Arisa's POV

Flashback Age 14

I was nervous as I slowly made my way toward the entrance of UA. Most students, like me, were wearing their middle school uniforms. There were lots of students with the same uniforms and not a single student with the same one as me. My father thought it best to enroll me in an elite private middle school that had a hard focus on military style training including combat and weapon proficiencies. I didn't mind because it was a boarding school and kept me out of the mansion for most of the year.

I followed the other students to a giant lecture hall for the written portion of the test. There was still time before the exam started and the majority of the students were gathered around showing off their quirks. As I walked in I felt my stomach churn unpleasantly as I spotted a familiar face from my primary school days, a boy who'd been in my class on my very first day of school a boy who cursed me with every fiber in his being.

"How did you get in here, Lady Death?" He glared in my direction causing a hush to fall upon the room and everyone to turn to me.

I ignored him and went to my seat without a word. A few of the applicants rushed over to him to ask him what he meant by that. A girl with darkly tanned skin, bright red eyes and white hair looked over at me then back to the boy who'd spoken.

"Lady Death?"

"She's cursed. Anyone who gets close to her dies." The boy shot causing a few students near me to move back.

The girl with the red eyes looked me over, "Is that part of your quirk?"

"I don't have a quirk." I responded quietly.

"Then what are you doing here? You can't be a hero if you don't have a quirk. Go home, quirkless wonder." She shot maliciously.

The entire lecture hall erupted into laughter. I felt tears begin to burn behind my eyelids. The test hadn't even started and I was the least liked person. Before the other applicants could torment me further, an instructor appeared and told everyone to take their seats. The students who were assigned to sit on either side of me sat as far away from me as they could to the point they were almost falling out of their seats. I finished the written portion of the test before everyone else, I knew every answer. I'd spent months studying, learning every rule law and regulation pertaining to heroes and everything else I'd need to know for the exam.

After the written portion of the exam, we were split up and taken to different training grounds for a practical portion of the exam. We were allowed to wear what we wanted and use any tools, weapons or equipment. I wore a pair of tight black pants, a simple tank top and had two hunting knives strapped to my legs and two katana secured to my back. The boy from my past ended up being in my group. He had a plant like quirk and could create vines from any part of his body and control them like whips.

We were informed we'd be clearing an urban setting of villains in the form of various robots and a few hero volunteers as the robots were sometimes buggy and still being revised. Heroes were worth three points and the only way to 'defeat' one was to face them in combat until they recognized our skill and gave us a nod of approval. The robots had to be incapacitated to count for any points.

"Maybe we should give the quirkless wonder a head start so she has a fair chance." One of the boys chuckled causing the rest of the group to laugh.

I ignored them. Why did I think this was a good idea? Akio and I used to dream about being heroes when we were kids. After he'd failed the exam he gave up that dream and decided he'd rather be a police officer instead. I felt like I had to do this, I had to excel not just for me, but for Akio as well.

At the start, I sprinted past the other applicants, I wasn't going to let them get in my way, I wasn't going to let their words affect me. I'd show them all, I could do this, and they shouldn't underestimate me. As I stepped through the gate two robot creatures ran toward me. I retrieved both of my katana unsheathing them each in a single swing hurriedly seeking out weak spots in the robot's structure. There were exposed wires near where their necks should be.

I launched myself at them using their weird limbs and wheels as footholds to leap up and reach their exposed wires. Slicing through both simultaneously, I flipped away as they both fell with a small explosion and landed swiftly in a crouch on the ground below. The remaining applicants in my group hadn't even made it through the gate and were staring at me in awe. I didn't pause, I kept going seeking out my next target.

Every pro hero I came across gave me a nod of approval after only a few quick seconds of hand to hand combat. With only thirty seconds to spare, I heard a shout from one of the rooftops and spotted the boy from my past struggling with a smaller robot. Racing up the fire escape, I flipped onto the roof and hurled one of my katana at the robot slicing through his wiring in a single move. It collapsed to the roof and I stepped forward to offer the boy my hand and make sure he was unharmed.

He slapped my hand away, "Get away from me!" He scrambled to his feet and moved to run from me still somewhat disoriented from his fight with the robot.

"Hey! Be careful don't get so close to the edge!" I called to him as he continued backing away from me.

His heel hit one of the raised ventilation fans and he tumbled off the roof with a scream. I ran to the ledge and felt my heart sink as I heard the sound of flesh breaking apart and bones snapping as his body hit the ground below with a gut-wrenching crunch.

"NO!" I woke with a scream and jolted into an upright position. Blinding bright lights glared overhead, I was in the hospital. It took a moment for my eyes to adjust and I jumped as I felt someone place their hand on my shoulder. Turning to my left I felt my heart skip a beat as I saw Aizawa looking more tired than ever and scruffier than I remembered. His dark eyes were filled with worry. His hair that had been slicked back in an attempt to be presentable was looking mussed and a few strands had broken from the hold of whatever product he'd used. There was stubble lining his chin and dark circles beneath his bloodshot eyes.

"You should lie dow-."

"What are you doing here?" I snapped, "I told you to go home."

"I chose to ignore that order." He shrugged while stifling a yawn, he looked exhausted. How long had he been here at my side?

"Why are you here?"

"I thought you should have someone here when you regained consciousness even if it is someone you despise." He smirked.

"I don't despise you...completely." I mumbled as my face began to burn.

A small smiled wormed across his lips making my heart flutter unsteadily in my chest and my stomach to attempt somersaults. "That's good to hear." His smile fell as he thought back on something. "Earlier, you said I shouldn't get close to you and that you weren't worth getting to know. Why do you think that?"

"Everyone around me ends up suffering. Even if you are annoying, I don't want to see you get hurt." I paused, I wanted to say more to tell him thank you for being the first person to try to get to know me, to take an interest in me and for acting like what I assumed real friends were supposed to act like. If I said all that, I felt like I'd be showing some kind of weakness and no matter my feelings for him, I didn't want to appear weak in front of him.

"I'll take my chances." His hand lightly squeezed my shoulder before he attempted to move me once more to lay back down. I resisted at first but gave in with a sigh as I felt the now patched up wound begin to ache. "What were you dreaming about?"

I didn't feel like fighting him, he looked exhausted and it was quite clear he'd been sitting with me for quite some time. "The entrance exam for UA."

"What happened?"

"A boy died, because he was scared of me, of the curse around me. I had come to his rescue, he couldn't handle one of the robots, when I offered him a hand to help him up, he slapped it away and ran from me, he fell off a roof...his instinct was to run to his death rather than be anywhere near me."

Shota caught my hand in his and squeezed it tightly offering me reassurance, "It's not your fault."

"You can only hear those words so many times before they stop having an effect, before the body count becomes too high and those words mean nothing." I pulled my hand away from his, "You should get out now, while you can..."

Shota looked conflicted and for a fleeting moment I felt rejection pierce through me like an icy knife through my heart as I thought about him leaving. Though I was constantly pushing him away, I hoped he'd resist me, wished he'd ignore me and stay by my side. Tears welled in my eyes as I thought about watching him walk away from me. He moved in his chair and I felt like the world around me was growing colder and darker as I thought of him taking my advice and abandoning me.

He leaned forward placing his hands on either side of my pillow before bending down toward my face, "Don't hit me for this." His lips lightly brushed against mine in a sweet and tender kiss that stole my breath away. "I wasn't sure how else to show you, I'm not going anywhere." He breathed softly as he pulled away from me.

My face burned bright and I hurriedly turned away from him as my heart began to race and my breathing became unsteady. The room felt stifling hot, my body felt hot and my lips were still tingling pleasantly from his kiss. I wanted more.

"Still want me to leave?" He chuckled as he took in my blushing face and very obvious embarrassment.

I shook my head furiously. "...please stay..."

Video- Walk Through the Fire By Zayde Wolf ft. Ruelle