The next few months after the sludge monster's attack saw a drastic change in all four of the friends prepping for UA. Midoriya had started some strange workout technique that he kept as secret as possible, while Bakugou had shown up at the Renji household and insisted Himari train with him. Her father had been reluctant, but when she pointed out the perks of sparring with a person of an opposite quirk he relented. In no time at all the ten months before the exam had passed and the day had come for the teenagers to prove themselves.
Himari had left quite early to try and be as prepared as possible, waving her father goodbye before he had even fully awoken. The girl quickly hopped onto the train leaving towards the stop by the high school and skirted around the morning commuters looking for an empty seat. She squealed when a hand shot out and pulled her from the middle of the train car, tugging her down into a corner seat. The white-haired girl swung her arm behind her and landed a loud smack across her attacker's face.
"Ow! What the hell Mari?!"
The teenager turned her head to see the steaming ash-blonde sitting next to her, "Oh...hi Katsuki."
"That's all you have to say after you hit me?!" The boy yelled as he let go of her shirt.
"Shouldn't pull girls around," She muttered. "It's rude, blondie."
"It's rude to hit people too, ya puddle!"
She rolled her eyes as she glanced out the window, watching the city scenery speed by, "Are you ready for the exams?"
"Duh," Bakugou huffed. "You know I'm always ready for a good fight."
Himari shrugged her shoulders, "Yeah I know, you've been throwing me around for the past ten months. Had to ask my dad for extra help too since you barely wanted to fight me in my full water form."
"Are you saying I can't do that!?" He snapped.
"Katsuki, you could barely keep your eyes on me as my body shifted into water," She pointed out. "We both know it's not like I was naked or anything. Throwing a hand through me is not an insult."
The boy growled as he turned away from his female friend, trying to ignore her presence. Himari sighed but gave the boy's back a small smile before she settled into her seat and quietly sat next to her angered friend for the remainder of the ride. When the train stopped at their destination she rose to her feet and tapped Bakugou on the shoulder to get him up as well. He groaned but followed her out of the train and into the chilled outdoors.
The pair walked in silence as they both walked slightly closer to each other than usual, Himari secretly enjoying the vast amounts of heat pouring from Katsuki's form. They quickly walked the few blocks from the train station to UA High and made their way to the school's entrance. Bakugou paused in his movements when he noticed Midoriya's green hair in the crowd and he broke off from the shivering girl to confront their quirkless counterpart.
Renji shook her head as she watched him approach Izuku, but continued on her path towards the school. She knew getting in the middle of them would only cause more issues at the moment and she needed to focus on herself for today. The white-haired girl breathed a sigh of relief at the warmth inside the building and happily made her way to the tired-looking adult sitting by a sign-in table. She waited patiently in line as the boy in front of her boasted about his strength quirk, trying to hold in her annoyance as he started to hold up the line. The adult, who she now noticed was wrapped up in a yellow sleeping bag, glared at the boy before he insisted the teenager keep moving.
The purple-eyed girl stepped up to the table and quietly wrote her name on the sign-in sheets, muttering it at the same time so the man could inform her of her testing location.
"You Tenzin's brat?"
She tensed and locked eyes with the man's grey ones, "Yes, I'm guessing you've worked with him before?"
The man absently nodded his head as he shifted in his sleeping bag, "Room 1-D. It's down the hall."
She bowed slightly in thanks and shuffled down the hall, trying to avoid bumping into other people as she focused on the door she needed to reach down the hall. She felt eyes on her back as she moved further down the hall, but brushed them off as she tried to harden her nerves. The door opened easily enough when she pushed on it, but she did note the odd size of it as she moved into the class. A proctor was perched by the teacher's table at the front and motioned for her to find her seat.
The exam itself was broken into a written and practical aspect with the four courses offered splitting up the prospective students. The proctor explained once the door was shut for testing that all of the students in the room were here for the hero course, the other three courses having their own testing locations. The woman passed the written portion of the exam out and started her timer at the front of the room once everyone was settled. Himari shot off with the theoretical part of the exam, after all, she was the number one in her junior high's academics.
When she passed in her exam a short twenty minutes later a supervisor led her from the room and towards the female locker rooms in the building, giving her privacy to change into the sports clothes she brought with her. The white-haired girl shyly walked into the locker room and shuffled to the corner, avoiding the gazes of the other two girls in the room for the moment.
"Hey, are you here for the hero course?" She turned around as she tossed on her gym shirt to see a brunette girl smiling at her next to a girl with headphone jacks hanging from her ears.
"Yeah, I am," She confirmed.
"We are too! I'm Uraraka Ochako," She introduced. "And this is Jiro Kyoka."
"Hey."
"Umm...My name's Renji Himari. It's nice to meet you both," She politely replied. "We should probably head to the orientation room so we can learn more about the practical exam."
"Good idea," Uraraka chimed as she happily followed the shy girl out of the locker room, Jiro quietly following after them.
The three made their way up to the orientation room where Himari caught sight of the voice hero: Present Mic standing on the stage in the center of the auditorium. She had never seen the man in person, but she was aware her father had worked with him before. The three girls found seats near the middle of the room and Himari left the two seats next to her open for her friends and her brother. It wasn't long for the boys to find her and Midoriya blushed slightly at the sight of the girl he met outside sitting next to Himari. Bakugou pushed him aside and stole the spot next to his female friend, crossing his arms as he slipped in the seat.
"Still think I could beat your ass into the ground."
"You keep telling yourself that, Kacchan," She whispered to the blonde. Uraraka glanced at the pair oddly when the red-eyed boy snarled at Renji before he started to glare at the front of the room.
Loud music blasted from the speakers at the front of the room and the students turned to face Present Mic, "What's up UA candidates! Thanks for tuning in to me, your school DJ. C'mon and lemme hear ya!"
The auditorium stayed dead silent as he held his arms out, waiting for applause.
"Keeping it mellow, huh?" He brushed off as he continued. "That's fine, I'll skip straight to the main show. Let's talk about how this practical exam is gonna go down, okay? Are you ready? Yeah!"
"Oh my goodness, It's the voice hero: Present Mic," Izuku whispered as he watched the stage. "So cool! I listen to his radio show every day of the week. It's so crazy nuts that all the UA teachers are pro heroes."
"Will you shut up?" Bakugou grumbled as he tried to ignore the fanboying teenager next to him.
"Like your application said, today you rocking boys and girls will be out there conducting ten-minute mock battles in super hip urban settings," Present Mic explained as the screen behind him shifted to show the testing areas. "Gird your loins, my friends. After I drop the mic here, you'll head to your specified battle center, sound good?"
"I see," The purple-eyed girl muttered as she noticed the small pieces of paper sitting on the tables in the lecture hall in front of each kid. "They're splitting us up so we can't work with any of our friends."
Midoriya picked up his paper and noticed how he was picked for battle center B and Bakugou next to him was battle center A, "Yeah, you're right. Our examination numbers are one after another, but we're assigned to different battle centers. "
"Get your eyes off my card," The hothead hissed. "Damn, I was really looking forward to crushing you."
Present Mic waved to the crowd, "Okay, okay. Let's check out your targets. There are three types of faux villains in every battle center. You'll earn points based on their level of difficulty so better choose wisely. Your goal in this trial is to use your quirk to raise your score by shredding these faux villains like a mid-song guitar solo." The water user watched the screen as it displayed an animated Present Mic attacking the battle machines. "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," She snapped out of her thoughts and turned her head as a boy from behind her stood up and raised his hand.
"Hit me!"
"On the printout, you've listed four types of villains. Not three," The studious boy observed. "With all respect, if this is an error on official UA materials, it is shameful. We are exemplary students. We expect the best from Japan's most notable school. A mistake such as this won't do. Additionally, you with the unkempt hair." He pointed down to Midoriya and the boy near her froze, "You've been muttering this entire time. Stop that. If you can't bother to take things seriously, leave. You're distracting the rest of us."
Izuku blushed and slapped his hand over his mouth, "Sorry."
"If a little muttering is getting to you, then maybe you should leave," Midoriya shot his eyes to Renji's voice. "Heroes deal with a lot more distracting things in fights and disasters. And being rude like that isn't really 'heroic.'" The studious boy blushed at her words.
Bakugou snorted at the tiny girl calling the stuffy boy out, "All right, all right," Present Mic said to calm both of the students down. "Examinee number 7-1-1-1. Thanks for calling in with your request. The fourth villain type is worth zero points. That guy's just an obstacle we'll be throwing in your way. There's one in every battle center. Think of it as a hurdle you should try to avoid. It's not that it can't be beaten, but there's...kinda no point. I recommend my listeners try to ignore it and focus on the ones topping the charts."
The other boy bowed to the teacher, "Thank you very much," He quickly retook his seat to avoid the purple-eyed girl's heated stare.
"Oh, I get it. So they're kinda like traps you have to get by in games."
"The whole thing's like a video game, huh?"
"That's all I got for you today," Present Mic announced. "I'll sign off with a little present. A sample of our school motto! As General Napoleon Bonaparte once laid down, 'A true hero is one who overcomes life's misfortunes.' Now that's a tasty soundbite. You ready to go beyond? Good luck! Hope you practiced more than just hitting books."
The mass of students were quickly evacuated from the lecture hall and taken to their separate exam spaces. Renji waved off the girls and Bakugou and Midoriya, following the others with Battle Center C on their cards. She glanced around at the group of examinees as they approached the large gate. Himari noted a few eye-catching individuals. A boy standing near her who had six arms instead of the usual two, another boy with a bird head, a girl with pale pink skin hopping excitedly near the front of the crowd, and a tall girl with vine-like hair calmly standing next to the other girl. The gates slowly opened and the small group was allowed entrance to the testing area, eyes widening at the realistic city layout in front of them.
"This is nuts."
"It's like a whole city."
"Can you imagine how much it cost to build this?"
"UA is amazing!"
The petite girl tried to push the noise of the other students out of her mind as she stood at the front of the crowd, feeling for any water in the city as Present Mic's voice rang in the air.
"Alright! Let's start!" She turned her head at the man's voice over a sound system. "Get moving! There are no countdowns in real battles!"
The group sprinted off into the city, separating to find their own targets. She ran through the streets as she pulled her arms around to summon water drifting through pipes and fire hydrants in the road until she came across a circle of three-pointers laying siege to a handful of other examinees. She paused her movements and raised her hands, feeling the water burst forth from under the ground. The scared students watched in awe as her fists clenched and the robots were quickly sliced into pieces by the quick-moving water, destroying the entire swarm. The four students in the middle watched in shock as the small girl demolished the six faux villains surrounding them before she ran back off.
"18 points is a good start, but I have to keep going," Himari noted as she let the water she pulled float behind her, surprising the students she ran by.
A large group of people jumped back as they noticed the large floating wave of water, worried about the effect of it as it rushed by them. Himari kept her eye out for more villains as she knocked down the ones coming at the startled kids. She smirked when the wave's appearance worked towards her, allowing her to get more points in a large condensed space of people.
Himari ducked behind a wall as the pink-skinned girl sped by her, letting the water fall to the ground and dissipate as she caught her breath. 42 points in total so far was good, and she knew there were only about four minutes left on their clock. A loud rumble pulled her from her thoughts of strategy and she looked up to see a humongous robot towering over the city.
She froze as other students ran by her to escape the villain as it tore through the buildings, but a cry nearby ripped her from the threat in front of her. Her eyes zeroed in on the pink girl trapped by a large wall of rubble, and she found herself moving towards her before she could process what was going on.
"Are you okay?"
"My arm's stuck!" She called back. "I'm trying to melt the concrete, but I can't do this quickly without hurting my arm even more."
Himari nodded her head as she glanced at the girl, "Just stay calm…"
"Ashido Mina."
"Ashido," She repeated. "I'll get you out. I promise."
The white-haired girl backed up slightly and let her eyes squeeze shut, pulling another surge from the water lines. She focused and moved her hands towards the concrete trapping Ashido, instantly lifting the heavy rocks off of the pinned girl with the large ball of liquid. Ashido ran out from under the floating rocks and watched as the other girl took them and flung them towards the zero pointer, gasping as the pieces of concrete lodged into its gears and stalled it from continuing through the mock city. A quick spray of water hit the robot's exposed insides from the rocks, frying the circuits of the zero pointer and sending it crashing to the ground.
"Alright, time's up!"
Ashido looked up in the air as Present Mic announced the end of the exam but turned back to the white-haired girl as she stumbled and fell into her arms, tired from her excessive quirk use.
"Oh my God!" Ashido exclaimed. "Are you okay?"
Himari sluggishly nodded, "My body...It's hard for it to stay together."
"What do you mean?" The pink girl asked.
She watched in shock as the girl in her arms melted into water and dripped onto the ground. She screamed and a group of students came running over along with Recovery Girl, but as she tried to talk and point at the small puddle on the ground the older woman smirked. The nurse promised Ashido that the water quirk user would be fine, she simply needed time to reform. The pair waited patiently by the puddle's side and Ashido beamed as Himari slowly started to form lying on the ground.
The white-haired teenager gave Ashido a weak smile and apologized for scaring her, but the other girl brushed it off. Recovery Girl made Renji promise to take the next few days easy before she let the pink girl help her from the texting arena. The two girls walked back to the school with Himari's arm slung over Ashido's shoulder.
"That was the coolest thing," She chimed as they carefully climbed the steps. "Your quirk is amazing!"
"I've never used it that much, to be honest," Himari quietly admitted. "It's hard for me to control that much water in one period. Couldn't really hold my body back from shifting."
"Yeah, but you did it," Ashido noted.
"The fuck happened to her?"
Both girls turned their heads to see Bakugou storming over to them with Midoriya limping behind him, "Just overused her quirk. She'll be right as rain soon. Hehe, rain."
The blonde scoffed at the pink girl, "How stupid of her," He walked up to Ashido and tugged Himari off of her as he scooped her up.
"I can walk on my own, Kacchan," The teenager deadpanned at her friend.
"Tsch, I need a work out anyway," The hothead brushed off. "Those robots were small fries."
Himari waved her new friend goodbye as the boys walked together from the school towards the train, Bakugou tossing Himari to the ground once she started to squirm in his hold. She chewed him out for throwing her to the sidewalk, and the two shot quips back and forth as she rose to her feet and followed them to the train. She sighed at the futility of their arguing and finally noticed Izuku's quiet form next to her.
"Bet you did great, Izuchan."
The shorter boy looked up at Himari's words, "I didn't get a single point. I'm a failure, Himari."
"Heard you saved a girl though," She said as they boarded the train. "Doesn't make sense for a hero school like UA High to ignore such a feat."
The boy shrugged his shoulders and she stopped her attempt at cheering Midoriya up, she knew that nothing would break him from his funk until they heard back from the school.
But personally, she felt all three of them would be just fine.
Her thoughts were proven correct when a week later she received a letter from UA in the mail. The girl locked herself in her room so she could read her letter in private, surprised when a small metal circle dropped out of the envelope. The metal flashed and a holographic screen appeared from it, the form of All Might in a bright gold suit burst forth into her room.
"Hello UA Candidate! It is I, All Might, the newest teacher at UA, here to inform you of your test scores," She watched in wonder as the number one hero smiled and flexed in exaggeration. "Your written test scores were phenomenal, Renji Himari, and the 42 combat points you earned from the mock attack has most certainly earned you a place at UA." The girl squealed in excitement at his statement but paused when a small screen appeared in the corner of the video. "But combat is not the only thing we watch for during the practical," She watched as a video of her freeing Ashido and attacking the zero pointer appeared. "Your selfish actions to save your fellow peer and to hold back the threat to the others has not gone unnoticed and therefore we award you with 34 rescue points!"
Himari gasped as a scoreboard appeared on the screen showing her name in second place with 42 combat points and 34 rescue points. She looked at the other names and smiled at Bakugou's right above her with 77 combat points, and Midoriya in seventh place with 60 recuse points.
"With those extra points, I am proud to declare you at the top of your class! Welcome to UA High!" With All Might's final words the holograph stopped and Himari was left alone in her room, swimming with pride.
"Dad!" She yelled as she ran to the hallway. "I did it! I'm going to UA!"