Villain to Hero: Naruko Motomiya

Chapter 25: Results

Coming out of the locker rooms, Motomiya found his classmates waiting outside near the gate back into the arena. He quickly ran over to them.

"Dude, how are you not dying of heatstroke in that?" Saionji remarked, pointing to the winter uniform jacket that Motomiya wore.

"I'm just always cold, I guess," He lied, hiding his carved up arms.

"You guys can have all the chit-chat you want, but I'm seeing if I'm on that damn board," Akira said before teleporting to the crowd huddled around the scoreboard and Mera on a stage.

They followed after Akira and joined the large crowd of students. Motomiya was filled with anxiety. What if he did something wrong, so wrong that it took away his chance of passing? He didn't know how ruthless the H.U.C. members graded the examinees or if it varied across who was grading him. What if he ended up with someone who scored him horribly?

"It's been a long battle, everyone, but now it's time for the results," Mera said. "Before that, though, regarding the scoring system, we of the Heroes Public Safety Comission, along with the members of the H.U.C., were deducting points on two issues as we watched you perform. Essentially, we judged you on your ability to act flawlessly in a crisis. Anyhow, here are the names of those who passed the test in alphabetical order. Keeping everything I've said in mind, please take a look."

The screen flicked to a table of all of the names of those who passed. There were many names, several dozen, in fact. His eyes skimmed across the table, looking for where "M" started. Then, near the bottom of the "M" section, in bold, clear font, he found his name. An overwhelming sense of happiness flooded over him. Everything seemed unreal. That was his name. He read it over and over again, making sure that he wasn't mistaken, but no. That was his name. He passed the provisional licensing exam. He was officially a hero and could do actual hero work now.

A series of celebrations were whooped and yelled as many found their name.

"I passed!" Daiba exclaimed.

"Yes!" Akira shouted, pointing to his name.

"Of course I got in," Tenma said with a smile.

"Oh my God, a miracle happened," Ueshima sighed in relief.

"Fuck yeah!" Saionji shouted.

"Looks like we all passed," Akira said. He then sighed. "Now we have to find agencies who'll let us do a work study with them."

"That's going to be so hard, ugh," Daiba whined.

"I assume you've all had a chance to view the results. Next, we'll be handing out score sheets. We've explained the scoring system in detail, so read them over carefully," Mera said as multiple men stepped forward and handed students their score sheets. "It was a punitive scoring system with a threshold of fifty points. On your score sheets, you'll see how many points you lost for each given action."

One of the men handed Motomiya a score sheet. He read it over thoroughly, reading all of the details. At the top left corner, read "79/100." He had a decent score; not terrible, but not amazing. "I got a seventy-nine. What did you guys get?" He asked his classmates.

"I got an eighty-two," Akira said, holding his paper proudly.

"I got..." Saionji started, reading the score on her paper. "An eighty-five!"

"Oh yeah?" Tenma let out. "I got a perfect one hundred."

Saionji marched toward him. "Gimme that," She said, reaching for his paper and snatching it out of his hand. She read the top and let out a chuckle. "Dude, a sixty-five isn't a damn one hundred."

"It is to me," He replied, snatching his paper back. "What about you two?" He asked, motioning his wing towards Daiba and Ueshima.

"Ninety-three!" Daiba exclaimed, showing her paper to them all. They all looked at her score in shock. "How about you?" She asked Ueshima.

He chuckled under his breath and looked away dramatically. "Get ready for it..." He then held up his paper. "Fifty-one!"

Sighs of disappointment and amusement were let out over his score. "It takes serious skill to barely pass like that," Akira mocked. "I'd even say it's talent. Hell, a miracle you even passed."

"You probably shouldn't say that," Motomiya stepped in.

"Eh," Ueshima let out. "I don't care. It's whatever."

"Going forward," Mera said, "Those who passed now have the legal right to act in a heroic capacity, but only during emergencies. That means fighting villains, rescuing people in disaster scenarios, even without a provisional hero's guidance, you're permitted to take action on your own. But keep in mind that every action you take comes with a heavy responsibility to society."

Motomiya let out a breath. He was a real hero now with the responsibility to protect others and fight villains. Anything he did, mistake or not, would be on him. It was a lot to handle.

"As you all know, the great hero All Might is out of commission," Mera continued. "His active presence served as an important deterrent to crime. Without that factor holding them back, we can be sure that the more brazen villains out there will start showing their faces. The balance has shifted, and the world is bound to start changing in a big way. With that in mind, know that you, the next generation, are the central pillar of society. Now, as heroes, you will set a standard. You must become the new bulwark keeping crime at bay. Be aware that the licenses you now receive are provisional ones. The road ahead is still a long one, so study hard at your respective academic institutions. Don't be disheartened by your scores. You don't have time for that. Especially because there's still a chance that if you sign up for and complete a special three-month training course and pass the individual test, you, too, will be awarded your provisional licenses."

Many students in the crowd gasped.

"You may recall that I just said, 'going forward.' Looking to that future, we need as many top-class heroes as we can find. The first round was basically a qualifier, and you hundred who were chosen to move on all have potential worth cultivating. That's exactly why we monitored you all to the very end. Just because you failed doesn't mean that all hope is lost. Rather, if you go back and work on your deficiencies, you have the potential to surpass even those who triumphed today. Attending the training course while maintaining your regular course work will make for a packed schedule, but if you're up for the challenge, the next test is in April."

The exam was now officially over. They all walked out of the building, heading back to the dorms for the day. While the others talked about the exam, Motomiya stared down at his license. The small, plastic card in his hand didn't feel real, but it was. It had his student ID photo, his name, hero name, quirk, and other necessary information. It was an actual license, something that made him one step closer to being a true hero.