Prologue III

The whispers were loud.

"Look, there she is again."

"Where did she come from again? Karuizawa?"

"I think so, yeah. Can't she go back there? She's so weird."

"You know, Ana-chan tried to talk to her yesterday, and she didn't respond at all. She just sat there with that same face, like she couldn't even hear her!"

"Eh, seriously?! But everyone likes Ana."

"I know, right? It's so weird. She's so weird, we shouldn't get close to her. She's like a robot or something, I swear."

"Seriously though, why did she even come here? Do you think it's because she got kicked out of her old school?"

"Stop it, that's so mean!"

"I'm just saying! It wouldn't be impossible, right? You know, she's got the look of…um, you know, a villain! Like she could kill you with one look or something—oh! Do you think that's what her Quirk is? Is she secretly planning on killing us all?!"

"You're so ridiculous! She's not a villain, a villain would do a better job of fitting in than that—"

The whispers were loud. The paper in her hands crinkled slightly when her grip tightened, and she frowned slightly before smoothing it back out. Still, her hands trembled slightly, and she clenched them in an attempt to stifle the movement. Her silver eyes stared a hole into her homework, as if trying to light it on fire with her glare alone, and she thought venomously, I can hear you, you know…

"Are you the new student?"

She only barely suppressed a sigh. Were they going to say it to her face now? Well, she'd already heard everything anyway, so they might as well. Resigning herself, she turned her gaze upward and was startled upon immediately meeting the bright vermillion eyes smiling down on her. The other girl was in her face almost immediately, and she leaned back instinctively.

"Um—"

"Sorry, sorry! I didn't mean for it to come out like that! I was just curious, because I was gone yesterday when you transferred in, so I wanted to say hi, that's all! Ah! Is that the math homework from today?! Wooow, you actually understood Miji-sensei's lecture?! Can you help me with it?!"

…what was going on?

"Oh silly me, I didn't even introduce myself, did I? I'm—"

The volume was muted all of a sudden. She could see the other girl's lips moving, but she couldn't hear any sound coming out, and she could only stare in bewilderment. The chatter around them faded slowly into incomprehensible and fuzzy background noise, and yet she still couldn't hear the words coming out of the girl's mouth, no matter how hard she tried—

BEEP. BEEP. BEEP. BEEP.

Tatsumi Mikita groaned at the shrill sound of her alarm and blindly reached out to smack the offending source. She squinted blearily at the red digits for at least forty seconds before the numbers finally registered in her head, and without another moment to spare, forcefully pushed herself up, rubbing the grogginess from her eyes harshly.

Of all of the days for her body to decide to wake her up on time and not two hours before…

But then, that might have had something to do with the fact that it had refused to shut down until 3 AM last night too, so there wasn't much she could do about that.

She went about her morning routine calmly but quickly. It was when she was washing her face that she caught sight of her reflection in the mirror and pursed her lips slightly. It's going to be a new beginning, she told herself. She grabbed the first hair tie she saw and swiftly pulled her silver hair into a high ponytail. Then she immediately grimaced and yanked it out again, figuring she could decide what to do with the wavy mess when the practical exam actually came around. She shoved the drawer shut again and briefly met her own ashen-grey eyes in the mirror in a silent promise. And I'm going to make the best of it. I'll become the greatest hero, you'll see…

So…

"Mikita?"

Her mom's voice carried up the stairs, and she pulled herself away to gather any remaining things and make her way downstairs with a quiet "I'm here."

Tatsumi Kanade smiled gently at her daughter, setting a plate of eggs and bacon on the table. "There you are. Did you sleep well?"

Mikita nodded wordlessly, as both an answer and as thanks, sitting down and picking up the fork. Kanade smiled and reached over to ruffle her daughter's hair lightly.

"That's good. So today's your big day! How are you feeling?"

Mikita took a moment to weigh her emotions. How was she feeling? At her mom's gentle prodding, she stabbed a piece of egg and stuck it in her mouth to eat as she was contemplating, and eventually came up with, "I'm not sure…kind of excited, maybe. But I won't let that get in the way; I'm going to be a great hero, and I…" She faltered, and then finished weakly, "I'll make you proud, Mom."

She ducked her head to avoid her mother's sad smile, sticking another piece of her breakfast into her mouth dutifully. Both mother and daughter were quiet as Mikita ate, and it wasn't long before she pushed the plate aside with a quiet "Thanks for the food."

"Of course." Taking the dismissal, Mikita picked up her bag and headed to the front door, reaching for her shoes. But she stilled again when her mom called her name again, turning her head with a questioning tilt. Kanade smiled gently and reached forward to pull her daughter into a tight embrace as she murmured into Mikita's hair, "You'll do great, I'm sure of it. And remember that no matter what happens, I'll always be proud of you."

Something in Mikita's chest swelled at the words, and she found herself even more determined than before. When she pulled away, there was a small smile gracing her face for the first time that day, as small as it may be.

"Thank you," she said just a tad bit hoarsely, and then ducked her head and quickly moved to put her shoes on. Then, with a slightly wider smile, her ashen-grey eyes light with determination, she said clearly, "I'll be leaving now."

"Follow me."

"…yes, sir."

Naito Kaname ducked her head and obediently followed the guard down the hallway. Everything felt fuzzy and surreal, and she watched dully as her feet planted themselves one in front of the other, monotonously. She still wasn't quite sure that this was happening. It had been a week since that interview, and she'd just started thinking that the mention of a 'reform program' had just been a scam, or that she hadn't been worthy of it—

"Oi, hurry up and get in. We don't have all day."

Kaname looked up and realized they'd entered a dimly lit garage that she assumed was underground, given the stairs she'd traveled, and she swallowed thickly at the sight of the car the prison guard was gesturing her into impatiently. Still, she pushed down her discomfort and climbed inside wordlessly, not wanting to receive another sharp reprimand.

"Oh, hello!"

Kaname startled, and once the car door had slammed shut behind her, instinctively inched closer to it before nodding at the brown-haired girl sitting across from her. The girl smiled kindly, and Kaname nodded back respectfully. She'd hoped that would be the end of that, but to her dismay, the brunette pushed on with the conversation.

"Nice to meet you! My name's Otome Nadeshiko! What's yours?"

She glanced warily at the separator standing between the front and back seats. It wouldn't hurt to respond, she supposed. "Naito Kaname…"

Nadeshiko nodded before commenting lightly, "This all feels kinda strange, doesn't it, Naito? I never thought I'd end up here…Have you been here long?"

Kaname's heart ached at the question. "Yeah," she whispered a bit hoarsely.

Nadeshiko's smile was sad, and she turned to look out the window just as sunlight hit the window. Kaname turned her head to look out her window as well, letting her dark pink pupils greedily absorb the light, a childish awe spreading across her face. Somehow, being able to see the sunlight from inside the moving car was…different. And have the trees always been that vibrant? The green blurring past her window was beautiful, and she wondered if it was a psychological difference or simply because it was spring. Speaking of spring, would she get to see cherry blossoms again? She'd almost forgotten that they were a thing; it had been so long since she'd last seen them…

She pressed closer to the glass subconsciously, bright eyes taking in every bit of the new scenery unfolding around her. Everything felt so…surreal.

What would she do if it all ended up being a dream? Her heart skipped a beat at the horrifying thought. It was so unreal, it all almost felt like a dream… What would she do then, if it really were just a figment of her imagination? Would she…would she be able to handle it? She tried to shake her head, but she found that her body wasn't cooperating with her, simply continuing to stare passively out the window, greedily drinking in every sight of the blurring outdoors. No, she couldn't think about that…even if it were just a dream, she might be able to—

No. No, no, no.

She was finally able to move her head. With a jerky motion, she looked away from the window reluctantly, glancing down at her hands instead, and—oh, she hadn't realized she'd been clenching her hand so tightly—she gently loosened her stiff fingers absently, rubbing at the indents her nails had left on her palm. Thankfully, the action forcibly pulled her from her paranoid thoughts, and she breathed in a shaky breath to calm herself.

"—ito, we've arrived."

Kaname startled at the sudden voice, and a quick glance around showed that the car had stopped, currently parked in front of a large building, which she assumed was the school. (How long had it been? It had only felt like a second). Nadeshiko had crossed over to her side of the car at some point, holding the door open and gently patting her shoulder to get her attention, and Kaname quickly unbuckled her seatbelt and hurried out of the car upon noticing the driver's irritated expression. The car drove off without even a moment's hesitation, kicking a blast of exhaust pipe smoke into both girls' faces, and Kaname couldn't curb her irritation at the rude driver.

Nadeshiko was clearly just as upset, pouting as she brushed off her clothes and complained loudly, "Hey! What was that for?!" When she noticed Kaname looking at her curiously, all signs of annoyance were instantly gone from her face as she beamed a bright, almost contagious smile. "It's nice to be outdoors again, isn't it?"

Kaname felt a hint of guilt and embarrassment wash through her as she realized that the girl had been sitting beside her for the entire duration of the car ride and she'd barely even acknowledged it. If Nadeshiko had said anything in the car, it had gone right over her head. "Yeah," She said now, turning to look at the building they had been dropped off in front of. "Where are we?"

"It must be the school, right?" Nadeshiko commented, and Kaname couldn't understand how she looked so cheerful. "It was, um, what was it called again?"

"Shinraikai Academy," A new voice answered for her, drawing both girls' attention to the man who had spoken. He was leaning against the pillar at the entrance casually, and Kaname couldn't be certain whether he had been standing there all along or he had just come out from inside. He smiled easily when he saw them, moving to greet them. Her dark pink eyes instinctively followed the long braid that swished as he moved before being drawn back to his face when he spoke again. "It's good to see you again, Naito and Otome, yes?"

"Yes, sir," both girls said, although Nadeshiko's tone was notably more chipper.

"Sensei will be fine," the man, who Kaname abruptly remembered had introduced himself as Renjou Hijiri a week back when he had visited her in the Institution, remarked. Hijiri-sensei, he'd said. He turned to lead them both inside. "Follow me. You're the last ones to arrive, and I'm a little pissed that they delayed it for so long, to be frank. Well, whatever, it's not your fault, and you're here now. How do you feel? No injuries or sicknesses? They weren't too rough with you?"

"No, we're fine," Nadeshiko said.

"Great, because you're just in time for the entrance exam!"

"E-Entrance exam?" Kaname stammered nervously. "Now?"

"Well, I say entrance exam because that's officially what it is, but I guess the roster has already been decided, technically speaking," Hijiri explained as he led them down an extremely high-tech hallway that Kaname would have marveled at more if her stomach weren't trying to tie itself in knots. "It's more of a way for us to gauge your skills and your character more, and it makes it easier for your future teacher to make lesson plans. But it's structured a bit like a normal hero school entrance exam. There will be a written part, but that's mostly just to check your academic level. We're really more interested in your practical exam scores, so I wouldn't stress too much about it. Just give it the best you've got; I'll give you a few minutes to prepare if you need it."

His tone was far too nonchalant for the nausea that was starting to build up in Kaname's stomach. When they had first approached her about the idea, she had been so grateful and so desperate for a second chance. She wanted to attempt to make up for all the damage she had caused. She wanted to stop being afraid all the time. She wanted to see her father and her sister again, and not from the prison center. She…She wanted her father and her sister to be proud of her.

But…as she followed the pro hero and her possible future headmaster down the hallway, she didn't feel anything except dread as she realized that she would have to use her Quirk again—the same Quirk that had ripped her entire neighborhood apart while she was asleep.

"HOLY FUCKING SHIT!"

Wamizaki Reiden winced at the sudden shout that rang out in the hallway. He, along with basically everyone around him, turned in the direction of the girl's voice, although he couldn't see her from the number of people gathered between them. While a majority of the crowd quickly lost interest and continued moving toward their destination (the auditorium), Reiden, his curiosity piqued, cut sideways and headed in the direction of the noise.

The source of the shout was easy enough to find. After he'd pushed through the stampede of nervous exam takers, his eye immediately caught on the short pink-haired girl standing near the wall, eyes wide and sparkling as she stared upward. There was no mistaking her identity, because as he moved closer, he could still see her mouthing words to herself that had him immediately cringing again upon realizing that they were all various cuss words on repeat.

"Excuse me," He drew her attention to him by placing himself next to her pointedly, "but I don't think you should be cursing in the hallways of a school building, even if we aren't officially in school yet."

The girl turned tomato red. She clamped her hands over her mouth with an embarrassed squeak, and her words rushed out in a hurry, "Sorry, sorry! I didn't mean to, I just—look at that!" She pointed at the top of the hallway wall, where high-tech, clear computer screens lined about the top fourth of the wall. "Those are—this is—I didn't expect a hero school to be so high-tech, and this is so cool!"

Reiden couldn't help but be amused at her enthusiasm. "Didn't you see them coming in?"

The girl shook her head vigorously, her low twintails slapping some passing students in the chest at the motion. "I was too nervous for the exam and didn't bother to look up, I guess. I'm not very good at the written part…but now I have to do well on the practical exam portion so I can make it into this school, because who doesn't want to be in a school that has that all over their entire building?!"

"Are you interested in technology?" He asked curiously. They were going to be left behind by the crowd at this rate, so he continued down the hallway, prompting the girl to follow.

"Are you kidding?! Who isn't?!" The girl was bouncing excitedly as she walked now, her arms flailing. "I mean, I play a lot of video games, so the quality of that screen is kind of a dream for me, you know? Oh! Do you play any games?! You look kinda familiar, actually, and that white hair…have I—shit, I haven't even introduced myself, have I? I'm Saionji Ayana; people often tell me I talk too much so feel free to shut me up or call me out on it if I do!"

"No, you're fine," Reiden assured her quickly. Truthfully, she was coming on a bit strong considering his only friend growing up had been his sister, but he wasn't about to tell her that. Besides, her enthusiasm was contagious, in a way. "I'm Wamizaki Reiden—"

"No fucking way, I knew you looked familiar!" Ayana interrupted. Reiden winced at the reaction, having hoped to stay on the down low at least for a while, but oh well. He should've expected a gamer girl to recognize him. "That Wamizaki? Of Anzen'naie? The number one global data and tech company? The same one that sponsored the creation of this very school?!" Her voice rose in both pitch and volume with every statement. At his nod, she barreled on, "Wow, that's so cool! Ah, I guess that seeing that quality of technology isn't anything new to you then—you're so lucky! Are you sure you don't play any games? I'd love to play with you sometime—hwaaaa! Fuckity, what?!"

Wow, this girl swore a lot. Reiden would have tried to advise her against it again, feeling rather uncomfortable around it, but he had a feeling that his advice would go unheeded just like his previous one. Besides, his attention was caught instead on the black-haired boy that had suddenly appeared from an adjacent hallway and crashed right into the small girl, nearly sending them both toppling. Actually, scratch that—they did topple. Reiden winced.

The boy stood first, a cheeky grin on his face as he reached down to offer Ayana a hand. "Whoa, sorry. Didn't see you there, shorty."

Ayana, who was a full head shorter than the boy, glared something murderous up at him and threatened, "Say that again and I'll break your knees, fucking giraffe."

The boy laughed easily and quipped without missing a beat, "Why, cause that's the only part of my body that you can actually reach, shorty?"

"You won't be taller than me when I put you six feet under," Ayana hissed, and Reiden figured that height was a touchy subject for her. "We'll see who's laughing then."

Figuring that it would be best to intervene before it escalated, Reiden put on his best authoritative voice that he knew would be effective as he scolded them both, "That's enough. It was an accident, and technically…um."

He glanced at the black-haired boy for his name, and it was only after a dramatic sigh that he received it: "Shishikawa. Shishikawa Jin."

"Nice to meet you, Shishikawa. I'm Wamizaki Reiden, and she's Saionji Ayana. Anyway, as I was saying, technically Shishikawa apologized," Reiden continued pragmatically. "Saionji can't help her height—"

"I'll fucking murder you!"

"—and that's not something we need to comment on. More importantly, we're going to be late to the debriefing if we don't hurry."

"Oh, right!" Ayana exclaimed, switching back to her hyper mode within a second. "We should hurry—"

"No running in the hallways!" Reiden insisted, and Ayana skidded to a halt before picking back up at a speed walking pace that barely passed as walking.

"Come on, do you have to be so uptight?" Jin drawled from next to him. "It's not like we're even in school yet. Don't be such a disciplinarian."

"I'm not," Reiden frowned skeptically. As he glanced over at the boy another time, he couldn't help but notice that Jin had maintained the same casual, slightly mischievous smile the whole time, and there was something about the smile that bothered him but he couldn't place a finger on what it was so he let it slide. "I just think it would be good to make the rules into habits, whether or not they are in place yet."

Jin just snorted. "Yeah, sure, whatever."

Reiden could hear his dad's voice echoing in his head at the response: "Listen Reiden, above all else, you must maintain discipline. Always abide by your morals, take responsibility for your actions, and never stray from what is right."

As Reiden went to respond to Jin's careless dismissal, a flash of pink caught his attention from the corner of his eye and he reluctantly turned his attention away from Jin to call out, "Saionji, you're going the wrong way."

"Huh, I am?!" Ayana popped out from the left turn she had just made at the intersection, looking utterly baffled. "This place is such a maze, everything looks the same!"

"You're just really bad at directions, aren't you?" Jin said wryly.

"I mean yeah, that too," Ayana agreed without hesitation. "You don't want to know how many times I've walked out of a public restroom and immediately turned the wrong way. I even got lost in my own neighborhood once, that was horrible. I had to call my mom for help because shitty Google Maps be shitty and maybe I'm really bad at reading maps even if it is digital okay whatever, and then I found out that I was literally in the street behind my house. Wait, you say that like I'm that much worse than you! Didn't you come from a completely different hallway earlier?!"

"Maybe I did, but I'm definitely not as bad as you after hearing that," Jin retorted.

Reiden cleared his throat and interrupted, "We're here."

He pushed the door open and was relieved to find that the room was still dark and filled with chatter, clearly having yet to begin. The three of them quietly slid into the nearest open seats, and the moment they did, there was a flash of light that had the crowd of students complaining and protecting their eyes. Reiden, being used to it, simply fixed his gaze on the large projection that had appeared at the front of the stage, realizing guiltily that they must have been the last ones. He silently reprimanded himself for getting sidetracked and delayed so much, even if it hadn't really been his fault.

There was a swirl of pink on the projection, followed by an explosion of hearts and confetti. A pink ribbon appeared at the bottom, barely visible, and Reiden frowned because it looked familiar but he couldn't remember—realization dawned on him then, and he could only stare in shock. No way, don't tell me…

A brunette peeked up from the bottom of the projection, and a cheerful voice echoed around the auditorium from the speakers. "Guess who~? Surprise!" An AI girl jumped out on screen. She had bouncy brown hair tied in a ponytail with a pink ribbon, and she wore a cute pink Lolita-style dress.

Gasps rang out around the auditorium as several students registered her identity, although there were about as many who didn't recognize her, Reiden noticed.

Still, none of them were as loud as Ayana's piercing shriek of "Fucking hell, is that Ai-chan?!"

Well, that was boring, Nijima Akeno thought to herself, barely refraining from rolling her eyes. She ran her gaze over the dorm corridor skeptically. The fancy screens lining the walls were cool, but she didn't understand why they were there. If they were only there for announcements or something, it would make more sense to just have a monitor every so often. This just seemed extra and unnecessary, and she couldn't figure out why it was designed that way in the dorms of all places.

Perhaps it was an extra security measure? She thought to herself absently. But for who? For us…or against us?

Well, whatever. She finished her exploration of the dorm that she and the 14 other reform students were staying at and cheerily made her way towards the lobby room or whatever it was called that they were supposed to gather at within ten minutes.

Pushing open the door, she noticed that there was already someone there despite the written exam having only ended a few minutes ago. She was a small girl curled up in the corner of the couch, with wavy, pale brown hair tied in a low side ponytail and large, round grey eyes. The girl looked up at the sound, blinking owlishly, and Akeno immediately thought to herself with a bit of a mental sneer, She looks pure…innocent…so easy to corrupt~ I wonder what a girl like her is doing here~

Without hesitation, Akeno moved to sit herself next to the girl, smiling brightly and greeting, "Hello there! I'm Nijima Akeno, what's your name?"

"Kayo," The girl said, her tone so soft that Akeno almost had to lean in to hear her properly. "Koge Kayo…"

"Nice to meet you, Kayo-chan! Is it alright if I call you that?"

There was no hesitation as Kayo smiled and agreed, "Of course."

"Hm…you can call me Pi-chan! That's what all my friends call me~"

"Okay, Pi-chan~"

So she doesn't know, Akeno thought to herself. But then, she seems like the type that even if she knew, she wouldn't bring it up, so I can't say for sure. Well, either way, let's have some fun while it lasts~

"So Kayo-chan, what do you think about all of this?" She asked, and when Kayo only continued to smile, a confused glint in her eyes, Akeno frowned mentally, even as she kept her cheerful expression on her face outwardly. Something about the girl was ringing alarm bells in her head, although she wasn't sure why exactly. Instinctively, she continued, "Honestly, I think this entire thing is a little silly to me. Everyone is talking so much about regret and second chances and all that…as if it's that easy."

You want it too, a second chance, a tiny part of her said. She squashed it immediately, because that was ridiculous.

"Yeah…you're right," Kayo said calmly. A little too calmly to match the words coming out of her mouth. "It does all seem a bit silly, doesn't it~?"

This caught Akeno a little off guard, and she understood where the alarm bells had come from earlier. There's no way she…no one can be that easy.

The door opened again, and, annoyed, Akeno turned her attention away from Kayo over to the newcomer. The dark-haired girl in the doorway immediately scowled upon seeing her, a sentiment that was wholeheartedly mutual. Still, Akeno maintained her cheery disposition and was on her feet in a moment, because the girl already had a whole six inches on her in height, and she certainly didn't want the other girl to be towering over her.

"Of course, out of all people, it had to be you here," The girl bit out in a low, growling voice.

"Come on, don't be so mean, Tooka-chan~" Akeno pouted, injecting just the slightest bit of a mocking tone into the girl's name. "We're all friends here, aren't we~?"

If it was possible, Tooka's inky black gaze darkened even further, and Akeno was pretty sure that if looks could kill, she'd have been dead ten times over. She cackled internally at the thought. "No, we aren't, and don't call me that."

"Oh? What would you rather I call you then, Miss Mercury Queen?" Akeno relished in the way Tooka gritted her teeth. It was her fault for taking the bait, after all. Her multicolored eyes glittered with mischief as she pretended not to notice it and moved closer so that she could lower her voice and murmur quietly, "Or perhaps…a rabid dog off her leash, miss murderer?"

"I haven't killed anyone…yet," Tooka's lip curled slightly, thinly veiled disgust clear in her inky eyes. "But you're about to have the honor of being my first. I'd rather think it would be doing the world a favor, don't you? You self-proclaimed Shinjuku Queen of Depravity."

Self-proclaimed?! Akeno demanded in her head. I'll have you know that the entire district and further knows who I am!

She clenched her fist slightly to control herself, and then relaxed her body with a single exhale. It was with a smile that she said with forced casualness, "Now, now, Tooka-chan~ There's no need to be so scary~ We're going to be together for the entire school year, after all! How about we call a truce, hm~?"

She held out her hand in a gesture of peace.

As expected, Tooka saw right through it (a pity), and Akeno instinctively leaped backward upon spotting the flash of black appearing in Tooka's hand—

"Not that this little dick-measuring competition isn't entertaining and all," a new voice pitched into the room, "but can you at least take it away from the doorway? I'd be more than happy to watch you two duke it out from the couch if you must."

When did she get here and how much of that did she hear? Akeno's eyes narrowed slightly as she focused on the girl who stepped into the room the moment Tooka moved aside. She didn't seem to be anything special, although Akeno's inner artist had to give props to the way the gold streaks in her black hair complimented her eyes perfectly.

She must be just another normal delinquent, Akeno deduced after having finished scanning her over and not recognizing her at all.

"Sorry about that~!" She giggled in false nervousness, waving at the newcomer from around Tooka. "Tooka-chan and I are…old friends, you see~"

The new girl looked completely unimpressed as she trodded her way over to the couch and plopped down near Kayo without any hesitation, simply giving her a bored, "Sure."

Jeez, were all of her classmates going to be this boring? Akeno sighed to herself, making it as dramatic as possible to disguise the true feelings behind it. "You two are mean," she declared with a pout, throwing herself next to Kayo and wrapping her arms around the smaller girl. "Fine then, Kayo-chan will talk to me! Neeee, Kayo-chan~?"

Kayo smiled easily and genuinely, as if nothing had happened and Akeno had been talking to her this whole time. "Of course, Pi-chan."

Dangerous, Akeno couldn't help but think even as she launched into a random ramble about some of the funny things she had seen before, Kayo nodding along attentively. This girl is dangerous.

"Fucking hell, is that Ai-chan?!"

Basically every head turned to face the girl whose voice echoed through the auditorium, and Makoto Obi only barely caught sight of a blob of pink hair before she had ducked back down and vanished from his sight. He cringed in secondhand embarrassment even as the AI called Ai-chan giggled and chirped in her fluttery voice, "Pin-pon~ That's correct! Although please refrain from bad language next time, okay~?"

Her words drew a smatter of laughter across the crowd, but Mako's attention was turned back to the projection at the front. He couldn't say he didn't understand the girl's reaction, though; he was also in a little disbelief that he was face to face with the Ai-chan—

"Ai-chan? Who's that?"

Mako bristled slightly upon hearing a boy's voice from nearby. How could you not know who Ai-chan was in this day and age?

There was a sudden squishy poke on his forehead, and he flinched, reflexively slapping it away. He couldn't help but stare at the offending orange tentacle in mild bewilderment, following its path back to the girl's head on his direct right that it sprouted from. His gaze naturally met the girl's apologetic teal eyes as she reached up to curl the strand of her hair—the tentacle—around her hand, likely in an attempt to control it.

"Sorry about that," She said softly, her voice a calming soprano. "It doesn't usually do that. It might be because there's too many people here."

"Er, no, it's fine," Mako said awkwardly. He wasn't sure what to make of her wriggling hair only barely held down by a blue bandana, but he figured it was best to keep his mouth shut either way.

"You seem like you're familiar with her," The girl commented. "Is she an AI?"

Ah, he must have said that out loud then earlier…oops.

Mako made a noise that was a little too much like a scoff for his comfort. "She's only the most complex and sophisticated AI to have ever been designed in history; of course I know of her. No one knows where she came from, but she suddenly appeared on the Internet about five years ago and instantly became the most popular Internet idol and cybersecurity app. She was capable about doing just about anything for you as long as you asked: make a phone call, defend against viruses, and even just run all your programs as you wanted without you having to move a finger. She was basically a much more high-tech, high-quality, interactive Siri in some ways—a personal AI living in your phone. But as suddenly as she appeared, she disappeared about two years back, and no one has heard from her since."

Mako was cringing to himself internally the moment the words left his mouth. That was probably not the right tone for a social conversation. No, that was definitely not the right tone—why did he always do this? Great, now she was going to react like every other person, either with a huff or a sneer and possibly even a mutter of "I was just asking, jeez"—

"Oh, I didn't know. I'm not really much of a technology person, to be honest, but that's really cool," The girl smiled kindly. "Do you like this kind of thing? You seem very passionate about it."

—um, what.

Mako blinked twice, a bit astonished at the unexpectedly gentle reaction. Then he flushed in mild embarrassment and muttered, "It's common knowledge, really—"

"Kishi," The white-haired boy sitting on Tentacle Girl's other side interrupted, giving Mako a slight frown. Mako wondered for a moment if he was going to get something insulting before his eyes flickered back to the girl (Kishi, Mako assumed) with a tight smile. "We should pay attention."

As Mako turned to away from the two a bit sulkily (because honestly Mako why are you like this), his eye caught on one of the students in the distance repeatedly knocking their forehead against the desk, and honestly, mood.

"Now, now, let's quiet down, okay~?" The cheerful AI drew their attention back to the front. She seemed to be floating around on the projection, her pink-streaked brown ponytail fluttering behind her like it was being carried by an imaginary wind. "Yes, for those of you who don't know, I'm the legendary AI, Aina! You can call me Ai-chan though! I'm here to officially thank every single one of you for applying to take Shinraikai's Hero Program entrance exam this year! I'm going to be in charge of handling all of Shinraikai's security and data storage programs, so I will do my best to ensure all of your safety and provide technological support for each and every one of you. But first, I am the one who will be proctoring and monitoring your exam today! Let's all be friends, okay~?"

A little 2D heart flew from her eye as she winked, and there was an overwhelming sound of cheers as all of the students shouted back, "Okay, Ai-chan~!"

"Now then, let's begin the practical exam! I'll be announcing the rules now, so listen closely, everyone!" She circled the width of the projection screen once more, and a graphic suddenly appeared in the middle of the screen. Aina shrunk in size to allow space for the graphic to be fully displayed.

It was a map. But it was a map that made little to no sense, and the more Mako observed it, the more confused he got. It was as if someone had taken a blank piece of paper and randomly threw darts at the board while blindfolded to determine landscapes; scattered around the map were segments of various different places that in no way should have fit together, clustered and fused haphazardly. He saw what seemed to be a sandy desert area placed directly next to a forest woodland area with no barriers in one corner, and the forest then had an edge labeled with bold lettering 'CLIFF!' before piecing directly into an elevated cityscape engulfed in flames. And that was only one tiny piece of the entire map—looking at it was giving him a headache, and thankfully, the confused murmur from the students around him told him that he wasn't alone.

"This is Shinraikai's very own simulation joint! After the debriefing and changing, this is where you all will be heading!" Aina announced cheerfully. She pointed at various places of the map, and wherever she pointed, the graphic zoomed in on that specific section. "As you can see, there are various different landscapes here to allow you to use your Quirks to their fullest potential. There are simple designs, such as the forest, the river, and the city, but there are also various disaster sites scattered, such as the fire infested city, the landslide risky cliff edge, and the flash flood risky coast! There's even an exploding highway tunnel, as you can see here!" Aina then twirled her way to the front of the screen again, moving so that her enlarged figure was now almost entirely covering the map. "Your initial placement in the dome will be randomized, unfortunately, so do your best to seek out your optimal fighting area as soon as possible!"

Aina jumped into the corner of the screen again, and the map vanished, now displaying five circles in the middle of the screen. "As collaboration will be a must in the hero force, you will be taking this exam in teams of five! Each of you will receive a digital watch before entering the arena—" A picture of the smartwatch in question appeared on screen, with white numbers displayed on the digital screen in large font, clicking upward in count every second—"which will tally how many points your team receives! However, even though we will look at your team scores, in the end it will be by your individual scores and merit that will allow you to pass the exam; meaning that it is not guaranteed for every member in a single team to make it in even if the team does well overall. You can think of your team score as a baseline; it's simply another judgement factor!"

Mako's gut churned a little in discomfort at that information. A team battle…

Before he had too much time to dwell on it, the screen then cleared again and was replaced by a split screen featuring two different silhouettes, the background of one side remaining a bubbly pink and the other side having darkened to an ominous blood red. "Now, how do you get points? That's easy! You will have two different types of points you can obtain: villain points, and rescue points!"

The screen zoomed in on the pink side, revealing a white figure very similar to a teru teru bozu: a white sheet thrown over and tied under a spherical object with a smiley face drawn on to resemble a ghost-like person with a flowy dress and no body. "You will find plenty of these puppets spread all over the dome in various different crises! These are the rescue victims, and you will receive points for saving them from whatever danger that they are in! From drowning to escaping a collapsed building to defending them from a villain, these are the people who need a hero's help immediately! The more danger that you save them from, the more points you get!"

The screen then zoomed in on the red side, but the figure remained a silhouette, although it changed rapidly between a humanoid form and various monster forms. "Then of course, we have the villain points! The villains will come in all forms and sizes, but they'll be surrounded by a purple aura so that you can locate them immediately! The villains will be doing their best to wreak havoc, and it's your job to stop them! Again, the stronger the villain, the more points you get for defeating them! Remember that it is not shameful to know your limits and run away from a fight that you know you can't win; play by your strengths and gather points where you can!"

"Attacking other teams or students is not allowed and will lead to minus points, if not a disqualification!" Aina zoomed in close to the imaginary camera again, making an x with her arms that flashed a digital red 'x' on top. Then she beamed brightly, flowers appearing on the screen around her as she said, "Is everyone keeping up so far? Do we have any questions?"

There was a moment of silence, and then a white-haired boy raised his hand and asked, "Excuse me! So the points are randomized? Is there a maximum or minimum amount of points we can get per rescue or defeat?"

"Oh! Of course!" Aina clapped her hands. "You will get at least one point for every rescue or defeat, and you can receive up to five points at once depending on the difficulty level! Thank you for asking~ Anyone—"

"Here," A navy-haired girl stood in the distance. "How is this safe? You mentioned an exploding highway tunnel before. If handled badly, there is a potential that someone could be seriously injured. Can you guarantee the safety of every exam taker here?"

"Yes," Aina said firmly and without hesitation, her pink eyes unexpectedly serious. "We have equipped the simulation joint with a plethora of security measures and sensors that are ready to be activated at any point. As an AI, I will personally be monitoring the location, status, and safety of each and every student from your smartwatch, and if I sense any of you to be in any danger at all, I will immediately trigger the necessary protective measures to keep you from harm. If any of you are injured, I will make the on-scene judgement call about your ability to proceed with the exam, and if I deem the injury too severe, I will unfortunately notify our nurse to retrieve you and withdraw you from the exam immediately. This will have no effect on your team members, and you will be graded according to your every action leading up to that point. It will be unfortunate, but we at Shinraikai will not risk the safety of the students in our care. Thank you for your concern."

The navy-haired girl still looked rather unimpressed, but she sat down without another word.

"All righty then! Are there any more questions~?"

Yes, Mako thought to himself, can you repeat the whole thing from the top again please.

"Yosh!" Aina cheered. "I just have one final thing to say then: there is a final boss!" She moved to make space on the screen for a dramatic silhouette of a girl featured on a dark purple background, surrounded by little silhouettes of teru teru bozu. Mako had a vague suspicion as to her identity. "If you can find the Puppet Master and take her down, you will earn an immediate pass into the school! But be careful—she's suuuuuuuuper strong! And don't worry about not being able to collect points if you fight her; for fairness' sake, if you find her and are able to fight her at all but do not defeat her, we will allot your team the number of points that we believe your battle and effort deserves!"

Yeah, Mako definitely knew who the Puppet Master was, and knowing her reputation, he wasn't particularly interested in seeking her out.

"The exam will last a total of 30 minutes!" The numbers flashed on the screen for everyone to see. "Gather as many points as you can in that time frame! That's all for the debriefing, I hope you got all of that!" The AI was back in her place in the center of the projection. "You will now get fifteen minutes to form teams of five, although there will be three teams of six, and to get to know one another and talk strategy! There are people at the door who will register your teams and give you each a digital watch, and once you exit this auditorium, I will help guide you to the changing rooms so that you can get a drink, use the bathroom, and change into your athletic clothes that you should have brought with you—" At this, she did another spin, and her pink Lolita dress had changed into a white tracksuit with pink stripes, her hair in two low twintails but still tied in ribbons—"and then we will head over to the simulation dome to start the exam! Good luck everyone, I'll be rooting for you!"

Mako could feel a headache building from trying to process all of the information that had just been thrown at him. At the very least, he was confident that he could remember the main points—groups of five, rescue and villain points, a catastrophic simulation joint—and he could wing the details from there. It…it wouldn't be that hard.

More importantly, he had to face the real hard part first: getting himself into a team.

"Excuse me," Tentacle Girl, Kishi, waved her hand in front of his face to get his attention. She smiled brightly and gestured between herself and the white-haired boy sitting next to her, who was still fixing Mako with a mild frown. "Would you like to be on a team with Riku and me?"

Mako stared for a second, and a voice whispered in his head, She is a goddess.

But what came out of his mouth was a rough, "Yeah, sure," and he wanted to kick himself.

"Great!" Kishi didn't seem to mind. "My name is Shokushu Kishi. What's yours?"

"Makoto Obi. You can call me Mako though."

Maybe this wouldn't be so bad after all.

Nousagi Shouhei hadn't meant to be late. But he'd just been so happy to be able to have a phone again and flip through social media to catch up on everything he had missed that before he knew it, twelve minutes had passed out of their allotted ten, and he was rushing down the long dorm hallways to their assigned meeting place. When he timidly pushed the door open, he was relieved to see that there were no signs of adults, just fourteen kids seated scattered all over the room. All the couches and chairs were occupied, much to his disappointment, but then what did he expect when he was the last one to arrive. There was a light chatter filling the air, and Shouhei was immensely relieved for the nonexistence of the tension he had been dreading.

He shut the door behind him quietly and scurried into the room, quickly finding a decently vacant spot. He shifted nervously, tempted to pull out his phone again. But he glanced around the room and noticed with longing that many of the students had already started to talk in groups, although there were a mix of meek-looking and scary-looking people standing by themselves in corners.

I shouldn't isolate myself on the first day, He told himself firmly. I should make a good impression…and make friends. His heart pounded in his chest at the thought, and he had to pause before continuing mentally, I'll make friends, and I…I won't betray them this time…

He steeled himself and nodded. All right. Come on, Shouhei, you can do this. It doesn't have to be dramatic. Start small…like a compliment. You can never go wrong with compliments.

Shouhei caught sight of the boy standing next to him, who had one hand resting on the windowsill and was staring out the window with a mild frown, and he put on his friendliest smile before saying, "I like your nails! Did you paint them yourself? What brand is that?"

The boy glanced over at him and immediately scowled, his emerald eyes narrowing as he yanked his hand and his black-painted nails away from the windowsill and shoving them in his pocket instead. "Whatever, loser. Fuck off."

Um.

Shouhei ducked his head, trying to keep the hurt off his face as he mumbled a quiet "Sorry" and scooted a little further away.

Well. That didn't work.

He hoped that the entire class wasn't like that…no, he couldn't base the personalities of his entire class based off of one of his classmates. Besides, maybe he was just having a bad day. Everything was happening very suddenly, after all. It was still only the first day, so he had time to get to know all of them better…

But the hurt in his heart didn't go away, and he kept his head lowered anxiously.

"Hey, it's okay," A girl's voice said near him suddenly, and he startled. He only realized she was speaking to him when a hand gently patted his head twice. "Cheer up. I'm sure we'll all be great friends by the end of the year~"

"Thank…" He looked up, and almost immediately froze. The word "you" died on his tongue, because there was a super cute girl in front of him. She had silky chestnut brown hair tied in twintails with pink ribbons, the smoothest skin that Shouhei had ever seen, and large, expressive blue eyes. She was smiling cutely, and she looked—she looked like—

"Hm? Is something the matter?"

"You look like an angel," he blurted out.

The girl giggled, and to his relief, it wasn't an uncomfortable or fake one in the slightest. Her blue eyes were twinkling, Shouhei noticed. "Ara, why thank you~ I'm Otome Nadeshiko," She introduced herself, and yeah, Nadeshiko was a fitting name for an angel. "And you?"

"Nousagi Shouhei," Shouhei answered, giving her a slight bow as best as he could while sitting down. He gave her his most sincere smile he could manage. "You can call me Shou if you'd like."

"Pleased to meet you, Shou-kun," Nadeshiko said. "Let's have a great year together!"

'Shou-kun' was looping in his head in her angelic voice, and maybe Shouhei should have thought that through a little more.

"Likewise," Shouhei said a bit breathlessly.

Just as he was about to start digging for his best and most gentlemanly pick-up lines (that he hadn't used in about a year), the door opened again, drawing all of their attention to the man who stepped inside. Shouhei's heart sank in disappointment at the sight of Hijiri, their possible future headmaster, but he quickly shook it off and resolved to be better prepared next time.

"Oh, great, you're all here!" Hijiri said cheerfully as he crossed the room to stand in front of them all.

"Yeah, you're the one who's like ten minutes late," A girl's voice said from the back. Shouhei flinched at her brashness.

But Hijiri seemed unfazed as he answered promptly, "I thought I'd give you all some bonding time. Since you'll all be spending the entire school year together, and primarily in this dorm at that." Several people seemed like they wanted to raise protests or demand explanations at that, but before they could, Hijiri charged onward, tapping his clipboard that he was carrying with him against the wall to keep them from talking. "Sucks, I know, but it is what it is. I'm here to go over some basic rules regarding this program with you again before you begin your practical exam because some of these rules will apply to the exam itself as well. I went over the basic points with you last time, and I'm going to go over them again with some more detail right now, because they are important and I need you to get them drilled into your head moving forward. One wrong step could land us, the school, and you in serious trouble, and we'd all like to avoid that, so here we are. Or so that's basically the paraphrased version of the lecture that Haruko gave me, so you guys lucked out. Congrats."

It was a thought that had crossed Shouhei's mind the first time he'd met the man, and it passed through his mind again: For being a headmaster and a pro hero, Hijiri sure carries himself with an appalling lack of decorum.

But, in a way, it was comforting too.

"I'll go through this quickly, because I know you all are antsy to go beat shit up, and I don't particularly want to be here either, so listen up and don't make me repeat myself," He paused, and then seemed to remember that he was dealing with a group of traumatized children, and added, "You can, of course. Well, anyway, these will all be written up and sent to you if you need to look back on it."

He flipped a page over on his clipboard, and there were a few moments of silence as he skimmed through the content. Then he threw the clipboard aside carelessly and started, "Okay. This is your dorm. We've sectioned this area off from the rest of the school and will be informing the main class kids not to come this way, because it will be used in the future for senior classrooms or future training places, and that the construction is still patchy, so it's dangerous. Ultimately, they shouldn't come this way at all, so you can relax, but in the case that they do try to avoid being seen if you can."

"Why, because we're your dirty little secret?" A boy's voice bit out harshly.

"For now, yes, because Haruko is still dealing with the publicity of everything," Hijiri answered unhesitatingly. "I'm working to slowly ease the public into the idea though so that you don't have to hide for very long, but I can't make any promises. Continuing on, we have heavy security in place around the school and around your dorm itself—for your protection. If you ever run into any trouble, don't hesitate to notify us for help; we will always put your safety as your first priority. Our security is run by an AI, Aina, who you'll meet here soon. She will always be present to both keep tabs on you, yes, and ensure your safety. Quirk usage outside of class and training will be limited, but not restricted. If you abuse your privileges, they will be taken away, so use them wisely. You will not, unfortunately, be able to leave the dorm by yourselves; however, you may apply for a chaperoned trip, which will likely be me or one of your teachers because we love you guys that much," He smirked at the few disgusted noises that brought about. "I'm kidding, it's because it's our job. Either way, because we only have so many chaperones, there will only be so many trips allowed out unless you want to group up and go with friends. You'll all be attending therapy once a week—no exceptions. Weapons of any kind are prohibited at all times, and although you will experience combat daily, there will be no tolerance for excessive violence. The government has decreed that any sign of even the slightest bit of criminal activity from any one of you will have you returned to exactly where you came from. Is that clear?"

Shouhei gulped nervously and nodded his head. He wouldn't go back there again. He couldn't go back there again. Never.

"Good. Eh…honestly, that's all, I think. Again, the rules will be written and sent to you later, assuming you're all still here after the practical exam—which I do think you all will be—so be sure to review them frequently." Hijiri looked up at the ceiling, as if debating whether or not to continue, and then finally sighed and fixed them with a steely gaze. "Listen. I won't lie to you. You are all on a very thin line right now. Things are risky for you, and for us, and one wrong move could have this entire thing shattering to pieces. But I hand picked every single one of you because I saw the possibility for good in all of you, and now, I can only hope that I have made the right judgement call. The rest is up to you. Prove yourselves. To me, to the people who have wronged you, to the people who love you, to the world—to yourself. Right here, right now, I am handing all of you your second chance—your silver lining. Grab it tightly and use it to pull yourself up with everything you have because you won't get another one. Act wisely. I believe in you."

There was a moment of stunned silence that emphasized the low hum of the air conditioning, and Shouhei could feel his heart pounding loudly in his chest. That was… He swallowed thickly. That was possibly one of the most touching things he'd heard…even his parents hadn't expressed that much raw trust in him before. Somehow, he really didn't want to let the man down.

"And?" A girl interrupted the mood impatiently, "What does this have to do with the practical exam?"

"Oh it doesn't, I just felt like saying it," Hijiri smirked. "It was important for all of you to hear it at least once, even if you don't believe me."

"Then," Nadeshiko swallowed, and Shouhei had the feeling that she was choking on emotions a bit the same way he was, "will you go over the rules for the practical exam now?"

"No. There's no need for that."

"…eh?"

"I really don't know why Haruko insisted I do this now, but well, I guess it's good motivation," Hijiri commented, a bit too nonchalantly for Shouhei's comfort. "The only rules that still apply are no excessive violence and no crimes. This is primarily an exam to gauge where you stand right now and to determine whether or not you're ready for this school and this program, so it's especially important to make your decisions wisely for the duration of it. The exam itself is pretty straightforward though; just keep moving, follow your instincts, make the choices that you think are right, and it'll lead you through the rest of it itself. You'll be done within 30 minutes~"

"Um, sensei, I don't think—"

"Well that's that, good luck to all of you! Ai-chan will lead you to your destination! Toodleloo~"

The door slammed shut, leaving the entire class still seated, bewildered. Then there was a crackle before the digital screen lining the wall in front of them switched on, and an AI cybergirl appeared on screen, dressed in a white tracksuit with pink stripes down the sides, her brown twintails tied with cute pink ribbons similar to Nadeshiko's. The AI smiled brightly and said cheerily, "Hiya~! I'm Aina but you can call me Ai-chan; I'll be your security and support AI for the year! I'll also be closely monitoring your exam, and if there are any violations or severe injuries I'm the one who will report them and have you withdrawn immediately, so please keep that in mind, okay~? Now, please follow this staircase underground so that we can start our Silver Class practical exam as soon as possible!"

Shouhei was just about to ask reflexively what staircase where when the wall suddenly cracked open and slid apart, revealing a smooth set of marble stairs dimly lit by a bluish LED light lining the ceiling. It was impossible to tell where the stairs were leading to. The whole thing was a bit sketchy, and if Shouhei had stumbled upon this somewhere by himself, he probably would have pretended he never saw it. As it was, he swallowed nervously before gathering all his courage, he could do it, he had to do it, and followed his new classmates down.

He wouldn't fail again.

"Ahem~! Ah, testing, testing~ Now then!"

Aina's laughter sounded like tinkling bells as it echoed through all of the speaker systems hooked up around the school.

"Let Shinraikai's first official entrance exam hereby COMMENCE~!"

A/N: Okay, so this is way overdue, and I owe all of you an apology.

To be completely honest, this story came with an unexpected amount of stress, which is something I'm kind of bad at handling. It's a character fault of mine, I'm aware. But mixing together the circumstances that happened in the real world directly following my posting and the various issues I was having while sorting out the characters, this story had me so concerned that I literally had trouble sleeping at night. I almost wasn't sure if it was worth continuing for a while. But I couldn't bring myself to quit in the end, because that would be unfair to all of you, and because I have so many ideas for this story that I want to see come to life. So I will do my best to keep moving forward, but I cannot guarantee that this will not happen again. I will admit that I am probably better at planning stories than actually writing them, and I have trouble handling pressure and expectations sometimes. I apologize for that, and for the delay, and I hope that this chapter is at least a little bit worth the wait. Thank you for your patience, I will continue doing my best moving forward to make this both a fun and successful story.

I should mention here that I don't have an official beta (and to be honest, I am not looking for one either), so I apologize for any mistakes that you find. That's why I'd like to once again thank my wonderful senpai heartattak and Monty's Cloudy Day for helping me out with this story so much and assisting me with ideas the whole way through.

I'd also like to warn that I haven't kept up with the manga for a really long time now. I'm basically running off of anime knowledge from the first three seasons, as I have watched those probably ten times over by now and reliably know it off the top of my head. I watched the fourth season once. Everything else I will be using a creative license for and effectively BSing, so some things will misalign with canon, such as Tsukauchi's Quirk as one reader kindly pointed out. These changes usually don't mean anything particular in regards to the story; it's usually just that I can't remember properly.

Thank you to everyone who submitted, even though it has been 3 months since then, and I apologize to anyone who didn't make it in. I will open villain forms possibly after the entrance exam arc, both to ascertain that this story will last at least that long and because that is when they will be needed.

I'd also like to give special thanks to nerfherder-han and ExusiaiApplePie for offering to make me characters last minute when I panicked about not having enough Gold Class girls submitted.

Thank you all so much for your support! I'd love to hear your thoughts on this chapter, and if your character made it in this chapter, be sure to tell me how I did with them! See you next time!

Chikage

PS. Moving forward, I will be keeping a word count of my current progress for the next chapter on my profile if you ever want to check up on that!