"If you want to watch the other tests or plan ahead, this is your time," Mister Aizawa drawled, turning on his heel as the teachers headed back into the building. "Group One, you're up first, you have ten minutes to prepare and get into the arena," he said, carefully meeting Aoyama, Shouji, and Ojiro's eyes. "If that's all, listen out for your groups, dismissed," Mister Aizawa finished, turning around and reentering the building behind him, Present Mic at his side chattering away.

I immediately turned around, searching for Shouto and Bakugo. Spotting the blonde first, I hurried over. "Hey, we need to make a plan for the test, Mister Aizawa isn't a good match for you two-" I started.

"I'm going to beat him," Bakugo interrupted, burning holes into the ground with his eyes. He clenched his fists, and I could see the veins in his neck stand out. "Fucking Deku," he growled, spinning around and marching off to who knows where. I stared at his back, slightly stunned. I knew Bakugo had a… irate personality, to say the least, but I thought he'd held some modicum of respect for me.

Who did he think he was? I narrowed my eyes, glaring at his back, before spinning around, searching for Shouto instead. As soon as I spun around, I bumped into a blue uniformed stomach, and bounced backwards, immediately fixing my balance. I looked up to see Shouto's bland expression. "Uh, sorry about that," I apologized, wincing. "Now I know how Ocha-chan feels when I sneak up on her…"

"We need to create an escape plan," Shouto said, unperturbed. "Defeating our teacher will be next to impossible, our best shot is reaching the gate."

I huffed angrily. "I know, but Bakago seems intent on ignoring me," I grumped, crossing my arms.

"We can watch the next few matches, and make decisions from there," Shouto offered. "If Bakugo chooses to pursue Mister Aizawa, he'll make a good distraction."

I frowned, not liking the idea of using the blonde that way, even if he was rude. "Maybe…" I murmured, starting towards the building the teachers and many of the other students had entered. "We should watch the other matches, at least," I suggested. "We can get a good idea of how much the teachers are holding back."

"You think they're going to?" Shouto asked, walking beside me.

I giggled, despite myself. "If Mister Aizawa wanted, he could wipe the floor with all three of us," I informed him, amused at the idea that the teachers weren't going to hold back. "He'd target you first, immobilize you, and then go after Bakago," I bit my lip thoughtfully. "That's probably what he's planning actually."

"I'm capable of escaping most capture techniques," Shouto said doubtfully (without changing his tone of voice).

I nodded. "Yeah, but I could think of ways to remove you from the battlefield already," I said, mind whirring. I had a tool belt full of sharp objects and extra scarves, if I couldn't come up with at least ten different ways to capture Shouto, Mister Aizawa would have me running laps for weeks as penance.

"Like what?" Shouto asked. "I can prepare for them."

"Well, for one, Mister Aizawa and I have extra scarves," I said, opening up one of my belts pouches to reveal three extra scarves. "If I wanted to trap you, based on what I've seen, I'd want to bind your hands, suspend you in the air in some fashion, and then add some motivation so you'd reconsider breaking the scarf."

Shouto narrowed his eyes. "Motivation?" he repeated. He was clearly trying to think of ways to avoid what I was describing.

I patted another pouch on my belt. "We both have caltrops," I warned him. "Covering the ground below you with enough sharp objects would probably be sufficient, since I doubt your suspended aerobic abilities are even close to Mister Aizawa's or mine," I shrugged, stepping through the last set of doors to enter the viewing room. I could see Recovery Girl, Izuku, and Ochako already standing there. "Basically don't let him see you, because if he gets you with his quirk you're done for." Shouto let out an amused huff, and I glanced up at him skeptically. "Not that you can't use martial arts, but you aren't a specialist."

"Understood," Shouto confirmed. "So stay out of sight, and run for the gate," he summarized.

"Pretty much," I agreed, stopping next to Ochako. "Hey, Ocha-chan," I said, as Shouto slid in beside Izuku.

Ochako glanced down at me. "Hey, Icchan," she said, smiling anxiously. "You put a plan together yet?" she asked.

I winced. "Uh, kind of?" I answered unsurely. "Bakago is… less than cooperative."

"Right," Izuku said, sounding slightly pained. "Kacchan can be... difficult to work with."

"That is the understatement of the year," I asserted. "This test will be difficult enough without teamwork troubles." I crossed my arms, glaring at the screen where I could see Aoyama, Shouji, and Ojiro taking their places.

Ochako glanced over at me with wide eyes. "Do you think they'll pass?" she asked urgently.

"Aoyama, Shouji, and Ojiro against Snipe," I reviewed, running through various scenarios. "They could do it if they played their cards right," I decided. "Aoyama has good range, Ojiro has mobility and close range tactics, and Shouji is great for tracking. If they can work together, they'll make it." Teamwork was probably the goal of the entire exam… which meant I was doomed.

Recovery Girl leaned forward in her chair, grabbing a small mic protruding from the desk. "Fifteen seconds before the test begins," she announced sweetly, and on screen Ojiro flinched. I tried to not feel amused by the entire sucky situation. They had one of the better matches, after all.

Moments later, Izuku, Ochako, Shouto and I watched in anticipation as the entrance gate slid open. Aoyama and Shouji charged in immediately, Ojiro choosing mysteriously to linger by the gate. Their battlefield was an underground tunnel. There were plenty of shadowed places for Snipe to hide, and between them and the exit gate was a long stretch of open terrain. It was clearly in Snipe's favor.

Aoyama and Shouji charged on regardless, undeterred. Shouji used all of his extra arms as ears, listening in for any movements. Aoyama looked concentrated to the point of concentration, recklessly running ahead as Shouji trailed behind him.

"What are they doing…?" Ochako said in confusion, watching the apparent suicidal charge.

I narrowed my eyes. "No one in that group is dense, they have a plan. But what could they…?" As I spoke, my eyes flickered back to the camera focused on the entrance gate. Ojiro was gone, and as I scanned the other screens, I realized I couldn't find him anywhere. I grinned, realizing what they were doing. "They're trying to get Snipe to reveal himself, and then they're going to corner him," I explained. "That's why Ojiro isn't running with them, he's going to ambush him after the first shot."

As soon as I finished speaking, a bullet ricocheted from the darkness. "Go!" Shouji barked, as both he and Aoyama leaped back, finger pointed at one of the many alcoves. A fake-bullet hit Shouji in the chest, and he fell to the ground, "dead".

Aoyama tucked his arms behind his head, aiming his lazer at the pillar Shouji had indicated. Snipe came rolling out from behind his hiding spot moments before it was demolished, firing bullets at Aoyama. The flashy blonde managed to dodge the first two shots, but the third nailed him in the arm.

"I have been hit! Merci!" Aoyama cried dramatically, falling to the ground. The shot wasn't actually fatal, so he wasn't out of the game, but his ridiculous performance held Snipe's attention for the full second it needed to.

Just as Snipe moved to reload his gun, Ojiro came flying out of the darkness, snapping the cuff around Snipe's wrist. He landed in a roll seconds later, popping up to his feet. He turned around, eyes wide, seeming surprised by his own success.

"We… did it?" he announced questioningly.

At the other end of the room, the cartoon picture of Nezu on the exit gate started glowing. "Group #1 passes!" The principal's cheery voice declared.

Aoyama jumped to his feet, sparkly cape billowing around him. "We have won, mes amis!" he cheered, spreading his arms widely.

Shouji stood up more slowly, walking over to Ojiro. "Good job," he said, holding out his hand.

Ojiro still looked stunned by his own success, tail laying limply on the ground behind him. "Uh, thanks," he said, shaking Shouji's hand.

Aoyama appeared between them, glowing with pride. "Let us celebrate our success! Victoire!" he sang. Ojiro and Shouji immediately separated and took a step back.

I let out a giggle as they exited the field on screen. "Aoyama certainly has a flamboyant personality," I commented, smiling appreciatively. "Their plan was good. They took advantage of Snipe's focused attacks and forced him to choose between letting them reach the gate or announcing his position. It was a good trick, but in a real life scenario, that wouldn't have worked," I giggled again. "Not that I don't approve of using the rules of games to win."

Izuku nodded, grinning as well. "It was an impressive strategy, considering that they had the least amount of time to plan," he complimented. "They used Shouji and Aoyama as the distraction because their quirks work well together, and since Ojiro was the fastest, had him attack," Izuku's fingers twitched habitually, like he was reaching for a pencil.

Ochako laughed. "Having people to analyse the matches as they happen makes this way more fun!" she said, clapping her hands together happily.

Izuku smiled sheepishly. "We have a lot of practice," he offered, crossing his arms to keep his fingers from moving.

I leaned over towards him. "Wish you had your notebook, huh?" I asked, and Izuku blushed.

Shouto glanced down from the screens as the battlefield reset itself. "You both are good analysts," he said cooly.

I grinned at the compliment, trying to hide my own reddening cheeks. I felt jittery for no particular reason, like there were butterflies in my stomach. "Th-thanks!" I said, cursing my stammer. It still appeared if I got nervous enough.

Recovery Girl leaned forward towards her mic again, ignoring our conversation. "Group 2, please get to the field. You have three minutes before the test begins," she announced.

I spun back towards the screens, grabbing the rails tightly. I could see Ochako teasing Izuku about his hands' automatic reaction in the corner of my eye. "Next up is Mineta, Ashido, and Koda versus Midnight," I remembered. "This is actually in their favor."

"How so?" Shouto asked, stepping in beside me.

I focused on the match, where Mineta and Koda were walking up to the gates, Ashido bouncing impatiently. "Ashido's acid allows her to move really quickly, and Koda should be able to create distractions with whatever animals are in the area. Mineta's quirk could work well for either capturing Midnight, or slowing her down," I bit my lip thoughtfully. "What I'd do, in their places, is have Koda and Mineta lure her away from the gate and secure her, and then have Ashido book it for the exit. Midnight's quirk makes her hard to cuff, I wouldn't bother trying unless you were Momo and could create gas masks."

Shouto nodded in understanding, looking to the screen as well. Off to the side, Izuku was flailing his arms as Ochako leaned in a little too closely to his face, grinning mischievously. I smiled in amusement, wondering when they both would figure out their enormous crushes on each other.

"Fifteen seconds until the gates open," Recovery Girl announced. I watched as the on screen projections of Koda and Ashido lined up on one side of the gate, and Mineta readied himself on the other.

I frowned in confusion. They weren't behaving like I predicted. "That's illogical. Ashido is the fastest, she should be the one working alone," I said, puzzled.

The entrance gate opened, and Mineta darted left, while Ashido lead Koda to the right. She was grinning impishly, and Mineta's eyes were watering, so I wondered what she had said to make the smaller boy so upset (I felt a small bit of vindictive pleasure at seeing my tormentor bullied back though). Their battlefield was a forest, covered in grass and trees. It was an ideal area for Koda, but with Midnight standing right in front of the exit gate, encompassed in a cloud of thick purple mist, it didn't really matter.

"I don't get it," I muttered, trying to decode their strategy furiously. "What are they doing?"

Mailbox

Before anyone can ask, "WHY IS BAKUGO BEING SO DIFFICULT?!", it's because he's pissed Izuku gets to fight All Might, and is therefor throwing a tantrum. Like a brat.

laurapalmer596: First of all, thank you so much! I'm glad that Ichigo's emotions come across so clearly. I try to keep her reactions to situations as realistic as possible, so I'm happy she seems authentic. I cannot say I was any part of the BNHA writing committee (wish I could though) but I'm ecstatic you feel I did such a good job keeping the characters true to themselves. I spend a lot of time worrying about whether or not they seem OOC. As for Ichigo's quirk and personality: I'm happy they come across as unique and realistic within the BNHA world. Originally, I had her as the granddaughter of Recovery Girl, but then I realized that would make her combat-useless. So I tried to find a way to weaponized a healing quirk. I ended up basing her abilities off of Tsunade from Naruto. Thank you again for the compliments :D

GreenDrkness: Yep, Tenya is fine! And yes, Ichigo can heal nerve damage. Her quirk, Mitotic Regeneration, is basically a full-body reset. It causes all of her cells to begin rapidly dying and copying themselves. Unfortunately, because that means she's using DNA as coding, she can't heal genetic diseases (like Huntington's or Down-syndrome), and in some cases she can actually advance conditions (like cancer) so she has to be careful.

xenocanaan: I'm glad this doesn't seem over dramatic. This is basically Ichigo's "time of reckoning", to see how far she's come from the timid girl at the start of the school-year. With uncooperative teammates and a mentor whom she worships as an opponent, the odds are stacked against her, which really hasn't happened before. It'll be interesting to see how she handles that, because normally the situation is on her side (except for the Hero Killer, and we all saw how that ended up).

ZeQueenOfCards: To start, I'm so sorry for not answering your last comment. I don't know how I missed it D: Sorry! But I'm glad you like the new teams, I put quite a bit of thought into their matchups. I actually had to try and "think like Aizawa", so it took awhile. And to address your last comment: I have been sitting on 40 chapters for the past several weeks, so I'm just posting these when I feel like it, and Aizawa is my spirit animal too XD He speaks to me.