𝐓𝐇𝐈𝐍 𝐀𝐈𝐑! ❀ 𝐊. 𝐓𝐀𝐊𝐀𝐌𝐈 [ˢʰᵒʳᵗ ˢᵗᵒʳʸ]

② 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙛𝙞𝙧𝙚𝙨 𝙙𝙞𝙚 𝙙𝙤𝙬𝙣

It had been two months since she last saw the boy. A lot had changed in that time. Her training sessions got easier. Her hair had gotten an inch longer. Her spiral got longer, too. Much longer. Over three hundred items had been added. Now, it seemed only ten or eleven objects could be affected before she'd shut down. Hirose didn't know why.

Kimika didn't know why.

All she did know was the pain.

Every step, every muscle that was moved, every time she blinked. Her head would pound violently. It felt like someone was smashing a brick onto her head over and over again with no signs of stopping.

It was miserable.

It got to a point where the higher-ups decided it would be best for her to stay away from training for a while. After all, they were trying to find her weaknesses to figure out what they could do to make her stronger. If she got tired after using her quirk a whole lot, it wouldn't do them much good to let her rot.

So for a week, Kimika sat alone in her room.

She curled herself into a ball, hugging her knees close to her chest. She pressed her head onto her arm. Her fingernails dug into her palms. She felt blood ooze from where they penetrated, but she was desperate to feel some other kind of pain. The constant throb of her skull was too much to bear. It was torturous.

The fires in her mind continued to burn. They burned everything they touched. She felt warm and sticky from the flames that licked at her skin. They weren't there, but she felt them. She could feel the heat that torched her body. The crackle of the sparks accompanied the thunderous earthquakes that pounded against the walls of her head. Her ears would ring at the sound of people's screaming.

The only thing warmer than the flames was the memory of the boy's smile.

She tried to focus on those golden eyes rather than the burning world inside her mind, but it was hard. She would have the image clear in her mind, and when she blinked, his smile would burn away with the rest of the earth. She would cry and whimper every time it happened. It seemed every sign of joy was turned to ash.

She didn't know if there was someone watching her from above, but if there was, she prayed that she'd find an ounce of joy that she could keep.

The door to her room slid open and suddenly she believed. It wasn't a random government official here to escort her to another session with Hirose. No, it was Fujikawa. The woman smiled at the small girl, who was still curled into a ball in the center of the room.

"Hello, Vanish."

Kimika's fingers relaxed. No longer were her fingernails leaving scars on her palms. The blood still flowed easily from the small wounds, but they didn't hurt. Kimika gave the woman a gentle nod as a greeting. Even if she was the nicest adult in the building, the girl didn't have the courage to utter a word.

"I've brought a surprise."

Kimika blinked at her. A surprise? What could it be? She couldn't be offered any gifts or presents. If she touched them, they'd be zapped away and never seen again. No one in their right mind would spend their time or money on a gift for her. So what has Fujikawa brought her?

Then he entered.

The flames in her mind fought to stay alive. They were getting beaten back by something.

Those golden eyes.

The boy stood, a little timidly, at the entrance to the room. Fujikawa had nudged him in front of her, urging him to take a few more steps forward. He was still in his plain white uniform, but Kimika noticed new differences. His scruffy hair was a bit more styled, and a bandage had found its way onto the side of his cheek.