It was cold. Very cold. Ren'on's body shivered as he rubbed his hands together for warmth, his fingers starting to go numb. The young boy of eight was careful of his sharp nails while cupping his hands together, and let out a breath to try to warm them faster. The stark white room was cooled down so low that Ren'on could see his own breath. He'd been in there for about twenty minutes, though without a clock in was hard to tell.

Ren'on's fox ears twitched as he heard the door to the room unlock. He looked over and saw two doctors, one of them he recognized, a coral pink-skinned lady with fin-looking ears and blue sclera who was often present for his tests, and another older man doctor that he didn't recognize. The young boy sat up from his place on the lone chair, his single red fox tail wrapping around his leg for warmth

"Ren'on," the pink lady spoke, Ren'on was never given her name. "We are continuing yesterday's test today. Do you remember what to do?" Her voice was as cold and empty as the room he was in.

Ren'on nodded, trying to suppress his shivering. "Yes ma'am. I have to warm up this room to 50c without my other tails." He answered, standing tall to try and act stronger than he felt.

The two doctors left the room, locking the door behind them. Ren'on knew from previous tests that they were going behind the big mirror on the wall to watch him. A red light that was beside the mirror changed to green, signaling that it was time for him to begin. Ren'on cupped his hands together in front of him and a blue-violet flame started to grow from his palms. He took a deep breath, causing the flame to grow in size, and then another, and then another. The heat radiating from the flame burned even its user, but he couldn't afford to fail, not again.

The red line of the thermometer grew and grew with every breath, plateauing at 46c. Ren'on was sweating and tired. This was the fifth test of the day and his body was at its limit. With the last of his energy, Ren'on pushed the limits and burst the flame forth, the blue-violet light lighting up every corner of the room. The thermometer passed the mark, and the light turned blue, signaling the end of the test. Ren'on fell to his knees, his hands burning and his body in pain, but he passed, and tht's all that mattered. That's all that ever matters.

"You've completed the final test of the day, Ren'on. Go back to your assigned room for the day. Dinner will be served to you shortly." The pink lady's voice rang out through the hidden speakers.

The locked door opened on its own and Ren'on hobbled his way into the hall as he was ordered. The hallway as very tall and grey, with pipes traveling across the walls and staff walking around the building, doing their jobs. The lights were too bright, and the noises were too loud, causing Ren'on's ears to flatten against his hair. His heat was filled with static as the overstimulaton from his exhaustion started to set in. The young boy bumbled his way back to his room and flopped onto his bed on the lower bunk of the bunkbeds, ignoring the two other boys in the room.

A boy with short white hair and red eyes peered over the edge of the opposite bunk bed, while another older boy with blonde hair and green eyes gave nothing more than a quick glance from his desk. The white haired boy swung down from his bunk, using his long, spiked bone tail to do so.

"Oi, oi, Ren, they made you do more work again ay? Am I right? I'm right aren't I?" He poked the exposed cheek of the fox boy, giving a cheeky smile.

Ren'on put a pillow over his head, his body and muscles aching. They didn't usually do that. "Mmf, too loud, Roi. It hurts..." He complained.

Roi placed his hands over his mouth and turned towards the blonde boy, who sighed and turned in his chair. "Leave him alone, Roi. Ren'on has to go through rigorous testing, much harder than we have to. Just let him rest."

"You're the boss, Hansuke." Roi whispered with a big thumbs up, but he didn't move from his spot beside the bed.

Roi was a cheeky trouble maker, and loved to tease people, but he hated seeing his friend look so weak. He swung back up to his bunk and pulled out his super secret stash of secrets. He started poking Ren'on once again, causing the boy to peak out from under his pillow. Rio shoved the contraband in his friends face with an even bigger smile. In his hands were three comic books from the outside, all about the hero Starbright and his sidekick Phantom. Ren'on all but jumped out of bed and gazed upon the books as if they were piles of gold.

"Roi! How did you get these!? We aren't allowed to have stuff from outside!" Ren'on whisper-yelled.

Roi gave only a mischievous chuckle in return and put a finger to his lips, obviously not going to spill his secrets. The two boys sat on the bed, opening one of the comics to read.

"This one is my favorite," Roi started. "Starbright and Phantom have to fight against Doctor Juggernaut to get back a piece of the mask of malice."

"Cool! What's that?"

"It's this broken mask, and when it comes together, it gives you super powerful strength and evil thoughts!"

"Wow! Do you think something like that really exists?"

"It's just a comic book, Ren'on," Hansuke inturupted from his desk. "They're all works of fiction, there's no way something like that could ever exist."

Roi stuck out his tongue at the older boy. "You're such a party pooper sometimes. And they're not all fake, my All Might comic is super real! See? Right here, it says "Based on the true stories of the No. 1 Hero All Might." See? Ya see?"

Hansuke rolled his eyes at the younger boys' insistence. He walked over to the bed and picked up the third comic. Red Heart vs. Optimo, the final chapter. Roi frowned at the book.

"I don't like that one too much. Red Heart gets defeated by Optimo at the end and loses his superpower." He pouted.

Hansuke bonked Roi's head with the comic, causing the boy to pout even more. "Hey, you just spoiled the ending!" He scolded.

Roi stuck out his tongue and gave a half assed apology before going back to his comic. Beside him, Ren'on looked back towards the lower bunk opposite to the one he was on. It belonged to Tomoe, another young boy his age who also went through the same rigorous training as himself. He had been struggling with the new tests recently, and then two days ago he was taken away by the doctors, and hasn't been seen since.

"Do you... do you think that Tomoe would like comics too?" He asked in a quiet voice.

"Probably not." Hansuke answered, not looking up from his comic.

"But... why?"

"Because he's dead."

Ren'on froze. This wasn't right. Something was so very wrong here. He turned to Hansuke, who looked at him with a cold, blank stare. His eyes looked dull and lifeless. This was wrong. He turned to Roi, who had the same dead look on his face. This was wrong.

Ren'on's heart beat rapidly in his chest as he tried to swallow the growing sense of panic. "...What?"

"He's dead," they both spoke in unison.

This was wrong. The white room they were in suddenly went dark, with only the light directly above them illuminating their surroundings. Ren'on's ears rung with the ever growing buzzing of electricity, his friends now standing directly in front if him. This was wrong.

"This- this isn't real," Ren'on's voice quivered, leaning back away from his friends- no, the two figures pretending to be his friends.

They spoke again. "He's dead"

The light was getting brighter, and the noise was so, so loud. He couldn't see anything but their silhouettes now, and couldn't hear anything but his heartbeat pounding in his ears. This was wrong. This wasn't real. Where was he? It was too much, Ren'on's body was in so much pain he couldn't breath. He wanted to scream, but couldn't hear anything over the horrible buzzing of the lights. This was wrong.

And then he woke up.

Ren'on shot up out of bed like a bat out of hell, throwing the blankets off his body with the force. He panted heavily as his eyes scanned around the room. He wasn't in a bunk, he was in his bed, in his own room, in his house. He was safe. Ren'on placed a hand over his chest as he tried to calm his breathing down to normal. After his heart slowed and his eyes adjusted quickly to the darkness, the young boy flopped backwards onto his bed with an exasperated sigh, running his hands over his face. It was just a bad dream, again.

Ren'on looked over to his bedside clock and saw that it was 5:39 AM. Which was way too early for him to be awake. Knowing that he wouldn't be able to fall back asleep, Ren'on decided to get up early and do his morning routine anyways. He needed something to get his mind off of the disturbing dream before he freaked himself out again. He got up from his bed and made his way over to his bathroom, turning on the light. His slit pupils narrowed at the intrusion. He brushed his teeth and washed his face, taking special care to brush his long Carmine red Hair, watching as the strands of Vermillion revealed themselves in the light.

After getting ready for the day, Ren'on looked at himself in the mirror. He was 15 now, no longer the young child he was in the dream. His light sky blue eyes looked more tired than usual, the red marking under his eyes and around the corners blended into his growing eyebags. Lowering the collar of his shirt revealed the red poinsettia-esq patterns going from his left shoulder up to just below his ear. They, like most of his back muscles, were very sore right now, and how they pretty much always were. He didn't have to see to know that the markings on his left calf and arm, as well as his torso, were also aching. Ren'on opened his mirror cabinet and took out a bottle and painkillers, taking out two. His chronic muscle pain made the young boy gain quite the collection of bottles that he hasn't bothered to throw out yet.

He left the bathroom and rubbed his neck, trying to loosen the tensing muscles. He sat down at his desk and brought out a locked journal and secret key. The front of the book has "Dream Journal" written on it in hand written letters with a bunch of different doodles overlaping each other. Ren'on opened the book and took out a pen, writing down whatever of his dream he could still remember.

February 26th.

I dreamed about the lab again.

It was right after Tomoe was taken away, and right before Hansuke was taken too.

We were reading comics, and I had a test. It was painful, but it was before the final test so not as painful yet.

That doctor lady was there again, and a strange man, I don't remember him being there.

Then Hansuke and Roi started yelling at me about Tomoe, and everything was too loud and bright.

I don't know what any of this means.

Under the blank page, Ren'on doodled one of the pages from the comic books in his dream. Starbright and Phantom capturing the defeated Doctor Juggernaut, and another doodle of Red Heart in a triumphant pose. That wasn't how the comic book ended, but Ren'on liked his ending better. Looking back over at the clock, he saw that it was just past 6 AM, having only killed 20 minutes of time.

As if on cue, there was a shuffling sound coming from the room at the other end of the hall. That would be his Guardian getting ready for work. Deciding that it was time to welcome the day, Ren'on went into the kitchen and made himself a bowl of cereal as Nemuri Kayama entered the room with a robe and slippers on. Her hair was still wild and unkempt, and she somehow already made herself a cup of coffee.

"Mornin' Ren," She yawned, sitting down at the table.

"Good morning, Ms. Midnight." He responded, taking another bite of his breakfast.

Kayama rolled her eyes and ruffled the boy's hair. "You can just call me Kayama when we're at home, ya know,"

Ren'on hummed. "I know."

Kayama sighed and got ready for work, knowing that the kid wouldn't change his mind. She changed into her hero costume and put on her long trenchcoat to go out. It had been five years now since she was appointed Ren'on Sueno's legal guardian, and the boy had barely become any less formal with her. He'd been making progress though, she thought as she rummaged around for her keys. He may be just as hard to read as he was five years ago, but his heart was in the right place. Kayama looked towards the boy fondly, thinking back to all the time they'd spent together. He was all grown up now, and he was going to the U.A. Entrance exam to be a hero. A great Hero.

"Are you still going to the quirk gym today?" She asked, putting on her shoes to go to work.

Ren'on nodded and also got ready to go out, grabbing the gym bag that he had packed the night before. "It usually has less people today, and I want to get some extra practice in." He explained.

"Alright, but don't forget that the U.A. Entrance Exam is less than a week away, so don't overdo it," Kayama warned.

"I know. But you're recommending me, right? If a pro is recommending me then I must be good, right?" Ren'on countered.

Kayama laughed boisterously and pointed her flogger whips at his face. "Ha! Keep up that youthful confidence Ren, just remember to not let it get to your head!"

Ren'on used the tip of his index finger to gently push the whip away from his head, finding it too early for this kind of enthusiasm. "Yeah, I'm not."

The two parted ways and Ren'on kept his word to himself to go to the quirk gym to further train his skills. The gym had opened a few months ago and he'd only just been accepted to join a month ago. Being a gym specifically to train people's quirks, there was a lot of security and paperwork involved to make sure that the gym could accommodate, and that the person could be trusted to use their quirk responsibility. Ren'on walked through the doors of the massive building and gave his membership to the front desk, requesting for one of their fire resistant rooms. He was given a red tie bracelet and went to the change rooms to change into his gym clothes. Today he wanted to work on his Fox Fire technique, feeling that he was already too sore to work on anything else. Just as he was about to exit the change room, Ren'on's ears twitched at the sound of a familiar voice.

"Oi! Ren! Is that you? Haha! I knew you'd be in today!"

Ren'on barely had any time to move before an arm was slung over his shoulder. He recognized the head of cotton candy blue hair and piercing red eyes as belonging to one Kio Suenaga, a loudmouth who was always going out of his way to insert himself into the fox boy's life.

"Hi, Suenaga," Ren'on forced out. He flicked his tail and flattened his ears, already exasperated.

Kio laughed, flashing his sharp teeth. "Don't sound too enthusiastic now, I've been waiting for you to show up." He admitted with an impish grin. "You've rented out the fire room right? Let me train with you! We're both gonna be classmates in U.A. after all!"

Ren'on cringed at the loudness of his voice in his ears. It's not that he didn't like Suenaga, he was just a bit... too much. He was always too intense about everything he did, putting 110% into his goals. It would be admirable if his current hyper focus was on himself.

"Neither of us have been accepted into U.A. yet, and even if we are, its no guarantee that we'll be classmates," Ren'on countered, trying to be realistic about things.

Kio laughed as slapped Ren's back roughly. "Ha! You're too humble, Ren. We're both gonna get into the 1A class no problem. We're really strong ya know? Don't sweat it!"

Ren'on turned his head, feeling a bit bashful at the taller boy's kind words. Maybe it would be beneficial to have some real life sparring experience...

Ren'on let out a short breath and loosened his shoulders. "I suppose. I guess it's fine to have company sometimes..." he trailed off.

"You mean it? All right! Let's get started already!" Suenaga exclaimed, dragging Ren'on out of the change room.

The two entered the fire resistant room, with Ren'on unlocking the door using the bracelet on his wrist. The room was padded and reinforced for extra protection against powerful quirks, and filled with all manner of different kinds of equipment. There was the normal stuff, weights, treadmills, bars, all the works, but there was also more specialized equipment, like targets, temperature suppressing suits, and thermometers. That last one caught the eye of the young fox. His mind wandered back to the dream he had, it was almost fate that he would run into such a thing yet again. He wondered how hot he could make the room now, seven years later, how would his child self react to his progress.

Ren'on was broken out of his thoughts when Kio let go of his arm, going ahead of him into the room to set up his practice. Ren'on followed him, putting his hair up in a poorly done up bun before stretching out his muscles. They were still quite tense from the morning, but the pain meds had kicked in, making it a bit more manageable. He sat on the floor and practiced touching his toes, easy being able to stretch past them. His body was made for agility, being more fox-like and all.

After they were both done stretching, Ren'on walked over to a TouchPad by the door and scanned his wristband once again. He imput the settings for a sparring match and set the timer for 10 minutes. They just needed something quick to warm up first. When he was done filling out the settings, small tiles opened up near the ceiling of the room, and small spouts came out. Ren'on remembered being told when he was being shown around that the spouts were supposed to shoot out a quick drying substance in case a match got too out of hand.

After everything was set up, the two boys got into position on opposite ends of the room, waiting for the signal to start. Ren'on held out his hands, engulfing them in his blue-violet flame by making a fox hand sign. He had no doubt in his mind that Suenaga was strong, he had seen the boy fight and train most days he was there and his mastery over his quirk was something to be revered. How many tails would Ren'on need to bring out? Or more accurately, how many tails could he bring out safely in his current state. Just one more, maybe two for a short time, definitely not three more.

The speakers buzzed and Ren'on moved first, swiftly closing the distance between them and keeping his body close to the ground. He knew that he was the fastest of the two, and whoever got a hit in first would have the upper hand. In an instant Ren'on lifted his flaming hand for a palm strike, but was caught off guard by a sudden strong force pushing him back, sending him flying back to the other end of the room.

"Heh, you're gonna have to be faster than that if you wanna put a scratch on me, Ren!" Kio gloated.

Suenaga Kio

Quirk - Gravitational:

Kio can control and manipulate gravity. He can lower ar highten the gravity of an area, or push people away or towards a certain area by changing the center if gravity. He cannot change the gravity of a certain object or person, only a specific area.

Ren'on slid his hands across the floor, using his sharp nails to stop himself from moving. He then brought out a second tail and used them both as anchors to keep himself from moving any further back.

"And you're going to need more than that to push me away," he retorted.

Sueno Ren'on

Quirk - Kitsune:

He can do a lot of the same things a Kitsune can do. He can create tangible blue violet fire from his body, and can grow up to nine tails that each boost his power output, though at a high cost. He also has many fox-like abilities.

Ren'on re-assed his surroundings. He realized that what he thought was a push was actually a pull, with Kio having added a new point of gravity to the room against the wall behind him. He knew that this aspect of Kio's quirk could only be activated by touch, so this must have been planned ahead of time, and set up when he touched the wall after first entering the room. Before Ren'on could come up with a plan, Kio rushed forwards, using the new point of gravity to propel his body forwards, fists ready. Acting on instincts, Ren'on bent his body backwards just as Kio was nearly on top of him. Using his tails to balance, Ren'on lifted his legs and used them to throw Kio into the wall behind him, the gravity that he was dependent on now being used against him.

Kio landed with a loud thud, and Ren'on took the opportunity to subdue him. He stretched the length of his tails to capture the boy, but was inturupted by him jumping the length of the ceiling, a sudden feeling of weightlessness overcoming him. Kio had used his quirk to lessen the effect of gravity on the room, now being able to move as freely as he pleased. He bounced off the walls, avoiding Ren'on's tails, until he was right over the shorter boy. He released his quirk and allowed himself to fall, swinging his leg down to deliver a swift kick. Ren'on managed to grow a third tail and used it is a sheild against the kick, delivering his own blow via another flame enhanced palm strike. The hit handed, and Kio was sent backwards, though not yet defeated. He had a wide smile on his face, enjoying the rush that came with a good spar.

"I didn't expect any less from you," Kio spoke, looking at the burn mark now etched onto his shirt.

"You're a lot faster than last time, I have to take you seriously or I'll lose."

Kio's grin grew, though it didn't look all that friendly. To be acknowledged by someone he considered to be strong, it made his heart race with adrenaline. Kio brought his hand up to the wall behind him, changing the point of gravity towards himself. It was much stronger this time, pulling Ren'on forward. Ren'on responded by making the fox hand sign again, creating spheres of fire around his body before shooting them towards his opponent. He had no intention of hitting Kio, but rather keep him distracted while he used the gravity to rush forwards. With the added speed, Ren'on was right on front of Kio in an instant, using his tails to stop himself from hitting the wall. He grabbed the arm that was against the wall, and used his foot as a pivot to twist the arm over his shoulder. With all his strength, Ren'on swung Kio over his shoulder, slamming the boy's body onto the mat. The speakers buzzed, signaling the end of the spar, and the fight was officially over.

Kio and Ren'on were left doubled over, panting and exhausted. Ren'on never liked fighting with others using his quirk, but Kio always knew how to bring out the fighter in him. Ren'on went to go hold out his hand as a sign of good sportsmanship, but the moment he stopped doubling over, a tense pain shot through his lower back, causing him to fold in on himself. He'd overdone it with that last throw, and now his body was having its revenge. Instead of picking Kio up, Ren'on layed down beside him, letting his back work itself out. Kio was still trying to catch his breath after the wind was knocked out of him, but still managed to let out his signature laugh.

"Heh, heheh, I guess you won this time. What's the score now, 8-7? You're winnin' again," he commented horsely.

Ren'on groaned in response. "If this is what winning feels like, I'll gladly be a loser."

Kio chucked and forced himself to sit up, bouncing back rather quickly for someone who just got their shit rocked. Ren'on stayed on the padded floor while his partner silently went over to one of the treadmills, no longer feeling the need to he boisterous not that the adrenaline had worn off. Ren'on felt a slight increase in gravity, assuming that Kio wanted to add more weight to his run. Ren didn't mind, the increase in pressure actually helped sooth his aching muscles, if only slightly.

After laying on the floor for a couple more minutes, Ren'on decided to finally stand up, his back giving a satisfying crack as he did so. He looked around the room at the equipment, trying to decide what to do now that his whole routine was inturupted. Weights were out of the picture, so was running, perhaps something he could do sitting down. Ren'on's hand unconsciously drifted towards the mark on his shoulder, still feeling the ache. Unfortunately for him, there was no amount of pain killers or muscle relaxants that would subside it.

Kio took notice of his behavior and stopped his machine. "Oi, what's up with you? I didn't throw you too hard, did I?" He half joked through thinly laced concern.

Ren'on sighed and lowered his hand. " 'm fine," he insisted. "This is pretty normal for me, it's just worse today." He explained.

Kio walked over and crouched down beside him, doing his usual thing of disregarding Ren'on's personal space. "You got a muscle cramp or something?" He asked casually.

Ren'on was hesitant, he didn't really talk about his pain all that much. It wasn't that it was a secret or anything, it was just a bit hard to explain. He looked down as Kio. He knew that even though the guy was rather loose with personal space or privacy, he was still a trustworthy guy. Besides, if they were going to the same school he'd probably just end up finding out anyways.

"I have... a condition," he started. "It's an offshoot of a kind of Fibromyalgia, one that's caused by my quirk even when I'm not using it. My body just isn't made for it I guess. It causes a bunch of stuff, like pain and stiffness in my muscles, it makes me tired but also gives me shit sleep, and gives me headaches sometimes. I take some stuff for it, but some days are worse than others."

Kio whistled at the list of information he was just given. "Damn, that sounds pretty sucky. You still gonna train today? Or are you gonna call it quits?" He asked.

Ren'on waved his hand dismissively, though tuched by his partners concern for him. "It's fine, I'll just do some sitting down stuff for now, I can do a real work out later."

"Ha ha! That's the spirit!" Kio exclaimed, once again slapping Ren'on's back. "I knew that you would be able to overcome- oh, uh, sorry."

Kio left to do his own thing, leaving Ren'on alone once again. He thought about how he told Kio about his condition, and he almost felt bad for lying. Almost. It's not like he would be able to tell him the truth even if he wanted to, there was a gag order on his whole past, and telling him would land him in a lot of trouble.

Ren'on once again looked around the room, now silent and empty, for something to do. His eyes once again rested on the thermometer, which rested at a pleasant 22c. He just couldn't get that dream out of his head, that test was stuck gnawing at his mind. He needed to do it again. Last time he could barely bring the room up to 50, but he hadn't done that test since.

Ren'on stayed seated and heald out one of his hands, his curiosity taking over. He produced a small flame in his hand, then it grew bigger, and bigger, until his entire hand was engulfed in the flames. Then he did something new, with his other hand he condensed the flame into a ball, allowing it to grow hotter and hotter, and grow brighter. He keeps that up, concentrating on keeping the ball condensed, but he couldn't keep it up for very long. His hand wavered slightly, and that small mistake caused the ball to practically explode outwards, the fire filling up the room. Ren'on was almost blown backwards by the force, forced to sheild his eyes from the bright light. When all had died down he looked back at the thermometer in anticipation. It was well over 500c in the room, more than ten times his last result

Now feeling satisfied with his visit, Ren'on put away the equipment and got ready to leave. He may not have done what he had come here to do, but in a way, Ren'on felt enlightened. He walked out the doors of the gym and made his way home. He only had less than a week, and now he had made a promise to get into the 1A class. Ren'on knew that if he wanted to get into U.A., he would need all the practice he could get.