“And you’re sure you have everything?”
“I triple checked.”
“Good.
Make sure you text me when you reach your stop then again when you reach the hotel.”
“Yes ma’am.”
I adjusted my duffle bag’s strap, giving Aunt Nozomi a smile as others around us stepped onto the recently arrived train behind me.
One tight hug and a few more goodbyes later and Himiko took her place, trapping me in an even tighter hug that didn’t even give me enough room to return it.
She moved back a little, rising up by her toes as she pulled me a little lower.
A quick peck pressed to my cheek, she back away, red dusting her face.
“That was for good luck.
Don’t waste any of it before the exam.”
“Got it.” I said, returning her smile, the faintest bit of embarrassment cropping up.
As touchy as she was, that was a first from her.
And somehow, despite not being nearly as provocative as some of the teasing she liked to do when we were training out in the park, it wasn’t so easy to play off.
One more wave given to them, I stepped through the train doors and quickly found an empty seat, duffle bag set down on my lap as I got comfortable for the long ride ahead.
The Recommendation Entrance Exam.
With me finally headed towards Musutafu for it, there was plenty I could worry myself over.
All Might and Midoriya and whether or not things were on track for them or had derailed in some way.
I doubted the latter considering what little I saw of the sludge villain incident on the news, but it was something I couldn’t stop from crossing my mind.
It was best to focus on the exam itself though.
A simple invitation and participation in it wasn’t enough to guarantee a spot at U.A.
Given that all involved came with plenty of recommendations, it was rare to hear of one failing but in the few instances it did, that student was still allowed to participate in the normal exams that would follow soon after.
That gave me a safety net I didn’t intend on using.
Todoroki and that Momo girl with the long family name.
Among all of the students at U.A.
those were the two I recalled off the top of my head that got into the school through recommendations.
Should be interesting to see how I stack up to the two that some argued were the best in the class in certain ways.
Todoroki especially.
XOXO
Phone pulled out and GPS active, I rolled my neck, a satisfying crack leaving it as I followed my map.
My hotel room had been a nice enough place in a nice enough neighborhood, nothing about it all that noteworthy other than the fact that I was more or less on my own.
Aunt Nozomi had wanted to drive me on the day of the exam, but I’d convinced her to let me take the train a day early.
Once the school year actually started, she’d be letting me stay in the city in an apartment on my own, so I suggested this as a trial run to make sure I’d be okay on my own.
Technically her oversight came in the form of the app still on my phone, but it was good enough for me.
A familiar salty scent hit me and I lowered my phone, approaching the old metal railings ahead.
Takoba Municipal Beach.
With the sun beginning to set, its golden sands appeared closer to an orange, with distant waves pushing and shifting over it.
The place, a junkyard according to the internet, was already well on its way to changing.
Some might already say it had changed, only a corner of its far reaching sands covered in a hill of garbage.
Seeing the sludge incident on news was more or less confirmation that some butterfly effect hadn’t completely thrown things off involving All Might and Deku but seeing this helped cement that.
If my memory was right the cleaning wouldn’t actually be finished until the day of the normal exams, which wasn’t long after the recommendation exams.
They were really cutting it close.
Pushing off the railings, I headed back the way I came.
I’d be exploring a bit more of the city but other than the exam tomorrow, there wasn’t much I intended on doing here ahead of the actual school year.
XOXO
Beyond it and the stone walls that acted as a perimeter was large buildings, each floor lined with windows and walkways connecting them made them all appear as one structure in the shape of an H.
U.A.
I was really here.
Adjusting my dark satchel, I pulled the ID that’d been sent along with the letter before this.
A simple guest pass with little of note of it other than the barcode yet extremely important.
The small thing would allow me to pass through the gates without problem.
And, just as they said, walking through with that prevented any kind of security or warning system from activating.
An expansive courtyard of stone walkways outlined by meticulously groomed grass, trees, and flowers.
There were a few benches about with a stone fountain at the courtyard’s center.
All the usual stuff one might expect from the top school but nothing immediately giving it away as one dedicated to the training of heroes, other than maybe the sheer size.
Guest pass held in one hand, I headed straight ahead, rounding the fountain and focusing on the board just outside the main building.
A sheet with the words Recommendation Exam and directions was at its center.
Following those directions saw me into the main building.
Big halls, lockers, countless classrooms, and more noticeboards here and there; just like the outside, on the surface the place didn’t look at all different from any other school out there.
Eventually I found myself standing in front of a set of doors all the directions had been pointing to.
Fingers slipped into the handle, I slid it open and stepped in.
Hair that was half red, the right white with a distinct burn scar surrounding and traveling around his left eye, despite not being the tallest in the room and being dressed as casually as anyone else walking the streets of the city, Todoroki stood out like a sore thumb to me.
Shows had a way of trivializing just how bad scarring could look, seeing him in the flesh a sharp reminder of that.
I doubted anyone would call him ugly, but he wouldn’t be able to fly under anyone’s radar, that scar ensuring he couldn’t be mistaken for another or easily forgotten.
He wasn’t paying me or anyone else attention, gazing out the classroom window from the very back corner seat.
The next that snatched up my attention was none other than….Yayo something?
I couldn’t remember that long ass family name off the top of my head but her jet black hair, pulled into a strangely spikey ponytail with a single large bang left to travel across her face, made her pretty distinct too, albeit in a far less intriguing way compared to a scar.
She was at the front of the classroom, arms formally held across her chosen desk as she waited on things to get started.
Closing the door behind me, I kept scanning the sparsely populated room.
I recognized a few other people; namely that girl who could split off her body into a bunch of separate parts and the other guy whose quirk had something to do with mud.
Or maybe that was his hero name?
I couldn’t really remember either of their names but alongside them I recognized a bulky guy too, his quirk allowing him some kind of control over wind.
The few other students in the classroom didn’t make much of a mark but that wasn’t any reason to go underestimating them.
Just being a part of the Recommendations Exams put everyone here ahead of their peers in one way or another.
I took one of the empty middle row seats, maintaining the unspoken rule of keeping space between us that everyone else seemed to be following, bag hung off a hook at the corner of it.
They’d probably be starting us off with a written exam.
After that-
“Good morning, students!” A voice, extraordinarily loud compared to the relative silence of the classroom, completely overpowered the sound of the door as it slid open.
Blonde hair curled and styled back into a single tuff, that unique hairstyle combed with a set of headphones and orange tinted shades, gave away Present Mic’s identity immediately.
Smiling wildly, he stepped up beside the board at the front of the class, looking us over.
“You bunch of overachievers ready to get started?”
Predictably, with so few people present, his attempt to draw out some kind of excitement failed miserably, most just silently staring at him.
“Yes, sir!” One person, the bulky one I was pretty sure had that wind quirk, defied that pattern, voice raised to match their proctor.
Ignoring the slight discomfort from their raised voices, I just gave a thumbs up as I sat up straighter.
I liked to keep myself busy but being loudly enthusiastic about it?
I never quite understood that or could really get down with that, but I did like people who could.
People like that could be a little annoying at times but there was no denying that they tended to be the ones who drummed up excitement or hype for things.
Brightening up at our responses Present Mic’s, falling smile quickly made a full return.
“Good.
We’ll be starting off the day with, you might’ve guessed it already, the written portion of your entrance exams, proctored by yours truly, Present Mic!”
He could stand to be a little quieter though.
XOXO
I let loose a low whistle as I craned my head back to get a full look at the wall of ice that suddenly formed.
Spiked and ridged the nearly instantly formed thing release bits of a frost visible even at a distance.
Maybe it’d be more accurate to call the formation a small glacier rather than a wall.
Suddenly it began to collapse in itself, shards sent flying by powerful gusts.
“It looks like the other group has already gotten started.” I dropped my gaze from the sight, the others doing the same and looking at our proctor.
Standing tall with long dark hair that bordered between black and purple, the would be R-rated hero Midnight stood just off to the side beside all of us.
R-rated honestly might’ve been giving her too much leeway.
Her hero costume little more than a sort of white leotard thrown in with a bodysuit that demanded a double take, anyone glancing over her likely to think she was almost completely naked.
Seeing her in person really made me wonder if every single parent was okay with her being one of the teachers.
Effective or not, there had to at least be a Karen or two launching complaints, right?
“We’re ready to get started too, ma’am!” One of the students that’d been quiet during the whole written portion with Present Mic practically shouted, face tinted red.
“Eager, are you?
Good, that’s exactly how you talented young boys should be.” She said, her blue eyes, surrounded by the thin red material of the mask around them, looking between us with a smile that definitely didn’t fall beneath the PG-13 category as she cracked the whip she held.
I don’t imagine any of that really helped her case.
There was definitely some parent out there complaining about her.
“The practical portion of your exam is simple!” She declared, whip returned to the belt at her waist as she gestured towards what laid ahead of us.
Like the other group, still left under Present Mic’s supervision, we’d been taken behind the school’s main building and were now standing in front of some kind of track?
I wanted to call it that, but it was anything but a traditional one.
Other than the starting line we stood at and the distantly visible finish line, it lacked all the usual stuff.
No lanes to keep us separated.
No curves, just a straight sprint forward.
Not to mention all the other stuff across it; cardboard cuts of people and objects, actual crates and rubble to act as obstacles and more.
It was more like an obstacle course than anything else.
“Starting from here, on my mark you have twenty minutes to make it past the finish line.
If you are not beyond it by the end of the allotted time, while it won’t result in an instant fail, you’ll be heavily penalized.
That’s not the kind of impression any of you want to start time here at U.A.
with.” Midnight announced.
“Any questions, or shall we get started?”
“Excuse me, ma’am?” Raising her hand, the Yayo girl, the only one among my group I recognized, raised her hand.
“Are we allowed to use our quirks now or only after this race begins?”
“Feel free to start making any preparations you need.” Midnight said, giving her a nod of approval.
“Understood.” Pulling her arms out of the sleeve from the jacket she wore, Yayo shrugged it off her shoulders, catching it and tying it around her waist, Below it, obviously having come prepared to use her quirk, she wore a sort of backless shirt with its only strap being the one around her neck.
Despite more or less ignoring Midnight’s questionable costume I couldn’t help but actually pay it more attention, glancing between her and Yayo.
A colorful glow took form across a majority of that exposed skin, drawing me away from my silent comparisons.
A genuine scooter formed and fell from her back, Yayo quickly rising up and taking her place on it, and staring straight ahead, not a second spared for the looks she was getting from others in our group.
She definitely had a clear advantage.
While others asked their questions or prepared their quirks, I bent my knees slightly, preparing myself.
Assuming this was actually a race, Midnight’s instruction left plenty unaddressed not to mention there was no way U.A.
of all places was just going to have us run a straight sprint.
This definitely wasn’t going to be a simple test of speed.
XOXO
(A/N: Should knock the exam out relatively quickly to be honest.
I also kind of forgot how to spell Yaoyorozu’s name back when I was writing this and just opted to shorten it.
Ended up keeping it since it actually fit with Katsu not being able to label every character perfectly.
Who knows, he might use Yaoyo as a nickname for her if they end up being friends.
Anyways, I don’t really have much else to say.