I do not own Kimetsu no Yaiba or MHA.
Chapter 8
The large steel-blue doors slammed open as a hoard of students rushed out of the testing room, rejoicing as they were able to breathe in the fresh, outside air once more. Minds free of the stress of what was arguably the hardest written examination in the entire country, none of the students were keen on wasting a single moment in the makeshift purgatory any longer, sprinting as fast as they could towards their homes.
Tanjirou wanted a bit after the initial rush before stepping out himself, releasing a breath that he had been holding for a while. The amount of studying that he did beforehand certainly wasn't in vain. U.A was known to not just be about accepting students with flashy quirks, as there were many past cases in which applicants had passed the practical, but failed the written portion. That was attributed to about 5% of the rejections, according to the statistics from a few years ago.
He felt fairly confident that he passed it, though he wouldn't bet on being the top of all the students that had taken it. It was very similar to all of the practice tests he had taken, and he had passed those by a fair margin.
The second, and the more difficult part of the entrance exam, was the practical. Held two weeks after the written, Tanjirou had to use this period to get his body in the correct condition to take it by then.
Doing further research about what the exam contained a week prior to the written, he had discovered a fact that he didn't search for initially but proved potentially invaluable; Support Items were allowed on the test if the item in question 1) is necessary for the proper usage of the user's quirk due to medical or other reasons, or 2) has a usage that requires direct correlation to the function of the user's quirk.
The second point could easily be used to bring one (or potentially more) of his swords to the exam. Given that his "quirk" was already recorded as a breathing quirk that enhanced the muscles in his body, the movements of the sword was completely dependent on his actions and movements, and did not have any form of automatic trigger that allowed the weapon to function on its own.
Which was what he had written down on the Item Registration Form, plus a little bit more explaining the mechanics of the weapons he was going to use. From that day 5 years ago, when Ryuko gave him her old wakizashi, Tanjirou had trained with it quite often, learning how to adapt to the differences between it and the Nichirin Blade. He could confidently say that he was near proficient with it as his old weapon.
Although this didn't mean that he slacked with his practice with the katana at all. It turned out that when she learned that he was better off with a katana than a waki, she had made it a point to get him one that would be adequate for someone of his stature and age.
"If you already know how to use a katana, it wouldn't make sense to let that all go to waste and switch to a completely different weapon. The more weapons you have under your belt, the better off you will be," were her words on the matter.
Tanjirou had to agree. He really couldn't see himself without a katana or even any version of the regular-sized Nichirin blade he was used to. It had served him well enough in the Demon Slayer Corps, so he knew it would be adequate enough for his heroic endeavors.
He texted Ryuko to tell her that he had finished and was on his way home, and waited outside the building for Fujimoto to come out. In the end, after Tanjirou's convincing, he had decided to apply for U.A's Support program as his first option, although, as he told Tanjirou many times, he didn't expect much to happen.
The doors opened once more as he saw a pair of familiar bear ears pop out. His eyes were baggy as he struggled to keep them open, and he looked like he hadn't gotten a wink of sleep the night before, which happened quite often to his friend if he was being honest with himself.
Why he decided to do that, Tanjirou had no clue. One would think with a test as important as this one, he would have at least gotten some sleep.
"I don't know how to feel about that test. I have no idea about what the Heroics kids got, but the one that Support got was beyond my expectations," he rambled as soon as he came up to Tanjirou.
The test worked out in two different sections. The first part was the General Studies section, which everyone, no matter which department they were applying to, had to take. It worked like any other test, testing them on the standard subjects of Math, Japanese, Japanese History, and a bit of Science as well. The students who were applying to the General Studies course were done there, and they could leave after taking that part. However, for the ones that applied for the other more specific departments, which were Business, Support, and Heroics, they got an additional test designed for the respective applications.
"I think ours was pretty okay, actually," Tanjirou responded. "The General Studies one wasn't too hard, but I will admit that the Heroics section was a bit unorthodox."
"Pretty okay, you say? Yeah, that's probably not how it's going to work. The problems for the gen studies itself weren't that hard, but the amount you need to get right is ridiculous. That's why I don't feel that great about it. As I said, U.A standards are insane! Why did I even do this? I wasted my time, didn't I?"
"Hey, don't say that, Fujimoto! You don't know if it was a waste unless you try! Knowing you, you'd probably pass it anyway and are just putting yourself down for not being perfect. It's okay not to be sometimes."
Said boy let out a low chuckle. "You're too good for me, Kamado. You really are."
They made their way towards the nearest train station. The distance between the city of Musutafu and Chiba was fairly large, and it would take too long to walk the whole way in between prefectures. Though he scarcely used it, the prepaid card that he had for the station came incredibly handy for situations like this. Not counting the fact that it was the hottest time of the day, and despite it being February, his forehead was beading with sweat.
Cold, he could do, but heat? Not so much.
Fujimoto struck up a conversation on the way there. "No, but on a real note, what did they ask in the Heroics section?"
Tanjirou thought back to the test, trying to recall the questions. Given that his mind was already worn out because of the test, it was a pretty difficult task.
"They asked for a lot of laws, and there was a lot of asking what we would do in certain scenarios, how we would plan out our actions, and what to do as sidekicks. It was more of a common sense test than anything else, and I'm not sure if it's something you can really 'prepare' for besides the law part."
Fujimoto nodded, his face taking a serious edge he rarely saw. "Yeah, I'd see why they would do that. They have no idea where you're going to end up in a career, so they prepare you for being both hero and sidekick. It's not something that can be done on a paper, though. I'm curious how they're gonna translate that into a curriculum."
Bear ears twitching, he quickly moved out of the way of someone he was about to run into, and after muttering a quick apology, he turned back to his friend.
"I mean, it's U.A, I'd bet they would figure something out." he continued. "Their budget is probably bigger than all of the schools here combined. I just wish that they realize we have to learn and not everyone is naturally gifted enough to know everything right off the bat."
Tanjirou silently listened to the rant. In situations like these, it was best to keep his silence and just listen to it until Fujimoto was done and then try to divert the topic.
"Speaking of which, Fujimoto, what was on the Support exam?"
"Complete BS, I tell you," he responded. "They took support items from really big tech companies and deconstructed them, asking how the parts would work with one another, why it worked, how we would make certain items, and all that. So many things there were completely useless, we don't even need to know half of the things they put. How they managed to fit all that in a MCQ, I have no idea."
"Did U.A's website say anything about what you needed to know for the exam?" Tanjirou asked, a bit confused. "It seems really unlikely to me that they would do something like that without the students having some idea of what was to come and what to expect."
"That's exactly what I'm saying! I saw nothing of this type of thing. All I got was the info on the Support practical."
They reached the station shortly afterwards, and boarded the train that would eventually lead over to a place a few minutes from Tanjirou's house. He grabbed the handle hold on the ceiling, and waited as the train sped along. It started accumulating more and more passengers, and Tanjirou found himself fiddling with his phone to pass time. It wasn't an expensive device by any means; it was actually pretty average in price. Through Fujimoto's obsession with external companies and getting the best tech possible for the cheapest price, his phone was top-notch in performance.
The only thing he really used it for were educational purposes or looking at the news. He didn't see the need personally for such a fancy item. It made him feel a little bad about himself, as he never had anything extravagant before. That just wasn't part of his lifestyle.
Scrolling through a site he frequented on the internet that covered news centering around Chiba and occasionally areas around the Tokyo prefecture, he saw something, more specifically an image, that caught his eye. It was of a beach, with waves lightly washing over the sand, and the sunset bleeding into the natural color of the surrounding, giving it a beautiful orange hue. It was a sight that was awfully familiar.
It took a bit to jolt his memory of it, and then it came to him. The beach where Yoriichi took him before he entered this world. It was almost identical, except for a few differences here and there.
Reading the article, it mentioned how a beach in Musutafu had been a junkyard for many years due to pollution problems, and then gradually, after the past year, trash had been hauled out to the point where the beach had been restored on the edge of Shizuoka.
Tanjirou looked for the name, and found it near the bottom.
Takoba Municipal Beach Park.
That was a name to remember. He had to go there one time to see for himself. It was entirely possible there could be a connection to the two places. Maybe after the exam, he could take some time on the weekend and go with Ryuko over there.
The train came to a screeching halt at the station, and the doors opened. The two boys quickly stepped out of it, retreating into the shade of the indoors, and walked through and out of the station.
"Well, at least we can be glad that all of that is over," the taller boy mentioned.
"Yeah," Tanjirou agreed. "All that's left now is the practical in a few weeks. Although for you, isn't it a bit earlier?"
"Yeah, but at least I'm not going to be fighting some superpowered robots that U.A's probably going to use. All I have to do is do what I always do, build. Honestly, I feel bad for the Heroics kids, they got the shorter end of the stick by far."
They shared a laugh as they walked through the familiar neighborhood.
"Well, I do have a test to prepare for. Good luck on yours, Fujimoto."
Fujimoto grinned, and punched his shoulder lightly. "Dude, you shouldn't be worrying about what happens to me. I got this. You just focus on passing your practical. We're both going to make it through this, trust."
Tanjirou smiled back. "Of course!"
2 weeks later
"Even though I know how hard you've been training, I can't help but feeling stressed about this. And this is coming from someone who's taken the same test before!"
Tanjirou and Ryuko sat at their small table, each with a bowl of rice in front of them. The early morning light filtered through the windows, signifying that the day that the young boy had been waiting for had finally come upon him.
"Really, there's no need to stress, Ryuko. I can do this. Just have faith in me," Tanjirou tried reassuring his guardian, to no effect whatsoever. He was grateful for her concern, but the last thing that he wanted was for her to worry about something she couldn't do anything about. He knew that feeling all too well while in the Corps.
"I know that, but…" she trailed off, putting her hands to her head. "This is U.A we're talking about. I have no idea if they'll try something crazy this time around. Knowing Principal Nezu, it's a pretty good chance that something's gonna happen."
"Well, isn't that part of being a hero?" Tanjirou countered. "I need to expect the unexpected."
The hero in front of him had no response to that.
"Just… be careful. Please."
"I will. Don't worry."
They continued eating in silence, taking their time before the time for the test came. Outside, crowds of cars swept by their house, all traveling in the same direction. Students from all over Japan were coming over to take the exam, and every year they had seen the crowd of cars that passed by Chiba, going over to the national school. This year especially, it was an exceptionally large number.
"A lot more people are taking the test this time around, aren't they?" Tanjirou commented, noticing the difference in traffic.
"Even if the number of people applying increases, it still won't change the fact that there are only two Heroics classes, and only 40 people are going to get accepted, including the recommendations. The only thing that changed is the competition, and more people that you need to out-do."
He nodded to that. Finishing up, he went and quickly got dressed in his combat attire. He once again donned his pitch-black athletic gear, the hems falling neatly to his sides. However, this time, he chose to wear something on top of it.
Reaching into his drawer, he took out a thinly wrapped blue garment, and opened it in front of him. He slipped his hands through the sleeves, and adjusted the front. Looking himself in the mirror, he couldn't help but think back to a time in his world in which he wore this exact outfit.
A light-blue haori, combined with an all-black outfit. It was just like what he wore to the Final Selection.
It was only fitting that he wore this, given that he was taking another entrance exam, yet for something completely different. The only thing he was missing was Urokodaki's mask…
I've hunted down everyone that had that mask…
Never mind.
Grabbing his weapons and other important documents needed for the exam, he made his way towards the door. U.A was about three hours away from where he was, and it would be better to get there as soon as he could.
He put his hand on the door handle and was about to call out to Ryuko, however she spoke before he could.
"You're leaving already? You still have a bit of time left."
Tanjirou glanced outside once more. "It would be better if I were there early than to be late." Besides, the trains would probably be really crowded, but that went unsaid.
"That's fine with me. But there's something I want to tell you before you go."
He watched her walk over to him, and put both hands on his shoulders. "It doesn't matter to me if you pass, fail, or anything that happens. I just want you to know that I'm proud of you. I've seen how far you've come, and how hard you've worked. I couldn't be happier."
She pulled him in and wrapped his arms around him. She stayed like that for a few seconds, and Tanjirou's arms reciprocated the gesture unconsciously.
"I was only able to do this because you were there, supporting me this entire time. I should be the one thanking you for everything," he replied. She had stood by him for his entire life that he spent in this world, and cared for him like he was her own. He wasn't lying when he said that his gratitude to her was deep.
Though her training was quite a bit rough and a bit unethical in terms of the norm, it had helped him a tremendous amount. And because she was ranked in the Top 10 of all professional heroes in Japan, her advice was invaluable. It was extremely effective, and Tanjirou found himself looking up to her more throughout the passing years.
She was the epitome of everything Yoriichi had mentioned about Heroes and their greatness.
They stood there, embracing for a moment longer, and then Ryuko's hand moved to his hair, which she ruffled lightly.
"I know you'll ace this test. You were trained by me, after all!" She beamed, with a proud smile on her face. She then pushed him towards the door. "Now get out there, and do your best. I'll be here, cheering you on the entire time!"
"I will!" He affirmed, face alight and full of high spirits. He pulled the door open, and he stepped outside into the fresh outdoors. He gave one last wave behind him, and ran towards the station for the hour ride back to the country's most prestigious school.
"Ow…"
Tanjirou stretched, arching his back as soon as he got off the train. Standing at one spot constantly for that long took a toll on his body, and he really couldn't afford anything like that at the moment. Luckily, the time slated for students to arrive was an hour and a half away, so he had a good bit of time, given he was close by. He should be back to normal by then.
"Remember, the most important things about the Entrance Exam are speed and accuracy." He recalled Ryuko's advice from the day before. "The main goal is to get a higher score than everyone else. Do the task as effectively as possible, and as fast as you can. Don't even waste a second."
That was a given. But what sort of task that involves robots could there be? Some sort of rescue mission? Maybe a villain hunt? A hostage situation? There were so many possibilities.
"U.A really likes its loopholes, so expect there to be a trick that will slow students down. When they give you the task, look into it more, and take advantage of that time. Read between the lines. The entrance exam looks for much more than they say they do."
Taking a deep breath, he walked down the street towards one of the U.A buildings set up outside. The students with support items needed to get them examined before the test, to make sure that they weren't bringing in anything that wasn't allowed.
He was fairly certain he could sense a severe flaw in that. Was that one of the loopholes? There was no way the school couldn't see it. Something was up.
Tanjirou approached the Support building and was about to open the door until it burst open from the other side. He felt something run into him, and before he could lose his balance, he stepped back and out of the pathway of the student.
"Ah, I'm sorry about that," he quickly apologized to the boy that came out. Greeted with bright yellow hair and purple eyes, along with what looked like a large belt with a glass circle in the center in his hand, he took in the boy's rather slim build. His eyes drifted towards the belt, and assumed that this was his Support Item that he was trying to register.
What could his quirk be that he needed something like that? Definitely not a strength type, considering his body stature. Though he was one to talk. He wasn't exactly one of the more muscle-types, like Inosuke had been.
"'Tis not an issue, Monsieur," the boy said in an elegant manner, jolting him from his analysis. "I hope all goes well in the exam, however unlikely it may be." He then walked off as if nothing had happened, leaving Tanjirou looking back at him, contemplating.
Monsieur? So he's an international student? No, but his Japanese was certainly native…
Leaving his heritage aside, he couldn't help but think upon his last message. 'However unlikely it may be?' What did that mean? Was he expecting there to be some sort of issue in the exam, or was he saying that it was unlikely for both of them to do well?
"Is someone out there? I thought I heard another voice just a second ago." A deep voice echoed from inside the building. Tanjirou regained stock of the situation and pushed open the door.
He stepped into what looked like a makeshift laboratory setup, with tools littered all over the floor, and various different gadgets laying in different places. Blueprints of certain items sat in front of someone who had a large, yellow excavator helmet, and was completely shirtless. Orange tips covered all of his fingers as his hands handled tools with masterful ease.
"Are you here for the Entrance Exam? If you are, and you have any business with support items, then you've come to the right place. I'm the head of the Support Department here at U.A. Excavation Hero, Power Loader!"
Tanjirou's mouth hung slightly agape at the sheer skill in which he was handling the area around him. The presence that the man excluded reminded him so much of Haganezuka, the swordsmith who had constructed his Nichirin blades, and admittedly had a bit of a temper to him.
It took a second for him to regain his bearings. "Pardon me for interrupting. I'm here to get my Support Items examined before this exam." Setting his bag down, he reached into it to grab the sheathed wakizashi, katana, and the required documents.
"Not an issue at all. Just set them down right there and we can get this done as soon as possible."
Or maybe not.
He half expected for him to start speaking in riddles like the Hyottoko-masked man. It made it easier for him, however. He wouldn't complain.
He set his sheathed weapons on the desk in front of Power Loader, who, after glancing at the documents for it, picked one of the blades up and drew it with startling swiftness.
"Hmm…." he held it up to the light above him, examining the blade from all angles. After running his finger below the edge back and forth for a bit, he did the same for the other one, and finally nodded and set them down.
"I see no issues here. They fit the guidelines pretty well for the exam, and it's in a usable condition. I'd say that you're good to go, young man." He slid the weapons across the table, and Tanjirou gently caught them and placed them in his bag. He stood up, swinging his bag over his shoulder in one movement.
"Thank you for your time, Power Loader-sensei." Tanjirou bowed slightly once more before making his way to the door. However, the teacher's voice stopped him in his tracks.
"Actually, before you leave, I do have one question about that wakizashi." Tanjirou turned to face him, curious as to what it may be.
"Yes?"
"Do you know if anyone has used it before you got it, or are you the first owner of it?" The voice under his helmet inquired.
Tanjirou's eyebrows rose up slightly, surprised at the nature of the question.
"Well, I actually got this from my adoptive mother some years ago, and I've been practicing with it ever since," he replied. "Though I'm not sure how long she had been using it before passing it down to me."
Power Loader nodded once more. "It's all making sense now. And I presume that your mother is none other than Ryukyu, the Dragon Hero?" Tanjioru's face morphed into one of shock.
"Yeah…" he managed to utter, astounded at the deduction. How was he able to figure that out just by the weapon? Did he know about it from when Ryuko went to U.A?
If that was true, then how long has he really been here for?
"Surprised, are we? It's nothing really that special, to be honest. I was actually the one that came up with the design for it when she was at U.A. There's no way I wouldn't recognize something that was so familiar.
"Oh, that makes a lot of sense. You were the one that made it?"
"Yep. It was actually in my first year of teaching here. One of the main jobs of the Support department after all is to assist Heroics in the making of their support items. So when Ryukyu came to us with a request, and the rest of our students were busy, I came up with the thing that she was looking for. Resulting in that."
Tanjirou nodded. "Then, thank you for making this. It's been incredibly useful to me."
Power Loader just laughed. "Glad to hear it. That's the whole point of a support weapon, isn't it?" He abruptly stopped, and his voice became a bit more serious. "Although there's one last thing I need to warn you about before you go.
"I tell this to everyone that we give a support item to, but make sure you don't rely on it too much. Support items are meant to support you, but you can't use it as a crutch to bring yourself up to the necessary level. I know in some instances it can't be helped, but if there's a way, find out how you can be a hero without it. Because when the time comes where your support item isn't available to you, then I think you may know what would happen."
Tanjiro silently agreed. Ryuko told him the same thing, which was why she went to the lengths of training him for the eventuality when he couldn't use a sword.
"I'll keep that in mind, sensei." Glancing at the clock on the wall, he stepped out of the door, and made his way towards the auditorium.
It took him a bit of time to get there. U.A was a big place, that much was fairly obvious when he first came here. It was much bigger than his current school, which meant it was that much harder to get around, especially when he was so unfamiliar with the campus. Luckily, he saw a couple of students who looked his age walking towards one section of the school, so he decided to follow them.
Sure enough, he got to where he needed to be, with quite a bit of time to spare. Apparently, they needed to be seated according to what school they went to, so hopefully he would find some familiar places.
As he was nearing the doors, he heard a gruff voice that was so familiar to him that he almost reeled back in shock.
"Outta my way."
Inosuke?
He snapped his head around towards the sound of the voice, only to be greeted with a sight that he didn't expect. With spiky blonde hair matched with red eyes and a black uniform, the Inosuke-sounding boy pushed him out of the way, and Tanjirou was so caught up in the surprise that he didn't even feel it.
All he could do was stare off at the back of his head, while his thoughts were sent racing. He tried getting them in control, but it was too difficult. Not after what he heard.
Deep breaths, Tanjirou. There's no way that Inosuke, or even Zenitsu can be here. It's been 5 years.
Getting his hopes high before it would be inevitably shattered was too dangerous.
"Hey, isn't that Bakugo?"
"You mean the one from the sludge villain? Yeah, it's the real deal!"
But could they have been? If he was here after the Fortress incident, then anyone else that was there that night could have come here. That includes his two best friends. All the Hashiras. Kanao. Anyone from the Demon Slayer Corps. Hell, even the Kakushi could, for all he knew.
Shaking his head and making his way inside, he kept thinking. Did he really even want them to have come over to this world? Being in this world means that they had to have died, like he did, and there would be less people to fight Muzan and the Upper Moons. And in such a decisive battle, where they finally have an opportunity to eradicate the main force behind the demons, they would need all the strength they could get.
Especially if Nezuko was there. Maybe it was a good thing that no one he knew was here.
"Wait, is that you, Kamado? You're trying for U.A too?"
A voice brought him out of his thoughts. He looked in front of him to see a familiar pink face and black eyes, one who happened to be his classmate.
"Ashido-san? Yeah, I'm taking the exam," he answered.
She must not have seen him when they took the written test, otherwise she would have known he was applying.
"Woah, I didn't know that! Honestly, I thought I would be the only one from our school who was going to actually apply. And it didn't even seem like you wanted to go the Heroics route. I always thought you were just a Kendo junkie."
Tanjirou could feel the gears trying to turn in his head and being jammed.
"Kendo…. junkie?"
"Well, yeah." Ashido said it like it was the most obvious thing. "Didn't Sensei say something about you winning a really big tournament with that other boy you hang out with? Wasn't he, like, the captain of the Kendo club, and all that?"
Well, from what she's getting at, and given his reputation at school, it would make sense to why everyone thought of him this way. He didn't really mind it, but it being said directly to his face hurt his pride just a tiny bit.
"I suppose I can't deny it when you put it that way. But that isn't what's important right now. Don't we need to get seated for the presentation?" he asked, gesturing towards the open seats quickly filling up.
The girl looked up, finally noticing that they were right next to where they needed to be.
"Oh, yeah." She pulled out a small slip of paper, which Tanjirou recognized as the exam ticket U.A had then print out. It listed their full name, middle school, presentation placement, and battle center.
"We're supposed to be seated up there, pretty far up. Row J, it says." Ashido then started to hop up the side aisle stairs, skipping a stair every time she did so. He briefly glanced at his very own ticket, confirming her statement. Unlike Ashido, however, he took his time climbing up the stairs.
Taking his place next to her, he waited as he watched the auditorium gradually fill up with people until it was packed to the brim, leaving not even a seat empty. Not a word passed between him and Ashido the entire time, both of them not really having anything to make a conversation out of in the first place. A black-haired boy sat next to him, and although he couldn't see that clearly in the dark, his sharp teeth stuck out to him the most.
Didn't this person go to his school? He was fairly certain he had seen him around before.
A little while later, the lights around them dimmed, leaving them in the dark as if it were some sort of movie theater. Having been there a few times already, he got the same vibes. The lights towards the front stage then flashed on, focusing on one individual. With slick, blonde hair, along with a pair of headphones and speakers around his neck, the man grasped the attention of the entire crowd in mere seconds.
"WELCOME, EVERYONE, TO MY LIVE SHOW! EVERYBODY SAY HEY!"
The man's voice reverberated around the walls, and not a single student responded from the crowd. Everyone sat there in complete silence. In Tanjirou's case, however, he was just dumbfounded. What did he just witness?
"Well, I got shivers down my spine too, listeners! All right, I'm gonna give you the rundown on how this exam's gonna go down. Are you ready? Yeahh!" The hero struck a pose at the end, and cupped a hand next to his ear, clearly expecting a response. Yet the same result happened again.
What did he expect would happen? No one even knew who he was, and with something as important as the exam to the country's most prestigious hero school, people were bound to watch what they were doing at every moment. They didn't want to accidentally do something that would get them kicked out.
Tanjirou did hear some whispers a few rows down, but they were quickly silenced.
The screen behind the man changed to a diagram. "Now look closely, listeners! We'll be testing your skills by running ten-minute mock urban battles. After the presentation, you'll head to the battle center specified on your exam ticket, okay?"
Once again, the presenter received no response, but the majority of the examinees collectively looked at their tickets to see where they would be tested. Tanjirou glanced down and saw the letter G next to his name. He heard a little rustling besides him, and he saw Ashido briefly poking her head out to look at his placement.
"Dang, we didn't get the same battle center." The top of his classmate's card displayed a large letter F on top of it.
I guess that makes sense. They probably don't want people from the same school in the same battle center, lest they risk people working together. It would defeat the whole purpose of examining one's skills.
The changing colors of the screen drew his eyes back to the presentation, which displayed three small depictions of different models of something, he couldn't tell what exactly they were, but they all had different numbers above them.
"Three different types of faux villains are stationed in each battle center. You get points for taking down as many of the villains as you can, with each being scored based on it's difficulty. In other words, the harder the villain, the more points you get!"
The animation on the screen displayed a look-alike of the presenter taking down villains in a Mario-esque fashion.
So that's where the robots in this test come in.
"Your goal, listeners, is to rack up as many points as you can by the end of the 10 minutes!" He then raised a finger to the sky, and wagged it in the air. "And don't even think about attacking other competitors or any of that type of shady stuff, because that's against the rules…"
"Excuse me, sir!" A loud, sharp voice spoke out from behind them. Everyone's attention turned to the boy that was shrouded in darkness.
"Yes, Examinee number 7111, go ahead!" The light transferred from him to the standing boy, who could now be seen clearly. He was tall, a lot taller than Tanjirou himself. Neat blue hair and square glasses accentuated his sharp glare. Tanjirou took him as the class president type, based on his appearance.
"On the handout, there are clearly four types of villains listed!" The boy held up a red sheet, pointing at the space that differed between the two diagrams.
He shuffled through his own handouts in front of him until he found the page he was looking for. He also saw it, there were four listed.
"Such an error would be the height of embarrassment for an academy of U.A's calibur! The reason we stand here today is because we seek to become better heroes!"
There's no way that can be just a print error.
Ryuko said this herself. The principal of U.A wouldn't let something like that skip through. Everything the school did was done for a reason.
"Moreover, you! With the curly green hair! Can you just sit still for just a second? You're distracting! If you think U.A is just a pleasure place, then leave at once!"
"Sorry!" He heard the small, quivering voice from one side of the room. Tanjirou took a deep breath in through his nose, and started to pick through the scents in the air. From the direction of the voice, he could pick up mainly embarrassment and nervousness.
He didn't blame the boy. It was a completely normal feeling, especially with something of this magnitude.
"Oookay, okay, thank you for the speech, Examinee 7111! The fourth type of villain is worth zero points. Think of them as "Arena Traps". Have any of you ever played 'Super Mario Brothers?'"
This time, there were a few murmurs. Tanjirou had played a bit from Ryuko's collection of old games, but he had forgotten most of the details.
"Remember those things that go 'thwomp' on you? Yeah, there's a thing like that in each arena!"
He didn't remember anything like that…
"Sounds like one of those obstacles that you just have to avoid," someone from the crowd clarified. "This sounds more and more like a video game…"
"Thank you very much!" The blue kid bowed down. "I apologize for being rude!"
He sat back down, and the lights were taken off of him.
"Well, that's enough from me! As a certain hero named Napoleon Bonaparte once said, 'A true hero never stops overcoming the misfortunes in life!' Now, let's move on to the main event! Plus Ultra! May you all gladly suffer the trials to come!"
The hall was filled with people packing up and leaving for their battle centers. Tanjirou took a deep breath and followed them.
It was time.
The afternoon breeze whistled by Tanjirou as he and the examinees assigned to center G approached the gates. He tilted his head back and let the wind blow through his hair, giving him more of a peace of mind. He quickly stretched and rotated his arms and legs, ready for the action about to come.
He knew his task. 10 minutes was all he had to take out as many robots as he could. Just like a video game, he had to act as fast as he can, without even a second to lose. His plan was to aim for as many of the level three and two robots as he could find, while trying to spare as little effort as he could for the one pointers. It was enough time to use up all his stamina, and not hold back.
The task was significantly different from the Final Selection. Less time, different objectives. He found assurance in the fact that other testers couldn't directly jeopardize others' chances to get in.
He reached to the side of his waist, where his katana was secured, to make sure the belt was loose enough to not hinder movement, yet secure in order to handle the high speeds he would be going in.
With two weapons strapped with him, one being the katana and the other the wakizashi as a precaution, he could feel his nerves slowly washing away.
Good. Everything was set. All that was left was to announce the start of the test.
Looking around him, he recognized no one. Everyone looked fairly capable in their own right. But now was not the time to worry about others. He had to focus on only himself for now.
Any minute now, it should start. There wasn't exactly a set time, they just said to come here. Maybe they'll announce something?
Just as he thought that, the gates started to creak. His attention shifted directly in front of him as he began to get into position to dash through as fast as he could.
Breathe in.
He couldn't tell from where, but the sound of a speaker could be heard from around him.
"Aaaaand, START!"
Breathe out.
Total Concentration Breathing!
He shot off of his back foot, and propelled himself in front of all of the others advancing students at the starting line.
"What's the matter?" He barely heard the presenter's voice over the wind that was blowing past him. "There's no such thing as a countdown in a real battle! Run! Run! Consider the baron tossed!"
It's been a long while since Tanjirou had been able to show the fruits of his training. The modern equipment that the city provided had been a welcome addition to his regimen, allowing him to improve at faster speeds then he had been able to before.
Not being able to see anything in the road ahead of him, Tanjirou took a sharp left on another main road, looking to capitalize on his advantage as much as he could.
I can hear the sound of machinery from this direction. And by the smell alone.. there's a fair bit of them!
Gripping the hilt, he kept running towards the sound and smell, preparing to slash at any moment.
There!
He could see three medium sized robots, with one being bigger than the other. Three two pointers, and one three pointers. They were spaced far enough away from each other so that they couldn't all be taken down from one slash, but that wasn't much of an issue. His current momentum would be enough for him to take down the three pointer in the middle.
Breathe in….
Breathe out.
Dance of the Fire God…
His blade finally slid out. He jumped, shooting himself towards the head of the robot, traversing a height that no normal person should have been able to reach.
Alas, in a world of superpowers, nothing is ever normal. The robot didn't even have a chance to react.
Waltz!
One slash was all that it needed. One perfectly timed and angled slash sent the top flying off, the sheer force of the sword cleaving through it effortlessly.
Tanjirou hit the ground and jumped backwards, aiming for the two pointers now trying and failing to pinpoint the swordsman with its lazers.
At the base, right below the head, there's a gap right between it where my sword can fit perfectly through. I saw it, just for a split second, but it was there. A weak point.
Regular thrusts wouldn't do the trick, as the standard metal that his katana was made out of wasn't enough to penetrate the robot's hard armor, proper breathing technique or not. Given Nichirin, it would likely be doable, but he couldn't test that now. All he had to do was look for small chinks in the armor that his sword could reach, and the eye, which was a clear weakness.
He ran under the robot's arm, avoiding the gaze of its trackers. At the middle of the right leg, there was a spot in the armor where the joints connected. That was an important part that he could take out.
Flame Dance!
Dashing forward, he slashed at the leg, cleaving through it cleanly, and instead of finishing off the damaged one, he continued on his path, jumping up to the head of the other two-pointer about to fire at him. Pumping energy to his legs, he passed right through the trajectory of the laser and stabbed through the glass eyeball. The lights abruptly shut off, and he pushed off, pulling his sword out with him, and flipped backwards. The robot was tilting to the side, yet somehow barely maintaining its balance on one leg.
While upside down, he took a breath in. He focused on his arms and recalled the technique that he had practiced over and over.
Beneficent Radiance!
He flew towards the other one and struck. The sword connected with the head with precision, and he flipped back over and down to the ground, watching as both robots crumpled.
That made his current total 7 points, a pretty significant margin for the beginning of the round, especially since the number of targets would be dropping like flies when the other examinees started to get into the action.
Maybe taking down the robots wouldn't be the most important issue in this exam.
Focus, Tanjirou. You can't afford to get overconfident. Not now, he told himself.
Shaking his head lightly and regathering his bearings, he took a deep breath in, taking in the scents of the air, and dashed towards the nearest robots he could sense.
This was going to be a long ten minutes.
The sounds of battle were loud enough that they could be heard over even the wind rushing past his ears. Certain destructive quirks alerted him where other testers already were, and so he steered clear from those, traveling in the opposite direction.
His nose never lied to him, but the sheer pace of the test was making it harder and harder to take advantage of his detection capabilities. All of the robots were going down slowly but surely. He was falling behind on points.
Then opportunity struck.
He saw multiple kids running away from a wide street, trailed by the clear scent of many robots, too many to count. No traces of smoke were in the air, which meant that none of them had been destroyed yet.
The two, one dressed in navy blue and the other in white, waved towards him, gesturing in the other direction, waving their hands in an X signal.
"Don't go this way! Don't go this way! There's way too many of them, all high levelled! We can't even get close to them, it's no use!"
Tanjirou ran towards them, ignoring their warnings completely. "How many of them are there?"
"It doesn't matter, idiot! You're not going to be able to get them! Only people with strong ass quirks are going to stand a chance there! Just go! Don't waste your time! It's hard enough to escape once you're in!"
He looked ahead, and a second was all he needed to make his decision.
That was a clear hazard. If people approached them like the two in front of them had, they might get seriously injured. He couldn't allow that, not when he had the ability to clear it out.
In addition, as a side benefit, he needed points, and if there were too many of them like they said, this would solve that problem. He stood with clear resolution in his gaze.
"Well, do what you want, no skin off my back. One less person to deal with." One of the boys muttered, and they took off, leaving Tanjirou behind to charge into the fray on his lonesome.
Preemptively drawing his katana, he picked up speed and turned the corner, taking a glimpse at the robots. Eyes narrowing, he took in the count…
They weren't lying! That is a lot!
It could best be described as a scene taken straight out of a sci-fi movie. Skimming over the bunch, he estimated about 12, maybe 15 robots, the same sizes as the ones he defeated earlier. Bulky attachments distinguished themselves from their normally sleek exterior, signifying something dangerous. The red eyes swiveled back and forth, stopping only when they had detected him running towards them.
Tanjirou slowed himself down. He wasn't going to be able to reach them taking into account the current distance, not to mention that now, all of them were locking onto him, and could fire at any second.
His legs tensed, eyes locked in on the eyes of the robots whose lasers he knew were coming. Staring dead into the lights would probably rob him of sight for a little while. He didn't know exactly what they would do, but he wasn't keen on testing that out anytime soon.
Relying solely on his senses and peripheral vision to read the attacks, he advanced as far as he could until he saw the beam come at him from the front.
Breathe in…
Breathe out.
Parhelion Rainbow!
He kicked off of the ground, spinning to the left to avoid the laser. He felt it breeze by his head as he twirled, with the impact crashing into the road behind him, sending debris flying everywhere with a hefty explosion.
Keeping his momentum going and his breathing even, he pushed forward, zoning in completely on the projectiles. Time seemed to slow down around him as he dodged them one after the other, accelerating to the necessary levels.
It wasn't a matter of them being faster, as he could handle them. The issue was the sheer quantity that made them hard to keep track of. They were coming at him from all sides, and as he dodged one, he ran right into the path of another, and the cycle continued. The closer he got, the more he was hampered.
Yet, he was nearing striking distance. He could feel the burn starting to creep into his legs from all of the harsh movement, but he ignored it. He dodged a beam coming from above, from the right, from the left. The robots had him nearly surrounded because of their numbers, but all he needed to do was take down one, and the formation would start to collapse.
His knees bent, preparing to jump. Inhaling as much oxygen as he could, he directed all of his energy to his legs, and tightened his grip on his katana.
With a synchronous blast, light surrounded him from all sides.
Fire Chariot!
He leapt as soon as he registered it. The beams converged as the ground exploded beneath him, right where he stood a moment before. Soaring over the head of the robot on the farthest side, he willed his body into a circular motion, and struck as fast as he could. The blade connected, as Tanjirou pushed through the resistance and severed the head clean off.
He was still flipping through the air as he passed another robot. It couldn't react fast enough to detect him after its latest shot, given that he soared behind them all. Landing on the ground with the grace of a gymnast, he leapt right back up, and used the enemy's own metallic body as ledges to kick off.
He danced, in between, in front of, from behind. His sword was a never-ending blur, striking out at everything it could reach. Heads. Arms. Legs.
Dragon Sun…
Metal tumbled down to the ground, one after the other. They weren't built to register any of the information around them, so all they could do was stand around, trying to locate their assassin, without the weapons or mobility functions to initiate action.
By the time the remaining able-bodied ones managed to locate him, the instrument of destruction played its tune.
Halo Head Dance!
He danced. Danced until there was nothing left standing. His body moved on his own, not even aware of having done an action after its execution. His arms burned with every swing of the sword.
None of the automatons ever stood a chance.
The last one fell to the ground as Tanjirou jumped off, sliding his katana back into his sheathe. Sweat started to glisten on his forehead, however, he made no attempt to wipe it off. He waited, hands on his knees, until the burning of his arms started to fade away.
He hadn't expected to exert himself this much, and he certainly did not anticipate something of this magnitude to come up during all of this. Granted, he had faced a lot worse while hunting demons, but it really did seem like he was out of practice on pushing himself to the absolute brink.
He straightened up, and shook his arms off as he started running away from the scene, intent on finding more targets to eliminate. The test wasn't over yet, and the timer wouldn't wait for him to be ready.
The glaring of the monitor screens illuminated what would otherwise be a dark observatory room in the heart of U.A. Dozens of faces, a good number of them with a prominent standing in society, sat and watched, intensely focused on every aspect of the exam.
Keeping track of 8 battle centers full of students all fighting at the same time was no simple task. With each being nearly a square kilometer in area, it took lots of LOTS of cameras in order to get the accurate spots viewable from where they were. Anyone else, hell, even some of their own colleagues, thought that the idea would be simply impossible to effectively pull off.
But when your leader was none other than Nezu himself, it was hard to believe that he couldn't make anything he wanted to work. He managed to make such a daunting task work for multiple years on end. The man's (or should they really say that?) genius was simply that top notch.
The screens rapidly switched from one to another, displaying various examinees taking on robots or all sizes head on, and fearlessly. A boy flying around the arena, exploding anything that he could see from his hands. Another darting passed the streets, landing brutal kicks, demolishing his obstacles. The last one slicing off the heads of robots with precision.
Being only a few minutes into the test, the judging panel that awards rescue points hadn't had a chance to see any actions deemed worthy of receiving the points, at least not yet. It happened every year, whenever the zero-pointer was unleashed, they would get to see the true heroism of their applicants.
"It seems like everything is going smoothly so far." The mouse-like principal spoke from the front. "We certainly have an interesting bunch this year."
"Indeed." A deep, almost rocky voice followed after. With a rectangular face that would have looked comical if it weren't for his quirk's ability, he seemed to be the embodiment of "stone". "Although it has only been the first few minutes, we can gather much about the young pupils. Their natural talent is undeniable. With training, they could be something truly amazing."
"I do agree, Cementoss. however…" To his right, a man with a large tan cloak, a black mask, and a large jaw guard responded. "Keep in mind that under pressure such as this, who knows what can happen? Too much goes into becoming a proper hero."
All the way to the back, a man with shoulder-length black hair and dry eyes with a wrap-up scarf around his neck kept his eyes on every screen, picking up on the conversation by his fellow coworkers.
That line of thought is a bit irrational and premature, especially on a test as flawed as this one. Talent and potential are two completely different things. Having the raw power to destroy robots says nothing about what they can do in the situations that heroes are presented with.
The time continued to tick, robots continued to be destroyed, and points continued to accumulate. The staff, by now, had a general picture of what this current year was capable of.
But now, the real time has finally come. How did the examinees fare with an unexpected situation that they couldn't handle? How heroic truly were they?
The clock dipped below two minutes. The bear-mouse principal reached over for a button next to him, flipped the plastic cover, and pressed on the button.
At the corner, sunken blue eyes watched a corner monitor, searching for a specific person above all else. Waiting to see what was going to happen.
Now, Young Midoriya. No, the ninth holder of One For All. Show me what you can do.
Raging Sun!
Leaping in the air, Tanjirou struck up and back to the right, crippling the one pointer.
Beads of sweat continued to pool on his forehead. He had been doing all that he could to try to find as many targets as he could to take down, but everywhere he turned, there were other kids like him who were in the middle of their own fights. It wasn't right to try to dash in and take the finishing blow in order to steal points.
Didn't the presenter say something disavowing that?
In front of him, two more three pointers were standing, aiming towards him in his recollection. With no one around to engage it. Truly fortunate.
Burning Bones..
He approached it in the same manner as he did the tens of other times. Towards the leg. Right. Imbalance it. Jump back up. Expose the neck. Back up, for a vertical.
Summer Sun!
As it was falling, he didn't fail to notice the second three pointer, untouched, preparing a strike. It was going to take him down along with the downed one if he didn't get out of the way. Landing on the falling metal, he waited until the right moment to jump off towards the robot. He watched the arm raise right above him, and right as it started to go down, he channeled his breathing towards his leg and pushed off of it.
The arm went right past him, completely missing. It couldn't even stop the attack due to its size and momentum.
Solar Heat Haze!
And another one bites the dust.
He had lost count of the number of points he had obtained. Nothing in his nearby vicinity. That didn't mean he could stay still. Not at all. He still needed to watch out for his blade. It was getting a little worn down after so much slamming it into other pieces of metal. Granted, part of the reason for that was it wasn't allowed to be completely sharpened for the sake of the test. It made it a lot harder to cleanly cut through things than it normally would have.
The bluntness did, however, allow it to smash through the joints that were clearly visible. If he was able to cut a literal boulder the size that Urokodaki made him cut for Final Selection, these robots should not be much of a problem.
Picking up speed, Tanjirou bolted down the road. It was definitely nearing the end of the test, and he wasn't sure how much time he had left. He felt that the amount of points that he received, especially with the hoard of three pointers earlier, was a very significant number, but given U.A, he needed more. Even one could make the difference between a pass or fail.
The rustic smell that he had gotten used to was littered with ashes. There wasn't a single one that wasn't destroyed. Similarly, he saw many other students running around in search, just like he was. That just proved to him that nothing was left.
The last few minutes would be uneventful, but it was better to keep looking than to stand still.
But why did he have such a bad feeling? It was like something was probably going to happen, but he couldn't tell exactly what it would be. Too many of them were out in the open, and doing nothing. Barely any robots were even still up. Surely U.A saw this?
It was then when he felt it. A distinct rumbling of everything around him. It was like an earthquake, but given the nature of his current situation, it had him on edge. His hand unconsciously grasped the hilt of his blade.
Was this natural or coincidental? Wait, remember what Ryuko said! Nothing was coincidental!
But the air told a different story altogether! Nothing was approaching, and he had no idea where to go. Did he just stand there?
Then he saw it.
Something impossibly massive rising not far away from them. It stood as tall as some of the tallest buildings in the battle center, and moved slowly. Slow enough that he could clearly see every movement that it made in slow motion.
This was it. The image popped in his mind from the presentation.
Remember those things that go 'thwomp' on you? There's a thing like that in each arena! You just have to avoid it!
The images matched. But he didn't expect it to be this out of scale.
The zero-pointer.
Thanks for reading!
Edit: 12/23/22
So I've been pretty much inactive on this platform in terms of my writing output for nearly the past two years now. I've only posted one other chapter, and that was for another story aside from Demon Slayer's Purpose. I think it's time for some sort of update or explanation on why this has been so.
I'm going to be 100% honest in all of this, and this may read off as cringe or whatever, but honestly, it's better than nothing.
The initial excuse that I've pretty much convinced myself in my head was that I was "too busy with college and my workload" and when I was done with that, I would get back to writing like a madman. Except, I've had a few breaks from school the past few years, and haven't really been writing all that much. I would try to get back to writing, but I would end up making no progress, or writing a few paragraphs before I stopped and just tabbed out to something else. But then the question goes back to "why"? And I think I know the answer to that.
I'm literally petrified. I saw the massive numbers that my fic got to, and got extremely nervous about how to continue. By the time I'm typing this, my fic has 1800, closing in on 1900 follows and 1500 favorites. That number is so massive and quite honestly, I never thought I would get to this point for years, or pretty much ever, especially not for my first fic. Due to that, I got so self-conscious of my own writing that I got stuck in the mindset of "I need to make everything absolutely perfect before I upload it". That caused the issue of me writing a few sentences before discarding it, thinking to myself that "this isn't as good as I need it to be" and just stopping writing altogether.
As well as that, I got extremely sensitive when I got reviews (rightfully) pointing out pretty big errors in my stuff that's already published, and that would kill my motivation to write. This isn't a "woe is me" sort of thing and I go "this is all the fault of the negative feedback", because the truth is that people are perfectly in their right to criticize works put out on the public internet. It's all pretty much me being too sensitive and not being able to take the fact that I'm not perfect. I know logically that there are so so many more positive reviews than there are negative ones, and that there are so many people out there that enjoy what I wrote, and I'm so so grateful for that, but even though my brain says something, my emotions say something completely different. I really hate that fact, I really do.
This isn't me saying that I'm stopping writing. Far from it. This is more of me just venting and trying to get this feeling off of my chest and provide some sort of explanation to those that want it. I'm trying to work past the fact that I'm not going to be a perfect writer, and that negative reviews will come and I need to learn to accept them. I'm trying to work to get back in the swing of things, but it's extremely difficult.
The past few years with regards to writing has been a cycle of just self deprecation and suffering from a perfectionist mindset, two things that absolutely should not go together but really I can't find any other way to describe it.
For those that took the time to read this to the end, thank you so much. Even a little bit of support for my stories means so much to me. I'm going to try my best to get back into writing again and putting my best foot forward, even if it's not absolutely perfect.
