My Hero Academia: Next Gen

Chapter 4: Shadows Lurking

A/N: Names are read "first name - last name", not "last name - first name" like in the show. Because I'm not confident in my use of Japanese honorifics, I won't use -san, -kun, -chan, or anything else besides last or first names. :/

Eri's heart felt heavy as she walked towards the doors of UA. They loomed in front of her in a way they never had before. The building was already intimidating as it was, but to know that the moment she walked inside, her fate was sealed... It was terrifying. The thought of not being accepted into UA made her stomach turn. To have to face her father after failing... To face Deku and Lemillion after being told she wasn't enough.

Her grip tightened on her backpack straps and she straightened her back. This was her day. This was the day. She had to focus.

Following the signs that lead her to the auditorium, she ended up in a line of other students, all waiting to be allowed into the room. Hopefuls from all over the country were there that day just for the chance to study at UA High. From her place in line, Eri could see a boy with long spikes protruding from his back, a girl who produced a mist that spread across the ground, and a boy who was sparking in front of her. She glanced down at her own hands and wondered how she could measure up to any of them when she couldn't use her quirk. 

She felt eyes on her and looked up to see a girl a few spaces ahead of her looking at her horn with apprehension. The girl was short, with wavy lavender hair that reached her mid-back. But even with her short stature, this girl's eyes pierced through Eri like a dagger. Eri ducked her head down out of habit. 

Her horn had stood about six inches tall ever since she'd learned control six years ago. It had taken her many months, but with the help of Aizawa and UA, her horn had grown without becoming a danger to the people around her. Of course, with that, her horn hadn't shrunk ever since. People often asked her about her horn, and she never had a problem answering their questions, but no one had ever looked at her horn that way before. Like it was something to be feared.

Chisaki had always looked at her horn with interest and obsession, always wanting to get to the bottom of the power released from it, but he had never feared her.

Not that he had needed to, back then.

Eri knew the girl was still looking at her, so she shuffled forward as the line moved without looking back. She didn't want to start anything before the exam even began.

It was another twenty minutes before Eri was inside the auditorium. She was handed a card that had her information on it, along with her exam location. She read it over as she walked to an empty seat. Ground Gamma, she read. That was the training ground designed to look like an industrial factory site. She bristled. Of all the places to take her exam, that was probably the worst one for her.

There were so many places to hide, but so many places for robots or other students to ambush from, and Eri knew that her reaction time was still not up to where it needed to be. She gripped the card tightly as she sat down next to a girl with short, lime green hair. 

The girl turned to Eri and smiled brightly. Eri smiled shyly back. The girl took her smile to be a welcome sign. "Hi!" she exclaimed. "I'm Keiko Matsumoto! It's so nice to meet you!"

"Um, hi," Eri replied. "I'm Eri Aizawa. It's, uh, nice to meet you too." She put her card down on the table-desk in front of her and clutched her hands in her lap.

"Aizawa, huh?" Matsumoto tapped her chin thoughtfully. "Isn't there a teacher here with that name?"

Eri nodded and scratched the back of her neck, embarrassed. "Um, yeah. He's my dad."

Matsumoto's eyes widened and she shot forward, leaning so close to Eri that she could feel her breath hit her face. "Are you serious? That is so cool! So, you must know everything about the entrance exam, huh? Do you have any tips for me? Any hints about what the exam is going to be? Do you think it's going to be hard? Are you even allowed to tell me anything?"

"Oh, uh, no." Eri looked down at her paper, her eyes locked onto her exam location. "My dad wouldn't tell me anything so that the exam would be fair for everyone else."

"Oh..." Matsumoto's eyes dimmed. "I mean, I get it. That's probably for the best, anyway." She backed off, and immediately, Eri could feel a distance forming between the two of them.

"Yeah..."

There was an awkward silence between the two girls before Eri turned to look at the rest of the auditorium and came face to face with another girl. She jolted backwards, nearly hitting Matsumoto's face in the process. 

"Oh!" the girl exclaimed, putting her hands together in an apology. "I am so, so sorry. I always forget when it comes to new people."

Eri clenched a hand to her chest as she righted herself. "Uh, right, um, sorry. I didn't hear you sit down."

The girl waved her hand and flicked some of her dark brown hair behind her back. "Oh, no, you wouldn't have. That's my quirk. My body doesn't make sounds when it comes in contact with anything."

Eri's eyes widened. "Wow, really? That's really cool."

"Thanks!" The girl smiled brightly. "I'm Shizuka Torredo. And you are?"

"I'm Eri Aizawa."

Torredo's eyebrows shot up. "Aizawa... Like the teacher?"

Eri's heart sank. "Um, yeah. He's my dad." Was this how it was going to be her entire time at UA? Constantly being compared to her father? She'd prepared herself for everyone judging her based on her own personality and quirk, but she'd forgotten to think about how everyone would treat her once they knew that she was related to one of the most famous teachers at the school.

"That's amazing." Torredo smiled kindly. "You must have had a great childhood with someone as powerful as him being your dad."

Her blood ran cold, and for a moment, Eri forgot how to breathe. Her chest tightened painfully. A great childhood... Memories of Chisaki and that god-forsaken Shie Hassaikai flooded her mind. Memories of the pain and the torture. Memories of the loneliness and the hurt. Eri closed her eyes and tried to force breath into her lungs, but it was no good. The very thought of her life before Lemillion and Deku had saved her was still so powerful, even seven years later.

"A girl like you doesn't deserve nice things, do you?" Chisaki's cold voice pierced through her. "All you do is hurt people. And people who hurt others don't deserve nice things, do they?"

She had dealt with all of those emotions and all of that trauma in the following years in UA's and Aizawa's care. She had learned to accept what had happened to her, and she had come to understand that none of it was her fault. But... It was still painful. 

Painful... But not unbearable.

She forced a smile onto her face and looked up at Torredo, who at this point was looking very concerned. "I'm adopted," she said quietly, trying to keep her smile from cracking. "My life with Aizawa has been nothing short of amazing."

"I... I'm sorry," Torredo said, looking somewhat ashamed now. "I shouldn't have assumed."

"It's alright," Eri said, pushing down the memories. "It happens all the time." 

This was her moment. This was her time. This was her life. It no longer belonged to Chisaki, it belonged to her. And she would not let him ruin this day for her. 

Eri looked up at the front of the auditorium to see Present Mic standing there, his yellow hair standing up in its gravity-defying crescent. She straightened up when she realized that they were closing the doors to the auditorium. 

"It must be starting!" Matsumoto whispered from beside her. She was practically bouncing with excitement.

Not a moment later, Present Mic screamed, "WEEEEEEELCOME STUDENTS TO THIS YEARS UA HERO COURSE ENTRANCE EXAAAAAAAM!" 

Eri's hair was blown back from the force of his voice, and she noticed that she was not the only one. The whole auditorium of four, maybe five hundred students was caught unprepared for the full force of his vocal blast, and a few students actually fell out of their chairs. 

"PLEASE LISTEN CAREFULLY AS I EXPLAIN THIS YEAR'S EXAM, YEAAAAAAAH!"

Eri's chest tightened again as she looked around the room. Only forty students would be accepted to be in the first-year hero course. 

It had begun.

A/N: I hope you enjoyed this chapter! Feel free to leave a like or a comment or both!