Final Exams: Reiko's Rise

The mood between all of the students died down and was now in the mud as Shoda, Shoji, Juzo, and Ojiro returned from their test, being the first to fail their exam left a sour taste in not just their mouths but the mouths of all the students present.

Juzo pulled his helmet off and gripped it tightly between his hands, "Damn… it!" He squeezed his arms so hard that his helmet cracked before he threw it to the side.

Ojiro scowled as he stood off to the side, cursing as he clenched a fist. His pride had been damaged from losing so hard, he believed that they would do so well but… they were the first loss…

Shoda frowned and massaged his stomach where Hound Dog hit him most. He sighed and glanced at his teammates, seeing that they were all also stuck in their own heads, though he couldn't read Shoji as of currently.

Shoji stood off to the side, his arms were already healed but he still looked distant. Shoda knew it was best not to bother the gentle giant.

Still, they were all disappointed and felt like they were failures in some sort of sense due to being the first ones to fail the Final Exam.

Their team sulked as the next group left the Hub Tower as the next round was going to begin. Shoda glanced to see that Pony and Kamakiri were going to be competing next, he sighed and decided to watch to at least get his mind off of their loss.

Izuku and his friends felt bad for Juzo and Shoda.

Monoma clicked his tongue, "Hound Dog was a rough match up for those two…" He mumbled as he stood next to Izuku, replaying the fight in his mind's eye. "He's as quick and agile as you are Midoriya, but his reflexes are off the charts…"

Izuku nodded as he glanced down at his notes, "You can say that again…"

Shishida took his glasses off and let out a guttural sigh, "I'm going to go make sure Shoda-san is doing alright…"

Izuku smiled, "Thank you Shishida-kun."

The beast teen went to check up on his seat mate while Izuku and Monoma took a glance at each other, "You two shouldn't distract yourselves." Reiko's voice knocked them both out of their musing as they looked at her, seeing that she had squeezed herself between them. "We have our own exams to focus on."

Monoma hummed at her words before shaking his head, "You're right, it's just difficult to concentrate right now…"

"You can say that again…" A new voice interjected.

The three of them turned to Shinso as the boy scratched his head, he seemed a little embarrassed now that the attention was on him. "Sorry, didn't mean to interject…"

Izuku smiled and waved a hand, "No need to apologize, Shinso-kun!"

The lilac haired boy simply shrugged.

"What has gotten you so nervous, Shinso-san?" Reiko asked as Kamakiri Pony, Iida, and Koda finally left for their exam against Powerloader, something that in her opinion would be difficult for the group.

The insomniac sighed and grabbed the scarf around his neck, one that they noticed was basically the same scarf that Eraserhead had, just white instead of gray. "I still only know the rough basics of using this thing, and since the tests were a week earlier than they were supposed to be I didn't have time to put in a request for that voice modulator."

"Hmm yes I can see how that would be a problem." Monoma commented.

Izuku winced, "The teachers would all know your quirk, so they know not to answer, having the modulator would have been a big help…" He muttered off before an idea came to mind. "Unless…!" A wide grin came to his face as he activated Full Cowling and blasted across the room.

"...So he won't even finish the thought before running off?" Shinso asked.

"Nope." Reiko and Monoma said in unison.

While Izuku ran off to go do… whatever he was doing, the three of them looked towards the big screens to see what their peers were doing against Power Loader. Koda was being given a piggy back ride on Iida's back while Pony was somehow riding her horns and Kamakiri was jumping while using spikes created from his feet, back, and general lower body to give him lots of air time with his leaps.

Instead of going for the pro, they were ALL gunning for the exit gate, though it looked like Kamakiri was offering himself up as a distraction?

When did Kamakiri get so noble?

"You're going down tiny man!" The bug looking boy yelled as he created blades from his back and feet one last time to send himself sailing towards the Excavation Pro. "Here comes the pain train, dumpster truck!"

Ah, that was the Kamakiri they all knew.

Power Loader easily dodged the boy's strike with a duck, causing Kamakiri to land behind him, "Huh, thought you were gonna be a little smarter than that." The pro commented.

Kamakiri looked back at him and grinned, "We were."

"Eh?"

Two of Pony's horns shot out of the ground and cupped Power Loader under the arms, hoisting him up into the air before dropping him, Kamakiri quickly jumped and grabbed onto them and let himself be dragged along by the floating appendages.

Power Loader quickly got back up to his feet, the ground didn't feel too stable… "Shit."

Pony and Kamakiri laughed, strangely they both had a very similar sadistic laugh, as Power Loader fell into his own pitfall trap. They only laughed harder when the pro tried to get up and chase them but found himself unable to when he was held down by a legion of bugs, courtesy of Koda

Monoma snickered as the four students passed the gate, while some of his other cohorts looked on in horror.

Kendo's skin crawled as she rubbed her arms and shook her head, "Gross, gross, gross!"

Shiozaki hugged her long, vine hair, "Those dirty bugs would eat my precious vines."

Kodai patted the girl on the shoulder while Komori offered her a smile, "And it would be the best meal of their lives!" That didn't help much. Kuroiro laughs while Shiozaki's face falls in horror at the concept, everyone else is anxiously awaiting for the previous team to return so the next round can be called.

"—I don't particularly agree with the language used, I appreciate the sentiment nonetheless!" Class A groaned when they heard Iida's usual commanding tone as the group entered the area.

"YOU GOT A PROBLEM WITH MY LANGUAGE FOUR-EYES!"

"YES!"

Bakugo grinned, huffing out a chuckle to himself as Iida was called Four Eyes by someone else. Kamakiri and Iida's bickering lifted the mood of the room as the two argued like school children.

The next round was soon called, Tetsu, Shishida, Kirishima, and Sato would be competing against Cementoss. Shishida sighed as he was still chatting with Shoda, but his friend regarded him with a nod, "You've got this, Shishida-kun."

The beastial teen smiled, "Thank you, my dear friend."

Shoda grinned before punching the larger guy on the arm, "Go get him, man."

"I will make sure to do that."

"Let's go Shishi-bro!"

"Come on Sato-Bro!"

Tetsu and Kirishima glanced at each other before grinning and each letting an arm out before giving each other a manly handshake. "If we don't do good here, you just know Fourth Kind is gonna find us and beat the crap out of us."

"Yeah, I do! So let's do our best!" Kirishima cheered with a grin.

"Plus Ultra?"

"PLUS ULTRA!"

Shishida and Sato spared glances at each other before sighing, "Well, let's do our best then, shall we?" Shishida asked with a grin.

Sato grinned and smacked his fists together, flexing under his skin-tight suit. "Yeah!"

The four left, chipper for the chances.

"That's team beef."

The entirety of both hero classes turned to look at Awase who simply shrugged, "Say it how I see it."

Reiko sighed at her classmate's antics as Izuku finally returned, holding what looked like a giant mask, though its mechanics looked strange, with many panels and plates covering the front of it.

"What in the world is that medieval torture device?" She asked, taking a step back.

Izuku's eyebrows perked up, "It's a voice modulator for Shinso…"

Shinso approached and took the offered modulator, "A voice modulator…?"

Izuku nodded, "Yeah, if you move these plates around and stuff then you'll be able to change the sound of your voice!" He said with excitement, "Hopefully it'll give you a leg up in your exam."

Shinso's eyes shone in wonder and he snapped the modulator around his neck, they had knobs on either side, when twisted they would shift the pitch of his voice, theoretically allowing himself to copy the voices of others.

"This will definitely help." They could all hear the grin in his voice, "I'll just mess with it for now." He'd rather practice now and not need the help of the modulator than not practice and end up needing it. "Thank you, Midoriya."

The greanette grinned and rubbed his neck, "Don't thank me, I just showed Yaoyorozu the schematics and she made it, you should be thanking her."

"Who's that again….?"

They forgot how bad Shinso was with people.

Practical Exam Location

Tetsu looked around, pensive as they hadn't come into contact with Cementoss yet. Shishibro and Kiribro walked by him, with a big dude with equally big lips behind the three of them.

Kirishima was repeatedly flexing and unflexing his arms, activating and deactivating his quirk, Shishida was on guard but wasn't using his quirk since he wanted to be prepared and his Beast Form usually led to him being more reckless.

That Sato guy held a little packet of what looked like sugar or salt in his hands.

They were all on edge and it showed.

"Remember my bros." Tetsu said as he looked around, his entire body was tingling in fright as they waited for their teacher to start his attack, "Whatever happens, y'all are a real manly bunch."

"Thought that would be a little more inspiring…" Sato commented, before he tilted his head at Kirishima who was crying alligator tears.

"That was one of the manliest things anyone's ever said to me!"

Shishida sighed as he pulled his glasses off, "Goodness, there's two of them…"

"Two of who–"

RUMBLE

Tetsu paused as the ground and nearby buildings seemed to shake. "Is there an earthquake going on or something?"

"No.." Shishida looked around, Kirishima activated his quirk, and Sato downed a sugar packet. "It's Cementoss.."

A wave of cement came from around the corner, looking like it was flooding the faux city, Tetsu quickly activated his quirk as the cement hardened into concrete as it reached them.

"STEEL FIST!" "RED GAUNTLET!" "BEAST BARRAGE!" "SUGAR RUSH!"

The four boys combined their strength in tandem and beat down on the concrete walls in front of them, keeping them from being sucked in by Cementoss. Over and over, punch after punch, so much that their fists felt like they were bleeding.

Tetsu grit his teeth as his mind took off running, he knew that they were fighting a losing battle, but what else could they do? He didn't even have time to think, all he could do was blast the concrete in front of them as they tried to postpone their loss against Cementoss.

The first person he saw drop was surprisingly Shishida, the teen's Beast Form dropped, his muscle noticeably dropped in size and he jumped back, but Tetsu didn't focus on that and instead kept punching the approaching concrete in front of them.

But he did notice when he got grabbed by the scruff of his neck and lifted onto his feet. "EH?!"

Shishida grunted as he lifted both Kirishima and Tetsutetsu off the ground. Sato burned with stress as he picked up the slack for the rest of them. Shishida flexed his muscles and brought his shoulders back as Tetsu and Kirishima squirmed in his grip.

"I'LL GET YOU AS CLOSE AS I CAN!" Shishida yelled in his Beast Form, "RAHHHH!"

Both boys were launched through the air, Shishida felt his arms burning in pain but still stepped up to help Sato even as they were bombarded with more and more concrete from Cementoss.

Tetsu's eyes flooded open as he and Kirishima soared through the sky of the mock city, they were easily able to see Cementoss from their vantage point, but they quickly began to lose their acceleration going up.

"WE'RE NOT GONNA MAKE IT!" Kirishima yelled at him.

Tetsu began to sweat, from their trajectory, as they passed buildings and came within range of Cementoss, he glanced at Kirishima and an idea came to mind. "HARDEN UP!"

Kirishima didn't have time to question it, if Tetsu had a plan then he would go along with it, full throttle.

Tetsu pulled his arm back and breathed in deep, "STEEL—" He let his fist shoot forward and knocked Kirishima right in the back, "- IMPACT!" a lOUD CLANG coming from it, shooting the boy just a bit more forward than he would be otherwise.

While Tetsu landed in the hell of concrete that Cementoss had made, quickly earning himself an out alongside Sato and Shishida, Kirishima want on to land right on top of the pro, his weight and speed accidentally…. Knocking the pro unconscious.

"Hero Team…. Wins…?"

It was a win in their book.

Hub Tower

"They played the match like chess… sacrificing pieces to make sure they got the king…" Nezu summarized as Tetsu fretted over his concussed teacher. "Not ideal, not ideal at all…" They all thought they could scrape by since it was a test, but this was meant to simulate real villain encounters, you couldn't sacrifice fellow heroes out in the real world.

Or at least… not if there was another solution.

"So, Kirishima passes while Shishida, Sato, and Tetsutetsu don't?" Vlad King spat out as the medical bots arrived to treat Cementoss and get the other three boys out of the rubble of the match.

Nezu hummed, Aizawa sighed, and Vlad King looked tired of the principal's shit.

"I believe ... .we can allow Young Shishida and Young Tetsu to pass through their ingenuity that led to the victory, though we will need to increase the intensity of their training at the summer camp, Young Sato on the other hand will receive a fail for the exam."

Both homeroom teachers nodded along, it wasn't fair, but they agreed with the result.

All four had to be taken to the infirmary, to get rid of the rubble covering their skin and to check Tetsutetsu and Kirishima over for concussions from their falls.

"Honestly, I know they're hard-headed, but the brain can't take that kind of force." Kendo sighed.

Todoroki spaced out and rubbed his cheek, remembering when Izuku had absolutely demolished him in the Sports Festival, "Perhaps I should go to the doctor as well…"

"The next match will contain the following students…"

There were still thirteen students yet to enter their exam, three groups yet to face their teachers. One group would have Shinso with them.

"Rin Hiryu…"

The Chinese exchange student nodded, letting scales spawn on his skin, "I've been waiting for this one!"

"Toru Hagakure…" The invisible girl's arms waved in excitement or maybe nervousness, it was hard to tell when you couldn't really see her expression.

"Sen Kaibara…" The Gyrate user nodded, already spinning his arms to get them warmed up for his match. "Bout time…"

"... and Reiko Yanagi…" Both the girl herself and Izuku straightened out at the call. Reiko lifted her mask to cover her mouth and gazed at her friends. "Wish me luck."

"Your opponent is… Snipe!"

Izuku was both worried and not. He knew Reiko was strong, her quirk had an insane amount of versatility and was immensely powerful, she had proved that to him during the USJ as she was able to react to Nomu's attacks using her quirk while he wasn't able to.

But it was Snipe, and his sharpshooting ability was dangerous. Shigaraki's hole littered body proved that.

"Will Snipe-sensei be using live-rounds?!" Surprisingly, it wasn't Izuku who asked as he was stuck in his head, it was Iida. "If so, that is very irresponsible on behalf of UA."

Ah, there was that Iida that Izuku remembered from the Entrance Exam.

"Don't worry, partner." Snipe pulled out his revolver and spun the chamber, "They're all dummy rounds, won't leave any lasting damage."

Toru shivered at Snipe's tone, "I don't have any protection either…"

Kaibara grunted, "At least I have a jacket, are you wearing anything else besides those gloves and boots?"

"..."

"ARE YOU SERIOUS?!"

"We're doomed…" Reiko mumbled as their group headed to the elevator

Izuku silently chuckled to himself, "Good luck Reiko-chan!" He called out with a wave.

Just before the doors closed, the ghost girl gave her own little wave back, Izuku could see that she was smiling even with her mask on. It was cute.

"So~" His body locked up as he felt like Midnight pounced on him, even though the voice was different. A pink person popped up right in front of him. "I'm Mina, I'm Kiri's friend, remember?"

"Y-Yeah…" He didn't like her look, he wasn't talking about her skin! He meant her expression.

"But really, Reiko's her first name, right?"

"O-Oh! Would you look at that! The match is about to start! Hahaaha!" Izuku quickly bolted away, going back to his friends. That left Mina pouting, and Setsuna only looked on with a look of understanding.

Monoma was right, you just had to let Izuku and Reiko go at their own pace.

Izuku crossed his arms and glanced at the numerous cameras in the Hub. Snipe would be a tough opponent but he had complete faith in Reiko. She had trained with Ryukyu after all, had helped them fight Nomu, and made it into the final rounds of the Sports Festival.

She could do this.

Practical Exam Site

The four students stepped out into the exam site, another sectioned off area of Training Ground Gamma, at least they assumed going by all the pipes and towers littering the arena. Unlike previous rounds where they had to get from one end of the map to the other, this time they had to climb to the top of the nearest tower.

"That's probably where Snipe is." Reiko muttered under her breath as she pointed to the tower.

That spot would give him the best vantage point of the entire arena.

And Snipe's quirk thrived off of that.

Rin clicked his tongue, "My scales don't have that much range."

Kaiabra nodded along, "I'm a melee fighter, I can't do anything about distance…"

They both glanced at Toru before quickly going to Reiko, "Hey! How do you know I can't do anything?!"

"She can't." Rin answered with a sigh, "She's a stealth type."

"HEY!"

"So, we're screwed..?" Kaibara answered as the siren for the exam blared.

Reiko hummed and closed her eyes, "I think I can handle this…" Kaibara raised a brow as Reiko lifted her hand. She had to focus, focus specifically in front of her instead of around her, but that was hard when a bullet was coming right for them!"

"DUCK!" She yelled and jumped back as a bullet hit where she was.

"Crap!" Kiabara and Rin both activated their quirks as Toru squirmed in place.

BANG BANG BANG BANG

Four shots were fired, one for each of them, Reiko stopped the bullet mid-air using her quirk, canceling the inertia and allowing the bullet to drop, Kaibara spun his drill-arm towards the bullet and tore it apart, Rin's scale armor canceled out the bullet but it still stung, and Toru yelped as she was hit in the side with the dummy round.

"They don't pierce but they hurt!"

Rin grinned, "Good to know!"

"More incoming!" Reiko yelled.

Bullets rained down on them faster than they should have, Rin fired his scales, trying to knock some bullets off course but not managing much success.

Snipe's Homing was unfair, making sure his bullets always hit a target no matter what, unless specific outside factors affected them, like Reiko's quirk being able to cancel momentum. "Should we split up?!" Toru yelled

"It won't matter if we do!" Rin yelled, "Homing can track anywhere! Splitting up won't distract him!"

Reiko grimaced as more and more bullets rained down on them, littering the ground around them with the scattered slag. "Come on…" She whispered and closed her eyes, lifting up a hand. "Come on… focus…" She expanded her zone, reaching up higher, everything got focus and less precise, but she just needed a bit, a little snag.

His hand!

An uncharacteristic smile found its way under her mask and she pulled.

Snipe fell off of the tower and the three students looked on in wonder.

"Did he slip…?"

Reiko panted for breath, "No… I got him…"

"You need to think again…." Toru pointed towards the tower.

They all saw Snipe hanging, the pro had stuck a long knife into the concrete structure and stopped his fall, the pro looked around at all the pipes and faux buildings, "Time to get in close." He let go off the blade and landed on one of the many pipes of the industrial district.

Rin cursed, "All of you go hide and try to come up with a plan, I'll handle him in the meantime!"

Toru shook her arms wildly, "W-Wait, by yourself?!"

"We literally just said splitting up wouldn't help, dumbass!" Kaibara yelled.

Rin only grinned "My quirk is best suited for it, I got good offense and defense, I'll keep him focused on just me!" He countered before they heard the echo of Snipe's boots on the metal of the industrial district. "Now get going!"

Kaibara nodded and glanced at Reiko, "Come on, let's go!"

Toru huffed, "Fine!"

The three ran and Reiko glanced back for a moment. Seeing Rin ready to stand against an opponent much stronger than himself.

'It reminds me of that time in the cafeteria…' Where Izuku stood up to Bakugo all by himself, because he didn't want them to get hurt. She wanted to be a hero like that, a strong hero that stood up for others, others that couldn't stand up for themselves.

She'd always wanted to be a hero like that, since she was a kid. At first, she thought she would have to do it alone, because she was weird. But then Izuku had stumbled into her life and she couldn't deny his friendship, at first it was just because she found him so interesting. He had incredible power but was cursed with anxiety, always shrinking in on himself when there were loud noises, mumbling, cutting himself off as if he expected to be stopped short, not caring for his health.

But he was good, he always stood up for others, and that had spread to all of them too.

Monoma was weird the first week of school, but now she could tell that there was honest good in his heart, hell he tried to fight Bakugo just so Izuku wouldn't have to, he made friends with two enemies he had in the Sports Festival, Todoroki and Shinso, he pushed himself to his limits so that he could gain a better understanding of his quirk.

He led the class as their representative and was the ideal they all stood for.

Izuku took down Stain just because he wanted to help a classmate.

She wanted to be a hero, but now she wouldn't have to do it alone, now she had people by her side, and she could stand with them as a symbol that people could look to.

That weird people like her, that those who don't fit into typical norms can still be good, can still be heroes.

Her hands twitched and her eyes shone with determination, "I have an idea."

…

The area was quiet, Rin's scales covered his body all the way up to his neck. The entire area was quiet, he looked around, spun in place, looking for Snipe. The entire area was too quiet…

BANG

Snipe pounced.

Rin spun as quickly as he could only for some of his scales near his neck to be shot off by a bullet, 'W-What?!'

Snipe landed a couple meters ahead of him, his pistol steaming, "Looks like this is a duel…." The pro stood to his full height and swapped the round in his chamber, "I've never lost a duel before…"

"There's a first time for everything!"

"Only people in over their heads say that." Snipe chuckled.

Rin raised his arms and fired off full sets of scales, Snipe rolled to dodge and raised his arm when on the ground, firing off a bullet. Homing took effect as Rin raised his arms to block the bullet, the round impacted his arms and knocked off some scales but didn't do much more.

He tried to fire more scales but Snipe shot twice.

Rin cursed as one of Snipe's bullets grazed his cheek, even if they were fake rounds they still hurt. "Damn it!" He cursed as he raised his arms, shooting out all of the scales he had to at least try to damage the pro.

Snipe grinned under his helmet and shoot a single bullet towards Rin, the projectile hit one scale at just the right angle to bounce off of it and hit another, knocking them off course, before traveling and do the same to another scale, and then another, and another, and soon all of Rin's scales were thrown off course, parting for Snipe like the red sea as the man walks towards Rin.

"W-What?!" Rin yelled as he fired some scales but none of them even got close to the man as the one bullet that was fired kept ricocheting and sending all of his scales off course.

SNIPE'S QUIRK WAS BULLSHIT

The man got close enough and winded an arm back before socking Rin in the face, the boy heard something crack before he landed on the ground.

The chamber to Snipe's gun opened as Rin looked up, the shell of his used bullet falling out and clicking onto the ground as the chamber swapped to the next round. "Looks like you're out of time, partner." He used his gun, aiming at the boy's head. "Have fun in hell."

BAN–

The sound of his bullet firing didn't finish, perplexing him as he held up his hand gun, seeing the chamber being affected by a pink glow. "Well, wouldya look at that…" The sharp shooting pro grinned under his helmet.

"BACK OFF!" Kaibara flew in as his arm spun around the elbow joint with incredible speed, ready to tear into Snipe's side.

The pro jumped back and aimed his gun at Kaibara, but suddenly he felt a tug on his weapon and something blocking his trigger, pulling it to the side and giving enough time for Kaibara to tear into his stomach with Gyrate.

Sinpe rolled on the ground and came to a halt, grinning under his mask as he stood up, "Using Hagakure to stop me from shootin, not bad."

Now he could see the girl standing right besides the two boys, in just her boots now. They were really all coming together like a team.

"SCALE RAIN!" Rin got into a kneeling position and shot all he could, Snipe got ready to dodge but found himself pulled towards the scales and unable to lift his arm.

"Yanagi…"

Sure enough, the girl was positioned behind all of them, she had stopped his gun from firing, she had pulled him off the tower, she had orchestrated all of this. When did she become such a strategist?

The scales all struck him and some hurt, some stuck into his costume, some scratched him up. It was a good thing that they hadn't gone to the summer camp yet…

Cause it still wasn't enough.

"Gonna take a bit more than a couple of parlor tricks to keep me down!" He got back to his feet.

Yanagi spread her arms out as far as she could and grinned, "We know…" Kaibara and Hagakure jumped back with Rin quickly following as a pink aura stretched out from Yanagi before changing to blue, the intensity of Poltergeist was going up, all thanks to her training with Ryukyu.

"The hell…" Snipe muttered as he looked around, before things started flying out of his pockets, "Those are my backup rounds!"

All the rubble in the surrounding area, any loose rocks, any discarded items, Snipe's used rounds, each and everyone scale that Rin had disposed of, all of it was her ammo.

Her arms spread out high as a little blood leaked from her nose, "MYSTIC MINDSTORM!" With that, she crashed both arms down and everything shot towards Snipe at blistering speeds.

The pro didn't have a moment to dodge as he was blasted on all sides, his body jerking at each blow, each piece of rubble, each bullet, each scale. It almost looked like a ghost was being exorcized out of his body.

When everything was said and done, he stood frozen on his feet before collapsing onto his knees.

Reiko gasped for air as she wiped the blood from her nose.

"Looks like…."

"STUDENTS WIN!"

Hub Tower

Izuku grinned, a feeling of pride bubbling in his chest as the next group went down, consisting of Kodai, Fukadashi, Yaoyorozu and Jirou, but none of that was important. Rieko had won her match and she did it through an awesome new super move! "T-That was so cool!"

A new super move, one so powerful that it changed the color that her aura was when affecting objects, was it because the quirk, poltergeist, entered a new realm of intensity? Or was it something else? Though, she bled from her nose, was that because of the intensity? Well, telepathic quirks like hers usually put strain on the brain, was that why she got a nosebleed? He'd need to ask if she currently had a headache, how does it feel to expand her focus that much? Did it give her sensory overloa—

"Earth to Greenie!"

"AHHH!" Izuku massaged his ear before glaring at Setsuna, "Don't do that!"

She and Monoma both crossed their arms, "Well you wouldn't snap out of it no matter what we did." Monoma chuckled.

Setsuna covered her snort with a hand, "He was too busy thinking about his love~"

"W-What?!"

"BWAHAHAHAHA, HE'S A STRAWBERRY!"

"That's not funny, Tokage!"

Shinso sighed as the two greanette got into it with Monoma off to the side, "Does this usually happen…?" His asked in his usual tired drawl.

Monoma shrugged, "Setsuna likes to tease."

"Ain't that her first name…?"

"And that's the end of this conversation."

Shinso chuckled, "What, you embarrassed?"

"What about you and Kendo, huh?"

"...we're done talking…."

Izuku and Tokage only stopped their little argument once Reiko's group had completely returned, it had taken a while to get Snipe up because in his words Reiko's attack felt, "Like a million bee stings and then the hardest workout he's ever had."

So that was good to know.

Once she was back though she was immediately swarmed by her friends, all of them congratulating her and her victory. None more so than Izuku.

"You should've seen him, Yanagi, he was rambling the entire time!"

"N-Not the entire time!"

"Pretty sure he can fill a whole notebook on just you!"

"Okay well maybe…."

Setsuna shot him a smirk and opened her mouth, only for Monoma's hand to be slapped over it. "Alright, that's enough out of you…" The girl pouted and Izuku felt grateful for Monoma once again. "But.. Midoriya."

Izuku perked up, "Yeah, Monoma?"

"We're up next."

Pausing, Izuku realized there were only five of them left… he turned to see Todoroki standing near them, he sent the boy a nod which was returned. Shinso tugged on his capture scarf when Izuku turned to him, it was clear that he was extremely nervous but he was also resolute.

"Don't worry. I'll do my best." Shinso promised.

"I know." Izuku grinned.

The only other person left was… Bakugo…

Now that he thought about it, he hadn't seen Bakugo since the festival, and the boy had fallen out of his mind as Izuku focused on more important things. That felt… relieving now that he thought about it, soothing that his entire mind wasn't focused on Bakugo like it was in middle school.

He wasn't paranoid that the blond would come out of any corner and deliver him a beatdown.

But now? After Izuku had beaten Bakugo in the Sports Festival? There was no way he would work with them.

"Let's start heading down, Midoriya."

"Alright, Monoma."

The four boys gathered together, readying the last of their gear, Izuku made sure that his gloves were secure and entered and exited his gauntlets into "Air Bullet Mode '' to make sure nothing faulty was happening.

Now he had a better chance to look at Todoroki's new costume that looked a lot better than the one he had at the USJ. 'Most likely due to the fact that he uses both fire and ice now…' He hoped that would help.

Shinso still looked unsure about his skill on both his modulator and capture scarf, but they didn't have any time to worry about that now. It was do or die time.

Monoma's costume hadn't changed at all, but Izuku could see a small bracelet hidden under his sleeve. The blond grinned as he touched it and his arm soon after disconnected from his body and floated in the air.

'A bracelet that holds DNA in it, allowing Monoma to use someone's quirk at any time, in this case Tokage's… that's really cool!' Izuku grinned at the small piece of tech.

"Izuku."

The boy turned around, smiling at Reiko as the girl smiled back at him. It wasn't too big, it was small and shy but it was just as blinding as any smile All Might had ever given. "Yes, Reiko-chan?"

She took one of his hands in both of hers, "I know you can win, just do your best and you'll persevere, I know you will no matter what and no matter who you face."

Izuku's grin only widened more and more at her words, "Thank you, Reiko-chan." It truly meant a lot.

Monoma grinned and wanted to make a snide comment but held himself back and instead laid a hand on his friend's shoulder, "We must get going, my friend."

The two nodded to each other and made their way down, best to get the jump on the competition and there was no point in waiting for their team to be announced when they already knew who they would be paired with.

Shinso and Todoroki followed them out, with a sulking Bakugo in the corner walking towards the door after they left.

The five boys stood together on the way down in the elevator, the large lift giving more than enough space for Bakugo to be separated from the group. Izuku glanced at him only to see the boy spaced out, an angry look on his face.

"What's his deal?" Shinso asked in a whisper.

"He's a brat, that's his deal." Monoma replied.

"I'll knock your teeth in, copycat." Bakugo interrupted and left the far wall, approaching the group with his head held high. "Say some shit like that again, I dare you."

Monoma met Bakugo's gaze, "What? You're a little spoiled brat!"

"Don't forget who kicked your ass in the Cavalry Battle, copy cat!"

"And you lost to Midoriya in the final so it doesn't matter!"

"I'LL KICK YOUR ASS!"

"I'D LIKE TO SEE YOU TRY!"

"ENOUGH!" Izuku snapped and pulled the two apart, "I know you two don't like each other but we're on a team whether you like it or not!" He chastised the two, still seeing that both looked absolutely furious with the other, Bakugo himself looked offended that Izuku even dared touch him.

"Hm." Bakugo grunted, "Like I'd work with you worthless stones."

As the elevator doors opened, Shinso chuckled, "Says the guy who didn't get first."

"SAY THAT AGAIN, BAGS FOR—!"

Izuku glanced at Shinso as Bakugo's mouth shut, the insomniac grinned, "Follow us to the bus."

The five boarded a small bus nearby and were taken to a city, one with suburban and more urban settings. They all got off and Shinso even let Bakugo out of his brainwashing.

"DO THAT AGAIN AND I'LL KILL YOU!"

"Open your trap again and you'll be brainwashed."

Speakers set up around the district came to life, with static signaling their turned on status, "Finally we have!—" A robotic voice came through once more despite not needing to as they were already at the entrance of the testing field, before landing on five individuals.

"Todoroki Shoto!" The son of Endeavor narrowed his eyes, hoping that his teammates wouldn't be too troublesome. He knew how Bakugo could be sometimes, he knew how stubborn Midoriya could be, he didn't know much about Monoma or Shinso, but he also knew that he would give it his all no matter what, using both sides this time.

"Bakugo Katsuki!" Bakugo wanted to curse as the stupid machine called out his name, having to work with Todoroki fucking sucked, Half n' Half thought he was so much better than him because he came from a legacy family. That's not to mention fucking Deku and Copycat! Not to mention that fucking loser from Gen-Ed.

"Monoma Neito!" Monoma wanted to throw up, being forced to work with Bakugo was like hell. He supposed Todoroki was better, but he was glad to be working with his best friend, Midoriya, and a new close friend in Shinso.

"Shinso Hitoshi!" The Insomniac nodded as he readied his scarf and the new voice modulator that Midoriya had Yaoyorozu make, he wasn't completely sure how to smoothly use it yet but he would try his best with what he had, even if Todoroki, Midoriya, and Monoma were on the team he still had to pull his own weight if he wanted to be admitted into the hero course.

"And finally— Izuku Midoriya!" The greanette held a look of determination, they could work with this, working with Bakugo would be hard but he knew that the four of them could pull out a win against their opponent even if Bakugo didn't want to help them. Speaking of their—

— "And their opponent is All Might!"

The five students all froze as they were just about to enter through the testing field gates.

"All Might..?" Izuku asked dumbly to no one.

"YES!" A booming voice shook the crowd as a meteor descended and kicked up stone and dust as it crashed into the ground, Izuku's hair ruffled in the wind as he barely kept an eye open. The dust cleared and they saw the scowling face of the Number One Hero, his smile much more threatening now, "I will be your opponent."

Shivers went down all of their spines as All Might stood to his full height, looking like a giant preying on all of them. "Give me your best, because anything else will end up with you being turned to dust."

His skin crawled as he looked at All Might's smile, the piercing blue eyes of the Number One Hero telling him that no matter how hard they fought, they would fail. "You all looked shocked, do I have to repeat myself? Give me all you've got, or else."

Izuku's eyes shown with determination, Monoma grinned as his natural arrogance flooded his body, Todoroki's cool demeanor took over as he gazed at the pro, Shinso leveled his head despite the immense worrying overtaking his body, and Bakugo grinned with his overbearing pride. "PLUS ULTRA!"

Even if they had to face the Number One Hero, they would go beyond their limits and pass this test, that was a promise.

END

So…. this took a while, but I have a good excuse this time. I recently moved and started my senior year of high school, also I've been working on other projects that I want to release so I might start doing that soon.

But, how'd you guys like this?

Reiko has a super move developed and Monoma and Izuku are fighting with new friends to take on All Might! Also Bakugo still hates everyone. I wonder how that'll go.

Question, would anyone mind if I skip through some stuff? Like I don't particularly enjoy the Joint Training Battle Arc or the Endeavor's agency arc, they're cool arcs but for the sake of a fic I feel like they're not worth writing, and yes I do have some plans for getting that far eventually.