Chapter 1
The Last Minute
*Beep* *Beep* *Beep*
It was the alarm.
Her peaceful dreams of running through never-ending meadows were drowned out by the droning of her alarm clock. She rolled over in her bed, drowsily opened her eyes, and checked the time.
It was 6:32 AM. Her restless soul suddenly sparked to life as she realized that she would be late to meet up with her best friend.
Whenever possible, she preferred to never be late to anything. Ever. Especially walking to school with her best friend.
Emiri Ikehara, a sixteen-year-old girl living in the heart of Hosu City, Japan, lived a pretty comfortable life, what all with her dad having a well-paying job, she having good friends, and having a wonderful mom that was just about as much of a gourmet cook as you could get. She had had a dream goal for her life ever since she was young. She wanted to be a professional hero.
For many decades now, about 95%, if not more, of the world's population have had superpowers generally known as Quirks. Many people with quirks helped protect the world from nefarious villains by becoming heroes. This was what Emiri, or "Emi" as she liked to be called, wanted to do. When it came to superheroes, Emi was your typical fangirl. She had an action figure collection on her bookshelf displaying all of her favorite heroes: from Mt. Lady, the sexy woman who grows to enormous proportions to fight crime; Ingenium, a graduate from U.A. High from about twelve years ago who had engines in his legs; to Venomshot, a hero, "fresh out of the oven" if you will, with giant cobras for arms! She even had a vintage collectible figurine of All Might, the legendary number one hero and the "Symbol of Peace" of the previous decade. Emi cherished this figurine most of all, because she considered All Might to be her role model, the gold standard of what a hero should be.
Emi took off her pajamas and stepped into the shower. As the hot water ran down her bare skin, she recalled her favorite hero's personal philosophy: "Always save the world with a smile on your face." Even though Emi considered All Might to be her own role model, she didn't know him personally, especially since he had lived at least a decade or two before her time. Despite all that, she had watched many videos on Yap!Tube about his great achievements of the past, such as saving stranded people from burning buildings, rescuing a couple of kids from a slime monster, and even defeating the infamous supervillain All For One, who was his arch nemesis so to speak. Emi wanted to be a similar kind of hero, one that would be on the scene to rescue everyone in danger and save the world from harm. However, she didn't know how to properly use her quirk yet. She actually had two quirks. One was the ability to create ice. The other, to make gusts of wind. Unfortunately, Emi still didn't know how to properly use her quirks yet. In any case, she desperately wanted to go to a school specifically for heroes, but she didn't quite know which one yet.
For now, though, she had the last couple days of middle school left before the end of the school year, and she was running late. She hurriedly finished washing up and got out of the shower. She then dried herself off, changed into her brown and white school dress, and combed down her silky, dark violet hair, which was somehow very attractive according to her classmates. But she didn't care too much about that part. She then headed downstairs to get some breakfast.
Her mom was finishing making fried rice when Emi rushed into the dining room, carrying her backpack filled with her school supplies.
"Good morning Emi!" her mom called out from the kitchen, "Did you sleep well?"
"Oh, I slept wonderfully, even though I was too excited to sleep at first."
"Is that because of school getting out soon?"
"Yeah," replied Emi as she sat down at the table. "I'm getting kinda stressed about which school I want to attend for hero studies."
"I understand your concern, honey." Emi's mom brought over a steaming bowl of rice as she spoke. "I went to Shiketsu High when I was about your age. I had a good time there, even though I didn't quite make the cut for hero work. I bet you would enjoy it there too, honey!"
"I probably would, but I feel more inclined to go to U.A. That's the school where our number one hero, Deku, learned how to be the hero he is today. I heard he was taught by All Might himself!"
"Oh yeah," her mom recalled as she walked back into the kitchen to tidy up. "I forgot how much you love Deku and All Might. They were amazing heroes in their day. Especially All Might. Now eat your rice before it gets cold."
Emi stopped talking so she could wolf down her breakfast. She was running late to meet up with her friend, Mako Mitsugu, who was also her next-door neighbor. The two of them would always walk to school together. They even had all their classes together!
She leaped up from her chair and slid her bowl, licked completely spotless, across the counter toward the sink where her mom was washing the dishes.
As she gathered her things for school, Mrs. Ikehara walked over to her daughter, grappled her from behind, and gave her a big squeeze.
"You stay safe, okay darling?" she asked as she gave Emi a loving kiss.
"Of course I will, mom," Emi replied as she returned her mother's embrace.
Emi swung her backpack over her shoulder, waved her mom goodbye, and flung the front door wide open. What she didn't know then was that her life would soon change in the blink of an eye, and her dream of becoming a professional hero was about to become a reality.
Mako Mitsugu sat on the wooden bench on the sidewalk just a couple of blocks from the Ikehara residence. She stroked her long blonde hair, twiddling her fingers around each individual strand. She had been impatiently waiting for her best friend Emiri so that they could walk to school together. But at that moment, she was reminiscing about how they had first became friends. Mako had known Emi ever since second grade. And now they were soon about to start high school! She still couldn't believe how much time it had been since the two girls had met.
Mako could still remember it as if it had happened yesterday. The two of them were in Mrs. Yonamine's class, and Mako was sitting in the back corner. Her family had only recently moved to the Hosu district, so she didn't know anyone there. Mako herself had been a rather timid and introverted person. So it was a big surprise to her when a girl about her age with black hair tied in a ponytail walked over to her and asked for her name. That girl was Emi. Thus began a series of events that led to the two of them becoming close friends.
Mako was still recalling the many memories the two of them had made together when she noticed Emiri running toward her, nearly tripping herself in her hurry. Fortunately, Mako caught Emi before she could fully lose her balance.
"Emi! Where the heck have you been?" Mako exclaimed as she helped Emi steady herself. "I've been waiting for about half an hour already!"
"Sorry, sorry," Emi replied, catching her breath. "I guess I slept later than I had intended…"
"Uh huh," Mako said with arms akimbo, "That's what you want me to think."
"No really I-I —"
Mako gave Emi a playful slap. "Oh, I'm just giving you a bad time."
"Figured as much," Emi muttered under her breath.
"Now come on, Emi, or we'll be late for school."
And so the two girls raced down the road, caught the bus to school, and arrived there just in the nick of time. Homeroom was about to start in five minutes! They made their way through the school grounds, and located their homeroom class on the far side. They entered the classroom along with a few other stragglers, and sat down at their designated seats. The homeroom (as well as advanced math) teacher at this school was one Toshinori Yagi. Mr. Toshinori was a calm and collected person with graying blonde hair. He could be a rather intimidating teacher when he wanted to, albeit his frame of body was more like that of a skeleton. Either way, Emiri liked the old man. He had a gleam in his eye that spoke of bravery and fearlessness, qualities that Emi thought a hero should have. But whenever she asked Mr. Toshinori about it, he'd always drop the subject. However she did hear rumors that he had known All Might. However, she thought that was just a bunch of horse feathers. She didn't care one bit for rumors anyway. She always sought the truth.
Suddenly, the school bell rang loud and clear, signaling the beginning of class. The classroom settled down as the usual announcements were made over the loudspeaker. The only important one was that there was going to be a Spring Festival the following afternoon. "Filled with fun, food, and prizes," so said the commentator. Anticipation filled the air in the classroom. After the announcements were given and the class itself began, Mr. Toshinori stood up to say a few words.
"Dear students," he said with a tone of seriousness. "It has been a great privilege to teach you the skills you need for the future. And I am excited to see the excellent progress you all have made in your studies. You all have definitely earned a break from them. These skills will be extremely beneficial for you on your journey to becoming a better citizen. Becoming more educated in the arts and sciences will grant you more opportunities in life, like becoming an architect, a botanist, or even a respected doctor with a Ph.D. Having a higher education also allows you to pursue your dream, whether it's becoming a convincing politician, a business owner, or even a pro hero!"
Emi perked up when she heard this. Apparently, so did Mako.
"But now," Toshinori continued, "before I turn you guys and girls loose to your inevitable spring break, there is one final exam for you to take."
All the students groaned when they heard this. They weren't really expecting a test today.
"This last test of the school year, which will cover all of the material you've learned over the past year. You'll have ninety minutes to complete the test. All the other students at this school will be taking a similar exam, but this one is designed specifically for you guys, who will be graduating into high school. Your score on this test will help you secure a position in a better school, like Shiketsu or U.A. for example. Now sit quietly as I give you your test booklets."
Emiri leaned over to Mako, whose seat was next to her own. She whispered anxiously to Mako, "Did you know there was a test today? Because I didn't. Did you study? Because I haven't, since I didn't know—"
"Calm down, Emi," Mako consoled, "you'll do fine. You're good at remembering things. Besides, all of our past study sessions we've done have culminated to this very day. This test will be a piece of cake. So let's do our best, shall we?" She gave her friend a big wink.
"Yeah!"
Emiri turned back to the blackboard just as Mr. Toshinori handed her the test booklet. She thanked her teacher and got her pencil, sharpener, and eraser ready. She was a little surprised to see that the booklet was several centimeters thick! However she ignored that fact, and mentally prepared herself for the inevitable torture on her brain that would come as she worked on the test questions. She closed her eyes, took a deep breath, and tried to calm herself down.
After Toshinori passed out the rest of the test booklets, he went to the blackboard, checked the time, and wrote down end time for the test.
"Alright students," he spoke. "As I said before, you have ninety minutes to complete the test. The test itself ends at five past ten. I'll be sitting here, overseeing the taking of this test, to make sure no one cheats. Prepare your spirits, children, for your time starts… Now."
AN: Hey readers! I hope you enjoyed the first chapter of this fanfic. I want to let you know upfront that subsequent chapters of this story will most likely be published irregularly, due to procrastination on my part. If it ever seems like too much time has past since the posting of a chapter, don't worry. This story is something I'm committed to and won't abandon at any point. So if you are reading this [hopefully] great story and find yourself asking for more, be patient, because new content will soon be available. Thank you for understanding. See you guys in the next chapter!