"Ow!"
Ochako Uraraka winced as she tried to reach back towards the rubble that had her foot pinned, the world swimming around her as the side effect of her quirk made her feel nauseous and exhausted. The sound of footsteps echoed in her ears as she looked up unsteadily, watching as the green-haired boy who'd nearly fallen over at the entrance hopped over the rubble towards her.
"Are you okay?" he asked, looking at her leg for a moment, before his eyes darted to the Zero-pointer that was looming over them, "I'm going to try get you out!"
Ochako watched as he dug his fingers under the large chunk of rubble that was holding her down, the girl swaying slightly as she also looked up at the robot.
"Shit, it's not quite enough," the boy mumbled to himself, "I'm sorry, Sire."
Ochako blinked as he suddenly grunted, his pale skin going almost white as he wrenched the massive piece of concrete off her, throwing it to the side.
"Can you walk?" he asked, Ochako shaking her head as she watched him lean over, his eyes suddenly becoming unfocused as he collapsed to his knees.
"A-are you okay?" she managed to force out, her stomach still churning.
"Blood…" the boy muttered, turning his head to look at her, his eyes seeming to swirl with colour as his voice changed, "Need blood…"
"Then…then take some of mine!" Ochako didn't know what made her say that, only that when she looked into those eyes, she felt a sudden wave of calm wash over her.
She held up her arm, the boy leaning closer to her, his mouth opening as she stared at the long fang like teeth that seemed to grow from his gums. He bit her, the brunette surprised by how little it hurt, a sudden feeling of elation running through her body as he swallowed. He swallowed again, sucking on her arm as she began to feel lightheaded, before he suddenly released, leaning back, the colour back in his skin and his eyes brighter than they were before.
"Leave this to me," he said, his voice strong and confident as he stood. And then he was gone.
Izuku shivered. He'd never tasted anything like this before. It was like a thousand volts of electricity were running through his veins as he swallowed. He looked up at the girl as his vision cleared, starting at how pale she looked. He pulled back, let out a satisfied sigh as he sat back on his knees.
"Leave this to me," he said, standing up in a fluid motion, his head no longer fuzzy, his heart rate slow and steady. He felt powerful.
And then he jumped.
He jumped higher than he ever had before. Soaring through the air as he felt the girl's blood boiling inside of him, a seemingly infinite well of strength compared to the animal blood he'd been drinking. He drew level with the Zero-Pointer's head, drawing a fist back as the behemoth turned to focus on him.
"Go to sleep," he chuckled, pumping energy into his arm as he began to swing it forwards, feeling his bones creak and muscles tear as he brought the fist down on the robot's head.
Steel crumpled and bone broke as the two forces met, the Zero-Pointer's face caving in more and more and more, until, finally, the box was thrown back, tearing off the neck and flying down the path of destruction the robot had caused. Izuku huffed as he looked at his arm, the robots body collapsing backwards as it fell. The skin was split in several places, blood leaking out as the rest had turned a sickly purple colour. Pumping a little of his energy into it, Izuku flinched slightly as he felt his bones begin to realign themselves and heal, the teen slowly floating back towards the ground.
The sound of murmuring caught his ear as he descended, looking around at the other examinees as they stared at him in shock.
"TIME'S UP!" Mic howled just as Izuku landed back on the ground, rolling his now fully healed shoulder as he inspected the rest of his arm. His eyes caught sight of the girl lying on the ground staring up at him in wonder, a stray thought running through his head.
I wonder what her name is, he thought before something hit the back of his skull and the world went dark.
Izuku groaned as he came too, reaching for his head as he lay in the bed. A familiar feeling stopped the hand from reaching too high, the teen looking down at the leather manacles tying him to the bed frame. Trying to remember what happened, he looked around, his gaze falling on the only other person in the room.
"You attacked and injured another examinee," the dishevelled looking man growled, his eyes lighting up red as his hair began to float, Izuku choking as he felt his body grow weak, "That's grounds for immediate disqualification."
"I…I understand," Izuku muttered, looking down, "I have no excuse."
"Well," the man sighed as he flopped down into a nearby chair, "At least that's what I want to say. But the girl you injured approached us after the exam and said she let you do it. Why?"
"Why?" Izuku blinked, looking up at the ceiling in confusion as he spoke quietly, "I…My quirk. It requires blood to function. Drinking it is the easiest way to get it."
"Hmmph," the man grunted, before getting up off the chair and undoing the manacles on Izuku's wrists, "Fine. Seeing as how she claims to have given consent, we'll overlook it this time. Now get out of here."
"Y-yes sir!" Izuku barked as he slid off the bed and darted past the man.
Izuku sipped from his glass, the blood tasting bland as he rolled it over his tongue. Not like the brunette girl's blood at all.
"Young one," his Sire said, drawing Izuku out of his thoughts, the man's tone serious, "You drank from a human today?"
"I…" Izuku started, he hadn't mentioned anything about the exam to his Sire yet, but the man was looking at him expectantly, "Yes…Yes, I did. How did you know?"
"You are my child, young one," the man hummed, sitting back in his chair, "I can tell these things."
"Is…is it bad that I did it?"
"Not necessarily," Sire sighed, "I had just not expected it to occur so, for lack of a better word, soon."
Izuku nodded, eye twitching slightly at his Sire's verbal tick, the teen had thought that he'd get used to it over the last nine months, but it was still slightly annoying.
"I suppose you will be interested in the effects of drinking human blood, correct?" the man continued, making Izuku stare.
"E-effects? What effects?"
"A number of things. Firstly, I'm sure you have noticed this already, but animal blood becomes far less, for lack of a better word, palatable, correct?"
Izuku nodded, looking down at the glass of sheep's blood in his hand. Usually, it would have a pleasant gamey taste, but now it just tasted bland.
"That is because we crave human blood above all else. Because it strengthens us. Grants us powers."
"Powers?" Izuku blinked as his Sire suddenly seemed to dissolve into the air, a soft breeze blowing around the room as it filled with mist.
"Such as this," the man's voice echoed from all directions, the mist suddenly coalescing back into the chair and his Sire reappearing, "There are at least five abilities one may attain. Or at least that is how many I have gained."
"So, you've…drunk from five people?" Izuku asked.
"No. More," Sire sighed, looking away as he stared into nothing, "Back when I was less…in control."
Izuku nodded, slightly startled by the lack of his Sire's verbal tick. The two sat in silence for a long moment, the man staring off into the distance as if remembering something, before he turned his head back to Izuku. The teen wasn't sure, but he thought he could see sorrow in the man's eyes.
"But that is a story for another time," Sire hummed, "Right now, I believe we should test this new ability you have, for lack of a better word, acquired."
"How do you know that I've gained an ability?" Izuku asked, swallowing nervously as his Sire smiled.
"Because you are my child, young one," the man chuckled lightly, "I am privy to changes within you."
"Oh," Izuku muttered, blushing slightly, "So…how do I…access this power?"
"Think of the person you drank from," His Sire began to explain, "Picture them in your mind. Their face. Their smell. Their taste."
Izuku nodded as he closed his eyes, bringing up the image of the brunette's face in his mind. He was slightly startled to find it was easy, the image appearing almost instantly, as if it had been branded into his brain. The smell of her skin filled his nose, the scent of her sweat swirling through his mind. The taste of her blood, sweet and airy and cool, reminding him of mochi for some reason, flooded over his tongue. He felt the blood inside him boil, suddenly diminishing as he gasped, eyes shooting open as he fell back onto the couch.
"What happened?" Izuku gasped, looking around in confusion, "Why did I fall?"
"You were flying," Sire said softly, "Or at least floating. This is good, you have attained one of the most basic abilities of our kind. Though tell me, do you know the quirk of the person you drank from?"
"Uhm…" Izuku hesitated, thinking over it, "She had some sort of floating quirk. The stuff she touched floated."
"Hmm," the man hummed, "Interesting. Interesting indeed. That is all for tonight. Return home and rest. You will need it for our new training tomorrow."
"New training?" Izuku blinked.
"Of course," his Sire laughed, "We have to test your flying abilities, do we not?"
Shota Aizawa sighed as he looked over his class register for the next year. All of the students had done well enough, though there were a few that he'd have to keep his eye on.
The blond with the explosion quirk that didn't score a single rescue point. He'd have to figure out how to temper the teen's anger and direct it more towards helping people rather than just winning fights.
The recommendation student that was Endeavor's child. There wasn't much Shota could think of on how to improve his technique, but the two-toned boy needed to come out of his shell more.
And lastly, the boy that had attacked that girl during the exam. She was also in his class, so he'd have to gauge her reaction to her attacker on the first day to figure out what to do with the teen.
Other than that, most of the class seemed…okay. A few had obvious potential, the Yaoyorozu girl especially, while others may fall behind in that department. But he could work with this, none of them seeming completely hopeless. Even the boy with balls for hair, though Shota had his doubts.
The man shuffled back through the pages, his eyes falling on the head of green hair again, the boy giving a nervous smile in the picture. Shota sighed again. He had the distinctive feeling that this one was really going to be more trouble than he was worth.
"Only met him once, and I can already tell he's going to be a problem child," the Pro muttered to himself, before slipping the papers into one of the drawers of his desk and getting up from his seat. He had more work to do tonight besides read over student profiles after all.
"Hmm," the man's voice rumbled in his throat as he sat back in his chair, the screens in front of him showing the image of a man in a thick cloak hovering outside the window of a school, "It seems an old acquaintance of mine has come out of his hole. How interesting."