BNHA: I am Reiji Toga Chapter 48: Exam (3)

The U.A. supervision room remained illuminated only by the constant glow of dozens of giant screens distributed around the room. The low hum of the projectors and monitors filled the air as different sections of the practical exam continued to play simultaneously in real ti: explosions, robots collapsing, exhausted students crawling through rubble, and professors taking notes on each participant.

But for several minutes, most of the room had been watching practically the sa thing.

Area C-7.

On one of the main screens, Reiji Toga was walking across the field toward the simulation's exit zone. He walked calmly, an oddity after the devastation caused by the robots that had tried to harm him earlier.

The silence was finally broken when Midnight slowly crossed his arms.

"...Does anyone else think that was an exaggeration?"

His tone was still relaxed, but there was a clear tension behind the question.

Centoss looked up from several evaluation charts projected in front of him.

"Initially, I thought it was a distribution error," he admitted, reviewing the system logs again. "But the Model One drones were deliberately sent to the sa area. And four zero points appeared almost simultaneously."

Present Mic let out a low whistle, leaning forward in his seat.

"And yet the kid just kept moving like nothing was wrong..." he muttered before pointing at the main screen. "That's the sa student from the sludge villain incident, right? Himiko Toga's brother."

"Reiji Toga," Ectoplasm confird, analyzing several retakes of the exam. "He wasn't listed as recomnded, but his previous physical and academic scores are absurdly high."

Power Loader slowly frowned as he reviewed the chanical protocols of the robots used.

"That's not what I'm worried about," he said, visibly annoyed. "I'm worried about who changed my machines' attack priorities."

The room grew slightly quieter.

Because practically everyone already suspected the answer.

Eyes slowly began to shift toward the back of the room.

Nezu remained seated, perfectly calm, holding a teacup in both hands, while Aizawa stood beside him, arms crossed and an expression completely indifferent to the awkward atmosphere they had just created.

All Might was there too.

Seated slightly apart from the others, he silently watched the freeze-fra of Reiji destroying one of the drones mid-air. His expression was difficult to read, though the intensity with which he followed the recording made it clear he was far more attentive than he let on.

Nezu calmly took a sip before answering.

"It wasn't a mistake."

Power Loader imdiately slamd both hands on the table, showing his annoyance.

"Nezu."

"We were just running a supplental test," the principal continued casually. "We wanted to observe how he would react to a less controlled scenario than the standard one."

"A supplental test?" Midnight repeated, raising an eyebrow. "That was practically an ambush."

"He didn't know anything about the modifications," Aizawa added dryly. "But we expected him to notice the differences from the normal exam. And he did quite quickly."

"That doesn't answer why it was kept from us," Power Loader insisted, clearly irritated. "Those drones were still under experintal configuration."

"And yet they worked exactly as expected," Aizawa replied calmly.

"Because they only attacked him!"

"Precisely."

Silence briefly fell over the room again.

Snipe spoke this ti, watching the screen with his arms crossed.

"What if the boy had been hurt?"

"He wouldn't have been, and he has good regeneration in addition to Recovery Girl's Quirk."

Aizawa answered so quickly that several people ended up looking directly at him.

The teacher kept his eyes fixed on the screens as he continued speaking.

"He's been in real-life situations before; he knows how to react to crises. Besides, there were backup systems in place, just in case."

"That still doesn't excuse it," Midnight muttered. "The other students were there too."

"But they weren't affected," Nezu finally replied, gently placing his cup on the saucer. "The area was constantly monitored, and trajectories were controlled to keep the risk contained."

Power Loader let out a frustrated sigh.

"That doesn't change the fact that the kid practically took a different exam than everyone else."

All Might finally spoke after several minutes of silence.

"And yet..." he murmured slowly, his eyes fixed on the screen. "His priority remained rescuing people."

The sentence drew several glances toward him.

The Symbol of Peace watched another replay where Reiji was outmatched by robots.

"He didn't accumulate points by solely focusing on destroying enemies," All Might continued. "Even when he realized sothing was wrong, he still prioritized civilians and students."

It was true; Reiji had consciously changed his trajectory to avoid areas without people to prevent them from being caught in crossfire.

Aizawa closed his eyes for just a second.

"Yes."

Centoss looked at the exam records again.

"In fact..." he murmured, zooming in on various statistics. "Most of his points ca precisely from rescues."

Midnight watched the freeze-fra again, this ti of Reiji partially covered in blood and tal debris.

Nezu finally took advantage of the brief silence to shift the focus of the conversation.

"Even so, he wasn't the only interesting candidate this year."

And with a small movent, he activated other screens around the room.

"C-4, C-1, and C-2 also produced quite remarkable results."

The images quickly changed, showing different students facing off against zero-point robots.

The rest of the teachers, resigned to their boss's eccentricities, decided to ignore the Reiji issue for the ti being.

***

Reiji barely managed to close the front door when a quick, hurried voice echoed through the house before he could even take off his shoes.

"Are you okay?!"

The sound of hurried footsteps imdiately echoed through the hallway, and a second later, Himiko appeared practically running from the dining room. She was wearing an oversized sweatshirt, her ssy hair was only half-pulled up, and her apron was still tied around her waist.

Himiko had arrived early.

And judging by the sll that filled the house, she'd been cooking for quite a while.

"Did sothing happen to you?! Were you beaten up?!"

He didn't have ti to answer.

Himiko grabbed both his wrists as soon as she reached him and imdiately began examining him as if she expected to find injuries hidden beneath his clothes.

"I'm fine."

"That's exactly the answer soone would give who doesn't want to worry anyone!"

She rolled up one of his sleeves without asking permission while inspecting his entire arm with visible concentration.

"Did you cut yourself? Did sothing explode on you? Did a giant robot fall on you? There were giant robots, right?!"

"There were robots."

"HOW MANY?!"

"A lot."

"That doesn't help."

Reiji let out a small, tired exhalation as she continued to turn him slightly toward the light in the hallway for a better look.

Himiko seed genuinely upset.

And honestly, considering he'd literally been waiting for news about the exam all day, it made perfect sense.

"Were you hit sowhere else?" she asked, now bending down slightly to check one of his legs. "Don't look at like that, heroes always co back injured from these things!"

"I'm not even a hero yet."

"Details."

Reiji finally let her be because she clearly wasn't going to stop until she was convinced herself.

"I had a quiet day at the office and I still ended up more stressed than when we patrolled with Master Ryukyu," Himiko muttered as she checked one of her forearms again. "I couldn't stop thinking that you were probably destroying buildings or that one was going to fall on you."

"That's a very specific image."

"I know you."

She finally stopped inspecting it and barely glanced up at him.

"...So, did it go well?"

The question ca out much more calmly this ti.

Reiji studied her for just a mont before answering.

"Yes. It went well."

The reaction was imdiate.

All the tension vanished from Himiko's face at once as a huge smile appeared almost instantly.

"I knew it!"

She literally jumped in place before approaching him again, her excitent much less pronounced now.

"So that's it! Now you're officially in!"

Reiji barely blinked as she continued talking, practically breathless.

"I'll be able to see you every day at the academy! And bother you during breaks! And walk past your classroom just to distract you!"

"We won't have shared schedules."

"No problem, I'll find ways."

She said it with such certainty that it honestly sounded more like a real threat than a joke.

Himiko stood behind him and gently pushed him by the shoulders as she walked toward the kitchen.

"Besides, now I'll be able to see how everyone reacts when you act like you're too cool to talk to people."

"I don't act like that."

"Reiji." She looked directly at him with a completely serious expression for two seconds. "You literally look like a traumatized protagonist."

"...That doesn't even an anything."

"It ans a lot."

Reiji barely let out a small exhalation through his nose as she imdiately smiled again.

The house slled too good.

"And since you survived, it's ti to eat."

"First I'm going to take a bath."

Himiko stopped imdiately, moving to block his path.

"Now?"

"Yes."

"Why?"

"Because I just got out of a thorough physical exam."

She frowned slightly.

"The food's hot."

"The water is too."

"I don't want it to get cold."

"Five minutes."

"Five minutes is enough to ruin the texture."

Reiji finally looked directly at her.

"Five minutes is enough to ruin the texture." "...Since when do you talk like a professional chef?"

"Since Ryukyu said my curry was good."

That honestly explained a lot.

The silence lasted only a few seconds as they stared at each other in the middle of the hallway.

Himiko was still blocking his path to the bedrooms.

And she clearly had no intention of moving.

"Are you going to let through?"

"No."

The answer ca too quickly.

Reiji sighed slowly through his nose as she crossed her arms with a proud expression, though she was clearly holding back a laugh.

Finally, Reiji turned toward the kitchen without further argunt.

"I knew you'd lose from starvation," Himiko muttered imdiately as she walked behind him.

"Just because I'm tired."

"Uh-huh."

After all the chaos of the exam, the warm atmosphere of the house and the constant chatter of Himiko talking about her relaxed day at the office with Ryukyu and Nejire felt much calr than he had expected.

***

And if you like it, leave your Power Stones to unlock the additional chapters, or if you don't want to wait, you can support by buying breakfast so I'll publish more chapters.

Support the project for just $2 USD. → [patreon/MisterCreator]