Shoto Todoroki and Yuga Aoyama stood deep in the building, in a large room with the bomb behind them. "Two minutes," Todoroki mumbled, staring straight ahead at the two entrances to the room, both in opposite corners.
"Don't you think this is a bad place to put the bomb, mon ami?" Aoyama asked, scratching his nose. "We are right in the center of the building. The foes will find us easily."
"It doesn't matter if they find us," the heterochromic boy said matter-of-factly.
"So...what is the plan?"
"I freeze the room up. They won't be able to get in."
"...You know Ashido's Quirk is Acid, right? She can likely get through ice."
Todoroki took pause, and Aoyama's eye twitched. Did this garçon seriously not pay attention to the Quirks of any of the others? He probably doesn't even know mine...
"It will take her a while," the taller boy decided. "And if she does get through, I'll just put another wall up. And I recall that the boy with the tail was barefoot. If I freeze his feet, he will be immobilised."
Aoyama felt left out. He wanted a chance to shine, too! "Yes, but..."
"If you're so worried, you can go out into the building and delay them for as long as possible. Or better yet, leave, for your own safety. I may just end up icing the whole place."
Aoyama frowned for a moment, and then quickly returned to his usual smile. "If you insist. Au revoir." He strode off toward the door, just as the alarm indicating that the match had begun sounded off.
"I'm closing up behind you," said Todoroki, putting up walls of ice as Aoyama left the room.
Ugh! Why'd I have to get stuck with some cool-headed salaud! He will steal the spotlight from me with one flick of his hand, and he won't even get nauseous from it, either...
I'll have to find my own way to dazzle the others...to make a good first impression, to become a star! I just need to find Ashido and Ojiro first! Yes, I will do it! I don't need him!
Smiling confidently, Aoyama skipped off into the darkness of the building.
...
"So, Todoroki can lay down ice, right?" Ojiro posited, as he and Ashido waited outside the building.
"Yeah, he seems crazy powerful!" Ashido shuddered. "If he freezes us with that..."
"Me especially," said Ojiro. "I have no shoes on."
"Huh? Why would you do a thing like that?" Ojiro opened his mouth to explain his interest in martial arts, but Ashido wasn't interested. "My shoes are special! I can secrete my Acid through them and be fine, which allows me to slide across floors like a dancing queen." She spun in a circle, striking a pose.
Ojiro sighed. "Do you reckon you could slide on Todoroki's ice floors?"
She grinned, giving him a thumbs-up. "Leave it to me. I'll melt through anything he throws at us!"
Weren't you just worried about how powerful he was? Outwardly, he said, "I suppose I'll deal with Aoyama then."
Ashido made a face. "He's the one in the crazy armor, right? What is his Quirk again?"
"He fires a laser from his belly. I don't think he'll be an issue."
The alarm sounded.
"Okay," Ojiro cracked his knuckles. "They'll expect us to just enter normally like the last match, so I'm gonna try something else. Let's split up and communicate through the earpieces. You good with that?"
"Huh? Sure! I can handle myself. No problemo, Oji-kun."
"Ah...yeah. Alright, you go in through the front door. I'm takin' a climb." He bit his lip, and then leapt up toward the second-floor ledge, using his tail to swing up onto it. Looking back down, he saw Ashido mouth the word "awesome" and then enter the door. Sighing, Ojiro moved on along the ledge, looking for a good window to go through.
...
Mina Ashido was feeling pretty good. First of all, she was getting a chance to face off against one of the top performers from yesterday's Quirk assessment, someone she had a good counter towards. And the whole class was watching, which meant she would get to show off. Tenth place? Not for much longer after I burn through all of second place's defense! On top of that, Todoroki was probably the hottest guy in class based on her immediate observations. She kind of wanted to show off to him a little bit, too.
Oh, you could just FEEL the sparks fly between Midoriya and Uraraka in the last match! Yay! Class romance is already brewing, and I'll be the catalyst. Oh ho ho, I'm the queen pulling the strings.
Mina LOVED it when people got together, and she just knew this class would be perfect. Hero school? The best opportunity to save your one true love, or fight alongside them! Nothing gets those feelings goin' like near-death experiences! With that in mind, it stood to reason that she'd be disappointed upon learning that Doko and Toru weren't actually dating like she'd suspected. Toru WAS the friend Doko had wanted to meet up with after the entrance exam, but they were just friends from middle school, nothing more. Like me and Kiri.
In any case, Mina HADN'T felt disappointed, and that confused her. She also wasn't feeling this whole impress-Todoroki-by-kicking-his-ass plan as much as she originally thought, and that confused her too.
These things ran through her head as she walked through the dark hallways of the building, and she wasn't focused on her surroundings. This had consequences.
"Huh?" She had tried to lift up her left foot to take the next step, but it didn't come up. It was stuck to the floor.
Mina tried to step forward with her right to yank it off, but it was stuck as well. "What the fu..."
There were bits and pieces of white tape all over the floor and walls. The Capturing Tape!
"Hehehehehe..." an accented voice cackled. Mina turned to look down the dark hallway...and got a blinding eyeful of laser.
"ARGH!" Aoyama must not have directly hit her, because she felt no heat-related pain, but it did feel like her skull was splitting open from the sudden flash to her eyes. When the laser stopped, she blinked hard, barely seeing Aoyama dance nimbly forward like a ballerina. "That's all the laser I've got before I turn sick, mademoiselle, so I decided to resort to more conniving efforts. Bwahaha! I hope everyone is watching!"
"Ugh! Creep!" Mina threw out a wide spray of acid from her left hand, but there were still glowing shapes moving across her eyes, and her aim was poor. He dodged easily. Mina swiped a fist at him, but he ducked, and was suddenly behind her, up against her back. She was so stuck that she couldn't turn her body all the way.
Aoyama pulled out the rest of his Capturing Tape and was now forcing her to lean forward so he could attach it to her back. Mina squirmed and shook as much as she could. "Gerroff me!" He wasn't very firm or heavy, so the movements did throw him off, but he kept coming back and trying again, trying to hold her down, running out of breath. "Stop...struggling...mademoiselle..."
Because she was now buckled over, Mina was forced to look at the ground, where there was some more tape, and...some partially disintegrated tape? Right in front of her?
My acid can spray through the tape! Oh God, I'm such an idiot. Setting her face determinedly, she secreted acid through her special shoes and burned through the tape on the floor. Immediately upon freeing herself, she spun in a circle, swinging Aoyama off of her. He hit the floor with a high squeak of pain.
"Impossible! How did you escape my snare?" He scrambled away in disbelief.
Mina gave chase. "Through the power of queen's acid, twerp!"
"Woe is me! This can't be happening! I..."
Something hit him in the back of the head, and Aoyama swayed, his eyes rolling. Then he fell to the ground, out cold.
The thing was revealed to be Ojiro's tail, which he now swung back around to his back, relaxing and sighing. "Sorry about that. It took me a minute to find you."
Mina blinked, staring at his tail. "Holy shit. How dense is that thing?"
"Come on. I found where they've put the bomb, but I need your help."
The hero team moved on forward, leaving the unconscious Aoyama behind.
...
Shoto had been less than thrilled about who he'd ended up with as a partner. Although he could do everything just fine on his own, having a bit of assistance from someone with an actual useful Quirk may have sped up the process a little.
Eight more minutes, he thought, watching the southeast entrance closely. He was pretty sure they'd appear at that one; in fact, he thought he had heard someone near the ice wall a few minutes before. Perhaps they had backed off to formulate a plan? It didn't matter. He wouldn't be letting them through.
Shoto wished he'd been on the hero team. With an objective to go after, he'd have ended this in less than two minutes. Instead, he had to defend, and wait it out.
All was silent on the comm. Perhaps Aoyama really did leave the building. Shoto was getting antsy; he wanted to see the faces of his opponents. What could they be up to?
Suddenly, a voice sounded from behind the northwest entrance ice wall. A male voice. "Ashido!" Ojiro was saying. "I'm in position!"
Speaking into an earpiece. Shoto's head whipped back toward the southeast entrance. That's where Ashido is; they've split up and gone for both entrances together. Okay, I'll go for Ashido, she's clearly the bigger threat. Ojiro cannot break my ice with his tail.
Shoto dashed toward the southeast entrance and stopped short in front of the ice wall. Melt through my ice, huh? I'll just have to beat you to the punch. He'd shock Ashido by melting the wall in front of her, giving him time to freeze her so completely that she'd have no way to use her powers.
Shoto held up his left palm to the wall and used heat to melt through it. The wall, having already sat deep in a heated building for several minutes, melted quickly into water...revealing no one on the other side.
"Huh?" Shoto whipped his head around, and saw a burning hole forming in the northwest wall. They were both over there the whole time! "Heyyy, Todo!" Ashido's voice sang from through the growing hole. "Mind if we stop by?"
Shoto clenched his teeth in fury, and ran back toward the northwest entrance. The wall broke down just as he arrived, and he slammed his right foot into the ground, sending a wave of ice at Ashido.
She hopped aside nimbly, but she was in a bottleneck position at the edge of the hallway, and his ice was all-encompassing. Shoto watched it envelope her up to knee-level. He could have gone all out with a full freeze, but that was probably overkill to use on a fellow classmate.
Mina struggled, and tried to shoot acid at him from her stuck position. He dodged it easily. Wait, where's the other? Where is Ojiro?
She smiled upon seeing the look on his face. "We haven't lost yet, Icy-Hot!" Ashido hovered her palms over the ice that had frozen her legs, and began to burn through it with acid.
That will take time; the ice is thick. Meanwhile, Shoto dashed back to the other entrance. Damn, he said that thing about getting into position and then immediately began running for this entrance? They predicted what I would do?
It didn't matter. He just had to hold them off for a little longer.
Ojiro was coming up the southeast hallway, bounding forward with his tail. Shoto placed his right hand on the wall and his right foot on the floor, sending out a thin coat of ice over half the hallway. Ojiro bounced to the other side, running closer and closer, trying to reach him in time. Shoto switched sides, coating the other wall as well. The tail boy stopped short, shivering in his loose, light costume, his breath emerging as vapor.
Shoto flicked his mismatched eyes down at Ojiro's bare feet, now pressed against the ice. "I wouldn't take another step if I were you. Unless you want to lose some skin in a painful way."
Ojiro grimaced, shakily closing his eyes. "Damn you. ASHIDO! GO!"
Shoto turned, running back across the room for the last time. The acid girl had just gotten free of his trap, and in his rush to get over there...he accidentally got in close to her. Much too close.
He slid to a stop and tried to back-pedal. In that instant of turning point, Ashido smirked in victory, raising her hand to give him a faceful of acid...and faltered, her face falling in confusion.
In that moment, Shoto regained his bearings, and STOMPED the floor with his right. Another wave of ice enveloped her, this time up to her torso, and much thicker.
"You will not get free before time runs out," said Shoto plainly, even as she tried to melt it down like before. A minute later, his point was proved, and the timer sounded.
...
"Villains win!" All Might announced.
The whole class was put off.
"Todoroki is that powerful?" asked Kaminari, stunned.
"Even after all their strategy and running him back and forth, the heroes couldn't stand up to the ice..." Iida muttered, disquieted. He and Uraraka had returned to the video room halfway through the match.
"He's another recommended student, after all." Jiro shrugged.
Bakugo, who'd returned almost immediately, glared at the video screen with an angrily determined expression, watching the footage of Todoroki closely.
Doko swallowed, as the ice user freed Mina and Ojiro from their positions now that the match was over. "Does he have heat in his other hand?" he asked, gulping.
"He has fire in his other hand," said Sato, "and he didn't even need to use it once."
Jesus H. Christ. That is power on another level. He doesn't even need technique! Doko watched carefully as Mina walked out of the building, a certain spring having left her step. "She's not okay," he said frankly to the person standing next to him, who happened to be Tsuyu.
"Getting frozen twice in the span of five minutes will do that to you, ribbit."
"No, I mean..." Doko frowned. She had the chance to beat him for a moment. I saw it! But she didn't take it. She had hesitated.
Also, something about Todoroki seemed off to him. The way the boy just kept a straight face through all of that? It was like he didn't respect his opponents at all. Mina was nothing more than an annoyance to him.
"Dokkun," said Tsuyu, poking him in the shoulder, "your fist is clenched, ribbit. Why might that be?"
"Sorry, Tsu." He relaxed.
"Is it because Mina-chan lost her match?"
"Gah!" The bluntness of the question took him off guard. "Noooooo. Whyyyyever would you think such a thing?"
"You're being extraordinary unconvincing. I've heard that when boys see something bad happen that's out of their hands, they get angry." Her face was still completely vacant as she did this analysis of him.
"I'm not angry. Really, I'm fine."
"I'm sorry. I'll lay off." She turned back forward.
"Anyone want to tell me who the MVP of that match was? ...Besides you two?" All Might shut down Yaoyorozu and Iida, whose hands had both shot into the air.
"Uhh, sensei? I'd say Ojiro." It was Doko's partner Sero speaking.
"Oh! And why would that be, young Sero?"
"Because he came up with the strategy to deceive Todoroki with the doorways. Mina's power helped a lot, too, but he was the real planner of the team. And same with Todoroki, all he did was use his Quirk. Ojiro showed the best critical thinking in the battle, and it would have worked if not for Todoroki's incredible power. And Aoyama...umm..." Sero trailed off.
"Wait," said Doko, "did anyone actually go to get him?"
In sync, everyone in the room turned to one of the cameras, where Aoyama was still out cold on the floor of the hallway.
All Might sweatdropped. "Well put, Sero-shounen!" he praised hastily. "In the meantime, I will go grab young Aoyama. After that we will start the next match. Team C will be the heroes, and Team H will be the villains!" Then he sped from the room.
"Let's get a move on, big fella," Jiro said to her teammate, Sato, jabbing him lightly with an earplug.
"Hoh! I'm up next!" Hagakure exclaimed. "Tokoyami-kun! We're the heroes! Let's go!"
"Indeed," the bird boy intoned with a sage nod, his arms crossed.
The four of them walked out of the door, just as Mina, Todoroki, and Ojiro re-entered.
Doko raised his eyebrows, and had to resist the urge to call out to her. For a moment she seemed super depressed, but he blinked and she was smiling again, giving him and Tsu a thumbs-up and walking over to them.
"Well, I lost, but it's no big deal!" she declared. "Anyone would have been up for trouble with that Todoroki." The boy in question had gone back to leaning against the wall, speaking to no one.
"You sure you're good?" Doko raised a concerned eyebrow.
"Yep! Just a little tired and cold. Getting frozen twice is zero out of ten, would not recommend." Her smile was indeed a bit weary.
"Just like I told you, Dokkun," said Tsuyu. "There was no need to worry."
Doko gave the frog girl a panicked oh my god why would you say that face just as Mina made a noise of surprise. "Oh! Were you worried about me, Dokkuuuun~?" She made a show of leaning into him, blinking excessively with her eyelashes.
I refuse to be fazed like this. Doko's eye twitched and he kept a straight face. "Slightly. People can die from being frozen like that, you know. Their nerves begin to wear down and such. Now, would you mind evacuating from my personal space?"
Mina giggled and backed off. "Whatever you say, Dokkun."
All Might had returned. "I have sent young Aoyama to the infirmary. Anyway, let us continue with the next match!"
...
Kyoka Jiro bent her knees up and down, flexing her leg muscles. There was a springiness to her feet. She was pumped. Ready to go. But unlike the boys in her class (especially that Kaminari) she knew the importance of keeping a cool top on it. Unfortunately, her partner did not share this knowledge.
Sato was currently tossing a sugar packet up and down, while punching the air with his other hand. After about fifteen seconds, he would switch hands. "Oh man!" he said breathily. "I'm getting hyped! What about you, Jiro?"
The two of them had sat at a lunch table earlier, meaning they were somewhat acquainted. Kyoka was glad about that, at least. It was better than some stranger. And Sato was strong...but she was worried about their opponents.
"We need a plan," said Kyoka.
"I got one! For me, at least. And that's beat 'em up until the time runs out!"
"Ideally we want to capture them."
"Easy to capture once they're knocked out." He bit his lip and punched the air again. "Say, I know Hagakure is invisible, but do you know anything about the bird guy's Quirk?"
"Not really. That's what I'm worried about." Tokoyami had placed high in Aizawa's field assessment yesterday, but Kyoka hadn't been paying any attention to him during the trials. "In any case, I think I have a plan. You good with letting me stand guard while you go look for them?" They didn't HAVE to split up, although every villain team had so far...it was just that Kyoka's plan would work best that way.
"Yeah, sure. So what's this plan of yours?"
...
The alarm went off; the match had begun.
Fumikage Tokoyami sweatdropped. "Is stripping down really necessary?"
"I gotta be totally invisible to sneak up to the bomb! Sorry if it makes you uncomfortable..." Hagakure's glove appeared to scratch the back of her head.
Hehe...I don't mind...
Shut up, Dark Shadow.
"So, is this the plan, then? You distract them with your attacks while I go touch the bomb?"
"Hmm..." Fumikage scanned the dark hallway that they'd just entered. "Perhaps we ought to add another layer to it."
...
Rikido Sato was running through the halls, looking for the hero team. He hadn't eaten any sugar yet, but the packets were ready on hand. He knew that once he powered up, his time was limited. And who knew how long it would take to defeat the two of them? Best to power up as late as possible.
Meanwhile, Jiro was giving him callouts through the comms, supposedly knowing where their opponents were based on sound. She'd plugged herself into the wall just before he left the room. "Left," she told him through the device. "Another left, then a right. They're there."
He turned the corner, and there she was. Boots on the ground, a floating pair of gloves.
"Found you!" he declared.
Hagakure whirled. "Eek! Wait, wait, wai..."
Rikido tossed back some sugar, feeling the strength course through him. Hype! Yeah! His arms tingled with new energy, and he punched the air in jubilation. "Let's fight!"
Hagakure began to run down the hallway; Rikido chased her. If I can capture her now, Jiro won't even have to deal with her back at the bomb.
"Chasing her down," he reported into the comm.
"...Her? I hear two of them...no, three! Is that you, Sa...SATO, WAIT!"
As Hagakure led him around a dark corner, a shadowy thing came rearing up, and Rikido froze solid.
The creature's eyes glowed red, and it let out an Earth-shattering roar, leaping over Hagakure as she retreated and attacking Rikido with talons sharp as razors.
"GAH!" The sugar had steeled his bones, making him too firm to knock away, but his feet did skid back a hair, and then the shadow was swooping in again, relentless. Rikido roared back and countered, trading blows once, twice, thrice. When he made contact, the skin of the beast felt strange under his fists.
The thing swiped at him. He ducked and punched, taking another hit to the torso. The talons sliced his uniform open, and he felt the slightest twinge of pain.
"Go, Hagakure," a cool voice whispered.
"YEAH! WE GOT THIS BIG BAG OF MARSHMALLOWS HANDLED JUST FINE!" The creature exclaimed in a juxtaposingly joyous voice.
Rikido watched as the boots and gloves went racing past, back the way he'd come. "No! Jiro, she's getting awa...argh!" The shadow creature attacked again, and he caught the talons with his two fists. They trembled, locked in place, eye-to-eye. Hagakure's running steps faded away behind them, and the fight continued.
...
Toru wasn't worried. She had one of the coolest partners ever in Tokoyami (although he was a little frightening) and so far their strategy had worked like a charm. Now it was just a matter of getting to the bomb room.
She had left her boots and gloves on to lure Sato into the trap, but she took them off now, leaving them in a well-marked intersection of hallways. To her left were some stairs. She supposed that if she were the villain, she'd put the bomb high up in the building. Stairs it is.
The sounds of the fight were fading behind her. She was pretty sure that Dark Shadow, as she'd just learned it was named, could take care of Sato without too much trouble.
I have to find this thing quickly; I don't know how much time there is left. Poor Mina had run out of time in her match, but luckily there was no ice to deal with once Toru got to the bomb room. Just...Jiro, that was her name. The girl who'd sat with the boys. She had weird earplug things, but Toru knew nothing about what they did.
The invisible girl came upon an open door, and took pause. Beyond was a wider room, with sunlight filtering in through windows. They left the door open? Toru took a deep breath, and stepped inside. When she turned her head, she nearly gasped in sudden fright.
Jiro was standing next to the bomb, and was looking right at her.
Toru stifled her breath, remaining very still. There was no way that the other girl actually saw her. She was just looking at the doorway.
"Come in, Sato," Jiro said into her earpiece, tapping it. "Where are you?"
Toru crept sideways, wide around the room. All she had to do was touch the bomb, and they'd be home free. Jiro continued to look straight ahead at the doorway, not noticing her presence. "Sato, is everything okay? Come in!"
Toru stepped forward to the bomb, getting closer to Jiro. Her angle of approach had been as careful as possible, but now she had no choice but to go for it. Another step. Then another. Just a little further. She reached her hand out toward the bomb, and...
"GOTCHA!" Jiro spun and leapt onto Toru messily, tackling the other girl to the ground. Completely shocked, Toru got the wind knocked out of her, briefly unable to breathe or move as Jiro began attaching the Capturing Tape to her.
Toru regained her senses and struggled, trying to throw the other girl off, but Jiro was wiry and sturdy, and had her pinned down at the thighs. She threw a punch, but Jiro jerked her head out of the way and used one hand to slam down onto Toru's face, forcing her down.
"How did you...know I was..." Toru gasped, still struggling to get out of the tape.
"I could hear your footsteps," Jiro replied with a smirk, and her little earplugs waved in the air.
Another twenty seconds and Toru was completely captured. She couldn't believe it. I was so close, too! The bomb is right there! Jiro dragged her to a corner of the room and left her there, wrapped up. How could I have been so STUPID!
Jiro spoke into the earpiece again. "Sato! Come back round and defend the bomb with me. The plan worked! We've all but won!"
Toru began to laugh.
Jiro raised an eyebrow and turned back to look at her. "What's so funny?"
"Hahahahaha...you think you won because you captured me?"
"There's only ninety seconds left. You're the only close threat to the bomb."
"I was just the scalpel. The hammer's coming now."
"Huh?" In the distance, they both heard a rumbling.
Jiro paused, going pale.
And then...Sato came bursting into the room, out of breath and delirious.
"Sato! Wha..."
"He's...comin'..." the huge boy fell to the ground, suffering a sugar crash.
Dark Shadow smashed through the wall around the door, racing into the room like some snake. Tokoyami bounded in behind him.
"AYE AYE AYE!" Dark Shadow declared, swooping in toward the bomb. "TIME TO DIFFUSE THE SITUATION!"
Judo stepped backward, putting her back to the bomb, and then plugged her earphone jacks into the speakers on her legs.
RRRRRRAAAAAAA! A roaring sound filled the room, and a concentrated series of waves pummelled Dark Shadow, causing him to recoil, pushing him back away from the bomb. Toru winced and covered her ears. Jiro clenched her fists, continuing to send out sound, tightening her body into a holding stance.
Tokoyami rolled out of the wave attack that was subduing his Quirk, and ran for the bomb. Jiro's eyes widened as she realised what he was doing, but it was too late. The bird boy leapt and dived, his palm smacking against the metal surface. A second later, the timer sounded.
"YES!" Toru shouted, as Tokoyami sank to the ground. They had won!
Jiro desisted with the sound wave, unplugging her earphone jacks. "Dammit." She clicked her teeth. "Well played. I was so focused on your Quirk that I forgot you were there."
"We are two," said Tokoyami stoically, pulling Dark Shadow back into his body, "and yet we are one."
"Can somebody please untie me?" asked Toru.
"Right, of course." Tokoyami came over and began to undo the tape, before touching...
"Ah!" Toru blushed. "Watch it!"
"Gah! I...I apologise!"
"Here," Jiro said, rolling her eyes. "Let me do that." She came over and finished unwrapping Toru. The invisible girl sighed. Tokoyami means well, but I'm more comfortable if it's a girl. But why was Jiro's face slightly red?
Tokoyami sheepishly took Toru's gloves and boots out of his cloak and handed them to her. "I took the liberty of picking this up on my way here. Sorry for taking so long to come. We almost lost because of my lack of haste."
"No worries!" Toru cheered, patting him on the shoulder. "We only won at all because of you! My strategy ended up totally failing! I've got a lot of work to do, haha~"
"Saaame," Jiro drawled, looking at her unconscious partner.
"We all shall find ways to improve," said Tokoyami.
...
"Heroes win!" announced All Might.
"Another match where strategy was overridden by pure power," Iida pointed out.
"Tokoyami's Quirk is something else, huh?" Kaminari shuddered.
"Yeah, but Sato put up a great fight!" declared Kirishima. "That was awesome to watch! I'm just getting more and more pumped for my match!"
"Hagakure kinda got jumped, huh?" said Doko, staring at the screens. "She seems happy she won, though."
"Indeed, ribbit."
Mina remained quiet next to them.
All Might was frowning at the screens. "Young Sato has crashed. This will be the third match in a row that I have to take someone to the infirmary."
The class froze. "...Sensei?" Sero asked.
"I understand that this time it was his own doing thanks to his Quirk. He overdid it in the battle against young Tokoyami, just as Midoriya overdid it in his fight against Bakugo. And last match, Aoyama was knocked out by Ojiro. I would like the last two matches to proceed without any such incidents. Am I clear? This is an exercise, not some final exam. No overexerting yourself, and no excessive use of force against others. Understand?"
The class all murmured their assent, frightened by All Might's change in demeanour.
"Good. Now, next match will be after I fetch young Sato. Team I will be the heroes. Team F will be the villains."
Doko's eyes widened. Sero, who was standing forward and to the right, turned around and said, "We're up, Katayama."
"Right."
"As am I, ribbit." Tsuyu put a finger to her chin. "I didn't want to be on the villain side. Oh well."
Doko offered her a hand. "Fair match. Let's do our best. But not too much of our best, ya know?"
The corners of her flat mouth may have turned up a hair. Who knew. "Of course, Dokkun." They shook hands.
"Who's her partner?" Sero asked as she walked away. "...Oh."
Tsuyu had walked over to Kirishima, who was in the midst of animatedly telling some of their other classmates something. She tapped him on the shoulder, and he turned around, confused. "...We're up? Alright, Asui, let's do it! I'm pumped!"
Doko felt a hand grip his arm. Surprised, he turned to look at Mina. Her eyes were glued to the floor.
"Good luck," she told him. "Win."