Katsuki let out a sigh as he opened up the front door of his house, the Ochaco, Kirishima, Tsuyu, and Sato following behind him.
"I'm home! Brought some friends."
Masaru looked up from where he was sitting on the couch and greeted Katsuki's friends that had followed behind him.
"Hello! I'm Katsuki's father. It's a pleasure to meet you all after seeing your performance in the sports festival."
As they were all returning the compliment, Mitsuki walked down the stairs with a smile and put an arm over Katsuki's shoulders.
"So these are all your friends huh?"
Katsuki shrugged off the arm with a grunt and started dragging his friends towards the table.
"We're gonna use this for studying."
Mitsuki shook her head with a smile on her face.
"Got it Katsuki. And if anyone wants something to eat or drink, just let me know."
As Katsuki sat down at the table with the others, he noticed how they were all smiling at him.
"What?"
Tsuyu was the one to answer.
"Your parents seem really nice."
Katsuki paused for a moment.
"They are."
Coughing to clear his throat, Katsuki pulled his books out.
"Come on. We need to start working."
Kirishima groaned as they started working, already dreading how hard this was going to be.
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After that, everything was fairly normal for the next few weeks heading towards the end of the term. Katsuki worked out in the gym, and occasionally studied with his friends.
Finally, it was the last few weeks before exams.
Katsuki was fairly confident in his performance, but the majority of the class was freaking out.
Kaminari and Mina were two of the big ones.
"But I don't feel even close to ready for exams!"
Sato was trying to calm him down.
"There's still time to study."
"But we also need to get ready for the practical exam!"
It was at this point that Momo entered the conversation.
"I'd be willing to help out with classroom lectures! Though I'm not sure how much I can help with the practical…"
A whole bunch of the class surrounded her desk asking her for help studying.
Instead of seeming annoyed by all the requests for help, Momo seemed positively overjoyed by the attention. On the other hand, she was going a bit… over the top.
"I must remember to tell mother and have her open up the hall!"
"…Hall?"
"What kind of tea are you all partial to?"
"Tea?!"
"In my family, we always drink Harrod's or Wedgwood, so if you have any preference let me know! Of course, you can trust me to help you study too! I will definitely show you how I can help!"
…Katsuki honestly felt like she was going a bit over the top, but it wasn't like she was being malicious.
Katsuki wasn't gonna go, but he bet she was really good at explaining stuff.
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During lunch everyone in the class was mostly ruminating on what the practical exam would look like.
As they did so, there was a sudden interruption from someone walking past their table.
"Could it be that the prestigious class of 1-A is struggling to decipher the content of our upcoming finals while 1-B has already worked it out?"
Most of the class turned to face Monoma who had been walking by with- was that grape juice in a wine glass along with steak?
"Truly, I would feel incredibly embarrassed by my entire class' total failure of deductive-"
His rant was interrupted by a chop from the side as their class president gave the blonde member of class 1-B a whack.
"Sorry about him everyone. He's just a bit, you know. You guys were wondering about the practical exam right? We heard from some upperclassment that it would involve fighting robots again."
Monoma finally recovered after his wack.
"Y-You fool Kendo! You gave up our information advantage, and our chance to get ahead of the detestable class 1-"
Monoma was cut off by another wack and then dragged away by Kendo.
"They're not detestable!"
Katsuki snorted at the interaction. Guess she was the babysitter huh?
Still, Katsuki didn't feel super stressed about the written exam as he'd done really well on midterms. And even if he needed to study more, he would just do it with the rest of his group. And spend some time making sure they were up to snuff as well.
And before Katsuki knew it, exams had arrived.
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The three days of written exams were all fairly standard for Katsuki. He finished his own written work early and spent some time on review before time ran out.
After the paper exams were all finished, it was time for the practical exams.
The following day, the class all met up at the central plaza for all the training grounds in their hero costumes.
Waiting for them was a large number of teachers, Mr. Aizawa standing at the front.
"Alright then. It is time to begin the practical exam. It is possible for any of you to fail this exam. If you want to be allowed to attend the training camp UA is setting up this summer, then avoid any stupid mistakes."
Many of the class members gulped at the ultimatum.
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Katsuki thought about the training camp that would be taking place this summer. He hadn't really considered what he would be doing for training this summer. Hopefully it would help him improve since he wasn't sure what UA's policy was for student use of facilities over the summer and he didn't want to fall behind.
"I expect all of you have gathered information ahead of time about this exam, and have some idea what you will be doing."
Kaminari and Mina spoke up in excitement.
"We're fighting robot villains like the entrance exam right!"
"It's gonna be exciting! A test of strength!"
Suddenly a voice echoed out from the depths of Aizawa's capture weapon.
"Too bad! For various reasons, the exam will be different starting this year!"
Mina and Kaminari froze in place as Principal Nezu climbed out of Aizawa's scarf.
How long had he been hiding in there?!
"From now on, UA wants to focus more on person-to-person combat and hero work, and stress teaching that is closer to actual fighting."
Katsuki was getting a bad feeling about this.
"And so! We'll be having you form teams of two to enter combat against one teacher!"
Everyone froze in shock, Katsuki straightening up. Combat against a pro hero was beyond their current strength, even in pairs.
Aizawa spoke up.
"Additionally, The pairings and who each pair will be facing off with have already been decided at my own discretion based on various factors."
Aizawa pulled out a list he'd written down from his pocket.
"First off, Yaoyorozu and Yuga are one team, and they will be facing me."
A smile grew on Aizawa's face as he said this.
"Second, Midoriya and Bakugo are on a team. And their opponent will be Power Loader."
Katsuki sized up their opponent as Izuku started to act more nervous.
The hero wore an excavator bucket on his head as he sized up the two students in turn.
"Third, Will be Todoroki and Uraraka against All Might."
The number one hero dropped from above with a smile to face the two hero students.
"Minoru and Sero, against Midnight."
The R-Rated heroine gave the two boys a wink.
"Tsuyu and Tokoyami vs. Ectoplasm."
The trench coat wearing hero stared down the duo.
"Kirishima and Sato against Thirteen."
The rescue hero popped open their finger cap menacingly.
"Shoji and Tooru facing off with Snipe."
The sound of the sniping hero cocking his gun could be heard.
"Jiro and Koda will be confronted by Present Mic."
"Say YEAH!"
"Mina and Kaminari will face Principal Nezu himself."
The principal rubbed his hands together with a glint in his eye.
"And Iida and Ojiro will be fighting Cementoss."
The cement hero remained mostly impassive.
Katsuki remained mostly impassive as the rest of the rules were explained by the principal.
"The time limit for this exam is 30 minutes. Your objective is to either put a pair of handcuffs on the teacher, or to have one of you escape from the stage."
All Might spoke up then.
"And with those rules most of you think the only way to win is to run right? Well, that's why we all have these."
All Might pulled out a strange band.
"Ultra-compressed weights! We will all be wearing around half our body weight, which is quite a significant amount for a handicap."
Katsuki spoke up at that.
"That could be more for some of you, but I don't see how that's a significant handicap for you All Might."
The number one hero turned to face Katsuki still with a smile on his face.
"Right you are young Bakugo, but it isn't just the weight that's an issue. The way these weights are distributed is going to completely disrupt my form and techniques, making it far more difficult for me to maneuver in combat."
Something about that still seemed off to Katsuki, but he very much doubted that the teachers hadn't thought this out. Whatever they wanted the weights to do, they were doing it.
"Each of you will take the practical exam in order on prepared stages. Kirishima and Sato, get ready. Those waiting for their turn can watch the exams or plan out strategies as a team. Do as you wish. That is all."
The teachers began walking into the exam center as the class began breaking down into teams to discuss plans.
Katsuki turned to face Izuku. The greenette had an awkward forced smile on his face.
"H-Heya Katsuki! Let's do our best on the exam together, okay?"
Katsuki didn't want to deal with this.
Just, he didn't want to have to interact with Izuku period. But it was an exam. All he had to do was just go along with this, and it would be fine. Just make nice for half an hour and humor him.
Forcing a smile on his face, Katsuki forced out some words through gritted teeth.
"You got it. Lets pass this thing."
For some reason, this only seemed to make Izuku more nervous.
There was an awkward silence for a bit, then Izuku suddenly blurted out an idea.
"The monitor room! We can watch the other exams there! That might give us, some ideas…?"
Not seeing anything wrong with it, Katsuki nodded.
"Sure."
Together the duo walked into the building and towards the monitor room, Izuku struggling to fill the dead air.
The pair reached the observation room just as Kirishima and Sato's round was about to begin.
Immediately after the start signal, the duo began rushing down main street.
Instead of stopping when they encountered 13 or attempting to find another angle, they began to rush directly at the rescue hero. Thirteen in response raised her hand to use Black Hole.
Katsuki put a hand to his face.
"They're going to lose."
"Huh? Their strategy doesn't seem that bad to me. Thirteen is pretty slow, and she's unlikely to suck them up directly."
"Why do you think she decided to face them directly? She might be a rescue hero, but you don't get far in that line of work without knowing demolition."
True to Katsuki's words, the rescue hero used her quirk on a nearby building to tear away at its base.
Immediately the large building began to tilt forwards towards the duo.
Unable to respond in time, they became trapped under the building's main structure.
Taking advantage of the trapped students, Thirteen retreats slightly to give herself more range against the students.
After a couple minutes, the duo of Kirishima and Sato punch their way out of the building. Seeing Thirteen is still nearby, the duo rush forwards once again to predictable results.
Taking much longer this time, the duo force their way out of the building, but have clearly run out of steam to continue.
Thirteen immobilizes them by collapsing the wall of the building they just escaped on top of them.
"Team Sato and Kirishima retire due to both heroes losing consciousness."
Before the next round could begin, Katsuki turned to Izuku.
"I'm pretty sure we're up next after Tsuyu and Tokoyami, so shouldn't we work out a couple plans?"
Izuku spun to face Katsuki.
"Of course! From what I've seen, Power Loader seems to have a claws quirk, which tend to be mostly close range. So with our advantage in mobility from my quirk and your boots, we should be able to just jump or glide over him!"
The duo walked out of the observation room as they formulated their plans.
Katsuki shook his head at that.
"I doubt it's gonna be that simple. He's a pro after all. And I think he looks familiar from somewhere…"
Izuku mumbled at that, pulling out his phone.
"I wonder what his public appearances look like…oh!"
Izuku turned his phone around so Katsuki could see it.
Displayed was Power Loader using some kind of support apparatus to fight villains.
Turning the phone back towards himself, Izuku kept scrolling through news articles.
"Even with this, his costume doesn't seem particularly agile in the videos I can find. I think we should still be able to outmaneuver him. Though some of these videos have him burrowing underground, so he'd probably be tricky to capture."
Izuku looked up from his phone after a few more minutes of searching.
"Still, even with that, we have an advantage in mobility that should let us rush the exit gate."
Suddenly a voice echoed over the announcement system.
'Team Asui and Tokoyami have passed.'
Before they could plan further they were called to the bus for their testing area.
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After a minute or so of driving, with Power Loader also riding the same bus in his hero costume, they were brought to the testing area.
It was a large flat dirt arena with no cover or obstacles aside from a couple scattered pieces of construction equipment.
As soon as they reached the center of the area, the start announcement was made.
Instantly as they began to sprint towards the exit, Izuku boosting his speed using his fire harness, they could see Power Loader dig his way underground in the distance near the exit.
Only a few moments later, they stopped as they saw massive pits suddenly appearing in their path.
Izuku called out as he continued to sprint forwards while Katsuki slowed down.
"Keep going! He can't stop us if we jump the pits!"
Suddenly Katsuki saw a flash of Power Loader's yellow costume fairly close by as Izuku prepared to jump. Moments later Katsuki noted a group of small objects launching from the costume.
"Hey! Wait!"
Before Izuku could commit to his jump Katsuki tackled him into the pit in front of them. This was very soon followed by the sound and flashes of explosions from the ground above them.
Katsuki yanked Izuku to his feet as the explosions stopped.
They could hear the voice of Power Loader in the distance.
"I have my own ways of dealing with highly acrobatic villains! I may not need to use them often, but my heat-seeking missiles can lock onto any aerial target!"
Katsuki turned to Izuku.
"We gotta get out of this hole before he gets close with his tunneling. We need him to lost track of us. Come on!"
Izuku nodded and used their abilities to hop out of the hole.
Surprisingly, Power Loader was nowhere to be found. Their curiosity was quickly answered as more massive pits began opening on the battlefield between them and the exit.
The next several minutes involved a lot of cat and mouse between the duo and Power Loader, both of them unable to respond to the pro's missile strikes on their positions beyond Izuku attempting to block using his fire when he could.
Katsuki observed the exit. He didn't think he would be able to get to the exit by himself. He just didn't really have anything that could counter the missiles midair.
Katsuki turned to Izuku who was starting to panic since the plan had been countered so easily.
"Maybe if we rush we can still get past? No they're too fast for that. What about-"
"Hey."
Izuku was mumbling now, trying to come up with another plan.
"Hey!"
Izuku was now holding his chin as he focused on the exit.
"Izuku!"
Izuku's head shot over to face Katsuki, breaking him out of his frantic planning spiral.
Before Katsuki could say anything, he heard the distinctive sound of Power Loader's missiles screaming through the air.
Katsuki once more tackled Izuku into one of the pits as an explosion rang out behind them.
Climbing to his feet, Katsuki grabbed Izuku's hand and pulled him upright.
"We need to work together here or neither of us is passing! Can you deal with the missiles?"
"P-Probably, but not while I'm maintaining my harness."
Katsuki clicked his tongue at that. They needed to be able to neutralize the missiles if they wanted any chance at passing.
Suddenly Izuku seemed to have an idea, but then dismiss it.
Katsuki was grasping at straws here however.
"You just had an idea. What was it?"
"W-Well uh-"
Another massive pit opened up nearby.
"I don't care if it's stupid! Just say it! We don't have time for this!"
"I could ride on your back, okay! You're strong enough to carry me, and your boots should have enough kick to get us over or out of the holes. Then I can use my fire to deal with the ranged attacks!"
Katsuki processed that idea for a moment.
"Alright, lets do it! Get on my back! Use your fire on the ground to set off any pit traps in front of us!"
In moments Izuku had reformed his fire harness into a free floating ball of fire and climbed onto Katsuki's back.
"Hang tight! Once we start going it's a rush to the end."
"Got it!"
Ready to go, Bat in his hands, Katsuki started their rush towards the exit gate.
Izuku quickly started sending out small balls of fire to smash the ground in front of them and find stable footing. Once they found somewhere stable, Izuku would mark it with a ring of fire that Katsuki used as a target for a leap.
It went smoothly until they saw and heard Power Loader surface nearby.
Moments after they could hear multiple small rockets screaming through the air towards them. Ready for the attack, Izuku sent out a ball of fire to intercept the rockets, detonating them before they could get close.
This pattern persisted as they closed on the exit, with Power loader tunneling through the ground to get in front of them, until finally near the end, Power Loader surfaced in the stable area they were falling towards, reaching up to grab them.
Not wanting to risk getting caught by the Hero's costume, Katsuki grabbed Izuku's arm and called out.
"Change of plan! Let go and glide!"
The moment Izuku followed his request, Katsuki hurled him in the direction of the exit, Izuku reforming his ball of fire into a harness and gliding towards the goal.
To prevent Power Loader from responding in time, Katsuki swung his bat at the support hero, pulling out the capture cuffs they had been given at the start of the exercise.
Wary, Power Loader tried to back off from the hero student, only to have the ground collapse under his feet while he attempted to maneuver.
Before Katsuki could try to capitalize, a voice echoed out over the PA.
"Team Bakugo and Izuku have passed."
Katsuki looked over with a smile to see Izuku standing outside the gate.
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As they got on the bus after the fight and sat down, the awkward silence between Izuku and Katsuki had returned.
Katsuki was okay with that for the most part. They could still work together.
Then he heard Izuku clearing his throat from the side.
Looking over he could see Izuku still acting nervous, but meeting Katsuki's eyes more directly.
"Look, Katsuki I…I'm sorry."
Katsuki could feel his eyebrows raise at the apology.
"I just, I let other people tell me what to think about you and they were wrong. And I was wrong too. Ever since we got into UA, you keep doing these amazing things, and that helped me realize that. So I just wanted to say I'm sorry that I stopped trying to train with you in middle school, and stopped speaking up whenever someone insulted you."
Izuku cleared his throat again, looking away and extending a hand.
"Even if we can't be best friends like we were when we were kids, do you think we can start talking again?"
Katsuki inspected the extended hand and tried to process what he was feeling. After a moment, he took it.
"Sure. We can try talking again. But only if I can tell you when you need to pull your head out of your ass."
Izuku smiled at that.
"Deal."