Crystal Clear - Chapter One

U.A. Entrance Exam

"Deep breaths, Akiko, that's the key. Don't you go forgetting that."

Here it was, U.A. High School. It was a lot bigger than pictures made it out to be. She couldn't help but feel intimidated; even the gates to the school towered over her. It made sense, however. U.A. was the most reputable hero academy in Japan, of course it was massive.

...They also had high standards, when it came to who they would accept as students.

"Iwasa-san!" A voice rang out, distracting Akiko from her deep thoughts. She turned around and offered a smile, she could recognize that orange hair running towards her anywhere. "Hey, Kendo-san." Akiko spoke softly after the much more energetic girl caught up to her.

Itsuka, out of breath from running, breathed heavily. "I was so scared. I thought I was gonna be late, but I took a shortcut through some neighbourhood and I think it helped me get here faster. How are you holding up? Nervous?" She asked, recovering, with a slight smirk on her face. "I'll be alright." Akiko responded quietly, looking away. Inside, she felt like she was going to collapse. U.A. would never accept her, and she'd be forced to go to a much worse school, and she'd never be a great hero like her grandfather.

"Aw, c'mon, lighten up!" Itsuka could easily read her friends' expression. "You're one of a kind, Iwasa-san. I know you'll get in. You'd make an excellent hero!" She beamed, full of encouragement. Akiko frowned a little, not believing it to be true, but appreciated the kind words nonetheless. "Thanks, Kendo-san. You as well, I'm positive you'll pass with ease." Itsuka gave her a thumbs up in response. "Thanks! Let's get a move on, though, don't wanna be late!"

Akiko nodded, her blue ponytail swinging side to side as the two hurried through U.A.'s gates. They saw a crowd of potential students in one area, and went over. It seemed like they were all waiting for something to happen. As all the students began chatting with each other, Akiko drifted away. Itsuka had gone to speak to other friends, so she was left alone, watching from the sidelines.

Some uneventful time passed, until she happened to notice a small, green-haired teen muttering to himself, leaning against a wall. He seemed to be deep in thought, absorbed into a notebook he was reading. Curious, Akiko approached him. He didn't even seem to notice her appearance until she spoke out; "Hello."

The green-haired teen gasped, dropping his notebook in surprise as he blanked out, then started stuttering random words. After a moment, he was able to respond: "H-Hi, um, I-I think?" Akiko smiled at his behaviour. It was kind of amusing. "Sorry to scare you." She bent down and reached for his dropped notebook, then handed it back to him. He accepted it with shaking hands. "You just looked lonely over here, I'm very sorry if I'm bothering you. Are you nervous?"

"U-um, yeah, it's just… Scary…" He seemed to be sweating a lot, and couldn't make eye contact. Akiko frowned slightly, worried. "I'm really sorry. Am I scaring you? Should I leave?" He shook his head wildly. "No, i-it's okay! I'm just, u-uh, a jumpy person! Um…" He shuffled his feet, gripping his notebook tightly.

Present Mic, a top hero and U.A. teacher, then got up on a pedestal and announced to all that it was time to write the written exam, and began to lead everyone into a large examination room. Akiko held out her hand to shake. "My name is Iwasa Akiko. It's very nice to meet you."

"M-Midoriya Izuku…" The boy hardly managed to get out, and very carefully shook her hand. "I, um, I think we should go…" He was looking at the entrance to U.A.'s main building, dreading doing the exam in fear of failure but not wanting to miss it by being late.

"I know. Just wanted to introduce myself." Akiko adjusted her glasses. "I thought it would be nice to be acquainted with more than the people I grew up with, that's all, Midoriya-san." Akiko offered him a warm smile, her strangely pigmented white eyes studying him cautiously. "I know you're nervous, but I think you'll do great. You seem smart. I wish you the best of luck." She then walked away towards the entrance, leaving Izuku there, standing still with a look of surprise.

He… He managed to talk to a girl.

Shaking himself out of a daze, Izuku ran towards the door, making it in just in time. He noticed Akiko sitting down in a seat to take the exam. She seemed calm, but was fiddling with something in her hands. Was she really as relaxed as she seemed?

"Get a move on!" Present Mic yelled out, making Izuku and a few others who hadn't taken a seat rush to find one. "No cheating! We'll know." Present Mic was standing on a podium in front of the large exam room, supervising. "The practical exam will take place after the written one is finished. You have three hours to complete everything, if you take even longer we'll take your paper, even if it's incomplete. I think that covers about everything." Present Mic clapped his hands. "Good luck, everyone! Plus Ultra!"

Hearing U.A.'s motto seemed to invigorate Akiko to do well. Plus Ultra… Go above and beyond. She could do that. She can do it. A written exam she hardly studied for…? Easy peasy…

She began to stress.

The written exam was over. Despite all her worrying, Akiko thought she did pretty good. Knowing she passed the written portion, she now began to focus on the practical exam. Present Mic was once again explaining to everyone the rules and scoring system of the practical exam; they would be separate from classmates from their old schools and were tasked with destroying robots around a false city landscape. Some robots were worth more points than others, and one kind wasn't even worth any- it was just there to make it harder for the students.

As they were separated into groups, Akiko looked over and saw Izuku, and smiled a little. He seemed even more nervous than she did. She began to walk over, but was interrupted by someone stepping in front of her.

"Iwasa-san." They spoke, and she glared at him. "Monoma-san. No, I told you I don't agree with it." Neito laughed. "Come on, Iwasa-san, do me a favour. I'm useless in that exam and you know it, I need your Quirk."

Akiko was stuck. She felt it would be the right thing to help, but at the same time… She was afraid. Neito's Quirk is Copy, meaning he can take other people's Quirks and use them for a certain period of time. Akiko's Quirk could help him in the exam, but in a way, wouldn't that be cheating? And she didn't like the idea of someone else using her Quirk for something she doesn't agree with - Neito had done so in the past, as they went to the same school for years. However, Neito's expression made her give in. He dropped his attitude and showed that he was really scared to do this exam without another Quirk, his lip was trembling and his eyes seemed fearful.

"Fine." Akiko said bitterly. "But DON'T make it obvious you're using my Quirk. And leave anything you create on the ground, don't take anything and don't let anyone else take anything." She stared him down, being assertive and ensuring that he wouldn't cross her.

"I know, I know! You've told me before. Thank you Iwasa-san. You won't regret this." Neito touched her shoulder lightly, gave her a thankful smile, and merged with the crowd again. Akiko couldn't help but fear what he might do, however.

When she looked over to where Izuku was standing, he was gone, as everyone had begun to file in for the practical exam. Shrugging, she figured she could speak to him later, and entered the large arena. Mouth agape, she looked around in surprise; this arena was massive, and looked just like a real city!

"Three, two, one, GO!" Present Mic announced over a loudspeaker suddenly, shocking all the teens. None of them were expecting to start so soon.

Giant mechanical robots then started to roam the city, destroying buildings as they went past. The first one to act was a blonde rough-looking guy, who created some sort of explosion from his hands to propel himself towards the closest robot. He struck it with a huge explosion, causing it to crumble, which seemed to snap everyone else into action.

Smiling, Akiko could feel adrenaline pumping through her as she prepared herself. These robots were tall, they'd be hard for her to climb and difficult to defeat from below without knowing their structure well. Therefore, she went with one of her strategies from when she was young, and all of a sudden, thick metal wire began to form and expel from her hands, twisting and curling and forming a large spring. Akiko stopped and cut it off, then repeated the process again; creating two large springs. She then inserted them into her sneakers, and she was ready to go. Spring shoes, something she had invented when she was a child! These could help her reach the robots.

Jumping into the action, she was able to jump at least ten feet in the air with her upgraded shoes. Lunging towards the nearest robot, which was worth 1 point, she attached to its arm, and gripped on for life as it began to swing her around. Quickly acting, Akiko began to form something else from her hand, and suddenly, a marble-like substance came out from her wrist. It continued out, until she had formed a dagger. Smirking, she began to climb the robot, resisting the forces trying to make her go flying, and made it up to the robot's head.

Akiko felt a headache coming on, but ignored it as she struck the robot with her dagger. The dagger cut into the machinery easily, it was incredibly sharp. It seemed she struck a good spot, as the robot instantly fell to its knees. Quickly, Akiko took the dagger and jumped off the robot before it collapsed.

She smiled and admired her hard work, but realized this was only worth one point. She had a lot more points left to earn if she wanted to do well.

The rest of the practical exam continued in a similar fashion. Akiko jumped around, destroying any robots she came across and avoiding all other people. She never kept track of her points, just remained focused on her task. At one point her dagger got embedded in a three-point robot, so she created a new one, which made her more dizzy and uncoordinated. She had a rough time getting onto the robots and staying on them, with that side effect, which made her fear she didn't do well enough.

Towards the end of the exam, she noticed one of the zero-point robots being struck. The sound was horribly loud. Akiko had run into one of them earlier, and she knew it was terrifying. Whoever hit it must be incredibly strong. She kept at it, however, worrying about her wellbeing. She managed to get one last robot before Present Mic announced the exam was over.

As soon as she heard they were finished, Akiko jumped towards where she saw the zero-pointer being taken down. She was surprised to see Izuku lying on the ground, his arm entirely brown with a bruise and bent unnaturally, it was broken. Taking the springs off her shoes, she ran over. "Midoriya-san? Are you okay?" She asked quickly, taking in his injuries. His arm was in horrible condition, and he was unconscious.

"He saved me…" A girl's voice came from her right, belonging to a girl with short brown hair. "I would have been crushed… if it weren't for him…" Akiko looked at Izuku in shock. He was able to knock away and destroy such a massive machine? What kind of insane Quirk did he even have?

An incredibly short, older lady approached. She was dressed in nurse-like clothing. Some other people followed behind her with a stretcher, and they carefully placed Izuku on it. Akiko was grateful he was getting medical attention, it seemed like he really needed it…

She turned to the girl on her side, who seemed nauseous as she had a hand over her mouth. Must be a side effect to her Quirk, Akiko thought. Ignoring the pounding pain in her head, she offered a hand to the girl, helping her get to her feet.

"Two massive injuries… These kids must have strong Quirks this year." The older lady from before spoke, shaking her head. Akiko, intrigued, approached her. "Excuse me, miss, but who was the other injured person? Are they okay?"

"I don't really know." Recovery Girl, Akiko recognized her as, sighed. "It's a strange way he got injured, my dear. He had some sort of stone poking out of his hand, it was a real mess."

Akiko's heart stopped. "W-what… What kind of stone!? Please, miss, tell me, this is important!" Her eyes were wide with fear. 'Monoma-san, what have you done!? ' She panicked.

Recovery Girl seemed to fear the girl's reaction. "I'm not certain. But it looked like a diamond of some sort."

"A diamond…" Akiko's migraine and dizziness seemed to finally catch up with her as her legs buckled, and she collapsed.