Summary: Kagome, younger twin to Shoto, was regarded as a failure by their father. With her Quirk never showing during her youth, her father regarded her as a blight on his legacy. He gave her away. After sealing the well up, she's accepted into U.A. Her very presence serves to shake things up in the best ways!

Pairing: Kagome/Hawks

Disclaimer: I do not own either series. Each belongs to their rightful owners.

Chapter Thirty-Five

Kagome had assumed that Hawks would leave and be on his way after he'd gotten what he wanted out of her, but, to her surprise, she ended up being wrong. It felt strange to have someone different from her usual companions walk her home, even more so when that someone was one of the more popular Pro Heroes around. It didn't feel strange in a bad way, per se, but…

It still felt strange. Different.

Maybe it was because he seemed to know Sesshomaru on a more personal level, but there was an added sense of comfort that she felt when she was with him. It was their second time meeting, yet she felt no need to be on edge around him.

He seemed so casual.

It was nice, she decided.

"So this the place?"

They'd made it to the shrine, coming to a full stop at the base of the steps. She glanced up at them and nodded. "Yeah, home sweet home," she murmured.

As if they had been waiting for her return, Enya and Eira soon came trotting down the stairs. She had left them at the shrine when she left to get some fresh air in between her lackluster study attempts. They had been asleep, and she hadn't wanted to wake them up, so she just left without them. She wondered how low it had taken for them to notice her absence. Had they only come to greet them because they picked up on Hawks' scent?

Kagome crouched so she could pick the two cats up, letting them each perch themselves up on her shoulders. At the sight of them, Hawks blinked. Kagome noticed the way they both watched him with the same curiosity. It brought a smile to her face, and she turned to him the following second.

"This is Enya and Eira, by the way," she stated. "They probably just picked up on your presence and got curious about you."

"Cute…" he responded, looking between the two felines. "Fire and ice?" he remarked a second later.

"Mhm," Kagome nodded. "Sesshomaru gave them to me back when I started U.A.," she murmured.

"Right, you're in class 1A there, aren't you?" Hawks asked. "That class that the League of Villains went after…" he trailed off, tone turning thoughtful. However, all Kagome felt was a sense of dread at the reminder for the one concern she was incapable of brushing off. He seemed to pick up on it, eyeing her silently for several long seconds. Her discomfort didn't go unnoticed, but his expression didn't falter. "Hey, there was something that I was actually wondering about when it came to the whole situation."

She was silent at first, but she soon broke it with a faint sigh. "What?" Despite her discomfort, she didn't brush it off.

"What was the reason behind going for a bunch of kids in training? You were there, closer than most of your classmates," he stated. "What'd you gather from the experience?"

She didn't answer initially, that same dread she felt growing heavier as she recalled the entire thing from start to finish. After several minutes, she folded her arms over her chest, turning her head to avoid holding his gaze. "They were targeting All Might," she stated. It wasn't a lie. After all, Shigaraki had wanted Nomu to kill All Might.

"But that's not the only thing, is it?" Hawks asked. Kagome wasn't sure if he'd just seen through her response, or if he genuinely knew more about it than she'd expressed. There was no pressure put on her to answer his question. Despite that, Kagome nodded in agreement.

"He wanted something to do with me," she stated. Her hands gripped her arms tighter, her eyes narrowing. "I don't know why, but I doubt that it'd be better if I knew the reason why," she muttered, a soft sigh falling from her lips.

"I see," Hawks muttered, rubbing at the scruff on his chin. There was a thoughtful note to his tone, as if he was contemplating something. She glanced at him, and when she caught his gaze, his expression changed and he sent her a reassuring smile. "I doubt its something to get bent out of shape over," he stated. Before she could respond, he stopped her. "For now, at least. Realistically, there's no guarantee to know the reason behind it. At this point it's a waiting game."

"A waiting game?" Kagome repeated. Despite her questioning tone, she understood the meaning of his words crystal clear. She glanced down, her frown deepening. She didn't like the thought of it, but he was right. Right now, there wasn't much she could do either way about it. She didn't like the thought of just sitting back and waiting for something else to happen, for it to escalate in some form, but that was all she could do.

All she could do was try and prepare herself for whatever that might be.

She was tired of it always being her.

"In a way, you're right," she murmured, a soft sigh falling form her lips. She could feel him watching her, observing her reaction and facial expression. Despite that, she made no move to look up at him.

Still… sharing her worries with someone had made her feel better, even if it was only a brief respite.

Seated between Shoto and Shippo, Kagome was only halfway paying attention to the conversation going on during their lunch break. Iida, Midoriya, and Uraraka were also with them. The current topic had drifted to their upcoming exams. The first day of them would be tomorrow, after all.

"So, we know that there's going to be three days for written exams, but after those, there will be a practical," Midoriya stated. Out of habit, Kagome glanced up. "It's kinda scary since we don't know what sort of things we'll be doing for the practical," he added as an afterthought.

"I don't think it'd be anything crazy," Iida stated.

"The only thing Aizawa-sensei would tell us was that it would be a comprehensive test of everything from the first semester," Kagome murmured.

"I tried to ask Sesshomaru, but he wouldn't tell me anything," Shippo cut in with a sigh. "Didn't think he would, but it was still worth a shot."

"Everything we did this semester…?" Uraraka trailed off thoughtfully. "So, combat training and rescue training, and then basic training…"

She had expected the practical to have some sort of physical combat quality to it, so she wasn't exactly worried about it.

"So in addition to studying for the written tests, we'll also need to make sure our physical condition-" Before he could finish his thought, Midoriya was knocked forward some in his chair when an elbow collided with the back of his head. The action caught her attention, and Kagome glanced up at the figure behind him.

He was familiar, and she resisted the urge to sigh at his presence. He was from class 1B if she recalled correctly, and he seemed to harbor some sort of grudge against her own class. Talk about aggravating…

"Oh, sorry. Your head was so big that I accidentally hit it," the blonde figure remarked. His tone, however, lacked any sincerity.

"You're from class 1B… uh… Monoma!" Midoriya stated as he turned to peer at the figure standing behind him. "What'd you have to go and do-"

"I heard you guys met the hero killer," Monoma cut him off. His comment successfully caught the attention of the rest at the table. Kagome's eyes narrowed as she fixed them on his face once more. "Just like at the sports festival, you guys from Class A just have all the attention, huh?" he remarked. "But that attention isn't because people have high hopes for you. It's because you keep attracting trouble, right?"

"The fact that we're in class 1A and we've ended up with a spotlight of attention is hardly related," Kagome remarked in a deadpan tone. Nor was it hardly wanted in the first place. She rested her chin on her palm as she glared at Monoma. "Correlation and causation are far from the same thing."

"Oh, you think so?" he responded, catching her gaze. "Then that's even scarier. Someday the rest of us might also be caught up in the trouble you bring and become victims as well… Like getting cursed by the god of pestilence! Oh, that's sca-!"

Before he was able to find the end of his rambled tangent, he was struck silent. A girl had come up behind him and brought her hand down on the side of his neck. At once, he went limp. The only reason he didn't hit the ground is because that same girl caught him by the back of his shirt.

"Monoma, that's not funny," she scolded him. "Don't you know what happened to Iida?"

"Kendo!"

Upon hearing her name, the red-haired girl turned towards Iida.

"Sorry class A," Kendo stated. "This guy's heart is just kinda, you know."

"Yeah, that's one way to put it…" Kagome muttered under her breath. Kendo smiled when she heard her remark.

"You guys were talking earlier about how you don't know what's gonna be on the practical exam for finals, right?" she asked. "It looks like it's gonna be a combat against robots like in the entrance exam."

"Huh? Really?" Midoriya asked. "How'd you find out?"

"An upperclassman friend of mine told me," she responded. "It's kinda cheating, though…"

"No, it's not!" Midoriya responded. "I'm sure gathering information ahead of time is part of the test," he remarked, muttering to himself. I see… I should've asked some upperclassmen…."

"Are you an idiot, Kendo?" Monoma grumbled from his slumped position on the ground. Upon hearing him, she glanced back down at him. "You just ruined the information advantage we had! This was our chance to get ahead of the detestable class A-!"

"They're not detestable." Kendo responded, bringing her hand down on the back of his neck once more. As he fell limp a second time, she bid them a smile in farewell and left, dragging his limp form along with her.

"... I think that was my first time speaking to him and I'm already sick of him," Kagome stated in a flat tone.

"With the connection between the Hero Killer: Stain and the League of Villains, there's a possibility that the villains will be reinvigorated, huh?" Nezu remarked.

The teachers of U.A. had gathered together to discuss the upcoming exams in the aftermath of everything that had happened.

"Of course, it would be better to prevent that before it can begin, but as a school, it is best to be completely certain," Snipe stated. "If we consider how fights against villains will continue to intensify in today's society, then combat training against robots is not practical." There was no sense in denying the accuracy of his sentiment. "Originally, robots were used to avoid complaints about people being injured during the entrance exam."

"We can just ignore those," Aizawa stated. "Let them say what they want."

"We can't exactly do that now, can we?" Midnight asked.

"I understand that you want to change the exam, but to have the students pair up and fight against us…" Cementoss trailed off, the end of their sentence hanging in the empty space clearly.

Thirteen nodded. "It would be a bit unfair."

"If we win easily, then we won't be able to give them grades," Present Mic stated.

"Of course, all that would need to be taken into consideration," Snipe responded. "They would be given a handicap."

"Principal Nezu, what do you think?" Aizawa asked, glancing at the small figure seated beside him.

"Of course, I also agree with changing the practical exam," Nezu stated, folding his arms over his chest. "What should we do to keep the students from being in even more danger?" he asked. "The answer is simple. We must have the students themselves become stronger."

"That's true," Midnight stated.

"If that is the case, then I have no further objections," Thirteen added.

"Then, to determine the teams-" Aizawa stated, glancing down at the collection of papers that were stacked in front of him. "First, we have Todoroki. In general, he's doing well, but overall he had a tendency of using brute force. Higurashi is intuitive and has the tendency to think things through, yet she has a bad habit of holding herself back among her peers, which can lead to failure," Aizawa stated. "I will erase their quirks, and force them into a close-combat fight." Upon saying that, he glanced at the otherwise silent silver-haired figure across from him. "You may take charge when training her, but I don't see a benefit in putting her against you in this setting."

Sesshomaru said nothing at first. Eventually he broke the silence with a faint noise. "I have no complaints." Even though he said that, it was clear he was also requesting a further explanation, which Aizawa had no issues providing.

"You both are familiar with each other's fighting styles, and it would be an unfair balance to have her paired with someone not yet on the same level as her," Aizawa stated. "She needs a level playing ground in order to maintain her confidence in what she's doing. If the balance is uneven, then her resolve will start to break."

"You've put thought into it," Sesshomaru stated. The notes on her that he had requested seemed to have been carefully considered among the rest of her peers. "I do believe it would benefit her better to have an opponent other than myself," he stated.

"It's the same reason why I avoided pairing her with Shippo," Aizawa stated. "Sure, they have the strongest bond of everyone in the class, yet it would do neither of them any good and offer little room for growth. As it is, I try to limit their interactions in combat drills as much as I can to avoid dependency." Aizawa shuffled some papers as he glanced at the next pair. "Next are Midoriya and Bakugo," he stated, glancing towards All Might. "I'm leaving them to you."

"Me?" All Might asked. "Are you positive?"

"For these two, I didn't pair them up based on ability or grades," Aizawa said. "Just on how badly they get along. You like Midoriya, don't you?" he asked. "Please instruct them well."

Once the three days of written exams had finished, it was finally time for the practical. For the most part, everyone seemed to be in high spirits about it after the information Kendo had shared was relayed to the rest of the class.

They all had changed into their costumes before being taken out to the facility that the exam would be held in. Instead of there just being two or three teachers present, like how it often was for each of their lessons, they all were there.

"We will be starting the practical exam in a few minutes," Aizawa stated. "Of course, it is possible to fail this exam. If you want to go to the training camp, then avoid making any stupid mistakes.

"How come there are so many teachers here…?" Jiro asked.

"I expect that you all have gathered information ahead of time and have some frame of idea as to what you will be doing," Aizawa stated.

"We're fighting robot warriors like at the entrance exam, right?!" Kaminari exclaimed.

"Too bad!" The scarf around Aizawa's shoulders started to rustle. On cue, both Enya and Eira perked up on Kagome's shoulders. After a few seconds of it rustling, a white furred figure poked his head out. "For various reasons, the exam will be different starting this time!"

"Principal Nezu!"

"Different?" Momo asked.

Nezu nodded as he grabbed ahold of the end of Aizawa's scarf, using it to propel his body down to the ground. "From now on, we want to focus on person-to-person combat and hero work, and stress teaching that is closer to actual fighting. So-!" Once he'd reached the ground, he looked at the gathered students. "We'll have you form teams of two to fight against one teacher!"

His reveal took most of the students by surprise, uncertainty showing on their faces.

"Against… the teachers?" Uraraka asked.

"In addition, the pairs and who each pair will be up against have already been decided," Aizawa stated. "They were determined at my discretion based on various factors, including fighting style, grades, and interpersonal relationships." In his hand, he held a clipboard, where all that information presumably was written down. "First, Higurashi and Todoroki are on one team, and they'll be fighting me."

Kagome was surprised by the fact that she'd be taking on Aizawa. She'd been expecting to be put up against Sesshomaru, but after thinking about it for a few seconds, she started to understand why that might've been.

Sesshomaru trained her on sight and off sight. She was used to his attack style, just like he was used to her's. It served to level the playing field. It was surely the same reason why he didn't allow her to tag-team so frequently with Shippo.

"The next team is Midoriya and Bakugo," Aizawa stated, that one seeming almost dangerous. With the tension between them, it was hard to see a reality where they actively worked with each other- Bakugo in particular. Their reactions served to only prove their own surprise at the fact. "Their opponent is-"

As Aizawa started to say those words, a shadow passed over them all. A second later, All Might landed alongside the rest of the teachers, soon picking himself up to his full height, his attention landing on the two boys.

"I… will be your opponent!"

From an outside perspective, Kagome couldn't tell what unnerved them most. Having to work together, or having to work together to take down All Might.

"Work together to beat me, you two!" All Might exclaimed.

Auroua-chan: Finishing this one here.

So, Kagome will be paired with Shoto against Aizawa for their exam. Sesshomaru had a few notes on her that he gave to Aizawa to assist him in putting the teams together, but not everything was listed there. Most notably the impact of her quirk with her spiritual energy. Aizawa can erase her quirk, yet she would still be in possession of her spiritual abilites- even if they are significantly weaker.

Anyway that's it for now! Thank you all for reading and I hope you all enjoyed. Hopefully I caught all the errors before posting, but if not sorry.

Please remember to Review, Favorite, and Follow, thank you!

Bye for now~