At the gates of U.A. High School, Amano Sora stood barefoot on the pavement.
The sleeve of his right arm had been torn apart when he forced out too much power earlier. For the sake of symmetry—and dignity—he had simply ripped off the other sleeve as well. Unfortunately, the result didn't make him look any better.
"Pfft—!"
From a distance, Toru Hagakure spotted him and burst out laughing as she jogged over.
"Sora, you've improved a lot! This time you only lost both sleeves!" she teased.
Sora shrugged helplessly. "Hey, the Zero-Pointer wasn't that strong…"
Hagakure's invisible expression darkened slightly.
Not strong?
She had barely been able to get close to her own Zero-Pointer, while Sora had dismantled one head-on. The difference stung.
"How did your exam go?" Sora asked casually.
"Hm… pretty well, I think!" Hagakure replied after a brief pause. "For some reason, the robots completely ignored me. Even when I walked right up to them, they didn't react. I ended up tearing apart a bunch of them."
Sora froze.
"…Ignored you?"
Slowly, he turned toward the floating uniform beside him.
"Wait. You mean… they didn't attack you at all?"
"Hey! I am wearing clothes!" Hagakure snapped instantly, realizing where his gaze had gone.
That was when the surrounding examinees finally noticed them.
A ripple of whispers spread instantly.
"Did you hear that?"
"She said she's wearing clothes…"
"So she's actually—?"
"That's kinda suspicious…"
Sora's face darkened instantly.
Hagakure's invisible face flushed red.
Before the gossip could escalate—
Whoosh!
Sora grabbed Hagakure and vanished in a flash of golden lightning.
A Quick Escape
They reappeared in a wooded area not far from the school grounds.
Sora released her and exhaled sharply. "Students these days are way too dirty-minded."
Hagakure burst out laughing.
"You're the one who started thinking weird things!"
Sora scowled. "They were talking about you!"
She tilted her head slightly. "Well… maybe you're not completely wrong."
"…Huh?"
Before he could react, Hagakure suddenly jumped onto his back.
"Sora! I've been thinking about something!"
"W-Wait—!"
"I finally figured it out! My hero costume!" she said excitedly. "If I use fibers from my own hair, it should stay invisible with me!"
Sora froze.
Then slowly nodded.
"That… actually makes a lot of sense."
It was the same concept used by Mirio Togata—creating equipment using one's own biological material to synchronize with a Quirk.
"Thank you, Sora!" she said brightly. "That solves everything!"
She hugged him tightly before suddenly realizing what she'd done.
"…Ah."
Her hands released instantly.
Her invisible figure darted away in a panic.
"S-Sorry! That was embarrassing! Forget it happened!"
Sora watched her flee, rubbing the back of his neck.
"…Kids really are kids."
He sighed, cleaned the soot from his feet against a tree trunk, and followed after her.
Back Home
"I'm back."
Sora pushed open the door to his apartment.
Takeyama Yū lay sprawled across the couch, a bag of chips in one hand and the TV blaring.
"So? How'd the exam go?" she asked lazily.
"First place."
She blinked.
"…Huh?"
Then grinned. "Not bad, Big Rice Bucket."
"…It's called the Speed Force."
She laughed. "Yeah, yeah. Whatever helps you eat more."
Hanabira Nanami, sitting nearby, nodded earnestly. "Your Quirk really does seem food-related…"
Sora's face darkened.
The injustice of it all.
Still, he headed to the kitchen and began preparing dinner. Thanks to Nanami's shrinking ability, the ingredients were stacked like tiny mountains—compressed to one-hundredth their size before cooking.
Once expanded, it would be just enough to fill him.
As he worked, he thought quietly.
The entrance exam is over. That means real training can begin.
No more holding back.
No more half-measures.
He could finally start exploring the true potential of the Speed Force—combat, movement, reaction speed, even learning efficiency.
And more importantly…
He needed money.
A lot of it.
"Guess I'll have to start planning seriously," he muttered. "Hero training, equipment, maybe even side income…"
Life was finally moving forward.
And for the first time, he felt ready.