Chapter 2: Entrance Exam
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The auditorium was nearly overflowing with chatter and bursting with people still streaming in from the double-door entrance. Good thing he got here early. Lee expected plenty of people, this was U.A., after all, but this was more than his wildest imagination. Of all these students, barely a third would be accepted into U.A. properly, and even less than that into the Hero Courses where Lee was aiming. Yosh, Lee nodded to himself from his seat. All these people just made him want to try even harder to make it. He'd made it this far, and there was no way he would let his journey end here.
"Uhm, excuse me?" A tentative, high-pitched voice spoke from his left. "Is this seat taken?"
Lee looked and found a girl so pink she'd make bubblegum jealous. From her short hair to her skin, it was all pink, and as if to make her stand out even more, Lee noticed she had pair of angular horns poking out on the top of her head.
Lee remembered his manners. "Uhm, no. It's free. You can sit here if you want to."
Her smirk shifted into a wide, toothy smile. To Lee, it felt like smiling came easy to her. "Awesome, thanks. I'm Mina Ashido, but you can call me Mina," she sat down and stuck her hand.
Lee shook it, feeling increasingly at ease around the pink, smiley girl. "I'm Rock Lee, but you can call me Lee. I'm here for the Hero Course. Are, uh, what brings you here?"
Before he finished his sentence, Lee felt his cheeks warm and ducked his eyes away from the girl. Gosh, Guy-sensei's advice already backfired on him. 'Talk to people, Lee,' he remembered Guy-sensei telling him before he left this morning. 'This is your opportunity to meet great people and form life-long bonds.'
Lee was never good at talking to people, mainly because no one ever wanted to talk to him. He felt like he said the wrong thing, but to his surprise, the girl only giggled.
"You're funny, Lee," Mina said. "But I'm here same for the same reason you are, to get into the Hero Course. I've been preparing for this day since, like, forever, you know? I really want to become a Pro Hero."
"Me too," Lee caught himself before he could get too excited, though. He knew the usual level of voice he and Guy-sensei communicated wasn't usually appropriate in settings like these. "It's been my dream for as long as I can remember."
"Me too!" She said. "I could barely sleep last night because I was so excited for today. U.A. is notorious for its Entrance Exam, and not knowing what we'll be doing is nerve-wracking."
Lee nodded along, completely agreeing with her. "It was the same for me. My sensei forced me to fall asleep because I might've stayed up the whole night thinking about it."
Even though he was serious, Mina still laughed, but Lee found it felt different from all those times before when people laughed at him. Her laugh felt brighter and not at all mean-spirited. In fact, Lee enjoyed the sound of Mina's laugh.
Since it was still early and people were still filtering in, the two continued talking, adding to the growing noise of the auditorium full of U.A. hopefuls. Lee learned a lot about Mina during this time before the exams really began. She told him about her love for dance, fashion, shopping, natto, okra, and movies. She told him she didn't like bullies and that her dream was to become a hero she and her grandmother could be proud of.
Lee couldn't help but think how youthful she was. He hadn't met anyone with the kind of energy Mina had outside of Guy-sensei. Lee hoped that she made it past the exams because from how she talked and carried herself, he didn't doubt she'd be a hero many people would look up to.
Before he knew it, though, the lights suddenly dimmed in the auditorium. He and Mina exchanged excited looks; the exams were officially about to begin. Everyone stopped talking and stared in awe as the lights flickered around like the beginning of a concert. Then, a loud bang came from the main stage, a blast of smoke poofed up, and the lights focused on the smoke cloud.
"GOOD MORNING, EXAMINEES!" An absolutely booming voice roared to the crowd. A hand cut through the smoke, and on stage stood a tall man with spiky, swept-back blonde hair. He wore a studded leather jacket, wore a pair of oversized sunglasses, and headphones around his neck. Everyone in the auditorium gasped. They all knew who that was!
"It's Present Mic," Lee said in amazement as he leaned forward in his seat. This was his first time seeing a real-life Pro Hero.
"Whoa," Mina said as she leaned forward with stars in her eyes. "Look at that jacket and that hair! He's so fashionable!"
"I am Present Mic, and I'm here to tell you about U.A.'s Entrance Exam! Let's get that blood pumping!" He roared into the microphone. He dipped the microphone like a dancer and pointed his finger at the crowd, "Lemme hear you say HEY!"
As amazed as they were, it was still an auditorium filled with teenagers. So, no one was willing to be the one to make what they thought would be a fool of themselves. A moment passed, and only one student responded back.
"HEY!" Lee cheered back from his seat. The man's energy was youthful! How could he not reciprocate it?
"Alright! One more time, this time everybody on the count of three. One, two, three-"
"HEY!"
"That's more like it. Now, let's get down to business," Mic said, and the lights dimmed again. The screen behind him shifted from the U.A. logo to a lineup of robots?
"Welcome applicants to the U.A. Entrance Exam!" Mic began. "Listen closely because I've only got time to explain it once. Today's exam will include a 15-minute mock battle in one of our beautiful battle centers. These four robots that you see on the screen represent our scoring system. They are 0, 1, 2, and 3-point robots, respectively," He explained to them. "Your goal is to take down or immobilize as many as possible to earn points before time runs out. Of course, attacking other examinees and performing other unheroic acts is prohibited! Also, these robots are not true to size! Any questions?"
"What's the purpose of the zero pointer, sir?" A voice asked. Lee had to admit he was thinking along the same lines.
Present Mic's smile widened like he knew something more than he was letting on- which he probably did. Lee reasoned it had something to do with the zero-pointer. There had to be some catch about it, some trick. What it could be, Lee had no idea.
"Great question from the crowd!" He said, and everyone waited to hear him answer, only he didn't. "Are there any more?"
"Wait, sir, but you didn't-"
"Alright! My time here is up. You all have an exam to take, so best of luck and remember to go plus…," he tapered off at the end, setting it up for the crowd.
"ULTRA!" the auditorium full of potential heroes boomed in response.
Lee felt something vibrating inside of his gi. He reached in and pulled out the blank card he was handed in the beginning. It wasn't a card, but a thin screen now alight with the letter 'G' on the front. Hmm, that was cool.
He looked over to Mina and found her looking at a similar one. She had gotten 'G' too.
"Wow," She said as they got up from their seats. "Look, Lee, we will be in the same battle arena. Maybe we can team up and help each out? Whaddya say?"
Lee winced a little at that. He wasn't sure if that was against the rules, but he didn't want to do it regardless.
His thoughts must have shown on his face because Mina deflated like a balloon with a tear. Her smile fell faster than a bag of bricks, and Lee's heart twisted in his chest.
"Wait, Mina, I didn't-"
"Ha!" She snorted. "You should've seen the look on your face."
Wait, what? What just happened? He could've sworn Mina looked very disappointed a second ago. He felt awful too, but now she was giggling, and Lee didn't know what to make of that.
"I was just kidding, Lee," She said as they moved with the crowd, slowly leaving the auditorium. "I doubt they'd let us work together anyway. Plus, I want to see what I can do, you know? These muscles aren't just for show."
Lee understood what she meant and chalked it up to Mina's unique personality. "Then let us both try our best and go Plus Ultra. Those robots won't know what hit them."
"I like your attitude, Lee. You're right. Those poor robots will be crying home to their mommies after I'm through with them."
They shared a laugh and continued to chat until they made it to their designated exam location. From the looks of it, they got a city-type arena that reminded Lee of the uptown of a big city with streets and tall business-like buildings.
He would get in there and destroy as many robots as possible. He could do it - no, he would do it. Lee had been preparing for today for years. He wouldn't fail; he couldn't afford to.
Without a countdown or warning, the speakers blasted a loud "GO!" Everyone scrambled into the battle arena. The U.A. Entrance Exam had officially begun.
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"YOSH!" Lee yelled as his fist punched through yet another soulless machine bent on stopping him from accomplishing his dream!
...A little dramatic, sure, but it made things a little more exciting. Lee pulled his fist from the dark-green chassis of the machine and shook it out. His fists were numb from punching through metal over the last few minutes. Thank goodness Guy-sensei had him practice punching through sheet metal. His sensei was a true genius.
Jogging forward, Lee heard the familiar mechanical clanking coming from around the corner and saw a group of green machines lumbering together. Their red optics focused on him, and they made a loud gong-like noise that Lee figured was their 'war cry.'
Lee slid into the opening stance of the Strong Fist, a smirk on his face, and dashed after them. He couldn't waste any time.
They rushed to meet him, and while the robots were quick, Lee was faster. The lead one cocked back its large, green arm to swing, but Lee took the initiative by leaping into the air. He spun like a record and kicked the limb out of the way. He landed, chambered as he hit the ground, and threw an uppercut that pulverized the robot's 'head.'
He pivoted quickly and kicked the inside leg joint of one, dropping it to a knee. He ducked and let the other one's attack sail over his shoulder. Lee grabbed the arm, broke it off at the elbow over his shoulder, and then jammed it into the first robots shining red optics.
The two robots fell to the ground, their bodies making a noise like a computer shutting off. Lee wiped his hands and nodded to himself. That was three more points. He didn't know the exact number he'd gotten so far, but Lee knew it was a lot. Those first few minutes of the exam were hectic, and Lee felt keeping count would only slow him down. This exam was about action.
"3 minutes left! 3 minutes left!" Present Mic's voice blared from the speaker system somewhere.
There wasn't much time left, and no robots were in sight. Lee kept moving, pushing all thoughts of fatigue to the back of his mind. Recovery was for later. Lee wouldn't give up just because he was a little tired; his dream of getting into the U.A. Hero Course was on the line.
Lee moved through the faux city quickly. He followed the sounds of fighting and whirring of metal, hoping to find another group of robots. He cut across the street and hurdled a barrier. Lee rolled with the landing and launched himself around the corner of a building to see a group of four robots slowly cornering a single, muscular teen in a black tank top and sweatpants with spiky brown hair and thick lips.
The teen was breathing heavily, swamped with sweat, but he stalwartly kept his guard up. The teen tried to reach for something along his waist, but, as if signaled, one of the robots swung at him, clubbing him across the arm with a heavy blow.
To the guy's credit, he took the punch like a boxer and countered with one of his own.
"Rah!" the boy yelled as he swung, but to Lee's surprise, the strong-looking blow barely dented the green machine.
The teen recoiled in shock, which left him open to an attack from the second robot. Its thick, blocky limb swung and smacked the teen right in his flank, and the teen hit the ground with a grunt. Another robot kicked the guy, and he skidded across the ground like a puck, groaning and holding his ribs.
Lee was moving before his mind was even made up. He ran and then leaped into the air into a flying sidekick.
"Dynamic Entry!"
Lee blasted through the robot like it was made of paper. He landed with metal bits raining down around him, spun on the balls of his feet, and went low after the other. He swept another robot's legs out from underneath it, but Lee was forced to somersault away before he could finish it off. The last two robots apparently didn't appreciate his intrusion.
"Grr, don't ignore me!" The teen yelled. He threw something to the ground and wiped his mouth. He flexed his muscles, and they popped like a bodybuilder's. The teen charged at the last two robots, crushing the one on the ground in his wake, and clotheslined the other two. He grabbed one of the robots by its face and threw it into the wall so violently that the robot crumbled. The teen grabbed the last robot and suplexed it back into the ground with incredible strength. The robot broke like it was made of legos and not metal.
Lee felt his eyebrows reach his hairline. That was the last thing he expected from the guy. What strength!
The boy wiped the sweat off his brow and brushed metal shards off his tank top. "Heh, thanks for the save, guy. I needed a moment to reenergize, but these robots were smarter than I thought. You've got some sweet moves, bro."
The teen stuck his hand out for Lee to shake. "I'm Satou. Rikido Satou."
Lee shook the hand and felt delighted at the strength behind it. "Rock Lee."
Satou smiled as they let go. "Thanks again, Lee, for the save, but we've no time to waste, right?" He turned to leave and said over his shoulder. "Good luck with the rest of the exam."
Lee nodded his head. "I wish you the best of luck as well!"
With that, the two teens separated and went to accumulate more points.
Lee jogged around for a few more moments, trying but failing to find more robots to get points off. Where had they all gone? The test wasn't over, right?
Without any warning, the ground shook and rumbled like a small earthquake was happening. Lee looked around, wondering what was going on. Was there really an earthquake going on?
As if to answer his question, from behind one of the buildings a few blocks away, a robot taller than any of the fake buildings lumbered its way into the streets. It was so heavy its footsteps cracked the road's asphalt and shattered windows as it passed. Lee felt his jaw drop. What in the world is that? Were they expected to fight that?
With a mighty swing of its arms, the robot smashed its giant limb into the earth. The ground shattered, and a thick plume of dust erupted into the air. The robot whirred deeper and louder than any other Lee had encountered. If this was meant to tell them they were in the final stages of the exam, Lee felt the message was well received.
He needed to get out of the way. Were they supposed to survive until the exam ended?
"One minute left! One minute left!" Present Mic's voice rang out from the speakers once again.
The single, giant red eyes flashed a menacing crimson, and it stomped towards a group in the distance. Lee could hear the panic and desperate run as people scattered to get out of the way. He was relieved the robot wasn't heading in his direction. Lee hoped the other examinees got out of the way in time. The giant robot wasn't moving that fast, but its sheer size was a danger in itself.
Lee turned, intent on making the most of the last few seconds, when he heard a familiar voice cry out.
"Help! Somebody! Somebody help me!" Wait...was that...?
Lee turned fast, looking for the source. His heart felt clenched in a tight fist. It couldn't be. Everyone got away, right?
No. Lee's eyes widened as he found pink in a sea of grey and black. It was Mina, and she was stuck! From what Lee could see, she'd gotten pinned beneath a concrete slab.
"Dude, there's somebody trapped over there!" Lee heard Satou call out.
"And the robot is walking right towards where they are!" another voice said with a tinge of panic.
"S-someone needs to help her!"
"The teachers wouldn't let somebody get seriously hurt in this test, right?" Satou asked.
Lee didn't feel like the thought of leaving someone when they needed help. It didn't matter to him one way or the other, his friend was trapped, and somebody needed to do something. He needed to do something.
It dawned on Lee what he would have to do. He'd have to beg Guy-sensei for forgiveness after this, but Lee saw no other option. Somebody was in danger. Guy-sensei would have to understand.
Lee reached down and unstrapped the weights from around his ankles. He set them down and took a steadying breath.
"Somebody help, please!"
If anyone were to ask Rikido Satou what happened next, he'd need help explaining. One moment, the guy who saved him, Rock Lee, was there unstrapping weights from around his ankles, and the next, he was gone like a ghost.
Where did he go? It took Satou looking back to the pink girl trapped underneath some rubble to find him again. His only thought was awe over how fast Lee had gotten there. It couldn't have been more than a few seconds, and he was helping the girl from where she was trapped.
He'd never seen anything like it, but the speed wouldn't stop the giant robot. Satou saw it bearing down over the pair of examinees and wished he had more sugar and could do something. But all he could do was look on and scream,
"Look out!"
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Mina was panicking.
"Somebody help! I'm stuck!" She called out desperately. The fact that she had to call out like this in the first place tore at her pride and humiliated her. She was unlucky enough to be too close when they released that stupid oversized robot. Like, come on! Who was supposed to defeat something like that? Who did they think was taking the exam, All Might?!
Mina grunted and tried to lift the piece off her leg again, but she didn't have enough leverage or strength. She wanted to dissolve it, but the cement was too thick; her acid wasn't burning through it fast enough.
Totally going to hit the gym after this, she thought sullenly.
"Help me! I'm stuck! Please, anybody!" She yelled out again to whoever might have heard her. Somebody had to be on their way. Plus, the exam was almost over, so all Mina had to do was stay calm.
The ground shook underneath her, and she jolted in fear. She looked up and saw the robot getting closer and closer while she was still stuck. Another thunderous step and its shadow loomed over her like a storm cloud.
Mina pushed at the rock, shooting acid from her hands, trying to melt through it, but it was still too thick. Her acid sizzled and dissolved, but it was moving too slow. Ugh, how could acid burn too slow?
She found purchase, her fingers gripping the rough rock, and tried lifting again with all her strength.
"Allow me to assist you, Mina!"
...Huh
Mina looked up and was greeted by the guy she had met in the auditorium. It was Lee! Her heart soared, and she could barely nod before he put his hands on the block that had her pinned. Together they heaved, and Mina wiggled out from underneath the rubble just in time to see a great big shadow overtake them.
"Look out!" Was all Mina heard before she was swept off her feet and onto a roller coaster ride.
It felt like she was suddenly going 100 miles per hour to Mina. Everything blurred together, the wind roared in her ears, and Mina had to clench her eyes shut to weather the storm. As quickly as it happened, it stopped, and Mina was left with her heart pounding in her ears and a queasy stomach. She heard her stomach gurgle, and whoever grabbed her tried to set her down on her feet, but Mina's legs buckled.
"Ah, Mina," was that Lee? "I am so sorry for grabbing you so suddenly, but the robot was about squish us if I didn't do anything and-"
Oh, oh no. The talking, the noise, pushed Mina over the edge. She felt her breakfast rise into her throat and couldn't hold on.
"Time is up, examinees! The exam is over!" Present Mic shouted through the arena speaker.
Then Mina barfed all over Lee's gi.
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A/N: I combined the Entrance Exam chapters into one for brevity's sake. In the old version, I had him open one of the Gates when Lee is fast enough without his weights in retrospect. Also, yes, Lee still wears his weights during the entrance exams. If he wore them during the Chunin Exams, he'd wear them here. I appreciate everyone giving the second version a chance.