U.A. High School - Exam Week, Day One
Written exams were exactly as boring as expected.
Math. English. Hero Law. History. Science. Five days of sitting in a quiet room filling out answers to questions I'd already studied extensively. The only real challenge was staying awake during the longer sections.
Yaoyorozu looked confident throughout. Todoroki and Iida seemed fine. Midoriya was scribbling notes frantically but he'd probably do well, the kid studied obsessively. Kaminari looked like he was dying, Ashido kept erasing and rewriting answers, Kirishima was sweating through the math section.
I finished each exam early and spent the extra time reviewing my answers, double-checking calculations, making sure I hadn't made careless mistakes. Not because I needed to, but because sitting there doing nothing would've been more boring.
By day five, everyone was exhausted and stressed. The written portion was done but practical exams started tomorrow, and nobody knew what to expect.
"I heard it's robots again," Kaminari said during lunch. "Like the entrance exam."
"That'd be too easy," Sero said. "They wouldn't just repeat the same test."
"What if it's rescue scenarios?" Uraraka suggested. "We've been training for those."
"Or villain simulations," Iida added. "Testing our combat decision-making under pressure."
Everyone had theories. I stayed quiet and ate, letting them speculate. Whatever the practical exam was, I'd handle it when it came.
"Arthur, you're being weirdly quiet," Ashido said. "Aren't you curious?"
"Not really. We'll find out tomorrow."
"But the suspense is killing me!"
"Then don't think about it."
"How are you so calm?!"
I shrugged. Honestly, after fighting Stain and dealing with mysterious organizations and cult watchers, a school exam didn't seem that stressful. But I couldn't say that without raising questions.
"I just don't worry about things I can't control," I said instead.
"That's very zen of you," Jiro said. "Also kind of annoying."
"I've been told that before."
The conversation shifted to summer camp plans, what we'd do if we all passed, where the camp would be. Normal student concerns. I contributed occasionally but mostly just listened.
Practical Exam Day - Staging Area
"Alright, listen up," Aizawa said, standing in front of the entire class. "Your practical exam will test your ability to fight and make decisions under pressure against opponents stronger than yourselves."
Behind him, several teachers emerged from the building. All Might, Present Mic, Midnight, Cementoss, Ectoplasm, Thirteen, Snipe, and others. Almost the entire faculty.
"You'll be fighting us," Aizawa continued. "In pairs. Your objective is either defeat your assigned teacher or escape within the time limit. You'll be wearing these."
He held up heavy-looking weights.
"Ultra-compressed weights," Aizawa explained. "To level the playing field slightly. Teachers will also have restrictions on their quirks to keep this from being completely one-sided."
Kaminari raised his hand. "How bad is completely one-sided without the weights?"
"We're pro heroes with years of experience. You're first-year students. Do the math."
Everyone looked nervous now, the reality sinking in. Fighting actual pro heroes, even with handicaps, was a completely different challenge than anything we'd faced before.
"Pairs and assignments are as follows," Aizawa pulled out a list. "Todoroki and Yaoyorozu versus Aizawa. Midoriya and Bakugo versus All Might. Iida and Ojiro versus Power Loader..."
He continued down the list. I waited to hear my name.
"Himura and Kirishima versus Cementoss."
Kirishima looked at me and grinned, fist-bumping his hardened hands together. "We got this, man."
Cementoss. The cement manipulation hero. He could control any cement or concrete in the area, create walls, pillars, traps. The exam site was probably full of concrete structures which meant he'd have total environmental control.
This would be interesting.
"You have thirty minutes to plan with your partner," Aizawa said. "Then exams begin. Dismissed."
Everyone scattered to their assigned planning areas. Kirishima and I headed to ours, a small room with a table and chairs.
"Okay so, Cementoss," Kirishima said once we were alone. "He's gonna control the battlefield completely, right? Like, everything around us will be his weapon."
"Probably."
"So what's the strategy? We can't really break through infinite cement walls."
"We could if we hit hard enough."
"Yeah but that's a lot of cement. Dude can just keep making more." He thought for a moment. "Should we try to escape instead of fighting?"
"Depends on the terrain and time limit. Fighting might be faster if we can reach him."
"You think we can actually beat a pro hero?"
I considered the matchup. Cementoss was strong, experienced, had total control over the environment. But his quirk was defensive, focused on control and containment rather than direct damage. Against two students with strong offensive capabilities, if we pressured him hard enough...
"Yes," I said. "We can beat him."
Kirishima's grin widened. "Hell yeah. Okay, what's the plan?"
We spent the next twenty minutes strategizing. Kirishima would tank hits and break through cement barriers with his hardening. I'd provide offensive pressure and watch for openings. We'd coordinate strikes, keep Cementoss defensive, force him to use his quirk extensively until we found a gap.
Simple plan. Probably wouldn't survive contact with the actual fight. But it was a starting point.
Exam Site - Urban Environment
The exam area was exactly what I expected. Concrete buildings, cement roads, everything perfectly suited for Cementoss's quirk. He stood in the center of a plaza, arms crossed, looking completely confident.
"Himura, Kirishima," he called out. "Your exam begins now. You have thirty minutes to either defeat me or reach the escape gate at the far end of this zone."
A timer started counting down on a nearby screen. 30:00.
"Let's do this!" Kirishima activated his hardening, red stone-like armor covering his body. "Unbreakable Mode!"
We charged forward together. Cementoss responded immediately, massive cement walls erupting from the ground between us and him. Kirishima smashed through the first one with a reinforced punch, concrete shattering around his fist.
I went over, jumping high and using golden energy to boost the leap. Cementoss saw me coming and created a ceiling to block my approach. I manifested an energy blade and cut through it mid-air, dropping toward him.
He rolled aside, cement pillars rising to intercept me. I landed, dismissed the blade, and reinforced my strength for a ground-level charge.
"Good coordination," Cementoss said, sounding genuinely impressed. "But you'll need more than that."
The entire plaza shifted. Walls rose everywhere, creating a maze between us and our target. Kirishima smashed through one wall and another immediately formed to replace it.
"This is gonna take forever!" Kirishima shouted.
"Then we go faster."
I pushed more energy into my reinforcement, moving at maximum speed. The walls couldn't form fast enough if I didn't give Cementoss time to react. I broke through three barriers in rapid succession, getting closer to his position.
Kirishima followed my lead, using his hardening to bull through obstacles. We were making progress but the timer showed 25:00 remaining. This approach was too slow.
"Kirishima, change of plan. Hold position and make noise."
"What?"
"Just trust me. Make him focus on you."
He looked confused but nodded. "CEMENTOSS! Over here!" He started smashing through walls more aggressively, creating as much destruction as possible.
While Cementoss's attention was on Kirishima's obvious assault, I circled around quietly, using minimal energy to avoid detection. The cement maze worked against Cementoss too, blocking his line of sight just as much as ours.
I reached a position behind him and manifested Excalibur.
The golden blade's pressure immediately gave away my position. Cementoss spun, eyes widening slightly at the sword.
"New trick?" he said.
"Recent development."
I closed the distance fast, Excalibur cutting through cement defenses like they were paper. Cementoss created multiple layers but the holy blade didn't care about quantity, it just cut through everything.
He backed up, using cement to launch himself away from my strikes. "Impressive weapon. But can you maintain it while fighting?"
Good question. I'd been holding Excalibur for about three minutes now, strain was building. I could probably manage another five minutes at combat intensity.
Hopefully that would be enough.
Kirishima burst through a wall to my right. "Dude, that sword is so cool!"
"Help me corner him."
We coordinated the assault, Kirishima coming from one side while I pressed from another. Cementoss was good, using the environment to stay mobile, but fighting two offensive fighters simultaneously was forcing him to split his attention.
Timer showed 18:00 remaining.
"You're doing well," Cementoss said, creating a massive cement dome around himself. "But time is running out."
The dome was thick, reinforced, probably meant to waste our time while he recovered. Kirishima punched it but barely made a dent.
"It's too strong!" he said.
I raised Excalibur. "Move back."
"What are you gonna—"
I swung. Golden light erupted as Excalibur cut through the dome completely, cleaving it in two. The halves collapsed, revealing a shocked Cementoss inside.
I pressed the advantage before he could recover, Excalibur's point at his throat. Kirishima came from the other side, hardened fist ready.
Cementoss raised his hands. "I yield. Exam complete."
The timer stopped at 16:47.
We'd won.
Kirishima whooped. "Yes! We actually beat a pro hero!"
"Good work, both of you," Cementoss said well, you've passed. Go to the medical station for evaluation, then wait for the other students to complete their exams."
We headed to medical, both riding the high of winning. Kirishima kept talking about how awesome it was, how we worked together perfectly, how my sword was the coolest thing ever.
I mostly just listened, feeling the exhaustion setting in. Excalibur took a lot out of me when used in combat, the energy drain was significant.
But we'd won. Against a pro hero with environmental advantage. That proved something about our current level.
At medical, Recovery Girl checked us over. Minor scrapes and bruises for Kirishima, nothing serious. I just needed rest to recover my energy reserves.
"You pushed yourself hard," Recovery Girl observed. "That new weapon quirk of yours, it drains stamina?"
"Energy reserves. Using it in combat is more intensive than maintaining it while stationary."
"Be careful not to overextend. At your age, pushing too hard can cause permanent damage to your quirk factor."
"I'll be careful."
She didn't look entirely convinced but let us go. We headed to the observation room where other students who'd finished were gathering.
Todoroki and Yaoyorozu were already there, looking exhausted but satisfied. They'd passed their exam against Aizawa. Iida and Ojiro had passed against Power Loader. Uraraka and Aoyama had somehow passed against Thirteen.
We watched the remaining exams on monitors. Midoriya and Bakugo were fighting All Might, both getting absolutely demolished despite working together. Kaminari and Ashido were struggling against Principal Nezu. Sero and Mineta were barely hanging on against Midnight.
It went on for another two hours before all exams concluded. Most pairs passed, a few failed and would have to take remedial courses.
"Alright everyone," Aizawa said once we'd all gathered. "Exams are complete. Those who passed will attend the summer training camp. Those who failed will have remedial lessons but you'll still come to camp."
Everyone looked confused.
"Wait, we all go regardless?" Kaminari asked.
"The remedial lessons were always part of the plan. Failing the practical just means extra work during camp." Aizawa's expression was unreadable. "Did you really think we'd exclude students from vital training?"
Several people looked relieved. I'd suspected something like this, the whole setup had felt like a teaching exercise more than a genuine pass/fail situation.
"Camp begins in one week," Aizawa continued. "Use that time to rest and prepare. You'll need it. Dismissed."
Everyone filed out, conversations immediately turning to camp plans and excitement. I hung back, thinking about the exam.
Class 1-A Dorms - Evening
The common room was celebration central. Everyone who'd passed was excited about camp, even those who'd technically failed seemed happy since they were going anyway.
"Dude, your sword cut through Cementoss's dome like it was butter," Kirishima was telling anyone who'd listen. "It was the coolest thing ever!"
"I want to see it up close," Ashido said, looking at me. "Can you show us?"
"Maybe later. It drains energy to maintain."
"Aw, come on!"
"He said maybe," Jiro pointed out. "Stop pushing."
My phone buzzed. Unknown number again.
Unknown: "Impressive performance today. The offer still stands. We have resources that could help with your training."
The international organization. Still watching, still interested.
I deleted the message without responding and rejoined the conversation. Tomorrow I'd worry about mysterious organizations and hidden threats. Tonight was for celebrating with classmates.
We stayed up late talking about camp, about the exams, about nothing important. Normal teenage stuff. It felt good.