First came the crash of the impact, then the deafening sound of the explosion, and finally the titanic thud of the Zero Pointer falling on its back, pushing dust, chunks of concrete, and hot air against Itsuka and Kyouka, who instinctively raised their arms to protect themselves.
When the cloud began to settle, the silence that followed was heavier than any noise. Even the wind seemed to have stopped.
Itsuka was the first to move, lowering her arms. She blinked. Once. Twice. Three times. But the scene before her remained the same. That robot— which should have been the greatest obstacle of the exam— had been knocked down in a single attack. Without fanfare, difficulty, or apparent effort.
She swallowed hard, trying to understand what had happened, and failing miserably. She hadn't even managed to see exactly what had hit the Zero Pointer. Just a blur. A black streak too fast for her brain to follow.
'Who did this?...' Her mind automatically went back to the robot carcasses she had found throughout the exam, arriving at a single conclusion: that could only have been his work. The person who had made Battle Center C his playground.
Itsuka lowered her head, looking at her own hands. They were still enlarged, ready for the fight that never came, but they were trembling and sweaty, for some reason she couldn't name. Or maybe just didn't want to.
At her side, Kyouka experienced the same thoughts and sensations, but unlike Itsuka, she was much more honest with her feelings.
'How could I have competed with someone like that?' Kyouka asked herself, not knowing whether she should laugh or cry at the bad luck of ending up in the same group as a monster. It wasn't about lack of training, technique, or determination. It was about another category. Another level. A kind of strength whose mere contrast made everything she could do insignificant.
For the love of God. This person had simply cleaned the Battle Center. Alone.
Kyouka looked away from the Zero Pointer, searching around for at least a glimpse of the person who had done all that. But there was no one. Whoever it was hadn't even bothered to show up.
The thought hurt more than any blow she could ever have taken, because it revealed that it wasn't just brute strength. It was indifference. Someone so absurdly above the others that they didn't even see value in showing off or receiving thanks.
'Damn.' For the first time since she decided to become a hero, Kyouka felt something she had never felt before: Small. Very, very small.
"Ugh…."
A weak groan cut through the air, coming from the pile of rubble. The two exchanged glances for a second, remembering why they were still there.
!!!
Both of them moved, running back to the rubble and beginning the work of removing the stones from the spot Kyouka had pointed out earlier. They stayed there for a few minutes, taking care with every piece of debris they removed.
"Here!" Kyouka exclaimed. "I'm seeing an arm!"
Itsuka stuck her hand into the opening, grabbing a wrist. "Got it. I'll start pulling."
"Go slowly."
"Okay."
The first to emerge was a girl with short brown hair, dirty with dust and tears, coughing violently. As soon as she came out, she fell sitting, hugging her own knees. "Thank you… thank you…" she repeated, too exhausted for anything else.
"Calm down. It's over now. Take a deep breath," Itsuka said with a firm but gentle voice while Kyouka helped the second one out, which was a blond boy with a long tail.
His shirt was torn at the back, revealing several cuts and purple bruises, just like his tail. He tried to support himself on his own feet, but his legs gave out, forcing Kyouka to catch him. "Easy, easy. Don't push yourself. You're really hurt."
"I… I managed to protect her," he murmured, voice hoarse, looking at the brown-haired girl. "That's what matters."
"Poor things!"
A new voice made everyone turn. A tiny elderly lady, who couldn't have been more than 1.5 meters tall, approached calmly through the rubble, her cane tapping the ground with every step.
Itsuka and Kyouka exchanged confused glances, taking a few seconds to understand and reach the conclusion that… the exam was over. And they hadn't even noticed
*********
"It was just as boring as I imagined."
Rei murmured that to himself as he walked calmly, as if he had just left home to buy bread and not an entrance exam for the most prestigious school in the country. The test had ended less than twenty minutes ago, and he was already miles away from U.A., wandering through the busy streets of Musutafu.
How had he gotten there so fast? Maybe he had... ignored a few rules.
I mean, using his quirk to get out of the Battle Center, skipping a few steps and going to the main building to grab his things, which were stored in a locker, probably wasn't the correct procedure. Not even close.
But what was he supposed to do? Wait for the bus to come pick him up with the other candidates? and then still have to share the locker room with a bunch of sweaty and smelly teenagers? Technically, yes. That was exactly what he should have done.
But… bleh. Just the idea of going through that was nauseating.
He was more than tired of interactions with other teenagers. Which was funny, considering that, if he thought about it, he had only talked to… one person. Anyway. The school allowed the use of quirks within certain parameters, right? Parameters. Such a sooo vague word.
And honestly, it wasn't like Rei cared about the ridiculous Quirk Control Law. Besides, after what he had shown during the exam, it was hard to imagine anyone having the courage to punish him for anything.
He was officially an important asset to Japan, after all.
Rei stopped for a moment, looking up at the open sky between the buildings. It wasn't worth thinking about the exam. It was over. He had already gotten first place. Now he had much more interesting things to do.
Like… exploring.
He knew perfectly well how the world worked. But experiencing it? Feeling it? Walking among people? Having the freedom to simply… do whatever he wanted? That was new.
And suddenly, Musutafu seemed far too big. Far too loud. Far too full. Far too perfect.
His eyes lit up.
In less than five seconds, Rei walked into the first random store he saw: a colorful candy shop, smelling of artificial sugar.
The attendant — a woman dressed in a black cat costume, clearly a college student earning minimum wage — greeted him with an automatic smile. "Irasshaimase~! Welcome to Candy Kitty! What would you like today, kitty?"
Rei rested both elbows on the counter, looking the costumed attendant up and down without the slightest shame. It was strange, no doubt. But… something told him he would end up liking Japan more than he imagined. "Depends. Is the kitty free for a walk later?"
Her smile froze for half a second. Then it turned into a polite little smirk of someone who's heard that a thousand and five hundred times. "Sorry, kitty, but I only go out with people over six foot two or who know how to drive."
Rei raised an eyebrow. "Yeah? Lucky me that I'm the best driver in the city."
She crossed her arms, amused. "How old are you again? Thirteen? Fourteen?"
"Fifteen," he corrected, without missing a beat.
"Ah, fifteen~" She placed a hand on her chin, pretending to think. "Then explain something to me: how do you know how to drive if you're still three years away from getting a license?"
"Technical details," Rei shrugged. "I drive better than any adult. Tested and proven."
She laughed — this time for real. "Alright, Senna. But even if I believed you, my mom would kill me if I went out with someone underage. So, zero chance of that happening."
Rei let out a long sigh. "Breaking my heart like that right off the bat… cruel. But that's fine, at least I'll be able to console myself with your sweets."
"Now you're speaking my language. What will you want, kitty~?" she asked, switching back to attendant mode.
Rei looked at the display case for a second, scanning the variety of sweets. Impossible to decide. He wanted to try everything. "I… uh… everything."
She blinked, confused. "Pardon?"
"I'll take everything you have there. One of each. No, two of each. Actually… give me three of those strawberry cakes with whipped cream, four pistachio macarons, all the chocolate éclairs, that whole brigadeiro cake with sprinkles, the Oreo donuts, the brownies with nuts… ah, and that giant chocolate bunny in the corner. You can wrap it, too."
The attendant stared at him as if he had gone insane. "…You're serious?"
"Completely."
She looked at the clock on the wall, then at him, at the display case, and then back at him. "You're the type of rich guy who swipes the card without even looking at the price, aren't you?"
"No. I pay in cash and still leave a tip if you put your number on the receipt." Rei said, winking at her.
Fifteen minutes later, he left Candy Kitty carrying an overstuffed bag of sweets that barely closed and… the attendant's number scribbled in hot pink on the back of the receipt.
********
[Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters, images or songs featured in this fic. Additionally, I do not claim ownership of any products or properties mentioned in this novel. This work is entirely fanfic.]