Arising from the Ashes

Prologue

Nervously, Ichika looked around her. There were so many of them! How was she supposed to make it? It was impossible! She would never win against the others. From the looks of it, they were much stronger than her. It would be hopeless!
The fourteen year old closed her eyes and breathed in deeply through her nose, holding it for a moment, before releasing it again through her mouth. No! She couldn't think like that! She made a promise and she was going to keep it. Nothing would stop her from achieving her goal, so that he would achieve his!
Opening her green eyes, the teen listened to what the pro-hero Present Mic had to say about their exam, while continuing eying the competition. Would she really be able to get enough points to pass? And most of all, would she be able to do so, without the use of her quirk? If she could do so, then perhaps U.A. would change their mind about their acceptance requirements. Which was the whole point of her participating this entrance exam after all.
'Go!'
No time for thinking, she needed to get in there and gather as much points as possible! Wasting no time, the redhead brushed her long braid over her shoulder and sprinted past some other contestants, using her flexibility and acrobatic skills. Turned out her mom did the right thing when she enrolled her fiery tempered daughter to dance classes.
As she ran through a street, she tried taking out as many robots as she could. But without her quirk, it had proven to be a difficult task. Right now she was at 19, which she most definitely knew wasn't enough to pass the entrance exam. She needed to up her game, but how? Time was running out and she was getting tired. If she used her quirk, she could probably double her points before the time was up. But she vowed that she wouldn't use it. Not now!
She needed to prove U.A. that those without a quirk were able to pass as well. And if she used her quirk, then that meant she couldn't prove anything. But if she didn't, then she would definitely fail. There was no way 19 points were enough.
She growled in frustration. She didn't have time for this! She needed to find another 3-pointer and quick! But before she could continue her search, the ground started to tremble and a 0-pointer came into view. She stood still for a moment, taking in the sight of the machine in both shock and admiration. Others ran passed her, away from the 0-pointer and she would have followed their example. Yet as she was about to turn around, something caught her eye. Something very odd.
Up ahead was a blond boy who was apparently trying to put on his pants. Ichika blinked in surprise at this. Why was he even butt-naked? Never mind! Overcoming her initial shock, Ichika watched in horror as the 0-pointer quickly moved towards the boy, while the boy himself was still struggling to get his pants back on and trying to keep as much distance between himself and the machine.
'Hey you,' she called out for the boy, while running towards him. 'Watch out!'
The boy turned his head as she stopped right in front of him, only for him to drop his pants in surprise.
'Please pull up your pants,' a flustered Ichika shrieked in embarrassment, while she covered her eyes with her hands.
'My pan..? Whoopsy, my bad!'
She could hear the sincere confusion in his voice, confusing her too. But she did not dare to remove her hands before she was sure he wasn't naked anymore. Not even with the 0-pointer coming dangerously close now!
'You can look now,' she heard the boy chuckle and when her deep green eyes met his bright blue ones, he rubbed the back of his neck in embarrassment. 'Sorry about that. You surprised me.'
Ichika was about to reply with a sneer, when she noticed a large mechanic arm shooting down to where they stood. Without thinking she used her bodyweight to push the boy out of the way, while she herself jumped to the other side. While in mid-air, Ichika kicked towards the large robot and fireballs flew from her feet. The moment she landed, she did a quick low spin to the ground, before kicking an even more powerful fireball towards the still advancing robot.
Its hand crashed down to where they had stood just a moment ago and Ichika immediately shouted to the boy, wanting to know whether or not he was okay. Which luckily, he was. Satisfied with his answer she ran closer to the robot, ignoring the shouts for her to run away. Her long-range attack had done some damage, judging from the molten metal, but it hadn't stopped the machine. So she figured she needed to aim her attacks towards the feet!
Once she was close enough, Ichika concentrated all the heat she could in one hand and placed it on the metal wheel. Within seconds the material was melting and she cheered in excitement. Her laughter was short-lived though, when the metal giant came crashing down towards her. She wanted to move, to turn around and run away. But instead she stood frozen to the ground. She had acted out of instinct when she wanted to protect the boy, but now that she needed to save herself, she found herself paralysed. Even her mind seemed to be frozen as she just stood there with wide eyes.
Then there was a yell, followed by flash of yellow and she found herself laying on the ground after that. Out of harm's way as the robot crashed right in front of her. The robot was down, so she should get up and try and take down another robot. Should being the keyword, for she couldn't care less about the exam right now! How could she care about getting enough points, when that boy disappeared underneath the large machine? Was he okay? Did he somehow got out of the way himself? No, there was no way he got out of the way in time! Which meant he got crushed!
Ichika stared at the machine in horror. Her hands clasped over her mouth as she let it sink in! The boy saved her life at the cost of his own. How could a school like this allow such a thing to happen? Why?
'Why are you still on the ground? Are you hurt?'
A loud scream escaped her lips as Ichika whipped her head around to face the boy that had disappeared underneath the large robot only a moment ago. She had seen it with her own eyes. How was he still alive? And how did he manage to sneak up on her like that?
'Man, did I pull a jump-scare on you, didn't I,' the boy said with a cheesy grin, while rubbing the back of his neck. A movement that made her realise his blond hair was now down instead of the ponytail it had been moments before. 'Sorry 'bout that, I didn't meant to scare you. But boy, did you sound cute.'
Ichika just stared at him, her mind blank and running overtime at the same time. She didn't even take notice of the horn signalling the end of the exam. All she could do, was stare at the blond boy as he towered over her. Though she did take his hand as he reached out for her to pull her to her feet. How could he be standing here right in front of her? He was standing right underneath the robot as it crashed down, she was sure if it. So it had to be his quirk, right?
'Ah man, it's over already? I barely got any points. What about you?'
She didn't answer him. Instead she wanted to know how he was able to escape. He must have had an amazing quirk if he managed to get away from there within seconds. It had to be a teleportation quirk, it had to be!
But instead of a curious question, a mixture of a shout and a shriek came out of her mouth as she finally took a good look at the excitable blond boy in front of her.
'You're naked again!'