PUPPET // KATSUKI BAKUGO [1]

Chapter 21 // School Is Tiring, But Mina May Be Worse

"Oh, [L/N]," Todoroki spoke, gaining your attention. You shifted and looked over at him. "I meant to ask, how are you recovering from the villain attack?" the dual haired boy asked.

At the mention of the fight, you brought your hand up to your neck. The bruises had faded enough for you not to have to take the time to cover your throat with an excess of foundation, but they were still visible.

"I'm fine," you eventually said. "Just some bruises and scratches."

"I can't believe you fought a real villain, and it was aired on TV," Uraraka chimed in while smiling, "and you took him down without even using your quirk!"

"Yep, all brute strength," you replied while let out a nervous chuckle, "because using your quirk without a license is illegal, and I definitely would have been arrested."

"Yeah, that totally didn't sound suspicious..." Bakugo whispered in a teasing tone as he craned his head back to look at you.

"Would you like me to announce that you're a little spoon?..." you whispered back harshly, and he narrowed his eyes while pursing his lips.

"That's what I thought," you continued as Aizawa entered the classroom, "now turn back around, Poppy."

"Welcome back," Aizawa said as he moved to stand behind his desk. "I hope you all enjoyed your internships because it's the last breath of fresh air you're going to get for a little while."

You looked around at your classmates, who were all glancing around and chattering quietly amongst themselves at Aizawa's statement.

"Final exams are coming up," the hero continued. "You will complete a three-day written test and then move onto your practical exams. This week, we will study and review. Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday of next week will be your written tests, and Thursday will be your practical exams."

Kaminari raised his hand, causing Aizawa to nod at him as a silent confirmation that he could speak.

"What will our practical exams be?" the golden haired boy asked.

"It will involve hand-to-hand combat with your quirks," Aizawa explained, "but we're still working out the kinks of the layout since we now have an uneven number of students."

The hero pulled out a stack of papers from his sleeping bag, which was laying on the ground, and began to pass them out.

"This is a study guide for the written portion," Aizawa said. "You'll take time in class and at home to fill it out. We'll go over the answers Friday."

You muttered out a quiet, "thank you," as Aizawa handed you the packet, which was thick and had at least two dozen pages.

When Aizawa was finished passing out the packets, he slipped into his sleeping back behind his desk, allowing everyone else to do as they please. Some moved their desks together and began to chat while simultaneously working on the review, and others either just talked or just worked.

You scanned the pages of your packet, frowning when you saw there was at least a hundred questions. You knew you were not going to take the time to answer any of them throughly.

'Yeah, I'm just gonna wing it,' you thought while pushing the packet aside and laying your head down on your desk.

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'And winging it paid off,' you thought as you stared down at your written exam, which had just been handed back to you. You got an A minus, which you were totally okay with. However, you were sure it would've been a B or lower if Momo hadn't allowed you to scan her study guide before the test since you didn't do yours.

"Take a look at your grades," Aizawa said from his desk, which he had just returned to, having passed back all of the tests already.

You stood and peered over Bakugo's shoulder and glanced at his score, which was written in red ink at the top of his paper, similar to everyone else's, and read, "A+."

'Damn,' you thought as you sat. 'Does he always have to beat me at everything?'

"You are dismissed from your other classes for the day to complete your practical exam," Aizawa explained. "You have a half-an-hour to get into your suits and prepare. Then head to Ground Beta."

Aizawa left the classroom, supposedly going to do whatever it is he needed to do to prepare for the exam, which left the rest of the class to become chaotic since there was no adult supervision.

"Aw man, I don't like not knowing what we're doing," Kaminari whined from his seat.

"Me too," Mina agreed. "How are we supposed to prepare if we don't know what we're doing."

"We're fighting with our quirks. It's as simple as that," you chimed it. "There's not much to prepare for since we don't know our opponents."

"I guess you're right," Mina said before smiling.

The girl suddenly jumped up and grabbed her case from the wall that contained her suit along with your case before running over and grabbing your hand, pulling you up from your seat.

"Come on, we're gonna have some girl time," she grinned before dragging you out of the classroom.

'Oh god,' you thought.

You didn't know what was more tiring: Mina or school.

[EDITED]