A/N: hello hello! i'm here with another chapterrrr. real talk, this one is just set up for the hero vs villain training. good news is that the next chapter is already written, so i'll probably post that here in the next couple days. thanks for bein' here!

The next morning when the students arrived at school and settled in for their first class of the day (Hero Theory), Aizawa informed them that they would have hero training with All Might later in the day. It was an announcement that he had come to regret, seeing as though the whole class had the jitters for the next twenty minutes while he tried to explain the prudence of minimizing collateral damage. But as annoyed as he was at the interruption, he almost couldn't blame them. It had been a rookie mistake on his part, he really should've waited until right before he handed them over to their next teacher anyway. (Take that, Hizashi.) They were kids after all, and All Might was the penultimate hero of their time. Hell, even Aizawa could scarcely remember a time when the Jolly Yellow Jackass wasn't at the top of the charts.

However, their excitement at meeting All Might paled in comparison to their excitement when he told them they'd be receiving their hero costumes as well. This time he did get the timing right, just moments before Hizashi busted through the door with an ear-piercing screech of, "Are you kids ready to learn some English?!"

Heh. It was the simple things that made life worth living.

As for Hinami, she was having a much harder time feeling anything but mind-numbing boredom. The gear shift between yesterday and today was a little jarring. Yesterday, it had been all about their capacity as heroes. Even this morning, with the announcement that All Might was going to teach their hero class later and that their costumes were done had been about heroes. And obviously, Hero Theory was… well, no shit, about heroes. Even if it was a little dry.

But now…

"Who can find the mistake in the following English sentences?" Present Mic asked, piece of chalk still held lightly in his hand. When he'd slammed the door open and immediately started yelling, Hinami had almost rolled her eyes. It was too high energy for 9am. But even that initial excitement faded quickly as he launched into a series of assessments, getting a feel for their level of comprehension.

It was just… mundane. Perhaps it was a little childish of her, but she'd really expected it to be more… fast paced all the time. But it made sense that UA wouldn't slump on their core subjects either, in addition to their excellent hero courses.

So far lunch had been the highlight of her day, even if she failed to locate Tatsumi in the chaos. She'd asked chef Lunch Rush for okonomiyaki. Shoto, predictable as always, got soba. Lunch Rush really was the best, even though he was a little intimidating, as he'd whipped up her meal lickity-split. Hinami nearly cried when she took the first bite. It was divine. Perhaps the best she'd ever had. It nearly made up for the awkward silence between the twins.

After lunch they were only two more classes, and then… All Might and their hero costumes. Though if she were being honest, she really didn't remember what she'd requested. She thought of sending a drawing but gave up when she couldn't settle on a design, deciding that she'd leave the design to the professionals. Instead, she made a list of requests and now she was struggling to remember what requests she made—besides that she needed a way to covertly carry and drink water while on the run to counter the effects of her Quirk.

Even so, Hinami had trouble containing her excitement at the prospect of costumes, so the rest of the class didn't stand a chance. Poor Ishiyama-sensei handled it with exceeding patience, gracefully allowing their fidgets and wiggles to go unremarked. Though he ruled the classroom with an iron—er, concrete fist when it came to speaking out of turn. For all that she joked about father being a sentient brick wall, Ishiyama-sensei actually was a sentient concrete wall. Quirks still managed to surprise her somehow, even after her long fifteen years on earth.

Eventually even Ishiyama-sensei packed up and left, with a solemn reminder to do the reading he'd assigned as homework.

Hinami's knee bounced under her desk as she listened to ambient chatter, staring at the back of the bald, rocky head of the student in front of her. Koda, maybe? Damn, they should really wear nametags or something. Not that it mattered anymore, but his giant block head had obscured her view of the board all day long. And the poor kid sweated like a pig in a dress every time one of the teachers called on him. She thought she saw him try to use sign language one time, but he quickly abandoned that venture once it was clear the teacher didn't understand. She couldn't be entirely sure that it was sign language and not charades though, seeing as she was behind him. Was he mute? UA should really invest in interpreters or something.

Hinami pulled her phone out and tapped out a quick message to Tatsumi, trying to arrange a meet up time after school. Though she wasn't exactly sure when hero training would be over, so maybe she should wait. Her head perked up as thunderous footsteps pounded down the hall at a breakneck pace, a chill shivering up her spine as all her senses went on high alert.

All Might barreled through the door moments later, bangs bouncing and cape flapping as he skidded to a dramatic stop. "I am here!" he bellowed, striking a pose.

Hinami leaned around Koda, excitedly drinking in the sight of All Might standing at the front of the classroom, clad in one of his retro costumes. Happy chatter and squeals moved through the classroom like a wave, everyone chomping at the bit to get their piece in. "Is that his Silver age costume?" someone asked, as another student sighed, "So retro! I'm getting goosebumps!" And yet another cry of, "Oh wow, he's actually going to teach us! It wasn't just a rumor!"

Hinami chanced a glance at Shoto and her heart warmed at the sight. He wasn't as outwardly exuberant as everyone else, but his eyes were practically glowing and he was sitting up straight in his chair, hands clasped on the edge of his desk. Heh, even he couldn't resist. They'd both always loved All Might, especially since it felt like a small act of rebellion to father. But now…. Seeing him in person, it was strange. All Might was bigger than life, his presence was massive, filling every corner of the room with energy.

"This is so cool!" Uraraka gushed, hands cupping her cheeks. "I can't believe he's actually here!"

"Welcome to Basic Hero Training!" All Might crowed, nearly as ear-shattering as Yamada-sensei. "Think of it as Hero-ing 101! Here you will learn what it takes to be a hero! And what it means to fight the good fight! Let's get right into it, there's no time to dally! Today's lesson will pull no punches! But one of the key aspects of hero-ing is looking good!" he boomed, using his whole entire body to gesture at the wall. Right on time, hydraulics hissed as several different compartments slid out of the wall, holding rows of steel briefcases with lime green numbers emblazoned on them.

"These costumes are based on your Quirk registration forms, as well as the request forms you sent in before school started!" he explained, hands on his hips. "So let's get suited up and head on over to Ground Beta for Battle Training!" At that, he began pulling briefcases down and passing them out.

Hinami tugged self-consciously at her skintight costume top as she hustled down the entrance hallway to Ground Beta, trying to catch up with the rest of the class. She was really starting to regret not sending a picture of what she wanted for her costume. First, there was so much pink. Though the bulk of her costume was black, everything else was either pink or white. Pink belts, pink lining, pink stitching on everything. Second, the cheeky fucker that had designed it had slipped in an homage to her father. Thankfully, it was only the gloves and wrist bracers and she was able to just leave them in the briefcase. They had been designed to be sleeker, more feminine versions of the gauntlets he had in his current costume. But not wearing them left her costume… Kind of incomplete and unbalanced. It left her arms bare from shoulder to fingertip.

Her top was a black sleeveless leotard, made of breathable wetsuit or rash guard material, tucked into black pants. And, strangely, the leotard extended up her neck to cover the bottom half of her face in a mask, as well a hood that she could pull on to cover the top half. The inside of the leotard was lined in hot pink, though you could only see it when the hood was up. It had been a nightmare to put on, even with instructions. And then she had to take it off once she figured out how to configure the tubes of the waterskin the designer had fashioned. She appreciated the pants too. While the top was skintight, the pants were slightly loose with generous pockets. Two white belts crisscrossed her hips, pink pouches hanging off them. On her feet were a pair of sturdy white boots with pink laces, which came halfway up to her knee. She tucked her pants into them, assuming that was what she was supposed to do though the designer hadn't specified. To top it all off and round out the theme, everything had bold, chunky pink stitching running through it.

In all honesty… it wasn't that bad. She really did like her costume, but the little things irked her. She definitely wouldn't have chosen hot pink as her accent color, she would've preferred yellow or maybe light blue. The designer had also included a pair of wickedly sharp hair sticks, but Hinami spent so long figuring out the tubing and water system attached to the waterskin that she had to leave them in the briefcase back in the locker room.

Hinami trotted out of the mouth of the tunnel, shading her eyes against the glare. Turns out Ground Beta was just another one of the faux cities like the ones they held the entrance exams in. The other girls had been forced to leave her behind as All Might's voice rang over the intercom, telling them their time was up though Hinami was still fighting with her costume. Since she'd been in the stall the entire time, she hadn't even gotten to see anyone else's costume.

Up ahead the class was grouped around All Might's towering figure, allowing her to hear the tail end of his speech. "From now on, you all are heroes in training!"

Hinami's eyes scanned across the crowd briefly, searching for Shoto. He hadn't mentioned anything about his costume, so she wasn't exactly sure what to expect. Though she usually didn't have this much trouble spotting him… his hair tended to stand out. But sandwiched between all of the wild costumes and colors, he blended a little more than usual.

Damn, someone really requested a whole ass suit of knight's armor. And yet another student was decked out in a robot suit? Maybe. It could've been more armor. Another kid had giant grenade gauntlets that looked like they weighed fifty pounds. Was that Bakugou? He had some strange orange and black hairpieces that fanned out behind his head. They kind of looked like spikey monarch butterfly wings, though she had a feeling he'd blow a gasket if she pointed that out… Heh, she'd keep that in mind.

Hinami squinted at the half a head of white hair as hustled up behind Shoto, blinking as her eyes trailed down his surprisingly simple costume. He'd chosen a white shirt and white pants, tucked into white boots. But what stood out the most was the fact that his whole entire right side was coated in a thick layer of ice, from head to toe. She pursed her lips, unsure of what to think of his choice in costumes, 'He… literally iced his fire side…. Weirdo.'

Hinami slowed to a stop next to her twin, drawing All Might's attention. "Ah! Young Todoroki is here," he announced, dinner plate sized hands on his hips. "Your costumes all look so cool!" he gushed, causing the class break out into excited chatter. Even Hinami gave a flustered smile and fiddled with the pouches on her belt. She did feel cool, but she also felt kind of like… a kid playing pretend. Which, to a point, is exactly what they all were. But they were kids playing pretend so that they could one day do the real thing.

Naively, she'd expected to feel a little more grown up, a little more serious in UA.

Hinami did her best to listen as All Might explained their battle training and answered questions. First, they were going to be randomly paired off into teams of two, then each team would be designated either 'villains' or 'heroes.' The battleground was going to be a multi-storied office building, where the villains would hide with a fake nuclear weapon. It was the heroes' job to go find the villains and either defeat them or capture the weapon. The heroes could capture the weapon by simply touching it. However, each side would be equipped with capture tape. Anyone bound with capture tape was automatically out.

Thankfully no one was at risk of being expelled in this exercise.

One by one, the class lined up and pulled lots out of the boxes All Might had set up. Black lots meant that team were villains, white meant heroes. The letter on the lot determined your partner. Hinami drew a black lot, with the letter 'F' on it. Which meant she was paired up with the quiet kid who sat in front of her, Koda. Not that it really mattered to her who she was with. She nodded at him anyway, and it flustered the boy so badly that he sweated through his suit.

Well… this was going to be interesting.

First up in the battle simulations were Uraraka and Midoriya, the heroes, and Bakugou and Iida, the villains. Bakugou, of course, was stomping around like a pissed off bull. Poor Iida was trying to reason with the wild beast, not that he was having much luck. Midoriya and Uraraka had their heads bowed together, presumably discussing tactics.

The first match already looked promising. Though perhaps entertaining was a better word.

"Who do you think is going to win?" Hinami asked Shoto as the class trailed after All Might like little ducklings in a row. The hero had mentioned something about remotely monitoring the battle training through CCTV before leading them into another building.

"The villains are at an advantage," Shoto said, ice creaking as he trudged up the stairs. It was slightly disconcerting to look into that glowing red light in place of his usual blue eye. His red hair was completely covered as well, leaving only mother's softer coloring exposed.

"Yeah, it's easier to defend the weapon and play keep away," Hinami agreed, struggling to get used to speaking through her mask. Thankfully it was thin enough that it didn't muffle her voice. "Plus Bakugou and Iida both scored well yesterday, while Midoriya… well, was last place," she muttered, frowning. The poor kid had looked out of his depth all day yesterday. She didn't approve of Aizawa-sensei's mental warfare, but… would it be kinder in the long run if he had been expelled? Midoriya had broken his finger throwing a softball. A Quirk that took such a high toll on the body would lead to a fast and vicious burnout. And with a broken body, what did he do with the rest of his life?

Not that she had much room to speak. If a taser could fuck her world up and word got out… well, she'd be just as screwed as Midoriya. She still needed to try and figure something to counter that, if it was possible.

"Scores aren't everything," Shoto said, breaking her train of thought.

Hinami scoffed, turning away so that he wouldn't see the ugly look on her face. "That's easy for you to say," she said evenly, keeping a tight leash on her tone of voice.

Maybe she'd get paired against Shoto, and then they'd see who really was the strongest.

Up ahead, All Might threw a door open and the sound of it banging off the wall and nearly rattling off its hinges interrupted whatever Shoto was going to say. Hinami shrugged it off, striding ahead of him to get a look at the CCTV set up, which was basically a huge screen with multiple camera angles displayed. Below the screen there were a set of controls and switches. She quickly lost interest, seeing as it wasn't anything too high tech. For a moment she thought about trying to talk to Koda, to see if he wanted to strategize, but thought better of it considering his reaction to her just nodding at him. He'd probably break out in hives if she approached him.

Nothing to do but wait, then.

The first match started with an explosion. Literally. As soon as All Might gave the go ahead, Bakugou busted out of the room he and Iida had holed up in with the weapon. The cameras tracked him as he blew through the corridors, searching for the heroes. He found them after scarcely a minute had passed, immediately attacking Midoriya with a giant blast that tore half of the poor kid's mask off. After his first attack, Bakugou's fist was lodged so deep into the concrete wall that he had to pry it out.

Hinami watched with rapt attention of Uraraka and Midoriya scrambled around like headless chickens in the face of Bakugou's wrath. It almost seemed unfair. Uraraka's Zero Gravity was an amazing Quirk, but compared to the sheer destructive potential of Bakugou's Quirk… Well, it was obvious who had the upper hand. And Midoriya's strength enhancing came at such a steep price, fighting with it was tricky. Sure, he might be able to end the match in one punch… but he'd be vulnerable if his opponent got up.

"A sneak attack, Bakugou?!" Kirishima shouted at the screen as if the foul tempered delinquent could hear him, "What kind of cheap crap is that?!"

After his outburst, Hinami took a moment to study his costume. The first thing she noticed was that he was shirtless, though he had two red gear shaped shoulder bracers. Or at least, she thought that's what they were. They seemed mostly aesthetic. He also had a black headpiece, which reinforced his nose, chin, and forehead, emphasizing his little horn shaped hair spikes with actual metal spikes. A headbutt with that thing would be positively lethal. He also wore baggy black pants, held up with a chunky red belt emblazoned with the letter 'R.' Did he already pick out his hero name? Oh right… She still owed him a jacket. She should stop by the agency today, surely the support department would have something.

"Stealth tactics are a viable strategy!" All Might countered. "He's playing the part of the villain, after all!"

Back on the screen, Bakugou charged at Midoriya like a raging bull, cocking his fist back for an explosive right hook. Midoriya stood his ground, unflinching, as he caught the punch! Not only that, but he turned it into a throw, slamming Bakugou into the ground hard enough that the other boy bounced. Hinami gasped, subconsciously edging closer to the TV screens to get a better look. And boy, was it satisfying watching the smugness get beat out of Bakugou's expression. He looked completely gobsmacked.

"What are they saying?" Kaminari asked, squinting. "Does this thing come with sound?" His hero uniform was more fashionable, easily mistaken for street clothes if you weren't paying attention, leather pants and a leather jacket over a white V-neck shirt. Though the jacket had lightning bolt accents on the shoulders, it was still rather understated. On his ear was a boxy white earpiece, with a little antenna coming off it.

"They've got radios in their ears so they can communicate with their partners," All Might explained. "I also gave them a map of the building and a roll of capture tape. Anyone bound with it is out for the rest of the game."

"So they've only got fifteen minutes to find the villains and the weapon, right?" Ashido asked. Her costume was a funky teal and purple sleeveless bodysuit, tucked into maroon and yellow boots. On top of it she had an adorable little rib-length yellow jacket, with white fur lining it. It was strange and retro, but it suited her perfectly.

"Correct," All Might nodded.

"But doesn't that mean the heroes are at a disadvantage? A big one too!" Ashido said.

"That's true," All Might agreed, "but real pros face off against villains at a disadvantage every day. That's just life! Even when the odds aren't in our favor, we still fight!" he exclaimed, punching a fist into the air. "That's Plus Ultra!"

Well, shit. She was a villain, wasn't she? The lot she'd drawn was black. She didn't remember what letter Shoto had, but his lot was white. She should've been happy, because that meant that there was still a chance that they could be against each other. But honestly… she didn't like the fact that villains had an advantage. She didn't want to win because of something like that. She wanted to win fairly.

Back on the screen, Bakugou and Midoriya were playing a deadly game of cat and mouse. Unfortunately for Midoriya, that throw would be the only concrete win he'd get. He either barely scraped through the other encounters or he lost. He did manage to keep Bakugou on his toes, but the disparity in strength was obvious, and it was wearing Midoriya down. He could only keep up for so long without using his Quirk. It was hard to watch, honestly. And the longer it went, the more the class became unsettled.

"Midoriya's getting pretty beat up, ribbit," Asui commented, cocking her head to the side. She was wearing a green wetsuit-like costume, with cream-colored straps and belts. Her hands, which were already somewhat big for her size, had even bigger cream gloves on them. And on top of her head was a pair of chunky goggles, the lenses looking like two bugged out eyes.

"That Baku-dude has serious anger issues," Kaminari snorted.

Hinami nodded in silent agreement, tracking Uraraka as she crept through the hallways in search of Iida and the weapon. She was peeking around corners and inside doors in a cartoonish approximation of a spy. Hinami could almost imagine the girl humming her theme song, she seemed like the type. Though she did eventually find what she was looking for, silently slipping inside the door and hiding behind a pillar.

"Young Bakugou!" All Might shouted into his mic, causing Hinami to jump in surprise. "Don't do it! You'll kill him!"

What?

Hinami's eyes snapped back to the screen with Bakugou and Midoriya, just in time to watch as Bakugou pulled the trigger on his grenade gauntlet, unleashing a catastrophic blast at nearly point-blank range, filling the whole entire corridor with smoke and fire.

Hinami gasped as the ground beneath her rumbled, dust raining down from the ceiling. It only served to emphasize how insanely destructive Bakugou's capabilities were if they were feeling the effects this far away. She grit her teeth, blinking against the harsh white light of the screen as she frantically searched for Midoriya in the wreckage. Did they just witness a murder?

"Come in!" All Might shouted, clutching the radio so hard she was surprised it didn't shatter, "Come in, Midoriya!"

The cameras were filled with smoke, a swirling sea of white that drowned out the entire screen. Heart in her teeth, Hinami leant forward anxiously, wondering how badly Midoriya was hurt. Should they go ahead and call for medical? Was the building going to collapse? The drone cameras on the outside had focused in on a giant crater in the side of the building, probably 20-feet-wide, and still crumbling debris.

Thankfully, the smoke cleared quickly in the breeze. The giant hole probably had something to do with that. There, in the middle of the smoking wreckage, was a smudge of green that gradually sharpened into the panting form of Midoriya. He was singed and banged up, but with all things considered, he was relatively unharmed.

"Isn't this getting out of hand, sir?" Kirishima asked, gesturing sharply at the screen. "That Bakugou is going to kill him!"

"Not yet," All Might replied, shaking his head. Though he did pick up his mic and order Bakugou not to use that blast again, or he'd cancel the match and his team would lose.

Hinami sighed and settled back onto her heels, squeezing her eyes shut. Damn, she didn't think she'd be this invested. Who in their right mind would give a teenager a weapon as lethal as that? Someone needed to have a chat with the support department. Watching Bakugou relentlessly pummel Midoriya was wearing on her nerves. So much so that she only listened with half an ear as Shoto and Yaoyorozu commended Bakugou's tactics and precision. Shoto said something about Bakugou using a surprising amount of strategy, using his Quirk to make a smokescreen while simultaneously changing his trajectory. While Yaoyorozu mentioned his accuracy and how fast he made the mental calculations necessary for using his Quirk.

"So basically he's a natural at this?" Kaminari surmised with a sigh, "I hate how uber talented he is."

"This is hard to watch!" Ashido cried, hands clenched. "All he has to do is wrap tape around him, not kill him!"

"Bakugou has certainly embraced his role as villain," Tokoyami commented, his voice surprisingly deep. She hadn't heard him speak until now. His costume was somewhat low-key, consisting of a ragged black cloak that covered everything below his chin. And combat boots. Edgy.

"Midoriya was doing so good in the beginning of the fight," Kaminari said, surprisingly insightfully, "but now he's completely overwhelmed in terms of combat power."

All Hinami could do was stare at the smoking rubble. Could she have fought him? If he had something like that up his sleeves, how would she fare against him? She had a few ideas on how to take him down, but she wasn't sure whether she wanted to try them out or not. Stupid fire types.

"He's running away," Kirishima said, though his tone was soft. "It's not very manly, but he has no other choice. He's completely outgunned, unless he has a plan…"

And he was right, on the screen Midoriya was running for all he had, with Bakugou always hot on his heels. 'What a fucking bully,' Hinami thought, disgusted. Tired of watching the two scrap it out, she switched her attention to Uraraka's screen, where the girl was scrambling after Iida, who was easily outpacing her as he scooted the giant warhead across the floor out of her reach. Hinami bit down a smile, almost rolling her eyes at their antics. Sure, it was effective. But damn, was it funny watching Uraraka try and chase Iida around like those old timey cartoons.

"They're going to kill each other!" Kirishima yelled, his voice cracking in distress. "Sir!"

"Both of you, stop!" All Might commanded, his voice booming.

Too late.

Bakugou and Midoriya careened towards each other, fists cocked back. Bakugou's popped with miniature warm up explosions, while… green lightning crackled around Midoriya. Hinami's breath caught in her throat, eyes wide as she waited for the collision.

And then the building exploded.

Windows shattered, floor by floor, wind roaring as the top of the office building exploded off like the cap of a shaken soda bottle. The floor of the CCTV room rumbled under their feet, again, aftershocks tremoring through the building from the force.

What the fuck?

"Was that… Midoriya's Quirk?" Hinami breathed, eyes flicking back and forth through the cameras, though she couldn't see through the smoke.

"The heroes win!" All Might announced, just as upbeat and unbothered as could be. Damn him! She was going to have a heart attack and he couldn't give a shit.

Uraraka had her arms wrapped around the fake warhead, a serene smile on her face as she affectionately rubbed her cheek on it. Had she used the distraction to nab it? Though as soon as All Might announced their win, she slid off the warhead and crumpled into a queasy little ball, Iida racing over to check on her and rub her back. But… what happened to Midoriya? It was a shame that his Quirk had such a high price, that was incredible. Strength enhancing Quirks of that caliber were rare and precious. Had he really exploded the building with a single punch?

"What a twist," Kaminari chuckled, his hair a little frazzled from where he'd been clutching at it. "The losers are unharmed, but the winners are both on the ground."

"What is that old saying?" Tokoyami asked rhetorically, "They won the battle, but lost the war?"

Hinami hummed and nodded, replaying the battle in her mind. She was glad that Midoriya won, everyone loves an underdog. And what better underdog story than the last place beating not only third place, but also fifth at the same time? Midoriya seemed like he really needed a confidence booster too, he deserved it. Even though it was reckless, his plan worked. And perhaps Bakugou needed to be knocked on his ass a little.

While Med-Bots came and bundled Midoriya off to the nurse, the rest of the class waited for All Might to go fetch the other three students. Hinami spent this time staring at the wreckage of the office building. Midoriya and Bakugou had absolutely trashed it. Besides the fact that a 20-foot-wide hole gaped out the side, there was an even bigger hole tunneling through every floor up to the roof. She'd be genuinely shocked if there was a single intact piece of glass in the entire building. At this point, a strong enough gust was enough to compromise the building's integrity.

And they were only teens.

It made her dizzy to think of what further potential they had. Midoriya had scored dead last and he could still demolish an entire building. Give them a couple years… and they'd be monsters. She clenched a fist, nails biting into the meat of her palm, as her eyes drank in the destruction. She'd been so focused on overtaking Shoto, that she was blind to the other students' potential. Fourth, she'd ranked fourth… and yet, last place had single handedly condemned a five-story building with a single punch.

She didn't even have to wonder for long—she knew damn well that she couldn't do something like that. Sure, she could probably pull the building down eventually, but in one move? Not today, and probably not tomorrow either. How embarrassing.

Restless, antsy energy made her fidget, shifting her weight back and forth as she fiddled with the straps of her waterskin. She'd poured a strawberry kiwi flavoring packet in before she filled it at the water fountain. Though she'd been annoyed at her costume designer initially, she had to admit it was sweet of them to send her little packets of flavor powder, intended to be poured into her waterskin backpack to turn the liquid into an electrolyte solution. (Otherwise known as Gatorade, though they couldn't legally call it that, the designer had explained in the note.)

Her mask, while cool, served a more important purpose. It concealed the tubing system connected to her waterskin, which she wore like a slim, tight fitted backpack. It barely stuck out at all, carefully designed to be thin enough that it didn't ruin the costume's silhouette. As annoyed as she was at the pink and the unwilling homage, she had to admit the designer had style. She liked how the white straps looked against her black suit. The tubes ran through the interior of her costume and up her mask, ending in a small mouthpiece that she could bite down on to start the flow of water. Her mask also helped to hold everything in place so that she never had to fumble for it. It was pretty ingenious, honestly, even if it did make her late trying to figure it out.

And most importantly, it was cool.

All Might busted through the door just then, three puppies on his heels in various states of distress. Bakugou, the most. Iida, the least. Uraraka, the middle ground, just looked like she was gonna barf. But damn, Bakugou really looked like someone smashed his science project right in front of him. Like, a really good science project too. Probably award winning, but he'll never know. Because it was smashed. He had an empty, shellshocked glaze over his eyes and his fists were clenched so hard that his thick heat resistant gloves squeaked.

She didn't know exactly what was going on between him and Midoriya, but it was clear that losing had blindsided Bakugou. It was almost strange to see the aggressive and cocksure boy so… subdued. She frowned, turning her attention away from him after a couple moments. It wasn't as satisfying to see as she thought it would be. It just made her chest ache uncomfortably.

"All right, kiddos!" All Might boomed, hands on hips. "We're going to go over the match we just watched and discuss what could've been done better. But first! I grant young Iida the title of MVP for this match."

"What?!" Iida gasped, jaw hanging open dramatically.

"But why Iida and not Ochako-chan or Midoriya?" Asui asked, holding up her gloved hand as if she were asking a question in class. "Didn't Iida's team lose?"

"That's a good question, young Asui! Can anyone tell me why Iida is the MVP?"

"I can tell you why, sensei," Yaoyorozu said confidently, raising her hand in the air. "Iida embraced the challenge, he was the only one who truly adapted to his assigned role. Bakugou let a personal grudge dictate his actions, and as such, he used a foolishly destructive attack indoors, compromising the building. Midoriya's attack suffered from the same lack of foresight, as it rendered him helpless in a combat situation. As for Uraraka, she lost her focus halfway through and revealed herself to the villain team too early. And her final attack was entirely too reckless, considering they were supposed to treat the warhead as if it were live. Her attack took advantage of the fact that she knew it was a fake, where a real weapon would be much more volatile and delicate. Iida is the MVP because he had a strategy and he never lost sight of his goals, even if he was foiled in the end. Technically, the hero team won, but they didn't respect the spirit of the trial," she finished her explanation, content that she'd covered every angle.

Iida looked like he had ascended straight to heaven. He had an adorable, star struck look on his face as he preened and flushed under the praise. Hinami couldn't blame him, either. Being complimented so eloquently would fluster just about anyone. Though the explanation was pretty wordy…

All Might blinked at Yaoyorozu, at a loss for words for a heartbeat, though he quickly recovered. "What an astute observation, Yaoyorozu! You nailed it! Though I would add that Iida could've eased up a little."

Yaoyorozu gave a dignified nod, hands clasped in front of her. "Thank you, sensei. We've got to start at the bottom and work our way up! We'll never be top heroes if we don't earnestly cheer each other on!" she said, popping her hands on her hips and practically beaming with sincerity.

Hinami bit her lips to stop the smile threatening to spread across them, endeared at the little pep talk. Yaoyorozu was pretty adorable too.

"Let's move on to the next trial!" All Might said, shoving his hands into the two boxes labelled 'heroes' and 'villains.' First he drew a black lot with the letter 'I' on it, and a white lot with 'B.' Hinami quickly lost interest. She wasn't in this fight, so what did it matter? She doubted anything else could match the drama of the first match.

Though she changed her mind right quick as Shoto stepped up. The tall six-armed student was paired with him, while the villains were the tailed boy and the invisible girl, whose costume consisted of… a pair of boots and gloves. Was she really just butt naked? What the fuck were the designers thinking? Hinami struggled to remember her name, Haka-something. Too many names to keep track of.

But one thing was certain, with Shoto in the round… how could it be anything less than entertaining?

"Give 'em hell, Sho," Hinami smirked, playfully slugging her twin in the arm as he walked by.

"I plan on it," Shoto said.

Hinami snickered, wondering what kind of ridiculous trick he had up his sleeves. Should she be egging him on? Those poor villains had no idea what was coming.

A/N: thanks for reading! i'm gonna level with y'all, the lack of reviews is a little discouraging. i appreciate all the favorites and follows, but i'd love to hear from you! that's all i got for now, i'll probably be back soon with the next chapter!