Three years ago, the fog that Kirisama was named after would have been a sight to behold in the morning, when the sun became tangible against the fine mist. But there was no sun, not under such a heavy cloud cover, and in the present, the city still bore many scars from that battle one year past, when the upper echelon of the Soai-kai clashed with a task force composed of the JSDF and heroes ranking in the top 20. Construction companies had done their best to fix up the center of the city, but this far out, destroyed buildings and ruptured pavement were a common sight. It was haunting, and for the few who had been around during that terrible conflict, it brought up unpleasant memories of the burning skies, of the hundred demons, of hiding in the basement, of holding their hands over their ears, of hoping that a yakuza’s honor would mean none of them would be dragged out of their homes and used as hostages. The great Pillar of Evil, All For One, had been a shadowy mastermind, but in his wake, others sought more direct methods of control, organized violence coagulating into dens of sinister intent while true monsters rose from the wombs of beasts.

Recently, there had been less and less children who wanted to become heroes. Crime paid more for equal amounts of suffering, while the glamor that the Symbol of Peace once inspired was now gone, and in his wake was the dreary reality of rising crime rates and police presence, of the constant fear that the kitten you picked up from the streets would start breathing fire or ripping through steel. On the news, specialists wondered what would happen to the next few generations of heroes, who wouldn’t even have experienced or been inspired by the all-encompassing magnanimity of All Might. In the House of Representative, certain politicians have even been promising on cutting down the budgets of essential services in order to beef up the Heroics budget, trading life quality for perceived safety. And on the streets, one could rarely escape the sound of nearby construction, the constant demolition and rebuilding of the aftereffects of Quirk-empowered clashes.

Perhaps Kirsama’s current state, of a reconstructed center and a neglected outskirts, was representative of Japan as a whole, as heroes and villains ebbed and flowed, neither side able to raise a champion that could color the world black or white.

But if anyone in the bus was concerned, they clearly should be shifting their concern to more pressing matters, such as the upcoming entrance exam they were about to take. Despite being a brand new school placed in what constituted as the boonies, Jigokuraku Academy had been almost excessively particular with its selection process, and it was only through a healthy combination of luck, hard work, and more luck that the sixteen students currently riding a charter bus had managed to pass everything and reach the ‘final exam’. Some were native to Kirisama, enrolling in this hero school due to proximity, while others were from further off prefectures, here because no other academy would take them, and though there were a few conversations here and there, the bus was largely bereft of chatter. It was too big for such a small group, after all, and at 7 AM on a cloudy day, few were in the mood to be cheery.
Well, some were.

Eventually, the bus grinded to a halt, and a young girl (tour guide? hired help? random elementary schooler?) with a receding hairline and a shiny forehead ushered them out with a smile. Outside, it was cold enough still that breath whitened, and the occasional seaward breeze that could be felt was ‘chilling’ instead of ‘refreshing’. More concerning though, was the fact that the place they stopped by did not look like an examination area at all. No, it was just an area that looked like any other place in the outskirts of Kirisama: rubbles of rubble, toppled buildings, cracked pavement, all stretching as far as the eye can see, or as far as the fog would allow them to.

Coughing once, the girl with the large forehead pulled out a sheet of paper from her skirt’s pockets, unfolded it, and said, “Eh…hello everyone and congratulations on making it this far. For the final part of Jigokuraku Academy’s entrance exam, you will be tested here, in this area in before you. Villains have done villainous things and left this section of town heavily damaged, and there are many civilians here who must be rescued as a result of this. Naturally, you will also have to contend with fighting villains at the same time, but don’t worry, you can count the amount of villains here in one hand.”

She paused, before shuffling through the rubble and pulling out a dummy the size of a baby. “Also, there’s no need to worry about ‘how’ you rescue people or if you’re able to treat their hypothetical injuries. You won’t be marked on that, so if you want to, you can just do this.” Without much care, she hurled the baby-sized dummy into the bus, where it bounced off the railing, rolled back down the stairs, and laid there sadly, head hanging over the edge. “You get points based off the amount of people you rescue, and you get a lot more points if you capture a villain and bring them in. In this scenario, assume that you haven’t been cleared to utilize extreme force, and that there won’t be reinforcements or relief headed your way any time soon.”

A pause. The girl sneezed. Apparently she was colder than she acted.

“Try not to hurt yourselves with your own quirks, and try not to burn yourselves out either. The bus will be where you can store rescued ‘civilians’, and I think that’s it now.” Already, she was heading back into the charter bus with its heater and its plush seats, balling up the sheet of paper in her fist. “You can start when the signal sounds. Good luck.”

And then she was gone, leaving the prospective students to their own devices.

In the sky, gray light poured from a hidden sun, pale enough that it could not warm them at all.

It really was a cold day.

---

The heat that wafted through the bus in an attempt to give those inside any reprieve from the cold they'd soon be re-entering left its inhabitants with naught but foggy windows to look through. The shadow that seemed to hang over the city on this awfully cloudy day only seemed to add to a sort of symbolism; that the city had far from recovered from the events of a year ago. Not that they could've expected to. Kūki couldn't allow herself to think of it, though. Or rather, she wouldn't, even if she was reminded of it under these conditions. No, her mind was stolen by what would be the finale of the long entrance exam they'd been made to partake in. It wasn't any bother to her. Anything was more fun than the pen and paper tests of non-hero schools.

The young girl of bright red hair made it a point to familiarize herself with those around her. These would be her future classmates, after all, should she pass. Some of them looked rather plain looking, but there were a few that stuck out like sore thumbs, be it thanks to their mannerisms or their physical appearance. A boy with a USB cord for a tail, one covered in horns, another one that constantly shone like the sun, and one more who looked like they had jet propellers for elbows. Among the girls was a catgirl, one whose limbs were all prosthetic, and another whose hair was half black and half white. Kūki could only be left to wonder what kinds of quirks the rest of them had. Then, she wasn't anything particularly special to look at either.

A girl of standard height and weight for her age, her only standout feature was her hair, and Black-n-White, among several other students, had her beat out on that. Nothing would hint at how deadly she could be with but a single breath. With conditions as they were today, use of her quirk would be a bit troublesome. For one, the stifling air made breathing itself a bother. On top of that, the wind would make it harder to manage where whatever she exhaled would end up. Indeed, her quirk was already rather underwhelming — and under these conditions, even more so.

To pass the time, Kūki had taken up talking some poor girl with hair as black as the night's sky ears off. It was hard to tell whether she was being an annoyance or not, for though the girl didn't turn to give her direct eye contact, she didn't voice a desire to be left alone either. In any case, Kūki had already decided on her seat, and moving now would seem discourteous to others, with the slight possibility of offending the one she'd be moving away from. Rambling about how boring 'normal' school was, and how excited she was to be taking the entrance exam for a school she'd hope to be a little more fulfilling, it never crossed her mind how ignorant of the events that took place a year prior she might be.

After what seemed like the longest bus ride in the history of bus rides, the vehicle came to a stop. Following instructions to pour out of the bus single file, Kūki was quickly reminded of the conditions they'd left upon entering the bus. The sting of cold air in her lungs left her wishing the last part would be inside, but as the questionable female went on to tell them why they were here, it became apparent that the state of being inside was not something they'd be enjoying for some time. A grin lined the strawberry's face.

This could only be an additional hurdle for them to overcome. Working to rescue civilians, even in conditions like these. That, too, was part of being a hero. Caught up in her vision of justice, she wasn't paying proper attention enough to be shocked at how their exam instructor tossed a dummy baby into the bus, calling that an alright means of 'rescuing' them. Hopefully none of them were so impressionable as to believe that such behavior was par for the course in rescue work.

Almost as quickly as she'd graced them with her presence, was the instructor gone, leaving them to wait for the signal that would mean the beginning of the end of their entrance examination. It was hard to tell, from her description of the exam, whether or not they'd be measured against each other, but she didn't mention that teaming up to get more done was out of the question either. If they were going to do this, they might as well go all out. "Let's capture all the villains!" she exclaimed, as though she'd be unsatisfied unless they fulfilled the bonus conditionals for this 'mission' in their entirety.

---

Mentions: @TheWindel

---

Hiroki hit the Next Track on his cellphone screen. The blue tooth speakers blared with hard music that were only audible to the person sitting next to him. It didn't fit the scene at all. It didn't fit the poor bus. It didnt fit this rust bucket town and all of its cracks and trash that were going past the window. It didn't fit the fact that it was so damn early. But it was the only thing still keeping him from falling asleep. He went through this song and dance before and to just have to do this as part of the entrance exam was a load of crap. He did the tests, showed off his moves and his quirk. There was only twenty damn people on the bus or so. If they didn't pass all of them, what was the bloody point of having a class? Maybe the classes at Jigokuraku were supposed to be small. Makes sense considering it's new.

A hero academy. What a crock. He could have gone to UA. That pain in the ass proctor.

He should have just waited til next year, try to get in with the next class, but being the oldest with a bunch of first years would have pissed him off too much. He thought about all this as he passed through the hick town. Kirisama. Yeah, the whole thing felt desperate. Desperate to fund getting this town out of obscurity. Sure he knew about the history, but rebuilding it? Just bulldoze it. Save yourself the trouble.

He had nothing much else to do but think of the town. Those on the bus weren't really worth paying attention too. A bunch of wannabees. Alot of those stupid masks like they are going to a club. Missing arms and legs, the hell? Hoodie. A nerd, pissed him off just looking at the scrawny weakling. Guy with horns. Some biker chick. Girl with cat ears. Library mouse. Stupid looking hipster. A girl with resting bitch face. Frigging sad that he actually looked the most different from all of them. Blond gray hair. Blue skin with big metal tubes on his forearms and red stripe like tattoos around his arms, face, legs and torso. It clashed with his jeans, brown flight jacket and black T shirt and biker gloves. The only mutant except maybe the guy with the horns, the cat, the hipster. Flashlight face.

He didn't care. It made him stand out. That was good for a hero. He gave another glance around. Some of the girls looked cute, at least.

So this would be his class. Get roped in with these winners. Lucky him. He took a deep breath sighing, closing his eyes. He had to settle down. That kind of train of thought got him into this in the first place. Calm down, get through this, show everyone that he's the best in this damn school. Take it from there. The school was just another step for him. He wasn't nervous, he was just annoyed. And thinking about it just made it worse. He pushed next on his phone and went back to looking out the window.

---

Hiroki took off his headphones and stood up when the bus stopped. The cool air didn't bother him, considering how often at high wind and altitude his quirk takes him. He was used to the chill. He looked disinterested when he noticed that more or less they just came to a giant dump. He raised his eyebrow and lip a little bit. "So we're doing clean up?" As the final exam. He said, more to himself and not noticing it was a bit out loud. He put his hands in his pockets and stayed near the back of the crowd.

The girl got their attention and he just rolled his eyes. He was right. What a fake cheap exam for a fake and cheap school. He was half tempted to just get back on the bus. There were other academies. But at least it was actual heroic works. He paid a bit more attention when she explained. Capture villains, save civilians. He took his hands out of his pockets and started to get warmed up a little. Bouncing in place on the balls of his feet and stretching his shoulders and head. It was like preparing for a track meet, cause in a way it was.

He finally cracked a smile when the girl err judge, he guessed, casually threw the dummy baby into the bus. Hiroki just got a kick out of it and laughed a little. It was absurd. It was so stupid. But it just made things easier for him. "Christ." What had he gotten himself into? This was a joke. He wondered how many he could grab if he didn't have to be careful, maybe all of them before the others had a chance. That would be kind of cool if he was the only one who passed. Wishful thinking. Still, it was a competition, and she only said not to go all out. He wondered if the others around him were going to stoop to cheap shots like stealing saves or putting others out of commission. Maybe he should do it first before they could try with him.

He went back to his stretching and warming up. Squatting, rolling his shoulder and pushing through the crowd to get to the front. Should he get all the civilians or tag the villains before anyone else can get to them. One girl shouted her enthusiasm to capture all the villains and he shot her a look. She decided for him and he looked back out on the pile of cement, trying to see where the dummies might be, plotting his course. The slower students will go after the villains since he'll get the 'civilians' before anyone gets the chance. If the villains are too much, he can swoop in, last minute while they are tired and bring them in too.

Fool proof.

The jagged cement hills were perfect for him to transverse. The exam was made for him to show off. He gave an excited confident smile. He waited for the signal, getting on a knee with his hands down by the floor, a sprinters pose at the start of a race.

"I'm gonna save the shit out of these dummies."

@follycle

---

A dreary, overcast sky, so replete with lazy, heavy clouds that they sunk down to blanket the ground as thickly as they did the air—this felt typical for Kirisama, and mundane to its residents. No mystique surrounded the dark silhouettes moving in the distance, nor the lamplights seemingly suspended in midair, nor the glaring beacons cruising along the city's roads. Today, however, a citizen might glance with some curiosity at the roving spotlight that shone from the side of the bulky form of a bus as it passed him or her by. This yellow stream, very much like a ray of sunlight, pierced the fog to alight on some interesting bit of the scenery for a moment, then divert elsewhere as the vehicle moved on.

For Goro, a resident of Kirisama for less than a year, the fog still held some of its mystique. Kirisama might be a pile, maybe even worse than his home town due to all the villain activity over the years, but it looked at least half-redeemable when only half-visible. The fog and the unknown, half-glimpsed shapes within it brought to mind clips of an American movie he'd happened to see some time ago. In it, he remembered, a rolling, nightmarish mist birthed forth horrific monsters to terrify the residents of some hapless American town. Of course, he felt no fear, but between that and sort of feeling like some kind of sentry, scanning the outside for any sign of trouble, there remained just enough of a thrill for him to avoid succumbing to boredom.

Then again, the inside of the bus was far more interesting than the outside, though in an altogether different fashion. Goro's lack of contact with people that might be termed 'non-civilians' prevented him from establishing any kind of expectations in the first place, but never would he have expected this. His eyes, just as radiant and his face and therefore invisible to anyone who might glance at him, had already spent some time roving among the bus's occupants while the light from his face went out the window. Out of the sixteen young people jouncing along the ragged road in their ramshackle kid-container, ten were of the fairer sex, and Goro couldn't help but be feel overwhelmed.

From the punkish-looking one to the cat-eared girl to the aqua-haired miss, all stood out to him as strikingly attractive. Just thinking about that made Goro furrow his brow, as though he'd already committed some heinous act that might lead the others to hate him. He needed to be thoughtful about every action he took, taking every precaution to avoid coming off as weird or servile while also being as considerate and compassionate as possible. That didn't just go for girls, of course, but for dudes and teachers too. People might blow him off or not take him seriously, he knew, because of his light, and if he did not strive to prove himself the perfect samaritan at every chance, nobody would like or respect him.

Sighing, Goro held a hand to his temples, temporarily blocking the light. The stress would remain with him forever, but letting it mount like that just now would only make things harder. After tightening the drawstrings on his hood, he resumed his vigil and the wait for the bus's jerky chugging to cease.



Once the bus reached its destination, the passengers -out of boredom or eagerness- did not hesitate to disembark. Goro made sure to allow everyone in his vicinity to go before him before vacating the bus himself. Outside, he was struck first by the cold and then by the sight of heaps of rubbish, the neglected rubble left behind by some tragedy. It stretched out before the group until it vanished into the fog, making it look very much like some ancient ruinous waste rather than just a destroyed section of town. “...How sad.” How many people lost their livelihoods -or even their lives- when whatever wrecked this place came through? What were those people doing now?

Goro shook his head, trying to clear the thoughts. Today he needed to focus on the test that lay before him. Once he became a hero, he knew, he could really start helping people like those whose homes and jobs once stood here. Crossing his arms to show his seriousness, he gave the unknown girl who seemed to be the test giver his full attention. She spoke of villains and civilians, which he couldn't discern meant actual people until she produced a little dummy. Her rather rough treatment of it prompted him to stare after the doll incredulously, but in the end he knew that meant a bit less skin off his back. If this test required any formal rescue training, after all, he'd be screwed before he even began.

What the girl said about villains bothered him a touch, since there wouldn't be much point in their special treatment if they were dummies as well. Compared to what Goro took some of the others' quirks to be, like the blue guy's turbines or the collar-wearing girl's metal limbs, his quirk boasted very little use in combat. He could only do one thing offensively. “Just gotta hope that's enough,” he breathed, saying it aloud in an effort to psych himself up. Once again his eyes flitted between the students. Things would be easier if he could strike up some kind of partnership, since allies could benefit way more from it than he could. But who would agree to such a thing? Goro didn't even want to think about approaching someone to ask.

The stranger's brief explanation came to a close with her already halfway through the crowd of students on the way to the bus. Goro moved out of the way with room to spare, wondering about when the signal would come. The anticipation alone made his heart start to beat faster. Noticing another student doing some warm-ups, he took the idea and started to stretch himself, staring out across the rubble while trying to think of a game plan.

Lost in thought, he almost jumped in surprise when a voice a few feet away from him cried out an enthusiastic encouragement. The pretty, red-haired girl it belonged to looked pumped to get started—a bit of warmth and sunniness on a dull, heavy day. He blinked twice. That was what he should be doing! The realization that he'd been thinking only of himself was embarrassing, but he knew how to make up for it.

He clapped his hands, a smile appearing on his face though nobody could see it. “Hear, hear! With a group like this, we're gonna do great.” The last thing he wanted to do was to go out on a limb in front of strangers, but the others would get that crucial first impression sooner or later, so he might as well try to make it himself. “Good to meet you all! Dogorasu Goro, at your service.”

---

Hero school was more depressing than expected. Shun had begun the bus ride practically vibrating in his seat with anticipation; his head swiveling between the other inhabitants of the bus, an involuntary 'ooh' or 'ah' occasionally slipping out under his breath when a person with a visibly obvious quirk entered his field of view. Not that he could figure out what half of them did, but he was enthused nonetheless.

The excitement quickly faded as the silence fell over the bus. It was early, granted, but the atmosphere was far too grave for a bunch of teenagers in an enclosed space, like they were driving to a funeral instead of a test. Shun furrowed his brow and worked his jaw, repeatedly perking his head over and around the seat in front of him in a fidgety attempt to think of something to lighten the mood. He came up blank; his incessant squirming dying down into a relatively tame bouncing of his knee as he grew more and more discouraged. In the end, he opted to just stare mindlessly out the window. The sky was just as grim as the interior, as if the world itself shared the dreary feeling hanging over the would-be freshman class of Jigokuraku. Or perhaps it was the other way around.

The rubble seemed like only a footnote tacked onto an already bleak experience at that point, but it hit home all the same. He never expected his high school career to take place at some glamorous, state-of-the-art institution, but the state of this city was just sad. The destruction littering the outskirts of town ruined any illusion of Kirisama being a quaint seaside community, instead painting it as a melancholy shadow of what it once was before it was ravaged by villainy. At least it would be good practice for navigating disaster zones in his future hero work.

He sighed briefly after his period of brooding, then shook his head to dispel any lingering negativity. He was going to pass. Everyone else here was in the same boat as him; anyone that could utterly outclass him would've already gotten into a better school, right?


Stepping out of the bus made Shun wince. He'd dressed lightly to minimize the burden on his quirk, but he still wasn't expecting it to be so cold. He bounced up and down on the balls of his feet in an attempt to generate heat as the - exam proctor? Proctor's five-year-old daughter? Sassy lost child? - explained the rules, pausing his movements in minor shock as she carelessly tossed the dummy into the bus. That definitely wasn't proper disaster response protocol. He supposed it was a gesture to emphasize the lack of a need for rescue training, but even so, that seems like a bad thing to be demonstrating to prospective heroes.

At the notice of the others starting to warm up, Shun's bouncing shifted into a series of light stretches. Forget the curriculum, focus on the task at hand. His quirk was suited for this. He should head farther away and let the slower people fight over any dummies near the bus. His gaze shifted toward the red haired girl and the walking lightbulb as they started shouting words of encouragement. Wait, who said they had to fight over the dummies at all? This was a rescue operation. Sort of.

"Uh, guys?" He chirped up rather loudly, trying to get as much attention as he could, "She never said we couldn't cooperate. If we divide the work up, we can get out of the cold faster and look like better heroes! Mobility quirks can scout the area and direct the heavy hitters to the villains, then everyone else can gather all the dummies up beforehand and split them evenly; that way we'll all pass!" He planted his hands on his hips confidently, a friendly grin plastered on his face. He clearly wasn't even considering the possibility that he'd be laughed at or ridiculed, let alone end up causing the entire class to fail through some breach of the rules. They can't fail everyone, after all.

---

“O-Oh? That’s nice. I don’t really…oh! I see….” Most of the trip to their testing site had been held in either silence or frigid cold. For Houki though, she had been gifted by chance the resident chatterbox among their little group of would-be students. Though where one might have chosen to blot out Kūki’s words or told her to screw off by now, Houki spent the majority of their trip smiling and nodding. It was nice to make friends after all, more so with people they were most likely going to be stuck with for years.

That, and nodding kept the cold away. So frigid was the early-morning weather that a bit of frost had begun to clamor up Houki’s glasses. Instead of melting the light layers away with her Quirk, she figured it was better to wipe them with her shirt. Constantly. The more she wiped, the foggier they became, until she almost looked blind behind those large manacles of glass. Oh well. At least Kūki seemed to be having a good time, though Houki had to wonder how the other girl spoke so clearly with that gas mask on….

“No, no, I’m excited too! We can finally prove our chance to be heroes….” Much of the conversation was one-way, Houki agreeing with a good portion of Kūki’s words. It continued this way until their bus finally reached their destination, halting right in front of a pile of rubble. Destruction was no secret or surprise to this city, but even Houki had to raise an eye at how…desolate the whole place looked. Their instructor’s directions, despite being viable in their hero preparation, hardly fixed the gloomy mood the gray area brought.

And then, just like that, their instructor waltzed back into the heated bus and waited for them all to complete their tasks. Watching her go, Houki opened her mouth; perhaps a call to her to ask for questions. Were they just expected to do this alone? Before any words could be said though, Kūki was already leading the charge with a bombtastic war cry. Startled by the sudden loud words, Houki turned her gaze up to the gas-masked redhead.

A few of the other students seemed to be fired up by her proclamation though, with one boy bolting down in a sprinter’s pose while another student, this one with lights for a face, broadly introduced himself. At least the latter was nice…still, Houki turned her gaze to another boy, one that seemed to speak sense among their group.

“I-I like that idea. As heroes, we should be working together, right?” Houki looked at the rest of them, hoping they could at least agree teamwork would pull them through. “I can help cover the…south side of the area? Splitting up into groups and reporting back here might help, so, um…” Houki snatched the hand of the person closest to her shyly, clenching the resident cat girl’s palm. “We can go ahead. Isn’t that right, Miss…er…sorry, I don’t know your name…”

---

It was supposed to be a simple ride, on a simple bus, to a simple hero academy. And yet somehow, it was just the beginning.

At the back of the bus, only a single row in front of the largest seat where five people could sit, there was a girl with heterochromatic eyes by the name of Suguro Umi, who had an open book on her lap that she was staring at the words of. A bookmark could be seen in between two pages, but on neither of two pages that she had eyes on. The seat next to Umi was occupied only by a backpack that was in her possession.

Eventually, the bus came to a stop, prompting Umi to adjust her bookmark's position so it could mark where she was up to, before closing the book she was reading and opening her backpack in attempt to put it away again. It was here that she saw a whole mess of clutter inside, as far as the eye could see in all of its pockets. Umi was initially confused as to how this clutter even got in there, let alone how one could hypothetically fit it all in a single backpack. But as she peered into her bag more, something hit her... and hit her hard.

'Did I just...? Oh crap. I KNEW I FORGOT TO DO SOMETHING!!' with that, Umi ravaged her backpack and spilled its contents all over her seat, rushing to grab whatever she could and put that something in its rightful place, 'The hell kind of ditsy dumbass do I have to be to not have had my costume fully assembled by now?! That's like the most important...! Oh god, I'm already blowing it, I'm already blowing it...'

The bodysuit that Umi always wore was a key part of her costume, so at least that was something that she'd always remember... if only for the fact that she almost never took it off. But there were a myriad of tubes and other apparatuses that she'd filled to the brink with water in preparation for the final test in Jigokurako Academy's entrance exam the night before, and they was supposed to be fitted to the main bodysuit while she was riding on the bus. How this could've possibly slipped her mind, she didn't know. But now all of a sudden she had to juggle actually equipping these tubes and apparatuses with relative haste, not breaking anything or spilling the water on anything, and now all of a sudden, having to listen to key parts of what the test was to entail.

...

'OK. I think I got everything,' Umi breathed a sigh of relief as she screwed the last thing that had to be screwed onto her, 'There are "people" out there, which'll probably just be dummies, and I have to get them on the bus so I can "rescue" them. I won't be marked on how much damage the dummies take or where they get hit, but I will be marked on how many I get in myself, and I'll also get points for bringing villains into custody. Easier said than done, most likely; after all, there has to be a reason why they'd score for more points, right? Still, if we all band together, it might not be all bad. Yeah... no, it won't be! There's lots of us heroes! And the lady said I could count the villains in one... in one...!'

As she looked down at her hand, Umi hallucinated, and began to see double. With some flailing around from the other hand, she eventually managed to get a decent grip on her wrist, only to note that her whole body was being overwhelmed by a nervous system that had run amok. She collapsed into a heap on both seats, clutching her head and suppressing her knees into her chest.

"M-m-my h-hand..." she murmered, "M-my arms, my l-legs, my whole b-body... Why c-can't it stop s-s-shaking?"

Loaded up into a van on a bleak almost winter-ish feeling kind of day, the Rockstar quirked Hero-to-be was greeted with a yet more dismal sight (if that can be believed) as their view transformed outside the bus windows from the renovating city to the rubble filled outskirts where construction had come to a damn crawl. Kaito had lived out here once upon a time and good graces were the only reason his family hadn't just stayed in this shithole area. Mom wanted a home, dad wanted to leave, and their son was stuck in the middle of that unending discussion every time something terrible happened to his father.
It was hard not to think about the consequences of action or inaction when looking at the rubble. To keep himself busy on the trip over, he had taken to humming a tune on the radio he had heard the other day. Not quite remembering how it went, the humming had gone from a distinct tune to something of a mish-mash as he filled in the blanks. Despite the rather lackluster 'performance' that it was, there was an inkling of a tingle in his body as his quirk, POWER CHORD, started to swell bit by bit. A tad unsatisfying to let the energy go on a simple hum but it was better than letting it fade.

At his feet was his guitar case, a relic the old man at the music store had given him as a reward for enrollment in the hero school. On the seat next to him, a very small water resistant amp. It ran on its own internal battery and could hold the charge for up to 5 hours when left on but preserving it wasn't really an option as Kaito wondered what 'task' the students were going to be put through. Not that it mattered. In combat or rescue missions, his job was support. Boost the team and do what you could.

"Shitty quirk." The humming broken, POWER CHORD was put to a halt. The moment he touched someones shoulder they'd get the feeling of static electricity and maybe whatever it felt like to drink a shot of espresso, but it wouldn't do much in terms of skill boosting. Not like a real performance would do. Speaking of, the bus had stopped and the students escorted outside into easily the bleakest weather ever. Despite the thick leather jacket and longsleeve shirt, the cold still bit at his face and eyes. While Kaito set up the amp and hooked up his guitar, the 'teacher' gave instructions. Find survivor dolls, fend of fake villains, earn a score. Simple.
The speed quirk students had the edge since handling the doll seemed to be unimportant, and the combat students would likely go to the fighting like moths to flame.
So where were people like him. The forgotten and incapable? Maybe that was a harsh way of putting it but as a support hero whos quirk only helped one person at a time it felt like this was a test to see how low a support hero could score. To generate a charge for power chord meant time spent playing, transferring that energy, and making sure to keep it going but that meant no time to run or help without losing his quirk generation.

"Lets do this." Whispering the words under his breathe, Kaito pressed play on the music recorder attached to the amp. Multiple recordings of a single song were put on it depending on what instrument part the boy was going to fill in but all of the songs lacked vocals of any kind. Not even complete songs. For whatever reason, they simply never got added in.


Power Chord responded instantly to the feeling coursing through as his fingers worked their magic on the chords, perfectly in sync to the music as it did so many times. Endless hours with his headset on practicing, over and over, to recreate the melody until it was indistinguishable to the original. If it wasn't perfect it wasn't worth doing!
All he needed now was someone to take the power and use it.

To the Principal of Jigokuraku,

This is a letter of recommendation from Mayuri's Girls School for the Gifted, and we're hoping you'd consider taking in Ms. Yomodachi, the top student of Mayuri's. Now I'm going to be honest with you: this letter isn't quite up to standard, and neither is Ms. Yomodachi's test results. She was originally going to another school for a totally separate field, however she decided on becoming a hero and many of us up north have had to rush out her paperwork and testing to even get her to Kirisama, so I must apologise for her tardiness. However, we feel that all of that extra work would be well worth it if you accepted her as one of your first year students.

Ms. Yomodachi has been a student of Mayuri's throughout middle school, and has consistently shown diligence, strength of will, quirk competence, and a growing intelligence. She has been expected to perform at the highest standard, and manages to somehow outdo our expectations at every turn. I imagine being the daughter of Frostbite, one of Japan's former great heroes, too sets her up with high expectations, yet it would seem she's more than capable of delivering on them.
Her sense of duty and heroic charisma has helped rally classmates to try break their limits, alongside her own, and her understanding of what it means to "be a hero" is honestly quite impressive. Her sense of heroism outweighs some pro heroes', and her philosophical understanding of what makes a good hero means she won't be much trouble both in and out of class. She has a tendency to get along better with teachers than her fellow peers, though in spite of this, is by no means a troublemaker for her classmates.

Young Azuki has shown a high degree of aptitude for sports, both quirk-based and quirkless, winning multiple awards in several different categories. In terms of her quirk, her hair should tell you plenty, though for reasons I don't fully understand, she only uses half her power. That said, the snowstorm she creates isn't unlike her father's, and while not as powerful for the time being, she shows plenty of promise with her quirk. Ms. Yomodachi has also made great strides to become smarter during her time here, and while not the brightest in class, she has shown consistent improvement in her academic ability.

Students such as she are rare to a new school like Jigokuraku - usually new schools receive the brunt end of delinquent applications and never, as far as I'm aware, receive letters of recommendation. It would do us both well if you took in Ms. Yomodachi as one of your students - her application may be late, however I am sure that she will prove her worth during the entrance exam. If you have any questions about her application, or would like a detailed list of her accomplishments, I have sent an additional attachment with regards to contact information. Please send a message informing us of your choice.

Sincerely,
Principal Grace Mayuri

---

---

"What Makes a Symbol of Peace? An In-Depth Analysis of All-Might's Embodiment of Heroism, and What Makes a Hero in the Eyes of Society," isn't quite the kind of book you'd expect to find a first-year student reading on their first day, especially if they happened to go to Jigokuraku, a school who had only opened its doors this very year. However, its applicants came from all walks of life, and Azukina was no different.
It must have been quite humorous to anyone who saw: the girl by the aisle absorbed in literature, and the boy next to her scowling at the world about him, blasting music into his earbuds. In spite of the distinct contrast in appearances, somehow they were sitting next to one-another. There were plenty of seats to go around -- students didn't necessarily need to sit next to one-another -- yet for one reason or another they were together, if a little quiet. The only real sounds that came from their direction was the music coming from Hiroki's earbuds, and Yomodachi's whispering voice, following along with her eyes as they scanned the page. Not really enough to be an annoyance to one-another, but both loud enough to not forget each-other's presence either.

"And so we must come to the conclusion that heroes are like kings," read the bookworm aloud, nodding to herself as though affirming her own previous beliefs; "in that they must embody the pinnacle of the human experience, and show drive and motivation to rally fans and strangers alike to their cause, as opposed to being slaves to the work of a hero. Few heroes can raise the kind of resolve, physical and mental strength, charisma, and relatability that comes with being the Number One Hero. All-Might, while not a perfect hero, could demonstrate all of these qualities during his time as Number One, which garnered him more popularity than any hero who has ever come before him. Because of this, All-Might remains this world's sole Symbol of Peace, and while a new Number One is always chosen, they lack the same presence as him because of these reasons."
Hero philosophy was something of a niche subject in the world, considering how the presence of heroes had only recently become a real thing. It took several generations of quirk evolution for those strong enough to resemble heroes for the government to recognize it as a profession, and even then, who actually read philosophy nowadays? Living in a world of superpowers meant asking difficult questions became a whole lot more difficult, and science was far and away the more popular answer to those questions.

As the end of a chapter came to a close, so too did Yomodachi's book, where it was quickly shuffled back into the backpack wedged between her legs. Too much reading on the bus would make a person sick, and she didn't feel like vomiting during her entrance exam if she could help it. The cold in the air was a comfort at the least, and while she had dressed warmly, both for the sake of her quirk and the weather itself, the sharpness of the cool on her skin and filling her lungs would be a godsend. The bus was much too warm, too stuffy, for her own liking. Outside was where she preferred to be right about now. She missed the morning chill of Aomori.

There were many different kinds of people riding alongside her. Those whose quirks expressed themselves she wasn't worried about -- turbines, horns, lighting --, it was the ones who looked normal she was most interested in seeing. You couldn't tell a thing about the kinds of power they had on the surface, though certainly at least one of them would have a transformation quirk. If anyone was an emitter, like she was, then that would really be surprising. Then again, it wasn't like emitters without visible quirks were that rare. She was one, after all.
Staring at people wasn't as interesting as she thought it to be, and neither was looking out the window. Boredom would've begun to be a problem if they had arrived any later, though thankfully, it was around this time that the bus pulled to a stop, and the door hissed open, as though trying to scare away the cold with hydraulic anger. Azukina was sure to shift her bag to the storage area above her seat before she lined up, thinking it best to move it out of the way for the person sitting next to her. The line was quick to funnel out of the bus, and while many appeared to dread the cold weather, Azuki was one of those strange few who enjoyed it, sighing comfortably. One might find it adorable how she tried to blow smoke like a dragon, though in the thick fog of Kirisama, it unfortunately didn't take shape.

Yomodachi listened intently as the... little girl began going through the instructions for the exam: save dummy civilians, capture villains, though the finer details of both tasks aren't going to be regulated. It made sense to keep the test simple, especially with it being in a competitive form, scoring with points. She had a basic idea of how scoring would be implemented, guessing maybe one hundred dummies worth one point, and five villains worth twenty, reaching a total of two hundred points. That could be easily divided among a class of 20, assuming that was what the size of their class was supposed to be, and would give plenty of incentive to those who could beat villains. Of course she could be entirely wrong, but it made logical sense, in her mind, to do things that way.
With their 'instructor' back on the bus, Azukina took to stretching, like the other few who had decided on the same. Her quirk and athleticism were almost built for this environment, particularly the villains, who she felt confident she could handle with her own abilities. Even scoring one would give her an advantage, but if she were lucky enough to get two...

She took her position at the front with the boy she had sat next to on the bus. Seemingly relaxed, Black-n-White entered a different sort of sprinter's pose, leaning forward and bending her foremost knee, though still standing upright. Though most of the background noise her classmates were making faded into the background, there was someone still on the bus who hadn't got off yet, which made her raise an eyebrow. It was too hard to see anything through the fog and fogged windows, though, so she could only assume the small person from before would do something about the remaining student. Her focus turned back to the scene ahead of her. She had to focus. No point in worrying about her prospective classmates. So long as they're not getting hurt, that is.

"It's all or nothing!" Exclaimed the teen, reciting her personal one-liner, a cocky look crossing her complexion. "If anyone wishes to help me deal with the villains, I'd be happy to split those we defeat between us! Though, I must warn you, my quirk could make it difficult for the less durable to use their own abilities effectively, so I wouldn't recommend just anyone coming along."

If done correctly, the villains could be dealt with before all the civilians are rescued, meaning more points. If she had a partner or two, the job could be finished sooner, splitting the workload between them, putting all of those involved at a distinct advantage.

At least, that was the theory, anyway.

Haruishi Mari

Mari looked out the window as the city's namesake blanketed the streets. It was a cold day; it wasn't even the 'nippy', refreshing kind of cold either, it was the damp, humid, seeps-into-your-bones kind of cold. But when you were homeless, you got used to the cold, whatever its form. She hoped it would rain. The feel of rain on her face meant freedom. She looked around the bus, seeing those who were excited, as well as those who were as stoic about this whole thing as she was. She wondered how many of them were truly serious about becoming heroes, but then again, those who weren't serious would have probably already given up the moment they got their rejections from UA, Shiketsu, or Ketsubutsu. No, anyone who was willing to come all the way out here to Jigokuraku had to have grit, they had to really want it. Mari smiled a bit. No dealing with pampered princes and half-assed motivations. She would give everyone in the bus right now the benefit of the doubt; nobody was here for a free ride, everyone was here to get an education, something that so many kids took for granted. Mari touched the harmonica tucked between her shirt and her sweater.

As the bus came to a stop, Mari got her first warning signs. They had arrived at a rubble heap. This detail alone was not what got Mari's attention. After all, destructive aftermaths were the ugly truth about hero work, and she had no qualms about that. What bothered her was the look on some of her peers' faces as they arrived. "What were you expecting, a 5-star hotel?" Mari thought to herself. The next warning flag was the announcer. Likely a teacher with a misleading physique, and an even more misleading devil-may-care attitude. Mari visibly winced when the 'teacher' flung the civilian doll into the bus, and a look of disdain and horror passed across her face as some of her classmates actually seemed relieved that rough treatment of civilians was acceptable. As the cognitive dissonance mounted, Mari arrived at a logical escape: it was a trick!

"DO NOT BE FOOLED!" Mari declared like a drill sergeant, flinging out her long black hair, widening her stance and crossing her arms, "It's a trick! Our heroic mettle is being tested! Unless you want to be failed, you will treat the civilians with utmost care! This isn't about points! Real heroes don't compete for points!"

With a satisfied smile, Mari looked towards the bus for confirmation from the teacher, but the windows were too fogged over to make out the petite woman inside. "ALSO! Your suggestions for teaming up are most commendable," Mari said, taking into account all that had been said.

"If you prefer to take out villains, coordinate with the girl with the black-and-white hair and the girl with the pink hair. If you want to focus on civilian rescue, coordinate with the girl with red-rimmed glasses, the boy with blue skin, and myself." She walked over to Houki and Minami, giving them a nod, before continuing, "If you are unsure, I suggest you discuss with the green-haired boy."

"Dogorasu Goro was it?" Mari said, turning her attention to Goro, "Haruishi Mari. Where will you be putting your effort?" She swept her gaze over to Kaito, established eye contact, and nodded, indicating that the question was directed to him as well.

@Delta44@follycle
@TheWindel@ShwiggityShwah
@KoL
@Scribe of Thoth
@Lugubrious@Zelosse

---

Shiki remained silent throughout the entire bus ride, casually browsing through his phone which was three generations behind the latest model. It frustrated him that certain apps he wanted weren't compatible or simply just didn't function properly. He constantly tells himself to save up some money and get a new phone already, instead he would impulsively buy new parts for his computer or spend it on games which he only plays once before shelving them forever. He hated being caught in that boring loop, so moving to Kirisama was the first step for him to a lifestyle change. Coincidentally, it was around the same time he decided to fully commit towards becoming a hero.

After he moved into the city less than a year ago, his first impressions were exactly how he imagined it would be, a total shithole. The intensive research he has done lessened the impact of his emotions, but the destructive sight was still spine-chilling nonetheless. Not as spine-chilling as the weather this morning, it was freakin' freezing outside. Shiki was thinking he should've wore heavier clothing than just a plain hoodie, his body was clearly shivering from the cold when he first arrived on the bus. His glasses remained foggy, which didn't really bother him at all. He was feeling kind of lazy today, so instead of wiping his lenses, he tilted his head to look at his phone from underneath his glasses.

When the bus came to an abrupt stop, Shiki immediately fixed his posture from his seat with a confused expression on his face. He put away his phone in his pocket and finally cleared up his glasses before finally looking out the window, which was difficult to see due to the dense fog. Initially, he thought there was no way they could've arrived at their destination already, judging by the location. This didn't look like the kind of place to take an exam, but when the instructor appeared, it finally became clear to him.

Damn, this is not what I was expecting so early in the morning...

After following everyone else off the bus, he stood to the far side of the group with his hands rubbing against his arms, trying to keep himself warm. Despite being unprepared for this type of scenario, he felt excited and attentive now. He carefully listened to what the girl had to say and quickly realized something. Are the villains dummies as well? If they did encounter a villain, he probably won't be able to contribute anything during combat. At least, that is how he currently thought about his own quirk. His self-esteem would've taken a big hit, had it not been for the rescue portion of the exam.

Without having to see through his glasses back on the bus, he was aware some of his peers stuck out like a sore thumb. All of them appeared to be capable of carrying someone useless like him, including the girl who remained on the bus. He was relieved when some of them suggested about forming groups. The civilian rescue team as Mari pointed out was his ideal choice. Although, that may be subject to change if he somehow gets screwed over into joining the villain capture team. Either way, he hoped that he wouldn't be much of a burden to his teammates.

He began shuffling over to his desired team without saying much of a word to anyone else.

"Umm...",
was about all the reaction Azukina could give at the loud lady's, err, yelling? At least at first. It caught her by surprise, even though she knew she shouldn't have been, that this 'Haruishi' thought it best to team up. Even though others had voiced their opinions on the matter, they weren't quite loud enough to break her concentration like she did. It was even worse that she was grouped together with the other teams, worst of all someone else who thought they could take on villains in their own little group.
There would be only one villain-fighting group, as far as Yomodachi was concerned, and that group was hers.

"Just to be clear," chimed Black-n-White in a way that you just knew was about to start something. "The notion that we should all team up to pass is silly. Coordination and cooperation is fine, but heroes in the real world have their rank and pay based upon their individual skill, and team disparity is still very much a real thing. I'm not about to hand over free points to someone who hasn't earned it - this is a competitive exam, not a cooperative one. If they wanted that kind of exam, they would've given us a different one." She didn't turn around as she spoke, simply speaking aloud while waiting for whatever signal was about to come to start them off.
"The villains here, assuming they're animated, are a priority both because of their worth and how they can interrupt rescue operations. In the real world, in this environment, the danger doesn't come from the debris which has already fallen, but by the injustices that these villains can commit still standing. And you're right: heroes don't compete for points. They compete in other areas. However what's the point in having a test where the skill of each recipient can't be accurately measured? It's not like you can rank heroism out of ten; you either are or you aren't heroic, it's a checkbox, not a scale."

"Now, with that said..." She paused and took a look over her shoulder at all those standing behind her, a fierce look in her eyes, as though scanning the rest of the students. She wasn't pissed or anything, but certainly was driven.

"This test is about score. We know how to score points, and if I had to guess, there is criteria for losing points, too. Perhaps cooperation is one of them. But that doesn't mean I'm going to be wasting time dispatching villains or rescuing civilians by being 'careful' with the 'injured'. The villains I don't mind, but those dummies are how we'll be distinguished between, so sharing them means screwing with my own chances of winning. Just like the pros, we can be efficient without being slaves."

It was a bit of a speech, but if she didn't voice it right then and there she knew she'd be roped into following the whole 'save people together' idea, which wasn't how she wanted to work. After all, there could only be one Number One Hero.
And Azukina Yomodachi had every intention of taking that spot.
Number One Student would do for now.

---

"Macho, macho man~ Hmm hmmhmm hm, a macho~ man! Macho, hm hm hm~ Hey! Hey! Hey, Hey, Hey!" Third from last row, a cheery girl sat by her lonesome. Nodding along to a hum she sang all by herself as she stared blissfully out the side window. When she first chose this spot, she shared her seat with another; though that girl seemed to no longer be found, and everyone who was anyone accounted for when the bus finally rolled out for their little field trip. So, she was left to stare at the town that is, was, and always will be her home. The broken scars of the past out for everyone to see. It wasn't a secret to what happened while she lived in this city, though it didn't affect everyone the same.

Axel could easily be described as blissfully unaware of the past this city had gone through in the past few years; though they'd only be half right. Where others screamed and sought resolution to the conflict, Axel showed no sign of acknowledgement to the city's perils. Acting if there were no danger between her and her destinations. Exploring the city during its darkest hour. Yet somehow, for some reason, here she was; on a bus to learn how to be a hero.

The bus rolled to a stop. Though, she didn't bother to move. She was happy humming along to a different beat now as the others shuffled around, talking to one another. A baby landed in the bus and she was instantly curious. making her way forward she could hear a little better of what was going on, though she paid little attention to everything but rescuing the doll from reckless abandonment. She picked it up of the ledge and carried it back to her seat. Talking in a mix match of language barely comprehensible, though more to the nature of what she able to gather about their objective. Supposedly, everyone was waiting for a signal. She and the baby looked out the window from her seat, noting the girl that she first sat with had joined up again with the others.

𝒜𝓍𝑒𝓁 couldn't wait for the show to start. People were talking about splitting off in to teams, and not splitting off, and all sort of thoughts and opinions on what to do. To which she had nothing to add. Rather she merely waited for the signal to start them off. Perhaps she should first go find more babies. She didn't exactly bring clothes to tussle in.

Pressure in Kaitos chest built till it was a maelstrom of energy begging for release. Nobody was watching the performance but it didn't matter. The melody, his movements, the rush of the music in how own ears, it was intoxicating by itself. Their applause was never a requirement to feel the rush of self satisfaction from a perfect performance. All that was left was for one of these folks to get amped up and feel the music too! It was going to be a big one, that much he knew, so the one who took it needed to be someone already full of fight and ready to make use of it.
To hell with the lot of them. Using his quirk to give someone else a boost was what POWER CHORD was all about and if that meant a fail then so be it. His time to shine in the spotlight would come one day.

With a last strike of the guitar strings, the amp echoing the climactic finale to the song, the urge of every rockstar took over as Kaito took a running start and slid across the dust and rubble painfully with his hand raised. Making contact with something soft, the feeling of fabric and a curve.. His fingertips flowed down as he passed on the brief slide but did not find air like you would expect from the high five Kaito had been hoping for.
Glancing back was like a nightmare in itself.

@Delta44

"Oh no.."

Power Chord required touching someone, it wasn't choosy about where you had to touch them as long as his hand made contact with another person. All the pent up energy had fled from his own body as contact with Yomodachis posterior transferred the multiplicative bonus of POWER CHORD in a silent rush of exhilaration spread like wildfire from the point of contact to every inch of the recipients body in an instant. Muscles would be stronger, their bodies fast. Minds turned to 11 on volume scale as if they'd just taken a shot of pure adrenaline.
Lacking a proper sound system meant the melody hadn't been loud and the mood was poor, so the multiplication of their natural strengths was only doubled for the next 5 minutes but that still meant at the current moment, the girl he had just touched would likely be the peak contender in this crowd. There wasn't enough time on the meter to apologize. Putting on a serious face he jumped up to his feet.

"Are you ready! 5 minute power-up, lady, get out there and USE IT!" Of course he would apologize later for touching her butt by accident! Right now, the test seemed most prudent to focus on for the other students. On his phone, the song changed on the playlist. The moment it started, Kaitos hands were already playing along in perfect sync building back up Power Chord.
If he was lucky there might be time to get out 2 or 3 more buffs to the villain-fighting students and give himself time to find some points.

“Mmm… zzz…” Minami slept through most of the bus trip, taking a much-needed cat nap in the cold, foggy morning. Sure, she had woken up an hour or so ago, but it wasn’t like there was anything else better to do other than saving energy for the test that was about to come.

The characteristic swaying of the bus coming to a halt was the sign that shook Minami back to consciousness, as soon as they reached their destination. The place that they would be taking their test was far more cold and desolate than Minami could think about, but at least the subject of the exam was something that she could look forward to.

Minami listened as their curious-looking instructor handed the test guidelines. She didn’t say anything while the others were discussing whether or not they would share the points. Instead, Minami opted to drink some of the orange juice that she brought for lunch while wiggling her tail to and fro, and trying to get a better grasp of who the other kids were.

Before she had the chance to do anything else, a glasses-wearing girl came around and grabbed her free hand. “Oh, yeah… right. She said that we could begin when the signal sounds, but didn’t say anything about wandering around,” Minami said in a slightly surprised voice. The girl’s idea of starting right away wasn’t a bad one, which actually prompted Minami to begin walking towards the ruins along with her, new acquaintance.

“I’m Minami Nekoyama, but you can call me Minami if you feel like it. Miss…?” Minami introduced herself, before echoing the other girl’s hesitant question. “Oh, by the way, do you want some oj?” She asked, producing another small orange juice pack from her backpack.

---

"EVERYONE SHUT YOUR GODDAMN MOUTHS!!!

All Hiroki heard from his 'peers' was how they are going to team up. How they are going to work together. How there is some underlying meaning to the whole thing, and the best way to do it is by working together. With each pathetic little claim from each of the kids, Hiroki's teeth gritted bit by bit. Half of these idiots were complaining, the other half were already trying to boss everyone into what they think is best. Some didn't even seem to be paying attention, or think it's some kind of game. That's what pissed him off the most. Wannabe heroes that couldn't even be serious about being heroes. Friggin jokes.

The blue skinned boy got up from his pose and was glaring back at the rest of the group, just in time for that chump in one of the masks to bump into the only person, the girl from the bus and apologize for it. It seemed like they weren't even listening, and so he screamed, his face full of rage and a slight hint of hate.

He pointed at the group. "News flash losers! You don't have a clue what they are looking at! As far as you all know there might be a minimum score you need to pass! Think about that!" Too much the optimist to even see whats in front of their faces. "You're not going to be sharing points idiots!" He said making a fist. He was almost as loud as Mari

His biceps noticable tensed as he threw a thumb over his shoulder towards Azukina. "It's like Checkers here said, this is a competition! We're not friends! We're not a team!" He balled up a fist infront of him.

"Anyone here that needs to rely on someone else to pass this stupid exam should just quit and go the hell home!"

He snarled and lowered his fist before turning around to retake his position away from the group and wait for the single to start. "Stay out of the real heroes way." He cursed under his breath.

He got low again, staring, listening for that moment to begin. "I ain't letting one of you posers get a single point if I can help it. So if you want to be a hero, you better keep up with me!"

@Delta44@Stern Algorithm@ShwiggityShwah

---

A few words from a skinny guy a couple feet to Goro's right bade him look Shun's way. Despite considering the possibility of teaming up with someone else mere moments ago, the turquoise-topped boy's direct suggestion of it made him think twice. Reaching up into his hood to rub the back of his neck, Goro wondered if that would really be a good idea. True, the offputtingly-young exam giver did not prohibit cooperation, but if this test determined whether or not an individual would be entering Jigokuraku, engaging in teamwork might be the biggest blunder one could make.

As he pondered the issue at hand, remaining on guard for the start signal that could come at any moment, he made an effort to take notice of everyone who spoke up and how they responded. A stuttery purple-eyed girl agreed with the idea of cooperation and tentatively began to outline a strategy, while a girl with harshly-divided black and white hair voiced both her intentions and her compliance with the idea in a rather self-aggrandizing manner. Goro made a mental to keep a look out for what she could do. In the meantime, he happened to notice a fellow a little way off from the group of students, quietly engaged in a serious one-man jam session. Either he really loved his craft, Goro reasoned, or it had something to do with his quirk.

The next moment he, along with everyone else, was confronted by a tall black-haired girl's authoritatively belting out her conclusions. Unseen to his peers, Goro's eyebrows rose; he had not considered that the proctor's spectacle with the dummy might be a trick. But how unfair that would be! If the Jigokuraku staff saw fit to throw curveballs from moment one, things would be difficult to say the least. His surprised brow became furrowed as he mulled over the rest of what the prominent speaker said, particularly as she started drawing up battle plans as though teamwork was a given at this point. He did not expect her to appear before him a moment later.

He straightened out, slightly startled, and made eye contact. Hers lay a bit too high on his face, though he could not at all blame her. She introduced herself as Mari, and inquired as to his plans. As someone still on the fence about the idea of group-working a test, he tried to keep his reply vague. “Oh! ...Well, I suppose I'd be more on the rescue side of things, though I've got a killer surprise in store in case of villains.”

She seemed to already be looking elsewhere as he spoke, trying to cover as much ground as possible. Unbeknownst to Goro, his utterly imperceptible mouth meant that Mari could not read his lips whatsoever, meaning that unless her hearing aids worked particularly well this morning his response might miss her altogether.

A moment later the semi-egotistical chick piped up again with a clarification that seemingly flew in the face of what she said earlier. Moreover, her attitude seemed to have changed, from boldly declarative to thoroughly contemplative. Despite that Goro knew that every word that came out of her mouth now made total sense. A test meant a challenge of one's personal ability, and the individual either passed or failed. Muddying the water with teams meant not only things like less capable students riding others' coattails but also things like splitting up the point-conferring dummies.

When she finished he gave a nod, bobbing his light up and down. “We can't make our own interpretations of things like tests because of what we think heroes would do. Right now we're just students, so that's how we should approach things. And I've never taken a group test.” It occurred to him that some of the others, Mari and turquoise team player in particular, might think that he was being critical. He didn't allow this to worry them, reasoning that the most helpful thing to do would be to not withhold important information, whether or not it went against what they said.

For a moment he found himself distracted by the dramatic finale of the rocker guy from earlier, who sent himself skidding across the cracked pavement to slap Black-n-White on the butt. Goro blinked twice to make sure he didn't misunderstand the situation. After seemingly realizing himself, as if the whole thing could have possible been an accident, the dude played it off as though nothing was wrong. “Now that's a power move,” Goro joked to himself. Not just making the competition stronger, but making his first impression 'butt toucher.'

Whatever anyone else might have aid about the incident was trampled under the wrathful shout of the turbine-bearing dude. While Goro's face curled up in disgust, he could not find himself discounting much of what the guy said, though he by no means needed to be such a dick about it. If he felt like making an enemy of every potential classmate, Goro decided, good for him. When he needed help, Goro would be there anyway.

Still, the jerk's words did fire something up in him. Cruddy quirk or no, Goro would be putting every ounce of himself into his test. Being a hero someday meant shining on this stage now. In the silence that followed the aggressive tirade, Goro said, “Petty insults aside, he's not wrong. Today each of us has to show what it takes to start down the road to being a hero. That probably means showing what we can do alone.” He smiled again, the light from his face becoming a touch warmer. “Once we ace it, though, we'll be a team, and I'm sure we can all be friends.”

---

@AdmrlStalfos19

---

The bus rolled on. The suspension, almost as if a premonition of what the school had to offer, was lacking; every bump in the road translated with rocks and shifts across both pairs of wheels. Few were more aware of this than Toro who, with a quiet grumble, was shaken out of his mid-transit snooze. His brow stiffened as he rubbed at his temples, eyes still pressed shut and his forehead dipping towards his palm. A couple of meaningless words slid out under his breath as he pulled the neck-pillow off his neck and yanked his back up from between his legs. The quiet sound of a zip running, barely getting over the conversation in the cabin - one in particular, and the re-furrowing of his brow heralded his lackluster arrival.

Taro's head turned to his left, peering out the window to the rolling scenery yonder. While his brow stood stiff and his lips threatened to scowl, some interest sparked in his eyes. He was still new to town after all, and the lovely old lady next door had regaled him enough stores from the times before that the idea of further reading felt bothersome; but now it was here, right in front of him... was it really? He rustled through his backpack, taking his phone sideways in his hands to take a few photos of the scenery. Maybe he should invite the old lady around for dinner again soon.

Taro's eyes wandered back to the interior of the bus. His eyes wandered over the motley crew of would-be heroes as he took a water bottle from his backpack. He never did take the time to examine his classmates... and after his quirk survey, he remembered why: it seemed bothersome. As he finished his glance over the cusp of his bottle, he kicked around the thought of doing it later. Not everyone might make it through, after a-
A quiet chime pulled his attention away from the class. His eyes lowered to the phone in his hands, shifting to the text message notification. A text from Minato: that very same lovely old lady next door. 'Could you get some broccolini for me on the way home dear? I forgot it today.' The scowling Taro let out a content breath as he thumbed in a reply. How jarring... while relics from the rule of villains is right outside the window, he's chatting to his welcome neighbor.

"How will these next few years go?" he wondered aloud. It was the start of his new life, after all; maybe even his life to begin with. Could he, the man people skirt around on the sidewalk... really become a hero?

---

The bus slowing to a halt yanked Taro out of his daydream. He lifted a hand to rub at his eyes as he gathered his senses. The cue was obvious enough: all the students filing out of the bus prompted him to follow. As the mainstay of the students stepped out of the bus, Taro packed his water bottle back into his bag and slipped his phone into one of the pockets of his puffer jacket. Once the end of the line of students went by him, he tacked onto the end, following it in that awkward bus isle shuffle all the way to the door; yet as he came to the twist to the door itself, he hesitated. He found himself looking back to the length of the bus, his eyes wandering over all the vacant seats that were all so active just a few moments ago.
"Where it all begins, huh?" he asked himself as he pulled his phone out of his coat. He lifted it sideways to put the length of the bus in the sight of the camera, including the destroyed buildings through the windows, before something caught his eye. One of his eyebrows inquisitively perked up as his phone slowly drooped down, parting way to reveal a woman small enough to fit in your palm with her head in her hands and her knees in her chest. His eyes waved to his right towards the rest of the class, ignoring the chagrin of the bus driver besides him, before they wandered back to the girl still in the bus. "Well," he mumbled with a bit of a huff, "guess it all starts now."

As Taro got closer to Umi, he slowed his pace. His eyes skimmed over the assortment of tubes and other pieces, trying to make some sense of them, before they centered onto the woman herself. An observation went through his mind as he slipped his backpack off his back.
"Hey," Taro began as he prodded her arm with his mostly-full water bottle, "they're going to start without us." He held the very same bottle out towards her - offering it to her. It made a contradictory sight: his voice was mostly apathetic and his face was firm in its trademark furrow-and-scowl, yet there he was, kneeling down to her height with his arm outstretched and a faint edge of sympathy in his voice and eyes.

Somewhere else in the world, Minato shook her head as she looked down to the text message. 'Sure, I'll see you around six?'
"What an enigma..." she observed aloud with a faint smile.

Haruishi Mari

@Delta44@ShwiggityShwah@Lugubrious

Her arms still crossed, Mari closed her eyes and heaved a deep sigh. She had gotten caught up in the moment. True, her interpretations of the proctor's intent was, in the end, wishful thinking. While she did peg the dual-colored girl and the boy with jet arms as people who thought only of points, only of pay, only of fighting villains, only of fame, and only of their own 'amazing' quirks, their interpretations were probably closer to the truth. After all, this was what hero society had devolved into. Mari realized that she was being naive to think that Jigokuraku would be any different. She had hoped that they were all rejects like her, in their own way; those who didn't fit the mold of what modern hero society was looking for; that Jigokuraku would be a gathering of those who saw beyond the warped ideals of today, rather than what everyone else thought it was, which was just a school for students scraped from the bottom of the barrel. Yet here she was, not even the first day of school, and getting into a shouting match with her peers. But most painful of all was that the boy with the warm light agreed with the others. if this was the truth, how was he, or the rockstar over there, supposed to succeed in this exam that was clearly biased against support-type quirks?

Mari's eyes opened, her brow furrowing even further. "FINE! It seems there are multiple interpretations for how this exam is supposed to go down. That's fine. Those who want to work alone, feel free to do so. Those who want to work in groups, feel free to do so. Those who care only for fighting villains, that's your prerogative. If you want to mistreat the civilians, you're welcome to it. If all you care about is points, or payscale, or 'winning', that's your personal issue. Maybe I'm wrong, maybe it is what this school is looking for. But I'll stick to my principles, my convictions, and my beliefs, and if I don't make it because of that, then maybe this school isn't the place for me. BUT! No matter how you want to interpet it, heroes DO NOT impede other heroes. No matter how much you feel like winning, if another student already has hold of a dummy, NO ONE is to steal that dummy from them. If a fellow student has claimed a reasonably-sized area to search, and has not requested backup, you are to leave them to their area. ANY USE of underhanded tactics, will be met with EXTREME FORCE! FROM ME! SO! Don't get in OUR way!"

Mari's eyes suddenly widened in alarm. She had unintentionally vowed to defend the 'weakest' among her fellow students, whoever they may be, from having their civilian points stolen by the more capable, whoever they may be. She also realized that attacking a fellow student who was stealing another student's points was pretty hypocritical, but was it hypocrisy when you impeded someone from impeding someone else? NO. Justice often involved bringing harm to those harming others. Still, Mari hoped that despite their sour personalities, they had at least a shred of pride to not resort to stealing others' points.

She turned back to Houki, Minami, and Shun. "Those two and Goro have a point. If you have been swayed by their arguments, and wish to work alone, I won't stop you. But if you still wish to work together, I would be honored to join you, assuming you haven't been put off by my belligerent demeanor."

Fortunately for Kaito, Mari was looking away when the 'butt-touch' incident happened.

@TheWindel@KoL@Scribe of Thoth

---

Could anyone have guessed how quickly things would escalate once their as-of-yet unnamed instructor left them to their own devices? Kuuki certainly couldn't (and wouldn't) have. It started when Black-n'-White didn't quite agree with the proposition Tall-n'-Tan set forth, which was ironic, considering she'd been the one to suggest they work together to take out the villains in the first place. The whole back and forth of it all didn't do anything for the gas girl but confuse her. Surely, the staff didn't mean for their to be this much hubbub. Despite their grandiose speeches, most of the others still made their way towards the group they wanted to help out. At least their actions made sense.

One thing led to another, and it wasn't but a minute or two into them being off the bus before the boy with turbines for arms yelled out for everyone to shut up. If she was being honest, she'd have to admit it startled her a bit. Not to say it was how loud he shouted that gave her a jolt, but rather, how sudden it all was. It was easy to tell the type of person he was; the type that just passing wasn't good enough for. First place was the only place. Get as many points as possible, and do whatever it takes to pass. His speech was commendable insofar as firing people up, but the strawberry couldn't help but feel that he, too, had missed the mark.

In the end, there wouldn't be any point in it. These "self-proclaimed" leader types — one could spend all time trying to convince them there's a third option, only for all their efforts to be in vain. There's only two sides. The side that's right, and the side that's wrong. A sigh escaped the girl's barely parted lips. I'll let them have their fun. Turning to the rest of those who'd gathered on her and Black-n'White's side, she decided to share her thoughts on the exam.

"Given this is the final entrance exam for a hero academy, I'm certain their going to try to hit us from left field with something that'd fly right over a weed's head. Mistreating dummies simply because they aren't real people... I'm certain that, too, is part of the exam. Treat them as harshly as you like, as long as you get the points? I don't know about anyone else, but that definitely sounds like bait to weed out the more point-oriented examinees." Parting her eyes from her group for a moment, Kuuki spotted Headphones, shouting on in a manner that seemed to suggest his quirk was more support than offense.

Approaching the boy with a wave, she patted him on the back and looked back towards Team Sidequest (as she'd call them). "Plus, it doesn't factor these guys in. Are we to believe a hero academy with any respect for itself would say that people with support quirks have any less a chance and any less a right to be heroes?" She shook her head. "Not any hero academy I want to be admitted to, I'll tell you that much. If anything, it's because of guys like this that we'll even have a chance at taking down those villains. If they were so easy that they could be taken down solo by people with almost no combat experience, then the academy wouldn't have even bothered having them. I'm certain that's how Jigokuraku Academy, who chose to give us a chance, would play their cards."

Her gaze was to anyone that would listen now. "They gave us a choice. Work alone, work together, we can each do what we want. As for me, I'm going to do what I can, working alongside those that feel the same. And if anyone looks like they need help, whether or not they want it... Well, I'll go and help them. Because regardless of what it actually means to be a hero today, that's what it means to me." Normally, Kuuki wouldn't have made such a scene. She couldn't say she'd planned on it when she started rambling, but the more she'd thought about it, the more it became clear. Some among them were putting themselves on a pedestal and making the claim that some of them here had no right to be a hero. If she'd known anything of their abilities, it would only piss her off more that they all so happened to be those with above average quirks.

Seeing the merits of another individual, as disadvantageous as they may be; that's the type of person Umeru Kuuki is. A world where heroism means competing for points and leaving the weak to fend for themselves? If that's the world they were fighting for... It could only be the mindset of someone who'd already given up. Kuuki wouldn't lie and say she couldn't understand where someone like that was coming from.

At the same time, she wasn't about to let someone else's broken ideals cripple her or anyone else's hope.

---

@Zelosse@Delta44@Stern Algorithm