The day's training is over. The class returned to the locker rooms to change before returning to the classroom. The boys discussed their performance during the race.
"Man, I really gotta work on my mobility." Kirishima speaks up, remembering the training. Since his quirk isn't very suited to a race, he ended up low in the standings.
"You could compensate by improving other skills." Tokoyami suggested.
"Everyone is good and bad at something." Kaito comments. "If you compare yourself with others, you will end up overlooking your own strengths."
The boys looked surprised with such wisdom.
"Still wish I could use my quirk for speed." Kaminari remarked. "I'm kinda jealous of guys like you and Sero."
"Hey guys, check this out!" Mineta calls their attention. "You won't believe what I just found! The jackpot!" Grape boy gleams. "Someone shawshanked a hole in this wall!" Mineta pulled some sign on the wall revealing a small hole. "A previous generation has given us a gift!" That definitely caught the boys attention. "You know what's next door, right? This looks into the girls locker room!"
"Dude, you better stop that perv crap before I slap the hero out of you." Kaito warned.
"Don't even think about it!" Iida jumped in by Kaito's side, waving his signature BOI hand. "Peeping on them like that would be criminal!"
"Then you'll have to throw me in solitary confinement! Cuz you can't stop me!" Mineta finally ripped the sign off the wall. "I wanna see Yaoyorozu's curves, Ashido's slender waist, Hagakure's floating underwear..."
Kaito raises an eyebrow. "Floating underwear?"
"...Uraraka's super fine body! Asui's unexpectedly soft boobies!"
Suddenly. Mineta's eyeball was pierced by what looked like one of Jiro's earphone jacks! The grape boy screamed in pain.
"That's what you get, man." Kaito scratched his nape. "Besides. Jiro is clearly the cutest girl in our class..." That last part he whispered, just high enough so, someone with a quirk suited to hearing on the other side of the wall would hear for certain. ;)
~~~
"Ew! Thanks, Kyoka." Ashido thanked.
"Despicable! We'll close up this hole immediately!" Yaoyorozu declared.
Jiro looked red as a tomato. "D-did he really say that?"
~~~
"Oh boy. I'd say the day's training was pretty worthwhile, don't you think?"
"Yeah, it was. I got to use what I learned. Still have ways to go though." Midoroya replied looking at his arms.
"I'm glad you're not breaking yourself. Finally learned how to keep your quirk under control."
"You did great too, Atsuhito. Those moves, you learned from Hawks?"
"Something like that, yes. But these gauntlets..." Kaito held his suitcase. "Maybe I ought to pay a visit to this Support Course."
The day is over. The boys packed their stuff and headed to the lockers to grab the rest, then headed home, well, at least Kaito did.
"U-um, actually, Kaito. I need to talk with one of the teachers."
"Oh, is it All Might? About your secret quirk?"
Midoriya sweats cold, nervous.
"I'm just kidding. See you tomorrow then. Stay safe!"
"Y-you too, Atsuhito!"
Kaito watched the kid walk away with a suspicious look. Thinking. 🤔
"Heyy! Atsuhito!" A cheery voice called, you know who it is, it was Uraraka, accompanied by Iida. "Where's Deku going?"
"Uh?" Kaito turned around. "Oh, he's going to see one of the teachers." He explained.
"Um, is he in trouble or something?" Iida questioned.
"Oh, no. I don't know, really, sorry!" Kaito rubbed his nape.
"Hmm, his quirk improved. Maybe he wants some advice?" Iida theorized.
"Well, we're already heading home. You wanna come with us?" Uraraka invited, with a sweet smile.
"Yeah, sure." Kaito took one last glance. "Let's go."
~The next day~
"Alright. That's it for class today." Aizawa organized their midterm tests. "There's only one week left before the your final exams. I'm sure you're studying constantly, right? Don't forget to keep training, the written exam is only one element. There's also the practical portion to worry about. Good luck." He headed out of the classroom.
"We're barely even taking notes this semester!" Kaminari and Ashido sounded desperate. Both scored super low. 20th/20 and 19th/20 to be exact, in that order.
"It's true that we haven't had much free time lately." Tokoyami (14th/20) agreed.
"Isn't that part of being a hero? You have less time for everything." Kaito (6th/20).
"We barely learned anything during our midterms, so they didn't seem all that hard. But I'm kinda worried about these, we've been through a lot and they probably won't pull any punches when they're testing us." Sato (12th/20).
"As someone ranked in the top ten, I'm not that concerned." Mineta, with a smug smile. (9th/20).
"What!? You were nineth in the midterms?!" Ashido and Kaminari did not believe.
"Don't you know that weird little creeps like you are only likeable when they're kinda dumb? Who's gonna love you now?"
"Everyone. Trust me."
"Ashido! Kaminari!" Midoriya (4th/20) called. "We still got time to study! That way we'll all get to the training camp together!"
"Yes! As class rep, I have high hopes that we'll make U.A proud!" Iida (2nd/20).
"It's pretty hard to fail if you just pay attention in class, isn't it?" Todoroki (5th/20).
"Why you gotta cut me down like that?" Kaminari whined.
"Hey, don't worry about it you two, I can catch you up to speed in the important topics if you want." Yaoyorozu offered.
"You're the best Yaomomo!" Kaminari and Ashido happily agreed.
"I'm afraid I won't be any help when it comes to the practical though." Yaoyorozu looked down.
"Hmm..." Kaito glanced over. "I'm pretty confident where I stand right now. But it wouldn't hurt to study some more and start preparing to the practical."
So it was decided. Some of the students formed study groups to, well, study, and to prepare themselves to the upcoming finals. Soon after that, it was lunchtime.
"A comprehensive task about all we learned this year? That's all the information Mr. Aizawa has given us?" Kaito wondered out loud, even ignoring his lunch. "That doesn't give us much to work with."
"They're bound to come up with something creative. It's U.A after all." Tokoyami remarked.
"It can't be that hard. The written test is basically what we learned in class. Now, about the practical I'm not sure." Jiro spoke up before taking a bite of her lunch.
"Combat training, rescue training and basic training... all together?" Kaito pondered for a second. "I got it!" He got up. "They're gonna put us in a flaming arena, with people to save, while fighting villains, WITH A TIMER!" He gestures the actions.
Tokoyami and Jiro looked at each other, then at Kaito. The birb facepalmed, she giggled. "That's insane!" She said.
"Now you're making me nervous! I'm wetting my pants just thinking about it!" Mineta shivered.
"Get a grip dude." Said Kirishima.
"Don't worry, he's joking. The teachers would never do something like that, right?" Ojiro speaks up.
Out of nowhere, Monoma from class 1-B bonks Midoriya on the head. Kaito shook his head in disapproval. Suddenly, he got an idea.
"Wait. Ojiro. What did you just say?"
"Uh- the teachers would nev-" before he could finish...
"That's it! The teachers!" Kaito exclaimed.
The others looked confused.
"You mean..."
"We're going against..."
"The teachers?"
"I mean, it almost makes sense, right? We would work on everything we studied so far." Kaito sat down again. "Nha... Nevermind. It's better if we be ready for anything."
~~~
"Alright! This will be super easy if it's just robots!" Kaminari and Ashido sounded happy.
"Robots? Seems legit."
"Why do you sound so happy? You both have a hard time controlling your quirks." Shoji pointed out.
"Yeah, but I can let loose with robots!"
"And melting them will be easy for me!"
"Now you just need Yaoyorozu to help you study and you'll be set for finals!" Midoriya remarked.
"We'll definitely be able to go to the training camp now!"
"Hmm, this sounds too good to be true. Where's the catch?" Kaito wondered.
"I agree. Sounds too easy." Tokoyami added.
"It shouldn't matter if it's robots or actual people, why are you morons so excited?" Bakugo speaks up, sounding *slightly* annoyed.
"Oh boy. Here we go."
"Hey! Who are you calling a moron?!" Kaminari and Ashido looked pissed with his comment.
"Shut up!" Bakugo yelled, both stepped down. "You need to learn how to control your quirks, got it?" He turned away. "Hey, Deku! I don't know what's going on with your power, but I saw the way you were using it now, and I want you to know, it's seriously pissing me off!" He glared angrily. "You too, Flying Sauna!" He glared at Kaito.
"Who? You? Pissed? No. I don't believe it!" Kaito spoke up in a sarcastic tone.
"I won't have another half assed win like the festival. We'll be getting individual scores in the upcoming finals, new rankings! So we'll all know exactly where we're standing, I'll show you how much better I am!" Finally he turned to Todoroki. "And Todoroki, I'll kill you too!" He marched angrily out the classroom and slammed the door as he exited.
"Such a great, friendly person." Kaito comments.
"It's been a while since I've seen him this worked up. "Kirishima commented.
"Is this impatience, or hatred?" Tokoyami wondered.
"It's both, really."
~~~
After three days of hard work, study and written exams. It was finally time for the final showdown. The awaited practical exam.
"Now then. Let's begin the last test." Aizawa went straight to the point. Weirdly enough, he was accompanied by the other teachers. "Remember, it's possible to fail this final. If you wanna go to camp, then don't make any stupid mistakes."
"Uh, why are all the teachers here?" Jiro wondered.
"Oh boy, I've got a bad feeling about this." Kaito quotes Obi-Wan again.
"I expected many of you gathered information, and believe you have some idea of what you'll be faced here today."
"We're fighting those big ol' metal robots!" Kaminari exclaimed.
"Fireworks, s'mores, here we come!" Ashido cheered.
"Actually this year's test..." a voice coming from Aizawa's binding cloth spoke. "Will be completely different, for various reasons!" Principal Nezu popped out!
"Principal Nezu?!"
"You're changing things?"
"The tests now have a new focus, there will be hero work of course, but there will also be teamwork and combat between actual people!" Nezu explained. "What does that mean for you? You students will be working together in pairs, and your opponents will be one of our esteemed U.A teachers!"
"What?"