The first event of the provisional license exam lasted for nearly the entire hour. Surprisingly, most of the UA class made it into the finals about halfway through, so Todoroki and I were no longer alone while standing next to each other. Momo wouldn’t look at me when she and her group of friends entered the room, though.
The pink skinned girl gave me death glares, which kinda turned me on with the whole alien look she had going on. I didn’t tell her that, obviously. On the other hand, earphone jack girl gave me a nod of acknowledgement, which I accepted graciously with a warm smile and a nod in return. That made her cheeks flush red, for some reason. I didn’t ask, mostly because that would be a stupid thing to do with all of her friends around her.
The other girls gave me interested looks, at least I assumed they were interested. The frog-like one barely blinked and just stared at me. Todoroki actually walked forward and engaged them a little with conversation, which surprised me. He wasn’t someone that liked talking about innocuous things and I thought he would make me change my opinion about him… and then he asked about Bakugo and how he was handling his complete and utter failure.
I had to turn away from them to hide my amusement and to stop myself from laughing.
“Why don’t you like Katsuki?” A female voice asked from behind me.
I turned back to see the brown haired girl had stepped away from the group and approached me. I easily saw that she was about a foot shorter than me, making her around 5 feet tall. She was wearing bulbous and probably superfluous armor on her forearms and calves, that a check with my X-Ray Vision showed me had micro-thrusters hidden in each of them and her belt.
The green and white skintight bodysuit she wore left nothing to the imagination, either. The white stripe down the middle of her costume really highlighted the special place between her legs and the valley of her breasts. I sincerely doubted she had intended for that to happen, though.
“He’s a deplorable human being and an even worse hero candidate.” I answered and she frowned. “He bullied Izuku and I since we were kids and all the way up to the end of middle school. He hated us because we wouldn’t break the law and use our quirks openly, so he called us useless and quirkless.”
The girl’s eyes widened and then she looked sad. “Why did you put up with it for so long? Why didn’t you report it?”
I let out a sigh. “We tried, many times, only to be ignored for exactly the same reason.”
“Wh-what?” She asked, surprised.
“You see, Bakugo was raised in the worst kind of environment to be a true hero.” I said and started to explain. “He was always praised for everything, whether what he did was good or bad. As long as he kept his strong quirk, everyone forgave him for his bad behavior and the teachers encouraged him by allowing quirk use in class.”
“That… that’s against the law.” She whispered.
“It’s supposed to be; but, they didn’t care and ignored it, even with video evidence and witness testimony.” I said and tried to not show anger on my face as I said it. “No one wanted to hear from a couple of quirkless kids that they thought were jealous of the popular one and were only complaining about the kid with the strongest quirk in the whole school to get him into trouble.”
“I… I don’t… I don’t know what to…” The girl paused and took a breath and let it out, then she stepped close and held a hand out to me. “I’m sorry you had to go through that, Supreme. I’m Ochako Uraraka, hero name Uravity.”
I took the offered hand and thought about what I shouldn’t do with it, then realized I didn’t care what her friends would think about it. I shook it exactly once before I bent over and placed a kiss on her knuckles. Her face went bright red and she looked a little faint, so I pulled on her hand and she stumbled into my arms.
“Easy there, Ochako. Calm down and relax.” I said in a soothing voice. “It was only a friendly greeting.”
“O-o-only.” Ochako whispered, her blush not fading in the least.
I chuckled and eased my hold on her, made sure she was steady, and let her go completely. “I’m Connor Kent, hero name Supreme. It’s nice to meet you.”
“L-likewise.” Ochako responded.
“How can you flirt with him like that after what he did to Momo?” Pink-skinned girl accused.
“She didn’t flirt with me, I flirted with her.” I corrected. “I wanted to treat her nicely because she chose to treat me like I wasn’t a piece of dirt to scrape off of her boot.”
That comment had a few people around us give Pinky hostile looks and she backed off without saying anything else.
Ochako glanced at Momo, probably looking for approval or something. When Momo didn’t react or said not to, Ochako stayed beside me and asked where I went for my internship before the summer break. I smiled at her and told her I went to Endeavor’s Hero Agency and then started in on the patrols I was involved in and the crimes and incidents I helped stop.
She jumped right in on that and asked for details, which I gave her, then I asked about her internship and she acted like an excited puppy as she relayed her own experiences and learning how to fight from Gunhead, the Battle Hero.
I couldn’t resist the temptation to joke that it was the first time I had met someone that had a bite so much stronger than their bark, when the old quote usually stated the opposite. Ochako looked surprised and a little confused about it, then she realized what I meant.
“Th-thank you for the compliment.” Ochako said, her face flaming back to red.
“I’m just calling it like I see it.” I said and very lightly touched her arm. “You’re working hard to change your support-geared power into becoming an offensive attack power. I have nothing but respect for you for pushing yourself into making yourself better and improving your abilities so significantly.”
Ochako nodded several times and her blush stayed on her face. When I tried to move my hand away from her arm, she lifted her own hand and clasped onto it.
“Um… do you… like… want to go… s-somewhere… and maybe… um… have a c-coffee or something?” Ochako asked, her voice hesitant and stammering.
All of the UA students around us stopped talking and looked over at her, making her blush even harder.
“I’d like that.” I said with a smile and then I smirked at her. “Right after we kick the second event’s ass.”
Ochako looked startled and then barked a laugh. “R-r-right.” She said and turned her head away slightly. “After.”
I knew then she was being a lot more forward than I realized, so I stepped close and leaned down to whisper in her ear. “Believe me, there’s nowhere near enough time for us to have a ‘coffee’ before the next event starts.”
Ochako whipped her head around to stare at me, only my puckered lips had been right by her ear. Our lips met and her eyes widened, her body stiffened, and she tried to pull back. I wasn’t going to let that be our first kiss, so I put my free arm around her and kissed her deeply instead. She shuddered for a moment, the stiffness of her posture melted, and she put her own free arm around my neck and kissed me back.
Everyone around us stared as we made out right there in front of them, especially her friends. Momo looked resigned and didn’t bother trying to look away, probably because she was remembering me kissing her in a similar way after our first date.
The last combatant entered the side room and the doors slammed shut. The announcer said they needed ten minutes to prepare the arena for the next part and everyone started chatting excitedly about what it could be.
Ochako broke the kiss with a happy sound and her eyes almost had stars in them as she gazed at me. “You’re a great kisser.”
I couldn’t stop my automatic response, even if I wanted to. “It can only be great if who you’re kissing is great at it, too.”
Ochako blushed again and gave me a smug look. “We d-do have like ten minutes…”
I chuckled and nodded my head at her friends. “I think I’d better release you to the hounds first. We can continue this later.”
Ochako saw the various expressions on their faces and sighed as she let my neck and hand go. I gave her a quick peck and stepped back, gave her a nod of respect, and walked off towards the exit. I didn’t need to do that, though. I could easily hear them no matter where I was. However, giving them the illusion of privacy would let them talk openly and without restraint.
To my surprise, only Pinky said anything bad, which was lost in the sheer amount of gabbing the other girls did as they pestered Ochako about what happened, with only Momo staying quiet after saying the intensity of her own very first kiss had been the best kiss she ever had.
Earphone jack girl actually praised Ochako for going for it like she did, which made Ochako blush and she also look proud. Despite how the kiss started out as being a mistake, she claimed responsibility for it, since she had asked me out before that and she didn’t regret it.
“The arena has been adjusted for the next part of the provisional exam.” The head guy said over the loudspeakers. “Now we will begin the next and final exam.”
Everyone stopped talking and listened intensely as the doors opened and revealed the revamped arena.
“We will have all of you rescue injured persons in this hazard zone. You will earn points based on your performance in rescuing those in need and will pass upon earning a certain amount of points when the exam is finished.” The head guy said and then gained an intense look. “Villains have perpetrated a terrorist attack! All heroes on the scene are to save lives as soon as possible! START!”
Everyone surged towards the arena and ran around me as they yelled and shouted their catch phrases. I flew out and up into the air, slowed my perception down, and observed the arena. There were many victims that were in dangerous situations, some in barely any danger at all, and most were screaming in pain. They were spread all over to give all the potential heroes plenty of chances to earn points.
“EVERYONE STOP!” I commanded with a yell and every single person in the entire arena stopped what they were doing, both the students and the ‘villains’. “Only an idiot rushes into a disaster scene without taking stock of what has to be done!”
All the students looked a little guilty and the observers all gave me evaluating looks.
“Anyone who thinks they are better at search and rescue or are more suited to it, step right. Those that want to protect them while they work and to help them, step left. Those that want to hold off the villains to give the others enough time to escape to safety with the victims, step forward.”
To my surprise, a full third of the students stepped to the right for search and rescue, then half of the remainder stepped left to protect them. The remainder gave each other searching looks for a second and then they all stepped forward.
“Excellent!” I said and clapped three times in applause. “S&R teams! Pair off and start a grid by grid search. Focus on cries for help, ground vibration, and if possible, people’s heartbeats. Keep your eyes out for sneak attacks and weakened structures.”
Most of them waved or nodded and they came together for a few moments and then scattered into the disaster area.
“The rest of you group up into teams of five, any stragglers left over can form their own team.” I said and they quickly did so, impressing me. “Nice work, everyone.” I praised and they looked happy. “Each team should head out in a cardinal direction, north, south, east, and west, to give the best coverage and response times. As soon as the villains show up, the two closest teams converge on their location and the others should prepare for a secondary attack.”
“How do you know they’ll do that?” Someone asked.
“Because if I were the villains, that’s what I would do. I’d cause a distraction to get everyone’s attention somewhere else and then I’d attack with my main force.” I explained.
“Dammit, we didn’t fool him.” The head guy whispered to Nezu in the booth across the arena. “How is he so smart?”
“His mother is Lois Lane.” Nezu answered.
“Ha. That tracks.” The head guy said.
“What are you going to do?” Todoroki asked and distracted me from listening in on Nezu’s conversation. I wasn’t surprised to see that he was in a team by himself.
“I’m going to clear an area for the rescues to gather together, then I’m going to join the search. If the villains show up with more firepower than a single team can handle, I’ll step in to help take them down.”
“You don’t think that’s a little arrogant?” Someone else asked.
I chuckled and shook my head. “You don’t use a nuke to kill an ant. You use a boot.”
The guy looked confused, so I used my heat vision to instantly carve out a ten foot wide ‘S’ symbol into the ground in front of him. He looked shocked and stared down at it.
“My skills are best served to help others, until I’m needed to stop pulling my punches.” I said and floated down to land on the symbol. “I won’t do that unless it’s necessary, which shouldn’t happen in a controlled environment.”
“You just jinxed us.” A different guy grumbled and turned to his team. “Let’s get moving.”
Everyone else ran off as well and took my directions as gospel as they split up and went in four different directions.
“What did he mean?” Todoroki asked me.
“I just tempted fate to have one of the more powerful heroes show up to pretend to be the villain for today.” I said with a chuckle. “Who do you think they’ll send? All Might?”
“No, he’s retired. He won’t do anything like that, especially outside of the school.” Todoroki said.
I nodded and then pointed to the area near us and I made a finger gun motion. He took the hint and blasted the place with ice to freeze it solid and I leapt forward and slammed my fist into the iceberg that formed. It shattered into a million pieces and cleared away all of that ice covered debris, which he then used his fire quirk on and I used my Heat Vision on to melt it all away.
“You’re right.” I said and used super breath next, the air version, and I blew all the much smaller pieces of the crumbled debris off towards the wall at the side of the arena. We had successfully made a nice flat area as a recovery station that would do nicely. “You’re not heading out with the others?”
“The villains are going to attack where they can get the most hostages.” Todoroki answered.
I gave him a knowing look and nodded. That rare small smile appeared on Todoroki’s face again and we moved off towards the opposite edge of the cleared area to start helping other heroes bring back the injured and wounded into the recovery area.
*
“I’ll make it lighter and you can toss it over there.” Ochako said to Tsu and touched the large concrete slab. Tsu stuck out her long frog-like tongue and stuck it to the concrete and then pulled it with her versatile appendage. A twist of her head later, the slab was launched through the air and Ochako released her hold on it to let it fall harmlessly into a wrecked parking lot.
“Bleh.” Tsu said and used her large hands to wipe off the end of her tongue.
“Too much dust?” Ochako asked and slid down into the hole where a civilian had been trapped.
“Too chalky. They didn’t use enough water to cement the mixture properly.” Tsu answered.
“They do that to make sure the concrete is lighter and less tough.” The civilian said before he could stop himself.
Ochako and Tsu gave him surprised looks and he chuckled.
“Yeah, yeah. I blew the act. Sorry.” He said and patted his ‘broken’ leg. “Fracture along the tibia and ankle, so handle with care.”
Tsu gave him a deadpan look and then glanced at Ochako.
“I’ve got him.” Ochako said and smiled at the man. “Don’t worry, sir. We’ll get you out of here and fixed right up.”
“Thank you.” He said and felt her quirk activate on him when she touched him. “Ow. Owww. It hurts.”
Ochako couldn’t help but laugh at his terrible acting. “I think they need better writers for the next set of exams.”
The man winked at her as she lifted him up and then she easily manoeuvred him around several obstacles and out of the hole. She didn’t bang him against anything, which earned her a lot of extra points.
Tsu gently took him from her friend and carried him partway back to where they were supposed to bring them, only to stop when Supreme appeared in front of her.
“Nice work.” He said and motioned to hand him over. “I’ll get him back so you can rush back to your teammate, Uravity.”
“He’s currently weightless.” Tsu said and handed him over. “It’ll disappear as soon as Uravity sees me.”
“Not a problem. I’ll have him back at the recovery area in only a moment.” Supreme said and reached out and lightly touched Tsu’s shoulder. “Tell Ochako there’s two people trapped in the building she’s looking to enter, not one.”
Tsu looked at her shoulder and his hand, then back at him. “Okay.”
“Thank you.” He said and gave her shoulder a light squeeze, then he disappeared in a slight whoosh of wind.
“Wow.” Tsu said and then leaped as fast as her strong legs could go, now that she wasn’t burdened by carrying someone else.
“That was fast.” Ochako said and put her fingertips together. “Release!”
“I met Connor on the way and I came right back.” Tsu said.
Ochako smiled warmly at the thought of seeing him again so soon.
“He said to tell you there are two people to rescue in the building you’re looking at, too.” Tsu informed her.
Ochako nodded and turned back to the building, only to pause and turn back. “Excuse me?”
Tsu repeated what Connor said and Ochako blinked her eyes at her friend.
“He’s watching me?” Ochako asked, a little surprised and she also felt flattered.
“I guess so.” Tsu said and looked at the three storey building. “You go high and I’ll go low?”
Ochako nodded and touched herself on the middle of her chest, then used the mini-thrusters in her boots to get herself flying and cut them off. She reached the top of the building and used the thrusters in her gauntlets to slow herself and directed her flight into the broken window.
“Help! HELP!” A young girl’s voice yelled.
“Help is on the way!” Ochako shouted back and stayed weightless as she navigated across the rotted and partially collapsed floor. It was best to not land on it at all, because it could cause the rest of the floor to collapse and possibly crush Tsu and the other trapped civilian.
Ochako followed the voice until she reached a partially sunk down office and an old man wearing a cheap wig with ponytails was crouched under the desk. Instead of laughing at the sight, she calmly floated over to the ‘crying little girl’. If he had kept his face hidden, she would have fully believed he was actually a little girl, because his performance was that believable.
“Don’t worry, I’ll get you out of here to safety before you know it.” Ochako reassured him.
“NO! I can’t leave without Mister Tibbs!” The old man denied and huddled under the desk.
Ochako wondered what he was talking about and backed off to make the ‘child’ calm down. It worked and gave her a chance to glance around the room for something that didn’t belong. It was only a few seconds later that she saw a plush toy kitten in the far corner of the room, which just so happened to be the most dangerous part that looked like it could collapse at any moment.
A quick check of the structure showed her that if she stepped anywhere near the place, it was all going to drop through the floor and probably all the way down to the basement. She didn’t want that to happen, so she did the smart thing and touched the desk to make it weightless and then carefully floated over to the corner of the room, touched the plush black kitten, and made it weightless, too.
With a soft sigh and a smile, Ochako nudged the plush kitten and it bounced off the wall and out into her waiting hands. She eased back from the dangerous area and happily held out the kitten to the frightened ‘little girl’.
“Mister Tibbs!” The old man shouted and lunged for her, which was exactly what Ochako planned for. As soon as the ‘little girl’ grabbed the plush kitten, Ochako grabbed the civilian and launched away from the office.
“I have the other one!” Tsu said, her voice partially mumbled because she had wrapped her long tongue around a tall man wearing a blonde wig.
“Oh! You found my darling daughter!” The man said in a fake high pitched voice.
Ochako barely hid her wince at the terrible imitation. Tsu visibly shuddered at hearing it.
“Shh! You’re ruining the ambience!” The ‘little girl’ admonished his ‘mother’.
“I am? I’m terribly sorry, old chap.” The man said in a normal British accent. “Should I attempt the historically accurate school matron impression I’ve been practising?”
“NO!” Ochako, Tsu, and the old man yelled at the same time.
The two potential heroes managed to eventually get their rescued civilians out of the nearly collapsed building and onto the street, safe and sound.
“At least you’ll get to see Connor yourself this time when he meets us halfway.” Tsu commented.
Ochako beamed a smile at her and the entire encounter they just experienced didn’t seem as bad as she thought it did. If she had asked Tsu, she would not have agreed with that assessment at all.
