Chapter 10 - Entrance Exams

𝘞𝘦 𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘭𝘪𝘷𝘦 𝘧𝘳𝘰𝘮 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘍𝘶𝘬𝘶𝘴𝘩𝘪𝘮𝘢 𝘯𝘶𝘤𝘭𝘦𝘢𝘳 𝘱𝘰𝘸𝘦𝘳𝘱𝘭𝘢𝘯𝘵, 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵 𝘰𝘧 𝘢𝘯 𝘦𝘱𝘪𝘤 𝘣𝘢𝘵𝘵𝘭𝘦 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘥𝘦𝘧𝘦𝘢𝘵 𝘰𝘧 𝘢 𝘷𝘪𝘭𝘭𝘢𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘩𝘢𝘥 𝘢𝘵𝘵𝘦𝘮𝘱𝘵𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘰 𝘥𝘦𝘴𝘵𝘳𝘰𝘺 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘱𝘭𝘢𝘯𝘵 𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘭𝘺 𝘭𝘢𝘴𝘵 𝘯𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵.

The news reporter spoke to the camera as she stood in front of a smoldering crater half a mile away from the major powerplant. The image of the woman then shrunk and was pushed to the side as footage was showed of an orange-scaled man with several grey tentacles coming out of his back fighting a tall muscular woman with a resplendent platinum white spirit floating behind her.

Said woman wore ancient Greek-inspired armor as her chest was protected by a golden breastplate with a purple eight-pointed star emblazoned over the chest. A silver vambrace covered her forearms whilst a leather skirt surrounded her waist, and silver grieves were worn on her ankles above thick golden boots. Her head was shielded by a golden Corinthian helmet with dark purple plumage that ran from just over the forehead to the back of the neck.

𝘈𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘷𝘪𝘥𝘦𝘰 𝘴𝘩𝘰𝘸𝘴, 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘮𝘦𝘳𝘭𝘺 𝘳𝘦𝘵𝘪𝘳𝘦𝘥 𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘰 𝘚𝘵𝘢𝘳 𝘗𝘭𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘶𝘮 𝘩𝘢𝘥 𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘱𝘰𝘯𝘥𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘰 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘤𝘦𝘯𝘦 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯 𝘮𝘪𝘯𝘶𝘵𝘦𝘴 𝘢𝘧𝘵𝘦𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘢𝘵𝘵𝘢𝘤𝘬 𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘳𝘵𝘦𝘥. 𝘛𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘸𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘣𝘦 𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘴𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘩 𝘮𝘢𝘫𝘰𝘳 𝘢𝘵𝘵𝘢𝘤𝘬 𝘵𝘩𝘸𝘢𝘳𝘵𝘦𝘥 𝘴𝘪𝘯𝘤𝘦 𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘴𝘵𝘶𝘯𝘯𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘳𝘦𝘵𝘶𝘳𝘯 𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘳 𝘢 𝘺𝘦𝘢𝘳 𝘢𝘨𝘰 𝘢𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘒𝘢𝘬𝘦𝘨𝘢𝘸𝘢 𝘔𝘦𝘤𝘩𝘢 𝘈𝘳𝘦𝘯𝘢.

I couldn't help but smile at the news report as I ate a bacon and scrambled egg breakfast.

Naomi had been putting in the work since her unofficial return that fateful night over a year ago. After recovering she set out to study and train for the exams.

I had never seen her work so hard in my life, never before had I seen that fire in her eyes, that drive, that passion. Watching her rediscover her love of life made my heart warm as those sad eyes and weary smiles were fewer and far between these days. When she returned from the practical exam after a week on Iwogima island and showed me her renewed license, I couldn't have been more proud.

The news changed cameras and a male reporter spoke, Thank you Miyamoto-san, we go now to the live press conference being held within Kakegawa city hall.

Again the camera changed to a scene of Star Platinum still in her full hero costume standing behind a podium whilst cameras flashed and dozens of reporters attempted to question the woman at once.

𝘚𝘵𝘢𝘳 𝘗𝘭𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘶𝘮, 𝘚𝘵𝘢𝘳 𝘗𝘭𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘮𝘶𝘮! They shouted all desperate for attention and hungry for a story.

Naomi's upper face was shadowed by her helmet but her red lips could easily be seen as she spoke and pointed toward a reporter.

𝘞𝘩𝘢𝘵'𝘴 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘲𝘶𝘦𝘴𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯?

𝘗𝘢𝘮𝘦𝘭𝘢 𝘉𝘳𝘰𝘸𝘯 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘈𝘱𝘱𝘭𝘦 𝘕𝘦𝘸𝘴 𝘐𝘯𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘯𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘢𝘭. The female brunette reporter introduced herself before asking her question. 𝘛𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘪𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘩 𝘮𝘢𝘫𝘰𝘳 𝘷𝘪𝘭𝘭𝘢𝘪𝘯 𝘢𝘵𝘵𝘢𝘤𝘬 𝘺𝘰𝘶'𝘷𝘦 𝘧𝘢𝘤𝘦𝘥 𝘪𝘯 𝘰𝘯𝘭𝘺 𝘢 𝘺𝘦𝘢𝘳. 𝘈𝘳𝘦 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘢𝘵 𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘤𝘦𝘳𝘯𝘦𝘥 𝘣𝘺 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘳𝘪𝘴𝘦 𝘪𝘯 𝘷𝘪𝘭𝘭𝘢𝘪𝘯 𝘢𝘤𝘵𝘪𝘷𝘪𝘵𝘺 𝘩𝘢𝘱𝘱𝘦𝘯𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘩𝘳𝘰𝘶𝘨𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘑𝘢𝘱𝘢𝘯?

Stat Platinum shook her head. 𝘕𝘰, 𝘐 𝘣𝘦𝘭𝘪𝘦𝘷𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘪𝘴 𝘢 𝘵𝘦𝘮𝘱𝘰𝘳𝘢𝘳𝘺 𝘴𝘱𝘪𝘬𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘸𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘶𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘺 𝘦𝘢𝘴𝘦 𝘢𝘧𝘵𝘦𝘳 𝘴𝘰𝘮𝘦 𝘵𝘪𝘮𝘦. 𝘚𝘩𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘯 𝘵𝘶𝘳𝘯𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘰 𝘢𝘯𝘰𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘳𝘦𝘱𝘰𝘳𝘵𝘦𝘳 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘯𝘰𝘥𝘥𝘦𝘥.

A short round man with a balding head stood up, Suenao Fujinami with Tokyo Eleven News. The reporter introduced himself with a bow. 𝘋𝘰 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘣𝘦𝘭𝘪𝘦𝘷𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘳𝘦𝘤𝘦𝘯𝘵 𝘴𝘱𝘪𝘬𝘦 𝘪𝘯 𝘤𝘳𝘪𝘮𝘪𝘯𝘢𝘭 𝘢𝘤𝘵𝘪𝘷𝘪𝘵𝘺 𝘪𝘴 𝘥𝘶𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘦𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘰𝘮𝘪𝘤 𝘥𝘰𝘸𝘯𝘵𝘶𝘳𝘯 𝘤𝘢𝘶𝘴𝘦𝘥 𝘣𝘺 𝘑𝘢𝘱𝘢𝘯'𝘴 𝘪𝘯𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘷𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘔𝘦𝘹𝘪𝘤𝘢𝘯 𝘤𝘪𝘷𝘪𝘭 𝘸𝘢𝘳?

𝘐 𝘥𝘰𝘯'𝘵 𝘢𝘯𝘴𝘸𝘦𝘳 𝘱𝘰𝘭𝘪𝘵𝘪𝘤𝘢𝘭 𝘲𝘶𝘦𝘴𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘴. She dismissed quickly before turning to another reporter.

The press conference went on like this for several more minutes. I would have watched it for longer but my eyes glanced at the time. With a silent curse, I put away my used dish before quickly putting on my shoes and backpack and heading out the door.

The warm spring breeze brushed through my short crimson hair, a faint smile on my face as the cloudless sky promised a sunny day. With a pleasant sigh, I pressed play on my music app on my new smartphone and listened to Master Exploder to wake me up as I walked toward school.

Today was the start of the last week of middle school and the beginning of the crossroads I was to take. I could either choose to continue my general education or go into a school dedicated to a certain trade. Most people choose general education as it is unrealistic to expect children to know what they want to do with their lives, but for some, trade schools are the best option.

I already know I didn't want to continue general education, but I still had many trade schools to choose from. Military academies, construction trades, teaching education, athletic schools, medical schools, and hero academies were just to name a few.

I spent the last few months narrowing down what I wanted from the list Naomi and I had created. The military was crossed off early, I don't want to die for the central bank and oil tycoons. Construction was something that remained on the list for a bit longer until I realized that I didn't want to release half of my paycheck to yakuza-owned unions.

Teaching was an interesting thought, I didn't mind helping kids learn, and it is one of the most important jobs in any civilized society. But then I saw a helicopter parent screaming in my gym teacher's face for forty-five minutes straight, I did not have the patience to deal with that shit.

Athletic schools were interesting, quirks might have fucked up the entire sports scene but they did make everything more fun. But then I remembered I hardly ever followed any sports outside of the occasional robot matches and UA sports festival so that choice was out as well.

It eventually became a toss-up between the hero or medical trades. On one hand, I had this image in my head of me as a veterinarian traveling the world and helping exotic animals, possibly even protecting wildlife sanctuaries from poachers and corporate greed. But on the other hand, the itch to help people and protect them with my quirk wouldn't go away.

Ever since I helped little Amelia I had been indulging in my desire to aid others on occasion. Whenever I heard a particularly loud thought of someone intending or currently doing harm to others, I couldn't help but get involved. By this point, my local police station knew my voice by heart as I called in dozens upon dozens of anonymous tips over the years through various burner phones I had secretly 'borrowed' from various drug dealers across the city.

Did this already make me a hero or at the very least a vigilante? I don't know, heroes are people who do things for selfless reasons, I was just chasing a high. A large part of me wanted to go with the veterinarian idea, with my quirk and head start in education I would be able to create a nice living for myself within a reasonable time frame. But an even larger part of me wanted to take the plunge and join UA.

Ultimately the deciding factor was my memory of the events at the Mecha Arena. When All Might arrived on the scene during that disaster, the panicked crowd calmed, when his beaming smile turned towards me, a wash of reassurance overcame my being and the people around me felt the same. It was during that time did I realize something, I wanted that, the ability to calm the hearts and minds of thousands with my mere presence alone, to have the power to save, to do good, to make a difference.

Naomi had assured me that I didn't need to become a hero to have her respect, she never pressured me to make this decision. But deep down, I knew I would always choose this path, I might not be a hero now, but hopefully, someday, I will be worthy of that title.

That is why today I will be taking the UA. mock exams, these exams were available for any school to adopt as part of their curriculum. They are the written test of one of the previous year's exams, so while they aren't the exact exam, they are essentially the same thing that a student could expect when applying for UA.

One needed to at least pass the mock tests to be considered for application, something that wasn't completely difficult as at least half of potential applicants usually passed. The real filter, however, would happen in UA itself where one would need to pass the actual written test with over eighty-five percent and then get an undisclosed amount of points on the practical.

As opposed to the written tests, UA kept the practical exam close to its chest. The only thing being revealed about it is the national and even international rewards given to it by several education committees through the years.

Unfortunately for UA, I was an interdimensional nerd, so I knew very well what was in store for me. Giant robots, the thought alone got my blood pumping, to cut loose with my telekinesis would be a dream.

I've improved said ability over the years, with me able to throw heavier and heavier objects at greater distances at faster and faster speeds. I went from only being able to lift several light objects for a few hours at a time when I first started, to lifting several hundred pounds at the speed of a car for nearly five hours.

Obviously, it depends on the mass of the object and the force my mind applies to it so this number can vary greatly depending on what I'm doing with my telekinesis. But the potential peak of this power is immense, the image of Galen Marek ripping a Star Destroyer right out of the sky had burned itself in my memories as a major goalpost to reach.

But telekinesis and telepathy wasn't the only thing I had been practicing, a new power had come to me during my training with Itachi-Sensei over the summer about eight months ago.

It had happened in the afternoon, lunch was already over and the damn endless birdbath atop the mountain had just been filled. I was resting for a bit atop this said mountain, enjoying the peaceful scenery that surrounded me when suddenly a startled yip and rustling of the underbrush was heard from behind.

With my curiosity peaked I followed the sound until I found a small fox kit trapped in thorny brambles. Naturally, being the wanna-be druid that I was, I wanted to help. I tried at first to calm the poor little thing by telling it I wasn't there to hurt him, but the little guy was panicked and wouldn't listen. I tried to use telekinesis to move the brambles away but the kit kept squirming and panicking, hurting itself more in the process as the thorns dug into his skin and scratched dangerously close to his eyes.

I was also starting to feel nervous as well, the brambles were not relenting their hold on the little kit, and the poor thing's panicked thrashing was starting to make him unknowingly choke himself on the thorny vines. With one last desperate attempt, I projected my voice into the fox's mind and commanded. 'Clam down!'

To my surprise, the kit complied, and even more strangely, I knew instinctively that the creature was under my control. The closest approximation that could make of this feeling was that I suddenly became aware of the fox on a greater level as if it was an extension of myself like an extra limb.

With the fox now under my spell, I carefully extracted him from the brambles. Now I had a new problem, I didn't know how to undo what I had just done to the kit. So I took the kit with me to Itachi's house and asked for his help. After several hours of trial and error, I was finally able to free the kit from my control. He was soon sent off with a fish and a few head pats for his trouble.

Mind control had from then on become a major focus of training. I had mostly practiced on animals since that day, only occasionally testing on Itachi-Sensei and commanding him to do simple tasks. However, Itachi had stressed to me that I could only do so because he had allowed me to take command of his mind and that I must never mind control another human unless they are presenting themselves as an active danger to themselves or others and they are not willing to listen to reason.

This side of my power had by far scared me the most out of everything I could do. I could essentially force ego death upon another human being and rewrite them in my own image, anyone who did not have the power to resist me could become my plaything.

What was even more concerning was how naturally mind control came to me. I had gotten a handle on it far faster than my eldest ability of telepathy. Itachi had explained that it would naturally be easier as I now had over six years of experience with my quirk, but even still it just felt so much easier to delve into someone's mind than keep up my mental shields.

It was so much more natural that It wasn't long until I discovered the lesser but no less dangerous cousin of mind control, mind manipulation. Manipulation was different, while I did not actively take full control of a person's mind, I could however manipulate their senses into believing something that isn't reality. For example, I could make a bird think it is flying west when in reality it is flying east, or I could make Naomi not hear me when I am making cookies at four in the morning. Or I could make Sabrina, Itachi's cat, suddenly very sleepy and want cuddles.

There was also one other major reason why mind control and mind manipulation came so easily. Unlike telekinesis and telepathy, I had a teacher that had real-life experience in this field. Itachi's mastery in this subject was apparent, for what are illusions cast by the Sharingan if not the active manipulation of the mind? Itachi was all too eager to impart his decades of knowledge of the art of illusion weaving upon me. He showed me how I could manipulate a creature's five basic senses and influence their other various senses.

Nowadays our spars have grown quite a bit more interesting with the added illusions we would both cast upon one another, let's just say having your chronoception and spatial awareness messed with simultaneously is pretty trippy.

My reminiscing was interrupted by the sound of someone yelling loudly down the street, with a quick glance at my watch I noticed that I still had about fifteen minutes until the bell rang, lucky my school was in sight.

"Yeah, I've got time." With that, I followed the noise. As I drew closer a startled mind battered against my shields.

"𝘗𝘭𝘦𝘢𝘴𝘦 𝘥𝘰𝘯'𝘵 𝘴𝘩𝘰𝘰𝘵, 𝘱𝘭𝘦𝘢𝘴𝘦 𝘥𝘰𝘯'𝘵 𝘴𝘩𝘰𝘰𝘵. 𝘞𝘩𝘺 𝘪𝘴𝘯'𝘵 𝘢𝘯𝘺𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘤𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘢 𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘰?!" The voice cried.

I recognized that voice, it was the nice old Italian man who worked at a corner store that doubled as a pizzeria. An angry frown grew on my face as I picked up the pace.

Old man Pelino was a saint, he always helped kids down on their luck with a free slice of pizza and a word or two of wisdom. Whoever was holding him up obviously wasn't a local, even the few gangs around the area marked his business as neutral grounds.

The sound of a bell chimed as I stepped into the corner store, and the smell of freshly baked pizza and gooey mozzarella sticks filled my nose. It was wrong not to hear the boisterous greeting of old man Pelino once I entered the store. If I hadn't already known what was happing, that alone would've alerted me that something was amiss.

"Ciao Vecchio?" I called, it was one of the few Italian phrases I had been learning over the years.

"𝘖𝘩 𝘎𝘰𝘥, 𝘪𝘵'𝘴 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘨 𝘚𝘢𝘮! 𝘗𝘭𝘦𝘢𝘴𝘦 𝘭𝘦𝘢𝘷𝘦, 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘪𝘴𝘯'𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘵𝘪𝘮𝘦!" Pelino's mind cried.

There was no one at the counter, so the perp must've forced him to the back so he could open a safe or something. I quickly glanced up at the camera attached to the ceiling, it was destroyed, smashed to bits by some sort of blunt force.

They knew where the camera was, so they had been there before. That fact made me angrier, this person had obviously met the kindly old man before this, and they still decided to rob him. With heavy steps, I marched forward past the counter and into the kitchen, as I did so my awareness ghosted through the building.

There was only one other person here besides me and the old man. With the smallest concentration of will, I dipped my toe into the stranger's mind.

Masanori Fujita was his name. A small-time thug who once worked for a drug dealer back in Tokyo but was chased out after taking one too many free samples from his boss. He took refuge with his cousin here in Kakegawa where he continued to indulge his habit. Unfortunately, his supply ran dry a few days ago and now he's desperate for money to get his next fix as his cousin hadn't been stupid enough to give him anything other than a roof over his head.

Well, that's just sadder than a raccoon trying to clean cotton candy ain't it? Don't really much care though, the guy was still holding up an old man at gunpoint. I was already within the weak man's mind, so it was a trivial matter to trick him into hearing the voice of his cousin calling out to him.

"𝘔𝘢𝘴𝘢𝘯𝘰𝘳𝘪 𝘐 𝘬𝘯𝘰𝘸 𝘺𝘰𝘶'𝘳𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦, 𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘦 𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘱𝘭𝘦𝘢𝘴𝘦."

Masanori soon responded to my trick. "Rui, Rui what are you doing here?" The perp asked.

The sound of a door opening was then heard as well as heavy boot steps on the white tile floor.

I slinked back into the open walk-in freezer within the kitchen and observed the junkie from my hidden vantage. Masanori Fujita was a skinny silver-haired man with a scraggly beard and hunched posture, he held a pistol in a taloned grip. The man had some sort of minor avian mutation, some people really do draw shit luck in the genetic lottery.

As the man had been separated from the victim, I was now free to act without fear of him hurting old man Pelino.

My brow furrowed as I plucked at the man's brain, sending him a feeling of sudden nausea and dizziness. Essentially I was giving him a major vasovagal response, it was the exact same feeling that caused people to pass out or vomit when giving blood or being poked with needles.

The man was a junkie, meaning his willpower was none existent, he no longer lived as a human but as a slave to his dopamine receptors. So forcing the man to suddenly collapse and pass out was as easy as sipping fresh water. Keeping him asleep was even easier as the man's body welcomed the reprieve from consciousness since Masanori had not slept for more than a few hours at a time for over a week.

Even though I knew for a fact the man was asleep, his gun still needed to be secured just in case. So quickly I pried the man's tight talon grip away from the pistol and quickly unloaded the gun along with the round still in the chamber.

"It's alright now old man," I called out.

Old man Pelino carefully shuffled out of the back office, his short stature and large bushy white mustache reminded me of an old Mario.

"Oh, Mio ​​Dio young man what did you do?!" The man questioned with a look of concern.

"Nothing sir, just pinched a nerve behind his neck and made him fall asleep."

The concern soon vanished and was replaced with a large smile, "I'm glad the young man isn't hurt. I need to call the police and get him some help."

I couldn't help but smile, that was old man Pelino for you, a guy shoves a gun in his face and his first concern is of the man who made him the victim.

An alarm on my wristwatch chimed, I looked down and balked. "Oh no, I'm late for school!"

"Go on boy, get yourself an education. You've done enough for this old man today." Said Pelino.

I looked down at the perp and then at Pelino, I didn't want to leave him alone, but the guy was asleep and his gun was in my pocket. "Okay, here's his gun, please use it if you really need to," I said whilst handing the old man the gun and ammunition I took, it would've been incredibly stupid to come into school strapped, I'm not in my homeland after all.

"It won't be needed young Sam, but thank you regardless."

I nodded, "Okay, see you later old man."

"Che Dio sia con te!" He yelled out as I sprinted away towards school.

"E così via a te!" I called back over my shoulder, with my good deed done for the day, I prepared myself for the lecture that was soon to come by my homeroom teacher.

_________________________________

It was later in the week that I found myself relaxing on one of the new reclining chairs that had replaced the ratty old blue loveseat, a bowl of popcorn was in my lap as I watched Good Fellas on the even newer flat-screen TV that hung on the opposite wall.

The sound of jangling keys brought my attention to the apartment door, Naomi came walking in with an excited smile on her face waving around two envelopes in one hand whilst a large bag of groceries was held in her other. "Guess what I got~," She said in a sing-song voice.

With a casual wave, I paused the movie and got out of my seat to approach the happy woman who had just placed her burden atop a polished oaken dining table. "What's up?"

Naomi did not answer verbally and shoved the two envelopes toward me.

The first one was from my middle school, specifically from the head administrator of the whole district. With a curious brow raised I opened the envelope.

𝘋𝘦𝘢𝘳 𝘚𝘵𝘶𝘥𝘦𝘯𝘵 𝘚𝘢𝘮𝘶𝘳𝘶 𝘐𝘴𝘩𝘪𝘪.

𝘞𝘦 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘚𝘩𝘪𝘻𝘶𝘰𝘬𝘢 𝘱𝘳𝘦𝘧𝘦𝘤𝘵𝘶𝘳𝘦 𝘦𝘥𝘶𝘤𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘢𝘭 𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘮𝘪𝘵𝘵𝘦𝘦 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘶𝘥 𝘵𝘰 𝘳𝘦𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘥 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘵𝘰 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘱𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘵𝘪𝘨𝘪𝘰𝘶𝘴 𝘴𝘤𝘩𝘰𝘰𝘭 𝘰𝘧 𝘜𝘈 𝘏𝘦𝘳𝘰 𝘈𝘤𝘢𝘥𝘦𝘮𝘺.

𝘞𝘦 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘦𝘹𝘤𝘪𝘵𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘰 𝘴𝘦𝘦 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘱𝘶𝘳𝘴𝘶𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘦𝘯𝘥𝘦𝘢𝘷𝘰𝘳 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘸𝘪𝘴𝘩 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘣𝘦𝘴𝘵 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘪𝘯 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘧𝘶𝘵𝘶𝘳𝘦 𝘤𝘢𝘳𝘦𝘦𝘳.

𝘍𝘳𝘰𝘮 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘰𝘧𝘧𝘪𝘤𝘦 𝘰𝘧 𝘚𝘩𝘪𝘻𝘶𝘰𝘬𝘢 𝘱𝘳𝘦𝘧𝘦𝘤𝘵𝘶𝘳𝘦 𝘴𝘶𝘱𝘦𝘳𝘪𝘯𝘵𝘦𝘯𝘥𝘦𝘯𝘵, 𝘙𝘶𝘮𝘢 𝘔𝘰𝘳𝘪𝘺𝘢𝘮𝘢.

I'm being recommended? Guess no giant robot smashing for me, a bit of a bummer but oh well.

"Look at the other one." Naomi pressed, her purple eyes dazzling in barely contained glee.

The second letter was from Itachi and was addressed directly to the Principle of UA himself.

𝘋𝘦𝘢𝘳 𝘗𝘳𝘰𝘧𝘦𝘴𝘴𝘰𝘳 𝘕𝘦𝘻𝘶.

𝘐 𝘐𝘵𝘢𝘤𝘩𝘪 𝘜𝘤𝘩𝘪𝘩𝘢, 𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘮𝘦𝘳 𝘯𝘶𝘮𝘣𝘦𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘳𝘦𝘦 𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘰 𝘰𝘧 𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘑𝘢𝘱𝘢𝘯, 𝘥𝘰 𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦𝘣𝘺 𝘳𝘦𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘥 𝘴𝘵𝘶𝘥𝘦𝘯𝘵 𝘚𝘢𝘮𝘶𝘳𝘶 𝘐𝘴𝘩𝘪𝘪 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘳𝘢𝘯𝘤𝘦 𝘪𝘯𝘵𝘰 𝘜𝘈 𝘏𝘦𝘳𝘰 𝘈𝘤𝘢𝘥𝘦𝘮𝘺.

𝘐𝘵 𝘪𝘴 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘢𝘳𝘳𝘰𝘨𝘢𝘯𝘤𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘐 𝘢𝘥𝘮𝘪𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘚𝘢𝘮𝘶𝘳𝘶 𝘐𝘴𝘩𝘪𝘪 𝘪𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘧𝘪𝘯𝘦𝘴𝘵 𝘴𝘵𝘶𝘥𝘦𝘯𝘵 𝘐 𝘩𝘢𝘥 𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳 𝘵𝘢𝘶𝘨𝘩𝘵, 𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘸𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘥𝘳𝘪𝘷𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘭𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘯 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘦𝘲𝘶𝘢𝘭. 𝘏𝘪𝘴 𝘩𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘵 𝘪𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘰𝘧 𝘢 𝘵𝘳𝘶𝘦 𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘰 𝘢𝘴 𝘐 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘸𝘢𝘵𝘤𝘩𝘦𝘥 𝘩𝘪𝘮 𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘴𝘦 𝘱𝘢𝘴𝘵 𝘺𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘴 𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘬 𝘵𝘰 𝘮𝘢𝘬𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘭𝘥 𝘣𝘦𝘵𝘵𝘦𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘯 𝘩𝘦 𝘩𝘢𝘥 𝘧𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘥 𝘪𝘵.

𝘜𝘈 𝘸𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥 𝘣𝘦 𝘩𝘰𝘯𝘰𝘳𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘰 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘢 𝘴𝘵𝘶𝘥𝘦𝘯𝘵 𝘴𝘶𝘤𝘩 𝘢𝘴 𝘩𝘪𝘮 𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘦𝘳 𝘪𝘵𝘴 𝘥𝘰𝘰𝘳𝘴.

𝘞𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘱𝘦𝘤𝘵 𝘐𝘵𝘢𝘤𝘩𝘪 𝘜𝘤𝘩𝘪𝘩𝘢.

Itachi was recommending me? My school was not much of a surprise, but Itachi? Sure he was my Sensei and yes we got along, but I didn't think he thought so highly of me. A warm buzz filled my chest.

"This…I don't even know what to say."

Naomi engulfed me in a hug with a small chuckle. "Do you think we haven't been watching all this time Sam? We know how hard you've worked, how much you care about people, it's only natural that we want to give you this chance."

Knowing the people in your life cared for you was one thing, but having it in writing and confirmed was a whole other feeling. I hugged her back as a small smile formed on my face.

Naomi pulled back with her own much larger grin, "are you surprised?"

I nodded, "a surprise to be sure…but a welcomed one."

"Oh yeah, get ready to pack in a few days, we'll be moving to Musutafu once you ace your recommended exam." She announced.

"What about your work in Kakegawa?"

Naomi shrugged, "there are enough heroes here to patrol around, and I gave the locals my work number just in case they need help."

"So you're finally taking up Aunty's offer?"

"Yeah, I've gotten my feet wet enough with solo work. Plus she's more busy teaching nowadays than with hero work."

I nodded before asking. "Wanna watch a movie or something?"

She gave me an apologetic smile, "Sorry, I just have time to meal prep and then I got to go back on patrol."

"You going all the way up north to Fukashima again?"

"Nah, I was only up there 'cause I was chasing a lead for something down here, I don't see a need for me to be up there anytime soon."

I nodded, "okay, need me to help?"

"I've got this." She said whilst pulling out several ingredients from the paper grocery bag.

"Come on, I need to learn to cook sometime. How else am I supposed to impress a woman?"

Naomi rolled her eyes, "fine, go wash your hands."

______________________

Today was the day, the day of the UA recommendation entrance exam. I was a nervous wreck all night, constantly waking up and pouring over my notes or trying every method I knew of to try and force myself back to sleep.

Nothing worked so here I was, walking off the train station with only a cumulative four hours of sleep under my belt and an annoying pins and needles sensation all over my skin. I tried to calm myself by listening to lofi hip hop and it worked a bit but unfortunately, my stress had left my mental shields patchy. So I would occasionally catch a stray thought here and there whilst on my way to the academy.

I spent the entire train ride working to fill the holes and would have missed my stop had I not thought ahead and set an alarm for the time I was expected to arrive. Fortunately, Japan went to the Mussolini school of train punctuality so my alarm was spot on.

Standing before me was the front of a tall gate and large concrete walls of UA. Beyond the wall were four soaring glass towers arranged in a box formation with sky bridges connecting each tower. This glimpse alone was enough to convince me of the enormous size of the campus, and of what Naomi and Aunty Namuri had described. The whole place was meant to be the size of a small town and was still growing.

Taking a deep swig of my heart-palpation-inducing energy drink, I stepped forward toward the immense campus. Several other students had already arrived at the same moment I was and several more were yet to arrive still. Today was reserved for the recommended exams so it was with confidence that I assumed every applicant here had something that made them uniquely gifted.

As I walked through the front doors I put away my headphones and phone. Whilst I did so, a young woman with long purple hair and unique heterochromatic eyes of light purple and blue called me over from behind a large circular reception desk. "Are you here for the recommended exam?" She asked.

"Yes ma'am."

"May I have your name please?"

"Samuru Ishii."

The woman typed on the computer at her desk for a moment before turning to me with a fanged smile. "Everything is in order, please go to room one fourteen. It is just down the hall to your right, just beyond the restrooms, you can't miss it."

"Thank you." I nodded with a smile and continued toward the indicated destination.

The room I entered was a large auditorium classroom that was arranged in a semi-circle around a wooden platform with a singular podium and microphone. No doubt this room was reserved for guest speakers and other special occasions like this very exam.

Actually, if I remembered right, the current Prime Minister once held a campaign speech in this same room only a few years ago. I wasn't one to pay attention to campaigns but it was interesting as he was once a pro hero, something that wasn't very common for Japan but not entirely unheard of.

I waited in silence as the rest of the other student hopefuls filtered into the room, as I did so I noticed a boy with white and red hair colored split perfectly down the middle quietly slip into the seat on my left. This was the first time I had seen a student from the main cast before, and it was quite strange to see him in real life. His head reminded me of a multi-flavored popsicle that one would buy from an ice cream truck.

But while his hair was eye-catching, Shoto Tordoroki was not the strangest person in the room by far. No, that title was held by the six-foot-eight four-armed kid with a prehensile tail that was currently being used to pick at his ear. Either he or the girl who looked like a red-skinned Tiefling who was currently sitting in the back corner of the room as if she was trying to roleplay an edgy rouge.

As the final students began to come in, the pro hero and English language professor for first years at UA, Present Mic, entered the room.

With a wide smile and boisterous voice he announced. "Yo examinees, we'll be passing around the first test for this year's recommended exam here in a moment. Please pass the test packet to the student on your right once you grab your own. Also, I don't have to tell you guys this but obviously, cheating is not cool at all. If we catch you doing it you'll not only be barred from ever attempting to join UA again, we'll tell the other hero schools about you too so don't even try it."

That was fair, no one wants a hero who would lie and cheat their way into their position. With that in mind, I quietly slipped out of my seat and approached a proctor that was standing near the edge of the room with a clipboard in hand.

"Excuse me, ma'am."

The young woman with long brown hair and bird feathers sticking out the top of her head turned towards me. "Oh hi." She greeted with an owlish blink of her wide brown eyes.

"I have a quirk that could make it very easy to cheat. Would you mind taking note that I have put on a quirk inhibitor?" I asked as I made a show of pulling out the inhibitor that was given to me all those years ago and clasping the cold metal bracer around my wrist.

"Oh sure, what's your name?"

"Samuru Ishii."

"May I inspect it real quick?"

I nodded and offered my arm to the woman.

She hummed for a moment as she turned my arm over and attempted to unclasp the binding. "Looks good to me. Would you please give me the key? I will return it to you after the test."

"Of course."

The young woman gave me a soft smile as I handed the key that looked very similar to a USB device. "Thank you for your honesty."

"No point in trying to be a hero if I ain't," was my response before heading back to my desk.

My little interaction had drawn a bit of notice from other students who looked at me in curiosity. I was presumably one of only a few people with a quirk inhibitor here, and I probably didn't need to make such a show of it. But I did not want any kind of accusations later on that I may have cheated my way into here, something like that could ruin me. Even when they are proven wrong, the mere fact that suspension was once upon me at any point in time is enough to sway the court of public opinion against me.

Soon after the tests had all been passed around and Present Mic announced the start of the exam. "Alright boys and girls, good luck, you have one hour to complete this test, once you're finished bring your packet to me. After you're done, follow the signs to the lunchroom where we'll have a quick meal and then head out for the practical."

With that said the test finally began, I flipped over to the first of the twenty pages that made up the written exam.

"𝘍𝘶𝘤𝘬𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘔𝘢𝘵𝘩!" I cursed inwardly, of course, the first portion had to be satan's language. I made a quick cross over my chest to ward away evil before gripping my pencil and plunging in to do battle against the heathen script.

___________________________________

I left the lunchroom with a bit more energy than I had after the arduous written exam. Said exam was probably the hardest I had ever taken in this life, it covered so many subjects and at such a deep level that I am sure that my middle school never covered.

It was a good thing that I kept up with my studies and continued to take the occasional free college course, otherwise, I would more than likely have flunked that test. This did not come as any surprise however, UA was the most sought-after hero school in all of Asia. But it was not only this fact alone that made the exams difficult, this was also a test for the most gifted students in the country. So not only did I have to meet the expectations of such a prestigious school, I needed to be exceptional amongst the exceptional.

With a hiss of escaping air, I unlocked my quirk inhibitor, my mental shields instantly slammed up against the ocean of thoughts that constantly surrounded me at all times. The patches had been repaired so I was thankfully spared from the errant musings of my fellow examinees.

I soon arrived at the far northeast end of the campus where we were instructed to go. There was a long obstacle course with all manner of challenges to overcome. The first obstacle was a tall thirty-foot wooden wall with only small handholds carved within to allow grip for ascension. Beyond that were monkey bars over an Olympic-sized swimming pool, then there were eight large floating balls in a separate pool, then a hundred-meter dash that turned a corner and out of sight as it passed behind a beige building that obscured the rest of the course.

Several students were already getting ready as they went through various stretches and light exercises, taking a note from them I followed suit and began to limber up.

As I did so, Present Mic once again arrived with a microphone in hand and an exaggerated swagger to his step. "Hey, Hey, Hey how's it going boys and girls?" He pumped his fist into the air.

A few students cheered awkwardly at his question.

Present Mic looked a bit put off at the lukewarm response but recovered quickly. "As you all can see here, this is the practical test for your exam. Before you is a three-kilometer-long obstacle course designed to put you through your physical limit. Quirks are not only allowed but encouraged to be used, the only rules are that you remain on the course and that you do not intentionally interfere with the other students racing against you."

So this was a race then? Or was it just more convenient to have more students going at the same time and we were really just racing against a clock? It could possibly be both, as you can't be sure if every group of students were as fast as they should be, a minimum time to beat plus a race against your fellow examinees.

The voice of Present Mic shook me from my musings as he continued to speak. "Go and get your number, we'll draw random numbers from a hat to see who you'll be competing against."

We all filed into a quick line where a tired-looking man with bags under his eyes and messy black hair handed out papers with large bold numbers printed on them as well as pins to attach the numbers to our shirts.

Within a few minutes, I had my own number, sixty-nine, pinned onto the front of my plain grey short-sleeved shirt.

As a few students were still getting their numbers, I approached Present Mic.

"Hey, professor?"

The pro hero turned towards me. "Yo little man what's up?"

I am NOT little, just…didn't get my growth spurt yet. So what if I was only five feet tall? "I have a question about the rules. When you say we have to stay on the track, does that mean we have to have both feet on the track at all times or can we use our quirks to circumvent some obstacles?"

The blonde-haired man raised a brow, "You a flyer kid?"

I gave a so-so gesture with my hand. "Kinda yeah."

"As long as you remain over the track at a reasonable height, you're good." He said with a shrug.

"How high is reasonable?"

He pointed toward one of the tall glass towers of the main building, "don't go higher than that."

"That's fair," I said with a nod.

"Is that all you had to ask?"

"Yep, all good."

Present Mic grinned. "Cool, good luck have fun."

I gave the man a short bow before returning to where the majority of examinees were standing and waiting for the test to begin. After a few more minutes the last of the potential students had been given their numbers.

Present Mic once again stepped in front of the crowd, "Alright, let's get this show on the road." He then shook a white top hat in his hands before pulling out six bits of paper.

"Forty-five, one hundred, ninety-eight, two, twenty-eight, and sixty-nine. All you guys get to the starting line!"

Looks like I'm in the first group, probably for the best as I kind of wanted to get this out of the way and take a nice long nap once I arrived home.

Leaning down into a runner's stance, my eyes narrowed ahead as the sound of the exam proctor shouted.

"On your marks, get set, Go!"

I took off in a dead sprint at the sound of the gun firing into the air. My body had been honed for this as over seven years of constant dedication propelled me forward and past four out of the five other competitors in the first few seconds of the race.

In no time I was at the tall wooden wall, an obstacle that could take a normal person with the right training a bit over thirty seconds to climb. But for me, it wasn't even a challenge.

With a small concentration of will, I lifted myself over the wall through the power of my mind, bypassing the need to climb entirely. I was up and over the first obstacle within just a few seconds while my competition was left to force their way up the normal way. I did however note that number twenty-eight was climbing a lot faster as he used sharp claws to dig into the wood and propel himself up and over much quicker than everyone else.

The monkey bars were next, I did not want to destroy the whole spirit of the competition so I opted to take this time to swing myself on the bars. Showing off my years of training as I dextrously swung forward like an orangutan across the bars.

On the last bar, I used my momentum to swing speedily through the air and catch myself with telekinesis before zooming over the large floating balls and towards the hundred-meter dash.

To my estimate, only forty-five seconds had passed since the begging of the test and I was already at the fourth challenge. Teleakanisis can only help me so much in a dead sprint so I merely used it to help push me a bit forwards as I dashed a hundred meters around the beige building that had obscured the rest of the course.

Once I ran around the bend my eyes beheld an eighty-foot deep and three hundred meters long trench with various wooden poles raised. Another jumping obstacle, only this time instead of a pool to catch you was a rope net hidden within the shadows.

This really wasn't fair to the others, was it? Welp, not my fault I lucked out, guess they should just get good. Without any hesitation, I leaped forward and flew over yet another obstacle, I did however take a second to land on one of the poles and jump towards another pole just so I can prove to the exam takers that I was indeed capable of this but chose not to.

After the poles was a hundred meters long bear crawl through sand and under barbed wire. I dived down and slid forward. Using telekinesis to flatten the sand ahead of me into a fine line allowed for less friction to slow me down. My momentum propelled me nearly halfway through the challenge and so I continued forward under the power of my own muscles through the warm sand.

After only forty more seconds I made it out of the sandpit and shook the course element off. With a glance over at the pit, I casually waved toward it and flattened the sand for the rest of my competition. I felt kind of bad so the least I could do was make it a bit easier for these kids.

With my conscious appeased I continued forward, here was the final obstacle before a mad sprint toward the finish. It was a narrow five-hundred-meter walkway over a mud pit. To my right was a wall with hundreds of circular barrels sticking out of the plainly painted beige concrete.

I stepped forward, and as soon as my toe touched the walkway a barrel shot a small beanbag at incredible speeds. I sucked my teeth, such a blow would undoubtedly leave a nasty bruise should it hit its mark. Luckily the bullshit that had propelled me into such a commanding lead over my competition was practically made for this.

Without any further adieu, I rushed forward, twenty low thumps sounded from the wall. From my peripheral I noticed the barrels tracking my movements, so not only were there a lot of them to contend with, but they were also accurate. Still, it was not a problem as the moment the beanbags came within a few feet of me, they suddenly stopped mid-air and began to orbit me like the rings of Saturn.

Forty more barrels shot at me in the next moment and forty more beanbags joined in my orbit as I continued to run along the narrow walkway. Again and again and again I was fired upon, after reaching halfway I already had over two hundred beanbags floating around my person. There was a reason why I was not just throwing them down, I was not an inconsiderate asshole, I knew some poor janitor would have to pick up the beanbags from the mud so I might as well be nice and dump them on the other side for the guy.

After thirty more seconds of running, I now had hundreds of beanbags held aloft with my telekinetic grasp. I noted that the tingling sensation at the back of my head was starting to become a lot more noticeable so as soon as I cleared the obstacle I dumped my burden into a neat pile on the side before dashing forwards in the last stretch of the test.

Much like the hundred-meter dash from earlier, I sprinted forward with minor help from my quirk. As I was nearing the halfway point of this final run, I glanced back to see my nearest competitor was just now partway through the beanbag obstacle.

With one final push of effort, I drove my burning legs onwards and within the next minute, I dashed through the finish line. A sleek black device standing on a tripod chimed.

𝘚𝘪𝘹 𝘮𝘪𝘯𝘶𝘵𝘦𝘴 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘧𝘪𝘧𝘵𝘺-𝘦𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵 𝘴𝘦𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘥𝘴. Said a robotic voice.

I chuckled through panting breaths and collapsed to the ground. There was no way for me to know quite yet if that was good enough time to pass, but hopefully, it was. I had way too many people wanting me to make it, I would hate to disappoint them.

__________________________

I rubbed my temples as I exited the large metal gates of UA hours later.

"Fucking psych evaluations," I grumbled.

My answers during the interview might have been a tad too honest as Cementoss had questioned me through various topics that were only brought upon in response to my answers to his cookie-cutter questions. Thankfully none of the questions strayed into dangerous territory, otherwise I might have accidentally said something for them to pink-slip me before dragging me into a padded cell.

Outside the gate were the other couple hundred students being greeted by their excited parents. I glanced towards the reuniting families, many being embraced by both their mother and father, some were greeted by just one, and others were greeted by a caretaker. Or in one case a servant, as I noticed that one tall girl with a spiky black ponytail was greeted by a well-dressed man who bowed lowly to her.

So that must be Momo Yaoyorozu, didn't really get a good look at her during the exam or well at all. She must've kept to herself somewhere in the back or something.

Speaking of tall females, my eyes wandered over the crowd for my own. It did not take long to find her towering over everyone else, she even stood taller than the well-built man speaking to her.

In my peripheral I noticed Shoto walking in the same direction I was, it was then that I made the connection. Both he and the tall redheaded man standing next to Naomi had the same stoic sneer on their face. This man must be the number two hero Endeavor.

"There they are, oi Sam over here!" Naomi called toward me.

Both I and Shoto had arrived in front of our respective parents at the same time, the stoic boy glanced over at me for a moment before giving his attention to the man who was standing with his arms crossed over his wide chest.

"You kick that exam's ass?" She asked with a proud smirk.

"Yeah, was pretty easy when you can just ignore most of the obstacles."

"That's my boy." The said before pulling me into a side hug and ruffling my hair with her large fist.

In contrast to us, Edvevor just merely nodded stoically towards his son who reciprocated the gesture.

"This your boy Todoroki-san?" Naomi asked as we pulled away.

"He is, you are looking at the future of the Todoroki family, go on and introduce yourself." The man ordered.

Shoto politely bowed towards her, "hello, I am Shoto Todoroki."

"Nice to meet you kid," Naomi said with a soft smile, she then turned towards me and lightly slapped my head. "Go on and be polite for one second please."

I just barely resisted rolling my eyes but bowed toward the tall man nonetheless. "It's nice to meet you Todoroki-san. I am Samuru Ishii."

Endeavor regarded me for a moment before commenting. "So he does look like him."

Okay, rude, I'm right here, least you could do is talk to me like a normal person.

I could see Naomi's strained smile as she too felt a bit offended on my behalf. "Yes well, looks like our boys might be in the same class. Hopefully, he can keep up."

Endeavor scoffed. "Shoto is the pinnacle of what I can create, he will not be second-rate."

"Projecting much eh number two?" Naomi smirked.

Shoto's eyes widened a tad at the blatant disrespect. I however wasn't surprised, Naomi wasn't one to keep her mouth shut unless it was something important.

The man turned a fiery glare towards her, "I would suggest you not throw stones in your glasshouse, Ishii."

Naomi's jaw clicked shut.

"Come boy, it's time to go home." He said before marching off with Shoto following close behind.

"So that was Endeavor huh?" I asked as once they were several dozen feet away.

Naomi gave a strained chuckle. "Yeah, he's a bit…"

"Of an asshole?" I questioned as I saw him and his son both glare down an excitable teen who attempted to introduce himself to them.

"Language," she said whilst slapping the back of my head.

"Oi, how come you can and I can't?

"Because I'm an adult and you're not."

"That's not fair."

"Life's not fair." She said with a snort.

"That's not an excuse."

Naomi rolled her eyes as she walked away. "Don't care, didn't ask, plus you're my child."

I followed her with an angry huff. "Oi ancient memes are my thing!"

"That's cap."

"You did not just… stop saying old gen Z slang, you troglodyte."

"Nah fam, I'm finna do what I want."

I facepalmed, "I don't even know you right now."

"Awe come on squad fam, I'm totally hip yo."

"Now you're going even further back, just stop."

Naomi's shit-eating grin didn't go away as she continued to embarrass me with old American slang all the way home.

Why did I love this woman again?