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05. bloody news & pessimists

❛❛ 𝑷𝑹𝑬𝑻𝑬𝑵𝑫 𝑾𝑬 𝑫𝑶𝑵'𝑻
𝑪𝑨𝑹𝑬.❜❜

THE FOLLOWING WEEK, the only thing on Valentina's mind was the exam. From self-scoring, she knew that she had done great on the written exam. Which wasn't much of a surprise due to the high expectations that she had to meet at her Junior High. But the practical exam was what really shook her up.

Although she had gotten quite a few points, she wasted a lot of precious time on the zero-pointer. To get her mind off of the exam, she tried to keep herself busy. Her room was already piled up with stacks of comics and she made regular visits to the training room in the basement of her residence.

It was dinner time in a couple of hours, so Valentina had decided to work on her quirk. She had successfully propelled herself into the air during the practical exam however the backlash was horrible. Once recovery lady had healed her, Valentina felt so exhausted that she couldn't use her Quirk for two whole days.

During those torturous two days, Valentina came up with a theory. Rather than focusing all her energy into one part of her body, she should spread it out equally in order to allow her to keep stable whilst minimizing the amount of damage inflicted on herself.

She clenched her fists and readied herself into a fighting stance as she stared at the full-sized dummy stood before her. She ran towards it at full speed, jumping into the air and shooting a burst of energy out of her feet. The dummy flew several metres back before crashing into the wall however Valentina must've miscalculated the amount of energy she had released because she too, went flying back.

She fell into a metal rack filled with lethal weapons. Valentina curled into a ball, yelping, as the weapons fell on top of her. Her heart raced as a sword had impaled itself into the ground next to her head.

"Holy cow." She muttered to herself before cautiously lifting herself up from the ground.

A boisterous laugh came from the stairs that led down to the basement and Valentina glared as Niko clutched his stomach, trying to control his laughter. Tristan stood next to him, obviously amused, but trying not to show it.

"What do you want?" She groaned, as she continued to pick up the weapons. "I'm kinda busy."

Niko let out one more laugh before lifting up an envelope. A wild look filled his eyes.

"It's here."

She dropped the nunchucks in her hand and ran over to her brother. Snatching the envelope from his grip, she bolted up the stairs. If this went bad, she definitely didn't want her brothers to witness the process of her losing her mind.

As quick as lightning, she made her way up two other flights of stairs before she finally reached her room. Niko hastily followed her, telling her that he wants to see as well but she ignored him.

Valentina slammed her bedroom door shut and lept onto her bed. She didn't hesitate as she ripped open the letter, eager to see her results. A small sliver disk fell out rolling across her bed and hitting the floor. Valentina scrambled over to pick it up when a figure appeared before her. She let out a piercing scream and slipped off her bed, faceplanting on the ground, hard. She yelled in pain as blood began to trickle down her nose.

"Ow! Ow! Ow!" She squeezed the bridge of her nose. Her other hand cupping her eye. She was most definitely going to get a black eye. Valentina glanced back at the figure behind her, before realising it was a hologram of the infamous number one hero.

"I am here as a projection!"

Valentina tried to whoop, but it came out as a gurgle from all the blood in her mouth. She grabbed some tissues from her bedside table, trying her hardest to stop her bleeding nose.

That was when it hit her.

All Might? He wasn't a teacher at UA, so what exactly is going on?! Her questions we're answered almost immediately.

"I came into this town to work at UA! Ever since—"

He was cut short as someone gave him hand gestures telling him to get on with it.

"But—"

He was interrupted once again and gave a sigh before placing his hands on his hips.

"You passed the written exam with flying colours! And scored a total of twenty-three points on your practical exam!" Valentina frowned, a sudden pang in her chest.

That definitely wasn't enough.

But, All Might wasn't done. "However, the entrance exam wasn't based only on villain points! Although it was based on your quick thinking under pressure and ability, it also focused on your ability to help others!"

Her eyes widened. "Alongside a panel of judges, candidates were awarded rescue points. During the exam, you showed great courage and bravery, helped others in need! The characteristics of a true hero!" The girl's eyes widened. "Valentina Beauregard! Forty-seven rescue points!"

Valentina thrusts her fists into the air and let out a piercing scream. Gripping her Captain America plushie, the ecstatic girl jumped up and down on her bed whilst singing in a loud voice, "I got in! I got in!"

"Young Beauregard, welcome to UA High!"

She flopped back down onto her bed, gazing at the ceiling. Her heart swelled with pride. She was going to become a hero! A small buzz snapped her out of her thoughts as she peered over at her phone.

It was a message from Midoriya.

He too had got in.

He explained that despite not getting any villain points, he was awarded sixty rescue points for saving a girl and destroying the zero-pointer by himself. Valentina held back a scream. She congratulated the boy, sending him a video of her screaming in happiness to which he replied with asking why her face was smothered in blood.

She sighed and tried to explain what had happened when she heard whispering and shuffling from outside her door. Careful to not to fall again, Valentina made her way to the door before swinging it open. She stumbled back as Niko fell on the ground before her. Tristan watched him, leaning against the wall opposite her bedroom.

Niko scrambled up to his feet. "Well?!"

There was a couple of moments of silence. "I got in!"

Valentina's brothers both congratulated her, Niko insisted that he knew that she would get in whilst Tristan rolled his eyes at his brother's claims. Once they had finished applauding Valentina, Tristan spoke.

"On a more serious note." The two brothers examined Valentina's bloodstained face. "What the hell happened to your face?"

━━━━━━

Valentina sat in the Headmisstress' office, however, this time she wasn't getting scolded. She was being praised. And to be honest, it felt weird. The whole 'being praised' element of school felt foreign to her.

"You should all be extremely proud of yourselves." Miss Yamamoto applauded, "Five students from my school are going to be attending UA High! Four of which are in the hero course! That's two more than the previous year!"

Valentina peered over at the other four teens stood beside her. Raiden Zaveri wore a proud grin on his face, listening intently to Miss Yamamoto's compliments. His cousin, Kiaria, looked uninterested, her eyes fixated on the window as though she were planning to jump out of it any second.

Stood inbetween the two cousins was Rio Kaneko. A dark-haired girl, who Valentina had known to be very antisocial. She seemed to be trembling as though she were nervous about something and Valentina glanced up at her face for further analysis. Her eyes were distant as though she were still struggling to believe that she had been accepted into the UA High.

However, with a Quirk like hers, Valentina wasn't too surprised that she passed the practical exam. She was just taken aback by the fact that the navy haired girl had applied at all. Rio wasn't very a very sociable person and there were days when Valentina wondered if the odd girl had even received human contact in her life.

But despite their different expressions, she could tell they were all overjoyed. Unlike the fifth figure, Amaya Hattori. Her eyes held no hint of satisfaction but instead were slightly red and puffy. It was obvious that she had been crying and to be honest if she were in Amaya's shoes, she'd probably be feeling dreadful too. The girl had called her last night in hysterics, explaining that she hadn't been accepted into the hero course.

The Headmistress' seemed to catch onto Amaya's crestfallen expression because she added, "But, just attending is still great!"

Valentina winced at her unsubtle behaviour. Even she wasn't that blunt.

"Their general studies department is exceptional." Miss Yamamoto continued, "Not to mention, everybody can take part in the UA sports festival and prove themselves worthy. Who knows, perhaps the headmaster will see that he overlooked some incredible potential heroes and welcome them to the hero course."

Amaya's head perked up at that, her cerulean eyes suddenly became clouded as though a billion thoughts were running through her mind at that very moment.

"Can we go now?" Kiaria questioned, her hazel eyes still fixated on the window.

Miss Yamamoto seemed unfazed by the girl's harsh tone. "Yes. Well done to you all. Now off to lunch. Apart from Miss Hattori. I'd like to have a word with you."

The four teenagers walked along the hall, making their way to the cafeteria. Valentina found the silence almost suffocating.

"So, " She began, catching everybody's attention, "Anybody doing anything fun to celebrate?"

Thankfully, Raiden spoke, slightly diffusing the tension. "My parents and I are going out to dinner tomorrow. Kiaria's family are coming too."

"What about Kiriko?" Valentina questioned, asking about Kiaria's closest friend who had also been trying to get into UA.

Raiden visibly tensed and opened his mouth to reply when Kiaria stopped walking and interrupted him. "What do you mean, 'what about Kiriko?'. She didn't get accepted, so why would she celebrate?"

"She got into Shiketsu though," Valentina turned around to face Kiaria. "That's still pretty good."

"Who the fuck wants to go to Shitketsu over UA High?" Kiaria spat venomously, "Stop being so fucking stupid, Beauregard."

Valentina sent the girl a frustrated look. "I was just trying to—"

"Yes, yes. We know." Kiaria interrupted. Valentina wouldn't be surprised if smoke came out of her ears from how vexed she was. "You were just trying to make it seem like you care when we all know you don't give a flying fuck about anybody but yourself. You're just trying to rub it in, right?"

Raiden placed a hand on Kiaria's shoulder. "Kia, calm down. She didn't—"

"That's not what I meant!" Valentina crossed her arms, trying to look intimidating but they all knew Valentina was about as intimidating as a carebear. "I was just trying to look at the bright side of things. It's not my fault you're a pessimist."

Kiaria laughed bitterly. "I'm not a pessimist, I'm a fucking realist."

The harsh girl glanced between Valentina and Rio. "UA's standards have definitely dropped if they're going to accept a dopey shit like you and a fucking creep like Kaneko."

With one last shady glare, Kiaria gripped Raiden by his collar and pulled him along with her. He momentarily glanced back at the two girls, sending them apologetic looks. Valentina puffed her cheeks out and exhaled softly.

That was intense.
​
"Well, I'm sorry for trying to diffuse the tension." She muttered.

Valentina glanced over and realised that Rio was still stood next to her, watching the scene take place. Valentina had spoken to the timid girl a couple of times, realising that the girl was usually by herself. However, despite Valentina's constant offers to join her for lunch, the girl always quietly declined. Maybe she just enjoyed her own company, Valentina decided.

She gave the girl a small smile to which Rio replied with a blank stare. They stared at each other for a couple more seconds when Valentina decided to speak.

"So are you and your family going to—"

Valentina furrowed her eyebrows, half offended and half surprised, as the girl spun on her heels making her way to the cafeteria, leaving Valentina mid-sentence.

"Cold," Valentina mumbled standing in the deserted hallway alone. She exhaled softly and shoved her hands into her skirt pockets before making her way to the cafeteria.

If these were her classmates, she was going to have one hell at a time in UA.

└────── ⋆⋅☆⋅⋆ ──────┘

published: 12/01/20