𝐁𝐄𝐋𝐈𝐄𝐕𝐄𝐑 ᵏ. ᵇᵃᵏᵘᵍᵒ

.11.

SHE DIDN'T KNOW WHAT TO DO. From the moment she first followed the flow, it gave her a clear path to follow. Instructions on what to do when it truly mattered. She never cared, so she never made the important choices herself. The suicide attemptee, U.A., it was never really her doing. She was just doing what the flow said. But now, it was silent, and she was left with a choice that she didn't know how to make.

Save herself ... or attempt to save these two strangers?

It was at this moment, standing there in the ruined street, that something stirred inside of her. The next thing she knew, she was sprinting. Towards the zero pointer.

Her hands flew up, and a blue dome appeared around the pink-haired girl. It expanded, moving underneath the wreckage and lifting it upward until the person trapped underneath was fully visible. It was a boy, lanky and bleeding from his head of lilac hair. The girl grabbed his arms and tugged until he was clear of the rubble. The shield returned to its dome state, surrounding the two teenagers.

"Go," she said, holding her other hand out towards the rampaging metal monster. "I'll hold it back until the time runs out." The girl wasted no time, dragging the injured boy as fast as she could back to the crowd of terrified children.

She concentrated, and when she had built up enough energy, her eyes snapped open, and she conjured the largest shield she'd ever created.

It blocked the robot's pathway, connecting two buildings on opposite sides of the decimated street, and the next street, and the next one, until the robot was boxed in. The zero pointer continued forward, but it only rammed into her blue wall. She flinched, feeling as if someone had just shoved a heavy backpack into her chest.

Thirty seconds.

It swiped its massive claw at the shield, determined to reach the crowd, then reached out to destroy one of the connected buildings. The structure toppled, but her shields melded into one.

Twenty.

She was slowly backing up, as the pressure exerted on her shields pushed against her as well. Her arms shook, and her palms bled freely.

"H-hey! That girl is trying to stop it!"

"Putting herself in danger? For us?"

"We ... we should try and help!"

The shouts of agreement, followed by quick footsteps, made her blink. She hadn't expected anyone to be as stupid as her and risk their own necks. However, she appreciated it as she grew weaker by the second.

Sixteen.

A boy with neon yellow hair appeared on her right, and a person with a raven-like head stepped up to her left. "When I say 'go', deactivate your Quirk!" yelled Neon, electricity crackling at his fingertips, though his voice shook as he gave the orders. "Ready?!"

Twelve.

"Go!"

She let her hands fall to her sides and watched as the blue walls disappeared from the top to the bottom. The second her Quirk deactivated, Neon and Raven lunged forward.

Electricity exploded from Neon as he jumped in the air, finger pointed at the robot. Raven leaped up as well, a dark beast-like shadow emerging from his torso.

Eight.

The attacks landed on the zero pointer, causing thick black smoke to rise into the air. She briefly wondered if that was it, if the monster had been defeated. That thought was quickly wiped away as a large metal claw swung down through the smoke.

Five.

She reached out, and a blue dome encased Raven before the robot could send him flying. A gasp escaped her as she fell to her knees, spine aching from the pressure.

Two.

The zero pointer raised its arm.

"Time's up!!"

She let out a sigh of relief.

"You were awesome back there!."

The written test was a breeze compared to the practical, and having already completed half of freshman year back in America, she found most of the questions to be very easy.

She now stood in front of U.A. with the two boys that risked their lives to help her keep the zero pointer from harming anyone else. Denki Kaminari and Fumikage Tokoyami, they called themselves. Kaminari had immediately questioned her health, eyes pinned to the bandages wrapped around her palms and knuckles. "I'm fine," was her answer, though she still felt pain in her back. The nice old lady in charge of healing had told her that she couldn't heal her completely, since she didn't have enough stamina. She would just have to "walk it out."

Tokoyami bowed his bird head. "Your willingness to save others before yourself is admirable. I would not have made the choice to help if not for you." Kaminari nodded vigorously.

A small frown creeping onto her features, she turned on her heel and began to walk away.

" ... Thank you."

---

Aizawa returned to the apartment later than he expected. The principal of U.A. and the teachers spent far longer talking about the children and their Quirks than he thought necessary. They would have an entire week, after all, to sort out which student made it into what class.

When he walked inside, he was fairly surprised to find Kendria curled up on the couch, fast asleep. It looked like she hadn't bothered trying to make it to her room, and had collapsed onto the furniture in exhaustion. She even still wore her sneakers.

Letting out a sigh, he shuffled over to the side closet and dug out a blanket, then draped it over the girl.

He wouldn't say it, but he was proud of her. He had been watching her exam, he knew what she did and how many points she earned.

Kendria did a good job.