Chapter 2- Beginning

Taka Washikaze sat on a bus that was taking her towards UA High, the school that she had been working to get into for over a year of her life. Endless hours of studying and training her body and her Quirk had lead towards this moment, all of the times that she had been left exhausted and broken after a particularly intense training session were behind her now, and she could finally look towards the future.

To be honest, it felt a little surreal to finally be heading towards UA.

Washikaze half expected to wake up and be back in her bedroom, the whole thing having been a dream, and the real Entrance Exam could still be weeks or even months away. But this was real, she had been counting the days towards this event for months now, and she was certain that today was the real thing. Washikaze had barely slept the night before, excited and nervous as she was for the coming exam, only adrenaline kept her from feeling exhausted.

Washikaze came from a military background, her father was a high-ranking pilot in the Japanese Air Force, and several other family members were pilots and officers in the Air Force. She had spent her childhood moving around and living in various Air Force bases, never being able to get particularly close to anybody that she knew in her many schools, as she would surely move away from them just as quickly when her father got transferred. Her older brother had become a pilot a few years ago, and was already making his name as a well-known and daring airman.

When Washikaze had told her parents that she wished to become a Pro Hero instead of following the family tradition and joining the Air Force, she got the impression that they were equal parts relieved and concerned. She knew that her parents were protective of her, their youngest child, and there was definitely some part of them that was glad that she didn't wish to jump into a military career. On the other hand, Heroes were probably exposed to danger far more often than pilots, there hadn't been a major war in Japan's history for decades, but Pro Heroes fought against villains on a daily basis, and they didn't have a whole army at their back.

Beyond this sense of danger, Washikaze couldn't help but feel that her parents were a little disappointed in her choice, though they would never say that to her directly. The Washikaze Clan had been part of the Air Force since it was formed, and even today several members of her family were Colonels and Generals in various bases around the country. Washikaze knew that she was breaking with tradition with her choice of career, but she was determined to prove her choice anyway.

Washikaze wore a well-worn brown aviator's jacket, the one that her father had purchased for himself when he joined the Air Force, unaware that such a thing was an American invention. But he had worn the thing with pride every day, and he had handed it over to Washikaze a year ago, telling her that it was lucky. She wasn't sure how lucky the jacket really was, but it was at least warm and comfortable, and she had worn it with her whenever she trained her Quirk. It was a creature comfort in truth, nothing more, but it calmed Washikaze's mind and kept her focused on her ambitions.

Like everyone else that hoped to get into UA High, Washikaze had taken the theoretical written exam in one of several approved schools. The exam was trying to say the least, and the complex standard exam questions were also followed by several theoretical situations about heroism and the best way to act in several disaster scenarios. It was strange to see questions about heroism in an exam paper, but Washikaze had done her best to answer the questions as best as she could, keeping in mind everything she had studied about heroics as she went through the paper. Washikaze wasn't the best student when it came to theoretical work, she did enough to do well in most exams, but that didn't mean she enjoyed being cramped in a classroom all day.

Washikaze was a soul that enjoyed being free, and the thing that she enjoyed the most was flying. Ever since her first ride in her father's jet, Washikaze had loved the sensation of being airborne, soaring far over the ground unrestricted by terrain or pathways, being free to travel how one pleased. Of course, Washikaze's Quirk had made indulging this hobby far easy as time went on, and she hoped that this power would be what got her through the exam today.

Washikaze hadn't been able to find any information on what the UA Entrance Exam entailed, and any information that she had found was inconclusive to say the least. It seemed that UA frequently altered how it's exam was run, and they even seemed to switch the entire structure of the test every few years or so. In short, Washikaze had no idea what she was in for, and so it was basically impossible to prepare for the exam in any real capacity, a blind spot that made her a little nervous.

In order to overcome this deficiency, Washikaze had tried to train herself in as many aspects as possible, keeping herself open to a wide variety of approaches to the task in front of her. She had always managed to keep herself in good physical shape, and she was fairly confident of her abilities in a straight fight. If the tests came down to a direct fight between hopeful students, Washikaze knew that she wouldn't be able to directly beat students who possessed strength-boosting Quirks or other direct abilities, but she knew that her mobility was her strongest attribute, and she had spent long hours practising how to dodge attacks and use her Quirk to stay out of the reach of her opponents.

Washikaze's train of thought ended when the bus came to a stop, a brief glance through the windows of the vehicle showing a large entrance archway emblazoned with the UA logo. She took one last deep breath before jumping out of the bus and walking towards the entrance of UA, her mind now singularly focused on the coming exam.

Teishi Kirokiri was also making his way into UA High's entrance at this point, even his attempt at looking cool and apathetic wasn't good enough to stop him from looking in amazement at the sheer size of the campus. Kirokiri was swept up in the wave of students making their way into the building, and buses that arrived every minute to disgorge another crowd of students indicated that the crowd wouldn't be thinning out any time soon. The size of the crowd was a great indicator of just how many people shared his ambition of entering this prestigious school, and the knowledge that there were only fifty-four places that could be acquired by the normal entrance exam was a sobering thought indeed.

Kirokiri's amazement and curiosity at UA's scale was dampened somewhat by the sheer amount of Quirks that surrounded him at the moment, the powers that his Quirk let him detect were all around him. It was the equivalent of having dozens of torches shined into his face at once, the variety and power of the Quirks that surrounded him was enough to induce a headache. Detecting Quirks wasn't his own Quirk, merely a side affect of how his power functioned, and while it was helpful sometimes it could also cause a great deal of irritation.

Kirokiri fell back on his usual routine when his Quirk caused too much irritation to him, withdrawing himself into his own frame and summoning a patch of his Quirk's fog in one of his pocketed hands, the wispy black fog floating from his palm as it enveloped his hand. The affect of summoning this deep darkness was immediate, the cloying sensation calming his nerves and banishing the irritation from his mind.

The fog that enveloped his hand was his Quirk, a transformation-based power that could cover separate parts of his body of envelop him completely, letting him use its power to the fullest extent. Kirokiri contemplated the best way to use his power during the coming exam, though he knew that he wouldn't know the best way to utilise his power until he knew what exactly the exam entailed.

A bright light of a Quirk caught his peripheral vision, the sheer power behind it making it still bright and visible to Kirokiri even with his fog making every other Quirk dull and muted in his mind's eye. Kirokiri mentally banished the fog and took in the scene in front of him, ignoring the resurgent Quirks all around him.

A green-haired boy was levitating in mid-air, several wisps of pink energy surrounding him, indicating that he was under the affect of another Quirk, which was presumably the reason he was looking so surprised while floating in the air. The pink energy was identical to a Quirk that he could see from a brown-haired girl that stood next to him, the swirling pink mass that Kirokiri could see emanating from her suggested that her Quirk was some kind of gravity-based power, the way the energy shifted and twisted was a dead giveaway to Kirokiri's trained sight.

But it was the boy's Quirk that had caught his attention, and Kirokiri had truthfully never seen a power like it. It's power was certainly impressive, and it was surely one of the most powerful Quirks that Kirokiri had seen before, but that wasn't what caught his attention. The Quirk itself moved in strange motions, as if it didn't belong to the boy that wielded it, and indeed it seemed that the power was barely contained within his body. But beyond that, there was something in the centre of the power that was even stranger, it contained a core of multicoloured energy that defied anything that Kirokiri had ever seen before.

It was almost as if…

Someone pushed past Kirokiri, shaking him from his thoughts and the strange Quirk that lay before him. Despite his interest in the strange power, he knew that he couldn't afford to get distracted by someone else's Quirk, he had his own problems to worry about, and this strange power wasn't one of them.

With this thought in his mind, Kirokiri turned from the scene in front of him and continued to walk towards the UA Entrance, again pondering how exactly he would approach the exam. Kirokiri again activated the fog at his fingertips when the relentless light and noise of the Quirks around him again grew too intense for him. The deep darkness of the fog was comforting, the silence it offered to shut out the light that bombarded him was a relief indeed, and one that Kirokiri used frequently.

A member of UA Staff who stood back from the entrance by a few paces directed the hopeful students towards a large amphitheatre, in which they would apparently receive the information on the upcoming practical exam. Kirokiri knew that academics weren't his strongest aspect, but the written exam he had taken a few days ago had gone well enough, so he knew that his chances of entering UA most likely hinged on how well this practical exam went. Kirokiri knew that those that surrounded him were formidable, and that he would likely face a great deal of competition from everyone around him, and they would fight just as hard to get in as he would.

Kirokiri was ready though, and the darkness at his fingertips would be his key to winning a place at UA.

Senshi Aimai moved through the crowds of students that looked for their assigned seats in the large amphitheatre building, she moved through the crowd deftly and quickly, not letting herself be hindered by the groups that clustered in front of her. Aimai was far too focused and zoned in on the upcoming exam to stand around being nervous, and the idea of prolonging the anticipation for the test was almost unbearable. She wasn't a huge fan of surprises and unexpected tests already, and so the thought of a hidden exam wasn't her idea of a good time.

Aimai found her seat quickly enough, and she was the only student from her school to be attempting the exam, so her seat was wedged between groups of students from other academies. The Academy that Aimai attended focused on preparing students for careers in the Japanese Army or Police Force, so the amount of students trying to be Pro Heroes was fairly low, and Aimai was the only one that aimed for the lofty heights of UA High.

Clan Aimai was a lineage with a proud history, one that had been taught to a young Aimai for years, and told to her as a point of familial pride. Clan Aimai were once a powerful and influential family of Samurai during Japan's Sengoku Era, and they had transitioned to becoming military officers as Japan changed and modernised. Aimai had embraced this legacy that had been put in front of her, and she wished to do her family proud and forge her own path.

In Aimai's mind, Pro Heroes were akin to the Samurai of old in her mind, both of them were exceptionally skilled warriors that used their power to defend those around them. The rise of Quirks and the modernisation of the world had drastically changed how people fought against each other, the clash of katana and spear being replaced by incredible supernatural feats, with single individuals being able to level buildings with ease. Despite this change in weaponry, Aimai still drew a parallel to Samurai and Heroes, and she wanted to be the one to open this path in the eyes of her family.

Aimai listened intently as the principle of the exam was explained, the most important fact being that the exam involved simulated battle against various types of robots, each of which would grant points when they were destroyed or disabled by the student. The robots came in three forms, and they would grant one, two or three points when destroyed, with the values of each type of robot being based off of how difficult they were to destroy.

The challenge was an interesting one, Aimai hadn't been expecting to fight against a simulated foe, especially robots that seemed to be of fairly large and solid construction. It seemed that the test was mainly one of pure destructive power, as points were awarded solely on how many of the mechanical foes could be bested in the ten-minute timeframe. Aimai was in two minds about the exam, on one hand her main proficiency was in hand-to-hand combat against other humans, and she had studied how to best defeat human foes and put many of the techniques she had learned into action during practise session. On the other hand, her Quirk could tear apart metal with relative ease, and the robots seemed to be rather slow and cumbersome, meaning that she wouldn't struggle to land crippling hits on them.

At this point, a tall boy that sat next to her had stood up and rather abruptly demanded an explanation about the fourth kind of robot that was outlined on the information sheet. The harsh manner of his address had surprised Aimai somewhat, though the label on his chair had said that he came from Soumei Private Academy, and she knew that they were well known for instilling a certain attitude in their students. Still, Aimai spent enough of her time around uptight military types, and she didn't want them to follow her around at school as well as at home.

The information that his question had given the room was helpful though, the robot was apparently some kind of area hazard, designed to irritate and distract from the task at hand. Though the idea of a supposedly unbeatable hazard robot was an interesting one, there was apparently nothing to be gained from beating it other than wasting time, so Aimai threw it from her thoughts, she had enough on her mind without thinking of how to best win a pointless challenge.

The rest of the explanation flew by, Aimai spent most of it studying the outlines of the robots that had been printed on the sheet that sat in front of her. Though it was nearly impossible to make out any clear details from the black silhouettes, Aimai could see that there were several points on some of the robots were they seemed to be somewhat thin or less well-armoured. Though it was mostly conjecture at this point, these potential weak spots were highly valuable information, Aimai's Quirk would be able to most efficiently dispatch the robots if she attacked their weakest areas, and this reduced the time she would have to keep her Quirk active, reducing the stress it placed on her when used.

The presentation was called to an end, and Aimai stood alongside the rest of the students and made her way towards the buses that would take her towards one of the urban arenas that the exam would take place in. She had only brought a simple tracksuit, knowing that there wasn't much she could do to enhance her Quirk and that it was best to keep her movement as free and quick as possible.

Aimai was totally focused, a breathing exercise taught to her by her father kept her nerves steady, and her only thoughts now were of the coming trial.

Kikai Sakusei had sat through the same presentation as everyone else, and now he was making his way off of the shuttle buses and towards the changing rooms alongside a crowd of students that chattered in nervous tones about the exam. Sakusei himself was pleasantly surprised about the content of the exam, and the knowledge that he would be expected to fight against robots rather than against other people was a pleasant thought indeed.

Sakusei's Quirk also gave him a big advantage when fighting against mechanical enemies such as these robots, and he intended to make full use of this advantage by taking to the field and making the strongest showing that he could. Robotics were one of Sakusei's interests and hobbies, and while he had spent a good deal of time studying and building robots and similar devices, he figured that he would be able to put the knowledge he had gained into dismantling them. As well as that, fighting against mechanical enemies let him make full use of all of the equipment he had brought with him, he didn't need to worry about holding back.

Speaking of equipment, it was currently contained in two large wheeled cases that Sakusei dragged behind him, as well as some of it being stored in a duffel bag that was slung over his back. He wasn't oblivious to some of the strange looks that he was getting from his fellow hopeful applicants, but he knew the necessity of bringing everything he had with him, it was the only way to give him the best odds of passing the exam.

Besides, they had all been told that they could bring whatever equipment they wanted into the exam with them, and Sakusei intended to take full advantage of that fact.

As he entered the tiled changing rooms, a perceptive passer-by would notice the heavy footfalls that Sakusei made as he walked towards a corner of the room and set his equipment down, unlocking cases and unzipping the bag he carried with him. If he wasn't fairly withdrawn and shy-looking, anyone who heard his heavy footsteps would think that he was deliberately stomping about in order to draw attention to himself in an apparent display of confidence. As Sakusei changed from his Junior High uniform into a plain-looking black jumpsuit, the reason for his heavy footsteps became clear.

His legs were metal.

Not composed of metal, nor were they legs transformed into metal through the usage of a Quirk, his legs were prosthetics of some kind, designed to replace missing or severed limbs. They were clearly highly advanced, beyond what any hospital could offer to it's patients, and the easiness with which Sakusei walked around with them made it clear that he had had them for a while. Both legs were severed just above the knee, and there was still a slightly purple colouration at the point where metal met scarred flesh.

Sakusei didn't realise the looks he was getting as he donned the undersuit, nor did he hear a slight gasp of shock from one of the students when he removed his jacket, revealing a similar prosthetic in place of his right arm, though this one composed his entire arm and a good chunk of his shoulder. The undersuit that he wore was cut off in the same places that his prosthetic limbs started, leaving his intact left arm fully covered while leaving his metallic limbs in the open.

From the duffel bag beside him, Sakusei pulled out additional prosthetic limbs, each one gleaming in the artificial light and wrapped in cloth to prevent any damage in transit. Damage was fairly unlikely though, these limbs were off a far more solid construction than the ones he wore currently, and they more obviously imitated muscular human limbs instead of the more skeletal-looking ones he used for day-to-day use. Though he had only finished building these more sturdy prosthetics a few weeks ago, tests had been promising, and this exercise would put them through their paces. Heroism was a dangerous vocation, and while his usual prosthetics were good enough for walking around and performing simple tasks, these new limbs were designed for a single purpose, battle.

Sakusei then began the surprisingly simple process of attaching the new prosthetics, he simply detached the old ones through the use of a screwdriver and then screwed the new limbs back into place. Both sets of limbs plugged into metal ports that were permanently grafted to his body, and so the switching process was fairly simple, at least in theory.

Both of his legs had changed over fairly easily, and experimental movements of the metal limbs confirmed that they were working. The arm was a different matter, one that Sakusei scolded himself for not thinking of in advance. He had just finished detaching the old prosthetic and attaching the new one when he realised the impossibility of attaching and screwing together the limb with only one hand.

Sakusei sat around feeling stupid for several seconds, fully aware of how strange he looked, sitting dejecting on a bench while holding a metal limb in his arm. Eventually, he realised that he would just have to take the hit to his dignity and ask for some help, tapping on the shoulder of the nearest student.

"You alright?" The student asked, a raised eyebrow the only hint of the surprise that he felt on seeing the sight in front of him.

"Could I get a some help here?" Sakusei replied, barely stopping himself for asking for a hand. He felt rather foolish to have to be asking for assistance before the exam had even started, but he lacked any other option.

The student nodded in response, and Sakusei walked him through the process of attaching the limb, which only really involved holding it in place and screwing it in place, the electronic interface in the ports would do all of the hard work. As Sakusei watched the student tighten the screws he couldn't reach, he realised that his eyes seemed to be patterned with a crosshair of some kind, which was presumably an indicator of his Quirk.

"All done." The students accent was rather strange, but Sakusei couldn't place it anywhere "At least I think so, can't say I've ever done something like that before."

Sakusei gave an experimental movement of his fingers and wrist, and the limb responded in perfect synchronisation with the commands of his nervous system, electronic signals transferring from nerves to wires in an instant. Sakusei couldn't really 'feel' what his prosthetic limbs touched, the best way he could described it was like wearing really thick gloves over your hands all the time, able to slightly feel touch but not to any great degree, but it was enough for him to get by.

"Thank you." Sakusei looked back towards the student who had helped him, who was watching the whole thing with a slight grin on his face. "I'm sorry for bothering you."

"Not a problem." The student grinned again and chuckled, holding out his right hand in greeting "The name's Miru Shuta, it's a pleasure to make your acquaintance."

"Kikai Sakusei." He shook Shuta's had with his prosthetic limb, feeling the dull contact of Shuta's hand "You did me a favour, and I will repay it if I can.

Shuta's manner of speaking was strange to Sakusei, and the practise of shaking hands on greeting instead of bowing was odd as well. Shuta may well have hailed from another country, but his Japanese was perfect, even if it did have a strange inflection to it.

Shuta was about to wave off Sakusei's rather solemn reply when something in the opened equipment case beside Sakusei caught his eye.

"Damn." It was also that Shuta could say, though it was accompanied by another slight chuckle "Can't say I've ever seen a weapon like that before, you planning to take down a building with that thing?"

It took a moment for Sakusei to process what Shuta meant, but a quick glance over his shoulder confirmed his suspicions. The weapon that Shuta referred to was his proudest accomplishment yet, and he knew that it would be perfect for the task ahead.

"I don't think bringing down a building would earn me any points." It was Sakusei who chuckled this time, clearly more comfortable when talking about his various inventions "But it should reduce those robots to piles of scrap metal."

"Remind me to never upset you." Shuta grinned, finally fully changed into the sports clothes he had brought with him for the exam "I'll see you out there Sakusei, I'd wish you good luck but I'm not sure you'll need it."

Sakusei returned the farewell in kind, the high praise he had gotten from Shuta bolstering his own resolve. His rummaged around the bag for the next piece of equipment, dimly aware that most of the students had already finished getting changed into their clothes for the event.

Then again, he had brought something a little more substantial than a tracksuit.

Miru Shuta walked with some other students towards the gateway that led into the exam arena, the sheer scale of the area staggering him, and he thought that he knew what to expect from UA. It was a full recreation of several city blocks, and it had dozens of high-rise buildings to complete the impression. The knowledge that UA possessed several of these fake cityscapes dimly made its way into Shuta's mind as he stared towards the buildings in the distance.

Though the buildings were a great distance away, Shuta focused his eyes on one of the tallest in sight, it was an archetypal office building, clad entirely in glass. Shuta narrowed his eyes and looked towards the glass, and he was just about able to pick out the reflection of one of the streets in the glass. In this reflection, he could see the large forms of various robots rolling through the streets, their programming clearly keeping them on patrol even when there weren't any targets visible to them.

Shuta almost felt sorry for the machines, the weapon he had seen in Sakusei's case was a strange one, but he knew firearms, and even ones that seemed to come from a sci-fi movie had clear markings of how strong they were. For his part, Shuta's options of weaponry were a fair bit more narrow, though he needed something to make the best use of his Quirk, and to dispatch the robots as quickly as possible.

He had settled on a high-grade slingshot, the kind that shot steel ball bearings and were kept far away from the hands of children. Shuta would have felt a little ridiculous at the thought of taking on robots with nothing but a slingshot and a bag of ball-bearings, but he knew that accuracy was just as important as power.

Precision was the name of Shuta's game, and it was a game he played well. He knew that his destructive power was basically non-existent, and so he practised applying what power he had in the most effective way possible. This meant that he could do more damage to his targets than someone far stronger than him, as long as he played to his strengths and aimed well.

The black lines across Shuta's eyes were arranged in the form of a typical cross hair, two straight lines perfectly intersected his pupils and they were surrounded by various concentric circles. As Sakusei looked over the crowd that stood behind him, his eyes glinted briefly, and he quickly skimmed over hundreds of details within a few seconds.

It was this look behind him that made him catch sight of the large announcer's platform that stood to one side of the crowd. The teacher from the exam briefing was there, and even from this distance, Shuta could make out every detail of the teacher's face. As soon as he caught sight of the devious expression that the teacher wore as he cupped his hands over his mouth, Shuta realised what the play was.

And so, when the announcement that would surprise the entire class came a few seconds later, Shuta was already sprinting towards the entrance, which had just begun to open.

"BEGIN!"

Author's Note

The saga continues, this Chapter shows the build up to the UA Entrance Exam, and sets the stage for the Exam to play through the next few Chapters.

I took the opportunity to introduce some of our class right here, though I did try to keep their Quirks under wraps, something that might have gone better on some than others. The twenty Quirks that the students possess will be revealed soon, and I hope that I've done a good job with them, though I'd be interested to see if anyone can guess them.

Washikaze, Kirokiri, Aimai, Sakusei and Shuta are only a quarter of the class, and the rest of them along with all of the Quirks will be fully revealed in the next few Chapters, I honestly can't wait.

Also, I've tried to carry on the proud tradition of every student having a name that relates to their personality or Quirk in Japanese, so all twenty students have names that are words related to them in some way. I'll explain them when everybody's been fully introduced, but I'm pretty proud of them.

Thank you for reading, and I'll see you on Monday for the next Chapter!