Despite being thrown into a brand new environment you adjusted surprisingly well. While you weren't buddy-buddy with the entirety of class 1-a you were still on good terms. Or at least you were able to converse with them on subject matters within the classroom. Itsuka and Ibara were certainly taken aback by your sudden change in schedule but were supportive nonetheless. You three still hung out outside of school and texted often.

You also got to know the rest of the Bakusquad a little more. They're quirks were as amazing and colorful as their personalities. You had to admit you were wary due to the horror stories of class 1-a, but they seemed to be mere chatter now that you had firsthand experience with them.

Additionally, your after-school activities with Miss Daniels, Miss, Miyumi, and Aizawa were going well. You would rather not be forced to be around Monoma but overall you tolerated him, and while Aizawa's training was a bit dull at times you did learn a few tricks.

For a just a fragment in time things actually felt normal.

That was until Aizawa had a particularly interesting assigned project for the class...

"Alright listen up," He said sternly though his volume did not carry over. Murmurs and voices dispersed at the sound. "We're going to have an important exam soon and I'm assigning partners ahead of time so you guys can start thinking about what to do in this scenario."

Your mind reeled with anxiety at the mention of partners. What if you got some punk ass dictator? Or even worse a shitty freeloader?

Apparently you weren't the only one with these apprehensions because the rest of the class looked just as uneasy.

"When I call your names group up. You'll have the rest of class to discuss strategies," Aizawa droned as he shuffled a couple of sheets in his hands. "First off, Yaoyorozu and Hagakure..."

Just then Sero leaned over to you in his chair. "Think you'll get a good partner? I hope this test thing isn't too hard."

"Oh please, you're just worried you won't be able to half ass this project," Katsuki scoffed.

"Well this is my first big assignment in the class so I'd like to do well," You shrugged. "Are the projects usually tough?"

"Only if you're an idiot."

Midoriya chuckled nervously at Bakugou's comment. "I don't know about that...but they usually take place in one of the school training buildings."

"Oh so it's a hands-on kind of exercise?"

"I think that's what Aizawa-sensei is alluding to."

"Midoriya and Asui," the shaggy haired man continued to prattle off. The boy dismissed himself with curt smile and gathered his things. You watched as the rest of the class began to ripple with people switching seats.

"Aoyama and Kirishima." The red head's expression faltered at hearing this news but he tried his best to mask it. You saw him glance over at you to which you responded with an encouraging grin. This barely made a dent in his mood however as he joined his partner at a desk.

Seeing as how no one was occupying Midoriya's desk anymore you decided to slip behind Bakugou and make conversation. "Got any particular partner in mind?" You hummed.

"So long as they're not stupid it doesn't matter to me," Katsuki grumbled, leaning back in his chair.

"What about Midoriya?"

"Fuck no, and he has a partner already, dumbass."

You stuck your tongue out at him. "I was just teasing, you butt munch."

"Ashido and Tokoyami..."

"What about you? Who are you hoping for?" The ashe blond prodded, scanning the field of students.

You furrowed your brows. "Hmm, Iida looks like he's got it together."

"Iida and Jirou..."

"Damn," You cursed under your breath but Bakugo still managed to catch it. He sniggered at your dismay. "Your options are running thin, night light."

"As are yours, pop rocks."

Aizawa flipped the paper over and began calling out the last few names. "Shoji and Sero, Kaminari and Mineta..." You rolled your at the mention of the grape boy. During your time with the class you learned just how much of a nuisance this kid was. He consistently bombarded you with inappropriate questions that it became a daily practice trying to tear away Katsuki from him before he snapped on the little perv.

"Uraraka and Bakugou." When they called his name your hopes of you two working together crumbled to the ground. You weren't upset by this turn of events but you were a little disappointed seeing as how you two could definitely pull off whatever the assignment was.

You sighed, folding your arms on your desk when you suddenly heard your name addressed. "Todoroki and (l/n)..."

Your eyes flicked up in surprise and began to survey the room for who Todoroki was. The name rang a bell. Your search was short lived however as you landed on two heterochromatic irises. That's when it all hit you.

He was the boy you fought one day at practice. The stoic boy with the red and white hair and a severe-looking scar over his left eye.

You approached carefully him seeing as how he wasn't making room for any niceties. "Hi, I'm (y/n) (l/n)? Looks like we're gonna be working together," You introduced, pulling over a chair.

"Yes, I remember you," He nodded, shaking your hand. "You're the girl who transformed during training."

Your smile threatened to flounder but you managed to keep it pinned. "Yeah...it seems that's how most people recognize me these days."

"Anyhow," you breathed out a sigh, "I hope this project isn't too difficult. Aizawa is certainly making it sound important."

"I'll be coming around with a map to the facility where you'll be taking your test. Each paper will have a letter labeling you as a hero or villain. Your objective as the hero will be to track down the villains, detain them whilst simultaneously unarming the 'bombs' they will be setting up. On the flipside, the villains will have a 10 minute head start to place 5 bombs around the arena and guarding them as best you can," Aizawa explained.

"You may realize that this exercise is similar to the one you did with All Might in the beginning of the semester. It is and it has been adapted to a larger scale to test your training and your deductions skills. This will be timed at 40 minutes and your scores will depend on your success as well as your strategy."

"Oof, I might have spoken too soon," You groaned in a whisper. Although you were on edge about the project Todoroki appeared unbothered. Aizawa eventually came around and placed a single paper on the desk in front of you and proceeded to the next groups. On the corner of the sheet was a dark letter 'V'.

"We're villains," Todoroki stated.

"Yup which means planning will be crucial."

The male eyed the map with quirked brow. "This is about the size of a small town. It'll be easy to find places to put the bombs."

"It can't be just anywhere," You countered.

"I know that, I mean it's not a tight space. It would have made things a lot more difficult."

You nodded, still examining the map. "Alright, any ideas?"

"Well putting them in each corner of the arena would be too obvious," he said and pointed to a series of intersecting and winding alleyways amidst a group of buildings. "We should place one here. It looks complicated enough for someone to be stumped in for a couple minutes."

You grinned from ear to ear. "Yeah, that'll definitely buy us some time." You then came across a huge structure in the middle of the town. "What about here? It's a predictable location but the area is so big it'll take them a while to find it."

"Nice assessment." Todoroki's voice held the slightest tone of satisfaction. He suggested the next explosive be set up near the back of the arena as it would take the hero team a bit of time to go and disarm it.

It seemed all was going well in your conquest when you two suddenly realized you had 2 more bombs left and not enough room. "It's a little too close to the other explosive," You sighed warily at his offer to place it in one of the smaller buildings.

"Yeah, I agree. It's just difficult to find another place for it..." He huffed in thought.

The more you stared at the map the more you thought you'd spark it ablaze. You weren't in their class when they took the first assessment but based on the second one it must have been a lot simpler. This one seemed dialed up to 11. You could imagine how easy it would be to discover the bombs if you were in the hero's position. One swift jog across the field and you'd have handed them a win.

As the thought ran through your mind a light bulb went off. "I got it!" You hissed under your breath as you turned the map towards you and started sketching a mental map on where to go.

"What is it?" Todoroki raised a brow.

"Alright, this is going to sound crazy, but I think this could work," You beamed. Inching over so no one could eavesdrop, you leaned in and whispered your unorthodox plan.

Todoroki's expression went from focused to bewildered the deeper your explanation went. Finally, you pulled back and weighed his uncertainty. "So...what do you think?"

"You're right, that is unconventional," He surmised. "But are we even allowed to do that?"

You shrugged. "He never mentioned otherwise. I doubt anyone else will be doing this which will earn us extra points on the exam."

Todoroki nodded fervently. "Yeah....this could work, if we can pull it off."

"We will. From what I remember you're pretty skilled in combat. I have full faith in you."

"Well to your credit I was the one who ended up in the dirt, but thank you." His comment caught your attention. You didn't expect the quiet, well-tempered Todoroki to compliment you right then.

A light chuckle left your lips. "I think we're going to be fine. I've gotta say I was worried before."

"What for?"

"I don't know, I guess I didn't know what to expect. But I'm glad I got a good partner for this." You gave him a friendly smile. He returned it with a small of one his own. "Likewise. Before this I'd hoped you weren't all brawn and no brain. However, you keep surprising me in just about everything."

His words made your stomach flop for some reason. You scolded your inner conscience for taking his statement too seriously and pushed down the feeling with a polite beam. But the tender look in his eye made you ponder whether you were in the wrong at all.

On the other side of the classroom, a gleeful girl and a grumpy troll were officially meeting for the first time.

"It's nice to be working with you, Bakugou! I'm sure we'll do great!" Uraraka's positivity shined along with her grin.

He jabbed his thumb into his chest. "Yeah, thank your lucky stars I'm your partner. That's why you're gonna pass."

The girl nervously chuckled. "I think I can help out too. After all, you won't be able to do all of this on your own."

"I could if I wanted to. But it seems Aizawa-sensei wants us to work together and doing anything else will make me lose my grade. In conclusion..." Bakugou sighed and rest his head on his fist. "I'm stuck with you."

"I feel maybe you're over thinking this," the brunette suggested carefully.

"Oh yeah? And what could you possibly have to offer to this assignment? What even is your quirk?"

"I can remove the effects of gravity on objects and people!"

Bakugou furrowed his eyebrows, pondering the possible strategies the two could use with an explosive and gravity quirk. At first mention it didn't seem too bad. "Hmm, maybe you're not completely useless."

"I told you!"

"If you pull your weight, pink cheeks!" He warned. "I don't need dead weight dragging me down. You can bet your ass will be fried if I don't pass this exam."

"As long as you include me fairly! After all this effects both of us," Ururaka pursed her lips in a pout.

Bakugou rolled his eyes. "Yeah, whatever."

"So...are we going to plan out a strategy?" Uraraka inquired seeing that the male made no move to inspect the map.

"It's pointless. If we were to sketch out a plan now we'll ultimately be scrapping it later."

The girl frowned. "Why do you say that?"

"Because we have no idea who are opponents gonna be. If we follow what we write down today there's a big chance we'll be abandoning it altogether anyway because all of our enemies will be functioning differently from each other," Bakugou explained, crossing his arms over his chest. "If we check out the right side of the map first but our opponents place the bomb on the left we'll have lost time and it'll be harder to find the actual locations of the explosives."

"I see...but then what do we do?"

"Wait. That's all we can do. Based on our enemies' personalities and what they're capable of we'll know where to look."

"Whoa, you're so insightful, Bakugou!" Uraraka breathed in awe. Bakugou shook his head in disbelief. This girl was so easily impressed by anything, and yet he still felt a little pride at being praised.

Time soon ran out and the students began to collect their things and leave for home. You said your goodbyes and exchanged numbers with Todoroki in case plans were to change for the exam. You soon wandered away from your partner and over to Bakugou who was joined by Kirishima and Kaminari.

"What's up, losers? I've got this exam in the bag," You whooped.

"Yeah, congratulations you were paired up with one of the smartest students in class," Kirishima mumbled in frustration. "Aoyama is....how do I put this...not...smart? But probably not as bad as Kaminari."

"Hey!"

"It's a compliment, Pikachu," You smirked mischievously.

He peered at you with a pout. "How is that compliment?"

"Well, if you think about it, being one of the dumbest kids in class is a feat in its own right. Not everyone can claim they are the best and being the worst." Kaminari squinted at the ground, blinking occasionally as he tried to figure if you were being genuinely nice or just an asshole. "It takes practice, kiddo. I'm proud of you." A grin broke out on your face as you gave the boy a hearty pat on the back.

Before he could understand your words, Katsuki stole your attention. "You seem pretty self-assured. You got a good plan going?"

"Wouldn't you like to know, weather boy?" You shot him an annoyed glance. "Maybe I do, maybe I don't. But I sure as hell ain't telling you."

You began assembling your belongings into your backpack when Kaminari chimed in. "Oh hey you're on your way out already?"

"Yeah, but trust me I would very much rather go home on a Friday night," You replied with a groan. "I've got mandatory training today."

"Right you take it with Aizawa," Kirishima nodded.

Katsuki's face stretched into broad, shit-eating grin. "Good luck with that, glowstick."

You glared daggers at him. "No need to rub it in, you gremlin. You can go home too. I won't be out till late." After a quick wave, you grabbed your gym bag and headed for the locker room to get ready.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

You had only been training with Aizawa for about a week already you were tired of it. Not because it was laborious or challenging but because all you had been doing was sitting on a patch and grass and humming. And there you were again legs crossed, eyes closed humming and focusing on your 'inner peace'.

You took a quick peek out of one eye and found your teacher lazily flopped over in his bright yellow sleeping bag. "Uh, Aizawa-sensei, don't you think I've done enough yoga practicing? I thought I was supposed to be learning how to control my new quirk."

"You are."

You resisted the urge to scoff. "Yeah, I get the whole breathing thing but I've been doing this for days. How is this helping me at all?"

"You have to know how to keep your temper under control first before you can even think about activating your new quirk. Otherwise we'll have another incident like last time and I can assure you next time around you will be permanently expelled." Aizawa rolled over as you let out a sigh and unfolded yourself from your neat sitting position. "You may find this boring but this is training that will help you in the long run, especially if you want to participate in the event coming up."

This sparked your curiosity. "What do you mean? What's coming up?"

"You may be familiar with it. The Sports Festival."

Your voice reacted before you did with an audible gasp. "Wait, what? The UA Sports Festival? Oh my god, you're right! It happens around this month! I was so preoccupied with school I forgot!"

"Exactly," the caterpillar man said. "Now as it stands Principal Nezu doesn't think it's a good idea to have you out there with an unstable quirk. Since the stir of your incident and the League of Villains breaking down UA's doors the school has gotten a bad rep. The Principal is taking many precautions to impede any further outbursts from happening and he won't relent...unless..." He trailed off.

You bit your nervously. "Unless what?"

"Unless you can prove yourself otherwise. If you can show him you are fully capable of handling your new found quirk he has stated that he will possibly make an exception and allow you to enter the event."

"Are you serious?" You breathed in panic. "Wait does that mean he wasn't gonna let me go before? And anyway the Sports Festival is close how will I ever be able to master this quirk? All I've been doing is sucking in air! I'm nowhere near close!"

"Relax already, you've still got another week to go. That's why I partnered you up with Todoroki," Aizawa confessed. "He's had to learn how to sustain a very powerful hybrid quirk. If anyone can give you some pointers it's him. I suggest you reach out to him and get some tips."

"I can only train you so much, (l/n). You also need to put in the effort outside of school if you want to participate in the Sports Festival," He laid it out flatly. He then sat up in his sleeping bag and stared directly at you. "You have potential, a vast amount of potential. And if you don't hone it and show it at that festival you will have missed the biggest opportunity of your Hero Career."

"I'm not telling you this to pressure or scare you, but I believe you deserve a fair shot to display your talent. A lot of successful heroes are discovered during the Sports Festival and they don't even win first place. I want you to push yourself these next few days and then we'll see if Nezu will allow you to attend."

You glanced downcast at the ground, fiddling with your hands. He was right. If you didn't shape up you'd be stuck on the sidelines while the rest of your classmates advanced in the race. Your dream of becoming a hero was always seeming so close yet so far but now if you weren't careful you will have missed it entirely.

"Aizawa-sensei...do you think I can do it?" You asked, still staring at your hands. He put a palm on your shoulder making you shift your gaze to him. "(l/n), there's not a doubt in my mind that if you manage to command complete control over your quirk you will be one of the greatest heroes to come out of UA."

A warm smile formed on your face. "Thank you, Aizawa-sensei. I'll make sure to give it my all this week."

"I know you will, kid."

Not long after your training session came to close. You followed Aizawa back into the building to grab your things and reassured him that you would train your ass off.

You were renewed with spirit. After the crazy past few weeks in your life you finally had something normal to look forward to. You were so invigorated by Aizawa's faith in you you were actually contemplating activating your transformation quirk. You were confident that if you did you'd have more of grasp on it this time around. Still, not wanting to take any chances, you planned to ask someone to be present while you tried your hand at it again.

Aizawa recommended Todoroki. You didn't know him too well but he had expressed training together in the past. He was also your partner and to top it off he was well experienced with a hybrid quirk.

Your mind wandered over to your other option, Katsuki. He was a strict teacher (if your study sessions were any proof) so you knew he would push you to your limit till you got it right. While he wasn't experienced in your dilemma he was the one who had calmed you down that day with Monoma.

You were deep in thought wandering down the halls that you forgot to watch where you were going. You crashed hard into a solid body and were thrown back on your ass.

You groaned in pain as you looked up at your obstacle. "Hey what..." However, you were floored (quite literally) when you recognized who it was. Speak of the devil. "Katsuki?"

He cast a glance at you just as surprised. "Watch where you're going, dumbass." He said that yet he still gave you a hand up.

"I just got out of training with Aizawa. What are you doing here?"

"Unlike the rest of the dimwits in class I decided to finish the math homework early. Now I've got the weekend free for working out."

"You stayed to do math? Why not just take it home and do it there?" You questioned.

"'Cause I knew some idiot was staying late and they'd probably be stupid enough to walk home alone," Katsuki scolded, smacking the papers in his hand on your head. "It's already getting dark out. Let's go."

You gazed out the school windows and realized the sun was on the verge of setting. "You didn't have to wait for me though. I can handle myself."

Bakugou scoffed and rolled his eyes. "Right, 'cause last time you were left to your own devices I didn't get a call at dark about how you needed help." His tone was reprimanding yet laced with a hint of worry. You were annoyed that he was bringing that incident up, but it was true that you lost your cool that night. Ever since then you'd occasionally wake up to the haunting visage of your demented features rotting away.

You grumbled to yourself, but said nothing back. Instead you pulled out your phone to check for the time. However, as you were doing so a message sprung up from your inbox. It was a text from your mother.

You stopped mid-walk and read the message, an expression of apprehension settling on your face. Katsuki turned back with a frown. "What is it?"

"Um...my mom she..." You looked at a loss. "She has a shift tonight. I...guess I have the house to myself again."

Bakugou watched you as you shoved your phone into your pocket. You appeared to be unsure, maybe even a little nervous he would say. Of course he knew the reason why. Last time was definitely traumatizing for you there was no doubt. And if he had to be completely honest he wasn't all that comfortable leaving you alone in such sketchy part of town on the weekend.

His mind quickly came up with an elaborate idea to substitute that option. "You don't have to go home," Katsuki said with a shrug.

You let out a breath of laughter. "Where else would I go?"

"My house isn't too far from the school, and I don't think my parents would give shit," He grumbled, not looking you in the eye. "I guess you could spend the night there if you wanted to."

You glanced up at him, a gleam of curiosity in your eye. "Katsuki, are you saying you'll let me crash at your house?"

He growled and crossed his arms. You could almost swear you saw a tint of pink in his cheeks. But perhaps it was the golden rays of the sun playing tricks on you. "Why do you have to make such a big deal out it? All I'm saying is if you need somewhere to sleep tonight you have the option of coming over."

A small smirk grew on your lips as you shook your head at the ashe blond. "You know you don't need all that nuance if you want to be nice."

"Shut it, night light, it's a yes or no response."

You sighed and nodded, smile still on your face. "Yes, Katsuki, I'd very much appreciate that."

"You'd better." He then noticed you slightly dragging your gym bag as you two walked and glared at it. "And if you're gonna carry this thing around at least do it properly." He snatched the duffel from your hands and through it over his shoulder. "This doesn't even weigh anything. Were you just being lazy, glow stick?"

"Well I did get out of training a little while ago and I'm pretty tired," You feigned a stretch and slipped off your backpack in the process. You proceeded to sling onto Katsuki's shoulder and gave him a big grin. "But since you're offering to be such a gentlemen, why don't you grab this for me too?"

His eyes immediately flared. If looks could kill you would have been dead on the spot. "Get this shit off of me! I'm not your fucking slave!"

You did as he asked but were too enthralled with your laughter to care that he was yelling obscenities at you down the hall.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

After you two left school, you went home to pick up a couple of necessities and headed over to Katsuki's house. You'd imagined that his home would be a lot nicer than yours as most people's were. But when you got there your expectations were thrown out the window.

There you stood in front of an enormous building with tall windows over-looking the street. The roof curved over the brick walls giving it a modern aspect to it. Even the fencing outside surrounding the house was large and elegant but still maintained a vibe of wanted isolation. Perhaps it was the night time, but it still intimidated you and made you second guess if this was a good idea at all.

"Hey, Bakubutt, are you sure you're parents won't mind? I mean, do they even know I'm here?" You inquired, your eyes scanning the building as if something were going to jump out.

Katsuki passively dumped your gym bag into your arms and walked in between the entryway illuminated by two white globes. "Trust me, they don't care. Now are you coming or not?"

You clenched your jaw and took a deep breath, stepping forward. "I guess so."

"Hurry your ass up then 'cause I'm sneaking you past them."

"WHAT!?"

Before you knew it he had clasped your wrist and trudged you to the front door. You tried protesting but he had already inched it open exposing a brightly lit living space.

"Katsuki! You didn't ask your parents for permission!?" You hissed. One arm was haphazardly holding your duffel bag while the other tugged away from the male. "What the hell are they gonna say!?"

"That's not the problem, dumbass," He shot back in an angry whisper. "It's if they know you're here—"

"Katsuki?" An older female voice came from within the house. "Is that you?"

"Shit," He cursed under his breath as he glanced left and right. He had loosened his grip on you so you tore away before he could notice. You then immediately sped over to the door in a fuming huff.

"Damn it, glow stick, you don't understand!" Bakugou said through gritted teeth. You were just about to grab the knob when Katsuki slammed the door shut. You turned around to scowl at him but you found yourself caged in by his arm extended over you on the door.

However, the noise of the entrance closing echoed through the house giving away your location to whoever Katsuki was trying to hide from. Before you could even move a woman with a familiar set of spiky blonde hair entered and was staring right at you two.

"What the hell's going on!?"

I think I'm gonna have a lot of fun writing next chapter ;)