Stretching my arms out for the final time, I put my earphones in and pressed play on my music playlist, slipping my phone into my pocket as I headed out the door.
"All right Mom, see you later," I said, looking into the empty house.
Ha. Right. Who was I kidding?
How long had it been… a month?
And even before then, she had been home for more than a week only once in the last year, that being for Christmas.
Well, at least she supported me financially… I guess that's what having an international model for a mother got you.
Closing the door behind me, I began a light jog as I took in a breath of fresh morning air.
It seemed like today was going to be a nice day, with clear skies and a calm breeze, which was quite favorable, considering what was to come.
Now, as for breakfast-
"Ooh! Lukas! Good morning~!"
I slowed my pace and took out my earphones, looking over at the girl who was steadily jogging over to me.
The very familiar girl, that is.
"Lukas! You're out earlier than usual! Why didn't you wait for me?" she said with a slight pout, though I knew it wasn't out of actually being upset.
"It's the weekend… what are you doing here?" I asked as she came up to my side.
"I know, but it isn't as if I'm going to leave you alone on such an important day, right?" she said happily. "Besides… I'm heading over to U.A. today anyway!"
Nejire Hado.
Currently, a second year at the U.A. hero school, but more importantly, the girl who had come to be my friend by joining me for my morning training for the past couple of years.
There wasn't some grand event that caused us to be like this, where even using each other's first names was as natural as breathing.
No, instead, our first meeting had been due to Nejire getting lost on her first day of U.A., as I lived close to the school, and had first run into her when I was getting groceries after school.
She was much less talkative back then, although she did ask me a lot of questions. But soon enough, her naturally curious and bubbly nature began to reveal itself as we continued to meet.
At first, it was only after school, but then she started taking the early train to join me on my morning jogs, and with those constant meetings, as well as the odd dinner and the girl wanting to come into my house, it eventually ended up… like this.
Not that I minded, of course.
She was really the only person I could call my friend, which, while sad, was enough for me.
I looked over to the girl in question as we were stopped by a traffic light.
She had round, light blue eyes that constantly radiated curiosity, and long, periwinkle blue hair that reached down to her knees, though it was currently tied back in a single ponytail that bounced with her every step.
And as for her face… well, to put it simply, she was pretty. Very pretty.
In fact, I was confident in saying she was the most attractive girl I had ever seen.
…Not that I planned on letting her know that.
"Yep! I do! Hey, by the way, what do you think of my outfit today? I got this new tracksuit with Haya. Do you think it looks good?" she asked.
As for the outfit in question, she was wearing her usual jogging pants that clearly showed her shapely figure. And as for the tracksuit, it was a dark blue with teal outlines, and slightly loose, though it still showed a couple of protrusions around the chest area, which I quickly turned my gaze away from.
She truly was dangerous… but as for her question…
"It looks great," I said, facing forward again.
She leaned forward into my vision, looking up at me with a content smile as she narrowed her eyes.
"Is that so…? Well, I'm glad!" she said, leaning back up as the light turned green. "Anyway! Are you nervous about the exam?"
"No… I've studied enough, and my training wasn't for nothing," I replied calmly.
"Ooh! I like that confidence!" she said cheerfully. "Well, to be honest, I don't think you need to be nervous either, but that doesn't mean I'm going to spoil the exam contents, mister!"
"Right…" I said, shaking my head.
Even though she was like this, and her personality was almost completely different from mine, she always knew how to bring a smile to my face.
While I had always enjoyed morning runs due to the feeling of exercising and the morning calm of the city, a large reason I looked forward to the mornings was this bundle of joy beside me.
Again… not that I would say that to her.
The rest of the run went by quite regularly, with Nejire bombarding me with questions and telling me about her day, while I did my best to listen to and answer when I could.
And finishing the final loop past the port, we stopped at the park that marked the half-way point, sitting down on the freed bench as we both downed our water bottles, calming our breaths from the activity.
"Anyway… are you actually okay for the exam? You really aren't nervous or anything?" she asked as she leaned her head on my shoulder, giving me a pleasant whiff of her hair.
Right. Question.
"No… honestly, I'm not," I said, looking down to my fist. "My academics are good, so I'm not worried about that. And as for the practical portion… well, I doubt many people have trained as much as me, and even less would have someone like who to go to for advice… so I'm confident."
And that wasn't a lie.
While the U.A. entrance exam was said to be the most difficult of all hero schools in Japan, I still wanted to pass it.
And to do that, I had been preparing for the past two years… no, even before then, since I had been training my Quirk and body since I knew I wanted to be a hero when I was but six years old, watching as Endeavor rescued that family with practiced ease.
Sure, Endeavor wasn't the best for public relations, but still… I aimed to emulate him more than All Might.
After all, All Might seemed like a god, with power stronger than anything I could ever hope to replicate.
But Endeavor… while he had amazing power, it was born out of practice, control, and logic.
And that… that was something I could do.
"Hmm? Yeah, I guess so… but still, good luck, Lukas," she said, her tone unusually calm, causing me to look over to her.
Her eyes looking down at her lap, almost as if in contemplation, she then looked up at me, her eyelashes fluttering as we stared into each other's eyes, a bead of sweat dripping down her neck and into her tracksuit.
My heartbeat quickened. Her cheeks lightly flushed with colour. And then… she leaned in.
Wait… wait wait wait, what was-?
"Y-Yep! Good luck… good luck hug!" she said, quickly moving in as she wrapped her arms around me, pressing her head against my chest so that I couldn't see her face. "A-Anyway! I'm all good, so I'm going to head over to U.A.! You should get back to get dressed for the exam! Good luck again!"
And with that, she ran off. Her pace much faster than our previous jog.
And also… why was her face so red?
I know I had been embarrassed by how alluring she had looked, but she hugged me all the time, especially over the past year.
So what was with that?
I shook my head.
No… while I was confident in my chances, I should not fill my head with such distractions at the moment.
Because now… it was time to face the entrance exam.
—
Getting off the bus that had brought the examinees over to the practical testing facilities, I stared up at the towering walls in awe.
Wow… I knew that U.A. was impressive, both from online reading and Nejire's rambling, but this was… something else.
Shaking my head, I briefly looked over the other examinees, most of which were visibly nervous, before I began walking up the giant doors that would likely open when the practical exam started.
The written part, which I had just finished an hour ago, had been fairly easy.
The academic questions were generally average, with some extremely difficult ones that I was only able to attempt, which made sense, considering this was a hero school rather than a usual academics-based one.
The second half of the written exam, however, was where it went away with the classic school subjects and introduced more complex, thought-based questions on ethics, strategy, and situations.
They didn't seem like the type of questions that were meant to be answered 'correctly', but rather as a way to see someone's thought process, and get the students thinking about such things even if they couldn't complete the questions, such as who to prioritize saving in a certain scenario.
It was interesting, that's for sure, and while I was happy with how it went, it definitely gave me the motivation to do some reading when I got home.
But first… there was this practical exam to get through.
From the presentation, it was quite simple.
Beyond those doors and giant wall, there was a mock city littered with robots, each of them giving examinees points for defeating them, ranging from 1 to 3, with the strength of said robots scaling alongside it.
Honestly, that was good for me.
While I was confident in my skills, the only times I had actually fought against a real opponent was against Nejire, who had shown me that I was still quite inexperienced.
There were also the spars for the martial arts class, which I had left a few months ago, but those were done without Quirks, and in a controlled setting with regulated rules for strikes. Nothing like an actual fight, which my blue-haired friend had shown me quite clearly.
"Alright, girls and boys! Make sure to give us a passionate display!"
With that declaration from Midnight, the R-Rated Hero, the giant doors before quickly opened with a mechanic groan.
I didn't waste a moment.
Enhancing myself with Empowerment, I sprinted into the wide street before me, ignoring the sounds of the crowd behind me as I quickly spotted my first target.
It was a robot with four legs, a metal tail, and what seemed like a head with a long neck. Almost like a scorpion with a giraffe neck.
But that didn't matter.
What did, however, was the large yellow '2' painted on one of its leg panels.
Well… let's see how well this went.
Approaching the robot, I crouched down low to duck out of sight, and as I came within a step, I felt the familiar sense of the Patience aspect of my Quirk activating as I simultaneously was forced to remove my Empowerment.
I still needed to work on using multiple aspects at once.
Right under its set of three red eyes on its front… that was the point.
With another step, I pulled my fist back for a punch, and using my entire body, I transferred the rotational motion of my hips into my strike, hitting the point dead on and activating Critical Hit.
Patience - Critical Hit… one of the seven aspects of my Quirk 'Heavenly Virtues'.
It was quite simple.
With every object, when I focused, I could sense a specific 'point'.
It was often already an area of weakness in the object, such as how a person would probably have their point at their head or kidney, while a robot like this would have the point where the structure was vulnerable, but Critical Hit didn't only give me a view of an object's weakness.
No… it also had the added benefit that when that point was struck by me, it increased the power of my strike by quite a bit.
Nothing insane like All Might, of course, but when I was able to strike that point with enough power… well, it allowed me to punch above my weight, one could say.
I felt my knuckles strike true, and with a crash, the metal plate easily gave way, sending the robot stumbling back while sparks flew from the open wound before it suddenly crumpled to the ground.
Well… that was two points.
Let's keep going.
— Nejire Hado —
I didn't lie when I told Lukas that I had something to do at U.A. today, but I'm guessing he didn't expect that I would be watching his exam!
"Thanks again for letting me in, Kayama-sensei!" I said, beaming as the four of us entered the large observation room, the walls covered in screens showing the mock cities.
That definitely brings me back.
"Yes, thank you! It's not every day that we get to see our prospective kouhais before they're accepted!" Togata said with his usual smile.
"Mirio… don't be too loud…" Amajiki added.
Kayama-sensei, also known as the hero Midnight, simply shook her head with a smile.
"No problem, kids. When Nejire here begged me to let her watch, you know I couldn't refuse, so letting you three join in was nothing," she said.
"She begged, huh?" Yuyu then said, sending me a knowing glance.
I felt my cheeks get a bit hot from her stare, especially when I thought about this morning and what I had almost done.
Jeez, Nejire! You were acting like… well, like Kayama-sensei!
"Sorry about her. It's just that she has a… friend who is taking the exam today," Yuyu continued.
"Oh~? A 'friend', huh~?" Kayama-sensei cooed, leaning closer to me as she narrowed her eyes.
Oh no, I was definitely blushing, wasn't I?
"How cute," Kayama-sensei said as she leaned away. "But still, I must say again, this is a rarity, to let students watch the entrance exams. Make sure not to tell anyone their scores or teachers' thoughts, even if it is your precious 'friend'."
"G-Got it, Kayama-sensei!" I said, standing up straight.
Aizawa-sensei, the old grouch who had been my first year teacher, looked over at the four of us over his scarf, his eyes narrowed in displeasure.
"Are we still sure they should be here? They're only students, even if they're the best of their grade," he said.
As for being the 'best of our grade', he was likely talking about Amajiki, Togata, and me.
The three of us were clearly above the rest of our classmates in skill, especially after we started our work-studies, and as a result, we had even started being called the 'Big 3' of the school.
And while Yuyu wasn't at our level, she was still plenty amazing!
"Hmm, while I agree with your reluctance, Aizawa, these four already have their provisional licenses and are acting as heroes in the field during their work-studies, so I believe they can be trusted with this responsibility," Nezu, the principal of U.A., said.
I was definitely curious about him, with many questions swirling in my head.
Like, was he actually an animal, or was it a Quirk?
What animal was he?
Why did he have a scar? Where did he get it?
How did he end up as the principal?
Who was the old man standing next to him?
All those questions and more… but still, I was able to hold them back.
After all, I didn't want my curiosity making it so I couldn't watch Lukas take on the exam.
Settling into the back against the wall, the four of us waited as the teachers went out to announce the start of the exam, with only a few of the examinees running forward as soon as they could.
And one of them was my Lukas, just as I would expect!
The four of us watched as the exam continued, with the other three looking at all the screens, while I was focused on whatever screen showed what Lukas was doing, suppressing my squeals of amazement each time he struck a robot.
But it was so hard!
After all, he looked so, super cool!
"That's him, isn't it?" Yuyu said, as she watched Lukas take down another robot, dodging a barrage of rockets right after. "The one you always brag about?"
"Yuyu!" I said, turning to her.
"What, you can't deny it, right?" she said with a shrug.
Urgh… I really couldn't! Darn it!
"Hmm… he's strong, that's for sure," she said, continuing to watch him run through the city. "But still… so are some others. What exactly makes him so special?"
While some might have gotten angry about their best friend saying that about your other best friend slash crush… I couldn't find myself to be upset.
"What makes him special? Well… everything," I said, smiling to myself while ignoring the mocking gag from Yuyu.
But it was true.
When I first got to U.A., I was much different from my current self.
I was much… sadder and… closed off.
After all, throughout junior high, I had come to learn that my personality was 'too much' for most people, with my talkativeness and curiosity making it seem that I was looking down on people due to my powerful Quirk.
That definitely wasn't the case. I was just curious, and had a hard time suppressing that curiosity, though I eventually came to learn how.
And I was like that for my first day of U.A. as well… closed off and quiet… at least, that was until I met Lukas.
It was when I was going home after that very first day of U.A., but I had gotten lost on my way to the station, until I accidentally ran into him on the sidewalk.
I don't remember exactly what I said, but I do remember that my head was filled with unasked questions and things I wanted to say about U.A. that I had repressed, and as a result, I ended up rambling to him like a crazy person.
I expected him to quickly walk away like most people had done, but no… he listened to all my words, and answered the questions that he could.
Rather than being put off by my talkativeness… he talked to me easily.
It was a simple thing, I know… but for the me back then, and even the me now… well, it meant a lot.
And of course, there was his amazing Quirk that he explained to me when I asked him about it.
I mean, a Quirk with seven different Quirks in one? Wasn't that crazy?
I also learned that his Quirk was based on a fusion of his parents' Quirks.
His mother had a Quirk called 'Angel', which gave her ethereal wings and limited her aging, and his father had a Quirk called '7 Deadly Sins', which allowed him to get stronger the angrier he got.
And putting them together? Well, Lukas' Quirk gave him a power for every heavenly virtue, hence the name of the Quirk!
It really was super cool, super strong, and super awesome.
To put it simply, by the time he finished walking me to the station, my curiosity for the day had been more than satisfied just by getting to know him a bit more.
And from there… well, we just naturally continued spending time with each other.
At first, it was only after school, but soon it turned to me joining him on his morning runs, and then training after school as well as just spending time together as friends.
It was so natural that I can't even remember when we started using each other's first names with each other, which is the first time I had done so with another boy!
Although, Lukas did prefer to be called by his given name… but still!
But I also learned that everything wasn't amazing for Lukas… after all, his father had left before he was even born, and his mother was a model who spent most of the year in Europe, leaving him all alone… and while that didn't stop Lukas from being himself, I still wasn't going to let my friend feel lonely, so I made sure we always hung out, even with the demanding curriculum of U.A.!
He was smart, dedicated, and strong, with a complex Quirk that he always aimed to use to the fullest, and a skill set born of hard work rather than pure talent.
And… well… he was also handsome.
I swallowed as I watched him take down another robot, having picked up a piece of metal to act as a sword, easily cutting through the mock villain's leg joint.
Short, choppy red hair that was just long enough to reveal his natural curls.
Sharp, dark purple eyes, that either made me get lost in them or made me quickly look away.
His face was sharp, carrying the features of his European descent, likely from his foreigner mother.
Yeah… he definitely wasn't hard to look at… though at the same time, wouldn't that mean he would soon be targeted by girls?
Oh no… how could I have forgotten this!?
I mean, even now I could bet that a few girls had a crush on him in his school, but I never worried about that since he always thought of them as less mature than him, since he was focused on being a hero.
But wouldn't he no longer feel that way once he got into U.A., where all his classmates were aiming to be heroes as well?
Darn it… maybe I would have to make a move soon, just as Yuyu had said last week.
Either way, as Yuyu had eventually figured out… I did have a crush on him.
But it wasn't that way from the start.
While I had liked him since we first met, that was just as a friend and someone I could talk to.
But I had only fallen in love a year ago… now that event I could remember quite clearly.
We had been walking down the street when we heard a kid screaming, causing both of us to run and see what was wrong.
Thankfully, it wasn't anything serious like a villain attack, but rather, a little girl had fallen from the monkey bars and ended up twisting her ankle the opposite way.
No wonder she was screaming, it must have hurt a lot.
There were only two of her friends there without any parents in sight, so I was about to call an ambulance, but instead, Lukas simply went over and knelt down beside her, placing his hand on the girl's ankle before a soft glow began to emanate from his palm.
'Hey, do you mind telling me your name?' he had said calmly as the girl's pain mysteriously went away, her foot twisting back to normal under Lukas' comforting presence.
But no… I knew it was no mystery as to how she was being healed.
Instead, it was one of Lukas' powers… the power of Charity - Empathy Healing.
It allowed him to heal anyone's injuries through touch, but it came with its consequences. Primarily, in how it caused Lukas to feel the pain of the injury being healed, while also using up his 'Quirk energy', as he called it, where if he used too much, the healed injuries would end up manifesting physically on Lukas.
But even though he was feeling pain at that moment… he remained as calm as he could be while gently calming the girl before him.
I didn't end up calling an ambulance. I don't even remember doing anything, simply watching the display in a trance as Lukas wiped her tears before she got back up, telling her friends to head back home for the day.
Yeah… and while I had been confused for the week why I felt differently around him, I eventually found the reason as for why… I had fallen in love with him.
What had brought me to think about that stuff again?
Oh, right, Yuyu's question…
"He's just… amazing," I said as Lukas destroyed another robot, pulling an examinee out of harm's way at the same time.
"Lukas Tsugai… he is doing quite well indeed. I can see why you wanted to watch such an exciting prospect," Nezu said, causing me to look over as he hovered his paw over a button. "But real amazing heroes… those can only be revealed in the most dire of times."
And as he pressed down, the room began to rumble.
Uh oh… Lukas, be safe, okay?