Class 1-A stands in a straight line in front of the arena where the practical portion of your exams will take place. You stand in between Kirishima and Kaminari, feeling tiny compared to the two males. Both of them have a good half a foot on you at least and they aren't afraid to flaunt it.

You're excited for this component of the exams, not particularly enjoying the three days of boring test-taking. And with it finally being Thursday, all you have to do is pass this final, go to one more day of school, then it's summer break. Which means more time for work, hanging out with the Bakusquad, Todoroki Time, and seeing your hero friends that you've sadly only got to see on missions lately.

"I'm so pumped! All I have to do is melt some robots and then summer camp here I come!" Mina cheers from the other side of Kaminari. The blond quickly joins in and starts shouting with her. Their hoots and hollers make tick marks appear on your forehead before your attention is quickly diverted.

"Do you really think it's going to be that easy?" Kirishima whispers, leaning down so you're the only one who hears him.

"Not at all. Knowing the teachers, they prepared something special for us. What's the point of doing a test if it's not going to challenge us?" You whisper back, adding your two cents on the situation. You honestly have no idea what the exam is going to be like. When you tried to get answers out of Toshinori, he clammed up and wouldn't tell you a word on what was happening. Which means the teachers are plotting something.

"Let's begin your practical exams," Aizawa calls out, gaining the attention of your classmates, "It is, of course, possible to fail this exam. If you want to go to the summer camp then don't mess up."

"There sure are a lot of teachers here," Jiro mumbles in confusion, noticing all of your first-year teachers standing behind your sensei.

"Yeah, 8 of them!" Hagakure exclaims, her gloves seeming to hover in the air.

"I wonder what they're here for," Midoriya whispers to himself, luckily getting cut off by Aizawa before he can start mumbling.

"Knowing you all, you probably asked around for information on the exams. And you might think you have a vague idea of how this will go-"

"It's a robot rumble like at the entrance exam!" Mina and Kaminari cheer, cutting off Aizawa-sensei. Kaminari starts doing an air guitar while Mina breakdances.

"Not quite!" Principle Nezu exclaims joyfully, suddenly popping out of Eraserhead's capture weapon, "Due to a number of circumstances, the format of the exam has been altered!"

"Altered!?!" The loud bunch of the class shouts in confusion.

"This must be why the teachers are gathered here," Yaoyorozu whispers.

"Because of the numerous villain attacks on your class, the staff believes that you should participate in battles with real opponents from now on. It's crucial that our teachings are as realistic as possible so you're all prepared for any future incidents," Nezu explains. The principal's speech reminds you of your little Nomu problem that still hasn't been resolved.

"So with that being said...you will pair up and fight one of the teachers you see standing before you!" Nezu exclaims. The faces of the students around you turn into utter terror at the reveal. Instantly, your classmates break out in protest.

"Against a teacher?"

"Is that fair?!"

"You expect us to beat you guys?!"

"Calm down," Aizawa cuts in, sweeping the crowd with his glare, "Your pairings and teachers have already been selected. Todoroki and Yaoyorozu, you two will be against me." An almost evil and teasing smirk appears on your Sensei's face as the other two glance at each other.

"Next, Bakugo and Midoriya will be up against-"

"Me!" Toshinori shouts, appearing out of the clouds in his muscular form. Bakugo and Midoriya turn to each other with eyes as wide as plates, one with a hateful tinge and the other completely terrified. "You'll have to work together to beat me if you want even a chance at passing, so give it all you've got!" All Might encourages. You can visibly see the class gulp in fear for the pair, there is no way those two will get along long enough to beat All Might.

"But Aizawa sensei, there's an odd number in the class. Does that mean someone will be working alone, or will it be a group of three?" Ida calls out, bringing the attention of the class back to the teachers.

"Yes, and that brings us to our next fight. (L/n), you'll be on your own. And we got in contact with the Hero President, and he managed to track down one of your old sparring partners," Aizawa states, making your classmates stare at you in surprise.

You're about to question the teacher, unsure about what will happen next since that never actually happened, when suddenly, a large shadow descends from the sky, a familiar figure landing near All Might. "Hey there Baby Bird," Keigo says with a crooked grin. Your classmates look between you and the top-ranked pro-hero in confusion.

"Hawks," You hiss out, glaring at the tall man as you cross your arms. The last time the two of you were on a stakeout together, he stole your french fries and you're still pissed about it. He struts over to you with a stupid grin that you wish you could sock off his stupid face. He places a gloved hand on your head, showing off the huge size difference between you.

"I haven't seen you in forever! Nice costume by the way, it's a lot better than that old training uniform you used to wear," Keigo teases, winking afterward, "You know you didn't have to dress up for little ol-" He's cut off by your metal lined glove nailing him right across the cheek and making blood spurt from his nose.

"You're the same as always, don't know when to shut up," You growl, glaring at the bird brain.

All of your teachers and classmates stare at you with stunned expressions. Except for Toshinori who sighs in disappointment. You just punched the No. 4 hero in the face, but instead of the reaction everyone expected from Hawks, he starts laughing while holding his nose.

"I should have known that would happen, I always make my Baby Bird mad." He tries to ruffle your hair but you pout your lips and smack his hand away, "I thought I told you not to call me that."

"And I told you I would keep doing it until you're taller than me. And that still hasn't happened!" He reaches out to ruffle your hair again, basically petting you like a tiny, angry dog while you cross your arms and silently scowl.

"Uh well then...shall we continue?"

•••••

"I can't believe you're up against Hawks!" Kaminari cries out, gripping his hair like he's the one who has to fight the hero.

"Yeah! Why didn't you tell us you knew him?" Mina asks, pouting at you.

A low growl escapes your throat as Keigo wraps his vermillion wing around you and pulls you closer to his side. "I've known Baby Bird since she was ten! I'm like a brother to her," Keigo tells them, a bright smile on his face.

"More of a pain in the ass than anything," You grumble, escaping his hold of you and stomping away.

"Wait no! Baby Bird don't leave me! I'm sorry!" Keigo cries out, pathetically reaching for you but you flip him off and stalk away. You hear the laughs of the squad members behind you as they try to get answers out of Keigo about what you were like as a kid. Lucky for you, Keigo knows that if he tells them anything he will "accidentally" fall off of a building.

A tragic accident indeed.

You start to head towards the monitor room, wanting to see Uraraka and Aoyama's fight. It will at least be more interesting than whatever Keigo and the squad are doing. Just as your hand rests on the doorknob, a voice calls out to you.

"(L/n)-chan!" You look to the side to see Midoriya running towards you quickly with his notebook at his side. You send a small wave at him and he smiles nervously at you, looking slightly panicked.

"What's up?"

"Uh...I kinda need your help..." Midoriya mumbles. You are barely able to make out what he's saying. You send the green-haired boy a confused look, "With what?"

Midoriya's face turns red as he starts muttering and fiddles with his thumbs. "Well you see, Kacchan won't talk to me so we can't plan out a strategy, and with being paired up against All Might we need to talk about how we're planning to get away from him and-"

"How am I supposed to help you with that?" You cut in before Midoriya can continue.

"Well Kacchan trusts you, and he seems to listen to you...sometimes. I was hoping you could talk to him and make him see some sense. We can't get away from All Might with no plan!"

You glance over at Bakugo, who's leaning against the far wall, scowling at anyone who comes within five feet of him. "I mean...I guess I can try. But I doubt he'll listen to me if he's in one of his moods."

"That's fine! Just please help me, you know better than anyone that All Might isn't someone you can fight without a plan." Midoriya smiles at you gratefully, also referring to your close relationship with the Symbol of Peace.

You sigh and start approaching the ticking time bomb with no plan in mind as you decide to wing it. "Bakugo," You call, gaining the blond's attention.

His glare hardens at you before he huffs and turns away. "What do you want Shrimpy?"

"Do you really think you can beat All Might without a plan?" You ask, jumping straight to the point. That quickly gets his attention as he whips around to scowl at you. "I do have a plan! I'm going to go in there and blast him to hell!" Bakugo shouts, arms crossed and looking more and more worked up by the second.

Some of your classmates turn to see what he's yelling about, but after seeing you with Bakugo they turn away. You obviously had things under control on your own.

"That's not an actual plan," You sigh, shaking your head, "What are you going to do if your explosions don't affect him? What if he knocks out Midoriya? Are you just going to leave him there? What about if-"

"Alright, I get it!"

"All Might has 20 plus years of experience under his belt and you don't even have 1. I think you should be strategizing," You tell him, stepping forward to place a hand on his arm. He scowls down at you, never breaking eye contact before shrugging your hand off after another second of silence.

"I thought you fucking believed in me. What was it you said? That only you know my true potential. Where is that fucking confidence in me now?" Bakugo asks, shoving his hands into his pockets.

"I never said I don't think you can win, I just think you haven't put enough thought into your plan. But I know you'll make it, you always somehow do."

You quickly pat his shoulder and walk away, leaving it to Midoriya to finish the job. You can't tell the blond to work with him, you can only help him see more sense of their situation. You hope he'll make the right choice, but only Bakugo can make that decision.

•••••

"The final exam fight against (L/n) and Hawks will now commence. Ready? Set. Begin!" The automatic voice machine announces, sounding way too cheerful for your current situation. Unfortunately, your match is at the same time as Bakugo and Midoriya's so you won't get to see what happens in theirs. You were wanting to watch to see if Bakugo followed your advice.

Your environment is a mall, with an open area in the middle for Keigo to quickly move from floor to floor, giving him a clear advantage. You start on the fifth floor with the exit being on the bottom floor. You're given a pair of handcuffs if you decide to capture Keigo but you aren't sure of your strategy yet. It will all depend on Keigo's first move.

Despite your heavy boots, you move silently along the railing. The elevator will make too much noise and you can't just phase to the bottom floor. This kind of height would break your legs if you unphased before the floor, and you can't phase into the floor because your momentum will send you flying into the sky which is not much better. You didn't want to be like Midoriya and break every damn bone in your body.

The worst part, Keigo's senses are on par with yours, meaning even a squeak of your shoe and he'll know exactly where you are. You'd like to get the jump on him but with this terrain, it'll likely be him who finds you first.

Should you make a sound just to alert him? No, he'll know you're just trying to lure him to you, then he'll be able to come up with a sneak attack. Or you can swing to the next balcony down instead of using the stairs? He's probably expecting that and would grab you out of the air.

Just as you are thinking over possible strategies to either capture your 'villain' or escape, you make it to the first staircase. If Hawks hasn't already attacked you then he either doesn't know where you are or is waiting to catch you by surprise. Knowing him, it's probably the second one. There's no way he doesn't know where you are with his incredible senses.

Just as you place your foot on the first step, you hear the faintest sound of the air being rustled behind your back. You snatch at the air behind you, a vermillion feather in your grasps.

"Nice try Keigo, but you can't get me that easily," You call out, the winged man appearing a second later from the roof.

He flaps his wings to keep himself aloft while staring you down, his usual carefree expression is gone, replaced by a serious look. "I figured. I just thought I'd give it a shot first." The next instant, dozens of feathers detach from his wings and soar towards you. Like a hoard of knives sailing through the air, just as sharp and they can change directions by will alone.

You quickly throw yourself over the railing and swing to the next floor. The feathers approach quickly but fly right through you because of your quirk. You and Keigo don't exchange a word as he surrounds you at every angle, like a mouse cornered by a vicious hawk. If you even let up for a second he'll get you.

"Well, well, well Baby Bird. This is the disadvantage of fighting someone you know. I know everything about you, how you think, how you'll react to certain situations...the list goes on and on. What's your next move?" Keigo taunts, keeping himself above you. He doesn't blink once, making sure you don't try to pull any nasty tricks on him.

"You know the same goes for you," You call out, his eyes narrowing and frown deepening. "I know how you think Keigo, and what does a hawk do when it's cornered?-"

"You're the one cornered right now, you shouldn't be talking so big," Keigo cuts you off.

"They fly."

You take off running, your feet intangible to keep you from falling through the levels. With a quick burst of speed, you flip over the railing, planning to go right into the ground. It's the one place he can't get you.

Your momentum sends you deeper into the ground than you anticipated. You see new kinds of rock and part of a strange fossil before deactivating your quirk to send you flying. Literally. You're shot high into the air, passing Keigo and he quickly follows. At lightning speed, he reaches for you, but you spin midair and nail him directly in the nose with your metal boot. His glasses shatter and blood spurts from his nose, but he still grabs onto your ankle and pulls you down.

Shit.

To phase through the ground again would only send you even farther up when you reappear. It would be a never-ending game until you shoot yourself into the sun or through the Earth in its entirety. So, you let Keigo drag you down, slamming you harshly into the ground of the bottom floor. The good news, you made it to the last floor near the exit. Bad news, you think you bruised your back.

"You can surrender Baby Bird, then I won't have to hurt you anymore," Keigo mumbles, managing to sit up. He too fell and was in a lot of pain, both his face and back.

"In your dreams Big Bird."

"Did you finally give me a nickname?" Keigo asks teasingly while lunging at you. You kick your legs up, pushing him back by hitting him square in the chest, using the momentum to flip onto your feet.

"No, that was an Elmo reference you dumbass," You reply, quickly falling into a fighting stance before he can jump at you again.

You both scream and rush each other, meeting in the middle and catching each other's hands in a locked position. He pushes against you as you push back on him. Suddenly, an evil smirk appears on Keigo's face and you know he's about to do something horrible.

"Baby Bird, have I ever introduced you to my friend?" Keigo asks with an evil gleam in his eyes, "He's called the Tickle Monster."

All at once, several feathers separate from Keigo's wings and rush at your exposed sides, but instead of stabbing you, a light and strange feeling spreads across those areas. In an instant, you're on the floor, tears in your eyes as you try to push away the vermillion feathers. More fly over to join and soon you are laughing too hard to move as Keigo laughs at your state.

"I SWEAR TO GOD KEIGO I WILL KILL YOU!" You scream as you gasp for air and continue squirming around on the floor. You're laughing so much you can't concentrate on what's going on.

By some miracle or complete accident, you suddenly fall through the ground as your quirk activates. Luckily, that meant the feathers didn't come with you as you are freed from Keigo's tickle attack. That was a low blow.

You quickly manage to catch your breath and take the time to locate where Keigo had gone. Unfortunately, you didn't sense anything so he must have taken to the sky again. Which means you'll just have to take a gamble and go for it.

The familiar rush of air greets you as you soar upward, swinging your metal boot and making contact with something. That's a good sign, it means you got him. But it wasn't so great for Keigo as he drops to the floor like a log, covering his lower area.

Oh shit.

"That was a low blow Baby Bird!" Keigo's muffled scream cries out as his face is buried into the floor. Looks like both of you were full of low blows today.

Without saying another word, you take advantage of your accident and strut over to the fallen villain and bind his hands that were covering his crotch. You pull him to his feet and lead him out of the exit as anime tears roll down his cheeks at your betrayal.

"(L/n) (Y/n) has passed! Congratulations hero!" The robot cheers as confetti blow out of the cannons of the weirdly decorated gate.

At least it's over.

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