Chapter 70: Studies and Finals

With finals on their way, the students need to worry not just for the written portion, there is also the practical.

“Text” – Normal speech

‘Text’ – Thought

“Text” – Quirk Spirit speaking in the human world

“Text” - Attack

“Text” – Radio/Communication lines

“Text” – None Japanese speech

(text) – Subtext/meaning behind a spoken word

Line Break

As Midoriya promised, he called Saiko, and after they managed to stop the couple's talk at 10 minutes in, he asked if she wouldn't mind helping some of his friends studying for their finals. She didn't take long to ponder before she agreed. Still, she couldn't go to Musutafu as she often did since she was already handling a study group for her friend group. She didn't feel it was right to up and have them just travel to another city.

So, after consulting with Aoyama, who spoke with the rest, Midoriya informed her that they'd come to her, which led them to travel from Musutafu to Dasomia, the home of Seiai's Women’s University.

Like their town, it was a college city. Still, it hadn't always been one, having had its roots in fishing, whaling, and, most visibly, horticulture. As the group stepped off the train that morning, they were struck by the sweet scene of flowers and fruit from the many orchids or from wild plants allowed to grow. It was a city of bright, vibrant colour and beauty, as even around the admittedly small train station, they had built a 3-sided park where butterflies and small critters could call home, adding life to all that colour.

“So pretty!” Komori gushed as she skipped off the platform and into the middle section of the station, which just so happened to be filled with flower beds with so many strands and species from around the world in bloom.

“I didn’t think that it would look this good, but the brochures don’t do it justice.” Iida nodded, unable to see a single speck of dirt or trash. In fact, the trash cans he could see were well within their limits, no overflow, no graffiti, no old peeling paint.

"Seems like they take good care of this city," Jiro stated as she could admit that she wouldn't mind living in a place like this.

“Worth waking up so early to catch the train.” Ashido yawned, as she was still pouting even while half asleep about needing to be at the station by 5:30AM, such a cruel thing to ask on a Saturday.

“Imagine needing to worry about missing that train once you spend the night with your boyfriend,” the group said, turning to spot Saiko standing there, a knowing smirk on her face. “It’s not a pleasant feeling to know you missed morning classes.”

Midoriya took off. One second, he was next to Tetsutetsu; the next, he was hugging Saiko, who returned the gesture. “Good to see you, Saiko, you’re looking great.”

“You saw me last week.” She laughed as she rested her head in the crook of his neck, closing her eyes and taking in his scent as his arms around her grew stronger, but still as gentle as silk on her skin.

"Still doesn't take away from my point," Midoriya grumbled. He was a little embarrassed by such a public showing of affection, especially since it served as a dose of caffeine for Ashido, who was gushing about them. Hagakure was taking pictures, but he couldn't help it. Saiko was just fun to hug.

But it had to end, and when it did, he made sure he was still holding onto her hand as she turned to address her guests. "Now, I believe we've met before, but under more…serious circumstances. I am Intelli Saiko, a pleasure."

The U.A. students followed suit, all except Aoyama, who merely nodded. Once the names were given, Iida asked the next question as they walked out of the station and onto the main street. One that looked as peaceful and vibrant as the station. There were some cars, but it seemed most walked or took the tram, which let out soft giggles as it stopped or started moving again.

“Are you perhaps venturing onto your campus for our study session?” Iida asked, to which she shook her head.

"Afraid not, outside special circumstances, men aren't allowed on campus," Saiko informed them, as her institution was very proud and defensive of its built by and for women ideology. Even male lecturers couldn't secure tenure.

“So you could still take us?” Hagakure asked, as the pictures online made Seia look pretty cool, it might not have been as large or prominent as U.A. or Shiketsu. However, it was still a respectable school in the top 20, with alumni like Ryukyu.

Saiko chuckled, never letting go of her boyfriend’s hand as they walked side by side down the street. “I very well could, but it would mean leaving the rest to entertain themselves.”

“I can assure you, I will ensure that we conduct ourselves in a behaviour befitting students of U.A. and will not bring any problems or trouble to you or the locals!” Iida immediately spoke up, eyeing up Tetsutetsu and Aoyama as the biggest sources of trouble. One, because he could make an honest mistake, and the other for his supposed Playboy attitudes.

"Izuku, you were right, he's a straight-laced, honest man," Saik muttered, as she had suspected, but seeing Iida act like that for herself. Well, she shook herself out of it and focused on the topic. "I believe there was a miscommunication. I don't believe you'll create any issues, just that it wouldn't be fair if a part of the group missed out on the tour."

“Besides, we’re not going to the campus. We’ll be heading into town for the local library.” She added as they fell silent for a moment, though Saiko watched them. As she and Izuku discussed summer plans and how they'd need to adjust them to accommodate his school's summer camp, she listened.

For the most part, they looked and pointed towards Dasomia's many attractions, or talked about what they could see and do once their break came during their upcoming study session. Others discussed which subjects and classes they'll focus on and what they could contribute.

Jiro was in the latter camp, but her heart wasn't in it. No, she kept sneaking glances at Izuku and how his hand was holding onto hers when she thought Saiko wasn't looking. It was a little cute, but also a little annoying.

'Can't she make the move?' Saiko wondered as she gave the girl her blessing. She knew for a fact that Izuku had done the deed. Heck, she had even snuggled with both of them in Izuku’s bed till they fell asleep, claiming Kyoka as much her lover as she had Izuku years ago, and yet, here was Kyoka, denying herself the chance to walk through a town known for its flowers, beaches, and shrines while holding onto her lover's hand.

Maybe it was the fear of the others seeing it, as it would be nearly impossible to hide, but still, she shouldn't need to hide at all. So what if she needed to handle Mineta? He was 18 and could be held liable if he couldn't think with anything but his lower head.

Saiko glanced at Izuku, who caught her gaze, before she nodded towards Jiro with a smirk. Instead of blushing or agreeing with her, he shook his head. Saiko raised an eyebrow, challenging that, but he didn't budge as he mouthed something the others didn't see before she rolled her eyes, but backed down…for now.

"You have a lovely city, but I would have thought it would be bigger," Ojiro stated, is words aimed towards their host as they walked through the middle of town, the library not far, being close to Seia’s campus.

"I've been told this is the upsized version, as before Seiai built its campus here 50 years ago, the town was half as big but still quite beautiful if the pictures and locals can be trusted," Saiko replied, as town had seen increase business from people related to the university, including some former students who retired there, or spent vacations around the area. But the city government still rejected anything that could make them look like any other copy-paste city in Japan, hence why the tallest buildings were only 6 stories tall.

"Tourism is still quite a large revenue source, couples seeking to spend time around the flowers, people wishing to visit one of the many shrines, or just people who want to fish or see the old whaling museum. It's a close-knit community, and all 3 of our headmistresses have worked tirelessly to integrate. Maybe on your way out, I can show you the outskirts of our campus to show my point." She offered, which the group accepted.

“You said over the phone you were already helping friends; how many are they, and would they be meeting us there?” Uraraka asked, not wanting to overwork the woman, especially since Intelli had her own finals to study for.

Intelli puffed out her chest in pride. “I’ve made a real effort to befriend some liable people, though some in attendance today are merely classmates who wanted my help to improve their grades, so expect 9. And yes, they'll meet up there. And with time as it is, we'll arrive early."

“Couldn’t we have gotten more sleep in then?” Ashido grumbled.

“Next train wouldn’t be coming in for another 2 hours, provided nothing happens like a villain attack.” Intelli reminded her that small towns meant less traffic from national rail lines.

“We built redundant lines and villains still mess with the trains; you think they hate public transportation?” Kamakiri grunted, as being late because of a villain attack was such a common thing these days. Yet, he knew some bosses who still expected you find a way to be on time.

Intelli's face pinched. “Don’t let Motoi hear that, she's a…well, a passionate conspiracy lover, and if you let her, she can get lost explaining the details of one." As she explained more about this Motoi, a friend of hers, Kirishima, and Ashido had their own conversation.

"I don't know what Midoriya was talking about. She seems fine." Kirishima whispered towards Ashido.

Ashido nodded. "I know, right? I thought maybe he upset her and was avoiding her till things cooled, but nothing."

Line Break

“Why didn’t we listen…” Ashido whined.

“It’s all gibberish, I can’t see anything…” Ojiro grumbled, his eyes glazed over.

The group had arrived early, as Saiko had predicted, and met with the 9 other students, all women, who, after introductions, led them in. As it was a part of a college town, and students came and went all the time, the city government had allocated tens of millions over the years, which allowed the town library to expand and be continually upgraded. It housed not just hundreds of thousands of books, many of which it kept in several dozen copies, but also 5 different computer stations and, for them, private study rooms that could be rented.

Some were small, built just for one average-sized person; theirs was built like a classroom, with more than enough seating to accommodate their group with wide windows giving a means for natural light and air to enter, seating and tables, as well as shelves lined with books on a variety of academic topics, including college-level hero studies.

“Yes, mam.” The group chorused, having had the fight knocked out of them, or in the case of Midoriya and Aoyama, they never put one up.

It was a fine space, a great space for study, but the group couldn't focus on that when Saiko walked down the aisles, a rod in hand. "If you can complain, you can write. Now finish that worksheet." She didn't give a single step as she kept up the pace. To each person's left were at least 3 textbooks thicker than Uraraka's arm, and to the right, their laptops, tablets, or phones, set to the additional info Saiko had sent via email, personalised to suit what they needed to go over.

Saiko stopped at Mina's table, causing the pink-skinned student to turn a much lighter shade as her 'tutor' picked up her completed answer sheet, without needing to look at the questions, having memorised them all. Her eyes gave nothing away as she slowly, almost painfully so, read over Mina's answers. “Ashido Mina…what is this?” She asked, holding up the 4-page document.

“It’s my answer sheet?” Mina whispered, looking like she wanted to be anywhere but here.

“Is that a question, or a statement?”

“S-statement.” Mina clarified with a gulp as Saiko slowly nodded.

“Good, nice to clarify that, a lack of clarity can be a dangerous thing, you know. Speaking of clarity,” She flipped the page, showing an empty space in the middle of the page. “Why did you leave question 40 blank?”

“B-but, I already did question 33, it was a yes or no deal.” Mina whimpered, but shivered as Saikos’s gaze grew all the more intense.

“And question 4o was where you should have gone into detail over why you'll prioritise one over the other. There is no right answer for this; you'll be graded on your reasoning." She hissed, as a failure like this would have cost Mina points on both questions.

With Mina suitably cowed, Saiko turned on her shiny heels and pointed towards the other end of the room. “Tetsutetsu, don’t think I don’t see you slacking off, the Prometheus case and its impact on Japanese hero law is important, make sure to memorise the cliff notes I gave you.” Tetsutetsu would have slammed his head into the table, but after what she did the first time he did so, he didn’t dare so much as slouch over.

Walking to another person, this one being a brown-haired girl, Saiko liked to think she was friends with, she didn't display any of the affection as she looked over at her work and frowned harder. “Akemi! Your steps for handling a hostage situation are highly desirable. We covered this in class; it's a little more than a basis!"

"I told you," Midoriya whispered to Aoyama, the two having been seated together and keeping their heads down.

“It’s not as bad as it used to be.” Aoyama tried to smile, but it looked more like a grimace, one not helped by the fact that Saiko marched around the room and didn't like what she saw with anyone's work.

Saiko’s growl sent a chill down their spines, leaving some like Kyoka wondering how the hell a woman whose quirk made her smarter when she drank tea could have the same presence as an angry and very hungry grizzly bear. “Till I see some results, none of you are leaving here for lunch, and don’t think you can escape, the staff are well aware and are watching the doors and windows.”

“You were saying?” Midoriya glared at Aoyama, who at least had the decency to appear embarrassed, only for his skin to go pale as he shakingly pointed behind Midoriya.

“Midoriya, sweetie,” Midoriya faintly heard his quirks wishing him luck as Saiko had managed to walk up behind him…right when he wasn't working.

He couldn’t even get a word out before she laid a hand on his shoulder. It wasn’t all that strong, nor did she dig her nails into him, and yet, it was as comforting as death’s grip on your soul. "You should know better than this, but focus on your biology! If you don't know what ten first aid can do more harm than good.”

“Yes, mam.” Midoriya shivered as he nodded as fast as he could, silently vowing that he would make Aoyama pay for this.

Line Break

And thus, they surrendered to their fate. Each day leading up to the day before the exams, they would ride out to Dasomia for 3 hours of supervised studying and revision, under Saiko, who gave no quarter. When the final day came, Saiko sent a message to everyone that was far too cute and wholesome to match the lady who put the fear of God into them.

The end, where she insisted they share their results in a newly formed group chat, made more sense. When finals came, even Midoriya and Iida, who had been comfortable with their grades, felt nervous. At the same time, Ashido looked like she would be facing a lion with a toothpick. However, she still entered the cage for a week of exams, one each day, barring Sunday, with the final one being written on a Monday.

As soon as the timer finished, Midoriya could breathe a sigh of relief as he placed his pencil down and waited for the robots that their teachers had been using to help proctor the exam to come around and collect their papers. As this was their Hero Agency Basics paper, he saw the same faces he would have seen in any regular lecture.

Mineta looked confident, but Midoriya didn't find that odd, as, despite his perverted nature, he at least kept up with his grades. Yaoyorozu wasn't nearly as smug-looking as Mineta, but, again, that tracked as her being humble and composed despite having the best grades. She could have scored a perfect 100 without changing her posture or expression.

Kamakiri sat with his arms crossed, but that was something of a default position for him; Midoriya knew he studied hard, so he wasn't worried about his grades in this. Yanagi looked a little worried, biting her lip as her papers were retrieved. Hagakure swung her arms out in joy while Ashido just slumped in her seat, like she was made from jello, as she was visibly just happy it was finally over, as she made regular calls to him and Saiko about this paper in particular, so he hoped she got asgood a grade as she deserved for all that hard work.

Todoroki… wasn't there; he hadn't been present for any of their papers, and the last anyone saw him, he was training his fire with Eraser and Ectoplasm.

But now came the hard part.

Line Break

The following day, instead of lectures and study halls, they were instructed to get dressed in their gear and make for part of the campus they hadn't been to before, but, according to the map, it was set aside for examinations.

It wasn't too long a walk, maybe 10 minutes. When they arrived, they found their teachers waiting for them, along with Professor Midoriya, who looked as if she would pass out on her feet, Vlad supporting her. "Now, as your written papers are graded, we'll move on to the last test. You already must have an idea of what the practical portion would be, but that won't be the case this time around."

As Eraser explained things, Midoriya waved towards his mother, who gave a sleepy smile, and waved back as she yawned. Eraser pretended he hadn't seen it as Midnight cooed over the adorable mother-son moment.

"Like we said 2 weeks back, the test will have a new focus. It would still focus on hero work, but also collateral management, decisive action, observational skills, and teamwork!" Nezu took things up from there, popping out of Eraser’s capture scarf like a jack-in-the-box.

“You'll be assigned to teams of 4 and will each need to handle a situation involving a quote 'rampaging quirk spirit'. The teams were built around the opponent and the chosen location for each team. I’ve made sure that necessary measures have been taken.” Inko continued, as it wasn't easy, and it showed in her tired look. One would assume she and Eraser had a similar sleep schedule, i.e., randomly and never enough.

“You can’t hurt the spirits, but you can delay and distract them. Your goal is to survive for 20 minutes, report on at least 3 things which the quirk beast will say, do, or otherwise suggest, and keep damage to the bare minimum.” Eraser stated. The students have been keeping up so far.

“However, you’ll be fighting with a handicap of sorts. As these spirits are no joke, they won’t be hitting you with lethal force,” Midnight, however, raised a perfectly manicured smile, alerting the students that things wouldn't be so easy.

"But they don't need you. Your costumes have been modified to carry pressure sensors, which, along with dozens of other sensors and cameras scattered around the place, will track hits and damage." Ashido and others looked at their gear, having noticed the changes, and discussed what they could be on the way over. Even Hagakure's boots and gloves had changed.

“You take more than 3 hits, and you’re out. If 2 or more go down, your team loses.” Snipe stated, which got some angry and confused responses.

"Hold on, that seems unfair. Just 3 hits. Some of us have really strong defences." Kirishima pointed out, Tetsutetsu nodding along.

"Just because you can take a hit, doesn't mean you should. A hero who's taken out is of no use to anyone." Eraser reminded them, as this was covered in class and training. Besides, many quirks might not do immediate harm but impact you in other ways.

“Why 3 hits then?” Iida asked.

"Because a single one was near cruel, and 2 would be closer to what we expect from 2nd years.” Eraser’s response was as dry as the road, but he sighed and elaborated further. "It was to give you a chance, you've seen some of the flashier spirits so far, but as Midoriya and Aoyama have probably said, that's not all of them. You could easily run into those akin to Kuroiro or Hagakure."

“Couldn’t we have been given those capture balls?” Sero asked another good question. Sure, they couldn't fight, but did they need to?

"Wouldn't make sense to use them, you need to weaken your opponent, and that just is not possible with natural quirks." Inko filled them in, which got Sero to snap his fingers in mild frustration.

Momo, having remained quiet till now, frowned as she raised her hand. “You said teams of 4, but that leads to a numbers issue.”

“Yeah, Todoroki’s not here, wouldn’t that mean that one team would be short one person?” Tokage agreed, as that left them with just 39.

"And you said that we couldn't do anything against a quirk spirit, so no capture balls, but what about any teams Midoriya or Aoyama get assigned to?" Kaibara asked another question, since whichever team got one of them seemed in for an easy win.

And they would, if not for the fact that the staff had already considered such a situation. “We thought about that, and one team would have 5 and need to last 25 minutes. As for Midoriya and Aoyama, you’ll be up against something else.” Nezu informed them that the two students in question, having suspected such, listened closely.

"Izuku and Yuga are already well versed in direct combat and missions relating to quirk spirits, and they've only ever made me proud to call them my son and godson," Inko smiled. Still, a nudge from Vlad reminded her to return to the moment.

Coughing into her hand to try and regain her composure, Inko did her best to ignore the snickering. "But because of that, you'll be up against both a quirk spirit and 2 teachers who would be acting as villains using the quirk for their own nefarious ends.”

That…seemed plausible, as, with Todoroki's situation having been made known, they had also heard that the Hero Killer had been present, and this followed the USJ, even if that incident was an accidental release of a quirk spirit.

Despite that, it would still be a challenge as Midoriya and Aoyama looked over the staff, from their dead, to the Symbol of Peace, any one of them could be their foes, and depending on which, they could be assured a hard fight, or a struggle just to survive. “W-who would we be up against?” Midoriya asked.

“That would be us!” Midnight stepped up, along with Ectoplasm.

“Ectoplasm, and Midnight?!” Uraraka called out.

“Oh shit!” Kaminari whispered.

“Wait, how is that fair? You’re pros!” Komori questioned, as just the regular stuff seemed hard enough. Still, now they need to worry about being attacked by 2 pros?

“They'll be slaughtered," Tsuburaba concluded, which hit Aoyama hard, but he kept up his smile, even if it grew strained.

"Not to worry, we didn't want to make it impossible for you, must be incredibly difficult!" All Might laughed. “You don't need to defeat them to win, just contain them till the time has passed. Of course, the same rules apply for them; a hit from them would count as a hit from your quirk spirit."

"Still, you probably think it would be best for young Midoriya and young Aoyama to flee should they see either one of their foes, and play a defensive game, but not to worry, we had the support course work on something which would help make things a bit more even." He presented some steel-coloured armbands, items the teachers in question put on, or, in the Ectoplasms case, he replaced with regular prosthetics and altered ones.

"Ultra compact weights. Each was specially designed for Ectoplasm and Midnight. They'll be fighting with about half their normal bodyweight added to slow them down and drain their stamina." Nezu smiled as the two staff members flexed, getting accustomed to the added weight as even Midnight, who wasn’t known for her strength, didn’t seem too bothered by it.

Aoyama just suspected that she was stronger than she looked.

"We had a little contest in the support course, and Hatsume won it, though she seemed to forget it was for extra credit." Power Loader, added to help Inko supervise things.

While the rest looked surprised and eager for this, Bakugo scoffed, eyeing up Midoriya and Aoyama. “Just like them to need a handicap.”

All Might let out a burst of laughter, but then his tone shifted. "Careful, Bakugo, pride comes before the fall."

"Well, with that said, here are your teammates for the following exam," Eraser stated before revealing the teams.

Team 1 – Kirishima; Sato; Tetsutetsu; Shishida

Team 2 – Iida; Ojiro; Kendo; Monoma

Team 3 – Asui; Tokoyami; Kodai; Yanagi

Team 4 – Mineta; Sero; Kaibara; Komori

Team 5 – Jiro; Koda; Awase; Bondo

Team 6 – Hagakure; Shoji; Kurorio; Fukidashi

Team 7 – Ashido; Kaminari; Tsunotori; Tsuburaba

Team 8 – Bakugo; Yaoyorozu; Kamakiri; Tokage; Uraraka

Team 9 – Honenuki; Shiozaki; Rin; Shoda

Team 10 – Midoriya; Aoyama

"You'll each be assigned to a different arena and go one team at a time, so unless you're first, you'll have time to sort things out and come up with a game plan, even if you won't know your opponent till you're out in the field."  Nezu smiled.

"Team 1, here is your arena. Be there in 5 minutes, don't be late." Supercharge stated as she passed Kirishima a note; the other staff handed a member from each time a similar thing happened, which carried directions.

"It'll be best if we discuss what our plans should be." Kendo proposed to her team, Monoma being quick to agree.

“Right on the money.” The copy quirk user noted as they walked into the building.

"We should do the same," Yanagi suggested to her team.

“(Kero) Good idea.” Asui nodded first, and others started walking into the building, following the teachers.

“Think we should check out our zone first, the more we know about the chosen battlefield, the more detailed our plans can be," Yaoyorozu suggested, as different zones could mean entirely different arenas, much like how U.A. had several different training areas. Knowing the staff, they no doubt placed them in zones where their opponent would have the easiest time fighting them, so they'll be fighting uphill.

“Do what you want,” Bakugo grunted as he turned to leave, surprising the rest who would have hoped his ego wouldn't be so big that he would ignore them.

“Bakugo, you can’t just leave!” Uraraka tried to call out to him, but he blew her off.

"The hell I can, this would be a cake-walk. They wouldn't give us anything worth a damn because of safety BS, you want to waste time, go right on ahead." Bakugo stormed away, pissed that he wasn't able to challenge any of the people he wished. And among them, the ones who faced the toughest challenge were Frenchie and Deku.

“Somehow, I foresaw he would have issues with teamwork," Aoyama muttered in French as he and Midoriya watched Bakugo leave his team, who started to complain and wonder if they should just plan around him.

Midoriya sighed, as he would have liked to help, and there was nothing in the rules that said they couldn't, but “Nothing we can do about it; we’re the last people he’ll listen to. Think we should head inside and watch the first few match-ups?” Izuku replied in French as he changed the subject, since nothing short of forcing Bakugo would make him work with others.

“Why not?" He and Aoyama turned to head towards the viewing room.

Line Break

Entering the room, the two boys found it dark, with the only light coming from the large screen mounted on the wall. A single seat was posted up, but they couldn't see who, if anyone, sat in it. “Came to watch?” Inko, who was present along with Power Loader, smiled at her son and godson, the professor nursing a mug of coffee.

“Our match would be different from the rest, but no sense in not seeing how they play out.” Aoyama nodded towards her as Midoriya just approached and hugged her, Inko returning the gesture.

“Besides, it’s rare to see people not related to us handling stuff like this. It’ll surely be exciting.” Izuku smiled, as he had already taken out his notebook.

“Glad to see you’re so invested, it took a few late nights to,” Inko laughed, but yawned partway through. “Get this organised.”

“I’ll say, I've never had to work with something like this, and it took a lot to distract Hatsume as she and a few others wanted in." Power Loader chuckled, though at the time, he was more frustrated by the repeated requests, especially from Hatsume, who apparently had an aunt who worked for Inko and was part of this.

Lucky for him, the older Hatsume was just like her niece and didn't leave the lab often, so he didn't need to fear both being in his lab and causing who knows what.

“Well, if you two did your jobs right, and our students are sensible, I won’t need to do much today.” A third voice entered the conversation, and the two students spotted Recovery Girl in the chair, one built for a man of All Might's size.

Before Aoyama could comment on that, the door opened up again, and others entered. “Hey, you guys are here too?” Kaminari waved as he entered the room along with Tsunotori.

“We’re last in the line, what about you two?” Midoriya asked, as Tsunotori shrugged.

"Ashido went to the bathroom, and Tsuburaba wanted a drink before we headed out.” She explained.

"But with some free time, we thought it wouldn't hurt to get some info on how the rest would handle things," Kaminari added. They didn't know much about this, but if they saw how things would be handled, then they would be one step closer to passing and having some sweet summer fun.

“Well, the first test is about to start, so please pay close attention.” Recovery Girl advised them as the room turned to the screen, right as the announcement started.