(The Provisional Hero License Exam Arc)
Nana's POV
A Hero License bears with it the great responsibility of human life. The exam to receive one is very difficult. Even the provisional license has only a 50% passing rate each year. The job of a hero is to save people from danger like crimes, accidents, natural disasters, and man-made disasters. The exam to become one naturally looks at how well you're able to do that. Your ability to gather information, make decisions, moves, and fights, in addition to your ability to communicate, draw people to you, and lead, every year a different test is used to look at how well you're able to do those things. Of those, your ability to fight is especially important to your future as heroes. If you're prepared, you won't have to worry, whether or not you have an ultimate move will greatly affect whether or not you pass. Not being influenced by circumstances and being able to act consistently will make you a great asset on the front lines.
That's what old man Aizawa and other pro-heroes told us Class 1-A before the training for the Provisional Hero License Exam.
Aizawa, Mid Night, and All Might stood by the side and watched us train while pro-hero Ectoplasm and his clones were helping us in training. We were all training in Gym Gamma which had another name called 'Training Dining Land' or 'TDL'. Cementoss explained to us that he envisioned the TDL, as he was able to manipulate the concrete floor of the gym using his Quirk, thus allowing it to be used for many different environments and scenarios.
My training was divided into two different ways. One was simple hand-to-hand combat with one of Ectoplasm's clones to develop my Ghoul speed and strength even more while the other one was to see how easily I destroy Cementoss's concrete pillars and caters by simply shooting balls of compressed gravity or by punching them with bare fists by increasing my own density and altering my gravity or by shooting huge crystallized bullets from my Ukaku Kagune. I even planned on going to Aizawa's dojo to train even more with Kaneki, Yomo sensei, and old man Aizawa.
"Nana-chan, how is everything going?" a familiar masculine voice called out from behind me and I turned around to look around and flashed a smile at the individual.
"Toshi-chan!" I greeted and waved at him. "My training is going well."
The former No.1 hero grinned at me in his skeletal state, his body covered in bandages and his right arm in a cast.
"Shouldn't you still be recovering?" I asked worriedly.
"I'll be alright, Besides, I didn't want to miss out on your Ultimate Moves today..." he said, giving you a thumbs up.
"It's harder than I thought it would be." I smiled sheepishly at him in response.
"I'm sure a process such as this one is challenging for anyone." All Might said reassuringly.
"Yeah, especially for someone like him of course." I chuckled, looking over to Bakugo.
The angry blonde was grinning like a madman, concentrating his explosive energy on one point on his palm to create some kind of super laser. It blasted a hole clean through the skull of Ectoplasm's clone and he fell to the ground with a thud.
"AP Shot!" he smirked, satisfied with the Ultimate he had chosen.
"Advanced Placement?" I asked him teasingly with a playful smile on my face.
"Armor Piercing, you stupid woman!" He yelled at me, frowning before looking back at Ectoplasm. "Hey, my clone died, send over another one would you?!"
Ectoplasm gazed up at him with interest, impressed with his abilities. Although it was just a clone of himself, it still retained most of his stamina, strength, and fighting abilities; and Bakugo took it down without batting an eye.
"I'm sure you're moving faster than others as well." All Might smiled.
I simply smirked at him before I activated my Gravity Manipulation quirk and increased my own density. I spotted the tallest and biggest concrete pillar in the gym and wasting time, I jumped into the air and dashed towards it in a flash, winding my fist back. I increased the density of my fist and also activated my Ghoul quirk's strength. I threw my arm forward and punched the concrete pillar with just my bare fist.
Everyone's eyes widened as the pillar started to crack. The pillar exploded into a million pieces after just one single punch, sending shards of rubble flying everywhere. The impact sent me flying back and I quickly activated my Rinkaku Kagune, balancing myself from falling hard on the ground.
I looked back at All Might, Aizawa, and Mid Night.
"How was it?" I asked with a smirk.
"That was amazing, Nana-kun!" Midnight beamed, cheering for me.
"You're improving a lot, Nana-chan." All Might added with a wide grin. "You'll make a fine hero."
"Old geezer?" I asked as I looked over at Aizawa.
In response, Aizawa simply smiled warmly at me like a proud father.
"I'm proud of you, brat." He responded, making me smile back at him.
A few days later (On the day of the Provisional License Exam)
The morning of the exam came before I knew it and the rest of the week went flying by. On the morning of the Provisional Hero Licensing Exam, we the Class 1-A traveled to the National Dagobah Arena. I stared at the big tent-like building painted all cream and red.
"I'm getting nervous!" Jiro let out a shaky sigh, feeling nervous at that moment.
"Are we even gonna get the license?" Mineta asked worriedly.
"Mineta, it's not about whether you can get it or not. Just go inside and get it." Aizawa stated firmly.
"Y-Yes, sir!" Mineta squeaked out and quickly nodded his head.
"If you can pass this test and get your provisional licenses, then you, novice eggs, will become chicks..." Aizawa stated, causing me to sweat-drop at his words. "You'll hatch into semi-pros. Do your best."
"Let's all call out the usual!" Kirishima grinned as he raised his fist. "Ready, set... Plus-"
"Ultra!!" an unknown voice shouted out.
We all turned around to find a boy of our age with a tall muscular figure and shaved head, wearing a white collared shirt, dark pants, and a police-style hat with some sort of school logo on it standing right behind Kirishima. I also noticed a few more students from the same school as the boy standing behind him; noticeable ones were a blonde girl with full lips, a purple-haired boy with a red mask, and a boy whose body was covered entirely by light brown hair, with no distinct features could be seen beside his eyes. At that moment I realized that they all were from Shiketsu High School. I then noticed the blonde girl was staring right at me, making me look away from her. For some reason, I didn't know why, I was getting an unsettling feeling from her. And she even smelled familiar when I lightly sniffed the air with the help of my ghoul-smelling sense.
Do I know this girl?
"Inasa... it's rude to intrude on another group's huddle." The boy with purple hair spoke up.
"Ah, you got me!" the shaved head boy named Inasa grinned before bowing to us so deeply that he smashed his head against the pavement, blood spurting out from his forehead. "I'm so very sorry!!"
"What the?" I deadpanned.
"Who's this whacked-out big ball of excitement?!" Kaminari exclaimed in shock.
"He's like Iida and Kirishima squared!" Sero commented in surprise.
"UA's in the East and Shiketsu's in the West..." Bakugo commented calmly. "Theirs is one of the few elite Hero courses that can rival UA."
"I just always wanted to try saying it! Plus Ultra!!" Inasa grinned as he spoke out even louder than ever with blood rolled down from his head. "I freaking love UA High!! It is truly an honor to compete alongside the fine students of UA!!"
"Ah, he's bleeding." the blonde girl muttered.
"Let's go." The purple-haired boy sighed.
As the students of Shiketsu High started to walk away, Aizawa narrowed his eyes at Inasa.
"Inasa Yoarashi..." Aizawa muttered and we looked back at him in confusion.
"Do you know him, sensei?" Uraraka asked curiously.
"He's really really enthusiastic..." Kirishima stated as he observed Inasa. "But he seems like a nice dude."
"This year Inasa got placed into our grade at UA under special recommendation..." I stated, explaining who that weird guy was. "His top grades were enough to open the doors for him, but for some reason, he decided not to matriculate. He's really, really strong. We've to keep an eye on him..."
"This guy says he's a big fan of UA, but he turned down the offer?" Sero asked, still confused. "I don't get it..."
"Weird..." Mina commented.
"Weird or not, he's the real deal..." Aizawa responded. "As Nana said, keep an eye on him..."
Suddenly, I noticed a familiar woman with mint green hair, walking in our direction. Could it be?!
"Old geezer, hide!" I whisper-yelled as I tugged onto Aizawa's sleeve to warn him.
"What is it now, brat?" Aizawa sighed in annoyance.
"Don't look annoyed!" I snapped and scowled at him. "I'm trying to save you!"
Upon hearing my words, Aizawa's eyes suddenly widened in realization.
"Don't tell me..." Aizawa muttered, trailing off. "She's here, isn't she?"
Before I could say anything else, the familiar woman called out from a distance.
"Eraser, is that you?!" the energetic woman called out.
"Shit!" Aizawa cursed under his breath, now looking even more annoyed.
A gorgeous woman with long green hair and pale skin walked up to us, grinning happily. She wore an orange bandanna around her head and a hero costume to match.
"It really is you! It's been ages since we talked for real, hasn't it?" she smiled, leaning on Aizawa's shoulder.
Aizawa's eyes twitched in annoyance as I bit my bottom lip, trying hard not to laugh.
"Let's get married!" the woman said suddenly.
"No..." Aizawa replied immediately as if the question was a typical occurrence for him.
"Everyone, this is Joke-san." I smiled as I noticed the woman to my friends. "She's a hero course teacher at Ketsubutsu Academy."
"It's great to meet you all!" she smiled brightly at my friends before turning to me. "How have you been, Nana-chan? I haven't seen you since you were in middle school! And I told you to call me 'mom', remember?"
"I'm doing alright." I smiled back. "And also you still haven't married my old man, yet. So technically, I can't call you 'mom', Joke-san."
"What do you mean yet, brat?" Aizawa scowled at me.
"You're so funny, Nana-chan!" Joke cackled, wiping a tear from the corner of her eye.
"Well anyway, how's everything for you?" I asked, changing the topic.
"Pretty good! Work has been a bit slow, but we're scraping by." Joke responded. "I never thought this human sleeping bag would ever be working more than me, but just look at us now!"
Aizawa's eye twitched again, consecutively this time.
"You two seem to know each other well..." Tsu said.
"Our hero agencies were next to each other, way back then..." Joke grinned. "We saved each other a few times and as two young heroes striving for change in the world a mutual love bloomed into-"
"No, it didn't." Aizawa cut her off dryly, scowling deeply at her. "It went nowhere."
"Come on, Eraser! If you just marry me, we'd make a happy family of never-ending laughter with Nana-chan as our beloved daughter!" she grinned, letting out a loud chuckle.
"That sounds like a nightmare..." Aizawa commented, sighing heavily.
"I do miss your quick retorts!" Joke laughed, slapping him playfully on the back. "Teasing you is always good for a laugh, Eraser!"
"So your school's here as well?" Aizawa asked.
"Yeah, they are!" Joke grinned as she turned around to look at her students. "Come on over, everyone! Come meet UA!"
"Woah, it's really them!" a tall boy with curly black hair who was a student of Ketsubutsu Academy. "The first-year kids from UA!"
"Wow!" a shorter blonde girl with bright blue eyes smiled. "All those guys from TV!"
"This is Class 2-2 of Ketsubutsu Academy!" Joke smirked. "Say hello to my students."
The curly black-haired boy quickly jogged up to us and started to introduce himself individually to some of us.
"It's so nice to meet you!" the boy smiled widely, taking both of my hands in his as he leaned closer to my face. "You're Nana Osaki, right? My name is Yo Shindo. I watched you at the Sports Festival and I'm a huge fan of yours!!"
"Thank you." I smiled sheepishly at him with a light blush on my cheeks.
Right on cue, Shoto quickly made his way toward us and stood close by my side.
"Hey..." Shoto called out with a scowl as he grabbed my wrist and released me from Shindo's grasp. "Can't you see you're making her uncomfortable?"
Shindo innocently tilted his head to the side as he looked back and forth between me and Shoto.
"Oh, I'm so sorry!" Shindo gasped as his eyes went wide open in surprise and realization. "I didn't know you were here with your boyfriend."
"H-Huh?! N-No! I-It's not like that!" I exclaimed, blushing furiously. "We're not dating!"
"Oh, really?" Shindo smirked at me. "You don't have a boyfriend then, huh?"
"No..." I responded bashfully, slightly shaking my head.
"Then wanna go out with me?" Shindo grinned mischievously.
"Eh?!" I exclaimed again, now in shock, stunned at how things were shifting so rapidly.
"Okay, that's it!" Bakugo growled, finally losing his patience, as he marched over to us before standing by my other side and glaring at Shindo. "Cut the crap! Your lips can flap all they want, but your mug says otherwise!"
"Knock it off, man!" Kirishima said to Bakugo before looking at Shindo with an apologetic smile. "Sorry about him."
"Not a problem!" Shindo grinned at Kirishima before smirking at Shoto and Bakugo who screamed out danger. "I'm so glad we get a chance to face guys of their caliber today. We're gonna give it our best!"
"Fuck off!" Bakugo snarled lowly under his breath.
"And stay away from Nana..." Shoto warned, glaring daggers at the new boy.
"Can't guarantee you that man!" Shindo smirked, chuckling a bit.
And with that, he gave me a wink and walked away with the rest of his group towards the entrance of the building.
"Well, that was interesting..." Jiro commented, smirking a bit in amusement.
Aizawa simply sighed before looking back at us.
"Everyone, you should head inside..." Aizawa ordered. "The info session will be starting soon. Go and quickly change into your costumes."
"Okay!"
"Yes sir!"
After changing into our hero costumes, we all gathered inside a rather small rectangular hall room. I didn't really know how many people to expect, but the room was so full of people that I barely had my own personal space.
"Hello everyone... Please gather 'round..."
The speakers screeched as a tired-sounding voice crackled to life, the whole room searching for the source of the noise.
"Over here." the same voice said.
We all looked up towards the ceiling and our eyes widened. The voice certainly matched the man it belonged to. His light hair was messy and knotted, dark bags under his eyes and his blazer buttoned up unevenly.
"Welcome to the annual provisional hero license exam..." he said groggily before he went silent for a moment. "Right... the Provisional licensing exam... That's what you're here for... Yeah, I'm Mera, with the Hero Public Safety Commission. My favorite type of sleep is non-rem sleep. Nice to meet you all..."
For a moment his head seemed to loll forward before he jolted awake, blinking a few times.
"Work is so busy that I barely get any sleep! We're terribly short-staffed..." the man groaned, his forehead thudding dully against the podium in front of him. "Just wanna sleep... with that important information out of the way, let me explain the exam..."
"He's not even trying to hide his exhaustion..." I sweat-dropped. "Is this guy really okay?"
After that Mera started to explain the first round of the exam. He said that the exam was free for all. Heroes responded to crises extremely quickly nowadays and as a result, the students would be tested on speed. To accomplish this, only the first 100 students out of 1540 gathered here to take the exam who complete the first test would move on to the next one.
Each student had six red balls and three targets to attach to their body where they were visible to others. The students must hit other students' targets and once a student had all of their targets hit, they were out and whoever attached the third ball claimed the defeat. Participants needed to eliminate two students to move on to the next phase of the exam.
One of the volunteers handed us our balls and targets, which we accepted, trying to figure out the best place to stick them. I decided to place them all on the front of my body so I had a clear sight of them at all times. Two were placed on the sides of my hips and one was on my bicep so that I could quickly and easily cover them if I needed to.
As soon as Mera completed his explanation, the rectangular room suddenly unfolded and revealed a large arena with varying environments. We were standing in the middle of a giant cement square that was surrounded by five distinct areas of terrain. To our left, there was a rocky dirt trail with small mountains and cliffs, and to our right, an industrial-style structure stood tall above the arena. Another section was a replica of a city with skyscrapers and pedestrian streets. I spotted Aizawa and Joke, along with the other teachers, sitting near each other in the bleachers.
"This is unnecessarily big..." I muttered, sweat-dropping while looking around the arena.
A loud horn sounded out over the intercom and the same tried voice from before spoke out.
"The preliminary exam now begins!" the speakers crackled.
"Wait, literally right now?" Kirishima gasped in astonishment.
"We need to stick together..." I stated in a firm tone. "People won't be fighting their own schoolmates. We need to work as a team."
"Nana-chan's right!" Midoriya agreed and nodded his head.
"As if! This ain't some class picnic!" Bakugo grumbled as he rushed off in a different direction.
"I'm out too. I can't make good use of my power if we're packed together." Shoto stated, running off as well in another direction.
"What the?" I gasped and frowned as I watched Shoto and Bakugo running off. "What the hell is wrong with them?"
"It's okay, Nana-san..." Yaoyorozu smiled reassuringly at me as she put a hand on my shoulder. "We're still here..."
"Yeah, let's just stick together as a team as Nana said!" Mina grinned. "We should probably get going now."
"The dirt terrain is probably the best choice!" Midoriya said, leading our group over there.
"Besides, we need to be very careful..." I added, slightly nodding my head.
"Why is that?" Mineta asked in confusion.
"The UA Sports Festival..." I responded and started to explain the situation here. "Because of that, our moves are already well-known. And besides, this is gonna turn into a battle between schools. I'm sure of it. This means our next step is to pick a school to target. Out of all the schools competing today, there's only one school that has lost the advantage of having unknown quirks, and that school is UA which means us the Class 1-A, thanks to the sports festival..."
Then suddenly, I felt some familiar presence around the area, especially from near the mountain tops. It was the students of Ketsubutsu.
"Guys, move away!" I yelled out, warning my friends. "Ketsubutsu is here!"
Right on cue, the entirety of Ketsubutsu walked up to the mountain tops with red balls in their hands as they grinned at us.
"The UA crush!" Shindo smirked. "The nail that sticks out gets hammered down first!!"
With that Shindo led the attack as he and his peers threw their balls at us Class 1-A. Midoriya and I immediately countered the attack with Midoriya throwing his Shoot Style kick while I held up my hands and deflected the balls back to their sources at greater speed and force with the help of my Gravity Manipulation quirk. Our other friends defended themselves using their own quirks as well.
When I used my Gravity Manipulation quirk, I deflected the balls back to their sources with greater strength and speed and while I did that, I used my Kakugan to pinpoint the locations of the targets on the bodies of the Ketsubutsu students, so that the balls I deflected back hit their own targets. Some opponents of mine barely dodged the attack, but those who couldn't react fast got hit by their own targets.
And as soon as that happened, two targets on mine lit up green and I heard a few unfamiliar voices speak up aloud from the distance.
"Wait?! Our targets had been hit!!"
"What the hell?!"
"How's that possible?!"
"Nana-chan!" Midoriya gasped. "Two of your targets turned green!!"
"Yeah." I grinned, pointing a finger at some of the Ketsubutsu students a bit far away from me. "When I used my Gravity Manipulation quirk and deflected back those balls, I used even greater speed and strength which made it hard for them to react to that speed and strength. And not to mention, with the help of my Kakugan, I can narrow the deflection's direction, only pushing away things on certain sides so that nearby allies will be unaffected..."
"That's so cool, Nana!" Mina grinned.
"Thanks." I smiled sheepishly.
"Looks like you already passed huh, Nana Osaki?" Shinso smirked before placing both of his hands on the ground. "Expect nothing less from you, sweetheart."
Then suddenly the whole ground started to shake.
"What the hell's happening?!" Mina yelled.
The ground split down the middle, the plates uprooting and flying in different directions as the ground was smashed to pieces from the vibrations. I was standing on one of the plates and kept my position fixed on it with the help of my Gravity Manipulation quirk.
"That Shindo's quirk!" I spoke up.
I looked around and noticed that our group had been split apart from the ground breaking up, but at least the enemy had the same vision disadvantage as us. I quickly took off, looking for my friends. I found myself leaving the rocky section of terrain, the dirt path ending abruptly and leading into the cityscape.
As I searched for my friends, I noticed a slight increase in the breeze around me, making me shiver slightly. At this point, the pickup of the wind had to be more than a coincidence. I crossed my arms to keep the sides of my jacket from flying, the breeze whipping my shoulder-length black hair in all different directions. My gaze turned to the sky and I had to suppress a gasp. A gigantic cyclone of wind had formed above the skyscrapers not too far away.
"What the hell is that?" I asked myself.
Even from where I was standing, I could see hundreds of red foam balls flying up into the air, trapped inside the tornado. In an instant, they all went completely still before hurtling towards the ground all at once. Panicked cries rose up from the streets as the announcer screeched over the microphone.
"Sorry..." Mera said. "I was just woken up by the sudden influx of failed participants. Someone just took out 120 people with one attack!"
I realized that it was Inasa Yoarashi. I knew about his power well before as I witnessed it at the recommended entrance exams. Not only did he have incredible raw strength, but the control he had over his quirk was almost unheard of. If any one of us were close to being a pro hero, it was him.
"Nana-san?" a familiar voice called out.
I looked over my shoulder to see Yaoyorozu, Jiro, Tsu, and Shoji.
"Hey, guys!" I smiled. "Did you guys get your two points yet?"
"Not yet..." Shoji said. "We were about to go into this building here. According to Jiro, there's been a group of people just sitting inside, talking. Apparently, they haven't moved at all since they got here."
"That sounds pretty suspicious..." I said, trailing off with furrowed eyebrows.
"That's why I wanted to check it out..." Jiro said. "If they're planning something we outta stop them before they get around to it. And if they turn out to be sitting ducks then it's just easy points for us, right?"
"Just keep your guard up!" Yaoyorozu said. "As Nana-san said, it's likely that this is a trap."
"Come on, Yaomomo, with this team we can bust our way out of anything." Jiro grinned.
"Perhaps..." Yaoyorozu said. "But airing on the side of caution never hurt anyone, right?"
We five entered the building and were surprised to see that all of the lights were off. It appeared to be some sort of office workspace, made more ominous by the grim lighting.
"There's no electricity?" Tsu pondered.
"It's only a replica for an exam after all." Shoji pointed out. "They probably expected this place to be destroyed."
"It could be someone's quirk!" Jiro said. "Let me see what I can listen in on from here."
She walked over to the nearest wall and knelt down, plugging in her earphone jack. She listened intently for a moment before quickly removing her hearing piece.
"Impossible..." she muttered under her breath.
"What's wrong?" Tsu asked.
"We have to get out of here..." Jiro said.
"What do you mean?" Yaoyorozu panicked slightly.
"Those people I sensed in the room next door earlier... they're all gone!" Jiro muttered.
"Shit!" I cursed under my breath. "We gotta move!"
But before any of us could do anything, metal grating suddenly slammed down to cover all the windows and doors, leaving us in complete darkness.
"What's happening?" Shoji exclaimed.
I jumped slightly when a faint hissing sound came from the ceiling as the air conditioning vents creaked open. Freezing cold wind began to fill the room, our breath fanning out in white fog in front of us. Frost began to creep up the metal walls as all the moisture in the room slowly began to turn to ice.
"R-Ribbit..." Tsu said drearily as her eyes began to shut instinctively.
"Tsu? What's wrong?" I asked as I rushed to her side, catching her just before she fell to the ground.
"It must be the cold!" Shoji informed. "Her frog nature is telling her to hibernate."
"Someone knew about her quirk?" Jiro asked.
"Thanks to the festival, everyone does." I frowned. "The real question is how whoever set us up knew we were going to be here."
I cursed silently as I felt the frigid air coming in from the vents dramatically drop our already critical body temperature. Momo created a small blanket for Tsu who was shivering in Shoji's many arms.
"Nana, someone's coming!" Shoji said urgently, his ears perking up towards the door. "A group of people, actually. Six of them at least."
"Yeah, I can sense them too. It must be the people who trapped us here. Okay, that's it." I grumbled as I started to create a massive ball of compressed gravity in the palm of my right hand.
"Nana-san, what are you-"
Before Yaoyorozu could say anything more, I shot the ball at the metal door, exploding it into pieces.
"Let's go!" I called out before we all rushed towards the open door.
I noticed the students from Seiai Academy were standing outside the door. So they were the ones, who trapped us inside. Wasting on time, I activated my Ghoul quirk, and in a flash, I dashed outside and before they could even react, kicked and punched them with my Ghoul strength, knocking them all out.
And also while knocking them out cold, Jiro, Yaoyorozu, Tsu, Shoji, and I threw our balls at the Seiai Academy group with ease as we gained points for ourselves. I looked down and noticed that all of my targets turned green. I passed the first round.
"Thanks for the help, Nana!" Jiro smirked.
"Thank you, Nana-san." Yaoyorozu beamed.
"No need to thank me!" I chuckled. "That's what friends are for!"
"Well, let's go and report our results!" Tsu stated.
"Will Izuku and the others be okay?" I asked.
"Of course... Midoriya's hella smart, so he and the rest can handle everything by themselves, I'm sure." Jiro responded.
"Have faith in them, Nana-san." Yaoyorozu smiled. "Our whole class will pass the first round."
"Yeah, you're right." I nodded my head. "Let's go."
Then my friends and I quickly walked back to the waiting room where we found Shoto already there, sitting on a bench all by himself.
"Hey, Shoto." I smiled, walking up to him.
Shoto looked up and smiled back.
"Hey, Nana." He said. "Looks like you passed as well. Congratulations."
"Same goes for you." I chuckled as I took a seat beside him.
I leaned back on the wall behind me and sighed before closing my eyes.
"You know... you could've teamed up with us in the first round..." I muttered.
"That would've only slowed me down, Nana..." Shoto replied, looking down at his hands with a serious look on his face. "This is one of the most important moments in my heroic career. So I had to focus. I didn't want to get distracted. I couldn't afford to mess this up at any cost."
"You're wrong, Shoto." I sighed, opening my eyes again. "Teamwork is always very important, especially in situations like this... You'll understand one day..."
I then stood up from my seat and started to walk away.
"Where are you going?" Shoto asked.
"To buy me a drink..." I said, looking back. "Want some?"
Shoto simply shook his head as a no. I then again turned around and made my way toward a vending machine that sat in the corner of the room.
"Well, if it isn't the princess who passed the first round in one go..." a flirty voice called out.
I turned at the familiar flirtatious voice to see Shindo smirking down at me, leaning casually against the wall.
"Don't call me that." I huffed before buying myself an orange drink. "Anyways, you have no room to talk. Someone got a little too excited and destroyed an entire quarter of the arena two minutes in."
"Hey, I can't help it! My quirk is just that powerful!" he joked.
"What exactly is your quirk, anyway?" I asked as I opened the can and took a small sip of my drink.
"Vibration..." he responded with a suggestive grin.
I spit my drink out and choked slightly.
"It's okay what you're thinking now, sweetheart..." Shindo winked at me.
"S-Shut up!" I exclaimed, blushing furiously as I looked away from him in embarrassment.
3rd Person's POV
As Shindo continued to flirt with Nana, Todoroki sat on the opposite side of the room with his arms crossed, watching their moves with an irritated look on his face. At that moment, Kirishima was passing by and saw Todoroki sitting there, scowling.
"You okay, man?" Kirishima asked; a bit concerned.
Todoroki quickly caught himself and went back to his usual expressionless self.
"It's nothing..." Todoroki muttered.
"You sure?" Kirishima asked, raising an eyebrow.
Todoroki tried to avert his gaze but Kirishima caught on quickly, following his line of sight over to where Nana and Shindo were talking.
"Oh, it's Nana and that Shindo guy..." Kirishima stated before realization hit him. "You're jealous, aren't you, Todoroki?"
"Could you speak any louder?" Todoroki whispered, frowning at his friend.
"You know, you're not the only one who likes Nana..." Kirishima whispered. "Bakugo's there as well. I heard he and Nana had an argument the other day cause she kissed you on your cheek."
"Wait?" Todoroki asked as his eyes widened in shock. "Bakugo saw that?"
"Yeah." Kirishima nodded his head. "Todoroki, if you don't make your moves, you'll miss your chance... You know, if I were you, I would've already made a move on her by now..."
And with that, Kirishima walked away from the bi-colored-haired boy. Todoroki huffed as he sank back into his seat.
"Besides, it's not that simple..." Todoroki trailed off in a whispered tone as his gaze went back to Nana again.
Now that you asked... I think, right now, if Touya suddenly appears and stands in front of me, I'll definitely jump into his arms like a typical shoujo manga heroine... And tell him how much I missed him... How much I felt lonely without him... So yeah... Maybe I still love him...
Nana's POV
After the break, the one hundred students who passed the first round were asked to gather around. As we all gathered in front of a projector screen, Mera started to explain the second round of the exam. I watched the screen then lit up to display the arena where my friends and I had all just fought for our spots among the top 100. The camera slowly zoomed out, showing the whole of the arena in one bird's eye view shot.
Suddenly, several consecutive crashes shook the building as live footage showed each area of terrain being demolished before our eyes. The rocky terrain with the already broken up ground seemed to combust from the inside, mountains collapsing into themselves and landslides forming piles of rubble the size of buildings. The ground creaked and moaned as the metal piping of the industrial zone was snapped by the supportive beams, causing tanks of gas to topple over. In the city residential area, entire rows of houses were flattened into nothing by skyscrapers that had fallen over.
"They destroyed everything?!" Kaminari and Mineta exclaimed.
Mera explained that this was going to be our second round, Rescue Mission. The scenario of the exam is that a terrorist group of villains attacked the area and destroyed the landscape, leaving citizens stranded and injured. Our task was to successfully find and rescue the survivors of this attack. And also we need to treat everything in this situation as real. The people we would be rescuing were all hired and trained professionals. Based on our performance in this test, we would be graded by a point system, and at the end of the exam, those who met the quota would achieve a Provisional license.
As the explanation went on, I stood there and thought of how to operate the rescue mission and what problems we might face during the mission. Soon after the explanation was over and the exam started, a familiar low rumbling resonated inside the room and we went on high alert as the walls once again burst at the seams, rays of light streaming in from the cracks until the building came down completely.
I looked around and found myself in the center of the city replica and it was worse than I had thought or seen on the projector screen. There was not one building left standing, all of them either collapsed or leveled completely.
"This is teamwork, guys!" I stated. "This isn't an individual challenge anymore, so we should be working with other schools too."
"I ain't gonna do that!" Bakugo grumbled, already taking off by himself.
I sighed and rubbed my forehead. I looked around and saw Shoto wasn't there as well.
"Shoto's gone too, huh?" I mumbled.
"It's okay, Nana-san." Yaoyorozu smiled. "We're here with you."
"Guys, we need to scatter around!" Midoriya announced.
"Right, everyone, break into teams of two to four. Half of the teams will search here in the city while the other half spreads out to search in the other areas!" Iida shouted out.
"Okay!!"
Everyone then broke off into different teams. Mina, Sero, and Kirishima went off to the landslide zone while Jiro, Hagakure, and Yaoyorozu went deeper into the city.
"Izuku, let's partner up." I smiled.
"Yeah!" Midoriya beamed.
We both then started running off into the city. After running a short distance, we suddenly stopped as a scream rang out from somewhere nearby.
"Help! Please help me!"
"Did you hear that?" I asked.
Midoriya nodded, looking around for the source of the voice.
"Please, somebody! Anybody!"
"It's coming from under that house over there!" I stated, running over to it and trying to see under the rubble.
In the darkness, I could barely make out the image of a small boy kneeling over an older man. The boy's head was bleeding and the man appeared to be unconscious.
"Please help!" the boy wailed. "My head hurts and my grandpa isn't saying anything!"
"Crap, this looks really bad!" Midoriya said. "We have to get them out of there!"
"Hello, we're here! Don't worry!" I called out, reaching out to the boy. "We'll save you."
"That's right! We came to rescue you!" Midoriya added, nodding his head. "Everything's gonna be alright!"
I looked up at the ceiling and noticed that two walls of the house had collapsed so they were leaning against one other at just the right angle. An extremely precarious-looking triangle formation was created, the only thing keeping the walls upright being each other.
"Izuku, I will reinforce the ceiling and you go and grab the kid. I'll get the grandfather..." I ordered.
"Okay, Nana-chan." Midoriya nodded his head.
I set straight to work, using my Gravity Manipulation quirk to reinforce the ceiling so Midoriya could safely enter and grab the boy. I then followed him inside to check the older man's pulse and vitals.
"Your grandfather is alive, but he's unconscious..." I explained to the boy. "We'll get you both to the medical wing right away, okay?"
"Plus points, both of you!" the boy spoke up.
"Eh?!" Midoriya and I exclaimed at the same time.
Then I realized that the professional victims were the ones grading us.
"You both are acting like real heroes!" the boy grinned.
Midoriya and I quickly snapped out of our daze and quickly carried his grandfather to the nearby rescue area and we were shocked to find several civilians already there.
"This boy hit his head, but there doesn't appear to be any trauma..." I explained to one of the healers. "He still responds clearly to questions and can walk on his own. His grandfather is unconscious, however."
"Thank you!" she said. "I'll take care of them from here."
"Izuku." I turned to look at my friend. "Let's go and save more as we can."
"Right!" he replied.
We both rushed over and started to save more people with the help of our other friends like Sato, Uraraka, Yaoyorozu, Sero, and more. In large-scale disasters like this, there were never quite enough rescue workers on hand. That means the ones who were around had to make every action count as efficiently as possible. Trying to handle a job alone would only up precious time.
The most important thing was to know the limits of one's own quirk so that roles could be divvied up appropriately for everyone. But a test like this was all about showing individual merit so it took a lot of courage to earnestly accept the role one had to play. It was something that could only be done by understanding the whole situation.
Then all of a sudden, I heard Bakugo yelling from a distance.
"Shut up!!" he yelled. "Save your own damn selves!!!"
"What the?" I sweat-dropped.
BOOOM!!!
Right on cue, an explosion went off. We all turned around at the sound and saw smoke billowing up from the hole in the arena wall and from where I stood I could clearly see a tall, muscular, finned figure emerge from the darkness. It was Gang Orca. A sadistic grin spread across the pro hero's whale-like features as he gave a small signal to the group behind him. Suddenly, hundreds of his armed minions flooded into the arena.
"No way!" Midoriya's eyes widened in shock.
"Gang Orca?!" Shindo exclaimed.
"I knew this was gonna happen." I frowned. "It's part of the scenario. Remember? The city was destroyed by a group of villains. If there was a real terrorist attack wouldn't they likely still be in the area?"
"Oh right!" Midoriya gasped out.
"We've to fight and save people's lives!" I added. "Izuku, Shindo, you guys go ahead and fight! I'll join you guys later!"
"Right!!"
I quickly dashed back with the help of my Ghoul speed and carefully captured a few more victims with the help of my Rinkaku Kagune and carried them to the medical area. I went back and rescued a few more victims when suddenly a deafening high-pitched sound rang out in my ears and I quickly covered them as my mind reeled at the sheer volume.
I noticed that Shindo managed to keep the first sound wave from Orca back by creating tremors with his quirk to break up the ground. But then Gang Orca surprise attacked him using his Orcinus quirk to paralyze Shindo with an ultrasonic wave attack. Shindo was hit directly with that wave and his body went stiff, eyes rolling into the back of his head as he fell to the ground.
"Looks like you were underestimating me!" Orca commented.
"Paralysis?" Midoriya asked.
"It must be his sonar amplifier..." I muttered to myself. "This isn't good."
Suddenly Gang Orca turned to face Midoriya after he watched Shindo collapse. But before Orca could attack Midoriya and the other students who were trying to evacuate the first aid area, Shoto stopped him with an ice wave. Ojiro, Mina, Tokoyami, and other students quickly arrived at the stop to help with the evacuation effort.
"Looks like I made it in time..." Shoto stated. "So they hired one of the top ten pro heroes to participate in this exam? They must take themselves pretty seriously."
Orca used his sonic waves to destroy Shoto's ice attack while his men were frozen in place. I quickly dashed towards where the boys were and activated both my quirks and as soon as I came closer to Orca, I dodged his attack and jumped up in the air, kicking him hard with my Ghoul quirk strength on his head and sending him flying to the other direction. He might be strong but he wasn't as strong as me, given the fact that I had the Ghoul quirk.
Orca soon recovered from my kick and again charged toward me. I then started to distract him by shooting crystallized bullets toward him at full speed from my Ukaku Kagune which he barely dodged. While Orca was distracted, Midoriya activated his full cowling. He weaved his way around his large body, delivering small but pointed jabs at various pressure points.
As Midoriya saw Shoto charging up his air, he jumped out of the way making room for the ice attack that came hurdling towards the aquatic villain. But once again Orca used his sonic waves to destroy Shoto's ice attack.
"As expected from the number ten pro hero..." Shoto mumbled.
Orca then sent another sonar attack toward Shoto. In a flash, I dashed forward and stretched out one of the tails of my Rinkaku Kagune and wrapped it around Shoto, quickly moving him away from Orca's paralysis waves. As soon as I moved Shoto out of the way, I quickly shot a compressed gravity ball at Orca, hitting him right in the chest.
"Shoto, now!" I shouted.
Wasting no time, Shoto's ice grew in size and power. But before he could even attack Orca, Yoarashi arrived at the scene and used his wind to blow the villains away.
"What the hell?" Shoto said in shock.
"I am here to help!" Yoarashi shouted down from the sky as the cold wind rushed around us. "A villain attack, huh? You guys have prepared some pretty hot development!"
Shoto and Yoarashi were immediately irritated by the sight of each other while the proctors who were watching the exam were impressed by other students' prioritization of the first aid station and agreed that Shoto, Yoarashi, and I were best suited to fighting the villains. Shoto gritted his teeth hard, trying not to lose his temper at such a critical point in the battle as I put a hand on his shoulder.
"Shoto, calm down..." I whispered.
"Why don't you go help evacuate the first-aid station?" Shoto asked Yoarashi in annoyance. "That works with your quirk, right? Nana and I'll take care of Orca."
Right on cue, Shoto tried to attack with a stream of fire but Yoarashi used his wind at the same time and they both ended up missing.
"Huh? What are they aiming at?" One of Orca's minions asked in confusion.
"What the hell are you guys doing?" I deadpanned.
"Why'd you use your flames?!" Yoarashi yelled. "The heat makes the wind rise!"
"Because my ice was blocked earlier!" Shoto yelled back. "Didn't you do that on purpose?! Your wind blew away my flames!"
"You're the one who did it on purpose to keep me from getting all the glory!" Yoarashi growled.
"Huh?! Why would I do that?!" Shoto snarled.
"Why won't you?! I mean, you're the son of that Endeavor!"
"What the hell has been wrong with you this whole time?! My old man has nothing to do with it!"
Orca, his minions, and I simply stood there with a deadpan look on our faces as we watched their childish bickering. At that moment, one of Orca's minions was about to hit Shoto with his cement gun but I quickly wrapped my Rinkaku Kagune around Shoto's form and pulled him away from his spot.
"Stop it right now, you idiots!!" I scolded.
Orca stated that it was outrageous that the students would argue in this situation and his men again attacked us with their cement guns. Shoto quickly blocked the incoming attacks with his ice, saving both of us while Yoarashi dodged them, but after that, the two boys again continued to argue with each other.
Yoarashi explained that heroes were supposed to be passionate but Shoto and his father had too much hate in their hearts and came off as cold rather than hot-spirited. He was once blown off by Endeavor for an autograph and then his son did the same thing at the U.A. Entrance Exam for recommended students.
"Shoto!" I called. "This is not the time for that shit! We have a much bigger problem to handle! Focus on Orca and his gang!"
But my words didn't reach them as Shoto's flames were getting hotter and hotter from his anger and rising body temperature, Yoarashi's cold wind blowing them in all sorts of directions. My eyes widened as I spotted a wave of flames flying toward me in the corner of my eye. I quickly activated my Ukaku Kagune and blocked the fire attack. I gritted my teeth in pain as Shoto's fire burned the skin of my Ukaku Kagune but it immediately healed because of my Ghoul quirk healing factor.
"What you guys are doing?!" I yelled, frowning.
But my words fell on two pairs of deaf ears. Another relentless fire attack came from Todoroki's left side, but this time it was directed at Yoarashi. Yoarashi's eyes widened in surprise and then narrowed in pure hatred, blowing the fire back with such immense force that it spewed outwards towards the rescue area. I quickly activated my Gravity Manipulation quirk and focused my quirk on the ground with the help of my legs. I quickly lifted shards of rubble and huge rocks up in the air and created a huge wall, blocking the fire from reaching the injured victims.
I was about to run and stop the two idiots when I noticed Shindo a few meters away, still paralyzed on the ground. I could see the fear in his gaze as he lay there, helpless as a stray wave of flame was fast approaching him. He shut his eyes tight, prepared for the worst. Wasting no time, in a flash, I dashed towards him with my Ghoul speed and picked him up in my arms, moving away from the spot in a flash before Shoto's flame could hit us.
I felt the fire nearly graze the tip of my Ukaku Kagune as I dashed away from the spot with Shindo in my arms. I then landed on the ground again and carefully set Shindo down, safe away from all the fire attacks.
"N-Nana?" Shindo mumbled meekly.
"Glad you're okay..." I stated, gently patting his head.
"You saved me..." Shindo said softly.
"I couldn't leave you there." I chuckled.
"No, seriously. You saved my life." Shindo said in a serious tone. "If that combined attack of Todoroki and Yoarashi had hit me, I would've died. So, thank you, Nana..."
I chuckled again and shook my head.
"Well, I've to go now." I smiled. "Take care, Shindo. And if you can, please keep the villains away from the victims."
"Okay." Shindo smiled, nodding his head.
With that, I dashed off and quickly made my way toward Gang Orca, Shoto, and Yoarashi. Orca again got close to Shoto and then surprise attacked Yoarashi while he was dodging the cement guns. Then he grabbed Shoto and paralyzed him with the same hypersonic wave attack. It didn't have quite as strong of an effect on Yoarashi because it was used at long range, but it was enough to immobilize him.
The sidekicks then rushed to attack the evacuation effort. Shindo then quickly recovered and used tremors to keep the villains back. He explained that his brain was used to being shaken because of his quirk, so Orca's earlier attack didn't have as much of an effect as it should have. Shindo was planning to use that to surprise the No. 10 hero, but my Class 1-A friends got in the way. Shindo told Midoriya to split up and help rescue the remaining evacuees.
Orca then dropped Shoto and went to finish off Yoarashi, but I quickly made it in time and punched Orca square in the face and sent him flying way back. Ojiro, Mina, Momo, Uraraka, Iida, Tsu, and many others also joined the battlefield and started to take down Orca's minions.
"What the fuck is wrong with you two?!" I snarled, my Kakugan glowing dangerously at Shoto and Yoarashi with the tails of my Rinkaku Kagune pointing at them. "You almost killed Shindo!! Heck, you almost killed me with your fire as well, Shoto!! We've villains to handle right now, so stop fighting like crackheads!!"
"Do you really think a puny hero like you can stop me?" Orca said sarcastically.
"Of course, I can! Just you watch!" I smirked at Orca before looking back at Shoto and Yoarashi with a death glare. "Stop acting like little bitches and if you can, then help me out!"
Right on cue, I dashed forward and went right for the offensive, aiming my signature right swing at Orca's face. The villain ducked under it, but I was already prepared for that as I felt energy surge through my body and my strength increased from my Ghoul quirk and my Gravity Manipulation quirk. I increased the density of my arms and legs and delivered a swift kick to Orca's gut as the villain reeled back in pain.
I threw a few more quick and powerful punches and kicks at Orca before he could even react and attack me back. At one point, I called out to Shoto and Yoarashi who were still lying on the ground, unable to move.
"Shoto, Yoarashi! Now!" I shouted.
Right on cue, Shoto staked the battle and unleashed his flames at their full power while Yoarashi combined his wind with the fire and they managed to trap Gang Orca inside a spiral of fire. Orca's sidekicks knew that he was weak to extreme heat and they attacked Shoto while he was still on the ground. Shoto was able to use his ice at the same time to defend himself because his body couldn't move.
Wasting no time, I then created a massive compressed gravity ball on the palm of my right hand and shot directly at Orca. A huge explosion went off as he got hit by the ball and flew away across the arena, eventually, his body hit the boundary wall which made a huge hole in it after the impact. I noticed Orca was now knocked out cold because of my attack, making me worry a bit.
"Will he be okay?" I mumbled in concern.
"I hope so..." Shoto responded.
Then all of a sudden a loud buzz went off.
"OVER!!!"
"It's over?!" Midoriya exclaimed.
"I guess so..." I mumbled.
"Congratulations, you've completed the exam. Now, if you'll all look up at the bleachers, I'll display the results of the final test on the widescreen."
Everyone gathered around in front of a huge screen as my heart raced in my chest like a damn horse while my eyes scanned my name. A few seconds later, my eyes lit up in joy as a huge grin appeared on my face when I saw my name on the list:
(大崎 ナナ/OSAKI NANA)
I let out a heavy sigh of relief.
"I did it!" I cheered.
"Congratulations."
I turned to see Shoto standing there with a solemn expression on his face.
"Shoto..." I mumbled.
"How's your Kagune?" he asked in a concerned tone.
"Better now, thanks to my Ghoul quirk healing factor..." I responded in a reassuring tone. "So, did you..."
Shoto shook his head and his dejected look tightened my chest in sorrow.
"I'm sorry, Shoto..." I mumbled.
"It was my fault I didn't pass." He muttered. "You were right, I was being stupid and childish. I let my personal feelings get in the way of the mission."
"Hey, Todoroki!" Yoarashi said, walking up to us before he bowed down as his head hit the ground. "I am sorry! It was entirely my fault that you didn't pass! My pettiness is to blame! Sorry!"
"No, I started it back then..." Shoto shook his head. "There is no need for all this. You approached me open and honestly, it helped me realize some things..."
"You failed too, huh?" I asked.
"Yes." Yoarashi nodded his head.
"Todoroki, you failed?" Mina asked.
"So neither of our top two dudes passed..." Sero noted.
I noticed that Bakugo gritting his teeth in anger while Kaminari poked fun at him for failing.
"Next we will be handing out score sheets..." Mera announced. "We have explained the scoring system in detail so read them over carefully. It was a punitive scoring system with a threshold of 50 points. On your score sheets, you will see how many points you lost for each given action."
"61, close enough!" Ojiro muttered in relief.
"84, pretty awesome, huh?" Sero smirked.
"Hold up! You got 94, Momo?!" Jiro exclaimed.
"I got 80..." Iida stated.
"I got 71." Midoriya chimed in.
"Nana got 98!!!" Mina gasped in shock as she looked down at the paper in my hands.
"WHAT?!"
"Yeah..." I chuckled sheepishly.
Then again Mera started to speak up again.
"Going forward, those who passed now have the legal right to act in a hero way capacity but only during emergencies. That means fighting villains and rescuing people in disaster scenarios. Even without a professional hero's guidance, you are permitted to take action on your own. But keep in mind that every action you take comes with a heavy responsibility to society. As you all know the great hero All Might is out of commission. 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, now 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. Now then, as for those who didn't make the cut, don't be disheartened by your scores. You don't have time for that, especially because there's still a chance. If you sign up for and complete a special three-month training course and pass the individual test at the end, you too will be awarded your professional licenses. 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 are chosen to move on all have potential worth cultivating. That's exactly why we monitor you all to the very end. Just because you fail 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 passed today. Attending the training course while maintaining your regular coursework will make for a packed schedule but if you are up for the challenge the next test is in April..."
"Hell yeah!" Bakugo growled.
"We're doing this..." Shoto stated with determination.
"Yes please, and thank you!!" Yoarashi grinned.
"That's great news, Shoto." I smiled.
"I will catch up soon..." Shoto muttered.
"Of course, you will." I chuckled, patting his back.
After that, those who passed were handed their provisional license cards. I looked down at my own one in my hands and smiled. So finally the provisional license exam was completed and we took another big step forward, a step forward to becoming heroes.
Later that night
After the exam was over, those we passed received a hard copy of our provisional license, making me almost tear up with joy. Among us, only Shoto and Bakugo were the ones who didn't pass the exam, but could still get their licenses by attending a three-month-long remedial course.
We all just now finished having our dinner and I went straight to my bedroom after brushing my teeth. My whole body was now aching after the exam was over and only a deep sleep could cure this stupid ache.
I walked into my bedroom and locked the door behind me. I slightly shivered as I felt the temperature of my room was quite cold. I also sensed someone else's presence lingering in my room with the help of my Ghoul quirk and for some reason, the presence was quite familiar to me. I noticed no one in the room, so I assumed that the person left the room just before I walked in. I held my guard up and looked around the room, suddenly noticing the window to be slightly open.
"Who opened it? Did I keep it open?" I mumbled, slightly frowning as I walked over to the window.
As I closed the window, I noticed something strange. I found an envelope and a beautiful red camellia flower on my study desk.
"What the hell?"
I picked up both the flower and the envelope and studied the objects carefully. I then slowly opened the envelope and found a letter inside it.
My dear Tsubaki,
Congratulations on passing the Provisional Hero License Exam. I knew you could do it. After all, you're The Great Nana Osaki. I'm really happy for you. I know you must be thinking about who I am. But don't worry, my love. We'll meet again very soon. Oh, and one more thing I need to mention to you. I love you, Nana Osaki.
Your's only,
T
"Huh?!" my voice hitched after reading the letter.
Who the hell is this? Who the fuck is 'T'? And this person's saying that we met before? And that they love me?! Also, this person addressed me as Tsubaki...
I looked down at the red camellia flower in my hand and slowly brought it closer to my nose, sniffing the sweet smell of the flower as bittersweet flashbacks started to play in my mind.
Nana-chan, what's your favorite flower?
Well, I've lots of favorite flowers, but red camellia (Tsubaki) is at the top!
Oh really? You know... You're really pretty like the red camellia, Nana-chan.
N-No I-I'm not! Stop teasing me, Touya-kun!
Yes, you are! So from now on, I'll call you Tsubaki... That's my nickname for you...
"Only Touya called me by that name..." I trailed off before I quickly again rushed over to the window.
I opened the window and looked outside to find anyone suspicious around. I narrowed my eyes when I noticed a familiar figure with raven hair far away from our dorm and UA campus, walking down the street with a lighted cigar between his lips.
"Wait a fucking second..." I trailed off, as my eyes slowly widened in realization. "Is that... Dabi?!"
[Side note: Tsubaki is the Japanese name for the Red Camellia flower and the symbolism/meaning of this flower in Japan is – In Love or Perishing with Grace.]