Birds of a Feather

Should I go back inside?

カラス

"Good job." Karasu commented as Todoroki returned to the viewing room from his exam. She had her arms folded behind her, with her hands clasped just below the base of her wings.

"It was Yayurozu's plan." Todoroki responded, shrugging as he leaned against the wall beside her. He was standing closer to her than she'd expected- and closer than she was prepared for. She liked it, though.

"Still. You stopped, slowed, and listened to her. It's a far cry from where you were even a few weeks ago." she nudged him. "You did really well."

"Thanks." Todoroki nudged her back. "Are you ready for your practical exam?"

"I think so." Karasu nodded, looking up at the screens Uraraka and Aoyama's exam began. "I don't know Shoji very well, but he's smart and capable. Snipe's quirk does present some worry for me, but with indestructible wings... not that much worry."

"That was my mistake, early on." Todoroki said as they watched the fifth match. "I was overconfident."

"That's fair." Karasu sighed, picking at her nails. "I can't say what will happen in my exam with any real certainty- which I don't like. It makes me nervous."

Todoroki reached out and put his hand over hers, meeting her gaze when she looked over at him. "You're really smart. When you pass, maybe we'll take the chance to spar together before the training camp."

"You think I can keep up with you now?" She raised an eyebrow and held back a smirk, letting their hands fall apart from each other. "Well, well, well. Now that is a shocking turnaround on your part."

"Looks like they passed too." Todoroki looked at the screen again.

"Mine is still three matches away, but I'm going to find Shoji and go over potential strategies with him." Karasu kicked herself off the wall and flapped her wings once. "See you after." She flashed a smile at Todoroki and left the viewing room.

カラス

"Well, this sucks." Karasu said as she tried to peer around the pillar she and Shoji were trapped behind. Shot whizzed by where her head had just been- those had to be non-lethal bullets, right? The faculty definitely wouldn't just straight-up risk killing the students, would they? No. They wouldn't. Not even for a final exam. "If we can't get any angle on him, we can't beat him. He knows that. We're sitting ducks with a stupid timer."

Shoji tried to use an eye to peer around- but pulled it back just in time to avoid getting shot. "I have no way to be able to see him. He's preventing us from moving effectively in any way."

She looked from him to the stream of bullets hitting the concrete.

"He only has the one gun on him, yes?" she spoke carefully, picking at her nails as she thought. She moved sideways carefully, keeping her wings folded tightly behind her to make sure Snipe wouldn't see her movement. She closed one eye and held out her hand, tracing the angle of the bullets with her finger to try and calculate where he'd be standing.Once again, Hawks' insistence on private tutors instead of middle school keeps paying off. Ugh.

"Uh- yeah." Shoji nodded, frowning in confusion as he watched her. "Do you have a plan?"

"Well, that means he can only hit one target. Even if he has a second gun he can't focus effectively on two targets at once. Switching between us would mean giving both of us openings to move and attack." Karasu said decidedly. "He'll most likely hesitate on you because you don't have any bulletproof shields like I do. I'll swoop around from behind- no, above- and then we can both rush him. Odds are he'll focus on me instead of you because I can defend myself against whatever kind of bullet he's using."
"We can't bank on that- he's taking on the role of a villain, after all." Shoji pointed out. "I don't like the idea of being shot, even if they are rubber bullets. They still pack a punch."