A Mutation Among Mutations

All Men were not created equal…

This mantra was a hard lesson for anyone to learn, let alone for someone to accept at all.

For some, it was an easy task; the vast majority of the world as it was had been gifted with many bizarre and unique abilities known more specifically as Quirks. No one Quirk was exactly the same; some were able to breathe fire like a dragon and some could separate their body parts like a plastic model.

It all started with a lone glowing baby, then the amount of people who had gained Quirks in their lives became the minority and then skyrocketed to unseen numbers across the world. Some used their abilities to improve their jobs or way of life, the more "Capable" people with Quirks ended up as the prolific Pro Heroes or go down the path of becoming Villains.

However with the ever increasing population of people who had inherited these Quirks; there were sadly people who did not and then the Quirkless became the outliers in society; even though they were capable of getting regular steady work, no one took much appreciation for the "normal" people whether they worked with the right side of the law or not. The two main ways to act as close to a hero or a villain with powers was to become police, however it came with the caveat of being a joke compared to Pro Heroes. The other path was engaging in crime or to join the Yakuza, it may have been more dangerous but the protection and money made it worthwhile.

But the newest addition to the gene pool was a recent one; One that was still being fiercely debated on if it was the next offshoot of humanity, a defect between Quirk and natural biology or a genuine disease.

Not much was known about it since the first recorded case was found during the Silver Age. Though most of what had been discovered turned out to be a medical and ethical minefield; The media and the doctors in charge of this have argued the origin and the reason for its spread for as long as it has been around. 

A young boy was walking through the streets and checked his phone for the time. He had been nervously doing so for the past hour as he was on his way to take an entrance exam for UA: One of the most prestigious schools for Hero Training and the birthplace of the most prolific heroes. Right now he could use anything to distract him from his anxiety as he heard a tinkle from his phone and saw a new message come through for him.

"Hey Sai, good news! I can take the Entrance Exam for UA now so I should be showing up today to try getting in!" A string of texts came through under Izuku's name as he wanted to share the good news with his other childhood friend.

"That's great to hear! But what about your body? I thought you didn't have a Quirk…" Sai asked him, as kids: Both he and Izuku never had their Quirks awakened at the age of 4, which would inevitably lead to kids bullying the two for being so different and for Sai being gloomy on top of that. Regardless of that however, the two remained close friends and one of Izuku's best friends seeing as the only other person who was around them was Bakugo who took the most delight in reminding them of their place.

Of course the loud broadcast threw Sai out of his tangent when a news report suddenly came through;

"In other news today; The bill to provide rights to Hero work for people suffering with Dicloniism has been delayed once again by members of Japan's council, stating that the medical condition cannot be allowed to function in a public safety role while it is still currently under official investigation by doctors…This has brought the Chief Speaker of the Dicloniism Equality Group, Mashiro Yamamoto to make a statement about the pushback." 

The screen changed to show a woman in a suit with red eyes and a tight bun that seemed to show off some small horns on her forehead that looked like they were made of bone; "People used to fear others who had Quirks in the past! Regular people gave a wide berth to anyone who didn't look or act normal but they were still given a chance to demonstrate that they could do good in the world…But the actions made by these officials have demonstrated the hypocrisy of their words since we're not even given the platform to plead our case!" She would argue angrily to the camera as cameras flashed and mikes were held to her. 

It wasn't the first time this had been shown on TV; When people started to develop powers, a rare condition began to to sprout among people both with and without Quirks. This condition had various symptoms like forming growths on someone's head, forcibly discolouring their hair or eyes and the most prominent symptom that was the spark of this continued protest/debate was that this made the afflicted person emotionally volatile and in some cases…Dangerously unstable. 

Sai had been surrounded by these kinds of broadcasts since his mom began to worry about these symptoms potentially showing up in him when his Quirk wouldn't awaken when it was meant to. It all changed in a couple of years when one day she got a call from his teacher; explaining that her son had made an explosive outburst with his Quirk suddenly awakening in school after Bakugo and his friends were trying to pick on him and Izuku.

Turns out that Sai had been a late bloomer when it came to his Quirk and judging from the text that he got from Izuku; so was he. However even that wasn't enough to stop Bakugo from gunning for him; Quirk or not, he was still an "extra" in the explosive boy's eyes and that was more than enough reason.

He gazed up at the giant UA symbol on the side of the building as he came to the gates and found himself with a smile growing on his face, however that wouldn't last for long; he found himself stopping when he saw a blonde making his way past the other applicants with that same dour look on his face, the one main boy who didn't and wouldn't stop bullying Izuku along with taking the detour to get snipes in on Sai as well.

"I thought I told you not to sign up here Yaku-bozo, you're not even worth calling an extra and it's not enough that Deku just had to go and be a nuisance by showing up here too…" Katsuki Bakugo growled as he stared daggers into Sai with his usual contempt.

"And aren't you just a ray of sunshine today, Bakugo…Though I must admit; you trying to get into a school for pro heroes is a tall order when you've got the personality of a rotten cheese grater." Sai retorted with his usual brand of terse snark that he reserved especially for Bakugo.

Bakugo growled as he narrowed his eyes; "It's because I've got everything I need to become the top hero around here; The charisma to get anyone to like me, the skill and the Quirk that can kick any villain's ass!" He snarled at Sai and started to lean close to get in his face; "Which is more than I can say for a Quirkless loser and his gloomy sideshow of a friend…."

Sai felt his mouth twitch in barely contained anger; "You know, Izuku told me about what you said to him back at school, I know you think you're a big shot but IF you get into that school… there are gonna be people there who can keep up with you….Or better yet, I HOPE you get in so that the other successful kids can stomp all that ego out of you." Sai growled back as he was trying so very hard to not slug the emotionally volatile hand grenade on legs.

Bakugo and Sai had always been at each other's throats; it was petty squabbling and the occasional thrown object back when they were kids. When their Quirks developed however; things only got worse after that; "You know what? I think I'll let that slide for today since I've got better places to be then to deal with a future circus freak…But who knows? When you inevitably flunk this and you have to tell your folks about what happened…Oh wait, that's right…Your mom is too scared to even be around you and your dad ran out at the very first chance he got!" Bakugo sniped at him with a malicious smile on his face and a voice dripping with venom.

Sai could feel his insides burn as Bakugo didn't just touch a nerve, he drove a needle through it…But before anything else could be said or done, what looked like an official yelled to them; "For anyone taking the entrance exam today! Please enter now as you only have 2 minutes!"

"Save by the bell once again, take what I said to heart Yaku-Bozo…There is no way that a gloomy pant stain like you could ever hope to be a hero and even if you do pass…The only that you could ever hope to amount to will be pennies compared to what I can do." Bakugo growled in a whisper before heading up the stairs to sign in, leaving Sai and his bundle of emotion that burned his stomach.

Sai grimaced and cracked his neck as he watched Bakugo leave towards the offices, thankfully the snap on his neck made that same animosity wash away when he saw Izuku flailing about in midair, though when he left; there was a broken fist print heavily embedded into the concrete floor where he had just been standing.

"Sorry, I should have asked you before I used my Quirk to stop this…I'm Ochaco Uraraka, it's nice to meet you." A brown haired girl introduced herself to the still flustered Izuku while he tried to dust himself off; "I'm guessing you're here for the application exam for UA too, hopefully we can ace it and get in." 

"Y-Yeah, I hope so too…Oh, hey Sai!" Izuku would start to say but grinned when he saw Sai on his way over to greet him.

"Already making friends? You might wanna be careful, they're calling in the last few people for the exam." Sai pointed out as Ochaco yelped and started to rush off to the doors.

"I-I'm sorry but we should hurry in, it was nice meeting you both!" She hastily said to them before vanishing through the doors and leaving the two to follow.

"So, already picking up girls…Never thought you'd be that quick moving, Izuku." Sai remarked with a cheeky grin as he teased Izuku who was practically glowing at the fact that he talked to a girl.

The greenette would stammer over himself as the two walked into the halls together and sat themselves down for the lecture held by none other than Present Mike; his whole detail was explaining about their exams: Fighting robots and earning a passing score.

——One impromptu start later——

Sai split off from the others without much choice since everyone practically stampeded into the open arena to find any robot he could to start racking up points.

"Locating New Target…I'll kill you!" The mech buzzed as it's programming compelled it to rush towards Sai; however as it got closer towards him and raised up it's baton to swipe at him, the robot's body started to twist itself at the waist and knock it backward into a bisected heap of zapping circuits.

Sai ran past the fallen robot, thankful that he got one down as he rushed further into the broken down city to take on more; thankfully his Quirk made him capable outside of hitting distance but he still had to try pushing himself.

A second and a third robot ahead, with a drive to push himself; Sai noticed a nearby piece of jagged rubble and then with a focused plan, he watched it fly towards the head of one robot, followed by the slow collapse of its body while the other robot would then rush past the crumpled bot to take Sai down.

With no time to recover; Sai focused himself on the other robot and with a brief few seconds, a large hole shaped like a fist burrowed into the robot's torso before it fell over mid lunge with the dislodged energy core clattering across the floor.

"You kids are animals and I LOVE IT! Keep it up!" The speakers blared out Mic's voice as not just Sai but everyone was taking down robots left and right.

—Meanwhile in a Secure Room—

"Y'know I don't think I've ever seen so many kids sign up this year…" A man dressed up as a cowboy would mention as he watched the screen with a kid using his motorised legs to kick a robot.

"It's unfortunate that we only have a few spots left, some of these young ones are going home empty handed…A shame really, some of them are real promising with beating those robots~" A more domineering looking woman added as she watched a kid with a bird shaped shadow on her screen.

"Let's not forget, staff…that we allow for heroes of any types, not just for destructive power; whether they can act as analysis, attack power or utility." Principal Nezu explained as he flicked through the various screens of other people like Bakugo, Ochaco and even the likes of Aoyama.

Toshinori Yagi aka All Might was watching for two specific people at hand; Izuku Midoriya who had been his protege ever since the two had met, the other was Sai; someone that Izuku had mentioned was trying to be a hero in the same way that he was. "So this is the other young man that Midoriya is trying to keep up with for his goal of becoming the Number One Hero…I must admit, he's got a lofty task to stand as a hero that can match One For All but the way he's pushing for it here is impressive…" All Might thought to himself as he then glanced to Izuku's screen as the teachers activated for the giant Lvl 0 robot.

"EXTRA CREDIT TIME KIDDIES! It's time to show us what you are really capable of!" Present Mike yelled over the grinding metal and rumbling concrete as a robot crashed through a building like a Kaiju towered over everyone who it could see through it's one glowing red eye.

Just seeing the metal behemoth alone was enough for nearly all the candidates for UA to run for the hills bar Izuku and Sai who were frozen on the spot for longer then they anticipated; "Okay…Big robot…That's a big robot….Come on…Move!" Sai thought to himself as he could feel his legs start to slowly move away and get closer to Izuku; "Alright, it's a Zero pointer so we don't have to fight it….we can reconvene with everyone else and the-" Sai tried to come up with a plan but froze when he saw that girl from before trapped under debris and then saw the determined look in his eye, a look he remembered all too well.

"Sai, we have to help her!" Izuku stated before rushing past him and towards the gigantic robot that was on it's path towards them.

"IZUKU! ARE YOU NUTS?! Rgh…Damn it all, fine!" Sai yelled in frustration as he decided to go help; he knew that if Izuku set his mind to something, he was gonna do it with or without help, so while he let him do his thing: Sai rushed towards the trapped girl who seemed to be waist deep in rubble or what looked like a broken piece of wall.

"Go help him! I don't think he can handle something like that on his own!" Ochaco tried to convince him as Sai tried to pull the pieces of debris off her.

"Never mind that for now…Let's get you out and we can help him together…three on one is better, right?" Sai remarked back as he focused his Quirk and suddenly the larger pieces of debris began to lift; "Come on, higher…Higher!" He grunted as he lifted the wall higher.

"How are you doing that? You're not even touching it…" Ochaco asked him as she could feel the weight on her lessen.

"Later…Right now just wiggle as much as you can to get free." Sai shut her down for now as he was trying to maintain focus; the wall gradually getting high enough that Ochaco was slowly getting pulled free.

"I-I got it!" She remarked as she got to her feet and dusted off but got more concerned as when Sai threw the rubble to the side; she could see blood slowly dripping from his nose.

"Alright, let's get to…huh?" Sai got knocked for a loop when he saw Izuku jumping high into the air, towards the giant robot before it's head caved in just as quickly as Izuku moved. "Whoa…"

"That's…Amazing…" Ochaco whispered though she quickly realised that Izuku was making a nose dive straight to the ground; "We're not going to be quick enough to run there…Can you still use your quirk?" She asked as she climbed on top of a broken down robot piece and used her own Quirk to make it lose it's weight under her.

"For a little longer…" Sai promised as he then grabbed the Robot Fragment and lifted it; Knowing that Izuku would be in trouble if they didn't move quick enough so in all he couldn't afford to rely on subtlety: He made his Quirk visible for even Ochaco to see.

The Gravity girl squinted her eyes and almost toppled off of her perch when she saw 4 transparent arms holding onto the sides of the piece she was riding on and lifting it up over his head. "Arms? No, they look almost invisible…like heat waves on a car in the sun…"

"Alright, hold on tight because I'll need you to use your Quirk to slow down Izuku's fall!" Sai yelled as he threw Ochaco towards Izuku's falling trajectory, thankfully his throw was enough in combo with Ochaco's that she was moving fast enough to hit him with her Quirk.

"A little harsher then I thought but at least it stopped him falling." Sai thought as he walked over to try helping the two up, mainly Izuku since he was basically a pile of mangled bones along with Ochaco releasing her guts due to her Quirk overuse.

"Gotta…get more points…at least one!" Izuku stubbornly tried to crawl away to find at least one robot left, though all that was left was shattered scrap and the sound of Mike calling time up for the test.

"Oh geez…I hope that we can convince the judges to let hi-SAI!" Ochaco yelped when she saw the boy who helped her started to bleed from his nose before he fell over himself.

"Dear oh dear…I always said this test was rather excessive but this seemed a lot more subdued then I suspected it would." A rather old woman with a syringe cane mentioned as she walked over to the two unconscious boys, looking over Izuku first. "Hmm, rather brave of this boy to jump in like he did but it looks like a Quirk backfire if I ever saw one…" She would say before leaning down and kissing Izuku on the forehead, drawing out a number of confused looks from the crowd of people.

"C-Can you look him over as well, Ma'am?" Ochaco asked the smoocher as she directed her over to Sai who was currently unmoving. "His nose just started bleeding and then he fell over." She explained as even though he wasn't as injured looking; Sai was still the one to help pull her out.

The old woman looked Sai over; using her hand to move his face back and forth to examine him; "No external damage by the looks of it, though judging by what that footage showed; he must be an Emitter type that relies on focus, lifting that piece of rock must've squeezed on his brain a little too hard." She thought as she then planted a tender kiss on Sai's forehead and watched as the bleeding healed.

"So who exactly is the Old Lady?"

"She's the only reason that these exams and the schools remain running and lawsuit free; Recovery Girl!"

——A Few Hours Later——

Both Izuku and Sai were allowed to leave by Recovery Girl once she was convinced the two were all okay, the latter being allowed to leave earlier since she had chalked his injuries to overexertion and pushing his Quirk too hard; "I'm not even sure if I passed or failed, but I guess all I can really do is wait…" Sai thought to himself as he reached the door to his house and could hear the tv which meant one thing. "I'm ho-" 

Ayame Yakumo barely gave her son a chance to finish his sentence as she bolted for her bedroom at the moment she heard the door's lock click.

SLAM!

This was nothing new for him; ever since his Quirk activated, his own mother treated him with the widest of berths: dinner was always left at his door, any time she could see him or hear him had her running like a spooked gazelle. It was something he had no choice but to come to terms with after he turned 9, no amount of begging or tears at her locked bedroom door would have her come out to comfort her child when he got hurt or bullied by other kids.

"Once I become a Pro Hero, I can prove you that I can do good for others…So that you don't have to be scared of me." Sai thought to himself as he quietly shuffled to the kitchen and pulled out some leftover curry to heat up, the only consolation to this was that he could eat in quiet.

——Days Later——

Sai came back after his normal training in the park and saw a letter propped up on the table addressed to him; the only thing that stopped him from throwing it in the trash was seeing the UA symbol near the address: His results for the exam and what'll potentially make or break his chances of getting in. His heart pounded in his chest as he felt the nerves clench at his insides before finally opening up the envelope.

Instead of a written letter; there was instead a small token that was the size of a poker chip clattered onto his desk, before buzzing then bringing up a large holographic image of the last person that he expected to see announce his results.

"I AM HERE!"

Both the yelling and the sudden appearance of the Number One Pro Hero made Sai fall backwards out of his chair; "A-A-A-All Might?!" He squeaked out as he was a longtime fan but never had the chance to meet face to face unlike Izuku.

"I am coming to you in this recording to announce your results of your efforts in the exam a few days ago! Yakumo, my boy…It is my pleasure to announce that you have been accepted into UA Academy as a student of the Hero Course." All Might said with his trademark grin; although the yellow suit made it hard to look directly at him, Sai didn't seem to care in the least since he was still trying to wonder if what he heard was right.

"I-I made it in?"

"No doubt that this news has your spirits lifted! You should be proud of the hard work you have put forward but do not rest on your laurels just yet, my lad." All Might explained as he pointed to a scoreboard and showed that even though Sai made it in, he was still due for improvements. "Joining the school is only the first step over the starting line but with the right training and application to your Quirk and to yourself, you will be well on your way to becoming a fine Hero!"

Sai couldn't help but feel that after all the years of teasing, insults and cold words; he had finally done it, he made into UA and he could finally show everyone that he could make a difference.

"With the combined accumulation of both Standard points awarded for the task and the Rescue points that were allotted for actions that are befitting of a Hero; You've earned yourself a spot among the top 10 in your allotted Class: 1-A." The large man explained but the board showed that despite his accomplishments; Sai was Number 10. 

"Strengthen yourself and improve on what you know…Because now you can do what you have dreamed of doing!" Those were the last words that Sai heard before the transmission turned itself off, leaving him alone in silence to process everything he had heard.