scooterulez

"Damn it! I was close. But what the heck was that?! That was no Hindu Goddess quirk for sure." Lily's quirk was a lot more flexible then Taro thought, granted it wasn't a "flower3ing" type of quirk. Nevertheless, Taro took out the scales given to him as he proceeds to throw them in the air above him and to pocket them as they fall. "Alright, so I feel your scales will be good at defending ourselves against Lily if she tries to grab us, or even throwing them at Misu if she charges again." Looking across the field, he saw that Misu was discussing with Lily, maybe they should do the same. Turning around to Tatsu, "Do you know if she can get hurt if we attack her multiple appendages?" "H-Hey...I said it was...l-like a Hindu Goddess Quirk..." Kibo groaned, before trying to regain his composure after the assault he had taken. "E-Either way, I-I believe she would..." "Okay, so we should take out Misu first, we need to trip her up somehow." Reaching down to the ground below them, he felt the snow. "This stuff is flaky, no slipping here. Can you-" "It's your lucky day Taro...I don't feel like beating the snot out of you just yet. I'm gonna take it out on your partner instead!" Misu yelled at them, which more or less, startled Taro as he quickly whipped out his cuffs as she started to run towards them. However, she came to a screeching halt as she was a few meters or so out just in case as Misu stops before them. What is she- "CHYAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!" A burst of steam erupted from her body pushing hot steam towards Taro and Tatsu, covering the snowy mountain peak in a cloud of vapor. "Crap! Tatsu! Are you okay?!" "Y-Yeah...as much as I can be..." Kibo groaned slightly, looking around to attempt to see through the blinding snow. Taro looked back where Misu was as the gusts stopped to some extent, but he lost her position. Where did she go?! Just then, he heard steam jets and a shadow of sorts jump up from the corner of Taro's peripherals. "Tatsu! Heads up!" Reaching into his pockets, he threw 3 preloaded thrown scales in the direction of the now gone shadow like playing cards, zooming into the vapor. "Okay..." Kibo nodded, looking around and proceeded at this point to shoot out a few scales in all directions. His plan: hopefully his scales would hit someone on the opposite side and give them enough time.

As the next phase of today’s training came, the screen zoomed on. . . Misu. "Aww dang. We get the hothead of the class as our opponent." Taro said as he stood back up. It might be over before it began if he was going against Misu. Sure, Herc was be a problem fight at best, but what could Taro do against her? "Misu? Is that the girl that looks all delinquentish?" Kibo asked, starting to twiddle his tail, looking at the board. "...and she has Lily as her partner? Oh boy." "Yeah, the delinquent there. She is an up-close fighter. Though you seem troubled by Lily, was it? What's her deal?" Kibo nodded and kept twiddling his tail. "Yeah, Lily Orchid. Her Quirk...well, let's just say it's interesting. It sort of makes it where she can be...okay you've seen those Hindi depictions of their various deities, right? Namely the ones with a lot of arms?" "Yeah, so she can make like-" Before he could finish, the stage started to shift as Misu and Lily came into view of the two boys. On each side of the field sprung 2 pairs of handcuffs as they were made to nullify quirks. Misu started to jeer at Taro declaring they have declared winning this battle, she might be right, but ignoring her is best at this moment as he needed to know how to deal with the fight to be. Picking up both handcuffs and handing one to Katsu, "Well, I’ll take both unless you want to have one." Just then the temperature changed drastically as hard winds blew in and snow started to fall as the field became white within a few seconds. To think, the world has really become a thing of the future for sure, but this might be a game-changer if it plays outright. Taro felt a tug from his hand as Katsu took the handcuff from Taro's previously extended hand. "I'll take one for myself..." Kibo exhaled heavily, taking one of the handcuffs, putting them in his own pocket. "...here's hoping things go well...though I'm really not liking this snowy terrain..." "I am a huge fan of snow actually, but yeah let's try to make good use of the situation." Just then, the battle ensued as Misu, taking no wait, ran towards Taro at a high speed and swung her fist at him. Predictable as it was, Taro ducked out of the way as he quickly swung the handcuffs towards her extended arm in hopes of cuffing her for that punishable opening move.

Every sound has become dull as the bombs kept coming doing more damage to his hearing. Finally, out of the chaos, Taro went and pocketed every bomb in the room and stood firm as he used whatever strength he had to keep the bombs at bay, hoping that he can hold out to the end of this test of his. After a minute or so of strenuous pain as each bomb went off, the room went quiet. No new bombs spawned, the room got a bit brighter as a door became visible in his view. Taro fell backward and gave out a victory cheer as he heard presumably Ms. Hitotsume talking, but was pretty muffled as Taro’s hearing started to slowly come back to him. Assuming she didn’t want him to dawdle, he rose up and proceeded to the door. Upon opening, he came into another room of similar design, but there was someone there waiting. A lizard man? "Uhh, hi. Are you a student, teacher, or hologram villain? And speak up a bit if you could, I am hard of hearing right now." The scaled-young man looked at Taro for a moment, before moving slightly, proceeding to twiddle his tail in his hand some. "Oh, hey. Um, I'm Tatsu Kibo...Kibo for short...or Tatsu, either one is fine really." he said, chuckling nervously. "I'm a student from Class 1-A...just actually got here from my own test...wasn't pretty. A-Anyway, I guess...assuming that what I was told earlier was true, we're supposed to be partners in some mock battle." "I suppose, I think I heard my teacher’s voice, but it was just muffled due to the end results of my test. So I am just going to with what you said then." Taro extended his hand towards Tatsu as he got closer to him. "Hi, I’m Tenkara Taro from 1-B." "Nice to meet you." Kibo nodded, extending the hand and shaking it. "So, uh...well to help you out, I guess I should mention my Quirk. My Quirk is called Scale, a Mutant-Type." he pointed to the scales that he currently had. "The other things, ears, claws, tail...that's inherent from my father's Quirk. A-Anyway, I have durable scales which is a great defensive mechanism for me...but I can also use them as projectiles." "That’s awesome! My Quirk is Pocket, an Emitter-Type. I can fit any amount of non-living objects into my pockets, regardless of mass and size." Reaching into his pocket, he pulled out his carrying bag. "The downside is that I can’t keep them in for long as the bigger/heavier objects will burst out of my control quicker than something like a bag." "Ohhhh...I see." Kibo nodded again, before raising a finger. "Hey...I just had an idea! I...don't have a clue who we'd be going up against...but if this Quirk of yours does what it says..." he said, moving his left arm in front of him, immediately popping off a few of the scales off his arm. "Here!" Kibo held out his hand, it being filled with roughly 10 scales, out towards Taro. "Fit these into it. That would definitely help and be quite a surprise!" Holding the scales felt light, and they were sharp to a point like a knife that had been used for a while. "Thanks, but yeah, who knows what our teachers have in store for us, especially with my teacher behind the wheel." He leaned over to Tatsu and whispered, "She’s crazy." "Y-Yeah...a good portion of the teachers here at U.A. are..." Kibo agreed, moving slightly as he sat down on the ground, holding his tail slightly. "Guess...we just sit around and wait for the moment or something." “Yeah.” Taro sat down as well as he pulled out a deck of cards. “Hey, do you want to see a cool card trick?”

This training was becoming bothersome and increasingly tiring as the timing of the bombs became more sporadic as 2 or more began to go off together. The explosions themselves seemed to be less potent as the only damage they seem to be doing is making it harder for Taro to hear the ticking, and at least one of his pants pockets blowing out from the inside-out. Taro’s hands began to become stiff from overuse combined with the overall pain it was bringing. However, Taro did his best to keep up with the bombs as they went off, although it felt he has been in the room for an hour or more. He needed a break, just some time to rest. He ran off into the corner of the room to get away from the madness; however, the bombs followed as they just spawned near Taro. “GIVE ME A BREAK!! Are you not entertained?!" He yelled as he continued to grab the explosives and just toss them away from him in hopes of getting his hands a break for a bit from the chaos circling about him.

It wasn’t long before Taro heard a faint ticking noise, which was soon followed by many more ticks filling the void silence of the once low humming hum of the room. Looking around himself, he was surrounded by objects that seem to resemble different types of bombs. Some looked like that cartoonish bomb without fuses, while the other looked like those you would see in a terrorist bombing situation. This had to be a hologram, right? Going to the closest bomb, he confirmed that they were definitely physical to the touch. “Hey, uhh Ms. Hitotsume. I am generally confused about what I’m initially doing with these LIVE BOMBS!” "Oh...those?" She giggled. "Well, this is just a test of your decision making, and reflexes! If you pay attention closely, these bombs are set to blow at awkward times. Just make them small, and the explosion will be small, right?" In most ways, that made a lot of sense, but Taro only assumed that, based on his experience with a baseball, the kinetic force of objects retained their energy inside his pocket-verse. “So, in doing so of retaining these bombs before the impact of the explosion, it would be a 50/50 of them dissipating in my pocket during the explosion, or they retain their form until I release them. . .” Too much thinking will result in Taro getting hurt, he quickly got into a squat as he listened for some sign of them going off. The ticking was getting annoying; however, there was a distinct rhythm to each of them that if he continued to listen closely then. . . It wasn’t long before he heard it, the noise of an old microwave ding from his left. With no hesitation, he leaped towards the bomb and compressed it as a sound of an explosion faintly sounded and echoed in the room. Taro held the bomb for a few seconds in his hand as it began to cramp harshly due to the force of the bomb. Soon, he flung his hand above him and released his palm only to find a cloud of fine dust spreading out into the room. He couldn't believe that Ms. Hitotsume would have more understanding of his quirk than he did; it seemed illogical but can’t argue with the results. “I thank you for not trying to purposely kill me just to prove a hypothetical.”

The next hour or so was just the 3 of them talking about each other. Taro talked about his accident and showed them his scars, Herc seemed impressed, but couldn't really tell. soon after, Taro was discharged from the hospital, with his parents waiting for him to take him home. His parents seemed quiet in both picking him up and driving back home until his father spoke up. "I thought you said this was going to be a 'safe trip' Taro. Are we going to have to deal with this on a constant basis? More broken bones? More hospital trips?! Thankfully the school covered a majority of the bills, but that still doesn't give you the right to give us heart attacks. That accident you had when you were a kid had us worried sick that you weren't going to walk again, and now you want to ruin your dreams of being a magician by going to this school of death?" "Dad, I really thought it was going to be a safe trip, I didn't expect to be put out into the field from the get-go and run into gang leaders with quirks." *That's another thing, these quirks are getting out of hand. I remember when I was your age no one in my family had quirks until my cousin developed one that allowed her to walk on any surface. I mean these things can be cool at times, however, these things are just confusing and it literally scares me that one day someone will come along and just blow up an entire city one day, and they will be totally fine." "Honey, you need to calm down and focus on the road." His mother turned around to Taro, "We are just concerned about you, and your father and I were thinking about sending you to another school for your safety and our wellbeing. However-" "What?! That's not fair! I got into this school fair and square and just because of one little accident doesn't mean that-" "Hold on Taro, let me finish. We will allow you to continue to attend UA as long as you try to be more careful next time." "However, if you as so much break more than 5 bones next time, we are taking you out for your own good. Do you understand? ". . . yes, father, I will do my best to be more careful." It seemed pretty hard to keep that promise as it was a mixture of his personal misjudgment and the school's curriculum. How could Taro keep up with classmates how seem to have a knack for this kind of stuff? If there is a will, there's a way supposedly. The next days of school were pretty much normal as a school would be as it gave those who have suffered some injury to recover. Taro's broken body seemed to recover faster than normal as within a few days as he was told by his doctor to resume life as normal. The medical sciences of today were more advanced than when he was little. A few days later, the class was treated to a day of "quirk building" as they were going to put their quick limits to the max. Everyone soon went into their dark rooms as Taro was the last one to get into his. The door shut behind him as the weird lights illuminated the room. "It seems that holograms are in use, but how will they help us I wonder?"

"Yeah, you could say it didn't go so hot. I basically misunderstood how a villain's quirk worked and juiced his quirk to the max, and he went nuclear on us, I did the number one rookie mistake of the business: I was too cocky, and Taro paid the price. I gotta say, pain really sucks. So, what happened to you? Got anything to do with all... that? That's a bit of an understatement, as it was more damaging than getting a sprained ankle, but what is Herc exactly gesturing about? Her face? From this distance, it seemed fine though Taro didn’t see anything out of the ordinary. It wasn’t until Diana lifted up her sheets to reveal a very bloody banded up leg, she seemed to be despondent just as much as Taro is about his condition. The thought of his other classmates came to mind and wondered how they are faring. It would seem that she was the only one in the hospital from her group here, assuming it wasn't that bad as she made it be. Rather have muscles torn than a broken bone. . . well 5 broken bones. But what happened to you, exactly? You look a lot more... <naked> than usual, Herc." “Hasn’t Herc always look like that? Outside of the bandages? However, and albeit, given the position we are in, I think it’ll be beneficially good to take our minds off of what has happened today. This would give us a better opportunity to learn more about each other since we’ll be here for a while. I mean we are all in this together for the long haul, wouldn’t you say?” Taro sat up a back more, though it was uncomfortable moving up an inch, lying down was uncouth even in a hospital bed. “I think we would be doing a disservice if we just moped about, besides, I want to make new friends.”

It wasn’t long before the thugs were finally taken down as the authorities and ambulances came. Taro didn’t see what happened to his classmates as he was taken into an ambulance to the hospital. It turns out that he broke 5 bones; 2 ribs, his entire left arm in 2 places and his pinky, along with some asphalt burns in a few places. Taking no time, they put Taro under as they neared the hospital. A few moments later, he woke up in a hospital room with his arm in a sling, a weird torso cast on his body, and a tourniquet on his pinky. Letting out a sigh, Taro laid in his bed as he thought about his first accident as this was just not as bad, at least this wasn’t affecting him as much from when he was little. In fact, there was very little pain from what he was experiencing at the fight. There must be someone here with a quirk to help with people in serious conditions, glad to know that someone like that exists here; unless that was just the numbness talking. His train of thought was broken as a yelp sounded from across the room to see. . . Diana? This was unexpected, but from his left, Herc appeared in the room with bandages around his arms. I guess the strong bug man can’t handle everything with brute force I guess, at least he was concerned with Taro’s wellbeing. “Oh, sorry I didn’t see you guys here. . . No, I’m doing fine, I was just thinking about. . . life, I guess. I feel like we were set up to fail in some way, you know? No matter how hard we tried to not get hurt, we end up with broken bones. But yeah, Diana, we had a run-in with ‘low-level thugs’ and I at least ended up hurt. However, I didn’t expect Herc to be here honestly. So, what happened with your group Diana? It must’ve been just as bad I’m assuming. Is it just you? Or are others here?”

Oh shoot! This was Taro’s last thought as he shot off like a car flying through the air as he repeatedly hit the ground, causing him to blackout after a hard blow to his head. Everything was muted and blurry as his sight came back, as the fight was still going on he concluded that he passed out for a few seconds, though he wondered what just happened to him. The adrenaline was enough to keep him from feeling some of the pain from the impact, but he needed to know what is broken and what isn’t. Slowly but surely, he started to find if he had broken anything as the natural painkiller started to wear off. His body overall was hurting, but he felt intense pain in his left arm and right side of his chest. He tried sitting up, only to be greeted by a stabbing sensation and quickly just laid back down as he tried to see what was going on with the fight. It seemed that Ms. Hitotsume was finally helping the rest of the class. . . well, those who can still fight that is. . . Taro reached into his pocket and pulled out a baseball bat as he took another attempt to sit up using it as a crutch. Fighting through the pain, he was able to get a better view of what is initially happening. He was relatively far from the group as he saw Hibiki threatening the man, to the teacher firing a beam from her stomach. Nevertheless, Taro looked at his arm as though his hand seemed fine, outside of a broken pinky, his upper arm was definitely broken. His legs seemed fine as he scooted over away from view, however, his mind ran as he settled down. Well, I guess I’m just a helpless victim now. Though I could help fight, however, that would lead me to get hurt even more than I am now. I need to take it easy for the short while. . . It seems that everyone is much more capable in fighting than I am, I mean, what can I do except throw flashy smoke bombs and cars. . . Is this really worth it though? Why did I even come to this school? I don’t have the greatest quirk ever and yet here I am, in the Hero Course fighting gang leaders and breaking myself in the name of ‘justice’. . . It seems that today was just a set up for me to fail in some way as if some god just doesn’t like me and is just expecting me to give up. . . I wonder if the other group is faring better than us. I might as well call the authorities to at least help to an extent because heaven forbid that I do nothing and sit around while everyone else is fighting. Reaching in his pockets, he grabbed his phone and dialed the police, hoping to at least get someone else here to help instead of having 1 pro and a bunch of students do all the work. Oh God, I feel pathetic. . .

"Ooooh! I haven't seen Ren get this amped in a hot minute! Your students must be really dumb! Heehee!" "I'm starting to think so too..." Sure, call us stupid, but we came to take care of thugs, not gang leaders. And besides that, Taro's good attempt to help a classmate ended up being something stupid as the man emitted a dome of. . . what? Physical light? Or some kind of tangible kinetic energy? Whatever it was, it was destroying everything around it as it expanded, though Herc pitted himself against it, holding it back no less. However, he seemed to be struggling against it as it continued to expand from where he stopped it. Hibiki and Itsuki got behind Herc to help lessen the load of just pushing against it, while Yuuka seemed to be throwing more poison at the man again. Since the climax of the fight is at hand, standing around won’t do anything to lessen the damage, nor the emotional damage their teacher will bring after today. Quickly getting off the bus, he ran up next to Herc and started to push against the dome as well. “If this thing is tangible in any way, I can at least help push!”

"WHAT ARE YOU IDIOTS DOING OVER THERE!? YOU GONNA MAKE THE GIRLS DO ALL THE WORK FOR YOU!? YOU'RE PATHETIC EXCUSES FOR MEN! NOT GET YOUR ASS IN THE FIGHT, OR I'M GONNA JOIN IN, AND WHOOP YOUR ASSES WITH HIM!" “No! I wasn’t trying to do let th-” "My idea for a sneaky body slam was ruined by Teach anyways," “Wait! Herc! Didn’t you hear-” It was too late as Herc took off at the villain as he grabbed the villain then both took off into the sky. Taro was left there on the bus, arms crossed and mumbling to himself as Herc proceeded to pile drive onto the man. However, in the aftermath of Herc's second attempt, the man was left in a state that left his body shinning like a lightbulb. It was a very unusual sight to see, but nothing really clicked with Taro about his quick until he spilled some info on it. "Now you've gone and done it. I ain't got much time with it...but man you really gave me some juice." Wait! We shouldn’t be hitting him with everything we got. Herc was soon sent flying off before crashing into the ground near Taro, though this time Herc was probably feeling some pain just from his second attempt to punch the man straight on, again. "Hey, Taro! Do somethin' with this, yeah?" Taro showed a disapproving look at Herc. The beetle man, who probably punches first ask questions later, now wanted to know what Taro thought of the situation. “Hmm, I don’t know Herc, I had an inkling of a plan on what we could do before you just shot yourself at him without taking an interest! Use your special ears!” Looking around, Yuuka formed what looked like an orb that splatters a mist around the man. Hibiki grabbed some trash off the ground what looks like a bottle and hid from view. And now Itsuki, getting his attention with asphalt, took his turn to the villain, "Hey, meat-head! Do you think tossing a bug is impressing anyone? I was doin' that shit when I was a toddler! Why don't you try this on for size!" "Wait! Itsuki! The mist!" It was too late, Itsuki ran forward into the mist knowing full well that he could get internally hurt unless he didn't know about it. Didn't he see Yuuka throw the poison orb?! However, as he got close, he got down low as if he was to sweep him off his feet, a perfect opportunity! “You reckless idiot!" Taro reached into his pocket and grabbed his second car and threw the car directly at both of them as Itsuki got low. “Stay down Itsuki! Yuuka! Grab Itsuki from your mist when you can!” If all played out, Taro would have saved his teammate and also hurt the man if the car hit again but will dispel most of the mist nevertheless, destroying whatever Yuuka was doing to slow the man down. The odds were against this, but the high risk comes with a high reward if this move plays out. "Oh please miss Itsuki!” Muttered Taro as the car grew back to its original size as it flew towards them.

“Yosh! I hit him!” Proclaimed Taro as he did an air-pump to himself. However, that victory was short lived as the guy seemed unphased by what has occurred. "So...you brats really think you can step on our turf, beat up some of my guys, and throw a car at me?!" If being on “their” turf didn’t provoke them, the car was a sure indication that it did. Taro ran behind the nearest car to get out of his sight, just in case, while he continued to listen to the villain. "You kids are pretty insane! Sure you don't wanna join the yakuza? Any brat that can put a bruise on me is worth their weight in gold! Well...the survivors have the best chance of joinin'...so why don't we start initiation!" As soon he finished his small monologue, he leaped towards Hibiki, who in turn retaliated by biting the man. Yuuka and Itsuki also got involved, but Taro had no idea what to do as he couldn’t throw another car in that mess without hitting his classmates. Nevertheless, he should be doing something to help but if feels he wouldn't do much to him, then he noticed Herc had disappeared from his last spot only to show up upon the bus. An idea popped into reality as he grabbed another car and quickly ran over to the bus, proceeded to climb, though not gracefully, up and stood next to Herc. “Hey Herc, it’s me Taro. Do you know what to do, because I kinda have a slight plan up my sleeves if you are willing to team up.”

The thugs were immediately taken care of as Herc and Hibiki took out the remaining two, and all were praised, except Yuuka and Itsuki were not so lucky as they were rebuked by Hitotsume. Everything seemed like all was going well for a hero-work field trip, beat up a couple of street vandals and that’s that. That was going to be the case until 2 more guests arrived. They weren’t the typical gangster grunt as they looked relatively well dressed, unlike the thugs from earlier. Without hesitation, Hitotsume stripped of her formal attire to reveal a more than revealing outfit, sporting a weird looking eyeball on her stomach, and ready to fight the spunky girl. Nevertheless, the man wheedled everyone else to take a whack at him. Itsuki was the first to goad the man to attack him but was interrupted as Herc went in to get a punch in, only to meet a counter blasting him to the bus. Just by that display, Taro was in no way going to meet that man up close, he needed a projectile of some sort. Quickly looking around, he noticed a few rundown cars, even a few with missing tires that would be good for throwing. Running to the closest vehicle, he compressed the car and grasped it in his hand. Turning back to the conflict, Yuuka started to lob a sphere towards the man as Taro prepared to throw. “Just think of your baseball practices. Use your full arm. . . And!” Taro pitched the car at the man as it began to grow back to its original size. “Please let it hit!” yelled Taro as Hibiki began to yell out loud in what sounds like a higher pitched banshee screech.

The weekend after evaluations went by as Taro practiced a new magic trick and took time to do some rigorous exercising after that sloped wall completely humiliated him. On the day of the field trip though, Taro felt inclined to pack some extra things with him and a jacket with extra pockets as he doesn’t know what the trip would entail. Better safe than sorry, especially if you are doing hero-work with the professionals. As everyone got to school, the class was soon divided into 2 groups. A majority of the class went with Pro-Hero Spring Lock, son to the principle of all people, while the rest went with Ms. Hitotsume to the Dagobah District, a very rundown district. Upon arriving, she started to debrief the group about how the area was a cesspool of gang-related violence until they were interrupted by such people. 3 older adults that fit “hoodlums” more than gang threatening Taro’s group to scram. Looking at his class, Herc could take them on no problem just from his size and power, however, Taro was not going to sit by and let him take credit. Reaching into his pockets, he pulled out a pair of white gloves and something else in his right hand. Taking a deep breath, he cleared his composure as he knew of a plan to take out at least one of them. Leaning to his peers, “Hey guys, I’m going to get the guy with the knives, watch my six. I’ll be back, I’ve got a show to perform.” Turning back to the hoodlums, "How can we scram when you have threatened our teacher?!" We ask that you leave or we will dispose of you ourselves!" They scoffed at his declaration, signifying their refusal. So, Taro pointed at the one with the knives and signaled to come at him, as he started to sprint at the man. As they got closer, Taro threw down a smoke ball ahead of himself as a puff of white smoke appeared, causing the man to stop as he lost where Taro went. However, Taro didn’t stop and jumped at the man from the cloud, grabbed his wrists, and slammed both of his hands together until it caused him to release his weapons, all the while getting kneed in the legs and a headbutt. “Thanks for the cooperation, sir!” Quickly, he grabbed both his tank and shorts, yanked as hard as he could compressing both and quite literally ripping them off the man leaving him is his already exposed underwear on the ground. Taro threw back his clothes, ripped and tattered, as the man gathered them and ran off past his compatriots. “We aren’t going anywhere! It’s you who needs to scram!” Taro stood his ground with a clasped fist in the air as the white smoke dissipated into the air showing his peers his triumph.

The rest of the week went by smoothly as they were learning the same old things as normal, even got to play baseball with a couple of old school friends on Thursday. However, the start of the second week of school was going to be an exciting day for sure as the class was going to have their quirk assessments. Ms. Hitosume presented 3 different areas in which the class was to be doing, a punching bag, a shooting gallery of sorts, and an obstacle course. It seems simple enough, but it was a little overkill with the obstacle course, but that is something that heroes would face an everyday situation if it arose to it. As each classmate went and did their assessments, Taro was watching carefully on how each of them did the obstacle course as that may be his weakest one outside of the other tests. Each had their own way of getting across, some with their quirks or just their physical prowess to get through it. However, watching is easy, it would be implementing it is going to be the challenge. Better save the course for last. Soon after Katsurou and Yuuka were done, Taro stepped up to the plate to show his physical feats were going to be put to the test as his quirk was not really suited for any of the tests, especially the target gallery. Unless he got a big boulder to throw, but sadly, there was none in sight. A no show for the targets to say the least without a projectile quirk of some sort to present, “Sorry, nothing from me for the gallery.” Up next, the bag was also simple enough as it was, hit as hard as you can, how hard could that be? Wanting to get at least a good strike at it, Taro ran and lunged into his punch as his fist made contact and continued through to get the full effect of the swing. His score was. . . Average. Good enough, for now. Finally, the obstacle course, it should be easy if he copied what some of his classmates did, at least the ones that didn't use their quirk to get through it. Coming to the wall, he ran towards the slope and jumped up touching with the tip of his fingers on the ledge, but tumbled backward as his feet his the slope. Taking a deep breath, he ran for his second attempt. . . and fell again, and again, and again. Taro wasn’t getting the jump he needed off the slope to get a good grip on the ledge until he finally grabbed onto it. . . but lost his grip and tumbled back down. These attempts seemed to last a while before Taro yelled out in frustration “SCREW THIS!!” He went up to the slope, put his hand on it, compressed the ramp, and walked to the step- trampoline before throwing the ramp back with it just a little off center from its original position. No need to struggle with that any longer than needed to if he couldn't get over it through his normal strength, and everyone was using their quirks as well so it was fair to do so. The course after that was relatively difficult with the glass walls and the fingertip bars, being the harder ones of the bunch, and just being tired and sore from the sloped wall. Nevertheless, he got through it with only that little mishap at the beginning, a few slipping from the bar ladder and fingertip bars, which resulted in sore hands in the end.

“You. You fail.” Whoa! That was very unexpected, however, thinking back on what Kess said there were parts that didn’t make a ton of sense. It didn’t clearly ring with the traditional thinking of elders and their involvement in the lives of the youth, and vice versa, that Taro grew up with. And going off of her name alone, she doesn’t seem like she was taught that as she might be a foreigner. Is Japan the sane one in this respectful tradition? Whatever the case, it seems that she got the boot and there was nothing Taro could do about it since it would be against a teacher’s judgment against his. The rest of the school day went as normal, English, math, the usual school stuff he was used to. The day went by fast and soon the class was dismissed for the day, but before giving each student a paper and declaring that the class was to have in-field training and they need a parent signature. Seems simple enough, his parents were thrilled about Taro making into the school and they are very supportive of this career that Taro is venturing into, though they might have doubts to in-field training. Maybe Taro could use another phrase. . . Nevertheless, everyone seemed to be mingling with each other or just leaving for the day, but today was family game night and one doesn’t miss out on such nights without being questioned about why they weren’t there. After packing his things into his pockets, and saying bye to the class, he made his way towards the exit, passing by the Ms. Hitotsume and Kess on the way out. “Hey, honey! How was your first day of school?” Taro’s mother was the only one home at the time as his father was still at work, but still, her presence still made the day more enjoyable. “It was fine, our teacher is a prohero, that’s cool, and we had the normal educational stuff in middle school, but we get to learn how to be a hero and whatnot. So far, it is going great.” The next ten minutes was his mother going on about how much the school system has changed since she was in school, and such before his father came home a little earlier than usual. “Oh! Good timing dad, my teacher gave us a permission slip to go on a field trip of sorts and I need to sign this paper.” “Wait, what kind of field trip?” His dad snatched the paper from Taro's hand. “We are visiting a few agencies and learning about what heroes do, that sort of thing.” “. . .It says here you are doing ‘in-field training’, like doing hero-work with heroes in-field training?” “. . . yeah, basically. . .” “. . . Well, I’m down with that! I’m stoked about this! Isn’t that great hon?” Just like any mom concerned about their kid, she disagreed to the whole thing and then an hour of them “discussing” about Taro going and working with heroes. Saying how it is way too early for kids his age to just fight villains, even if there is someone there to watch over him. However, after much convincing and a few discussions and agreements with Taro afterward, they signed the slip. Soon after, they finished the night with their planned game night as Taro looked forward to the next weeks ahead.

“Of course! We can watch each other’s backs!” Before Taro could respond, their teacher, Ms. Hitotsume, came into the class and began with everyone, one by one, going to the front to answer the question from a few days ago, starting with Yuuka and ending with Suna. . . Leaving Taro the last one. Though during everyone’s turns, it felt that everyone’s mixed opinions on what a hero is have seemed to clash with the other opinions given, which was expected from such a broad question with multiple answers. No one is right or wrong, but yet the teachers want the right answer that doesn’t seem to exist in the context of the question. Everyone might have answered correctly according to them, but they all may be wrong according to Ms. Hitotsume. Well, let’s bring it together then. As Suda got back to his desk, Taro got to the front and faced the class. “Hi, I’m Tenkara Taro and to start off, I personally and honestly don’t have the true wanting of being a hero before the exams. I mainly came here to get better handling on my quirk so that I could use it in my desired career as a magician. Everything that has been said here, according to me, is more about ‘fighting the good fight’ and protecting others as a hero, which isn’t to say they are bad qualities to have, they just somehow don’t come upon me as desires for me. Nevertheless, it seems that this question of ours is so broad that it makes all other opinions of ‘what a hero is’ appear wrong and invalid in our eyes, including to the teacher rating our responses.” Looking back at Ms. Hitotsume, Taro just shrugs at her then turned back around to the class. “For the past couple of days as I was thinking about the question, I had some weird inspiration from someone I know who said something on the lines of: ‘Everyone is a hero at heart. However, it is those who teach us how to use our powers properly are the true heroes.’ And that really stuck with me for the last few days and as I listened to everyone’s responses, the question means nothing to us unless we become examples to others around us. However, how we set an example as heroes is met with great responsibility. He paused for a brief second to gain composure before continuing with his long sermon for a short answer. “I look up to a lot of magicians for inspiration for my passion as they are the best teachers I could look up to, however, I really can’t say that about heroes. Nevertheless, I feel that being a modest example of what a hero truly is a far more important thing to strive for as I will be looked upon by those younger than I. We shouldn't show others our bad habits as they will take in those too and might lead to dire consequences. So, to answer the question: I feel that a hero is one that others can look up to the best examples for inspiration and encouragement in times of disappointment, and I will do my best to give guidance and be an example to those to come after my time here! I even hope that Ms. Hitotsume will do the same for us as she teaches to help us answer the question more effectively. Even though I might not strive to be the number 1 hero in the future, someone will look up to me as one. As it was once said, “be an example of the believers”. And with that, Taro bowed, returned back to his desk and gave an exasperated sigh hoping that he “answered correctly”, though Ms. Hitotsume’ face can say otherwise.

"Nice entrance!" “Oh! Thanks.” Next to Taro was the silver-haired boy from the exams, but he seemed to enjoy the display Taro made. Took a second to look around a bit more to familiarize himself with this new area, along with the rest of his classmates. All of his classmates, outside of at least 2, didn’t have any quirk features to them, so far. He looked towards Katsurou as he was talking to some girl before they made eye contact, motioning him to go over. As he proceeded to get up, the silver-hair classmate spoke yet again, "I'm glad at least someone else here knows a thing or two about style." “Well, I try my best to stand out among the crowd, somewhat like the beetle man over there, but thanks again.” He made his way over to Katsurou as he introduced Taro to the girl he was talking with, complementing how much help Taro was to him. “Yeah, great to be here as well, but I mean, it wouldn’t be possible without your help either, thanks to Goop guy’s services. My shoulder is slightly numb, but hopefully, it goes away soon.” Turning to the girl extending his hand to her, “However, it is a pleasure to meet you, Miss. I hope that our time here proves to be a valuable one as we work together to improve our quirks.” After shaking her hand, he turned back to Katsurou and putting his hand on his shoulder, "Let's do our best to not let the Goop men ruin our time here. I hate to see myself knocked out again in the same year."

“What makes me a hero? I really don’t know what would make me a hero. I was pretty much wanted to enhance this quirk so I could follow my dream of being a magician. . . I guess I'm doing hero work on the side then.” Taro did it, he passed the exam but in a less heroic way than it should've. The only, hopefully not permanent, injury he got suffered was a numb shoulder, but all in all, today was pretty good. Though he was quite puzzled by what the principal has asked those who passed the exam that he was just laying on his bed staring at the ceiling for hours since getting back home. Looking at his wizard alarm clock, he pressed a button at its feet and asked him “What is it that makes someone a hero?” Everyone is a Wizard at heart! However, it is those who teach us how to use magic properly are true magicians! “Wow. . . I was not expecting that to come from you, but I don't think I've ever heard you say that. Maybe I'm still delirious from today, or maybe it is just a coincidence.” Taro laid back down as he was pondering the words he heard as he drifted into sleep. Monday finally came as Taro got up early to prepare for the day as today he continued to think of what his alarm clock said a few nights before. Taro even tried to find the exact phrase from the wizard, but it never came. . . What a weird magical alarm clock. It was a strange night, but nevertheless, the words never left him. After getting on his school uniform, packed his pockets with simple tricks and school supplies, he left for his first day of UA, wondering if the wizard is right about what he said. His walk a quite a normal one as the usual cars passed by, seeing the same people coming and going, though today was going to be different as he saw the school come into view. The school that is purposely instituted to train the heroes of tomorrow, and he made it to the hero course. Although the words the principal came back to haunt him as he crossed the entrance to the school, now his mind is a battlefield between a superpowered being and a wizard. . . “Let’s hope for the best!” As he approached 1-B, he immediately heard yelling and bickering amongst his classmates from the hallway. Oh, shoot. Just peering into the room, he could see the beetle guy, the silver-haired kid. . . Oh! And even Yamauchi is in here, at least it won’t be a room full of total strangers. However, there must be something to defuse the current state of the room, though it might not since one of them threw a rock at another student, maybe it's worth a shot. Reaching into his pockets, he grabbed out an mp3, a mini speaker, a pair of sunshades, and an impact smoke bomb that makes a small cloud, but not big enough to smoke out the room. “Well, this can go really good or really bad. Let’s do this!” 24k Magic Turning the speaker up as loud as possible, then throwing the smoke bomb on the ground making a small bang before he walked into the room. As he passed through the smoke, he casually lowered his shades, “Hey, what’s up? My name is Taro Tenkara. Magician, Hero in training, and your classmate for the next few years. Nice to meet all of you!” He took a seat near a bat looking girl as he put his speaker and mp3 away while putting his glasses in his shirt pocket as they disappeared from view behind the blazer jacket. He took a deep breath as he watched to see their reaction to his appearance. . . Maybe I did something wrong?!

“Thank you, Tenkara-san! I will not let you down!” As Katsurou rushed off, Taro was left where he left him but was then moved from his spot off to the side on a stretcher. As Taro laid there for the next couple of minutes, more students came back with there badges in tow, and it is good to know so far that the goopman hasn’t gotten in yet, maybe still stuck under the debris. . . I hope someone finds him. After maybe 10 minutes or so, Taro began to get some feeling into his body as he is able to grasp his left hand closed, assuming that the poison wasn’t that lethal as the kid expressed it was. Carefully, he started to sit upright to just lean against the wall near him as he finally got a good view of the courtyard. There was at least 1 kid with a bag of badges and many others with some noticeable quirky details about them. Nevertheless, it wasn’t long after before Katsurou came back as he made a less than heroic entrance back as he tumbled onto the ground carrying another dummy on his back. Taro slowly started to stand and walk his way over to Katsurou. “You look no better than me like half an hour ago, let’s go take a seat to rest a bit more. And I’ll take that dummy off your hands if you like.” Taro gestured to a nearby bench as then turned to the Ninja figure reaching into his pocket pulling out one of the megaphones from before and speaking into it. "Hey! Mr. Ninja Guy! What do I do with my badges? Do I give them to you or what?" Taro then pulled the dummy and turned to the kid with the bag of badges, "Hey you, the overachiever that has too much time on his hands! I hate carrying this thing as it is a hazard to my physical well-being, let's trade a badge for a badge. . . Or a Dummy for a Badge!"

“Don’t worry, I’m not going to let you fail due to sabotage. I’ll get you to that gate. How many badges do you have? If you need another badge to pass, I’ll give you mine,” “Oh. . . Weeeeellll I have 4 outside of your dummy, let’s leave it as that and here is 2 for you I got off of gooooooopman over there. But I’ll hold it until we get baaack to the gate.” Taro’s knees buckled a bit as Katsurou quickly caught Taro to stabilize him ass they started to make their way back to the entrance, with Taro emptying out his pockets full of debris he collected during the exam. It was a long walk as most of Taro’s body starting to go limp from his arms down towards his legs. Taro quickly pulled out the 2 badges from earlier and gave them to Katsurou just in case he couldn’t give them to him. By the time they made it back to the gate, Taro was barely walking as Katsurou was carrying him by that point. Taro body was limp with only some of his legs and left arm still functioning to a point, right arm completely relaxed and unmovable. As they approached one of the teachers, the ninja guy from before came over and placed his fingers on Taro’s neck. "This boy is under the effect of a very effective nerve sedative. He'll be fine, he just needs the effects to wear off. He should wake up soon. His pulse is strong, so he must not have been too thoroughly poisoned. Taro was placed on the ground as he was swapped from Katsurou to the ninja. By the looks from his peripherals, he wasn’t the first one back, though how long does Taro have to wait before he can take out his badges, including the dummy that will burst out from his pocket if it isn’t taken out in about 5 hours. Hopefully, it won’t last that long. . . will it though? Looking back at Katsurou, he gave him a thumbs up then proceeded to wonder why this happened to him. In the back of his mind, he could've seen this entire day gone better, like staying in bed and disregarding the Wizard's command. Well, I guess this is my life now. . . Been shocked, soaked, poisoned, and immovable. . . Could be worse though.

Everything started to feel muffled as Taro’s hearing started to give out as it came and went as his head started to swell, however, he did understand that the boy refused to fall for his trap. Taro's mind began to race as he was fighting the pressure that had been afflicted on him. Oh crap, what a predicament! I need to get out of this situation, I’m in a bad spot. . . man, I’m thirsty. . . He could hear Katsurou yelling at the kid something about Christ, though Taro didn’t understand it, the boy lunged at Kat in retaliation to whatever he said to him. Taro ducked out of the way to avoid the kid releasing the debris content from his hands as they damaged the walls and floor to an extent. Looking back at Kat, he could see that he was holding his own as the boy’s hand turned into what looked like a cube as he pinned down the boy, couldn't really tell as his vision began to blur a bit. Nevertheless, and without hesitation, Taro staggered ran towards them as he reached into his pocket and grabbed another debris and slammed his hand onto the boy. “MOVE KAT!” Taro yelled as he jumped out of the way, releasing a slab of debris from his hand as it decompressed into its original state, pinning down the boy. However, going off the boy’s hands, there was probably no time to rest as the slab was a temporary hold, maybe. “Quick! Search his pockets!” Taro reached down as he tried to feel for the boy’s badges while avoiding his hands. After a minute of searching, and hearing muffled sound from the boy, he was able to find 2 badges, but his head was pounding as his shoulder began to become tense and hard. Taro put the badges into his pockets and started to slam his back shoulder into the nearest wall repeatedly in hopes of softening it. “Oooooooookay Kat, I neeeeed you to help mee get back to the gate. I don’t want to leave and take from yoou, but I found 2 badges that you could have if you let me have the dummy. I don’t want myself or the dummy to be a burden on yooou, I'd rather just fail the exam with my current badges than have you not get in. Nevertheless, I do need to see a medical person as soooon as possible unless you know how to fix mee. Today is not my day.” Taro didn't know how many badges Katsurou has outside of the 2 he knows of, but since Kat doesn't know Taro's badge count, this would be a betrayal in the making with some negative consequences, unless Katsurou knows how to fix him, then it will be fine. Who knows, maybe they'll give Katsurou a badge for bringing him back if all else.

“That sounds like an excellent idea! Heroes always work better in teams, so it would be best if we get started now! Maybe we might even get extra credit!” Excellent! With the exam entering the middle phase by now, this will be better for me, and at the very least for Katsurou, though we have to get 4 or so badges before we can go back. A little roadblock that hopefully won't be too much of a problem. “So, should we take turns carrying this one, or would you rather we each carry one side of it?” “Nah, it's fine. I'll carry it.” Taro walked towards Katsurou and picked the dummy off him to feel its weight, and it was pretty hefty, however, it wasn't going to be a huge problem in the slightest. Taro moved the dummy towards his left side and began to stuff it into his pocket as it started to compress until he put his entire hand into his pocket. “There we go, no more worrying about some unnecessary baggage, and it's a good thing that it wasn't a real person. Now then, we should at least know what quirks we both have so that we can devise a plan of aataack-” That was unexpected, Taro’s speech slurred for a bit, however, he felt his right shoulder begin to tense up as a voice sounded in the building. "You boys mind if I hold onto one as well? gehe." Turning around to see another examinee as he had a look of a maniac with a sadistic-looking smile on his countenance, it was sold even more when Taro noticed his knife-like hand? But was it a knife? Whatever the case, Taro began to become a little woozy as the boy continued talking, but it was numbed out as Taro was trying to concentrate on staying upright. Taro was feeling just fine before this guy came, so this wooziness is his doing no doubt. Gaining some composure, Taro spoke up to the intruder, “Look, I don’t think we should fight, but I would rather not give up my badges. So instead, I propose a different means of settling this with a game.” Putting his hands in his pockets, he pulled out a badge and showed it to the boy. “I have here in my hand my first badge, and I want you to figure out which hand it is in. Simple right? If you win, you keep the badge, but if you lose, we leave and you put me back together again because I know you were the one making me woozy with your. . . goop hands? Or whatever they are.” The pressure building up was getting to him as he shook his head to focus as this could mean getting into UA or not. Putting both hands behind his back, he shoved the badge into his back pocket and pulled out a little surprise in each hand for the boy as he stuck his hands out, clenched to save the surprise. “Alright, which hand is my badge in? Remember, it is a 50/50 chance whether you succeed or fail, choose wisely.”

As Taro was about to rush off, the sound of gushing water and a settle explosion sounded from inside the building he just left. “Come on! I was just in there!” Rushing back in, water was dripping from the ceiling as to say that a water pipe ruptured from a floor up. As he began his ascent up again, electrical pools started to form as the electrical wires casually soaked in the water as Taro was getting shocked more than his first trip in the building. On the 5th floor was where the pipe ruptured, spouting out water diluting the electricity so hat Taro can traverse safely. Upon closer inspection underneath the torrent waterfall, the hole was pretty big for an average water main blowout, though the cause of the rupture was probably man-made. Nevertheless, something needed to be done about it before it makes the floor collapse causing the building to fail in the process. Taking a step back, he reached into his pockets and started to take out his previous inventory for a piece of rubble to put in the hole. After 5 boulder-sized, he finally found debris to fit as he carefully and forcefully put his hand into the gushing water on the left side. Ok! Ok! Ready?! Ready! “Aaaaand NOW!” Releasing his hand from the rubble, he quickly withdrew his arm as the rock returned from to its normal state clogging up the torrent. A sigh of relief came upon Taro as he looked for a badge. . .but he found nothing. “What the heck UA?! Where is the Badge?! I stopped the flood! Where is the-” His rant was cut short as the main he plugged blew open as water came crashing in again. Obviously, this was not the solution to the problem as he just caused a bigger problem as more water started to fill the room. Quickly ran back to the pipe and jammed another piece of rubble to give him more time to think what he was doing wrong. Then it hit him, a piece of the ceiling above landed on Taro’s head leaving a good sized bump. Then he remembered about how all buildings have a main shutoff valve for their water. Taro quickly ran down the stairs, slipping a couple of times along the way until he was back out on streets trying to remember where the shutoff valve was. After a few minutes, he finally found the valve, under a street panel box, who knew? He quickly turned it off just in time as the pipe ruptured a 3rd time, though the water began to recede as the residue went into the streets. As he was about to put the lid back on, he found a badge superglued on the underside. “Whelp, thanks for teaching me a lesson UA, though I don’t know what that is yet. I need to rest for a second.” As he walked away from the building to next door, he could hear multiple floors collapsing inside the water soaked building. Taro shrugged as he entered the building to rest, only to find a slender dark-haired boy who seemed startled by something or other, maybe the collapsing building. The boy lowered his guard as he spoke, “Oh, you must be...Denkara Taro, correct? You left before I could introduce myself. I am Yamauchi Katsurou, hopefully your search was not interrupted by a thief?” “Okay, first of all, it is TENkara, a pleasure to meet you, Yamauchi. Second, you are the first person I have contacted with since entering the exam area. So yes, I have all my badges with me. It looks like you just got in, or just been over-encumbered by that dummy for about, what an hour?” Taro slid down the closest wall as a trail of water residue was left on the wall, plopping down on the ground with an ugly sounding water noise emanating from the impact. The boy answered, but it was muffled as he got thinking about what to do next. He was 1 badge away from completing the exam, but it would be wrong to steal from someone late in the game. Suddenly, an idea popped into Taro’s head. “Now, You might not have a chance of getting into UA if you keep dragging that dummy around, in fact, most of the early badges are pretty much gone by now. Why don’t we work together? I’ll even carry that dummy for you as we increase our chances of getting in as we fight and steal our remaining badges! What do you say? I feel teaming up at this juncture is probably the best option right now."

Alright, I have 2 decks. . . my white gloves. . . was that it? “I swear I brought mo-” "You know, you might be on to something," The sight and sound of an unexpected beetle man from Taro’s peripheral vision spooked him that he jumped back into another person. Taro was one for surprises, but not like this, nevertheless, he continued to listen to the man talk to the silver-hair boy, and then to everyone. He went into detail about making this a competition, like it wasn’t one in the first place, but the bug felt so confident in his abilities that it left a bad impression on Taro’s view of him. “Excuse me, mister. . . beetle guy. I’m glad you are one to make this exam more exciting than what it needs to be but hear me out on this, what if we just have a party for those who make it into the hero classes? I mean it is already a competition already, no need to make a forest fire out of bed of coals. However, I can’t stop you from you making it harder than it needs to be, but I wish you luck.” As he finished, the last of the rules were explained and Taro jumped up to the front to get in early as he was not one that can ambush people on the fly. He was the 3rd to register in, the first 2 being girls, named Misu Yoshino and Itou Yuuka, as they were both different in how they addressed the crowd behind them. One who was definitely going to fight everyone in her path, to the other who had a very sweet voice. “Oh! My name is Taro Den- I mean Tenkara! Taro Tenkara!” He nodded and handed him his badge, a hefty badge it was as it wasn’t going to affect Taro’s quirk one bit as he shrunk the badge and put it in his coat pocket. As he turned around to look at his competition, determination filled his being as he took off running into the city area. Taro ran far from the gate to at least get some distance between him and those that may want to fight him, he had no time for that! He passed quite a few well-built buildings then stopped at a very decrepit one as he heard a woman’s scream from inside. Rushing inside, the building began to shake as rubble fell and exposed wires hung from the ceiling emitting sparks of electricity as they touched each other. As Taro progressed through the building, he started to pick up larger rubble and stuffing them into his coat as he continued to search for the screaming. At the 3rd floor, he found the source of the screaming. . . a speakerphone? It was quite unusual, but right next to it was a badge. “I guess I should be looking for stuff like this then, huh?” Taro spoke as he stuffed both the badge and speaker into his pockets and taking out rubble. “I need to limit my pocketing, but I should keep some of this relatively medium-sized rubble just in case.” Just as he finished organizing, another scream started to wail in the building higher up. Taro quickly ran up the building, getting zapped as the wires began to multiply the higher he went until he reached the top where he found another speakerphone and badge. He picked up both as he peered off the side of the building to see more participates going through buildings. “Crap, I better get out of here!!” Yelled Taro as he ran back down the building and outside contemplating where he should go next.