Peppermint || Shoto Todoroki x Reader

Chapter 56

'Yeah, let's.'

'Your quirk is water-based. We're superior in water.' A sidekick noted as Y/N swung her fist at the guy, landing it with a loud 'crack'. 'We're here to help!' A cheerful voice behind the brunette rang out, followed by a gush of acid. 'Mina!' The girl cried joyfully as she was joined by Mina Ashido. 'Hiya!' The pink skinned girl cheered in greeting, tossing acid at the advancing troops.

Suddenly, the raging fire tornado wore out. 'What now?' Gang Orca boomed, standing unscathed in the middle. 'See ya, Mina! I gotta help them.' Y/N yelled, running off towards the pro hero, all while levitating a sphere of Mina's acid.

'You stay away from them.' The brunette commanded, launching the acid at Gang Orca. At the same time, a blur of emerald kicked at the 'villain'. 'Midoriya, L/N.' Gang Orca stated, incapacitating Izuku, but the buzzer sounded at that moment. 'Well, yeah. So at this time, all the HUC members deployed have been rescued from the disaster zones. It may seem anti-climatic, but with this, the Licensing exam has officially been completed!' Mera announced, sounding enthusiastic for once. 'After tallying the score, we'll announce the results here in the arena. Anyone injured should go to the infirmary. The rest of you are free to change clothes and go wherever you like.' 

...

'I'm so nervous!' Y/N blurted as she slipped on her grey blazer. 'What if I didn't pass?'

'Okay. Thank you everyone, for your hard work in today's exam. Now before I announce the results, I should probably explain the way I evaluated you. Between HUC and the Heroes' Safety Public Commission, we had a merit system used to determine your total scores. In other words, we evaluate the number of mistakes you made in a crisis situation. Anyway, the names of all the people who have passed are listed here in alphabetical order. Keep my words in mind as you search the screen for your name.'

Once the screen lit up, Y/N began frantically searching for her name, jumping on the balls of her feet as her eyes scanned the characters at inhuman speed.

'I think I might faint!' She cried, throwing her arms around Ochaco and Jiro. 'I passed! I passed, I passed! I'm another step closer to being a pro like my mum!' 'You passed too?' A voice behind the three girls rang out. 'Pikachu! You passed too, didn't you?' Y/N cheered, throwing her arms around the boy. 'This is too exciting!'

'Todoroki!' A stern voice boomed, startling Y/N and Kaminari. The two crackheads who were busy celebrating toppled onto the floor in a heap, face planting into the dirt. 'I'm sorry!' Inasa yelled, doing his weird bow once more. Kaminari began snickering at Shoto's shocked, slightly terrified expression, to which Y/N joined in soon after.

'It's my fault that you didn't pass the licensing exam.' 

Y/N and Kaminari stopped laughing immediately. 'My focus was too narrow-minded.' Inasa continued, not looking like he was going to get his head out of the dirt anytime soon. 'Forgive me.' 'You're fine.' Shoto began, glancing at Y/N and Kaminari still in a pile on the floor, streaks of mud painted on their hair and cheeks. 'I was the one who got us off to a bad start.'

'But still!' Inasa protested, making Y/N wonder if he ever got tired staying in that pose. 'And thanks to the things you said to me, I have a lot to think about.'

'Holy crap.' Mina commented, dragging Y/N to her feet. 'Did he really fail?' 'How could our top two classmates not pass the exam?' Sero questioned, just as baffled. 'You should've been more careful with what you said!' Kaminari sang as he brushed off the dust staining his uniform. 'Words are important, you know.'

'Shut your mouth before I murder you.' Bakugo growled, glowering at Kaminari whose expression immediately changed to one of terror. 'Those people at the top think so highly of themselves, don't they? Their egos are their worst enemies.' Mineta lectured, even though no one was listening. 'Looks like our class hierarchy is collapsing.' The grape headed boy slapped a hand onto Shoto's shoulder, but was dragged away immediately.

'You.' An unimpressed tone greeted his ears. 'Stay away from my boyfriend, got it? And stop talking about shit you obviously have no idea about.' Y/N threatened, towering over Mineta. 'Go flirt with some other schools, why don't you?' 'I can't believe this!' Izuku muttered, eyes wide with shock. 'Poor Todoroki...' Momo murmured, staring at Shoto who had his head bowed.

'So. Next we'll give you your results. They include a breakdown of your score so you know what areas you need to improve going forward.'

'L/N?' A man with sunglasses and a formal suit handed a freshly printed sheet of Y/N's score to the brunette, eyeing the dirt stained on her uniform. 'Thank you.' Y/N smiled, accepting it. 'And don't judge me.' 'Y/N!' Hagakure's high pitched voice pierced Y/N's eardrums. 'How did you do?' The girl giggled, snatching the piece of paper from the confused brunette's hands.

'Wow! Ninety-eight points?' Hagakure screeched, shaking Y/N's shoulder violently. 'The only reason they docked off marks was because you ran off and forgot about the casualties!' 'We knocked off points when you did something wrong.' Mera explained as all the examinees stared at their results. Fall below fifty and you're done. These demerits are in the result forms as you see, so I'd look at them.'

'I got eighty-four!' Sero bragged, holding out his sheet of paper. 'Turns out I'm actually pretty great at this stuff!' 'Yeah?' Hagakure challenged, shoving Y/N's paper into the boy's face. 'Well Y/N got ninety-eight!' 'Yaomomo got ninety-four!' Jiro exclaimed incredulously as Y/N chased after Hagakure who was running around flaunting Y/N's score like her own.

'Anyway, moving forward. Those of you who passed can exercise the same authority as pro heroes, but only during emergency situations. In other words, fighting villains, saving civilians from criminal acts or accidents, you may act using your best judgement with no direct orders. Keep in mind that your every action from now on is meant to build a better society and that the world is watching you. I'm sure you're aware that All Might, our greatest hero no longer has his incredible power. One of the reasons crime in this country is so low is due to his presence. With that deterred, criminals are sure to become more bold and more widespread. Expect the balance we currently have in our world to be destroyed or things to change quickly. You young people will be the hope of our future, that you'll become exemplary heroes. Your reputations will grow to suppress crime.'

'Remember. The license you earn today is provisional, and you still have much to do. I would like for you to think of yourselves as fledgelings and work even harder in your studies. And as for those who fell short and did not pass, we do not have time for you to feel bitter about your loss. Instead, we offer you a chance to redeem yourself. After you attend a three month long course and pass an individual test, we plan to issue Provisional Licenses to those of you who failed as well. In order for us to reach the idealistic future that I just spoke of, we're going to need as many good heroes on the streets as we can get. The first round was to weave people out, and we let the hundred selected pass as much as possible. That's why we watched you all till the end, so we could see for ourselves that you each have promise, that once your shortcomings are averted, you can be as good as your classmates. The special course will keep you busy, as it will run concurrently with your normal studies. You're welcome to take the exam in April if you wish.'

'Isn't that great?' Y/N cried, throwing her arms around Shoto. 'Yeah.' Shoto smiled slightly. 'Yeah, it is.'