Class B and the Shiketsu Six Chapter 1
Sometimes, it sucked to be class B. Nobody in class 1- B, resented their placement, it was all chance after all. But somehow the class A students got to have all the fun. Ok maybe fun wasn't the right word, but still. Between villain attacks, developing special moves first, and even getting provisional licenses first, which in turn enabled a handful of them to participate in a full-on raid of a yakuza facility, it felt like class B was getting left behind. In fact, there were only two exceptions, who had stared down villainy and walked away the victor: Tetsutetsu Tetsutetsu, a young hot head with sharp teeth capable of covering his body in hardened steel, and Class B's primary representative, Itsuka Kendo.
The red head rep pulled some lose bangs out of her face as she looked over the bus filled with her classmates as it drove toward their chance at the provisional license exam on a surprisingly warm September morning. She sighed as she thought about it. The idea that class A was to far ahead lead to thinking like Monoma and those that occasionally chose to follow him. As far as she was concerned fighting villains wasn't a prize, it was a duty. It was one of few reasons she had to be a hero. Her and Tetsutetsu had saved lived that day, and that's what it was really about. Well, that and maybe one upping a rival who shared a shampoo commercial with her.
The bus slowed and eventually came to a stop outside a frankly massive stadium. Their teacher, one Sekijiro Kan AKA Vlad King stood up first. "Alright students, former an orderly line outside the bus. And please don't forget your costumes this time… Tsubaraba," the teacher instructed while also calling out the past mistake of the brown-haired solid air breather.
All but Tsubaraba himself chuckled slightly as they recalled the internship incident. Slowly but surely, they filed off and made the line. King himself stepped off last and took a look around. "Huh. Must have expanded again."
He also gave a slight not to Kendo. It was more or less traditional for a class rep to make some kind of rousing speech before any major test or event, and he didn't want to deny the girl that chance. She smiled and turned to her friends.
"Okay everyone," Itsuka began, but only continued when she was certain that she had their attention. "This is the provisional license exam. Which means we aren't just sparring with each other, or with class A. This is a real fight against dozens of others, many of which will be our seniors. But we are not just like them. We've worked every day, countless hours, perfecting our quirks, and pushing our bodies to breaking. Because we are U.A. dang it! And more than that, we are the U.A. students who are gonna be the greatest heroes anyone ever saw! So, let's go out there and take that first step! Plus Ultra!"
She increased the size of her hand by just a fraction to emphasize the declaration, as she punctuated her speech with the trademark raising of the right fist. Luckily her class followed suit, otherwise she might have looked pretty stupid. "Plus Ultra!" they all declared in their myriad of unique voices.
"Not only that," Monoma decided to add on," If we all pass, it will finally prove once and for all our superiority of class A!"
"… don't make me knock you out before the test even starts," Itsuka demanded resting a hand on his head as a warning.
"Not a bad speech young miss," An energetic yet aged feminine voice declared from behind her," But it's a little vague. You could probably apply that to any school and group of students. Still the energy was there, and you had the familiarity appropriate for a personal friend. And I say you definitely have the proper spirit. B minus, but the potential is definitely there."
Kendo turned to the voice and found herself facing a tall woman in a red leotard. She had long blonde hair styled into braids, silver gauntlets, black military style boots, piercing blue eyes, a large black belt, a very voluptuous figure, that her outfit almost struggled to contain, and it was all topped off with a Shiketsu cap.
"No way," Kendo almost couldn't believe it. She had very few hero idols but among them was the woman in front of her. "You're the Street Fighter!"
Sakura Ichiban AKA the Street Fighter! Her quirk allows her to replicate any move or combo seen in a fighting game! She was a devasting force against evil in here heyday but has since gone a little obscure since the birth of her son! But don't underestimate her or you'll regret it for sure!
"Always nice to meet a fan," She responded with a smile," And always good to see again King."
"So Shiketsu is sending even more students?" Vlad commented instead of responding to his colleague's attempt at conversation.
"Oh, they didn't want to trust me," Sakura said exacerbated," They fought me tooth and nail not to bring my first years."
"First years? Did I hear that correctly?" Jurota's calm and professional voice asked," Forgive me but I was under the impression that U.A. was among the only school who sent their first years to either license exam."
"Under normal circumstances you'd be correct young man. However, these six are my personal best students, and I firmly believe holding them back just out of some silly idea that they weren't ready," Sakura answered, nodding her head as if she was agreeing with herself.
"Only six students?" Juzo questioned.
"Why? How many do you think should have come?" A new voice came from on top of their bus. All of Class B turned to see a young man in the winter variant, though unbuttoned, of the usual Shiketsu uniform, his face obscured by the cap. He then stood up and performed a backflip off the bus and landed in front of Kendo herself. "Takeshi Ishikawa," he introduced himself with a flourishing removal of his cap and shaking the girl's hand. "Sorry, I just can't resist a good entrance."
"No problem," Kendo returned the handshake with a polite smile," Itsuka Kendo. And if you're gonna do a backflip your form could use improvement." With his hat off, she could now better inspect the boy in question. He was simply handsome, with a slightly long face, well kept straight teeth, making a cute smile, big purple eyes (a possible side effect of his quirk maybe), and hair such a dark shade of black it looked blue in the sunlight. Or maybe it was blue, hard to say, but what wasn't was the style: spikey but deliberately so, so it didn't look unkempt.
"I assure you the pleasure is mine. And thanks for the advice," He smiled warmly as their connection broke.
"So is this all part of your plan?" the rugged voice of Tetsutetsu interjected," My buddy Kirishima in class A told me you Shiketsu guys are total jerks! You're probably just playing nice so you can double cross us later!"
"I would respond it is quite rude to assume that we are in the same boat as Seiji Shishikura," yet another new voice answered, this one rough and obviously foreign. The source was an incredible tall teenage boy leading a pack of four other students all in Shiketsu uniforms, from behind Miss Ichiban. "Ivan Ivanovich Ivanov, and personally I find school rivalries to be foolish beyond words."
"Ivan," Sakura crossed her arms," Where is your hat?"
The tall boy sighed and pulled it out from behind his back and placed it on his head. There was vague snickering from his classmates. He wore it in such a way that it still showed off most of his face, which seemed rugged for his years. He was definitely a foreigner, with white hair in a military style, pentagonal shaped face and piercing icy blue narrow eyes. He didn't look bad or anything just kind of scary. It was almost as if he could sense the fear he stirred and so gave a seemingly warm smile. Several of class B smiled in return.
"So, between you and those five that's the fabled Shiketsu six?" Itsuka concluded glancing at the blue haired boy.
"Right on the money. And as prize I'll let you in on a little secret," Takeshi then leaned in to whisper to the red head. Some of the other girls in class B blushed on their rep's behalf, but Kendo herself was not so easily flustered by such simple act of proximity. "This test always starts the same way. You U.A. kids are all famous, especially your class. And especially you and Real Steel over there but that's beside the point. As a result, every single wannabe hero in that building is going to start the test by trying to eliminate you and yours. It's practically a tradition."
Itsuka smirked. "Thanks. But I kind of figured that part out already. You could say I'm pretty resourceful. I'll ask this though. Is this your way of forging an alliance or something?"
"Let's go with 'Or something,'" Takeshi responded as he pulled away. "Till next time Miss Itsuka Kendo." With that he strode away to join his classmates as they made their way to the building.
"Let's meet up in the stands King. We can catch up," Sakura requested of her fellow pro as she turned to follow them.
"Hmm," Vlad King turned to look at his class," Alright. I'd say we've been delayed long enough. Let's head inside. I'll handle all the extraneous business while you get into proper uniform.
They all nodded and formed a line behind their teacher. Setsuna Tokage, aka Lizardy, one of the two students in class B on recommendation, who happened to be right behind her representative in the line decided to lean in and ask the red head one important question. "So, what did you think?"
"Of what?"
"Of that Shiketsu boy," the sharp tooth girl elaborated.
"He was confident that's for certain. But I don't think he was up to any sabotage or anything like that," Itsuka concluded with a nod.
"Oh yes we definitely noticed his confidence," Setsuna replied with a giggle," I mean he seemed about ready to sweep you off your feet. And I'd bet you let him too."
"Wait what?" Itsuka questioned in a slightly annoyed voice," Are you saying he was flirting right before this test? And that I was into it?"
"It certainly looked that way to me," her friend responded with a smile. Itsuka now blushed. It was a mixture of things; firstly, embarrassment that the rest of the class had caught the boys advances somehow without her knowing. And second, well she wasn't actually used to the idea of being flirted with. Letters from fans who found her cute in a shampoo commercial, or fans cheering from a throng of onlookers sure, but rarely did anyone have the courage to be so brazen. She shook it off though, to focus on the task at hand. While ignoring her friends smug face that a few of the others took up.
"Alright everyone," Vlad King brought them forward," Go ahead and get changed in here into uniforms. I'll be in the stands. Wish I could do more to help, but this has to be your test. I'll say this though: Good Luck Class B! I know you can do this!"
"Right!" his class responded in kind before stepping into the buildings various adjacent changing rooms. One by one they suited up. Skintight outfits, dresses, suits, suits of armor, some ended up more naked after the suit up but regardless, they were ready.
"We still look amazing, shroom shroom!" Kinoko declared looking over her classmates.
"Come companions," Jurotata spoke up in his refined tone," best not to lag behind."
Luckily a helpful pop-up sign directed them to a series of lines arranged by the first letter of your last name. "Let's meet up again once we get inside," Itsuka instructed while heading for the K section.
"Are you sure?" Pony asked with her lightly silly but definitely cute accent," Wouldn't it be better to do our own things?"
"No I thought about that," Itsuka explained," We'll definitely want to stick together at least early on."
"Kendo is correct," Juzo said with a raised finger," If we really are about to get ganged up on, then we need what little number superiority we can get."
"Hmm Ok!" With that the class official got into their proper lines, Pony being followed by Kosei, Tetsutetsu, and Setsuna. Despite the volume of young heroes in training going through the line, it was proceeding at a pace. Seemed like they had done this at least a few times before, asking each person for their name, hero title, and handing them a small envelope. Soon enough it was her turn.
"Name?"
"Pony Tsunotori! I'm also Rocketti!" She explained. The attendant quickly flipped through his myriad envelopes and finally pulled out the foreign girl's.
"Let me be very clear. Do not open this until you are expressly told to do so. Otherwise, you will be disqualified immediately," He instructed with a serious tone.
"Understood," She took the marked envelop and walked toward the main hall. It didn't take long to find her class.
As a collective they made their way to the center of the hall. It was crowded beyond words. There were at least three thousand heroes, all from various schools. Many gave the television famous U.A. students dirty looks as they passed.
"Hmm," Neito contemplated," They really do loath us. It's almost funny."
"I'm not really into that," Nirengeki, Itsuka's vice representative, complained with a slightly shaky voice, adjusting his gloves and eye piece," I know what's going to happen but I'm not really looking forward to it."
"Just stay calm, and stick to the plan," Itsuka smiled and placed a reassuring hand on his shoulder," We're all going to pass I promise."
The shorter, stockier boy smiled back." Definitely."
"Attention please! Can I have your attention? Man, I need a nap…" Every hero in training swiveled their attention to the stage at the northern edge of the room. There was a lanky man with shaggy white hair standing on a podium speaking into a microphone. "My name is Yokumiru Mera, and I will your impartial proctor for this exam. Ugh…"
"He sounds like he hasn't slept in years," Reiko observed in her usual quiet tone.
"Alright listen up," Yokumiru continued, clearly not hearing the slightly spooky girl," This test is designed to make sure you fit every aspect of what it is to be a modern hero, while taking into account things we overlooked in the June exams."
"I wonder what happened at that test anyway?" Manga asked his face becoming a thought bubble.
"My sleep schedule can't take this much more," the proctor complained before continuing," We had to do a lot of research and set up to pull this one off. See while operating the field you may very well work with complete strangers. You won't always have the comfort of school friends or even acquaintances. On top of that you'll often only have seconds to figure out your mission and how to succeed at it. Those who can't cooperate, and those who can't keep up, don't have a place among those we call professional heroes. Go ahead and open your envelopes."
Permission granted, the students began to dive in. Some pulled out sharp objects, or in Togaru's case producing a sharp object, others carefully undid the seal, and some just tore into then with reckless abandon. Inside each they found three printed pictures and two digital scanner type devices.
"Those are your targets. If both get hit, you are eliminated. Affix them somewhere on you body or costume, so long as it isn't under clothing, or somewhere hidden. It has to be open and facing the world. Next take a look at the photos. The first is your target: It's hidden somewhere in the arena. You have to destroy it to pass. The second is an object you must defend, if it gets destroyed you fail. And final the third is your new best friend. They'll be your partner; they have the same first two pictures as you. Rest assured; it will be more or less a complete stranger."
A general mutter spread through the gigantic crowd, as they looked at, they're respective third photograph. "Heh… well not a complete stranger," Itsuka muttered as she looked down at it," What are the odds of that?"
"Oh, and you'll need to eliminate at least 3 opponents, not counting their partner. Because guess what kids. If you're partner goes down, you're out too." The muttering grew a bit louder, but he pressed on," You might be wondering 'why all this stipulation? Isn't it a bit much?' Well, I'll keep it simple. There are currently 3427 of you in here today. And by the end of the twenty-minute period… only one hundred will be left."
Even louder muttering ensued. "That's less than three percent by estimation," Juzo quickly did the math. "I was always told it was at least 50 percent. They must really want to ensure only the best get through."
"That's what we'll have to be then," Itsuka responded as she places her targets on her body, one on her upper right shoulder the other on the left side of her waist. She always considered herself a strategist but with these new circumstances she had to think on the fly, so she put all had to think quickly. "Look, we'll stick together for the first minute to stay in the game, because they'll probably try to eliminate us still. Then find your partner… trust your instincts."
All nodded in understanding while placing their targets within regulation. "If there are no questions," The proctor began lifting a trigger up in his hand," Let's begin!"
And with the press of a button, the walls fell down, the ceiling disappeared, and the were in a massive arena with a dozen different environments spread out before them. Hundreds, if not more dove straight for the students of U.A. in a wave of vitriol. In a word it was Chaos. The kind that only a true hero can survive.
End Prologue