Part of an art-fic exchange with Mimiistar on Tumblr.

This turned into a multichapter fic against my will. But Monoma was too much fun to write, and I deeply enjoy writing his interactions with Kendou. Not sure how long it's gonna be overall, but I do have it fairly well outlined out, so I should be able to get updates out relatively quickly.

Enjoy.

Monoma stared deeply into Kendou's narrowed eyes, forcing an approximation of nonchalance into his expression. "I think your arm's starting to shake, Kendou. And you're looking a little flushed," he observed. "Are you really having such a difficult time against me?"

She scoffed at him, long wise to his favorite tactic of goading his opponents into reaching beyond their abilities. "We're arm wrestling, Monoma. You're not looking any better." Kendou leaned heavily into their clasped hands - both enlarged to their fullest. Her classmate's expression didn't change, but she felt him throw his weight behind his arm as well to counter her. An errant strand of sweat soaked hair suddenly fell into her eyes. She blinked rapidly against the stinging sensation, and then huffed and blew on the strand - only for it to flop back into her eyes again.

Her opponent's widening smirk gave her a second wind, and she began to force his hand closer to the surface of the rock they were braced against.

She almost had him pinned when a short beeping sound filled the air, and she swiftly released his hand as it suddenly resumed its original size - narrowly avoiding slamming it against the rock.

Monoma looked at the timer beside them with distaste. "So five minutes and ten seconds is still my limit, then." He shook out his hand, flexing the joints.

"That's better than it was during the sports festival, though," Kendou reminded him. Taking the opportunity presented to her, she safely tucked away the misbehaving strand of hair. "And it's not like you're a slouch when it comes to basic muscle training needed to hold your own against augmentation quirks."

He waved off her words, but it was half-hearted. "I think I've recharged enough - ready to go again?" Monoma asked, resetting the timer.

"Sure," she agreed. "Other hands this time?" Propping her elbow on the stone, she grinned at him and activated her quirk.

Rolling his eyes, he tapped the back of his hand against hers. Once he was settled, he placed his gargantuan hand in hers. "Ready..."

"Alright, time to pack it in!" Blood King's voice echoed across the training field, amplified by the speaker system to reach even the noisiest of his students with ease.

The pair sighed heavily at the sound of their homeroom teacher's voice. Reluctantly, they released their grip on each other - their hands coming away with red marks from where they'd both exercised perhaps a bit more force than strictly necessary against the other.

They stood and stretched as Blood King continued his announcement.

"You've done great work so far! I've seen a lot of improvement from all of you. But that doesn't mean you're free, even if Class is over for the day!" A collective groan arose from the exhausted teenagers in the training grounds, but the majority obediently plodded and tottered to the exit. "You all want that provisional license ahead of Class A, right? So be sure to reflect tonight on what you can do to expand on your quirks and fighting style. Don't forget your homework, too! Neglecting your minds would be a crime!"

"The real crime is how the teachers expect us to get through all the homework after this brutal training," Monoma muttered, mostly to himself and half on reflex. "Not that we can't handle it, but this is seriously excessive."

With a roll of her eyes, Kendou slapped his back with her quirk-enlarged hands. "I don't want to hear that from the only person that failed the end of term exam."

Monoma wheezed as the air was knocked from his lungs.

Her face paling, Kendou's hands abruptly shrunk to a more average size. "Sorry, Monoma!" she apologized. "Forgot for a second, there!"

Holding up his hand to forestall her, he hunched over, desperately trying to draw in air. "...Deserved that," he managed to squeeze out, his lungs still struggling to inflate. Once he was able to breathe again, he straightened up and fell into step with her as they left the training area. "You're spending too much time on your class rep duties with Class A's president. Picking up his weird habits, I see."

Kendou reddened. Rather tellingly, in Monoma's opinion.

"I am not!" she protested, emphasizing with large movements of her hands to convey the seriousness of her denial. "I think your obsession is messing with your head. Class A isn't the only one with its share of weirdos." The attempt at needling him was more amusing than insulting. Kendou tried, but she really wasn't any good at it. Probably because she was such a do-gooder (and Monoma was self-aware enough to know that he was made of more unpleasant stuff).

It was something of an unspoken agreement between the two of them - that Kendou would rein him in whenever he started to go too far. Monoma wasn't sure if it had been a conscious decision on either of their parts. It was more as if that was the roles they'd fallen into thanks to Monoma's complete and utter incapability to put the brakes on once his mouth had run away from him, and Kendou's apparent need to look after others. It was a comfortable enough arrangement for him. The last thing he wanted was to alienate his classmates; unlike Class A, who could rot.

To be honest, this was what made her an excellent class president and someone easy to get along with, even for someone as contrary as him.

But her embarrassment was too good to pass up.

Monoma's lips curved into a smirk. "So then the weird hand movements are of your own choosing now? Good to know."

She slapped his back again, though this time with a normal, human-sized hand. It was still hard enough to sting, but at least Monoma didn't have to worry about choking on his own spinal column this time. Clearing her throat, Kendou picked up the pace slightly. "Don't forget the group study session in the common area tonight. Since your remedial lessons were interrupted by villains last time, you need all the studying you can get."

"There was so little action where I was, the remedial lessons could have continued as normal," he quipped. "I'm sure the dunces from Class A were glad for the respite, though."

With a sigh and a shake of her head, Kendou waved a farewell at him before disappearing into the women's changing room.

He took zero offense at her lack of response, and headed towards the men's corresponding area.

Yet her final words bothered him. He really couldn't figure out why Kendou kept harping on him about studying.

...Especially when she already knew that it wasn't the written exam he had failed.