My Hero Academia: Next Gen

Chapter 8: Eri's Exam Results

The week following Eri's entrance exam was excruciating. No one else from her middle school had applied to UA, so she had no one her age to talk to, and her father refused to say anything about it.

She would see him in his office poring over papers and video clips, but she never saw herself or anyone else from her exam location. Probably to keep him from being biased when marking them. Still, the few clips she would happen to see made her more and more nervous. So many amazing students had applied, each with their own amazing and unique quirk.

The days dragged on, but Eri never missed a day of training. She was confident that even if she wasn't accepted into UA, she would still become a hero. It would hurt like hell, but she would find a way. UA wasn't the only school in the city that offered a hero course.

Mirio came to visit one night, and the two of them had a long run together on the beach. She told him all about the exam, how she almost lost all her flags, and how she used her quirk to heal the hurt boy. She told him about how scared she was of not getting into the school.

He had just laughed. "Eri, I'm sure that you are one of the most powerful and most determined examinees that they've seen since Deku applied. Even if they don't accept you, I'm sure they'd suggest another school to you and even give you glowing recommendations. After all, the staff at UA have known you forever."

Eri knew that the acceptance letters had been mailed out one day when her father stopped spending long hours in his office at night. From there, she could only wait and hope. She checked the mail every day, praying that something was in there, but it was always empty. Until one day.

She opened up the mailbox expecting to see nothing, but was instead greeted with a white envelope with some kind of short cylinder inside. She pulled it out and flipped it over, nearly dropping it when she saw that it was from UA High. Finally! Slamming the mailbox closed, she ran inside the house and kicked off her shoes, leaving them in a messy pile at the front door. Aizawa wasn't home from school yet, so he couldn't admonish her like he usually did.

Eri ran into her room and closed the door behind her. Tearing into the envelope as quickly and carefully as she could, she pulled out a small metal puck and a letter. The instant the light hit the disk, a hologram sprung up from it. 

Principal Nezu's smiling face appeared in the middle of the projection. "Ah! Am I a mouse? Am I a dog? Am I a bear? No! I am the principal of UA High! Hello, young Eri Aizawa! I'm sure this week has been truly hard, what with the long period of waiting for news, but that time is over! I am here to tell you whether or not you have been accepted into UA High's hero course for this coming school year!"

Her heart tightened, and she gripped the letter tightly in her hand. "Principal Nezu," she whispered.

"That entrance exam was certainly a difficult one," Nezu continued, "but I am happy to tell you that at the end of the exam, you had twelve flags, translating to twelve points!"

Only twelve. Eri's heart sunk. Only twelve points. She was certain that she didn't get enough points with the flags alone to make it into UA... So what tricks were they hiding up their sleeves?

Principal Nezu leaned in and winked. "But you of all people should know that UA is never upfront with anything, much less our entrance exams. As with any year, we also award... RESCUE POINTS!"

At this point, it felt like Eri's heart had stopped completely. Rescue points. Of course, why didn't she remember the rescue points? Those were a constant every single year! Which meant...

"You surely remember how you stopped and took time out of your own exam to heal that young boy, yes? Well, if that doesn't earn you rescue points, I don't know what would!" Nezu smiled brightly, and Eri couldn't help but be blinded by his cuteness. "By your valiant and heroic actions, you have earned forty rescue points, bringing your total up to fifty-two! You should be very proud of yourself."