AN: Sorry about the lateness of today's chapter, it took me a while to be able to write today. I'll try to have tomorrow's out earlier!
Class 1-A spent the next month outside of classes preparing for the end-of-term exams, each in their own ways. Some practiced their powers in the various training areas UA provided them, while others were more worried about the academic portion of the exam, and spent their days studying. From what the students had been told by their classmates from higher grades, the practical exam at the end of the term would be a battle against robots, similar to the entrance exam, so a few of the students believed they'd have an easy time and chose not to prepare.
A few students decided to seek outside help, and asked teachers or the like for specialized training outside of the classes, most notably both Izuku and Momo.
Izuku had chosen to ask the homeroom teacher for class 1-B, Sekijirou Kan, to train him to use his control over the liquid mercury, since the movement of it was similar to the teacher's own quirk, Blood Control. Both could float their respective liquids, and manipulate generally where they were in the air. Through this training, Izuku learned to harden the mercury into a solid using the antarcticite to bring the liquid to below mercury's freezing point.
The hardened mercury lost much of the mobility of the liquid, and wasn't particularly strong either, so Izuku wasn't sure if it'd have a function that he could use, and resolved to research the material better at a later date. He considered learning to fight using his tail from Mashirao, but once he found out what his tail's actual power was, he felt it'd be better if his opponents didn't remember he had the tail in the first place.
The month of teaching his students passed by quickly, and Shouta Aizawa soon found that the day of the practical exams had come. By some miracle, even his problem students who normally did terribly on tests managed to all pass the written exams, which was likely due to Yaoyorozu's assistance, since he had seen the girl setting up study sessions with her classmates to help them with the subjects they struggled in. As such, all of their grades now rested upon this practical, which would decide their fate regarding the school trip coming up during the summer break.
"Today you will be-" he began before being interrupted by Kaminari.
"The exam is fighting against robots, right? I'll finally get to cut loose!" Shouta had to chuckle at the boy's statement.
"No. We spread that information to the upperclassmen on purpose to throw you all off. Today's practical exam will consist of two on one fights. We will separate all of you into pairs, and you will be fighting against one of the teachers you see before you. All pairings have been decided in advance, and to give you a fighting chance, the teachers will have weights on their arms and legs to slow them down for you." Aizawa paused before continuing the explanation.
"You will all be given a set of handcuffs, and your goal will be to either escape the training area you are placed in to 'call for backup', or to secure the teacher you are battling with the handcuffs, within a fifteen minute time limit. Are there any questions?"
"Who will we be up against?" Kirishima asked, as quite a few of the other teachers filed into line on either side of Shouta.
"Ashido and Kaminari will be against me!" the principal called out, emerging from his spot in their homeroom teacher's scarf, the small creature giving the two a terrifying grin.
"I'll be facing Sero and Monoma," Midnight stated, giving the two a look that Shouta chose to ignore for his own sanity.
"Shoji and Hagakure will have me to deal with, ya hear?" drawled Snipe, aiming finger guns at his two opponents.
"Kouda and Jirou, you'll be hearing my lovely singing soon!" the two shuddered as Present Mic announced his matchup.
"I'll be the obstacle in Kirishima and Sato's way," Cementoss stated flatly, as the two pumped themselves up for an all-out brawl.
"Tokoyami and Asui will have to handle all of me," the cloning-user Ectoplasm offered, the two more animal-like students each giving him a simple nod in return.
"Think you two can handle me, Iida and Ojiro?" Power Loader asked, to which the speedster loudly announced that this was agreeable as his teammate gave a respectful bow.
"Uraraka and Aoyama, you ready?" Thirteen asked, given a serious nod from the former as the latter... seemed to simply sparkle even more than usual.
"Todoroki and Yaoyorozu, you'll be against me," Shouta stated in a hard tone, getting small nods of affirmation from the two recommendation students.
"That leaves Midoriya and Bakugou," Shouta continued, "and your opponent-"
A loud crash sounded as All Might jumped down from the buildings behind them, ever one for theatrics, before stepping forward through the dust cloud.
"-Will be me!" All Might said, loud and jovial as ever. Surprisingly, the two didn't seem to worry about the battle, instead Midoriya offered a fist towards his teammate, who accepted the bump with a sharp grin on his face.
"Follow your assigned teachers to the training ground of their choice, and the test will begin when you hear the buzzer." With that, the group separated, and the practical exam began for the students of 1-A.