—Locker Room—
"Who would've guessed we'd have a test so soon." Stripping out of the gym clothes, Kaminari sat down on one of the benches in the room.
"Haha, yeah." Kirishima chuckled, slipping into more comfortable clothes.
Renji moved to close his locker before Kirishima interrupted him, putting a hand on his shoulder. "That was hella manly Renji! I can call you Renji, right?"
"Yeah, go ahead. My mom's from the States, so my first name's just easier." He gave Kirishima a curt nod, waiting to see what he had in store.
"The U.S.?" Shoji asked, arms crossing. "Have you visited before?"
Renji let out a low laugh, eyes hidden in shadow. "I did once, a long time ago. But now, even if I wanted to go, I wouldn't be able to, not yet at least."
"What do you mean by that?" Kaminari asked, a little confused.
"Nezu's making sure I don't get poached by recruiters from overseas."
"Really?" Kaminari's eyes widened in shock, almost similar to his spiky yellow hair. "You're getting recruited already?"
"That's so manly!" Kirishima exclaimed, an excited grin on his face.
Even the laid-back Todoroki showed a hint of surprise on his face.
"Getting in the top ten without even using your quirk was awesome!" Kirishima voiced his thoughts, arms moving animatedly.
From across the room, Iida nodded along, prompting him to ask his own question. "Just what is your quirk anyways, Renji?"
Renji thought carefully before answering with a pretty vague response. "It lets me see a lot more than people should."
Bakugo scoffed from the side of the room, his lip curling. "Tch. Sounds like a shitty excuse for a quirk."
Ignoring Bakugo's antics, Renji continued talking about the assessment. "My quirk doesn't help with those kinds of physical tests. The only reason I performed so well was because I've been training for years."
Renji's gaze flicked to Midoriya. "Trust me, it's brutal without a quirk."
Midoriya stiffened but said nothing.
"Damn, your quirk doesn't even help enhance your body or anything, but you built all that muscle?" Kirishima asked.
Renji shrugged as he tugged on his uniform jacket. "I can't be all brains and no brawn."
"Dude, I can barely stick to a jog," Kaminari groaned, slumping against the bench. "Years of training? That's torture."
Shoji gave a thoughtful hum. "It explains your endurance during the race. Consistency like that doesn't come from shortcuts."
"Hey, we should check out the gym later!" Kirishima remembered seeing the entrance to the gym and all of the high tech machines inside.
"That sounds like fun." Renji nodded along, moving to leave the locker room.
"You guys should come too." Kirishima said to the others.
"Gym, huh?" Kaminari perked up, then instantly deflated. "Wait, do we actually have to work out after school? That's like, double torture."
"You won't improve if you avoid effort," Iida scolded, adjusting his glasses with a sharp motion. "If Renji has shown us anything, it's that diligence pays off!"
Bakugo snorted from across the room. "Idiots. Don't drag me into your half-assed training club. If you can't keep up, just quit already."
"Geez, he's such a ray of sunshine," Kaminari muttered under his breath.
Even Todoroki, who had been quietly fastening his tie, spoke up in his calm, even tone. "It might be useful to test the equipment."
"Seriously? Even you?" Kaminari looked betrayed. "Guess I don't have a choice then…"
Shoji closed his locker with a decisive click. "I'll join as well. Extra conditioning never hurts."
As the group began to file out, the atmosphere lightened.
Despite the lingering tension with Bakugo, there was an unspoken sense of excitement buzzing between them.
—
The boys finished changing and started heading back toward their homeroom, where the next teacher would be waiting. The hallway buzzed with talk about how over the top Present Mic's English lessons were rumored to be.
But Renji didn't follow.
Instead, he slung his bag over one shoulder, put on his silver jacket, and broke away at the stairwell, footsteps carrying him down a different hall entirely.
Kirishima blinked after him. "Eh? Renji, you're not coming back?"
Without looking back, Renji waved his hand calmly. "I'm excused from English, Nezu's orders."
"Whaaat?" Kaminari groaned, dragging his feet. "Man, I want that deal!"
Bakugo clicked his tongue. "Tch. Figures he'd get special treatment."
Renji didn't look back. The rest of the class disappeared into their homeroom while he continued down the quiet corridor, toward the reinforced door that led to the workshop.
—
—Development Studio, U.A. High—
Renji soon found himself facing a giant metal door with a sign that read: 'Development Studio.'
He was about to step forward to knock on the door when he heard a sudden crash inside and a blast of heat exploded through the door.
The moment he heard the sound, Renji immediately activated his quirk and observed the incoming explosions.
Stepping through the blast, Renji viewed his surroundings. Standing with a shocked expression on her face was a young girl with bright pink hair and mechanical goggles covering her eyes.
She had yellow eyes with a cross pattern on them that mimicked a sniper scope. Also, she was holding a pair of boots with machinery scaling all sides of it. Unfortunately for Renji, their soles contained a couple thrusters that seemed to have malfunctioned and slid the girl back.
Even more unfortunate for him was that the soles were pointed straight at the door.
Carefully taking a mental note of each piece of shrapnel flying toward him, Renji devised a plan to stay unharmed.
Cancelling his quirk, Renji's body twisted at just the right angles, shoulders slanting, spine arching, and legs shifting like he had rehearsed the motion a thousand times.
Metal shards tore through the air, whistling past his arms and skimming the hem of his jacket, grazing close but never touching.
By the time the debris clattered to the ground, Renji had already flowed into a final pose, balanced and unharmed.
Looking at the few flames beginning to lick his jacket, Renji took out a small canister from his pocket that sucked up the flames and heat in a controlled vortex.
"Woah!" The girl inside the studio said, pushing up her goggles. "Guess I put a little too much power into them!"
Renji brushed off the few sparks remaining on his jacket and sighed. "You think? Why did you even put that much power in those small boots?"
Instead of answering, the girl leaned forward with an unsettling wide grin. Her sharp eyes flicked over Renji from head to toe, taking in the lack of burns or cuts.
"Huh. You're lookin' pretty unscathed for someone who just walked through a baby missile barrage." She tilted her head, genuinely intrigued. "What are you made of, reinforced carbon fiber?"
Renji crossed his arms. "Nah, I just moved out of the way."
The girl's gaze darted down, finally noticing the canister still in his hand. Her eyes widened, practically sparkling as she leaned in closer.
"Wait—wait wait wait—what's that?!" She jabbed a finger toward it, bouncing on her toes like she'd just discovered buried treasure. "No way that's stock support gear. Portable vacuum compression? Micro-vortex containment? Did you build this yourself?"
Renji tucked the canister back into his jacket before she could snatch it. "Just a prototype."
Her grin grew impossibly wider. "Prototype, huh? You do make your own stuff! Oh-ho, this is gonna be fun. You and me? We're gonna make so many babies!"
Renji blinked. "…Excuse me?"
"Babies!" the girl repeated without a shred of shame, throwing her arms wide. "My babies! You're totally giving me ideas already! This is destiny!"
Before Renji could respond, a loud metallic stomp echoed behind her.
"HATSUME!"
The girl flinched only slightly as the stocky, claw-gloved figure of Power Loader stormed into view. "What did I say about indoor thruster tests without a screen?"
Hatsume snapped into a salute, still grinning ear to ear. "That it's reckless?"
"It's dangerous, that's what it is!" Power Loader barked, his helmet lights flashing across the scorched floor.
Then his gaze shifted, catching Renji standing calmly in the middle of the wreckage. "And you nearly torched our guest."
He exhaled sharply and straightened. "You must be Renji. Nezu told me to expect you."
Renji gave a polite nod. "That's me."
"Good. This way." Power Loader motioned with a gauntleted hand, not giving Hatsume the satisfaction of another word.
He led Renji past clusters of workbenches, prototype rigs, and machines so advanced they looked like they belonged in a military R&D facility. At last, they stopped at a spotless, untouched corner of the massive studio.
"All yours," Power Loader said, voice firm but not unkind. "Every piece of equipment's brand new. We've got smart forges, nanowelders, alloy printers. Nezu made sure you'd have access to the best of the best."
Hatsume peeked over Power Loader's shoulder, face shining like she'd just seen candy rain from the sky. "Oooh, lucky~."
Power Loader shot her a look. "Don't get any ideas, Hatsume. This is his workspace. Got it?"
"Yessir," she sang, not meaning it in the slightest.
Renji stepped forward, scanning the pristine setup. His usually guarded expression shifted into one of extreme excitement.
Now that's what I'm talking about!