Izuocha's Love Stories

66 - TAG TEAM TENSION

by Igniting Writing

Trees. That was Ochaco's first impression of the training area; lots and lots of trees. She looked around in confusion, wondering if she and the other class 1-A students had come to the wrong place - all twenty of them had reported to Mr. Aizawa's class that morning only to be told that regular lessons that day were cancelled, in exchange for a surprise test. In spite of their questions Mr. Aizawa had remained tight-lipped and the only instruction he'd given them was to report to one of the training grounds they'd never used before. It had turned out to be clearing of a forest, right on the edge of the UA campus, but after a few minutes of standing around in silent anticipation nothing had happened.

Deku broke the silence. "So....this is definitely the place?"

From in front of him Tsuyu croaked in agreement. "Yep, the sign says Training Ground Five, like Mr. Aizawa said. I don't see any sign of him though."

Sure enough their moody teacher was nowhere in sight, despite Ochaco craning her neck around to look for him. She stretched her arms above her head and let out an uneasy sigh, her stomach filled with butterflies. "I'd feel a bit more confident if i knew what sort of test this was. He didn't explain it to us at all, other than telling us to wear our hero outfits..."

"Perhaps it will be rescue training?" hazarded Iida, voice muffled from inside his helmet. "Saving people from a rest fire simulation, or something similar, would be an invigorating challenge".

"Nah, for rescues they'd just take us to the USJ", answered Kirishima. "I hope it's combat - I've been itching for a chance to do some sparring!" He flashed a toothy grin towards Bakugo, who responded with a scowl, and then turned to Deku. "What do you think, Midoriya?"

Deku bit his lip, deep in thought. "If it's a woodland setting, i'm guessing the test will be to do with the environment we're in. Maybe survival training, where we have to camp in the wilderness? Or something to do with the terrain? There are so many possibilities, probably to keep us guessing so that the test comes as a total surprise and catches us unaware...." Suddenly aware of how negative he'd sounded he waved his hands in from of him hastily. "B-but whatever it is, we've all worked so hard to get this far . I'm sure we can handle it".

Despite her nerves Ochaco managed a grin in response, thankful for his attempted encouragement. She opened her mouth to offer her own support, but before she could speak she was almost deafened by a shout from across the clearing.

"HEY CLASS 1-A KIDS! I HOPE YOU'RE ALL READY TO START YOUR SURPRISE TEST, OH YEAAH!"

Ochaco jumped like she'd been electrocuted and Deku let out a yelp of shock. Hands over her ears to try and stop her head from ringing, she whirled around to see Present Mic, greeting them with a sheepish wave as several of the students glared at him. Alongside him was bored looking Mr. Aizawa, twisting an index finger in his left ear.

"That's enough waiting. Time to explain why you're here. To put it simply, the test is a stealth mission, where you'll be working in pairs. And it will go towards your final grade". The quirk erasing teacher's words caused an outbreak of muttering from the students and he held up his hand for silence."Let me finish . I'll give you all an example of how the test works - our first pair will be Tenya Iida and Minoru Mineta, Team A".

Ochaco had to fight back a laugh - it was hard to tell which of the two boys looked more upset by the partner they'd been placed with. Iida frowned but at least managed to stay professional, snapping to attention, whilst the sour glare on Mineta's face made it look like he'd swallowed a whole lemon.

Mr. Aizawa continued, ignoring their reactions. "The two of you will be tasked with holding onto these". He help up a pair of headbands, similar to the sort used in the cavalry battle from the Sports Festival. "To pass, you will need to keep these headbands on and reach the other side of the forest without being detected by the pair on Team B".