A/N: Alright, people! Let's begin a new phase for our hero!

Some of you are already speculating the timeliness of his death, but only time will tell if you've read the cards right, or if I've bamboozled you all again! Whilst you speculate, I also suggest that you enjoy a new (intro) video on my YouTube channel that I've made for phase 4 of this story! It's been one of my favorites to make so far. I know I probably say that every time, but that doesn't make it any less true each time that I say it!

Phase 4: Chapter 1

Indomitable

"Wait, Eri lives on campus now?!" Kurai nearly dropped his fork onto his breakfast in surprise. "When did that happen?!"

"We only found out about it yesterday while you were on your way to meet the President of Evil," Mina giggled as Izuku and Ochaco shared in a happy smile. "She asked for you, but your boy Izuku here covered for you by saying that you were off keeping the city safe." She and the others had just finished recounting the events that he had missed while on his way to and from Tartaros Prison, which included a visit from the Pussy Cat heroes and the news that Eri was now officially in the care of the school, due to Aizawa being one of the only people capable of keeping her powers in check.

"Oh yeah?" Kurai chuckled as he rubbed his sore chest, his body still not completely recovered from his battle with the Shadow Nomu, even after a healing session with Recovery Girl earlier that morning. "You sure you weren't born with a prophecy quirk or something? You wound up hitting pretty close to home with that."

"Sorry, I guess I should've said something else, now that I think about it," the green-haired boy apologized. "She just seemed excited at the idea of you saving someone like you saved her, so I…"

"Dude, I was kidding," Kurai chuckled. "I hope I can see her today, unless Mister Aizawa wants her to stay in the teacher's dorm?"

"She did ask for you, so I'm sure it won't be long before she can come over, or you get invited to where she's at," Ochaco chirped. "Togata's gonna be keeping an eye on her since he's on leave from his studies right now, so maybe he can set something up."

"Is it Valentine's Day yet?" a familiar voice called in from the door to the common space. "Cos I got a sweetheart right here!"

"Speak of the devil," Mina grinned as she nudged Kurai with her elbow.

"Togata!" Izuku exclaimed as the tall senior strode into the room with a familiar small figure gripping his hand as her eyes looked around the living space. "We weren't expecting you!"

"Well, little Eri had someone that she wanted to see, so here we are!" Togata said cheerily. "Go on, say hi!"

"Hi, Kai," the girl said a little shyly as Kurai stood up, moving to greet her and the older student. "I heard you got in another fight. Are you okay?"

"I'm doing a lot better now that I get to see you," he told her with a big smile while he ruffled her white hair, which had been made into a neat braid that allowed more of her face to show. "I heard you'll be living at UA from now on- how awesome is that?"

"I was super excited, because I get to stay near you and Deku and Lemillion," Eri said happily, her shyness beginning to fade away now that she was in the presence of another friendly face. "Does Akarui live here, too?"

"Ah… No, sorry," Kurai answered with a temporary grimace. However, he quickly cleared it up in favor of renewing his grin and saying, "But I'll give you a way to talk to him on the computer, if Mister Aizawa gives it the 'okay'. I'm sure he'd like to keep teaching you, if you'd like that."

"I would like that," Eri nodded. "Learning is hard, but he's fun, so I wanna keep doing it."

"Who knew the little guy had it in him?" Mina snickered to her friends while the others in the common space began to draw in closer to see what was happening.

"Hey, Togata!" Kirishima said as he bumped fists with the senior. "Me an' some of the guys were about to go hit the gym- wanna come with us? I'm sure Hikari wouldn't mind taking over with Eri for a bit, right?"

"I wish, but I told Mister Aizawa that I wouldn't let her outta my sight," Togata replied with a bright smile. "Promise is a promise, you know?"

"That's a real man, right there!" Kirishima grinned fiercely as he slammed his rock-hard fists together. "Now I'm really fired up for the gym! C'mon, Shoji, Ojiro!" With that, he ran out the door, not bothering to see if anyone was following him.

"Man, he has a lotta energy," Togata said, looking a little wistful for a second as the other boys chuckled among themselves and made to follow the redhead after giving their own greetings to their guests. However, he simply smiled again and said, "So, what do you wanna do now, Eri? Seems like Hikari isn't totally a hundred percent yet, so we should probably let him rest, okay?"

"Pfft, you kidding me?" Kurai said as he stood up straight. "I'm game if she wants to play for a bit."

"Kurai, you should be resting!" Iida interjected as he and Yaoyorozu approached the group. "You went through an incredible ordeal yesterday, and any strenuous exercise has been advised against by Recovery Girl!"

"I hardly think that a game of catch or hide-and-seek counts as-"

"No excuses!"

"Okay, I know I haven't threatened this in a while, but I will take your legs and use them for an upgrade on my bike," Kurai shot back. "Failing that, I could do with some spare parts for my arm."

"Yeah, lay off the guy!" Mina chimed in while Eri looked between the two parties, appearing confused at what was happening. None of them really seemed angry, but there was slight tension in the air that she did not completely understand.

"Hey, I know!" Togata said to head off any more arguing. "How about a movie? You guys have any good flicks for a kid?"

Kurai's face immediately split into another grin as he said, "I got just the thing- be right back." With that, he spun on his heel and started to jog toward the elevators, leaving Izuku and Ochaco to entertain their friends in the interim.

However, he was surprised when he felt someone's hand grab him by the shirt in an attempt to restrict his movements. "You'd better not be going for what I think you're going for," Mina said in a thin tone.

"Oh, you know what I'm going for," he said with a cheeky smile over his shoulder.

"She's like, five!"

"So?! I was four when I first saw 'em!"

"That doesn't make it okay!"

The elevator bell suddenly rang, admitting Asui and Jiro, who looked startled at the sight of Mina practically wrestling her boyfriend into the wall in an attempt to keep him from advancing. Asui blinked once and then said, "If you two are gonna get up to anything weird, please do it in one of your rooms, ribbit." This caused Jiro's face to redden and Mina to laugh a little nervously, which gave Kurai an opening.

"Sorry, sweetheart," he said in a low tone, though he kept his grin on his face. Then he jammed his fingers into one of Mina's ticklish spots, causing her to let out an involuntary shriek and double over, even as he crossed the hallway in a single bound, leaping over Jiro and Asui's heads, and slipping in between the doors just in time for them to shut behind him. As soon as they did, he hit the button that would take him to the second floor, a satisfied smile on his face.

That smile grew as he heard Mina shout, "If you bring down Star Wars again, I'm eating the rest of your dessert in the fridge!"

"Worth it!" he cackled, though he did grimace as his body reminded him of the abuse that he had been through yesterday. The smile faded further as he remembered how he had been crushed by a Nomu mutate, and the worse wounds suffered by the other heroes that had come to help him. By the time the door opened to his floor, he was covered in a cold sweat, and his vision was blurring, leaving him barely able to make it to his room and open the door so that he could fall to his hands and knees just inside the entrance.

I'm okay, he told himself. It's all just memories, now. I beat the Nomu- I won, he won't hurt anyone, ever again. I'm safe, and I'm with my friends… I'm okay.

Slowly, his tremors ceased and his vision began to clarify, allowing him to make his way to the shelf where he kept his favorite movies, though he was moving a lot more slowly than he had before. I feel like I just got a thirty-second version of the flu, he thought as his muscles begged for him to just lie down and rest. Ignoring the sensation, he sent a pulse of Energon throughout his body to steady his movements just enough so that he was moving like before.

As he grabbed his favorite film collection, he grimaced as he realized that he was going to have to tell Mina what had just happened to him. As tempting as it was to keep it to himself, he knew that she would eventually put the pieces together on her own, and he had promised not to keep her in the dark about what was going on in his head, especially when it came to things like this. That aside, he knew that he would feel better after he had talked to her, even if the process was an uncomfortable one for him.

I don't have to do this alone, he reminded himself with a shaky smile. Nor do I really want to.

He returned with the movies and handed them off to Togata, who eagerly picked out the fourth episode, saying that it had been ages since he'd watched it last. Izuku and Ochaco took the opportunity to take Eri into the kitchen, where there were plenty of snacks for her to choose from. Todoroki surprised them by offering to heat up a bag of popcorn so that they didn't have to rely on the microwave, which had a tendency to leave more than a few kernels uncooked, even when the 'popcorn' setting was used.

While they were doing that, Kurai pulled Mina aside, who was clearly about to go on a rant about his excessive love of Star Wars, and told her in a hushed voice about what had happened in the elevator and his room. She quickly quieted herself and listened with a somber expression on her face until he was done explaining himself. After that, she asked him if he needed to discuss it further in a more private setting, to which he answered negatively.

"Let's do that later," he said before she could insist otherwise. "Once Eri and Togata leave, I promise I'll talk more. I don't want to worry Eri any more than I already have after yesterday's events."

Mina looked at him with a warm smile before saying, "You're a real sweetie, aren't you?" She kissed him on the nose and then added, "You remember what you told me after our beach party after the Sport's Festival? About me being a fun mom?"

"Y-Yeah," he nodded, his face coloring as he recalled the event. "What does that have to do with-?"

"You're gonna be an amazing dad, someday," she told him as she brought him in for a firm hug. "You've always been strong for everyone else, and you don't complain about the things that have happened that are so unfair to you. You're so kind to those who need it, and the way you've looked out for Eri whenever you get the chance tells me that you've got a good heart for kids. All of those things are good qualities to look for in a dad, so… there."

Kurai's face heated up even more, but he couldn't help but smile and nuzzle Mina's cheek with his own as he murmured, "I don't wanna think about that for a long time. But it's nice to know that you think that about me."

"Love you, Kurai."

"Love you too, Mina. Thanks for helping me feel better."

The rest of the morning passed by quickly while Eri was entranced by the magic of the old space fantasy adventure of Skywalker and company. When the movie ended, she asked if they could watch the next one, which Togata declined, saying that they shouldn't spend all day in front of the TV, which seemed to disappoint her. However, Kurai cheered her up by promising to lend her the movies so she could watch them with Togata or a teacher, if she so desired. This led Mina to complain that Kurai had corrupted the little girl's taste in good cinema, but she also admitted that Eri having fun was the important part.

After that, the group went outside to play softball with her, Yaoyorozu providing a bat that was Eri's size, plus the tee and helmet to complete the getup. Kurai and Izuku used some of Kaminari's equipment to demonstrate how to play the game. Once she had the general idea, the group split up into three-person teams with Togata and Mina acting as in-fielders who would catch the ball once Eri had hit it, though they would let her get to the next base by a hair each time she advanced. Kurai pitched for their team with his good arm when it was Yaoyorozu or Izuku's turn to bat.

Nobody kept score while they played, since they were too busy enjoying Eri's good mood to care about an actual competition. As the sun continued its trek across the early afternoon sky, Kurai was reminded of the long hours that he had spent practicing for his elementary school team under his father's eye, and the days when Akarui had followed in his footsteps, leading him to spend time with his brother on the pitcher's mound. Such memories were bittersweet to him now, but the chance to make new memories did not elude him in favor of brooding on what was lost.

Once Eri was tired out from playing, they went inside for some cold drinks and fruit, and before they knew it, Eri had fallen asleep on the couch.

"Man, I didn't realize how into it she'd get," Togata laughed while Yaoyorozu made a soft blanket for the girl to snuggle into. "Thanks, you guys. You made this day way more fun for her than I could've done on my own."

"It was our pleasure," Yaoyorozu replied with a smile.

"We'd love to do it again sometime," Izuku added while Ochaco nodded rapidly in agreement.

"I don't remember the last time I enjoyed sports that much," she said cheerily.

"I haven't played baseball since grade school," Kurai mused aloud.

"You played?" Togata asked, looking surprised.

"Yeah, my dad and I used to play 'catch' a lot when I was little, and my brother joined a team as soon as he got into elementary school," Kurai recalled with a wistful smile. "Once I hit junior high, I started focusing more on my academics, so sports kind of took a low enough priority that I stopped. It was either that or quit karate, and since I wanted to become a hero, I decided to invest my spare time in self-defense lessons."

"Smart move," Togata chuckled.

"Which variety of karate did you study?" Yaoyorozu asked curiously.

"Okinawan Shorin-Ryu," Kurai replied. "Studied for twelve years, up until the month before I started attending classes at UA. And before anyone asks, I ranked at third dan before I had to quit."

"No wonder you're so good at fighting," Ochaco commented. "I feel like I learned a lot from Gunhead, but I never thought about asking if you'd be willing to teach me a few moves, too. You've taught Deku a lot, haven't you?"

"Yeah, but apparently he's picky about who he teaches," Mina grumbled. "I only got three lessons before he quit on me."

Kurai rolled his eyes before he said, "You kept laughing whenever I tried to get you to follow the forms, which just got me all worked up." To the others, he said, "I told her that I could be her instructor, or we could keep dating, but not both."

"Which was a fair trade," the pink girl admitted. "Besides, I'm a little too footloose for the moves he uses."

"I promise I won't laugh if you teach me!" Ochaco said eagerly. "Give me a chance to try it out?"

"Hmm…" Kurai mused as he pretended to eye his friend critically. "What do you think, Izuku?"

"Ochaco definitely learns fast, faster than I do when it comes to hand-to-hand," the greenette laughed as he put a hand on hers'. "I keep telling her that she missed her calling as a combat-type hero, but she wants to be like Thirteen."

"I just wanna learn enough to surprise a villain if they try anything up close," the gravity heroine explained. "Is that okay?"

Kurai pretended to mull it over for a few seconds before he grinned and said, "I can give you a trial run, sure. How about next weekend, once my wounds are totally healed up?"

"Awesome!" Ochaco cheered.

"I'll say," Togata grinned at his junior. "You're a stand-up guy, Hikari. Man, I really hope that I can get back into action with you, someday!"

"Sounds good to me," Kurai grinned back. "And when that day comes, I'll be sure to stand as your equal so you don't have to take any more bullets for me."

"Looking forward to it, my man!"

Aizawa returned just as Eri was waking up from her nap, so he instructed Togata to take her home while he addressed his class. Once the child had made her goodbye's and was on her way with Togata, class 1-A's teacher gathered all of his wards in the common area to make what he claimed would be an important announcement.

"The principal has given me permission to use training ground Alpha for an extra-credit test for your class," he began. "This will not harm your grade should you fail, but it will be a chance for those of you doing less than exemplary to make up some lost ground."

Mina and Kaminari exchanged excited looks at that piece of news, but they knew better by now than to interrupt their homeroom teacher. Aizawa then went on to say, "Part of the reason that this will not affect your grade in a negative manner is because it will pit you guys against each other in a way that even I consider to be a little unusual." This gave his students collective pause for a moment. Just what could he be planning that he would admit to unorthodox constraints?

"This test is also contingent upon your willingness to take it as a class," Aizawa told them, interrupting their silent suppositions. "If even one of you decides not to take the exam, it's off. So if any of you want to let the others down, do it now."

Way to make whoever wants to take it easy into the bad guy, Kurai grumbled internally. He hadn't necessarily been planning on abstaining himself, but he thought that it seemed a little unfair to deny everyone else a chance to bolster their grades just because one or two people would rather use their free time to unwind. Then again, it was Aizawa they were dealing with- of course he'd make it hard on them before they even got started.

"Can we at least know what the test is going to be before we decide?" Blake asked.

"No," Aizawa replied blandly. "You're all in, or else there's no point." Following those words was a stretch of silence where everyone took turns looking at each other, waiting to see if someone else wanted to back out first before they made up their minds. However, when no one volunteered to do so, Aizawa nodded to himself before saying, "All right, then, seems that everyone is in. Be at the training grounds tomorrow by nine, and I heavily suggest that you don't be late." Done with his piece, he promptly turned around and left the class wondering what on earth they had just been volunteered into.

Kurai had to visit Recovery Girl for another healing session in order to be cleared for the exercise the next morning, but he was able to meet up with the rest of his classmates at the faux city in time for the supplemental lesson to begin. Now that he had been freed from all of his bandages, his classmates could see that his face bore a new, jagged scar that ran horizontally across his cheek, about two inches below his eye. They would also later see that his right shoulder had been marked twice in a similar manner, as had the inside of his left thigh and outer right calf, plus a number of scratches on his left forearm, all thanks to the wounds he had suffered during the course of the battle with the Nomu he had defeated.

"I'm gonna end up with more scars than regular skin if this crap keeps happening," he chuckled after Mina had finished tracing the newest blemish on his face. This led to her looking at him with sad eyes, but he hurried to reassure her that he had been joking- mostly. As it stood now, he had no limbs that did not bear some kind of permanent mark that testified to the harshness of his encounters with villains. His left shoulder and cheek bore scars from the road rash he had sustained during the end of his fight with Overhaul, and the corresponding palm had a patch of discolored skin that had come about as a result of Energon backfiring. His left leg was etched with the memory of the Shadow Nomu's claws, and his right had been cut up by the debris from the building he had used to slow himself down after falling out of the sky. In spite of the fact that his right arm was now mostly metallic, the part of his bicep that was covered by the cap connecting his artificial limb to his flesh bore several surgical and self-inflicted scars. Even his torso had been marred by his being thrown through a stone fountain by the first Nomu their class had encountered, leaving him with several scratch-like marks on his back where the polished rock had torn his flesh.

All in all, it was quite evident that Kurai had thoroughly given himself over to the path of heroism, both body and soul. The sight nearly broke Mina's heart when she stopped to think about the amount of pain he had suffered to prove that fact, so she buried her sadness by choosing to hold onto him and enjoy the fact that covered in scars or not, the boy she loved was still standing tall beside her.

Aizawa arrived shortly after everyone had gathered with All Might, Cementoss, and Nezu in tow, a quartet that puzzled the class even further. Just what kind of exercise required the presence of their homeroom teacher, the hero course professor, the school's construction expert, and the principal?

"Let's get to it," Aizawa began, bringing everyone's attention to him directly. "This exercise will pit you against one another- nothing new, I know." He paused to allow a sinister smile to grow on his face as he added, "Except that it is. Today, all of you will be competing to take down a single target- one of your own classmates, who will play the part of a villain in a scenario devised by the principal."

"Whoa, whoa!" Hagakure blurted as the class began to stir uneasily. "Are you crazy?! One person against twenty-plus heroes?! No one can do that- it just wouldn't be possible for the one person to beat everyone else, no matter who it was!"

Oh, I don't like where this is going, Kurai thought as he felt his stomach drop.

"Maybe the rest of you weaklings wouldn't stand a chance, but I'll mop the floor with all of you!" Bakugo said with a vicious smile. "Hey, Teach! I'm fighting all these extras- just show me where to set up."

"Think again, Bakugo," Aizawa said blandly, prompting outrage from the explosive student. "You'll be working with your classmates on this one. Neglecting to do so was one of the reasons why you failed your provisional exam."

"This test was actually put together by me in light of events that transpired two days ago," Nezu explained as he walked forward to stand alongside Aizawa. "The truth is, we among the UA faculty have severely underestimated the capabilities of one of you, and now we need to reexamine our understanding of his true potential, and what might need to be done about it."

I really don't like where this is going, Kurai thought as he swallowed nervously.

"I'm sure you can already guess who we had in mind to play the part of the villain," All Might said as he looked at the boy with the metal arm, who shut his eyes in a slight grimace. "We all believe that this test is in the best interests for everyone involved."

When there was silence among the class for several seconds, Aizawa mused, "I see that many of you are not feeling so confident in your team's ability to win, now. You'll need to correct that line of thinking."

"Why?" Kurai found himself asking as he opened his eyes to look at his professors. "What exactly is happening right now? Am I being punished for fighting back against the Nomu instead of running away?"

"Not at all!" All Might said reassuringly. "Principal Nezu meant what he said, and nothing more than that. Young Hikari, the truth is that your fight the other day has raised a lot of questions about the potential of your powers, and as your teachers, it is our job to evaluate and cultivate it as best we can. You showed us that you are capable of standing shoulder-to-shoulder with Endeavor and Hawks, even only having just begun your hero career."

"There's also a potential issue where we can't afford to have you getting a swollen head," Aizawa added. "I honestly hope to see you lose this battle, for two reasons, the first being that no matter how powerful you are, you are not invincible, and this will be a practical reminder of the fact."

Clang!

Kurai's metal hand shook while the rest of his body trembled and he grit his teeth angrily. "You should be well aware of the fact that I am one of the last people who needs a lesson in superhuman limitations," he managed to spit out. "I wear a reminder of that fact constantly."

"Regardless, this lesson is more for your classmates than you," Aizawa replied, ignoring the anger that Kurai was practically radiating. Shifting his gaze to the rest of the class, who were also looking more than a little disgruntled, he said, "Our second reason for setting this up is to give you all a chance to prove that no matter who your opponent is, there is a way to win, especially if you are willing to cooperate with one another. In fact I expect the rest of you to win, no excuses. Another hero is not always going to come along to save the day when you fail, so you had best get used to the idea of working with what you've got. You've seen Midoriya and Bakugo work together to take on All Might with success- this should be no different."

"What's the point in a rigged test?" Todoroki asked in a monotone. "What are we supposed to gain from this exercise?"

"Icy-Hot's right," Bakugo snorted in disgust. "This won't even be a challenge. Saiyaman won't last two minutes."

"Uh, did you see how he fought that gross monster?!" Ruby exclaimed in protest.

"I think you're also forgetting who beat you in the Sport's Festival," Kaminari snickered, causing Bakugo to grind his teeth furiously.

"We understand that this exercise may be uncomfortable for many of you, but we firmly believe that it will be in your best interest to undertake this task," Cementoss rumbled. "As I'm sure Eraserhead has already informed you, this is not a mandatory assignment, so you are not obligated to participate, but we urge that you do so. You may be competing against Hikari, but it will still be a good measure of how you've come along in comparison to one another, especially those of you that chose to do a work study last semester."

"That is, provided young Hikari still wants to go through with the exercise," All Might reminded everyone. "There's no real point to this if he's not willing to participate."

Kurai's metal arm shook for a moment before he made a conscious effort to relax his grip and asked, "What's the goal?"

"Your class has dealt with many situations in this curriculum, but only some of you have dealt with this one in the field," Aizawa responded quickly. "Today's exercise will be a hostage situation. Hikari will have ten mannequins that will represent incapacitated citizens. His aim is to escape the city with at least one of these dolls, whether that's by using them as a bartering chip to obtain safe passage out, or by sneaking past your defenses. He can also choose to kill all of the hostages, but then he has to incapacitate all of you in order to win the match, and safely make his escape. Those of you that concede or are knocked unconscious will not be allowed to participate further, and will be escorted off the field by a medical drone."

"The rest of you also have several ways to win," Nezu chimed in. "You can get all of the hostages away from his reach and disarm the bombs that he has placed on them, or defeat him in combat to secure their safety. You can also get them out of the city, beyond the reach of his device's signal."

"Bear in mind that the explosive charges can be detonated any time that he chooses, but they are also on a timer," Aizawa added. "You will have four hours before they blow. If either Hikari has not managed to escape or you haven't rescued all ten hostages, then the citizens are all dead, and the heroes have failed."

"As this is an extra-credit assignment, it will not reflect poorly on your grades," Nezu reminded them, though he seemed to be looking at Aizawa when he said it. "But I do hope that you will give it your best shot, regardless."

Kurai maintained a flat stare at his teachers throughout all of this, and when it seemed that it was finally his turn to speak again, he said, "About half of me wants to say 'no', just to spite you."

"And the other half?" Aizawa replied without blinking.

"It wants to blow something up," Kurai admitted. "I also know that if I don't do this now, you'll find some way to trap me into it later. So fine, I'll play along."

"You can't be serious!" Yaoyorozu gaped. "Hikari, don't feel like you need to do this for our sake!"

"I'm not," he said firmly. "I'm doing this for me, because while he may not have said it outright, it'll be good to know if my power can be contained by those around me. The way that Energon messes with my head may be less physically damaging than it used to be, but the mental repercussions could still be disastrous if I get out of control." His eyes flicked over to Izuku, and he knew the memory of their battle against Chisaki was still fresh enough for his friend to understand.

"I expect you to control yourself," Aizawa warned as he tugged lightly on his scarf. "If I have to step in due to unnecessary roughness, it won't be just a failure on this exercise for you."

"Young Hikari, you will have an hour to set up the hostages in the city however you like," All Might said to head off any more potential arguments. "The rest of you can warm up in gym gamma and talk strategy." He could tell that the students were already unhappy with the exercise, and any further confrontation could lead to the extra assignment falling apart on itself. Truth be told, he wasn't a big fan of it, himself, but Nezu had insisted on its necessity, so he had complied with the decision, on the condition that he be the one to grade the students on their individual performances, not Aizawa (even if the students didn't know about it).

Before the others could walk away, Kurai stopped them by saying, "Hang on." Once he was sure that he had their attention in full, he added, "Let's do this right, or else there's no point to it, okay? For once, take a page from Bakugo's book and come at me like you mean it. I'll be fine, I promise."

"You're sure about that?" Mina asked him worriedly while Bakugo snorted and stomped away.

"Yeah, fine," he replied with a little grin. "Freaked out, insecure, neurotic, and emotional. Fine." With that, he moved to walk closer to the principal, likely to inquire where he would be getting his materials for the exercise.

"Kurai!" Iida said in a reprimanding tone, only to be held back by Mina's arm and the smile on her face. "Ashido?"

"He's okay," she chuckled as she turned around and started to walk away. "If he wasn't, he wouldn't be cracking jokes." Once they had moved a few meters away, however, her expression darkened a little as she muttered, "Doesn't mean that I'm not pissed at Mister Aizawa for pulling a stunt like this."

"If it makes you feel any better, I'm pretty sure that all of us are right there with you," Ochaco said with an uncharacteristic downward turn on the corners of her mouth. "It's not fair that Kurai has to deal with so much more than the rest of us, and now it feels like even Mister Aizawa is picking on him, too."

"I wish that we at least understood Mister Aizawa's reasoning for why he'd do something like this," Izuku added. "He seems pretty cold and stand-offish at first glance, but the way that he's fought against the League and defended the school from the press shows that he really cares about us. He's gotta have a purpose behind this."

"I honestly couldn't care less if there was one or what it is," Mina scowled as she tightened her fists. "Kurai doesn't deserve any of the crap that's happened to him, forget our homeroom teacher rubbing salt in the wound."

"Did you consider that maybe Mister Aizawa was telling the truth when he said that this test is more for our benefit than Hikari's?" Blake asked as she drew alongside them. When they all gave her incredulous looks, she shrugged and said, "It just seems like a lot of you guys are really quick to jump to his defense when he's perfectly capable of handling himself. If we're gonna do this exercise right, we need to look at him like he's our opponent, which you won't be able to do if you keep looking at him like someone to be protected."

"No one here is underestimating his capabilities," Todoroki said from next to the shadowy girl. "But it's only natural for his friends to worry about him."

"It should also be natural to have faith in him," Blake countered. "I'm not saying that you shouldn't be worried about him- I am too, believe it or not. But as heroes, we need to trust that our friend can do what he needs to do. You said it yourself, Ashido, he's okay to do this. So let's act like we believe that."

Mina drew in a breath to argue, but then let it out in a long exhale of silence. As much as she didn't like to admit it, Blake had a good point, especially given that she was using her own words to make said point. Her first instinct was to shield Kurai from whatever harm she could prevent him from taking, but that wasn't necessarily her job, even as his girlfriend. Right now, he was asking them to come at him with their best, so it was her job to support him in that decision, and see to it that this bizarre exercise yielded fruit for all of them, not just him.

"This is gonna be a majorly weird day," she eventually sighed, causing Ochaco to pat her on the back sympathetically.

Most of the students chose to use the time that they had been given to warm up their bodies and quirks while a handful of their brightest minds put together a strategy to use against Kurai. This group was composed of Izuku, Iida, Yaoyorozu, Weiss, and Mina, largely because she had the best idea of his capabilities and personality.

"Let's start with what we know of his powers," Izuku began. "I've noticed that the more chakras that he's been able to keep open, the stronger his overall stamina is, in addition to the techniques that comes with them. He has the most practice with his Divine Eye, the power that gives him omnidirectional sight for an indeterminate range. The drawback to it is that he can only use his power in small bursts before it starts to hurt his head, he can't move very fast while it's active, and he can only fire one or two blasts of power at a time, and not in rapid succession."

"His reflexes and strength are still enhanced, though," Mina reminded him. "If you get too close, he'll whack you, hard. Actually, his accuracy gets a major boost if he focuses hard enough, so he'd be able to snipe us if we take too long in making our approach. He wouldn't need a barrage of energy bolts in that scenario."

"How did he hit that Nomu into the sky the other day?" Weiss asked with a slight frown. "That happened too quickly for it to be his normal powers."

"He used something that he calls his 'Joyous Light', a power that focuses his quirk through the Swadhisthana chakra, or the part of your spirit that experiences happiness and pleasure," Izuku answered. "With it, he becomes as fast and strong as All Might in his prime, no exaggeration. It's probably the most dangerous one he has access to, but I also doubt that he'll use it."

"Why not?"

"The power drives him out of his mind if he uses it for too long," Iida replied. "It would be all too easy for him to lose control and seriously harm- or even kill- someone unintentionally."

"He also loses his ability to produce his lasers," Izuku told them. "If he slips up and tries to use them while he's in that form, his quirk backfires and does him serious harm."

"There's also the 'Giving Heart', but that's useless without a partner for him to work with," Mina mused as her eyes rolled upward in thought. "The other one that we'll really have to be careful of is 'Basic Instinct'."

"Is that the one that turns his body red?" Yaoyorozu guessed, to which Mina nodded. "When we were watching him fight the Nomu, he seemed to be able to evade any attack aimed at him, even before he could have known that it was coming with normal senses."

"And unlike his Divine Eye and Joyous Light, his energy output isn't restricted," the pink girl told them. "Fortunately for us, he can't use it for very long because it wears him out super-fast."

"Perhaps it would be a prudent measure to try and force him to use that power, then," Iida suggested thoughtfully. "If we surround him with a coordinated series of attacks and force him to use that ability, we could wear him out before the fight really has a chance to get started."

"Maybe, but we'd have to send in people fast enough to avoid his countermeasures," Izuku said with a slight frown. "Basic Instinct doesn't just let him dodge, it allows him to fight back with a crazy amount of accuracy. Who do we have that could engage him at close quarters like that?"

"Well, there's you and Iida," Weiss began as she began to raise fingers in tandem with each name that she brought up. "Ruby could help with the long-distance before closing in with her speed to assist you guys, not to mention that Blake and Yang also specialize in close combat."

"Kirishima would be hard for him to knock down," Mina added.

"Let's not forget that we have hostages to rescue," Yaoyorozu reminded them. "Hikari is smart, so I doubt that he would have all of his hostages in one place- after all, if we miss even one of them before time runs out, we'll fail the point of the exercise."

"We should divide and conquer, then," Iida decided. "Schnee, would you mind coordinating a rescue effort with those of us that are ill-suited to matching Kurai's power?"

"I think my abilities would be best suited for fighting Hikari," she said with a negative shake of her head. "I can easily provide ranged support in addition to close combat with my rapier. I would recommend that we put Yaoyorozu and Shoji in charge of finding the hostages since he can easily collect intelligence and she could direct the others simultaneously with the radios we'll be using."

"That's a good point," Iida conceded while the vice-rep nodded her agreement to the plan. "Very well, we'll ask him to assist you, Yaoyorozu. Is there anyone else that we should ask to join the combat team?"

"You should ask Todoroki along," Momo said immediately. "A weakness that I've noticed with Hikari is that he succumbs to heat and cold more easily because of his prosthetic limb, both of which Todoroki can provide."

"Also an excellent idea."

"Kacchan will probably do his own thing," Izuku sighed.

"How are we supposed to convince him to work with us?" Mina grumbled. "I hate saying it, but we could definitely use his help in a fight like this."

"Maybe he can, even if he doesn't want to work with us," Weiss said slowly, causing everyone to look at her curiously. Seeing this, she explained, "Any plan that we give him will more than likely go in one ear and out the other in favor of fulfilling his own ambitions. He'll likely want to attack Hikari directly, which we can use to our collective advantage. He can engage the enemy first, and in the best possible case scenario, he beats him, leaving the rest of us free to find the hostages. If not, we can at least get a look at what Kurai's own strategy is and how hard he's planning to come at us. That way, we can coordinate additional maneuvers in the field before actively engaging him."

"How come you're not leading Team RWBY?" Mina asked, causing Weiss' face to transform into an irritated scowl.

"I'm not as quick to adapt to the unpredictable as Ruby is," she admitted begrudgingly. "I'm also not as easy to get along with. Is there anything about Hikari that we're overlooking?" She seemed to add in the last part as a not-so-subtle indicator that she wanted to change the subject.

Seeing this, Izuku answered by saying, "I don't know of any other ultimate moves that he has, so unless he unlocks another chakra during the fight, I think we-"

"You're not totally right, there," Mina interrupted, surprising the others. "He did unlock another chakra a while back, but he says that he hasn't had a chance to use its power in live combat yet. When I asked him if it was hard to use, he said that was actually pretty easy. He just couldn't think of a practical use for it yet. I'd bet my last yen that he'll find a way to use that power against us today."

"What does the power do?" Yaoyorozu asked. "Did he say which chakra it was associated with?"

"No idea," Mina shrugged. "He said he'd show it to me once he had figured out a way to use it in a fight or a rescue, and I never asked him about it after that, cos we were too busy practicing coordination with Divine Eye and timing with Giving Heart."

"Oh," Weiss muttered. "Wonderful."

"Now, now," Iida said in defense of his classmate. "This is better than us not knowing about a potential fifth ability at all. We know to be on guard against any unexpected surprises this way."

"I get the feeling that with Kurai, you can always assume that he's got some kind of surprise up his sleeve," Izuku murmured. "He never fights the same way twice."

"I don't suppose there's a chance that he might take it easier on Mina if she went in to fight him?" Yaoyorozu asked after a moment of hesitant silence. "Maybe she could distract him?"

"Heh, no way," Mina chuckled ruefully. "He didn't hold back when we fought in the Sport's Festival, and he has no issue with not pulling his punches whenever he and Izuku train together."

"She's right," the greenette nodded. "Kurai isn't the type to hold back against his friends, though he isn't mean about it like Kacchan."

"It was worth a try," Yaoyorozu sighed.

"Let's table how we're going to deal with Kurai for a little while," Iida decided abruptly. "First, we should figure out what kind of approach the rescue teams will take throughout the city after we locate Kurai."

"Are you ready?"

"Yes, sir." Kurai walked over to one of the windows of the building that he had elected to hide in while he answered the principal via his scouter. Normally students were given earpieces to keep in touch with their teammates and teachers, but his scouter had been approved for substitutional use during such exercises. "Is it time to begin?"

"In two minutes," Nezu answered. "Good luck in your endeavors today."

"Thanks- I'll need it," Kurai muttered as he glanced back at a pair of dummies that he had tied up, one to a pillar in plain view, and another to a radiator. There was actually a third one in the office closet, but he was willing to bet that if he was driven from this position, his classmates would see the first two and at least initially assume that there weren't any others. All of them were strapped with flash-bombs that he could individually detonate with a remote control that he had tucked away inside his gi.

The line had gone quiet, so he pulled out his sword and made sure that it was set to low power, as to only cause burns on human flesh instead of severing limbs by accident. He also made a point of examining the map of the faux city that he had been able to scan into his head device, reminding himself of where he had hidden the hostages, where certain buildings were more likely to collapse, and even some of the tunnels that ran beneath the area.

Just as he was turning off the map, he heard the alarm that announced the beginning of the match. With a grim smile, he muttered, "Game on, Class A."

"Is everyone clear on their part?" Iida asked as he led the way into training block Alpha.

Everyone but Bakugo answered in affirmative, while the blond student growled, "You idiots never told me that I had a part!"

"Why would we?" Weiss sniffed. "You always go off and do your own thing if we try to convince you to join us. Why should this time be any different?"

"You got a problem with me, Ice Queen?!"

"Hey, if you really wanna help, we could use some extra hands on the search and rescue," Hagakure suggested. "You're super-fast and good at flying around, so you'd be a great help!"

"In your dreams!" Bakugo shouted before he began to stomp off. "I'll find Saiyaman and get that stupid detonator away from him before he knows what hit him!" With that and a few explosions, he was off, propelling himself into the air to gain a better vantage point.

"He's so easy," Mina snickered.

"Does everyone else have their earpieces in?" Yaoyorozu asked the class. When they once again gave a collective affirmative, she said, "Good. Alert the others if you see anything suspicious, but don't engage Hikari until at least three of the people on the combat team can come to assist." Iida, Izuku, Todoroki, the girls of Team RWBY, Kirishima, Kaminari, and Mina had been selected to be on the team in charge of engaging Kurai in direct combat once they had found him. There were others that were combat experts like Tokoyami and Ojiro spread out among the rescue teams, since they didn't want to provide Kurai with easy pickings in the case of an ambush.

"Remember, Kurai is not invincible, however powerful he is," Iida reminded them. "I'm sure that many of you feel as though he is in a league beyond our capabilities- a feeling that I share in, believe me. But! With careful coordination and strength of will, we can succeed, as we have against many other foes besides! So, even against such odds, let us go beyond!"

"Plus Ultra!" the others cheered.

"Move out!"

With that, the class dissolved into their assigned groups and set out in pursuit of their opponent and friend.

Kai: What the hell, man?!

Mataras: Oh, come on, it's not that bad.

Kai: I just got out of the hospital!

Mataras: Hey, heroes don't always get to pick and choose when they go into battle. You could have backed away from the challenge.

Kai: More like I could have backed up into whatever trap Mister Aizawa was getting ready in case I did. You know as well as I do that man leaves nothing to chance.

Mataras: This is true.

Kai: You just did this because you wanted to see what would happen if I fought all of my classmates at once, didn't you?

Mataras: ...Maybe.

Kai: Well then, joke's on you. I'm not stupid enough to do that.

Mataras: You beat the Shadow Nomu, why's this got you so worked up?

Kai: Very big difference between one, super-powered, mindless monster, and twenty-three highly trained, highly skilled, and highly ambitious superheroes coming at me like they mean it!

Mataras: Ah, good. You're smart enough to make this whole ordeal more interesting.

Kai: What's that supposed to mean?!

Mataras: Means that I'm gonna get three chapters out of this thing! Next time- Class A vs. Energon

Kai: You're about to see what happens when I use brains instead of brawn to Go Beyond!

Mataras: Plus Ultra!

Next time on Your Hero Academia...

Bakugo landed on the roof of the building that Shoji had described and proceeded to make his way inside from the only door on top of it. He moved with a surprising amount of stealth, his ears on alert for any sudden noises, and his lightning-fast reflexes ready to trigger his quirk at the first provocation. He moved into the appropriate floor and noticed the open layout of the clothing section that he had found himself in. There was a faint humming sound coming from the section near the windows, so he narrowed his eyes and approached with his right palm aimed in front of him.

Once he had cleared the last aisle, he let out a noise of disgust. "Squidward doesn't know what he's talking about," he growled as he lowered his gauntlet. "It's a dress on a hanger in front of a fan that's making it move. Saiyaman played us."

"Like the cheap kazoo you are."