Savior (My Hero Academia: Todoroki x OC)

Chapter 34: Not Getting Licensed

I stood next to Shoto and quietly watched our more exuberant classmates celebrate. Loudly. I was pleased that all of us had managed to transfer to the next round, but some of their celebrating was a bit excessive. Their cheers were cut short when a voice cut through over the speakers to make an announcement.

"Will all hundred of you please watch the screen."

Everyone turned to the large screen mounted to the wall. The current picture showed the inside of the arena. Several large explosions erupted across the screen and caused the ground to shake beneath our feet. They had completely destroyed the testing grounds. I stared in shock and gripped Shoto's hand a little tighter. "Why would they do that?" I asked him. He shrugged and kept his eyes glued to the screen. The announcer's voice came back over the speaker as all 100 of us stood frozen in shock.

"Round two's the last one. You examinees will venture into the ruins as bystanders and prove your worth when it comes to rescuing innocent victims."

A lot of voices began speaking over one another, questioning what he meant. What exactly were we supposed to be doing?

"You will not act as ordinary civilians, but as those who have hypothetically earned their provisional licenses. You're being tested on how well you respond in rescue situations."

I maintained my grasp on Shoto as we watched a large group of people moving out into the arena. Again, everyone around me began questioning who these people were and what they were doing. As though he could hear us, the man in charge gave us a rundown.

"Everyone there is a highly trained professional evacuee from the Help Us Company. The members of HUC will be feigning injuries all across the field. It is your task to rescue them. You will all be scored on how well you perform these rescues. Those who attain the required number of points will pass. We'll start in ten minutes."

"We've been so focused on developing our ultimate moves, we haven't had a lot of time for rescue exercises," Shoto said quietly.

"You're right," I said. "Mr. Aizawa has given a couple lectures on the topic, but we don't have much practical experience. We'll have to rely on our instincts."

A commotion erupted behind us, grabbing our attention. Kaminari and Mineta were freaking out over Midoriya, something to do with a girl from Shiketsu. Whatever it was, it seemed to grab the attention of all the Shiketsu students, who were now headed our way. 

A super hairy guy, who I assumed was their team leader, began talking about how he wanted a good relationship to develop between the two schools. He seemed friendly, but they didn't all appear as approachable. I felt Shoto's arm tense beneath my hand and saw him locked in a stare down with the tall boy from this morning. After a few seconds, he pulled away from me and approached the other boy.

"Hey, did I do something to offend you?" he asked.

I silently watched as the tall boy turned and glared down at Shoto. He looked really intimidating, but Shoto didn't back down. The only indication he was affected at all was the slight downturn of his lips.

"Nah, you'll have to forgive me, but it's because you're Endeavor's son. I hate both of you. You've changed a lot since then but those eyes look just like Endeavor's."

His expression didn't change, but I could tell Shoto was shocked by those words. A slight stiffening of his back, his hand that clenched into a fist, and the darkening of his eyes were all indicators that he had been impacted at being compared to his father. If there was one thing our entire class knew about Shoto, it was that he was not a fan of Endeavor and strove to be nothing like him.

I glanced at Midoriya, who wore a similar expression of concern as I did. We both stood behind Shoto and watched the tall boy from Shiketsu walk away. "Todoroki..." Midoriya trailed off. But before he could approach Shoto, he was pulled back into another loud conversation with Kaminari. I was on my own here.