Nervously, Ichika looked around her. There were so many of them! How was she supposed to make it? It was impossible! She would never win against the others. From the looks of it, they were much stronger than her. It would be hopeless!

The fourteen year old closed her eyes and breathed in deeply through her nose, holding it for a moment, before releasing it again through her mouth. No! She couldn't think like that! She made a promise and she was going to keep it. Nothing would stop her from achieving her goal, so that he would achieve his!

Opening her green eyes, the teen listened to what the pro-hero Present Mic had to say about their exam, while continuing eying the competition. Would she really be able to get enough points to pass? And most of all, would she be able to do so, without the use of her quirk? If she could do so, then perhaps U.A. would change their minds about their acceptance requirements. Which was the whole point of her participating this entrance exam after all.

'Go!'

No time for thinking, she needed to get in there and gather as much points as possible! Wasting no time, the redhead brushed back her long braid over her shoulder and sprinted past some other contestants, using her flexibility and acrobatic skills. Turned out her mom did the right thing when she enrolled her fiery tempered daughter to ballet classes.

As she ran through a street, she tried taking out as many robots as she could. But without her quirk, it had proven to be a difficult task. Right now she was at 19, which she most definitely knew wasn't enough to pass the entrance exam. She needed to up her game, but how? Time was running out and she was getting tired. If she used her quirk, she could probably double her points before the time was up. But she vowed that she wouldn't use it. Not now!

She needed to prove U.A. that those without a quirk were able to pass as well. And if she used her quirk, then that meant she couldn't prove anything. But if she didn't, then she would definitely fail. There was no way 19 points were enough.

She growled in frustration. She didn't have time for this! She needed to find another 3-pointer and quick! But before she could continue her search, the ground started to tremble and a 0-pointer came into view. She stood still for a moment, taking in the sight of the machine in both shock and admiration. Others ran passed her, away from the 0-pointer and she should have followed their example. Yet as she was about to turn around, something caught her eye. Something very odd.

Up ahead was a blond boy who was apparently trying to put on his pants. Ichika blinked in surprise at this. Why was he even butt-naked? Never mind! Overcoming her initial shock, Ichika watched in horror as the 0-pointer quickly moved towards the boy, while the boy himself was still struggling to get his pants back on and trying to keep as much distance between himself and the machine.

'Hey you,' she called out for the boy, while running towards him. 'Watch out!'

The boy turned his head as she stopped right in front of him, only for him to drop his pants in surprise.

'Please pull up your pants,' a flustered Ichika shrieked in embarrassment, while she covered her eyes with her hands.

'My pan..? Whoopsy, my bad!'

She could hear the sincere confusion in his voice, confusing her too. But she did not dare to remove her hands before she was sure he wasn't naked anymore. Not even with the 0-pointer coming dangerously close now!

'You can look now,' she heard the boy chuckle and when her deep green eyes met his bright blue ones, he rubbed the back of his neck in embarrassment. 'Sorry about that. You surprised me.'

Ichika was about to reply with a sneer, when she noticed a large mechanic arm shooting down to where they stood. Without thinking she used her bodyweight to push the boy out of the way, while she herself jumped to the other side. While in mid-air, Ichika kicked towards the large robot and fireballs flew from her feet. The moment she landed, she did a quick low spin to the ground, before kicking an even more powerful fireball towards the still advancing robot.

Its hand crashed down to where they had stood just a moment ago and Ichika immediately shouted to the boy, wanting to know whether or not he was okay. Which luckily, he was. Satisfied with his answer she ran closer to the robot, ignoring the shouts for her to run away. Her long-range attack had done some damage, judging from the molten metal, but it hadn't stopped the machine. So she figured she needed to aim her attention towards the feet!

Once she was close enough, Ichika concentrated all the heat she could in one hand and placed it on the metal wheel. Within seconds the material was melting and she cheered in excitement. Her laughter was short-lived though, when the metal giant came crashing down towards her. She wanted to move, to turn around and run away. But instead she stood frozen to the ground. She had acted out of instinct when she wanted to protect the boy, but now that she needed to save herself, she found herself paralysed. Even her mind seemed to be frozen as she just stood there with wide eyes.

Then there was a yell, followed by flash of yellow and she found herself laying on the ground after that. Out of harm's way as the robot crashed right in front of her. The robot was down, so she should get up and try and take down another robot. Should being the keyword, for she couldn't care less about the exam right now! How could she care about getting enough points, when that boy disappeared underneath the large machine? Was he okay? Did he somehow got out of the way himself? No, there was no way he got out of the way in time! Which meant he got crushed!

Ichika stared at the machine in horror. Her hands clasped in front of her mouth as she let it sink in! The boy saved her life at the cost of his own. How could a school like this allow such a thing to happen? Why?

'Why are you still on the ground? Are you hurt?'

A loud scream escaped her lips as Ichika whipped her head around to face the boy that had disappeared underneath the large robot only a moment ago. She had seen it with her own eyes. How was he still alive? And how did he manage to sneak up on her like that?

'Man, did I pull a jump-scare on you, didn't I,' the blond said with a cheesy grin, while rubbing the back of his neck. 'Sorry 'bout that, I didn't meant to scare you. But boy, did you sound cute.'

Ichika just stared at him, her mind blank and running overtime at the same time. She didn't even take notice of the horn signalling the end of the exam. All she could do, was stare at the blond boy as he towered over her. Though she did take his hand as he reached out for her to pull her to her feet. How could he be standing here right in front of her? He was standing right underneath the robot as it crashed down, she was sure if it. So it had to be his quirk, right?

'Ah man, it's over already? I barely got any points. What about you?'

She didn't answer him. Instead she wanted to know how he was able to escape. He must have had an amazing quirk if he managed to get away from there within seconds. It had to be a teleportation quirk, it had to be!

But instead of a curious question, a mixture of a shout and a shriek came out of her mouth as she finally took a good look at the excitable blond boy in front of her.

'You're naked again!'

Ichika nervously pulled the hem of her skirt. This wasn't exactly what she had planned! She only wanted to get them to change some of their rules. Not to actually get accepted!

Yet here she stood, wearing the grey and green uniform of U.A. as she stood in front of the large door. She was so sure of it that she had failed the practical exam, she only scored 19 villain points after all. Not nearly enough to pass. But as it turned out, there were rescue points as well, and well, her rescuing that strange boy had earned her more than enough apparently. She had passed her written exam in flying colours. As for her practical exam, she scored 19 villain points and 50 rescue points. Which meant she had a total of 69 points and thus got accepted.

Ichika sighed as she stared at the giant door with '1-B' on it. How did she end up here anyway again, when she didn't even wanted to become a hero? Oh that's right! She was kind if forced to enter. After she got accepted, she called U.A. that she only did the exam to prove that people without a quirk could participate as well. She did manage to take out a handful of robots without the use of her quirk! But instead of accepting her retreat, she got invited by the principal himself. Principal Nezu had offered her an ultimatum. She would keep her spot at class 1-B and he would remove the requirement to have a quirk.

'After all, you did use your quirk in the end, dear,' the mouse-like principal had stated matter of factly and she knew she had no other choice but to accept.

For Izuku, Ichika reminded herself as she took a deep breath.

'Here goes nothing,' the redhead muttered to herself as she opened the door.

She took a moment to glance around the classroom. There were only a handful of students as she shyly walked in. They all wanted to be here, she did not. Surely she wouldn't be able to fit in. Each and every one of them was aiming to be a future hero. If they were to find out that she didn't share that dream, her life would be hell!

As she moved towards an empty seat, she was surprised to see a familiar face. His blue eyed still as bright as back then. His smile still goofy.

'Hey there, stranger,' he said as he leaned on her desk casually with a smug look on his face. 'Fancy seeing you here.'

After he finished, he winked at her, before grinning at his own attempt to be cool and rubbed the back of his neck.

'Er, yeah,' she replied unsure how to react to this guy. 'Seemed like I passed because I rescued you.'

She gave him an unsure smile as he sat down in the vacant chair in front of her, his arms leaning over the back as he sat backwards on it. His blue eyes seemed to scan her for a moment, making her self-conscious. Was her hair a mess already? She knew she should have braided it like she usually did! Her long red locks were probably all tangled up already due to the wind because she put it in a simple ponytail. Note to self; be sure to have enough time left to bread your hair!

'You do know I was never in any real danger, right?' She shook her head. No, of course she didn't know! She never got to ask him about how he got away or what his quirk was. 'Ah, that's cute. Already thinking like a hero, I like that!'

Ichika opened her mouth to reply, but couldn't think of anything to say. Not that it mattered, for this guy continued rambling about how cool she looked while kicking balls of fire. Mimicking her moves by throwing punches in the air. Then he continued how amusing the look of surprise on her face when he stood in front of her completely unharmed.

'My name is Mirio Togata by the way,' he finally finished his rambling. 'And my quirk is permeation.'

'Ichika Midoriya,' was all she said.

She didn't want to come across as rude, but she was so overwhelmed by his character, that she forgotten to mention her quirk. But he didn't seem to mind. All he did was nod and repeat her name.

'I like it!'

'Ah, thanks. I guess?'

What was it with this guy? How come she felt so out of place here, yet he managed to make her feel comfortable anyway. Did she really seem that nervous for him to have picked up on it? Or was it just his personality to be as cheerful as he was?

Feeling self-conscious once again, Ichika started playing with a string of her hair that hung over her shoulder. Could he sense that she didn't want to be here? Was that why he was staring at her with such an intense look? Should she say something? Should she ignore him and look away? What should she do? She silently wished for him to look away if for their teacher to enter. But neither happened. Instead the boy - Togata wasn't it? - smiled again as he leaned in a bit.

'You know, I bet you're going to be an amazing hero. You're quirk is really cool! I was amazed when I heard you didn't want to use it. Is it the drawback? Is that why you didn't want to use it too much?'

Ichika just stared at him in surprise as Mirio started rambling once again. Telling her about his quirk and how he had a hard time controlling it. As she might have noticed back during the entrance exam. She just simply nodded, unable to speak. Instead she just listened.

Surprisingly ichika found that she actually liked listening to Togata. The way he spoke made her feel slightly more at ease and she even found herself smiling as he told her the story why he wanted to become a hero.

'And what about you, Midoriya,' Togata asked once he was done. 'Why do you want to become a hero?'

'Well, I ah..,' Ichika stammered, unsure of what to say. What could she say, because she actually didn't want to become one. But as she opened her mouth to reply, a different voice best her to it.

'Alright class! In your seats!'

The two looked up in surprise. It seemed neither of them had noticed their classmates had all entered by now and their homeroom teacher was standing in the doorway. His scruffy blond hair sticking straight out behind his head, resembling wild mane. His dark sharp eyes scanning the class as the students scrambled to find a seat, while he himself walked over to the desk that stood in the front of the classroom.

The dog-like appearance was already a tell-tale of who their homeroom teacher was, but his hero outfit was hard to miss with a muzzle over his pointed snout and furlined shirt. If Ichika remembered correctly from Izuku's notes, this was the hound hero; Hound Dog.

Her eyes shifted to the now correctly seated form of Togata and then back to her homeroom teacher. She didn't really want to be here, her ambitions laid elsewhere. But perhaps things weren't going to be as bad as she had first anticipated.

A/n

So this is the preview of Arising from the Ashes. I'll be writing a handful of chapters first, before I'll be posting them. But I'm curious what you guys think of it. So don't be shy to let me know.