Flames of the Phoenix

Chapter 2: Entrance Exam

Cyra's POV

On the day of the entrance exam, Inko came into the room and gently shook me awake. "Wake up. Cyra, you need to get up."

"I'm up," I mumbled. As soon as she left the room, my head hit the pillows again, and my eyes fluttered closed.

She came back into the room five minutes later and shook me again, "Cyra, get up. You have the entrance exam today. You don't want to be late."

At the mention of being late, I groaned and sat upright, "I'm awake." Inko left the room again to let me get ready. I grabbed my phone and scrolled through my notifications before quickly changing into a pair of jeans and a black shirt. A pleasant smell drew me out of the bedroom towards the kitchen where Inko was making pancakes. She smiled when she spotted me, "Good, you're up! Izuku has already left. He said that he had something to do. I have a list of things that you should take for the entrance exam. It says that you are going to want a nice outfit for the written portion, and you are going to want an outfit that you can move and train in for the physical portion."

I ate my pancakes as she talked. I stood up as I shoved the last bite of pancake into my mouth, "Thank you so much! I need to finish getting ready." Running back into the bedroom, I shoved my workout pants and black top into a bag. Inko wiped tears from her eyes as I ran out the door, "See you later! I will do my best!" 

My heart was pounding by the time I got to the entrance gate. Will I be good enough? Have I practiced my Japanese enough? Have I worked out enough? I spotted Izuku walking into the school a long way ahead of me, so I took a deep breath. I've got this. I'll be fine. Straightening the bag on my shoulders, I took another breath before walking into the building and following the signs to the correct room.

I was seated at the end of a row, next to a girl with short purple hair and ears that extended into an earphone jack. A blond man walked onto the stage at the front of the room and began talking. He explained the point system of the physical exam, and a boy with blue hair interrupted him before he could finish talking. That same blue-haired boy dared to point at Izuku and call him out for muttering. If I knew any curses in Japanese, I would have said them to that boy for picking on my brother, but I didn't, so I couldn't. The blond man passed out the written exam and set a timer on the large screen. Looking down at it, I felt dread begin to claw at my insides.

 I don't understand this!

Finally, the time was up, and we were allowed to change in a locker room before heading to our assigned area. My area was Battle Center C. A man in all black was waiting for us, "Your exam begins now." The doors into the city opened. I froze at the amazement of the city before willing my legs to move. I was not the first to get going, but I was not the last.

I pulled out my flames and let them dance around my hands as I ran. My first robot was a one-point one. It lifted its fist, and I held still until it got closer, then I shot forwards and put my hand on its chest and let my flames consume it. I panted and ran to get to the next one. I managed to knock out ten two-pointers and a three-pointer before I heard a scream come from an alley. I turned on my heel and ran to see what the problem was. A girl with short brown hair was leaning against the side of a building. A three-point robot was towering over her. I jumped forwards and sent my flames towards the robot. It turned towards me and began to swing. Ducking under its arm, I slipped behind it and landed a punch on the center of its back with my fist covered in flames. I turned back toward the girl, "Are you all right?"

She nodded, "Yeah. Thanks. I shouldn't have frozen like that. It was stupid of me." 

I smiled at her, "It's alright. You can still get more points." With that, I turned and began searching for more robots. 

The man in black spoke into a microphone, "You have two minutes left." Right after he said that, a large rumble shook the ground, and a robot the size of the city buildings appeared out of a cloud of dusk. Shit. That must be the zero-point robot. I need to get more points before I can be comfortable with my score. Looking around, I spotted another three-point robot sitting at the base of the giant one. It was risky, but I was going to try it. I was not the only one with this idea. A tall boy with purple hair darted forwards. He slid bellow it and attempted to hit the back of its neck. It swiveled and backhanded the boy, sending him flying into the path of the giant zero-point robot. I need those three points! I can't have Izuku leave me behind! But, I can't stand by and let that boy get hurt! 

My heel squealed as I turned and ran towards that purple-haired boy. The robot was smashing the nearby buildings and rolling towards the boy. I knelt next to him and shook his shoulder, "Hey, are you okay? Can you hear me?" He looked up at me with a semi-dazed look. "Are you alright?" He nodded and pushed me away from him.

"Leave me alone." The building next to us rumbled as the giant robot drew nearer. Its red eye fixed on us.

I grabbed his arm and pulled him down the street, "Hurry up! I'm not strong enough to take it on by myself."

The robot drew closer and smashed the buildings as it chased us. The other examinees were running down the street as well. "HEY! Come and help us!" A few people turned around and stood next to me. "We won't be able to outrun it, so let's try to fight it. That can give the other people time to get to safety."

A very short purple-haired boy leaned into the side of my legs, "I'll do whatever you want, hot stuff." 

I slid backward and let him fall to the ground while also lighting flames in the palms of my hand, "That's right. I am hot, so stay away, or you'll get burned." I turned to the yellow-haired boy, a pink-skinned girl, and a red-haired boy. "Are you willing to help me? We will probably not get any more points."

They all nodded, and we lept towards the robot. The other girl ran her hand along the robot, and the metal began to melt. I focused my flames on the weakened parts. The yellow-haired boy began giving shooting electricity at the robot. While the red-haired boy began hitting the robot with his fists, and he was leaving large dents. The short boy, whose hair looked like grapes, began pulling the balls off his head and throwing them to the robot. 

Together, we managed to stop the robot in its tracks, but it only shut off when the man in black announced that the time was up.

I sighed and smiled at the others, "Thanks for helping! What are your names?"

The yellow-haired boy grinned, "I'm Kaminari."

"Kirishima."

"I'm Mina!" The pink girl seemed to be filled with energy even though we had just been fighting robots.

The short boy strutted over. "My name is Mineta." His eyes traveled from my face downwards. I flushed and lit my flames again. His eyes focused on my flaming hands. "You can't hurt me. You'll get disqualified."

"Do you want to bet? I think that the school would rather have a student who stands up for herself than a creepy pervert."

The man in black walked over and looked at us with a tired expression, "No fighting. If you are injured, go to recovery girl."

I turned away from the short boy and jogged to catch up to the tall purple-haired boy, "Hey, are you okay? You hit your head pretty hard back there." He turned away from me and picked up his pace as he walked towards the door. "You don't need to be rude. I just want to make sure that you are okay! Especially because I abandoned points to save you!"

He spun on his heel and glared at me, "I never asked for you to save me! At least you probably got plenty of points!" He turned and stalked away. 

A sadness settled in my stomach, clawing away at my insides. I made my way to the main gate and waited for Izuku. "How did you do?"

He shook his head, "I didn't get a single point from the battle."

"Oh. If it makes you feel any better, I didn't understand most of the questions. They were all phrased differently than I was used to." The walk home was silent as we both dreaded telling our mom about the exam.