~Izuku's Perspective~
As soon as Present Mic called 'go', I was heading to the farthest part of the fake city. Assuming it was robots like everyone online said, they had probably just been released and the majority of them would be near the back. As soon as I found an alleyway along the street, only a block from the gate, I made my into it and paused briefly to analyse it.
It was fairly narrow. You could maybe fit four people shoulder to shoulder, although the trash cans and garbage gabs, which, from the lack of smell, were clearly empty or filled with something less gross, cut it down to barely fitting two people. The alley was a dead end with a very tall building, made of metal and thick glass, acting as the back wall. On either side of the alley, the walls were simple red brick that, unsurprisingly, had no wear on it. Not very realistic, but it would make it harder to climb up. And since there were no fire escapes on any of the walls, I would have to do some scaling. The walls were close enough that I could probably could back and forth between the two to make it up. That's decided then.
It only took me thirty seconds to analyse the alley before I was leaping onto one wall and pushing off onto the one on the other side. I made my way up quickly, pushing off of one to the next and then propelling myself to a higher position on the other side. It took me another minute to make it to the top of the three story buildings. It's a good thing Stain and the League will never see that. That took me way too long. I thought with an internal wince, though my face remained impassive. I couldn't afford to let my face show anything to the examiners watching, but I was used to that.
"You can't show anything or the heroes will use that against you!" he shouted as he twisted the knife deeper into my thigh. Blood pooled around my thigh to join the blood from other parts of my body.
"I'm sorry! It won't happen again! Stop! Please! Please, it hurts!" I screamed, the tears flowing unbidden to the floor below me as I pulled harshly at the restraints. There was a girl giggling not far from where I was sure the blood was pooling. She was probably enjoying this-
CREAK!!!
The sound of metal scraping against metal pulled me from the flashback before I could send myself into a panic attack. I stopped at the edge of the building I was on and looked down to see four three-pointers and three two-pointers rolling towards the middle of the city. I looked around and found that I was only, at most, ten blocks from the back wall. Good. At least I knew that I could still function when a flashback consumed me. I checked my watch and found that it had only taken a minute and a half to get this far. Time to use it. I thought as I crouched and prepared to jump down. I pulled out two knives, one for each hand, as I cut myself off from the lingering aches and pains in my body.
I had to get the timing just right if I wanted to get the robot's access panel first try, and I needed to be able to move if the robots in front of the I was on managed to turn around and attack me before I could attack them. Three... Two... One... NOW! I thought and dropped onto the back of a three-pointer, the one at the back of the group. I put all of my weight and momentum into the knife in my right hand as I jammed it into the robot's access panel. It only took a deep twist of the knife and three seconds for the robot to stop moving and me to start moving. I quickly used my knife to pull myself up and over the head of the three pointer and towards the back of the closest two-pointer. Thankfully I'd been quiet enough that the two-pointers hadn't noticed me, so I would get a clean shot at the access panel on its back.
It took me a minute and a half to take out the one remaining three-pointer and three two-pointers, start running, and find the next group of robots. There was six three-pointers, two two-pointers, and one one-pointer. It took another two and a half minutes to dispose of all of the robots. I took out four of them with my knives and the staff I had brought with me. The last three robots were taken out by each other when they were trying to hit me. I checked my watch. Three minutes left and only forty-five points.
Hopefully all of the examinees I had pushed out of the way and saved would help convince the to put me in the hero course if I didn't have enough points. I can't think like that. I still have two minutes to take out more robots. I thought as I took out two more three-pointers. I rushed through the city for a few more seconds, taking out any left-over robots, before the ground began to rumble and shake. Only the months of hard training I'd been through kept me on my feet and running as I finished taking out another three-pointer. I'd taken out mostly three-pointers and a few one-pointers in the past minute, since they were the harder ones that were staying more towards the back and edges. I should be somewhere between seventy or eighty points. And then the few dozen applicants I saved should help attest to a heroic character. I thought confidently as I paused on top of a roof.
I was scanning along the left wall not too far from me when a large shadow fell over me. I turned around and looked up to find the zero-pointer towering behind me as it made its way from the middle to the gate. It seemed fairly harmless as long as you stayed out of its way. The most it could do was crush you or get you with debris from the buildings it broke. I made way to the right side of the fake city, crossing only a little ways in front of the towering zero-pointer. I was just about to scale a fire escape when I heard a girl cry out. I whipped around and found the brown-haired girl who'd gone to help me before the exams. Her foot and the bottom half of her calf was stuck under a big chunk of concrete and the zero-pointer was closing in on her. I barely had the time to think, Well I hope I don't regret this. before I was by her side. I crouched on the ground beside her and the chunk on her leg. The girl looked up at me with half-lidded, big brown eyes.
"H-help..." she said in a weak and hoarse voice before she broke into a coughing fit from all of the dust.
"Do you think you can move?" I asked. The girl opened her mouth to talk, made a croaking sound, then shook her head slightly. I huffed through my nose. "Alright. I'm going to try and push this off you." I said as I forced my hands under the chunk.
I could feel the rough concrete scraping the skin on my hands raw, but I couldn't feel the pain I knew should accompany it. I forced my hands even further under so that I could get a good grip and I felt blood start dripping down my hands and fingers and smear onto the concrete. I grunted as I forced myself to stand with the weight of the concrete. I kept pushing until I finally managed to flip the chunk onto its other side. I fell to the ground huffing and panting. I looked up and saw that the zero-pointer was getting closer, so I stood up again.
"We have to get you out of here." I said as I crouched and pulled her into my arms.
"Put your arms around my neck and hold on tight." I said. The girl did and I felt her tighten her grip and bury her head onto my collarbone as I started running towards the front gate. All I needed was an alley or a street that led to the other side of the buildings, but they were all either dead-ends or blocked by robot pieces and debris. "If I can get us to a safe location, I should be able to take a look at your ankle." I told her. She nodded against my chest but thankfully didn't try to speak again.
Come on. Come on. Come on! Bingo! I thought as I ran between a few broken robots and down a long side street. I turned the corner and crouched down. I set the girl down and she scooted backwards until she was leaning more fully against the wall. I stayed crouched by her ankle and checked my watch. There was still a minute of the exam left.
"Can I take a look at your ankle now?" I asked as I reached for it. She nodded I gently put my hand on her ankle and studied it. It didn't seem to be twisted in any odd directions, so she hadn't dislocated it and there hadn't appeared to be any serious breaks. "Is it alright if I roll your pant leg up?" I asked. The girl nodded again as she watched my hands on her ankle. I gently pulled up her pant leg and was proud of myself when I only heard her wince once. When I could see her ankle, I found it slightly swollen, but it seemed to just be twisted and bruised. Nothing felt broken, and it didn't seam to even be fractured. I told her as much as she sighed in relief.
"Th-thank... you..." she croaked.
"Don't thank me yet. I'm going to put in a splint just to be safe. We've still got just under a minute left in the exam, so we should avoid taking you to the front until the zero-pointer stops moving. It looked like it was heading to the gate and we don't want to cross paths with it when your ankle is hurt." I said as I opened one of the small black pouches on my belt and pulled out some gauze and small, thin pieces of wood meant to be used as ankle and wrist splints. I quickly put the splints on and used the gauze to wrap them. Then I sat beside her on the ground. I pulled out a small white plastic pouch and handed it to the girl.
"Wh-what's... th-this?" she croaked.
"Water." I said with a shrug. "I don't have a lot and I wasn't sure if I would need it to clean any cuts on your ankle. You didn't have any, so you can drink it. That way you won't strain your throat so much when you speak."
The girl nodded gratefully and drank it. While she was distracted, I took some of my extra gauze and wrapped my hands. Even If I couldn't feel it right now, that didn't mean I wanted it to hurt even worse than they would have because I let the wounds get dirty or infected. I took the empty pouch from the girl, tucked it into one of my belt pouches, and leaned back against the wall.
"My name's Uraraka Ochako." the girl said. I looked over at her. Her eyes were closed and her head was leant back against the wall behind her.
"Itamie Nashio." (A/N - pronounced 'e-ta-mee na-she-o') I said. The name tasted weird in my mouth. It wasn't mine, and I didn't want it to be. A small smile graced the girl's dirty and dust covered face.
"Nice to meet you, Itamie-san."
"Likewise, Uraraka-san."
There was silence for a few seconds. Then Present Mic's voice rang through the fake city, probably from speakers hidden throughout the cityscape.
"The exam is officially over, listeners. If you are injured please remain where you are until our awesome school nurse, Recovery girl, has a chance to look you over. If you are uninjured or only have a few bruises, please make your way to the gate and to the bus. Thanks for your cooperation, rockin' boys and girls!" Present Mic said before the speakers went silent once again.
"I'll stay with you, Uraraka-san." I finally said after a few minutes of awkward silence.
"Thanks, Itamie-kun." she said with a soft, kind smile. A smile that reminded me of my mom's. I looked away quickly. The awkward silence returned tenfold as we continued to wait.
"Mind if I give you a nickname?" Uraraka asked suddenly. I had to force myself not to startle and turn completely red.
"A what?" I asked in a forced monotone.
"A nickname." She repeated. "Like... Shio!" I almost spluttered at that. I took a deep, but silent breath to try and calm my racing heart.
"Sure. Why not." I said with a shrug. I was struggling to keep my voice monotonous.
"You can call me Ako. If you'd like, of course. It's what my friend calls me."
"Alright, Ako-san."
"I'll have to introduce you to my friend after the exam. She's really kind, though she is a little quiet. I really hope that we all get in the hero course together. It would be even better if all three of us ended up in the same class!" Uraraka said enthusiastically. It appeared her throat was better now. "All three of us should exchange phone numbers after the exam! That way we can keep in touch, even if we don't end up in the same classe-"
BOOM!!!
Chunks of the building we were leaning against broke off and started falling towards us.
"Watch out!!" someone yelled as more chunks broke off. I saw a large chunk heading for Uraraka, so I pushed her out of the way. Something hit the chunk, just before it hit me, and broke it into pieces. The smaller chunks pelted me as I lay over Uraraka to try and protect her. I felt a chunk cut into my arm, but since there was no pain, I didn't acknowledge it. Then there was nothing hitting me anymore.
"Are you alright?" I asked Uraraka as I propped myself up on my elbows above her. Uraraka was lying on her back with her hands pulled to her chest. Her head was tucked into her shoulder and her eyes were clenched tightly shut. She opened her eyes and looked up when I spoke.
"Y-yeah. I'm alright." she said shakily. "Just have a lot of adrenaline now. I feel like I could lift a bus!" Uraraka whined. A small chuckle escaped me and Uraraka's face lit up at the sound. Suddenly her expression turned horrified. "Shio-kun, look out!" she said frantically as she tried to pull her arms out from under me. I looked up to see a fist sized chunk of concrete only a foot above my head. I wouldn't have time to move, especially since it would hit Uraraka if I did move. All I could do was look down at Uraraka and brace for impact.
"I'm sorry I couldn't protect you, Ako-san." I said quietly. She looked at me in confused horror.
"Wh-wh... what are you talking about? What do you mean?" she asked shakily. I just gave her a small smile. "Shio-kun, what do you mea-" Ochako started.
The chunk hit the back of my head and I felt my body go limp on top of Uraraka. My eyes rolled back into my head and then everything went dark. Not long after, my whole body flared up in pain.
A/N - I will do a shout-out to anyone that can guess what Izuku's quirk/power is. It will be revealed and and explained in a later chapter, but there are clues to it in this chapter if you were able to pick up on them. 😉
I really apologise, but I'm pretty sure my tenses are all over the place in this chapter. Comment down below whether you think I should do it in past tense or attempt present tense. I'll go with the majority vote. Once I get a clear response from y'all, I'm gonna go through to edit and make all the tenses uniform.