Hello all, before we jump back into the action, I wanted to say Happy New Year but also to say that I've shied away from public responses to reviews of this story and I think that has been a mistake on my part. Yes, I realize I have very few actual reviews but that makes the ones I do have that much more valued and appreciated and I should have been doing more to acknowledge them. To that end, going forward, in addition to the personal responses I have sent all of you, I will be responding to the reviews at the end of each chapter with all, or substantial parts of the responses I sent to each of you privately. I see it as my obligation to those who have enjoyed this work to let you all know that I very much appreciate you. Now, back to the story.
(X)
"Oh please!" Michiru bit back, suddenly standing up "You really don't notice all the girls that ogle you? Mister tall dark and mysterious? You really don't get it, do you? You know what, you're right. Once this exam is over, we really do need to go our separate ways. Just…just leave me alone, ok?"
Stunned by the entirely unexpected retort, Zelgadis stood dumbly while his fellow lighter pushed past him and Izuku. Izuku, though, only took a moment to glance at the chimera before he determined to follow after his classmate. The freckled greenette was only able to take a single step forward before a tan hand firmly grasped his shoulder. "Leave her be, Midoriya. She needs to calm down and focus if she is to pass." Emeralda explained when Izuku turned to look at who had grabbed him.
"B-but she looked so upset! We can't just leave her like that." The green clade hero-in-training tried to insist.
Emeralda let go, looking in the direction Michiru had went, her eyes narrowing "Perhaps you are right. I'll follow her and assist if I can."
"You're not exactly on the best of terms with her either." Zelgadis pointed out, having recovered from the tanuki girl's earlier comment.
"I know." Emeralda replied, hanging her head slightly before looking back at her two classmates "But everyone else needs to focus on passing, not worry about others."
"But!" Izuku interrupted "That's not fair to you! Shouldn't you focus as well?"
"What isn't fair is the three of us being here and being a detriment to you. You've all…been so kind to me. To us. Please do your best Midoriya and I will do mine to help my…my friend." Emeralda answered, her normally stoic expression softening before she offered a warm and reassuring smile. The sight left both young men speechless as the greenette stepped away to follow after Michiru.
Unbeknownst to either of them, one Ochaco Uraraka had been watching the exchange as well and when Zelgadis turned and saw the conflicted look on her face, the chimera frowned and pulled the hood of his cloak up before walking away. With her grumpy rock-encrusted classmate gone, the brunette was left a clear view of Izuku, who watched on with worry while Emeralda approached the sulking tanuki girl.
"Michiru." Emeralda began, coming up behind her fur-covered friend, who was in a corner, leaning against one wall while facing the adjoining one.
"Leave me alone Emmy." Was all Michiru had the energy to say, her voice exhausted.
"Michiru, I-"
The tan girl was cut off when the massive TV mounted on the wall of the large room flickered to life and the distinctively exhausted voice of Supervisor Mera came over the speakers "Oh, right. For the hundred of you who passed the first test, please turn your attention to the screen."
Emeralda resisted looking up at first but when she saw Michiru's lifeless orbs turn up to the screen, the nanomachine girl did the same. The screen showed the various locales the examines had just been fighting in, when massive explosions caused those same places to begin collapsing in dramatic fashion. Despite her mood, Michiru also comically dropped her mouth open, a mirror of most other students in the room, so shocking was the wanton destruction on display. Emeralda, too, looked distressed but was decidedly calmer than those around her.
With the testing grounds in ruins, Mera spoke again "There's only one more round to the exam. Your goal is simple: undertake rescue exercises and save the bystanders who are trapped in these disaster sites. Use this time to show us how you will carry out successful rescue procedures once you receive your provisional licenses. Treat this as if it were real the real thing."
When the seemingly disinterested Mera paused, Emeralda's attention was drawn back to Michiru at the sound of a heavy impact. The tanuki girl had apparently enlarged her fist and smashed hard into the ground, leaving an impact crater. It took the taciturn morpher a moment to realize what the issue was. Rescuing. Jun-sensei, a former hero who specialized in rescue, had impressed upon them the importance of this aspect of being a hero. What such situations often lacked was someone to punch and clearly Michiru still had frustrations to let loose on someone.
Naturally, there would need to be someone to rescue and to the dismay of many of the other examinees, what looked like children and elderly could be seen rising from the destruction. Mera went on to explain the people they were seeing belonged to a company called the Help Us Company or HUC, a troupe of professional rescue victims for such trainings as this. The examinees would be judged on how well they kept these actors safe during the mission based on a point system and as long as someone had enough points left by the end, they would pass.
With ten minutes given before the start of operations, groups began speaking amongst themselves, leaving Emeralda another chance to speak to Michiru. However, with the explanation over, the two pulled their attention back from the screen and the pair's eyes meet but Michiru quickly looked away. Emeralda could have left it at that. It would have been far easier to let her furry friend work out whatever was bothering her herself and it wasn't like the two hadn't been avoiding each other for days now anyway.
Emeralda was hurt. Hurt that her friend had left her. Michiru had been so angry at her for something Emeralda herself hadn't even known she had done. Yet Emeralda still wanted to make amends, but at the same time had been held back by the fear that, in her inexperience, she would just make things worse. Now, though. Now not only was there clearly something else wrong but Emeralda knew that if she left her friend alone now there may be no coming back at all.
Increasingly isolated now that students were planning for the rescue amongst themselves, Emeralda still felt the need to keep her voice down while she stepped around to get in Michiru's line of sight again, refusing to be ignored. "Michiru. I…can tell something is wrong. Is there anything I can do to help you? We need to keep a clear head for this last part of the exam."
The tanuki girl scoffed, as she turned her head again, returning to starring at the wall to avoid her fellow lighter and replied sarcastically "Oh, noticed something off, did you? Very observant of you. No, I think you've helped me enough already, Emmy."
This was a side of the tanuki girl Emeralda had yet to see and it stung. Hard. A burning in her chest caused the tan girl to look away, her face bunching up as if holding back on saying something. But then she remembered. Michiru had called her Emmy. Not Emeralda or some of the other choice words people in her world had used. No, in there somewhere, Michiru still thought of her as a friend.
Steeling herself, Emeralda put her hand on Michiru's shoulder. When the tanuki girl only stiffened but didn't recoil, the tan girl spoke "Michiru. I-I am sorry. I don't know what happened out there today but the other night, I was stupid. I didn't know and couldn't see that you didn't want to be seen as human."
As Emeralda spoke, Michiru's teeth began to grind and her other arm balled into a fist until, when Emeralda finished her apology, the tanuki girl spun, throwing the other girl's arms off her. Barring her fangs, tears just starting to bead in her eyes, Michiru snapped "Your sorry? Now? Are you fucking serious! You have no idea what it's like, do you?"
"Michiru, I-"
"No, you're worse than Zel! At least he thinks he knows what it's like to look like a freak! You, your perfect! No one would want to hunt you down and kill you! And just like Zel, you seem to have no idea how good you have it or how much people like you." Michiru continued, moving to stand face to face with her fellow other-worlder.
However, instead of backing down, looking away or even being angry, as Michiru expected, instead in the tan girl's amber eyes was something akin to realization. When Emeralda spoke again, it was soft, measured. As though what she was about to say was itself something very fragile and could break at any moment. Some of Michiru's fire left her as she stepped back and listened. "Michiru, you will recall what I said that night? You suggested that I had come out of a box, and I corrected you that it was a tube?"
Michiru stood there, shocked that now, of all times, Emeralda would finally tell her about her past. Part of her wanted to be angry for it having to come to this but part of her was transfixed by whatever secret that was about to be revealed to her. "Michiru. I have such a hard time with picking up on things and being more…outgoing because it's still very new to me."
"I…I don't understand, Emmy, what does that mean?" the tanuki girl almost pleaded, her attention completely drawn to the girl in front of her.
"It means…It means, Michiru, that I was not born. I was built. I am…a thing. I'm not like you, or anyone else. I'm not really a person at all."
"You're a….robot? but I've seen you bleed. You lost an eye!" Michiru pointed out.
"I'm a nanomachine colony. All the way until you get to the cellular level, I look as human as anyone else, but I am not. I've been conscious for only a few years, so I don't have much experience with people. Back home, whenever I used my power, it marked me as a remnant of those that had ruined our home and I was treated accordingly. Outside of those who fought side-by-side with me and know the whole truth, many have come to hate and fear me. So, I do have at least some idea of what it feels like, Michiru." Emeralda finished, leaving the tanuki girl in front of her in utter shock.
As stunned as Michiru was though, it was nothing compared to the pale face on one Izuku Midoriya, standing only a few feet off to the side of the two lighters. Both girls only realized at that moment that they weren't alone and both slowly turned their heads in unison to look at the freckled boy.
"Oh shit." Michiru blurted out.
Embarrassed, Izuku yelped and began waving his hands in front of himself, backing away and stuttering out "I,I,I, I'm so sorry! I was trying to get away from Mineta and Kaminari and saw you two talking…loudly and I wanted to see if I could help and, and, I'm so sorry!"
Quickly walking up to the eavesdropper, an embarrassed blush on her face, Emeralda grabbed Izuku's arm and asked in hushed tones "How much did you hear?"
"Pretty much everything about you being artificially created…Is that true? How is that even possible? Were you made on I-Island? Are there more of you? Is your power a quirk or directly because of your nanomachines? Oh! Is this why you were able to memorize all the examinee's quirks?" Izuku answered, nervously rambling off questions as if it were a coping mechanism.
Coming up to join the other two, Michiru also leaned in close, the two girl's close proximity doing nothing to calm Izuku's nerves, the tanuki girl added "Damn it Midoriya, you need to keep quiet! This isn't the time or place for this, we have a-"
*HHHHHOOOOOONNNNKKKK*
"-exam to finish…" Michiru said weakly as the walls of the building they were in began moving down, just like happened at the building of the first part of the exam. When the buildings walls finished settling on the ground, the destroyed training grounds lay before the examinees.
Many examinees were just as surprised by the reveal as they had been the first time. Zelgadis, though, couldn't help but ask "How did we not hear or feel all these buildings being destroyed just on the other side of these walls?"
"Now isn't the time to speculate, it's time to move!" Momo hastily answered while the remaining one hundred examinees began rushing out in all directions on the lookout for the "injured" bystanders of the simulated terrorist attack.
1-A, making up a whole fifth of those still taking the exam, headed forward toward some rubble. It wasn't long before Bakugo started to peel off from the group, followed by Eijiro and Denki against his wishes. Only moments later, Izuku, Michiru and Emeralda took their place among the class.
"Everything ok guys?" Ochaco asked the trio, mild concern on her rounded face.
"Oh, um, yeah, we're fine!" the freckled boy croaked, not in the least bit convincing, taking the lead among his classmates.
Looking around the destroyed cityscape, Tsu commented while she hopped forward "Even though this is a test, it feels pretty real!"
"Stay alert!" Mashirao warned from beside the frog-like girl "Be careful of falling debris and explosions!"
The tailed boy's words were lost on Izuku, however while he charged forward, his mind flooded with thoughts threatening to completely consume his focus on the task at hand. The secret he had just stumbled into, if true, raised so many questions and he felt like he'd need days to sort them all out. So, it was when the green-clad hero-in-training heard the cries of someone in distress he stopped short, almost causing those behind him to barrel into him.
"What is it, Midoriya?" came Tenya's voice from behind.
"I hear someone!" Izuku quickly answered, turning and darting toward the sound of the cries.
"Midoriya, wait! This isn't a race, we need to keep a cool head in situations like this!" Zelgadis called forward.
The chimera's words were left unheeded, and the rest of 1-A had to play catch up with Izuku the first to reach what at least appeared to be a small child calling out "Help me, please!"
"I found him!" Izuku called back, the rest of his classmates arriving behind him.
"My grandpa! He's been crushed. I think he's hurt." Said the apparent child when the group finally reached him.
Though more focused now that there was someone to actually save, Izuku was still not completely clear-headed and blurted out the first thing that came to his head in response "Oh, no. This looks bad. Where is he?"
Immediately, the boy raised his head, revealing a face that was dirty, covered in 'blood' and definitely not a young boy. "This looks bad?' That's points off your score!" the 'boy' angrily declared.
Izuku stood shocked at the admonishment, several of his classmates behind him just as surprised. Others stood by embarrassed by the behavior of possibly the most passionate member of their class while the freckled greenette was lectured to by the victim and apparent proctor.
When the diminutive "victim" was done putting Izuku and anyone who would listen through the ringer, the inheritor of One for All slapped his face with both hands then clenched his fists for a moment to regain his focus, his purpose. Then, remembering the eternal smile on his mentor's face, put on the best one he himself could and told the child 'Hey! Its fine!"
The false child starred at Izuku for a long moment, likely letting the poor boy sweat it out before the 'boy' returned to character and in a panicked voice, shouted "Over there! My grandpa!"
Off to the side, Zelgadis held his face in his hand and mumbled "How embarrassing…"
"It is odd" Fumikage, beside the chimera, questioned. "Midoriya is usually one of the most eager and well prepared of all of us. I wonder what has gotten him so flustered?"
Within earshot, Michiru fidgeted while she looked around nervously at the observation of her raven-headed classmate. Emeralda, beside her, was much calmer. It was true that Izuku had also heard her great secret, but he appeared to her to be a kind and reasonable person who clearly had other things to worry about at the moment. No, what mattered most right now was the tanuki girl beside her. Though clearly worried about the reveal, it was clear to Emeralda that her fur-covered friend was already in a better mood and if Emeralda had managed at least that, then she could live with the mistake.
By now, Izuku had declared he would take the "child" to the first aid station and leave the rest to his classmates. With a chorus of affirmatives, 1-A headed onward to seek others to rescue, save for Ochaco, who as much as anyone else, had noted her friend's distracted state and his quick turn around to focus on what mattered most to him. Before long, however, the gravity defying brunette turned and sprinted to catch up with her classmates, new resolve burning in her eyes.
That passion and enthusiasm came back to bite Ochaco though when she caught up to her classmates and saw they had come upon an old man caught under some rubble. Ochaco sprinted ahead, her hands held out ready to deploy her quirk, calling out "He's trapped by debris. I'll float it away!"
The pink and black clad girl didn't get very far though because when she was about to pass Momo, the taller raven-haired girl called out with authority "Please wait a moment." Instead of getting the chance to stop herself, Ochaco was plucked up by her collar by Zelgadis. The brunette swung back and forth for a moment from her own momentum while she was lifted off the ground.
"She's right." The chimera affirmed "Rushing in could cause a collapse, we need to ensure everything is stable before we move anything. Emeralda!"
Stepping forward, the greenette asked simply "Support?"
"Just until Yaoyorozu has produced enough beams to take your place." Zelgadis confirmed.
Nodding, the scarfed greenette moved forward, climbing into the precarious cavern of collapsed slabs. When she came upon the trapped "victim", he snapped at her "What took you so long! I could be crushed any second!"
Entirely unfazed by the old man's words, Emeralda got to work, standing up where she had enough space and shifting her two arms into steel beams that shot into the ground and conformed to the odd angles of the ceiling above them. Looking down at the old man, without breaking a smile, she replied evenly "Do not worry, sir. We are here and you are safe. That, I can assure you."
The old man had been completely ready to hit this youngster with a loss of points for being so cold in his hour of need but the way she spoke seemed to carry a certain confidence that was itself comforting, even if there wasn't a spec of warmth to it. Instead of deducting points, the victim/proctor just offered a little critique "Not the warmest rescue I've ever had but I do feel safe. Work on it and you'll be perfect."
"I will. Thank you, sir." Was the tan girl's efficient reply.
Before long, Momo had produced several steel beams herself, and with the help of Hanta and Rikido, they were able to re-enforce the rubble and allow Ochaco to step in and start moving debris.
Before long, the old man was free and being carried away back to the first aid station by Tenya. The rest of the class, though, was finding themselves with nothing to do while the others worked, several complaining about that fact. "We may need to split up for this one, guys." The multi-armed Mezo pointed out.
While the class started forming smaller groups, Zelgadis stepped forward "Wait. I think I have a better idea."
Michiru, who was feeling a certain weight off her since Emeralda's revelation, had nonetheless been worried about Izuku also hearing it. The tanuki girl was much more eager to help but her usual outgoing nature was still dampened with everything going on. Watching Zelgadis take charge with Momo, she was left to wonder why he had been insistent she be their leader during Aizawa's test. The rock-encrusted sorcerer seemed so competent and knowledgeable when he spoke, she found herself feeling like an idiot leading them around before.
The chimera continued, "We have several people here skilled in search. I say Shoji, Koda, Jiro, and Michiru make up a centralized search team. I will float above and direct others to locations to help as needed. Sound like a plan?"
There was of chorus of "Yeah!" before the UA students went to work. A veritable web or ears and eyes surged out of Mezo's limbs while Kyoka pressed her ear jacks into the ground and Koji was able to get the attention of a handful of passing birds to aide in the search. Michiru morphed her face into a wolf's snout and extended her sense of smell around her, just as her partner from back home had done so many times.
It didn't take long for all four to start finding distressed "victims" and quickly began relaying the information to Zelgadis. The chimera then in turn with a good look at a given location was able to direct the best people for the job and a rough idea of what they were in for. This way, Tsu and Shoto could help in the mock water area, Yuga could help in darker areas and those with strength or more physical quirks could be spread out evenly where needed.
In the distance, up on the exposed flat of a large mound, Zelgadis could see Katsuki, Eijiro and Denki come upon a couple. He couldn't hear what, if anything was being said by most of them but even at his evaluation, the floating sorcerer swordsmen could hear the angry snarls from the explosion wielding blonde. Zelgadis hardly considered himself a hero but watching the aggressive boy, he couldn't help but wonder how in the hell that kid could think acting like that was even remotely ok by this world's standards. All he could do was shake his head.
That was, until an explosion rocked one of the stadiums interior walls.
All the activity, all the hustle and bustle of the on-going rescue mission came to a dead stop as the echo of the blast gave way to a rising plume of smoke not far off from the first aid station.
For a moment, no one was sure if the explosion was part of the test or another attack by the league of villains after that group had invaded UA's summer training. Everyone's fears were put to rest though when the worn voice of Supervisor Mera came over the speakers and said "The terrorists have appeared and begun to sweep the area. Hero candidates at the scene should continue their rescue efforts while also suppressing the newly arrived villains."
Zelgadis, still up in the sky, could see a veritable army of mock villains pouring out of the massive hole in the wall they had just blow into it. "Zel, what's going on over there?" Michiru called, standing beside the other members of the search team.
"They're going for the victims! Michiru, follow after me! The rest of you help get the remaining victims to safety!" the chimera ordered before he shot forward with his Raywing spell as fast as possible to intercept the wave of attackers.
Michiru sprouted a pair of wings and began flying after Zelgadis but was far behind already, the chimera darting away like a bullet. The rock-encrusted sorcerer made it in time to land in front of Izuku, who was in the middle of trying to help get the victims away from the incoming horde. "Get them out of here, Midoriya! I got this." Facing the charging uniformly dressed villains in black bodysuits and skull-like masks, Zelgadis called "Mega Brand!" and a far larger version of his previous Dill Brand spell caused the ground before the incoming henchmen to explode, sending the front ranks into the sky and out of commission when they landed.
The massive spell had left a great deal of dust in the air, leaving Zelgadis with low visibility in front of him. This was something he intended to correct with a wind spell, but he never got the chance. Out of the cloud, a mountain of a man with an orca's head and fins trailing down the back of his head like hair burst out of the dust and grabbed the surprised chimera. "You left one to be the rear guard?! Pathetic!" The whale-headed fake villain bellowed before he let lose a pulse from his head that struck Zelgadis point-blank.
The metal-haired young man may have had rocky skin but it was no match to the vibrations rocking his brain and internal organs. Zelgadis called out in pain before the head "villain" dropped him, letting the chimera land in a heap.
"That's Gang Orca, the Tenth ranked hero!" Izuku called out when he looked back, carrying a victim as he witnessed his classmate's fate. With his hands full, the freckled boy couldn't just turn and face the new threat but with Zelgadis down, nothing could stop the second wave of henchmen making their way past their leader and overwhelming the first aid station.
Izuku was put at ease though when a wall of ice surged forward and cut its way between himself and the incoming fake enemies. "Todoroki!" Izuku cried.
"I have this Midoriya. You help get the civilians to safety!" the half ice, half fire hero-in-training declared before he sent more ice forward to replace the one being shattered by Gang Orca's pulse.
Izuku nodded and turned to continue running just as the bombastic voice of the wind-wielding Inasa from Shiketsu High arrived to assist. The rival freshmen sent gusts of wind that picked up on Shoto's shattered ice and began pelting the villainous leader and his minions. Unfortunately, at this point, seeing his ice getting shattered, Shoto had decided to switch to using his fire, which got entangled in Inasa's wind as well, causing it to go wild. The chimera was just coming to whan a wall of flame approached him, still in no condition to get himself out of the way. "Greywards-san! Get out of the way!" Shoto feebly cried.
With no time to spare, Michiru swooped in and plucked her fellow lighter out of harms way with her now bird-clawed feet before she yelled back "What the hell, you two! Watch what you're doing!"
Instead of getting their act together though, the two recommendation students openly began to bicker in front of the enemy. Before it got very far though, Zelgadis, now on the ground and supported by Michiru, shouted over the two younger men "Hey! Less arguing, more protecting, we don't have time for your personal issues! Flare Arrow!"
Gang Orca was wholly impressed that the blue-skinned guy in front of him was still functioning despite one of his pulses at close range, and equally as disappointed by the showing the other two examinees were displaying. Even more impressive, despite his weakened state, the rocky one snaped the other two out of their bickering and got off an attack. An attack Gang Orca was obliged to dodge.
The wind user, after offering a glare to the fire/ice user, had switched to focusing his attacks on Gang Orca's minions. The tenth ranked hero was now left to face Endeavor's son, ice protruding from the boy's right while flames billowed from his left. The boy was strong but inexperienced, not paying attention to his injured classmate behind him, the perfect target for Gang Orca to aim for to put Shoto on the back foot.
The half white, half red-haired teen sent another wall of ice toward the suit-wearing orca man, who shattered it with another pulse. Pieces of ice flew in all directions and Gang Orca was able to punch several of the larger shards forward. Some went straight back at the dual ice/fire boy but others had more of an arc to them and sailed over Shoto, forcing him to use his fire to melt it before Zelgadis or Michiru were hit.
That gave the whale-like "villain" the opening he was looking for and he burst forward toward Endeavor's son. Ready to deliver a pulse point blank just like he did with the blue rocky guy, Gang Orca instead found himself genuinely shocked to find the tanuki girl place herself between himself and Shoto. That, itself wasn't too surprising, classmates looking out for each other happened all the time. No, the shock came with the fact that the girl now looked like a smaller version of himself, with all his orca-like features and that likely meant-
"Lets see if you can take everything you can dish out!" the now orca girl cried as she sent a pulse from her head, hitting the larger fake villain with his own attack at close range.
The tenth ranked hero grunted and stumbled backward before falling to one knee. Gang Orca took a moment to appreciate getting to experience his own attack. Still, it didn't feel as strong as his own, surely because the girl had never done it before. Still, it was very impressive. Not enough though.
His body still tingling from the effect of Michiru's attack, Gang Orca stood up as if nothing had happened at all and clenched his fist, narrowing his already beady eyes and bellowed "You think that's enough to stop me, heroes!? It's going to take so much more than that to put an end to this rampage!"
Michiru had been rather proud of herself for managing to pull off the transformation and attack in the heat of the moment. She thought she had at least stunned the hulking whale man in front of her and her classmates. When he rose again though and made his declaration, the once again tanuki girl breathed out "No way…this guy's a monster."
From behind though, Shoto calmly reassured her "We can take him together. Don't worry, Kagemori."
"Right!" Michiru replied, sprouting a pair of wings. Let's pass this thing!"
Michiru took to the sky, intending to shot up high and fast before shooting back down in a shallow arc to smash into the false villain while Shoto attacked from the front. Neither examinee knew though that they had managed to buy enough time for re-enforcements and just before Shoto let loose another attack, multiple people shot past him, charging at Gang Orca.
All at once, the false villain was assaulted seemingly from all directions and with just two arms to defend himself, he had no choice but to defend from the heaviest hitters. Izuku came in low, swinging hard at Gang Orca's mid-section, which he blocked with his gauntleted forearm. At the same time, Emeralda came in from the other side, swinging hard with her right arm, now a heavy metal hammer, which was also blocked by the whale man.
Luckily for the fake Villain, with the same deflecting motion that blocked Emeralda, he was able to deflect a stream of acid from Mina. Unluckily, a massive amount of hair had also surged forward and wrapped itself around Gang Orca's midsection and upper arms just as Michiru came flying in from above, her fist massive, smashed hard into the tenth ranked hero's head.
Gang Orca lost his footing, only held up by the tendrils of hair that held him in place, his gauntlets cracked and burned from the attacks they had absorbed. Like a cruel joke, the horn sounded at that moment, causing the students surrounding the whale-like man to pause from any follow-ups to their attacks.
"And that's it. The last victims have been rescued. This concludes the final stage of the exam. *yawn* finally, I can get some rest. Anyway, head on back, get changed. Anyone needing medical attention head to the medic's tent. We'll post who passed in front of the stadium." Supervisor Mera explained over the intercom.
"That's…it? Izuku questioned, One for All still arching energy across his body while the hair covered second year from Shiketsu released Gang Orca. The tenth ranked hero stumbled while he regained his footing, his foot-soldiers swarming to assist him.
The three lighters, together again, locked eyes with each other when they came together walking with the rest of the examinees. All the animosity and angst of the preceding days were gone, at least in this moment, as the worn out trio walked back, their heads held high. Before long though, Zelgadis, still walking gingerly from the lingering affects of Gang Orca's attack, noted something odd. "Michiru, you don't happen to know why Midoriya is stealing glances over at us, do you?"
Frowning, the physically and emotionally exhausted tanuki girl quickly looked over to where the freckled boy was walking by himself and sure enough, she caught Izuku looking over at them. Having been caught, the green clad student tried to look elsewhere in response. Sighing, Michiru looked over at Emeralda, who looked away in embarrassment. Returning her attention to the grumpy chumera, Michiru answered "Well, Zel, he's probably looking over at us because he caught Emmy telling me what she is, which maaay have completely blown our cover. That, or he's crushing on Emmy!"
"Oh, you have got to be kidding me…"
(X)
Whatever confrontation the lighters were bound to have with Izuku would have to wait. Heading back to the changing rooms and back out to see if they passed, the classmates didn't have a chance to have the privacy such a conversation would require. So instead, Zelgadis was left not only to worry about the fact that the mumbler to his right knew about them but also the stress of whether the three of them had passed. Oh, and the curiosity of whatever the hell Emeralda had actually told the other two because whatever the greenette was, he had been left out of the loop.
While the examinees stood waiting for their fates to be revealed, the chimera looked over at Michiru, to his left. He wouldn't admit it, but Zelgadis was relieved to see whatever weight that had been pressing on the tanuki girl's soul seemed to have been lifted. The three of them still needed to talk, to be sure but compared to the days leading up to the exam and certainly during the break between rounds, Michiru seemed much closer to her normal self.
At that exact moment, the tanuki girl was nervously staring up at the board, ribbing Emeralda to look up as well, even though nothing was on the board yet. "Hey" Zelgadis called to get the fur-covered morpher's attention "Have some patience. Not that you have to worry, there is no doubt you two passed."
Emeralda nodded as though she had been trying to convince Michiru of that the whole time. The tanuki girl, though, was less sure. "You think so, Zel? I didn't even save a single victim during the second phase! All I did was a little sniffing around."
"You saved me. That will likely count for something. Plus, you landed the last blow on the villain. You did fine, Michiru." Zelgadis explained, sounding much more like a teacher himself than a classmate.
That caught Michiru off guard, and she furrowed her brow before titling her head. "Wow, that's surprisingly positive coming from you. You're usually such a sourpuss, Zel. You weren't bad yourself, taking the lead like that! Tsu said you did the same thing when we got separated. Sounds like you're a pretty damn good leader yourself."
That elicited a frown from the sorcerer "I only did what I had to. I hate taking the lead. Besides, a good leader needs to be able to do something more than just bark orders."
"What's that?" Michiru replied, raising an eyebrow.
"Inspire. I am, as you so kindly put it, a sourpuss. When the battle is joined, sure I can direct people but outside of combat I want nothing to do with people. Too many stupid ones for my taste." Zelgadis answered, crossing his arms, annoyed he was back in his UA uniform with no cloak to hide behind.
"Aw, you're not that bad, Zel." Michiru said, a sly smile on her face.
"See, right there, Michiru." Zelgadis cut in, as he pointed with his right hand still at rest across his chest "That's the kind of thing that I'm talking about. You're outgoing and positive. People want to follow you. That's the kind of person you are. A true leader, a hero. Not that mopey, angry person we've been around lately."
Michiru just stared at the rock-encrusted swordsmen. Sure, she was feeling better than she had in a while and it was good to be smiling around her friends again, but it wasn't like she had been angry for no reason. She wanted to be absolutely furious at Zelgadis for suggesting she needed to be happier. She wasn't though. No, what caused the tanuki girl to lock her gaze on her friend was the fact that he was saying it at all. Zelgadis was serious, often sarcastic and brooding. So very much like Shirou. But Shirou never did this. Even when he was showing he cared, the immortal silver wolf only ever expressed it begrudgingly. Shirou would never be so open as Zelgadis was being. It almost sounded like…
"I missed you too, Zel." Michiru finally said, flashing the blue-skinned grump a giant, warm smile.
Zelgadis fought the urge to smile back, such was warmth emanating from the girl beside him. Before he cracked though, Zelgadis turned away, grumbling "We'll still need to talk later. Glad you get it." An embarrassed blush coloring his cheeks.
While the screen came to life and Mera came over the speakers one last time to explain how the scoring had worked, Michiru enthusiastically grabbed Emeralda in a one-armed hug and exclaimed "I missed you too, Emmy! Thanks for sharing with me, even if we messed it up a bit."
Being thanked and reminded of what could be a very serious blunder on her part, Emeralda was paralyzed with indecision about how to feel in the moment. Much like Zelgadis, though, the tan nanomachine girl found her furry friend's positivity infectious and Emeralda, too, cracked a tiny smile as the results finally appeared on the screen, listed alphabetically.
Cheers began to go up among the hundred examinees as those who passed saw their names on the large electronic board towering over them. Despite her expressed reservations, Michiru saw her name on the board. Pumping her fist, Michiru jumped up when she saw Emeralda's name right beside hers since their family names were so close to each other.
When she landed, Michiru hugged Emeralda in earnest before she exclaimed "We did it, Emmy! Thank you so much!"
The greenette's smile slid away, her eyes widening at the unexpected contact. After a moment though, the smile returned, and Emeralda's eyes softened and she allowed herself to bask in the earnest happiness from her friend.
Looking over at the chimera while still holding Emeralda, Michiru saw Zelgadis give her a thumbs up and a smirk, confirming he, too, had passed. The celebration was on as other UA students found their names as well and began celebrating. Looking back up and scanning the names, Michiru couldn't help but take a small amount of satisfaction upon realizing just two of her temporary classmates hadn't passed: The hotheaded Katsuki and the perverted and cowardly Minoru.
Everyone kept their distance from the seething dirty blonde, even Eijiro, the only one in the class who Katsuki seemed to respect. Minoru was inconsolable, openly weeping at his failure, something that caused anyone who may have had even the slightest shred of sympathy for him to give him distance as well.
Mera came over the speakers again to explain that a breakdown of everyone's scores were being handed out along with their licenses if they earned one. Those few that failed would be granted the chance to pass if they took additional classes after school over the course of three months, which meant Minoru was stuck with his explosive classmate for three months if he wanted to join the rest of 1-A as licensed heroes, a thought that terrified him.
When Zelgadis got his, he noted that as far along as his Japanese had come, a fair amount of the more complicated sentences were lost on him. What wasn't was the number, ninety-four, atop the page to show his overall score. Michiru, still waiting on hers, peered over at the paper in his hand and let out a chuckle, a smirk playing on her lips. "What's so funny?" The chimera annoyedly asked.
Michiru covered her mouth to hide her snickers before she replied "Oh, nothing! I just think it's hilarious that the one of us who hated the idea of being a hero the most got a near perfect score, that's all!"
The sorcerer-swordsmen rolled his eyes, trying his best to act like Michiru's observation didn't annoy the hell out of him and decided to try and deflect, asking "And what about you? You're the most gung-ho out of all of us, and how'd you do?"
As Zelgadis spoke, right on cue, an employee approached Michiru and handed her papers as well. The rock-encrusted lighter waited, arms crossed while he watched his furry companion's reaction and he couldn't help but feel a sense of satisfaction at what he saw. Michiru's expression immediately turned sour when she saw her score first and the annoyance only grew while she read what lost her points. Finally, Zelgadis asked "Well?"
Michiru slumped her shoulders, and gave up, holding the sheet out for Zelgadis to see. Based on the tanuki girl's reaction, Zelgadis expected to see a substantially lower score. Instead, an eighty adorned the top of the page. Having already seen Michiru's reaction, the chimera felt no need to dig the dagger any deeper and instead said "That's not so bad Michiru. What'd you lose points for?"
Grumbling, Michiru brought her scoresheet back in front of her and said "I lost points for not directly interacting with victims, just like you did. But unlike you, I didn't take a leadership role like you did to make up for it. I needed to show more initiative which is funny since I'm usually the one jumping in headfirst to a situation."
With an affirmative nod, Zelgadis turned to Emeralda, who finally got her score as well. No one was surprised when the girl looked over her sheet with no reaction at all. Looking up and seeing the expectant glint in her fellow lighters' eyes, Emeralda put her sheet behind her back and simply said "I scored well enough."
Michiru wasn't buying it, stretching out her arm to comical proportions and catching the normally quick nanomachine girl completely off guard. Michiru's triumphant smirk swung upside down when she saw the paper, however. "Aw, come on! An eighty-eight! I got the worst score out of the three of us!"
Defeated, the tanuki girl let Zelgadis pat her on the shoulder while she pouted. It didn't take Michiru long to perk back up though and she started talking to her other friends in the class to hear how they did.
Before long the students of 1-A made their way to their bus outside the stadium where Shouta was waiting for them, arms crossed and a look of disinterest on his face. As perturbed as the erasure hero looked, he was actually in a pretty good mood. Not only had almost the entire class passed but thanks to some poor luck, all of Ms. Joke's students had been knocked off in the first round and he had been freed from her incessant inane jokes for the rest of the exam. On top of that, when the lighter trio came up in line to get on the bus, Shouta could easily see the change in them. It was plain to see the three had put their differences aside and had come together once again.
The trio was about to pass the homeroom teacher when Zelgadis turned and spoke quietly but firmly "There, I hope you're happy. We did the best we could, can't account for idiots."
Frowning slightly, the shaggy-haired teacher caught the smug smirk on the tanuki girl and thought, just for a moment, he saw a smile on the stoic tan girl's face. "Your performance was...acceptable. Get on the bus." Was all Shouta would say in response.
A smirk played on the chimera's lips too as he passed up the steps followed by his companions. The bus ride back to UA was relaxed, filled with quiet yet excited chatter. Zelgadis was happy to sit with Fumikage so the two of them could sit silently while the others talked amongst themselves. Emeralda sat with Michiru but mostly remained quiet, as was her way. That was, until Mina, who was seated behind the two female lighters leaned over her seat and cheerily asked "So Emeralda, I've wanted to ask since before the exam, but did you really memorize the quirks of everyone taking the test?"
Michiru, who had been talking to Momo across from her, turned back and added "Oh, yeah, that was such a bad ass moment! I wondered that myself. So, is that what you did Emmy?"
Emeralda felt more eyes on her, noting via the reflection of his face off the glass window that even Zelgadis was looking back at her. Shifting to look up over her shoulder at the inquiring pink girl, Emeralda's placid expression didn't change but her voice carried a hint of self-satisfaction as she replied "I did not. Such a feat would have been very difficult, even with my photographic memory." Michiru and Mina's expression looked askance but said nothing, leaving the tan girl to continue. "I did, however, take note of the more well known and respected schools sending students. It made sense the strongest and most dangerous students would come from them. It just so happened that someone from one such school choose to antagonize us, that's all."
Mina let out a hardy laugh before she slapped the greenette on the shoulder and said, her smile even wider "Even so, that was a hell of a moment! I know it got me ready to take the test on. Thanks for that." Emeralda offered a nod before she turned back to looking out the window. Michiru was about to second Mina's sentiment when the acid wielder spoke again, this time her voice more somber "I also wanted to say…again, I'm sorry about, ya know, what happened at the girl's night. Since the exam's over, I guess you won't be part of the class anymore so I just wanted to say it one more time before we go our separate ways."
On hearing Mina's words, Emeralda closed her eyes and her shoulders sagged. Although Emeralda had enjoyed getting to know the students of 1-A and appreciated their attempt to welcome her into the group, she had known they would go their separate ways at the end of this. No, it was the reminder of that night that caused her to react that way and after a moment, her head still facing the window, Emeralda replied firmly "No. I was at fault. I didn't see what was right in front of me and I hurt my friend. My…best friend. You were just trying to help."
Emeralda chanced a glance at the tanuki girl, shame burning in her heart, though she hoped not on her face. The greenette was stunned to see Michiru smiling back at her, just barely able to hold back tears as the fur-covered girl reached out and grabbed Emeralda's opposite shoulder and brought her close. Their heads touched when Michiru leaned her head into Emeralda's flowing pale green locks and said "I was being pretty stupid that night too, Emmy. What matters is that we're here now and we can move forward together. And Mina, we're still neighbors, even if we won't be classmates anymore. We can hang out any time!"
"Hey, you're right!" Mina exclaimed, her brief foray into dourness wiped away as she motioned excitedly toward others within earshot to reminded them of that fact.
The pinkette's exaltations were cut short though when Shouta called out "Pipe down back there! I expect more from provisional heroes!"
"Yes, sir!" Mina responded, now looking a bit dejected, slumping down in her seat. The rest of the ride back to campus went smoothly, much to Shouta's relief.
(X)
It had been a long and eventful day for the students of 1-A, even more so for the lighter trio and the bus ride back to UA wasn't a short one. What had started as a relaxed trip back soon gave way to mostly silence with many on the bus napping. By the time they got back to campus, Michiru, Zelgadis and even Emeralda were pretty worn down. Only the barest of pleasantries were exchanged with the rest of 1-A when the two groups parted for their respective dorms with only the promise to hang out and maybe celebrate sometime soon.
"I'm not even hungry, I'm so tired!" Michiru complained as she trudged forward slumped forward, barely able to hold her bag.
Zelgadis wasn't far off, he too slouching as he walked, though not nearly as pronounced as Michiru. Emeralda walked straight but had a wariness in her eyes, trailing behind.
All shot to attention though when, from behind, Izuku came up waving his hand and called "Guys! I…wanted to talk before we went our separate ways."
The freckled boy stopped speaking when he saw that he had clearly startled the three lighters. Blushing, the dark green-haired boy spoke again, meeker "Oh…uh, sorry about that. We just, you know, didn't get to talk about…what I heard earlier."
The two girl's eyes went wide as it dawned on them that they had completely forgotten that little slip-up with the excitement and exhaustion hitting them on the way back. However, it was Zelgadis who spoke first, his voice weary "That's right, we still haven't addressed that, now have we? I want to hear this too, since I appear to be the odd man out."
That surprised the inheritor of One for All "Really, Zelgadis? You didn't know even though you live with Emeralda? But then, Emeralda, you were just telling Michiru weren't you when I overheard, huh?"
Her expression icy, Emeralda finally spoke, her voice low "Not out here. I will not make the same mistake twice. We will speak in the house."
"I don't think that's a good idea, Emmy." Michiru cut in. "UA has that place loaded with sensors, I'm willing to bet its bugged too. We should speak outside, later. When no one is around. Midoriya, would you meet us out at one of the training zones at, say, ten?"
Looking even more unsure of himself, Izuku nodded despite his unease and replied "Yeah, sure, how about Training Ground Beta?"
"That works. We'll see you then." Zelgadis confirmed. Izuku nodded and waved again before he turned and jogged back toward the 1-A dorm. Now suddenly even more exhausted, the three lighters dragged themselves toward their own home.
"You two are going to let me in on the secret before we go and meet him, right?" Zelgadis asked as they neared the door.
Rolling her head in annoyance, Michiru didn't turn to look at her grumpy and exhausted friend before she responded "Yeah, sure, as long as Emmy is fine with it but not before we eat something and I get a shower. No more drama, no more excitement until I've freakin' got something in my belly, you hear me?"
"Fair enough." Zelgadis replied simply.
When Michiru didn't hear anything from behind, she slowly turned her head to look back and said, "That cool, Emmy?"
Seeing a thumbs up from the tan nanomachine girl, Michiru returned to looking forward. Now at the door, a feeling of longing for a warm meal, a cool shower and a soft bed nearly drove her to rip the door open.
Instead, the tanuki girl fumbled around for her keycard when her ear twitched. Michiru stood up straight, a sinking feeling completely replacing all that longing as she pressed the card against the door pad and reached for the door. Sure enough, when she turned the knob and stepped into the darkened main hall, the lights suddenly flashed to life as cries of "SURPRISE!" rung out all around the now fully alert lighters.
The whole room was decorated with streamers and banners. Some said "WELCOME!" while others said "CONGRATS!"
Looking around, it only took Michiru a moment to realize all the other people in the room were lighters as well and while she looked around dumbfounded, Hina bounded up to the trio and said "I told you there would be party!"
Michiru tried to summon a smile but what came across on her face was forced at best while she wavered between laughing and crying at the timing of it all. Zelgadis, though, was more blunt, staring right at the blue-haired telekinetic and spat "I hate parties."
(X)
Well, just as expected, the holiday season has been a busy one so this chapter wasn't quite as long as I would have liked it to be. Still, I hope it was enjoyable. Michiru is out of her funk for now as we shift into the Raid arc. Be prepared for this next chapter, a lot is going to happen to shift the plot and our displaced heroes will have more to consider as new possibilities open up. I can't speak to how long its going to be but I don't plan to cut it short if it looks like I'm running out of time, I want this all out in one go. I, of course, still plan to release the first Friday of the month but please don't be surprised if Chapter 22 comes out a bit late.
I hope everyone had a great month and I hope those in North America weathered that winter storm well. My job is highly weather dependent and even though I live in Florida, we still suffered multiple nights well below freezing for long stretches, making for an…interesting Christmas holiday and I can only imagine how it was for those further north. All I can do is hope everyone is ok. Now, onto the comments!
I don't want to flood this space so I will only respond to comments from the last few chapters to get us started:
wolffrankie.14: Thank you so much, such praise is rare so I appreciate so very much when I as lucky enough to get it. I've been pretty excited to get to the Raid arc myself, having been around the corner for awhile now. The war arc is a bit off and I expect there will have been some...ripples, lets call them by that point.
As to the protags of the story, the core trio of lighters are the primary leading characters, with Izuku being the most prominent of the canon cast and yes, the closest thing to a fourth main this story will have.
I, myself haven't read the manga, though my co-worker does and has kept me appraised of what has happened past what's been animated. To my knowledge, the anime has been pretty faithful in its adaptation so I've kept to it for reference thus far. Given my pace, I will catch up to the anime but I am less sure about the manga. It's possible it'll be over by the time I catch up (Or I could find more time to write and speed this story up!)
Eliphas-Chaos (Reviewing Chapter 17): Not that I have many other reviews of my story to judge by but I hardly think you are bad at reviewing. I can't tell you how much I appreciate your kind words and your input. If you're willing, let me know how Xenoblade 3 is, I've been very curious but I really want to be sure before I use some of my very little free time on a new game. To answer your question with Michiru without giving too much away, the answer is yes. I will do my best not to disappoint and hope you continue to enjoy it!
Alright, that's it for this month. Stay safe out there, thank you, as always for your interest and I'll see you next month!