AN: Thanks for reading and leaving a review!

Unfortunately for Himiko, school didn't care about Izuku's quirk and before she knew it, exam season was upon her.

Much like the last two semesters, she struggled through the written portions. However, thanks to Emily's help she felt more confident in getting a passing grade by the end. Even if it was in the lower end of the class, that was fine for her - she wasn't looking to jump to a big-name hero agency when she graduated, after all!

Fortunately after what felt like an eternity the written exams were finally done. And after a large lunch, it was time for the exciting part - their hero course exam!

Once they changed into their costumes Himiko and her classmates walked out to the staging area. There they were surprised by the sight of Present Mic standing next to their teacher as well as a group of second years also in their costumes. Once the forty students were accounted for, Mic turned toward the class and began speaking.

"Good afternoon little listeners! Are you ready for your final exam?!"

The second years responded with cheers while the first-year students looked on awkwardly. Taking pity on his students, Sekijiro stepped forward and continued. "Just as in previous semesters, you will fight alongside your classmates. But the format this time is different from what you are used to." He held up his hand to indicate the second years. "This time, you will also be working alongside your seniors."

Present Mic held up a small remote and activated it. A large hologram displaying one of the training grounds appeared in front of them, with four blue dots standing at the entrance. "Today's exam is a joint operation between first and second years." As he spoke one large angry face and two smaller ones appeared on the opposite end of the hologram. "One of your instructors will be acting as a villain for you to face! But that's not all. They will also be accompanied by two third-year students who are acting as their henchmen!"

Mic pressed another button and a dozen green dots appeared scattered throughout the arena. "And that's not all! Fresh from the USJ, we have imported the rescue dummies to act as guest stars!" He turned his head to Sekijiro.

Taking his cue, the first-year homeroom teacher continued. "Much like an active combat scene, you will have multiple objectives. For my students, your primary goal is to evacuate the civilians to the designated safe zone. Then you will have to keep them safe from enemy attack - after all, they are an easy target, and it is our job to protect them. For the second years, your primary goal is defeating the villain and their henchmen."

"But that's not all!" Mic chimed in. "There is no partial credit here. You can only pass if both objectives are met. If one of your groups fails, then you both fail."

"That means work together," Sekijiro roared. "While you each have your own objectives, that doesn't mean you have to focus on them. Much like in the real world, you each have different quirks that give you unique strengths and weaknesses. For some groups, that may mean that a first year would be more suited to taking down the villain. Or perhaps one of the second years is specialized in rescue efforts! Once you graduate, you will need to recognize these strengths quickly and adapt accordingly. Just like in real life, where people will be counting on you to make these split-second decisions."

Himiko listened intently, but she couldn't help but feel excitement when she found out her opponents were going to be live! No matter how much Emily and Izuku explained to her why they used as many robots as they did against first-year students, it still frustrated her. Her skills and quirk meant she was focused on stealth and shapeshifting! She couldn't show those off against robots!

The excitement didn't help her impatience, and she rushed forward the moment Mic brought up the teams. Stopping in front of the hologram, she quickly scanned the list until she found her name.

Training Ground Beta:

Instructor: Snipe

Third Years: ? ?

Class 2-A:

Mirio Togata

Class 2-B:

Nejire Hado

Class 1-B:

Himiko Midoriya

Tomoe Sakura

She was working with Tomoe? Himiko quickly whipped around to find her friend, and when she made eye contact she gestured with her fingers to indicate that they were both on a team together. Tomoe understood her meaning, and shared in Himiko's confusion. Neither of their quirks are suited for combat, so who are these second-years?

Quickly making her way to her friend, the pair began searching until they found a tall muscular boy alongside a shorter girl - or she would be shorter if she wasn't floating alongside him. As he saw the two girls approaching, the boy smiled and waved.

"You must be our teammates! I'm Mirio Togata, better known as the future hero Lemillion!"

Himiko's eyes went wide as she recognized him. "Wait! Weren't you the kid from the sports festival who flashed everyone on national television?!"

"He what?!" Tomoe asked with uncharacteristic shock.

"Ehehe… I've gotten a lot better since then!" Mirio insisted as he rubbed the back of his head sheepishly.

Himiko groaned - what kind of game are the teachers playing on her?

"And I'm Nejire Hado," The floating girl said. "The future hero Nejire-chan!" She threw her arms in the air for emphasis before she seemed to laser-focus on Himiko. With an excited squeal, she floated over to the other girl. "Oh, you're so cute! You've got cat eyes and fangs! And then you've got your hair in buns like that! It's like you're a giant kitty!"

Himiko's eyes narrowed as she looked at the hero, swatting her hand away as she tried to touch her hair. "I'm Himiko Midoriya. The future hero Carmilla. The vampire, not a cat!"

"But you'd look so good as a cat!" Nejire pouted. And while Himiko silently agreed, she had a reputation to maintain, damn it!

Fortunately, her friend took pity on her and stepped up and politely bowed. "I'm Tomoe Sakura, the future hero Oracle. Let's do our best!"

"So what are your quirks?" Mirio asked. "Nejire and I are two of the strongest students in our year, so we're surprised to find ourselves partnered together."

"You're not the only one who thought that," Tomoe replied. "My quirk is sensory enhancement. I can boost any of my senses to superhuman levels. I can also temporarily do the same to someone else through physical contact."

"And my quirk is Transform!" Himiko chirped. "If I drink someone's blood, I can copy them perfectly! Speaking of…" She gave them a bright smile as she looked them over. "I should probably drink some of your blood before the exam."

"Are you going to bite me?" Nejire asked curiously.

"Only if you want me to," Himiko's eyes narrowed before she laughed and produced a pair of syringes from a hidden pocket. "I've gotten really good at this, don't worry."

A few minutes later, they stood in the holographic 'starting point' in Ground Beta, waiting for the signal to begin. While they brainstormed some initial ideas, they knew that the test would be about their ability to work together and adapt on the fly.

"It's quiet," Tomoe observed as they waited.

"Too quiet," Nejire shivered. "I don't like it."

"Doesn't this give us an advantage?" Himiko asked.

"Not really," Tomoe admitted. "Or more specifically: it doesn't give us any advantage that I don't already give us."

"I'm sure they're just trying to psych us out!" Mirio punched his open fist. "We'll just have to show them we're not falling for it!"

Suddenly the earpieces in their ears crackled to life as they heard Present Mic's voice. "Students, start!"

Without hesitation the students took off, racing through the training ground until they found the hologram representing the 'safe zone.' The sight was surprisingly complete with a pair of ambulances and still images of EMTs along with stretchers.

"We've reached the medics," Mirio announced. "Now let's save those civilians!"

With Tomoe's guidance, they managed to secure the first six 'civilians' quickly and efficiently. As Himiko stood her second dummy upright she looked toward Tomoe, her friend's face currently hidden behind a black helmet.

"This is almost too easy, isn't it?"

"You're right," Tomoe agreed. "But I still haven't heard anything from the villains yet."

"Nothing?" Himiko asked in disbelief.

"Nothing," Tomoe confirmed.

Mirio's brows furrowed before his eyes went wide. He looked like he wanted to speak - but no sound came out.

Himiko didn't have time to figure out what was going on before she found herself inflicted by the same condition. She found herself enveloped in total silence - she couldn't even hear the sound of her heartbeat or the muffled sounds of items as they shifted in her costume. The whole experience was disorienting. She felt herself stumbling, her hand latching onto the training dummy in an attempt to stabilize her.

"What is going on?" she asked silently.

Looking around she saw Nejire was similarly disoriented, trying to steady herself. At least Mirio and Tomoe appeared to be unaffected by whatever was going on and were already on alert, their heads sweeping back and forth as they searched for the source of the problem.

Tomoe quickly pointed, and when Himiko looked she saw two fellow students approaching. Two boys: one tall boy with an average build, wearing a bodysuit of purple with gold highlights, similar to Mirio's, and the other a short, muscular man who wore a white jacket and looked more at home in a DJ booth than on a battlefield. They must be the third years that are assisting Snipe! Mirio responded first and started moving to engage them, with Tomoe hot on his heels. Himiko took a step but almost tripped.

"Damn it!" She hissed. Adjusting to a lack of sound was harder than she thought it would be!

She steadied herself only to watch the purple-suited student step in front of the other and engage Mirio. Clenching her fists, she saw Nejire slowly moving forward to help. Not wanting to fall behind, she did the same. Placing one foot in front of the other, she began marching forward, her own pace increasing as she adjusted to the total silence.

While Nejire moved to help Mirio, Himiko saw Tomoe had slipped past the first student and was engaged with the second. Deciding that her classmate needed help, Himiko used her vanishing technique (would it even work under these conditions? Guess she'd find out!) and silently drew a knife as she approached the other hero.

As they fought Himiko noticed that Tomoe's opponent didn't appear to be using a quirk either. However he was definitely stronger and clearly the more skilled opponent, and was slowly overpowering her friend. Grip tightening on her blade, her eyes narrowed as she watched the fight.

There!

Darting forward, she threw a calculated slash, a line of crimson blossoming out along the white of his jacket. She saw his mouth open in a scream, but no sound came out. Instead, he looked at her with a fiery anger in his eyes, and she gave him an impish grin in response. Good, she thought. If you're angry you're gonna get sloppy.

Working together with her teammate, they managed to turn the tables on him, his movements slowing down until Tomoe was able to land a taser-powered kick to his side. The electrical discharge caused the student to crumple as they went flying, landing several feet away.

"-won't stop us!"

"-OOOOWER!"

"-imiko!"

Himiko found herself assaulted by a rush of sound that threatened to overwhelm her all at once. She winced and instinctively covered her ears, taking a moment to adjust. Several seconds later she felt Tomoe's fingers ghosting over her arm.

"Carmilla, are you okay?" Tomoe asked.

"Y-yeah," Himiko gave her friend a shaky smile. "I guess you're used to dealing with rapidly changing sounds like that, huh?"

"Who would have guessed it would be useful here?" Tomoe asked before turning toward the remaining student. "One down, one to go!"

As they carefully approached they saw Mirio trying his hardest to punch his opponent, but every time he hit him, his fist rocketed away from his foe. Similarly, whenever Nejire tried to fire her blast it was sent flying back at her, forcing her to dodge.

While they were holding their own, the three were locked in a stalemate, which meant…

"Nejire look out!" Tomoe shouted.

Nejire reacted instantly, dodging and narrowly avoiding two bullets that had been shot at her.

"Snipe's here!" Tomoe shouted as she pointed at a nearby building. "He must have gotten close when we were dealing with that zone of silence!"

"What do we do?" Himiko asked.

While Nejire had already floated away trying to keep the rest safe from Snipe, Mirio chanced a glance toward his juniors. "This is Rebound! His quirk lets him deflect any force applied to him!"

Himiko stared in disbelief. "No wonder he… although…" Her brows furrowed. "If that were true, how's he wearing a costume…" She watched carefully as Mirio threw a punch, the fabric of his opponent's suit lifting slightly as his quirk responded and reversed the force of the blow.

"I've got an idea!" Himiko exclaimed as she turned toward Mirio. "Lemillion, you go after Snipe, we'll stop Rebound!"

Mirio looked at them and gave them a thumbs up. His opponent tried to take advantage of this, but his punch phased right through Mirio's torso before he disappeared underground, only to launch himself skyward toward the building Snipe was on.

"Tch," The third year turned his attention toward the first years. "Think you can take me where that other hero failed?"

"Yep!" Himiko chirped brightly.

"Oh?" He adopted a casual fighting stance. "What do you think you can do that he couldn't?"

"I've got knives," Himiko flashed a fanged smile as the bladed weapon appeared in her hand. "And I know how to use them!"

Their opponent charged, and Himiko dodged effortlessly. Throwing her arm out, she held a knife but didn't move to stab her foe with it. Instead she watched as he ignored it, the difference in speed enough to send the knife flying. She let it go rather than try and hold it, hearing it clatter in the distance. "Oracle!"

"I don't know if I'm going to do much better!" Tomoe protested as she stepped up and engaged, hoping the tasers in her gauntlets could maybe do something.

Himiko grinned before she stopped her breathing, hoping the distraction was enough to give her the moment she needed. Watching the fight, she waited patiently until Rebound's back was to her, and then she jumped, landing on top of him.

"Hey!"

Himiko felt the force of his quirk as it tried to eject her, her arms wrapping around his neck as she let out a very catlike (shut up Nejire!) yelp. "Got you!"

"G-get off of me!" The hero said as he tried to reach up and throw Himiko off of her.

"Sorry not sorry," Himiko responded as she tightened her grip. Once she felt as secure as she could be she looked over his shoulder at her friend. "Now!"

Tomoe's face hardened in resolve as she charged her tasers to their maximum power. Walking forward, she gently placed her fist on the struggling third-year's chest, watching as the full force of discharge was unleashed. She felt sparks flying and was thankful for the protection of her suit, but enough force was transferred to the third year that he was staggered.

This gave Himiko enough time to put him in a proper suppression hold, where she held on tightly as the hero began to lose consciousness. She eventually felt him go limp underneath her, slumping over to the ground.

"You saw it too huh?" Oracle asked as Himiko carefully lowered the student to the ground.

"Don't you dare tell Emily," Himiko paused in retrieving her handcuffs to glare at her friend.

Tomoe was glad for her opaque helmet as she gave her friend a knowing smile. "I won't."

"So how are the others doing?" Himiko asked. Once she had secured the third year in handcuffs she turned her attention up toward the building where the fighting was still ongoing.

"Snipe is good, but Lemillion has managed to completely negate his quirk. It's just a matter of time," Tomoe said confidently before she turned toward Himiko. "I guess we should get back to work rescuing civilians."

Himiko gave her friend a toothy grin. "Lead the way!"

Tomoe directed Himiko to the hiding place of the next robot before the two split up to retrieve the 'civilians'. They quickly managed to find them and return to the rescue area before their earpieces came to life.

"Snipe is down!" Nejire cheered into their ears.

"We did it!" Himiko replied.

"Don't celebrate yet!" Mirio warned. "We've still gotta rescue the last civilians to finish the test!"

"Right," Himiko deflated before turning to her friend. "Where to next?"

Under Tomoe's direction, the four quickly retrieved the last of the robots and returned them to the safe zone. As soon as the last robot crossed the threshold, the zone turned bright green and a buzzer sounded. Seconds later Present Mic cut in on their earpieces.

"Beta team has finished their exam! They are the first team to finish!"

The four broke out in cheers.

Recovery Girl arrived a few minutes later to help with any injuries. After healing everyone, the students uncuffed the third-years and Snipe.

"I couldn't believe you tried to grapple me like that," Rebound admitted as Himiko removed his cuffs. "Most people don't figure out my quirk that quickly."

"Yeah well…" Himiko felt the heat rising to her cheeks, "when you're surrounded by nerds like I am, you pick up a thing or two."

"You know a quirk analyst?" Nejire asked curiously.

"Two of them," Himiko let out a long-suffering sigh. "One of our classmates - Emily - moonlights as an analyst. And then my younger brother Izu does it 'for fun.'" A fond smile spread across her lips as she thought about him. "He's a genius!"

"You have a younger brother?" Mirio asked. "Is he gonna be a support student or something?"

"Nope!" Himiko chirped. "He actually got accepted to UA as part of the hero course! He'll be joining us next year."

"These kids are so smart," Nejire said as she turned toward her classmate. "I wonder if we should pick up analysis so we don't fall behind?"

"Maybe I can ask Sir about it?" Mirio replied.

"Sir?" Tomoe lit up. "As in Sir Nighteye?"

"Yep! He took me on for an internship and work studies this year," Mirio rubbed the back of his head sheepishly. "He's done a lot to help me get my quirk under control and figure out how to fight as well as I do."

"He's my favorite hero!" Tomoe said with far more excitement than Himiko was used to. "I'm hoping to get an internship with him next year!"

"I hope so too!" Mirio agreed with a thumbs up. "Your quirk would be so useful at his agency."

"Exactly! And he'd teach me so much about starting my own investigative agency…"

Himiko shook her head and turned away from her friend only to feel Nejire float up beside her, wrapping an arm around her shoulder. "So what about you? Who's your favorite hero?"

Unable to escape her fate, Himiko groaned.

After their final class of the year, Himiko saw her friends gathering around Emily's desk. Atsuko shot her a questioning glance, only for Himiko to nod her head in the direction of her teacher. A look of understanding filled her best friend's face as she mouthed the words 'Meet you outside.'

Packing her bag slowly, Himiko waited until everyone else had left before she finally stood up and approached her teacher.

"Kan-sensei," Himiko started. "Thanks for everything you've taught me!"

Much to her surprise, Sekijiro laughed. "Why so formal? You make it sound like you'll never see me again!"

"Yeah well," Himiko blushed as she crossed her arms and quickly looked away, but it was too late. "This is the last time you'll be my teacher! You've taught me a lot!"

"Little Midoriya," Sekijiro circled his desk and placed a massive hand on her shoulder. "I've taught you all that I can, now it is time for you to move on."

"Don't say that," Himiko grumbled. "I'm sure there's a lot left!"

"Perhaps," The hero chuckled. "But it's not like you won't see me again. You're still going to attend the school after all."

"But it'll be different."

"Different doesn't mean bad," Her teacher said softly. "You will broaden your horizons and learn so much more. Besides," His tone returned to a normal volume. "I'm sure you'll be spending plenty of time with your brother!"

"That's true," Himiko looked at her teacher, a mischievous smile on her face.

"And you can always find me after school," Sekijiro offered. "My door will be open if you want to catch up or if you want advice. I may not be as good as All Might-"

Himiko's eyes darted up to her mentor's face. "So you found out about that huh?"

"I must say I was surprised to find out," Sekijiro admitted. "After the entrance exam. But I am glad your brother found a mentor much in the same way I became yours."

"He deserves it," Himiko admitted. "But you're still better!"

Sekijiro threw his head back in laughter. "I'm glad you think so highly of me."

"I'll come find you next year," Himiko promised.

"I'm looking forward to it," Sekijiro admitted. "I'd be sad if my favorite student abandoned me now."

"I thought you said you weren't allowed to play favorites?" Himiko teased.

"Only when you were my student. Now that you are becoming a second year, I am allowed to play favorites again."

Himiko grabbed the teacher in a surprise hug, feeling tears threatening to spill from her eyes. "You'll always be my favorite teacher too. You've done so much for me! I'll never forget that."

"You've grown into a fine young woman, little Midoriya," Sekijiro said as he returned the hug. "And I can already tell you're going to be an amazing hero as well. I'm glad to have been a part of that."

Quickly pulling away, Himiko rubbed her eyes with her sleeve. "Thank you. I'll see you next semester!"

"Enjoy your break, little Midoriya."

Turning away, Himiko reluctantly left the room, taking in the empty classroom one last time. She had so many memories here. She wanted to selfishly hold onto them one last time. It wasn't until she left the classroom that she was reminded that she wasn't done yet - that she still had so much further to go.

And people were waiting for her.

With a smile on her face, she took off to find her friends - it was time to celebrate!