It was chaos.
Arisa stood in the centre of chaos. Around her, buildings were destroyed, the very ground itself was cracked, crumbled and barely holding itself together. She could hear multiple actors, acting as victims hidden within the rubble, some in the open and some deep within somewhere she knew would be difficult to reach. She could hear their cries of help, and cries of children — it was realistic. People immediately manned stations. Some set up a triage area, some created a clearing for helicopters and some were already trying to aid the victims from their entrapment.
Arisa decided to head to triage. After all, she could heal. Even if the wounds of these victims weren't real, she was supposed to act like it.
She ran towards where the triage was set up and called out loudly through the ruckus, "I can heal. Let me tend to their wounds."
The female examinee looked surprised at her presence, briefly acted as if she saw god's grace before shaking her head, "That's great. Please help me tend to their wounds. I can only do so much until the paramedics get here."
Immediately, Arisa kneeled down beside a young girl who had a large gash down her left arm and down her forehead. Arisa smiled at her softly, "It'll be okay. I can make it all better. What's your name?"
"Orihime," she sniffled, "It hurts."
"I'm sure it does. I'll make it go away. Look," she placed a hand in hers and her entire body began to glow a light blue. Immediately, the blood stains and fake gashes disappeared. Some of the actors almost broke character at the sight. Orihime looked dazzled by the sight as her eyes sparkled, "I feel so much better. Wow. Thank you. At this point, the paramedics wouldn't even need to get here with you around."
Orihime clearly broke character and Arisa laughed lightly.
They all gathered for some healing and she did. She did the same thing for all of them and they were all highly mesmerized by her ability to heal.
"Arisa, we need you!"
She whirled around to see Hagakure and Tsuyu calling out for her, standing over a large pile of rubble where a few people were trapped underneath. Arisa turned to the formerly injured people and smiled at them, "I have to go. Please stay here and wait for paramedics to give you another look."
The girl bounded over towards her friends and asked them, "What do you need?"
"We need this building off. We can't get them out."
"Help us, please," the victims pleaded and Arisa slapped on her best empathetic face before kneeling before the four of them, "Can you move your legs? Look at me, four of you."
They did and one of them, a child, cried, "Please, get us out!"
"I don't wanna die!"
Arisa glanced at her two friends, "It's funny how we're all confident that I can lift this entire building up."
"Minus points for trying to joke around!"
Arisa gaped at the kid who suddenly broke character. Her eye twitched, "Okay, I'll just drop this building on you then."
"Minus! Points!"
"Calm down, Arisa," Hagakure placed an invisible hand on her arm.
Arisa frowned and held out her arm, watching as blue enveloped the broken structure before lifting her arm up, the structure following along, freeing the trapped victims underneath. She let out a quick cough and wiped the crimson away, hiding it from possibly prying eyes. Arisa set the broken structure away at a clearing and kneeled before the victims, soothing them, "You'll be alright. Let's get the four of you to the triage area."
"Thank you, miss."
She didn't bother lifting them up physically. She used her quirk and carried them towards the triage area when —
BOOM!
A wall a few ways beside her exploded but she reacted quick and shielded the four civilians but setting up a forcefield. Arisa's ears were ringing and she quickly shot her arm forward, sending the four towards the triage area before stumbling slightly, pressing her palms against her ears.
She clenched her eyes shut briefly, "Fuck, are they trying to actually kill us?"
Her ears were still ringing and she could barely hear. In that moment, she was about to accept that she would be deaf from that moment on and planned to the very last detail as to how she would cope in her daily life.
Until she heard a faint scream.
"Help!"
Her eyes snapped open and she looked forward to see an elder man trapped underneath the rubble caused by the explosion. Her gaze shifted for a moment towards the origin of the explosion and her eyes widened to see Gang Orca and a bunch of other people. She assumed they were playing the villain. Arisa made a face of exasperation, "You're kidding me."
"Everyone, evacuate the area!"
Screams.
Her hearing returned but when she pulled away her hand from her ears, there were crimson stains on her palms.
People were running in the background, trying to save the people the best they could while trying to avoid the eyes of Gang Orca. The elder from before continued to ask for help and so Arisa shot forward without hesitation, running over the rubble, reaching out to grab his hand but instead, her right arm was grabbed tightly and it was as if time moved in slow motion.
Her head turned to see Gang Orca smiling menacingly at her, "I can't have someone like you running around. You'd ruin everything. No hard feelings, kid."
"Shit," her eyes widened as more adrenaline kicked in. She was aware of his quirk. The moment he used it, she wouldn't be able to move for a while. She couldn't have that. She had to pass this exam.
Frantic, with eyes glowing a bright blue underneath her cloth, she smacked her left arm towards his head, causing her body to twist slightly. She had no idea why she did that. She could easily activate her quirk without contact. Maybe it was the adrenaline, she thought. Arisa's eyes narrowed and watched as Gang Orca's eyes gleamed a slight blue for a moment before he let her go.
She fell on her feet and she quickly scooped her elderly in her hands, looking down at the male and asked, "Are you okay? I'm sorry for grabbing you so roughly. I had to get you out of Gang Orca's sight."
"It's okay, miss. You're lovely. Thank you for saving me."
The girl transferred her energy to her feet and she took to the skies. Quickly she shot towards the triage area and gently placed the elderly down, announcing, "He looks to have a head injury and a leg fracture. Please take care of him while I secure the current situation."
"On it!"
Arisa created a forcefield around the triage area and took to the skies, choosing to look at the situation from a high vantage point. She scanned the area and picked out all the life forces she could sense before holding an arm out, blue enveloping the area like smoke, momentarily causing the supposed villains of this scenario to pause and to observe the smoke that surrounded them.
They weren't her targets. She picked out all the victims of the scenario and used a lot of mental power to get them all out. The victims were all fascinated after overcoming their brief initial surprise when they hovered out from where they were trapped. Arisa was hurting — why was she pushing herself so far anyway? This was just an exam. She didn't need to die over it. Maybe she just wanted to win, to pass because she would rather die than fail in anything in life.
The other examinees were all mesmerized by the magnificent blue smoke that carried the victims towards the triage area.
Her head was spinning.
Seeing the victims all safe made her smile slightly despite feeling weak and sweating profusely.
"Shit, she got them all!"
Gang Orca had lifted his attention elsewhere, mainly towards Shoto and Yoarashi. Arisa could care less. At least the people were safe.
Her world spun violently so she quickly descended, choosing to sit herself down amidst the chaos. She was breathing quite heavily but she kept it under control, not wanting people to see her so weak. Arisa, at that moment, felt quite nostalgic. The chaos reminded her of a home she long lost. It wasn't quite home but it was indeed an environment where she grew up in. Her brothers were all excellent fighters and would end up running her into the ground every single time. Feeling so weak after so long, it reminded her of that time.
A time where she wasn't strong.
Amidst the chaos, she turned her head and somehow, her gaze found Aizawa's. He was far away, sitting by the many seats and only his silhouette could be seen but she could tell, he was looking at her as well.
Her favourite person.
Aizawa Shota.
Arisa turned away and sighed, deciding she was well enough to move so she stood up.
Only to see Shoto and Yoarashi fighting, ended up complicating others and themselves. They were on the ground, unmoving. She assumed they got hit by Gang Orca's quirk. Arisa cursed under her breath and without realizing, she was running. Running towards them and suddenly she was flying, shooting towards Gang Orca, trying to save her idiot Shoto and the assbutt Yoarashi. Arisa shot her arm forward, sending his head back causing him to tumble.
"Arisa, hold him off. I gotta get him away!"
Izuku was lifting a boy they had met earlier who seemed to be rendered unable to move. Arisa, hovering, gave the boy a thumbs up before yelling over her shoulder, "I told you before. Keep your issues and differences aside. This is an exam. Not a boxing ring, fuck. Are you trying to fail?!"
Gang Orca got back to his feet and laughed, his grin menacing, "Hayashi Arisa. That trick you did earlier — it was quite formidable. Making me see nightmares? Not very nice of you."
"I'm not a very nice person," she made a shooing motion with her hand, "Why don't you go terrorize other children. Leave these two be, eh?"
"No can do, kid. These two deserve all the ass-kicking from me. They can barely work together. Look at the state of them now," he gestured towards the two. Arisa gave them both a once-over. Both trembling, struggling to move and faces determined, angry and mildly ashamed. Arisa sighed, highly irritated by the two.
"Well," she got into a stance, "You're a villain in this scenario and I'm the hero. Therefore, I can't leave. You're gonna have to fight me, Gang Orca."
He gave another menacing grin, "Gladly."
The two shot forward and he immediately activated his quirk, acknowledging the fact that he'd have trouble at hand-to-hand especially with her. Arisa shot up into the sky, dodging skilfully at the liquid being shot at her from multiple angles by Gang Orca's minions. One managed to get her leg and it messed with her balance and Gang Orca got her.
Physically, he did.
At the very last second, she got into his head, making him stop. She didn't make him see anything. She just wanted him to stop and so he did. He froze in the middle of the battlefield just as she shot down from the sky, unable to feel her limbs no longer. Just as she was about to hit the ground, she could feel a breeze around her and realized that the wind had caught her.
The wind carried her softly and allowed her to land safely on her abdomen.
It was Yoarashi.
She looked at him, surprised, "Thanks."
He turned away from her, "No problem."
Unknown to her, his cheeks were pink.
°°°°
HAYASHI ARISA
"I passed," she whispered to herself as she stood amongst the crowd, staring up at the large board that displayed the names of the examinees who passed the exam. Arisa couldn't help but feel like she was about to cry — she nearing her goal of being a hero. She could finally put her past behind her. Although not completely, at least as a hero, she'd be able to save many people, increasing the count until it far exceeds the amount of kills she had done.
Arisa turned. She ran. She ran and ran until she found the person she was looking for.
Far beyond the crowd was her guardian. He looked dead as usual but his expression shifted in the slightest upon seeing her. Before he could get a word out, Arisa tackled him into a hug, shoving her face into his shoulder, not wanting him to see herself cry. She tightened the embrace, ignoring the ones that might see this moment.
"Arisa —?"
His arms hovered around her, as if hesitating to return the embrace.
"I passed. Thank you for everything that led to this moment," she mumbled into his shirt, "I mean it."
His expression had slacked. He didn't know how to react for a moment before finally, he let himself embrace her. A small smile so slight appeared on his lips, obscured by her hair.
"I'm proud of you."
°°°°
"Amazing as usual," Hawks commented from the benches, his legs crossed and arms slung over the empty seats on either side of him. He was watching her the entire time, watching as she fought through every single challenge and winning them all. She was a prodigy born out of tragedy but a prodigy nonetheless.
"Did she pass?"
"She did."
"Good. Bring her to HQ tomorrow. I'd like to speak with her."
Hawks' smile slipped and he pressed a finger against the communication device in his ear, answering obediently but grimly, "Will do."
[Two updates in two days? Who knows, maybe you'll get another tomorrow? :D]