Here it is, the 123rd full chapter of Miraculous Quirks released on time as always. After last chapter's setting the stage for the rest of this time skip arc it is time to move into some more training and this one is based off the first chapter in the 6th School Briefs book with the added bonus of Marinette and Adrien in it. That is all the administrative stuff that I have for you, however, and there are no guest reviews to respond to or questions to answer so I will end this note here. Do keep the reviews coming as I enjoy hearing from y'all. That is all I have for this pre chapter note so that means that it is time to sit back, relax, and enjoy the 123rd full chapter of Miraculous Quirks.

Disclaimer: I do not own either of these great works of fiction.

Chapter 123: Setsubun Hostage Training

"Alright, today's training exercise will be a faceoff between two teams using a Setsubun theme." Aizawa said to his gathered class as they stood around him in their winter PE kits. "I know that Setsubun has already passed but the traditions from it work for this exercise, and we had to make sure the whole class was here for it so it got delayed a little."

The class was gathered at the base of a hill that rose in the middle of the forest training area that U.A. had as part of its campus with boulders around it providing good hiding spaces and vantage points if you had to assault the hill. That seemed likely as atop the hill was a hut that was clearly going to be important and as such most of them were excited for the exercise.

Today was a rare day were all the class was present what with the work studies that were going on during their third semester, some of which changed up their schedules at times hence why it wasn't common for all of them to be there for training, and due to the whole class being present they'd been told to report here for hero basic training. They didn't know what to expect from the training session but they were all eager to see what it would be especially with the suddenly announced Setsubun theme. Well, all except Bakugo who couldn't care less but that was normal at this point in a class.

"You will draw lots to determine which team you are on, and as this is Setsubun themed the teams will be Team Oni and Team Momotaro." Mr. Aizawa continued before anyone could ask questions as he unveiled a box with the lots in it for the class though Adrien and Marinette didn't actually know what this was about as Setsubun was a traditional Japanese festival but they went with it anyway. "The exceptions are Bakugo, Agreste, and Dupain-Cheng so the rest of you pick now."

"Huh?" Bakugo asked as his attention was peaked and not in a good way because he'd been singled out. "Why am I and the French couple exceptions?"

"Because you are on Team Oni for a reason I'll get into in a moment." Mr. Aizawa said as the class drew lots. "And I want Agreste and Dupain-Cheng on opposite teams for this exercise. It will force them to face each other for once, so I'll flip a coin at the end to decide who gets which team."

"Dude, that's the perfect role for you." Kaminari said with a chuckle at what Mr. Aizawa had said. "You were born to play an Oni."

"Shut it princess." Bakugo said as the lots continued to be drawn.

"Guess this was coming m'lady." Adrien said as he and Marinette waited patiently for their own team assignments. "We've not really had this chance before so should be fun."

"Oh, I can't wait." Marinette said with a smile, her recent training with Mina and Toru and her planned 7 on 1 brawl with the Class B girls had really fired up her battle spirit, that and she was still annoyed she'd let Toru land not just one but two blows on her after getting the drop on her so she had to make up for that in her next battle. "I'm not holding back kitty. I don't care that I love you, this is training, and I can't hesitate because of love in the field."

"Same." Adrien said. "So, bring it on bugaboo."

"Well at least you two have the right idea on that front." Aizawa said interrupting their cuteness as the final lot was drawn and putting down the box before pulling out a coin and flipping it as he looked at them while the teams sorted themselves out. "Heads is Team Momotaro and tails Team Oni. Dupain-Cheng, call it."

"Heads." Marinette said as her teacher caught the coin and then flipped it to the back of his other hand without looking.

"It's heads." Aizawa said as he looked at. "You're on Team Momotaro. Agreste, that means that you are on Team Oni."

"Yes sir." Marinette said as she headed over to her team while Adrien went to Team Oni.

With Marinette on Team Momotaro was Midoriya, Ochaco, Tsu, Mineta, Kaminari, Jiro, Sero, Mina, Ojiro, Toru, Sato, and Koda. Meanwhile, in addition to Adrien Team Oni had Bakugo, Todoroki, Tokoyami, Ida, Shoji, Kirishima, Momo, and Aoyama. It terms of raw power it seemed like Team Oni, despite having less people, had more of it and the bonus of Momo's versatility but Team Momotaro did have their own aces and brains to counter it, along with the Quirk many saw as the strongest in the class though that was in part because few knew Midoriya's actual Quirk. Still, it led to a question form Ida.

"Sir." Ida said once the teams were clear and raising his hand as he spoke. "There is a number discrepancy between the teams. Is this deliberate or an accident?"

"Deliberate due to the disadvantage Team Momotaro will have that I will now explain." Aizawa said as he began to hand three bean sized balls to the members of Team Momotaro and a single cudgel to each member of Team Oni. "The disadvantage is that if someone in Team Momotaro gets wacked just once by the cudgel then he or she is out but to get someone from Team Oni out you need to hit that person with three of these balls that represent the soybeans thrown at oni in the various tales we have about them. The beans can be picked up and reused if they miss by the way."

"I see, that makes sense." Ida said as he thought on it. "In the stories oni are always larger and stronger than humans but not as numerous so this is a fair and clever balance of power. It's just what I would expect from U.A., even with this the school doesn't disappoint."

"Right." Aizawa said as he moved on. "The goal of Team Oni is a simple one, they have to wipe out all of Team Momotaro, but Team Momotaro can only win by rescuing the hostage that Team Oni has. That can be accomplished by either wiping out all of Team Oni or getting the hostage free from Team Oni's clutches."

"Er did you say hostage sir?" Izuku asked as several students looked confused at that though he was more nervous as he had a feeling he knew exactly who said hostage was. "Who is the hostage?"

"Our hostage for this exercise will be Eri." Aizawa continued ignoring Midoriya's first question, inadvertently answering his second, and really surprising the students. "She is in the hut on top of the hill as we speak and you are to treat her as if she was a real hostage. Understand that?"

The blank stares that Aizawa got from his class told him that no they did not understand what that meant. That was fair, this was their first proper hostage rescue exercise and Eri made a great hostage given her age and past so it would be useful training for them. After all there was no telling when they'd face a hostage situation in their work studies as it did happen and not as infrequently as Aizawa would have liked.

"Bakugo, this is where the reason you're on Team Oni comes into play." Aizawa said as it would help the class understand the exercise more, and tell Bakugo what his special assignment was. "You've got the job of becoming friends with Eri during this exercise and you will be evaluated on how well you accomplish that assignment."

"Come again?" Bakugo asked as the class began to process it before Bakugo suddenly exploded from the shock of what was being asked of him as it hit him. "What! I have to become friends with her? I can't just beat the extras like the others can?"

"You may be playing a villain in this exercise but there will be times in the field where you will need to rescue small children be it from a kidnapper, hostage taker, or a disaster scene." Aizawa said ignoring his second problem child's outburst. "You failed your provisional exam in no small part because of your attitude and inability to be nice to people in need. In the field, missions can ride on your ability to win over a civilian, especially when it's a child."

"What's wrong with just grabbing the kid and blasting away to safety." Bakugo pointed out. "And wasting any villains in the way."

"If you go through the villains perhaps but that is a big if and what's to stop a group from killing the hostage the moment they realize that you are there and before you get to them?" Aizawa asked but he kept on rather than wait for Bakugo's answer. "Or the kid you're sneaking into rescue doesn't see you as a hero and starts crying when you're trying to save the kid and alerts the villains that you're there thus ruining your rescue mission. Now you have to fight with a civilian in the way that you have to protect and prioritize which can hamper you. Do you understand now?"

What Aizawa didn't add was that Bakugo himself had been kidnapped once and had ended up being in All Might's way during the start of the retired number 1's final fight so he should get it. Between the stare he gave Bakugo and the explanation Bakugo fell silent and the class learned something just then about hostage rescue which would be especially important for the stealth based members of the class.

"Good, now Team Oni will start at that hut while Team Momotaro starts at the edge of the forest." Aizawa said which made sense given how hostage situations tended to go. "Now get to it. You start the exercise on the buzzer and I won't tell you how much time you have until that occurs."

"Damn Bakugo that is one hell of an assignment." Kirishima said as he hurried after Bakugo who was stomping up the hill to the hut as the rest of Team Oni followed behind him and Team Momotaro went to the woods pissed at his role in this exercise and recalling that damned win the kids hearts thing he did during his remedial classes which had been just as bullshit as this. "But we're here to help you so that you can win over Eri in no time. I know that you can do it."

"We will all assist you so that you can become friends with Eri." Ida said. "We are a team in this even if we are playing the villains in this exercise."

"But how will he manage that?" Momo asked putting her hand on her chin. "It's a tall task for anyone if this was real as it can be hard to win over a child in a short period of time but this is a little girl with a traumatized past and it's Bakugo. It's going to be really hard for him."

"It will be, but it is a good lesson for the future." Adrien said. "And one we should all learn because we will deal with all manners of kids on missions some will be easy and some not for various reasons."

"Wise words Agreste but this is still Bakugo being asked to befriend an young child and one with a dark past at that, one that even those of us who know the abyss can't imagine." Tokoyami said. "It will be a challenge worthy of the theme of this exercise."

"I agree with Tokoyami." Shoji said. "This will be tough for Bakugo."

"Just start with a kind and dazzling smile like moi." Aoyama said someone sparkling even without his costume though he was wearing his support item belt over his PE clothes. "Or Midoriya. He made friends with petite Eri after all."

"Yes try to follow Midoriya's example Bakugo." Todoroki said seeing a way to help Bakugo out. "If he can do it so can you. You helped me, Yoarashi and Camie in our remedial classes when we had to win those kids' hearts so I know you can do it."

"Did your brain malfunction icy-hot and don't mention that to me again." Bakugo shouted as everyone looked confused at what Todoroki was referring to though clearly he'd pissed off Bakugo as Bakugo only used his nickname for Todoroki when he was pissed as Todoroki was one of the few in the class Bakugo recognized enough to use his real name. "And Deku can follow my lead, he always has, and he'll die trying to do that but hell will freeze over before I follow his lead on anything."

"This is going to be a monumental challenge." Adrien said with a sigh as they reached the door to the hut and walked in to find Eri there waiting for them.

"H, hello." Eri said nervously as she looked up at them while they filed in and closed the door behind them. "I hope to be a good hostage for you today."

"Don't worry, you're the best hostage we could want for this exercise." Kirishima said with a grin at Eri who he'd grown fond of because of being part of the raid that rescued her even if he'd not spent as much time as he would have liked with her. "You're going to be a big help, I know it."

"Yes we are glad that you could join us today." Momo said with a smile at Eri, she and the other girls under Marinette's leadership, guidance, and babysitter experience, had been around to the teachers' dorm several times since Eri moved in to help out and look after her when they could as they and Hado could help in ways Togata couldn't so Eri knew Momo a bit. "Red Riot is right; you will be helping our classmate out with his hero studies so that he can be a better hero."

"Don't be nervous." Adrien said with a smile at Eri as Bakugo growled at ponytail's statement and the others didn't say anything as they weren't really well acquainted with the now really nervous girl. "We'll take good care of you, especially this guy. He's who you're going to be helping with."

"What?" Bakugo yelled as Adrien clapped him on the back causing the other blonde boy to turn and glare at him as Eri jolted in shock at his outburst. "What are you playing at Agreste?"

"Bakugo, you can't make noises like that around a little girl." Ida chided. "Not a great starting point."

"Shut it four eyes." Bakugo said turning on Ida.

"Alright, Bakugo is on guard duty." Adrien said as ignoring him as he turned to the others. "The rest of you, let's go outside and prepare for the coming attack. I for one don't plan on losing to them."

"Right, good idea Agreste." Ida said as they turned to leave Bakugo alone with Eri in the hut which would turn out to be not as bad as expect though not great either. "So, any idea for a plan?"

"I have one but it's pretty basic." Adrien said as they stood outside. "Guard the high ground. The biggest threat to our victory is actually Hagakure because in a situation like this stealth is key and no doubt she can evade my nose at this point. Shoji, get some sticks and scatter them around and be on alert, you're on guard duty for her. I could do it as well but with Marinette on the other team I should prioritize her."

"Sensible I am the best to handle Hagakure what with all our training together." Shoji said with a nod as he set out to prepare. "Leave her to me."

"Shoto, look for Midoriya and at the very least encircle him in ice of you can't trap him down with it." Adrien said. "At the moment only you, me, and Tokoyami can really stand against him in a fight but I need to be on watch duty for Marinette because right now I'm probably the only one who can match her given that Cataclysm is the foil to Lucky Charm, it is why we were paired together. As for Tokoyami he has more offensive versatility than either of us so his role in the defense can't be limited to dealing with Midoriya."

"Agreed." Todoroki said as Tokoyami was surprised at Agreste's assessment and praise, but he wasn't complaining about it coming from the true master of the abyss in their class. "I'll handle Midoriya, I've been looking forward to a rematch with him for a while anyway."

"Ida, speed is what you do best so go for any of the other team who are trying a fast approach down there." Adrien said. "And come back, get into character as well you're good at that and it tends to throw others."

"I'm a big bad oni." Ida roared waving his cudgel over his head. "I will smash those humans with my cudgel."

"Er ok, good." Adrien said looking at the others. "Kirishima, you're our shield. Stay back and if one of them tries a solo run up engage them. We have the high ground so use it."

"A manly one on one battle, I can do that." Kirishima said with a sharp toothed grin. "Leave it to me."

"I leave any discretion up to you then." Adrien said turning to Aoyama. "Aoyama, you're skills are ranged based for the most part so focus on defending us from ranged attacks or peppering them from up her to force any of them out of hiding spaces for Tokoyami to go after."

"Oui, I shall twinkle as I do so." Aoyama said.

"Sure, twinkle away." Adrien said. "Momo make something that can not only defend their ball things, I guess we should refer to them as beans as that is what they represent, but remove them from the battlefield as they will be at a huge disadvantage if they can't use them. I can do my part with Cataclysm but as I will engage Marinette the moment she shows up you're the best at removing their beans after me."

"I'm on it Adrien." Momo said as she unashamedly unzipped her top to reveal she was only in her sports bra that still failed to complete cover her cleavage and began to make a high powered vacuum that would be perfect. "I've got just the item for this and then you can destroy the beans when you beat Marinette."

"A tall task but I'll do my best." Adrien said turning to the final person on the team. "Tokoyami, you and Dark Shadow take Momo and Aoyama's cudgels and fly high then intercept any of the other team when they present an opening be it by engaging us or forced out of hiding by Aoyama."

"A good plan." Tokoyami said as the cudgels were handed to him now that Momo had zipped up again. "Dark Shadow and I shall take to the skies and lend our aid where we can."

"I know you will and everyone, keep your eyes open for Marinette." Adrien said as the buzzer sounded to start the exercise and he flipped up to crouch on the roof of the hut. "Because the moment she reveals her location, she's mine."

The others nodded as they headed out and the exercise began. They had the advantage in terms of ease to beat but their opponents had numbers, brains, and the closest to literal luck on their side so it was even. Still Team Oni planned on winning it they just hoped that Bakugo could complete his own mission as well.


"So what is the plan?" Izuku asked as Team Momotaro gathered up in the forest just away from the edge of the hill to sort out their tactics. "I've got a basic one, but I want to see if it's the same as what anyone else has."

"Probably the same as yours then." Marinette said as she looked around. "We split up and all go up the hill separately to make sure that get there and do so as fast as possible. This is a matter of the high ground and a fixed location, both of which the other team has and that gives them the advantage, but we have the numbers and some of us are well situated for this kind of approach."

"That is pretty much what I was thinking." Izuku said with a nod. "We need to move up and they will send all but Kacchan out to face us as we engage them."

"That is to be expected which is why our attack is also going to cover our best shot at winning this." Marinette said looking around to find who she needed. "Toru, strip."

"What?" Toru asked startled as Mineta got interested but was slapped senseless by Tsu's tongue before he could say anything.

"Strip." Marinette said again. "You are our best weapon for stealth so go up the hill naked, slip in as we lure them away, and engage them in battle. Hide the balls in your mouth and then wait for the moment to strike Bakugo when you are inside, likely while he's trying to befriend Eri, and once he's out rescue her. She knows you a little though being fully invisible will be a little tricky, but I trust that you can manage it."

"Oh, ok yeah I can do that and that's the only place I can hide them." Toru said as she turned and headed to a nearby tree. "No peaking, I'm going to strip down behind it."

No one pointed out that they wouldn't see anything and that she was naked in her hero outfit minus the gloves and boots or shoes depending on the time of year but there were times where Toru apparently forgot that she was invisible. Still Tsu made sure to grab Mineta with her tongue and used it to blindfold him as Toru got to work so as to not let him see her floating underwear which she was actually wearing unlike with her sparring match against Marinette.

"Right next up is dealing with their detectors in Adrien and Shoji." Marinette said as she presumed that Toru was back, which she was. "Toru, make sure that you are downwind of the hut when you climb the hill because Adrien's sense of smell is a lot more precise than he's let on. He will be able to identify you by your scent, he can sniff out the various products and perfumes we use and after a year he knows which girl is which by that combination."

"I would say that's creepy, but I know that he has enhanced senses and I do kinda have a few favorite products I always use." Toru said which was strange to hear her voice but not see any trace of her though her voice indicated that she was next to Ojiro who she would never admit to being one of the reasons she wore her particular perfume because she'd yet to admit that to herself. "Well, that and a girlfriend who he loves of course."

"Correct and that just leaves Shoji who you will have to take out and be careful of." Marinette said. "With me in the exercise Adrien will likely wait for me to appear and engage me directly the moment I do. That is what I am banking on and I will hold him in battle though any opening you lot see take them to land a bean ball thing on him because we can't take chances with any of that team. That does leave Shoji for Toru though."

"I can handle him; we train in stealth together so it will be just like that." Toru said. "I'll get past him though I'll only take him out if I have to as Eri is my priority."

"Good, I know you can do it Toru." Marinette said.

"What will you do Marinette, ribbit?" Tsu asked. "Other than face Agreste that is."

"First I need to make an item that will allow me to hit the others no matter what defenses they may have." Marinette said as she held out her hand and there was a flash of pink sparkles above it. "Then see what to do once I have my item."

The flash created a complicated looking pistol of sorts with a wide barrel that would fit the balls that represented beans for the exercise. Marinette looked at it in confusion for a moment, as did everyone else, and her vision grayed to show her how to use it. It showed her first the eject mechanism, then the magazine which fit three beans and then the beans themselves. That was obvious and Marinette looked around and a boulder a little bit up the hill flashed as well before her vision returned to normal.

"Ok I've got what I have to do, at least at the start." Marinette said as she ejected the magazine and filled it with her beans before returning it to the pistol. "I'll hang back at first and wait and see what happens so that if anyone falls I can get their beans and then head to a boulder for cover to shoot anyone I can when I get an opening. I'll give myself away when that happens though and use that to force Adrien to engage me."

"Got it, that does make sense." Izuku said. "The rest of us go individually but if I or Dupain-Cheng call out a retreat then do so because we may need to regroup."

The others nodded at that as they got ready and moved around the hill to set up their attack angles. A moment later the buzzer to start the exercise went off and instantly they headed off to try and rescue Eri. It didn't take long for their plan to fail as it really didn't survive first contact with the oni.

The first casualty of this was, unfortunately, Toru. She'd fallen for the sticks trick that Shoji had set up to try and locate her, and then caught the beans that were spat at him to try and take him out with his Dupli-Arms before he wacked her. Toru became the first casualty of the exercise and Team Oni had taken three of their beans for good measure.

Next to be defeated was Sero who was chased down by Ida running and yelling how he was an oni as Sero used the trees to swing and try for an approach that way but was found before he could make it to the hut as the crow flew. He did try to throw his beans at Ida, but Ida avoided them with ease despite his speed and hit Sero knocking him out of the exercise before speeding off to look for other humans. What Ida missed was that Marinette had been nearby hiding and she was able to recover Sero's beans so they may come in handy as she then hurried to her boulder to watch for an opening.

Right after this Ojiro ended up in a one on one matchup with Kirishima that stalled out while Todoroki trapped Midoriya and Tsu with his ice and they too engaged in a series of evasion and counters to try and take out while Dark Shadow and Tokoyami patrolled the skies keeping Ashido, Mineta, Koda, and Kaminari at bay whenever they tried to get out. That also allowed Aoyama to take pot shots at them to try and throw them off for Dark Shadow but so far they were in a stalemate.

However, the big problem for Team Momotaro at the start turned out to be Momo and her vacuum cleaner as she took all of Uraraka and Jiro's balls when they threw them at her. That wasn't good and so the girls decided to flee but with Momo's defense they knew she needed to be dealt with fast and they had the perfect person for it so Ochaco made sure that she spoke as loudly as she could when she began to flee to get Marinette's attention.

"Nice defense Momo but that's all you got with that thing." Ochaco said as she and Jiro fled from Momo and her vacuum cleaner. "You can't get us while holding that vacuum."

"I know, it's why I have backup." Momo said and the girls looked up to notice Tokoyami approaching in the air with Dark Shadow carrying him and between them they had 3 cudgels as he circled round to go after the two girls.

"We may be screwed but we aren't the only ones with backup." Jiro said as she and Ochaco fled as best they could, but they couldn't outrun Tokoyami and Dark Shadow in time so would be eliminated in a moment. "Now!"

"What does…" Momo began before something small and traveling at a speed that her vacuum cleaner couldn't overcome, not that she noticed it in time, slammed into her cheek with enough force to sting and leave a bruise as it spun her round while the bean flew away. "Ow, that…oh so there you are, of course, you're the only one who could have managed that. We've been waiting for you to show yourself."

Marinette just grinned from the boulder she was on. She'd used the early chaos to get into position behind a boulder and look for her best shot with her gun. That was Momo as she couldn't see Adrien right away and Momo had a defense so when she got the sight she took it to land their first blow on an oni though with the way Momo spun from the hit Marinette wasn't sure if she'd get the next two off in time. As such, right afterwards she'd leapt up and onto the boulder to get a better firing line ready to take two more shots at Momo the moment she could, but Momo was ready herself.

"Adrien, now!" Momo yelled suddenly switching to French. "She's appeared, take her down!"

Marinette turned to look and finally saw her boyfriend crouched on the roof of the hut grinning at her as he launched himself off the hut to close the distance, cudgel in his right hand and ready to strike. Marinette just turned and fired two shots, her remaining two in the magazine, at Adrien. This was the fight she was meant to have in the exercise so she had to focus on Adrien and trust the others to come up with a plan to beat the other oni.

Naturally Adrien saw this and swiped his cudgel at the first bean, batting it back to Marinette with the ease but her timing ensured that the second one was close enough to the first that Adrien couldn't bring his cudgel back to bat it away as well and took it to the chest but pushed passed it as he closed on Marinette. For her part Marinette caught the batted back bean and leapt back in a high backflip, reloading it as she did and letting Adrien land on the boulder as she landed on the ground of the hill.

"Not bad m'lady." Adrien said as he leapt off the boulder and walked towards her cudgel spinning in his hand as he did. "As I'd expect from you."

"Same kitty, seems like you were holding back just waiting for me." Marinette said. "Clever. You even had Shoji focus on Toru to make sure I was your target."

"Correct and I'm sure that Bakugo isn't happy that I get this fight, but I don't care because I will win." Adrien said as they stared at each other. "Let's take this private, shall we."

"I'm not changing items." Marinette said brandishing the gun. "This is too useful for facing you."

"Oh, I didn't expect it after I saw what it can do." Adrien said as Cataclysm erupted from his back and billowed into the air in a cape of blackness that destroyed his shirt in seconds but stayed connected to his body thus allowing him to control the energy. "Time for my new move, let's see how you handle Cataclysmic Cocoon."

At that the Cataclysm that Adrien was controlling came back down to him as more blasted from his legs as well thus leaving him in just his special underwear but that was ignored as the black energy of pure destruction curved around them forming a barrier of blackness that left them alone though Adrien left the top open for them just to be seen by one of the camera drones that was monitoring the exercise for their teacher. It was a clever move and Marinette knew that it was too high to jump out of even with her leg strength and with how Cataclysm worked her item wouldn't survive her jumping through it.

"Clever, you're keeping me boxed in like this to fight me." Marinette said. "But I know that you've got to keep Cataclysm on your body for it to work like this so your movements are limited. Add in that you don't have your mask and your significantly limited in how long you can maintain this. I know how much power it takes for you to control Cataclysm beyond what it was originally able to do."

"True but all I need to do is destroy your item in such a way that I can strike you." Adrien said. "I am your foil m'lady, you know it because it's always been the dichotomy in our powers, and I'll show it now. Can you land two more blows with just one shot."

"Who says I only have one." Marinette said as she reached for her pocket.

"Well then sorry but no holding back." Adrien said as a tendril shot out from the wall and right at Marinette's pocket. "You're clothes are fair game in this match even if I don't want the other guys seeing you like that."

"I expected as much." Marinette said as she grabbed the beans that Sero had used and missed Ida with before he was knocked out and pulled them out, keeping her hand over them as the blast of Cataclysm hit her right where her pocket was. "And I don't mind it, it's not like they've not seen it before and besides, my panties are more akin to hot pants than anything else."

As Marinette finished her pants disintegrated under the power of Cataclysm as she loaded her gun with two more of the beans, she had one in it already, and leveled it at Adrien. Marinette ignored the sudden chill on her bare legs, even with an enhanced constitution she could feel the cold, as she was now just in her PE top, trainers, and said panty shorts but she didn't care as she leveled the gun at Adrien and fired all three shots in quick succession at him.

Adrien was her match, she knew it, and his reflexes were as good as hers if not better and he quickly batted away two of the beans and into the black energy around them, the Cataclysm was attached to his back so he could move his arms, and destroyed then but the third got through his defense thanks to him being unable to move as much as normal and hit him in the gut. It was the second hit but Adrien just shrugged it off as he let the been fall before kicking it sideways and into the Cataclysm around them to destroy it as Marinette loaded her final bean.

"One more and you need a shot that will hit me." Adrien said grinning. "So let's take this up a notch and see if you can keep that gun safe when I unleash my other new move. Cataclysmic Tendrils!"

At that a series of black tendrils shot out and at the gun in Marinette's hand and she realized what Adrien was doing. He could control all the Cataclysm around him and he was sending blasts of it at the gun from multiple angles despite how much energy it took for him to maintain this without his mask. He had the space and numerical advantage at the moment so Marinette needed to bring it to him to so as to land the hit. She didn't hesitate as she leapt up and forward to close the distance between them as she protected the gun and twisted through the tendrils of Cataclysm in her final rush at him.

Marinette managed to make it past the first few with only one of them striking her left shoe which proceeded to disintegrate as she twisted in the air, Adrien would be replacing her trainers after this, before she landed. That wasn't good as she had uneven footing on a hills so Marinette rolled forward with the landing as more tendrils came for her, on striking her back which destroyed her shirt leaving her in the undershirt she'd started wearing because of the weather, but that was destroyed a second later as she got up from her roll to leap again when a tendril hit her in the side.

Still Marinette ignored it as she leapt up and twisted around the tendrils once again as they continued to come at her from all sides in a spinning corkscrew move as she evaded them with her lithe body to protect the gun as she closed in on Adrien. One did hit her other shoe so she was now only in her underwear and socks, which were specially made just like Adrien's underwear so they could withstand Cataclysm, but she didn't care about that at the moment as she was coming down on Adrien now. She just needed to find her opening to knock him out and as she neared Adrien she saw it.

He was waiting for her to come down and use how she'd been protecting the gun to his advantage to hit her with his cudgel that he was bringing up fast in his right hand so Marinette twisted her body to the side and around to evade it with ease thanks to all her training. As such she was now upside down and above Adrien which gave her the moment to pull out her gun and fire at him as he'd stopped the tendrils due to likely seeing his own victory.

It was the opening she wanted, and she went for it just as Adrien's grin broadened as she brought the gun around. It was too late for her to realize that she'd been the one who'd fallen into a trap and not the other way around.

That was because Adrien had planned this entirely to force her close and to draw the gun on him at near point-blank range where she wouldn't miss. However, this also allowed him to get his left hand up and grab Marinette's right wrist in it as well as the handle and trigger guard of the gun.

The moment before he did that Adrien completely dropped Cataclysm from around him and reignited it in his left hand as the wall of blackness fell and the new one in his hand spread to her gun the moment it was activated. For good measure he twisted her wrist away by using his more stable stance to ensure Marinette couldn't fight it just in case but the trigger was destroyed before she could fire and a second later so too was the gun and bean.

Adrien just held her there as he finished bringing the cudgel around and smacked her in the side of the head with it though he did pull it enough to just annoy her. That was it for Marinette but Adrien too had blundered by dropping the Cataclysm when he did because as he had done it Midoriya had been in the air just having leapt away to flee from Todoroki as he called out a retreat to the rest of Team Momotaro.

That gave Izuku the opening he needed and he didn't waste it. Dupain-Cheng had told her team that if there was an opening on Agreste while she fought him then to take it and Izuku did, tossing one of the beans he had right at Adrien as he hit Marinette and knocked her out of the exercise.

The pouch flew true and before Aizawa could announce that Marinette was out the third bean hit Adrien squarely in the forehead and he blinked at that still holding Marinette by the wrist as she kept herself straight and upside down above him though it was more showing off at this point than anything else. Adrien knew that that was the third hit so he gently moved Marinette down and she gracefully flipped down to land before him as they ended in a near tie for the exercise.

"Dupain-Cheng and Agreste are out." Aizawa's voice said over the speakers instantly Midoriya went red at the sight of Dupain-Cheng in just her underwear, he could handle Agreste but not his girlfriend, and he quickly fled so that he didn't see more than he already had even if the whole class had already seen her in her bra once before at the Sports Festival. "Please head to the jail for the rest of the exercise and watch it from there. Dupain-Cheng, activate your costume to cover up and use your Quirk for Agreste please, it's cold and while I understand why you both ended up like that you should both get covered right away. I'll have spare uniforms for both of you ready for when the exercise ends."

"Huh, oh yeah probably should do that." Marinette said as she activated Lucky Charm again and a robe in a ladybug print formed over Adrien before she placed her hand on her navel piercing and a moment later she was in her costume minus the belt and mast she'd added to it when she came to U.A. "There, that's better. Let's go kitty."

"Yeah I need to get some protein." Adrien said wobbling a bit. "Really went Plus Ultra to beat you there but I only had a minute or two left before Cataclysm fell."

"Come on, I'll help you." Marinette said as she took his hand, and they left the battlefield as the two teams regrouped following the initial clash a little annoyed she'd not waited him out but she'd not known what his limit was in that situation so she had to take the fight to him. "We seemed to be pretty even."

"That we were but I'm sure we'll get some serious notes for it." Adrien said as they headed to the jail for defeated people. "Which we can use to get better."

When they reached the jail they learned that during their duel Tokoyami and Dark Shadow had been able to take out Ochaco, Jiro, a distracted Ojiro during his battle with Kirishima, and Mina when she got too cocky and taken a hit from Aoyama's Navel Laser that stunned her long enough for Tokoyami to take her out. As such that made the jail's population 7 Momotaro and 1 Oni team members after the first class between the teams.

They were out for the exercise so they relaxed, recovered, and watched from a monitor set up in the cell as the remaining 14 members of the class regrouped for the next engagement. The rest of the exercise was pretty straightforward if they were being honest and reminded them why Midoriya was one of the best in the class.

That was because the green haired boy had rallied his remaining team and retreated following the initial attack that saw only Agreste in Team Oni defeated and that had only come thanks to Marinette's sacrifice by taking him on solo and landing the two hits to set things up for Midoriya's lucky final one that took him out. It had been a blow to lose their other key leader but it had been worth it to take out Agreste who was arguably the strongest of the Oni with Bakugo on Eri guard duty.

Midoriya didn't let Marinette's sacrifice be in vain though as he told the other surviving Team Momotaro members on his plan to take out all of the remaining oni except for Bakugo. Team Momotaro was able to plan because of a lull in the battle after their retreat was made longer by Team Oni minus Adrien regrouping in the hut to try and help Bakugo but it failed so they came out to hunt down the remaining Team Momotaro members and win. That was when the trap was sprung, and Tsu grabbed Aoyama with her tongue and brought him to them to get the other oni to follow their captured teammate.

The moment they could, Midoriya came out of the trees to get their attention with his speed and the threat he posed thus allowing Mineta to use a Pop Off ball to plug Momo's vacuum that had been such a bane to their remaining supplies, especially after Marinette was occupied as her pistol was the only thing that could manage to overcome it, as well as to counter and stop Tokoyami and Dark Shadow's threat by binding together two of the cudgels that they had.

From there it was Koda's turn and he unleashed a murder of crows that downed Tokoyami and forced all 7 oni to dive for cover and right into the massive pitfall trap that Sato had dug for them. The final thing was for Kaminari to stun them all with Electrification now that they were in the pit, and none had resistance to it at that moment. With them stunned they were sitting ducks and all 7 were eliminated in one fell swoop.

That just left Bakugo and they decided to, with the aid of Momo's Creation Quirk, try to aid him in befriending Eri so that he passed as well. They did this by pretending to be a different type of oni from the tales and force Bakugo to save Eri thus winning her over.

It might have worked but then Midoriya's hood slipped, and Bakugo went after him and turned his back to Eri as he tried to hit Midoriya with his cudgel. That allowed Eri to reveal the hidden trick of the whole exercise, three beans of her own that Aizawa had given Eri because in a real situation a hostage would try to escape as well and use any opening he or she could to do so. Eri did that when she threw the balls at Bakugo's back, with the incorrect words for the banishment of oni, to hit him with all three and eliminate him as he cornered Midoriya to knock him out with his cudgel.

The moment Bakugo was hit the exercise ended and Team Momotaro won it. Bakugo was shocked at that but in the end he gave Eri a rare compliment, masked as just saying what was on his mind, for getting the drop on him with that final move thus allowing the rescue team to win.

It softened her up a bit to get it and she had a small smile as Thirteen showed up to take her back to the teachers' dorm and Aizawa gathered the class for their feedback. That was when handed the new PE clothes to Adrien and Marinette who quickly put them on, Marinette over her costume before deactivating it just to be safe, before Aizawa addressed them with his initial post exercise report.

"Team Momotaro may have won and the plan at the end to beat all but Bakugo was good but your strategy at the start was rough at best." Aizawa said to them in his usual tone. "Dupain-Cheng, you were too late in entering the fray which was a mistake given that you had the best item for it and your accuracy should have allowed you to take a stronger attack to Team Oni. I get you wanted to face Agreste and used your sacrifice to beat him with teamwork but in the real world that wouldn't fly."

"Yes sir." Marinette said with a nod. "I'll learn from that."

"Good." Aizawa said before continuing to address the whole class. "Remember that when time is of the essence like it is in a hostage situation it is imperative that you formulate a rational plan without delay. The plan you had at the end was what you should have started with, understand?"

"Yes sir." Team Momotaro said understanding their mistakes despite winning as their plan had been good, but it had taken a failed first attack to come up with it which had cost them.

"Now Bakugo, your special assignment." Aizawa said turning to him. "Eri now has a better impression of you, so you passed it."

"Huh?" Bakugo asked stunned that he'd not failed the stupid test he'd been given.

"She was thankful for your compliment at the end and while she was scared she appreciated that you embraced your role as an oni." Aizawa said. "It really sold the exercise for her."

"But it's Bakugo." Kaminari said. "He wasn't acting."

"Shut it princess." Bakugo roared for the second time that day.

"Be that as it may it is still a pass." Aizawa said. "For Bakugo at least. The rest of you will be evaluated on your performances and assigned areas to work on based on what I saw today. You're dismissed."

"Yes sir." Most of the class said as Bakugo growled.

"See, you maned up there and passed." Kirishima said throwing an arm around Bakugo's shoulders. "Touch and go for a bit but you did it, I knew you could."

"As the Class Rep, I couldn't be happier to hear that you passed Bakugo." Ida said. "I'm proud of how much you've grown this year. At the start you wouldn't have been able to pass a test like this but now you have, I'm proud of you."

"Leave me alone four eyes." Bakugo roared as he shrugged off Kirishima's arm and stalked off.

The rest of the class followed him excited that he'd passed and chatting about the exercise that they'd had as some wished they could have helped more in the end of it, or in Mineta's case trying to not cry at missing the sight of Dupain-Cheng in just her underwear because Agreste was very close behind him and Dupain-Cheng was glaring at him so he'd probably be killed if he wailed about that. Overall, it had been an interesting exercise but as with all of them it had made them closer as a class.

"They've grown so much this year." Aizawa said as he watched them leave.

"How does your country's saying go." Mage said appeared out of thin air next to Aizawa though he'd told Aizawa he'd use his technique to hide to watch the exercise, so the homeroom teacher wasn't too surprised by the sudden company. "The world is full of kindness – not oni."

"That is the saying and that is how it should be." Aizawa said as he began to walk off with Mage next to him. "So, what is your assessment of my class in that exercise. Be honest and brutal, some need to do more work for what is to come."

"Of course well I'll start with my wards as they did make mistakes in their fight but that was to be expected and they need to grow from it." Mage said as he began his own report. "The first one was…"

Aizawa just listened to the international pro as they headed to the teacher's lounge to sort out the reports and update the training for the class before Mage went out again to observe Class 1-B's hostage rescue training. It had been an interesting exercise, one that Bakugo had surprisingly passed showing his own growth, and with what was coming they'd need this. Aizawa just hoped that they were ready for it and he would make sure that they were because they'd need it when the raid to stop a war happened.

A standard training chapter in the time skip arc as the story moves ever closer to the paranormal liberation war arc and all that that entails. This time it was a hostage rescue training exercise, one some of them will find very useful soon enough, and Eri played her part perfectly in it as well. This is the last chapter basted off a School Brief's chapter though there will be at least one based off the second Team Ups manga with another based at least a little off one from the first Team Ups manga. There isn't much more to say about this standard chapter, the next one is going to be nice and fun as training continues, so I'll leave this off here. As always, if you like it or have any questions please let me know in reviews or PMs, I will try to answer them as best I could and post any questions asked between uploads at the start of the next chapter and do follow and favorite this, so you are alerted to future uploads. Do keep the reviews coming as I like hearing from y'all as you enjoy my work, it motivates me to keep producing the best work I can for y'all to enjoy. Until next time.

Stringdog