A/N: I'm sure we all know how this will go. I'll try to spare the details.

"... what the fuck, dude."

"Look, Toda, I can explain if you let me."

Toda scoffed, indignation present in his glare. "You've told me for the past four years that you wouldn't be trying the hero path, and then I find your ass standing out here in front of UA. What is there to explain, Kazu?"

Kazuya scratched his cheek with slightly embarrassed exasperation. "I get it, it sounds hypocritical, but I was gonna tell you months in advance. It's just that I got my phone destroyed by a villain, so I couldn't contact you sooner."

"Uhuh, and you didn't even bother to at least talk to my mom?"

"I did. She said she would try sending you the message, but… judging by your reaction, I guess she didn't."

Toda stared at Kazuya for a moment, confliction present on his face, before he clicked his tongue, walking past the monkey-tailed boy with a rough shoulder bump. "Tch, whatever. Fuck outta my face."

Kazuya simply let his friend walk past him, not completely sure as to what to do in this situation. Could he even call him a friend anymore? Judging by that interaction just now… probably not. They're relationship wasn't even that close-knitted like others in the first place. But still… it wasn't like Toda to be this mad about something. Kazuya could only guess that it just had to do with him being here. To be fair, it'd be no surprise for someone to be mad at a friend who seemingly lied to them for years… not like he actually lied in the first place, of course.

As his probably former friend entered through the glass doors of the UA auditorium building, Kazuya let out a disappointed sigh. In the end, it was probably best to let go. Their paths were bound to split anyways… but he'd hoped they would leave off on good terms.

By chance, Kazuya's eyes caught the sight of a completely flustered green-haired boy talking to a positive-looking brunette girl not too far off from where he stood. Judging by the interaction, the green-haired boy probably doesn't have much experience talking to girls… as if Kazuya has any, either. At least he seemed to be having a good interaction.

"So much for a good start…"

An Incandescent Warrior

Chapter 3: I Guess I'll Give It A Shot Part III

Today was the day of the entrance exams. This was it, the moment thousands of hero-aspiring students have been preparing for. To have the privilege of entering UA, the renowned greatest hero school on the planet… it will all be determined here and now.

After the overview speech in the auditorium, the test proctors assigned each person to a designated battlefield and shipped everyone through buses. The goal was simple; gather as many points as you can through beating up robots. Higher points are designated on more difficult robots. A fairly simple idea, though the only odd part about this practical phase was that the strongest and largest robot was only worth zero points.

'Not really sure what's with that, but I guess it's an incentive to avoid fighting it,' Kazuya thought to himself, completing a set of light warm up stretches as he and the other test takers stood idly outside the field gates. He wore a simple dark gray tracksuit with a white vest inside, but given the heat of the sun today, he was starting to regret wearing his dark clothing. It would be fine in the end, though; he'd just be sweating more than usual.

Kazuya took a moment to glance around at the other students for a small evaluation. He really didn't know what to expect for a demographic, but there sure was a lot of variety in quirks. By chance, he caught a glimpse of two specific boys; the green haired frail-looking guy from before and a tall stern-looking guy. They were the same individuals that had also caused a ruckus during the exam overview, and this would be the second time Kazuya has noticed the green-haired kid doing something. As for what he could see right now, there looked to be some tense discussion between the two individuals… more tense than those around them.

'Must just be tense about this test,' Kazuya reasoned to himself, crossing his arms. The action, unfortunately, brought a sharp pain to his left side, and he struggled to hold back a yelp of pain through his teeth. His injury from not too long ago was still far from full recovery, but it had healed enough for him to move around. Obviously, there was some backlash from both his mother and doctors about him attending the practical exams, but he pushed against the idea and stood firm on going. Yes, it was a deep gash, but it had not been deep enough to damage internal organs. He lucked out and was ready to take the risks.

"ALRIGHT EXAMINEES!" Present Mic's voice blared from the large speakers overhead, an enthusiastic tone to his voice that he had maintained even during the stiff-necked overview. This caught everyone's attention, and the tension elevated tenfold. "ARE YOU READY?! BEGIN!"

'... damn, alright then.' With seemingly no countdown provided, it seemed that the exam had begun. Kazuya, being already used to these spontaneous start-ups due to this Sensei's erratic teaching style, soundly bolted towards the slowly opening exam gates without much hesitation. Extending the distance between him and the others rapidly, Kazuya was unaware of their stagnant forms until only after Present Mic repeated himself.

"TAKE THE HINT FROM THAT GUY FOLKS! THE EXAM JUST STARTED! GO GO GO!"

On cue, life returned to the other test takers, and they too also began their sprint into the mock city. As for Kazuya, he encountered the first batch of "villains" idling near a street corner. The large red buttons on their backs contrasted well enough from the dark green metallic bodies, so much so that it'd be impossible to miss it.

"Here goes…!" Kazuya huffed under his breath, picking up his pace while aiming for the closest of the three robots. After a handful-some meters, they noticed him and began their automated countermeasures, which came in the form of literal rockets being sent in his direction. "Woah!"

Kazuya quickly ducked under the propelled explosives, using his momentum to slide under the first robot of interest. Once comfortably behind, he kicked his feet off the ground to quickly stand upright, then sent a hard right hook towards the large red button behind the robot. On the instance of impact, the machine malfunctioned before ultimately shutting down. One point down.

He wasn't done, though. The other two closed in with a pincer attack, a trick that felt oddly nostalgic to Kazuya. Shaking the feeling off, he did the same countermeasure, sliding through the robots and allowing them to slam into each other. Two perfectly timed strikes on their backs was all he needed to get those two other points.

'Nice, 3 points in the first forty seconds,' Kazuya gave himself a light pat down as he checked his condition. Everything was good so far, and he wasn't feeling any sharp pains from his injuries. It was doable… he could keep going.

But his little pause didn't last long. A pair of two-pointer robots slid out from the corner of the farther street, their wheels burning up tire smoke as they accelerated towards his specific location. As intimidating as this could be for the average person, this act of pursuit was merely an opportunity for another four points in Kazuya's eyes.

UA teacher's watch room

The UA staff sat in their designated seats in the exam watch room, carefully examining each monitor that displayed the performance of each examinee. Every year, there were many bright and promising individuals—such as this batch—but as per usual, their eyes were looking for the gems in the gold pit.

"... even more disarray than last year," the dark-haired, droopy eye Shota Aizawa grumbles under his neck scarf, his tired eyes skimming across the examinees who were either running away from the robots or somehow getting themselves harmed despite the robots having the most non-lethal settings activated. "It's like they're taking this as a joke."

"Take it easy on them, Aizawa," Cementoss said with an exasperated look, "most of these kids don't have previous training. They're doing their best."

"If this is what's considered best, then our standards have fallen," Aizawa grumbled.

"I wouldn't say that so early," Vlad King hummed, his eyes lingering on an orange hair girl slamming robots with her oversized hands, "there looks to be some examinees who are more than capable of handling themselves."

"And some more… expressive than others," Snipe quipped with a sweatdrop as he watched a blonde-haired boy explode numerous robots into smithereens.

"One thing is for sure, I'm certainly seeing many beautiful flowers in this batch," Midnight coined in with a cooing tone, "especially that vine girl. The way she uses those vines as bondages… it's quite the tantalizing performance."

"Calm yourself, Nemuri," Aizawa admonished.

"Indeed, the examinees' performance thus far has been very interesting," Principal Nezu said with his ever-present smile, fiddling with the controls on his seat, "but I believe it's time to truly test the extent of these potential students."

Back on the exam field…

Some five minutes have passed since the start of the exam. In total, Kazuya managed to collect forty-six points. The ordeal wasn't relatively difficult, per se, but having to compete against over seventy other examinees for the sparse villains around here was the real obstacle. Fortunately, he had a feeling he was sitting at a comfortable number right now.

'I should probably get more, though… just in case,' Kazuya thought to himself as he slam-kicked against the back of the one-pointer robot, causing it to crash into a wall. He wasn't sure whether they'd be grading on area damage as well, but seeing that most of the streets were being trashed, there's a likelihood they aren't. He still tried to be as smooth as possible, though, just for style.

DOOOM!

A loud, thunderous sound suddenly echoed across the field, quickly followed by the environment darkening significantly. Startled, Kazuya shot his gaze upwards, only to find himself staring at a robot towering as high as the buildings around him. One red eye was situated on the center of the green rectangular head, illuminating a dark red hue that showed everything one needed to know about this colossal being. This was the Zero Pointer, and it has been set free from its chains.

"Sheesh, that thing is—!?" Kazuya let out an exasperated huff, only for his eyes to widen as the giant robot made its next step, unfortunately being where he was standing. Seeing this, Kazuya didn't waste another second and bolted out of the way, just barely dodging the enormous stomp that soon followed. The air picked up from the sheer force of the robot's step, causing a wall of wind to hit Kazuya from the back. "Guh!"

Kazuya was sent flying off his feet, and although it wasn't too far of a distance, it was still enough to send him crashing into a concrete wall. Hard. Pain shot through his body, and his healing injury lit ablaze with pain. He must've torn the soft skin.

'... Y-Yeah, definitely reopened,' Kazuya winced as he tried getting up, opening his tracksuit jacket just slightly to notice the red stain forming on his shirt. It wasn't a complete surprise, but it sure as hell sucked that his injury was back at full throttle. 'Shit… I can't risk any further than this. I did my best… no need to push my luck any further.'

Despite his unfortunate predicament, Kazuya knew better than to go any further. He needed to leave now, or else he'll affect himself more permanently than he wanted to. And with that in mind, he started up a light jog back towards the entrance gate, maneuvering between the heaps of damaged machinery and debris.

However, just as he was about to turn the corner that led straight back towards the start, Kazuya heard another loud boom from behind, though this time different from the stomp of the Zero Pointer. It was enough for him to turn back in interest, and it was because of this that he just managed to catch the sight of a small green blur zooming up towards the head of the giant machine.

"SMAAAAASH!"

BOOOM!

And just within the same timeframe, the green blur sent out its devastating attack, significantly denting the giant's face inwards with a powerful boom. Instantly did the machine begin to break down, with tiny explosions exerting out from around its body as it ultimately collapsed backwards.

"... damn," Kazuya couldn't help but awe at the green blur's performance, who from a closer inspection was surprisingly the same frail-looking guy that he's been coincidentally spotting for a while now, "can't judge a book by its cover, that's for sure."

Unfortunately, the rush of the moment was quickly overridden by the fact that the same green-haired boy was beginning to fall back down, with seemingly no efforts on his part to slow down his descent. The sight alarmed Kazuya; if he crash landed with that sort of momentum, then the chances of lethality were almost guaranteed. The notion alone of watching someone else die was enough to cause Kazuya's body to move without a single ounce of thought. Very quickly did he accelerate across the same street he had jogged across, the pains of his side being completely ignored as he solely focused on getting to the boy in time before his timely end.

As he came to a reasonable distance, Kazuya bursted his power outwards at full throttle and used the same energy to kick his feet off the ground in a powerful leap.

BOOOM!

With almost similar vigor as the green-haired boy, Kazuya became a blur in the sky, quickly closing in on his descending target. He extended his arms out, readjusting himself midair as the second of impact closed in rapidly. And once the time came, he successfully managed to grab hold of the boy.

"Gotcha!" Kazuya shouted out, securing the injured boy under his right arm. The rescue was a success, and now he had to quickly bring his focus towards where they were going to land, which turned out to be a glass window. There was only a fraction of a second worth of time for him to make his decision, and the best he could think was to extend his legs outwards like a spear.

CRASH!

Kazuya and the boy were sent toppling in the vacant building like a wheel popping off a car, eventually coming to a skidding halt a few feet away from the broken window. Groaning, Kazuya slowly pushed himself up, dispatching his full power aura as a strong fatigue took hold of him. Despite it, he pushed against the sudden tiredness, glancing over to the boy he had managed to catch from a fatal end. "You good dude?"

"Hrn…" the green-haired boy let out a groan as he tried to reorient himself. It was at that moment Kazuya noticed the injuries on the boy… which were a lot worse than he had expected. "Y-Yeah… t-thank you."

"... don't talk too much," Kazuya grunted, getting up to his feet. Although the dim interior of this building made it hard to see, it was pretty clear from the unnatural shape of the boy's limps that he had broken some bones. He needed immediate medical attention, meaning there was no luxury for idle chit chat. With that in mind, Kazuya walked towards the broken window, using a small ki wave to brush the glass shards out of the way. He glanced down, noticing some of the other exam takers receiving medical assistance from an old lady. "... alright, we're gonna jump down to get you some help. Stairs would take too long."

"W-Wha—woah!" The green-haired boy never got the chance to respond as Kazuya swiftly picked him up in a fireman's carry. Not a second later, the monkey-tailed boy sprinted towards the open window and lept out, returning the two back in the air and descending down towards the ground. "aaaaaAAAAH!"

'All or nothing!' Kazuya thought to himself, concentrating most of his energy into his legs. It would be the first time he tried something like this off the whim, but it was either this or actually falling to their deaths. Or taking the stairs, but he'd already thrown that out the window… in literal terms. And so, with a powerful shout, he exerted his energy under the soles of his shoes, acting as propulsors to ease their descent. Unfortunately, he misjudged the power of his ki, causing his shoes to explode into pieces of fabric and rubber. But the price of his shoes was more than easily accepted.

His haphazard plan seemed to have worked, and their descent was much smoother than what it could've been. The landing was hard, sure, but they eventually reached ground safely. Kazuya's plan was a success, but he didn't rejoice over the positive sentiment until he rushed his way towards the medical lady.

"... oh, I was wondering where you went," the old lady said as she noticed Kazuya approaching, "glad to see you two are still kicking. That was quite dangerous."

"Yeah, but you should check his injuries out. They're not good," Kazuya said as he placed the green-haired boy down on the ground in front of the old lady.

"I can see that much," the old lady hummed, inspecting the green-haired boy's injuries, "your quirk did quite a number on you, didn't it?"

"...y-yeah… agh!" the green-haired boy nodded, but he quickly hissed in pain. It seemed the adrenaline was beginning to wear off… and the same would be for Kazuya as well. He was starting to feel the full effects of both his side injury and the hard landing.

"Well, try not to overexert yourself like that again. That was a dangerous move you pulled, as commemorable as it was. Now, hold still… chuuu," the old lady admonished before, to Kazuya's surprise, her lips extended outwards like pulled bubble gum, placing a gentle kiss on the green-haired boy's forehead. Soon after, a pink-ish glow enveloped the boy, and the pain in his face visibly subsided.

"... R-Recovery Girl?!" the green-haired boy eventually exclaimed after processing what had happened, his widened eyes staring in awe at the old lady.

"Oho, it's rare to get recognition these days," the proclaimed Recover Girl chuckled, "you've got it right, kiddo. Good eyes you've got."

'... no clue who she is,' Kazuya summarized to himself, finding anything to distract him from the gradually increasing pain coursing through his body. It wasn't a surprise that he wouldn't know the name of an old hero, given that he barely entertained himself in the hero genre as often as others. Nonetheless, it's a good thing he got this green-haired boy into her care.

"Now, as for you…" Recover Girl said, bringing her attention towards Kazuya.

A cold chill ran down Kazuya's spine. Suddenly, his injuries felt non-existent. "Oh, no, I'm fine, I can—"

"Don't think I can't see that injury on your left side, boy. And those legs of yours are shaking like a newborn kitten. Lemme fix that for you."

"No, it's fine, I'll just get—"

"Chuuu"

"Oh G-MMPH?!"

A week later…

"Haaa!"

Kazuya sent out a strong, straightforward palm thrust towards his Sensei, who timely maneuvered around the rudimentary attack. Clearly knowing his teacher would do that, Kazuya used the same hand to grab hold of his Sensei's gi and threw a wheel kick towards his neck.

"Grk!" Sensei blocked the attack with his forearm, but he couldn't block the weight of the attack. Fortunately, this was all the distraction Kazuya needed for him to rapidly get back to a grounded stance and tackle his teacher by the gut, causing him to skid backwards. "...tch, don't get cocky!"

In retaliation, Sensei raised his left arm up to send a powerful elbow attack down on Kazuya's back. But once again, this was all part of the boy's plan, as he quickly leaped back before the attack reached him. Then, kicking his feet hard on the tatami mats, Kazuya approached his Sensei in zigzag motions and lept into a one-eighty sweep kick.

"Foolish!" Unfortunately, Sensei saw through his plan and grabbed hold of Kazuya's outreached leg. Then, expanding his muscles, Sensei swung Kazuya across the air like a rag and slammed him on the other side, where a table just so happened to be situated. Unsurprisingly, the table became no more, exploding into thousands of pieces as Kazuya's body slammed hard against it.

"Guh!" Kazuya coughed out in pain, his world becoming a blur as he was momentarily disoriented.

Sensei released his hold on his seasoned student, letting out a deep, regretful sigh as he scanned the disarray of wooden splinters covering the floor. "Tch, and I just bought that table the other day…"

"Ugh…" Kazuya simply groaned, his teacher's words having flown over him.

"... we'll end it here today," Sensei sighed, walking towards the nearby closet to grab a broom stick, "I went a little overboard there… my apologies, Kazuya-san."

"Y-Your good," Kazuya sat up, wincing at the small headache beginning to form, "I was close this time…. I could feel it."

"You still try these foolish tricks even when I've warned you hundreds of times against them," Sensei admonished, beginning to sweep the remains of his table, "you'll eventually learn it the hard way if you can't straighten yourself up now."

"I like to experiment during training, Sensei," Kazuya countered with his usual argument, "it's more forgiving than a real life situation… it's something I've noted."

"Don't think your teachers in UA will have the same sentiment."

"..." Kazuya paused momentarily before eventually sighing, giving his teacher an exasperated look, "teach, it isn't happening."

"What makes you so certain it won't happen?" Sensei asked with a curled brow.

"The practical was alright, I can't lie, but… I've been saying this from the start, I've fucked up the written part," Kazuya explained. Indeed, while the practical part of the exam was something that he was pretty confident about in his performance, the actual written exam was an entirely different curve ball in itself. "There has to be some ratio between the two tests if they plan to accept anyone. I'm pretty sure that the written exam will be the end of me."

"... hm, well I supposed you'll have to see once your results come in," Sensei hummed, seemingly neutral on the matter, "for now, it's best that you—"

Before the man could continue, the doors of the dojo slid open. The two males looked towards the entrance, only to find a brown-haired middle-aged lady wearing a casual spring attire while panting lightly. It was none other than Kazuya's mother, and judging by the letter in her slightly shaken hands, she must have something important.

"Kazuya," Kazuya's mother started, taking a brief moment to catch her breath, " your response letter… it's here."

"... well, perfect timing, huh?" Sensei chuckled lightly.

Kazuya, on his part, got up from his spot and went to his mother with concern on his face. "Mom, you didn't have to run all the way here. Remember what the doctor said about keeping watch of your health."

"This… this is something very important to you, Kazuya," his mother countered, giving a stern yet affectionate gaze towards her son, "I wanted you to know as soon as you can, because I want what's best for my son."

Kazuya pressed his lips in concern, but he nonetheless smiled appreciatively from his mother's thoughtfulness. "Thanks mom… come in and sit down. We can take it slow from here."

She did enter, and he sat her down on the clean side of the room—just as Sensei was finished sweeping up the remains of the table. He sat criss-crossed beside her, examining the outside of the letter intently. Sure enough, the UA emblem was stamped with red wax, just like those old-fashioned letters one would see from the pre-quirk era. There wasn't much other than the postal information, so all he needed to do was open it for the big reveal.

"... we shouldn't even be having anticipation," Kazuya eventually huffed, "I'm pretty certain I didn't get in."

"Just open the darn letter," Sensei gruffed, walking up with his arms crossed, "let the letter speak for itself."

"Yeah yeah…" Kazuya snorted as he flipped the letter open. However, instead of finding a piece of paper, he found a small metallic disk. Summing it as probably a new form of letter sending, he took out the disk and fidgeted around with it. He eventually clicked the button situated at the center of the disk, only to be slightly startled as a hologram came to life.

"Hello, young Nakamura-san!" the booming voice of All Might suddenly came out as the hologram showed a screen with the number one hero wearing a yellow suit. This quickly caught the attention of all in the room, and the three watched the screen intently. "It must be a surprise seeing me here. Well, allow me to announce that I'll be a teacher of UA starting this year!"

"A teacher, huh?" Sensei commented with a somewhat surprised look. "Looks like the standards are picking up these days."

"Now, starting with the results of your written exam," All Might continued, fidgeting with a small tv remote in his hands, "unfortunately, you did not gain enough points to pass."

'Knew it,' Kazuya thought to himself, not completely surprised by the results.

"On the bright side, you've shown exemplary performance during the practical exam, earning a total of forty-seven points!" All Might exclaimed, with the screen behind him displaying the number forty-seven.

"As it may already appear to be, these scores would not be enough to enter UA. HOWEVER, do not lose hope just yet!" All Might continued, switching the screen once more. This time, it showed the text 'RESCUE', with a set of two-digit numbers rapidly changing underneath. "The exam was evaluated with more than just the amount of villain points obtained. Introducing the Rescue points, points awarded to test takers based on the number of others they had saved or protected during the exam. You, young Nakamura-san, had shown these features during the exam, and have thus earned 15 Rescue points!"

"... huh," Kazuya wasn't even sure what to say to this news. Rescue points? When he really thought about it… well, there was some sense to it. This was a hero school, after all.

"With all of this combined, the staff at UA have recognized your efforts and wish to further cultivate you into a fine hero! We are glad to welcome you to UA! I hope to see you grow further than what you've shown thus far!"

And with that, the hologram cut off, leaving the dojo in complete silence. Kazuya merely stared onwards, blank in the face, and it was only through the sudden elation from both his mother and Sensei that the news really sunk in.

"You made it, Kazuya!" His mother exclaimed giddily, pulling her son into a tight embrace. "This is such good news… I'm so happy for you!"

"Haha, I knew from the start you were the perfect fit for UA!" Sensei laughed out loud, slapping Kazuya hard on the back. "And what did I say about there being more than just the written exam?"

"Eh… y-yeah…" Kazuya stuttered, the weight of his future really beginning to sink in. He had managed to enter UA… a goal that was previously so far out of reach that he never considered the possibility. And now he had to prepare himself for this newfound opportunity.