༉˚*ೃ o1. TSUBAMEMOCHI!

||     ღ'͈ ᵕ '͈ )♡('͈ ᵕ '͈ ღ     ||

AKATSUKI TSUBAME LOVED sleep. It was the best thing in the world. She loved it so much that she sometimes had to set twenty-three alarms on her phone, and still ended up rolling over, burying her face in her pillow, and going right back to her dreams anyway. It wasn't like she was an inactive girl—but the moment she hit her mattress, Tsubame was out like a light. Her father had theorised that perhaps it was her body exhausting itself from constantly fluctuating its own DNA. Miki just said she was lazy.

          Currently... Currently Tsubame was warm, and curled up delightfully safe, blissful. She was... Where was she? Somewhere on a beach. Or in a field. A desert oasis with hot sand. Absolutely nothing to worry about... Just warm blankets and more dreams to look forward to. She sighed as she turned over and pulled the duvet higher over her head. Warm, warm, warm.

          "Hey, Tsubamemochi," Akatsuki Tomomi's curious voice filled the bedroom, that nickname just slipping through the edge of Tsubame's lovely dream of sunbathing on a hot beach made of clouds, "weren't you supposed to get up at 5:30?" The earth-shattering words were punctured by the crunchy bite of a Mr. Onion cheese puff.

          Tsubame made a soft, "Hmm?" sound, raising her face out of her fluffy pillow to stare up at her little sister's face. Her little sister, who was currently staring down at her from the side of the futon with big, innocent eyes, and had just dropped a metaphorical anvil on Tsubame's head. She chucked another handful of cheese puffs into her mouth as her words finally sank in.

          "Ah!" Tsubame was instantly awake: sat bolt upright in her bed with the duvet flying forward in panic. Her head snapped wildly to where her phone had been tossed across the tatami mat floor. Read the numbers on the screen. 8:39AM. "AH!"

          In a flash of colour barely visible to the human eye, Tsubame was springing out of her bed and dashing to her chest of drawers. Clothes flew everywhere as she searched wildly. Previously folded shirts and pants landed on her bed, her floor, her desk, her little sister (who watched with confusion and bleary innocence).

          "Why did no one wake me up?! Holy shit, holy shit, holy shit!" Tsubame—the mess of a human being—hopped around her room while pulling on her old middle school uniform that she should have gotten out last night, and a dark sweater, wrestling with the woollen fabric as it went over her head. She brushed her teeth in record time, sunk her feet into her socks, dragged a comb through her wild hair and pulled it up into four pigtails, looked at the time and, holy shit, sprinted out of the room she shared with Tomomi. Down the narrow, high stairs—that if she slipped would definitely result in her death—and into the small living area, went sliding across the tatami flooring in her socks and crashed into the kotatsu.

          From the kitchen area, Tsubame's father—Akatsuki Kazuo—looked up. There were dark circles under his eyes, but the smile lines at the corners of his mouth were prominent as he glanced over at his second daughter, who looked half-mad and was leaping over the kotatsu with panicked fervour. "What's the matter?" he questioned obliviously, hands pausing from where he'd been preparing a delicious breakfast for his two youngest kids.

          There was no calming Tsubame. She went sliding across the tatami again as she ran full-force towards the kitchenette, narrowly missing colliding with her dad and knocking the both of them out. Her ankle hit the kitchen counter instead, with a painful sound. Then she was scooping up a bowl of rice and miso that he hadn't yet been able to serve to the table. "The physical exam!" she exclaimed, and downed the rice and miso in record time. She grabbed some fried salmon right off the pan—hot!—and devoured that too.

          "That's today?" asked Kazuo, blinking slowly in surprise. He looked exhausted. The poor man needed much, much more sleep, but Tsubame knew he'd be running Tomomi to school in less than an hour and then he'd be at work for God knows how long.

          Tsubame dropped the empty miso and rice bowls back onto the table and made a break for the door. "It's in twenty minutes!" If Tsubame missed this— If she missed this— Fuck, she'd never, ever forgive herself. Stupid phone, stupid alarm, stupid sleep. Tsubame should have just stayed up all night training, that would have been so much better. She lunged into the genkan and shoved her feet into a pair of boots that she was only 85% sure were hers and not her older sister Miki's, but Tsubame didn't exactly have time to check the minute details because then she was out of the front door with a, "Wish me luck!" and sprinting wildly down the street.

          The road that the Akatsuki household was situated on was a narrow, pokey one at the corner of the ward, where sometimes, on the special occasion, their electricity and clean water failed them. Now, Tsubame careened down it with her backpack haphazardly over her shoulder and panic on her mind. She dodged around the few office-workers riding their bikes and a singular car. The paving of the street was worn down, uneven and bumpy and filled with potholes—she had to be sure to keep her footing. Grass grew in at the edges. No matter what anyone would say, Tsubame loved her neighbourhood.

          She ran full force all the way to the bus stop, and caught her breath, leaning against the sign reading '十二'. Sweat of stress beaded on her forehead. Tsubame, clutching one of the straps of her bag with tense hands, glanced around in panic for a bus. Unfortunately, there were none in sight. She'd been supposed to catch the seven o'clock.

          There were a couple of other people waiting at the stop, one or two kids in school uniforms and a few dressed smarter. The closest was a businessman. Panting out, Tsubame asked frantically, "When's the next bus?!" Her fingers gripped onto the bus stop pole.

          The man glanced down at his watch, then back up at Tsubame with irritating casualness, "Fifteen minutes."

          "Tch!" The hair on Tsubame's head stood on end, and she had the very stupid, primal instinct to just cry and then scream at absolutely nothing. U.A. had to be twenty minutes away on foot, and by bus—. Tsubame had no time to think. Instead, she turned just as rapidly as she'd gotten there and sprinted off. "Okay, bye!" Her family didn't have a car, just bikes, and she hadn't managed to squeak past the written entrance exam just to miss out on the physical because she'd slept in. Stop thinking, Tsubame! Stop thinking!

          Tsubame was a good runner, if she could say so herself. She'd come out one of the top sprinters and track runners in her middle school, even with the use of Quirks banned, but even she couldn't just run all the way to U.A. like this.

          As she sprinted down the road, Tsubame kicked off her shoes. The black boots which may have been her sister's landed on the grass. Then it was just her bare feet springing off of the rough pavement. One-handed and barely looking, Tsubame fired off a quick text to her family's group chat.

━━━━

'AKATSUKI FAMILY'

4 members.

New Messages: 8:47AM

tsubame ..·ヾ(。＞＜)シ

pick up my shoes bus stop 12 just near the park

miki (^.~)☆

???????????

are you late

TSUBAMEMOCHI

━━━━

          Tsubame heard the ping of her phone in her skirt pocket, but chose to ignore it, because with her shoes now gone and the need to act civil entirely out of the window, Tsubame began to really run. She felt the change, concentrated on it. It was hard to breathe evenly through her nose and focus on the tiny strands of DNA that made her her while she was sprinting barefoot through the streets of her prefecture and running extremely, extremely late for the most important day of her entire life. She made a quick turn around one of the corners. Through the busiest sections of the prefecture, past the hospital, across the river, more buildings, up the mountain towards the school—.

          God, why did Tsubame's sleep curse her so much?!

          Then, she felt the familiar shift of her bones. A light cracking. It used to be agonising, but now her DNA changed so often that her legs had grown (mostly) numb to the pain: to that twisting of muscles and snapping of bone, the nerves rewiring themselves and fur sprouting from previously smooth skin. When she was young, even just a few years back, she used to have to sit down and be still to make it happen. It used to make her cry through the pain. Now, Tsubame ran as her legs shifted. One foot struck the ground, human; again, human; again, twisted; again, clawed; again, definitely not human; again, cheetah.

          And then she was really running.

          She shot off from the ground as her powerful legs took over, muscled paws striking off the pavement with tremendous force, feeling each tendon shift with every step. Tsubame ran and ran, like her life depended on it—it really did—, the wind whipping her harshly in the face and forcing her four pigtails twirling back in windswept locks, as she sped up and sped up. There were a few cars on the bumpy road and Tsubame overtook them all. Each press off of the uneven stone street—which curved downwards at a narrow-angle—was calculated enough to not get her stuck in the gaps between cobble. There were a couple of passers-by walking to work who Tsubame dodged around with a quick, "Excuse me, sorry!", clutching the straps of her backpack.

          House after house after house flew past, until it was too quick to see more than a blur. Then she was out into the bustle of the main roads. Tsubame skidded around the corner with her cheetah paws readjusting themselves accordingly, and she sprinted in the direction of U.A.. She looked a disastrous mess, with socks ripped around the feet and her hair falling out of its ties—was there really any point in getting ready this morning?!—, sprinting as if the world was coming to an end. Here, there were a lot more obstacles. Cyclists, pedestrians, cars and trucks and buses, children walking to school and street vendors out on the paths. A million scents hit her heightened senses, everything was going too fast, but Tsubame had one goal, and that was U.A. High School.

          Tsubame could not believe she missed the bus. It was all she was thinking about as she sprinted through the busy streets, leapt over cars and dodged around streetlamps. She slept through her alarm on what could be the very first day of her hero adventure. Fucking stupid!

          Glad you skipped out on this, Mom, she thought devastatingly as her strong cheetah legs bounded up onto a moving fish market truck and sprung off. The young girl, with all the ability of the world's fastest animal, hit the ground at a speed that must have been bordering 100km/h. It would be easier once she got out of the cram of the city.

          "Coming through!" Tsubame shouted, dodging through the masses as they shouted and plunged out of her way. It was a bit of a mess, but she wasn't hitting anyone. The most she was giving was a light push to keep her from striking them front-on. "I'm sorry!" the girl called back in genuine apology as she ran past a vendor and sent paper pamphlets flying everywhere, as she dodged between a couple who were about to kiss. Tsubame the Life Ruiner. Oh well.

          She sprung back onto the road and almost got destroyed by a car. Shit. Shit. Shit. Tsubame was going to be late. The girl couldn't tell what would be worse: bursting into the exam debriefing room and having hundreds of eyes trained on her while she stammered out her excuse (slept in), or being locked out and unable to do the exam at all. She looked down at her phone in despair, which had managed to not get her out of bed despite the near fifty alarms she'd set. As the girl sprinted, she began striking her palm lightly and repeatedly against the screen. Bastard. Bastard. Bastard. Bastard.

          Her world was a blur. It was person after person, vehicle after vehicle, obstacle after obstacle. Tsubame let her instinct entirely take over. She was beginning to tire. Cheetahs didn't run long-distance, and though her human body lent to the stamina, Tsubame was very aware that she was going to burn up all her energy before she even got to U.A..

          The time on her phone read 8:54AM. Six minutes. Six. 

          Tsubame's leap had her feet landing on the hood of a taxi. She felt it dent—oops—but then she was springing off again onto the next one. She ignored the shouts of the car's driver. Fuck owning responsibility! I'm late for an exam! If she got into U.A., she'd spend the rest of her life fixing heroes' damage. For now, she sprung onto and over vehicles like it was her job, leaving little paw-shaped prints behind in the metal.

          The time ticked away. She was closing in on the river, and then it was just an uphill scramble until she hit the school. Tsubame was quickly losing energy, and speed. Already, she was hungry. And all she'd had for breakfast was rice and miso?! Tsubame was an idiot and this day was not going as planned. If she didn't eat, with the amount of energy her body was consuming—shit, she'd get about two minutes into the exam and faint!

          There, on the riverside, was a small food market. Even from the other side of the street, Tsubame could smell the meat cooking. So... split-second decision.

          She skidded to a stop right in front of the lucky vendor who Tsubame would be pouring cash into today. She fumbled for the wallet shoved in her pocket.

          "Three takoyaki boats, please! I need to make it to the U.A. Entrance Exam!" Tsubame exclaimed to the vendor, trying her very best to be a polite and upholding citizen while also clearly in a panic. She dumped ¥1,100 on the counter and nervously bit her nails.

          The vendor was an older man who actually looked worried for her—Tsubame dared to look at the time: 8:58?!—and immediately handed her the stacked boxes of food. "You need to go, then! Hurry, hurry!"

          "Thank you!" Tsubame called back as she took off with the boxes of takoyaki in hand, sprinting across the bridge. She dumped the takoyaki in her mouth as she did so, barely having time to enjoy the taste, because all she was thinking was: food, energy, run. Tsubame swore she had never eaten so fast in her life. She tossed the cardboard perfectly in a passing bin and took off again. Legs aching, Tsubame ran back on the road and passed bikes and cars and trucks as she waved apologetically at them. "I'm so sorry for the inconvenience! Please ignore me!" Tsubame gritted her teeth, hoping none of them were U.A. teachers just on their way to work. Holy shit!

          Then came the mountain. Tsubame could smell victory. The uphill sprint was even worse, but Tsubame was fuelled by pure adrenaline and panic, seeping into her blood to give her just that extra push. She flung herself up the curved pavement, dashing up towards the sky. It was strange: the girl knew that if she ended up attending the school, the walk up the mountain would be something she'd complain about every day, but now she was sprinting up it on her last thread of stamina. She was aware she'd never run up this hill this fast ever again.

          Come on, legs. Her body was tiring. Cheetah DNA was telling her to slow the hell down. Tsubame's brain was saying no.

          Holy shit. The U.A. steps that emerged out of the trees looked a little like stairs to the pearly gates in Tsubame's exhausted mind. She bounded up the steps and through the front gates. Tsubame dared to glance at her phone.

          9:03AM.

          Her fingers scrambled to unlock it, flying to where she'd saved her seat information. Before the lecture hall door came another obstacle, more stairs, and now Tsubame was really sweating and panting. When she reached the top, for the first time since she'd left the house, Tsubame stopped. She took about two seconds to breathe, reached her right hand out tentatively, and creaked open the giant door.

          A voice poured out, loud and immediate—so the debrief had already started. Cautiously, Tsubame stuck her head in. The theatre was black except for an illuminated stage, where Voice Hero: Present Mic was speaking at a deafening volume. Luckily, only a couple of students in the back rows turned towards her. Tsubame slyly pulled herself through the door and shut it quietly behind her. She was in.

          As quickly and quietly as possible, Tsubame sprinted down the lecture theatre stairway. Seat. Seat. Seat. Her sharp eyes scanned the small letters and numbers engraved in the steps. 'ROW K, SEAT 232'.

          There! Tsubame twisted her feet in half a second and was springing in a different direction with all the prowess of the cat her legs were currently in the form of. There was an attempt to be discreet as she bounded across the backs of the first twelve seats—the squeezing past seated people was always the worst, so she'd opted to avoid it entirely—, narrowly avoiding kicking their occupants in the skull. It was too dark to make out any of their faces.

          Her paws ran across the headrests, right towards the only empty seat in the entire row. Her seat. She sprung up, and the girl landed perfectly on the empty seat with a quiet 'thump', between a shitty-tempered-looking scowling boy and one with crimson red hair who looked less furious at the world. And then, after all the stress the morning had brought, Akatsuki Tsubame was finally staring at the stage, where Present Mic was explaining something on a giant screen behind him.

          Tsubame was still in the process of catching her breath and wiping away sweat, when she realised that she'd clearly missed the first minute or so of the brief. Whatever Present Mic was talking about definitely made no sense. She felt like she'd just run a mile—she had, several—and was so glad that she'd eaten all those takoyaki because already she was feeling weak-kneed and tired. I'll be all good for the exam, she promised herself, inhaling sharply, just take a breather. Relax. Then you're up again, Tsubamemochi. Don't fuck it up.

          She was already fucking it up because what was Present Mic talking about? Tsubame leaned in towards the seat at her right. "What's happened?" she hissed softly to the boy beside her. She saw, even in the dark, that his red eyes turned towards her. They were the same shade as his ridiculously spiked up hair, which added about an extra head of height onto his figure—rest in peace to anybody possibly trying to watch the stage in the seat behind him. Tsubame, despite her question and the way she'd leaned in towards him, kept her eyes fastened on the stage. If she missed anything else important, however hard it was to do with Present Mic's booming voice, she was going to die.

          Thankfully, her seat-neighbour was a good sport, and leaned in towards her too—so their heads were just about touching. He apparently had the courage to take his eyes off of the stage to glance at her. And the grace to explain it to her, even though for all they knew he'd be her opponent in the upcoming physical trial. "The exam is a ten-minute urban battle, your battle centre is on this piece of paper." The red-haired kid helpfully reached out his hand and plucked a square sheet up from the desk in front of her. He held it out in offering and Tsubame clasped it in her fingers, peering down. Between the various details about herself, her picture, and her examine number—2232—, the test location proudly read: Battle Centre G. "It's so we can't work with friends."

          Curiously and wide-eyed, Tsubame leant over to peer at the other boy's own card that he had clasped in his other hand. "Oh, you're 'F', huh?" She pressed her index finger down against the letter on his sheet. She exhaled slowly with raised brows, "I guess they really won't let you work with any potential allies." Making every immediate seat a different letter was a brilliant way to stop potential cheating, she supposed. Well, guess Tsubame wouldn't be getting any extra help in the exam from this random boy.

          While her eyes were fastened on his examination sheet, the red-haired boy smiled right at her. "I'm Kirishima Eijirou, by the way." He awkwardly rubbed the back of his neck, sporting a wide, sharp-toothed grin that was pretty much blinding. Tsubame backed up so she could pull the same expression right back.

          "Akatsuki Tsubame," she said in return with an equally toothy grin. "Nice to meet you."

          "Oi. Extra!" The sharp voice from Tsubame's left was entirely unexpected, and it had come from the nasty-tempered looking blond. He was calling her an extra?! Was it arrogance or main character syndrome? Let's make a guess. "Your voice is annoying, shut up!"

          The red-haired boy who she was facing must have seen the visible way Tsubame's face shifted, dropping from its grin into a sharp glare just before she twisted her head around to face the kid on her other side. "What'd you say to me?" she hissed, glinting, dangerous eyes turned towards the spiky-haired boy with violent intent. He was looking at her the same way.

          Apparently he'd heard Tsubame's and Kirishima's conversation, because he made a 'tch' noise. "Tsubame, huh? 'Barn swallow'—someone with that name shouldn't be so unreliable. Nobodies like you should have stayed at home."Each of his words sounded like a growl, and it made Tsubame want to make him eat them.

          Her brows dropped then raised in a dangerous manner. Didn't this boy know it was dangerous to provoke a girl who'd spent the last best half of twenty minutes as a predator? "If our names are supposed to directly correlate, it's a shame your parents didn't name you bastard," Tsubame snipped back, definitely not above it all, and the boy on the other side of the blond looked like he died on the spot. His face went white like a sheet, eyes big, and as he sunk down Tsubame was about 90% sure she saw his soul physically leave his open mouth. 

          It struck a nerve. The blond boy practically stood in his chair, towering over her with his teeth gritted in an intimidating shout, his hands curved like claws and faced towards the ceiling. "WHAT DID YOU SAY?!" The green-haired kid beside the blond bastard sunk down in further embarrassment as everyone in the vicinity turned to stare at them. Blond Bastard seemed to not care a whole lot, because his eyes were blazing. Tsubame just raised a snide eyebrow and didn't even give him the time of day. Her gaze was focused solely on Present Mic and the screen.

          "I thought we were trying to listen," she quipped at a normal volume, as the red-haired boy—Kirishima—on her other side snickered a little.

          "DIE!" The shout was loud and vicious, as the boy had one of his feet planted on his seat so he stood much, much taller than her sitting form. They'd caught the entire lecture hall's attention.

          "Try me, coward," Tsubame replied with the slight disdained raise of her lip, showing off her unusually long upper canines. Her yellow eyes did pull from the presentation then, flickering over to the loudmouth, bad-tempered boy who had his hands clenched like he was about to demolish her with his Quirk. Nothing about her eyes spelled fear, but they did spell trouble.

          "Oi! Oi! Oi!" Present Mic's voice boomed out from the stage in their direction, right in time. "No interruptions!" He had a finger pointed out to them, and the blond bastard looked like he absolutely did not care and would rather be actually murdering Tsubame, or something, which—he could try. He was saved by Present Mic, she supposed.

          The crowd, including Tsubame, Kirishima, and even the asshole fell silent, allowing the Pro Hero's briefing speech to continue. As the blond bastard sat down, the absolute look that he gave her was withering. Tsubame stared right back, undeterred. A lot of things scared her, but some pretentious jerk with an anger issue didn't. Her gaze turned dismissively back towards the stage—she swore she saw the boy steam—, where a visual on the screen behind Present Mic played. A scene that Tsubame assumed the urban battle would take place in: a mock city with buildings that stretched out and out. As Present Mic's arms raised, several silhouettes appeared on the screen around the setting.

          "Three different types of faux villains are stationed in each battle centre. You earn points for each of them based on their level of difficulty." The screen changed to one like that of a video game. "Your goal, dear listeners, is to use your Quirks to earn points by immobilizing faux villains." Then Present Mic's arm swung out towards the crowd. "Of course, attacking other examinees and any other unheroic actions are prohibited!"

          "Isn't Present Mic cool?" whispered Tsubame beneath her breath to Kirishima beside her. He totally had the look down. Sunglasses, gelled up blond hair to an impressive degree, an outfit with snazzy black leather that matched his Quirk. Voice Hero was right.

          The other boy nodded a little. "Yeah, he's pretty manly." There was a smile on his face.

          "He has the same hair as you," giggled Tsubame softly, even though their talking was definitely working up Blond Bastard beside her, who was starting to vibrate with untamed rage, and they should probably most definitely be paying attention to the briefing.

          Kirishima, who was still pretty much entirely a stranger, had the gall to look playfully offended and reach up to grasp at the obviously gelled-up spikes of his cherry-red hair. "No he does not! I'm like the Crimson Riot!" He pulled at the spikes like it was obvious. Two of the pieces of hair in front were curved out like tiny horns. Cute, she thought.

          The girl had to cover her mouth to muffle her snickers. "Mini Present Mic!"

          "Oi!" Kirishima said woundedly, but the lilt upwards of his mouth even through the dark let Tsubame know that he was in on the joke.

         "SHHSHHHSHHHHSHHH!" growled the boy next to them in what was basically a rabid hiss, blond hair going even more spiky than Tsubame thought was possible. He was staring right at them with his eyes burning right into the side of Tsubame's face. The girl had the right mind to growl right back, but the idea of a little red-haired Present Mic was a lot funnier than getting angry. She pressed her face into her arm to prevent her from laughing again, but heard a chuckle from the boy on her right.

          Someone suddenly stood up in one of the rows in front of them, raising his hand in the air. "May I ask a question?!" The boy's voice echoed around the lecture hall.

          Present Mic's pointed finger swept dutifully towards them. "Okay!" the hero shouted in English.

          A spotlight flooded the tall standing boy's figure, making it easy for the whole crowd to look at just who was speaking. Tsubame was staring directly at the back of his head, so it wasn't like it did much. "On the printout, there are four types of villains." The boy was holding a piece of paper in one hand and pointed at it sharply with his finger. There's a printout?! It seemed Kirishima beside her had just realized the exact same thing because they both picked up a printout that had been beneath their feet with confusion. Both idiots, huh? "If that is a misprint, then U.A., the most prominent school in Japan, should be ashamed of that foolish mistake. We examinees are here in this place because we wish to be moulded into exemplary heroes!" Gosh, this guy is intense, huh? Then he spun around and pointed directly at the boy to Blond Bastard's left—the green-haired one who'd looked dead when Tsubame had snapped back at his seat-neighbour. "In addition, you over there with the curly hair! You've been muttering this whole time. And you other three!" Now his hand swept across the other seats containing Shitty-temper, Tsubame, and Kirishima. "The three of you should be ashamed of your constant talking and bad behaviour! It's distracting! If you lot are here on a pleasure trip, then you should leave immediately!"

          Tsubame felt like she'd just gotten a lecture from Miki. Green-hair slapped his hands over his mouth in embarrassment as other members of the crowd began to laugh. Shitty-temper Blond Bastard looked like he couldn't care less, growling with his teeth bared, meanwhile Kirishima and Tsubame leaned in sideways at the same time.

          "He seems so serious—he's even lecturing the Pro."

          "Oh? Yeah, totally." They nodded along with each other, sharing the same wavelength for about the fourth time in a row since they'd met a brief five minutes ago.

          Present Mic reeled it back in from the stage. "Okay, okay, Examinee Number 7111." He gave the student a thumbs up. "Thanks for the great message." The screen behind him suddenly came to life again, this time depicting a fourth silhouette that had previously not been present. "The fourth type of villain is worth zero points. That guy's an obstacle, so to speak. There's one in every battle centre. An obstacle that will go crazy in narrow spaces. It's not impossible to defeat, but there's no reason to defeat it, either. I recommend that you listeners try to avoid it."

          The student that had been dutifully standing now bowed. "Thank you very much! Please excuse the interruption!" Then he sat back down as the spotlight went out.

          From the stage, Present Mic spread out his arms. "That's all from me! Finally, I'll give you listeners a present—our school motto!" Tsubame clenched her fist together, her heart beginning to really pound now. In a few minutes the exam would start. Was she really good enough to get into the best hero school in Japan? "The hero Napoleon Bonaparte once said: 'A true hero is someone who overcomes life's misfortunes.'" Present Mic bent to address at the crowd. "Go beyond! Plus Ultra!" At his words, the screen lit up with the same message, and Tsubame inhaled a huge breath. This was really happening. "Now, everyone, good luck suffering."

          The lights of the lecture hall flickered on as Tsubame just sat, absorbing Present Mic's final words. Suffering? She squeezed her fists into the fabric of her skirt. No way—if Tsubame passed the painful Entrance Exam, her time at U.A. was going to be suffering-free and filled with fun. The rest of the exam-goers were starting to stand from their seats, shuffling towards their designated exits. Tsubame stood too, and was immediately preoccupied with an older woman calling, "Battle Centre G!" and waving a sign from the back of the hall by one of the doors—just one of seven adults directing children to their appropriate battle centres. Tsubame had been late to the briefing. No way was she going to be late to the Battle Centre.

          Throwing all manners to the wind, Tsubame grabbed her things and hopped over the back of her chair. Now that she'd gone back to human feet, the soles were bare (her socks had been torn at the bottom during both the run and her transformation), and the lecture theatre floor was cold. She tried to ignore the feeling as she hopped over the rest of the seats behind her, springing from one back to the next, while the other students took the slower method of walking up the stairs. In no time, she'd reached the back of the theatre, and the nervous energy was making her spring around anxiously. She joined the stream of students cramming out of one of the West exits.

          Oh, wait—.

          Tsubame turned around on her heel, right in the doorway, until her eyes found the cherry red hair pushing through the crowd towards the other exit at her right. "Oi, Kirishima-san!" yelled Tsubame across the throng of pushing students, one of her hands raised by her mouth to amplify her shout. The call and the rampant waving of her other arm in the air apparently caught the red-eyed boy's attention, because then his gaze was fastening on her. "Good luck!"

          She just had time to see his grin and stick his thumb up in the air between them, his shout of, "You too, Akatsuki-san!" before the crowd Tsubame was blocking managed to push her out of the doorway. She stumbled down the steps backwards and stepped on someone's shoe—or maybe tail, oops. That shitty-tempered blond bastard apparently noticed her too, because his shoulder slammed into her as he pushed past the shorter girl. He was quickly scrambled after by the green-haired kid who'd been on his left, though Tsubame could assume they weren't in a battle centre together.

          "Move, Shitty Face," spat the blond boy, at which Tsubame had the very real urge to bite his head off, feeling her teeth sharpen into their even-longer-than-usual offensive incisors and canines. Despite her instincts—too much time spent as a big cat, Miki was always scolding her, you'll turn into a full-fledged animal next—, Tsubame restrained the urge. Murder was not exactly the best starter for a want-to-be-hero. Also, she had no idea what the bastard's Quirk was, and knowing how lucky pretentious assholes were, she could bet that it was probably something damn good.

          A 'tch' sound left her throat. The blond bastard was moving away from her through the throng of other exam-goers. Tsubame raised her voice over the chatter and shouted in retort, "Suck it, Bastard!" His gaze turned just in time to see her stick both middle fingers up at him before she disappeared into the crowd. God, she hated people like that. Some people who'd been handed everything in their lives got such big heads that it was almost an amazement it wasn't their Quirk. Whatever, surely someone with that level of overwhelming hubris—or maybe he was just a shitty person—couldn't possibly actually be that good. There was no way he'd get into U.A..

          All Tsubame had to do was ace the physical exam, and she'd be Blond Bastard free, and U.A. ready.

          Easier said than done.

          No, thought Tsubame to herself, as she walked towards the adult holding the sign reading 'BATTLE CENTRE G' by a few buses. You can do this. Her sharp teeth sunk into her lower lip as she followed the thinning group of students over to their designated battle centre vehicles. U.A. was really so big that they needed a bus to get where they needed? Nervously, Tsubame rocked on her bare feet as she showed the supervising adult slip she'd received in the debrief. Then she climbed onto the bus. There were some students already sat on the vehicle, each looking fairly anxious. Tsubame took the seat in the back and drew her knees up to her chest. Traced small shapes into the tops of her kneecaps in an attempt to calm herself. A bunny. A cat. A turtle. A love-heart. Some squiggle of lines and circles that vaguely represented Japan's Number One Hero: All Might. When the bus had totally filled—some guy with blue skin and webbed arms had sat down next to her—, its engine came to life, and the vehicle pulled out onto its course to the battle centre.

          The bus was silent. Tsubame had never heard public transport so eerily quiet before. About two students were talking, and that was it. Everyone else was either refusing to converse with who would soon become their rivals, or were trying to swallow their fear. She caught a couple of students participating in nervous foibles like biting their fingernails or pressing their face into their palms. One girl a couple of rows ahead from her had strange appendages hanging from either earlobe, with what looked to be earphone jacks at the end that she was anxiously tapping together. Apart from that, all that could be heard were a couple of kids muttering softly to themselves, trying to hype themselves up for the exam, she supposed. Tsubame just kept drawing shapes in her skin.

          The real terror began when they, and the bus behind them, pulled up in front of a giant walled-off area. The Battle Centre?! From what she could see, it was larger than Tsubame's entire neighbourhood. A lot larger. She couldn't even see where the wall ended. The bus doors opened and she piled out with the rest of the teenagers, pausing at the step just for a moment to gaze in awe at the gigantic structure. All this... for an exam?

          Some of the other students were talking amongst each other now, as the group of competitors walked up to the giant gate doors. "Woah, is this it?"

          "It's so big."

          "I can't believe they have a bunch of these on campus!"

          "This is incredible."

          Tsubame was inclined to agree, as her bare feet padded against the pavement and she walked up with the other students until she was just staring straight upwards at the very top of the gate. It seemed that the takoyaki she'd eaten earlier were starting to kick in, because Tsubame was beginning to feel all energized again—or maybe it was just adrenaline. She jogged lightly on the spot to keep up the enthusiasm, looking around at her competition. They were all very different, some with visible physical quirks and others harder to pin down, but none in particular stood out to her. Different heights, different shades of skin, different appendages. She wondered which faces she'd be seeing again, and who wouldn't make it. Would she even make it?

          Tsubame squeezed her eyes shut for a moment, sinking her teeth down on her bottom lip enough to draw some blood, and shook her head a little. Don't think like that, she told herself, squeezing at her skirt. You'll make it. You will.

          A woman's voice rung down from a booth up the very top of the wall, echoing through loudspeakers. "Partakers in the exam!" A silence fell over everyone. Tense and filled with anticipation. From all the way down on the ground, Tsubame couldn't tell what the woman looked like, other than the fact that her hair was a shade of total black. Trembling, Tsubame stood her ground. Another girl, a few students in front who was crouched on the ground like a frog, croaked. The next yell sounded more like a command than a question, "Are you ready?!"

          Holy shit.

━━━━

'AKATSUKI FAMILY'

4 members.

New Messages: 9:12AM

tomomi MOON RABITT ʚ₍⑅ᐢ‸　 ̫ 　‸ᐢ₎ɞ

tsubamemochi i got your shoes!!

miki (^.~)☆

good luck in the exam, tsubame

work hard and you'll make it

seriously, though, good luck tsubamemochi

tomomi MOON RABITT ʚ₍⑅ᐢ‸　 ̫ 　‸ᐢ₎ɞ

good luck!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

break a leg!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

miki (^.~)☆

do not

DAD (￣^￣)ゞ

you've got this tsubamemochi! good luck!

━━━━

༉*ೃ༄

*all might voice* tsubame, your hero academia starts now !!

her quirk is 100% inspired by BNA (brand new animal) bc i just finished that anime a few months ago and loved it so much !! obviously tsubame is totally her own character but her quirk idea came from specifically michiru and nazuna (the ability to be able to morph into more than one animal, as well as alter individual body-parts) and also shirou bc his wolf form is cool and tsubame's wolf form is inspired by his look yep yep

(DON'T CALL ME A FURRY I JUST THINK SHAPESHIFTING IS SICK)

(also i created tsubame during season 2 before i even knew tamaki existed, but their quirks are relatively different. i also had the stuff about takoyaki written before i met tamaki so it's just a really funny coincidence skdjhgdsf)

also tsubamemochi is her nickname that her very close friends / family call her! it's her name with the suffix -mochi slapped on the end to be cutesy. her little sister, tomomi, came up with the idea and it stuck with her family. none of her friends right now call her it but we'll see ;)

yes, this is a fic that will involve some text conversations !! i just think that feature is always super cute and it fits well in this fic so <3 basically, whatever's between the '━━━━' is a message conversation that's happening in that moment!

SORRY FOR THE SUPER LONG AUTHOR'S NOTE, BUT ALSO i know that some of my friends / followers who've never watched mha before are reading this (ily guys sm seriously), so please don't hesitate to comment asking any questions about mha or anything in the fic !! i'll be sure to give you an answer !! <3

the quality on tsubame's fc in the cast chapter is so bad so here she is in all her big file size glory:

an angel

this fic will be updated every saturday <3

(( ALSO, a note from january 2022: i'm currently majorly editing and cutting down the word count of this story !!! one thing that i'm doing is removing the fancy copy-paste fonts so it's more accessible to read for people who use screen-readers. you'll notice that the formatting of the chapter titles will be different! any that is formatted like this one just means it's been edited, and ones that have the small copy-paste text are ones that i haven't edited yet. so, sorry for the mess! but i love this story so much, and feel like i really need to trim it down to make it better, so <3 that's what i'm doing at the moment!  ( ᵘ ᵕ ᵘ ⁎)  ))

word count: 8,241

17.02.2021.