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Another year of practical exams… a chance for Hope’s Peak’s students to show off their Ultimate talents and skills to the board of examiners and the world at large. It was the highlight of the school year, as the public got to see exactly what shining hopes the school had recruited!
Although, frankly, Jin would be happy just as long as this one didn’t result in the gym being blown up…
He headed through spotless corridors, past perfectly arranged notices and smartly-dressed, orderly students to the gym. Inside would be the examiners and a mass of media coverage all looking to get the best view of the resulting spectacle… time to make his entrance!
“Hello, everyone!” He said clearly as he entered the room, “I thank you all for… coming…” He trailed off as he realised that there weren’t any media to record his speech, or even any examiners, just a few students who’d been given early examination slots and had arrived, projects in hand, in immaculate uniforms, and staring confusedly at the empty room.
He turned to the nearest member of school staff. “Where are the examiners?”
“Uhh… they can’t get into the building, sir!” The poor man stammered, “N-nobody can…”
“Why the hell not!?” Had some idiot locked the doors or something?
“The… There’s a bunch of motorcyclists forming a blockade around the whole school…”
“Motorcyclists…?” It only took Jin a minute to realise who was likely responsible for that! And as he turned to look at the few students who had arrived, he could see that, yes indeed, Oowada was sat there, next to his friend Fujisaki, looking smug in his perfectly ironed school uniform. “Understood.” He sighed, heading over to the gang leader.
“Alright, Oowada, you’ve made your point.” Jin sighed. “We’ll mark you as having passed. Now call off your gang.”
“No, sir.” Oowada defied him in a surprisingly respectful tone.
“…Why not?” Jin asked him. “You know there’s no distinctions for these exams. A pass is the best you can get.”
“I know that, sir.” Oowada nodded. “But the Diamonds don’t back down.”
“Fine.” Jin knew a lost cause when he saw one. “I guess I’ll just have to call out the police on your gang then…” He reached for his phone, hitting the shortcut for the school’s security service… only to be met with a message stating he had no phone signal, or 4G, or even WiFi…
“Umm… sorry sir.” Fujisaki mumbled, looking down at his sparkling shoes.
“Alright. You pass as well!” He snapped, “Now stop it.”
He shook his head. “Umm… I can’t, sir. Sorry sir.”
What!? What had he done, set a virus he couldn’t control onto the school servers or something?
“Tell the IT techs to roll back the whole school system to an earlier point…” Jin ordered the nearby staff member.
“They’re trying to… but it’ll take an hour at least.”
Jin glared at the two students delaying the examinations. Why were they still insisting on continuing this when they’d both already received passes? Were they just being stubborn? Was it some competition, to see which of them could delay things the longest?
Whatever it was, it kept them from relenting for the entire hour that it took for his phone to become functional again… The pair of them just sat there, occasionally glancing at the door to the gym, neither one saying a word.
They didn’t even speak when Fujisaki slunk off, defeated, while Jin called the police and then checked the news coverage on his phone… it was, of course, mostly focused on Oowada’s gang… especially once the police arrived and the real show started…
Good lord, over one hundred officers needed to take down a group of thirty boys… He’d have thought the biker would be smug about it. But instead Oowada just scowled bitterly and stormed out once the first few members of the press came in and tried to ask him about how he’d set the blockade up and who that cute guy who’d taken out a whole squadron of armed police by himself was…
Well… at least the gym hadn’t been blown up… A two hour delay was probably the least the gang could have done to the school, if they’d have decided to come inside the grounds rather than just blockading the place… And soon enough the examiners were settled in, the media had set up lighting, microphones and cameras and Jin was able to greet the press with his previously prepared speech… plus an additional apology and a joke about ‘Ultimate Delayers’ that was met with the barest hint of polite laughter.
Well, no matter… he had examinations to direct! First name on the list… “Kiyotaka Ishimaru!” He looked at the waiting students… only to notice the distinct lack of an Ultimate Moral Compass…
In fact, wasn’t he friends with Oowada and Fujisaki? Why hadn’t he tried to stop them from delaying the exam? Surely they wouldn’t have tied him up somewhere…?
His question was soon answered as the door to the gym opened… slowly at first, then swinging open under the weight of the schools most diligent student, who was launched, stumbling into the room by the unexpected lack of resistance from the door.
He just about managed to stop himself falling over completely and slowly straightened. Then he looked ahead of him, sweat dripping down his even more pallid than usual face, as his red eyes blinked hazily at the panel of examiners…
He was a complete mess… his usually pristine white uniform was stained and creased, and both his shirt and his knee length black boots were half undone. Instead of his usual ramrod-straight posture, he was swaying side to side…
Eventually, he seemed to realise where he was and stepped forward, slowly, to the panel.
“…Kiyo… Maru… Compass…” He muttered, as his hand went through a motion that looked like it was going to be a salute, but then turned into fanning himself. “C-clean… tidy…forms…”
The panel just stared at him.
“Hahaha.” He laughed weakly and collapsed.
Jin quickly made his way around the table to check over the boy… his forehead was burning…
“Kyoudai!” “Ahh! Taka!” The voices of the pair who’d delayed the exams came crying out from the doors to the gym, as they both rushed back into to room to check on their fallen friend.
Well… at least their behaviour made sense now…
“It’s just a fever…” Jin told them, “But he should be in the medical room…” He pointed out, as he pulled out his phone to call some staff to get the boy a stretcher and medicine.
“No…! Fine!” Ishimaru suddenly shouted from the floor, vainly trying to push himself up off it. “Have… have to… exam…!”
“…He’s spent all week making sure everything in the school is in order…” Fujisaki explained sadly.
“And he even managed to get every asshole in school to wear the uniform correctly at the same time…” Oowada scowled at the clothes he was wearing.
“I thought the school looked smarter this year…” One of the examiners pointed out, to a murmur of agreement from the others.
“…Alright... Ishimaru, you’ve passed.” Jin told the boy. “Now get some sleep, for God’s sake!”
“Sir!” Ishimaru smiled madly before passing out again.
“And you two get him to the medical room…” Jin sighed at the boy’s friends, “And I expect you to show me what your actual exam plans were going to be before you pulled this stunt instead!” He told them.
“Yes, sir.” They both smiled and carried off their friend. Honestly, he’d have given Ishimaru a pass just for the fact that Oowada was calling him sir without being sarcastic about it. The moral compass had certainly been a good example to the gangster…
“What is your plan for the exam?” He could just about hear Fujisaki asking as they left.
“Imma threaten ta beat the shit outta them if they don’t gimme a pass!” Was the reply that left Jin wishing Ishimaru hadn’t bothered to waste all his time worrying about clean halls and students wearing their ties correctly…