Chapter 11: Series of Unfortunate Events

9.55 am

Tokyo outskirts

From the rising sun that graced its sunlight over the metropolis of Tokyo, people moved like a tide, each of them having a myriad of work, obligations, and plans for the day.

Throughout this mass of people, one pair was moving opposite of it, heading outwards from the city and into a more quiet area.

"Is this your home?" An impatient voice laced with steady breathing muttered as the young teenager with pink hair stopped in front of a traditional small wooden house, looking like it had been untouched by the modernities as its wooden construction stood out in the sea of concrete and cement.

"Why yes, thank you, sweetie." The matronly voice replied from the back of them, allowing the former to crouched down and carefully step down on the ground. Hands went to the back as the elderly white-haired woman hunched over and turned towards him. "Would you like some tea?"

"Thanks but I have to go, I need to be in time for the U.A exams." A small handheld trolley was placed to the sides, full of groceries. "You should also take a taxi next time so you won't get lost

"Ah, hero exams? My, you youngster is certainly eager. Hmm, very well, take care then." The elderly woman bowed but not before the young man helped her by staying at her side until she opened the door, got inside with her trolley, and waved at him before closing the door.

Once he heard the lock clacking, the youngster sped off like a bullet.

Kurono Tatewaki was not having a good time.

First, a bloody villain attack delayed the trains, then during that time an old lady who was struggling to haul her groceries had gotten off the wrong stop.

He had helped her and directed her to the train station guards that would've handled it but instead, it was rush hour due to the fifteen-minute delay. Causing them to issue out a formal apology to everyone and focus on managing the traffic flow, practically ignoring the grandma.

So there he was, forced to wait and escort her back, especially since he noticed that she's not exactly spry and had trouble hauling a simple personal trolley.

I think it was nice to do a good deed. Crona answered back in a consolatory voice.

"Our future hangs on this, Crona!" Kurono shouted between their run, feeling sweat building up as he was boiling mad. Sending his mental roommate wincing at the volume.

So why didn't he just leave the grandma sitting in the train station until the staffs were free?

Fuck if he knew that answer.

All he knew was that someone needed help, and he can't ignore it. Not anymore.

Sighting a bus stop, Kurono skidded hard as his heavyweight and momentum having him slide a fair distance before stopping it completely by grabbing a pole. Drawing a few glances from onlookers as they saw him panting.

Turning to the bus stop's map route, he traced a finger from where he was to one that'll take him to U.A in less than half an hour, assuming traffic was steady.

Once he saw a clear route, Kurono relaxed and waited for the bus. Allowing this moment to cool himself as he tapped his fingers against the railings.

Opening his school bag for a bottle of water and their notes, they swiped a mouthful of water before putting it back.

Regaining his breath as events winded down, both Kurono and Crona checked back through the possible subject topics. The latter memorizing key questions while the former just reading the cliff notes for their entire subject.

From the corner of his ears, a familiar humming of a bus engine came, stopped, and hissed as doors opened for the passengers to leave first.

"Finally." Kurono lined up to get onto a bus, waiting patiently for their turn.

Just as he took a step, a slight movement from the sides caught his attention. His attention snapped towards it and saw a black cat just casually walking on the wall, making eye contact with it.

Oh, . Crona's eyebrow widened and briefly took control of the right hand to wave at it. Seeing their movement, it reciprocates back with a meow of its own.

Kurono shrugged and hopped onto the bus, not caring about the cat.

As the bus moved slowly and picked up speed, things finally seem to go his way. No need to worry about being late as he checked the time, it was ten minutes past ten.

More than enough time-

A rumbling sound crackled like thunder out of the blue, eyes wandering as people looked up forwards before a screeching sound followed. Kurono was hurled forward as the tires screeched and left smoke behind.

Worse off for Kuronothe the sudden destabilization was him slamming into the floor like a sack of bricks, thankfully, no one was in his path but the impact shook through his right arm as he landed shoulder first.

What the fuck?! Shaking their head and picking themselves up, wondering just what happened. A similar sentiment was shared by other passengers as some stood up from their seats while voicing their displeasure.

Taking a gander as he got to the front of the bus, the driver waved him off backward with a hand.

"Please, stay behind the line and in your seats! There's been an accident in the front-!"

"What front?" Someone closer muttered as they looked forwards, the road was longer there and only a gaping hole in the front.

Making things worse was cars that nearly tumbled down below or swerved violently to the side to halt their momentum. Watching from inside, Kurono realized just what had happened as the bus driver hurriedly called emergency services and relayed information to them.

A sinkhole.

Rubbing the top of his head as a massive headache began to form and pulsed violently, Kurono can't believe his string of luck.

A bloody sinkhole.

An accident of all things, and the way it's going, he doubts that he can leave until the police arrive and take his testament, or at least, a confirmed headcount.

Looking at the digital clock on the bus, it was half-past ten now.

Crona can't do nor think of anything to say as Kurono helplessly leaned against a chair.

Great.

12.05 pm

U.A auditorium hall

The auditorium that U.A has befitted its status, as hundreds of students were crammed inside and many more were in separate halls. Capable of holdings thousands, if not more, of students as they gathered to listen to the speaker.

Silence reigns supreme as one can hear a pin drop and tension thick to be cut with a knife.

Even the professional hero and DJ, Present Mic, was unable to break the tension and had opted to just roll with it.

Click, click, pock.

However, at the edge of everyone's ears, the rhythmic tapping of a phone can be heard from a distance.

Some of the students with endowed senses were able to pinpoint the source to a female student, blonde hair tied into two messy buns, and much to their shock when they occasionally glanced at her, operating two phones as well.

They could hardly believe it, was she that confident or just uncaring?

Many focused on her but didn't stop to question why there was an empty seat to her right side.

Click, click, pock.

Fingers slide across the phone, refreshing it constantly as another message was quickly copied and sent out again.

Nothing. Her eyebrow twitched and continued checking again. The phone was warm to touch but she ignored it.

Next to her, Mashirao Ojiro only sighed as he continued to listen carefully to Present Mic explaining the rules.

The more that was listed down, the more Ojiro realized just how close it was to confirming Kurono's words. Sure, the rules were different but the combat was the main stage.

Or at least, half of the stage. Ojiro pondered to himself with realization now that the objective was clear.

Still, parts of him admit that being given information firsthand felt...undeserved and unbecoming.

Would he act the same if he didn't know?

Did he help others because it's the right thing to do or because he wants to earn more points, thereby, allowing him to enter U.A easily?

Fingers tapped against his knuckles, eyebrows tightened to a frown as he leaned forward in thought against this conundrum.

"Excuse me!" A loud boisterous voice shook Ojiro out of his thoughts and nearly made his heart jump out of his throat.

A tall student with clean-swept hair to the sides, glasses, and a broad frame stood up in a sharp but mechanical manner with his hands raised. Then proceeded to point out that there are four types of villain robots instead of three.

Checking towards the paper given to them, there was indeed a fourth villain type. Kurono hadn't told them about it, was this a new addition?

Most of all, it seems that there were no points assigned to it as well.

"Also, you there!"

Huh?

Ojiro looked upwards, and true enough, the formal student turned around and had a finger pointed towards him. Making him raise an eyebrow as he pointed to himself with a puzzling look.

"The girl with two hair buns! Stop playing with your phone, It's distracting! Are you even listening to the presentation as well?!" The formal student gave Toga an accusing look with a precise and mechanical chopping gesture of his hand.

Ojiro pursed his lower lip and gulped as his eyes darted to the sides, and much to his growing chagrin, Toga indeed was still focused on the phone.

"Toga, Toga!" Ojiro nudged her shoulders, hissing her name to get her attention but to no avail.

Her indifference only served to annoy the tall student addressing her as his eyes narrowed further and a vein popped at the sides.

"Hey! Did you even listen to what I said?!" Iida Tenya, younger brother to the hero Ingenium, clenched his teeth hard and poured every ounce of restraint that he had to not snap out any obscenities.

"I heard ya. Do you mind? I'm busy." Toga flippantly answered back.

Click, click, pock.

"Sorry for the trouble, she's just worried since a friend of ours is late." Ojiro intervened quickly and attempted to diffuse the situation by inclining his head towards him, fearing more that the student would burst a vein when he saw the grimacing and darkened face.

A flick to the empty seat told Iida enough.

Click, click-

"If someone like that is late to such an important event in determining their future," Tenya pushed his glasses upwards as he proclaimed. "Then they possess no qualities befitting of a hero and don't deserve to be here!"

A few murmuring and nodding sentiments followed from the crowd.

After all, can one say 'sorry, I'm late.' to an accident where lives hang by seconds?

Ojiro bit his lower lips at that with a tightened fist, regretting his choice of words as dislike formulated within him towards this person who didn't know a single thing about Kurono.

Still, taking calculated breaths, Ojiro decided to let it go for now. No sense in getting into an argument right before the exams-

"You're noisy." A cold voice replied as Tenya finally caught her attention, two yellow-slitted eyes bore into him as Ojiro snapped towards her in horror.

Tenya's eyes boggled incredulously, was she saying that to him after such behavior?! "Y-You're saying I'm nois-?!"

"If I get into the hero course, will you shut up?" She cut off his words and rose from her chair, a baleful look and body leaned forward.

"I'll get on my knees and apologize to you." Those words boiled his blood and heatedly, Tenya accepted that challenge from her. "IF you can."

"Deal." She reciprocated with hackles raised as the two stared at one another, almost ready to throw down right there and then.

"Alright, alright. It's good to be spirited but let's not get too excited, my listeners!" Present Mic clapped his hands even as his voice boomed across the entire amphitheater, a smirk on his face gazing at the two students. "But yes, regarding the fourth villain, you ever played Mario? they're like the thomp-"

With that, Toga and Tenya settled back down in their seats. Their glares remain until they finally force themselves to look forward.

Ojiro sighed, ready to open his mouth, and tried to find a way to chastise her but realized it was futile.

Truly, in regards to Kurono, Toga's temper was as uncontrollable and unpredictable as the seas.

At the same time, there was an intense focus now as she was actively reading the pamphlet and absorbing the information.

"Do you really mean it?" He broached the subject carefully. A simple nod back from Toga was all that's needed.

She's serious. Ojiro swallowed, not like Toga wasn't serious before since she worked just as hard to get in.

But this time, it was personal.

Thinking about it, the situation with Kurono right now is completely out of his hands. Right now, he had to focus on what's in front of him and that was the exams.

Very well. Muttering a slight apology and prayer of safety for Kurono first, Ojiro's mind turned to the practical exams.

They're going to get in.

So damn it, Kurono, you better get here in time for the written exams at the very least.

11.40 am

Team Idaten Office

Team Idaten, an agency that uniquely employs and utilized a large amount of personnel with different quirks, focused primarily on teamwork and deploying the right person for the situation.

Right now, the headquarters is sorting plenty of requests and urgency, one of the latest ones being a missing person.

"Control, can you repeat that, over?" An operator currently relaying information on their new request

"This is Control, we just received a request on a missing teenager, age 15, name Kurono Tatewaki, has pink hair, tight black clothing-"

"This is Pit 02, we will keep an eye out for that. He was last seen was taking a train right? We'll get in contact with them, over."

"Very well, Pit 02, Pit 01, and Pit 03. Resume your patrol, Control out." With that, Control ended the transmission.

One of whom, callsign Pit 01, was currently en route to a scene as they drove in a specialized truck. Within, computers, radio, and supplies lay inside as the occupants went through the announcement.

"A missing kid huh? Think we should help out, Ingenium?"

"We will but after this mission. Seems like another villain is rampaging." Ingenium, the heart and center of Team Idaten, replied as he looked at his current team, composed of three sidekicks, one that had a flight quirk, a strength quirk, and finally, a restraining quirk.

Right now, they have a rampaging villain to apprehend and arrest.

Speaking of kids, Tensei's thoughts went to his own younger brother as he looked at the time, it'll be starting soon.

Tensei grinned and chuckled at that, no doubt that Iida will be quite nervous at such an event.

"We have just passed Haibara junction! Approaching the area, ETA, 5 minutes!" The driver announced to them, snapping him out of his thoughts and immediately headed towards the end of the truck."

"Alright, you heard it, start your engines!" Tensei ordered as a wave of information came pouring in through the coms.

"Contact area is a t-junction, weather and road condition normal, villain suspected to possess strength enhancement quirk due to physical mutation of a tiger."

"Civilians?"

"Still there, evacuation of them is paramount and we'll be sending you in first."

" Got it, Ingenium, get ready for the hot-start sequence."

With that, Ingenium headed to the back of the truck, passing the black and yellow line marking.

"Five."

He steadied himself as the truck panel doors began to lift outwards to reveal the blurring road.

"Four."

A shake of his shoulders, the hum of his quirk, Engine, briefly rev itself out of preparation for his descent.

"Three."

Eyes turned to the sides, people glancing in their direction or rather, in front of them, some with interest and others with horror.

"Two."

Get in and get out. Tensei recited, a hero cannot afford to be slow.

"One."

"Deployed!" Ingenium rushed out, foot lifting from the platform, body leaned forward and the exhaust pipe sticking of his elbow on the left, revved itself, propelling himself in a sharp turn to run next to the truck before both exhausts lit up.

It sent him hurtling like a bullet, easily beating the truck and eyes surveyed the area.

Civilians, all running and fleeing as quickly as they can. Some adults, no elderly or children.

Or at least, ones that he can see so far.

The so-called villain, a large man with an orange and black fur of a tiger, laughed maniacally as he stood in the middle of the junction. A car was picked up by him and looking for a target.

Then eyes brightening and acquiring a target, the villain heaved before tossing it as if the car was like a paper-mache.

No good! Ingenium's heart raced, full of focus as he tracked where it'll land and to his horror, saw a child who had tripped alongside another. The former tried to get her friend back to her feet before both widening their eyes at the car thrown at them.

"Recipro!" Ingenium didn't hesitate, both arms tucked closely and arms straight.

Engines roared to their peak, fire bloomed from his exhaust pipe, going to red, orange, and then blue.

"Burst!" Increasing his speed, Ingenium was now a near comet and nearing the sound barrier.

A few seconds of boost was all he dared to initiate, too much and it'll be disastrous but he cannot be too slow either.

Timing is everything. Teeth tightened as Tensei's eyes focused to its limit, he cannot fail!

That was when someone else intervened which had the former nearly slamming his breaks but decided against it, and went full turbo instead. Streaking in the air, world blurring and sound breaking behind him.

12.30 pm

U.A Examination Ground F

The atmosphere of the air was mixed with awe and amazement as plenty of students observed their surroundings before being corralled together.

A replica of a city, from its roads, buildings, interior, pipe system, right down to the decoration like parks, statues, and fountains, every detail was included. All of this, simply to test its students and there are five more similar areas.

That's also not including the sheer amount of land available aside from those five testing grounds, truly a testament to its motto, Plus Ultra.

Astonishment then slowly faded as they put their mind into the exams, some checking their gear and others warming or psyching themselves up.

Toga Himiko, currently stretching herself as she did a split and body lying forward. Her tight black jumpsuit clung to her body alongside the upper tracksuit shirt. Attached to her waist was a knife holster and said knife, its dull black handle having grooves for better grip.

He didn't make it in time. Toga thought to herself, accepting the reality that Kurono wasn't here, the one time and place that he trained himself near religiously to get.

Even if he did arrive, there's no way to get accepted into the hero course. After all, the practical was the most important part to display their quirk abilities to get in.

It wasn't fair.

Exhaling deeply as she got back up to her feet, it didn't escape her notice that some of the students gave her a wide berth of space between them.

Feh. Toga snorted, recalling the altercation between her and that four-eyed annoyance. How dare he say such a thing?

If there was anyone that deserves to be there, it was him.

So she'll prove it, not only for Kurono but also for herself.

But how?

The answer was obvious, it took some time to figure out but the solution was simple. If it works, then that's that, if not...

Oh well.

Just as she finished her thoughts, Present Mic shattered the calm simply by announcing.

"And...Begin!"

Toga didn't hesitate since she was already told how the exams would go by Kurono, eyes flickered to the sides as she saw everyone's attention to Present Mic, the latter managing to inform them kilometers away.

Taking a deep breath, she slid out of view, her one chance since no one was looking at her.

Including the teachers.

Her skin itched as pores opened and expelled grey goo, covering and morphing her face completely.

By the time the crowd of students started to move, an unfamiliar face had joined them silently.

Kinoko Komori panted as her legs quickly moved, her brown hair flowing side to side as her clothes followed suit. Everyone was in a similar mad dash towards the designated city.

Unfortunately, despite her best effort in training herself physically, students with mutation quirks or emitter quirks that aid them in mobility had her beat as she lagged.

Still, I'm not giving up now! Kinoko pumped herself out, puffing her cheeks, and continued forward relentlessly.

Already from afar, she could pick up noises and metallic screeching as large green robots, each of them towering above her, met the tide of students by engaging them in combat.

A myriad of quirks flew in the air, some shooting highly pressurized water, scales, or even acid. Others took the form of bestial predators to reciprocate with sharpened teeth, claws, and hooves.

Komori felt sweat forming from the top of her forehead as her heartbeat increased, seeing the numerous robots being cut down to size in a rapid manner meant that the chance to earn points was slipping.

Taking a risk, she darted to the sides and into an alley. Allowing her to head deeper to the city center. It might give her a chance to snag a few before they're taken.

The moment she stepped out, a shiny glint from the single eye of a tall robot, its triangular head swung towards hers. "Target acquired! Proceeding to exterminate!"

A one-pointer! Komori withheld her fears even as she raised her hand. Fingers tingled as her quirk went to work.

Pop!

A bright red mushroom popped right in front of the robot lens, obstructing its vision and halting its movement from the sudden appearance of the fungus.

"Error! Vision impaired, this unit requests assistance!" The one-pointer shook its head similar to a dog, scratching and pulling the mushroom away before realizing that its joints also started to have mushrooms growing from the surface. "Multiple foreign objects detected within?!"

This spectacle continued as the one-pointer was soon to be covered in mushroom, it reached a point until it could no longer function and fell to its knees. Sparks flying as metal crashed noisily to the ground.

She then realized that she had attracted the attention of nearly all the robots, bright lenses turned and focused on her before they moved towards her rapidly.

Quickly hopping back into the alley, she turned the huge number of robots into a disadvantage instead. Their large sizes only got in the way as it was far too small for them though they quickly started to demolish the buildings to get to their quarry.

Komori focused hard as her brows furrowed, spinning once and arms flying to the sides as she distributed spores to the air faster.

Pop! Pop! Pop!

"Error! Error!"

Multiple shrooms sprouted at her foot, then all around the alley before moving onto the robots like they're a damp rotten wood, flourishing and blossoming like flowers as a multitude of fungus spawned.

A flurry of wild movements as one-pointers and two-pointers were quickly disabled. Allowing Komori to take a sigh of relief.

That soon died when she heard the hiss and then the roar of a missile launched forwards. Specifically, right towards the alley and her. Panicking, Komori dashed forward in probably her fastest run ever as an explosion went off behind her. Knocking her feet off the ground as she tumbled to the ground and landed flat on her stomach first.

"Readjusting angle." The monotonous voice droned, this one much deeper as the squat, box-shape robot, clawed forward. A large number three painted onto its arms.

Three-pointer! Komori eyes widened as she picked herself up rapidly, this was her chance to score a large number of points-

Before she finished that thought, the three-pointer jerked violently and crashed down violently on its sides. A black blur moved and landed on top of the three-pointer before sparks flew out from the top.

Her eyes were drawn towards the new entrant and most of all, the wildly contrasting color of the black jumpsuit and pink hair as the latter stood up, flicking their black dagger to the sides with the right arm before they both met one another in the eyes.

"Are you okay?" Head tilted to the sides as a concerned voice came from him, Komori building accusation and indignance that someone had just taken a three-pointer from her faded to the background.

Her heart raced as she noticed just how...beautiful this boy was. Or at least she assumes to be from the voice despite physical appearance telling otherwise.

Komori mutely nodded as her eyes went to the three-pointer remains then idly to the sides and realized that plenty of other robots were in a similar state, a single limb or head lopped off cleanly.

Further crashing noises had her quickly reorient her attention when she noticed more participants coming in from one side and robots swarming from the other.

Komori's eyes looked back and forth as she realized she'd be caught in the middle of it. Worse was she won't be able to use her quirk fully with other students and they'll no doubt be caught up.

"Want some help?"

"Huh?!" Komori's eyes snapped and recoiled from the sudden nearness of the pink-haired student. She didn't hear or felt him move at all!

Such proximity made her realize just how lanky and short he was, being taller than her only by a few centimeters.

"You make mushrooms grow? Right? I'll distract them, and you can make them grow."

He's offering to help? Komori felt suspicious about this offer but when she looked at the oncoming crowd. It doesn't seem possible that she'll be able to use her quirk to its fullest but if she can make them blossom now...

"Ok!" She blurted out and looked towards the oncoming robot that was seconds away from them now. "Please run to safety when I give the signal!"

"Sure, I don't think I can handle being covered in mushrooms. Oh, and also..." He muttered to himself, got to his knees for a running start with his eyes upfront. "My blood is black."

Komori didn't know how to respond to that piece of information, and wouldn't be able to as he bolted off like a bullet.

A raised metallic claw from a one-pointer aimed towards him was easily dodged, a second passing by before the arms came off cleanly. By the time the robot registered the missing limb, he was long gone and engaged with a two-pointer.

All of that, done with a single arm as well.

Shaking her head, Komori spun around twice before flinging her arms outwards, stirring the air before taking a deep breath.

"Now!" She shouted as loudly as she could, waited for a second as the pink-haired examinee disengaged from the fight by jumping into a building, crashing and bending the door apart with his bulk alone.

The moment he was safe, Komori unleashed the full power of her quirk as she brought her hands down!

Immediately, small mushroom caps sprouted around her, forming a fairy ring, before it rapidly escalated into a carpet of mushrooms that went forward like a tide. Other students who saw this growth burst halted and skidded in their tracks.

It enveloped every inch of the surface and the robot fared no better as mushrooms of every kind popped out from within and without. So thorough that Komori nearly cleared a street of it.

"I-I did it? I did it!" Komori smiled excitedly even as she turned to look at other students proudly. Reactions ranged from a mix of awe and begrudging admittance.

12.35 PM

U.A examinee monitoring room

"Oh ho, looks like we have some students working together!"

"Quite a pleasant thing to see. Ah, the joys of youth."

"Examinee...3943, Kinoko Komori. Seems her quirk needs more training, some student could've been caught in her mushroom attack."

Multiple comments from the U.A staff filled the air as they observed the multiple large hologram screen showing all six testing grounds, alongside smaller screens littered at the sides.

"And the one that teamed up with Komori?"

"Examinee 42567, Tatewaki Kurono."

That name elicited a few responses from the staff, one of whom standing from the very back.

Toshinori Yagi, currently in his normal state, turned towards the screen highlighting said student. While he had grown thinner and lost some muscle mass, there was still enough weight in him to fill out the formal suit nicely.

So he's the donor? Looking at the other screen with interest and moved away from the one showcasing his protege.

The so-called miracle blood, as Recovery Girl would sarcastically remark, was a bit of a stretch but it wasn't baseless.

His arm went to the right side of his chest, feeling the rough skin from a combination of scarring and sewing as the prosthetic organ continued to work seamlessly within him. Between the regular transfer of the black blood out of his system, it was part of him at this point.

That he managed to still be an active pro-hero even for merely 48 hours after passing his quirk down, was a blessing for him.

Smiling and grinning, he hoped that Kurono would get into the heroic course. The world always needs more heroes.

"Hmm? That's odd-" Nezu, the headmaster of U.A, tilted his head to the sides when Kurono details were brought up.

Yagi's phone vibrated noisily in his pocket, drawing him away as he quickly excused himself. A quick swipe revealed it was a message from Nighteye. Raising an eyebrow, he opened it to see the message.

An electric shock went through his body as it caught his undivided attention.

A missing kid request? Eyes narrowed before relaxing as the message went into further details. Stating that the kid was found and secured though requested to be sent to U.A. Nighteye asked if he was free to do so.

That itself was an oddity until he read the end of the message, pressing that while Midoriya did the right thing but says that it'll be the only time that he'll help out.

Hah. Yagi pieced the two together easily, it looks like young Midoriya had stuck himself yet in another situation to help others despite being right in front of U.A examination.

But why U.A? Scrolling down to the next message that contained the missing kid, threw him into a complete loop as his eyebrow rose comically.

"Shouldn't Tatewaki Kurono be assigned to area D? Why is he in area F?"

Snapping back and forth towards the screen then to his phone for confirmation. Yagi was sure of it.

How could the missing kid be taking the exams right now?

Sorry for the late update, RL been kicking my ass. As usual, comment and criticize.