Amour Propre (OMORI)

Sforzando

The day was finally here. There were only a few minutes until Sunny would be out of the waiting room, and... well, doing whatever the practical exam was. The paper wasn't exactly clear. It just gave a time and a group ID.

Sunny looked around his group. Group B-B. Sunny wasn't sure why they didn't just use the usual number-letter convention, but it didn't really matter.

His groupmates all looked... well, a lot more fit than he was. Sunny was sort of out of shape. It didn't help that using Alter Ego would have Omori use energy that Sunny had. If Sunny got tired or worn out, so did Omori and vice-versa. Unfortunately, despite how much Alter Ego did when he was around to help, it wouldn't transfer any of that exercise to Sunny. Just the tiredness.

Sunny did try exercising a bit before, so his legs were pretty strong, at least. Sunny didn't really want to be super muscular or anything, though, so he avoided lifting weights. It's not like he needed to be strong himself for Alter Ego to be strong. He just needed to have the stamina for it. Basil's quirk was similar, and he had a similar view on being muscular. Not for him. The two were very blessed to have quirks that demanded stamina over strength in that way. Even if Omori didn't really appreciate how it made Sunny not that good at fighting for himself...

Sunny sighed. If Omori decided not to help him today, then he'd be screwed.

The anxiety inside Sunny was growing. What if he didn't get in, but Basil did? What would happen? Poor Basil could end up killed or worse! The thought of Basil with a hole blown through his chest popped into Sunny's mind again. He felt a bit sick.

Apparently, that was visible to some of the other applicants. "You okay, dude? You don't look so good..." A brown-haired boy said with tentative concern.

"I-I'm fine," assured Sunny, "I can do the test." He added, making sure the boy wasn't looking to take him out early.

"Oh, alright!" The boy seemed to wholeheartedly believe him, "The name's Kel! How about you?" The brunette's grin was absurdly wide.

Sunny knew this had to be some kind of scheme, though he couldn't tell just yet what it was. "Uh... Sunny."

"Nice to meet you, Sunny! High five!" Kel shouted. He readied his hand for the aforementioned high five, raising it to a height that Sunny could probably reach despite his short stature.

Kel was far taller and bigger than Sunny. Slightly muscular with a tan complexion, Sunny could tell he was more outside than in. Sunny was more described as an indoor cat. Kel looked more like a golden retriever who wanted to run around outside all day. Maybe he was genuine unless his plot was to embarrass himself and Sunny in front of the entire group. In which case, mission successful.

Sunny sighed and high fived his new comrade without much energy. Kel looked a bit disappointed, but he was still smiling.

It didn't take long for Kel to try and speak loudly again, "So, Sunny, w-" Of course, very quickly, a voice piped up.

"Would you quiet the fuck down!? Jeez, Kel, you're always so annoying!" A pink haired girl stomped over with an irate expression. She did admittedly look cute, but the way she was currently grabbing Kel's ear and scolding him made him a bit afraid of her.

Kel squealed in pain, "Ow, ow, ow, ow, ow!! Aubrey, let go, I'm sorry!" The girl apparently named Aubrey obliged, dropping Kel onto the floor.

He hit his head on the tile floor as he fell. Sitting up again, Kel held his head and looked up at Aubrey. "You don't gotta be so mean, y'know!"

"Sorry kid, Kel's harassment is something you're gonna have to get used to if you get in, though." Aubrey grinned, "Cuz me and him are gonna wipe the floor with this practical exam!"

"You seem pretty sure of yourself." Sunny said with a hint of curiosity.

The girl nodded, "Yup! My pal Kim has an older brother who tried this program a while back... he didn't get in, but he knows what the exam is! Consider the info payment for dealing with Kel." Aubrey smirked before revealing her hand, whispering to Sunny, "Big. Ass. Robots."

She moved away from Sunny, making him have to ask for clarification. "S-So what, we just beat them up, or do we have to do something? Like... how does this work?"

"Dunno. Apparently, the details change yearly so as not to let people get prepared or anything." Aubrey said, rubbing the underside of her nose. "Speaking of, Kel, do you think Kim already finished her exam? It started at 8, right?"

The two turned to Kel, who was now sitting in a seat again, cleaning the inside of his ear with his pinkie. "Huh? Oh, uh... I dunno, if it's just beating stuff up, she's probably got that covered with her quirk."

"You got that right. Haha, she probably beat up every hunk of junk they had in the first ten minutes!" Aubrey remarked.

Sunny sighed and looked at the clock. 10:11. They were 11 minutes past the time they were supposed to start. Somebody should have come by now, right?

Speak of the devil, and he shall appear. Or a proctor appeared, rather, but it's just a turn of phrase. "Sorry for the wait, everyone. Group B-B, please follow me to your practical exams.

The proctor wasn't exactly the most well-known hero, but he was local, being Waterwheel. Couldn't go underwater, but had the ability to run and stand atop it. He could also form it into weapons and such, as it acted almost like a solid mass when he touched it.

A weird quirk, but useful given Canada's abundance of lakes. Sunny followed the hero silently, while some of the other people in the group were chatting amongst themselves. He didn't like that he was near the front, but he couldn't do much about that now.

One thing Sunny was thankful for was that it wasn't one of the more popular heroes in front of him. If it was, poor Sunny would end up trampled by all the people trying to get close.

Soon, the group left the stuffy building and found themselves in a large cityscape. The property of the Kingston Institute of Heroism was known to be quite massive, encompassing a large amount of forest, but Sunny never guessed a replica of a city the size of a Toronto neighbourhood would be within the walls.

Taking a deep breath, Sunny prepared himself for instructions, as an intercom crackled to life