A/N: Hey you guys! I'm finally back with a new chapter and I know it took long enough. Sorry to keep you waiting. We're entering the anime story plot with this one. I hope you will enjoy the entrance exam episode. Hope you'll have lots of fun! :-) And thanks for reading!
Chapter Three: Byakko Uprising
The day of the hero exam has finally come. With a skeptical eye, Masha spins in front of her big mirror frowning at her Middle School uniform. The dark gray and black checkered mini skirt with the matching necktie and the short sleeved white blouse still look way too conservative altogether, although the teenage girl has stuffed the blouse into her skirt to hug her curves in a more flattering way and has paired the whole outfit with white tiger print stockings. For an outfit to live up to her image is somewhat difficult that way.
Masha sighs and looks at her chin-length white and black striped hair instead since she got another hair cut after graduating from Middle School and it always seems a bit messy due to the longer and slightly curly bangs that cover her forehead. Sometimes the young tigress actually wonders if she has real cat fur on her head like she has on her ears and long fluffy tail. Her feline amber eyes meet their reflection checking on the discreet natural make-up on her face again. Everything's fine but somehow still not satisfying enough. Maybe that's because of the nervousness.
Behind her back Masha's mom enters her room followed by the two tomcats Jin and Hiro. She smiles proudly at her daughter while their cats jump on the bed to take a nap. "Look at my little tigress all grown up now. You're so beautiful!" Masha turns around and smiles back rubbing the back of her head sheepishly. "I'm wearing my school uniform, mom. You know the one I've been wearing since I started Middle School three years ago." Her mother giggles like a young girl. "Well, you're always beautiful, no matter what you wear." The two of them laugh together and Kahono hands over a prepared lunch box to her daughter.
"Will you meet up with Izuku?" Masha nods and grabs her black backpack. "Do you have everything you need?" She nods again and hums in confirmation making her way to the door and putting her shoes on. The blond woman hugs Masha warmly. "Don't be nervous. Remember that Masha means willpower. You can do everything you want to do", she reminds the young girl. "Good luck to the both of you! Give Izuku my greetings."
With that being said Masha exits the apartment and runs to the bus stop to take the bus to U.A. High School. Uncle Shota, her mom and Izukyun had finally managed to convince her to take the entrance exam and even detective Tsukauchi had been overly supportive of that idea, so Masha had given in at last. Upon arriving at the school grounds Masha looks at her smartphone only to see that Izuku hasn't texted her yet and that she's later than she thought she would be.
A big, flashy sign reads Entrance Exam and Masha whistles lowly. "If that isn't an invitation, I don't know what is!" She looks around just in time to catch Izukyun completely dressed in black clothing and red shoes being prevented from tripping by a cute brown haired girl. A playful little cat smirk appearing on her lips Masha watches her childhood friend turn bright red and stare at the other young girl in a daze.
"Oh c'mon Izukyun! At least say thank you!" the young tigress pouts and the dark-green haired boy almost jumps from hearing her voice so close behind him. "You really haven't changed at all", Masha teases him with a loving smile. "Masha!" Izuku beams at her brightly with his big adorable green eyes and she hugs him tightly in greeting like she always does, noticing that his body has changed drastically. So the hard training he told her about was a great success. "Geez, Mr. Brick-wall! Exactly how much did you work out the past few months?", she comments lightheartedly causing her friend to blush even more. "H-how long have you been around already?" Her cat-like smirk grows more mischievous. "Oh, long enough~..." she sings, twitching her tiger ears in amusement.
"Mommy said good luck to you." The teenage boy smiles and begins to search for something in his pockets. "Ah, right! My mother is also cheering for us. When she heard that you would be taking the exam with me she told me to give this to you." Izuku holds up a small good luck charm and Masha accepts it happily. "It's actually for good grades." The young girl sighs. "Well, I'm also in need of good grades. Besides it's the thought that counts."
The two childhood friends hurry inside the building, receive their cards and take their seats in the large auditorium quickly. On Izukyun's other side Masha spots the guy with spiky, light blond hair and flaring red eyes from TV. So that's Kacchan, she thinks and narrows her amber eyes at him. Honestly, it's such a shame that the evil guys always look so good. She wouldn't forgive him for hurting Izuku over so many years even if that blondie was such a handsome little bastard!
Izukyun notices Masha's intense glaring at his other childhood friend and sweatdrops. The young tigress, sensing the upcoming panic of her green haired friend just rolls her eyes at him. "I won't kill him, relax!" she mumbles while shifting her attention to the empty stage in front of them. "U-uh, yeah, s-sorry", he stutters and exhales slowly.
A few minutes later the auditorium is packed with students and soon enough lights start to illuminate the stage from above and the pro hero Present Mic screams out enthusiastically to his audience. However to his disappointment the big hall stays quiet and there is a rather embarrassing break before he tries again. "After I drop my mic here you'll head to your specified battle center, sounds good?" Silence... Masha stifles her laughter. Poor guy! Having to pity a pro hero the first time one enters U.A., the best of the best hero High Schools, is truly something she'd never expected.
"I'm in center C", she states and looks at Izuku hanging his head. "I'm in B", he replies in an unhappy voice. "I thought we could give our best together." Aw, he's just too adorable! "We still can!" Masha assures him with a genuine smile. "We just have to pass. Piece of cake!" She gives him a thumb up and her friend starts to giggle and shakes his head. "Yeah. You're right. Never did something easier." Masha grins. "You bet! What's with our very likable friend over there?" She points at the seat besides the green haired boy. Izuku has to cover his mouth with his hands to not let out a very loud laugh. "Seems like he'll be in center A", he somehow manages to answer right at the moment when a spotlight bursts from above and lands on a standing student only a few rows down.
Masha watches with her mouth wide open as a stiff guy with glasses scolds Present Mic for how they shouldn't have to deal with improper forms or something. Is that dude just stupid or does he have guts? The white and black haired girl's not so sure about that.
"Additionally, you two with the messy hair", glasses guy addresses both Izuku and Masha and they blink at each other quite confused "You've been talking this entire time. Stop that! If you can't bother to take this seriously then leave. You're distracting the rest of us", he continues.
Izukyun apologizes immediately after being told off while Masha just raises her eyebrows. "Okay, definitely stupid..." she whispers to herself while her friend looks questioningly at her.
The next few minutes feel like ages as the blond pro hero goes on to explain the whole exam process, but soon enough Masha and Izuku have to part ways to board different buses. They fist bump as they wish each other the best of luck. Masha takes a final glance over her shoulder to watch her friend's back and runs towards her own bus, which will take her to center C.
At the beginning of the hero exam the young tigress uses her enhanced speed, strength and agility to take down many of the robot villains which are the current opponents of the students. With her long and sharp claws she's easily able to cut them in half and go on to the next enemy right after. Masha doesn't really pay attention to her score though. She simply keeps running and jumping through the streets of the artificial city and slices up every robot in her way. That is until she notices she's running out of time and should hurry up to finish off as many villain-bots as possible in the last few minutes.
However her sensitive ears pick up another obstacle to overcome and she looks in the direction where the zero pointer is coming from. Her jaw almost drops to the ground. They told the students to just avoid the zero pointer because beating it scores no points, but how exactly should the teenage girl avoid something that is bigger than an entire building? The huge machine waltzes through the battle center destroying everything in its path. Masha instinctively wants to retreat and escape to a district on the other side of the makeshift town, but two manly figures who come running around a corner in a rush interrupt her plans.
The two boys, one with crimson red hair and one electric blond, are way too close to that terminator-thing. Damn idiots! Just how did they not notice that? Masha curses and her body starts moving on its own. Her feline eyes spot an opening between the massive feet of the metal monster and she basically jumps over the two other teenagers pushing them out of the way into a very small alleyway between the gray square cut buildings, landing on top of them herself.
"Ow!" the young tigress complains blinking down at the two boys beneath her own body. "Would you please not scare me to death like that! I thought I'd get a heart attack!" They both stare at her with enlarged eyes, still dumbfounded and trying to understand what the hell just had happened. The blond guy with a cool lightning shaped black strand is the first one to blush. "S-so close!" he stutters in a high pitched tone. "How cute!"
Masha giggles at his reaction and moves to get off of the two. She extends both of her hands to help the boys up on their feet as well and they take her offer. "Sorry 'bout that", the red head finally finds his voice to speak up to the tiger girl. "And thanks, of course. That was awesome!" The blond dude nods along enthusiastically, his eyes staring at her, checking her out. All of the students had changed into their casual sports outfits for the practical exam part and since Masha loves to have a lot of mobility in order to use her quirk abilities in the best way possible, she only wears black gym shorts and a matching, well-covering sports bra.
She grins at her two fellow students knowingly. "Oh, no problem. You two actually have really cool hair. But first we should focus on getting outta here." Unfortunately as the two boys start to agree with her, a loud alarm begins to blare and Masha stops her movements, shrugging her shoulders. "Or maybe not..." she comments and the three start laughing. "You two okay?" the young girl asks examining the boys closely. They look somewhat beat up and exhausted, but altogether they're holding up pretty well. "Still in one piece?"
The blond crosses his arms behind his head and grins back at her. "Yeah, think I'm still alive thanks to you. We should definitely go on a date. I'll treat you to a coffee to say thank you properly." The red haired besides him deadpans. "First you should introduce yourself properly, bro." Masha just smiles at his comment and watches the guy with the spiky crimson red hair point at himself with his thumb. "Name's Kirishima Eijiro. Nice to meet ya!" The young tigress tries not to laugh at him after this kind of introduction. Despite his rather wild style he seems to be the cute type of guy and really someone she would very much like to hang around with. "And I'm Kaminari Denki", the blond adds, "very pleased to meet you, too." Okay he is definitely a flirt and Masha can sense a weird kind of desperation behind it. Maybe that dude makes a huge effort to get himself a girlfriend or something? Putting that aside he's nice and friendly. Not gonna complain about that.
"Masha", the teenage girl answers. "Shirogawa Masha, but I don't like to be all formal with people around my age, so Masha is absolutely fine." The three of them slowly walk towards the exit of the large arena. "So, do you guys dye your hair?" Confused the boys glance at each other, not getting the hint in the girl's earlier remark. "Um, yup. They're black naturally", Kirishima is the first to reply. "Heh? My strand came with my quirk", Kaminari wonders and Masha high-fives the blond. "Hey, mine too, we match!"
Together they get on the bus back to the school's main building. "How do you think you did?" Masha continues to interview the two boys and they're both quite confident. "But I know if we hadn't have to run from that zero pointer we would have done even better." Kirishima gazes at Masha very seriously. "And you could have too." With such a cute cinnamon roll talking to her seriously like that, acknowledging her abilities, the young girl can't help but to blush and smile shyly at the red head. The dyed red head. "Nah, then I wouldn't have been able to talk to you guys now", she says flirting only a little bit, making her new friends beam at her.
Back at the main entrance and in her Middle School uniform, Masha looks around the rest of the examinees, but is unable to locate Izukyun. She starts to wonder if there was a second drop-off or if he had left without her already, so she texts him briefly. "You two wanna go have some food? I'm starvin'!" the young tigress suggests. "My treat, I told ya", Kaminari agrees and Kirishima laughs at his buddy. "So, you're taking me on a date as well?" They all start laughing again and Masha begins to feel very comfortable with these two guys she just met. She would actually want to bring Izuku along, but since there's still no response from the green haired boy, she shrugs it off and follows the two to a nearby grill restaurant, where the boys order a steak and burger while Masha tries the crispy chicken with fries.
With brightly shining amber eyes and rosy cheeks she looks joyfully at her food, letting out an overly satisfied sigh as she takes the first bite. "Nyan~" Just then she notices her two escorts gazing at her in awe with slightly opened mouths and bright red faces, Kirishima's face matching the crimson color of his hair and eyes. Embarrassed, she tilts her head and twitches her tiger ears in confusion. "W-what?" They both snap out of it at the same time shaking their heads in unison. "U-uh-uh, nothing." Kirishima scratches the back of his head and concentrates on his own plate. "W-well, I'm glad you like it", Kaminari stutters awkwardly and Masha starts to beam again. "I do! It's great! Wanna try?" Astonished the blond stares at her again and the young tigress truly begins to question his behavior. "Y-you'll let me?" he asks hesitantly. Honestly, just what is their problem? "Sure!" Masha nods. "Kirishima, you too!"
As the three teenagers laugh, talk and share their food with each other, the young girl is very happy that they get along so well and she's finally able to sense the two boys loosen up a little bit. The strange kind of nervousness she could clearly detect from them at the beginning fades away. However she finds out soon enough that Kaminari is kind of fun to tease as she's able to easily make him flustered with certain words or behavior. Kirishima is more relaxed around her and seems to get used to her playful attitude faster, but even the crimson head has his weaknesses.
When they finally leave the restaurant, it has gotten late already. Masha stretches her body. "You two sure have some amazing quirks. I'm really impressed", she swoons. "I so hope that we've all made it into U.A. together. I'm already looking forward to see you guys again. Would be awesome to be classmates in future, too." The boys glance at each other smiling and puffing their chests out a bit. "Hey Masha, you see..." Kirishima starts insecurely. "I mean it's already getting dark and stuff, so... yeah..." He looks at the blond for support who grins back far too cockily. "We'd very much love to escort you home", Kaminari finishes with a very confident tone in his voice.
Masha's mischievous cat character makes its move once again and she smiles innocently at the blond. "Hmmm..." she hums, pretending to think it over. "And then...?" she asks him and makes sure to sound as suggestive as possible in her sweetest voice. Kaminari's confidence is blown away in an instant. "H-H-Huh?!" he somehow manages to force out, but it's more of a noise than a properly formed question. Masha's smile only widens while watching Kaminari's head explode in a dark red color, his imagination obviously running at full speed. "You do enjoy this, don't ya?", Kirishima asks with slightly pink cheeks, too, but not really feeling uncomfortable. At least he gets the joke.
"I have absolutely no idea what you're talkin' about, Kirishima", Masha assures him while still playing innocent, "I just thought we should exchange phone numbers to stay in contact, ya know. It'll take a while until we receive our results." Realization strikes the red head. "Ah, you do have a point! That's a great idea." The electric blond exhales strongly. "S-so that's what it was all about..." Not sure if he was relieved or actually disappointed Masha meets his eyes again. "Well, what did you have in mind, Kaminari?" He stiffens once again and begins to panic. "W-what? M-me? Oh, uh... U-uhm, so... you know... I-I..." he stammers helplessly struggling to get out of this situation, but Kirishima bursts out in loud laughter. "Oh, dude..." He shakes his red haired head and Masha giggles along. "Who exactly is enjoying this now, huh?" she teases. "Let's go you guys, this way." The teenage girl starts walking and the boys follow behind, Kirishima patting Kaminari's shoulder sympathetically while the blond's still frazzled.
After another bus ride the trio ends up standing in front of the apartment where Masha lives with her mother Kahono. "Wanna come in?" the tiger girl asks, this time without any hidden intentions. "My mom's also home", she adds after remembering her former teasing. "Sorry, but it's already late enough and I have a longer way home", Kirishima says and Kaminari agrees. "Yeah, such a shame. But next time for sure. Invite us over again, okay?" Masha only smirks, but stays silent for once. This guy... He never learns, does he? It's going to be fun to mess with him!
The three exchange phone numbers as promised. "Thank you very much for the date. It was fun." The white and black haired girl smiles honestly at her new friends. "See you at U.A.!" The two boys nod seriously. "See you at U.A.!" they reply in unison. It's a promise. For a moment the boys wait until Masha has entered the apartment safely, then Kaminari collapses to his knees. "Damn, I wanna go inside so bad!", he admits whiningly and Kirishima's worry for the blond vanishes at his words. The red haired chuckles while Kaminari's eyes start to tear. "She's so gorgeous!"
The other male extends his hand to help the blond back on his feet. "Yeah, she is, but you totally fell for her traps. And you didn't even learn your lesson", Kirishima points out. "Oh, that's fine, I don't want to. You think she'll be my girlfriend?" The crimson boy restrains his laughter. "Nah, that'd be an overkill!" he states. "She's way too much to handle for ya." Both of them start walking back to the bus stop slowly, the electric blond lost in his thought.
One whole week of insufferable waiting passes in slow motion putting Masha on edge. The message from Izukyun that he had been injured during the exam did not help her out in this kind of situation at all, but at least he promised her that he had been healed already, so the young tigress doesn't have to worry too much except for them both as well as her other two new friends passing the exam.
Then one late evening Kahono storms into Masha's room in a hurry, almost breaking her door during the process and holding a formal looking letter in her hands. "Oh my gosh, it's U.A.!" Kahono yells excitedly and Masha snatches it away from her mom immediately to open it, her hands trembling. As soon as it's open a 3D projection of the number one hero All Might appears in the room causing Masha and her mother to squeal in surprise. They both look at each other in confusion.
"I am here!" the blond pro hero exclaims, "As a projection!" Masha facepalms. "Well, duh!" Kahono snickers at her reaction and continues to watch. "I am not just in this city for heroing. I am here to be a teacher at U.A.!" Mr. Projection explains and the young girl perks up her tiger ears with great interest. That's unexpected, but great. Izukyun's gonna freak out. "Now young Shirogawa, you got 36 villain points in your practical exam. But that's not the only part of our judging process. We had a secret panel of judges watching for additional rescue points, since saving people, even if it interferes with winning, is a big part of being a hero. And you saved not only young Kirishima, but also young Kaminari, which was a heroic act indeed."
A video clip plays the scene where Masha rescued the two boys from underneath the zero pointer. "Oh, I'm so proud of you, little tigress!" Kahono praises her causing the teenage girl's cheeks to turn pink. "This gave you another 40 rescue points and with 76 points in total..." All Might turns slightly, looking directly at Masha and her mother with a short pause, giving a highly dramatic effect. "...You've earned yourself second place and passed. Welcome to U.A. High School's Hero Course, young Shirogawa! Congratulations!"
Masha and her mother hold each other's hands, hopping and squealing like little kids. "I have to text Izukyun!" the cat girl shouts excitedly, "Oh and Kirishima and Kaminari, too!" She rushes over to her table to grab her smartphone. "Don't forget Naomasa and Shota", her mom reminds her, but the young tigress waves that aside. "Uncle Shota already knows, mommy. He's a teacher there after all. Maybe I'll be in his class, that'd be awesome. But you're right, I'm gonna write Tsukauchi a short message."
Masha and Kahono celebrate the young girl's enrollment into U.A. with a big cup of hot chocolate with whipped cream on top and some snacks from the kitchen. Masha's smartphone rings multiple times, announcing text messages from her friends. As she looks at the screen, her smile widens. Izuku, Kirishima and Kaminari passed the entrance exam as well. All four of them have made it into U.A. High School together!
A/N: Soooo, that was it! And no, this is not going to be a Kiri or Kami x OC fanfic, it's still Katsuki, but I love those two. Honestly, I think everyone could need a little Kaminari in life. I'd definitely want one! And Kirishima is just too nice and cute to not like him. I wanted Masha to have some really good friends besides Izuku since the two of them have always been alone before and to be honest, Katsuki will so need a wingman to help him out. Still can't imagine this guy being good with girls or romance... at all... But in the next chapter Masha and Katsuki will have their first official encounter, so I hope you all look forward to it. And we'll meet Eraserhead again. Love that funny dude...^^
I really want to thank all of you for your reviews, favs, follows and reads, I'm very, very happy!
Thanks Omnipotent X and animanicravyn for your reviews, I appreciated them very much!
Also a big shout out to my new editor-sama who has helped me a great deal as an English native speaker. SeleniumPoisoning you're the best! Thank you very much for your hard work! I hope our cooperation will last throughout the whole story! :-D
Hope you guys have a good time.
Lots of love
Jacky