A/N: I don't own things here, except probably just the idea of the MC, since he is based on me and I'd like to assume I own myself
NOTE: Due to the main character being an English speaker first, all words that are meant to be spoken in actual English shall be in italics and underlined.
Example:
"Would you happen to be Tintreach Wilhelm?" - Is spoken in Japanese
"Would you happen to be Tintreach Wilhelm?" - Is spoken in English
It is likely I might bring up at any point that they are speaking that language but just the note in case I don't specifically say so.
Not a sound was heard, at least not by the young man who was at the epicenter of all the damage and chaos. Not even a sight seen or even a thought processed. Everything had escaped him in that moment, all of his senses either destroyed or in a place of being ignored, the broken lad no longer feeling a reason to use them or even try to use them. It meant nothing anymore, since his life was over in just a moment.
The object which had blown through his chest slid out, the mortally wounded person falling to their knees, no longer able to stand with all that had happened to them. Half of his body, specifically his right side, had severe burns and blown away flesh, revealing muscles and bone that shouldn't be feeling air this directly. The most severe of these burns and torn flesh began at his right shoulder, where he only moments ago had an arm, but no longer as a result of what gave him these burns, his arm having been blown off at the shoulder. The severity of these burns went up his body to his head as well, leaving teeth and most noticeably his right eye permanently open to the air, with his eyelid and lips gone on that side. His eye had become discolored, what had been vibrant blue was now faded and bloodshot, no longer matching his other eye.
Despite these intense injuries he gave no response; not a cry of pain, a wince or even an altered facial expression to indicate he was aware he was in pain. Nothing showed on his face but a dead look, not one to show he had passed away, but a look suggesting that he had internally given up. The emotional and psychological toll was too much and this broken teen had given up, a will to go on was no longer present. His one-eyed, empty gaze went straight ahead, nothing registering because it didn't matter anymore. None of his senses registered anything for this reason, not even the person yelling his name.
Sunday, April 2nd. Year 20XX
A teen with a slightly dazed and sick expression let out a breath of relief as he set foot off of the plane, glad to be back on stable ground. He followed the line of passengers into the airport, slowly regaining his posture and stomach along the way, and through security. The second he was able to break away from the group he did, heading straight to the entrance. The teen had dark brown short hair was kept underneath a baseball cap that at one time one could assume was a deep black but now mostly held a sunburnt copper color. He had bright blue eyes, behind rectangular glasses. His apparel consisted of green sneakers, which had been worn through use, dark blue jeans with a belt, a plain gray t-shirt and on top a forest green flannel shirt had the sleeves folded to just below his elbows. Lastly he had a roped wristband of three alternating ropes colored olive green, grey and black on his left wrist and on his right wrist he had three black beaded wristbands, the closest to his hand having spherical beads, the middle having thick wheel shaped beads and the final one consisting of thin wheel shaped beads.
"Would you happen to be Tintreach Wilhelm?" A blond man clad in leather with his hair going up into a spike asked, speaking English. The fact that the man was speaking English was what really got the teen's attention.
"I am Wilhelm Tintreach." The teen identified himself while answering in perfect Japanese, showing he was fluent in the native language.
"Wonderful! That makes you the second kid to show up today." The blond man changed his speech back to Japanese as well, while also indicating to a kid next to him.
This kid was also a young guy who had a slimmer build than Wilhelm and a rather feminine face if they American had to be honest. He has long blond hair, worn flattened down around the majority of his head, spiked and sticking out to the sides at the bottom of it with a side fringe that curves upwards a little before it curves down. He also had notably long eyelashes and bright indigo eyes. His clothing honestly made Wilhelm believe the kid was either really rich or just into that style, what with dark silk vest over a pale blue shirt that had an open collar and more buttons than Wilhelm thought necessary, tucked into black slacks that were also tucked into black boots that went up to below his knees.
"Bonjour, I am Yuga Aoyama." The kid introduced himself with a classy flair to his speech.
"Wilhelm Tintreach." The spoken teen shook the hand that had been stretched out to him.
Their guide spoke to call back attention to himself. "I am your guide before the interviews later today, the one and only Present Mic!"
Wilhelm lit up and pointed at the man. "Wait, I listen to you on the radio!"
That caused the Pro Hero to also light up. "You do?!"
"Yea! You play great music man!"
"I already like you, loyal listener." Present Mic grinned. "I will be rooting for you to get into U.A. come tomorrow."
"Wait... the exam is tomorrow?" The American teen gained a look of confusion. "I thought the stuff was today."
"I was also believing it to be today." Yuga showed slight confusion as well.
"Just a quick screening is today actually." Present Mic saw another kid he recognized from the transfer papers. "Miss Tsunotori! We are over here." He called to get the young girl's attention attention.
A girl Wilhelm and Yuga's age with long blonde hair, and large blue eyes came over to them with a noticeable amount of enthusiasm. She had on a colorful shirt, primarily red, with long loose sleeves and olive green Capri shorts down to her knees. She quite noticeably had legs akin to a horse from the knees done, including having hooves in place of natural feet
"Hi I'm Pony Tsunotori!" The girl introduced herself and Wilhelm paused to question her name, especially when he noticed her horns and the fact that her legs from the knees down were actually like a horses, with real hooves. Did she actually have the name Pony or was that a nickname from her appearance?
"I am your kids' guide for the day, Present Mic." The man reintroduced himself.
"We get to see the campus?" The horned girl asked.
"Probably for a bit before the exams tomorrow." Wilhelm guessed.
"You won't see much but will get to actually see the principal, however I should wait to explain until our fourth and final guest shows up." The man in charge didn't want to re-explain too much.
"Then I shall sit." Wilhelm reverted to Japanese thinking the third kid might not enjoy being left out of the conversation.
"We are waiting for others right?" Yuga was asking to catch up on missing the conversation.
"Just one last person." Present Mic replied. "While we wait I believe we can discuss which of my recent podcast shows you enjoyed the most loyal listeners."
Not soon after did the last teen arrive and they were on their way to the campus.
"So why did you guys want to go to U.A.?" Pony asked the others, Wilhelm, Yuga and the last teen they learned was named Hiryu Rin. Pony had swapped to using Japanese as Hiryu was Chinese and did not know English like her and Wilhelm.
"My father actually went to U.A. and I wanted to follow in his footsteps." Hiryu answered. Hiryu had his black hair in a braid and wore a simple brown shirt and and grey slacks. "Plus it's U.A., the most known hero school in the world and one of the best."
"I actually was told I could make it into the hero course here and thought to give it a shot." The blonde replied. "My parents aren't heroes themselves but they said I have a knack for it."
"I thought to follow my goals in the best possible path I could, and U.A. is one of the best in the world." Yuga stated his own answer.
Hiryu looked at Wilhelm. "What about you?"
The American rubbed his neck. "I kinda just impulsively tried to register for it, and I think I just got in because of my quirk."
"Just your quirk?" Hiryu raised an eyebrow. "What is it?"
"Actually I wanna keep it on the low. It is kind of amusing to see people try to figure it out." Wilhelm gave a small nervous smile, knowing his answer from past experience was something that wasn't necessarily pleasing.
"Alright, keep your secrets then I guess." The answer truly didn't really please Hiryu.
"You're from America too right?" Pony asked Wilhelm, guessing from his ability to speak English fluently. "I'm from Houston!"
"Yea, I'm from America." The teen answered without giving a city or state.
"Alright little listeners!" Present Mic clapped his hands a second later as he stopped walking and held his arms straight out, facing the entrance gates to U.A.. "We have arrived at our destination!"
"Wow!" Pony was the first to react as they walked through the gates, practically having stars for eyes as they walked down the fine path to the main building.
"Wow indeed." Present Mic kept a grin as they were walking. "This school has been something of a wow for years to me and hasn't lost any of it. I know that if you kids pass the exams tomorrow and start here you'll only feel even more wowed."
"I'm feeling it." Wilhelm remarked as he looked up at the height of the main building, wondering how much of the city he could see from up there.
"Most of you kids all signed up for the hero course and given your quirks I honestly highly expect that you'll get there." The leading hero pointed at a row of buildings that all looked the same. "Which means you would end up in the dorms for the hero system. Each class has a building they share, which means coed but given how this is a school of high standards and such I hope you kids know how things my colleague likes are frowned upon."
"Colleague?" Pony gained a look of confusion.
"Probably Midnight." Hiryu answered.
"Oh you know her antics?" Present Mic looked at the Chinese teen.
Hiryu nodded. "Yea kind of. I kind of assumed you were speaking of her, given her reputation as someone like that."
"Well you were right kiddo." The Pro Hero responded as they entered the main building, seeing a few of the teachers and staff of U.A. walking the halls most likely prepping for the exams the following day.
"I don't see any other kids... Are we the only ones here today?" Pony asked.
"You must be the first batch of out-of-country kids to arrive today." Their guide answered. "On average we have around a good fifty applicants from other countries at least, mostly America."
"If there's fifty why lead just us four around?" Wilhelm questioned.
"We do it in small groups and not everyone gets here around the same time. Plus I won a bet which let me take the lighter load of the student hopefuls." The man had a grin as he mentioned the bet.
"And that is it for what we have around the main building." Present Mic clapped his hands as he stopped the group right in front of the main offices for the staff. "Sadly I can't show the training areas or especially the zones due to that possibly giving an advantage to you over the others for tomorrow's exams. Now all you little listeners got left before you can go to the hotel we have made arrangements for you at is to have a brief one-on-one interview with Principal Nezu!" He almost shouted the last part as he knocked on the door to presumably the principal's office.
A second later a mouse-like, actually also kind of like a small bear a bit too, like a cross between them almost, animal in a nice suit, minus the jacket and he had brown boots instead of loafers or more matching footwear. The white furred animal had a noticeable scar as well over an eye and he gave off a warm aura.
"Hello!" The quirked animal, Wilhelm knowing Nezu was in fact an animal with a quirk and not a human due to his research on the school. "I am Principal Nezu!" He looked at all three of the kids. "You are Hiryu Rin, Pony Tsunotori, Yuga Aoyama and..." He paused on the American teen, before opening his eyes a tad more. "Wilhelm Tintreach."
"You remember us specifically?" Hiryu asked.
"I memorize all of the kids who attempt for a spot here at U.A.."
Wilhelm gained a look of surprise. "Aren't there like a thousand people at least each year?"
"It's not that difficult for me, my quirk gives me higher brain function after all." Nezu gave a smile. "Plus all of the kids who walk these halls are kids who have bright futures, so it is something important for me to watch you all grow towards those futures."
"And these little listeners are alright!" Present Mic gave a cheeky grin as he pat Wilhelm on the head, the teen having a smirk due to the action. "They are also ready for those interviews with you."
"What are we talking about exactly in the interviews?" Pony asked.
Nezu raised up his index finger. "First I want to see what kind of person you are, as you all come from different parts of the world and as such have lived in different cultures and while you might share a set of believes and morals they are never the exact same, and knowing my students is a thing I feel obliged to do as the principal here." He raised a second finger. "Secondly, I admit eagerness and enthusiasm in hearing about some of your quirks from you yourselves, as quirks from around the world are certainly some unique and interesting, especially given how you were given the chance to come here from other lands due to more useful quirks."
"So who goes first?" Hiryu asked, looking at Pony who was still looking at Nezu, to Yuga who looked back at him and then looking at Wilhelm who was looking up at the ceiling.
"Since you asked Rin, you can go first." Nezu offered.
"Okay." The Chinese teen said as he walked forward and followed Nezu into his office.
"Our principal is so nice!" Pony commented happily as Wilhelm plopped onto a seat in the hallway.
"Is he a small bear?" Wilhelm absentmindedly asked. "His paws make me think that, plus his posture, but his head and tail say mouse." The teen looked at his guide, hoping the man had answers.
"He never actually confirms his true nature and honestly I find it more amusing that way." Present Mic commented. "I know he does too."
After Hiryu got through his interview it was Aoyama, then Pony was the next to get an interview with Nezu. The order left Wilhelm to the last slot of the group but the teen appeared fine with it, but he had spaced out for a bit while looking around the hallway. The American teen was admittedly a tad nervous, despite his seemingly carefree act. He was not normally 100% comfortable in situations like this, things where he had to be a subject of observation, especially for interviews. Nonetheless he kept a neutral expression as Nezu called for him and the teen entered the principal's office and sat down in the seat facing to the desk.
"Hello Tintreach, it is nice to formally meet you." Nezu had a smile as he poured a cup of tea for the teen, nudging it towards the teen who accepted it before he spoke.
"Thanks for letting me get this chance." Wilhelm immediately felt a cringe at that. Was that really the best way to start the conversation?
"First and foremost Tintreach I must ask the basic question I feel like will tell me a bit about you. What do you think makes a hero, a hero?"
Wilhelm's face scrunched up as he thought. "Do you mean what I would make myself into as a Pro Hero or what the term itself means by my own opinion?"
"Is there a difference?"
"Kinda? Yea?" The teen was silent for a second. "Yeah there's a difference." Wilhelm nodded as he straightened out his thoughts.
Nezu picked up his pencil and put it to his notepad. "Interesting. can you tell about your opinion of what makes a hero first, then I would like to hear what you would do as a Pro Hero yourself."
"A true hero is someone who..." Wilhelm thought for all of a second before his mind went to who his hero was. "A person who has a strong will, sticks to what they believe and will do anything they can to help those they care about, as well as the people around them. Someone who tries to do the right thing despite what bad it could do to them personally, because that doesn't matter if they can prevent the bad from happening to others. A Pro Hero is capable of doing all that, but so are other people, so really Pro Heroes aren't necessarily the only people capable of being heroes."
The animalistic principal nodded. "Those are great qualities, and a truth about heroism. Pro Heroes and those who attempt to step into that role should have some of those qualities, as they are part of the most important factors of heroism." Nezu then saw a mark on Wilhelm's jaw, a noticeable burn scar on the right side, close to below his ear. He then asked a question he had thought about more than once. "May I ask, if it is not a sensitive subject, about that scar you have, Tintreach? It piques my curiosity from your medical record that it was gained during an encounter with a villain who had a water based quirk."
"Wait... you have that information?" Wilhelm figured they'd just have school records on him, but not a random encounter he had with a criminal when he was young.
Nezu nodded. "Here at U.A. we try to know all we can to help the potential heroes and leaders of the next generation. Knowing medical issues you may or may not have is part of that."
The teen nodded at that point, the reason making sense to him. He turned his focus to the scar, which he also touched at that moment. The scar was just slightly longer across than his own fingers placed against it.
"I wasn't conscious for it." He recalled the event. "All I know is that the police and my dad say it was the water villain who did it."
Nezu had to stifle an internal sigh. That didn't answer his real question. He thought the odd scar, odd only because of the lack of belief of how he got it, may be connected to another, more recent, event. Nevertheless he kept his stride. "May I ask more about that event? It seems like a point of interest. It happened when you were five correct?"
Wilhelm nodded. "Yea. I was five and my dad was taking me to a park. On the way to it my dad stopped for a moment but said I could keep going on since the park was not that far, and then a villain - the water guy - broke out of a building and the damage hurt a few people. He was pretty strong and was trying to attack someone I think - I don't remember some details, - and I just ran at him to stop him."
Nezu made a humming sound. "What compelled you to attempt to stop the villain yourself? Why not wait for a Pro Hero to show up?"
What he got in response was a confused look from the teen for a solid five seconds before Wilhelm shook his head to clear his thoughts and answered. "I- uhh... I don't remember what I was thinking."
"So it was possible you acted without a second thought?"
Wilhelm answered quicker this time, nodding. "I actually think that was the case." He turned a shade of light red at admitting to being thoughtless, even if it was when he was five.
Nezu smiled. "A quality I think you yourself said is present in heroes correct? Helping those around them without thinking of their self?"
"Yea. I guess I said that."
"At a young age you showed a trait most people would regard as something of potential for a future Pro Hero. As reckless as it was, you seemed to show courage."
Wilhelm showed a slight frown. "I didn't do anything meaningful though."
"Did you truly not?"
"He beat me unconscious and I got a scar." Wilhelm delivered the statement with a monotone voice.
"Yes, it says that happened right here, albeit paraphrased from how you worded it." Nezu tapped the file he had on Wilhelm. "However it also says no one else was hurt, as an unknown hero came and apprehended this villain so the police could take him into custody. Doesn't that mean you prevented more damage?" He held a smirk since he knew the kid couldn't disagree.
"I guess. I never really considered myself doing good there. I was just in the way." The kid stated.
"Sometimes being in the way is the best thing you can do in the moment." Nezu reassured the teen.
Wilhelm was silent for a moment, and thought about the words during that time, that and something he was told a while ago. "Sometimes just being in the way could be the worst thing for that moment." He spoke while looking down just enough that the bill of his hat blocked his eyes from sight.
There it was, Nezu internally nodded. Seeing in part what was possibly the truth to this kid being in Japan, and how he felt about recent events. He now knew more than ever if he wanted the kid to be at U.A., or if he should hand the kid to the proper authorities to watch over him. He closed the file and tapped his fingers against his desk. "I believe that calls it for the interview. I know have a good idea of the person you are Tintreach, and will be excited to see how you do tomorrow in the written and practical exams."
Wilhelm looked confused at how quickly the interview was over, but accepted it as he followed Nezu in standing up.
The other three kids looked up as Nezu and Wilhelm entered the hall. "It was pleasant opportunity to meet you kids, until the exams tomorrow I hope you enjoy your time in Musutafu."
"Alright kiddos, let's rock and roll!" Present Mic did finger guns as he led them back to the entrance of U.A..
"Tintreach," Nezu called out to the teen. getting him to stop and turn back. The teen's facial expression not having changed from the frown he had at the end of the interview. "Don't be hard on yourself. You have a great spirit."
Wilhelm's expression broke, gaining the smallest of smiles. He gave a thumbs up. "Loud and clear." Once he spoke he turned back to follow the rest of the kids, who were walking past Present Mic, who had stopped to wait for Wilhelm to rejoin them. The second he turned Wilhelm's smile was gone and the frown had retaken its place.
Nezu walked back into his office and turned to where a man was sitting in the corner, unseen during the interview with Wilhelm.
The man was slender and tall, with pale skinned man with messy, black hair and half-opened black eyes that carried a look of fatigue. The man was ha sporting a baggy black outfit that consists of a long-sleeved shirt and matching pants that tuck into his boots. He was giving Nezu a look of mild irritation, which the quirked animal spoke on.
"You have concern, Aizawa?"
Aizawa sighed before speaking. "You didn't confront the kid about what should of been discussed... It's irrational to just leave it as it is now."
"I know you think we should take him to the authorities, but where would they put him? His quirk makes placement tricky after all, and it could very well be used against people if he doesn't like the situation that they'd try to put him in." Nezu saw an unconvinced look and responded to it. "The boy is here isn't he? He came to a place where it would be easy to monitor him, even if that wasn't his intention. I believe we should let it play out for now."
"He should be handled back in America." Aizawa pointed out.
"Should be? Yes. However he did end up here so I think we can allow a change of the pace."
Aizawa looked even more unconvinced. "It is because of his quirk isn't it?"
"I admit that his quirk interests me and is why I am indulging this situation. I know it is a bit irresponsible but the whole situation is a mess surrounding Tintreach."
"I think messy is an understatement." Aizawa held a flat tone. "It is irrational to have not brought up the fact of that event, which happened not even three weeks ago."
"I know, however he could have also acted irrationally had I said anything. I think it is better to play it out to where he knows he can trust us first, so he doesn't run off to another corner of the world. If he is kept somewhere like here, we don't have to worry about whoever put this spin on his life coming for him unimpeded."
"It is still irrational."
"It is, so how about you watch over him just in case? You can affect the rationality yourself if needed, at your own judgement. I will accept decisions from you about Tintreach, but I request that he is here until at least after the entrance exams at the least."
"You just want to see his quirk in action." Aizawa repeated himself.
"You have to admit it is quite a fascinating quirk." Nezu didn't try to deny his reasons, but he knew somewhere in his mind, Aizawa was curious about the boy's quirk as well.
Nezu got no response from Aizawa immediately, who only stood up with a grunt and walked for the door. "I am keeping a close eye on him."
"I'll leave you to it."
Wilhelm opened the door to his new, temporary, home. The hotel room was small and didn't even have a kitchen, but did have a mini fridge next to the dresser that a small TV was set in the middle of. In the back across from the door was a sink with a mirror over it and a door to a bathroom, barely big enough for him to stretch his arms out in both directions in. A bed sat right in the middle of the brown room, below a painting Wilhelm didn't bother looking at as he set his bag down on the bed.
He stood in that spot for a minute before sighing and dropping onto the mattress. It didn't really hit him until that moment that he was in Japan now, and not back in Crestwood. The fact really bothered him just how far away from home he was.
Home.
Something he couldn't even go back to. Not yet. He was far from being able to go back home. He wasn't even strong enough to go back by a long shot. First he had to get stronger, and then get that thing, then he could go home.
To whatever was left of it.
Wilhelm shook his head of those thoughts. He couldn't, wouldn't make himself have to handle all that happened. Fist and foremost he had to get stronger, that was obvious. Once he could handle the situation he will try to handle how it affected him. With that thought Wilhelm stood back up and set himself with most of the open area of his room, which wasn't much, and took off the roped wristband on his left wrist. He gripped it tightly for a second and tried to focus hard... and tossed it in front of him in the room.
It plopped soundly on the floor.
"Fuck." Was Wilhelm's response. He grabbed the wristband from the floor and took a breath, tossing the wristband in front of him again.
Once again, the wristband hit the floor. Instead of cursing, the teen only looked annoyed.
Wilhelm exhaled hard and picked the wristband up again, and held it tighter.
"Please work this time..." He sighed. He tossed the wristband in the air again, hoping for it to be captured by his power.
Only for it to hit the ground again, this time the thud being louder than it should be, mocking Wilhelm that it once again hit the ground with nothing happening to it otherwise.
A knock on the door snapped Wilhelm from his thoughts and he soundly made his way to open it, to reveal Aoyama and Pony.
"Hi Wilhelm!" Pony waved eagerly with a smile.
"Hello Tintreach," Aoyama said in a more reserved manner than the girl. "Tsunotori here suggested that as a group, since we are new to this city, to go sight seeing together, and find food."
"I don't really know Japanese all that well and didn't want to get lost." She admitted to Wilhelm in English.
Wilhelm thought for all of a few seconds. "Yea I'm down. Gimme a sec and I'll be ready to go."
"Yay!" Pony showed more enthusiasm as he agreed to the trip.
Wilhelm didn't bother to close his door as he turned back to his room, only grabbing his wristband from the floor to put back on. Once it was secured he left the room to join Aoyama and Pony, the latter who had already gone to go get Hiryu.
"Truth is," Aoyama started as he and Wilhelm walked to catch up to Pony. "I actually know my way around Musutafu to an extent."
"You do?" Wilhelm decided to keep the conversation going.
"Indeed. I may be a foreign hopeful to U.A., but I actually have a home here in Musutafu."
The American teen gained a look of confusion. "Er... Doesn't that make you... not foreign?"
Aoyama gave a laugh. "I lived in France at the time of applying to U.A.. My family however has ownership of some businesses in France and Japan, so from time to time I am in one or the other. I just moreso classify as a French citizen than Japanese."
"Nifty."
Pony knocked on Hiryu's door, which she only knew was his because he was the first to branch off from the group when they got to the hotel that all of them called their temporary home. A moment later he opened it.
"Hey guys?" The Chinese teen greeting them a bit confused.
"We were thinking about sightseeing together as a group, since we for the most part are new to Japan." Pony explained.
"We're forming a gang, let's rob somewhere." Wilhelm added with a dumb grin.
Hiryu gave a blank look to Wilhelm before looking back to Pony. "I'll do that first part but I don't know about that last bit."
"We'll take it!" She clapped her hands together.
Hiryu closed the door to his room. "Alright, where to?"
"Uh..." Pony looked confused as she couldn't think of a place to go.
"I saw a ramen place down the street " Wilhelm offered. "Eating there could help us ace the test tomorrow and make our paths to becoming Hokage even better."
"I don't think that- To the ramen place." Hiryu stopped when he realized what Wilhelm was referencing.
"So what quirks do you guys actually have?" Pony asked while they were all sitting at a booth, Wilhelm and Aoyama on one side, with Wilhelm across from Hiryu and both of them on the outside seats. "My quirk is kinda obvious due to the horns but what about you three?"
"I mean- are your horns that obvious?" Wilhelm asked.
"Getting into U.A. from a different country, even for an attempt, makes it be implied your quirk is just more than horns. Especially with your going for the hero course just like us." Hiryu added to what Wilhelm said.
"Oh. I meant it was obvious that they were about my horns. I can actually pop then off and control them through the air."
"They just... pop off?" Wilhelm asked, moving his hands by his head and making a popping sound as he asked.
To confirm that, her horns just popped off and floated above her head, and surprisingly two new horns had regrown in their place atop her head. "Yep! I can control these four rather well!"
"That's pretty cool." Hiryu poked a horn that was next to him. "My quirk lets me create scales all over my body, and depending on which way I have them come out I can have them give me a sharp defense." To emphasize his explanation, he had his hand grow scales on it, the scales green in color. "I could also shoot them off of me with force if the situation calls for it." He undid his scales, the quirked pieces of his body sinking into his hand and disappearing.
"Oh! Like a dragon!" Pony remarked.
"That's actually a cool comparison." Hiryu grinned. He looked at Wilhelm. "I take it you want to keep your secrets still?"
Wilhelm thought for a second. "I don't want to be the only guy to not participate, so I guess I can tell you about half of my quirk at least."
"Half?" Pony asked.
"Yea, I actually have two quirks." Wilhelm admitted.
"Are you one of those people who get the quirks of both of their parents?" Hiryu asked.
"Actually yea, I got both of their quirks side-by-side." Wilhelm held up his hand, and the three saw electricity begin to shoot between his open fingers. "This is my Mom's quirk, it's called Static. I can conduct electricity all over my person. I just can't really shoot it. I can pass it onto things I touch though. I also have been able to use it to move faster if I cover myself with it."
"So what's your dad's quirk?" Pony watched the electricity on Wilhelm's hand.
"That's actually the part I want to be kept a secret." Wilhelm replied sheepishly as he stopped using Static. "I'm really proud of it and wanted to make a big deal of my first use -and reveal - here in Japan."
Of course Wilhelm wasn't going to tell them that he currently couldn't use his quirk passed on from his father. It actually stung to think about that he couldn't use the power he treasured.
"So why weren't you in the recommendation exams?" Hiryu asked. "With just that I understand your being here like us, but I imagine whatever your other power is, it's something that could've put you there."
"I... I didn't know about those exams last week."
Hiryu had a flat look. "Really?"
"I am bad at paying attention to details." His response was followed by Wilhelm shrugging.
"You all have quite magnificent quirks." Aoyama said as he prodded at his bowl of ramen. "Mine is just the ability to shoot a laser from my navel area."
"That's cool as hell." Wilhelm said as he dropped his ramen, not as used to the chopsticks as the others.
"It's quite flashy and powerful but I do have to be careful, as it can harm my tummy with overuse, and I prefer to not have a tummy ache." Aoyama explained.
"I wouldn't like that either." Pony nodded in agreement.
"Yea, if I overuse Static I can make myself go numb and not be able to move for a bit." Wilhelm added. "Quirks have that control we have to watch out for."
"I don't actually think I have much to worry about..." Pony tried to think on her quirk. "I guess I can get light headed if I make too many horns too soon."
"I get irritated skin and sometimes my skin doesn't close up immediately after popping scales out." Hiryu added. "My limit is high up there though."
"I can be used as a car battery." Wilhelm randomly added. "I also once got shocked by an actual car battery and it really did nothing but make my hair stand up."
"Wait so you can charge things?" Pony asked.
"I used to charge my phone like that." Wilhelm stated.
"Used to. That implies you don't anymore." Hiryu pointed out. "What happened? Blow up your phone by overcharging it?"
"I did that a few years ago yea... But this was a different one, I actually just don't have a phone right now."
"You don't? Why?" Pony asked. "What if your parents want to ask you about Japan?"
Wilhelm fiddled with the beaded wristbands on his right arm. "My phone just got broken and haven't had the time to replace it."
"I don't think I have been without a phone since I was ten." Hiryu commented. "Not saying I would lose sanity or anything but I don't know what I'd do for a few weeks with no phone at all."
"I don't think I could do it." Pony shook her head hard.
"I find things to keep myself busy." Wilhelm shrugged. Wilhelm's mind wandered back to earlier, when he was trying to make his power activate with the wristband to no success. He had to figure out why it wasn't working. With that thought he stood up, surprising the others.
"What's up?" Hiryu asked.
"I- I have to work on something now that I remember it." Wilhelm put some money, thankfully having yen and not just dollars, on the table. "That should cover my stuff."
"This pays for half of us." Aoyama pointed out.
However Wilhelm was already walking out the door. "It's fine."
Hiryu looked at the other two. "Well... Rock, paper, scissors for it?"
Hours later Wilhelm had an annoyed look on his face as he, for the most recent of an uncountable number, tossed his wristband above him and watched it uneventfully drop onto the bed next to him. Not even once had it even looked slightly like his power would work, not even a feeling in his head to imply it becoming active.
"Why won't you work?" He asked with no answer expected. Of course he could easily just trace back to the last time it worked, which was before that day. Over two weeks ago then. Was it something that had to do with what happened that day that was causing his power to not work? Of course the obvious option was duh, but it led to why?
Before Wilhelm could think more on those events, he stopped himself. He didn't want to throw himself off of any mindset of preparedness for the exams.
Then his thought process turned to the exams. Why was he even taking them? What was the point to taking them? Now, of all times, he was questioning why he was even here in Japan, hiding from everything.
Because he was weak.
That was exactly why he was here. He was weak and U.A. was a hero school, they trained some of the strongest heroes in the world. He could become stronger here, and then return to his home and fix everything, or at least what was there to be fixed.
Did it even matter though? He couldn't use half of his quirk, that power seemingly gone. The more powerful half of his quirk just didn't operate, so he could never actually become all that strong. Definitely not strong enough to fix everything, not with just Static.
Wilhelm stopped tossing the wristband, and just let it lie on the bed near him. He didn't care enough at the moment to put it back on his wrist or not, so he just lied there as well and went to sleep.
Wilhelm stood on a porch, the sky gray with clouds that blocked out the sun. He looked over at a door, a dark oak door with a small window just above the center of it. He was
The teen moved forward, a single step, and felt a sinking sensation in his stomach.
The teen took a second step and the hairs on his neck stood up.
The teen took a third step began to hear the sound of flames, a fire burning on the other side of the door.
The teen took a fourth step and began to fell his heart beat fast enough that he could also hear the beating.
Something told him to stop, a feeling screaming at him from deep within to stop moving forward, to get away from that door.
Wilhelm took a fifth step, and was close enough to grab the handle and open the door. As he tried to raise his hand he heard the sound be something ripping, and something else breaking apart by the same force, just on the other side of the door. Despite the intense beating of his heart that began to block out his hearing, anxiety making him shake in place, and his instincts yelling at him to do anything else, he still put his hand on the door's handle.
As his hand grabbed the doorknob, he heard someone yell.
"DON'T OPEN IT!"
Wilhelm jolted upright, covered in sweat and breathing heavily. He stared around the room as his eyes came to focus as he remembered where he was. As he regained control of his breath the kid decided it was best for him to not question that dream, more of a nightmare, and instead just focus on anything else. Deciding to go with just easing himself as best he could in his shaken state into the rest of the day and what it held, he moved off the bed hours before the sun was up.
A bit later he left his room and walked down the hall to the lobby, planning to sit there for a bit until closer to the time of the exams. Hopefully with his mind on pleasant things until then.
Upon entering the lobby he actually found Aoyama, who was sitting at a chair.
"Greetings Tintreach. How are you this morning?"
Wilhelm sat at a chair close to the other teen. "It's okay I guess. Don't really appreciate myself waking up this early, now I gotta wait longer for the test."
"Those feelings are shared. I don't enjoy the nervousness that is easily built up at this time."
Wilhelm looked surprised. "Why are you nervous? You can shoot frickin lasers, that's cool as hell."
His words made Aoyama grin. "I appreciate the compliment, but lasers might not help me pass the written exam."
"Sounds like you're just using the lasers wrong." Wilhelm's words made Aoyama snort.
"How do you even suggest I use my lasers during a test?"
"Now that, is something one must discover for their self."
"So... you don't know?"
"Not a clue." Wilhelm shrugged.
"I shall let you know when I discover this strategy then."
"Much appreciated."
After that they were silent for a few minutes, up until Wilhelm asked a question.
"Aye... If your parents have a place here. How come you are in this hotel also?"
Aoyama took a second to answer. "If I may be candid, I simply wanted to experience events like others."
The American teen raised an eyebrow. "Why? Things too different in France?"
"No, it's just the experience. I admit to being a bit privileged in aspects and wanted to just feel like one of the people. My parents understood and let me take a spot here in the hotel."
"Being one of the people huh? I get it. Don't think I can say my experience is the same here."
"It is a different experience to be sent across the world to a different country, rather than somewhere you live half the time. Have your parents come as well? Or are they like Miss Tsunotori and Rin's parents who are back home?"
It was Wilhelm's turn to take a second to answer, and took more than just a few, which did make Aoyama question the complexity of the question when seeing Wilhelm's face gain an unknown emotion. "... They're waiting for me to come back... whenever that is."
Bits of small talk and breakfast later, the sun had risen and it was close to time for the exams. Wilhelm ended up walking off on his own, moments before the others would be leaving. Not that he was against being around those three, or any of the other students from other lands who were attempting to take a spot at the school, he just needed time to think.
He knew he could do decently on the written exam, he wasn't completely stupid, but the practical exam would be where complications waited. Depending on what was required, he could end up failing within minutes. If they didn't excuse things like his current situation with half of his quirk, and instead gave bad marks for inabilities to use half of their quirks then he was done for.
Too preoccupied with worrying over his chances in the practical, Wilhelm didn't notice as he walked right into another person, both of them hitting each other and falling over.
"My bad!" Wilhelm sputtered out as he caught himself by the hands to stop himself from faceplanting the ground.
"Dammit! Watch your step, extra!" The other person angrily spat.
"I apologized geez." Wilhelm responded to the anger as he got up just as quick as the other person and looked at them. Matching their angry tone, the guy had a pissed off expression.
"Stay out of my way, extra." The guy repeated as he walked away, coincidentally in the way Wilhelm was supposed to be heading also.
The American teen stood there for a second with confusion on his face. "Wait... Did that guy just call me an extra?!" If he had enough time and wasn't wanting to get in trouble where he realized was the front gate of U.A., Wilhelm would honestly try to smack the guy for calling him an extra, or call him something more offensive in return.
Now focused on being cautious and keeping his distance so the guy didn't think Wilhelm was following him, the teen went back onto U.A.'s grounds and went to the main building where the exam was being held.
Following the halls to the auditorium where they would be taking the written exam wasn't hard, and not because Wilhelm was here the day before, but because he only had to follow where the other kids were going. It also helped that he had known previously that he had a specific seat with an identification number for his test.
After a few moments of sitting quietly, passing the time by messing with his wristband, another teen came to the seat next to him. The person sat down and didn't show any indication of starting a conversation or even acknowledging Wilhelm so the teen, getting bored waiting for the test to begin, turned to face the other teen.
"Hello, I'm Wilhelm." He stuck out his hand to the guy next to him.
The other teen, a golden blond with matching eyes, looked at Wilhelm with a slow turn of his head. He gave an almost annoyed look before turning back to face the front without saying a word.
The American teen gained a flat expression. "Hey I said I'm Wilhelm." He got no response, not even a turn of the guy's head this time. Wilhelm tried one last time. "Hey I know you heard me, I spoke your language."
"It doesn't matter." The guy finally spoke, with a bored tone. "I don't care."
Wilhelm gained an irritated expression. "What's up your ass?"
"A nobody trying to talk to me when I want to be left alone." The blond teen responded with a condescending tone.
Wilhelm froze, stunned by those teen was thrown off that somehow the first two kids he had ran into at the exam were both arrogant and called him words standing in for nothing.
"Hey shitlips!" The teen snapped out of his shock and swapped to annoyance, in English. "I don't care ho-" He stopped himself and turned in his seat to face the front again. "I have nothing to prove to you, asshole."
The guy didn't respond at all, which was irritating to Wilhelm but the teen didn't show anything as he kept facing the stage.
The hopeful students of U.A. began to fill up seats more frequently as the time for the exams to begin drew closer. Wilhelm kept quit as messed with his wristband, rotating it around his wrist or just moving it around in general, while just looking around and seeing if anything of interest would happen. The guy next to him stayed pretty motionless and didn't try to do anything other than that.
At one point Wilhelm saw the first blond to basically call him nothing and realized that both weren't actually the same arrogant blond guy. And a moment later he saw Pony who also saw him, both waving before Pony went back to looking for her assigned seat.
Seven minutes after that, the lights changed brightness for a second and got everyone's attention guided to the front stage, where Present Mic was standing with an item of his namesake.
"HELLO LITTLE LISTENERS!" The man shouted with unnecessary volume, a good number of the teen's including Wilhelm and the guy next to him wincing and/or covering their ears. "TODAY IS THE DAY YOU KIDS PROVE IF YOU GOT WHAT IT TAKES TO GET INTO U.A.! WE WILL FIRST HAVE OUR WRITTEN TEST AND THEN AFTER THAT I, YOUR FAVORITE HERO PRESENT MIC, WILL LAY DOWN THE RULES OF THE PRACTICAL!"
"You'd think he was trying to talk to someone in China right now." Wilhelm whispered a joke and looked to the people on both sides of him. The blond guy didn't react but the rosy faced brunette next to him gave a small smile.
The Pro Hero on stage clocked a button on a remote he was holding to show a screen that had a picture of the first page of a test packet. "THE TESTS WILL HAVE YOUR IDs FOR YOUR PRACTICAL, MAKE SURE TO CONFIRM THAT THE PACKET UNDERNEATH YOUR SEAT IS IN FACT YOURS AND PLACE THEM ON YOUR DESK NOW. THE TEST WILL BEGIN IN A MOMENT ONCE WE KNOW YOU ALL HAVE THE TEST MEANT FOR YOU. OUR OWN ECTOPLASM WILL BE MAKING SURE ALL KIDS STAY FOCUSED ON THEIR TESTS ONCE THEY BEGIN."
At that point the staff member Wilhelm had to assume was Ectoplasm appeared, all over the auditorium, and the teen had to make another assumption that this guy could clone or duplicate himself. The man, or men, began to go around and begin monitoring and assisting the teens if necessary.
"If he keeps yelling like that I might go deaf." The brunette next to Wilhelm commented and the American teen snickered.
"I feel for our hearing quirked people here." He replied.
After that the two went to checking their packets and mentally preparing for the test that was about to begin. A moment later Present Mic began spoke again.
"Begin!"
All the students opened their tests to the first question and within seconds Wilhelm's eyes opened wider as he realized the level of academia the test was gonna be.
Soon the written test was over, and Wilhelm looked mentally exhausted from the experience. The blond next to him still looked as annoyingly apathetic as before and the girl on Wilhelm's another side shared similar feelings over the test as him.
After Ectoplasm and his clone squad grabbed all the tests, Present Mic turned on a slideshow up on the stage. "Pay attention listeners! We'll be seeing if you got skills to pay the bills in a ten minute practice run at our replica city districts! First however I am here to explain the goal and rules of the test!" Ectoplasm returned and began to distribute papers during the presentation that has a site location numbered on it for each student, telling them where they were to go later. "You can take whatever equipment you want, just gather at your designated meeting area after my presentation on the rules ya dig?!"
Present Mic paused for a second to let everyone take note of their number and for any responses to his presentation style. Nothing on the latter aspect happened so he began to speak again.
"Alright Listeners if you look at the screen above me you will see that there are villains in each replica city loads of the baddies spread all over the battlefields! Each one will be rated as a One Two, or Three pointer! Your job is to use your Quirk to take out as many of them as you can and rack in those high points! Also you can't attack other competitors directly! That's nasty anti hero stuff and it's against the rules." Present Mic explained.
Wilhelm looked at the paper confused as he saw four different kinds of "pointer" robots but heard the teacher only mention three. He began to wonder if there was a point and somewhere else in the sea of seats another kid voiced his own. but similar, confusion.
"May I ask a question?!" a stern-faced, blue haired teen with glasses asked, standing up as he spoke.
Everyone in the auditorium turned to look at the teen who interrupted the presentation. And Present Mic nodded to let the kid know he can indeed ask a question.
"On the paper we all have there are clearly four types of villains listed not three! If this is an error, then it's a huge embarrassment for a top-tier national academy of U.A.'s caliber. What is the meaning of this?"
"I was actually about to get to villain number four." Present Mic started "The fourth type of villain is called the Zero Pointer! It's a big gimmick that goes wild near the end. They are too strong to be defeated and are there just to stir things up, so fighting them is hopeless and useless. If I were you, I'd do my best to avoid that sucker!"
The kid nodded and sat back down, satisfied with the explanation, and Wilhelm also became satisfied since he wanted to know about it as well.
"Well that's pretty much all I have" Mic went on. "I'll leave you with a quote that my academy prides itself on! Go beyond! Plus Ultra! Now get out there and have a fun time this test!"
Everyone in the auditorium stood up and began to make for their given test location.
As he walked down the path to the buses outside, a person bumped into Wilhelm's shoulder and made the kid turn to look.
"Ayo Tintreach." Hiryu greeted the other foreign teen.
"Aye man, what test site do you have?"
"I got Zone Nine. You?"
"I got number seven." Wilhelm replied.
"Dang, I was hoping to see your quirk you wanted to be all mysterious about." The Chinese teen snapped his fingers.
"I mean if we both pass you can see me on the leaderboard with play of the game."
Hiryu laughed. "Nah I think Aoyama will have that with some laser slice that takes out half a street of the robots."
"That'd actually be a sick play of the game." Wilhelm was now picturing the robots being cut apart like Aoyama was using a lightsaber.
"We actually were talking earlier, Tsunotori Aoyama and me, and we're considering making a squad of sorts if we all pass." Hiryu began.
"Really? What about?"
"More of a friend group but Tsunotori was hyping it up as some super team. Basically the four of us from yesterday since we're all new here." Hiryu explained. "I think it's cool and you three are friend-worthy."
"I am honored and agree." Wilhelm grinned. "We'll be the Justice League, or the Super Friends, or the League of Legends."
The Chinese teen laughed. "Or something that won't get us sued."
"Either way I am down for it."
"That's good, so can I get your number to add you to a group chat after the test is over? This way we can chitchat." Hiryu pulled out his phone in preparation of receiving Wilhelm's.
The American teen stood there for a second. "Uhhh I don't have a phone."
"Ah, right, dang you did say that last night." Hiryu felt kinda dumb for forgetting that fact.
"I mean we all have hotel rooms near each other, so you can just kick down my door if you need my attention."
"That's breaking and entering."
"So take the door off its hinges, nothing is broken then."
"That fixes the problem." Hiryu chuckled as they got near the buses. He looked to his side and saw the transportation designated for his zone. "There's my ride so see you later Tintreach."
Wilhelm waved as his friend left, and looked at the buses till he saw his own Zone's transport. Without another word he walked to the bus and got on, and had to walk near the back since most seats were taken already at the front. Seeing an open seat he sat down and then looked to the person next to him.
Immediately upon seeing the person he groaned. "You again?!" He didn't hide disappointment at having to somehow end up once again sitting next to the annoyingly apathetic and arrogant blond guy. He immediately looked for a new seat but saw that all the seats had been taken. Not wanting to make a bigger scene he just groaned and leaned back in his seat and looked ahead.
The teen next to Wilhelm had actually turned to look at Wilhelm for a second, and internally groaned at the loudmouthed kid being next to him.
After a quiet bus ride to their test zone, Wilhelm had left his bus to stand near the front of the group facing the zone. They had to stay behind a line on the ground until the exam started. The site of their physical exam was a fake but well built city area, with tall buildings clustered together in a downtown style set of blocks. The American teen was surprised that the area before the group was actually their specific zone of testing, and that the other buses full of kids each had their own to go to. He wanted to question the budget of the school to be able to own all this land and have basically several empty-but-seemingly-functional cities on its property.
He shook the thoughts from his head, needing to focus on why he was there. He needed to pass this test, get into U.A. and get stronger. His focus needed to be on beating up robots, even if half his quirk was refusing to cooperate. He needed a plan to guarantee winning that didn't require his main source of strength, which thankfully wasn't hard. He still had Static, and robots work on electricity, so all he had to do was zap and taze the things.
Taking a breath he began to slowly build up electricity, a sound akin to buzzing like a generator emitting from him. A few kids looked over before realizing it was just another participant of the exam mentally and physically preparing their self. None of his electricity was sparking off and shocking anyone thankfully, the teen keeping it building up in himself. Although if anyone did try to touch him they would get zapped for sure.
The apathetic blond looked over to the kid building up electricity and ignored it after two seconds. He looked forward and mentally prepared himself to be ready to show his power and prove himself.
"AND BEGIN!" Present Mic's voice spoke over intercoms in the various test sites. "GO CRAZY!"
Most of the kids got confused, expecting a count down or something. Not Wilhelm, the second he heard Present Mic begin to speak he admittedly began to move forward, too pumped up from all the electricity coursing through him to really listen to what was said. It was just luck that Present Mic was actually starting the test or Wilhelm would have been disqualified. The only other kid in Wilhelm's test site to not hesitate was the blond kid, who began to run as well.
The second Wilhelm had began to run, electric crackling was heard as he moved with increased speed. The kid had his eyes darting everywhere as he looked for a robot and turned to the main central street of the zone to see the biggest horde in the area possibly.
Instead of shock at the amount of robots this single street had, Wilhelm kept calm since he knew that other kids were probably going to show up soon, so he wouldn't be stuck in a 45v1 situation for long anyways. He bolted forward and built up a charge of electricity that he released as he got close to a Two Pointer robot, discharging all of the built up energy into the machine and arcs of the energy shooting off to shock close by robots.
A majority of the shocked villain bots seized up and shutdown, Wilhelm's quirk overloading them. The teen quickly counted the number of bots he took down, which was five, and moved away as an untouched Two Pointer tried to attack him with one of two scorpion-like tails it had.
The electrically charged teen had to dodge as the Two Pointer began to use both tails to attack him, having to jump to the side and rotate himself over a downed bot in a single motion. Once Wilhelm hit the ground in the other side of the downed One Pointer, He grabbed the metal of the bot and released a few arcs of electricity into it. His released energy shooting through it and zapping the Two Pointer that was pursuing him as it tried to get over the One Pointer.
"Gotcha loser!" Wilhelm pointed and laughed at the machine as it's circuitry was overloaded and the thing shut down. His laughter quickly left however as the thing fell forward towards him and he had to leap out of the way.
The blond saw the electric teen and knew the kid was definitely an idiot. Ignoring him to focus on the bots on the other side of the street he brought his hands together and sparks of blue electricity appeared as he lowered himself and grabbed the ground. The sidewalk shook and he shifted the ground to move into spikes that impaled several bots close to him. All were hit in their cores and shutdown.
He kept his calm expression as a new Three Pointer showed up, having jumped over a fallen Two Pointer, and sidestepped it to dodge being crushed by it. As the robot slammed into the ground, the blond brought his hands together and the lightning effect appeared again before he touched the Three Pointer. A hole was torn through the Three Pointer from seemingly a blast of air, having also gone through vital parts of the bot. The machine slumped over and the teen moved away to destroy other villain bots.
He had counted his score easily. Having destroyed seven villain bots, three being One Pointers, three being Two Pointers and the last being a Three Pointer he was already at twelve points. The average highest score was 70 points, and he heard the record All Might had made was close to 100, so he knew he was already on a decent pace to having the highest score.
Wilhelm had a dumb expression as he jumped off of a shutdown Three Pointer and slammed into the back of a One Pointer. Grabbing onto it to not fall off, he sent lightning into the thing's neck and overloaded its circuitry, causing the thing to fall over. The teen stood up on top of his defeated bot and let out a breath.
"Man, I really should have been keeping count of what kind of droids I have been zapping." The teen commented as he looked around and saw other robots being broken by the other U.A. hopefuls. He knew at this point he had broken around eleven of the things at least but could not saw how many of whatever kinds, except he can confirm he broke a One Pointer since he was in fact standing on it.
"Watch out!" A voice shouted behind Wilhelm and the teen turned to see a Three Pointer about to smack the goofy out of him. Before it could hit him, the same teen who had just gotten Wilhelm's attention shot a beam of light at the robot and took out its eye.
The moment of blindness from the robot gave Wilhelm a window of time to build up electricity and discharge it into the Three Pointer. The combined attacks broke down the villain bot's ability to function and the now dead hunk of metal fell over.
"You're good now right?" The new teen asked and Wilhelm turned to look at the person, a guy with short, spiky black hair and a tracksuit to match. The guy had patterns of light glowing across his body, visible through his clothes.
The American teen hopped off of the One Pointer and nodded. "Yep, thanks I wasn't paying attention."
"I don't think this is the best place for that."
"Nah, nonsense. You had me covered."
The other teen looked down the street to the other students and the villain bots. "Try not to lose focus, the Pointers will not just stand around."
"Noted." Wilhelm built up electricity and bolted off at a speed that surprised the teen he was just talking to.
Nezu had a smile as he watched all the screens in front of him, each showing different kids in the different sites all giving their best to pass the exam. The mysterious animal of a principal was watching the exams from a room with multiple monitors, alongside most of the staff of the hero school.
Like every year, Nezu began a line of speech he always does for dramatic effect.
"The test isn't just about destroying the Villain bots." The Quirked animal that was the principal said as he stirred his cup of tea. "Stopping villains from causing mayhem requires more than brute strength. It requires a lot more, such as keeping calm and being aware of your surroundings." A black haired teen effortlessly dodged a Three Pointer by that was behind him that tried to shoot it with a cannon on its arm. Before the bot could take another shot, the teen had whipped around and used the broken arm of another Pointer to shoot out the eye of his attacker. The surprising thing was that the teen had his eyes closed the entire time.
"Ability to multitask on the spot..." A boy with a bird like head was seen helping someone off the ground as what was seemingly his shadow slashed through a Three Pointer.
"And most importantly, helping others." A screen showed a teen who used his quirk to swap his position with a villain bot to get it away from someone who almost got caught off guard by the machine.
A girl silently observed the exams from her own private screens. She had a stack of files next to her and a journal she was writing in as things of interest happened in the test sites.
She squinted at one screen to watch a kid make blue lightning in his hands, before grabbing a side of a building and making the wall shift to impale a Two Pointer. The quirk was definitely fascinating, but electricity into environmental manipulation was definitely unusual. Looking at the files given to her she looked for a file with the kid's face. Finding it fairly quickly she looked at the file and the kid's name.
"Ichigo Chisaki..." She muttered the name. "I'll put you under possible recruits."
"This year certainly has interesting kiddos." A woman among the staff watching the exams commented, having a large smile as she watched the screens where kids showed their skills.
"Possibly the best in a few years." A man agreed.
Nezu looked at one screen in particular, of a boy conducting electricity to disable the machines. He wondered why the student wasn't using that other quirk of his. "That's still to be determined. This next part will show if they truly have the heroic spirit." He pressed a button labeled 'Yaruki Switch' and the ground at each test site began to shake.
Wilhelm swung off of a now shocked-beyond-function Three Pointer and rolled as he hit the ground. Unsuccessfully trying to get to his feet he flopped to his side before pushing himself up to his feet. The teen looked around and saw the lack of unbeaten Villain bots and began to wonder if that was it for the test.
"Is that it?" A teen near Wilhelm voiced thoughts that he and multiple others shared.
"That can't be it though..." Wilhelm looked around as he spoke. "We didn't even see any of those zero point robots here I think."
As if with perfect timing, the ground in seemingly the entire test site began to shake. The sound of something massive moving made the kids all look down one street, and the breaking of concrete made them look up at the side of building cracking under the grip of a Zero Pointer appearing. The robot itself was taller than most of the buildings, and peered down with it's multiple, glowing red eyes down at the children.
The kids stared back, most if not all gaining a lack of shock. Most of them all sharing a similar thought process that there was no way they could actually fight that thing.
"LET'S GET OUT OF HERE!" A kid yelled, stirring others to agree and begin running the opposite way of the Zero Pointer.
The blond, Ichigo Chisaki, have the massive robot one look before scoffing and turning around, walking away from the area and taking an alley to avoid being in the herd. He knew the thing had no value and would be a waste of time to deal with. He had enough points to ensure being in the top ten at least, so he wasn't concerned with the test anymore.
The only teen to have stayed in their spot from when the Zero Pointer had appeared was Wilhelm, who looked at the robot and and gained a thought process from seeing it.
"You'll do." The American teen spoke in regard to the robot. He wanted to trigger his power inherited from his father, and nothing he did worked so far. However, this absolute unit of a villain bot had to have what it took to make Wilhelm dig deep into his core and bring the coveted power back out from under whatever kept it from appearing thus far. The teen had a confident smile as he began to walk towards the machine.
He cupped his hands around his mouth. "Hey, tin-can!"
His yelling caused some of the other test takers to look in confusion, wondering what on Earth the foreign teen was thinking.
Nezu leaned forward in his seat, focusing intently on a screen showing Wilhelm approach the Zero Pointer openly. His looking at the teen's screen caused some of the other staff members to gain more interest, seeing a gleam in Nezu's eyes that gained their own interest.
"Tintreach, is this when you show that power you inherited?" The mouse whispered.
The girl who had previously took note of Ichigo Chisaki looked at a new screen, seeing a random teen stupidly announce himself to the Zero Pointer. She only looked out of curiosity to see why he would even think to gain its attention. The only realistic reason would be that he had a powerful quirk to take it out of commission.
Wilhelm continued to walk as he spoke to the Zero Pointer. "Try to take me on. You'll lose, you expired can of beef ravioli!"
The Zero Pointer turned to Wilhelm and it's eyes began to glow a brighter red. The robot raised back its fist, readying a punch, while The American teen stood there on top of a destroyed Three Pointer. Wilhelm stared the massive limb down as it was raised, and didn't blink as it was lowered. He kept his gaze on it, not moving at all as the first was being sent at him.
Everyone watching began to gain shock or confusion at the boldness of the kid not even moving as he was being attacked at something he was an ant in comparison to. It made everyone wonder what sort of power this kid had, if they hadn't already realized this kid had electric powers and those who did wondered how much he can discharge.
Wilhelm however was focusing on one thing; telling himself he can summon his power. He told himself that not only that he could, but that he had to. He had to be able to bring back his power and become stronger. He had to get stronger in order to make things right.
As he watched the mechanical fist get closer, he suddenly saw the flaming fist again, going for his heart.
"Wilhelm! R-Run!"
Wilhelm's smile was gone and a look of fear and panic covered his face. He began to feel small and weak.
He couldn't change that weakness.
The Zero Pointer unceremoniously struck Wilhelm, and sent the already stunned teen flying. He crashed into the ground and bounced off and into the side of a car shoulder first, dropping onto his now broken right arm as he hit the ground.
Everyone watching had gone silent for a second, the first to act was the Zero Pointer who turned to the other kids. It readjusted itself and began to move forward, and the kids remembered that they were originally running away from the behemoth of a machine and continued that idea.
Nezu sighed as he processed what he saw. Wilhelm wasn't just unable to use his power, he was unable to even move before the Zero Pointer struck him. The teen had frozen from trauma. Nezu saw that look the teen had gained, and knew for sure it was a reaction to the trauma he has recently faced. That confirmed that Wilhelm indeed had been there at the unfortunate death, and it affected his ability to use his gift.
The girl observing the exams showed no reaction to the turn of events, past muttering something about the teen being an idiot. She didn't know what sort of false bravado that guy had to possess to walk up to a villain bot of that magnitude and have the audacity to straight up freeze without any sort of action.
Wilhelm groaned as he rolled off of his broken shoulder, the teen breathing heavily from both the damage done to him, and the memory that has been triggered. He began to hyperventilate and feel his heart pounding, constantly hearing the ripping of flesh and the breaking of bones, and saw that fist covered in flames. The scarred teen began to choke from his inability to breathe and his eyes began to tear up. Wilhelm tried again to move, pushing himself up with his uninjured arm, and saw something in front of him that made him stop hyperventilating.
His hat, the old, worn and sunburnt thing he had kept all but glued to his person for years, lying just a few feet away from him. The hat had fallen off as he collided with the car moments ago. Wilhelm looked at the old piece of clothing and the memory of how he got it.
"... Dad?" A small child, Wilhelm when he was six years old, asked as he sat in a hospital bed. His voice was small as he looked to the man who sat at a seat near his hospital bed.
Arthur Tintreach looked at his son, his red eyes showing concern. "Yes?"
Wilhelm looked down at the bed, a place in the hospital he had been out after trying to stop a villain with a water quirk from hurting people. His mind focused on the event and he asked something he was almost ashamed of asking. "Is it okay to be afraid?"
"Of what?" Arthur had an idea he knew but his son was random at times so he had to ask.
"That jerk... I..." The child began to tear up. "I was just in the way. I was a wimp and didn't stop him."
"Wilhelm." The patriarch Tintreach leaned forward in his seat. "Don't ever call yourself a wimp. You showed a lot of bravery."
"I was scared the whole time."
"Being scared doesn't mean you weren't brave. Being brave is when you are scared and you still stand your ground. And don't say you were just in the way either. You stopped that guy from harming anyone else and led to his getting arrested. You were brave and pulled off the stuff of a hero right there."
"I did?" The child sounded more than doubtful of the claim.
"Oh definitely! You stopped a criminal from doing their criminal activities. You could very well be a Pro Hero like your mother was for a while." Arthur Tintreach had a smile as he mentioned his wife.
"I don't want to be a hero though... I want to be like you!" The young Tintreach didn't even attempt to be subtle or not completely oblivious about his favoritism and idolism of his father.
The patriarch laughed. "That's a good goal if I have to say, but don't toss away the hero business immediately. You have a knack for helping people."
"I guess..." Wilhelm went quiet as his mind went back to the encounter. He was still a little scared wimp when he tried to stop the criminal and he wanted to be less scared, like his father.
"Ya'know... I once did the same thing." Arthur saw the look his son had. "I tried to fight a villain when I was probably just two years older than you."
"You did?"
"Oh yea, nasty business too. This fella with the ability to turn his hands into giant blades tried to attack some people that I guess had to have ticked him off, and I got in the way."
"Were you scared too?"
"I'd be insane not to be. He was a good seven feet tall and didn't think twice about trying to slice me up." Arthur recounted his past. "I still knew I had to do what I did, and I have this to remind me of that." As he spoke he took off his baseball cap, a plain black hat with thick line of stitching on the front, he had used to cover up a scar that went from near his hairline above his left eyebrow towards that side's ear, right under where the stitching was.
"You got hurt!" The kid expertly observed.
"Nah it's nothing now, not like that mark you got on your jaw now." The Tintreach patriarch waved off concern. "That's a mark of trying to do the right thing btw, a symbol of your good heart."
Wilhelm touched the bandages on his face where he heard a doctor say that he was badly burnt and it should leave a noticeable scar. At that point the kid didn't think to question how a water villain gave him a burn scar, he didn't even remember half of the encounter because he had gone unconscious and a doctor suggested trauma from near death caused a loss of memory.
"We both have scars... I am more like you!" Wilhelm focused on that part.
Arthur gave out a hearty chuckle at his son's nature. "Yea, we both stood up to nasty types and got scars for doing the right thing. How about I even give you the hat so you have one as well?"
"The hat?" The child asked as the said object was plopped onto his head by his father. "Yep! I wore this hat the day I had to stand my ground against my villain. It was ripped through when that guy tried to open my head, that's why the stitching is there. I like to think the hat saved my head from being more sliced open and I kept it as a lucky hat. It made me feel more confident to have this reminder of how I stood my ground in a tough situation, so maybe it can help you too."
"The hat can make me less scared?"
"It did for me. Every time I felt worried I'd remember that hat and why it was on my head, and feel more sure of myself. It's a hat of courage to me, and when you see the hat you can think about how you also stood your ground, despite being just as afraid as I was back then."
The child has stars for eyes at the excitement he had gained as he took off the hat to look at it. "Thank you dad!"
"It's what I do. Just remember that it's okay to be afraid Wilhelm." Arthur circled back to his son's earlier concern. "Fear is natural to bad situations. But you have bravery, which is standing your ground no matter how scared you are. That's a powerful trait and I want you to always remember that. If you're as knuckleheaded as I am that bravery will do you good."
The kid nodded. "The hat makes me brave! Got it!"
"I mean, you were brave before you got it kid. It's a reminder to look at whatever is making you afraid and to shout with all your heart that-"
The Zero Pointer of Test Site Seven had moved closer to the fleeing students and began to raise an arm to smack a building onto them, when something stopped everyone again for the second time in the last minute.
"HEY!"
A teen yelling as loud as he could made the Zero Pointer, the other kids in his test site, and the staff watching the tests all look in his direction.
Wilhelm, having stood up, was holding his hat in his hand. He glared at the robot with a new fire in his eyes. He showed little concern for his limb right arm, the blood pouring from a cut on his forehead, or how he had to lean on one leg. Instead he yelled again once he had the Zero Pointer's attention.
"I'M STILL STANDING!" The teen snapped as he put his hat back on his head.
In acknowledgement of that fact, the robot turned itself to completely face the teen. It began to raise a fist just it had done before, and Wilhelm moved forward.
The teen rushed up to the machine, not caring about all the fear he had about everything that had happened to him recently. In that moment he focused on still standing, and moving towards this obstacle in his way. He had to focus on what the hat stood for, and ignore everything else if he wanted to keep standing. Not just standing anymore, he jumped with a massive leap that was beyond what his strength should have given. As he jumped, Wilhelm had gained a lime green glow in his eyes as his irises changed from blue to green. He didn't notice the change and all the same, threw a punch of his own at the head of the Zero Pointer.
To everyone's shock, the building sized robot was thrown backwards, actually moving a few inches off the ground, as its head was crushed in, and shortly blew up from the inner workings being smashed.
Nezu let out a whoop as he finally got to see the power in action. It was possibly more amazing than he imagined it to be! With that kind of power it made it all the better that the kid had found himself at U.A., possibly one of the best places for him to learn how to use that gift for becoming a Pro Hero. He turned to Aizawa to see what the man was thinking, and saw a less than excited look as opposed to his own.
"He hesitated." Aizawa saw the look he received and gave a dry response.
The girl also watching the exams had a wide eyed expression. She was shocked, absolutely flabbergasted, by what she saw. She hadn't seen anyone actually use that kind of force behind a punch last people like actual, already licensed, heroes.
What's more confusing was what she saw on a replay. Thinking she saw something odd she had replayed the moment the kid attacked the Zero Pointer, and confirmed a thought she almost brushed off as a figment of her imagination.
That guy didn't even touch the Zero Pointer! The cameras of the exam caught what normal sight couldn't, and saw a wave of almost completely transparent energy come off of the teen and hit the machine before the teen could. Whatever he did was energy manipulation of an incredible degree.
She looked at his face again and practically threw files around trying to find his, and found it near the bottom.
"Wilhelm Tintreach... Crestwood, Indiana." She read his name and where he was from, gaining an answer to why he yelled at the Zero Pointer in English. She looked for his quirk and saw two names, something else that made her gain more surprise. The first one was simple electric conduction, which was decent on its own, but didn't get her attention like the information of the other quirk. Or more correctly the lack of information, as it was all removed save for the name. A name that made more questions than answers pop into her head, and made her believe that he is a person of interest.
Soul Manifestation.
In a different test site, kids looked on in awe as a single student, wielding a sword covered with flames, stood on top of that site's Zero Pointer. He did not hesitate when the imposing machine arrived, and without a scratch gained had managed to slice it down expertly.
Right after throwing that incredible strike, Wilhelm lost the lime glow to his eyes, and began to fall to the ground. As he was falling he tried to figure out how to lessen the impact of falling fifty meters, at least, and avoid breaking even more bones than he already had broken.
He came up with no idea, and it luckily didn't matter when he was grabbed out of the air by another student who had swing up to him and caught him.
"That was crazy man!" The guy shouted as he swung them both to the ground. This guy had swung up by using what looked like tape from his elbows, which had an odd cylinder shape to them. "I thought you were crazy crazy for just standing there when it first smacked you but that second time was bananas!"
"I didn't think one basic punch would make it's head blow up." Wilhelm tried to stand up on his own, and almost fell over from how injured his right leg had become. Thankfully the other student grabbed his good shoulder to keep Wilhelm upright.
"You call that basic?!" The other kid gained shock and enthusiasm at the same time. "Damn you gotta have insane strength man!"
The American teen looked back at the Zero Pointer, which had collapsed against/through a building just down the street, and then actually processed the last few moments. He had been so in his head to realize that he had used his power, the one inherited from his father. For a second he was more focused than the entire test and last few weeks, and pushed past his fear to achieve the use of his power. He questioned how he was able to jump like that with his power but didn't question it as he realized that he absolutely used it successfully for the first time in weeks. "I guess I do. Didn't think I actually had it in me. I was kinda just wanting to punch it and release lightning into it."
"Not even necessary, ha!" The other teen laughed.
"Guess so, thanks for catching me man. I was gonna become a pancake if you didn't." The electric teen stood on his own now, leaning on his left leg since it was in better condition.
"No problem at all, I had to save you because waffles are better." The guy had a grin as he spoke.
"A man of culture!" Wilhelm gasped. "I must introduce myself properly. I am Wilhelm Tintreach!"
"I'm Sero Hanta." The tape using teen introduced himself just as enthusiastically, holding out his free hand to shake Wilhelm's.
"IT'S ALL OVER!" Present Mic announced over the speakers, signifying the end of the test's time.
"That was fun." Hanta grinned as he looked back towards the area where the kid's had originally started the exam, and then back to his new friend. "Nice meeting you man."
"Good work everyone." A small, old lady spoke as she walked through everyone. He stopped at Wilhelm and Hanta. The lady had on a doctor's lab coat on top of a dress with yellow and red vest-like designs. She also had a cane designed like a syringe that she was walking with. "Well done. Have some candy." She held out her hand which presumably had candy in it.
Hanta put out his hand and took the candy while looking slightly confused about getting candy. "Thanks?"
The lady looked at Wilhelm. "Oh dear, you really let that thing give you a whooping. I don't approve of taking serious damage like that."
"I wanted to see how a concussion felt." The teen replied.
"They're no fun." She commented and the for some reason just kissed Wilhelm's arm that was dangling right next to her. "That should help."
Wilhelm was about to question it before he actually felt his arm, and the rest of him, begin to feel tons better than it had before the Zero Pointer. In fact his arm actually straightened itself out and the bone didn't feel nearly as broken anymore. He realized her quirk healed him and immediately looked at her. "Thanks Ma'am!"
"Have some candy." The woman responded with a smile and dropped some gummies into Wilhelm's hand. "My quirk will make you feel tired." She began to walk away to other kids, talking about candy and their conditions.
The American teen looked to his new friend and spoke. "Who was that?
"You don't know Recovery Girl?!" A nearby student asked in shock. "She's like the backbone of this school! Her healing quirk allows for insane stuff like these exams."
"Can I pull the foreigner card to cover my stupidity?" The foreigner asked.
"I'm from Japan and I didn't even know that." Hanta commented.
"I couldn't even tell you about the big hero schools from my actual country." Wilhelm laughed at himself.
Hanta looked at the area around them, and saw the kids who were already heading back for the entrance to the site where the bus back to the main campus was waiting. "Well it's time to head on back. Would be neat to cross paths again if we both passed."
"Yea, it was nice meeting you Sero." Wilhelm rolled his shoulder that had fixed itself for the most part. He held out his hand for a fist bump.
"Likewise." His new friend met the bump with his own fist. Right after that, Hanta left to get to the bus on his own, while Wilhelm stayed back a second.
Wilhelm turned back to the destroyed robot, and gained a light smile at how he had used his power again. He mentally tried to activate the power again, and felt nothing happen. His smile lessened but didn't disappear. He still had a reason to smile because now he knew for sure that he still had the inherited power of his family, it just needed work to get back to normal again. So all he had to do was work on that while he worked on becoming stronger to be able to return home. That was enough reassurance for Wilhelm to keep his smile, because his future looked bright from that moment onwards.
Thursday, September 21st, year 20XX
Ichigo froze up. The second he saw the impact, the flaming fist, go right through his friend's chest. The echoing sound of flesh tearing, and bones crunching ringing in his ears. After everything he had done to prevent this from happening, seeing the sight broke something inside of him. All he was able to do was yell, with a broken voice, the name of his fallen friend.
"WILHELM!"
A/N: That's the end of the pilot chapter, took me way longer than I'd like to make a chapter, this story was in the works for over a year and a half, but it's now started. This story is meant to follow seven kids, all who were present in this chapter, who are created by me and six people from Discord. So if you actually wanna ever talk to the people, they're on the server from the link in my bio.
Wilhelm's Soul Manifestation quirk is actually a power that is heavily inspired by/references another anime's power system. If anyone can figure it out prior to the full reveal, I'll find it quite bizarre.
Just a note because I want to make sure, but the event at the beginning of the chapter is the same as the one at the end. I figure people can solve that themselves but I figured to mention it here if anyone is confused.
Not much more to say past hopes for this story's success, since it's a group project with some homies. Hope you enjoyed this chapter, let me know how it was and have a good day!