Deep Red

54

"Are we there yet?" I asked. I wasn't trying to annoy Shouta, but I had literally just woken up on a bus and was slightly disoriented, especially since the last time taking a trip on a bus really hadn't ended well.

I had panicked a little and woken Shouta up and only while I was doing that had I remembered what was happening and where I was. Shouta didn't look too happy about being woken up.

"How am I supposed to know? I've been just as asleep as you." he muttered and rubbed his eyes, before looking out of the window.

"Sorry, I just kinda panicked." I replied and chuckled nervously, rubbing the back of my neck, as I was trying not to look too embarrassed. Shouta just sighed and turned to me, attempting something that was probably supposed to be a smile.

"It's alright. Don't worry about it. Looks like we're just pulling up to the site." he told me. I nodded.

Leaning back, I closed my eyes shortly, trying to sort all the thoughts that were going through my head at the same time. Everything just seemed a million times more confusing since the summer camp, but at the same time everyone expected us to just go on as usual, as if nothing had happened.

"There we are. Let's hope this all goes down well." Shouta muttered, scratching his head, as the bus came to a halt.

"Everyone out. We're here." Shouta announced to the class, as they all quickly scrambled to get their things and head out of the bus. I saw how nervous some of them looked, as I watched them heading out of the bus and towards the arena. The whole place was packed with students from all over Japan.

It felt like an eternity until all the students had managed to get out of the bus and the longer I waited, the more nervous I got. Field trips just somehow had started leaving a bad taste in my mouth, starting from the trip to USJ (which I wasn't even a part of) to the recent catastrophe.

Finally, Shouta and I could get out of the bus ourselves and I could get some fresh air. I took a deep breath as soon as I got out, which earned me a slightly amused and slightly worried look from Shouta.

"Right, this is our test site. The National Takoba Arena." he said to his students, his attention back on the task at hand.

"Getting nervous now..." Jirou said. I eyed up the huge arena, which I remembered all too well from my days at U.A.

"I got my provisional license here." I muttered, a faint smile on my lips. Shouta gave me the tiniest smile. As far as I knew, he had gotten his license somewhere else. They usually rotated the sites all the time, so only people in the same class and the same year would be at the same site.

"So we're doing this in Takoba, huh?" Midoriya added, sounding much worse than Jirou. He had been fidgeting with his backpack and just about everything he could get his hands on all morning.

"Still no clue what this test's about. Can we really get our licenses already?" Mineta asked, sweat drenching the small boy's face. I knew Mineta got nervous easily, but this was the worst I had ever seen him.

"Mineta. It's not a matter of can. You will." Shouta told him, bending down to be on eye level with him.

"R-r-right, of course!" Mineta replied and nodded, not looking much better than before. Well, it couldn't be helped. I was just as nervous when I did my license and back in the day, the tests were more unpredictable.

"Earn your provisional licenses by passing this test and you won't be eggs anymore, but full-fledged hatchlings. You'll almost be pro heroes. So show them your best." Shouta told his class.

All the kids looked like they were absolutely on board with that, as they huddled around the two of us. I was glad to see them in such high spirits, but Shouta seemed to be a little annoyed by that.