Seated on the benches for the audience, Luke, Todoroki, and Aizawa stared at the distant electrified field, Ms. Joke's jaw hanging low next to them.
Between Bakugo's explosive passing and now, much time had passed.
Yet, not once had the trio from UA shown any concern on their faces, despite the time ticking away.
Only Kirishima had made it to the second stage, and that, too, not much later than Bakugo.
That had left fifteen students from UA, hunted by hundreds of students like bloodhounds.
Minute after minute, students continued to pass the test, but the announcer just refused to name another UA student.
Such a lack of naming, for such a long time, could only mean that the rest of the UA students had been kicked out, failing the test.
However, from the confidence Erasure and his two students had displayed, it had felt like it was only a matter of time before they heard those names.
It was like the UA students passing the first stage, without even one failure, was written in stone.
Well, it might as well have been, as, in the next moment, the announcer began calling one name after another.
Fifteen in total.
All from UA High School.
"Haha!" Luke exploded with laughter. "Hahaha!"
"Behave…" Aizawa frowned.
"No… No, listen," Luke said, barely able to control his laugh. "I just imagined them collecting bodies for Kaminari to hit his marks… Haha…"
Todoroki and Aizawa's mouths, simultaneously, twitched.
Ms. Joke, on the other hand, broke out in a fit of laughter, matching Luke's intensity, despite not getting the inside joke.
One minute remained.
In the stadium, hell broke loose for the last few two seats.
Surprisingly, from Ketsubutsu, Yo passed, making Ms. Joke let out a sigh of relief.
"That was… something," she said as the buzzer went off, the sound of disbelief and disappointment reaching their ears from afar. "You guys… UA… does have a penchant for making a mess wherever you go."
Luke got up suddenly. "Well, I need to go to the bathroom," he said hurriedly. "Or I will make a mess right here."
Aizawa facepalmed.
Todoroki, who had heard worse things from Luke, just closed his eyes, took a deep breath, and… facepalmed.
Ms. Joke laughed her lungs out as Luke ran to the bathroom, slamming her hand on Erasure Head's shoulder.
"I love that guy!" she said loudly. "Of course, not more than you…"
Slowly, Aizawa pulled his hand off his face, leaving red lines, his entire face scrunching in cringe.
…
Luke entered the spacious bathroom and found a girl washing her hands, standing in front of a large mirror.
"Eh?" he exclaimed, his head snapping toward the door's label.
No.
He hadn't hallucinated.
It was the Men's bathroom.
"Oh, hello!" the girl said cheerily. "Oh… You are that idiot from the Battle Royale who got disqualified, right? What was it… Luke! Hi! I am Camie! From Shiketsu! Remember, Mr. Idiot?!"
Luke's lips twitched as he entered, casually closing the door, his hand brushing against his pockets secretly.
"Do you often use the Men's washroom, or is it a biological need?" he asked.
"Ooooooooooh…" Camie instantly got the ill joke. "Maybe I do… Wanna check?"
Luke's lips twitched. "Pass…" he said, throwing his hands up. "Now, if you will excuse me…"
Camie shrugged and went for the door.
However, the moment they passed each other, they turned around simultaneously.
Camie flinched.
Luke smiled. "I forgot to ask…" he said.
"I am not giving you my number, handsome…" Camie said coquettishly.
"Haha," Luke laughed. "No, no. Not today, I guess. Anyway, you said you are from Shiketsu, right? We were just talking outside about how awesome you guys are. Inasa from your school was so… insanely powerful. Nice Quirk, too. You know about me. I am very interested in Quirks. So, I was wondering… what's your Quirk?"
Silence.
"Haha!" Camie laughed. "Oh, boy… You will never get a girlfriend if that's your line. Haha!"
Luke laughed along with her. "I guess…" he said. "No, seriously. What's your…"
Camie's hand blurred, a knife going for Luke's throat.
And the knife had just kissed the skin, tasting blood, when a hand passed right through Camie's skull, spraying the bathroom's tiled floor with… mud.
Luke, with a flat mouth, watched as Twice's Clone melted.
The knife fell with a squelching thud onto the mud.
Luke looked at the weapon and noticed the handle, which looked thicker than it should have for a knife of that size.
He flicked his wrist and brought the knife to his hand.
When he opened its handle, he found several extremely tiny and thin glass tubes, most of them—almost a dozen—carrying blood.
Momo's blood was there, he noticed, decrypting and divining instantly.
Which, in turn, let him decrypt to whom the other blood vials belonged.
Luke pressed a switch on the knife, and a tiny drop of blood appeared in another vial, leaving behind a reddish trail.
He stood there for a while, holding his chin, contemplating.
It was difficult to tell if Shigaraki would snap or not because of this failure.
The threat of the Sequence 5 Wraith and Shie Hassaikai working together remained paramount.
If the news got out that one of the Claws of Conformity had successfully infiltrated the Provisional Hero License Exam, going as far as to steal blood from UA's prodigies, then…
It would cause panic, Luke confirmed. Even the Heroes who should be looking for that Monocle would have to leave their task to show their presence to the public.
That… wasn't in the Apostles' favor.
That… was definitely not in his favor, especially around this time, with so many unpredictable cards on the table.
Still, he would need to tell Erasure Head because the real Camie was still missing.
I wonder if this happened in my previous life as well, Luke thought, lampooning. Why didn't they just write a full book on such events… Sigh…
With that sigh, Luke reached into his pockets and took out his mobile, which was still recording.
He was just about to return when his eyes widened.
Wait! Luke's head snapped around in all directions. Why was she here anyway?
It was then he noticed something odd.
The window on the opposite wall was open… just a little…
… but big enough to drop a knife with a weird handle through!