Heroes vs Heroes
─── ◆ ───
The day of the practical exam had finally arrived.
The entire class was already gathered outside, wearing their respective hero costumes.
But, for some reason, all of our teachers were lined up in front of us as well.
Aizawa stepped forward and began speaking.
"Alright... The test will begin shortly."
"Obviously, you are all subject to failing it."
"So if you're planning on going camping, you'd better not make any stupid mistakes."
Aizawa's scarf began to move.
"I imagine you've already looked into the exam, but—"
Mina and Kaminari perked up, clearly excited at the prospect of another robot battle, which would be much easier for them.
But before either of them could say anything, Principal Nezu emerged from Aizawa's scarf, ending up perched on his shoulder.
"—But!!! Due to a number of reasons, we'll be changing the contents of the exam!"
'...'
'Why was he in there??'
'The teachers don't seem bothered at all either... This must be normal behavior for the principal...'
"Our previous tests consisted of battles between humans."
Nezu continued as he climbed down from Aizawa's shoulder, using one of the scarf's bands like a climbing rope before No. 13 gave him a hand.
"That way, our methodology is much closer to reality."
He raised two fingers.
"For this exam, we've divided you into pairs to face your teachers!"
"A-against... our teachers?" my classmates murmured, understandably intimidated by the idea of fighting professional heroes.
'It can't be that bad.'
At least they'd go easier on us than Mirko...
"You'll be transported to your respective arenas by rapid transport, and all of the matches will take place simultaneously."
"There, you'll receive more information about your assigned opponent."
"If you finish early, you'll be allowed to watch the others."
"Some arenas are farther away, so naturally some of you will start and finish earlier than others."
Aizawa spoke again.
"By the way, the pairs and opposing teachers have already been decided."
"Todoroki and Yaoyorozu, against me..."
The two exchanged glances and gave each other a brief nod.
"Next, Midoriya and Bakugo, against—"
All Might's massive figure stepped forward, instantly drawing everyone's attention.
He pointed a thumb toward himself, still wearing his usual smile.
"Against me."
"I'm looking forward to seeing how you young people perform!"
I saw Midoriya and Bakugo visibly flinch, and honestly, I couldn't blame them.
The rest of the class wiped a bit of sweat from their foreheads. Facing a professional hero was bad enough, but the Symbol of Peace himself...
"Continuing..."
"Nezu against Mina and Kaminari..."
I'm not sure how the principal could possibly fight, but I hope my exam ends early. It'd be nice to watch everyone else's matches.
Mina and Kaminari didn't seem to think much of it, but what really caught my attention was the expression on Nezu's face.
'Ewww... the principal can smile like that????'
He wore a grotesque grin that stretched from one side of his face to the other, exposing strangely human, perfectly white teeth, but only for a split second before returning to normal, too quickly for anyone else to notice.
'...'
"Midnight against Himiko and Sero."
I exchanged a quick glance with Himiko beside me.
'I thought I'd be paired with Himi this time...'
'What a shame.'
'Even Nemuri looks a little disappointed. I wonder who I'll—'
"Present Mic against Kaneki and Jiro."
Aizawa immediately answered my silent question.
I looked around until I spotted Jiro.
She waved at me from the end of the line.
I returned the gesture with a nod.
'Present Mic, huh...'
'Should be fine.'
The remaining pairs were announced.
"No. 13 against Aoyama and Uraraka."
"Ectoplasm against Asui and Tokoyami."
"Snipe against Hagakure and Shoji."
"Cementoss against Kirishima and Sato."
"Power Loader against Iida and Ojiro."
─── ◆ ───
Once Aizawa finished introducing the groups, a convoy of ten vehicles pulled up beside us in a neat line.
They looked a lot like roofless golf carts, except they were much larger, more comfortable, and better equipped.
No one was driving them, even though each one still had a steering wheel and four available seats.
The pairs split off with their assigned teachers.
I stood beside Jiro as we followed Present Mic to our cart.
Once everyone was aboard, the carts began moving in a single-file line.
"I'll explain everything once we get there. For now, just try to relax, hehe."
Jiro and I looked at each other and shrugged.
Unfortunately, Himiko and Nemuri's cart was much farther back in the line, so I couldn't see her.
"Pffff... K-Kaneki-kun... l-look over there..." Jiro nudged me, tears forming in her eyes as she covered her mouth to hold back her laughter.
I turned toward where she was pointing.
Right behind us...
There was...
All Might.
Massive.
Squeezed into a tiny golf cart, practically occupying both the driver's and passenger's seats at the same time, completely blocking Midoriya and Bakugo from view.
'Pffff.'
My eyes started watering, though I don't think my expression changed.
"HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!"
Present Mic noticed too, and unlike Jiro and me, he made absolutely no effort to hold back.
All Might gave us an embarrassed smile, deliberately avoiding eye contact.
Present Mic pulled out his phone and snapped a picture.
Then All Might's cart suddenly made a sharp right turn, somehow making the whole scene even funnier, sending Present Mic and Jiro into another fit of laughter.
I wiped a tear from my eye.
I was definitely going to ask the teacher for that picture later.
─── ◆ ───
Our "arena" turned out to be a dense forest that seemed to be far away from UA's main building.
Present Mic stood in front of us and began explaining the rules.
In short, we had thirty minutes to either handcuff the teacher or escape the arena through one of the two available exits.
To balance things out, the teachers would be wearing weights equal to half of their body weight.
According to Present Mic, we had about ten minutes before the signal to begin.
After that, we were separated from the teacher, leaving us at our starting point while he rode off to his own area in the cart.
That thing was pretty fast, especially now that I watched it disappear into the forest while we stayed where we were.
Once the cart disappeared from sight, Jiro turned toward me.
"So..."
"Any ideas, Kaneki-kun?"
"Hm..."
"The teacher doesn't seem like much of a close-range fighter."
"My first thought is to close the distance as quickly as possible."
"Do you think fighting is really the best option, Kaneki-kun?"
"We could always head for the exit gate instead. Maybe that's the better choice..."
"That could work too. Can you figure out where he went?"
"Mhm. I'll try right now..."
Jiro lay down on the forest floor and plugged her Earphone Jacks into the ground, trying to listen for the teacher's location.
"The cart already seems to be leaving the arena..."
'Whoa, that fast?'
Jiro looked just as surprised, but she kept listening.
"I know where he is!"
She stood up and pointed in a direction—the same direction the cart had taken earlier.
We didn't have a map, so Jiro's Quirk would be incredibly useful.
"He didn't even try to change his route..."
"Maybe we shoul—"
WEEEEEEEEEEEEOOOOOOO!!
The signal sounded.
"But already???"
"Weren't we supposed to have a few minu—"
"HEEEEEEEEEEYYYY!!!!!!!!!"
Present Mic's shout echoed throughout the forest.
It was so loud I could feel my entire body trembling from the vibrations alone.
"ABOUT THOSE TEN MINUTES..."
"I LIEDDDDD!!!! HAHAHAHA!!!!"
─── ◆ ───
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