The Difference Between Strength & Power ( MHA x Maki Zenin Reader)

What should I do now?

Everyone that was now clothed back in their school uniforms and had had their injuries looked at, were all gathered about on a stage that held a jumbotron, as they lined up to hear the main examiner's announcements regarding the results. Her semi-tired class was gathered; they all looked to the still tired examiner who leaned over his podium.
"Hello everyone and thank you for waiting. You have all worked hard and I will now begin by presenting the results. But before that, I just have a few words..." He held up two fingers, "In terms of how we went about evaluating you, between us members of the Hero Public Safety Commission and our colleagues from the HUC, we had two systems of point deduction that were combined to evaluate your performance. In short... we were examining the both the nature and quality of your conduct in situations of crisis." With his hand splayed out towards the screen, it clicked on, lighting up to display the amalgamate of writing. "The names of those who have passed will be displayed here in alphabetical order. With that in mind, please go ahead a review your results."

Maki's hands clenched into fists nervously, she could feel her limbs go heavy as lead as she shuffled over towards the front. Her shoulders became tense, her breath hitched. This score board would determine the outcome of her goal and her future. She slowly looked down the small 'Z' section at the end of the list, not sure if she wanted to find out...

The world came to a halt.

"I did it...". Maki muttered, not believing the screen. "I passed..."
As the situation finally began to sink in, her eyes grew wide. "I passed! I actually passed!"
Around her she could hear cheering around her mixed with groans and moans of sorrow and depression from those who weren't up on the screen. Maki cheered with the rest of the class, raising her fist high in the air. Laughter echoed in her ears.
They did it.... They had actually done it...
She had passed...
She had actually passed...
She wondered what her mother and sister would think. Would they be proud of her? Would they finally accept her as she went further down the hero path? Would they... love her until the very end?
They had never shown that they did.

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On the bus ride back Maki was uncharacteristically quiet. She was thinking about what had happened during the exam. Specifically, what had happened in her battle with Mai. She couldn't help but think about her plea to her.

'Why...Why couldn't you have... just stayed and been satisfied down at the bottom with me?'

Why didn't she?

Maki absentmindedly looked down at the card in her hand, her photo staring back at her. Her new license. She should have been feeling overjoyed as she did previously. Instead, she just felt a strange sense of loss. She became a hero to spite her family, not the most noble of motivations. She had to leave Mai behind in order to do it though. The person she had shared her pain and mistreatment with. The clan wasn't a place for either of them, she could have taken Mai with her but that wasn't what she would have wanted.
'I can't do this out of spite anymore. I have to make the clan a better place for Mai when I return, it has to be better home for people like us. It can't be stuck in the old ways anymore. Times are changing and we have to change with it, whether we want to or not. I have to change, for Mai.