The written exam went well. I just used the information I had studied along with my common sense, and there were only a few questions I was unsure of. Guess all those all-nighters paid off.

I was convinced I had done well on that part. But it would all be for nothing if I bombed the practical exam. That was the real test. The real way to see if I was really cut out of a school like U.A.

I breathed in and out, playing with the short strands of my pixie cut as a slight distraction.

I remembered the day I cut my hair. The day only a few months ago when I decided I didn't want any distractions from my goal. Before then, being a hero had just been a dream. Just something that I daydreamed about while I went about the other aspects of my life. It was when U.A. announced the day of their next entrance exam that I decided I needed to get serious. So I started cutting certain things out of my life to leave more room for hero training. Starting with my hair.

The sound of someone tapping a microphone brought all of our attention to the front of the room, where a hero with a skull face painted over her eyes, nose, mouth, and cheeks stood. The intricate robe they wore made her look more like a rich partier than a hero, but I could assure you that was not the case.

I had seen this hero many times, both on T.V. and as someone my Uncle occasionally talked to. Her name was X-Ray, a hero known for her cool, calm, strength, their Mexican heritage which they displayed in her hero costume, and her epic X-Ray quirk, which allowed her to see through any surface. It was great for underground missions; having them on your team definitely made catching villians a lot easier. What I didn't know was that they were a teacher at U.A. this year.

"Hey, hey, everyone! Excited for the practical exams?" X-Ray said, their deep voice echoing through the room.

Her question, however, was met with no noise but a small cough.

"Not completely, up yet, huh? Well how about a little joke to get y'all rolling? How does the moon cut his hair?" She paused for a minute, waiting for a guess. "Eclipse it!" She threw her hands out at her joke, waiting for it to settle in.

I thought it was creative, but all she got was a few applauds and two forced laughs.

X raised an eyebrow. "Fine, let's get on with it.

The practical portion of your exam will require you to go through a ten-minute-long mock city escape maneuver. Every testing location has three kinds of faux villains, each varying in difficulty. There is also a fourth kind, a zero pointer, who acts as more of an obstacle than anything else. In simple terms, the more robots you destroy, the more points you receive."

Mummers spread quietly around the room. Some were nervous while others were excited or curious.

"However… this year, we have another way for you to earn points. To give kids with less… destructive quirks a chance to show what they're made of, this year, U.A. has hired H.U.C. to help us out."

X gestured to the expanse of wall behind her, where a projection was shown, giving us an image of what was presumably H.U.C. They looked like normal, everyday people… but a little off, to put it respectfully.

"H.U.C., or Help Us Company, are a group of workers who act as injured and endangered citizens in an artificial city simulation like ours. In simpler terms, their job is to fill in for the victims and bystanders of real life attacks. By bringing them to a fake medical center at the front of the testing location, you will receive rescue points!

"And I believe that's all to explain! Now you will all be sent to your designated testing locations. Good luck, future heroes!"

X bowed dramatically, getting a few whoops from people at the front.

As I headed out to the buses outside to take us to our locations, I checked the I.D. printout we had all been given, which told us where we would be put in.

Location E.

Heading to the bus, and politely nodding at the driver, I sat down, setting my stuff with me. I tried to scope out the area to spot the girl with the braid who had stood up for me earlier, but she was nowhere to be found. I assumed she was assigned to one of the other locations.

I noticed lots of people here were sitting next to people they knew. I didn't have anyone like that. At least not anymore. The few friends I did make before... it happened lost touch with me after. Plus I didn't go to middle school, or even elementary, so I didn't have opportunities to make friends there like most kids. I was instead homeschooled by Keigo. Well, actually, it was more his personal agents that taught me. Keigo was usually too busy with hero work. But he still took time to teach me when he could. Mostly survival skills and just general life advice instead of the math, science, and other subjects the agents usually taught me.

I liked learning one-on-one. I liked the individual attention and the quiet while I studied. But I had missed out on making friends. I never had the opportunity to meet other kids, so I grew up with my Uncle, the agents, my piano, and my imagination to keep me company.

I looked over at two kids sitting side by side, laughing over something together on one of their phones.

I wonder what it would be like to still have friends.

A heavy sigh sounded next to me, and I saw someone standing next to me.

"Mind if I sit here?" He asked. The boy in front of me was wearing a simple pink hoodie along with gray sweatpants. In his left hand was a grande Starbucks cup with a full iced drink. The drink was a bubblegum pink that almost matched his messy hair. He wore a smile as he asked the question.

"Um… sure!" I responded, siddling closer to the window to make room for him.

As the bus started moving, the guy lightly tapped his finger on his drink.

"Hey, why do you have a Starbucks drink with you?" I asked.

"Oh, it's a part of my quirk," he responded, shaking the drink a bit to give his hand something to do. "It's called Starbucks, actually. It lets me move and think faster when I drink a sugary drink."

"That's a sweet quirk!" I commented.

"Literally." He said. "I just hope the ice doesn't melt before we get there. I know it's a five minute drive, but still."

There was a moment of silence between us before the guy asked, "what's your quirk?"

"Mine is called Fierce Eagle. It lets me do anything an Eagle can, but I can retract my feathers and direct them too." Well, anything an Eagle can except actually fly. I decided not to tell him that last part. After all, if we both get into the hero course, he will be my rival. I knew it was a mean thought to think, especially just after meeting him, but I couldn’t help it.

"Nice." Haru stirred the straw in his drink, changing directions as he talked to me. "I bet you can do a lot with that. It sounds like Hawks' quirk."

I smiled. "It's funny you mentioned that. He's actually my uncle."

The pink haired boy stopped stirring and turned to me. "Woah, really? Dang, looks like you've got an awesome uncle. I take it you have the same last name then?"

"Yep." I responded, folding my hands in my lap. "I'm Miu Takami."

"Haru Chikara."

"Alright kiddos, good luck." The driver told us, opening the bus doors as our signal to exit.

"Well, good luck, Takami. Hopefully I'll see you in the hero course."

"Y-you too." I told Haru, watching as he joined the crowd exiting the bus.

I knew I should have been focusing on the test, but I couldn't help but let myself get a tad exultant from talking with him.

That was the first actually nice, longer-than-five-seconds conversation I've had with someone my age in a long time!

Whenever I daydreamed about getting into U.A, I never thought about how it would be for me socially, but now I knew I probably wouldn't have to worry about that.

Stepping off the bus, I stood in front of the entrance with everyone else, taking the small gap of time to scope out my competition.

I saw a surprising amount of mutation quirks to start off with, some people with big muscles, some who looked light of their feet, others who had gadgets and equipment to help them out, and some whose quirks I couldn't deduce.

Well the important thing was that I stuck to my strategy. Once I get in there, I'll scope out the area, the abilities and restrictions of the robots, and go from there. It's not the most solid plan, I know, but it is something.

"Alright contestants!" X's voice from a loudspeaker counted us off. "Get ready…"

the door unlocked.

"Get set…"

They cranked open slowly, giving us a glimpse of the area.

"Go!"

The stomping of what seemed like hundreds of feet commenced as we all ran into the area. Most people began charging after the faux villains as soon as they saw them. There were a few small fights over who saw a 'villian' first, but for the most part everyone stayed out of each other's way, scattering like seeds in the wind.

I tried to stay out of the action for now. My main focus was to find people to save. It was a logical choice. Besides, a heroes duty was always to the people first. Never the action.

Ducking behind buildings and running through the streets, I searched for bystanders in trouble. I started to worry when I couldn't find any, until I heard a high pitched scream cut through the air.

"Help me! Help!" One of the H.U.C. members who looked like a little boy was trapped under rubble where a building had collapsed. He was crying and reaching his arms out.

I ran over to the scene, and began lifting some of the debris and rubble with my feathers.

"It's okay little guy, help is here!"

Once all the pieces of the building were pushed away, I grabbed the frightened boy from under his arms to lift him up to his feet, ready to lead him to the faux emergency center.

"Let's go-"

"WHAT ARE YOU DOING!?" I jumped at the child's sudden scream, and I let go of him promptly, causing him to fall on his knees.

"YOU EXPECT ME TO WALK ALL THE WAY THERE WHEN MY LEG OR BACK COULD BE BROKEN!? CARRY ME OR EVEN FLY ME THERE!! YOU HAVE HAVE WINGS, DONTCHA!? BUT YOU DIDN'T EVEN BOTHER TO CHECK FOR INJURIES!!"

"Uhh…" This is not how I pictured the fake civilians to act.

"AND YOU CAN'T JUST DROP ME!! I MIGHT HAVE-" The boy was cut off as a shadow lulled over him. I looked up, seeing a faux villian half the size of the buildings around it. It's red, glowing eye was pointed right at me.

I gulped. This isn't good.

The faux villain raised one of it's spider-like claws above our heads. On instinct, I grabbed the boy and jolted out of the way of the giant claw, flapping my wings for a little boost.

I held on to the boy, looking up at the huge robot. I felt the air rush from my back as my feathers aimed for the eye. Upon impact, my feathers managed to break the reinforced glass after four hits.

From the uncertain way it was moving now, that seemed to damage it at bit, but it still wasn't a K.O.

Why did I have to bump into one of the three pointers first!? I cursed to myself as I assessed the robot.

"WELL DON'T JUST STAND THERE!!" The boy screamed.

I needed points, so it would be best to destroy this one now instead of just running away from them. I can't pass on rescue points only, right?

I watched as the faux villain attempted to fit into the cramped side street, dangerously flailing it's limbs around.

It was upon that inspection that I noticed something. It's just a little crevice. Can I make it?

Ignoring the noise the boy was making, I redirected my still detached feathers toward a board on the side of the robot. Inserting my feather into the crack to pry it open,  I successfully ripped it off; unveiling the inside of the robot.

The robot had broken off a piece of the building, sending it falling right in front of us. The boy screamed and held onto me tighter.

I blindly dug around the inside, looking for a wire, or something I could break to make the faux villain dysfunction.

Stepping over the rocks, the faux villains front right claw was now only a few feet away from us. I backed away, feeling my feather dig deeper into the inside.

Digging, digging, digging.

Suddenly, the robot stopped. Its broken eyes faded into a brownish red as it fell, dismantled unto the rubble it had created.

I let out a breath, not quite believing that had worked.

"YOU WASTED THREE MINUTES ON THAT THING!! YOU ONLY HAVE SEVEN LEFT!! GET GOING!!"

"Okay, okay!" I huffed, running with the boy in my arms. I knew he wasn't a real kid, but he was really starting to get on my nerves.

_________ ׂׂૢ་༘࿐

I used the same strategy on all the faux villains. I got better at finding the right cords and wires to snap to put them out of use, and could often knock out multiple at a time.

I also took the time to collect my fair share of rescue points too. Although I treated it as more of a bonus thing. The H.U.C. members were still as weird-looking and annoying as ever. There was one old man yelling about how he'd seen worse during World War II as I saved him from nearly being stepped on by a robot, and a middle aged woman who kept talking about wanting to talk to the manager as I led her out of a store that was on the verge of collapse.

Overall, I did pretty well. I didn't bother counting my points while I was collecting them, since I knew after the test I would be here in front of the giant bulletin board outside the testing grounds, staring my results right in the eye.

Miu Takami. 37 villain points, 14 rescue points. Total of 51 points. Fourth place!

I resisted the urge to squeal at my results. Fifth place would guarantee me a spot in the hero course!

I probably would have gotten more if I hadn't wasted so long on that first robot.

The critique didn't last long in my brain, though, as I was already looking over the other top ten.

First place was someone named Tsutomu Sakii with a shocking 60 villain points, and 19 rescue points. Second place was someone called Yume Doishi, who got 51 villain points and 13 rescue points.

Third place, with 40 villian points and 23 rescue points, was… Blair Hiriyama.

The girl who stood up for me! I still haven't thanked her yet…

Feeling a little hopeful, I scanned the crowd of participants around me, and eventually spotted bright orange hair.

I watched as she took one last look at her score, before turning to make her way through the crowd.

"Hey, wait!" I called, pushing through the crowd to get to her. Once she was close to the U.A. gates, she turned around to face me, realizing I was talking to her.

"Hey, uhh… thanks for helping me out earlier. Before the exam. You know, when those boys were picking on me? Thanks for that." I rubbed the back of my neck awkwardly. I didn't really plan out what else I was going to say.

Again. I'm not the best at communicating.

Thankfully I didn't have to carry the conversation as a look of recognition flashed across her face, and she smiled. "Oh, it's you! The eagle girl! I'm surprised you remember that. You don't need to thank me, I was just doing what anyone would have done."

Now that I had a better look at her, I noticed all the colorful earrings and other jewelry she had. In fact, a majority of her outfit seemed to be colorful. She even had a rainbow pattern on the cuffs of her gi, and eyeshadow that was in the same orange and black color that her nunchucks were.

"Why were they picking on you anyway?" Blair continued.

"Oh… well, I'm not really sure…"

I decided not to mention the fact I was my uncle's niece. Considering how the conversation with those boys went, I figured I shouldn't get in the habit of introducing myself like that.

Blair made a face, rolling her shoulders while placing a hand on her hip. "Eh, they were probably just bored or something. Trust me, I have a lot of experience with bullies, and sometimes they don't have a reason for what they do, they just feel like being jerks that day I guess."

I laughed a bit. I'd never seen anyone make that weird snarl with their face. It was very expressive of her.

"I'm Blair Hiriyama, by the way." She introduced herself.

"I know." I said, immediately realizing how weird that must sound out of context. "No-I mean-I saw your name on the back of your gi-I'm not… stalking you or anything. Heh… I'm Miu Takami."

To my surprise, Blair started laughing. My face heated up a bit in embarrassment, searching for something to change the subject.

"Do all the colors in your outfit have to do with your quirk?" I asked, putting my hands in the pockets of my sweatpants and watching as other people walked by us and out the gates of U.A.

"Yeah! My quirk is called Color Coded. I can summon anything within a five mile radius as long as I'm wearing something of the same color. There are a lot of picky factors, like the shade of the color I'm wearing, and the size, and all that. It's a little draining to remember all of it." She rubbed the back on her neck.

"That's a really interesting quirk!" I replied, tilting my head in interest.

"What about you?"

We talked a few minutes longer, discussing how we did on the exams, and more about our quirks. Blair seemed like a pretty fun person, and I was a tad disappointed when she needed to get going.

"Well, I'd better get going. I need to pick my brother up from soccer practice. But before I do…"

Glancing away from me in fake mischievousness, the freckled girl pulled out her phone. "Can I get your number? You seem like a nice person, Takami."

To be honest, I was a little caught off guard by that, but I quickly responded. "Sure, yeah!" I put my number in her phone, and handed it back to her.

"Well, I'll be seeing you in the hero course, Takami! Bye!" Turning on her heel, Blair headed out of the gates.

"Bye!" I called, waving at her. I smiled down at my phone, already being greeted by an upside down smiley face emoji from Blair.

My second contact.

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Word count: 3,325

I was going to update this a lot sooner, but life hit me harder than I expected. Its okay though, because I'm back into the writing swig!!

Fun Fact: Haru's favorite Starbucks drink is the Pink Drink.