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Ren let out a long, gentle breath after double checking that his schoolbag had everything he would need for the day. A quick look in the mirror confirmed that his uniform was properly fitted and without any wrinkling at all. It would not leave a good impression on his fellow classmates if he forgot anything on his first day, nor if his uniform was anything less than perfect. Satisfied by his last check, he left his room and walked down the stairs, which lazily spiraled downwards in an extravagant way. At the bottom of the stairs, a neatly uniformed middle aged man greeted him with a deep bow. “Good morning, young master Ren. I will be your driver for today. The car is ready for you.” “Ah, good morning. Thank you, I will be leaving soon. Please wait in the car for me.” “As you wish,” the driver said, giving one last bow before making an exit through the wooden double doors, leaving Ren alone in the empty foyer. With a nervous gulp, Ren made his way to the kitchen, where his mother stood tapping away at her phone, her back turned to him. Behind her, a mug full of oolong tea sat on the counter, a plume of steam indicating it was fresh. “Good morning mom. Thank you for the tea.” The only sound that came in response was the soft clacking of his mother’s phone. Frowning a bit, Ren took the mug of tea. The only warmth he felt in the room came for the mug’s ceramic sides. “I’ll make you proud at school mom!” After waiting a moment hoping to hear some kind of response, Ren left the kitchen dejected, his footsteps echoing in the great void of the main hall. After putting on his shoes, he turned towards the kitchen one last time. “Itte-kimasu.” More silence was the only response. Letting out another long, gentle breath, Ren walked out the door. --- Ren stepped out of the car and into the bright spring sun, warming him as the cool air nipped at his face. As he approached the gates of the school, he saw that the headmaster was standing in front of them, taking attendance of his fellow students coming in for their first day. He had read that the pro hero Glory was the headmaster, but actually seeing the luminous man in person made his stomach drop a little. His journey in self-improvement would start as soon as he crossed the threshold and despite knowing he was prepared, he could not entirely shake his nerves. Mustering his courage, he approached Glory, clutching his bag tightly. “Good morning headmaster. I am Sanada Ren, first year,” Ren said, trying to hide his nervousness behind a deep bow, “Thank you for this opportunity!” "Well, I guess I don’t need to find your name. You performed well in the entrance exam, has this been your dream for long?" Ren felt a wave of relief after hearing that he was not an underachiever in the entrance exam. Rising, he responded with a smile. “Yes sir, ever since I saw heroes on the news, I wanted to use my Quirk to protect Japan from those who would hurt it. I hope that I will be able to live up to the legacy that all of you have made!” "I have high hopes for this whole class. So, Sanada, why do you want to be a hero?" Ren paused for a moment before replying. For a moment, a pang of guilt shot through him as he remembered how upset his mother was when his father agreed to allow him to come to this school. He allowed the thought to come and pass before he responded, speaking with conviction. “I believe that everyone in society has a role to play in society. People born with Quirks have a duty to develop them to their full potential and use them to help everyone as much as they can. I think that the only way for me to develop my Quirk to its full potential is to become a hero. I would be failing everyone if I did not try.” "So, you feel that with a quirk such as yours, it is your responsibility to use it to become a hero?" “Yes sir. I am lucky to have a Quirk like mine, and I would be squandering this gift if I did not push it to its limits.” "I know how you feel. I first wanted to be a hero for similar reasons. I learned more in my time here, but that start was the same. I think you are going to grow quite a lot, at U.A." “I hope I can meet your expectations headmaster!” "As do I. Go on and head in, you have a lot ahead of you." Ren gave one last bow to Glory before walking past the gates and into the campus proper. His walk quickly grew to a run as a smile grew on his face. His new life as a hero had officially begun, and he could not wait to begin! Upon reaching the classroom, he noticed that most of his classmates had already claimed most of the available seats, leaving the front and back rows completely occupied. Making a mental note to walk to school in the future, Ren quickly made his way to the last available seat in the second row, passing on the open box of monaka hoping that the teacher would not come in before he could introduce himself. After hastily unpacking his supplies, he turned to address his classmates. “Good morning everyone. I am Sanada Ren. I hope that I can learn a lot from you all!”

It was a delightful April day. The sun was shining and everyone was out on their daily commute. Usually on a day like today, Emi would have ambled a little more, taking in the morning's warmth. Instead, she was sprinting down the street. Of course. Today was such an important day, and she just had to oversleep. It could’ve been the fact that she set her alarm for a.m. instead of p.m. by accident, or that she was too nervous to sleep. This is U freaking A we’re talking about here - the best of the best. What if her Quirk wasn’t good enough? What if she didn’t train enough? She passed the exam, but still, she wasn’t really sure what everyone else was capable of. What would her parents think if she flunked out? It was thoughts like these that kept Emi up for a little longer than she wanted to. Luckily for her, the Kikuchi family didn’t live too far from the school. After a panicked yelp upon seeing the time, she threw on her uniform, not even buttoning the jacket, and grabbed her backpack. “Morning mom and dad, I’m off!” Before they could respond, Emi burst out the door. Seeing UA on the horizon, Emi stopped to catch her breath. She slumped against a nearby tree and slid to the ground breathing heavily. After about a minute or so, Emi picked herself up and continued her trek, walking this time just because the building was so close. As she approached, Emi couldn’t help but marvel at the structure. “Wow! This place is amazing...” she gawked. She barely noticed the important-looking dude standing at the entrance rifling through some papers. He was a fairly tall man in what looked to be a hero costume, and was about a foot taller than Emi. “Hi! The name’s Kikuchi. Kikuchi Emi as a matter of fact.” He thumbed through his papers. "Ah, yes, Kikuchi... It seems you performed reasonably well on the entrance exam. Have you been training your quirk?" Maybe it was Emi’s imagination, but the man’s intense golden eyes seemed to stare right through her. They intimidated her a little, but she guessed that meant this guy was no joke. She excitedly replied, “Totally! I worked pretty hard, you know, after the whole exam thingy. You know the deal, working out and exercise and all that.” "Of course. Just don't be giving it up now that you have made it in. Things won't be getting any easier." "Oh don't you worry about that. Trust me!" "In that case, go ahead and head right in. Best of luck." “Thanks!” Emi turned away from Glory and walked into the building toward the classroom. Everyone’s probably there already. Hopefully I can meet someone before classes start. She didn’t want to be left as the odd one out in the class without anyone to talk to at the end of the day. She picked up her pace and entered the classroom. Most of the seats were already taken, so Emi settled for the only open one closest to the door. She set her bag down and assessed her surroundings. Everything seemed relatively normal. Well, except for the one guy who was standing on all fours in front of the teacher’s desk wolfing down what looked like monaka. A little strange, but nothing too jarring. Maybe he missed breakfast too. Emi grabbed her notebook and pens from her bag and placed them on her desk. Then, she whipped around towards the young man sitting behind her. Grinning from ear to ear, she decided to introduce herself. “Hi! The name’s Kikuchi. What’s yours?”