"Get back, Y/n!! I'll take care of the henchmen!!" Shindo shouts, rushing in front of you. "Protect the evacuees with your ice!"

"Got it!!" You pull the water from the air, and create a wall of ice in front of the triage while they evacuate. Shindo crouches on the ground in front of you and presses his palms to the dirt.

"I'm going to hit 'em with shock waves spaced at one second intervals, so get ready!" He activates his quirk, and the ground underneath the henchmen tears apart. At the same time, you see Gang Orca jump forward, and you leap towards Shindo, trying to help him as you hit Gang Orca with a flurry of icicles. He smashes past them easily. "No!! Watch out!" Shindo barely pushes you out of the direct range of Gang Orca's attack, but you still get hit with some of the ultrasonic blast.

"Shindo!!" You reach out, but the two of you collapse to the ground, shaking and unable to move.

"Leaving only two minor anchors to deal with a threat like me, plus all of my henchmen...? Don't get cocky, kids!!" Gang Orca yells above you. Out of the corner of your eye, you see rapidly approaching ice, and barely activate your quirk in time to use your own to push Shindo and yourself out of the way. The two of you roll a few feet, still paralyzed, and land next to each other.

You groan, but can't move yet. Shindo looks equally frustrated by the situation, but can't do anything either. As Todoroki hits Gang Orca, several of your classmates join the fight. A strong wind blows, and causes you to roll against Shindo, with your arm over his. In the sky, Inasa appears, blasting the mock villains with wind.

"A villain incursion, is it?! What a heated turn of events they've decided to go with!!" He shouts. He spots Todoroki, and glares down at him. "Now why are you here?!"

Todoroki gives him an equally nasty look. "Why don't you go assist with the evacuation efforts? Your quirk is suited for that. I'll take care of these guys." It's a fair assessment, but it's obviously not why Todoroki is suggesting it.

Inasa grunts, and ignores Todoroki. The two boys blast attacks at Gang Orca, wind and fire, and neither hits due to the poor combination. The boys begin bickering and raising their voices at each other. You and Shindo struggle against the paralysis as you stare in shock at the two boys fighting. One of the henchmen successfully lands a hit on Todoroki, and cement coats his front. The two continue shouting at each other, and launch powerful blasts of fire and wind at Gang Orca's group.

Your eyes widen in surprise as Inasa's wind blows Todoroki's fire off course, heading directly towards you. As you lay there paralyzed, your mind freezes up in fear; the sight and heat of the flames bringing you back to your time with Dabi, and you cry out in fear. The ice you create isn't quick enough to form a wall, and Shindo grabs you by your waist, trying desperately to pull his body over yours to block you from the flames. Before they can hit either of you, you're both yanked into the air by Midoriya.

"Just what the hell... Are you two doing??!!!!" He screams at Inasa and Todoroki. "Now's not the time to be infighting!!!!"

Shindo pulls you tight against him, and the three of you crash hard against the ground. The landing knocks your helmet off, but Shindo wraps his arms around you, protecting your head as you tumble several meters away from Midoriya. He groans, and there's a sinister look in his eye. "Those absolute fucking idiots...!! They could have seriously hurt you!!! Are you okay?" His arm is still tucked under you with his hand cradling your head, and he props himself up on top of you as he stares down at you. He's still struggling against Gang Orca's attack, so his body is trembling. Shindo's hair is a mess, and his face is close to yours. If you weren't in the middle of an exam right now, you would be able to stare up at him for hours.

Red and still a little terrified, you try your best to nod. Your head barely moves in response. "Sorry, my mind froze up there... I guess I'm still a bit messed up by fire..." You manage to mumble. Back at the fight, Gang Orca paralyzes both Todoroki and Inasa with his sonic attacks.

"Are you two alright?!" Midoriya trips over towards you and Shindo. "Here, let's get you away!" Midoriya pulls your arm over his shoulder, lifting you up, and does the same for Shindo. He manages to drag the two of you a few meters towards the evacuation, but someone shouts to turn around.

"They've broken through!! They're heading towards us!!"

"I'll stop them!" Midoriya goes to set the two of you down, but Shindo stops him.

"No! Get her behind me!!" Shindo pulls free of Midoriya's grasp, and slams his hand against the ground. He makes easy work of the henchmen, tearing the ground below and in front of them to shreds. You manage to activate your quirk, and freeze them in place where they land.

"Shindo!! I thought Gang Orca's ultrasonic waves paralyzed you!" Midoriya gasps.

"How'd you recover so fast...?" You groan in Midoriya's arms, still hardly able to move. "I'm barely moving with an indirect hit, and you got the full force...!"

"He did... Kinda..." Shindo pants and trembles. "My limbs are still pretty numb. Whether it's sound waves or vibrations, though, my brain's used to getting scrambled by my own quirk day after day. I've built up some resistance to it." He grunts as he struggles to move. "But seriously, what the hell was that shit?! Those two first years nearly killed her and I!!!!" He snarls.

"I can't believe Shoto is really squabbling at a time like this...!" You sigh. "I know he's got an attitude sometimes, but this isn't the time or place!"

"Hah! You're close enough to be using his first name, but he couldn't even keep his quirk from almost hitting you twice in a row?!" Shindo glares. "What the hell is wrong with the guys at UA?!"

"I don't know what's going on..." Midoriya sighs. "Come on, let's get you two out of here."

"No! You go and make sure the rest of the victims get to safety! I'll protect Y/n!!" Shindo glares at Midoriya. "The others can finish off the rest of the villains now that I've tripped the main group up, and she froze them in place."

"R-Right!" Midoriya sets you down with Shindo, who holds your arm over his shoulder, and wraps his other arm around your waist. Midoriya rushes off, protecting the rear of the evacuation group. Shindo struggles to stand, and you slump against him.

"Sorry...! My legs are like jelly..." You apologize and hang on to Shindo.

"I've got you. I won't let you get hurt again like those assholes." He clenches his jaw, a deadly glare in his eyes as he holds you close to him. There's a blast behind you, and Shindo turns around to see what caused it. "What the hell are they doing now...?!"

Todoroki and Inasa have seemingly decided teamwork is okay now that there's no one on their side to nearly kill, and while paralyzed on the ground, both boys create a flaming vortex, encircling Gang Orca. Midoriya, Ojiro, Mina, Tokoyami, and some other students take care of the rest of the henchmen, and a few you don't know guard you and Shindo. "You two alright?"

"Yeah..." You groan and Shindo keeps a tight grip on your waist as one of them helps you both stand.

"I can take her–"

"No. I've got her." Shindo snaps at the poor guy who is just trying to help. "Just take care of the henchmen."

"O-Okay...!" He backs off once he sees the dangerous look in Shindo's eyes, and Shindo doesn't loosen his grip around you.

"How are your legs? Any better?" He asks as you lean against him, resting your head against his chest.

"They're a little better... Thank you, Shindo." You manage to pull your other arm up, and cling to the little bit of his costume that covers part of his chest.

"Tch, those guys don't know how to treat you. I can't believe your own friend almost charred you. Those damn brats need to be taught a serious lesson...!"

The students around you shout to each other as they fight the henchmen, and Shindo manages to stumble away from the fighting with you. Behind you, Gang Orca shreds the fire tornado apart with his quirk, and prepares an attack against the two paralyzed boys, who are still trying to use their own quirks. A shiver runs down your spine when you see the fire blast apart, and you jerk away from the sight. One of the henchmen breaks through the other students, and he aims his cement gun at the two of you. Acting quickly, you activate your Serpent's Bite, and crunch down on the gun, tearing it out of his hands. With the second, you knock Gang Orca's sidekick back, freezing him with the water.

"Ha! Good job." Shindo gives you a smirk. "That's a handy attack. If I didn't have my vibrate, you would have gotten me out with it in the first round."

"Thanks!! I've been practicing it everyday recently!" You manage to smile up at him.

"What now, children?!!" Gang Orca shouts, about to launch his attack.

"Please... Get away from them!!!!" Midoriya leaps at him, and glows with power as he swings his foot towards his head. Before his kick can connect, a loud buzzer goes off, startling you and Shindo. You both trip and stumble a few feet forward, and he holds you even closer to him to catch you as your legs give out.

"I've got you." Shindo pulls you back up to your feet, and adjusts your arm over his shoulders.

"Ahem! At present, every last HUC member on the field has been rescued from impending danger!! Therefore, I declare that this test is now... Over!!!"

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Holy crap I blinked and not only did we hit 600k reads but we surpassed it and are at 604k??!!! I love y'all so much thank you 🥹 Tbh, coming back to Wattpad and BNHA has helped my mental health so much recently, and I really really appreciate every single one of you so so much. I love reading your comments and I try to read all of them as they come in and y'all make me laugh so much. It makes me so happy when I see comments because it means that you enjoyed it/felt so strongly that you wanted to make it known and it makes me smile like an idiot. I love love love reading the comments and I wish I could reply to every single one so if you ever avoid commenting bc you think it'll bug/spam me please comment I will spend ages going through them smiling, even if it's literally just an aww or key smash.

I hope you guys continue to enjoy the story as we move forward into the rise of the villains arcs and thank you again for reading, voting, and commenting!!!!!! ❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️