Essence of a True Hero

Life or Death Examination-Part II

Kon'nichiwa minna! As always I would like to dedicate this chapter to my most recent follower, MrFalafel. Thank you MrFalafel for your support! Now, it would be really cool if this chapter had something to do with a snowball fight, but alas it's happening at the start of summer. Izuku is just being adorable here and looks like himself, so cheers! I can not say that this art was a driving force behind what plays out here, but it does illustrate something of how Izuku deals with the situation. Also completely unplanned, but the collar of Izuku's coat in this picture is similar to how I imagined the turtleneck for his hero costume described in Chapter 1. Anywho, here's chapter 2. Enjoy!

Izuku Midoriya's P.O.V.

    After a day's rest, Backdraft and I were back at it again in the hero business, and the second part of my exam was about to commence. I'll admit, I was nervous, but I kept a brave face. I wanted to be a hero, and I wanted to help oji.

    The last mission was not what I expected for a hero exam, but I understood the meaning behind it. Backdraft now stood next to me as we were briefed on the situation. Aizawa-san had apparently specifically picked out this crime scene as my examination site, "There has been a security breach at the central bank in Kyoto. The perpetrator, according to witnesses, flashes in and out of space. He is half dressed in a black skintight suit with white swirls on it. He is armed with a whip. The rest of his attire is civilian. Based  on this intelligence, we can surmise that this villain is the former hero, Rogue Flash. Apprehend him and take him into custody. Take these. They are intercoms between two people. We also have a tracker on yours Midoriya-san since you're dealing with a warper."

    I nodded. Rouge Flash... the name sounded familiar, but I couldn't place it. As I was positioning the intercom at my ear, the uncertainty grated on my nerves. I couldn't think of who he was, and I had made it my priority to study these heroes, "Who was this man?"

    I looked to find Backdraft looking at me curiously and expectantly with a twinge of disappointment. I realized that I would have to push aside my frustration and deal with the mission.

    "Alright," I said, "get on my back, and we'll get to that bank."

    Backdraft nodded and climbed on my crouched back. As we ran, my mind kept muddling over who this Rogue Flash was. It was on the tip of my tongue, but I couldn't place it. As I was muttering to myself, I heard, "Stop!"

    I skidded to a stop and looked up. Backdraft was looking severe, his whole body bearing down on me, "What's on your mind? You weren't like this last time."

    I nodded. Right, I could have asked him, "I can't think of who this Rogue Flash is. It's frustrating me."

     Backdraft nodded, "Rogue Flash is the pro heroes' name for the former student hero, Warp Flash."

    I nodded, but before I began running, he gripped my shoulder, "You can not let little things like that hold you up in a mission. You must have a clear mind so that you can carry out your mission and defeat the villain. If you do not, there is that much greater chance that the villain will cause more damage or possibly get away."

    I nodded breathing out deeply before running again. I had trained very hard for this aspect of the exam: the apprehension of targets, hoping against hope that I could enter into Yuei at least as part of the General Department...even if it wasn't the Hero Core like I had dreamed. I had learned to stop hoping for some dreams a little while ago. I didn't know if I could make it, but no matter what, I would be at least a semester behind any classmates I might have. I ran clearing my mind and focusing on the mission. Once I was ready, I began to devise a strategy. I did not enter auto-pilot so that I was paying some attention to where I was running. Thus, the strategizing was slow going. I had passing thoughts as I paid attention to the roads and navigated my way through Kyoto, "So this is Warp Flash, the former hero...It makes sense that I couldn't remember him easily. He was only a student hero...I don't even know if they have any field training...but  maybe they do, I don't know why the name would be so familiar to me otherwise...If I remember correctly, his quirk is basically short-term teleportation, what people call Warp...He scrapes part of his skin onto a surface and can teleport to that place later...Is it from any part of his body...How long does it last?"