Now comes the finale to the June Arc. I'll reveal the order of each segment next chapter, so feel free to comment at the end what you think it'll end up being. That being said: here's the last week of June.

Kyoka continued to glance back at the supreme gate behind them, trusting Uchimura to guide them through the grounds towards the actual house. He was certainly a nice guy. Not all stiff and formal with no joy like certain fictions would lead her to believe about butlers. Even so, there was just… so much.

Yaomomo wasn't just rich. Rich didn't quantify how supremely above and beyond everyone else her family's wealth preceded. Her "house address" had turned out to be the gates of an estate, with its own bus-stop only a few meters from the main gate. There was some kind of domesticated forest lining the iron fence and walls, which extended to either horizon (or so it seemed). Of course, even all that didn't prepare them for said "house."

Mansion was an understatement. Palace was an insult. Medieval Castle was its ugly stepsibling. The… residence was absolutely massive, almost like a summer home for a giant which had been converted for ordinary people's use. It loomed over them, the exquisite white stone and lacquered wood shining almost judgmentally. The windows shone like diamonds embedded in marble, with what Kyoka could swear was gold and silver veins running through the seams.

"Kamigami above and below…" Kyoka breathed, watching as the sun was cut off by the roof, leaving the little knot of students who'd come over for Momo's Study Group in shadow.

I wonder what Shiozaki and Itsuka would think? Probably something like "Of course she's rich? Haven't you heard of the Yaoyorozu's company: Amazon-Toyota-Wal*Mart?" or maybe "Such blatant materialism. How can our purest beloved be housed in such a prison of greed?" Okay, maybe a little less on that last one.

She didn't notice as they were brought through the front door, lost in her thoughts as she was. However, when they started to wipe their soles on the designated spot, setting their shoes into what looked like a hand-carved rack for them, Kyoka couldn't help but shift her brain power from internal dialogue to imitating Kaminari beside her. Namely the slack-jawed wonder with which they looked around everything.

The ceiling wasn't as high up as she'd expected it to be, and it wasn't covered in artistic murals that would make Shiozaki weep, but otherwise it was exactly the expansive and awe-inspiring as anything Kyoka could imagine, and even that was falling a little short on the carved pillars holding the ceiling up. Ojiro and Sero seemed similarly lost for words, while Ashido was just smirking at all of them. Kyoka quickly shut her mouth and looked away.

"Welcome," said an array of maids, bowing and smiling at the group.

Kyoka glanced to Kaminari out of instinct, remembering he'd asked about maids when they'd met Uchimura. Sure enough, Kaminari was staring at the group transfixed. But it wasn't the usual thirsty expression Mineta and Kaminari held. Instead, Kaminari seemed more enraptured with the costumes themselves (though maybe Kaminari was just staring at their waists).

"Hello there! I'm Yaoyorozu. How wonderful to meet my daughter's friends," a voice came from a nearby hall.

Everyone turned to look, and found a woman who looked like an older, somehow warmer Yaomomo jogging towards them. She was undoubtedly Yaoyorozu-san, her mother. Kyoka could hear the others' jaws drop.

"Hello, ma'am," Kyoka said, swallowing and steadying herself.

Calm down, you're just meeting your girlfriend's mother. Be nice, give a good impression, and don't do anything stupid.

"And five of you! I'm so very glad that Momo has already made so many fr-" Yaoyorozu-san cut herself off, her eyes falling on Kyoka, "Oh. You there…"

The intense look Yaoyorozu-san was staring at her with might have made Kyoka flinch in fear and worry, especially because her onyx eyes glanced over her clothes. Kyoka had decided to take Mina's advice to heart, and was wearing a mixture of her hard rock clothes and some of her tamer gear. The ripped-collar t-shirt, paired with leather pants, showing off the straps on her shoulders and her Deep Dope brand socks were pretty standard; while her studded leather cuffs up her left arm and spiked bangle hanging from her hair spoke to her more intense side.

But thanks to Uwabami's training, she saw past the intensity and to the emotions beneath. Yaoyorozu-san was… feeling nostalgic? Odd.

"Yaoyorozu-san, is everything alright?" Kyoka asked tentatively, gesturing to her shirt, "I'm not stirring up bad memories, am I?"

"Oh! Oh yes. I mean, no," she assured her, smiling again, "I simply adore your fashion. It reminds me of someone I knew back in my youth. I could never quite pull off the look myself, but seeing you brought back those memories. I do apologize if I seemed judgemental."

"No worries," Kyoka grinned, internally relaxing a little as her first impression not only was a success.

With the minor tension sorted, Yaoyorozu-san placed her hands together and tilted her head in a perfect imitation of her daughter.

"Momo's making preparations in the auditorium. Let's get you over there!" she beamed, waving aside Uchimura gently and directing them all to follow her down one of the halls.

As they fell into step behind Yaoyorozu-san, Kyoka felt a little more comfortable in the expansive area. The others were still a little stunned, but entertainingly so.

"Dude… it's like the Palace of Versailles," Kaminari breathed, before turning a bit sheepish, "n-not that I've ever been…"

"Right?!" Sero agreed, slapping Kaminari's shoulder good-naturedly, "Bet this is totally what it's like, though."

"Totally…" Ojiro breathed.

Ashido giggled, stepping over and nudging Kyoka's shoulder with her own. She was positively radiating smugness and teasing energy, which would only end poorly.

"Guess you were right. Yaomomo is a princess."

"Yaomomo?" Yaoyorozu-san asked, catching the nickname and turning to look at them questioningly.

"Yaomomo's the super-cute nickname Jiro came up with," Ashido smirked, making trouble as she was want to do and throwing her arm around Kyoka's shoulders, "Yaomomo liked it so much she has everyone call her that now!"

"A nickname? How wonderful!" Yaoyorozu-san beamed, "Is there one you might give me, Jiro-chan?"

Put on the spot, Kyoka tried to recall how she even came up with Yaomomo's name.

"Um… well, since you're Yaomomo's mom… Yaomom would be too similar, so… Yaomama?" she tried, pretty sure she'd just burnt all of her goodwill from her outfit and promising herself she'd flay Ashido alive for it.

"Wonderful!" Yaomama said, evidently ecstatic with the nickname, "You may call me Yaomama!"

"Pardon?" came a gentle voice from a doorway a little bit down the hall.

A familiar bounce of black hair emerged from the offshoot room, drawing every eye. Kyoka felt her heart flutter just so, seeing Yaomomo in her button-up blouse with no sleeves and a belted pencil-skirt. She wouldn't lie that seeing her crush's bare arms and calves was a bit much to handle that early in the morning, especially with Kendo not able to call her on lying about what she found hot. Not to mention, the glasses were adorable.

"I was just bringing your friends up to see you," Yaomama beamed, gesturing to them, "Jiro-chan has just given me a wonderful little nickname: Yaomama. You didn't tell me how creative she was."

Yaomomo's face turned pink in surprise, but she soldiered through before anyone could say anything. Kyoka was grateful, especially with who was present. Mina wouldn't notice the implications on the first pass, but if they were pointed out: she'd never let them go. Meanwhile Kaminari had no doubt already caught on to the fact Yaomomo evidently talked about her at home, but didn't have the social awareness not to blurt it out had he not been cut off.

"Yes, well, thank you for bringing them, Mother," Yaomomo said, waving them in past her, "I'm sorry I didn't greet you all myself; I was preparing the materials we might need and lost track of time."

"S'alright!" Kaminari grinned, shooting her a finger gun thumbs up.

"I'll send some tea over later," Yaomama promised, waving and heading down the hall, "Be a good teacher now, Momo."

"Yes, Mother," she replied, a hint of hesitation in how she said it, almost like she was holding back a question.

As everyone filed passed Yaomomo and into the prepared room, she shifted a little, as if to reach over and stop her, but restrained the motion. Kyoka saw the act anyway and paused, glancing up at her questioningly.

"My mother didn't bother you, did she?" Yaomomo asked, keeping her voice low.

Seeing Yaomomo needed some reassurance, and since she hadn't been scared off by a motherly threat: Kyoka got up on her toes and placed a gentle kiss on her best friend and crush's cheek.

"You're not gettin' rid of me that easy, Yaomomo," she whispered with a wink, before heading over to join the others for their study session.

Based on the silence behind her, Kyoka guessed she'd stunned her soon-to-be-girlfriend a little more than intended, and silently cursed herself. She had to be more accurate with her attempts. Missing the mark like that wasn't a good sign. Midoriya and Kaminari had better be in for a lot more practice after the finals.

"I suppose there's no reason to delay!" Yaomomo finally said, stepping in after her and letting her eyes fill with the fiery gleam of passion she had in all projects, "Let us begin the tutoring!"

"Yes ma'am, Professorozu!" the others chanted, making Kyoka smile.

It was certainly an apt title.

The study itself wasn't that bad, honestly. Kyoka had mostly just joined in for the sake of seeing Yaomomo on a day off from school, with the quadratic equations more of a justification than anything. Still, she felt far more confident about her coming exams as the lesson progressed.

The same couldn't be said for some of the others. Kaminari in particular was starting to short out, even after a small fiasco with some "brain-food cookies" Yaomama had tried to pass off as edible and even Ojiro had delighted in forcing Kaminari to eat. The poor Hero Student was mixing all sorts of odd ideas now.

"If the chocolate cake has a volume of sixteen milliliters when submerged in water, then the square root of a and b sides squared will be the integral to the Sengoku Jidai, so long as Mercury is in the ninth house of Gryffindor…" Kaminari wheezed, wobbling a little as whatever remained of a brain in the electrical skull shorted out and decided it was done for the day.

"Yo, Kaminari?" Kyoka asked, a little worried her friend was actually losing it now, "You good, fam?"

The electric-user slumped against the table, tilting to face Kyoka with one eye. The "whey face" wasn't there yet, but the eyes were pretty close.

"You think maid skirts are comfy?" Kaminari asked out of nowhere, sounding almost half-asleep, "Like… they're so puffy and soft-looking, but your legs gotta get so cold… 'specially with no hair on 'em… But you could totally hide like, all the answers to a test under there. There's lots a room, and nobody'd look under at them 'cept for Mineta, and that's cause he's a perv…"

Kyoka had a feeling she knew where Kaminari's mind was coming from, even if Denki hadn't realized it yet. Still, it wasn't her place to force the issue.

"Honestly?" she said, keeping her voice low for Kaminari's sake, "I kind of avoid skirts in general. They're more show than anything, and you're right about the cold. I'd say: stick with pants. Plus, Aizawa-sensei'll catch you in a heartbeat if you try to cheat, even with a maid skirt."

Kaminari groaned, turning to face the tablecloth entirely. A groan of utter defeat echoed through the room, and Yaomomo took notice, frowning in concern.

"Kaminari? Are you unwell?"

"No… yes," Kaminari sighed, managing to sit up and lean against the back of the throne-like chair, "I think my brain's all learned out. Can you make something to fix it?"

Yaomomo's eyes filled with sorrow, her inability to make Kaminari something to easily fix the issue of brain-failure probably cutting her down to her very soul. Kyoka reached over a jack to brush her cheek, giving her a reassuring smile. It seemed like it helped a bit.

"I-I'm afraid not, Kaminari," Yaomomo sighed.

Kyoka patted Kaminari's head, noticing the black lightning streak had a slightly different texture from the rest. It'd probably cause problems if it got too long.

"Don't worry, she'll get you there sooner or later," she assured Kaminari, "You just gotta have faith in Yaomomo and keep giving this your Plus Ultra effort."

"Hrmngrhmmmmm," Kaminari grumbled into the fabric, clearly not enthused about the idea of more studying.

"A good thought," Deku agreed, putting a lot of apology into his voice, "but that'll probably get somebody hurt."

"It's not manly to run away!" Kirishima complained, folding his arms and pouting a little, "I just need a special attack that's so powerful: nobody'll ever be able to make me run."

Deku opened his mouth to try and correct him, but realized his attempt would probably end in failure. Kirishima's Quirk was Hardening, but he didn't need it to improve his own stubbornness. Once he was set on something, he'd burn himself to ashes in the attempt before giving up. The only real way to divert him was to methodically change his outlook.

"What if you make running away a special move?" Ochako asked, suddenly inspired.

"What?!" the red-haired boy asked, confused and evidently a little offended.

"Yeah!" Deku jumped aboard, sending Ochako a thankful glance that did terribly wonderful things to her insides, "Picture this: you're up against Dictator. He's got a crowd of innocent civilians under his control and they're being forced to attack you. You can't get past them because of the terrain, but you know that Kaminari's somewhere nearby. What should you do?"

Kirishima seemed dumbfounded.

"So I… can't get him?"

"Not without hurting the civilians," Deku confirmed.

"But… well that's not fair."

"Villains don't play fair."

He thought about it some more, then sighed.

"I guess I'd… have to go get someone who could go around, or… get him to lower his guard," Kirishima admitted, sagging straight in defeat.

Deku really was awesome. He placed a hand on Kirishima's shoulder, getting him to look up before smiling brightly.

"But you don't have to be glum about it," he assured him, "You can make up a super-manly attack name for it, to inspire people instead of worrying them when you run for help. Something that makes them think: "He's gonna bring back someone else just as awesome!" You won't use it very often, so it'll make everyone extra excited because it's a rare move that they'll be able to tell people they saw."

That seemed to spark his interest. Kirishima stiffened up, his expression clearing and his eyes shining with hope. He lowered his head towards his notebook, starting to write down something on the page he had open.

"Running away as an attack that makes people excited? …I bet even Bakugo wouldn't have thought of that! Thanks man!"

"No problem."

Deku brought everyone smiles so easily. It was pretty amazing. Ochako could feel herself smiling, watching as he went around the group to the next person and gave them a scenario to deal with.

"Alright Ida-kun," he said, rubbing his hands together, "Simple one for you. You're on patrol when a major villain attacks somewhere nearby. You race to the scene and find other Heroes engaged already. One seems to be running away with all haste, while the other two are fighting her without evident regard for their lives. None of them speak to you. What should you do?"

Ida's face was red with red already, though he was giving it a good effort. Ochako held back an encouraging chant, knowing he was focusing with all his might.

"I believe it would be most effective to presume the villain was one of such power that those already dealing with it stood little to no chance," he managed, his glasses in his hands as he tried not to snap them, "Thus, to prevent as many civilian casualties, I should similarly fight her without restraint."

Deku smiled up until the last few words, when his face fell. He shook his head, the green curls shaking side to side.

"Almost, Ida. You forget, you can't presume anyone's motives. They might have a personal grudge against this villain, the runner might just be scared, or all of them ought to be influenced by a Quirk. The correct option at that point is to see if you can catch the runner. If they have information: you can use it to make an informed decision. If they're going to get other Heroes, you can get it faster than they can."

"B-but… if the other two are fighting with no self-preservation actions, then they might be hurt or killed!" Ida protested, curling up a little in an attempt to relax his back, "Surely saving their lives is more important than apprehending a potential deserter?"

"If it was just them, I'd say yes," Deku said, his smile gentle and instructive, "But in the grand calculus: two lives against the city's would be an impossible choice. You'd have to stop the villain first, to ensure no one else got hurt, and hope the other Heroes would make it okay."

Ida frowned, folding his arms.

"Who else here doubts Midoriya would make such a choice himself?" he asked pointedly.

Everyone's hands went down, including Ochako's own. She shrugged an apology to him, and he shook his head, blushing. He was about to speak, when he flinched; his hand tightening involuntarily as he ensured the web of "Blackwhip" remained in place, securing everyone's legs to the top of the room.

"I'll bet he'd fly over and get the two Heroes to start thinking straight and fight the long game," Kaminari put in, oddly comfortable-looking for someone hanging from the ceiling, "And once they told him what was up: he'd make a decision."

"Not to mention: Deku's the kind of Hero they'd be callin' on for a big villain like he said," Ochako agreed, enjoying how her best friend blushed at the praise.

Deku shook his head, floating over to face Ochako herself and quickly shutting down her amusement.

"Alright, Senchan," he said, his voice getting a little dark, "Your turn again."

She swallowed, wondering what devious plans she'd have to unravel this time.

"There are two civilians the same distance apart. One says the other is a villain, and holds up a fireball they're ready to throw at the other. The second says the other is a villain, but only has a gun. Who do you subdue, and why?"

Oh no, a Why Question! He's playing dirty, this one.

Well… the fireball is slower, yeah?" she tried, working it out, "And the gun is probably more deadly. So either way I should go for the guy with the gun first, and disarm him? I think I can get us both out of the way of a thrown fireball, so that would mean that if I guessed wrong: I can say I was getting him clear?"

Deku's smile was a little too evil right now. Ochako didn't like it.

"Is that an answer or a question?"

"Um… an answer?"

He remained silent, continuing to smile.

"D-definitely an answer!" she said, panicking a little.

"Good. Because it was the right answer!" he praised, his expression turning bright again, "Always try to eliminate things that can't be taken back. Even if the gunman was the civilian, you can't risk a death because you guessed."

Ochako sagged against her seat, letting her body fall limp as her arms dangled in the air above her.

"Oh my gosh that was so stressful…" she sighed.

"C'mon," Kaminari said, smirking, "They're not that bad. If anything: this hanging stuff makes them easier."

"I take it you're going next?" Ochako asked pointedly, placing her hands on her hips.

"Heck Yeah!" Kaminari confirmed, giving her the classic Kaminari thumbs up, "Hit me with one!"

Deku thought about it for a moment, getting a new grip on his Quirk before nodding to himself and posing the query.

"You're on the attack. A villain has hostages at the center of a heavily guarded base. They know you're there at the entrance. You don't know what's inside, nor where the villain is. How do you proceed?"

Kaminari's face fell, suddenly much less sure about being able to answer.

"Well, ah… well, I can't just rush in?" Kaminari tried, earning a nod from Deku, "And, um… leaving them there isn't an option."

"Good, keep going," Deku encouraged.

"Um… going in slow seems like a bad idea. If there are hostages and cameras that could be bad…"

Koda nodded, giving Kaminari a thumbs up and a smile.

"So I have to be fast, but also not too fast," Kaminari went over again, counting off fingers, "Can't be seen, can't leave, and can't electrocute the entire building because then I wouldn't be able to check and make sure I got everyone, even if it was gentle enough not to hurt the hostages…"

They all sat in silence while Kaminari tried to puzzle it out. A few errant sparks flew from behind the golden-spiked hair, and Kaminari's expression became more and more tired. Eventually, the arms went up and the light of hope went out. Kaminari dangled helplessly, sighing.

"Whey… I don't know. I guess: risk coating my body and grab the power main. Hope I can get in while they're in the dark, pray the hostages are still there when I find them."

Ochako considered it. Not an awful plan, but… probably wouldn't work.

"Interesting choice. Anyone else have an idea?" Deku asked, offering it up to the others.

"I believe a frontal assault would be meaningless!" Ida piped up, "A surgical strike from the side at high speeds would guarantee safety!"

"Maybe… using the animals in the building to distract everyone?" Koda offered, almost silently.

"Outlast 'em until back-up arrives and we can crush the whole place at once!" Kirishima insisted.

Ochako considered it for a moment before asking: "Did they ask for a ransom?"

Everyone looked at her incredulously, clearly thinking she was thinking about money.

"I mean, they took hostages," she protested, flushing, "So they want something."

They all looked at her like she was crazy, except for Deku. He seemed not to have considered that, nodding and smiling as his super-fast brain put together what she'd suggested.

She rarely outpaced Deku at anything, especially not in intellectual matters, and doing so now was excellent for her confidence. So often she was told she was simply Deku's puppet in joint exercises, or that she was only improving because he was helping, but little moments like these helped reassure her. Ochako was her own person, and her talents and strength were her own. Of course, being more like Deku wasn't such a bad thing, was it?

"You haven't heard what they want," Deku said, cutting into her thoughts, "but there are guards out front."

Snapping her fingers, Ochako made her usual finger guns and pointed at her best friend.

"That then. I'll wave them down out front and ask what they want. We can settle things peacefully."

"They want a plane to China big enough for all of them, and they're going to keep the hostages until they land to make sure," Deku told her, smiling.

At that, all of them winced.

China had a strict "no Quirks, no Heroes" policy anywhere within its borders, with foreign embassies as the only exception. If villains made it there, they'd never be caught. Many villains fled to the territory when they got in a bind, knowing they could handle the police there and that so long as they didn't awaken the military: they could lie low until they were ready to leave.

"Then it looks like that's the best option," Ochako sighed, folding her arms, "On a plane at least buys us time to get other Heroes there, and shrinks the distance we have to cover to get to the hostages. The real trick, I guess, is getting them to buy that we're genuine up until we're not. Hm… maybe play it quiet while they're in Japanese airspace and get some Korean Heroes to hit them before they make it across the Sea of Japan?"

"Sounds good to me," Deku said, bowing his head slightly.

They seemed about to move on to Koda, when Kaminari spoke up.

"Wait, what did you think the answer was, Midoriya? You didn't consider her plan until she brought it up."

"Oh… I was trying to make a little wooden boat. Senchan beat me though," Deku admitted.

"A… a what?" Ida asked, confusion showing on his face through the blood in his cheeks.

"A Kobayashi Maru," he clarified, saying it again, but almost like an English phrase this time, "It means: "unwinnable case scenario." It's an old reference to a test they'd make Heroes take to test how they'd react when there was no way to succeed."

Ochako frowned, furrowing her ultra-expressive eyebrows as she thought about the phrase. She'd heard Tsuyu-chan use that phrase before, hadn't she? Maybe she could ask her at school tomorrow.

"Well, did we do well, at least?" Kaminari asked hopefully.

"Well, all of your plans mean you make it out with at least one hostage, but none of you save them all and the villains mostly get away in every scenario except Senchan's, where the entire group gets caught, and it's a coin-toss as to how many hostages make it out alive."

They all sagged in defeat. Even Ochako's wasn't a great solution. Deku seemed to decide that was enough for today, and began to lower them all back to the ground.

Oh my -d, I told them to get this sorted, not double-down and throw a hissy-fit! Katsuki thought, grinding his teeth as he watched Kaibara and Tsuburaba adamantly not acknowledge the other was in the room.

After being nearly kicked out of the library, they'd had to put up some of Tsuburaba's Air Shields to block out the sound. The difficulty came when they had to seal off the gap between two book-cases which Kaibara happened to be sitting with his back to, and Tsuburaba had refused to acknowledge the direction itself. Monoma had to do it for him, which would have been the end of it, if not for the fact the tension was affecting the others in the group.

Hagakure and Kirishima kept glancing at the two, trying to study but always getting distracted. Katsuki tried to get them to focus, wielding his roll of paper indiscriminately to whap their heads when their eyes wandered towards the fighting couple. He might have been able to deal with it or at least throw them out, but Monoma was still there for some reason, and the guy kept getting in his way. Cutting him off when he tried to scold the pair, asking him something stupid when he was about to call them out, and just generally being a pain in everyone's -.

"Okay… this is right, right bro?" Kirishima asked, flipping his paper around and showing him the algebra he'd just finished.

Katsuki reached down, whipping it off the table and looking over it with a merciless eye. They were all done right, finally, but there were far too many eraser marks. Kirishima needed more practice on this, or he'd fail for sure.

"They're right, -ty Hair," he confirmed, tossing it back, "Just make sure you remember how to do 'em next time. You took way too long to get these done."

"What about these?" Kaibara asked, sliding over his own.

Katsuki clenched his fist before ripping the paper off the table. He didn't look at it though. He just glared at the boy. They held a staring contest for thirty-seven seconds before Kaibara grabbed it back.

"Fine, I'll just ask-"

"Huffy!" Katsuki yelled, getting Tsuburaba's attention, "Check Handyman's work."

"I-"

"Don't be a pissant and check the -n paper," he growled, before pointing at Monoma, "And don't even think about helping them, Glancer."

Monoma frowned, folding his arms indignantly.

"Glancer? Is that supposed to be clever?"

"Copycat sounds too innocent for you," Katsuki smirked, enjoying the new nickname he came up with.

While it was obviously a joke on him being a cheater who stole other people's powers (or glanced at their answers when taking a test), but also included "lancer" which was the term for the snubbed second fiddle and rival to a main character: the perfect spot for Monoma to fill. Best of all, Monoma was too stupid to figure out the double-meaning.

"More like you 1-Aers are too lazy to say names with more than two syllables," Monoma snorted, nonetheless leaving the two boys alone.

Katsuki glanced over at Hagakure, noticing her stiffen up in surprise.

"You finish your Quadratics yet, Streaker?" he asked, not super roughly but enough to get her to answer in a timely manner.

"Y-yeah," she squeaked, holding up her page, "I was just starting on my derivatives."

Turning away without saying anything else, Katsuki was glad to hear her sigh of relief. He had to be tough on them, and they had to believe without a shadow of a doubt that the only way they'd escape his wrath was by improving, and that the only reward was more time. Any slack, and they'd take advantage of a perceived weakness.

Katsuki spared a glance at the boys, noticing they'd fact-checked one another and were sitting in opposite directions again. It pissed him off, seeing them like that.

Sure, it was probably none of his business, but they were in his squad (evidently) and they'd both come to this study session on their own and refused to leave. Either they could figure their -t out or scat, he didn't care.

"Huffy, Handyman," he said, leveling a finger at the pair, "Get out."

The two looked appalled at his insistence, both speaking up at once to try and complain about the command.

"We have just as much right to be here as you or they do!" Kaibara said, his fingers buzzing threateningly.

"Monoma said you were the best guy to talk to about figuring this crap out!" Tsuburaba talked over him, "I guess you're just a j-s who talks big but can't actually help!"

Cracking his knuckles just by clenching his fingers, Katsuki didn't even need to spark an explosion to silence the two.

"Streaker," he hissed, drawing the group's attention, "Why are you here?"

Hagakure shivered and answered in a bit of a quavering voice.

"T-to learn? Um, because you said you could help me raise my grade?"

"Why do you need to do that? You're middle of the pack, you'll be fine how you are now."

"B-because," Hagakure said, some conviction coming into her voice, "I don't just wanna be okay. I wanna be great. A great Hero who saves people and shows everyone that even really weak Quirks can be useful!"

Katsuki ignored her answer, turning to Kirishima.

"-ty Hair, why are you here?"

"To get some knowledge beaten into my skull! You're gonna make me the manliest Hero ever with all the smarts you're gonna give me!" he said instantly, making a triumphant fist.

"Glancer?"

For once, Monoma didn't talk -t, evidently realizing there was a reason why he was asking. He could think if he actually tried, it was just that he didn't bother doing it very often.

"Best Jeanist said I needed to be more like you. More action and more initiative. I figure the best way to learn is to watch up close."

"Best Jeanist hated me," Katsuki smirked, "Why would he give you -t advice like that?"

"Because I'm all by the book. You're writing your own story about how to be a d-head Hero, but one who'll go further than someone who just plays it safe," Monoma said, slamming a fist into his hand, "I pick up some of that fire, and I'll knock you off your glass house and show the world what a true Hero can be."

Flipping off his rival, Katsuki turned to the odd couple.

"You two are wasting my time," he said bluntly, "You can't look at one another, you won't help each other, and you're inconveniencing everyone else by making them act as your little messengers or having them slow down to deal with you when you'd be ahead by working with one another. I ain't no snitch, I'll let you keep the why to yourself. It's your own problem, and it's yours to deal with how you want. But you bring it here, and mess with my squad: and it becomes my problem. Now either sort it and I'll turn you into actual fighters, or you can leave."

Tsuburaba scoffed and seemed ready to stand, but a hand caught his shoulder. He glanced to the side, seeing Kaibara holding him back. The actual fighter of the pair seemed conflicted, but Katsuki wasn't surprised, considering what he'd confessed about the relationship a week earlier.

"We'll… stay," he said, his face turning red as he stood, "Just, um… give us a minute to sort some things, okay?"

Prickishly checking a watch he didn't have, Katsuki grumbled and jerked his head towards a distant aisle of the library.

"You have three. One second longer and I'll come over and drag you back myself," he snapped, "Go."

The two stepped over to one of the Air Shields, Tsuburaba sucked it back into his lungs, replacing it once they'd passed. The two didn't have to go far, the soundproof shield allowing them to just talk. Everyone was quiet anyway, straining to hear what they were saying. Hagakure's shirt tugged a little, and Katsuki realized she was pinching the sleeve and looking at it; evidently contemplating stripping down to secretly get closer.

"Have you finished your formal Japanese yet, Streaker?!" Katsuki asked, snapping her attention away from them.

The other three quickly got back to work, shivering as he batted his paper roll in his hand a little. Despite his words, Katsuki couldn't help but glance at the couple himself.

One think Katsuki was not was stupid. He knew how things worked and how logical cause and effect related. He'd learned long ago that he might go deaf from his own power, and knew both JSL and how to read lips.

{"Why can't you just be cool about this and leave stuff how it was?!"} Tsuburaba asked, his face turning red and his hands waving around wildly, {"-l, why can't we just leave? Bakugo's an -s!"}

{"Because he's right,"} Kaibara said, hunching until he was shorter than his partner, {"He can make us so much stronger than we are. But we have to be mature about this. I- I want to be your friend again."}

{"What are you talking about? We are friends."}

{"No. We're -buddies. Our friendship… it's in tatters, if it's even still there. I can't- I don't just want to be the guy you sleep with. And…"} Kaibara swallowed, bracing himself and resuming his normal height as he tried to hype himself up, {"And you deserve to know. I know we said we wouldn't, but I think I've… started to have actual feelings for you."}

Tsuburaba's posture wilted little by little, the truth almost literally weighing him down. Then the last sentence hit him. The boy looked like a plank of wood, bent until it snapped. His expression paled, all the anger and confusion draining out and leaving him hollow. The guy actually slumped against the bookshelf, Kaibara moving forward to support him a bit.

Katsuki couldn't see what Tsuburaba said, his mouth obscured by Kaibara's head as it was, but the shock and hurt; the touch of hope at the end that shot through his expression told Katsuki all he needed to know. The support shifted into a hug, and the two stayed still for a moment.

"Time's up," Katsuki decided, stepping over to the wall and banging on the wall, causing it to vibrate and then crack.

The two boys jumped in surprise, suddenly caught by four sets of eyes. As the Air Shield crumbled away, Tsuburaba swallowed and glanced at the group, realizing they'd probably figured out some of what they'd talked about.

"Are you gonna study now, or do we have to break you another door?" Katsuki asked, leveling his hand at the Air Shield facing the rest of the library.

Kaibara swallowed, before reaching down and taking Tsuburaba's wrist, carefully avoiding his hand and fingers.

"We'll stay," he confirmed, pulling his partner forward and giving him a little shove ahead of him, "And we'll be alright."

As they passed, Katsuki whacked the back of their heads with his paper, knocking them into their seats. While they got settled again, he moved over to the bookshelf and pulled down one of the tomes he'd been careful to have nearby when they picked their spot.

Slamming down the book on their table, he slid the volume to Monoma.

"You said you know history," he said, grinning evilly, "So you get to teach them this bit."

"Didn't you just say you're gonna be the one to turn us into better Heroes?" the blonde asked, offended, "What makes you think you can weasel out now?!"

He missed hitting Monoma, but the swing made the two boys who were behind flinch all the same.

"I have to catch up these two morons, and I can't keep an eye on you all at the same time I'm keeping them from getting distracted."

Fury radiated from Tsuburaba and Kaibara, along with enough embarrassment that Katsuki was able to maintain his sadistic smile.

"Let's get to work then, eh Glancer?"

"Sure, whatever… Zero-A," Monoma grinned.

"Come on guys," Kendo tried, placing a hand on Setsuna's shoulder, "You got this!"

Set felt herself brighten up a little, Kendo's words having a similar effect to when she'd whispered sweet nothings back in May. She almost fought it, instinctively defying the manipulation of her feelings, but Kendo meant no harm and was always interested in everyone's safety and happiness, so she let the good vibes flow into her.

Glancing back down, Set scribbled down a few more layers of equations, making it about halfway through the conversions before she ran low on motivation again. Sadly, Kendo was moving over to gently coerce Komori and Yanagi into completing their chemistry conversions as opposed to chatting. Well, chatting in the sense that Komori was talking and Yanagi was paying attention.

The two of them have been awfully close ever since that sleepover with Pony, she mused, noticing the way Yanagi's intense eyes focused unblinkingly on Komori's far more expressive features as she chattered about her recent attempts to edit music for her original song, I wonder if it's just that "American Melting-Pot" stuff she always talks about? I mean, it's not like Pony'd let her new best friend get stolen in under a month. That -ch is possessive when she gets goin'.

Somehow, the two managed to look back down at their books for a few seconds, but after another handful, Yanagi's crystal eyes flicked up to the fluff of hair covering Komori's, and a smile came out from under the bangs. Then, to Setsuna's complete and utter surprise: Yanagi smiled back. Not a big smile, more a tiny quirk of the lips; a mild raise of the corners, but undeniably a smile.

The -k?

That just made Komori's smile even bigger, followed by a flicker of- was that bashfulness from Yanagi?

THE -K?!

They quickly hid their grins, getting back to their work to avoid Kendo coming back, but for a moment they'd been there. Yanagi never smiled! She was always in some kind of competition with Kodai to keep the longest straight face of all time. A competition which she'd just… lost, for no good reason.

"Yui, Tetsuract, c'mon guys," Kendo sighed, drawing Set's attention, "What do I gotta promise you guys to get you to focus? I know you got this stuff down, you just gotta put in some time."

"Mm," Kodai said, being helpful like usual with those untranslatable hums that she just somehow understood.

""Yes, to Kodai you listen,"" Tetsutetsu smirked.

Kendo seemed about a second from karate chopping everyone, which was usually a bad thing. Luckily, even though she couldn't resist her new feminine wiles, Setsuna could see and state the blatantly obvious that nobody else wanted to.

"Barring whatever Kodai said (sorry hon, but I can't understand a word you're sayin')," Setsuna piped up, whispering to the blank-faced girl in the middle of her own sentence, "You're bein' too flat, Prez."

"Mm," Kodai nodded, (probably) forgiving Set her trespasses.

Placing her hands on her hips, Kendo frowned almost to the point of pouting, looking over at Setsuna and raising her eyebrows invitingly.

"You know the old cliche: carrot and the stick?" Set asked, picking up her pencil and sending a hand over to grab Komori's eraser to help with the object lesson.

The mushroom-girl let out a little "hey!" as it flew away, but Setsuna just shot her tongue out, literally hovering it a few centimeters out of her mouth before retracting it and holding the two objects out for Kendo to see.

"You're goin' all carrot- er, mushroom," she explained, holding up the eraser, "and honestly: plants aren't the best treat anyway. There's no reason to work when they're just gonna get another reward when you come back to motivate them."

Then she held up the pencil, making a grouchy face.

"But if you were like that Bakugo guy," she growled, making her voice extra over-done, "Then you'd be doin' just stick stick stick, and the only reward would be: no more stick."

Tossing the eraser back, she took care to watch and see if Yanagi would use her Quirk to catch it for her. She did, which was very interesting.

"Basically Prez., ya either gotta give them something better to look forward to than getting lost in someone's eyes, or add in some consequences for not following through."

Kendo seemed pretty unimpressed by her analysis, which sucked because Set thought she'd done a pretty good job explaining it that time. Even Yanagi was nodding, though based on how she was lowering her head, it might have just been to hide a brush behind her bob of silver hair.

"I could leave you drooling on the floor?" Kendo offered, holding up a straight hand ready for chopping.

"I mean, if you're gonna be unoriginal about it," Set sniffed, mockingly snooty, "Personally, I'd use some of your new acting powers. Promise things you can't possibly deliver, threaten things you won't follow through on; ya know: stuff like a guy would do."

"Okay, firstly: ouch," Tetsutetsu said, frowning and folding his arms, "Lying is so not Manly."

"And secondly," Kendo stepped in as well, "Why would you give those as things I should do, then?"

Setsuna shrugged as if she had no idea what either of them were talking about, even taking an extra second to pause halfway through so it seemed like two shrugs piled on top of each other.

"Just keepin' ya on brand, hon. You've got that, to borrow a familiar adjective: "Manly" energy."

"Mm."

As Set turned to try and verify if Kodai was agreeing with her, something impacted her neck so hard her head was detached from the body, her Quirk activating on its own to prevent her from dying. Before she could get a hold of her flight though, a hand whipped out and gripped her hair, forcing her to hang from the grip. She tried to smile as she was brought nose to nose with Kendo, who was keeping up an obviously strained-patience smile.

"How about this then," she asked, her voice dripping with hidden menace, "You do your -n work, or I swing your head around like a bolas to help work off the stress of dealing with you today, hm?"

Everyone was dead silent for a moment, before Set's cheeks turned red and she grinned evilly.

"Oh Kami yes," she breathed, trying to be as sultry as possible, "Talk down to me, daddy."

Her smirk was broken as Kendo slammed it into her open textbook, before resting an elbow on the back of her head. Rather than feel nice, it actually kind of hurt.

"One more comment like that and I actually will throw your head like a bolas. Make you try and find it for the next few hours," Kendo grumbled, exasperation replacing the anger at least.

Groaning in annoyance, Setsuna pulled her body over and reattached, sighing and trying to push Kendo's arm off her. She managed to get her head turned to the side rather than face-down, but the elbow was annoyingly quick to replace itself at her temple.

"Jeez, take a-"

She cut herself off as the weight increased, Kendo's fist expanding a little to keep her weighed down. More terrifying was the face that had come over to the table, laying sideways to stare directly into her eyes, but somehow not looking silly.

Kodai's eyes were hard to read sometimes, usually very intense with so many emotions that otherwise would be on her face, but now they were crystal clear. She was not happy.

"No," she said, leaving the single word to hang in the air.

Setsuna just stared in shock for a moment, not quite sure what was happening. What she did know was pretty obvious: Kodai and Kendo were not to be messed with without witnesses willing to step in on her behalf.

"Okay, okay, I give!" she said, feeling the elbow press into her skin a little harder and feeling it actually start to hurt, "I'll do my freakin' studies…"

Kendo let up almost immediately, leaving her to her work. Set took a moment to massage her head, wondering if she'd have a bruise or just be sore for a few days, but quickly got her neck hunched over again to make sure she didn't incur more retaliatory… whatever they'd dream up next.

That wasn't to say she was doing her work exclusively, of course. She had to be sure she knew how the others were reacting to this. The tea was just too good for that.

Popping out her eye and part of her brow so the lid would come with, Set took a glance around at the three members of the group who hadn't initiated violence. Tetsutetsu was just kinda doin' his thing; bein' steel and chugging away like the good locomotive he was. Komori and Yanagi though… were sitting back to back?

She had to pull her eye back over to keep Kendo from seeing it, but once the coast was clear again: Set took another look. She confirmed: the two were facing away from each other, both seated on a bench so their books could lay in their laps or a few centimeters in front of them on the seat.

They couldn't possibly be fighting, especially not with the drama that just went down taking up the whole space between now and when they'd been doing their smiling thing. So why were they suddenly… at odds?

Shooting Kendo a quick glance to make sure she wouldn't be seen and preparing to endure the usual headache of bifocal vision with eyes pointed in different directions, she sent her eye over to see what was up with the two. Set had to make sure she wouldn't be seen by her targets either, so she made sure to go high, well above their vision lines from their similar sight-blocking hair.

At first nothing seemed out of the ordinary. They were just studying, adamantly looking away from one another. Yanagi was scribbling down kanji, her pencil scratching along like always, and Komori was idly swirling her pencil in her notebook while reading something to do with the preindustrial era of art.

Hold the phone…

Yanagi was writing with her non-dominant hand. She was good enough that Set hadn't known she was right-handed until she'd asked, but why would she be risking it? Komori was just doodling, but even she was using her right hand. The other was just hanging loosely at her side. Heck, she didn't even bring it over to flip the page-

Excuse the -k me, when did this happen?! Setsuna thought, half angrily as she finally realized the secret they'd been keeping from her.

Yanagi and Komori were holding hands while they worked. They'd positioned themselves to keep their interlocked fingers out of Kendo's view, and made sure they couldn't even be tempted to look at one another and give themselves away now, but from her new angle: Set could see it as clear as the words on her page.

"Ahem," a voice cut into her revelation, making her glance up instinctively and immediately regret it as Kendo saw the missing slab of her face.

She tried smiling innocently, snapping the eye back over to her with all speed, only for it to be caught in Kendo's expanded hand. The speed she moved to snap her fingers around the object safely, let alone expand it in time was more than impressive. It would have probably been cooler if it didn't mean she'd just been caught.

"Uh, that's mine," Set tried, reaching out as if to take it back by hand.

"I know it's yours. Mind telling me what it's doing over there?" she asked, jerking a thumb back towards Komori and Yanagi, both of whom were glaring at her.

"Just getting some ~tea~," Setsuna sang, wiggling her eyebrow at the pair.

Komori shuddered, clearly unnerved at the missing part of her head being so bare, while Yanagi just seemed unimpressed. Pity, she was hoping they'd be picking up on her hints and back her up out of a sense of blackmail. Oh well.

"Tokage; Yanagi and Komori already came to me asking for date ideas," Kendo deadpanned, "Tetsuract doesn't care and won't spread it around, and Yui was there when they came out about liking each other. You don't have a leg to stand on, assuming those are both where you left them."

"-d-n Uwabami mind-reading tricks," Set groused, detaching her hand as she threw it at Kendo's head halfheartedly.

Kendo let go of the eye, instead catching the hand and squeezing it a little. Setsuna made sure to fracture the captured limb, knowing Kendo's finger-pulling techniques would make even her scream, and not in the good way.

"Speaking of," the class representative beamed, her entire demeanor shifting as she turned to look at the evident couple, "if you two want to sit together more, that's okay. Evidently the cat's out of the bag, but you've been studying so well, I trust you."

Then her mood snapped back to deadly, a finger in Set's face instantly.

"And if you breathe so much of a word of this before they're ready, I will disassemble you and put the pieces in jars until you turn green like an actual lizard, kapish?"

Set gave her thumbs up, smiling in terror as Kendo moved over to praise Tetsutetsu's physics conversions.

Terrifying woman. Setsuna wanted one when she was older. Not that one, of course, she was too familiar with how to kill her. But someday, she'd have a terrifying girl to call her own. Or a guy. Or someone in between. She couldn't be bothered with irrelevant details.

"I can't believe you!" Tsunotori protested, huffing out an adorable grunt of what was probably anger (?), "You tried to learn English from watching All Might?! Midoriya, that's like- the dumbest thing I've ever heard! And I learned Japanese exclusively to watch anime without waiting for a dub! How in the -ll did you possibly think that would work?!"

Midoriya blushed, twiddling his hands a little in embarrassment.

"I- I wanted to know what he was saying, is all," he half-heartedly tried to defend himself, "A-and I got better! I can speak it mostly fluently now!"

Tsunotori smirked, glancing at Koji as if sharing a private joke. He held up his hands in surrender, shaking his head as he had no idea what she was about to do.

"Do you want an honest criticism of your accent, or should I just say good job! and call it a day?"

Sadly for Midoriya, he wasn't quick enough on the draw to respond with a good retort. He also couldn't counter her accusation of a bad accent, as her own was somewhat of an enigma. Whenever she spoke Japanese, Tsunotori was usually quite well adjusted, barring a few hints of her American accent or she slipped up a tense or just used an English word. Oddly, her biggest issues came when she slipped back into her native tongue, and brought some Japanese with her.

Tsunotori had started out the study session with a panicked monologue in English, but either out of habit or thanks to some background they weren't aware of: her emphasis and accent had been undeniably Japanese, not one of the various American flavors. Of course, by now it'd changed to one so adamantly western they couldn't touch it.

"...I'm always willing to learn?" Midoriya tried, clearly hoping for the easy way out.

"About Heroes, at least," Shiozaki sighed, shaking her head, "Even from what little I'veseen of you, there seems to be no end to your trivia and gluttony for such information, while the rest of the worlds appears to evade your notice."

Midoriya wilted in acceptance, nodding a little.

"You're not wrong…"

"Come now," Tokoyami said, his own accent markedly more improved than anyone's but Shiozaki and Pony's, "Midoriya is endeavoring to be a Hero. Should not his shadow be cast where he seeks to go?"

"Oh great, he speaks in metaphors in English too now," Dark Shadow grumbled, moving over to sit beside Yuwai-chan and pet the rabbit evenly, "It was bad enough in one language, but now he can do it in stereo!"

Yuwai-chan shivered a little bit, getting into a comfier position so she could cuddle the more curvy parts of Dark Shadow and still get pet.

{"I like this one,"} she indicated, knowing Koji could understand her.

{"I'm pretty sure she likes you too,"} he agreed, using his Anivoice so the conversation would be equally confidential from his side.

Yuwai-chan flicked her ears back, brushing Dark Shadow's hand a little.

{"She is afraid of me. Make her brave."}

Koji couldn't actually hear words from animals, their brains were too primitive in most cases to grasp language, but he got the general intent. Now though, even that was somewhat vague. "Make her brave"? What did that even mean?

{"Her petting is good, but I want scritches."}

Ah.

"Dark Shadow-san?" Koji asked quietly, the golden eyes turning to look at him curiously, not unlike a small puppy or kitten, "Yuwai-chan would like you to scratch her neck somewhat. She seems to think you're too timid."

The Quirk seemed to start in surprise.

"Oh! S-Sure thing," she agreed, returning to Japanese in what looked like surprise.

Dark Shadow bent her fingers just slightly before continuing to pet the rabbit, scratching the skin below the fur just a little. Yuwai-chan let out a noise of content and gratitude, and Koji nodded his thanks.

"I love your bunny," Tsunotori sighed, sighing and leaning a cheek on her hand, "She's so fluffy and gentle…"

"D-don't believe it," Koji attempted to joke, smiling shakily, "She's a greedy little s-scamp. She demands cuddles and scritches, and if she's not fed on time: she screams."

That only seemed to make Tsunotori more infatuated, cooing happily at the concept. Koji couldn't be mad at someone who made such a happy face.

Honestly, he had to admit: Tokoyami's idea had turned out pretty good so far. He'd originally suggested they all get together to help Tsunotori figure out Japanese a little better; her habit of switching back to English when she hit a word she didn't know evidently a bit of an embarrassment for her.

First it had just been the three of them and Dark Shadow, with his knowledge of English able to help smooth over the issues between the other two. Shiozaki had insisted on coming after a pair of sessions, either because she wanted to be a chaperone or because she just wanted to keep Tsunotori company when in the presence of two boys from the other class, she hadn't said.

Midoriya had ended up coming along later after an event where she'd had a word that nobody could translate and was getting angry about not being able to explain what she'd meant. When Midoriya had walked by, he'd guessed it in one, and been able to explain in English why it hadn't come across so well that Dark Shadow had proclaimed him a master they needed to exploit.

Today was English day, which meant no Japanese if they could help it. Specifically though, Koji had invited them where he lived so he could get to school, since even the bullet train couldn't get him there and back each day. The plan was to prepare for finals, but they'd mostly just been relaxing and chatting, which was kinda studying English… in a way.

"Ya know," Tsunotori said, getting a contemplative look, "I wonder what they're gonna put in the practical stuff on Saturday? Vlad sensei said they had a plan to make us fight pro Heroes to show us how far we had to go, but Kendo said some guys in second year were talking about how it's just entrance exam robots. Like, less delicate ones than the exam, but the same thing."

All eyes turned to Midoriya expectantly, and he turned red instantly.

"Wh- what makes you think I know what's going to happen?"

"You'll probably have the best guess, even if you don't," Tokoyami pointed out, to which he just sighed.

"Well… I'd guess part of the exam might be gathering information beforehand. If I had to guess, it'd be something that deals with what we've learned, focusing on areas where we've fallen short."

"Battle Training from our first week," Koji agreed, nodding.

"Mobility training from after our internships," Shiozaki said, building on his idea.

"Rescue Training from the USJ. So far as it went, anyways…" Dark Shadow concluded.

"I never did hear what happened with all that," Tsunotori asked, her eyes widening with interest, "There were some villains there, right? Did they, like, damage something or-?"

The group shivered, only Shiozaki and Tsunotori not affected by the mutual bad memories. They all remained silent for a few seconds while everyone waited for someone else to speak up.

"There was a full-on invasion," Tokoyami finally said, "They were there… to kill All Might. We were just in the way."

Tsunotori's expression paled, and without warning she lunged at Tokoyami, hugging his midsection and laying her head across his chest to avoid stabbing his face with her horns. Koji glanced away tactfully, only to start in surprise when something tapped his shoulder. It was Shiozaki, glancing between him and Midoriya.

"I know you are a bit uncomfortable around others," she whispered, "but if you two would like a hug as well, I'm always happy to give them."

Koji itched at the side of his head, abashed but nodding gratefully. The memories weren't good ones, and hugs were very helpful. Midoriya nodded too, his eyes watering a little as they were want to do.

Shiozaki performed her usual magic trick of hugging them both with an arm each, and her vines coming around to make sure she got them all the way held. She was very good at hugs. Only the hint of pressure required for comfort and reassurance, without any pain or tension.

Everyone just basked in one another's presence for a bit, letting the better here and now replace the past.

"Pony… you can let go now…" Tokoyami muttered, his tone so full of embarrassment it was a little funny.

Still, the moment had passed, and it was time to get back to other matters. Everyone released one another, Shiozaki smiling kindly at either of them before shuffling back to her usual spot. Yuwai-chan indicated mild confusion, but didn't care too much as Dark Shadow had figured out she liked her belly rubbed.

"Um, right," Tsunotori mumbled, brushing at her hair self-consciously, "We were talking about finals, right?"

"Yes… finals. Right!" Midoriya beamed, clearly trying to pick back up where they'd left off, but having to pull himself through a bit of mental gymnastics to recall what they'd been discussing, "So Battle, Movement, Rescue… maybe something from our internships? Maybe procedural? Oh, and Aizawa-sensei had us fight him last week, so… definitely a combat."

"He did? Vlad-sensei had us do rescues at the USJ, but he had us in teams to try and make the other groups mess up," Tsunotori noted, seeming a bit put out about it.

A familiar buzz came from his side, and Koji turned to see Midoriya's trademark muttering going at his usual million-kilometer-per-hour pace. Tokoyami and he were familiar with the practice, and the other two at least knew of it, but Tsunotori still got a bit testy with him when he mixed Japanese with another language she didn't speak: Deku-ese.

He was getting better about it though. After about forty seconds into his rant, he cut himself off and turned red with embarrassment.

"S-sorry," he muttered, "I, um- that is, I was thinking. Sorry."

"Yes, but what were you thinking?" Tsunotori asked, leaning forward with interest, "Did you figure out what they're gonna have us do? We need to be ready!"

Midoriya wobbled his head a little, clearly weighing the options. Koji knew he was too excitable to keep things to himself, so he didn't push. Midoriya would tell them soon enough.

"Best guess: they're trying to trick us," he said, finally nodding and coming to a decision, "Class 1-B wasn't hit by the League of Villains, and a good deal of them suffered for the sudden gap in experience during the festival after. Meanwhile, 1-A didn't really get to have an initial proper rescue instruction from Thirteen. I'll bet they're going to test us in areas where we'll fall short if we don't force ourselves to grow. Probably by having 1-A do some tests around control or finesse of our Quirk application, while 1-B has to face some overwhelming firepower."

"Firepower? Why is that our weakness?" Shiozaki asked, not offended like Monoma might be, but curious nonetheless.

"When we fought the League of Villains, one thing above all else we had to learn on the spot was that we are pitifully outmatched right now," Midoriya said, his expression dark, "It's not something you can learn easily or by explanation. I'll bet you have to fight teachers, and the only way to win will be to escape."

She seemed to accept that logic, nodding to herself and pulling over a vine to stare at contemplatively.

"And we're going to be facing fine-control… why?" Tokoyami asked.

Midoriya brightened, smiling and clapping his hands together.

"Oh, that's easy. We're all way too forceful. Kaminari and Ashido would probably jump for joy if they could fight bots, since they can just let loose, but against people: I think only a few of us are actually able to hit someone tougher than we are without killing them."

Koji held a hand to his chest, mock-offended at the implications. Oddly enough, it was Shiozaki who corrected him.

"Koda-kun, you have a rabbit under your total control," she reminded him, glancing at Tsunotori with a knowing grin, "Nothing can defeat such a beast, save a DED."

Unsure what she was talking about, Koji blinked and tilted his head, not unlike some of his animals might.

"Divine Explosive Device," Tsunotori explained, grinning herself, "You don't happen to have one, do you?"

"I'm afraid I couldn't stop by Antioch before coming today, but if all else fails: I know the blessing by heart to make a different attack work."

"But would it work if you had to vocally announce it and then wait three seconds?" Midoriya asked, looking playfully skeptical, "I mean, most Heroes attack with their super moves while they do them. Waiting seems… a bit tactically lacking, I guess?"

""Three shall be the number thou shalt count, and the number of the counting shall be three!"" Shiozaki informed him, leveling a finger as if ready to smite a heretic (could she actually do that? Koji wondered).

"Yeah, yeah," Midoriya sighed, ""Four shalt thou not count, neither count thou two, excepting that thou then proceed to three.""

""Five is right out,"" Dark Shadow agreed, ending the argument.

Evidently Koji was the new most deadly member of the Hero Course.

Neat.

"The first ever Joint Study Session is hereby begun!" Neito proclaimed, placing his fists at his waist.

No one said anything back. Mostly because nobody else was there.

Neito had called for his class to come and prepare for their finals together, written and practical, and he was certain each of them knew when and where it was being held, so where were they? They certainly wouldn't have skipped out on this most important of meetings for something trivial.

That being said, what could have possibly enraptured all nineteen of his classmates without his hearing about it? A villain attack they'd all been caught up in? Perhaps a dozen smaller issues had caught up different members in different areas, and they'd all been trying to coordinate and fight their way through the hellfire to reach him?

Slumping down into his chair, Neito stopped kidding himself. They were never going to come. They hadn't been going to, from the moment he announced his plans. Best Jeanist had told him to be bolder, kinder, and a bit more like Bakugo, and if there was one thing he could honestly say Bakugo did well: it was that he wasn't self-deluded.

Neito knew he had a rocky relationship with his classmates at the best of times. His competitive nature meant he sometimes took things too far, and if Kendo didn't rein him in quickly, sometimes the others got uncomfortable. It wasn't his fault! He'd been a side and background character for so long: he had trouble letting the spotlight shift, for fear he'd never see it again.

I mean… can anyone really blame me? With so many cool people around: the only one seen less is probably Hagakure.

He chuckled at his own bad pun, a sad and lonely sound echoing around the little study room he'd booked out at UA. Neito supposed he should face reality. No one liked him. He was tolerated, and since he couldn't get the rivalry going between his class and 1-A he'd hoped for: everyone'd moved on to spending what time they could with their friends from the sister class, rather than with him.

Curling up at his chair, Neito tried to look over what he'd prepared, figuring he might was well study anyway. He would not cry, nor show how deeply it cut him, even without anyone there. He was better than that. He had to be.

A sudden click came from the door as someone turned the handle. Neito sat up instantly, stiffening and preparing to greet whoever came in. To his surprise, it wasn't one of 1-B.

"Sorry I'm so late! Oh… am I early?" Hagakure asked, her collar shifting as if she was looking around in confusion, "I'm pretty sure you said it was at six…"

Neito was so surprised she'd shown up, of all people, he just stared at her incredulously for what felt like far too long. She shuffled her feet uncomfortably, and he could imagine the embarrassed expression on her face, though he couldn't see it.

"I'll um… I'll just go."

"W-wait!" he called, suddenly snapping out of his reverie, "I'm sorry, I just… no one else came."

Hagakure walked over from the door to sit in the chair just to his right, presumably looking at him as she sat down. It was always a bit disconcerting to speak with her, unable to be sure he was looking at her face and not her ear or over her head. It made him feel… a little empathetic.

"So…" she drawled, clearly not sure what was going to happen.

"So," he agreed.

"Wanna go study somewhere less… depressing?"

"I suppose. I did reserve the room though, so it seems rather wasteful."

"Psh, people drop reservations halfway through all the time," Hagakure reassured him, waving an arm, "we'll be fine. Come on, I know a diner where they give students discounts. We can get some drinks and study there."

Neito wasn't entirely sure a diner would be a good place to study, but he wasn't in the mood to argue right then. So he slid his books unceremoniously into his bag and stood, gesturing for her to lead on without a modicum of actual enthusiasm.

Something soft and warm gripped his hand, and suddenly Hagakure was tugging him towards the door. For the second time today, she'd surprised him into stunned silence.

"It's an American-style diner," she said, her usually girly and enthusiastic nature flowing out of her without restraint, "So we can get some foreign food. I really love dipping french fries in the milkshakes they have there. They're just so cold and with the warm center and the salty with the sweet! You'll have to try some Monoma, they're positively to die for. Oh! Have you ever tried a hamburger before? They're so crazy! With the soft bun, and the chewy meat, but with the crunchy lettuce and the gooey sauces inside, they're like a whole feast in one bite!"

She continued to ramble on about how amazing the food was as they headed down the stairs and to the main walkway. When she expended all possible items on the menu, she moved on to talking about the atmosphere of the diner, and then on to how the culture felt different from Japan but not bad. Monoma just listened, not really sure what he could say besides offering a few agreements here and there. He barely noticed as they scanned their student cards to the bus, Hagakure picking a pair of chairs for them to sit in side-by-side; completely engrossed in her diatribe. Then she gasped, as if suddenly realizing something.

"You know what? I bet Bakugo and Kirishima will be there. They totally would ditch a good study session for food, and Mina's always complaining about how oblivious he is."

Neito let out a tiny snort of amusement.

"He's just like Tetsutetsu: always so busy being "manly" that he doesn't actually take the time to think about what he's doing," he agreed without thinking.

Hagakure giggled, her sleeve coming up and gyrating slightly as if she was waggling a finger at him, though he couldn't say if it was in agreement or chastisement.

"I don't know what the poor girl sees in him, honestly," she bemoaned, "You know she admitted she had a crush on me last month? Said I was "too cute not to want a piece of, but Kirishima's already got a claim on her heart, so I might as well know she wouldn't come after me." If I wasn't straight, I probably would've tried to change her mind. At this point though, I just hope we can stay friends."

"Is there any reason you couldn't? Or is there some-" Neito strangled off what he was about to say, shaking his head.

Despite his attempt to reverse his intent, Hagakure still caught him. Her entire aura of friendliness suddenly became brittle and guarded, and he could see her clothes lean away from him slightly.

"Is there some… what?" she asked cautiously.

A stab of regret pierced Neito, but he was no liar or coward.

"I was going to say something distasteful about class 1-A," he admitted, looking out the window, "it's… sorry."

She remained silent for a few moments, before humming in contemplation.

"Do you really hate us so much?" she asked, her voice quieter than he'd heard before.

The question caught him by surprise. No one had ever asked it so… bluntly before.

"I- no. No, not really," he admitted, "I just… your class seems to just keep getting the spotlight; with those arrogant wackos taking the credit for all the big happenings. You all fought the League at the USJ. Midoriya ruled the sports festival, even if he technically didn't take the top spot. Bakugo took down a villain on his own, and Midoriya was even there to help with that too. Jiro, Ojiro, Ida, and Todoroki were all in Hosu fighting the League during internships, but nobody seems to remember that Kendo was there too. Shiozaki tied for third in the festival. We're just… second best, I guess. And it gets to me."

Bringing his right leg up to his chest, Neito curled up a little, exhaling in an attempt to relax somewhat. He hadn't meant to reveal so much about himself.

"Of course, that is why I will overcome the prejudice!" he proclaimed, his posture at odds with his sudden bravado, "I'll show all the world that class 1-B is truly more exceptional than the arrogance and no doubt complacent 1-A students!"

A cool hand touched his shoulder, and as he glanced around at Hagakure, he felt a sudden pressure against his shoulder. Neito noticed her sleeve across him, and the soft brush of untamed hair against his cheek. She was… hugging him.

"H-H-Hagakure?" he managed, surprised and a little embarrassed at the physical affection.

I suppose she never had to worry about the public eye; never had to hide or limit her emotions around others, since nobody could see her… he realized.

"You sound really sad," she said, her voice very small, "I know what it's like not to be seen, Monoma. My friend Ojiro and I talked about it, ya know? We came up with a plan for when we feel too plain or overlooked. Just remember: you can be the best Hero you can be. Nobody can be a better you than you are."

Without meaning to, Neito felt himself relax a little, slowly bringing his arm around to place a hand on her shoulder, half-hugging back. If he was being honest with himself, he really needed to hear that.

"I… thanks, Hagakure."

"Hmm," she smiled, the act visible even though he couldn't see her.

Even though he couldn't wholly embrace her, she seemed okay with what they had so far. Maybe… maybe 1-A wasn't so bad.

Then again-

"Gah, I knew you guys'd be here!" Hagakure pouted, stamping her foot as they stepped into the cafe and found Bakugo, Kirishima, and oddly enough: Tsuburaba, all relaxing with some burgers and notebooks on calculus, "I can't believe you didn't even come!"

"Hey man, I wanted to: but Bakubro said I needed to get these integrals down," Kirishima apologized.

Hagakure folded her arms, letting out a tiny huff of anger and what was probably an adorable pout. Bakugo was unaffected.

"So it's Zero-A's fault?"

"Oi!" Bakugo snarled, leveling a finger.

"Oi yourself," Neito chuckled, sitting down opposite him and pushing Tsuburaba in deeper, "You get to make up nicknames for everyone. Don't dish it out if you can't take it."

"Yeah!" Hagakure cheered, hoping in as well to crush Neito in a bit.

"Shut your hole, Streaker."

"Hey!" Neito cut him off, leaning over the table a bit, "Nicknames are one thing, but disrespecting your allies just proves what I've been saying about you guys since the Festival."

Bakugo smirked, folding his arms and adamantly not apologizing.

"Finally grow a pair? Or what, did insulting your girlfriend cross a line?" he asked, all smug smiles that pissed Neito off.

Instead of answering with words, Neito just sat back down and held up a hand for the waiter.

"What makes you think you're stayin'?" Bakugo sniffed, clearly losing interest once Neito failed to rise to his bait.

"You won't even know we're here," Neito promised, activating his Quirk and feeling his body tingle a little as he vanished, "See? You can't even see my smug grin anymore."

Minoru took a massive bite of Pocky, the fistful cracking and shattering into a small pile of broken pieces. He was furious, but who with: he wasn't really sure.

He'd heard about Monoma's attempt at having a study session with both classes (apparently he'd ended up getting to go on a date with Hagakure, and then crashing a date between Bakugo and Kirishima afterwards, the lucky bastard) and refused to go on principle. But seeing as it was a sneaky way to get a date, he'd tried his hand at it (though he'd only invited class 1-A, the 1-B girls far too scary right now).

He'd brought snacks, been sure everyone knew where and when it was, and vocally confirmed with at least six people that they'd be coming. And yet, two hours in: and he was still all alone in his room.

One day, he vowed silently, One day I'll be popular. People will come when I invite them. I'll be the coolest Hero; the guy all the girls flock to. I'll be able to pick and choose someone to be with, and have friends I can rely on to show up when I need their help. I'll have money, and when I want to do something: I'll be able to buy whatever I feel like! Everyone who looked down on me will rue the day they missed out on being my friend!

He spent the rest of the night like that, fighting back tears and promising himself everything he'd do. Eventually the bitterness ruined even the taste of Pocky, and he decided just to go to bed, barely bothering to clean up his materials.

Minoru was about to go to sleep when he glanced at his phone and realized the group chat had been going off. Somehow he'd bumped his phone to silent mode, and missed what they'd all been saying.

Making fun of me, no doubt…

Opening it up, he balked as he read the messages from nearly four hours earlier.

Specs [Everyone, we cannot simply abandon the study session! Mineta generously offered his home up to us, and he is no doubt expecting us to arrive post-haste!]

Specs [Also, I find my user nickname quite detestable. Should not we utilize our Hero Names?]

Mother of Cupid [dont bea kiljoi ida]

Mother of Cupid [what if you wanted to study]

Mother of Cupid [but villain siad]

Specs [Ashido: your typing is quite deplorable! Please rectify it this instant!]

Hot air [I'm not walking for the next year to make it to Trashcan's house!]

Hot air [The train's out, so I'm out!]

Hot air [And who the -l picked my -n name!]

Traitor [it's better than King Explosion Murder]

Traitor [hey! It was one study dinner!]

Mother of Cupid [it only takes 1 -ch]

Avatar Deku [I say we try to make it! I was in the area when Slugmaster damaged the tracks, and the PA's started a bus bridge around to the next station. I bet we could make it, if a little late!]

Username [I can't sit comfortably on buses. My tail, ya know?]

Username [I think my phone's broken. My name is just "Username."]

Erotica [Thats intentional Ojiro.]

Erotica [But seriously: the -k's up with mine?]

Erotica [All seriousness: can't come to this one. Shiozaki and I are goin' to a concert with Yaomomo.]

Taxes? Where? [Sorry everyone.]

She's not just stunning, she's shocking [yeah, sorry minetabro.]

She's not just stunning, she's shocking [hol up who set the nicknames?!]

I like my soba cold, please don't serve me hot noodles [I did.]

The conversation devolved from there on into everyone complaining about their nicknames to Todoroki, with a periodic apology for not being able to make it past the evident villain attack on the train line. Minoru just stared.

He wasn't even sure what to think. Should he feel bad about thinking bad of everyone? Should he be pissed they didn't think he was worth fighting past a little bus train for? Should he go throw up the junk food in his stomach?

He didn't know. He just read the texts, feeling all his emotions settle in the sugar and salt before hardening into a lump he very much didn't want to deal with.

Shota received the last of the written exams, tapping them into a smooth block of paper against his desk before setting them on the robot's tray. It beeped an affirmative, and closed down its anti-cheating camera.

["Thank you,"] it warbled, before turning and rolling out of the room.

The door slid shut, and as it clicked closed, Shota had one thought: Well it was nice while it lasted.

The explosion of vocal relief hit him like a shockwave, along with a few trumpets of victory and what sounded like death knells from Kaminari and Ashido. Shota just let it push him back against the board, flopping in the sonic pulse like a trashbag caught between the wind and a cardboard box. Eventually, they brought it down to a dull roar as everyone started to chat about how hard it was and somesuch.

"See, that wasn't so bad, now was it: Jamming Whey?" Jiro asked, a set of small pops coming from her desk as she pulled her jacks free of the noise-canceling cartridge she'd been assigned.

"Did you take a different test than I did? FIVE DAYS I've been dying, and you say "not that bad"?!" Kaminari whined, slamming their head against the desk.

Jiro smirked, but the affection in her eyes told Shota it was teasing: not bullying. They had a rapport.

"Yeah!" Ashido cheered, raising a fist proudly, "Now we just got the robots tomorrow and it's hello summer camp!"

"Test of Courage!" Hagakure shouted.

"Onsen," Mineta moaned.

"Sleepover!" Uraraka said.

"A week away from home," Todoroki breathed.

"I've been studying survival techniques," Yaoyorozu explained happily, "I've been hoping to attempt pitching a tent."

"Curry!" Ida agreed.

"You're not fighting robots," Shota deadpanned, stepping over to his desk again and placing his hands down.

Normally he'd freeze them all with his Quirk and some of his intimidating aura, but he was just as tired from a week of being forced to watch them take a single test. He wasn't allowed to nap during it, and that was just the worst.

Ashido's expression turned pale, and she sat down with a little more force than seemed healthy.

"Th-then…"

Everyone quieted down as Shota pressed a button on his little remote, and everyone's names appeared on the board, organized by seat number.

"Tomorrow will consist of a day-long exam," he explained, watching them for any reaction and pleased that they remained silent and attentive, "Due to how the year's gone, Principal Nezu has come up with a new exam this year. Instead of earning points, it'll be based on point deduction and have a maximum pass score. You're either in or you're out. No in-between."

A collective gulp came from most of the students, and Shota grinned evilly.

"Now, here are the details: You have a total of three points, starting now. You must still have two points as of Sunday midnight to pass. That means you get one slip-up over forty-eight hours."

Hitting a second button, Shota heard the board create a double-t-graph, with the names on the leftmost column while the other two were blank. The section names lit up as he described them.

"The first event will be a simple 1-v-1," he explained, the word Examinee appearing over their names, "You may have a number of tasks to complete. Combat, rescue, patrol, evasion, information gathering, escort, or many other roles Heroes undertake. The details to which and how you'll be asked to complete them will be withheld until tomorrow."

There was a smattering of nodding heads as some of them understood, while a handful of more skeptical students remained cautious. The ratio wasn't a good one. They'd need to work on their focus and critical thinking.

"Your second event will be a less straight-forward task," he smirked, hitting the key to reveal the word Examiner over the middle column, "Each of you will be examining one of your fellow students during their match."

Some of them paled as the names began to appear, showing everyone who they'd be competing against.

Aoyama v Asui

Ashido v Tokoyami

Asui v Kirishima

Ida v Koda

Uraraka v Midoriya

Ojiro v Kaminari

Kaminari v Aoyama

Kirishima v Sero

Koda v Shoji

Sato v Ojiro

Shoji v Ida

Jiro v Uraraka

Sero v Ashido

Tokoyami v Bakugo

Todoroki v Sato

Hagakure v Mineta

Bakugo v Hagakure

Midoriya v Todoroki

Mineta v Yaoyorozu

Yaoyorozu v Jiro

Yaoyorozu and Asui raised their hands almost in unison, and Shota sighed. He'd figured they'd ask first.

"You've no doubt noticed that some of you have back-to-back matches, or otherwise close together competitions," he confirmed, both girls lowering their hands, "One of the struggles you may have to overcome as a Hero is to work without proper rest, while other times you'll have to get to work while you're stiff from waiting. This may or may not have been factored into the order."

Truthfully, Shota hadn't bothered coming up with that excuse until after he saw Yaoyorozu going twice at the end. But they didn't need to know that.

"Your examination won't be as simple as just achieving victory, however," he explained, "In most matches: it will be possible for both participants to pass. As examiners it will be your job to draw out your opponents' strengths and weaknesses. You'll be given vague instructions on what to do, but know that if your charge is not pushed to their limit by your testing: you will fail, no matter what else happens."

Yaoyorozu's hand went up again, and he nodded to the vice-representative.

"Sensei," she asked politely, standing up, "You mentioned rescue? Who will we be rescuing? Other members of the class?"

Sharp, this one.

"No," he admitted, setting down his remote and walking over to the door, "You'll be saving the newest invention of the robot corps. we employ here at UA."

Sliding the door open again, an oddly robot wheeled in passed him, before coming to a stop beside the desk. Shota closed the door and walked over to his usual spot.

"This is the Midoribot.010," he explained, patting the machine's head, "It was designed based on footage of the most troublesome kinds of civilians we might encounter in the field."

The robot was green in color, with big, innocent photo-receptors and fidgeting hand components. The shaky smile drawn on the head left nobody in any doubt who it had been modeled after.

"It will attempt at all times to help the examinee, mostly by playing the Hero and running at the enemy full force. It's exceptionally fragile, has a motorized wheel which will cause it to start moving without its own volition periodically, and if damaged or emotionally affected: it has a hydraulic cannon installed to either eye to simulate crying. Be warned: it can and will puncture concrete if it fires them at maximum pressure."

Midoriya, for his part, seemed more miffed than Shota had expected. In fact, a number of students seemed to have issue with the visual pun he'd gone with. Uraraka was no surprise, and Bakugo being furious as default was par for the course, but Jiro was an unexpected defiance of her usual norms. Even Ojiro was frowning more than he had before, his face scrunched up more than normal.

"Sensei," Yaoyorozu said, still standing but with none of the respect in her voice anymore, "I find the selection of who to model this device off of somewhat insulting."

"Good!" he smiled, exhausted with them already, "There are always distractions in the field, so this will prove even more useful."

Shoji's hand went up, and he took the spotlight.

"Sensei, suppose one of us fails one of the tests?" he asked, "What's the third category?"

"That, my dear students," Setijiro grinned, "Is the fun part. Should any of you pass both the examination portions, you don't have to do anything but watch on Sunday!"

Class 1-B stared at him, confusion on most of their faces. Shiozaki, Kendo, Tetsutetsu, and Kaibara still seemed miffed about the "Midoribot.010" for whatever reason, but even they were evidently curious about what the Sunday exam would be.

"You see, if you have two points at the end of the Saturday session, then even failing the Sunday portion spectacularly wouldn't fail you," he explained, glad at the ones who were nodding in understanding, "so there's no point in wasting time. In fact, we hope to run all the other tests simultaneously. If you happen to lose a point tomorrow, then on Sunday you'll have the chance to save your grade. Instead of fighting another student however, you'll be taking on one of these threats:"

Clicking his remote, Setijiro revealed several images, making all of them shiver and a few squeak in terror. Himself, Aizawa, Thirteen, Nezu, Snipe, Ectoplasm, Midnight, Present Mic, Power Loader, Hound Dog, Cementos, Lunch Rush, Recovery Girl, and-

"ALL MIGHT?!" the class screamed in unison, clearly unhappy with the concept they might have to fight the number one Hero.

"Correct," he smirked, "So I'd recommend not losing tomorrow. It would end poorly for everyone."

"But Sensei," Monoma spoke up, striking one of his usual poses, "While I have every faith in my classmates, can we truly be expected to perform any level of competence when faced by such overwhelming social pressure as fighting a Pro. Hero? Why, even with the potential to defeat them: we'd be simultaneously fighting our own prejudice on Heroes being a tier above us."

"Jeez kid, you're long-winded," Setijiro sighed, "But yes, you've got a point. That's why we'll be providing you with a pair of distinct advantages."

They all settled down as he held up two fingers, lowering one as he explained its associated advantage.

"First: there will be two ways to victory. Either capture with a supplied pair of restraint cuffs, or escape via a specially placed archway at the edge of the field. Some villains aren't going to go down with a simple please and thank you. You'll have to go get help or just play the long game. In those cases: running is the proper action."

"Second: you won't have to face us alone."

That one got their attention.

"Even if you pass both your Saturday exams, everyone will still come in on Sunday. We'll assign all those taking the Teacher-Make up exams someone else to help them succeed. So don't poison any of your relationships tomorrow. You might need them, come morning."

Clicking off the screen, he nodded and headed out.

"Have a good day. See you tomorrow."

As he left, Setijiro heard Tokage already making plans for everyone to go to the mall after the Sunday exams as a destresser. Monoma, in an odd twist that stopped him dead and silenced the entire class, asked if they could invite 1-A. He quickly covered his request by saying it was just to rub their victory in their faces, but it was so clearly an excuse that Setijiro wondered if even Tetsutetsu bought it.

The -k happened to him last week?!

And that's the June Arc! I hope everyone's excited for the revamped Student Examinations, because I'm showing ALL OF THEM. Yes, it's insane and probably gonna bore some people, but I can and so I must.

Month after Next: we'll finish up this story.

As always: I look forward to your thoughts! Comment long and passionately, and I'll include more songs in later chapters! If anyone wants to guess the timeline for this arc's segments: put them here please and get a discussion going.

Be safe out there!

Love you all!