Chapter Two

The sea was calm, the sand soft underneath his feet. Kyosuke took a deep breath, and let it out slowly, relaxing his muscles gently. Since he had got the Omnitrix, he had made Dagobah Municipal Beach his training ground, where no one would see him, and discover his powers. He had also grown several inches taller and lost the last of his baby fat, and bulked up noticeably, though his stature was still quite lean.

Ten months had passed since the Slime Villain incident. These ten months had been the longest months of his life, and had consequently not been easy for Kyosuke, for a single, simple reason.

The U.A entrance exam.

The thought of the exam looming nearer and nearer with each passing day had spurred him to master not just the watch, but his own martial skill and physical attributes. He had put in much more work at the dojo, practicing technique after technique under his sensei's watchful eye. He'd somehow kept up his studies as well, often burning the midnight oil as he struggled with the immense load of homework and tests that seemed to be perennial while at Orudera Junior High. More than once, he had inadvertently drowsed in class, only for someone to wake him up. Usually, it was a student, but sometimes, much to his displeasure, it was the teacher.

He'd also noticed Bakugou come into class with bleary eyes and smoking palms several times. He was clearly training every day, pushing himself past his limits and not letting it break him. It was because of this, and the fact that Bakugou's grades still more or less equalled his, that Kyosuke couldn't help but admire him, and wish to surpass him.

(For he knew that the blond boy had to bear a weight he himself did not- and that was the weight of everyone else's expectations. The principal himself had lauded Bakugou publicly, during a school assembly, and while his classmates had cheered loudly for the boy (who would surely give Orudera-and subsequently, them- some publicity for entering U.A), Kyosuke had pitied Bakugou, for all the expectations being forced on him.)

'Well, it isn't as if Bakugou will fail to meet them,' thought Kyosuke idly, 'he's a monster when it comes to anything to do with combat, tactics, and battle technique.'

For all of this, however, Kyosuke still didn't plan on losing to Bakugou. He had the power of ten heroes flowing through him, and he had more or less figured out everything they could do. Some of their powers had shocked him when he'd realized their existence, a good example being Swampfire's regeneration. He could still remember the astonishment he had felt upon feeling an iron bar go through his torso, and exit sans any injury, permanent or otherwise. Of course, it had hurt at first, but there hadn't been any lasting pain- something he still didn't understand. Swampfire could get lasting damage from blunt attacks, after all.

Anyway, all of that was behind him, now. Kyosuke opened his eyes slowly, feeling his body fill itself with the light of purpose and drive, as the sun bled into the horizon and red light spilled across the sea.

It had always been going to be a bit of a gamble, taking an entrance exam to a school as prestigious and difficult to get into as U.A. Not only was Kyosuke with a useless Quirk, he was also, as aforementioned, an orphan. His parents had died when he was twelve, leaving him to the care of his guardian (who was almost never present and unable to provide for his education anyway) and the government, which had put him in a small apartment and declared to fund his education until high school, considering his guardian wasn't able to do it. He'd rebuilt his life, bit by bit, all the while silently nurturing a single dream- to become a hero.

It was a gamble. A huge gamble. If he failed the exam, he would never be able to become a hero- simply because he couldn't apply to any hero school by transfer. It simply wasn't allowed- hero schools spent enough money on normal entrance exams. To go through all of that trouble again, for a single student? Unheard of.

He would be forced to apply to normal high schools, and let his dream lie forgotten in the deserts of time.

If he succeeded, however…the world was at his fingertips.

He had come this far, and he refused to turn back now. The U.A entrance exam was the next day, and he was determined to give it everything he possessed.

'It's time to finally become a Hero.'


It was eight thirty in the morning. The weather was slightly warm, as expected of an April day in Japan. Kyosuke was outside the entrance of U.A (which was so much more imposing than in the pictures!), and dressed in his middle school uniform (a black gakuran and trousers), carrying a bag full of written material he had brought for some quick revision, as well as his tracksuit (a white shirt and navy pants under a navy half-sleeved jacket), a bento, and lastly, his key card.

He took a deep breath, slowly clearing the tension in his body. 'Relax,' he thought to himself, 'relax. You've trained hard, you've studied hard. It's going to be okay.'

"Oi, shithead!" an angry voice came behind him, a voice he knew quite well indeed.

"Bakugou," he greeted cautiously, as the boy stalked over to him. Ignoring the greeting, the blond simply poked a finger at his chest. "Are you fucking prepared?"

Kyosuke blinked. What kind of question was that?

"I asked you something, asshole."

"Right!" he realized. "Yes, as much as I'll ever be, I guess."

"Good," grunted Bakugou, backing away and from Kyosuke, almost instantly. "I expect you to fucking pass, got it? Useless Quirk or no, you're passing this exam, and then I'm gonna pound your skull into the pavement first chance I fucking get."

Kyosuke rolled his eyes exasperatedly as Bakugou stalked off. While the brief encounter had been full of vulgarity and insults directed at him without recompense, it had been oddly refreshing to have Bakugou speak to him like a rival, like an equal. He didn't even know about the Omnitrix, and yet here he was, showing him his equivalent of unfaltering faith.

He started slightly as someone tapped him on his shoulder from behind. Turning, he was welcomed by the sight of someone, unlike last time, completely unknown to him. She had vivid, orange hair tied up in a side ponytail, as well as pale skin and striking green eyes. The girl- who by her uniform was from a middle school decidedly more prestigious than Orudera- peered at him in concern. "Are you all right? Was that guy being a jerk to you?"

Kyosuke shook his head immediately, "I'm all right," he reassured her. "He's an acquaintance of mine from middle school, and he wasn't being a jerk- just offering words of encouragement."

"It looked like he was. Being a jerk, I mean," the girl confessed. Her lips curved upwards in a slight smile. "I'm Itsuka Kendou."

"Kyosuke Kirihara."

A slightly awkward silence ensued between them (but in Kyosuke's defence, he wasn't very social. He had no idea how to carry out a conversation with anyone at all). Finally, Kendou broke the silence by saying, "Well…good luck, Kirihara-kun."

"Oh, you too, Kendou-san."

She smiled, once more, and departed.

Kyosuke smiled to himself, before taking a purposeful step forward.


The written exam was composed of six parts: Math, Science, Japanese, English, History and General Knowledge. While the first five were all middle school level subjects (granted, the questions were not as easy as they would have been for a normal high school entrance exam) the sixth was, obviously, a little trickier, and no doubt the one section that was causing the most grief and heartbreak to every student in the entrance exam hall. By General Knowledge, U.A apparently didn't just mean general knowledge of heroics. It meant general knowledge and forming your own opinions of heroics, and putting it all on paper, which meant being up-to-date on even the most recent developments of heroic society and sometimes even doing intensive research on certain incidents in history. Kyosuke knew this, having given the mock tests before.

Q.23) Japan is taking the United States of America's place as the epicentre of the heroics industry. Give your opinions on this in no less than 500 words, citing relevant examples from history and current affairs to supplement your answer.

Kyosuke read the newspaper every day, and had prepared for such questions anyway, so instead of panicking, he confidently picked up his pen, turned to a fresh page, and started to write in neat, sharp kanji.

With the presence of such heroes such as the Symbol of Peace, All Might, and the Flame Hero, Endeavour, it is undoubted that Japan has a solid brace of heroes to protect her…

He went on for a while, making corrections and annotations, and once even adding a citation to supplement a remark that the examiner could perhaps perceive as slightly arbitrary. Once he was satisfied, he laid down his pen and stretched his fingers, just as the bell signifying fifteen minutes of the exam remaining went off. He picked up his paper and read through his answers, over and over, after which he raised his hand and said, "Please, sensei…I'm finished."

The proctor, a skinny blond man- Yagi-sensei, his name was- looked up and smiled kindly. "Thank you, Kirihara-kun," he said softly. "You may go and prepare for the practical portion of the exam."

Kyosuke nodded, fetching his bag and heading out into the hallway. He had twenty minutes to eat his bento (Endeavour's Fiery Eggs and rice) in the designated area before he would need to head into the auditorium and be briefed about the practical exam.

He walked into a wide space, noticing several chattering students comparing answers and eating from their own bento- sometimes at the same time. He looked around for an empty place where he could sit, and, finding one, he made for it. As he was just about to sit down and start eating, however, he bumped into another person- one having orange hair. His heart quickened slightly. "Kendou-san," he acknowledged as the girl looked at him in surprise, before smiling widely. "Kirihara-kun! Is…is it okay if I sit with you?"

He looked at her in surprise, before nodding. "Okay."

Kendou grinned, taking out her own (Uwabami-themed) bento and sitting down on a chair adjacent to his. Kyosuke mirrored her actions, taking a bite of his eggs and rice, while she made a start on her own lunch, seemingly a chicken salad of some sort and black coffee.

The resultant silence, this time, was broken by Kyosuke. "How did you find the written exam?"

Kendou shrugged. "The General Knowledge portion was a little difficult, but I quite liked my answers for the rest of the paper. How about you, Kirihara-kun?"

Kyosuke hummed. "It was okay. I quite liked my answer to the twenty-third question."

"You mean the one about Japan being the epicentre of heroics?" At Kyosuke's nod, she continued, "It was a good question. I'm a little worried I didn't make enough references to supplement my answer, though…but what do you think about it, Kirihara-kun?"

"Hmm?"

"About Japan taking America's place as the epicentre of heroics?" Kendou's stare was penetrating. "It's pretty clear that Japan is now the strongest nation when it comes to heroes, right? We don't just have All Might and Endeavor; even the heroes in the double digits, like Gang Orca and Mitsuhide, are extremely powerful. Heroes in the U.S, like Thunder Law and Jade Blade, can't compare."

"You're right," agreed Kyosuke. "Then there was the V.I.P.E.R Incident- Japan was the nation who took care of it, in the end; every other nation in the U.N was completely helpless…"

"Yeah, wasn't that the one when Endeavour collaborated with Scorpio and Crimson Riot to figure out the leader of V.I.P.E.R, and then take him down? I think that's why he became Number Three, and then Number Two after that- after all, his popularity was, for once, higher than All Might's."

It went on like this for a while, each person learning more about the other's intellect and depth of knowledge in the process, their bento slowly becoming emptier and emptier. For Kyosuke, it was a truly delightful experience- he had never had such a discussion with anyone before.

"Ah," realized Kendou, getting up quickly. Kyosuke followed his new friend suit. "We'd better go, it's almost time for the practical."

"Nervous?" asked Kyosuke. Kendou grinned. "A little," she admitted.

Kyosuke smiled back at her. "So am I," he said. The two entered the auditorium and sat at their designated venues after bidding each other quiet goodbyes, and promises to meet after the exam was over.

He sat down, noting with a distinct lack of surprise that Bakugou was sitting right beside him. The blond grunted once to acknowledge his presence, before ignoring him outright. Deciding to mirror his former classmate, Kyosuke shifted to get more comfortable and stared straight ahead.

About five minutes passed (during which Kyosuke sorely wished to be back with Kendou- she would be much better company than this guy) before the stage lit up, showcasing a grinning leather-clad man with very interestingly styled blond hair. The Voice Hero, Present Mic.

"Okay, boys and girls, it's time to settle down! Everybody, say HEY!" Present Mic yelled into the speaker he carried as a part of his hero costume. No one responded.

"What a dignified response!" Kyosuke would have probably believed that he was completely unperturbed from the tepidity of his audience, but for the fact that his arms were trembling. "Well, no matter. Time to lay down the rules of the exam for all you boys and girls! Are you readyyy?! YEAH!"

There was still no response. Bakugou snorted from beside him.

"Meh, guess y'all are so nervous you can't speak. Well, anyway!" The screen behind the Voice Hero shifted, showcasing a bunch of silhouettes of what looked like robots, with numbers written below them. "The rules of the exam are simple. You walk out to whatever test centre you've been assigned, which is written on a placard on your desks, by the way-" Ah, so that explained why there was a large white card on which was written a black C on his desk- "and you destroy robots! There are three kinds of robots, each giving you one, two and three points respectively! Rack up as many as you can, 'coz all you guys and gals have only ten minutes to do so!"

So that was it? Destroying robots? Kyosuke gave a slight smile. That was good for him- he had a lot of aliens good for destruction, and there was no danger of timing out granted that his time limit was twenty-five minutes- well above the exam time of ten minutes.

"So that's it- any questions?"

"I have a question!" A bespectacled, black-haired boy stood up stiff and erect, arm raised high in the air. Kyosuke raised an eyebrow. "It seems that you have neglected to mention that there is a fourth robot displayed on the placard given to us!" Surprised, Kyosuke checked it, flipping it over, and- yes. Four robots were displayed there, not three. "If this is some sort of mistake, U.A should be properly ashamed of it!"

"Hey, now!" Present Mic was utterly unfazed, despite the whispering throughout the auditorium. "I was just getting to that, #4481. Ahem, yes." The screen wavered before displaying a picture of the last robot, with a number zero below it. "That, dear listeners, is a zero-pointer. It's more like an obstacle than anything else. I suggest you avoid it."

"Thank you very much! I apologize for the interruption!" the black-haired boy sat down. Bakugou snorted again.

"Okay! Lastly, remember this, all of you- Napoleon Bonaparte once said, 'A hero is someone who is capable of overcoming life's misfortunes.'"

"So, don't be afraid, and above all, remember to go beyond, PLUS ULTRA!" Present Mic shouted with a broad grin.


Kyosuke stood in his tracksuit, which as aforementioned was a navy half-sleeved jacket over a white shirt and navy pants. He was warming up, stretching his muscles and relaxing his body. Students all around him were doing the same thing.

He noticed several people that stood out. A girl with pink skin and black sclera. Another girl who had a posture and tongue resembling a frog's. Even Kendou was here, taking deep breaths to calm herself down. He decided to leave her be, for the time being. 'I'll talk to her later.'

"OKAY, START!"

He looked up in shock. 'Already?'

Present Mic was grinning from above him, holding a large megaphone. He didn't let himself waste another moment- he rushed forward, activating the Omnitrix even as students around him gaped in shock. "What?! There aren't any countdowns in a real fight! Run, run, run! #2421's got the right idea!"

He spun the dial, ignoring everyone shouting and yelling behind him, before finding the alien he wanted, slapping down on the watch face. Instantly, he became about six inches taller even as he ran, blue and black fur emerging from his body with the black fur forming a sort of mask on his face. Blade-shaped structures erupted from his elbows as he became a hundred times faster.

"Fasttrack!"

The blue-furred, muscular alien ran at speeds equalling that of a shinkansen, putting much more distance between himself and his peers. Soon, he found his first robot; a one-pointer, if the large 1 on its chest was anything to go by. Without even stopping, he sliced at it with his elbows, the robot barely getting a chance to say anything before it was sliced apart, and blew up to smithereens.

"Yeahhh!" shouted the alien in excitement, taking down four more one-pointers and a two-pointer, before a student (the black-haired boy who had spoken up earlier) finally showed up, taking on a robot for himself. Other students soon followed, but Kyosuke was by then occupied with other things- namely, gaining points and not letting himself be knocked out of his rhythm by errant missiles.

For the time being, he stayed as Fasttrack, cutting down robots with his blades or simply kicking and punching until they were down. However, he soon found out that he was at a disadvantage.

Unlike many heroes with speed-type Quirks, Fasttrack didn't have very fine control over his speed. He often found himself bumping into buildings and other examinees when he should've stopped or turned instead. His maneuverability was made worse by the fact that more and more students were arriving in the area he was at, which meant having to often pace himself and stay aware of his surroundings, which was very difficult to do as Fasttrack. The speedster alien was so fast that he could only really focus on one thing at a time.

So, he raced over to a clump of robots and hit the Omnitrix symbol on his chest.

Blue fur was replaced with metallic yellow-and-grey skin and a wide set of shoulders between which a head floated.

"Lodestar!"

The metallic alien held up his pincer-like hands, even as examinees around him stared in shock. "Time to see whether you're all attracted to me!" he quipped.

A powerful magnetic wave exploded from his body, instantly affecting the robots all around him. When he'd discovered this alien in Dagobah, he'd had a field day with all the metal implements there…after he'd learned to control his powers, of course. The metallic humanoid hadn't been an easy alien to use at first, but soon, his control over his magnetic powers had improved greatly. With a swipe of his hands, Lodestar instantly clumped together and destroyed at least five metallic bodies.

"Okay, going great!" he smiled (or he would have if Lodestar could move his lips or even his mouth) when he noticed a boy looking somewhat scared as he was cornered by two three-pointers in an alleyway.

"Oh shit!" he muttered, running toward the boy even as the robots turned on him. "It's time for the two of you to take a hike!"

He swiped his hand, the robots slamming into the buildings making up the alleyway as their sudden magnetization caused them to repel each other with alarming speed. The boy breathed a sigh of relief, wiping his brow and smiling. He looked somewhat plain, with black hair streaming down his face. "Thanks, man! I was kind of out of my depth, there."

With a flash of green, Lodestar was Kyosuke again, making the boy jerk back in shock, before regaining his composure and looking excited. "No problem. Sorry for stealing your kills."

"Hey, that was so damn cool, just now, how did you- LOOK OUT!" the boy roared, his arm…hardening? -as he swung a massive haymaker at an approaching one-pointer, blowing its head off. Kyosuke was the one to jerk back, this time. "Thanks for the save."

"No biggie. I'm Kirishima."

"I'm Kirihara," responded Kyosuke, before manipulating the face of the watch once more, turning the dial several times before slapping down on the hologram of the alien he wanted. Promptly, he started to change shape, a bright green aura emanating from his body as it contorted and shifted, his neck disappearing and torso thickening under a blue-black carapace. A massive pair of jaws formed, along with onyx claws and a large horn.

"Eatle!" shouted the newly-transformed alien joyfully. Kirishima stared at him in wonder. "How are you doing that, man?"

"I'll tell you later," the beetle-like alien waved the question aside. "For now, however…time for lunch!"

The black-haired boy looked utterly bewildered as Eatle started to pick up the remains of the unfortunate three-pointers and crush them between his formidable jaws, chewing with the air of a food critic delving into a new and delicious type of dish that he'd been starving to try for several months. "Um…I'll just go, shall I?"

Eatle did not bother responding as Kirishima left. Despite the brief camaraderie that had formed between them during the spur of the moment, an exam was still an exam, and they were running out of time. Speaking of which… "You have exactly four more minutes to complete the exam!" Present Mic's voice cheerfully rang out throughout the entire area.

"Looks like it's crunch time!" quipped Eatle as he sped into the fray once more, a green, undulating beam shooting out of his horn and tearing through a robot that had been just about to unload its missiles on him with ease.


Unbeknownst to the entirety of the examinees, they were being watched as they performed the exam by a select board of teachers through a plethora of hidden cameras. These teachers were currently examining each student, looking for any sign of talent or skill that laid beyond what was expected of a normal high-schooler. Two of these examinees had caught their interest to a significant degree.

"#2420- Katsuki Bakugou. Quirk: Explosion. Allows him to generate nitroglycerin via his sweat, which he then ignites," read out the 18+ Only Hero, Midnight.

The Hound Hero, Hound Dog leaned forward in interest as the said boy leaped over two robots, blowing their heads off with a tremendous blast and an even more tremendous roar. "He certainly hasn't anything lacking when it comes to tenacity. He's amassed sixty-eight villain points already."

"What about rescue points?" countered the Blood Hero, Vlad King. "Zero. It doesn't matter that no examinee knows about them- he hasn't bothered to save anyone from the robots, even when they needed it. Hell, he almost hit someone with his explosions when blasting that one three-pointer down!"

"If he gets accepted into U.A- and at this rate, he will- then we'll need to work on his brashness and complete lack of restraint," agreed Midnight. "That boy is a diamond in the rough."

"What about the other examinee? #2421?" interrupted a lazy voice in the background. The teachers in the front turned away from the screens for a moment to regard the Erasure Hero, Eraserhead, whose dry eyes were fixed blearily, but alertly, on a screen showing a massive rhinoceros beetle mowing down a robot that had been about to concuss a pink-skinned girl with a mighty swing. "His Quirk is easily much more interesting, what could it be…"

"#2421- Kyosuke Kirihara," read out a blond-haired skeleton, who was in actuality the Number One Hero, the Symbol of Peace, All Might, adopting his persona of Toshinori Yagi. "Quirk: Super Saiyan. It is called that because it makes his hair look exactly like that of one, and keeps it clean and free from any ailments such as dandruff and lice, besides."

There was a long, incredulous silence. "No way!" chorused at least six teachers at the same time, which was to say every teacher in the room except Eraserhead, the principal Nedzu, and the Clone Hero, Ectoplasm. The heroes that had voiced their shock were Yagi himself, Midnight, Vlad King, Cementoss, Present Mic, and Snipe. "Look at how many creatures the boy's turned into, already!" protested the third of the above mentioned. "There has to be some sort of mistake!"

"No, I don't think so, Kan-kun," said Nedzu pleasantly, taking a sip of his green tea. "If you look at the screen closely enough, you'll notice that the boy hits something on his wrist every single time before he transforms. And, he has a little symbol located on his body every time he is a creature- look, the beetle has it on his chest." Indeed, there was a strange green symbol with black triangles either side of it present on the beetle-like creature's chest, clearly visible as he exchanged words with the girl, who was clearly thanking him for saving her.

"Do you think he is using some sort of weapon, then, to transform, Nedzu-kouchou?" inquired Midnight tensely. While weapon usage was not disallowed, the dependence of an examinee on anything except their own skill and Quirk was generally frowned upon. It was bad enough that Quirks were depended upon so much by heroes since their generation- they could be taken away either temporarily or otherwise by use of drugs, or erased by other Quirks like Eraserhead's. Even All Might would be near helpless without his Quirk against a villain. Quirk dependence was necessary for an industry like the heroics section, but like every dependence, it could turn into a vice.

And here was #2421, who apparently had somehow acquired a weapon beyond anything they had ever seen. Of course, in this case, it was surely just to counteract the uselessness of his Quirk in combat, so it was acceptable, but some of these creatures barely resembled anything they had on Earth- the finest example being the one he had called Lodestar. How had Kirihara even gotten this device? Who had made it? And most importantly, why hadn't the Government been informed of the creation of such a powerful device, assuming it had been made on Earth?

Eraserhead scowled slightly. "Obviously, this can't be some sort of second Quirk. Whether the boy passes the exam or not…he shall be having words with us, later."

Nedzu smiled. "His means of combat notwithstanding, his figures are even more impressive than Bakugou's, at the moment. He has seventy-one villain points, and more impressively, twenty rescue points, giving him a total of ninety-one- no, ninety-three points." The boy had just brought down a two-pointer with a mighty punch, still in the form of the beetle.

"How much time remains, Yamada-kun?" called Nedzu, getting a prompt response of, "Only a minute and thirty-eight seconds, Nedzu-kouchou!"

"Excellent," the mouse smiled in satisfaction, sipping at his tea before putting his cup aside. "Send in the zero-pointers."


"Haaaah!" yelled Kyosuke, as he flipped over a robot, having changed into his human form when fighting as Eatle had become a bit tiresome. Despite his surprising strength and unique powers, the rhinoceros beetle was not good at taking on multiple opponents at once- he was a little too slow for it. So, he had changed into his human form and had taken advantage of his formidable spatial awareness and fighting skill to wreak mayhem on the robots surrounding him. They were one-pointers and incapable of ranged attacks, thankfully.

The robot slammed downward, going out of commission as its red eyes darkened. Kyosuke shook his head in amazement. U.A really went Plus Ultra on every stage!

"KIAI!" came a similar war cry, and the boy turned to watch Kendou punch two robots at the same time with a hand that was as large as her torso. Clearly, it was her Quirk, which she then used to take down another robot that had been approaching her from behind.

Kyosuke hailed her as she stopped for a while to rest. "Kendou-san!"

She looked at him, green eyes registering shock before warming in recognition. "Kirihara-kun!"

"Good going, so far?" panted Kyosuke, as he rushed at two one-pointers speeding towards them. Kendou followed behind him; she gripped one robot and slammed it down as he ducked a swipe from the other before catching it on the head with an elbow strike. "Yeah! Thanks for asking!"

He looked around; all the robots seemed to have been disabled. "Huh, seems there aren't any robots around anymore."

Kendou nodded in agreement. "Does that mean the exam is over?"

Apparently not quite yet. The ground started to shake as a colossus emerged from it- a titan of steel and technology that towered over the buildings as it gave a loud, metallic roar. The number 0 was transcribed on it with grey paint.

"Wait…that's the zero-pointer?!" yelled someone behind them. It sounded like Kirishima.

"Isn't it a little…big?" offered the pink-skinned girl, Ashido, uneasily, as it started to walk towards them. Kyosuke's feet seemed glued to the floor- he didn't move even as the examinees, save Kendou, Kirishima, and Ashido themselves screamed and ran from the scene. The former tapped his arm frantically. "Kirihara-kun, we can't beat that thing! We have to leave, now!"

The girl was right; despite the plethora of aliens- especially Lodestar- that he had in his Omnitrix, Kyosuke didn't think he could defeat it. Damage it, perhaps, but not beat it. Besides, what compensation would he receive for it? He turned to leave (manipulating his Omnitrix to transform into Fasttrack) when his attention was arrested by a piercing scream.

"Someone…please help me!"

It seemed to be a girl who had just spoken, a brunette girl who seemed to be trapped under some rubble that the zero-pointer had knocked down. Kirishima looked at the girl, then at the group. "It would be so unmanly to just leave her there!" he insisted.

"We won't," agreed Ashido and Kendou simultaneously. Almost as one, the three turned to Kyosuke, who blinked in surprise. "What?"

"How can we save her?" Kendou asked. Kyosuke closed his eyes and tried to think of a plan, scrambling for any knowledge of their Quirks that he had. Kirishima could harden his skin, Ashido could produce acid, and Kendou could enlarge her hands. What could he do, in order to save the girl and knock out the zero-pointer?

He thought for a few moments, before opening his eyes purposefully. He wouldn't be able to fight the zero-pointer, or rescue the girl, alone, but with the aid of these people? That could mean a whole different story, provided his desperate plan worked. "Kirishima, I need you to get that girl out of that rubble. You have your hardening Quirk- you can do it easily and with the least injury."

The boy smacked his fists together. "I'm ready for it!"

The zero-pointer was only about ten metres away from them, now. Quickly, he turned to Kendou and Ashido. "Get on my shoulders."

"Ehhh!" screeched the two girls, again simultaneously. Kyosuke winced even as he knelt. "We don't have time for this! Just do it!"

Blushing slightly, they obeyed, Kendou sitting awkwardly on his left shoulder while Ashido occupied his right. "What will you be doing?" asked the latter.

Kyosuke grinned, manipulating his Omnitrix until he found the alien he wanted and slapping down on it. "This!"

His body was swallowed in a verdant blaze as he grew, grew, grew, until he was almost twenty feet tall. His stature widened and his body grew several layers of muscle, before acquiring leathery brown, armour-like skin. He appeared much more like a dinosaur, now, with a tail sweeping out beneath his legs to complete the transformation.

"HUMUNGOSAUR!" rumbled the brown dinosaur, the astonished Kirishima now much smaller, the equally astonished girls now sitting very comfortably on his shoulders. "Okay, you are definitely showing me how you did that!" yelled Kendou from his left.

"In a moment!" grinned Humungosaur, growing even taller now as spikes protruded from his back and down from his spine. He was now just a metre or two shorter than the zero-pointer. "All right, hang tight!"

"Aaaah!" screamed Ashido, holding on to the spikes on his shoulders for support. Humungosaur ran forward, past the terrified brunette and to the zero-pointer. "I'll restrain it!" he roared as he ran. "Kendou, you try and hold its head steady, and Ashido, give it the strongest acid you've got!"

"Roger!" chorused the two as the gigantic alien caught hold of the robot's hands, crushing them and moving closer to grip its shoulders. This was the girls' cue; they jumped off Humungosaur's shoulders and on to the zero-pointer, which screeched and struggled.

"Like I'd let you get away!" shouted the alien confidently, gritting his teeth and straining his immense muscles to hold the robot in place. It was difficult, so difficult, but it was doable. "Don't worry, Kendou, Ashido; I have him!"

The former of the two ran, punching repeatedly at the head before grasping it firmly, even as her knuckles bled. Ashido, for her part, waited until Kendou had gotten a steady hold of the head before rushing forward with amazing agility as the most corrosive acid she could produce flowed from her fingers and into the cracks of the zero-pointer's head. She continued at it, the acid eating away at the robot's cerebral matrix, Humungosaur holding it grimly and Kendou tearing off chunks from the head so the acid could move directly into the robot's brain.

"Almost…there!" screamed the orange-haired girl, with a final effort tugging spiritedly at a section of metal until it came free…and that was when the zero-pointer's single red eye went dark, and it slumped downwards, the girls getting on to the dinosaur's shoulders before they fell.

Simultaneously, Present Mic's voice rang out one last time throughout the test centre: "Tiiime's UP!"


Exhausted but delighted with his day's work, Kyosuke Kirihara lay in his bedroom, thinking over the aftermath of the exam.

The four had been tired beyond belief, assembling in the central square of the centre (Kyosuke had, of course, turned back into human form by then) with Kirishima still carrying the brunette piggyback-style; she had fallen unconscious during their brief scrimmage with the zero-pointer. Whether it was because a stray rock had struck her, or because of the shock of seeing a dinosaur charge past her, Kyosuke did not know.

(He later learned that her name was Ochako Uraraka and that she had gotten stuck under the rubble because she had been trying to help up a struggling examinee, who had pushed her aside and right into the path of the falling pieces of stone.)

Recovery Girl had appeared soon after that, giving everyone some All Might shaped gummies for energy, and laying a kiss (which had shocked the coterie of examinees) on Kendou to heal her torn knuckles. Privately, Kyosuke admired her for her distinct perseverance, which reminded him quite a bit of a certain blond boy.

The four had been too tired to do anything except exchange e-mails and numbers, and promise to hang out the next day, at a café. After all, there were certain things people could not do without emerging as friends afterward, and taking down a titanic, cycloptic robot was one of them. Kyosuke had then made his way home and was now here, in his bed.

He had garnered exactly seventy-five villain points, he knew. Whether that was an impressive figure or not, he didn't know just yet, and he refused to speculate on it or even think about it until the letter showed up five days later.

However, for the first time in his adolescence…he had friends. This was the most wondering thing that had happened to him today. He had made friends.

Kyosuke grinned into his pillow as sleep overtook him. Already, he was looking forward to the next day.

He slept peacefully that night.


Hey guys, what's crackin'

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