Chapter 64: Practical Exam I - Spies?!Notes:
(See the end of the chapter for notes.)
Chapter Text
Itsuka couldn't help but let out a sigh of vexation.
The situation was already getting out of hand, and they hadn't even started. She was sure that the principal's intent was just that of getting them to freak out from the very beginning, and, going by her ears, he had accomplished it perfectly. Sometimes it felt like she was surrounded by kindergarteners.
But Itsuka hadn't become the big sis figure of her class by lazily sitting on her ass. She wouldn't allow the pointless panic to continue any longer.
"Let's all calm down! The exam has already started!" Itsuka left her seat, clapped, and raised her voice to be heard all the way to the end of the bus.
Momo got up as well. "Battle Fist is right. We shouldn't start bickering among ourselves now. For all we know, Nezu might be trying to mislead us to make the exam harder. Remember that we're already under scrutiny."
Itsuka silently thanked the other girl, as more than a few quieted down at the thought.
Seeing that the ruckus had decreased, she continued. "Staying here won't help us achieve anything. We should get out first, then we'll talk."
"I agree," Izuku said, closing the folder on his lap with a low thud. "Let's save our discussion for when we're inside."
"Inside what?" Ojiro asked as the first rows moved to follow the greenette.
The other simply pointed a finger outside and raised the documents in his other hand. "Our team's base of operations, as it's called here."
With that said, he exited, and the rest followed. People hurried to get out and take a look, only stopping—and standing in the way, therefore getting pushed further as others came out—to observe what Izuku meant.
"Gotta say… Not impressed," Kaminari commented.
She found it hard to disagree.
Their supposed base looked like one of those rundown buildings one could find in the city's outskirts. It wasn't exactly falling apart, but it had certainly seen better times. Scratched paint, exposed concrete, metal sheets, rugged fence, boarded windows… and she hoped that they wouldn't find a leaking roof and broken floorboards. Though, considering that it was just a simulated environment, Itsuka couldn't judge it too harshly. If anything, the builders should have been praised for their accuracy.
Pony frowned. "Looks like it ready to come down any minute."
"Is that roof even up to code?" Ochaco asked, narrowing her eyes.
"It really dulls my shine," Aoyama lamented with a sigh.
"It's probably to let us blend in with the surrounding area," Shoda thought aloud. "This district seems relatively rundown as a whole, so a nice building would feel out of place."
"And it would be too much of an obvious spot for Heroes to gather," Honenuki added with a huff.
Ida nodded in understanding. "So it works as a cover for us, how astute."
"Sure does. Now let's get inside before we can be spotted," Shinso grumbled, climbing five steps and going straight for the door, which opened without resistance.
"Wait!" Toru stopped him with a yell. "What if the place is bugged? Shouldn't we check before we start to plan things out?"
Itsuka blinked. She hadn't thought that the spy deal would go that far, but it wasn't impossible.
"That's… not a bad idea actually."
"Wait, could it?" Ojiro asked, turning to the two representatives who were holding the data folders.
Izuku was parsing through his copy again. "There doesn't seem to be anything specific about it… But I don't see how checking could hurt."
"Because it'd cost us time?" Kaibara pointed out.
"Better that than having our whole plan leaked to the enemy," Monoma retorted, gathering some nods of assent.
"All in favor, raise your hand," Itsuka cut in. She didn't even need to count, as the majority was obvious at a glance. "Alright then, checking for bugs and cameras it is."
"While we're at it, let's also explore the building and report anything that may be useful," Izuku added. "As for the bugs and cameras, check everything that isn't clearly visible and in use like that one." He pointed at one of the many devices placed all around campus, its blinking red light signaling its active state. "Those are official, so they're fine. But anything else might be used to undermine us."
"But there is something you haven't considered," Kuroiro interjected in that satisfied, "I know how the bad guys would think" tone of his. "What if one of the spies finds a bug and doesn't report it?"
Another good point that had them all huff or groan in frustration.
"I would suggest moving in groups of three or four to resolve the issue," Shishida offered.
"What if they're all spies?" the other added, seemingly enjoying the exchange a bit too much.
"Let's just make groups of six or more," Itsuka cut in. "That should be enough."
Fukidashi's speech bubble showed a worried emoji. "But if it becomes a five on one…"
"Statistically speaking, it's extremely unlikely," Momo pointed out. "And remember that it might only be a misdirection from the teachers."
The doubtful teen wasn't convinced. "But what if it happens? Won't they just jump the guy and get an easy out early on?"
"Dude, then we would know exactly who the spies are," Kyoka cut in with a huff.
Kamakiri clicked his tongue, fed-up with the talk. "Despite everything, nobody here would be that dumb."
"And since it looks like we're all getting hella paranoid, let's split by seat number," Setsuna suggested. "There's no way they chose people so close in the class roster."
Tokoyami let out a low, uncomfortable hum. "I wouldn't put a trick like that above our teachers."
"But if we start thinking about how they might employ reverse psychology to sneak up on us, we'll never see the end of it," Reiko said, slightly shaking her head.
Mina jumped up and quickly got on with her proposal. "Let's just do that and add one of the Class Reps to each group!"
"That still leaves two unattended groups at least," Todoroki replied coolly.
"Forty one is hard to divide," Pony pouted at the prime number.
"Then let's add…" Mina pondered for a moment. "Ida and Shiozaki! Couldn't see them as the bad guys even if I tried."
The two classes' gazes moved between the uptight duo as they replied with an almost shouted "Thank you for the compliment!" and a gentle "You're too kind," both followed by bows.
"Yeah, seems fair," Sero chuckled.
"One team will just have six people instead of seven, but it's fine," Itsuka concluded before clapping her hands. "Alright, let's go! Be back here in ten minutes!"
The smaller groups rushed in to explore their base, and Itsuka was happy to see that her previous hope had been heard. The inside luckily didn't reflect the outside that much, being instead more similar to the bare and clean concrete and drywalls they were used to seeing during their Heroics classes.
The students quickly reunited and reported their findings, seeing that they could count on several empty rooms, some basic facilities, a fridge full of lunches with their names on them besides Lunch Rush's logo, and a conference room big enough to fit them all. They had also received a suitcase containing earbuds for any of them that lacked communication systems in their standard gear. It wasn't much, but they probably wouldn't need more for a "simple" exam.
The surprise came when Shoda's turn came up.
"We've found something troubling in the conference room. Tokoyami?"
The feathered boy nodded and had Dark Shadow open their hand, revealing what looked like a couple of devices that were as large as a fingernail.
"We found one behind the blackboard and another underneath a suspicious floorboard," Tokoyami explained. "It seems that you saw truly, Hagakure."
"I did!" the invisible girl rejoiced. "Now they'll never see us coming."
Yui hummed and shook her head, being soon followed by Shoda. "Sorry, Hagakure, but we weren't exactly subtle while searching. They probably know that we know now."
The other teens seemed taken aback by their mistake, looking instantly sorry.
"We hadn't thought of that," Sero grimaced.
Izuku chuckled. "Don't worry, surprise was never the point anyway. They already know that we're coming. The important thing is that they shouldn't know how ," the greenette added, before moving forward and closing his fingers around the devices. "I'll keep them safe for a bit. Let's make another round in the conference room to be sure that we haven't missed some. Kuroiro, see if there are more under the floor or in whatever crevice you can find. Kaminari, try using your Quirk to spot them. Dark Shadow, Emily, help however you can. Break the bugs as soon as you find them this time."
"Consider it done," the white-haired teen smirked.
"Gotcha," Kaminari gave a thumbs up.
"Sure!" the Quirk replied.
"We'll do our best," Yanagi nodded in her friend's stead.
"Do you have a plan for those?" Itsuka asked the boy in a whisper while nodding at the hand that held the devices.
"Yes, but it will take a good ten or fifteen minutes. Can you hold the fort while we're gone?"
She snorted. The situation was shitty, but not so shitty that she couldn't make them see reason. "I'll keep them from killing each other, yes."
"You're the best," he replied with the same beaming smile he'd shown her after their first spar.
Itsuka had longed for a rematch for a while, but their usual exercises never quite got to that exact feeling she had back then. Ever since discovering how he had been able to beat her so easily, her desire to see how far she could push him had only grown. Maybe she would ask for a real spar after this…
But, unlike the first time, now that smile made her feel things… And this wasn't either the right place nor the right time to daydream.
"You know it. But now get to it," she hissed, pushing him lightly and away from the door.
Izuku chuckled and let himself be pushed before hopping down, landing next to some of the others not occupied by the search.
"So how are we supposed to use those, ribbit?" Tsuyu asked curiously.
"We'll use them to send a message…" He then turned and moved closer to Kyoka and Tsuburaba before whispering. "And I'll need your help."
"Damn, these kids are good," Manami thought aloud.
"Is that so?" her partner asked as he stirred his tea. Danjuro sounded interested in what she had to say even when she was doing nothing but talking with herself. "Please, enlighten me."
She shook off her headphones a bit, keeping up with her work while chatting.
"Well, for starters, they decided to search the building for bugs," she explained, never one to leave the man hanging. "Then it seems that they're actually managing to find them! I thought they would only get one or two, but they are finding them all! They even found the one in the keyhole!"
"Ah, I see. Quite talented youths," the man commented with a smile before taking a sip.
"Yeah they- Wait, I think they're saying something."
She stopped, replacing both headphones on her ears. The sound was really muffled, as if the devices were being kept under pillows or something similar. She checked and raised her station's volume, ensuring that it was at its maximum to pick up anything and everything.
Out of the blue, the strongest sound to ever pass through her headset assaulted her ears. She yelled, flinched hard, and threw the set away, if only to mitigate the damage. Her head was ringing as if she got stuck inside of one of those Dance Dance Revolution arcade machines… under the dancing platform.
Gentle got to her side in a moment, and she could only reassure him about her state with a wobbly smile, as she couldn't hear a word of what he was saying.
The nerve of those kids, keeping her from listening to her beloved's kind words.
Manami Aiba—also known as the recently disappeared low-ranking Villain "La Brava" by the public—swore that she'd pay back whoever had instigated the event. If they wanted her to play Villain, then she would play Villain alright!
…
After she had done something for her headache.
A few minutes earlier
"We're here," she heard Izuku whisper as his feet touched the ground in front of a tall wall. He lowered himself so that she could climb down.
"Thanks," Kyoka whispered back, happy to be on solid ground again.
Even if she had tried flying once before during one of their exercises, that had been in an open space. She hadn't quite adapted to the speed the boy could reach even while moving through small back alleys, always evading walls by mere inches.
Eh, at least she wasn't feeling nauseous or anything. Sometimes she wondered how Ochaco could stomach it so often.
Kyoka and Izuku kneeled, trying to stay low and hidden. Even if they hadn't seen any cameras in the area, they couldn't be sure about their absence, and being spotted before they even began their attack was something they had to avoid at all costs.
Before starting, she eyed the other teen. "You're sure this will work?"
"I'm sure. I trust you," he stated with that annoyingly convincing tone of his.
Kyoka huffed, turning away at the guy's refrain. Now wasn't the time to let her heart get out of tune.
Her jacks reached the wall and pierced it with ease. Like most cement walls it was hard, cold, and thick, but it wouldn't hinder her too much. She closed her eyes, doing what Gang Orca had suggested to achieve maximum effect. Kyoka breathed in and out, focusing fully on the vibrations coming through her jacks and calming her own heartbeat to tune it out.
She could hear some water drops falling not too far away. There were steps—somebody was pacing. Far away she could feel humming. Nothing else.
"Nobody's close. Let's try."
She really hoped that their target wouldn't be beyond her reach, or that they had moved to the wrong side of the building.
"Are you ready?" Izuku whispered, making her nod slowly.
He took out a freshly-made walkie-talkie. "Make some noise, over."
A few seconds passed, and then she heard more.
A pop and a shout, so close together they had to come from the same source. The sounds reverberated through the building to reach her jacks, and she only had to look for the source.
"Third floor. About fifty meters to our right and thirty in," she stated with all the confidence she could muster. It was close enough that she could have bet on it.
He chuckled. "Easy, right?"
She rolled her eyes. "Yeah, yeah, now let's go before they find us."
Izuku was smiling widely as he turned, offering her his back for the flight back.
She climbed aboard, and once again hung on to him for dear life, wrapping her jacks around his neck to not have them bounce around or whip her in the face—No, the added benefit of being more comfortable had nothing to do with it.
They soon reached their base, where the other Hero trainees seemed to be divided into a few groups, either waiting patiently or discussing animatedly.
"We've got it!" Izuku exclaimed as they landed in front of Momo, Tsuburaba, and the few that had stayed close to see the operation in progress.
They were all gathered around an hovering [Solid Air] cube, which held what little remained of the bugs they had found first. The small things were now reduced to bits by what Kyoka imagined must have been a good old chemical reaction of the loud variety—Momo's stuff. The pop she'd heard wasn't anything to scoff at.
The teens looked very happy to hear that their plan had worked.
"Good job," Tsu ribbited contently while Yui hummed.
"You weren't seen?" Shoda inquired, only somewhat worried.
"No, we should be in the clear," Izuku replied. "Nobody else was in the area."
"Not like we'd know if there were hidden cameras," Kyoka noted with a shrug. "But we've got the location and we didn't get caught, so it's a win, I guess."
"That's wonderful," Momo breathed a sigh of relief, followed by a few similar cheers and whoops. "Good thinking, Fulcrum."
"Thank you, but I should be the one to thank you for going along with it," he smiled.
The ravenette shook her head. "Think nothing of it."
Tsuburaba, who had kept the things isolated in his air-tight container, wore a satisfied smile at the praise. "Eheh, no biggie.That boom didn't even manage to break one of my layers," he proudly said as he pointed his thumb at the box behind him, seemingly intact.
"Well, it wasn't that potent. It was a simple barking dog reaction," Momo pointed out, saying the name of something they had yet to cover, if they ever did. "There was no need to be destructive when sound was our goal."
"So I got excited for nothing…" Tsuburaba groaned as he slumped.
"Come on, it was good! We didn't even need earplugs," Toru tried to cheer him up.
"Do not worry, sir Tsuburaba. I am sure that you will have your chance to demonstrate your progress before the sun has set," Shishida encouraged him.
"... That's only kinda reassuring," the other sighed.
"We'll be fine," Izuku chuckled before turning her way. "And thank you again. We couldn't have done it without you."
"Chill, Green, it was nothing." Kyoka rolled her eyes, but still showed a hint of a smile.
Thanks to the four of them, whoever was on the listening end of those bugs was probably dealing with the worst case of ringing ears of a lifetime, and they had one of the locations they would have to hit. All in all, it was a great success.
Izuku chuckled, but any other reply he might have wanted to say died in his throat when the others' arguing suddenly increased in intensity. Kyoka didn't even need to strain her ears to pick up the exchange of annoyed grumbles and disbelieving snorts. It was still a few steps removed from a shouting match, but they weren't supposed to even get that far in the first place. Itsuka got the volumes back to normal levels, but her annoyance told Kyoka that it wasn't the first reproach.
He frowned and turned to Shoda. "What's happening?"
The Vice Representative sighed. "The idea that somebody could be ready to betray us is starting to get to them."
Izuku nodded in understanding. "It would be weirder if it didn't."
"They have been debating to find ways to pinpoint the spies among us since you've been gone," Momo explained, sounding equally tired. "With little success, I might add."
"Yeah, I can see that," Kyoka huffed.
It wasn't like pointing fingers at random was going to solve anything, especially when she already had a solution for this kind of mess. She only needed to ask a couple of questions each, and they'd be golden.
"Well then, let's go take care of that."
Kyoka nodded as the group turned. "Alright, just give me a-"
Izuku placed a hand on her shoulder, slowing them down a bit.
"Heartbeat, I don't think we shouldn't use your Quirk for it," he murmured.
She glanced at him, her brow furrowing slightly. She moved one of her jacks before him—the same she'd used no less than ten minutes ago to verify if he was a spy or not, at his request—and wrapped it around his wrist.
"Why not? It worked for you."
"I know, but I think it could backfire if we did it with everyone," he confessed, making her only more confused. "I'll explain in a sec, but I need everybody to hear it."
- Truths, - she analyzed before feeling a small pang of guilt. Why was she doubting him again?
She let out a sigh and let go of his hand. "Fine, Green. Do your thing."
"Thanks," he whispered, smiling sincerely, before moving toward the others. "Hey, we're back!"
She noticed a few too many furrowed brows among their classmates, but at least they weren't aggressive right out of the gate.
"There you are!" Setsuna welcomed them. "Took you long enough."
"What'd you do?" Tetsutetsu asked.
Izuku made a half turn to point at Kyoka and the others that were slowly gathering around them before starting to explain—all while giving them way too much credit.
"... And now we know the location of the Villain's surveillance center."
"Oh yeah!" Kirishima cheered.
"Good. That's one we'd better hit early on," Itsuka noted, glad about the news.
"But if you wanted to boom that Villain's ears could not you do this thing after we gather all of the bugs?" Pony asked, equally curious and confused.
"If we delayed it for too long their watchman could have just turned them all off after getting discovered. At least this way we were sure that the plan would work."
"Oh! I see."
Izuku smiled and turned to the group who had completed the latter part of the debugging process. "So, how did the search go?"
"We only found another three," Ibara offered, opening a sphere made of her hair and showing the broken devices held inside.
"Yeah! " Dark Shadow exclaimed. " We've checked everywhere, so that should be it!"
"It took some time, but we managed," Reiko agreed.
"Could've been faster if somebody had trained more," Kuroiro commented, glancing at Kaminari.
"Hey, It's not like there's that much electricity to catch in those!" the blonde defended himself. "And I've told you this stuff's new for me!"
"Yeah, I didn't even know you could do that," Sero snorted.
"It's true, we only gave him a rundown of that particular interaction yesterday," Monoma interjected, moving his hands placatingly. "Though I didn't think that we would need him to detect electricity in such small quantities from the get go. It would be like learning to lift by starting with fridges."
"Not good," Kirishima and Tetsutetsu nodded in perfect sync.
"Wait. Yesterday?" Sato questioned, raising an eyebrow.
"Convenient, don't you think?" Kaibara commented.
Monoma wore an easy smile. "Why? Do you think that we could all be spies?"
"Your words, not mine," the other shrugged.
"Guys, we won't get anywhere by trying squabbling like this," Itsuka stated, pinching the bridge of her nose.
"But we also can't start with that betrayal waiting to happen," Ojiro pointed out, his tone grave.
Awase grunted. "We'll be screwed if those spies get to stab us in the back."
"I'd like to see them try," she heard Bakugo whisper, his words covered by numerous huffs and groans.
"And that's been established. So, what can we actually do to find out who the spies are?" Honenuki asked, seemingly done with the debate.
"We could see if we've all got alibis for yesterday," Rin proposed. "We could vouch for each other."
"But we all gone back to the dorms after tests!" Pony countered.
"That's true, but some of us left and came back afterwards, like Kaminari, Midoriya, and me," Monoma pointed out. "Of course, the three of us were just training, and we remained just outside the building. You could probably see us from the kitchen's windows, as we were trying to have him pick up the stove switching on and off."
Sero hit his palm with his fist as he remembered something. "Koda, didn't you leave around six P.M.?"
"Oh, right! You came back with those big bags too!" Mina added.
"Koda has done nothing wrong," Ibara started, shooting them a glare.
"N-No, it's okay," the big teen muttered placatingly. "I-I went to the stables before dinner time, a-and brought back some fertilizer for the garden…"
"I can confirm that last part," Shinso said.
"But what about-"
"Stop. There's no point in checking for alibis anyway," Mineta said, shaking his head. "Why would Nezu go through the trouble of calling us to the main building or anywhere else if it could get us discovered? Wouldn't it be much easier to just send a message or something?"
"Oh… Yeah, I guess that'd work better…" Kaminari agreed.
Awase groaned. "Dammit, then how do we figure out who's a spy and who isn't?"
"We shouldn't, because it doesn't matter," Izuku interjected matter-of-factly. "We should let it go and move on with the mission."
Green was met with several frowning brows and questioning looks.
Kamakiri, arms crossed, let out a short laugh. "Greenie, I'm all for moving on from this useless debate, but why the hell wouldn't it matter?" the mantis teen asked, followed by a few "Yeah!" of disbelief.
"Because finding the spies isn't one of our goals. If anything, what Principal Nezu said makes me think that it would probably be detrimental to us," Izuku started. "Let me explain. First of all, the principal said that there might be five spies among us, meaning that there might not be any either."
"Unlikely," Honenuki remarked, deadpan.
"But not impossible," Shoda replied.
Kinoko groaned deeply. "So it's another ruse?"
"Wouldn't be that strange, ribbit," Tsuyu shrugged.
"It could be another ruse, yes. But it could also be a trick meant to distract us," Green claimed, catching their attention again. "The principal also said that the spies would 'fulfill their role,' but that doesn't necessarily mean that they will work with the Villains against us. He said 'spies', not 'traitors'."
"Wait, what?" Tsuburaba sounded confused. "What else could they do?"
"Besides working with us, since they are still Heroes? Probably look for some stolen data or something that shouldn't get destroyed during the raid."
"But why do all that when we could just find it afterwards?" Fukidashi asked.
"Because of clearance levels," Todoroki responded from his spot on the edge of the group. "With so many participants some are bound to have a higher rank than others. Not everybody can be trusted with knowing everything."
"I see. Sir Shoto is suggesting that the spies aren't hidden among us to hinder our progress, but to complete missions we aren't privy to," Shishida mused, interested.
"Man, they've got side quests," Sero snorted, containing a laugh.
Izuku nodded, seemingly grateful for the two-toned boy's aid. "Yeah, they probably can't let others know. The closest thing I can think of are Heroes working directly for the H.P.S.C.. I doubt any of us could be pretending to be a Villain masquerading as a Hero, since faking a license is almost impossible, and I find it hard to believe that five Heroes could be substituted before a raid. Even then they would need some kind of transformation Quirks, which none of us possess. It makes more sense for these 'spies' to be acting as the H.P.S.C.'s eyes and ears, checking on our actions rather than going against them."
"That makes more sense," Itsuka acknowledged, sounding convinced.
"Parfaitement!" Aoyama cheered emphatically.
"I mean, it does, but… what if you're wrong?" Ojiro mumbled, clearly feeling conflicted about doubting the greenette's words.
Izuku chuckled amicably. "Well, I could be, I'm not denying that. But there's one last thing that really made me think, namely how we are being graded as a whole instead of individually. The principal told us that we would all fail if too many of us were to perform badly, and that they wouldn't accept slacking off."
The group nodded, as it had been reiterated and confirmed even before this whole mess of an added complication.
"Now, if we were to find and capture a spy right now, without giving them any time to act at all, how do you think they would be graded?"
"I'd say rather poorly," Monoma conceded, followed by a murmur of agreement.
"Getting caught before we even begin moving would certainly bring Mr. Aizawa to reward the spy with a failing grade," Ida stated, sounding certain.
"If it's anything like his stealth classes… yeah…" Toru lamented, reminding Kyoka of the time she had slipped and fallen right before Shoji, getting caught in an instant. Mr. Aizawa hadn't approved.
Izuku smiled, following that line of thought. "And if that poor grade reflects on everyone else's, wouldn't we all fail because of it?"
A few students reeled back, mute of surprise.
- Oh. Fuck. - That was a scary thought.
"But the principal didn't specify how many of us it would take for that to happen," Ibara pointed out.
"No, but he did make it clear that every member of our team should do everything in their power to complete their mission," Momo replied, looking thoughtful. "So the 'sufficient number' to fail us all… might be just one."
Most of the students widened their eyes in shock.
"One?!" Mina, Toru, and Kinoko cried out panickingly.
"One?!" Mineta wailed in a short peep.
"One?!" was written on Koda's muted expression and Fukidashi's speech bubble.
"Fuck, that's strict," Awase cursed.
"We're screwed if we make any mistake!" Kaminari exclaimed, head between his hands.
- Alright, that's fucking enough. -
"Calm down!" Kyoka screamed. Her voice's volume was high enough to surprise everyone but the other singers, and now several others were looking at her like deers in headlights.
"It's just a hypothesis, so calm down." Having restored peace, she put her hands on her hips and huffed. "And what'd you mean 'we're screwed'? What, were you planning on making any mistakes on purpose?"
"N-No! Of course not!" Chargedolt replied defensively.
"So what's the issue? It's an exam! We're supposed to try our best!" Maybe she had channeled a bit too much Ochaco in there, but it was fine as long as she got the point across.
Sure enough, the brunette didn't wait before adding her own "Yeah!" in her support.
"She's right, we should just do whatever we can to ensure our success,'" Izuku cut back in with a confident tone.
"Exactly. Extending this debate any further won't do us any good now," Momo agreed.
He nodded. "Does anybody else have any argument to keep investigating who the spies are?"
There were a few beats of silence as the students looked around, wondering if anybody else would question Midoriya's words and the current conclusion.
Then Bakugo got up from his spot on the steps before the building, letting out a deep grunt.
"No. Let's just get on with this shit. We've wasted enough time," the explosive boy stated before turning on his heels and stepping through the two lines of people that separated him from the entrance. He turned back just before crossing the entrance, narrowing his eyes at the whole group. "If you're a spy and you do anything to get in my way, I'll wipe the floor with you. Backstab me, and they'll never find your body."
- Charming, - Kyoka thought sarcastically. Judging by their expressions, she wasn't the only one thinking something along those lines.
She raised an eyebrow at Izuku as the boy sighed, but didn't inquire further after seeing him shake his head. Was there a reason why her boyfriend had chosen not to go into details regarding the loud, grumpy blonde when talking about his past?
Maybe she would ask about that later, even just to ease some of her worries.
Green clapped once, taking them out of their stupor.
"Well, you heard Bakugo. Let's start this thing!" he exclaimed, preceding them inside.
She followed, putting aside her mundane worries for the much, much more concrete ones that would soon hit them all in the face.
Momo smiled at Kyoka as she fell in line with her, following Izuku inside.
She was really thankful to the two of them.
Their words really had changed the others' perspective of things considerably. While there were still a trifling handful of faces that showed some doubts, the general atmosphere had done a complete turnaround. Their classmates had gone from almost being at each other's throats to happily collaborating once again.
It was truly a wonderful resolution to the conundrum the principal had subjected them to.
And now she would be able to do her job in peace.
Notes:
Not everybody can keep their cool that well. Personally, on a scale from an Itsuka to an Aoyama, I'd probably panic like a Mina.
Problem solved (?!) for now. Guess who the other 4 (?) are...
Up next, mission start!