Meanwhile…
[U.A. High – Principal Nezu's Office]
The halls were quiet this far up.
Aizawa tugged his capture weapon slightly looser around his neck as he walked, eyes heavy with sleep deprivation and paperwork fatigue. He reached the executive wing and rapped twice on the frosted-glass door.
"Come in."
The voice came through before he could knock again.
In the room, Nezu was already seated, tapping away at a console. Beside him stood a familiar face — Agent Yoshida. Professional as always. Sharp pantsuit, tired eyes, hair tied in a practical tail.
She turned slightly, nodding. "Welcome, Aizawa."
"Don't tell me you've already gone through the results," Aizawa muttered, closing the door behind him.
"Just one result," Nezu said brightly. "Our early finisher."
He tapped a tablet and brought up a screen on the main monitor.
Rei Takumi.
"Correct answers across all four levels," Yoshida noted. "Including the third-year extension packets."
Aizawa sipped his coffee. "Not surprised. But still..."
The office smelled faintly of old books and green tea. The screen on one of the Multiple monitors on the wall displaying various camera feeds changed — aimed at the candidates in the prep zone.
"Tea Eraserhead?"
Nezu gestured.
"No."
Aizawa's eyes drifted to one specific screen — Ken, sitting between Yaoyorozu and Yoarashi, a faintly exhausted expression on his face.
Nezu followed his gaze. "He stands out, doesn't he?"
"He does," Aizawa said. "Though that's to be expected when you get a perfect score across all four levels of extended material,"
"Hehe. Perhaps so. I find it oddly interesting. For someone to show this level of improvement in just ten months."
Aizawa grunted.
"Brain enhancement from his quirk. Or some other bullshit you've probably already thought of."
"Put that alongside his quirk, I'd say he's academically good enough to skip the first year entirely."
Aizawa finished.
"However, just having quirks isn't everything. His power doesn't change the fact that he has no formal training," Aizawa said. "No rescue simulations. No joint combat. No disaster drills. He's got potential, that much anyone can tell. But he lacks practical field experience. Skipping everything would mean missing the Sports Festival, internships, work studies. He wouldn't even have agency offers when graduation looms."
Nezu steepled his paws. "Which is why, as discussed, we're considering keeping him in the first year for now."
Agent Yoshida raised an eyebrow. "Is that so?"
"Only for the first semester," Aizawa clarified. "He'll participate in hero training, combat drills, and basic field simulations. No theory. We'll adjust his schedule once we've built a proper evaluation path."
"But with this, I think it's safe to say an accelerated transfer after further observation will have no adverse effects."
Yoshida nodded.
"And the Sports Festival?"
"He'll compete," Nezu said. "With some narrative adjustments. He's largely unknown to the public right now."
Public exposure was needed for an upcoming hero. Without it, a shot at being a true hero or joining a good hero agency would be extremely difficult down the line.
No one supports a name they don't know.
This was why U.A held the sports Festival every year.
Nezu's tail gave a thoughtful flick.
"The Sports Festival will be his true introduction to the world. But today's exam… is what decides whether he makes it to that point."
Rei Takumi had already secured a spot in class 1A ahead of time before the candidate placements by the staff even began. That however, all rested on him finishing in the top four.
Aizawa stared at the footage now rolling across the screen — a live feed of the waiting area.
The screen flickered. Present Mic's voice buzzed through the speakers.
"ALRIGHT, CANDIDATES! THE WRITTEN EXAM IS OVER. NOW IT'S TIME TO NOVE ON TO THE NEXT PHASE, STEP UP TO THE GATE! LET'S GET THIS PARTY STARTED!!"
____
POV Change.
"ROCK ON. THE WRITTEN PART OF THE RECOMMENDATION TEST IS OVER. THE PRACTICAL'S NEXT. AND FINALLY THE INTERVIEW."
"Damn, his voice is loud," I muttered, wincing as Present Mic's booming voice echoed through the loudspeakers like a concert held inside a metal barrel.
The guy had microphones for vocal cords, and that was without his Quirk activated.
Hold on... were those jazz hands?
Yeah. Moving on.
So here I was — standing with a bunch of other recommendation candidates as we waited for the second phase of the test: the Practical Exam.
"YOU'LL GO SIX AT A TIME FOR THE PRACTICAL. GET STEPPING WHEN YOUR NUMBER'S CALLED. THE EXAM WILL BE A THREE-KILOMETER RACE. BUT IT'S AN OBSTACLE COURSE, SO YOU CAN'T JUST RUN THROUGH IT. USE YOUR QUIRKS TO REACH THE FINISH LINE."
We'd each been given numbered plates attached to our chests — probably because no one at U.A. could be bothered to read out our names. I was Number Thirteen.
Lucky me.
A buzzer clicked behind the speakers.
> "GROUP ONE — CANDIDATES 5, 13, 2 22, 26, 11 — PROCEED TO THE STARTING ZONE."
That was me.
And a familiar energy cannonball standing a few feet to my left.
Inasa Yoarashi — Number 22— lit up like someone had handed him a winning lottery ticket. He practically bounced on his heels as we filed into the prep corridor, the doors sliding open with a pneumatic hiss.
I glanced around as we walked. None of the other four participants in our batch looked familiar — a mix of stone-faced elites and nervously smiling teens. No Todoroki. No Yaoyorozu.
So much for saving the timeline in one neat package.
Still, at least I had one canon variable to anchor things around. Even if said variable was currently muttering to himself under his breath like an anime character on the verge of transformation.
"This is it," Inasa said, eyes gleaming. "The school with the most passionate training I could hope for."
I blinked, glancing sideways.
"…You good there?"
He didn't hear me.
Or maybe he did and just chose not to respond. Either way, his eyes were locked forward — on the metal starting gate that led to the actual race course. His fists were clenched with determination. His whole vibe screamed inspirational sports manga protagonist meets hurricane warning.
I sighed and rolled my shoulders.
Whatever, dude.
The waiting tunnel ended in a broad, open platform. Each of our platforms was shaped like a hexagonal launch pad, about three meters apart. Ahead of us stretched a three-kilometer course of absolute madness.
A six-at-a-time gauntlet designed to test not just power, but control, endurance, reflex, adaptability — and the ever-vague quality known as "heroic instinct."
Slanted walls, rising columns, electrified hoops, unstable bridges, moving spike rollers, and what looked suspiciously like launch pads mounted with spring-loaded pistons.
Oh, and what had to be a canyon.
Because of course there was a canyon.
Each starting tile lit up with a beep as we stepped on them.
A thirty-second countdown ticked down on the far screen.
00:30
I closed my eyes, letting my breathing slow.
No distractions. No anime comparisons. No overthinking the butterfly effect.
This was it.
Use my strengths. Stay efficient. Don't burn out too early. Don't trip on—
"I can't wait!!" Inasa suddenly boomed beside me, throwing his arms out dramatically as wind surged in a spiral around him.
I instinctively leaned a few inches away. Great. The tornado was priming up already.
00:10
Focus,
Three kilometers. Limited information. Hazard density unknown. Quirk types unlisted. Assume competitive escalation from the first stretch.
Present Mic was right. It's an obstacle course, meaning unless I wanted to crash headfirst into a punching glove, there was no way I could move at full speed.
00:05
In situations like this, I should probably use My Analysis Quirk. Yes, the one that's an actual Quirk.
However, I once again fell into he contemplation of To reveal or not To reveal.
It could probably pass off as a derivative effect of all round superhuman enhancements, right?
Well you know what they say.
Even a lion hunts a rabbit at full strength.
I activated my super senses. All of a sudden, the world slowed down around me. Next, my eyes glowed red.
I'm sure U.A was noting this from whatever camera or drone or whatever was observing me right now.
Information appeared in my Retina as I analyzed as far as my eye could see.
Peripheral scan — everyone tensed. Inasa leaned forward like a sprinter, wind thrumming around his boots.
00:03
Left leg ready. Center of gravity tilted.
00:02
Muscles calibrated. Instinct engaged.
00:01
Go.
---
The buzzer screeched.
I launched forward with a snap of motion, faster than even I expected. The platform under me hissed from the pressure release.
My body moved before thought caught up. Not at blurring speeds though as I quickly opened the gap.
Three steps. Ramp up. A six-meter leap across a narrow trench. Roll landing. Maintain velocity.
The first hazard — rotating balance beams — appeared instantly.
There was no need to hesitate.
I might not be moving at full speed but my mind certainly was.
One foot hit the beam, it spun — I shifted weight, used the torque, vaulted over the second and landed into a run.
[Wind Pressure Detected]
'Huh?'
Wind blasted past me as I sprinted.
Inasa shot forward, laughing like a madman, riding a compressed current of air. "WOOOHOOOO!!"
He banked left, narrowly missing a wall spike while I did the same.
"SHOW ME YOUR PASSION, TAKUMI!!"
I growled under my breath as I shot past him. "Show me a mute button, please."
The course twisted into a narrow corridor with spring-pads at odd intervals. Jump wrong and you'd get flung into a wall. Jump right and you'd sail ahead by twenty meters.
I aimed.
One bounce — corrected midair with a tilt of my ankle.
Second pad — spring activated, launched me at an arc.
I moved forward.
Behind me, a third candidate misstepped and hit the wall with a wet thunk.
That's gotta hurt.
Though he's probably out of the race. My attention was elsewhere as I landed with a roll, barely breaking stride.
My break in momentum meant Inasa overtook me again as he surged above the course in a roaring updraft, rising like a jet turbine. Dust kicked everywhere. The others behind shielded their faces.
He wasn't running. He was flying.
I adjusted course immediately — obstacles didn't apply to him the same way. But from my analysis, that meant he'd have to slow down for aerial traps.
I didn't know if I was right, but if U.A just casually let a guy who could fly breeze over the entire course, then that would be a huge gap.
And UA didn't leave gaps.
Sure enough, just up ahead, something popped up. A vertical air disruptor, or that's what The Information on my retina named it. Circular drones emitting oscillating bursts of compressed wind. Inasa angled to dodge — but they forced him down. Controlled wind currents? Even his own power couldn't stabilize him perfectly through it.
He stumbled mid-air — not much, but enough to lose momentum.
I surged past the lower barrier zone, arms pumping like pistons. The next hazard — a set of laser tripwires — forced a drop. I slid under them at full sprint, sparks flaring above my back.
I was halfway through the course in less than a minute.
Not a strain in my lungs. Not even a sweat.
The rest of the race blurred into instinctive reactions.
Electrified pipes? Duck. Slide. Jump.
Moving sawblades? Side-hop and sprint.
Wind tunnel? Brace and push.
Finally, I approached the Canyon.
The space between was just wide open road. No traps, no obstacles. Figures.
After all, few had the Quirks needed to actually get through the canyon. You would have to take the lines to get across, which would take a great deal of time.
For anyone else at least.
Not for Inasa behind me, and certainly not for me.
From the depths of my memories, an image appeared in my mind of a game I once played. A black human figure, accelerating at maximum speed before leaping off a building.
VECTOR ... I think.
Today, I was going to emulate the Parkour Avatar.
And so, with a slight chuckle, I accelerated fully for the first time.
The world stretched thin. The earth beneath my feet cracked a bit, and I exploded forward like a racecar on steroids.
By the time I reached the canyon, I didn't stop to think.
I just ran.
Three steps. Four. Boost.
Jump.
I soared through the air, body arced low and streamlined, clipped the end with one foot, grabbed the ledge and flipped over.
Up ahead? The finish line.
I crossed it.
---
Time: 1 minute, 32 seconds.
> "Candidate 13 — Rei Takumi. Finished."
I breathed in once.
Out.
Not even winded.
I raised my head to the sky, my lips twitching into another smile.
"That .... Was oddly satisfying for some reason."
The feeling of using powers. Of going all out ... Even if not long. Damn. For some reason, I suddenly pity the big blue boy scout, Superman. After Traveling to MHA, pretty sure he existed somewhere out there.
The wind ruffled my hair.
I looked behind me. Inasa landed a second later, arms stretched wide.
"YEEEAAAAH!!! THAT WAS AMAZING!"
He turned toward me, eyes glowing.
"That was a passionate run, my man!"
I didn't reply immediately.
Instead, I stared at the digital screen tracking the times and placements.
I was first.
Not bad.
Not bad at all.
Hold on though. Wasn't it supposed to be Inasa and Todoroki who would compete against each other? Or was that just my mistake?
Damn foggy memory.
"Damn! This truly is the best Hero School in Japan. I can't wait to study here."
My body froze.
'Hold on. He's what?'
I slowly turned to Inasa. "You're not going to Shiketsu, are you."
He blinked. "Huh? Of course not. Why would I go to Shiketsu?"
I stared at him silently for a moment.
'Well, there goes the plot.'
___
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