Provisional Hero License Exam - Part 1 - MHA: Gamma

The morning in Takoba was surprisingly peaceful.

The sky was a clear blue, road traffic was light by the region's standards and, in the middle of that relatively calm flow, the U.A. bus moved along the avenue carrying Class 1-A toward what might be the most important step of their summer vacation.

The last ten days had gone by far too quickly.

Quickly enough that several of them still felt as though training at T.K.L. had only started yesterday.

But also intensely enough that no one inside that bus was the same student who had entered there on the first day.

The energy inside the vehicle made that obvious.

Almost the entire class was talking at once, the nervousness of some mixing with the excitement of others, and Kirishima, as always, made sure to amplify the collective spirit.

"Let's give it everything we've got today!" he shouted from one of the seats, raising his fist. "We trained like maniacs for ten days! There's no way this can go wrong!"

"YEAH!" Mina answered immediately, raising her arm too.

"I swear, if I fail after that hell, I'm suing the universe," Kaminari declared. "I'm absolutely sure it's been against me from the start..."

"I don't even know if that's legally possible," Jiro commented.

"I'll figure it out later!"

Little by little, several others joined in, raising their arms and responding to Kirishima's shout with varying degrees of enthusiasm, enough to make the entire bus look like a small school riot about to be unleashed upon Japanese society.

Not everyone, however, shared that state of mind.

Dash was sitting beside Ryo with his head resting against the seat, his eyes half-dead and the posture of someone who had left half his soul somewhere during the previous night.

Ryo turned his face toward him and watched him for a few seconds.

"You look like a zombie."

Dash let out a sigh so exhausted it seemed to come directly from the depths of his very being.

"Don't remind me..."

Ryo raised an eyebrow.

"Still about yesterday's conversation?"

Dash kept staring ahead, empty.

"It was four hours."

"Four hours?"

"Four hours listening to my father talk about legacy, bloodline, the family's image, symbolic responsibility, heroic aesthetics, public recognition, and the supposed crime I committed by changing the costume again after the mask."

Ryo stayed silent for a moment.

"He must've given you a lecture."

"A lecture?" Dash repeated, slowly turning his head toward him. "That was a seminar. I almost got handouts."

Ryo had to look out the window to keep himself from laughing.

Outside, Takoba passed by in broad avenues, signs, buildings, intersections, and urban structures that grew denser as the bus approached its destination. The boy lightly rested his head against the glass and let his eyes follow the scenery for a few seconds.

The ten days of training had passed in the blink of an eye.

Training, dormitory, dinner, shower, training again, sessions at T.K.L., talking with the others, small adjustments, more training. By the time he realized it, they were already here.

The Provisional License Exam.

Ryo slowly let out a breath.

Part of him was curious about how much the others had grown over those ten days.

He already knew how much he had changed, but he wanted to see the rest.

About half an hour later, the bus finally slowed down in front of their destination.

When the doors opened and the class began getting off, the first thing they were met with was the massive sight of Takoba National Arena.

The building rose before them like a modern fortress, immense, wide, and imposing, with a structure so colossal that even some of the students had to tilt their heads back just to take in the size of the place.

"Kami-sama..." Kaminari murmured. "This arena is bigger than the one from the Sports Festival."

"It really is," Sero agreed, whistling softly.

Jiro crossed her arms, looking at the structure.

"I'm starting to get nervous."

"So this really is the place..." Mina said with a slightly tense smile. "We're actually taking the exam in Takoba."

Ojiro observed the building in silence, but his thoughts had already gone somewhere less comfortable.

"I still don't even know what the exam is going to be like. I don't even know if I'll be able to pass..."

"It's not about whether you can or can't."

Aizawa's voice appeared so suddenly beside him that Ojiro nearly jumped.

The boy turned his head, caught off guard.

"S-Sensei!"

Aizawa kept his hands in his pockets while looking at the arena with his usual tired expression.

"You will."

Ojiro straightened his posture so quickly it almost looked like a survival reflex.

"R-Right!"

Aizawa then lifted his eyes toward the rest of the class.

"Listen."

The students gradually quieted down.

"Today, you're going to take this test and obtain your provisional licenses. When that happens, you'll stop being mere eggs..."

He paused briefly, as if searching for an appropriate image.

"...and become fully developed hatchlings, reborn as semi-pros. Do your best."

The class spent a few seconds processing the mental image.

Then Mina raised her fist enthusiastically.

"Yeah!" she said, throwing both arms up. "We're getting out of those eggs!"

"That's right! We're finally gonna hatch!" Kaminari agreed, immediately embracing the questionable logic of the metaphor.

Dash arched an eyebrow.

"Couldn't there have been a better comparison?"

Beside him, Ryo spent a few seconds staring into nothing.

In his head, for some reason, the image appeared of an egg slowly cracking open... only for some bizarre mutant creature, half-human, half-radioactive monster, to crawl out of the shell with a wet and disturbing sound.

Ryo went slightly pale.

"...I agree with Dash."

Kirishima, however, had already decided to completely ignore any conceptual weirdness.

He raised his fist forcefully.

"It's time for our celebration, everyone! All together! Plus-"

"ULTRAAAAAAAA!"

The voice exploded right behind them with so much enthusiasm that half the class turned around in shock.

A boy wearing a cap that resembled a naval style stood a few meters away, with such a wide smile and such absurd energy that he looked as though he'd just been launched there by an explosion of pure goodwill.

Right behind him, another boy, more serious, wearing the Shiketsu uniform, let out a quiet sigh.

"It's rude to butt into another group's moment like that, Inasa..."

The boy's eyes widened immediately.

"Ah!"

He dramatically pulled his body backward.

"I offer..."

Then he bent forward with so much force that his head slammed into the ground with a dry and horrible thud.

"...MY DEEPEST APOLOGIES!"

Class 1-A fell completely silent for two seconds.

Dash blinked.

"Who is this?"

He looked at Ryo, who only shrugged, equally confused.

Momo then narrowed her eyes as she recognized their uniforms.

"Those uniforms... aren't they from that school?"

Bakugo answered before anyone even asked.

"Shiketsu High," he growled, as though the name itself were offensive.

Inasa stood back up as though nothing had happened, even though blood was already running down his scalp in an amount that made the entire scene far more concerning than it should have been.

Even so, his smile remained firm.

"I've always wanted to say Plus Ultra! I fucking love U.A.! It's an honor to compete alongside U.A.'s excellent students!"

With every word, his head seemed to spray even more blood.

Seiji, a few steps behind him, closed his eyes for a moment.

"Inasa. That's enough. Let's go."

But before the small Shiketsu delegation could simply move on, a third figure stepped forward.

"Wait up, wait up...!"

She slipped past Seiji almost dancing, completely ignoring any attempt to stop her.

Seiji reached out a hand.

"Camie-"

Too late.

The girl went straight toward the Class 1-A group.

Or rather, she went straight toward Ryo.

She stopped practically pressed against him and looked him up and down with open interest, making the boy lean slightly backward just to maintain some psychological distance from the absurdity.

"It really is you!" she said, her eyes sparkling. "You're taller than I expected now that I'm seeing you face to face."

Ryo frowned slightly.

"...Thanks?"

She tilted her head, moving her face even closer.

"And way more handsome too~"

Ryo felt his face heat up immediately.

"You're really close..."

Camie put a hand to her chest, pretending exaggerated shock.

"Am I?"

And stayed exactly where she was.

Ryo became even more rigid.

"Yes..."

But Camie had already changed focus completely.

Her eyes moved downward and then back up again, as if she were simply enjoying the chaos she caused.

And unfortunately, that chaos attracted the attention of several other students who had been scattered around the arena entrance until then.

"Wait..."

"Isn't that-?"

"It's him!"

"The guy from TV!"

Within seconds, the situation deteriorated at an alarming speed.

Several female students from other schools began approaching, almost all at the same time, and before anyone from 1-A could properly process it, Ryo was surrounded by a growing crowd of girls who were clearly far too excited.

"H-Hey, wait-"

"Can you give me an autograph?!"

"Your fight in Kamino was amazing!"

"Did you really beat that guy by yourself?!"

"You're so hot!"

"Do you have a girlfriend?"

"Sign my hand!"

"Or my forehead!"

"Or my chest-"

Ryo's eyes widened.

The situation became even worse when he noticed a coincidence that only made the whole thing more absurd.

The overwhelming majority of them were blonde.

Ryo felt a chill.

"Why... why are there so many blondes...?"

"Takeda!" Dash called, his eyes widening as he watched him disappear beneath the human sea.

"Shit!" Kirishima cursed, already moving forward. "Let's get him out of there!"

Camie, standing outside the chaos, watched the disorder she had helped unleash and placed a finger against her lips.

"Oops. Think I made a mess."

"Camie," Seiji called, already out of patience.

"Coming~"

Meanwhile, Todoroki kept his eyes on the Shiketsu group.

Something there had caught his attention.

More specifically, someone.

Inasa was still smiling, but the instant he noticed Todoroki staring directly at him, his smile disappeared.

It was such a sudden and cold change that Todoroki was caught off guard by the weight of that serious, silent look.

The next second, Inasa had already turned away and started leaving with his classmates, as if nothing had happened.

On the other side, Dash and Kirishima finally managed to force their way into the crowd and pull Ryo back out with much more effort than either of them would have liked to admit.

When the boy finally reappeared, he came out in a pitiful state.

His hair was completely disheveled.

His uniform was completely wrinkled and missing its tie.

And clear lipstick marks were scattered across his face.

Dash looked from Ryo to the crowd of girls still mourning his loss with dramatic expressions.

"They took your tie."

Kirishima looked his friend up and down.

"You okay?"

Ryo did not answer with words.

Instead, he simply threw himself onto Kirishima in an almost desperate hug.

Kirishima let out a surprised "woah!" but held him anyway.

"T-They kept harassing me..." Ryo whimpered, his voice muffled. "Even when I asked them to stop..."

Kirishima immediately rubbed his back in a comforting gesture.

"I-It's okay, bro, it's okay!"

Ryo sniffled dramatically.

"They grabbed my ass too..."

Dash, standing on the other side, started patting his back too with a very serious expression.

"Girls are monsters..." Ryo declared, devastated.

A considerable portion of the girls from 1-A looked at him with somewhat offended expressions.

Another portion, however, seemed to genuinely understand his point.

Uraraka, in particular, watched the scene with concern and pity.

Momo frowned as well.

Jiro crossed her arms.

Tsuyu let out a quiet "ribbit..." as if she could not quite decide whether to comfort Ryo or mentally scold the other girls.

Farther back, Kaminari and Sero watched the scene like two philosophers defeated by the irony of their own existence.

The two maintained exactly the same empty expression.

Then they thought practically the same thing at the same time.

"While some die of thirst..."

"...others complain about too much water."

- Denki Kaminari & Hanta Sero

----------------------------------------

A few minutes later, Class 1-A had already changed out of their school uniforms and into their hero costumes before entering one of the enormous indoor halls of Takoba National Arena.

Saying the place was crowded would be an understatement.

Hundreds upon hundreds of students occupied practically every available meter, separated into small groups identifiable by the uniforms or hero costumes of their respective schools. There were students from academies Midoriya recognized immediately, others from schools he only knew by name, and many he had never seen before.

He slowly looked around.

"There are a lot of people..."

Uraraka stood beside him, equally impressed.

"A whole lot."

It was difficult to look in any direction without seeing dozens of aspiring heroes.

But it did not take long for Midoriya to realize that the stares were not flowing in only one direction.

Many students were also watching U.A.

And, more specifically, Ryo.

He stood a few steps behind the group, already fully dressed in his hero costume with his helmet once again covering his face. The retractable version still was not ready, so he continued using the conventional model while waiting for the Support Department's modifications.

Even so, that did not stop anyone from recognizing him.

A student from another school narrowed his eyes.

"Wait..."

Another followed his gaze.

"Isn't that the Hero of Hosu?!"

"That guy was him this whole time?!"

"What the hell is U.A. feeding those guys???"

Ryo felt a shiver run down his spine as he noticed the girls' gazes returning to him, making him partially disappear behind Kirishima and Dash.

Kirishima looked over his shoulder.

"Don't worry, man!"

He clenched his fists.

"If they want to get to you..."

Dash crossed his arms and finished:

"They'll have to get through us first!"

Ryo looked at the two of them.

"...Thanks."

Through the visor, the girls around him looked less like students and more like lionesses analyzing an injured gazelle.

That was when the speakers in the hall emitted a small noise, silencing everyone.

A man stood behind an elevated podium at the front of the hall, holding a microphone.

He looked dead... or close to it.

Deep bags occupied much of his face, his shoulders drooped slightly, and his expression carried the spiritual exhaustion of someone who could not remember the last time he had gotten a decent night's sleep.

He brought the microphone closer.

"...What am I doing here again?"

The man stared forward.

A few students exchanged glances.

Then his tired eyes opened a little wider.

"Ah, right. The Provisional License Exam."

He coughed into his fist and tried to recover some professional dignity.

"My name is Mera. I'm from the Hero Public Safety Commission."

He looked over the students.

"It's an honor to meet all of you."

His tone suggested he might rather be meeting a bed.

Kirishima leaned toward Ryo.

"Is that guy okay?"

Ryo analyzed Mera for two seconds.

"He looks like he's about to collapse at any moment."

Apparently, they were not the only ones thinking that, as several murmurs moved through the crowd.

Mera sighed.

"I'm fine."

The murmurs died down.

"I'm fine."

He rubbed one eye.

"It's just that I've been working practically nonstop for a week, and I think I'm surviving on about four hours of sleep. I also have an orange cat named Satus that I need to take care of, and lately he barely sees me at home."

Everyone below fell silent as they practically reached the same conclusion after hearing that.

"He needs a vacation."

Mera lightly tapped the microphone.

"Anyway."

He pointed at everyone.

"Putting my physical and emotional deterioration aside, let's get to the exam."

The first phase that year would be simple to understand.

Each candidate would receive three small electronic targets, which had to be attached to visible areas of the body. Along with them, each participant would receive six special balls meant to strike those targets. Whenever a ball hit one of the discs, it would be activated; once all three targets on a candidate were hit, that student would be eliminated.

Credit for the elimination would go to the person responsible for activating the third target.

To advance to the next phase, each student would need to eliminate two opponents.

The real problem was the limit.

Out of the more than one thousand candidates gathered in Takoba, only the first one hundred to fulfill that condition would advance.

Speed, adaptability, and the ability to deal with an absolutely chaotic field would be just as important as brute strength.

When the explanation ended, several side doors opened.

Men carrying large boxes began entering the hall.

Inside them were the sets of targets and balls that would be distributed.

Mera continued:

"Now that everyone understands..."

He gestured toward the boxes.

"The equipment will be distributed as soon as this place opens."

Midoriya blinked.

"...Opens?"

Mina tilted her head.

"What do you mean, opens?"

A mechanical noise ran throughout the entire hall.

CLANK.

Everyone stopped.

CLANK. CLANK. CLANK.

The walls began to separate and the floor vibrated.

"EH?!"

The enormous side structures began lowering outward while parts of the ceiling retracted through gigantic hydraulic mechanisms.

The hall was not simply inside the arena.

It was part of it.

The entire space opened like a gigantic box as natural light flooded in and the examination field was revealed before them.

A colossal landscape divided into several environments.

Artificial urban areas.

Large rocky zones.

Forests.

Industrial regions.

The inner horizon of the National Arena looked almost like an even larger and more complex version of the U.S.J.

Mina stared with her mouth open.

"This place is bigger than the U.S.J.!"

Tsuyu looked around.

"Sure is, ribbit."

Mera continued through the speakers while the examiners quickly distributed the equipment.

"The exam will begin one minute after everyone is equipped."

The students began attaching the three targets to different points on their costumes.

"As you can see, the arena has several types of terrain. Choose the areas that best suit your Quirks, combat styles, and strategies."

Ryo attached one of the discs to his chest, another to his shoulder, and the third to the side of his waist.

"Do the best you can."

In the stands above the arena, Aizawa sat watching the preparations.

His expression was the same as always.

Until a woman's voice came from the seat beside him.

"Your zipper is open, Eraser!"

Aizawa did not move.

"It isn't."

Ms. Joke smiled.

"You didn't even look."

Aizawa finally turned his eyes toward her.

"You still have energy to make jokes after arriving late?"

"Come on."

Ms. Joke rested one arm over the backrest.

"We only got stuck in traffic for a few minutes."

"Sure."

She looked toward the arena.

Then her eyes moved across her own students and the U.A. students.

"Hm..."

Her smile widened.

"You still have all twenty."

Aizawa did not answer.

"What a rare year."

She turned her face toward him.

"The great Eraser Head didn't expel anyone."

Aizawa continued watching the arena.

Ms. Joke leaned a little closer to him.

"You must really like this class."

"...Something like that."

She widened her eyes theatrically.

"Seriously?!"

She brought her hands to her face.

"You're blushing too! That makes me want to date you even more!"

"Pack your bags."

"Come on!"

Ms. Joke wiped an imaginary tear from the corner of her eye.

"You're always so cruel to me."

Aizawa did not dignify that with another response.

She sighed, still smiling.

"But if you really do like them..."

Her gaze returned to the field.

"...then I want to see if they're actually any good."

In the arena below, the students were already beginning to spread out.

Some ran toward the urban regions, others toward enclosed terrain, and several groups remained together in the center.

Ms. Joke watched carefully.

"The exam format can change every year..."

The timer appeared on the arena's enormous screens.

00:30

"...but there's one thing that's been a tradition for a long time."

00:29

Kirishima turned toward Ryo.

"Takeda, let's go!"

Ryo remained still.

Kirishima immediately noticed that Dash was nowhere to be seen.

"...And where did Dash go?!"

Ryo looked toward the horizon.

"Probably already on the other side of the arena."

"...He didn't even tell us."

"Go."

Kirishima blinked.

"You're not coming?"

Ryo shook his head.

"I'm staying here."

"You sure?"

"I am."

The timer continued.

00:21

Ryo pointed in the direction Bakugo had disappeared.

"Go after that explosive head before he actually kills someone."

Kirishima grinned.

"Leave it to me!"

He bumped his fists together.

"Good luck!"

Kirishima ran off in the direction Bakugo had gone, leaving Ryo alone.

Or almost.

As the students from the other schools realized that one member of U.A. had remained isolated in the center, several of them began slowing down.

Then changing direction.

Dozens.

Then hundreds.

In the stands, Ms. Joke smiled.

00:10

Aizawa narrowed his eyes slightly as he watched Ryo's figure remain completely still.

The other figures around him began surrounding him.

Some already held their balls while others prepared their Quirks, as more and more appeared behind them.