Red and White, Black and Blue

Chapter 1: Exam Day

As she rounds the corner to step into the last stretch of sidewalk, it finally hits her. The massive main building of UA looms over the area, even though the shadows are on the far side at this time of day.

Is this really happening?

She looks down at the direction card she's carrying, checking that she's still going the right way. Dozens of other teens are strolling along the massive sidewalk too, most of them carrying similar cards and wearing the same mix of uncertainty, excitement, and anxiety. They're almost all going toward a larger building, probably for the general exam.

Ryumi takes a breath and continues walking. The trek up the hill was a bit of a tough one, normally she would have flown over terrain like this, but the whole atmosphere of the prestigious academy has her on edge.

A few more minutes of walking and the crowds have mostly thinned out. When she arrives in the exam room there's only a couple dozen applicants - not even enough to fill out all of the plain desks neatly arranged in the space - but almost all of them look exceptional.

Ryukyu was right, it might be less competition, but that wouldn't necessarily make it easier. Everyone here is a level above. Well, that is why she worked so hard the last few months.

Like everyone else, she immediately starts sizing up the others and trying to guess at their quirks. Determined and curious faces are all around, and a wide range of hair colors and body shapes. She can feel the stares of nearly everyone else linger on her. It's no surprise - she's the only one in the room with an obvious mutation element to her quirk. She's used to drawing attention because of it: even if mutation types are fairly common, people always have to look whenever you have non-human features.

Luckily that's not even the most impressive part of my power, they won't have too much of an advantage just knowing that much.

A dark-haired man in incredibly plain dark clothes and a long white scarf casually walks in. His eyes are frighteningly intense, and even though he doesn't look much like an official staff member he clearly commands the space like one.

Instructions are given, exams are handed out. Heads go down and pencils up, aside from the occasional thoughtful ceiling glance or clock check. Everything and everyone is quiet and focused under the dark-haired man's watchful gaze.

Well, almost everyone. As is typical in these kinds of high-pressure exams, someone always breaks. One kid near the back who was clearly the most nervous person in the room from the very beginning, and the only one visibly sweating, finally dies inside and vomits on the floor.

This draws some brief looks, but with a sigh the dark-haired man summons someone else from the hall outside to come deal with the kid and the atmosphere in the room soon returns to normal. After a handful of minutes, the kid is escorted back into the room to finish his test.

The rest of the exam time is basically uneventful. A few pencils snap and are replaced, nothing outside of what you expect. An hour later, the call goes out.

"Pencils down."

About half the students were already finished, looking idly about the room and out the windows. Ryumi is among them, she can't remember the last time a school exam actually took her the entire allotted time. The rest hurriedly scribble a last couple things and begin passing the exams forward for collection.

There's a short break for lunch before the practical begins, so everyone starts to file out. The vomit kid is notably shaking as he nears the door.

"Go home." The dark-haired man steps up to the kid, eyes cold and serious.