𝐔𝐧𝐫𝐚𝐯𝐞𝐥 𝐌𝐞 - ᴛᴏᴅᴏʀᴏᴋɪ ꜱʜᴏᴛᴏ

Chapter 5: Courage

The morning Ayla woke up, she noticed a note on her nightstand. She groggily reached for it and rubbed her eyes from sleepiness.

'Sorry for leaving so suddenly without telling you. I didn't want to wake you up. I'm ready to go home and face my father so I packed all my things. I did all the unfinished dishes from last night.

-Thanks again, Shoto"

Ayla got ready and headed for school. She walked in class and greeted everyone like usual. Since she was a new student, the desk attributed for her was right behind Momo. Meaning she was the furthest in the back. It was quite lonely since there was no one else in her column but at least her best friend was seated right in front of her. As she walked to the back of the class, she passed Shoto's desk. Ayla's heart thumped so hard that she swore it was audible, their eyes had met and he smiled. It was only a small—almost unnoticeable smile, but it was enough to make her go weak at the knees. "G-Good morning, Shoto..."

"Morning." he replied.

Aizawa-sensei explained that the following week was dedicated in preparation for the first term final. Ayla wondered what could possibly appear on the exam. The homeroom teacher only reveals that the exam will be a culmination of everything from the first semester, including combat and rescue training.

The written exam, which took three days, was relatively easy for Ayla. Having Momo as a best friend all these years has unmatched academic perks. Thanks to her, she managed to come up with study tricks and note taking advantages.

Principal Nezu and the U.A. faculty reveal that the practical test will include mock battles between students and teachers. Students are assigned to teams of two and must work together to fight one of their teachers. All match-ups are assigned ahead of time and teachers are handicapped with weights. Students have thirty minutes to capture the villain or successfully escape from the battle in order to pass. The option of escaping is also to help observe the students' decision-making skills. The practical exam was much more interesting. The students are matched up with their designated partners against teachers with advantages. Each student is evaluated individually and any who fail are told they cannot go camping with their classmates at the training camp in the woods. Being an odd number, Ayla was paired up with Iida and Ojiro against Power Loader. She figured she was teamed with them since the particular pro-hero can negate their mobility by manipulating the battlefield and setting traps.

Ashido, Sato, Kaminari, Sero and Kirishima were told that they failed their finals. The announcement that everyone was going to training camp caused excitement and relief to burst out of the those five students. However, when they find out that they must still face extra lessons, they instantly change moods.

* * * * *

On their bus ride to the training camp the following day, two females wearing cat-like costumes and a small boy appear; they introduce themselves as the professional Hero Team, The Pussycats. Mandalay, the black haired female explains to Class 1-A that they will be staying at the base of a mountain which is a part of their domain; they have three hours to reach the base of the mountain using their Quirks as they please and those who don't arrive there by 12:30 pm won't be served lunch. The blonde woman, Pixie-Bob, uses her Quirk to create a landslide of dirt that causes Class 1-A to fall into a forest called The Beast's Forest, which they must fight beasts to reach their destination. The journey through the forest to the Cabin takes around about eight hours. Class 1-A arrive at the facility, battered and tired.

* * * * *

Which brings us to where we are now. It is currently very early in the morning, Aizawa tells the students that they will undergo reinforcement training since the training camp's purpose is to strengthen their quirks.