Yo! Rare A/N here, I wanted to apologize for how long this took. Chapter 31 was a point I had been waiting for a while to get to, and I pushed a bit too hard, draining my enthusiasm for a bit. But I'm back, and I have a surprise for you. In my effort to show the life and times of things with fewer skips, we're coming into what I call the School Briefs Arc. This will be an expansion of the weeks between internships and the exams using the first two My Hero Academia: School Briefs Light Novels. But I also know that a very small group of you have seen that, if at all… but don't worry, I'll be changing some things anyway and expanding on others.

Also, this is here because I dislike the idea of skipping an ENTIRE MONTH and I don't want to fill it with just random moments.

HeroesOath said: Nebula, did you just say that you got into ANOTHER villain fight?

The_Aeon said: You're not actively looking for them at this point, are you?

Yes, I was on the text chat again. Not to talk to Izuku, but just to talk with some people LESS connected to the scene around here. It was a good way for me to unwind after a stressful time, to look at what the people in America (and other locations) were doing. It didn't hurt that even the usual crowd was scattered among various ages. The chat was formed from people all through the debate forum, which meant you had HeroesOath, who had graduated High School only recently, The_Aeon who while a year older was a high schooler like Midoriya and me, while Len-Gal was a Hero School teacher. And that was three among many others, in a surprisingly diverse group.

Really it felt… familiar. I'd kinda formed a friend group like them back home before all this started but having Izuku in the same forum was… interesting. Especially as he was trying very hard not to give away that he was a hero. No USJ, no Stain, nothing. I think he was trying to be more anonymous about things and I could respect that. After he'd talked to me about it after the USJ, I'd been more open, explaining who I was and talking about my studies with the others.

000 said: It's illogical to think he'd look for this, given that he mentioned he didn't even defeat his first opponent.

MightyAllMight said: I'm just glad you didn't get hurt by that.

QuirkNebula said: I did. My ass of a supervising hero knows the school nurse. Healing Quirk but… interesting opinions on risk.

Len-Gal said: Listen to her, she's just looking out for you.

QuirkNebula said: Still better than how she approaches other classmates of mine!

Aaand Izuku just sent me a private frowny face. Sorry, but I'm not pulling punches there. Thank goodness he didn't have himself using 100% for too long this time though – apparently, aside from minor nicks and one small scar, Izuku's hands were undamaged, and I was trying to use my info to push him while keeping him from breaking his body.

Still, I pulled away from the conversation and slid back a bit, letting out a heavy sigh as I did. This last week was a rollercoaster in all the weirdest ways. It started with me pulling off a comedy sketch with Bakugou of all people, it had Stain fighting more people than I expected in the middle, and it ended with me having to fight a ninja and a friend.

… even by the standards I live in that sounds insane.

Gah! Its times like these I'd actually kill for a bit of physical training like at school. I'm feeling all tense and I can even feel a bit of self-doubt trying to creep in. No. Stop it.

As I go to smack myself lightly to knock me out of my funk, the Mei-ble Phone starts to buzz, having been set onto silent before. It's Neito. I sighed and simply leaned back as I picked up the phone. "Ahoy-oi."

"Stop blaming yourself," Neito asked, and whatever else was part of that was momentarily lost as I pushed back in surprise, flailing briefly before regaining my balance… and then grabbing the phone, having flung it into the air out of shock before.

"Ok, HOW?" I asked.

"The news hasn't done anything to hide who Hazard is, and I know you, Andros," Neito remarked, his voice dead serious. "You're a responsible guy, but you take it too far sometimes."

I simply sighed at that. "It's easy to say that and to recognize I couldn't help… but there's still part of me that wonders if I could." I noted.

"Everyone has their own little worries, Andros," Neito commented. "I mean… you helped me out. Remember back in Middle School, how I used to always say I was a side character?"

I chuckled a bit at that. "I think Mei had more to do with that. What was it you said the day after she blew up the workshop? 'I can't let reality decide she's the main character' or something like that?" I teased.

"Don't sell yourself short on it." Neito insisted. "Although after a week with the Pussycats… well, let's just say I'm glad you did talk me out of it."

I blinked at that. "What training did they have you doing?"

"Changing Quirks to suit a situation – I ended up helping to stop a near disaster at one point," Neito admitted.

"Huh… ok, I think I get what you mean then." I said.

"Or you're trying to brush it off, I know you, Andros." Neito shot back, and I winced, knowing exactly what he was talking about. "And from what I heard about it from Mei… you're stronger than you give yourself credit for. Physically and mentally."

I just let out a heavy sigh at that. "I get what you're trying to say Neito… it's just hard, y'know?"

Neito let out a dark little chuckle at that. "Oh, I think I understand."

Monday was really the weirdest part. Aside from messages from the rest of the class to check if I was ok or not, I simply let out a sigh as we split up for the classes, even Mei being slightly – slightly – more subdued than usual. Still, it gave me a chance to talk more with Neito and to swiftly realize he hadn't exactly been accurate with the scale.

"Neito, you're talking about a potential forest fire there. And who knows what trees are planted around there!?" I exclaimed. "If it had gotten out of control you'd have been dealing with the search and rescue equivalent of what I ran into!"

"Apparently it happens every other week for them," Neito noted with a shrug. "Ragdoll even said that a lot of the time, search and rescue happens due to some precaution they forgot to take."

"She's not wrong," I admitted. Natural disasters of course were still a thing, even smaller scales like avalanches, but in a superhero society, it was mitigated by Quirks like Pixie Bob's. "Still, glad you guys managed to handle it… after the Stain thing and Hazard, I think I might have had a heart attack hearing a third big event happened."

"It really pours when it rains for you guys in 1-A doesn't it?" Neito remarked. "First USJ, then the intensity of the Sports Festival, and now this."

"Don't remind me." I groaned. "I'm hoping for a quiet couple of weeks while studying for the exams but given the concentrated bad luck in the class, I wouldn't be surprised if the actual Pandora's Box crashes through our ceiling!"

"… mythological or Build?"

"Either." I moaned out. Even so, I waved Neito goodbye as he turned towards the 1-B doors, and simply continued on towards 1-A, pushing in the oversized door.

"It's hard to believe all three of you got to fight villains last week," Ochaco noted, almost looking zen-like as she practiced her moves that Gunhead had undoubtedly taught her.

Jiro fiddled with her earphone jacks. "I wouldn't say I fought them. I just handled logistics and evacuation." She remarked. "I dunno how well I'd have done too, with all the hostages."

"I know what you mean, the smugglers I had to deal with fought dirty – if it hadn't been for Selkie." Tsuyu said, ribbiting nervously afterwards.

"And the hero killer fought that hero Nighteye, we were just trying to get away," Mina remarked. That was a lie and a cover story Sir had worked with the police on. He felt that it'd be easier to explain that Midoriya was searching for Iida and had tried to escape with the two, with Mina and Todoroki trying to help him get away, with Sir arriving just in time. And Iida? A bad case of getting separated from his hero and running into the scene when trying to find Manual.

Interestingly looking over them it was easy to spot a couple of minor changes. Mina had a little red scarf around her neck, Iida was rubbing his arm on occasion and Mineta… had bandages all over his face?

"I wish I'd had villain fights," Mineta grumbled. "Maybe I'd have gotten to see a sexy villainess. But Gang Orca… I… I'M PREPA-"

Kaminari lightly chopped Mineta on the back of the neck. "Chill man, you're back with us now." The living Pikachu encouraged.

Mineta, his eyes briefly hazy with a far-off look, snapped back to reality… before grumbling as he settled back into his seat.

"Oh, Andros-san," Momo remarked, as she… snacked on a box of dumplings? Must've been diet advice from Fatgum. "Amajiki-senpai mentioned he has a friend of his at the agency you and Bakugou went to, right?"

I nodded. "Togata Mirio. They're both two of U.A.s big three along with… uh…"

"Hado Nejire," Bakugou grumbled. "He only mentioned them everyday Galaxy Suit, stop being such a dumbass!"

"Huh, only part of that was shouted," Hagakure noted. "Does that mean you two are better with each other or worse?"

I just shrugged.

Rescue Hero Race. Okay, All Might, you're fantastic, but the use of English is a bit… much? I have a feeling he uses it for emphasis. And secondly, I don't think he's picked the groups fairly at all.

To give an example, the first group up? Me, Izuku, Sero, Mina, and Iida. All of us are big on manoeuvring, but even then, there's faster… but Bakugou is only faster if he's going all out. If he's watching out for damages, it makes sense to pair him off with the likes of Ojiro and Tsuyu, who favour pure manoeuvrability with no real speed option. He's figured out who would be the fastest out of the group and probably put them into the first two.

We were also all in hero costumes, meaning I could see full-on Mina had an extended scarf for hers, while Izuku's and Iida's show little to no change from Stain. I already had a bunch of gas built up as a result, holding the transformation until –

"START!"

Alright, here we go! I let loose the steam not to transform, but from the nozzles on the shoulder pads and behind my arms for a super jump, launching me into the air, to give me a brief moment to look. Sero's using his tape to make big leaps across with a green blur that I can only assume is Izuku pushing ahead of him, Mina's jumped from a pipe to a slightly higher point with little loss in speed. In other words, I can't win this without changing. Good.

I don't let out a hammy cry for once, just issuing a burst of Nebula Gas over me and flinging a cord out, thrusting myself forwards to shoot ahead, leaping from structure to pipe to structure. This is a maze of concrete and steel; you can't guarantee what's going to happen-

"On your left!"

I stumble a bit at that as Mina flings herself up past me, before sliding away on the rooftop. Quickly recovering I blinked as I tried to figure out how. How did she maintain her –

As she leapt off the building, Mina grabbed at the scarf and flung it around a section of pipe, grabbing the other end as she did. Damnit. I assumed the scarf was just decoration, but she worked with a ninja hero, his must be made more like Aizawa-sensei's! I blast out a burst of Nebula Gas to force me into a big jump and pull to try and keep pace, even as I see a green blur slip off of a piece of pipe… only for Izuku to grab it with his free hand, losing time but not putting him out of the running thankfully. I landed onto a pipe and leaped forwards, a trail of tape flinging forward and pulling Sero just ahead as I could hear Izuku landing somewhere – huh, helping a classmate out, nice. Head to head to head to head, we push forward, each trying to outrace the other-

And then as I shot a cord towards the final platform and Sero extended tape, Mina and Izuku acted at the same time. Mina grabbed at the cord, tugging on it to vault herself into the air. She lands and goes towards All Might… only for Izuku to have landed a moment earlier.

Or at least that's what she told me later. See, when she used my cord to force herself up, it forced me down in the process. Which sent me down far enough to slam into the cylindrical building's wall. Were it not for my cord grip staying strong it'd probably have turned MORE cartoonish.

Mina's sheepish apology grin was cute though. Yes, I'm aware I'm smitten, shut up.

I sighed as everyone was getting sorted in the changing rooms. For me, it was a little easier, I don't usually take my clothes off when getting into a suit, I sort it out so I always dress light – thankfully something the faculty understood so long as my standard suit was uniformed. So, I just generally wore the gym uniform except when Neito wants to do a Thompson and Thomson gag. Think what you will, but we commit to the role.

"-it's probably thanks to the efforts of those who came before!"

I blinked, turned around, and looked at where Mineta was looking… and had to resist the urge to growl. Mineta and a peephole, of course. "Next door is, you know, the girl's locker room!"

"Stop Mineta, that's definitely a criminal act!" Well, at least Iida is being logical about this.

"My little Mineta IS a criminal act!" Mineta countered. Oh, I wanted to interfere… but seeing him flinch and then cry out as an earphone jack pushed into his eye just had me burst out laughing.

"I'm sorry, with all your stupid perversion, you never remembered that one of the girls could hear you?" I asked in sheer confusion, before walking over and calling out into the hole. "Oi, Jiro, that's enough! Don't want to blind the little guy."

Mineta just let out a huff in response, pulling away as he rubbed his eye… and Kaminari shook his head. "Dude, c'mon, subtlety man!" The electrical horn dog admonished, even as the rest of us sighed and went back to changing. Welp. Probably won no points with Mineta with that. Even so, as some of us left the locker room to head back to class, I noticed Jiro wave at me – oh, she's waving me over. I simply walked a bit slower to hang back as she walked a little faster.

"… look, I wanted to ask you something," Jiro noted as we walked along.

"If it's about Mineta, even Iida couldn't keep control of him." I pointed out.

Jiro shook her head… and then sighed. "Ok… it's sorta that. I just… look, if that last exercise, the internships, and stuff were any indication… my Quirk's good, but it isn't that strong. And there's only so many ways I can use it – especially if more stuff like this is going to keep happening." Jiro insisted. "… you mentioned before about my Hazard Level, that it was about the 3's, right? From what I could tell… that's when it's safe to be a Smash, right?"

I blinked… and sighed heavily, shaking my head. I… get what she's trying to suggest but… "Jiro, I… you want to be able to use a Fullbottle to become a Smash, right? Or at least have the option in team-ups?" At that, Jiro nodded. "… I can't. Not right now."

"… Mina mentioned. That Hazard guy in the news… he was a friend, right?" Jiro asked.

I nodded. "I thought he was a good one. I… let that blind me to what he was." I- gah, what the- how did she get that to hit me without breaking the suit!

"You were starting to mope, and that's not you," Jiro noted grumpily. "Look, I'm fine if you need to take time before you use your Quirk on someone aside from you for a bit, but if I know the others, at least one of them has told you it isn't your fault already, and you should take that advice."

Gah… the worst part is she's entirely right. And she's not even given me a moment to respond, just hanging back.

"As you're all probably aware, we have about a month left before the end of the term," Aizawa remarked, all of us seated down for his end of day announcing. This is unusual honestly, usually, he'd save it for homeroom tomorrow. But on this occasion, he'd been free enough – aka All Might had been preoccupied and used up all his time – to run Hero Training, so I suppose this might be a reminder. "And as a result, you have just under that time before your end of term exams. Don't bother asking Nebulos what was in them either – Principal Nedzu has already planned to change the plans for the exams this year."

I heard a grumble from the others… and I just shrugged my shoulders openly. "He was going to do it anyway!" I insisted.

"This isn't being brought up so you can be annoyed," Aizawa stated, voice sharp. "It might seem far off, but four weeks can go faster than you expect. For some of you, it might be smart to start studying now. For others, training yourselves physically – there will be both written and practical components." And with that, he simply stood up, grabbed his sleeping bag… and rolled it up in a single flourish and clasp. Damn, is that a ninja trick or just a special sleeping bag? Anyway, he simply did that… and walked off.

I mentally counted to three, before pushing my chair up, standing up, and turning around. Kaminari and Mina. "Yes, you should study and prepare," I noted. "No, I don't know what was on the written tests."

"Hmm… maybe we can set up study sessions again then?" Kaminari asked. "Don't know if they'll let us do the physical training like before though."

"Well if you'd like, I could always host a study session," Momo remarked with a sunny smile. "If you two think you might need it."

I blinked twice and thought. Huh, this seemed… different from what I remembered. Maybe this is earlier? "Maybe every other day?" I added "I'd love to join in… but I also don't want to let Mei get anywhere near your place."

At that Mina, Kaminari, and Sato all nodded fervently.

"Oh, surely she isn't-" Momo started.

"She is." We – Hagakure and Iida included – replied.

"… I see." Momo remarked, even as Jiro came up to her, presumably to ask to join in. As she did, Mina moved a little closer to me.

She flashed a smile at me… and then showed her phone to me. It read 'Keep tomorrow free. You and me, Study Date.'

At that, I just went flush, and I could immediately see the window of my suit fogging up, the canister kicking in to siphon it out.

"Andros? Are you ok?" Sato asked.

"Y-yeah just thought of something that annoyed me a little." I lied Mina now a desk down and forcing a hand over her mouth to stop from laughing at the admittedly not great lie.

"Well if we're going to do this, I need to ask mother if I can open up the hall… oh, what tea does everyone like?" Momo, now in full YaoMomo mode, asked excitedly.

I raised my hand at that. "English Breakfast, nothing fancy, with milk," I remarked.

That… was actually enough to force Momo to stumble a little. "Are you sure? No other blends like Gold Tips Imperial, Wedgewood, Harrods? Nothing… specific?" She questioned.

"English Breakfast tea was the staple for my family before… this, and still something I enjoy now and then." I admitted. "The only time I tried something else it was Earl Grey. Tasted like a hot cup of perfume." At that, I stuck out my tongue at the vivid sensation-memory.

"Ah… right. Hmmm, we should diversify, so I need to ask mother what days are good-" And there she goes again, good. Now I can stew in the fact that Mina just sneakily asked me out on another date and try NOT to blow that.