It almost seemed like a ritual at this point, and so Nanami once again ended up with Recovery Girl after a fight. It was usually because of broken bones but this time she was bleeding. She had probably bled out enough blood which would make anyone else lose consciousness, but she hanged on.
If this was a conventional hospital, that wouldn't have helped. But with Recovery Girl's kiss, it was a matter of seconds before she dozed off and started to recover. Monoma didn't go through anything much different, just that he was out from the beginning.
In a few hours, Nanami woke up, with nothing to show how much she had bled out. Monoma was still knocked out and that gave her few much needed moments of peace after the long nap. It wasn't in the most satisfactory manner, but she was glad that they managed to pass their test.
"Monoma really outdid himself today...", Kendo 2.0 sighed a sigh of relief.
"You have oddly low expectations for him.", Nanami replied as she tried to see if Monoma had come around.
"Yeah, yeah. There is a reason he'll be the best hero...", Monoma 2.0 tried to say it as if it was someone else's opinion. Everyone was messing around in Nanami's head but, as a whole Monoma's contribution in those few seconds meant a lot to her. As a result, she felt it was only proper to thank him in person before leaving.
Recovery girl tossed a CalorieBar to Nanami. "Thanks! Any idea when he'll wake up though?"
"Anytime now...", Recovery Girl replied as she checked her watch.
A few minutes passed and Monoma started to show signs of waking up. Nanami was scrolling through her phone across the room and Monoma immediately noticed her.
"So... how long did you wait?", he asked in a half-asleep state.
"10 minutes at most. You feeling good?"
"Yeah... yeah. I... I am good. Did we win? I'm sorry I don't remember how it all ended..."
"Oh, we did yeah. About that... I don't know how to put it, but I guess, if we have to, I'd be glad to have you have my back... Is that a weird thing to say?"
"No... I don't think that it is. What even happened? I don't remember doing much... I remember how I felt though."
"How? If you don't mind me asking..."
"I felt like I was the strongest... The number 1!", Monoma said with an unseen shine in his eyes.
"So why do you always... Dammit, I hate that it almost makes sense to me... I always felt you were a bit you know..."
"What makes sense?"
"Why you keep trying to put others down. Mostly A section students but I get the general idea I guess. But can't you just put in more work I suppose. Don't want to sound patronising while thanking you, but your approach seems weird to me..."
"I suppose a lot of people think that. I honestly don't know the answer myself; I was always like this. From the moment I manifested my quirk... I have had quite a few insults hurled at me. One time, at a tournament during middle school, my opponent called me a parasite. He said that without other quirk wielders I was nothing... He apologised later, spurt of anger and stuff like that, but I don't think he was wrong..."
"You are being too hard on yourself, calling yourself a parasite seems way too demeaning!"
"I... don't call myself a parasite... But I don't think that guy was wrong. My quirk, something which is as inherent to me as the pupil in my eyes is parasitic in nature. I shouldn't try to suppress that. Don't get me wrong, I never suppressed it, but I believe that to be the number 1 I need to embrace myself for who I am!"
"That's oddly motivating given the context. I don't see myself ever doing this, but you do you! By the way, thanks for today, I'll see you next week I suppose?"
"Yeah, see you then!", Monoma said as he waved goodbye to Nanami while getting up. It was a stressful day for him and would be even more stressful for his parents as well if he didn't call them up soon!
As Nanami returned to the PESMR, she saw Inspector Tsuakauchi missing from his desk, probably because of a field assignment. But today's success, however pathetic, called for a celebration...
Tetsuya was busy with his studies; her classmates were all burnt out for the day... and there was no one else.
Nanami slept well and the next day people in the group chat were already planning to hang out. Though the excitement towards that was varied as a few students were scared about the exam results. It was then decided that they would go on a trip after they got their results. Though none of them had any reason to fear failure, then again fear isn't usually present in the most rational minds either.
Unsurprisingly, all of them passed their written exams! However, Monoma failed his practical exam. Given her previous conversation with him, she expected him to be somewhat sad, but it was the same old Monoma all over again.
"That's still better than having 5 people stay back like A section. B section reigns supr-", he was stopped by Kendo once again. Thankfully for him, he didn't have to stay back and neither did the 5 A-section students who had failed their exams. Even more rigorous remedial classes awaited them at the camp, but that was all for a later date.
It was finally time for their shopping trip. Many didn't have anything they wanted to buy, and those guys went to the Arcade to wait for others. Nanami had to buy a few things for the upcoming Training camp. What followed was an exciting but very uneventful day compared to 1-A. On her way back to the PESMR, everyone got a notification to clear the Shopping Malls and the surrounding areas, but 1-B had already left for the most part and they didn't pay much attention to this new development.
When she was going to the canteen, she noticed a familiar face in the Police Station. She approached him, "What brings you here Izuku Midoriya?"
NOTES:
Sorry for practically ditching this without any warning. Pretty sure no one was holding their breath for the new chapter to drop, but thanks everyone for supporting this fic till now! I don't intend to drop this fic mid-way as of now, but I can't promise anything other than that I intend to finish it!