Lesson Learned

## Prologue

Even in a society where those with supernatural powers run rampant, there are those who wish to keep the more normal aspects of life intact. On the day of **May 4th** a festival was being held in the downtown area of Tokyo. Many booths with things from food to art had been set up, even certain booths that showcased quirks. It was a nice time for any citizen to relax and enjoy a regular afternoon, even for young aspiring Heroes. With their entrance exam to U.A. High only a week away, these young teens needed a way to break the pressure and nerves of the upcoming exam.

Walking through the festival with a look of nothing but serenity while eating a cone of Ice Cream is a very peculiar looking Young Woman with black Fox-like ears atop her head and a long white fluffy tail behind her.

*"Festivals are really the best, Everything here is just so interesting and delicious"* Spoke the young Woman as she continues to make her way around in hopes of finding something else to try.

"Yeah yeah, I promise I won't be out to late." Chiyoko yelled, in response to her parents demanding she'd be home before ten. "See ya later!" Running out the house, she bolted to the festival excited to see some of her friends. As a student who was applying to U.A High, she spent a lot of her time trying to find new ways to develop her quirk. She often misses out on events such as these because of his active study schedule. But not today. Today she was determined to have fun and enjoy life before the exam next week. "Festival here I come!"

"Alright. I understand." Kurosuke answered as he hung up from a call. Cracking his neck, he let a smirk appear on his face. The festival was today, and he would attend. It was meant for students applying to U.A High, and he was an applicant, as he expected himself to score high on the entrance exam. He usually spent his time practising, not wanting to fall behind, wanting to strengthen his quirk. However today, the boy would allow himself to relax, and be a normal child for a day. He made his way to the festival, letting a smile manifest as he passed by many of his future classmates.

"Gotcha Mom, no using my quirk in crowds I know I know. That was one time alright." Haiiro sighed as he placed his phone in his pocket. It was one week away from the exam and he was excited beyond belief. At his old school people had always been scared of him because of his powers. He couldn't control them yet and because of it he ended up an outcast. Now it was different. Now he would finally be with people he that could understand him. Out of the corner of his eye he spotted a booth in the festival. ShineSpark Burst, the best soda in the world. There was no line so he ran as fast as he could to grab one, the man at the booth smiled at him and tossed him a can. He cracked open the lid as the glorious nectar of the gods poured down his throat. He spun to walk away, only to bump into a girl, knocking them both to the floor. "Oh god I'm so sorry." Haiiro stammered as he looked at the black haired girl, a single strip of her hair was red.

"No no no, the fault is all mine." she exclaimed, quickly standing right back up and dusting herself off. "I should have been more cautious to where I was going." she continued, extending her hand outward to help the boy up. She isn't very social, despite planning on meeting up with some friends, she did not make an effort to try to find new ones. Because this fact, she seemed rather nervous. As her body temperature began to rise and sweat began to drip from her back she began to panic. "Oh would you look at the time, gotta blast." she mumbled, slurring her words a little bit. Before the boy could even accept her help up, she dashed away.

"Um thanks I'm Haiiro." He spoke as he reached for her hand only to miss. "Wait where are you going?" He shouted as he pushed himself up from the ground. *"Was it something I said, was it me, did she know about my quirk?"* Haiiro thought, his emotions quickly building inside him. "No no it was probably something on her end." He spoke softly to himself as he attempted to regulate his breathing. He sighed as he began walking in the direction she ran, hoping to see more of the festival and maybe apologize again.

Kurosuke sighed, picking up a can of ShineSpark Burst. Taking a sip, he sighed. *Good stuff.* he thought to himself as he spotted a Food Booth far ahead. Taking sips as he began to run towards to the booth, crashing into a brown haired boy, sending them both crashing to the hard ground.

As Haiiro walked he felt another person smack into him and fell to the ground. "That's the second time today, are you okay." He spoke aloud, rubbing his head as he offered the boy some help up. "Sorry about the I was kinda zoned out."

As Haiiro walked he felt another person smack into him and fell to the ground. "That's the second time today, are you okay." He spoke aloud, rubbing his head as he offered the boy some help up. "Sorry about the I was kinda zoned out."

Haiiro was shocked, the kid had just spat on his shoes and walked away, not even apologizing to him. "Wow what a dick." He muttered under his breath. However he walked away. He had promised his mom that there would be no conflicts and he intended to keep it that way.

"Oi oi! Bring me another strawberry milkshake, you damn waiter", Furuu shouted. For all the prospective students passing by, they could not believe such a petite girl could drink that vasts amounts of milkshakes let alone be a hero with her frail body. As she noticed their presence she climbed on top of her table and proclaimed, "Listen up! For all of you that have been batting their eyes towards me in disdain, I have only one thing to say! From next year on I will be the queen bee of the first years!" With that furious statement she just as quickly changed her demeanor rather nonchalantly into that of an idol and continued, "You can call me Fu-chan so lets work well together, Okay?" As a testament to this, Furuu showcased her jackhammer arms as a demonstration of her super strength.

Standing at a distance and witnessing this proclamation, this giant of a student just sat and ate his ramen peacefully until some sort of joker appeared out of thin air. "Holy Superman, you're huge! What does your mother feed you big guy?", The joker pronounced. "Ahhhhh, I'm sorry! I'm not good with new people", Hazumi said as he rolled into his ball form. The joker was left amazed at Hazumi's quirk and quickly retaliated by knocking on his plating. "Uhm, excuse me big guy. My name is Shakunetsu Taiyou but everyone calls me Shaku. The reason I approached you was because I want us to be friends! Out of all the people here, you seem the most friendly. Sorry for intruding!" Shaku explained.

Hazumi was quite frightened and shocked by this statement and as he slightly opened his plating to peak at the other boy, he saw Shaku extending his hand towards Hazumi as a friendly gesture with a bright grin on his face. Feeling at ease a little, Hazumi unrolled and introduced himself. "Hello Shaku, my name is Dangan Hazumi. I will accept your offer to be friends as I'm currently all alone." Both the boys started laughing and out of nowhere a fireball appeared between them. Hazumi got scared again and Shaku paused and reassured him everything was fine. "This is my quirk Hazumi. Mini sun but I call it Shoyo. It allows me to manipulate and transform its flames in any shape I can imagine", Shaku explained. Just like before but only in opposite roles, Hazumi was this time impressed by Shaku's quirk. "Let's go and explore more of the festival together Hazumi!" Shaku proclaimed. Hazumi nodded his head in approval and hoisted Shaku on top off his shoulder, both of them continuing their festivities as first time friends.

In the forests that bordered the Festive City, Kenichi Shimura was training his quirk. He was stopped by Shi Yu who reminded him of the Festival. "*Oh , I forgot !*" Kenichi replied as he quickly rushed to the City. An antisocial kid, Kenichi Shimura however had a thing about festivals and especially today's festival meant a lot to him.

In the midst of the crowd at the festival, however, stood a short, blonde haired girl with what would appear to be a butterfly in her hair. While she attempted to blend in with the crowd for the most part, the young Miku Sora could not hide her unique aura, nor did she truly want to. Why should she? She was in public, she would think, as she subconsciously played around with her shimmering hair. She could hear the crowd mumble as she walked, as if she was not allowed to enjoy such a festival like this one. Ignoring their utterances, as she knew why she was getting them, Miku looked around, at the booths, and even at one young girl using her arms as a jackhammer. "Wooah, this place is quite busy..Fun!" she exclaimed while giggling. She had always been around for the annual May festival, but today was surprisingly packed. With her examinations in just a matter of just a week away from this particular event, the former junior high model needed a place to figuratively stretch her legs.

Looking at the various booths, Miku took a deep breath and went off to explore the area, somewhat happy there seemed to be no sloberring stalkers following her around. <Ooh, a ShineSpark Burst booth..> she thought, making a mental note in her head as if to save it's presence. As the music played, Miku could not help herself but dance a little as she walked, and at this point, Miku really didn't want those who knew her to be watching her dance. But then again,  why couldn't even a "bookworm" like her have some fun?

As Haiiro stormed away from the rude boy he passed an ice cream booth. *"Maybe some ice cream will bolster my spirits."* He thought as he handed over his money and bought a cone of sweet vanilla ice cream. As he walked he once again failed to pay attention to where he was going and almost crashed into a dancing girl. At the last second though he lurched to the side, directing another collision. He looked up to see her staring at him. "Ahh sorry about that." Haiiro apologized as he smiled sheepishly. "I'm Haiiro Kousei, I'm gonna be taking the entrance exam next week." He smiled extending his hand towards the blond girl. "What's your name?"

At that very moment, Kurosuke reappeared, a distasteful expression plastered upon his face. He took a cone of ice cream, and sat down near Haiiro and Miku.

As she was doing shortly before, the little lass named Miku was in the midst of a dance session that grew progressively more intense with each second, running her fingers constantly through her hair while doing so. However, as Miku continued to move through the crowd, she heard a "shwoosh", as a brown haired boy narrowly missed her, throwing his ice-cream on the floor while doing so. "..." At first, Miku was not sure how to react, but however, upon noticing the otherwise green grass being painted a maiyonnaise-esque white, she immediately rushed over to buy three ice creams, one vanilla that the boy initially had, and two other flavours that were on the booth's secret menu, Tuxedo Strawberry and Death by Chocolate, each being very extravagant flavours. Handing him one of them, Miku would return to see Haiiro apologizing to her. "No no no, it's fine!", she exclaimed, "It's both of our faults, I was dancing. My name's Miku Sora, nice to meet you Haiiro. I'll be taking it too!" Haiiro didn't seem to be that much of a bad guy to Miku, most others she knew often acted like perverts around her but he seemed genuinely kind. Maybe that was just the difference between Junior High and those who wanted to enter U.A?

Shaking his hand, Miku would notice someone sitting on a nearby bench, but paid him no mind, assuming that he was simply just another festival-goer. "Ready for the Entrance Exam?", she asked, attempting to make a friend in the form of Haiiro amongst her future classmates, while licking both of her ice-creams.

"Oh uh wow thanks." Haiiro stuttered, genuinely shocked at her kindness. "You really didn't have to get me another one you know. Though seriously thank you." He replied. He then kid who had spit on his shoe earlier out of the corner of his eye. He opted to ignore him, the kid was just plain mean anyways. "I'm kinda ready for my exam but I'm a little worried you know, I hear that it's gonna be a pretty crazy exam." He responded as he licked his own ice cream. "You know you're the first person here I've met who hasn't run away or been a dick here. It's nice to actually talk to one of my future classmates you know." He smiled as he ran his free hand through his head of brown hair. "What about you? Think you're ready for the exam?" He inquired.

Miku was quite accustomed to persons reject her acts of kindness, something which usually irked her a bit, but she was for the most okay with it. "No, I had to." she stated, "I bumped into you, it's atleast have my responsibility.", finishing up what she said with one of her trademarked pouts. What she was also accustomed to, was the attitude of the people here. While usually people were quite kind on other days, on the day of the festival, all hell broke loose.  "Yeah, I'm pretty ready I think :v, most people are worried but I think I'm fine. Just need to eat breakfast in the morning."

"That's good." Haiiro replied, tossing his empty cone into a nearby trash can. "So why do you want to become a hero?" His question may have been a bit personal so he opted to share his own reason first. "I want to become one because I feel it's what's best for me. I can't exactly control my quirk and I could end up hurting others if I keep going on like this without training. I wanted to be a doctor once. However as it stands I don't have enough control to save lives like that. So this is the next best option." He finished, letting out a small sigh.

Miku continued to lick her ice cream, having taken multiple scoops on each cone, before hearing his question. Miku was not afraid in the least to tell the world her dreams and ambitions, so one person out of the multitude was no problem for her. However, Haiiro went forward to explain why it was that he personally wanted to be a hero. It was an admirable goal, she thought, as he seemed to plan to use his Quirk for the good of the world. "That's nice.", she said, clearing her throat. "Personally, I want to become one of the, if not the greatest heroine in the world, and become a symbol for every other girl on Earth. I wanna show them that they can be strong too.", she declared, as she tilted her head slightly to the right inquisitively. "You get me, right?"

"Yeah I get ya." Haiiro replied with a smile. "It's similar to mine in a way." Haiiro was genuinely happy. For the first time in forever he was talking with someone casually. No malicious intent, no fear, no anger. Just a simple conversation. "By the way what is the quirk you're gonna use to rise to the top?" Haiiro asked with genuine curiosity. "I'd show you mine but as I've stated, it's not safe to use." The boy spoke, awaiting Miku's response.

Upon hearing Haiiro, Miku had actually gotten caught off guard. While she wasn't exactly doing it with malevolent intent, she would have preferred not to use her Quirk and have the advantage of others still not knowing what they were. However, Miku couldn't refuse her new friend after coming so far. Making her way over to a more secluded, well, as secluded as a crowd of people could possibly be, Miku extended her hands as at first, what would appear to be smoke left her hands. Finally, however, the mass clearly changed from smoke to a what would appear to be a cloud, the very same thing that's in the sky that started to float higher into the air. "I know, it seems lame, but I have some really cool tricks I can do with it! I'm saving them for the Entrance Exam though, so you'll have to wait.", Miku giggled and said, knowing full well she was being a tease.

Haiiro followed the girl to a more secluded part of the crowd and watched with wonder as the cloud formed within her hands. "Dammit I really wanna know what it does but I guess I'll just have to wait and see huh." Haiiro laughed as he took another look at the floating white mass. His mind raced to think of what it could be. Was it a platform she could stand on? Could she create clouds at will? Was her power to stop the sun from shining in summer? There were many questions but few answers. He'd just have to wait and see.

Miku giggled even louder at the fact that Haiiro seemed to really curious as to what her power was. "What does yours do? I know you can't use it but you can atleast tell me." she said, pausing her giggles occasionally to get a word out. The cloud floated a bit higher before eventually dispersing, and after it had disappeared, Miku egged Hairu on to walk with her again. Usually she went to these festivals by herself or with her friends from her old school but she had graduated and most of her friends had already began to move around the country, or even to other countries. As a result, because of this, Miku was glad to have Haiiro walk around with her in the festival, even more so becauese he was also taking the exams. Looking around, Miku noticed a stage that seemed a bit out of place in the area. "You see that? Let's go check it out."

Haiiro smiled back a the girl. "I'll tell you a little but I gotta save some surprises for the exam too ya know." He spoke confidently. He was finally getting more comfortable talking around her, his shy tendencies fading. "To sum it up I can basically emit a ton of heat or fire that I can't control. So I'd probably end up charring everything close to me if I used it." His words were quite serious but he soon changed back to a more casual demeanor as he noticed the stage. "Alright then lets go!" He cheered as the two made headway for the stage. It looked like something important was about to go down as he noticed others shuffling over to the large platform. "Maybe this is about the exam or something." He whispered to Miku.

## The Show Begins

After a nice beginning to a day that seemed like it couldn't get any better, many passerby people and some of the aspiring heroes took interesting in a booth that looked very peculiar. The oddly set up stage seemed perfect for some sort of magic show, an assumption that created some interest, but got rid of interest in others. At the perfect time where all of our aspiring heroes had gathered near this stage, a man appeared from behind the curtain. The very pale man with dark hair and eyes was wearing a suit, earrings, and a suspicious bandage around his forehead.

"Why hello everyone!" exclaimed the man. "Please gather around, we will be starting the quirk talent show momentarily," continued the man. After his message he was once again lost from sight behind the curtain.

Since her childhood, Miku was never quite fond of talent shows, and upon hearing what was about to happen, she was mildly uncomfortable. Perhaps that should be rephrased, it was not that she disliked talent shows, but rather, she disliked *participating* in them due to the nature of the show and her tendency to spark jealousy when displaying anything she might be good at. However, she had no qualms with looking at the gifts of others.

Dispelling such thoughts from her mind however, Miku had already begun to assess the situation as Haiiro whispered to her. His theory may have been correct, but perhaps more correct than he or even she knew.  To begin with, the man seemed to be quite strange, and notably eccentric. In fact, considering the volatile nature of some Quirks, was it truly ethical to have a Quirk talent show? Even still, right before the entrance examinations. "Something smells fishy Haiiro."

"I agree." He nodded, a tinge of fear in his brown eyes. Haiiro was terrified at the prospect of being forced to use his quirk in front of people on a stage. Not to mention the thing was made of wood. His breaths became more rapid as the ideas raced through his head. Would they disqualify him from the exam if he refused? Would he hurt someone if he used his quirk? The questions rattled his brain has he held his head and his breathing began to speed up. "What the heck are they trying to pull" He spoke between breaths.

Having been entirely focused on courting herself on sweets and Food, Kaguya now finds herself rather lost as she glances around in confusion as she somehow found herself outside the festival back into one of the main roads. *"Oh My, I got so caught up with all the delicious sweets and drinks I must of stumbled away in a sugar endured High"* Muttered Kaguya as she absent minded bought a can of ShineSpark Burst from a nearby vending Machine before randomly walking down the path she original came from.

Literately dragging her to the scene, a small group of girls demanded that Chiyoko entered the talent show. "Come on guys...you know I don't like public speaking much less putting my quirk on display." she mumbled, her voice being casted aside by her giggles and laughter. "How do you expect to be a professional hero if you can't use your quirk in public.." one responded. "Yeah, take this as training. It's about time you got over this stage fright."

At that moment, she was pushed to the front of the stage; her friends making sure she would be seen by the host. "Oh no...."

Suddenly, the curtains were pulled back, revealing the man who had shown himself before standing in the middle of the stage. "Welcome one! Welcome all to the youth quirk talent show! I'm your host Suzuki-san. Today's show will be a showcase of quirks from our very own community's children. Any teens in the audience who wish to show off their quirk and potentially be handsomely rewarded. Not only is a cash prize on the line, but U.A. Hero High School has given us authorization to offer up to two recommendations to their school. Anyone who wants to participate can come on stage as they please. The show will be comprised of a few rounds. The first should be simple enough, just show us your quirk," when he said this, Suzuki opened his arms. "Let the show begin!" said Suzuki as he took to stage left and waited for his attendant to lead the first contestant on stage.

Haiiro was wide eyed, his face was filled with pure terror. The man had just proposed a quirk talent show, one that could possibly net him a recommendation to the U.A. itself. However the downside was using his quirk in on a stage, in public. There were so many people crowded around the stage, so many civilians. He was scared of hurting them, scared of what could come from using his quirk. *"If I use it here I might get in but if I do I also might hurt people and they'll revoke my recommendation. But what if the recommendation is the only way I can get in. What if I fail the exams."* His mind was racing as his breathing became fast, he fell to one knee and clutched his chest. "Oh god." Was all he could murmur under his heavy breath.

The entire situation was strange. Quite strange actually. Miku had her suspicions from the moment she laid her eyes on the stage, which only increased in magnitude upon hearing it was a Quirk talent show. Intrigued, yet a sense of inquisitiveness still withstanding, the young girl listened to the words of the host, "Suzuki-san". Recommendations to U.A were not something that was just given out willy nilly, and to have a recommendation be given out at something like a talent show rather than from a solid, or more traditional institution was far stranger than most propositions she had heard thus far. It sounded like winning the raffle and getting a scholarship. In fact, that was exactly what it was.

However, Miku could not help but look across and notice the look on Haiiro's face before he fell to the ground. While her sense of hearing might not have been superhuman, she couldn't let the exasperated remarks of a friend simply pass her by. Was Haiiro asthmatic? "H-Haiiro? What's wrong? Calm down.." At that moment, it clicked. Miku's quirk definitely wasn't psychic in nature, but she didn't need telepathy to read a person. "..It's your Quirk isn't it? That's an example of why I think this is fishy. Even then, there's still the exams, I'm sure you'll pass..", she said musingly, having said Haiiro would pass so calmly and without hesitation it was almost reassuring. Miku didn't expect Haiiro to become this apprehensive, and was caught slightly off guard, but her mind was currently split across two simultaneous occurences. With her habit of playing with her hair whenever she was in thought (as well as in most situations), Miku decided she would observe what happened next while trying to console her brown-haired friend.