Chương 32: Exam Conclusion
Yaoyorozu Momo was sitting by the waiting rooms that were assigned to the ever since the start of the exam. She's been listening to the announcements and has heard of her classmates' subsequent successes. Especially Tokoyami's victory against Ectoplasm. It was fitting after all, given how handily he had beaten her at the sports festival. She's not the least bit surprised that he managed his exams.
Another announcement came then that told her of Todoroki's victory against All Might. Again she just sighed in acceptance. Of course Todoroki of all people could still triumph against the number one hero. He was strong, capable, charismatic, and smart. They were both recommended students, yet he was still much more impressive than her.
She may be intelligent, getting 1st on the theoretical exams prove that. But she had little to no practical skills at all. She only did what Todoroki told her to do back at the cavalry battle. And quickly lost her one on one fight in the third round.
"Team Yaoyorozu and Sero, practical exam. Begin!"
The announcement jolted her from her thoughts as Momo forcibly calmed her nerves. It was her turn now, and she dearly hoped she wouldn't mess up.
"Hey Yaomomo! Are you ready?"
Sero asked her the moment they stood at the entrance of their exam area, which was a rocky field with hills and mountains. There were stone outcroppings with boulders that litter the entire field.
Midnight was nowhere in sight, just yet.
"Y-Yes, Sero-san. I am prepared." Momo started, hoping that he didn't notice her stutter.
Sero tilted his head at her. "Nervous?"
"N-no, not really…"
"It's okay to be nervous, y'know. Considering we're up against our teachers." Sero chuckled. "Besides, out of anyone I'm glad I'm partnered up with you. You intern'd with Ms. Midnight, right? And you're smart too, so I'll follow your lead."
Momo was of course startled at that. 'H-he wants me to lead?' Her nerves and the lack of self confidence in her that was cultivated since her loss in the Sports Festival reared up. But underneath it all, she was quite touched at Sero's belief in her.
"W-well, since Midnight's quirk could be countered quite easily with gas masks, we can utilize this to get the drop on her if we need to." She said hesitantly.
"That's a great idea! Then I guess we'll be trying the capture route instead of escaping won't we?" Sero asked to confirm the plan.
"That's the idea…"
"Alright then, let's go!"
As soon as she created the gas masks and they both wore them firmly on their faces, both Sero and her took off running down the field.
They spent a while running around the field, looking for their teacher. But even after spending what felt like minutes, they still couldn't find her. It was at the 5th minute mark that Momo knew something was wrong.
'Where is she?' She thought with worry.
Their run eventually found them at the exit gate of the exam. The gate itself was open, but Midnight was nowhere to be seen. Everything about this just screamed TRAP to Momo.
"Huh? The gates open?" Sero commented as he looked ahead through the clearing. "Where is she?"
"Behind you!" A sadistic and playful voice called out.
Momo gasped and leapt backwards as Midnight came jumping in between them as she leapt from behind a rock.
Their teacher quickly cracked her whip, sending it forwards and striking it towards Sero's chest. She then moved and cartwheeled towards Momo's direction, kicking her by the cheek.
"Oof!"
Sero staggered as the hit sent him off his feet, whilst Momo was forced to back away.
The heroine cracked her whip again as she licked her lips. "I see you two have prepared counter-measures for my quirk." She said, referring to the gas masks. "But that's nowhere near enough!"
She then sent her whip careening against Sero's face, the gas mask immediately breaking apart as he was recovering.
Pink gas then started to form as Midnight ripped up her sleeve and activated her quirk.
The entire moment Momo stood rooted at her spot. Ideas, plans, and countermeasures went flying through her head a mile a minute. Her mind incapable of making a decision with the amount of paranoia running through her believing that not a single one of them would work.
Seeing her protege's hesitance, Midnight internally shook her head at disappointment. She knew her student was struggling with self-confidence issues and she tried her best to help her when Yaoyorozu trained under her during the internships. But apparently, it wasn't enough.
Choosing to ignore her for the time being, Midnight walked to Sero with a little sway of her hips and a seductive smirk. "Now then, what to do with you?~"
Seeing his partner's distressed state, Sero screamed. "Yaomomo! Go! I'll hold her off!"
Just before the gas could reach him, Sero immediately covered his face with tape before charging at Midnight.
'I may not be able to do much, but I'm sure I can give Yaoyorozu enough time! I've been working hard to stand out, I'm not letting something like this get in my way!'
"Tape shot: Trident!!" Sero quickly lifted an elbow at his teacher, and three lengths of tape shot out towards the heroine.
Midnight quickly sidestepped the projectiles before she shot her whip to his leg and pulled, tripping him and making him crash to the rocky ground.
With his face covered, he couldn't even say a thing.
Momo looked forlorn seeing Sero's fight. He refused to back down and kept trying even though he knew the odds were against him. She heard him of course. Of how he would distract their teacher and she would run towards the exit gate.
But for some reason, her body just refused to move.
Because she knew deep down, that winning like that won't change a thing. They'll pass the exam of course, but only with her running away. Which seems to now be the only thing she's good at.
She didn't want that. Refused to believe that that's all she was good for.
She then remembered the confidence Sero had for her at the beginning of the match. How he trusted her judgment and opted for her to lead.
'Perhaps I've been focusing too much on the things that went wrong, and not enough on the things that went right.'
And for the first time since the festival, Momo's doubts cleared.
"You can't hold your breath forever, Sero." She threatened as she slowly walked towards him, oblivious to the changes happening in Yaoyorozu's psyche. "Concede and your punishment will be less severe." She licked her lips.
Momo's biggest weakness was that in combat, she thought of too many possibilities. Her mind thinking of every variable that was available and COULD be available. This usually resulted in her hesitating to act as by the time she reached a solution, her inaction would have already cost her.
So this time, she didn't think and simply charged on ahead.
Quickly summoning a metal staff, Momo swung it at the unsuspecting Midnight. Connecting directly with her head, she followed up as she twirled her staff and slammed the staff to her teacher's cheek.
"Agh!"
Midnight was obviously caught off guard as she staggered back and endured the hits. Despite the throbbing pain and concussion that she'd undoubtedly have after this. She was damn proud of her apprentice.
But she wasn't going to give them the victory that easily.
Quickly recovering from the attacks, Midnight whipped her hand up and caught the staff by its end.
Just as she was about to retaliate, she felt herself pulled back towards Sero, who upon seeing Momo fight, recovered quickly enough to shoot tape from his elbow that connected with Midnight's back.
He then yanked hard, pulling the heroine towards him.
The two of them collided, the pink gas at this point already surrounding them. Despite the impromptu tape mask, Sero could feel his teachers quirk coming into action. He of course had the briefest moment to allow himself to feel how soft his teacher was as he wrapped his tape and body around her before looking at Momo.
The creation quirked heroine of course understood the message and clamped the handcuffs around her wrist.
"Team Sero and Yaoyorozu have passed!" The animated voice announced.
Restrained as she was, Midnight didn't hesitate to praise her two students for passing as she retracted her gas, letting the pink cloud clear away. "Well done you two." She said with a smile.
Sero ripped the tape off his face before he tried to stand up. He struggled for a second, before falling. He would have face-planted, but Momo caught him just in time and put his shoulder around her, holding him up. It seems he absorbed a little too much of the gas and didn't escape unscathed.
"And I'm especially proud of you Yaoyorozu. You've improved much from our internships. Back then, you always hesitated in everything you did. But it seems now you're able to find your strength. Congratulations." Midnight again said softly with a smile.
Momo immediately teared up, feeling relief and pride at her performance. Midnight may act inappropriate at times, and could even act a little strict. But this just proves that she, like the rest of the U.A. Teachers only want what's best for them.
— The Warping Hero —
At the end of the day, most of Class 1A had finished their exams. Some have failed where others succeeded. Among those number were Kirishima, Sato, Mina, and Kaminari. Many had overcome personal barriers and learned new things about themselves.
There was an air of exhaustion, the long and tiring day wearing down even the most resilient student. But the excitement was also palpable, knowing that summer vacation was right around the corner and their training camp.
But in the dark shadows of the city, at an abandoned bar, Tomura Shigaraki laughed. Standing in front of him were a group of individuals. A large, bulky, and extremely muscular man with short spiky blond hair. A young teenage girl with two messy blonde buns tied up on the side of her head. A tall suited man with a white mask and a top hat. A man in a full black and gray bodysuit. A lizard man with bright green scales for skin. A muscular woman with smooth, shoulder length brown hair. A skinny young man with light brown hair and a gas mask on his face. And a man wearing a black straitjacket with only his mouth exposed.
Besides Tomura, stood Kurogiri, Stain, and Dabi. Their presence acts as a show of power and a deterrent for the more bloodthirsty villains.
The League of Villains were prepared to move once again.
— The Warping Hero —
"Everyone…please let us know…how the training camp goes…"
Mina cried in a pathetic tone, as she, Kirishima, Kaminari, and Sato stood in a corner of the classroom. A depressed energy emanating from their entire group.
"Hey hey calm down…" Midoriya said in an attempt to pacify the group. "There could be a last minute twist or something."
Kaminari's face immediately darkened. "Those that didn't pass the exams will be in summer school hell, not at the training camp. And since we failed the practical…what part of that…" He whirled around, poking his fingers into Midoriya's eyes. "DON'T YOU GET?!"
"Ow!"
Kazuya merely chuckled at the interaction. He agreed with Midoriya though. This entire thing honestly just sounds like another one of Aizawa's schemes. He's sure they'd all be spending time together at the training camp.
Hopefully.
"Just make sure to bring us lots of stuff, kay?" Kirishima said, trying not to let the disappointment in himself ruin the excitement.
The classroom door slid open suddenly, with Aizawa walking through.
"To your seats," he announced.
Everyone in the class moved immediately, getting to their assigned seats as quick as lightning. Silence immediately permeated the room.
"Unfortunately, there are some of you who did not pass the final exams." Kazuya listened as Aizawa began his announcement. "In regards to that, everyone is going to the training camp. Therefore, all of you should prepare." He said in his characteristic dry voice and toneless voice.
It took a second for the class to register the words. When it did, everyone exploded in a cacophony of noise.
"Wait, really?!!"
"We're all going to the training camp?!"
"Hurray!!!!"
'Heh, called it.' Kazuya thought with a smirk.
Aizawa waited for the noise to die down before continuing. "None of you actually failed the written exam. And for the 4 who failed the practical, we believed that exempting you from the camp won't help you at all."
Kazuya and the rest listened with rapt attention.
"Us teachers, when acting as the villains, made sure to provide at least one opening regarding you passing the test. We wanted to see how you would react to the task at hand. Believe me when I say that had any of the teachers been serious, you would all have failed very quickly."
A gulp resounded that could be heard by the entire class.
"Nevertheless, the purpose of the training camp is to increase strength. Which means those that failed the practicals are the ones that need it the most. It would be completely illogical to make you four miss that opportunity. But still, a failure is a failure. To compensate, each of you will undergo extra lessons with me."
Aizawa said the last line with a sadistic smirk, which gained wilted looks from all 4 students.
————————————————————————————————————————————————————
This chapter marks the end of the final exams!
Honestly took a little longer than I expected.
Anyways, next chapter will be the mall scene. Let me just say this will be the precursor for romance to blossom and the Shigaraki scene will also be addressed and slightly altered.
See you then!
Oh yeah, I've finally made up my mind. The pairing for Kazuya is Jirou. She's best girl after all ;).
P_atr_eon.com/TeemVizzle
(Remove the spaces)
Cheers!
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