𝐓𝐇𝐈𝐍 𝐀𝐈𝐑! ❀ 𝐊. 𝐓𝐀𝐊𝐀𝐌𝐈 [ˢʰᵒʳᵗ ˢᵗᵒʳʸ]

14. 𝙩𝙖𝙢𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙩𝙝𝙪𝙣𝙙𝙚𝙧

Kimika walked into the separate, smaller training room with a goal in mind. She had a specific objective that she was going to accomplish no matter what it took.

When Sasaki saw the fire in the sixteen-year-old's eyes, her interest peaked. "Well, good morning to you, Vanish! I've never seen you so... confident!" The older woman placed her hands on her hips and grinned. "When Hirose called and told me you'd requested some private quirk training, I was very surprised! What did you need help with?"

Kimika looked the doctor straight in the eyes. It was true, what she had said. Kimika had never felt so determined about anything in her entire life. If there was one thing she wanted to learn, it was this.

"I want to learn how to not zap things away."

Sasaki blinked at the young woman for a moment. She chuckled nervously. "You mean... without the gloves?"

"Without the gloves," Kimika confirmed.

The doctor clapped her hands excitedly. "Well then, we've sure got a project on our hands, don't we?"

Kimika gaped at her with a look that seemed to say, you think it can be done?

Sasaki put a hand on her hip and shifted her weight to one leg, an eyebrow raised. "Vanish, you seem to forget that I know everything about your quirk and how to use it. And by everything, I mean everything. I know your limits and your potential-- and let me tell you, it is very much possible."

Hope sparked in Kimika's soul, and for once the raging fires in her mind gave off a warmth that seemed almost comforting. "So, how do I do it?"

Sasaki dragged a nearby chair in front of the girl and gestured to it. "Well, what do you think? Remember, your quirk is an extension of yourself-- you need to know how to control it. Remember, you're the one who figured out how to return one thing at a time, right?"

Kimika hummed. Sasaki was right.

So for the next few months, she trained. She was able to escape from all that espionage and self-defense training in return for learning how to completely control her quirk.

As she tried tirelessly to keep an item in the material world every time she touched it, Keigo trained more with his wings. The more individual drilling they did, the less they saw of each other. They were both too tired to stay awake to talk during the night, and the moment the lights turned on in their room, they were back to training once again.

It made Kimika sad, this distance between them, but she knew it was only for a short matter of time. She's been making plenty of progress on her goal, now able to delay the disappearance of objects a whole minute. In a few weeks, she would be able to stop the action altogether. She was confident she could do it.

It was the first time she had ever really been confident about something like this.

Maybe that's why she was able to do it in just a short four weeks of practice.

Kimika wasn't dangerous anymore.

She could hardly believe it.