Trust the fall (on hold)

An impending feeling

1A, excluding Bakugo, Todoroki, and somewhat surprisingly Kirishima and Kaminari, were all huddled together. Bakugo, Kirishima and Kaminari had left together, much to the spiky Blonde's mirth. Todoroki had left in his own, but Izuku didn't worry for him. He believed in everyone who had left, and everyone who had stayed.

More importantly, they now needed to defend themselves until an opening appeared. Ball's and Quirk's alike were being hurled at them, and quickly repelled or dodged. But, it wouldn't last forever. As good as Izuku believed his classmates were, eventually one of them would falter, and then they'd all be on the back foot.

So, he listened, and watched.

There.

One group of students from another class had left an opening in the perimeter around the remaining member of class 1A. Izuku pointed it out to Jiro, who in turn blasted out a specific sequence to the rest of the class. They all turned to see where Izuku was pointing, then with some in the back to prevent any stray shots, they pushed for the opening.

The plan was simple, wait for a break in the enemies formation then outmanoeuvre and take them down. They broke through, then turned on the enemy. For the first time in a long time, a somewhat sadistic grin spread across Izuku's face.

Oh how he loved outwitting an opponent.

They now threw some traps made by Yaoyorozu, capturing some of the enemy and scattering the rest. Those who tried to fight or run were quickly caught in Mineta's sticky balls or taken down by Uraraka and Ojiro.

Izuku kept his ears and eyes open for any sneak attacks, and pointed the powerhouse of Sato to deal with them.

Eventually, even with all their planning, they were once again surrounded.

Good.

It was time to unleash their new Disco ball. With a long rope provided once again by Yaoyorozu, Aoyama was sent into the air, the rope being held by Uraraka, who had used her quirk on Aoyama.

He lined himself up, then released a torrent of laser blasts, scattering the enemy. The class then moved in again, Aoyama being pulled back down. They took out enough of the disoriented enemy for them all to pass. The 16 of them were in the 100 who would be moving on to the next round.

When they arrived at the waiting room, they found Bakugo's group and Todoroki. Todoroki had apparently had another slight run in with the student from before, Inasa. He informed Izuku that he had some sort of wind quirk. After that, the boy didn't want to talk more, and Izuku thought it wasn't the time to push.

Kacchan was grumpy because they'd won too easily. Thanks to some training with Izuku to improve his senses, Bakugo noticed an attack that would've hit him otherwise and took down the perpetrator and some other surrounding opponents to pass. Underneath the mask of anger, Izuku saw slightly relief. He knew the boy would never admit it, but he was happy to pass, at least the first part.

Soon after, then quota for 100 examinees passing had been met. They had small break to rest, and Izuku was definitely going to use it. They didn't know what would be next, so they had to be prepared for anything.

Then, he felt it again. His eyes met the blonde haired girl again, and in that moment, his fight or flight kicked in. He remembered seeing her on the battlefield, but she appeared to be simply avoiding the fighting.

But her presence, it felt so similar to... someone in the league. Whoever it was, he hadn't been alone with them long enough, so it definitely wasn't Shigaraki.

Maybe this girl was a member, or a kid of one of them. Or maybe she just had a weird quirk that was malfunctioning slightly, or even not. Maybe she was deliberately targeting him with some sort of quirk that makes the target feel on edge.

It seemed unlikely, but the other option was almost too terrifying to think about.

He couldn't tell anyone, just in case it was a paranoid reaction. He didn't want them thinking he wasn't ready for the rest of the exam. He needed to be here, to pass.

So, once again, he ignored his gut instinct.
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Finally, it was time for the second round to begin. A screen in front of them blared to life, and the tired voice from before could he heard. "You'll be practicing rescue training for the second round. Professional victims, the HUC, will be in the destroyed city you see before you. You must keep them safe and keep them calm." More was said, but Izuku was finding it harder and harder to concentrate. The city, it looked just like Kamino. It was like a buzzing in his brain, as he tried to keep calm while the image in front of him was a reminder of the worst day of his life. Of the day he was forcefully given a quirk, of the last day of the symbol of peace.

His erratic thoughts were interrupted by a firm hand on his shoulder. He turned, slowing his breathing slightly, seeing Bakugo. His face held a look of concern, and Izuku sent him a shaky smile to try and ease his worries.

It didn't matter how he felt, he needed to do this. To prove he was still worthy.

The wall next to them opened up again, revealing the city scape from before. He managed to keep himself calm enough this time, but the continuous presence of that girl certainly wasn't helping.

He shook it off, following the rest of his classmates and the other competitors out onto the scene before them. He quickly let himself fall into analytical mode, pushing any other feelings away for the moment. "Jiro, Shoji, you should act as scouts, tell the others were possible victims may be. Sato, Kirishima, you 2 take care of clearing debris so others can access the injured. Todoroki, Yaoyorozu, you 2 should help to keep the areas as stable as you can, we definitely don't want any falling debris to hurt any HUC members. The rest of you can defend the base that will be set up, or actually go rescue the trapped people. Bakugo, I strongly recommend you focus on defending the medical station." Izuku sent the boy a small glare. In return he gave off a small growl, but didn't disagree.

Izuku seemed to release he'd just ordered his whole class around. "Obviously, if anyone thinks of a better plan, I'm all ears." When no one seemed angry or upset, and when most of his classmates seemed to nod along with his plan, he let his embarrassment fade slightly.

Maybe everything would be fine after all.

You would think that after everything that's happened to him, Izuku would be slightly less naive.