Thanks so much to all of you who read/reviewed/followed/favourited the story. Hope you enjoy the next chapter!

I don't own BNHA, just my OCs.

Chapter 1 - Before the entrance exam

The day had finally come. After two long years of training Keiko was finally going to sit her entrance exam for the most prestigious hero high school in Japan. Hopefully today she could prove her worth and take a giant leap closer to her childhood dream of becoming a hero. She tossed her blanket to the side and slowly sat up and gently massaged her legs and arms. Even though she had done no exercise the day before, she still ached a little from the intense training she had done a couple days ago.

It was three hours until the exam, but Keiko wanted to get out of the house and have breakfast with her best friend Yumi beforehand. She quickly showered whilst she thought about what may come up in the test, playing and replaying potential scenarios in her head. After drying off and cleaning her teeth she threw on her form-fitting workout clothes and pulled her black-purple iridescent hair into a ponytail.

She thundered downstairs, feeling her hair gently brushing against the back of her neck. She saw her mother in the kitchen. Her mother's hair was vibrant purple today, which made Keiko smile.

"Good morning Keiko, did you sleep well?" Aya turned around from washing the dishes to see her daughter putting on her jacket and throwing her backpack over her shoulder. "Where are you off to?"

"I'm hanging out with Yumi today, I told you last week, remember?" Keiko said quickly as she unlocked the front door. She hated lying to her mum, but she wouldn't let her leave if she knew where she was really going.

"Oh, right, have a good day then" Aya let out a small sigh and watched her daughter disappear through the door. She felt helpless these days; since their big argument, Keiko had been so distant. Aya had hoped that after a while Keiko would reconcile with her, but after two long years they hadn't seemed to make much progress.

Keiko let out a long calming breath as she shut the door and began walking towards the smoothie bar where she was due to meet Yumi. The sunlight made the purple tones in her hair shine brightly as she walked quietly along the street. She arrived there after a short walk and peered through the window to see if Yumi was sat inside. It wasn't hard to spot her friend since the place was practically empty. She was at their usual table in the back corner, looking at her phone whilst sipping on her forest green smoothie. Keiko walked inside and headed over to the table.

"Hey Yumi! How are you?" She threw her bag onto the ground and sat down. She smiled at Yumi as she grabbed the pale pink, strawberry smoothie on the table, leaving behind a small puddle of water. After taking a few long sips of the delicious sweet drink, she relaxed into her seat.

"Hey, I'm good. How are you feeling? Are you ready?" Yumi put down her phone and drink and looked excitedly at Keiko, bouncing a little on her seat.

"Yeah... I'm so excited, I can't wait!" Keiko replied "the competition is going to be tough though, less than 1 in 300 applicants can make it onto the hero course.". She looked down and absentmindedly mixed the smoothie with her straw.

"Don't worry, you can do it Keiko! You've been training so much and your quirk is so strong and versatile. You'll be able to handle anything they throw at you!" She smiled wide. Yumi was so proud of her friend who had come so far in the last 2 years. Together they had struggled day after day, trying to learn how to control Keiko's quirk after a decade of containment.

"Thank's Yumi, for everything. I couldn't have done this without you." Keiko said earnestly, as she lightly squeezed Yumi's hand and flashed a small smile. The two girls talked for a little over an hour about the upcoming exam and what it could be, as well as what may be the best strategy for Keiko. Eventually they needed to leave, the exam started in an hour. They grabbed their bags and hugged each other goodbye. Keiko stepped outside and looked around before powering towards the famed UA Hero Academy.

Once Keiko had reached the towering perimeter of the school , she followed the wall around until she found an archway with a sign next to it which read: U.A. HIGH SCHOOL ENTRANCE EXAMINATION SITE. Great, this must be the place. Keiko took a step back and collected her thoughts. She knew that she needed to control her quirk well in this exam, but she also needed to utilise as much of her power as possible since the other applicants would be tough to beat. She shrugged off her backpack and swung it onto the ground in front of her as she crouched down. She glanced around, nobody was nearby or looking her way, so she opened her bag and pulled out two small screwdrivers. She began to confidently fiddle with the back of a thin metal collar wrapped around her neck. She concentrated and listened intently as she until she heard a quiet but defined click. The collar opened at two hinges either side of her neck, she took it off shoved it back into her bag along with the tools. Immediately Keiko felt billions of tiny vibrations bouncing lazily in the air around her and shaking rapidly beneath her feet.

Keiko placed her hands on the wall and began absorbing the vibrations that were rippling through it, directing the energy to her legs and torso, storing it in preparation for the exam. There was no point in storing more than half of her capacity since she would absorb the rest naturally. She slowly removed her hands from the wall and took a few deep breaths as she got used to the sensations inside and around her.

Suddenly someone came stumbling past Keiko, it was a young boy with dark green, scruffy hair. "I made it in time..." panted the boy. Keiko recognised him...could it be...

"Izuku? Is that you?" she called over to him excitedly. He turned around and they locked eyes with each other. He looked just the same as she remembered, he had the same look of unwavering determination and optimism on his face that she had always known. Kieko's heart jumped and she smiled wider than she had in a long time. Ahh, of course you'd be here.

It took Izuku a while to recognise Keiko, he seemed to be in a trance. "Woah, Keiko, it's been so long! Are you going to the entrance exam as well?" he said franticly, grinning widely and gesturing towards the sign.

"Yeah I am, it's good to see you again, how have you been?" She walked over to him and gave him a big hug and was surprised by the strength of his body. Keiko felt her chest flutter and pulled out of the embrace.

"Uhh... yeah, I'm good" he replied sweetly as his cheeks flushed red. He looked over his shoulder. "I can't really talk though, the exams starting soon. I'll catch you later, yeah?" He gave her an apologetic smile and headed towards the school. Keiko smiled as he absent-mindedly walked along, muttering to himself. It's so good to see him! He really hasn't changed much. Although he's a lot stronger than he used to be. She shook herself free of her thoughts and picked up her backpack. She threw her bag onto her shoulder as she walked behind the steady flow of examinees heading into the school.

Keiko entered through a large door into and enormous auditorium, she looked round at hundreds of seats, most of which were filled by eager faces laced with nerves and concentration. Like her, they were all thinking of a multitude of different scenarios and problems that they could face in the next hour, the techniques they would use and their tactics for the exam. Keiko took a few minutes to calm herself as the vast number of people talking made her quirk go crazy. She took a deep breath and continued to concentrate on not absorbing the vibrations into her body as she stepped onto the seating area of the auditorium.

She looked along the first row and took a seat right next to the aisle, so she wouldn't be surrounded by people and it would be easier to focus on the speaker and not get distracted by people around her. In the seat to her right was a girl with what looked like long, emerald green vines in place of her hair. I wonder what her quirk is? Maybe she can control plants...

"WELCOME TO TODAY'S LIVE PERFORMANCE!" Keiko jumped in her seat as a man that had been standing on the stage yelled unbelievably loudly, filling the auditorium with an earth-shaking shout. "EVERYBODY SAY "HEY"!" taken off guard, Keiko just stared vacantly at the man and his absurd blonde hair as he waited expectantly for the audience to respond. Surprisingly, no-one even whispered a reply. Urgh...so awkward... After another vigorous attempt to involve the crowd without success, the man began explaining the rules of the exam as if nothing had happened. Keiko was beginning to regret sitting so close the front as his voice was tremendously loud and the vibrations from every word he spoke shook through her. This guy needs to quieten down...I'm getting a headache...

"...EACH SIDE IS FILLED WITH THREE KINDS OF FAUX VILLAINS." Keiko's mood lifted a little hearing this; fighting robots was a lot easier than people. Without the handicap of restraint, she could truly give the exam everything she had. "POINTS ARE AWARDED FOR DEFEATING EACH ACCORDING TO THEIR RESPECTIVE DIFFICULTY LEVELS!" He continued to explain the rules with unwavering enthusiasm and immense volume. Keiko rested her chin on her hands and rubbed each of her temples with her fingertips, struggling to focus on the rules of the exam. Defeat robots, earn the most points, don't attack other examinees, seems simple enough...

All of a sudden, a boy near the back disrupted the rhythm of the speaker and began reprimanding him whilst pointing aggressively at a handout he had. Woah what's this guy's problem, he needs to chill out... The announcer quickly explained to pretentious, spectacled boy that the last villain was not worth any points and wrapped up his talk by yelling the school motto "PLUS ULTRA! BREAK A LEG, EVERYONE!"