┏━━°⌜ ᵂᵉʳᵉⁿ'ᵗ ʷᵉ ᵗʰᵉ ˢᵗᵃʳˢ ⁱⁿ ʰᵉᵃᵛᵉⁿ?⌟°━━┓

Akari was exhausted.

It was the day before the UA entrance exam, and her nerves were at an all-time high. Despite increasing her training hours, she did not find it enough to get accepted.

She already excelled at the written part of the exam. Studying came naturally to her, and if she really messed up the practical portion, her written exam would surely make up for it.

'...not good enough,' she thought. She needed to earn her place. The real world wouldn't pick you based on your technical knowledge. It wouldn't pick you if you knew every single hero's move. You'd be a low-tier strategist at best.

Heroes need to be strong.

Akari needs to be strong.

And now she's here: panic training the day before the exam,looking into the previous entrance exams in hopes of maybe noticing a pattern, reviewing Hero's moves in case she had to fight them.

Her brain was on the verge of melting. Her body even more so; she had to stop eventually, lest she end up sore the next day.

Perhaps she should take a hot bath before she sleeps. She should sleep soon. She should eat a little bit more protein. she shoul--

'I'm freaking out again'. She clenched her fist and breathed out.
'...you're okay, you're strong, you're great, you're going to get in...hopefully' she assured herself in a pissy attempt at self comfort.

She really should sleep soon.

______________________________________

Dreaming of standing in front of the UA is a fantasy.

Actually standing in front of the UA is surreal.

"Who....designed this building?" Akari muttered to herself. The photos never did the school any justice. It looked unreal! And.. kind of ugly.

'If they have all this money to make buildings like....this. Surely they have an excellent program' she said as she walked towards the doors.

Her hands shook, and her head was filled with... excitement? Fear? She doesn't even know anymore, but it's the one thing she's trained for all her life. She just wants it to be over.

She probably walked past a few classmates of hers on the way; she felt eyes on her, but she didn't give anyone much thought.

No one else matters right now.

The interior was more surreal than the exterior. Everything looked so clean. like it was a freshly made building; it looked nothing like her middle school, which, while was cleaned daily, still felt lived in.

She headed off to the classes where they hosted the written entrance exams. It went by with a breeze; Akari finished quickly and had time to revise one, two... FOUR TIMES?! She really wasn't letting this exam go.

Finding the auditorium for the physical exam was no trouble. Everything was big and bright for people to find. Akria sat closer to the podium in the very few seats left. While the auditorium slowly filled up with students waiting to become the next heroes.

"FOR ALL YOU EXAMINEE LISTENERS TUNING IN, WELCOME TO MY SHOW TODAY!!"
The loud voice caught her attention, and she looked at the stage to find a pro-hero.

'That's.. present mic, "she said, identifying him quickly. Anyone would with that striking hairdo.

"EVERYBODY SAY 'HEY'!"
...

'Awkward..'

"Keeping it mellow, huh?" He looked like he had deflated a little.
"Then, ILL QUICKLY PRESENT TO YOU A RUNDOWN ON THE PRACTICAL EXAM!" He got his mojo back quick!

"ARE YOU READY?" 'YEAHHHH!!!' "

...

The whole room was filled with silence, save for the quiet mumbles of an insane person.

"AS IT SAYS IN THE APPLICATION REQUIREMENTS, YOU LISTENERS WILL BE CONDUCTING 10-MINUTE MOCK URBAN BATTLES!"

Akria looked down at her exam ticket while listening.

"YOU CAN BRING WHATEVER YOU WANT. AFTER THIS PRESENTATION,YOU'LL HEAD DOWN TO THE SPECIFIED BATTLE CENTER WRITTEN ON YOUR TICKET. OKAY??"

Test location: battle center B

"OKAY???"

...

"..'kay." She spoke quietly; she pitied him. If she were in his situation, she'd shoot herself.

"OKAYYY!!, Let's check out your targets: THERE ARE 3 TYPES OF FAUX-VILLIANS IN EVERY BATTLE CENTER. YOULL EARN POINTS BASED ON HOW DIFFICULT THEY ARE!"

'...sounds simple enough. Hopefully, they aren't too big. They did something similar in 202X's entrance exam.'

" YOUR GOAL, DEAR LISTENERS, IS TO USE YOUR QUIRKS TO EARNS POINT BY IMMOBOLIZING THE FAUX-VILLANS!" damn.

"OF COURSE, ATTACKING FELLOW TEST TAKERS AND OTHER UNHEROIC ACTIONS ARE STRICTLY PROHIBITED"

'Wait, there is a robot missin-'

"EXCUSE ME, SIR, I HAVE A QUESTION" Akari turned to the source of the sound.

"HIT ME!"

"On the printout, you've listed four types of villains. Not three. With all due respect, if this is an error in official UA materials, it is shameful."
"We are exemplary students. We expect the best from Japan's most notable school. A mistake such as this won't do!" A tall, blue-haired boy spoke with pride.

'This glasses guy keeps babbling. I mean, he's right, but can't he just skip to the point?'

"Additionally, you with the unkempt hair!" He pointed at a boy in the back.

Oh?

"Huh..?"

"You've been muttering the whole time! If you don't bother to take this seriously, leave. You're distracting the rest of us!"

"S-sorry.."

'Jeez, how humiliating... I hope neither of them end up being my classmates."

"OKAY, OKAY, EXAMINEE 7111. THANKS FOR CALLING IN!"

"THE FOURTH VILLAN'S WORTH ZERO POINTS. BASICALLY, HE'S AN OBSTACLE; WE'LL BE PUTTING YOUR WAY!"

"THERE'LL BE ONE IN EVERY CENTER. THINK OF IT AS A HURDLE YOU HAVE TO AVOID. IT'S NOT THAT IT'S IMPOSSIBLE, BUT THERE'S...kind of no point." The present mic trailed off.

"I RECOMMEND YOU LISTENERS TO AVOID IT!"

"Thank you very much! Please excuse my interruption. " The blue-haired boy bowed before sitting back down.

'Even if they're not worth anything, surely the examiners would take notice of whoever defeated it.' Akari thought to herself.

"THATS ALL FROM ME! ILL GIVE YOU LISTENERS A SMALL PRESENT: OUR SCHOOL MOTTO!

"THE HERO NAPOLEON BONAPARTE ONCE SAID:

'A true hero is one who overcomes life's misfortunes.'

... go beyond...PLUS ULTRA!!!"

'This... is finally happening; I'm finally going to prove to everyone I can do it'

'I can't mess it up.'

┗━━━°⌜ ᴰⁱᵈⁿ'ᵗ ʸᵒᵘ ᵇᵉˡⁱᵉᵛᵉ ⁱⁿ ᵐᵉ?⌟°━━━┛

I wrote this in one sitting.
Wondering how long till this creative burst stops