After changing into his training uniform, Kurose Kuro slipped the pistol into his pocket and stored his bag in the assigned locker.
As he stepped away, a girl approached him with a bright smile.
"You were great back in the auditorium."
Kuro paused. "...What?"
She had short, neatly cut hair and sharp, confident eyes. "That guy earlier was way too intense. I didn't like it either." She extended a hand. "My name's Aoi Shindo. What about you? Want to be friends?"
Kuro hesitated.
She wanted to be friends?
Just like that?
Didn't she care about the scars on his face?
Seeing his uncertainty, Aoi tapped her head lightly. "Hey, don't get the wrong idea. I'm not being weird about it. I just like making friends."
"…Kurose Kuro."
They were soon guided outside and onto buses headed for their assigned test areas.
Aoi naturally took the seat next to him.
Even in the tense silence of the vehicle, she kept talking.
"Kuro, you were seriously cool back there. I thought the same thing, but I didn't have the guts to say it."
They had known each other for less than ten minutes, and she was already calling him by his first name.
"Kuro, do you think we'll end up in the same area? We could team up and score together. My Quirk lets me see through things—kind of like X-ray vision. It's annoying sometimes, but it's great for spotting weak points."
She said it openly, without hesitation.
Revealing your Quirk like that, in the middle of an exam full of competitors, was basically handing over your strategy.
"Kuro… I feel like I've heard that name before. Where are you from?"
Kuro looked away.
That was the one question he hated.
He gave a vague response and shifted the topic. Outside the window, the scenery changed. Strange buildings came into view—some shaped like domes, others with unusual structures that barely resembled anything familiar.
He found himself wondering what kind of training took place inside them.
What his family had once done in places like this.
The bus came to a stop.
Aoi stood up immediately. "Whoa… this place is huge!"
Before them stretched a full-scale city block, built entirely for the exam.
"U.A. really went all out…"
The cost alone—construction, maintenance, cleanup—was staggering.
"They actually built a whole city inside the school…"
"Of course they did," someone nearby muttered. "This is U.A."
Some students were still staring in awe.
Others were already warming up.
No one here was taking this lightly.
Kuro rolled his shoulders and stretched his joints. That was enough.
His Quirks couldn't be used recklessly. His equipment wasn't something he could rely on either.
In other words—
He had very few options.
Aoi jogged back over, holding a metal staff.
"Is your weapon a gun?" she asked. "Does your Quirk work with shooting?"
"No," Kuro said. "It's just for show."
She looked like she wanted to ask more—
Then the announcement came.
"Alright! Begin!"
"…Huh?"
"What? Already?"
There was no countdown.
Kuro didn't hesitate.
He ran.
U.A. didn't follow normal rules. If the signal was given, that was it.
"Why are you standing around?!" Present Mic shouted over the speakers. "There's no countdown in a real situation! Move!"
The test had started.
In another zone, Katsuki Bakugo launched himself forward with a blast, surging ahead of the crowd.
A robot appeared.
His eyes lit up.
"Die!"
Boom—
First points secured.
In a different area, Izuku Midoriya froze for just a moment.
That was all it took.
Other candidates rushed past him, leaving him behind. The girl who had helped him earlier, the serious boy from the auditorium—they were already ahead.
Midoriya clenched his fists and forced himself forward.
A robot rolled into view.
"Target locked."
It was fast, but fragile.
All he had to do was act—
But his body wouldn't move.
His breath caught.
Why couldn't he move?
A beam of light cut past him, striking the robot.
"Easy points."
In Test Area C—
Kuro had gotten a slight lead at the start.
He knew his limits.
Physical strength, Quirk utility, combat ability—he ranked low compared to most candidates.
If he wanted points, he had to think differently.
Even if he didn't expect to pass—
He refused to leave with zero.
Others quickly caught up.
Time was limited. Everyone rushed forward, competing for targets.
A three-point robot appeared ahead, flanked by two one-point units.
Before Kuro could react—
A metal staff flew through the air.
It struck the larger robot cleanly.
Aoi dashed forward, pulled the staff free, and finished it off in a few swift strikes. The machine collapsed into pieces.
Kuro stepped back into a safe position, staying out of the fight entirely.
Around him, candidates clashed—not directly, but through competition. Fighting over targets, cutting each other off, scrambling for points.
There weren't enough enemies for everyone.
Tension was inevitable.
"Kuro! Hurry up!" Aoi called, wiping sweat from her face. "They're going to take all the points!"
She had already reached nine.
"Six minutes, two seconds remaining!" Present Mic's voice echoed overhead.
Kuro nodded in acknowledgment.
But he didn't move toward the robots.
He knew his limits.
If he chased points the same way as everyone else—
He'd fail.
Nearby, a candidate stumbled, knocked down in the chaos.
Another struggled to get back up.
Kuro's eyes sharpened.
That was it.
If he couldn't score through combat—
Then there was only one path left.
Rescue points.