II: Worth Fighting For
Exam day.
Hunched in her seat, Tsuyu exhaled. Fifteen years, countless hours, one day... deep breaths.
This was it.
One by one, the recessed lights lining the amphitheater's perimeter flicked on dramatically. Her show, it seemed, wasn't the only one about to start.
"For those of you listeners tuning in today, welcome to my show," the instructor's Aussie drawl boomed out across the auditorium. His shades glinted with anticipation as he raised his half-gloved hands. "Everybody say 'hey'!"
Silence.
Tsuyu pressed the tip of her index finger against her top lip in amusement. If this guy thought he was going coax the enthusiasm from a crowd as nervous as this, he had something else coming.
"Such a... refined response," the instructor muttered through gritted teeth, smoothing over the lightning curve of static gold hair jetting from his scalp. "Then I guess I'll skip to a quick presentation of the practical exam. Are you ready?!" He raised a fist into the air, the speaker device affixed to his neck pulsing. "Yeeeaah!"
Again, silence. Well, almost.
Someone in the back row was muttering a low but steady stream of incomprehensible gibberish that would have been annoying at any other time. Currently, however, it was practically a non-issue: hardly noticeable over the sound of her racing heartbeat.
"Now, as it says in the applicant manual, all you listeners will be conducting ten-minute mock battles after this," the presenter continued, voice tinged with disappointment. "You can bring anything you want with you, so long as you head to the specified zone after this, okayyyy?!"
More silence. Perhaps a bit more muttering. She held her card up to reaffirm her battle zone letter before cross-referencing it with the campus map:
Battle Zone F
"There are three different types of faux villains stationed at each battle center. You earn points based on their difficulty" the instructor continued, turning his back to them as the robotic silhouettes of the three aforementioned threats flashed across the presentation screen. "Your goal, dear listeners, is to use your quirks to immobilize as many of these 'villains' as you can. Of course"—he whirled around, shaking his finger playfully— "attacking other examinees or any other un-heroic actions is absolutely prohibited!"
"May I ask a question!" a trim voice shot from behind her.
"Okay!" the instructor nodded, obliging a spotlight to illuminate a tall, muscular boy with glasses and a clean-cropped haircut.
"On the printout, there are four types of villains," the boy pointed to the corresponding page without compromising his squared posture. "If this is a mistake, then U.A., the most prominent hero academy in Japan, should be ashamed of such a foolish misprint! In addition, YOU—" he pointed to a skittish-looking freckled boy in the back row, gaze hardening, "you've been muttering this whole time... It's distracting. If you're just here on a pleasure trip, then you should leave immediately."
Give the poor kid a break, Tsuyu thought, returning her attention to the presentation with a slow shake of her head. Who here isn't worried?
She let her cheek rest against her hand as the fourth villain, the zero-point obstacle she'd already read about from the exam materials, as was explained by the instructor – the Voice Hero, Present Mic— if she remembered correctly. Poor kid... hostile crowds sucked.
Especially on a day as important as this.
"Ewww!" the little girl screeched, dropping her sandwich. "Ms. Melooodyyy!"
Tsuyu looked up from her lunch as a portly middle-aged lady, waddled over to their table.
"There a problem, Sakiri?"
The small girl stuck a finger her direction."Asui's got a WORM in her mouth!"
Worm? The word must've struck a chord as all eyes in the cafeteria quickly turned to her table.
"Asui-chan" the teacher's grey gaze bore into the small girl as she knelt to eye level, "is that true?"
"Nuh-uhhhh," she replied, shaking her head furiously back and forth. "Seeee?"
She opened her mouth wide and pointed proudly.
"Ewwwwww!" More screams, this time from kids at different tables. "There it goes again!"
Sakiri jabbed a finger in the direction of the offending foot-long mass sprawled across Tsuyu's bento.
"Dis isn't a 'orm. Eh's mah 'ongue!" She slurped it back in, blushing.
"Sorry," she shrank into her chair, face heating up as more eyes bore into her. "I meant to say 'it's my tongue!'"
The fire in her cheeks deepened, her classmates' expressions changing from confusion to disgust. Sakiri's bottom lip fattened, a pout squishing her cheeks.
"I was born like this... okay?"
Silence.
Four-year-old Tsuyu's gaze darted around the room helplessly for someone, ANYONE, to help her. It was already over, and she knew it. She looked to her teacher with desperate eyes and quivering lips. Warm arms enveloped her as her vision blurred over with tears.
"M-Mom says it's just like her quirk!" she wailed, burying her head in the soft fat of Ms. Melody's shoulder. "I c-c-can't really c-c-control it ye— GERO!" her oversized hands snapped to her mouth a second too late.
The croak resounded across the lunchroom like a death knell. Cruel laughter spread across the room as if it were wildfire.
"Class. Class! That's enough, CLASS!" Ms. Melody's voice bobbed above the rancor, but she wasn't listening.
Her hands dug into the flesh of her face, fat tears bleeding through the cracks of her fingers. She had to get out— Run. Hide. Shrink away to nothing. Anything to get away from the agonizing laughs barbing her ears. This was too much. It wasn't fair. She had to—
"OKAAY, LET'S START!" Present Mic's voice boomed over the loud speaker system of Battle Zone F.
Her eyes snapped open.
"WHAT ARE YOU ALL STANDING AROUND FOR? THERE ARE NO COUNTDOWNS IN REAL FIGHTS! GO GO GOOOOOOOOO!"
Already crouched low on her haunches, it was easy for her to pivot to the side of the oncoming mob of prospective students before launching herself into the air, soaring over the most outlandish array of costumed shmucks who considered themselves worthy enough to fight for a coveted seat in the incoming class. White, reds, pinks, and purples were all a blur to her as she cleared most of the crowd, out-speeding all but the fastest past the massive steel gate and into the urban simulation beyond.
Ok, ok, past the gates in the front pack: check, she affirmed internally, whipping around a corner towards a street devoid of applicants.
Less competition for points this way. I'm definitely faster and more agile than the bulk of the competition, though I'm probably not in anywhere near as high a bracket if raw strength is taken into account. Even so, I am strong...
SCREEEEE!
A mono-wheeled drone screeched around a street corner, its red monocular lens flashing murderously as it made a beeline towards her position.
...More than strong enough out-muscle these drones.
Her chest muscles flexed as her tongue shot out like a bullet, coiling around a nearby streetlamp. Wide eyes focused on the charging robot as the she crouched low. Closer... Closer... Now!
Her thighs exploded, side-stepping her attacker and launching herself to the other side of the street. Midair, she grabbed a stoplight pole and braced for impact. With an earsplitting screech, the bot tripped over the taut stretch of flesh. Its sensor array jerked forward a full vertical 180 degrees before crashing into the pavement with a satisfying crunch.
"Gero," her tongue snapped back into her throat, while she coolly spat out what flecks of asphalt managed to stick to it on its way back in. A confidence welled up from within: vindication for all the work she had put in leading up to this moment.
One point.
WHAP! The impact of her feet against the side of another one-point drone, caving its head into the side of a concrete wall.
Two points.
REEEEE! The sound of a two-point villain barreling headlong over the edge of a high rise, its four legs flailing in the empty air as it plummeted to its despite their lack of flight capabilities. She allowed herself the satisfaction of watching the wreck explode at ground level.
Four points.
BANG! A metal arm the size of a hatchback collided with her side as she attempted to round a street corner, knocking her sprawling across the curb thirty feet back. Her vision blurred as she attempted regain balance, clumsily grasping at the pavement. It had to be a three-point villain, a twin-headed weapons platform based on military-grade treads. She had planned on avoiding those. Ten optical arrays flashed gleefully in the sunlight as the tank-sized beast bore down on the teetering girl.
Disoriented, she hopped back several meters before crumpling into a confused heap. Not enough time... That thing was on top of her, its gleaming olive armor blotting out the sun before— No! It couldn't end here! She had to—
Sssssssssssssssssss...
A low hiss coupled with the acrid reek of chemicals filled the air as the frog girl slowly got to her feet.
"Gero..." she croaked weakly, bringing an index finger to her throbbing temple, grimacing at the slight spattering of blood it brought back.
"Oi!" a chirrupy voice tweeted to her right as soft hands steadied her shaking form. "You okay?"
Plop: her butt collapsing against the sidewalk as she looked up. A cheerful girl smiled warmly down at her, the melted wreck of the three-point villain smoking silently behind her.
"Acid!" she grinned, raising a fist proudly. Tsuyu's eyes wandered from her pink skin to the pair of twisted yellow horns which peeked out from beneath a messy mop of bubblegum hair.
"Just rest there for a second, 'kay?" She pointed to a plastic wristwatch affixed to her forearm, winking. "Still plenty of time, anyway."
Tsuyu groaned, nodding her head grudgingly.
Plenty of time... right.
A pink hand extended forward as her pink savior crouched to eye level. "Mina."
"Tsuyu," she replied flatly, taking her hand. "Call me Tsuyu."
"D'awwww!" The bubbly alien girl flashed a wide smile, popping to her feet. Her head bobbed side-to-side in a manner akin to how a toddler would after seeing a puppy for the first time. "Such a CUTE name!"
Tsuyu blinked as the girl cart-wheeled over her smoking handiwork, bolting back into the fray. "Let's be friends if we see each other on the other side, kaaay?"
And then she was gone, leaving Tsuyu to ponder the still-hissing remains of the faux villain: the only evidence that pink pixie had been there in the first place.
Friends...
With a gurgling gag, the boy puked up another mouthful of water.
"Dang... ," water trailed from his lips. "Thought...I was... a goner," he coughed out another batch. "I'm never swimming near a waterfall again. "
"Don't talk," she replied, placing a towel over his shoulders."You've got water in your lungs."
The boy hiccuped.
"You think? I must've been submerged for almost three minutes..."
She felt his hand on her wet shoulder. The warmth surprised her.
The distant whine of sirens rose above the burbles of the river's foaming current.
"Seems help is on the way," she remarked, toweling off her hair as she rose to her feet. "We should—"
"Asui."
He grabbed her hand, his warm fingers closing around hers.
"You saved my life."
She attempted a smile with her wide mouth, failing miserably. Frogs, it seemed, lacked such capabilities.
"Call me Tsuyu," she croaked, looking down before tucking a dripping lock of hair behind her ear. "Can we be frien—"
"Oy! Akira! Hey!... Heeeeeyyy!" A shouting boy on the other side of the river, motioning behind him. A small of crowd emerged from the forest beyond. "I found them!"
She felt his hand leave hers as several teachers waded out into the shallows, the trauma kit and backboard in tow. An ambulance pulled up to nearby bend downstream.
Akira advanced towards them, and she could feel the cold eyes of her classmates bore into her once again. His head bowed low as his friends moved in to surround him.
"Good-bye, Asui..." she heard him murmur over the din, his pained voice barely above a whisper.
He didn't look back. Not even when the paramedics broke into a run as she collapsed onto the riverbed, shaking and alone. Following the incident at the 5th grade camp outing, the boy would go onto lead the Salty Banks Elementary School basketball squad to their first district championship title and undefeated season. Interestingly, this was also the year she began leaving school immediately after classes ended. Siblings to take care of, or so the rumors went.
They never spoke again.
"THREE MINUTES REMAINING, LET'S GOOOOO!"
What!?
The frog girl shot from her feet and onto the side of a nearby building as the loudspeakers boomed overhead.
Only four points!
Streets whipped by as she leapt from building to building. Wide eyes swept the roads below. Wreckage was everywhere; whole blocks of pavement were torn from the street surface, exposing the pale concrete below. The spring sun dimmed above the simulation skyline, marred by the deepening haze.
The villains? Where are the villains?!
"Gerooo!" her tongue latched onto the arcing tail of a stray two-point villain, its optical display swiveling to face her as she pulled in close, using her tongue as a makeshift grappling hook . Red lenses flashed one last time as she rammed a chunk of concrete into the bot's sensor array, hopping off as it collapsed in a shower of sparks. Six points...
"TWO MINUTES REMAINING!"
Ker-plunk! Her feet planted atop the head of a one-pointer, side-stepping a burst of machine gun fire as she stabbed a shard of metal through its optical display. Seven points...
"NINETY SECONDS REMAINING!"
Grabbing a jagged chunk of asphalt from an alleyway, she launched herself at a one pointer just before its head was cleaved clean off.
"Yo!" A shark-toothed redhead shouted as she skidded to a stop, noting the abnormally chiseled striations lining his hardened, almost sword-like forearms. In one fluid motion, he tore out the beast's power core bare-handed."Find your own targets!"
No arguments there. She sprinted out of the alleyway and burst onto the zone's main street.
Stay calm, Tsuyu. Freaking out will only hurt you...
Swaths of villains immobilized by countless purple blobs lay strewn across the street, struggling weakly against the adhesives. Immobilized robots counted as out of commission, if she remembered the details on the exam packet properly. Disabling them wouldn't net any points.
Don't freak out...
"SIXTY-NINE SECONDS REMAINING!"
She whirled around. No villains in sight. Absolutely none.
Don't freak out!
"Outta my way!" rumbled a blue-skinned fat boy as he shoved by her, a crowd of fellow competitors close on his his heels. The ground rumbled ominously as a massive high-rise near the zone's center exploded into a shower of dust and cinders.
"FIFTY-TWO SECONDS REMAINING!"
Seven lights glimmered across the ashen skyline as the building-sized robot raised its massive head. All of Battle Zone F trembled as its motor roared to life. Overwhelming. Insurmountable. 0 points.
"Run!" someone shouted as the stragglers ran by, leaving her to stare up at the approaching monolith.
But points... I need points!
"Fuck..." a pre-pubescent voice whimpered. A small boy – head crowned with a rooster's comb of grapelike growths— was pinned beneath the trembling hulk of an immobilized one-pointer.
The zero-pointer's slow treads slouched forward, carving foot-deep furrows into the asphalt.
"THIRTY-FIVE SECONDS REMAINING!"
"Oh God, please God!" he cried, his tiny arms flailing. "Don't let me die here!"
Tsuyu hesitated, heading whipping around in search of remaining villains. The bot ground its way closer. Time would be up if she stopped to help, and even then there was no guarantee she'd even be strong enough to pull the bot off him.
But if I want to be a hero...
The obstacle raised a massive metal arm, blotting out the sun. The kid had long since passed wimpering, graduating to straight weeping.
"I'm still a virgin!" he wailed, banging his little fists vainly against the wreckage. "Just a virgin, you bastards! What kind of cruel world is this? Knew I should have grabbed some chick's boobs back at the lecture hall in case something like this happened!"
Ewww... And cruel? Perhaps...
The wide corners of her mouth twitched as her hands balled into fists.
But it's worth fighting for...
The bot's hand clenched into a bus-sized fist, arcing down towards the boy as the frog girl crouched low. Wide eyes gleamed amidst the dusty light. A crackling scream erupted from beneath the one-pointer.
IT'S WORTH FIGHTING FOR!
The one pointer creaked as her tongue knotted tightly around the bot. The boy's eye's widened
"Push!" she croaked.
The boy pressed his arms against the steel, groaning as his arms trembled. The bot held fast for a moment before quivering slightly. Furrows of blood erupted from her straining tongue as she took another step back...
The fist was practically on top of them now. She couldn't see the sky as the darkness deepened. Not enough time, but it didn't matter; she had to save him. She had to—
"GEROO!"
Her tongue whipped back ricocheted against the roof of her mouth as she fell backwards, the metallic tang of blood shocking her taste buds. The one-pointer lurched forward, creating just enough room for the kid to wriggle out before the metal fist leveled the area just seconds later, the force of the impact blasting them both back several feet. Dust and debris flew high into the air, only to linger across the ruined street like some foul type of dirtied fog.
"AAAANNND TIME!" the intercom boomed. Seven lights went dark as the dust cleared, all motion in the massive 0-point obstacle grinding to a halt as it powered down. "ALLL RIGHT! THIS CONCLUDES THE PRACTICAL SECTION OF THE U.A ENTRANCE EXAM. ALL LISTENERS ARE TO RETURN TO THE STARTING POINT TO AWAIT FUTURE INSTRUCTIONS. TO THOSE OF YOU WHO ARE INJURED, STAY PUT! WE'LL COME TO YOU!"
Stay put, huh? She could work with that.
Her body lay sprawled and motionless against the pavement. Head and tongue throbbed with each heartbeat, but those were the least of her problems.
Only seven points...
She shut her eyes, stomach twisting itself into a sinking knot.
That won't be enough.
To be continued...
A/N: Happy Monday, all. Hope you liked the latest installation. I drew up the storyboard this past week and really got into writing some of the later chapters. Hopefully this chapter added a bit more background to Tsuyu. I'm really liking the way she turns out later on, and hope the coming installments will set her character up for her inevitable interactions with Yung Deku. Hehehe I can't wait!
To all who faved, subbed, or reviewed, thank you so much. We all know reviews are like crack for writers, and y'all got me addicted. My only hope is that you have as much fun reading the story as I do writing it. See you next week, yo.
Peace, Love, Plus Ultra,
-Nucleophile