Jet Stream (Kirishima x OC)

Chapter 16: Limited Acceptance

I've never before in my life walked slower than I did this evening walking home from the sports festival. My trek home, which usually takes 30 minutes tops, I managed to stretch to an hour and a half, all so I could delay the inevitable. But eventually I was walking up the front steps of my home and staring in trepidation at my own front door.

Inasa was already waiting for me on the other side of the door. When I opened it, he barely waited for me to get my shoes and coat off before he pulled me into a tight hug.

"You did so amazing today, Iri-ne. I've never been prouder of you than I was today." Inasa whispers into my ear. Whispering is not a thing he nor I ever do, subtlety is not usually our strong suit, so now I'm even more on edge despite the encompassing hug. I can feel the tension in his body as well.

"How mad is he?" I ask as I hold him tight.

"It's uh... he hasn't said a word. He watched the whole thing though. He's even rewatching parts of it now in his study." He admits as we part from our hug.

"Any chance he's watching with a beaming proud smile?" I ask with barely a shred of hope, knowing that's far from the truth. Inasa's grimace was enough to prove that point for me. "Worth a shot. Alright, I put this off long enough. I'm ready." I put my game face on as I square my shoulders to exude a confidence I don't feel right now.

"Not alone you're not." Inasa says as he takes my hand and smiles softly at me. "We were in this together the whole time. We'll face this together now."

"Thanks Ina-nii." I managed to give a small smile up to him. I knock lightly on Father's study door, taking a final deep breath before I walk in without waiting for a response.

We walked into the room and saw our father sitting in his lounge chair, the TV on and replaying my tournament fights. He hasn't looked up to acknowledge us yet, but he knows we're here. We walk to stand to the side of him, waiting for the inevitable. He's simply staring at the screen, an unreadable expression on his face as he holds the remote in his hand, occasionally rewinding or fast forwarding to certain parts of my fights.

"Inasa, leave." Father finally breaks the silence after almost 10 minutes.

"No." Inasa immediately rebukes. "I've helped her all this time, I'll face this together with my twin."

"I will not repeat myself." Father says, finally turning to look at us. He's giving Inasa a challenging glare, but then he turns the challenging look to myself. I realize then, I can't have my brother here for this. My actions have my own consequences, and I have to stop letting my big brother defend me.

"It's ok, Ina-nii." I take my hand away from my brother as he snaps his head to look at me. "I got myself into this, I can defend myself now." I look up at him and we have a silent conversation. I can see he's begging to stay and defend me, but I'm letting him know I can do this myself. He finally sighs in understanding and walks out of the door, pausing to say one final thing.

"You've always been an amazing hero to me, Iri-ne. Today you just proved to the world you're going to be one of the top heroes in the future, right alongside me." Inasa says before closing the door, leaving the room to fall into a heavy silence.

"Tell me about the fights." Father says as he indicates for me to sit down, which I do and look up at him uncertainly.

"Which... which fights? The ones today?" I ask to clarify.

"All of them." He corrects me, his tone bitter and deep as he stares hard at me. "Start with your entrance exams. Your hero course entrance exams you were never allowed to take."

I take a breath as I feel his disappointment radiate off him before I start to speak. "I... I tricked yo-"

"Only speak about the fights." He cuts me off loudly. "The rest, like your disobedience, we will discuss later. You will tell me first exactly how you got through each fight, with complete descriptions."