"Boss, you can't be serious about this!" Mitsuaki said in disbelief as he dropped himself into Makoto's bed, holding the UA pamphlet above his head. He flipped through it over and over, eventually tossing it aside and sitting up to look at Makoto. Makoto's apartment was tiny, Mitsuaki, Kohaku and Makoto barely fitting in together, having to spread out through the entire place. Kohaku was quietly raiding her boss's fridge while Makoto herself was sitting on the floor, leaning up against her bed.
She just grumbled a little, shooting him a mean look while absentmindedly scrolling through some forums on her phone. It looked tiny in her massive claws, especially since she had to carefully tap at the screen with both hands, the screen already scratched up from her claws.
"That's not mine, asshat. That chick from a few days ago dropped it after running off." She paused for a moment, then slowly turned toward him, raising a brow. "What? You think I'm not good enough for that dump? You saw how Zoom walked out of our fight… I'd wipe the floor with those wannabes."
Kohaku finally popped her head up from behind the fridge door, currently in the process of eating Makoto's snacks. "Ain't nobody said ya couldn't, chief. But I agree, it is a stupid idea to sign up for that place. Ya really think the same place that spit out All Might and Endeavor is gonna take someone like us?"
Makoto thought for a moment, lowering her phone and grabbing the pamphlet again. She looked at the cover for a moment, then up at her friend. "Don't you think it's high time we prove assholes like Striker and Sora wrong? Comparing us to villains just because of where we came from, because of our parents or the quirks we didn't get to choose." Makoto got off the floor, slamming the fridge door shut in front of Kohaku's nose, making her jump a little. While Kohaku was already one of the gang's tallest members, her boss seemed to towering above her now, a faint red swirl in her eyes staring right down at her. "It's high time we prove to them that where we came from doesn't fucking matter."
"B-Boss…!" Mitsuaki quickly got up, actively having to stop himself from reaching for Makoto's shoulder to pull her away from Kohaku. "I-is this about your-" He'd get cut off by the shrieking sound of Makoto's claws digging into the metal door of her fridge. She slowly turned to look at him, her stare saying more than enough.
Bringing up her father had always been a taboo in their gang. If there was one thing that instantly set her off, it was comparing her to that low life criminal. He raised his hands defensively and took a few steps back. "A-Allright! Y-You made your point, boss! Just… calm down! You know we don't believe any of that crap!"
"Then you'll also get what I'll do to prove anyone who does believe it wrong…" She growled out angrily, pulling her talons from the ruined fridge door, not taking her eyes off the two. "Those heroes are no better than us… I'll fucking show them…"
To most of Makoto's gang, it was still an enigma how exactly she managed to get through the written exams. Her grades most certainly weren't anything to write home about, on account of how she barely attended classes. While she was decent at both Japanese and English, she struggled through mathematics and practically guessed the answers for questions regarding history or science.
Perhaps studying during the slow hours at work had been enough after all, or perhaps there was more behind this all.
Yet, here she was… with an invitation to the practical part of the school's entrance exams.
Before she knew it, Makoto found herself approaching the massive UA building with hundreds of other students. While she had seen it on TV and online, it was even more imposing in person, its glass facade towering over the students as they approached.
A few months back, her brightest future was simply not ending up in jail or back in the orphanage. Back then, she wouldn't even have dreamed of ever ending seeing the most famous hero school up close, much less being one of the people applying for it.
And yet, she couldn't help but feel contempt for UA. How many people that prided themselves on graduating here actually gave two shits about people like her? None of them ever came to help her, none of them were ever there for any of the people she called friends. None of them were there when Makoto saved that other girl. That girl. She couldn't help but wonder if she ever ended up applying herself.
Without realising it, Makoto had stopped walking in the middle of the path leading up to the main doors, getting some irritated looks from the students that almost bumped into her. She quickly snapped out of thought when she heard some of them complaining about her blocking the path, shooting them a sharp look.
"You got a problem with me, say it to my face!" Makoto barked at them, quickly making most of them take a few steps back, save for one person.
A boy about her age and height casually approached her, his hands buried in his pockets. He just gave her a cheeky grin, brushing some of his dyed hair out of his face before speaking up.
"Honestly, it sounds more like you're the one who has a problem." He chuckled a little, stopping in front of her to eye her up. "You should really do something about those anger issues, little demon lady." He just shrugged a little, patting her on the shoulder as he finally moved past her.
Makoto jolted away from under his hand, pulling her claws out of her pockets. She gritted her teeth, claws tensing up while she was still trying to process his words. "What the fuck did you just call me you li-" She cut herself off, realizing how many people were staring at them, no, staring at her.
The boy stopped, looking at her over his shoulder. "You really should work on first impressions. Test's already started, y'know?" He pointed toward the school building where the teachers were no doubt already watching the students, shrugging and turning away from her, giving her an offhanded wave without looking.
She could barely contain herself, her talons twitching with anger as she watched him leave. Just as she was about to speak up again, she'd be thrown off by yet another person bumping into her from behind as they rushed past her.
"S-Sorry!" The pink haired girl quickly apologised, pausing for a second to make sure Makoto was okay, waving her hands in the air defensively. Makoto almost recoiled the second she recognized who was standing in front of her now. While she had cut her hair much shorter since that night she was mugged by Sora, her walnut brown eyes had burned themselves into Makoto's mind.
All the anger she had built up faded for a different, new feeling inside Makoto, she tried to reply but couldn't get a word out, still trying to get her emotions back in order. Before Makoto knew it, the girl was already running off again, right after the guy she had just butted heads with.
"H-Hold on Nagao-san! Sorry I'm late!" She shouted as she attempted to catch up with him. She huffed exhausted as he slowed down for her, giving him a nod before they continued inside together. "The train here was so crowded, you wouldn't believe it-"
Makoto just stood there speechless, needing a moment to shake off confusion and figure out what exactly had just happened. She sighed a little and buried her hands back into her oversized pockets, grumbling to herself somewhat upset and irritated.
'Work on her first impressions' As if that was easy for someone like her. Most first meetings she had with people ended up in insults being thrown around, if things went well. Doubts once again began rushing into her mind… What the hell was she doing attempting to apply to the most prestigious hero school in the country? They'd drop her out the moment they even glanced at her criminal record. Even if she was accepted, surely, the other students would make sure her time there would be hell, after all, that's how it had always been. Even now, in her part time job, she had gotten used to scaring most of the customers that walked in during her shift.
While Makoto had gotten lost in her own thoughts once again, her legs had already carried her into the school building, following the steady stream of students without her even realising.
"W-What the…" She mumbled to herself as she stepped into the school's auditorium. Looking around, she'd see that most seats were already filled, students with all sorts of different uniforms and outfits merrily chatting with each other as they waited for the Info-Session to start. While she did recognise some of the uniforms from seeing them on the street, she wasn't all too surprised to see none that matched hers.
She took a deep breath, relaxed her shoulders and dropped into one of the empty chairs near the back. A certain, rather loud pro hero explained how the exam would go down, most of which Makoto tuned out in favour of inspecting the other students around her. Something about fighting robots or the likes… for the time being, she figured she'd deal with that once the time came.
Her gaze was nearly instantly caught by a rather burly looking boy a few rows in front of her. He barely fit into his school uniform, much less into the seat he had picked. Makoto herself most certainly wasn't built like the average girl her age, but this guy rivalled some powerlifters and bodybuilders in sheer size.
A bit off to the right of him she was drawn in by what seemed to be… a snake? Upon a second glance, following the scaly tail upwards, she'd realise it belonged to a girl wearing a thick winter jacket, the tail taking the place of her legs. Her tail was so long, it was draped over several empty seats next to her, the tip wiggling just a little.
Just as Makoto spotted the pastel pink hair of the girl from earlier she'd be snapped right back to reality by Present Mic announced that everyone would be split up into groups from this point on. Makoto quickly glanced up at the pro hero in front of them, then down at the handout they had been given. She quickly went over whatever she had missed.
They had a 10 minute timeframe to eliminate robots to gain points and reach the top ten of all students in their test run. While it sounded simple enough, there'd only be a limited number of enemies, meaning a limited amount of points. If one student were to gain a massive head start, there was a real chance someone slower had absolutely no chance of winning. She stuffed the handout into her duffle back, getting up with everyone else as they were led away to change into something more fitting of a combat exercise.
A few of the people she had noticed earlier filtered out into her group, notably the snake girl, the muscular guy and… the girl with the pink hair. For now however, Makoto stayed in the back of the group as they all followed a faculty member to the changing rooms.
On their way there, the burly looking boy slowed down until he was walking right next to her, his hands buried deep in his pockets. He was wearing an all black, traditional school uniform, a colourful gym bag swung over his shoulder. He didn't look at her as he spoke up in his surprisingly loud voice.
"Aye, you're Minami-san, right? I recognize ya! From the vids online?" He asked out of nowhere, causing Makoto to jump a little. She looked up at him slightly irritated but kept her cool.
"Of course someone would bring that up sooner or later… go on, just get whatever insult you got planned out and let's be done with it… don't even gotta be scared I'll fight you." She snarled at him, involuntarily showing her sharp teeth. "Gotta save my strength for now…"
The boy just laughed out loud, quickly shaking his head and finally turning to look at her. His square glasses looked almost comical sitting on his nose, barely fitting his head.
"Insults? What are you talking about? I just wanna know what it was like fighting a real pro hero like that! You only ever see villains fight 'em, and it's kinda hard to ask them, ya know?" He chuckled, seeming completely oblivious to her irritation. "Go on then! What was he like?!"
Makoto took a step back from him, raising a brow before letting out a defeated sigh. "Aside from being a pretentious asshole? You've seen the vid, yeah? He didn't even try. Even if there had been five of us, he'd have wiped the floor with us." She shrugged a little, stuffing her hands back into her pockets. "As much as I hate to admit it, we never stood a chance against him. He could've ended it the moment he got there… which pisses me off even now…"
Kumamoto, the boy she was talking to, stayed quiet for a moment, nodding along, seemingly lost in thought. Just as Makoto was about to ask him if he was actually listening, he spoke up again.
"Of course he had you attack first! What do you think it'd look like if he threw the first punch against someone our age? Not all that hero-like, that's for sure." He just shrugged a little, stuffing his hands into his pockets as they reached the changing rooms.
A handful of buses had just dropped off the group that went before them, some of the students limping, others already bandaged up as they stumbled out of the bus, gaining quite a few looks from those that just arrived.
"Dang, they really aren't holding back, are they?" Kumamoto laughed nervously, giving the previous group a polite, albeit misplaced wave.
"What did you expect? They only take the best of the best… of course this test is going to be quite serious." The snake girl spun around, slithering backwards as she gave Kumamoto an unimpressed look. "Perhaps it is time to take this a little more seriously…? Raw muscles are clearly not going to get you through this… and neither is wasting your time on…" She paused for a moment, her slitted eyes glancing at Makoto for a moment before locking back onto the boy. "... that mess."
"Hah! I guess that quirk comes with cold blood, huh? You clearly haven't seen her fight then!" Once again, he didn't even pick up on her insult, grabbing Makoto by the shoulder and pulling her to his side, much to her dismay. "Ain't no doubt she's makin' it through! 'Sides! Some robots aren't gonna be a problem!"
Makoto pried herself off Kumamoto, getting some distance between the two of them while giving him and the snake girl an angry look. "How about both of you worry about yourself instead?" She snarled and sped up, pushing past them - toward the buses. She hadn't brought any gym clothes, leaning up next to the door to the bus as she waited for the other students to finish changing. After a few minutes the first students came back out to join her around the bus. Kumamoto was one of the first, having changed into a school tracksuit. He leaned up against the bus next to Makoto, tilting the entire vehicle a little.
"We're not enemies, ya know? There's no reason to be so mean. Just tried to help ya out against that snake." He said after a moment of silence, shrugging a little.
Makoto sighed, burying her hands into her pockets. "Just another bitch out of many… I'm used to it by now…"
"Man… that's kinda depressing." Kumamoto raised a brow, looking down at her somewhat concerned. Just as he was about to say something else, he'd be distracted by some other students joining them, instantly getting involved in a conversation with them instead.
Makoto didn't bother stopping him. Instead she got into the bus, dropping onto one of the seats at the back and kicking her feet up on the seat next to her to stop anyone else from sitting down there. The bus slowly filled up as everyone settled down. Just as Makoto was about to dig her phone and earbuds out of her pocket, she'd be interrupted by someone stepping up next to her.
"Seat's taken… pick somewhere else to sit…" She grumbled a little, carefully tapping away at her phone with a single claw as she tried to find the right song to listen to. As the person standing next to her didn't move away after a few seconds, she finally looked up. "Didn't you hear me-" She shut her mouth the second she realised who she was looking at.
The girl with the pink hair gave her an apologetic smile, scratching the back of her head nervously. "Uhm… sorry… but every other seat is taken…" She mumbled out, her voice barely audible over the chatter of the students around them.
Makoto could feel a lump form in her throat as she struggled to get a word out all of a sudden. She felt the hair on the back of her head rising, her claws tensing up and that dizzying feeling she'd get before fights building up. But this time, something was different - that anger that usually drove her to fight was replaced by… confusion. Her mind had gone completely blank as she just stared at the girl in front of her. She was still putting her thoughts and feelings back together when the girl spoke up again.
"A-Are you alright?" She stuttered out, leaning down to get a better look at Makoto, looking rather worried herself now. "You're… Minami–san, right?" She asked cautiously.
Makoto felt an electric shock down her spine as she heard her name. She tensed up in shock, her claw digging into her phone's screen, cracking the glass on it. "I-" She stuttered, trying to find the right words. "How do you- I never told you-"
"That's what Kimura-san called you back then… I'm uh…" She paused for a moment, nervously playing with a few strands of her hair while turning away from Makoto. "Amano Sakura… I… I doubt you remember… Y-you were the one who saved me when Kimura-san was-"
"Kimura had it coming! That asshole just got what he deserved." Makoto cut in, taking a deep breath as she recovered from the shock. "I'd have beaten his ass even if you weren't there…"
Sakura shook her head as slowly sat down on what little space of the seat Makoto had left free. "I don't think you would've."
Makoto gave her a puzzled look, making some more room for her out of courtesy. "What… are you talking about? Of course I-"
This time, it was Sakura who cut Makoto off, giggling a little. "You may say that, but I've seen the video as well, you know? You don't just fight without a good reason… But it doesn't matter anymore." She turned toward Makoto, giving her a nervous smile. "I wanted to thank you for what you did… no matter what reason you had to do so…"
"Hmpf… don't mention it…" Makoto muttered out, turning back to look the window while pushing her earbuds back in. She couldn't help but wonder if there was anyone who hadn't seen that video of her fight. Even now, it still bothered her how everyone she ran into somehow had to bring it up. She rested her head against the cold glass, turning up the volume on her music loud enough for even Sakura to hear it and shut her eyes for the remainder of the drive.