The morning skies were clear as a new day dawned on U.A. Alicia let out a yawn as she, Melody, and Hikari did the morning dishes as they were on duty for it today. Some of the members of class had already left the dorm building to get to class early, or do some morning training.
"Get enough sleep last night?" Hikari asked.
"Sort of." Alicia said.
"Well better wake up soon. We've got our first joint training class with Class A and B this afternoon."
Alicia tried to keep her focus on doing the dishes for now, knowing that Hikari was right and that she'd have to get focussed before the afternoon. She was sure that wouldn't be a problem. But ever since the school festival ended over a week ago, she had something weighing on her mind.
And that "something" was currently walking out of the dorm building with Hyde and Shiro.
Ever since Fiona had suggested to Alicia that she might have feelings for Dan she hadn't been able to look at him the same way. Every time she saw him each day, her thoughts went to that conversation and her mind waged war over whether Fiona's suspicions were true or not. Her cheeks would get red and she'd end up all flustered.
This did not go unnoticed by Melody when she glanced at Alicia after putting one of the plates in the dishwasher. "Alicia? You ok?"
"Huh? O-Oh yeah, I'm fine. Perfectly fine. Nothing wrong whatsoever." Alicia assured them as she finished the last of her dishes. "Well I'm going to go get ready to head to class. See you there girls, bye."
Melody and Hikari glanced at each other as Alicia headed to her room, both sensing something was off with Alicia. Melody leaned in and whispered into Hikari's ear so as to not catch Alicia's attention. "What do you think is up with her?"
"I'm not sure." Hikari said. "She's been acting weird the past few days."
Melody thought to herself as a potential answer came to her mind. "Maybe it's… nah, it couldn't be?"
"What? What is it?"
"Well her cheeks were red, right? And she hasn't shown any signs of being sick."
Hikari quickly got where Melody was going with this. "You think she's got the hots for a boy?" The two stared at each other in silence as their lips gradually curved upwards into grins. They both let out girlish squeals at the thought.
Wasting no time, Melody made a mental list of all the male students in their class. "Ok, so we can immediately exclude Merci from the list. He's got zero charm."
"Hyde and Shinobu are probably out too. They're strong, but Alicia seems more the type to focus on personality rather than talent." Hikari added. "Satoshi and Kenji are probably a no go as well. Too reserved."
"That leaves… Marcus, Daiki, Dan, and Shiro."
"Shiro's unlikely, but not completely impossible." Hikari noted. "She's gonna have her hands full if it's Marcus. Call me crazy, but I think Sarah secretly has a thing for him."
Melody glanced at the clock, noticing the time. "We can figure this out later. We should hurry before we're late for class."
"Good point." Hikari said in agreement. "Maybe we can get some of the other girls to help us figure it out."
Not wasting another second, the two girls hurried to their rooms to collect their bags and hurry out of the dorm building to class.
The cold winds of winter were making themselves all too apparent as Class C walked with their teacher Yamagori to Training Field Gamma. Today was going to be their first day of joint classes with the other two hero classes of their year.
As they came up to the gathering area, Class C could already see that the members of Class A were already standing and waiting. Class B however seemed to still be on their way.
"This is gonna be fun." Hyde said with an eager smirk. "No hard feelings when we kick your butts."
"Huh?! Don't go thinking you're better than me, you turd!" Bakugo shouted with a glare.
"Oh? Someone thinks awfully high of themselves, considering they didn't get their provisional license." Hyde countered.
"What was that?!"
As Hyde and Bakugo glared at each other, a new voice spoke up. "My, my. Are we interrupting your lover's quarrel?"
All heads turned to see Class B making their approach. Monoma was at the lead, having been the one to make the comment just now.
Kirishima cracked his knuckles. "There you are. We've been looking forward to this."
"Ha, is that so? I don't know why. There's no way you stand a chance against us in this exercise." Monoma said. "Come on, Class A and C! Let's see who's best once and for all!"
"Oh goodie. It's Class B's resident psychopath." Nene muttered under her breath.
Monoma quickly pulled out a sheet of paper, his face still showing his usual twisted expression whenever he laid eyes on the other two hero classes. "You might want to take a close look at this survey! I took it at the festival and it's enlightening! I asked what was better! Class A's pathetic attempt at being rock stars, Class C's silly little carnival, or Class B's obviously superior play! Oh, what's this?! We won by two votes?! You guys have been hogging the spotlight ever since we started school, but your standing around campus is trash!"
Shiro took a look at the survey, along with some of the members of Class A. While it seemed those that came had fun, Class C had to admit their attraction wasn't as big or flashy as a concert or a play, so it wasn't too surprising that they were last in the rankings among the three hero classes.
Monoma continued his ranting. "Now finally, it's Class A versus Class B versus Class C! Joint combat training! Your fini- Augh!"
Aizawa shut Monoma up just before Kendo could knock him out as he wrapped his restraints tightly around Monoma's neck. "That's enough."
"Today there will be a special participant." Vlad noted.
"Indeed, so please try not to embarrass yourselves if at all possible." Yamagori said.
Yayorozu tilted her head with curiosity. "Who's going to be joining us?"
"I'll murder 'em." Bakugo said.
"Is it a babe?" Kaminari asked.
"We'll do our best, whoever it is." Kirishima and Tetsutetsu spoke in unison.
"This person is interested in switching to the hero track." Aizawa said as a new figure walked into view. Everyone widened their eyes, most of them not having seen this particular student since the sports festival. "From General Studies Class D, Hitoshi Shinso. He's hoping to become one of you, so treat him as you would any classmate."
Sakura narrowed her eyes as she noticed a long white fabric wrapped around Shinso's neck. "Wait, isn't that the same capture scarf Mr. Aizawa uses?"
"He's got a weird mask too from the looks of it." Satoshi added.
Daiki tensed up at the sight of Shinso. He had been the reason he had done so poorly in the sports festival. But things were different now. He was fully aware of Shinso's Quirk, and he had gotten much stronger since then. He wouldn't fall for the same trick twice.
Aizawa glanced at the Class D student. "Well Shinso, why don't you say a few words?"
Shinso stared at the three classes with a fierce look of determination. "I'm Hitoshi Shinso. I already faced some of you as opponents during the sports festival. But we're not friends just because we fought before. I don't subscribe to that sort of sportsmanship. We're still competing to be the best, and I'm already countless steps behind. I need to prove myself. One day I will become a proper hero. Then I can use my powers to help citizens in need. All of you are hurdles I must overcome. I'm not here in search of friends. Thanks for having me."
Fujino showed an eager smirk. "I like his style. Let's see what he can do."
"Better be careful, Fujino." Jill warned. "His quirk allows him to brainwash you if you respond to anything he says."
"Right! Time for combat training!" Vlad said as he began to explain the exercise. "This will be a battle between Classes A, B, and C here in a corner of Field Gamma. You will be grouped into teams of four, each competing one at a time."
"Wait… but with Shinso here, that makes 42 students." Marcus noted. "If teams are split up into four, how will that work?"
"Shinso will be participating in three matches. Once as a member for each class." Yamagori explained. "As for Class C's own extra student, Fujino will act as another exception and be on a team of five. Put simply, some of the five matches will involve a team of 4 against a team of 5. Prepare yourselves."
"That sounds kinda unfair for the smaller teams." Shiro said.
"It's probably more of a disadvantage for the larger team. While Fujino has gotten some experience these past few months, she still has less overall than the rest of you. And that goes extra for Shinso, who has the least experience of all." Vlad explained. "Here's the scenario. You're all hero agencies trying to capture a villainous organization. You should consider your opponents to be evil criminals. You'll win once you capture four competitors. In your team's base camp, you'll find an adorably decorated prison. Once you put your enemies behind bars, that will count as a capture."
"I see." Shinobu said. "That's why the team of five can be considered having a disadvantage."
"Precisely." Aizawa confirmed. "Your team might not be used to fighting together. And if four people from a five person team are captured that will be considered a loss."
"You're making us haul around excess baggage? That's some bullcrap." Bakugo complained in an annoyed tone.
"Hey now, don't be mean about it." Kaminari said.
"It's fine. He makes a fair point." Shinso admitted.
The three teachers each held up a box filled with lots. One by one the students of the classes went up and drew numbers. After everyone else had finished, Fujino drew her slot to see which team she would be on for her class, followed by Shinso doing the same for all three classes. Soon the matchups were decided.
Round 1
Class A: Kirishima, Kaminari, Koda, Asui, Shinso
Class B: Shiozaki, Shishida, Rin, Tsubaraba
Class C: Alicia, Merci, Rekka, Lilina
Round 2
Class A: Tokoyami, Hagakure, Yayorozu, Aoyama
Class B: Fukidashi, Kuroiro, Kendo, Komori
Class C: Sakura, Kenji, Marcus, Vivi
Round 3
Class A: Ojiro, Todoroki, Shoji, Iida
Class B: Tsunotori, Honenuki, Kaibara, Tetsutetsu
Class C: Dan, Jill, Melody, Nene, Shinso
Round 4
Class A: Sato, Sero, Jiro, Bakugo
Class B: Kamakiri, Tokage, Awase, Bondo
Class C: Sarah, Shinobu, Daiki, Fiona, Fujino
Round 5
Class A: Midoriya, Uraraka, Ashido, Mineta
Class B: Monoma, Kodai, Shoda, Yanagi, Shinso
Class C: Hyde, Shiro, Hikari, Satoshi
"Teams will begin at your base camp! You'll have twenty minutes for each match!" Vlad announced.
"If there's no decisive victor within the time limit, whichever team has the least amount of people captured will win by default." Aizawa added.
All 42 students readied themselves for the upcoming battle. There was no doubt this was going to be an eventful class. And whether they were as competitive as Monoma or not, each of them had one thing clear in their minds.
The determination to win.
A/N: So I know this chapter's on the shorter side, but sadly I just couldn't find a good stopping point for the middle of the matches. So I'm just going to do one match each chapter for this arc to make things simpler.
Now normally the wait would only be a month for next chapter, but this coming month is looking to be especially busy for me irl. So unfortunately all my updates for fics are being pushed back a month for their next updates. Sorry, and hope you understand.
As for the matchups for the Joint Training Arc, I kept the teams for Class A and B the same to keep things simpler overall. Hope you all look forward to how the matches turn out now that Class C is in the mix.
