Chapter Two: Sunlight-like Gaze, Robot in my Face
Hewwo guys, Lu here! Thanks so much for the favs and follows and reviews! They mean a lot to me as a writer! Just a bit of a warning though, I probably won't update regularly, ahaha! Well, without further ado, here is the second chapter of Little Doll! Enjoy!
"Are you ready for your exam, kid?"
I huff and take a swig of my water. The sun was setting, bathing everything in an orange-red light. The beads of sweat that formed on my exposed skin reflected this light, showing themselves to the entire world. My body ached and my feet and legs hurt from standing and dodging and running so much. The plastic water bottle in my hand felt heavy, as if gravity was giving its all to pull it to the earth and swallow it whole. "Do I look like I'm ready?"
The wolf next to me nodded sympathetically and looked towards the same horizon I was. "You are ready, should I say so myself. But I understand the nervousness." He says, wiping his fur with the towel we got from the house. I look at him with defiant eyes, soaking in the words he said. "I'm not nervous!" I said indignantly.
He chuckles and ruffles my hair. "Whatever you say, kid," he says, "just know that sometimes it's okay to feel nervous." I huff in irritation and look away. "I told you, I'm not nervous!" I'm terrified, was what I wanted to say but I would never admit it, I'm terrified that I'd fail.
Inukai-san suddenly stands up and starts stretching. I can practically hear his joints popping and muscles extending. "Well, it'd be better that we take a rest now. Wouldn't want those muscles aching during that exam tomorrow, now would we?" He reminds, extending a hand to me. I take his hand and nod a little, standing up on my own two feet. I can feel my sore muscles screaming at me. "You're right; my muscles are killing me."
The older wolf chuckled at me, tail waving slightly at my dilemma. I would've chuckled with him if it weren't for the whiff of smoke I managed to smell. I followed the scent to the second floor of my home, where the light gray cloud floated from the window. I saw my mother's familiar dull blonde head and the lit cigarette stick between her lips. Inukai-san followed my gaze and stiffened, looking at my mother the same way I was. With uncertainty.
My mother took the cigarette butt from her lips and huffed out a large one, extinguishing the light on the windowsill, and disappeared into the depths of the house. "Have you... Have you spoken with your mother, kid?" Inukai-san asked.
I shook my head, a little more forlorn than earlier. "I—I haven't. But is it really different?" I said. "We barely talk to each other even from before. How is this any different?"
It is different, I thought, we got to talk to each other at least a little back then. Now she's just... ignoring me.
"Why—Why is she so angry?" I whisper, turning to face Inukai-san. He looked at me a little wide-eyed, bewildered, maybe. A few moments later, those green eyes softened. "Ms. Kaoru's... not angry, per se. Rather, she's just... worried."
"Why would she be worried?" Really, I was confused. You don't ignore your child and give them the cold shoulder when you're worried.
"You are her daughter, after all." The wolf tried to explain, though I remain unconvinced. "She wouldn't have emotionally— and physically!— disconnected with me if she really was worried about me." I huff. I hate these stupid, complex, human emotions.
Inukai-san sighed and pinched the bridge of his snout. "After your father passed away—" I stiffened. "—your mother was... distraught. She had no one else but you, kid. So, when she found out that you wanted to be a hero— the same profession that got hundreds of people killed," I think he also wanted to say that got your father killed and the way his ears flattened was proof of that. "It was probably too much for her."
We stood there in silence as I took in all the words Inukai-san had said. "Yeah, well," I move to the backdoor, opening it just the slightest bit before stopping. "She's not the only one hurting."
I was in my bedroom preparing for the test. I made sure my things were in order, my uniform wasn't wrinkled, I even made sure if my heart was still beating. I sighed and stared at the small mirror in front of me. The mirror was rectangular and plain, it wasn't that large, just big enough to see my face and maybe my whole body if I step back a few. I brush the pink hair that covered the right side of my face, grimacing a little before taking a peek under those strands.
The scars have faded a bit; I can still see them up close but maybe from far away it wasn't that obvious. No, no, the first thing people would notice was my eye. My cloudy gray right eye. I sighed again and brush the strands back into place, hiding my scars from the world once again. Only then did I catch the scent of coffee and cigarettes. Only then did I notice my mother by my door, looking at me with unsureness in her eyes. I started fiddling with the bow of my uniform, ignoring her presence.
"Chiasa."
"Go away."
"Chiasa—"
"Look," I stopped fiddling with the bow of my uniform and turned to my mother, "you had the chance to stop me yesterday. And for the last ten months, if we're being totally honest here. I'm not letting you stop me today."
"I'm not here to stop you." Mother said, to which I say bullshit. "I'm just here to—" "Wish me good luck? Because, wow, ain't that a spectacle to behold."
Mother sighed and stepped closer to me. "I... don't agree with your decision to become a hero." Obviously. "But, for the last ten months watching you train, watching you prepare for this exam, I realized there really is no stopping you." Mother puts a hand on my shoulder and I stiffened. "I just... want you to be safe, Chiasa. That's all I ask."
I look at my mother with wide eyes, my mind flashing back to that fateful day. Horrid screaming. Ash-polluted air. The low rumbling as the building collapsed on itself. And somehow, Inukai's voice seemed to echo through all the internal noise in my ears.
"Rather she's just... worried."
"Don't worry," I said, hesitantly, "I'll come back in one piece. It's just an entrance exam; I doubt they'd try to kill us. They wouldn't want their prestigious school's name tainted, would they?"
Oh, how wrong I was.
Alright, so Shinsou should be here any second now, I thought. Shinsou and I had agreed to meet by the gates and go inside together. And I, being the most punctual in inconvenient circumstances, got to Yuuei's gates 30 minutes before our arranged time.
"Gah, Shinsou-kun, where the heck are you?" Still getting ready, dumbass, I thought. You got here too early. I sighed in frustration and turned to look at the school I've worked so hard for to get in. If I manage to pass the test, all that hard work would pay off. Holy crap I hope I get in.
Even if it's still too early, plenty of students were already walking up to the school's gates with either glee or with the most terrified expressions I've ever seen on a person. They all have these amazing quirks, I bet; all unique and one of a kind. But mine's going to help me rise to the top. I can feel it. With a new air of confidence, I look up at the building with pride.
Nothing's going to bring me down today.
The hand that suddenly clamped down on the back of my blazer was unwelcomed and is now pulling me down towards the ground much easier than I would admit.
Goddammit.
With one swift move, the culprit managed to bring me down to the ground, albeit falling down as well. Let me get this out to you; because of my quirk, I am light. Like, really, really light. Like, I'm-gonna-fall-down-with-a-single-push-if-I'm-not-careful light. You get the idea. I can easily be described as being as light as a porcelain pot. And though this came to my benefit in many situations, it can literally be my downfall. For instance, now.
Before I could feel the pain from the impact, however, I felt the wind under me stop. I slowly open my clenched eye and it widened when I saw that I was, honest to God, floating. Oh, and that I saw a brunette my age with rosy cheeks and her hands outstretched toward me and the culprit who made my day even worse than before.
I watched the girl delicately press all her fingers together and mumble 'Unlock' before I felt myself land on the ground with a soft thud. The guy behind me grunted as well as he fell to the ground and I whirled around to make him face my fury. Instead, I was met with broccoli hair and green eyes and, oh my God, were those freckles? I faltered a little because, let's be honest, this guy is a literal baby and I would very much like to adopt him. But I am too much of a nervous wreck and too sour about what had happened.
"You little—"
"You should be more careful! Falling on the day of an entrance exam is bad luck, you know!" The brunette giggled, cutting me off.
"That was quite the fall!" She commented, big brown eyes staring down at us. I huffed and got up to dust off my skirt. The broccoli haired boy mumbled a hurried response but suddenly paused as his emerald eyes scanned me, though I didn't notice at first.
I only realized when he began to ask a question. That dreaded question. "Hey, aren't you..." Third Eye's daughter?
I didn't need to hear the rest of his question to know what he was going to ask. I didn't want to hear the rest of his question. "Yeah, I am. Now if you'll excuse me," I said coldly, "I need to go prepare for the very important exam without strangers randomly grabbing my blazer and bringing me down with them."
He and the brunette must've caught on with my sour attitude (smart) because the brunette said her goodbye and good luck and off she went to the building, while broccoli hair suddenly pounced to his feet and dusted off his pants. He turned to me with a crooked, nervous frown and bowed slightly. "I'm so sorry for what happened! It was an accident, I swear!"
I sighed and looked at the boy, who was actually a lot shorter than me now that he's standing. "Yeah, whatever." I grumbled.
He beamed. "I-I'm Midoriya Izuku!"
I look him up and down. "Ejiri Chiasa."
Christ, if this Midoriya guy doesn't shut up and just listen to what this loud, annoying Pro Hero is saying, I'm going to chuck someone across the auditorium.
"You think those zero pointers are worth taking down?" A voice piped up beside me and Shinsou looked at me with those familiar tired eyes of his. They were laced with a flicker of hope. "They could be testing something else about us by sending those things in there." He commented, to which I agree.
I only managed to catch snippets of what we were supposed to do. Take down robots, get points, etc. And avoid those zero pointers. I didn't know why but that really stuck to me. The way they warned us about those bots rubbed me off the wrong way. Granted, they could be warning us about those because they would be a waste of time to take down.
"You're right, but I wouldn't want to mess with those guys without figuring out exactly what those Pros want to test." I said. "Ugh, this is driving me crazy."
"Well, they didn't exactly say that this test was easy." He reminded. I scoffed. "Yeah," I said, "I know that but still." This is the entrance exam, my one-way ticket to becoming the greatest hero this world will ever know. Of course, I didn't expect this to be easy. That and...
"I'm still sad about the fact we aren't stationed in the same centers." I glance at my ID card, clearly showcasing my picture, name, and the words Center A imprinted in bold. In the corner of my eye, I can see Shinsou clutching his ID a little bit tighter, and the words Center C were scrawled on the card. The purple-haired boy shrugged. "I guess they're trying to separate friends." He offered and I silently snickered. "I don't remember being friends with a certain Shinsou Hitoshi. Who's he? I'll probably never know." I joked, earning a light glare from him. If only I'd squinted, I would've seen something amiss in his amethyst eyes.
"Oh, hardy har har, Ejiri."
Oh my God, oh my God, oh my God.
This is it, this is it, this is it.
I'm taking the Entrance Exam. I'm actually taking the Entrance Exam. (Holy shit I'm taking the Entrance Exam!)
I couldn't stop bouncing on the balls of my feet, fidgeting with my gym uniform, I couldn't stop moving! Can you really blame me? I get jumpy and restless when I'm nervous, and I run mouth to no end, and my mind can't stop racing, and wow, is it getting hot in here or is it just me?
"Get out of my way, you damn extra."
I pause my movements and whirled around to watch a boy with impossibly spiky ash blonde hair and the most menacing crimson eyes I've ever seen— and the ugliest scowl that pretty much matched his attitude— scoff at me and even go out of his way to bump my shoulder as he walked past. Rude, was all I could think.
We eventually made it to the front gates of Center A and my heart pounded even harder than before to the point where I can hear the blood rush through my ears. I can tell I wasn't the only one; everyone else around me gave off this nervous energy that hung in the air like an ash cloud, suffocating and worrying.
I took a deep breath. No, I cannot lose my cool now. I cannot lose the beat I've worked so hard to maintain during training. I need to focus, I need to—
"READY!"
Wait—
"START!"
With that, the gates opened and throngs of students began rushing in, frantic to find a robot ASAP. Unfortunately, I was being squished in the middle, and I was beginning to lose my footing. NO! I can't lose my beat now! With ease and a mental apology to the guy in front of me, I placed both of my hands on his shoulder and jumped up, high enough so that my feet landed on a girl's shoulders in front of him. Both were taken by surprised but didn't have time to react as I began hopping from one shoulder to another, careful to not step on anyone's head.
I managed to get on the front and landed on the ground with a roll. I immediately sprang up to my feet and began running, slowly overtaking the remaining students in front of me. I smirked. Sometimes I love the lightness my quirk gave me. Without wasting my time, I began glowing a burning orange, mumbling, "Calcination, level 5." I feel sorry for the poor soul behind me; it must be frightening to see two exact porcelain copies of myself suddenly materialize out of my back. I heard a yelp behind me and I rolled my eyes.
EJIRI CHIASA
QUIRK: PORCELAIN DOLL
SHE CAN CREATE PORCELAIN COPIES OF HERSELF BY CHIPPING AWAY BITS OF HER BONE AND CALCINATING THEM WITH HER MUSCLES. THEY USUALLY COME OUT OF HER BACK. DISGUSTING BUT COOL!
The glow that I emitted earlier began to fade and I blinked once. Twice. Until I began to see my copies' perspective through my right eye. Good. Now I just gotta focus harder. Just as I sent both away to scour the area, I managed to catch sight of a one pointer in the distance, which was standing between two tall buildings. If I could get to the roof of the building fast enough, maybe I can...
I nodded to myself and dashed toward the door that led to the inside of the edifice. Quickly running up the stairs, I managed to get to the rooftop much faster than I anticipated. I continued running, careful not to lose my momentum, and leapt off the ledge, towards the one pointer. I quickly conjured a porcelain copy, grabbed it by its wrist, and— as I was just hovering above the robot— swung down hard as if I were holding a baseball bat. The robot stumbled a bit. I flipped over, letting go of the shattered clone (I was only holding on to the detached hand), and landed on the roof of the next building.
I might have miscalculated. The metal was stronger than I anticipated. Strengthening my clone's upper body by distributing more of my bone there won't be enough. I needed an extra push.
Nodding to myself again, I launch myself at the one pointer once more. Now that I snapped out of my thoughts, I noticed that its glowing red eye was transfixed on me. Figures. I jump off the ledge but instead of making a copy materialize right then and there, I angled myself back as if I were to fall on my back and shouted, "CALCINATION: LEVEL SEVEN!" With that war cry, I glowed in an intense yellow instantaneously, and I felt the fresh copy rip out of my back. Then I felt the wind rush at my face and I heard the loud shattering of porcelain underneath me. I smiled. "SUNBEAM!"
With that, I conjured a clone once again, this time stronger, and used Sunbeam to propel myself downwards. The combined strength in my clone and the extra force proved effective as I made a large dent on the one pointer and it stumbled and stopped. I smile brightly. '1 point.'
I managed to take down 2 two pointers, 3 more one pointers and about 3 three pointers. That totaled up to 16 points and I'm not sure if that's enough. I need to search faster! These robots are slowly running out for sure! Even with my porcelain copies scattered around the area, I can't get to them in time.
A loud boom resonated around the area and I scowled. There it was again. The loud booming has been going on ever since the start of the exam. It must be an examinee's quirk. I don't think the robots are capable of creating explosions of that intensity.
"Where are those scraps of metal when you need them?" I ask to nothing in particular, skidding to a stop and hunching over to take a breath. I had been running non-stop since I took down the last robot.
I began to panic. How many robots are left? Are they all gone? Is that why I can't find one? Does that mean I failed? Oh God, what if I did fail?
Due to my racing thoughts, I barely registered the large shadow looming over my figure. By the time I looked up, it was already raising its fist and I gasped. So, this is what a zero-pointer looked like. But it wasn't transfixed on me. It was transfixed on something under the rubble.
END OF CHAPTER TWO