Rule #32: School and status have nothing to do with it. Whether a fish lives in a clear stream or a water ditch. So long as it continues swimming forward, it will grow up beautifully
The morning of the entrance exam found Toru Hagakure both excitedly and nervously bounding through the large concrete arches that lined the path to the front door. Dodging stragglers left and right, Toru made her way towards the lecture hall where they were to go for the first portion of the exam.
Gazing around at her fellow examinees, Toru noticed that like her, they had garbed themselves in their current school uniforms. There were a few here and there who appeared to have mutant-Quirks whilst everyone else seemed to have Emitter or Transformation-type Quirks.
Tightening the hold on her backpack straps, Toru shuffled forward a little faster, wanting to get away from the odd looks she was getting. But who could really blame them? Floating clothes usually turned a fair amount of heads no matter who you were.
So here she was, walking across the threshold of the UA property line. It must have looked odd to everyone else. What with the pale yellow cardigan and blue vest paired with matching pleated skirt and full length tights seemingly floating in the air. Today, she had decided to tie her hair back into two braids that were only seen by the two yellow ribbons that floated at the end of them.
So lost in thought, Toru didn't even notice the person in front of her had stopped until it was too late. The pair ended up crashing to the floor in a groaning heap of limbs and bags; Toru's chin smacking against the person's back with a painful jolt as she went down.
"Ow!" Whined the person beneath her.
"Sorry!" Apologised Toru as she disentangled her legs from theirs and moved to grab her bag from where she had dropped it. Turning to hand the person's bag to them, she saw that the person (who appeared relatively okay) stood at least a good head or so taller than her and wore his brown curls tied back in a short ponytail.
"Uh, thanks…?" Said the brunette taking his bag from her.
"Oh! I'm Hagakure Toru!" Toru replied sheepishly rubbing her nape as she replied.
"Uraraka Shiro" He replied, swinging his own bag over his shoulder, "So, invisibility? That's…cool"
"Uh, thanks" Toru gripped onto her straps as she shifted in place, awkwardness enveloping the two as the stilted conversation continued. "So, what about you?"
"Huh?"
"What's your Quirk?"
"Oh, it's uh, gravity manipulation"
"Oh that's cool!"
"Yeah"
"…Do you wanna head inside?"
"Uh, sure" Shiro nodded as the two headed inside.
Despite the numerous signs and students scattered around the place, it still took them several tries to find the right lecture hall. Once there, the two had received their individual packets that contained the things they would need for their upcoming exam; before moving off to find their assigned seats.
The large lecture hall that had been designated for the exam orientation was filled to the brim with every hero-course hopeful coming in every shape, size and species. Toru eventually found herself seated with a blonde with his tail curled around him as he sat her left and to her right a ginger girl with bright green eyes.
Small and awkward pleasantries were shared between them as they got themselves situated, before they turned to the front where one of the examiners called for everyone's attention as the large screen behind him lit up with the UA logo. Toru faintly recognised him as one of the top pro heroes that was associated with UA High, Present Mic.
"What's up you UA candidates!" His voice sounded almost as cartoonish as he appeared, "Thanks for tuning into me, your school DJ! C'me on and let me hear ya!" He paused for any applause or cheering, but all he received was silence from the large crowd. "Keepin' it mellow, huh? That's fine, I'll just skip right to the main show. Let's talk about how this practical exam's going to go down, okay?" He brushed off the silence, "Are you ready? Yeah!"
Although no one replied to his attempts at engaging his audience, it was fair to say that there were a fair few candidates who were having fan moments over the pro in front of them. One boy became seemingly so overwhelmed by his emotions that he let out a high pitched squeak that drew several eyes to him.
"Like you application says, today you rockin' boys and girls will be conducting two minute mocked battles in super hot urban settings!" The screen behind Mic changed to show a map of the main campus and the six seperate testing sites. "Feast your eyes, my friends. After I drop the mic here, you'll head out to your specified battle centres. Sound good?"
Toru glanced down at her exam ticket to see she had been assigned to battle centre D. "Oh, I see" Hummed Kendo, looking down at her own ticket.
"Hm?" Toru quietly asked.
"They're splitting us up so that we can't work with any of our friends"
"Oh yeah, you're right. Our examinee numbers are one after the other, but we're assigned to different battle centres"
Down below, the screen changed to a new slide to reveal a clump of animated buildings plus four black silhouettes of mechanical creatures, each with their own point value. "Okay, okay, let's check out your targets. There are three types of faux villains in every centre; you'll earn points based on their level of difficulty, so better choose wisely"
Next an animated gameplay of Present Mic appeared on the screen sort of like a demonstration as to what they should do. "Your goal in this exam is to use your Quirk to raise your scores by shredding these villains like a mid-song guitar solo. But check it, make sure you're keeping things heroic. Attacking other examinees, is a UA no-no. Ya dig?"
"Excuse me, sir but I have a question" Piped up a boy from the middle section of the lecture hall.
"Hit me!" Mic replied, pointing to him.
"On the print out you listed four types of villains, not three. With all due respect, if this is an error on official UA materials, it is shameful…"
"Geez, he's really going for it, innit he?" The blonde a row down muttered. Toru couldn't help but agree. This kid was clearly from some kind of money; you could just tell by the way he was speaking.
"Alright, alright, examinee #7111, thanks for calling in with your request. The fourth villain type is worth zero points, that guy is just an obstacle we'll be throwing in your way. There's one in every battle centre, think of it as a hurdle you should try to avoid. It's not that it can't be beaten, it's just that there's…kinda no point. I recommend my listeners try to ignore it and focus on the ones toppin' the charts"
"Thank you very much, please continue" Bowed the boy.
"Oh, I get it. So they're kinda like traps you've gotta by like in video games" Ojiro commented quietly.
"Yeah the whole thing's like a video game, eh?" Replied the guy on his other side.
"That's all I got for you today, so I'll sign off with a little present: a sample of out school motto! As General Napoleon Bonaparte once laid down: a true hero is one who overcomes life's misfortunes. Mmhm, now that's a tasty soundbite! Ya ready to go beyond? Let's hear a PLUS ULTRA! Good luck! Hope you practised more than hitting just books!"
