Finally, it was the day of the U.A. entrance exam. Fuyu woke up bright and early, and thankfully her father was already at work. He had left a note of the kitchen table, which simply said 'make it in or else'.
Slightly discomforted by the ominous message, the female continued to get ready for the exam.
Fuyu met Izuku outside his apartment and they walked to the train station together.
"Hey, Fu?" Izuku asked, reverting back to their childish nicknames.
"Yeah, Izu?"
"I got my quirk earlier this week. I was supposed to get it today, but my mentor figured that it would be better if I got some training with it and not go into the exam blind."
"That's amazing, Izu. But, are you sure you'll be okay with it? No offense but I can't imagine you have a lot of control over it."
The curly-haired boy blushed and cast his eyes down while rubbing the back of his neck sheepishly.
"Hehe, funny story actually. So, I may or may not fracture or break my bones when I use it."
The blue-haired girl took in a deep breath and counted to ten.
"What. The. Fuck?"
"My body is technically a proper vessel, but I still need slightly more training. I need to control how much power I exert, so I don't get as much backlash."
"Dear gods, I don't even know where to start. Okay, so basically, you can't handle the raw power of your quirk, and you need to learn how to control the amount of energy exerted, or else you'll break every fucking bone in your body."
"Yes."
"Well, this is kinda easy. You need to have something to visualize or focus on when you decide how much power you want to use. What percent do you think you used during training?"
"I guess I'd say 10%. I only used it the one time though. The rest of the week I was just 'summoning' it, but not actually using it."
"And you told me before that it is also a stockpiling quirk, which means that your '100%' could change depending on how strong you are in the future."
"I guess so. Right now, 10% is very powerful."
"Have you been using anything to help you visualize how much power you want to use?"
The greenette blushed once more. "Don't laugh at me. I've kinda been thinking of an egg in a microwave. I think of it as controlling the time before it explodes."
Fuyu simply stared at her best friend.
"Izu," she started out slowly. "Are you an idiot? I get what you're saying with 'preventing the egg from exploding,' but there has got to be a better solution.
This might sound a bit weird, but think of my wind. If you want only a small amount of power to be used, think of a gentle breeze. A little more power, a stronger gust of wind.
Or if you wanted to keep with your egg method, think of it as frying an egg in a pan. With a pan, you can control the heat of it and make it higher or lower. It's more controlled, instead of 'gee, I hope it doesn't explode.'"
"I-that makes so much more sense. I'm such an idiot."
The female smirked and responded, "Well, I always knew I was smarter than you."
"Fuyu!"
The two hero otakus bickered the rest of the trip and only stopped when they reached the steps of U.A.
There was a registration table up front where they checked in and were told which classroom to report to for the written portion of the exam. Obviously, students from the same schools were split up, as to prevent potential cooperation.
"Good luck, Izu."
"Thanks, Fuyu. I know you'll do great."
"You will too, Izu."
With that they split ways and prepared for the upcoming test.
Fuyu flew through ten pages of multiple choice questions easily. The short answers were slightly more complicated. They gave you a scenario, and Fuyu had to write how to deal with it while saving as many lives and creating as little collateral damage as possible. Thankfully, her years of watching hero fights with Izuku and writing down her analysis had prepared her for it.
The essay was the hardest thing on the test.
In five hundred words or less, explain what it means to be a hero.
Fuyu seriously thought about it for a minute. Izuku would say being able to inspire millions and provide a sense of safety. To be fearless in the face of danger, to fight crime with a smile on your face.
But Fuyu thought otherwise.
Being a hero is more than saving others and giving them hope. It is also about having the courage to fight through your own fears. Heroes know and understand that every time they go out on a mission, it might be their last one. They know this, yet they still continue to do their jobs. Being a hero means to do something for the greater good, something most people wouldn't consider doing.
Heroes are role models in our society. They instill hope in us and show that evil cannot conquer. And they do this all out of the goodness of their hearts. Heroes should not do it for the wealth or the popularity, but because they want to protect people. All true heroes have a gut instinct, a need to save and rescue others. It's in their natures...
Fuyu knew her essay didn't exactly flow perfectly, but she hoped the evaluators took more into account her message.
After checking over the test about a dozen times, the pink-eyed girl turned in her test and left the classroom.
Eventually all the examinees made their way into the large auditorium where they were to be briefed on the Practical Exam.
Unfortunately, Fuyu and Izuku had to sit next to Katsuki Bakugo. At least the blue-haired girl sat in between the two boys, meaning the blonde couldn't razz on the greenette too much.
"HEY, HEY LISTENERS? WELCOME TO THE U.A. PRACTICAL EXAM! CAN I GET A HEY?"
Awkward silence answered Present Mic's greeting. A couple people coughed, and one boy in the back had the audacity to play crickets chirping on his phone.
"He is really loud. I stand by my theories from earlier."
Fuyu whispered to Izuku.
"Isn't he so cool though? I didn't know he taught at U.A. I wonder what other pro heroes teach at this school."
The two continued to converse quietly while still paying attention as the Voice Hero continued his introduction.
Halfway through a tall, navy-haired boy stood up, a spotlight directly on him.
He spewed off some bullshit about an error on the prep card. He pissed Fuyu off more than she'd like to admit.
"And to the two of you in the back! Your behavior is most disgraceful and unbecoming of a U.A. applicant. If you are going to chatter the entire time and not pay attention, you might as well leave to keep yourself from distracting the other test-takers."
Izuku quickly grabbed onto both of his best friend's hands so that she couldn't flip off the teen who had called them out.
"Come on, Izu. Not too many people would see. Mr, Stick-Up-His-Ass needs to know he can't speak to us like that."
"Calm down, Fu. Don't cause a scene. We'll just kick some ass on the exam."
Present Mic continued his presentation, explaining that the final robot was more of an obstacle and not worth any points.
A few minutes later, all the applicants were packed into several buses, which took them to their designated testing site.
The Voice Hero 'announced' the start of the exam, and the hero-hopefuls were off.
Fuyu darted through the streets, sending out her gales to knock the robots into each other, taking down several at a time. Whenever the crashes sent out large pieces of debris, she quickly caught them in a breeze so they wouldn't injure the other exam takers.
The pink-eyed girl also used her quirk to keep some of the more idiotic hopefuls from injuring others and themselves. She'd already saved at least 4 students from being crushed by a robot they'd destroyed and then turned their back on. Other times the teens would forget their surroundings and would let loose a full blast of their quirk, forcing Fuyu to use her vortex to pull students out of the blast zone.
Fuyu had a few more tricks up her sleeve. She discovered that fire hydrants placed around the testing ground were fully functional, most likely to aid those with water or ice based quirks.
Using a decapitated robot 'head', she smashed open the fire hydrant, which let out a torrent of water. She then carried the stream on an air current and directed it towards the group of two-pointers in front of her. The mid-size robots short circuited the moment they came in contact with the water.
I can't believe that actually fucking worked!, Fuyu thought to herself while grinning wildly.
Meanwhile in the the judging room
The staff of U.A. sat before a wall full of monitors. Each of the five testing sites had several screens each, with the cameras and drones placed at strategic angles. This footage and that of additional cameras would all be reviewed later, of course, but Nezu likes to view it all in real time. Something about seeing who stood out, he said.
There was one girl in particular that held the attention of the teachers.
"It's only halfway through the test and she's already racked up at least 40 villain points." Midnight pointed out.
"Don't forget how many rescue points she'll receive," Aizawa reminded everyone. "Most participants barely scrape up 10, and that's after we've released the zero-pointer."
Recovery Girl also monitored the participants, keeping an eye out for any serious injuries. The girl, Takahashi, had already prevented her from needing to mend several broken limbs and a whole lot of bruises and cuts.
Recovery Girl began, "I wonder what the drawback is to her quirk. It didn't seem to be physically affecting her, so it must have something to do with her stamina."
They focused on the other students for a few minutes, before Present Mic brought their attention back to the wind manipulator.
"It seems like the listener is taking a breather-wait, no. What is she doing? WHAT THE HELL?! THOSE FIRE HYDRANTS ACTUALLY WORK?!"
Power Loader banged his head upon the console, wailing.
"Why did she have to discover the hydrants?! She would've been fine without them. Bent metal and cut wires I can deal with, but water damage? Whyyyyyyy?"
Vlad King was left to comfort the support hero, simply patting him on the head.
Oblivious to his teacher's grief, Nezu cackled maniacally. "Ooh, this human is smart! The last person to discover that the hydrants worked was Manual, I believe. Yes, I see bright plans for this young one in the future."
The rest of the staff collectively groaned at the glint in their boss's eyes. They did not need a Nezu-in-training, thank you very much.
"Now, let's see how our upcoming heroes react to our secret weapon." Nezu said deviously, still cackling while flipping the infamous Yakuri Switch.
"You find this way too entertaining, you weird rat." Aizawa mumbled, only heard by his best friends, Present Mic and Midnight, who both sweat dropped.
Back at the testing ground
The blue-haired teen paled in horror as the monstrous zero-pointer was unleashed upon the faux city. She felt the hundreds of students running past her, not caring who made it out of the behemoth's warpath. Fuyu too would've joined them if it weren't for the tall teen with vibrant yellow hair staring up at the robot stupidly.
Fuyu ran towards the teen, knowing she couldn't use her quirk at such a long range. Once the girl was at a reasonable distance, she created her signature vortex and pulled the boy from the path of the incoming zero-pointer. She then used her quirk to lift him up in the air and float him closer towards the other test takers, hoping that would pull him from his quirk backlash.
The pink-eyed teen looked up at the 'obstacle' and knew deep down she could not outrun the monstrosity which was bearing down upon her quickly. Seeing another fire hydrant nearby, she broke the top of it off and once again directed the jet of water shooting out of it.
Like the robots before it, the zero-pointer shorted out. It began to lean forward precariously, falling towards the young heroine at an alarming rate.
Even though she was drained and was very light-headed, Fuyu felt the adrenaline kick in and suddenly found herself with a lot more energy. She controlled a mighty torrent of wind, which thankfully pushed back the humongous robot. The behemoth fell backwards into a building. Fortunately, all of the exam takers had exited that part of the faux city already.
The female turned around to see the other students dead in their tracks, staring at the wind manipulator. That was the last thing Fuyu saw before collapsing from quirk overexertion.
Back to the monitor room
"Well, that must be the drawback to her quirk."
Aizawa scowled. "She needs to learn what her limits are and not exceed them."
Nezu smiled widely at the two heroes who had defeated his infamous zero-pointers.
"What are the odds that not one, but two, of the zero-pointers were defeated. Not to mention that both of the students who destroyed them came from the same middle school, and managed to rack up several rescue points. Well, Aizawa, I think you'll have your hands full next school year."
It was then the dark-haired teacher's turn to bang his head on the console.
"Coming through, dears." Recovery Girl said as she walked through the hordes of students.
Reaching her destination, the pro hero sighed and clicked her tongue at the wind manipulator crumpled in the ground.
"Poor girl. Must be the drawback of her quirk if she uses it too much."
"You, there," the school nurse called out to a boy in the crowd, beckoning him closer. "Yes, you with the red hair. Would you mind helping me out? I need you to make sure this girl gets to the infirmary while I finish making my rounds to all the testing sites. I don't always trust the med-bots here.
The teen in question, none other than Eijiro Kirishima, stepped forward to help out the Youthful Heroine.
"Just follow the med-bot into the school and up to my office."
And so, Kirishima trudged after the gurney-like machine, keeping a careful eye on the passenger.
Kirishima had to admit…the girl was very pretty. She had long blue hair, which seemed to be a dark navy at the roots which faded into a light sky blue near the tips. It was pulled back in a braid, but a few loose strands escaped, framing her soft face.
The shimmering blue hair perfectly complemented her smooth, lightly tanned skin. It covered taut muscles, which were poorly hidden by the girl's loose clothing.
She must be so strong, Kirishima thought. And she was super manly, taking down that zero-pointer to save the kid with the electricity quirk. I wouldn't have had the balls to do that.
And I can't lie, she is very pretty. I kind of wonder what's hidden…
KIRISHIMA. Get your head out the gutter! Those thoughts are so unmanly.
Eventually the two U.A. hopefuls made it to the infirmary. The 'redhead' carefully lifted the wind manipulator off the robotic gurney and onto one of the many empty beds that occupied the room.
Unsure of what to do, the male simply stood awkwardly in a corner of the room for a few minutes until Recovery Girl finally made it back to the office.
"Oh, thank you, dearie. Here, have a couple energy gummies, and then you can head back home."
And so, the Youthful Heroine shoves some gummies in Kirishima's hand and shooed him out the door, leaving the teen a little more than confused.