Your Shield- Eijiro Kirishima

~7~

'If the whole world was watching, I'd still dance with you'

I breathe in slowly to calm my nerves, taking a few extra seconds to breathe out, now fully focused on getting a good score, even if I have to use the light instead. It was a very sunny day, so that would up it's power slightly.

I give my arm a quick stretch, fully aware everyone was watching me but trying not to focus on it. I pull my arm back and flex my shoulder, then all at once I spin, summon the light surrounding my body, and launch the ball into the air.

I used the light to give my throwing arm extra strength, but I also surrounded the ball with light of it's own. I grit my teeth as I try to maintain control as far as I could. I keep pushing until it's too far and I feel my control of the light slipping away. I really need to work on how far away I can control my quirk.

I give one final push and hear a crack in the distance as it gets propelled at an incredible speed. I keep my eyes closed for a little bit, cringing at the headache that seeps into my brain, followed by an uneasy giddy feeling. I put my hands on my hips and lean back, huffing a little, shaking it off.

I look to Mr.Aizawa shyly, realising everyone is dead silent. He raises his eyebrows at the monitor and turns it to me. I grin widely when I see a big 918.7 in the middle.

I giggle and pump my fist in the air. Yes!

"What?!" The angry boy yells.

"That was awesome Ayla-chan!" Ahido comes running up to me and hugs me.

I catch her and hug her back, stuttering. "I- um- t-thanks Ashido-kun." I mumble at the praise.

The ball throw was the last exercise for me and Yaoyorozu so we both stand to the side, behind Mr.Aizawa and watch as the other students slowly finish. So far it was only me, Yaoyorozu, and the red head with his partner who had finished.

Me and Yaoyorozu engage in small talk until I feel someone tap me on the shoulder. I turn to find myself face to face with the red head. Immediately my face heads up like an inferno at his sharp teethed smile.

"Hey, I just came over to say hi. I couldn't ignore you after what just happened, that was so cool!" He says enthusiastically, referring to my ball throw. "I was watching you for a while, and you seem to be getting crazy good scores every time."

"I- um- ye-yeah- I um." I can't hold myself together in front of this boy. "H-h-hi." I manage to squeak.

He falters and rubs a hand on his neck. "Sorry, I can come across as scary and intimidating. I don't mean to be that way I swear."

My eyes widen, starting to shake my head frantically and wave my hands around. "N-no!" I squeal. "I don't find you scary." I manage to get out a full sentence without stuttering in front of him. "no-not more than m-most people anyway." I hang my head and cover my face, trying to hide my blush.

His eyes go wide. "Oh are you shy?"

I make a weird noise- way to put it bluntly. I just nod in response and hear him chuckle. My knees almost buckle; holy cow this mans laugh was melodic, like a blessing to my ears.

"I can, umm, I can go if you want." He says awkwardly.

My head shoots up and I choke on my words. I don't want him to leave with me doing nothing but making an absolute fool of myself. "I- uh. You don't have t-to. Did you want to ask some-something?" I ask quietly, avoiding eye contact, but keeping my head up. For his sake.

I see him smile and I feel my heart clench. I've met many bright people in my life but the sunshine he radiates forces me stop functioning.

"I wanted to ask what your quirk was, I couldn't figure it out. And I just wanted to get to know you better. What you did out there was super manly!"

Manly? That's a weird compliment.

I take a deep breath and nod my head. "I can manipulate light and dark." My voice is quiet and shaky, but I'm somewhat proud at not stuttering again. His eyes light up.

"That's so cool. That explains why I always found it hard to look at you when you did cool things. It was like there was glass reflecting the sun in my eyes."

I nod. "Y-yeah, umm, you should probably be careful of that. It can hurt your eyes."

A few seconds of awkward silence pass with me staring at the floor. I build up the courage and ask him back.

"Umm," I clear my throat, " what's yours?" I look up at him shyly.

I see a light blush dust his cheeks as he rubs his hand sheepishly on the back of his neck. "It's not as cool or as showy as yours, but it's called hardening." I feel a spark of interest.

If there was one way to get me out of my shell it was either quirks, pro heroes, or doughnuts. "What's that?"

I'm filled with curiosity. This time he doesn't make eye contact with me. My head tilts to the side, he seems embarrassed about his quirk which confuses me. It must be something special for him to get into UA.

"I can like, harden my body." He mumbles. "Like this."

I watch as his arm suddenly turns rocky and all jagged. I gasp and lose all sense of self-control. That's so cool!

I don't even think when I reach out my hand and grab his arm, gently running my fingers over the now rock hard skin on his arm, muttering and fangirling with myself.

"Wow, this must be so good for your defence, it would be like full armour during a fight. And if you could sharpen it you could have amazing attack power as well-" I ramble on to myself.

I suddenly get a hold of myself and realise what I'm doing and yelp as I leap back from him. The familiar hot feeling crawls it's way up my neck as I see his red and shocked face. It didn't help that he somehow managed to look cute at the same time.

"I'm so sorry!" I bow down low. "You probably don't want me touching you like that, that was super rude and inappropriate! I just thought your quirk was really awesome! I'm so sorry!" I bow repetitively.

"Yeah that's how I- Ayla are you ok?!" Yaoyorozu calls in worry when she sees me.

"I- it's fine!" The handsome boy says, waving it off dismissively. "I'm actually really happy you like it." He laughs nervously as I look up at him, peeking through my fingers. "Most people think it's bland and boring. Well, it is really."

No it's not. "I'm sorry." I squeak again.

He chuckles. "Seriously, it's fine. I'm Eijiro Kirishima. What's your name?"

Kirishima and I talked, and I also met his partner, Mezo Shoji. He was nice as well. We all initiated in small talk, but it was mainly them asking questions and me stuttering out answers.

I started to get comfortable around them towards the end, seeing as we were talking for a full half an hour before another person joined us.