[Medical Wing – U.A. High]
Eri burst through the doors of the medical wing, chest heaving, her boots skidding slightly on the tile floor.
"Shit, why hasn't the medical chart come through by now?"Her mind raced. She'd requested a full report fifteen minutes ago.
'Why the delay?'
As she sprinted down the hallway, two familiar faces rose from the bench outside the ER: Sato and Mineta.
Bandages clung to Mineta's shoulder. Sato looked tense, his usual friendly demeanor subdued.
"Sato-san? Mineta-san?"Eri blinked. Something was off. What were they doing here?
Without hesitation, she activated her Quirk 'Rewind ' on herself. Her winded breath steadied, sweat pulled back into her skin, and the stress of running wiped away like it never happened.
"Mineta-san? Is everything alright?" she asked, voice tight with concern.
Mineta opened his mouth.
"Long story, but that's not the matter right now—cough—"
Cough. Cough.
He staggered slightly. Eri rushed forward, steadying him, guiding him gently into a nearby chair.
"Take it easy. You're still wounded," she said, kneeling beside him, worry etched on her face.
"Tell me what happened."
Before Mineta could answer, Sato stepped forward, voice urgent.
"Kota. He's in critical condition."
"Wha—?!" Eri's eyes widened in panic.
Right on cue, her assistant burst through the medical wing doors, nearly slipping on the tile.
"Ma'am! The patient—you're needed now!"
Eri was already moving. Her shoes clacked against the tile as she sprinted toward the trauma bay.
"Izumi, you dummy..." she cursed internally.
[Outside the Medical Room]
Mineta leaned back against the chair, rubbing his temples.
"Where's the rest of the crew?" he asked.
Sato crossed his arms.
"On their way. Aizawa and Deku are stuck managing the exam. They'll join once it's done."
He glanced toward the hallway.
"For now, we're bringing in an expert for interrogation, and someone for your little chat with your 'lover', Mineta-chan~" Sato tried to lighten the mood a bit
Mineta gave him a flat stare.
"Get your mind out of the gutter, Sato."
A new voice cut in from behind.
"Well, looks like I'm here to assist you, detective. Am I right?"
"Oh, yes--"
Sato turned, then froze, mid-sentence.
"Sato,?"Mineta looked up to see Sato frozen, then sighed
Standing at the entrance, hands in pockets, eyes half-lidded, was a tired-looking figure in a dark hoodie
Hitoshi Shinso.
"Been a while, right..Grapey"
"So they sent you, huh?" Mineta said, recognizing the voice instantly.
"Why yes," Shinso replied, nodding. "Nice to see you, Mineta."
"I'd say likewise, but not the time right now, Baggy Eyes," Mineta snorted.
"That so, Grape-pie?" Shinso shot back, expression unchanging.
The tension broke for a second.
Shinso's eyes drifted to Sato, who still hadn't moved.
"What do we do with this one?" he asked, nudging Sato with his foot.
Mineta sighed.
"For now, nothing. We've got things to discuss."
He looked up at Shinso, serious now.
"Starting with who exactly tried to kill Kota."
[U.A. – Sublevel Interrogation Chamber]
The room was dim. Cold. Built for clarity and discomfort.
A single steel table. Two chairs. One very still, unconscious girl handcuffed at the wrist with reinforced cuffs glowing faintly—Quirk suppressant tech embedded.
Behind the mirrored wall stood Shinso and Sato, watching silently as Mineta adjusted the restraints.
Sato crossed his arms. His jaw ticked.
Shinso didn't need his Quirk to feel the death glare aimed squarely at the side of his face.
"What?" he asked without turning.
"Nothing," Sato ground out, jaw clenching tighter, a vein near his temple twitching.
"Relax," Shinso said, raising a hand like he was swearing innocence. "It was just a joke. And we didn't do anything."
Beat.
"Although Mineta did want to see you twerk."
"HE—WHAT?!" Sato nearly exploded, voice cracking across the comm.
"I in fact, didn't do that," Mineta's voice calmly replied from inside the room.
Sato turned red.
"You guys—!"
Before he could launch into the scolding of a lifetime—
"Chill down, Sugar Daddy. No one got to see that ass."The voice over the comm was smooth, mocking.
Sato pinched the bridge of his nose.
"So they sent that guy..." Mineta groaned.
"Oh, be grateful," the voice cooed. "The No. 5 Pro Hero is gracing you with his presence, Grapey Boy."
Neito Monoma, aka Pro Hero: Phantom Thief, was operating the external Quirk suppression field from the comms station above the cell. Overly theatrical, as always.
"Enough. Monoma—cancel her Quirk before we wake her," Sato barked.
"Quirk activation: Erasure Point," Monoma said with a flourish.
Monoma – Pro Hero: Phantom ThiefQuirk: CopyCan copy up to 8 Quirks by touch. Duration: 1 hour per Quirk, adjusted by complexity. Cannot copy stockpile-type Quirks.
Inside the chamber, Mineta knelt beside the unconscious girl, the Toga fanatic captured during the exam chaos.
Her hair was dyed in streaky blonde-pink, her eyes rimmed with smudged eyeliner. A wild look even in sleep.
Mineta carefully retrieved a small injector from his coat and pressed it against her neck.
"Wake her up," Sato's voice came through.
Pssht.
The serum hissed as it entered her bloodstream.
A twitch. A hiss of breath. Her fingers curled like talons.
Then her eyes snapped open.She smiled immediately.
Too wide. Too familiar.
"You boys planning to party without me?" she purred.
Mineta didn't flinch.
"Only if you promise not to stab anyone during the hors d'oeuvres."
[U.A. Exam | 12 Minutes Remaining]
Tetsuo rushed through the streets, adrenaline driving his every step. His breath came in short bursts as rubble flew past him, smoke curling in the air like serpents.
Up ahead, Aoi Hamura was tearing through bots like they owed her money.
Three-pointer. Three-pointer. Another three-pointer.
"That's 42 points at least… forty-two…!?"Tetsuo's face twitched."I'm at thirty?! THIRTY?!"
"If I lose I don't score if I don't score I don't win and if I don't win I don't DATE and if I don't DATE then what is the point of the UNIVERSE I didn't come here to be a SIDE CHARACTER I will NOT be the funny guy with sad flashbacks NO NO NO—"
His mental monologue spiraled into incoherent gibberish:
"aghgh need bot points bot points! giga bot smash!! cute girl date yes please status go brrrrrr—Eri-chan gonna marry Hamura instead if I don't get more kills I swear on All Might's receding hairline—!"
Just as his thoughts devolved into emotional soup, a voice cut through the chaos.
"Help!"
Tetsuo skidded to a stop. The voice came from a side alley.
His instincts kicked in, and he turned without hesitation.
The light dimmed as he stepped inside. Dust clung to the air, a faint hum of destroyed robots buzzing in the distance.
Then, he saw them.
A small group of examinees. Five, maybe six. They were surrounding another student, curled up, bruised, one arm limp. The alley's surveillance camera sparked uselessly in the corner, a casualty of likely a bot fight earlier.
The tallest examinee, a kid with slicked-back red hair and mirrored shades, cracked his knuckles.
"Told ya. No one's watching this zone. We clean the trash, we increase the odds."
They laughed like it was a joke, but their posture said otherwise.
One of them turned and spotted Tetsuo.
"Yo. New guy."
He smirked and stepped forward with faux-friendly swagger.
"We're just thinning the herd. Can't have too many extras ruining the main act, right?"
Another one chuckled.
"Gotta weed out the weaklings. This is U.A., not a daycare."
Tetsuo said nothing, but his hands clenched.
The red-haired guy grinned and walked closer, voice low.
"You want to impress Reverie, the medic girl, don't you?"
Tetsuo's eyes widened, only slightly. But the crack showed.
"That's what they're calling her, right? Eri-chan? Pretty little medic girl. Imagine how much cooler you'd look if you had the highest score. We help each other, you get your spotlight. She notices. You win."
He held out a hand, all fake smiles and sugar-poison charm.
"What do you say, hero? Join the winning team?"
Tetsuo stared at the outstretched hand.
His gaze drifted to the injured student on the ground.
To the broken camera.
To his clenched fists.
His thoughts quieted for a moment.
"...Did you just call her pretty medic?"
Red grinned wider.
"Right?"
A pause.
Then Tetsuo smiled.
Not kindly.
"You really shouldn't have done that."
CRACK.
Tetsuo's fist shot out lightning-fast into the redhead's gut. The air left him in a gasp as he crumpled to the ground, flying 6 feet away.
"You can insult me. You can try to mess with the scores. But the second you use her name like a poker chip…"
He stepped forward.
"You made this personal."
Sparks flickered around his arms. His eyes burned like fuses.
"Let me show you what happens to fakes."