—Exam Room 23—
An hour and a half later, every partcipant within every exam room put down their tests as the announcement rang out.
"Pencils down!" A stern voice rang out through the intercom. "Place your packet face up, grab your pencils, and exit the facility. Hero Course prospects meet at the main auditorium in Building A."
Renji stirred from his nap as he tuned out the rest of the announcements for the other students and slipped out of the exam room before anyone could notice. He had already scouted the entire campus, at least the areas he could worm his way into, so he knew exactly where the auditorium was. The other prospects were rounded up by the proctoring heroes, seemingly unaware of the fact that Renji was already on his way.
Walking through the campus, Renji took in the sight. For the next three years, this would be his home until he became a full fledged hero and started his pro hero career.
It was kind of uncanny in a weird sort of way. Mentally, he was far older than any of the other students here, and would always be older than any other student. Despite that, Renji could see some of them becoming very useful to him in the near future.
The wind whistled nearby and shook his surroundings, ruffling his hair. "Good thing I grabbed my jacket before heading out."
After sparing another moment to bask in the enormity of the campus, Renji turned back onto the path toward the main auditorium where the Hero Course prospects would be introduced to their next challenge.
—
—Main Auditorium—
Seeing all the others arriving in groups, Renji slipped into one of the crowds lining up near the entrance of the building.
Nervous chatter echoed around him constantly, almost like a bee buzzing in his ear. But he couldn't fault them, it really was a big moment for most.
Suddenly, Renji turned to his left with a cheesy grin. "Hey, Hagakure."
"Eek!" Hagakure squeaked in response. She had noticed him in the line across from her and chose to branch off to meet up with him. "How'd you know I was here?"
"I'm pretty observant, you know." Renji replied, peering past the numerous heads to see how soon they would get in.
"That makes no sense at all," Hagakure said, tilting her head. As far as she could tell, Renji's gaze hadn't left the front of the line while she was sneaking up on him.
Renji laughed while imagining her confused expression. "Well, it doesn't have to make sense. Maybe I just got lucky."
She stayed silent while contemplating his words before adruptly agreeing. "If you say so!"
Somewhere in his mind, Renji filed a mental note that Hagakure was pretty easy going. Not the worst perk but definitely something that could be taken advantage of.
Her quirk is also pretty interesting. Renji thought while brainstorming some ideas. I wonder if I could do implement something similar.
Before long, the line shrank and every prospective student was pulled into the auditorium.
A loud, blaring shriek of feedback cut through the auditorium, making several examinees flinch. From the side of the stage, a tall man in orange shades and spiky blond hair slid into view with exaggerated flair, pointing both hands toward the crowd as if he were announcing a rock concert.
"YOOOO! WELCOME, FUTURE HEROES!" Present Mic's voice boomed through the speakers, rattling the seats with his trademark enthusiasm.
A murmur spread through the examinees. Some students perked up at his energy, others winced from the volume. Somewhere in the crowd, a boy with dark green hair sat frozen, his pen clutched tightly in his hand, trying his best not to look completely overwhelmed.
Present Mic raised a fist in the air. "ARE YOU READY FOR THE U.A. PRACTICAL EXAM?!"
A few half-hearted cheers went up from the crowd, but most were too nervous to respond.
Hagakure let out a little giggle next to Renji while he snorted at the absurdity of the situation.
"THAT'S WHAT I'M TALKIN' ABOUT!" he continued anyway, grinning wide. "Now listen close, 'cause I'm only gonna say this once! I'm here to lay down the rules of the practical exam!"
On the massive screen behind him, images of robots flickered to life, each labeled with a point value.
Present Mic jabbed a finger toward the glowing screen. Three blocky silhouettes rotated into view, each one a different size and shape.
"Check it out, listeners! In the mock city battlefields, you'll be facing villain robots. Each type has a different point value, so smash 'em, rack up points, and prove you've got what it takes!"
The screen flashed with bold numbers as he counted them off.
"One-pointers—small fry! Two-pointers—medium threat! Three-pointers—the big boys!"
Gasps and murmurs rippled through the crowd. Some students leaned forward in excitement, while others jotted down mental notes like their lives depended on it.
Before the students could digest his words, a sharp voice cut through the noise.
"Excuse me!"
Every head turned as a tall boy with neatly pressed clothes and rigid posture stood up in the aisle. His glasses gleamed under the overhead lights as he adjusted them, looking every bit the part of a class representative.
Reminds me of the guys who could never keep up with me at Shinkou, Renji subtly noted.
"Sir! If I may, your explanation seems to contain a critical flaw!" His voice was loud, clear, and annoyingly precise. "The handouts list four categories of robots, yet you've only explained three scoring types. Is this an error in the material provided to us? U.A. is a prestigious school. I expected better clarity!"
Present Mic threw up both hands, unbothered. "Good eye, glasses! But nah, no mistake!"
The zero-pointer's just a hurdle to avoid. Ya won't get any points trying to fight it, so save yourself the trouble!"
The boy with glasses sat back down with a crisp nod, adjusting his posture like he'd just done the whole room a favor. The students buzzed with whispers, most of them annoyed.
Thinking it was over, Renji turned back to the screen when he suddenly heard the rigid student's voice again.
"Excuse me again!" The same boy shot to his feet once more, pointing a stiff finger across the auditorium right at a short, dark green haired boy who looked positively shocked to be the center of attention.
The chatter died instantly.
"You there, the curly-haired boy! Your incessant muttering is distracting everyone around you. If you cannot show proper respect to our instructor, then you should refrain from speaking altogether!"
The boy froze, face burning as they all turned toward him. He opened his mouth, then closed it again, too mortified to respond.
Meanwhile, the uptight boy pushed up his glasses, every movement precise. "U.A. is an elite institution. Do not think so little of it that you forget basic manners."
In response, the other guy shrank lower in his seat, almost as if he was wishing the floor would swallow him whole.
Present Mic leaned forward on the podium, scratching his chin with a grin. "Oho! Fiery one, huh? Love the passion! But let's keep it cool, listeners. Save that heat for the robots!"
The tension broke with a few nervous laughs, but Renji was busy observing the rigid boy's legs as he used his quirk in tandem. "Ingenium's little brother? Although it seems his penchant for order is a lot more uptight than Ingenium's. It'll be annoying but nothing I can't handle."
Moving to the other guy who had been muttering earlier, Renji noted that he couldn't quite remember where he had seen him.
Maybe during a trip to the grocery store? Renji scrutinized his face dead on, staring intently at the boy's stark green hair and freckles.
Right as he cancelled his quirk, the answer flashed in his mind. He was there when the Sludge Villain went all crazy a while back.
After watching All Might in action, Renji had decided to walk to the incident once things calmed down to see if he could get any information on what happened. While he was there, Renji had seen the reports on the police's datapads that had details on each of the victims of the attack.
Listening to Present Mic explain a few minute details, Renji was confused since he clearly remembered the reports detailing two victims, one with a quirk Renji knew all too well, and another with no quirk.
Thus, there were only two conclusions.
Either the reports were wrong, some oversight that mislabeled the boy as quirkless, maybe their records never got updated.
Or…
Renji's eyes narrowed.
Or the boy had somehow awakened a quirk since then.
But quirks didn't just appear out of nowhere at that age. If that was the case, then something else must've been at play, something the police either didn't know or didn't want to disclose.
As the auditorium filled with the restless shuffling of hundreds of students, Renji leaned back in his chair, the words of Present Mic fading into background noise. He wasn't just here for the exam anymore. There was a puzzle in front of him, and puzzles always had answers.