The day Kaori returned to the U.A. campus alongside her classmates, her heart nearly stopped for a moment when Aizawa commented on how close most of them had come to being kicked out of the Hero Course. How could she have been so stupid to forget that the teacher's would have known of their involvement in rescuing Bakugou?
The evening proved far more relaxing as everyone was able to let their hair down, so to speak, by means of the room contest that a few of the other girls saw fit to create. Kaori could only smile and shake her head in amusement at Mina's way to break the ice of all of them practically living together now. When it had come time for everyone to see what her room looked like, she wasn't overly surprised at the reactions she got from people commenting on how a portion of her room was solely dedicated for workout equipment. Kaminari, being as cocky as he always was, boasted about how much he was capable of lifting in a way to try and sound impressive – this immediately resulted in Kaori raising an eyebrow in challenge and loading up his supposed amount and then some…and then proceeding to lift it with only a bit of effort on her part. He tried to excuse himself stating that it made sense she could lift more with how her Quirk was directly attached to her own physical strength, but he had already been outed at that point, much to his disappointment.
Jirou had rewarded her with a subtle fist bump as they followed everyone to the next room towards the back of the pack.
That night, Kaori felt her throat clench up tightly as Tsuyu cried out an apology for her comments and actions before they had all gone to rescue Bakugou. The first thing that immediately came to mind was holding onto the girl in a hug, much the same as Yaoyorozu had done for her when she poured out the truth surrounding her father's death days prior.
"You did what you thought was right. No one blames you for that." Kaori leaned back as she gave the frog girl a soft smile. "We never stopped being your friend, Tsu."
That moment alone had made Kaori realize how in some ways, she had been acting incredibly selfish lately in the ways she been behaving. She had never stopped to consider how some of her own friends were handling what had happened and how they were dealing with it as well. She had no doubts that she had been justified in seeking out a friend with everything she had been through but that didn't mean she was allowed to just forget that everyone else had also experienced those events. The only thing that saved her was the added trauma of reliving some of her darkest moments years prior.
In many ways…she was also glad for what had happened. Yes, it sucked to have a piece of her past thrown back in her face like a landmine, but this also presented a rare opportunity to get even closer with her friends than she'd had a chance to previously. She still kept in touch with her elementary friends, like Chi and Yori, but they had spent years growing up together and knowing each other. This was simply a way for her to grow closer to her new friends faster as a means of "catching up".
The following day, they were immediately back into the swing of things at U.A.
"As I mentioned yesterday, the next thing we're focusing on is your provisional licenses." Aizawa stated as he leaned over his little podium at the front of the classroom. "Given how they are directly involved with life and death situations, the test to get them is quite difficult. The average passing rate for these tests is usually around 50%. Because of that," as he began, Midnight, Cementoss, and Ectoplasm all stepped into the classroom. "Starting today each one of you will be working towards devising at least two super moves!"
Once everyone had assembled in their costumes at Gym Gamma, they all listened carefully as the teachers explained how their super moves would be their trademarked "ace-in-the-hole" moves that would allow them any sort of advantage in a serious situation. Some of Kaori's classmates essentially had a move like that, such as Iida's "Recipro Burst" that gave him a huge blast of speed in a short time. When Midnight also described Kamui Woods "Lacquered Chain Prison" as another such move, Kaori couldn't help but wonder if she could somehow do something similar by pushing the limitations of her own Quirk. Sure, it was limited to the number of appendages she had and so her odds of bagging over half-a-dozen Villains at once was fairly unlikely, but that didn't mean it was entirely out of the question. She then remembered back to when Ragdoll had been using her earthen creations on herself and a bunch of the other students and when she had instructed her to try using her Quirk differently. With each of those thoughts running through her head, Kaori calmly followed after one of the Ectoplasm clones towards one of the different platforms Cementoss had created for them to train on. It came as no surprise when she was instructed to ascend to the highest platform that Cementoss had created, with its height being a little more noticeable next to some of the others. A few quick hops up some "hand-made" platforms of her own had her standing on a fairly plain looking blank patch of land.
For a few moments, as for some reason Ectoplasm had not immediately followed her up, Kaori took the opportunity to watch some of her other classmates training in action. That was short-lived however as the hairs on the back of her neck seemed to rise of their own accord, similarly to how they done so when Blink had used her teleportation on her the first day they met. This feeling caused her to whirl around with her Quirk immediately active and coating her forearms with enlarged projections not a moment too soon, as the prosthetic limb of an Ectoplasm clone came slamming down across her crossed arms. She then quickly backpedaled towards the edge of the platform to gain distance from her attacker. A quick glance showed that three separate clones had been sent up to face her, with the one in front calmly standing up straight as it recovered from its assault.
"It appears that the different types of training you've received have helped your reflexes and sense of warning. That's good." The clone on the right spoke up.
"But that's not all we'll be testing on you for the remaining ten days before the term starts. We also need to improve on your ability to think fast no matter the situation as well as your ability to retaliate from a sudden attack." The left one spoke up. "The opening you left that we could have exploited when you didn't immediately perform a counter-offensive would have been your undoing had we been Villains."
"And that's why you'll be too busy dealing with multiple of us to pay attention to what your classmates are doing." The third and final clone stated. "It's a good thing the rest of your class is only going to be using one of us at a time. Your Quirk's endurance as well as your own ingenuity are going to be put to the test quite heavily."
Kaori could fee a bead of sweat trail down her head as a lump formed in her throat. But that feeling quickly passed as she took a deep, calming breath before taking up a stance familiar to her. A small smirk graced her lips as she saw, only for a moment, her mentor Maki standing before her with his own stance ready.
"Then bring it on."
Those words were immediately regretted as two of the clones came at her at once with their full strength. Kaori barely had time to try and brace herself before being forcefully tackled off of the platform and out into open air, being as close to the edge as she had happened to position herself. The two clones immediately dissipated as they few out into open space with her. Just as her trajectory started to point downwards, she quickly whirled around to materialize a platform under her before her speed grew too dangerous to outright stop like that.
"As I said, your reaction time is good." The voice of the third clone that didn't throw itself off the cliff and disappear spoke from above her. The only reason she didn't immediately turn to glare at it was the need to maintain the platform she was on or continue falling. "But your lack of a follow-up or means to quickly return to the field severely limits your ability to act in a crisis situation. Bring yourself back up here and we'll try again."
Kaori quickly made her way back up via a light toss from her projected hand with a frown on her face as she landed on the platform once more. "Considering my Quirk lets me throw around giant versions of my body parts, how is that NOT considered a follow-up?"
"If you become too focused on certain ways of using your abilities, you'll just end up in the same position as Heroes like Mt. Lady. While your Quirk is incredibly versatile in a more open space, you have to consider the options when you are forced into a more enclosed area. You've already shown that you have the rough ideas for how to use your Quirk in a more close-quarters scenario, but we need to focus that further to it becoming just as common-thought as your larger projections are." A few seconds later, two replacement clones rose to the platform alongside the first one. "Now, let's try again; if we notice that you start to make improvements in that regard, we'll work on improving how much of your body you can manifest at the same time."
"Wait, like using my entire body all at once?" Kaori got a confused look on her face as she glanced down at her body as well as her costume. "But I can't exactly use much more than my legs and arms with the way my Quirk works, it needs the light to get out somehow to actually stabilize the projection somehow. I was already lucky enough as it is that a bit of the light gets out through the brighter fabric of these boots, but I can't exactly do a full-body projection or anything like this. I can't even rely on using leg projections as much as my arms either because of the extra effort it takes to maintain them as it is."
"Did you not think you would need to make upgrades to your costumes like your classmates?" One of the clones inquired as it launched itself at her, forcing her automatically on the defensive as she coated her arms once again and blocked the attack – without being launched off the platform thankfully.
"The moment you make your mind up about something before considering it as an option is the moment you eliminate your chance to improve." One of the other clones stated before it too launched itself at Kaori, who responded by shoving off the first clone before fading her arm projections and immediately lighting up one of her hands and grabbing at the two clones at once thanks to quick-thinking and throwing the first roughly in the same direction the second was coming from.
Unfortunately, due to how focused she had been on the second clone and capturing the two at once, she missed the third one sprinting out in a wide circle approach to enter her blind spot. This ended in a painful slam into Kaori's side as the third and final clone full-on tackled her off the cliff once more, much to her frustration.
It seemed like this was going to be a repeating thing for the next few days, as well as how often Ectoplasm would remind her of her quick thinking and close-mindedness.
Kaori couldn't help but mope a little bit as she walked alongside Kirishima and Kaminari towards Power Loader's office. They'd already been warned by Uraraka and Iida about the pink-haired girl from the Sports Festival being there as well, but that didn't concern Kaori as she knew that what she needed to have done didn't involve using any bizarre gadgets in any way. Hopefully she would at least be able to get it changed quickly while she worked on some other possible techniques in the meantime. Secretly, Kaori had always wanted to use more a full-body projection at some point, but the only times she'd ever had success with that was when she had tried creating a sort of "imaginary friend" when she was taking a bath one day and accidentally spilling some water out of the tub with the extra mass of the duplicate raising the water enough to make a bit of a mess. Needless to say…running around practically naked to fully utilize her Quirk didn't exactly appeal to her all that much, not to mention it being illegal as learned from Heroes like Midnight and how their Quirks functioned.
As the other two spoke to Hatsume about ideas for their costumes, as well as the girl making some weird suggestions using some of her own gadgets, Kaori informed Power Loader about her requests as to her costume.
"Something to let the light through, huh?" The shorter man pondered as he looked over the manual for Kaori's costume. "Well obviously I can't help much with that since it would require a full redesign of your outfit by someone that knows a thing or two about tailoring, but there are some unique materials out there like what Eraserhead's scarf is made of. I'm sure if I reach out that someone will be able to fulfill the request to put together a new getup but it'll likely takes longer to show depending on the kind of feedback I get."
"If it means I can use my Quirk better, it doesn't matter how long it takes. Anything to help me use more of my body with my Quirk without getting indecent is the ideal." Kaori replied as she awkwardly rubbed one arm.
"Did you say you needed something to use your Quirk on more of your body? I've been working on a stealth suit lately that would do just the thing!" Hatsume's voice came from obnoxiously close to Kaori as she held out what looked like a black catsuit in her direction. She then reached over to a small button on one of the costume's hips before the material started to flicker and fade before becoming practically invisible, save for a few…sensitive parts of the female anatomy.
"I need something that let's my Quirk out WITHOUT me being practically naked!" Kaori practically snapped as she quickly backpedaled away from the all-too exhibitionist outfit.
"Yeah," Hatsume replied calmly. "Those laws around how much Heroes can reveal can really get in the way of creative genius sometimes." She carelessly tossed the suit back into her pile of "babies" before turning back to a somewhat blushing Kirishima and Kaminari.
"It's a matter of being decent, you weirdo!" Kaori's eyes lit up in a moment of remembrance soon after. "And don't tell anybody from Class 1-B about that outfit! Especially a short, weird-looking kid with grapes on his head!"
Kirishima tilted his head slightly in confusion. "Why's that?"
Kaori's face grew dark for a moment. "Because if what I heard from Kendo and Shiozaki is true…then they've got the devil of all perverts in their class." Kaori shuddered as she tried to calmly wait for the other two to finish. "I do NOT need to think about what that outfit could do in the wrong hands."
As the week carried on, they all continued to practice their techniques and abilities as a means to find out what new tricks they could show off eventually. Eventually, Kaori was finally able to put together a few moves she had always imagined using when she was younger. But, like everyone else, she was keeping them a secret for the Provisional License Exam to really show them off in all their glory, though it was likely that some of her classmates might have seen them in passing given how flashy her Quirk was. Some moves were more "spectacular" than others, but that hardly mattered to Kaori aside from the importance of one move in particular.
After all, it was her biggest effort at honoring one of the most important people in her life. And that alone made her sleep peacefully the night before they would all be put to the test against other Hero schools in the country. Even if it wasn't perfected yet, she had a baseline for what to work with. And one day, she would get to put it to use. It was too bad that the License Exam was so close, otherwise she might have been able to finish it in time.