Yuga and Asui looked at Uraraka as the latter told them about Momo's plan.
"If I hadn't seen Asui… against your laser beam," Uraraka said, panting, "then I would have never found you. There are many students with similar, laser-like Quirk here. Thank god you guys were hiding nearby…"
Thank god?
For hiding?
The only reason Yuga had even used his laser beam was that Asui had seen him and was calling out to him while being chased by a group of students.
He had already marked two out of three spots he needed to pass the exam.
So, he had been waiting for a chance to catch a wounded student off guard and pass the stage… all the while hiding himself between two boulders.
Once he had rescued Asui, he had no choice but to share his secret location with her.
And now they wanted him to…
Yuga blanked out as Uraraka and Asui began talking about how they would make sure to bring Kaminari to him once he had acted as per Momo's plan.
They didn't even ask him if he agreed to it or not.
Not once did Uraraka show a hint that she doubted he would say no.
Not once did she say anything related to Momo having a similar doubt about him not agreeing to the plan, either.
Why…
Why…
WHY?!
Looking away from the girls, Yuga wiped his eyes, asking himself the same question — Why did they trust him so much?
He, who betrayed them just by existing!
He, who had betrayed them to the worst Villain — All For One!
He, who had accepted a foreign god out of fear, became a pawn of the most dangerous person in the world, even more than All For One — Luke!
Why would they think that they could count on him, especially for something like this… something so crucial?
"Aoyama-kun…"
Yuga rubbed his face and turned toward them.
His teeth clenched as he looked at their smiling faces.
He didn't know why, but words came out of his mouth involuntarily.
"Don't worry," Yuga said, standing up. "I will make sure that I shine the brightest… Haha!"
He looked on as the girls nodded toward him and then vanished into the darkness carrying wry smiles on their faces.
"Everyone has a part to play in this world…" Yuga mumbled, clenching his fist. "Everyone…"
Slowly, adjusting his flashy, spiked goggles, he walked out of the ditch, roars and booms deafening his ears.
A smile bubbled on his face.
"Thank you for giving me this stage…" Yuga said, holding the shiny blanket. "… Mr. Fool."
…
A thick beam of blue light hit the stadium's domed ceiling and broke right through it, creating a loud boom.
It was so bright that it even momentarily cast a shadow on the light side of the exam stage, creating a blinding, sun-like atmosphere around it.
On and on, it continued to shine, attracting eyes.
It also attracted hordes of students, drawing them like moths to a flame.
Barely ten minutes remained until the end of the first stage. The number of students who could pass? Less than twenty!
Ironically, if it weren't for the darkness and destruction that had been forced upon them by UA, then the quota of a hundred students must have already been completed.
None of them would thank UA for it, though.
Because every single student also blamed UA for not being able to hit their three marks to pass.
If the Exam had happened before the Battle Royale, then perhaps they wouldn't have focused so much on them. However, if there was anything UA's Sports Festival told them, it was the fact that against 2-A, none of them stood a chance. It was especially so if those students, who seemingly didn't get along with each other, ended up working together.
And that's how all this fiasco had ended up playing out.
So much time spent on hunting UA, less because they had a grudge against them and more because joining the hunt presented an easy chance.
Easy chance… something they all had been searching for up to this very moment.
So, when all those students saw that laser beam lighting up the stadium, they all thought that some of them must have trapped UA students at that location.
Why else would that UA student end up using that move?
Why else would that UA student reveal his location, knowing that he would be kicked out of the stage within seconds?
Angry and excited, nearly a hundred stormed the place where the laser beam was coming from in waves.
And, when they reached there, they experienced the greatest shock of their lives.
Standing under the laser beam — firing the laser beam — was a boy in armor, wearing a shiny cape, laughing like a maniac.
"Hahaha!" Yuga laughed, his entire waist shaking as if he were dancing. "Take this… And this!"
"…?"
It was a trap!
The words echoed in not all, but some very shrewd minds, like the students from Shiketsu and Ketsubutsu.
It didn't matter.
It was too late for… everybody.
A strip of tape flung a plastic-like box across the space in the darkness.
A long, slimy tongue caught it midair and flung it again, aiming for the laser beam.
The box landed near Yuga, just as he was about to pass out from the pain, bounced a little, and then shattered.
A figure came out skidding from the box and slowly stood upright.
It was Denki Kaminari, holding the widest grin on his face.
Ultimate Move —
"We… are…" Yuga managed to say, crouching and wrapping his cloak around him.
Kaminari raised his hand, electric sparks dancing on the tips of his fingers. "… UA!"
— Indiscriminate Shock 2 Million Volts!
CRACK!
Yellow bolts of lightning rumbled across the space, smashing into the nearest people and boulders.
That was the least shocking, though.
The Pointers created by Development Studio could attract Kaminari's electric discharge, giving his attacks a direction.
The same happened now, but on a dramatic, vaster scale.
So, to all those who were watching from afar and on the screens, it felt like… the electricity was hunting all the students… like it was alive.
And when the sea of electricity died, it left behind bodies…
… sparks lingering here and there, as if applauding UA's grand performance!