With high ranking pro heroes taking over the classes for all of the hero students, their practical experience grew almost daily. They also thrived under the more stringent tutelage and proved that they could handle the more difficult curriculum.

Not surprisingly, Tanya and Izuku were at the top of the class in performance. Mirko actually enjoyed teaching them the most and she had to admit, privately anyway, that they were a delight to teach and to put through their paces. Both students were also completely serious in their commitment to become pro heroes.

Mirko respected that and respected them, which was also something she would only speak of privately among the heroes at the staff meetings. Those heroes were enthusiastic about the suggested mentor program for the students that passed the provisional licensing exam and the government also encouraged it. More oversight was just what they wanted.

The students practised being a hero in the mornings, studied high school courses in the afternoons, and spent the evenings in the dorms. It had quickly become a routine that everyone fell into and life stabilized and became the new normal for all of them. For almost a month, everything was fine, then the day of the provisional exam arrived.

The students of Class 1-A rode the bus to the facility where the exam was to be held and no one knew what to expect, except for two of them. Tanya and Izuku knew exactly what was going to happen and had planned for it.

The students of Class 1-A entered the facility and were stopped in the lobby at a security station. No one complained until Tanya was told that her rifle and pistols had to be confiscated and inspected. The entire class protested the unfair treatment until the head of security threatened to have them all automatically failed and kicked out for not acting like heroes.

Ten minutes later, only two of Tanya's pistols were returned. They explained that the others didn't meet the testing regulations and the rifle wasn't needed in such close quarters and would be an unfair advantage for her.

“That's the fucking point.” Tanya grumbled as the class walked down the hallway to the arena and she checked the two pistols.

“Did they do it?” Izuku asked in a whisper.

“Yes, the air cartridges have been purged and the pewter pellets are damaged.” Tanya whispered back.

“It's pure luck that I just so happen to have replacement air cartridges and extra supplies of pellets.”

Tanya chuckled as Izuku gave her the things to fix her guns and she holstered them. “Let's hope they don't notice right away.”

“They shouldn't. Your quirk can accelerate anything you touch. They won't make the connection that you don't actually need the guns until later.”

“The guns just make everything so much easier.” Tanya said and took his hand. “Are you ready for this, Izuku?”

“More than ready.” Izuku said. “No one is going to stop us from becoming heroes. No one.”

Tanya nodded and they entered the arena that was packed with students that attended several hero academies from all around the country.

There were over 1,500 students in attendance to listen about the exam's contents. The exam used to hold a 50% passing rate for participants and due to recent events like the various villain attacks and All Might's retirement, the exam was modified to be much more exclusive in its vetting processes and now only 10% of students could pass.

The exam had a new focus on speed while also encouraging teamwork and communication between participants. The new version of the exam hoped to only entitle the best students available in order to fill the gap left behind by All Might's departure from the hero rankings.

The police specifically requested that the exam's focus be on the ability of students to cooperate with each other and both phases of the exam were meant to test how they worked together. The first phase emphasized teamwork and combat ability and the second phase focused on decision making and how students adjusted to their role in disaster situations.

This was exactly what Mirko had taught them during the last month and the entire class felt confident about the whole thing.

When the first phase was explained, that students must wear three exposed targets on their bodies, then given six balls and had to eliminate six students in order to pass. It was a near perfect task for Tanya and her quirk.

Tanya actually let out a purr sound as she floated up to stare into Izuku's eyes. “I love you, Izuku.”

Izuku blushed and nodded. He knew she would like his modification of the rules to suit her. Most of the other students would have to wait or gather up other balls to achieve the same result when Tanya just had to use a single ball to do it and catch the bouncing ball to keep throwing it. It also didn't matter where the targets were, because she could send the balls pretty much anywhere.

The back of the arena opened up and revealed a large open stadium area that had different terrain sections for the students to spread out and attack from. All of Class 1-A stayed together and walked right into the center of the area and up onto a raised rock platform.

“This is a bit arrogant of us.” Momo said and a few of her friends laughed softly.

“You know the tradition they have. Crush UA first.” Tanya said and everyone nodded. “Izuku also needs the raised area for his plan to work.”

“Are you sure we should put all three targets on our stomachs?” Tsuyu asked as she did so.

“Everyone will be throwing their balls right at you. Catch them and you never have to worry about using up your ammo.” Izuku said. “Not that you need to worry about that for about two minutes.”

“Why is that?” Toru, the Invisible Girl, asked.

“That's how long it will take for our enemies to get ready and for the first volley of about 1,500 balls to come right at us.” Tanya said and let some of her manic smile out. “They are going to be surprised when it doesn't work the first time.”

“One minute.” Izuku said and knelt as he prepared his defense. “Do we eliminate the first school that attacks or let the odds decide?”

“Odds. If they can succeed and pass on their own, there's no need to do to another school what everyone else does to UA students.” Tanya said.

“Agreed.” Everyone in the class responded.

“BEGIN!” A voice yelled and the sky was suddenly filled with orange balls. They almost blotted out the sun as they flew closer and closer to their targets... then suddenly they all stopped moving as Izuku absorbed all of their kinetic energy. He gave it to his friends and all of the balls fell to the ground.

“That not fair at all!” A guy's voice shouted out from somewhere.

“I know. That's why I promised to only do that once.” Izuku said and stood up as he let power fill him. “We're going to earn our licenses the hard way. Everyone, grab some free ammo and let's go!”

The entire class grabbed handfuls of the balls to stash all over their costumes and then they all leapt off of the rock platform.

“I'll give you all some cover.” Tanya said and floated up with two hundred balls floating around her.

“You go, girl!” Mina shouted and landed on the ground, her feet already slicked up and she slid away at her best speed.

All two hundred balls shot out like they were launched from a canon and impacted the ground and all of the places to hide in the rocky area. Dozens of screams came from the students waiting to ambush UA and Tanya smiled as she lifted a hundred more balls.

Now to have some fun. Tanya thought and took careful aim.

*

“I can't believe this!” One of the examiners exclaimed as he watched the monitors. “She's not even trying to use her guns!”

“She apparently doesn't need them.” Another said with a sigh. “All of that work behind the scenes to deny her toys and restrict her lethal weapons to protect the students, only for it all to be for nothing.”

“We can't let her pass.” The first man said.

*BEEP!*

“It looks like she's the first to pass.” The second man said.

The first huffed. “We can still harshly mark the second phase for her. Even if the rescue personnel all file favorable reviews, we still control the results. No one will know we altered anything.”

The other examiners nodded. No one wanted to piss off the man that represented the government.

*BEEP!* *BEEP!* *BEEP!* *BEEP!*

*BEEP!* *BEEP!* *BEEP!* *BEEP!* *BEEP!*

“Oh, for heaven's sake.” The first man said with a groan.

*BEEP!* *BEEP!* *BEEP!* *BEEP!* *BEEP!*

*BEEP!* *BEEP!* *BEEP!* *BEEP!* *BEEP!*

“That all of UA's students.” A woman's voice said and marked the log. “Best times of any examinees.”

“Dammit.” The first man said and ground his teeth together.

*

“Did you see the look at that whirlwind guy's face?” Bakugo asked with a laugh as he plopped down onto a couch. “I swear I thought he was gonna shit himself when we eliminated him.”

“His reaction wasn't very manly.” Kirishima said and sat beside his friend.

“Some people can't take rejection well.” Izuku said and walked over to Tanya. “You had a lot of fun.”

“You made sure I did.” Tanya said and gave him a kiss. “Thank you.”

“I can't believe you used up all those balls in only two minutes! It was amazing!” Mina exclaimed and hopped around Tanya and Izuku, then dragged them to a large comfy plush chair, put Izuku on bottom, sat on his lap, and pulled Tanya on top of hers.

“Someone is extra happy.” Tsu said as she hopped over to the chair.

“It's because of these two that we weren't eliminated as soon as the exam started.” Mina said and kissed Tanya's cheek and then kissed Izuku's. “You have got to tell us how you did that!”

“Izuku's kinetic aura.” Tanya said. “We've been pushing it and pushing it all month, thanks to Mirko's extensive training.”

“It's at a good distance now, so I had to use it at least once.” Izuku said. “The energy boost I gave you all was a good excuse that covered up I've been saving energy for that all week.”

“We definitely have to team up for the rescue operations.” Toru said and leaned against the chair and Izuku's shoulder. “Is Tanya going into over-watch position?”

“It's what everyone will expect, so no.” Izuku said and she was surprised. “I'll be doing it.”

“Wait, the strongest person in the whole school is going to float above us and will point out where we need to go instead?” Iida asked, looking confused.

“Exactly.” Tanya said. “Everyone assumes I'm a long range specialist and I am. I'm just not only that.”

“What better way for her to show that she earned her license properly by doing it the hard away?” Izuku said and leaned over Mina to kiss Tanya's cheek. “I'll also be in the best position to help if anything goes wrong.”

That statement made everyone in the class nod. If there was anyone they wanted watching their back, it was Izuku.

*

The many sections of the stadium were detonated when the last of the 150 students passed the first phase. It transformed the entire area into several distinct disaster zones as the students watched from the anteroom.

When the destruction was done, the students saw a lot of people entering the areas and in some cases disappearing into the rubble. The man in charge instructed the students to act as heroes and conduct rescue operations for the second and final phase of the licensing exam. Professional rescuees from the Help Us Company would act as civilians who had been caught up in a villain terrorist attack.

The students were then tasked with rescuing them and the H.U.C. employees would analyze the students and their rescuing methods. A student began the second phase with 100 points and would fail if their score dropped below the 50 point benchmark. The problem was the rescuees could reduce points in the case of perceived mistakes and a lack of efficiency.

On the plus side, the students would be assisted by public safety workers monitoring the exam from the stands. They also watched the students and deducted points based on their actions. All in all, it was going to be a stressful situation.

Almost as soon as the second part of the exam started, the second year hero students started to clear away a small rescue and recovery area for any injured people. This showed both foresight and planning, which was what the examiners were looking for... until they watched the UA students.

To their utter shock, the entire class moved forward as one through every bit of terrain like it didn't exist. Heavy debris was easily moved, people were rescued and healed, then made weightless and secured by straps to the student hovering above the group.

By the time the UA students came back to the recovery part to drop off their full load of rescuees, three sections of the disaster areas had been completely cleared of survivors and dangers. The problem that the examiners had was that Tanya was not the primary one being used. It was Izuku Midoria, the new Symbol of Peace, and he was living up to the reputation.

Izuku had a huge smile on his face as he reassured each and every rescuee that everything was going to be fine and that they were safe.

Just as he said that, the wall of the stadium burst open near the recovery center... and that was it. Nothing else happened. Everything in the area was frozen as all movement stopped, even the people there. All of the debris dropped to the ground and the pretend villains that had tried to swarm into the stadium, dropped to the ground, unconscious.

“As I was saying.” Izuku said with a beaming smile and lightly touched a short man's shoulder. “As long as I am here, you have nothing to worry about.”

“I... I believe you.” The man said with awe in his voice.

“If you will excuse me and my friends, we have some bad guys to secure for the police.”

The man smiled. “Please do, Captain Midoria.”

“Thank you.” Izuku said and that was what they did while Tanya walked around the people the other students rescued and healed them, which made everyone very grateful to her.

After the criminals were secured and the area cleaned of debris, the UA students resumed their rescue patrol and handled everything perfectly. No one lost any points and no one made any mistakes. Even Bakugo had kept his ranting to apologizing that they needed to get the rescuees dirty as they were being rescued. It was quite endearing, actually.

The examiners had no clue how they were going to write things up to have Tanya fail the exam, even if they could alter the video to show her breaking the rules, which she never did. She hadn't even drawn her supposedly 'not working' pistols once. That made the first man groan with frustration, because the sabotage was supposed to make her using a gun dangerous, not stop her from using them entirely.

Little did he realize that Izuku had changed the scenario specifically to stop anyone from marking Tanya unfairly. He also assumed Tanya's role so that everyone would be looking at him and mostly ignoring her. His deception had gone off without a hitch and it all worked out perfectly.