Inasa looked over at Bakugo as the two of them were driven over to the testing site by one of the self-driving cars that UA sometimes employed. They had both quickly slipped into their hero costumes, it taking only about 3 minutes for them to do so. Aizawa had been VERY firm in making sure that they knew how to quickly get their gear on and do it right. He had told them that every second a hero wasted trying to do up a buckle or a strap another innocent person could end up dying.

But he had, at the same time, made clear that he wouldn't put up with them being sloppy. Every buckle needed to be fastened, every zipper done up, and they would need to pray to every deity they could think of if their support gear wasn't perfectly in place. Because, as he'd also told them, a sloppy hero got people killed.

"That's why you need to actually think about what your hero costumes do. Stop fantasizing about action figures and posters. You need something that you can slip on quick but will also protect you."

Inasa saw that their teacher had a point. He had seen plenty of his classmates struggle to get their costumes on after that first day, the giddiness of being able to wear them, and the teachers allowing them a bit extra time to admire themselves, leading them to struggle getting on their outfits in the time needed. There have been others, like Izuku, who were able to get their outfits on in mere minutes, despite being far more complex than others; it was honestly jaw dropping how quick Izuku could slam on his armor and be out the door. Same with Bakugo.

'Then there were the videos,' he thought to himself. In order to truly bring the point home Kenobi had spent an entire class showing them footage from different hero fights where the hero had been delayed because of worrying about their looks OR had rushed to get their outfits on… and the disasters that had happened. Oh, he had been careful to stop the footage before they saw anything too gory… only for one of his classmates to find it and share it with the class via the group chat.

He would never forget Atom Catcher's gloves misfiring and turning his hands into a fine red paste. It was almost as horrific as the villain he had been fighting cackling and taunting him just before he attacked a group of civilians, their screams filling the air as the shaky camera footage cut back to Atom Catcher's horrified face.

Many students had begun thinking about their costumes after that.

"Do you wish to discuss strategy?" Inasa said, expecting that Bakugo would snarl at him and tell him something along the lines of, "Get stay out of my way" or "we have this".

Instead Bakugo, his eyes shut and arms folded over his chest, said, "You're friends with Deku, right?"

"Dek… ah, Izuku! Yes, I am very good friends with him!"

"And you didn't take the main exam, did you?"

"I did not," Inasa said, now very much puzzled.

"Kenobi set up a secret 4th test… you hear of that?"

Inasa quickly nodded his head. "Yes, yes I did! I thought it was quite cunning… though I admit I most likely would have failed it. I am a touch too loud for situations that require softer voices and calmer heads. It is something I am working on-"

"Yeah yeah, whatever, shut up!" Bakugo snapped. "I found along with Deku that Kenobi is doing the same thing there. We have no idea WHAT the secret is but there is someone else in the training area." Bakugo shook his head. "But its Kenobi so we need to be ready for."

"You wish to find this intruder?" Inasa asked.

"Of course I fucking do!" Bakugo snarled but it didn't have as much heat as one might have expected from the blond. In fact Inasa had noticed that in recent weeks the hot tempered hero in training had begun to settle down, not snapping at any of them as much as he once had. Oh, he still cursed and snarled but it was more out of inertia than anything else. "You distract Kenobi and I'll do a search."

Inasa considered this. "If we make it seem like you are preparing to counter him it might put him off his game." Bakugo shot him a look that he couldn't quite read. "You have a powerful quirk and can be quite cunning in our simulations. Unless Kenobi has someone reporting back to him from the viewing area he would assume, if I were to play up that you most CERTAINLY weren't setting up a trap… that you were setting up a trap." But then he frowned. "Ahsoka, at times, can sense if people are lying. But if I layer this lie in enough truths and falsehoods it will confuse him. That will buy you time AND perhaps allow me to make some inroads in defeating him."

Bakugo considered that for a long moment. "Right… yeah, that would work."

"Do you have a time piece on your costume?" Inasa asked suddenly.

"Of course I do."

"Set it to go off after 8 minutes. If, by that point, you have not found what you are looking for, then you will actually begin setting up a trap for the final attack against Kenobi. That way we do not risk our grades if it turns out you were wrong."

"I'm not fucking wrong!" Bakugo roared… before suddenly catching himself and, in a more petulant but quieter voice, stating, "I'm not wrong. But… fuck it, you're going to need to help."

Inasa knew that for the blond that was as good as an apology and he took what he could get. "Very well then, we have a plan!"

And with that he began to focus on what Kenobi could do.

'He has the same quirk as Ahsoka,' he thought. 'So he will be able to move things in the air… most likely throw them at me. He will be faster and stronger than the average person and CERTAINLY more agile. Ahsoka seems to have extra eyes and ears so Kenobi will be able to sense me… I can't hide, especially if I am trying to cover for Bakugo. So I must go all out at first and then work from there.'

It wasn't the best plan, on his part, but it would have to work.

"The moment the bus stops… grab onto something," Inasa said suddenly. "I'm going to create a distraction so you can already move into position. We need to throw Kenobi off."

"…whatever," Bakugo said.

Inasa merely smirked. 'Alright… it is time to show everyone what I can do!'

~MC~MC~MC~

Izuku watched the screens, trying to see if he could find the hidden person again. But whoever they were they were cunning and smart; the movement of the curtain had been a brief lapse in judgement, it seemed.

"Do you think Bakugo will be able to figure it out?" Ahsoka asked him.

"Possibly," Izuku said. At one time he would have claimed flat out that Kaachan could of course figure it out and there was no reason to doubt him. But time and new friends and mentors had broken him out of thinking that Kaachan could hang the sun and the moon in the sky. Oh, Izuku knew his friend was good… but he didn't think any longer that he was perfect. "It all depends on him being stealthy and quick. Because I doubt whoever is in the building is going to stay there."

"There is also, ribbit, the chance that he makes a mistake and causes too much collateral damage," Tsu commented, Izuku and Ahsoka shooting her a look. That made the frog quirked girl shrug. "He's my friend but I'm not blind to his faults. If he gets too frustrated he will blow up… literally and figuratively."

"And Obi Wan will grade us on things like collateral damage," Ahoksa said. "He didn't bring it up but he will."

"If he were smart-" Izuku began.

"He is," Ahsoka chimed in.

"He'd do a debrief like the Hero Commission. We all will have to meet with him or another teacher and explain our actions, why we did what we did, justify costs, so on. That might also be where the secret figure comes into play."

"Right," Ahsoka said, shaking her head. "Layers upon layers upon layers."

Uraraka chose that moment to speak up. "I'd complain… but that is hero work, isn't it?" She let out a sigh and rolled her one shoulder, an odd thing Izuku had noticed her doing ever since the internships. "It seemed simple when we were younger. Heroes were the good guys, villains were the bad guys. Heroes went out and stopped the bad guys, support heroes assisted by making cool gadgets, and rescue heroes saved people that were in trouble. But its not that simple at all. We have to worry about how hard we punch, where we land, the people and the buildings and all that around us. Because we are going to always be under the microscope. No matter what we do we are going to have to be mindful that we are being watched."

"Yeah," Izuku stated. "A Rescue Hero might have to deal with a villain that was hurt in a battle and now doesn't want help because it might get them arrested. A Daylight hero has to weigh if it is truly worth going after a villain if the act of catching them causes more damage than letting them get away. Underground heroes might have to break the law in order to protect others."

"Not just that though," Tsu stated. "Look at Midnight… her and Kenobi had to hide their daughter for years because they didn't want her to be a target. Same with All Might and his daughter. Our families will always be at risk."

Ahsoka let out a sigh. "And that's thinking big and broad. There are small things too." The others turned to look at her. "After this, if we want, we can go and get some ice cream, right? Celebrate being done?" The others nodded in agreement. "Do you think All Might is able to go get Ice Cream? That he can decide that rather than make supper he's going to get a burger or some pizza? No… if he does that he's swarmed by fans all wanting him to autograph something or to take pictures." She waved her hand about. "Midnight can't just go sit in the park because if people see her they'll think she's depressed because she's all alone on the bench. Mt. Lady can't be around any male hero because they'll assume she is dating them. And if she avoids all male heroes and only hangs around female ones then she is a lesbian, clearly. Being a hero… a famous one with money and power and all that? It means that we will belong to the public. We'll have to struggle just find our peace."

The others were quiet about that.

'She's right,' Izuku thought sadly. 'So many of us dreamed of being heroes and having people cheer our names. And even though I want to help people… if I get famous at all, and I probably will because I'll be the quirkless hero and thus the oddity people want to stare at, it will still be hard for me to have to always be mindful of what I do.'

"Well… I'm depressed now," Uraraka said blandly before waving over to Todoroki. "Hey, Shoto! Come sit with us! I need cheering up!"

The solemn teen nodded, walking over and settling down next to her. "Why do you need cheering up?"

"Thinking about how being a hero means I'll never get any privacy."

"Yes," Todoroki stated evenly. "That is true. My father has found many people trying to break into our homes. One even hid in the shower."

That made Uraraka laugh. "I can just imagine how he reacted to that!" She nudged Todoroki with her shoulder. "Thanks… you always manage to cheer me up."

"…you are welcome," he said. "Though I only told you about my father dealing with one that hid in his shower. You didn't even let me finish."

Izuku had a feeling he knew EXACTLY how that story ended and no matter how much water pressure that shower had had there was no way it would be enough to deal with the flames.

Before Todoroki could continue with his story, however, they saw the bus arrive at the training grounds and Inasa and Kaachan step out. On another camera feed they saw Obi Wan waiting for them, decked out in his full Negotiator gear, including his helmet.

'He's not used to fighting in it, I can tell,' Izuku thought. When one wore a helmet they held themselves differently, moving their head in different ways and shifting the bodies into positions they normally wouldn't if they head wasn't protected. Izuku had learned that from watching Rex and going over their training footage of him wearing helmets during their exercises. He had seen himself adapt to his helmet rather quickly… but he could also tell that Obi Wan had not. 'Kaachan and Inasa could use that, if they realize it. I wish I could let them know.'

But he couldn't. He was stuck watching… and stuck wondering how they would handle Obi Wan.

'He has so many powers with The Force,' Izuku thought. 'That makes him very difficult to take on. I wonder if that is why Inasa and Kaachan were selected to face him; they are two of the best students in our class.'

While their teacher had told them that everything was randomized Izuku wasn't for sure if he believed that. Yes, it ensured that no one, even the teachers, could plan ahead or give someone an unfair advantage… but there was also the possibility that two students would have a bad pairing while others got a great pairing. Izuku would have been best with someone like Kamakiri or Shoji or Momo: students who did best in close range. He would have provided support from a distance while they fought close up. But on the other hand if Kaachan had been given someone like Tokoyami that would have been a disaster, as Tokoyami's quirk required him to have darkness and the flashes from Kaachan's explosions would have hurt Dark Shadow.

'And Obi Wan wouldn't want Ahsoka to take him on as she knows him too well. So its possible he set up several things that would prevent the randomizing to be too… well… random. Similar to Midnight, I think; she had to have male students as a female pair would-'

Kaachan suddenly fired off several explosions and Obi Wan easily leapt over them… only for Inasa to begin creating gale force winds to try and bash him down.

"That won't work," Ashoka muttered. "Master Kenobi has trained to deal with all sorts of environmental hazards. He's not going to be taken down by something like that."

Izuku though leaned forward. "I think they have something else in mind."

"What do you mean?"

Izuku though was silent, watching. 'The winds… they aren't as focused on Obi wan as they could be. Instead Inasa seems to be sweeping them across the field… of course!' Outloud he declared, "it's a smoke screen!"

The others started at that but quickly saw what he was getting at. Or, rather, didn't see, as the dust cloud that had been create thanks to Inasa sending his winds out at the smoke and dust that Kaachan had created by firing off his explosive blasts had blocked the view of several of the cameras, making it very hard for them to figure out what was going on. Everyone began to try and find a screen that would let them see the action but all they got were brief glimpses of Inasa moving about the field, ducking into dust clouds and disappearing only to pop up on another screen.

"Will that work against Kenobi?" Uraraka asked softly to Ahsoka.

"Only if he can fluster Master Obi Wan," she said and Izuku didn't miss the words she WASN'T saying.

'Its not easy to fluster someone like him,' Izuku thought. 'That means that Inasa and Kaachan need to be quick and fast if they want this to work, because otherwise he's going to regroup too fast.' He searched for their teacher… but couldn't spot him at all. 'They must also be using the smoke screen to try and hide Kaachan looking for whoever is hiding in that house. That's smart… but its going to leave Inasa all by himself soon. He better be careful… or this is going to end quick!'

~MC~MC~MC~

'Clever,' Obi Wan thought to himself as he moved through the dust cloud, thankful for once that he had worn his helmet. It would have made it rather difficult to breathe with how thick the dust was but with the mask he was able to filter the air rather well. 'Still, I will need to clean it rather thoroughly when this is all done with… the entire system is going to be choked up.

Still, he had to admit he was impressed with the teens' plan. Bakugo had faked him out well; Obi Wan was man enough to admit that without feeling any shame. He had thought for sure the explosive blond was trying to use his quirk right away and take him off his guard… and in a way he had been right but in the worst way wrong. Bakugo had attacked the ground, making sure to hit the lawn near where Obi Wan was standing to get the most dirt and grit up into the air.

'And Yoarashi is ensuring that the dust never has a chance to settle down,' he thought to himself. It reminded him greatly of the massive sandstorm that had sprung up when he and Qui Gon had been forced land of Tatooine. He had never found out what Qui Gon had done exactly to avoid the storm, assuming that Anakin must have been involved, but Obi Wan remembered well the handmaidens being in an utter panic over how the storm had come upon them, making the ship shake worse than any asteroid field could have. The Queen, or later as he had learned Sabe, had been worried as well and Obi Wan… well… gotten creative when it came to calming her down.

He shook his head and focused on the storm. It would do no good getting distracted thinking of one night stands.

'Though I do wonder how Anakin would react to learning just how many of Padme's body doubles I've been with.' He had tried to explain to Anakin MANY times that Jedi could be with others, so long as they didn't form emotional attachments. But his Padawan had always been a romantic who had never been able to comprehend sex just for sex's sake. 'Though you are one to talk now, Kenboi,' he thought dryly to himself. 'There will be no one other than Nemuri.'

Focus.

He needed to focus.

His students deserved it.

"Very clever," he said, trying his best to call upon every encounter he'd ever had with Dooku to best portray a villain. "You clearly have worked well to master your abilities." Obi Wan suddenly thrust out his hands and used the Force to create a bubble about 10 feet wide all around him. "But you still have much to learn." It was like being in a reverse snowglobe and Obi Wan looked about, curious what Yoarashi would do next to counter him. "I know your weakness, Gale Force. You are one who works best at a distance, to attack from far away. But this storm… it prevents you from doing that almost as much as it prevents me from attacking you. So is that your plan? To stall for as long as you can?"

He began to slowly walk, keeping his hands out to maintain the bubble of clean air.

"Come now… you didn't travel all the way here to merely hide in the blowing sands. You are here to capture the villain… isn't that what you heroic types are always going on about? How it is your duty or your mission or your life's work to save the innocent? Well… I don't see you saving the innocent. I see you putting on a show. So disappointing." He shook his head. 'Well, I wonder what Dooku would think of that impression,' he thought.

~MC~MC~MC~

Count Yan Dooku suddenly looked up. He had the oddest sense that someone was mocking him and that annoyed him greatly… he would have to torture some battle droids to work off the anger.

~MC~MC~MC~

Several battle droids shuddered as they suddenly sensed doom coming their way. They wondered if there was anyone that was more pathetic and more mocked than they were.

~MC~MC~MC~

Mineta suddenly looked up before frowning, shaking his head, and returning to the exam he was taking.

~MC~MC~MC~

Obi Wan frowned. 'They can't be just stalling for time. I suppose they might have decided to just make for the exit but that doesn't feel like either of them. Yoarashi likes to take things head on and Bakugo would never run from a challenge. So, what could-'

Yoarashi's attack came from the sky.

Obi Wan barely had time for the Force to scream a warning at him, allowing him to roll away before the Wind Quirk Teen was suddenly above him, plummeting rapidly. He landed in a crouch, Obi Wan realizing in the back of his mind that the young man must have used his winds to slow his descent at the last moment, only for him to then hold out his hands and unleash blasts of wind. Obi Wan thrust out his hands and was able to attack back with the Force, knocking Inasa backwards before he leapt at him. But the large teen was on his feet surprisingly quickly and moved onto the offensive once again, sending out more wind blasts but this time from the sides. Obi Wan was forced to leap into the air but as he did so he reached with the Force, grabbing onto a park bench and hurling it right at Yoarashi.

The teen ducked but that let Obi Wan move in and begin to attack him with a flurry of punches and kicks.

It was something so few realizes that Jedi could do. They saw the Lightsabers and assumed their main method of attacking was with their sabers, slicing and dicing through enemies. And that had been true with the Clone Wars, for Droids were simply too strongly built for all but the most seasoned of masters to be able to attack with their bare hands. He knew that there were holos going about of Mace taking on a squad of battle droids with just his fists and the Jedi had done little to get the public to understand that in reality Mace had used the Force to cushion his hands, mostly directly his shots with his arms and letting the Force do the rest.

It was good scare tactics though, onesthat made the non-Force wielders tremble.

'A Jedi should not use fear as a weapon,' he reminded himself, even though he knew they did so all the time. It was one of many things Jedi did that they weren't supposed to.

Obi Wan grabbed Yoarashi's wrist when he tried to go in for a hit, twisting it and causing the teen to grunt in pain. "Clever… but a good hero knows when they are outclassed. You… are outclassed."

"And a good villain doesn't get distracted and let their partner get the drop on them," Yoarashi taunted.

Obi Wan though frowned, stretching out his senses. "I don't sense Grand Nitro near me. Nice try though, Gale Force but you will find that such bluffs only work on the rare occasion… and not against someone like me." Yoarashi tried to free himself and Obi Wan applied a bit more pressure to his wrist, careful not to break it. 'I will need to apologize to him when this is over and done with, to make clear that I didn't actually mean every taunt I said.'

It was something he had wished desperately Qui Gon had done with him. Back when he'd been a padawan he had thought, during the play battles they would have where Qui Gon would act as a smuggler or a pirate or a criminal that his barbs and taunts were how he actually felt. It was his chance to actually insult him, through the role, and he had taken every insult to heart. After all a fight was when opened themselves up to their real thoughts and feelings, at least in his experience. It had only been after his master's death and been told by Kit and a few others that he needed to be a bit meaner to Anakin during their practice sessions that he'd realized the truth. He had been utterly embarrassed by his mistake, especially when Master Yoda had learned of it and come to see him to apologize for… well, many things that had gone wrong during his padawan days. But in the end he had learned and it had served Anakin well. Himself too. The first time Anakin had flirted with him had been utterly shocking but he had quickly adapted and even adopted such methods into his own fighting banter, as the likes of Asajj could attest.

'That is something we should do a class on,' he suddenly realized, making a mental note to work that into his lesson plan. He'd need to get with a few other teachers, ask them to help. Nemuri knew how to flirt VERY well and could show the girls just how far they could push it without risking their reputations or giving the public the wrong perception. And it wasn't just flirting either… there were ways to taunt, mock, insult, and tease that could throw off villains that he wanted to show the class. Perhaps ask Anakin to become involved-

"You're right," Yoarashi stated. "He isn't behind you." He leaned in suddenly. "And doesn't that have you worried?"

Obi Wan realized exactly WHAT Yoarashi was getting at. Bakugo wasn't one to avoid a fight. In fact he would have been the one more likely to rush him while Yoarashi would be the one to hang back. So why hadn't he…

And then Obi Wan realized that what he had set up had been discovered… and the testing was about to get WILDLY different.

~MC~MC~MC~

Katsuki moved quickly to the next house.

'Of course the fucking Monk didn't use the same house to put that civilian,' he thought to himself as moved to begin searching the new home. 'He's smart enough to know that one of us was going to figure it out and it would be better to keep moving everyone around, to make it more difficult on us.' Annoying but it was what it was. He had accepted that he would need to do the boring searching of the houses while Blowhard took on the fucking Monk. 'Yeah, he's going to get to impress everyone with his moves… but I'm going to be the one in the end that really impresses all the extras and fuckers by revealing Kenobi's little surprise!'

He glanced at his watch to make sure he still had plenty of time and he did. He was moving rapidly through the houses, which was made easier by the fact that they were absolutely empty. He would have thought that UA would be smart enough to actually fill the homes with stuff, if only so that, during a simulated villain fight, the criminal could use their quirk on the objects and make life harder on them. Something else he could bring up to make them realize how advanced he-

Katsuki paused.

He had heard something.

"Hey… hey!" he called out in a harsh whisper as he moved to what he assumed was a bedroom. He remembered the training Gentle had given him, telling him that civilians on average were dumb fucks who panicked when you barked at them.

"Treat them like the most tender person in your life. Imagine they are hurt and scared and how you would want a hero to talk to them."

"Hey," he said again, imagining Auntie Inko trapped in a villain attack. Sure, she could be a total badass when she wanted to be… he'd seen it several times himself when other parents had yelled at him and Deku for being a bit too loud and wild at the park, but she also was tender and sweet and fuck ANY hero that would yell at Auntie. "Listen… I know you are scared, with what is going on out there. That fucker shows up and decides to attack your home… but its okay. I'll get you out of here."

"And why… would I want that?"

Katsuki JUST had time to register the sinister intent of those words before he dove for cover, projectiles launching down the hall at him. He turned and frowned as he stared at them embedded in the wall.

Fish barbs.

And then flames blasted out of the room and Katsuki was on the move, using his quirk to take out a wall and move into another room, trying to circle around his opponent at take them out. But they were also moving, tossing out all manner of other projectiles. Bones mostly, with bits of stringy flesh clinging to them.

Cooked flesh.

"Lunch Rush," Katsuki snarled as he realized what was going on.

"So you figured it out," the Cooking Hero declared. "Everyone assumes that Negotiator out there works alone… but they have no idea that he has a master, one that has trained him well. Always two, there are." And then the Cooking hero stepped out, wielding dual meat cleavers. "And now… you are going to learn just how dangerous the Master can be!"

Katsuki… smirked.

"Bring it," he declared.

The fight was on.