We had to take another exam. After learning about it, I was distracted during all of my morning classes, the classes I wanted to learn from.

Funny, you'd think going to a school for heroes would only teach you hero things, but that wasn't the case. We still had to learn other valuable subjects: math, history, science, anything you'd think of when it came to school. Those were in the mornings, to ensure that students wouldn't skip out on them. It was made clear that if we missed one subject during the first half of the day, we wouldn't be able to participate in the afternoon classes, which were all dedicated to becoming a hero.

Lunch was the same way, that is when it came to being distracted about that exam. I sat next to Sakura, who invited both Raiden Yamamoto and Kaito Oba to sit with us. They talked, argued, teased, and gossiped all about what happened back at their old schools and about life here at U.A. Sakura kept teasing Kaito by calling him Orangie, while Kaito tried coming up with an embarrassing nickname for her. Nothing seemed to work or stick.

By the time lunch ended, we were instructed to change into training gear. It was a simple outfit, consisting of a plain white t-shirt and blue sweatpants. They obviously had put their money elsewhere as it wasn't anything spectacular. I didn't mind, but there was someone who couldn't stand it.

"You'd think after all the money they'd put in for the fancy building, the amazing food, and having heroes for teachers, they'd come up with something a bit more fashionable," Sakura complained as we walked out of the locker room together, heading over to where the training grounds were.

I nodded my head in agreement, knowing there was no pleasing Sakura. Honestly, I thought she pulled it off. Somehow, her sweatpants weren't as baggy as others were, and her shirt clung to her sides, showing off her figure. Yes, everything was covered with a round neckline that ran around the collar bone, but it still looked good on her. Usually when Sakura wore white, it would wash her out, or so she claimed.

There was just no arguing with Sakura. I learned that a long time ago. She'd find a way to be right all the time. It was nice at times, but hearing her talk about the outfits, well, I could honestly care less.

My hands tucked into the pockets of my sweatpants, feeling the soft cotton material. While Sakura was complaining how horrible they looked, I couldn't help but enjoy how soft they felt. Comfort was all I truly cared about when it came to clothing. I didn't mind wearing the school uniforms, just as long as they weren't itchy.

If only they'd ease my nerves a bit. No one seemed to have a clue as to what the exam would be, and my stomach was doing backflips the more I thought about it. It wasn't the fact of failing that worried me; it was the fact that people could figure out very easily that I didn't want to be here. I mean, I could get kicked out which would be great, but to have my family hear about that, or to have Sakura have to witness it when she had high hopes of us working together, I wasn't looking forward to it.

Somehow I'd get out of being a hero, but I'd like to at least look like I tried. Even if it was just a little bit.

"Tami! Aren't you excited for this? We're going to be taking our first exam, the first exam in the entire history of this school!"

I snapped my head away from Sakura to see Daigo walking beside me as he stretched his arms behind him. He looked pretty relaxed as he let his ears flop down to the sides of his head.

While I didn't answer, I felt Sakura slap her hand on my back. "Hell yeah she is! Watch out, Daigo, cause Tami-tan and I are going to claim those top spots."

Daigo looked at me as his hands dropped to his side. As he did, I looked down at the floor. I bit my lip as I wasn't sure what to say, or if I could even say anything.

"Nervous?" Daigo asked.

I nodded my head in response.

"Oh, come on Tami-tan! We're going to be pros! You can't let a little exam scare you," Sakura pointed out.

My stomach clenched as if I had just eaten too many dinosaur shaped chicken nuggets and was about ready to face the horrible aftermath of it. I wrapped my arms around my stomach, just to be safe.

"It's okay to be nervous," Daigo disagreed. "If you'd like, you could pet my head. It seemed to help earlier when you petted it in homeroom."

I looked up at Daigo, who tilted his head towards me. My left hand peeled away from my stomach as I looked at him, remembering the last time I had petted his head. He wasn't lying when he said petting his head in particular helped. It was just weird.

As much as I didn't want to, I felt like I needed to. I carefully placed my hand on his head and scratched it as we walked. Daigo smiled up at me as I did and wagged his white tail that stuck out of the middle of his pants. It was a good thing there was a hole big enough for just his tail to stick out.

Daigo seemed to be enjoying himself as I pet his head, which was an odd thought, but I didn't let it bother me. Instead, I just felt my body relax a bit as my mind seemed to forget about what was going on. All I focused on was moving my fingers through those curly-cues on his head. If I could do it forever I would, but it didn't take long for Daigo to get distracted. The boy lifted his head as his eyes widened.

"Katsumi!" he screamed, before he took off and sprinted down the hallway, forgetting that I was scratching his head.

I froze, shocked that he left so quickly. When I looked to see what was in front of us, I saw a girl with long white hair with matching cat ears and a long tail sticking out of her sweatpants looking back at us with wide eyes. Or more-so, she was looking at Daigo who was sprinting towards her. The poor girl let out an ear-piercing shriek before she turned around and ran out of the hallway as fast as she could.

"Stupid dog," a voice grumbled from behind.

Sakura and I turned around to see Kaito and Raiden Yamamoto walking behind us. Kaito's orange eyes twinkled more than usual when he saw us, while his friend just simply scowled and shoved his hands in his pockets.

"Tami-tan! Sakura-chan!" Kaito cheerfully greeted us. "Did you hear about the exam?"

My hopes rose a bit. "Has it been canceled, and we need to go back to the homeroom?" I asked.

Kaito chuckled. "No, silly! It's way better. We're going to be partnered up. Well, not you and me, unfortunately. But, no worries! You have a good partner who will definitely help you for sure!"

Sakura and I exchanged looks for a moment. It was good to know that I wasn't going to do this alone, but having someone like Sakura by my side would be amazing. I could tell she was thinking the same thing as she started to smirk.

Unfortunately, that spark of hope disappeared in seconds when Raiden Yamamoto opened his mouth. "Don't expect me to carry the weight, Smith. No matter what, I will get that first rank."

I froze. Sakura stopped not too long after me. I snapped my head towards the tall boy, but he kept walking ignoring the two of us as we stood there.

Of all people, I was partnered with him? Why? Why was I partnered up with him?

I wasn't going to make it. I was going to get crushed in seconds.

Nervous laughter slipped out of Kaito's mouth. "Oh, don't worry about him. It'll all work out, I'm sure."

Somehow, I didn't believe that. Even with Daigo using his Quirk to help calm me down moments ago, it seemed to disappear the moment Raiden Yamamoto talked to me like that.

I was going to die before the exam ended, I was sure of it.

~*~*~*~

We stood in the middle of the four buildings that made U.A. High. I looked around at my surroundings, shocked by how they pulled everything together. How U.A. was set up was that there were four buildings perpendicular together, connected by hallways. In the middle of the four buildings was a nice open area. Or at least, that was what it should have looked like, unless they built what was standing in front of me for today's lesson.

What was in front of me exactly? It was a huge model city, with buildings that were half the size of the school. That may not seem very high, but U.A. had many different floors, being as tall as skyscrapers. Having buildings built inside of it that were half the size of the school was pretty impressive.

"All this and these are the uniforms we have to train in?" I overheard Sakura complaining once again. "Like come on!"

"Okay class," I heard Mr. Elastic say, stopping all forms of conversation. "As you can all see, this is where we are holding our first exam to see how well you all can work together with your partner against another pair to rescue a child that is in need of help. No two teams can help each other out because in some cases, there will be a villainous team trying to prevent you from doing your job. I'm not asking for one team to act as the villainous team, but rather, that you compete against the other team to rescue the child that is hidden somewhere in this scale-sized city and come back to the starting line. You will all be judged on how well you work together, whether or not you retrieve the child, and numerous other things that make a hero."

I bit my lip. We would have to look for someone hidden somewhere inside with our partner. Granted, it was good that Raiden Yamamoto was on my team, so he could carry the child. The downside was whoever we were up against.

Sakura walked away from me and towards the front. My eyes widened for a moment as I noticed her, Michi, Daigo, and a girl with white hair and cat ears walking to the front of the class. My stomach tightened as I realized they were going to be the first ones up. Michi and Sakura looked at each other, smiling. They must've had a plan of some sort. As for Daigo and his partner, well, they didn't look as focused as their opponents.

At least I wouldn't be going up against any of my friends. Well, that was assuming Kaito wouldn't go against me. It made me worry who I would go up against. Looking around, I saw a boy with wings that could sprout out his back at will. He and his partner could get a sky view as to what was going on below. There were the Go twins that could multiply and divide into multiple different groups, covering more ground or even prevent whomever they were against.

What could I do with my Quirk?

"Smith, you're not dragging me down," I heard a voice warn me from behind. "I need that top spot in the class, so we need to come up with some sort of game plan for this thing to work, you hear me?"

I slowly turned around to see the boy I was partnered up with towering over me. His arms were crossed over his chest as his eyes glared into mine.

For once, I wanted to pass this exam, but only so I wouldn't be torn into shreds. Even if I were to change into someone else, his Quirk would still give him the ability to break some bones. Turning into him would only slow that down, but he could still do it. That scared me because I valued being alive.

Thinking about that gave another reason why I wasn't hero material.

"Do you have a plan?" I asked.

Yamamoto nodded his head. "Yes, and you better not screw it up."

I gulped.

Author's Note:

Eish! Talk about scary! Poor Tami had to deal with him during the entrance exam, and now she has to deal with him through the first exam...as a partner. Makes me wonder if she'll be able to survive this.

For this week's question: If given the chance, would you pet Diago's head? Why or why not?

Character Spotlight: Daigo
Quirk: Dog
Likes: Head Scratches

Note: This pic is how I picture him...if he didn't have glasses, had dog-like ears (not human ones), and of course, a tail...maybe not the blue nail polish either; although, I could totally see him having someone do that to him if they're having a bad day.

Song: Ashes from Promare