𝐎𝐇 𝐍𝐎! ᵇᵃᵏᵘᵍᵒᵘ ᵏᵃᵗˢᵘᵏⁱ

━ chapter thirty six

Mai sat impatiently beside her teacher. Her leg bobbed up and down and she bit at her fingernails nervously. 

Bakugou crossed his arms and glared at every person that walked by him. "Oi, Kachaan! There's no need to be in a mood, Mai-Chan wouldn't want that!" 

Bakugou's eyes snapped to his yellow-haired friend. "You took up her space, it should be you in the audience instead." The boy spat. "Hey! That's so mean!" Kaminari cried back.

As the final phase for the exam began, Mai and her homeroom teacher stared silently at the arena in front of them. Mai's eyes immediately latched onto the blonde boy. 

"Is Bakugou the one you look for every time?"  

Mai's eyes widened and she turned her head slowly towards her teacher. "Uh- no?" She responded. "You guys really are best friends hm?" He questioned again, his eyes not straying from his students in the arena.

Mai raised a brow in confusion, before shrugging nonchalantly and turning back to look at her friends. "I s'pose. Why?" The girl replied, confused at the mans sudden interest in her life.

"It's good to have relationships with fellow heroes, especially for the future. But, don't let it come at the expense of your accomplishments." Aizawa nodded in the direction of a blue-haired boy. 

"I don't think I failed that phase because of my relationships." Mai retorted, taking her teacher by surprise.

"You are right, failing that first round came down to my own actions. If I had stayed with Mina then, yes, I would've passed- but Aoyama and Iida were in trouble and who knows what could've happened if I didn't show up."

Aizawa broke his stare at the arena to look towards the younger woman beside him. 

"I ruined my chance of getting my provisional license to help my friend, because that's what All Might would do."

Mai turned to make eye-contact with her homeroom teacher and her usual smile took over her face.

"And I would do it over again and again if it meant my friends could continue in his hero journey."

Mai looked back to the arena again and her eyes darkened. "It just means I'll have to work extra hard to catch up."

Aizawa let a small smile take over his face and he looked back to the arena.

The two watched Todoroki and Inasa argue and fight in the arena below them.

Mai rubbed her face in annoyance, standing up and pointing towards the two and looking back to her teacher.

"Ugh! If they worked together then they could surround Gang Orca with, I don't know, like a fire tornado! He has a water quirk so surely the heat would render him weak!" Mai exclaimed in exasperation, doing a small spin as if to imitate a tornado.

"Mai Kumiko." I voice drawled from behind her. 

The girl froze in her standing position and turned slowly. The man she recognised from the orientation stared down at her from the stairs of the audience.

"Yes?"

"Can you come with me?"

Mai's head snapped towards her homeroom teacher in confusion. Aizawa looked from Mera to Mai before nodding at his student. Mai shrugged and followed the grey haired man.

The two sat across from one another in an office of some sorts. It had a perfect view of the battle going on in the arena below them but Mai was no longer focused on that.