AN: Thanks for reading and leaving reviews everyone!

Himiko found herself wandering the halls of UA after class, looking for Emily. Her annoying classmate had gotten particularly bloody in training, and she wanted to revel in that beauty. To share it with her.

As she walked, her fingers grazed the holsters hidden under her skirt, and she relished the familiar feeling of her knives. Emily was always a stubborn one, but she had the perfect way to recreate that beauty.

Turning the corner, she saw Emily. The girl was leaning against a window, the sunlight highlighting her radiance as she was busily scribbling away at her tablet.

"Emily~chan" Himiko said in a singsong voice as she held her hands behind her back.

"Himi?" Emily looked up at her classmate, confusion written over her features.

"You looked so pretty today Emily," Himiko said as she started skipping forward.

"I-what?" Emily asked in confusion.

"I'd like to see it again," Himiko said, knife in hand as she lunged toward her classmate.

Himiko woke up screaming.

Seconds later she heard her door slam open as her mom came in. "Himi-" Inko said.

Himiko blinked, trying to clear the water from her eyes as she looked down at her hands.

Clean.

Her hands were clean - there wasn't any blood on them.

She was so focused on her hands she didn't notice her mom sitting down next to her until Inko gathered her up in her arms. "Shhh. It's ok Himi. You're safe."

"I-" Himiko sobbed. Unable to stop the tears, she adjusted herself, leaning into her mom as she wrapped her arms tightly around the woman holding her, afraid of what would happen if she let go.

"You had those dreams again, didn't you?"

Not wanting to speak, Himiko nodded, trusting Mom to understand.

"I'm so sorry Himi," Inko assured her as she stroked her daughter's back, reassuring her that she wasn't going to let her go.

"Do you need anything?" Izuku asked as he peeked in through the door.

Himiko looked at her brother. Not wanting to escape the warmth, she raised a hand and pointed to her school bag. "My- my vials."

Nodding in understanding, Izuku walked over to her bag and pulled out a small metal container. He walked over to the bed and offered it to his sister, who quickly snatched and opened it. Her fingers located the vial in question, spinning it around to see the name on the label, even if she already knew who the blood belonged to.

E. Song

Her annoying classmate was the second person to volunteer blood to help Himiko with her quirk, right behind Atsuko. She didn't need to attack her to get her blood. All she had to do was ask.

"Is she who you were dreaming about?" Inko asked softly.

"Yeah," Himiko whispered as her finger ran along the vial. "We were training today and she willingly took a stab wound to give herself an opening. By the time I helped her to Recovery Girl, she had a lot of blood on her shirt."

Inko carded her fingers through her daughter's hair as she tried to soothe her. "I'm sorry that brought back bad memories."

Himiko closed her eyes and leaned into her mother's touch as she asked the same question she always did whenever she woke up from a nightmare. "I'm not a bad person, am I?"

She winced internally as she felt her Mom stiffen. "Of course not! After everything you've been through… you're one of the strongest people I've ever met."

"Really?" Himiko adjusted herself to look at her mother's face.

Inko gave her a warm smile. "Yes. And I'll give you the same answer every time you ask. You've come so far since we found you, and I'm so proud of you."

Himiko felt her eyes watering again - for a different reason this time. Closing them, she felt a smile forming on her face. "Thanks, Mom."

She wasn't sure how long she sat there, but eventually Himiko calmed down enough to let a loud yawn escape her. In response, her mother's soft laughter resonated through her. "Feeling better Himi?"

"Yeah," Himiko pushed herself upright to look at her mom. "Thank you." She turned to look at Izuku as he sat in her chair. "Both of you."

"We're here for you," Izuku assured her.

"Now come on, you two need to get to bed. Whether you like it or not, it's still a school night," Inko said softly.

"Actually…" Himiko looked at her mom. "Do you mind if I sleep with you?"

"Of course not," Inko said.

Gathering her things, Himiko silently padded behind Inko back to her Mom's room and crawled into bed after her. Nestling herself into Inko's arms, Himiko found that sleep came easily, and her mother's warmth kept the bad dreams at bay.

Himiko was thankful that her nightmare proved to be an isolated incident as school moved into finals. She knew that she was going to have trouble with the written exams already, and didn't need to add fitful sleep to her list of worries.

She had plenty of those already.

"Argh! This is pointless!" Himiko complained as she slammed the study guide on the cafe table.

"Midoriya!" Emily looked ready to jump out of her chair. "I spent hours putting that together! It's got everything that's going to be on the exam!"

"And It's not helping!" Himiko stood up. "What's the point if I can't remember any of it?"

"That's because you're not trying hard enough!" Emily stood up, looking ready to fight the other girl.

Himiko tensed herself, ready to take out her frustrations on her classmate when Atsuko appeared in front of her, hands firmly on her shoulders. "Himi- I think you should tell them."

"Tell us what?" Emily demanded, being similarly restrained by Tomoe.

"No," Himiko grumbled, eyes looking everywhere but at her friend.

"What happened to accepting who you were?" Her best friend asked sternly.

"Do you really think she isn't going to judge me for it?" Himiko grumbled as she threw a resentful look at the American girl.

"Midoriya. Whatever it is, I promise I won't judge you," Tomoe said, looking sternly at Emily. "And we'll fight Song if she does."

"Fine," Himiko said in a huff, looking at her friends before she took a deep breath. "I can't retain information by just looking at it." She jabbed a finger at the study guides accusingly. "So as nice as that is, I'm not going to get anything out of it by just sitting here reading it."

There was a long silence before Emily finally spoke. "So how were you planning to study?"

"Take it home and have Mom read it to me," Himiko admitted. "Then write down what I remembered and read everything I missed again."

"Why didn't you tell us before?"

"Because I don't want to make things harder for Sakura," Himiko grumbled.

Emily shot Tomoe a questioning glance. Seeming to understand, the sensitive girl let go of her and grabbed her bag, pulling out her music player and noise-canceling headphones. "If it helps you study, I don't mind wearing these. We agreed to study together, after all."

Giving the other girl a thankful glance, Emily sat back down and gathered up Himiko's study sheets, before giving her a pointed look. She then started reading the first page.

Himiko couldn't help but do a double take when she realized what Emily was doing. She felt Atsuko let her go, and she sat back down, her gaze never leaving the other girl. "What do you think you're doing?"

"If this is what you need to study, then this is how I'll help you study."

"Why?" Himiko shot her an incredulous look.

"What's the point of being top of the class if everyone else isn't also at the top of their game?" Emily asked pointedly. "Besides, I promised I'm not leaving anyone behind."

Himiko opened her mouth to protest, before closing it. Emily decided to take her silence as agreement and returned to reading. Atsuko sat back down next to her, mouthing a silent 'sorry' before she returned to her sample problems.

As the study session went on, Himiko felt herself calming down. She had to admit, it felt good being around people who didn't care about her problems.

And if Emily was willing to help her this much, maybe she wasn't so bad after all.

Much to Himiko's dismay, she discovered that for the most part final exams weren't much different from middle school.

It wasn't until the afternoon of the final day that things changed. After lunch, their class was directed to change into their costumes and meet in the outdoor assembly area, where Kan was waiting for them.

"Wonderful. Now that you are all here, it is time to explain your final exam!" Kan announced. "You have been grouped into teams of four, and much like your entrance exam, you will be facing robots! The goal, of course, is to see how much you have improved since your entrance exam."

Holding up a small device, he pushed a button only for a holographic map of UA to appear. Above five of the training grounds, there was an additional image showing the team of students assigned to it.

"Much like the entrance exam, each training ground will be filled with one, two, and three-point robots for you to fight - the same ones you fought almost six months ago. However! There will be several significant differences. The first major one is that you will be scored as a team. We will be tracking both your cumulative kill points as well as your ability to work together. The second is that each arena will have two Executor-class robots deployed to each arena at the start, and they will be roaming on preset patterns. It will be up to you to decide how to handle them.

Himiko's eyes darted around until she found her team.

Team 3:

Habiki Hideo

Himiko Midoriya

Emily Song

Amaya Yuki

Well, that worked out well for her. Her eyes darted to her teammates as she felt a smile growing on her face.

These robots won't know what hit them.

As they grouped up, Emily spoke first. "Ok, other than the Sports Festival I've never seen these robots before, so I need an explanation."

"The Sports Festival showed us the big three-pointers," Habiki explained. "There's a couple smaller ones, but they are only good in melee. They're faster than you'd think, though."

"And the Executor?"

"Those are almost as big as a building," Amaya explained. "Trust me, you won't miss them once we get there."

"During the exam they were supposed to be an obstacle," Himiko mused. "Sensei said the same thing now, but I wonder if we should try taking them down…"

"Why would you suggest that?" Habiki asked. "You saw what they did during the entrance exams!"

"She raises a good point," Emily came to her defense. "If we can take one down, it would make our job easier! And who knows how many points they're worth this time!

"But how do you propose we take one down? Actually, on that note," Amaya turned toward Himiko. "How did you take the robots down during the exam?"

"I stabbed them, of course," Himiko shot her rival a predatory grin. "How else would I do it?"

"Of course you did," Habiki laughed.

"Yep!" Himiko grinned as she pulled out a pair of wicked-looking blades. "I had to rely on scrap metal during the exam itself, but with these it should be really easy!"

"Is that what you should be doing though?" Emily asked skeptically.

"You're right," Himiko smirked back. "I should leave the firepower to you two."

Amaya looked at Himiko in confusion for a brief moment before her face lit up. "Oh! I get it. Since we're super fast, we can lure robots out and deal with any stragglers!"

"Yep!" Himiko chirped before giving Emily a predatory look. "That is if you're up for the challenge."

"Of course!" Emily exclaimed before looking at Habiki. "So what do you think about taking on an Executor?"

"Uhh…" Habiki froze in place. "I probably could take one down, but I might pass out in the process."

"If they're that tough, I'd wear myself out just as quickly," Emily mused as she turned to Amaya. "Unless you and Midoriya want to try getting inside one of them?"

"Pass," Amaya declared, "Unless Midoriya wants to."

"Eww, no," Himiko agreed.

"Then we'll try and avoid them," Emily decided. "It would be a waste of our resources to try taking one down then."

"Alright, so that's the plan then," Habiki said. "Song and I will use our firepower to blow up as many robots as we can. Midoriya and Yuki will bring us some bad guys to blow up and stop anything from getting too close for comfort."

"Yep!"

"Yeah!"

"Perfect!"

After settling on their plan, Emily extended her hand, palm down - a gesture she had picked up during her internship - and looked at the other three expectantly. Rolling her eyes, Himiko placed her hand on top of her friend's, before Habiki and Amaya followed suit.

"One, two, three, go team!" Emily shouted before everyone flung their hands into the air.

Ritual done, the four walked to their assigned bus and boarded it, using the few minutes it would take to arrive at Ground Gamma to hash out the details of their plan. The industrial nature of the zone, with exposed pipes and steel walls, could be used to their advantage. After all, nobody could recall the robots climbing, and if they found a particularly dense group of pipes, they could hide out where the robots couldn't reach them.

However, those same pipes could be dangerous if the zero-point robot came near them and knocked them loose, scattering them everywhere. It made Himiko wish her best friend was there. But Atsuko was part of the Beta team, so they had to make do without her quirk to protect them.

When they arrived they all went silent, checking their equipment and earpieces one last time as they waited for the signal.

Finally, the earpieces crackled to life, and Kan's voice could be heard loud and clear. "Heroes, you have thirty minutes. Good luck!"

The four rushed in, with Himiko getting ahead of the others just like they planned. She made it to the first intersection safely, her back slamming against a wall as she edged up to the corner of a building. Peeking out she saw their first target - a pack of one- and two-pointers.

Perfect.

Looking back at her teammates, she waved them forward. "You two ready?"

Habiki and Emily both nodded as they approached. Habiki clapped his hands a few times as he walked out while the lights on Emily's gauntlet began to light up one by one. The pair gave each other a knowing look before stepping out into the street.

Raising her arms, Emily fired a pair of Light Arrows at the pack of robots. The smaller of the two spheres of light incinerated a one-point robot, while the larger sphere, backed by her gauntlet's power, destroyed a three-pointer and damaged a two-pointer behind it. She didn't let up, and immediately began firing more Arrows at the robots, causing as much damage as she could.

Once the robots were aware of the threat, they quickly turned and charged the students. Habiki took that as his cue, and stepped forward, channeling all of his stored kinetic energy into his fist. Letting out a defiant roar, he punched the ground, releasing the kinetic energy and causing a shockwave to ripple forward until it crashed into the robots, destroying half a dozen and knocking others aside. Taking advantage of their disarray, Emily launched a fresh wave of Arrows, disabling and destroying more robots.

Encouraged by their early success, the group pushed further into their training grounds, looking for their next target of opportunity.

That was when they realized their mistake.

The number of robots grew surprisingly quickly, and the AI used by these robots was significantly more advanced than what they experienced at the entrance exam. Before they knew it, they had been surrounded.

"Midoriya!" Habiki called out.

Whipping around, Himiko saw Amaya was partially transformed into water, her hands and arms buried inside the head of a robot as sparks flew around her. That left two more robots advancing toward Habiki and Emily. Flipping her knife into a reverse grip, she charged the lead robot, kicking off the ground to land squarely on its back. In one smooth motion, her arm snapped out, cutting wires and tubes. Feeling the robot going limp underneath her, she stood up on its careening form and used the motion to launch herself at the other robot that was approaching Emily.

Given a moment to breathe, Habiki managed to build up enough kinetic energy to unleash another shockwave, clearing a path for them.

"Let's move!"

Nobody had to be told twice as they ran, ducking down a narrow alleyway. They had hoped it would offer a moment's reprieve, but that's when they heard it - the zero-pointer was nearby. Daring to look, Himiko walked to the end of the alleyway and poked her head out, only to see the mammoth robot rumbling toward them.

"It's coming this way!" Himiko warned.

"We can't go backward!" Emily protested.

"Where else are we supposed to go?" Amaya asked.

Looking around, Himiko spotted another alleyway across the thoroughfare, leading even deeper into the Training Ground. Making a snap decision, she turned toward her teammates. "Follow me, and hurry!"

Dashing across the street, Himiko was afraid to look back and see if anyone was caught by the robot until she heard three people slam into the wall behind her. Sighing in relief, she bobbed her head. "Ok, let's keep going!"

The minutes stretched on seemingly forever as they continued, trying their best to avoid being surrounded again. Relying on Himiko and Amaya, they tried to strike hard and fast, destroying a pack of robots before moving on to their next encounter. The routine worked and they avoided any major incidents, but after twenty minutes, everyone was starting to get worn out.

Poking her head out of a side alley, Himiko looked around, trying to discern their next move. Deciding on a direction, she motioned for her teammates to follow her as she ran across another street and slipped into what she thought was a safe side alley.

Until she ran face-first into a pack of robots.

"Fall back!" Himiko cried, dancing backward as she avoided a massive metallic tale that struck the ground she was standing on moments before. The moment she landed she sensed another attack and was forced to move again, barely sidestepping a metallic claw of a one-pointer robot.

As she landed, she realized how much trouble she was in. The robots had managed to surround her.

"I can't help," Habiki called out in frustration. "Not without hurting Midoriya!"

Himiko wanted to throw a snarky comment back at her friend but was interrupted by a claw slamming into her torso, knocking the wind out of her. She stumbled back, raising a knife to defend herself only to feel another claw impact her arm. Gritting her teeth, she refused to cry out in pain as she stumbled.

"Midoriya," Emily's panicked voice cut through the haze. "Down!"

Trusting the other girl, Himiko let herself fall, collapsing onto the ground in a heap. If the robots decided to attack her she would be helpless against her, but she suddenly saw a brilliant wave of light. Screwing her eyes shut, she saw stars behind her eyelids from the flash of light as she waited.

But nothing happened.

Cautiously opening one eye, she saw no robots behind the stars. Opening the other, she saw her assailants were no more, charred metal the only evidence left behind. Carefully she pushed herself upright and looked at Emily.

"Thanks for the save!" She called out, seeing the panic on the other girl's face quickly fading. It was strange and unnatural and was gone so quickly that Himiko wondered if it was a trick of the stars still dancing in her vision.

"D-don't do that again!" Emily huffed as she crossed her arms. "You're supposed to be our spotter! We're blind without you!"

Himiko retrieved her dropped knives before flashing the other girl a playful grin. "Gotta keep surprising our enemies."

"I don't think that works on robots!"

Himiko stuck out her tongue before she looked around. The alleyway was clear, but everyone looked worn and spent. She didn't feel great either and knew she was going to be sore from the blows she took. With a loud sigh, she turned toward her classmates. "So what's the plan?"

"I don't know how much more I have left in me," Emily admitted. "That blast wore me out."

"Same here," Amaya said. To emphasize her point she grabbed the water tank she kept on her back and showed it to them, its lights blinking red. "I'm out of extra water. If I end up turning into water again… I'm not gonna be able to return to human form until you get me to a water source."

Habiki leaned against a wall, letting gravity do its work as he slid to the ground. "This test was brutal. Think we have enough points?"

"I hope so," Emily said. "Otherwise I will never forgive you."

"Thirty minutes," Habiki said. "They really wanted us to go all out huh?"

"Most fights are over in the span of one or two minutes," Amaya explained. "I don't know what they were thinking."

"Plus Ultra," Emily said. "It wouldn't be UA otherwise."

"Sometimes I wish it wasn't," Himiko sighed.

Coming to a silent decision, the four resigned themselves to wait out the last few minutes, remaining on high alert in case of any final surprises in the trial's last moments.

Fortunately none came, and they all sighed in relief as they heard the radio crackle to life. "The villain attacks have been successfully repelled, all students return to the staging area."

The four practically dragged themselves back to the bus, riding back in silence to rejoin their classmates. Time once again seemed to stretch on for eternity as they waited, until Kan appeared, a grave look on his face. He examined his twenty students, silently evaluating each one as they nervously awaited what he had to say.

Finally, his face shifted as a huge fanged smile split his face. "I am pleased to announce that everybody passed!"

With a sudden burst of energy, the students cheered!

Nobody in their class was getting left behind.