Beast Speaker, Monster Tamer

46: Surprise! Time to Fight Some Adults

U.A. was a prestigious school so, of course, everything it did was the best of the best. Unfortunately, being with the best of the best meant a written exam stretching over three days. Three days of stress-fueled adrenaline as Elise and all her classmates gave it their all. She had to admit that this was one of the parts of school that she did not favor too well.

"Pencils down, everybody," Aizawa declared. "The last person in each row, collect the answer sheets and bring them here."

Elise gave her exam a final once-over, finding herself satisfied with it. She passed her paper over to Todoroki, who was collecting it for the row. Chatter broke out in the class as the tense silence was broken.

"Thank you Yaomomo!" Mina cried. "Because of you, I felt kind of confident with that!"

Kaminari enthusiastically joined in, "I didn't leave anything blank!"

With the answer sheet out of her hands, Elise groaned and slumped back in her seat as she tilted her head back.

It's over.

Good job, Elise.

Now, the practical exam next!

She hummed, eyes closed. That would take place two days from now, the school gracious enough to allow the students a day to recover. From what she heard from some of her friends, it was going to be the robots from the entrance exam. That had caused some of the students to slack off but Elise still kept her physical training in tip-top shape.

Just one more hurdle to go.

***

A bus took them to the Center Plaza of the Practical Exam Area, all of the students already decked out in their hero costumes ahead of time. Elise glanced down at her wrists, the cuffs a comforting pressure around them. Feeling the bus jolt as it stopped she got up and prepared to get off it. Cicadas greeted her as she stepped out into the vivid sun.

That, and the multitude of different teachers accompanying Aizawa. "Now, we will begin the practical exam," he said. "Of course, it is possible to fail this exam. If you want to go to the training camp, then don't make any stupid mistakes."

"There are a lot of teachers..." Jiro noted.

"I expected that you all have gathered information ahead of time and have some idea of what you will be doing."

"We're fighting robot warriors like at the entrance exam, right?" Kaminari cheered.

Mina joined in, already sure of her victory, "Fireworks! Curry! Test of Courage!"

"Too bad!" A new voice interrupted the excitable pair's rambling as Aizawa's scarf began to bulge. The school principal popped out of it cheerfully. "For various reasons, the exam will be different starting this time!"

"Principal Nezu!"

"Different?" Momo asked.

He began rappeling down one side of Aizawa using one end of the man's scarf as the astronaut-like hero Thirteen helped him. "From now on, we want to focus on person-to-person combat and hero work, and stress teaching that is closer to actual fighting. So..." He leaned forward, pointing a paw at them as a shadow fell over his face. "We'll have you form teams of three to fight against one teacher!"

Elise could feel her soul leave her body.

We're going to fight against... a teacher...