Chapter 10: Zero Points.
The minutes blurred. From his vantage point, Kaito had become a ruthless, efficient hunter. He would pull robots from the streets, ignoring the shocked cries of other examinees, and crush them on the rooftops. He was panting, his control slipping slightly from the fatigue.
"TIME REMAINING: TWO MINUTES!" Present Mic's voice boomed.
Kaito stood over the wreckage of another three-pointer. That... that makes 36 points... He had lost time at the start, but he was catching up.
And then, the world shook.
A sound like a mountain calving. A building at the far end of the city didn't just break; it detonated.
The energy signature that rose from the dust was... wrong. It was cold. It was impossibly, terrifyingly massive. Kaito "looked" at it, and for the first time, his Quirk felt small. It was a single, colossal shape that blotted out the sky, taller than any building.
Is this a joke?
Even from this distance, he could sense the sheer scale. Below, the bright, panicked energy signatures of the other students scattered like ants. Debris rained down.
It's the Zero-Pointer. Best to avoid it. Kaito turned to find another target, his 36 points suddenly feeling dangerously low.
He froze.
His senses, sweeping the area, caught a flash of energy. A person. The light, bubbly signature. The girl, Uraraka. She was trapped, her leg pinned under a massive slab of concrete, directly in the path of the advancing colossus.
Kaito's blood ran cold. It's a zero-point robot. Useless. I should be finding more points.
But he was already moving.
The colorless aura flared, and he leapt. He didn't just jump; he threw himself from the building, using his Quirk to float. It was a desperate, uncontrolled flight. He wobbled in the air, rising and falling erratically, his control failing under the stress.
What do I do? What do I do?! How do I stop something like that?!
He was airborne, soaring over the streets. He thrust his hand forward, his aura flaring, and pulled. He strained, gritting his teeth, trying to lift the Zero-Pointer.
It was impossible. The weight was absolute. He might as well have been trying to lift the planet.
Okay, fine! His breath hitched. If I can't lift it, I'll pin it!
He reversed the force, pushing down, slamming all of his power onto the robot. The ground beneath its single massive wheel cracked and shattered, but the robot didn't stop. It moved forward, grinding the pavement to dust.
Kaito was shocked by his own powerlessness. He was still in the air, drifting, useless. He abandoned the robot as a target and aimed his hand directly at Uraraka. I have to get her out of the—
A flash of green.
It was a chaotic, buzzing energy he recognized from the starting line. The muttering boy. Midoriya, a green blur, screaming like a shooting star, having leapt from the ground towards the robot's face.
"SMAAAAAASH!"
Punch!
The resulting explosion of energy was blinding, even to Kaito's senses. He felt a shockwave of force, a single, devastating impact. He watched, stunned, as the Zero-Pointer's head exploded, and its entire chassis began to collapse backward, away from Uraraka.
Kaito analyzed the green energy signature as it fell. He's... broken. His arm... his legs... all that energy, stored up... it was too much for his body. Like a vessel overflowing.
After the punch. Midoriya was screaming, tumbling helplessly through the air.
Kaito reacted. He aimed, his fingers splayed, and applied his Quirk at the heavy rubble on Uraraka. Uraraka herself. And the falling boy.
Don't... drop them... he thought, his focus absolute. Ayaak... don't you dare drop them.
The rubble lifted off Uraraka. She and Midoriya, who had been plummeting, suddenly stopped, and began to drift gently to the ground. They landed as softly as feathers.
Kaito, his energy spent, let himself drift down, his feet touching the pavement.
"TIME'S UUUUUUUUUUP!"
The exam was over. Midoriya, having seen Uraraka was safe, looked at his 0-point score, and fainted from the shock and the pain.
Kaito Kurosawa just stared at the boy's broken, green energy signature.
What he just did... that was insane. He broke his arm and his legs... just to save her.
This is U.A.
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