Standing in the central plaza of the practical exam area, the rest of 1-A stare at the pro heroes in front of us. Among them are Aizawa, Midnight, Thirteen, Present Mic, Cementoss, Snipe, Powerloader, and Ectoplasm. With everyone in their hero costumes, and my jacket fixed, I casually roll up the sleeves as I listen to Aizawa's instructions. Well, mostly.
"Now, we will begin the practical exam. Of course, it is possible to fail this exam. If you want to go to the training camp, then don't make any stupid mistakes. I expect that you have all gathered information ahead of time and have some idea about what you will be doing."
Kaminari points dramatically at Aizawa and smirks.
"We're fighting giant robots like at the entrance exam, right?"
Mina cheers with him as something moves and speaks inside Aizawa's scarf.
"Nope! For various reasons, the exam will be different this time!"
Principal Nezu pops out of Aizawa's scarf as Momo speaks up, looking anxious about the mentioned change.
"Different?"
Nezu jumps off of Aizawa and lands perfectly on the ground.
"From now on, we want to focus on person-to-person combat and hero work, and stress teaching that is closer to actual fighting. So, we'll have you form teams of two to fight against one teacher!"
Against a teacher? I wonder how that's going to go down…
"Against... the teachers?
Ochaco says nervously as Aizawa nods.
"In addition, the pairs and who each pair will be up against have already been decided. These were determined at my discretion based on various factors, including fighting style, grades, and interpersonal relationships so here they are: First, Todoroki and Yaoyorozu are one team, and they're fighting me. And Bakugo, Midoroya, and Oritsu are a team."
WHAT?!
My eyes widen as I flinch and turn to Bakugo and Midoriya's equally shocked faces. I try not to shout in protest as I panic inside my head and Aizawa continues.
"-and their opponent…"
I look overheard, and a dark figure suddenly lands on their feet in front of us. It's All Might, and he clenches a fist with his usual grin.
"I will do it!"
This is god damn overkill! First I have to work with Bakugo of all people, and then we have to beat All Might?! I guess Midoriya is alright, but it's not like I can handle Bakugo's bitchy attitude! Maybe sometimes but not when I have to get along with him!
"Work together to beat me, you three!"
I glare intently at Bakugo and Midoriya, and the two stare right back at me as I curse under my breath.
"And now, we'll announce the teams and the teachers they'll be up against all at once!"
Nezu says as he holds his hands behind his back and proceeds to list the teams in order from first match to last. Kirishima and Sato against Cementoss, Tsuyu and Tokoyami against Ectoplasm, Iida and Ojiro against Power Loader, Todoroki and Momo against Aizawa, Ochaco and Aoyama against Thirteen, Mina and Kaminari against Nezu, Jiro and Koda against Present Mic, Shoji and Toru against Snipe, Sero and Mineta against Midnight, and lastly, Bakugo, Midoriya, and me against All Might.
"The time limit for the exam is thirty minutes! Your objective is to either put these handcuffs on the teacher, or escape from the stage!"
Nezu finishes instructing the class as I stand angrily between Bakugo and Midoriya. With the three of us basically standing shoulder to shoulder, I pointlessly take note of or subtle height differences.
I'm an inch shorter than that blonde bastard…
I glance over at Bakugo, and he glares at nothing as I turn to Midoriya, who stands to my right.
And I'm an inch taller than Midoriya...
Realizing that I got distracted, I try to focus once more on Aizawa's lecture instead of my useless mental notes.
"In cases where there's too big a difference in your abilities, it would be smarter to run away and get help. Todoroki, Iida, Midoriya, Oritsu. I'm sure you four understand this well."
I scowl a little as All Might nods. He gets ready to pull something from his pocket as he speaks.
"That's right! Your decision-making skills are being tested! But with these rules, you're probably thinking the only choice is to run, right? That's why we had the support course make these for us!"
He pulls out a thick metal bracelet-looking object, with black rectangles on the sides and metal rope outlining the edges.
"Ultra compressed weights!"
Present Mic shouts as the other teachers put metal bracelets similar to the one in All Might's hand around their wrists and ankles.
"We'll put on about half of our body weight. It's to give you all a handicap. It's old fashioned, but it makes it hard to move and eats up stamina! Oh, shoot these are heavier than I thought...By the way, there was a competition to decide on the design, and we ended up using young Hatsume's design."
Bakugo scoffs.
"To allow us to consider fighting you, huh? You're underestimating us."
All Might laughs, then suddenly turns serious.
"I wonder."
"All right, each team will take the practical exam in order on the prepared stage. Sato, Kirishima, get ready. Those waiting their turn can watch the exams or think of a strategy as a team. Do what you want. That is all."
The teachers start leaving as I turn to Midoriya and Bakugo, still trying to get over the fact that Bakugo is my teammate.
Well I might as well try to contain my urge to bite back at him because the last thing I want is for him to blow something up instead of cooperating. And with this being an exam, it's better to take it seriously than otherwise.
"I think we should come up with something even remotely resembling a plan so we at least have a base to work from just in case. Do either of you have any ideas?"
I ask as Midoriya nods.
"I think we should either make our own plan or watch everyone else fight and see what we can take from them."
"Sounds good. How about you?"
I say, turning to Bakugo. He grumbles and pushes past me as he tries to walk away. Midoriya reaches out then stops short as I give him a pitiful look.
"I'll try to get an idea out of him. Somehow. For now let's just go along with your plan or something."
Midoriya nods and starts walking one way, while I go the other and catch up to Bakugo.
"Hey! Why don't you help your team a little bit and help us make a tactic to use against All Might? Let's at at least try to come up with something! Whatever it is, it's better than nothing."
He doesn't respond as he keeps trying to walk away from me, but I keep catching up.
"Hey! You in there, or did your brain stop working?"
He stays silent.
"Hey. I'd appreciate it if you answered me."
He turns around to face me, his expression pissed off and irritated as we keep walking.
"Shut up, smart ass! Can't you see I'm trying to figure out a plan on my own?! I don't need your quirk or Deku's to pass this stupid test!"
"Look, I get that you want to work by yourself, but that doesn't mean you can't try and be a decent teammate and help out! All three of us have to succeed if we want to pass, not just you!"
"Then why don't you two work by yourselves?! You seem to get along just fine without me, so leave me the hell alone!"
"No I won't, and I'm trying to be polite right now because we need to be focused if we want to pass! This is serious! We need to work as a team, and that requires you to put some real effort into being a decent human being just this once, alright?!"
"Why do you get to say what makes a decent person?! Now you're just being needlessly aggressive, dumbass! Why the hell do you even want to be a hero in the first place when all I see you do is shout at people?!"
"Well, you're one to talk! And I-"
I pause and find myself in a real bad position. No believable lies come to mind, yet there's no way in hell I'm telling the truth. Taking a deep breath, I try to calm myself down a bit before answering Bakugo's oddly timed question.
"-I can't tell you yet, alright?"
"Oh, but you can tell Icy-hot and raccoon eyes?!"
My eyes widen as I tighten my fists. He feels out of character and I sense that he spoke without thinking.
"They're just my friends, dumbass! What's wrong with talking to friends? Shit, why the hell did you even mention Todoroki and Mina in the first place?! That has nothing to do with what I'm trying to talk about you idiot! And why the hell do you care what I tell them anyway?!"
He stops in his tracks and refuses to look at me as he speaks through gritted teeth.
"I can't tell you yet."
There's a moment of silence as I glare at him.
"Touché, jackass..."
I admit defeat as I turn around and angrily walk away, leaving that stupid and childish argument behind.
That damned idiot...Just what is he hinting at…? Tch. It's gonna be all his fault when he fails the exam...Jesus, why does he care about what I tell anyone?! If he wanted to know something the least he could do is ask! But maybe that's too much for his gargantuan ego! You can't have the self-proclaimed Bakugo asking someone a question, or talking normally! And why did he call me "needlessly aggressive"? That's the literal definition of his behavior! God, he is unbearable…
Yet...he's not wrong...
Staring ahead of myself with a disappointed face, I reluctantly agree with the fact that Bakugo and I do the same thing when it comes to expressions and how we react to things. Yet, I feel the need to spare myself the thoughts I get from comparing myself to Bakugo more than I already do. After a few moments of walking, I find the monitor room, and to my surprise, Todoroki walking out of it.
"Did you and Momo make a plan already?"
He notices me and shakes his head as he stops walking for a moment.
"Not yet. What about your team?"
I sigh.
"We've got nothing. I'll probably figure something out with Midoriya though. I'm all too familiar with the fact that Bakugo is impossible yet I still tried to get through to him anyway."
"I suppose it's better than nothing."
"Yeah. Any suggestions?"
He stops to think.
"No. Sorry."
"It's alright. Also, Momo has some pretty good ideas when it comes to getting things done. I think you two will make a great team."
I smirk and he nods as a sound suddenly plays over the loudspeakers in the halls.
"Looks like Iida and Ojiro have passed. Well, good luck to you and Momo."
"You too."
Todoroki walks away as I half sulk through the automatic doors into the monitor room, dreading the fact that I wasted all that time and still nothing. Midoriya turns to me as I walk up to him.
"There you are! Did you manage to get any ideas from Bakugo?"
Midoriya asks as I sigh once again and stand next to him.
"There's nothing I can do to get through his remarkably thick skull. He's a one man show, so if he formulates something, it's not like he's going to tell us anyway."
We stand in silence for a bit as we all stare at the screen, and I notice Ochaco next to Deku. She turns to face me and asks a question I thought I knew the answer to.
"Hey, Ritsu, do you hate Bakugo? I mean, no offense but it sure sounds like it."
Thinking about it for a second, I glance at her as I respond.
"Uh, I'm pretty confident in the fact that I don't like him."
Ochaco giggles a bit and smiles.
"I think you're the only one besides Ejiro who can put Bakugo in his place!"
I shrug lightly as I cross my arms.
"I guess that's true."
The strange buzzer sound from before plays through the loudspeakers as a voice follows after it.
"Team Todoroki and Yaoyorozu, practical exam. Ready, start!"
The live footage on the screens pop up with all sorts of angles as Midoriya and the others watch intently. Overall, the match was alright. It started out rough, but once Momo shared her idea, they managed to capture Aizawa. I admitted it was impressive, and got a quick laugh out of Todoroki awkwardly looking away as Momo made a capture weapon similar to Aizawa's while seperating the top part of her costume. But as each buzzer rang throughout the monitor room, I was reminded that I was one match closer to going against All Might.
"Team Midoriya, Oritsu, and Bakugo, practical exam. Ready, start!"
I keep my fists tight as I walk behind Bakugo. Midoriya follows behind me, and he looks like he wants to say something. He speeds up and tries to get Bakugo's attention.
"Kacchan, listen, for this exam, the teacher is the villain and we're the heroes, so we need a solid plan. Normally I'd suggest we analyze the villains combat ability and choose to fight them or run away based on that. But in our case, the villain is All Might, so we don't need to think about it because combat is out of the question. It would be impossible to beat him in a fight! It's a really bad idea Kacchan-"
Bakugo just walks on past him as Midoriya keeps catching up.
"Wait!"
"Stop following me!"
He shouts at Midoriya.
"I-if we keep going this way, All Might will probably be waiting for us on this main road. We should take another route-"
"I'm not gonna run away from this fight. It'll look better if we blast that smile off his face!"
"No! We should avoid fighting to matter what it takes!"
I feel left behind as Midoriya keeps trying to get Bakugo to listen to him.
"We're gonna toy with him 'till time is almost up and then we'll knock him unconscious for real!"
Midoriya stops trying to catch up to Bakugo as I growl and grab Bakugo's shoulder to turn him around, forcing him to face me.
"Listen to Midoriya for once in your life! He's right and you can't deny that! Trying to fight All Might would only ensure our failure!"
He smacks my hand away and shouts as he keeps walking.
"I can do it by myself! Just stay out of it!"
Midoriya runs up to him.
"Think about this! You know what All Might can do. Even with those handicap weights, it's impossible for you to win in a fight against him-"
Midoriya reaches for Bakugo, and Bakugo suddenly flings his arm around and hits him hard in the face with his fist. Midoriya falls to the ground, covering his nose with his hand as Bakugo looks down on him, his voice chillingly angry.
"I don't wanna hear another word...Just because you think you're getting stronger doesn't mean you get to tell me what to do!
He turns back around and tries to walk away as Midoriya shouts after him.
"Wait, Kacchan! All I'm trying to do is get us passed the final! This is for the three of us!"
Bakugo whips his head around and shouts right back at him.
"I told you, I don't need your dumb power to pass! I can do it all by myself!"
"You should stop yelling! This is why we never have real conversations!
Having had enough, I shout at the both of them, my eye twitching and my fingers craving for a fight.
"How about you both shut the hell up! It shouldn't be this hard to just talk! I swear to god you two are-"
A sudden and huge burst of wind and dust come thundering our way as Bakugo and MIdoriya get blown away, causing me to lose track of them. Tumbling across the road, I quickly turn my hands into tiger paws, and I sink the claws as far as I can into the concrete to keep myself from blowing away as windows shatter, buildings shake, telephone poles and bridges snap in half. The wind pricks my face like needles as dust gets into my eyes and I bury my face towards the ground. The wind calms down as the dusty remnants fall gently in the air. I cover my mouth and nose with my paw, trying not to breath in the dust. Looking around, I see Bakugo and Midoriya next to me as All Might's booming voice creeps closer.
"Who cares if I destroy the city anyway?"
As soon as the dust starts clearing up, All Might stomps on the ground, sending another albeit slightly weaker and much shorter blast of wind towards us.
"If you think of this as an exam, and not a real fight you'll be sorry. I'm a villain now, heroes. Remember that. You better come at me with everything you've got! I won't pull my punches!"
Midoriya starts panicking as he prepares to run.
"It's over! We can't fight him head on! Let's run!"
Bakugo shouts at him once again, making me think that the stream of demands and insults coming from his mouth will never stop.
"Don't tell me what to do!"
Midoriya quickly turns around and starts running as Bakugo stays put. I dash after Midoriya, grabbing tightly onto Bakugo's arm as I do so to force him to follow.
"Let go of me, dumbass!"
He yanks his arm from my grip and raises his grenade gauntlet at All Might, who charges towards him.
"How about a stun grenade?!"
A huge blast from Bakugo causes smoke to cloud my vision and the area around us as I cover my mouth and nose once again. I look around but can't find Bakugo as I hear his shouts.
"You want everything I've got, All Might?! Like that wasn't my plan! I never-"
His voice is stopped short as the smoke clears, revealing All MIght holding onto Bakugo by his face as he dangles him over the road. Bakugo thrusts his hands in front of him, explosions bursting from his palms right in All Might's face as All Might just laughs.
"Way to ruin the plan you dumbass!"
I shout at Bakugo and launch myself towards All Might, knowing damn well how easily he's going to dodge me. Instead, I cover my forearm with barbed porcupine quills. Twisting my torso, I dodge his fist and fire about a dozen of the quills towards him, landing quite a few of them on his arms. I tumble on the concrete and instantly get up, but not in enough time as I watch All Might whip around and pound Bakugo into the ground like my quills did nothing. I hear Bakugo gasp for air as All Might let's go of his face and reaches for the quills lodged in his left arm. I partially blame myself, seeing as I could've come up with something more creative, although It was a very tense moment.
"Your rapid fire blasts were weak, hardly more than a little sting! And your porcupine quills felt like nothing but a prick!"
I grit my teeth and clench my fists as All Might turns to Midoriya. While he's distracted I run over to Bakugo to find him struggling to breathe as he tries to stand. Reaching for his hand, he smacks it away as he glares at me.
"I don't want your help, smart-ass…"
"Well too bad for you then."
I forcefully pull him to his feet by his grenade gauntlet as he yanks his arm away from me again.
"Where are you going?"
In a blink of an eye, All Might suddenly gets behind Midoriya.
"Don't think i've forgotten about you already, young Midoriya! Are you really going to leave your teammates here and run away?"
Midoriya leaps away from All Might as he taunts Midoriya.
"You think that's going to work?"
Bakugo jumps and propels himself forward with his explosions, accidentally aiming right towards Midoriya. The two ram into each other as I cringe at the sound of the impact, but refusing to let my guard down as my attention stays on All Might as they hit the ground harshly. Bakugo is the first to get back up as he walks towards All Might, who remains unmovable. Midoriya reaches for Bakugo as I notice that All Might suddenly disappeared.
"Kacchan-"
"Get out of the way."
"Kacchan, haven't you been listening to me?"
"Clearly not, Midoriya! I said earlier-"
Bakugo doesn't stop his onslaught of shouts as I frantaclly look around for any sign of All Might.
"Shut up, dumbasses! I will win this! That's what it means to be a hero, Deku."
Midoriya pauses as he runs up to him.
"At the very least we should be trying to avoid him!"
Midoriya tries to put a gentle hand on Bakugo's shoulder but he avoids it. I catch up to the two, about to warn them about All Might in case he shows up again.
"Get your hands off of me!"
"Incoming, heroes! I have a special gift for the one who wants to run!"
One moment All Might is in the air above us, and the next Deku is pinned to the ground by a metal fence as All Might punches bakugo in the gut, the sharp wind cutting right past me.
"Don't think i've forgotten you either!"
Bakugo flies through the air as All Might turns around faster than I can turn my head around to see, and an incredibly strong kick propels me at terrifying speeds into a building. I barely have enough time to turn my skin to scales as glass pricks my skin and rubble breaks off in chunks as my breath gets knocked out of me. Dust blocks my line of sight as a sharp and agonizing pain cuts into my back where he hit like a knife. Thankfully, the scales saved most of me as my arms shake when I lift myself up. It hurts to move and causes major discomfort as I stand up and teeter from side to side. All Might and Bakugo's voices mix together as I try to walk, steading myself against a broken wall. Stretching my arms, I get rid of some of the pain before a blur of green light flashes in front of me and in a single moment, it grabs onto me and lurches me forward. I realize it's Midoriya as he picks up Bakugo and jumps into an Alleyway, holding onto my arm. He lets go as I start running along with him, and he carries Bakugo as we run.
"Drop me you bastard-"
"Don't worry I got you!"
"I told you to put me down damn it!"
"Shut up, dumbass! Thanks to you we barely made it out of there alive!"
Bakugo ignores me as he punches Midoriya, and he drops him. Midoriya and I lean against one wall of the thin alleyway as Bakugo sits on the other. We all breathe heavily, slowly regaining some strength.
"Kacchan, Oritsu, I really can't think of a way for us to beat All might...We gotta make a clean getaway without him swooping in and stopping us."
Bakugo grunts.
"But before we give up, we can at least try using my power! Neither of you can say you're okay with losing! Kacchan, you're you because you never give in. You're always fighting…"
The silence feels awkward to me, like Midoriya is referencing something I don't get.
I guess it makes sense...They were childhood friends right?
"The most amazing hero always wins...You've been saying those words since we were little kids...! How can you give up now?"
Bakugo starts growling and I sense that he's going to punch Midoriya. Not wanting them to start another fight, I push Midoriya out of the way to find that I was right. Bakugo spins around and slams his fist into the wall, right next to my head as the explosions from his hand bursts violently right by my ear. His eyes widen as he realizes I defended Midoriya. He growls and clenches his teeth, seemingly surprised and angry.
"You knew I was gonna hit him...?!"
I nod slowly, a bit shaken up due to how close the explosion was to my face. Glaring at him, I suppress the urge to kick him in the stomach as I notice that he cracked the wall behind me and made a big dent with the sheer power of his own hand.
"I could tell you wanted to hit him and I didn't want you to start another fight."
There's an oddly placed moment of silence as his arm drops to his side and he turns to Midoriya.
"I won't say it again so listen, you useless nerds...All Might's speed is insane. No matter where you try to run and hide, there's no way you'll avoid fighting him."
"Y-yeah, but, we don't stand a chance in combat! I mean you say him back there-"
"Shut the hell up before I kill you!...He won't be stopped by anything less than a full power attack. I learned that earlier with my mini blasts. So listen close-"
I stand still, well hidden and out of sight as I wait for Midoriya's signal.
When Bakugo told us his plan, I admit I felt a bit nervous about it actually working, but we just have to wait and see...
A series of explosions go off behind my hiding place and I prepare to jump out. With me being completely turned into a huge black bear, I'll surely be a challenge to take on seeing as when I transform completely, I have the logical strength of that animal as well, except it only happens when I transform fully. Seeing as black bears can get up from five to seven feet in height when standing upright, average weight varying from one hundred pounds to six hundred, and being able to run up to thirty five miles per hour, I'm confident All Might will certianly be surprised.
All I have to do is stall All Might so Bakugo and Midoriya can get out...It'll be easy enough.
"DEKU! SHOOT NOW!"
And with that, Midoriya emerges from his place as he fires off the raging blast from Bakugo's gauntlet. Bakugo and Midoriya start running for the exit, as I let out a fearsome bear roar.
"Run you idiot!"
"Oh! Right!"
Clawing at the concrete, I dash from my hiding spot and stand fully upright once I'm in front of All Might. Roaring once again, I strike and easily twist away from his punch. Thrusting my paws against his shoulders, I underestimated the sheer force of strength All Might is capable of as I try to hold him back. I don't even bother to look around and check to see if Midoriya and Bakugo made it, but from what I can hear, they're pretty close to the exit.
"Trying to stall for you teammates, huh? Well, I'll admit I'm impressed but it's not enough!"
All Might suddenly uppercut's my chin, and I almost stumble backward but regain myself and jab my paws at his shoulders once again. He grumbles something before suddenly reaching around and grabbing a loose fold on the back of my neck like a cat, and pulling my paws off of him. He leans his arm back with me clawing at his hand, but it's too late as he tosses me through the air towards Bakugo and Midoriya. The concrete pounds into me as I hit the ground, yet I try my best to shake it off as I claw at the ground to my feet and start running with them.
"Great job, Oritsu! That held him off for now!"
Trying my best not to fall over as I run, I focus on the gate ahead of us.
"It doesn't look like All Might is chasing us. Don't tell me we actually knocked him out back there!"
"Of course not! You're the one who's crying about how it's impossible to actually beat him!"
I give a heavy growl, signalling to them to knock it off.
I might not be able to speak right now, but they should've gotten the message.
Apparently, they didn't get it.
"There's no way that attack KO'd him. When he catches up to us, it'll be my turn to blast him to hell with a gauntlet!"
"Interesting! And then what will you do?"
All Might suddenly appears in between Bakugo and Midoriya as my eyes widen.
H-he got here that fast?!
Bakugo twists around and tries to aim his gauntlet, but All Might destroys it with a single punch, the dark green pieces almost hitting me as they fall to the ground.
"Don't tell me you're surprised."
With another swift punch, All Might destroys the one Midoriya was wearing as well. All Might laughs menacingly as I try to swipe at him, but to no success.
"All right heroes, it's time for you three to die!"
All Might knees Bakugo, sending him flying into a building and grabs MIdoriya's arm, pulling him around as he suddenly puts a foot on the top of my head. All I see is blood and dark cemente as the pained shouts from Bakugo and Midoriya ring in my ears, and All Might lands down on the top of my head, slamming me into the concrete. Due to the sheer and immense force of the impact, I subconsciously turn back into a human with my hero costume thankfully still intact as I get rendered unconscious. Whether they made it out or not could only be left to my imagination...