It was the last week of the school year: Kuri's last week as a 10th grader. If she looked at it from her perspective as an American, this was her final week as a sophomore. But she was technically a freshman at UA, so it was like her second last week as a freshman. It had been nearly six months since she'd transferred to UA, and now she only had two more years left at the school. Only two more years with her new friends. Only two more years with Bakugo.

Kuri shook away the thought. She didn't like thinking about how limited her time was with all of them. The others were lucky. Even after graduation, they'd still be able to see each other often because they live in the same area. If Kuri wanted to visit, she'd only be able to come a few times a year at the most.

As much as she loved living in California, sometimes she wished that she didn't have to go back home. Alas, it was just a dream. Eventually, she'd return to the U.S., become a pro hero, and forget about her days at UA.

Kuri squished her face with her hands.

There's no time to dwell on those sad thoughts! It's time to focus on the here and now! Like the current obstacle: finals…

Finals. Every students' least favorite thing. Except for Kuri. She was weird and liked the testing environment. It was very peaceful to her.

And it had been peaceful. The class had finished completing their written tests, and now all that was left was the practical exam, which they were about to do. Unfortunately, Kuri knew that this would not be a peaceful test. At all.

It was eight-forty-five in the morning, and her class was standing in a room with a bunch of screens that displayed footage from cameras on Ground Beta. They were listening to Mr. Aizawa as he explained how their test was going to work.

"You'll be taking this exam in groups of three, with three rounds in a three-story building," Mr. Aizawa said.

Three threes… Is that lucky or just dumb?

"During each round, two of you will play as villains and one of you will play the hero. The 'villains' will have a 'hostage'. The objective of the 'hero' is to either retrieve that 'hostage' and get it out of the building or subdue the 'villains'. The 'villains' are to stop the 'hero' from completing their objective. You have a time limit of twenty minutes for each round, so your entire exam will last an hour."

"Wait, does that mean we'll have to stand here for hours and watch everyone's exams?" Kaminari whined.

"You can if you would like to, but there are also break rooms where you can wait with your group until your test starts. Now, it's time to show your groups," Aizawa said.

He went over to a computer and changed one of the screens to a list. It showed each group and the time that they were going to take their test.

Kuri's eyes scanned the names until she found hers.

3:00pm: Katsuki Bakugo, Izuku Midoriya, Kuri Nakano.

Wow, thanks, Aizawa. I can't wait to face two of the strongest people in our class.

She frowned. Not only was her group less than optimal, but she also had to wait six hours until her test.

"Aoyama, Asui, Koda," Aizawa said. "Since you three are first up, go head to the testing site. Everyone else, you can either watch the matches in here or go and wait in your break room until it's time."

Kuri walked over to Midoriya, who was holding his notebook.

"Hey, Midoriya, are you going to watch the matches?" she asked. He nodded. "Well, have fun with that. I know I'll get bored, so I'm gonna wait in the room. See ya later."

She waved goodbye, then left the room. She walked down the empty hall until she found a door with her group members' names on it. Upon opening the door, she found Bakugo sitting at a table, looking at his phone.

"Hey, Bunny," he said without looking up.

"Hi, Bakugo," Kuri said. She plopped down in the seat across from him. "I think I'm gonna take a nap. I stayed up too late last night watching anime."

She crossed her arms on the table and rested her head on them.

"Goodnight," Kuri said, closing her eyes. "Wake me up when it's lunchtime."

"You can starve," he said. Kuri chuckled, then let her body soften as she drifted into unconsciousness.

A few hours later, Bakugo lightly shook her awake so that they could go to lunch. He didn't eat with her, though. Instead, Kuri sat and listened as Mina regaled her with how her exam went. It had gone quite well, and she'd won her two rounds as a 'villain'.

After a couple more hours of waiting, it was finally time for their exam. For the first round, Kuri and Midoriya were to be the 'villains'. They were on the second floor of a building in Ground Beta with the 'hostage'. It turned out that the 'hostage' was a six-foot-tall wooden mannequin which they were letting lay on the floor for the time being.

"So, Midoriya, we have like thirty seconds until Bakugo is gonna come up here. Do you think we should fight him or protect the hostage?" Kuri asked, nudging the mannequin with her foot.

"Well, I can distract Kacchan while you keep the hostage safe," he suggested. Kuri nodded and picked up the mannequin.

"Okay. I'll head up to the third floor then," Kuri said. "I might move around a bit, depending on where Bakugo goes."

She took off, bounding away and up the stairs, clutching the mannequin under her arm. Distantly, she heard running footsteps from below as Midoriya descended to the first floor.

The third floor had a high ceiling and narrow corridors lined with large metal tiles. It was dark due to the absence of windows, and therefore a bit creepy.

Kuri felt the building rock slightly from Bakugo's explosions as she tiptoed through the halls, trying to figure out the floor's layout. She eventually found a comfortable spot at the end of a hall and sat down, placing the mannequin beside her.

She sighed, drawing her knees up to her chest. It wasn't too likely that Bakugo would get past Midoriya anytime soon. Now, she was to wait, with her only purpose being hostage protection. It was easy, which she liked, but she felt bad about making Midoriya do all the heavy lifting.

She waited there for a while, playing with debris she found on the ground around her. Maybe ten minutes had gone by as she waited, listening to Midoriya and Bakugo's fight on the floor below her. She could tell that they were having a conversation as they fought, but she couldn't quite make out the words they were saying.

Then, the ground below her shook violently, as if Bakugo had fired off an explosion directed up at where she was sitting. She sprung up, seeing the concrete floor crack beneath her. She grabbed the mannequin and jumped to the other end of the hall. Just as she did that, the spot she'd been sitting on crumbled and crashed onto the floor below. Then, two of the metal tiles on the wall fell from their spots and through the opening.

Kuri placed the mannequin back down and carefully crept over to the gaping hole that had been blasted into the floor. She kneeled by the opening and peered down. The sheets of metal had fallen right over the chunks of concrete in such a way that it would make a good hiding spot.

Kuri grinned. She stuck her head further through the aperture and surveyed the area. Bakugo was facing away from her, and it seemed like he and Midoriya were heading towards the stairs to the third floor. She shuffled back to the mannequin and grabbed it, then returned to the hole to watch where Bakugo went. He ditched Midoriya for a second and ran up the stairs.

When he was out of eyeshot, Kuri jumped to a spot right beside the pile of debris, grabbing the attention of Midoriya.

Kuri gave him a grin, then slid the mannequin into the space under the large metal tiles. She gave him a thumbs-up, and she gestured for him to go after Bakugo. The metal covered the object well enough, but Kuri moved some of the concrete pieces around. Just to be safe.

Satisfied with her work, Kuri ran down to the first floor, hoping that Bakugo's explosions wouldn't disrupt the mannequin's hiding place. She spent the last minutes of that round waiting in an empty room by herself as Bakugo and Midoriya decked it out somewhere above her. As she sat there, she realized that she could've just taken the mannequin with her. Well, at least if Bakugo had come after her, then the hostage would've been safe under the rubble.

A timer rang from speakers installed throughout the building. Then, there was the crackle of a loudspeaker before Mr. Aizawa's voice echoed through the halls.

"Midoriya, you are next up to be the 'hero'. Please exit the building so the next round can begin."

Kuri headed back up to the second floor, passing Midoriya on the way.

"Good job," she told him with a smile.

"You too," he said, beaming. Kuri's smile faltered a bit as she jogged past him. She hadn't really done anything worth congratulating. All she'd done was sit around.

When she arrived on the second floor, Bakugo was there waiting for her. She walked over to the pile of rubble and dug out the mannequin. Bakugo seemed shocked for a second that she'd put the mannequin in there but didn't say anything about it.

"Should I take the hostage and hide like I did during the last round?" she asked, hugging the now dusty mannequin.

"Deku will be expecting that," Bakugo said.

"But won't he think that we aren't going to do that because we think that's what he'd expect?" she asked, hopping over to him. He rolled his eyes.

"Whatever. You know how to fight, so why don't you?" Bakugo asked.

"I guess I could…" Kuri said.

She did want to feel like she was doing more, considering it was a group project, but taking care of the hostage was also an important job. Not to mention she wanted to take it easy.

"But I feel like Midoriya is the type of person to rescue, so hiding the hostage is very important. As long as you keep him busy, then we should be able to win. If you end up needing my help, then I'll tap in," Kuri said, patting his shoulder and giving him a wink.

Bakugo's face reddened, and he turned away from her.

"I won't need your help," he said. Kuri sighed.

"You know, I would say something like 'I won't help you, then', but I really want a good grade on this test," she said, heading towards the stairs to the third floor. Bakugo cracked his knuckles.

"At least we can agree on one thing," he said.

The second round went about the same as the first, with Bakugo and Midoriya fighting while Kuri sat around with the mannequin. The only difference with the second round was that Midoriya actually found Kuri and began trying to take the doll from her. He ended up chasing her throughout the building while Bakugo tried to stop him until the time ran out.

Then, there was the crackle of the loudspeaker yet again, and Kuri grimaced as she realized the implications.

"Nakano, please exit the building so the next round can begin. It's time for you to be the 'hero'."