Chapter 17

Hotaru's P.o.V

I had completely forgotten about the practical part of the exam. Aizawa had us gather outside, various pro heroes and UA teachers standing beside him.

"I expect that all of you have gathered information ahead of time and have some idea of what you will be doing," he sighed.

"We're fighting robot warriors like the entrance exam, right?" Kaminari asked.

"For various reasons, the exam will be different starting this time!" the principal chirped as he jumped out from his hiding place.

'Great...'

"From now on, we want to focus on person-to-person combat and hero work. Stress teaching that is closer to actual fighting," Principal Nezu explained. I sighed, even less prepared than before.

"We'll have you form teams of two and fight against one teacher!" the little furry headmaster smiled. I felt my jaw drop.

'Are they seriously putting inexperienced children up against professionals?' Kiyo sounded very skeptical. I couldn't help but notice the inexperienced part...

"Excuse me?" I snapped.

"Something wrong, Anzai?"

"N-No, Sir," I gave Aizawa a slight nod while I started sweating. He shot me a glare before thankfully brushing it off.

"In addition, the pairs and who they will be up against have already been decided. These have been determined at my discretion based on various factors, including fighting style, grades, and interpersonal relationships," the dark-haired teacher explained. I sighed.

"So here they are..." I listened for my name as Aizawa went through the various teams and which teacher they would fight. I noticed the confusion in Katsuki's eyes when it was mentioned that he would be on the same team as Midoriya. I almost felt bad for the little green-haired boy. Then I saw the large mass that is All Might fall from the sky and instantly felt bad for both boys. Just his blinding ego was enough to bring a villain down.

Of course, I would never say that to his face.

"Now we will read off the teams and who they will be up against all at once!" Principal Nezu said with a cheery tone. I gave him my undivided attention and listened for my name. After a few seconds, I heard it...

"The third group will be Anzai Hotaru and Mineta Minoru up against Cementoss," the little furry creature explained. I felt all my blood drain itself from my body.

'What?' Kiyo deadpanned. A little hand tugged on my cloak. I looked down with narrowed eyes. The purple-haired pervert stood next to me with a smug look on his face.

"Looks like we're partners," Mineta had a little stream of droom falling out of his grinning mouth. My throat dried up as I thought of something to say.

"Oh...God, no..." I mumbled. Lucky for me, I didn't have to keep up the conversation for long because Nezu began talking again.

"The time limit for the exam will be thirty minutes! Your objective is to either put these handcuffs on the teacher or to have one of you escape from the stage!" he told us. I raised an eyebrow as various teachers chipped in their own words of encouragement and whatnot.

"So...If it's teachers against students...they're going to have some sort of tactical advantage that they sneak in..." I began to lose myself to my thoughts.

'It could be that they're more experienced or that they don't get tired as easily...Whatever it is, just remember that you have a teammate. Use that extra strength--whatever amount it may be--to your advantage,' Kiyo said sternly. I glanced over to Mineta.

"If I wanted to, I could use him as bait...Not sure how long he'll last, though..." I mumbled. I looked to Cementoss and narrowed my eyes. I remembered his quirk from the festival, so I already knew what I was up against. My flames would need to get much hotter to be able to burn through cement...I began thinking of strategies as everyone was finished talking.

Once again thinking of who my teammate would be, I sighed, 'This ought to be fun.'

...

I wanted nothing more than to get in a good fight. Watching everyone else made me antsy. I watched Asui and Tokoyami finish their battle and pass with flying colors. Sadly, I knew the next battle was my own. I sighed as I turned towards the door of the monitoring room.

"I guess I better get going..." I said. Ochaco and Midoriya, who were watching the battles with me, nodded.

"Good luck, Hotaru!" Ochaco said. I returned her nod before exiting the small room and making my way to where Mineta and I would be fighting. As we stood at the front gates, I could see that Mineta seemed somewhat calm. I looked down at him.

"Are you ready?" I asked. Mineta silently stared forward.

"I'm terrified," he sontaniously started crying. I used my tail to smack the back of his head.

"Don't piss yourself, yet," I grumbled as I narrowed my eyes.

"Do you have any idea what you're doing?! We're not prepared to face a pro hero head-on!" Mineta shouted. I sighed.

"Watching everyone else fight gave me some ideas. I know what we're up against and I have a plan," I explained. A loud buzz came from the speakers.

"Team Anzai and Mineta, practical exam. Ready, go!"

"Follow me," Mineta, still crying, followed my directions and stayed behind me. We turned a corner and right in front of us was our opponent. I noticed the weighted bracelets that Nezu had mentioned would be worn. Cementoss put his hands on the ground and I went on high alert.

"Watch it!" I shouted as I grabbed Mineta with my tail and pulled him back. Cementoss' wall nearly hit us. I let out a short sigh through my nostrils.

'Too close,' Kiyo muttered.

"W-What do we do now?" Mineta asked, small body shaking.

"If we're supposed to be fighting our own weaknesses...Then I'm going to have to watch how much blood I use..." I thought out loud as I looked around.

"Cementoss must not be attacking because he wants us to exhaust ourselves first..." I mumbled.

"Let's just go for the exit! You can use your fire to shoot us towards the exit, right?" Mineta asked. I shook my head.

"He could just stop us with a wall and the force of impact would most likely break our bones...We have no choice but to fight head-on," I took deep breaths to calm myself. Mineta's worried eyes widened. I thought about the tactic the last team used.

'Hotaru.'

"What?"

'I have an idea...'

I raised an eyebrow as I looked to my shadow. Mineta gave me a confused stare as it most likely looked like I was talking to myself. I hesitated before agreeing.

"I'm all ears, Kiyo."

Recovery Girl's Room...

Third P.o.V

Bakugou walked into the monitoring room. Midoriya's eyes widened as he saw the blonde walk through the door. Uraraka raised an eyebrow.

"Bakugou?"

"Kacchan, what are you-" "I'm just here to watch Lizard Girl fight, so shut up and pay attention," Bakugou spat as he kept his eyes on the screen. Midoriya nodded before turning back around.

'You've got this, Lizard Girl. Kick his ass,' Bakugou mentally rooted for the purple-haired girl as he watched her close her eyes.

Hotaru sighed, "Okay...It's worth a shot."

"What?" Mineta looked more confused than before.

"Here's the plan..." Hotaru leaned down and whispered something into Mineta's ear. When she was finished, the small boy nodded. Bakugou narrowed his eyes.

'What the hell are you and that demon planning?' he thought.

"Okay...Let's do this," Hotaru nodded. Mineta grabbed the balls on top of his head and began throwing them up the wall Cementoss made. Once he was finished, Hotaru grabbed him with her tail and began scaling the wall.

"They're climbing it?" Midoriya wondered out loud.

"You know what to do," Hotaru muttered as they stood on top of the wall. Mineta nodded.

"Hey, Block-Head! Up here!" Hotaru shouted. Bakugou smirked, noticing the fact that her words sounded like his.

"Attack me!" the teen shouted once again. Cementoss narrowed his eyes.

"As you wish," he created another wall that began to head for Hotaru. She grinned as she bit into her hand. She sucked out as much blood as she could before the wall got too close. Then, with only seconds to spare, she shot a large flame out of her hand. She was thrown into the air with a surprising amount of speed that made Bakugou grin pridefully as the other two kids dropped their jaws.

"Hell yeah."

"Too slow!" Hotaru yelled as she came hurtling towards the ground. She unclasped her cloak and threw it off her, revealing her black body suit and light grey skirt. Cementoss put up a few more walls when he realized she was headed right for him.

However, Hotaru crashed right through them.

Uraraka and Midoriya winced and Bakugou clenched his jaw. As Hotaru crashed through the third wall, she heard a grotesque sound and felt a searing pain run through her right arm. She was sure she broke it. When she finally came down, Cementoss dodged, leaving her attempt at capturing him to be fruitless. The sheer force created a small crater in the earth beneath her. She instantly lost consciousness. Dust rose up around her still body. All became quiet as everyone watching waited for the dust cloud to settle.

"You missed me. You have failed," Cementoss approached the young girl. Once Hotaru's body was visible, he could see her fanged grin. It wasn't her controlling the body, but Kiyo. Bakugou was the only one to notice this.

"Who says you were the target?" Kiyo snickered.

Cementoss raised an eyebrow. When he opened his mouth to say something, the click of closing handcuffs made him aware of the situation. Mineta had handcuffed him, sweaty and smiling.

"Aha!" Mineta laughed, shakily and victoriously. The viewers' eyes widened.

"Where did he come from?!" Midoriya gasped.

"Team Anzai and Mineta have passed!"

Bakugou's grin widened, catching the attention of Midoriya. It was rare for him to see the blonde this happy. He was clearly glad to see his friend win.

"I'm happy you won, Hotaru..." Kiyo smiled. Mineta was still cackling, probably in shock and unable to stop. This upset Kiyo.

"Purple Pervert, get over here and help me," she spat. Mineta quit laughing.

"Oh, r-right," he stuttered. He walked over and helped Kiyo up. He grinned, this time it was because Kiyo didn't notice he was grasping Hotaru's breast.

"Are you okay?" he asked. Kiyo sighed.

"I'm sure that reckless move broke the legs and arms of this body," she muttered as All Might came out and took her.

"I've got her, Young Mineta," he said reassuringly. Kiyo sighed. She felt a small smile tug at her lips as she thought about Hotaru's possible reaction to knowing she passed.

"She'll be happy to say the least," the spirit mumbled as she let herself be carried to Recovery girl.