New Friends at the Entrance Exams

It had been ten months since the sludge incident and now it was the morning of the UA entrance exams.

The Bakugo brothers had been training all those months to put themselves in peak condition for both the written and the practical exams.

Now they were both standing in front of the campus gate. It was obvious to each other that they were both nervous. Haru was a little more introverted than usual and Katsuki had a little more glower to his expression this morning.

"Well..." Haru said, "Here we are."

Katsuki grunted wordlessly and enter the gates.

Haru sighed.

'Can you have a little sense of awe for once?'

"Stupid Deku."

Katsuki's words made him look up to see the familiar head of mossy green hair.

Iszuku turned around at Katsuki's voice, "Kacchan! Haru-chan!"

Haru smiled and gave a small wave, "Hey, Izu!"

Katuski ignored his brother's cheerful tone as he kept walking, his eyes angry as he passed a nervous Izuku, "Get out of my way now before I set you on fire."

Izuku jumped as he instinctively went into his compliant mode, "UH! Ohheygoodmornin! Um... letsjustdoourbestoutthereokaygoodluck!"

Haru suddenly smacked Katsuki's head, a smile still present on his face, "So nice to see you two getting along."

Katsuki growled and backhanded Haru's face. As the blow made contact, however, Haru's body suddenly lost shape as it was revealed to be a paper substitution.

"Easy on the face, Katsuki. I still need it, you know," Haru's voice whispered in the blonde ear.

Katsuki jerked away from the ticklish feeling he got as Haru laughed, pulling on his backpack straps. He loved teasing his brother.

Several students noticed them and some faint comments could be heard.

"Hey, I think those are the kids who stood up against the sludge villain."

"Their name's, Bakugo, right?"

"Yeah, they're they're the real deal."

"Look at them, they look like the complete opposite!"

"Do they even get along?"

Izuku watched as the two figures that had been such an impact on his life disappeared into the UA building.

'Come to think of it. Kacchan has been taking it easy on me since then.' He sighed. 'Guess I was just scared out of habit. I hope Haru-chan didn't get into any big fights with him about it.' He shook himself. 'But I'm not defenseless anymore. Yeah, I have to remember all the work I put in. Thanks to All Might and Haru-chan, I'm actually going to be a hero.'

He tripped over his feet and began his descent into a royal faceplant.

'Or I'll just die...'

He suddenly froze in midair as his body was suspended above the ground.

A brown-haired girl with rosy cheeks was standing next to him, her hand touching his backpack, "Are you okay," she asked him in a cheerful tone.

Izuku began panicking as he found himself unable to reconnect with the ground.

Several pieces of paper fluttered up and formed together to reveal Haru, "Thanks for catching him. I was too far away to do anything when I sensed it."

The girl smiled in return, as she helped Izuku stand up again and then press her fingers together, "No problem! I just stopped him with my Quirk, " she turned to Izuku, "I sorry I didn't ask first, but I didn't think you would mind me catching you."

Izuku could only stare at the girl as if he were smitten.

Completely oblivious to the impact she had made on the teen, the girl continued, "Isn't this all nerve-wracking?"

Haru watched in amusement as he watched Izuku struggle to answer, "Oh! Uh... I uh..."

The girl sent him another smile, as she walked off, waving, "Well! Guess I'll see you inside! Bye!"

Izuku remained frozen as the brunette lightly tripped up the steps and enter the main door.

"Holy whoa! I just talked to a girl!" he mumbled ecstatically.

Haru sweatdropped as Izuku gave a hysterical laugh.

'Ooooooookay...?'

The redhead suddenly smirked as he leaned in close to the nearly hysterical Izuku, "You, loooooove her~!" he awed silkily.

Izuku gave a small scream as his face blushed a deep red, "Hah? No! I just...!"

Haru sweatdropped, "Wow. I didn't realize that would set off a landmine," he patted his starstruck friend on the back, "Let's go. We got a test to take."

***

The written exams were finished and the students were now sitting in the school's auditorium waiting to receive instructions for the practical exam.

The lights in the auditorium flashed on as the well known Voice Hero, Present Mic, stood up on the stage.

"What's up UA candidates! Tune in to me, your school DJ! C'mon and let me hear yuh!"

He held a hand to his ear and was met by silence.

Haru slumped in his seat.

'Why do people not understand that high school students rarely play along with these interactive orientations?'

"Keeping it mellow, huh?" the hero raised his hands in a 'what can I do' gesture, "That's fine, I'll skip to the main show. Let's talk about how this practical exam is gonna go down, okay?" he did a dramatic pose as he screeched, "Are you ready?" He was again met by silence so he muttered a soft, 'yeah' for them.

Izuku was in his element as he began nerding out about the hero. "Oh my goodness, it's Voice Hero: Present Mic! So cool!" he practically squealed.

His words transitioned into high pitched mumbling that began distracting some of the other UA applicants.

Katsuki who was sitting next to the teen didn't bother looking at him as told him to shut up.

Haru, who was sitting on the opposite side of Katsuki, gave a fond smile.

"Like your application said," Present Mic continued, "Today, you rockin boys and girls will be out there conducting ten-minute mock battles in a super hip urban setting!"

The screen behind the blonde hero changed to show the students a large digital block, representing them, being split off into several smaller blocks listed from A to G to show how they were being grouped.

After giving them a moment to process the image, Present Mic started laying down the rules, "Gird your loins, my friends. After I drop the mic here, you'll head to your specified battle centers, sound good?"

Everyone looked at their attendance cards as checked which group they'd be in.

Haru looked at his card and learned he was part of Group G. Glancing at Katsuki's and saw he was in Group A.

"I see," he murmured, They're splitting us up so we cant work with any of our friends," he paused, "Or family."

Izuku glanced at his card which placed him in Group B and realized it was true, "Yeah. Our examinee numbers are one after the other, but we're assigned to different battle centers."

Katsuki glared at him, "Get your eyes off my card. Stupid Deku," he turned his scarlet eyes back to the screen, gritting his teeth, "Damn! I was really looking forward to crushing you."

Haru poked the ash-blonde cheek, causing Katsuki to swipe at him, "Don't make a scene, Katsuki."

"Ok, ok," Present Mic's voice made them all look up, as the screen revealed several robotic silhouettes for them to see "Let's check out your targets. There are three types of faux villains in every battle center. You'll earn points based on their level of difficulty, so better choose wisely. Your goal in this trial is to use your Quirk to raise the score by shredding those faux villains like a midsong guitar solo!"

Haru gave a small chuckle, "That's one way to put it."

Present Mic raised a finger warningly at everyone, "But check it! Make sure you're keeping things heroic. Attacking other examinees is a UA no-no, ya dig?"

"Excuse me sir but I have a question!" a dark-haired student with glasses stood up raising his hand.

Present Mic pointed at the teen, "Hit me!"

A small paper pellet bopped him on the forehead, much to the shock of the other students.

Katsuki looked at Haru from the corner of his eye.

Haru smiled apologetically, "Sorry," he mouthed.

Luckily no one else noticed their interaction as the Voice Hero burst out laughing, being the only other person who noticed who launched the projectile, "I didn't mean literally, but I like the gritty attitude shown there! I have high hope for the applicants this year," he looked back at the still-standing student, "Now back to your question."

The student nodded and pointed at the sheet that all the other students had also been given, "On the printout. You listed four types of villains, not three."

Haru levitated his own paper and realized it was true.

'He's right. Good job he pointed that out. Most people would have let that slide.'

"With all respect," the student continued, "If this is an error on official UA material, it is shameful. We are exemplary students. We expect the best from Japan's most notable school! A mistake such as this won't do!"

'Doesn't mince his words, this one.'

The student turned and pointed at Midoriya, "Additionally, you with the unkempt hair! You've been muttering this entire time! Stop that. If you can't bother to take this seriously, leave. You're distracting the rest of us."

Izukus hands flew to cover his mouth as he sank in his seat, "Sorry..."

"And you with the red hair!" the student turned towards Haru, "Stop slouching in your seat, it's unseemly."

Katsuki bristled, but Haru placed a firm hand on his brother's shoulder as he straightened up, "Your right. I apologize. Thank you for pointing it out."

The student bowed slightly and turned back to face Present Mic who was waving his hand for attention, "Alright, alright, examinee number 7111," he gave big thumbs up, "Thanks for calling in with your request."

The screen changed again to reveal a fourth silhouette, "The fourth villain type is worth zero points," Mic explained, "That guy's just an obstacle we'll be throwing in your way. There's one in every battle center. Think of it as a hurdle you should try to avoid. It's not that it can't be beaten, but there's... kinda no point. I recommend my listeners try to ignore it and focus on the one on top of the charts!"

The student bowed, "Thank you very much. Please continue."

Several students murmured to each other as they working out the details.

"That's all I got for you today! I'll sign off with a little present. A sample of our school motto!" he spread his arms dramatically, "As General Napolian Bonapart once laid down, 'A true hero is one who overcomes life misfortunes.' Mm-hm! Now that's a tasty soundbite! You ready to go beyond..."

Some music picked up and the screen behind him displayed a massive pair of famous words for all to see.

"LET'S HEAR A PLUS ULTRA!"

***

(Battle Center G...)

Haru stepped out of the bus with the other students now changed into a pair of charcoal grey sweat pants, a black kimono shirt, and a pair of comfortable tennis shoes.

Many of the other teenagers with him gasped in awe at the spacious model city UA had built for its students to train in. It was just like a real city!

Haru hung out around the back of the crowd as he knelt on one knee and placed his index and middle finger on the ground. Carefully, he used his sensory to familiarise himself with his surroundings.

"Hey, dude! What are you doing? The exam is about to start!"

Haru slowly opened his eyes and glanced up to see a teen with a black lightning bolt in his yellow blonde hair.

"I'm using my Quirk to visualize the layout of the area," Haru explained patiently.

The other boy scratched his head in confusion, "Aren't you Haruko Bakugo? The guy with the paper Quirk?"

Haru nodded, standing up, "Origami. Call me Haru. My older brother is usually called Bakugo. My Quirk allows me to control chakra to manipulate paper and sense it in my surroundings." he said, sending the teen a smile.

The blonde returned the smile with a grin, "Name's Denki Kaminari."

Haru glanced at the gates, noticing they were open, "Good luck on the exam, Kaminari"

Kaminari gave him a wave and walked off to the front of the group, "You too!"

Present Mic's voice blasted over a speaker, *RIGHT LETS START!*

Haru ran a few steps and performed a massive leap over the other student's heads as paper began materializing from the surrounding pavement. He held an arm out in front of him, fingers splayed, "Let's go, Ryuk!"

A massive origami eagle manifested and gave a shrill cry as it carried the younger Bakugo into the city.

Haru nonchalantly knelt on the bird's back as he surveyed the ground below him. He spotted a group of several one-pointers below and directed Ryuk to head in that direction.

As soon as they were overhead, Haru patted the eagle's neck, "Good job, I'll take it from here."

Ryuk disappeared and Haru divebombed toward the robots, "Shikigami Dance!" a pair of paper wings formed from his back as his hands weaved in a series of hand signs, "Paper Shower!"

Dozens of paper blades formed around him and shot towards the robots, effectively annihilating them. Seeing a three-pointer, Haru tucked his wings in and began spinning, turning himself into a living torpedo as he leveled out and smashed into the machine.

A few students ran up but only found destroyed robots with Haru standing among them.

"Wait did he destroy these already?"

"Man! What a beast!"

Haru ignored them and ran off, letting his wings disperse to focus his chakra on running.

He turned a corner and found a pair of two-pointers cornering a boy with short blonde hair.

"Paper Shuriken!"

Several star-shaped projectiles slashed into the two machines and blew them up, knocking the boy off his feet.

Haru hurried over and held out a hand to help the boy up, "Sorry about that. Are you hurt?"

The boy gave off the air of someone who desperately tried to distinguish themselves but only succeeded to develop a superiority complex.

"That was careless of you. Are you really striving to be a hero?" he asked looking down his nose at Haru.

Haru didn't answer and helped pull the boy to his feet, all the while seething a little at the words.

The blonde was not done with him, however, giving him a confident smirk, "You've got a stong Quirk, I think I'll borrow it."

He withdrew his hand from Haru's helping one and suddenly hesitated, "It won't work? How? I should have copied it."

Haru looked at him a moment and pulled back his sleeve, offering his arm, "I guess that your Quirk is touch-based, try again."

The blonde stared at him unbelievingly. They had only ten minutes and this boy was putting everything on hold to help him with his Quirk, even after he had been so rude. A wave a shame swept over him as he reluctantly touched the redhead's arm.

"Thanks."

Haru gave him a closed-eyed smile, "No problem."

The blonde tried again but still failed.

"SEVEN MINUTES LEFT, EXAMINEES!"

The blonde shook his head, "It won't work, just go."

Haru looked at him and gathered some paper into his hand, creating a bo-staff, "Here. You need a weapon."

Tossing the blonde the weapon he turned to leave.

"Wait!" the blonde raised a hand, "What's your name?"

Haru turned, "Haruko Bakugo. You?"

"Neito Monoma."

Haru gave Monoma a thumbs up, "Let's hope we meet again as UA students, Monoma!"

"Y-yeah..."

Haru turned away again and sped off, his body bent low as he sped across the ground.

***

Elsewhere in UA, the exam was being monitored by several members of the staff. They all closely observed the multiple screens that displayed the students hurrying to get the status quo of points needed to pass. Nothing seemed too out of the usual besides one blonde with a belly laser Quirk constantly giving the hidden cameras a knowing smile as he fought.

A small, furry figure sat in the center of them all as he oversaw everything. However, he wasn't any ordinary creature. He was Nezu, the principal of UA. The notable mastermind nodded in satisfaction as he watched the exam proceed.

"Clearly, the examinees have no idea how many villains are present or their locations. They have limited time, must cover a vast area, and hunt down every last target," he observed a student with multiple tentacle-like arms on a building, scanning the area, "Some use information-gathering abilities to plan out strategies," his eyes flickered to look at the student with glasses using his engine based Quirk to dash from one target to the next, "Others use rely on speed to pull ahead of their peers," he glances at the varying expressions on several of the student's faces, "Of course remaining calm under pressure can be a huge advantage. As can pure power and combat ability," he noted this last part upon glancing at the screen of Katsuki demolishing a robot.

There a brief silence as everyone silently agreed.

"The most successful students rely on all these tactics. They're the ones who rack up the highest scores."

One of the screens turned to Haru using his sensory before dashing off to slice a three-pointer with a wave of paper shuriken.

The R-Rated Hero, Midnight, gave a low hum, "I'd say this year's group looks promising."

Another hero, Snipe, pressed a red button labeled Yaruki Switch, "Well, there's still plenty of time before it's over. The real test is yet to come. Let's see how they react."

***

Haru was at forty-eight points. He could have gotten more, but he had chosen to avoid hunting the faux villains in areas that had large numbers of students. He wasn't ready to argue with sore losers.

At the moment he was standing upside down on a street lamp, using his sensory to find more opponents. Upon detecting movement, he backflipped and hit the ground running. With a sliding skid, he rounded the corner to a large alley and found a dark-haired girl being pushed back by a two-pointer and a pair of one-pointers.

She was putting up quite a fight, menacing the robots with a pair of earphone plugs that were attached to her ears. Even so, Haru decided to help her out.

With a flying kick, he smashed the one-pointer on the left. This distracted the other two robots enough so the girl could slide forward and jam her plugs into their metal bodies. A sound wave shuddered through the two machines, shutting them down.

"Good job," Haru gave the girl a wave, and she nodded acknowledgment.

Suddenly a rumble shook the ground as the crashing sound of falling buildings could be heard from the main street.

Exchanging a grim look, Haru and the girl ran out of the alley to see a massive robot, obviously the zero-pointer, rampaging on the road. The damage it was causing was already extensive, having collapsed several buildings and scattered large pieces of debris, injuring several examinees.

Haru's eyes narrowed as it turned its attention to a spot on the road where some students were trying to move the injured away from the rubble, "Well, shit."

"Look out!"

The zero-pointer took a step forward, about to step on Haru and the girl next to him.

Haru grabbed the girl to his chest with one arm and jumped back just in time to avoid them getting crushed, all the while his free hand rapidly shifted into a flurry of hand signs as he built up the last remainders of his chakra reserves. He landed a safe distance from the giant robot and set the girl down, his attention on the enemy before him.

"Get the injured to safety!" he yelled pressing his hands together, "Shikigami Dance!"

A rumble shook the surrounding area as a tsunami of paper erupted from the two buildings on either side of the zero-pointer. The waves of paper wrapped around the massive faux villain and proceeded to hold it in place.

The robot stubbornly refused to be subjugated and slowly pushed itself forward in slow movements.

Haru gritted his teeth, "Long-range Quirk users, take it down! It won't hold for long!"

A few students hesitated.

"Are you crazy?"

"It's worth zero points! It's not worth it!"

Several people turned a ran off while a few had the presence of mind to at least help the injured out.

The earphone jack girl stepped past him, her earphone jacks stretching before her, without saying a word, she knelt to the ground and rammed them into the cement. A loud sound of a heartbeat pounded the area in front of her, slamming the robot again and again as it tried to move forward.

Haru gave her a look of gratitude as he noticed the villain lose its orientation in its sensors.

"Looks like you are the one who needs help this time," an arrogant voice called out as Monoma appeared, carrying the staff Haru had given him on his shoulder, "Mind if I returned the favor?"

Kaminari appeared as well, a cheerful grin on his face, "Nice party! Why didn't you invite me?"

Haru sent them both a shaky grin, "I'd say thank you, but this thing is kinda strong."

Kaminari observed the robot with satisfaction, "This thing's made of metal so I don't have to worry about shocking people."

Monoma walked past him, deftly touching the electric blonde's arm, "Stop talking. We don't have time."

Both blondes raised their arms, "1.3 million volts!"

Two streams of high powered electricity shot at the zero-pointer and coated it with crackling lightning.

The sudden shockwave started short-circuiting the robot, but it also made Haru's grip on the robot slip. He began to panic as it started to break free, "No! No! No!"

A forest of vines shot from the ground and reinforced Haru's restraints.

"You will not prevail!" a girl with vine-like hair called out softly, addressing the stubborn machine.

Haru turned to see her standing in a praying position behind him, "Thanks."

She nodded passively.

Another girl with grey hair stepped forward her arms raised as she telekinetically floated a massive steel beam, "This should finish it off."

She flung the metal like a spear at the zero-pointers core, piercing it through.

The robot shuddered as the combined attacks finally broke its components, causing it to shut down.

Everyone sighed in relief as the sounds of machinery slowly wound down.

*And that it...* Present Mic's voice sounded over the city, *TIIIIIIIIMES UP!*

A horn blared over the battle center, signaling the end of the test.

Haru heaved a sigh, dispersing his origami. Luckily, because he didn't use elemental changes in his paper, he didn't run low on chakra again. Despite that, he was still shaky.

Kaminari walked up to him with a dumb look on his face as he gave Haru a double thumbs-up, "Yay!"

"Pfffffffff...!" Haru couldn't help snorting as he tried not to laugh.

Monoma chuckled before reeling a little bit from his own electric charge, now forced to lean on the staff he was still holding. The only reason his own brain wasn't fried was because he hadn't been using a lightning Quirk for ten whole minutes like Denki was.

The earphone jack girl also chuckled at the sight, while the vine girl gave a small smile. The telekinesis girl didn't respond at all, only holding her arms close to her body like an old fashioned zombie.

The earphone jack girl gave Haru a hint of a smile, "Thanks for helping me, earlier. I'm Kyoka Jiro," she thumped his chest with her fist, "That was rockin of you."

Haru blushed a little at the praise, suddenly feeling shy in the presence of everyone now that his adrenalin was wearing off.

"Oh, uh, your welcome."

"It was a privilege fighting alongside you. My name is Ibara Shiozaki," the vine girl said, bowing formally.

Haru returned the bow a little awkwardly, "Likewise."

They looked around for the telekinesis girl, but she had already left.

"I wonder who she was?" Monoma mused.

Haru shrugged, "Who knows, but she really helped us out back there."

Jiro placed her hands behind her head, "Well... We all better get back to the bus."

Haru grabbed Kaminari's arm before the teen could wander off, "Sure, let's go," he stopped, suddenly remembering something, "My name's Haru by the way."