One hundred students in one room. A massive screen displaying what remained of the first exam's arena, and the quiet between them thicker than anything they could name.
Mera stood in front of the screen with the same unvarying flatness he seemed to carry in place of enthusiasm. "Alright. The hundred who passed the first stage. Please watch this."
On screen, the different zones began to fall. Buildings collapsing. Explosions. Columns of smoke rising from every corner at once.
Midoriya locked onto the screen immediately and tried to absorb every detail. "That's the arena!"
"I wonder what's going to happen." Uraraka said beside him.
In the back corner, Zoro stood with his back against the wall and his arms crossed. He looked at the screen and a faint smile formed at the corner of his mouth. "I'm bored in this room."
He left it there a moment.
"Let's see what this next exam is hiding."
Then the entire arena detonated on screen at once. Crack. Crack. Crack. The zones collapsed with a manufactured speed that resembled controlled demolition more than actual disaster, but the sight was enough to break the room.
"Why?!"
"What's happening?!"
Midoriya's heartbeat climbed faster than he intended. "This..."
"This next exam is starting to interest me more." Zoro's voice came from his corner, even in tone.
Mera continued with the voice of someone reading from a paper written ten years ago. "The next stage will be the last. You will all conduct rescue training as bystanders in this disaster zone."
Zoro stopped watching the screen. "Bayslaider?"
Toru was standing nearby, along with Yaoyorozu. She heard the question and corrected quickly. "Bystanders. People who happen to be present at the scene of an incident." She added with the warmth of a reminder that doesn't embarrass: "We studied this in class. Remember?"
From the other side, Mineta and Kaminari's voices launched together as though they had agreed on it in advance. "How is Zoro supposed to remember that when he sleeps in the back the whole class?"
Zoro raised his eyes to them with a flat gaze. "Says the two of you."
Yaoyorozu completed what Toru had started. "The term can also refer to ordinary civilians."
Mera continued. "We will assume that everyone who passed the first stage has obtained their provisional license. We will test your ability to carry out appropriate rescue procedures."
On screen, children and elderly people appeared among the wreckage across the different zones. The room doubled in noise.
"What are they doing there?!"
"This is extremely dangerous!"
"These are people trained to professionally require rescuing." Mera said in the same flat delivery. "There is high demand for their services at the moment. They are Help.Us.Company, or H.U.C. for short."
Sero asked with genuine curiosity: "Professionally trained people who need rescuing?"
Tsuyu said with the quiet evenness that made every observation land cleanly: "There are many kinds of jobs in this world, aren't there."
Ojiro added with understanding: "It's a profession that adapts to the reality of this world where heroes are in high demand."
Mera pressed on. "H.U.C. personnel are dressed to simulate injured victims and are positioned throughout the disaster zone. We will evaluate rescue operations based on points. Students who exceed the reference score will pass. You have ten minutes. Please use the restroom and handle any necessary business now."
Zoro set a piece of food in his mouth with the expression of someone delivering a verdict without addressing anyone in particular. "The last exam was better. Rescue without combat? Without excitement? Very boring test."
He paused and said quieter. "But there's nothing I can do about it. I don't want to fail after all this."
Iida stepped toward Midoriya. "Midoriya."
Midoriya's eyes were still fixed on the screen. "Yes. I'm wondering whether this disaster zone was modeled on the Kamino incident."
"It does resemble it." Iida's expression was measured and serious. "At the time our focus was on recovering Zoro from the villains without obstructing the professional heroes. There were many injuries in the middle of all that."
Midoriya's face lit up with resolve. "Let's give everything we have then. Iida."
In another corner of the room, Kaminari and Mineta were sitting side by side. Sero approached with the smile of someone carrying information reserved for select ears.
"Hey guys."
Both turned.
"I never told you what happened earlier."
"What is it?" Mineta's eyes narrowed on their own.
"Age rating?" Sero asked.
"Above eighteen?"
"Then I'm listening."
Sero pointed toward a girl from Shiketsu standing across the room. "You see that girl in the cloak over there? I saw her completely undressed in the shadows of the rocks. With Midoriya."
The dual shout came at exactly the same second.
"Midoriya!!!"
They descended on him from both sides.
"What were you doing while the rest of us were working hard?!"
"That hurts! Stop! What?!" Midoriya couldn't process the attack coming from two angles.
"Don't pretend." Mineta raised his finger toward Kemi. "What exactly did you do with that girl over..."
Then he turned. And found her looking at them. And waving.
"You absolute traitor." Mineta's tears came from a place of genuine devastation.
"Listen to me." Midoriya tried to hold onto calm with both hands. "I'll tell you the truth because Sero is making it up."
While the three-way chaos extended between Mineta, Kaminari, and Midoriya, Uraraka was standing on the other side of the room. Not participating. Not commenting. Just watching, and specifically watching Midoriya, with an expression that didn't have a simple name attached to it.
From his corner, Zoro's voice came with the tone of advice delivered too loudly to really count as advice. "Stop the noise." He looked at Mineta specifically. "You. Short one. Lower your volume."
Before Mineta could respond, Iida's voice carried to everyone nearby. "Shiketsu students are on their way here."
Every nearby conversation stopped in the middle of whatever word it was on. And indeed, measured footsteps were approaching from across the room.
But the group didn't stop at Midoriya or at Iida. It walked until it reached Zoro and stopped directly in front of him.
Zoro raised his head.
"Zoro." Nagamasa's voice was calm in a way that contrasted with the ambient noise.
"What is it?"
"Did you encounter Shishikura? The man whose eyes look like cracks?"
"Cracks." Zoro repeated the description for a moment as though matching it to a memory. "Ah. Yes I saw him. Is there a problem?"
"Then it was you." Nagamasa said it as confirmation of something expected rather than something discovered. "I thought so. He probably behaved rudely. He must have been unable to contain himself when he saw you. You've become quite well known."
"That's his problem."
Inasa's voice dropped toward Nagamasa. "I told you he doesn't give time to others. Let's go."
Nagamasa nodded. "Alright." He looked at Zoro one final time. "I would like to build a good relationship with UA. I apologize on his behalf."
At the back, Midoriya and Mineta exchanged one look.
"A good relationship?"
"A good relationship?!"
"That does not look like any good relationship I know."
Several steps away, Todoroki stood watching Inasa move with his group. Something in that face had stayed with him since the first time he saw it in the arena.
"You. The one with the shaved head."
Inasa stopped. The rest of the group kept walking. He turned only his head.
"Did I do something to you?" Todoroki asked directly.
Inasa turned his entire body until he was squarely facing Todoroki. He looked at him directly in the eyes. "Ohhh."
A pause.
"Alright then. Son of Endeavor."
His eyes sharpened as he looked at Todoroki's face. "But I hate you people."
"You've changed a little since then. But your eyes are the same as Endeavor's."
Todoroki's pupil widened suddenly, then contracted.
From ahead, Nagamasa called out. "What's the matter, Yoarashi?"
"Nothing, sir!" Inasa raised his voice and resumed walking, leaving Todoroki standing in place.
"The old man's eyes."
Todoroki said it to himself just above a murmur, still working through what he had heard.
Midoriya stepped toward him. "Todoroki."
Then a soft voice behind him turned him into stone.
"See you later."
Kemi. Standing close enough behind him that the air between her voice and his ear was nothing at all.
Midoriya turned immediately and without any thought preceding the movement. "Ah... okay!"
From his corner, Zoro watched the moment with what remained of his food in his hand. A piece came out of his mouth as he started laughing. "Hey Midoriya. One girl and you come apart like that?"
Midoriya swallowed with effort and tried to pull himself back together. "No, it's not what you think."
Mineta and Kaminari launched back into their interrogation and Midoriya tried to explain to both of them at the same time. Yaoyorozu stepped forward with a firm voice and a face that had no patience remaining. "What are you doing? We have an exam coming."
On the far side of the room, Uraraka was watching Kemi's back as she walked calmly toward her section.
Uraraka's brow drew together.
"I don't like this." She said it to herself at a volume no one else could reach. "Why do I feel this way? I was fine when I was fighting."
She turned toward Midoriya and opened her mouth.
"De..."
Srrrrrrrrrr.
A high bell cut through the entire room.
Every eye went to the large screen.
Mera returned with the same faded delivery that made him seem ten years older than his job. "Villains have launched a large-scale terrorist attack. This is happening across all zones. There are many wounded due to building collapses. Due to severe road damage, the first rescue teams have been delayed. Until they can arrive, heroes in the area will begin rescue attempts."
And in that moment, all four walls of the room began to open.
Not slowly. One decisive motion that revealed a constructed ruin stretching to the horizon behind them.
Midoriya stood facing the new arena with eyes already calculating distances and reading priorities.
Zoro stood with one hand resting on Wado Ichimonji's hilt. No urgency. No tension. Just readiness.
Mera's voice came through one final time.
"Begin!"
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