ten
CHAPTER 10: BETTER THAN EVER
"Today's the day!"
You look at your outfit in with your mirror. Black and white striped shorts, a fitting white sleeveless crop top, short red socks that was made from your hair, and black sneakers. On top of it all was a red trench coat, and your flip phone in a pocket.
"All right! Time to kick ass!" You say, before heading out your bedroom.
You find a note on the table, next to a covered meal that still looked warm.
DON'T BE TOO CRAZY — CHIYO
━━━━━━
Through multiple screens, the U.A. Faculty watches the Practical Exam unfold.
"[f/n]-chan is on screen!" Midnight cheers.
"You shouldn't play favorites," Eraser Head scolds, although he favored you too.
.
.
.
You take off your red coat and let out a few stretches, when everyone was already running to defeat as much robots as they can. Your black sneakers were off too, leaving you with your custom red socks.
"Thank you again Lia, for these cool socks," you mutter.
The candidates wonder why you seemed so carefree, when it really was the opposite. Your eyes and ears were sensitive, the vigilant state you've perfected was switched on.
With your feet on the ground, you use your quirk to link with the asphalt ground of the mock city.
CONNECTED
You compress the area where you stood, and then released it so you could launch yourself in the air. You break the link.
DISCONNECTED
For the few seconds that you were in the air, you scanned the area and checked the conditions of each candidate. Everyone looked to be doing fine until—
There!
You spot someone right under a weakened arm of 1P Bot. Sparks fly from its joints, telling you that it was about to break. You rush over to their area, manipulating the terrain by turning them into your trampolines.
BZZZ BZZ BZZT!
The joint malfunctions, and produces a small explosion. The forearm separates, and you watch the candidate look up in horror. But you arrive just in time, jumping off the roof and kicking the hazardous scrap away from them.
.
.
.
The Faculty were amazed.
"Wow! What exceptional foresight!"
"She arrived just on time!"
"That's my [f/n]-chan~!"
Eraser Head grins, finally realizing your intentions. "Only Rescue Points huh..."
━━━━━━
The 0P Bots are finally released, which was what you've been saving most of your energy for all along. Like you expected, most of the candidates are exhausted and won't be able to use their quirks effectively like at the start of the exam.
You felt the ground rumble and the whirring of wheels approaching. The bots had two conveyor-like legs, and two three-jointed claws. It pushes the buildings on the sides to make way for its large body, telling you that it was somewhat more intelligent than the other bots.
The candidates that could still move started running away, and the rest that stayed were either unconscious, injured, or stuck on some rubble. They had desperate looks on their faces, all determined to pass the test. It fueled the fire in you, reminding you of when you were a vulnerable street kid.
You spring into action, running towards those nearest to the robot. You link with the ground to move the rubble out of those stuck from it, and carried an unconscious person on your back. As you passed by the injured, you touch each of their injuries to create and end links that would slightly mend their injuries, enough for them to move and help someone else.
"GET UP AND GO! HURRY UP!" You yelled.
They obeyed you easily, especially after earning their respect from being the only one to save them.
When you reach the other half of the candidates, the ones that were still healthy and destroying the bots with points, you set the unconscious person gently on the ground. You turn back and ran towards the 0P Bots, despite the candidates pleas.
I could still move, I have to do something.
.
.
.
The weak point, was their legs.
Despite the 0P bot's large frame, and its frightening protruding head from the top, it was mainly to intimidate and hide its weaknesses. The bot had a long C-curved body that reminded you of a human spine. Each vertebrae supported the robot's center of balance, and its protruding head acting as the weight to stop it from falling backwards.
But that was the design's mistake, you knew, to focus so much on the upper body of the robot. The bottom part was weak, with it being made of just wheels. And to everyone, it's obvious that a human can't walk well without legs.
At the back of the wheels, there was a joint that connected the torso and them together. Breaking that weak point would destroy the connection the spine had to its base, and with the balance ruined, the robot will ultimately faceplant.
━━━━━━
You stood, weary and fatigued, on top of the writhing metal parts of disassembled 0P Bots. The candidates watch you in awe, your form shining gloriously in the bright sunlight, and in their hearts holding the utmost admiration for you.
"THE TEEEST IIS OOVEEER!!!"
Present Mic's voice eases your nerves, and your guard is finally put down. Your sight begins to blur, and you felt yourself lose footing—
"It's all right now, kitty cat." A familiar gruff voice soothes you.
You feel yourself become wrapped in cloth, and then fall into strong arms.
"Aizawa... I—"
"Shh."
You felt him pull you close to his firm chest, before you fell asleep.
━━━━━━
"Didn't I tell you to not be crazy?!" Chiyo scolds you.
You sat on a bed in her office, with bandages covering all kinds of places on your body.
You look away, annoyed but too tired to yell. "Oh sorry, you weren't specific," you sarcastically say.
She throws a pen at your head. "Ow."
You cross your arms. "I'm sure that these are all minor injuries! I don't know why you're so mad," you complain.
Before she could respond, the door opens to reveal what appears to be mouse in a suit, which you recognize to be Principal Nezu.
"Hello, Shuzenji. Did I interrupt something?"
CHAPTER 10 END