~Kanami's POV~

I was nervous as I exited the car a step behind my father as we arrived at the headquarters of the Hero Public Safety Commission. Dad was wearing his hero costume and carrying a case with my vigilante costume inside. He wasn't sure what the meeting was going to entail and if I'd need to demonstrate my skills or if this was more like a disciplinary hearing. Mom suggested I dress up and picked out a cute white dress with varying shades of blue flowers across the skirt. After much debate about what to do with my hair I'd opted to leaving it down and Mom gave me a cute headband with blue and white flowers to secure it out of my face.

I trailed after Dad as my stomach tied itself into knots. He said I wasn't in trouble but the building looked ominous and scary as we drew nearer and nearer. Dad paused as he reached the door and turned to me. He gently placed a hand on my shoulder.

"It's going to be fine." He reassured me.

I glanced at my reflection in the glass of the door and realized I'd gone white as a sheet and he was worried for me. I managed a nod and tried to calm my nerves.

He opened the door and ushered me inside. We were greeted by a young woman with a clipboard the moment we walked through the door. "This way if you please." She motioned for us to follow her before heading for a set of elevators.

I hesitated at the elevator doors as I remembered crawling to an elevator while bleeding out to cover my tracks when I'd been captured by the vigilante killers. For a brief moment I saw blood coating the floor of the elevator. It was gone after I blinked. My heart started to race. Was I allowed to take the stairs?

"Kana?" Dad placed a hand on my shoulder and I took a deep breath before following him onto the elevator. He kept his hand on my shoulder until we exited the elevator again, his lips pulled into a worried frown.

"You can wait here." The woman looked at me before motioning to a small seating area near a wall of windows that looked out at the city below.

I bowed my head politely and went to take a seat.

"Endeavor, the president would like a word." She continued moving toward a set of doors.

Dad hesitated before following after her, throwing one last worried look in my direction. I tried to offer him a reassuring smile but his expression didn't change so I didn't think it was very reassuring. I folded my hands in my lap and stared out the window.

"Flash, right?" A voice sounded from behind me, startling me.

I jumped and turned to see who'd spoken. A young man who looked to be close to Toya's age stood behind me, he had feathery ash blond hair, hawk-like golden eyes and bright crimson wings protruding from his back. There was a carefree smile on his lips but it didn't quite reach his eyes, his eyes were calculative. He was the current third ranked hero, Hawks.

"K-Kana." I said softly before getting to my feet and bowing politely, "Kanami Todoroki."

"You can relax, no need to be so formal." He chuckled and motioned for me to take a seat.

I did so and he sat across from me, kicking his feet up on the small table between us.

"Why do you want to be a hero, Kana?" He asked casually but his eyes still looked calculative.

Was this a test? I thought for a moment, originally I'd wanted to be a hero because I thought I could be closer to my father, maybe get to know him without being discovered, but things changed after my first rescue. "I want everyone to feel safe...not just civilians, villains too, they're people too and they need saving more than anyone."

He looked a little taken aback by this, "how are you going to make villains feel safe when part of our job is defeating them?"

"It's not a hero's job to defeat them, it's a hero's job to save them, and sometimes that means saving them from themselves. I won't ever be cruel, I won't use my quirk to harm them because it can cause irreparable damage, I'll neutralize them with as little violence as possible."

Hawks smiled, it seemed genuine, "your track record supports that. You don't use your quirk offensively very often." His smile dropped after a moment of thought, "though that does put you at risk for exploitation, if villains know you're too nice...you may find yourself in another situation like the one you were in with the Vigilante Killers."

I tensed.

He noticed.

Before I could try to plead my case, he got to his feet, "see you in a bit." He waved farewell and flew off disappearing down the hall as the doors Dad had gone through opened. Dad stepped out with a very serious looking woman with shoulder length ash blonde hair and turquoise eyes wearing a suit dress in a dull beige color. The woman turned to me.

"Get changed, a test has been prepared for you, if after completing whatever tasks he has in store, Hawks signs off on it, then you may obtain your license." She motioned toward a bathroom for me to change.

Dad handed me the case with my vigilante costume and went to wait in the seating area. I felt nervous. Hawks was going to be testing me? I was pretty sure I'd already failed his test before it had even begun. I ducked into the bathroom and changed quickly into the tight black bodysuit. My helmet wasn't included but I'd really only worn it to conceal my identity. I pulled my hair into a tight ponytail and exited the bathroom.

Dad offered me an encouraging nod though he was trying to be very subtle about it. I felt anxious. I was certain I'd already failed. Would he be disappointed?

I followed the woman with a clipboard and the serious looking woman who I assumed was the president down the hall in the direction Hawks had disappeared. We stopped at a massive set of double doors that were over twenty feet tall. The serious woman pushed the doors open and ushered me inside. My jaw nearly hit the floor as we stepped into what looked like a whole city. The walls and ceiling were painted to look realistically like the sky outside. It was very disorienting and made my brain hurt a little.

"She's all yours." The President said before she and her assistant exited the room.

The massive doors slammed shut behind them and I looked at Hawks anxiously as he stood next to a crumbling building with his hands behind his head looking relaxed. He offered me a smile.

"Ready?" He asked.

"Haven't I already failed?" I pondered.

"Have you?" He mused.

I bit my lip, "you've already made your decision."

He chuckled, "I have."

"What do you want me to do?" I asked. Maybe I could change his mind.

"Simple. I've already seen you fight, and I've seen you rescue people from burning buildings like a Pro, but let's see how fast you are. I'll give you three chances to beat me to a location." He smiled.

I felt my heart drop. Hawks was the fastest hero. There was no way I could beat him in a race. I shook my head, ridding myself of the doubt. I had to do this.

"The locations will be revealed by a flare, you just have to capture the little flag at the location before I do." He pretended to stretch though I felt like he was just doing it to tease me.

I scoured the 'sky' looking for any sign of movement. There was a pop a moment later and I saw a flare light up the sky. Hawks took off in a flurry of feathers leaving me in the dust. I sprinted after him using my quirk to make an ice track to propel me faster. When I arrived, Hawks was chuckling softly holding a small flag that had been sitting atop a machine that had presumably launched the flare.

"Gotta be faster." He smiled.

I took a deep breath to calm myself and focused. I had to be faster. I listened for the pop of the flare. It sounded in the distance and Hawks took off. I managed to keep him in my line of sight the whole time and was only a few paces behind him. The ice tracks weren't enough. If I used my flames at the same time maybe I could propel myself faster. Hawks held up another tiny flag from the machine that had launched the second flare.

"Last chance." He smirked.

I readied myself. Once the third flare went off I activated both of my quirks simultaneously and rocketed in the direction of the flare. I was moving faster than I'd ever moved before and for a fleeting moment I panicked at how I was going to be able to stop safely, but that thought left my mind as I saw my target, a tiny flag sitting atop a machine. Hawks was right next to me.

My flames flared even more, propelling me faster. I caught the flag just a fraction of a second before Hawks and was so amazed that I'd gotten the flag, I didn't have time to map out my stop and careened toward a crumbling building. Several crimson feathers managed to sweep me off the ground and bring me to a safe stop.

Hawks looked surprised upon seeing the flag in my hands.

"I did it!" I cheered.

He chuckled. "You should have asked if the results were going to change my mind."

My heart fell. "Did they?"

"Nope." He gently set me on my feet.

"What?" I stared up at him in horror.

"Relax, you passed." He sighed, "though I do have an opinion I'd like to share, if you'll hear it."

I felt like I might faint from relief and disbelief all at once but managed to nod.

"You should focus less on being a hero and more on being a kid." He stuffed his hands in his pockets and headed for the massive doors.

"Hawks?" I called after him.

He paused and turned to me curiously.

"Thank you." I beamed.

He waved and continued on his way.

My legs felt like jello and I still felt like I might faint and slowly made my way toward the exit. Hawks was gone. The President's assistant was waiting for me and led me back to the bathroom to change out of my costume before bringing me to the waiting room where Dad was waiting.

Dad got to his feet and approached, looking worriedly at whatever expression was revealed on my face.

"I passed!" I beamed before promptly fainting.