The last months passed without a hitch or any problems, and Tanjiro was a little intimidated by the large flood of people walking towards the building that was designated as the U.A. Entrance Examination Site.
Sure Tanjiro was able to grow more used to large crowds of people and large buildings compared to his visit to Asakusa but this place gave Tanjiro the chills for some reason.
It was probably the high expectation this place carried by default, if Tanjiro wanted to become a Pro Hero he'd have to do well in whatever this place would throw at him, no matter what it would be. Tanjiro took a deep breath and steeled himself before walking towards the entrance again.
Before Tanjiro even made it ten steps forward, a familiar voice boomed behind him.
"Deku! Kamado! Move aside. Get out of my way or you're dead!"
In Tanjiro's nervousness, he completely failed to pick up the familiar scents around him, first turning to his right to see Izuku in his usual 'Bakugo yelled at me' flustered state, managing to atleast greet Bakugo with a "Kacchan!", Izuku's nickname for Bakugo.
Bakugo kept walking and didn't make eye contact, shoving Izuku aside as said boy attempted to strike up a conversation, "M-Morning. Let's all do our best." he managed to say before Bakugo shoved him aside and walked past. His usual self.
Tanjiro could hear people talk gossip about the Villain incident Bakugo was involved in but Tanjiro didn't pay any attention to it. Tanjiro was more focused on Izuku who was clearly wobbling on his legs, "Are you alright?" he managed to ask before Izuku's flustered face turned into a genuine smile of determination, "I'm doing fine!" he almost yelled out as he tried to run off.
Keyword, tried.
Izuku managed to trip on his own leg, almost falling flat on his face before someone else who Tanjiro assumed was here to also take the Entrance Exam touched Izuku and made him float, Quirks can sure do a lot.
"Be a bit more careful next time, Midoriya." Tanjiro said with a chuckle as he continued on ahead himself, "See you soon." he finished as he left the two behind, smelling the immense swelling of emotions coming from Izuku.
...A bit of time passed and the exam would start soon, it just needed to be explained by someone first, the man that went on stage and approached the microphone looked like a real stereo-typical rockstar from some of the comics Tanjiro had read and Tanjiro assumed they either worked at U.A. or were a Pro-Hero here for show.
"WELCOME TO TODAY'S LIVE PERFORMANCE! EVERYBODY SAY 'HEY'!"
Tanjiro eardrums were ringing after the sudden burst of volume that they certainly weren't readied for at the moment, Tanjiro figured this guy must have some voice-based Quirk. No one else seemed to expect it either as the hall went silent after the Hero stopped talking.
"Well that's cool, my examinee listeners! I'm here to present the guidelines of your practical! Are you ready?! YEEEEAAAH!"
"He's gotta learn to keep his voice down sometimes." Tanjiro thought as his ears rang for a second time, a little less than the last time since he expected it and Tanjiro expected his ears to have adapted by the third outburst, but still.
"This is how the test will go, my listeners! You'll be experiencing ten-minute-long 'Mock Cityscape Maneuvers'! Bring along whatever you want! After this presentation you'll each head to your assigned testing location! O.K.?!"
Then something clicked in Tanjiro's mind, he usually doesn't keep track of Heroes since he wasn't interested in becoming one initially, and the concept of Heroes doing Hero-work didn't intrigue him either due to his work for the Corps…
But Tanjiro recognized this guy's voice atleast, Present Mic, the only reason Tanjiro knows that is because Toshio listens to his radio station sometimes.
Now that that was out of the way, Tanjiro was able to properly keep listening without his head wondering who this guy even is.
And so, Present Mic continued, "Each site is filled with three kinds of Faux Villains. Points are awarded for defeating each according to their respective difficulty levels! Use your Quirks to disable these Faux Villains and earn points! That's your goal, listeners! Of course playing the anti-hero and attacking other examinees is prohibited!"
"May I ask a question?" a voice suddenly said, half-yelling through the hall. Tanjiro turned to see who it was and noticed the sleek haircut of the person responsible for the question first, considering Tanjiro sat behind them, they were standing up and holding a piece of paper, probably to point something out. "There appear to be no fewer than four varieties of Faux Villains on this handout! Such a blatant error, if it is one, is highly unbecoming of U.A., Japan's top academy! We're all here today in the hopes of being molded into model Heroes!" he finished before suddenly turning his attention to someone else in the audience, "And you, with the curly hair! You've been muttering this whole time... It's distracting! If this is some sort of game to you, then please leave immediately!"
Tanjiro managed to get a glimpse of the person he was referring to, seeing the familiar green tint of Izuku's hair stick out among the heads and it made him smile a little, seeing him still here.
"Alright alright." Present Mic began while waving a hand around, "Examinee 7111, nice catch. Thanks! But the fourth Faux Villain variety gets you zero points! He's more of an obstacle! Have you all played Super Mario Brothers?", logically, Tanjiro was a little dumbfounded at that question, he had a phone and he often used it, sure, but Tanjiro never touched video games. "That old retro game."Present Mic said after, much softer this time around, likely not even using his speech Quirk.
"It's kind of like a Thwomp! Only one at each site! A 'gimmick' that'll rampage around in close quarters!"
"Got it… So it's like a stage gimmick to be avoided, IT REALLY IS LIKE A VIDEO GAME THEN. Thank you sir, I apologize for the interruption." 'Examinee 7111' said as they sat back down in their seat, giving off a defeated smell that Tanjiro could easily pick up.
"That's all from me! I'll leave my listeners our school motto. The great Hero Napoleon Bonaparte once said 'True Heroism consists in being superior to the ills of life.'"
"PLUS ULTRA! Break a leg, everyone!"
Part of Tanjiro thought that wording was a little unfortunate.
