A/N: Alright, ladies and gents, let's get into it!

Team Lightning Drop

"I'll get to the rescue center to start evacuations!" Izuku shouted as he broke away from Kurai, heading away from the army of black-clad sidekicks that marked Gang Orca's crew. "You're more suited for wide-range combat than me, so I'll focus my efforts on getting the bystanders to safety!"

"You got it!"

Leaving his friend to accomplish the task, Kurai poured more power into his legs and shot toward the minions, landing next to Shindo, who glanced over his shoulder as he placed his palms on the ground. "Stay back a sec!" he told the younger student. "I'll trip 'em up at one-second intervals, you make sure they don't go after the citizens!"

"Can do!"

Shindo's power immediately tore up the ground, causing many of the charging men and women to stumble and lose momentum in their mad rush for the medical triage. "Here we go!"

"Scattered Bullet!" Kurai's shout echoed over the rumbling earth, accompanying a large energy blast that flew up into the sky before splitting apart and raining down on the sidekicks, further halting their progress. As this happened, he remembered something about Gang Orca's chosen tactics, so he started to say, "Watch out, the leader's gonna-!"

"Nice try!" a deep voice rumbled as the pro hero suddenly appeared in front of the pair, his speed surprising the both of them.

Kurai knew what was coming next, but there was no more time to warn his ally. He powered his body up to maximum and leaped up high, just in time for Gang Orca's sonar pulse to overwhelm Shindo, and barely miss him. The second-year let out a pained cry as several of his senses were assaulted, resulting in him collapsing over backwards, a stupefied look on his face.

Kurai landed behind his hero, but there was no time to rest, as he had found himself in the middle of a large cluster of sidekicks, all of them armed with quick-dry cement guns. "Hey, Hermes," he said with a smile as he noticed a familiar figure.

"What the-?! Hikari?"

"Not today," Kurai answered before he slammed his fist into his former ally's stomach, causing him to let out a choked gasp before he went flying into his compatriots, bowling over four more of them. In the same movement, Kurai drew his sword and slashed through a couple of cement bolts that would have coated his body and immobilized him. This was followed by a trio of energon blasts that took out two more henchman. "Today, I am the Guardian Hero, Kai!"

"A bold claim," Gang Orca rumbled as he turned around slowly, his red eyes fixating on his former intern. "But can you back it up?"

"Only one way to find out!"

Despite his projected confidence, and the fact that he was putting up a valiant effort, Kurai knew that Gang Orca would blast him with a sonic wave the second that he had an opening, and he couldn't dodge forever. He thought about trying to trigger his root chakra power again, but he wasn't entirely certain of how he did it the first time. I need to stick to what I know.

He felt a shadow loom over him as he struck down another henchman, and he knew that he was about to get pulverized by the large man that he so admired. I think I know how Izuku felt when All Might pummeled him and Bakugo, he thought as he braced himself for the worst, even as he was grabbed up by the neck and held aloft by the massive hero's clawed hand. He was jostled hard enough that he dropped his sword, the light blade deactivating as it clattered away on the broken ground.

He flinched when he heard the sound waves, but he quickly realized that he was not on the receiving end of the man's quirk. There was a crumbling sound accompanied by a sudden drop in temperature, and Kurai knew what that meant.

"Todoroki!" he laughed, despite the fierce grip around his neck. "It's about time!" If he could get free, he had a good idea for how to deal with the massive hero- after all, Kurai knew the specifics of his quirk and its weaknesses as well as Midoriya knew just about every hero that had been around for any number of seasons. "Is Shindo okay?!"

"Midoriya got him to safety right before I got here."

"Stay back, hero!" Gang Orca warned as Todoroki ceased his icy assault, having realized that it wasn't making any headway against the larger man. Holding Kurai out by the neck for emphasis, he added, "You wouldn't want the blood of your comrade on your hands, would you?"

"Cheap shot," Kurai grunted as he flexed his metal hand. "But I learned a new trick since we last met." Before Gang Orca could wonder at his statement, he let out a bellow as he felt a burning pain stab into his back, dropping Kurai as he whirled around to see just what had happened.

As he did, Kurai rolled away and held out his robotic hand, causing his sword to fly out of Gang Orca's back, where it had been embedded, and into his waiting grip. "Thank you, Akarui," he chortled as he put more power into the weapon, increasing the length back to normal size. Good thing I shortened it to the size of a shoto, or else he'd have been really hurt.

Now Gang Orca turned back around toward the student, who was quickly joined by Todoroki, set into a steady stance that would allow him to channel either his ice or his fire instantly. "What was that, Hikari?"

"I'd call it karmic compensation," he answered cheekily. "My arm and my sword are powered by my quirk. Throw in a little tampering from my mechanic, and you get a weapon that responds like a magnet to my hand. I lose my arm, I gain a new power- equivalent exchange, I think." Silently, he thanked his brother for thinking to add such a function to the arm when first designing the piece.

"That's an impressive trick," Gang Orca nodded. "But a hero must rely on more than tricks and his quirk to succeed against impossible odds." He looked like he wanted to add more, but the wind around them began to stir, sweeping through the ranks of the faux villains, making it hard for them to stand, though the UA students remained untouched by the stiff breeze.

Todoroki looked up and over to see that Yoarashi had arrived, who glared at him with contempt, a sentiment that he shared, though for different reasons. "Why are you here?" he asked as he reaffixed his gaze on Gang Orca, who looked like he was considering how he should now proceed. "Your quirk would be more suited for rescue and evacuation."

"Hey now," Kurai said before the other student could make his reply. "This is somebody we could use help against. If he's really as good as Mister Aizawa says he is, he'll be a big help." In a lowered tone, he added to his friend, "Get your fire ready. Gang Orca weakens considerably if he gets dried out."

"I don't think Yoarashi is going to help us when he's so focused on hating me," Todoroki muttered in a lowered tone as his left hand was engulfed in flames. He and Kurai were now standing parallel to one another as they continued to face down Gang Orca, their arms outstretched away from their opponent, palms facing one another as light and heat began to pool between them.

"You two have a history?"

"Something like that. Now's not the time for that, though. We've got villains to deal with."

Kurai hesitated before he said, "Hey, Yoarashi!"

"Huh?!"

"Mind taking on the henchman? Todoroki and I can handle Gang Orca," he said as the temperature continued to rise in accordance with the increasing luminance between him and his friend. "We've been trained together, and I've interned under him, so we stand a better chance at taking him down, but only if you help keep the minions off of us!"

Yoarashi surprised him by scowling and saying, "I'm surprised that the son of Endeavor managed to find someone that likes him enough to fall for his act." The winds keeping him airborne intensified, a clear sign that he was getting ready for an attack. "I can handle this myself! You two should make sure the citizens are safe!"

But Kurai and Todoroki weren't listening to him anymore. "Ready?!" Kurai growled as the light between their hands became nearly blinding.

"On your mark." Over the last few weeks, Kurai had made it a point to come up with and practice combined ultimate attacks with his friends, just in case they had a chance to work together in the field. Now it seemed as though that extra thinking was going to pay off.

"Kaito Combo…"

"Hell FLASH!" Taking a step forward and flinging their fists toward Gang Orca so that their backs nearly touched, Energon and Todoroki's flames blasted forth at their command, threatening to overwhelm the boss 'villain' with an intense heatwave.

"With fire…"

"And light…"

"We'll stop you!"

Meanwhile, during the same moment, Yoarashi's winds began to sweep across the ground. The flames were nearly put out by the other student's interference, but the combined technique flew straight and true to smash into Gang Orca, who barely responded in time with a sonar blast. The winds were sent upward by the heat flare, which prompted outrage from the Shiketsu student.

"Seriously?!" he demanded as Kurai and Todoroki continued to pour power into their attack, straining to weaken their enemy's defenses. "You did that on purpose, glory hogs!"

"Ignore him," Kurai told his friend as sweat dripped down his body. "He's not going to listen to reason, so the best we can do is try to work around him."

Todoroki grunted, but he kept up the assault on their enemy, who was still keeping them back with his sonar pulse.

Kurai felt his head begin to swim from the intensity of their attack, but he did his best to ignore the fact. He wasn't used to prolonged exposure to his friend's quirk, but he knew that however uncomfortable this was making him, it was going to be ten times worse for Gang Orca. "We just need to hold out until the villain falls," he grunted out. Fortunately, the heat and dispersed energy was keeping the minions from advancing any further- for now. Sooner or later, they would find a way to either break through or get around the devastating combination of light, sound, and fire.

Good thing Banshee isn't with him anymore, Kurai thought as the air around them shimmered with the heat. Her quirk combined with his would make short work of this. He blinked away some sweat that threatened to creep into his eyes, hoping that Gang Orca would succumb to his weakness sooner rather than later, but the pro hero showed no signs of letting up with his counterattack.

"How am I supposed to take out the minions if I don't have a clear shot?!" Yoarashi yelled at them from above. "I can't get past your firewall!"

"Firewall, good name for an ultimate move," Kurai laughed hoarsely to his friend, who looked at him with concern. He could see that he wasn't doing well with the close proximity to his fire, but it wasn't like they could stop, either.

If only I could cool him down with my ice at the same time! He thought as Kurai's arm began to tremble with exhaustion. Taking in a deep breath, he decided to swallow his pride and do what the situation called for. Over his shoulder, he shouted, "My friend isn't going to last much longer! Once he goes down, I need to get him away from here and make sure that he's okay! Can you hold off the villains while I do that?!"

"Of course!" Yoarashi shouted back. "But this wouldn't have happened in the first place if-!"

"Thanks!" Todoroki cut him off as Kurai finally collapsed, his body overheating from the fire that he had been so close to. Immediately shutting off his flames, the heterochromic boy switched to his ice as fast as he could and conjured a wall between him and the enemy, though not high enough to block the wind-user's line of sight. Once that was done, he snatched up Kurai's limp form, put him on his back, and began to skate at a high speed with his ice.

I can't believe Gang Orca didn't fall to that! he thought as he ran.

"Todoroki…" Kurai groaned as he continued to sweat as if with fever. "The fight isn't… over. That guy… He's gonna need help against Gang Orca, whether he'll admit it or not." His metal arm felt hot to the touch, even for Todoroki, so he could only imagine what it felt like to have it attached to his friend's skin and muscles.

"How am I supposed to help him if he won't work with me? Besides, you're in no condition to keep fighting."

"True… But that doesn't mean I can't help." As Kurai spoke, the veins in his body began to glow a strange green that caught Todoroki's attention. As the boy drifted toward unconsciousness, he remembered the words that Ingenium had told him over the phone after receiving his new arm.

"Even if I can't be out there, running toward someone who needs saving, I want to know that I can still help them, through you. Make me proud, Kurai, and use our arms to protect people again."

"What are you-?" Todoroki asked as Kurai placed a hand on his friend's chest.

"Ultimate Move… Giving Heart."

With the firewall down, Gang Orca's minions were once again free to advance against the retreating civilians, who were greatly slowed on account of their injuries. Izuku had started to carry Shindo away, but was now stopped by the older student, who immediately put himself on his hands and knees on the ground again. At his silent command, the ground broke apart, and the minions' formation was destroyed. "Alright, I've tripped up the henchmen," he grunted. "You keep them back and we'll hope that reinforcements come to help us soon."

"Whoa!" Izuku said, impressed by his ally's recovery time. "How are you back up like that?"

"My quirk's backlash is pretty similar to that sonar blast, so I've got a good tolerance," Shindo grumbled. "I was going to give that whale a surprise attack, but then you first years ruined it!"

Izuku felt sweat slide down his neck as he turned away from the angry glare of the other boy. "I'll just go take care of the sidekicks, then."

"I'll try to warn you when I'm gonna hit them again," Shindo acknowledged as the younger boy took off, green energy covering his body.

Izuku was quickly upon the enemy forces like a bolt of green lightning, moving too fast and striking too swiftly for them to get a lock on his position in order to trap him with a cement gun. Half the time, they just wound up shooting each other while he kicked or punched another one of their comrades into submission.

This continued on for what felt like an eternity to the boy, but couldn't have been more than a minute before he felt a heatwave unlike anything he had experienced before sweep through the area. It was like a physical blow to his entire body, and he faltered from it. Fortunately, the henchman were equally incapacitated, otherwise he would have been in serious trouble. They all had their attention drawn to a roaring pillar of fire that seemed to rage all the way up to the very heavens.

Is that… Todoroki's fire?!

A few minutes ago…

The half-and-half boy had just met up with Team RWBY, and after asking them to take an unconscious Kurai back to the medical center, he made to go back and fight Gang Orca, armed with a gift from his friend. He was only slightly surprised when Yang, Blake, and Weiss said that they would join him while Ruby sped off toward the triage, promising to come back as soon as possible.

"No offense to you, but I don't think it would be wise for you to come near me during the fight that I'm about to have," he told them somberly, his eyes flicking back and forth between the three of them as he advanced toward the oncoming villains. He was aware that some had gotten past Yoarashi, who he could no longer see in the air, but he trusted the other heroes to handle it. Something tells me that Midoriya will make an appearance if those people are in danger, he thought with a wry smile.

"We're more combat heroes than a rescue squad, so we figured we should come to where the action is," Blake explained.

"We can handle ourselves," Yang said as she cocked her gauntlets, loading them with fresh clips of grenades. "We have to dodge friendly fire all the time back home, cos everyone uses guns-"

"Not everyone," Weiss corrected her as she twirled her rapier.

"Like I said, everyone uses guns, so we have to keep an eye out in every direction every time we get into a live combat situation," Yang finished, much to her teammate's irritation.

Todoroki merely shrugged at that. "I warned you."

As soon as they had Gang Orca back in their sights, the air around Todoroki began to heat up rapidly, causing his comrades to sweat heavily, though there was no sign of a fire yet. His eyes gleamed with a strange green that looked nothing like the orbs of his birth. Trying to escape the sudden pressure that he was exerting, the girls fanned out, putting themselves between the villains and the evacuating civilians.

"Ah, I see you've returned," Gang Orca said as he tossed aside Yoarashi, who barely grunted at the impact. He was clearly out for the count, and now the pro hero turned toward his new targets, a very large and empty water bottle in his hand.

So that's how he kept up with us, Todoroki realized. The man was weak to fire, so of course he would have a way to keep himself hydrated if he came across a heat-type villain. It's not for no reason that he's number ten.

Aloud, he announced, "This is your last warning, villains. Leave while you can. I won't show mercy this time."

"Yeah!" Yang cheered as her friends leveled their swords at the enemy forces. "What he said!"

"Three of you could not defeat me before, so I doubt that three fresh targets and an exhausted one will make for much of a challenge," Gang Orca rumbled as he began to walk toward them slowly, confidence in his gaze.

An idea occurred to Todoroki, so without taking his eyes off of the pro, he said, "Schnee, can you get that guy from Shiketsu out of there?"

"Of course."

"Then do it, and make sure to keep the both of you cool," he said as the heat somehow began to grow even worse, cooking the stone on which they all stood, and making the American girls look at him with a tinge of nervousness. To Blake and Yang, he said, "Get clear, but be ready to move in if I go down."

"What are you-?"

Fire unlike anything the girls or Gang Orca had ever seen before erupted from the boy, engulfing him in a swirling tornado of flames that stretched up higher than the eye can see. The heat was unimaginable- everyone that was close to it felt as though they were going to melt from the ferocity of the plasma, and he hadn't even begun to attack yet.

This time, even Gang Orca was taken aback. Where was he hiding that kind of power? he wondered as the tornado began to move toward him, slowly but surely. Unconsciously, he began to do something that he had not done in a long time. He started to give ground before the terrible heat. This kind of fire would have been hazardous for any regular person, but for the pro it felt like death was creeping closer to him.

It was at this moment that Weiss used a combination of various hexes to get Yoarashi out of the line of fire and make a swift retreat with the young man in tow. Even Yang was stunned and afraid of the display that Todoroki was putting on for them, and Blake looked as though she wanted to swoon from the heat.

Gang Orca then realized what he was doing, and forced his feet to stay planted where they were. Drawing in a deep breath to try and compensate for the fact that the fire was eating up most of the oxygen around them, he unleashed a sonic blast at the student at maximum force, hoping to penetrate the flames and knock him out. If he keeps this up, there's no way we can continue the attack. Around him, his sidekicks raised their guns and fired their concrete shots alongside him, hoping to score a reprieve from the hellish fire.

Todoroki saw the faux villains through the gaps in his flames, and he knew what was coming next. Without hesitation, he sent forth a wave of ice from within the fire tornado, intercepting the sonar pulses and concrete blobs while reducing the temperature of the air rapidly so that those near him didn't pass out from a heat stroke. However, in spite of the bitter cold that he had conjured, the fire tornado did not stop.

He was using both sides simultaneously.

Hikari said that this could only amplify what's already inside me, he thought as he looked down at himself in wonder. Does this mean that someday I'll be able to use both sides at the same time, on my own?

He didn't waste any time trying to think about it at the moment. His friend had told him that the power boost was only temporary before he passed out, and he wasn't entirely sure how much longer it would last. I need to end this, now.

He dropped the fire and ice assault before using his cold power to skate forward, calling out to Blake and Yang, "Come on! We need to finish this while they're still recovering!"

"Oh, now you need our help?!" the blonde girl demanded, even though she and her partner chased after him.

They ran up and over the ice barrage that remained from Todoroki's assault, the cold refreshing his comrades and allowing them to breathe without feeling like their lungs were on fire. The second that they cleared the edge, they leaped out into empty space and opened fire on the first targets that they saw.

Yang pummeled the henchmen with grenades that scattered them like bowling pins, her shots aimed carefully at spaces between them, as not to blow them to pieces. Blake alternated between shooting the sidekicks with rubber bullets and using the keen edge of her sword to destroy the cement guns as she and her shadow clones further confused the heat-stricken people.

For his part, Todoroki planted himself right in front of Gang Orca, who looked like he was still standing strong, but the boy knew that he had to be close to his limit. Stretching out his left arm so that his palm faced the man directly, he said in a quiet tone, "Tell your men to stand down and submit to the heroes. I don't want to have to hurt you anymore, but I will if you make me."

The large man hesitated, then opened his mouth to speak, but before he could, an alarm sounded across the arena once again, halting everyone's movements. "Yeah, so…" the overseer mumbled through the speakers. "At this time, the test is now completed. I know it may seem anticlimactic, but that's just the way it is. If all students could make their way to the final orientation site, we can let you know how you did…"

Todoroki lowered his hand and cocked his head up at the pro hero, who regarded him passively. "Tell me," the student said. "Was I close to defeating you?"

"I am of the belief that you should always be planning for the next move that may never come," Gang Orca answered, his heavy footsteps carrying him away from the boy, who watched him go. "Don't ever assume victory over an opponent until he's locked up in a cell. Even then, you must be prepared to face the reality that your enemies may escape to come after you. Always be on the lookout for the flaw in your plan that may be your undoing."

"And what was your flaw in this case?" Todoroki pressed as Blake and Yang came running over.

Gang Orca declined to answer at all this time, moving on without another word, but Todoroki felt as though he had done well against the pro hero. Only the test scores would prove him right or wrong, but in that moment, he felt satisfied with himself. I just hope that Hikari was able to pass, even if he was knocked out of commission.

Kurai was awake and aware by the time that the last of the students that had rescued the civilian actors walked in to receive the results of their exams. He greeted Todoroki and the others as they came in, and was quick to ask his friend how the power-up had worked while they waited for the stragglers to come in from around the arena.

"It worked very well, but it's difficult to control that much energy at once," the heterochromic boy answered, his eyes having returned to their normal appearance.

"You don't gotta tell me."

"Somebody wanna fill us in on what happened out there?" Yang asked as she approached the gathering of peers, followed by Yaoyorozu. "Since when can Todoroki light up the sky all the way to outer space?"

"That was actually my doing," Kurai said as the others turned to look at him incredulously. "It's the second ultimate move that I've been working on since I got out of the hospital."

"Wait, I thought your second move was that dodgy-thing you did when we got separated," Uraraka piped up. "Do you have a third one?!"

"Maybe?" Kurai answered uncertainly. "I'm still not entirely sure how that dodging thing happened, myself- I need to see if I can do it again. But that's not the part that I'm trying to get at. The ultimate move- that I practiced, anyway- is called 'Giving Heart'. It lets me transfer energy from my body into somebody else, augmenting their quirk for a little while."

"Giving Heart?" Yang chuckled. "That sounds like one of Blake's bad romance novels."

"Yang!"

"Corny name or not, that power-up was something else to witness," Yaoyorozu said, looking impressed. "How did you discover how to use it?"

"While I was in the hospital doing my rehab, my brother went into more detail about how he changed my quirk," Kurai reminded them. "Instead of connecting the 'overdrive' part of my quirk into my frontal cortex, he apparently tied it into my chakra points. Now each one of those can have a big impact on how I channel my powers."

"Are you saying that you can have seven different power sets?!" Sero exclaimed excitedly. "That's amazing, dude!"

"Well, I dunno if 'power set' is the right term," Kurai said as he scratched at the back of his head. "I mean, I don't actually know what channeling my quirk through each of those chakras is going to do me. I only have a good handle on two of them, and I have no idea what the other five- well, okay I don't know what four of them will do, and I'm still not entirely certain that I understand how that third one worked."

"Which two do you understand?" Yaoyorozu asked. She seemed very curious about the change in his powers that she had assisted in bringing about, seeing as she was the one that crafted the device that had saved her friend's life.

"My Divine Eye is tied into the Ajna chakra, which is more colloquially known as the 'third eye', and it supposedly rests in your forehead." As Kurai spoke, he tapped the spot on his face where the spectral eye would appear whenever he channeled its power. "It deals with a person's intuition, which I've never really had a problem connecting to. If I was blinded by self-delusions of some sort, then it wouldn't work for me."

"We've all seen that, but where does a nuclear-powered Todoroki come into play?" Yang asked impatiently.

"I was getting to that," Kurai grumbled as he noticed Ojiro, Hagakure, and Tokoyami coming into the orientation area. "The Anahata chakra resides in my heart, so it deals with love; or if that's too broad of a term, my connections to the people I hold dear to me. If I have a vested trust in a person, it allows me to literally connect to them with my quirk, and give them a piece of myself- my power. The drawback is that if I let my sense of grief poison my relationships with those people, then the power probably won't work at all."

"Wait, so…?" Jiro hesitated, seemingly afraid to ask what might be a highly insensitive question.

Hoping to set her at ease, Kurai smiled gently and told her, "Yeah, I was surprised, too. I figured that with everything that's happened to me, my own sense of sorrow and regret might just be my undoing altogether. But the tragedies that I've had to suffer through have only strengthened the bonds that I have with my loved ones."

"So, who would this power work with, then?" Yaoyorozu asked, finally curious enough to volunteer another inquiry.

"Todoroki, obviously," Kurai began. "I trusted him to save my life in the forest, and he did. We also helped each other to understand something during the Sport's Festival, so there's that. I've been helping Midoriya train his quirk since school started, so we have a something of a student-teacher relationship. I'd trust him with my life, so I think he qualifies, even if we haven't tested it out, yet. Iida and I have a lot of history, and while we're not very best friends anymore, he's still a good man that I hope to call a trusted comrade for the rest of my life."

"What about Ashido, ribbit?" Asui asked.

Kurai gave vent to a sheepish grin as he answered, "How do you think I figured out how the power works? Of course Mina's the first person on that list."

"Wait, is that how she melted all that rubble during the practice test that Mister Aizawa made us do last week?" Jiro inquired. "Surprised the hell out of all of us then, but I just thought it was cos she was scared of you getting hurt again. You're saying that was actually you?"

"'Surprise' might be too light of a word, here," Hagakure giggled as Midoriya and Mina came closer to the group. "Poor Hikari passed out, too, so that didn't help anything."

"How'd that happen?"

"The backlash of the move knocks me out, cold," Kurai answered Kaminari. "The amount of time that I'm unconscious seems to depend on how much power I have in my body to give at the moment of the transfer. We were trying to combine our moves when- without getting into the specifics- I accidentally gave her my power, and wound up sleeping through her spraying enough acid to melt half the concrete in the subway."

"Scared the crap outta me," Mina grumbled as she hugged him from his left side. "Still, it came in handy, huh?"

"I'll say," Todoroki agreed. "Thank you, Hikari. I probably wouldn't have been able to pull through without you."

"You would've figured something out."

"I somehow doubt it." As Todoroki made the rebuttal, he glanced over his shoulder, where he could practically feel the glare that Yoarashi was burning into the back of his head.

"What was with that guy, anyway?"

"I'll explain it later," the half-and-half student answered as he pointed up at a large screen and platform where the overseer was, hunched over a laptop. "I think they're about to announce the results."

"Yeah, so… It would take too long for me to read off the names of all of you that passed, so we're just gonna put them up on the screen," the haggard-looking man mumbled through a yawn. "If your name isn't up there, you failed, and we'll tell you why in a moment." With that, the screen lit up with close to eighty names, and each student's eyes raced to find their name among the ranks of those that had succeeded.

Hikari… Hikari…!

Kurai's breath hitched before he and Mina turned toward one another with huge smiles on their faces. "I knew you could do it, Ashid Queen," he told her before she captured his lips with a kiss, not caring about the noises of disgust and disapproval that they were getting because of it.

When the girl released him, she giggled and said, "Not too bad yourself, Kai. Looks like Japan's next hottest hero is official." His face reddened at that, but then he surprised her by pulling her back in for another kiss, even if it was a very short one.

"We did it," he laughed breathlessly. "We really did it."

He was then firmly nudged by an armor-plated elbow, followed by Iida's voice saying, "Mind yourselves while we're in public, you two. Don't embarrass our school."

"Yes, Dad," Mina laughed. Kurai smiled, but he couldn't bring himself to laugh as he realized that while this was a great moment, it would have been perfect if he could have called his father to tell him the good news.

After they had received the more detailed results of their test, Kurai found that he had only just managed to pass the exam. "Ouch," he muttered while his pride stung as he looked down at the report that explained where he had gone wrong and where he needed to improve himself. "I think I might have to burn these- if Akarui hears about this, he'd never let me hear the end of it."

"Aw, come on," Mina said cheerfully as she held up her test scores for him to see. "I know you're mister top-of-the-class when it comes to combat, but it can't be that bad if you got a lower mark than usual."

Kurai glanced between his score and hers' before he showed the papers detailing his performance to her, along with the words, "No, this is just a bad score."

Mina blinked at the number displayed on it a few times before she said, "I think that this might be the first test we've ever taken where I outdid you." Kurai had scored an abysmal fifty-six points, just above the cutoff score of fifty. It was a pass/fail exam that wouldn't reflect on his academics, but it still hurt to know that he had only just managed to become a provisionally licensed hero. "Why'd they take so many points off of you?"

"Let's see…" he muttered as his eyes scanned the report. "For the rescue part, I didn't do too badly, actually. Apparently I talk a little more than I act, but I got the job done, and my rescues were able to be treated quickly and safely because of my actions, so that's good. I did really bad on the combat part because I fought to the point of making myself a liability to my allies on the battlefield. Self-sacrifice is a big part of heroism, but I guess it doesn't make anything better if I drag others with me into that sacrifice."

"I guess that makes sense," his girlfriend said, though she still looked a little miffed that he had been docked so many points. "But you know, you were totally awesome, the way that Todoroki told it, so there. Take that, license commission people!" And she gave him another big smile and a hug.

Of the entire class, only Bakugo failed to pass the exam, largely because he scared the civilians that he was supposed to be rescuing. There was also the fact that his group- which consisted of himself, Kaminari, and Kirishima- was the last one to bring back any survivors from the disaster zone. Even so, the other two managed to pass the test, which did nothing to improve the mood of the explosive blond student. His anger soon turned into resolve when it was revealed that those who failed the second round could take supplemental classes during the next semester, at the end of which they would be evaluated again in order to see if they could receive their provisional license. There was also the option of waiting a few months to take the test again, but the red-eyed boy adamantly refused to delay his advance into the hero world any more than it already had been.

While Bakugo stayed with the other twenty-odd students that had failed to pass the test, his classmates went to get their pictures taken, and their licenses printed. By the time that Aizawa had come to collect them, he had twenty-three officially semi-pro heroes in his care.

Regarding them all with tired eyes, he said, "Well done, those of you that passed. The world's expectations of you just got heavier, but now you can act with the authority to meet their demands. I suggest you take time this weekend to reflect on what that will look like for each of you."

"Yes, sir!" they all replied, though none of them could keep a straight face- they were too busy smiling at their accomplishment. Even the normally taciturn students like Tokoyami and Shoji seemed pleased with themselves.

"That test was crazier than the one back home," Ruby said as she looked down at her wallet, where one could see two different licenses. "But now I guess we're just double-ready for whatever Japan throws at us, right?" Her friends each gave their own version of an agreement to their team leader.

Seeing them together reminded Kurai of a conversation that he and his friends had been having on and off for some time now. Seeing Uraraka and Midoriya standing off to the side, he pulled Mina along with him to go and speak to them.

"Hey, you guys," he said with a large smile that they reflected back at him. "We did it."

"Yeah, we did," Izuku laughed as he exchanged hi-fives with his friends.

"Deku was telling me that you were thinking about us making a hero team again," Uraraka said, surprising Kurai with her insight. "I was feeling pretty excited about it, you know? I'm surprised that you changed your mind, Hikari."

"Kurai," he corrected her with another smile. "If we're gonna be on the same team, might as well be on a first-name basis, right? And yeah, I wasn't sure at first, but out there today, I realized how reassuring it is to have someone with you to watch your back- someone that you know isn't gonna shaft you for personal gain. I'm not saying that we should be entirely dependent on each other, but camaraderie can make a huge difference in situations like the ones we just had simulated for us."

"Why us, though?" Uraraka asked him curiously. "I'd have thought that you and Iida might make a team, now that you've made up. Either that, or with Todoroki, seeing as you guys made a pretty good combo out there today. Of course, you and Deku would make a crazy good team on your own, you know?"

Kurai exchanged a look with Izuku, who nodded slightly before they returned their gazes back to their girlfriends. "There's a reason that we both want you on a team with us," the green-haired boy began. "Can we talk about it more tonight after dinner? We'd better do it in a room, since there's some things we need to keep private."

"Sounds interesting," Mina said with a grin, though she thought she might have at least some idea of what Izuku wanted to talk about. "I'm game."

"Me too," Uraraka added, seemingly happy that the boys weren't interested in leaving her behind, in spite of her assurances that they could do so.

"Ooh, but we need a team name!" Mina said before they could move to rejoin the rest of the class. "How about the 'Deku Squad?"

"Why my name?!"

"Duh, you'd be team captain," Mina laughed. "You've got the most superhero know-how out of any of us! We were all hoping that you would help us come up with a game plan for the rescue part of the test, but you ran off and left Kurai to do it!"

"Hey!" her boyfriend protested. "We did fine, didn't we?"

"Thanks, but I don't think I'm comfortable with that name," Izuku admitted.

"Magenta Menaces!"

"What?!"

"Ochaco and I bring the magenta, you two are the menaces," Mina told them, though Kurai was pretty sure that she was just messing with them. Even so…

"That is a hard pass."

"Team MIKO!"

"Like Team RWBY?" Uraraka asked. "You're using the first letters of our names to make an acronym, right?"

"Yes!"

"No."

"Gah, you're no fun, Kurai!"

"I actually have a name," Midoriya volunteered, instantly capturing the attention of his friends. "I've actually been thinking about it since our double-date… And, well…"

"What is it, pal?" Kurai prompted him. He had a feeling that it would be a good name- after all, this was Izuku they were talking about. The guy lived and breathed heroes.

"Team Lightning Drop."

"…Cool, but I feel like an explanation is needed," Mina said after a moment.

"Well, Kurai uses a type of light as a weapon, and my quirk generates lightning on my body, so there's that," he started. "And when you first started using your quirk, Ashido, you told me that you could only make a few drops at a time. And Ochaco, whenever she releases her quirk, she drops her target. Team Lightning Drop." He paused, waiting pensively for their judgement.

"I like it a lot!" Uraraka declared, causing her boyfriend to blush while she praised him. "You're really good at this name thing, Deku!"

"W-Well, actually, you gave me my hero name, so maybe I should have asked you for some help…"

"Nah, like I said, I really like it!"

"Me too," Mina nodded.

"Me three," Kurai agreed. "Nice work, Izuku."

"Thanks… I just hope that someday, people will hear our name and feel safe, you know?" the greenette said with an embarrassed smile.

"I know they will," Kurai assured him. "We're gonna be a great team out there, mark my words. We'll be the number one hero team, with the top hero to lead the way."

Kai: I have to give it to you, that was a fairly charming way to end this chapter.

Deku: Right? I'm excited to see that we really are going to move forward with the four of us becoming a hero team in the future!

Mataras: It's certainly going to change a few dynamics, I'll say that much.

Deku: How so?

Mataras: Well if I gave away all the answers here, what would be the point of the story?

Kai: Yeah, alright, we don't need to do this song and dance again. I'll just say that I'm kind of surprised that you didn't fail me for the exam- not that I'm complaining.

Mataras: You did well enough to pass, there's no two ways about it. I did consider having you fail here, but that would derail some of my later plans pretty badly, so I decided to make it be a close thing- which will have its own set of consequences, I can assure you.

Kai: What does-? You know what, never mind. We'll find out when we find out.

Mataras: Now you're learning.

Deku: Hey, did you manage to get any commissions for your artwork yet?

Mataras: Unfortunately, no. Not yet. I'm hoping that will change sometime in the future, but even if it doesn't, I'm still going to keep doing what I enjoy, and maybe eventually I'll get good enough to where people will want to buy my stuff. It's not the end of the world, you know?

Kai: Well, hopefully your luck will turn around soon.

Mataras: I appreciate that. That also means that I feel a little guilty about what's going down in the next chapter...

Kai: What did you do...?

Mataras: Next time- Born of Darkness

Kai: What did you do?!

Deku: Whatever comes next, I know we're ready to Go Beyond!

Mataras: Plus Ultra!

Kai: Stop dodging my-!

Next time on Your Hero Academia: Unveiling...

They quickly made their way toward their friend's door, noticing that it was still shut tight once they stood around it. "Maybe we should just leave him alone?" Uraraka suggested nervously, not wanting to cause their troubled classmate any more anxiety than necessary.

"If we don't go in there, he's not gonna have any dinner, and I'm not gonna let that happen," Mina announced before knocking rapidly on the door, before the others could stop her. "Kurai? It's Mina. I've got Ochaco and Izuku here with me, and we have pizza. You gonna let us in?"

There was silence for a few moment, so Mina went to knock again, but was stopped by her boyfriend's voice. "It's just them?" he asked from inside. "No one else?"

"Nope, Todoroki and Iida are both downstairs," she answered him. "Our class rep is giving everyone an earful about eating too much junk food, and the guys are trying to show Todoroki how to play Smash Bros- somehow with less success than when he tried Overcooked."

She was hoping to get him to laugh, but all they heard from inside was the sound of someone shuffling around and then a door being unlatched. The door opened, and his classmates were shocked at his appearance.

His eyes were red and puffy, as if he had been crying extensively, and his hair was a right mess. His gaze looked haunted, and his shoulders were sagging as if he were carrying all of his schoolbooks on his back at once.

"Dude, what happened?" Mina asked him worriedly as he stepped back to let them into his room. "Is the pain back?" The three of them quickly moved in, not wanting to give him a chance to change his mind and shut them out.

"I had some burns where the metal meets my skin earlier, but Recovery Girl healed it for me," he answered in a dull tone. "Other than that, no, my arm hasn't hurt."

"Then why do you look so down?" she asked him as she set the pizza box on his desk.

Uraraka and Midoriya were taking a moment to examine the room, as it was the first time they had been allowed inside. Kurai had decorated his walls with Gang Orca memorabilia and a photo of his family with the Iida's to give the place a touch of his identity. In a section of the room that was not present in the others' dorms, there was his worktable, a spare arm on top of it, as well as schematics for his current prosthetic, scouter, and sword. Perpendicular to his desk was what looked like a small shrine, but the other couple thought it best to bring that up another time. Right now it looked as though they had more pressing concerns.

In response to Mina's inquiry, Kurai had moved to his desk and retrieved an old-looking paper, which he held out to her. "Read that," he said as he moved to lock the door, looking defeated.