One
~Third Person POV~
The sound of footsteps echoing off the brick walls of the buildings was muffled. It was subtle and easily drowned out by the city life that was beyond the twisting alleyways. Here in the cover of darkness, where only the ones who thrived in such an environment dared to venture, a woman moved silently as a shadow.
Her destination was the single door at the end of this long hall. Lit only by the single lightbulb in the alleyway. It was safer in that room than out here in the seemingly private alleyway. The woman didn't hesitate as she entered the ring of light. She opened the door to see a dark room beyond. She turned on the light switch illuminating the bare room beyond with the light of a lamp in the far corner. Despite the light, shadows were present even here. She entered the room, holding the door open only long enough for her shadow to follow her in. The door closed with a final click allowing the woman an illusion of safety as she glanced around the room at the dusty chairs and couches piled in the corners. The lamp in the far corner stood beside a desk made of wood. It smelled old and musty in the room, almost like a library.
The woman walked over to the side where a darkened doorway opened to a stairway. The woman silently climbed upstairs to the second floor where, upon further examination, she saw a man sitting on a cracked leather chair behind a wooden desk. The man was older than the woman by a few decades if the wrinkles and facial hair were anything to go by. He had gray shaggy hair, round glasses on his face that did nothing to hide the narrow, dodgy eyes behind them and he was missing a tooth on his upper jaw. A cigarette was in his mouth that only looked half done while a thick gold chain laid around his neck. Even if his clothes weren't so gaudy or memorable, the woman knew she would never forget this man's face.
"You finally made it Sunfire." He spoke, a half-smile formed on his face as he took out his cigarette. The woman, Sunfire, moved forward to flop onto the opposite cracked chair. She didn't say anything until she was comfortable.
"I was on vacation Giren." She finally spoke, a light frown marring her face as golden eyes stared at the man with irritation.
"So you said and I'm sorry, but this job came through last minute." His voice held lightness that Sunfire didn't appreciate.
"It could have waited a few more weeks." Sunfire stated in boredom. "My clansmen and I have been looking forward to this vacation." Giren didn't bother to continue down the path Sunfire's irritation travelled.
"They asked for you and your team personally."
"They usually do." Sunfire snorted before deciding she was done dragging out the pleasantries. She needed to get going soon. "What kind of job is it? You don't usually pull me in unless it's something high-profile like stealing the Mona Lisa or a pretty and famous jewel. None of which is worth cutting my vacation short by the way." Giren coughed lightly.
"Well, the client reached out to me last week actually and he was adamant it was you and your clansmen. It's a team effort. One that he wants to discuss further with you and your clan in person." Gold eyes flashed, for a moment they became brighter.
"Not going to happen." Sunfire stated. "Tell me what the job is." Giren sighed.
"I told him you would refuse but he insists. He says the job is to have your clansmen go undercover in a school, but he wants you to infiltrate a few Hero Commission buildings for some information."
"Who is this client?" Sunfire asked. "And why should I oblige him by having my clansmen go to school?" Sunfire's eyes narrowed. "Does he know who we are?"
"No no no, nothing like that." Giren's face twitched as he spoke to assuage Sunfire. "I mean, he knows your clansmen are teenagers, but I think that's all he knows."
"You think he does?" Sunfire asked. "He could know who we are Giren." Sunfire hissed angrily. The shadows flickered, Giren saw a hand form from a darker area and land on Sunfire's shoulder. It only stayed for a few seconds before it disappeared into shadows again. Sunfire seemed calmer when she looked at Giren. "Who is this client?"
"He's known as All for One. He and his apprentice want you and your clan. The apprentice is Shigaraki but that's all I can say. They'd like to go over the details with you in two days." Giren slid a card across his desk to Sunfire. She saw the address printed on it. "I swear, they're legit. You'll be paid handsomely if you agree. Even if you don't, I think it would be worth it to hear them out."
"Tch." Sunfire leaned forward and grabbed the card off the desk. She stood up, heading for the door. "I'll think about it." Instead of taking the stairs, Sunfire seemed to melt into the shadows as they darkened and pulled her in. She was gone a second later and so were the shadows.
Giren sighed and took a deep inhalation of his cigarette. His part was done. He'd passed on the message and now it was up to Sunfire and her team to decide if they accepted it or not. He had a feeling she would though. If they'd appealed to him, he knew they would appeal to her. Whether she wanted to or not.
~Kana's POV~
The large blue entrance to UA High School was impressive if Kana had to say so. She'd seen more impressive landscapes in the past six years than this though. She didn't stop in awe like so many other students. The large glass building beyond the entry way was what held her attention.
"You'd think they'd never seen architecture like this before." She murmured to her brothers beside her.
"They probably haven't." James responded. "I doubt they've done much travelling like we have."
"Be nice James." Yuto calmed. "Just enjoy the experience of being here."
"I'll enjoy it more when I'm not surrounded by so many hero trainees." James muttered. A few feet ahead of them Kana saw a small boy with green hair almost fall. She was getting ready to laugh when another girl with a bob haircut stepped in to levitate the boy. Kana sighed, there went her entertainment.
"Come on, I want to get a good seat." Yuto called happily as he grabbed Kana and James by the sleeves to drag them into the building. Kana couldn't help but think how cute Yuto was in his eagerness. As the youngest, he was more prone to being cuter than her and James. The three Nara siblings managed to get a seat in the back of the auditorium to not only see the screen better but also to view the other students who came in.
As the students entered and filled up the auditorium Kana wondered what their quirks were. There weren't that many who had any altered looks, Kana did see a girl who had pink skin and boy who had unnaturally black skin that she thought Yuto would no doubt like if he was anything like him. Emo's tended to stick together and while Yuto didn't exactly act like an emo, he tended to bring those kinds of people towards him. Kana herself preferred not to bother with people who weren't her family, like James she just found it a bit too draining on her mental batteries.
"Doesn't look like anyone here is anything special." James murmured in boredom as he leaned forward on the desk. The cat ears on his head twitched as he closed his eyes. Kana knew he would fall asleep if she let him, so she poked his shoulder.
"Stay awake furball or I'll step on your tail." James glared at her.
"You do you die." He muttered. He kept his eyes open though so Kana didn't press the issue. Yuto himself looked all around the auditorium, not really minding that his siblings were ignoring him for now. Her inner older sister voice cooed over how cute he was before she forced herself to focus.
"What's up UA candidates? Thanks for tunin' in to me, your school DJ." Kana's attention was caught by the hero at the front of the auditorium as he introduced himself. He was loud, Kana supposed it was due to his quirk. She didn't know who he was though, guess that was the price of not being a native of Musutafu or Japan.
As he explained everything about the entrance exam, Kana frowned. She had no doubt that she would be okay with destroying the machines they were going to test them against. James would no doubt have fun with this. She glanced over at him and saw his blue eyes were on the pictures of the robots, a familiar shine of focused competitiveness in his eyes. Kana hoped he didn't go all out but she knew the odds of him retraining himself were slim to none.
When Kana looked at Yuto she saw he was practically vibrating in joy. She didn't have to worry about him, he was constantly trying to destroy robots so he could take them apart and build them better. This may be a good activity for him…or a learning experience. Kana hoped that they put on a good enough showing to achieve their objective here. She shuddered to know what would happen if they failed.
The lights came back on as the man below informed them to head to the changing rooms to get into their workout gear. They would be heading to their respective areas afterward. Kana saw from their cards that she wasn't going to be with her brothers.
"Good luck boys." Kana called as they separated.
Kana met at Battle Center B with the other students who were all excited. She didn't try to interact with them. It wouldn't do any good if they didn't pass anyway. Kana started to stretch her body, warming up as she'd been taught. She was nervous without her brothers with her. Kana knew she'd be okay but she wasn't exactly good at first impressions. She usually played off of her brothers interactions since they were better at socializing. She honestly should've saved herself the anxiety as the same man with blond hair started shouting from behind them just as the doors opened. Kana didn't need to be told twice to go as she ran forward with everyone else. She needed to destroy as many robots as she could.
A robot burst through the building in front of her coming right at her. Kana lashed out with her hand and threw a portal, slicing the robot's head off it's body. She got a move on heading for more robots. It didn't take her long to find a whole group of robots and she launched a portal in a line, gathering about ten robots and slicing them all in half. Kana avoided another robot by disappearing into a portal only to appear above it. She used her legs this time to smash it's head with her body weight before she threw another line of portals, destroying ten more.
Kana saw they were all a combination of 2 or 3 robots and thanked her lucky stars as she hadn't looked before she'd destroyed those robots. Of course, everything came to a standstill as a large robot appeared. Kana frowned at it's size and wondered how she'd be able to take that down. Her portals right now were only about six feet across.
It didn't seem to matter though as Kana heard a girls voice calling for help. When Kana looked around she saw the same girl from earlier calling for help. Kana didn't hesitate as she formed a portal to get close to the girl, quickly darting in to grab her and pulling her back to where Kana had been standing. A large boom sounded as the robot was flung backwards. Kana blinked and tried to make sense of what had happened.
The boy from earlier, who had almost fell in front of the school, had just punched the robot. Kana watched as he fell through the air. While Kana wondered what he seemed to be doing just falling back to the ground it dawned on her that he was freaking out. And- were his arms and legs flapping in the wind? Kana could have started laughing at how comical this was going to be but instead she went into action. Kana formed a portal in front of the boy and created another portal that caused him to fly upwards in front of her. Kana let gravity take hold of the boy before she jumped up and grabbed the boy, allowing him to land on her.
"Huh?" He looked up at her in shock. Kana felt irritation tingling up her spine as she glared at the boy.
"Don't you know to at least plan out your landings? I saw your legs and arm flapping in the wind, did you seriously just break yourself?" Kana's older sister mode had been triggered.
~Elsewhere in another battleground~
'Man, why do I feel Kana's older sister mode engaged?' Yuto thought as he beat down another robot. 'Oh well, as long as it isn't me I'm good.' Yuto cackled in glee as he launched another robot into the shadows.
~Elsewhere in another battleground~
A shudder ran down James' spine as he looked around suspiciously. He could swear he felt Kana's 'older sister' mode fully engaged and wondered who the poor sap was that she was chewing out. He dodged another robot before creating a ball of condensed energy and destroyed the robot.
"She's not even in my battleground." James muttered aloud. "Why am I freaking out?" A large robot, tall as the buildings, appeared in front of him and the other contestants. James felt a smirk grow on his face. "May as well earn her scolding." He created another ball of power, condensing it to be bigger than usual before he ran forward with a war cry to destroy the robot.
~Back with Kana~
Kana glared at the boy who was shaking in fear on the floor.
"Idiot." She stated before the notification of the test being over sounded. The boy in front of her seemed to lose focus for a moment. She looked around at the robots that had been destroyed and wondered if she had managed to destroy enough robots to earn her place in UA High. The boy in front of her let out a squeaking noise before he passed out. Kana blinked in surprise wondering if UA High had medics that were inbound otherwise this kid was going to be in a world of hurt when he woke up.
"Very nice, good job all around!" The elderly voice came making Kana turn around to se a small elderly woman with a pink and purple helmet coming towards her. Kana backed off as she figured the elderly woman would have some knowledge of how to care for the boy.
Kana stretched and started to walk away.
When she got back to the changing rooms Kana didn't pause to grab her clothes and change into street clothes. She knew they wouldn't get the results of the entrance exam for a while, so she saw no need to wait around. The only thing she had to wait around for were her brothers.
"Hey!" Kana looked up from where she had been leaning against the pillars outside UA High School for her brothers. Other contestants were already leaving so she didn't put any thought to them. "How'd you do?"
"Fine." Kana shrugged. "It was just robots."
"I had fun." Yuto chirped as he bounded down the stairs. "You think Shina will let us get some for home?"
"Be careful." Kana couldn't help but call as Yuto almost tripped and landed on his face. He'd be fine since there was a shadow, but Kana couldn't help but worry.
"I'm fine." Yuto stated. "Besides, it's a bit late to say that since we just fought a lot of metal robots."
"Yeah." James raised an eyebrow mockingly.
"Be quiet." Kana growled. "I can't help it." The three siblings started to walk away from UA High.
"Did you guys get a giant robot that kind of looked like those Celestials from Marvel?" James asked.
"Oh yeah, I didn't go after it, but a few others tried." Yuto said. "They didn't succeed."
"We did but I didn't go after it. Actually," Kana's mind flashed back to the green haired boy she'd chewed out earlier. "Ours was taken down by a single person."
"Big deal." James snorted. "I took ours down with my Chaos Sphere."
"You know you're not supposed to use that." Kana reminded him. "Your bad luck-"
"I know! But it was a large robot. When else am I going to use that sphere?" James asked roughly. The three of them saw the black car waiting with Shina in the driver seat. The three siblings walked over.
"It was risky." Kana admonished.
"It was fine." James sighed as he opened the passenger side door and got in. "No one got hurt."
"Seems like it worked out Kana." Yuto stated as he jumped into the back seat before Kana could get in. Kana growled but let it go as Yuto was her headache.
"What worked out?" Shina asked as everyone got settled.
"James used his Chaos Sphere." Kana stated, ratting him out.
"It was to destroy a giant robot." James argued seeing Shina's frown. "I figured it would show I was powerful as well as a good fighter despite being a cat. It's not like they're going to let someone of my power go after that strong of a showing so I just cemented my place."
"Did anyone get hurt?" Shina asked as she started to drive away from UA.
"No. I made sure everyone else was farther away before I destroyed it." James answered. Shina hummed before she met Kana's eyes in the rearview mirror.
"In this case, I think the means were justified. But no using your full powers if you get into UA High, do you understand me?"
"Sure." James stated.
"I had fun." Yuto stated. "Even if we don't get in I have to say, that was the most fun I've had in a while."
"What about running on the beach?" Kana asked in amusement.
"This was better. I didn't have to worry about the ocean sucking me in." Yuto stated. "I also didn't have to worry about Shina extending our 'training' by another mile." Shina laughed at him while Kana allowed a smile to come through.
"I'm hungry." James announced.
"Chef Wolfe is cooking at home." Shina answered immediately. "Sushi for you as soon as you walk through the door." James nodded happily before he started to play on his phone.
"Shina?" Kana couldn't help but ask. "If we're accepted into UA, do we have to wear uniforms? I've seen those skirts; they don't exactly inspire confidence that someone won't see something."
"I'm sure you can wear shorts underneath if you're uncomfortable." Shina stated. Kana nodded. "Anyone happen to make any friends?"
"No." Yuto answered.
"What's the point?" James asked. "It was the entrance exam. Not like they're all going to make it."
"You never know." Shina answered lightly. Kana snorted as she turned to watch the city pass them by. She put in her earphones and drifted off into her daydreams.
~One week later~
"Don't touch the ground." Shina called out as Kana and her brothers ran through the usual practice run. Kana followed James who had no issues with jumping from pole to pole before he then jumped higher into the air to land on a block on top of the structure. Kana couldn't jump that high so instead she leapt forward, shoving herself forward to grab the nearest monkey bar. She grunted as she forced her body to pull herself up and onto the bar before she jumped for the next bar to get to the top of the structure. She jumped onto it the same time Yuto did, but James had already started his descent to the end of the course.
"I hate him and his cat-like reflexes." Kana groaned. Yuto only had enough energy to nod before they both jumped off the structure and grabbed the bars they'd jumped on to get back to the start of the course. After a few pole slides and one more jump that ended with Kana doing a fifty-yard dash she cleared the course. Yuto finished right after her, unlike Kana, Yuto immediately collapsed on to the ground.
"Good job guys. Best times." Shina called as she walked over to check on them. The smile on her face was full of nothing but pride making Kana groan as she finally fell to her knees in pain. "Go ahead and get showered, I'll meet you guys at the dinner table."
"Food!" James cheered in exhaustion as he walked inside through the large double doors to the back stairs. Kana groaned in pain knowing she'd have to walk up the three flights of stairs to her room. Yuto didn't even bother, he turned into the shadows once he reached it and went up.
"You can use your portal Kana." Shina chuckled seeing that she didn't want to move.
"Yay!" Kana cheered before she opened a portal to her room directly underneath her. Kana landed on her bed in her room and silently debated about not moving or going anywhere for the rest of the night.
After arguing with herself mentally Kana finally got into the shower and changed before she opened another portal and directly appeared in the dining room. Shina was already waiting as was Yuto. Kana got settled at the large table and got her plate. James pulled out the chair next to her and sat down. Usually, dinners weren't quiet affairs but here in the Ugly House (so dubbed for the enormous mansion and all it's unnecessary extravagant detailing) everything echoed.
"I heard from UA." Shina stated as she cleared her throat. "Seems our employer got his wish." Kana blinked and turned to Shina who was playing with her hair. She was nervous, Kana knew, about this whole thing. As far as Kana knew though, this job had been recommended by Giren and their employer was adamant they stick with this. Kana wasn't too sure since they'd never gone undercover before like this before. They had no need to go undercover as thieves, but Kana also knew Shina wasn't given much of an option of saying no to this one.
"We all got in?" James asked. Shina nodded.
"You start in one week. Your class schedules were sent over as well and the info packets. The good news is you'll all be in the same class. Hero Course Class 1A."
"Have you told the clients?" Kana wanted to know.
"I'm going to inform them later tonight. I suppose it'll also be a good time for you guys to meet them face to face." Shina stated seriously. Kana felt a small thrill of worry and fear shoot through her at that.
"Without our masks?" Yuto asked.
"No. Masks stay on." Shina ordered. "I don't trust them fully. And until that happens, you three will keep your masks on." Kana nodded knowing her brothers were doing the same. "Finish eating and I'll help you guys go over the info packets when we're done. We can head to the bar around 10." Shina stated. Dinner resumed, much more somber. Kana could feel the anxiety at meeting their employer grow as well as the anxiety of attending school.
They'd been homeschooled for the past five years and now to return to school, it was going to be weird. Making friends wasn't something she was looking forward to, but it was their mission. Kana just hoped they weren't found out as that would be embarrassing.
