➤ ( CHAPTER 027 ! )
"prepare for the practical exam"

'The mid-term exams start today. Every student dreads it, but to be honest I never lose a second of sleep over them. That's because I'm free to cheat however I want. I can use telepathy to hear other's thoughts, and if I use clairvoyance I can quickly cope with them too.'

'But I don't want you to be the wrong Idea, If I wanted to I could score a hundred in all these tests without cheating. Know, I cheat to get an average score to make sure I don't stand out.'

'So my goal during any test is to mix in plenty of wrong answers. This way out of a class of twenty-one students in 1A, I'll score smake dab in the middle-' Shousuke's thoughts abruptly halted as he raised his gaze and met his uncle's piercing glares.

"Alright, that's it for class today. There's only one week left until the final exams. I'm sure you're all studying constantly, right? Don't forget to keep training. The written exams are only one element. There's also the practical portion to worry about. Good luck, and Shousuke, meet me outside." Aizawa declared firmly before closing the classroom door. The mentioned student gracefully rose to his feet, quietly walked towards the classroom exit, and closed the door behind him.

AIZAWA'S FACE REMAINED UNIMPRESSED as he looked down at his nephew. He calmly reached for Shousuke's test paper and handed it to the young boy.

'10?' Shousuke contemplated deeply as he feigned astonishment at the intentionally distorted proposal.

"If a person wearing a blindfold, picked the question on a true and failed quiz at random do you know what score they will get?" Aizawa questioned as he took out a red-inked pan.

"Fiftive present-"

"That's right. The only way to get most of the answers wrong is to know which answers are right." Aizawa finished and took the test paper from Shousuke. The elder proceeded to place a zero at the end of the ten, causing Shousuke's score to rise to 100%.

Shousuke sighed as his paper was handed back to him. "I know you're real intentions Shousuke." After Aizawa's departure, he made his way to the teachers' lounge. Meanwhile, Shousuke returned to the classroom, only to be greeted with a chorus of loud yelling.

"I'VE BARELY TAKEN NOTES THIS SEMESTER!!" Both Mina and Kaminari cried out in frustration. The two had placed last in the class ranking;

Kaminari Danki - Midterm: 21th place

Mina Ashido - Midterm: 19th place

"With the sports festival and the internships I didn't have time to read the test book!" Kaminari added, holding his head.

Fumikage Tokoyami - Midterm: 14th place

"It's true that we haven't had very much free time..." Tokoyami agreed

"We barely learned anything when we took our midterms, so it didn't seem all that hard. But I'm kind of worried about these. We've been through a lot and they probably won't pull any punches when it comes to testing us." Sato stated and Koda nodded silently to his words.

Rikido Sato - Midterm: 12th place

Koji Koda- Midterm: 11th place

"As someone who ranked in the top ten, I'm not that concerned." Mineta bragged with a smirk formed on his lips.

"WHAT?! YOU WERE NINTH IN THE MIDTERMS?!!" Kaminari and Mina exclaimed.

"Oh man, and here I thought you were one of us!!" Mina spat and pointed her fingers at the grape-haired boy. "Don't you know weirdo little creeps like you are only likable if they're kind of stupid!!? Who's going to love you know!" Kaminari added and Midoriya walked over to the duo.

"Everyone trusts me~" Mineta replied.

"Ashido! Kaminari!" Midoriya called out to the two, and they both turned around to face their green-haired classmate. "We still got time to study. That way we'll all get to the training camp together! Right?" Midoriya said trying to encourage his friends.

Midoriya Izuku - Midterm: 4th place

"Yes! As a class rep, I have high hopes that we'll make U.A. proud!" Iida stated. Joining in with Midoriya to encourage the two last places.

Iida Tenya - Midterm: 2nd place

'"It's pretty hard to fail if you just pay attention in class." Todoroki bluntly claimed, making Kaminari discouraged.

Todoroki Shoto - Midterm: 5th place

Kaminari placed a hand on his heart and squeezed his chest tightly. "Why do you have to cut me down like that!"

"Hey, don't worry about it you two. I can catch you up to speed on important topics if you want." Yaoyorozu offered with a warm smile.

Yaoyorozu Momo - Midterms: 1st place + tied

"YOU'RE THE BEST YAOYOROZU!"

"But the smile from the raven-haired girl's lip quickly faded. "I'm afraid I won't be any help when it comes to the practical though..." She mumbled. Her aura didn't go unnoticed by Shouske and Todoroki.

Several others had heard her proposal and asked to be tutored as well. Excited by the amount of students Yaoyorozu promised to prepare a study session at her home.

Sero Hanta - Midterms: 17th place

Ojiro Mashirao - Midterms: 8th place

"Sounds like I should study with her," Kirishima commented as he turned to the ash blond.

Kirishima Ejiro - Midterms: 15th place

"You think I don't know enough?! Maybe I should beat the lesson into your skull!" Bakugo angrily declared that he would tutor Kirishima himself.

Bakugo Katsuki - Midterms: 3rd place

Aoyama chuckled. "Ah-huh! Everyone panicking right now. But It won't do them any good to cram this late in that game."

"Shouldn't you be more concerned? You didn't do well in the midterms." Shoji commented.

Shouji Mezo - Midterms: 10th place

Aoyama turned to him with his brown eyes and a dark shadow covering his face" Are you talking about moi? I did just fine thank you." He stated.

Aoyama Yuga - Midterms: 18th place

"If Yaoyorozu going to help them with the written exams, there's still going to be the practical exams," Midoriya stated to his peers say he slowly looked at Shousuke who stood beside Jirou as she gave him song recommendations.

Shousuke noticed his classmates staring at him and he quizzically looked at them. "?"

Komi Shousuke - Midterms: 1st place + tied

Jirou Kyoka - Midterms: 7th place

Just then Kaminari and Mina ran over to Shousuke. "Komi-Kun!! Would you please help us prepare for the practical exams?!" They pleased.

"..." Shousuke left the classroom.

LUNCHTIME FINALLY CAME AND Shousuke sat at the cafeteria table with, Todoroki, Midoriya, Iida, Uraraka, and Tsuyu. Shousuke had barely touched his food as he was too focused on completing his notes from his English class.

"I'm kind of scared about that practical," Midoriya said starting up the conversation. "I have no idea what it's gonna be."

"Hard to believe they'll give us anything too crazy," Iida replied, then turned to Shousuke.

"The written exam questions will all be stuff from class so, I should at least be able to do those," Shousuke stated as he placed down his pen and started eating his food.

"You'll manage..." Uraraka corrected as she was reminded that Shousuke tied first with Yaoyorozu.

Uraraka Ochako - Midterms: 13th place

"It's driving me nuts... I just want to know what they'll have us to do." Midoriya added. "It's probably just a comprehensive of everything from the first semester." Hagakure said ash took another bit of her food.

Hagakure Toru - Midterms: 16th place

"That's all Aizawa sensei had told us."

Asui Tsuyu - Midterms: 6th place

"Okay, there was the battle training and the rescue training... And basic training right?" Uraraka listed down.

"So in addition to our usual studies, we've got to keep in tip-top shape physicals sh-!" Midoriya's words were cut short was someone had bumped into him.

The student of class 1A all turned to look at the strange and saw that it was male from the class 1B hero course. "Ah, sorry my try couldn't get around that being head of yours." He insulted.

"You're from class 1B! Monoma right ? How dare you-"Before Midoriya could fish the blue haired male interrupted him. "I heard you guys ran into the Hero Killer; Stain. I guess the sports festival wasn't enough. You just kept getting attention after one stunt to another, huh? Class 1A. But now It looks like that attention isn't all cracking up to be. It's starting to get dangerous." He said then turned to Shousuke who was quietly minding his own business. 

"And you, Zero." He said. "It seems that you have impressed the whole nation of American. How would have know, all it takes is to break in a privet event to stop some dealing, with an intern that have commented multiple felinely crime."

Monoma noticed the other glaze and continued making snide remarks. "Pretty scary, I'm just worried that one of these days we're all gonna get caught up in some of your antics, scary... Gah!!" he was suddenly cut off by an orange haired girl that karate chopped him to the back of his neck.

The result of that was him falling to the ground, leaving Kendo to catch his try of food. "That's not funny, didn't you hear what happened to Iida?" She questioned  then turned back to Class 1A. "Sorry class A. This guy, his heart's just... messed up?"

'We can tell.' They all thought.

She then told class A that an upper classman had informed her about the practical exams. "I overheard you guy, talking about the practical exams. Between you and me I heard, it'll be a battle against robots, like the entrance exams."

The others eyes widen except for Todoroki's and Shousuke's. The two have taken the recommended exams, so then they first though about robot, they thought bout the obstacle race during the sports festival.

"Not unfair at all! preliminary intel gather is just one of the aspect of the exams. Of course why not just ask a second or third year, why didn't I think of that?" Midoriya rambled.

"Kendo..." Monoma called out to which the girl turned to him. "... You fool. We had intel advantage over them!!. This was out chance to show up the detestable class a..." He was cut off yet again when Kendo had knocked him out this time. and dragged him away.

"They're not detestable."

THE HOUSE WAS SILENT, except for the faint sound of cards lightly shuffling in Shousuke's hands. He sat cross-legged on the floor, focusing intently on balancing his last card atop the fragile triangle he had meticulously built. His eyes narrowed, fingers steady, as the card hovered close to its position.

BAM BAM BAM.

The sharp sound of knocking jolted his concentration. His fingers twitched, and the entire structure collapsed in a soft flutter of falling cards. Shousuke froze, a hint of irritation flickering across his expression, but he stayed silent, his jaw clenched.

BAM BAM BAM.

It continued, relentless. Sighing, Shousuke glanced toward the source of the noise—his front door.

"Mina, Kaminari, please refrain from banging on the door!" came Iida's stern voice from the other side. "It's highly improper to disturb someone's home like this!"

"Come on, Iida! We're just being friendly!" Mina protested. "Besides, we're excited to see Shousuke!"

Shousuke frowned, wondering why his classmates were at his door uninvited.

Click.

The door creaked open, revealing Shuuko She blinked in surprise at the scene outside—a wildly enthusiastic Mina, a grinning Kaminari, and a flustered Iida. Behind them stood Midoriya, Shoto, and Uraraka, with varying expressions of anticipation and nervousness.

"Um, hello!" Midoriya greeted, waving awkwardly. "We're Shousuke's classmates. We came to visit him!"

Shuuko beamed, clasping her hands together. "Oh, how wonderful! You're all friends of Shousuke?" Her voice brimmed with excitement. "It's so nice to finally meet some of his classmates! Please, come in!"

As the group shuffled inside, Shousuke silently descended the stairs, his feet light on each step. He stood at the bottom, watching the scene unfold. His eyes scanned the group—his classmates, crowding his home, chatting animatedly with his mother. He raised an eyebrow, internally questioning the sudden intrusion.

"Shousuke, there you are!" Shuuko noticed him, her face lighting up even more. "Look, your friends came to visit!"

Shousuke remained silent, his gaze shifting from Shuuko to his classmates. He pointed upstairs, gesturing that he was heading back to his room, hoping to escape the situation.

"Oh, no you don't!" Shuuko gently grabbed his arm, stopping him in his tracks. "You promised you'd help them with their training today, remember?"

He blinked in confusion. When did I agree to that? His thoughts raced. He glanced at Shuuko , then back at his classmates, inwardly groaning as he realized he was trapped.

"Yeah! We heard you're really good at training!" Kaminari piped up, leaning in with a grin. "We could really use your help."

Shousuke's eyes narrowed slightly at Kaminari, his thoughts forming sharp words he couldn't express.

As his classmates began chatting amongst themselves, Shousuke's eyes landed on Shoto. That explains how they got my address, he thought. Standing next to Shoto was a very excited Midoriya, practically bouncing on his feet, and Uraraka, who seemed a bit overwhelmed by the entire situation.

Shousuke sighed internally, his expression remaining neutral. He lifted his hand in a small wave, acknowledging their presence, but not offering much more. It wasn't that he didn't appreciate their enthusiasm—he simply preferred silence.

"Let's go outside! Shousuke's gonna show us some cool moves, right?" Mina chirped, grabbing Uraraka's hand as she headed toward the backyard.

Shousuke glanced at Shuuko , who gave him an encouraging nod. Great, he thought, resigned to his fate. With a quiet sigh, he followed them outside, already mentally preparing for what was bound to be a long day.

━━━━━━━━━━

Shousuke stood at the center of the training field, his sharp eyes scanning the area as Class 1-A worked on their individual training stations. Each of his classmates was pushing themselves to their limits, but he knew they could handle more. Shousuke wasn't one to take it easy—he believed in driving everyone to improve. With a swift gesture, he began adjusting the stations, silently signaling for each of them to take on harder challenges.

Mashirao Ojiro was first. Shousuke led him to a pole wrapped in heavy chains. He motioned for Ojiro to wrap his tail around the chains and swing the weight around the pole repeatedly, increasing the load with each successful loop.

Ojiro wiped the sweat from his forehead, glancing back at Shousuke, then at the daunting task. "This is... a lot harder than it looks."

Shousuke merely pointed at the chains again, and Ojiro sighed, wrapping his tail around them. "Alright, I'll give it my best."

Yuga Aoyama was next. His navel laser had always been powerful, but Shousuke knew it lacked endurance. He pointed to a distant target and then signaled for Aoyama to fire continuously without pausing. The catch? Aoyama would also need to dodge incoming debris shot at him from above to mimic a battlefield scenario.

Aoyama winced, raising his arm to fire. "This is going to hurt... but beauty is pain, right?" His laser blazed through the air, but Shousuke had no sympathy for the theatrics. He increased the debris speed, forcing Aoyama to stay on his toes.

Minoru Mineta was directed toward a wall that required precision. Shousuke gestured toward Mineta's sticky Pop-Off balls and the steep rock face. Mineta was to scale the wall, using only his quirk for grip.

Mineta blinked, staring at the sheer height. "You've got to be kidding me..." He muttered, though the silent look Shousuke gave him told him there was no backing out. "Fine, fine! But don't expect me to survive this!" he squealed as he started scaling the wall, his sticky orbs barely giving him the grip he needed.

Toru Hagakure was next. Shousuke handed her a series of complex traps—lasers, tripwires, and alarms—and gestured for her to sneak through without being detected. The training was designed to refine her stealth abilities, making her even harder to detect in critical situations.

"I'll show you how invisible I can really be," Toru whispered, determination lighting her eyes.

Rikido Sato wasn't spared either. Shousuke increased the amount of sugar he would need to consume for his Sugar Rush, placing increasingly heavier objects in front of him. His task was to lift each one while dealing with the impending sugar crash.

"Man... I'm gonna need a lot more cake for this..." Sato muttered between bites, hefting a gigantic weight over his head.

Mezo Shoji was directed to extend his dupli-arms to the maximum while dodging a rapid onslaught of flying debris and projectiles. Shousuke pushed the challenge even further by adjusting the trajectory to be unpredictable, testing Shoji's reflexes.

Shoji nodded silently, focusing as more arms sprouted from his body to block incoming hits. "I need to be faster... stronger."

Shousuke turned his attention to Kyoka Jiro, whose task was to amplify her soundwaves to not only destroy obstacles but also defend herself from powerful sonic blasts coming her way. Shousuke upped the difficulty, pushing the power of the incoming waves to dangerous levels.

Jiro winced as