Since Uraraka was already pretty much healed, it didn't take long before she was allowed to leave the hospital. And soon after that, she contacted All Might using the method he had given her. She made a request that surprised him, but he quickly agreed to it. He understood.
+0+
And that was why Uraraka found herself sitting down at the living room of the Tarumi family. Their faces were sad, but understanding. All of the children (there were three) had somewhat lizardlike traits, but none were as prominent as Hanako's had been. The father (Akitaka Tarumi), had a quirk that seemed to involve oil in some way.
"So, is it really true?" Akitaka asked.
"Yes." Uraraka nodded gravely "Her cell was right next to mine, so I saw everything."
The youngest daughter, Haruka Tarumi, who was only eight years old, made a strangled sound of sadness at that.
Uraraka looked at her, at the whole family, and then she opened her mouth and started to talk:
"I talked with her quite a bit, since we were so close, and she told me a lot about you guys."
The family looked at her in surprise. Uraraka kept talking "Like how Kanami often used to refuse to go to sleep until she was told the story of the three branches, even though she had already heard it a thousand times." Uraraka looked at Kanami, the oldest child, who was a year older than her.
"Wha-" Kanami was almost unable to react. Uraraka then turned her eyes to the middle child, a twelve year old boy.
"And of course, there was Tarou, who once climbed a tree and started crying because he didn't know how to get down, just like a cat." She said, causing said boy to blush slightly.
She then looked at Haruka again "There was also Haruka, who accidentally let her ice cream fall to the floor while they were in the mall, and only calmed down when mommy said she would buy her another ice cream, but one with two scoops instead of one." The little girl smiled awkwardly.
"And who could forget about Akitaka?" She asked, looking at the father "The guy who managed to drop the ring while he was proposing, and had to run after to keep it from falling into a hole."
The man rubbed the back of his head "She told you about that?"
Uraraka smiled slightly "You were all she ever talked about. I have a lot of those stories."
The family members smiled as well, though with a tinge of sadness.
"Could you tell us a little more, then?" Akitaka asked.
Uraraka nodded "Of course!" She said.
She spent quite a bit of time there.
+0+
Later on, she went to meet with All-Might again.
During the hospital visit, he had not not actually explained much about how things were going to work out, specifically how Uraraka would be able to get a quirk of her own, something she had never imagined to be possible.
The place where they met was an old, unremarkable building, a place where no one would expect anything momentous to happen, and it was there that All Might said the most shocking thing to Uraraka:
"I want you to inherit my power."
He had said that before, but hearing it again only drove home that it was really happening.
And that was far from the only shocking thing that she heard on that day. All Might revealed to her his true identity (Toshinori Yagi), as well as his true appearance, which was also quite different from what she expected. He revealed the nature of his quirk, and that he himself had inherited it in the past.
Perhaps most shocking was when he revealed his old injury, something that, over time, had reduced the amount of time he could act as hero in a single day, and that eventually would lead to his death, that being the reason why he really wanted a successor. And when everything was settled and Uraraka accepted the matter of inheriting the power (which was called "One for All")...
"Here, eat my hair." Toshinori said.
Truly, Uraraka had heard a lot of shocking things that day.
+0+
Toshinori told her that she only had to consume some part of his DNA for the process to be done. Uraraka eventually got over her surprise and swallowed the strand of hair. After that he started talking about some other important things.
"One must have a strong body in order to be able to bear the power without exploding. You're fine because of what you went through, which is good, because there's only a single month remaining until the test to get into Yuuei, and it would be difficult to train your body up in such a short time." He said.
"The Yuuei test, huh?" Uraraka thought about it "I never even imagined that I would do that."
"Oh yeah, there's something else!" Toshinori suddenly realized something "There is also a written exam that you need to pass in order to be qualified!" He seemed half in panic "Will you be okay with that?! What are your grades in school like?" He asked.
Uraraka told him. His eyes bulged.
"Well... I don't think you're going to have a problem, then." He said slowly "I guess there is just one last thing we need to worry about."
"What?" Uraraka asked.
"Quirk training!" Toshinori replied "Even though you will be able to use One for All, it will take time for you to truly master that power. So tomorrow, when you should have already 'digested' the power, we will meet again for you to try it out, and we'll figure out the best way for you to use it."
"Understood." Uraraka nodded formally, feeling like she was back on her old Taekwondo lessons.
+0+
"I really don't feel any different." Was what Uraraka said to All Might (because he was transformed at the time) the following day "How do I activate One for All?"
The hero thought for a moment "How about using your emotions?" He spoke in an unsure tone "Imagine a villain, and then attack!"
Uraraka did so. The villain that came to mind was Crystal Claw, someone she had actually attacked, even if with little success. She thought about him slamming her to the ground, and kicked forward.
As soon as her leg left the ground, Uraraka realized that it had worked. She felt a huge and relentless wave of power flowing through her limb, and she barely had the time to think 'I have a quirk', before a horrifying burning sensation spread through her leg.
But before she could scream, All Might's hand came and grabbed her leg, somehow managing to still the wave of power. Uraraka blinked, as she felt the burning sensation had reduced itself to a mere throbbing of the muscles.
"What happened?" She asked All Might.
"You put in too much power." He answered "Luckily I was here to help, otherwise you might have maimed your leg."
Uraraka nodded. She was shaken, not because of the pain, or what almost happened, but because it was official, she finally had a quirk of her own. She had believed in All Might's words, but there was a difference between believing and actually feeling with her own senses.
All Might noticed what she was thinking, and simply waited for a bit until Uraraka shook her head and returned to an attack posture "Let's try again, then." She said.
All Might nodded, and Uraraka kicked with her left leg that time. She was thinking 'less power, less power, less power', the whole time, but the previous situation repeated itself.
"Still too much." All Might said.
Uraraka nodded and thought for a bit, trying to imagine a way to control that wave of power. Then she tried again.
+0+
For the next two weeks, this training repeated. All Might reserved half an hour in "power form" every day to help her in training, and by the end of it, both her legs and arms were in serious pain, to the point where she wouldn't even be able to stand were it not for the experiences she got in that underground prison, which increased her pain tolerance.
But after all that, she finally managed to get some results.
"Hayaaah!" Uraraka yelled, kicking at All Might while doing her best to restrain the power.
He blocked with a hand. A moment passed and Uraraka smiled "I think that was it!" She said "I felt the power go through but it didn't harm me!"
All Might nodded "I didn't need to restrain the energy of One for All, so it seems like you've gotten a good enough level of control over it for now." He said "Now, how much power would you say that was?"
"I'd say that was about... one percent?" Uraraka said, clearly unsure "It doesn't seem that much when I say it like that, but..."
"It's a start." All Might said firmly "You can slowly increase the amount of power you channel as you get used to it, but that is a long term thing. For now, you should train to be able to use 1% power all the time, without mistakes. That should be enough to allow you to pass the practical exam."
+0+
And that was what they worked with during the last two weeks before the test. Uraraka eventually figured out how to channel that one percent of energy throughout her whole body continually, and All Might gave her a few fighting lessons to take advantage of it.
Apart from that, the only notable thing that happened was that Uraraka finally realized that her schoolmates had changed their views of her. No one laughed when she spoke about taking the test for Yuuei's hero course. She figured part of that was because of the recent events she was involved in, while the other part should be the rumors of her having gained a quirk due to the ordeal.
Regardless, it was a good thing, so Uraraka didn't question it.
+0+
Finally, the day arrived, and Uraraka entered into the testing grounds, together with a whole lot of other students. There was no one she recognized around, however, she did make note of two of her fellow candidates, both of them blonde boys. One was slim with long eyelashes while the other one was muscular, with spiky hair.
They got Uraraka's attention due to some kind of dispute they were having. The muscular boy looked angry, and his voice was loud, but the slim boy didn't seem intimidated. Their altercation was stopped by the beginning of the test.
"Attention all participants, the rules of the test will be explained only one time, so pay careful attention!" The voice swept all over the testing grounds "This is going to be a Rescue Test! In this city, there will be plastic models representing civilians everywhere, and they will be in danger from villains, who will be represented by robots."
Holograms showing the things he was talking about popped up on the air near the contestants. He continued:
"Your task is to bring the civilians to safe spots, which will be indicated via yellow circles. You will earn points based on how many civilians you save, but be careful, because the robots will target the civilians specifically, and so you will be exposed to danger in order to rescue them. But isn't that exactly the meaning of being a hero?" The voice finished.
Uraraka nodded, approving of what the voice was saying.
"I hope you understand, because we are going to start in three... two... one... go!"
And every one of the participants ran into the streets.
Uraraka focused on the One for All power, and dashed with a very respectable level of speed. She immediately aimed at one of the more distant civilians who seemed to be at risk from a nearby robot. She ran up to the model and lifted it onto her back, dashing again to avoid a barrage of balls (special ammunition for the test) that the robot shot at her.
Uraraka looked around for a moment before spotting a nearby safe circle and jumping towards it, using the height advantage to scout around and identify potential problems. She then put the civilian model inside the circle and proceeded to dash towards a nearby building.
She had seen a robot that had claws at the end of retractable "arms" and was using them to attack a wall behind which were four civilians. She knew the wall could fall at any moment, so instead of trying to get the models out of the way, she decided to attack the robot.
She dashed towards it and jumped onto it. She knew that, while one percent of One for All's power was capable of increasing her physical capabilities by a lot, it was still not enough to be able to easily break metal robots like these. So, she reached down and ripped apart the optical sensors of the enemy, which were a clear weak spot.
This wouldn't be enough to deal with the robot, that turned the claw towards her (possibly guided by some sort of pressure sensor) and swiped it horizontally at Uraraka. She lightly jumped off the robot to avoid the attack. She had been expecting it to smash itself trying to hit her, but it was apparently too smart for that. Plan B, then.
Uraraka ran under the robot and aimed at the back of one of the legs (it had three), sending a kick straight at the joint. The impact rattled her badly, but it was enough to cause structural damage, making it less steady. Uraraka then jumped out from under the robot as it tried to sit on her.
She briefly thought of attacking the leg again, but it didn't seem to be necessary, as the robot seemed to have lost track of her. Uraraka jumped over the wall and grabbed the four plastic models before moving to the closest safety circle. That weight was enough to impair her movements, but she could handle it.
That set the tone for the next few minutes of the examination. Uraraka moved around, mostly avoiding the robots (of which there were a lot of different models) but sometimes also attacking them, always paying attention to the surroundings so that she would know the best places to go next. Over the course of it, she saw many of her fellow examinees using their own methods to pass the test.
The two boys she had noticed before also stood out during that period. The slim boy's quirk was strange, allowing him to extend his ears and shape them like cables. They had enough power to break through metal plates directly, as well as lift up several models at once. He also destroyed a particularly well-armored robot by piercing it and shouting "Feel the power of my soul!", somehow managing to channel the sound waves through his ears and amplify them enough to achieve amazing destructive power.
The muscular boy, on the other hand, had a more straightforward power, capable of altering his skin to become extremely hard, as well as creating small spikes. He tended to attack the robots from the front, and while his spikes weren't big, they were sharp enough to cut through metal, allowing the boy to destroy them easily.
However, the test had one last surprise for the aspirant heroes. A huge, building-sized robot suddenly emerged from the underground. It took a step forward, causing the ground to tremble, but even more alarming, was the fact that every single one of the safety circles disappeared all at once.
The message was clear: In front of such a thing, there were no safe zones to be found. The robot stepped forward again, before raising a mallet-like arm and striking the ground, releasing powerful shock waves that caused havoc within the constructed city.
At that moment, the participants of the test did a lot of different things. Some of them reaching out to drag whatever civilians they could away from the danger zone, while others tried to deal with the falling debris and all the other effects of the robot's attack.
Uraraka did neither of those things. At that moment, she no longer remembered that this was a test and that the civilians were just lifeless models. The only thing in her mind, was that the giant robot was a threat to everyone, and needed to be dealt with.
She moved at her maximum speed, clearing obstacles and dealing with the rough, damaged terrain by doing large bounds in the direction of her target. Uraraka then ran on top of a toppled building to get extra height, and leapt at the robot.
The enemy had taken another step and was about to strike the earth again, but Uraraka was faster. She turned in the air and kicked out, channeling the power of One for All to a far greater extent than she could control.
Her strike at the robot could only be described as cataclysmic. The immense enemy was sent flying in pieces due to the force of the impact, and the sound resounded like ten thousand thunders over the entire city. Uraraka went flying backwards, almost like she had bounced off the robot, but she was unable to think about that, because the pain finally hit.
The pain was so great and so sudden that she was almost unable to stifle her scream. Her leg was totally maimed, in a way that hurt to even look at. Uraraka finally understood just how terrifying the power of One for All was once she didn't have All Might around to help control it.
Still, her shock lasted only for a moment. Recognizing her situation, Uraraka channeled One for All through her body again, this time the usual amount, and tried to position herself to soften up the landing.
But it ended up not being necessary. When she was very close to the ground, she felt something rope-like press against her back, slowing her down. It was followed by two hands, that gripped her back and finished the job of bringing her to the ground safely.
"Hey! Be more careful, dammit! Don't make other heroes have to save you!" That was one of her rescuers, the muscular boy she had noted before. He was obviously angry, but in a way that seemed somewhat "endearing".
"Are you okay, Mademoiselle? Your leg doesn't seem to be fine..." And that was the other boy. His expression looked like it was frozen in a smile, but his voice showed concern.
She was about to answer when the same voice from before appeared again:
"TIIIMEEEEE UUUUUUP! The test is over!" It said.
Uraraka sighed, and hoped that she had gotten enough points to pass.
+0+
In a room full of monitors, All Might smiled.
"Sometimes, the best way to protect someone is by defeating a villain. Looks like she understands that." He spoke, looking at the other people in the room, who nodded.
'This should be enough to get quite a few extra points. Good job, Uraraka.' He thought.
+0+
A.N:
Here's a slight twist to the practical exam, just to have some fun.
Uraraka has a different relationship with One for All compared to canon!Izuku. Her version of Full Cowl is a lot weaker than his, but she did get it earlier, and I have plans to make her use of the Quirk even more distinct and original.
Fun fact: I actually chose the two class members to show up in this chapter via random number generator (yeah, same way I decided their quirks). What do you think of their first appearance and their new abilities? Uraraka isn't the only one whose power works slightly differently from the canon user...