After having their costumes on, they were all led to a very spacious hall with only a platform at the very end, on top of it stood a desk and right against the wall was a very large screen with the sentence ' Provisional Hero Licensing Exan Location '. One man sat to the desk, leaning on it exhaustedly. Six others flanked him, all of them wearing black suits.
Students filed into the hall, all chattering and babbling about the upcoming exam. Yuu gulped as he tried covering his face with his hood, Sora on the other hand looked around her excitedly at the great assembly. Her class huddled around, keeping close.
It wasn't until the last student entered and the door behind them closed that the man leaning on the table raised his head up. Sora could see the bags under his eyes, and from the way he wobbled as he sat straight, it was made clear he had hardly any sleep at all.
The grey-haired man introduced himself as Mera from the Heroes Public Safety Commission. Something Sora never heard of much to her class' astonishment. Sora's thoughts on the man not having enough sleep were confirmed by Mera himself after all. " Just how much it takes to make this exam possible?" Whisper wondered.
Mera brought up the subject of the Hero Killer and how he viewed the Hero society. Sora found herself asking, what a Hero is? She didn't ponder on it much before but after what their class had been through, she couldn't help but dwell on his words.
When she was but a child, she was told by her father that a hero was someone who would help those in need. She had always believed that no matter how small and simple it may seem, the act of aiding someone is heroism. However, did they require a reward for that kind of act? Were they expecting anything in return for offering help? She didn't believe so. Heroism is an act of selflessness, once that very treat is taken away, could it be called heroism again?
She snapped back to her senses when Yuu tapped her shoulder gently. " Pay attention. He will explain the first exercise," he said looking back at the podium. The screen now was displaying ' Number to Pass 1st Test: 100 people."
" Hee! Only 100!" She cried out with eyes as wide as they could be.
" Where were you when he first said so?" Whisper snorted, shaking his head at her.
The man was holding a circular device and a rubber ball. " The examinee will put three of these targets on his or her body. They can go anywhere as long as it's an exposed area," he said showing them the round target. " You can't put them on the soles of your feet or in your armpits. You will also have six of these balls. The targets are made to only light up if they're hit by these balls, and if all three of your targets light up, then you're out. The person who lights up your third target will have it count as though they had defeated you. You get through this round by defeating two people."
" Which means that if you hit a person who had already been hit twice, it will be counted as one point for you. That's it for the rules," Yuu mused.
" That's what he meant by saying there's luck to play here as well," Whisper added.
" You have enough balls to just earn yourself two targets, if you lose one of them, you'll have to find someone whose target had been hit already, right?" She turned to her friend.
" Not necessarily." Yuu had one finger tapping his chin. " We start with six balls, but there is nothing in the rules against retrieving them or using other students' balls. What worries me most now is that we're facing humans as our enemies. So it will be more like our combat traini-" He broke off as the ceiling of the room opened. Rather, all the walls fell backwards and flattened on the ground, revealing the terrain in which they were, it had mountains, industrial and city dioramas.
Sora and Yuu took in the sight as the staff were distributing the targets and balls. " Don't stand gaping your mouths like that!" They snapped when Iida shouted at them after they received their kit. " We have one minute exactly to regroup and get ready. Hurry up!" His right hand was chopping in their direction, urging them to hurry.
Sora and Yuu exchanged looks before they rushed behind their friends. " Everyone!" Midoriya called out to them. " Don't get too separated, let's move as a group!"
Most of them agreed, the only exceptions were Bakugo, whom Kaminari and Kirishima followed after, and Todoroki who decided to move on his own. The rest of the class however followed Midoriya as they rushed into the mountain terrain. " I don't think it's a good idea to get separated but.. "
" Why?" Mineta was surprised to hear that.
" Take a good look around," Yuu told him. " All those students you've seen, we know nothing about them."
" Well, that goes for the other schools, right?" Sato stated.
" Yeah, but there are two other factors you have to take into consideration," Sora piped in, running beside her friend whose flames started to ignite. " First of all, we're the top school in the east, which means we're the greatest obstacle for them. They will definitely come for us first."
" And the second?" Asked Ashido.
" Everyone already knows what powers we have," Midoriya answered.
" They already know?" Muttered Uraraka.
" I see, the sports festival!" Even through his helmet, Sora could see his eyes widening upon realizing the meaning of that. As Midoriya explained further about the best way to get to scrap victory, a siren blared in the arena as the start of the exam was announced.
Only a split second after that, they were taken by surprise by onslaughts from all the other participating schools just as expected. Orange balls rained down on them almost instantly.
" Shirogane-san!" Midoriya called out as he took the vanguard.
" Right behind you!" In a split second, she had her wings out and flapped them hard to catch up with the green head. Midoriya intercepted one ball, kicking it back while repelling with the air current a whole bunch of them. Sora's wings extended behind her, flapping as hard as they could, creating airwaves that deflected the balls.
With their number reduced now, the rest could deal with the remaining balls that managed to get past the two. " Don't stand still!" A blue flame enlarged underneath Yuu before he was raised on top of Kyubi's back. " Blue Fox Inferno!" The blue fires on the tip of each of her tails launched, taking the form of a firefox each as they ran ahead and blocked the balls thrown at them, burning them in a blink.
" It's awesome how you can control their moves now!" Whisper cheered. " Training is paying off! Alright, I'm confident! Bring it on! I don't care about all the schools targeting us or what! Yuu here will take care of you!"
" Don't draw more attention to me!" The boy argued, directing his fox to sidestep the second wave of balls.
" Everyone, let's keep going like this!" Midoriya called out for them.
" Yeah!"
They were rather focused on defense Yuu began to worry. " If we keep like this, we'll get eliminated from the top 100."
" Watch out!" Whisper warned upon seeing one of the students throw rock-like things in their direction. They lowered down, plunged themselves into the ground, and by the look of it, were still advancing on them.
Jiro used her amplifier to break up the rocky floor beneath them, forcing the projectiles to come out, still yet aiming for them with their target being Mineta. Ashido hurriedly melted them down with a shield of acid whilst Tokoyami attempted to ambush another one of them in an attempt to break their formation.
For an instant, Yuu stood gaping his mouth, thinking Tokoyami overdid it when the girl's upper body disappeared. It wasn't until her head popped out of her torso that he managed to realize what her Quirk was. " So she can fold on herself from the inside," he mused.
" Wouldn't that make hitting her targets harder?! That's unfair!" Sora complained.
Whisper gritted his teeth at the number of students surrounding them. " If we don't start scoring points to-"
" The first place has already been taken. All remaining students, please do your best." The tired voice of Mera permeated the arena.
" Someone already finished!" Sero cried in utter disbelief.
" Who could they be? We're still at the very start!" Sato was surprised as well.
Yuu and Sora exchanged looks. Of course, this exam was exactly favorable for a certain person they knew.
" I can't let myself stay here too!" As she reached for the ball pouch, they were ambushed by a great tremor that broke their ground and sent them falling down, separating them all the same.
" Yuu!" Sora tried to find her friend amongst the falling rubble but to no avail, finally unable to keep herself afloat, she was pushed back with the rest.
The moment she got up to her feet again, throwing off dust and rocks of her wings, she found herself, much to her dismay, all on her own. The lack of enemies was reassuring, but the lack of allies was unbearably troubling. " I've got to find the rest."
She attempted to soar up into the sky but then thought better of it. While on the ground, the nature of the train made a good cover for her. But in the sky, she was wide open as though asking the other schools to come and get her. After a short debate with herself, she decided to proceed on foot in the meantime. Hoping she would find Yuu while at that, she went to scout the area.
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" You alright?" Asked the fox while stepping away from her master after protecting him from the falling debris. Yuu struggled to sit up, rubbing his head where he had landed. He could feel a lump forming there.
" I'm fine. More importantly..." He took a look at his surroundings. " We've been separated, staying here for long will make us an easy target. We need to hurry and regroup with the rest."
As he got up on his feet, Mera announced another student had passed the test. " The places are getting taken quite quickly," Whisper noted.
" We have to hurry as well." He urged, jumping upon Kyubi's back, only for a ball to fly near his ear. He reared his head in time to see a few people running towards him.
" That's bad! Let's leave now!" The fox sprinted away, winding her way between the dents of the ground and its small hills to cover for them. With her speed, putting distance between them wasn't a hard feat.
" I wonder where Sora could be?" Whisper asked, turning his head skyward.
" Don't bother, Sora is smarter than to fly in this situation." He flicked his eyes around as Kyubi slowed down her pace. " It's too calm, they're gathering forces and attempting to ambush lone ones like us. If she flew, she would be their first target."
" Then what should we do now, Yuu?" Kyubi asked, skidding to a halt by the shadow of a small mound.
" We need to find allies as well. Whisper..."
The ghost winked at him and held a thump up. " You leave it to me." He left his accustomed place around Yuu's shoulders and dove through the ground.
" Kyubi, keep your ears strained for any movement."
" Roger."...
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Sora's eyes twitched as she heard footsteps behind her. Taking a deep breath and sprouting a few feathers on her arms, she turned around to face the person who had been trailing her. Her eyes widened when she saw a certain brunette instead. " Ochaco-chan!"
" Sora-chan!" Uraraka beamed with relief as she ran over to her friend. " Thank god I've found you!"
" I could say the same." She sighed, letting her feathers recede back into her arm. " You're on your own."
" I've been trying to sneak around and find the rest. Found your footprints and followed them."
" That was crazy, what if I was an enemy?" Sora pointed.
" The ones who got separated were us, UA, So I figured, since the trail belonged to one person, it must have been one of us," Uraraka elaborated. Though it might have been a point, it had its downs too.
" Oh, by the way. Your heels are giving you up," Sora stated, pointing down at her shoes white Uraraka blinked in confusion. " Well, at least for those with good hearing. I've been hearing you trudging behind me for a while now."
" I didn't know!"
" You can't do anything about it now, just, try to make your steps a little lighter." Uraraka nodded at her before they decided to press on, wanting to find more of their friends. It wasn't until Sora spotted something white shining against the muddy rocks around them.
" Hey, that's Sero-kun's tape." Uraraka kneeled to examine the patch of white.
" There is one here too!" Sora pointed at another piece a few feet away from them. " I think it's Sero-kun's ways of telling us where he is. Only our class would recognize his tape after all."
" True." The brunette stood up to her feet again. " Let's go find him."...
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Yuu didn't expect Whisper to come back relatively quickly, nor to bear the news he bore. " Midoriya is getting his butt kicked by a girl!"
Before he knew it, Yuu was following Whisper's head swimming through the ground, leading them to where he found Midoriya a while ago. But to his surprise, he was now surrounded, ten to one. " Midoriya-san!"
" Seijin-kun!" His head snapped to the side just as he was called.
" Blue Fox Inferno!" Kyubi discharged her flame foxes, forcing the relentless onslaughts on Midoriya to halt and shift towards them this time.
" Left!" Yuu ordered her just as balls rained down on them again.
" Yuu! Watch out!" Some of the balls arched and chased after them. Yuu immediately recognized the boomerang-like move.
" That's bad! If that guy is here!" He muttered as Kyubi burned the balls heading her way.
" Are you okay?"
Both boys craned their necks, seeing a certain brunette standing on top of a mound of rocks. " Over here! Hurry!"
She extended her hand as though inviting them to safety.
" That idiot, what is she thinking off, divulging herself like that!" Whisper shouted in irritation when the other group targeted her as well. It was all thanks to Midoriya that she wasn't seriously harmed.
Yuu had no time to dwell on it. " Midoriya-san! Take her and get away! I'm covering for you!"
" What about you, Seijin-kun!"
" We will catch up soon!" Kyubi shouted, unleashing another wave of fireballs. " You go!"
Wasting no more time, Midoriya used a swift kick to cause a diversion and collapse the whole hill on which their opponents were standing.
A few of them managed to stand their ground, with Midoriya disappearing into the dust, their only prey was Yuu. However, he wasn't going to let them have him easily. " Now!"
Dodging the curving balls and the webs thrown at her, Kyubi climbed up the mound, jumping right above the attackers. " Dragon Wheel!"
She carted midair, blue fire coating her before it enlarged, thrusting forward like a roaring dragon and throwing the few standing students off their feet.
" Well done! Now if you hit them-" Whisper broke off when Yuu shook his head.
" We created quite the loud commotion. Other students are starting to gather here now."
" It's better if we retreat for now. Let's find Midoriya," suggested Kyubi. With a nod from the purple head, she jumped down what was left of the hill and sprinted to where Midoriya had gone. However, when they reached him, they didn't expect to find him getting attacked by a naked girl.
" What in the world..." Whisper's mind short-circuited at the scene.
Yuu was rather interested in something else. " She isn't aiming for his targets... What is she trying to do?"
Before he could step in, Midoriya and the girl were finally separated by Sero's tape. Sora and Uraraka swept down on her, but she was nimble and quick to dodge them.
The girl tumbled backward and sat down on a boulder, looking down at them. " Things were just getting good... Too bad...I really, really, wanted to talk to you more. But it's impossible like this. It's really too bad..." Her eyes then focused on the brunette. " Uraraka Ochaco-san, he really trusts you."
" Huh?" But before she could demand an explanation, the girl jumped behind the rubble of rocks and went away. Sero attempted to go after her by Midoriya stopped him, telling him it would only waste their time since she didn't have her targets on.
" More importantly, you are the real thing, right?" He asked, deadpanned.
" What are you talking about, Midoriya?" Sero exclaimed.
" Well, actually, the girl earlier transformed to look exactly like Uraraka..."
" Huh?!" Uraraka had her face burning red, fume could be seen erupting out of her ears. Sero's mask flung upwards what's with his eyes bulging out, asking the other boy if she was naked.
" Sero... not you too..." Sora began to think the number of boys taking after Mineta was increasing...
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They sat down as Midoriya explained what happened with him. They could only conclude that the girl was playing on the information that Midoriya and Uraraka were rather close.
" Either way, we're running out of time," Yuu pointed, reminding them that they were still in the midst of the test.
" We've got five for now, right?" Uraraka looked out for any sign of an incoming attack.
" I wish we could meet up with the others who got separated, though," Sero groaned, hearing fighting noises in the distance.
" But 30 people have already passed the first test." Midoriya reminded. " We have to hurry. It'll hit a hundred before we know it!"
Sora then clapped her hands together. " Then it's time to work together. "
Whisper looked back at her. " Do you have a plan?"
Sora smiled as she looked back at Midoriya. " Not me, him."
All the eyes then darted back at the green head who sweated heavily at that. It wasn't long before Mera announced the 60th place had been taken as well. " They're proceeding fast."
They were worried seeing how quickly places were taken while they had yet to move. It was then that Midoriya pointed out it was playing to their favor since the groups nearby would get disoriented and panic, leading them to fight among themselves over the dwindling places.
" Then why were you saying we should all stay together, Midoriya?" Sero questioned.
" It could have been different at the very start of the test, with so many targets, a large group would easily pass together," Yuu pointed out.
" Even without that, I'm sure Midoriya had a plan. He wouldn't have suggested staying together otherwise," she said nudging the green-haired boy who started explaining his thoughts on the matter, how they ought to capture enough people to pass and use the balls against them after restricting them.
Whisper tapped his chin. " That surely sounds like a good plan and all, but without all of us to execute it..."
" But we have what we need," Yuu interjected before his eyes suddenly twitched, and so did Sora's, their ears perking up. Kyubi's stood on end as well as she lifted her head.
" They're closing in on us," the white head stated. " We ought to make our move before we get surrounded.
" What should we do?"
" I'll go out." Midoriya's announcement took them by surprise. " I'll be the decoy, so you should find openings to restrain as many enemies as you can. Sero-kun and Uraraka-san's quirks are best for keeping people restrained. Coupled with Seijin-kun and Shirogane-san's directions, it should work."
" Decoy..." Sero mumbled. " We've got five people, so we'd need... there's no way..."
Uraraka however was in on it. She definitely trusts him. Thought Sora. However, as Midoriya stood up, ready to go, she held onto his hand. " Hold up. We still haven't finished discussing it yet. Going out like that could be the worst mistake."
" Eh?"
" Listen carefully. There are people out there with strong Quirks, like the boomerang guy, the tremor guy and also the folding girl," she said recalling the ones they faced at the beginning of the exam. " If you plan on being a decoy, we have to take into consideration the group you will be up against. If it's someone who could stand against our Quirks like those three, it will be all meaningless."
" And here comes the time of the king of investigation and stealth, Whisper!" The ghost announced proudly, glowing with pride, almost rivaling Aoyama.
Yuu nodded in approval. " Whisper can scout the groups nearby to figure out the best target."
" Also, don't forget what you just said," Midoriya looked at Kiyubi as she spoke placidly. " With them panicking over how many places left, I doubt they would give chase behind one single person. They would deem it a waste of time or think it's a trap for a larger group."
" That's why, I'm going with you," Sora added.
" And I'm coming too," Yuu stated firmly. " If it's the three of us, they will definitely chase after us."
" Sorry, Ochaco-chan, Sero-kun, restricting them will be up to you," Sora told them.
" I'm not sure about this plan but... you can depend on me," Sero stated.
" We're doing it together!" Uraraka beamed with confidence...
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Moments later, Midoriya could be seen running across the terrain, Sora a few feet above him.
" You're not getting away!" One of the ones chasing after them jumped at her, opting to hold her back by slashing at her. Sora whirled around just in time and blocked him with her arm. " Impossible... I can cut anything..."
Sora smirked. " Well, sorry to disappoint you, but my feathers' hardening makes them the perfect shield for me." She twisted around, grappling his arm and throwing him down on the ground.
Kiyubi, who was running a bit further from them, nullified the fireballs launched at her using her own, which caused an explosion and a screen of smoke as both fires collided. The fox emerged from the smoke, still running at full speed, however, she wasn't the only thing that phased out.
A couple of balls darted through the smoke, aiming at Yuu. " Watch out!" Sora shouted at him, plucking a few of her hardened feathers and throwing them at the balls like throwing knives. They pierced them and plummeted them down.
" Thank you!" Yuu told her while she smiled sweetly at him.
Midoriya was swiftly dodging balls and attacks, merely enraging his followers more. They were pressing in on him.
" Shirogane!" Sora looked underneath her to see Sero running beside Midoriya. " Can I ask for a lift?"
She lowered herself, grabbing his arm and hoisting him off the ground. " You too jump, Midoriya, Seijin!" Both Midoriya and Yuu jumped away. " Okay, Uraraka!"
From the corner of her eyes, Sora saw Uraraka, hiding amidst the shadow, performing the release sign. Before they knew it, boulders held with tape fell from the sky upon the mob. The long stripes of tape binding them to the ground as soon as they fell upon them. The few who were lucky not to get tied were soon captured by Sero.
Sora took in the sight before her. Ten people, exactly ten people were tethered to the ground, fighting against Sero's tape to no avail. She was amazed by the result of their teamwork.
When Mera announced there were only 26 places left, they felt the urge to hurry and wrap things up.
" It's time you secure your places as well," Whisper told them as they went to gather their points.
" You're first years, right?" An older student said tucking on the tape, hoping to get it off. " Give us a break! We've gotta get our provisional licenses this time around!"
Sora's eyes narrowed slightly at his plea.
" I will be a hero, and find the truth myself!"
She too had a reason to get her license as well.
She awaited Midoriya's reaction. He stood there, clutching the ball in his hand before he kneeled down, touching the target with it. " I do, too."
Whisper smirked in satisfaction at that. " That's true soldier, that's your right and you've earned it." He floated over to the older guy. " And you fallen soldier, have a little shame! A first year managed to outsmart you! You think you have any right to get the license more than he does?! You think you could be a more suitable hero than him?! You would better work hard to earn your license next year rather than plead for it! Or are you going to plead to the villains next time?!"
" Whisper, that's enough!" The purple head grasped the ghostly tail of Whisper and tugged on it, pulling him away from the boy. " He had enough! Consider his feelings!"
" Feelings don't save your skin soldier!"
Now with their targets glowing blue, they could all heave a sigh of relief.
" We're at 79 people. We're moving fast at a good pace."
" Wow, the response is super fast!" Sero mused.
" Those who have passed should go to the anteroom," their targets chorused together, giving them directions...