Supernova

Chapter Twenty One - This is a Test

Even though I wasn't actually going to be taking the exam, I woke up excited and giddy for it anyways. As I summoned the memory, I realized that I had had no emotions tied towards taking mine. Probably since I'd done little but show up, run around a bit, and get handed a paper that made my dad smile for almost a full second. But because I'd prepared some of my classmates and some younger kids for taking theirs, most of my memories tied to the process were positive. I was excited for my classmates and ready to feed on their celebrations.

However, not that many people seemed to share this mood. The whole morning, I saw an awful lot of wide-eyed staring into cereal bowls and heard an awful lot comments about how little sleep had been achieved or how much nausea was coursing through their bodies, none of which ever raised louder than a uneasy whisper. Not only did nobody rope me into any conversations, but barely anyone even lifted their eyes to me. I would have enjoyed it more had I not gotten so used to the opposite that it was eerie.

Aizawa made me sit next to him on the bus on the way there. Again, there were many reasons why this made sense, including letting the examinees focus on getting their heads right and the fact that in this situation, I was technically more of a teacher's assistant than a student, but we both knew that he'd actually made the choice so that I wouldn't patronize the other students before an exam I had little stake in. It annoyed me, and as a result, I rode the entire way there with my arms crossed and my mouth shut as an act of defiance.

When we got off the bus, there was some spare time during which my classmates got to mingle with some of the students from other schools. Aizawa gave me strict instructions to stay by his side until the exam was finished and the results were posted, so I did. I kept my arms crossed and made no effort to make any type of expression on my face, but I was compliant and quiet. So compliant and quiet, in fact, that he was watching me more carefully that usual.

"Eraser!" I heard sometime after the mingling began. "I'd know that scowl anywhere!"

I looked up at Aizawa, and his face was filled with a deep dread that he was making no effort to hide. That was deeply amusing to me, and I was overcome with a deep need to study everything about the source of this. For professional purposes, of course. As I followed his gaze, there was a woman with teal blue hair tucked under a bandana running towards us, her hand all the way up above her head as she waved, smiling so big that her eyes were nearly closed.

"Hi, Joke," he told her, in the same tone that he usually reserved for again, Stronghold?

"It's been a while since we were this close in person!" The woman started laughing, loudly, as if that comment was the most hysterical joke she'd ever heard.

I was watching her face as Aizawa continued to brush her off. I knew what somebody looked like when they wanted something. I watched Aizawa's face too. His eyes were different. There was a lot more tolerance than he was letting on. How interesting. I was enjoying this very much.

"Is this one of your students?" She asked him brightly, looking down at me.

"She's my teaching assistant," Aizawa told her.

"Wow! You took on an assistant? You?" She started laughing wildly again, clutching his arm to steady herself. He looked disgusted, but he made no efforts to shake her off. She then leaned down a little to my eyeline. "You must be something if this grumpy old crank pot took you on as an assistant. Do you want to hear a joke?"

Before I could answer or reach out my hand for her to shake, Aizawa put an arm out in front of me and put himself between us. I looked up at them. Neither of them were looking at me.

"Don't."

If I hadn't known better, I would have thought I'd felt a chill ran down my spine. I'd never heard a tone this harsh from Aizawa before, and consider it was me saying that, it was more certainly saying something. It was undoubtably a warning. Not only that, but his hair was flying back and his eyes were red. He was making sure that she wouldn't have the option not to heed his warning.