The afternoon sun hung low over the Arisawa estate, casting long, golden shadows across the zen garden. I—the Lightning-Original—stumbled through the front gates, my vision swimming. My central nervous system felt like it had been fried, breaded, and served with a side of exhaustion.
To my left, Wind-Kenji was barely tethered to reality, drifting aimlessly like a popped balloon. To my right, I was physically hauling Earth-Kenji by his collar. He had fallen into a deep, tectonic slumber the second we cleared the exam gates, and in his sleep, his body mass had increased significantly. It was like dragging a safe across a carpet.
The massive front doors creaked open. My mother, Hana, stood there, her eyes widening as she took in the sight of her son—all three of him—covered in soot and scrap-metal dust.
"Kenji!" she cried, her Aura of Bliss washing over us like a cool breeze. "Oh, my poor boys! You look like you've been through a blender!"
My father, Masaru, stepped out from the study, a glass of expensive scotch in one hand. He looked at the soot on my brow and smirked. "I just got a call from an old contact at the Ministry. Apparently, a 'three-headed storm' just demolished the Battle Center A record. Care to explain why the Zero-Pointer is now a puddle of molten slag?"
"I... we... did what we had to," I wheezed, finally letting go of Earth-Kenji, who hit the floor with a heavy thud that shook the vases. "I'm going to sleep for a week. Don't wake me up unless the house is on fire."
"Actually," Earth-Me mumbled into the floorboards, "if the house is on fire, just roll me into the pool. I'm not moving."
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At UA
Deep within the fortified walls of UA High, the atmosphere was far more professional. In a darkened room lit only by dozens of monitors, the faculty sat in silence.
"This one," Principal Nezu said, his high-pitched voice cutting through the hum of the computers. He pointed a paw at the screen showing my Sync move. "Kenji Arisawa. He managed the battlefield. While his Lightning self attacked, his Earth self was reinforcing buildings and his Wind self was redirecting debris."
"He's a logistical nightmare," Shota Aizawa sighed, his yellow sleeping bag slumped in the corner. "He's technically three students. How do I even feed that? How do I discipline it?"
"But look at his score," All Might noted, his eyes glowing in the shadows. "75 Villain points. 60 Rescue points. He didn't just win; he saved the other examinees without a second thought. That is the essence of a Hero."
"I expect him to be quite the handful, Aizawa," Nezu chuckled, sipping his tea. "Try not to expel him on the first day."
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A month passed. The seasons began to shift, and the tension in the Arisawa household reached a boiling point. We were sitting in the living room—the Trio in a semi-circle—when the mail arrived. A small, heavy box.
I placed the metal projector disc on the table. A hologram flickered to life, and suddenly, All Might was standing in our living room, his muscular frame nearly touching the ceiling.
"I AM HERE... AS A PROJECTION!" he bellowed.
Wind-Kenji shrieked and hid behind the sofa. Earth-Me didn't even blink.
"Young Arisawa! You have performed excellently! Your academic scores were top-tier, but it was your heart in the practical exam that truly shone! You didn't just defeat the villains; you protected your peers! With a total of 135 points, you have taken the top spot in the entrance exam!"
The hero leaned forward, his smile legendary. "Welcome, Kenji Arisawa. This is your Hero Academia!"
Hana burst into tears of joy, and Masaru actually let out a triumphant "Hah!" I just sat there, feeling a strange mix of 'adult' relief and 'teenaged' excitement.
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The First Day: Class 1-A
Walking through the massive door of Class 1-A was an exercise in ego-management. I walked in as the Trio—it was better to set the precedent early.
"Don't put your feet on the desk!" a boy with engines in his legs, Tenya Iida, was shouting at a blonde, spike-haired kid. "It's an insult to the craftsmen!"
"Hah? I'll blast you, loser!" the blonde, Bakugo, snarled. His eyes landed on us. "Tsk. Great. It's the three-headed freak."
I ignored him, taking a seat in the back. A boy with green, curly hair approached me, trembling slightly. Izuku Midoriya.
"U-Uh, hi! I'm Midoriya!" he stammered. "I saw your score! It was incredible! The way your Earth-half created a grounding wire for your Lightning-half to discharge the 0-Pointer... it was a perfect application of electrical physics!"
"Thanks, Midoriya," I said, offering a tired smile. "I'm Kenji. The one napping is Earth, the one staring at the ceiling fan is Wind."
"Fascinating," a girl with a high ponytail, Momo Yaoyorozu, muttered from her seat. She was watching the three of us with a sharp, analytical gaze. "To maintain three distinct consciousnesses simultaneously... the brain must be partitioned in a way that defies modern neurology."
Suddenly, the door slid open. "If you're here to make friends, pack your bags."
Shota Aizawa stood there in a yellow sleeping bag. He looked like he hadn't slept since the dawn of time. He reached into his sleeping bag and pulled out a blue gym uniform. "It's slightly sudden, but put these on and head to the training field."
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As we headed to the locker rooms to change into our gym uniforms, the "Three-Body Problem" became a literal logistical nightmare.
"Wait, do we all change in the same stall?" Wind-Kenji asked, floating mid-air while trying to unbutton his shirt.
"I'm not changing in front of you two. I know what you're thinking," Earth-Me grumbled, crossing his arms.
"We have the exact same body, you idiot!" I hissed, shoving both of them into a corner stall. "It's not 'nude' if you're looking at yourself!"
While we were wrestling with our tracksuits, the room went quiet, save for a frantic, wet snickering. I looked over to see a short kid with purple grape-like hair, Mineta, pressed against the back wall. He was trembling with a perverted intensity that radiated off him like heat.
"Heh... heh... the promised land is just on the other side of this plywood!" Mineta whispered, his drool nearly hitting the floor. "The girls... the changing... it's a buffet of youth!"
From the other side of the wall, we heard the muffled sounds of the girls talking, followed by a sharp gasp.
"Wait... is that a peep-hole?!" Mina Ashido's voice rang out, sounding more offended than scared.
"How disgusting," Momo Yaoyorozu added, her tone dripping with cold aristocratic disdain.
"I'll plug it with a jack," Kyoka Jiro threatened, her voice dangerously low.
Before Jiro could strike, Earth-Kenji stepped forward. He didn't say a word. He just placed his hand against the wall. A small, precise column of solid stone surged from the floor, plugging the hole so violently it nearly took Mineta's nose off.
Mineta yelped, spinning around to find Earth-Kenji staring him down with the cold, immovable intensity of a tectonic plate.
"Try it again," Earth-Me rumbled, his voice vibrating in the small room, "and I'll make sure the only thing you're looking at for the next month is the inside of a sewer pipe. I have a very low tolerance for 'creepers,' grape-boy."
Mineta's soul practically left his body. "Eep! Sorry! So sorry! It was a lapse in judgment! A momentary madness!" He scurried away, tripping over his own oversized boots.
On the other side of the wall, there was a moment of silence.
"Who was that?" Tsuyu Asui asked.
"It sounded like that Arisawa guy," Ashido whispered. "The stoic one. That was... actually kind of cool of him."
"Indeed," Momo murmured, her voice softening. "A gentlemanly intervention."
The Quirk Apprehension Test: The Results
On the field, the tests were a brutal display of the gap between the "average" and the "elite."
The 50-Meter Dash:
Iida clocked a 3.04. I (Original-Lightning) focused energy into my calves, flickering across in 3.02 seconds. Wind-Me drifted behind me like a kite, laughing. Bakugo watched us from the sidelines, his palms popping with small, angry explosions. "Don't get cocky, you triple-faced extra," he snarled.
The Grip Strength:
Earth-Kenji squeezed the machine until the plastic began to groan. 610kg. "Whoa! Are you made of actual lead?!" Mina Ashido cheered, bouncing over to look at the screen.
"Density," Earth-Me replied shortly, though he gave her a small, respectful nod.
The Ball Throw:
Then came Midoriya. The air was thick with tension as Aizawa erased his quirk, lecturing him about being a "liability." Midoriya went again, focusing everything into a single fingertip.
CRACK.
The sound of the bone snapping echoed across the field, but the ball soared. 705.3 Meters. "He... he actually did it," I muttered, seeing the kid's resolve.
"My turn," I said, stepping into the circle. I looked at Aizawa. "All three? Or just me?"
"Everything you've got," Aizawa replied, his scarf fluttering.
We formed the triangle. Earth-Me anchored my legs into the dirt, Wind-Me created a localized vacuum tunnel in front of my throwing arm, and I channeled a high-frequency spark into the ball.
"ELEMENTAL DRIVE: RAILGUN!"
The ball broke the sound barrier with a sharp crack, vanishing into the blue. The device beeped: 980 Meters.
The class fell silent. I saw Bakugo's face go from pale to a deep, murderous red. I saw Momo Yaoyorozu and Kyoka Jiro exchanging a look—Momo was frantically writing notes in a notebook she'd created, while Jiro was twirling an earphone jack, her eyes lingering on the three of us with a mix of suspicion and genuine awe.
The Lunchroom Chaos and the Crash
By lunch, the "Sync" from the ball throw began to drain my reserves. We sat at a corner table, taking up an entire side.
"So, do you guys have three separate hearts? Or is it like a shared circulatory system?" Mina Ashido asked, leaning her chin on her hands right in front of Wind-Kenji.
"I am interested in the legalities! Does your family pay triple tuition?!" Iida added, his arms chopping the air like a windmill.
I was trying to answer, but my head was starting to pound. "Guys... we're red-lining."
WHOOMP.
The magnetic pull was violent and sudden. My "Operating System" couldn't maintain the split anymore. Earth and Wind were sucked back into my chest with a force that made me gasp for air. My knees buckled as the sudden influx of mass and memories hit my brain at once.
I felt myself falling backward toward the hard linoleum.
I didn't hit the floor.
Momo Yaoyorozu had stood up with perfect grace, catching my shoulders from behind, while Mina Ashido lunged forward to grab my arm, steadying me.
"Arisawa-san!" Momo cried, her face full of genuine concern as she looked down at me. Her face was inches from mine, and up close, her eyes were incredibly expressive. "Your temperature is rising! This split-form... it's taxing your cellular energy to the limit!"
"He's just... one guy now," Jiro noted, walking over and looking at my single form with a tilted head. "Must be a hell of a comedown from being a squad."
I looked up at Momo and Mina, my vision blurry. "I'm fine," I lied, my voice cracking. "Just... give me a second to find where I put my brain."
I drifted off into a forced "Sync-Nap" right there in the cafeteria, held up by the two most popular girls in class. My reputation as a cool, tactical veteran was dead, but as I saw Momo's worried expression before I closed my eyes, I figured the trade-off wasn't so bad.
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