Over the next few days, you spend every moment you can using your move in progress. On top of that, your class has been training in Gym Gamma every morning. Physio with Recovery Girl is looking promising, and you're currently able to release about as much as you'd want for washing your hands under a faucet. Not a lot, but still better than none. Nightmares plague your dreams, and you find yourself waking up in terror throughout the nights. Whenever you do and can't fall back asleep, you text Shinso who always immediately calls you. Staying on call with him helps you feel safer, and you fall asleep without any further issues so long as he's on the line. During your waking moments, you force yourself to think only of improving your quirk. Shinso always meets up with you in the morning before your training when you've had nightmares to make sure you're okay, and to tell you not to push yourself too hard. You tell him you won't, but you spend every waking moment training your quirk to get the hang of your new moves.

“Y/n, you're really getting a handle on that now!” Midoriya smiles.

“Thanks, Midoriya!!” You turn to smile back at him. Aizawa had brought a target shooter in for you to practice with, and it's similar to a ball shooter. All you have to do is stop the targets from hitting you with your new move. “Ouch!!”

Aizawa sighs as one of the targets hits you in the side of your face. “Pay attention. Midoriya, don't distract her.”

“Sorry, Y/n!!” Midoriya panics. “Are you okay?”

You wave him off. “Oh yeah! I'm fine–” Another one hits you in the back of the head. “Oh, come on!!” Forgetting about Midoriya, you whip around at the machine. “Stupid thing–Ow!!!”

“I told you to pay attention.”

Rubbing your forehead with one hand and the back of your head with your other, you ready your quirk again. “I'm going to break that stupid thing...!”

A few minutes pass by, and you've successfully hit every target since. The gym doors open, and All Might walks in.

“How’s everyone coming along, Aizawa?”

“You're here again? They're doing fine.”

“Oh hey All Might!” You turn and wave. Aizawa frowns as you do, and a target comes hurtling towards the back of your head once more. This time though, you notice the sound and smash it with ice before it can hit you. “Ah! I did it! Aizawa, did you see?! I didn't even look at it!!” You cheer.

“I'm glad to see you're in good spirits, Young Y/n!”

“Just imagine how good you'd be if you stopped getting so distracted.” Aizawa frowns.

“Hey, I'm not distr–Ow!!! That's it!!” In a fit of annoyance, you shoot your water head forward, and knock the machine over.

“Don't go breaking it.” Aizawa glares. You sigh and jog over to the machine to turn it off and upright it.

As you do, a huge explosion sounds from above, and you turn to look up at Bakugou. The cement he had hit cracks, and you watch it fall in slow motion.

“Hey!!! Heads up!!” Bakugou shouts.

“All Might!!” You race over in a flash, but Midoriya is already there. He smashes through the block with ease, and you hurry to catch the larger debris with your new move so none of it hits your teacher.

“Woah!! Talk about cool, Midoriya!!” You exclaim.

“You okay, All Might?” Midoriya lands next to you crouching.

“Yeah, I am. Thanks, you two.” He beams.

You hold your hand out for Midoriya and help him stand up. Kaminari and Kirishima jog over. “Woah, Midoriya! Where'd that crazy firepower come from?”

“I thought you were all about punching...?”

“They're iron soles! Hatsume came up with them. They give me some extra oomph. Iida's been teaching me some new moves to help me change up my style.” Midoriya lifts his foot up, and you join Kaminari and Kirishima as they lean in to check them out.

“Cool! Just don't step on my toes.” You laugh.

“Well, going in this direction is just a stopgap for now... Nothing I can call an ultimate move quite yet...”

You swing an arm around Midoriya's shoulder and he stumbles to catch his footing. “We're in the same boat then! Handicapped and stuck learning new moves if we wanna catch up to everyone else!”

“Not at all! You're not giving yourselves enough credit. Both of your new moves will serve you well in the licensing exam.” All Might says.

“Come on All Might, that was a close one. You should step back.” Aizawa sighs.

“Apologies!” All Might says. He looks up at Bakugou who anxiously, although he'd never admit it, watched the entire thing. “Sorry, Young Bakugou!”

Bakugou grunts in response, glaring down at everyone. “You better watch yourself All Might!!!” You had apologized to him for laughing so hard the day after moving in, but he had shrugged it off and simply told you not to mock him again. You lose sight of him as he sets off a powerful explosion, hurting your ears.

“How do his ears not bleed...” You groan. “Hey wait! You guys changed your costumes up, too!”

Kaminari and Kirishima give you big smiles. “Hell yeah!! What do you think, Y/n??”

“Much cooler, Kami! I like it! But what's up with the contraption? You planning on playing some Yu-Gi-Oh with the villains?”

“Hey!!” Before Kaminari can say anything else, Tokoyami catches your attention.

“Woah! Tokoyami! Sick move!!” You exclaim as Dark Shadow covers him.

“Hey, where's my compliment...” Kirishima frowns and points at himself, but you've already run off to bug Tokoyami to let you say hi to Dark Shadow.

“All you did was add sleeves!” Kaminari retorts.

“That's enough, Class A!!! What gives, Aizawa?!” The door bursts open and Vlad King leads 1B into the gym. “TKL is supposed to be ours this afternoon!”

“Oh, it's Class B...” You pause petting Dark Shadow and look at the other class trickle in.

“We still have ten minutes left. I intend to use every second of it.” Aizawa says bluntly.

“Hey guys!!” You wave to 1B. Tetsutetsu, Awase, Kendo, and a few others wave back. “What the heck are you wearing, Monoma? You got a magic show or something after this?”

Monoma’s face goes red and he frowns. “I don't need anything eccentric like all of you!! I copy quirks, so this is just fine! Besides, did you all hear?! Half of those who take the licensing test fail!! I bet all of Class A will fail, leaving Class B victorious!!! I'll show you all who's gonna come out on top!!”

“Kendo, did Monoma take his pills today?” You joke.

“Honestly, I'm starting to think he needs some.” She sighs. “He boasts a lot for the only one in our class to fail the practical exam.”

“Yet, he's right... In this test, we will be no more than beasts thrown into the ring... It is our fate to crush each other.” Tokoyami says beside you.

“Edgyami.” You chuckle and pat Dark Shadow some more.

“Not quite. Classes A and B are registered at different testing sites.” Aizawa says.

“The standardized hero licensing test is held every year at three different locations around the country in both June and September. In order to avoid direct competition between students from the same school, it's common practice for all schools to have different classes register separately. Either a different time or a different place.” Vlad explains.

Monoma lets out a sigh of relief, and then the crazy kicks back in. “What a shame that I won't get to beat you all with my own two hands!!!”

Kirishima looks at Kaminari. “Didn't he just sigh all relieved?”

“They should come up with a name for whatever disorder he's got.” Kaminari nods.

“Other schools, huh... We don't usually pay them any mind, but I guess we're really gonna be fighting against other hero courses.” Sero says.

“Yeah, we're also ahead of the typical licensing schedule...” Midoriya mumbles.

“Only a very small number of students gain their provisional licenses as first years. Which means you'll be up against certain students who’ve experienced very advanced training. This test will bring together students with polished quirks you've never seen. Though the exam contents are unknown, I assure you that this will be an uphill battle for everyone. Don't psych yourselves up too much, but be aware of what you're facing.” Aizawa warns.

You're the first to break the anxious silence. “Man, I'm so excited!! This is going to be awesome! Let's all get our licenses! Everyone from A and B!!” You cheer.

“Yeah!!!!”