Chapter 6: Final Exams: 2

The U.A. Conference room was filled with an eerie sense of dread. After all, because of the actions of a Vampire, one student, Nejire Hado of Class 3 – A, was severely wounded with several broken ribs, a collapsed lung due to one of the broken ribs that had pierced her left lung, and spider-web cracks had formed on her skull and pelvis regions respectively. Another student, Togeike Chikuchi, was murdered by The Vampire by way of Flesh Bud eruption.

It was a rather harrowing event. Something that the staff should have seen coming considering this same Vampire was more than happy to kill a student prior to this assault, that student being Tenya Ida. No one thought that The Vampire would have been bold enough to send a thrall and one that was a student at U.A., no less. Whether Chikuchi had been a thrall the entire time, or whether she had been unlucky enough to have encountered The Vampire by chance was an entirely different topic.

In response to this, The Speedwagon Foundation and Hero Safety and Protection Committee urged U.A. to go under lockdown, much to U.A. 's chagrin. However, if they were to protect the students, then they had to do anything they could to make sure the students were safe. And, after some debating, they came to an agreement that U.A. would go under lockdown for one whole year.

And a week into it, things were already going belly up. Students were fighting a lot more, productivity was at an all-time low, and the media were more rancorous than even the most deadly of villains, putting more and more pressure on the school than what probably would have happened had they not gone into lockdown, and demanding the school to release the kids.

In response, everyone decided to do yet another meeting before coming out to the public to address the backlash.

"So, we can all agree that this backfired harder and faster than everyone here expected, correct?" Yamada stated rather than asked, as a round of grumbles and annoyed "yes's" filled the conference room. "So, does anyone have any ideas? Because from what I can gather, we can't do this for much longer. Otherwise, The Government, even though they allowed it, will get pressured to force us to undo it, and run the risk of causing massive defunding of the school."

"Well," Johnny began as he clasped his hands together. "We could always lower The Lockdown time from a year to a few months."

"Respectfully, Mr. Kujo, I don't think that'll help things any better than this is already doing," Sugimoto spoke up in reply, crossing his arms and narrowing his eyes. "Do not get me wrong, The Lockdown was a good deterrent for the short-term, but with everyone's mental health tanking and tensions in classes spiking due to not being able to leave campus, I believe it would be best to end The Lockdown, period."

"Unfortunately, we can't do that," the representative of the HSPC interjected, placing their hands firmly on the table in defiance. "The HSPC has already sunk 100 Billion Yen into hiring the guards. For you lot at The Speedwagon Foundation, that might seem like some loose change to you, but to use, that cuts into our personal coffers. We can't waste that much money on something that gets shut down after a single week."

Nedzu hummed, his expression unreadable as he took a puff from the cigar he was smoking. It wasn't often that Nedzu smoked, but when he did, it was during high levels of stress. There was no doubt in everyone's mind that Nedzu, out of everyone else in the room, was the most stressed out at the moment.

After all, he had information that no one else had.

"There is a traitor amongst you." Those words haunted the Headmaster's mind with each passing day. Part of the reason why The Lockdown was agreed upon was to prevent The League Of Villains from getting information, unbeknownst to everyone else. But, if the letter was to be true, it didn't matter if the school was in Lockdown. The Traitor could just leap through a portal, most likely created by the villain known as Kurogiri, and go wherever they wanted without getting caught.

Especially if they were trained in espionage.

"Is money all you care about?" Ishiyama questioned, glaring at the representative. "The students matter more than your bottom dollar, Representative Takamoshi."

"With all due respect, Ishiyama-kun, the man has a point," Maijima began. "I mean, think about it. They funded an entire security force strong enough to rival our military to protect this school from something that, quite frankly, sounds like it came from a book. Even in a Quirked Society like ours, Vampires are looked upon as a myth by the wider public. Sure, some Quirks mimic vampiric abilities, but not outright Vampirism like what we saw in that assembly."

As Maijima spoke, Ishiyama's frown only deepened. "Are you saying you agree with him? That we shouldn't cease The Lockdown because it will cost their bottom line?"

Maijima frowned under his helmet. "Oh, please, Ishiyama-kun, nothing of the sort. However, what I am saying is that we can't just shrug this off. Otherwise, we owe them more than what we can lend at the moment. Besides, to their investors, and more importantly, to ours, we have to make this show of force last a little longer than a week. The last thing we need is for more investors to pull out than we already have."

Snipe cussed under his breath, tapping his foot underneath the table. "As much as I don't want to agree with ya, Maijima, yer right…"

"I'm not too business savvy, but… just for a reference, how many investors have we lost over the last two and a half months? It surely can't be that much, can it?" Kurose questioned with hesitancy in her tone as Nedzu, who was finally pulled out of his thoughts, spoke up.

"Oh! Well, it's both great and troubling that you've mentioned this! Over 65% of our investors have pulled out, dragging down our funds from the usual 1.1 Trillion, all the way down to 385 Billion," Nedzu remarked as Aizawa's eyes widened.

"You're shitting me, right Nedzu?" Aizawa asked, shaking his head in disbelief. "Apologies for the swearing, but I… I can believe that. Don't get me wrong, 385 Billion is a lot of money. But not including our yearly salary of… what was it again, 20 Million Yen a year, the funding for the school lunches, the entirety of the Support Course, repairs for the Unforeseen Simulation Joint, and making sure the school is up-to-date in its structure and the security systems are in check, that leaves us with just… a measly 20 Billion for extra-curricular activities. How the hell are we supposed to manage with that?"

"By the skin of our teeth!" Nedzu remarked, faux chipperness in his tone of voice as Johnny frowned.

"If need be, I can dump around 600 Billion to you guys to bring you back up to the status quo. The Speedwagon Foundation has around 34 Trillion American Dollars for spending money without dipping into our true budget of 4.4 Quadrillion. So it really isn't all that much. But you're going to need to pay it back within 10 years," Johnny said as Nedzu hummed.

"I will definitely consider it. However, I don't want to abuse your generosity, Kujo-san. After all, we already owe you so much for the help you've given us and the support you've shown our school. We can't possibly ask for more," Nedzu said as Johnny sighed.

"Yeah, I get that, but you guys have my son in your care. Beyond anything else, his safety is the most important thing to me in this world. I'll dump however much money I need to so that this school can do its job and not be struggling. You guys don't have to worry about anything when it comes to that regard," Johnny stated before looking over to the HSPC representative. "As for the HSPC, I can always reimburse you guys so that we can sweep this under the rug a bit better. Heck, I'll double it so your bosses are happier."

"As much as that offer is tempting, I have to decline, Kujo-san," the representative replied, earning a scowl from the man. "It has nothing to do with you personally. Rather, we contracted these individuals to, at the bare minimum, be working here for a year. We cannot break these contracts no matter how much money we throw at them. You were there for the signing if you remember correctly that is," the man said as Johnny cursed under his breath.

"You're right… damnit. Well then, what do you suggest?" Johnny asked as the representative hummed.

"Well, how about this? As much as I want The Lockdown to continue for the whole year as planned, I'm factoring in the children's and the staff's mental health. If you want my personal suggestion, I say we continue it into the summer break, but afterward, drop it. The guards on the other hand will remain for the full year. That way the children can still freely move, but the armed guards will put pressure on any would-be intruders from entering the compound. As such, the children are safe, along with the U.A. 's own security measures, and they can move freely about as they please. However, keep the rule that once you've enrolled in U.A., you cannot be removed. The only way that can happen is if someone is expelled."

Everyone sitting at the table didn't know how to respond to that. On paper, it sounded like a good idea. However, the problem came in when trying to implement it into everything. "Are you sure about the expulsion thing?" Kan asked, vocalizing what a few other staff members thought.

"I agree," Nemuri spoke up. "What about that? That is one of the main things that is pissing off the parents of the school. We're taking away their rights over their children."

"Yes, you're right. By doing this, we are taking away the parent's control over their children by being able to pull them out. However, think about what happened with our hero course students," Ectoplasm said, garnering everyone's attention. "We have lost 7 of our students between both classes. 1 by death, and 6 by leaving the school. We've since then gained 2 other international students to fill two of the four empty seats in 1 – A. There are then also the 3 seats in Class 1 – B. If we allowed the students to be pulled out, then I can guarantee you that both Hero Classes will end up becoming 1 class before the end of July."

"Which would mean we wasted money on the dorms, and we can't afford to waste money…" Inui pointed out, his expression filled with annoyance. "As much as I hate that sentiment, you're right. We're already strapped for funds as it is, and running one of the top hero schools in all of Japan with only 385 Billion Yen to our name… even if we allowed some students to be dropped, we would have wasted money on all our up-and-coming events and projects."

"Hence why I think you should keep the non-removal rule unless the student needs to be removed for doing something heinous," the HSPC representative stated. Nedzu sighed, taking another drag out of his cigar. As much as he wanted to argue with the representative, the man's logic made sense.

It had been almost a year since he agreed to anything the HSPC said, and this was a punch in the face to his ego, but at the same time, as the saying went: "the enemy of my enemy is my friend." And right now, the HSPC were the biggest threat to the Vampire and them invading the school again with thralls. There were too many guards to allow anything to slip past.

Then, there was the traitor… "This works… alright… I'll bite." "Very well, then that is what we will do. This is the first thing that the students will hear when they get to class. And speaking of classes… The Final Exams. They're going to need to be changed."

"I'll see myself out," the representative stated, getting up from his chair. "As this is now none of my business. Thank you, Nedzu-san, for your cooperation. Have a pleasant day." And with that, Representative Takamoshi left the meeting room, leaving the staff at U.A. to be the only ones in the room. Once they were sure the representative was gone and away from the room, the topic of The Final Exams began in full.

"Hmm… may I ask why?" Maijima questioned, his expression under his helmet that of confusion. "Don't get me wrong. I am more than fully aware of the shoe-string budget we have now, especially with all of the nonsense with the investors pulling out, but I don't see how the robots can't be used. They're rather cheap to fix."

"Normally, I would agree with you, Maijima-kun. But… you see…." Nedzu replied, taking another drag out of his cigar. It was almost finished. He would typically get himself another one, but now was not time to smoke, at least, not another full-length cigar anyway.

"Let me take a guess," Johnny spoke up, earning everyone's attention. "You're worried about a Villain Revival. Especially with the spiked activity over the recent months."

Nedzu nodded. "Of course, we hope to prevent such a movement before it takes hold. But, as a school, we have to take all necessary precautions. It's not unreasonable to imagine that counter-villain battles in our current society will intensify considerably. Especially after the mass shootings with the yellow bullets. Speaking of, another one took place in downtown Yokohama. 150 dead, 49 in critical condition, and 1 made a full recovery."

"Damn… what a waste of life…. And if these bullets do what you've all said they do…" Ishiyama murmured.

"Yea… Which means that the students are gonna face real human opponents for this final exam. After all, battlin' against robots ain't all that practical. Sure, they've faced villains before, but they need to face people who actually know how to fight. Need to know how to properly defend yourself, ya know, especially against those who are out to take yer life," Snipe stated as murmurs of agreement filled the air.

"He's not wrong," Maijima said, crossing his arms as he spoke. "To begin with, the robots were created as a means to avoid claims and suspicions that people were being harmed in our entrance exams," Maijima stated as Aizawa huffed.

"Is that all? Seriously? What a waste. It's an entrance exam into a hero school, if the students aren't getting hurt or aren't learning that being a hero is a dangerous affair, then what is the point? My entrance exam to this school was leagues more difficult than that battle of the machines. You all should have just ignored the complaints," Aizawa said as Nemuri snickered to herself.

"Oh, Shouta-kun, you're always such a hardass. But, you're right. It would only make sense if the entrance exam showed the real horrors of heroism. However, that's the entrance exam, we're talking about the final exam," Nemuri said as Kurose frowned under her space helmet.

"Then, I take it, we are going to be the ones who are fighting the students? And, speaking of us, where is All Might?" Kurose asked as Aizawa sighed.

"He won't be joining us for The Final Exams. He has a rather packed schedule, and any free time he has will most likely be spent relaxing. Since his body is healing, he's taking advantage of it by trying to bring the crime rate down to prevent the aforementioned villain revival we spoke about now. As such, we've gained some… unexpected help from overseas to round out the number of staff members," Aizawa stated as Johnny smirked.

"Is it time that I get to introduce you a lot to her?" Johnny asked as everyone looked perplexed. "I'll take your confusion as a yes. Let me give her a quick text and she'll come in." As Johnny said that, he whipped out his phone, typed something, and put his phone away. The moment he did, the double doors to the conference room burst open.

Everyone's eyes switched from everyone at the table to the doorway. And what they saw made them understand why Johnny was more than a little happy to be the one to introduce the guest.

"You've got to be kidding me…"

"Oh my…"

"Is that…?"

"Johnny… you're a mad lad!"

Nedzu, for his part, felt a smirk take over his visage, as he stared at the person in question. "Why, if it isn't Star and Stripe! Thank you for coming, it is a pleasant surprise!"

Fully kitted out in her hero costume, blonde hair styled like shooting stars and her hero costume reminiscent of All Might's Golden Age hero suit with an American touch, the woman couldn't help but smile. "Nah, thank you, Principal, for letting me teach these brats a thing or two about combat!" Star and Stripe replied, a wide, almost predatory grin on her face. "They don't know me all too well, which is perfect, because I'm going to throw them off way more than All Might would!"

"I would expect nothing less," Nedzu said in reply, a gleam in his beady eyes. These Final Exams were going to be the best Final Exams Nedzu had the pleasure of overseeing. Was it his chaotic personality that was starting to take over again? Or, was it perhaps the sheer pleasure he'd have at watching the little humans squirm?

Both.

It was both.

xxXXxxXXxx

The tension in the classroom was palpable, as everyone remained utterly silent. Not a single word was spoken, not even under one's breath. Which, coming from Class 1 – A, was something that was practically unheard of. The heaviness in the air wasn't helped by the fact that armed guards were patrolling the halls, and neither did it help the fact that the school was still in lockdown. To make things worse, it would continue to be in lockdown until the end of the year.

Or, at the very least, until the lockdown wasn't needed anymore. But with how things were shaping up, that may or may not ever happen. At least, not until the vampire was dealt with. Maybe once they were dealt with, the lockdown would be over.

Aside from that depressing nonsense, Final Exams were finally underway, and with the written portion having come and gone, the anxiety over the physical portion was more than enough to get a few of even the most stoic members of the class sweating bullets.

That aside, out of everyone in the class, when it came to the written portion, Izuku had gotten 4th, Yoshihara had gotten 7th, Josefumi had gotten 9th, Uraraka had gotten 13th, Zeppelli had gotten 14th despite having tried to catch up with everyone else and studying just as fiercely as everyone else, and Maria got 8th. Zeppelli was a little frustrated that his partner didn't share answers with him, but Buccariatti denied him because she didn't want to get flunked for cheating.

Then came everyone else. Unsurprisingly, Yaoyorozu got 1st, Bakugo got 2nd, and shockingly Aoyama got 3rd. Shoto got 5th, Asui got 6th, Shoji got 10th, Ojiro got 11th, Tokoyami got 12th, Kirishima got 15th, Rikidou got 16th, Kaminari got 17th, and Ashido got 18th.

While the rankings might not have made sense, the written portion of the test was extremely difficult. Misleading questions, trick questions, questions with no real answers, a metric tonne of "Three paragraph or more" answer questions, and very little Multiple Choice. The U.A. Final Exams were built like a mammoth, and it was by design.

After all, it was Nedzu who created the exam, what else were they expecting?

That aside, there was also the issue with the actual school itself. Over the course of the week, with everyone being stuck on campus, aside from training, there wasn't much that they could do. The guards hired by the HSPC and The Speedwagon Foundation didn't allow anyone to leave campus without adult supervision, and with the staff and the guards not wanting to leave, it made things a million times worse.

Everyone within Class 1 – A and beyond was of the opinion that U.A. had become less of a high school, and more of a Military Base, minus the strict schedules, the forced wake-ups, or the drills. What was worse was that no one was allowed to drop out of school, meaning that they were forced to stay for their safety.

Now, granted, that wasn't a bad thing, but it was incredibly annoying. Thankfully, according to Aizawa-Sensei, they would get a chance to get away from the school for a Training Camp that had been planned. But that wouldn't come until the final exams were over. Meaning they were stuck inside the building until further notice.

"Man, this sucks…" Ojiro murmured, breaking the silence as he glanced out the window to the classroom. "How long are these guys going to be here for?" The tailed teenager asked as Kirishima sighed.

"The rest of the year. Talk about complete overreaction, am I right?" The redhead said as Bakugo scoffed.

"It's because of those fucking Stand Users or whatever," Bakugo spoke up, gaining everyone's attention. "One of 'em broke in and attacked two students, nearly killing one of them, and ended up dead after the fact,'' Bakugo stated, before glaring at Yoshihara and Josefumi, as well as shooting side-glares at Bucciaratti and Zeppelli. "Would've probably been better, and have less of an impact, if these four did something, but they didn't, so it's—"

"Shut it," Zeppelli groaned, interrupting the explosive teen with a half-glare. "Drop the petty bullshit and keep whatever garbage you have to say and keep it in your head. Shunting the blame off to someone else doesn't help anyone, especially those who aren't involved; because I can say the same thing to you, Explody boy," The Italian continued as Bakugo glared at Zeppelli.

"Keep your damn mouth shut, Gaijin! No one asked you!" The explosive teenager spat as Zeppelli frowned. Meanwhile, off in Izuku's little corner, the green-haired teenager felt as if this was all wrong. All of it. Class 1 – A used to be, at the very least, friendly with one another. Now everyone was fighting over every little thing.

And the sentiment was shared with practically everyone in the friend group. The mood was seriously lower, and it probably wasn't going to change anytime soon. With how divided the class had become, and the growing sentiment of the side that blamed The Stand Users for what was going on, Izuku honestly believed that if things didn't shape up soon, then Class 1 – A would fall apart.

As much as Izuku didn't like pointing the finger, there was one person in the class that he knew was responsible for most of it.

Bakugo.

Ever since Ida died, his opinion of the matter travelled to everyone in the classroom. His opinion was that Yoshihara and Fumi-kun were to blame for not telling everyone prior to what happened to Ida. It wouldn't have been so bad if Sugimoto-Sensei hadn't all but confirmed that.

However, unlike everyone else, Izuku and those around Izuku knew the reason why such information was kept hidden. It was to keep everyone safe. And even with the knowledge that Ida knew what he was getting into by going after The Hero Killer, all that had to be done was move the goalpost a little.

Now, all of a sudden, Yoshihara and Fumi-kun were supposed to have known about Vampires, when they didn't even know that they existed. And try as the two might to get everyone to realize that, those that agreed with Bakugo refused to listen.

If there was one thing that Bakugo was good at, it was that he was really good at selling a narrative. How else could he have practically ruined Izuku's life for the majority of it by having an entire school worship the ground he walked on, and consequently make Izuku's life a living hell?

The other side of the argument, the side who understood and knew why these things had to be kept a secret, argued that there was no way for Yoshihara and Fumi-kun to know about Vampires, as they were just as shocked as everyone else was. Of course, that didn't convince anyone, and thus, the cycle of arguments and accusations continued.

And it was made all the worse when people dragged up what happened with Yoshihara's mother. Despite the fact that it had all been done and dusted, Yaoyorozu would still bring it up every now and again, and Bakugo continued to label Yoshihara as a psychopathic murderer.

The sheer amount of times that Izuku had to convince Yoshihara that beating the snot out of Bakugo wasn't worth it was starting to get to a point where it was far too much to count, and he feared that if something wasn't done about it soon, a fight would break out between the two, and that fight would get the two of them expelled.

Thankfully, nothing like that had occurred…. Yet.

That didn't stop the tension around the two to continue to rise. All it was going to take now was one wrong move, or for someone to say something wrong, and whatever small semblance of peace that had begun to form over the last day or so would shatter.

"Mio Dio, can you please shut up, Bakugo?" Bucciaratti said as a zipper appeared over Bakugo's mouth, making the explosive teen grip at the zipper, trying and failing to get it to unzip or get off of him. Maria, for her part, snickered to herself. "See? Much better! Now no one has to hear you complain, now if only it could stay that way…"

"Bucciaratti, please undo your Stand's ability on Bakugo," Aizawa's dry-sounding voice reverberated throughout the classroom, as Maria sighed. The ravenette snapped her fingers as the zipper disappeared. Before Bakugo could say anything, Aizawa cut him off. "Bakugo. You'll only get one warning today, or else I'll have you sent to Principal Nedzu's office, so make it count. I don't want to hear that word come out of your mouth again. Not in my class, not in anyone else's class, and not in the dorm room. Got it?"

Bakugo grumbled, which was enough for Aizawa to let it go. The man took his spot at the front of the class, dryly overlooking everyone with a frown. "Now, before we talk about the elephant in the room, I have something I need to address. This revolves around The Lockdown."

Everyone perked up at that, as Aizawa instantly gained everyone's attention. "Regarding it, after the staff, Jonathon, and a higher-up at The HSPC, had a meeting discussing The Lockdown, we've come to the decision that Headmaster Nedzu, Jonathon, and the HSPC overreacted out of fear of something bad happening yet again on school grounds. We noticed that it has had a profound negative effect on all you guys, as well as the rest of the student's and staff's mental health, and thus we have concluded that The Lockdown, as of the end of Summer Break, will be discontinued. However, the guards will remain to up the security at the school."

A wave of sighs of relief exited everyone, as Aizawa hummed. "Now, the elephant in the room. Your Final Exams. Originally, the plan was to start The Practical Exam today. However, due to a last-minute… addition we're going to have to hold it off by another day. After your class with Sugimoto, as a result of what we discussed in the meeting, we're allowing you all to leave campus for the day without an adult supervising you. Feel free to do whatever you wish. The only stipulation is that you must stay within the confines of Musutafu City and that you all will check back at 8:30 PM. No sooner, nor any later than that. Am I clear?"

A cacophony of "YES, SENSEI!" reverberated around the room. When that happened, Sugimoto walked into the classroom, causing everyone to go dead silent. The two teachers nodded at one another, as Aizawa left the classroom, leaving Sugimoto with the students of Class 1 - A. This time, he didn't have a suitcase with him. He had nothing on him at all today except the clothes on his back and the neutral expression on his face.

No one knew what to make of that. But either way, it didn't matter, because everyone already knew what the class was going to be about. One that had been bugging everyone since he mentioned it at the end of the last class.

"Good morning, Class 1 – A."

"Good Morning, Sugimoto-Sensei!"

Sugimoto hummed to himself, before presumably having his Stand pick up a piece of chalk and writing the word FATE in all capitals on the board. "I'm going to cut right to the chase this time. Last class, before the unfortunate incident with the attempted murder of Hado Nejire from 3 – B, and the death of Chikuchi Togeike of 1 – D, I mentioned to you all how Ida's death could not have been prevented."

Immediately, Bakugo slammed his hands on his desk and stood up. "Shut the fuck up! You don't know—"

Bakugo gagged, his face turning ashen white as he began to choke. Everyone turned to Sugimoto, who glared at the boy. When he spoke, his voice thundered with pure authority, almost as if it wasn't a teacher talking, but a drill sergeant. Someone with supreme command over a room, and as a result, no one was to question them. "Speak to me in that tone again, boy, and I will see to it that you are expelled. Am I understood?"

Bakugo couldn't say anything on account of the fact that he was choking, but the look in his eyes told Sugimoto all that he needed to know, as he deactivated Cloud 9's ability. Bakugo fell back into his seat, gasping for air as everyone continued to stare at Sugimoto, horror in their eyes at what could be called a murder attempt on behalf of a staff member to a student.

"Sugimoto-Sensei… What you did just now is… incredibly horrific. I—"

Yoshimura raised a hand to stop Yaoyorozu, earning a displeased frown from the ravenette. "I am very aware of my actions. However, to put it bluntly, Yaoyorozu-san, I don't care. I am on limited time today, and I would like to get this lesson over and done with. Besides, young Bakugo must learn to respect his teachers. Putting the fear of God into him should do the trick. Now please, be quiet. Unless you have a question regarding the lesson, do not speak. That applies to everyone. Am I understood?"

"Yes… Sensei." Once Yaoyorozu said that, Sugimoto nodded.

"Now then. As I was saying. As you are all aware, I ended the last class on a bit of a cliffhanger. And, in that time, we've gathered two new Students. Maria Bucciaratti, and Giorgio Zeppelli. To sum up the last class briefly, we did a comparison between Stands and Quirks, and the history of Stands and their connections to Quirks. If you wish to have more information on the matter, then approach me after class."

"Yes, Sugimoto-sensei!" Maria and Giorgio said in unison, earning a nod from Yoshimura.

"Now then, as I was saying before I was rudely interrupted. I would like to interest you all in the concept of Fate. As outlandish as it might sound, Fate is very real. However, how religion and fiction describe it is not accurate. Some parts are true, but not all," Yoshimura began as a few murmurs ruptured throughout the classroom, leading to someone raising their hand.

"Sugimoto-sensei. What do you mean by "fate is real."? And, by proxy, are you implying that free will isn't real?" Yoshihara asked as Sugimoto frowned.

"No… Yo—A-hem, Kira. Both are real, in fact. Give me a moment to explain. All of your questions regarding this should be able to be answered," Yoshimura stated as Yoshihara grimaced, but otherwise relented. "Now then, I know what a lot of you are thinking. "How can fate be real if we have no proof of it existing." And, once again, the proof comes from Stands."

"Oh, c'mon, now that just sounds made up!" Ojiro said, earning a raised eyebrow from Yoshimura.

"I beg your pardon? Please, elaborate, Ojiro. What do you mean by that?" Yoshimura questioned as Ojiro fidgeted in his seat.

"Well… I mean, it just sounds too convenient. Not even a week ago we learned that Stands existed, and now you're saying that because of Stands we know that fate exists? I'm sorry, Sugimoto-sensei, but this sounds like confirmation bias," Ojiro replied as Yoshimura nodded.

"And you make a good point, Ojiro. However, again, if you would please let me finish, and give me a moment to explain, you can then build your opinion from there," Yoshimura stated, clearing his throat before crossing his arms. "Now, thanks to our connections with the Italian gang known as Passione, and their ties to The Joestar Family, we've gained information on previous Dons of the mob. Once such Don was a member of the family, Giorno Giovanna, who as of early 2065, at the age of 53, died of a heart attack. There is a particular reason why I brought him up, and it is because of what his Stand was."

The piece of chalk on the wall began to move on its own, writing down the name Gold Experience Requiem. "This was the name of Giorno's Stand. Think of the term "Requiem" to be a Stand's penultimate Evolution. One that when it is acquired, means the end of that particular Stand's growth, for it has reached a state that the universe can barely be able to withstand. And, this Stand's particular ability was documented as being "The Strongest Ability known to mankind" and "nothing will ever surpass it. No Stand, no Quirk, no other unforeseen ability the future may bring us can ever hope to reach its power." This, of course, can be summarized as fanaticism that even I have trouble believing, so do not feel ashamed to think that it is… a bit of a stretch."

"Well, what was its ability then, Sensei?" Tsuyu asked as Yoshimura smirked.

"Ah, yes. I say all of this to tell you why this particular documenter went on to say this. You see, Gold Experience Requiem could Completely Revert Causality to a state of Zero. This is among embuing life to objects both living, dead, and inanimate, damage reflection, healing properties, the ability to match any Stand, Quirk, or other abilities maximum physical strength and surpass it along with its potential, the inability to bring any kind of harm to the user whilst Gold Experience Requiem exists, and the scariest of all, should you die after coming into physical contact with Gold Experience Requiem… You will continuously die over and over again, being brought back to life and subsequently killed repeatedly until The Heat Death of the Universe. Even now, despite the fact the user is dead, those who are ensnared within its ability are still dying to this day."

Once those words exited Yoshimura's mouth, more than a few people in the room paled at the mere idea of anyone having any of those abilities, let alone a Mafia boss. Hell, even for all of Yoshihara's inability to produce real emotions, the awe at one of her ancestors having that kind of power was… well, to call it anything but insane would be a vast understatement of just how jaw-dropping.

"There… is absolutely no way this Stand has ever existed…. I refuse to believe that. Someone with that kind of power, and on the side of villainy no doubt would have been documented and put on some kind of watchlist," Yaoyorozu stated bluntly as Yoshimura frowned.

"Yaoyorozu, I want to ask you this: when you are a leader of one of the most corrupt, powerful, and deadly Mafia in all of Italy, would you not try to scrub any mention of yourself from the media so as to not dredge up any unwanted attention? Especially in a world full of heroes? Need I remind you that Passione, both in the past and present, practically runs all of Italy through a pseudo-shadow government? The only reason why we have this information at all is because of the fact that The Joestars have been practically leading Passione from behind the Shadows for two generations now. In fact…" Sugimoto looked over to Giorgio, who grimaced. "The adopted son of the current reigning Mafia Don sits with us right now."

Heads turned to face Giorgio, who sighed. "Oh mio Dio... Perché hai dovuto farmi uscire così, vecchio?"

"Speaking in Italian doesn't stop me from not understanding you, Zeppelli-san. Now, Class, I know what you might be thinking. While Zeppelli is the heir to Passione due to him being the son, albeit adopted son, of the current Don, you do not need to worry about him or his ties. After all, he does not have any way of contacting them. The U.A. staff have made sure of this and then some," Yoshimura stated as Bakugo scoffed.

"Hmph, yeah, sure, I'll believe that. Just like how they let a murderer stay in the school… funny how that is, yeah? Let me guess, it's also because he's one of those fuckin' Stand Users, right? What's next, you're gonna tell me that Buccia—whatever the fuck her name is, is a goddamn assassin that works for that fuckin' Mafia, right?" Bakugo stated as Yoshimura smirked.

"Well, I didn't know you did research on your fellow classmates, Bakugo-kun. Very astute of you," Yoshimura stated, making Bakugo cough.

"Wait what!? I was jokin'!"

"Joking or not, Bakugo-kun, you're spot on," Sugimoto stated, glancing over to Yoshihara. "And, as for the murderer… Well, I don't know about you, but self-defence is self-defence, I would expect nothing less when it comes to the rest of you as well. Quirks are, inherently, made for the same purpose Stands are, and that is self-expression and self-defence. If you just so happen to kill someone because of self-defence, then so be it. There are no laws saying that it is illegal. Heavily frowned upon? Yes. Illegal? No."

"You're just saying that 'cause she's your fucking daughter!" Bakugo spat as Sugimoto narrowed his eyes in the boy's direction.

"Are you implying that I, Yoshimura Sugimoto, who has not seen let alone heard his daughter's voice in a literal decade would have a bias towards someone I barely even know? Because if you are, Bakugo-kun, then believe me when I say I will thoroughly trounce that idea right here, right now." As the words came out of Yoshimura's mouth, Bakugo grumbled under his breath. "That's what I thought."

"Are we going to skip over the fact that Bucciaratti is an assassin for the Mafia!?" Tokoyami said, a hint of outrage in his tone of voice. "While it can be argued that Kira, for as dark and evil as her soul may be, is innocent on the account of the fact the woman who she killed was a vile, evil person herself, Bucciaratti is a villain!"

"A villain undergoing reform using the Villain Reform Program, or the VRP, Tokoyami-kun. One that was sanctioned by the HSPC two weeks in advance prior to her coming to Japan. Unless you wish to argue with a representative that she is undeserving of this chance at redemption, then I suggest you drop the subject," Sugimoto stated, his tone blunt as Tokoyami looked dejectedly at the floor.

"Now, as I was saying before all of… this happened. I—"

Before Sugimoto could continue, the bell for class changes rang, causing the man to sigh in frustration. "It would seem as if this class will have to be continued after the summer break. Class dismissed!"

Everyone left the classroom in silence, and with the tensions within Class 1 – A having now skyrocketed even more with Sugimoto's words fresh in their minds, Izuku's pipedream of the class returning to how it was prior to the death of Yoshihara's mother was reduced to just that, a pipe dream.