And we're back with another chapter of "Through the Rough" during this long weekend! With all the support the story's gotten, I'm happy that you're all enjoying it. I'll be sure to have it advertised more with every five or so chapters that come out so that everyone else can get to read it, too!

Anyways, gonna take the time to answer a guest review from the last chapter!

Guest: Wow! Great job as always! I can't wait to see Shiki appearing. His ether gear is going to be so op in the MHA world. Keep up the amazing chapters!

Thank you very much! As a matter of fact, you'll get to see our favorite gravity boy in this chapter! So without further delay, let's get started!

START LINE

'Keep it together, Rebecca...' the Leaper Quirk user begged of herself, smacking her cheeks with her hands as she wore her blue sports bra and sweatpants while having her hair in a ponytail as she approached the group of U.A. hopefuls outside of the battle center. She was in C. She remembered that Izuku had A, while Katsuki had B. 'UA must've looked into applications and made sure no two students from the same school were grouped together, huh?' she guessed, recalling what Katsuki had inferred earlier when they had gotten their cards to their designated battle centers.

The people surrounding her were varied in all sorts of way. There was one girl whose earlobes looked like headphone cables, one boy who had thick lips, and another boy that appeared to have purple grapes for hair. Rebecca blinked twice before shaking her head and taking a deep breath to recompose herself. She looked down at her new sport sandals, excited to use them.

'Witch...' she uttered inwardly, 'I swear, I'll do my best!' she vowed through her thoughts, giving off a determined smile.

"Hey, do you wanna be my friend?!" a voice suddenly exclaimed from afar, piquing her attention as she turned to her left. There was an eager-looking boy greeting everyone around. He was a lean, toned young man of average height with spiky black hair which partially covered his ears, slanted dark eyes and thin eyebrows. He donned a small, white bandage on his left cheek as well as a red pouch around his waist. His attire consisted of a high-collared, red-and-black open jacket with the sleeves rolled up to his forearms, pockets on either side of the chest, and two black laces attached to the neck of his jacket hanging behind his head. Underneath, he wore a simple white shirt with a v-neck collar and a red design on the front which patterned out into a Y-shape. He also sported baggy, green-colored trousers which possessed a noticeable white detail on both sides. Lastly, his choice of footwear was a pair of simple, black boots.

Rebecca blinked as she saw him zip from person to person, asking the same exact question of wanting to be friends. It seemed... really childish in a way. But also kind of adorable. He then approached her.

"Hi, I'm Shiki!" he introduced in greeting, causing her to yelp in surprise "Do you wanna be my friend?!" he asked, holding his right hand out to her expectantly.

"Um... can I get a raincheck on that offer?" she requested, holding out her hands and waving them, "We are about to take a big exam..." she pointed out seriously.

"Oh, sure!" the spiky-haired boy replied, "Good luck!" he called out before running off. Rebecca gave off a small smile. Meeting someone nice as him was welcome after all the hatred from Katsuki and company back in middle school. At that moment, a horn went off.

"Oh, shoot!" she yelped in realization. She activated her Quirk as her wing-like markings appeared upon her legs. Dashing forward, she raced past several of the competitors into the battle center.

'Izuku, I'll see you at the finish line!' she promised inwardly.

Things had proven to be a lot tougher than Rebecca thought they'd be. For one, the robots themselves were pretty sturdy. It took at least quite a few kicks to down one. And she hadn't downed many.

"Huh... huh..." she breathed out tiredly, putting her hands onto her knees. She hadn't kept track of points either, though she'd only been dealing with one-pointers for the time being. She needed to find some twos or threes soon. Otherwise, she'd lose.

Smacking her cheeks to regain her focus, she sped hurriedly around the fake city. And as she veered a corner, she found a two-pointer... about to ambush the girl with the cable-like earlobes from behind. Much like how she reacted when trying to save Katsuki from the sludge villain, she sped over without thinking.

"Watch out!" she screamed. The dark purple-haired girl found herself tackled aside by the Leaper Quirk user just before she could wind up struck by the robot as it hit the pavement instead. They tumbled along the sidewalk before sitting up, seeing the two-pointer coming towards them.

"I got it!" the dark purple-haired girl exclaimed, having her cable-like earlobes extend and pierce into the robot's metal. It suddenly stopped, sparking as it fell down and began smoking. "Huh..." the dark purple-haired girl sighed in relief, "Can't believe I couldn't hear it coming..." she muttered out, "Thanks," she said in gratitude to Rebecca, who stood up.

"No problem!" she responded, hurrying off, "Good luck the rest of the way!" she called out in farewell. The dark purple-haired girl watched her head off curiously. She hurried through the streets, using her momentum to kick down more one and two-pointer bots. Even so, she had a feeling she wasn't getting enough points, and time was starting to run short...

'By now, I bet Izuku's already got a lot of points with All Might's Quirk...' she noted to herself, 'And Kacchan, too...' she muttered through her thoughts out of frustration.

"Heh!" Katsuki laughed after blowing up another three-pointer. He was on a roll. As others were running away from the larger targets, he was closing in and blasting them apart with ease. Seemingly nothing could ruin the fun he was having with such an overwhelming sense of pride and victory. More three-pointers closed in on him. A wicked grin graced his face as he was ready to send them sky high.

But all of a sudden, the robots were all slashed instantaneously, coming apart in halves. The Explosion Quirk user widened his eyes and clenched his teeth together in disbelief. He looked to see that the culprit was a slim young woman with dark-brown eyes, long, navy blue hair, and a beauty mark located under her left eye. Her hair reached to her waist and part of it was tied in a high ponytail with a yellow ribbon. She was very well-endowed and had a curvaceous figure.

"Apologies for intruding on your entertainment," she remarked over to Katsuki, who blinked in surprise, "but my blades lust for enemies to cut down," she declared. In her hands were a pair of glowing red blades. Her arms had glowing red markings. The Explosion Quirk user gnashed his teeth together.

'Who the hell is this chick supposed to be?!' he questioned inwardly out of anger.

"Oh crap!" a blonde-haired boy with a large tail yelped, about to be swiped at by a one-pointer robot. But all of a sudden, it came apart entirely, with its pieces falling onto the ground. "Huh?" the tailed boy uttered in confusion as he blinked.

"Heh..." a voice chuckled out, "That makes a good fifty-five for me..." he remarked. Stepping out from an alleyway was a tall young man with a slim build, dark eyes and short, messy blonde hair. For clothes, he wore a dark-colored shirt, and a pair of light-colored jeans and shoes. Yellow markings glowed upon his right arm. "Since these are all bots, this thing's gonna be mine for the taking..." he declared confidently, while the tailed boy stared at him in awe.

'Darn it, I'm nowhere near close to a decent score!' Rebecca realized as she grimaced, as a one-minute warning from Present Mic had just gone off. She could only take down so many one-pointers. And with time running short, she couldn't find any twos or threes around. In fact, she could see many people fleeing the area. 'What's going on?' she wondered inwardly. She then felt a rumble in the ground.

"Huh?" she uttered out. Turning to her right, she widened her eyes in disbelief. Nearby was a giant robot, bigger than all of the rest. "AAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHH!" she shrieked in shock, raising her arms up.

'Why the hell is UA making us compete with such crazy things?!' she inquired through her thoughts. She knew that it was a zero-pointer based on all the other robots she had seen, so there was was no point in fighting it. But just as she started to leave, she took notice of something flying up towards the giant robot. It was the boy she had met earlier, Shiki. 'What... is he doing?' she wondered. He was grinning from ear to ear as he clenched his right fist, with bright green markings adorning his arm.

"Magimech Attack..." he began to bellow, throwing his fist out, "GRAVITY FIST!" he roared, landing a power-packed punch to the robot's head. And from just the sheer force of the blow, the zero-pointer was shattered as it started to fall over, with pieces of it falling toward the ground below. Rebecca's mouth gaped wide open. Not only did Shiki attack a zero-pointer all by himself, he took it out in one single hit.

"Ah! Help!" a voice screamed, snapping the Leaper Quirk user out of her stupor as she looked to see quite a few people about to hit by the falling debris of the robot. Again without thinking, Rebecca hurried over and brought them to safety. The last person she grabbed in the nick of time was the boy with grape-like hair. She held him under her armpit as she narrowly evaded getting crushed by the falling metal.

"Huh..." she exhaled in relief. However, she then felt something nudge against her chest. She looked down to see that it was the boy in her arm nuzzling against her, as he had a perverted smile on his face.

"Oh, this is heaven..." he huskily remarked. A heavy blush came across Rebecca's face before she growled.

"YOU SICK DUCKY!" she screamed angrily, tossing the perverted boy onto the ground. After that, the horn sounded off. She blinked before sighing in realization. The test was over.

Izuku was in a daze for days. He might've passed the written test of the entrance exam, but it wouldn't matter in his mind after he didn't earn a single point during the practical portion. All he did was punch a zero-pointer, breaking his right arm and both of his legs. And now he was left waiting for the results to come back. There was a knock at the door.

"Oh, I'll get it!" Inko called out. Her son was barely paying attention, focusing on flexing his fingers and curling his biceps. All Might had trusted him with his power... and he felt like he failed.

But even more than that, he felt like he failed Rebecca. She was the person who encouraged him to strive to be the hero he could be under All Might's tutelage. She wanted to go Plus Ultra like him. He only hoped that she got into U.A.

"Izuku!" his mother suddenly exclaimed, causing him to turn and see her burst the door to the living room open. He was surprised to find her... and Rebecca there. The Leaper Quirk user had two envelopes in her hand, both with a U.A. seal.

"Saved the best for last..." she remarked with a giggle. Moments later, the two of them were inside Izuku's room, both sitting at the desk as their results sat before them. Only the lamp in the room illuminated their surroundings. "You really haven't changed your room all that much since we were kids..." Rebecca pointed out, "I remember when I'd used to come over for sleepovers..." she recalled.

"Yeah..." Izuku said, staring at the envelopes on the desk. The Leaper Quirk user looked to him worriedly. She placed a hand onto his shoulder.

"Hey..." she uttered, getting his attention, "do you wanna opens yours first?" she offered, giving him a soft smile. He glanced back at the envelopes. Deciding to just rip off the metaphorical bandage once for all, he grabbed his letter and tore it open. The only thing inside that clattered onto the desk was a small, disk-shaped object, which immediately projected a holographic screen.

"BOOYAH!" All Might exclaimed as his face was front and center on the screen, "I am here as a projection!" he declared proudly with his trademark smile. Both Izuku and Rebecca were stunned. They learned that the number one hero was now going to be a faculty member of U.A. And as he started to go into the results, the freckled boy tensed up. He passed the written test... but didn't get any points during the practical. Or so it seemed.

All Might then showed a video of the pink-cheeked girl who they had met the day of the exam. She had gone to Present Mic afterwards and asked if she could give Izuku some of her points, since he'd spent his time saving her from the zero-pointer. Hearing that, Rebecca blinked in surprise.

"You... stopped the zero-pointer... to save her?" she inquired of her best friend. He merely nodded. And then, they learned another surprising fact. Present Mic assured for the girl not to worry. Why? Because there was another method of obtaining merit in the practical. Rescue points. And Izuku scored 60 of them. The girl named Ochaco Uraraka scored 45. They both passed.

"Is this... really happening?" Izuku wondered aloud as his eyes shimmered and his lips quivered.

"I think it is...!" Rebecca replied as tears of joy were pricking her eyes. She had seen that she gained 48 rescue points of her own, placing her above Ochaco in the standings with 65 total.

"Welcome... Izuku," All Might said, "You are now part of the hero academia!" he declared to his pupil. He whimpered as tears welled in his eyes. But he was beyond grateful.

"Thanks...!" he cried out, wiping his eyes afterwards. Rebecca smiled, happy for him.

"Betting I got the same kind of message from All Might, too," she noted, ripping open her letter to find a holo-projector as well, only the person that appeared upon the screen wasn't the number one hero. It was a tall, well-endowed woman with a slender, voluptuous figure. She had long green hair that was braided and wore a black dress along with a visor that covered her eyes and had "E4" etched on it. The dress she wore had yellow stripes with a deep cut in the back exposing her back, grey sleeves, and a heart-shaped cut in the chest exposing her cleavage.

"Hello, Rebecca," she greeted, "It's been a while," she remarked with a soft smile.

"W-Witch?!" the Leaper Quirk user stammered out in surprise.

"That's... Witch Regret!" Izuku exclaimed, "One of the four Shining Star Heroes!" he mentioned in shock.

"Before I get into the details of your results, I'll say congratulations," the woman said over the projected recording, "You passed the exam and will join the hero course this coming semester," she told Rebecca, who smiled brightly as her eyes shimmered.

"We both got in!" she exclaimed excitedly, reaching over to hug Izuku, who yelped in surprise. However, he chuckled, embracing her back warmly.

"Yeah," he said with a grin, "We're both in," he noted with underlying happiness in his tone. This was the true start for the two of them. And what a start it would be...

END

And that's a wrap on this chapter! Up next, it's time for the first day at U.A. High!