"The teams are going to be picked completely at random. Because, in real hero work, you aren't going to have much of a choice, right?" All Might explained.
The class nodded.
All Might flashed another smile—he keeps doing that every five minutes, and took out a bowl from seemingly nowhere with paper chits inside. So, he's going to take out the chits and pair them together in teams of two.
All the names rolled out soon enough, and teams were finalized. I was paired with the orange-haired girl, Kendo. She seems serious about this stuff; she wasn't joking around. I lucked out on this one.
"Hayashi and Kendo, Team C!" All Might announced, his voice booming across Training Ground Beta.
Kendo walked over immediately, hand extended. "Looking forward to working with you."
"The feeling's mutual," I replied, shaking her hand.
Tetsutetsu was paired with Tokage. He looked excited about it, already talking her ear off. She seemed amused more than annoyed. Wonder how that happened.
Honenuki got paired with Shiozaki. He was still half-asleep, I don't what the fuck is wrong with him. She looked concerned. To be fair, she always looked concerned.
Monoma was with Awase. That pairing seemed... volatile. Monoma already had that smirk on his face. It really irks me for some reason; it's not usual.
"Alright, everyone!" All Might clapped his hands together. "Now that teams are formed, let me explain the exercise!"
He pressed a button on a remote, and a holographic display appeared showing a building layout.
"This is a standard urban rescue and combat scenario! One team will play the villains, the other will play the heroes! The villain team's objective is to guard this!" He held up what looked like a prop nuclear warhead. "The hero team's objective is to either capture both villains OR secure the weapon within the time limit!"
"How much time?" Kendo asked.
"Fifteen minutes! The villain team gets five minutes to set up their defenses before the heroes can enter!"
Tetsutetsu's hand shot up. "Can we destroy the building?"
"Try to avoid excessive structural damage! You're heroes, not demolition crews!" All Might laughed. "That said, combat will be realistic! You will be monitored, and I will stop the exercise if anyone is in serious danger!"
I glanced at Kendo. She was already studying the holographic building layout, eyes moving quickly across each floor.
"The building has five floors," she murmured, more to herself than me. "Multiple entry points. Stairwells here, here, and here. If we're heroes, we need to account for ambush points. If we're villains, we need to control choke points."
Well, she seems smart.
"Each of you will be wearing communication devices," All Might continued, holding up small earpieces. "Heroes can communicate with their partner. Villains can communicate with their. I will be monitoring all channels and providing feedback after each match!"
He pulled out another bowl. "Now, let's determine match order! I'll draw two teams at random!"
The first draw came quickly.
"First match! Team A versus Team C! Tokage and Tetsutetsu as heroes! Hayashi and Kendo as villains!"
Tetsutetsu pumped his fist. "Let's do this, KAZUKI!!"
He seems awfully delighted. I gave him an awkward smile and turned to Kendo. "So, you ready?" I asked.
She nodded. I gave her a reassuring smile and turned to All Might. "Enter the building!" He instructed.
Kendo and I entered the building. Five minutes to set up defenses before Tetsutetsu and Tokage could enter.
Massive interior. Industrial design. Multiple rooms per floor, narrow corridors, wide open spaces. Good for both offense and defense. It's U.A. after all, I can't expect anything less.
The prop warhead sat at the center of the fourth floor. Looks vaguely threatening, if I'm being honest.
"Alright," Kendo said, already moving. "Let's assess the situation. Tokage's quirk lets her split her body into multiple pieces and control them independently. That gives her a reconnaissance advantage. She'll scout ahead, find our position, and relay information to Tetsutetsu."
I nodded. "Tetsutetsu's quirk is straightforward. Steel body. Close combat specialist. He'll charge once he knows where we are. Don't have high hopes on his tactics but he may surprise us."
"Which means we can't stay in one place." Kendo enlarged her hands slightly, testing the quirk activation. "If we camp by the weapon, Tokage scouts us out, and Tetsutetsu rushes in with full knowledge of our position. We lose the element of surprise."
"Patrol is the way, then."
"Exactly." She smiled. "But we also need to account for Tokage's reconnaissance. She can split into fifty pieces. That's a lot of eyes."
I looked around the fourth floor. Open space. Too open. No cover. Bad position for a fight.
"What if we don't defend the weapon directly?" I suggested.
Kendo turned to me, eyebrow raised. "Explain."
"The objective is to prevent them from securing the weapon OR capturing us. If we engage them before they reach this floor, we control where the fight happens. Choose terrain that advantages us."
She considered it. "That's risky. If we leave the weapon unguarded and they slip past us—"
"They won't." I gestured to the stairwells. "There are three ways up. We cover two, leave one open. They'll take the open path, thinking it's safe. We ambush them there."
"That assumes they fall for it."
"Oh, Tetsutetsu will. He's aggressive. If he sees an opening, he'll take it."
"And Tokage?"
"She'll try to scout first. That's when we eliminate her reconnaissance advantage." I raised my hand, generating a small wind current. "I can create sustained air currents that will disrupt her smaller body parts. Make it difficult for her to control them."
Kendo's eyes lit up. "That... could work. And if they split up?"
"We stay together. Two against one is always better odds."
She nodded slowly. "Okay. I'm on board. Where do we set up?"
I scanned the building layout mentally. Third floor. Narrow corridor. Multiple rooms branching off. Good sight lines. Easy to control.
"Third floor. East corridor. We block two stairwells with debris—nothing they can't get past, but enough to slow them down and make the west stairwell look like the easier route."
"Then we wait in the corridor and hit them when they come up?"
"Exactly."
Kendo smiled again. "I like the way you think, Hayashi."
...
"Good to know, Kendo," I replied blankly.
We moved quickly. Kendo used her enlarged hands to drag furniture from nearby rooms and stack them in front of the north and south stairwell entrances.
I kept watch, listening for any sound of movement. The building was silent except for our preparations.
"Three minutes left," Kendo said, checking her watch.
"That's enough time."
We positioned ourselves in the third-floor east corridor. Kendo took the forward position. I stood behind her, ready to provide support.
"Communication check," Kendo said into her earpiece. "Can you hear me?"
"Loud and clear," I replied. "Well, counting on you, Kendo." Not really. But I heard that it boosts confidence—that's good, right?
OBSERVATION ROOM
The rest of Class 1-B crowded around the monitors, watching the multiple camera feeds.
All Might stood at the front, arms crossed, that perpetual smile still in place.
"Notice how Team C positioned themselves," he said, pointing at the screen showing Kendo and me in the third-floor corridor. "They're not defending the objective directly! Instead, they're creating a choke point!"
"But isn't that risky?" Tsubaraba asked. "What if the heroes just go straight for the weapon?"
"That's a valid concern, but look at their defensive preparation." All Might switched to a camera showing the blocked stairwells. "They've made two routes difficult to access, leaving one open. It's a trap."
Monoma leaned forward, chuckling a bit. "Even my grandma knows that Tetsutetsu's gonna take the bait, easy points if you ask me.
On another monitor, Tetsutetsu and Tokage entered the building.
"Alright!" Tetsutetsu said, already in steel form. "Let's do this! Where do we start?"
Tokage immediately split her body. Dozens of small pieces flew in different directions, scouting the interior.
"I'll check the layout," Tokage's head said, floating independently. "You wait here until I—"
"Wait? No way!" Tetsutetsu started forward. "We need to move fast! They could be anywhere!"
"Tetsutetsu, hold on—"
But he was already running toward the west stairwell.
"God..."
THIRD FLOOR - EAST CORRIDOR
[1st POV]
"They're in," Kendo whispered, even though they couldn't hear us from here.
I focused on the air currents in the building. Subtle movements. Drafts caused by opening doors, footsteps disturbing dust particles, the distinct displacement pattern of something small moving very fast through multiple spaces.
"Tokage's scouting," I said quietly. "Multiple pieces. She's checking all three stairwells."
"Will your plan work?"
"It should."
I extended my right hand and began manipulating the air currents in the north and south stairwells. That would make it difficult for small objects to maintain stable flight paths.
Tetsutetsu's voice boomed through the building. "We'll take the other stairwell! Come on!"
"He's coming," Kendo said, tensing.
I heard the footsteps getting closer.
Tetsutetsu burst into the third-floor corridor, breathing heavily with his quirk active.
He saw us immediately and charged forward like the brute he is, fist raised. "THERE YOU ARE!"
Kendo moved first. She enlarged her hands to massive proportions and slammed them together in a direct clap directly in Tetsutetsu's path.
The shockwave hit him mid-charge, disorienting him at once. He stumbled back.
I followed up immediately. A concentrated wind blast aimed at his legs, sweeping them out from under him.
Tetsutetsu went down hard, crashing into the corridor floor.
"Tetsutetsu!" Tokage called, panic in her voice.
I put forth my palm and aimed it at Tetsutetsu. I increased the force upon him, stopping him from getting back up. "Stay down," I said, as I shifted my focus to Tokago, who just arrived.
I aimed my other hand at her, ready to strike. But Kendo moved first, boosting herself at high speed with her hands at Tokago. Tokage widened her eyes before splitting herself in two, narrowly dodging the punch.
The round was basically over. We got them trapped in this corridor. Time's ticking. Tetsutetsu's under my grip. Tokago is being dealt with by Kendo. Easy victory, indeed.