Title: Tunnel Vision

Genre: action/adventure/friendship

Rating: T

Summary: Azami was literally born ready, thanks to the memories of another life ingrained in her head. Problem is, the starting line is about thirty years in the future. So she's got some time to kill—hopefully the detour won't cause too many ripples…

a/n: I swear actual characters start showing up here.

Entrance Exam II.

I don't think it turned out as bad as you think it did.

"Go away."

No, really—

"Seriously, shut up. I don't want to deal with you right now."

I'm just saying, there's more to the entrance exam than punching ro—

"I don't want to hear it!"

But… it's stuff you know already, it's literally written on page thirty-six—

"I said shut up!" Azami spun around and— woke up. Panting heavily, twisted around in her covers, with her pillow thrown halfway across the room. She groaned and let her arm fall back on the mattress.

It had been a while since she'd had a 'conversation.' She'd more or less trained herself out of them years ago, but occasionally they would still come up, and she blamed the stress. Something about moments of emotional turmoil seemed to trigger the 'conversations' in her sleep, where the other side of her that inexplicably… knew things almost seemed to manifest as a separate identity enough to actually talk back. Which was, weird. Definitely not a usual thing people went through. It was worse than the double-vision she still got from mirrors every now and then.

The 'other side' had been pretty insistent this time around, but with everything that had happened last week, well. Maybe it wasn't so surprising. Azami found her thoughts drifting to the sealed box underneath her bed. Part of dealing with the… things she somehow knew, included writing everything down in an attempt to clear her head, and maybe her own thoughts had a point… maybe there was something written down that could help her work around what had happened—

No. Nope. She was notgoing to give in to this. She was not going to depend on suspicious, second-hand knowledge.

Now in a thoroughly bad mood, Azami stomped across the room to retrieve her pillow and then wrapped herself back up in her blankets. The clock said it was still early morning, she had every right to go straight back to sleep.

Hopefully she wouldn't dream up a conversation again.

And hopefully she wouldn't dream up the source of her stress.

Stupid U.A. and its stupid entrance exam.

One week earlier

There was a tension in the air that hadn't been there before. Walking up to U.A. proper had been… exhilarating, giddy, filled with anticipation and now the mood was a hundred times more subdued. There was still a crowd of chattering middle-schoolers, but there was an edge to their smiles, and laughter was more nervous as they stood at the entrance of the physical exam. There was entire miniature city rising up in front of them— and Azami was struck with an odd sensation of, disappointment? Bafflement? Considering that she'd come half-expecting skyscrapers and asphalt, and not… all of this.

The Outskirts Zone, as it had been called in the orientation, was a vaguely un-safe looking collection of warehouses, towers, and winding walkways. Even under broad daylight it looked shadowy and ominous, a place that parents would warn their children to stay away from. Currently the entrance was blocked off by the rusted chain fence along the perimeter, but the corrugated bridge beyond was open-aired on either side; the entire zone seemed to be sunken into the ground, depth indeterminate.

She swallowed, heavily, feeling the nerves again. Hanao hadn't been assigned this zone, and it was weird without her usual companion at her side. It wasn't that she was shy, but… it definitely helped, to have a familiar someone to bounce her personality off of. Especially surrounded by a group fellow examinees— essentially all her rivals. Every single one of them had the potential to take her spot in U.A.'s incoming freshman class.

A siren split the air and jolted her out of her thoughts. All chatting abruptly stopped; some had tensed, some were looking around for the source of the noise. The exam hadn't started, had it!? …no, the gate was stilled closed.

"Please move to the starting gates, one and all!" The voice of the pro-hero Silky echoed around them— "As stated earlier, you will have exactly fifteen minutes for your physical exam. You may use your quirks to their full extent, but sabotaging or otherwise harming your fellow examinees is forbidden. The test will begin and end on the siren; I will not count down. Ready yourselves, children!"

Any remaining light atmosphere was gone. The crowd was surging forward to the gate— suddenly Azami found herself jostled by elbows and other appendages. She remembered the walkway and quickly moved forward herself; she didn't want to be stuck in the pack and end up jostled over the side. And her quirk wouldn't give her any advantage in catching up if she went last— well, not in a way that was allowed, anyway.

The siren had not sounded. Dozens stood half-crouched or otherwise at the ready. A boy next to her was almost vibrating, standing in a strange ready-stance with fists up and upper arms parallel to his body. Probably to help with whatever the round pipes sticking out of his elbows would do. Another kid licked his lips with a forked tongue. Azami took a deep breath and settled into a half-crouch, ready to run like hell as soon as the signal came. Unlike a lot of other quirks she'd seen just from appearances… her Quirk wasn't flashy. It wouldn't help out one bit for this— she'd have to directly compete with everyone else on her own merit.

And if that didn't scare her more than anything else...

Gate. Bridge. Testing zone. Everything else around her fell away as Azami focused on the way forward, and when the starting siren blared and the rusted gate rolled away, she was one of the first to grind her heels to the ground and run into the—

"…Outskirts edition?" Hanao echoed Silky's words with some confusion. Meanwhile, the thunk of Azami's head dropping to the desk was swallowed up in the murmur of the crowd.

"Where there is light, there are also shadows left in its wake," Silky spoke, as the words flashed on the screen. "We pro-heroes combat that darkness that takes shape in the form of Villains. While we have earned our licenses through training and certification at institutes such as U.A., certain individuals rebel against society and use their quirks illegally, for nefarious purposes." She paused, gazing around the room with a serious expression, before sliding right back to her dazzling smile. "When faced with the authorities, most villains act on basic instinct— to run and hide so they might fight another day. This practical exam module is as follows; a simulation, where you will chase down proxy villains fleeing the scene of the crime. Think of it as a game of cops and robbers. Well, rather," she tilted her head, "a game of Heroes and Villains."

It was the right choice to start at the front of the crowd as the examinees surged forth in a stampede. The boy with the elbow-pipes didn't hesitate— he blew past Azami like a rocket, shooting off down the bridge as the main group spilled forward. The Outskirts zone was sunken; she could see the 'streets' down below; they were nearly a story up. Not that it stopped some examinees from jumping off the bridge in whatever way available to them— wings, appendages, there was one girl jumping to the side of a warehouse and sticking there, and another kid who went all wavy on the edges and just appeared on a walkway further down—but Azami stuck to the main path in front of her and kept running, trying to stay ahead of the crowd. It was part of the plan she'd come up with two minutes ago; obviously she couldn't compete head-to-head with the flashy battle types, so she'd have to strike out and run into the mock villains before anyone else got to them—

There was very little warning when the first of the villains came smashing through the windows of a warehouse and poured out directly in front of her.

"Given the obvious danger of fighting real villains," Silky said, images flashing on the wide screen behind her, "you'll make do with these mock ones instead. There are three types of villains you will be facing, each worth a different a certain point value. First, the one-pointer—" A single robot appeared, enlarged for all of them to see. "It is the smallest of the mock villains. You will find that all this robot will do is run, very fast. You can try to catch them if you can. Though they're small and only worth one point, they will travel in swarms, so perhaps the more… enterprising among you will find a way to turn their actions into an advantage."

Silky hadn't been exaggerating when she said they traveled in swarms. Azami skidded to a startled stop, to avoid running headlong into the actual literal flood pooling onto the walkway. Each one-pointer was smaller than her head; steely-grey bodies were supported by six spidery legs, and singular antenna. She stared at them, dumbstruck by how quickly the one-pointers had appeared, and her hesitation cost the initiative as a group of examinees blew past her; the swarm of robots promptly scattered hastily into the wind.

Hasty being an understatement.

"What the hell?" Azami burst out as the little robots booked it, skittering legs a blur as they ran for dear life from the horde descending on them. She kicked herself into gear and started running again, but she wasn't nearly fast enough to outpace the speedy mock villains. The opportunity was literally running away from her because of her hesitation— Spurred on by anger Azami dug in her toes and sprinted at what was left of the swarm; They squeaked, movements more erratic, striking up a memory from orientation that the one-pointers would panic if under duress—

"HA!"

Azami pounced. She pushed all her power into a single leap, bodily throwing herself forward just as a robot swerved, spooked by another examinee, directly underneath her. A thud; the air whooshed from her lungs from the impact, but pinned underneath was a single squirming one-pointer.

"Yes, yes!" She jumped to her feet and grabbed it, holding it triumphantly above her head, "Hell yeah—"

"Move!"

Five thin wires snapped from behind her, shooting out to strike five one-pointers at once. There was a boy behind, hand outstretched as the wires returned to his fingertips with squirming one-pointers in tow. More wires extended from his other hand, snagging three more as the last surprise horde vanished into the zone. Azami stared blankly at her singular one-pointer. It had stopped wiggling and seemingly deactivated.

"Dammit!" She smashed it against the ground. What the hell was she getting excited over one point for? Some kid was already seven points ahead of her at the least. Chasing after one-pointers wasn't feasible at all, not with her abilities. She had to go bigger and make up for the point deficient that way. And the only way to do that would be to start running again.

There was a spiraling metal staircase up ahead and she took it, rushing down the steps in a clatter of metal, nearly tripping in her haste to reach the next level down— into a scene of absolute chaos. Dozens of other kids hadn't hesitated at all to spread out on the streets, and more than one had already flushed out the second kind of mock villain—

"Next, the three point mock villains."

The image changed on the slide again, prompting an uneasy shiver through the room. "Yes, you'll see that the overall appearance has changed with the point increase. They are worth more, and the difficulty level has risen accordingly. These mock villains are more… temperamental, than their comrades. They will remain initially hidden from your view, but once discovered, these mock villains prefer a more active approach to evading capture."

Silky gave the room another brilliant smile.

In a screech of metal on concrete, a three-pointer went careening down the street, only to find itself surrounded. Unlike the one-pointers, it was not small. Rising well over the tallest examinee on four long metal legs, it chattered angrily as the bolder of examinees charged— prompting the two fully automated turrets protruding from its body to arm themselves and fire on the crowd.

"Don't worry! We don't fire live bullets on our campus," Silky said brightly, "Our mock villains use rubber bullets instead. You may rest easy knowing that there will be no mortal injury in your exam."

Screams rose in the air as so-calledrubber bullets sprayed in a wide arc, the mock villain attempting to drive its attackers away. Those who could take the shots stood their ground, but the others less equipped scrambled to avoid the bullets in different ways. Azami chose to hit the deck right as a line peppered the wall behind her, leaving smoking dents in their wake.

"Oh geez. Oh geez, oh geez," she whispered, staring wide-eyed at the three-pointer. It had seemed smaller at orientation… how was she supposed to disable that? What could she do? She had to try something—

A girl dashed from among the warier examinees, dodged the robot's thrashing legs to dart underneath the main body, then promptly disengaged. Nothing happened until she skidded to a stop and slammed a single hand against the ground, and the robot promptly crumpled downward. Its legs waved wildly as it attempted to stand but the body seemed to be glued to the pavement— after a fruitless struggle it conceded defeat and powered down. Three points, lost.

All up and down the street were similar scenes of carnage, some more violent than others. All around were points she was missing out on. Azami was incredibly grateful for all the running she'd been doing for months now because she was up and running again, opposite to the chaos. The original plan still stood— even though her heart was hammering in her chest, she had to find a three-pointer on her own and take it down before anyone else got to it. Into a side street she ducked, enveloped by the shadows of the tall buildings. Here and there, lone examinees with apparent similar ideas scrambled across her path, and Azami pushed further into the Outskirts Zone, acutely aware of precious minutes trickling away.

Finally alone. She stopped and took stock of her surroundings; one and three pointers would be hidden until someone found them. The one pointers could hide literally anywhere and she wasn't going to worry about them too much, but the larger three pointers would have a harder time, and theoretically she'd want to be looking at any structure with the potential to hide their bulk, such as the surrounding warehouses or—

Or in the large industrial dumpster off to the side there, which looked like it could hold one if it crouched. She crept forward, eyeing the thing warily. She wasn't about the climb up and wrestled with the covers, but if the three point mock villains were temperamental…

Azami kicked the metal side as hard as she could. First, there was nothing, and then there was a rumble as the dumpster burst open and a mock villain leapt from its hiding place; she'd guessed correctly. As much of a mixed blessing that was. The villain made to run at first, legs skittering madly but stopped, sensing only a single pursuer. The body swiveled around and the turrets swung right around with it, clicking ominously.

So it was just her. Facing down a robot. On her own.

No, she could do this. Information from orientation filtered through her mind; there were handholds on either side of the robot's body, just low enough to reach with a good jump. There was a wire behind the turrets that would power the whole thing down if pulled. She could do it. She could do this! Azami drew in a deep breath, crouched low— and started to run. Straight at the mock villain. Which started moving menacingly forward in response. A wild yell burst from her lips as she darted headlong, mustering all her courage.

"Aaaaaaahhhh—"

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHH!"

It felt like she'd run headlong into a wall. Her yell was drowned out in the pure noise that blasted through the street, funneled by the narrow space and tall walls around them. She fell. Clutching her ears, curling up from the pain of the volume, so loud that she couldn't even hear herself think. The three pointer shuddered, also affected from the noise, off-balanced as sensitive equipment inside was disrupted. Then it was over— leaving behind the ringing instead that was almost just as bad.

Eyes blurred with tears, Azami could still see just enough as a small body hauled itself up the side of the robot. Seconds later the robot went down, legs folding in to allow the robot to settle on the ground, officially disengaged.

She'd lost her chance. Again.

…Her hands felt wet. When she pulled her palms away with shaking arms there were spots of red smeared on them. Staring at the bright color sent an uneasy sensation twisting in her stomach. Probably the shock from the suddenness of it all. Oh geez. Her ears were bleeding.

"…ey!" Was that a voice? It sounded very far away, muted by the ringing, but there were a pair of feet on the ground in front of her; she managed to get a hand on the ground and push herself to her knees, about as much as she could manage when the world seemed a little off balance. The feet belonged to a body. A boy. A boy with blond hair that stuck up, quivering in agitation as he waved at her frantically, mouth moving in a series of sounds she didn't hear at all.

Funny. He seemed familiar.

…glancing over her shoulder, looking at his wrist, there was some clear conflict going through the boy's face. It settled on both sheepish and apologetic as he awkwardly patted her shoulder, and… ran off. It took a moment for it to hit her, and when it did it hit about as hard as the wall of sound had.

"W…wa-wai…"

He'd ditched her. The little jerk ditched her! He hadn't even helped her up! Or asked if she was alright! Well, maybe he did, but he wasn't sticking around to see if it was true. First he'd show up and stolen her points, and now he was just running off? The outrage of it sent Azami shaking as she kneeled on the cold, hard ground, with her ears bleeding and her hearing shot and he had the nerve—

Azami tried standing. That was a mistake. As soon as she stood on two feet the ground went sideways. Gritting her teeth, she stumbled forward and... tipped against the deactivated robot, which was… not the way she'd meant to go. But she could still see the boy running down the road in the distance, blurry and fading. She gritted her teeth, pushed away from the robot and—

…veered in the opposite direction again. And across the alley. And into the other alley that happened to lead right into the first one. It was a battle not to fall, her legs wobbly and crisscrossing themselves to keep her up, but Azami finally went down as she collided into a wall with a very large and heavy clang.

Now there were stars in her eyes to go with the ringing. Blinking away the dizziness and watery eyes, she lay there this time, staring up at the sky. Clear blue and not a cloud in sight. Probably the only time she'd get to look at the sky from U.A. Academy seeing as how her chances of entry were slipping through her fingers like sand. Much like her current motivation, and Azami stayed down even as the ringing in her ears faded. Hm… now they were more buzzing instead. Or vibrating? Wait, why was her whole body suddenly feeling funny…?

A low rumble filled the air. It rattled the ground, sending pebbles and small debris skittering across the surface and Azami used her newly-restored balance to bolt up right. Squinting against the following head rush, she turned, slowly, to look behind her.

"What," she said.

What formerly had been a corrugated metal panel, a dead end, and the wall she'd crashed into, was lowering into the ground. It hadn't been a wall at all, but a gate. And there was something behind it. Something that loomed above her, taller than the three point robots, as tall as buildings around her.

"What," Azami said again. Words and images started flashing in her head. Certains words and certain images from not too long ago…

"Miss!" A girl with a long pony tail raised her hand. "You've spent most of the time talking about the first two robots, but in the booklet there's a third type…"

"Yes, you are correct." Silky nodded at the screen, which changed again to reveal—

Hushed whispers filled the hall. Examinees looked at each other with unease, and only a few seemed unruffled.

"Mock-villain number three. We like to call it the 'Kingpin.' As you can see… it's only worth one point." More murmurs, this time of disbelief.

"That's worth one point?" Azami muttered to Hanao. He only whimpered.

"As the last and the grandest, it's a little harder to hide than the others. They're not impossible to take down, per se, but they are very, very difficult to capture, and they're built to take what's dealt against them. I don't recommend taking them on. There will come a time in your career when it's in your best interest to run and fight another day, and that's why they are worth so little. There's only a few scattered around your testing grounds, anyhow. But they are hidden, and will remain so unless the number of total mock villains drops below a certain level. You see, they're a little protective of their comrades. Then, and only then, will they be… unleashed."

One last grin from the pro-hero Silky.

"And that," she said, "Is when the real fun begins."

"Oh, shit," Azami said, currently sitting in the shadow of a robot two, three… well over four stories tall. The ground itself shook as the Kingpin began to roll forward, free from its confines at last.

And she was directly in its path.

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Hello again! Thank you for waiting, and I hope you enjoy! Thank you so much for the nice reviews, and the follows. They really mean a lot. I always jump when I see the alert in my inbox :) I hope you'll stick with this little project of mine, haha.