--Sunday, August 30, 2172
"I got here and started getting nervous…"
Outside of a U.A. bus, Kyoka Jiro commented in a somewhat apprehensive voice as she looked at the building where the provisional license exam would take place. At that moment, Kai stepped off the bus with the cats on his shoulders, at which point he scanned with his gaze the large number of students of different ages and schools already at the location.
While Kai studied the surroundings, Aizawa stood in front of the group and then spoke in a firm voice that was considerably more rested than usual, as if he had finally been able to get some sleep.
"Stay calm and focused. The training camp was precisely for this moment. If you can pass this test and obtain your provisional licenses, then you'll finally go from eggs to chicks… You'll become semi-professionals. Do your best."
"Haha, alright! I'll become a chicken!" Kaminari raised a fist in the air and commented with a confident, energetic voice. Kirishima also raised his fist in the air and announced, full of conviction:
"Today we go all out! Plus…"
"Ultra!"
Just before Kirishima could finish, a hoarse but energy-filled male voice resounded from behind, stopping him dead in his tracks. At that moment, a calm male voice commented somewhat helplessly.
"You shouldn't interrupt other people's business, Inasa."
"Oh, no!"
The young man who had spoken—a tall, sturdy youth with a military-style cap, white shirt, and black pants—exclaimed loudly and immediately afterward stood firmly at attention like a soldier. To everyone's surprise, the youth soon bowed at the waist and slammed his head against the ground—exaggerating the typical Japanese bow on several levels—and then shouted at the top of his lungs.
"I'm terribly sorry!!!"
"What's with this guy trying to fix things with pure enthusiasm?!"
While Kai raised an eyebrow and fixed his gaze on the strange, energetic youth, Kaminari exclaimed incredulously as he pointed at him. At that moment, Kyoka Jiro widened her eyes in surprise and then exclaimed.
"Wait, that uniform isn't…"
"U.A. in the east and Shiketsu in the west…" Bakugo muttered in his hoarse but unusually calm voice. Meanwhile, Momo, knowing Kai, approached him and whispered in a soft voice.
"They're from Shiketsu High School, an elite school that rivals our U.A."
"I see… Although that idiot seems familiar to me…" Kai commented in a casual voice as he pointed at the exaggeratedly energetic young man, who soon stood up and shouted loudly while blood dripped down his head:
"I wanted to say it at least once!!! Plus Ultra!!!! I love U.A.!!!! I feel extremely honored to be able to compe—"
As he spoke, the youth shouted louder and louder, but suddenly, a mountain of pure pressure seemed to descend upon the place, which caused his voice to stop dead and his expression to become focused and grave. As an inexplicable existential terror and reverence surged from the depths of the souls of those present, a cold and annoyed voice resounded, giving them the sensation that the Demon King himself was commanding them.
"Talk like a normal fucking person, you screaming piece of shit."
With his brow furrowed and rubbing one ear, Kai commented as he concentrated his Conqueror's Haki on the energetic young man who seemed to have a megaphone in his throat—a gesture the cats also made.
Having sensitive ears, the annoyance from the endless shouting of that clown caused him physical pain, so if his master hadn't acted, Salem himself would have gone to tear out the kid's throat.
"Saito Kai… It's a pleasure to see you again." At that moment, the youth, head still bleeding, focused his gaze on Kai and greeted him in a challenging voice.
The youth's call caused the students of Class A to turn around and look at Kai curiously, at which point Aizawa commented in a calm, measured voice.
"Yoarashi Inasa… Last year, the same year as you all, Yoarashi had the second-best score of those admitted through recommendations."
"First year?" Midoriya couldn't help but murmur in disbelief, followed closely by Mina, who looked at Momo and whispered in a similar tone.
"The second?"
"Yoarashi-san, a pleasure to see you again."
Momo commented with a smile as she clung to Kai, who nodded casually. At that moment, Inasa's companion looked Kai up and down and commented with a challenging smile.
"So this is what the 'Demon King' looks like up close… Let's go, Inasa."
"Then, U.A., excuse us!"
Inasa announced in an energetic voice, then gave one last look at Kai and finally at Todoroki, who returned the look firmly. Then, Inasa placed his military cap over his bald, bloodied head and followed his companions.
"Eraser? It's Eraser!"
At that moment, from the back, a melodious and cheerful feminine voice could be heard, which caused Aizawa to stumble while the rest of the students turned to look. The one who spoke was a young, athletically built female pro hero with green hair and eyes, in whom a beautiful and jovial smile stood out.
The woman's costume consisted of a navy blue sleeveless shirt with a high collar, puffy green-and-orange striped shorts, and a corset adorned with smiley-face pins. Completing the look were a white V-belt, padded yellow gloves with gold plates, tubular orange sleeves with metallic wristbands, an orange scarf, and a white mask featuring smiling faces on the sides.
"Haha, I've seen you a lot on TV, but it's been a long time since we saw each other in person!" The woman spoke cheerfully as she walked toward Aizawa with one hand outstretched in greeting.
But as if he were facing his greatest nemesis, Aizawa furrowed his brow and let out a groan of displeasure as he stepped back. Still, without worrying about that or the curious looks from the students, the woman arrived in front of Aizawa and pointed to herself and then to him, then spoke with a smile.
"Let's get married."
"No." Aizawa replied in a dry, firm voice while Mina jumped over to Momo with heart-shaped eyes, wanting to gossip about it.
"No? You're good! Hahaha"
The beautiful woman turned around and began to laugh while holding her stomach. Aizawa, hands in his pockets and with an impassive attitude, commented as he looked at the laughing heroine.
"As usual, you're hard to deal with, Joke."
"Smile Hero: Miss Joke!!" With shining eyes, Midoriya announced the heroine's name. She commented, full of confidence, as she gave Aizawa a thumbs up.
"If you marry me, then we can have a happy family with an eternal smile!"
"A family like that can't be happy."
Aizawa once again replied in a dry tone, causing the smiling beauty to burst into laughter, but soon the heroine turned to look at Kai, who was still curiously observing his surroundings, and commented with a smile.
"Saito Kai, you've grown so much! The last time I saw you, you could barely walk, and you were so cowardly that you hid behind your mother every time someone looked at you, hahaha!"
"So, basically, you're old enough to be my mother; good to know."
Kai commented in a slightly sarcastic voice, which caused the smiling beauty to take a step back, visibly surprised, but soon she burst into laughter again. Right at that moment, Aizawa looked behind Joke and commented in a calm voice.
"Joke, if you're here, that means…"
"Haha, that's exactly it! Today the second-year Class 2 from Ketsubutsu Academy came!" Joke commented with a smile, then looked back over her shoulder and commented in a calm voice.
"Come over here, kids, it's U.A. The real deal!"
"Oh!!! The Demon King!! An autograph, please! I'm part of your 'harem'!" Just then, a young woman with short blonde hair tied up announced with shining eyes as she looked directly at Kai.
While the energetic blonde ran toward Kai with a smile, a handsome young man with black hair began to greet everyone with a bright smile and then had a small argument with Bakugo.
But the blonde girl's action seemed to embolden a good number of girls watching from afar, and soon a name resounded in the melodious voices of at least a dozen girls who hurriedly approached.
"""Demon King!!"""
Seeing the large number of girls running toward Kai, Momo and Mina furrowed their brows with visible dissatisfaction and, unconsciously, ended up clinging tightly to Kai's arms. Noticing Mina's movements, Momo turned to look at her with sharp eyes, which caused the beautiful pink-skinned girl to jump in panic and begin silently apologizing with an awkward smile.
But upon seeing the group of women surround Kai, Momo alternated her gaze between Mina and that new group of hussies with visible indecision, almost as if she were trying to choose the lesser of two evils for survival. Just at that moment, the air became heavy and solemn, and Kai's voice resounded through the place, making even Momo tremble slightly.
"Make way, we have to go in."
With Kai's words, the young women quickly stepped aside to open a path for him, and he began walking with a casual expression, hands in his pockets. As they advanced, Momo returned from her stupor, and soon a confident and proud smile formed on her face, at which point she looked at the young women around her with an almost imperceptible hint of superiority.
But upon looking at the other side of Kai, Momo once again furrowed her brow. Out of the corner of her vision, Momo saw Mina walking beside Kai, with one of her hands subtly placed on Kai's forearm, looking at him with a foolish smile on her face.
Annoyed, Momo turned to look at her with the intention of firmly scolding her, only to find Kyoka Jiro not much further behind looking at her Kai with a similar expression. Even Toru was following not far away, and although she couldn't see her face, her instincts told her that her expression must not have been very different.
Faced with such a scene, Momo felt her anger fade away and be replaced by incredulity and apprehension. The fact that Kai was so handsome and outstanding really was a deeply worrying problem.
Recovering from her stupor, Momo coughed a couple of times to draw the girls' attention, and they jumped, startled, and began looking elsewhere, visibly nervous and guilty.
"Don't ever do that again."
Feeling she needed to find some place to discharge her frustration, Momo pinched Kai and spoke through her teeth with annoyance. Finding himself the victim of undeserved punishment, Kai wanted to retort, but upon seeing Momo's genuinely angry expression, he could only let out a defeated sigh while murmuring to himself.
"Life is just too unfair to us men…"
"Hmph! Don't play dumb." Momo huffed in annoyance before murmuring through her teeth, then began taking long strides to get her man out of that pack of thieving hussies.
Meanwhile, Mina, Kyoka, and Toru looked at each other with awkward expressions for a few moments before reaching a silent agreement and running after Momo. They would all pretend that embarrassing moment had never happened and would focus their efforts on appeasing the angry Momo.
But although that was the silent agreement, Mina couldn't help but narrow her eyes as she looked at Momo's back. Through her mind passed all the interactions she had seen between Kai, Momo, and Nejire, and little by little a strange idea was forming in her head that she was finding harder and harder to dismantle.
(Yao-Momo's jealousy is selective… Is it because of closeness or trust? Or both…? In any case, with enough time, even I could…)
Reaching a dangerous line of thought, Mina bit her tongue and then shook her head and ran faster to catch up with Momo. But unknown to her, from behind, Kyoka's gaze showed a strange gleam as she looked at Momo and Kai, and her Earphone Jacks moved freely in the air.
…
…
…
After changing into their hero costumes and convincing Momo that it was all a misunderstanding, Mina, Toru, and Kyoka surrounded Momo in an enormous hall. The hall was packed with at least a thousand hero aspirants, all dressed in their flashy costumes looking toward the front—except for one exceptionally tall young man with black hair, blue eyes, and two cats on his shoulders, who wore the U.A. physical education uniform, which ironically made him stand out like a beacon.
"Well… Let's do that provisional license thing…"
At that moment, from a stage, a voice even more tired than Aizawa's resounded throughout the place, drawing the attention of the nervous and curious youths. Without worrying about the young students, a blond man in a disheveled suit who looked like he would collapse unconscious on the floor from lack of sleep spoke in a languid, measured voice.
"I'm Mera from the Hero Public Safety Commission… The kind of sleep I like is REM sleep… Pleased to meet you…" Lowering his head and leaning on the podium, the man almost seemed to fall asleep but continued speaking in his tired voice, now full of pain.
"We're very short-staffed… I'm so sleepy… And with that conviction, I'll give you the orientation…"
While forced smiles formed on the youths' faces, the man held his head with one of his hands and then explained, visibly making an effort not to fall to the floor.
"The 1,540 examinees here will have to win an outdoor exercise… Our society is saturated with heroes, and ever since Stain and his nonsense about heroes not expecting anything in return and the criticism and opinions that raised, many heroes formed groups to help people and defeat villains…
"That has caused that now, the time from when an incident begins until it's resolved is so short it's sickening… All of you will receive your provisional licenses and will be thrown into those rapids… Those who can't adapt to that speed will frankly have it hard. Therefore, what will be tested is going to be speed, and only the first 100 who meet the requirements will pass!"
***
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