Luke looked on as Smile Hero: Ms Joke, Emi Fukukado, pestered Erasure Head continuously about marrying her.
Next to the two Pros, the children smiled wryly, the girls' eyes shining as they looked at them.
This was the first time they had seen Aizawa so helpless against a fellow Pro.
Forget talking about romantic pasts and interests, they had rarely seen him exchange jokes even with UA faculty.
So, despite Erasure Head's constant, flat rejection, as the students saw Ms Joke's hilarious, deadpan attempts to convince him to marry her, they couldn't help but start smiling.
That smile had nothing to do with Ms Joke's Quirk — Outburst, using which she could force others around her to burst into laughter so intense that it dulled their motor skills and cognitive abilities.
Midoriya, obviously, screamed all that out in one breath.
Surprisingly, this wasn't the first time Luke had seen this woman.
He hadn't been a social creature in his previous life. However, he distinctly remembered seeing this Pro Hero standing next to Erasure Head during the marriage ceremony… with a child between them, who had been holding their hands.
Of course, Luke had no interest in Erasure Head and Ms. Joke's future.
He had convinced Principal Nezu to let him and Todoroki watch the Provisional Hero License Exam happening today, under Aizawa's discretion, for an entirely different reason.
It was to keep an eye on the students!
Too many things were happening all at once, not only in the country, but in the entire world.
Luke did not know how Overhaul had taken to Pros and Apostles destroying his plans to rule the underworld. Then there was the matter of Kannagi, whom the Shie Hassaikai must have found abandoned in a remote, mountainous region with some trouble. Combined, these factors would make the Yakuza Boss consider all his schemes rotten, thinking that Dr. Blessed already knew everything he had been planning so far.
Such a cornered Villain could go to any lengths.
Even succumbing to use the Erasure drug en masse… on UA's most-prized students was on the table.
2-A's students had already shaken the world, their reputation tearing through the country's boundaries to reach even the distant, popular Hero Agencies.
If Overhaul wanted to make a statement and display the power he held by himself and through the drugs he controlled, then he would certainly choose the Provisional Hero License Exam as a stepping stone.
Iron Mentor, Trick*Step, Shield, and Mushroom-nimi were all keeping an eye on the same matter across the different stadiums.
Luke saw Nyx flying away, but for a different reason entirely.
The Sequence 5 Wraith was giving them a migraine these days.
First, because of her unique abilities, they could find her neither through Divination nor through Spirit Vision.
Second, they had already established that she was inexperienced. This meant that, just like in the case of the Sequence 8 Unwinged Angel, she would most probably look for someone to rely on, especially with most of the Pros exclusively looking for her.
The best-case scenario was that she would keep lying low while searching for a way out of the country.
At worst, she must have already contacted the organization with whom she had come to trade.
No matter what happened at the shipyard that day, both the Wraith and Overhaul knew that Pros and Apostles were after them. As such, it would make the most sense to work together and come out of this pinch.
Then there was another matter, the most befuddling one.
Even if Luke were to forget about the Wraith's abilities, he couldn't overlook the fact that she was a Sequence 5!
Just how in the name of Mr. Fool had she completed the Sequence 5 ritual?!
This was because, from Miss Justice, Luke had learned that a Sequence 6 of the Chained Pathway couldn't advance to a Wraith without entering the Spirit World!
And… this world had NO Spirit World…
As Luke again felt a headache coming, he saw Ms. Joke calling over her students.
She was a teacher at Ketsubutsu Academy High School and had obviously come here to oversee her students' Exam, just like Erasure Head.
…
From the other side, a group of students came, holding themselves much better than most of the other students who had instantly frowned while looking at UA's students.
From that group, a black-haired and black-eyed boy, who looked almost like Rikuya, went straight toward Luke, wearing a big smile on his face.
"You are…"
Before the boy could even speak the third word, another girl from the same group elbowed him out of the way, looking up toward Luke with big, blue, bubbly eyes.
"Luke, right?!" the girl said excitedly. "I am Tatami Nakagame. Say, Say… are you dating someone?"
Momo had maintained a calm, focused mind until now.
That… instantly crumpled, her lips twisting as her head snapped toward the girl.
"Oi!" Jiro elbowed her from the side, making Momo look away with the lightest blush… only to find the boy standing right in front of her.
"I'm Yo Shindo," he said cheerfully. "You were superb during the Sports Festival… Wanna become Pros — together?"
"…"
Luke looked over his shoulder.
Todoroki took a step toward Luke and kicked his ankle. "Oi…"
Meanwhile, as the students of the two schools interacted with each other, Erasure Head let out a sigh, Ms. Joke's suggestions to marry off their classes' students to each other making him even sleepier.
Principal Nezu had already contacted him about Luke and Todoroki.
But Aizawa had outright rejected that idea, holding onto his decision to punish the two with Detention.
Even if Nezu had sent them anyway, he still needed a good reason to keep them.
Erasure Head had already found that reason, but now… he was having second thoughts, seeing another pair of girls surrounding Todoroki this time.
Letting out a breath, Aizawa decided it was enough socializing for one day.
"Hey!" he shouted, catching the students' attention. "Change into your costumes and go to the orientation. Stop wasting time on pointless things. Tch!"
"Yes, Sir!"
Luke and Todoroki caught up with the two Pros as the examinees took the other route.
"Whoa…" Luke let out an exaggerated gasp. "UA's students are actually quite famous even among other Schools, huh?"
Walking a few steps ahead, Ms. Joke suddenly paused.
"You…" Shocked, she looked at Erasure Head as he walked with a stoic face. "… didn't tell them?!"