The morning of the U.A. entrance exam was too bright.
Megumi stepped out of the station into a crowd that buzzed like a hive. Voices overlapped, bragging, panicking, explaining Quirks no one had asked to hear. He adjusted the strap of his bag and walked through them, slipping between bodies without making contact.
'I guess I'm really doing this.'
The U.A. gate rose ahead, all clean lines and polished metal. A group stopped right in front of it to take pictures, posing with bright smiles. Megumi did not stop, finding the spectacle unnecessary.
Inside, the examinees separated into clusters. Closer to the doors, he saw a green-haired boy trip over nothing, saved by another examinee.
Megumi looked away instantly. 'I am not here to socialize. Just accepted by U.A., graduate, and get my license. That is all I care about.'
The written exam smelled like paper and nerves. Rows of desks. Test booklets stacked neatly.
Questions covered Hero law, use-of-force, evacuation priorities, and Quirk restrictions. They were phrased to elicit the officially sanctioned heroic answer: Save everyone you can. Do not discriminate. Do not judge who deserves saving.
Megumi filled in the right circles anyway.
'I know what they want to hear. That does not mean I agree.'
Saving the wrong person could easily lead to a negative outcome later. He thought it. He didn't write it.
When time was called, he put his pencil down on the dot and stared straight ahead.
The auditorium hummed with tension. Megumi chose a seat where he could see the stage and most of the room without standing out.
A man in yellow goggles and a long coat leapt out from the wings, grabbed the microphone, and yelled like he was announcing a stadium rock concert.
"WELCOME TO TODAY'S LIVE PERFORMANCE!! EVERYBODY SAY "HEY"!!"
Several kids flinched violently at the volume. But nobody responded to him.
'So this is the famous Voice Hero. Overkill,' Megumi judged.
"WELL, THAT'S COOL, MY EXAMINEE LISTENERS!!"
"I'M HERE TO PRESENT THE GUIDLINES OF YOUR PRACTICAL!! ARE YOU READY?!"
Silence
"YEAH!!"
The different locations appeared on the big screen behind Present Mic.
"THIS IS HOW THE TEST WILL GO, MY LISTENERS! YOU'LL BE EXPERIENCING TEN-MINUTE LONG "MOCK CITYSCAPE" MANEUVERS!!"
"BRING ALONG WHATEVER YOU WANT! AFTER THIS PRESENTATION YOU'LL EACH HEAD TO YOUR ASSIGNED TESTING LOCATION!!"
"O.K?!"
Robots appeared on the big screen behind Present Mic.
"EACH SITE IS FILLED WITH THREE KINDS OF FAUX VILLAINS. POINTS ARE AWARDED FOR DEFEATING EACH ACCORDING TO THEIR RESPECTIVE DIFFICULTY LEVELS!!"
"USE YOUR QUIRKS TO DISABLE THESE FAUX VILLAINS... AND EARN POINTS! THAT'S YOUR GOAL, LISTENERS!!"
"OF COURSE, PLAYING THE ANTI-HERO AND ATTACKING OTHER EXAMINEES IS PROHIBTIED!!"
A boy with rectangular glasses shot to his feet.
"May I ask a question?!" he called out, his voice crisp. "There appears to be no fewer than four varieties of faux villains on this handout!"
"Such blatant error, if it is one, is highly unbecoming for U.A., Japan's Top Hero Academy. We're all here today in the hopes of being molded into model heroes!!"
"And you with the curly hair! You've been muttering this whole time... It's distracting!! If this some sort of game to you , then please leave immediately!"
"sorry..." said the green-haired boy.
"ALRIGHT. ALRIGHT. EXAMINEE 7111, NICE CATCH. THANKS!"
"BUT THE FOURTH FAUX VILLAIN VARIETY GETS YOU ZERO POINTS! HE'S MORE OF AN OBSTACLE! HAVE YOU ALL PLAYED SUPER MARIO BROTHERS?!"
The screen changed. A towering silhouette appeared.
"IT'S KIND OF LIKE A THWOMP! ONLY ONE AT EACH SITE! A "GIMMICK" THAT'LL RAMPAGE AROUND IN CLOSE QUARTERS!"
"Got it... So it's like a stage gimmick to be avoided. Thank you sir, I apologize for the interruption!" responded the boy with glasses.
'Hazard, not threat,' Megumi noted. 'Something that big will still crush people, points or not.'
"THAT'S ALL FROM ME!! I'LL LEAVE MY LISTENERS WITH OUR SCHOOL MOTTO. THE HREAT HERO NAPOLEON BONAPARTE ONCE SAID..."TRUE HEROISM CONSISTS IN BEING SUPERIOR TO THE ILLS OF LIFE"."
"PLUS ULTRA!!"
"BREAK A LEG EVERYONE!!"
The briefing wrapped up, and Megumi looked at his card: Site C.
The staging area at Site C looked like a fake city waiting for a disaster. Examinees gathered near the starting line.
Everyone started talking about what their quirks and comparing to each others.
Saying they would take the top spot, no way they wouldn't get in into the Hero Course.
"AND... BEGIN!"
The gate slammed open.
Everybody stool still confused by what was happening.
Megumi got down onto one knee away from everybody.
"Nue"
Nue summoned from his shadows quickly picked him and started flying through the gates.
Present Mic's voice blared from speakers somewhere above.
"WHAT'S WRONG? THE TEST'S STARTED!! RUN! RUN!!"
"THE DIE IS CAST!!"
Robots were already rolling into view.
Megumi flew down to a side alley. His footsteps softened as he sent away Nue.
"Divine Dogs. Engage."
Two dark shapes rose from his shadow. They walked up beside him.
"Flank. Tear through their legs."
They took off in opposite directions. Megumi emerged onto the main street from the side just as a one-point robot's arm was swinging toward a panicked examinee.
The Divine Dogs simultaneously slammed into the robot's legs, tearing through the side armor. Megumi slid under the descending arm, planted his hand, and drove a powerful kick into the now-exposed joints.
The robot tipped and crashed. The Dogs shredded the exposed wiring until the lights inside the head went out.
Megumi stood, brushing dust off his knee. 'One point. Keep moving.'
"Return."
The Dogs sank back into his shadow. He ran deeper into the city.
A pair of two-point robots rolled out together at the next intersection.
He did not slow.
"Rabbit Escape."
Shadows bloomed beneath his feet, shaping into dozens of small rabbits that kicked off the ground, turning his run into a series of short, controlled bursts of speed.
He cut right between the two robots.
"Divine Dogs. Nue."
The Dogs erupted from the side as Megumi passed. One went low for the legs. The other went high, tearing into the robot's chest plate. Simultaneously, the large, electrified thunderbird, Nue, swooped up from his shadow and delivered a massive, disorienting electric discharge to both robot's heads.
Megumi used a Rabbit boost to spring onto one robot's arm, delivered a final strike to the already-shocked head joint, and sent the machine toppling over. The other bot seized up and went dark under the combined assault of the Dogs and Nue's residual current.
Both machines went still.
Megumi landed lightly, called the Shikigami back, and checked the street. 'Three down. No casualties. The field is scattered, this is best case scenario for my quirk.'
In a monitoring room above the test fields, the U.A. faculty watched a wall of screens.
"Look at that one," Midnight said. "Fushiguro Megumi."
"High written exam scores. Physical abilites, above average. Quirk: Ten Shadows." Vlad noted, reviewing the file.
Principal Nezu leaned forward in his seat, paws clasped.
"Observe how he uses his quirk," Nezu said. "Although he has many summons he can use, he knows their uses and uses them in the best way. He knows how to coordinate them all at once, using them as an extension of his body."
On the screen, Megumi used Toad to quickly lift a heavy slab of concrete, freeing a pinned examinee, while using Great Serpent to instantly crush the one-point robot that was closing in on them. He recalled his Shikigami and moved on without another thought."
"His skill level in using his quirk shows that either shows he has had training by a pro or, his combat talent is potentially Top 10 in Japan." Nezu said while having a big grin on his face.
"Let's not forget about his quirk," Cementoss said. "With a quirk like that, he's a one man team."
"Let's see what he does against the zero-pointer." Nezu said as he pressed the red button.
In the corner, All Might, in his true form, watched the same screen.
He listened to the commentary, but his gaze stayed fixed on the boy. 'His movements are... familiar. Not the technique, but the way he steps into danger as if it's an obligation.'
'Young Midoriya, your life at U.A. isn't going to be easy.' All Might thought with a smile on his face.
On the monitor, Megumi called Nue, rising above the rooftops for a moment to scout the battlefield before dropping back into the fray.
Back in the field, Megumi landed, rolling into a jog. He checked what he had just seen from the air. 'There's not many robots left for me to fight anymore.'
"ONE MINUTE LEFT!" Present Mic's voice blasted over the field.
Megumi stopped moving.
The Dogs shifted inside his shadow, tense.
A low, uneasy growl echoed at the edge of his awareness.
The ground vibrated under his shoes.
The air filled with a new sound: heavy, grinding metal tearing against stone.
Megumi took a few steps forward, stopping at the mouth of a wider road.
A nearby building shuddered, then its side exploded outward.
A shadow swept over the block. A robot taller than most of the buildings around it, crushing street lamps as if they were twigs.
The Zero-Pointer.
It was colossal. One huge hand smashed into the side of another building, sending debris and dust crashing down.
People ran. People froze.
Someone tripped and hit the pavement hard.
Megumi frowned, his jaw tightening.
'The Zero-Pointer,' he thought, his eyes narrowed. 'Zero points or not, if that thing keeps moving, someone is going to be hospitalized, if not worse.'
His heart thudded once, hard. He felt the cold, familiar resolve settling low in his chest.
He drew in a breath, slow and even.
He let his shadow swell under him, vast and deep.
...
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