This episode began right where the last one had ended. The group of colorful ninjas attacked Todoroki. Two came at him with a water and earth based attacked, which were met with his fire. He jumped backwards to avoid more giant nuts and bolts. Bits of buildings were thrown at him, breaking up the ice he put up to defend himself. Todoroki recognized how they had thought up a counter to everything.
Less than a minute into the episode and the watchers were already on the edge of their seats, eager to see whether or not Todoroki would actually be able to win and worried about how hurt he might get in the process.
Izuku frowned at the screen, then wondered aloud "Does anyone else think that it's kind of weird for them to attack him like this?"
"Well, I am rather confused by their choice." Momo admitted as she handed Todoroki a towel. He took it and bit down on it without comment. "Given the nature of the test, it seems highly inefficient to put so much time and energy into defeating one powerful person."
"What do you mean?" Hagakure asked.
"In order for one person to pass, they need to hit three targets on another person. Todoroki is only one person, with only three targets to offer, so even if they defeat him they will have gained very little while having used up a lot of their resources. So why would they focus on him so much when other targets are available?"
"Huh, that is weird now that you mention it. Do you think they're obsessed with Todoroki the way that Camie girl was with Midoriya?"
"That could be." Izuku acknowledged. "Though, I can see part of their reasoning. UA students are the only ones here that have made their quirks and basic abilities public knowledge, so they can make specific plans for a UA student that they couldn't make with other participants."
Momo nodded. "Still, they chose a particularly powerful student, which seems more risky for them, and still doesn't negate the fact that they gain very little from winning this match. Even with UA hunting being some kind of tradition, it just doesn't make much sense."
"Maybe they're overconfident and thought that them having so many more people and a plan would make this an easy fight." Kirishima suggested. Izuku nodded along.
"That's also a possibility. I suppose we also need to take into account that there are fewer people available now. Inasa took out that big group earlier, and the other contestants will have been picking each other off, so I guess they're willing to take more risks to get some of their members passed."
Todoroki just waited for them to get done discussing so that they could get back to watching the fight. The group's motivations didn't matter much in the end, and the fight itself could give him valuable insight.
When another earth attack came, Todoroki retaliated in a way that caused a big dust cloud to get kicked up. Todoroki was shown running away from the group, thinking about how they were being encouraged to use all the different terrain styles. He made a flame, which was spotted by one of the group members, then used his ice on a nearby tank. When the ninjas arrived it was revealed that the flame they saw was actually bait for a trap. Todoroki used his fire to make the tank burst and send them flying. When they landed, the one in red said that Todoroki was crazy.
Students cheered and laughed as the men fell for it, and their clothes were ripped in a way that showed their underwear.
"You were throwing around bolts the size of boulders earlier, you don't get to call other people crazy." was Jirou's snarky reply.
"That was a great set up Todoroki! It's cool that you figured out the commission would have made that tank functional for the test." Izuku praised.
Todoroki still had the towel in his mouth, just in case, so he thanked Izuku with a nod and thumbs up.
All the group members were frozen in place with Todoroki's ice. He apologized, but said he couldn't afford to fail before approaching them, ball in hand.
"You really do have a thing for badass boasts huh?" Sato said with a grin.
Todoroki spit the towel out, since it was now clear he wasn't about to be hurt. "I am a bit sorry. I only need to get one of them out, but staying stuck in my ice will likely disqualify all of them."
"If they can't get out of it again to go fight someone else then they deserve to be out." Bakugo said.
A short time skip had Todoroki walking in another part of the same area, musing how he needed to practice using his fire and ice at the same time. The targets on his body lit up and informed him that those who had passed should go to the waiting area. Mic's voice then gave a detailed explanation about how the targets worked.
"That's a lot of stuff to program into them. I hope that they can reuse them for other tests so that all that tech gets put to good use." Tsuyu said.
"So this means Todoroki passed right? Congrats man! You're the first of us to make it!" Kirishima said.
The sentiment was repeated by many more people throughout the room, and Todoroki solemnly thanked them. Though it didn't show on his face, he was relieved to see that his other self had made it through this first part of the test.
The scene changed to a room on one of the upper floors of a building. A girl with long white hair drank tea in front of a table of snacks. A pink haired girl in the same uniform came up an told the first girl, Miss Sai, that a group of UA students had just entered the building. Then the pink haired girl used her eye to show a video of Shoji, Momo, Jirou, and Tsuyu.
The four that were shown in the group perked up, knowing that they likely had a fight of their own ahead of them.
"I'll get towels for everyone." Shoji offered.
"Thanks!" Jirou called as he got up.
Iida made a disapproving noise. "I did not comment on the group attacking Todoroki despite their inefficiency, but this seems like too much! Taking the time to make snacks and tea while in the middle of a test is highly irregular and gives the impression you are not taking this seriously at all!"
"I mean, I keep sugar packets with me for my quirk, so I get it if she needs to eat, but setting all that up does sound like a waste of time." Sato agreed.
"Aesthetic is highly important to some people." Tokoyami said.
"We would be allowed to take such dazzling items into an exam such as this?" Aoyama wondered.
"That's a good question actually, did they need to ask permission to bring all that in?" Ojiro wondered.
"Well, it could be that she has a quirk that lets her make stuff like that, so she might not have needed to." Izuku pointed out. "That might explain why she set all that up too, if she can make more really easily then she might not care if the stuff gets broken during a fight."
Sai named off each person's quirk, and seemed to pay special attention to Momo when she said hers. Calculations circled around her for a moment, then she got up and said that their prey had been decided. While the other girl left, Sai smirked to herself about the formula for her success.
"Wow, I hate her already." Hagakure said. "She's way to full of herself."
"Wasn't Todoroki really confident in himself too?" Mineta asked.
"Well, yeah, but there's a difference between being confident and being smug."
"Yeah, when Todoroki does it he's all matter-of-fact about it you know? But she's got that other girl 'serving' her and is acting all superior and stuff. It really rubs me the wrong way." Ashido agreed.
"Todoroki simply has a great amount of faith in his abilities, and does not attempt to lord himself over classmates to the extent that this girl seems to be doing." Tokoyami said.
"Exactly!"
"What about Bakugo then? He can act pretty smug sometimes." Mineta pointed out.
"That's true." Ashido conceded. "And I don't really like it when he gets like that, but it still feels different with him for some reason..."
"We ultimately know that Bakugo is on our side while this girl is not. Perhaps that makes our tolerance for his behavior higher." Tokoyami suggested.
"Given her focus on me, you may be right about her having a quirk that shares some similarities with my own, Midoriya." Momo said. "Hopefully that will give me some insight on how to counter whatever plan she has set up."
"Well, if she's basing stuff off of the Sports Festival like the rest of them are, then she's going to be in for a big surprise, especially from you." Jirou smiled and nudged her friend.
Momo blushed at the implied praise and smiled back. She just hoped that she'd improved enough to handle whatever was coming next.
The scene changed to show Todoroki arriving in the waiting area for those who had already passed. His attention was immediately drawn to Inasa, who was loudly discussing a hero called Stampman with another competitor. Todoroki sat down on a couch, thinking about how he should have seen Inasa at UA if he'd also tried for a recommended spot. Inasa noticed him there, and briefly glared at him before going back to his conversation.
"Did you see him there?" Kaminari asked.
"I do remember seeing him briefly at the recommendation exam." Todoroki admitted.
"Well, what happened between you then?"
"I don't remember anything specific happening."
"Seriously? With that look he gave you, something must have happened. That's the only time I haven't seen him smiling since he first showed up!"
Todoroki shrugged. "I don't know what to tell you. I don't remember anything bad happening."
"I don't remember any big incidents happening during the try out either." Momo said. "If he hadn't declined the position, I would assume he was envious of the fact that you made it into UA and he did not, but that is clearly not the case."
The scene changed again. Mera announced that 56 people had now passed. Momo, Shoji, Jirou, and Tsuyu were in the building now. Shoji used his quirk to look for their classmates while Jirou used her quirk on the wall behind them. Shoji said he couldn't find anyone and Tsuyu said they should give up on looking since over half had passed already.
"Having Shoji look for the others while Jirou keeps an eye on your back by tapping into the building walls. That's a good strategy for not getting ambushed." Aizawa said. Those in the group smiled or sat up straighter at the praise.
"Definitely! Plus, this will be good experience for choosing your priorities. At this point it probably is a good idea to focus on passing yourselves rather than looking for the others." Present Mic added.
"It looks like we might not get a choice at this point, kero."
Momo agreed that they should start fighting on their own. Jirou spoke up and said she could hear footsteps on the floors above and below them, and that it sounded like four people were coming up towards them. The group discussed what the movements might mean for them, when someone turned a very loud speaker somewhere.
Jirou yelled in pain, just like her counterpart, and slammed her hands over her ears in a vain attempt to ease the pain. Momo hugged her from the side, hoping that the pressure would be grounding and help with the pain.
Jirou fell down and Tsuyu and Momo rushed over to her. Shoji put an ear to the wall and confirmed that music was playing somewhere. From this they determined that the group coming after them knew about Jirou's quirk and were making it so she couldn't use it, so they wouldn't be able to tell where their enemies were. A group of girls wearing the same white uniforms were shown going up an elevator together.
"Thank you." Jirou said, uncovering her ears. The pain had mostly faded after her other self detached from the wall.
Momo moved back, but kept an arm around her friends shoulder. "It's no problem."
"They've prepared well, this could be hard." Shoji said. Normally Shoji wouldn't need something to bite on for incoming pain, since he could just shift his appendages to something other than a mouth. But with his quirk being limited, he had one held near the appendage stuck as a mouth.
"We've already been working well together. That will help us figure out how to win, kero."
Various students wished the group luck before focusing back on the screen. They should keep things moving along, in case this ended up being a painful fight.
Sai said phase two would now begin. Something hit the windows of the hallway the group was in, making them duck for cover. The windows gained spiderweb cracks, but didn't actually shatter. A girl on a rooftop was shown to be using some kind of slingshot on the windows. Momo realized that they first cut of Jirou's quirk, then Shoji's. Shoji asked Momo what the enemy was doing, and Momo told him that they were likely trying to lock them down right here.
"I appreciate the fact that you trust me enough to look to me for leadership in a time like this." Momo smiled at him. Shoji nodded.
"Of course. You're an excellent class president, and also very intelligent. You came up with a really great plan during the summer camp too. I trust your judgment."
"Same here, kero."
"Yeah, definitely!" Jirou agreed.
Momo beamed at them, and swore she'd do her best to live up to their belief in her.
Tsuyu said they were being surrounded, and Momo agreed and said they were likely close by. More shots of the white uniformed girls were shown, more being added to their number. Jirou declared that they needed to fight back and ran forward. Momo warned her not to be hasty, but it was too late. The girl from the rooftop shot a marble at Jirou.
Jirou yelped, and a hand flew up to one of her ears.
"Are you okay?" Momo asked worriedly.
"I feel like I just got my ear shot off, but otherwise, yeah." Jirou's said, her voice strained from the pain. "Looked like she got my amp too, dammit. Guess that's what I get for being jumpy."
"I'm sure there will be a fight where moving so fast will be the thing to save you. We just need more practice figuring out when it is better to move and when to stay put."
The group called out to Jirou after she got hit. She slumped against a wall and confirmed that both her ear and her amp had been hit. Momo thought about how they'd predicted Jirou's actions after seeing her one attack earlier. She determined there must be someone very intelligent among their enemy.
"If that Sai girl is the one who figured all this out, then maybe she has a right to be smug." Uraraka noted.
"Maybe." Hagakure acknowledged "But that just makes me even more excited to see her be taken down a peg."
Izuku mind whirled with ideas, both about how to counteract such a trap and about what kind of quirk would allow Sai to set something like this up.
Shoji said it felt colder, and Momo realized he was right and that cold air was being pumped in through the vents. Another white uniformed girl called out this as phase 3. Shutters suddenly dropped down over the windows, caging them in even more. Tsuyu suddenly wobbled and dropped to the floor. The others rushed to her. They realized the cold was making her start to hibernate. Shoji suggested a fire and Jirou an electric heater, but Momo determined that neither would work due to how everything was set up. She quickly made Tsuyu a blanket instead.
"Kero...kerooooo..." Tsuyu whined as she felt her body turn sluggish and her mind fill with fog.
Uraraka, who was sitting next to her, put an arm around her back and let Tsuyu's head rest on her shoulder. "It's okay, you'll feel better soon."
"I'm sorry I can't do more for you then a blanket right now." Momo said.
"S'okay...understand..." Tsuyu managed to get out.
"Speaking of blankets, Iida? Can you get one for Tsu?" Uraraka asked.
"Of course!"
Izuku helped Iida arrange it around the two girls when he returned. They knew it wouldn't help her right now, but Tsuyu would probably want all the warmth she could get after this was all done. Plus, they knew that just the feeling of being cared for could be helpful in times like this.
The other students were beginning to get nervous now, but held strong to their belief in their classmates.
The door at the end of hallway was shown being welded shut. That left only one easy way out of their location, the double door at the other end of the hallway. Shoji asked if they should bust through there, and Momo said that's definitely where the enemy was waiting for them.
"Okay, I know things are pretty serious right now, but I gotta say it: Shoji holding Tsu like that is too adorable!" Ashido gushed.
"It so is! With her all curled up like that and how he's cradling her!" Hagakure's torso turned to Shoji. "Such a gentleman!"
"It's not that big a deal. I mean, I'm not gonna leave her laying there when she's freezing, and I'm the one strong enough to hold her easily and can share the most body heat with her."
"Still...appreciate it." Tsuyu said slowly. "Thanks..."
"No problem."
Jirou desperately asked what they should do. Shoji said that if they stayed here, the cold would do them in. Jirou suggested Momo make a bomb and blow up the welded door, but Momo said that wouldn't work.
People were on the edge of their seats now, wondering how their friends were going to get out of this.
Aizawa watched closely. He had faith in his students to think of a way forward, especially given the progress Yoayorozu had made over the course of the episodes. Still, he was very curious to know just how they would decide to go about it.
Momo urged herself to think and took stock of the situation. She thought about Jirou's injury, and how that hindered her abilities. She thought about breaking a wall, but knew that was too simple to work against someone so intelligent. She decided they needed to do something to seal the vents, but that would use up a lot of her quirk. What else could they do though?
"You'll get this figured out." Jirou said with confidence. She could feel the chill herself now, but did her best not to show it. A little chill was nothing compared to what Tsu was going through, after all. Shoji hunched in on himself a little, but otherwise didn't show any discomfort either.
"I'm sure I'll do my best." Momo agreed. She was starting to wish her hero costume provided a bit more warmth though.
A white uniformed girl confirmed that stage three was complete. Sai said they could wait for a bit then. Sai smiled to herself while the same pink haired girl brought her tea. Sai predicted that Momo would use her quirk to cover the vents and that it would take up so much material that it would make her quirk useless, effectively nullifying the last member of the group. Equations swirled around her again right before she got a close up explanation of her quirk: IQ. It was also mentioned that she and the other girls were from Seiai academy.
"Drinking tea and closing her eyes? That's a pretty specific quirk trigger. I wonder if she had a parent with the same one, or if she had to figure that out for herself. If so it might have taken her longer to figure out what her quirk is, since it's not as common for little kids to drink tea. I wonder how that affected things...what all tea works anyway? There's so many types of tea..." Izuku went into mumbling mode after being given so much new information.
"Fascinating! I do love tea myself of course, but I hadn't considered a quirk that would be so affected by the drink." Nedzu said. Perhaps it would be worth experimenting a bit with his own tea when this was all over, since he also had an intelligence based quirk. It was highly unlikely that the two quirks were related in that way, but he wouldn't say no to an excuse to try out new types of tea.
Aizawa smiled to himself. The girl may be a super genius when she used her quirk, but he had a feeling she'd already committed a fatal flaw that would undermine all of that. Like he kept reminding his own students, you should never underestimate your opponent.
Sai laughed and the other students all started cooing over her.
Ashido wrinkled her nose. 'What's with that reaction? I'm all for cooing over cute things, but her laugh wasn't THAT cute.'
Sai urged Momo to use her quirk. Momo started to do so, but then stopped. The others were confused, and she explained to them that the enemy was trying to force her to use up her quirk. The air conditioning may have affected Tsuyu, but it was also targeted at her. Shoji caught on and realized that they were planning to waltz in after all of their quirks had been rendered useless.
"You should remember that you're quirks aren't the only things you can fight with." Aizawa said.
Momo nodded. "I believe my other self realizes that, and will think of a creative solution. No doubt Shoji's strength will come into play as well, and Jirou could still use her own quirk with a few accommodations."
Jirou said they couldn't just stay here or they'd fail, so they should bust through. Shoji said they'd be expecting that. Momo asked herself what Todoroki, Iida, or Midoriya would do. She remembered what Midoriya had said outside the hospital, just before they left to try and track down Bakugo, about not being able to sit idle while others needed help. It made her realize that instead of focusing on the exam, she should focus on saving her teammates.
Mic grinned "Now you're thinking like a hero! Go for it!"
"I'm glad I could help, even indirectly." Izuku gave Momo a bashful smile. "But you should have more faith in yourself too! You already figured out not to fall into the last part of the trap after all."
Momo thanked him and said she'd try. Yagi smiled proudly as he witnessed his protege once again being an inspiration to those around him.
Momo looked at Jirou's uninjured ear and seemed to come up with an idea. She flipped her book open to look something up and asked them to bear the cold just a couple minutes more. Then she opened up her shirt more to make something, prompting Jirou to jump between her and Shoji while the boy himself quickly turned around.
"See? Shoji is a gentleman!" Hagakure said loudly. She had to make herself heard over the people giggling at Jirou's flailing. Mineta made a note of Shoji's reaction.
Momo laughed softly. "Thank you Shoji. And Jirou, I appreciate your attempts to preserve my modesty."
"No problem." she said, blushing.
Aizawa felt even more sure now that Sai was overconfident and that it would be her undoing. She didn't even have anyone listening at the door to try and make sure nothing unexpected was happening. He also made a note to himself to get Midnight and Yoayorozu to have a one on one talk. It was good that his student was comfortable enough with her own body to not let shyness hinder the use of her quirk, but she could run into censorship problems if she wasn't careful. Midnight was their resident expert on dealing with those.
Four pairs of headphones fell to the ground, and she told the others to put them on. Then she hunched over so she could use her back to make something big. She thought about how she hadn't made something like this before, but it wasn't a complicated design. A large box shape emerged from her back, and Jirou seemed to recognize what it was.
Students leaned forward curiously. Jirou wished Truth had shown enough detail for her to be able to guess what it was too.
"Do you know what the other you is doing?" She asked Momo.
"Since I dropped the headphones earlier, I think so. You all may want to brace yourselves a bit. This shouldn't be painful with the headphones, but it could still be unpleasant."
Sai told her classmates to get ready to bust in, since it had been 10 minutes. Before they could move out though, the whole room seemed to start vibrating. The other girls fell down, leaving Sai the only one standing as she realized what the strange noise/vibrations were. In the hallway, it was shown that Momo had made a new amp for Jirou, and she was using it to do a high frequency sound attack.
Momo, Jirou, Shoji, and Tsuyu all shivered as they felt the strange vibrating sensation going through them.
Around them, students cried:
"Oh my gosh! That's awesome!"
"Ha! Look at them drop like flies!"
"Don't underestimate our classmates!"
"Yes! Get them!"
"Hang in there!"
Momo urged them to tough it out just a little longer. After another seven seconds, they burst through the door and found that everyone was unconscious. Shoji put Tsuyu down, and she was able to stand up.
The four teammates all breathed a sigh of relief as the vibrations stopped and the cold no longer seeped into their bones. Well, for Tsuyu it was more like she took a deep breath as her head began to clear.
"Thanks...thanks for the help, kero."
"No problem! You feeling better?" Uraraka asked.
"Starting to." She turned to her teammates "Sorry, I turned out to be more of a burden."
"Don't worry about it, Shoji and I were hindered by their plan too." Jirou said.
"We're just glad you're okay." Shoji agreed.
Momo told them to get their targets in now. She walked past the end of the open door, and someone was standing up behind it. Sai grabbed Momo and dragged her through the door and locked it behind her before the others could do anything. She admitted she didn't think UA students would go for such a risky plan.
"Sounds like someone never learned the meaning of Plus Ultra!" Yagi said.
"Agreed. Plus, if she's so smart, she really should have taken into account that her opponent might go for a risky plan if the safer plans didn't hold any real chance of victory." Aizawa said.
Sai declared that she would at least get Momo disqualified if nothing else!
"Sounds like someone's angry that they got beat at their own game." Hagakure mocked.
Momo was shaking from exhaustion, but she couldn't quit now! Sai lunged at her. Momo flipped over and grabbed her wrist while also handcuffing them together. Sai yelled at her to stop struggling in vain, only for the door to bust back open and for Tsuyu and Shoji to restrain her.
"There you go! You got a shot in at the end!" Uraraka praised Tsuyu.
"That must have been hard. I feel exhausted, and I didn't have it as bad as you, so that's really impressive." Jirou agreed.
"Kero!" she croaked, happy to finally contribute something to the fight.
"Heh, guess you were right. My strength did come in handy." Shoji said to Momo.
Sai looked at them in shocked confusion. She asked why they would come back for Momo when they themselves were safe. In this exam they should only be looking out for themselves. Jirou said that might be true for her, but UA was different.
"If you think that after all we have been through that we would leave one of our classmates behind or not help them when they are in trouble, then your intelligence quirk has major blind spots!" Iida declared among a chorus of agreements.
"Ah yes, I run into this problem myself. Having a high amount of intelligence does not necessarily mean you can perfectly predict human thoughts and behavior." Nedzu mused. "You can be a very unpredictable lot, and often do not follow logic or rationality.
Tsuyu said they don't leave friends behind, and Shoji said they don't give up either. He remembered how Midoriya had chosen to save both Tokoyami and Bakugo at the training camp, and wanted to do the same.
Izuku's eyes widened in surprise, then he looked over at Shoji. The other boy's eyes crinkled in a smile and he gave Izuku a thumbs up. Izuku returned both gestures.
Yagi smiled proudly once again. 'Maybe now he'll really see just how much his heroic spirit inspires people.'
Momo told Sai that this was what 1A did for each other. Sai looked at her for a long moment, then relaxed her stance. She said this was to be expected of UA, they'd beaten her completely.
"Thank you all so much." Momo said, smiling softly.
"No need for thanks." Shoji said.
"Yeah, we'll never leave each other behind, not in front of villains, and not for a test." Jirou agreed.
"We've got each others backs." Tsuyu said. "Plus, we should be thanking you. You're the one that really got us through that with your plan."
Shoji nodded "Definitely."
A brief shot of a mass of...something lumpy was shown on the ground.
"What the heck was that?" Ojiro wondered aloud.
"It looked...fleshy." Sato observed, sounding a tag queasy. He really hoped his brain was just jumping to conclusions about what that mass had been.
The scene changed to another part of the testing area, where Bakugo, Kirishima, and Kaminari were all climbing up a ladder. Kaminari was explaining that he'd run to join them because he didn't want to be alone and Bakugo yelled at him to shut up. Kaminari complained about his tone and Kirishima said he'd told Bakugo to stop that.
"Oh hey, we got another team member! Good to have you with us Kaminari!" Kirishima said brightly, which made Kaminari smile.
"If you were so lonely why didn't you run off with the rest of the class? There was a lot more of them." Bakugo asked. The other boy shrugged.
"I don't know, I mean, we didn't see when exactly I joined you. Maybe I thought the smaller group would be better in case I needed to use one of my bigger attacks. It'd suck to accidentally get the whole class failed by accidentally tazing them, you know?"
"So you decide to mess with us instead?"
Kaminari grinned. "Well, you guys are so awesome at fighting that getting out of the way of one of my attacks would be no problem for you, right?"
Bakugo smirked back, clearly accepting the implied challenge.
They started walking across a road with more lumps like before, still arguing. Kirishima suddenly pushed Bakugo out of the way, and one of the lumps collided with him.
"This is why it is important to establish proper communication instead of just arguing! Your volume has likely lead to you being discovered!" Iida said, ironically loudly.
"Either that or this person has just been waiting here and you failed to notice due to not keeping up your situational awareness." Which, in Aizawa's opinion, seemed the more likely option given that they didn't seem to notice the strange lumps in the road before now. "In either case, the arguing left you open to attack, so good communication could have prevented this surprise attack."
Bakugo grit his teeth as he saw Kirishima take a hit that was meant for himself.
Kirishima struggled against it while it looped in the air, until it landed in a boy's hand just down the road. The lump and Kirishima had fused together to create a misshaped mass a little bigger than a human head.
When the audience got a full view of what Kirishima had become, as well as a better look at the other lumps in the road, those with weaker stomachs had to clamp their hands over their mouths. Present Mic wasn't fully able to swallow down the sounds of almost retching, and that made it harder for the others. Even those that weren't struggling with nausea looked pretty disturbed.
"What the-how-what?!" Hagakure sounded like she'd be green if she were visible.
"Oh god, what is this kids quirk called?! Roadkill?" Mineta asked hysterically. "Are they okay? You're not allowed to kill people during the exam right?"
Upon seeing what had happened to Kirishima, Bakugo had whipped his head to the side to look at his friend. Kirishima wasn't yelling in pain, but he was wearing the strangest expression Bakugo had ever seen on him.
"Oi, Shitty Hair, you doing okay?"
"I...I don't...know?"
"Dude, how are you know freaking out or screaming or something?" Kaminari interjected.
"I'm not...not in pain...but..."
"But what?" Bakugo demanded, trying to use volume and sharpness to stomp down the unease creeping up his spine.
"My skin feels...wrong, somehow. And my muscles are...I don't...I can't describe it." Kirishima's voice started to waver. "But I don't like it. Really, really, don't like it."
"Well, then we better get back to watching so you can get it over with." The glare Bakugo cast around the room ensured that anyone who had been distracted before went back to watching the screen so the show would continue.
Kaminari cried out in confusion and Bakugo quickly surmised that the boy, labeled Seiji Shishikura, had done that. Bakugo gave his signature grin and declared he'd kill Seiji.
Several classmates eagerly urged Bakugo to 'go get him!', much to the blonde's delight. Bakugo wished he'd been paying close enough attention to keep Shitty Hair from getting messed up like that in the first place, but he could work with kicking this guy's ass too.
Seeing Bakugo's vehemence and wicked grin actually made Kirishima feel a bit better about his situation. While it was pretty common for Bakugo to dole out threats like that, Kirishima strongly felt that Bakugo wanted to get back at the boy for him. It was nice to be reminded that, underneath all that bluster, his friend had his back.
It was announced that there were only 40 spots left to take as the scene changed back to Midoriya, Uraraka, and Sero, still among the rocks. They discussed what to do next. Midoriya noted that earlier one member of the large group had panicked and started things early, probably because he knew that there would be major competition for prey with such a large group going against a smaller one. Sero asked why Midoriya urged them to stay together earlier then. Midoriya explained the strategy he'd been going for, and thought it would work since a lot of their classmates are good at zone control. Sero realized that the way the exam was set up made it so they were testing a lot more than target practice.
People nodded along with Izuku's explanation of how he'd planned to direct the class against the group attacking them earlier. It seemed like a good strategy, and might have worked if the ground hadn't gotten torn up and separated them all. It's hard to say for sure, of course, since he would have needed to explain all that while they were in the middle of being attacked. Many couldn't help but wonder how the encounter would have gone if they'd gotten that plan down before they were attacked.
"As befitting of such a prestigious exam, we are being tested in ways that aren't obvious at first!" Iida said.
Uraraka suddenly shushed them and said it sounded like the group looking for them was getting closer. Midoriya said that he'd go out and act as decoy so that Sero and Uraraka could restrain their opponents and get their targets. Sero seemed doubtful, but Uraraka agreed to the plan right away. After Sero gave in, Uraraka thought about how she trusted Deku. He'd gotten through enough times like this before and she knew she could do it too.
A light blush came over Izuku's face, and he gave Uraraka a warm smile. "Thank you for believing in me."
"Of course! You're really smart, and you always come through in the end, so I trust your judgment."
"Yeah, he's good at this stuff! So why don't you trust Midoriya, Sero?" Ashido asked teasingly.
Sero laughed a little awkwardly. "I'm probably just nervous about going up against a big group with only three people." He also wondered if Midoriya's recent rule breaking might have something to do with his other self's doubts, but decided not to bring that up.
Aizawa nodded. It was a sound strategy, given how effective Midoriya's full cowl was and how well the other two would do in that kind of role. He looked forward to seeing if they would be successful.
The scene changed back to Bakugo's group. Seiji started talking about why Shiketsu always wear their uniform hats while the Kirishima lump squirmed in his hand. Bakugo and Kaminari stared at him in disgust.
Kirishima shuddered as the strange feeling overtook him again. Those with weaker stomachs did the same.
"I really can't concentrate on what this guy is saying while Kirishima's...like that." Kaminari said.
"He's making a speech about how much of a pretentious jerk he is." Jirou replied. Kaminari laughed.
"Oh yeah, I got that much just from the tone."
Bakugo put a hand on Kirishima's shoulder, as the other boy had done for him a few times, and a bit of the tension left Kirishima shoulders.
He said the hats signified their every move being steeped in their traditions, then unceremoniously dropped Kirishima on the ground. He said this was a demonstration of power, and that their dedication to obligation and dignity put them above other vulgar people trying to be heroes.
"If that's a dig at Bakugo, I will take his swearing and death threats over...whatever the hell this kid has going on any day of the week." Sato said. He couldn't help but feel highly disturbed by the lumpy bodies strewn around this boy. They honestly looked like dough that hadn't been fully kneaded yet, and the idea of a body being forced into that consistency made his stomach turn.
Jirou snorted. "Oh yeah buddy, the way you just dropped our classmate onto the ground like he's a hunk of ground beef was SO dignified of you."
Momo nodded. "I agree with your sarcasm. That bit of disrespect to an opponent incapable of fighting back is vulgar in its own right."
"Also, its a hat. If you wanna be dignified and stuff you don't need a hat, you should just do it, kero."
Izuku muttered as he wrote in his notebook. "I wonder if he focuses so much on these 'noble' ideas and speech patterns because of how viscerally off-putting most people must find his quirk. Maybe he's trying to balance his image out..."
Bakugo smirked and said "I hate your type". Kaminari said he couldn't process anything this guy was saying.
"If by 'type' you mean 'pretentious jerk', then same." Ashido said.
"See! Other me isn't getting anything out of this either! What's the point of doing a big speech if the people you're talking to can't even concentrate on it?" Kaminari demanded.
"Perhaps he merely enjoys the sound of his own voice." Tokoyami suggested. He was patting Koda's back soothingly, as the boy was having a hard time looking at the screen while it was focused on this group.
Bakugo told Kaminari that Seiji was saying his eyes were too small to see how strong his opponents were. Seiji yelled back that his eyes were handsome! Kaminari told Bakugo to stop saying stuff like that.
"Nah, I'm disagreeing with my other self. You should definitely keep insulting this guy. Unless that makes him turn us into meat blobs, because then you shouldn't do that." Kaminari said.
"Shut up Pikachu." Bakugo grumbled.
"Good job on finding his berserk button Bakugo." Ashido said with a laugh.
"I generally disagree with using someone's appearance as ammo in an argument, but saying things that unsettle your opponent can also be very useful in battle, so I will not protest this." Iida said.
Seiji went on to say that he respected UA, and liked that they were counted as equals.
"Are they counted as equals?" Ojiro wondered. "I always hear of UA being counted as number one, and I don't hear about Shiketsu nearly as often."
Shoji shrugged. "I don't know, I don't pay close attention to that kind of stuff, but media can be misleading."
"I suppose Shiketsu could be described as UA's 'rival school', though whether or not that puts them on par with UA is more debatable. I'm sure some argue Shiketsu is lesser, and some would argue it's greater, especially recently." Nedzu said.
However, he took issue with how they kept acting in ways that caused the school's dignity to decline. He grew some finger looking lumps out of his back. Kaminari got a bit panicky at the sight.
Kaminari shivered. He really REALLY did not want to become a meat blob.
"If you don't want to get hit by this guy, then get your head in the game and get ready to fight." Bakugo said.
"R-right, hopefully the other me will do that!"
"What's that supposed to mean?" Hagakure demanded after hearing what Seiji said. "I mean, I know that a few of the others ran off to the fight when they shouldn't have, but how many people actually know about that? Plus it was only a few of us! We haven't done anything before that except get surprise attacked by villains! How are we 'undignified' for getting attacked?"
"We did fight Stain." Todoroki pointed out.
Izuku nodded. "True, but he definitely shouldn't know about that, so I'm not sure what else he'd be talking about. Unless he's talking about Bakugo and Kaminari specifically? It's kind of hard to tell based on his wording."
Bakugo scoffed. He mocked Seiji for talking so much, and demanded he speak with his actions instead. Seiji shouted that Bakugo was especially bad. Bakugo ran forward to attack while Seiji moved to meet him.
Students again shouted for Bakugo to 'go get him!' and similar things.
"Yes, please fight this kid quickly so we can stop seeing all of his victims." Present Mic pleaded.
"Why is Bakugo especially bad?" Momo wondered. "I know his attitude about various things leaves something to be desired, but the only 'undignified' thing I can think of him doing in public is how he acted at the end of the Sports Festival, and perhaps how he talked to civilians during his internship. That doesn't seem like enough information to draw such conclusions."
Aizawa grunted. "People will see you on TV a couple times and think they know everything about you. That's another reason I prefer being underground."
The scene changed back to Midoriya, who was running around with full cowl to draw people to him.
Some people still found themselves watching in awe when Midoriya used full cowl. Seeing him zip around so quickly and without any pain was such a huge contrast from where he started that it still boggled their minds a bit. Others were annoyed that they didn't get to see Bakugo and Kaminari start fighting with Seiji.
Kirishima let out a relieved breath when the scene once again shifted away from where he was.
In the stands, Ms Joke offered Aizawa some gum. Aizawa thought it would be a prank, so he refused. He said it was frustrating that they didn't know who was passing until the very end. Ms Joke excitedly asked if that meant that he was worried.
"Awwww, Shota you big softy! Getting all worried about how your kids are doing!" Present Mic teased.
"I never said I was worried."
Aizawa said that, after watching the class for a while, he noticed that there were two students whose presence had a big effect. They weren't leaders, or the most popular, and they didn't get along at all. But before he knew it, their passion had spread to the rest of the class.
Ashido grinned. "Three guesses as to who he's talking about~" she said in a singsong voice.
Without really thinking about it, Izuku and Bakugo both turned to look at each other. They both seemed surprised to meet each others eyes at first, then Bakugo scowled and Izuku smiled awkwardly.
"I've got to be more popular than Deku." Bakugo said.
"Honestly, I think you're both equally popular, just in your own ways, and for different reasons." Uraraka said.
"That sounds like a cop out answer."
Uraraka rolled her eyes. "Call it whatever you want."
Whether or not either of the two boys counted as 'popular' among their peers or the public was debatable, but none of the students could deny Aizawa's assertion about their passion spreading to the rest of the class. They'd lost track of the number of times they'd seen themselves or others be inspired by something Midoriya did or felt compelled to cheer for Bakugo.
"Really Shota? Midoriya's gotten people to follow him plenty of times now, and you don't count him as a leader?" Mic questioned.
"Being a leader, in general, and having the ability to inspire people to follow you aren't always the same thing. Midoriya tends to rush in on his own too much to be a leader, same for Bakugo, though Midoriya certainly works better with others than he does."
"Hm, seems like a pretty fine line, but I guess I see your point."
Midoriya dodged balls and attacks as they were thrown at him, and Uraraka and Sero were shown sweeping in and immobilizing people. Bakugo was quickly shown using his explosions to drive back Seiji.
"Nice grab!"
"You gottem!"
"Keep it up!"
"Yeah! Show 'em that they can't push UA students around!"
Aizawa went on to say that one of them was always at the center of any major event. He told Ms Joke he wasn't worried, he just couldn't wait to see what they would do. Even if the two of them weren't physically there, their presence raised the standards for the whole rest of the class.
"You really feel that way?" Hagakure asked, looking at Aizawa. Never before had she so regretted her own inability to give someone 'puppy dog eyes'.
"I wouldn't have kept you all around to teach if I didn't expect great things from you, and, for the most part, you've all proven my faith to be well founded." Aizawa said matter-of-factly. Students gaped at the blatant praise, and Aizawa was starting to get a bad feeling about how many watery stares he was getting.
"Heck yeah they raise standards! Seeing them both kick butt always makes me want to work harder!" Kirishima declared, and a got a chorus of general agreement to the sentiment.
Izuku blushed brightly at the praise, and All Might ruffled his hair. Bakugo looked surprised, then tried to brush it off by saying "I don't do it for you or anyone else!" Kirishima said that was inspiring in its own way.
She said he sounded like he'd fallen for them, and called it gross. Aizawa proudly declared that that was his class, 1A! A drawing of Midoriya and Bakugo, both grinning, was shown
"Awwww Mr Aizawa!"
"Thank you so much sir!"
"You really believe in us that much?"
"You really do love us!"
"Love is a pretty strong term..." Aizawa tried to hedge.
It didn't work. Before long, Aizawa was having to duck students trying to hug him left, right, and center. Ah well, it had been a while since he'd gotten a good work out anyway. Maybe if one of them actually managed to catch him he'd give them extra credit or something.
Bakugo and Midoriya looked at each other once again. This time, Izuku nodded and gave Bakugo a small smile. After a moment, Bakugo nodded back.
Most wouldn't consider it much, but it signified something to them. It was an acknowledgment of each other, and the idea that maybe they weren't so very different after all. A small show of respect, one that wasn't colored by their complicated past. It was a start.
A.N.
I like to think that, after people failed to hug Aizawa, they went and asked Shoji for a hug instead because seeing him cradle Tsuyu during the episode made people realize what great hugs he must be able to give. Shoji is 100% okay with this. :P
Sai: You should only be looking out for yourselves right now!
Jirou, Shoji, Tsuyu, and Momo: RIP to you but we're different.
While I was writing up this chapter I was reminded of a ranting comment I got a while back. This person was absolutely convinced that Izuku was very unpopular and nobody really liked him in canon because...idk he cries too much or something, and because Aizawa says he's 'not the most popular' in this episode. So I find it incredibly ironic that, in the same episode where Aizawa says this, we also see: the majority of the class following Midoriya's lead at the start, two different classmates taking inspiration from past interactions with him, and him forming a sound strategy and leading a couple of his classmates to victory with it.
Like, wow, talk about cherry picking. XP
Sometimes you find certain corners of the fandom, or they find you, and you start to legitimately wonder if they watched the same show that you did.