Sam finally arrived at his test site. It was just a small arena. Quite simple.
But he knew better than to relax.
Before he could think further, he was shocked when something fell from the sky right in front of him.
'Don't tell me…'
He only knew one person who would be that reckless and would make such a grandiose entrance.
"Mirko, is on the scene!"
Rumi exclaims.
"Rumi?!? What the hell?!?"
———
In the observation room, the students are gaping in shock at what they are seeing.
"Rabbit hero Mirko! What is she doing here?!?"
Kaminari asks with a big grin.
"Oh my god those thighs are awesome!"
Mineta says with a nosebleed.
The girls are disgusted by Mineta but are nonetheless amazed.
"The rabbit hero Mirko, her quirk lets her have the body of a rabbit but her destructive power is great, judging from the impact of the blast and the damage caused to the surrounding it's incredible how much muscle her legs have I wonder what-"
"Shut the hell up Deku!!!"
Bakugo screamed, interrupting Midoriya's muttering.
"Sensei, how did you get Mirko for this?"
Yaoyorozu asked.
Eraserhead just stayed silent. The students noticed he looked solemn.
All excitement about this test died down seeing that.
"Sensei. What are you going to be doing for Sam's test?"
Iida hesitantly asks.
Aizawa doesn't answer.
"…I won't lie to you. It's going to be hard. Not just for him, but for you as well. What you are about to see will be cruel. Even I am loathing this."
The students were now terrified. Aizawa wasn't lying. He was genuinely worried.
That made the others worried too.
"W-what are you going to do to him?"
Midoriya hesitantly asked.
Aizawa doesn't answer.
The students can only wait and watch.
———
"Well, I admit. I had no idea you would be the one I'm fighting. So? What's the catch? I know there is more to this than a simple fight."
Sam observes.
Rumi loses her smirk. Now only guilt and a hint of fear.
Sam sees this.
She sighs.
"Sam. I'm not going to lie to you. This test, is cruel. It's wrong, and it goes against every single thing we believe in as heroes. I honestly don't want to do this, but I don't want to take away this chance for you. If you want to stop, don't feel ashamed. I doubt any of the other brats could do this test if they were you. So if you want to stop this, you dont need to be ashamed."
Rumi warned Sam with the utmost seriousness.
The students in the observation room were now scared. If even Mirko was afraid, then this test must really go beyond human morality.
Sam heard that warning loud and clear. He knows Rumi is a no-nonsense woman. Seeing her so hesitant and afraid, worried him. If even she encourages him to quit, this test must be something else.
"Please… I really don't want to go through with this. I don't care about any of this. You won't fail if you refuse. So you lose nothing from backing out! I really think this is going too far."
She once again tries to plead for him to back out.
After taking a moment to think, and remembering the great leaps the other students made when taking their tests, he understood what he had to do.
"I get it. I understand that this is going to be brutal. But I promise. I won't back down. Let's do this."
Mirko shut her eyes and winced. She was not going to enjoy this.
She shook her head.
"There is no dissuading you is there?"
Sam remains silent.
She sighs again.
"Very well… I'm sorry… begin."
She says softly.
Back in the observation room, Aizawa's hand hovers over a button. He looks hesitant, but decides to press it.
"AHHHHH!!!!"
"HELP ME!!!!"
"MOMMY!!!"
"WAHHH!!!"
"AHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!!"
"DIE!!!!"
Bratatatatatatat!!!
Bang!
Bang!
Boom!
Sam realizes immediately what this was.
'No…'
He looked around and saw speakers all around the arena. All projecting sounds of war. Screaming, crying, sadistic laughter, babies crying, children calling for their parents, bangs, booms, guns… even squelching sounds of flesh being blown apart.
"Fuck…"
He blinked.
When he opened his eyes, he was in a burning village in Africa.
Screaming, crying, gunshots.
Sam looked all around and only saw the hell he once lived in.
He then turned towards Rumi and fell to his knees when he saw what was before him.
"Welcome back…"
Before his eyes, was Zola.
———
Back in the observation room, the students stared in shock at what they were witnessing.
They now understood what this was.
"Oh my god…"
Midoriya held his hands to his mouth, already shivering.
"No… this… this…"
Uraraka next to him was holding herself and shivering, already crying hearing the horrible sounds.
"What kind of madness…"
Even Iida doesn't know what to say to this.
They all watched in horror as Sam fell to his knees with a look of horror on his face.
"Sensei… h-how could you…"
Yaoyorozu could only cry. She couldn't believe they were doing this.
"What the fuck…"
Even Bakugo was stunned and shaken.
"This is… wrong."
Todoroki was even chilled.
"Make it turn off!!"
Mineta was holding his ears, crying.
"I told you. If you don't want to watch this you can leave. You're dismissed."
Aizawa said with an empty look in his eyes, feeling guilt for having to make Sam suffer this.
All the students were shaking. They knew this would change Sam. Either for the better or the worse.
Suddenly, they get audio of what Sam was saying to Mirko.
"Zola…"
The students were confused. However, some have heard that name before.
"Zola?"
"Is he… hallucinating?"
Some students question.
But the students decided they had to stay. This was something they needed to see.
———
Sam was kneeling on the ground.
"Zola?"
Sam just stared at her.
She was looking down at him. White hair glistening in the bright sun. Her face, emotionless.
They both just stared at each other as the warfare near them continues to ravage the land.
"N-no. You died. You're Rumi. You-you are Rumi. No. No! This can't be… this can't be Africa! What's going on?"
Sam had his hands to his ears, shivering.
He forgot everything. All thoughts aside from what's before him was put aside.
He only thought one thing:
"Was it all a dream?"
"You tell me."
Zola said as she turned to the slaughter.
He watched her turn around and then saw the chaos happening near them.
"Oh my god! Why are we just watching this? We need to-"
Suddenly, Sam feels as if he was slammed by a truck right to his gut.
Cough! Cough!
He was groaning on the ground.
He shakily looked up and saw Zola with her leg out, after kicking him.
———
Rumi hated this.
Seeing him groaning and coughing on the ground after giving him a kick to the gut was cruel.
She had to play along though.
"W-why?"
"You tell me? Where are we?"
"What?"
Sam shakily got up.
"Zola listen-"
Rumi interrupted him with a kick to the face sending him flying.
"Oof!"
He hit the ground and felt his nose was broken.
"W-why? We need to do something!"
He gasped out, still hurting from the kick to his gut.
Rumi sighed.
"No. Tell me the truth."
"What truth?!?"
Rumi punched him in the face.
"Gah!"
Sam fell backwards.
"You know the truth! Who are you?"
Sam, holding his jaw from their punch, looked pissed.
"Canvas! You know that! Why are you doing this? Timo will-"
She kicked him in the ribs.
"Ohhh!"
He moaned out of his lips as he curled over as he felt a few ribs break.
Rumi was gritting her teeth. This was not going to be easy.
———
"Sensei this is too much!"
Iida pleads seeing this cruelty.
"Yes! This isn't right! We are supposed to be heroes!"
Yaoyorozu adds.
"I can't stop hearing this horrible sound!!"
Mineta freaks out as he tries his best to stop hearing the sounds of war.
"Why is she just beating him up?!? That's horrible!"
Mina asks, crying seeing her friend being toyed with.
"This is not manly at all!"
Kirishima pitches in.
"Playing with someone's trauma like this?!? This is wrong!"
Midoriya yells with rage and sadness seeing his friend so… broken.
"I already said it once, nobody is stopping this. I warned him. He accepted. Now it's up to him. If you don't want to watch, leave. I already dismissed you all."
The students hesitantly looked at each other. They were still resolved to stand by for their classmate.
"You can do it Sam."
Midoriya says.
"Hang in there!"
Uraraka adds.
"You're stronger than this!"
Iida encourages.
Soon after, the other students begin showing their support. Even though they can't be heard in this separate room, they don't care.
Even Mineta lets go of his ears and cheers with them.
Aizawa has a slight smirk seeing this.
'Get through this. Your peers believe in you. I believe in you.'
———
Sam had no idea what was going on.
He was being manhandled by Zola. He needed to do something to stop the bloodshed, but Zola, the love of his life, was interfering!
"What is your problem?!"
Sam shakily stands up, feeling pain all over from being beat up.
"If Timo sees this, he will call it rebellion-Gahhh!"
Sam felt his calf bruise as she kicked it.
He fell back to one knee.
"You already know the answers, Sam. Who are you?"
"Why? What do you want me to say?"
"I want you to remember!!"
Sam didn't understand what she was talking about.
He lost his memories because of-
'*I'm so sorry, Sam.*'
'*Sammy… Mommy loves you so much…*'
'*Well, looks like I have my Canvas!*'
Suddenly he remembered those moments.
Charles.
His mother.
"That" man.
"What's going on?"
Sam is confused. But he felt he was missing something. In the midst of this brutal war before his eyes, he feels like he is forgetting something important.
He looks back at Zola. She is looking down at him with an emotionless look, but he is starting to see hints of pain in those eyes.
He also sees something flickering around her. Almost like… bunny ears.
"What's happening? I am so confused."
Sam now felt a raging headache.
He felt like he was back in Africa, watching slaughter.
He felt like Zola was next to him, but at the same time, it didn't feel like it.
Everything was contradicting itself.
He could only hit his head on the ground.
"What the fuck is going on?!?"
Sam yells in confusion.
He feels the environment flickering too. One moment it's the raging flames of warfare and blood, the next, it's a concrete arena with speakers all around. He doesn't know what is real.
"What is this? Is this real? Am I real?"
Sam was losing his mind.
"You need to tell me. Who are you?"
"S-Sam-"
Slap!
This time he was slapped across the face.
"Who are you?"
Sam looked up at Zola… or whoever that was, confused.
"C-canvas-"
Slap!
"WHO ARE YOU?!!"
She yelled in his face as she grabbed his collar and brought him face to face with her.
"I don't know!!!!"
Sam was crying now. This stress, this situation, nothing made sense.
His surroundings were now completely switching back and forth rapidly between the village and the arena.
Zola was switching between her normal appearance to a version with bunny ears.
He doesn't know why but he feels like he is forgetting something vital.
'Who am I?'
Suddenly an image of someone with white hair appeared before his eyes. He had a nasty scar on his face.
But… it looked so much like himself.
The image transformed into a memory.
He was standing before a classroom holding a blank slate.
'Blank.'
That rang a bell to him.
That… that meant something!
The person before him kneeled to his level.
He was still on a knee, even after being slapped a few times.
"Who. Are. You?"
Sam just looked up.
He thought. He thought hard. He ignored everything. The sound and the sights he was seeing. He only let his heart speak to him.
Suddenly, he remembered.
'*Live, Samuel.*'
'I'm… trying to live.'
He felt his chest.
'I made a promise. A promise to live.'
Suddenly, more memories came to him.
Simmons and Miller.
His rampage against the heroes.
His time at UA.
Meeting his class.
Meeting new friends.
Meeting… Rumi.
He opened his eyes.
Zola was gone.
Before him, stood a grief stricken Rumi.
He cried.
He finally allowed himself to cry it all out.
"Ahhhhhh!!!"
He yelled in pure despair.
Everyone who heard it, felt their hearts hurt as it was so… sad.
———
Rumi felt her lip quiver.
She couldn't do this anymore.
'What have I done.'
Seeing the crying Sam, lost in despair, she just wanted to hug him.
Even she couldn't help some tears from falling.
She just watched.
Waited.
And listened to the cries of agony.
For the next ten minutes, everyone listened and wept with him.
Until…
"I am…"
Rumi's rabbit ears perked up.
"I am… Samuel Suzuki. But my other name is…"
Rumi prayed that he wouldn't say 'Canvas.'
Everyone listened with hope as they watched him stand up.
His eyes were hidden, and so was the rest of his face.
But they wanted to believe.
"My other name… is Blank. The quirkless hero."
Sam showed his eyes to Rumi. She saw the relief and the acceptance in his eyes.
'He did it.'
Sam looked right at her.
He was done running. He finally allowed himself to accept what happened. He didn't want to be stuck in the past. No matter how much he said he wanted to move on, he never did.
But now, he feels as if a weight was lifted off his shoulder.
Rumi smiled a big smile and ran to Sam and enveloped him in a giant hug.
"…you pass."
Sam held her.
Allowing his tired mind to succumb to exhaustion.
Everyone in the observation room watched as he passed out in her arms. She held him and smiled, brushing his hair aside to see the peace in his expression.
Everyone inside was crying. Even Bakugo had a few tears.
Aizawa finally turned off the sounds.
Then, he made the announcement.
"Samuel Suzuki… Pass."