Jet Stream (Kirishima x OC)

Chapter 58: Hero Retirement

"I really like it too, make's me wonder if I should be Red Stream instead of Jet Stream. Or maybe Riot Stream, or Jet Riot? Crimson Stream? Red Riot Stream Of Jets? Jet's Red Riot Stream?" I jokingly prattle off dorky couple hero names as Eijiro laughs boisterously along with me.

"You're adorable." He says after I finish being cheesy, then he kisses my nose and we head downstairs since Makoto will be here soon. "Have a lot of fun today, say hi to the family for me, and I'll see you tonight. We'll all be watching in the dorms when it airs."

Most our classmates are out either training, doing homework, or otherwise just out of the dorms right now. The only other person here besides us is Mashirao, who met me in the living room before I left. Both of them walked with me to the gates and waited with me until my ride came. Mashirao reminded me to be calm and not do something stupid when on camera later, which I sheepishly agreed to, but we all know I have no control sometimes.

"Iri-ne, your hair! It's great!" Inasa says right away as the car doesn't even come to complete stop before he bolts out of it to tackle me.

"Thanks Ina-nii, you look super handsome!" I compliment him, seeing his very nice looking black and red tux he's wearing. He and I weren't allowed to wear our hero costumes since we aren't Pro's yet, but everyone else will be in their own costumes. We're mostly just dressed up super nice since we're going to dinner in Kyushu after. Dad's favorite yakitori restaurant is out there, and it's not too far away from the Billboards location, so we're going to do our own party there.

Arriving at the Billboards Chart, we found our dad already there and chatting with other heroes. Once he spotted us, we all headed in together, Makoto heading home to enjoy a night off to himself. I got to see Fat Gum again and got a quick but heart melting hug once again from him, and then I sat with a dreamy and satisfied smile on my face for the bulk of the ceremony as they announced through the top 100, starting with the lowest ranking and leaving the top ten for last.

"And now, we have a sad announcement for our rank 12 hero." The announcer says once she gets to our father, the screen behind her showing our dad's hero page. "Gale Storm, the tornado hero, is officially announcing his retirement from hero work today." A loud murmur of conversation and gasps filled the room at the news, many of the heroes here who did not know about it reacting to the news. "He will be concluding his 25 years of service to our nation today, and he will be sorely missed by all of us. Thank you Gale Storm for all you have done!"

A loud round of cheers follow her speech, though none are louder than myself and Inasa, who stand next our dad and beam proudly at him as he waves to the cameras and the surrounding heroes. It's a bittersweet moment for the three of us. On one hand, we're all happy he is healthy and managed to retire on his favorite ranking, but on the other hand he could have still been a hero for many more years if it wasn't for his quirk being destroyed.

A few of the Pro's in our dad's agency are nearby and offer him condolences and congratulations, namely Back Draft and Tempest. Both of those two moved up in rank during this billboards, so we also offered them congratulations as well.

Endeavor was officially announced the new number one hero after that. My dad was grumbling at my side with a scowl on his face, but honestly his scowl paled in comparison to Endeavor's own scowl. He didn't look happy to be up there. If I had to venture a guess, I think he wanted to fairly beat All Might to first place, not get it by default. He also looked annoyed at having to stand next to my internship mentor, who I could see was talking quietly to him with a cheeky grin. Best Jeanist should have been on Hawks's other side, but he's still out on injury from the Kamino Ward incident.

When nine of the top ten heroes took the stage to give their individual speeches, I found myself watching Hawks's face. During each hero's speech, his face was rapidly falling into a bored and annoyed scowl, something I haven't seen him do before. I think he must have felt my eyes on him, because he looked over at me and broke his scowl by waving and sending me a wink while Mirko was speaking. I gave a confused wave back, then Hawks grabbed the microphone away from the announcer as she was moving onto Edge Shot, cutting them off.