Chapter 16: End of Term Exam

Hey howdy hey hello, welcome to the show! Yup, I'm back with another chapter today.

This one's mostly just build up, I don't know if you'll be getting the pay off today or tomorrow, depends on how quickly the next chapter gets done.

Enjoy!

Feel free to review, but don't just rip into me. I'm doing this for fun, not excessive criticism.

It was the final week of June. The end-of-term was just one week away, and it was obvious that some people were more prepared than others.

"I haven't studied at all!" Kaminari exclaimed, panicked due to having the lowest grades in the class, "With the sports festival and work-place experience and everything I never stopped to study!"

"Indeed." Tokoyami agreed simply.

"I haven't studied either!" Ashido agreed, surprisingly relaxed about the whole thing.

The midterm exams, they didn't cover very much since we'd basically just been admitted, but now…" Sato said, "Sure, there were a lot of school affairs and stuff but the end-of-term tests are gonna be way different from the midterms…"

"With all the training I've been doing, I never really stopped to study!" Moxie laughed, having placed sixteenth in the midterm. "At least I'm guaranteed to crush the practical!"

"Ashido, Kaminari, Moxie! Le… Let's do our best!" Midoriya said, "I mean, I want to go to the lodge alongside everyone! Right?"

"Yeah!" Iida agreed, "I too wish to join everyone at the forest lodge, as your class president I refuse to let you fail!"

"I-I could help, I suppose…" Hiryu mumbled, having placed sixth.

"I'm surprised you've got such low grades, since you attend classes regularly." Todoroki deadpanned.

"Mind your words!" Kaminari exclaimed, clutching his chest dramatically.

"Hey, you three." Yaoyorozu interrupted, "I might be able to assist you with the classroom lecture stuff."

"Yao-Momo!" Kaminari exclaimed.

"Really? Thanks so much!" Ashido clapped her hands together.

"The test exercise, on the other hand, not so much…" Yaoyorozu sulked, earning a confused look from Todoroki.

"I'm not exactly some kinda personal trainer, but I'm always training here after school. Anyone who wants to join me to train for the practical is welcome to!" Moxie grinned, giving everyone a thumbs up.

"I might take you up on that." Shoji nodded.

"Same here, ribbit." Tsuyu nodded.

"Well, I'm not either of them, but… how about me?" Jiro requested of Yaoyorozu, "I always trip up applying quadratic functions…"

"Yo, Yao-Momo, sorry, could you help me too? Do you get classical literature?" Sero asked.

"Me too." Ojiro joined in quietly.

"Absolutely!" Yaoyorozu exclaimed, delighted at the prospect of helping her classmates.

"Talk about a gap in personal virtue." Kirishima teased Bakugo.

"I'm plenty virtuous too, f#ckmunch! Why don't I tutor you until you're a pile of blood!?" Bakugo shouted.

"Oh! I'll take you up on that!" Kirishima responded.

Lunch Rush's Cafeteria

"The content for the test for all the normal subjects is totally within the scope of our lessons, so we can still pull it off somehow, but… it's scary that we can't know what will be in the practical test exercise…" Midoriya said.

"Nothing too wild, I would think." Iida responded.

"What's it matter what the practical is?" Moxie grinned, "We can crush it no matter what!"

"Aizawa-sensei said it would be an overall summary of what we d-did this semester." Midoriya mumbled, "But we never actually did the disaster rescue training, will we still be judged on that?"

"I don't think so." Tsuyu said, "I don't think Aizawa-sensei would consider testing us on things we don't know logical."

"We did do the combat trial though, so maybe it will just be a combat test?" Uraraka suggested, "Or maybe what he said is just another rational deception to keep us on our toes!"

"Studying for the test, plus keeping our physical strength in top condition- ow!" Midoriya exclaimed, as somebody's tray hit him in the head.

"Sorry, it seems I couldn't quite find my way around your big head!" Laughed a boy with blonde hair, who Moxie recognized as Monoma from Class B.

"Hey, you're that weirdo Kendo told me about! Monoma!" Moxie pointed at Monoma.

"You lot encountered the Hero Killer, I heard!" Monoma continued, ignoring Moxie, "The ways in which you've been basking in the spotlight have only multiplied ever since the sports festival, haven't they, class A? Only the attention you're grabbing isn't out of expectation; it's out of trouble!"

"It's not like we were trying to get attacked…" Midoriya mumbled.

"Man, it's so scary! One day, we might get wrapped up in the trouble you lot call out of the woodworks, and then we'll get hurt! So scary I-Pwah!" Monoma was cut off as Kendo chopped him in the neck.

"That's not funny. Don't you know what happened to Iida?" Kendo scolded, "Sorry about that, Class A, Monoma's heart is, well… you know how it goes."

"Hey Kendo! Thanks for that!" Moxie grinned.

"You know her?" Ashido asked.

"We train together." Moxie shrugged.

"Anyways, earlier I heard you say that you couldn't know what the end-of-term exercise would be." Kendo said, "Actually, I'm told it'll be like the entrance exam. That is, a battle simulation exercise fighting against robots."

"Wha-!? For real?! How do you know?!" Midoriya asked.

"I know an upperclassman personally, and asked." Kendo said, "I know that's kinda cheating, but…"

"It's not cheating! Of course, it makes perfect sense, the acquisition of prior knowledge would then come integrated as a vital part of the exam." Midoriya muttered, unnerving Kendo a little, "D*mn, we should have asked an upperclassman, why hadn't I ever thought to?"

"Midoriya, you're being a weirdo again." Moxie spoke up.

"Are you stupid, Kendo? You just threw away our hard-won intelligence advantage!" Monoma complained, "This was our chance to forestall the detested Class A…"

"I told you. We don't detest them." Kendo sighed, chopping him on the head again and dragging him away.

Classroom 1-A

"What, really? Well, if it's just robots, then it'll be a walk in the park!" Kaminari exclaimed, clearly relieved as Ashido told him the news.

"You must be happy, since your Quirks are hard to adjust against human opponents." Shoji commented.

"Yep! So with robots we can win like that! Easy-peasy lemon-squeezy!" Ashido cheered.

"And with Yao-Momo, we'll have studying down, too!" Sero interjected.

"Now we're shoe-ins for the forest lodge!" The three of them exclaimed together.

"Who cares if it's people or robots, it's all the same when they're blown away, idiots." Bakugo said.

"Who're you calling an idiot, idiot!?" Kaminari shouted.

"Shut up, you're the one who can't adjust his Quirk properly, idiot!" Bakugo yelled, turning his attention to Midoriya, "Deku, listen up!"

"Huh?" Midoriya said, startled.

"I dunno if you've come to understand a little… how to use a Quirk." Bakugo said, "But you're really getting on my godd#mn nerves, sh#trag."

"Wait, is Bakugo talking about how Deku's moves looked a lot like his?" Uraraka asked.

"I suppose so." Hiryu nodded quietly.

"Let me tell you right now, I don't want the same hollow-#ss result as the d#mn sports festival!" Bakugo continued, "By the end of next term, we'll see by our grades just who the better Hero is, whether you like it or not! I'll annihilate you. Leave you in the dust with the gap between us, and then I'll f#cking murder you! You too, Todoroki, you #sshole!" Bakugo snarled, slamming the door open and stalking out.

"Man, that's some vintage Bakugo. How long's it been?" Kirishima asked, "Maybe he's irritated? Or is it just sheer animosity?"

"Bakugo has always been showered with praise, because of his Quirk." Midoriya explained, "He's used to being on top, I guess I'm threatening him. I keep trying to explain that I'm not trying to be better than him, but…"

Days passed, and the students spent every moment of their free time studying hard, every one of them driven by the hope of going to the forest lodge, until eventually, the day came, and after clearing the written exam, it was time for the physical test.

"Right, the test exercise will begin shortly." Aizawa told the class, who stood before him in their Hero costumes, "Obviously, you can fail this test, too. So if you want to head to the forest lodge, then we'd better not see any pitiful blunders from you."

"Why so many teachers?" Jiro asked.

"I-I'm not sure, but I don't like the look of this…" Hiryu responded.

"I've no doubt you all learned what information you could of the test before-hand, so I think you already hold a vague notion of what you are to do-" Aizawa continued.

"Sure, just like the entrance exam, it'll be a brawl with robots!" Kaminari interjected, cutting Aizawa off.

"I can just see the fireworks! The curry! The dare sessions!" Ashido cheered.

"Sorry, I'm afraid not! Due to various reasons, we're changing the contents of the test, starting today!" Principal Nezu announced, emerging from Aizawa's scarf.

"Mr. Principal!" Sero exclaimed,

"What do you mean?" Yaoyorozu asked,

"Well…"

Days Ago

"Fears of a surge in villainy, you say." Nezu said.

"If we take it that society will see a drastic increase in open battles against Villains, far more than at present, then…" Snipe explained, "Naturally, heading off the surge at the pass would be the most ideal, but as a school, I want to make doubly sure. Battle trials against robots don't hew close enough to fights in the real world. We only ever used robots to begin with as a method to circumvent complaints against 'risking people harm during a high school entrance exam.'"

"It's fine if we ignore them anyway, they're just complaining for the sake of it." Aizawa added.

Present

"From now on, we'll focus our tests more on person-on-person battle activities and emphasizing a teaching environment closer to that of a real battle!" Nezu explained, "Which, boys and girls, is all to say that henceforth we will have you form pairs to engage in combat with one of these here educators!"

"With… with our senseis?!" Uraraka exclaimed,

"Now, who all of you are paired with and which teacher you'll be fighting have already been decided." Aizawa continued the explanation, "The way you tend to move, your grades, and your degree of familiarity… we personally judged how you'll be pairing up based on all sorts of things, and we'll list the matchups now."

"First off, Moxie's with… Kirishima." Aizawa announced, "Against Cementoss."

"Just like the first day of training, eh?" Kirishima slammed his hardened fists together, "The perfect manly duo returns!"

"I hope you're ready, Cementoss! This duo's gunnin' for yah, and we're gonna crush it!" Moxie declared, pointing towards Cementoss, who didn't visibly react.

"And Midoriya, you're with… Bakugo, as a team."

"De-?!"

"Ka-?!"

"As for who your opponent will be…"

"I'm here to oblige!" All Might declared, "Now cooperate and come at me to win, wonder duo!"

And there it is! What'd yah think?

Moxie will be with Kirishima against Cementoss, and Hiryu will probably be with Shoji against Snipe, so look forward to that.

Enigma, signing off.