Eventually, the three days for the written exam arrived without fail. Thankfully, Weiss was fully prepared for all of her subjects, she was an expert at studying after all. The former heiress was used to making the other members of Team RWBY study before the finals, despite Ruby and Yang's aversion to studying anything not related to weapons or combat. Weiss finished each test confidently, if she failed, while disappointing, would mean that she would have to push herself even harder, sleep was for the weak. Complacency was more dangerous than exhaustion at this point. Weiss' aura could help keep her running for now.

The class gathered at the Practical Exam Area on the fourth day in their hero costumes. Weiss carefully inspected Dolt as she stood near the front of the class, since her short stature meant she wouldn't be able to see well if she was in the back. Everything was well-maintained, from her combat heel-boots which made her a few inches taller, to her gauntlet, which was shiny and reinforced by her aura. Any combat engagements would most likely end in her favor, and that was being humble. There was little Weiss could do to stop herself from smirking.

"Now we'll begin the practical exam." Mr. Aizawa said cooly, their other teachers standing beside him. From Thirteen to Midnight, seven pro heros stood in front of the class confidently. "It is possible to fail this exam, so don't make any stupid mistakes if you want to go to the training camp."

As straightforward as usual, it was one of things Weiss liked about her homeroom teacher. That and he didn't use stories that went off topic like Professor Port did.

"I expect that you all have gathered information ahead of time, and have some idea about what you'll be doing." Mr. Aizawa continued.

"Ah yeah, we're going to be fighting robots like the entrance exam!" Kaminari shouted excitedly.

"A test of courage!" Mina joined his shouting, the two sharing a single brain cell while Kyouka shook her head ever so slightly.

"Too bad!" Mr. Aizawa's capture scarf started to wiggle. Wait a minute, Weiss knew that voice. Principal Nezu popped out, placing one of his paws on Mr. Aizawa's cheek. He was still one of the cutest things she had ever seen, despite how manipulative he was. "For various reasons, the exam shall be different starting today!"

Basically, either the test was too easy, or they had to change it due to the rumors that the entire student body must've heard by now. Ignoring the class's whispers, Principal Nezu rappelled down Mr. Aizawa's body. "From now on we want to focus on person-to-person combat and hero work, and stress teaching that is closer to actual combat as well as other duties that heroes perform!"

Combat was easy enough, as demonstrated by Weiss' win in the Sports Festival. Still, who knows how much her classmates improved over their internships, like Midoriya. She eyed the green boy out of the corner of her eye. Aside from her more complex moves that involved Dust, and her summons, most of Weiss' fighting style had been exposed to the world.

That meant others would start preparing plans to counter her skills, which was natural.

"We'll have you form teams of two to fight against one teacher!" Principal Nezu seemed excited.

That was it? Depending on which teacher she faced, the final exam was either going to be painfully easy, or rather tedious.

Mr. Aizawa spoke up this time. "The pairs and who each of the pairs shall face off against have already been decided. These were determined at my discretion based on various factors, including fighting styles, grades, interpersonal relationships and the like."

That made sense, so each match was personalized to some degree. Hopefully Mr. Aizawa noticed that she got along well with one of her friends, and placed one of them with her. That would be the best situation she could hope for.

"First off, Schnee and Todoroki are one team…"

Weiss' eyes widened in shock as Mr. Aizawa continued listing off the teams, but she was no longer paying any attention. What was the meaning of this?! Aside from their brief interactions at the Sports Festival and his creepy staring, her relationship with Todoroki was practically nonexistent-

Oh no, did he also think they were related?!

Mr. Aizawa's bored look turned into a sadistic grin.

"And they'll be fighting me."

Damn it…

A few days earlier

"With the Hero Killer bolding acting so close to UA, and the Nomu attack in Hosu City, there is a possibility that villains will start to be reinvigorated." Principal Nezu said from his seat beside Shota. The Hero Killer suddenly relocating to Musutafu took everyone off guard, including Shota. There were no indications or warnings before he attacked Mt. Lady, but that was a single piece of the puzzle.

Why Mt. Lady, who was a rising hero, and not one that was better established? It made no sense, until Shota remembered that the injured hero was also publicly known to be close to Weiss Schnee. It made sense, she won the first year Sports Festival, and had a successful idol career outside of school.

Choosing to intern with Kamui Woods after the attack and his subsequent capture of Stain was suspicious, but there was nothing Shota could do until he gathered more hard evidence, not mere guesses and hunches.

"It would be better to prevent that before it begins, but as a school, it would be completely best to be certain before making any moves." Snipe spoke up. "If we consider how fights against villains are starting to intensify, then combat training against robots will no longer be practical."

Snipes' words were clear, the exams would have to be changed. The Sniper hero had already submitted what he believed should be the new exam. Pitting two students against a member of the faculty, it sounded promising, but needed a few adjustments.

"What do you think, Principal Nezu?' Shota spoke up, keeping his arms crossed against his chest. This discussion would be useless if the boss didn't agree with his teachers.

"I also agree with changing the practical exam." The Principal closes his eyes, in deep thought. "What should we do to keep the students from being in even more danger?" He looked up with a mischievous smile on his muzzle.

"The answer is simple."

Shota agreed, and the other teachers nodded as well. Working with Nezu for years meant that they were a bit used to his line of thought.

"We must have the students themselves become stronger." Yup, just what Shota was thinking.

"That's true."

"I agree."

"No objections here."

Shota grabbed his stack of papers he had prepared as soon as Snipe submitted his idea for the practical.

"Then to determine the teams. First, Todoroki, in general he's doing well, but overall he tends to use brute force and underestimate others, hence his loss at the Sports Festival." Not having his emotions under control also didn't help.

"And Schnee is easily one of the strongest students to have entered UA, but she relies on her quirk and sword more than anything else." That girl had given Shota more than a few headaches. "She also tends to underestimate her opponents, and plays around instead of taking her opponents seriously."

She still refused to go all out, to use all of her strength. Even during her fight with Bakugou during the Sports Festival final, she used her sword in her right hand instead of her left, using a handicap.

"Therefore, I shall erase their quirks and take advantage of her weakness in close combat, and their over-reliance on their quirks." Shota said boredly. The hardest part of the exam would be disarming Schnee from her blade, but that should be easy enough.

Pride always came before a fall.

A/N

First chapter of the year and first of many more to come I hope!

There were several options I almost chose for the practical, but after getting some advice I decided on going for something to help build other characters.

As usual, I hope it was fun and enjoyable.

Fun fact of the day:

K-Pop superband BTS had a brief cameo in the story during Ahri's flashback chapter. Chakho is a reference to their action webtoon!

Till next time on Schnee: Hero or Huntress!