Well, we're about to head into the final exams for our heroes in their first semester! It's time to see how well they rank before we get into things, along with determining what kind of exam they'll be getting themselves into! So without further delay, here's the chapter!
MIDTERM RANKINGS
1. Momo Yaoyorozu
2. Tenya Iida
3. Katsuki Bakugo
4. Izuku Midoriya
5. Weisz Steiner
6. Shoto Todoroki
7. Tsuyu Asui
8. Kyoka Jiro
9. Mashirao Ojiro
10. Rebecca Bluegarden
11. Minoru Mineta
12. Mezo Shoji
13. Koji Koda
14. Rikido Sato
15. Ochaco Uraraka
16. Homura Kogetsu
17. Fumikage Tokoyami
18. Eijiro Kirishima
19. Toru Hagakure
20. Hanta Sero
21. Yuga Aoyama
22. Mina Ashido
23. Denki Kaminari
24. Shiki Granbell
"Are you kidding me?!" Denki exclaimed in disbelief upon seeing that he was the second lowest ranked. He and a lot of the others were left staring at Shiki with stunned looks. He blinked twice.
"What's the matter?" he asked of his classmates.
"Dude, you're the guy that won the freakin' Sports Festival!" Hanta pointed out emphatically.
"How the hell did you wind up last in the midterm rankings?!" Mina questioned in shock.
"Don't tell me you just wound up training without learning school stuff!" Denki yelled.
"Uh..." the Satan Gravity Quirk user uttered out, rubbing the back of his head somewhat sheepishly.
"This classroom is full of surprises..." Homura noted from afar upon overhearing.
"As long as it keeps things fun, I don't mind!" Toru mentioned cheekily. Some of the girls laughed at that, including Rebecca. She was just happy to be in the upper half of the rankings. But she also knew that she'd have to be ready for whatever came her way in the finals, both in the written and practical portions. A while later, she was slurping down her noodles before enjoying a meat bun at the Lunch Rush Cafeteria, eating beside Izuku with Tenya, Ochaco, Tsuyu, Shiki, and Toru at their table.
"So whaddaya think the practical portion's gonna be about?" the invisible girl asked of her classmates, slurping her own noodles.
"Not sure..." the Frog Quirk user replied honestly as she glanced up in thought, "To be honest, it could be something completely different from what we expect, ribbit..." she mentioned with a croak.
"And we're still gonna have to study for the written portion, too..." Ochaco added worriedly.
"We'll be fine!" Shiki assured with a bright smile, "There isn't any challenge we can't overcome!" he proclaimed proudly.
'That's not really helpful coming from the guy ranked last...' Rebecca noted to herself, giving off a weak smile in response.
"Ah!" Izuku suddenly yelped in pain, catching her attention as she turned to see that he had been hit in the head by none other than Neito's tray. He started to go off on the One For All inheritor and his classmates about their run in with the Hero Killer and how it led to what happened in regards to Müller. And that's when his expression darkened.
"One of our classmates was gravely wounded on a mission you were involved in..." he pointed out, causing Shiki and Izuku to perk up as they knew what he was talking about, "I wonder if anyone else could get hurt being around you-" A swift chop to the back of his neck from Itsuka silenced him. She caught his tray in her right hand, setting it aside.
"Sorry, guys..." she apologized, "Monoma's been a little more riled up since Kris came back to class..." she pointed out to them.
"Oh, he's back?" Rebecca inquired as she blinked rapidly.
"I was back a few days ago, actually..." the Wind Rage Quirk responded as he approached alongside his sister.
"Kris..." Izuku uttered out, taking notice of the fact he already had a prosthetic in place of his left arm.
"Whoa, that looks slick!" Toru noted excitedly.
"Guy got it right away, too!" Setsuna mentioned as she approached the table, "Took a bit of time to get used to, but..." she continued, trailing off as she saw Kris lift up his new arm.
"I'm fine either way," he pointed out, making green-glowing lines appear along the prosthetic, "My Quirk's unaffected by all this..." he mentioned assuredly. Just then, there was a loud bang.
"I'M SORRY!" Shiki apologized, having his head to the floor as it was cracked.
"Sh-Shiki?!" Ochaco stammered, seeing that his head itself was bleeding.
"It's my fault you lost your arm because I wasn't strong enough!" the Satan Gravity Quirk user proclaimed, with his loud voice getting everyone's attention, "I really am sorry!" he apologized again, clenching his eyes shut. Kris was stunned, as were his classmates. However, Kleene did smile.
"Shiki..." she said, causing him to lift his bleeding head up to see her crouch down to his eye level, "you did your best to help my brother," she assured, "And I'm really thankful that he's still alive because of you and your classmates," she mentioned happily as she stood up, "Izuku, Rebecca," she continued as the two in question perked up, "Thank you so much for what you did for us!" she exclaimed with gratitude.
"Kleene..." Kris uttered out, having his shimmering eyes fixated on her bright smile.
"Why... are you getting all chummy with them, Rutherford?" Neito grunted out in question as he awoke, "It's their fault that your brother-!" A fist to his stomach from Setsuna silenced him again.
"Good luck on your finals!" the Wind Snatch Quirk user called out before she and her classmates left.
"That was... quite strange..." Tenya admitted, going back to eating his meal. In the meantime, a frazzled Ochaco helped give Shiki a napkin to stop the bleeding as they left for the nurse's office.
"Yeah, that was kinda weird..." Rebecca admitted, "But... I think we're gonna be okay," she affirmed, putting her hand atop Izuku's under the table, causing him to blink in surprise as he looked over at her, "We'll push through no matter what!" she vowed.
"Yeah," he agreed with a small smile. Now all that was left to do was study... and train.
"Ahhh~..." Rebecca yawned out from the living room couch of the Midoriya apartment. So much of her time spent studying was there because she wanted a good study partner in Izuku... and because she just liked being there in general. Upon hearing her yawn, the One For All inheritor gave off a small grin.
"I guess that's enough for today..." he realized.
"Mmm... sorry..." the Leaper Quirk user apologized, "Running and whatnot really took a lot outta me..." she admitted tiredly, exhaling another yawn. She took notice of Happy being asleep on the couch, purring contently.
"You need someone to help get you home?" her best friend guessed.
"What, do you not want me to stay?" she inquired back, pouting a little.
"Ah, n-n-no!" Izuku stammered, waving his hands frantically, "I just think since you're so tired that-!" He stopped talking upon hearing her giggle. His expression shifted into an annoyed frown. "You're the worst sometimes..." he muttered out.
"At least I'm no worse than Kacchan..." she remarked, sharing a laugh with her best friend. He then sat down next to her on the couch. "Huh..." she sighed out, "What a crazy first term this was..." she said, glancing up at the ceiling for a moment.
"Yeah..." the One For All inheritor agreed, starting to yawn a little himself, "But... we're still getting through it..." he pointed out tiredly, causing Rebecca to giggle. She then placed her hand atop his and leaned against his shoulder, causing him to tense up. However, he then saw her eyelids slowly close as she fell asleep. He gave off a small smile, pulling a blanket to wrap around himself and her. A while later, the door opened.
"Izuku, I brought home takeout for you and-!" Inko stopped herself upon noticing her son and his best friend asleep upon the couch, both leaning against each other warmly. She gave off a soft, thankful smile, glad that Izuku had someone like Rebecca as a friend. She went ahead and set the table, not wanting to wake them up just yet...
"Ugh..." Shiki groaned out as steam was coming out from his head, which lied upon his desk. His brain had gone through the wringer when it came to the written exam. But thanks to Momo's tutoring, he endured along with everyone else. Now it was time for the practical.
"So did anyone figure out what this portion's gonna have us do?" Eijiro inquired curiously while getting dressed in his costume.
"I heard from an upperclassman that it's just us fighting robots like in the entrance exam..." Hanta replied, putting on his helmet.
"Aw, sweet!" Denki exclaimed excitedly, "Then that means it'll be a snap!" he added with a snap of his fingers.
"Hmph," Katsuki scoffed, "Don't get cocky, sparkplug..." he muttered to the Electrification Quirk user, causing him to frown in annoyance.
"Just bots?" Weisz questioned from afar while settling his rifle onto his back, "Yeah, I doubt it's that easy..." he admitted. And unfortunately, he was right. Nezu was quick to inform the students that the exam rules were much different than in years prior. They would instead be facing their teachers in teams of three.
"First up will be Kirishima, Steiner, and Sato against Cementoss and Hermit," Shota told the trio, who all perked up.
"Wait, we're fighting two teachers?!" Eijiro yelped in shock.
"And Hermit's one of them?!" Rikido questioned on.
"Yep!" the Master Code Quirk user responded as she stepped forward, now dressed in her hero costume, "For some cases, we're gonna have two teachers face off against three of you," she told the class.
"And of course, the way to win if you're lucky enough to face two teachers is to either capture them both or escape!" Nezu mentioned.
"Damn..." Hanta uttered, quite stunned by the plan. The other matches were listed off.
MATCH 1: Eijiro Kirishima, Rikido Sato, & Weisz Steiner VS Cementoss and Hermit
MATCH 2: Tsuyu Asui, Fumikage Tokoyami, & Denki Kaminari VS Ectoplasm & Snipe
MATCH 3: Tenya Iida, Mashirao Ojiro, & Toru Hagakure VS Power Loader & Nezu
MATCH 4: Shoto Todoroki, Homura Kogetsu, & Yuga Aoyama VS Eraser Head & Witch
MATCH 5: Ochaco Uraraka, Momo Yaoyorozu, & Shiki Granbell VS Thirteen
MATCH 6: Kyoka Jiro, Koji Koda, and Mezo Shoji VS Present Mic
MATCH 7: Minoru Mineta, Hanta Sero, and Mina Ashido VS Midnight & Sister
MATCH 8: Izuku Midoriya, Katsuki Bakugo, & Rebecca Bluegarden VS All Might
"We're up against All Might?!" both Izuku and Katsuki exclaimed in disbelief. More shocking than that to Rebecca was the fact that all three of them were on the same team to face the number one hero. The final exams were certainly going to be interesting...
And so, the final exam matches have been set! I wanted to not only give some of the teams a challenge against two teachers, but I also didn't want to make 12 matches for the finals. So there you have it!
Next time, the exams begin with Weisz's team against Cementoss and Hermit! We'll see who wins soon!