~~~
Somewhere to the left of her, Kira can hear the voices of some of her classmates including: Ojiro, Mina and Tokoyami.
"We gotta catch up!" Ojiro yells, his voice sounding distant.
"What about Tsu?" Mina questions and Kira can hear the sound of their hurried footsteps growing fainter and fainter.
"She'll be fine," Tokoyami assures. "She's the best one equipped for the river zone anyway."
"Todoroki's already gone on ahead!" Ojiro says. "All the civilians at the First Aid station are gonna need some help."
"You're right!" Mina replies, her voice quiet now.
Her classmate's footsteps eventually fade away, and Kira curses her cowardice. If she keeps hiding away like this, then she's going to fail for sure. The eyes of that actor still haunt her mind whenever she allows a second of plagued, hesitant thoughts to enter her brain. But, she can't keep playing this waiting game forever. The least Kira can do is go help fight Gang Orca and keep him away from the First Aid Station.
With one final burst of forced heroism, Akira leaps from the sloped rock, using her Quirk to assist with her descent. She can see her three classmates skid down the hill on a few pieces of debris, while Todoroki uses his ice to gain the speed advantage towards Gang Orca. He's made it down the hill way before the others, ice crackling up the right side of his body, as he faces off against Gang Orca alongside Inasa Yoarashi from Shiketsu.
But, something's wrong - Kira can tell. They're both trying to fight against Gang Orca and the villains, but their Quirk's aren't compatible together, it seems. Todoroki whirls to Yaorashi, floating high in the air with his Quirk. She can see her classmate arguing, fury etched onto his features, but from this distance, she can't make out his words.
They both try to attack Gang Orca at the same time, but their Quirk's clash once again, Yaorashi's wind sending Todoroki's fire hurtling in a completely different direction. Gang Orca just stands there, both unphased and displeased with the future pro heroes.
If they don't get a hang of their situation soon, someone's going to get seriously hurt, either by Gang Orca's hand, or their own. Her prediction's correct however, as for the third time, Todoroki and Yaorashi send an attack towards Gang Orca simultaneously. The pro hero doesn't even flinch as the two unique Quirks collide and a wave of fire is sent soaring elsewhere... straight towards Yo Shindo.
As Kira nears the scene, she looks around, but there's nobody nearby to save the student from being reduced to ash.
Except her.
Shindo's too dazed to even realise the danger he's in. He must have been ambushed by Gang Orca before she could get there in time, which means there's no way he's going to be able to save himself in time from Todoroki's accidental attack.
Kira pushes her thoughts and feelings about rescuing civilians and trusts her instincts. She uses her Quirk in her palms to launch herself across the distance to reach the endangered student, slipping in front of the scorching flames just in time. Kira creates a shield to protect her and Yo Shindo, the heat hitting against the barrier with such intense force that it nearly shatters her Quirk.
Kira's momentum doesn't stop there - she collides into Shindo all while bringing up her shield, causing the both of them to roll out of harms way and crash into the wall surrounding the arena.
Kira groans, rubbing the back of her head, while Shindo shakes himself back to consciousness. She helps the student to his feet and he stares at her, his eyes wide.
"Thanks," he whispers, still holding onto her hand.
She looks down at their hands entwined and she shrugs it off, taking her hand back and brushing the ashy residue from her costume.
"Yeah." She shrugs again. "You good to fight?"
"Oh, you bet." He nods, that determined twinkle returning to his eyes. He had that exact same look when they first met.
Kira whirls back to the squabbling duo, furious that they put another student in harms way because of their inability to work together.
"Hey!" She roars over the chaos. "What the hell are you two doing!? Todoroki!?"
Kira didn't want to necessarily call out Yaorashi for his part, though the both of them were in the wrong. After all, Kira didn't know what kind of person he was - all she knows is what Mr Aizawa told them. That he's potentially stronger than Todoroki. She just doesn't understand why they can't work together.
Gang Orca rushes Yaorashi before he can even react, using his crushing echolocation to disable him and he falls to the ground in a crumpled, yet conscious heap. Meanwhile, Gang Orca's associates surge towards Kira and Shindo and she readies herself to protect the dazed student.
"I'll take care of this!" Shindo says suddenly, leaping in front of Kira, pushing her back with a swift arm across her stomach.
"You shouldn't-" she starts, knowing full well that he hasn't fully recovered from Gang Orca's attack.
"I'm fine," he interrupts, slamming his palm down on the ground. "Don't worry about me."
As soon as his hand made contact, the ground erupted just like it did earlier, the floor collapsing from beneath the enemies feet, sending them plummeting down below or thrown off their feet.
"My extremities are still pretty numb, but I'll bounce back," Shindo explains, sweat beading his temple. "Sound waves aren't that bad. Not much different from my vibrations, so I've built up a pretty good tolerance to them. It might be the first time I've been thankful for that recoil. Anyway, I was trying to get a surprise attack in on that whale!" Shindo's mood changes suddenly, from calm and cool, to angry and frustrated all in a split second. "And then those two first year's ruined it! I've tripped the henchmen. Now, you make sure they're out of the game. We'll split up and get the remaining injured to the shelter!"
"Okay!" She replies, before rushing off to the now recovering opponents.
Kira uses her Quirk to boost herself over to Gang Orca's followers, noticing some of them helping others out of larger pits, some lifting themselves out and others already on their feet. One of the enemies closest to her spots her oncoming approach and yells out a warning, before aiming his odd-looking gun at her. Kira dodges the blasts with ease, using her Quirk in her palms to send her left and right. She ducks and weaves away from the shots, finally reaching the closest opponent and knocking him out immediately with a swift uppercut.
The others are all yelling now, their guns all aimed at Kira and so she uses her Quirk to flash a blinding light. She thought that maybe their masks might have protected them from that particular power, but based on their dazed movements and hesitant shots, her sudden idea worked.
With no further hesitation, Kira zips around from enemy to enemy, using intense speed to beat each one of them down. A kick here, a punch there, even using their own weapons against them.
She's realised now that sometime throughout the year, Kira's become stronger at attacking more than defending. She doesn't know when this happened, but it did. Today is proof of that. Did it happen when she abandoned that boy? Or earlier than that? Either way, this is sure to get her back on the right path. At this rate, she's sure to pass.
"Kiriya!"
Kira pauses for a second, standing over another unconscious body as someone approaches. "Midoriya."
"We've come to help."
Kira glances back at Tokoyami, Mina and Ojiro. "Great. Because there's more coming." She jerks her head as more enemies get to their feet with their weapons raised.
During her relentless combat, Todoroki and Yaorashi had managed to contain Gang Orca for the moment, using their powerful Quirks to create a funnel of heat and wind. However, with him being a high ranking pro hero, Kira doubts that it'll hold him for long.
Kira battles some more alongside her classmates, feeling nostalgic for some reason, beating down the opponents with ridiculous ease. At this rate, Kira's so confident that she feels she could even defeat Gang Orca given the chance. But, she knows not to let any cockiness get the best of her. As soon as arrogance becomes a key part of someone's personality, that's usually when everything starts to go horribly wrong.
Suddenly, the firey funnel dissipates, blasting hot wind over the students, revealing the two paralysed bodies of Shoto Todoroki and Inasa Yaorashi. Somehow Gang Orca had managed to disperse their tornado, advancing on Yaorashi with menacing intent to finish him off. The two strong students working together do pose a serious threat when they're not arguing for whatever bizarre reason.
She doesn't know when it happened, but Midoriya flew past everyone at one point, crossing the distance to Gang Orca in a millisecond, surprising both the students and the pro hero as Midoriya sends quite a violent kick that the whale deflects with one of his gauntlets.
However, before the battle can commence, a blaring siren goes off and everyone freezes.
"Oh, yeah, so all of the HUC members that have been deployed have been rescued from the disaster zone," the sleepy man drones into the speaker and Kira's still not sure if she should keep fighting or not. It was just so abrupt. "It may seem anticlimactic, but with this, the provisional licensing exam has officially been completed! After we tally the scores, we'll announce the results here in the arena. Anyone injured should go to the infirmary. The rest of you are free to change clothes and wait wherever you like."
Midoriya glances back at Akira and the others and she offers a lazy shrug, wondering if the license really has finished or if this is still a part of it - just a trick. However, when she notices Gang Orca and the other 'bad guys' depart, Kira allows herself to relax slightly, leftover adrenaline still coursing through her body, causing her knees to wobble a little.
One of Gang Orca's assailants groan somewhere to the left and Kira rushes over to help them to their feet. She was a little merciless with her attack. The man rubs his head and nods his thanks as she pulls him to his feet. A few of the other students do the same, having been the ones to brutally knock them out in the first place. But these actors knew what they were in for when they signed up for this in the first place.
The crowd of students flock to a nearby building where the girls and boys separate into their designated changing areas. Kira wasn't able to spot a familiar head of red hair at all, so she'll have to find him later.
Ochaco grabs Kira by the elbow amongst the mob, linking her arm with hers so not to get dragged away by a tidal wave of students. Kira can see Momo ahead of her, being one of the taller students and Mina's crazy pink hair.
Ochaco yells something in Kira's ear, but her voice is snatched away by the crowd. Kira offers her a frown and a head shake, using her free hand to point to her ear. Instead, the girls all enter their changing area and the UA girls flock to a far corner, where Kira meets up with Tsu, Toru and Kyoka.
"Yay! We all made it! Again!" Toru cheers, the sleeves of her hero outfit reaching towards the ceiling, signalling that she's basically jumping for joy.
"I'm surprised," Kyoka admits, leaning her weight on one hip as she twirls her earphone jacks around her fingers. "I thought for sure some of us were gonna mess up."
"Well, we haven't got our results yet," Momo says uncertainly, unzipping her outfit.
Kira can feel Ochaco's insistent gaze to the left of her. "What happened back there, Kira?" She questions.
Kira freezes suddenly, one leg out of her bottoms. "What do you mean?"
"You... you just left."
"What are you talking about?" Kira practically scoffs.
"We were all working together to get that civilian free," Momo adds, her voice quiet. "And then you ran."
"I didn't run," Kira says defensively. "I just-" she pauses, glancing at each face around her, one's full of concern, curiosity and confusion. "I heard other civilians nearby," she lies. "They were calling for help and so I went."
"Without telling us?" Ochaco's frown deepens.
"I was in a hurry."
"But, we needed you there," her classmate argues.
"No. You didn't," Kira snaps. "Sato pushed the rock back and Sero used his tape to secure it. You had the sunlight," she sighs heavily. "You got the guy out, right? That's all that matters in the end."
There's a brief silence among them and the other three girls - Tsu, Toru and Kyoka squirm uncomfortably, having no idea what's happening.
"You're right," Ochaco says quietly. "There was a bit of sunlight. For a while. But, we were so concerned for you that we all lost concentration. I couldn't float the rocks, Momo stopped creating pillars, Sato lost his strength momentarily and Sero couldn't tape the rocks up. We nearly failed. Momo was forced to create flashlights and glowsticks all because you ran away."
"I didn't run!" Kira blurts.
Ochaco steps closer, lowering her voice and placing a hand on Kira's shoulder. "I don't know what happened exactly. But, in that brief moment of sunlight, I saw your face. You were terrified of something."
"Terrified?" Kira repeats. "Why- why the hell would I be terrified?"
"I don't know." Ochaco says simply, shaking her head.
Suddenly, something tugs on Kira's jacket to the left of her and she tears her sharp gaze from Ochaco and to the stranger. Except, it wasn't a stranger - it was Shizu, the student with the Quirk called Banshee.
"Oh, Shizu?" Kira frowns down at the girl. She was slightly smaller than Tsu. "You okay?"
The girl simply nods, being mute. She then looks over at Kira's classmates and tugs on her jacket once again, signalling that she wants to 'speak' in private. Kira's extremely thankful for the interruption and follows Shizu elsewhere.
"What are you even doing here still?" Kira questions, as the girl fishes into her pocket for something. "Stuck around to watch your classmates?"
Shizu hands Kira a notepad with some scribbles on it, writing.
"I stayed to talk to you," Akira reads, looking back up at Shizu. "Really? What for?" She simply taps the notepad again, urging Kira to continue reading. "I wanted to find you so I can thank you in person. I took what you said earlier to heart. Despite being mute, I'm going to strive to be a leader and not a follower. Because you're right - my Quirk is powerful and I shouldn't have to follow people around just because I have one silly thing holding me back. So, thank you."
Kira looks up slowly at Shizu, noticing the girl has tears in her eyes. Happy one's, she hopes. Shizu looks away sheepishly, rubbing her cheek quickly.
"Well, I'm glad that my words got through to you somehow, Shizu," Kira says. "You'll be an awesome hero. I just know it." Shizu nods quickly at Kira's words and she hands her back the notepad. "I-I'll see you around, yeah?"
With one more nod, Shizu scuttles away, clutching her notepad close to her chest. Smiling after her, Kira turns around to spot her classmates, staring at her in bewilderment.
"What was that about?" Kyoka wonders, once Kira returns within earshot.
"Nothing, really," Kira sighs, grabbing her school uniform and throwing it on haphazardly.
Thankfully, the girls didn't continue to push the issue from a few minutes ago and instead settled into an uncomfortable silence until the sleepy man spoke once more on the speaker, urging all of the students back into the arena for the results. Kira quickly threw on her jacket, but didn't bother to tie her tie and instead let it hang loose around her neck as she left the side building.
"I got a good feeling about this!" One of the girls from another school squeals out, rubbing her hands together.
Kira was feeling semi-okay about the end results too. Sure, she messed up earlier, abandoning her classmates and someone in desperate need of rescuing because of her own personal, messed up issues, but she's certain that any points reducted would have been made up when she fought against Gang Orca's associates. She helped protect the First Aid station alongside her classmates, providing enough time for the civilians to escape.
Not only that, she even saved Yo Shindo from what could have been a execrable incident. She saved him. Kira smiles to herself - she's going to pass, for certain.
"There you are," Kirishima wheezes from next to her all of a sudden. "You are you, right?"
"If you mean: am I that girl from Shiketsu high? No. It's me, Kirishima."
"Oh, good."
"Why are you out of breath anyway?" Kira wonders, looking him up and down.
"I had to stop Bakugou from nearly killing someone back in the changing room," he explains, chucking a thumb back in the general direction of their explosive classmate.
"Oh, well, of course," she sighs. "I should've guessed that."
Kira gathers with the other students, Kirishima beside her. Bakugou and Kaminari eventually join the both of them, Bakugou moving to stand beside Kirishima with his arms crossed and Kaminari beside Akira.
"Okay," the sleepy director starts, instantly silencing the excited chatter of the eager students. "Everyone: thanks for your hard work in today's exam. Now, before I announce the results, I should probably explain the way we evaluated you. Between HUC and those of us at the Heroes Public Safety Commission, we had a two-fold demerit system that we used to determine your total score. In other words, we were evaluating you based on how few mistakes you made in a crisis situation."
Kira's confident smile falters at those words and she takes a pensive step forwards, staring up at the man on the stage and then to the screen and then back to the man again. She should be okay. After all, she only made that one mistake, even though it was a rather dire one.
"Anyway," the tired man continues. "The names of those who passed are listed 'here' in alphabetical order."
The man gestures with an arm and the screen lights up with everyone's names and Kira searches profusely, desperately for hers. Kira uses her finger to scan up and down the rows and columns, until she comes to the end.
Her name is nowhere to be seen.
~~~