role perfectly without even realising it. Her strength and skill pushed the class even further beyond their own capabilities.

When they had finally reached their destination and got off of the bus. The class stood and listened to Mr Aizawa's final words of encouragement.

'Not that I really needed to; Estelle's words already got them going', Mr Aizawa thought as he spoke.

The class received the unexpected guest of Insa Yoarashi from Shiketsu High school. The surprise of his love of UA sparked an interest when Mr Aizawa explained that he had received the top scores of recommended ones. Turning to his teacher, Izuku asked, "I thought Estelle received the best scores?"

"She did; Insa did the best from the recommended exams. Estelle broke records with her results. She has the highest score of all time. We now know why, of course."

"Honestly, with how easy she took that thing down yesterday? I am totally not surprised," Kaminari responded with a smile. The class were in silent agreement with that.

"Either way, he's the real deal. Keep an eye on him," Mr Aizawa continued before scowling at the interruption from an old acquaintance. A teacher named Miss Joke arrived with her class from Ketsubutsu academy.

One of the students made his way to Midoriya, grabbing his hands and introducing himself. "Hey, I'm Shindo. Seems like UA has had a lot of trouble this year. It musta been tough for you."

"Uh, yeah" was all Midoriya could respond to in his confusion before Shinso moved on to Kaminari, holding his hands as he spoke.

"But even so, you're all training to be pro heroes, despite those hardships. It's wonderful!" He continued as he moved on to Jiro. "Heart's full of fortitude. That's what a hero needs to have!"

Shindo shifted to Bakugo whilst the class shared thoughts about the pretty boy in front of them.

"Hey, Bakugo! It must have been hard for you, what with the whole kidnapping incident. Plus, where is that pretty alien girl? That was something else. Is she here with you guys? Shucks, I could have learned from her too!"

"Huh."

"She's probably stuck at UA for being an alien, huh? Oh well. You have an especially strong will, don't you? Today, I'm going to do my best to learn from you. I really hope you don't mind."

Slapping the boy's hand away, Bakugo stated back rudely, "Stop pretending. What you say doesn't match the look in your eyes. Also, Estelle is none of your business."

"Hey man, don't be so rude!" Kirishima scolded before looking at Shinso apologetically. "Sorry, he's just like that."

"It's fine; it just shows how tough his heart is."

"Tch."

"Okay, so talk. who knows about you two?"

"Recovery girl and Principle Nezu. As far as students go, only you and Estelle know," All Might responded as he gazed down at the previously fighting students.

"Huh? How does she know?!"

"She figured it out", Midoriya started bashfully, not wanting to explain fully how it happened.

"I think it's only fair I tell you about our backstory, but before I do. There's a stop I need to make. Come along."

Confused, the boys gazed at each other in question before following All Might down a few fake streets. The hero gestured for them to stay back behind a wall with him, to their surprise. They stared at him for a second like he was crazy until the sounds of fire shooting out of a jet could be heard.

"Young Estelle patrols the whole campus every night like clockwork. We allow her to do so since she becomes restless otherwise, plus she is skilled in combat. I knew she would be stopping by late," All Might whispered since they were at a reasonable distance. He stated the white lie since Mr Aizawa was actually the one who had requested him to bring her back.

Due to Estelle's exhaustion from the day, she didn't notice the vibrations behind the wall. Taking a seat by the entrance of a fake building, Estelle fell back on her butt in dismay.

Estelle hadn't even realised that she was talking her thoughts out loud. It tended to be something she did when she was burnt out, which she was. Making fire and air continuously for eight hours wore her down. It had been a while since she had to do something like that.

Estelle had the bright idea of checking every nook and cranny of Japan for a lead on the portal. She had realised the map was failing her; the spots the spirit would be were unreliable since they would always go to the woods.

She had come to a conclusion on how the spirit may have found her yesterday. Her scent was everywhere in the woods; it was confusing enough for them to lose her location most of the time. She could only assume it was dumb luck that one managed to trail it. To counter this, Estelle would have to create fake trails so the chances would slim even more. But, if that's what she had to do to make sure it didn't happen again, then she would.

Estelle moved her gaze up to the stars in the sky. She always wished she could be a star because at least she wouldn't have to deal with spirits anymore. God, Estelle hated dark spirits. She always hoped she would never have to see one again, and when she finally thought she would be able to find some peace. Estelle just had to be thrown into it all over again.

Pushing herself off the ground to finish patrol, Estelle finally noticed the three people hiding behind the wall on her right.

"Get out of there, idiots."

The three were still startled at the truth that Estelle had spat out in the darkness of the night. The three males stepped out into the flickering light and showed themselves to Estelle.

"What do you want? I'm patrolling," Estelle stated blandly, a clear difference in her tone from how she spoke when she was alone.

"I'm sure you noticed Bakugo and Midoriya fighting; I'll ignore that for now. We'll finish patrol with you whilst I explain to Bakugo about All for One. Join us; we are heading to Mr Aizawa anyway."

Not seeing any point in declining, Estelle shrugged before walking down the steps and following the trio in silence. Estelle paid attention to All Might's words since she had never heard of the details of his quirk. She would never know if it might become important in the future, and Estelle figured it was better to be prepared.

She listened as All Might explained the history of the quirk passed down to Midoriya. By the time it had all been said, Estelle had finished patrolling, and they all completed their way to Mr Aizawa.

"Things aren't going to be the same, Deku. You've been watching everyone around you get stronger. I can do the same and keep getting better myself. I'll go higher than you, chosen one." Bakugo acknowledged.

"Right. Then I'll just have to be better than that."

"You what?"

"I have to go higher than you."

"Dammit, nerd! I just said I was gonna be the one to surpass you!" Bakugo shouted sharply, a tic on his forehead.

"I know, and now I'm saying I'm gonna go beyond that level."

"What!?" roared back Bakugo.

Estelle let out a tired laugh at the pair behind her. She probably found it more amusing in her exhausted state. The two boys turned to her in surprise as she attempted to silence her chuckles. Considering her low words earlier, they welcomed the change.

Estelle watched with amusement as Mr Aizawa used his capture tape to punish Bakugo and Midoriya. The two boys held in their look of distress at the tight squeeze that they were in. Estelle committed the image to memory to chuckle at later.

"You fought the night you finished the preliminary hero licensing exam? I'm glad to see you two have so much energy," Aizawa finished with fire in his eyes.

"Aizawa, wait! It was my fault they fought in the first place."

"And how is that?" Mr Aizawa questioned back.

Estelle laid against the wall with a slump as All Might whispered his reasoning into Mr Aizawa's ear. It seemed to have worked since Mr Aizawa slackened up on the capture weapon, effectively letting them go.

"I understand that they felt they had to break the rules. But this isn't something I can just ignore. Who threw the first punch?"

"I did", Bakugo relented.

"I went pretty hard too."

"You're both on house arrest!" Mr Aizawa started yelling. Estelle tuned out the rest of his punishment speech until he calmed back down. Estelle could only guess he sounded like a total dad. His tone completely changed once he gazed at Estelle. The other males in the room sweatdropped at the drastic difference between the two conversations.

"Estelle. You look exhausted. I saw you ignore the boy's when you were patrolling," Mr Aizawa stated. Estelle didn't reply for a moment, taken aback by the caring tone in his voice. Pushing the feeling of concern away, Estelle responded blandly.

'She saw us fighting and left us alone?' Bakugo and Izuku thought with disbelief; they were thankful that she did.

"Yeah, well, I did fly through the whole of Japan for eight hours. Plus, my patrol is for spirits or intruders. Not idiotic students."

"Any luck?" Mr Aizawa asked with a bit of hope.

"No. No bridge found."

"I'm sorry."

"It's fine."

"Don't lose hope. You all can go. Estelle, get some sleep. I'll get the report from you tomorrow."

"Roger."

The three students headed back to their dorms in comfortable silence. It was extremely late in the night, so it was understandable. They all have had a long day.

Unexpectedly, Izuku was the one to subdue it. Turning to Estelle, he stated, "Thanks for leaving us back there when you were patrolling."

"I could see you both needed it. Plus, I was tired from flying around all day."

Sweat dropping at her truthful and blunt response, Izuku chuckled and shook his head. His next question was interrupted by Bakugo.

"So, you knew about Deku before me. How did that happen?"

Estelle ignored Izuku's squeak and deadpanned, "I overheard the conversation at the beginning of the year; the one where he blabbered about his quirk."

"You idiot! You can't keep your mouth shut!" Bakugo yelled out to hide his embarrassment. To him, the words he had said that day rang out in his head. He had compared himself to her and Shoto that day, doubtful over his own capabilities. In an attempt to bury the memory from his mind, Bakugo continued his scolding on the trail back.

"Ahhh! I'm sorry!"

Estelle only chuckled, her tired eyes gazing at the rivals almost fondly. The pair didn't know if it was just her fatigue showing or genuine care. They could only hope it was the latter.