Entering UA

Finishing with my dynamic and static stretching, I look at my five other competitors whose eyes were locked onto the figure of Uncle Hizashi. These were supposedly the best of the best. Ones who've achieved top marks in their middle schools and are looked at as the best possible heroes in our modern generation.

But I can't help but dispute that idea, since everyone in my group seemed to have some sort of reputable background and they had only paved their way to the recommendation entrance exam with money or fame alone.

If I had to guess, some of them had even failed the easy written test that we'd taken just before.

And now, we were set to run through a three-kilometer obstacle course where we were given the option to use our quirks.

'Man, how glad I am to have a physical quirk that can let me rush through with ease.' I roll my eyes.

"ON YOUR MARKS!!!"

Startled by Uncle Hizashi's voice suddenly booming in my ears, I hurriedly position myself at the starting line of the obstacle course.

"GET SET!!!"

Releasing a drawn-out breath, I physically feel as my body tenses.

"GOOOO!!!!!"

Blasting off from the starting line, I have a quick and early lead, but I'm quickly passed by two other contestants whose quirks work well in this sort of situation. As I continue running, a smile forms on my face. After all, unlike all the students participating, I've seen, used, and familiarized myself with everything UA had to offer, including their facilities which held obstacles like the ones here.

Having the race pass by in a moment, one other of my contestants had managed to pass me, finally believing the fact that they could use their quirk for this race.

Huffing at the finish line and feeling like I was about to puke, Uncle Hizashi calls out my time of 8:27.

'Not bad, only thirty seconds off of my best 3 kilometer run without obstacles.' I smile to myself, laying myself down into the grass beside the course.

After recovering from the run, the six of us are taken to the side.

Proceeding onto the final part of the recommendation entrance exam… the interview.

Once I was called into the room, my eyes fall onto the dog, mouse, bear thing that store at me with its beady eyes. Hopping down from his chair, the chimera scurries over to me, a smile blooming on his face.

"It's so good to see you again Kou. A familiar face certainly freshens up my day."

Unable to stop myself from smiling, I return his greeting, "A pleasure once again Nezu… or should I call you Mr. Principal now?"

Holding up his tiny paw, Nezu stops me, "Now, now, let's not get ahead of ourselves Kou. I still haven't accepted you into my school after all."

"I'm sure you haven't." I deadpan.

Waddling back to his chair, Nezu sits down and sips his coffee, "It's true. I haven't."

"Well, what do you want to know that Shota or I haven't already told you?"

"Why do you want to become a symbol for those with villainous quirks?"

As I go answer Nezu's question, I find myself stumped. I wanted to prove to the public that we shouldn't judge quirks by their label as either villainous or heroic, but what was my reason for doing such. After thinking about it, I gave a small, sad laugh.

"So that no one has to go through the same experience I did."

"And what experience would that be?" Nezu presses.

"The one where your own family turns their back on you simply because of the quirk that you awakened. The one where everyone changes the way they act around you as if they were now stepping on broken glass when just moments before they'd been on solid concrete. The one where people might simply hate you for no reason."

"...That'll be all then Kou. You'll receive word through Aizawa when I've made a decision."

Nodding, I let myself out of the room and head back.

Unsurprisingly, I had been accepted into UA and now, I was forced to wait even longer before school actually began. It would be the first time I'd be interacting with peers my age, making me both excited and anxious. Luckily, Shota made the time pass in a flash by making me do even more inhumane training… yay…

And now, as springtime hit in full force, I made my way through the halls I've become over familiarized with in the past two years. Though this time, I had extra baggage to carry.

Standing in front of the overly large class 1-A door, my package reaches out a hand and slides the door open.

"If you're going to hunting for buddies, do it elsewhere. This is the department…" Shota slurps his squeezy, "…Of heroics!!"

Dropping Shota from my shoulder, I place him down and he quickly frees himself from his sleeping bag prison.

"Hmm, it took you lot 8 seconds to quiet down. Life is short, kids. You're lacking in common sense."

"So, he must be a Pro Hero, too, huh…?" A kid with green hair stated.

"I'm your homeroom teacher, Aizawa Shota, pleasure meeting you." Reaching into the sleeping bag he'd released himself from, he pulled out a uniform. "Wear these immediately and then shove off to the P.E. grounds."

Quickly dispersing, we met on the P.E. grounds where Shota told us we'd be having a Quirk Apprehension Test.

We'd be doing a softball pitch, standing long jump, 50-meter dash, endurance running, grip strength test, sustained sideways jumps, upper body exercises, and seated toe touches.

Though unlike the tests that this group had gone through in middle school, they could now use their quirks. Meaning, I was once again useless. Calling forward the kid with the greatest number of points during the entrance exam.

With a measly 67 meters as his original softball pitch in middle school, he steps up to pitch and screams, "DIIIIEE!"

Having my hair blown back by the shockwave, his distance of 705.2m easily breaks my record.

Looking out into the distance with dead eyes, I'm broken from my depression when Shota turns on his 'scary-mode'.

With the top half of his face covered in shadow, he states, "It looks fun… you say? So, you were planning to spend your three years here having a good ol' time? What happened to becoming heroes. All right then, in that case, new rule: The student who ranks last in total points will be judged 'hopeless' and instantly expelled."

I had fully expected to be the student who got the lowest rank in this quirk apprehension test, but when I look at the baby with balls growing from his head and the girl who's quirk literally only made her invisible, I calmed down.

And sure enough, I didn't rank the lowest in the test. In fact, I was middle of the pack, even winning out against those who had quirks which could assist them. The most surprising result though, was the fact that the kid with the green hair, who had an extremely powerful and destructive quirk, came in last. On the other hand, he had managed to impress Shota, so he didn't have to experience 'death' and then get reenrolled a week later.

As Shota showed the results, the kid with glasses and boosters turned to me and pointed.

"You're a student?!"

Both Shota and I gave him the strangest look and answered, "Yes!"

"What did you think I was?"

"Well, since you were carrying our teacher, I thought you were an assistant of some sort. I meant no offense." He lowered himself into a perfect 90-degree bow.

"It's fine." I try to help him stand. "I was only doing that as a part of my training."

"But why would Aizawa-sensei help you with training this early into the year?" A girl with extreme similarities to a frog asked me.

"I'm Kou's legal guardian." Shota answers instead. "It's been my job to train him and his quirk."

"Wow… so you already have a lead on us when it comes to hero training, that's so manly." A guy with spiked red hair and red eyes 'praises'.

"Though, it would certainly explain your results during the examination… From what I could see, you didn't use your quirk a single time." A man with pale gray hair, six arms, and a blue mask covering his face stated.

"Wait, you didn't use your quirk a single time?!" A girl with pink skin and horns got right up in my face, "That's so cool!"

Taking a step back to preserve my personal space, I accidentally back up into someone. Whipping around, I look at the girl with long black hair tied back into a spiky ponytail.

"Sorry." I quickly bow almost exactly like how the kid with calf boosters had.

"It's fine," The girl faintly blushes in embarrassment, "I just wanted to ask why it is that you shot me such a strange look when I stated that Aizawa-sensei's expel threat was nothing but a ruse."

"Because it wasn't…" I started to sweat, "He expelled the entirety of a new class of first-graders last year."

The girl instantly turned shellshocked, "So, they never got the chance to become heroes?"

Quickly shaking my head, I add-on, "He reenrolled them a weak later. It was a plan to make those students experience 'death' so that they no longer had a half-assed chasing of a dream."

"I never thought of it that way."

"You learn something new every day." I tap my head, walking away to try and finish my first school day.

Now that things had calmed down, we'd finally moved onto the second day of school. Before noon, we had normal lessons for all the required subjects. At noon, we gathered at the grand mess hall and ate food prepared by simply the greatest man in all existence.

After eating his food for the last two years, I could certainly say that I was now a Lunch-Rush food addict. And finally, the afternoon period was our daily foundational heroic studies.

"IT'S MEEEE!"

With an energy like that of Uncle Hizashi, the symbol of peace came through the door of our class. Taking the podium at the very front, All Might took a pose.

"FOUNDATIONAL HERO STUDIES! FOR THIS CLASS, WE'LL BE BUILDING UP YOUR HERO FOUNDATION THROUGH VARIOUS TRIALS! LET'S JUMP RIGHT IN WITH THIS!!" He flashes a card that reads 'Battle', "THE TRIAL OF BATTLE!!"

Flashing his hands once more, the walls on the side of the classroom pop outwards and reveal cases which hold the gear we'd requested for that should match our quirks. Getting dressed, I laugh at how much I'd copied the hero suit of Shota.

With a slightly baggy black outfit that consist of a long-sleeved shirt and matching pants, there was also a utility belt and the infamous capture weapon that Shota had been kind enough to gift me with. To finish off the hero costume, there was a black mask which would cover my nose and mouth. Even if this costume wasn't flashy and didn't necessarily benefit my quirk directly, it was comfortable and easy to move in. There were also more parts to this costume, but that equipment was either held by me personally or wasn't to be used against fellow students.

As I look over the costumes of my fellow classmates, a few concerns immediately came to mind. Especially about the girl who was invisible and the girl with the spiky ponytail. After all, isn't their costume just straight exhibitionism.

And trust me, I've seen some serious exhibitionism.

Though, some costumers were questionable in design. The kid with green hair was ripping off All Might. The baby with balls on his head was now wearing a diaper. And the girl with pink hair looked like she belonged in the 70s.

"THIS WILL BE AN INDOOR BATLE TRIAL!" All Might yells out before then explaining, "Villain cleanup is usually seen out in the open, but statistically, the better part of it is an indoor job! Most acts of villainy are committed indoors. Imprisonment… House Arrest… The Black Market…"

Coughing into his hand, All Might continues, "Any villain with intelligence is lurking in the shadows!! For this test, you'll separate into "Villain" and "Hero" groups! For a two-on-two team battle!!"

"What about the foundational training?" The frog girl asks.

"This IS foundational training! Only this time, there won't be any robots it'd be okay to just destroy!"

All of us from the recommendation entrance exam raise an eyebrow.

"For this training, we'll have some 'villains' guard a nuclear weapon they intend on deploying! The heroes must stop them and their nefarious schemes before it's too late! If the heroes capture the villains or reach the nuclear core before the tine runs out, they win. If the villains manage to keep the core the whole time or capture the heroes, they win."

All Might then pulls out a box.

"Your teammates and opponents will be chosen by lottery!"

As we start to draw lots, All Might shakes the box a lot more before I can put my hand in.

"You trying to change results or something All Might." I give a suspicious stare.

"Of course not…" He sweats, realizing he was too obvious about it.

Pulling my lot and waiting till the end, I find myself paired with the invisible girl.

"Let's get along well."

She takes my outstretched hand, "Let's do our best together."

"And The First Two Pairs To Do Combat Will Be The Following! Pair A Will Be Heroes! Pair D Will Be Villains!"

"This oughta be interesting…"

"And why's that?" The now named Hagakure Toru asks.

"Well, those two," I point at the green, overanalytical child and the ill-mannered teen, "Seem to have bad blood with one another… so, let's see how they'll fight one another…"