After Aki had unlocked his 'quirk', the Kobayashi's were quick to prepare him for the entrance exam. They got the go-ahead from Tsukauchi so they were free to allow him to take it but they still had one major issue. The boy couldn't read anything they were writing down. He could speak Japanese just fine but couldn't write it at all. It was as if he had never been taught the characters at all. That wasn't the only issue though. He could only understand math and science at a basic level. He could multiply and divide but that was about it. In of itself, that was strange, he could remember how to do basic math but couldn't write at all. It was all too weird.

So the two spent much of their days teaching the kid everything they could. He did blank out sometimes but was trying so they gave him a pass. When they explained to him which symbols go with what, he picked up what they were doing fast. He could write basic sentences quite easily when he gained that information and his writing only became better over time. The math and other subjects were harder for him and he took days to pick up basic concepts. He slowly got better at it though and they appreciated his effort.

They weren't only teaching him about subjects though. To get into U. A., you need more than just knowledge after all. At first, it was just refining what they already knew about his 'quirk' and how to increase his charge times and power, but quickly evolved into strategic planning on how best to utilize it, as shown with his training with Reina.

Hazuki was a ranged fighter and he wasn't as strong in close combat situations so Reina handled teaching Aki battle strategy to decrease his quirk's weaknesses. Her quirk was rather weak in terms of healing ability so she had to compensate for the rest of her abilities to suit that. As a result of her training, she became a well-rounded hero who could defend herself and help civilians in villain attacks.

"One of the main issues with your quirk is the long charge time. From what I can tell, you can't speed it up much faster than 3 seconds so we need to change something else for it to be more effective in actual combat."

Aki thought hard about what could help him improve but couldn't think of anything at the moment. Until an idea popped into his head "I have an idea. If we fight and I get a feel for what I need to do, I'll figure out how best to do it!"

She was not impressed. "That's simple but… it could work. I May be able to figure out something to help you through that."

"See?" He smiled, "Not such a bad idea after all is it?"

She shrugged her shoulders and mumbled something inaudible to herself "Let's go to the park then." He nodded his head and she turned on her heel and started walking, with him running directly behind her.

"Alright, we're here. Get ready 'cause I won't go easy on you." He got into his fighting pose, and a wide grin coated his face.

He knew just blind charging his quirk wouldn't work so he decided to fight her head on. He threw several punches and kicks at her and she expertly blocked and dodged each one, noting that he wasn't even trying to use his quirk. She was just going to dodge but putting him into a dangerous position could help his battle prowess so she threw a hard punch.

He was surprised by her forwardness and jumped backward into a tree. He grunted by the force of it and saw her rushing towards him again so he jumped up into the tree above him. Her knuckles turned red as she hit it and she groaned.

He started jumping from tree to tree not letting her find him. 'Confusion can only do so much so let's…' he ripped off a small branch and threw it towards her and then jumped behind her and charged.

3. 2. 1. his fist stopped just short of hitting her and

she realized that she lost. 'Seriously? I wasn't taking this that seriously but I'm still a pro so how did he beat me on the first try?' She could tell just from this one practice battle that he would be fine on the practical exam. With this one battle, she gauged how he adapted to his large charging times and strategized, taking advantage of his surroundings.

"You probably won't need help on the practicals. You are naturally good at battle and taking advantage of your surroundings. So… we shouldn't need to train for this."

"Aww, but I hoped we could. It would be fun to." His lips began to pout but she didn't humor his hopes. "Everything taught in our middle school curriculum was never taught to you so if you want any hope of passing, you need to improve your knowledge on it."

"So no more training for the physical parts of the exam?"

"No." upon seeing his saddened face she expanded on her 'no' "but we can help you gain more knowledge about quirks, which will aid you in future battles. All color previously lost from his face had been regained when she said "Really? Well, let's get studying then!" she smiled "Back to the house then, I have a lot to teach you."

Aki had memorized the route there already so he ran back towards their apartment leaving behind a kinder air in his wake.

It had been a month before the exam, and Aki had made significant progress. He could now do math at a decent level and his curiosity towards the sciences inclined him towards them. Anything for future battles was his motto. He could also write with the appropriate fluency for someone his age so he was sure now that they got the basics down. It was now time for the good stuff in their lessons

"Today, we'll be learning about quirks." a lot of times Aki appeared disinterested but for this particular one, he jumped up in his chair. All of his nerves were paying attention now and both Hazuki and Reina began to appreciate his enthusiasm towards it more." when we first awakened your quirk, we used a method that didn't rely on tapping into each of the individual categories of quirks. To test the other method you need an acute understanding of the individual categories. Because we were in a rush back then, we didn't properly explain it to you. Today we will."

He nodded his head in an attempt to make her continue "I told you before that you were an emitter quirk right? What can you recall about what you did back then that would put you in that class of quirk?" he put a finger to his chin and thought back to several months ago. When he unlocked his quirk, he had gathered all the energy he could and punched the floor. "Does it have something to do with the gathering of energy?"

"You're close but you've broadened the term enough so that it also falls within another class." he looked stumped and steam started to stream out of him. "Calm down. I'll just tell you. Emitters manipulate their surroundings and other objects. You take the energy surrounding you and build it up."

He felt stupid for not getting that sooner. "So what was the other category I was mixing it up with?" 'good thinking kid.' "That would be the accumulative category. They store energy in various forms and save it for later. Later could mean weeks, but it can also just be a matter of seconds. So your quirk is easy to confuse for it." he nodded, 'That makes sense' "So why I am not an accumulative type as well? If I am gathering it, it would automatically make me one right?"

"Not exactly. Accumulates have to actually store it somewhere and have the energy be stable. When I was observing you, I noticed your power didn't go into your body at all. And when you were stopping it for me, you had to use force to purposefully stop it."

"That's so interesting!"

"Isn't it? Quirks are very complicated things and it can take quite a lot to understand your own but whenever you gain a perfect understanding of it, you'll be undefeated in whatever challenge you're taking on."

"Right. I'll take note of that." he rubbed his head before remembering something important "So what about the other categories, it can't just be those two right?"

"It's not. There's also the mutation quirks and transformation quirks."

"Didn't Mr. Kobayashi say something about that in the past? Something about it being obvious if I had one."

"He did. Though his explanation of it was rather a bare minimum. I'll explain in detail. "

"Okay!" he readied himself for another lecture on quirks

"Mutation quirks are quirks you have since birth. They always show and it is extremely obvious if someone has one."

He raised his hand "How do you tell?"

"Extra arms legs or other features are dead giveaways. However, with that, the person could just have a transformation quirk that can hold for a while. So the way to check is by noting if their appearance ever changes from the different one that they always have."

"I see." he mentally noted down that information.

"That's basic stuff though. The really important thing about mutation quirks is that other, unrelated quirks, can manifest as well."

"So I can't judge based on appearances."

"Right. Sometimes their mutation does nothing but change their appearance so they develop other powers after to compensate."

He took it all in and in a moment he was ready to continue "So what about the last category?"

"The last category is the transformation quirks. When you first see me, what category do you think my quirk is?"

"An emitter or accumulative type."

"You would correct in assuming that but I could still have a transformation quirk."

"What do… transformers do?"

"Transformers can have normal appearances on the outside like you and me but can completely augment their appearance and change their overall abilities with this transformation."

"Oh so anyone that looks normal can have a transformation quirk?"

"Right. Both me and Hazuki have emitter quirks so you can recognize them more easily but you need to realize that appearances can be deceiving. If there's one lesson I want you to take away from today, it's that."

"Now we have to get back to basic education stuff that's enough quirks for today."

His head lowered "Aww."

The day of the exam soon arrived and Aki was so excited he almost forgot about breakfast and Reina screamed after him"Hey, wait, we have to eat first!"

He stopped in his tracks "Oh, right."

As he sat down and began demolishing his food she spoke up. "Before you go, there's one last thing I should tell you."

He paused with the food still in his mouth "Other than general knowledge and physical prowess they test for something else."

He gulped down his food and looked at her again "They test for heroism in dangerous situations. I took the exam years ago so it probably changed and I can't tell you what to expect but keep this in mind."

He nodded and finished the rest of his meal "Yes! Let's go!"

As he exited the recently gifted government car, he gave a final wave and goodbye to his adoptive mother and ran towards the building draped with the sign 'U.A. Entrance exams' Over it.

He gazed around and noted the many people surrounding him. Some had extra arms or legs, others just looked like normal students who had strange hair. One had red hair and another green like his. He knew he was getting a little too absorbed in all of it so he ran faster until he found himself in a line. There weren't as many people and soon he had found himself at the front of it. Someone beckoned him into the room everyone was waiting for and he found himself inside.

"Name, age, and quirk."

He didn't expect him to be so direct but as the social butterfly that he was he responded as soon as he could with a smile "Kobayashi Aki, uh 14, and charged punch?"

Vlad King glanced through the files and noticed something. 'Unknown Crime Victim? Strange.' "You're free to go. All of your information is correct."

"Thanks, sir!" he ran ahead and into the lecture hall seeing everyone ready and waiting for it to begin. He noticed an open seat to the far left of the building so he went in that direction and sat down. Occasionally, he looked over to see who was still being let in, and gradually, the holes in the seats had been filled and no further people came through the door.

He noticed the man who had checked him earlier walking up to the podium grabbing his mic and talking ". "Welcome, all of you, to the U. A. entrance exam. I'll be briefing you on the exam portion of this stage. Afterward, you will report back here for Present Mic's information regarding the physical portion of the exam. Any questions?" 'scary' was all Aki could think about when he talked and the rest of the people taking the exam with him agreed. "All alright. I'll be telling you what to do for the exam portion then."

The man went on to explain that all of them would be split up and he had given them numbers detailing which center they would go to. He was sent to 'Center G' and almost everyone piled out immediately so he figured he had to follow. He ran across the hallway until he found it. He was one of the first ones there so he quickly went and sat down. Noting two others there with him. 'Fast', one was a rather serious-looking guy with glasses and dark blue hair like Reina's the other was a girl whose hair was a little too weird for Aki's liking. He paid them no mind and sat down preparing for what was to come. Soon, everyone else came in and the written portion of the exam began.

He had completely memorized most of the information he could internalize about quirks and heroes so he was sure he did great on that portion of the test. Other basic stuff was difficult though and it was pretty obvious he didn't do amazingly on those portions. Still, he had his tried and true enthusiasm as he walked to the instructional hall.

When he walked into the room, he saw a different guy than the one who let him in sitting at the podium. He had an amazing look to him and Aki was already a fan of him. He was one of the last ones in and as soon as the last person sat down, the rocker dude began "For all you examinee listeners tuning in, welcome to my show today! Everybody say 'hey'!" Aki stood up and started cheering but abruptly stopped when the others didn't start cheering too and sat down.

He was given a card with the location it gave being labeled as 'Location D' and the rocker dude gave some instructions but Aki kinda zoned out halfway and completely missed the entire explanation. several other adults came in and started announcing that the students from this or that needed to come with them to their assigned areas. He heard a lady call Location D and so he went. She had raven hair and was dressed promiscuously. She kept note of all her applicants and soon they all arrived at the scene. She waved a flag and said 'Go!' with no countdown whatsoever but that didn't really matter to Aki. All he knew was that he needed to beat some robots and so he did.

He took out several using the element of surprise with his quirk but also noticed several students struggling to get by. He recalled what Reina said earlier about there being some manner of heroism they were tested on and now he saw it. Other heroes can need rescuing from dangerous situations as well, after all, so he decided to help them out by defeating the robots that were beating their asses. 'Doing this should award me extra points right?"

He kept doing that for a while until he saw something big approaching. It was bigger than the buildings. It was running towards several other people so he decided to best utilize his strength in the only way he could. He dipped into an alley and ran out the other side moving forward and to his left to get behind the robot. He realized it would notice his presence soon so he charged as fast as he could. 3. The robot had noticed something was off. 2. It had turned around and noticed him. 1. Before it could attack, its legs were destroyed and Aki realized it was going to fall on him. He almost resolute himself to hold it and wait when suddenly the time went off.

It was over. The bot's force of falling stopped and instead, it collapsed inward. It was almost as if the robot's feet were suddenly attached to its thighs. It stayed put and Aki collapsed onto the floor. "That was rough."

Several other kids came around the buildings and congratulated him on taking it out. Some were saved by him and all recognized that he would make an amazing hero.

The teacher who escorted them called them all to the front and said that they were going to head back to the original lecture hall and that they should call their parents to pick them up. She also informed them that their results would come in in a week so all they had to do was wait.

He pulled out his newly received phone and called the adults. His adoptive parents raised concerns that staying out of contact with him while he was in school could prove bad. U. A. was a school that was regularly targeted after all, and if a villain was trying to hide something about Aki, the school would be the perfect place to take Aki away. So they asked the government for another phone and they relented, this was an easy way to get the Kobayashi's back off them after all. So now he could call the pair frequently.

So he called them and they took him home. On the car ride there, they asked how hard it was, and Aki gave the answer "The normal written stuff was hard but the quirk stuff was easy. In the practical, I realized what you meant when you said they also grade off of heroism."

Hazuki was driving so Reina could take a good look backward and question the boy "Really? What did you figure out?"

"They presented us with a dangerous situation and made us realize that even other heroes need saving sometimes."

"I guess you did figure it out then. Did you make any use of that information?"

"I did. I started saving people who were having more trouble and when this big robot came out and targeted the other people I turned its attention towards me until the timer ended."

"I see. You definitely passed then."

"Really?!"

"I would believe so. If you truly saved a lot of people from that giant of a robot, it would be worth a ton of points. Even if you hadn't been fighting anything, you probably would have still passed the practical."

"You overcame a hardship and U. A. doesn't overlook those kinds of things. " Hazuki chimed in.

"yes!"

The rest of the ride back to their apartment was filled with Aki decidedly telling them in detail, what he did, and how excited he was about getting in.

The week passed by in no time and soon a letter was placed at their doorstep. Hazuki was going to go out to buy groceries when he realized he stepped on something that wasn't their doormat and then rushed inside with the letter.

Aki wasted no time tearing it open and the three were greeted by All Might standing in front of them, congratulating young Kobayashi for passing the entrance exam. He also went on to say he got top 10 and had a score of 67 points. The house was filled with celebration and they went on to play several games throughout the night, enjoying each other's company as they went along.

"Y'know, you did better than I did when I was your age. I'm proud of ya kid. You've been studying hard and it shows."

"Thanks! I hope I'll be able to keep up my pace when school actually starts though."

"I'm sure you can do it." Reina had now become a staunch supporter and nothing was changing her from cheering on, what she now considered to be, her son.

Author's notes:

Sorry if this chapter seems rushed. I'm kinda really tired as I'm writing this lmao. Had a major test to study for yesterday and had a major project I was stressing over. I only had half of this chapter done when I started tonight.

Also, I tuned out the instructions for Aki cause we already heard them once and no one wants to hear that shit again. It also felt pretty in character for him.