"So, any idea what's up with the two absentees on the entrance exam?" Aizawa asked the other teachers that were gathered in the meeting room, looking over the two files before him with the pictures of the twins on it.
"The night before the entrance exam, the orphanage that these two children were under the care of was burned down in a fire. They had to be taken under the protection of the police in a different city since a few weeks prior, the sister was almost kidnapped by a man working for a group of human traffickers," Ectoplasm murmured, bringing his hand inquisitively to his chin.
"Kidnapped?!" Midnight exclaimed, a hand rising to her chest in shock.
"Based on the testimonies that were given by the police, the specific group that was involved was Obsidian Spiders, indicated by the black spider tattoo on the right collarbone of the suspect. The Spiders are infamous for kidnapping people with extraordinary quirks to force into doing their bidding, so it would be safe to assume they were targeted for this very reason," Thirteen mused.
"Interesting…what was the quirk?" Aizawa raised an eyebrow, scanning the words on the files.
"Ah, well that's the interesting part. They claim to have…two quirks," Nezu informed them, earning surprised looks from all of the teachers in the room.
"What do you mean by two quirks?"
"They said they both possess a base quirk that they've taken into different directions based on their fighting style and preference but also possess a quirk they can only see. If I'm to be honest, I find myself just as interested in their quirk as these criminals!" the principal exclaimed.
"Because of this, I would like Aizawa and Kan to assist me in testing these two of their abilities so we can determine what course they will be joining," he looked over to the two teachers that were a part of the hero course, earning two nods in agreement. Nezu clapped his hands in approval, grinning excitedly.
"Now, I wonder what these two will have in store for us."
"Nervous?" Haku asked his twin, who was fidgeting beside him, both of them dressed in their middle school P.E. uniforms per the request of UA. They were called in yesterday regarding their absence from the entrance exam, and they assumed it more than likely to test them or discuss the matter.
"That's understatement of the year," she muttered sarcastically, brushing a stray strand of blue and black hair from her face, having pulled her hair into a messy bun in case of any physical activity. "I just hope things go well, you know? Things have been really shitty these past couple weeks." The older twin reached an arm around and gave her an affectionate squeeze, rubbing her shoulder gently with his thumb.
"I know, but whatever happens, we'll face it together. So chin up, lil sis," he encouraged her soothingly, earning him a small smile in return before he removed his arm as they entered the main building, seeing three people awaiting them at the front desk. Nezu stepped forward and smiled.
"You two must be the Tsukino twins, Haku and Haru?" he inquired, earning a simultaneous nod from the two, smiling warmly at them. "Good, good. We are happy to have you here. As I'm sure you're aware, we've asked you here to discuss the matter of your enrollment. The two beside me are Eraser Head and Vlad King, the teachers who teach the hero course, and they will be helping me assess the both of you today. If you would just follow me." He led them away from the building towards Ground Gamma, humming cheerfully along the way.
"Now I understand from what the police have informed me that you both have been through something very traumatizing, especially you, Miss Tsukino," he looked over to the young girl following behind, who averted her gaze to the ground and pulled at the sleeve of her shirt, nodding silently.
The experience was still fresh in her mind and she shut her eyes as a shudder ran its way over her body, hugging herself and gripping her arms tightly. The principal smiled kindly at her and stopped for a moment, placing a paw on her arm gently.
"That man can't hurt you anymore. You are safe here," he soothed, Haru managing a small smile in response as they approached the testing area. Nezu stopped and turned to face both of the twins, pulling a remote control out of his pocket.
"The test is simple. Your goal is to reach the exit while fighting your way through combat robots," he explained before gesturing towards the start area. "The test will begin in a few minutes, so start preparing while we go to the observation tower." The twins nodded in response before heading over and began to do a few warm up stretches.
"He says it sounds simple, but there might be more to it, like maybe some secret conditions or something that they're not telling us. Either way, we should be careful," the taller twin mused, rubbing his chin in thought before he shrugged. "Well, I'm sure we'll be able to handle it as long as we handle it together."
The horn sounded shortly after, signaling that it was time for the test to start, so the both of them walked past the start gate and tore off running, keeping an eye out for any of the combat robots that were supposed to be after them. As they rounded the corner by a factory, they were blasted at by a robot perched at one of the rooftops, barely able to roll out of the way in time, the impact shot sizzling from the heat of it.
In that short moment, they were surrounded by multiple different kinds of combat robots. Some had melee weapons with secondary attachments that were meant for capture while others were equipped with long-ranged guns and had more evasive gear on them. The twins immediately went back to back with each other, Haku bringing his fists up while Haru kept her hands open and off to the side, eyes darting around them.
"You know what to do?" the dark and silver haired boy asked, not taking his eyes off their opponents.
"Do you?" came the slightly snarky reply from behind him before they launched off from each other to do their respective tasks. Haku focused his psychic energy into a silver aura surrounding his fists before he ducked under a swing, slamming one of them right in the chest, forcing it away. For an instant, his mind wandered to the late nights sparring with his sister, relentlessly improving his side of their Quirk.
The metal creaked from the impact but another robot quickly took over and fired from its secondary attachment, a semi-liquid coming out from the muzzle. He rolled out of the way as it made impact on his previous position, solidifying, and informing him that whatever that was would be bad news if he got caught.
Meanwhile, Haru was dodging projectiles in the air, eyes darting around for anything helpful to use. Memories flashed in her mind—her brother ducking and diving as she sent toys flying at him from all angles.
A bullet whizzed past her, the heat from the bullet radiating as it barely grazed her cheek. She swooped low to the ground, a flurry of bullets hammering a trail behind her before she ricocheted herself off a wall to the roof behind them. Rolling to her feet, she raised her hands high, energy surrounding the stray bullets she had raised before she roughly threw her hands down, the bullets following suit and raining down on the robots.
From the observation tower, the three educators were watching the screens with keen interest, Nezu adjusting and moving the robots around as necessary.
"Well, it's clear that they both have a distinct fighting style. Harumi seems to be the long-ranged type while Hakuryu clearly excels in close combat," Vlad commented, scribbling away on his notepad.
"Let's see what happens if I force them out of their comfort zone, shall we?" Nezu suggested, pushing a few buttons and typing in commands into the control panel.
The robots fighting the twins suddenly jerked backwards, before swapping places with each other. The close-combat types began firing their capturing capsules at the younger twin, who was caught off guard and barely managed to skid out of the way before another surged forward.
It swung its blunt weapons at her in a flurry of blows, barely giving her any time to dodge and forcing her off the edge of the roof. She caught herself with her levitation just before she collided with the ground, dropping and scrambling to her feet frantically. The other close combat types swerved around the corner, firing their capsules again and forcing her in the opposite direction of her brother.
Haku was struggling to constantly dodge the hail of bullets that followed him wherever he went, ducking behind a wall and circling around. He charged at them after coming out from the other side, but the robot heads' swiveled towards him and leaped backwards. They darted across the rooftops like jumping spiders, firing more bullets as they kept moving and leading him away from his sister.
All according to plan.
The older twin swore under his breath, sliding into a labyrinth of pipes located under one of the bridges and pressed his back against the wall. He forced himself to get his breathing under control and to slow his thought process. He kept to the shadows, straining his ears to hear the creaking and scraping of the machines.
'Think Haku, think! How the hell are you gonna get yourself out of this?' His mind was racing a mile a minute, he could hear the scraping metal get louder by the second. His eyes scanned across the area, almost desperately, before they landed on a set of oil barrels next to a gas pipe.
—He was running down the back alleys with Haru, swiping up stray pieces of gravel and hurling it at the faces of the thugs that were chasing after them—
He dashed forward, catching the attention of the robots as their guns swiveled towards him. He weaved between the pipes, luring them in further and further before he threw up one of the oil barrels and kicked it towards the robots. He used his quirk to give it more distance and repeated this a few more times before busting the gas pipe.
The gas filled the air, clouding the closed-in area with the wispy substance and the visual sensors of the robots, that now couldn't see where Haku was. He took that opportunity to rush through and jump on top of one of them, wrenching its head off and swinging the dislocated appendage at the others.
The sheer force of the swing slammed them up against the wall, crushing them from the impact. He leapt to the remaining few and decimated those ones as well, dusting his hands off and admiring this handy work for a moment, wiping the sweat from his brow.
"That's taken care of. Now, to find Haru…" He looked down at the faint translucent cuff that was on his wrist and shook it. He felt the very slight tug back in response, looking in the direction it was pulling before taking off as fast as he could, saving the rest of his abilities for now. He had to meet up with her, and fast.
Haru was still barely dodging physical blows from the other close combat robots. She ducked under a blow and rolled under it, then rolled off to the side when another blow came crashing down next to her. There's no time for me to retaliate! How does Haku do this?
She forced herself to think. What could she do here that would help her get out of this predicament? She's gone up against her brother plenty of times, there had to be something. She whipped her head around as she leapt backwards out of the way of another blow, landing on a rooftop and skidded. They fired a few more of the capsules and she scrambled out of the way, lifting the now-solid substance into the air and slammed it down as hard as she could.
A few robots went down, but a single one remained stubbornly standing, as if mocking her. She gritted her teeth and lifted her hands again. The robot suddenly rocketed towards her, its movements much more precise, and went in for a swipe. She side-stepped it and jumped back again, landing on a pipeline, freezing for a second and holding a hand to her head, wincing.
The robot launched itself again and she jumped back once more, landing on another pipe. The robot lifted it's head at her and lifted its weapon in a 'come at me' motion. She frowned, feeling that something was off. She turned and let herself drop before using her hands to swing herself to another pipe, glancing behind her.
— She felt like she was being chased by that villain again, struggling, panting. Haku! Where is he? Where is my brother?!—
Sure enough, it was following behind, and breaking off pipes in its wake. She continued to jump around the pipes before she landed right in front of a wall, gasping and turned to see the robot land and approach her slowly. A look of panic washed over her face…and then she smirked.
The pipes that were broken off in the chase suddenly rained down on the robot, Haru adding more speed and power for them to pierce right through it, rendering it broken. She took several deep breaths, shaking from the adrenaline and the exhaustion, wincing and pressing her hand against her head again before she shook it. She felt her chain tug and looked up, vaguely sensing the direction it came from and levitated low to the ground, flying in that direction.
"Sis!" She turned her head and felt her body relax the moment she saw the familiar face of her twin, landing lightly on her feet.
"You ok? You're not hurt anywhere are you?" he asked worriedly, quickly checking her over.
"Worry about yourself. You look roughed up," she gestured to the various scratches and scrapes on his body, sighing softly.
"Yeah, but you know me. I'm tough as hell," he laughed, bumping his chest lightly with a hand.
"We should head to the exit while we have a breather, there might be more out there."
He nodded in agreement and they both headed off in that direction, keeping an eye out for any more robots in sight. They made a few turns and soon saw the exit sign in the distance. Upon seeing their goal, they felt a burst of energy and began shooting across the path like comets.
Only for a larger and bigger robot that they've ever seen land right in front of them, forcing them to stop in their tracks like deer in headlights.
"Oh, and I forgot to mention," Nezu's voice suddenly rang out from the speakers around them, "you have about ten minutes left before your time is up. Good luck!"
"Are you serious?!" came the loud, exasperated groan from the younger twin, pulling at her hair.
"Should've known that it wasn't the end just yet…" He lifted his fists up, glancing over and saw her wince. "Are you o-"
"I'm fine," she responded abruptly, dusting herself off and levitating. "Let's scrap this thing!"
He frowned, narrowing his eyes at her before he nodded and surged forward. He circled around the legs while Haru did the same around it's head. He punched one of the legs, quickly rolling underneath when it stomped in retaliation. The guns on the machine's shoulders were simultaneously firing at the younger, who was dodging easier now.
"Haru!"
"Got it!" She yanked at the chain while she shot down towards the ground, the force and momentum throwing Haku in the air. He brought his arm back and slammed his fist into the robot, making it lurch back. Haru swooped back up, bringing some broken off pipes with her and using them to pierce the armor again.
It threw its mechanical arm back and shot forward, Haru yanking the chain to re-adjust her brother so he was safely out of the way as he fell. He landed on his feet and aimed a punch at the other leg. It creaked as its leg shifted from the force and it fired a wire at him, impaling the concrete as he dodged it. An electric shock traveled through the wire and the force of it blasted the ground open.
Both of them moved their hands in unison. Haru gathered the debris together into a ball and held it in place while Haku slammed his fist into it. The ball smacked into the robot, breaking apart and Haru moved her hand again. The debris that flew apart froze in the air before she slammed them down over and over again on the metal.
A swing came at her from just outside her vision, Haku flinging their shared chain back to pull her down and out of the way. She gave him a thumbs up before using the debris again to take out one of the guns.
It fell to the ground, Haku swiftly picking it up and using it like an oversized baseball bat to smack the metal into the leg he was beating on earlier. The force of it was enough to make the leg give out and collapse on one side, the twins using the opportunity to take the robot out. Haku passed off the detached gun to Haru, who concentrated. A hail of bullets fired and took out the other gun, though the aim was shaky.
Haku took the moment to leap up and bust open the head, ripping it off and tossing it to the side. The robot ceased moving, having been destroyed enough to be rendered harmless. Sensing that they were in the clear, Haru swept low to the ground as Haku and her shot towards the exit, passing through it and collapsing from exhaustion.
The horn sounded, signifying the end of the test. Haru wheezed, tugging the hair tie and let her black and blue locks cascade down her back, wiping the sweat from her brow and pressing her hand to her forehead. Haku was in a similar state, leaning back on his hands as his chest heaved from trying to regain his breathing. He looked over to his twin, who met his gaze with their matching sapphire blues and he grinned tiredly at her.
He held his fist out to her, with her mirroring his tired smile and touching her fist against his. They noticed the teachers and the principal approaching, so they stood up and dusted themselves off.
"That was rather exhilarating to watch! I was practically on the edge of my seat!" Nezu exclaimed, clapping his paws together.
"Good work on completing the exam. You both were cutting it close through," Aizawa stated, pointing to the timer on one of the screens, showing that it went to zero just as they passed the exit. The twins winced at the sight. They still had a long way to go.
"The teachers will go over your performance and discuss what course will be best suited for you after evaluation. We will contact you once we come to a conclusion," Nezu informed them, a smile on his face.
"If it's not too much trouble for the both of you, could you explain the nature of your quirk with us? We wish to better understand it and its unique nature." The twins exchanged looks with each other before they nodded.
"It's a little hard to explain, please bear with us," Haku started off, crossing his arms. "We've called the quirk we've both inherited Psyche, which is a psychokinesis power. As you probably already witnessed, we took that same quirk into different directions. The other quirk, our shared quirk, is a little more complicated."
"We don't know much about that quirk ourselves. Just that it is a connection between us," Haru supplied, fiddling with her hair.
"We didn't really experiment with it too much. We only started trying to train our quirks after the incident…" Haku trailed off as he looked over at his twin, noticing her expression and wrapping an arm around her. "I wish we could tell you all more but…"
"No, I understand. Thank you for sharing with us," Nezu replied, nodding his head gently. "I'd like the both of you to come into my office for a little, if that is not too much trouble." The twins responded with nods of their own and followed the principal into his office, taking a seat in front of his desk.
"Tell me about yourselves, what your lives are like," he requested, placing his paws on top of each other.
"Well…for the most part our lives aren't all that bad, besides being a really bad area with no hero agency around," Haku responded with a shrug.
"Missing person cases are normal in the old neighborhood we used to be in. The one we moved into after the orphanage burned down is nicer and safer. And the house we live in is nicer too," Haru added.
"Was it hard living there?"
"I mean, it wasn't easy. It could've been a lot worse though. But we made do with what we did have."
"There were only three adults to take care of so many kids. When we got older we would always group up whenever we went somewhere. It was safer that way. We relied on each other a lot." Haru paused in her fiddling, unease making itself present on her features.
"If it weren't for that, I probably wouldn't have gotten away from him…" she mumbled, looking down at the ground. Nezu frowned upon seeing her reaction, but he wasn't surprised. In a way, he could see himself in her, both victims of people who wanted to use them for their personal gain.
"I understand how you feel, Miss Tsukino. Very well. But the most important thing to take away from this is that you survived this ordeal and you are stronger for it. Given time, you will heal from that experience and be able to look back on it without fear or pain," he soothed her with a smile.
She looked up at him, rubbing away the beginnings of tears from her eyes and nodded, a quiet sniffle escaping. Haku put his arm around her again and squeezed her gently, concern written over his face. She gave a weak smile in response and shook her head, muttering a quiet "I'm ok" to him. He removed his arm after a moment, though the worry was still present.
"What do you do for fun?" Nezu spoke up, changing the subject.
They talked like this for a while, sharing bits and pieces of their lives, painting a picture for Nezu of who they were as people. The thought of what might have happened if these two had chosen a different path for themselves crossed his mind for a moment. Had they chosen to spite the heroes who were never there for them…
Well, no need to dwell on that now did he?
"That was a very enlightening talk! I've kept you both long enough, so you are free to go now and please," he stepped around his desk and gently put his paws on both of their arms, "stay safe while you travel."
The twins smiled at him and nodded their heads in agreement, giving him a small wave before leaving the office.
"It was nice talking to him, he seems really kind," Haku commented as they made their way back home.
"Mhm, he really was," his sister agreed. "How do you think we did?"
"I'd like to think we did pretty well, all things considered. Oh, here," he delved into his pocket and took out a pack of painkillers, taking one out and handing it to her. "You were having headaches again. I told you not to overdo it." Haru let out an indignant huff, but took the pill, popping it into her mouth and swallowing.
"I know but if I don't practice my quirk I won't get better with it."
"Just don't overdo it, sis. Remember what happened the first time you pushed yourself too hard?" he sighed.
"Listen, in my defense, I had no idea that I would pass out. I haven't passed out since," she grumbled, crossing her arms. He rolled his eyes.
"You'd have done that more if I didn't check up on you. Just…" his eyes softened, placing his hand on her shoulder. "Just promise me you won't push yourself too hard? Ok?" She let out a sigh of her own, her shoulders drooping as she nodded in reply.
"I won't. I promise. But it's not very Plus Ultra of me.
Haku smiled in satisfaction, playfully ruffling her hair and laughed at her smacking his hand away in indignation.
They made it home safe, hanging out with the other kids and playing video games on the shared TV. It was getting late when Ms. Yuki popped her head out of the kitchen excitedly.
"Haru, Haku! I have news!" she announced. The two of them shot up from their place on the couch and were in front of the older woman in an instant, hope in their eyes. She laughed at their excitement, before handing them a letter with the UA logo on it.
Haku took it, his hands trembling and he swallowed the lump that formed in his throat. The two of them walked away from the living room to Haku's room, shutting the door behind them. He took a deep breath and opened the letter, sliding out the projector that was inside it.
Haru scooted closer to her brother, her hands gripping the hem of her hoodie tightly. They both watched the projector light up, the familiar image of Nezu appearing.
"Good evening, Haru and Haku. I hope you both made it safe back home. However, I'm sure you both are dying to know how you did."
They held their breaths, leaning in closer, stomachs doing flip flops from anticipation. Nezu smiled in the video.
"I am happy to tell you that the both of you have passed the test! After some discussion with the other teachers, it has been decided you both will transfer into the hero course and Class 1-A!"
The twins let out a cheer, high-fiving each other and grinning from ear to ear. They did it! They really did it!
"I look forward to having you both in my school, and good luck on your first day! Have a good evening, the both of you!" The projector shut off after it finished, but the siblings were still freaking out. Haku held out his fist once again to his sister, who beamed brightly at him and fist bumped him back.
"I can't believe we made it in despite not being able to come on the day of the entrance exam," Haru said, still pumped up from the excitement.
"I know! I'm super psyched! We're gonna be able to take the first steps to becoming heroes!" Haku agreed, pumping his fist in the air.
"Oh, we have to design hero costumes and stuff. We were so preoccupied with everything that's been happening these past couple weeks that we haven't had a chance yet."
"Crap, that's right!"
There was a knock at the door, bringing the siblings out of their excitement for a moment, Haku opening the door to see a bunch of the other kids standing behind it. Daichi was the first to speak.
"We heard a loud noise coming from your room. What happened?" he asked. The twins exchanged looks before they grinned.
"We got into UA!" they exclaimed simultaneously.
"Holy cow, you two! Nice job!" Saki congratulated, the other kids clapping and cheering for the both of them.
"Let's go tell the adults the good news!"
The group moved from the dorm rooms they were in and headed to the main living room where they could see their caretakers relaxing. Ms. Yuki lifted her head up from the sewing she was working out and tilted her head.
"What's the matter kids?" she asked, the other two directing their gaze onto the children.
"Haku and Haru made it in!" Chika cheered, throwing her little arms in the air and beaming happily.
"That's wonderful news! I'm so happy for the both of you!" Ms. Hana commended them both, getting up and giving the both of the twins a proud hug. "I have every faith that you two will do well there, and we will be cheering you on always." The twins smiled from the various well wishes of the other kids, basking in the moment for a little.
Eventually, things quieted down as it got later in the evening, everybody getting ready to go to bed for the night. Haku was just about to slide into his bed when he heard a tapping on his window. He looked up to see his sister levitating just outside his window, beckoning him over with her hand.
He walked over, pushing the window open and raised an eyebrow at her. She placed a finger on her lips before pointing upwards, tilting her head to the side. He rubbed his chin for a moment before he nodded in response to her silent question. She smiled, floating up and tugged on the chain after a moment.
He hopped up on the window sill and raised his hand up and outwards, jumping just as Haru tugged on the chain hard enough to lift him up and onto the roof. His sister smiled at him before moving up towards a slightly flatter part of the roof and sat down, patting the spot next to her.
He carefully maneuvered his way up and sat down next to her, looking up at the starry sky, her mirroring him once he had settled. They sat together in comfortable silence for a while, just watching the stars, feeling the night breeze tousle their hair. After a moment, Haku spoke.
"Too excited to sleep?" he asked, leaning back on his hands.
"Yeah, it still hasn't really sunk in yet. That we made it. That we're gonna be heroes. It feels…surreal." She looked back down, hugging her knees before looking back. "Who would have thought that we, the people who have been no one for so long, could finally…be someone."
"It's kinda like…a whole new world of possibilities has opened up for us. Like that shooting star, that dream, that we've chased for so long…" Haku reached his hand out to the sky, before clenching his hand in a fist, "is finally something we can grasp with our hands."
"Do you think we'll fit in ok?" She rested her head on her knees, rocking herself back and forth.
"I think we'll be ok, especially with my dazzling personality to serve as a counterpart to your shy demeanor!" He chuckled, doing a checkmark gesture with his fingers and placing it under his chin, beaming.
"What's that supposed to mean, you jerk? I'm not shy!" She huffed.
"Need I remind you how you would hide behind the door trying to muster up courage to ask Shizuku about the keychain she had on her phone?"
"Need I remind you that I can easily throw you off this damn roof?"
"Point taken." They laughed together for a moment, before finally deciding it was probably time to head to bed. Haru helped Haku into his room safely before levitating around to her own room, staring up at the sky above one final time and smiled to herself.
A new day awaits.
