I walked out of the classroom that afternoon knowing I had aced that test. There was an extra bounce in my step as I skipped out of the classroom, cheesy grin pasted on my face. Mister Aizawa would definitely be proud of me if I got a perfect score on the final exams, and that meant I could beg Present Mic into getting me ice cream as well (Mister Yamada was very nice, and persuadable too!).

As I changed from my slippers into my ratty black sneakers, I briefly noted that I was going to need new shoes soon. I was actually outgrowing my current ones, which while something I would normally celebrate, was concerning because new shoes were expensive.

There was a soft tap on my shoulder, and I spun around, fists raised. I relaxed when I saw Shouto. "Ah, hey," I said awkwardly. "So… we're meeting up with Tenya, right…?"

"That's correct," Shouto confirmed, nodding. He shifted uncomfortably. "Your reflexes are very sharp," he observed.

I giggled nervously. "Thanks!" I chirped, skimming right over the topic and looking past Shouto to see Izuku. I wiggled my fingers at him. "C'mon over here, Izukun!" I beckoned.

The green haired boy jerked his head up, seeing Shouto and I, and scurried over. He grinned anxiously. "W-we're meeting Tenya here, right?"

"Yep," Shouto answered bluntly, giving a small nod.

I smiled reassuringly, despite the feeling of anxiety crushing my stomach. "I'm sure it'll be fine," I said confidently. "Besides, who doesn't like free food, right?"

Izuku glanced at me disbelievingly. "That's really your focus, Ichigo?" he asked. I nodded, sticking my tongue out at him. Izuku grinned helplessly at my antics, and I internally fist pumped.

"You're all here," Tenya said. I turned around to see him standing a few feet away, backpack slung over his shoulder. He pushed up his glasses, hiding his eyes. "Please follow me," he requested, turning on his heel and heading down the street.

I glanced at Izuku, who looked just as confused, before shrugging and strolling forwards, Shouto and Izuku trailing behind me. Tenya led us three blocks away from the school, never looking back to see if we were following him still. He finally paused in front of a small restaurant, holding the door open for us politely.

I smiled at him, trying to disguise my nervousness. "Thanks, Tenya," I said, stepping inside. The restaurant was more of a glorified cafe, with checkered floors, and red couches with white rectangular tables scattered around the open layout. I waited for the others to walk inside, before following Tenya over to an empty table. I sat down across from him, Shouto taking the chair beside me. Appearing particularly nauseous, Izuku sat in the seat beside Tenya.

A waiter was with us in moments, wearing a black uniform. He quickly passed out menus, smiling professionally. "Welcome to the Checkers Cafe, we have a $5 lunch special today. I'll be your server, my name is Ichiro," he introduced, taking out a notepad and pen. "Can you tell me what beverages you're interested in?"

"Water, please," Tenya answered immediately, and Ichiro automatically scrawled out his order.

Izuku squirmed uncomfortably. "U-uh, me too," he agreed quickly.

I glanced at Tenya. "Mind if I get a pot of hot tea?" I inquired.

Tenya nodded. "That's fine," he answered, and I turned back to the waiter.

"A pot of hot tea, please?" I requested, and Ichiro nodded, writing on his notepad.

"Add a cup," Shouto added, and I glanced up at him, startled, but the waiter was already flipping his notepad shut, tucking the pen into his apron.

"Your drinks will be out shortly," Ichiro announced, giving one last perfect grin before turning towards the kitchens. I watched him go carefully, until Tenya coughed, and my gaze flickered back to him.

Tenya folded his hands on the table, and I gulped, realizing things were about to get serious. "Regarding why I requested your presences here today," he started, and I bit my lip, hands automatically moving up to tug on my braids. "I wanted to apologize."

My brain screeched to a halt. "What? Why?" I asked, confused.

Tenya's shoulders slumped, glasses hiding his eyes. "Because of my actions, you all were placed into unnecessary danger," he explained. "You especially, Ichigo, were endangered because of my reckless behavior," he bowed his head. "I apologize for any grievances and injuries I have caused you."

I scrambled for a response, a way to reassure Tenya - no, I wasn't upset so stop bowing because I don't know how to respond - but Shouto beat me to it with all of his usual eloquence.

"Don't apologize, you weren't thinking straight," Shouto said bluntly. "We chose to endanger ourselves to help you, you aren't responsible for what happened."

I nodded in agreement, jumping onto that train of thought. "I'm certainly not upset with you, Tenya," I assured him. "I don't regret helping you in any way, and I was fine in the end."

"Please don't apologize," Izuku added, eyes swimming with sincerity. "You're our friend, we're supposed to help each other," he grinned at Tenya brightly. "And saving people is what heroes do, why wouldn't we help you?"

Tenya still looked melancholy, but he raised his head and straightened his spine. "... Thank you," he responded hesitatingly. "My brother suggested that I apologize to you upon my return, to ensure there were no hard feelings…"

"We never blamed you for what happened," Izuku declared firmly.

Tenya gave a small smile. "That is good to know," he said, then continued after a small pause. "This meal is on me, then. As a show of gratitude."

I grinned at him, hoping this meant our friendship was back on track. "You're going to regret that," I teased. "I don't know about Shouto, but I can easily drink a pot of tea or two on my own."

"I enjoy tea very much," Shouto added impassively, but there was a small gleam in his eyes that could almost be called amused, and I realized with surprise that he was teasing Tenya as well.

Tenya's small smile widened into something more genuine. "I offered to pay," he said, tone grave. "I shall accept all the consequences of that decision."

"Then we can organize a funeral for your wallet later," Izuku quipped, a comment so out of character that I barely managed to keep my mouth closed, head spinning as I stared at him in shock. Tenya and Shouto were also looking at him in astoundment (although less expressive than me). Izuku scanned our expressions, the picture of innocence. "What?" he asked innocuously, and I burst into a storm of giggles. Tenya barked out a startled chuckle, and Shouto smiled, which was the equivalent of rolling on the ground laughing for anyone else.

Izuku grinned triumphantly, but before he could say anything else, Ichiro appeared again at the table, notepad out. "Are you ready to order?" he asked.

I hadn't checked out the menu yet, but I happily flipped it open. I held it up so he could see. "I'll have this, this, and that," I started, pointing to the menu items that looked interesting. I wasn't the one paying, after all. "Ooh! And that, and this, and that soup looks good, can that arrive first? And maybe this too…" I continued, ordering whatever caught my attention. Ichiro, wide eyed, scrawled down each item, growing more and more stunned with every word.

When I finally finished, I closed the menu. Ichiro scanned the list, before coughing politely and scanning the other's faces. "What else would you like to order?" he inquired, as if I hadn't just requested half the menu.

Tenya pushed up his glasses, looking to the other boys for confirmation. "I think we'll be fine," he said, Shouto and Izuku nodding in agreement.

"Alright then, your food will be out shortly," Ichiro said as he collected the menus, still sounding confused.

I stood in front of the model city with the rest of my classmates feeling rather confused. We were milling about in our hero costumes, wondering what was going on. All around us, different model terrains were set up, and I was carefully ticking each one off. Was this tied into our practical somehow? Unfortunately, I couldn't tell what for. Would we be doing rescue exercises? Combat trials? The environment offered me zero clues.

Izuku walked up to me, wearing his usual costume minus the silly rabbit hood. "Hey, do you know what's going on?" he asked nervously.

I shook my head slowly, tucking my face into my scarf. "I'm just as confused as you are," I whispered back quietly. "Mister Aizawa didn't let me see any of the paperwork on the finals…"

At that moment, the doors to the large, metal and glass building ahead of us slid open, and out marched every teacher in our grade, Mister Aizawa in the lead. I stared at them in surprise, mental gears slowly turning. They wouldn't… It'd be ridiculous… Impossible for us to pass if they…

"Now, we will begin your practical," Mister Aizawa introduced, stepping to the forefront of the crowd of teachers. "It is possible to fail this exam, so if you want to go to the training camp, don't make any stupid mistakes," he continued scathingly, and I gulped, wondering what constituted as stupid. "I expect that you all have gathered information on the exam ahead of time and have some idea of what you will be doing."

"We're fighting the robots from the entrance exams, right?" Kaminari bursted triumphantly, aiming finger guns at Mister Aizawa.

Ashido pumped her fist as his side. "Fireworks! Curry! Test of Courage!" she cheered, already hyped for the summer camp.

"Too bad!" A high pitched voice interrupted. A lump grew out of Mister Aizawa's scarf, and my eyes widened as Principal Nezu squirmed his way out to appear on my mentor's shoulder, tiny black eyes glinting with hidden sadism. "For various reasons, the exams will be different this time!"

My brain instantly put the puzzle pieces together, and my entire body slumped forward. I was so doomed. Izuku glanced at me with wide, concerned eyes as I exuded an aura of defeat.

Principal Nezu, meanwhile, climbed down Mister Aizawa's side. "From now on, we want to focus on person-to-person combat and hero work, and stress teaching that is closer to actual fighting. So…" he extended his paw, face anything but cute as he finished evilly, "you'll be forming teams of three to fight against one teacher!" Principal Nezu spread his arms, gesturing to the teachers around him. I tried not to cry.

"Against… the teachers?" Ochako repeated disbelievingly, eyes large and worried. Everyone else looked equally surprised and concerned.

Mister Aizawa cut in. "In addition, the teams and their opponents have already been decided," he said. "They were determined at my discretion based on various factors including fighting style, grades, and interpersonal relations, so here they are," he paused, pulling out his favorite little device and reading off of the screen. "Group One: Aoyama, Shouji, and Ojiro, versus Snipe. Group Two: Mineta, Ashido, and Koda versus Midnight. Group Three: Asui, Hagakure, and Satou versus Thirteen. Group Four: Midoriya, Kaminari, and Sero versus All Might," there was a cry of shock, and I saw Kaminari fall to his knees in my peripheral vision, already mourning his chance to see the summer camp. "Group Five: Iida, Tokoyami, and Jirou versus Present Mic. Group Six: Yaoyorozu, Uraraka, and Kirishima versus Ectoplasm. And Group Seven: Todoroki, Bakugo, and Kurosaki versus me."

My world spun to a stop. I was fighting Mister Aizawa… with Bakugo and Shouto? I paused, slowly looking between the two. They were glaring at each other already, I could see Bakugo's lips curling back into a snarl while Shouto managed to somehow convey anger with a blank expression.

I wondered if it would be overdramatic for me to fall to my knees and start screaming like Kaminari.

Mailbox/Explanations

What's the rationale behind the teams? *Ahem* let my speech begin: I couldn't do pairs because there's 21 students this time around, so I had to either have it be one v one or three v three. The second option made the most sense, so trios it was. Aizawa picked his teams out this time for very specific reasons, I shall explain group by group.

Group 6: Momo, Ochako, and Kirishima. This time around, Momo is more confident and capable after her training with Gunhead, she just needs more practice leading. Ochako is a good emotional support provider, and is already experienced with Momo's capabilities, so she'll help Momo take charge. Kirishima is also pretty easy going, and his close range defensive abilities work in tandem with Momo's long range training and Ochako support advantage. Fighting hordes of Ectoplasm's clones will challenge their teamwork and Momo's ability to lead under pressure.

Group 4: Izuku, Kaminari, and Sero. All Might is clearly a daunting opponent, and just like in canon, Izuku holds him on a pedestal. Izuku needs to get past that hero worship. Sero and Kaminari both have the same issue: not taking their training as heroes seriously enough. They want to be normal teens while learning how to be a hero, and with this test Aizawa hopes to shock them both into getting their acts together, and at the very least learning to become more serious and strategic on the battle field.

Group 7: Bakugo, Shouto, and Ichigo. Like Izuku with All Might, Ichigo holds Aizawa on a mental pedestal where he can do no wrong. Aizawa needs to get her out of that mindset. Bakugo and Shouto also (to no one's surprise) hate each other, and Ichigo is friends (questionable in Bakugo's case) with them both, so Aizawa wants her to act as a mediator. Bakugo and Shouto are also very reliant on their quirks in battle - not that they can't fight without them, it just isn't their specialty - unlike Ichigo who fights without any offensive quirk. Aizawa also wants Ichigo to learn to take charge despite dissent. She is already a capable leader, and he wants her to learn to become more "hey listen the fuck up!" instead of "I might have an idea..." when it comes to battle strategy.

If you want my reasons for the other teams, ask in the comments, I just included what I felt were the super important ones with the most significance since I'm kind of writing a lot now (not that the others aren't important, I just included the ones I thought you'd be most curious about!). Hope you enjoyed the chapter and are looking forward to the rest of this arc as much as I am! And now, onto the comments!

GreenDrkness: I hope this chapter answered your question XD Iida should be doing fine from now on. There will be some lingering confidence issues, but things are looking up for him.

caitlinang5: Here is your next chapter! And yeah... about the romance. That won't be happening for a little while. It's closer than you think though! I wasn't really comfortable having romance in a story where most of the characters are only 14~15, but now that Ichigo is entering her second year, she actually might start dating. But the person she first dates will not be the end pairing! I try to keep some realism in my stories when it comes to romance, because no relationship is perfect. A lot of stories seem to miss that. So in the far off future, you will have your romance! (I took way too long typing this response I'm sorry)

xenocanaan: First of all, thank you! Second of all, I'm so glad you like Ichigo that much! I actually put a lot of thought into making her character. I'm hoping these next chapters will help round her out all the way, and really display some major development on her part. Thank you! As for the Bleach reference, as you probably know by now, Ichigo's birth name was just her surname: Asano. When she ran away, she had to fake her identity to apply to Yuuei. So she actually did steal her name from Bleach XD. I imagined her walking down the sidewalk wondering what alias to put on the papers, and she saw a Bleach manga out of the corner of her eye and just went, "That'll work!"

Ceralyn: Yeah, I know plot-wise the last few chapters have been very dull. This chapter marks STS's return to the plot! Inko is pretty great too, right? She's an awesome mom! The "Study Party" chapter's goal was to draw parallel's between Izuku and Ichigo's pasts, and also show how their lives have changed now. I'm glad that you picked up on that! As for the updates... I'm actually sitting on 40 chapters right now. So I basically just twiddle my thumbs before adding a new one. I originally wrote this story on another site, where I updated twice a week. I'll be taking that schedule up once again April 30th!