Chapter Text
Denki takes a rattling breath, sinking down the wall Wednesday’s final bell rings. Mina sinks next to him, and he can practically see her soul escaping her body. “Were those Midterms, or ‘Saw’ Traps?”
“Those were just the Math and the Languages. We still have Art and World History, Chemistry, and anything from Aizawa and Inko they want to quiz us on.” Denki hangs his head, sounding more defeated with each passing word.
“Come on, guys. It wasn’t that bad, was it?” Denki and Mina both look up at Hanta, a bleary eyed Eijiro putting a hand on his shoulder. Hanta looks, Eijiro similarly shaking his head in a way Denki feels in his soul.
Mina scrubs her hands over her face, already going off the deep end. “Now, we need to cram for the other Exams… Aizawa is a merciful tormenter, for telling us the order of everything. And this is basically practice for the Final; how much worse are they going to make the Final, after seeing how we perform here?”
Hanta sighs, holding his hands out to pick the two of them up. “Come on, get up. Momo made an annotated study guide for World History, and Kouji has Art History notes better than that. We’ll take a few minutes back at the dorms, relax, then buckle down and work.”
Denki takes the hand, Mina lagging for long enough that both of them help her up. The rest of the class starts filing out of the door, and Denki notices Izuku seeming to nod off on his feet, with Hitoshi hooking their arms together to guide him. Was he just exhausted the regular way, or was the test that bad for him, too?
They trudge their way back towards the dorms, Denki noticing a similarly exhausted crowd from Class 1-B joining them from their class. Denki braces for Monoma to start something, but he was already being dragged by TetsuTetsu and Kendo in the middle of their class. Whether from test exhaustion, or pre-encounter subduing, Denki would thank his lucky stars either way.
Denki looks through the crowd, trying to figure out which of the students he could best interface with. He settles on Awase mostly at random, since the others he knew better were busy dragging Monoma along. “How bad was it?”
Awase laughs, the sort of bone deep exhaustion where you want some flash of dopamine as you crawl out of a warzone. “I think we’ll make it to Recovery Girl, personally. Still have the practicals, and Pony is actually a really good tutor for English.”
“You’ll need it.” Awase nods, the formation breaking as they file out of the doors leading to the dorms. Denki finds him again, having the time to put together a report in turn. “A bunch of conjugation charts for English, that vocabulary section from chapter 3…”
“Not chapter 3!” Denki nods, Tsuburaba and Class-B’s goth girl both groaning in unison… Yanagi. Denki was so overloaded with information, he forgot for a second. “That was the worst.”
“It’s twenty percent of the Language Arts section, sadly.” Momo confirms it, rolling a protein bar wrapper up in her hands. She’d been having little snacks throughout the day, her watch beeping at almost regular intervals. “At least the English section was half verb tenses and conjugations. Those are easy enough to memorize, and work through if you know enough about the language.”
“That Art History was the work of a Devil…” Denki turns to Shiozaki, and even her vine hair seems a little withered as she looks up to the cloudy sky. “It was a chart of famous evolutions in art, and you needed to identify the properties of famous paintings.”
“The Mona Lisa is on wood, not canvas…” Mina holds up an arm half heartedly, and the class is drawn to a stop as several of Class-B turn to look at her. “I remember it from this murder mystery movie, where this rich guy rents the Mona Lisa on his private island. Film Critics said the real Mona Lisa would be on wood, not a canvas, which was supposed to show he was an idiot.”
Several members of Class-B groan, Momona stirring in TetsuTetsu and Kendo’s grip. He leaps to his feet, the two letting his arms free as he dusts himself off. “You know, it wouldn’t be the worst idea for the two classes to compare notes… I’m sure Class-B will prove itself superior either way, but going into the next tests with preparation is the only smart thing to do! Show heroic initiative…”
It sounds like even Monoma doesn’t believe his own hype, an edge of desperation creeping into his tone. Because if he was willing to put aside his pathological loathing of their class, he must be desperate.
But Denki can see an opportunity, speaking up. “We can reconstruct the tests our class took, then trade and run study halls in the dorms. And before the class members who aren’t rooming have to leave, they can at least take the reconstructions to study…”
“I have a file app on my phone, which can scan something into a file. Give me and Izuku a few minutes, and I’m sure we can send annotated scans to the home bodies.” Hanta holds up his phone, and the forty students rally.
“You heard the layabouts! To the 1-A dorm!” Monoma throws his hand up, a few members from both classes raise their fist in various levels of willingness. Denki joins them, even the most defeated looking from both classes picking themselves up to join the march.
-
Mina looks over the Chemistry test, surprised she actually knew most of the sections picked. And the charts… Gods, Izuku turning her onto the charts and graphs study system has saved her from outright failing these tests. She actually feels confident in her scores, and not just because the Class B students are struggling with the language section as hard as she was.
Rikidou has Yanagi and Kaibara helping him dish out a few trays of chocolate chip cookies to the study group, having sent the first one out with the students not staying in the dorms. Mina sent a few texts after Tsu about the study guides, a range of emojis dotting her texts while Tsu’s are all a sentence or two long.
“Oh, I just got word from Gemma. Cementoss is doing a practical Chemistry lab, and all the other teachers are doing some form of practical.” Awase calls out, and Mina’s spirits soar even higher when she hears that.
She hops up from her seat, waving over Rin to take her seat at the table. She walks over to the kitchen, grabbing a cookie or two before walking over to Eijiro.
She nods to Rikidou as she goes, the big guy listening in to the running tutoring as he also cooks for everyone. Mina bobs her head, almost losing track of the conversation TetsuTetsu was having with her red-haired childhood friend. “Dude, have you heard the news yet? A bunch of Italian Hero Commission Officials are supposed to be coming over this weekend, for some emergency meeting. You know that Maestra woman?”
She can see Eijiro blanch, and she shakes her head as he starts to stammer out a denial. “Hey Eiji’, you said you met her that one time. You were bragging about that Italy trip, when I went to a summer camp in Niigata.”
Eijiro blinks, then slowly nods. “Yeah, I mean I was in the same room as her. But she was busy, and I didn’t know any Italian to talk to her. And yeah, Momo showed me the news… or was it you, Mina?”
Mina rolls her eyes, handing him one of the cookies and plopping down on the couch on his other side. “We both might have, but I don’t know who went first. What was an important Italian woman doing in Japan?”
The girl who can make things bigger with her Quirk… Kodai something… tries not to make it obvious she tunes into this conversation. Kyouka raising an eyebrow as the girl in front of her goes half silent is one clue, which the musical girl passes to Mina with a raised eyebrow. “I don’t know, but I heard the Commission’s probably going to roll out the red carpet and everything.”
“Eijiro, might I borrow you for a minute?” Mina blinks as Momo quickly walks over from the tutoring table, tapping on Izuku’s shoulder to trade spots with her. She’s holding her phone, probably getting a text about the same thing TetsuTetsu was mentioning.
Mina couldn’t be sure, but Yuga retrieving Tenya not thirty seconds later is a big clue. “You know, I’ve always wondered. How are there Quirks that mess with Time, if that’s not a thing the human body can do? Like, Katsuki’s body produces sweat like nitro, Denki and Izuku produce way more energy than anyone, I can mess with making acid. But Time stuff?”
“I don’t know either, really. It’s like how Nighteye can see the future, somehow. Kodai said it’s really a form of Telepathy, crossed with Advanced Calculations.” Mina nods, honestly interested enough in this story that she can ignore Kodai quickly walking in the same direction as the other ‘Rich Kids’ after quickly excusing herself.
“Either way, it works. Did you guys have any trouble with him, in your training with him?” TetsuTetsu shakes his head, then tilts to think about it.
He scrunches his eyes in concentration for a few moments then shakes his head again. “No, Nighteye wasn’t really the problem. But we had to fight All Might…”
Mina’s eyes go wide, a shared shudder running through every Class-B kid in earshot. She widens her eyes at Kyouka, who’s turned to join a conversation with Kendo and Hanta… huh. He wasn’t getting pulled aside by Momo, then… Oh, it was the Commission kids. And Tenya, but he probably had as many connections as they did…
And he’d be filling in for his brother, if the Commission had any say. Mina does a quick check before TetsuTetsu tunes in, not seeing Shouto either. And… Well, that goes without saying, doesn’t it?
Mina starts doing the math, figuring something big must be happening because of Maestra, that she almost misses TetsuTetsu’s question. “You guys haven’t had to fight All Might, yet?”
“Not yet, no. But we might, for the Finals.” TetsuTetsu blinks, tilting his head. Mina raises an eyebrow, grinning as she leans in closer to whisper to him. “We’ve got whisper networks running through the other courses, who trade favors with the Hero Students for information. The Practicals for the Finals are usually some sort of fight with the teachers, with the conditions changing depending on how evil Nedzu feels that year.”
TetsuTetsu’s eyes go wide, and he quickly looks around the room. “What? They… Oh no, we’re going to have to fight All Might again?”
Mina nods, holding onto the fact that All Might will probably have a partner for later. Let him get over that horror separately, rather than walking back to school after a meeting that was steadily growing scarier in context. “Beats some of the other options. I’ve heard Nedzu does a personal grudge match, picking whichever students have the worst grades.”
TetsuTetsu valiantly doesn’t look at anyone else in the room… Or was he looking at her? Oh, he better not be assuming she had the worst grades. Especially after all the hard work she’d put in, dragging her grades up two letters in most of her… classes… Okay, fair. “You… Um, you think he’s focused on anyone in particular? Or will he test someone like Izuku, who he knows the best?”
Mina considers that, wondering if her little slice of the future meant she was working with Izuku. Huh… “I’m not worried about it, right now. If the Rat wants to come at me, I welcome the challenge. It just means no one can judge me when I beat whatever puzzle he whips up for me.”
There’s a wave of silence, and Mina doesn’t look when several students scooch away from her. She takes a bite of her cookie as TetsuTetsu makes an excuse to not sit next to her, giving him a polite smile and nod. She enjoys her cookie, figuring her situation couldn’t get much worse.
Besides, she just needed to watch for the stars to guide her… Kami, that sounds hokie. Eh, if she makes it through her test, and brings her team with her to the finish line, she’ll pour one out for the Fortune Teller.
-
Eijiro holds his breath, the other four people all quickly taking stock of their phones. He could see a number of messages rapidly pouring in from numbers he hasn’t heard from since classes started, and assumes everyone else’s phone is rapidly cycling through the family members in their contacts. “So, they’re throwing something together for Saturday night?”
“Yes, it would appear so. Apparently, multiple members of my family are making themselves available, from Spain and Otheon all the way out to San Francisco.” Yuga gives his report, the five of them gathering in the Quiet Room.
Eijiro looks at Kodai, who he can’t remember if any of them have talked to in almost a year. But she just nods, running her finger across her screen as she scrolls past messages. “All my family are trying to come together, make a good showing. Although… Are we sure this is just about the Italian Delegation? This feels… right, the League…”
She gives a half concerned look around the room, Eijiro nodding as Tenya remains silent. But Momo sweeps the hair from her face, grimly nodding. “My uncle is almost ready to return to work, so I suppose this is my family also saving face. But I assume the Two Commissions want to try and keep the League from knowing, or make any sort of attack the equivalent of shooting a cannon with a water pistol.”
“And Maestra was quite the advocate for Quirkless rights, which means several organizations are going to muster to similarly appear at this event. I wouldn’t be surprised if Flect Turn turned up, or was at least in the Tokyo office and said some words on her behalf.” Yuga similarly brushes his hair back, then looks down at the casual clothes he was wearing. “Do you think our formal outfits Hanta went out of the way to get us will be appropriate?”
“I’d hope so. But…” Tenya walks over, checking the door was closed before continuing. “If our parents want to keep things secret from the class, then I’d assume the teachers and Nedzu are equally not supposed to know.”
Eijiro nods, trying to resist the urge to fill these four in on what he, Mina, and Denki knew. Because if his Mom had anything to say about it, that tid-bit would either be used to curry favor, or buried with a bunch of other family secrets. “Guys, how are we supposed to keep this from Nedzu?”
Tenya brings a hand up, fixing his glasses with an almost menacing flash across them. “It would be easy enough for each of us to come up with separate events. Off the top of my head, my brother and Momo’s uncles journeys through recovery can be a suitable enough excuse for an event. Yuga’s family flying in isn’t easy to disguise, so something close enough to the truth would work.”
“What I want to know is why Todoroki isn’t included in the invite.” Kodai looks like she doesn’t want to interrupt the conversation, but does at the easiest point she can. Like she was trying to bridge the gap separating her from them, both being in a different class at school and different social class, after her family's recent troubles.
Yuga thinks about it for a long moment, counting off his fingers. “The Commission’s security could be so busy, that the Todoroki tribe can’t attend the event safely. I assume their transportation would complicate things immensely, although I can’t imagine the two Commissions together can’t scrape up a handful of extra Heroes for the assignment.”
“Well…” Momo almost stops herself, then shakes her head as the four turn to her. “Apologies, but I’ve heard a few things. Baseless rumors, assuredly.”
Eijiro lets out a nervous chuckle, fairly sure he’s gotten a whiff of the same rumors. “The extra hands the Commission is putting together?”
Momo looks at him, a bit surprised and startled. “Yes… Your Uncle heard something?”
“No, he only handles Quirk-based business certificates. But…” Eijiro looks at the other three, then shrugs before divulging. “He helped a friend rush through some paperwork in the Transport department, work his friend made him swear he couldn’t tell anyone about. He told us the same night… The Commission pulled some people out of Tartarus.”
Tenya’s eyebrow twitches, Yuga’s face blanching. Kodai nods, raising her hand. “I… I’d heard it was Black Dahlia. My Aunt works Main Transport, so I can say that it was some sort of rehabilitation program for the least dangerous inmates of the prison. A few other lower prisons are doing similar programs, so Commission staff stationed at them can be reassessed and redeployed. Shien, Bagu, and Kuin are the ones I know about.”
Eijiro takes a second, thinking about how all of that could lead to the troubles Maestra warned them about. Denki had said his prophecy involved their class, while Mina implied the same. A bunch of people slowly being released from prison, the Commission shoring up its defenses and readying itself for war… Yeah, that would be a reason to worry. And why he, specifically, needed to pay attention to his parents. They didn’t have big jobs in the Commission themselves, but the Kirishima’s in total had a half dozen people in Public Relations and other information-rich parts of the organization.
“Well… We still need to take care of our Exam Preparations. And coordinate when we ask Nedzu for Saturday… Oh, Tsu was finally going to get to spend the weekend here.” Momo takes a moment, then shakes her head to rid it of the thought.
Yuga sets a hand on her shoulder, sagely nodding to her. “It’s alright, to be a bit disappointed. But I think we’ve all been raised to value our family’s position, for all the good it’s done us. Now, it’s our turn to do good for them.”
Eijiro nods, considering the piece of paper in his pocket. He’d kept it on him since he’d gotten it, the words burned into his brain more than anything he was supposed to be studying. Because… Yeah, it was going to be their turn. If not this Saturday, then at I-Island, and wherever else they’d face what was brewing.
He wasn’t the best in class at World History, but he could recognize the signs of a brewing war.