Chapter 6: The Watchers in the Dark
All the faculty members, plus the teachers, were looking at the bank of monitor screens. They watched the movements and actions of the participants in the entrance exam for U.A. The air in the observation room was cool, conditioned, and smelled of ozone from the electronics and the faint, ever-present scent of coffee.
(Nezu), the white-furred creature who resembled a stoat or a bear or something wonderfully unclassifiable, was presiding over this meeting from the central chair. Beside him, skeletal and frail, was (All Might) in his weakened form, also watching the test unfold with intense, sunken eyes.
The rest of the teachers were there too, their eyes tracking various participants who had managed to grab their attention.
"Look at this student! He can harden himself, can't he? He has a good Quirk," said one of the teachers, his voice a low rumble. He was pointing at a screen showing a red-haired boy demolishing a two-pointer robot. His Quirk was [Hardening]; parts of his body solidified quickly and effectively, making his ability excellent for direct combat. Punches that shattered metal echoed with satisfying CRUNCHes.
"That's right, he's very good. He might become a splendid student," another teacher agreed, nodding. "But look at that explosive student!"
The only woman among the teachers, (Midnight), pointed at a participant whose terrifying grin hadn't stopped since the exam began. If he weren't trying to join U.A., famous for graduating a new generation of heroes, they might have thought he was a superpowered villain. That blond-haired, red-eyed boy could fly using explosions from his hands. His Quirk allowed him to send out waves of detonations, letting him fly for temporary periods. Not only that, but his style was brutally efficient. He was destroying robots by blasting them apart with concussive BOOMs and manic laughter.
(Shota Aizawa), also known as Eraserhead, had his sharp eyes fixed on that student. He saw the extreme aggression and overconfidence, but he said nothing, merely shifting his gaze to other participants with a tired, assessing look. They had decided to keep his opinion for later.
Principal (Nezu) was watching the teachers, simultaneously conducting his own, silent evaluation of their assessments. He was also following the prevailing trend of monitoring the students on the screens with his usual, unnerving calm.
But in one moment, (All Might), in his skinny form, let out a sharp intake of breath. His eyes widened as he stared at one particular screen.
"What is going on?"
Everyone looked at the screen the number one hero was indicating. It displayed a horrifying scene. One of the zero-pointer robots seemed to have gone berserk. It was on the verge of crushing a participant—a girl who appeared frozen in fear.
The blood of the teachers, plus the principal, ran cold. This wasn't just about the scandal that would occur—for a participant to be harmed in such a brutal way was unacceptable for any organization, even one as notoriously difficult to enter as U.A. Academy. A participant dying this brutally by one of their own robots…
(All Might) almost transformed into his muscular form on the spot, the instinct to use One For All and dash there overwhelming him. Even as he realized it wouldn't be enough—the distance was too great to cover even at his top speed.
But in that same moment, something happened that stunned them all.
A boy shot forward directly towards the girl. His movement was extremely precise and controlled. He grabbed the girl and swiftly moved her away from danger with a powerful, sweeping motion.
WHOOSH-THUMP.
A collective sigh of relief, almost inaudible, passed through the teachers. Especially from (All Might), who looked from the screen to the other teachers, his gaze finally landing on (Nezu).
"What in the world is going on? How could such a robot appear in this place? And why was it trying to crush one of the girls?" He had to ask at that moment.
At the same time, (Nezu) was looking with extreme coldness, thinking of several reasons, but he couldn't find any that explained such a thing. All the robots were designed to be practical tests of the students' abilities, not to eliminate them. But his thinking didn't last long.
Not just him, but the rest of the teachers also couldn't think for long. Because suddenly, they were looking back at the same screen. The robot, which they assumed would stop and move away after this ridiculous action, began attacking the blue-haired participant with extreme aggression.
That boy had first pushed the girl and told her to run. Then, with incredible skill, he avoided the crushing footfalls of the giant robot. He moved with extreme speed, his movements almost like a dance. After creating a small distance, he seemed to think of several things, then tried to latch onto the robot.
But the robot was very precise and slammed the ground so hard it cracked slightly.
CRACK-THOOM!
The boy was fast. Impossibly cool in his actions. He jumped—a tremendous leap that forced the teachers to wonder aloud.
"Does he have some kind of physical enhancement Quirk or what?"
The only one who recognized this student was Principal (Nezu), whose eyes had widened slightly. A small, intrigued smile played on his muzzle, though he didn't lose his seriousness. His eyes were fixed on the student who, to the surprise of the heroes, jumped onto one of the buildings. A jump reaching three meters, while his grip allowed him to fix his body vertically to the building's surface.
SCRAPE-THUD.
The robot aimed another punch towards him. But he quickly used a strange method: he pushed himself directly in a horizontal direction along the building and launched himself towards the giant robot's body. He latched onto it.
Then, he used the same method he'd used on the building, clinging with great strength to the giant robot's body. They expected the robot wouldn't have the knowledge to overcome such a situation.
But the robot, as if insane, began running in the opposite direction. They realized that such tremendous pressure on a participant his age should have put the boy in a dangerous situation. But he wasn't.
Because in the video, the boy displayed great precision. He used the giant's body as a platform and the pressure of the wind as a counter to gravity. He began running in a vertical direction upwards.
This made the eyes of most teachers widen again.
"My God," one of them uttered, the words a soft exhalation.
In the end, the boy reached the robot's head. Then he used what looked like a Jiu-Jitsu-style kick towards the head. The force of the kick was so strong it shattered the robot's eyes with a sickening CRUNCH-POP of breaking lenses.
Then, he jumped upwards. He was in the air, at least 15 meters from the ground. There, mid-air, he pulled out a metal sphere the size of a baseball and sent it towards the giant robot. The sphere stuck.
Then, to the teachers' surprise once more, his boots glowed in the air and released a burst of pressure with a sharp ZZZRT-BOOM! The boy used the air as if it were a platform. After several controlled bursts, he managed to reach the ground.
THUMP-roll-roll-roll.
He rolled several times on the ground before standing up again and looking at the giant in front of him, whose head exploded in a cascade of sparks before the entire massive frame collapsed with a world-shaking CRAAAAAASH.
They watched as the boy let out a sigh—a visible puff of breath in the dusty air—turned, and launched himself towards another cry for help.
In the meeting room, the teachers fell into a profound silence. They didn't know what to say at that moment. They had witnessed something they couldn't believe they were seeing from a student.
Precise actions.
Combat skills.
Superb response times.
And finally, a coldness that didn't suit someone who had come to enter U.A. Academy. It suited a seasoned, professional hero.
The silence stretched, broken only by the hum of the monitors and the distant, muffled sounds of ongoing battles from other screens.
(All Might) slowly turned his gaunt face towards (Nezu), his expression a mix of awe and deep concern. (Aizawa)'s capture weapon seemed to tighten slightly around his neck as he stared, unblinking, at the now-empty spot where the giant had fallen.
(Nezu) finally steepled his paws, his smile widening into something distinctly knowing.
"It seems," he said, his voice cheerful yet cutting through the silence like a scalpel, "we have a most interesting applicant."
The cog hadn't just entered the machine. It had, quite spectacularly, made the engineers stop and re-examine their blueprints.
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End of Chapter.
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The teachers are stunned! What will their verdict be on Suzuki's unorthodox, borderline psychotic display of skill and calm? Will he be hailed as a genius or flagged as a potential problem? What did you think of the faculty's reaction? Let me know in the comments!