Chapter 17

Shocking Revelations

"Ah, ah, ahhhh," Usagi and her friends were speechless. They were at the school's nursing office. They were there to see Akihiko and checked on him, but they found out that the person they just knew for few days wasn't who he claims to be.

Akihiko woke up, rising from the bed to sit in the bed.

"Good morning," Akihiko said in his usual boyish voice. Then, he or she turned to Usagi, Kai, Arisa, Eli, and Felica, looking at him with a surprised look.

Nobody said anything for a moment, but five seconds later, a person screamed.

"Kyaaaaaahhh!" Akihiko screamed like a girl.

"HOLY CARROT!" Usagi screamed back as the other students, including Ms. Heal and Recovery Girl, covered their ears.

"Geez, can't you kids keep it down, will ya?!" Recovery Girl scolded.

"What are you guys doing here?!" Akihiko accused as he or she looked flustered with redness and covering the prominent chest area with the blanket.

"Well…. Kind of a funny, short story!" Eli scratched his face as he was looking the other way. "Usagi here suggested to check on you and see if you are OK. She wanted to thank you for saving her caretaker, Sister Koko, and the children from her orphanage, and here we are. Yeah…"

Just then, a door opened, meaning someone else came in.

"Akihiko, I bought you some extra clean clothes for you to…." Haia looked as everyone looked back at her with the same expression. "change."

"Yo, what's up," Eli greeted, breaking the silence.

Haia gasped. "What are you all doing here?!"

"That's what I want to know!" Akihiko added.

"As I said, we are here to see how you are!" Eli got interrupted again when the rest of Class 1-L came in.

"Akihiko!" Miru and Makoto came in with flowers and gifts. "We both came to see how you are." They accompanied Maruto, Aku, Tatsumi, and Yuki Drago, all carrying gifts and flowers. Junko was there with them, though having difficulty standing up straight while sleeping at the same time.

Everyone looked at them with the same facial expression with Haia came in, and Haia also showed with the same face.

"Umm, what's going on here?" Maruto asked.

"Oh, well, Usagi, Arisa, Felicia, Kai, and I just found out that Akihiko here is a dude," Eli answered.

"Eli!" Arisa gasped.

"Oi!" Akihiko yelled as she jumped out of bed, revealing her actual body.

"Woah! Holy shi…!"

"Now, now! All of you, get out of my office!" Recovery Girl yelled. "Since you are much better now, Akihiko, you get out too!"

The entire Class 1-L got kicked out of the nurse's office. They decided to go and talk in one of the auditorium halls, which is empty at the time.

Most of them sat at the chair, and a few sat at the table. Akihiko sat in the middle, looking down as he or she looked embarrassed. Haia had her eyes closed with a rugged look. Everyone was quiet as the air felt stiff. Nobody wanted to say anything.

"So," Arisa spoke up first, breaking the silence. "Akihiko, you are, um, a boy? Why did you hide that from us?"

Akihiko looked up to Arisa, then sighed. "Sorry to keep you all this a secret."

"There is no need for you to apologize," Felicia added. "I am pretty sure there is a logical explanation behind it and the reasoning behind it."

"It's just," Akihiko said, looking hesitant to say it. "Complicated."

"Why not, man?" Eli asked, speaking up. "Why not talk about it? We're friends here, you know?"

"Yeah!" Usagi hopped in front of Akihiko. "If you don't want to talk about it now, then we can promise that we can forget about what happened today entirely."

"I don't know exactly what you are thinking now," Miru said. "But, even without using my Quirk, I won't use it to know what you are thinking. That's for you to decide if you want to talk about it."

Akihiko looked around everyone and grinned. "You guys…. OK. I will talk about it, but it's kind of a long story."

"Don't worry. We have time," Usagi said. "Right, guys?"

Everyone nodded to the idea as they listened to Akihiko's story.

"Are you sure about this, Akihiko?" Haia asked before Akihiko started.

"I am sure, Haia. Anyway, it all begins when I was very young…."

- Flashback –

A very young Akihiko was at the preschool he went to. She was playing with her friends.

"It all started when I was a young kid in preschool. I played with my friends, pretending we were housewives, making up stories about our husbands, and commenting on our dresses. A typical game that girls play."

"Hey, you girls!" Young Akihiko and the girls looked up to the boy, along with a group of other boys. "Why play dumb, old house when we can pretend to be heroes and fight villains?"

"Yeah, yeah!" The other boys agreed.

"Sorry, but we girls are busy. Go play somewhere else!" The one girl argued.

"Yeah, yeah!" The other girls added.

"Well, this sounds normal so far," Usagi commented.

"Shh! Usagi, stay quiet and listen," Makoto stated.

"Sorry," she apologized.

"Well, you are right that it is normal, but this is where it all begins. Then the next day, during the break time…."

"Hey, guys! Can I join in your hero vs. villain game?" Young Akihiko asked the boys group.

"Huh?" The boys looked confused.

"The boys at my preschool were surprised, and the girls were even more surprised. However, the boys did accept me into her group. From then, I played with girls one day and then played with the boys on another day. Then, things became a bit complicated."

It was dinner time at Akihiko's house.

"Hey, Mommy and Daddy," Young Akihiko asked at the table.

"What is it, cupcake?" The mother asked.

"What's up?" The father asked with a grin.

"Can I get the blue uniforms for the boys?" Young Akihiko asked.

The question made her parents looked confused.

"Um, why do you want the boys' uniform, Akihiko?" asked the father.

"I want to be in the boys' group, but I still want to play with the other girls," Young Akihiko explained.

"My parents felt a bit weird about what I said, but they didn't question it any further about it, so they did ask the school for an extra boy's uniform just for me, and I got it. That was the first time I wore a boy's uniform, and I've been doing that since then. Through elementary and middle schools, until high school, I decided to go back in wearing girl's uniform."

"What school did you went to before you moved here to UA?" Usagi asked.

"Don't you remember, Usagi?" Arisa asked.

"Miss Speed Girl mentioned that you and Haia came from Ketsubutsu Academy High School," Felicia reminded Usagi and everyone else.

"Right. However, I didn't like the school."

"You didn't? Why?" Usagi asked.

"I was bullied at Ketsubutsu."

Akihiko, in a girls' uniform and longer hair, was pushed around by other girls. She got splashed over by a bucket full of water. Scribbles and bad names were carved and wrote all over on her desk.

- Flashback Ends -

"Holy Carrot! You beat up the bullies, Haia-chan?" Usagi asked.

"I have to!" Haia stepped in. "Those girls have no respect for Akihiko for being different! Nobody did anything to help her! Not even the teachers! If I didn't, then I… I… I wouldn't be the kind of hero I want to be!"

Everyone looked at the upset Haia. They've never seen Haia angry before or any strong emotion from her at all since they first met her.

"It's OK, Haia. And I appreciate all you've done for me, for standing up for me," Akihiko said.

"Akihiko…" Haia said softly, looking calm now.

"So yeah, the other students at Ketsubutsu bullied me, but that didn't stop me from being who I am because I remembered the old interview video that I saw," Akihiko stated firmly.

"An interview video. What is it about?" Tatsumi asked.

"Do you know guys know the Pro Hero named Equinox?" Akihiko asked.

"I know him!" Eli exclaimed. "He is a bit of oldy hero, like 20 years ago, but he's still active and pretty popular even now. Why?"

"Well, I saw his old video, and I learned that he was the same, like me."

"You mean that…." Arisa thought aloud.

Akihiko nodded as he remembered it, like if it was yesterday.

- Flashback –

Young Akihiko, along with a younger version of Haia, watched the TV together. They watched a show, "Eyes of Heroes," an interview show where they bring Pro Hero as a guest every week and interview them. It was a top-rated show in Japan of the time.

"Good evening, everyone. Welcome back to another exciting episode of Eyes of Heroes. Our special guest for today is the famous Pro Hero from the USA, Equinox!" The interviewer lady announced as computer-created audience claps were heard, but for Young Akihiko and Haia at the time, they thought it was a real people's clap.

The guest came into the studio and in front of the camera. He was a man of average size in a tight skin costume. It was half white and half black. His hair was long with bangs going back over his head and twirled like a paper roll at the tip. He also wore a mask with yellow eyes and an emblem that was half sun and half-moon.

"Welcome to the show, Mr. Equinox," the interviewer greeted.

"Thank you, maim. I am very honored to be on this show," Equinox said as she sat on the comfy sofa chair.

"Yes, yes. It is an honor for me as well," the interviewer said. "I have some questions to prepare for you."

"Then, shoot. Go ahead," Equinox said.

"The first question I would like to ask is what makes you want to be a Pro Hero?" The interviewer questioned.

There was a pause at the moment when the host asked the question. Equinox looked down as he was fighting mentally before he nodded to himself. The interviewer and the studio staff wondered about it, but Equinox spoke up.

"You see, to answer your question, I would like to say something," Equinox said. "To admit you all, and everyone who is watching this, I am neither a man nor woman."

The interviewer and the people at the studio gasped.

The host fixed her throat. "Ah, I see. Could you explain it a little bit more?"

Equinox nodded. "Yes! For you see, for a long, long time, I didn't know whether I consider myself a boy or girl. Ever since I was a child and even now, however, I learned through my life that it doesn't matter whether you are a boy, girl, man, woman, black, or white, gay, or straight, you can be whatever you want to be. That is why I became a Pro Hero. I want to show all the people I help and who's watching me that you can be a hero or whatever you want to, no matter who you are. None of it matters except what you believe in. That is the kind of Pro Hero I strive to be every day!"

- Flashback Ends-

"I remember seeing that interview before!" Arisa remembered. "And I heard this from my dad. Equinox is also one of the leading Pro Heroes in the LGBTQ+ movement for heroes equality for non-binary heroes."

"I have heard about the movement," Felicia admitted. "There are some places where people who consider themselves part of LGBTQ+ aren't accepted to be a Pro Hero, or even have the equal rights like other straight Pro Heroes. However, there has been a steady increase of LGBTQ+ Pro Heroes around the world, and some places have become more acceptable for them."

"Yeah. Equinox's words didn't hit me when I was a kid, but they became very relevant and important to me as I grew older. Maybe it was fate or something. That is why I decided to be just like Equinox. To be a hero and show the world that I can be whoever I want to be, no matter who or what I am, or where I came from!"

Akihiko didn't realize it for herself, but she stood up from her seat while everyone looked at her. Then, they heard clapping. They turned to see that it was Yuki Drago, the one clapping his hands.

"To be honest, I thought you looked a bit odd when you join our class a couple of days ago," Yuki Drago said, standing while clapping, then stopped. "However, now that the cat is out of the bag, then I can say this to you; no matter who you are, I treat you as a classmate and potential rival."

'Rival? Is that how he sees in all of us?' Felicia thought.

'I guess Yuki Drago likes competitions,' Arisa thought but grinned. 'Then again, he sounds like to me he's already respectful for who Akihiko is as a person.'

"Be who you are and say what you feel because those who mind don't matter, and those who matter don't mind," Aku stated. "That's something I learned from an old, famous American financier. In other words, I don't mind who you are, whether you are a girl who wants to be a boy or vice versa."

"Heck! I didn't care much about the detail of someone. All I care about is if you are a good person or not, and you are a good person, Akihiko," Eli said, giving a thumb up. "So you are in my good book, dude!"

"We all want to be a hero of our dream. Your dream is the same as me, Akihiko-san," Tatsumi said. "I want to make Tokusatsu Hero as a real profession, and my favorite kind is Kamen Rider. I will support your dream!"

"I admit it was shocking to learn that you are a girl, but hey, we are a pretty weird class, to begin with, so why not have a person like you in our group or anywhere for that matter?" Maruto shrugged.

"Yeah! It just makes us more unique and interesting than all other classes if you stick with us, Akihiko!" Usagi jumped in joy.

"I think we are fortunate to have you and your cousin, Haia, to be part of our class. I am glad to have you with us, Akihiko," Makoto admitted.

"I agree, and I don't need to read everyone's mind to know what they think of you because we all accept who you are," Miru noted.

Junko slept peacefully but showed a bit of a smile.

"If you ever have a problem with someone, you can ask me or any one of us for help," Felicia suggested.

"Yup! We support you all the way, Akihiko," Arisa encouraged.

Kai nodded. "I don't have nothing profound to say, like everyone else, but we are good people and all, so yeah."

Akihiko looked at each of her new classmates, feeling true that she was loving, acceptable people.

"You guys…" Her eyes watered a bit. "Thank you."

Suddenly, a cry broke out. Everyone was surprised to see that it was Haia, crying like a baby.

"Haia?" Akihiko asked in a surprised tone.

"I'm so sorry, but I can't help it! Thank you! Thank you for all of you accepting Akihiko! I've never met such loving, accepting people like you! I am so happy to move here!" Haia cried joyfully as she kneeled, crying hard.

"Haia," Akihiko sighed, then laughed a bit. "Why do you have to cry? You know that they were referring to me the most, right?"

"Shut up! I feel so thrilled, that's all!" She complained.

Everyone laughed at Haia, and they comforted her. Akihiko laughed, too. Little did they know that their homeroom teacher was listening to them as she was peeking through the door slightly opened.

'I am glad that my students are getting along well. It seems like I don't have to worry about Akihiko and Haia. They are already as part of our little family,' Speed Girl thought, smiling as she closed the door and walked away gladly.

After that, they all agreed to keep this a secret until Akihiko herself, or instead himself, decide to tell it to other people at UA High. Usagi took a selfie to remember this moment, and then everyone left to their everyday business as usual.

For the next week, everyone studied hard for the upcoming final exams. According to what their friends from other classes said about, they didn't want to fail and go through summer school of hell. It was all for passing to get into the summer training camp.

Some of them studied overnight. Couples almost fell asleep during class. Others also focused on their physical training.

On the day of the final exam, the written portion came. It was a three-day time for the written portion. Everyone thought it through, read every question, and answers them thoroughly.

"OK, that's time up!" Speed Girl announced. It was the third and final day of the written exam. "Please gather your answer sheet to the front. I want to say a good job, all of you!"

As the answer sheets were gathered into a stack of them and handed to Speed Girl, everyone could finally take a breather until the practical portion, which was tomorrow. For Class 1-L, it will take place during the afternoon, after their lunch break.

"Thank you, Felicia!" Usagi surprised Felicia.

"Yeah! And I didn't even leave any question blank, at least!" Maruto joined in.

"Oh, well, you're both welcomed, Usagi and Maruto," Felicia said, smiling.

And so, three days of the written exams for us were over. Now, it was the practical exam next, and that day has come…

Class 1-L gathered at the location for their practical exam. They were all wearing their hero costume. Only the new thing was that Kai is finally wearing a much proper outfit. He was wearing some metallic shoulder plate and protection over his ankles and knees. He also wore what appeared to be jet boots, light metal armor with three green dots that made it look an upside-down triangle, and armored arms with repulsion circles on each palm.

The final exam took place at the Center Plaza, part of the campus area owned by UA High. When they gathered there, they noticed a group of five teachers, including Speed Girl. The other five teachers were Eraser Head, Mr. Honzo, Power Loader, Thirteen, and Present Mic.

"Good afternoon, class!" Speed Girl greeted, looking excited. "I hope you all had a nice lunch because now, we will begin the practical exam! Dun-dun, daaah!"

Kai, some of the Class 1-L students, and the teachers sweat-dropped at Speed Girl's remark.

'Please act normal, sis!' Kai moaned in thought.

"Please behave, Speed Girl. You are a teacher," Aizawa stated sharply.

"Yes, yes," she nodded. "Anyway. I am sure you know this, but it is possible to fail this exam as a reminder. Though, I doubt that you would fail and you all will go to that summer training camp. So, let's do our best, and each of you will get a gold star when you pass!"

The class and the other teachers sweat-dropped even more.

'She's treating us like kindergarten!' The entire class thought.

'She's treating them like kindergarten,' Teachers thought.

"However, before we begin, you are probably wondering why we are here," Speed Girl said, referring to herself and the teachers at present.

She smirked. "Well, while some of you may have gathered some information ahead of time and expect to know something about the practical exam, this year, we are doing something a bit different."

"Say what?" Eli asked.

"Holy Carrot! For real?!" Usagi gasped. "I thought we are going to fight some robots, like the ones from the entrance exams and the sports festival!"

"Sorry!" A voice said as something rustled inside Eraser Head's binding cloth. The one who belonged with the voice was revealed to be the principal himself. "For various reasons, the exam will be different starting this time!"

"Principal Nezu!" Some members of 1-L gasped.

"Woah! Dude Principal Nezu, what do you mean by it will be different this time?" Eli asked.

"Well, Eli, my boy, from now on, we want to focus on person-to-person combat and hero work and stress teaching that is closer to actual fighting," Principal Nezu explained.

"Closer to actual fighting?" Arisa wondered, starting to look nervous.

"So…" Principal Nezu kept the smile, yet looking a bit menacing at the same time. "We'll have you form teams of two to fight against one teacher!"

The entire class gasped.

"Holy Carrot! We are fighting against… the teachers?" Usagi looked shocked.

"That's right!" Speed Girl replied. "In addition, the pairs and who each pair will be up against have already been decided. I determined at my discretion based on various factors, including like fighting styles, grades, and interpersonal relationships."

'Interpersonal relationships? What does that have to do with this exam?' Kai thought, having a bad feeling about this.

"The first pair-up team is Tatsumi and Maruto, and you two are fighting against yours truly!" Speed Girl announced as she looked a bit sinister.

"And my sweet brother, Kai will pair up with… Yuki Drago!" She announced next. Kai gasped a bit and glanced at Yuki Dragon, who was glancing at him, too.

"You are in the team, and their opponent is…." Suddenly, something fell from the sky and crashed to the ground between the class and the teachers.

"I… will do it!" All Might appeared.

"All Might?!" Kai gasped while Yuki Dragon didn't say a word but had the same facial expression as his partner's.

"Work together to beat me, you two! I am looking forward to it," All Might said.

-My Hero Academia –

It was the night before the day of the practical exam. All the teachers gathered in the conference room to discuss the practical exam. They agreed not to use the traditional method of using the combat robots but instead to use a new approach to fight the students to make it closer to a real fight.

They just finished discussing the pair-up team for Class 1-A for the practical exam.

"And that's the pair-up. Does anyone have any objection or question?" Aizawa asked.

"No objection!" They said in response.

"OK. That settles it. Next is for Class 1-L," Principal Nezu said. "Miss Speed Girl, you may take say the words."

"Thank you, Principal Nezu," she said. "Everyone, as you all know, my class, Class 1-L, is the smallest in the entire school, but we just recently added two new students, and we also have two other students from Hero Exchange Student Program. With ten local students, that makes a total of 14 students in my class. Therefore, it will be split into seven groups of two."

She looked over to Aizawa, aka Eraser Head. "Mr. Eraser Head, your pair will be Felicia Marvell and Makoto Tachimukai. For these two, their Quirks are very powerful, possibly over-powerful, compared to the other students in other hero classes. Felicia can paint whatever she wants to make it comes to life, and Makoko's Gamble Quirk can allow her to use any other Quirk powers and abilities randomly by calling out words related to gambling. Your Quirk is perfect for counteracting these two students' Quirk."

"Very well," he agreed.

She turned to Present Mic next. "Mr. Present Mic."

"Yo!" He paid attention.

"For you, you will handle with Sakura Tsubomi or Usagi and Miru Takeno. Your Quirk can make them hard to focus on their Quirk since both of these girls are sensitive to sound. Usagi has a Bunny Quirk, which allows her to jump like a bunny and hears well like bunnies, and Miru needs to focus so that she can read other people's minds while her eyes close."

"Got it. As long as I am not fighting in the forest area, it's all fine by me," Present Mic commented.

"Miss Thirteen." Speed Girl talked at Thirteen. "Your pair team is Ai Scareno and Ellix Francesco Barbaros or Eli, for short. Your Black Hole Quirk should keep their attention and preventing them from activating their Quirks."

"I have no objection." Thirteen accepted.

Speed Girl nodded and turned to Power Loader. "Mr. Power Loader, your group is Akihiko Aimi and Haia Onimaru. As you can see on the copy of their background file in front of you, Akihiko and Haia are the two new students who transferred from Ketsubutsu Academy High School. Please be aware of their Quirk, but I think you should be able to handle them."

"Hey, I may be a teacher in the Department of Support, but I can fight well, too," Power Loader said.

Speed Girl grinned at that before she turned to the next teacher. "Mr. Honzon."

"Hmm?" He hummed as his attention alerted.

"Your group is Ms. Arisa Kawasaki and Junko Neru. Arisa is a good student with a good grade, and she's making good progress here at UA High. Plus, she has experience from LA Ultra High, one of the top American hero schools and one of the top-ranking hero schools in the world. However, she isn't too keen on fighting a lot. She instead avoids fighting due to her pacifist nature. I think you are the perfect person to give her the mean of fighting offensively when necessary, whether she likes it or not. Plus, she will have to do it while protecting and supporting her partner."

"I see. And that is why I am here," Honzo grumbled. "Hmph! I am just a PE teacher for the second and third years, but if you are saying that you want me to go all out, I will go all out. Would that be alright?"

"You have my permission," Speed Girl said.

"And so is mine," Principal Nezu added.

"Very well then," Mr. Honzo nodded.

"Next up, Yuki Drago and," she said before she turned to cuter-looking. "My lovable, sweet little brother!"

The teacher sweat-dropped to her behavior. They didn't say any words or comments.

"Yuki Drago and Kai Uno will be under your care, Mr. All Might." All Might look curious when she announced that he would be handling her young brother, Kai Uno, and his classmate, Yuki Drago.

"For these two, I didn't pair them up based on ability or grades, like with Mr. Eraser Head's choice for Izuku Midoriya and Katsuki Bakugo from Class 1-A, but similarly, yet differently, they seem to lack a good trusting relationship between them. Also…" Speed Girl said. "From what I noticed over the past months, Yuki seems to be interested in knowing more about Kai. I am not quite sure exactly why he is, but ever since the UA Sports Festival, Yuki Drago went far to provoke my brother to activate his Quirk to see how he fights and perhaps to see his Quirk for himself."

"Are you sure about this, Speed Girl?" Midnight spoke up. "I know that this is your discretion, but your brother, his Quirk is a hazardous power, just as your father explained it not that long time ago."

"Yes, indeed. If I am, to be honest, I'm afraid I have to disagree with the pair up," Cementoss admitted.

"I agree with them," Snipe spoke. "If your brother acts out or Yuki Drago forces him to use the boy's Quirk and push him too much, just like he did in the sports festival, then his partner, your brother, and possibly the entire school will be in great harm, including All Might."

"We were lucky to have Time Lord and his wife, Mrs. Galactica, at the UA stadium at the time. If they weren't there, we all would not be here right now," Ectoplasm said.

The other teachers also looked concerning.

"I understand all of your concern, but to tell you the truth, this idea of the pair up is happened to be bought up by my father himself," Speed Girl revealed, which surprised the teachers.

"Time Lord did?" All Might asked.

"Yes. My father also noticed Yuki Drago's suspicious interest in Kai. Also, he suggested that you take care of my son if anything happens, and he trusts you in that because Time Lord believes you are the only one who can handle it the best," Speed Girl explained. "Also, if Yuki Drago does indeed start to push Kai around, then you can stop them by pretending that you are preventing teamwork between them or just being an obstacle."

All Might thought to himself, then answered. "OK. Then, I will accept it."

"Thank you," she nodded. "And finally, I will deal with Tatsumi Kurate and Maruto Denki. Does anyone have any questions?"

"No objections!" Everyone except Mr. Honzo said.

-My Hero Academia-

"And, now we'll announce the teams and the teachers they'll be up against at once!" Principal Nezu announced.

Principal Nezu announced the matches for the teams and the teachers.

The first match will be Tatsumi and Maruto with Speed Girl. The second match is Usagi and Miru vs. Present Mic. Then, the match after it is Eli and Ai vs. Thirteen. The next one is Felicia and Makoko with Eraser Head. Right after that, the fifth match is Arisa and Junko vs. Mr. Honzo. Akihiko and Haia will fight Power Loader after Arisa and Junko's match. Finally, the last and seventh match will be Kai and Yuki Drago vs. All Might.

"The time limit is 30 minutes! Your objective is either to put these handcuffs on the teacher," Principal Nezu explained as he showed the said handcuffs. "Or to have one of you escape from the stage!"

"So, we can either capture the teacher or run away," Maruto said, pondering.

"It's kind of like the combat training," Tatsumi commented.

"Is it OK to run away?" Arisa asked kindly.

"Zzzzz…" Her partner in the exam, Junko, slept peacefully.

"But it'll be different from the combat training!" Present Mic pointed out. "You'll be up against someone waaaaaaay better than you!"

"Better… than us?" Haia said. "I don't quite understand what you mean."

"Hey girl, watch your mouth!" Present Mic yelled in an upset tone. "You're like that dummy from Class 1-A before!"

"This time, your exam will be very similar to a real battle," Thirteen stated. "Please think of us as villains."

"Assuming you come across us, if you think you can win a fight against them, then that's fine," Mr. Honzo added. "However—"

"In cases where there's too big a difference in your abilities, it would be smarter to run away and get help," Aizawa said in his usual manner. "Uno, Francesco, Kawasaki. You three understand this well. I'm sure about it."

The three people gasped when Aizawa called out their last name, but he was right. They remembered when they saved Kai from the Nomu's attack and their encounter with Reaper, Hero Killer Stain's apprentice. While escaping from Nomu was a great idea, they didn't run when they encountered Reaper. They thought that they would die not by the hand of Nomu, but a real villain, who had the means and will to do so. They could've died if it wasn't for Arisa's help.

'I remember that feeling well… I won't fail this exam!' Eli looked determinedly.

Arisa gripped her hands. 'Ever since that day, I couldn't help but feel afraid to fight. Now I am even scared of defending myself! I hope I pass this exam, but I'm not quite sure if I can.'

Felicia noticed Arisa shaking a bit, and she looked worried.

Kai stood in silence.

"Fight to win or run to win," Yuki Drago spoke up, catching everyone's attention.

"That's right!" All Might responded with open arms. "Your decision-making skills are being tested!"

"But with these rules, you probably think the only choice is to run, right? Since you are fighting against us, the teachers, and that doesn't sound too fair," Speed Girl said in a baby-toned voice.

"Please stop talking in that voice," Aizawa said.

"So, that is why we have this!" Speed Girl said in her normal voice while showing off a bracelet. "Ta-dah! Ultra-compressed weights!"

"We'll put on about half of our body weight," Speed Girl explained as she started putting the weights on herself. "It's to give you a handicap. It's kind of old-fashioned, but it makes it hard to move and eats up our stamina, so it's a fair trade."

Suddenly, her arm felt heavier. "Woah! Like, holy carrot, it's heavier than I thought!"

"Hey, that's my line," Usagi pointed out.

"By the way, this neat item was designed through a competition for the Support Course, and the winner of that competition is Mei Hatsume," Speed Girl admitted.

Most of them remembered who Mei Hatsume is. She was in the sports festival with the fancy support gears, and she was also part of Midoriya's team in the human cavalry battle and fought in the one vs. one fight against Tenya Iida. She was also the one who caused the incident during Usagi's orphanage's field trip last week. They did forgive her, but they couldn't forget about her, so they were wary even when they hear her name.

"So, you expect us to fight or to run away, right? Though this is an opportunity for us to test the teachers' strength and ability, especially that Kai and I will be fighting you, isn't that right, Mr. All Might?" Yuki Drago said.

All Might chuckled, then smiled menacingly. "I will gladly accept the challenge if you are daring to do so."

"All right, now that we decided who to pair with and who to fight against, each team will take the practical exam in order on prepared stage. Tatsumi, Maruto, get ready. We will start in momentarily," Speed Girl said.

"Yes, maim!" Tatsumi and Maruto replied.

"For the rest of you, you can think of strategies with your partner or watch how other does in the exam while waiting. Relax if you are waiting, and do whatever you want, pretty much. That's all, and good luck!" Their teacher said as she and the other teachers went inside the building.

"Yeah, good luck, you two," Eli said as he padded on Tatsumi and Maruto's back.

"Thank you, Eli," Tatsumi replied.

"I don't know. We are fighting against our teacher. She can run superfast, right?" Maruto asked, then a bulb of light appeared above his head. "Hey, Kai, you are her brother. Do you know her weaknesses?"

"No," he answered. "All I can say is just watch your surroundings."

"Makoto, let's talk inside and come up with a plan," Felicia pointed out.

"Right," Makoto nodded in agreement as they went inside the building.

Everybody went on their separate ways. Some talked with their partner and thought about strategies, while others were relaxing and did things independently. Kai Uno was in the monitor room for the exams. Recovery Girl was sitting on the chair in front of the monitor.

"Well, it looks like I'll have a lot of work today. At least, I expect that it will be short due to your class size," Recovery Girl said.

"Right," Kai noted.

Then, he noticed the door opened automatically as a familiar face came in.

"Arisa?" He noticed.

"Hello, Kai. I've come to see what's going to happen in our classmates' exams. Maybe to learn something or two," Arisa said.

"I see," he nodded. "But shouldn't you talk strategies with your partner? That would be a wiser choice."

"True, but my partner is Junko, and you know how she is…." Arisa pointed out. Meanwhile, Junko was sleeping peacefully on the couch in the waiting room.

"Now that you mention it, should you be with Yuki Drago? Where is he?" She asked.

"That… I don't know. He went off somewhere, and I couldn't find him," he answered. 'Not that I want to, anyway.'

"I thought I could just stay here and watch others to pass the time," he explained.

"I see," Arisa nodded. "Then, I will watch with you while I wait, too."

Suddenly, the monitor began the display as it showed the makeshift city area for the first team's practical exam.

"They are going to take their exam in the city area. It's the same one used in the entrance exam," Kai noted.

"I see," Arisa said.

"Team Tatsumi and Maruto, practical exam," the computer announcer stated. "Ready, set, go!"

Hello guys! I worked and finished this chapter about couples of days ago, but decided to upload this chapter today because, one month from now, there will be a celebration parade for Pride Month, which will start next month or in next week.

I wanted to create a character who represents the LGBTQ+, so I reveal to you all that Akihiko Aimi is the first MHA fictional character who is non-binary or gender bender. If you don't know what the latter means, it means that it is someone who "seeks to define gender expression outside of the binary terms of men and women," according to Urban Dictionary. The best way to explain this is if you have met someone who crossdresses or someone who doesn't play the stereotypical role of the gender based on their birth gender.

I am a straight guy, if you want to know, but I do have few friends who live with gay parents and other friends of mine are not considered themselves straight. While we are all different, we are also same and we should all be respectful and kind towards others, no matter who or what we are, or where we came from. We are all part of humanity, and there are many different people on this planet we call Earth. That is the kind of person or hero that my OC, Akihiko Aimi wants to be. I hope his/her or their representation was well-presented. I don't think I did it perfectly in any means, but I did my best and I hope you like it. Let me know your thought about the big revelation about Akihiko.

Also, I don't know if other My Hero Academia fanfic adds element of LGBTQ+, but fun fact; did you know that one of the members of Wild Wild Pussycats, Tiger is actually transgender? Yeah, I was a bit surprised when I found out later while researching his team, but apparently he is. He was a she originally. The more you know I guess. Maybe the original creator will expand it more and add more character like Tiger as a way to present that LGBTQ+ people exists and they can exist in media, like My Hero Academia. Maybe also spread his work to more broader groups of people.

The next chapter will be coming up soon on Memorial Day, and it will be a special day. As I said or mention it before, this story will be in the top priority for the majority of the summer. However, I will do my best to fit other two stories that I am working on in-between updates for this story, at least once per month for each of promises though, because it can all be changed.

As always, stay safe and go beyond, Plus Ultra!