The day had come.

Izuku sighed, briefly focusing on his actual thoughts as opposed to the raw emotion he was feeling. You see, today was the end of semester exams for U.A, and he was absolutely pumped for it. This was the first time that he could showcase his full array of skills gained from a year and a half's experience as a vigilante (not that anyone par a chosen few knew of course, to them he was just some acrobatic quirkless kid, no more, no less). The written was merely a formality for the true event that was the practical. Rumours circulated that the exam would be against robots akin to those from the entrance exam. Come to think of it, the whole organisation of the final exams reminded him very much of that, from the mysterious practical element to the way in which the exam was supposedly going to take place.

At the present moment, they were in the midst of the written portion, as a matter of fact the last paper of said test. "When the clock strikes five past nine you may begin the test. You have one hour and thirty minutes to complete it. Remember what we have taught you over the course of this semester. Good luck," Eraserhead concluded in his usual monotonous voice. If anything, his voice sounded somehow even more flat, like he was reading off a script. Shortly after making that statement, the ticking of the cream coloured clock clicked across the aforementioned time, prompting the students to immediately start working through the paper.

Honestly, Midoriya found all the tests thus far extremely easy, heck he'd say it was probably even easier than the ones from the initial exam way back when. Maybe being forced to tutor Shinso on occasion prior in the run-up to the Sports Festival had actually helped himself somewhat. Regardless, the hour and a half passed quite quickly. "Thank goodness for that," he mumbled in conjunction with the screeching beep that signaled time was up, successfully muffling his voice so as to not be accused of cheating in some regard. He did not want to deal with the ramifications of that potential incident, that was for sure.

After the papers were collected, the class was then told to suit up and make their way towards the central plaza. "Guess no break for us then," Kaminari mentioned sadly, exhaustion written over his face as he grabbed his hero costume from his respective locker and headed towards the changing rooms.

Costumes. Thankfully since the rescue training a month ago, both Izuku and Hitoshi had finally managed to get themselves a proper hero costume, no longer being limited to the frankly impractical P.E outfits. To that end, they had been able to closely replicate their old vigilante set-ups, surprisingly. Midoriya maintained his black and mahogany tracksuit, alongside his signature mouth- guard with built-in voice changer, which had become synonymous with his vigilante persona once he added it only a few weeks into his first patrols. On the other hand, Shinso's attire was a similarly jet-black colour scheme, except it had forgone the mahogany areas and instead had them be a dark violet running across the suit in a more curved fashion. He also had an identical mouth-guard to that of his former mentor, solidifying the already known fact that these two were practically brothers in all but blood.

Finally arriving at the briefing point. They were shocked to see quite a few more of the pro hero staff waiting for them than they were expecting. They anticipated that it would just be Aizawa and maybe one other teacher to supervise the test. After all, it was just some robots, right?

"Hey, your outfits sure are similar to those vigilantes from a month back, Nozomu and Minarai was it?" Jirou asked Midoriya and Shinso. On second thought, maybe their outfits made it too obvious. "We're, um, just real big fans of 'em, right Hitoshi?" Izuku frantically explained, nudging the latter with his elbow, encouraging him to just go along with it. "Yep," Shinso hastily agreed, just as hopeful that they would buy it and drop the subject. Thankfully, they did.

"So, it is without a doubt that you have by now some knowledge on the exercise test," Aizawa begins, interrupted by a perhaps all-to-eager Kaminari and Mina exclaiming that the class would of course be going against robot opponents. "Or so you may think!" A mysterious voice said, appearing to have come from… Aizawa's scarf? Two students knew better however, after all they had only spoken to them a few weeks prior. 

Principal Nezu then popped out of grey fabric, finally making his physical appearance. "With the recent surge of villains as of late, the school has decided that the quality of their training methods should be heightened in order to increase the students' battle experience, and what would be a better way to do that than have you battle against real opponents!" The Principal announced, suprising the majority of the class. "That's right, from now on, U.A. students will be having battle simulations similar to real life battles; today's test exercise will be forming pairs and facing one of the teachers before you in combat! The matches have a time limit of 30 minutes. Your pairs and the teachers that you will fight have been already decided. Now, here is the list of who's-versus-who. The first match will begin in 10 minutes, once your fight has concluded, you will return to the examination room. Good luck and Plus Ultra!" The Principal finished, directing the students to glance at the board beside him.

Team Sato & Kirishima vs. Cementoss

Team Asui & Tokoyami vs. Ectoplasm

Team Iida & Ojiro vs. Power Loader

Team Todoroki & Yaoyorozu vs Eraser Head

Team Uraraka & Aoyama vs. Thirteen

Team Ashido & Kaminari vs. Nezu

Team Koda & Jirou vs. Present Mic

Team Hagakure & Shoji vs. Snipe

Team Shinso & Sero vs. Midnight

Team Midoriya & Bakugou vs. All Might

"Oh no," Izuku sighed, not at all excited for his exam. Not only was he going against mother-flipping ALL MIGHT but also he had to deal with Bakugou being… well, Bakugou.
He would be lucky to get out of this unscathed, so Midoriya immediately started to strategise and attempt to figure out some way of at the very least avoiding the number one one long enough so that he could get to the exit. 

Oh yeah, the principal had also made it known that there were in fact two ways to pass this part of the exam: either cuff the teacher or make it through the yellow exit gate on the other end of the arena. Izuku was more than thankful for that alternate option, otherwise he would surely. Yes he had defeated the Nomu at the USJ but that was due to it having an incredibly exploitative weakness in its exposed brain (which, now that he thought about it, that same design was present in every Nomu he had encountered since then, how odd). Without such a glaringly obvious drawback, All Might was a practically unstoppable force.

"Wait a second-" he thought, a smirk crawling across his face. Midoriya had an idea, not a very plausible idea, but it was one nonetheless. He just hoped Bakugou would actually consider working with him this time. For now, it was time to watch his classmates' exams.

Kirishima and Sato's was honestly more unfortunate than anything to Izuku. Their quirks combined could easily deal with Cementoss' cement, it was just that he could make so much of it. For every wall the duo destroyed, ten more rose up in its place. In the end, they simply ran out of time.

Next was Tokoyami and Asui against Ectoplasm. A very interesting matchup indeed, seeing as both students worked better at long range whereas Ectoplasm's style culminated in overwhelming the opponent at close range with his clones. They very nearly lost as well, with Dark Shadow being the only one not captured, yet even it was struggling against the pro's endless stream of attacks. It was only because of Tsu's quirk that they were able to sneakily cuff Ectoplasm's leg during one final push by the shadowy creature, securing their win. Barely.

Then came Iida and Ojiro versus Power Loader. Fittingly enough, it was over not too long after it began, by far making it the shortest of the battles up to this point. Midoriya had to commend the duo's amazing teamwork; their skills and quirks meshed so well it was shocking that this was apparently the first time these two had worked together. This culminated in a frankly impressive move in which Iida essentially used himself as a glorified catapult to slingshot Ojiro like a football over and past the gate, passing the test. 

Now if anyone were to ask Izuku beforehand who would win in a hypothetical fight between the two recommendation students and the infamous Eraser Head, he would have without question favour the latter. Even with the handicaps, Shoto and Momo would have no chance, especially Yaoyorozu. Her apparent superiority complex when it came to quirks would most certainly be her downfall. This, in tandem with Todoroki's over-reliance on his quirk, along with frequent hesitation to directly attack someone as a result of the incident between them and Izuku's former apprentice (Midoriya had not forgotten nor forgiven him for the fact that he almost killed his friend, regardless of if he "lost control" or not), made this combination a near guaranteed disaster. But it wasn't. 

By some absolute miracle, they had managed to buy enough time for Momo to create a metallic rope very much akin to Aizawa's own scarf except for one fact: when heated, the metal hardens into its base mold. This meant that when they somehow caught the pro by suprise, Yaoyorozu launched the rope at him before signalling Shoto to aim his fire at it from behind a makeshift cloak, ultimately capturing the teacher. For the first time in a long while, Izuku was genuinely surprised.

Uraraka and Aoyama's was a strange one to say the least. It was an oddly generic fight with no major twists and turns unlike pretty much all of the previous ones. In fact, the only notable thing came at the end where the blonde turned to his partner to say something which caused the normally collected Ochaco to blush a deep red, letting go of the pole both her and her teammate were clinging onto for dear life and inadvertently resulted in their win. What he said however was unknown; the feeds had all been muted since the start. Whatever it was, Izuku believed it must have been major.

After that fiasco was Kaminari and Ashido, arguably the least academically minded students in class 1-A, against Principal Nezu, who possessed one of, if not the most intellect in Japan. Sure he was expecting it to go horribly for the two unfortunate souls, but this bad? They spent the entire 30 minutes running away as Nezu nonchalantly bulldozed his way after them through the mock city, sending shrapnel of all kinds flying through the air like hail on a winter's day. It was safe to say, they entirely failed. 

Afterwards came Jirou and Koda's turn. Present Mic's voice quirk presented an obvious problem; the most Jirou could do is temporarily cancel out his amplified voice by the sound of her heartbeat, and Koda's control of animals was nullified by extreme noise. Fortunately, their quirks combined could theoretically defeat the radio host. That was, except for one crucial component to said plan. It would require bugs, and lots of them- Koda's fear above all else. He was momentarily able overcome said fear, much to Present Mics chagrin; no one likes being swarmed by insects, never mind be effectively restrained by them.

Hagakure and Shoji's match was also relatively uneventful. Unsurprisingly, the invisibility user easily cuffed Snipe since well, she was invisible after all. As a matter of fact, all Shoji really did was distract him for long enough so his fellow student could sneak up behind their opponent.

The penultimate fight was Shinso and Sero against Midnight; a battle that ended so quickly that it could only be summarised by what actually took place.

Hitoshi entered the arena alongside his classmate, quirk-suppressant cuffs in hand. The place itself was extremely plain, being devoid of any substantial terrain par the extremely thick cloud of pink-shaded smoke in the centre, obscuring their soon-to be enemy, courtesy of her quirk. As the familiar alarm symbolizing the start of their exam sounded, the 18+ hero appeared from the haze, whip at the ready. But as she locked eyes with the insomniac, her eyes greeted out, her limbs relaxing slightly. "Put this on," Shinso coldly commanded, to which she obeyed, capturing herself and ending the test.

"Well that was easy," Sero remarked.

Finally came Midoriya and Bakugou against the number one hero. To put it bluntly, Izuku was absolutely terrified, and that was something that did not happen often. He was at least a tad more prepared now compared to at the start, but it did not rid him of his sheer worry when it came to this matchup. To him, it felt as if it was him against two opponents, one of whom was his own teammate. Fate did not see it that way.

The two arrived at the mock city, neither speaking to the other; the silence became deafening. Eventually, Izuku spoke up.

"So Bakugou-"

"Deku… I see you finally got your act together, guess I finally beat it into your thick skull that you needed to man the fuck up," Bakugou spoke without a hint of sarcasm.
Midoriya's previously stoic face lessensed as his eyebrows furrowed.

"So let me get this straight: you harassed me, bullied me for a decade straight, heck you even told me to go kill myself, several times I might add, all in some twisted attempt to get me to grow a pair?!" Midoriya yelled. Bakugou simply nodded, a small but noticeable amount of sweat forming on his forehead.

Izuku sighed in frustration. "Honestly Kacchan, I know your social skills would make even Hitoshi seem like an extrovert but this- you know what, never mind. I cannot be asked to deal with you today, let's just get this exam over and done with and leave it at that." He grumbled, signalling the blonde pomeranian to listen as he explained the albeit rudimentary plan, only to be interrupted for the second time that day.

"If you think of this as an exam and not a real fight, you'll be sorely mistaken. I am a villain, heroes. Come at me with everything you've got!" A familiar booming voice announced, sounding somehow more menacing than before. The battle had now commenced. All Might was here.

"Bakugou, follow me!" Midoriya called, the two racing into the alleyway right of the main street just as the smoke cleared. If there was one thing Izuku had noted up until now that the faux cities had all shared a similar broad layout, most importantly a back alley that conveniently ran along one side of the city, separated from the central road by a single row of 3-storey buildings of various muted colours, of which they were behind the third of said houses. You see, the plan had merely two steps to victory.

Step 1: distract and confuse.

"Come out heroes, a villain does not care about such petty things as collateral damage!" All Might bellowed, launching his fist into a building, effortlessly shattering it to pieces whilst simultaneously generating a resounding crash of concrete and shrapnel. That was two houses to the left. 

"Come out, come out wherever you are!" He continued, destroying another structure. One house to the left. It was either now or never. Then, when All Might's fist collided with the only thing between them and the behemoth that was the pro hero, masked by the newly formed dust and raining rubble, the once childhood friends rocketed up onto the rooftop of the nearby apartment block by way of Bakugou's explosions and Midoriya's grappling-hook.

Step 2: Run.

After that little stunt the two practically booked it as fast as their legs/quirk could take them. All Might had at this point noticed them and was now in hot pursuit. They just had to hope they had wasted enough of their pursuer's energy as so they barely make it out unscathed. Unfortunately, the number one hero was titled such for a reason.

Leaping from one ledge to another, Izuku felt a sudden pressure on his leg. Slowly turning his head, he found out what it was. He had managed to fully grip his leg, yanking the former vigilante backward into a super powered punch. Luckily for a certain someone's bones, he had managed to chuck a flash grenade, disorienting his opponent for long enough that he escaped from his grasp, catching up with the blonde pomeranian.

20 metres from the gate.

15 metres from the gate. All Might was gaining on them.

10 metres from the gate. He was only a few inches from them now

5 metres from the gate. A pin dropped.

"Bzzrt! Team Midoriya and Bakugou have passed!" A robotic voice declared.

HOLY SUGAR HONEY ICE TEA-

To be honest with y'all, I'm a bit lost for words at the moment. 100k reads. That's one hell of an achievement for me, and I can't be more grateful to you guys for that. To think only a few short months ago I was sitting at 40k reads, believing that was probably as far as my story was gonna go. Guess Nozomu is more popular than I imagined.😅

I feel like I should do something special in celebration of this, maybe like a one off chapter or something, or would something like a QnA work better? Face reveal? (So many ideas, so little time...) Y'know what, I'll let you guys decide what you want for a 100k reads special! Just comment below what you want to see and the most popular answer will be the subject of the next chapter. 

Once again, thank y'all so much, you guys are absolutely amazing, and until next time, it's your author Xavier, Signing out!