Villain to Hero: Naruko Motomiya

Chapter 23: End of Round One

Walking across the dirt field filled with cracks and countless examinees still trying to earn a spot in round two further away, Motomiya, Daiba, Tenma, and Ueshima made their way to the waiting room where those who passed round one stayed.

He had passed the first round of the exam fairly quickly. Now, he just had to keep it up and pass the exam in its entirety. He was glad that he passed the first round, very happy about it, but he just couldn't help but feel guilty about it. Everyone here had been training as a hero for at least a full term and had dreamt of being a hero all their lives. He, though, had been in the right place at the right time and was given the chance to do this. Besides, he had only really wanted to be a hero up until recently. He felt that everyone else out there, the students desperately fighting for a chance at becoming a hero, should've passed the first round instead of him.

"Guys, over here!" Saionji yelled, waving. "Looks like we all passed the first round!"

"We did," Tenma replied.

As Saionji joined up with them again, Akira teleported beside Motomiya and put an arm around his shoulders. "That was quick, I thought this round would've been harder," He said.

Saionji shook her head. "Who did you have to go up against? I had my hands full with some chick who could camouflage herself with her surroundings."

Akira looked up in thought. "Oh, you know," He said. "Basic fire quirks and people who don't have what it takes to be heroes."

"Dude, that was so out of line," Saionji responded. Akira shrugged in response.

They all entered the room. There were about fifty people in it, along with tables full of food and water. Some of class 1-B had made it in as well. One person from class 1-B waved at them and gave a thumbs up. All they had to do now was wait for the next fifty people to finish and move on to the next round.

After waiting around for a few minutes, the man from before started talking again. "It's over! One hundred have successfully passed! We're done! I'm one step closer to a good nap! On a less uplifting note, could all those who failed please proceed to the exit?"

"What is with this guy and sleep?" Motomiya muttered to himself.

"Now," Mera started, "Will all one hundred of you please watch the screen?" Footage of the exam field showed up on the screen attached to the wall. It looked completely normal until suddenly, hundreds of explosions decimated the landscape, causing the field to be utterly destroyed.

"What the fuck?!" Saionji shouted over the confused murmurs of the examinees.

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

Motomiya stared at the screen in horror. This was just a test. Why did they have to blow up an entire city? Still staring, he noticed several figures appear in the ruins of the city, all dressed in regular civilian clothes. "What the..."

Mera continued. "Everyone there is a highly trained professional rescuee and in very high demand as of late! Please welcome the good people of Help Us Company, or H.U.C. for short. The members of H.U.C. 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 points at the end of the test will pass. We'll start in ten minutes, so take your bathroom breaks and naps now."

Motomiya sat down in one of the chairs at a table, his eyes glued to the floor. How could he save these people? How many points would he need to pass the exam? What would happen if he didn't pass?

"You good, Miya?" Saionji asked, sitting down beside him.

His head jolted up. "Hm? Oh, u-um... yeah," He stuttered.

Saionji took her mask off and smiled softly. "Nervous, huh? So am I."

He looked at her, surprised that someone so hard-core and punk looking would be nervous about a test. To him, the ideas contradicted. "You are?"

She let out a breath. "Of course I am. We all need to pass this exam so that we can start our work studies. So that we aren't behind everyone else."

"Behind everyone in the class," He repeated softly.

She then realized what it sounded like she meant and raised her hands up in defense. "Sorry, I didn't mean it like that. We're supposed to start our work studies as second years-- although the first years can do the same-- but still. It's best to get the license as soon as possible, y'know?"

"Yeah," He said.

Saionji smiled again. "Oh, there's this thing I've been wondering. How did you get your quirk?" She asked him. "I found mine out when I was messing around with a pot, pretending it was a drum, and burst my ear drums from how loud I hit it."

He thought back to when he was just a little boy, a kid who had two parents who he thought were both loving at the time. "We were writing down some short stories or something, and I was chosen to read mine to the class. Let's just say that whatever I had written down started to actually happen."

She let out a laugh. "Oh, now that's funny! I can just imagine little you freaking out a bunch because of that."

A small smile made its way across his face. "Yeah, I really was freaking out. I even somehow caused the sprinklers to go off because of that."

"Man, I bet your parents were so pissed," She joked.

His parents. He thought back to the moment again. All he could remember afterward was his mother picking him up from school early that day. His mother. He hadn't thought of her in years. He wondered how she was doing after all this time, where she was in the world, and whether she was dead or not. She was gone now, though. There was no point in thinking about her anymore. Besides, she was the one who left him with a monster. "They probably were," He said. "They probably were."