I really need to stop pushing myself until I burn myself out...

- X Bakugo X-

Bakugo Katsuki shoved his way through the throng of students heading towards UA, eyes looking for the throng of Aldara uniforms he knew would be there even if he doubted he would find them. Part of him hoped, even though he knew the chances were zero, that they wouldn't show up. That way he could be the only person from Aldera who passed into UA today.

Tomboy, Deku , Chad... they would all be here, trying for UA. And except for the Nerd, he doubted they wouldn't pass. They were gonna ruin his limelight-

Shit…

There they were, walking with Four Eyes and Redhead and… was that Shorty? What the hell, she had just disappeared one day, around the same time Deku stopped responding to his taunts. Why was she back, in an Aldera uniform?

Deku was waving his hands like a maniac, eyes bright as he talked to the group. So he had gotten whatever drove his sorry ass back, apparently.

Katsuki grunted, whatever. There was no way "seeing ghosts" was gonna help him at UA, and he didn't have a Dual Quirk, as far as he knew.

- X Rukia X-

Rukia stepped through the walls of UA with her friends, the kendo bag holding Sode no Shirayuki over one shoulder, shaking her head as Izuku carelessly pantomimed tearing a mask from a face in the air. Trust Midoriya Izuku to turn a fight with an Arrancar that had left her worried (not that she'd admit it to his face) into a story to laugh about.

"And then," Izuku chortled, "Yoruichi-Sensei kicked him so hard it dislocated his jaw!"

"We need to stop letting you go off alone," Uryu signed, adjusting his glasses, "Next time you'll have started a war with Squad 11."

"To be fair on that one," Tatsuki drawled, "I'm pretty sure Izuku is already in a cold war with Squad 11. It's just how long before Zaraki shows up and makes it go hot."

Izuku's grin slid off at the mention of the Squad 11 Captain, "I'm not that bad."

"Izuku," Orihime said carefully, "You're… ah…"

"You'll have a new rival within a month of us being at UA," Rukia said bluntly.

"Maybe less, when Bakugo sees what you can do," Uryu said.

Izuku's face flashed through half a dozen expressions at the mention of his one-time friend, one-time bully and current… well, it was complicated after… something had happened when they were younger that Izuku refused to go into.

"Everyone ready?" Izuku said, staring up at UA with a smile on his face.

"We've been ready for two years," Tatsuki said.

- X Izuku X-

Izuku dangled the Substitute Shinigami badge from one hand as the bus leading to one of the testing groups towards the grounds UA had designated for them ground to a halt. Izuku stood up, walking past the pink skin and haired girl playing with a pair of rings on her index and ring fingers and out into the sunlight.

Fullbring energy rushed into the pass, and his Shihakusho formed over his outfit alongside a bonelike bomber jacket, the badge shifting into the form of Gesshoku's sealed state. Flipping the wakizashi so it was angled behind him, Izuku walked through the crowd, gently pushing people milling out of the way as he trained his vision on Snipe standing on a building. The gunslinger was busy talking into his earpiece as everyone left the buses that had taken them from the heart of UA to the mock city.

He hoped the others did well.

"And here. We. Go," Izuku muttered as the giant doors slid open without a sound, and he activated Bringer Light to rush through them and land on the first robot, a three pointer. Grabbing both sides of its head, Izuku twisted so hard it tore off in an explosion of sparks and metal. Dropping it, Izuku turned Gesshoku so it was facing the ground, "Penumbra, Gesshoku."

Gripping the released form of his Zanpakuto, Izuku activated Bringer Light, rushing passed the second robot that had the pink haired girl driving a pair of claw-like rings-

Wait…

Izuku stretched his senses, locking up for a second before continuing on. Punch the head off one robot, toss one of Gesshoku's blades, coated in a Getsuga Tensho, into another and Bringer Light forwards to catch it on the other side. Izuku slid onto autopilot as he resisted the urge to rush out of the area and find Rukia.

Fire a pair of Getsuga Tensho at two more robots. Turn and easily catch the charge from a fifth with one hand as it came barreling from the alley at him. Draw back his knife and-

In a flash of Bringer Light, the pink skinned girl landed on the robot and poured acid on the head, chewing through the metal as Izuku stared at her, his worries confirmed.

"Hey!" The girl said cheerfully, hoping down from the robot, "I've never met someone with a double Quirk before! I've read about them when I was learning to use my powers, obviously, but-"

"It's called Fullbring," Izuku corrected, more on autopilot than anything, guard still raised.

"What?"

"Duel Quirks is what people without them call it," Izuku parroted what Ginjo had said to him, "we call it Fullbring."

- X Rukia X-

Rukia smiled softly as she drew Sode no Shirayuki from the bag it had been in, sheathing the most beautiful Zanpakuto in Soul Society at her waist. Not the she expected to have to release her, but it was better safe than sorry when Izuku had his hand in anything.

The doors rumbled open in front of her, and Rukia rushed through the gates ahead of her competition. In the distance, Izuku and Chad's Reiryoku spiked while Rukia angled her hand at the nearest-

Rukia's skin prickled and she twisted as Bakugo Katsuki attempted to blast past her, eyes trained on the same robot. No, he didn't, "Hadō #33. Sōkatsui!"

On a real battlefield, Rukia would have hesitated to use the technique that was in many ways the Kuchki clan signature where anyone, even Bakugo Katsuki, was heading. However, here, there were a trio of factors that let her cut loose as it were. And they were, ironically, restrictions.

The first was the seal all Lieutenants and Captains had placed on them when they passed through the Senkaimon to the world of the living, restricting them to twenty percent of their Reiryoku. The second was that she was in a Gigai, restricting her Reiryoku even further. And the third was that she didn't have time to chant out the incantation for the pale fire crash.

And so, under Bakugo's body, a small torrent of fire scorched the cement and crashed into the robot from below, sending it flipping end over end and crashing into a building, where it stopped. Rukia drew Sode no Shirayuki from her hip and rushed forwards as Bakugo landed, confusion in his red eyes as he met her purple.

Then he launched himself forwards again, growling, "That the best you got, Shorty?"

"Shorty?" Rukia parroted as she felt Izuku's Reiryoku spike even higher. She continued away from Bakugo, raising her voice, "What are you, five?"

And then she landed on the second robot, sweeping Sode no Shirayuki through the head like a hot knife through butter. Rukia continuing on her way as Bakugo blasted away from her.

- X Chad X-

Sado "Chad" Yasutora activated Brazo Derecho del Gigante and Brazo Izquierdo del Diablo with a familiar feeling of a sweat like liquid spilling out of his skin and hardening into armor. A red and black shield on his gauntleted right arm, and a white and red bone like gauntlet on his left.

Clenching his fists, he looked out over the rest of the examinees. They weren't as strong as him, weren't as tough.

He had to protect them, someho-

No, that wasn't fair. He didn't know how strong these people were or could be. It was like Izuku, he was the strongest person Chad knew, and didn't show it until he was forced to.

It was how they had met.

Sado was at the edge of the playground, walking towards the confrontation that the teachers seemed to be ignoring completely. A boy with spiky blonde hair was harassing a boy with curly green-black hair. Yellow sparks were popping from the blonde's hands as he approached the boy.

"Leave him alone," Sado called, causing the trio of the Blonde, a boy with red wings, and a boy with long fingers to stop and turn towards him.

"You're… the new kid," the blonde said, frowning, "Chad."

"It's Sado, actually," Sado corrected, understanding the mistranslation that could get "Chado" out of "Sado".

"Whatever," the boy said, crackling his hand like a firework, "get out of here, Chad. This is between me and Deku-"

"Kacchan," 'Deku' said, voice soft but unwavering, "Leave him-

Kacchan swung his hand towards Deku, only for the boy to duck under the swing, catching the attack, "Don't call me that, Deku."

"Then don't call him Deku, maybe?" Another person, a girl with black hair and her hands in her pockets, said as she approached them with a redhead behind her.

"Tomboy," Kacchan grunted, ripping his hand from Deku's tight grip. There was a moment of tense silence, before he grunted, "Let's go."

Kacchan marched away from them, and Deku watched him go with a sigh, before smiling at Sado and the girls, "Thanks for that, Tachan, Orihime, ah, Chad?"

"Sado," Sado corrected.

"Sado," Deku corrected, "Chad's not a bad nickname, from Kacchan, really."

"Yeah, and you better get used to it," Tachan snorted, "Bakugo doesn't stop using nicknames once he gives them. I'm Arisawa Tatsuki."

"And I'm Inoue Orihime!" The redhead said.

"Midoriya Izuku," Deku said, "You guys didn't need to come help."

"And leave you to get in trouble alone?" Tachan snorted as Bakugo pointed a teacher at them, planting a hand on the middle schooler's shoulder, "Never. C'mon, let's face the music. Sorry you got tied up in this, Sado."

- X Tatsuki X-

Tatsuki wasn't quite as fast as her friends when it came to speed. But that wasn't saying much, as every member of the Ryoka's reactions were able to be counted in the milliseconds, and their acceleration just as fast. Push reiatsu into your feet, and kick off so fast you were a bullet. It wasn't as second nature as it was to Izuku, but she could still outpace the rest of the trainees.

Slamming an open palm strike into the first robot, Tatsuki activated Repulsion Fist. Time seemed to grind to a halt before a hand shaped indent exploded along the robot. Next to her, a boy with mufflers exposed in his legs slammed his foot into the robot in a shattering of parts. Tatsuki took off again, rushing for the next robot. Clenching her fist she threw a punch at it and activated her Quirk.

The air around her first visibly distorted before she slammed it into the robot. The buildup of air pressure between then grew sharper, tighter, and tore at the knuckles of her fist.

The effect on the robot was even worse. Metal buckled, slowly at first, but more as the punch grew closer and more air pressed against it. The robot shook, joints groaning and cracking. Finally, her fist hit the robot, and the ground below it cracked as she shattered the three pointer.

"Fujin's Hammer," Tatsuki said to herself, her gi flowing in the artificial breeze from the attack. Tactile telekinesis around her hands wasn't the most versatile at a glance, until she had realized that meant she could manipulate the air around her fists. That allowed her to create a pressure field that grew stronger the closer she got to an object, at which point… well.

It wasn't La Muerte, but it did the job.

Kicking off, she rushed past a brown haired girl touching two robots, sending them into the air, and towards the next free robot. She pushed down the stinging pain in her knuckles and threw a chop, shattering the two pointer's head with barely a pause.

-X Mina X-

Mina stared at the boy for a long moment as he idly flicked on of his knives in the direction of a three pointed robot bearing down on a boy with purple hair. A slash of green energy shot from the tip of the blade, cutting it in two. It would have been a cool move, if the boy didn't look like he was about to run away from her at Super Speed.

"Fullbring?" Mina said, stepping off the robot and standing next to the slightly taller boy, giving him a once over. He wasn't bad looking, though his curly hair could probably use a good brushing and-

Holy crap, "What happened to your chest?"

Sitting right in the middle of his chest, visible through the open hero outfit (I mean, what else did you call a black… not quite a kimono… under a white armored jacket with black fur around the neck?) was a ball of scar tissue.

The boy, already looking uncomfortable, reached for the edges of his outfit and began to tug at it like he wanted it to shut. His freckled face pulled tight, and he finally broke from watching Mina, "You would be able to see that, wouldn't you?"

Why wouldn't she?

"I-it was a villain attack," he brushed off, continuing to launch attacks at robots as they passed, "A-anyways, can we talk about this after the exam or something, I don't want you to lose because you were busy talking to me."

"I…" Mina smiled, "Sure. I'm Ashido Mina by the way."

"Midoriya Izuku," he said, turning away from her and vanishing in a burst of green energy of Super Speed. The next second, another robot was split in two from a careless slash from his knives, which had fused back into a sword.

"Why can't you do anything like that?' Mina asked her claws, which predictably didn't respond, as she activated her own use of Super Speed, pink light flashing around her body as she rushed for another robot.

Fullbring… why was that name familiar…?

Wait, wasn't that what that cult called it?

-X Izuku X-

Izuku swung Gesshoku through the head of a two pointer carelessly, mind back towards the girl. The Zanpakuto, as was usual, split through the metal like a hot knife through butter, sparks flying out in its wake. Kicking off of it and towards another in a burst of Bringer Light, Izuku coated the wakizashi in a Getsuga Tenshou as he went. It wasn't necessary, but they were supposed to be showing what they could do, and while he had to hold back it was only fair to the others if he went a bit all out.

Anyways, back to the girl. Ashido…

He was on guard for no reason, he knew. It only made sense that a Fullbringer would wind up at UA. UA only wanted the best, and when it seemed like you had two Quirks, you probably felt like you were top of the world.

But still, so soon after Xcution, it left him on edge. Especially with the cult version of the same organization still out there.

Quietly, Izuku pushed all of that behind the Mask for White to deal with. He had a school to get into.

Gesshoku split back into two daggers, and Izuku tossed them through two more robots before using Bringer Light to rush between them, sliding one finger into each knuckle duster and spinning them around his finger.

- X Shouta X-

Aizawa Shouta scowled into his capture scarf as Snipe walked into the room, "What'd I miss?"

"A bunch of showoffs," Shouta scoffed.

"It's the Entrance Exam, Shouta," Kayama Nemuri, better known as "Midnight" pointed out teasingly, "They're supposed to be showing off."

"Not like this," Shputa shot back, pulling up the screen where a boy was spinning a pair of broad bladed knives by the handles, energy surrounding them in a disk, "He's not taking it seriously."

"We don't know how his Quirk works," Nemuri reproached, "He could be building up energy with those spins."

Shouta wordlessly rewinded it back to when the boy was sending out blasts with flicks of his hands, cleaving robots to pieces while having a conversation with another applicant. Next to Snipe, Majima Higari heaved a sigh.

"We're gonna have to upgrade those again. He's making them look like they're made out of cardboard."

"I wouldn't be so sure about that," Nezu said, "if he's who I think he is- ah, yes, Midoriya Izuku."

"You know him, Boss?" Snipe asked.

"I know of him," Nezu corrected, "he's a protege of a friend of mine, Urahara Kisuke. And he's never had anything but the best to say about Izuku. Or, honestly, any of the people who gather around the boy."

"Then why wasn't he in the Recommendations?" Snipe said, examining the point list, "if this is the kid showing off, I hate to see him serious, Aizawa. He's running up points like nobody's business. And that's not even addin' whatever rescue points he gets."

"I hesitate to believe Kisuke entirely," Nezu said, "but if Midoriya took this seriously, the way he talks about him makes it sound like there wouldn't be points for other competitors."

"Sounds like your friend thinks too highly of his student then," Shouta grunted.

"As for why he wasn't in the recommendations, Kisuke is a store owner, not a Professional Hero. He can't recommend people. But I do feel bad, looking at the list of highest points, the only one in the top five who aren't a member of the Ryoka is Bakugo Katsuki."

'Traveling evil'? That wasn't a name that boaded well for anything.

"Well," Nexu said, opening a glass container around a button, "let's see how everyone handles this."

And with that, the Zero Point Robots were released.

- X Izuku X-

Izuku turned towards the robot that had just come out of the hole in the ground. It towered over them, higher than a Gillian. So that was the Zero Point robot.

Meh, he could take it.

Resealing Gesshoku, Izuku activated Shunpo, taking off into the air as fast as his legs would let him. Each kick was a drumbeat in the air below him, pushing him higher and higher until he was even with the approaching robot's chest. Izuku breathed in eyes scanning the horizon where other 0-Point robots were attacking the other zones. He could feel each of his friends getting ready for their own elimination.

No fear.

When you blocked, you didn't let them cut you.

When you protected someone, and he was protecting all the other competitors if he was honest, you didn't let them die. And when you cut…

Izuku raised the Zanpakutō and pushed his Fullbring into it. The blade grew longer as energy began to gather around the blade in a howl of energy.

With his other hand, Izuku covered his face, the pure green energy around the blade mixing with black as he pulled on his Hollow mask, just for a second. The one horned mask stuck to his face, and Izuku couldn't help the smile that spread. The Reiatsu around the blade warbled as Izuku raised his arm as high as possible, before his other hand quietly joined it on Gesshoku's hilt. Tighter, tighter.

Sharper.

"Getsuga," Izuku grunted, bringing down the blade with both hands, gouging it through the air like it was through stone. A hair thin line of hollow tainted Reiatsu followed in the wake of the blade tip, expanding with explosive force that sent Izuku's Shihakusho fluttering in the artificial breeze, "Tensho!"

Time stopped for a second, the world went silent in the wake of the slash. Izuku let go of the blade with his left hand and let the mask across his face shatter. And then time resumed.

The 0-pointer split in half vertically, falling on either side of Izuku with a rumbling as he landed on the ground and began to march towards the nearest three pointer.

"...You kill," Izuku murmured to himself.

-X Chad X-

Chad was in the middle of using Brazo Derecho del Gigante to block shots about to hit another student when the giant robot appeared. Rushing forwards, he grabbed the robot's head with Brazo Izquierdo del Diablo and crushed it. Turning to the boy with blonde hair with black lines, he said, quietly, "You'll be alright?"

"Yeah," he said, shaking his head, "Thanks for the save, dude. Short circuited my brain for a second there."

"Any time," Chad said, before activating Bringer Light and taking off towards the giant robot. Robots missed him as he went, eyes peeled for…

There!

Chad threw himself between a falling piece of debris and a girl with red hair in a side ponytail. His feet dug into the ground as the piece of the building hit his Fullbring clad arms, but he didn't budge an inch.

"You ok?" Chad grunted, lowering the rubble to the ground with one hand and turning to the girl… who was also in position to grab the rubble, her hands grown to large size as she stared at Chad, "Sorry."

"Hey, don't apologize!" The girl laughed, smiling at him, "protecting people is what a Hero is all about! You did a good thin- there's a three pointer behind you."

Chad span, letting the hail of rubber bullets slam into Brazo Derecho del Gigante. The girl rushed out from behind Chad, smashing the robot with an oversized karate chop.

In the distance, Izuku's Reiatsu spiked to the highest it had been for the entire Entrance Exam. Ah, so he was taking out the 0 point robot. That did sound like something Izuku would do.

And it would protect the others from the harn of the rubble.

"There," the girl smiled, "now we're even."

"Yeah," Chad nodded, "You can get to safety?"

"Yeah," The girl said, "I'm Kendo Itsuka by the way.

"Yasutora Sado," Chad said, and then took off like a bullet into the sky. He clenched his left fist, building up Reiatsu into it as he went and went higher. Brazo Izquierdo del Diablo groaned under his own strength.

In the distance, Izuku's Reiatsu exploded, and a glance to the side showed a giant robot splitting in two. In the other, an explosion of fire crashed into another.

"¡La Muerte!" Chad grunted, driving his fist into the 0-Point robot's chest. It crumpled like a can of tin, an explosion of Reiatsu in the shape of a horned skull erupting out the other side.

He rode the falling robot down, still not moving even as it crashed to the ground with a quake, the skull indented into the ground.

- X Rukia X-

Rukia snorted as she appeared in front of the giant robot in a burst of Shunpo, feeling Izuku's Reiatsu spike and morph. So he was being a showoff, huh?

Just taking down the big one was showing off enough in her book, honestly. So that's what she was going to do.

"Ye Lord," Rukia began, baring her hand at the robot palm down. Her Reiatsu began to travel with the words, down her arms and into the palms, a small blue fire started in each, "Mask of Flesh and Blood, Flutter of Wings, Ye Who Bear the Name of Man! On the Wall of Blue Flame, Inscribe a Twin Lotus! In the Abyss of Conflagration, Wait at the Heavens! Hado Number 73, Sōren Sōkatsui!"

Blue flames exploded from both hands, crashing into the robot's head and melting a large hole through it. The robot stopped, tilting forwards and smashing into the ground.

- X Tatsuki X-

The first thing Arisawa Tatsuki thought upon seeing the 0 point robot was "There's no way Izuku isn't destroying that thing."

The second thing she thought was "which means if I want to stand out, I need to destroy that thing."

And that thought led to the ending of "Great."

Well, there was no time like the present to test out One for All, right? That seemed like a good idea.

Creating footholds of Reishi, Tatsuki began to climb up to the robot as fast as she could, trying to figure out how to activate One for All as she went. Somehow, she doubted it actually worked by "clenching her buttcheeks and yelling Smash".

Though considering how Zanpakutō worked, she really wasn't in any place to doubt the 'Smash' part. So she'd keep that, definitely.

It was strange, a clam overcame her as she climbed higher and higher, clenching her fists and preparing for the attack to come. She had trained for a year, she had fought Arrancar, she could do this. She would do this.

Landing on the head of the robot, Tatsuki clenched her fist and pulled back. She didn't have a name for this technique, so… guess she was sticking with the classic.

Black lightning crackled around her arm as she pulled it back, the tactile telekinesis gripping the air around her. More than she was used to, that was for sure.

"Fujin's Drumbeat: Smash!" Tatsuki swung her fist down, the wave of air following her punch, which was far, far faster than she was used to. Her fist impacted the robot, and that's when everything went stunningly wrong.

Well, it also went right. A shockwave worthy of the god she had invoked erupted from the point of impact, cratering the robot's head into a pancake.

But that same shockwave sent Tatsuki flying away from the robot and through the air like a missile. Not that she had much to worry about that, as her arm hurt a thousand times worse than when she had broken it at the nationals a year back.

Glancing at it out of the corner of her eye as she began to tilt towards the ground, Tatsuki grimaced as she noticed the bone sticking out of her arm at an angle her arm should never be pointing… in multiple places. Yeah, that was gonna need some time with Sōten Kisshun to heal…

Gathering Reishi into a cushion below her, Tatsuki managed to slow her fall and land with a grunt as a loud timer sounded. Staggering upright and fighting the urge to cradle her arm, she began to walk towards the medical tent. Time to find Orihime and get healed…

- X Ochako X-

Uraraka Ochako's heart hammered in her chest as she was covered by rubble, the Zero Point Robot approaching her. They would stop it before it crushed her, right?

Right?

Ochako's heartbeat, and breath, picked up as the robot didn't show any sign of stopping in its approach towards her. She slapped one hand against a piece of rubble, pushing it aside and sending more tumbling down. There was no way she was gonna get out of this in time to escape the footfall growing ever closer.

She had to do something, she didn't want to die here, at the UA Entrance Exam. She didn't want to be sent home as a pancake for her parents to cremate. She wanted to live.

She wanted to live.

She wanted to live.

Suddenly, the weight of the rubble disappeared, and as Ochako shoved one piece aside, none fell. What… what was going on-

No, there wasn't time to think about that.

Ochako shoved her way through the weightless rubble, rushing away from the robot as it brought its foot down on where she had been trapped. Keep running, don't stop, it would catch up with h-

Before Ochako could think of anything else, a blast of air sent her flying off her feet and away from the robot. Spinning in the air, Ochako watched the robot, with a flattened head, tilt backwards and crash into the ground as an alarm sounded.

What… what had just happened?

- X Izuku X-

Izuku climbed into the back of the car with the other Ryoka, smiling, "Thanks for the ride, .

"How many times do I have to say it," she laughed, starting the engine, "call me Masaki."