"My first step to becoming a Hero starts here."
Inhaling deeply, the teen took a step forward, ready to make his first move toward becoming a pro.
Upon doing so, however, his foot made contact with a gap in the sidewalk, throwing the greenette forward.
Instinctually, the teen slammed his palm onto the ground, using the leverage to throw the lower half of his body over the top, completing the front handspring.
"That could've ended badly. Imagine if I fell right before the exam."
Chuckling to himself, the greenette continued on his way, ignorant of the wide-eyed brunette behind him and her outstretched palm.
"Excuse me, the exam is due to start any moment. It wouldn't be wise to take a nap here."
Emerald eyes met sharp blues as Izuku turned to face a tall, robotic-mannered examinee, the former's freckled face forming a frown.
"I wasn't sleeping, just meditating."
Turning away from the taller teen, Izuku reclosed his eyes, drawing an extended breath.
His meditative cycle continued for some time as the examinees around him fidgeted anxiously, some taking to mimicking his action in hopes of resting their nerves.
Whatever sense of calm it gave instantly disappeared the moment the intercom, more so the voice behind it, made itself known.
"EXAM START! GO GO GO!"
Although initially stunned, the examinees bolted onto the field, each in search of whatever robot they could get their hands on.
All save for one.
Izuku.
Still standing at the entrance gates, the teen's posture was relaxed, his breaths deep and rhythmic as he flexed his fingers open and closed.
From the spectator's box, the various teachers leveled a curious gaze at the teen, none coming to a concrete reason as to why he was standing perfectly still.
Turning toward his boss, Hizashi jabbed a thumb at the screen displaying Izuku, his brow arched.
"You're super smart boss. Why is he standing and not moving?"
The chimera only offered a laugh as his eyes scanned the green teen's file, beady eyes tinted with mischief.
Catching the look in his superior's eyes, the blonde shifted his gaze back to the screen, his confusion compounded by a bout of fear.
"With every exhale, rid yourself of any thought, every emotion. With every inhale, bring in strength, bring in action."
Inhaling deeply, the teen followed his mantra to the letter, clearing his mind with every breath passed until finally,
It was empty.
The moment it was, the boy's hair began to rise unaided as a profound heat emanated from his person, threatening to consume all that came in contact with it.
Said heat only increased, taking the shape of a blue, crystalline-like aura that shrouded its owner, acting as a shield of pure, sweltering, fever.
Once his power-up was complete, the teen opened his eyes, revealing silver eyes in place of his past emerald ones.
"Time to begin."
The moment the words left his mouth, amplified by an echo, the teen vanished, leaving a single, scorching footprint.
Mina Ashido almost always had something to say.
This time, however, she was completely silent.
Gazing upward, the pink-skinned teen settled her eyes on her protector, his crystalline aura swatting her in warmth and comfort.
Before him stood a hulking 3-pointer, its shoulder-mounted rockets tracking the teen in anticipation.
The two opponents remained perfectly still, as though waiting for the other to make a move.
Luckily for the greenette, his foe did so first.
With the whirring of machinery, 14 missiles the length of a sedan barreled toward the teen, intent on erasing him from existence.
However, although they were blindingly fast, racing at a rate faster than the pinkette had ever seen,
Her protector was far, far, faster.
"Ha!"
With a snap of his fist, a gust of pressurized wind slammed into a rocket, forcing it back into 3 of its siblings before detonating.
The teen then kicked off the ground, jumping onto the side of a nearby building and perching himself on the ledge of its window.
Seemingly enraged by the destruction of its brethren, the rockets course-corrected, heading straight into the building the teen was perched on.
However, as soon as they got into striking distance, the teen was gone, leaving behind wisps of his scorchingly hot aura.
Scanning her surroundings, Mina desperately searched for her savior as the 3-pointer did the same, its sensors beeping and humming as its massive head whirled in several directions.
Once it realized Izuku was gone, however, those sensors quickly returned to Mina.
"Shit!"
Raising her arms, the teen coated her hands in her quirk, strengthening her acid in hopes of disintegrating whatever attack the robot would throw at her.
Said robot never for the chance.
In a brief flash of white and blue, Izuku reappeared before the robot, his arms and fingers outstretched and grazing the massive robot.
In retaliation, the metallic beast swung one of its massive arms at its target, army green fingers closed in a tight fist.
When it connected, Mina expected a flash of blood and guts paired with the god-awful squelching noise that accompanied a death so gruesome.
What she got, however, was the sight of the beast's fist connecting with an afterimage, the real Izuku somehow backflipping in mid-air, narrowly avoiding the attack.
What proceeded his dodge was an array of blue and white sparkles, each dancing around the robot not unlike snowflakes.
Seconds later, Mina retracted that comparison as each snowflake erupted into violent explosions, utterly destroying the robot.
Finally falling, the teen landed gracefully, the only visible effects of the battle being smudges on his compression shirt.
"Thank you!"
Her voice seemed to slightly startle the teen, causing his heat to waver briefly before correcting itself.
Turning toward the pinkette, her savior locked eyes with her, exposing cold, shining silver eyes that seemed to contradict the heat emanating from him.
With a nod of his head, the boy turned about face before kicking off the ground, jumping into the air in hopes of finding his next target.
"What. The. Fuck."
A plethora of examinees mimicked their peers' sentence as they caught sight of the massive robot, its massive claws clutching two nearby skyscrapers as though they were armrests.
Turning away from the robot, Mina made a mad dash in the opposite direction, following her fellow examinees as they fled.
However, as she ran, her eyes caught a glimpse of a familiar, crystalline blue aura.
It seemed as though the moment she recognized her savior, the furious heat emanating from his person swarmed her, wrapping her in comfort.
Her heart steadied, and as she ran, her attention quickly turned to helping as many people evacuate as she could.
Once she finished, her eyes, alongside all those within the examination city, settled back onto the teen, their gazes carefully awaiting his next action.
Said action came faster than they could perceive.
The moment the robot swung a hulking palm toward the teen, the latter vanished from sight.
Confusion immediately settled into the metallic beast as its various systems searched for signs of the examinee.
By the time it caught sight of him, however, it was far too late.
Standing on the shoulder of the beast, back turned toward his fellow examinees, Izuku raised his right arm, resting his palm on the side of the robot's head.
"Spirit Pulse."
Once the echoing words left his lips, beautiful, bright blue energy, the same color as his aura, danced through his palm, flowing into the head of the massive beast.
Once it did, the resulting explosion was both fear-inducing and beautiful.
Bright blue whisps of flame danced around the wreckage, eating away at the metal that once tore through the city streets.
At the same time, pieces of glass-like energy fell from the sky, the sight not unlike snowflakes dancing through a winter sky.
Unlike snowflakes, however, these shards surrounded the examinees in warmth while at the same time closing small wounds.
While all stared in awe at the wreckage and their healing wounds, Mina Ashido's eyes lingered on something else.
The form of her savior, standing strong before the wreckage as his silver eyes turned back toward her, his person emanating strength.
Until he suddenly collapsed.