Chained....(My Hero Academia Fanfiction)

•Entrance Exam•

As the wind gently tangled itself in my hair, I silently stood in front of the prestigious U.A gates with my eyes locked on the clouds above me while the man behind me reluctantly took off the chains that had bound me to subordination for so long. When I finally felt the last piece of cold metal lift from my body, I grabbed my bag from the ground and, without a word to the man, headed off towards the huge building in front of me, the one that my brother had taught me so much about. Before I could take another step, I bumped into a rather large figure and as I looked up to apologize, I noticed familiar ash-blond hair accompanied by burning crimson eyes.

"Katsu !" I smiled before wrapping my arms around his abdomen. "I missed you so much !"

No matter how many years we had known each other, never could I dream of a life where we had never met, because the only reason I was still standing to this day was the fact that he had held my hand every step of the way, helping me through a hell darker than he ever knew. 

"Tch ! Cut it out pipsqueak, that's not my name." He retorted before shifting his gaze over to my own. "W-Whatever...I missed you too Yu-Chan."

Satisfied, I gently grabbed his hand and followed the flow of students into the auditorium before taking a seat in our Middle School's assigned section as the singular chain left on my wrist fell onto the floor. Within minutes, we were joined by another one of our classmates and I slightly turned my head only to come face to face with Midoriya who simply gave me a shy wave before taking a seat to my left. In the front of the room stood the pro hero Present Mic along with a huge board, which displayed the letters 'UA' as the light slowly dimmed.

"What's up UA candidates, thanks for tuning in to me, your school DJ." The hero spoke up. "Come on and let me hear ya !"

A heavy silence filled the room as I tried to hold back my laughter, feeling slightly bad for Present Mic who was now standing in a completely awkward position with all eyes on him. He seemed quite unbothered by the unresponsive crowd but this seemed a little bit sad to me, his voice getting lost in the silence of the masses.

"Keeping it mello huh ?" He questioned after a bit of waiting. "That's fine, I'll skip straight to the main show. Let's talk about how this practical exam's gonna go down okay ? ARE YOU READY ?! YEAH !"

The only thing that pierced this slight pause was a strange muttering seemingly coming from my left side and when I tilted my head, I noticed Midoriya fangirling over the enthusiastic hero as if he was some kind of living legend. Slightly amused but not wanting to draw any attention to our row, I turned back to the screen in front as my fingers absently tangled themselves in my chain.

"Like your application said, today you rockin' boys and girls will be out there conducting 10 minute mock battles in super hip urban settings." Present Mic explained as a diagram popped up on the screen behind him, showing different sectors. "Here's your joint my friends. After I drop the mic here, you'll head off to your specified battle center."

Since this was a familiar drill to me, I looked down at my card and noticed that they had put me in Battle Center 'C' but when I took a peek at Bakugo's I noticed that he had been assigned to Battle Center 'A'. It looks like they're splitting us up so that we won't be able to work with our friends. Already familiar with what was about to come, I rested my head on the blond's shoulder as the screen switched to the diagram of a battle center along with 3 different types of robots. 

"Okay okay let's check out your targets. There are 3 types of faux villains in each battle center, you'll earn points based on their level of difficulty so you better choose wisely. Your goal in this trial is to use your quirk to raise your score by shredding these faux villains like a mid-song guitar solo. But check it, make sure you're keeping things heroic as attacking other examinees is a UA no no ya dig ?"

Without giving the instructions a moment to burn into everyone's head, a boy with blue hair and glasses raised his hand before standing up as straight as a wall, making it quite obvious that he came from a private academy. As all eyes turned to him, a sharp pain shot through my right arm and I could tell that my father's runes had started to activate again, much to the HPSC's concern as they knew that if I lost control again, this time would be the final.

"Excuse me sir but I have a question." He spoke up as a light turned on right above him. "On the printout you've listed 4 types of villains not 3. With all respect, if this is an error on official UA materials, it is shameful. We are exemplary students, we expect the best from Japan's most notable school. A mistake such as this won't do."

Even Present Mic looked slightly shocked at the boy's extreme tightness regarding this exam and when I looked over at Bakugo, I could tell that this was already getting on his nerves. However, before we could hear the pro hero's answer, he turned around to face our row, his eyes dead set on Midoriya as though he wanted to strangle him right then and there.

"Additionally, you with the unkempt hair." He called out. "You've been muttering this entire time, stop that. If you can't bother to take this seriously, leave. You're distracting the rest of us."

As much respect as I had for Midoriya, I couldn't help but giggle at the remark and noticed that a few other students had failed to contain their laughter as well. However, before I could enjoy this moment of rare carelessness, another wave of pain shot through my arm and I gripped Bakugo's shoulder, who looked over at me before gently squeezing my hand.

"Alright alright, examinee number 7111, thanks for calling in with your request." Present Mic resumed. "The fourth villain type is worth 0 points, that guy's just an obstacle we'll be throwing in your way. There's one in every battle center so think about it as a hurdle you should try to avoid. It's not that it can't be beaten, but there's kinda no point."

I absently placed my thumb on my lip and carefully studied the 4 types of robots shown on the screen, which all seemed to be similar to the ones used in training minus the timers strapped to their chests. Surprisingly, the one worth 0 points had a seemingly sturdier structure than the rest, which meant that destroying robots wasn't the only requirement to pass this test.

"That's all I got for you today. I'll sign off with a little present, a sample of our school motto. As general Napoleon Bonapart once laid down, 'A true hero is one who overcomes life's misfortunes. Mhm, now that's a tasty sound bite. You ready to go beyond ? Let's hear a 'Plus Ultra' !" Once again, silence filled the room. "Good luck ! Hope you practiced hitting more than just books."

With that, we all stood up and walked out of the auditorium in a somewhat orderly manner, all heading to the locker room to change as the excitement slowly faded to apprehension. However, before I could reach the door, I felt someone grab my arm and rub the top of my head in a reassuring yet oddly strict manner.

"Give 'em hell Pipsqueak." Bakugou said before bumping his fist to mine. "Don't let me be the only one from our school that enters UA, you got it ?"

"Yeah..." I hesitantly smiled. "I got it Katsu."

As I walked away, I couldn't shake off the feeling that they would never forgive me for taking a decision that differed completely from their ideology and that from now on, I was on my own again. I can't drag him into this...no yet.

..........

My eyes danced around the bus and, much to my surprise, I found a free seat next to a boy with black hair and spiky teeth, who I simply greeted with a slight nod before settling down next to him. Trying to calm my trembling hands, I slipped my oxygen mask over my mouth and closed my eyes, unsure of whether or not I was really ready to do this, to train in order to become the very people who had broken their own sacred code just to kill my father.

Before I knew it, the buses had arrived at their assigned locations and we all got off one by one in complete silence, much to the contrary of a few minutes ago. As the cold air hit my exposed skin, two metal doors opened in front of us and revealed a city-like environment, which I was all too familiar with.

"Right let's start !" Present Mic's voice resonated through a sort of intercom. "Get moving ! There are no countdowns in real battles ! Run run run ! You're wasting air time here !"

I have to do this...if I want these chains off.

To Be Continued !