Kai opened his eyes.

“Hmm,” the female version of Bakugou grunted. “You don’t seem like an extra, who the hell are you?”

He showed none of his thoughts on his face, not even bothering to glance at the fifth major character from the show he had met so far. Instead, he kept looking forward and smirked.

Perhaps, in the spur of the moment feeling, he may have said something rather stupid.

“First place.”

Bakugou visibly flinched back at his response, her blood red eyes thinning and hands letting off a small pop of orange sparks, “What the fuck did you just say?”

Kai did not elaborate, standing up from his seat and stalking toward the end of the bus, once again plopping down and closing his eyes.

The second he did so, the bus lurched forward, and they were well on their way to the testing site for the entrance exam.

All was relatively peaceful, the small chatter of conversation, the nervous laughter of people trying to cool their nerves, some listening to music on the devices they brought, though most were mirroring Kai by opting for silent meditation.

The trip should have passed without much trouble, but Kai knew he poked the bear, and the aforementioned bear grabbed the collar of his shirt and pulled.

“You think you’re some hot shit don’t you?” Kai stared up at the sandy blonde, her nose pointed down at him like the barrel of a gun as every iota of her essence screamed anger. “The hell do you think this is Shitty Hair, do you know who the hell I am?”

Kai mentally admonished himself for his earlier response, but for some reason the girl in front of him sparked something, memories of his past life reading and watching the character before him and his feelings about her male counterpart. He rarely got mad or annoyed, and perhaps it was just in his DNA to always choose peace over conflict.

Bakugou changed that however, and he had spent plenty of hours hoping that his character would fade out of relevance and be done with his parasitic relationship to Midoriya.

However, those thoughts only held true until Bakugou had changed. He had grown nicer, quieter, and started to show a side Kai related to. He focused solely on excelling, and in Bakugou’s own favorite language, realized he was a side character.

The fact that all of that character development was not present, and far away in the future, really irked him. He didn't want to deal with this version of Bakugou, and honestly with Kai present her growth was no longer guaranteed as well. He was going to change things, it was not a matter of if but when, so how could he also make sure Bakugou and other characters grew stronger.

The answer was simple, a little tedious, but any good things in life came after hardships. 

He himself would be the catalyst for them to grow. Of course, he wouldn't babysit or hold their hands through every endeavor, but he would give some help for as many of them as he could.

Kai was one person, with a strong power yes, but nonetheless a single man facing a tsunami. 

There would be war, and Kai needed soldiers who could thrive, not survive like in the manga. He always felt the slightest ping of guilt by trying to manipulate people, but he saw it as doing them a favor. He could not let his plans rely on fate or plot armor, because there were no second chances for them and no third chances for him.

Even then, they were people, living and breathing, who had aspirations of their own to accomplish.

Izumi would eventually want to fix hero society after seeing how flawed it was, and Kai would focus on making sure society isn’t a pile of rubble before then. He knew his role, he already planned to play it flawlessly, and if Izumi or Bakugou took the number one spot from him then all the better.

“I don’t know who you are, but stay out of my way.” Kai was taking pointers from Todoroki’s cold personality, hoping Bakugou would challenge him in the entrance exam so she could get the wake up call about how the world was a much bigger place than some rundown junior high.

Time was ticking after all. 

Hero society had a date with Destruction, and it was rather rude to keep a lady waiting.

However, Kai was taken aback by the almost feral growl that left her lips, her impressive arm muscles flexing with power as Kai noticed the contemplation to blow him up show on her face.

Thankfully, she was smart enough to know if they fought now her chances at UA were toast, so instead of trying him she spoke in a tone that was stained with hate.

“I’ll prove to you when I get first place, I'll make you know exactly who I am, Shitty Hair.”

Kai grinned, “Oh? Why not make this a bet. First place makes second do one thing, no matter what it is.”

Bakugou frowned, but the same frown morphed into a devilish grin that had a bit of insanity mixed in for good measure.

“You're on, don’t go havin’ regrets when I make you worship the ground I walk on.”

Kai chuckled, “Right back at you.”

Bakugou, for all her anger and arrogance, actually looked somewhat surprised at his words, hand quickly letting go of Kai’s shirt as she took a step back.

“Hah, as if I have to worry about you wining anyways.” Her words sounded more like reassurance for her than as a comeback, the smallest tint of red lingering on her cheeks as she avoided his eyes.

The bus suddenly stopped and brought their confrontation to an end, and Kai swore there was still some anime bullshit at play because the timing was impeccable. Bakugou shot him a glare, any whisper of any other emotion besides anger seemingly a hoax. 

She aggressively turned on a dime, stomped through the aisle, and out of the doors that also opened perfectly on time for her.

Kai simply watched, then realized how much fun he just had. He prided himself on being a polite person, quiet, knowledgeable and only talking when spoken to. 

However, the feeling of just saying his thoughts and not caring was nice, and he may have to do it more often.

Although the idea could wait for later. His mask slipped right into place as he got up and followed the other examinees who began to leave the bus. And once he stepped out, Kai was greeted with a view he knew would be there but still was impressive to see firsthand. 

A mock city spanning twenty blocks, empty buildings, clean streets, and a general drab feeling blanketing the entire place.

The whole city was nondescript, and Kai actually did wonder how much something like this cost, especially with having six of them plus the other facilities implemented just for the hero course. 

UA was holding nothing back, and Kai would answer their showmanship in kind.

For the entrance exam, he was going to let them see his worth, both because he needed them not to get suspicious when the USJ rolled around and he used more power, and also because Bakugou needed to face reality.

Plus, Kai had yet to break anything in almost four years, the best he could do was spar and self train so his skills didn’t deteriorate.

He could finally let loose for a bit. 

Having One for All, a powerful Quirk that in its later stages could make him a country level threat, was constantly teeming beneath his skin as if to taunt him.

The sheer destruction he could cause, all at his fingertips, yet never able to utilize fully since there was nowhere to train properly. He could possibly call in a favor from the Yaoyorozu family but the HPSC would notice, and once they finally saw just how much raw power he could bring, they would shift their plans from the predictable ones they currently had.

Thankfully, after the sports festival Kai would be done with them, and then he wouldn't have to hold back anything. It would put a target on his back, and maybe All for One might even gun for him too after seeing his potential, but he was fine with it. He could take it, and if it gave the main cast some breathing room, it was a bonus.

All for One, the name made Kai shiver not out of fright but anticipation, mostly because he planned on killing him, or well her.

Kai knew he was a lighter shade of gray, possibly even a step away from being purely white, but one thing he would allow himself was killing that person. Both to ensure he would not have to look behind his back everyday of his life, and also to protect his future family.

Hypocritical, but that was one of his many flaws, a thing that made him himself and not some cog to the HPSC. He had spent a decade mulling over such things in his head, and he knew there was no room for hesitation now. 

He would kill All for One.

Done with dark thoughts, Kai walked to an open area before the gates of the city, not bothering to worry about stares as he started to shadow box. [Fa Jin] answered his actions readily, patiently building potential energy in his arms and practically begging to be let loose as kinetic energy. Then, Kai promptly added kicks, the red spark of the Quirk cascading through his lower body in earnest.

After a minute, he was relatively warmed up, and he cast a quick survey of his surroundings. Most of his fellow examinees had backed away from him, both with mocking looks and also a few out of politeness to let him do his own thing. Others had even copied him, though most had their own warm up routine that they used.

Bakugou was stretching her arms and rolling her shoulders, her face pulled into a focused glare. 

She wore a simple sleeveless cotton black shirt, black joggers, and orange sneakers. Her figure was wrought with muscles, even being more pronounced than most guys around her, and Kai knew that even if the show didn't show it she rightfully earned a tiny bit of her arrogance.

Bakugou suddenly turned, as if knowing he was looking, her crimson eyes met Kai’s emotionless gaze.  

Neither of them backed down, and in unison, they both smiled, something akin to a rivalry forming as they stood ready.

A siren blared through the relative quietness of the area, pulling them from their stare down. Kai only briefly caught the startling figure of the male version of Midnight in a form fitting white suit as he shouted “Begin”, before his calves flexed and he moved.

Every examinee was suddenly knocked a step back, both from a concussive burst of [Fa Jin], and also from the two explosions detonating not long after.

Kai and Bakugou moved quickly side by side, but once they made it about ten feet down the first street, their plans of action took vastly different turns.

Bakugou charged forward, already meeting a measly one pointer and placing a basketball sized explosion right on its red eye, turning the poor thing to scrap and continuing onward undeterred.

Kai on the other hand, used his right leg that he had not used for his initial burst of speed to send himself skyward with a kick, rising higher than the buildings as his purple eyes scanned the city. He noticed that most of the one and two pointers were in groups, placed in alleyways and corners to either mob someone or flank them. The three pointers were blatant, big targets that stood their ground in open areas where anyone could challenge them in kind.

He took a mental picture, of course some details impossible to recall but he was still able to see what path he should take for the most points.

As he formed his plan, he finally reached the apex of his jump, gravity rightfully taking hold and pulling him downward. Kai clicked his tongue as he realized he did not know where the zero pointer was. In the show, it just sort of shows up, no indication or hint whatsoever about if the hulking robot was placed at the farthest side of the city and sat inactive, or was brought up from an underground platform.

With the complete absence of seeing it during his survey, the latter theory should be correct, and Kai was vexed because of it. He wanted to time his fight with it on his terms, but now he was left with an unknown variable, an annoyance if there was one. 

He worked best with prep time, and although his combination of Quirks granted superior strength, it came with the fact he also had multiple drawbacks. 

[Fa Jin] did not cut back on his energy expenditure, and every punch or kick he threw was still taking from his stamina like normal, as the Quirk only allowed him to bottle up the spent energy for later use.

[Gearshift] could only work on one thing at a time, and the fact he had to touch whatever he wanted to use it on made being a ranged fighter hard; hence his Dagger Gauntlets to make up for it. 

The last part of his Quirk, and the most powerful, was the stockpiled strength which felt like a constant adrenaline rush. With so much power flowing through him, his body was forced to bear the recoil of its power in full, and if he wasn’t careful in its output he could tear muscles or tendons. Thankfully, he would not be breaking bones, because even if he wanted to he couldn’t due to his twenty percent cap.

Kai mentally pulled from his gut to summon One for All, and as he named it, his Half Shroud slipped onto his body with familiarity. 

Half Shroud was simply just half of his maximum, no particular percentage attached to it, and for now it was only a measly ten percent.

Purple lightning danced across his body, giving off light as he readied himself for action. Turning himself sideways, he had finally fallen long enough to be on level with the tallest buildings. Kai stretched his legs out, the soles of his shoes meeting the side of a vacant office building, and at an obtuse angle he pushed off, cracking the wall and sending him downwards like a bullet as he aimed for a Two Pointer. The robot looked almost like a scorpion, its front two legs offering protection along with two tails at its back for attacking. His target was currently harassing a red haired male, and as a blur, Kai’s body tore through the Two pointer, its armor surprisingly weak and causing him to pierce it like a spear.

He hit the street in a roll, dodging a metal spike shot out by the red haired examinee and only throwing a glance his way before sprinting forward. Kai barely heard the “Sorry about that” said to him, noting that he was also going to have to account for less trained individuals using their powers at full throttle.

Nothing too hard, and the thought was shelved as two hulking Three Pointers standing at ten feetl trudged forwards like mechs. Around him, fights with flashing lights from a plethora of Quirks were happening, and because of it, a circle-like arena had been formed to trap him inside.

Kai exhaled, and he flashed forward with a burst of speed from [Gearshift], both hands jutting out and fingers flicking as [Fa Jin] activated.

Ten arrow-like tunnels of condensed air, five for each three pointer that flanked his sides, hit exoskeletons with blunt force and shattered them to pieces. 

Kai did not chance a look toward his kills, moving forward and evading through the swathes of other test takers.

He needed room for maximum damage, and as he broke through the crowd and found a Three Pointer lumbering his way, he grinned ear to ear.

Well, until he was suddenly shoved aside, and all he could glimpse was sandy blonde hair, a flash of yellow light, and then smoke washing over the area as an explosion went off.

The smoke cleared with another bang, and Kai glared as he saw Bakugou standing atop what was left of the Three Pointer, her animal esc face accented with a sneer aimed toward him.

Kai bristled at the look, standing up from his crouched position and almost snarling, “Watch where the fuck you're going.”

“Huh?” Bakugou raised an eyebrow. “Couldn't quite hear you from all the way down there. Sorry, twenty five points and all.”

‘She’s laughing, she's actually laughing at me, the audacity of this bitch.’

Kai contemplated adding another body on his hit list after All for One.

Before he could even retaliate with his own words, Bakugou blew him a kiss, even setting off an explosion of mostly smoke that drifted his way.

“Too slow, maybe next time.”

She blasted off, leaving Kai to stew in a feeling he hadn't felt before. At the HPSC he was the best, the only one, and competition boiled down to beating his own records. 

Although in a fight Bakugou would never win, the feeling of being brushed aside caused Kai to want to try harder, to be just a little more petty than before.

“So be it.” He said aloud.

Turning, and going perpendicular to where Bakugou had set off, Kai decided he needed to rack up more points before he went and got his revenge.

Once he found his own farming spot, he was in his element, the synergy of all his Quirks sans [Smokescreen] showed in full as he tore a path through robot after robot. He was fast, not quick enough to not be discernible to the eye, but still able to simply outpace anything thrown at him.

Four One Pointers, with their singular wheel bottom half and glowing red eye head, along with a duo of Two Pointers cornered him in an alley. Kai grinned, deactivating his Half Shroud and jumping as a spray of bean bag aimed for his lower body.

He touched his arm, the prerequisite for [Gearshift] to activate even on himself, and used the Quirk to change his direction mid jump, blitzing forward through the air as if surfing and simply crashing through a one pointer’s midsection like it wasn't even there. Once he landed on the other side, a haymaker stacked four times over sent a pulse of kinetic force, ripping apart a Two Pointer mid swing. The other Two Pointer behind it was pushed back from the shotgun shot of its comrades' destroyed body, actually shattering against the cement walls of the wide alley and going limp with smoke rising from its insides.

Kai kept running, snagging three pieces of green armor from the downed Two Pointer and turning around to back peddle, the last three One Pointers chasing him at full throttle with their wheels kicking up steam.

With [Gearshift]. Three well placed jagged armor pieces pierced their heads, the light dying out as they kept their momentum for a few seconds before clattering to the asphalt.

Kai took the moment to catch his breath, knowing his total point count was currently sixty five, along with possibly ten or so rescue points. He could have farmed more of the latter, but it was too unpredictable on how they would score them. He could spend the ten minutes allotted doing only rescue, but relying on the judges to give him enough was foolish. Bakugou was right in the fact that villain points were guaranteed, and if she could get in with them alone, then so could Kai.

He turned, eyes scanning the street he was on which only had a few fellow examiness. He even saw some other characters from the show. The vine haired girl, now a boy, was using his long green plant hair to simply make a fist and smash One Pointers like he was playing whack a mole.

The other character, to Kai’s surprise, rang familiar but was all too different. Long purple hair stopping at the edge of shoulder blades, a slender body that showed lack of training, and purple eyes wrapped in deep eye bags.

The female Shinso Hitoshi was struggling, and Kai spared her only a glance before activating his Half Shroud and turning the other way. 

He had three minutes left, and if he remembered correctly, the Zero Pointer came out at two.

During his massacre of very expensive robots, Kai had come to a conclusion, one where he believed the Zero Pointer would target the biggest crowd of people. So, he leapt up to one of the buildings, scouring the city for the biggest mass of examinees and finding it rather quickly. 

Thirty seconds later, and a good ten points added to his total, he emerged from an alley. His breathing was a little shaky as he observed everything before nodding to himself and joining the fight. 

This time however, he focused on rescue and harassment, helping people out of tough spots and occasionally doing damage but not claiming points. He knew that with him here he would be taking points that should have belonged to others, which would and could have effects on the outcome of the exam. Hopefully, he made up for some of his greediness here, but it was honestly to save his energy for what he knew was to come.

The Zero Pointer was anything but subtle when it appeared, the sheer noise of its tread-like feet heard above the chaotic fights in the street, others noticing and turning to see what exactly was causing the sound.

The dropping of jaws was not an uncommon response as the ten story plus behemoth of a machine rounded the corner, a single moment of silence passing before all hell broke loose.

Kai stayed back, throwing punch after punch in the air as he bottled up as much kinetic energy as he could, having his Half Shroud active as it boosted each punch further and further. 

While he charged up, Kai kept a keen eye on everything going on, making sure no one was trapped or too slow to get away.

During his scan, he saw someone he expected but still shook his head at seeing, those blood red eyes quite familiar.

Bakugou looked exhausted, but Kai was sure out of pure spite and his bet she was pushing herself to continue on; probably with a healthy dosage of arrogance as well. 

She trudged forward, rolling her right shoulder as a devilish grin blossomed on her face, her hair flowing widely as the Zero Pointer threw a punch which cratered the street below it and kicked up a wave of dust and wind pressure. The image of her walking forward while others fled and parted around her was honestly a sight, if not for the fact it was her, Kai would have said it looked cool.

Most had cleared out after ten more seconds, and Kai emerged from his place in the shadow a good one hundred feet behind Bakugou, looking up to see the Zero Pointer seemingly registering its tiny blonde challenger. 

Predictably, it cocked a simple arm back, throwing the massive thing right at her.

Kai stayed back for a moment, knowing this is where things would change, because he planned to show her just how big the world is.

Full Shroud took hold, long tendrils of purple lighting emerging from his skin and reaching out like hands. Power thrummed inside Kai, mixing with the kinetic buildup of [Fa Jin] and becoming something more, not One for All nor [Fa Jin], but a power that wanted to simply decimate.

Kai took a bounding leap forward, each step cracking the ground as he fell in line behind Bakugou and got ready.

The girl jumped toward the fist with two explosions, and with practiced ease she dodged the giant metal fist and propelled herself towards its face.

Once she got level with the Zero Pointer’s face, both of her hands came together, and with little fanfare she let off an explosion akin to the one her male counterpart did in the sports festival.

The air singed with heat, the shock wave quickly shattered windows, and the light show lit up the sky like a firework.

Bakugou began to cackle, only for her to abruptly stop dead when she whipped her head to the side to see the open palm of the Zero Pointer trying to grab her.

She visibly winced after using more explosions to dodge the massive hand by a mere foot or so, clear tears welling up in her eyes from pain as she aimed for the Zero Pointer’s head that was barely scratched from her attack to try again.

Kai came to a stop about forty feet away from the Zero Pointer, still on street level as he gazed up at the spectacle of Bakugou fighting tooth and nail.

He snorted, feeling the power inside him swirling and impatiently looking for some type of release.

Kai obliged, getting down in a runner stance and touching his bare forearm to activate [Gearshift].

Now ready, he closed his eyes and readied himself, knowing that what he was about to do was a bit reckless.

He made several super moves, not out of a want but a need. He was taught heroes created super moves mostly for three reasons.

One for popularity and to sell to fans obviously, two to help ensure repeatability in a fight, and the third to warn fellow heroes what you were doing in the heat of battle.

Kai wouldn’t be shouting his super moves anytime soon if he could help it, but having them now would help him in the future.

After his a short moment of centering himself, Kai opened his eyes and grinned almost ferally, mimicking Bakugou as he no longer held back.

Twenty percent of One for All and [Gearshift] made his world blur, everything stretching around him as his speed went from almost nothing, to fast enough he had only two seconds to focus on the Zero Pointer before he had to leap upwards or he would smash into its legs.

In the air, carrying the momentum akin to a bullet rain, Kai clenched his right fist.

In that moment, as his knuckles turned white and purple lightning snaked around his hand, everything seemingly came together. 

The initial burst of speed, the strength of every muscle tightening as he cocked his arm back, the flashes of electricity in his brain crossing synapsis to relay stimuli, his retinas observing the world around him, the blood in his veins supplying oxygen throughout his body, the bones in his arm sturdy and unwavering, the tendons that held together like steel wire, and his breath that left his lips as hot air.

Every ounce of his being, the twelve years in the orphanage as Damien, the four years with his adoptive parents, the two years rotting away in a hospital bed, his second chance, the four years with Hina, the five years of training under the HPSC, and the four years living as a Yaoyorozu.

All of it, the frustration, love, anger, and sadness.

Every ounce of it Coalesced into his fist.

He threw a simple right hook, and his world went black for a second as the attack almost instantly took a toll on his body. 

In the next moment, he was awake again, barely able to dredge up bits of One for All to break his fall as he landed in a sloppy roll that barely killed his momentum.

He tripped, skipping over the street a few times like a rock on water before finally stopping, a groan of pain already leaving him from the feat.

Kai would be fine, he wasn’t dumb enough to use that move unless what he was attacking was a slow moving type like the Zero Pointer, and the reason was quite clear as he looked up from where he lay on the floor.

The giant robot was frozen, slowly moving its head downwards to see the fifteen foot hole blasted through its chest. 

It didn’t fall over, it didn’t even start to explode like when Modirya hit it either. Instead, the robot’s red eyes lost its glow before growing utterly still; most likely shutting off.

Kai chuckled, looking down at his right hand to see steam emitting off it, nodding firmly as he smiled.

“Nailed it.”

The sirens that had marked the beginning of the test rang out, and Kai managed to push himself to his feet, moaning all the while as he made his way around the Zero Pointer and toward the gates where his guardian angel Recovery Boy would be.

Once he walked around the inactive Zero Pointer, he saw the figure of Bakugou, her eyes like dinner plates as she stared at the hole in the giant robot’s chest. She was muttering incoherently, glancing at Kai, then back up at the Zero Pointer, then back to him.

Kai kept walking, passing near the girl and giving her a final very polite farewell.

“Too slow, maybe next time.”

He wished he could see how she reacted, but his right arm was killing him and he really did not want to deal with it any longer. It was only when he focused forward that he saw a scant few of the other examinees who had witnessed his attack, mirroring Bakugou’s surprise and simply watching him as he trudged forward.

The look they held was all too telling of their thoughts, most probably realizing they were out of their league, and others understanding that they weren’t special.

Kai ignored their stares, opting to glance backwards to see Bakugou hadn’t moved a single muscle, still standing and looking absolutely flabbergasted.

‘Sorry,’ Kai thought. 

He left the mock city, knowing full well he passed, and also wondering what he should have for lunch.

He decisively decided on getting ice cream, preferably Vanilla Bean, he believed he earned it.