YOOOOO. This new '6000 word chapter' thing is absolutely working out. I'm hammering through this exam arc like crazy and it's great. Now, just a heads up, I'm gonna speedrun it all a tiny bit cos honestly a lot of stuff that was gonna happen here has been shifted around, but trust me guys it works.

Besides, ya'll probably wanna find out what the heck Hawks has been up to and get back to the main plot.

ANYWAY, that being said, let's get rolling on the chapter. PEACE OUT.


Izuku was only one away from absolute victory.

Getting the first point had been easy. So easy in fact that he hadn't even really been trying to get it in the first place. He'd just so happened to find the opposing student on his rush down the mountain.

He'd thrown one ball at someone who had been trying to leap at him, gliding on weird flaps of skin like a flying squirrel. He hadn't even really been focusing, he'd simply thrown the ball in an attempt to knock them away from him, and had hit them square in the shoulder, causing them to spiral off into the side of the mountain.

He'd heard a noise of electronic disappointment come from her equipment, and a quick glance had seen all three of her points flashing red.

And then he'd just turned and left.

Once he'd landed the blow that took them out, the Morningstar had no more attention to give them.

Because somewhere in the chaos, Himiko was fleeing. A Himiko who was angry and upset, a Himiko who could tear people apart if she so desired.

And no one in the stadium, bar himself and perhaps Aizawa, had the power to stop her.

Though a voice in his head, a very human voice, told him that wasn't the reason he was chasing her now. It told him that he knew he'd fucked up, that he'd tried to convince her to trust people who had actively hunted her or betrayed her. To place her trust in people she had no reason to trust.

And therefore, any trust that existed between them, was shattered.

But he couldn't let her go. He couldn't let it end like this. He had no idea what chaos she could cause if let back out into the world. Sure, he'd seen nothing in the news about her, but that didn't mean she wasn't doing something wicked to the innocent.

She was angry and upset, she could lash out at anyone, taking her now unholy wrath out on someone undeserving.

Even if the look in her eyes had said something very different. It spoke of a girl who was lonely, who was desperate, who had abandoned her humanity and had found the result bitter indeed.

He couldn't let her go. He couldn't let her be alone again.

He couldn't let himself be alone again.

When Izuku pushed himself to this level, the world tended to slow down. Time was relative to the individual, and when one could speed up enough to outrun a racecar, one could begin to pick out the things that were usually happening too fast to notice.

Like now, for instance. He saw the girl before him, heavyset and strong, smashing through a literal blast of light that some boy was throwing at her. Her saw how her knuckles were blistering at the heat, and how the boy was terrified that his attack was going to fail.

Izuku moved past them, weaving around the chaos of everything else as he hunted.

He could smell her, as weird as that sounded. It was the scent of pomegranates freshly picked and iron-tanged blood. It led a trail that ran through the crowd, and he followed like a bloodhound.

That was until he reached the vast lake where several students were already fighting and squabbling against one another.

The scent hit the water… and vanished.

He looked around, his eyes blazing as he tried to pick out her soul within the massive number of souls surrounding him, yet he already knew it was pointless.

Himiko was gone.

Perhaps the old Izuku might have cried at this point, he might have fallen to his knees and balled his fists in frustration.

But the old Izuku had been fading for a while now, and the new Izuku, the Izuku that was a closer mix of himself and Nemesis, felt only rage.

"DAMMIT!" He roared and spun on the spot, his wings stretching out and his tail whipping in fury. Fire burned at his scars, and inside he could feel the frustration of Nemesis building, barely contained behind the veneer of his humanity.

He wanted to punch a wall.

Or a person.

Either one would do.

A young man in a turquoise-blue hero uniform came skating at him across the water, and as they did, they seemed to form a ball of water in their hand in which one of the orange test balls floated.

"TAKE THIS YOU-"

They made eye contact with Izuku.

And they simply fell away. Fear gripped them so hard that they forgot to activate their quirk, and as such they suddenly splashed and hit face-first into the lake, rolling through the shallows and landing close to the terrifying figure in the dull brass armor.

Morningstar stalked towards them, the water steaming and hissing as his feet touched it. The effect was haunting, like mist rising and swirling around a creature of myth. Morningstar's eyes didn't move from the scrambling young man.

"Get- get away from-"

Morningstar grabbed his ankle in a taloned hand and yanked him back, jerking the drenched would-be hero through the water, in which they coughed and spluttered.

He then reached out, grabbing them by the front of their uniform, and effortlessly pulling them up to his own level, where they cowered, helpless and afraid.

Eyes of blazing pagan green looked upon on the helpless human.

"Did you see a girl come through here?"

"W- what?"

"A girl. Blonde hair. Dirty clothes. She may have had wings like ours."

"I- I-"

"Ugh. Useless." He tossed the student back down and looked around.

As the student hurried to escape, Morningstar felt the weight of his actions starting to pile onto his shoulders.

The one chance he'd had to talk to her, the one chance he'd had to talk to another being like himself… and he'd tossed it away. She was gone. He was now sure of that, and when they would see one another again he had no idea.

He was sure they would, of course. She was part of his world now, she was family, and the one thing he knew about his family was that they couldn't escape one another.

But the idea of his agelessness was creeping into the back of his mind. Would it be days? Months? Years?

Generations?

"She is gone." Nemesis admitted into his mind, his lips moving without speaking. "But she must find her own way. She chose her path."

But it was a path of isolation. If only he could have been better, he might have convinced her otherwise. He could have made her see that he was there for her, that Azrael would be there for her. That there were those in their world she could trust.

That she could trust him.

Even before her ascension, he had felt a strange sort of bond with her. A girl trying to find somewhere to belong, something to believe in. A girl trying to find a future where she could be herself… just like he had always tried to find. A future where he too could be free of the terrors that had haunted him, and the weights tied to his limbs.

He realized, as he turned back to look at the exam, that he had truly done nothing to earn that trust. He hadn't even acknowledged her as one like him.

She was family now, and he hadn't even told her.

Once again, he felt as though he was ignoring half of his soul. Twice the world of his father had reached out to ask for his help, and twice he had failed to be the prince he had sworn to become. He couldn't aid his father's council, and he couldn't help his lost cousin.

He turned back as the young man he had shouted at was running, no, more like wading deeper into the lake. Without much effort, he took out an orange ball, focused, and threw.

The ball smacked against the boy's back, where an orange panel was waiting. The would-be hero yelped in pain and again fell flat into the water with an unceremonious splash. The other, already lit panels flashed in a sudden neon red, and the same disappointed electronic noise rang from them. Izuku thought that he would feel at least a bit better by passing the first part of the exam, but as with so much lately, it felt like an empty victory.


'How the hell did I get here?'

The thought had run through Ochaco's mind on a number of occasions. She had wondered often at the exact point her life had gone so off the rails. Well, in a manner of speaking of course. She had come to UA with a goal in mind. To become a hero. To make those around her, those she cared for, feel safe. She wanted to stand up for those who had no one else to stand up for them.

And maybe also make enough money to give her parents the life they deserved.

But somehow, she had become friends with the Prince of Hell, and friends with the possible replacement for All Might.

Tenya, Shoto, and herself had all discussed it. While it wasn't completely obvious, it was difficult not to notice that All Might seemed to give Hitoshi just that little bit of extra attention. His quirk had become remarkably like All Might's, as had his overall fighting style.

It wasn't quite the overwhelming blitzkrieg favored by Izuku of course. Hitoshi's style was more… considerate. Izuku, when in the heat of the fight, tended to lose himself. He stopped being Izuku, and in some ways stopped being Nemesis.

Izuku became the Morningstar Prince. An almost literal force of nature that nothing stood against.

Hitoshi on the other hand, was far more grounded, far more human if she dared think the word.

And God, she could use him now.

Because around her was chaos.

The small group she was with was, for the most part, holding out well. Shoto had deflected many oncoming attacks with walls of ice and blasts of fire, while Mashirao was doing his best to fight off anyone who came too close. Koji was doing well with the few animals he could summon to him, and Fumikage, along with Dark Shadow, was doing a good job of simply plugging holes in whatever meager defense they had.

But it simply didn't feel like it was enough. They had been separated from the rest of their class early on, when a student from a rival school with a quirk like liquid clay had simply poured at them, and on his back had come several more students rushing in to exploit the gap.

After that it had been nothing more than a running battle, trying desperately to not get hit with the orange balls.

Ochaco glanced at the glowing disk on her thigh. She'd already been caught once. Two more times and she'd be a goner. The thought of failure left a sickness in her stomach that ate at her like acid through metal.

She hardened her heart and looked to the others. She was with her friends and classmates, they could do this.

Though, once again, that thought crept into her mind.

"What would Izuku do? Or Hitoshi? What would someone strong do?"

She knew she had to block such thoughts out. She was strong. She believed in herself. She had to keep telling herself that over and over again. She could do this, and she didn't need to rely on the boys to get this done.

"Goddamnit." Mashirao cried out as something pinged off his side. She turned to him, glancing to see that, just above his knee, the panel he'd placed there was now glowing orange. That was two hits for him.

He backed up, trying to get some space to maneuver as their opponents began attacking again.

This was a school from somewhere in the south, their accents told her that at least. They were completely outnumbered of course, and their opponents knew that.

One of them had some kind of gas quirk and kept trying to flush them out with the sour-acrid tasting white mist the pushed towards them.

Shoto seemed particularly fixated on it, and at any sign of the smoke, he would unleash a sudden wave of flame that immediately evaporated it. Ochaco didn't have to wonder why.

"We need to move further up the mountain." Fumikage cried out to his friends as Dark Shadow grabbed a boy who had been trying to melt into the rocks and simply hurled him away screaming.

Usually, Ochaco would disapprove of such reckless behavior from the demon, but right now she couldn't give less of a shit about other people. These guys had been completely on their asses the entire time, and she knew it was simply because they were from UA.

It felt unfair to her.

She had worked damn hard to get where she was, and her parents had worked their fingers to the bone to afford the tuition. Hell, they still did.

And these people were going to turn on them just because of that? Because she'd put in countless nights and gone that extra length to crawl her way into UA's class and they hadn't?

Fuck these guys. She hoped Dark Shadow threw them into the sun.

"We can't!" Shoto shouted back, his voice still holding that usual muteness that was so typical of him. "We can't scale cliff walls."

"You can't," Ochaco shouted back, her anger still rising, "but I can."

Instinctively the boys began to surround her, drawing in close while keeping their defenses up.

This was what set UA apart from other schools. Other schools might have had to communicate their ideas, to spell out to one another what the plan was. But UA students simply acted. They knew what to do, they knew one another's strengths and weaknesses. Even when Ochaco knew that some students, like Izuku, stood apart from the others, but when push came to shove they worked as an almost seamless unit.

Just as they did now.

Shoto threw out a wall of ice that wouldn't last long against the opposing students but would at least buy the precious time they needed to escape.

Ochaco quickly reached out and tapped each one of the boys on their shoulders, and at the same time, used the small cables within her gauntlets to latch onto them.

Then, once the last cable was attached, she cried out, "NOW! JUMP!"

And as one, they jumped. Weightless they soared into the air.

Ochaco loved the feeling of weightlessness. There was something so magical about being untethered from gravity itself. It was, after all, one of the most fundamental forces in the entire universe. It literally held the fabric of reality together, for the most part.

And she could simply let it go.

It gave her such a particular rush, one that still got to her even now. With a determined grimace, she twisted her body in mid-air, avoiding a shard of what looked like crystal that whizzed past her.

Dark Shadow rushed from Fumikage's body and latched itself onto the rising side of the faux-mountain. With a mighty haul, the demon dragged their master, and therefore the others, up the side of the mountain.

As they moved, Ochaco fired another cable, this one latching onto a rock far above them.

Then it felt like something reached up and bit her cheek. She yelped in pain, but it was nothing she couldn't shrug off.

Soon enough though, she felt the warm, hot sting across her flesh and the wetness of blood down to her jaw.

The group swung at the mountain, and thanks to some more maneuvering from Dark Shadow, they landed somewhat heavily onto a small outcrop.

Ochaco released them, and the sudden grip of gravity took hold. Gravity was a cruel mistress, and always took back those she ruled over with an iron fist. The sudden weight she felt from her own body hit her hard, and it caused her stomach to twist and her temples to spike with the threat of a migraine.

Thankfully her equipment did its job, and her body quickly began to stabilize. Thank God for UA's support department.

Shoto and Mashirao were already up, moving quickly to the edge of their outcrop where some winged quirk user had jumped up after them.

A quick smack across the face, followed by an orange ball to the chest, dispatched her.

Though even as the girl retreated, yelling highly descriptive insults about their mothers, Ochaco knew she'd be back.

And she'd bring her classmates with her.

"We can't keep doing this." Mashirao panted as he retreated back. "We have to go on the attack."

"Look." Fumikage pointed up towards the counter that hung, huge and glowing, above the entire stadium.

Thirty passes.

"We're running out of time." Shoto breathed. His coolness helped, and not just in a literal sense. Ochaco had always admired how calm he could be, how straight and narrow he was in almost any situation, while also being smart enough to think tactically.

This did sometimes mean he had trouble thinking outside the box, but he was also smart enough to realize that and didn't mind deferring to those who could. He was a good friend. She just wished she could do more to help him when she saw the weight of his family life fall onto his shoulders.

"Anima." Mashirao glanced at Koji. "Can you summon any help?"

"N-No," the taller boy admitted. "T-There's no animals up here. Maybe s-some insects but-"

"Insects will do," Fumikage grumbled out. "Whatever it takes."

"We need to get a signal out, let the others know were here… or at least so we can meet up with them."

"How?" Ochaco breathed out, finally getting to her feet. "You've seen what it's like out there. We need a big signal, something huge."

And they all knew they weren't equipped to perform such a task. Maybe if they had Yuga's stomach beam or Denki's electricity or something…

Once again, her thoughts turned to Hitoshi and Izuku. The twin stars of the class, the two that circled one another as friends and as rivals. One of them would know what to do. One of them would be able to come up with a plan to reunite the class and fight back, to make them all pass.

But Izuku had abandoned them.

She frowned and looked away for a moment. No, she was sure he hadn't abandoned them. He'd been acting weird lately, distant, and thoughtful, but he would never abandon his friends. Maybe he had truly believed that his fear-aura would be a detriment to their class. Maybe he had simply thought acting ow his own would be more efficient.

Maybe he was still afraid of unleashing Nemesis by accident.

But there had to be a good reason. Ochaco refused to believe that it was an act of pure selfishness.

And yet the hurt in her heart remained. They could have used him. They could have really used him.

"We can't sit around waiting for others to rescue us," Mashirao breathed out after a moment. "Hell, those other class people are probably finding their way up to us now. We're cornered and they know it."

"I thought you were the best of the best," Dark Shadow cawed with a sneering tone. "The elite of the elite! And the elite should not get flustered so easily."

"Dark Shadow is right. We're not focusing on what we should be doing." Shoto gave a sharp nod to the demon. "Step one, we fight off the other class. Step two, we make a signal that others can see."

"We're outnumbered," Koji half-whimpered. "W-we need to get an advantage."

"We've above them. That gives us an advantage," Fumikage mused. "We hold the high ground."

"Which means they need to come up to get us." Mashirao nodded firmly.

"B-but do we have enough t-time to stop them and g-get a signal out?" Koji asked, looking to the others.

"I… I might have an idea. To do the first one I mean," Ochaco said softly with a slow nod. "But it's gonna take everyone. Also, it might be a bit cruel."

"Cruel to who?"

"To Koji's insect friends… and to the other class."

"The other class can go fuck themselves, they've been trying to take us down this entire time," Mashirao huffed. "What's the plan, Uravity?"

Ochaco had to grin at that. She was glad to have classmates who were willing to get as underhanded as herself. As plain and uninspiring as Mashirao could be when it came to getting down and dirty in a scrap there were few who could really match him. Sure, other quirks were flashier, even stronger, but Mashirao had that basic 'head down fists up' mentality that some of the other classmates lacked.

He could endure when others could not. And when endurance wasn't enough, he could kick sand in his opponents' eyes and sweep the leg.

And she liked that about him.

A few more moments of work, and the plan was ready. Five large balls of ice were rolled to the edge of their outcrop, thanks to Shoto's quirk.

Ochaco glanced over the edge, and almost had her eye taken out by a sudden stone that whizzed up at her. It practically grazed her scalp, and she was glad she hadn't risked anything more than just a quick look.

"There they are!"

"Come on you cowards!"

" ! Come out to plaaayyyyy!~"

Ochaco ignored the taunt, even if the last one had creeped her out a little bit. She'd trained alongside Izuku for months now and at this point, she found that very little actually scared her. She wasn't sure if that was a good or bad sign, but she leaned towards good.

She wanted to be a pro-hero, after all. A sense of fearlessness was probably a plus.

"Alright, ready?"

Dark Shadow moved forward, picking up one of the ice balls, Koiji picked up the other, Shoto the fourth, then Mashirao, and Fumikage picked up the last.

Ochaco turned and fired a quick cable into the side of the cliff. However, even as she gave the cable a small tug to test it was truly connected, she could hear the sounds of the opposing students coming towards them. They were climbing quickly, and she had only seconds to act.

And so, as one, the students ran towards the outcrop.

Ochaco's heart hammered in her chest, and she felt a rush through her blood like fire itself. She wondered, just for a moment, if this was how Izuku felt whenever he activated Nemesis. Like the world was suddenly greater and more vibrant than it ever was before, when one threw it all onto the line on a game of chance.

But she didn't have his speed, or his strength, or his endurance.

So, she'd just have to match his spirit.

With a mighty cry of "PLUS ULTRA!" the students jumped over the edge of the outcrop.

And just in time too, as they literally passed over the astonished-looking faces of five opposing students, who were looking up at them like they were absolutely crazy. Maybe they were. Maybe Ochaco's mad-cap plan would fail, and they'd go plummeting into the ground and be escorted out of the exam with broken bones.

But Ochaco had already been reaching out to them all, even as they twisted in mid-air, ice balls at the ready.

Her fingers brushed over each one of them, and rather than fall to the ground with mistress gravity's cruel embrace, they fell… and stopped.

Of course, they didn't stop moving, because they had grabbed onto Ochaco as her body swung around with the cable straining against the cliff, but they did stop falling.

But what Ochaco hadn't tapped had been the ice balls.

Which were thrown with considerable force out of the hands of her fellow hero-hopefuls, and right into the absolutely stunned opposing class.

One of the enemies was quick enough to suddenly strike, a force of cutting leaves that rushed from a backpack and sliced through the ice balls, causing them to fall to pieces before they even got to the students.

But the balls of ice hadn't been the weapon.

The many hundreds of insects inside the balls of ice had been the weapon.

The opposing students screamed with terror as insects burst from the ice balls and flooded themselves, buzzing and stinging and biting, onto their enemies.

As this happened, the class continued to swing in motion, with Ochaco's arms burning from the strain of the sudden yank in force, but it worked. They swung away from the screaming students, only for Dark Shadow to reach forward suddenly, claws digging into the cliff-face and hauling them back.

The swing back was even faster, but that was no problem for the students. What came next was something akin to a turkey shoot.

All six of the U.A. students threw their orange balls at the enemy, and all of them scored at least one hit each, causing the opposing class to break. They began fleeing down the mountain, rushing as fast as they could, even while swarms of insects continued to harass them, burying under their uniforms and into their shoes.

Koiji had asked them to not do anything with their faces though, being the kind soul that he was.

Again, using Dark Shadow as a bizarre steering mechanism, Ochaco screamed out, "AFTER THEM!" And the demon complied.

Their huge claws dug back into the rock and hauled them towards the students.

"I'M RELEASING!" Ochaco shouted, her fingers coming together as one just as the cliff roared back towards them.

Gravity met the students once again, but they expertly landed into a quick roll and, following that, a swift sprint towards the students. Ochaco knew the importance of pressing them. They had scored hits, and in their current panic, they could score even more. Maybe even pass.

But they didn't get the chance. Even as they started to close in on them, something suddenly burst out of the ground before them.

A figure bathed in royal lightning, smashed into the ground, throwing the enemy students screaming into the air.

Immediately after that, a shining warrior tore into their ranks, knocking those still standing down, and right after him, a goddess of a woman rushed in to fill the gap, throwing a huge, weighted net over two who were trying to escape.

The three newcomers turned as one and pelted them with balls.

At least three students were quickly eliminated.

The group found it a little hard to stop on the sloping cliff face but Ochaco managed it even as she felt nausea rising with a sour sickness into the back of her throat. Her lungs, legs, and arms were burning from exhaustion and effort, but it felt good. All of it felt good. All it felt like a real scrap, something she could truly dig her fingernails into, slam her head against, and come away with a pink smile.

Yes, she decided as they came to a rough stop, this must be what Izuku felt so often. It really was addictive.

"Thanks for showing up late," Ochaco panted as Hitoshi came towards her, lighting still snaking in static jolts across his body.

"That's fashionably late." Hitoshi grinned at her before looking to the others. "And I do have a passion for fashion, as you all know."

"We could have used you earlier." Mashirao was also panting, though he seemed to have it better than Ochaco. "We almost got cornered. How'd you find us?"

"That little stunt you pulled was kind of obvious." Momo pointed up towards the cliff. "I mean you could probably hear that screaming halfway across the arena. Thanks for doing that, though I think we should get moving before others show up."

"Have you seen Morningstar?" Fumikage asked sharply. "We could use his help."

Hitoshi looked sour, and Ochaco felt a coldness cross her beating heart. It was only for a moment, but she could see clear as day what Hitoshi was currently thinking about Izuku.

"We don't need him. He went off on his own, remember? And we're not so weak that we need his strength in every situation." Hitoshi brushed his shirt off then looked around. "Let's keep moving. We're going to reunite everyone, and then pass together. Morningstar be damned."

"He already is," mumbled Dark Shadow.

"Come on, we're moving to the city district. Creati said the others might be there." Hitoshi didn't wait to see if the others agreed. He simply began walking towards the city.

Ochaco followed, deciding that she would take his lead.

They could reunite the class together, even if she felt as though Hitoshi wasn't including Izuku in that equation.

And as much as she hated to admit it to herself, it was probably the best option. If the Morningstar wished to take the exam alone, there was little any of them could do about it. She doubted he would try and link back up with them, though there was always a chance he would.

But perhaps Hitoshi was right. Perhaps they were banking too much on Izuku's strength and power.

She looked back at the cliff as they passed under it.

She had helped avoid disaster and had even scored their little group a few, vital pass points. She had done that. Sure, she had done it with the help of her friends and classmates, but she had done it without relying on Izuku to come and save her, or even Hitoshi for that matter.

They could do this. All of them could do this.

And it was important to remember that. Perhaps Morningstar's absence was not a detriment, but an opportunity.

She looked back to Hitoshi, who was forging a path forward.

He wasn't looking to the heavens for a savior. He was becoming the savior.

And it was about damn time she did the same.


It didn't take that long to find the others.

One by one the disjointed and separated U.A. students picked one another out of the vast chaos.

And one by one, they began to gather their points.

Mina's group was found in a similar situation to Ochaco's. Cornered and close to defeat, but once the cavalry arrived, they were quickly saved, and everyone got another point closer to victory.

Others simply managed to find them through virtue of their own devices. They found Denki and Eijiro doing surprisingly well, though both had taken a point each. Toru simply appeared next to Hitoshi, causing him to almost jump through his clothes. She was fine and she'd almost passed entirely on her own.

Rikido and Reiko were found together, which was something that some of the girls giggled at and Rikido seemed sheepish about. Hitoshi rolled his eyes at the whole display.

The last to be found was Yuga, who in an act of desperation, had fired his navel laser up into the sky in the midst of an absolutely chaotic battle.

He had thrown out a friendly flag, and his classmates had come calling. The resulting final battle had been a victory for them all, and together, as one, the class had collectively passed.

As they were exiting the field, only three spots were left on the scoreboard, and it seemed as though those would be filled soon enough.

The class was in good spirits as they entered the waiting area, especially when a helpful exam aid handed each one of them a bottle of chilled water. They even gave Ochaco a band-aid for the cut on her cheek.

However, as they entered the room, Hitoshi was brought to a quick stop.

Sitting on his own, far in the corner, was Izuku.

Izuku was looking down at his water bottle and seemed to be idly toying with it, turning it in his still clawed hands. His eyes were unfocused, and a frown was fixed on his face.

Other successful hero-hopefuls were clearly avoiding him, or at the very least, deciding not to bother the slightly terrifying-looking young man sitting far in the corner.

For a moment, the chatter amongst the class dampened.

By now, they had all realized that Hitoshi was pissed at Izuku. He wasn't the only one either, as Eijiro had openly called his decision 'unmanly', and Hanta had of course scoffed at the very idea of the proud Morningstar bothering to help his fellow classmates.

Many of them had grumbled in agreement.

They moved over to him regardless, with Hitoshi quickly storming out in front.

"Hey, dickhead."

Izuku was already looking up before he had even spoken as if he knew this moment was about to happen at that exact moment.

Hitoshi had no doubt he had heard them come in. Super hearing and all that. But super hearing was good because he wanted Izuku to hear everything he was about to say.

"What the fuck was that?"

Izuku only blinked, and for a moment, Hitoshi thought he looked exhausted. Izuku never looked exhausted, not anymore. He was the epitome of dark energy, constantly buzzing with a power that never slept.

"I'm sorry."

The response only angered Hitoshi even more. "You're sorry? Dude, you fucking walked out on us! This was supposed to be a class effort!"

"Hey, it's alright." Ochaco stepped to Hitoshi's side. "So, he did his own thing, we all passed okay."

"That's right," Momo added. "We all got separated anyway and had to fight our own battles for the most part. Well, until the end of course."

"That's not the point." Hitoshi glanced at the others then looked back to Izuku, who still looked distracted by his own thoughts. "We could have passed sooner if you'd just stuck with us." Izuku didn't respond. This only infuriated Hitoshi further. His voice never rose, not by much, but it instead carried a low, cold sort of anger that was somehow more dangerous. "Well? Why'd you do it?"

Izuku sighed and stood up. "It doesn't matter."

"… so, you fucked off for nothing? For no reason at all."

"I had a reason. But it doesn't matter now." He shrugged and began unscrewing his drink. "I'll stick with you on the second part. I promise."

Hitoshi went to open his mouth again but was cut off by the loud ringing of the announcement system.

"EVERYONE STOP. All passable marks have been given!"

They collectively turned as a large monitor on the wall turned on, showing large, panning shots of the entire stadium. The group watched as images of students still fighting were shown, the crushing look of loss on their faces was evident. Some seemed angry, others crying.

Hitoshi's mouth closed, though his jaw felt tight. Around him, some of his other classmates cheered in joy. His eyes flicked to Izuku.

The boy wasn't even looking at the TV. His claws were clutching the bottle in his hands, a move that seemed almost impossible given their sharpness. Yet his control was great enough to hold it without shredding it.

Hitoshi's eyes narrowed for just a moment before looking back to the screen.

"We'll have a quick recess while those who did not pass are escorted and cleared from the arena. Please take the time to rest and recover, as the next stage of the exam will be coming soon."

The screen cut to Mera, who was again slumped over a podium stand, looking just as exhausted as before. He sighed deeply and looked at the camera. "Congratulations to those that passed, I guess, but don't get too cocky. You can still fail this final test, so keep on your toes."

He raised a hand that held a small remote, which he clicked. Behind him, a large screen lit up, showing a single word in giant block writing.

"Get ready, because your next test is about to flip the script. We're gonna have you focus on rescue."


So as many of you have guessed, and as I've said a few times now, the rest of the exam arc is gonna just be giving some highlights to some of the other members of the crew rather than a slideshow of Izuku kicking ass everywhere, though he will do that a bit later on. But yeah, I decided a few things that were gonna happen work better later down the line, and to put them here would lose impact overall.

So yes, the exam only has maybe 3 more chapters? And then we're done, jumping back to the real shit.

But in this chapter, we see some badass Ochaco moments! And also a bit of Fumi and Shoto too. Fumikage has his own moment coming along soon enough. Also, Hitoshi being a mad little gremlin won't last long, though he's also not gonna forget it either. Izuku really needed to get Himiko's number at least so he could text her Fallen memes. Ahh well.

So next chapter we're gonna get to jump into exam part 2! Also some more Inasa fury, Tenya gets his moment, and Hitoshi being mad summore. I'm also gonna update on the 14th of Jan, cos I want a bit of time off over Christmas and New Year. Plus that'll give me time to really beef up the return to the main plot, which has a LOT of big moving parts and epic moments planned.

So yes, have a great bank-draining holiday time everyone, have a lovely new year, eat, drink, be merry, and keep yourselves safe. Cya next year my dudes!