ATOMIC STRUGGLE

9「licensing exam」9

Before anyone realized it, the day of the licensing exam came upon them. The first thing everyone noticed when they got up that morning was that Izak wasn't around, and from what they could see, neither was Mister Aizawa. In their place, Present Mic stood tall and proud in the dining room. "Gooooooood morning class 1A, wassup!!"

"Uh, good morning," Several people greeted back, looking confused. "What're you doing here?"

"I am here to make sure you all get some breakfast in you before we head off to your exam!" He proclaimed with that grin of his. "Since Shouta won't be around, it falls to me to act as your chaperone today, lucky you!"

"Where is Mister Aizawa?" Kaminari asked their instructor, causing the man to laugh again. 

"Ha, figures he didn't tell you. Well, I'll have you all know that he was put in charge of taking Morgan to his personal exam!" Mic informed the group of students, who had mixed reactions. Some accepted that answer because they recalled that their homeroom teacher told them that Izak would have his own exam, others mentally questioned it but didn't say anything out loud. 

Shinso frowned at the news but went about getting himself some food. It was as good as always, meaning Izak was the one to make it before he left. It sucked that he hadn't been around before they themselves left for their exam, but Shinso could only silently lament that he hadn't wished Izak good luck. 

Eventually everyone finished eating their breakfast, and so were corralled onto one of the UA buses along with their costumes so that they could depart for the exam location. On the bus, Shinso pursed his lips as his seat mate looked out the window. Why Bakugo decided to sit with him, he had no clue, but there they were. They didn't talk at all, but it still felt really weird. 

The awkwardness only got better when the bus finally arrived and Present Mic called for everyone to collect their things and to get off the bus so they could go inside the exam center. "Ugh, I'm getting kind of nervous," Jiro voiced once everyone was off the bus and had their costume in their hands. 

"I wonder what they'll make us do," Mineta teetered from side to side anxiously, though it really just made him look like he was going to pee his pants again. "Ugghhh what if I can't get my license?!"

"Come on Mineta, that's no way for an aspiring hero to think! Be confident in yourself, if you passed the UA exam then you can do anything!" Present Mic encouraged, and while that might not have gotten rid of all the anxiety, the little boy still nodded. 

"You're so right, I've got this!" Mineta said.

"That's the spirit! Now then guys, we're about to go into the next important step of your hero journey!" Present Mic cheered, causing the rest of class A to do so as well.

"Hell yeah!" 

"Let's call out the usual you guys!" Kirishima said. "On my mark, go plus--"

"ULTRA!" Some random dude yelled, which made everyone else's chants die off pretty fast. 

"Ya know, it's pretty rude to barge into other people's huddles like that, Inasa," Someone else said, causing the rude dude to gasp.

"What? Pardon me," He started, "I am so very, extremely sorry!" By the end of the apology, the guy's head was on the ground as he bowed to class A, all of which were extremely not okay with this showing because who would be happy about someone purposefully smacking their own head against concrete?

"Who is this guy!? I do not trust his enthusiasm!" Kaminari stated frantically. 

"Hey, look at their uniforms!" Jiro commented as she stepped forward. 

"They're from that famous school on the other side of Japan," Sero realized. 

"UA in the east, Shiketsu in the west," Bakugo murmured with one of those weird looks of his when he's not angry.

"I wanted to say it just once!" The random dude came up from his bow, his head bleeding as he went on. "Plus Ultra! See, I really love UA high school! I am extremely honoured to be competing against such incredible students! I'm so looking forward to it!"

"Hiya, sorry about him, he's a bit of an airhead," One of the other Shiketsu students, a girl with light brown almost blonde hair told the UA students. 

"Let's go," Another one directed, causing the bleeding dude to do as told. 

"Great to meet you, UA students! Please excuse me!" He bided his farewell and headed off with the rest of his group, having put his hat back on even though he was still bleeding up there. Shinso sweat dropped, but decided to ignore it as Present Mic herded them towards the entrance so that they could change and join the rest of the exam challengers. 

When they finally emerged from the changing rooms and met up in the main room, all of them were amazed at the sight. "Look at this crowd..." Midoriya muttered as Uraraka looked around with an awed smile.

"There's so many!"

"Ugghhhhh," Came a groan over the speakers, which was weird in Shinso's opinion, but after seeing who it came from became less so. "Okay then, let's do this exam thing," The person said. They looked like they haven't gotten any sleep in ages, and they were swaying a bit too, so that wasn't exactly inspiring. "I'm from, uh, the hero's public safety commission, name's Mara," He went on to say something else but Shinso couldn't make it out, and the speaker just groaned again. "With that confession, I'll now begin orientation."

"So, about the content of this licensing thing, basically 1540 examinees compete in a free for all exercise or whatever we're calling it this year. See, we've got a lotta pros around, and ever since Stain was arrested, many people have expressed doubts about the status of heroes in society. But when you really think about it, getting paid makes sense. If you're going to risk your life to save someone, why shouldn't you ask for a reward, huh? That's just the way the world works... Ugh, I could use a coffee.. Anyway, whether they're in it for compensation or a sense of duty, we've got too many heroes working the streets these days to keep villains at bay. Honestly the time when an incident begins and when it's resolved is ridiculously short. You are all here to receive your provisional licenses, so you'll be swept up in this mess yourselves pretty soon. Those of you that don't have the speed frankly just won't cut it, which is why that's what you'll be tested on."

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