It was an embarrassing day for Kimitsuki to sit in her classroom where the girls kept looking toward her curiously and she also continued to fear that other people from the public would recognise her as well. She didn't want to be the cause behind any trouble for Hawks. By the time lunch rolled around, there were several articles about refusal from Hawks' end about supposedly dating anyone.
And as she was making her way toward the staffroom, her uncle's unexpected call startled her and when Kimitsuki picked it up, Tsukitarou appeared to have figured out who the 'mystery woman' was and asked her if she was doing okay after finding such pictures plastered everywhere.
"When you're becoming a Hero, especially when you're young," Tsukitarou told her. "Things like these come out – the public love Heroes and they love to know their private lives even more,"
Tsukitarou had made it lighter on her shoulder and their call was interrupted by Hiro, who insisted on talking to his sister, and that was what really made Kimitsuki feel much better.
"Kimi Nee-Chan, when are you going to visit again?" Hiro asked as they were saying their goodbyes. "I miss you – and Kit-Chan misses you as well!"
"I miss you all very much as well," Kimitsuki replied. "I promise to visit by this weekend, okay?"
Aizawa had been waiting for her in the staffroom and he appeared to be alone so Kimitsuki felt much more at ease as she walked up to him, greeting him with a bow before taking a seat.
"Sensei," Kimitsuki said. "Is everything alright? Is it... about the situation with Pro-Hero Hawks?"
"Yes," Aizawa replied. "He made a call earlier, hoping to talk to you but I spoke to him on your behalf. He understands that situation and wants you to not worry as his agency will handle it,"
"That is a relief," Kimitsuki admitted. "He wasn't upset with me, right...?"
"No, rather I am upset with him," Aizawa responded. Kimitsuki blinked at him. "He should've been more careful with his identity but he appears to be taking it too easily. You're not the one at fault,"
It appeared like Aizawa was similarly upset with Hawks as he had once been with Mirio. And although it was all a situation that embarrassed her, Kimitsuki couldn't help but smile.
"I see," Kimitsuki said. "Is there something else that you had to discuss?"
"Right, yes," Aizawa replied. "Class 1-A is going to be having practical exercise with Class 1-B, and we will be joined by Shinsou while we're at it,"
"Hitoshi-Kun?" Kimitsuki asked, taken aback. "Will Hitoshi-Kun participate in the exercise?"
"He will," Aizawa answered. "It is time that Shinsou enters the Hero Course, and his class will be decided on the basis on the results of today's exercise. I want you to tell everyone to suit up,"
FIELD GAMMA
Entirety of Kimitsuki's remaining time was spent thinking about the upcoming practical exercise and she hoped earnestly that Hitoshi would be joining her class rather than anyone else's. Before she had realised it, the time to head out to the Field Gamma had arrived, dressed in their winter gear.
Almost everyone had changed their clothes to suit the winter weather, whether by covering up more or changing the material of their costume. Kimitsuki was amongst those who hadn't changed.
"It's finally time!" exclaimed Toru excitedly, also in her usual Hero Costume. "Aren't you excited?"
"Hagakure, aren't you cold?" Kyoka inquired curiously.
"Super cold!" Toru replied, shivering and Kimitsuki looked toward her in concern.
"You've got guts," Kyoka admitted.
"Hagakure-Chan, please stay close to me, I will help you stay warm," Kimitsuki offered up at once.
"Thank you!" Toru replied eagerly.
"I'm wearing my winter version, too," called out Mina, who had replaced with her usual waistcoat with another that had longer sleeves and a hexagonal patch with the purple letter 'P'. "Isn't it cool?"
"Yes," Momo replied, and she herself now wore a long high-collared red cape over her leotard.
"It's gotten colder recently, huh?" Mashirao asked, wearing a large coat to keep warm.
"Everyone's costumes have changed since we started school, huh?" Tenya observed.
"Iida, it's amazing you lasted through the summer in that," commented Rikido, both of whom had not changed anything about their costumes either.
"Tsuki-Chan, you're keeping it as it is, huh?" asked Izuku and Kimitsuki smiled at him, nodding.
"Yes, it feels nice to be able to use my Quirk freely," Kimitsuki admitted.
"Ka-Chan, yours is different, too," Izuku said suddenly, and Kimitsuki turned around to look at him.
Katsuki was coming through with Eijirou and Denki, and Kimitsuki noticed that he had swapped his usual black tank top with a large black jacket with high collars, and the same orange 'X' on the front. She didn't say anything at first, finding that he looked really nice in this costume, too.
"Huh?!" responded Katsuki. "If you've got something to say, then say it to my face! Damn nerd!"
"That suit..." Izuku said excitedly. "Does it come with a heat generator that protects against cold? Since your sweat glands are your weapons, it's a change that makes sense, and I think it's great –"
"Don't praise it!" Katsuki told him, even more annoyed and Kimitsuki chuckled.
"Even aside from all the features," Kimitsuki spoke up. "It really looks wonderful on you, Ka-Chan,"
"W-What?!" Katsuki demanded, his face turning red. "This isn't for looks – damn it, it's too hot!"
"Oh, stop it, you," Eijirou told him, shaking his head at the ash-blond wearily. "Just admit it that you liked it that she complimented you on your costume,"
"Shut up!" Katsuki exploded at last, making them all cover their ears.
"But Midoriya, yours changed the most, didn't it?" Mashirao asked. "You added stuff recently, too,"
"It's because I can do more things now," Izuku replied. "These gloves are amazing. Actually, these are the second version. Hatsume-San made some adjustments to make them stronger,"
"Oh, Hatsume, huh?" Mashirao repeated.
"Get back!" said Ochaco suddenly, punching her own helmet for some reason.
"Uraraka-Chan...?" Kimitsuki asked, concerned for her as well.
Before Ochaco could respond to the curious looks being directed toward her by her classmates, they were interrupted by the arrival of Class 1-B, who were all also dressed in their winter Hero costume. And their arrival was marked by none other than Neito.
"Hey, hey..." Neito called out and Kimitsuki rubbed her forehead, wondering they would have to deal with his strange behaviour again. "You all seem really relaxed. Are you underestimating us?"
"You're here!" Eijirou responded, punching his palm to show his readiness. "We've been excited!"
"Huh, really?" Neito asked. "Well, too bad. The wave is definitely on our side. Come on, Class A! Let's settle this once and for all today!"
"Good afternoon," Kimitsuki greeted them with a smile. Katsuki tsked at her being nice to them. "I hope you are all doing well, we look forward to having today's exercise with you,"
"Hey, hey, look at this survey!" shouted Neito, getting a bit too close for comfort to Kimitsuki as he pulled out a paper to show her. "I took it at the school festival! I asked which people liked better, Class A's concert or Class B's super high-quality play!"
"Monoma-Kun..." Kimitsuki trailed off as she looked at the 'survey' which was titled as 'whose school festival performance was better? (My research)' for some reason.
"Can you see it?" Neito went on and on. "We won by two votes! You guys have been conspicuous in a bad way since we started school, but that's starting to change!"
"Seriously?" Eijirou asked as Neito continued to laugh manically. "I haven't been paying attention, so there's nothing I can say to that,"
"And now, today!" Neito continued his rant toward Kimitsuki and her class behind her. "Class A versus Class B! It's our first joint combat training! We'll –"
"Be quiet," Aizawa said, strangling Neito and dragging him away from Kimitsuki. "And keep distance," Kimitsuki sweat-dropped, wondering if he was having a hard time.
"Monoma!" exclaimed Yotetsu, looking at the blond who was struggling to breathe.
"Today, there will be a special participant," announced Vlad King as he arrived.
"Please try not to embarrass yourselves," Aizawa added.
"A special participant?" Momo repeated curiously.
"I'll beat 'em!" shouted Katsuki, pumped up.
"Is it a girl?" Denki asked at once.
"Let's do our best together!" exclaimed Eijirou and Tetsutetsu in unison.
"Today, we have a special guest..." Aizawa told them. Kimitsuki found herself starting to smile as she looked toward the boy – "Hitoshi Shinso-Kun, who wants to transfer into the Hero course,"
"He wants to transfer into the Hero course..." Izuku repeated, thrilled.
"Huh?" spoke Fukidashi Manga. "Are those Aizawa Sensei's binding cloths?"
"I've never seen the mask before," added Komori Kinoko.
"Looking forward to it!" said Tetsutetsu.
"You'll be brainwashed if you talk to him, right?" Yuga inquired, looking toward Kimitsuki.
"Impossible to avoid on a first encounter," Mashirao replied.
"But Midoriya, you were brainwashed but then broke out of it, right?" Minoru pointed out.
"Honestly, it was more of a fluke," Izuku admitted.
"Shinso, why don't you say a few words?" Aizawa encouraged and Kimitsuki turned to meet eyes with her friend, giving him a small smile as well.
"I'm Shinso Hitoshi," introduced Hitoshi. "I've already fought against some of you during the sports festival, but saying we're friends just because we've fought before... I'm not into good sportsmanship like that,"
It was very obvious that he would make that apparent at the first go – many a times, Hitoshi had told Kimitsuki that while the two of them were friends, he wasn't interested much in her classmates.
"I'm already dozens of steps behind you all," Hitoshi continued. "Sorry, but I'm desperate for this. I want to become a proper hero and use my Quirk to help others. All of you here are walls that I must overcome. I'm not planning on being friends. Thanks for having me,"
"Oh, he's glaring," Ochaco said as several of them clapped for him after his little introduction.
"We should brace ourselves," Fumikage agreed sagely.
"It's like I'm looking at an early 'Roki," Hanta observed.
"Really?" Shoto asked, genuinely curious and Hanta nodded.
"He's not bad," Neito commented.
"Hey, Kuroyanagi-Chan, isn't he your friend?" Eijirou asked, looking toward the white-haired girl before glancing at Katsuki to see his ears twitching. "Right?"
"Yes, Hitoshi-Kun is my friend," Kimitsuki replied, rubbing the back of her head awkwardly as she met eyes with Hitoshi. "We've both trained well together..."
"Since when are you friends?" questioned Katsuki at once. "He just admitted he hates all of us,"
"That's not what he meant," Kimitsuki said and Katsuki looked even sourer to see her try to explain Hitoshi's words. "Anyhow... um, yes, we should all prepare for the exercise,"
"Kuroyanagi's right," Aizawa agreed, appearing not very keen on where the conversation was going. He glanced at Vlad King. "Shall we start?"
"It's time for combat training!" Vlad King told them all. "This will be a battle between Class A and Class B! It'll take place here, in a corner of Field Gamma! Each class will make teams of four, and each team will compete one at a time,"
"Four on each team?" repeated Tokage Setsuna. "Sounds fun,"
"Sounds like fun!" agreed Kinoko.
"Class 1-A has twenty-one students," pointed out Shishida Jurota. "With Shinso, that makes 42 people. It's not easily divisible. How will they resolve that?"
"Shinso will participate twice," Vlad King explained. "Once in a Class A team, and once in a Class B team. In other words, two of the five matches will be 1-and-1, and in the class where he fights in Class B team, Class A team may have their fifth member as well,"
"What?" Kinoko asked. "The 4-person team will be at a disadvantage!"
"It's probably more of a disadvantage to bring the inexperienced Shinso into the team," Vlad King told them. "The 4-person teams will have the advantage in numbers, but they'll also have a handicap. The situation for this training will be Heroes acting to surround a villain group and capture them. Think of the other team as villains! You'll win once you capture four people!"
"They do say that villains are organising, too," Kinoko agreed.
"It's nice and simple!" Tetsutetsu said excitedly.
"We're Heroes, but we're Villains to the opposing team?!" Tenya asked, going into dilemma again. "Which one should I be then?!"
"It should be fine to be a Hero!" Momo replied.
"In each team's base camp, there is a super cute prison," Vlad King continued. "Once you imprison your opponents, that will count as a capture,"
"How are we supposed to take that seriously?!" asked Denki at the sight of the cute prison.
"It would be the most efficient to render them unable to fight near the camp," Jurota said. "But I don't think it'll be that easy..."
"Once you capture four people," repeated Katsuki "Is that the handicap?"
"Yeah," Aizawa replied. "Having a member of the team unused to fighting, and having even the 5-person teams lose if four people are taken,"
"So, you're telling us to fight with a piece of excess luggage, huh?" Katsuki asked, and Kimitsuki sighed at the analogy he was making. "That's crap,"
"Don't be mean about it!" Denki spoke up.
"It's fine," Hitoshi replied. "It's true,"
"He's already way ahead in terms of respectableness!" Denki exclaimed while Kimitsuki looked at Hitoshi wearily.
"Before we continue onward," Aizawa said. "Kuroyanagi, I want you to come here,"
"Yes, Sensei," replied Kimitsuki, walking over to him without asking any questions even though she was plenty confused by what was going on.
"Your name is not going to be in the lots," Aizawa informed. "Instead, you will join the Class A team that will be going against Shinso. This is because the two of you have plenty of training together,"
"Of course, Sensei, that will be alright by me," Kimitsuki replied, meeting eyes with Hitoshi. "It would be interesting to spar against you... though we have done that plenty, but in this setting..."
"I want you two to take it professionally," Aizawa said, and his two students nodded at him. "Now that is out of the way... time to draw lots,"
Both of the teacher picked up their respective class's lot box, and as Kimitsuki returned to her class, Katsuki looked very unimpressed, glaring at Hitoshi. One by one, all of the students headed up to see who they were teaming up with and who they were going to fight against. In the end, the following teams had been decided upon lots:
ROUND ONE:
Asui Tsuyu, Kaminari Denki, Kirishima Eijiro, Koda Koji
VERSUS
Shiozaki Ibara Shiozaki, Tsuburaba Kosei, Rin Hiryu, Shishida Jurota
ROUND TWO:
Yaoyorozu Momo, Tokoyami Fumikage, Hagakure Toru, Aoyama Yuga
VERSUS
Kendo Itsuka, Kuroiro Shihai, Fukidashi Manga, Komori Kinoko
ROUND THREE:
Todoroki Shoto, Ojiro Mashirao, Iida Tenya, Shoji Mezo
VERSUS
Tsunotori Pony, Kaibara Sen, Honenuki Juzo, Tetsutetsu Tetsutetsu
ROUND FOUR:
Bakugo Katsuki, Jiro Kyoka, Sero Hanta, Sato Rikido
VERSUS
Awase Yosetsu, Tokage Setsuna, Bondo Kojiro, Kamakiri Togaru
ROUND FIVE:
Midoriya Izuku, Uraraka Ochaco, Ashido Mina, Mineta Minoru
VERSUS
Monoma Neito, Kodai Yui, Shoda Nirengeki, Yanagi Reiko
From the teams that had been decided thus far, Kimitsuki felt like she would like to join Class A team Four simply because she wanted to fight alongside Katsuki as they had never paired up in any exercise thus far. Her fate was within Hitoshi's hand, however.
"Shinso, your turn," Vlad King said, motioning to the lot boxes for him to pick his teams out and make it clear which team Kimitsuki will join. "You'll be put on the team whose number you draw,"
Hitoshi reached inside the boxes and pulled out two balls – for Class B, he would be joining the team in round one while for Class A, he would be joining the team in round five.
"I know what you said, but let's have fun with this," Eijirou said, pumped up as Hitoshi looked at his first team for the practical exercise. "Looking forward to it!"
"Tell us more details about your Quirk," Tsuyu said to him.
"That's the face of a guy popular with girls," Denki observed. "No wonder you've caught Kuroyanagi-Chan's eye! It's not easy to get her to go out of her way to make friends with someone!"
"Shut up!" Katsuki shouted, glaring at the direction of Hitoshi with distaste.
"You're popular, right?" continued Denki with Hitoshi, ignoring Katsuki. "I can tell,"
"Looking forward to it," Hitoshi replied simply, glancing toward Kimitsuki, who was busy talking to Aizawa so he went to greet his other team.
"You're great!" shouted Neito. "Just great! Let us beat the detestable Class A together!"
"Please pay no attention to his words," said Nirengeki.
"Looking forward to it," Hitoshi replied simply.
"Yeah, looking forward to it!" continued Neito, going absolutely crazy.
"We'll be in a team together," Kimitsuki said as she walked over to where Izuku and Ochaco were. "Although I'm not sure if I want to be on the same team as Mineta-Kun..."
"We'll work hard, Tsuki-Chan!" Izuku assured her and Kimitsuki smiled at him happily.
"Class B, team five..." said Ochaco, looking toward the green-haired boy. "It'll be you and Shinso's first rematch since the sports festival, huh?"
"Yeah," Izuku replied. "I'm looking forward to seeing how Shinso-Kun will fight with his new abilities!" He brought out his notebook, wanting to note it all down.
"Where did you pull that out from?" Ochaco asked.
While the two of them were busy talking to each other, Kimitsuki trailed over to where Hitoshi was standing by himself, messing with his mask before pulling it over his mouth. She locked her arms behind her back, and when he turned to look at her, she smiled at him softly.
"How are you feeling, Hitoshi-Kun?" Kimitsuki asked gently. "It must be a bit overwhelming, even though you are looking forward to it, right? I wish you all the best..."
"Thanks," Hitoshi replied, and he smiled lightly, too. "All of them... are so loud, however,"
"I have to agree with you there," Kimitsuki replied, laughing slightly, making his smile wider. "Yet still... I wish you would join our class in the future,"
"You have to stay unbiased," Hitoshi told her. He paused. "I have to, too," Kimitsuki laughed.
"Hey, guys," Eijirou said as he walked over to them, rubbing the back of his head. "Sorry to disturb but we'll have to steal him for a while, Kuroyanagi-Chan,"
"Oh, of course, of course," Kimitsuki said. "Wishing you all the best!"
"Thanks, Kuroyanagi-Chan," Eijirou replied. "Also, uh, could you do something about Bakugo?"
Kimitsuki turned around to look at Katsuki, who was fuming at Hitoshi and her, and seemed to be regretting even bothering with his winter costume. She sweat-dropped at the thought – did he really dislike Hitoshi that much that he couldn't see them talking to him?
"You'll start at your base camp," Vlad King told them all as they were shown the map of Field Gamma on the screen. "The time limit is 20 minutes,"
"If there's no decisive victory within the time limit," Aizawa added in. "Then whoever has the most people left will be the winners,"
"Oh, All Might and Midnight are here!" called out Mina upon their arrival. "Are they dating?!"
"Stop that," Midnight replied. "I don't have a thing for older men," She looked toward the unfazed All Might. "Which class do you think will win?"
"I wonder..." All Might said. "Class A is definitely strong after overcoming so many crises. But... If you look at their grades, Class B has actually improved more. It's probably because they were able to cover the curriculum properly since they didn't run into much trouble. They've been improving steadily. Class A, which turns a crisis into strength, or Class B, which has been steadily improving overall... I'm looking forward to it,"
"Now," said Vlad King into a microphone all of a sudden. "Or the first match –"
"You're really into this, huh?" Aizawa observed.
"Start!"
🤍