Chapter 5

Let your conduct be without covetousness; be content with such things as you have. For He Himself has said, "I will never leave you nor forsake you."

Hebrews 13:5

We all slept until 2:30pm, because we were all tired. When we woke up, we had some lunch, which consisted of rice, sushi, and a couple of dishes called yakisoba, yakiniku, and yakitori. The food was actually very tasty, which was a good thing if we were going to be boarding here for a couple of years. After a really well-done feast made my Mr. Tetsuo, we let our food digest for a little bit. Mainly, we just talked about what U.A was going to be like. We also tried to watch some TV, as Mr. Tetsuo had a TV in his living room, but everything was in Japanese and we couldn't understand a word they were saying. So, we just decided to talk with each other.

"So, these tryouts, what are they going to be like?" Sunshine asked, as she sat back in the armchair, that she had grown accustomed to.

"From what I was told, you six, along with several other young competitors such as yourselves, will be competing for spots in U.A by destroying giant robots." replied Mr. Tetsuo. "The more you destroy, the more points you earn. The more points you earn, the more points get put into what class you are chosen in. After the tryouts, you'll each receive a letter detailing your points and which class you'll be put in."

"Which class is the best, and how many spots are open for it?" I asked. I already knew the answer thanks to Shuriken, but I wanted to hear it from Mr. Tetsuo.

"The best of the best is Class 1-A. And, conveniently enough, there are six spots open for it. Why they opened six more spots, I don't know, but my best guess is their classroom went through some renovations." Mr. Tetsuo replied. "The secondary class is Class 1-B, which is full of talented young people who could make it if they put their minds to it. There are more classes down the line, but I haven't heard much about them."

"Okay, so all we have to do is fight some robots, get a lot of points, and we'll make it into the class?" Zilo asked.

"Yes." Mr. Tetsuo replied. "You'll each get a student permit for being a hero and later, if you pass a test, you'll get your hero license."

"A license to be a hero?" Larry asked, bewildered. "What are we doing? Driving?"

"I know; it's a little bit strange. But believe me, it'll all work out for the best." said Mr. Tetsuo. "I mean, if we didn't have hero licenses, everybody would probably be trying to be a hero. Not only would that cause much confusion, but even wars might break out with people trying to help somebody. So, like I said, it's for the best."

Mr. Tetsuo then looked at a clock he had set up on the wall and said, "It's 5:37pm; let's go shopping. But before we go, I want to give you guys something."

He reached into his pants pocket and pulled out what looked like little black earplugs, about six of them. We looked at them in question, wondering what these things were. Mr. Tetsuo must have noticed our confused faces, because he said, "If you're wondering what these things are, they're language translators. These are just prototypes, but they are made from some carbon fiber and…" he then paused for a few seconds, and then said, "My blood."

We all pulled back in shock, hoping that he would say 'Just kidding!'. Unfortunately, he didn't. He then said, "Actually, one has my blood. The others, I made with some help from a friend who has a duplication quirk, which means he can make copies of different items."

"And I'm guessing you didn't make more because you would have to be drained of your blood to make them?" I asked, somewhat horrified by this revelation.

"Correct." Mr. Tetsuo replied. "Anyway, I never gave them a field test, so I was wondering if one of you would like to give it a try."

We all stood there, wondering which one of us was brave enough to do this. Finally, Margaret pulled forward, picked one out of his hand, and said, "What the heck, let's do it."

"Good girl." said Mr. Tetsuo. "Put it in your ear and wait a few seconds."

Margaret put it in her ear and waited for a few seconds. Mr. Tetsuo then said something in Japanese, which caused Margaret to reply back in Japanese! We all stood there in shock, and then Margaret looked back at us and asked, "What?"

"You-ou-ou spoke in Japan-Japanese!" Maddox stuttered.

"I did?" she asked. "It sounded like I was speaking plain English to me."

"That's because the translator heard it and translated into what you understand." Mr. Tetsuo replied. "And when you spoke back, you knew which language to speak, which sounded like English but is actually Japanese. Now, each of you take one, and then we'll go shopping."

We each took one and put it in our ears. When I put mind in, I heard what sounded like a clicking sound, and then nothing. Mr. Tetsuo then said, "I'm speaking in Japanese from this point on; Let's go!"

"Yes sir!" we all said, not realizing we were actually speaking Japanese!

We all piled into the van; Zilo, Sunshine, and Maddox sat in the back, while Margaret and I sat in the middle, and Larry rode in the front passenger side. Mr. Tetsuo was driving, and we backed out of his driveway and started driving into town.

"So, what are we going shopping for?" Larry asked.

"Clothes that will make you look a little less American." Mr. Tetsuo replied.

"Hey! I happen to like my cowboy duds!"

"No offense, but you look like you took your audition for a western movie a little too seriously…"

"No offense taken; I got a lot when I went up north once to visit Margaret once. Everybody in Maine kept calling me 'Steer-head' or 'Mule face' or something like that."

I laughed at that, but my attention was turned to the back, where Sunshine and Zilo were having a hushed conversation with Maddox, who looked more worried than usual. I couldn't hear much, but when I did hear them say something, it was usually Zilo saying something like 'don't worry, we'll figure something out…', or 'We need to plan something for that quirk of yours…', which just added to the mystery of what Maddox Walters' quirk was. Whatever it was, they were doing a pretty good job at hiding it.

"There it is!" Mr. Tetsuo suddenly spoke up. "U.A!"

We all looked out the window and saw the U.A building: It was a large, H shaped building, almost entirely made out of glass, like a skyscraper would usually look. So, this is where we would be taking the tryouts at.

"Oh! I almost forgot!" Mr. Tetsuo suddenly blurted out. "There's another part to the tryouts; You all will be taking a written exam."

"A written exam?" I asked. "What will be answering?"

"Oh, just usual hero stuff; Who to rescue, how to do it, how much you can control your quirk, stuff like that. It's no big deal; I'm sure you all will do just fine."

"A written exam…" Zilo sighed. "Great…"

"Not one for written exams?" I asked.

"Nope; My passing grade for written exams is a C-."

"Well, it can't be that bad if its just questions on how to be a hero."

"I hope your right. Otherwise, those'll become famous last words."

We parked the van in a parking garage, and the seven of us got out. We then walked together, passing different stores and places of business.

"Alright," Mr. Tetsuo said, pulling out his wallet. "I'm going to give each of you ten thousand, seven hundred and seventy-four yen. It's the equivalent of a hundred dollars in America."

"How in the world do you carry all that money? What, do you have like hammer space in that wallet of yours?" Larry asked.

"Good question, but no. U.S dollars are a lot different than Japanese Yen."

Mr. Tetsuo then pulled out six slips of paper and handed them to us. The papers look like contracts, but it said ten thousand, seven hundred and seventy-four yen on it.

"Seriously?" I asked, holding up the paper. "This is money?"

"Correct." Mr. Tetsuo replied. "That's a hundred dollars you're holding right there. Roll that up, put it in your pocket, and don't let anybody take it."

"Got it." I said, rolling the paper up and putting it my pocket.

"Okay, so who's going with who?" Zilo asked, once he put his money in his pocket.

"Well, Margaret and I were going to take a look around some the shops down there." Sunshine spoke, pointing towards some girly stores down the streets. "Any of you boys want to come?"

We all were silent for a few seconds, and then Maddox spoke up and stuttered, "I'll g-g-go…"

"Awesome, Maddox!" Sunshine said with a smile, as Maddox came over to join her and Margaret. We all look at him with amazement, considering the fact he was willing to go into a girly store with them.

"Okay then, we'll take a look at the other clothing stores." Mr. Tetsuo said. "Meet back here in two hours or less."

Margaret, Maddox, and Sunshine went off in one direction, while Zilo, Larry, Mr. Tetsuo, and I went off in another. We came to a clothing store with an owner who had an octopus head. We then split up, and began looking at the clothes. I was looking at the short-sleeved sweatshirts, thinking they were pretty cool, when-

"How's it going?" a voice asked behind me.

I almost jumped out of my skin and let out of yell of fright, but I quickly covered my mouth; I wasn't about to do damage thanks to a jump-scare yell! I turned around and saw Shuriken standing behind me.

"Jeez!" I spoke quietly. "Give a guy a heart attack! What are you doing here?!"

"I'm checking up on you." Shuriken replied.

"Cause you're such a good friend?"

"That, and All for One's getting fidgety; He wants to hear your first report. What's going on?"

"You don't need to speak English anymore." I said, pointing to my ear. "I got a translator right here."

"Oh, okay." Shuriken replied. He then said, "I'm speaking Japanese now; I was getting tired of using English. So, what's up?"

"Well, from what they told me, we're going to be taking a test. Something about measuring our abilities to be heroes and stuff like that."

"I know that test. When I was a kid, they didn't even have robots. They had a girl who could control inanimate objects, and she sent a bunch of wooden dummies after the competitors."

"How old are you now?" I asked.

"Late twenties." Shuriken replied.

"Oh." I said. "Well, that's it for the report. Anything else?"

"Yeah, All for One wanted me to tell to pass the test. Otherwise…" Shuriken then his metal blades from his arm. "I'm gonna have to kill you."

"Terrific." I said sarcastically. "Anyway, do your little disappearing act; I'm going back to shopping."

I turned around, not bothering to look; I knew he was already gone. I went back to searching for clothes, but I couldn't help but worry that if I didn't pass the test, I was a goner. Hopefully, I would pass it, otherwise I would be going back to America by the way of coffin delivery services.