After Hawks made up some kind of excuse on why they had to postpone the test for a couple more minutes, the hero and Amari burst into the waiting room where Katsuki was staring back in confusion. He had obviously heard about the delay on the announcements and made his way back as well in hopes of an explanation.
He watched the two with an unreadable expression as the boy crossed his arms in interest. "Where have you two been?"
Breathing heavily, the bird looked nervously towards Amari before trying to snap on his half hearted attitude in hopes to quell her anxiety. "Are you okay chickadee?"
Yet that's when the girl started pacing back in forth, slapping her own nervous giggle as she began to pull her hair aggressively. "Oh yeah yeah, I'm great just great. I mean, it's not like everyone's gonna be watching me, waiting for me to make a mistake and go all Nomu in public with the president literally out for my head. I mean, I already have a target on my back and an immense amount of pressure so why not add more right? Ha ha it's so funny…"
She was talking at a million words per minute, the girl getting more unhinged by the minute as her breath started to grow shaky. "I can do this...I can do this...I can do this...I don't know if I can do this.."
Seeing her distress, Katsuki immediately rushed over to her and placed his hands on her shoulders, causing the girl to slightly flitch. "Hey, what the hell are you saying? Of course you can do this. Where's that annoying attitude of yours that I can never shut up, what happened to that?"
Amari chose to stare down at the floor before answering sadly. "Katsuki, the president doesn't want me to pass, she's doing everything to make me fail. What if I can't beat that? She's even making people watch the exam...and the crowds….I don't know if I can do it…"
Widening his eyes at this new information, her brother turned to Hawks in order to gain an explanation. He knew better than anyone how scared Amari was with large crowds because of that villain incident with the public last year. "What does she mean by crowds?"
His eyes were piercing, causing Hawks to cast his own away. "The kid is right. The prez doesn't like her so she's gonna do anything to wipe her out. No one goes against the commission, and this is why. Disobey, and they destroy you.."
Recalling the letters that the man collected, he sighed. "I tried my best to stop this but once that woman has set her mind, there's no changing it. I'm sorry kids, I won't lie. This is gonna be really rough. She knows everything about you chickadee, which means she'll use anything."
Amari closed her eyes at his words, recalling the file that she found on Hawks' desk with her information on it. Of course the president would have that kind of information, which meant that the woman knew just how to hurt her, how to make her break. She was just like All for One. "So by having an audience…"
Shoving his hands in his pockets, Hawks finished sadly. "She's trying to make the entire world to see your mistakes and disown you as a hero. If she manages that then those letters I collected are useless. Along with your uncomfortable reaction to crowds, it's a sure fire way for the world to see that you aren't worth supporting…"
Katsuki took in his explanation before balling his fists roughly, a hiss to his tone. How dare that woman try to drive Amari out. Over his dead body would he let that happen. She's worked too hard, too damn hard to be here. "That bitch.."
It was such an underhanded thing to do but that's exactly what the president was great at. Hawks was sure that if Amari appeared before her and begged on her knees for forgiveness then that woman would've called the whole thing off.
But that wasn't something that Hawks even bothered to suggest because he knew Amari would never do that. She was too stubborn, stubborn for her own good. If only she hadn't defended him, then her future wouldn't have been so destroyed.
Voicing his opinions, Hawks spoke quietly. "You should've stayed hidden, then this wouldn't have happened. Defending me, as much as I appreciate it kid, it's not worth it..not for your future.."
Yet as soon as he said those words, Amari seemingly woke up, throwing her brother's hands off her before stomping up to Hawks. "I don't regret defending you Hawks, don't misunderstand. In fact I would do it again in a heartbeat. I don't care what that woman says, I won't stand by and let her treat you like that, not ever."
Shaking his head, the hero huffed out a frustrated sigh. Sure she meant well but he wasn't sure if Amari really knew what she had gotten herself into. "Kid, I mean this in the best way possible but don't ruin your life for me. I can take it, really.."
Although that only seemed to make Amari even more upset, twisted her brow in anger. "No, you shouldn't have to take it. Don't you see what she's done to you? She's made you think you have to apologize for her behavior, that you aren't worth saving. I'm sorry but I can't watch that woman tear you down in front of me, I just can't…"
Feeling a wave of emotion crash into him, the bird fluffed out his wings before answering back roughly. "And why not?"
Amari then twisted her lips together before answering back honestly. "Because you're my friend, and if you've shown me anything in these past few months, it's that my life is my own. It's not All for One's, just like how your life is not that woman's.
She wanted to use his real name but with Katsuki in the room, the girl withdrew, thinking about the meaning instead.
This man was trapped in the same terrible cycle that she was, the abuse soaking into him and making him scared and obedient . She hated it, she hated seeing him as an old shell of herself.
The room became quiet after that, Hawks' soaking up her words before his eyes softened. She just called him her friend, that wasn't something she had ever said before.
That was something he had never been given as a child. The commission had definitely not allowed it and had forbidden even getting involved with others. So hearing this, it kinda made him wanna cry.
He fully listened to her words but still found it hard to understand them as the president and commission was all he knew. He wasn't like her, he was a coward, and that was how it was going to stay forever. "You just called me your friend.."
Nodding back, the girl smiled softly in return. "Exactly, and you better believe I'm going to take care of my friends, no matter who tells me otherwise."
Although her confidence was short-lived when Amari's face fell, seemingly remembering the challenges ahead of her. "Okay, now I really am going to throw up.."
The feeling of nausea washed over her as she learned against the nearby wall in anxiety. She knew Hawks and Katsuki were worried about her but this was just too much to process. She had to pass, she knew that, but that doubt couldn't help but spill into her mind.
Katsuki tried his best to cheer her up, stepping forward with a proud expression. "Well whatever that bitch wants, she isn't going to get it. We'll make sure of it, right Amari?"
And yet the girl had other thoughts, she wasn't about to let her brother down, the girl nodding her head once and not really believing it. "Yeah.."
Hawks saw this as well and internally gritted his teeth. There had to be something he could do, something he could say in order to make her feel better. "Okay okay okay, maybe this isn't all bad.."
To that, Katsuki and Amari gave their mentor a crazy look as the bird continued. "Right so we know that the president made these modifications in order for you to fail, for you to be shamed by the public, to look like an utter embarrassment in front of everyone..."
Hearing what she was actually trying to do caused Amari to shakily place her hands to her arms in anxiety. "Not helping Hawks…"
His feathers twitched at that, causing the man to add almost immediately. "What I'm saying is, what if we don't look at this as a bad thing, but rather a good thing? Like with the press conference.."
The hero's words confused her almost immediately, Amari twisted her head in confusion. She couldn't see anything good about this, in fact the president had purposely made it that way. "How the hell can this be a good thing?"
Yet just as he opened his mouth again, the door opened besides them as a worker for the exam quickly rushed over to them. "There you two are. They are about to start, I'll escort you."
It all happened very quickly, the worker pushing Katsuki and her out of the door before Hawks could finish his sentence. He seemed in a rush, so much so that they could barely get a word in before she left his sight.
Although before the door closed, Amari did hear Hawks call back quickly. "Go get them you two! Show them how U.A.'s problem children wipe out the competition!"
Katsuki and her both cringed at their unfortunate nickname before following the worker towards the waiting room for the exam, Amari's heart beating out of her chest with every step.
Whether she liked it or not, whether it was ready or not, it was time to prove to everyone that she was a hero, just like everyone else.
Moving towards the entrance of the lobby, Amari felt like she was going to pass out as her brother watched her nervously. There was a lot to risk for both of them and the boy didn't know what to say in order to quell her. He supposed their actions in the exam would just have to do.
The worker opened the doors to reveal the same large group of students that had welcomed them before. Because of Hawks' stunt, they were all certainly staring at the twins, some with blank expressions and some with sour ones. It was clear that they were not the favorites here.
And usually this was the point where Amari would act like an anxious idiot in order for her competition to underestimate her, although whether it was a good or bad thing, the girl surely didn't have to act right now.
That was because inside she could actually feel her nerves twisting unpleasantly inside her chest and that creeping doubt appearing once again. So that was great, really really great. She probably actually looked weak right now, unsure of her next steps.
Taking a shaky breath, the girl then heard a loud voice booming through the halls, calling out to the twins happily. "Hey, It's U.A. again! How have you been?"
They turned to find Yoarashi grinning back at her, his pride gleaming as Katsuki stepped in front of his sister. He still didn't like that he had a crush on her. "Oh, it's you baldie. You better be ready to have your ass kicked by us."
Almost immediately, the boy lifted up his hat happily to reveal his head of full hair. "I already told you, I'm not bald, and those are some bold words Bakugo. I'll be sure to hold you to them, you as well Miss Bakugo."
The only thing Amari could mutter was a quiet nod and a nervous smile as she watched the president of commission and the last years judge Mera appear on a large screen in front of them, symbolizing the start of the exam. "Welcome future heroes, it is time to begin the provisional license exams. These exams will determine your path as the move forward to please be sure to take them seriously. We will begin...immediately."
Just then, the walls of the waiting room began to cave in on themselves as an extremely loud and ear ringing roar entered everyone's ears.
As the crash beyond their sight, the students were soon greeted by an immense crowd, filling each stadium style seat and cheering loudly for the events they were about to witness.
It seemed some kids were not prepared for the crowds, their eyes hollowing at the sight of an audience far larger than what they had seen at the sports festival in prior years. It seemed like all of Japan was here to watch their test.
Amari on the other hand just felt her eyes glued to the massive amounts of people, feeling her panic start to rise up immediately as old and unpleasant memories crashed into her all at once. This was bad, she couldn't fight like this, it would freak her out.
Don't let a villain into U.A.
Is it true that you aided in a villain attack?
Doesn't Todoroki want to be number one? That's going to be hard with a villain following him.
Feeling her own breath shorten, she was suddenly snapped out of it when she felt someone pat her back, only to find Katsuki staring back at her worriedly. "You okay?"
Well no, she felt probably the farthest thing from okay, now feeling her hands grip her arms so tightly that they turned white. But of course that wasn't what she needed to say right now, that wasn't what a hero needed to say. "Yeah.."
Her response sounded incredibly forced and it was obvious to tell, although she was happy that Katsuki didn't push it. It seemed he understood just how much she needed to lie to herself right now as well.
The screen appeared again as Mera narrowed his eyes to the students below. "Now that you have been acquainted with the audience for today's test, it's time to explain the first part of your exams."
Then they watched as he lifted up a pair of silver metal handcuffs. "The test is simple. You will be given two quirk suppression handcuffs at the start of the buzzer. Your goal is to successfully capture two of your teammates by placing both hands securely inside before the timer runs out. You only get two so be sure not to lose them, otherwise you'll be resorted to stealing another's.
In order to demonstrate the device, Mera then slipped one of his hands into the cuffs carefully as the metal clicked around him. "If you get captured before completing your required two captures, then the game is over and you fail the exam. Understand?"
Everyone began to mutter at the explanation. The first test seemed simple enough but there were a lot of chances to mess up or make mistakes. It seemed the best course of action would be to go after the weakest links in the exams first, the easy targets.
And that was the exact reason why everyone then turned to Amari, causing the girl to immediately shrink. Hawks had really painted a target on her back, didn't he? This was going to be interesting.
After collecting their handcuffs, Amari hooked them silently at her belt as Katsuki muttered to her quietly. "Can you do it, the plan?"
He knew exactly what he meant, the girl turning to look at the audience before gulping silently. "Y-Yeah, it's what we've been working towards. I can do it.."
Nodding back once, her brother then quickly looked around before placing his heads on either side of her face and bumping heads lightly. "Just focus on me. None of those extras matter, okay? Pretend like they aren't even there."
His words were easier said than done but the amount of passion in them couldn't be ignored. It didn't matter if she felt uncomfortable. She had to do this, for herself and her brother. "Okay Katsuki. Let's do this."
Smiling under his breath, the boy nodded before quickly shoving his sister away when a couple students looked over as he stomped towards the opposite ends of the field, almost like they had just had a fight.
It was no secret that many of the kids knew how Katsuki failed the exam last year, his lack of teamwork and communication being a weak point for them. That interaction proved it to them. By pushing away his sister it showed that he hadn't changed.
Although what they didn't know was that it was also part of the plan set up by Hawks.
Closing her eyes, Amari touched the silver metal cuffs under her hands before taking a deep calming breath. Katsuki was right, there was no one else here that mattered other than them, other than what they had worked on for four months.
The crowds then began to drown out in her own ears, focusing on only one thing in particular as a small smile came to her lips.
Forget the crowds, it was time to show them how the Bakugo twins kick some ass.
Suddenly, the buzzer began to ring and the instant chaos filled the entire arena, hundreds of kids running at each other in order to get their points the fastest.
And the same could be said for Amari, now watching as about two dozen students rushed over to her, full intent in their eyes. She didn't blame them for going after her first, in fact that's what she expected.
Grabbing hold onto one of her handcuffs, she waited until the students were only a couple feet away before her fake terrified expression turned into one of amusement, confusing the kids as she lifted her hand out.
Almost immediately, the students were blinded by a large explosion, blowing half of them away as Katsuki flew in front of her, his palms sparked and ready for another hit. "Nice try extras!"
Gasping at their fast reaction times, a couple of their attackers attempted to use their quirks to counteract the blonde boy when they found a gold wall blocking their pathway, now seeing Amari using her gold matter to protect her brother and her inside a dome.
Katsuki then turned back to his sister before she nodded her head, focusing her quirk into the center of the circle as the students watched as a small hole appeared next to him, just wide enough for her brother to stick his hand through.
Then before they could process it, Katsuki let out a number of small explosions with a wild grin on his face, causing the kids to remain shaken in an attempt to jump out of the way in time.
Once they were shaken enough, Amari quickly let down her shield before grabbing onto her hand cuffs and swinging them around as she then ran past Katsuki in an intent to capture one of the shaken kids.
She chose the one closest to her, the very same boy that had purposely bumped into her earlier in the day. Perhaps It was a little petty, but she really wanted to show him just who he was dealing with.
Cursing to himself, he quickly began to throw large sharp crystals from his palms, causing Amari to quickly put up a shield in order to block them, although she did notice a couple tears in the matter. Those things must have been really sharp. Note to self, don't get struck by them.
The boy seemed to notice her struggle, quickly calling back as he grabbed his own handcuffs. "Let's finish this quickly."
Nodding back, Amari couldn't help but smirk at that. "That's exactly what I was thinking."
Then before the boy could process it, the girl used her explosions to propel herself into the sky, causing him to quickly look up in order to attack her again.
Although what he hadn't accounted for was someone waiting for him to do just that, now feeling an intense heat as his skin was singed painfully as someone kicked the boy straight into the chest. "What the.."
Coughing loudly, the boy quickly wiped a bit of blood from his lips before seeing the hand come down again, except this time he was ready, now reaching down to stab his attacker quickly.
Yet when he made contact, his quirk seemingly bounced off of the attacker, blinking once to find that Katsuki's palms were coated in the same gold matter that Amari had. "Nice try extra."
Gulping at the sight, Katsuki then smirked as the gold disappeared from his palms only to throw another punch and have it appear a moment later when the boy tried to defend.
The boy couldn't help but watch his moves in utter shock. That was insane, it was like that Amari girl was watching his movements and protecting his punches. That looked like a crazy amount of dedication and focus. She must have been watching them closely..
Although when the boy threw out another round of crystals he turned only to see Amari fighting off another attacker in the process. Wait, she wasn't even paying attention. How did she have that kind of crazy detail? Who were these people?
He quickly came to his senses when another gold fist plowed into him, causing the boy to stumble back a couple feet, now hearing Katsuki call out loudly. "Amari!"
Then before he had a moment to process, someone aggressively grabbed his arm before twisting it inside one of the metal cuffs, causing a loud clicking sound as it tightened around his hands. Shit, when did she get there, and how had she moved so damn fast?
Grumbling under his breath, the boy quickly began to shoot crystals from his working hand as Amari struggled to grab the other one. No one way was he going to let this weak little girl beat him.
Although that was quickly changed when Amari dodged one of his punches before quickly grabbing his hand and allowing her quirk to turn gold and burn his skin all at once.
A couple of his friends held the distress and quickly raced over but Katsuki was quick to stop them, rushing in front of Amari so she could finish the job quickly.
Seething at the sensation with the amount of heat her quirk brought, the boy hissed before twisting away as Amari kicked her boot into his back.
The hit immediately caused him to lose all feeling in his legs and tumble towards the ground.
As his hand grew numb, the boy then felt as Amari forced his hand into the other cuff a loud beep was overheard, him cursing in the process as she did so.
Wait, this girl just overpowered him?! How was that possible, she seemed so weak and useless before?! It was like her brother and her were everywhere and nowhere at once. "Y-You...you bitch..!"
Although, Amari couldn't help but smirk at his tone. "How original. Is that really all you got? You'd think you'd have better insults. Sorry about this by the way, no hard feelings.."
Wiggling in anger, the boy then let out a numerous amount of words before hearing Katsuki shout back from his own fight. "Hey idiot, stop cutting the shit and get over here!"
The girl then blinked in surprise before snapping her fingers as a large dome began to trap Katsuki with the other three students, the shimmering gold rising in heat as she did so. Now they couldn't run away.
The kids seemed to notice this as well, Katsuki quickly readying his explosions as the others backed away only to hit the burning dome as they tried to escape. They were trapped rats, and the twins knew it.
All at once, Bakugo quickly let off a large explosion, causing Amari's shield to crack and shatter around them given the impact as the students were blown away out of their sight.
Quickly stumbling to their feet, the kids then decided to flee as Katsuki scoffed. It must have occurred to them that the twins were just too strong to beat right now. They were going to go after an easier target. "What a bunch of damn babies."
Placing a hand to her chest in pain, Amari then gritted her teeth before giving a dry laugh. "I mean can you blame them? You were pretty scary. Also, give me some warning next time, would you? That hit to my quirk felt like a punch to the gut."
She then watched the fleeing kids before smirking her she had gotten her capture, but now she now had to help her brother. "Now where were we?"
Just then, a large gold wall appeared in front of one of the scared kids, causing the female Bakugo to stroll up to them slowly. "Sorry guys, we can't let you go just yet, not without our point."
Turning to Katsuki who was already cracking his knuckles, the girl called back casually as she felt her breath shorten just slightly from the overuse of her quirk. "You gonna be okay alone? I could use a break."
This caused the boy to scoff before reading his explosions all at once. "Obviously. Stay out of my way then.."
Then before Amari could finish, Bakugo propelled himself towards the trapped kids as he heard his sister call back loudly. "Attack on the left side, that's where they're weaker!"
Although all she earned was a rushed response as Katsuki did exactly as she instructed, despite his opposite response. "Don't tell me what to do!"
Sighing under her breath, Amari then watched as her brother completely initiated the group with his explosions, his sister narrowing her eyes as Katsuki easily got the cuffs onto one of the boys with a cocky grin. Smart ass, he was bragging.
The girl crossed her arms over her chest before huffing in exasperation and checking the clock behind her. It seemed there were only ten minutes left of the test which meant the twins really needed to get going if they were going to make it to the next round.
Just then, another boy with black hair raced past Amari's line of sight, causing her to quickly ball her fists. Katsuki would be busy with those kids for a while so it was up to her to pass.
Quickly turning on her heels, Amari took off into a run, catching up to the boy before throwing a gold shield in order to block his pathway and cause him to stop abruptly.
Clapping her hands together, the girl's palms began to glow as she readied her quirk as she touched her next set of handcuffs. "Sorry, I wish it wasn't this way…"
Although just as she touched her cuffs, something slammed into the girl, causing her to be flung across the sky and smack into a large piece of metal to her left and the black haired boy to fall unconscious all at once.
Groaning at the impact, Amari coughed only to find blood as a silhouette made its way towards her, low and smooth. "He's mine.."
Twisting her brow at the very familiar voice, Amari couldn't help but frown. "Shoto? What the hell…"
Once he made his way out of the fog, the boy quickly looked at his love before widening his eyes in confusion. It was obvious that he didn't know who he struck because now he looked extremely guilty. "Amari? I'm sorry I didn't know it was you…"
Whipping a bit of blood from her lips, the girl then looked down to find only one of his handcuffs left on his belt. That must have meant he only needed one more to pass, just like her. That's probably why he was going after this boy.
Todoroki then narrowed his eyes to Amari and then back to his prey before his fingers began to drop in temperature. With such little time left, he couldn't afford to make a mistake. "Amari, I think you know what I have to do.."
Widening her eyes at his words, Bakugo then gritted her teeth before fully understanding. They couldn't be friends right now, they couldn't be together. They had to be enemies, just like at the sports festival.
One of them had to get their handcuffs on this unconscious boy, and it was going to be her. "Yeah, I think I do. Too bad I can't let that happen. I have to pass also.."
A multitude of gold and white ice started to fill the area in silent wait as both of them understood exactly what had to happen. She just had to get her handcuffs on that kid first and avoid Todoroki. Seemed easy enough.
But even Amari wasn't that stupid, knowing fully well how powerful Todoroki was. Even back at the start of school she knew just how much of a challenge he was. She already knew it was going to take everything within her to beat him and win.
Quietly grabbing onto her quirk suppression handcuff, Amari immediately turned around before running towards the knocked out boy in an attempt of getting a head start.
Although she underestimated the advantage of his longer legs and soon Todoroki had equally caught up to her, now throwing a sheet of ice in her direction to get her to lose her footing.
Cursing to herself, Amari was able to throw up a shield in time before aiming her explosions at his feet in an attempt to do the same and slow him down. She had to reach that black haired boy first, no matter what.
Todoroki jumped over her attacks before using an ice wall in her path and stopping her movements just as she did the same to him with her gold matter, now giving the boy a challenging smirk. There was no way he was going to win like that.
Realizing that this would be a lost cause unless one of them got tired from quirk exhaustion, Todoroki decided another method of attack, now aiming his ice straight for Amari in hopes of freezing her. They were both too stubborn which meant one of them had to take the other out.
Amari gasped at the ice before using her explosions to propel her into the air in enough time to avoid his attack and land behind him before going for a hit to his back.
Although Todoroki was quick to turn around, blocked her kick and grabbed her foot before spinning the girl around and forcing her onto the ground in a hard thud.
Groaning at the sensation, Amari quickly forced open her eyes as the boy stood over her proudly, his hands grasping her wrists. "Go find another target. You lost this one."
Yet she was not about to give up, glaring back at the boy she loved before her wrists glowed in gold matter, causing Todoroki to forcibly let go at the heat for a moment which was enough wiggle room she needed to be free.
Using her legs to kick his stomach, the boy groaned before Bakugo could force herself out of his grip, now seeing him quickly reach to grab her with his ice quirk in order not to burn himself again.
Once his cold fingers touched her skin, Amari seethed before swiping her hand away covering her entire body with the shimmery gold substance in defense. "I think you know me better than anyone Shoto. I don't give up.."
Frowning back, Todoroki swung his arm as the girl dodged underneath him as her gold matter began to flicker, a sure sign that the quirk overage was kicking in.
Amari then began to curse to herself as he noticed this and took advantage, now using his ice quirk to throw a large mass onto the girl as the impact caused her protective coating to shatter and break on impact.
Gasping at the invisible sensation of pins and needles sharply entering her skin, Amari couldn't help but double over in pain in a hard cough as a few drops of blood leaked onto the ground.
Todoroki's eyes hollowed at the sight of her hurt and faltered for a moment as his quirk dissipated. He hated being her enemy, why couldn't she just give up and find another student to win?
Although the boy got his answer almost right away, knowing that Amari didn't understand that kind of word. Once she wanted something, she stopped at nothing to get it. That's what he loved about her, and it was plain to see here. Even if they were enemies right now, he knew she wasn't going to fold.
And just as he was thinking that, Amari turned to Todoroki in a murderous glare before whipping the corner of her mouth of blood, now obviously annoyed. "You're gonna have to do better than that."
At almost the same time, Hawks had just sat down towards the viewing area as Endeavor watched the exam with careful eyes. He really wished to be there sooner but the president seemed to have wanted him to stay away for some reason. "Hey Endeavor, what's going on down there? How's everyone doing?"
Narrowing his eyes, the man didn't bother to blink before answering plainly. "Bakugo and Shoto are fighting each other."
Hawks widened his eyes almost immediately, the bird rushing over to the screen in order to see if what Endeavor was claiming was true. It couldn't be right? "W-What…"
Although when he laid eyes on the scene, it became very clear that what the man said was indeed true, now watching as Amari and Todoroki filled the screen with a fury of ice and gold matter. What the hell were those two doing? "Wait, how did that happen?!"
Endeavor didn't seem bothered in the slightest though, his eyes still glued to the scene. "I'm sure they both knew it might've come down to this. No matter what they believe, Shoto and Bakugo have always been the top two recommended students. The fact is, she has always been his greatest enemy."
Katsuki had just finished cuffing his last student needed to pass when a large colored sky of ice and fire appeared in the corner of his vision, causing a couple of other kids to gasp as well. Whoever was in that fight, it seemed serious.
Although that's when he noticed sparks of gold with a fire causing the boys eyes to hollow. Wait a damn minute, he knew those sparks and ice anywhere. It was that damn icyhot bastard and Amari, wasn't it?
Staring back at the clock, the timer read five minutes which made Katsuki's heart drop in his chest. What the hell were those two doing, they were going to lose if this kept up.
He then decided to rush over to the site only to be blinded by a large wave of fire, the red and orange filling the space as Amari shielded her attack with her gold matter roughly, the shimmering gold cracking under the pressure.
On further inspection, it looked like she had a line of burns up the sides of her face and skin, her arms shaking with every defense she threw up. It was obvious that she was almost at her limits.
And on Todoroki's side he seemed equally as worse, with fingerprint burns laced up his arms from her gold matter along with an intense amount of frostbite up his right arm in quirk over usage.
Although regardless of that fact, they kept going at each other, the two lovers practically destroying one another in an attempt to reach the unconscious boy first and pass the exam.
It was obvious that one of them could've just caved and searched out another target but then again, this was Todoroki and Amari they were talking about. It seemed like this wasn't just a battle over the boy anymore but a point in who was stronger.
No one wanted to back down from this battle, and that's why it continued to happen. Those stubborn idiots, it really was just a fight of the top two recommended now.
Raising his voice into a shout, Katsuki called back to his sister roughly, knowing he couldn't help as he had already passed the round. "Hey idiot! You have five minutes left, stop screwing around and kick icyhot's ass already!"
His words soaked into the girl before narrowing her eyes towards Todoroki and lifting her, shaking her arms in his direction. "You heard him Shoto. I'm sorry I can't go easy on you.."
Then her lips curved into a small smile as she uttered the same words that she told Todoroki on their first day of school, back when they fought for the first time. "My brother is watching me."
Just then, Amari raced straight towards Todoroki with her body flicking in gold matter before throwing a large explosion in his wake, causing the boy to quickly put out the sparks with his ice.
She could see him struggle to maintain his quirk just like her, taking the opportunity before seemingly disappearing into the smoke and mist of their quirks combined before appearing behind him with an equally large explosion.
Not seeing the move, Todoroki was pushed off of his feet only to blindly throw a wave of fire towards the mist as Amari vocally gasped at the burn that had caught onto her skin.
He withdrew for a moment then, fearing that he had hurt her when a gold circle appeared around his feet, the gold quickly working its way to entrap him.
With only a very small use of his fire quirk left, Todoroki felt the ice crystal up to his face as he forced his quirk to stop her dome from fully circling him, his teeth gritting in the process.
But what he didn't know was that Amari was forcing herself equally as hard, the boy watching her step out of her own smoke before feeling a heart crushing pain burning her from the inside.
No, she couldn't give up, she needed to do this, she was so close to winning and beating Todoroki. She could ignore the pain, focus on what's important, just like Hawks and Endeavor taught her.
And then with a crying scream, both Todoroki and Amari used the last of their strength before an extremely bright mix of ice and gold filled the entire space, blinding the viewers all at once as everyone leaned forward in their seats.
The smoke and mist began to clear slowly as the audience blinked at a disparate attempt to see what happened. Who won, did anyone win?
Although that's when they a loud beep could be overheard as the sound of the suppression handcuffs clicked over the black haired students arms all at once..
... and Amari standing over him in a breath of victory.
Breathing heavily the girl let out a shaky breath before collapsing onto her knees and looking over at the equally exhausted Todoroki who was trapped in her gold dome with awe.
Amari then looked over to the clock before seeing the three minute mark and quickly unactivated her quirk so that Todoroki could quickly find another target and pass his exam as well. She wasn't really worried about him, knowing how quickly the boy had gotten his first point.
The two looked at each other before Todoroki seemingly got the message, hurrying to his feet before leaving her sight in a rush as Amari closed her eyes in exhaustion. She did it, she passed the first round.
Although she didn't fully relax until she had gotten confirmation that Todoroki had indeed passed the round as well before letting her muscles fall completely as the final bell rang.
She couldn't even believe it herself. The girl had actually beaten Todoroki.
Badass Amari makes her appearance, and she finally kicks Todoroki's ass. The two seemingly got lost in their own rivalry and forgot about the exam for a minute. Although they weren't about to let each other fail, this was just some friendly competition.
Also how badass are the Bakugo twins? Like their teamwork and character development where they trust each other is really something. I'm so proud of the babies.
Next Chapter: Part 2 of exams, and things get real really quick as the presidents "modifications" kick more than ever.
