༉˚*ೃ ᵒ². 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐃𝐀𝐘 𝐇𝐀𝐒 𝐂𝐎𝐌𝐄!

𝐓𝐒𝐔𝐁𝐀𝐌𝐄 𝐃𝐈𝐃 𝐍𝐎𝐓 have this.

          She was standing in front of the giant Battle Centre G examination doors, which stretched dauntingly towards the sky, and the girl was surrounded by a variety of other contestants who were all facing the exact same thing as her. Just waiting for the doors to open. This physical test would determine the courses of their lives. Her heart thundered wildly within her ribcage.

          So, Tsubame told herself this: I'm strong. I'm brave. I'll destroy this exam and get to the top. I'm going to get to the top. Nerves twisted her up inside. I'm going to get to the top.

          "Are you ready?!"

          She stretched her arms above her head, did a quick jog on the spot, hopped up and down a few times. Anything to hype herself up. To stave off the anxiety that was threatening to make her stomach sick. Her mind ran through the rules again. Destroy all the robots with one to three points. Ignore the robot with zero points. Don't injure anyone. Easy. It was easy.

          Tsubame, who'd never had any actual hero training in her life, swallowed.

          She had to do this for her family. She had to do this for herself.

          The woman's voice came again, and as the great gates began to swing open on their hinges, Tsubame grinned with her sharp teeth, canines already extending as fur bristled up her calves and wrists, bones rearranging. Smiled wolfishly through the pain. Cracked her knuckles. I can do this. Just her and a good thirty other students looking either like they were out for blood or about to faint.

          "Go, go, go!"

          Tsubame ran.

          She'd taken off before her thoughts had even processed the command. Muscle memory. How many times had she run track throughout middle school—sprinted on her strong legs? How many hundreds of kilometres had she run just in training for this moment? There were the thundering of feet around her, dozens of pairs of shoes striking the pavement at once, drowning out the sound of Tsubame's silent predator footfall. With her cheetah legs falling into a sprint, the fifteen-year-old girl was immediately overtaking the other examinees, pressing off ahead and kicking up dust behind her paws. Stay ahead.

          Her mind quickly scanned through the information she knew about cheetahs through her mind, rapid-fire calculating their merits in this exam and their disadvantages. Tsubame needed to use what was best. She had no time to waste precious minutes on something that would prove to hold her back.

          It was true that if Tsubame remained with just her legs those of a cheetah, her human body was able to keep majority of its strong stamina—at the expense of some speed—, but her run to the school had set Tsubame back even further. She was tired. No matter how much her body was trying to tell itself that it wasn't exhausted, there was no hiding that Tsubame wasn't up to her best.

          All I can do is try.

          She was leading the charge, having passed the front line of sprinters moments ago—even their strong legs no match for her cheetah sprint. It would be short-lived, considering how much stamina she'd used up in the hour earlier. So much thinking with her Quirk.

          Just as Tsubame, despite how far ahead she was from the mass, was considering changing it up to a different animal, a spray of rubble and debris burst out in front of her and effectively blocked the path up ahead. A robotic enemy skidded out, having shattered through the wall at her right. It was about the size of two Tsubame body-lengths, shaded dark green, with glowing red lights that acted as faux eyes. Attached to its body were multiple whirring arms with pincer-like metallic fingers that clicked in waiting.

         She changed in an instant. Slim cheetah paws grew out, gained muscle, sprouted sharp and long claws that could easily tear out a spine. Her fingers, which had stayed unchanged up until now, cracked into the same. Pain. It was bearable. Striped fur crawled up her wrists and calves. And within about two seconds, amongst the fastest Tsubame had ever forced her body to change, panthera adrenaline was running through her system.

          A giant '2' was scrawled on the robot's chest, and Tsubame didn't even consider leaving it behind to go for a higher point bot, because she was already springing off of the ground with her mightily powerful haunches—all that extra muscle she'd willed herself to pack in paying off—, and flying towards its middle, before any of the students sprinting after her could steal her points. "Target acquired!" the robot, that really wasn't so big at all, gritted out in a nasally computerized voice. "Preparing to kill!" But no more had its program uttered the words than Tsubame was upon it.

          She'd read in one of her hundreds of animal books that the strike of a tiger's paw could crush a grown cow's skull as easily as an aluminium can. Now, that phenomenally powerful paw, which still had enough human bones in it to form a fist, slammed right into the robot's centre. The effect was immediate. The entire thing just shattered. Her blow broke the thing inwards with its frail frame and outer shell, caving at the chest. Sparks flew, smoke rose up as the impact drove its own skeleton into itself so intensely that it went crashing backwards onto the street and exploded into bits of metal leg and body and arm.

          Tsubame's fist ached. She landed all cat-like and perched on bits of the debris painted '2', and immediately sprung off from her haunches again, not giving her the time to rest. She had ten minutes—probably nine and a bit, now—to prove herself; to determine the course of her life. Adrenaline and nerves pumped through her, matched by a wild feeling induced by predatory instincts.

          Cheetah was simply not sustainable. The species was quick but couldn't hold up against a solid fight. If Tsubame wanted to win, this was her best choice. Not as fast. More durable.

          A few more paces on Tsubame's strong tiger haunches sent her flying around a corner. If she stuck around with the other examinees, it'd just be a scrap to see who could get the final blows. A couple of other students peeled off after her as the giant group scattered. Up ahead, three 2-point robots that had previously been stagnant rose to attention. So this was a game of seeking and destroying. As the machines turned to face their attackers, it was Tsubame and two other examinees—one boy with stretchy arms, and a dark-haired girl—who got to them first.

          Tsubame leapt at the one directly in front of her as the two examinees on her left and right took out their corresponding ones. Her sharp claws dug into a panel at the front and tore it into pieces as she clung on. When it attempted to fight back, Tsubame ducked out of the way of its grasping arm and shattered an incredibly powerful kick down into the top of the enemy. Something in it broke, and when Tsubame kicked it again, at the side this time, its mechanical head popped off. She defeated it just in time to watch the other examinees finish theirs off too. The boy had gotten it tangled up in itself by using his long arms and pulled out its mainframe wires at its front. The girl with the dark hair had thrown small chunks of debris at the robot nearest to her, which, one she pressed her fingertips together, grew ginormous in size and crushed the robot into a mottled heap before it could even strike back. Interesting Quirks, to be sure. Tsubame couldn't let them beat her.

          She took off again, hoping to lose the other exam-goers and get them off her heels. She was on four points currently—if those examinees hadn't been there to take out the other bots she'd be on eight. The boy followed her, possibly hoping to mooch off of her, but Tsubame lost him by plunging through one of the dilapidated buildings and pouncing up the stairs. Despite the significant decrease in speed, Tsubame had to admit that tiger legs were a much preferable option to their acinonyx counterpart, strong and powerful and packed with dangerous potential. They flung her up to the second story without much of a hitch. Good, the other boy had been left behind on her heels.

          Through the dilapidated house she ran, avoiding sections where the floor crumbled onto the ground story below, cutting straight through to where the next street would be. She got to the end of the building and was right—a main road stretched out ripe for the taking beyond her. Tsubame skidded to a stop at the point where the house ended, an entire wall missing in the abandoned area—when something just down on the street, directly below the broken window, caught her eye.

          A 3-point enemy. It was significantly larger than the 2-points were, with three different extendable claws and a rectangular head. Two students were currently making a race towards it—Tsubame went for it first. She took a leap off the edge of second story, arms flying up in anticipation and her strong paws braced downwards. Wind rushed past her face. It forced her hair twirling back behind her as she fell, heart pounding at even the short distance. She landed directly on top of its sturdy skull, her powerful paws already doing enough damage in sending the thing stumbling. The other two examinees who'd been pursuing the bot skidded to a stop in surprise and despair. Her landing had caused a sizeable dent in its metal head.

          The robot was incredibly aware of her presence now, and seemed determined to get the attacking girl off. One of its long, scorpion-like arms snapped up from its side and reeled over its head towards her body. Tsubame leapt backwards. A wide-eyed grimace pulled at her lips as she made the lucky dodge. If she hadn't gotten out of the way, would that have broken her ribs?! The only bones Tsubame had ever properly broken were her wrist and her leg: one while thinking she could jump the bannister on the school stairs and land okay on her feet, the other taking a dive on a bicycle. And she'd been little. Breaking something during the exam would put her out of commission for the rest of it.

          All of this ran through Tsubame's mind in overdrive as she skidded across its head, the robot's mechanical arm missing her by a few hairs, and then her strong fist was driving straight downwards into the dent she'd already created with her feet. Strike. Strike. Strike. Rapid and powerful. Kept deepening the sore-looking metal rupture. Tsubame's tiger claws were deadly enough to rip flesh to shreds, so she used them on the machine's metallic outer shell. Got her vaguely still human-shaped fingers around the edges of the metal dent she'd made. Tore it upwards to make a sizeable hole in its head cavity. There they were: the core wires that functioned the machine.

          It didn't even stand a chance as her claws pulled out the chords with such fervour that the wires snapped. Then the entire robot collapsed sideways, sending Tsubame hopping neatly off onto the pavement. She brushed invisible dirt off of her skirt, shot the two gaping examinees a thumbs up, and then sprinted off in a different direction. Seven, she counted to herself. Her dash down a random alley secured another 2-point robot that sat in wait. With adrenaline and wild cat instincts pumping her veins, she punched the mediocre thing to bits. Nine.

          From then on, it was pretty much a blur. The robots weren't just wandering around—it was a calculated game of hide and seek—, they needed to be searched out first, and the examinees were doing a really good job at that. Everywhere she turned there were more students obliterating the training bots with their Quirks. She spotted the frog girl flinging herself around with her tongue and sending a smaller 2-point robot flying into a wall where it shattered. Tsubame had gotten into a rhythm. Rhythms were easy for her, they were methodical and structured and could never let her down. It was run, seek, find, destroy. Rip them apart or demolish them with powerful blows. She racked up points after points that way. From nine to twelve, to fifteen, to eighteen. Rhythm after rhythm.

          Tsubame had just finished demolishing another 3-point robot in one of the main streets, which was littered with faux villains that had been driven out by the examinees, when her eyes scanned road of students and robots and noticed a hazard.

          There was a girl with hooved feet and long spired horns who was in the midst of taking out a 2-pointer. Behind her, another examinee had just eliminated a larger one of three points. Unfortunately, his success at that had caused the robot's leg to come off. Which had led into the following unfolding situation: a tilting robot plummeting straight towards an oblivious examinee who was much too focused in obliterating her own target to notice the danger literally about to fall on her head. U.A.'s exam is willing to crush people?!

          Tsubame jumped from her own bot. She hit the ground in a roll, momentarily jarring her elbow, and then flung herself forward with her strong feet springing off the ground. The robot was falling at a dangerous speed—and the seemingly unaware horned girl was just starting to notice, head tilting up and body turning to become aware of the danger. Right as it seemed like the faux villain was about to land on her head, Tsubame caught her. Tackled the shorter girl around the waist, with Tsubame's body half-perpendicular, and pressed off with one of her strong feet again to fling the both of them out of the way in time.

          If she was honest, Tsubame had barely processed the whole thing. The way she'd started to run, or how she'd grabbed the girl, or how she'd gotten out of there just as the wind of the falling robot began to brush their hair. She was just on one side, and then she was on the other with the girl safe against her.

          There was a big shudder as the 3-point robot struck the ground where the examinee with the horns had stood just two seconds before. Tsubame was still in a sprint, ricocheting the number of twenty-one around her head when she set the girl down onto her feet and bounded off again without stopping. She needed to get more points—that's just how it was.

          The examinee who she'd saved was frozen with surprise, unmoved from where Tsubame had dropped her off. "Thank you!" the girl exclaimed in English, like she'd forgotten herself momentarily. Her blue eyes were tracked on Tsubame as the taller girl sprinted off towards more robots.

          "Don't worry about it!" Tsubame called back in Japanese once again, and trusted that the girl had no hard feelings about how she'd already run off. The clawed girl went straight for another metallic enemy. How many had she destroyed so far? The numbers ran over in her head. 2. 2. 3. 2. 3. 3. 3. 3. 2. 3. 3. Like a chant, a rhythm. Blow after blow. Sharp claws, wild kick, crunching punch that left the robots in creaking piles of their own metal corpse. All in all, they weren't that tough. They were made to be broken—the U.A. teachers had to give these new fledglings a chance to pass—, but somehow the machines were still kicking Tsubame's ass. In the sense that holy fuck she was tired. She'd stretched her body to the limit with the run to U.A.. Now she was pushing it even further.

          What Tsubame needed was a good sleep. Unfortunately, it didn't seem like that would be something she was getting here. Unless she willingly decided to let a robot crush her.

          All around the girl, who'd paused for breath with her back bent, hands braced on her knees, letting lines of perspiration fall from her skin onto the pavement below, other examinees were laying waste to fake villains. 29 points, she calculated, panting. How many robots had that been? 11? 12? 13? Tsubame couldn't tell. She was breathing heavily. Sweat freely rolled down her face, dripping off of her nose, and she could feel it on her legs. Desperately trying to cool down her confused body that was half human, half tiger. Had she not missed the bus—gotten to U.A. early, had the chance to relax and eat loads of nourishing food, not used up all her energy in the run there—, Tsubame was sure she'd have taken out at least five or so more. But this was okay. As long as she stuck to the high-reward enemies. So far, she hadn't gone after a single 1-point robot, and Tsubame would keep it that way.

          She lightly clenched her fists, fingers aching. This much punching solid metal was going to give her nastily bruised hands and painful wrists tomorrow. It was lucky the robots weren't that tough. Still trying to regain her breath, flicking some sweat off of her forehead with the back of a clawed paw, Tsubame looked around. Other examinees were still fighting. The girl with the earphone jack lobes plugged her appendages into a device at her calves, and destroyed two robots at the same time with what seemed to just be a wave of pure sound. Another boy was lined with silver skin, and tore off the lower-half of a robot with his bare hands—the remains of others were littered around him. Sweat droplets slid down her face. Tsubame felt panic crawling up her throat as her breath still panted out and her other rivals were tearing down robot after robot surrounding her. Is 29 enough?

          She was still catching her breath. But the number 29 stuck in her head like a thorn. More and more robots were getting demolished by examinees all around her. She watched them fall like flies. Is 29 really enough to get through? Will I fail with just those points? Straightening her spine, Tsubame made the executive decision to move. She could get one more, right?

          As if on cue, a 3-point robot clawed its way out of a dilapidated building just up ahead to her left. All eyes were on it immediately. Predatory glints. About five examinees turned towards it, their feet taking off. Tsubame wasn't an outlier. Her strong paws pressed off the ground, overtaking one of the girls in the charge instantly, passing another rival a mere second later. Soon, it was just her and one other male examinee really in the game for this singular robot, having gotten ahead of the other pursuers.

         He seemed to have a Transformation-type Quirk too, coming in towards the robot from Tsubame's right with an intense look in his eyes, matching Tsubame's own. They both needed these points. He was getting close. Leapt up over a pile of rubble in an attempt to get there first. Tsubame wouldn't let him. "It's mine!" she shouted wildly, getting all caught up in the competition like the other students with her already abnormally long canines bared, as she launched past the rival in a desperate leap. She got there first. Her claws shredded through the 3-point robot's hull. One strong hand pulled out a red glass eye, and another sent a scorpion tail -like limb flying. The robot was wrecked within seconds.

          The boy who she'd beaten to the prize sighed dramatically, "Aw man!" When the robot's weight fell, Tsubame was perched upon it with both her feet and hands—each clawed paws—digging sharply into the metal. She was just trying to catch her breath. Her head hung heavy. Sweat dripping. Just a brief break...

          The ground rumbled. No, not just the ground. Everything. A great shudder went through the concrete, across the street, up the buildings surrounding them on the wide road. It sent all the examinees stumbling as Tsubame, still perched where she had landed, tiredly raised her head. There, about 700 meters or so in front of her and the other close-by examinees, dust and rubble were rising into a cloud in the air. Anticipation and dread was a suffocating blanket over the exam-goers. Then, a metal hand pushed through. And a body. A giant robot, taller than the largest buildings in the battle centre. It stood straight amidst the falling dirt, with glowing red eyes.

          Tsubame heard the girl with the earphone jacks say, "Holy shit."

          The robot, which had no number label, then began to move towards them. One single step on its titanic foot shook the entire battle centre. Shouts rose up. Panic. They went that overboard with the 0-point villain?! Tsubame instantly stood, despite how tired she was, immediately alert. Flight or fight kicked in on its own accord as other students began to back up and flee from the machine that was crashing towards them. It had gigantic mechanical arms that reached down to smash apart a building. Debris rained down, narrowly avoiding some of the escaping examinees.

          "Everyone get out of here!" shouted earphone jack girl. She was standing on a small pile of rubble, the appendages hanging from her earlobes returning to a shorter length as she waved her arm towards those dashing down the street, and turned to make her own break for it. But before Tsubame could run, something caught her sharp eyes. Behind the '0' robot: Tsubame's salvation. Two 3-point robots just in wait—protected by the titanic moving wall that threatened to crush any examinees that came close. Her gaze locked onto them hungrily.

          That's six more points.

          Tsubame started to run. This time, against the current.

          She leapt over a broken robot agilely, her strong paws launching her up and back down with ease. Her shoulder knocked against a male examinee who was fleeing as the giant robot stomped towards them. More chunks of rubble rained down—smashing against the street. She turned many heads as she ran towards the giant enemy—a few people calling out warnings. One of its hands smashed down onto the ground, just narrowly avoiding crushing a student. Tsubame was closing in. 500 meters. 400. 

           "Turn around!" shouted one of the girls who was fleeing out of the way of the titanic faux villain, but Tsubame was not going to let herself fail. There were two robots ripe for the taking right there. Tsubame had no idea if 31 points was enough to pass—she needed to pass. Her hands stung and the muscles of her legs ached from overexertion as she launched herself forward, increasing speed after speed. Her strong, muscled haunches continued to drive her ahead. Even despite the danger and all the fleeing examinees. 300 meters.

          Another boy shouted something to her, but Tsubame was too driven by her goal to even catch what the words had been. Probably something along the lines of, "Are you insane?!" Which, yes, maybe Tsubame's wild cat arrogance brain was getting too full of itself. Maybe the story of Akatsuki Tsubame would end with her being crushed against the street by a giant Entrance Exam robot. But whether it was hubris, or just adrenaline-fuelled determination, the wildness in Tsubame's eyes was hard to ignore. It was only natural that her different forms influenced her—that having tiger DNA twisting up her instincts made her stubbornness and aggression levels increase tenfold; that after her exhaustive run this morning it was a lot easier to just let her body run with it. But Tsubame needed those point. And her human brain wanted them just as much as her animal instincts did.

          The 0-point robot, who was towering above the street, had spotted her. Its giant glowing red eyes honed in on her figure that was running straight for it. Tsubame's glittering yellow eyes were focused only on the two 3-point bots shielded behind it. I'm going to win.

          As if on command, the robot went in for the attack, bringing its giant hand swinging down towards her—as her legs carried her closer and closer. Its reaction time was slow. By the time is slammed its hand down against the road, Tsubame was already in front of that spot. The pavement ruptured and sent her flying up, but she used that to her advantage, correcting her positioning in the air. Her feet landed against the ground and she sprung forward again—faster this time, from the momentum. She'd reached the base of the giant villain and pounced. Deadly claws razed into the metal, giving her holding points as she scrambled up its base. Then up its large side.

          Like she was a flea, the robot shifted its arms in an attack and made an attempt to swipe her off. Tsubame used her strong limbs to fling herself up further and grasp on again, just narrowly getting above the point where the robot struck at itself. She clung on through determination. Some of those running had stopped in the street to watch the scene—wondering what on earth the girl with half-tiger limbs was doing. The entire bot shuddered as it struck its own side as if it were swatting a fly. Tsubame clawed her way higher until she was out of harm's way, just a small speck on the ten-story high robot.

          Once Tsubame had reached an advantageous height that she deemed safe, she turned with a single hand still clawed into the metal for purchase, and positioned herself with her feet planted solidly against the giant bot's side. Then she let go and pushed off in a great, flying leap. Her legs moved through the air as she jumped, arms coming up above her head, best calculating how she could land from the fall.

          It seemed like the giant 0-point enemy still wanted to grab hold of her, but it was too large and crammed between the buildings to turn around in an attempt to get the pestering girl. It did its best. By then, Tsubame had already reached the first 3-point robot, claws on both her feet and hands extended as she flew. She struck its side with a 'thunk!', her weight sending it careening a little bit with four matching gashes where each of her paws had landed. She instantly flipped above its head—pushing off with her feet, hands clinging on until the last moment to backflip up gracefully, both sets of claws slicing through the air in a premeditated warning of attack. She'd have to thank her father for the gymnastic lessons she took as a girl.

          When she landed on its head, the first thing she did was sear her claws through its metal skull. Tsubame had gotten good at taking out 3-point enemies. Her swipe ruthlessly crumbled the metal, and she once again reached viciously into its core to tear out important wires, clenching them with her strong fingers. It gave a little shudder as its red lights went out. Wrecked.

          The other one swung at her and Tsubame flipped herself up over its arm. The robot's claw hit the other bot that Tsubame had just defeated, while Tsubame was airborne, just narrowly avoiding being caught in the strike. There was an attempt for Tsubame to control her body in the air. She should have given herself a non-prehensile tail for balance and manoeuvrability, but that would have taken time, and pain, and Tsubame had only ever tried that, like, twice. As it was, she landed a bit sloppily. Her thigh connected with the metal first, leaving a vicious sting that would definitely result in purpled flesh. Then her hip came down, and the rest of her on her side—which, also painful. Despite her wince, Tsubame pushed through the pain. She scrambled back up to avoid the 3-point bot striking its arm into its own head, diving messily out of the way.

         The giant 0-point robot had managed to mostly turn its oversized body around in the narrow buildings channel, seemingly ignoring the other students in pursuit of this one meddling girl. Too bad. Tsubame viciously sprung up and delivered a painful kick to the smaller robot's 'face', shattering several of the red orbs it had acting as eyes. A bit of agony shot from Tsubame's foot up her calf, but the toned muscles in her strong legs—both tiger and human—were enough to bear the brunt. The robot staggered, Tsubame landed elegantly on the pavement with one leg extended and another with the knee bent, fingers braced on the ground. Then she pounced back forward, claws slashing, and tore off a supporting limb. While it stumbled on just two mechanical legs, Tsubame took the one she'd ripped off and leapt into the air, pushed off of the pavement by her strong legs.

          In the air, she grinned with her sharp teeth, and used the momentum of her bodyweight to drive the broken-off limb right down into the 3-point robot's body. There was a spark and the creaking of metal as it was impaled. Then it collapsed unceremoniously to the ground, broken too. She was left standing over it, heaving for breath through pants, as sweat dripped down her, clawed fingers still gripping the end of the sharp metal limb. Her head hung. The perspiration didn't seem to stop coming, and her need for air wasn't slowing down. Pain from the minor injuries she'd endured was beginning to set in.

          A loud sound from behind her, and debris raining down on the street, indicated that she'd gotten herself stuck in a predicament. And so, still clutching the robot limb like it was a cane, Tsubame's head dared to turn around. The 0-pointer had managed to rotate its entire body through the space, at the expense of two buildings that were currently crumbling into the earth. Though it did not really have a face, Tsubame could tell its gaze was focused on her. Am I going to get crushed now? Tsubame's body had officially run out of that adrenal instinct—it was just telling her to go to sleep. She couldn't fight the titan if she tried. The worst part was that she was too worn out to even really care. Crush me and I'll be able to sleep, she thought half-assedly, mouth parted as she panted. Sweat ran down her face, down her nose and past her eyes. Actually, don't. Bed would be better.

          As if some benevolent god had heard her wishes, the gigantic robot stilled, its eyes dying from their red glow to a dull grey.

          "That's it! Time's up! The exam is over!" the woman's shout echoed over the loudspeaker, and Tsubame promptly collapsed backwards onto her ass. A loud alarm echoed throughout the urban battle centre streets, confirming that the events were indeed at a close. The fight had left her body. She sat slumped on the street, totally reached the end of her exertion limit. Even minorly using her Quirk during the day was the reason why her body shut down so much the moment she hit her pillow—today, Tsubame had pushed herself further than ever before. Dammit, this is what happens when you miss the bus.

          But, God, she'd made it through the exam. Hadn't she?! Who was anyone, or herself, to underestimate herself anymore? She'd made it through the U.A. exam! Even if she didn't pass, at least she could say she survived!

          Tsubame fell even further so she lay on her back, facing towards the blue expanse of sky. So many emotions hit her all at once. But most of all, relief.

          37 points. 37 points, holy fuck. She could feel her body shutting itself down. The layer of striped fur that had covered both her arms and her legs began to sink away, pressing itself back into her skin with no sign it had ever been there before. Bones cracked, muscles rearranged, nerves realigned. And then she was her. The human her. The young girl's knuckles were bloody and already fading into a purple shade. 37 points?! Overwhelmed, Tsubame reached up her hands and clasped them over her face. Felt like sobbing and laughing into her palms simultaneously. That was enough, right? It had to be! She was giddy with delight and it made her want to cry. Pride burst hot and warm in her chest. 37 points. That wave of childish happiness had washed over her, even as her back pressed flat into the ground and her hands burned.

          The alarm continued to sound as other students—from beyond the 0-point robot that had put up a wall between them and Tsubame—made other loud sounds of relief or joy or disappointment. Tsubame was so caught up with the mixed feelings of ease and giddiness washing over her that she barely noticed when heeled footsteps clicked their way towards her lying form.

          "Are you injured?" The deep female voice drew Tsubame out of her thoughts. Tsubame pulled her hands away from her face and blinked straight up at the sky to see an older woman peering down at her. It was the same lady who'd announced the beginning of the exam from up atop the wall: the one with the black hair and the choppy bangs. She was wearing some kind of hero outfit that was rather scandalous and should probably not be allowed in a high school.

          Tsubame felt her face going hot, but then she just blinked. Her ears processed the woman's words. The woman—supervisor—who probably thought she'd been hurt in the exam. Considering how she was lying on her back motionlessly. "Oh, yeah, I'm fine," Tsubame assured her, cheeks darkening with embarrassment. "Just exhausted now." Not wanting to mortify herself further, the fifteen-year-old forced herself into sitting position and then climbed onto her feet. Her legs felt a little shaky and she experimentally flexed and unflexed her bruising fingers. Ouch.

         The tall woman peered down at Tsubame, "Well, if you need medical attention, Recovery Girl is standing by at a temporary nurse's office." Her electric blue eyes bore into Tsubame.

          Tsubame glanced down at her aching hands. They were sore and bruised and a little split, but nothing was broken. Nothing was hurt too bad. And her skin would just grow tougher. If she couldn't handle a few bumps, knocks and scrapes, how could Tsubame say that she was going to be a top Pro Hero? So, the young girl shrugged and brushed dirt off of her skirt. "I'm alright." She rubbed the back of her neck, glancing around at the wreckage of the battle centre. Destroyed bots and a hell of a lot of property damage. If this had been a public, real situation then the 'heroes' would have been in a lot of trouble. Kind of like Tsubame today with all the dented cars. She winced at that thought. It made sense—they were just kids attempting to train. This was why none of them were good enough to be heroes yet. "So, what do we do now?" she voiced to the tall woman, who seemed to be observing the situation too.

          Gaze glinting behind her deep red eye-mask, the female hero—teacher?—turned back to Akatsuki Tsubame. "The buses will take all of the examinees back to the main hub." Her voice was rather low and sultry too. Was this woman really an educator?! "Make sure you hand your form back in so they can conclude you've partaken in the exam. Then you kids can head home." At the word home, Tsubame's muscles visibly relaxed. She wanted nothing more than to curl up and rest right now. Maybe put some ice on her hands.

          "Thank you," nodded Tsubame courteously, bowing a little at the hips, respectfully, because she'd concluded that she was 90% sure that this woman was indeed a teacher and Tsubame probably needed to be more polite.

          "No worries." The woman's reply was casual. Her tall figure yawned and stretched her arms above her head—her hero costume really was skin-tight. She had a flogging-style of whip in her belt?! Whatever, Tsubame wasn't going to question it anymore. The well-timed yawn that left Tsubame's mouth was enough to indicate she simply didn't give enough of a crap to analyse it further. "I've got to go check if anyone else is injured. Don't get hurt on your way back to the bus," were the woman's parting words, spoken a little teasingly with the upward lilt of her lips, before she was turning around and sauntering over to the other students to check over their wellness... in her knee-high boots. One again, Tsubame was just too damn tired. U.A. was freaking weird.

          As Tsubame began to trek sluggishly—with a bit of a limp and mostly just a tired stagger—back towards the 0-point robot in the direction of the great entrance gates, she exhaled a soft sigh of relief and rubbed at her eyes. Her family probably wanted to celebrate her completion of the toughest Entrance Exam in the country. Tsubame's plan? Fall into bed and sleep.

━━━━

'AKATSUKI FAMILY'

4 members.

New Messages: 9:25AM

tomomi MOON RABITT ʚ₍⑅ᐢ‸　 ̫ 　‸ᐢ₎ɞ

tsubamemochi are you done yet !!

please tll us your done !!!

miki (^.~)☆

she should be finished with it now

DAD (￣^￣)ゞ

Let's cross our fingers that she did well!

tomomi MOON RABITT ʚ₍⑅ᐢ‸　 ̫ 　‸ᐢ₎ɞ

cheering for tsubamemochi !!! (',,•ω•,,)♡

miki (^.~)☆

DUMMY I CAN SEE THAT YOU'VE JUST READ THE CHAT

don't leave us hanging, how did you do ?!!

tsubame ..·ヾ(。＞＜)シ

(≧◡≦)b

━━━━

༉*ೃ༄

𝐀 𝐖𝐄𝐄𝐊 𝐋𝐀𝐓𝐄𝐑, Tsubame was out for a late-evening run, in her strong teal sneakers and with her watch that was recording not only the number of steps she ran and the distance, but also her heartrate. Even if she wasn't going to get into U.A., Tsubame still needed to train. Early and late jogs each day helped with this. They also kind of kept her sane. The DNA Alteration Quirk holder was full of pent up energy at every given time. Maybe it was the animal parts inside her needing to stretch their legs. Maybe it was the ADHD. She didn't quite know.

          By the time she got home, it was well dark—running at night was dangerous, Tsubame was aware, but the only time she'd ever been ambushed on a run, she'd broken the attacker's wrist and then nose, so she felt safe enough with her Quirk to take her usual route. She pulled her earbud out of her single ear, the lack of upbeat music dousing the world in cold silence, as Tsubame unlocked the door to her home. The genkan had been sealed off from the main house with a thin sliding door in order to keep the warmth in. When Tsubame closed the front door behind her she pulled off her sneakers and neatly lined them up alongside the boots she'd kicked off on her way to the Entrance Exam.

          Her opening of the sliding door that separated the genkan with the living room was punctuated by an explosion of confetti and streamers and the shout of, "SURPRISE!" from Tomomi, as Tsubame promptly got blasted in the face by a party popper.

          "Momi! Careful, you're not supposed to aim it at her," chided Miki, but had her hand resting lovingly on her little sister's head. Tsubame's three family members were all crowded together in the doorway—Tomomi in the middle with her hands thrown out excitedly, Miki at her right, and Dad at Tomomi's left, his arm slung around his youngest daughter's shoulders.

          The girl just blinked in shock, as her father offered her a joyous, "Welcome home, Tsubamemochi!"

          "It's like a surprise birthday party!" crowed Tomomi as she excitedly flapped her hands around in front of her face and then down at her side, grinning wide from ear to ear. "Except it's not a birthday!" She continued to pull the excited hand movements as Miki sidestepped around her and held out a small, white envelope to Tsubame. Their father watched from behind the two girls.

          "Your U.A. letter arrived," explained Miki—immediately indicating just what the envelope she was holding was. Oh shit.

          It had been a week since the day of the Entrance Exam. A week of sitting around anxiously, staring at the wooden mailbox through the window, lounging around the house and sitting upside-down on the couch and trying to find ways of keeping herself occupied that wouldn't end in her going stir-crazy. Waiting around and twiddling her thumbs had never been Tsubame's way. Even just sitting still was a grievous challenge. If she wasn't tapping something, or clicking a pen, or fidgeting, Tsubame simply wouldn't survive. And now, after all that agonizingly restless waiting—of trying to find DVDs to occupy herself with, and scrolling through social media to see what events her old middle school classmates were throwing that she hadn't been invited to—here it was right in front of her. Held in the hands of her sister. And Tsubame didn't even want to open it.

          Miki, with her devilish older sister senses, must have picked up on the way that Tsubame was staring down the neat envelope like it was a murder weapon. "What, you don't want to know?" The eighteen-year-old had gone to a regular high school and graduated just the year prior—she'd had no interest in becoming a hero or going to a hero school. But Tsubame knew, that with all Miki's teasing, the older girl knew exactly what Tsubame was going through. She'd been the exact same way when faced with her graduation results. "Come on, the villains aren't waiting around."

          Tsubame gave her sister a light stink eye and pushed lightly past her into the house. Her socks were comfortable against the tatami flooring. "Of course I want to know, just let me sit down first." She needed to do that right away, because her legs were starting to shake a little, and she was feeling the urge to tap her fingers rapidly on a hard surface. She settled for the Akatsukis' small couch, which her family had decorated up with streamers and confetti, flopping back on the comfortable but old cushions as Miki and Tomomi gathered around.

          Tomomi was clutching her plush rabbit excitedly to her chest, tugging its paw and chewing ever-so-slightly on one of its fluffy ears. Miki, was perched on the couch arm more gracefully than her other sisters with one long knee elegantly brought up to her chest, despite the fact that she hadn't changed out of her dingy work uniform yet. When Tsubame glanced around for her dad, he was lifting a single plate of the many that he and Miki had whipped up in the kitchen for this special occasion. "Daifuku?" her father offered her, the plate looking delectable, freshly pounded and pinched. For all Tsubame's love of sweets, she didn't think she could handle the sticky treat right now.

         "Thanks, Dad," she murmured gratefully, taking the small plate and lowering it into her lap. For later. Depending on if she got into U.A. or not. If Tsubame did, she was seriously going to shove her face with all the daifuku she could. If she'd been rejected, the girl would probably do the same but curled up in bed surrounded by tissues and out of a need for comfort food rather than a celebration. Miki handed her the letter. For all of Miki's teasing, her passing of the object was careful and calm. Tsubame looked at it like the piece of paper was a live bomb.

          Shit—what was she going to do if she didn't get in? How would her family react? What—?

          Tsubame pushed it all aside and tore the envelope open with her fingernail. Her fingers shook when she drew the letter out, but startled a little when she felt something else at the bottom of the envelope. Whatever it had been came loose as she tugged the piece of paper. A small, silver circle. It bounced off of her jittering knee and landed, rolling, onto the kotatsu. Tomomi craned forward, and Miki cocked her head to the side, as the small circular object came to a stop upwards-facing. There was a moment of pause.

          Then a blue light emitted from its centre and an image abruptly burst out of the small device. It filled the space above the kotatsu, a rectangular hologram screen that, to everyone's surprise, was suddenly filled with the face of Japan's Number One Hero. "I'm here as a projection!" His voice was shouting and joyous.

          The gasp that ripped from Tomomi's mouth was excited and filled with total wonder, "All Might?!"

          Tsubame had about the same reaction. What—?!

          "It's not yet public knowledge, but I, All Might, am going to be a teacher at U.A!" the hero announced, much to the complete shock of Tsubame and her family. She was going to be taught by the Number One Hero—?! "In this personalised message, I'm here to announce that you, Akatsuki Tsubame, passed the written exam, albeit barely, and smashed the practical exam with flying colours!" Tomomi let out a squeak of delight while Tsubame just sat frozen, wide-eyed. "As heroes, we are constantly looking for those who will come after us, who will be there to take our place someday. Your physical and Quirk abilities shown in the exam were excellent, and you've proven yourself capable to act appropriately under intense and stressful situations. Additionally, with keeping young Tsunotori Pony out of harm's way, you gained twenty rescue points to add to your score." The digital screen behind All Might shifted into the shape of a leaderboard. It took a moment for Tsubame's eyes to quickly scan over the names, not even taking them in, before she found her own name at number ten.

          'NO. 10. Akatsuki Tsubame. 37 Villain Points. 20 Rescue Points.'

          "Congratulations Tsubamemochi!" exclaimed Miki, suddenly filled with a clear emotion that was rare for the girl. Her entire family clearly bursting with excitement but not wanting to interrupt the moment or All Might's words.

          Number ten in the entire exam?! Tsubame clasped a hand over her mouth, overwhelmed with relief and excitement. She didn't care if she wasn't 1st or 2nd or even 5th place. Number ten was good enough for her. Tsubame hadn't even realised that rescue points were a thing—perhaps that was a part of the brief she'd missed, maybe it was a secret kept by the examiners—she'd just saved that girl without really thinking about it. Hadn't even questioned her actions. All Might continued, "The world needs heroes who are willing to help those in need. Your feet move without thinking. That is what it means to be a great hero." Tsubame was being praised by All Might? Was this real? The Pro Hero grinned at her from the recorded projection screen, wearing a smart yellow suit that made his muscles pop. "We look forward to shaping you into a powerful Pro!" No way. No way. Tsubame was totally going to tear up. Her heart thudded intensely in her chest. All Might extended a hand out towards the camera, like he was personally inviting her in. "Welcome to U.A. High School, Akatsuki Tsubame; to your hero academia!"

          The holographic screen ended on All Might's open hand stretched out towards her, the constant smile on his face glowing brighter than ever. There was a stagnant pause, punctuated by each member of the Akatsuki family's grin. Then it was broken. "Ah! Tsubamemochi! You did it!" Miki cheered from the other end of the couch. That was the shattering of the damn. Kazuo whooped, and Tomomi leapt off of her cushion with a ferverous shout.

          All Tsubame could do was keep her hands over her face and mutter the same chant over and over. "Oh my God, oh my God, oh my God!" It was spoken in an excited whisper, bright grin never leaving Tsubame's face. Holy shit. She was going to U.A.. She was going to U.A.! So much excitement was welling up inside her, bubbling up, that all she could really manage to do was clasp her hands over her mouth in an overwhelming wave of emotions.

          Tomomi was flapping her hands joyously again, little blurs as she hopped around with the widest grin on her face. "Tsubamemochi's going to be a hero! Just like Miruko! The greatest hero ever!" She was giddy, beside herself, stimming just about as much as her wrists would let her. "You're going to be so cool! You'll have to tell me all about it! Hero Tsubamemochi!" Tomomi's voice eventually gave up with her excitement and she resigned to making little happy noises and jumping around from foot-to-foot, like she was pretending to be a bunny rabbit.

          "You'll be the best hero," approved Miki, with what sounded like genuine excitement coming from the typically reserved girl. "My God, Tsubamemochi, I'm so happy for you." U.A. was Japan's most prestigious hero school. She'd gotten into the most prestigious hero school. For a girl coming from a small family and a small school at pretty much the edge of her prefecture—Tsubame couldn't even put into thoughts how proud she was. No one had expected it.

          Well, perhaps her family had, they'd always had her back. But throughout middle school her dreams of going to U.A. had been shot down by all of her classmates. Even a few teachers. She wasn't the smartest academically. She'd only just barely passed Maths in junior high, and had squeaked past her English and History Studies classes by the skin of her neck. All of her middle school mentors had kindly pushed her towards other high schools, like Ketsubutsu or Isamu Academy. She'd get into those schools no problem—U.A. was shooting it a bit high. That's what they'd told her. A little ambitious for someone who couldn't process complex math equations and struggled to keep her hands still; for someone who shouted a bit too much and suffered under bright lights and too many sounds. Tsubame had disagreed, of course. It wasn't her fault that she knew more about animals than she could keep English words in her head, and it wasn't her fault that her brain processed more sensory information at any time that her classmates did. And she had proven them wrong, hadn't she? For all her Ds and Cs in Maths and English, Tsubame had somehow managed to pass U.A.'s written exam. Any of her classmates and teachers who'd discouraged her or told her to aim lower were wrong, and she hoped they'd feel embarrassed one day when she graduated U.A. as a top Pro Hero.

          "You've come so far, Tsubamemochi." Tsubame's father's reaction was much too sentimental and teary for her—if Tsubame started to cry, that was it. The absolute expression of pride on Akatsuki Kazuo's face was enough to make her break. His warm smile pulling at the lines around his mouth from years of watching his daughters grow up, lilac eyes so sincere. They'd been through a lot. But all his kids had turned out great. "I'm so proud of you, you know that?"

          Tsubame was forced to cover her face with her hands so she wouldn't get too emotional—fingers still clutching the letter of her acceptance. "I know, Dad, thank you so much," she uttered out as Miki kicked her lightly in the ankle from across the couch. This was how it was. Dad was the sappy one being proud of his daughters, Tomomi was excited and hopping around, Miki was the rock, and Tsubame was...

          Well, she was a little bit of all of them she supposed. Her own self a love letter to her family. She was an overthinking sap, and easily excitable, and she hoped that one day she'd be as much of a rock that people looked to for support as Miki was. (Her mom was not a part of that love letter). Now, she wanted to be someone who could protect them too.

          Tsubame did spend the rest of that night shoving daifuku into her mouth as celebration, and also began to draw up her U.A. planner—leaned on her living room's kotatsu—amongst a notebook with animal drawings scrawled in the margins and small notes from Tomomi reading, 'Your the best, Tsu-nee-chan!'

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also i'm obviously doing a lot of research on japan for this fic, but the akatsuki house specifically is modelled exactly off of a home i stayed in while i was in japan in early 2020 (before COVID). i loved that house so yeah it's tsubame's now <3

miki, tsubame and tomomi are all canon autistic + tsubame also has ADHD, bc my autistic ADHD ass doesn't know how to write neurotypical characters. don't watch sia's pile of garbage 'music', stream my fics instead

i've decided that i'm gonna sign off every chapter with a manga panel bc they're cute so here <3

pov: they know ur gay

word count: 9,407 (future chapters will be shorter and split up, i just wanted tsubame at u.a. in as little amount of chapters as possible)

20.02.2021.