Fireborne (bakugou katsuki)

i

Students with various quirks, from all over Japan, gathered at UA High on the fateful day of the freshman entrance exam. The building bustled with activity as it opened its doors to anyone striving to achieve greatness and follow the path of Japan's adored Pro Heroes. 

From the mass of excited bodies stood out a head of vibrant red, voluminous locks belonging to an equally voluminous individual. Aone gripped the strands of her red hair and her hands jittered with energy. Only minutes from now she would take the most important exam of her life, and the thrill of the thought sent adrenaline pumping through her veins. She strode forward, rather unbothered by the people blocking her path and just shouldering past their figures to get to the large gates.

The introduction that morning led by Present Mic only egged her on, and by the end she'd been shaking in her seat, ass barely even touching the wood of the bench. Now, as she stood outside with her assigned group, Aone couldn't take her eyes off the closed stone gates that led to her destiny. 

"Tense any harder and you'll shit yourself." Came a teasing voice from her right, before two arms enveloped her from each side. Kirishima and Kaminari peered at their best friend with identical shit-eating grins stretched on their features. Aone growled, narrowing her eyes on the two boys and she snarled a reply. 

"Watch your mouth, Sketchy-shima or next time I'll shit on your pillow." Kaminari barked a laugh, but Eijiro looked shaken when he slid his arm back to his side, sheepishly grinning at his childhood friend. "Come on, now! We're not in middle school anymore!" He defended himself with a nervous wave of his hands, knowing fully well that if Aone said she would, she'd do it. Meanwhile, the blonde still hanging off her shoulder was losing his wits laughing at the frightened redhead and their shameless best friend.

Before either could utter another word, the loud creak of the entrance captured the trio's attention and Aone could feel herself itching to activate her quirk once again. Present Mic's voice once again resonated through the compound, the power and volume of his voice sending tremors through the ground to the soles of Aone's fiber-plated sneakers. 

Finally, the makeshift city opened up in front of them like a glittering horizon and, being at the front of the crowd, Aone wasted no time in snatching the hands of her best friends and sprinting through. Her screams of joy could be heard once her feet left the ground, Kaminari and Kirishima long forgotten and left to their own devices on land. The familiar burn began licking at her fingertips and feet before spreading, deliciously enveloping her entire body and coating it in saturated orange flames. She flew higher, gaining altitude and glowing brighter until she resembled a crashing asteroid.

Without having to put in much effort, scalding whips of fire shot from her limbs, slicing through robots like a knife through melting butter. On occasion, she'd swoop down and pull some rubble off another contender, or steal someone's kill, with a wicked smile and a wink.

Aone breezed through the exam, not even bothering to keep track of her points and just demolishing all the faux villains in her vision, that is--until the ground shook, and the sun vanished. 

Aone sputtered to a stop, body still ablaze as she gazed towards the commotion, seeing hoards of examinees pushing and fighting to escape in one direction. It was then that the towering, mechanic Godzilla appeared before her eyes, and Aone's jaw fell open. It was a zero-pointer, but it was in no way what the red-haired girl had imagined when "zero-pointer" came to mind. 

Down below, people shoved and pushed and panicked, but Aone's keen eyes quickly zeroed in on her two best friends, confirming they were out of range before she placed her devious plan into action. Finally, a smile that could only be described as manic split her face in two, and her golden eyes narrowed to tiny, determined pinpoints.

From below, Kaminari and Kirishima shot each other looks of worry, already understanding the thought process of their best friend. They both knew what was about to happen, and instantly looked to the sky with eyes full of concern. 

Above them, the flaming figure gained speed as it hurtled toward the giant machine. Whips of infernal energy circled around it, forming chaotic halos that licked at the atmosphere around them, desperate to connect with something they could destroy. Such a large-scale move wasn't uncommon for a person of Aone's character, but anyone would be able to tell it would have one hell of a backlash after she was done.

After bated breaths, they finally witnessed as Aone bent the tendrils to her will, extending and handling them with her bare hands all while nimbly dodging the attacks of the villain. The next thing her friends knew, Aone shot out and away from the villain, a taut string of fire trailing behind her. With a hearty tug, suddenly the head and arms of the machine blazed, then toppled. Joyful whooping echoed from the still airborne girl, before she was shot out of the sky like a duck during hunting season by a flaming piece of debris. 

"Aone!" Denki and Eijiro rushed past the stilled crowd, shoving and panicked in search of the reckless red-head. Murmurs filled their ears once the two boys reached a heap of rubble, heart racing in dreaded anticipation. Kirishima hardened, driving away all the pieces covering his best friend that he could, until he was halted by an earth tremoring rumble. The boy stepped back just in time before an explosion blasted from inside the rubble and from the smoke emerged a scowling ash blonde boy carrying the unconscious form of the, now placid, teenaged girl.

Aone's nose twitched, eyelids scrunching shut then loosening and blinking rapidly to adjust to the harsh light. "Kuso." She suddenly remembered the events leading up to her ending up in what she assumed was the nurse's office, she'd been in too many not to recognize the pristine, organized room. Her hands involuntarily flew to rub at her eyes, a whine escaping her throat as she tussled above the sheets. "Nari's gonna tear me a new one when he sees this. Baka, baka, baka!"

She was startled out of her self-pity party when the door slid open and shut, capturing Aone's attention from the doom awaiting her at home. She instantly sat up in bed and bowed, greeting the tiny old lady she recognized to be Recovery Girl. 

"Ohayo, sensei." She spoke formally, folding her arms in her lap with her head still down. 

The medical Pro Hero's chuckle reached her ears before a pair of shriveled palms reached out to cup her cheeks. "Don't bow for so long, your neck is the one thing I didn't have to patch up." Her playful tone and sly grin caused Aone to flush a deep red, rubbing the aforementioned part sheepishly and trying her best to avoid eye contact. "Say," the elder began, making her way with tiny footsteps to the office chair and hopping on it with ease, "what pushed you to take that big guy on all by yourself?" 

The question took Aone by surprise, it was easy to tell by the slight gape of her mouth and her wide eyes. She opened and closed her mouth like a fish out of water before chuckling nervously. 

A blush littered her tanned cheeks and she rubbed at the spot where her neck met her hair. "Uh--well--everyone was so panicked and scared, and I--I guess I just didn't want them to be scared anymore." Her mumbles got quieter to the end of her answer, mouth barely moving from its pouting position, but Recovery Girl caught it nonetheless with her sharp ears. She grinned widely and all-knowingly, before patting the girl's knee and discharging her.

"Congratulations on scoring the highest combination of rescue and Villain points! And welcome, Young Bakugo, to your Hero Academia!"