Finally! *breathes heavily* we're at the entrance exam!

Please let me know what you guys think! Comments and kudos give me motivation. Even if it's just a couple heart or smile emojis, it means a lot to me.

Song of the Chapter: "Timber" by Pitbul ft. Ke$ha. Ironically, we don't actually see Izuku during the practical.

TW: none

Chapter Word Count: 4,302

Shouto looked around at the other applicants, making sure to keep an indifferent expression on his face. So far, he wasn't impressed with any of them. Mostly because, barring Momo, he didn't know who any of them were. None of them were children of Pro Heroes, or if they were not of anyone in the Top 100.

Briefly, he wondered what the regular entrance exam was like. Did they do an obstacle course too? Though perhaps not. Over ten thousand middle schoolers applied to UA every year, less than fifty of those through recommendation. It would take too long to have them go through an obstacle course in groups of six, even if they had multiple courses going at once. There had to be some sort of easily scored system they used.

But that wasn't important right now. Present Mic was telling them the rules of the test. They were pretty self-explanatory and expected. No sabotaging other applicants, Quirks were allowed but not support items, and so on and so forth. Shouto watched as the first group was sent out. The obstacles were far enough away from the starting line that it didn't give anyone in later groups an advantage, since they couldn't really see what they were.

Shouto watched as Present Mic stepped away for a moment. The heterochromatic teen expected the Pro to be getting water or something. He was surprised when, instead, the blond man went to talk to a purple-haired teen Shouto's age. Then Shouto realized the other teen wasn't wearing a number on his shirt, so he couldn't be another applicant. So who exactly was he?

He was about to turn back to the obstacle course when he felt a Soulmate poke him in the back. From the slight electrical shock, he knew it was his Romantic Soulmate, the one symbolized by the Japanese Apricot flower hidden under layers of scar tissue. What did they want this time?

His Soulmate poked him in the back again, and Shouto realized they were trying to get him to move toward the purple-haired teen. Why?

"Shouto? Is everything ok?" Shouto glanced over at the sound of Momo's voice. His Platonic Soulmate was standing next to him, looking concerned. Apricot stopped poking him, but Shouto could still feel their presence.

"Yes. My Romantic Soulmate is trying to get me to talk to the teenager speaking with Present Mic right now. I don't know why. He isn't an applicant."

Momo followed his glance to the purple-haired teen. "Well, can't be because he's your Romantic Soulmate. Maybe he's a Platonic Soulmate or you have mutual Soulmates. Or he's just someone they know will be your friend."

As usual, Momo was right. For reasons science had yet to figure out, a Tamabun had never allowed a Soulmate to lead the other to themselves. It had, on occasion, allowed one to point out another Soulmate or other important person in either one of their lives.

"Perhaps." They watched as Present Mic held a hand up to his ear, presumably listening in to someone talking on the comms. The blond man left the teen alone to gather the next group of six, which included Momo, leaving Shouto to stand alone once more.

The poking started up again, this time gentler but more rapidly. Shouto tried to ignore it, but it was rather annoying. He was about to snap at his Soulmate to stop when he heard Present Mic call his number. Thankfully, his Soulmate left him alone after that.

Shouto didn't feel any of his Soulmates again until after the test. He walked out of the UA gates, still seething from letting that teen with a wind Quirk beat him in the obstacle course. The heterochromatic teen didn't really care, as long as he got into UA, but he knew that Endeavor would be furious when he heard.

Hearing fast footsteps behind him, Shouto turned to see the wind Quirk guy running up to him. The taller teen stopped in front of the other before bowing so low he practically bent himself in half. Shouto was surprised he didn't knock himself out on the concrete. The other teen straightened again before speaking.

"Hi! I'm Yoarashi Inasa! I saw you earlier. Your Quirk is so cool! I hope we both get put in the same class. I look forward to working with you!"

Did Shouto know it was rude? Yes. Did he know he would probably regret it later? Also yes. But at that moment, all he could think about was the extra "training session" his father would put him through when he found out Shouto had come second in his race.

"You're in my way." As he turned away from Yoarashi, Shouto could feel Momo, Apricot, and Glasses poking or swatting him in scolding.

They didn't understand. Sure, they'd all seen his "training" at some point or another, and they'd all tried to comfort him after. But at the end of the day, they never had to go through what he did, and they never would.

Shouto knew they meant well, but his Soulmates would never be able to truly help him. They were only distractions in the end. The only one he could count on was himself. He needed to fulfill his goal and show Father that he didn't need his Quirk. He didn't have time for frivolous things like Soulmates.

~~~SMYC~~~

Hitoshi took sips from his travel mug as he walked with Dad and Papa into UA's main building. Fortunately, his parents took him to UA with them so he didn't have to take the bus. Unfortunately, since they were teachers they had to be at the school an hour and a half before the other applicants would even begin to arrive. Dad had already promised Hitoshi he could borrow the man's sleeping bag and sleep under his desk in the teachers' shared office space. Dad, Papa, or Nemuri-oba would wake him up in time to meet Midoriya and Bakugou before the test.

As he crawled into Dad's sleeping bag, Hitoshi couldn't help but be nervous. Sure, he knew his parents would be proud of him no matter what he ended up doing in life. But he wanted to be a Pro, and he wanted to go to UA. Eraserhead had been his personal hero long before the man became his Dad, and he'd been listening to Put Your Hands Up for as long as he could remember. Hitoshi wanted to go to the same school as them.

Sooner than he would've liked, Hitoshi stood outside UA's main gate, his capture weapon around his neck. Papa would probably joke that he was practicing his Eraserhead impression. He was only there a couple minutes before he saw Midoriya and Bakugou walking down the sidewalk. As they got closer, he could hear the end of a Midoriya ramble.

"— excited! I wonder if we'll see any of the teachers, and if so which ones. I mean I know Yamazawa said both his parents are going to be here, but will there be non-hero staff helping out? Will the Pros just be behind the scenes so people don't get nervous?"

Hitoshi couldn't hold in a laugh as he walked to meet them.

"Papa and a few of the teachers are helping direct people and giving instructions. But Dad and most of the others will be working behind the scenes. Papa joins them after all the applicants leave. Well, usually that's what happens. This year Papa and Dad are being excluded from the selection process. The other teachers trust them to not be biased. It's to prove it to others if they try to cause a fuss later. The only reason Dad is here is that he's one of the first-year homeroom teachers. Otherwise he'd home at home sleeping.

"Oh by the way," he added with a wide grin, "I have a proposition for you two. Papa always tries to get the applicants hyped up before the practical exam like it's a crowd, but he never gets a response. It bums him out. Wanna change that?"

The grins he got from the pair was all the answer he needed.

As the trio of teenagers passed through the gate, Midoriya tripped over his shoelace. Hitoshi and Bakugou both tried to keep him from falling, but before they could the greenette was floating several centimeters off the ground.

"Oh!" A voice next to them made all three boys turn to see a girl their age. "So sorry to use my Quirk on you without asking. I just figured it would be bad luck to trip and fall right before the test." The brunette put her fingertips together, and Midoriya's feet were put back on the ground.

"T-thank you!" Midoriya rubbed the back of his neck. "Y-yeah, that would've been rather embarrassing."

The girl grinned brightly at them. "It's no problem, really! Well, good luck! We should get in there."

As soon as the other teen was gone, Bakugou broke out in laughter. "Kami, Zuku. Only you would manage to trip over thin air on the day of the UA entrance exam. Come on, let's get in there before Yamada or Aizawa come looking for us thinking we've kidnapped their kid."

Hitoshi snorted as they walked. "You'd think Papa would be the one to freak out, but actually he would have to keep Dad from sending out Ectoplasm-san and Inui-san to look for us. Dad likes to pretend he's the harsher parent, but really he's just a mother hen."

When the trio entered their assigned auditorium, Hitoshi saw Papa at the front. The blond man smiled at him before tilting his head to where Hitoshi guessed were their seats. Sure enough, three seats towards the end of the front row belonged to Hitoshi, Midoriya, and Bakugou. Hitoshi noticed the brunette girl from earlier was a few rows back. He smiled and waved to her and got one in return.

The test itself was easier than Hitoshi had been expecting. True, he'd gone to a nicer private school, but only a few of the questions tripped him up. He guessed they were college-level ones that Nedzu threw in for his own amusement.

Hitoshi could tell when Midoriya reached the essay portion of the test. He had a feeling everyone knew when Midoriya reached the essay portion. The greenette's pencil never stopped moving, and its scratching could probably be heard two rows back. At one point, Hitoshi looked up at the time and saw Papa staring at Midoriya with a mix of awe and fear.

By the time the written exam was finished, Hitoshi felt like his wrist was going to fall off. He shook his hand out to get rid of the aching. He was surprised that Midoriya wasn't complaining about a hurt wrist. As Papa and Ectoplasm-san's clones collected the papers, he turned to his companions.

"That wasn't too bad. Dad mentioned once that Nedzu throws in some really hard questions just to see if anyone will get them. Apparently, the rat has a sadistic streak. Though I can't really blame him."

"Really?" Midoriya asked, "I didn't think it was terribly difficult at all. I had a lot of fun with the analysis essay. I hope there wasn't a page limit they didn't tell us about."

"The fuck?" Bakugou stared at their Soulmate, visibly confused. "Zuku, I don't even know what to say to that. You're like some sort of super genius or something."

Before Hitoshi could do more than nod in agreement, Papa was back at the front stage. The purple-haired teen grinned. Hopefully, if he, Midoriya, and Bakugou answered Papa, it would get other applicants hyped too. He knew the blond was always a little bummed that people ever answered him.

"Hey there UA hopefuls! It's your resident on-campus DJ here Present Mic! I'm here to give ya the rundown for how the practical exam is gonna go. Let me hear ya!" The last sentence was said in English with a touch of Quirk thrown in.

"Damn straight!"

"Bring it on!"

"Let's do this!"

Hitoshi honestly thought he saw tears in Papa's eyes.

"Oh yeah! These three know what's happening! Let's get this show started!"

The trio in the front cheered again, and this time Hitoshi could hear several voices joining them. He couldn't help but grin, the last of his nerves fading.

He was the son of Eraserhead and Present Mic. He was trained by both of his parents. Even with a non-physical Quirk, he knew he had the skills to get in. Now he just had to prove it.

~~~SMYC~~~

Katsuki gritted his teeth as he blew yet another robot apart. He'd lost count of how many points he had, but he knew it was a lot. Probably enough to pass, but he wasn't sure. And Zuku would have his ass if Katsuki didn't try his best.

He hoped Zuku and Eyebags were doing ok. He wasn't too worried about the purple-haired teen. After all, he'd been getting training for years from two Pros. It was Zuku who would struggle.

Aizawa had taught the two of them some martial arts basics, but would it be enough? Zuku wouldn't be able to count on One for All. All Might had given him the Quirk two weeks ago, but Zuku broke his arm the first time he'd used it and hadn't tried using it since.

"Ok, listeners! You've got three minutes left on the clock! And there's still plenty of robots that need smashing! Go go go!" Where the fuck did Yamada-san get this much energy? Maybe he had a secondary energy-stealing Quirk. It would explain why his husband and son were always tired.

"Also, remember those zero pointers we told you about earlier? Well, here they come!"

Suddenly, the ground beneath Katsuki's feet began to shake. At first, he thought that Cementoss or Power Loader were creating an earthquake.

Then he looked up.

Towering above him, taller than the buildings, was a massive robot. It wasn't until Katsuki saw the giant zero painted on it that he realized what he was looking at.

"What the fuck," Katsuki whispered to himself. THESE were the zero pointers?! He was beginning to question the sanity level of Nedzu and anyone who worked here.

Forget the other two. Katsuki was starting to doubt his own abilities.

He was going to just run for it, but the robot knocked into a building, and a chunk of concrete the size of a small room fell toward the pavement. Suddenly, everything seemed to be moving in slow motion.

Standing right in the rubble's path were two other applicants. The black-haired teen didn't realize the danger he was in, his focus on helping a girl with what appeared to be a sprained ankle move away from the robot. There was no way they could get out of the boulder's path in time.

Katsuki didn't even think about it. Milliseconds after he analyzed the scene, he was launching himself towards the debris, his Quirk at the ready. He and Zuku had come up with this move, but this was the first time Katsuki was trying it on something this big.

Landing on top of the rubble, Katsuki put both of his palms against it. He activated his Quirk, driving as much explosive power as he could onto the concrete surface. When he'd tried this on boulders in the park, the rock had split into smaller pieces.

That didn't happen.

While several small pieces did break away, most of the concrete chunks stayed in large pieces the size of futons. And one of them was headed right toward the pair below.

Thinking quickly, Katsuki used his Quirk to catch up to the falling debris. He couldn't risk trying to break apart the smaller piece. It might not work, and he wasn't even sure if he had enough sweat left to try.

Instead, Katsuki turned himself into a human cannonball, something he had experience with doing from going along with Zuku's crazy ideas. Right before impact, he thought to himself, 'This is gonna hurt like a bitch.'

He was right.

The good news was that Katsuki was able to keep the debris from crushing his fellow examinees. The bad news was that the rubble's new course put it straight into the building the rubble came from. The really bad news was that Katsuki went along for the ride.

Smacking into a building at high speed was not on Katsuki's to-do list for the day. The impact stunned him enough that he wasn't able to catch himself before hurling toward the ground. He wasn't even able to slow his descent.

He recovered from the shock just in time to be hit from the side. Looking up, he realized the black-haired guy he'd just saved was holding him in a bridal carry. Oh fuck, Zuku could never hear about this. Katsuki would never live it down.

Then Katsuki felt the prickling, not on his right wrist but on his left. He looked down, and sure enough, the edelweiss on his wrist was now colored in, its center a bright yellow surrounded by white petals.

Fuuuuck. Zuku was never going to let him live this down. And sure enough, he could feel the damn nerd pat his shoulder in mock condolence.

By this point, they'd landed back on the ground with a slight skid. The other teen set Katsuki on his feet, but neither moved to separate. Present Mic announced the end of the exam, but Katsuki wasn't really paying attention.

The other teen laughed nervously, rubbing the back of his neck.

"Uh, hi there! I certainly wasn't expecting to meet my Soulmate today. I'm Kirishima Eijirou!" He looked over at the ruins surrounding them. "Thank you for that save earlier. That move was really cool! Your Quirk is so manly."

Katsuki scoffed, but he could feel his cheeks tint pink. Traitors. "Just pay more attention next time. I won't always be there to save you. I'm Bakugou Katsuki. And yeah, I didn't expect to meet a Soulmate today either. Let alone my Romantic Soulmate."

The other teen looked like he was about to say something, but they were interrupted by the arrival of two robots.

"The exam is over. Please proceed to the nearest exit. Thank you for applying to UA High School!" After delivering this (pretty obvious in Katsuki's opinion) message, they moved to the girl Kirishima had helped, lifting her onto a stretcher and presumably bringing her to get her ankle looked at.

He couldn't help but raise an eyebrow. Just how many robots did this school have? And where did they get the funding for this?

"Hey, man. Do you want to do something after this? I mean just to get lunch or something and get to know each other a little better. I mean, we're freaking Soulmates! How cool is that?" Katsuki hoped the other teen wasn't always like this. He already was stuck with one overly happy person in his life. He didn't know what he would do with another.

"Tsk. Fine. I came here with two people, though. I have to let them know where I'm going or they'll get worried. Given we're at UA, I wouldn't put it past them to send Pro Heroes after us." He didn't mention that Yamazawa's parents were both Pros and worked here. The purple-haired teen had mentioned they were planning on keeping their family ties under wraps, and Katsuki wasn't going to be the idiot who fucked it up.

"I can't wait to meet them! I hope we all are in the same class, that would be so cool!"

Yup, looks like Katsuki was stuck with another sun in human form. Great, just what he wanted.

~~~SMYC~~~

Izuku wrung his hands together as he walked toward UA's gates. He wasn't sure how Kacchan and Yamazawa were going to take the news of how his exam went. He'd managed to make a makeshift weapon out of a loose pipe, but he wasn't sure if his measly 20 points would be enough to be accepted.

He refused to think about how he would tell All Might.

Not to mention how he'd broken three of his limbs.

Uraraka and Iida walked next to him, both of them eager to meet Kacchan and Yamazawa. While he hadn't expected to meet any Soulmates, let alone two, Izuku was excited to introduce the four of them. He really hoped they got along.

As the trio approached the gates, Izuku was surprised to see a third person waiting with his two Soulmates. The black-haired teen, who Izuku assumed to be a fellow applicant, was the first to notice them. He got Kacchan's attention before pointing to the approaching trio. Both Kacchan and Yamazawa groaned when they noticed Izuku wasn't alone.

"Oh for fuck's sake, Zuku. Don't tell me you met more Soulmates today."

"How many Soulmates do you even have, Midoriya?"

Izuku couldn't help but laugh as he held up his wrist. Iida's rectangular glasses and Uraraka's waxing crescent moon stood out against his skin.

"Heh, yeah, I did. You guys remember Uraraka here from earlier. And this is Iida. Guys, I'd like to introduce you to Kacchan … er Bakugou, and Yamazawa. They're also my Platonic Soulmates." He turned to the sixth member of their group. "I'm sorry, I don't know your name. Are you Soulmates with Kacchan?"

"Yeah, we are! I'm Kirishima Eijirou, it's nice to meet you, man! Bakugou and I met during the exam when we saved each other from those crazy zero-pointers." To Izuku's surprise, Kirishima held up his left wrist. Oh, this was Kacchan's Romantic Soulmate! He took a closer look and saw a cistus flower there.

Yamazawa snorted, drawing Izuku's attention away. "Figures I'd see you here today. Hey, Tenya."

Iida nodded, pushing up his glasses. "I was wondering if I'd run into you, Hito-kun. My brother said to tell you hello."

Kacchan looked between the two. "Wait, you two know each other? How?!"

"I've known Hitoshi since we were eight. My brother is Platonic Soulmates with both of his parents."

"Yeah," Yamazawa added, "they've known each other since high school. My parents introduced us when I was first adopted hoping I'd make a friend. Turns out we're Platonic Soulmates too."

Izuku realized that meant Iida's brother was probably a Pro Hero. Ingenium, maybe? His Quirk was very similar to Iida's. He'd have to ask Yamazawa later, or maybe Iida himself.

"Awww," Uraraka clapped her hands together. "That's so sweet! I hope we're all in the same class. I'm sure that the fact we're all Soulmates means we're gonna get in!" Izuku doubted it, given his own performance, but he didn't want to bring the mood down.

Suddenly, Kirishima gasped. Izuku turned to see him holding his right arm next to Kacchan's "Bro, no way! Look, most of our Platonic Soulmates are the same! Though you've met Grumpy Cat. What're they like? They're always keeping me from overthinking stuff."

"Wait," Uraraka said, "you have that Mark too? So do I!"

Iida cleared his throat. "Actually, I have that Mark as well. And so does Hito-kun."

"Tt. You're not that special. Zuku has it too."

"Wait, all six of us have the same Mark? That's so rare!" Though Izuku thought back to when he'd met Aizawa-san. The man had too many Platonic Marks to count. Hmmm, maybe Uraraka's theory was right after all. Aizawa-san was going to be the homeroom teacher for one of the incoming hero course classes. But why would an entire class share a Mark with their teacher? He'd never heard of that happening before, and Izuku had a lot of Soulmark reading under his belt. In fact, it was rare for someone to have more than ten total Marks. Aizawa-san had almost three times that.

A nudge to the ribs broke Izuku out of his trance. Looking over, he saw the others watching him with a mix of fascination and surprise. Kacchan, who was the one to nudge him, gave him an amused look.

Oh, he must've been muttering again.

"Heh, sorry guys. I do that a lot. But yeah, let's hope we're all in the same class!"

The six of them cheered as they walked through the UA gate and onto the sidewalk. As they walked towards a nearby cafe, Iida let out a small snort. Kacchan looked over to glare at him.

"What the hell is up with you, Glasses?"

"Hm? Oh, nothing. I just was thinking that Shouta-nii's reaction to his class this year is going to be very interesting. And probably amusing."

Ok so I thought about this. If the hero course acceptance rate is 1/300 for non-recommendation students, then that means 10,800 people applied to UA for JUST the hero course. If there's 8 practical testing centers, then each one has 1,350 applicants in it. That's the size of my entire high school.

Oh, also, Iida doesn't do his rude to Izuku and Mic thing. He was about to, but both times one of his Soulmates (probably Tensei tbh) whacks him on the shoulder to make him stop.

Worldbuilding note!
In Todoroki's section, he mentions a Tamabun (魂分). In this world, that's the term for when your Soulmate is with you non-physically. It literally translates to soul (魂 tama) minutes (分 bun).

Thanks for reading!

I tested positive for Covid today. This means I'm gonna be stuck in my room for a while, and while I'm gonna work on my classwork, I'll also probably be working on the next chapter. I feel fine, just a sore throat and cough. Fingers crossed it stays like that.