Occurrence

Chapter 50: Exams Pt 2

I might just update daily until the book is complete.

The practical exam happened on the next day. I could feel the nerves and anticipation tingling in the air as we all waited outside of UA for the teachers in front of us to say anything. Every teacher who taught at UA was lined up in front of us, staring us down. I fidgeted slightly in my place. It had been quiet for too long. I was about to burst when Dad finally spoke up. "As you can see, all of the teachers who currently serve at UA are stood before you, there is a very simple reason for this." Dad paused and looked around at us all, "You will be fighting us for the practical exam.". At my Dad's words, there was an outburst from the class. Several people shouted how it wasn't fair and that they couldn't expect us to win. I was inclined to agree. The youngest hero (Thirteen) had at least 12 years of experience on us. How was it fair to pit us against people with so much experience? The onslaught of angry outbursts continued for some time until Papa finally put an end to it with a shrill whistle.  "Quiet! Nezu will explain!" He shouted. Everyone went silent and watched as the principal emerged from Dad's capture gear.

"The format of the exam is very simple. You will all be placed into pairs and then placed into a battlefield. You will all be on the same battlefield at the same time but will be starting from separate places. The goal is the glass skyscraper in the centre of the city. You can see it from over the entire city. You will have 60 minutes to get to the centre. Your teachers will be roaming around trying to prevent you from getting to the centre. You may only encounter one hero, you may encounter multiple, or none. There are two courses of action you can take when facing a pro. You can tag them, or you can escape. When you tag a pro hero, they will be out for 5 minutes. To tag a hero you must touch the hero's circular badge which will be on display clearly. Every hero will be wearing these cuffs which add half their body weight to themselves. It should level the playing field. Now, are there any questions?" Nezu explained before looking up at us inquisitively. Nobody spoke up for a few minutes before Sero raised his hand. "Umm... how exactly do the tags work?" he asked, he nervously fiddled with his helmet. "Excellent question! When a hero hasn't been tagged, the tag will be blue. Once touched with any foreign object, the tag will turn green." Nezu explained. Sero nodded, satisfied with the answer. Dad coughed to clear his throat and gain our attention before whipping a notebook out of nowhere. "I will be deciding who you are paired with. I would just like to add to the Principal's instructions that you are prohibited from leaving your partner behind, but you are allowed to team up with other pairs. Here are the pairs. Kaminari and Ashido, Uraraka and Aoyama, Koda and Jiro, Asui and Tokoyami, Sero and Shinso, Hagakure and Shoji, Iida and Ojiro, Midoriya and Yaoyorozu, finally Todoroki and Bakugo." Dad explained. I didn't mind being paired with Yaomomo, she was a good fighter and strategist. There was only one problem. She lacked confidence which could be very dangerous in the hero world. 

The bus ride to our starting point was spent in silence. Yaomomo was sat at the front of the bus reading through her book desperately, her eyes scanned page after page seeking information which could help her in our high stakes manhunt. I could see how nervous she was, but I didn't know what to do to help her. I was a bag of nerves myself. I could feel my hands sweating and hear my heart hammering as nerves tingled through my body. The prospect of having to go up against pro heroes was a daunting one. I'd practised with Dad, Papa and my Aunties before, but there were no stakes in that. We were just training and messing about. If I fought my family in the exam, they wouldn't be messing about, they would actively trying to stop me. 

"Yaomomo. We have 10 minutes before the exam starts. We should formulate a plan." I said to my friend as we watched the self-driving bus rumble down the dirt road. She nodded her head and hugged herself. I recognised it as Yaomomo's way of comforting herself when she got too stressed or worried. "Yes, I agree. You're a good strategist, you should form the plan. I feel as though I would only inhibit you." Yaomomo whispered brokenly. It physically hurt my heart to see such a strong, powerful girl whittled down due to her lack of self-esteem. She was so capable and yet her doubts stopped her from seeing her potential. "That's not true, Yaomomo. You're a great strategist. Better than me. I need you so that we can form a good plan. You're great Yaomomo, you've helped so many people. You helped me when I was having a panic attack. You've been there for Shoto. You helped a bunch of people in our class study for the test. You are a powerful, beautiful and amazing young woman. All you need is a little confidence and you're going to get that confidence when you beat all the pros asses." I shouted in encouragement, grasping the girl by the shoulders gently. Momo looked shocked at my speech. Her mouth hung agape and her eyes were as wide as saucers. Soon her wide onyx eyes filled with tears and she began to sob daintily. "Oh! Thank you Izuku! That's so sweet of you to say. I guess I have been putting myself down but I know I'm just not as good as you, or Shoto or Katsuki. Even Ochako and Kyoka are better than me. " She cried pulling me into a hug. Now, I'm sure I've mentioned this before, but Yaomomo is a lot taller than me. 17cm to be exact. So when she pulled my head to her chest as she hugged me, you could imagine how awkward it was, what if her costume design and all. Even though my face was burning and I was ever so slightly uncomfortable, I stuck it out so that Yaomomo could gain some comfort. "You really shouldn't compare yourself to others. You should focus on being you. Making you better. It's fine to look for inspiration in others, but you should know that you're amazing. A lot of people look up to you. You're amazing so don't doubt it." I reassured her once again. She nodded through her tears and stepped back. She apologised for crying on me, to which I dismissed her apology, and wiped away her tears. After that, we came up with a plan. We formulated a plan for each teacher. It wasn't airtight, but it was a plan.