Todoroki, Yaoyorozu, and I went into the waiting room and were waiting patiently for our turn, trying to come up with a plan against the old man, but with his Quirk, our usual fighting strategies are no good and it shots down almost every plan we have in mind.
"Team Sato and Kirishima retires due to both members losing consciousness." We heard over the loud speakers and were shocked.
"No way..." Yaoyorozu whispered out, her voice shaking a bit.
Todoroki looked indifferent, but I could tell this announcement slightly disturbed him. I felt the same way, because the it's barely been a minute since their test started!
It was time for Tokoyami and Asui's test to start and even though it was for about 10 minutes, it felt like an hour as I was so nervous for mine.
When we heard they passed, it was a relief that while this test was hard, it wasn't impossible.
Yaoyorozu stood up and looked up at the speakers. "Tokoyami and Asui have passed." She quietly said to herself.
I saw that she had this weird look on her face when she heard the announcement. I guess she's still upset about her loss against Tokoyami during the Sports Festival.
I perked up a bit when I heard it was Iida's turn. I turned to my teammates. "I'm going to watch Iida's test, okay?" I silently asked for their permission and they nodded.
I walked in the monitoring room and saw Izuku and Uraraka. "What are you guys doing here? Don't you want to plan with your...partners..." I then remembered who their partners were and I can already guess what happened. "Never mind."
They both laughed with a sweat drop. "Yeah..."
Izuku's POV:
I looked at him, confused. "What are you doing here? Shouldn't you be with your team, planning?" Yaoyorozu and Todoroki are reasonable people, unlike our partners.
He smiled sheepishly. "Yeah, but I wanted to see Iida perform and I got permission from my teammates."
Is it just me or did Danny and Iida get a lot closer since yesterday? Today, when the class got together, Danny greeted Iida with a smile I've never seen before.
It felt so...alive and real. Not that his other smiles were fake! It's just that...he just seemed a lot more happier than usual.
I wonder if something happened between the two of them when they walked home together last night. I never really thought about this before, but when has Danny really got close to anyone his age?
Sure, he's close to Aizawa-sensei and Present Mic, but that's it and they're all adults. They're his family.
He's nice and friendly, but he doesn't get too close to anyone friend-wise...like he's afraid of something.
Whenever we try to invite him out to hang with us, he always declines. The only thing we really do together outside of school is walking home.
I would've kept my thoughts going, but Iida and Ojiro's test started. The minute the test started, things already looked pretty bad for the duo as Power Loader kept destroying the ground.
Then Ojiro got on to Iida's back and, while it was a close call for a minute with Power Loader destroying the ground on where they were going to land, but Iida extended his jump range with his Quirk and threw Ojiro to the goal and passed!
"They're both amazing!" Uraraka commented and I thought the same thing as well.
While Iida can be sometimes...uncool...he can also be pretty cool other times.
I heard Danny speak. "I knew Iida could pass! Well, can't let him show me up!" He then turned around to go out the door as it was his turn to take the test.
Wow...even though I believed in Iida, Danny sounded like he was 100% positive. What happened between those two that caused them to be so close?
Danny's POV:
Like I said, I'll always believe in Iida. No matter what, because one day...he's going to pull me out of the darkness, right?
I went out with Todoroki and Yaoyorozu. We went out to the training field that now looked like a neighborhood.
"It's our turn. Let's go." Todoroki ordered as he started to walk to our destination, but Yaoyorozu wasn't responding or following.
"Yaoyorozu!" I shouted a bit to get her attention and she looked up, surprised, like someone woke her up from a daydream.
"Are you nervous?" Todoroki asked her with a hint of worry.
"N-no." 'Liar.' I thought with a sigh.
"Well, considering who we're up against..." He said in understanding.
I nodded my head in agreement as well. "No kidding. Do you know how many times that stupid old man kicked my ass?" I smiled in a joking manner, trying to ease the tension in the air.
"I have a plan." The half and half announced with confidence.
That's when we heard the bell. "Team Todoroki, Aizawa, and Yaoyorozu, practical exam. Ready, go!"
We started to run in an alley. "Yaoyorozu! It doesn't matter what you make, just keep creating small objects. When you can't make them anymore, that means Aizawa-sensei is close. Danny, keep your strength as the two of us will tag team once we find Aizawa-sensei." Todoroki ordered, starting to take charge.
We nodded our heads and I was extremely relieved I didn't have to take the position as leader.
"This exam will depend on who finds who first." I said as I knew this was not going to be a walk in the park.
"Once we can see him, I'll draw him to me and Danny will sneak behind him from the back." Todoroki planned and I saw several holes in that formation.
"That's not going to work. The old man specializes in sneak attacks and will most likely come when least expected. Even with my Quirk, that demon always knows where I am!" I pointed out in slight annoyance.
"And we don't know whether this will be a ground battle or an aerial one. He always liked to jump on high places whenever he could." I explained, thinking of all the times he chased me from the rooftops of buildings whenever we played 'Heroes and Villans' as training. It's the Quirk version of Cops and Robbers.
"And fighting him directly in hand to hand combat is one of the worse decisions you could ever make. With his flexibility, strength, bandage wraps, and experience, he would surely have us on the ground in 5 seconds, especially if we can't use our Quirks! And he always had this annoying habit of changing strategies at the last minute!" I immediately shot down that plan.
Todoroki looked a little frustrated. "Then we see what he's planning and try to counter it." That's not much, but at least it's something.
We both had to question the Russia dolls that Yaoyorozu was making. "Let us know if there is anything wrong with your Quirk." Todoroki ordered and kept running.
"You both are amazing, Danny and Todoroki." Yaoyorozu stated in awe and a hint of...jealousy?
"What do you mean?" Todoroki asked her in confusion as I also looked at her with a raised eyebrow.
"You two were able to were able to come up with the best strategy against Aizawa-sensei so quickly." She explained her awe.
"It's really nothing special." I said back, a bit taken aback that she said that as she's also a brilliant strategist herself.
She then started to explain all her failures and I realized what the problem was. This girl has no confidence.
She never had the abusive, harsh mental training that Todoroki and I both went through and emotional wise, her mind is that of a normal 15 year old girl. This might be a problem.
Two tortured teenagers and one person with a nice, rich, and sheltered childhood is probably not the best combination.
That's when we noticed that Yaoyorozu's Quirk stopped working and the old man snuck up on us.
When Todoroki and I were both taken down, while she did freak out a bit, Todoroki regained her confidence by stating that he's the second person who voted for her during the class representative election, and saved us.
She came up with a really brilliant plan and started to explain it to us.
This plan...it seemed a bit complicated and complicated plans always have the biggest chance in failing because even one mistake could end in a big catastrophe for us.
I then thought about what the old man said to me when he took me down.
"Maybe you should trust your teammates more to have your backs."
I looked down and decided that maybe...this one time...I'll put all my trust in Yaoyorozu and this plan.
It involved using black cloaks to avoid having our Quirks stopped and I fought him, slowly bringing him over to the Yaoyorozu's catapult.
When he was right in position, she then catapulted wraps of nitinol alloy and Todoroki using his fire to harden it and trap the old man, resulting in our win.
Though this plan did go a bit too well, now that I think about it...The old man had a chance at destroying the catapult, thus ending the plan in a disaster.
The old man then explained that he thought Todoroki was going to freeze him so he thought that jumping away was a better course of action than destroying the catapult.
I looked at him in doubt. After sparring with him for so many times, I could tell that he was holding back. Was the statement that the teachers wouldn't hold back a lie?
Probably. I should've known. There was no way these teachers would go all out for a test.
I decided to go outside to get some fresh air once the test was over. I looked at my hands. I trusted someone...over whether I passed or failed this exam.
In Ghostzone, Desiree and Elaine were the only ones I could trust. Trust was something that was almost foreign to me as almost everyone followed Vlad out of fear or respect, so there was barely anyone I could turn to.
And making friends...I just don't want them to end up like Elaine. When Vlad announced that he sent the knights to kill her, I immediately went to go and find her, only to see her bloody body, barely breathing.
That was probably the most traumatizing experience I've ever had. Her last words...her last thoughts...I heard them all and I just wished she heard my last thoughts.
Flashback
Danny: 12 years old
I have to find her! I have to find her before they kill her! I saw a crimson red stream of blood flowing and I immediately knew I was too late.
I went to the source and found Elaine. No! I ran to her and saw her barely breathing.
"Danny?" She opened her eyes weakly. "Is that you?" She smiled but her eyes had tears in it.
"Yeah, it's me! Elaine! I'm so sorry! We'll find a healer for you! I'm sure somebody here has a Quirk like that!" I shouted at her in desperation. Please don't die!
"You and I both know it's too late for me." She coughed up some blood and she was right. I just didn't want to believe it.
"I'm so sorry, Elaine! If it weren't for me, you would've lived a longer and happier life. I ruined everything for you!" Tears filled up my eyes as I knew my only friend and first love was on the brink of death.
She smiled weakly at me. "You idiot. My parents abandoned me and my last friend died from disease. Meeting you..." She coughed up more blood. "was probably the best thing that has ever happened to me. I couldn't have asked for a happier life."
She reached up and touched my cheeks. "The only thing I regret is making you sad and not being able to see the outside world with you. The stories you told were all really amazing. I would've loved to see it."
More tears filled my vision. "Me, too. I wanted you to see the cherry blossoms. They don't have anything like that here." Please don't leave me.
"Before I go, I wanted you to know something, even though this might make you more sad. Danny, I love you." She kissed me on the lips and my lips now tasted like blood, but I didn't care.
"I..." I started but she took her last breath. "..love you, too." Elaine! No!
Flashback end
I don't want to experience something like that again. Her death really hit me hard. Even more than my family's as I didn't see them die in front of my eyes.
I looked looked at the building where the test was held. Should I try this trust and friendship thing one more time?
To be continued...