Firework | A Tragic Tale of Two Siblings

10 | The Academic Exams

Within the last days of the week, Sachi has been reviewing and re-teaching herself for her upcoming exams. For preparation, she focused on Calculus formulas, bodily functions, pressure points, medicine, hormonal molecules; everything she taught herself in the past decade.

Recovery Girl gave her a confidence boost during her appointment that Saturday, but the conclusion of that was expected. Due to the sudden usage of her quirk, her vital readings were abnormal and, at times, unstable. The old nurse was solemn but strict in her lecture and wrote down a new prescription for Sachi.

On Sunday, the stress was piling. With a bit of coaching from All Might and Izuku, Sachi grew more confident in her skills and hoped testing will go smoothly. She was so confident, in fact, that she thought she'd be able to stride through the halls with no doubt dragging at her heels.

When Monday came, she was more nervous than ordering pizza through the phone. The grandeur of the U.A. building sent shocks of doubt throughout her body as Sachi trembled through the main gates. She arrived early in the morning, just as the sun was peaking over the horizon, but the sun's glare in the windows didn't seem so welcoming as Sachi made her way inside.

Briskly walking through the halls, she pinched a worn map of the school's interior between her fingers. She'd gone up the correct number of flights, so she rounded a corner to the left and down the hallway. As she passed the windows and classrooms, eyes still following the invisible trail on the map, her intense focus broke when her shoulder collided with an arm. An arm that felt like it was made of stone.

"I'm so sorry!" Sachi stumbled, crumpling the map out of instinct, "I wasn't watching where I was going!"

She looked up and saw a tall boy with a head of stiff red hair. His sharp teeth glinted from the morning sunlight as he smiled reassuringly down at the tense blonde girl. He was carrying a tall stack of textbooks in his arms, and another boy stopped next to him, also carrying a stack of textbooks.

"That's alright!" The redhead laughed lightly, "I couldn't really see anything behind these things! So it's not you're fault!" His red eyes glowed with so much purity that Sachi would've mistaken them for Izuku's. "Anyway," the redhead continued, "My name's Eijiro Kirishima! This is my bro, Hanta Sero!"

Kirishima shifted away for Sachi to get a full view of his friend. Sero was slender (despite the subtle allowance of muscle) and his elbows were the main features Sachi took note of. The boys nodded toward Sachi for they weren't able to bow in greeting.

Sachi, in turn, bowed politely. "My name is–! U-Um..." Sachi abruptly stammered.

Why did she cut herself off? Talking to boys was an easy obstacle to overcome, but why hesitate now? Was it because she'd be a staff member at U.A. and should use an alias instead? Or was her mind powering off from the overcrowding of endocannabinoids?

Sero noticed her hesitance and nudged his friend's shoulder. "W-We should probably get going. We don't want to tick off Ectoplasm." Sero gave a dry laugh but Kirishima stood patiently, waiting for Sachi to introduce herself.

"M-My name is...Ch-Cherry Bomb!" Sachi tensed more, her mother's nickname slipping out. Both Kirishima and Sero tilted their heads. "J-Just call me 'Cherry Bomb'!" Sachi repeated, a nervous smile stretched across her cheeks. "I need to get going, too! It's really nice to meet you!" The young girl bowed again quickly before unraveling the crinkled map and sped off down the corridor, sharply turning another corner.

As the two boys resumed their trek to their classroom, Sero voiced his curiosity. "Hey, Kirishima. Doesn't that girl– er, Cherry Bomb, look a bit like Bakugou?"