MANIA - Katsuki Bakugou

wraith ━

chapter 25

1 WEEK LATER
The night before the License Exam

Shimamura sat on the green couch with her legs tucked up into her chest. She had one arm wrapped around her knees while the other was resting on Uchiha's shoulder who sat next to her. Uchiha leaned into her friend, giggling as she told her some story.

Class 1-A decided to huddle together in the common room of their new-ish dorms to calm their nerves for the following day. Everyone was dressed down in pajamas and sweatshirts, covered in blankets and pillows galore. Some took the couches and chairs while others took to the ground, leaning back on the couch frames.

The students had trained their hearts out for the upcoming test... the exam to test their abilities, to see if they truly are hero material. They've come this far. There's no point in stopping now.

Stretched across the floor was a giant Minapoly board—not Monopoly, but Mina-poly because instead of playing, Mina Ashido likes to manage the board as Mr. Monopoly. They've just decided to crown Ashido as the queen of the board at this point.

Also she puts people in check if they tried to cheat.

"SERO!" Ashido shouted from the chair, bolting upright to point at her classmate.

Sero put his hands up in surrender, acting startled. "What?! I didn't do anything!"

"I see you trying to snatch more money with your tape! Give it back and pay interest for trying!" Mina put her hand out expectantly.

Sero sighed and untaped the $100 papers from his elbows. He gave them back to her and picked up one of his own hundred dollar pages. But she wiggled her fingers, asking for more. His eyes widened as he gave her another. But she wasn't done.

He slouched and handed her all the money he had in his personal bank. Kaminari and Kirishima slapped a hand to their mouths, cackling out of control. Mina smiled coyly and stacked her money neatly in the banker's briefcase.

"Cheaters never prosper under my rule, Sero! You still haven't learned!"

Shimamura and Uchiha giggled from their seats. Uchiha nudged Shima with her elbow and pointed at Sato who was falling asleep on the ground after coming off of a sugar high from earlier in the day. They laughed at the snoring giant.

"Shima! Your turn!" Miyata waved from the opposite side of the board.

The always-grinning Tako Miyata had her purple tendrils unbraided and curled around her like a blanket. She was also sitting on them so she was propped up as if she was on a pillow. Those tendrils were so convenient for everything. Everyone expected her to ace the license exam no problem.

Shimamura stood up off the couch and left Uchiha. Uchiha, in response, stretched out so she was lying where Shimamura was sitting. Shimamura walked around the perimeter of the board and rolled the dice—which were much bigger than average.

Midoriya watched her movements from the opposite couch by the windows. Iida was saying something to him but he couldn't hear. His thoughts were too dialed in on Shimamura.

It's been almost a month since he found Shimamura's pill bottle... but he couldn't wrap his head around it. He hadn't a clue where to start his investigation. But he knew he had to. He owed it to himself and to the class to find the truth.

What secrets is Shimamura keeping?

She moved her piece—the silver rocking horse—collected her money, and headed towards the kitchen. But she stopped and spun around, facing her classmates.