Chapter 4 (Exam's End, Special Training)

All the students are fighting on a large open road with tattered buildings on all sides. In the midst of fighting, the ground shakes again and is felt by everyone. "What the hell was that. Another earthquake? What's going on?" some of the students comment. Then a giant mechanical hand grabs the side of a building where all the students are fighting. The giant boss robot appears in front of all the students. Standing well over 10 stories, the robot stumbles over. Then a car gets throw at it by another student across from where the rest are fighting. "Kazu, that guy is part of the group i saw fighting the boss earlier" Taiyoma says. "What do they plan on doing?" Kazumi thinks to herself. Then another student runs towards the boss's feet and touches the ground with her hands. She then yells "now!" and another girl appears behind the robot. A pick-up truck gets thrown at the boss's head, causing it to slip and fall. "How can it lose its balance on the ground? Must have been the girl at the robot's feet" Kazumi thinks to herself. The boss is about to fall right on top of the girl who appeared behind it. "Look out!" Kazumi yells as she pulls herself as fast as she can to her. "Get back!" the girl yells as she puts her hands on the ground. As soon as he hands touch the ground, giant columns of crystals sprout out of the ground. Kazumi stops in her tracks. The boss falls and gets impaled on the crystals that were formed. Dust flies everywhere as it fell. Kazumi covers her eyes. As the dust settles, Kazumi looks to where the girl was. She is not there. "Hey, where did you go?! Are you alright!?" Kazumi yells. "I'm okay" says the girl walking up to Kazumi with another boy who looks exactly like the other one who threw the vehicles at the robot. "Wait how did you…" Kazumi tries to ask. "It was all part of our plan, i had him pull me out. I would have felt really guilty if you got involved with our plan and got hurt" says the girl. "Well, I'm glad you are okay, but what were you guys thinking starting the boss fight so early? Because thanks to that, all the rest are getting overwhelmed over there" Kazumi complains. "We couldn't help it. Our self-proclaimed leader decided that on her own so we had to back her up. The name's Koudo Akiko by the way. And this guy here is Chikarami Hikuma." "Yo" says Hikuma. "Just call me Kazumi… I say we have about 10 minutes left until the exam is over. I'm heading back to help everyone else" replies Kazumi. "We'll do the same. The guilt would eat me alive if i didn't help" says Koudo. "What about the rest of your team?" Kazumi asks. "They are probably fighting to get points as we speak, so let's hurry back before we fall behind." They run off to join the other students.

5 minutes have gone by and all the students are still fighting, getting more and more tired as the robots continue to attack. "Was all of this planned? Was this supposed to happen?" asks Utami. "I don't know, and if this keeps up, fatigue will set it." Kazumi replies. "I can help with that, but i need everyone to listen." says Hokoru. Then Hokoru raises his voice for everyone around him to hear. "LISTEN UP EVERYONE. I NEED YOU ALL TO LISTEN TO MY VOICE. LET YOUR EARS BECOME FILLED WITH MY ROAR!" This catches everyone's attention during the fighting. Then Hokoru bellows a deafening roar of a lion. Everyone who heard that roar all suddenly feel a massive surge in energy and all the fatigue from fighting seemingly disappeared. "Shishima-kun, is that the other part of your quirk? It's amazing…" Kazumi glances over to Hokoru and sees him collapse top the ground. "Shishima-kun are you okay!? Here, I'll help you get up…" Hokoru raises his arm weakly with a thumbs up. "I'm fine Kazumi-san. You guys leave me. The more people i chose to hear my roar drains more of my energy. I'm just useless weight now. Go on without me. I'm confident that we can get through this together. At most, you'll have five minutes until the effects wear off. Now go." Kazumi nods and heads off to continue where she left off. "Thanks to Shishima-kun we can fight a little longer. Let's make it count" Utami comments.

As the fighting resumes, the robots continue their attack. "This is ridiculous. They just keep coming." Taiyoma cries out. "Shishima's quirk should last a little longe…" as Kazumi says this, she loses the energy to move and collapses. Then fatigue sets it once again. The same goes for everyone else that heard Hokoru's roar. The boost that they got was now lost and everyone falls to the ground. The robots then begin to surround the students. But after a moment, a horn is sounded, signaling the end off the exam. All the robots stop and then retreat back to where they came from, leaving the area where all the students were. "Is that it? Did the exam end? I can't feel my body. I don't think i can get up" some of the students comment. Soon after the horn was blow, an old, short lady walks towards all the students, who are atl struggling to get up. "My my, seems like this exam worked you all to the bone. Is there anyone injured?" she asks. "Over here" beckons a student with visible scratches. "It's not too grave, i think most of us are unscathed for the most part. All of us are just fatigued right now" Utami adds. "Is that so? In that case I'll get you all water and electrolyte drinks." Moments later, a group of robots comes out with drinks in hand. Then they begin to distribute them among the students. The tiny nurse then notices Kazumi amongst the students. "Ah, i see you're here. Umichi Kazumi, was it?" "Hey, we meet again. But this time, I'm not on a hospital bed" Kazumi jokes. "Well I'm glad to see you in such good spirits. As you can see, I'm the nurse here at U.A. so hopefully i won't be seeing you too often. My quirk allows me to speed up the healing process. That's why I'm the head nurse here. Well that's enough chit you all are rested up, you may head back to the locker rooms and head home" she tells all the students. "Do you think our entire group passed?" Utami asks Kazumi. "Most likely. Though i can't say the same for most of the others. The group that took down the boss probably passed as well…" "I hope i don't ever have to see the leader of that group. I don't like selfish people. If it weren't for them, this mess wouldn't have happened" Utami interjects. "Well anyways, i feel a lot better now. Gonna head home now. How about you?" asks Utami. "Yeah, was about to do the same. If we did pass, i hope we are in the same class together." Kazumi says to Utami with a smile. Utami turns slightly to the side with a slightly blushed face. "Yeah, me too. I'll see you around, hopefully." Then the both of them walked their separate ways to head back home.

Kazumi makes it back home to the dojo. She walks in to smell dinner being prepared. Her father takes notice of her when she enters the kitchen. "You're back. Dinner is almost ready. Go take a shower. It will be done once you're out." After Kazumi is done taking a shower, she heads back to the kitchen and sees donburi on the dining table. She then takes a seat at the table and waits for her father to finish up. Her father finishes cleaning up and joins Kazumi at the table. They both say thanks and begin to eat. Her father shoots a big smile at Kazumi. "What?" she asks. "So… how was it? The exam? How do you think you did?" Kazumi pauses for a bit which causes him to worry a little. She finally breaks the silence and tells him. "I pretty sure i passed. But i won't know until they send the letter in about a week." Kazumi's father lets out a huge sigh of relief. "Jeez, don't scare me like that." Kazumi giggles knowing she just teased her father. "Yeah, i pretty sure I'm fine. Couldn't have done it without my team." she continues. "Teams you say?" "Yeah. I even met an old friend. I might have made some new ones as well. I could not have done as well as i did without them." Her father replies, "Well the sound like good people. I hope you have the same class together." "Yeah, me too." They both finish their meals and Kazumi heads to her bedroom. "Going to bed early huh?" her father asks. "Yeah, i'm exhausted. I'm gonna be sore tomorrow, i know it." "Well, i hope you are not too sore, because there's something i wanna do tomorrow with your training." "Well, okay then. Goodnight."

Kazumi slept until mid-day the next day due to the exhausting effort she put in the entrance exam. Her father knocks on her door to wake her up. "Kazu, time to get up. It's lunch time already." This jolts Kazumi up. "What, huh?" She wakes up in confusion. "C'mon. I have lunch ready. Once you're done eating, head to the main room. I want to start some special training with you." her father beckons. Kazumi makes her way downstairs, rubbing her eyes. "Man, I'm so tired still. I wonder what dad is planning." she thinks to herself. After she ate lunch, she gets dressed and heads to the main room of the dojo, which her father is already waiting in. "So what's this "special training" you were talking about? I thought nothing could be more different than the training we were already doing." "Yes Kazu, we were always training. But, what you know from me was broad skills and the basics of some martial arts. What i want to train you in is a very specific martial art. Since your connection to your quirk is weak, i would like you to learn tai chi." her father explains. "Since tai chi focuses on flow, feeling every movement you make and forming a balance internally and externally is important." They both then proceed to practice poses and stances, with Kazumi mimicking her father. They practice this for the next few days. Then learning how to fight using tai chi. "Kazu, i want you to take off your gloves. You are going to do something different today." Kazumi takes of her glove, revealing her liquid arms. "It is important to have a strong connection to your quirk. I know you know how to use it, but have you really connected with it. Look at your arms. They are constantly undulating, moving. Water never stops moving. It MUST always flow like a stream. Now i want you to focus on the water you are controlling right now. Focus on all the little movements the water makes. Since you can feel with it, you should be able sense all the water you can control." Kazumi closes her eyes to concentrate. "Concentrate. Only focus on the water, it's flow." she says to herself. After a few minutes, she lets out a slightly irritated sigh. "I can't feel it. I can only feel what's touching it." she explains. "Don't worry about not getting it. It was only a theory i crafted based on how you quirk works. But, i want you to keep concentrating and maybe meditate for the next few days. If nothing develops, then that's ok. I just wanted you to test the extent your powers can go. As far as i can tell, your powers are exactly like your mother's, being able to control water. But you also got something from my quirk as well, which is to absorb water. Don't worry about not getting it right away. You mother told me about how hard it was for her to control her quirk completely. But in time she mastered it. So whenever you have time, you should spend it familiarizing with your quirk."

A week has past since Kazumi finished the entrance exam at U.A. and Kazumi and father continued on with their business as usual. Kazumi is in the dojo meditating while her father is busy training another self-defense class. The mail has yet to come, making Kazumi a little anxious, making it difficult to concentrate. "C'mon, where is the mail already." She thinks to herself. Then, as if by coincidence, the mail comes in through the door. Her father takes notice of the mail being dropped of. "Kazu, the mail is here." Kazumi rushes from her meditating position to get the mail. She ruffles through and finds the letter from U.A.. "It's here dad!" She then opens and reads the letter right on the spot. "This letter contains information on your evaluation on the entrance exam..." She continues on through the letter. "...we are pleased to inform you that you are now enrolled into the U.A. hero course! Please bring this paper back signed by your parents consenting to the dorm program. We will be sending transportation for you and your belongings on this date, so please be prepared by then." Kazumi looks at her father with a big smile. "I take it that you made it. I had no doubt. You guys see my daughter here? She's going to U.A. to become a hero." He says to his students. "Wow really? You're going to U.A.? You will make a fine hero. Congratulations ." some of the students say. "Thank you. Now if you'll excuse me i need to start preparations." she replies "This is it. My journey starts now."