Chapter 13: Final Exams
U.A Practice Grounds, Start of Next Week
1A all stood together somewhat nervously at the centre of all their training grounds, donning only their P.E uniforms and shaky smiles. Usually, they would be confident and standing tall, however, there were three things keeping them from such actions.
The first, all of their teachers were in front of them, not just Aizawa. Midnight, Present Mic, Cementoss, Snipe, and All Might. Hell, teachers that weren't theirs were with them; Hound Dog, the school's counsellor, Power Loader, the head of the Support Course, even 1B's teachers was there.
The second thing that got them, and one that had been plaguing them during their weekend before this exam; Principal Nezu had a surprise for them.
And the final thing – this one was the real kicker – Principal Nezu was smiling. Not one of his weird but sweet smiles that he gives to his students because he loves taking care of them, it was his deranged, 'I'm-about-to-cause-chaos' smile.
If Nezu was raising red flags in their heads over the weekend, right now, he was running a red alert.
"Good morning, my dear students, and welcome to your final exam." Scratch that, he's setting of the tornado sirens. "I do hope you had a relacing weekend, as you most certainly will need it." Of course, none of the students let it show on their face, an action that Nezu was evidently impressed with as his smile calmed. "Yes, no need to worry today, the original nature of your exams that I discussed with your teachers has not changed."
"Yes!" Celebrating much too early, the students of 1A began high fiving each other at the last part of their Principal's statement.
And, chaos loving chimera that he was, Nezu let them continue their celebration, even holding up a paw as certain members of his staff tried to intervene. "Instead!" 1A froze under their Principal's renewed evil smile and felt dread watch over them. "I went back and revised your exams and groups to specifically have them combat your weaknesses. Furthermore, for a select few of you, I have added one small limitation." Before looking towards his head of the Support Course. "Majima, show them."
"Of course, Principal Nezu." Power Loader walked up with a grin matching Nezu's and delicately placed a high-tech case in front of the students. "Alright, kiddos, the shit-" Aizawa glared at him and he coughed. "The stuff in this box is somewhat experimental and rare technology; hell, the only agencies employing these babies are A.E.G.I.S, I.R.O.H, and I-Island."
The case hissed as it opened, a sort of cold steam wisping off of it and its blue lights glowing solely for dramatic effect. And in it, sat…
Multiple pairs of bracelets.
"Huh?" The majority of the class looked at the bracelets with confusion, tilting their heads and looking at one another in hopes of figuring out their importance. "What are they supposed to be-"
"EEEEE!" However, one student seemed to know what they were. "I know what these are; Daddy helped design and finance them!" This student; Momo Yaoyorozu. "You made them so compact! How?"
If Power Loader seemed caught off guard from the onyx-haired heiress' proclamation, he didn't let it show. "Simple, Nezu's brain and my skill; put those together and making these were only a fun challenge." Seeing the rest of the class raise their eyebrows at him, the man took them out and banged them together. "Kids, these are your limiters; these are quirk cuffs."
Oh.
"Shit." Everyone in 1A was smart enough to connect the dots and felt the dread in their stomach from before spread through their whole body.
"Yeah, shit's right." Power Loader just waved Aizawa's stare off and threw the cuffs up and down. "But, as our resident princess said, these are very compact, so they only really shut down emitters; transformation and mutations just get weakened."
'Yes!' A select few students silently celebrated at that.
Though, that was quickly overtaken by Nezu's crazy aura washing over them. "Yes, yes, yes." He clapped his small paws and climbed up on All Might's back to look down on his students. "You shall be split into five groups of varying sizes; some you may wear these cuffs, some of you shall not, but all of you shall be limited in this exam!"
The Principal's cheery tone was almost as scary as his revelation. "Alright, time for me to properly explain your exam." However, Aizawa snapped them right back to attention with his voice and they all stood straight. "Before that, though, here are your groups."
Final Exam Groups:
Urban Group: Akira Hikaru, Momo Yaoyorozu, Shoto Todoroki, Katsuki Bakugou
Industrial Group: Mina Ashido, Ejiro Kirishima, Denki Kaminari, Hanta Sero, Rikido Sato
Tropical Group: Fumikage Tokoyami, Tsuyu Asui, Ochako Uraraka, Tenya Iida
Flats Group: Kyoka Jirou, Mezo Shoji, Koji Koda, Toru Hagakure, Yuga Aoyama, Mashirao Ojiro
Environmental Group: Izuku Midoriya
"Huh?" Izuku looked at the board with a raised eyebrow and tilted head. "Why am I-"
"There is a good reason for this." Nezu raised his paw, cutting off both the One For All holder's questions and the questions of his classmates. "Just as I said before, the tests you soon shall face have been personally constructed by myself to specifically combat your weaknesses; Aizawa shall explain."
Aizawa stepped up at this and looked at his first group. "Hikaru, Yaoyorozu, Todoroki, Bakugou." Said four straightened immediately at the man's voice. "You four, while powerful and skilled in your own right, struggle to work with others and are incredibly reliant on your quirks." He saw their argument and turned on his quirk to stop it. "So, you will be taken to Ground Beta and pit against a bank heist without your quirks."
There were mixed reactions to this.
'I can totally do stuff without my quirk… Except deal with my psychological problems.' Akira.
'Well, I've only ever really used half of my quirk properly.' Shoto.
'Of course I rely on my quirk; why the fuck wouldn't I?' Take a guess.
'Aw, no explosions.' Momo.
However, they all decided to suck it up and simply let out a sigh… At the same time. 'Shit.' The audible sigh from the four of them had all of their teachers staring at them and they stood straight. "Yes, sir!"
"Ashido, Kirishima, Kaminari, Sero, Sato." Aizawa's eyes fled to his five students that needed the most work and he internally sighed. "You all are excellent combatants; Ashido and Sero, I'd even wager that you have better control on your quirks than the rest of the class." Pride filled the latter mentioned two and he shook his head. "However, in terms of planning a strategy and executing it, you are behind, so your exam will consist of finding and disarming a bomb hidden and guarded somewhere in Ground Gamma; you shall still have your quirks."
If any of the former five seemed put down at their teacher's statement, they didn't let it show and threw their hands up with a shout. "Yes, sir!" And gusto.
'That's better.' Evidently, Aizawa was happy with that, so he let them be and turned to his third group. "Tokoyami, Asui, Uraraka, Iida." The four students stood straight and met the man's eyes with determination. "Overall, you each do well in all aspects of heroism. Reconnaissance, rescue, skirmishing, support; you're all good at supporting others." None let themselves smile and Aizawa internally smirked. "However, this test will be putting you at the forefront of an A-Class disaster at Ground Zeta to see how you handle it; you'll still have your quirks."
Fumikage and Tsu both gave each other a side eye and discreetly hid their own smirks. 'We totally got this.' Ochako and Iida had similar thoughts but kept it to themselves.
"Jirou, Shoji, Koda, Hagakure, Aoyama, Ojiro." Aizawa looked to his fourth group of students and didn't convey any form of disappointment of approval to them. "You six have a specialised skillset and are mostly either long ranged in your fighting or a hit-and-run fighter." The six nodded at that, unable to argue. "However, as good as that is, I do not want you six to be over specialised."
At this, Thirteen stepped up. "Yeah, even though I specialised in rescue, you best believe I know how to throw down when I need to." Her blackhole eyes stared into the six students and her face became serious. "Being overspecialised can lead to accidents if you are the only hero on the scene and you're required to fight; remember this."
Any nervousness on the six students' faces were replaced with determination and they all stood up a little straighter. "Yes, ma'am!"
"Good." Aizawa nodded in approval at them and threw up a hologram, showing a large, open, plains area. "Your exam will be taking you to Ground Theta where you all will be fighting off an invasion of exam bots where you must protect a group of civilians."
The six students once more nodded and stood tall. "Yes, sir!"
Leaving Nezu to look at the last student. "Izuku Midoriya." The greenette in question had a passive face and stood strong against all his teachers' stares. "I shall admit, preparing an exam for you was quite difficult; you work tremendously well with your quirk, you are a good strategist once you know your goal, you are adaptable, capable of fighting at range or up close, and you work well with anyone given to you."
'That's my boy.' Discreetly, All Might and Akira were both smiling as the Principal spoke, even looking at each other at one point and nodding knowingly.
"So, your exam will be taking away most of that." Nezu continued, ignoring the smiles he could tell was on his employee's face. "Your quirk shall be stripped from you, there will be no teammates for you to work with or off of, you won't know the true objective of your exam until halfway through it, and a not-so-small surprise shall await you in there."
Most of the students' eyes – and even a few teachers' – went wide at the Principal's statement and some even had thoughts of objecting to it.
"Yes, sir."
However, that one statement from Izuku, and the determination in his eyes, cut off any and all protests at the head.
"Splendid!" And Nezu was obviously happy with that. "Your exam shall take place within the confines of Ground Omega; that is all."
Stepping up as the Principal jumped off All Might's back, Aizawa looked at each of his students in the eyes for a good few moments before walking away. "Alright, we'll be doing this one group at a time so that us teachers don't have to split our attention between all five groups at once." The class quickly got into step with the man and he turned to look at All Might. "Get the first group into position."
"Of course!" A request that the large man met as he picked up Akira, Momo, Shoto, and Bakugou along with four pairs of quirk cuffs. "Hang on tight, young heroes!" They might as well have been choking All Might, not that he could feel it. "All Might! Away!"
Ground Beta
Bakugou turned his fists back and forth for a moment, feeling out the cuffs on his wrists, before throwing forward an open hand. "Guess this shit actually works then." Only to fire off a tiny plume of smoke. "The fuck are they expecting us to do here?"
"Complete our exam." Shoto answered as he reviewed the hologram of the city and the whereabouts of their runaway robots. "Obviously."
"…" The dual-quirk user's monotone voice did not hide the sass from Bakugou and the blonde took one, long, deep breath before even thinking of replying. "Akira, give me a proper response to my rhetorical question before I throw my shoe at Todoroki."
The black-haired teen in question simply side eyed Bakugou for a small moment as he decided between screwing with him or giving him a proper answer. "Get shit done and don't complain." Before deciding on the latter and turning to Momo. "Yaomomo, you got the things?"
"Indeed I do!" Momo, very excitedly, pulled out four earpieces and four batons before throwing a pair at each of her classmates. "Now our playing field is slightly more even!"
"… Where the fuck?" Which, obviously, threw off Bakugou. "So, Princess here still has her quirk?"
"Did your Father build in a safety lock on all cuffs so that you wouldn't be affected?" Shoto as well; the heterochromatic teen had a notepad out and was writing down notes. 'Theories…'
Unfortunately, Momo shook her head. "Of course not; I just made them as All Might brought us here after learning our quirks would be taken away." She put in her earpiece and tapped it a couple of times before smiling. "I heard no rules or restrictions on using quirks before the exam so I cannot be faulted for this."
Training Grounds Observation Centre
Aizawa sighed and turned to his remaining students. "Alright, listen up." They all stood straight at his voice. "Since we weren't specific from the get-go, Yaoyorozu won't be punished for this, however, I don't want to see any of you trying to replicate what she has done or bring in outside influences into your exams; your scores will be affected if you do so."
There was an audible sigh from most of the students but they were silenced once their teacher activated his quirk. "Yes, sir!"
"Good." With that sorted, Aizawa then turned to All Might. "And you." The large man was rubbing the back of his neck with an embarrassed expression. "Pay attention to the kids as you're moving them to make sure this doesn't happen again."
"Of course, Aizawa." The large blonde man rolled up his sleeves and gave the man his trademark thumbs up and smile. "They won't get anything else by me!"
Ground Beta
"-esting! Testing!" The P.A system cracked to life and the four examinees – who were now positioned on all four sides of one of the banks in the mock city – readied themselves. "Your exam starts… Now!"
"Let's go, boys!" And immediately, a squad of one-pointers broke out of the back of the bank, each carrying a bag marked by a yen sign. "Before the heroes get on us!"
However, before they could make it too far, Shoto dropped down in front of them, baton gripped tightly. "Freezer-Burn to team, hostiles exiting outside the west path."
And in his ear, his teammates responded.
"Princess here, I copy and am moving there now!"
"White Mage copies, on my way."
….
"Bakugou." Shoto got out of his battle stance and put a hand to his ear. "We agreed during planning time to use the code names." Giving ample time for his opponents to slowly move away. "Use it."
On his side of the city, Bakugou reluctantly put a hand to his ear. "… Boom Boy copies, on my way."
"Thank you." Letting Shoto turn back to the robots. "Now-" Only to find them jumping between the walls of two buildings in an alley. "Shit."
"Come on, Freezer-Burn!" Luckily, his teammates had caught up very quickly and Akira was right behind him before surging past into the alley to follow the robots.
"Yeah, let's get 'em!" With Momo right behind him, her battle attitude flaring, and doing surprisingly well as she jumped between the alley buildings with ease. "I'll rip their power sources from their cores!"
From above them on the rooftops, Bakugou dropped on one of the robots with a hard dropkick, throwing them off the roofs. "Ha! Got you, bitch!" Before chasing after another one. "Freezer-Burn, you hold that one still, we'll grab the rest."
Grabbing the bag of yen out of the robots grasp and sitting on it, Shoto sighed. 'This is what I get for choosing ice skating over parkour just to spite Dad.'
"Oh my God! They got Kenny!" Back on the roofs, a one-pointer threw their bag forward to one of their fellow robots before turning around and shooting a hail of rubber bullets at their pursuers. "Cartman, Stan, you run for it, I'll hold 'em off-"
"Spear tackle!" Unfortunately for the robot, Bakugou was more than used to feeling hits a lot harder than weakened rubber bullets and launched himself at the one-pointer with a shoulder charge. "Haha! Two-for-two!"
Akira jumped over Bakugou, while swiping the blonde's baton as he did so, before chasing after the other robots. "Great, you can stay here with this one while Princess and I get the last two!"
"Good job, Boom Boy!" Momo was quick on the black-haired teen's tail, a wide grin on her face. "Now it's my turn!"
This did not sit well with Bakugou as he realised what just happened. "Oh, you son of a-"
"-Bitch! They got Kyle as well!" One of the robots shouted as Akira and Momo caught up to them. "I am not going out like this!" Before dropping their bags and making a run for it.
"Cartman, you asshole!" An action that pissed off the other remaining one-pointer as it tried to pick up the dropped bags of yen. "This wasn't the plan-" Only to, unfortunately, be taken out by Akira.
"White Mage to Freezer Burn and Boom Boy, all packages secured." The black-haired teen stabbed his batons through the robot's hands, sticking it to the ground, before grabbing the bags of yen. "We do have one runaway though, so-"
"Dibs!" Momo immediately surged past Akira and charged towards the final one-pointer with a glint in her eyes. "Dibs! Dibs! Dibs! Dibs!"
Her crazy attitude was noted by the robot and it immediately picked up the pace while shooting behind it. "Why do I get the crazy one?!" Luckily for the one-pointer, it was really good at running.
"Because the best is saved for last!" Unluckily, Momo was better and catching up. "Now get ready…" Slashing her baton to her side, the onyx-haired girl was suddenly holding a spear. "To die!" Before thrusting it right through the robot's chest, ripping through it completely and tearing out its core.
"Exam objective completed! This practical test is over!"
And, hearing the P.A system announce the exam's completion and her victory, Momo took her spear out before holding the robot's core up as a trophy. "Haha! I am Momo Yaoyorozu!" All while laughing like a madwoman.
"…" On the building behind her, Akira, Shoto, and Bakugou all watched her with varying reactions.
"You know, she makes being gay really hard sometimes." Bakugou admitted, holding a robot over each shoulder. "Like… Damn, what a woman."
Akira nodded as he secured the bags of yen. "She makes Izuku in his battle mode look sane."
All the while, Shoto just watched on with silence as he felt his left side flaring. "…" And it wasn't because of his flames.
Training Grounds Observation Centre
"Wooh! That's what I'm talking about!" Back in the observation room, Hagakure rushed Momo with a big hug.
Mina was close behind, jumping into the now group hug. "You totally smashed that last robot, Yaomomo!"
Jirou jumped on the onyx-haired girl's back with a rare laugh. "That was so cool!"
And Tsu finished it off, sending all the girls fell to the ground. "Kero, Yaomomo, you did really good."
Well, all the girls minus one, Ochako had jumped on Akira's back with a shout of excitement. "You totally kicked butt, Akira! And yer parkour skills were mighty fine!" She seemed to realise her accent slipped out at the end and quickly tried to cover her mouth.
"Well, thank you kindly, miss." Only for Akira to catch and kiss it while replying in his country voice. "I do appreciate the compliment." Which promptly turned his brown-haired girlfriend into a blushing mess.
"Good stuff, Bakubro!" Meanwhile, Kirishima, Kaminari, and Sero had gone towards Bakugou, the first happily tackling the blonde in a hug.
"Mhm, two out of four takedowns; good numbers." Kaminari pet his fellow blonde's shoulders, ignoring the intimidating look he was given.
"Yeah, not to mention the second coolest takedown." Sero added with a nod before raising his eyebrow at the blonde's incredulous look. "Hey, don't look at me like that; you did great, but Yaomomo completely stole the show at the end."
Bakugou actually had to give him that one. "Fine."
Finally, Izuku, Fumikage, and Iida had all gone around Shoto and gave him a round of head pats to cheer him up. "You still did pretty good, Todoroki, you just got… Distracted with the roleplaying part of everything." The greenette tried his best not to laugh as he reassured his friend.
Difficulties that Fumikage and Iida also had as they pet their friend's hair. "There, there…"
"Alright, enough messing around." Aizawa's words quickly got everyone into gear and they all stood straight. "Industrial group consisting of Ashido, Kirishima, Kaminari, Sero, and Sato." Said students ran forward and all jumped on All Might's back, causing their teacher to sigh. "Just take them."
"Of course, Aizawa!" The large blonde smiled widely at his fellow teacher and gave him a thumbs up before securing the five on his back. "Let us depart, newbies! All Might! Away!"
Ground Gamma
"Ugh, this map is messing with my brain." Kaminari complained as he tried to navigate the large, three-dimensional hologram of Ground Gamma in front of them. "Which dot is us?"
Sero tilted his head before sticking the map with his tape and swinging it around them. "Mmmm, okay, the red one's moving, so we're the red dot." Before laying the map back down.
"So that makes the doomsday device the blue dot somewhere around…" Kirishima looked at the map upside down before shrugging and pointing left. "That direction."
"Nah, I'm pretty sure it's that direction." Sato countered as he pointed right. "And we have to remember that there's levels to this place so we're also going… Up?"
Mina shook her head. "No, that's definitely down." She pointed to both the dots and brought her hands together. "See? The red dot is higher than the blue, so we go down."
"What, no, you just changed the angle of your hands!" Kaminari exclaimed. "We are going up and left."
Sato shook his head. "Up and right."
"Both of you are wrong, down and right." Mina countered, starting to get frustrated.
"We aren't going in any of those directions!" Kirishima shouted, pointing in a completely different direction to everyone else. "We're going north-east and we aren't going down or up! That's just confusing!"
And hence, an argument began; one that got so heated and loud that the examinees didn't notice when the P.A system announced the start of their exam.
Twice.
Training Grounds Observation Centre, Fifteen Minutes Later
Aizawa looked at the five students before him without even trying to hide the disappointment he had in each of them. "Alright." His quirk activated and the five flinched while looking straight down to the floor. "You five have failed your practical and I will deal with you later." The students nodded and he pointed to a corner. "Argue like little kids, be treated as such; go sit in the corner until the day is over."
Sighing in resignation, the five all went to the corner of the room and laid the backs of their heads against the wall.
'This is fair.'
But they didn't complain.
"Thank you." Turning to the next group of students, he eyed them closely before letting it go. "Now, as Principal Nezu informed you before, you'll be in Ground Zeta; our beach territory."
Tsu's eyes immediately went wide at this and she began to mentally celebrate. 'Kero! Fucking finally, some aquatic action! I'll finally be able to really move!'
If Aizawa saw the psychotic relief in his frog student's eyes – he did – he didn't let it bother him and continued his talk. "In the last rounds, we wanted to measure the strategic abilities of those… Nine since we already know they do well with their quirks. You all do as well, but we want to see you do that without being a support, so you'll keep your quirks for this exam."
Fumikage, Ochako, Tsu, and Iida all silently cheered. 'Yes!'
"Alright, All Might." Turning to their transport for the day, Aizawa pointed to the door. "You can take them."
"On you get." Laughing as his students jumped onto his large arms, All Might got in a running position. "All Might…" Before surging out of the observation centre at high speeds. "Away!"
Ground Zeta
"…You've got to be fucking kidding me." Ochako said as she looked at the 'Doomsday Scenario' that they were supposed to be solving. "We have to take down that?"
An incredibly bulky, well-armoured, military-grade, fuck-normous, eastern dragon robot stood- actually, not stood, floated before them. A mostly light yellow under hull with the top parts of it being an azure blue – good God it had individual scales – and a large, red-x on one part of its body.
"This shall be quite the daunting task." Fumikage said as he readied Dark Shadow. "And I am grateful that we were not stripped of our quirks."
"Kero, speak for yourselves." Tsu said as she looked at the dragon with a feral glint. "I've been waiting for a water-training grounds for months; I'm not letting a dragon get in the way of my fun! Kero!" Before surging into the water at speeds they hadn't seen her even get close too and launch herself from the water onto the dragon.
"Sweet Lord!" Her speed was such that Iida himself found himself he'd have to work hard to match it. "Well, I suppose our best course of action would be to make a plan and-"
A dark blur rushed passed his vision and he saw Fumikage rushing underneath the dragon's shadow before activating his quirk and flying up towards the cyborg beast with a fervour. "Let's fucking go!" Ah, Dark Shadow, makes sense.
"Well, Uraraka." Readjusting his glasses, Iida turned to his final classmate. "We can still-"
"Nope!" Slapping her blue-haired classmate on the back of his head, Ochako cancelled out his and her own gravity before hanging onto his ankles. "Now activate your engines, my mass should hopefully balance us out so we don't spin!"
Giving up, Iida sighed and let his engines roar, sending the two straight towards the dragon-bot at high speeds. 'Strange, the balancing actually worked.' Before they were right above it and Ochako released her quirk, causing them to fall to their opponent at high speeds. "Recipro Fall!" Throwing more fuel into his engines, Iida began to spiral downwards before landing on the dragon with a hard axe kick, causing it to falter slightly.
"Kero! That's the spirit, Iida!" Surging past him, Tsu ran off the dragon's back and dove towards the ocean. "Give 'em hell!" Before swimming down and back up to boost herself right into the dragon's under hull, cracking it with a kick.
However, after regaining its bearings – damn, Power Loader went in for this build – the dragon roared and flicked its body around, causing the hero students to stumble upon it.
"Nope!" Except for Ochako. "Whoo!" Activating her quirk on herself, Ochako jumped off the beast as it thrashed around and spiralled upwards.
"Nice try, asshole!" And apparently Fumikage. "Try this one!" Dark Shadow, completely covering his brother, tore through the dragon's under hull before appearing on its back; surprisingly large despite the amount of light out.
"I found this mechanical beast's weak spot." Fumikage said as Dark Shadow retreated into him. "The large red-x design on its under hull is the home of a port; I attempted to attack it, but I believe we may need to direct an object towards it at high speeds."
Tsu suddenly dropped next to them, cracking multiple of the dragon's scales off it on her landing.
"… I think she'll work." Ochako pointed, getting a nod from her bird-headed friend. "How do we wanna do this?"
"Ah! A plan?" Iida readjusted his glasses. "Quite simple! All we need to do is have you, Uraraka, take away Asui-"
"Tsu, kero." Tsu added.
"Tsu's gravity alongside my own, have Tokoyami fly us into position, and then I shall throw Tsu at the dragon's weak spot!" The blue-haired teen was chopping the air as he finished his plan and smiled widely. "What do you think?"
"…Okay." Apparently fine with the plan, Ochako took away both her friends' gravity before Fumikage grabbed them and let Dark Shadow back out.
Jumping off the side, Fumikage let Dark Shadow carry him out before flying to the dragon's weak spot. "Shit!" Only for his brother to move out of the way as the dragon tried to bite at them. "Alright, new idea!" Taking over completely, Dark Shadow started to dodge around the dragon, making it twist and spiral to try and bite him.
"Dark Shadow!" An action that Fumikage was evidently not happy with as he struggled to hold both his friends and his breakfast. "What have I said about high speed-"
Dark Shadow suddenly flew directly up and laughed. "Trust me, Fumi!" Up, up, and up, the sentient quirk kept flying up, the dragon on their tail and the Sun taking away his power. "Almost…"
"RGAH!" The dragon saw this as the perfect opportunity to surge forward and decided to do just as such.
BZZT!
Only for it to tie itself up in what would've been an uncomfortable knot, were it alive. "Yes, Dark Shadow!" Turning around in the air, Fumikage heaved both of his friends above him. "Go, friends!" Before throwing them straight down.
"Release!" Seeing this, Ochako decided that a bit of gravity would've helped them out and deactivated her quirk's hold on her friends. 'Right, time to go!' Before running off the edge of the dragon and diving into the water.
"Are you ready, Tsu?" Back with Iida and Tsu, the blue-haired teen activated his engines and began to spin the frog girl around him at high speeds. "Tell me when you're ready and I shall-"
"Kero! Launch me!" Not waiting for anything, Tsu let herself be launched towards the dragon's 'scar' with a large smile on her face while tucking herself in to spin wildly. "Kero, kero, kero, kero, kero!" Before throwing out her leg at the last second and striking the self-destruct port with an impact of a dozen trucks.
"RA-gh… Grrr…" The dragon-bot was split in half.
Training Grounds Observation Centre
"Yeah, Tsu, Ochako!" Jirou shouted as she dove on the frog and gravity girl with a wide grin. "That was hardcore!"
Mina and Hagakure weren't far behind her and cheered for their two friends. "You're both so cool!"
"Destruction!" Momo was the last to join the pile and sent all of them to the floor. "Tsu, that was such a powerful kick! I need to find a way to create thrusters to replicate such a wonderous feat of battle!"
Aizawa's gaze on them made the six girls scramble upwards and the man turned his eyes to Mina. "Ashido, I believe I sent you and the others to the cor-" Before suddenly hearing a ruffle and finding that the males of his class had made a dogpile atop Fumikage and Iida. 'Good God you're all impossible.' Closing his eyes, the man took a breath before bringing up his clipboard. "Jiro, Shoji, Koda, Hagakure, Aoyama, Ojiro."
"Sir!" The called six immediately scrambled off their respective dog piles and stood in line.
"All Might." This time, Aizawa's eyes turned to his – technically speaking – teaching assistant and he pointed out the door without another word.
"Sir!" And no words were needed as the large blonde immediately understood what was wanted and ran out the facility with the six examinees in his arms. "All Might! Away!"
Ground Theta
"Duck, Aoyama! Duck! Duck! Duck!" Jirou shouted as she jumped over the blonde French teen and knocked back a large gorilla-bot with a soundwave. "What the hell kind of last stand scenario is this?"
Unnerved at the fact he was almost crushed; Aoyama aimed his palm over Jirou's shoulder and released his quirk. "Even if we are just to destroy robots, my stamina is incredibly limited." His lasers tore through a line of one-pointers and he winced. "Not to mention my quirk's not well accustomed to my body."
"Mood!" Hagakure exclaimed as she suddenly appeared on the back of a gorilla-bot's neck, ripping its circuits out with a huff. "It's only been five minutes…. And I already feel like I need a break."
Ojiro caught the chartreuse-haired girl with his monkey tail as she fell off the robot before laying her down on Koda in his bear form. "My tail hurts!" He put his back flat on the ground as a two-pointer swung his staff over him before kipping up with his tail and slamming his foot in its face. "I'm used to doing hit and run tactics, but I can't do that in the open field!"
Their arena was honestly a stroke of genius by Nezu, a large plains field filled to the brim with one-pointers, two-pointers, three-pointers, gorilla-bots, and more, constantly barraging the students.
Jirou and Aoyama were ranged fighters that used cover; they had none.
Hagakure and Ojiro used hit and run tactics with their quirks; there was nowhere to hide.
The only two who weren't adversely affected by the arena were Shoji and Koda, but they had their attention split trying to both help their friends and protect the civilian-bots that were placed in the arena with them.
"They won't stop coming!" Shoji held six one-pointers up their throats before using them as shields against an even larger group of them that had begun barraging him with rubber bullets. "A little help?"
Koda roared before switching forms into a large eagle and swooped downwards on the firing squad. "Caw!" Completely tearing the robots to shreds.
"Thank you." An action that Shoji was grateful for as he crushed the six one-pointers in his hands.
Jirou suddenly felt micro-vibrations fill the air and she turned to the source. "Shit, incoming, east side!" And was absolutely horrified at what her teachers were putting them through. "This is getting ridiculous!"
A robot designed as a dire wolf broke through a group of three-pointers with ease due to the fact that it was the size of a large house. It was designed with dark steel and claws that actually looked like it could rip any one of them to shreds without so much as a thought.
"Screw off, dude!" Hagakure groaned as she went invisible and tried to run up the wolf-bot's tail. "Oh crap!" Only to get flung off.
"I got her!" Luckily, Ojiro was once more able to catch the girl with a monkey tail and put her down.
Jirou shot herself upwards with a concentrated soundwave and surveyed the large wolf-bot before smiling. "It's got a weak spot!" At the top of its head, glowing bright red, was a small port that quite actually had 'Self-Destruct' written on it. "Aoyama, that's you!"
"But of course." Smiling to himself, the blonde French teen just put his hands up and allowed Koda – in eagle form – to pick him up and rush him down to the wolf-bot's weak spot.
"We've got him!" And with Shoji and Ojiro holding it down while Jirou and Hagakure messed with the wolf's sensors, it made it all too easy for Aoyama to hit the spot.
"Au revoir." Dead on.
Training Grounds Observation Centre
"I don't get paid enough for this." Aizawa whispered underneath his breath as his entire class dogpiled the last six examinees all at once, laughing and shouting praises.
"Oh, come on, Shota, don't be too hard on 'em." Present Mic walked up to his oldest friend and pet him on the shoulder with a smile. "They're still just kids; moments like this are important for them." However, his smile quickly dropped and became sombre. "God knows we know that better than most."
"I know." The dark-haired hero shook his head violently and put his hand on Mic's shoulder. "I'll ease up."
Seeing his employees' – but more importantly, former students' – distress, Nezu climbed atop All Might and had the man bring him in front of the class. "That's enough for now, children." The students all quickly scrambled off each other and all stood straight, making the chimera smile. "There shall be enough time to celebrate at the end of the day; for now, we have one last examinee."
All eyes landed on Izuku and the greenette walked forward with determination in his eyes. "I'm ready, sir."
"Good; very good." Nezu climbed down from All Might and walked up to his forest-haired student. "You shall be placed in Ground Omega, this school's environmental area." He pet the boy on his knee for luck. "Remember though, since it was deemed that you would be able to strategise too quickly if you were given your objective here, you shall receive it at the halfway mark of your exam… Along with a small surprise."
If Izuku was nervous, he did a very good job of not showing it. "I remember, sir." Though, he did sweat a little once Power Loader walked up to him and placed the quirk cuffs on him.
As soon as they were on, there was a small amount of confusion from the greenette as he suddenly felt his mind become clearer and yet lose a certain something at the same time. The core of One For All, that usually continuously pulsed in his chest, was silent.
And it was somewhat unnerving.
"Alright, my boy." All Might slung his green-haired protégé over his shoulder and got into a running stance. "You know the drill by now; hold tight and try not to jump off, you can't fly anymore."
'Oh, I can't fly.' The sudden epiphany that hit Izuku was worse than all the other limitations placed on him combined. 'Damn.'
"All Might! Away!"
Ground Omega
Izuku sat in a meditative position in the oasis that All Might had dropped him into. He was on a large platform-like rock that was surrounded by an even larger lake that was surrounded by fields of trees in all directions. Right now, without knowing the objective of his exam, all he could do was sit down and wait for something to happen and-
'Left!' Without opening his eyes, the greenette shot his left arm outwards and caught a blunted arrow that was aimed straight at his face. 'One-pointers.' Before allowing himself his vision again and looking at the army of one-pointers that surrounded him.
They all had tribal-like designs painted on them and various, blunted weapons. Bows and arrows, axes, clubs, spears, hammers, swords; it was like he was looking at a savage tribe of cave-robots.
"A child with the hair of the forest!" A one-pointer decked in – what Izuku had to presume were – tribal robes sat atop a large three-pointer and pointed a staff at him. "The one which the prophecy foretold! The one who shall destroy us all!" His eyes glowed red and he slammed the staff down on the three-pointer – which, by the way, was painted with a gorilla's face – before letting out a war cry. "We shall burn him at the stake!"
And immediately after doing so, set the army of one-pointers charging at Izuku.
"Okay then." But he was ready. "Get on with it." Still in his meditative position, Izuku waited until the first one-pointer got close before making a move.
"Don't get cocky, basta-" Luckily, that moment came fast and a one-pointer immediately went to stab at him with a sword. "Agh!" Not that it got close, Izuku dodged out of the way and grabbed the one-pointer's wrist with his left hand before crushing it.
"Thank you!" And, taking the dropped sword with his right, the green-haired teen severed the robot's head and then kipped up into a battle stance. 'Double edge blade, no cross guard though, pretty well-weighted… Yeah, it'll do.' Spinning the sword around him, Izuku held it out with his right hand while keeping his left hand in front of him. "Let's go!"
Three spears shot forward at him and the greenette deflected all of them before rushing at the trio that threw them at him. He grabbed the first one that tried to kick him out of the air and swung him around into the second one, sending them both sprawling onto the ground, and then jumped over them to slice downwards at the last one.
"Watch your back!" And, seeing that the green-haired teen kept his back open while slicing another two one-pointers down, a particularly brave one-pointer holding a hammer rushed towards him and brought it down. "Hammer-Tim-"
Only for Izuku to let out a horse kick, throwing the robot away. "Thanks for the warning!" Now holding two swords, the green-haired teen began to spin around and swing the blades around him in a flurry, deflecting the volley of arrows sent at him without letting any through. 'Holy crap, that actually worked!'
"Dogpile!" Seven one-pointers all surrounded him from the trees and all dived down on him at the same time, holding him in place with their weight. "Haha, we got him!"
They didn't have him.
A small pressure began to build up around Izuku, confusing the sensors built in them, before they were all suddenly sent flying off the greenette in all directions, crashing into and through multiple trees as they did.
"That's better." There was a bright glow in Izuku's eyes but it quickly disappeared along with the pressure. "I think that just leaves-"
"Take this!" The one and only three-pointer fell down onto the platform with the greenette and cut him off with a punch.
"Nope!" Which the teen just barely dodged. "My turn!" Before surging up the robot's arm, his own arms crossing each other and hands holding the swords he stole tight.
"Crap!" And, seeing that there was no way of blocking the attack, the one-pointer chief tried to abandon the three-pointer. "Okay, that's just cruel." Only to find out that they were welded to their beast.
Making it all the easier for Izuku when he struck his swords out, severing the three-pointer's head off and the one-pointer's torso from its legs. "Alright." Dropping the swords into the lake, the greenette looked around with a raised eyebrow as his ears didn't pick up any other sounds. "Did I pass?"
"Not quite yet, Young Midoriya!" A loud crash behind him, followed by a very familiar voice, made the green-haired teen turn around in genuine fear. "You have one more trial before this exam is complete!" All Might was behind him.
"All Might?" Izuku looked at the man with trepidation as he noticed the man was in his deflated form and had lost the power in his voice. "What are you…?" However, any questions died on his tongue as he saw what was on the man's wrists.
Quirk cuffs.
"Congratulations on completing your first trial, Midoriya!" Nezu's voice came on the P.A speakers and dread filled the greenette. "Now for your exam objective…" The chimera really didn't need to say it, he had already guessed. "Survive."
All Might rushed forward with a lariat, faster than Izuku expected, and the green-haired teen could only block. 'Agh!' But the hit was just as powerful, sending him crashing through a tree and out of the oasis. 'Damn, he's good!'
'Damn, I'm good!' Unintentionally sharing his protégé's thoughts, All Might chased after the young teen as he began to run away, bouncing between the trees to try and evade him. "That won't work, my boy." But it was in vain; he had trained with Gran Torino in his prime. Izuku's quirkless speed – while incredibly impressive – didn't even come close. "Got you!"
'Crap!' Izuku once more put his arms and had to just deal with it when his mentor suddenly appeared before him and hit with a dropkick. 'Damnit, that one was worse than the lariat!' He also had to deal with the fact that he wasn't going to be able to run away from this. "Come on then!"
"Ah, brave now, are we?" All Might rushed forward, crashing through three trees like they weren't even there, before once more striking down at this time. 'Oh?'
However, this time, Izuku jumped over the man's fist before running up his arm and backflip kicking his chin. "Ha!" Only to get caught by a powerful punch mid-air. "Agh!" And, again, be sent through a tree. 'This is actually really starting to hurt.' While the green-haired teen was powerful, he hadn't dealt with so much pain while quirkless for a while.
"Come on, now, Young Midoriya!" And if All Might noticed, he didn't very much care. "I've seen you have fridges thrown at you and get up right after!" A small pressure built up around the man and his deep blue eyes began to emit an aura of indomitable power. "Where is that drive?!"
Something inside of Izuku suddenly roared and a pressure washed out of him as he stood up, causing the ground beneath him to crack and his eyes to glow fiercely. "RAAGHHHHH!" His hand shot through the Earth and he ripped a decent sized boulder out of the ground before launching it at his mentor.
"There we go!" However, the man just caught it and ripped it in half before getting into a boxer's stance. "The indomitable will and conviction of those pursuing their goals! That is true strength!"
Izuku looked at the man with a tilted head as he heard Stain's words echo in his mind. "That's a dangerous statement." Before getting into his own stance. "Who taught you that?"
"It's a teaching from an old quote by a man far before our time!" All Might started, grabbing the tree next to him and tearing it out of the ground. "Mahatma Gandhi; he said, 'Strength does not come from physical capacity. It comes from an indomitable will.' A good principle to follow!"
"I see." Question now answered, Izuku let a smile break out onto his face before his pressure spiked, pushing the trees around him away. "Let's test our wills then, shall we?"
From All Might, his own pressure washed out so far and so strong that it actively pushed back his protégé's. "Let's!"
"I think not!" However, before either of them could try, the P.A system suddenly cracked to life. "The timer has gone off; Izuku Midoriya has passed his practical exam!"
Training Grounds Observation Centre
As soon as All Might finally dropped Izuku down in front of his classmates, all of the boys – Kirishima dragged Bakugo into it – jumped onto the greenette with a shout of praise.
"Dude, that was completely insane!" Kaminari exclaimed, holding the greenette's leg. "You were dual wielding swords! And you were dual wielding them properly!"
"I swear every single fight you're in turns into an anime fight." Kirishima said, sitting on the boy's back. "I don't think I'd ever be able to keep up with those one-pointers without my quirk."
Ojiro nodded wildly. "Your weapon proficiency was great! Have you trained with swords before or was that all instinct?"
Shoji had one of his hands grow a mouth and moved it into the conversation. "Forget that; how about you tell us how you ripped a boulder out of the ground without your quirk?"
"Or got up less than a second after being thrown through like a dozen trees multiple times!" Sato shouted, shaking the greenette as if trying to jolt answers out of him. "How?!"
"How?" Aizawa started, scarf wrapped around All Might's neck and pulling him down to his eye level. "Could you possibly think it was okay to throw a student through the forest and hit him with the full hundreds of pounds of muscle you have on your body?"
"Uh…" All Might sheepishly rubbed the back of his neck and laughed awkwardly. "To be fair, I've seen him go through far worse-"
"With his quirk on, you daft muppet!" Aizawa's eyes glowed red as he activated his quirk on the man for the first time. "We will continue this conversation later, believe me." However, he temporarily let it go to turn to his rioting class. "Enough."
The class quickly rose to their feet upon hearing the seriousness in their teacher's voice and stood straight. "Yes, sir!"
A chuckle came from Nezu as he popped out of Aizawa's scarf and he pet the man on his head. "Thank you all for coming in today; we shall have your exam results, both theoretical and practical, ready for you tomorrow." The chimera checked his watch and shrugged. "For now, consider it an early day and get some rest."
"Yes!" Jumping up and whooping, the students all rushed out of the observation centre with smiles, still questioning Izuku on his strength and exam performance; how could they not?
And as they walked through the hall, Mina watched Izuku's back with an immense amount of admiration. 'Damn, he's strong, and cute, and smart, and really cool, and he helped me…' However, her mood was quick to drop and she frowned. 'And… He helped me.'
U.A Cafeteria, The Next Day
Izuku happily walked towards a table, whistling a small tune while taking in the smell of his food. 'This actually doesn't smell too bad.' Usually, he'd grab a bowl of katsudon, but had instead opted to try okra and natto after finally giving in to Mina's pestering to try her favourite food. 'Hold on.' However, as he arrived at the table, he noticed a distinct lack of pink next to his seat. 'Where is-'
"Yo, Casanova." Hagakure snapped her fingers to get Izuku's attention before pointing towards the outside area. "Mina went that way."
Not even registering the name, the green-haired teen turned his head just in time to catch a pink figure walk outside the cafeteria doors and into the campus woods. "Oh, thanks, Hagakure!" Before leaving his tray on the table and booking it outside.
Leaving everyone at the table pondering a very important question.
"Kero, should we follow?" Tsu was the only one to actually ask it aloud. "We can probably catch their first kiss if we do, kero."
Immediately, all other members of 1A shook their heads and started to object to the question.
"Whaaaat?"
"No… That seems like a private moment."
"Indeed, they should share it alone."
….
….
"LET'S GO!"
And then, all at once, they scrambled out of their chairs and rushed to the campus woods, leaving everyone in the cafeteria confused.
U.A Campus
Izuku had lost sight of his favourite pink-haired person for a few moments, unable to navigate the large stretch of woods that she had walked into, before eventually coming across a small break in the woods. A forest oasis would be the best way to describe it, though that actually came as a surprise to the greenette.
A small but powerful waterfall that flowed into a large pond surrounded by positively beautiful green moss stones. The pond itself had a small stone path leading to a large rock in the middle of it and flowed off into a small stream that went even further into the forest.
However, instead of focusing on the beautiful world around him, Izuku's eyes zoomed in on the pink-haired girl sitting dejectedly on the rock in the middle of the pond.
Whatever she was thinking about, she must've lost herself in it, as she hadn't noticed Izuku walking up to her until he sat down next to her on the rock. "Ah!" And after zoning back into reality, she greeted the greenette. "Izuku, hi." Her smile was forced and she tilted her head at the boy. "What are you doing out here?"
"I could ask you the same thing." Izuku, however, wasn't going to let her trick him like that. "I followed you out here; you seemed sad."
A small twitch in her expression confirmed the greenette's suspicions but the pink-haired girl feigned ignorance and pushed confusion once more. "What do you mean? I'm perfectly fine."
"You're legs are bouncing and your horns are twitching." Izuku argued back, getting a surprised look from the girl. "We spent an entire month studying together; I learnt all your tells."
'Stupid, thoughtful, adorable, stud muffin.' Cursing and trying not to break over the greenette's sweet proclamation, Mina pushed one last time, hoping he'd buy it. "Seriously, Izuku, there's nothing wron-"
"Mina." Izuku took one of her hands in both of his and stared deep into her star-like eyes. "Look me in the eyes and tell me nothing's wrong, then I'll believe you."
The pink girl stared right back – working down a blush as she did so – and went to do just that. "I-" However, held her tongue as she realised she wouldn't be able to lie in this situation. "I feel like I wasted all the time you spent helping me study by throwing the practical exam, alright!" Her shoulders sagged and she looked down to the floor, unable to meet the greenette's eyes. "You spent a month trying to help me get the best score and I threw that down the drain just because I-"
"Mina Ashido!" Izuku's hand went to the girl's chin and he softly pulled her head up to look at him again. "Please look at me." And after locking eyes with her, he smiled. "You failing the practical doesn't mean that the time we spent working together was for nothing, all it means is that you have more of a reason to do better on the next one."
"But-" Mina went to argue but immediately cut herself off as Izuku raised an eyebrow at her. "I…" Before jumping into the boy's lap and wrapping him in a hug. "Thanks, Izuku."
And while surprised, Izuku happily wrapped his arms around her waist and held her tight. "Next time you feel down, just come straight to me; I'll always be here to listen."
The pink girl blushed at his words but also found herself laughing. "God, that was so corny." She separated from the hug and held Izuku's face in her hands, squishing his cheeks together with a sigh. "Even for you."
"You know you love it." And feeling a rare boost of confidence, the greenette put one of his hands around one of hers and smiled right up at the girl.
"Yeah, you're right." Mina suddenly felt Izuku's hand tighten around her waist a bit and she lowered her face until their noses were touching, which they found themselves doing a lot after the janitor's closet. "I do…"
Izuku found himself slowly moving his face to the side and got closer to the pink girl's lips. 'Stars, I want to hear those words again…'
Slowly, instinctively, as if it were completely natural, they both let their faces get just the tiniest bit closer.
And closer.
And closer.
And-
*RIIIIINNNNNNNGGGGGGG!*
The sound of the bell startled the two and they both opened their eyes – when did they close them? – before feeling their faces set on fire.
"Kero, fuck!" And, behind the two a few trees back, the entirety of 1A fell to the ground with a sigh and started hitting the trees. "Stupid, goddamn, motherfucking bell, kero!"
"Alright, this shit isn't interesting anymore." Throwing up his hands in exasperation, Bakugou left the clearing, Kirishima, Kaminari, and Sero in tow. "Absolutely ruined!"
Momo also followed behind, slamming a book she was carrying into Shoto's arms. "Todoroki, burn this romance novel." At the boy's questioning gaze, she levelled him with a stare. "It lied to me; burn it."
"Oi, Romeo and Juliet!" And, after deciding that the moment wouldn't be able to restart itself, Akira called out to the two. "Either make out or hurry up and book it back to class, we're getting our results!" Before turning around and shaking his head. "Stupid bell, it was going to be perfect."
And, back with clueless and embarrassment, the two scrambled off each other before rushing to follow their friends. They both looked at each other as they did so, countless questions in their eyes, before looking away and running inside.
Class 1A
The entire student body of 1A all collectively stood up and looked at their teacher like he was crazy. "WHAT?!" They all had large smiles on their faces and a select five were absolutely ecstatic. "REALLY?!"
"Silence." However, Aizawa wasn't having the chaos and turned on his quirk, putting his students back into their seats. "Thank you, and yes, you will all be attending the summer training camp regardless of your results." Before suddenly summoning a stack of papers into his hands and throwing them at his students' faces. "And here are your results for your theory exams."
"Gimme!" 1A immediately scrambled to catch their answer sheets and quickly began to compare scores with one another.
"Kero, ha! Suck it, history." Tsu exclaimed as she looked at her score before looking at Fumikage's and his smug look. "Alright, get over yourself, kero."
"Oh thank goodness!" Shoji let out a sigh of relief as he looked at his informatics exam result. "I didn't mess them up."
Meanwhile, Izuku just laughed at everyone before going to look at his own score. 'Huh?' Only to look confused as another's test was slipped on top of his.
"Izuku!" Mina bounced excitedly and held the test paper excitedly. "It's my math test! I got 92%!" She let it go and started to spin around on the spot. "This is the best score I've ever gotten in my life!"
'Oh, wow!' Izuku looked at the score with a small feeling of pride and smiled widely at the girl. "Mina, that's great!" He could spot her other scores and still kept his smile at the low to high 70s. "You're doing really well!"
"It's all because of you!" Mina exclaimed as she wrapped her arms around Izuku in a hug. "You helped me so much; thank you!"
The events of lunch quickly flashed through the green-haired teen's mind, but he found he didn't really mind. "Like I said before, Mina, I'm always here for you." Before hugging right back.
As the day went on and they all eventually left the school, Izuku and Mina walked out together, standing ever so closely to each other.
And if 1A saw their hands brush against each other every now and then, they only watched on with small smiles.
'Just hurry up and date.'
Omake – Alternate Scenes: First Kiss
(A.N: When I first wrote the tease, my little sis said it was cruel and demanded a happy ending; this is me obliging to that request, enjoy it!)
"You know you love it." Feeling a rare boost of confidence, the greenette put one of his hands around one of hers and smiled right up at the girl.
"Yeah, you're right." Mina suddenly felt Izuku's hand tighten around her waist a bit and she lowered her face until their noses were touching, which they found themselves doing a lot after the janitor's closet. "I do…"
Izuku found himself slowly moving his face to the side and got closer to the pink girl's lips. 'Stars, I want to hear those words again…'
Slowly, instinctively, as if it were completely natural, they both let their faces get just the tiniest bit closer.
And closer.
"Just come here already." Before Mina decided she didn't want to play the slow game anymore and pulled Izuku's lips right into hers, smiling and letting out a squeal of delight as she did so. "God, I need this."
The greenette himself chuckled into the pink girl's lips as he pulled her waist tightly. "Stars…" And, after separating for some much-needed air, rested his forehead against hers. "I've been wanting to do that for months now."
"Then why stop at kissing just once?" Mina, however, wasn't in the mood for resting and threw off her blazer before once more claiming Izuku's lips. "Let's… Keep… Going."
Though shocked by the forwardness and passion of the girl, Izuku simply let it happen before throwing off his own blazer. "Let's."
And behind the trees, 1A collectively smirked. "YES!"