One week left.
Rei stood at the entrance of Aldera Junior High on a Wednesday morning, watching students filter through the gates for what would be one of his last times.
'Seven days,' he thought. 'Seven days until everything changes.'
The UA entrance exam was next Wednesday. After that, there'd be a waiting period for results, then graduation from middle school, then—if he passed—the start of his first year at UA High School.
'No pressure.'
Rei walked through the gates and headed to his locker. The routine was familiar now. Comfortable, even. Change shoes, go to class, pretend to be a normal student.
Except he wasn't normal anymore.
Two weeks of proper training and rest had transformed him. He was faster, stronger, more controlled. His Quirk responded like an extension of his will instead of something he had to consciously activate.
And more importantly, he didn't feel like he was about to collapse anymore.
'Thank you, mysterious mentor girl,' Rei thought as he closed his locker. 'Wherever you are.'
"Mizuki-kun!"
Rei turned to see Midoriya jogging up to him, that familiar notebook clutched in his hands.
"Morning," Rei said.
"Morning!" Midoriya's smile was bright despite the early hour. "Did you hear? They announced the UA exam location yesterday. It's at the main campus!"
"Yeah, I saw."
"I'm so nervous." Midoriya laughed, but there was real anxiety in his eyes. "One week and we'll know if we're good enough."
'You're good enough,' Rei thought. 'You've got One For All. You'll do fine.'
But he couldn't say that, so instead he said, "You've been training hard. You'll be alright."
Midoriya's eyes widened slightly. "You noticed?"
"Kind of hard not to. You went from scrawny to built in like two months."
"Oh." Midoriya rubbed the back of his neck, embarrassed. "Yeah, I've been working out a lot. Trying to get stronger before the exam."
'Understatement of the century.'
"It shows," Rei said. "Good luck out there."
"Thanks! You too!" Midoriya's expression turned curious. "Are you nervous? About the exam?"
Rei considered the question. Was he nervous?
In his previous life, he'd faced down armed gangs, fought in close quarters with trained killers, completed missions where one mistake meant death.
But somehow, the thought of the UA entrance exam made his stomach twist.
"A little," he admitted.
"Me too." Midoriya smiled. "But I think that's normal, right? It means we care."
'Wise words from someone so young.'
The morning bell rang, cutting their conversation short.
"We should get to class," Midoriya said. "See you later, Mizuki-kun!"
He hurried off toward the classroom, leaving Rei standing in the hallway.
'He's going to be something special,' Rei thought, not for the first time. 'If the world doesn't break him first.'
Rei headed to class, sliding into his seat by the window just as the teacher walked in.
The day passed in a blur. Japanese literature, math, science. Rei took notes mechanically, his mind already at UA, already planning for the exam.
The practical test would be the robot battle. He knew that from the original story. Fake villains worth different points, a hidden rescue component that most examinees would miss.
'But I won't miss it,' Rei thought. 'I know the game. I know how to win.'
The question was: how flashy should he be?
Going all-out would guarantee a high score. But it would also draw attention. Make him a known quantity before UA even started.
'Stay under the radar,' his assassin instincts whispered. 'Do well, but don't stand out.'
But another part of him—the part that had spent three weeks training his ass off—wanted to show what he could do.
'One week to decide,' Rei thought. 'One week to figure out who I want to be at UA.'
---
The final bell rang at 3:15 PM, signaling the end of classes.
Students packed up quickly, excited for the afternoon. Some were heading to cram school for last-minute exam prep. Others were going home to train.
Rei packed his bag slowly, letting the classroom empty out.
When it was finally quiet, he stood up and headed out.
But instead of going to the train station, he walked in a different direction.
Toward the city center.
'One last patrol,' he'd decided that morning. 'One last night before the exam to see what I can do with everything I've learned.'
The sun was still up—it was only mid-afternoon—but Rei knew where to go. There was an area in the western district where crime happened even in daylight. Desperate people doing desperate things.
If he was going to test himself one final time, that's where he'd do it.
The train ride took thirty minutes. Rei spent it reviewing everything he'd learned over the past month.
Combat techniques adapted to his Quirk. Web applications he'd developed. Sensory awareness drills. Strategic thinking.
He was ready.
The western district was exactly as rough as he remembered from his research. Run-down buildings, suspicious characters on corners, an atmosphere of barely controlled chaos.
Rei found a rooftop and started moving, swinging between buildings with practiced ease. His enhanced senses swept the area below, tracking conversations, movements, anything suspicious.
For the first hour, nothing happened.
Just normal city life. People going about their business, no crimes in progress.
'Maybe this was a waste of time,' Rei thought as he perched on a water tower. 'Maybe I should just—'
His spider-sense tingled.
Danger. Close. Multiple sources.
Rei's head snapped toward an alley three buildings over. He couldn't see what was happening, but he could hear it.
Shouting. Fighting. The distinct sound of Quirks being used.
He was moving before he consciously decided to, swinging across the gap and landing silently on the alley's edge.
Below, five men surrounded two others. The five were clearly the aggressors—Quirks active, aggressive postures. The two in the middle looked like civilians, backed against a wall.
But something was off.
One of the civilians—a teenager, maybe seventeen—had his hands up defensively. And his hands were glowing with some kind of energy.
'He has a Quirk too,' Rei realized. 'But he's not using it offensively. He's trying to protect someone.'
Behind the glowing-hands kid was a little girl, maybe eight years old, crying.
'Siblings,' Rei's instincts told him. 'Older brother protecting younger sister.'
"Just hand over your wallets and the girl, and nobody gets hurt," one of the thugs said, his arms covered in stone-like armor.
"Stay away from her!" The teenager's voice cracked with fear, but he didn't move.
The thug laughed. "Cute. But you're outnumbered, kid. And your little light show isn't going to stop us."
Rei had seen enough.
He dropped into the alley silently, landing behind the thugs.
"Five on two," Rei said, his voice flat and cold. "That doesn't seem very fair."
All five thugs spun around, surprised.
"Who the hell are—" the stone-arms thug started.
Rei didn't let him finish.
He moved like a shadow, closing the distance in a blink. His fist connected with stone-arms' jaw, the enhanced strength behind it enough to snap the thug's head back. The man crumpled.
One down.
The other four reacted, Quirks flaring to life.
Fire. Ice. Some kind of tentacle mutation. And the last one looked normal but was probably a strength type based on his build.
'Four left. Make it fast.'
Rei fired webbing at fire-guy's hands, sealing them before he could launch any flames. Then he kicked ice-guy in the chest, sending him flying backward into a dumpster.
Two down.
Tentacle-guy lashed out with multiple appendages. Rei ducked under the first two, caught the third with webbing, and yanked hard. The thug lost his balance and face-planted into the concrete.
Three down.
The strength-type charged, fist raised.
Rei sidestepped at the last second, grabbed the thug's arm, and used his momentum to flip him over his shoulder. The man hit the ground hard enough to crack the pavement.
Four down.
The stone-arms thug was trying to get back up, dazed and confused.
Rei webbed him to the alley wall.
Five down.
Total time: twelve seconds.
Rei turned to the teenager and his little sister, both staring at him with wide eyes.
"You two okay?" Rei asked.
The teenager nodded slowly, still in shock. "Y-yeah. We're... we're fine."
"Good." Rei looked at the little girl, who had stopped crying and was now looking at him with something like awe. "You're safe now. Get out of here and call the police."
"Who are you?" the teenager asked.
'Good question.'
Rei looked at his hands, at the webbing connecting the thugs to various surfaces, at the evidence of what he'd just done.
"Nobody," he said finally. "Just someone passing through."
He fired a web line and pulled himself up to the rooftops before either of them could ask more questions.
-----------
Rei didn't stop moving until he was several blocks away.
His heart was pounding, but not from exertion. From satisfaction.
'That was clean,' he thought. 'Efficient. No wasted movement. No mistakes.'
Three weeks ago, he would've been sloppy, tired, slower to react.
But now? Now he was sharp. Focused. In control.
'This is what proper training does,' Rei realized. 'This is what I'm capable of when I'm not burning out.'
He found a quiet rooftop and sat down, watching the sun set over the city.
One week until the UA exam.
One week until his life changed forever.
'Am I ready?' Rei asked himself.
He thought about everything he'd done over the past month. The training. The fighting. The mistakes and the lessons learned.
He thought about the mysterious mentor girl's advice. About Midoriya's determination. About Bakugo's arrogance. About all the people he'd helped on his patrols.
'Yeah,' Rei decided. 'I'm ready.'
Not perfect. Not unstoppable. But ready.
Ready to step into UA High School and face whatever came next.
Ready to stand beside future heroes and try to be something better than what he'd been.
Ready to walk his own path, different from Midoriya's destined heroism and Bakugo's explosive ambition.
'A different path,' Rei thought, looking at the city lights beginning to glow in the twilight. 'My path.'
He stood up and started the long swing home.
Behind him, the western district's crime rate had just dropped by five criminals.
Ahead of him, UA High School waited.
And somewhere in the weaving of fate, threads were pulling together, drawing him toward a future he couldn't fully predict.
But for the first time since waking up in this world, Rei Mizuki wasn't afraid of that future.
He was ready to face it.
---
One Week Later
Rei stood at the gates of UA High School, looking up at the massive building that would define the next three years of his life.
Around him, hundreds of other examinees gathered, all nervous, all excited, all hoping to prove they had what it took to be heroes.
Somewhere in the crowd, Midoriya was probably freaking out. Bakugo was probably scowling at everyone. And countless others whose names would become important were taking their first steps toward their destinies.
Rei took a deep breath and walked through the gates.
'Here we go,' he thought. 'Thread of fate, don't let me down.'
The entrance exam was about to begin.
And Rei Mizuki was ready to show the world what a spider could do.
----_-
-END OF VOLUME 1: THREAD OF FATE-
Author's Note:-
And that's a wrap on Volume 1! Rei's journey from reincarnation to the UA entrance exam is complete. He's trained, learned important lessons, and is ready to step into the main story.
Volume 2 will cover the entrance exam and the beginning of UA's first year. Things are about to get REAL!
Thank you all for reading and supporting this story!
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Next Volume Preview: "The entrance exam. New faces. Old threats. And a spider ready to make his mark on UA High School. Volume 2 coming soon!"