Chapter XX: Physical Exam

"What does learning quadratic formulas have to do with being a hero?!" Mina sunk her face into the side of the hospital bed.

"Nothing. Even the hero school still has to follow some education standards," Sasuke's eyes stayed glued to the papers as he lay back in the hospital bed.

"Stupid education standards! Multi-step algebra isn't gonna help me fling acid at bad guys!"

"Hehe, you're right, but what can you do?"

"I'm gonna become Prime Minister and ban all math past percentages! Discounts and bargains are important!"

Sasuke looked up from his paper at her. "You'd probably make dancing classes mandatory in its place."

She stuck out her tongue, "People would love that over algebra, and don't sound like that, you're a dancer too."

"Martial Arts isn't dancing."

"Eh… it's like a style of it. I could teach you some of my style sometime! Like when we were kids."

"I'm not in shape to dance."

"You're cleared to leave the hospital tomorrow."

"I gotta focus on these studies."

"Then we can do it afterward. Come on, I'll give you hands-on assistance." She made a sly grin and curled her fingers.

Sasuke rolled his eyes and blushed. Mina sighed, "Fine, but I'll get you to do it one day. You really gotta let yourself have more fun."

"Training is more important as long as people like AFO and the League are still out there."

"I mean yeah... But all the time? Don't you miss having fun like when we were kids binging movies?"

Sasuke paused thinking of the few times he skipped out on training to hang out with her. A smile curled up on his face.

"You'll never be strong by slacking off, Sasuke! Get back to your training! We're counting on you."

His father's voice made the smile curl back down flat. "... I do..." He wordlessly continued his studies.

A couple of days later, the written test was graded and given back to students. Mina placed fifteenth, and Sasuke himself placed fifth and made his entrance during the lunch rush.

Uraraka spotted him as soon as he got a tray, "Sasuke! There you are! Get your butt over here!"

Sasuke trudged over to their table and Midoriya shot out of his seat, "Sasuke! You're out of the hospital!"

"Yeah, it seems like I didn't miss anything important."

Iida spoke up, "We're glad to see you well. Everyone was worried."

Hagekure added, "Yeah, even Bakugo was worried!"

Bakugo yelled from across the cafeteria, "NO THE FUCK I WASN'T! I DON'T CARE!"

Hagekure giggled and whispered, "He didn't want anyone to notice."

"Uh... Right. Anyway, I heard some of you got attacked the same night I was."

Todoroki replied, "Yeah, but it was more of a city-wide attack we got caught up in than an ambush, like in your case."

"The hero killer almost got us, there were too many close saves. Thanks again, for all the dual training we did. I would have been a goner if I didn't know full cowling."

Asui chipped in, "Speaking of that, aren't both the attacks connected somehow? Nomu's belong to the League of Villains, and they're the only ones that have attacked UA students so far."

"I'm sure they know each other, but I doubt they're in the same group."

Someone with blonde hair bumped into Midoriya's head, "Ah, my bad, your head's so big I ended up whacking you upside it."

"The class B kid, Monoma?"

Monoma sneered and glanced at all of them, "The lot that encountered the hero killer and those drug-dealing villains. All the ways in which you've been basking in the sunlight since the sports festival have only multiplied, haven't they, Class A? Only all of that attention is in the form of trouble! Man, it's so scary. One day the rest of us might get wrapped in the trouble you all draw in, and then we'll get hurt. So scary, I– PWAH!" He suddenly dropped.

A ginger girl chopped the back of his neck, and grabbed his unconscious body, "That's not funny. Don't you know what happened to Iida and Sasuke?"

Kendo started conversing with the rest of them, but Sasuke looked down at the ground as some of his words hung on him. "He's not wrong."

The rest of them looked at him. Kendo asked, "Wrong about what?"

He stared back up at them, "About what's been happening. We've defeated assets of theirs. They're gonna want to get back at us, whether directly or indirectly. It could draw in a lot of people we don't want it to."

Silence followed for a while until Uraraka spoke up seriously, "That's true, but what was the other option? Losing and getting killed or kidnapped by them? They came and attacked our class first anyway. It can't be helped."

Everyone stared at Uraraka and she stuttered and smiled, "Hehe, basically what I'm trying to say is that we've been in this together since the start! So let's not worry about that."

Sasuke poked at his food, "... Yeah."

Once school was over, Sasuke made his way to the hero equipment department for a request. Once he left he tried to make his way home, but was approached by someone. "Pardon me, Uchiha Sasuke. Could I have a minute of your time?"

Sasuke turned to him, "What is it?"

The man pulled out a police badge, "I'm Detective Tsukauchi," Sasuke tensed up but remained stone-faced. "The Nomu are genetically modified creatures. They have a very low level of brain activity that's a result of the load of multiple quirks on their body."

Sasuke narrowed his eyes, "--And you're curious why I'm still functioning just fine, despite more than one quirk being in me?"

"Yes, exactly."

"I have no idea," Sasuke turned around to start walking away.

"Uchiha, please. With your help, we could potentially reverse what happened to these Nomu's or get to the bottom of the case somehow."

He turned back around and sighed. He looked down in thought and placed his palm over his own face as he remembered AFO grabbing it. He took a deep breath, "I remember being really sick and having brain fog for a while after being granted the quirk; it felt like my mind was splitting, but my mom took care of me for a while and I was fine."

"Your mind was splitting, but your mom helped stop this?"

"I don't think she did anything special, just normal care for a sick child as far as I remember. What? Do you think something special happened to me that stopped me from turning into a Nomu?"

"Or that there's something special about your normal quirk factor that stopped this. I would just like for you to let us run some scans on you for us to analyze. It'll be fast, and you'll be compensated for your time."

Sasuke contemplated it and sighed, "Sure."

Later at night, Sasuke went home and saw a package on his doorstep. He picked it up and brought it inside, 'From the Edgeshot Agency.' He opened it up to see more throwable ninja tools, along with another sword. He pulled it out and saw another small note on the hilt:

'A second sword for your second chance at life. Don't break it, and don't be afraid to ask for help.

'- Edgeshot and Tenten.

Sasuke smiled and got himself used to swinging a sword again.

As the next day came it was time for the Test Exercise. All the students in pairs of two had to face one of the pro-hero staff. Sasuke himself was paired with Kirishima against Cementoss.

The pair of them strolled into the middle of an empty City Street. Cementoss stated, "Your time limit is thirty minutes. The way you'll win is either by putting these handcuffs on me or for either of you to escape from the stage."

"Like the battle trials?" Kirishima asked.

"Something like that, but your opponents will be on a much higher level. If you can beat a villain, that's good, but if the villain is on a much higher level, then it's better to run."

Sasuke stated, "Seems easy enough. I could throw you to the gate if I have to."

Kirishima smirked and brought his fist together, "I can take him."

An announcer shouted over speakers, "Everybody's at their marks? In that case, it's time for the UA students to begin the End-Of-Term Test! Ready... GO!"

"Just so you know, we don't plan on holding back."

"You don't think you'd lose against him?"

"Nah, I'd win."

Kirishima hardened and charged right toward Cementoss, but it was all in vain as he was uppercut by a cement pillar rising out of the ground, sending him flying back to Sasuke's side.

He rubbed his head, "Ok plan B, try throwing me."

"We should have gone with this the first time. Straighten out."

Sasuke picked up Kirishima and threw him like a javelin towards the exit gate. Kirishima smiled as he glided through the air, "We're gonna be the first ones d-"

A thick cement wall shoots out of the ground with Kirishima crashing into it like a bug against a windshield. A cement arm grabs him and throws him back towards Sasuke. His eyes are like swirls, "Ok... we need a plan C now... Maybe attacking him together will work."

He stumbles to his feet and slaps his face to focus back up.

Slabs of cement shot out of the ground, getting closer and closer to the pair. Kirishima hardened, "Come on! We just gotta punch through them all as they come!"

Sasuke sweatdropped and started punching alongside him with Susanoo's arms. "You're really durable, but if we stay like this for long we'll just end up getting tired out and losing."

"So what's your plan?"

"I can toss you into the air so you can attack him from above, I'll make him think there are still two of us down here and try to get closer to him. Also take this, alright?"

Sasuke put a fake pair of cuffs in Kirishima's pockets while showing the real pair in his hands. Kirishima blinked, "Woah! How'd you do that? That's like Yaoyorozu's quirk!"

"I can't make things with the same level of detail or authenticity as Yaoyorozu, they just look like it, but are the same color as my energy." he pulled down a sleeve to reveal bracelets with canisters on them. "The special paint lets me alter the color of stuff I make. Are you seeing where I'm going with this?"

Kirishima smiled, "Oh hell yeah! Let's do it!"

On the other side of all the cement, cementoss thought, 'Are they just going to try and punch through it the whole time? Could they not come up with anything else? They're gonna burn out within a minute or two at this rate, I can already feel them slowing down... Is that a bird making that sound?'

"ORA!" Kirishima dived down from the sky with a pair of cuffs in his hands.

"A surprise attack? Maybe don't scream next time."

Cementoss covered his top side with a thick bunker-like structure and shot cement poles at Kirishima. He dodged through and punched some of them. While diverting his attention to Kirishima, Sasuke took advantage of the cement slowing down. He pulled out his sword and allowed his body to be covered in dense layers of purple energy in the most important places for mobility. Once in his newly named Savitar mode, he blitzed through all the walls, slicing them one by one and punching them with Susanoo fist in unison, not caring about energy expenditure.

"WHA-" Sasuke didn't give him the chance to react and put the cuffs on him.

The two students smiled and Kirishima put his hand up for a high-five. "Nice plan man!"

Sasuke stared at it for a second before high-fiving. Kirishima laughed, "That's what I like to see man!"

Cementoss said, "That was great planning; You kept my attention on a decoy, slowing down my cement production and giving you the chance to close in in one burst. Although, how did you make another pair of cuffs? Were you hiding the ability to make things?"

"No, I learned it during the work-study. Guess you came in with outdated info."

"I might have fallen for it even if I did know. You two passed."

"Good, is there a place to go to watch the rest of the battles?"

Sasuke took off his cuffs and Cementoss signaled for them to follow, "Yes, follow me."

"Is there a nurse's office on the way there? I have a major headache."

"There is."

The both of them trailed behind Cementoss to a bus. While driving, Cementoss looked in his rearview mirror at Sasuke. 'The new generation is crazy strong. I was distracted, but he still managed to cut through dozens of my walls with ease. Students like him, Todoroki, and Bakugo already surpass most pro heroes. Give them time to discover the limits of themselves and their abilities and I can only imagine where they'll be in strength. Surpassing All Might has seemed impossible for decades, but that time may be coming.'

Kirishima kept staring at Sasuke before stating, "I'm not sure if anyone else has noticed it, but I don't think I've ever seen Mina seem so influenced by one person. She seems happy for a while, then is more cheerful than ever when she talks to you, but by the end of it you guys argue and she gets sad. She keeps going back to you though. She wouldn't give me a straight answer, but I want you to tell me, man to man.

Sasuke side-eyed him before looking back out of the window and sipping water. "Are you two... In some kind of relationship?"

Sasuke spit the water out on the window and coughed as he tried to catch his breath. "WHAT?! No! Why would you think that?"

Kirishima raised a brow, "Don't make it sound so unbelievable, you should see what you too look like from someone else's perspective!"

"Well no. I doubt that'll ever happen."

"So you don't like her?"

Sasuke pulled out his phone, "We're training to be heroes, we should all forget about stupid stuff like this. Drop it."

Kirishima peered at him before turning back to look out the window. Sasuke himself scrolled through his phone. 'Me and Mina? Heh, I'm pretty sure she'd prefer someone more energetic like Kaminari. She's nice but... I have to focus on AFO... Once he's dead then...'

They arrived back where they were before the test started and Kirishima thought, 'Neither of them ever said they don't like each other.'

At another training ground, Midoriya followed behind Bakugo who stomped around. "Kaachan, slow down!"

"If you want. Do something then keep up, loser."

"Kaachan, if we're gonna pass we gotta discuss some kind of plan. The best we can do is try to get away."

"Not happening, figure out something on your own, I'm not sitting around brainstorming with your dumbass."

Midoriya gestured, "Even with all the handicaps, the idea that you can just beat him…"

Bakugo stopped and gritted his teeth. Remembering everything since the Sports Festival. "To think... I'd have to work with a piece of shit like you... Grr. Fine."

Midoriya blinked and smiled, 'Eh? Did he agree that fast? I was prepared for him to put up more of a fight.'

Bakugo grinded his teeth and thought, 'It's all that emo asshat Sasuke's fault I'm thinking this way. Who the hell would wanna team up with Deku of all people? Fucking asshole. How are you gonna beat me then lose to some no-name villains no one heard of?!'

A little later, Sasuke arrived in the monitoring room to watch the fights on the monitor. First, he glanced at the screen where Midoriya and Bakugo vs All Might should have been. "Hey, nurse. Where is the screen with Midoriya?"

"They already won. They should be here any minute now."

On cue, Midoriya opened the door and locked eyes with Sasuke, "Sasuke? That was quick. Heh, of course, you finished first."

Sasuke turned to him, "You got Bakugo to cooperate with you? Finally got the stick out of his ass?"

Midoriya paused and his brow squinted, "Huh? Uh no I don't think so. It wasn't hard to get him to cooperate. Honestly, I think you're the reason he was willing to team up."

"How could I have done anything? I haven't even looked at him in a month."

"Well, you did beat him at the sports festival. That probably helped Kaachan be more willing to cooperate. You uh... Humbled him I think."

"Heh, well he needed it, so I'm glad I did. Where's he at anyway?"

"He's recovering right now. I don't think he'll be up for a while."

"Didn't you two wanna watch the fights?" The Nurse asked.

"Yes!"

They all turned their attention back to the monitors. Sasuke's eyes glazed over the monitors, observing all the fights going on. "So underutilized." He whispered.

"Huh?"

Sasuke pointed at the fight between Koda, Jiro, and Present Mic. "They won since Koda decided to use his quirk for once, but Jiro only ever does sound blast. Seems like a waste considering all the stuff she could do with it. She could build up some kinetic energy to get one of them straight to the gate if she wanted."

Midoriya pulled out his notebook and wrote in it, "I never really thought of that, that's genius! Incorporating the physics of a quirk to turn them into abilities. Maybe you could tell her that."

Sasuke looked away, "Nah, I don't care that much."

Midoriya's pencil tip snapped, "Huh? Heh, oh."

He focused his gaze on Mina and Kaminari's fight with Principal Nezu. 'Now what will you do?'

Nezu caused a chain reaction with a wrecking ball; the debris forced Mina and Kaminari to run away. "What are we supposed to do against that? Can't you hit him with your electricity or something?"

"He's way too far away, and my electricity isn't that accurate. I can't even see him!"

"Ugh, uh let's hide in the building! He won't kill us, so he can't crush it!"

They both dash into the closest building they can. And catch their breath. "You two haven't noticed, but I've steadily been blocking off the way to the gate, and now I can just block you inside this building too!"

Nezu caused another chain reaction and the buildings around the one they occupied crumbled, caving them in. The dust rushing into the ground floor blinded the two, making them run further up the building.

"Let's try and get to the roof!" Mina coughed out.

"What'll that do?! Then we'll have nowhere to go!"

Mina looked down as they ran up all the stairs, 'What can we do? I don't wanna fail this! I wanna go to the camp with everyone, I wanna train!...' "Can't you shut down his crane if we get close enough?"

"Maybe."

"Let's go with that then. Also, do you think we can combine our quirks somehow?"

"I don't think electricity would do anything to acid."

"Well let's at least try!"

They both stopped near the top of the building and Mina slashed out some acid on the floor. Kaminari stuck out a finger and shot a small bolt at it. Some of the acid evaporated after a few moments.

Kaminari squinted his eyes and leaned in, "That didn't even do any—" Kaminari almost tripped backward and Mina caught him. "—Woah... That made me dizzy."

Mina's expression glowed, "Hey that might work too! If we can't escape, maybe we can put the cuffs on him if he's dizzy!"

Kaminari smiled, "Oh yeah! Maybe we can still do this!"

"Let's go!" They both confidently made it to the top of the building and caught sight of the crane. "There!"

The two of them ran across a pipe and made their way towards him as fast as possible. Nezu smiled, "Oh coming for me now? Good plan kids, I'm rooting for you!"

He hit another building, causing the building they were just on to start collapsing. Mina pulls Kaminari with her as she slides over another pipe with acid. "Well, you sure fooled me! Kaminari, is he in range yet?"

"Yeah, I think so, get to cover. That's enough destruction out of you!" Kaminari built up his charge and sent out a huge surge of electricity that hit the crane while Mina hid behind a wall.

Once the arcs landed, the crane stopped moving and Nezu smirked, "Not bad, but this will only take a moment to override," Nezu dove under the seat and removed the panel as he started messing with the wires.

Mina took no time to run up a pipe and onto the wall, as she slid towards the crane. "Kaminari! Let's try the quirk combo again!"

"Got it, I'm gonna be done for after this though. One more indiscriminate electric surge coming up!"

Mina threw out a huge stream of acid and hid behind a part of the crane as the two quirks made contact and turned into gas. Mina held her breath and ran toward Nezu.

Nezu poked his head up and crawled up the crane, "Good job getting this far, but you'll never be able to catch me even without the crane. So—"

Nezu got dizzy and slid off the crane, Mina dashed toward where he would fall and caught the principal, putting the cuffs on him. "Yes! We did it!"

Nezu shook his head, "You know, sedating is illegal."

Mina went pale, "Huh? No wait, we didn't know!"

"Hahaha! It's fine, I don't care. That planning was great. Mixing those two to make oxygen gas to put me off my game."

She blinked and smiled, "Uh... Yeah. All according to plan." 'That stuff was oxygen gas?'

Back in the monitoring room, Sasuke covered his mouth and smiled. 'Great plan, didn't think she knew about gasses.'

He gazed at the battle where Midnight was as she cradled Sero in her lap. She stared at Mineta with a very predatory look and Sasuke shuddered. 'Should she really be around kids?'

Tokoyami and Asui beat their teacher, and soon after Mineta beat Midnight. Marking the end of the test with every student passing. As all the students returned to class, Shigaraki was in the process of recruiting league members.

"Impressively, not a single student failed the written or physical exam. Us 'villains' gave you all the ways to win from the start, and you all capitalized on it. Good job, now I'm gonna pass out the lodge guides, so pass them back."

Kaminari turned to Mina, "Thanks again for taking the initiative. I had no idea what to do."

Momo said, "It really was a good strategy. I don't think I would have known what to do against Nezu."

Mina smiled and rubbed the back of her head, "Hehe, I just didn't wanna be left behind here."

Midoriya scanned through the guide, "Looks like we'll need pretty big bags for all the stuff we need to take. I don't even own a lot of this."

Hagekure spoke up, "Ah, in that case, since tomorrow is free and the exams have ended, let's like, go shopping together! Come on! Everyone in Class 1-A!"

Kirishima said, "That sounds great! Bakugo, you should come too."

"Like I could stand going shopping."

Midoriya said, "Todoroki, Sasuke, you guys should come too!"

Todoroki replied, "I visit the hospital on free days."

Sasuke waved him off, "I'll pass."

Mineta exclaimed, "Would it kill you guys to join in on the fun for once?!"

Mina grinned and slammed her hands on Sasuke's table. "Oh no you don't! You're coming with us. What did you have to do that's more important? Hanging out with other friends?"

She looked at him in a teasing way; he pursed his lips and thought, 'You know there aren't any others.' "Train."

She rolled her eyes, "You can do that anyday! Just replace your 4chan scrolling with training tomorrow. Come oooon you'll like it!"

She grabbed him by his shoulders and shook him back and forth. Sasuke sighed, "Fine."