『ARC ONE: EXAMS AND MISHAPS』

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Two long hours had ticked by at a slow pace when Akihiko and Hitomi were announced to enter their zone. From the time they spent waiting, multiple teams had come out of the zone either exhausted or being hauled out by medical robots on stretchers. Some teams would ask what the zone is, but the earlier participants did not unlatch their closed jaws to speak. It meant that perhaps they were instructed to not speak a word to others.

At times Akihiko's fingertips brushed against his sweatpant's pocket to feel his phone. For some odd reason, his conscious was urging him to call or text his sister. His nose crinkled at the feeling of dread circulating through his veins. If memory served to be correct, Tanami was on team thirty-one. This meant that she went in first already. Perhaps she even completed her zone.

Suddenly, he felt something piercing through his body. His periwinkle eyes trailed upward in order to search for the person in question. It did not take long for their eyes to meet.

Leaning onto the wall near the entrance to the zone was a boy with wispy black hair that covered one of his eyes. His tan complexion complemented his calculating pink eyes. The tips of his lips were quirked up into the beginnings of a smirk. His arms were crossed over the black windbreaker he adorned. All in all, Akihiko did not enjoy the piercing stare that was being sent his way.

Fluttering around the boy were small, fluorescent butterflies coated in a lavender hue. With each flap of their wings, the illuminant insects allowed small shimmers of light to fall. The pink-eyed teen turned to what seemed to be his partner. He voiced a few words to them before shining them a small smile. Walking briskly, the male stood in front of Akihiko and Hitomi with a scheming aura tainting his small body.

Up close, Akihiko noticed he was about three inches shorter than Tanami but was taller than Hitomi who was jittering beside him. Physically, he was lanky and thin. If he had to fight hand-to-hand with someone, he would definitely lose.

Before the crystal-haired boy could even formulate a sentence in his head, the shorter male spoke. "I was right. You were going to look at me at exactly eleven-forty-eight."

Taking a quick glance at the yellow tinted clock hanging above the entrance to the zone, the hands were pointed at that exact time. He felt his stomach twist at the exactness of the time. The boy must have taken a glance at the clock beforehand, however, Akihiko did not see the male's gaze shift beforehand.

"H-huh?" Hitomi voiced. She tugged at the end of her gummy hair in anxiousness. Lines decorated her forehead in bewilderment as she teetered forward a bit.

Akihiko crooked a brow and suspiciously crossed his arms over his chest. "And pray tell, why did you come this way?"

"Oh?" the black-haired boy raised a hand to his lips in surprise. His mouth was slightly agape as he tilted his head to the left. "You have not noticed yet?"

With a flick of his wrist, the boy's eyes glinted with amusement as a butterfly emerged from behind Akihiko. The winged creature struggled to flap its dimming wings. It stuttered, sometimes dropping for a second before flapping its wings furiously to keep itself up. The scrawny boy lifted his hand and delicately reached a finger out. The butterfly's tiny legs positioned itself on his poised index finger. It gave one final flap before bursting in an array of sparkles. The boy frowned, a flicker of dismay in his pink irises before he lowered his hand.

"What is the meaning of this?" Akihiko demanded. That insect did not maneuver itself around him when this strange person came up to him. It was with him beforehand, evading his vision until it wanted to reveal itself. It definitely did not settle well with the periwinkle-eyed male.

"Hmm," he hummed with a grin. "Do you really want to know?"

"You would not do this without a valid and solid reason. Despite the smile you show, you are not entirely being playful about this." Akihiko stated with a deep frown. His eyes narrowed, baring into the smaller person in front of him. Hitomi let out a confused noise.

"Simple really. I suppose I can spare some thoughts. Sparing thoughts is like gifting someone a penny. An opinion and idea composed of the mind can either be shown as worthless or something of value, correct? You better be pleased with the information I am going to share with you now." the boy explained. A second did not even pass by before the male's lips twisted into a calculating grin while a mischievous shine highlighted his eyes.

"What are you talking about?" the red-haired girl inquired. She shifted forward, her face shining a bit from the nervous sweat escaping her pores. She quickly brushed her damp palms on her leggings.

The black-haired boy raised a finger to his lips. "This information is only for your ears only now so do not go and blabber this out elsewhere now,"

Neither Akihiko or Hitomi made a move nor spoke. They were intrigued but also suspicious. This fourteen-year-old spoke and spoke but made no real sense. "I can tell you right here and right now, only four students will pass this zone's exam."

"Hah? W-what is that supposed to mean? Do you have a future seeing Quirk or something? Are you psychic?" Hitomi questioned.

"Future seeing? What made you think of that?" the boy raised a brow while waving a hand.

Akihiko was beginning to lose his patience. Not that his patience was very thick. He had Tanami and Kagemi to thank for that. Either way, he wanted answers. "Then what? Are you speaking nonsense?"

"Nonsense? Do not dare say that the things that spill from my mouth are nonsense. Everything I say is carefully said and analyzed." he huffed in what seemed to be offense. He puffed his cheeks out and stomped his foot like a child. "Everything I say is absolute. No mistake can be made."

The red-haired gummy looked like she wanted to say something offensive but did not have enough guts to blurt it out. She said the next best thing. "So you have an IQ Quirk?"

"Not really, or maybe I do. Who knows? Telling you outright would make things predictable right, Yama- oops! Mochizuki Akihiko. You are gazing at me quite suspiciously now. Could it be because your legal guardian is Mochizuki Tomohiro?" The strange boy laced his fingers and positioned them underneath his chin with an innocent smile. One of the butterflies landed on his shoulder.

Instinctively, Akihiko's body tensed. The sound of his real last name felt so distant yet so close. His teeth ground together and his fists clenched. An unwanted memory slowly became reality, contorting his vision until the past decided to showcase itself

"So these are the Yama twins." a man wearing an expensive suit with slicked back brown locks drawled. "My, my, aren't they a pretty sight."

Akihiko felt a soft pressure on his left hand. He did not have to spare a glance as he knew Tanami was fearfully gripping his hand. She had nestled into his side, her other hand tugging at the expensive grey vest he wore. He glared through slit eyes at the man in front of them, trying to appear fearless but the trembling of his body defeated that.

"Ahh, yes. These are my precious children," their mother, Kiyoko Yama, said with venom spilling in the last two words.

Their mother was a pretty thing, lavender hair pulled up into a fancy updo. Her face was caked with makeup, lips slathered in bright crimson lipstick as she smiled deviously. Her aqua eyes settled on the man in front of her as she dusted the nonexistent dirt from her lavishing mulberry dress. Like the twins, her skin was almost white, a slight red hue shading her skin. She daringly ran her fingers up the man's arm with a joyful chuckle.

When people with a lot of money came, she forcefully dressed them up in expensive clothes and made them presentable. While Akihiko adorned a white button up, grey vest, black slacks, and black dress shoes, Tanami wore a frilly pink dress that clashed her shining purple hair. She painfully stood in the kid heels Kiyoko made her wear. If Tanami let go of Akihiko, she would drop. She had twisted her ankle walking down the stairs in those heels after their mother ushered them to walk faster. The angry red was hidden by the white socks.

The man's eyes brightened in delight. Behind the twins were glasses cases and shelves stocked with various items. Plates made of lapis lazuli. Cups made of amethyst. Earrings made of jade. Necklaces made of ruby. Rings made of diamonds. Knives made of sapphire. Every type of crystal you could think of laid behind them. All of it shimmered. These were the crystals they were forced to make until cracks ran down their arms like broken glass.

The adult male pulled away, and their horrible mother pouted at the loss of contact. Yanking Akihiko's jaw up, periwinkle eyes were forced to meet golden ones. Akihiko did not find the strength to pull away. Tanami and himself were only healed about an hour ago.

He inspected the twins. Akihiko nearly bit the man the moment his hand went to brush Tanami's face.

Turning to Kiyoko, he said, "how much do you want for them?"

"Pardon?"

"These two. How much do you want for them?"

Kiyoko shook her head. "I'm sorry. The children are not for sale. Everything else is."

The man hummed. "Pity. Perhaps you will change your mind another time. They will be mine eventually."

Akihiko swallowed the lump in his throat. He felt his nails dig into his palms as a cold sweat coated his skin. "I...I do not know you and yet you know my actual last name and Inscribe's real name."

"Should I not know it? Oh wait, I forgot! Inscribe's agency and team did do their absolute best to keep the news about his adopted children on the downlow. The hero does loathe the spotlight, right?" the boy grinned.

"Who are you and how do you know that?"

"Who am I? My name's Junpei. No last name is required to be said. For all I know you could ask Inscribe to look for my information."

Before the crystal could come up with a response, he was cut off. "Team thirty-four, you are next." the voice on the intercom spoke robotically. Beside him, Hitomi squeaked and jumped nearly a foot in the air. Nervousness was practically clinging to her form.

He did not say anything. Did not spare a second glance. Akihiko turned, pivoting on his heel as he hurriedly went to walk toward the entrance.

Thin fingers slipped around his wrist and brought him to a halt. Drawing near, Junpei chuckled. "Hey, a word of advice. Do not let your eyes fool you. Vision plays us all you know. Just so you know, I do not want these words to be discarded. Otherwise, this conversation would be a waste of time. Good luck, Mochizuki."

Akihiko pulled away and ushered Hitomi to follow him.

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The area they were in probably accounted for one-tenth of a model city. This was unlike the grand full scale city that U.A. boasted. However, there were things that differed from a real city. Rubble of varying sizes littered the cracked asphalt, dilapidated buildings were hanging by strings to keep themselves upright, street posts were yanked from the ground, broken electrical wires sparked, and water flooded out of the broken tubes. Both of the fourteen-year-olds maneuvered around the debris with careful footing, following the holographic sign that pointed to where they would take the exam. The time limit was beginning to go down. The translucent screen displayed nine minutes. They had nine minutes to find the building and plan.

It was easy to see that Akihiko had broken out into a cold sweat earlier. Droplets of perspiration clung to his face and skin in layers. Uncharacteristically, he continuously wrung out his hands and wiped them on his sweatpants. It had been so long since a terrible memory such as that one reappeared that Akihiko did not know how to compose himself. Tanami and himself strayed far away from anything that triggered a past memory. Even the mention of that woman at the hospital made them uneasy.

Tomohiro strayed far away from the topic of their parents. When they were younger, Tomohiro had caught and diagnosed the signs of a panic attack quite early. Shishi would usually comfort them when they were close to having one. Even Kagemi knew what to do. Akihiko was not going to have one at this very second though. That would do him and Hitomi no good. The girl probably would have no idea what to do in that situation. Nonetheless, he still felt uneasy.

How had Junpei known his original last name? He had not uttered it once in what seemed like a lifetime. His body was telling him to turn around and interrogate the boy.

"Umm," an unsure noise echoed beside him.

Drawing in a deep breath, Akihiko tried to calm the thumping of his heart. "If you have a question, please just say it."

Hitomi fiddled with her fingers and leaped over a rock. "Junpei said something about... Inscribe? Isn't he number seven in the rankings this year? And something about being your guardian?"

"My sister and I were adopted by Inscribe when we were five. We... did not find it in ourselves to trust people so easily so Tom- Inscribe silenced the media and anything from leaking out as a precaution for our sake." Akihiko sputtered out the words before his brain could process them.

"Oh. So that is why there is no news that I can recall." the gummy-haired girl mumbled to herself. She tucked a strand of sugary hair behind her ear.

The countdown had reached five minutes by the time they reached the area they were supposed to perform the exam in. The building was four stories high, a pale beige coating the outside as cracks spread around the structure like a spider's detailed web. Some windows were still intact while glass was either broken inside or outside the building on the street. The doorway had fallen and had gone missing. Perhaps the earlier teams had disposed of it.

"We're in the earthquake zone, although that is obvious considering the damage." the female stated.

"It seems so... We have less than four minutes to formulate a plan." Akihiko nearly tripped over his words but managed to say a straight sentence. Hitomi caught the pause in his sentence but did not comment on it. She focused on the sight in front of her.

Gazing at the unstable structures, Akihiko tried to ignore his heartbeat ringing in his ears. "I could stabilize the building with crystals. There is a lot of broken glass that I can use."

"If worse comes to worse, I could probably make myself squished and slip through gaps if needed." Hitomi commented. She lightly touched the wall, feeling her fingers dip into the cracks.

"There is only so much information we know. Plus, a hero is acting as a villain and we have to save a civilian safely outside within ten minutes." Drawing forth, the crystal fitted his fingers underneath a shard of glass. He was careful to not cut himself as he picked it up.

"Once you get here, you realize that this seems harder than you think."

"All we can do is pull forward."

"Y-yeah,"

The timer buzzed and the count restarted. Ten minutes began to tick by.

"Let us go."

Instantly, two pairs of feet slammed against the concrete floor. Without uttering a single word to each other, the two split apart. One ran to the left while the other sprinted to the right. Both peeked inside the office rooms with much precaution. They had no idea if they would be injured by falling rubble. They came up empty handed. Hitomi rounded the corner, hearing the light thud of her feet hit the ground. She quickly jumped over rubble while keeping her balance. Just because she could not sprain her ankle does not mean she wanted to waste time.

Her brows tilted downward. No one was on the first floor. Akihiko reached that same conclusion as he shook his head. They sprinted up the next floor and ended up with the same result. So they ended up clambering up a third flight of stairs. The hologram that followed them stated they had six minutes left.

Without warning and before Akihiko could even register the situation, Hitomi was sent tumbling down the staircase. She rolled, banging her head against the wall. She was lucky that her Quirk was Gummy. She did not begin to bleed like most people would if they banged their occipital lobe on a hard surface. Instead, she let out a tiny squeak as she skittered to her feet. A rock nearly fell on her abdomen and it crashed into the ground.

Akihiko did not have time to react as he was suddenly slammed into the wall. His breath escaped him as his lungs constricted. A firm yet slim elbow was pushed against his neck. Eyes trailing down, he was greeted by the sight of the 'villain' they were supposed to fight.

She had long silver locks that were tied up into a ponytail. Her lavender eyes pierced into his figure as she wiped a bit of sweat from her dark toned cheek. Her hero costume clung to her figure. A majority of it was silver with golden lines running down the sides. Black boots adorned her feet and legs. Metallic cuffs hung on her wrists, ankles, and waist.

This is the hero Shift. Her Quirk is known as Afterimage. She moves so quickly that she leaves- well an afterimage. No wonder we could not see her attack even with those cuffs. Akihiko choked. It was becoming harder to breath. Tomo always told us that they restricted heros when it came to exams such as this.

His finger clenched the glass in his hand and a flash of light appeared. A glittering amethyst wall materialized and Shift released her grasp. She jumped back, settling into a defensive position as she shuffled back. Behind her was a girl with brown hair tied up with a red bow. She was in a fetal position pressed up to the wall, acting terrified while tears pricked her eyes.

Hitomi was now standing by his side. A determined expression was painted over her face. Touching the crystal, Akihiko allowed it to break apart and float around himself. Hitomi did not seem surprised at what he did and the anxiety she displayed earlier had ceased to exist.

"You," Shift smirked. "You're Tomo's kid. Kohei never shuts up about you and your sister."

The silver-haired woman turned to face Hitomi. "Daiya Hitomi is your older brother, yes? You two appear to have the same Quirk."

Neither of the teenagers responded. The clock was still ticking and the civilian was behind Shift. They did not have much room to talk.

"Not going to talk? Fine by me. I just need to keep you from saving the civilian."

A millisecond later, the woman's figure shifted. What seemed to be a haze of a person left behind, the real one had latched her fingers around Akihiko's wrist. Tugging him around and away from the civilian, he had no time to react as Shift curled her fingers into a fist and struck him dead in the nose. He tumbled backward as his head jolted back from the force despite the fact that she did not use enough force to break his nose. His eyes watered, tears pooling up from the strike. His spine collided with the back of the wall and a jagged piece of ceiling nearly impaled his side. Blood began to drip down his nostrils.

Hitomi had shifted forward to the civilian but was ultimately caught. A strong roundhouse struck Hitomi's abdomen and her body slammed into a wall. The fourteen-year-old did not appear fazed and quickly got to her feet.

Looking at Shift's movements through blurred eyesight, multiple personas were left behind in the woman's trail. In fact, you could not tell where the hero was moving to be exact. All of those visions contorted to fool your eyes-

Thin fingers slipped around his wrist and brought him to a halt. Drawing near, Junpei chuckled. "Hey, a word of advice. Do not let your eyes fool you. Vision plays us all you know. Just so you know, I do not want these words to be discarded. Otherwise, this conversation would be a waste of time. Good luck, Mochizuki."

Bringing a hand to brush away his tears, the words spoken to him earlier came at him full force. He honestly wanted to curse Junpei right then and there. How had that boy known that Shift would be the hero here? No one was allowed to speak about the zone. However, he had known about his last name and Tomohiro's and the hero did not reveal his name to the public.

With a heavy sigh, Akihiko glanced at the time limit. Less than a minute and a half. Did they really take that much of a beating or has he been sitting there for a long time just letting Hitomi take the brunt of the attacks? The male did not really know.

Suddenly Hitomi was thrown in his direction. Her spine, what he thinks is her spine, collided harshly with his chest. Just because the girl was practically a walking sweet did not mean the collision hurt any less. Both of them groaned in pain. Even with the red-haired girl's Quirk absorbing the force, it still hurt.

"Ow..." she murmured as she slid herself off of Akihiko's body.

Gritting his teeth, Akihiko watched the countdown drop to one minute. Reluctantly, he let out a deep breath. This may work and perhaps he owed someone a thank you, however, that can wait. "Listen, I need to get close to the broken shards near the window."

"H-how?" Hitomi stuttered. "Her speed clealy outmatches our own. Not to mention we have less than fifty seconds."

"Run toward the window where the shards are and throw them. Then, latch onto the civilian and jump out the window." Akihiko instructed while eyeing the hero drawing closer.

The female looked at him baffled. "Out the window?"

"Yes, out the window."

Not even waiting for a good answer from Hitomi, the crystal had forced himself up onto his feet. Charging in blindly was his least favorite thing to do. Tomohiro had drilled it into his and Tanami's head to learn about the situation and then take wise decisions that would ensure little or no casualties. If Tomohiro saw him do this, Akihiko was certain that the ink hero would tell Shishi to cover his entire room in ink.

His eyelids were screwed shut as he ran toward the hero with no sense of direction. If he could not see her, he cannot witness the afterimages she produced which tricked his vision. This meant that he could concentrate on something else. Another sense. A sense known as touch.

Shift's lips tilted into an amused grin. In an instant, she was in front of the boy. Balancing on one foot, she swung her other leg to drive a swift kick to his ribs. Akihiko winced, biting down on his lip as he felt the bones crack and a jolt of pain run up his abdomen. He let a sly smile grace his lips at the sight of ruby crystallizing up her foot and to her ankle. He was lucky that he held onto a sliver of a glass shard.

The hero's face morphed into one of slight annoyance at the shiny material. She staggered back two feet from the jagged gemstone. Shift brought her foot down onto the floor in one motion, breaking the crystal off her limb while sending multiple cracks through the floor due to the instability of the building. It was not enough to bring the structure tumbling down, but it was still frightening nonetheless.

In the meantime, Hitomi had grabbed ahold of a few pieces of broken glass. In haste, she threw them in Akihiko's direction. Small cuts pricked her fingers as droplets of crimson spilled. Dashing forward, her arms wrapped themselves around the girl. The civilian let out a gasp of surprise. Clearly the girl did not expect that.

Once they were close enough, Akihiko allowed the familar sensation of tingles poke his fingertips. The glass shards shimmered before they shined a bright light to reveal pink, green, and yellow hues that blended together. At the same time, Hitomi had hauled herself and civilian up and proceeded to jump out the window as she was told.

Watermelon tourmaline coated the inside of the window. The tri-colored jewel crystallized downward, creating a makeshift ramp. Yelping loudly, Hitomi's heels had hit the crystal. Small cracks began to run down the ramp as she slipped and fell down it with the civilian still clutched in her arms. They both hit the ground. The red-haired girl twisted her body so she would hit the street with her back.

Shift was gazing in disbelief at the window. Her head tilted to Akihiko. The male crystal had fallen, clutching his side while a few watermelon tourmaline shards laid beside him. They glinted innocently, waiting to be used. A small smile graced his lips as he tried to ignored the pain in his side.

Placing a hand on her hip, the hero chuckled. "You had a plan. A sort of plan. I wonder how Tomo will act when you practically disregarded half of his teachings."

Akihiko's body tensed at those words. He would be grounded for six months is she told on him.

She gestured to her left with her head. Akihiko's eyes followed.

Five seconds had remained on the clock.

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Author's note:

And that concludes Akihiko and Hitomi's exam. Next up is Tanami and Yoshimi. I wonder how that's going to go- well I actually do.

Anyway, what Quirk do you think Junpei has? He's obviously a Pillar so he has to support.