We all gathered in the state-of-the-art observation room, a dark space dominated by rows of giant monitors displaying every corner and corridor of Training Building Beta. The air was tense, a mixture of competitive excitement and palpable anxiety. The first match was about to begin: Hero Team A, Izuku Midoriya and Ochaco Uraraka, versus Villain Team D, Katsuki Bakugo and Tenya Iida. This was a fated battle, an emotional time bomb ready to explode. I stood in the back row next to Momo, our arms crossed in a nearly identical fashion. We were both here not just to watch; we were here to learn.
"Alright, teams, ready?!" All Might's voice boomed through the speakers. "FIRST Indoor Combat Training... BEGIN!"
On the main screen, we watched Midoriya and Uraraka sneak into the building. I could see the nervousness in their every move. On the other hand, Bakugo wasted no time. He abandoned Iida, who was seriously preparing for his villain role, and went straight on the hunt. My instincts told me this was no longer about training for him. This was personal.
"Bakugo is completely abandoning his post," Momo commented quietly beside me. "That's an untactical move. He's leaving the bomb unprotected and separating himself from his teammate."
"His objective isn't the bomb," I replied in a low voice. "His objective is Midoriya. He's not playing to win; he's playing to dominate."
Sure enough, Bakugo ambushed them at a corridor corner. His first attack, a right-sided blast, was incredibly fast and ferocious. Midoriya, in a move that surprised everyone, managed to grab Bakugo and slam him to the floor, using the same move Aizawa had used on Bakugo during the Quirk test. I smiled faintly. Midoriya was a fast learner. He didn't just idolize heroes; he absorbed and adapted every move he saw.
Their fight was a brutal and personal spectacle. Bakugo, with his overwhelming mobility and offensive power, relentlessly pressed the attack. Midoriya, lacking comparable offensive strength, relied on his wits and his encyclopedic knowledge of Bakugo's fighting style to survive. He was the embodiment of the underdog, using every trick and analysis to counter overwhelming force.
"Look," I whispered to Momo, pointing at the screen. "Midoriya isn't trying to win against Bakugo. He's just stalling for time. He knows the real fight is against the clock and the mission objective. He's entrusting the victory to his teammate."
Momo nodded, her sharp eyes never leaving the screen. "A valid strategy, though incredibly risky. He's betting his own life on the success of the mission."
The climax of the fight was as devastating as I remembered. Bakugo, driven by rage and frustration, unleashed his strongest attack, using his grenade gauntlets to create a massive explosion that tore through a huge section of the building. At the same time, Midoriya, instead of facing the blast, aimed his punch upwards. He didn't attack Bakugo. He attacked the building itself. A concentrated, One For All-powered "SMASH" destroyed the ceilings of every floor above him, creating a massive upward shockwave.
In the observation room, we all flinched in shock. "This kid is nuts!" someone exclaimed.
On the floor above, Uraraka seized the opportunity. As Iida was staggered by the shock, Uraraka used her Quirk on a ruined pillar and swung it like a baseball bat, creating a distracting shower of debris. In the chaos, she leaped and landed on the mock nuclear weapon.
"HERO TEAM... WINS!" All Might's voice rang out, filled with relief and admiration.
Midoriya collapsed, his arm shattered and his body covered in injuries. Bakugo stood frozen, trembling, unable to process his defeat. It was a costly, messy, and highly inefficient victory in terms of property damage. But it was a victory. A bitter lesson in what it means to be a hero.
After the medical bots carried Midoriya away and All Might gave his critique, it was our turn. "NEXT UP! VILLAIN TEAM I, OJIRO AND HAGAKURE, ENTER THE BUILDING! HERO TEAM D, TATSUMI AND YAOYOROZU, PREPARE!"
We stood outside a different building, waiting for the signal. Five minutes of prep time. Momo turned to me, her expression serious. "Alright, Tatsumi-san. Given the previous fight, excessive collateral damage is to be avoided. I can create a small reconnaissance drone to map out the building's layout and..."
"Wait, Yaoyorozu," I interrupted gently. "A good strategy, but we don't have time for a full recon. The last fight taught us an important lesson. Midoriya won not because of his power, but because he understood his opponent. We must do the same."
I looked her in the eyes. "Let's analyze Team I. Ojiro-san is a pure martial artist. He's highly skilled in close-quarters combat, but he has no ranged attacks. His tail is his most versatile weapon, but it's also the biggest tell for his movements. If we can read the tail, we can predict his attack."
Momo nodded, following my logic. "And Hagakure-san," she continued, picking up the analysis. "She is the unknown element. Her invisibility Quirk makes her the perfect spy and ambusher. We'll never know where she is. She is the greatest threat."
"Exactly," I said. "So, our first priority is to negate her biggest advantage. We have to find a way to 'see' the unseen." I looked at her. "Yaoyorozu, can you create something like... a very fine powder? Like flour or chalk dust, but lighter, so it can hang in the air for a while? And also, a few spools of high-tensile wire and duct tape."
A flash of understanding lit up her eyes. She didn't ask why. She simply analyzed the request, processed it, and then nodded confidently. "I can. Give me a few seconds." The lipids from the skin on her arm began to glow as she created the items I asked for.
"Alright," I said, taking some of the items from her. "The plan is simple. We go in together. I'll engage Ojiro directly. You stay behind me, focused on one thing: dispersing that powder in the area around us. I'll be the bait, and you'll be the hunter. Understood?"
"Understood," she replied, a cool determination in her eyes.
"HERO TEAM, ENTER!"
We entered the building in sync. The air was cool and silent. I sharpened my hearing, trying to catch the faintest footstep or sigh of breath. "They're most likely on the third or fourth floor, the most defensible locations," I whispered. Momo, behind me, silently began to spread a thin cloud of fine powder in the corridors as we advanced.
We had just reached the stairway to the second floor when a figure shot down. Mashirao Ojiro. He wasted no time. His powerful tail swung at us like a whip. "I won't let you pass!" he yelled.
"Yaoyorozu, back," I commanded. I stepped forward, meeting his attack. I didn't activate Incursio; I didn't need to, and I couldn't risk losing control. I blocked his tail swing with my forearm, feeling the sting of the impact. The fight was on. Ojiro was fast and efficient. Every punch, kick, and tail swing had a purpose. This was a battle of pure technique. I relied on my superior strength and my learned street-fighting style to hold my own, parrying his blows and looking for an opening. We were evenly matched, a controlled dance of violence in the narrow corridor.
As we fought, I was constantly scanning the air around me. And then, I saw it. To my left, a faint disturbance in the floating cloud of powder. A barely perceptible human silhouette, moving carefully, trying to sneak up behind me. Toru.
"Now, Yaoyorozu!" I yelled, leaping back from Ojiro's attack.
Momo, who had been waiting for the signal, reacted instantly. She threw several rolls of the duct tape she had prepared toward the disturbance in the air. Toru let out a surprised yelp as the tape wrapped around her invisible legs, tripping her and sending her to the ground. With her body wrapped in tape, her outline was now faintly visible. One opponent neutralized.
"Toru!" Ojiro cried out, surprised and distracted.
A fatal mistake.
In the split second his attention was diverted, I lunged forward. I didn't attack him. I swept his legs out from under him, knocking him off balance. As he fell, I was already there with the high-tensile wire, quickly binding his hands and feet. The entire process took less than ten seconds. "Villain team neutralized," I said into the communicator in my ear.
In the observation room, a total silence fell over the room, before it was finally broken by All Might. "ASTOUNDING! A PERFECT VICTORY! The Hero Team wins without a single bit of property damage! They demonstrated incredible teamwork, brilliant opponent analysis, and a flawless execution of their plan! PLUS ULTRA!"
Bakugo stared at the screen with an expression of angry confusion. 'How? How did that bastard win so cleanly without using that explosive power from the exam? He... he just thought.' The thought frustrated him even more. Next to him, Shoto Todoroki watched the screen with a cold intensity, one eye fixed on Tatsumi. He recognized a different kind of power today—strategic power, something that couldn't be measured in energy output alone. He noted Tatsumi as a serious rival. Aizawa, in the corner, allowed a tiny, almost invisible smile to grace his face for a moment before it vanished. 'I knew it. His brain is his most dangerous weapon.'
Back in the observation room, I helped a pouting yet impressed Toru get free from the tape. "No hard feelings, right?" I asked with a smile.
"Of course not!" she replied cheerfully. "But I can't believe you found a way to see me! That's a little cheating, you know!"
I just chuckled. Then, Momo approached me. Her usually composed face held a clear expression of intellectual satisfaction. "Your plan was perfectly executed, Tatsumi-san. Your analysis of Hagakure-san's weakness was ingenious."
"It only worked because you were able to create the tools we needed so quickly and precisely, Yaoyorozu," I replied, giving credit where it was due. "We... we make a good team."
For the first time, I saw her smile, not a polite smile or a smug one, but a genuine, warm smile. It lit up her face in a surprising way. "Yes," she said. "We do. We make a good team."
As I looked at her, I realized that our partnership today felt like the beginning of something more. Something built on a deep, mutual respect, both on and off the battlefield. My first combat exercise had ended, and I hadn't just won a match; I might have just found my strongest ally in this academy of giants.