My Hero Academia: Thunder God

"Alright, I'm going to find Todoroki. What about you, Kyoka?"

Seeing that Tetsutetsu and Kirishima had passed their exam without any real danger, Kaminari was in a good mood. He turned to his girlfriend, who stood beside him. As for Asui and Tokoyami's upcoming test, he wasn't particularly interested.

It wasn't that he didn't care about his classmates, but his own upcoming exam demanded his full attention. After all, his opponent was someone extraordinary, someone he had to take seriously.

"If Cementoss is that strong… just how terrifying is All Might?" Kaminari thought.

"I want to watch a few more exams," Kyoka sighed. "And… I'm hoping we get the forest arena."

"Got it."

Kaminari nodded, secretly feeling that Kyoka had drawn the short end of the stick by being paired with Koda, the most passive and low-profile student in their class.

Click.

Midoriya watched as Kaminari left the surveillance room, closing the door behind him. He murmured softly, "Kaminari and Todoroki are probably under the most pressure out of all of us. After all… their opponent is All Might."

As a lifelong All Might fan, Midoriya couldn't even begin to imagine what it would be like to go up against him.

Because to him, All Might was invincible.

"If it were me… I'd probably choose to run away immediately. After all, fighting head-on is impossible."

In the original timeline, when Midoriya had faced All Might in this exact exam, running had been his first instinct too. It wasn't until he saw Bakugo's fearless determination that he found the courage to fight back.

All Might's influence on him was just that overwhelming.

"It's fine! Kaminari will figure something out, he's the strongest!" Kyoka declared confidently.

"Asui Tsuyu, Tokoyami Fumikage—practical exam, ready-go!"

As Kaminari walked down the corridor of the central building, he heard the broadcast announcement in the distance. Looking in that direction, he thought to himself, An indoor battlefield… I really wonder what Ectoplasm's Quirk is truly capable of.

But he quickly suppressed his curiosity. He had more pressing matters to focus on.

Although he and Todoroki hadn't agreed on a specific meeting place, Kaminari had a pretty good guess of where he'd be.

Sure enough, outside one of the break rooms, he spotted Todoroki sitting at a plastic table near a vending machine, silently drinking from a bottle of orange juice.

That's right—Shoto Todoroki, the genius of Class 1-A, loved orange juice.

And according to Kaminari's random but extensive observations, Todoroki specifically preferred the canned version, not the freshly squeezed kind.

How did he know this? Simple. In all the time they'd spent together, he had never once seen Todoroki drink fresh juice from the cafeteria. Instead, he always bought it from a vending machine.

"You're here."

Todoroki acknowledged him calmly, showing no signs of impatience despite presumably waiting for some time.

"Yep. I just watched a hell of a match and learned a lot about how strong these teachers really are!"

Kaminari dragged over a plastic chair and sat across from Todoroki with a grin. "Aren't you curious?"

Todoroki took a slow sip of his juice before replying, "Since I was born, I've been trained by a man who's far stronger than the Cementoss you just saw."

His voice remained neutral, but his eyes flickered, just for a moment.

"I see. Do you need me to comfort you?" Kaminari asked, instantly understanding what Todoroki meant. He sighed internally, thinking, Man, this guy really had a rough childhood.

Todoroki ignored the comment and instead asked, "What's your plan against All Might?"

"Uh… I have some ideas. But I'm guessing you do too, so how about we share?" Kaminari offered with a smirk.

"Alright," Todoroki nodded. Then, after a brief pause, he said a single word.

"Run."

Kaminari blinked. "Fight."

The air between them froze.

Neither of them had expected the other to have the exact opposite strategy.

"Wait… you don't want to fight at all?" Kaminari asked, genuinely puzzled. "Didn't you see how the teachers are holding back? They aren't using their full power, and they're giving us ways to win."

Todoroki's expression darkened slightly. "Have you ever fought All Might before?"

Kaminari hesitated. "Well… no. Have you?"

Todoroki's gaze sharpened. "Yes."

Kaminari sat up straighter. "Wait—when?! What happened? Actually, never mind that—how long did you last?"

Todoroki sighed, recalling the memory. "One second… maybe not even that."

"When was this?" Kaminari asked.

"You remember the second time we went to USJ for combat training after the villain attack?" Todoroki explained. "All Might pretended to be a villain for that exercise."

"Ohhh, yeah! At the time, we thought an actual villain was hiding in USJ!"

Kaminari nodded, remembering it clearly.

"The enemy was too strong for any of us to handle alone, so we all worked together to beat him," Kaminari continued. "Midoriya had an insane performance, if it weren't for his plan, we wouldn't have been able to use Mineta's 'Grape Rush' to pin All Might down."

But as he spoke, something clicked in his mind. He turned to Todoroki.

"Wait. That's when you fought All Might? I remember wondering why you weren't there. So you got taken out before the rest of us even had a chance to fight?"

Todoroki nodded. "Yes. I was eliminated instantly."

Kaminari whistled. "Damn. That sucks."

"It wasn't even a fight," Todoroki admitted. "I didn't even have time to create an ice wall, let alone one of my larger icebergs."

Finally, he looked Kaminari directly in the eye.

"That's why we need to run. Because All Might will be holding back. And because I'm much stronger now. I'm telling you, our best shot is to make a break for it."

"Me? Run?!" Kaminari repeated in shock.

"Yes. I'll block All Might with an ice wall while you sprint for the finish line. With your speed, you can get there in under thirty seconds."

Kaminari frowned. "And you really think you can hold All Might off for half a minute?"

Todoroki clenched his fists, his expression hardening.

"If necessary, I'll use my flames."

His eyes burned with determination.

"The same fire I used when we fought at the Sports Festival… and this time, I won't hesitate."

***

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