Chapter 16: Limits of Steel
The boy was falling too fast.
Gravity was dragging Midoriya down to the concrete. Both of his legs were useless. His right arm flopped violently in the wind. He was going to die on impact.
Zoro forced his locked muscles to move. He took one agonizing step forward. He prepared to use the flat side of the Wado Ichimonji to try and break the kid's fall.
He didn't need to.
"Release!"
The girl with the round face slapped Midoriya across the cheek. She was floating on a piece of debris. The moment her hand made contact, Midoriya stopped falling. He floated gently in the air, weightless.
A second later, he dropped face-first onto the pavement. Safe, but completely unconscious.
The girl immediately threw up on the concrete.
"TIME'S UP!" Present Mic's voice echoed across the completely destroyed fake city. The piercing sound of a siren signaled the end of the U.A. Entrance Exam.
Zoro stood still. The chaotic roar of the engines and explosions was gone. Only the sound of coughing students and settling dust remained.
He looked down at his hands. His palms were bleeding. He was still gripping the two broken, jagged hilts of his generic katanas.
He slowly opened his fingers.
Clink. Clatter.
The broken pieces of steel hit the asphalt. They were completely useless now. He reached up, untied the dark green bandana from his head, and tied it back around his bicep.
"Very good work, everyone! Excellent effort!"
An old, tiny woman in a lab coat walked through the crowd. She leaned on a syringe-shaped cane. The applicants parted for her like the Red Sea.
Zoro watched with narrowed eyes. Who is the old lady?
She walked straight up to the broken, unconscious Midoriya. She puckered her lips and kissed him right on the forehead.
Zoro's eye twitched. What the hell kind of school is this?
But then, the boy's body glowed. The horrifying, twisted angles of his broken arm and legs snapped back into place. The purple bruising faded away in seconds. Midoriya looked exhausted, but his bones were completely healed.
Zoro crossed his arms. Healing magic? No. Just another crazy Quirk. He didn't stick around. He didn't wait to introduce himself to the green-haired kid, He turned his back on the ruined street and walked toward the exit gates. He had one sword left on his hip.
He needed two more.
"Let's review the final tallies."
Principal Nezu sat at the head of the dark conference table. A massive holographic screen hovered in the center of the room, displaying the top scores of the practical exam.
"Katsuki Bakugo," Nezu read. "Seventy-seven villain points. Zero rescue points. A pure, destructive force. First place."
"Aggressive, but effective," Vlad King grunted.
"And what about the anomaly?" Midnight asked, leaning forward and tapping her pen. "Applicant 7134. Roronoa Zoro."
Nezu pressed a button. Zoro's face appeared on the screen.
"Fifty-four villain points," Nezu stated. "A very high score for a Quirkless applicant using physical combat alone."
"But what about the Zero-Pointer incident?" All Might asked. He was sitting in the corner, holding his ribs. "Young Midoriya destroyed it, yes. But Roronoa stopped it from advancing."
Aizawa unzipped his sleeping bag and stood up. He pointed a bandaged finger at the footage replaying on a smaller screen.
"Look at the timestamp," Aizawa said flatly. "Applicant Uraraka was trapped. The tread was exactly two seconds away from crushing her. Midoriya didn't jump until three seconds later. If Roronoa hadn't destroyed the treads and stalled the machine..."
Aizawa looked around the room. The teachers were completely silent.
"...Uraraka would be dead," Aizawa finished. "He saved her life before Midoriya even took off. That's a rescue."
Nezu smiled. It was a terrifying, calculating smile.
"I completely agree, Eraserhead," the principal chimed. "Thirty rescue points awarded to Roronoa Zoro."
The screen updated.
Total Score: 84 Points.
Rank: 1st Place.
"He beat Bakugo," Snipe muttered, adjusting his mask. "A Quirkless kid with a sword took first place."
"Not just a sword," Aizawa corrected. He looked at the frozen image of Zoro holding the three blades. "A monster."
The wooden sliding doors of the dojo opened.
The sun was setting, casting long orange shadows across the courtyard. Zoro walked into the yard and approached the porch. He didn't look tired. He looked annoyed.
He dropped two objects onto the wooden floorboards.
Clack.
Master Kenji lowered his teacup. He looked at the two broken hilts. The steel was shattered, completely blown apart from the inside out.
"They broke," Zoro said bluntly.
Kenji didn't yell. He didn't lecture him about respecting his weapons. Instead, a slow, proud smirk spread across the old master's wrinkled face.
"Your swords weren't weak, Zoro," Kenji said quietly. "Your will has simply become too heavy for cheap steel to carry. You need something... that wasn't made to be sold in stores."
Before Zoro could ask what he meant, a long shadow fell over the dojo courtyard.
Zoro turned his head. He didn't need an introduction. The tired posture and the bloodshot eyes were enough.
"Aizawa?" Zoro asked, raising an eyebrow.
"Broken swords don't save lives," Aizawa said in his usual flat tone, stepping into the courtyard and looking at the metal shards on the floor. "The principal decided to grant you an exception. U.A. doesn't provide lethal weapons to its students. But I have my own connections with the police."
Aizawa turned around, gesturing for the boy to follow.
"Come with me. We're going to a place amateurs don't get to see. There are things confiscated from villains who didn't deserve to wield them. Maybe you'll find something your madness can't break."
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