Disclaimer: I do not own My Hero Academia. Original characters are in a sort of grey area but whatever.

After the initial awkwardness of their mutual attraction wore off, Mina was surprised at how the three of them handled being in a relationship. She had been expecting a whole bunch of lovey-dovey stuff like kissing or hand holding - things that would give her shipping obsessed soul the food it needed to get through the revelation that finals were in just over a week, not counting the weekend.

Instead, they were arranging a timetable. For dates. Pens were being clicked and day planners were whipped out as they checked their availability. If she didn't know better, it was like they were already an old married throuple -

Mina slapped herself in the face. Right, they were already friends who acted all crazy around each other. Why she had expected something to change was beyond her.

"-So we can all meet up this weekend at Midoriya's, right?" Hatsume said, all businesslike.

Melissa nodded, a smile on her face. "Oh, that sounds wonderful - honestly, we're all new at this kind of thing, so we should take it slowly."

Midoriya grinned at them. "I mean, we're already friends, no reason why us dating is going to change our existing dynamics."

"Exactly!" Mei grinned. "The three of us are going to be unstoppable!"

"And hopefully I can get us into the labs over the weekend!" Melissa lowered her voice to a whisper. "Power Loader hasn't banned me yet."

To Mina's ears, she said it in a similar tone to 'I'm wearing black lace underwear.'

Midoriya looked up from the timetable in awe. "Fantastic! Though, if you had been, I do have a reasonable set-up back in the basement." He winced. "T-that does sound a bit creepy, now that I'm saying it out loud."

"You have a basement lab and you didn't tell us?!" Hatsume grabbed him by the shoulders, shaking him. "Man, and I've only got a dingy set-up in the garage! Just because I experimented with explosives in my bedroom one time-"

Mina turned away, mildly exasperated. "I was expecting something a bit more romantic," she muttered to Mayumi.

The other girl shrugged. "Nah, this is pretty romantic for them - I mean, at least they're not having an invention-off or something."

She gave Mina a tired look. "Speaking of, you should probably let them out now."

"What - oh, right!"

Flushing purple, Mina tapped the electronic lock and opened the door. "Guess I lost track of time."

Hitoshi chuckled. "I should have insisted on arranging a timetable for you when we first started."

His tone turned teasing. "It might have helped with your study problem."

Mina groaned to the sound of his laughter. "I'm never going to live this down, am I?"

Hitoshi's catlike smirk told her that he was never going to forget.

—

Toshinori blinked, slightly startled. "You're going out with Young Midoriya and Hatsume?"

Melissa fidgetted awkwardly, a faint flush on her cheeks. "Well… yes? It happened pretty quickly and, honestlym I'm just surprised at how easy it was for all of us to figure out our schedules."

"I see."

Admittedly, he had thought that Melissa was interested in one or the other, and as such had invested in How to support your teenage daughter in her relationships. He had taken a lot of notes on what to do if Melissa went out with a boy or girl as relationships weren't an area he had any expertise in.

It hadn't mentioned anything about being in a romantic relationship with two other people at the same time. Perhaps he should send a message to the author?

On the screen next to him, David blinked in shock, before his smile turned warm and comforting. "I have to admit, I didn't see that coming! I didn't think either of them was the type for something like that."

His smile turned mischievous. "Guess I have to get my drones prepared for a shovel talk."

Toshinori gaped at his old friend. Melissa just stared at David with a deadpan expression. "Come on Dad, that's not needed."

David laughed. "Eh, I'm kidding! I know they're good kids, they wouldn't hurt you. Especially if Toshi's there!"

"Honestly, David. Only a drone strike?" Toshinori stared at his old friend in mock horror, only to grin himself.

"If it came down to it, I could always threaten them with a United States of Smash," he joked.

Even though he doubted Hatsume or Midoriya would hurt Melissa, he didn't have many chances to make these kinds of jokes. As the Symbol of Peace, he was very conscious of his image and how he presented himself, especially after the time he got caught on camera saying 'darn,' 'gosh,' and of course, 'heck.' Hearing kids saying those dangerous words after his inadvertent faux pas had made him double down on not swearing on camera.

That didn't mean he couldn't have a bit of fun with his goddaughter and best friend.

Melissa gave him a deadpan stare. "You wouldn't anyway, Uncle Toshi. You're a teddy bear."

"T-true enough." Toshinori chuckled.

"Honestly, Melissa, I'm so, so happy you found a boyfriend and girlfriend. And at the same time, too!"

Toshinori didn't regret his career at all - he couldn't, not with how many lives he had saved and how many disasters he'd averted. But he wouldn't deny that he had been alone for a very, very long time - though admittedly not entirely by choice. Anybody who he got too close to would disappear, only to be found later as a sick taunt from All for One.

Maybe he should have tried harder to form those connections. But there was no point in worrying about what had been - he had to look to the future.

He gave Melissa a serious stare. "But more seriously, Melissa… Are you going to tell them about One for All?"

"...Eventually," Melissa sighed. When she saw his questioning stare, she elaborated. "Well… I thought about it at first, then… Knowing about One for All would paint a target on their back - more than they already have, I mean."

Toshinori didn't have anything to say to that, instead patting her gently on the shoulder. "Well, ultimately you are One for All's bearer now. But I have done some research on this topic, and lying about something as important as this could seriously harm your relationship."

—

Within the depths of Melissa's subconscious, Nana sighed. "I feel like a hypocrite since I didn't tell my husband when I was alive… but Toshi's right. If she's serious about going out with them, then she should tell them about One for All, even if it puts them at risk."

The other Bearers nodded grimly. Just like Nana and Toshinori, they knew first hand that telling somebody about One for All tended to paint a target on that person's back. All for One obsessively hunted for any hint as to where the current Bearer was and was not above taking hostages… or brainwashing loved ones into attacking.

Nana then brightened slightly. "On the plus side, Toshi's getting better at mentoring people. Guess reading 'Teaching for Absolute Dummies' is paying off."

"Yeah, at least he gave better advice than 'clench your buttcheeks and smash'," En muttered.

Yoichi turned to his saviour/husband of just under a hundred years. "Thoughts, Leader?"

The Second bearer hummed. "On the one hand, having two loved ones doubles the number of victims All for One can target… But on the other hand, their combined feral energy will probably keep them free from your brother's influence."

"Aw, that's nice!" Yoichi cooed, getting a fond smile from the Second.

"Shame neither of them has spiky hair, that would really shit that bastard off," Banjo commented.

The Second sighed irritably. "Really? You're still going on about this?"

The Third grinned. "What did he call you again, hm?"

"Don't you dare-!"

He pretended to think about it, then snapped his fingers, seeming oblivious to the Second's demeanour. "Oh yes! You were the Spiky Haired Brother Thief! Wow, you really left an impression on him-"

"OH, THAT'S IT!"

Yoichi sighed as his Hero went off on the other Vestiges. Still, Izuku and Mei certainly got along well with the Nineth Bearer. Hopefully their friends were taking the revelation of him having partners well.

—

Kaneshiro's face was a picture of misery. "You bastard!" He sobbed, collapsing dramatically on the couch.

Izuku blinked, unsure what to say to that. When Izuku threw the door of the League of Super Villains Evil Lair (™) and told them all loudly that he was now in a relationship, he hadn't expected one of his friends to stare at him like that "Uh…"

The other teen's face was a study in personal agony. "Come on man! Why'd you have to leave the ranks of us single people and get a girlfriend?! I know you're the leader of the League and all but-"

Fortunately, the rest of his League were more appreciative of his achievement. Inkblot hit him on the head. "Oi, be nice to the boss!"

She gave Izuku a warm smile. "So you finally asked Melissa or Mei out? Wow, I thought you'd have to be forced to man up and tell one of them."

Briefly he thought about saying he had, in fact, been locked in a room until he confessed. Then he banished that thought from his head - there was absolutely no way that Sumi would forget that. "Y-yes, that's what happened."

"You can't deny the power of love," Aiba sang, leaning up with a huge grin on his face. "I'm so happy you were able to tell her how you feel!"

"A-heh, yeah…"

Aiba tilted her head, eyes narrowed suspiciously. "What do you mean, 'ah, yeah?"

Every eye suddenly focused on him as he squirmed. "I - ah - well… I… sort of had to ask both of them at the same time? We, uh, were in the same room together, and they just said… that they liked me? And each other?"

Suddenly the room felt a lot hotter and more awkward. Stitch nearly spat out his drink, mirroring Gentle Criminal and Mr. Compress with their tea. Aiba froze, eyes wide as she processed that statement and the implications. Sumi raised a finger, a similarly wide eyed look on her face. "You… asked them both?"

"Yes? And t-then they said yes? And… I have two girlfriends now?" He managed to force past his lips.

As one, the Villains froze up, staring at him disbelievingly. Then, Kaneshiro let out a howl of pure agony. "You-hu-hu bastard! You lucky, lucky bastard!"

That broke the spell the rest of the League was under. "WHAT?!"

While they tried to recover, Kaneshiro shook Izuku by the collar, a frustrated glare on his face. "How come you get two girlfriends, huh?! I thought you were one of us!"

Aiba latched onto him as well, a manic look in her eye. "How did this happen? Are you having a date soon?! You had better be going out with them this weekend or so help me-"

"I am! I am!"

Fuyumi grinned from where she was grading papers. "Wow. Honestly, this reminds me of the first time I started going out with people." She chuckled, a slight edge in her voice. "My father's reaction to me telling him I had a date was hilarious."

Izuku and the rest of the League exchanged an uneasy look upon hearing that. Then Kaneshiro and Aiba glared back at him. "How the hell did it happen? I gotta know, I don't wanna be single forever!"

"I - uh, K-Kaneshiro, A-Aiba, it just sort of… happened? I swear, I-I had no idea they liked me like that-"

Aiba looked shocked. "How could you not figure that out?! I mean, I know that your focus is on planning the best crimes and building the best machines, but even so-"

She was cut off with an indignant yelp as Sumi reached over to pull her and Kaneshiro off, shaking her head. The taller woman gave Izuku a shocked yet impressed look as she held her struggling friends in one hand each. "I… well, I've gotta hand it to ya Izuku, I definitely didn't expect you to ask both of them out!"

Gentle Criminal patted Izuku on the shoulder as he tried to recover. "As long as you treat them both like the gentleman you are, then you will have no problems with this relationship."

Izuku laughed shrilly. "Y-yeah! And I-I just have to keep me being Mastermind a secret! That-that should be easy!"

Honestly he felt like the lowest jerk ever, but what could he do? He couldn't just stop being Mastermind - he had devoted his entire life to being the greatest Supervillain of all time. If his secret got out to Mei and Melissa, then it would tear them apart.

Izuku knew he was being selfish by being in a relationship with them. But at the same time, knowing that they were interested in him made his heart skip a beat. Maybe it was selfish, but maybe he could keep this secret for a little longer. Until he could muster up the courage to break up with them.

Sumi gave him a tired look. "Man, kid, your life is complicated enough. You just had to ask them both out, huh?"

"It wasn't my plan to ask both of them to date me," Izuku grumbled.

"Well, you should try and make the most of it while you can." Sumi grinned, hitting him lightly on the shoulder. "Besides, it's not like they have any life-altering secrets of their own to hide, right?"

"Y-yeah, no way they've got anything like that," Izuku chuckled. Still, he was going to have to tell mum everything when he went home later.

—

Inko was just about to start dinner when she heard Izuku practically burst into the house. "Oh, that was a bit loud… Welcome home, Izuku!"

He beamed at her brightly, practically shaking with excitement. Inko hadn't seen him this happy since All Might had apparently appeared out of nowhere and given him an autograph. "How was your day?"

Izuku tried to speak, the words jumbling over each other in his excitement. Taking a moment to calm himself down, he managed to say, "I-I have girlfriends now!"

She froze, staring at him with wide eyes. "W-what?"

He nodded dumbly. "T-two of them. I… I'm going out with Mei and Melissa! And they - they said they were interested, and then…"

"O-oh, my. You're going out with both of them? At the same time?" Inko had to admit, she was… a bit shaken by hearing that. It wasn't that she was against Izuku going out with more than one person - it was just not the sort of thing she had expected.

He flushed bright red. "...Well, we got locked in a room by one of Kacchan's friends and were told to talk it out and, well…" Izuku shrugged helplessly. "We figured out that we were all interested in each other."

Inko just beamed, pulling him into a hug. "Izuku, honestly, I'm just happy that you're in a relationship with somebody. Hearing that you're involved with two people at the same time is a bit of a surprise, but as long as they're both interested in each other and you, then I don't have a problem with it!"

Not that she thought there was any way Izuku would lead either of them on. He wasn't like Jack's irresponsible brother Hisashi.

He sniffed. "Mum…"

They hugged tightly, before the resulting flood of happy tears swamped the entire room, pouring down the hallway. Through the tears, Inko managed to choke out, "I-I'm so, so happy for you, Izuku! Though, I must admit, I-I almost didn't expect you to be dating girls!"

"W-why's that?" Izuku sniffed.

"Well, given how much you talk about Katsuki, and sing his praises, well… I don't think I would have been surprised if he got dragged through the door on a date with you."

Izuku half laughed. "T-that would be a bit crazy! I mean, if Kacchani asked, I'd be flattered, m-maybe a bit curious… But Kacchan's really focused on being a Hero!"

Inko patted him on the shoulder with a warm, teary smile. "Well, alright. Now, what do you have planned for your first date together?"

"Oh, it's going to be a study date here," Izuku grinned. "Maybe some karaoke in the evening when we finish, just-just light stuff."

The rest of the evening was spent with Izuku gushing about Mei and Melissa, and Inko just being so, so happy that Izuku had found people who he loved and loved him back. She had met each of them before, although she had to admit never quite in this context.

Still she was confident that Izuku had made a great choice with the pair of them.

—

The next morning, Power Loader swept his gaze out over his assembled students. "Right, summer vacation's coming soon. Now, some of you might think that this is a chance to slack off from your education."

He slammed a meaty fist on his lectern, making his students jump. "Well, that's wrong! For the sake of reminding you all, the I-Island Expo is midway through the summer break, and of course we have a booth to present what students have worked on! If you can make it to the Expo, do so, or try to watch the stream!"

As always happened when he brought the Expo up, the students broke into excited mutters. "Man, I-Island's manly! A place where you can use your Quirks freely?!"

"I don't think that's what 'manly' means, Kuroyami," Kitagawa sighed.

A smile split her face soon after. "Still, it's the Mecca of the Support world! Having the chance to see it in person like Midoriya and Hatsume during their internships…"

The rest of the class turned to see their two resident lunatics grinning widely at Power Loader, pupils dilated at the mere mention. "We get to return to the labs…" they breathed in unison.

Awkwardly, he coughed. "I was about to get to that. This year, in a stunning display of firsts… Midoriya and Hatsume are displaying their inventions at the Expo after finals."

The room was quiet. Then, an explosion of cheers and howls of despair came from the class.

"CONGRATULATIONS, BOTH OF YOU!" Murakami cheered, throwing a handful of glitter around the room.

"OH GOD! THE END TIMES ARE UPON US!" Mochizuki wailed in Power Loader's voice.

It took longer than he cared to admit to regain order in the class, calming the commotion and chaos his announcement had brought. "Alright, settle down!" When the class subsided, he gave his two Problem Children a look. "Now, just to be sure, you both have material to present at the Expo already?"

"Naturally!" Hatsume's grin seemed to widen. "My Babies are primed and ready for action!"

"Oh, I've got so many inventions to show Mr. Shield! I can barely wait!" Midoriya's eyes were lit with an unholy fire.

"Right…" Power Loader tapped the front of his desk. "Apart from I-Island, I will also be assigning each of you a project that I will expect to be completed by the end of summer break."

He levelled a glare at them. "And before any of that, you have your finals to pass. I sincerely hope that you've been studying for them."

—

"I didn't study at all!" Kaminari and Ashido cried, the latter with a rueful smile on her face.

Melissa gave them a slightly rueful smile. She had thought that Mr. Aizawa was a bit too nice when he mentioned U.A's summer training camp plan - his statement that anybody who failed their exams would be thrown into summer school hell was still a bit worrying. Even though she was confident her mastery of One for All would increase the longer she was here, it was still concerning.

Especially for her classmates who obviously hadn't studied much. Or at all, really.

Kaminari grabbed his head in agony. "So much happened with the Festival and my internship, it just slipped my mind!"

"Yeah, pretty much the same thing happened to me!" Ashido chuckled, beaming as she did so.

"You really shouldn't look so proud of yourself when you say that," Shinsou chided her, a grin on his face.

Ashido laughed nervously. "I know, I know… Still, we've got a week to cram before finals, at least?"

Shinsou just sighed fondly. "Guess I'm going to be shoving our textbooks into your head," he snarkily grinned at Ashido.

Sticking her tongue out at him, Ashido jabbed at Shinsou. "You're a jerk, Hitoshi," she grinned.

Dodging Ashido's attempt to punch him on the arm, Shinsou shrugged expansively. "Besides, it's not like that's all we have to get ready for. Who knows, Kaminari? There may be hope for you yet."

"Yeah," Mineta piped up. "There's also going to be the Practical Exam. Who knows what our teachers have planned? Sure sucks that we don't know."

Kaminari turned to glare at the purple pair. "I don't wanna hear that from you two! I mean, you're like 5th and 7th in the class rankings from midterms!"

"I thought you were one of us, Mineta!" Ashido cried, pointing an accusing finger at him, Kaminari nodding earnestly. "It's not fair that you're smart as well as buff!"

Melissa just grinned at the pink girl. Even though Ashido's plan had worked out for the best, she still didn't appreciate being locked in a room like that. A bit of harmless payback was clearly in order. "There's no reason why you can't go if you just put your mind to it, Ashido. It'd be great if we all went to the Training Camp together!"

"Indeed!" Next to her, Iida's hand sliced through the air. "Not only does it present a fantastic bonding opportunity, it will also allow us to train to the very best of our ability!"

"If you've been attending class, then there's no way you should fail," Todoroki stated dully. Then a calculating look entered his eyes. "Although, if you had been replaced by reptilian clones or aliens…"

She couldn't help but giggle at the betrayed look Kaminari and Ashido gave them. Kaminari pointed an accusing finger at Todoroki. "Words hurt, you know! And besides, why would anybody want to clone us?!"

Melissa shook her head. She had been slightly surprised with how tough U.A's curriculum was, but it wasn't anything she couldn't handle. Not having the highest grade in class was surprising, but it made sense that there was only one other person in class with a higher grade.

"Well, if it's academics you need a hand with, I'll be glad to help you this weekend or any other time!" Yaoyorozu said, smiling brightly at Kaminari.

Kaminari gave her a look like a drowning man being thrown a life ring. "Thank you, Vice Prez! I'll never forget this kindness!"

A couple of other students came up to Yaoyorozu nervously. "Yaoyorozu, you're really good with kanji, right?" Sero pleaded. "Would you mind helping me as well, please?"

"Y-yeah, I could use some help with English. I mean, Yamada-sensei's a real slavedriver," Ojiro chuckled.

Yaoyorozu smiled widely at all of them. "It would be my pleasure!"

She then turned to Jirou, who was fidgeting in the corner. "Do you want to join as well, Jirou?"

The taciturn girl looked up, startled. "I - uh - yeah! I need a bit of help with quadratic formulas."

She just beamed at Jirou, a slight blush on her cheeks. "Alright, that sounds amazing!"

Melissa sighed. Was she like this when she was dealing with her own crush on her two best friends?

("Yes. Absolutely," the seven past bearers of One for All chorused in her head.)

Wincing, Melissa shook her head as it spiked with pain. It was probably the stress from studying for exams and learning about All for One catching up to her.

While she tried to recover from her headache, Ashido looked up at Yaoyorozu and Jirou, a certain look in her eye. "Hitoshi," she whispered.

Shinsou shook his head. "Just be sure to actually study," he muttered. Then he raised his voice. "Hey Yaoyorozu, do you mind if Mina and I join your study group?"

"That would be lovely - all of us having a study party!" Yaoyorozu clapped her hands excitedly.

"Yes, it's going to be a study party." Shinsou laughed drily, before giving Ashido a pointed look. "Because we're going to study really hard."

"I know, I know…" Ashido mock grumbled.

Yaoyorozu smiled enthusiastically. "Oh, this is going to be wonderful - I'm going to have to ask Mother if we can use the study hall!"

The rest of the study group froze. "S-study hall?" Kaminari said weakly.

"Oh, are any of you partial to a particular type of tea?! We always stock Harrods and Wedgwood at our house, but if you have a preference, don't hesitate to ask and I'll get some!" Yaoyorozu continued.

Melissa couldn't help but chuckle as the study group just smiled weakly back at Yaoyorozu. "S-sounds good…" Jirou managed.

She couldn't blame anybody though - she already had a study date planned that weekend. Hopefully her study date with Izuku and Mei would be just as productive.

—

Mayumi couldn't help but grin even as she tried to commfort Mei as she lay on the table. "So, you're doing the Heroics exam after all, huh?"

Mei sighed dramatically. "I know, it's terrible! So many designs for my Babies, so little time!"

After homeroom was over, Power Loader had told Mei that she had to do the Heroics Exam with the rest of the Hero course. "If you want to be a Support Hero, then you have to do the Hero Practical Exam. You'll do the Support Practical Exam after the Summer break to give you some time to recover - though considering the sheer volume of material you have created, I sincerely doubt you would need to do it."

When she had heard that, Mei had been despondent. She'd gone through the rest of the day looking like she had been forced to stop inventing altogether.

"It's just a delay - it's not like you won't do the exam," Mayumi tried to reassure her friend yet again.

Mei kept pouting, pushing her food around moodily. "I know, I just wanted to see what Izuku's Baby for the Practical would be."

Midoriya grinned at his partner. "Hey, at least you're going to use your Babies in the practical exam! Not just that, you're going to see how somebody would use it in a more practical sense than in the Sports Festival!"

She brightened up slightly. "Yeah, that's true! Hopefully it'll be the ultimate stress test!"

"And I mean, you won that competition to design something for the teachers. Those compressed weights are going to be incredible - I mean, they could potentially revolutionise training Quirks in the first place!" Midoriya beamed at Mei.

"Oh, yes, Nedzu was very happy with them!" Mei cackled. "It's my best idea ever!"

"What, like that time you tried to drill a hole in your head?" Mayumi snarked at her best friend.

"That would have worked if you hadn't stopped me!"

"Hey guys! Sorry I took so long, the line was kind of crazy." Melissa came up to their table, enough food for a family of four on her tray.

Midoriya and Mei lit up when they saw her, Mei waving a hand to get Melissa to sit between her and Midoriya. "Hey, we saved you a seat, Mel!"

Mayumi smiled as Melissa slotted in so naturally between them. Quickly giving thanks, she picked up one of the burgers on her plate and bit into it. "Thanksh fo' waiting," she mumbled.

Mayumi couldn't help but raise an eyebrow at that. "They're really working you hard in the Heroics course, huh?"

Swallowing, Melissa nodded. "Yeah - especially since Finals are coming up. Nobody in our class has any idea what the Heroics Practical Exam is going to be like."

—

Hitoshi raised an eyebrow as he saw Melissa chat to the others. "Honestly, I half expected some great portent of chaos to happen when they got together. Like a storm suddenly appearing."

His most out there prediction was that a Terminator would step out of a time portal and inform them that they were responsible for creating humanity's new robot overlords. Or something else equally ridiculous.

"Or a sudden eclipse," Uraraka muttered.

"Please, let us not gossip about our classmates' lives, even if they are terrifying maniacs with unfortunately inescapable contracts like Hatsume!" Iida shouted. "We have other things to worry about than their love lives!"

"Yeah, the Class Pres is right - we've got the practical to worry about, since we don't know what they're going to do!" Mina cried.

"Probably just a review of everything we covered in Heroics training," Toru suggested. "Like rescue and battle at the same time, kero."

Hitoshi shook his head. "I don't think Aizawa-sensei would do something like that - or if he did, it would be a logical ruse for some other ridiculous test." He sighed. "Whatever else it is, we should be prepared-"

He was cut off when somebody bumped into his head, along with a snide comment. "Sorry, I just couldn't manoeuvre my tray around your huge head."

And with that, he knew exactly who it was. Hitoshi turned to look and, sure enough, it was Monoma, looking down with a faux-polite expression on his face. "What's your deal, Monoma?"

1-B's annoying egotistical blonde smirked. "Oh, I just heard that you guys were in the middle of that League of Villains attack."

Next to him, Iida stiffened slightly. Monoma seemed not to pay attention as he continued. "Your class just keeps getting attention with all these stunts! Why, was the Sports Festival not enough attention for you?!"

"It's not like we asked to get attacked during our internships," Hitoshi snarked.

Monoma ignored that comment. "But it seems like you guys just keep getting thrown into danger, huh? I'm honestly worried that some day we're going to be dragged into your misadventures - though I'm absolutely sure we could handle the danger better-"

THWACK!

Hitoshi felt slightly bad for Monoma when Kendo delivered a chop to the back of his neck. Slightly. "Honestly, Monoma, have some tact," she scolded.

She gave them all an awkward smile. "Sorry about Monoma, his heart's just…"

"Say no more, we have our own arrogant blonde to deal with," Hitoshi nodded.

Kendo nodded. "Ah, yes."

Hitoshi paused dramatically, before leaning forwards. "I mean, can you believe the mouth on Ojiro?"

Kendo snorted in spite of herself. Then, remembering that she had to be more responsible, Kendo awkwardly coughed into her fist. "A-anyway, I heard you guys were worried about the Practical Exam, right?"

"Ugh, yes," Mina grumbled.

Kendo gave them a conspiratorial grin. "Well, between you and me, I hear it's going to be robots."

"Like in the Entrance Exam?" Hitoshi blinked, surprised. Of all the things he had expected, he hadn't expected that.

Iida chopped the air in front of him in surprise. "Wait, how do you know about this Kendo?" His eyes widened. "You-you haven't… c-cheated, have you?"

"No, nothing like that! One of my seniors from the dojo is an older student here. So I asked them and, well…" Kendo shrugged. "That's what they told me - it's going to be robots."

Hitoshi hummed. That didn't seem like U.A to just reuse the starting format. Then again, it wasn't like they had thought to ask an older student. "Well… thank you for the tip. I guess we've got less to worry about."

"...Kendo, you fool…" Monoma muttered from Kendo's grip. "With our insider intel, we could have crushed the despicable 1-A once and for all…"

"They're not detestable," she scolded, dragging him away. "Don't make me chop you again."

Not listening to her, Monoma shook a fist at the rest of them. "This isn't over, do you hear me, 1-A! 1-B shall crush you all-"

He was cut off by another brutal chop to the back of the neck.

"...Well, that was nice of her," Hitoshi managed.

"Yay!" Mina grinned, before Hitoshi gave her a look. "I mean, it's robots! I can really cut loose against them! Apart from the written exam, there's nothing to worry about!"

Hitoshi personally doubted that, but seeing Mina's infectious smile made him cast aside his doubts.

—

In the conference room, Nedzu grinned, steepling his paws as he looked over his staff. "So, it seems that some Hero students have been asking the Second and years about the Hero Finals."

His smile took a sharp edge as he checked some photos from the cafeteria cameras. "And from the chatter by those same students, they think it's going to be an easy exam."

"...I'm getting a bad feeling about this," Yamada whispered to Aizawa. Nedzu had never had the heart to tell him that he could, in fact, hear everything that was whispered.

Instead, he giggled at hearing how his students thought his exam would be easy. "Oh, how much they have to learn! If they think it's going to be easy, that's one of two good reasons to revise the exam format going forward!"

Around the table, the teachers shifted uneasily. Eraserhead looked the Principal in the eye. "What do you mean, one of two reasons?"

Nedzu's grin faded. "Ah, yes, that. Hearing that our students think the exam is easy is a minor reason. The other reason for the revision is far more obvious - and that reason is Mastermind."

The other teachers nodded grimly, already figuring out what he meant. "You were worried that Mastermind meant a Villain revival was coming last year, weren't you?"

He gave the rest of his staff a short nod. "I was merely cautious last year as I felt that Mastermind would have been captured before he became a problem."

Nedzu smiled ruefully. "Instead he seems to have been a harbinger of greater threats like the very similarly named League of Villains. Who can fathom what those lunatics are up to?"

—

Meanwhile at the League of Villains headquarters!

"Goddamnit Splatter, quit spamming you cheap bitch!" Tomura shrieked, trying to get his Ganondorf out of Splatter's range. When he had agreed to play the retro classic Smash Ultimate for a team building experience, he had expected to dominate everybody. He hadn't expected Splatter to be a fucking menace!

Grinning, Splatter showed no mercy, as his Toon Link fired another arrow at Tomura's character, barely blocked by Tomura's timely dodge. "Hey, not my fault you're playing the natural weakness of the Hero of Time," he snarked.

"HE'S THE HERO OF THE WINDS YOU FUCKING-" Tomura cut himself off when Toga, playing Isabel, snagged him on her fishing rod. "Don't you do it you - FUCK!" he raged when she sent him flying off the edge of the screen.

"Wait, I did something? Yay!" Toga blinked, staring at the screen happily before deflating. "Aw, there's no blood? That sucks."

"It's a freaking Nintendo game, what would you expect," Dabi grunted, hitting side-B on Ness a-freaking-gain.

Grumbling, Tomura pouted, before turning to his newest recruit. "So, what do you think about joining us?"

Across from him, the teen he'd met on the streets stopped, only staring at the screen. "I'm conflicted about it, but I'm not going to join your League just because you were nice to me," Jukogo muttered, managing to duck under Toga throwing a pillow at Dabi.

Tomura just chuckled, even as he furiously smashed his controller and beat Toga's character up. "Hey, I know that. That's why we're doing all of these team bonding exercises! Getting you used to the idea of working alongside us-"

Splatter interrupted by sending Tomura's Ganondorf to the stratosphere, knocking off his last life. With that, Tomura screeched with rage and leapt at the annoying bastard, intent on getting his revenge.

—

Shouta shuddered, a grim expression on his face. The Principal's instincts were on point - whatever the League of Villains was planning, it was going to be big. Especially since the League of Supervillains had escalated with new recruits.

The Principal shook his head. "Indeed, who can fathom what manner of terrorist plot Shigaraki is planning."

"So I'm guessin' that we ain't usin' the robots for this exam, since fightin' them ain't that useful in real life," Snipe pointed out.

"In a sense - though we only had the robots to head off claims of our students being injured in the Entrance Exams. Even with Recovery Girl, some students do get injured every year, and the robots just give us an extra layer of legal protection!" Nedzu sounded quite chipper about this declaration.

"Why not just ignore the complaints? So irrational…" Shouta grumbled.

What did these people think Heroics was like? Some walk in the park where all you had to do was show up for a photo shoot? As much as he disliked the 'beat up robots and help others' format, it was as accurate a reflection of real life as you could get.

Nedzu sighed fondly. "Ah, Shouta, statements like that show that you aren't a political animal. Unlike me!"

The staff groaned in unison. "That hasn't been funny the last ten times you used that joke!" Hizashi cried.

"Oh, don't be like that! In fact…" Nedzu's grin looked positively predatory. "These changes are going to be fun!"

Shouta exchanged an uneasy look with Hizashi. Nedzu's idea of a funny practical joke was to stick a land mine under a seat cushion. Still, the kids would be alright.

…Probably.

—

Now, I know that you want to see more of the incredibly handsome and intelligent Mastermind studying in his secret identity. And I'm sure that you want to see the rest of Melissa and 1-A studying hard as well!

That last week before finals came for us and for 1-A, we worked like dogs. Between my study date with Melissa and Mei, studying outside of that and putting the finishing touches on my other inventions as Mastermind, I was swamped with work!

However, most of that was quite boring. So instead, we're going to have a brief montage of the most important things that happened during that last week before finals surprised the Hero Course.

Set, of course, to Push it to the Limit!

…What? This is my story, I get to choose the soundtrack!

—

Izuku pulled on his goggles and pulled down the Quirk Erasing Ray. "Alright, first test of our new Erase-Ray Eraser, starting in 3, 2, 1…"

With a flash of red light from the ray, the round module glowed green, lighting up…

And then exploded.

Izuku sighed, wiping his hands clean. "And that's the first failure. Alright, let's see what, exactly, went wrong…"

—

Melissa wiped a bead of sweat from her brow, taking a deep breath. Then she returned to her chest press, muscles straining as she worked.

On the bar she was lifting, Izuku and Mei grinned, the latter giving her a thumbs up as she sketched various different machines. Izuku snuck a glimpse at Melissa, only to look away with a bright red face and returned to his own notebook.

Finished with her set, Melissa went over to her books to start studying again. Mrs. Midoriya came into the room with a plate filled high with snacks, bustling around the room.

—

It was a dark and stormy night as Izuku tapped a screen in the Lair (™), setting up a pressure sensor in front of his latest project. "Alright, my special project, let's see how you function…"

A darkly shadowed figure lashed out with a kick, seriously denting the machine. A smirk broke out on its face as Izuku grinned back. "That's great! Now, we've just got to test the rest…"

Nine more figures sat in the shadows as he pulled out his toolkit. "Just a couple of adjustments for the rest of you… And soon, my greatest inventions yet can be deployed!"

His grin lit up the night. For once, he didn't need to activate his Thunder Machine as a bolt of lightning illuminated his mad features. "MWA-HAHAHA!"

—

In the Yaoyorozu study Hall, Hitoshi was making notes on what Yaoyorozu was presenting while breaking down more complicated points for the others to work on. Mina and Kaminari clung to his and Yaoyorozu's words like they were drowning, furiously noting down everything they could.

He had to admit, it was a bit funny to see how Yaoyorozu obviously had a crush on Jirou, given the looks she kept sneaking. For her part, Jirou seemed oblivious to what Yaoyorozu was hinting at. Either she wasn't interested, or she didn't want to risk their friendship.

The door jingled, interrupting Yaoyorozu. "Ah, that'll be the tea!"

The rest of them looked at each other while she left. "...She's really, stupidly rich, huh?" Ojiro commented weakly.

Then Yaoyorozu was back with a sunny smile. "Sorry to interrupt! Now, where were we?"

Hitoshi smiled with the rest of the group. Yeah, she's crazy rich, but she's just so sweet about it…

—

Tapping his phone, Izuku recorded once more. "Okay, I've reworked the power cell in this, made some minor adjustments… Let's see if this works!"

Izuku carefully moved it under the red light of the Erase-Ray, watching it light up with a corresponding green light. It held for a few seconds, then the green light died.

"Alright, looks like it isn't blowing up right now. Notou, let's remake the parts, see if we can get the power cell to be more efficient…"

"Right you are, Mastermind."

—

Mei threw yet another punch at the punching bag, hitting the photo of Mastermind's helmeted face dead centre and causing the bag itself to swing loosely. Cackling with manic laughter, she then let her mechanical arms swing at the picture, smashing it hard enough to fly. "GOTCHA!"

Izuku watched with a mildly disturbed expression, before it turned into a fond smile. "That's, uh, pretty good fighting, Mei! Now, what do you think about this design?"

One of her mechanical arms snagged it and she zoomed in, scanning it over. "Damn, looking good!"

He gave her a thumbs up, then returned to his own work. Okay, so if I rework this power cell here, then I can get more force from the thruster…

—

Sumi lifted a comically oversized weight in her hand, biceps straining as she worked out. Next to her, Todoroki hit a punching bag as hard as she could, grunting with effort.

Kaneshiro watched the pair of them exercise with an exhausted expression. "Honestly, I feel a bit embarrassed…"

"Keep pushing yourself, Kaneshiro," Gentle Criminal advised from where he was lifting his own weights. "You'll see more results if you train hard."

"Easy for you to say…" Kaneshiro grumbled, grabbing a barbell.

—

Katsuki glared at Shitty Hair as he held up his textbook. "Alright, Bakugou! If I can't do this next question, I'm gonna do 200 crunches!"

Once more, he tried to reason with his friend/study partner. "No, don't fucking do that, that's stupid-"

Not listening to Katsuki's words of wisdom, Shitty Hair scanned the page, a smile on his face. Then, groaning, he threw it down dramatically. "DAMNIT!"

As he went for the crunches, Katsuki furiously tried to stop him. "No, don't do the fucking crunches! Just - fuck, explain what you're having a problem with and I'll help you, jackass!"

Sheepishly, Shitty Hair picked himself off the ground, getting back at his desk with an attentive air. Good - Katsuki wasn't going to teach him shit if he couldn't focus for shit.

—

Soon enough, it was time for everybody's finals. Every student there wore an anxious expression on their face, some better prepared for it, others not. Izuku was definitely in the former camp.

As he hurried to class, he briefly paused by 1-A's homeroom, where could see that Monoma guy leering at Kacchan's classmates. "HAH! Today, with these exams, we're going to prove that we're the superior Heroics class!"

Izuku shook his head and turned to go to his own exam as Monoma's sneer widened. "I mean, we're so superior to you that if this was a story, we would have our own, dedicated, montage scene-"

AN: I live! Surprisingly enough, this has been a hardish chapter to get right. Sorry for the delays, I was focusing most of my attention on 3 Metre Girl.

Anyways, we've now gone over the boring study part of exams! Now, we're getting into the meat of the practical. What will happen? What surprise has Nedzu planned to torture his students with? So many questions, so little time!

A big shoutout to my one (1) Supporter, W C Purdy! Thank you for bankrolling me, and I have added some other benefits to hopefully entice more donors!

As always, thank you Banchoking on Spacebattles for beta reading this to ensure the highest quality possible.

Next time, we'll deal with the Practical Exams, were we'll have some action! Please comment, give me new, fresh ideas and give me fuel to keep going! My vanity and narcissism demands it.