A Bolt of Hope

Chapter 48 - Ready Set... -

 "You guys ready?"

Leizcio, Hisako, and Ochaco were sitting in the train on their way to U.A. Their three days of pushing through written exams were finally done, and now came the final test, the practical exam.

"Fighting robots will be a first, but I'm prepared."

"How're you so calm Hisako?" Ochaco asked, surprised by Hisako's calm demeanor.

"Training. I know what I'm up against. Leizcio told me about the different kinds of robots you two went up against during your entrance exams. I'm ready."

"So confident!"

The train had made its stop and the trio got off and walked towards UA. Leizcio and Ochaco were both nervous about what awaited them, while Hisako, as demonstrated, was neutral and wasn't shaken much.

"Well, I'm going to my own class. I wish you both the best of luck with your exams."

"Same thing goes for you Hisako! You got this!" Leizcio responded to Hisako, extending his hand out for a fist bump. It took Hisako a few seconds to understand but she got it and returned it. She left to go to class 1-B, leaving Ochaco and Leizcio to walk to theirs.

- - - - - - -

'Forgot how it feels to be in this thing...' Leizcio thought as he put on his helmet to complete his hero suit.

He caught up with the others as he was the last to suit up and stood next to Midoriya. That's when he quickly noticed that the other teachers other than Aizawa were standing before them.

"Now, we will begin the practical exam. Of course, it is possible to fail this exam. If you want to go to training camp, then don't make any stupid mistakes... I expect 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?"

"Fireworks! Curry! Test of Courage!"

Both Ashido and Kaminari were pumped for the exam and confident in their chances.

"Too bad!"

Nezu popped up out of Aizawa's capture wraps, "For various reasons, the exam will be different this time around!"

And just like that, all the excitement Kaminari and Ashido had were gone.

"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..."

"We'll have you form teams of two to fight against one teacher! Just with the exception of one group!"

"In addition, the groups and who they will be up against have already been decided. These were determined at my discretion based on various factors including fighting style, grades, and interpersonal relationships, so here they are..."

- - - - - - - -

"Man I wish I had those compressed weights, they'd be so useful for training..."

"That's what you're thinking of right now Leizcio?"

"That and my match-up..."

"Shouldn't you be planning with Kaminari and Mina?"

"I wanted to but they said they needed some time. I don't blame them, we're going up against Principal Nezu..."

The two walked into the monitor room where they both saw Midoriya and Recovery Girl.

"Oh? You're watching too Deku?"

"Yeah. We don't have many chances to see other students and the teachers fight. Besides, even if I wanted to talk about strategies..."

Ochaco and Leizcio immediately thought of Bakugo and formed a mental image of him barking like a feral dog.