Chapter 19

₊˚⊹✷ 𝐂𝐇𝐀𝐏𝐓𝐄𝐑 𝐒𝐈𝐗𝐓𝐄𝐄𝐍.
⤷ wonderful observation skills there, Icy-hot.

KIRISHIMA AND SATO failed the very first exam, and it wasn’t even close. They were run absolutely ragged, their stamina burned down to nothing as Cementoss reshaped the battlefield again and again, raising walls. By the time the clock ran out, both boys were panting, sweat-soaked, and barely standing, while Cementoss stood exactly where he had started, untouched, unbothered, and looking mildly apologetic about it. 

Recovery Girl later explained it bluntly: the students had been paired against pro heroes they would specifically struggle against, not just physically but tactically as well.

Oda understood that immediately, because he knew exactly why he had been placed against Aizawa.

Without his quirk, Oda was widely considered weak. 

Not slow, not clumsy, not stupid—just physically unimpressive in a world where strength often came wrapped in spectacle. Almost no one knew that Oda could bash in a concrete wall with a single punch using the compressed strength packed into his body. That strength wasn’t natural, and it wasn’t accidental. He had been made this way. 

Aizawa, of all people, was the perfect counter to him.

Asui and Tokoyami went next, and unlike the first match, theirs was a victory. Against Mr. Ectoplasm, they moved with careful coordination, Dark Shadow harrying and distracting while Asui maneuvered with quick movements. They worked together the entire time, communicating, covering for one another without hesitation. When the opening came, they took it, snapping the handcuffs onto Ectoplasm. The buzzer sounded, and they passed.

Iida and Ojiro followed, and their strategy surprised more than a few of the watching students. Against Power Loader, they didn’t try to overpower him. They didn’t even try to engage him for long. Instead, they created just enough chaos for Iida to grab Ojiro, rev his engines, and hurl him bodily through the escape gate. In a real situation, it would have meant going for help. That was enough. They passed.

And then it was Oda, Yaoyorozu, and Todoroki’s turn.

They were placed in the middle of a fake residential area, a sprawling grid of clean streets and identical houses, trimmed hedges and driveways that looked too perfect to be real.

“It’s our turn now,” Todoroki said evenly. “Let’s go.”

Yaoyorozu was staring at the ground, her expression distant, shoulders slightly tense, as if she were running calculations faster than she could sort them.

“Yaoyorozu,” Oda said, just loud enough to pull her attention. Her eyes shot up immediately. “You good?”

“What’s wrong? You nervous?” Todoroki added, glancing at her.

“Oh, no,” Yaoyorozu replied quickly, though the answer felt rehearsed rather than certain.

“It’s okay, with our opponent, I wouldn’t blame you,” Todoroki said calmly. “But, don’t worry, I’ve got a plan in mind for us.”

“Uh—”

“You do?” Oda blinked.

Before Todoroki could elaborate, the buzzer blared overhead, sharp and echoing through the empty neighborhood. “Team Todoroki, Yaoyorozu and Edogawa. Practical exam. Ready, go!”

The voice wasn’t Present Mic’s this time, stripped of flair and theatrics, which somehow made it feel more serious.

“Come on,” Todoroki instructed, already moving, and they took off down the street.

Their footsteps echoed too loudly against the pavement, Yaoyorozu’s heels clacking sharply as they ran. They cut down an alley, then slipped between houses, using fences and corners to break sightlines. Oda stayed slightly behind them, eyes constantly scanning windows, rooftops, doorways—anywhere Aizawa could be watching from.

“Yaoyorozu, listen,” Todoroki said as they slowed just enough to move quietly. “I want you to keep making small objects. When you stop being able to, it means Mr. Aizawa’s close by. Our success will depend on which one of us finds the other first. Once we spot him, Edogawa and I can keep him drawn to us. Then you can run to the escape gate and win this thing for us.”

Yaoyorozu hesitated, uncertainty flickering across her face, but she nodded anyway.

As they ran, little dolls began forming out of Yaoyorozu’s skin, pale shapes emerging from her forearms and ribs before dropping softly to the pavement behind them. They landed with faint plastic taps, rolling once or twice before settling. The act itself looked effortless, almost absentminded, but there was a tension in her shoulders that betrayed how closely she was monitoring herself.

“Those work, but what are they?” Oda asked when they slowed to a brief stop in the middle of the street, his eyes flicking down to one of the discarded shapes.

“These things?” Yaoyorozu asked, sounding almost embarrassed as she scooped a few up and shoved them into her belt. “They’re just Russian nesting dolls.”

Oda hummed quietly, more acknowledgment than understanding, while Todoroki raised his right hand and let ice creep outward, thin and controlled, coating the pavement just enough to leave a faint trail behind them.

“Right,” Todoroki said evenly. “Let me know if you guys’ quirks start acting strangely.”

They took off again, shoes pounding against the asphalt, the fake neighborhood blurring past them in a series of identical houses and empty driveways. The sky overhead was an artificial blue, too bright, too still, and the silence between buildings pressed in tighter the longer they ran.

“I’d expect nothing less from you, Todoroki,” Yaoyorozu said between breaths, trying to keep pace without breaking her rhythm.

“What do you mean?” Todoroki asked, glancing sideways at her without slowing.

“You were able to come up with a plan to use against Mr. Aizawa so quickly,” she continued, her voice steady but edged with something brittle. “You knew exactly what was best as soon as we started.”

“This is nothing,” Todoroki replied flatly.

“No, you’re wrong.” Yaoyorozu stopped abruptly, her heels skidding slightly against the pavement. The sudden halt forced Oda and Todoroki to turn back toward her. “We all three got into UA through recommendations, so we all started from the same place. But in terms of the practical skills that a hero needs, I haven’t managed to do anything that stands out. During the cavalry battle I just followed your orders, Todoroki. And when it was my turn to fight, I failed before I could do anything.”

The words spilled out faster toward the end, like she’d been holding them in too long.

“If it makes you feel better,” Oda said quietly, shifting his weight and tucking his hands deeper into his pockets, “I spent the cavalry battles doing what Bakugo said. We were in the same roles.”

“Yes, but Edogawa, you won the whole thing,” Yaoyorozu said, her brow knitting together.

No one wanted me to, Oda thought, the bitterness of it sitting heavy in his chest, but he swallowed the thought before it could surface. He already knew it wouldn’t help.

“Yaoyorozu,” Todoroki cut in sharply, his eyes narrowing as he looked past her. “You’re not making those dolls.”

The words seemed to hang in the air for a split second before the realization hit all three of them at once.

Yaoyorozu’s eyes widened as she instinctively looked down at her hands, then back at the empty stretch of road behind them.

“He’s coming!” Todoroki’s head snapped up, his gaze scanning rooftops, alleyways, and windows in rapid succession.

“I’m sorry!” Yaoyorozu exclaimed, panic creeping into her voice as the weight of her mistake settled in.

“If you know I’m here,” a voice came from above, calm and unimpressed, “then you should be acting.”

The words barely finished before Aizawa dropped from the electrical line he’d been hanging from, his capture scarf uncoiling as gravity took him. He landed lightly, knees bent, already in motion, red eyes glowing as they swept over the three students. “I would suggest that you prioritize evasion since I’ve taken your powers from you.”

The pressure hit immediately. Oda felt it like a switch being flipped inside his head, that sickening hollow sensation that told him his quirk was gone, cut off cleanly at the source. His chest tightened as instinct screamed at him to move, to react, to do anything other than stand there.

“Yaoyorozu. Go!” Todoroki barked, not even hesitating as he spun and threw a kick at Aizawa.

Aizawa slipped out of the way with minimal effort, the kick slicing through empty air where he’d been a heartbeat earlier.

Yaoyorozu gasped, the sound sharp and panicked, before she turned and ran exactly as she’d been told, heels pounding against the pavement as she disappeared down the street.

“Is that what your plan is?” Aizawa asked coolly, already moving again. “Then this will be simple.”

In one fluid motion, he snapped his scarf forward. One line wrapped tightly around Todoroki’s torso, biting in before yanking him skyward with brutal force. Todoroki barely had time to grunt before he was ripped off the ground and left hanging, suspended awkwardly in midair from the power cord above, boots kicking uselessly.

The second line lashed out toward a nearby rooftop, hooked around something heavy, and then came crashing down.

Oda didn’t even have time to fully register what it was before it slammed into him.

The impact knocked the air from his lungs in a harsh, choking rush. Metal collided with concrete and flesh all at once, and suddenly there was an immense, crushing weight pinning him to the ground. His vision blurred at the edges as pain radiated through his ribs and spine.

It was a vault.

A real one. Thick, reinforced metal, heavy enough that even fully healthy he would’ve had trouble shifting it without his quirk.

“I was always going to catch you two first, since you two are the team’s offense,” Aizawa said calmly, already tying off the strand that held Todoroki aloft, securing it with practiced efficiency.

“You think you’ve caught me? This is nothing,” Todoroki snapped from above, his voice strained but furious. “I can burn or freeze these restraints in an instant.”

“Do whatever you want,” Aizawa replied without looking back, “just be careful where you land.”

He tossed something down beneath Todoroki’s dangling feet. Small, metallic shapes scattered across the pavement.

“Caltrops? This is your strategy?” Todoroki demanded, staring down at them. “You pretending to be some kind of ninja?”

“This is very different from when you faced the Hero Killer,” Aizawa said evenly. “I know about your quirks and what they can do. I’m perfectly prepared to defeat you three. Your plan places most of the burden on the two of you. It’s nice you tried to be considerate of the girl, but maybe you should have actually talked this over with her.”

“You think a vault is going to hold me?” Oda started, teeth gritting as he tried to shift the weight even an inch. “The moment you walk away—”

Pain detonated through his body.

Not blunt force, not pressure, but electricity, sharp and violent, ripping through his nerves like fire. His back arched involuntarily and a strangled sound tore out of his throat as his muscles locked up beneath the vault. His vision went white at the edges, jaw clenched so hard he thought his teeth might crack.

Aizawa smiled faintly, clearly satisfied.

“As I said, I’m perfectly prepared to defeat you three,” he continued. “I wouldn’t move around too much if I were the two of you.”

And then he was gone, sprinting down the street in pursuit of Yaoyorozu, scarf trailing behind him.

“Shit,” Oda hissed once the worst of the shock subsided, his breath coming shallow and uneven. “How the hell did he…?”

“There’s a device on the top of the vault,” Todoroki said from above, craning his neck to look down. “Looks like something Kaminari might use.” He paused. “Midoriya wasn’t wrong about electricity being a bad match for you.”

“Wonderful observation skills there, Icy-hot,” Oda shot back weakly. He could barely breathe with the weight crushing his chest, every inhale shallow and painful, and every attempt to move even slightly made the device on top hum ominously. “I was really trying to get out of summer school.”

“Now that I think about it,” Todoroki murmured, his voice quieter, more distant, “she looked like she had something she wanted to say.”

The words hung between them, heavy with realization, as Oda lay trapped beneath steel and Todoroki dangled helplessly above, both of them suddenly aware of just how badly their plan had failed.

“Todoroki! Edogawa!”

Yaoyorozu’s voice cut through the street, breathless and sharp with panic as it carried down between the houses. Her heels scraped against the pavement as she ran back toward them.

“Yaoyorozu!” Todoroki snapped, twisting against the restraint that still held him suspended.

“I’m sorry I came back! I couldn’t—”

“Hey! Watch it! Mr. Aizawa’s coming!” Todoroki warned, his eyes flicking sharply past her.

Oda turned his head as much as he could from beneath the vault, straining to see. A few blocks down the street, Aizawa was already moving again, running along the overhead power cords with smooth efficiency as he closed the distance.

Yaoyorozu froze in the middle of the street.

For a moment she looked utterly lost, her wide eyes darting between the approaching teacher and the two boys trapped and immobilized in front of her, her hands clenched so tightly at her sides that her knuckles had gone white. She looked like she was standing at a crossroads with no signposts, unable to decide whether to run, fight, or simply give up. 

“Yaoyorozu,” Todoroki started, “you’ve got a plan, don’t you?” He swallowed, jaw tightening. “Sorry, I should have asked before and not just told you guys what to do. But you have an idea, right?”

Her shoulders sagged as if the question alone had drained her.

“Your plan didn’t work so there’s no way mine will be any good,” she said quietly, her confidence crumbling in on itself. “We’re going to fail.”

“Just spit it out,” Oda said, forcing the words through clenched teeth as the vault dug mercilessly into his ribs. “You’re better at this kind of stuff anyway.”

“Edogawa’s right,” Todoroki added immediately. “When we were voting for class rep, you had two votes, remember? One of those votes was mine. Because I thought you would be best at leading our class.”

Yaoyorozu stared at him.

The words hit her and for a second she looked genuinely stunned, like the thought had never even occurred to her. Her lips parted slightly, eyes shining with something dangerously close to tears, but there was no time to linger on it.

Aizawa was almost on top of them now.

“Giving up?” he asked coolly from above, already dropping down toward the street.

“Not yet.”

Yaoyorozu moved.

She reached into her belt and hurled the small Russian nesting dolls up into the air, her movements sudden. “Boys, close your eyes.”

Neither Oda nor Todoroki questioned her. Todoroki squeezed his eyes shut instantly, and Oda followed a heartbeat later.

A blinding flash detonated behind Oda’s eyelids, even through the darkness, bright enough to leave ghostly white shapes swimming across his vision. Flash grenades. Of course. The realization came with a jolt of impressed disbelief. Smart. Perfectly chosen against someone whose quirk depended entirely on line of sight.

“You’re right,” Yaoyorozu said, her voice steadier now, firmer as she sprinted toward Oda. “I have an idea.”

She knelt by the vault and flipped the device mounted on top with practiced precision. The hum cut out instantly, and the oppressive pressure on Oda’s chest vanished as his quirk surged back to life like a floodgate opening.

Red light flared around him as he shoved the vault off with a sharp grunt, rolling to his side and sucking in a deep, shaky breath that burned all the way down.

“A plan for us to win,” Yaoyorozu continued, already moving again.

She grabbed Aizawa’s scarf where it held Todoroki and worked quickly, fingers flying as she untied the knot and guided Todoroki safely back down to the ground.

“This final exam isn’t over,” she said, standing between them now, back straight, chin lifted. “We can still beat Mr. Aizawa.”

Aizawa landed a few steps away, one hand raised to his face as he rubbed at his eyes, blinking away the lingering effects of the flash.

“So you’ve got a strategy,” Todoroki breathed, something like relief slipping into his voice.

“Yes,” Yaoyorozu replied without hesitation. “I’ve been thinking about it from the beginning.”

“Then you should have told the hot-shot off,” Oda muttered, gesturing vaguely at Todoroki as he pushed himself fully upright, still breathing hard.

“Just tell us what to do,” Todoroki said, pointedly ignoring him.

Yaoyorozu looked between them, resolve settling fully into place at last,

They barely had time to register the shift in momentum before Aizawa’s capture scarf lashed out again, snapping through the air like a living thing. Oda reacted first, grabbing Yaoyorozu by the wrist and yanking her sideways as Todoroki twisted out of reach, the fabric missing them by inches and cracking against a lamppost hard enough to dent the metal.

“Move!” Todoroki barked, and they didn’t need to be told twice.

They took off down the street, shoes pounding against pavement as the artificial neighborhood blurred past them. Houses with identical windows and pristine lawns rushed by, none of it real. Oda could feel the echo of electricity still buzzing under his skin from earlier, his organs aching dully with every step, but adrenaline kept him upright and moving.

“Since he was injured, his quirk has become unstable,” Yaoyorozu said as they ran, breath controlled despite the pace.

“Because of the USJ?” Oda asked, glancing back over his shoulder just long enough to see Aizawa vault effortlessly from one power line to the next.

“So, we’re going to exploit that,” Todoroki finished, understanding dawning in his voice.

“Not yet,” Yaoyorozu said firmly. “For now we just need to get out of his field of vision. It’s all a matter of timing. We’re going to pass this final.”

“Time?” Todoroki echoed, frustration creeping in. “How is getting out of his sight gonna help us with that? He can still take our quirks whenever he sees us.”

“Just keep checking to see if you can use your ice power, okay?” Yaoyorozu requested, cutting a sharp turn between two houses. “He’s wrong to think he’ll be able to keep our powers erased the whole time. There will definitely be a single moment… a brief interval when Mr. Aizawa blinks before he can use his quirk again. And we’ll be counting on you, Todoroki, to attack just like you did at the sports festival. A giant ice wall.”

Oda felt his chest tighten at that. He knew exactly what kind of attack she meant, the overwhelming kind that didn’t give an opponent time to think or adjust, the kind that forced a reaction whether they wanted to give one or not.

And the moment couldn’t come sooner.

Aizawa closed the distance with terrifying speed, his scarf whipping forward again, aiming straight for Todoroki. Oda’s breath caught as Todoroki’s right arm suddenly prickled with cold, frost crawling over his skin like a living thing.

Ice.

The instant it appeared, Todoroki spun on his heel and slammed his right foot into the ground. The street erupted as a massive wall of ice surged upward, jagged and towering, cutting off Aizawa’s line of sight in a violent, crystalline explosion.

“I blocked him with the wall the moment my quirk came back,” Todoroki said quickly as they ducked behind it, chest heaving. “We can use our powers again. Can you tell us the rest of your plan now?”

He lit a small flame on his left side, steam hissing as it melted the creeping frost along his arm, but before he could turn fully—

Oda slapped a hand over Todoroki’s face and physically turned him the other way.

“Don’t,” Oda muttered sharply.

Todoroki blinked in confusion, but then Yaoyorozu shifted behind them, her uniform open as components formed from her skin. Oda very deliberately kept his gaze fixed on the opposite wall, jaw tight, acutely aware of the care she was taking and determined to return it.

Yaoyorozu worked quickly, metal and fabric knitting themselves together with precise efficiency, until something long and familiar took shape in her hands.

“Is that Aizawa’s scarf you’re making?” Oda asked, still not looking.

“It is,” Yaoyorozu replied, her voice steady and focused. She clearly noticed what Oda was doing and didn’t comment on it. “I don’t know the material it’s made of or precisely how it’s constructed, so it’s not exactly the same. But I created my own version with a special material woven into it. Since this is a residential area, we must keep collateral damage to a minimum. And he moves his own restraining bonds so quickly. It makes it difficult to catch him. So you see, here is my plan.”

Yaoyorozu reached out and lightly touched Oda’s arm, a careful, deliberate gesture meant to signal that she was finished forming objects and that it was safe for him to look again. 

Oda turned back toward her, eyes immediately taking in the scene she had created.

In front of them sat a compact catapult mounted on reinforced wheels, its frame sturdy but lightweight. Resting inside the launch cradle was the capture scarf she had just created, coiled and ready, its material faintly reflective.

Nearby lay two folded tarps, thick and dull-colored to blend into the environment, and beside them were two human-shaped dummies, weighted just enough to convincingly mimic the resistance of real bodies when grabbed or restrained.

“The escape gate is behind Mr. Aizawa so we need to get past him,” Yaoyorozu explained, “If we sneak out there under tarps he won’t see us, and won’t be able to erase our quirks. Of course, we won’t be able to see him, so he’ll likely capture us immediately. Unless what he captures isn’t our physical bodies. Once we’re close to him, I can launch the scarf and as long as Todoroki stayed under a tarp, Mr. Aizawa won’t be able to see him. He can use his flames without Aizawa canceling his quirk in time.”

Oda listened closely, gaze flicking between the objects and Yaoyorozu’s face, mentally running the scenario forward and backward, stress-testing it the way Ranpo had taught him to do since childhood. 

“Why do we need fire?” Oda asked.

“The scarf I made is created with Nitinol alloy,” Yaoyorozu replied without hesitation. “When heated, it returns to its natural state in an instant. This nitinol’s natural form is a coil, so if we throw it right and heat it at the right time…”

“We can capture him,” Oda finished quietly, something like reluctant admiration slipping into his voice despite himself. He exhaled through his nose and gave a short nod. “Kinda genius. What do you need me for?”

“Holding the dummies up with your quirk,” Yaoyorozu said evenly, meeting his eyes without flinching. “You’re also the strongest of us so it makes sense you push the catapult.”

Oda blinked at that, genuinely caught off guard, and one eyebrow lifted before he could stop it. “How’d you figure that out?”

“When Mr. Aizawa threw a vault at you and you didn’t flinch,” Yaoyorozu stated matter-of-factly. “You also had absolutely no issues holding Bakugo up during the cavalry battles. During replays, you didn’t even stumble while catching him. Someone your height and stature would usually be knocked to the ground.”

“Huh,” Todoroki muttered, glancing sideways at Oda with faint surprise. “I didn’t even notice.”

“Remind me why we let you make decisions again?” Oda scoffed at him, though there was no real heat behind it, just a reflexive jab to cover the fact that he’d been seen more clearly than he was comfortable with.

Yaoyorozu turned to Todoroki, expression serious now, all hesitation burned away by necessity. “What do you think, Todoroki? I believe this has the highest chance of success. Or, at least, it’s better than trying to run. We’ll only get one chance, so is this alright with you?”

Todoroki didn’t hesitate. He looked at the plan, at Oda, then back at Yaoyorozu, and nodded once. “Yeah, no complaints here.”

Oda followed suit, pushing down the ache in his ribs and the warning twinges in his organs, committing himself fully despite knowing the cost. “Let’s do it.”

And they did.

They circled wide around the ice wall, feet careful against the cracked pavement as Yaoyorozu had instructed, and the moment they were clear of Aizawa’s last known line of sight they moved in silence. 

The tarps came up and over them in one smooth motion, heavy fabric swallowing their silhouettes as Oda extended his quirk just enough to suspend the dummies beneath the cloth, making them convincing, human-shaped targets. The strain was familiar and unpleasant, a tight pressure blooming behind his ribs, but he grit his teeth and held steady as the dummies hovered just above the ground.

Under the same tarp Yaoyorozu occupied, Oda leaned his shoulder into the catapult and began to push, muscles in his legs and back doing most of the work so he wouldn’t have to lean too heavily on his quirk. The wheels creaked softly as they rolled forward, the whole contraption hidden beneath fabric and shadow. 

A few feet away, Todoroki moved under his own tarp, silent and controlled, keeping his breathing even as if they weren’t seconds away from being caught.

Yaoyorozu had been right.

Aizawa’s capture scarf snapped out of the air with lethal precision, wrapping around the dummies and yanking hard. The sudden force ripped the tarp free from the catapult, fabric snapping away and fluttering uselessly to the ground. The dummies were dragged forward, lifeless and unresisting, exactly as planned.

The moment the tarp cleared from Oda and Yaoyorozu—but not from Todoroki—everything accelerated.

Yaoyorozu lunged for the lever, fingers stretching, her first grab missing as Aizawa kicked off the ground and vaulted backward, eyes sharp and already tracking her movement. Her heart jumped into her throat, but she didn’t freeze. She adjusted, grabbed again, and this time her hand closed around the handle.

She yanked.

The catapult snapped forward with a violent creak and release, her version of the capture scarf launching into the air in a smooth, arcing trajectory. The metal glinted briefly as it flew, just before Yaoyorozu shouted, voice cutting through the chaos.

“Todoroki! Blast your flames! Now!”

From beneath the second tarp, fire erupted.

Todoroki’s flames surged upward in a controlled burst, striking the scarf mid-flight as it began to fall. Heat rippled through the air, and Oda felt it even from where he stood, the sudden temperature shift prickling against his skin. The scarf reacted instantly, the Nitinol alloy remembering what it was meant to be.

“I’m not sure we have a chance at beating you in a full battle, Mr. Aizawa,” Yaoyorozu said, her voice steady despite the adrenaline screaming through her veins. “But that’s okay. Tell me something, have you ever heard of Nitinol alloy? It’s a metal with shape memory!”

The scarf curled in on itself as if alive, tightening and coiling with perfect precision around Aizawa’s torso and arms before he could fully evade. The heat-triggered alloy snapped into its natural shape, binding him fast and pinning his capture scarf uselessly against his body.

Aizawa stiffened for a fraction of a second before letting out a low, amused sound.

“Well isn’t that impressive,” Mr. Aizawa let out.

For the first time since the exam had begun, he was defenseless.

Oda didn’t waste the opportunity.

He moved forward immediately, every step measured despite the ache screaming through his core, and dropped to one knee just long enough to clamp the handcuffs around their teacher’s wrists. The metal clicked shut with a final, unmistakable sound.

A heartbeat later, the buzzer rang out across the training ground.

“Team Todoroki, Yaoyorozu and Edogawa have passed the final exam!”

END / VOLUME ONE
𝐈𝐓’𝐒 𝐍𝐎𝐓 𝐌𝐘 𝐅𝐀𝐔𝐋𝐓