Upon approaching the anteroom, they were greeted by Kaminari. Before Sora could process it, she and Yuu were dragged to a victory dance with Uraraka, Kaminari, Kirishima and Sero. Her ears perked up when she heard Bakugo mattering something about Midoriya's Quirk to him.
She stopped and looked back at the thunderstruck Midoriya. " What... did he mean?" As Yuu approached her, she only shook her head. She couldn't tell him. It wasn't her secret after all.
________________
As they went into the anteroom, they were greeted by the rest of their class who already passed. Asui gave her and Uraraka cups of juice and told them where to find the keys to take the targets off.
Yuu looked around, counting them. " Only 9 are left outside."
" Everyone... do your best." Her red eyes lingered on the large screen showing the process of the test as the remaining spots were reduced to ten.
The whole of class 1A held their breath, awaiting the results when suddenly a certain blue laser glowed across the sky. " Aoyama-san?"
Soon after he launched his laser, all of their class were steadily scrapping their victory one after the other. Before they knew it, all of their class had passed.
As the test came to an end, they all cheered. Sora and Uraraka were hugging each other, bouncing with joy. " Everyone in UA passed the first test!"
Yuu breathed out in relief at that. " Thank god."...
________________
The remaining of class A quickly caught up with them in the anteroom, as they got off their targets and helped themselves to some refreshment while retelling their side of the test, Mera's voice incurred their focus towards the screen.
The field they had conducted their test in was being blown up by vicious explosions tearing everything apart from buildings to pipes. The whole area was in rumbles with smoke swirling upwards.
Mera elucidated that they would be required to help the bystanders in the area. " Eh? Bystanders? Does he mean there are people there?" Sora looked back at her friend with horror in her eyes.
" While it's unstable like that-"
" There are people in there," Shoji pointed out, and truly for his words, people were emerging from the debris and ruin much to everyone's surprise.
Mera went as far as to tell them about who they were. It so happened that they were a group of well-trained people to play the role of victim going by the name of Help Us Company. H.U.C for short. " I, for once, don't get these strange names they keep coming up with," Whisper groaned, his eyebrow twitching.
" I'm rather concerned about their strange job." Sora gave a bemused chuckle.
" Right, they would get paid for standing there, screaming and bleeding," Whisper muttered. " This time has all kinds of weird jobs."
" It's a rescue test after all," Yuu muttered while Mera explained about the scoring system. While he said there was a benchmark, he never said how much and never mentioned how they would be awarded points or who would be scoring them.
They had 10 minutes before the start of the exam. Everyone went either to check their equipment, use the loo or tend to some bruises they had during the first test.
Yuu heaved a tired sigh as he slumped down on a chair, his face crestfallen. " What's the matter?" Sora asked, giving him a cup of water.
" I'm... rather nervous about the coming test..." He said looking back towards the screen. " I mean, we didn't have much rescue training and..."
" And?"
" I don't feel like I've done anything at all during the first test."
" What are you talking about, you did pretty well after all. And you even defended Midoriya down there. You're doing great, and you'll be fine with that test as well." She offered him an ear-to-ear grin, encouraging him wholeheartedly.
" But..."
" Just look at how far you've come, Yuu," she said leaning forward so to stare into his eyes. " You'll be fine. Trust me."
" Sora..." His eyes swam with tears before they burst out uncontrollably. " My angel!"
" Stop it! You will drown us all!" Whisper yelled, trying to cover himself from the waterfall of Yuu's tears. Unbeknown to them, a pair of emerald green eyes was fixed upon them.
Yuu's tears only stopped when their attention went to Midoriya who was being attacked by both Kaminari and Mineta. Apparently, it had something to do with the girl from Shiketsu waving at him.
Sora's eyes slightly narrowed at her. " That woman... I don't like her aura. It feels malicious."
" Earlier when she was fighting Midoriya-san, she wasn't aiming for his targets," Yuu added, sharing the same feelings of uneasiness with his friend. " I wonder what she is up to."
Their eyes followed the five from Shiketsu as they approached Bakugo and the rest. Sora was fearful, seeing the rivalry aura, it might mean a squabble. But the guy with long hair only offered an apology and headed away calmly.
The same however couldn't be said about Yoarashi who didn't bother at all with hiding his disliking of Todoroki. The tension rose within the room as he faced him, only for his loathing harsh face to dissipate in a moment when his senpai called out for him. Todoroki was beyond bewildered.
Sora's eyes traced after Yumei as she followed after her schoolmates. All of a sudden, a bell chimed within the room as Mera began recounting the scenario for their test.
" It's beginning," Whisper murmured as the room opened outward again, leaving them face to face with the destroyed and ruined field.
With a blaring siren, the test started. All of class 1A headed out as a group to search for survivors. Sora looked away as the students got separated, each group rushing on its own. This is bad.
Iida was leading their group while Bakugo drifted away, followed, much to his irritation, by Kirishima and Kaminari. Sora stopped when she heard something. " Hold on for a second!" She cried, darting sideways.
" Shirogane-kun! Wait up!" Iida called after her while they all followed her. Midoriya's eyes widened when he heard the sound too.
" A kid's voice!" As they reached the spot, they found a kid hunched over, crying loudly.
" Help! My grandpa! He's been crushed...!"
" What? This is bad! Where?!" Sora wanted badly to facepalm herself at Midoriya's retaliation.
The kid, however, wasn't willing to hold back like her. " What's up with that? Minus points!"
" Huh?" That took the whole class by surprise.
" Excuse me," Sora said as she walked over to the boy and kneeled before him, smiling at him and patting his head. " Yosh yosh, you're safe now."
The boy looked at her for a moment before bawling again. " My grandpa!"
" It's okay. He will be fine too. We'll save him." She kept her smile as she went on to check on his situation.
" Sora-chan..." Uraraka was rather befuddled with her actions.
" They're victims, remember. They need support and reassurance." She kept her smile as she recalled memories of her father's smiling face while looking after the elder people. " I know we've been all focusing on fighting and all, but we shouldn't let that affect us in times like this. They're afraid and unsure, may have lost loved people and have been through a lot. We need to be careful when tending to them."
She ripped the end of her shorts and used it to wipe away the blood on the kid's face, though whether he was a kid or not remained to be seen. " We're heroes, we're the ones who shoulder the responsibility over their lives. It's not important just how many you could save on your own..." She looked up, listening to the voices of the many people out there joining together to help as many people as they could. " We have to join hands to save them all. There is a lot to do, but we mustn't show our frustration and worries to them because it affects them the most. The first thing we say has an impact."
" Sora..."
Midoriya took them by surprise as he slapped himself hard on both cheeks. When he looked up, he managed to put a smile on his face, a rather forced one to Sora's amusement. " I-It's... fine!"
The white head smiled nevertheless before standing up and handing the kid to Midoriya. " Well then, can I entrust you to take him to the first-aid area." As he took the kid, she pointed further to the east of the field where she knew the evacuation camp had been erected. " Go due east."
" Alright!" He said rushing on with the kid in his arms, trying to reassure him.
" Sora..." she looked back as Jiro approached her. " You're really awesome. Where did you learn all of that?"
The girl rubbed the back of her head, her face glowing pink. " I had been watching Papa when he was taking care of those in the retirement home. So I guess I kind of applied what I've learned from him. Either way..."
She looked back towards the falling building. " The grandfather should be somewhere here, let's split up and look for him."
Whisper gaped at the white head. " She really knows what she is doing."
" Sora is an angel after all, I think that comes naturally for her." Yuu smiled broadly as he watched over her, his eyes never letting go of her figure.
" What are you standing there for, Seijin?" He snapped when Ashido called out to him. " We need to head out as well!"
Even though she said that, they ended up kind of watching while Sora, Yaoyorozu, Uraraka, Sero and Sato were taking the old man from under the debris.
Whisper patted his chin as he checked the area around them, seeing what other examinees were doing. "I think we better consider the potential of everyone's Quirks for this test."
Yuu had to agree with that. There was little he could do with his Spirits in there, he had to consider where he could be most helpful.
After a short discussion, the whole of class 1A decided upon splitting up, each trying to figure where he could be most of help and how he could provide it.
Yuu was hoisted upon Kyubi's back as she followed Asui, Todoroki and Hagakure. " We could be best of help in the forest area for now. We can leave the city to Sora and the rest."
The purple head nodded before his eyes flicked one last time at his friend. As she was rushing away, helping a man stuck in a high apartment, he could see her radiant smile from far away. She looked even more like an angel. Seeing her give her all fueled him as well.
Their paths diverged, Asui and the rest went to the lake while Kyubi and Yuu decided to go up further into the forest. It was rather thick with trees that walking along was very hard. Yuu strained his eyes, trying to detect calls for help.
" Help us! Please!"
The boy's eyes shot wide open at that and he pinpointed the source of the voice. " Kyubi, up there!"
With nimble and agile bounces, Kyubi managed to clumber up with hardly any effort. There, Yuu could see a couple, a man and a woman. The woman apparently was the one calling for help, and the man appeared to be unconscious, half his body trapped beneath a pile of rocks he presumed had fallen down on them from the very top of the cliff.
" It's alright! We'll get you to safety right away!" He said taking in the area. The rocks didn't seem to be stable so moving them immediately wasn't an option. At that moment, the rocks shifted and came cascading down, whether planned or not, almost flattening them. Kyubi rushed up, withholding the falling debris. As they stopped, Kyubi could be seen supporting a large pile of rocks on her back, saving the man underneath her.
" Kyubi!"
" Don't worry. I can support them for you," Kyubi grunted, struggling to keep herself up, "you hurry and take them away."
" Whisper!"
Whisper smirked broadly at that. " Oh yeah! You can leave it to me!"
" Please be nice. We're scored for what we say too." Yuu reminded, beginning to have second thoughts.
" Alright, alright. I won't fail you. You can depend on me!" He said diving right through his chest, making him recoil back an inch. His eyes set aglow, Yuu moved over to them and began moving the rocks away, the ones that wouldn't disorient the pile, one by one. It was rather easy for him to tell which one was okay to move and which one meant danger. The man's body was almost out when the whole ground quaked beneath them.
The pile teetered, almost crushing the three of them if it wasn't for Kyubi who kept defending them against the debris with her body. " Kyubi!"
" I'm fine," she groaned, " I can handle this much..."
Yuu's eyes narrowed before he crawled from underneath her and rushed to a nearby tree, climbing it so he could get a glimpse of what was happening down there. He could see smoke rising up in pillars from different locations of the field. " What the heck..." He bit his lip, he couldn't get distracted now. He ought to save both victims and get them to safety then he could worry about the explosion.
" Sorry to keep you waiting!" He said as he jumped back down and went straight for the unconscious man. " I'll get him out in a moment so please get back. Stay out of danger!" He told the woman who took a few steps backward.
Mera continued to read the scenario for them, and Yuu understood they were tested on their ability to balance rescue and combat.
Hope Sora is fine. He couldn't help but think about his friend down in the city area.
" Figured I would find you here."
Yuu's eyes widened as he heard that familiar voice and looked back behind him. That was proven to be his gravest mistake. For the moment his eyes fell upon the glowing emerald ones, he immediately froze, his eyes went blank. His flames faded away, almost extinguished. As though shoved away by some force, Whisper was suddenly thrust outside the boy's body, emerging from behind him.
A certain black-haired, emerald-eyed girl stood there. She was wearing a green and black bodysuit with an equipment belt and black over-the-knee boots. Tethered to her back was a silver Kusarigana. Yumei had just used her Quirk on Yuu.
" What have you done!" The ghost cried, furious upon seeing Yuu's still form.
" I warned him. I told him not to be selfish," the girl spoke placidly as she returned her frameless green goggles.
" What are you talking about?!"
" Because he stood in Sora's way, I had to do that." Her eyes pierced the blank ones. " I know you can hear me, your consciousness wouldn't fade instantly. You never changed, you're still sticking on to Sora wherever she went." She walked up to him, an annoyed expression on her face. " You're still holding her back. If it wasn't for you, she wouldn't have lost her time looking for you in the first test and would have been among the firsts to get through."
" You let go of him!" Whisper cried. " You don't know what you're doing!"
" I won't!" She glared at the ghost. "He is better off like this. It's better for him and Sora if he doesn't pass this exam. That way, he won't hinder her anymore." She strolled past him, whispering into his ear. " This is for your own good too. Don't worry, I'll continue the rescue in your stead. As for you, I would be thankful if you keep him safe until I get back with he-"
However, as she turned around to the cliff, she was taken back by the bending form of Kyubi. The Yokai grunted, her body sagging underneath the pile's weight. With Yuu's consciousness fading away, Kyubi's power receded and she couldn't keep it up. The rocks swayed and fell down, trapping the man underneath it.
" She can't you idiot! Not while Yuu is almost unconscious! The man will die! Do something!" Whisper yelled at her.
" You better get him out! NOW!!!" The fox cried realizing the man would be soon a goner.
" I can't... with my strength..." Yumei fluttered, realizing the mistake she had made.
" Then free Yuu!" Whisper roared.
" I can't too!" She yelled. " I can't undo my petrification, it wears off with time!"
Whisper groaned before he turned to the huc member who stopped feigning unconsciousness. " Stop acting! Get out of there!"
" I can't! My leg is really stuck now!" He was tugging at his leg but it wouldn't budge.
" What the heck is wrong with all of you!" Whisper growled. He heard yells and footsteps heading their way and guessed it might have been the villains. With Kyubi almost disappearing, and if they were to launch an attack... " Don't you have a signal or something for when things go wrong!"
" We do!" The woman fumbled for her phone. " But then they will get disqualified!" She gestured to Yumei and Yuu.
" It's better than Yuu unintentionally hurting somebody!" Cried the ghost. Though he didn't want to see all of Yuu's hard work gone wasted, he also couldn't imagine what might happen if Yuu discovered the man got hurt because he couldn't hold Kyubi.
" Not... yet..."
The ghost turned wide-eyed as he heard that voice. Yuu's fingertips shook slightly. " Yuu!"
" Won't... give up... yet..."
Yumei's eyes were as wide as saucers. " Impossible, no one had ever broken my petrification..."
" I've been... held by worse thoughts and words..." His hand struggled up. Calling upon all those memories of him being looked down at, he could feel himself slowly breaking free of the invisible chains the girl had set on him. "Your petrification... compared to my parents' everyday treatment... or the snubbing and bullying I've been through... is nothing... Those chains... were heavier!"
He managed to raise his shaking hand past his head. " That flame..." Whisper's eyes widened at the flame that was enlarging in size slowly while Yuu approached it.
" I've got a reason not to give up..." The face of the smiling sweating Sora who was tending to the wounded flashed before him. Yuu's eyes stared into Yumei's, unafraid, determined and set. " I'll save whoever needs to be saved!"
His hand grasped the blue flame which extended over his head like a pair of large wings. From the large blue blaze rose a certain black bird, shrieking out. He clapped his wings, causing a strong wind that Yumei and the woman had to duck. " Thunder Storm!"
Their eyes widened when they saw arcs of lightning traveling beside them and hitting the villains that appeared from behind.
Kyubi growled, feeling strength surging within her, she flung back the weight she was laden with before crashing the rocks beneath her, freeing the man's leg. " Please get on!" Yuu hurriedly helped the man on top of Kyubi before hopping on himself. She pivoted on her place, pouncing back the path she came from, jumping over the heads of the villains who couldn't catch up with her.
Thunderbird grasped both the woman and Yumei each within one claw and flew them high into the sky and away from there.
Both Spirits fled the area successfully...