Chapter 86

Exams had finally reached them.

The first one was going on at that very moment and Kazuki found himself… fairly confident, actually. Some questions he was certain of his answers being correct. Most of them filled him with doubts of varying degrees, sometimes because his knowledge was a little unclear and sometimes because the questions felt specifically tailored to confuse him.

Most of all though, it was the nerves and doubts that surrounded him that messed with his perception, he was sure.

Kazuki did his absolute best to push through that though. Knowing that it was his Quirk's doing helped plenty. It didn't make things go away, but it did make things a little better for him. Sadly, it was something that he was working on and that he would, hopefully, get better at with time.

For the moment, he would just have to soldier through it.

He took, yet again, a deep breath in at the same time as he started writing down an answer. The emotions were getting to him no matter how much he tried to ignore them, admittedly. 'I really need to get some time in the training facilities after this,' he thought to himself, taking a second to relax his hand and massage his eyelids.

He'd need some time to unleash the negativity he was picking up that day, especially since things were going to keep getting worse.

'Focus,' he told himself, shaking his head a bit and starting to answer questions once more. Idly, he pulled on node emotions to try and drive away the nerves, doubts and fear. As it turned out, boredom was great at calming him down. Sure, it was quite the contrast, but it certainly helped drive away those emotions better than anger would.

Distracting, but still better than the alternative.

From there, it was a matter of using the now usual emotion combination he was working on to keep himself focused and at "peak condition", just with different measures, since he had to account for all the emotions he was already dealing with and had to adjust accordingly. He was getting better at that, or so he thought. The only problem was that while it did help him keep his mind centered, it also made him feel even more like shit.

So, he'd definitely need a break after all was said and done.

After all, channeling negative emotions didn't feel great, obviously.

Eventually, all his work paid off and he was done with the test. The sound of his classmates working on their own exams surrounded him and so did their negative emotions. Still though, at least he didn't have to worry about answering questions… other than his mind conjuring alternative answers for things that he wasn't too sure about.

Ultimately, he only ended up changing one of those, but that was about it. The rest of his time was spent trying to deal with his Quirk and the emotions it brought. Easier said than done, but certainly much simpler than juggling that and doing other stuff. Although, on the other hand, not having anything to do other than feeling turned out to not be all that helpful in his endeavors.

'Hmm, maybe…' he mused, glancing towards their teacher and his classmates for a moment. Then he tapped his index finger against the wood of his desk and considered an idea that had just popped up in his mind. Deciding that it was safe enough, after a moment of thought, he extended his shadow to summon grimm.

Now, one might think he was crazy, considering that wasn't allowed on a good day, nevermind in the middle of exams. However, he had a plan to avoid getting in trouble and that was to summon the Grimm inside his desk, in the shelf/drawer-like space under the desk, to be exact. Usually used to put their books on so that they wouldn't clutter the small desks, it was the perfect spot for him to summon some diminutive Grimm or at least diminutive Grimm parts.

It required plenty of concentration and was the most inefficient summoning he'd done in a while, but Kazuki hardly cared for any of those. He actually saw them as a plus, since it helped him focus on something other than how shitty he felt and also provided a great way to just expel all the negativity he was getting flooded by. 'Might not need to go to the training facilities in the end,' he mused absentmindedly as he played around with the hidden shadow in his desk, away from prying eyes.

Suddenly, the prospect of waiting for everyone else to be done with their exams didn't sound so awful.

With his mind a little clearer and a few minutes left in the clock, Kazuki thought it might be a good idea to double check some parts of the exam. Boy was it a bad idea though, because with the passing of time, the nerves had only gotten worse. He was honestly getting a little worried for his classmates, really. It couldn't be good for them to feel like that right?

Or was it the skewed perception of someone that had to pick up on all of them, plus the rest of the school going through the same thing, at the same time? Thinking of it like that, Kazuki guessed it was probably not as bad as he thought. He still made a mental note to check one some of those that had it worse than most, like Midoriya.

Just to make sure and steer them towards Inui if it seemed necessary.

As if people didn't require counseling and therapy enough as it was, really. 'Is this an UA thing or are all schools packed to the brim with people full of issues?' he wondered, not for the first time. He wasn't sure which one sounded worse. On one hand, more people sounded bad. On the other, the best hero school being a special case for the number of broken teens didn't sound better in his mind.

'Then again, I'm not one to talk.'

[}-o-{]

"What do you think they are talking about?" Toru asked curiously from beside him, leaning forward as if that would allow her to see and hear through Inui's door. He could almost see her straining her ears trying to pick up something too. Both things were useless, considering you could be right at the door and still hear nothing.

It was either top notch technology or Quirk shenanigans, but nobody could spy on Inui's office, no matter what. Not even Kyoka the one time she'd decided to drop by, which had been somewhat of a concern. Not Kyoka herself, but the possibility that someone might hear their – usually – rather private thoughts, issues and such.

There was no need to worry though, it seemed.

"What he told us he had to talk about?" he asked blandly as he leaned back on his seat. He could almost see the unimpressed look on the invisible girl's face. "What?"

"You believe he's just there to complain about exam pressure and nerves?" Toru questioned him, as if she were also questioning his intelligence. "That lie was so obvious even Shoto could see it. No offense."

"I'm not offended," the half and half boy replied, not at all interested in their conversation. He was usually a little subdued – which was already saying quite a bit – when they went to Inui's office. Probably because he was going over things he'd talk with the counselor, if Kazuki had to bet.

"Maybe he lied, maybe he didn't," Kazuki himself lied through his teeth. Minoru had definitely lied when he told them their reasons to visit Inui. He'd picked up as much almost immediately from the way his emotions shifted. However, if his friend didn't want to tell him about what he wanted to talk with Inui, then he'd respect that. He didn't tell his friends about half the things he discussed with the counselor either. "We are all entitled to our privacy."

"But I told you what I talked about," Toru whined, and he could almost see the pout on her face.

"Because you wanted to," Kazuki replied with a nod. "I've shared with you all some of the things I talk about with Inui too, because I wanted to. There's other stuff that I haven't told you, because I don't want to. Minuro's the same. Shoto's the same too. And I doubt you've told us everything you've shared with Inui."

"I… I mean… But he… Ugh, fine," she stammered before huffing and crossing her arms. "Way to make me feel bad, Kazuki," she grumbled under her breath, but if she didn't want to be heard, she did a terrible job. "I was just curious."

"I get it," he told her with a half-smile. "I'm curious too, but if he didn't say, then that's for a reason," he added and Toru deflated even more, as if trying to make the waiting room chair swallow her. "He'll tell us when he wants to."

"If he wants to," Shoto added with a nod that Kazuki returned.

"You are just making me feel worse."

"Talk about it with Inui," he told the invisible girl, receiving an elbow to the side of his troubles. "Violent," he commented, getting yet another hit.

"Shut up."

"Yes, ma'am."

The three of them remained silent after that while they waited for their turn. They could only talk about so much, really, and Shoto wasn't the only one that didn't feel like talking much when they went to Inui's office. Maybe Toru felt like filling that void that usually settled on them? He could understand that.

Although, to be honest, he wasn't of the same mind.

Kazuki felt very comforted just having people around him, but that was probably just him. He had never had anyone by his side, so their presence there was enough for him. On top of that, it helped that he could feel – occasionally – how his friends cared through his Quirk. They didn't have that and Toru was probably used to having friends and family and such. Or she could just happen to feel differently than him about the same thing, which was a possibility even if his assumption was wrong.

"... So, are you guys going to work on anything in particular after this?" he asked, trying to fill the silent waiting room. Especially because Toru's mood was dropping. Maybe she was having a bad day?

"I think I'm getting better with the light thing," the invisible girl answered, her voice picking up cheer with every word. With that nudge delivered, Kazuki sat back and let her ramble on, nodding and commenting when it was appropriate. He was getting good at that, helped by the more socially able members of his friend group like Toru, Mina and to a lesser extent Kyoka, Momo and Minoru.

Eventually, Minoru got out of the office and Toru got in. After her was Shoto's turn. Last, but not least – if he did say so himself –, was Kazuki, who walked into Inui's office… and deflated as soon as the door closed behind him.

"Well, that looks encouraging," the counselor told him dryly. "Exams as bad as you thought?"

"Worse," he grumbled, running his fingers through his hair. "Thank God I broke the rules a little and made Grimm inside the book tray of my desk," he confessed, because it was something he wanted to make sure wouldn't come back to bite him in the ass. Maybe he was getting comfortable with the faculty, but he thought they wouldn't snap at him for it.

At most, he expected they'd tell him not to do it anymore.

"... Okay? I'll need more info than that," Inui commented, apparently caught a little off guard. After Kazuki explained a little better, the counselor hummed and leaned back on his chair, his fingers interlocked over his desk. "I see. I'll have to check, but there shouldn't be a problem so long as you don't disturb anyone and keep it a secret. I'll talk with my colleagues just in case though and you should ask them beforehand to make sure."

"I can work with that," Kazuki replied, taking a deep breath in and then letting it out. He definitely could work with that, but he'd have preferred to be told to just go ahead. 'Awfully optimistic of me,' he thought to himself, a little amused. Maybe life was getting better, if he could afford to be positive.

"Anything else you want to talk about?" Inui asked, apparently picking up on something, if his raised eyebrow was anything to go by.

"Well, I was just thinking…"

[}-o-{]

"Do you think it's a good idea to bring that here?" Kazuki asked, looking at the support equipment purse that Chikuchi had brought to the training facility. It was… quite simple looking, but he imagined it was some sort of prototype, but still.

"Yeah. I have to be extra careful though," the General course student mumbled, fidgeting with the strap of the purse that was probably filled with water. The reason for her nerves and desire to be mindful was simple: Support students only had so much budget they could spend on their tinkering. Mei hadn't gone into detail about it, but Kazuki himself had enough awareness of that himself through the rules he was told about.

Because Hero course students had budgets of their own they could use for their Support course equipment requests. Fortunately for him – and Neito too – asking someone from a lower year was cheaper than, say, a student in their last year at UA. So, partnering with Mei was a blessing in that regard.

Chikuchi was in a more complicated situation though, because she'd been given a pitiful budget as the Hero course candidate that she was. General course students didn't get budgets, but Shinso and her had been given some to work with for themselves. Which wasn't to say that was the only thing she could use. Mei had added some of her own allowance to Chikuchi's equipment.

Kazuki wasn't sure if she even considered that to be a favor or she just wanted to tinker equally for everyone, really.

Ultimately, the fact was that Chikuchi didn't have infinite money or equipment, no matter how much Mei would have liked that. Kazuki would have offered some of his own budget for her but… Well, the drone project was basically eating almost the entirety of it, sadly. Neito had offered some, but he was working on his own things too.

"Well, there shouldn't be any problems," he commented, standing beside Chikuchi as she checked over the purse, even though she probably already knew it inside out. "You're just shooting at targets to get used to it. Nothing more, nothing less."

"I know, I just… I need to be careful anyway. Mei needs as much information as possible, which means I need to push it, but if I push it I could waste all that budget money, so-"

"Chikuchi, breathe," he told her calmly, turning and pushing her with his shoulder a little to get her attention. "Relax. It'll be fine. Even if something happens, we have you covered."

"How? Mei and I are using almost all our budget as it is. Neito is sharing what he can and you're already using all that you have yourself," Chikuchi listed, only getting more and more nervous, which Kazuki didn't even need his sense to notice. "I don't have that much chance without equipment."

"You do have the set Mei made for you before the costume change, right?" he pointed out, but that only made her feel worse, a stab of disappointment and hurt very clearly hitting her. "Either way, there's a Plan B other than that."

"What?" Chikuchi asked, disbelieving eyebrow raised.

"My drone," he answered firmly, making her blink. "I've told Mei to have back up modules worked on that'll be able to be filled with water. They are simple enough, really, not even that much of a budget need."

"Kazuki, I appreciate it, but I can't-"

"You sure can," he interrupted, a half smile on his face and his eyelids dropped in a relaxed manner. Because really, there was nothing for him to worry about nor concern himself with. "The drone isn't even a necessity for me. I can work with my barebones costume and nothing else. Everything else is a plus. You need support equipment, so I don't mind lending you mine."

"You don't need to go that far though," she mumbled, her voice barely above a whisper as he looked down. "I don't want to be a burden."

"I'm the Boss, aren't I?" he asked her and Chikuchi's head snapped up with her eyes wide. "You're my responsibility now and I'll be damned if you fail to get into the Hero course for something I could help with. You're my future sidekick, right? Only the best for my team. So… don't worry too much and do your best, yeah?"

There was a long moment of silence then in which he just looked at her and smiled. When the girl finally looked like she was going to say something, filled with bad emotions that he doubted even she knew what they were, he just interrupted her again, this time pushing her forward. No bad feelings allowed, not if he had a say in the matter.

"Go along, Thorn," he told her. "No sidekick of mine is gonna half ass being a hero, just to let you know," he added, grinning a little wider and turning to leave before she could find her voice and say anything. Or so he thought, at least.

"I won't let you down, Boss!" the girl called behind him, with no shame… Or at least no shame that she showed outwardly, because he did feel some of it when people turned to look at her.

"Good to know!" he replied in turn, chuckling to himself.

… Well, it seemed Kazuki would have to put some extra effort himself. No way he was going to get shown up by his sidekick, right? On a somewhat related note, he didn't fail to notice that the idea didn't seem so alien anymore. 'Might as well roll with the punches,' he decided, choosing to look on the bright side.

It was kind of flattering that people thought he was worth following.

[}-o-{]

"So, I think a good way to approach it would be to share stuff you'd share with your friends in your group chat, for example, it's more or less the same, just that you are adding everyone else," Masu explained to him as they tried to go about "preparing" for his eventual social media debut. Which was weird to even think about, quite honestly, considering how non-seriously most people treated the thing. Alas, things could never be simple and normal for Kazuki, life had decided.

"Hmmm, I guess that makes sense," he mumbled, doing his best The Thinker impression on his chair while his right foot bounced up and down. He'd answered like that a whole lot, but he had offered some questions and doubts here and there. He just wasn't very eloquent when that was more or less what he was honestly thinking.

Eloquent!Kazuki only came out for interviews, if that.

"So, I'd share stuff that I wouldn't mind sharing with my classmates, for example, even if they aren't close friends," he continued, trying to make sure that he was understanding the Management students' point. "Like a huge "friendly acquaintance" group chat, is what I'm getting?"

"Exactly," Masu said, beaming, and Kazuki nodded.

That was a much better example than when they were talking about strangers, because Kazuki didn't feel like sharing his life with those. Which he knew was actually how it went, but when trying to find the right perspective for his future posts, that hadn't helped much. With his skewed view of people non-confirmed to be on his side, Kazuki didn't deal well with strangers on a good day, so trying to imagine what he'd like to share with those about his life had resulted in an equally skewed result.

Now, he felt like they were getting somewhere.

"You have to be extra careful though, so that you don't overshare," Masu continued and Kazuki took a deep breath in to gather his thoughts. Because yes, he was most definitely not a fan of this social media thing, but he could see the benefits and he was honestly a little intrigued.

Maybe Hina, Inui and Io were wearing down his opinion of his public image, because he was kind of looking forward to seeing if he'd actually see some of those people on his side that they talked about. 'I'm being entirely too enthusiastic,' Kazuki complained to himself with a wry smile. Yet, despite knowing that much, he still couldn't help but fantasize about good things happening, nice comments, encouraging words and people generally offering support.

And all of that would be possible because of the Management students.

"You sure you guys will be up to being intermediaries?" Kazuki asked, not for the first time. However, he just couldn't shake the feeling that the trio weren't taking things seriously. "Because I can almost guarantee that much of what I receive in my account will be hate messages and such."

"That's to be expected, yes," Masu replied with a nod, feeling plenty bad, but not nervous or afraid. Either the three were very brave or not at all understanding where things would go. "The three of us should be enough to deal with that and make sure that you only receive what's necessary. Everything good will be forwarded and we'll filter through the bad things to make sure you get things that you might want to, even if they are not nice. Did I get that right?"

"Yes…" he answered hesitantly before taking a deep breath in and deciding that he'd done his best. If it still turned out to be too much, well, he did have a Plan B for that. It'd just require some more work and some… Well, some luck on his side in the near future, if he didn't want to owe people a whole lot.

"Not relevant right now, but I think it's worth looking into the promotion value that your account could have once you get some fame in your name other than infamy," Keage commented then, making Kazuki blink at him. Even with how well things went and his sprouting optimism, thinking he'd be famous or popular enough for promotional stuff sounded like a foreign concept to him. "What I'm thinking we could do is-"

"Boss!" Mei interrupted, calling from all the way where she'd been working. Those days, it wouldn't be strange for her to have Chikuchi, Neito, Nagashira, maybe even Keage or a combination of all of those options around her. However, that very day, she'd been extra focused on something she was tinkering with her computer, which he assumed was the AI for his drone or maybe something new. That was the only project he knew required complex coding and he could tell when that was worked on after watching her work for a while.

"We'll continue talking about this in a bit, yeah?"

"Of course, Boss!" Nagashira replied, showing once more that he was the most enthusiastic of the trio once he started relaxing. The Management students were still a little on edge, especially with him, but as they worked together things were getting easier.

He wondered if that would change once things stopped being hypothetical and they actually worked on something real and tangible.

"Mei, do you need anything?" he asked, rubbing his neck tiredly. He wondered if PR work would ever not leave him completely exhausted. He hoped so, because his life was looking like it'd be filled with that. "Need more voice lines for the programming?" he asked, because that was mostly what he'd helped with, since the drone was supposed to react, mainly, to his voice for commands.

"No, the first working iteration is ready," Mei told him, her voice low for once but no less excited. "Say hi to the Personality Emulating Neural Network Model Y," the girl announced and Kazuki blinked slowly. He wasn't sure how he was supposed to react when presented with… the screen of her school laptop. It wasn't even the drone, really.

However, the name was certainly… something.

'Actually,' he thought, tilting his head and noticing something.

"Personality Emulator Neutral Network Mark Y, you say?"

"Emulating and Model," Mei corrected, eyes narrowed like he'd insulted her creation. He wouldn't dare, but that had been far from a conscious thing.

"Is the acronym on purpose?" he asked and it was the Support course student's turn to blink at him. "You know, if you take out the "model" part, it can be shortened to-"

"Boss, you are a genius!"

"I am?"

"You are!" Mei decided, taking the laptop and typing something really quick. "Say hi!" she ordered, gesturing towards the laptop.

"Hi?"

"Salutations," a female voice he didn't recognize greeted him from the computer. "My name is Penny. It's a pleasure to meet you."

[} Chapter End {]

Hey guys! How's it going?

Exams are here and they suck, predictably.

More therapy for everyone and more training for everyone too.

And then there's the last part, which… I actually kind of like. It's fun looking for ways to add RWBY stuff and references while keeping things strictly within the MHA realm and making sense. Not sure if people like how I've been doing this, especially this last thing, but I hope you do. I know I'm enjoying myself in this regard.

Anyway, I hope you enjoyed the chapter.

As always, if you can't wait until next week for next chapter, or if you just feel like supporting my writing, there's up to three new chapters in my Pa tre on:

P a treon . com (slash) AdrianKing

Discord Link: discord .gg/UTDransjJZ

Random Question: Sprite or 7 Up? Personally, Sprite. In general I tend to favor Coca-Cola's stuff.

See you.