Tetsuo crouched on the rooftop, breathing steady, eyes locked on the chaos unfolding below.
Robots patrolled the fake city streets, some already blown to pieces. Smoke rose in twisting trails. The sounds of explosions, shouting, and metal crunching echoed across the exam field.
This was U.A.'s entrance exam, and he was running out of time.
He wiped the sweat from his brow, narrowing his gaze.
"There's something I'm missing..." he muttered to himself.
His mind replayed the words from earlier—something the Pro Hero Surgeon X had said during the orientation.
Tetsuo clicked his tongue.
"What did he mean by that?"
He scanned the area again. Training bots. Students. Explosions. It was a battlefield, sure. But that wasn't all this was. U.A. never did things the easy way.
"I have to get a high score somehow... but that won't be enough.""If there's another layer to this exam, I need to find it."
The grading criteria wasn't clear. Too many unknowns. Too many variables. If he couldn't figure out the hidden objective, then he'd just have to outshine everyone else so completely that they couldn't ignore him.
His hands tightened into fists.
"I'll overwhelm them. That's the only way."
A three-pointer bot rounded the corner below.
Perfect.
He stood, muscles tensing.
"No more waiting."
And with that, Tetsuo leapt off the rooftop—straight into the storm.
Tetsuo landed with a thud, kicking up a cloud of dust as his feet touched down on the cracked pavement.
"Magento Dash."A burst of electromagnetic force softened the landing, his feet gliding slightly as he absorbed the momentum.
No time to stop. No time to breathe.
All around him, the battlefield was alive.
[ Examinees Unleashed]
"BOWLING PIN!!"Ken Hori shoulder-checked a three-pointer so hard it spun through the air and crashed into two more.They all exploded on impact.
He gave a thumbs-up to nobody in particular."Boo-yeah," he smirked.
A boy with light blue hair and mismatched eyes flicked his fingers—blasts of energy tore through bots with surgical precision.
One bot tried to flank him.
"Neutralizing them efficiently... is efficient," he muttered, slicking his hair back mid-fight.
From the alleyways came a low growl.
Claws. Fangs. Glinting steel.
A werewolf-like heteromorph blurred forward on all fours, muscles tight and precise.It lunged at a bot, tearing through the metal with a single, savage strike.
The bot didn't even get to beep before it hit the ground in chunks.
On a rooftop, a purple-haired kid twirled a strand of his hair between his fingers, then plucked it calmly.
His arm shifted, morphing into a sleek, high-caliber rifle.
BOOM!
A clean shot. One bot down.
He leaned back, completely unbothered, eyes scanning the sky like he was birdwatching.
Down below, another examinee with messy black hair slid across the pavement on glowing trails of kinetic energy.
A bot leapt out to block him.
"Crawler's shooty go-blam!" he yelled.
BOOM!
The bot disintegrated.A chunk of debris flew toward him, but a shimmering force field snapped into place just in time.
He grinned.Stylish.
[Back to Tetsuo]
"Surge Drive!"His body surged forward in a flash of controlled speed.
Lightning-fast. Focused.
He zipped between two three-pointers, striking both with pinpoint accuracy. Sparks exploded in his wake as the bots crumpled to the ground.
He skidded to a stop, panting slightly.
His eyes narrowed.
I can't waste any time. I will win.
In his mind's eye, a quiet moment flickered—A warm, cozy café. Eri was sitting across from him, her cheeks rosy from the cold. He was sitting there, completely chill, casually saving the world one awkward joke at a time."Oh, Tetsuo! You're so funny!" she laughed, her hands clutching her cheeks like it was the most hilarious thing she'd ever heard.His chest swelled with pride.
"Of course, she's laughing at my joke. I'm just that charming," he thought, imagining the scene so vividly that he might as well have been there.
He looked around smugly, expecting to see Eri's admiration.
"Yes, that's right. I'm a legend. A total smooth operator."In reality, probably not anywhere near Tetsuo's incredibly realistic delusions.
But in his mind, this moment was perfection.
"Ha! Who needs actual training when I've already won her heart with my humor?" he thought smugly. His hand waved dismissively in the air as he imagined Eri throwing confetti in his honor.This was it. The date of a lifetime.
His lifetime.
His grip tightened.
"I will get that date!!!"
BOOM.
The street erupted.
A massive stone spike tore through three bots in a single, violent thrust.
Tetsuo froze mid-step, jaw slack.
"What the hell—?!"
A voice called from above.
"That's a six-pointer, technically. Three two-pointers, one move."
Tetsuo turned.
Atop a heap of wrecked machines stood a girl, dust clinging to her gym uniform like a badge of honor.
Aoi Hamura.
Behind her? Twelve bots. All wrecked.
She cracked her knuckles and smirked.
"What took you so long cutie?"
[Meanwhile – U.A. Observation Room]
Inside the surveillance chamber, screens flickered between examinees. Pro Heroes stood watching, arms folded, sharp-eyed.
Aizawa narrowed his gaze, flipping through a digital file.
"Aoi Hamura," he read. "Quirk: Terraforma."
'Can control and reshape any terrain within a 100-meter radius
Can raise stone pillars, create quicksand, or generate walls for defense
Uses terrain-based projectile attacks, such as stone spears and ground eruptions
Displays limited telekinetic control over shaped terrain
Weakness: Must maintain contact with a solid surface'
Deku leaned forward.
"The range of her Quirk is terrifying for her age," he said. "She has full control over everything she creates. That level of precision…"
Aizawa nodded.
"She's promising. That's all I have to say."
He tapped a screen, replaying footage from the test prior.
"She stood up for another student, too."
One of the instructors hummed thoughtfully.
"Her heart seems to be in the right place."
Aizawa didn't smile, but his head tilted slightly in approval.
"We'll have to see how she handles the practical phase."
Deku's gaze drifted to another monitor.
There, sitting atop a mound of robot parts with arms crossed and eyes narrowed, was Ryo Kurogane.
"Ryo Kurogane," Deku said. "His Quirk gives him a solid advantage in this kind of test."
The tension between the two had not gone unnoticed.
A soft beep echoed in the chamber.
"Phase Two—ready."
Deku looked at Aizawa.
"I think it's time we start the second phase, Mr. Aizawa."
Aizawa's eyes didn't leave the screen.
"Let's begin."