62

Chapter Text

Shouto's mind was utterly focused on the task at hand. As he rode in the bus to their testing location, he wasn't thinking about the written test he had taken, nor the revelation that their class was going to a camp for training over the summer, nor his partner. He was focused on the obstacle in front of him.

He hadn't expected to react like this, but perhaps it made sense.

This was the moment for which he was born. His father married his mother for this. His family suffered for this. With his brothers quirkless and Fuyumi's quirk deemed too weak, the entire burden of his father's dream fell upon him. He didn't give a damn about his father's plans… he thought. 

Things had been confusing for the past several weeks. He was surprised just how much his father's injury had affected him. With his mother returning home soon and his father providing him positive reinforcement for the first time in his life, it felt like everything was spinning. His solid foundation of what he knew was crumbling and being replaced with uncertainty; he kept up his outward facade of his stoic, stern self, but internally, he was confused and uncertain.

Right now, that uncertainty came to a head with All Might. He had to know. Was all the suffering his family went through worth it? Was all the pain and abuse he suffered worth it? Did he owe his father for training him and making him as powerful as he was today? 

All Might had the answers. If Shouto could beat him, then it meant something. What exactly, he wasn't entirely sure, but something.

He needed to try.

Shouto vaguely noted that Bakugou was trying to say something to him, but he wasn't listening. Somewhere down this city street was All Might, and Shouto needed to find him. 

A low rumble rose in the distance, which caught his attention. He saw windows shatter, concrete sunder, and bridges buckle as a wall of wind rushed toward him. Shouto threw up a massive sheet of ice in an instant, but as the air roared around him and pushed him back, he had to throw up wall after wall as the previous shattered like glass. 

As the cataclysm died down, an eerie calm hung in the air, punctuated by the intermittent crumbling of distant buildings. A soft snow fell from the sky from the ice walls that had been vaporized as Shouto panted from the effort. His right side had nearly iced completely over, but he was still moving forward.

He felt Bakugou grab his arm, but he released it quickly when flames erupted over Shouto's body to warm him back up. It served to get his attention, however, and for the first time, he acknowledged Bakugou.

"What the fuck is up with you?!" Bakugou snarled. "I know you're normally a moody asshole, but this is something else! Do you even realize what we're up against?"

"My destiny," Shouto replied flatly.

Bakugou looked at him like he had just said something ridiculous. "No, dumbass, we're up against something that will wipe the floor with us if we don't have a plan! Are you even thinking?"

"If you want to run for the exit, fine," Shouto said as he continued to walk down the ruined street. "I'm facing All Might. Stay out of my way."

"Holy shit," Bakugou muttered in disbelief before Shouto tuned him out again. He registered a few more colorful expletives as he returned his focus to the task before him. He had to do this.

He had to know.

Eiko looked up at the training city with trepidation. She had been in cities like this dozens of times since she started her semester at UA, but today, it felt like she was seeing it for the first time. Satou and her were up against Cementoss and they were standing in a concrete jungle. This was his ideal battlefield.

"What's the plan?" Satou asked.

Eiko looked up at the far taller man and then back to the buildings around them. "I don't think we can fight him."

Satou grumbled. "Two against one? Come on, we got this."

'What would Aniki do?' she thought. He was always encouraging her and the others to think about their fights, and Aizawa wouldn't have given them an easy test.

Maybe she would have agreed with Satou at the beginning of the semester, but she wasn't the same person. The past few months had changed her.

"I dunno," Eiko countered after a moment, "we were both at Hosu. We're not the ones equipped to handle Cementoss."

"Running away isn't heroic," Satou complained.

"No, it doesn't feel very manly," she agreed, "but pointlessly exhausting myself so I can't help others sounds like something I'd regret. Hmm. Oh! What if we're rescuing civilians? This is training for us getting innocents away from a villain."

Satou thought for a moment. "Yeah, I can get behind that."

Izuku and Momo stepped off their bus and began to walk toward the entrance of their testing facility. Both were deep in thought about their upcoming challenge, but it was Izuku who spoke first. 

"There's a pattern with all of the assignments," he noted.

"They're not targeting weaknesses," Momo deduced, "they're targeting strengths. That's why they put us up against Nezu."

"Because we're the two smartest students in class," Izuku followed. "The professors want to neutralize our strengths and make us work outside our comfort zone." 

Momo nodded. "So it stands to reason that Nezu isn't going to give us time to think, and he's not going to take it easy on us. Outsmarting him might be off the table."

Tall gates swung open and the pair stepped into a massive industrial zone. Pipes and machinery stretched into the air like a jungle made of steel; just like a real jungle, it would be almost impossible to find someone that didn't want to be found. 

Izuku closed his eyes and Defiant opened them. "Then we won't outsmart him."

"What are you thinking?" Momo asked as she watched him transform into a drake, scales rippling across his skin as they appeared in a verdant rush. 

Defiant turned his draconic gaze on her as he lowered a shoulder to the ground to let her climb onto his back. "Let's hunt our prey."

Ochako grabbed another boulder with both hands, drained the weight from it, and hurled it down at Thirteen. Just like all the others, the pro effortlessly disintegrated it to pebbles and then to dust as it vanished into darkness. Fortunately for Ochako, the Landslide Zone had no shortage of rubble and rock for her to throw at her opponent.

Thirteen glanced around, but still saw no sign of Kyouka. "You will fail even if your partner escapes, Uraraka. This exercise is about teamwork, not sacrifice."

"That's better than neither of us passing!" Ochako called back as she threw another piece of rubble down the hill.

Thirteen grumbled and Ochako felt the power pulling her in increase. She took more weight into herself and dug in her feet into the rubble to stop herself being pulled down the hill, but she couldn't keep this up forever. 

'C'mon, Kyouka,' she thought. ' Hurry .'

Shouto saw his target up ahead. All Might was standing in the middle of the street smiling, but instead of his normal heroic aura, the energy he was giving off was nothing short of sinister. His sunken eyes and bared teeth looked malicious and intimidating rather than storied and empowering. 

"Walking toward me? A bold move," he noted. "You've seen what I can do to a city with a single punch, and that wasn't even at full strength. How are you going to stand against me, hero ?"

Shouto didn't answer. He was too focused. All Might wouldn't be defeated by anything other than his best, so that's where he started. He thrust his left arm forward and unleashed his most powerful gout of flame that he could muster. The air around him heated up rapidly and his entire body began to feel hot as the pillar of flame surged toward All Might, but the behemoth of a man split it with a single swipe of his hand like he was chopping a board in half. 

"You saw me face Terrorflame, did you seriously think that-"

Shouto didn't give him a chance to recover and had immediately swiped his right arm forward as he pushed every ounce of ice he could muster toward All Might. The relief of his overheated body rapidly cooling was palpable, but he was too focused on his enemy. 

A titanic iceberg erupted in the middle of the city, dwarfing the glacier he had created at the Sports Festival. It towered over the buildings and let off a bone-chilling cold that was causing frost to form on the shattered glass strewn over the street.

And All Might was in the middle of it.

Everything was still beyond the faint wind passing through the wrecked buildings and the stomping of boots behind him.

"What, that's your plan?" Bakugou snarked as he approached.

"It worked," he replied simply.

Bakugou scoffed. "I thought brain freeze was just a saying, but you really must have it if you think that'll stop All Might."

"How do you know?" 

"I interned with him," Bakugou explained sarcastically. "Beyond that?"

The glacier began to rumble as cracks formed on its surface.

"Because I've watched the news in the last thirty years," Bakugou finished.

The ice exploded in a shower of crystalline shards that nearly blinded Shouto as they reflected the bright midday sun. He squinted and saw the towering form of All Might standing in the middle of the street, letting out a breath as he relaxed his bulging chest and arms.

He had flexed the glacier off like it was a cheap t-shirt.

"Alright, my turn," All Might growled.

Before Shouto could act, All Might appeared before him and grabbed onto his face like his head was a basketball. 

Bakugou reacted quickly, throwing up his hand to try and blow All Might off, but Shouto wasn't about to have him taint this fight. He touched his foot to the ground and shot a sheet of ice at Bakugou, freezing him in place.

"What the fuck ?!" Bakugou snarled.

Even All Might faltered. "Um…"

"What the hell is wrong with you?!" he shouted. "Is your brain split in half like your hair?!"

"This is my fight," Shouto shot back. "Stay out of it."

"Young Todoroki, what are you talking about?" All Might asked with confusion and worry in his voice.

"Oh my fucking-" Bakugou broke the ice with an explosion and lunged forward. All Might was seemingly too confused about the interaction to react properly as Bakugou aimed his gauntlet toward him.

"If you'd excuse us for a moment," Bakugou hissed sardonically. He pulled the pin and unleashed a massive, earthshaking explosion right into All Might's chest. He lost his grip on Shouto's face as he was hurled backward in a massive cloud of smoke and fire that threatened to collapse the already structurally damaged buildings around them. Bakugou crashed back into Shouto, throwing him to the ground and knocking the wind out of him. "I need to have a talk with my 'partner'."

Bakugou picked him up while he was still dazed and hauled him into an alley before All Might could recover. 

Defiant raced through the winding corridors of the industrial zone with Momo on his back. He had picked up Nezu's scent after they had entered and was following it as fast as he could, but as he crossed over a small clearing, he heard a noise from above. 

He jumped back just in time to avoid a metal beam crashing down to the ground. Defiant watched as the entire path forward crumbled and collapsed, ruining the trail he was following.

"You didn't think it would be that easy, did you?" came a voice from a nearby speaker. "I noticed you following the path I took. I can't have that."

Momo created a visor on her face and began to look around as Defiant tried to regain the scent. She locked onto something and then created a small sphere in her hand, which she threw into the distance. There was a flash of light and sound that made Defiant recoil slightly. 

"EMP for the camera," she explained. "Can you recover the trail?"

"No," he grumbled. "That path is blocked, literally as well as metaphorically. It would take too long for us to search for it." 

"Then let's go up."

Defiant released his drake transformation as he grew his wings. While most of his draconic features faded, he kept himself about eight feet tall so Momo could hold on easily. Once he felt her secure her grip, he jumped into the air with a beat of his wings. They rose above the machinery, but as soon as they did so, Izuku heard a mechanical whirring in the distance. 

He barely was able to dodge out of the way as a large cannon locked onto him and fired at him. Momo held on tight as he swerved to the side to avoid the weapon's sights, but the danger got his blood boiling. 

"Did you think I wouldn't prepare for you flying?" came Nezu through a speaker. 

"He might be there!" Momo pointed out. 

Defiant bared his fangs as he soared into the air and dove toward the turret. He pushed more power into his wings as he ducked and rolled to prevent any clear shots on him or his precious cargo. They landed hard on the platform around the turret and Defiant skidded for a few feet before he could stop. Momo jumped off his back as he ran toward the turret and grew his arms massive, using his black claws to cut into it and destroy the interior machinery. 

He followed after Momo toward what was apparently the control booth for the gun, but found it deserted beyond his girlfriend. 

"What, and leave myself so exposed?" Nezu asked. "Hardly."

"He's controlling it remotely," Defiant noted. 

"Maybe I can trace the signal," Momo muttered as she created a small electronic device and plugged it into the control computer. As it began to work, the machine suddenly sparked and smoked, causing her to jump back.

"I'm sorry heroes, but you're in my lair now," Nezu continued over the speakers. He sounded polite, but there was a definite hint of mania in his tone. "I've prepared for every contingency. And just in case you were thinking about running, I've already blocked and disabled the exits. Before you ask, yes, I can do that. If you wish to win, you'll need to press on. I have so many more fun surprises for you!"

Momo dropped another EMP grenade behind them as they walked out of room to disable any electronics Nezu was using to monitor them. "No exits? I suppose we have no choice."

Defiant huffed, venting a little gas from his nose. "We'll play his game for now. He just needs to slip once and we'll get him. I trust you." 

Momo smiled as she climbed back onto his back and they took to the skies again.

Eiko felt like she was in a monster movie. She had learned very quickly that, as much as she enjoyed watching them, it was not nearly as fun being the victim in one. 

The buildings themselves were lurching at her and her partner like they were alive. Concrete towers were flowing like sentient water and they were barely keeping ahead of it. Cementoss's quirk grew closer with every step they took as they ran toward the exit and Eiko could tell they weren't going to make it before it was on them. 

"Keep going!" she yelled. "I'll try to get him off you!"

"But-"

"The civilians, remember?" She grinned widely. "You gotta make sure they make it out!'

Satou nodded as he took another shot of sugar and surged forward. Eiko stopped running and turned around to face the approaching tide with all of her might. She planted her feet and hardened her body as a pillar surged toward her and around her as it was split in half. The concrete pushed her back, but with a surge of effort, she smashed through it, only to be met with another wave. 

She broke pillar after pillar, wall after wall, but the tide was unending. As she broke through another wall, the sky suddenly went dark. She looked up to see a veritable tidal wave of concrete above her.

Eiko planted her feet and crossed her arms to block. As it descended upon her, she thought back to her promise. 

"Time to be that wall."

It was becoming harder and harder for Ochako to move her body. The amount of weight she had to take into herself to keep herself from being pulled in was getting to be too much; every motion felt like she was dragging it through wet cement. Thanks to all of her strength training over the semester, she was already far beyond her old weight limit, but she was holding well over triple her normal weight in her body. She was slowing down fast.

"Alright, I think you've delayed long enough," Thirteen said with finality. 

Ochako felt the power of Black Hole kick up by several magnitudes as she began to slide down the hill. She reached down and dragged her hands along the ground, pulling as much weight into herself as she could. Rock and rubble crashed past her as she slowed down, but there was no stopping this time. 

She looked to her side and finally saw what she needed. Kyouka gave her a thumbs up from behind a rock and Ochako smiled. 

"Kyouka, now!"

Thirteen looked to the side quickly, but a moment later, the ground shook violently. A great earthquake echoed from underneath Thirteen as Ochako used all of her strength to pull her hands together and release the weight she had been holding within herself. With the ground sundered and Ochako's weight gone, the moment had arrived.

She surged forward at the staggered pro hero, tackling Thirteen to the ground and with a click, secured the handcuffs around one of each of their wrists.

They had done it.

Momo kept scanning with her goggles as she watched for hotspots of energy that could be Nezu's next trap. She was riding on Zu's back again in his drake form as they stampeded down the tight hallways of the industrial zone, hoping that they were getting closer to Nezu. 

She quickly created a large inflatable cushion on her left arm and pulled the cord to trigger the chemical inflation as another steel beam swung down at them. It absorbed the impact as she unhooked it from her arm and left it behind. She created three more EMP grenades and hurled them forward as she detected several more traps in their path, rendering them useless as Zu continued to carry them forward. 

Suddenly, he stopped in his tracks. He sniffed the air a few times and then let out a low, predatory growl. "He is close." 

"Then let's get him," she encouraged. Surely his 'lair' would be the most heavily defended, which is why she began to prepare a creation. Studying this creation was time-consuming, but it had already proved useful. Time for the real thing.

They burst through one last gauntlet and arrived in a courtyard surrounded by high steel walls. 

"Welcome, heroes!" Nezu exclaimed through the speakers. "You've made it to the heart of my evil lair! This is, of course, where you die. Enjoy!"

Zu's shrewd gaze snapped upward. "There he is."

Momo looked up and saw Nezu waving at them through the glass at the top of a large steel tower. Before either of them could do anything else, there was a mechanical cacophony that made Zu recoil and Momo flinch. Dozens and dozens of turrets began to deploy and unfold out of nearly every nook and cranny in the courtyard, from floor to ceiling. The top half of one of the towers unfolded to reveal a massive cannon, even larger than the one that had shot at them earlier.

Momo was very glad she was already halfway through the creation process. 

The turrets began to fire and she found herself suddenly on the ground with Zu crouching over her protectively. "Do you have a plan?"

She nodded as rounds bounced all around her. "Yes, cover me for a bit!"

Zu grunted in affirmation as he took a defensive posture around her, trying to block all he could with his hardened scales. As much as he tried, he just wasn't big enough, and some of the turrets were able to get shots on her. With a creation already in progress, she couldn't make anything to protect herself, so she was entirely reliant upon him for protection.

"Zu!" she cried out as one struck her in the arm. It hurt, and cut her, but it didn't pierce her arm. The bullets were modern nonlethal rounds—Nezu didn't want to actually kill them—but they were still painful and they could still do some damage. 

Momo felt Zu freeze for a moment before the sound of bullets was drowned out by an earthshaking roar. The arms that barely covered her surged in size and dwarfed her as the green scales grew thicker and larger. Zu began to block out the sun as every part of him bulged and grew, protecting her with every fiber of his being. As his long, thick tail snaked around her, she realized that at this moment, she felt a little like what Ochako and Mina must have felt like at the USJ.

A massive, fully draconic Zu loomed over and around her, standing in full defiance of the turrets as his name suggested. She heard the heavy reports of the bullets impacting his scales and the ground around her, but she had to focus on the final parts of this creation. Wires and mechanics and supercapacitors were no joke. 

She saw small rivulets of blood drip down his arms as he continued to stand over her. She had to finish this quickly. With a final surge of effort, she pulled the front of her costume open and a fully formed EMP generator burst forth. It was around the size of a beach ball, and she definitely felt it; she was pretty sure she lost at least two cup sizes as she pulled it from her chest. 

Now, one more piece before she activated it. This creation was much simpler, and as it finished, she called up to her boyfriend. 

"Zu! To me!" 

He responded after only a moment's hesitation. His transformation snapped away nearly instantly and she threw her arms around him as a hard plastic dome formed from her back. Momo pulled him to the ground and beneath the shield to protect them as the EMP generator charged up and went off, frying all of the turrets and anything vaguely electronic in the vicinity. 

As a silence fell over the courtyard, Momo pushed the shield over and stood up slowly. All the turrets were quite disabled, but as she began to dare to breathe a sigh of relief, she heard a noise above. The largest turret was still active and had just begun to rack another round. 

"Of course it's shielded," she growled under her breath. "Zu, are-"

She looked down at him and gasped. He was covered in cuts and bruises on nearly every inch of his body and was struggling to get back up.

Righteous indignation filled her as she reached down to her chest and began to create. Momo pulled out a large, metallic tube with the last of her lipid reserves and flipped a switch on the side.

"Oh, that's one way to do it," Nezu said softly from above as he looked down at the rocket launcher Momo had created. 

She pulled the trigger and a second later, the massive turret exploded in a shower of sparks and scrap. 

Momo stood there for a moment as she panted with exhaustion. Her hero uniform was torn or otherwise rather loose, she had a few cuts that were bleeding steadily, and she had just produced two of the most destructive things she had ever used. 

That didn't matter, she needed to keep pushing on. 

At that moment, the door of the metal tower opened and Nezu walked outside. Momo turned on him, but he raised his hands in the air. 

"Worry not, I surrender!" Nezu said cheerfully. "You've both done excellently. Congratulations."

Momo smiled weakly and barely managed a "thank you, sir," before she flopped down onto the ground to rest. 

Shouto's back hit the wall as Bakugou held him by the shirt. Despite being five inches shorter than him, Bakugou was staring him right in the eyes. 

"Okay, talk, Icyhot," he demanded. "What the fuck is up with you?"

"What do you mean?" Shouto replied. 

"You've been talking like a moron since we got off the bus," he continued. "You sound like you did back at the festival. I thought Izuku got you through that shit!"

How did he know about that? "How did you know about that?"

"I overheard you telling Izuku," he admitted. "Don't get it into your head that he told me, Izuku doesn't spill secrets."

Shouto fumed. "You're not supposed- not allowed to know."

"Well, I do," Bakugou huffed. "You're using your fire, what's the problem?!"

"This is different!" Shouto snapped. "This isn't about my quirk! It's about… something else." 

He wasn't about to tell Bakugou about the pressures on him, but part of what he was saying was true. Thanks to Izuku, he had gotten through some of his issues, but… it wasn't that simple. His quirk was his own, but now he had a duty—an obligation —to make the pain have a purpose.

Bakugou let go of his shirt. "I'm not a therapist and I'm not trying to be. You want that, talk to Izuku or Hound Dog. I just want you to use your head for a fucking second! We're wasting time!"

"I have to do this!" Shouto shouted. "I need to know!" 

"This isn't about you!" Bakugou retorted as he punched the wall next to him. "This is our final, take it fucking seriously! The entire point is that neither of us can do this on our own!"

"I-"

A knock came on Shouto's door late that evening. After training with his father, talking to someone was the last thing he wanted to do, so he ignored it.

A few seconds passed and the visitor knocked again. "Todoroki, are you in there?"

He looked up at the door. It was Hagakure. What did she want?

Shouto stood up and opened the door. "Did you need something?" 

She looked up at him—or at least he assumed she did, he couldn't see her face. "I wanted to talk to you, if that's alright."

"Talk?" he repeated. "Why?"

She huffed a little. "Because you're my friend, isn't that reason enough? But also, I noticed you were training with your dad and, well, you've been quiet ever since you got back. I haven't seen you like this since the first few weeks of the semester."

Shouto blinked. She noticed that? Even so, he really didn't want to talk to anyone right now, but for once, he didn't want to be rude. "Uh, I see, but-"

"Come on, Todoroki!" she whined. "You're upset and you're not gonna get anywhere hiding in your room. Trust me, I know hiding."

He averted his gaze for a moment, but then relented. He could at least humor her. "Sure, come on in."

Shouto stepped aside and let her in. The seemingly-floating t-shirt and pajama pants walked past him and after he closed the door, he felt a hand on his wrist. "Come on, let's sit and talk. We really need to get you some cushions in here. I bet Yaomomo would be happy to make some for you."

"I like it this way," he said softly.

"If you say so," she hummed as they sat down across from each other. "But alright, let's talk. What's on your mind?"

He tried to keep his gaze respectfully at her face, but it was hard to look at nothing. "I… don't really know."

"It has to do with your dad, right?" she inquired. 

"It's complicated," he replied weakly. He wasn't in the mood to explain everything anyway.

She hesitated before she spoke again. "Can I… admit something? Promise not to be mad?"

"Uh, sure," he said softly as he blinked in confusion. 

"I may have… overheard your conversation with Midoriya. At the festival."

His heart lurched in his chest. "What?!"

She waved her arms theatrically. "I didn't mean to! I just noticed that you were upset and I was coming to try and cheer you up but then you were already talking with him and I didn't mean to overhear but… but I did? Sorry..."

After his initial scare, he thought for a moment. She had known for this long and hadn't done anything untoward. "It's fine, Hagakure. I just… didn't know. What's done is done."

"Great!" she bubbled. "Sorry again, but yeah. Um, so, your dad, right?"

He looked past her for a few moments as he lost himself in thought. "Yeah. It was the first time I trained with him since before Hosu. Things were different."

"Good different or bad different?" she asked.

"I'm not sure," he answered truthfully. "A little of both. It was awkward. I could tell his mind wasn't fully there, like he was distracted."

"And normally he's hyper-focused?" 

He nodded. "Single-minded might be a better way to put it. He's almost one dimensional, but today, it was different. I think it was Mother."

"Your mom?" she prompted. "What about her?"

Shouto didn't know why he spoke. Maybe he just needed to get it off his chest. Maybe he wanted to share the good news. "She's coming home. It's been so long, I don't think he knows what to do." 

"Where was she?" she asked quietly. 

He hadn't told anyone this, but with one secret off his chest, another felt easier. "She's been in a psychiatric ward for over a decade now. Ever since she poured that boiling water on my face."

"Oh, Todoroki…" she cooed sadly.

"I started visiting her after the festival," he continued. "She apologized and forgave me for never visiting. It made me feel lighter than I had in years. Now she's coming home and… I don't know. I'm happy, but I'm confused. My father is different. My mother is different. Everything is changing." 

It felt good to talk. When he had thought that talking to someone was the last thing he wanted to do, he was wrong.

Hagakure didn't respond at first. She leaned up onto her knees, reached over, and hugged him tightly. 

"Hagakure, what-"

"Shh, don't talk. Just hug me back," she said softly.

His arms wouldn't move for a moment, but then they slowly reached up and curled around her back. She squeezed him gently and he felt a sense of calm wash over him.

"You'll get through this," she whispered. "It'll be okay. You just have to lean on your friends. None of us can do it alone."

"You're right," Shouto said abruptly.

Bakugou raised an eyebrow. "Did that actually get through to you? Maybe Horns is rubbing off on me."

"Not you," Shouto corrected as he stood up to his full height. "Hagakure."

"Whatever. I'll thank Casper later for you not fucking up my final anymore than you already have." 

"Her name is Hagakure," he replied tersely.

Bakugou didn't seem to be listening as he was already walking out of the alleyway. "Now come on, we still need to finish the test."

Shouto jogged to catch up with him. "What's your plan? Since you've been so insistent."

"We run for the exit," he replied simply.

Shouto narrowed his eyes. "If that was the plan, why didn't you just do that from the beginning while I fought All Might?"

"What, and leave my partner behind like that?" Bakugou scoffed. "Yeah, that would look real good to the teachers. I thought you were supposed to be smart?"

"I wouldn't have taken you for someone to run from a fight," Shouto replied.

"All Might is too powerful for us," he responded.

"And you think Aizawa wanted us to realize that and run?"

"You do have a brain. Fancy that."

They took off down the street as fast as they could go. Shouto skated along with his ice as Bakugou flew with controlled explosions. They weren't as fast as Iida or Izuku, but the exit was rapidly approaching.

"Good to see you out of hiding!" came another voice from between them. 

Both of them recoiled as All Might seemed to appear out of nowhere. Bakugou brought his hand up to attack him, but two quick punches from All Might smashed his gauntlets into pieces. 

"Not letting you get away with that again!" All Might declared as he grabbed Bakugou by the shirt. "Those things sting!"

Shouto tried to freeze All Might, but with Bakugou in the way, he had to hold back on the power. However, in that same moment, the pro seemed to vanish and appear behind him. His ice smashed into a building as All Might picked him up by the left leg and lifted him into the air.

As he hung there, Bakugou clawed at All Might's face and unleashed a barrage of explosions that made the pro hero wince. Shouto took the momentary distraction to touch his right leg to All Might's arm and shoot ice over him.

Bakugou shook loose and grabbed onto Shouto before he unleashed another explosion at All Might to pull him free as well. They both took off for the exit again as he staggered back in an explosion-induced daze. 

"We're almost there!" Bakugou shouted.

"It's good to see you're finally working together!" All Might shouted from behind them. "It's unfortunate that…"

As the two boys neared the exit gate, a cacophonous buzzer rang out.

"You took too long," All Might finished. "I'm sorry, boys."

Shouto stood there in a stupor. He had failed. 

Bakugou was silent for a moment. But only for a moment. 

" FUUUUUCK!!! "

Ochako picked Kyouka up in a big hug as they finally met back up. She eagerly returned it as they both cheered. 

"That was brilliant!" Ochako exclaimed excitedly. "I would never have thought of that!" 

"It was nothing," she deflected as she tried to keep her blush to a minimum. Big woman was holding her tightly and it was making her heart race. 

Ochako set her back on the ground and released her. "No, seriously! How else were we supposed to take on Thirteen?"

"Don't be so humble," Thirteen interjected. "That was very well done on both of your parts. Uraraka, you completely sold me on that distraction. I was convinced Jirou was running for the exit. And Jirou, that move was expertly timed and executed. You both pass with flying colors and then some!"

Ochako jumped up excitedly on the balls of her feet. While her old costume had been nice, the new one that Miruko had designed for her was something else. 

"Come on, Kyouka, let's see how the others did!"

"Yeah," she said dumbly. 

Ochako reached over and grabbed onto her arm with all five fingers and Kyouka felt the sudden and jarring sensation of her weight leaving her. The taller woman lifted her up and placed Kyouka so she was sitting on her shoulders. "Hold on tight!"

Kyouka desperately tried not to think about Ochako's head being between her thighs. "Y-yeah, alright. Let's go!"

Ochako removed her own weight and the two jumped off toward the entrance.

Eiko struggled out of the rubble as Cementoss split it around her. 

"I'm sorry, Kirishima," he said solemnly. "Don't feel down, you did very well. Better than I expected."

"Really?!" she replied excitedly as she stretched out her shoulder. 

He nodded. "Aizawa expected you two to just come at me head-on and he wanted me to teach you a lesson, but you surprised both of us. There are always things to improve on, but take heart in your progress. I'm sorry that I can't pass you."

Eiko grinned as she stood up proudly. "It doesn't feel like failure. I did my best and I have no regrets! I'm just going to keep getting better!" 

Cementoss gave her a thumbs-up. "That's the spirit. You're going to be a fantastic hero one day. I'm sure of it!"

Eiko beamed even wider.

Izuku groaned as he sat up off the ground. Those bullets were no joke, even through his scales. 

"Are you alright?" Nezu asked. 

"I've had worse," Izuku replied with a weak smile. 

Nezu nodded. "I hadn't expected that to be your solution, but it worked! Well done both of you."

"Don't you think it was a little cruel to close the exits, sir?" Momo asked.

Nezu chuckled. "Oh, I didn't. That was a bluff!"

Izuku and Momo looked at each other as the president laughed to himself and walked off down a side passage that he had opened up. She pulled out an ultra-caloric food bar from a pouch and ate it in a few bites. He watched her costume visibly grow a little tighter as she restored some of her fat stores. 

She didn't notice him staring at her with loving adoration. Momo was one of the most amazing women he had ever met, and he was proud that she was not only in his hoard, but dating him. This victory was thanks to her. He couldn't have done it without her. 

As she finished her food, Momo kneeled down next to him with concern and love in her eyes. "Are you alright, Zu?"

He nodded. "I am, thanks to you."

She smiled softly. "You went full dragon."

"Been a while, huh?" he said jokingly. "I couldn't stop myself. I needed to protect you." 

She leaned in and kissed him on the lips, which seemed to make the pain and aches filling his body diminish significantly. Momo pulled back and he tried to stand up, but she put a gentle hand on his shoulder.

"You carried me nearly the entire test, let me do the walking for once." She put an arm under his legs and another behind his back as she lifted him up in a princess carry. 

He smiled dumbly as his quirk purred in the back of his mind. She was so soft and so strong at the same time. 

She leaned in and kissed him on the forehead. "I love you, my dragon."

Notes:

Been a while! Sorry about that. I kinda got sidetracked with a new story I'm writing! It's a version of MHA where I mix up every single quirk and a bunch of other things too! It's a ton of fun to write, so I hope you enjoy reading it as well.

Read it here if you'd like!

See you all next time!