Chapter 32: Recommendation exams (I)

It all began in China, in Qing Ping city. There was news that a baby that gave off light was born. Ever since then, superpowers were discovered in various places, and time passed without the cause being identified.

[A/N: Of course there is a cause, but where's the fun if I spoil all of it? And btw, I still don't know how a baby is BORN with a quirk if a quirk manifested at the age of four.]

Before they knew it, the supernatural had become normal, and dreams had become reality. The world has become a superhuman society, and about 80% if the world's population now has some kind of special trait.

But this transition wasn't without its part of bloodshed. Humans, full of their new powers, began to go rampant and destroy everything. To fight against evil, vigilantes began to rise.

The Pro Hero System was first put into place on Rhode Island in America under the "Rhode Island New State Statute". 189 vigilantes were affected by this statute, with only 7 being accepted as official heroes. Nowadays, most of the vigilantes have vanished during the day time.

This profession that everyone once dreamt about and admired came into the limelight. Heroes, now controlled by the government, must go to school and receive their Pro Hero License before they are eligible to become one. No one has ever broken this "tradition", that is, until Shido arrived.

In Japan, one school stands at the forefront as the best hero school.

It is none other than... UA High School!

The UA High School Hero Course! It's a course designed to give students everything they need to go pro! It is without a doubt the toughest and the most popular hero course in the country, and only 1 in 300 applicants is accepted!

There is All Might, who magnanimously declined the People's Choice Award!

Then, the man who's stopped more crimes than anyone else in recorded history: Endeavor!

And the guy who's won the best Jeanist Award eight years running: Best Jeanist!

It seems graduating from UA is simply a requirement for becoming a great hero!

[A/N: Btw if you want to know how the name 'UA' came about, go search on google. The reason was actually mind-blowing.]

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Shido yawned as he looked at the screen. On the screen, it depicted the live images of the two hundred students taking the written examination. It was the recommended students, thus there weren't many of them. Every Pro hero and influential people in the society had a recommendation, but not all of them used it, thus leaving only about 200 of them.

"So boring...I want to see Eri..." Shido whined and complained as he looked at the principal. The first time he saw him two years ago, he didn't know what to expect. From his intelligence gathering, he had known that the principal wasn't human, but instead a being that seemed to comprise three different animals, the mouse, bear and dog. In simpler terms, he was a chimera. Honestly, he was slightly afraid to see a monster, but when he arrived in front of him, he almost spit out the tea which was offered to him when he was introduced to the principal.

Honestly, he was more inclined to believe that the principal was a mouse since his facial shape, tail and body seems more like a mouse than anything else. Even his ears were mouse-shaped, though a lot smaller, which made others think that he was part bear.

The principal, Nezu, is a stout man. He has the head of a mouse with circular black eyes, a large scar over the right one, relatively rectangular-shaped ears with pale pink insides slanting outwards from the top of his head, and an elongated muzzle with a small round nose. His fur is white and has large, dog-like paws with pink pads and a thin tail like that of a cat.

He currently sported a white dress shirt, a dark red tie around his neck, a black double-breasted waistcoat and matching dress pants. He wore a pair of orange lace-up sneakers with incredibly thick soles which seem to be quite large on him, but strangely good when looked at entirely.

Hearing his words, Nezu sighed. This kid was a problem kid ever since he entered the school two years ago. He admits that Shido was a very useful person to have around. Just the sheer versatility of his quirk made him an asset to the school. He could do almost everything, healing, fighting, damage control, rescue missions. As long as one named it, he could do it. Even up till now, Nezu knew that he still had more to show. A lot more to show.

The UA recommendations test consisted of three separate parts: a written test, a practical test and an interview. Any form of cheating was forbidden and examinees with mutation type quirk that boosted their five senses were put in an isolated room for the duration of the written exam, the cause of why the teachers were monitoring them through multiple screens in the first place.

They're future heroes, not ninjas. How could they be allowed to cheat during an exam?

"It's only the written exam. Wait for a while more, and I'll give you your duty during the practical exam. You can have fun then." Nezu told him.

He already knew Shido's true appearance and personality. Not everyone in school knows, only Aizawa and himself, along with some other teachers like Recovery girl and Thirteen knew his true appearance. Most of the time, he would don a different face and appearance on different occasions.

Apart from that, Nezu even knows that Shido has killed villains before. But he didn't care. He was playful, sure, after all, all children his age were playful.

As for killing? He didn't give a shit at all. He was experimented and tortured by humans. Logically, he should hate all of humanity, and with his intelligence? He would be able to do that without breaking a sweat.

But he didn't. After all, you can't blame one for the mistake of another. Though he still hates adults, it gradually mellowed out over the years, though the hate was still there. As for children, Nezu loves them. They were pure and untainted by the evil of the world. And that was the reason why Nezu decided to become the principal of UA in the first place - to guide and nurture children properly so that they don't grow up to become like the people who tortured him.

Not that he doesn't care about Shido killing, but everyone he killed were either serial murderers, rapists, or drug syndicates. The worst of the worst scums that existed on the surface of the planet. He internally decided to close one eye over the matter as long as he doesn't go overboard in massacring the world, but apart from that, he knew that some villains don't deserve a second chance.

But as much as he allowed Shido to kill, it doesn't mean that he was going to implement the same training to the children attending his school. His school was for heroes, not murderers. He didn't want them to grow up and become a murderer. As much as he wants filth to be gone permanently, he didn't want the innocent children to kill. Shido was enough for the job. Even though he felt guilty about putting this responsibility on a 12 year old boy, Shido seems that he didn't mind it, thus he pushed away his thoughts and concern and left it alone.

Part of the reason why he allowed Shido to do so was because he didn't graduate from UA in the first place. Thus, the school cannot be responsible for him. Yes, it was propaganda he had in mind. He was the principal of UA. If Shido had graduated from UA and found killing villains, UA would be blamed and accused, causing it's reputation to fall drastically. But, Shido didn't graduate from UA. Thus, there was no problem in doing so. Furthermore, he didn't think Shido would be caught in the midst of killing. He was way too powerful for that to happen.

"Ne ne, principal mouse, can I be the villain?" The rabbit that was on Shido's shoulders suddenly spoke up.

And there was him. Yoshinon. Nezu was very curious about him as it was the first time a quirk had manifested something that could think and act for himself. A 'sentient' being.

How did it come about? What exactly is it? And why does it love eating apples instead of carrots like any other rabbits?

This rabbit was as playful as Shido. As if one Shido wasn't enough to cause chaos, now a second one was added into the equation.

Hearing his question, Nezu thought for a while before his lips curved upwards.

"AHAHAHAHAHA...Sure! But not you. Your clones. Your clones will act as my zero-pointers. As long as you don't freeze the entire area in one breath and kill the examinees, you are free to do so. Of course, please use only 10% of your power, otherwise no one would be able to pass."

Yoshinon brightened up at the prospect of freezing people. It has been a long time since he could freeze people in public. He wanted to show his creation. His power. His capabilities.

"Yes! I'll do my best!" He quickly replied, fearing that Nezu would retract his statement if he didn't reply fast enough.

"As for Shido's job, you will..." Nezu leaned in and whispered into Shido's ears. After hearing what Nezu has to say, both Yoshinon and Shido's eyes brightened up.

It was going to be interesting to see what would happen if people knew what he was going to do in the practical examinations.

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