Hello all! We have the next chapter, and thank you for waiting patiently for this one! We have uhhh... (Counts on fingers) Five ocs introduced this chapter! Hope you enjoy and I'll see you all next at the pre-exam chapter!

III.

Entrance Exam (I)

Arc Theme: Hello, World! – BUMP OF CHICKEN

She was up far too early this morning.

An hour or two later would've been fine, especially since it wasn't that far from where she lived to transit to Zenshi Academy. But if she didn't get up at this hour, she'd never be able to leave the bedroom and do what needed to be done. Even if Iwao was out late doing work last night, he was still an early riser who relied on coffee to keep waking up at the same time every day. The time she'd be heading off to go to school, the time she'd have to leave for exams, the time she'd have to leave to get to Zenshi on time for the entrance exam.

Sumie was anxious as she checked her bag for her supplies. There was a written exam before the physical exam, that much she knew, and she continued to worry at her lip with her teeth as she checked the time over and over. She had time for breakfast—maybe not a proper one, but enough to last her on the trip over. The toast jumped out of the toaster, and Sumie was quick to rush through the kitchen and butter it as quietly as possible. Iwao still wasn't up yet. He still hadn't heard her yet. She stuffed the toast into her mouth, winced at the pain, and sucked in a deep breath through her nose. Sumie was out the front door just as the sun began to rise—and for once, leaving without the suppressor, without Iwao checking to see if she was wearing it, it was a breath of fresh air.

She'd worked hard for this smallest amount of freedom. Like hell was Sumie wasting this chance.

Not many people were out and about at this hour, though that was to be expected. Most kids her age had exams to worry about more than classes, and they all had to travel to their ideal schools to take those exams. A lot of people wanted somewhere like UA to be their top choice, the school they got into and became a Pro Hero from, but Sumie had kept her eyes off of UA for a reason. Besides, it wasn't like Zenshi was the worst choice in school. Maybe the Pros keeping an eye on her would lose her to the Boogeyman before she did anything wrong—but not without Sumie kicking and screaming to the end, of course. This was her chance at freedom. She wasn't exactly keen on running headfirst into a death sentence, but with all the extra security at Zenshi… Well, her suggesting it first was basically her way of shouting out to everyone watching her, Look! I'm not avoiding the cameras! Now you have even more people to watch me and prove I'm not what you think I am!

Maybe she was being too hopeful with that part. It wasn't like they believed her after all these years anyway. Hell, even Iwao—

Sumie shook her head and ran a hand through her hair. She was close to the tram, and as soon as she sat down on one of the benches to wait for the next one, she munched on the toast in earnest. No use thinking about that now. She had to keep her thoughts on the exam and how she'd pass it. Right now, Sumie only had herself to rely on. She had to be her own rock, her own encouragement.

Only one other student was at the tram station. He must have been an early riser, too, and he had his eyes down on some flashcards that, at a glance, covered some topics on the written exam. Sumie blinked, leaned away from him. Better not get too close, she thought. He was almost the opposite of her, somehow—dainty, in a way, but also taller and more composed. He looked like every part the model student people wanted in their schools, but Sumie forced herself not to think of that. She could be the ideal student, too. They just had to give her a chance.

She didn't realise she'd been staring as she ate. Not until he sniffed and looked up, surprised as his brows rose, and blue-lavender eyes landed on her soon after. Sumie quickly looked away, stuffing the rest of her toast in her mouth, but he already noticed her.

"I should've got food," he said, almost to himself. Sumie just chewed and hid her face behind her hair, turning away from him and praying he got the message that she wasn't a talker. "Hmm… Wonder if there's any cafes near the school I can stop at…"

She caught a glimpse of him moving then, from the corner of her eye. Down into his bag, his hand went, and the flashcards were set aside; instead, when the hand re-emerged, a small pink thermos replaced the educational material. If he was pondering having food, then it certainly wasn't soup in that thermos…

"Oh well," he muttered. He uncapped the thermos, set the lid aside, and as soon as the seal popped Sumie could smell the powerful scent of coffee. She never did drink it herself much, but Iwao needed it a lot in the mornings back when she used to actually… talk to him, let alone be near him. She knew the smell.

And then he was back to focusing on her again, pausing midway with his pour into the lid as he asked, "Ah. Did you want any?"

Sumie just turned away even more and gave him the cold shoulder. He was quiet for a moment—maybe she pissed him off, and he was one of those types who hated rude people with a passion—but soon he was talking again. Calm.

"It's not everyone's favourite," he told her, almost reassuring. "I'll just have enough for the both of us. I think I deserve a little treat for studying so hard, right?" He wasn't expecting an answer, was he? She hoped not.

He didn't press further. Hell, he didn't even seem mad. He just picked up his flashcards again and sipped at his coffee, only pausing to actually consider some of the answers before resuming his pace. Sumie made herself comfortable again, and he didn't even bother her once. Not even when she searched for her phone in her bag, or even—the moment she found it—Iwao began flooding her with texts asking where she was. At first anxiety was what settled into her chest, seeing his messages and listening to her phone ping. Iwao wasn't stupid. He knew that if Sumie was still home, he'd hear the pings of her phone and track her down nearby. And it was that reminder that he wasn't stupid that turned the anxiety into annoyance.

He knew what she was doing. He had to sit through her arguments on why it was for the best—for her sake. He knew where she was.

Iwao:
Where are you
It's too early to be heading out now
I thought we talked about this
Please, I know you're mad, but I just worry
What if they take this the wrong way?
Sumie, please, I'm doing this to keep you safe
At least let me know you're okay and have your phone
I'm not mad, I promise
Or disappointed
You know I have to report this to Deku
I can't lie about seeing you off
I don't want them to take you away, okay?
I just want what's best for you

Sumie clicked her tongue, a bit too loudly but how the hell she was supposed to reign in the annoyance of his messages. He had no right to be mad or disappointed, anyway. The cameras caught everything, it was obvious she wasn't running. Hell, even with the knowledge that her phone had a tracker, Sumie was confident she wouldn't get in trouble. She was being diligent. She was being thorough. She was being a model student.

She clicked on Iwao's contact details. Her finger hovered above the block button. Sumie couldn't bring herself to go through with it.

Blocking Iwao, just for one day, would mark her as exactly what they accused her of being. She couldn't even catch a single break, not at home or at a new school. Not even in transit.

Sumie sucked in a deep breath and dropped her phone back into her bag. There went her desire to play one of the games on her phone until the tram arrived. Iwao would've kept popping up in her notifications and ruining things for her. Sumie buried her face in her hands, dragged her fingers down her cheeks, and held back a groan as she leaned back against the bench. Story of her life, at this point.

The boy began to move again. He didn't say anything, and when Sumie actually aimed a glare in his direction, she discovered her wasn't even looking at her. He just set down the thermos mug on the bench, slid it as far as he could towards her before he risked knocking it over, and relaxed back into his previous posture as he flicked through the flashcards.

"I don't—"

"I know." He didn't act surprised that Sumie addressed him this time. Nor was his voice reassuring. It was just soft, understanding, like he knew the feeling of all the frustration and anger whirling around in his head. Like, for a split second, he came close to even knowing how Sumie felt. But that was ridiculous. Her situation was far too unique for anyone to understand at a glance. "But caffeine aside, just the warmth of it will help relax. Down it in one gulp and just let your mind pause."

He glanced at her then. No judgement in his eyes, no expectations. Just a smidge of hope that she felt better soon.

She hated pity. It was worse than resentment, sometimes.

Sumie clicked her tongue and pushed the mug back in his direction. She moved further away from him, then, and leaned against the edge of the booth around the bench. "Unless you want that pretty face of yours to melt off," she growled, "stop trying to get so close."

He sipped his coffee as the tram began to move. He barely gave the girl another glance as soon as she moved herself away from anyone and everyone in the cart. Some people just weren't social, he reminded himself. Some people were just repulsed by other people.

Still, Yuzu had to smile ruefully to himself at her attempt at an insult. Calling him pretty? Really? That was a compliment, if anything. He got his looks from his mother, and she was gorgeous in his opinion—to be even a fraction of what she was, and for someone to tell him that, was a compliment. Unless she meant it as a warning, though she wasn't doing much to make it a very threatening warning. It sounded like an empty threat, a kneejerk reaction to keep someone away, and if Yuzu were a more vain person, maybe it would've worked.

He shook his head a fraction and nestled into his spot. He was early, far earlier than necessary, but with the surprise of how things would go for the exam and how much work Yuzu would need to put in to make sure he didn't disappoint his siblings… Well, extra prep was needed. Some connections needed to be made, some planning ahead based on what everyone knew, some research on past Pro Heroes who came from Zenshi. It wasn't exactly a new school, but it wasn't as old as institutions like Shiketsu and UA. It still had some secrets left to uncover.

So, so many secrets. And he had just hours to decipher a few of them to get an advantage compared to the more practical, physically-able applicants. Yuzu finished off his coffee and wiped the mug with a napkin before capping it back on his thermos. He licked his lips and held tight to the napkin, reminding himself to throw it away when he got off the tram next. Yuzu was content with going for the business course. It was, in all honesty, the realistic approach for him. It was the best thing he was suited for, but… Well, the heart wanted what it wanted. And as much as he'd tried to hide it, some small part of him still dared to show his true dream enough to land him in this situation.

Yuzu put the thermos back in his bag, only to notice the small glow of his phone screen within. Ah, right, he put it on silent before he left the house. Best to keep from forgetting later on during the exam to do so. But who was up at this hour and texting him? Yuzu pulled the phone out and blinked at the screen, certain he got all his well wishes from his family this morning, but he paused when he saw someone else's name.

Right, Sejiro wanted to meet with him before they went on their trams. Yuzu had to take a different one, but with the sudden need to gather more info and prepare, leaving earlier was the only option. He hadn't thought Sejiro would be awake at this hour, though he supposed he was underestimating the other boy by assuming that. Sejiro was just as determined as he was to make his dream come true.

Seji:
brooooo why didn't you wait for me? .･ﾟﾟ･(／ω＼)･ﾟﾟ･.

Me:
Sorry! I was in a rush this morning!

Seji:
betrayal. my precious yuzu is abandoning me. where did i go wrong raising you?

Me:
I'll make it up to you when we're both done today, okay? I can meet you at Shiketsu or we can meet halfway

Seji:
(´｡• ω •｡`) well if my coffee prince is offering…
fine, i have been satisfied. but no complaining about how expensive what i want is!

Me:
You don't even know what I plan to get

Seji:
ヽ( `д´*)ノi don't even get to pick!?

Yuzu held back a snicker as he smiled fondly at the phone. Sejiro was one of the only people he confided in about his sudden change in application, and he knew it was because Sejiro was the only one who wouldn't walk on eggshells with him. Sejiro was the kind of guy who expressed shock at comical levels, but right after he'd go back to normal and vow to work as hard as he could and text you every day to make sure you were studying. Yuzu was a hard worker regardless, so when Sejiro had texted him in the middle of study sessions and training with his Quirk (more planning than training), the exchanges had been more about how comfy their study setups were compared to the other.

Yuzu always won.

Me:
You make it sound like I plan on being cheap

Seji:
uwah… i hav beeb… foursook…

Me:
Have a little faith. We're rewarding ourselves, aren't we?
( ˘ ɜ˘)

Seji:
TORIHIKI YUZURU DID YOU JUST EMOTE AT ME?
IS THAT A HINT?
HEEEEEEEY
ANSWER ME SON I MUST KNOW
FATHER NEEDS TO KNOW WHAT THE EMOTE MEANS
YUZU WHAT DOES THA N

It wouldn't take long for Sejiro to figure it out. Yuzu's treat, from the very beginning, was to spoil Sejiro with karaoke. They never got to go as often as they'd liked due to the training for Shiketsu and Zenshi combined, and exams for middle school were taxing on top of all that.

Yuzu just tucked his phone back into his bag as, to his surprise, the tram stopped at its next station and more people boarded. Huh, he hadn't been texting for that long, right? Yuzu glanced back at the girl he'd met at the last station, and he caught sight of her moving further back down the carriage with her bag hugged tightly to her chest. Strange girl, but he wasn't going to judge. Yuzu leaned back in his seat and curled in on himself to make room for others. People had their reasons for things, and Yuzu wasn't the type to question those reasons. Besides, it wasn't like her being standoffish made his life severely less fortunate or fulfilling. He didn't really have any reason to be upset or bothered over it.

As the last of the people boarded the tram, the carriage lurched and everyone grabbed onto a pole for purchase. Yuzu looked, eyes wide and surprise evident on his face, as the cause of the shift in the tram was just one girl boarding with a yawn. Behind her, a silver-haired boy sighed in exasperation as he followed closely with a hand on her backpack, almost like a stressed mother using whatever the child had on them as a makeshift child leash. They had the same uniform on, showing off their status as private school students who probably came from big money, and Yuzu leaned forward to rest his elbows on his knees. Interesting, he never noticed them on his commute. Then again, he was never up this early to ride to school either—though it was right about now that most would have to get on to make it on time to the private schools near Zenshi.

Huh. Learn something new every day.

The stabilisers along the tram's outer casing hissed and whirred, and then the carriage was back to its previous position as it adjusted to the girl's exponential weight. For someone so small, she sure was denser than she looked. Yuzu rubbed his chin as he stared at both her and the silver-haired boy, humming in thought as he sized them up. Couldn't be a density-based Quirk, though, he reasoned; even accidental uses of Quirks require more awareness, and this girl was half-asleep still. He glanced at the rusty highlights in her hair, some silver and some reddish-brown, and from afar he could even tell the freckles all over her skin were… off-coloured. Less flesh-coloured and more… rust-coloured, like her hair.

Metal Quirk? Yuzu tilted his head and pursed his lips. Probably. Maybe not an emitter type, though. Could be a transformation type, but the lingering rust was a bit weird. Mutation?

She rubbed at her eyes and yawned again, and as she did so, Yuzu glanced at the silver-haired boy to get a quick assessment done on him too. However, when he looked, the boy was already watching him. Dark, steely grey eyes focused on him unblinkingly, brows furrowed as his grip tightened on the girl's backpack. Yuzu sat up straight, titled his head back to the right position, and furrowed his brows right back at the boy. He probably wasn't happy to see Yuzu staring so much. Boyfriend, maybe? No, they weren't really doing much to say they were in a relationship. Family? He did have hair and eye reminiscent of steel, and she did have rust in her hair and skin alongside the massive weight difference.

Yuzu wouldn't be able to ponder it for long. The boy tugged on the girl's bag, waking her up a bit more, and he quickly guided her through the carriage and into the next.

Well, clearly his attention wasn't wanted. No harm in that, they had their own reasons. And honestly, it wasn't hard to put the pieces together on why everyone was so tense.

The only Hero Academy in the direction of Ararisu, where the tram was headed, was Zenshi Academy. Everything else was normal middle schools and office buildings, maybe a small agency or two. All Hero Academies were being held under tight scrutiny right now, but Zenshi was one of the latest in the spotlight thanks to Mirko's own son vanishing. No one knew where the real Boogeyman was situated, but everyone knew Zenshi was suffering the most from their attacks and students going missing.

Yuzu sighed to himself. That wasn't even getting into the challenge that was competing with others to get into a Hero Academy. They probably thought he was sizing them up to take in a fight, see if he could steal some easy points in the practical from them, but Yuzu was far from capable of doing either. He really had just been intrigued by what part of the girl had caused the tram to lean under her weight, and when he took notice of the boy—well, his interest turned to whether or not they were related and the school they'd both come from.

Well, he thought, at least he wasn't the only one in edge with current events and the pressure of the heroics course.

"No pushin'," Aoi yawned. Tetsuya continued to push her, though lightly, through the new carriage.

They were lucky to catch the tram on time today, especially since Tetsuya had insisted Aoi come with him to register early and come up with a game plan. But, like all well thought out plans, it wasn't as smoothly executed as they'd hoped—though crashing at Aoi's house for the night, Tetsuya found himself caught up training with Aoi later than usual with her brother lending a hand, and naturally Aoi's parents cheering her on and not taking note of the time had left them in bed long after Tetsuya had planned. The two were lucky Tetsuya was the type of person who could function on just a few hours of sleep every so often, or else the plan for this morning would've been turned into a wild race to register and actually get to the school before the gates closed.

Tetsuya guided her to a free seat and all but plopped her down onto it, standing guard in front of her as he took the nearest handle with his hand. Most people wouldn't notice anything out of the ordinary, seeing these two in particular on this tram, since the commute was still the same—but he was certain once people pieced things together, there'd be a whole stink about Aoi going to Zenshi in her condition and Tetsuya's thing that he didn't have the energy to deal with today.

Aoi leaned forward with a yawn and smushed her face into the front of his uniform. With a another yawn she mumbled, "Thanks Mom."

He rolled his eyes. It wasn't like he was doing this so she could get more sleep. If Jun found out Aoi got into trouble while Tetsuya was supposed to be watching her on the way to and from the exam, it was his ass on the line. Damn big brother with his little sister complex…

"You're not calling me that when we get to the school."

She snorted and laughed into his shirt. A definite sign he was going to be called Mom again, and he was going to have witnesses.

At the very least, no one else in their school's uniform was on the tram. From what Tetsuya could tell, a lot of their peers were deliberately steering clear of Ararisu and any institutions nearby. Not even UA was at the top of many wannabe Pro Heroes' lists—it was all Shiketsu and Seiai and Seijin. Schools that had no victims mentioned recently like UA and Zenshi did. For the time being, Tetsuya could relax and go one day without the rumour mill following the duo around.

Against him, Aoi was fast asleep again and snoring away. Tetsuya scowled at her. To think, some girls had the nerve to try pick fights with Aoi for supposedly dating him. Never mind that he found her to be intolerable on a good day—they really decided to go for the most feral girl in class with no fucks to give and an attitude to match. Morons. They were part of the reason why he was glad to be graduating middle school. And honestly? Good riddance that they didn't follow him to Zenshi either. The cowards were more than welcome to hide behind schools like Seiai and Shiketsu, safe in the warm embrace of uniformity and becoming perfect cogs in the alumnus machine.

Tetsuya pulled his phone from his pocket and clicked his tongue. Right now, the best he could do before they arrived was look at the news and see if there were any leads on villain activity. It was a rare moment where Aoi wasn't taking up his mental energy, so why waste it?

A message had been sent sometime before he'd switched carriages. Tetsuya raised a brow, frowning as he did so, and almost clicked his tongue again. Instead he sighed. Keiko, one of the few Pros to stay close to his family, who treated him like a little brother despite everything she was put through, had sent him a cutesy message belying her bubbly personality that wished him luck. Tetsuya didn't even bother opening the message to see the full paragraph after noticing the ellipses in the preview—he just swiped and deleted, leaving her on read. Aoi wasn't the only one who made day to day living a chore for him, he decided. But at least Aoi wasn't aware of the baggage Keiko knew about; if she did, though, she was damn good at not giving a shit and just being a little shit.

He opened his browser and pursed his lips. Vague statements like "villain news" were grounds for getting lost online and not finding what he wanted. He'd learned what key terms he had to search to get what he wanted, and his feed was always set to most recent articles and blog posts.

Tetsuya typed quickly with just his thumb.

ArcLight|

ArcL|

Hagane Azami|

Hagane Az|

Ha|

He couldn't bring himself to hit search. Every time he tried, he'd hesitate—and before he knew it, he was erasing the names and putting in different ones.

Stupid. This was stupid. He shouldn't be distracting himself with this. There were better things to focus on. More important things in the present. He could worry about the past later, after he got his acceptance letter.

Tetsuya typed again.

Boogeyman|

About 2,660,00 results

Figured. The villain was big news, but their moniker was also a common folklore around the world. At the very least, Tetsuya's filter gave him this morning's latest update on the UA student put on display.

Though it wasn't the real Boogeyman caught, it was obvious that the real one—maybe even another copycat—had shown up while the fake had admired their work. The fake's imagery of hanging the UA girl up in wires had been their real Quirk, not the large, thick mist that had whisked away another student in the crossfire: A web-spinning Quirk, the threads so strong that not even Red Riot could snap them while hardened. Only the copycat's own nails and teeth could snap the threads, but considering they were still thread… Well, burning the parts around the body was easy before the disposal team got rid of the rest.

Tetsuya hummed and moved on to the next article. One about how silent Usagiyama Rumi was as she returned to her former agency, out of retirement and on the hunt once more. Her own son was the latest victim, and though it'd been a week since he'd been taken, there was no sign of him resurfacing yet. It was always two weeks minimum the kids were kept for. Villains liked to get their kicks out of torturing would-be heroes and scaring their peers out of continuing the Pros' legacies.

Next article—an article about Red Riot's engagement party being postponed because of his student resurfacing as a mangled corpse on his watch. Tetsuya pursed his lips, unimpressed. How was that newsworthy? It wasn't like Kirishima Eijirou was rushing into his marriage, from what he could tell. He seemed too focused on his job, just like his fiancé was. Honestly, the idiots should elope and get it over with in one night so they can keep their focus and get rid of the press in one swoop.

Next was a blog post, and something useful for once. People had been speculating for a while the effects of all the Boogeyman Quirks they knew, and with the most recent incident, there were some good theories.

Effects of the Known Boogeyman Quirks:

Hallucinations (very important!)
Respiratory issues
Burning
Fainting
Ensnarement
Animal attack marks (wolf, bear, tiger)
Sensory deprivation
Quirk erasure
Healing (evidence of regrown limbs shown in early victims)
Poisoning
Petrification (maybe Medusa is a copycat)
Thick black gas that can carry objects and people
Frostbite/Freezing
Pathogen production

Tetsuya sighed. So, basically, every common Quirk out there.

The tram stopped again, and more people boarded. Tetsuya put his phone to sleep and turned his hand over, rapping Aoi on the head with his knuckles. Like usual, that steel skeleton of hers hurt him more than he assumed it even bothered her.

Aoi leaned back, somehow her bangs already in a state of disarray again and back to their previous bedhead position from earlier this morning, and a string of drool followed her. Tetsuya stumbled, disgusted, and sat down beside her as he searched his bag furiously for a handkerchief. Such a baby, why was she like this!?

As he wiped down his shirt, Aoi yawned and lazily pulled at her bangs. Tetsuya clicked his tongue again, glanced at the school uniforms boarding the tram, and he hurriedly began wiping her face too. Idiot deserved to be in kindergarten instead of high school, and he was stuck babysitting her. With another yawn as soon as he was done, Aoi said, "Tank chu, Mom."

He shoved the handkerchief in her face and pushed her away from him. Truly, four years old at heart.

Of the students who boarded, only a few had the same uniform on. They seemed to be a local uniform, not a school they'd have to take the tram to in this area. Locals? Damn, if they were in the outskirts of Ararisu, Zenshi was probably the closest option for them transit-wise. Poor bastards were in for a shock.

They at least looked like they matched a bit. A boy with striking pink hair, long and covering one of his eyes as the rest was in a braid, and a girl with bubblegum blue hair in pigtails while her bangs covered the same eye as the boy's. Tetsuya never did get the whole "twinsies" thing, but whatever. More power to them.

Beside him, Aoi fixed her hair properly and let out a huff. At least she was awake now, not half-asleep and drooling.

"How many stops do we have left?" she asked. Tetsuya put his phone away and frowned.

"Four more. This'll be the longest gap between stops."

"I shoulda brought my PSP."

He didn't even look at her as he reached up and bonked her on the head with his bare knuckles again. Aoi didn't even react. Tetsuya flexed his hand as his knuckles ached, stony-faced all the while.

It didn't take him long to notice someone staring at Aoi again. In the back of his mind, Jun's murderous expression flashed briefly before he shook his head and shoved it back into the recesses of his mind, not dealing with that today either. Tetsuya levelled the pink-haired boy with a stare, warning him silently to move on and not bother him or Aoi, and the boy noticed. He quickly flushed, looked down at his knees, and the girl seemed to realise what had happened too.

Aoi nudged Tetsuya with a pout. "Don't be a bully. I bet I was just scaring him with my freaky hands."

She wiggled her fingers. The exposed knuckle bones of steel cracked and bent as she did so.

And then they heard the rather smug voice of the girl from across the carriage. She did not match the cutesy appearance she gave off, Tetsuya noted.

"Look what you did, Pervert-chan," she teased the boy. He flushed a deeper red and curled in on himself, less embarrassed now and more ashamed. Tetsuya furrowed his brows. Maybe not twinsies… "You made her boyfriend jealous. How can you be so shameless, staring like that?"

She was clearly doing it in jest, enjoying herself, but he wasn't. It was so obvious to everyone else that he was like a puppy having its nose rubbed into the carpet. Tetsuya cleared his throat, loudly enough to try get the girl's attention, but she only gave him a pleasant smile as she returned her focus to the boy.

He raised a brow and frowned even more. Aoi made the same expression, equally unimpressed as she stopped wiggling her fingers.

"Ah, I can't look away from you for five minutes, can I?" the girl went on, shaking her head at the boy. "Always getting intro trouble, no wonder you picked Zenshi to attend. You really should be prepared to get rejected—or just give up before we get there. You're not totally stupid, so some other school might take you."

The boy mumbled something. Tetsuya didn't quite hear it, and the girl giggled at him as she continued, "Speak up, Pervert-chan! No one can hear you when you hide like a voyeur. Don't tell me—you're hiding that you're an M now? That's too funny!"

"Please," he tried again, louder this time, "not here, Mazuna."

And he made the mistake of glancing up at Aoi and Tetsuya. Ah, now it made sense. Whether or not the things this Mazuna girl said were true, they were torture for this boy to have someone else hear. Especially someone else obviously going to Zenshi as well.

Mazuna took note of his glance at the duo, and she sized up Aoi in an instant. Despite not particularly caring for Aoi, Tetsuya was immediately on alert for Aoi to launch herself across the carriage to throw hands. Last thing they needed was to literally derail the tram because of some playground bully.

Mazuna giggled. She looked to the boy and gave him a shove. "No way, don't tell me it was on sight?" she teased more. She continued to shove him as she laughed. "That's so pathetic, Pervert-chan! You see a girl who isn't me and think you have a chance? And you have the audacity to think you can steal her from her man? What a riot! You don't know when to quit while you're ahead!"

Mocking him for a fleeting crush on a stranger? Jesus, Tetsuya could be an asshole, but this was just unnecessary. At least he had a good reason when he dealt harsh truths—and she probably wasn't even giving the boy the truth to begin with.

Beside him, Aoi jumped to her feet so fast her bag dropped to the floor. Tetsuya panicked, already reaching for her to stop her, and before he could so much as activate his Quirk to forcibly sit her back down, Aoi was stomping over to the other side of the carriage. He did not like the look in her eye as she stalked over. "Aoi," he hissed, teeth grinding together in frustration, "don't you fucking dare."

Aoi ignored Mom.

In one swoop, no hesitation as she held her phone in her hand, Aoi kicked her leg up and separated the boy and Mazuna with a kabedon. Tetsuya was practically foaming at the mouth as she cornered the boy like a delinquent, and the boy was staring at her in complete and utter shock at the demeanour she gave off as well. Well, at least if Mazuna got into Zenshi, she knew ahead of time that Aoi was the feral one. Better now than later, he supposed.

Aoi looked him up and down, obviously scrutinising him as she hummed. Finally, after a moment, she held out her phone and declared, "A'ight. You're cute enough. Gimmie your number."

I'm gonna kill her, was Tetsuya's immediate thought.

Mazuna let loose another giggle, sputtering as she did so, and shook her head at Aoi. "C'mon, don't play around with him like that," she scolded Aoi. "Pervert-chan's delicate."

Aoi didn't even look at her. "Ah," she said, more to the boy than anyone else, "do you like action movies? Let's go see one after the exam today. Sourpuss back there is all work and no play."

A quirk in the girl's eyebrow. Mazuna didn't take kindly to being ignored.

"Hey, hey, you're being super rude right now," Mazuna tried again. "We're just having a conversation and you interrupted us. And you're kicking public property like a—"

Aoi inclined her head towards Mazuna with a scowl. "What do you want?" she growled. She even sounded like a delinquent now. "I think we both made it very clear neither of us is dating the guys we're with. And it's not like I'm doing this out of pity—tall guys are kinda my type, you know. And he's pretty enough. If he's interested already, it saves me time pigeon-toeing around him for his number."

The boy exploded into a bright red blush. Mazuna frowned at him and scoffed, "Are you serious right now, Per—"

"Unless," Aoi went on, loud and condescending like Mazuna had been. "Don't tell me you still like him? Wow, and here I thought I was a bitch when I got my tsundere on. Degrading him in public so he only looks at you? God, you're pathetic. It looks to me like you're the one hung up on him, sweetie."

Mazuna stared at her. Aoi smirked. She turned back to the boy and went on, "C'mon, c'mon. Sit with me and Mom, we're more fun than this one is. Mom might even let you peek at his study notes while we travel."

And she was tugging the boy from his spot, dragging him effortlessly back to the other side of the carriage. Tetsuya held his face in his hands and groaned. Being around Aoi was suffering.

With the arrival at Zenshi upon them, Lyoko kept his hands in his pockets and pursed his lips. The whole remainder of the trip, Mazuna had glared at his saviours and refused to even look his way, and it was almost like a weight had been lifted from his shoulders. They really didn't need to step in—he was sure he would've survived with the embarrassment and Mazuna's cutting remarks—but they still did anyway.

He glanced at the girl—Aoi—and tried not to blush too hard once more as he recalled the kabedon. She really was… assertive, he decided. And her friend, Tetsuya, had the meanest glare he'd seen from anyone, enough to make even Mazuna look away every so often to compose herself. Even now, as they disembarked, the girl clung to him like he was her new best friend and threw out movie suggestions, like she'd actually meant it when she invited him and asked for his number.

It was a little jarring. The children of not one, but two Pro Heroes deciding to befriend him on a whim because Mazuna was being… Mazuna? Lyoko reached up and pinched his cheek. No, not a dream. Holy crap.

Aoi swatted his hand and shoved her phone in his face. "No pinching, only movies," she scolded him. "When d'ya think we'll be out of the exam. I wanna see the new Deku movie but it's almost at lunch."

"U—Uh…" He looked to Tetsuya for help. The apparent "Mom" just gave Aoi a stern look.

"You do realise it's my ass being buried in your backyard by your brother if you're not home straight from the exam, right?" he reminded her. Aoi nodded, gleefully almost, and swiped right on the screen.

"They did make this cool movie about Galeforce and Yacchan, though," she went on. "I heard Endeavour makes a cameo in it."

Aoi ignored Mom. Tetsuya sighed heavily and Lyoko mouthed a quick apology to him, but was met with a dismissive wave. Tetsuya didn't seem to be blaming him for this predicament, just Aoi. It was kinda weird, not being blamed for something for once.

"Um, hey," Lyoko tried. He pushed the phone out of his face and gave Aoi a concerned look. "Thanks for, uh, stepping in with Mazuna. You don't have to stick around if you can't—she probably won't come near me for a while."

Aoi pouted at him. Tetsuya glared at Aoi.

"You callin' me a liar, prettyboy?" she grumbled. Lyoko squeaked and quickly shrank his head into his shoulders. "I'll have you know Suzuki Aoi never lies—"

"She lies when we wants something," Tetsuya chimed in.

"Suzuki Aoi never lies." She reached across Lyoko's uniform, and he panicked and let out a sputter as she fished through his uniform's pockets. She found his phone in the inner breast pocket, and he had to stop and breathe to calm his frantic heart. "And as proof, you get exclusive phone number no one knows about because fake people are a pain."

She let go of Lyoko, only to stand in front of him and make a puckered lips face as she winked and held up a hand in a victory pose. The photo she snapped caught her pose, and behind her, a blurred and panicked Lyoko.

The phone was handed back to him. Aoi's number was added with a ton of emojis on her name to boot. Her contact photo was the selfie she just took, and Lyoko began to have a heart attack all over again when he noticed she sent the photo to her own phone. On cue, Aoi held up her phone proudly and displayed the cursed image of Lyoko's panic for all to see.

"See? See? You're in my special phone. Only Mom is in my special phone," she bragged.

"Much to my dismay," Tetsuya deadpanned as he strode past them.

The gates to Zenshi Academy approached, and Aoi gave Lyoko a friendly smack to the back with a grin. For a small girl, she packed a punch. Lyoko tried to fix his uniform as he watched Aoi begin to run after Tetsuya.

"You better not ditch me!" she called back to him. "You owe me a movie, and Suzuki Aoi always gets paid back in full!"

Despite the nerves of having to deal with Mazuna again, not just today but in the future, and the exam looming over him… Lyoko felt a bit more at ease as he walked through the gates and filtered into the school with everyone else.