Chapter 3

Izuku stood in front of the mostly unfamiliar tower-of-a-door labeled 2A. It was daunting. He hadn't been beyond this door in several weeks. But it was time he faced the music. He couldn't hole himself up in his room forever. He went to reach for the door but was quickly reminded by his arms lack of a response that he couldn't do that anymore. He felt stupid at that. How could he have forgotten that his arms were dead at his side when they literally stuck with him all day. He began to raise his leg in an attempt to nudge the door open but was interrupted by a shout.

"Hey! Let me give you a hand with that!" A familiar voice called out to Izuku from down the hallway. He turned and couldn't help but grin, his gaze catching that of his overly-enthusiastic classmate Mina Ashido.

"Um… H-Hey Ashido. Good morning." He hadn't spoken to her much since their initial chat from the previous week, but he was happy to see her nonetheless.

"Good morning Midori. Glad to see you're finally coming back to class. Here." She slid the massive door to the side and held it for him. He made his way in quickly and she followed closely behind.

"Thanks."

"Of course. I'm always here for you." She smiled at him and he chuckled. He supposed it would be really nice if he had her to accompany him everywhere, helping him throughout the day. She'd make for much better conversation than his current assistant, that was for sure. The two waved a small goodbye and parted ways, making their way to their respective seats.

Izuku greeted Uraraka and Ida as he sat down and prepared for class, not that there was much preparing to be done. The school faculty had provided him with a small audio-recording device attached to a lanyard; he was to wear it throughout the day so that the audio of his lectures would be recorded for studying later. It sure wasn't his ideal way to learn, but it was just another consequence he had to adjust to.

He found himself pleasantly surprised at how few of his classmates had mentioned his sudden attendance: it almost made him feel like he had never left. Almost. There were still a few surprised stares and murmurs that he noticed, but he didn't care to pay them any attention. He just stayed facing the board, patiently awaiting their teacher's arrival.

Soon enough, Mr. Aizawa strode into the class, looking cheery as ever. The steady chorus of conversation that was constant a moment ago immediately died.

"Morning." That was all he said before turning to the board to write something down.

"Good morning Mr. Aizawa." The class responded in monotonous unison.

"Ida, please read the announcements for the day." Tenya went to the front and began to read off a list of important things Aizawa wanted the class to know. It sounded like something about an upcoming test but Izuku found himself zoning out. Not that he wasn't interested in school—and he knew that if Ida caught him, he'd be in trouble—but he just couldn't bring himself to stay focused. The last few days had been interesting for him. Anytime he found himself particularly drowned in his dark thoughts, he would think of his conversation with Ashido and he would feel a bit better. It was comforting thought for him; he had the assurance that help was always there for him. He was sure that Uraraka and Ida would extend the same offer to him, but it felt different coming from Ashido.

Izuku and Mina hadn't spoken on many occasions before and even then, a bulk of those encounters had been during the school festival preparations. After that they went back to being on opposite ends of the Class A social spectrum. One on one time with her was just not something he pictured himself getting a lot of. Not to say that he wouldn't hang out with her if he was given the opportunity. He just never gave himself that chance. Suddenly, Ida walked away from the front of the classroom. He must be done delivering the announcements. Aizawa then slapped the board with the palm of his hand, letting out a crisp, loud slapping noise that got everyone's attention immediately.

'Practical Exam' was scrawled across the board in big lettering. Izuku panicked. He had just now decided to come back to class and already there was a practical exam! There wasn't any way he'd be prepared for this. He hadn't spent much time getting adjusted to fighting with just his legs quite yet and already he was back in the fire. Though he should have guessed that if he skipped out on so much school that he would struggle to catch up when he got back.

"Today we'll be conducting a practical exam to assess everyone's progress so far this semester. Head to Ground Gamma and bring your hero costumes with you." The class began to file out, taking their respective suit-cases with them. Izuku was about to follow suit when he was stopped by his teacher.

"Not you, problem child. You're not ready to get back into the field yet. You'll be sitting this one out today. And for the foreseeable future, you'll be opted out of all practical exercises until I assess that you're ready to take part again. Understood?" Aizawa's gaze hardened, his red eyes piercing Izuku's soul. He shivered but nodded his head in affirmation.

"Good. Now come on." He shuffled out of the classroom and Midoriya began to follow closely. He heard the classroom door slide shut behind him as he made his way down the hall with his teacher.

"Today's practical will be isolated free-for-all style fights. You will be divided off into 5 groups of three and one of four. Within those groups, you'll have to fight one another. Last one standing passes, the others fail. Simple. Any questions before you're sorted off into groups?"

Nobody raised their hand. It seemed they were all ready for anything, and this came as no surprise to them.

"Good. Step up and draw lots from this box. They're lettered A through F. Once you've received yours please show it to me." One by one, class 2A went up to reach into the box, excluding Izuku of course. As they drew and showed their numbers to Aizawa, they're names appeared on the screen in front. In the end, the teams were as follows:

Group A: Tokoyami, Yaoyorozu, Aoyama.

Group B: Uraraka, Bakugo, Ashido.

Group C: Sato, Hagakure, Mineta.

Group D: Shoji, Asui, Ida.

Group E: Kaminari, Kirishima, Todoroki.

Group F: Jiro, Sero, Koda, Ojiro.

"Aright, Group A make your way to this point and await further instructions." Aizawa gestured to a map of Ground Gamma on the screen. Tokoyami, Yaoyorozu, and Aoyama made their way out of the spectator room through the exit door. Izuku watched them leave before he turned his attention to the screen. The rest of the class were chattering among themselves, but he didn't feel ready yet to engage in casual conversation. He instead busied himself with speculation of who'd come out on top in this matchup. Tokoyami would be at a disadvantage; any hit from Aoyama's Navel Laser would severely weaken Dark Shadow. And Yaoyorozu had probably learned from her last encounter with Tokoyami; she would most likely arm herself with some sort of lighting element. Tokoyami's best bet would be to avoid Aoyama at all costs and go in quickly to defeat Yaoyorozu.

Izuku turned his attention to the screen as Group A arrived at the site of the test. Aizawa put his hand up to his year and began to speak.

"Space yourselves out evenly. You'll go at the sound of a horn. Ready yourselves accordingly." After relaying the instructions, he sat down near Izuku, waiting to watch the match himself. A few moments later, he heard a horn blaring in the distance. Instantly, the three young heroes were upon each other. As he thought, Tokoyami went after Yaoyorozu with intense force. She quickly side stepped out of the way of Dark Shadow's assault and began to create something.

Suddenly Aoyama let loose a quick barrage of laser blasts. Yaoyorozu screamed in pain as her creation was interrupted by a burning sensation on her back. She turned around to see Aoyama flashing a cheesy pose, looking quite happy with himself. She huffed in frustration and produced her signature bo staff. She rushed for Aoyama and began to swing at him with wild precision. He panicked and began to sloppily dodge eh swings, clearly not prepared to face a head-on assault from the Creation user. However, in her haste, Yaoyorozu neglected to account for Tokoyami. Her onslaught of staff strikes was suddenly stopped as Dark Shadow grabbed her and tossed her aside. It then continued after Aoyama, who was still a bit dazed from Yaoyorozu's attack. It picked up the sparkling hero and threw him down rather violently. Aoyama's head snapped back and smacked the concrete as he hit the ground; he didn't move to get back up.

Satisfied with its work, Dark Shadow turned to look for the discarded Yaoyorozu. It was met with a blinding light, emanating from the flood light she had created. It cried out in pain before shrinking in towards its master. Yaoyorozu then rushed in with her staff once again and began to swing at Tokoyami. This time she seemed calm, as if she knew her victory was assured. She aimed for Tokoyami's side, catching him in the ribs. He winced in pain. She quickly went in again, striking him in the back of leg. He fell to his knees. Yaoyorozu knew she could do this. She brought her staff around once more, raised it high in the air, and brought it down swiftly on Tokoyami's head. He slumped to the floor, collapsed in a heap.

It had gone roughly like Izuku thought it would, just in a different order he guessed. He watched as Tokoyami and Aoyama were carried off on stretchers as Yaoyorozu made her way back to the spectator's room. Once she was back, Aizawa gave the class a quick rundown of his thoughts and opinions on their fight. He also listened to what the rest of the class had to say. Other than a few pointed negatives however, the class overall agreed that Yaoyorozu did a well-enough job to ear her passing grade. Aizawa then readied the next group.

"Okay. Group B: Uraraka, Bakugo, and Ashido. Please make your way to this area and await further instructions." He pointed to a different spot on the map of Ground Gamma. The three made their way to the door. On her way out, Ashido turned to Izuku and waved with a smile.

"Wish me luck Midori!" She shouted at him.

"O-Okay! Good Luck Ashido!" He called back awkwardly. She giggled as she slipped out of the room. The door clicked in place and Midoriya turned back to the screen. He was confused, but happy.

The door shut with a loud click behind Mina. She trailed behind Ochaco and Bakugo; she hadn't really payed attention to the spot Aizawa had pointed to but was sure that the others had. She was a little worried about her opponents. They were formidable to say the least. Ochaco was fiendishly adaptable and Bakugo was relentless. Mina wasn't sure she could handle them both at the same time. She might be able to handle Ochaco by herself; her acid would do well to keep her safe from the girl's gravity-nullifying grasp. But when it came to Bakugo she wasn't sure she'd be able to keep him at a range. He was fearless and reckless. He'd stop at nothing to put his opponent in the ground and at this very moment that just so happened to be her…

And Ochaco! Maybe Bakugo's pride would get the best of him. He'd never turn down the chance to fight two strong people at once and that might just provide the girls with the edge they need to beat the Explosion user. But that was assuming Bakugo played to his regular habits. The fight with the Paranormal Liberation Front had changed everyone and he was no exception. He might actually be rationalizing a plan right now. If he made a plan, an actual, well thought out plan, then Mina and Ochaco would have no chance of beating him. Oh well, hopefully today was her lucky day then.

'O-Okay! Good Luck Ashido!' She grinned, thinking of Izuku's wish of good luck. Maybe she could do this. Finally, they arrived at the location, or so she guessed. Both Ochaco and Bakugo had stopped in front of an unremarkable building with a single door. Bakugo opened the door and went in; Ochaco was right behind him. Mina jogged to catch the door before it closed and entered in behind them.

It looked like a warehouse. Various crates and barrels sat everywhere, arranged in neat stacks. Great. Plenty of objects for Ochaco to put to use. But, the crowding of the area meant Bakugo wouldn't be as mobile in the air. This could be to her benefit after all. Or halfway at least.

"Space yourselves out and get ready to fight. Remember, go at the sound of the horn." Aizawa's voice chimed through their earpieces. Mina moved until she had a good twenty feet between her and the other competitors. It looked like they had done the same. She felt her hands and feet begin to moisten as she activated her quirk in preparation. She turned to see Ochaco had lowered her stance like she was getting ready to sprint. Bakugo's hands sparked with small explosions as he shifted his gaze between the others. Mina began to feel a little nervous again, but immediately pushed that feeling down. She could do this. She was going to win.

The horn blared and they were all immediately in action. Bakugo propelled himself towards Mina, clearly intending to eliminate her first. She slid to the side, twin trails of acid left behind where her feet had been. He promptly fired off a couple more explosions to change his trajectory and went after her again. She panicked. Now she was on the run. She continued to slide away from the crazed boy flying towards her. She moved to get behind some crates when she was suddenly interrupted. A large crate smacked into her side and knocked her to the ground.

"Sorry," Ochaco called from across the room. Bakugo's attention shifted to her instead. "Eep!" was all she said before she rushed to another set of crates. She brushed all her fingertips across them in one clean swipe. Now that their gravity was removed, she picked them up on-by-one and began to chuck them at the rapidly approaching Bakugo. He landed on the ground and used his quick to blow up the crates as they came at him, but Ochaco kept the pressure on. She touched more and more crates around her and began to throw them faster, more frequently, and with more force. He found himself unable to progress towards her.

Mina got up. She was dazed, but not down for the count. Not yet at least. Acid began pouring from her feet and she started to slide towards Bakugo, who was very much distracted by Ochaco at the moment. She built up more and more momentum before leaping into the air and delivering a spinning kick to the back of his head. He was cast aside, his body crumpling against some crates. He groaned. He wasn't down yet but now Mina could focus on taking down Ochaco. She began to slide towards her new opponent. Ochaco took notice and began to throw crates at her instead. She ducked and weaved, managing to avoid them all.

Mina leapt into the air once she was close enough and let off a volley of acid at her rosy-cheeked adversary. Ochaco yelped and backstepped to avoid the deadly rain but found herself tripping over a piece of a crate that Bakugo had blown apart. She smacked her head hard on the ground and cried out in pain.

"Gotcha!" Mina shouted as she pounced on the downed girl. She held Ochaco's hands to the ground so she wouldn't have to worry about her quirk being used. Then Mina raised her head, readying herself to headbutt her captive. As she reared her head back though, she heard a malicious snarl from behind her. Before she knew it, an explosion detonated against the back of her skull, forcing her to slam her face down into Ochaco's.

Everything went black.

Mina awoke to a white ceiling. An unfamiliar white ceiling. But still, she felt she had seen it once or twice before. She tilted her head to the side to peek at her surroundings and quickly realized she was in the infirmary. Ochaco lay in a bed a few feet to her right. She was still asleep and her face was bandaged up. Was her nose broken? Mina really hoped she hadn't hurt her like that. But, then again, it wasn't her fault. Bakugo had been to one to make her headbutt Ochaco so hard. Where was he anyway? There was no way he made it out of that fight completely unscathed. Her thoughts were cut short when the Youthful Heroine Recovery Girl walked in.

"Oh goodness. You're finally awake. Glad to see you're alright. That Katsuki boy sure can be dangerous. Here, take these." She handed Mina a handful of gummies. She went ahead and ate them before asking a question.

"Is Ochaco going to be okay?"

"Of course, dearie. Just a broken nose. Nothing my quirk can't handle. Now go, you're all healed, and I might need room in here later. Your class tends to be the most reckless bunch."

Mina hurried out and made her way back towards Ground Gamma's spectator room. She was eager to see what the others thought of her performance. She was disappointed she hadn't won but felt like she really had done her best. She just let her guard down a bit at the end, thinking Bakugo would've been down for a bit longer. But she definitely learned her lesson and she would just have to try harder next time.

When she finally made it back to the spectator room, Group D's match was just now wrapping up. It looked like Shoji and Tsu had both teamed up to take Ida down early, but that proved to be a foolish choice on Shoji's part. Tsu had wasted no time in taking Shoji out immediately after Ida's defeat. She really was a force to be reckoned with when she wanted to be.

Mina quickly scanned the room for a place to sit. It looked as if her options for seating partners were Kyouka, Sero, Koda, Ojiro, Toru, Yaomomo, and Bakugo. Her eyes then flickered to the other side of the room. Izuku was sitting by himself, left there by Aizawa, who was preparing the next group for their turn. She scolded herself for not considering her green-haired classmate. She supposed she just wasn't used to having him back in class. Her mind made up, she went and sat herself right next to the timid boy.

"Hey there Midori." Not too much enthusiasm, she told herself. She didn't want to overbear Izuku.

"O-Oh hey Ashido. Glad to see you're alright after all that. You had a really tough matchup. I was sure for a moment that you were gonna win. I g-guess I forgot about K-Kachaan."

"Believe me. I did too!" Mina punctuated her statement with a hearty laugh. Izuku chuckled back. He seemed really uncomfortable. Though she wasn't sure entirely why. She had been making an effort to be friendlier to him and make conversation with him in the dorms lately. But he still seemed just as timid around her as he normally did. She figured that after all the personal information he's shared with her that maybe they'd be a bit closer. She decided not to dwell on it.

"So who do you think is the fan-favorite for this next matchup Midori?" Group E had just arrived at their starting point and were preparing to begin their match. She was curious as to who he thought would win.

"Todoroki, for sure."

"Huh, that's it? No in-depth analysis? The Great Izuku Midoriya, King of Muttering About Quirk Matchups, has nothing to say for this match?" Mina laced her words with mock surprise. Truth be told, even though Kirishima and Kaminari were close friends of hers, and she had the highest hopes for them, she knew that Todoroki was a shoo-in for victory.

"Well, I don't mean to say Kaminari and Kirishima are weak or anything. It's just that Todoroki's ice is just too strong." He sounded nervous, almost like he was afraid he was offending her by giving his opinion on the matter.

"Yeah. I know what you mean. I know their tough, but I just can't help but feel hopeless for them. Todoroki is a bit of an unfair matchup."

"Sort of like Kachaan. He's a tough one as well. I'm really surprised you got that hit on him. I was sure he wouldn't ever let his guard down." Now that he mentioned it, Mina was surprised as well. Bakugo was almost always on guard. Even outside of combat, he was the most standoffish person she had ever met. So why had it been so easy for her to land that kick? Had he really been struggling with Ochaco so much? Maybe Mina had underestimated her friend's abilities. She was really impressed.

"Yeah, I guess Ochaco really had him in a tight spot." She said casually. She was curious to see if he had any comments to make about that. If anybody knew Bakugo's skill level, it was Izuku.

"I don't think so." What?! "Kachaan didn't really seem to be struggling. At least it didn't look like it. And he hadn't used his quirk much at that point, so he wasn't at his limit either. He's probably just having an off day."

Mina was beside herself with confusion. Bakugo had off days? He let his guard down? It just didn't seem like him at all. Or like he had portrayed himself to be. Maybe that's where the distinction was. Bakugo had feelings, he just never showed it. She snorted at that.

"What? D-Did I say something funny?"

"No. No. I was just thinking about how strange of an idea it is for Bakugo to have off days."

"Y-Yeah. It's not very in-character for him, hah." He stifled an awkward laugh at the end of his comment. Why was he so hesitant to speak and act freely around her? Was she that off-putting? She decided to change the subject.

"So Midori, have you started training up a new technique?"

"N-Not yet. I know I should be. I just don't know if I'm ready yet. I'm still adjusting to the whole 'no arms' way of life and that's hard enough as is. B-But I don't want to fall behind either. I just don't know what to do." He teared up a bit at the end. Mina put her hand on his shoulder and gave it a comforting squeeze. He calmed a bit at that.

"Well, maybe you don't have to learn a new technique at all."

"W-What do you mean? Of course I do! I can't use my arms at all now. That means I've only got my legs left to rely on. What else could I possibly do?"

"Well, why don't you see if the Support Department can't build you something for your arms?" The words just kind of rolled off her tongue. She didn't give them much thought before hand, but they had already been said.

"…Build something for my arms?" Izuku looked lost in thought. Had he really not considered that as a possibility yet?

"Yeah, why not? They build all different kinds of support gear for every sort of situation. What makes you think they wouldn't be able to help you with your arms." Mina was genuinely surprised by his lack of problem-solving skills in this situation. Maybe being so deep in his thoughts had kept him from considering it but come on. Really Midori?

"Um, well I-I guess I just never thought of it. Though now I feel really dumb. But you're right! I could ask them to build some sort of cybernetic augmentations for my arms. And maybe I'd be able to use them for hero work again!"

"That's the spirit! Glad to see you're all excited again Midori." She turned to look at him only to realize he was gone. She looked around and found him talking with Aizawa. Their teacher simply nodded in agreement to whatever Izuku had asked him and the young greenette quickly darted for the door, disappearing through it.

"He didn't even say goodbye…" Mina grumbled to herself. She was slightly miffed he left so suddenly, but she knew she'd see him again later so she wasn't worried. She turned back to the screen to see that Todoroki had indeed dominated his match, though not as quickly as she thought he would. She'd have to tell Izuku the results tonight.