Days of practice lead us into early September. We endured pain and persevered until it was finally time for us to head off to take our Provisional License test. Every day of hard work brought me closer and closer to the next step in achieving my dream. By the day before the test, I had developed two special moves. It was a good number, in my eyes. Some people had only developed one and practised it over and over again, whilst others- namely Kacchan- had developed a plethora of moves which were all really powerful. My two moves were both pretty powerful, yet they took some time to come up with. I wanted to try and use all aspects of my quirk but it was hard to incorporated transforming into people into an actual special move.

It was our last day of training our special moves when we encountered Monoma again. Everybody was working hard, as was usual when the familiar voice of Vlad King echoed around Gym Gamma. "Alright, Class A, time to get out. It's Class B's turn!" Vlad King shouted, making everybody halt in there movements. "Vlad, we have 10 minutes left. Give us a break." Dad sighed, looking lazily over to the door which Class B had just burst through. Vlad King shook his head and crossed his arm, seemingly adamant about us moving out of the gym. "Nope. We gave you an extra 15 minutes yesterday, you owe me this time." Vlad King stated firmly, glaring slightly at Dad. "The only reason we got those extra 15 minutes is that your class wasn't ready on time," Dad argued back. The two adults exchanged short quips and petty words whilst our two classes merged together. All training is forgotten. Well except for Kacchan and Shoto. They were still atop their pillars grinding away.

"Well if it isn't Class A!" Monoma cackled, throwing his head back to laugh maniacally. Everybody exchanged fed up looks, the boy was too much. Plus, I hadn't forgotten what he had said to me the last time we had come face to face. "Well, duh. Who else would it be?" Mina sassed, flipping her no existent long hair over her shoulder. There were a few chuckles in the assembled group of 40. Monoma glared at Mina before adamantly turning away and adopting his mocking voice again. "A little birdie told me that only half of those who enter the provisional test actually pass. How embarrassing will it be when Class B totally crushed Class A. We'll prove once and for all that we're so much better than you." Monoma cackled, an evil glint shining in his eyes. I was about to snap back at him when Dad spoke up. "Actually, you'll be taking your tests in different locations. We want to get as many of you through a possible and this is the best way to do so." he sighed, beckoning for us to follow him out. I assumed Vlad and him had decided to stop arguing and to just let 1B have their turn. Everybody bid farewell to their Class B friends, I hugged Yui, before we all bounced out of the gym and towards the school so that we could change out of our costumes.

The next day dawned bright. We all gathered in the lounge area, waiting patiently for Dad to step out and lead us to our bus. "I'm so nervous. What do you think the test will be like?" Ochako asked nervously, squeezing her girlfriend's hand just a little tighter. "Same here. I'm super nervous. The only upside is that I'll be able to see Auntie Joke and some of her students." I smiled slightly. I couldn't wait to see my Auntie, it had been so long. I had spoken to her over the phone, but it had been too long since I had been in her familiar joyful and joking presence. "I've got a gut feeling that I'm gonna meet someone I don't like," Kacchan growled causing Kaminari, Sero and Kirishima to laugh at him. "Don't you have that feeling all the time, Bakubro. You don't seem to like anyone you meet." Kiri chortled, slapping Kacchan heartily on his shoulder. Kacchan glared at Kiri, opting to simply cross his arms and stare resolutely away from him instead of replying like a normal person. I laughed at Kacchan before turning around at the sound of my dad's door opening and him stepping out of the room. "Ok, everyone. Pick up your costumes and walk to the front of the school building, the bus is waiting." Dad muttered, silencing the class's conversations. "Yes, Aizawa Sensei!" Everyone shouted, walking from Height's Alliance in their little friend groups.

"Class, please board the bus in an orderly fashion. We must arrive at the test centre on time to set a good example. That means that we mustn't have any delays. If you feel as though you sitting next to a certain person will cause disturbances to those around you, please consider moving to a different spot!" Iida shouted as he directed everyone onto the bus, windmilling his arms. I ducked as he nearly hit me. Everyone ignored Iida's shouted instructions and simply boarded the bus randomly. Sitting with their friends and making a racket as they did so. I heard Iida huff behind me as I walked onto the bus with Shoto's hand clasped tightly in mine. "Where do you want to sit, Love?" Shoto asked, smiling down at me sweetly. I smiled back up at him and started tugging him to the back of the bus, I could see Kyoka and Kacchan snorting together at something Shinso had said. It looked like there were enough seats for Shoto, Ochako, Tsu, Iida and me to sit down. "Hey, Nerd. Hey, Icyhot." Kacchan said, acknowledging mine and Shoto's presence before he went back to his conversation with Kyoka and Shinso. I flopped into the window seat and leaned back slightly in my place, I thought it was best to try and relax before all of the excitement I was inevitably going to face when we arrived at the test centre. "Are you ok, Izu? You look really fed up." Ochako's voice chimed close to my head.

I had to actively stop myself from flinching at how close and sudden her voice was. I had been flinching and shying away from things quite a lot. I had asked both Aoi-san and Ihro-san about it and they said it was most likely part of the PTSD I had developed. I was bound to jump slightly at sudden and loud noises, especially after what I had gone through.

"I'm fine, Ocha, just trying to calm my nerves. I don't want to be so nervous that I mess up." I chuckled self consciously. I looked up into Ochako's chocolaty orbs and saw understanding and comprehension dawn in them. "That's a good idea! Tsu, let's close our eyes and relax." Ochako said, turning to girlfriend. I don't know how Tsu reacted to Ochako's words because I could already feel myself slipping off. The last thing I remembered before I fell into a light slumber was my head being lowered onto Shoto's lap and his warm left hand combing through my hair.

"Izuku's wake up. Sweetheart, we've arrived at the test centre." a gentle voice whispered in my ear, their breath tickling the shell of my ear as their minty breathe washed over me. I groaned slightly as crisp white sunlight fell through the bus window and into my eyes. I rubbed my eyes to get the crusted 'sleep' out of them. "Hmm?" I hummed in response to Shoto's voice. "We're at the test centre. We need to get off the bus." Shoto whispered, making me sit up. I looked around tiredly and saw people getting off of the bus. I really didn't want to have to stand up. My legs felt like they were asleep and if I stood up I had no doubt that I would most likely collapse. I looked up at Shoto with wide puppy dog eyes. Shoto sighed and held out his arms, waiting for me to leap into them.

"Took you long enough to get off the fucking bus!" Kacchan grumbled as Shoto and I emerged from the bus. Shoto carrying me princess style. "What's up, Nerd, forgotten how to walk?" Kacchan smirked slightly, gesturing to Shoto carrying me. I stuck my tongue out at Kacchan and tapped Shoto's arm in a signal to let me down. As much as I loved being in my boyfriend's arms, I didn't want the other people from different schools to look at me and perceive me as weak. Or use me as Shoto's weakness during the test or vice versa. The problem with relationships in the hero world is that they can always be exploited.

"Dude, I'm so nervous." I heard Kaminari 'whisper' to Sero, "Look at all these people. I don't think we'll be able to get our licenses." he continued, eyes wide with nerves as he stared around at all of the students flooding into the building before us. To me, the building resembled a large canopy tent, like the one you would use for a circus.

"Kaminari. Don't doubt yourself. You've trained just as hard as anyone here. You'll do fine." Dad called back to the huddled group of the Bakusquad. Kaminari jumped slightly in his stop before nodding quickly, "Alright. I'll try my hardest. Dadzawa." Kaminari exclaimed, smirking slightly as he added the widely used nickname for my dad onto the end. Ever since the nickname had been brought up in class, everybody had started using it to address Dad. It was amusing to watch his eyes narrow slightly and his lips press into a thin line. It was as though he was trying to hold back his embarrassment.

"We've totally got this, dudes. There's no way that we can fail!" Kirishima exclaimed, pumping his fist into the air. "Plus..." everybody wound up to chant. We were about to finish when a tall boy rushed over to us and finished the chant in an excited booming chant. "ULTRA!" he shouted, making me flinch away slightly at just how loud he was. "It's rude to invade other people's group huddles, Inasa." a rather rude sounding boy drawled lazily. His posture was slouched and his hands were in his pockets. He wasn't even looking at us directly, just side-eyeing us.

I studied the students in front of us further and dictated that they were from Shiketsu High School. They wore the classic Shiketsu hat. If I hadn't made it into UA, Shiketsu was my second choice. It had one of the best hero courses alongside UA.

I took note of the other students. There was a tall boy covered from head to two in lustrous white hair. The beady-eyed, rude looking boy from before. And a busty, pucker lipped girl who's aura was very familiar to me. The feeling I got from her was muted. Whilst there was something familiar about her, I didn't recognise her face. It was all very suspicious to me. I made a mental note to keep an eye on her. She could have a similar quirk to me or she could be an imposter. After my experiences, I wasn't going to let even the faintest and most insignificant details go under the radar.

I must have zoned out because, by the time I came to, Dad was mentioning how Inasa had turned down the opportunity to go to UA. It seemed odd to quite a few students but made sense to me. UA just wasn't for some people. After coming out of my contemplative daze, I realised that Shoto seemed a bit off. "Are you alright, Shoto?" I asked quietly, looking up into my boyfriend's eyes. He blinked as he looked down at me, his eyes had this distant look in them. "Hmm? Oh, yeah. I'm good." he muttered distractedly. "Are you sure? It honestly doesn't look like it. Is it something to do with that boy?" I asked in the same quiet voice I had used before. "Yeah. It's just something he said when we met at the recommendation exam." Shoto said, seemingly regaining his wits. I nodded my head and took Shoto's hand into mine, "Well don't let it distract you. Today is really important." I whispered. Shoto nodded his head and turned to the front of the crowd again. "SHOTA! COME GIVE ME A HUG!" a familiar bubbly voice all but screamed at Dad. I watched as Dad's face fell. I smiled a huge smile before pulling my hand from Shoto's and rushing through the crowd.

"IZU!" Auntie Joke shouted beaming as she held out her arms for a hug. "AUNTIE JOKE!" I shouted in return, running up to her and jumping into her arms for a hug. She swung us around a bit before she gently lowered me to the floor and ruffled my hair. "Look at you! It's been way too long!" Auntie Joke smiled, draping her arm across my shoulder. "Are you two done making fools out of yourselves?" Dad asked in a bored tone of voice. Emi spun around to look at Dad and tried to pull him into a hug, but he deftly ducked under her arm and scowled at her. "Bleh! Party pooper." Auntie Joke joked, "Guess it'll just be us two." she sighed sadly to me. I laughed slightly and pulled her into a side hug.

"Oh! I was supposed to introduce you to my class!" Auntie Joke exclaimed suddenly, slapping a hand to her head. "Class, come over here. Let me introduce you to Class 1A from UA." Auntie Joke called to her class. A group of kids walked forwards, they all appeared to be a bit older than us. Maybe in their second year. "Wow, it's really class 1A. It's a pleasure to meet you. My name is Shindo Yo." a tall black-haired boy announced happily as he rushed forward to shake my hand enthusiastically. I grimaced slightly as he suddenly took my hand. I wasn't as fond of physical contact as I had been as a child, especially when it came to strangers. Not to mention I got a weird feeling from the boy in front of me. "Yeah. Aizawa-Midoriya Izuku." I mumbled back, shaking his hand before pulling back.

We mingled with Class 2-2 from Ketsubutsu Academy for a few minutes, greeting each other before we had to go our separate ways. From Kacchan's facial expression after Shindo greeted him, he got the same eery feeling that I got. "They were super nice." Ochako smiled as we started walking towards the doors of the test centre. "Yeah, I don't know." I muttered, "They all seemed alright but to me, they all seemed to be hiding something. Like they were only putting on a facade. What do you think Kacchan?" I asked, turning to my best friend. "Tch. The bastards are just playing nice. They were checking out the competition. They're gonna be anything but friendly when we get into the ring. Especially that Shindo guy. Fucking dickwad." Kacchan hissed, glaring at the backs of the Ketsubutsu students. I nodded my head in agreement. My classmates shared looks of unease at Kacchan and I's commentaries on the students. Something within me just told me to not trust them.

I don't know if you can tell but I fucking hate Shindo. I despise him with a burning passion for no apparent reason. He literally did nothing wrong. I just saw his name in a story one day and my brain immediately said 'Uh. This bastard. I fucking despsie him.', so yeah. Don't know what's going on there.   

Anyway, thank you for reading chapter 17 of Phenomenon and I hope you have a wonderful day wherever you are.