I did look around the facility for Bakugo during the short period in between Group 3 and Group 4's tests, but I found absolutely no sign of the grumpy blonde. Feeling slightly depressed and also a bit panicked, I drug my feet back into the observation room, disappointed with my failure. Shouto was standing there, along with Momo and Ochako who were quietly talking.
"Hey guys," I said, walking up to the railing and climbing up so I could straddle the bar comfortably.
Ochako smiled in amusement. "Too short to see the screen, Icchan?" she teased, ignoring the tension in the air. Izuku was fighting All Might in a few minutes, after all.
I narrowed my eyes at her. "I can see the screen," I informed her defensively, curling my feet around the lower bar. "This is just… easier."
"Because you're short," Ochako pointed out, and I rolled my eyes, turning my head towards the screen. This was going nowhere, but at least the tense atmosphere had dissipated.
Momo chuckled, uncrossing her arms and smiling at me. "If you'd like, I can create an elevated chair for you, Ichigo," she said kindly. "It wouldn't be any trouble."
"Me too! Me too!" Ochako cheered, hopping up and down with her hand in the air.
Momo nodded. "Of course," she agreed, before glancing at Shouto. "Would you appreciate a chair as well?" she inquired politely.
"Please," Shouto answered shortly. Momo got to work immediately, spawning folding chair from her back. Ochako bounced around excitedly, chattering about how her feet hurt.
Recovery Girl watched her in amusement. "I wish I still had that much energy," she commented to me.
I grinned and shrugged. "Don't worry, most of us don't," I said. "I need four cups of coffee to even begin to approach Ochako's level of enthusiasm." Recovery Girl laughed loudly, reaching over to grab her microphone.
"One minute before the test begins," she warned over the intercom.
Meanwhile, Izuku was spasming from anxiety at the entrance gate. Sero was vainly attempting to catch his attention long enough to create some semblance of a strategy before the test started.
Off to the side, Kaminari was having his own freak out as well. "This isn't fair, everyone else doesn't have to fight All Might," he muttered, clenching his fists. "I was supposed to be fighting robots. You hear me?!" he shouted. "RO-BOTS!"
Sero turned around, because Kaminari's yelling wasn't helping Izuku's nerves. "Tone it down, dude," he said, gesturing to Izuku's pacing form. The green haired boy's eye was actually twitching. "You aren't helping."
"Help? Who cares about help?" Kaminari asked theatrically. "We're going against All Might! As in the number one hero, ALL MIGHT! There is no helping us!" As he ranted, Kaminari flailed his arms around, emphasizing their impending doom.
Izuku twiddled his thumbs as he thought aloud. "We just need to reach the gate. If we can find a way to get past him without him noticing - maybe a distraction? But that'd need to last several minutes, there's no way - what about seperating? We could all go for the gate on our own - no, he'd just hunt us down one by one. We'd need a functioning distraction - but it'd need to last long enough for someone to make it - five minutes? Two minutes? I don't think we could last more than thirty seconds-"
"Midoriya! Seriously, take a chill pill," Sero encouraged, laying a hand on Izuku's shoulder to stop him from pacing. "Calm your feet, stop your muttering, and let's figure something out. They might give us partial credit if we at least try," he said optimistically.
Izuku perked up a bit at the thought. "Anything is better than a zero on the final," he agreed, before deflating. "I don't think we have any good options here though."
"What have you considered? There might be something we can work with," Sero suggested, subtly waving Kaminari over with his hand. The blonde dragged his feet over, still looking depressed.
"The best chance we could have is creating a distraction and having someone run for the gate. The only issue is that stopping All Might from running after the person for any length of time is near impossible," Izuku explained, fidgeting anxiously. "If we could create a distraction, somebody could run for it, the only question is who would run and who would try to stop All Might," he shuddered at the thought. Stopping All Might was like trying to stop the world from turning. Impossible and stupid.
Sero grinned, pointing at himself. "I'd probably be the best shot for running. My tape makes me pretty fast, and I don't think I'd be very useful in a fight with All Might," he offered.
"That's a good idea," Izuku nodded absentmindedly. "Depending on the battlefield, Kaminari and I can distract All Might from anywhere between thirty seconds to two minutes - at best. All the testing grounds are 95 meters long, I asked Recovery Girl. Can you cover that much ground that quickly?" he looked up at Sero hopefully.
Sero looked up at the sky thoughtfully. "I finished the 50 meter race All Might had us do in fifty seconds. So I probably need about a minute and a half to get across the entire arena. Better question - what if All Might doesn't come to us? If he sits by the gate like some of the other teachers, we're screwed," he pointed out unhelpfully.
"All Might will come to us," Izuku said confidently. "The teachers are supposed to give us some shot at passing, after all. If All Might stood at the exit gate, we wouldn't realistically have any chance at getting past him unless he let us."
"And if he comes towards we can get past him without him letting us?" Kaminari asked sarcastically.
"Not really," Izuku answered, not paying attention to Kaminari's tone in the slightest. "So Kaminari and I will try to distract All Might, and Sero will try to reach the exit gate," Izuku nodded confidently. "We have a plan."
There was a short beep, and then Recovery Girl's voice came on over the intercom. "One minute before the test begins," she announced, turning the intercom off again with another beep.
Kaminari through his head back, hands covering his face miserably. "We're so dead," he groaned fatalistically. Neither Sero or Izuku disagreed.
The entrance gate slid open. Izuku and Kaminari slowly walked inside, appraising their testing ground. It was modeled like a city street, with fake cars dotting the road that led a straight path to the exit gate. Naturally, All Might was standing right at the center of it, not even trying to hide. Hands on his hips, smiling proudly, he stared Kaminari and Izuku down.
"WELCOME, HEROES!" he boomed. Izuku flinched, clenching his fists and glancing over at Kaminari nervously. The blonde met Izuku's eyes fearfully, before they shared a nod and charged together.
Izuku quickly took the lead, energy sparking at his heels as he flew towards the number one hero, jaw set and eyes wide in terror. He somehow managed to not trip over his own two feet, throwing a punch at All Might's face.
The Pro Hero easily slipped out of the way, grabbing Izuku by the shoulder and flipping him face first into the ground. "A VALIANT EFFORT, BUT NOT GOOD ENOUGH!" All Might declared evilly, rounding towards Kaminari. The blonde barely had time to gulp before he was smashed into the ground as well.
Sero took his chance, using his tape to wrap around lighting posts on opposite sides of the street and send himself flying into the air. As he arced into the sky, All Might looked up, blue eyes glowing. At that moment, Izuku collided with the hero, creating another distraction so Sero could attach himself to another set of buildings and continue propelling himself forward.
All Might snatched at Izuku's arm, and the green haired boy barely managed to weave away, pivoting sharply on his heel to catapult himself at the Pro Hero a second time.
I winced, watching Izuku vainly try to land blows on All Might as the hero easily dodged. On another screen, Sero was growing closer and closer to the exit gate. "He's being toyed with," I observed, watching All Might easily grasp Izuku's wrist and send him rocketing towards a model car. Izuku rebounded off of the hood, slamming into the wall of the building beside him. Metal fragments from the car were sent flying, and Izuku slowly tried to lift himself to his feet again.
"He's seriously hurting Izuku!" Ochako gasped, watching as Izuku shakily stood up, blood running down from his scalp. "This is wrong!" she protested.
I shook my head. "All Might is making a point," I said, eyes switching between the various screens. Sero had a panicked expression as he pushed himself to swing even faster towards the gate. "Their strategy is pretty simple, but only Izuku is trying to distract All Might right now. That violence makes the situation more real," I focused in on Kaminari, who hadn't managed a single attack yet, still sitting on the ground where All Might had thrown him. "All Might is telling them to take this seriously," I continued. "Being a hero isn't easy or fun, and anyone who hasn't fully realized that is going to have a hard time in the future."
Kaminari watched in horror as Izuku trembled on his feet, facing down All Might. He couldn't bring himself to move. Facing down the goons at the USJ had been one thing, but All Might's sheer presence made him want to shit his pants. This was supposed to be a test! Why did he have to fight the number one hero for this?!
All Might lunged forward, and Izuku flung himself under the Pro Hero's feet, skidding to a stop in the center of the street, a few feet away from Kaminari. All Might laughed boisterously. "YOU FIGHT WELL!" he announced. "BUT I WILL NOT LOSE SO EASILY! YOUR FRIEND IS TRYING TO REACH THE GATE WHILE YOU FIGHT ME? I AM NOT SO EASILY TRICKED!" The Pro Hero turned, clearly having every intention of chasing down Sero, who was now running across the last stretch of empty space between the exit gate and the model city street.
Izuku darted forward, but he stumbled. Kaminari noted the odd way Izuku's ankle was bent with no small margin of terror. If Izuku couldn't stop All Might, they were screwed, and then Sero would get caught and they'd fail the exam.
"YOU GAVE YOUR ALL, HEROES!" All Might shouted, readying himself for a super-strength enhanced jump. "BUT IT WAS NOT GOOD ENOUGH!"
Suddenly, Kaminari felt desperation kick in. He scrambled to his feet, eyes wide and hands shaking. Izuku was on the ground behind him, trying to stand up on his broken ankle. Eyes squirreling, Kaminari reached down and grabbed a hunk of metal car wreckage. With sparking fingers, he reeled his arm back and threw the charged metal. It hit All Might's leg, instantly conducting the electricity.
All Might spun around and was on him in moments. Kaminari felt himself vomit from the force he was slammed into the ground with. With All Might looming over him, Kaminari knew that he only had one last shot.
"Sorry, Midoriya!" Kaminari shouted, letting out all the electricity he could. His world vanished in a burst of blinding light.
"Group 4 passes," Nezu's voice announced, echoing inside the nearly silent observation room. Momo, Shouto, Ochako, and I stared at the screens in shock as Sero gasped for air, having just escaped the exit gate. Izuku and Kaminari were laying limply in the middle of the street, unconscious, while All Might appeared slightly wobbly standing over them both.
Recovery Girl sighed, lifting herself out of her chair. "This class seems determined to injure themselves," she muttered, dropping to the floor. She calmly shuffled towards the door.
"They actually passed," I said breathlessly. The information sunk in, and then I spun around, hurrying after Recovery Girl. "I'll come along! I can help!" I declared, following her out of the room.
"Of course, dearie," Recovery Girl agreed sweetly, not bothering to look back at me as I trailed after her.
There was a long pause as the door shut. A slow, disbelieving smile spread across Ochako's face as her eyes lit up. "Izuku did it!" she squealed excitedly. "He passed!"
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OTrizy: You have made many comments, OTrizy. I shall answer them in chronological order XD 1) Ichigo overreacted there, I actually agree with Izuku on this one. Going into a competition with the intention to lose is never a good idea... even if it is totally me. 2) Yes, I figured people would think I made a mistake XD I actually specifically wrote in Ichigo recognizing her lack of a stutter so the readers would know it was intentional. 3) Borrow the name? As long as it doesn't end up in writing, I'm cool XD And for the story in your head: "Hakuen" means white smoke. I chose it because her quirk creates thick white steam that can look like Ichigo is on fire. If you have seen Attack On Titan, imagine the titans. 4) Okay, so there are two explanations for Ichigo paying for Shouto's flowers. You can pick which one you like. The first is that because of her anxiety and generally spazzy personality, she feels its her responsibility to pay for Shouto's flowers since she dragged him to the flower shop and suggested he buy them in the first place. Basically she guilt-tripped herself into it. The second answer is actually a question: What do you do when you have a crush?
Prince: You ship Iida x Ichigo? You are not the first person to tell me this, actually. There's been a few others. On my other story, I sometimes do "special chapters" where I write AUs for popular concepts or ideas I see in the comments. Maybe I'll do one for that ship? As for the cavalry battle: THANK YOU SO MUCH! You have no idea how long I spent brainstorming and shifting the teams until I reached a decision. I talked my roommate's ear off, because I like to brainstorm via one-sided conversations XD Thanks!
Anon: And yet another person jumps on the Shouchigo ship. I know on my other story (because I did a poll) that there's at least 100 people already aboard... I feel like I should do another poll again soon XD I'm super happy that Ichigo seems realistic. I spent months creating and recreating her character until I came up with something I liked. The fact that her emotional responses and difficulties help make her be a balanced character is amazing. That was what I was going for when I created her. Ichigo is an opportunist. Her childhood kinda sucked, but she took what good she could from it, and carried herself and her emotional-baggage onward towards a hopefully brighter future. Her innate intelligence is meant to balance out her lack of an offensive quirk. Thank you so much! You have no idea how much this comment made my day.
AllisBlanche: I'm glad Ichigo comes across as authentic, and that the plot feels unique. I put a lot of thought into how the story progresses and changes, so thank you!
Ceralyn: Yes, I had a lot of fun imagining Ochako's deadpan face when she made that comment XD It might have been a bit OOC, but I'm afraid that was the author bleeding through onto the characters.
GreenDrkness: Yeah, keeping all the charts and idea-notebooks and etc. can be really difficult. I am so fortunate for my computer, it is my baby. My files are complete messes but it works, I guess XD I don't know if I can comment on all boys being perverts. I can hope, at least, that it's not the case. I can't tell you about Present Mic's defeat beforehand, because that would be spoiling my own story XD Thank you!
xenocanaan: Thanks! And here is your next chapter!
Katr5432: You're welcome! I'm always happy to respond to comments on my story(ies)! And I have much planned... MUAHAHAHA!
Anon: Thank you! Glad you enjoyed the story!