Five years ago
"Why did you call me out here for?" The dragon stands tall in the small observation room. There's a two-way mirror separating the room from the medical wing. They can see into it, but the other side can't.
The general looks onto the scene before him with an unnervingly blank gaze. Unperturbed by the convulsing test subject that was currently fighting against the restraints binding him to the medical bed. His wrists are scraped raw, as he struggled against their hold. Trying his hardest to break free from the pain and suffering he was being subjected to. Multiple wires and tubes protrude from different parts of his body, practically engulfing the nine-year-olds tiny form, making him look even younger than he already was.
It's been two years since the start of project Aries. Two years of intense training and experimenting. Two years of pure hell for the boy lying in that small medical bed.
"Sir, you need to see this." The doctor, the mastermind of the experiment's process, states earnestly. An ominous excitement drips from his tone. The man rummages through a drawer of files, finally pulling one out with the label 'A-1' on it. Handing over the folder, he shuffles anxiously from foot to foot. Waiting for the general's input.
After a few minutes of silence, the man gets impatient, promptly going into a rambling fit.
"If you look at the test results, that kid has higher intelligence than most fully grown men. His intellect, in itself, surpasses anything we could have ever imagined. It's like he sees the world differently. It's like he doesn't perceive everyday things just like you nor I do. In fact, where we just process the image of an object, he processes everything, down to the tiniest detail of its composition. It's as if his brain is more open to stimuli from his surrounding environment." At the general's questioning glance, he elaborates. "You see, other people's brains shut out that kind of excess information in order to preserve their sanity. However, this kid... He can decipher and process anything within his mind. It's as if his brain is adjusted to these instinctual analyses sequences." He informs excitedly. "Now, I'm not sure if it's the product of the quirk his body forcefully manifested or if it's purely natural. But, no matter how you look at this. It changes everything."
The general contemplates the words coming from the man in front of him. His mind going back to the kid's prowess in training. Ranging from field aptitude to pure strategic proficiency. He knew the kid was smart, however, it seems that his perception was an understatement.
The boy was a genius.
"I see..." He says slowly, his mind going through the countless possibilities that have opened up. Not to mention the range of the kid's quirk, now that they knew its true extent. "Go ahead and start phase 3 then. It's time."
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Waking up was a slow process. His eyes flutter open, welcoming the soft hues of light filtering through his window. His eyelids blinking successively until they get accustomed to the brightness.
Having gotten used to sleeping on hard surfaces for the most part of his life, he found it rather difficult to fall asleep on his new bed.
The mattress was too soft and the sheets too smooth on his calloused skin. It unnerved him to the point where he decided to sleep on the carpeted floor. The familiarity of the situation helps calm his mind enough for him to eventually fall asleep.
He figures he'll have to get used to this new way of life eventually. Especially given the length of his mission.
Today was Yuei's entrance exam. Depending on the information he managed to gather, both online and from different military resources, it should be easy to get through. The only unpredictable factor was the practical part of the exam. Which will depend on the teachers and their collective decisions and judgment.
Rising from his position on the ground, he makes quick work of getting ready. Wearing casual gym clothes that consisted of a black hoodie and sweatpants. The sleeves and bagginess of the hoodie effectively covering his scars and the extent of his physical form from prying eyes.
Looking at his reflection in the mirror, he's satisfied with his new look. The red contacts and black hair dye worked wonders in making him look unrecognizable.
The Dragon has already set him up with an alternative identity under the name of Akatani Mikumo. A quirkless 14-year-old boy.
Today, he would be just like any other student trying to get into the general education course. Normal.
Even if he's anything but.
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The walk to campus takes more time than he anticipates. The bustle of ongoing people makes it hard for him to trudge comfortably. His skin crawls every time he brushes against a passerby, every time he has to slip between the ever-moving crowds of pedestrians on the sidewalks. He doesn't let it deter him though. He can't let his own comfort get in the way of his objective.
So he keeps walking, keeps bumping into people even when he tries his best not to. Nonetheless, he does make it to Yuei eventually, luckily on time too.
The sheer number of kids on campus is even worse, a nervous energy engulfs the area. The student's mounting anxiety is palpable. He wonders what it must be like. To fear, to worry, to feel.
Shaking his head softly at the thought, he enters the designated examination room. He's studied and memorized the building's layout and blueprints beforehand. Taking in all the entrances, exits, and pathways. Taken every precaution in order for his mission to run smoothly. It's what he was trained to do, after all.
The written exam is almost laughably easy. Math and science, he breathes through with little effort, the history portion taking a little bit more time, given the depth in which he answers the questions. English and Japanese literatures are child's play and the analytical and theoretical portion he actually has fun with. For once he has the chance to analyze and catalog his opinions freely, answering the philosophical questions with way more pages than required. He can't really bring himself to care though. He's already finished the exam and he has three hours left to spare. He figures losing a couple of points won't really affect his grade.
The next time he looks up from his papers, there are still two hours left for the end of the written portion to be announced. Izuku has to remind himself that leaving now would only attract unwanted attention. So, he sits there, back straight, posture perfectly respectable as he stares at the clock. Watching the hands tick down, a constant, rhythmic reminder of the slow passing of time. He feels the examiner's eyes on him after a couple of minutes. The man, pro hero Snipe, watches him for a few more minutes before finally giving in. He watches quietly as the hero makes his way towards him, steps hasty, as he passes through the rows of students in order to reach him.
Given that the written portion of the exam is common for all the courses, it takes the man a couple of minutes to get to him. By then, Izuku already knows what's about to happen, so he makes quick work of gathering his papers into one pile. Placing the pen on the corner of the table, exactly where he found it when he first came in.
"uhm..." The man clears his throat awkwardly, eyeing the papers on Izuku's desk suspiciously. "It would probably be best if you continued your work young man, this exam isn't a joke, and you can take a break after you've completed it." He says seriously, disapproval obvious in his muffled voice, the mask he's wearing distorting the sound slightly.
Instead of immediately responding, Izuku looks at the man in front of him for a moment, trying to think of a way to get out of the situation swiftly, and without further fanfare. The man squirms under his intense gaze, hand coming up to fidget with the strap of his holster. An involuntary nervous habit, Izuku notes.
"I'm done, sir." He says finally. Simple and straight to the point.
"Y-you're done?" The skepticism is clear in his voice and in the way his eyes flit to the papers once more. He actually takes them this time, though, flipping through them, eyes growing wider the more he skims through them. "Are you sure you don't want to go through your answers again? Revise anything, maybe?"
"No sir." The repeated use of the honorific seems to be making the teacher uncomfortable, not that Izuku plans on changing it anytime soon.
"Okay... Well, you can go, there's a lunch break before the practical exam, you have a couple of hours to take a break."
With the clear dismissal, Izuku doesn't waste any time before taking his leave. He feels many eyes follow his retreat the whole way out of the room.
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Shinsou doesn't expect to find anyone else when he finally gets to the waiting room, in order to wait for the next part of the entrance exam.
There's still ten minutes from the official end of the mandatory lunch break, after all.
However, to his slight surprise, he's not the only one there when he arrives.
There, sitting on a bench, on the far corner of the room is the kid from the written exam. Thinking back on it now, he should have expected the dark-haired boy to be here. He finished the exam with hours to spare, of course, he'd have finished his lunch before everyone else.
Stifling his mounting annoyance, he walks up to sit next to the teen. He'd be lying if he said he wasn't intrigued by the boy in front of him. The teen was either really stupid for blowing off the exam or really smart, to be able to finish it in record speed.
He expects to be greeted or at least acknowledged upon his appearance next to the mystery student, however, the boy remains silent. Staring at him with an unnerving blank look. It reminds him of the effect his brainwashing has on people. The emptiness he sees in those red, scorching eyes.
Clearing his throat, he decides to take the high road. "Hey." He starts pathetically, watching those fiery eyes narrow in slight suspicion, waiting for him to say whatever he has to say. "My, uh name is Shinsou. Shinsou Hitoshi." He introduces himself softly. "And you are?"
The silence stretches and Shinsou's annoyance skyrocket as it seems that the boy won't honor him with any kind of response. Yet, the moment that particular train of thought ends, the teen speaks up. His voice firm, yet quiet in the silence that resides around them.
"Akatani Mikumo."
Shinsou knows it's underhanded, knows it's what a villain would've done. Taking advantage of an unsuspecting person just to accomplish their own selfish goals. However, he knows that without another person's help, the probability of passing the exam won't be in his favor. Especially if it has to do with something physical.
So, the moment the words leave the dark-haired teen's mouth, Shinsou stretches the metaphorical wires that his quirk consists of. Trying to take over this boy's consciousness. Brainwash him into submission.
However, instead of the familiar control, he should feel setting into place. He feels as if a force knocks him right out of there. Pushing him away and blocking him from accomplishing his goal.
A piercing headache envelops his mind, as he feels like he's been forcibly ejected from the boy's mind.
What the hell.
It takes him a moment to realize that the world has stopped spinning. Another for him to look back into those red fiery orbs that are boring into him. Looking at him with both growing suspicion and, to his surprise, slight concern.
"Are you okay?" The boy- Mikumo asks Voice just as calm and expression just as blank as it was before.
"I- I'm fine." He grits out, guilt and frustration welling up in his guts as he realizes the predicament he's in. By now, all the examiners have arrived. All of them chat quietly to each other, sitting in groups, no chance for Shinsou to take control of one of them without the others noticing.
He doesn't really want to anymore though. His mind too caught up with what happened just a few minutes ago.
For a moment there, it felt as if there was something else in that mind. Something already there.
Pushing the thought away, he takes a moment to get back his composure. He'd do this without anyone's help. He was going to be a hero damnit. He needed to pass if he wanted to stand a chance of getting into the hero course someday.
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"Everybody say YEAHHHH! It's present Mic here, live and in person to introduce you to the final test!" The voice hero's voice resounds through the room before the man even enters the establishment. The sound, making more than a few people jump up in surprise. "Some of you may have guessed it, but I'll explain it either way! The next challenge you'll be facing will be... An OBSTACLE COURSE!" His words are punctuated by the opening of the immense metal doors behind him, leading into an open arena with said obstacle course in plain view. Full in all its giant, threatening glory.
It brings Izuku back to his first years of training. This was nothing compared to the torture they put him through. This was a school made obstacle course, full of safety nets and measures taken to prevent any real harm from attaining the participants.
The training he went through wasn't like that. He remembers the fire pits, remembers the drowning prevention training. Remembers trying to wade through the water with weights strapped to his back. Trying his hardest to keep his head above the water, keep the air flowing through his lungs.
He remembers his commanding officer's voice screeching in his ears. Remembers the threats that would hang ominously over his head the whole time. The guns aimed at his feet at every miss-step, every mistake, every fall, or slip-up.
Remembers the burns, the scrapes, the bruises. The scars.
He remembers the obstacle course they'd reserve especially for him. He was their special project after all. The other recruits weren't like him. They got standardized obstacle courses, similar to the one in front of him now.
Not him, though. Never him.
It takes him a moment to ground himself back into reality. Escape the flashbacks that were playing just beneath his eyelids. So close to the surface, yet, buried deep within his mind. A permanent reminder of what he went through to get here.
It's then that he hears Present Mic's voice break through the haze in his mind. "Well, what are you waiting for? Go GO GO!"
The other examinees are already running by the time his mind registers the words. His body reacts instantly though. Taking off in a run, easily passing half of the students in front of him.
The first obstacle is a standard mudslide under barb wires, meant to slow down the pace and equal the playing field. Yet, with Izuku experience and abilities, it's laughably easy.
He paces through the first few obstacles with relative ease, even stopping once or twice to help struggling examinees on the way. If there's something Izuku can't stand. If there's one feeling he's been able to retain throughout the years, it's his need to help people. It's like the emotion is so deeply ingrained in his mind that it stuck, even when everything else just...faded.
At some point, he finds himself at the front of the pack, the finish line is just up ahead, and the only thing separating him from it is the last obstacle. A tall, imposing wall that leads into a rope on the other side. A rope hanging horizontally over a ravine. Although, in Yuei's defense, they did put up a metal beam parallel to it, meant to help the contestants to keep their balance.
He climbs the wall with efficient, swift moves. It's only when he's at the top that he notices the two people behind him, both are just starting to climb the structure. He recognizes one of them as that Shinsou boy from the waiting room.
Shaking away the distraction, he continues on his way, wading through the rope as if it's a normal platform to run on. His balance and equilibrium were well-honed throughout the years.
After a few seconds, he feels his feet hit solid ground and he straightens out of his running posture. The finish line is just a few steps away now.
A hiss sounds from behind him and he sees Shinsou cradling his hand protectively over his chest. The boy next to him has a feral smirk on his features, hands glowing red as he holds onto the metal beam above them.
Izuku's mind instantly goes into analysis mode, with a closer look at both the beam and the red-glowing hands, he concludes that the boy probably has some kind of heat quirk. He can see the new red-ish hue that the metal is sporting. Can hear the slight, almost imperceptible sizzling sound erupting from it. It's scorching hot, meant to deter any other examines from following after him.
Shinsou looks a little shocked, but somewhat resigned, as if he'd expected something like this to happen. Given the nature of the test, Izuku should have expected it too.
The other boy, the one with the heat quirk, doesn't wait for Shinsou to regain his bearings, electing instead to continue his way through the obstacle. His pace is constant, albeit a little slow. His hand never leaves the beam through it all. Immune to the effects of his quirk, while maintaining the heat for as long as possible.
Izuku's mind tells him to go, this is a competition after all. The other students should be able to get through if they took things slow and didn't rush through it. The finish line was right there.
However, the longer he looks at Shinsou's unsteady form, watches the way his body sways, uneasy and unaccustomed, the more his heart tells him to go help.
He climbs back onto the line just at the heat wielder gets off, quickly running to meet the struggling teen ahead. It doesn't help either that other students are starting to climb onto the rope, making the whole thing shudder or move under their added weight.
Just as he reaches the purple haired boy, one student makes a particularly abrupt movement. Izuku watches in something akin to slow motion as the teen's foot slips, his body swaying dangerously before falling right into the ravine.
His body moves before his mind registers the action, one of his hands reaches down to catch the descending teen while the other shoots up to grip the metal bar above them. The scorching heat sears into his unprotected skin, the smell of burning flesh wafts through the air with horrifying clarity. Yet, Izuku doesn't react, doesn't even flinch. Heat and fire are something he's been subjected to more times than he'd care to count. The smell is somewhat familiar to him by now, his years on the battlefield, haven't been kind to him, after all.
Making sure his hold on the other boy is secure, he lifts him back up, the muscles in his arm bulging and flexing as he brings them both back onto the rope. Not letting go of the other teen's arm even when he starts walking the rest of the way. They get through it with measured, tentative movements. Izuku knows that the boy must be in somewhat of a shock so he doesn't rush or run them through it. Instead, he keeps a firm hold on his arm, hoping it's somewhat grounding for the boy.
Shinsou's eyes are wide and piercing as he looks at him, gaze never leaving his form the whole way back. Eyes constantly jumping to and from his injured hand.
They cross the finish line together. It's only then that Izuku notices the eyes of the other examinees on him, looking at him with a mixture of horror and awe.
With his head held high, he walks out of the testing area. He may not have gotten first place, but he suspects that his place at Yuei is secure. After all, second place wasn't anything to laughs at.
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"...Did that just happen?" The shock in Mic's voice is palpable as he whispers out the inquiry. Not talking to anyone in particular, but aiming the question at the group of examiners as a whole. "Did you guys see that?!" He screeches incredulously.
They're in the observation room, watching the obstacle course through multiple monitors, each one focusing on one of the students.
"That kid just fried his hand to save that other boy." Midnight answers, eyes wide, her words sound disbelieving to her own ears. "He didn't even flinch..."
"That boy just gave up first place, in order to help his opponent," Cementos notes, his voice betraying his fascination.
"That's the kid I told you about!" Snipe exclaims, uncharacteristically excited.
"Do you mean the one that bailed on the written exam mid-test?" Aizawa drawls slowly, despite the way his voice seems to be a little bit off, he too was shocked at the scene he just witnessed.
"He didn't bail, he completed it down to the last question. Got a perfect score too, not one mistake, even his essays covered all the required objectives and went into deeper depth than what was asked of him." Snipe chides defensively. "I think he has some kind of intelligence quirk."
"A heat resistance quirk would make more sense, though, right? Considering what we just saw." Mic contemplates out loud, getting a nod from midnight in agreement.
"I'm afraid you're all wrong." Nezu chimes in, having kept quiet up until now, his words instantly garner the attention of the room's occupants. "He doesn't have a heat resistant quirk, in fact, I just alerted Recovery girl so she can go tend to his wounds." The rodent starts with solemnity, despite the intelligent glint in his eyes. Snipe opens his mouth to say something, but the principle stops him before he can voice his question. "Nor does he have an intelligence enhancing quirk Mr snipe." The rat drawls out meaningfully, sending all of them a couple of curious glances to see their reactions. "In fact, he doesn't have one at all."
Silence meets the rodent's statement. Complete and utter silence fills the observation room as the heroes take in the information. All of them looking at the black haired teen in a new light.
"Quirkless?" Yamada sounds shocked, if a little impressed. "In this day and age?"
"Indeed he is," Nezu says simply, a grin forming on his features as he looks back at the monitor, watching the boy in question walk out of the arena. Movements casual, as if he's used to this much action happening. This much adrenaline coursing through his body. "It looks like this year's batch of students is going to be interesting."
Interesting indeed. Aizawa will have to keep an eye on that one. If only to stop that reckless streak of his.