Eraserhead, Present Mic and All Might all ran toward Zakaida's house. One simple message was all Shota Aizawa had needed to know that his friend was in trouble, and judging by the location she sent him, she was at home, which meant that it wasn't just her in danger.... It was Narako as well... When they burst through the front door, there was no enemy, but Zakaida... Eraserhead looked away from Zakaida's body, his eyes falling upon a very pale looking, shaking like a leaf and scared to death Narako.

Her sapphire eyes were on her mother, wide in horror. Eraserhead crossed the room in a couple strides, being careful to move around Zakaida's body and avoid stepping in her blood in order to reach the terrified young girl. He helped her sit up all the way, his hands keeping her steady. The little one looked up at him, for a moment looking like she was calming down while the pro hero examined her for any injury, finding the gash that crossed over her eye. He tore off part of his scarf to create a temporary bandage until they could get her medical attention. He wondered if she remembered who he was to her.....

"Is she all right, Eraserhead?" Narako looked away from the eyes of the man before her to see Present Mic and All Might nearby. All Might was kneeling beside her mother, meanwhile Present Mic was looking at her and the pro hero in front of her. What she didn't know was that Prescent Mic was hoping that she hadn't had to watch her mother die... The man in front of her nodded.

"Other than the wound over her right eye, she's untouched." He replied, his voice having a monotone as well as being gruff all together. His signature yellow goggles were off his face, so she was able to see his grey eyes as they shifted from her to Present Mic. Present Mic turned to All Might, a questioning look on his face. All Might merely shook his head in response. As the two talked to each other in hushed tones so Narako couldn't hear them, the little girl turned her attention back to Eraserhead. She had seen the hero on tv before, but why did she feel like she knew him from somewhere else? Like there was a deeper connection than just admiring him from home while he fought villains? Her eyes shifted back to her mother's body, starting to sting with hot tears as she finally understood that she was all alone. She had no memory of her Dad other than what her mother told her, and as far as she knew, neither of her parents had siblings or their parents still living....

Eraserhead looked at the little girl, seeing the tears starting to flow from her eyes. He wiped her tears away before making her look at him again. "It'll be all right." He spoke softly as his arms moved her so he could hold her in order to comfort the kid. He knew it was unlike him to do this, and both the heroes with him would question why he had acted the way he did that day..... But she needed comfort, whether or not it was going to be from him or someone else, she needed to know that everything would be okay...

For the ten months following the sludge villain attack and the appearance of the shadow figure, Narako trained harder than she ever had before. She also started noticing a change in Midoriya... He was more determined than ever to become a hero, and he did seem like he was getting more muscle tone on his body.... But, as Narako trained one night, she couldn't help but think about the figure that had appeared. Who had it had been? What did he want with her? She stopped for a moment, letting the bottom of the training staff in her hand hit the ground. For some reason, his power was similar to hers, but at the same time.... Narako shook her head, getting the thought out of her mind as she raised her staff once more. There was no way he could be her MIA father... Right?

Ten months of rigorous training later, at 8:40am, she was standing in front of the same school her mother had graduated from. How many times had her mother talked about UA High? How many times had she promised to help Narako prepare for this day? Countless, and all while she was just a little girl, dreaming of being a hero.... Hell, Izuku and Narako used to pretend to be heroes when they played together without Kaachan, teaming up to fight imaginary bad guys and hoping one day that they'd get to do the very same thing, but with real villains.... Except, back then, neither of them knew what that would cost.... For Izuku, he had learned the hard way that he was to remain quirkless for the rest of his life. But, he was stubborn and kept faith that he could still be a hero anyway.... Taking notes on their classmates, the pros.... Hell, sometimes Narako even helped him with it. For example, if there was something she noticed but he missed, she'd fill in the blank for him. But, the cost for her, however.....

Her mom wasn't there cheering her on, or giving her a pep talk like Narako had hoped. But it wasn't like she didn't have a support system at all... She still had Izuku, who always lifted her spirits when she was losing hope.... And then there was Kacchan... Narako gave a half smile at the memory of the ash blonde's antics... He looked confused sometimes when he was yelling at her, like he wanted to say something encouraging but his watermelon sized pride wouldn't let him so he resorted to making it sound like an insult or like he was gruffly putting her down to light a fire under her ass..... Which honestly cracked her up when she wasn't confused about what he meant by what he said...

"Hi there!" Narako started a bit, having been so deep in thought, she hadn't notice that someone else had joined her until the person spoke up. She turned in the direction of the voice to see a female next to her. "Oh, I'm so sorry! Didn't mean to scare ya, I just saw you standing here and thought I should introduce myself..." As the girl rambled on, Narako took in her appearance. The girl looked to be about 5 foot 5, 3 inches taller than her (annoyingly enough), with big black eyes and lusciously curly black hair that Narako felt a pang of envy of. For some reason, her skin tone reminded her of... Oh, what did the Americans call it? Gingerbread cookies? Pretty sure that was what it was... Just as her thoughts finished up, the girl got to her name. "Sorry for rambling." She laughed a bit before holding out her hand. "I'm Sami... Sami Amari, nice to meet you." Narako smiled as she took the girl's hand and the two shook hands.

"I'm Narako Matsuko." She introduced herself. "It's a pleasure to meet you too." Sami smiled cutely.

"I have a feeling we're gonna be great friends!" Then the smile dropped into a curious look. "Hang on a second.... Matsuko... You're Siren's daughter, aren't you?" She asked. When Narako nodded, Sami's face lit up. "She was my favorite hero, besides All Might, of course.... But, hey, do you mind if I stick around you for a bit? I'm sorry if my rambling is annoying at all, I'm just really happy that I made a new friend and I..."

"I don't mind at all." Narako smiled. Sami gave a little squeal of happiness and linked her arm with Narako's as the two girls walked toward the doors together. Narako glanced over her shoulder and saw Midoriya. He was spacing out, a huge blush on his face as a brunette female walked away from him. Narako gave a little smirk. "I'll meet you inside, I gotta check and see if my old friend's okay." She told Sami. Sami nodded.

"Sure thing." She replied before going inside without her. Narako went to Izuku. She put her hand on his shoulder, making him jump a bit and bringing him out of his thoughts. Izuku started at the feeling of a hand on his shoulder and looked to see Narako with a teasing smirk on her face.

"I saw that." She commented.

"S-saw what? I don't know what you're talking about, come on, we're gonna be late if we don't hurry!" Izuku rushed out, his female friend bursting into laughter as he blushed darker in embarrassment.

Before long, the written exams were over, and everyone was headed to the lecture hall to hear the rules of the practical exams. Out of habit, Narako sat beside Bakugou, who had Izuku on his other side for whatever reason, her new friend sitting on her other side. Sami glanced at Bakugou, smiling and waving at him in greeting, and flinching a bit when he glared at her. Narako frowned when she saw this and kicked Bakugou under the table. He grunted in response and glared at her, recieving a glare back.

"So, what's his problem?" Sami whispered in Narako's ear a couple minutes after.

"Don't take it personal, he does that to everybody... Unless he sees you as his equal or something." Narako whispered back. Sami's mouth formed an 'Oh' but no sound came out before the girls' attention was turned toward the front of the room.

"What's up, UA candidates?! Thanks for tuning into me, your school DJ! Come on, and let me hear ya!" Present Mic's enthusiastic greeting was only met with silence. "Mellow crowd, huh? That's fine, I'll skip straight to the main show. Let's talk about how the practical exam's gonna go down, okay? Are you ready?!" His enthusiasm, which made him sound like a wannabe rockstar, was once again met with silence. One glance over at Izuku told Narako he was going to nerd out any second...

Just when Narako was about to warn Sami, Izuku started fanboying. Sami raised an eyebrow. "Is he always like this?" She asked. Narako nodded.

"Usually, he just overthinks everything though." Narako answered.

"Please shut up." Bakugou spoke up, his words pointed at Izuku as Present Mic started to explain the practical exam.

"Like your application said, today you rockin' boys and girls will be testing in ten minute mock battles in super suburban settings! After I drop the mic here, you'll head to your specified battle centers, sound good?" He was once again met with silence. "Okay?!"

"I see... They're splitting us up so we can't be work with any of our friends." Bakugou said as he looked at his own card before glancing at Izuku's. While Narako was in Battle Center C, Izuku and Bakugou were in battle centers B and A respectively.

"You're right... Our examinee numbers are one after the other, but our battle centers are completely different." Izuku replied, his green eyes shifting from his card to Bakugou's.

"Get your eyes off my card." Bakugou growled at him, looking rather annoyed. "Damn... I was really looking forward to crushing you two." Izuku gave a nervous laugh, but looking scared as hell. Meanwhile, Narako just glared at him.

"I'd like to see you try." Narako murmured.

"Okay, okay, let's check out your targets." Present Mic continued. "There are three types of foe villains in every battle center. You'll earn points based on level of difficulty, so better choose wisely. Your goal in this trial is to use your quirk to raise your score by shredding these villains like a rockin' guitar solo!" He pointed at the crowd. "But, check it. Make sure you're keeping things heroic, attacking other examinees is a UA no no, ya dig?"

"Excuse me, sir, but I have a question." One of the guys in the lower rows stood up.

"Hit me!" Present Mic replied, a spotlight shining on the male.

While he was asking his question, Narako took a closer look at him. He looked pretty muscular, dressed in a uniform that screamed that he was from a private, rich kids only junior high with blue hair that was cut pretty short and silver framed glasses from what she could tell. Since his back was to her, she couldn't see the color of his eyes. "On the print out, you've listed 4 types of villains, not 3. With all due respect, if this is an error on official UA materials, it is shameful. We are exemplary students, we expect the best from Japan's most notable school, mistakes like this won't do."

"Rich kid, much?" Narako mumbled under her breath to Bakugou.

"Seriously..." He mumbled back. But, the other male was far from done. He turned around, pointing at Izuku and locking eyes with him.

"Additionally, you with the unkempt hair, you've been muttering this entire time. Stop that. If you can't bother to take this seriously, leave. You're distracting the rest of us." He continued. Izuku covered his mouth with both hands, a soft 'sorry' coming out as a couple people laughed.

Narako rolled her eyes, speaking up. "Oi, four eyes, maybe our esteemed examiner was about to get to explaining about the fourth villain before you interrupted with your question." She pointed out loud enough for him to hear, causing him to go a little red in embarrassment as a couple students laughed, Bakugou going unnoticed as he smirked down at her. That was the Narako he knew, fiesty to the core, no matter who she was facing.

"All right, all right. Examinee number 711, thanks for calling in with your request. The fourth villain type is worth zero points. That guy's just an obstacle we'll be throwing in your way. There's one in every battle center, think of it as a hurdle you should try to avoid. It's not that it can't be beaten, it's just there's... Kinda no point. I reccomend my listeners try to avoid it and focus on those top of the charts." Present Mic explained. The male bowed in respect.

"Thank you very much, please continue." He replied.

"Wow, he's definitely got a stick up his ass." Bakugou and Narako said under their breaths at the same time, their eyes not leaving Present Mic. Sami covered her mouth with both hands while her body shook in laughter, trying really hard not to let the laughter bust loose.

"That's all I got for you today... I'll sign off with a little present, a sample of our school motto. As General Napoleon Bonaparte once laid down, A true hero is one who overcomes life's misfortunes. Mmhmm, now that's a tasty sound bite. You ready to go beyond? Let's hear a Plus Ultra!" Present Mic signed off. "Good luck! Hope you've practiced more than just reading books!" This is it. Narako thought as she stood up with the rest of the students to get changed into their workout clothes and head to their assigned battle center. Sami said goodbye and was gone with a little wave, leaving Narako to turn to the boys.

"Do your best, you guys. With any luck, we'll all get in together." Narako told them. Bakugou grunted, while Izuku nodded.

"Good luck to you too, Nara-chan." He replied. Both of the boys knew how much this meant to her. She gave a half grin.

"I just hope I can make my mom proud." She responded before Izuku left Bakugou and Narako alone.

"There's no point in giving that loser false hope." He commented. She gave him a look.

"You should try encouraging sometime. People might actually see you as a good person and not a total asshole." She replied.

"I don't have to change my attitude because of anyone getting their panties in a bunch, least of all you." Bakugou snapped. Narako looked at him.

"Just don't be stupid in the practical exam. You have a good head on your shoulders, use it when you're out there." Narako said.

"Yeah, yeah, I know." Bakugou waved her off. She shook her head and started to walk away when he called after her, "Don't you be getting your loser ass killed either." She rolled her eyes, saying nothing in response and failing to see Bakugou smirk as he watched her walk away.

A little later, at Battle Center C, a group of students were all stretching or waiting in a stand still at the gates, waiting for them to open and for the practical exam to begin. Narako stretched, her mind partly on her two friends. She knew Bakugou would be fine whether he was nervous or not... As long as he was able to use his quirk to fight, he'd be perfectly fine. The one she was really worried about was Izuku....

For their childhood, Izuku hadn't been known to have a quirk, and all Narako could think about was if her green haired friend would truly be okay in this part of the entrance exams.... She shook her head. He was smart and, despite not having a quirk, he could still find a way to rack up some points. All she had to do was focus on racking up her own points... "Narako, hey!" Narako looked up and grinned easily when she spotted Sami.

"You too, huh?" She asked. Sami nodded, giving an adorable, closed eye smile.

"Yep! I just wanted to wish you good luck before this all starts. I mean, all this is a little nerve wrecking for me, and I can only imagine how you're feeling..." Narako chuckled as Sami started rambling again but stopped herself.

"Good luck to you too, Sami." Narako replied, making Sami grin even wider.

Before long, the entrance exam had begun. Narako took down robot after robot, using her shadow tendrils to help out a couple other examinees too. The combat moves Bakugou had taught her when they were younger ran through her head and she executed each move with precision. Just as she took down what she assumed was robot number 30, however, a cry reached her ears. Her head turned in the direction of the cry and saw Sami. A buff looking examinee was headed towards Sami, and for some reason, the female couldn't move. It looked like he had been attacking her, because Sami looked more than a little worse for wear. Narako automatically started running toward Sami, sliding past someone she saw using super strength. As she slid past, she allowed her hand to slid from the bottom of the person's shadow to the top before getting to her feet quickly and running toward Sami to get her out of harm's way.

"What're you doing?" Sami asked as Narako placed her hands in place to lift the slab of cement keeping her pinned to the ground.

"What heroes do best." Narako answered before beginning to lift it, using her legs as leverage. As soon as Sami could move, Narako used shadow tendrils to get the two girls out of the way just as the examinee punched the ground where the two had been two seconds before. Narako turned to Sami to ask of she was okay, but Sami's eyes were on something behind her.

"Narako, look out!" Sami screamed in warning, shadow tendrils automatically rising to Narako's arms as she turned around and crossed her arms in front of her in order to block the attack. Narako winced as she felt a sharp pain in her arms. This guy was stronger than she thought...

"What the hell? You're not supposed to attack the other examinees, idiot!" Narako snarled.

"Who gives a shit? None of these losers are worthy of the title hero, all they're in it for is the money and fame anyways!" The male growled in response as he kept attacking, Narako keeping up her defenses in order to defend herself and Sami. She needed a plan.... At some point, with all the blows she was taking, the bones in her arms would break if she wasn't careful. Punching him dead on was out of the question since the super strength had faded, Narako having only borrowed enough of the super strength user's power to cover getting Sami out of harm's way. Just as Narako's guard broke, a brown colored fist connected with the guy's face, knocking him away a few feet. Narako looked at Sami to see her new friend step up to her side.

"My turn to help you." Sami told her, Narako being a bit startled to find that Sami's eyes were completely black with a sun in each eye. The girls' attention turned back to their opponent, both girls guarding from another attack just as Present Mic's voice rang out over the loud speakers.

"Whoa there, Examinee 1705, you're disqualified for uncool foulplay! As for everyone else, your time is up!" He shouted. The male roared in anger, but before he could do anything, two of the teachers grabbed him and began to drag him out. Narako realized she hadn't gotten many points and the rest of the time had dwindled away from her while Narako had been protecting Sami. She turned and looked at her new friend. But even though she more than likely didn't get enough points to get in, she'd protect Sami again in a heartbeat.

"I will be back! You haven't seen the last of Kanashi Akaguro!" He yelled as he was dragged off.

"You okay?" She asked Sami. Her new friend nodded in reply.

"I think so... I don't think anything's broken." Sami answered.

"I'll be the judge of that, young lady." The girls' attention turned to an petite old lady, a retired heroine Narako recognized immediately.

"You're Recovery Girl, the Healing Hero." Narako realized. Recovery Girl nodded.

"That I am, but nowadays I'm just the school's nurse." Recovery Girl replied as she healed Sami before turning to Narako. "Now, let me see your arms, it looks like you took quite a hit protecting your fellow examinee." Narako complied at let the woman heal her wounds. "You know, I knew your mother back in the day... When she was just a student at UA, I trained her in her healing techniques as well as healed her from a few injuries." She informed Narako as the process was complete surprising Narako. "I hope to see you at UA soon, Miss Matsuko." With a twinkle in her eye, the old woman walked away to help other students. Narako turned to Sami.

"Mind filling me in on your quirk a bit? Why did your eyes go completely black with suns in them back there?" Narako asked. Sami looked back at her.

"It's my quirk, Eye For Eye. I have three modes that my eyes can turn: Sun/Moon, Love and Heartbroken. All three modes are basically strength enhancers based on conditions I'm in. The one you saw was the Sun/Moon, which is the normal mode, giving me either the sun or moon in my eyes." Sami explained. Narako nodded in understanding.

"Pretty cool." Narako replied, Sami grinning before it fell.

"You didn't get enough points to pass, did you?" She asked. Narako shook her head.

"I don't think I did, no, but helping you was worth it." Narako answered with a smile. "Anways, I'll see you later." With a wave, Narako left the Battle Center. Did she expect to get in at this point? No, but... Being a hero meant risking everything to protect someone, even if it was someone you didn't know....

That was the hero her mother had been.... The hero she wanted to be....

(A/N: Okay, quick little note here! Sami doesn't belong to me, she is the oc of a wonderful friend of mine by the name of samiyaxkpop so go give her a follow! ^.^

Now that that's cleared up.... Will Narako still be accepted into UA? Find out in Chapter Four of Shadow's Vengance!)