If you asked Eric why he applied for Pacific Hero Academy's Hero Course, he wouldn't have an exact answer for you.
It was little bit because he thought it'd be interesting, a little bit because it seemed rewarding... a little bit because he thought there was something worth finding. Overall, though, there wasn't any specific reason, only hunches and suspicions.
In all honesty, he didn't even think he'd get accepted into the exam. He had sent everything in, did all the checkups and whatever on time, and even took on a martial arts class to help him get even more fit. That way, even if he got rejected (and he was positive he was going to be), he'd still walk away with something new.
Eric's quirk is... adequate. It's a simple telepathy quirk, allowing him to hear the thoughts of those around him. Certainly useful on the battlefield, but not exactly uncommon. Telepathy quirks, in one form or another, are fairly common- although usually, they're more limited than his own. That said, there are plenty of telepathic Heroes in America, and Eric doubts that there's room for more.
By the end of the waiting period, Eric had fully accepted the fact he was probably going to get rejected. He wasn't that beat up about it; while being a Hero definitely sounds interesting, he's no stranger to the risks most Heroes have to take. Every eye is trained on them, civilian and criminal alike. Being a Hero doesn't just put your own safety at risk- but your friends and family, as well.
He had a feeling that his parents had the same feeling about his application- although they supported him throughout the entire process, constantly praising him and cheering him on, he could tell by the way they carefully worded their sentences or how they wood quickly glance at each other when they thought he wasn't paying attention.
And then he got accepted.
Despite it being a month ago, Eric can still recall the day as if it was yesterday. He spent his morning at the park, watching the random passerby's and occasionally shooting some hoops to break up the monotony, only to get a rather frantic call from his mother practically yelling at him to come home quickly.
He dropped everything and sprinted all the way back, thinking that there was some kind of emergency. Instead of an emergency, though, there was just a letter. One that happened to be addressed to him. One that also happened to be from Pacific Hero Academy.
His parents looked more excited than he was- but, to be fair, Eric isn't the most expressive guy. They sat him down on the sofa, staring over his shoulder expectantly and tapping the edge excitedly.
He ripped it open, not expecting much- and would you look at that, in the very first sentence: "Congratulations, Eric Han, you have been accepted into the 143rd annual entrance exam!"
Every relative and family friend and acquaintance under the sun was called, a small party consisting of just the three of them was held that very same night. There was only a month before the exam was to be held, so with that, he buckled down and got to work, spending every last minute training and studying as if his life depended on it. And, Hell, maybe it would; Hero work wasn't exactly the safest, even for trainees.
The four weeks came and went, simultaneously too quick and too slow, and before he knew it, he was packing his bag for the week long stay. He only lived a short distance away, in Tacoma, but the car ride to the academy seemed longer than any other trip to Seattle prior.
Which leads him to now, waving his teary-eyed parents goodbye as they drove away. In front of him stood the gates to one of the most prestigious Hero schools in the nation, only a night away from what was possibly the most important test in his life so far.
He had gone past this building what must've been a hundred times throughout his life, and never once had it looked so daunting. Despite it being late August, the sky was covered with gray clouds, effectively blotting out the sun. Meaty looking guards stood in front of the gates, eyeing each student that passed by them. It did nothing to ease his ever-increasing anxiety.
Eric forced himself out of his thoughts with a short shake of his head. It's not the end of the world if he fails the test, after all- it's a rare opportunity that shouldn't be put to waste.
He steps forward, joining the thin crowd of students entering the gates.
And then immediately joined a line.
Eric was a tad annoyed, but not surprised- becoming a Hero was thousands of people's dreams, so of course there would be a ton of people trying to get in.
Looking ahead, he could see that the line stretched on until the main building, presumably where the admin desk was, considering the massive banner reading "Welcome to PHA was somehow attached to the front. It was football field or two away, at most. Assuming that the school is prepared for such numbers, it would probably take... a couple hours. Eric internally groaned.
Glancing around, he could see that everyone else felt the same way as him. Most he could see had expressions of frustration, boredom, or nervousness. Most people were moving around in one way or another, from fiddling with their hands to pacing around in circles. There were even some kids talking to each other in hushed voices, as to not disturb the uneasy silence that had settled over everyone. He could hear the thoughts of some of the people around him, too- there wasn't anything worth noting. Only "how long will this take" and "I'm hungry" and whatever else.
Just ahead of him in line was a dark-haired kid only a couple inches shorter than himself, with what looked like dark feathers between him arms and sides. The boy shifted from foot to foot excitedly, humming quietly to himself. Contrary to nearly everyone else, his expression was one of excitement, grinning at Eric as he twisted about.
...Wait.
"Hi! I'm Jeremy!" The boy whisper shouted. "Nice to meet you!" He swung a hand out in greeting, still bobbing around.
"Oh, uh, hey," he said. I'm Eric. Nice to meet you too," he replied, taking Jeremy's hand. The boy shook it wildly, earning a small gasp from Eric. He could see now that the boy indeed had a wing quirk-
"Are you going for the Hero Course? Because that's what I'm doing here."
Eric nodded. "Yeah. Just thought I'd try it out," he replied, looking to the side.
It wasn't that he was an introvert, or anything like that- Eric just... never got along well with people outside of his family. Some of his habits are a little strange, by normal standards, like the whole... people watching thing. His quirk certainly didn't help. He never really got much socialization with others outside of group projects and people telling him to stop staring at them.
Jeremy nodded enthusiastically. "Cool, cool, I respect it." They stand in awkward silence for a couple seconds, before Jeremy spoke again.
"Uh, so, where are you from? I live up in Canada, near Victoria."
Eric nodded. "Tacoma. It's about half an hour away from here."
Surprise crossed the boy's face. "Oh! So you're a local? Neat! You can be, like, my tour guide or something!"
Eric raised an eyebrow in response. "Um? I don't know Seattle that well, I don't go here that often-"
"Have you been on the Space Needle? What about those duck boat cars? Isn't there a zoo somewhere, too?"
"No, no, and yes. I still don't know this area well. You know you won't be able to leave the premises until everything's over, right-"
"Eh, who cares," he says, rolling his eyes. "You only live once!"
Forty-five minutes of small talk and lighthearted arguing later, they were only a few people away from the admin desk. The line moved along much faster than Eric thought it would- and when he entered the building, he saw why.
There were about a dozen administrators equipped with laptops sitting at folding tables around the room, forming a half circle around the glass doors. Each administrator spent a few minutes top with each student before sending them away down a hall on the other side of the room. A few printers sat on counters behind the tables, whirring away incessantly.
"Looks like it's almost my turn," Jeremy says, watching the tan-skinned girl ahead of him get called to an open table. "Good luck, Ricky," he says, turning around.
"Who said you can call me Ricky-"
"Next up to table five, please."
Jeremy flashed a grin and waved. "There's my cue, gotta go," he says, trotting away.
Eric watched him walk away with a small smile. Jeremy was... a bit much, but Eric liked him. If there's one thing Eric picked up from him, it's that he's energetic. Definitely the type of person to set something on fire for fun.
"Next up to table eleven, please."
Oh. That was quick.
Eric moved to the table in question. A middle-aged woman with curly brown hair sat on the other side. She had a kind smile, and wore silver round glasses. Eric found himself strangely calmed around her. Perhaps a quirk?
"You can sit down in the chair across from me, honey," she said, gesturing to said chair.
He nodded, and plopped down in the folding chair. It was uncomfortable.
"Now, what's your name?"
Her voice was soft, more than... really, anyone else he's met. Definitely some kind of calming quirk.
"Sweetie, are you okay?"
Oops. "Oh, sorry. My name is Eric Han."
She nodded, clacking away at her laptop before turning to him again.
"Alright. What's your birthday?"
Eric took a moment to think. He never really celebrated his birthday growing up, only acknowledging it in passing.
"Um... January... seventeenth?"
She looks at her laptop again, adjusting her glasses, before nodding.
"Okay, looks like everything's right. Just in case, though, what is your mother's name?"
"Yijung Han."
After checking the screen again, she nods and smiles at him. "Nice to meet you, Eric! Now, lemme just print something out for you real quick." After clicking a couple buttons, she gets up from her chair and walks to the printer. Eric takes the time to look around the room.
Jeremy seemed to have finished his interview-confirmation-thing, waving goodbye to the man sitting behind his table and exiting down the same hall as everyone else. Everyone else seemed to be having a smooth process as well, except for that one girl who was ahead of Jeremy. Her interviewer was sat calling someone while she stared at the carpet under her.
The boy's attention was called back to his own interviewer, though, when her heard the sound of paper in front of him.
"Well, son, here you go!" She said with a smile. She handed him a couple papers- one that appeared to be a copy of his information, including his name, age, gender, whatever, and the second was... some kind of schedule.
"Don't worry about the schedule, sweetie," She said, seemingly reading his thoughts. "Everything on it will explained in an assembly later. For now, go down that hallway over there-" she pointed to the one Eric had watched everyone else go down earlier "-and wait in the designated areas. There will be guides posted around the building to help you if you get lost. Got all that?"
He nodded, folding the papers up and shoving them in his jacket. He could look at them later. For now, he'd simply explore. "Alrighty. Well, I need to help the next student, so you get going, okay? Oh, and dinner is at seven, after the assembly. See you later!"
He nodded and thanked her before turning and walking to the hall. Checking his watch, he saw that the time was 3:44 PM. Perfect, plenty of time.
At the end of the hall, there was a massive, circular-shaped room, adorned with huge windows on the opposite side. Hallways led off in different directions on either side of the room, with three floors to pick from. Teenagers milled about the room aimlessly, not knowing what to do or who to talk to, instead choosing to spend their time pacing around.
A quick scan of the room revealed no trace of Jeremy, much to Eric's disappointment. It would be nice to not have to wander around alone, but... what else was new.
Climbing up the spiral staircase to the second floor, Eric began his search for a nice, quiet place to sit and wait for a few hours. It was a tough search, given how many other people there were wandering around the same halls, but he eventually found an empty space by a classroom, only a few feet away from anyone else. Sliding down against the peach colored wall, Eric took a seat on the floor. Now, all there was to do was wait.
Hooray.
A/N
word count: 2376
heyo! this was fun! Eric belongs to sheepthrills and Jeremy belongs to Singofffan (also you two tell me how I did writing them)! The unnamed girl who totally will have nothing to do with the plot cough cough cough is from MysteryAgain!
Sorry if the ending seems a little rushed,,, it's like 10 PM right now I wanna be done already but im not sure how to end it hhhhh
also, if you see this is and are interested in submitting, please add a smiley face [:)] to the end of your application! I just want to know if you're actually reading this or not, lol.
PLUS! I need 2-3 volunteers for some characters I wanna add! Anyone can do it, whether you've already submitted a character or not. Ask under the pm name "OA Volunteer"
Thank you! also please leave a review I have no idea whether this is shit or not, and I also don't proofread pls help ;-;