Chapter Twenty: Examinations

Minami arrived to school early as usual. She went to the library instead of directly to class. Her thoughts lingered on whether the kids were okay, but she might never find out.

Better. She needed to be better.

Her fingers slid over the spines of a row of books as she wondered if there would ever be a day when better was enough. She picked a book on legal history and scanned it out as a loan.

Minami arrived at the classroom moments before class started as planned. Todoroki did help her cope a little, but she wasn't in the mood to talk to anyone and now showing up to the last minute allowed her to avoid the possibility.

Aizawa gave the morning announcements which included using their upcoming summer break to some forest lodge.

It would be nice if the circumstances were different. She had been looking forwards to having some time off.

"Should any of you fall short of a passing grade for the end-of-term test, then you're stuck in school in remedial hell."

If they had to do school work throughout summer vacation then remedial lessons didn't sound like much of a threat. It would definitely be the easier of the two but some seemed to think otherwise quite vocally.

Well, it wasn't like she was searching for a way to fail. She still had her pride. Though, the practical portion was her only area that concerned her. She didn't know what to expect on that front. Based on what they had learnt so far probably some sort of battle simulation or rescue.

She could train more broadly, and she would, but there were limited ways for her to simulate potential scenarios meaning she would have to rely on her ability to plan and react in the moment.

She had time. A month was a long time to prepare.

…..

"I've been meaning to ask." Shinsou sat across from her in the library. "About All Might teaching Foundational Hero Studies…"

"What about him?" Minami didn't know why he seemed hesitant to ask his question.

"How is he as a teacher?"

Minami blinked. "Haven't you had a lesson with him yet?"

"Just once. Why does he spend so much time with class A?" Shinsou wondered whether the hero felt guilty getting the class involved with villains, but according to Menoma the rarity of his teaching began even before that.

"I don't think he spends any more time with us than you. He teaches once, on occasion twice, a week. Aizawa leads and arranges most of the courses." It suggested he only taught two to four times a week. A lot less than the other teachers.

Minami had thought it was odd that the hero on top of the leaderboard would dedicate his time to teach. Most teachers were on a part-time basis so they could continue some level of heroic work, but while it offered potential insight it seemed like a waste of resources. In her honest opinion, as much as he seemed enthusiastic to lead exercises, his abilities as a teacher were clearly that of a beginner who would benefit from additional support. While that's fine on its own, the whole arrangement seemed weird in retrospect.

"He must be busy then." It meant Eraserhead was teaching class A most of the time. That might actually be more unfair than All Might.

It would be fine to say it around Shinsou, right? "I don't understand why he's teaching in the first place. I don't think he hates being here, but… he distracts easily and will not show up at times with zero notice." All Might tried to hide it but there was also something between him and Midoriya. She didn't know whether she believed Todoroki's father-son theory, but she also couldn't contradict it enough to dismiss it. The two did have some similar mannerisms and knew each other in some capacity beyond teacher-student of class 1-A.

"If you don't want him, feel free to send him over to us."

Was that a joke? Shinsou had to know that isn't how teaching arrangements were settled.

"You'll have to fight with the rest of the class. Some seem willing for any scraps they can get." Speaking of scraps, "You have enough studying for one day? You've been on that same page for the last 20 minutes."

"Like you should be talking. You haven't been studying for any of the written subjects. The tests here are pretty intense."

"You exaggerate. I'll review what I need to the few days before. The written is predictable. I'm less sure of the practical." Shinsou's expression didn't change. "Is it actually intense for you? Sorry…" She often forgot how people didn't absorb information as easily. "I didn't mean to imply you're stupid. You're not."

"You find this easy?"

"Yes?"

"Do you have an eidetic memory?"

"Not at all. I've mentioned I don't have a visual memory. It just clicks for the most part. Well, I can remember what was taught even if I don't really understand. Science is a pain that way." Momo would probably excel there. Minami could barely follow along Momo's scientific explanations.

"You're kidding me." Hitoshi had seen Hanajima's quirk as her strength. It was strong and versatile, so it made sense society valued it even if it was connected to someone who had problems understanding social relations, ergo an idiot. Maybe her version of what was considered 'doing well' in class differed from his? "How do you solve this then?"

Minami stared at the math equation, flipped the page she had been drawing on, then wrote down the equation. She put a few steps into each new arrangement of the equation to cut down how many lines she would have to write out. She wrote the answer and circled it. "Here."

Shinsou checked the answer section at the back of the book and saw that the answer was correct. He looked over the steps and could only semi-followed it.

"Sorry, I get tired of keeping one step per line. My hand starts to cramp and the test sheets only care about the answer. I might be able to help explain it to you, but I've been told I'm a bad teacher, so…" She had caused more people to be more confused than where they started.

Not for the first time Shinsou thought the world was unfair.

"And you're like this for every subject?"

"If you mean getting good grades then yes. If you mean whether it's easy that's a bit more difficult. Science is boring but at least it has a pattern I can follow. Japanese literature is annoying."

Of course, it was the semi-interpretive subject that Hanajima struggled with.

"I have some old workbooks I can loan you."

"Why spend money on workbooks if you don't need the extra practice."

Minami's face flushed. People always thought it was weird so she didn't like to bring it up. "Sometimes I do them for fun." Shinsou's expression left her believing he thought the same, but he was kind enough not to vocalize his mockery.

…..

"Saionji, right this way."

The woman twisted the cuff of her blouse. She had been notified by the police that her daughter was found. Six years her Mayu had been missing, and people had long told her to give up ever seeing her again. That with each day, week, month, year passing that it would become more unlikely that she would ever be found and the chances of her being dead was extremely high.

Now that they were telling her Mayu was alive.

She wanted it to be true, but she didn't want to believe it until she saw it. Her life had been thrown apart since that day. If she believed and it turned out to be another person she would break all the more.

The detectives had also asked her about some other kids who she didn't recognize. Apparently, they had also been taken away from their homes.

Then they showed her a picture of that man. Her brother who she had long disowned in her mind. He had made her life a living hell growing up. The few times she worked up the courage to tell somebody, they never believed her. So, she ran off and disconnected from her family.

Mayu was her family even if her father wanted nothing to do with them.

How that man found them she didn't know, but she felt like she deserved some of the blame that the man was ever in a position to steal her.

If she would have fought. If that man had been in jail. Perhaps Mayu wouldn't have had to suffer.

Did she even deserve to see Mayu?

The nurse opened the door to reveal a girl sitting on a bed. So much older but her identity unmistakable. It was like looking in an old photo.

Tears steamed down her face, and she raised a hand to her mouth to muffle the sounds of her sobs.

"…Mom?" Her voice was hoarse and scratchy and seemed hesitant to call her mom. It was a miracle that Mayu even recognized her.

She ran and brought Mayu into her arms.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Thank you.

…..

How much stamina did Todoroki have?

Did it count as stamina when his quirk allowed him to remain still so much? It was hard to get close to him.

Minami had asked Todoroki if he wanted to train together. He seemed more enthusiastic and comfortable training then their regular hangouts which stung. Was she too boring?

After the exams she would need to find more activities that Todoroki liked.

Now that Todoroki was using his fire, she had to resist relying on wind lest she further oxidize the flames which would no doubt ravage them and the facility.

She was expending too much energy, but at least these sessions were forcing her to be more adaptive.

"I need a break." Minami panted. She needed to spend more time building her lung capacity and endurance. Having such a short count down meter would hurt her some day if she didn't. "You've been using your fire more lately." Between training and class exercises Todoroki's fire has been on display more.

Todoroki looked at his left hand and curled his fingers into a fist. "I won't let it control me anymore."

Minami wished there was more she could do for him, but this was an area of his life he needed to figure out himself. "Both sides are forces of nature. You're doing well." All she could do is support his decisions.

…..

The weeks past, the written exams went smoothly, and now it was the moment Minami had been preparing for.

"The test exorcise will begin shortly," said Aizawa.

Minami's eyes swept over the various teachers who were lined up with Aizawa. Were they here to help proctor? Or…

"I've no doubt you all learned what information you could of the test beforehand." Minami tensed. Were they supposed to? She would think that if enough people figured out the exam then they would change it. Like if someone were to steal the answer sheet of a written exam beforehand. Did the same rules not apply?

"Sure, just like the entrance exam!" Mina exclaimed seeming too happy. Where had she even heard that? Apparently several other classmates had presumed the same thing.

"Sorry, I'm afraid not. Due to various reasons, we're changing the contents of the test," Nezu added. Minami was wary as to why Nezu was here. Her feelings were justified when Nezu stated that they wanted their exam to better reflect reality.

That wasn't good.

"We will have you form pairs to engage in combat with one of these educators."

Please not Nezu. Please, anyone else but Nezu.

"First off, Todoroki and Yaoyorozu as a team against me," said Aizawa. He grinned. That couldn't be good. Best of luck Todoroki.

"Midoriya and Bakugou will be a team against All Might." That might be overkill.

Were the teachers going to fight with limits? Their experience alone was going to put the class at a disadvantage even if it was two against one.

The matches were as followed:

Todoroki and Yaoyarozu vs. Aizawa

Midoriya and Bakugou vs. All Might

Iida and Ojiro vs. Power Loader

Tokoyama and Asui vs. Ectoplasm

Mineta and Sero vs. Midnight

Hagakure and Shouji vs. Snipe

Kirishima and Hanajima vs. Cementoss

Ochako and Aoyama vs. Thirteen

Ashido and Kaminari vs. Nezu

Kouda and Jirou vs. Present Mic

The good news was that she wasn't up against Nezu, even if Cementoss wasn't much better. Minami also had to partner with Kirishima who she has had limited interactions with and never partnered up in class.

Minami stepped onto the bus with Kirishima and Cementoss to go to their destination.

…..

"I know this!" Mina exclaimed. "The principal's quirk makes him super smart or something." She should have looked him up when Minami had mentioned him. She had planned too! Really! But then her show came on. Then her friends dragged her out dancing. A new store opened up she wanted to check out. Then she still had to study for exams on top of everything.

Kaminari's head spun. His brain did enough work already. It was time for action. "In that case, this will be easy!"

They fantastically failed.

…..

The test had a thirty-minute limit. In that time they needed to capture Cementoss or escape from battle in order to pass. The teachers had weights but she didn't know whether that would help against an opponent like Cementoss.

"What do you think Kirishima?"

"I say we change in and show him what we got. Just watch. I'll crush that cement of his."

"Absolutely not." Minami's plan to follow Kirishima's led fell through the moment he heard his plan. He had been emulating Bakugou's enthusiasm for battle a little too much.

"Oh, come on. Why not?"

"Cementoss doesn't have a limit to how much cement he can produce and use as far as I know. We might be able to get near him that way, but we'll never reach him. It would be like charging straight forward against Todoroki."

Kirishima shivered at the memory of his match against Torodoki at the Sport's Festival.

"Though I've only ever seen him attack in front of him. If we aren't running away then we need to make sure one of us is behind him at all times. If we're both in his line of sight we're done for." The terms of the exam wasn't at the top of her list, but it wasn't like the possibility never crossed her mind. Uncertainty bred obsession, but it seemed her work was at least paying off if only a bit. "And if we ever need to run then it would be best not to show our backs."

"No worries about running away. We've got this."

Minami wondered if this would really end all right. They were essentially aiming for one swift blow to end the fight and one of them may be potentially become incapacitated in the process.

Kirishima ran down the streets as she followed along the rooftops.

As expected, Cementoss raised plenty slabs of cement that Kirishima eagerly crushed with hardened punches. He served as a distraction as she ran further then jumped off the rooftop of a high-rise building. Quirk or not, dropping from that high up was absolutely terrifying.

Her not so quiet landing caused Cementoss to turn and aim an attack at her. Rather than a slab, it was wild and molded to swing like a whip if it were made cement which she had to repeatedly dodge. Minami wanted to groan. This was too similar to fighting Todoroki. A constant stream of attacks without a hint of exhaustion.

The bad news was she was on the defense. The good news was that she was currently wearing her hero costume which included her updated wrist projector. With it she brought up a photo of a metal baseball bat and imagined it in front of her. She grabbed the handle and swung causing a chunk of the concrete to smash off.

Minami didn't know the limits of his quirk but to make it as flexible as he was it had to imitate fresh concrete. Still tough, but not as tough as set cement.

She swung the bat again but this time the force sent her flying back even. This gave enough time for Cementoss to turn around and block Kirishima with a new barrage of cement.

There goes that first opening, but they still had the advantage of being on either side of him. Before Kirishima could become overwhelmed she aimed to copy his cement from under him. Cement arose beneath Cementoss causing him a momentary imbalance before he overridden her action and assumed control over it.

Distract him.

Just long enough to –

Yes!

Kirishima landed a solid hit to Cementoss' back.

"Hurry and restrain him before he get's back up!" Minami shouted fearing their teacher would get back up and their efforts would be for nothing.

They passed!

Adrenaline rushed between the two as their victory sunk in.