A few days after Momo's eventful birthday party, we sat in class with Aizawa lying down up at the front, All Might bursting in with a loud introduction, "I AM COMING THROUGH THIS DOOR... like a normal person!"

After a brief explanation that he'd be the teacher of our Hero Training classes, he announced, "Alright, young heroes, let's get right into it! This is what we'll do today--"

After flashily revealing a white paper card with 'BATTLE' written on it in orange, he continued, "Combat training!"

He then continued, pointing to the wall to our left, "And to go with that are these! Costumes made based on your quirk registrations and requests you sent in before school started! Put them on and meet me at Battle Grounds B!"

This would be the first time we all saw each other's costumes, so we all rushed to get our numbered costume suitcases and put them on.

As usual, it took me a fair bit of time to put on the various pieces, but even as I did so, the girls were giving me various compliments on the design. All the way up to our cool hero walk scene, we asked each other about and complimented our various outfits, oohing and aahing as we listed their numerous features.

Finally, as we emerged into the sunlight, All Might proudly spoke, "They say clothes make the man, young men and ladies."

But then, his voice turned slightly somber, "Be fully aware... From now on... you are heroes!"

After complimenting our costumes, his smile widened, "Now shall we begin, you zygotes?"

Then, a little later than the rest of us, Midoriya came running up in a green tracksuit-like costume. His mask was... similar... to All Might, to say the least, and All Might appeared to instantly notice them as well. Once All Might was done announcing the start of combat training, Iida raised his hand to ask a question, "This is a battle center from the entrance exam, so will we be conducting urban battles again?"

All Might shook his head and held up two fingers, "No, we're going to be moving ahead two steps! You see, most of the villain fights are outside, but statistically, the number of villains that appear inside is higher! In this society of heroes, truly intelligent villains hide in the shadows!"

Concluding his lengthy answer to Iida's question, he finally began explaining the rules, "For this class, you'll be split into heroes and villains, then fighting indoor battles against each other. However, the key this time is that there is no robot that you can simply beat up!"

Momo raised her hand, "How will wins and losses be determined?"

Bakugo snarled, "Can we beat them up anyway?"

Uraraka nervously spoke, "Will the punishment for losing be expulsion like with Aizawa?"

Iida raised his hand uniformly, "How shall we be split up?"

Aoyama flashed his sparkling cape, "Isn't this cape crazy?"

Midoriya was worriedly looking around as All Might diligently clenched his fist, "I'll answer all your questions!"

He then pulled out a comedically tiny booklet and began reading, "The situation is that the villains have hidden a nuclear weapon in their hideout. The heroes are trying to dispose of that. The heroes need to catch the villains or get the nuclear weapon back in the allotted time. The villains need to protect the nuclear weapon for the whole time or catch the heroes."

Midoriya broke in when All Might paused to grab an orange box with 'Lots' on it, "The situation feels very American!"

All Might held up the box of lots, "Teams and opponents will be determined by drawing lots!"

Iida, ever the organized person, protested, "They're being decided so haphazardly!?"

Midoriya then helpfully butted in, "Pros often have to create makeshift teams with heroes from other agencies, so maybe that's why?"

Iida gasped, then bowed, "I see. The discernment to look ahead... Please excuse my rudeness!"

All Might turned and raised his fist in the air, "It's fine, let's do this quickly!"

Groups were then announced, mine being the second last, "Group I will be L/N and Sero!"

Finally, All Might drew orbs with letters corresponding to our groups out of a box, pairing us up, "First up, group A as the heroes versus group D as the villains!"

And then, he pulled our group, "Then, group I as the heroes against group J, the group of three, as villains!"

Sero and I looked at our opponents, but Asui, Aoyama, and Ojiro stared right back. I smiled; this would be fun.

--Somewhere in Musutafu--

In an almost pitch-black room, a badly scarred man sat on a crate with his hands clasped in front of him, humming a familiar tune, "Happy birthday to me..."

A single candle illuminated the dark, flames dancing in his cerulean eyes as he continued to sing softly, "Happy birthday to me..."

His deep voice rasped as he continued to  slowly sing with a low voice, "Happy birthday dear me..."

Finally, he blew the small flame out, finishing the short song as a single wisp of smoke trailed up towards the ceiling, "Happy birthday to me."

***God I'd love it if this short Dabi scene was animated, but I suck at animation, so I'll try but I can't promise it'll be any good >.<***