'One more time, one more time!' Eri exclaimed with pure joy in her voice.

'Hang on tight,' Mariko responded and shot the grapple towards the nearest tree, swinging her body to increase the momentum. She recalled the grapple, holding Eri's arms with her right hand and then fired it again, spinning around another, much taller tree.

'It's so cool!' she heard Eri's voice on the wind.

'But we have to stop, so you will not get cold. We can swing more when it will get warmer, alright?'

'Yes!'

Mariko landed on the ground and broke into a run, using the remaining momentum from the swing. She ran in between the trees until she stepped on the school pavement with a path for runners, where Mr. Aizawa was waiting for both of them.

'Are you OK?' Aizawa asked Eri, crouching next to the girl.

'It was so awesome!'

'I'm glad,' Shota responded with a soft expression on his face.

Mariko looked at the man, and couldn't help but smile to herself; he undeniably had a soft spot for kids. Whenever Eri was around, he always seemed less tired and strict.

'Oh!' Mariko exclaimed, looking at the girl's hair. Eri turned her head towards the woman and glanced at her with a surprised expression from beneath her winter hat. 'I just noticed that you have braids. Who made them?'

'My daddy,' Eri responded and pointed her thumb at Aizawa, who felt a warm and fuzzy feeling inside his chest.

He closed his eyes and Mariko noticed a small blush on his pale cheeks.

'Oh my God!' Mariko collapsed to her knees, burying the pantlegs of her hero costume in a thin layer of snow. 'Heart attack!'

'The fake one?' the girl asked with a blank expression and Mariko nodded, pressing a hand against her heart. Eri grinned and covered her mouth with her small hands.

Aizawa slowly stood up and extended a hand towards Eri, who accepted it immediately.

'Let's go to the dorm.'

'Let's go,' the girl repeated and reached with her other hand to Mariko, still sitting in snow.

'Oh, thank you.'

Okaido stood up and all three of them slowly walked towards the teacher's dorm, holding the kid's hands.

'I have an idea,' Mariko said to Aizawa. 'Wanna swing some more, Eri?'

'Yeah!'

The young woman glanced back at the man, who understood immediately. They both raised their forearms, trying to keep them at the same level, picking Eri up from the ground, swinging her gently with each step. The girl laughed and both of the adults smiled at each other; their bodies slightly warmer from the sudden wave of joy.

After they returned to the dorm, Mariko let go of Eri and allowed Shota to lead her back to her room.

'Would you like to eat lunch with us, when we will be done with the exam?'

'Yes, please.'

Shota nodded and helped Eri with taking off her winter jacket and the hat, putting both of the items in the wardrobe.

'Mirio should soon come to you,' he informed Eri and prepared to leave the room. 'Would you like me to close the door or keep it open?'

'Keep it open, please.'

'Alright,' Aizawa said and left the room, looking at the little girl from above his shoulder, as he walked towards the staircase.

'Ready?' he asked Okaido, who started stretching on the floor before the entrance to the teachers' dorm.

'Yes.'

'Are you sure you want to go out against so many of the teachers? It's only a few days since you were dismissed from the hospital.'

'Mr. Aizawa, that's so unlike you to be worried about me so much,' she joked.

Aizawa frowned and didn't respond, then left the dorm. Mariko opened her mouth, looking at his back as he opened the door. She raised her finger, but then lowered her arm and grabbed the handle of the door, which was about to close. He continued walking towards the exit from the dorm. Mariko dashed forward and followed closely behind the man, feeling guilty for what she had said.

'I am sorry, I didn't mean to-'

'I am normally strict with you, because I want you to get better,' he cut her off and looked at her with anger in his eyes. He looked as if he wanted to say more, but he forced himself to stay quiet.

'I know... I am sorry, sir. I didn't mean for it to sound that way. I know you truly care for all of your students,' she said, looking down at the ground covered with snow. She lifted her eyes and was glad to see him sigh.

'Yeesh. Let's just go to the training grounds.'

Some time later, Mariko stood in front of the gate to the Ground Beta. She cracked her neck, reliving the top of her spine and then focused.

'I need to be fast, faster than ever before. A moment of hesitation means a bullet from Snipe. His range of the successful shots is limited, but the closer I get to him, the worse it will be for me. I need to drain the teachers that will be there before Snipe and then I can reach him so fast he will be unable to react,' she was calculating.

She heard a sound of a gunfire, signaling the start of the exam and immediately activated her Quirk, simultaneously firing her grapple at the closest street light. She swung her body and kept on travelling across the street, constantly increasing her momentum.

The surveillance system of the Ground Beta followed her moves, displaying the live video information on a big screen at the teacher's lounge, where Principal Nezu, Thirteen, All Might and Recovery Girl were sitting. They carefully observed Mariko's moves as she was swiftly decreasing the distance to the target gate. The goal for Mariko was to either defeat and capture the villains - teachers - or to flee through the marked entrance.

As Mariko passed one of the buildings, she kept on looking around, being especially mindful of Aizawa and Present Mic. She believed that these two could easily take her down.

She swung again and rotated in air, then noticed a familiar silhouette and a dark-blue hair.

'Midnight!' Mariko called, recognizing her opponent.

Without hesitation, the teacher swung her whip towards the student, but Senchi was already prepared for it. She dodged the weapon and grasped it, firing the grapple towards the woman. Midnight torn a hole inside her hero costume, surrounding herself with the sleep-inducing, pink mist.

Mariko took a deep breath and held the air inside her lungs, leaping straight inside the Somnambulist.

'Come kitty,' Midnight called her, a sadistic tone clear in his voice.

Mariko dashed forward and used the slippery snow to slide her body on the ground. She knocked Midnight down and caught her head before the teacher fell to the ground and used her Rapid Drain move. The green flames exploded from Mariko's eyes and the dark, transparent, swirling energy surrounded her body. Midnight bit Mariko's wrist, who opened her mouth and inhaled Somnambulist, making her feel dizzy. The older woman took control of the situation and rolled on top of Mariko, pushing her head to the ground.

'Not so fast, girlie.'

Senchi powered up her arms and pushed both of them from the ground and twisted her body, freeing her arm from Midnight's grasp. The teacher quickly grasped her whip and swung it at Mariko, who dodged, hearing the loud smack behind her. The young woman dashed outside the mist and took a deep breath, getting rid of the dizziness. She turned around, preparing herself for another dodge, but just as she expected, Midnight collapsed to the ground, as the Draining link sucked the energy out of the teacher.

'I'm sorry,' Mariko said and cuffed Midnight, then quickly picked her up and placed her near the closest wall, breaking the Drain connection. 'You are so hot with your whip, though,' she admitted with a laugh and with that was gone, continuing her journey towards the exit gate.

'That was fast,' the Recovery Girl commented, watching Mariko on the big screen. 'Who's next?'

'Ectoplasm.'

As Mariko dashed across a small bridge, she noticed another teacher patiently waiting for her at the other side of the bridge.

'Huh, clever,' Mariko admitted, landing in front of the bridge. 'There aren't many surfaces that work well with my grapple in here.'

'Submit or die, hero!' Ectoplasm shouted and created two clones, which immediately stormed towards Mariko.

Senchi dashed forward, saving the energy drained from Midnight for the future battles. When fighting Ectoplasm, she had to rely on her own physical speed and strength. She defeated both of the clones and quickly looked around, looking for any surfaces she could use to swing around.

'Not a lot of options, ey?' the teachers asked.

'Quite the opposite,' Mariko said and reached towards her tactical vest, pulling out a smoke bomb. She threw it right in front of her and created a smokescreen, covering almost the entire bridge. Ectoplasm summoned two other clones, which he sent forward while he himself started creating a third, biggest clone yet.

As the two clones stormed on the bridge, Mariko dashed to the side and attached the grapple to the rail guard. She jumped and flipped above the side of the bridge, gaining momentum for the first swing. She gently lowered herself to the frozen surface of the small river underneath the structure, sliding her feet on the ice. She grappled on the other side of the bridge and rotated her body, heading straight towards Ectoplasm, who still hadn't finished creating the big clone. She launched her body at his side, knocking him to the ground and using the Rapid Drain again. The teacher submitted and allowed her to cuff one of his legs.

After that, Mariko felt one of her feet go numb, as the stored energy slowly started reaching it's maximum safe level.

In the teachers' lounge, All Might nodded with approval, observing the young student. The spectators knew the order of the villains that Mariko was supposed to encounter and they looked forward to the next fight the most.

Meanwhile Mariko heard a gun shot and instinctively dived towards the ground. She used a tiny bit of the stored energy to strengthen her next jump and then grappled above the street light.

'I'm in his range now, but it was still a miss,' Mariko said under her nose.

She grappled across the street, gaining some nice momentum and in the second she was about to shoot the grapple forwards, she saw the Binding Cloth heading straight for her legs.

'Ah!' she shouted and pulled herself upwards, recalled the grapple and hopped on the ground.

'Heading somewhere?' Aizawa asked her, landing a few meters in front of the woman.

'At least I should be safe from Snipe,' Mariko realized, examining the tall, brick block of flats behind Aizawa, covering the view of the exit gate. 'And somehow my Quirk is still active? Why would he not cancel it yet?'

Aizawa dashed forward and threw his Binding Cloth at the girl, who easily dodged his shots with all the additional energy stored inside the Quirk.

'I can't fight him,' a thought lingered in her brain. 'I don't want to. I won't to hurt ones I love.'

Eraserhead managed to wrap the Binding Cloth around Mariko's left forearm. Without activating Erasure, he pulled Mariko towards himself. The girl tied using the Drain on the man, but somehow it did not respond to her commands. The student frowned and hesitated, giving an advantage to her opponent. Eraser leaped in front of her pulling down her captured forearm. She slid on the snow and regained balance, trying to defend herself from his right arm swing. Like in slow motion, she felt the additional energy stored in the Drain leave her body and for a second was sure that Erasure was active. But then, she noticed the swirling aura being transferred to the temporary villain in front of her.

Mariko's eyes widened with fear as she tried blocking the punch with her one arm. Aizawa's fist hit Mariko's right forearm, which fractured and the force of the punch enhanced with the Drain, tore the Binding Cloth wrapped around Mariko's left arm and then sent her flying backwards, straight at the nearest car.

Her body slammed into the side of the vehicle, bending it's bodywork. She collapsed on the snowy floor, her right forearm fractured and a few ribs cracked.

Aizawa's eyes went wide and he dashed forward a lot faster than normally, then quickly cancelled the student's Quirk. His hair fell back onto his shoulders, as he looked into her confused, clouded eyes.

'Okaido, how many fingers do you see?' he asked.

'Four?'

'Good,' he said and secured her snapped bone. 'What was that?'

'I have no idea,' she lied to him and slid to the snowy ground.

'Can you move your arm?'

'Only the shoulder,' she answered, through her gritted teeth. 'Hurts like hell, I think it's snapped or something.'

'And the other arm?'

Mariko tried supporting her weight but the second she placed her left hand on the ground and tied shifting her weight onto it, she felt pain in her elbow. She hissed and Eraser grabbed her side.

'Don't move, the Recovery Girl is on the way.'

'What happened?!' They heard loud Hizashi's voice and a few moments later. 'I heard it from over there!'

'Okaido's Quirk transferred to me,' Aizawa said, turning his head towards the DJ.

'Fuck,' Mariko thought to herself, feeling dizzy.

The woman blinked, trying to get rid of the blurry vision. Her head was spinning and she felt cold sweat running down her spine.

'I think...' Mariko started. 'I'm gonna, I'm gonna faint.'

With those words, her head dropped to the side as all the energy left her body.