My Hero Academia: Overcoming Fear

Cavalry Battle

Hikari

I covered my face as the explosion threw Todoroki and Bakugo off their feet and a few feet back. Then I gritted my teeth and glanced down at my hand. It was smoking, and it hurt, but not as bad as it would've if I had fired a shot like that more than just two times. 

"Wow!" Present Mic shouted. "Kazenikura just blew up the mines underneath Todoroki's and Bakugo's feet! Now she's racing for first place and she's almost to the finish line!"

Since my fire had cleared out the mines in front of me, that meant there were no more mines in my way. I raced forwards, the finish line in my sight. 

"WHAT IS THIS?!?" Present Mic shouted loudly. Suddenly something flew over my head, and when I looked up, I couldn't believe my eyes. Midoriya was on a piece of robot, flying through the air on top of it sort of like a sled. But in the air. 

"Midoriya from class 1-A takes the lead by slamming a piece of robot from the first obstacle course onto the mines and propelling himself forwards!"

He landed in front of me, and while he was still getting up, I bit my lip, aimed my hand, and fired at his robot piece. It melted, and pain swept through my hand. 

I winced and passed him, holding my smoking hand to my chest as I ran. 

"Kazenikura takes the lead again, melting Midoriya's piece of metal with her fire! But what's this... it looks like she's hurt!"

"Yes, it seems so," Mr. Aizawa said. "Even though her skin is fire-proof, it's only a matter of time before a high-temperature shot like that will begin to burn her."

"And she's not far up ahead!" Present Mic. "She's being followed closely by Midoriya, Todoroki, and Bakugo!"

I groaned. Why couldn't they just hang back for a second while I crossed the finish line?

I turned around, and, running backwards, aimed my fingers at them. 

If you want to be a hero, I thought. You're just going to have to push through the pain.

Todoroki noticed my move first. "Hikari..."

I shot at them. This time, the pain in my fingers was so bad I let out a small scream. I looked down at my hand, turned around, and ran towards the finish line. My fingers were beginning to blister and they were bright red. 

"What's this? Kazenikura is hurting herself just to get first place? Talk about taking risks," Present Mic said. "For these first-years, losing is not an option. These challenges decide if you're going to be a hero or not, people. So, even if getting first means hurting themselves, they'll push through it."

As I ran, the finish line began to blur. I shut my eyes and shook my head, opening my eyes again. My vision was still blurry. I began to stumble. 

No. I can't fall yet. Dad would be so disappointed, I thought. Everything you've work for, all the training you did to prepare for this... it would be wasted. Push through the pain, Hikari. It's not even that bad. Come on, you idiot. You can do it. Just a few more steps...

My vision cleared, and suddenly Midoriya and Todoroki passed me.

How'd they get here?

I crossed the finish line just a millisecond after they did. 

I was breathing heavily. Not only had firing those huge shots hurt me, it also drained me. I walked around for a moment, my hands on my hips and hardly noticing the cheering from the crowds. 

"Good job, Kazenikura," Midoriya said, coming up next to me. 

I bent over, trying to catch my breath. "Thanks," I breathed. "How'd you... get in front...?"