Chapter 5 - Chapter V

It was soon the morning of the exam and the Hayashi siblings had little time to finish the training. Eun walked towards his sister's room and knocked on the door, waiting for a response but there was only silence. He knocked again. "Kurmara?" He called her name as he waited again before opening her door to see that she wasn't in her room. He walked further into the room and looked around, noticing that her closet was open and her bed was made. He left her room and walked towards the backyard to see if she was there, but she wasn't. "Where the hell.." he thought for a moment before he walked back inside the house, slipped some shoes on, grabbed the keys, and walked towards the car. He drove towards the one place he thought she would be. Once Eun got to the park area he first took his sister for her training, he parked the car and walked down the path until he got to the clearing area, his eyes immediately resting upon his younger sister who let out a shout before using two of her Quirks and was soon high in the air.

Kurmara did a spin, water flinging around her before she landed perfectly on the ground, the water falling with her like little droplets of rain. She stood up, staggering a little and breathing heavily as her brother watched with amazement before he rushed over to help her, catching her just as she was about to fall over. "You've perfected everything I've taught you, even adding your own flair to it." He smiled at her and she looked up at him with exhaustion in her eyes, weakly returning the smile. "I.. did it.. do you think.. I'm ready?" She asked and he let out a chuckle. "Of course. You did amazing, sis. I'm very impressed with all the work you've done." Eun helped her stand up before standing back to get a better look at his sister, feeling like a proud father. He pulled his phone out and scrolled through his gallery until he came across the pictures he took of her, turning the phone. "Look at these," Kurmara lifted her head to look at his phone and saw the pictures. "This is you before we began any of the training. Don't get mad at me for saying this but, look at all the weight you had and how weak you were ten months ago."

He put his phone back in his pocket and gave a smile. "Now look at how far you've come from that." She looked down at herself, trying to move her arms a little despite the soreness she felt and gave a small smile. He was right, she has come a long way in the past ten harsh months he had helped her. "Do you think... I can do this? You have helped me so much... how did I get so lucky to have a brother like you?" He gave a light laugh and put his arm around her shoulders. "Oh come on, you did all the hard work. I was just acting as a coach to get you going along." They began to walk out of the clearing and down the path towards the car. "Now, little sister, it's time for us to get home. I'll reward you later, but for now, you need to get ready otherwise you'll be late." Eun voiced as he helped Kurmara into the passenger side of the car. "Wait, what time is it?" She grabbed her phone and checked the time. "Ah! We need to hurry back to the house!" She exclaimed and he winked at her as he pulled away from the park and down the street.

* * *

Kurmara jogged down the streets until she saw UA and stopped for a split second to catch her breath. "Phew, I made it." She sighed as she walked up towards the gates alongside every other student. She was so worried about the exam, she wasn't able to think about anything else. "Hey, loser," a voice called from behind her and she turned to see Kamiko glaring at her as she walked behind her. "Ah, hey.." "Move the hell out of my way or else you'll end up paralyzed." The girl threatened in a cold voice and the chubby girl quickly stepped to the side, moving far away from her as best she could. "Ah! I... I hope your morning is well. Do your best!" The words just stumbled past her lips as Kamiko walked past her without another word. Kurmara watched as she walked on ahead, letting out a sigh. 𝐼 𝑑𝑜𝑛'𝑡 𝑠𝑒𝑒 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑜𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑟𝑠, 𝑠𝑜 𝐼 𝑔𝑢𝑒𝑠𝑠 𝑠ℎ𝑒'𝑠 𝑛𝑜𝑡 ℎ𝑎𝑛𝑔𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑎𝑟𝑜𝑢𝑛𝑑 𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑚 𝑎𝑛𝑦𝑚𝑜𝑟𝑒... She thought before looking up at the towering building in front of her, dedication coursing through her. 𝐼'𝑚 𝑔𝑜𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑡𝑜 𝑠ℎ𝑜𝑤 ℎ𝑒𝑟 ℎ𝑜𝑤 𝑤𝑒𝑙𝑙 𝐼'𝑣𝑒 𝑑𝑜𝑛𝑒. 𝐼 𝑛𝑒𝑒𝑑 𝑡𝑜 𝑟𝑒𝑚𝑒𝑚𝑏𝑒𝑟 𝑎𝑙𝑙 𝑜𝑓 𝑡ℎ𝑒 ℎ𝑎𝑟𝑑 𝑤𝑜𝑟𝑘 𝐼 ℎ𝑎𝑣𝑒 𝑏𝑒𝑒𝑛 𝑑𝑜𝑖𝑛𝑔. 𝑇ℎ𝑎𝑛𝑘𝑠 𝑡𝑜 𝐸𝑢𝑛, 𝐼 𝑐𝑎𝑛 𝑏𝑒𝑐𝑜𝑚𝑒 𝑎 ℎ𝑒𝑟𝑜.

She walked ahead towards the building, hearing laughter behind her. Kurmara followed everyone else to an auditorium where she sat with a few other students, immediately seeing Kamiko three seats to her right and a boy with green curly hair sitting down the row in front of her. He seemed familiar to her for some reason, but she couldn't place it. Soon, there were a few lights that turned on around certain areas of the room and a giant screen had the logo for the school on it. "What's up UA Candidates? Thank you for tuning in to me, your school DJ." A voice announced down on the little stage. She looked down from where she was sitting and immediately recognized him. "--Let's talk about how this practical exam is gonna go down, okay? Are you ready?" He spoke again only to receive the same silence. "Oh my goodness, it's the voice hero Present Mic. So cool!" The curly-haired boy in front of Kurmara spoke, his voice filled with excitement as he talked about the hero. 𝑆𝑒𝑒𝑚𝑠 𝑙𝑖𝑘𝑒 𝑠𝑜𝑚𝑒𝑜𝑛𝑒 𝑖𝑠 𝑎 ℎ𝑢𝑔𝑒 𝑓𝑎𝑛... She thought with a silent giggle. "Like your application said, today you rockin' boys and girls will be out there conducting ten-minute mock battles in super hip urban settings!"

After Present Mic said that, the screen changed to show a little thing that had A through G and was connected to a 'You Are Here.' "Gird your loins, my friends. After I drop the mic here, you'll head to your specified battle center, sound good?" Kurmara looked down at the little identification card she was given earlier. One of the boys in the row talked about how it was splitting everyone up so they wouldn't be able to work with any friends that were there. She read over the exam ticket and saw that the test location she was going to head out to was battle center A. "Okay, okay, let's check out your targets." The hero spoke again as the screen changed for a second time. "There are three types of faux villains in every battle center. You'll earn points based on their level of difficulty, so better choose wisely. Your goal is to use your Quirk to raise your score by shredding these faux villains like a mid-song guitar solo." She watched the screen with interest, already thinking of ways she could use her Quirks to get the points. "But check it. Make sure you're keep'n things heroic. Attacking other examinees is a UA no-no, ya dig?" He voiced as if to remind a few of the more competitive students.

"Excuse me, sir, but I have a question." A student voiced as he stood up and Kurmara looked over at him. A little spotlight turned on above him and she saw him a bit clearer. "On the printout, you've listed four types of villains. Not three. With all respect, if this is an error on official UA materials, it is shameful. We are exemplary students. We expected the best from Japan's most notable school." Kurmara gave a little sigh as he spoke. He reminded her of a student council member who always took note of any and everything in the school, no matter if it was right or wrong. "Additionally, you with the unkempt hair." The student spoke again, pointing towards the green-haired boy. "You've been muttering this entire time. Stop that. If you can't bother to take this seriously, leave. You're distracting the rest of us." After he said that, she tried her hardest not to laugh at him calling the other boy out. The boy apologized, covering his mouth and a few of the students laughed and giggled around her. "Alright, alright. Examinee number 7111. Thanks for calling in with your request."

"The fourth villain is worth zero points. That guy's just an obstacle we'll be throwing your way. There's one in every battle center. Think of it as a hurdle you should try to avoid." Present Mic explained as the screen displayed the fourth fake villain. "I recommend my listeners to ignore it and focus on the ones toppin' the charts." "Thank you very much. Please, continue." The student council-like boy sat back down, the spotlight going off and she looked at the screens. 𝑆𝑜 𝑖𝑡'𝑠 𝑙𝑖𝑘𝑒 𝑎 𝑡𝑟𝑎𝑝 𝑡ℎ𝑎𝑡 𝑦𝑜𝑢 ℎ𝑎𝑣𝑒 𝑡𝑜 𝑎𝑣𝑜𝑖𝑑. Kurmara thought. "Almost like a video game.." "That's all I have for you today. I'll sign off with a little present. A sample of our school motto!" She turned her attention back towards the hero. "As General Napoleon Bonaparte once laid down, 'a true hero is one who overcomes life's misfortunes.' Mmhm. Now that's a tasty soundbite. You ready to go beyond? Let's hear a Plus Ultra!" Kurmara felt excitement run through her body again as she got up and followed everyone out of the auditorium towards the battle centers.

* * *

There were many students gathered outside and were talking amongst themselves in awe. "It's just like a whole city." "I don't even want to know how much it cost to build this entire thing." Kurmara heard them left and right as she looked up at the giant doors. She was behind the giant group by herself, excited for the exam to begin but also was starting to feel a bit nervous. She paced a little, trying to bring back the excitement but she was too nervous now. The nerves made her crouch down and put her hands on her head. 𝐼 𝑑𝑜𝑛'𝑡 𝑘𝑛𝑜𝑤 𝑖𝑓 𝐼 𝑐𝑎𝑛 𝑑𝑜 𝑡ℎ𝑖𝑠.. 𝑤ℎ𝑎𝑡 𝑖𝑓 𝐼 𝑐𝑜𝑚𝑝𝑙𝑒𝑡𝑒𝑙𝑦 𝑠𝑐𝑟𝑒𝑤 𝑢𝑝 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑒𝑛𝑑 𝑢𝑝 𝑓𝑎𝑖𝑙𝑖𝑛𝑔? 𝐼 𝑤𝑜𝑛'𝑡 𝑏𝑒 𝑎𝑏𝑙𝑒 𝑡𝑜 𝑏𝑒𝑐𝑜𝑚𝑒 𝑎 ℎ𝑒𝑟𝑜 𝑖𝑓 𝐼 𝑑𝑜𝑛'𝑡 𝑑𝑜 𝑚𝑦 𝑏𝑒𝑠𝑡. Her thoughts were loud and made her panic even more until she shook her head and stood up. 𝑁𝑜... 𝐼 𝑐𝑎𝑛 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑤𝑖𝑙𝑙 𝑏𝑒𝑐𝑜𝑚𝑒 𝑎 ℎ𝑒𝑟𝑜. 𝐼 𝑗𝑢𝑠𝑡 𝑛𝑒𝑒𝑑 𝑡𝑜 𝑑𝑜 𝑚𝑦 ℎ𝑎𝑟𝑑𝑒𝑠𝑡. 𝐴𝑓𝑡𝑒𝑟 𝑎𝑙𝑙, 𝐼 𝑛𝑒𝑒𝑑 𝑡𝑜 𝑝𝑢𝑡 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑡𝑟𝑎𝑖𝑛𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝐸𝑢𝑛 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝐼 𝑑𝑖𝑑 𝑡𝑜 𝑔𝑜𝑜𝑑 𝑢𝑠𝑒. 𝐼 𝑛𝑒𝑒𝑑 𝑡𝑜 𝑠ℎ𝑜𝑤 𝑡ℎ𝑎𝑡 𝑡𝑜 𝑒𝑣𝑒𝑟𝑦𝑜𝑛𝑒 𝑒𝑙𝑠𝑒! Kurmara pulled her long hair back into a high ponytail and moved her bangs from over one eye so she could see. "I've got this.." She whispered to herself as she took a deep breath, finally feeling the confidence and determination run through her again.

"Hey check it out, that's the kid who almost bit it out front earlier." She heard one of the students say and turned to see the curly-haired boy talking to the student council-like boy. "Dude, what a loser." "That's one less rival to worry about I guess." She heard them all talk about the boy as if they were lucky that he wouldn't stand a chance against them. It made her feel for him because she knew how that felt to be singled out when no one knew anything. "Right, let's start!" She looked up once she heard Present Mic. "Get moving! There are no countdowns in real battles! Run, run, run listeners! You're wasting airtime here!" He voiced to them all and she turned to see that everyone was already running past the giant doors that had already opened and she hurried behind them, hearing the curly-haired boy calling out behind her. Kurmara continued to run through the city area, searching for the mecha villains until she heard a loud crash to her right and she went towards the sound, immediately spotting a few villains. She used her wind Quirk to get into the air, avoiding the mechas, and used her water Quirk to take one of them out.

It was a two-pointer. She landed and began to look for more. "How lucky.. first point was two points. I need to find more though." She said to herself as she kept going. Left and right, other students were taking the villains down one by one, Kurmara adding to the mix. There were a few who she had helped get away from some of the exploded parts of the debris before continuing to find more. She had forgotten to keep count, but she believed that she had at least thirty-six now. She eventually got to a larger area where the other examinees were as well as remains of destroyed villains. She looked around to try and find more villains, but most of them were in the process of getting demolished. "Ah, dammit. I need to find some more otherwise I'm stuck." Kurmara voiced with a huff. There was sudden rumbling nearby and everyone looked to see where the rumbling came from, letting out gasps at what they saw. It was a humongous villain, the zero point one that everyone in the exam had to avoid. Kurmara stood there and looked up in shock, fear suddenly running through her veins at how much bigger it was compared to the other enemies she and everyone else had taken down.

It struck down in front of itself, causing a large gust to blow towards everyone as collective shouts were heard and soon all of the examinees began to run away from the area. But Kurmara stood there in dread, unable to move or run away with everyone else. As a few of the others ran past, the enemy slowly got closer to the area and she still couldn't get her legs to move to get her away from the area. "Less than two minutes remaining!" Present Mic called out which caused her to gasp and finally turn around. "Two minutes... I think I have enough so I just need to-" "Ow!" She stopped and turned to see a girl on the ground, her lower half stuck under some rubble and the villain still coming. Suddenly, running past her back towards the villain was the green-haired boy. He jumped high into the air above the mecha which caused a gasp to escape her throat, watching as he punched it with a great force. The villain got knocked back and exploded as it fell to the ground. "Just one minute left!" Kurmara's mind replayed the scene that happened.

"He just.. no way.." She muttered to herself. She then heard a shout above and looked to see the boy falling. She moved forward only to collapse to the ground, her legs shaking. 𝐷𝑎𝑚𝑚𝑖𝑡, 𝐼'𝑣𝑒 𝑏𝑒𝑒𝑛 𝑚𝑜𝑣𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑛𝑜𝑛𝑠𝑡𝑜𝑝 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑓𝑒𝑎𝑟 𝑓𝑟𝑜𝑚 𝑒𝑎𝑟𝑙𝑖𝑒𝑟 𝑓𝑖𝑛𝑎𝑙𝑙𝑦 𝑐𝑎𝑢𝑔ℎ𝑡 𝑢𝑝... 𝐼 𝑤𝑜𝑛'𝑡 𝑏𝑒 𝑎𝑏𝑙𝑒 𝑡𝑜 ℎ𝑒𝑙𝑝 ℎ𝑖𝑚... She thought with an irritated sigh at her body. She could only watch as he continued to fall, hoping someone would step in and try to help. She then saw the girl on top of a large piece of the destroyed villains, floating a bit, and just before he got any closer to the ground, she had slapped him but he was floating too, a few inches above the ground. The two then landed, the girl vomiting after a few seconds. The curly-haired boy used one of his arms to move towards the part she was laying on. "And that's it. Time's up!" Present Mic voiced and an alarm sounded which indicated that the exam was over. Kurmara looked back at the boy to see that he passed out and soon the other examinees began to talk. "Did you see that dude's attack? I didn't think he had that kind of strength."

"Me either. Looked like some kind of reinforcement-type Quirk, but.. there was something else." "If he has such an amazing Quirk, how come he didn't snag any points all day?" They all talked left and right about the boy and his Quirk. "Very nice, good work all around." A new voice sounded from behind everyone and she turned to see an older woman walking towards them all. She looked familiar. "You're heroes in my eyes, every one of you." She voiced before continuing to walk past them and over to the unconscious boy. "Oh, my goodness. You were hurt this badly by your own Quirk, sonny?" She then kissed his head and that's when everyone started talking again. "Um, what's she doin'?" "You're watching a school nurse in action. The Youthful Heroine, Recovery Girl. Her Quirk is an awesome boost of healing power. She's the only reason UA can hold these reckless exams. Look, she's saving him months of recovery time." "Alright, he'll be fine now. Anyone else injured?" Kurmara stared at the destroyed zero-point villain on the ground meters away from her. She was amazed by the strength the boy had, it seemed to be way more than hers.

𝑇ℎ𝑎𝑡 𝑤𝑎𝑠.. 𝑎𝑚𝑎𝑧𝑖𝑛𝑔... She thought with a huff as she pushed her bangs from over her eyes, a small smile on her face. "That kid is good.."

* * *

After a week had passed since the exam, Kurmara couldn't help but worry about how she did during the exam and if the curly-haired boy was alright. "Ugh, this is so nerve-wracking..." She huffed in irritation as she walked over to her desk, pulling out a sketchbook and a pencil. "What's nerve-wracking?" She looked up and saw Eun leaning in her doorway which made her smile at him. "Ah, just waiting." "That is nerve-wracking. But I feel like you shouldn't worry. Everything will be fine." He tried to reassure her but she couldn't help it. "I'm just going to draw a bit to ease my mind.." She told him and he nodded before walking away from her room. She then turned her attention to her sketchbook and began to sketch a new outfit, her mind racing. 𝐼 𝑤𝑜𝑛𝑑𝑒𝑟 ℎ𝑜𝑤 𝑤𝑒𝑙𝑙 𝐼 𝑑𝑖𝑑.. 𝑑𝑖𝑑 𝐼 𝑎𝑡 𝑙𝑒𝑎𝑠𝑡 𝑚𝑎𝑘𝑒 𝑖𝑡 𝑜𝑛 𝑡𝑜𝑝? 𝐻𝑜𝑤 𝑖𝑠 𝑡ℎ𝑎𝑡 𝑐𝑢𝑟𝑙𝑦-ℎ𝑎𝑖𝑟𝑒𝑑 𝑏𝑜𝑦 𝑑𝑜𝑖𝑛𝑔? She stopped drawing and disappeared further into her crowded mind, unaware of her brother rushing into her room, calling her name.

"-urmara. Kurmara!" She snapped out of her thoughts and looked at her older brother who was holding a letter in his hand. "It... It's from the school. It's the test results from UA."

~ ~ ~

Kurmara laid in her bed, staring at the ceiling as she let out a silent sigh before rolling onto her side to look at the open letter that sat on her desk. She then thought about what she read on the paper once she opened the envelope.

"𝑊ℎ𝑎𝑡 𝑎𝑟𝑒 𝑦𝑜𝑢 𝑤𝑎𝑖𝑡𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑓𝑜𝑟? 𝑂𝑝𝑒𝑛 𝑖𝑡 𝑎𝑙𝑟𝑒𝑎𝑑𝑦." "𝐼 𝑘𝑛𝑜𝑤! 𝐼 𝑗𝑢𝑠𝑡.. 𝐼'𝑚 𝑤𝑜𝑟𝑟𝑖𝑒𝑑.." 𝑆ℎ𝑒 𝑣𝑜𝑖𝑐𝑒𝑑 𝑤𝑖𝑡ℎ ℎ𝑒𝑠𝑖𝑡𝑎𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛 𝑎𝑠 𝑠ℎ𝑒 𝑠𝑡𝑎𝑟𝑒𝑑 𝑎𝑡 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑒𝑛𝑣𝑒𝑙𝑜𝑝𝑒 𝑏𝑒𝑓𝑜𝑟𝑒 𝑔𝑟𝑎𝑏𝑏𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑓𝑜𝑟 𝑖𝑡. 𝑆ℎ𝑒 𝑡𝑢𝑟𝑛𝑒𝑑 𝑡𝑜𝑤𝑎𝑟𝑑𝑠 ℎ𝑒𝑟 𝑑𝑒𝑠𝑘, 𝑎𝑏𝑜𝑢𝑡 𝑡𝑜 𝑜𝑝𝑒𝑛 𝑖𝑡 𝑤ℎ𝑒𝑛 𝑠ℎ𝑒 𝑓𝑒𝑙𝑡 ℎ𝑒𝑟 𝑏𝑟𝑜𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑟 ℎ𝑜𝑣𝑒𝑟 𝑜𝑣𝑒𝑟 ℎ𝑒𝑟 𝑠ℎ𝑜𝑢𝑙𝑑𝑒𝑟. "𝐷𝑜 𝑦𝑜𝑢 𝑚𝑖𝑛𝑑?" 𝑆ℎ𝑒 𝑎𝑠𝑘𝑒𝑑 ℎ𝑖𝑚 𝑎𝑛𝑑 ℎ𝑒 𝑠ℎ𝑜𝑜𝑘 ℎ𝑖𝑠 ℎ𝑒𝑎𝑑. "𝑁𝑜𝑡 𝑎𝑡 𝑎𝑙𝑙. 𝑃𝑙𝑒𝑎𝑠𝑒, 𝑐𝑜𝑛𝑡𝑖𝑛𝑢𝑒." "𝐸𝑢𝑛, 𝑔𝑒𝑡 𝑜𝑢𝑡 𝑟𝑒𝑎𝑙 𝑞𝑢𝑖𝑐𝑘 𝑠𝑜 𝐼 𝑐𝑎𝑛 𝑟𝑒𝑎𝑑 𝑖𝑡. 𝐼'𝑙𝑙 𝑡𝑒𝑙𝑙 𝑦𝑜𝑢 𝑤ℎ𝑎𝑡 𝑖𝑡 𝑠𝑎𝑦𝑠 𝑜𝑛𝑐𝑒 𝐼 𝑙𝑜𝑜𝑘 𝑖𝑡 𝑜𝑣𝑒𝑟." 𝐻𝑒 𝑙𝑜𝑜𝑘𝑒𝑑 𝑎𝑡 ℎ𝑒𝑟 𝑓𝑜𝑟 𝑎 𝑚𝑜𝑚𝑒𝑛𝑡 𝑏𝑒𝑓𝑜𝑟𝑒 𝑙𝑒𝑡𝑡𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑜𝑢𝑡 𝑎 𝑠𝑖𝑔ℎ. "𝐴𝑙𝑟𝑖𝑔ℎ𝑡. 𝐵𝑢𝑡 𝑜𝑛𝑐𝑒 𝑦𝑜𝑢 𝑜𝑝𝑒𝑛 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑑𝑜𝑜𝑟 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝐼 𝑠𝑒𝑒 𝑦𝑜𝑢𝑟 𝑓𝑎𝑐𝑒, 𝐼 𝑤𝑖𝑙𝑙 𝑘𝑛𝑜𝑤 𝑤ℎ𝑎𝑡 𝑖𝑡 𝑠𝑎𝑖𝑑." 𝐴𝑛𝑑 𝑤𝑖𝑡ℎ 𝑡ℎ𝑎𝑡, ℎ𝑒 𝑤𝑎𝑙𝑘𝑒𝑑 𝑜𝑢𝑡 𝑜𝑓 ℎ𝑒𝑟 𝑟𝑜𝑜𝑚 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑐𝑙𝑜𝑠𝑒𝑑 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑑𝑜𝑜𝑟 𝑏𝑒ℎ𝑖𝑛𝑑 ℎ𝑖𝑚, 𝑙𝑒𝑎𝑣𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝐾𝑢𝑟𝑚𝑎𝑟𝑎 𝑎𝑙𝑜𝑛𝑒 𝑤𝑖𝑡ℎ 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑙𝑒𝑡𝑡𝑒𝑟. 𝑆ℎ𝑒 𝑠𝑡𝑎𝑟𝑒𝑑 𝑎𝑡 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑒𝑛𝑣𝑒𝑙𝑜𝑝𝑒, ℎ𝑒𝑟 ℎ𝑒𝑎𝑟𝑡 𝑏𝑒𝑎𝑡𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑖𝑛 ℎ𝑒𝑟 𝑒𝑎𝑟𝑠 𝑎𝑠 𝑠ℎ𝑒 𝑡ℎ𝑜𝑢𝑔ℎ𝑡 𝑎𝑏𝑜𝑢𝑡 𝑤ℎ𝑎𝑡 𝑖𝑡 𝑐𝑜𝑢𝑙𝑑 𝑠𝑎𝑦. 𝑆ℎ𝑒 𝑠ℎ𝑜𝑜𝑘 ℎ𝑒𝑟 ℎ𝑒𝑎𝑑 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑔𝑟𝑎𝑏𝑏𝑒𝑑 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑒𝑛𝑣𝑒𝑙𝑜𝑝𝑒, 𝑜𝑝𝑒𝑛𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑖𝑡 𝑏𝑒𝑓𝑜𝑟𝑒 𝑠𝑒𝑡𝑡𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑙𝑒𝑡𝑡𝑒𝑟 𝑓𝑙𝑎𝑡 𝑜𝑛 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑑𝑒𝑠𝑘, 𝑟𝑒𝑎𝑑𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑖𝑡 𝑜𝑣𝑒𝑟. 𝐻𝑒𝑟 𝑠𝑡𝑖𝑓𝑓 𝑐𝑜𝑚𝑝𝑜𝑠𝑢𝑟𝑒 𝑟𝑒𝑙𝑎𝑥𝑒𝑑 𝑎𝑠 ℎ𝑒𝑟 𝑒𝑦𝑒𝑠 𝑠𝑡𝑢𝑐𝑘 𝑡𝑜 𝑜𝑛𝑒 𝑤𝑜𝑟𝑑 𝑜𝑛 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑝𝑎𝑝𝑒𝑟.

𝐻𝑒𝑟 𝑡ℎ𝑟𝑜𝑎𝑡 𝑤𝑎𝑠 𝑑𝑟𝑦 𝑎𝑛𝑑 ℎ𝑒𝑟 𝑒𝑦𝑒𝑠 𝑏𝑒𝑔𝑎𝑛 𝑡𝑜 𝑤𝑒𝑙𝑙 𝑢𝑝, 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑡𝑒𝑎𝑟𝑠 𝑠𝑝𝑖𝑙𝑙𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑜𝑣𝑒𝑟 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑓𝑎𝑙𝑙𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑜𝑛𝑡𝑜 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑝𝑎𝑝𝑒𝑟 𝑎𝑠 𝑖𝑡 𝑏𝑙𝑢𝑟𝑟𝑒𝑑 ℎ𝑒𝑟 𝑣𝑖𝑠𝑖𝑜𝑛. 𝐾𝑢𝑟𝑚𝑎𝑟𝑎 𝑠𝑎𝑡 𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑟𝑒 𝑓𝑜𝑟 𝑎 𝑚𝑜𝑚𝑒𝑛𝑡, 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑡𝑒𝑎𝑟𝑠 𝑠𝑡𝑖𝑙𝑙 𝑓𝑎𝑙𝑙𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑏𝑒𝑓𝑜𝑟𝑒 𝑠ℎ𝑒 𝑠𝑙𝑜𝑤𝑙𝑦 𝑠𝑡𝑜𝑜𝑑 𝑢𝑝 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑤𝑎𝑙𝑘𝑒𝑑 𝑡𝑜𝑤𝑎𝑟𝑑𝑠 ℎ𝑒𝑟 𝑑𝑜𝑜𝑟. 𝑆ℎ𝑒 𝑤𝑎𝑙𝑘𝑒𝑑 𝑜𝑢𝑡 𝑜𝑓 ℎ𝑒𝑟 𝑟𝑜𝑜𝑚 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑡𝑜𝑤𝑎𝑟𝑑𝑠 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑙𝑖𝑣𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑟𝑜𝑜𝑚 𝑤ℎ𝑒𝑟𝑒 ℎ𝑒𝑟 𝑏𝑟𝑜𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑟 𝑤𝑎𝑠. "𝐸𝑢𝑛," 𝑠ℎ𝑒 𝑚𝑎𝑛𝑎𝑔𝑒𝑑 𝑡𝑜 𝑐ℎ𝑜𝑘𝑒 𝑜𝑢𝑡 𝑎𝑛𝑑 ℎ𝑒 𝑙𝑜𝑜𝑘𝑒𝑑 𝑢𝑝 𝑎𝑡 ℎ𝑒𝑟 𝑜𝑛𝑐𝑒 ℎ𝑒 ℎ𝑒𝑎𝑟𝑑 ℎ𝑖𝑠 𝑛𝑎𝑚𝑒. "𝑆𝑜, 𝑤ℎ𝑎𝑡 𝑑𝑖𝑑 𝑖𝑡 𝑠𝑎𝑦?" 𝐻𝑒 𝑎𝑠𝑘𝑒𝑑 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑠ℎ𝑒 𝑠𝑛𝑖𝑓𝑓𝑙𝑒𝑑 𝑤ℎ𝑖𝑐ℎ 𝑐𝑎𝑢𝑠𝑒𝑑 𝐸𝑢𝑛 𝑡𝑜 𝑖𝑚𝑚𝑒𝑑𝑖𝑎𝑡𝑒𝑙𝑦 𝑠𝑡𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑟𝑢𝑠ℎ 𝑜𝑣𝑒𝑟 𝑡𝑜 ℎ𝑒𝑟. "𝑊ℎ𝑎𝑡'𝑠 𝑤𝑟𝑜𝑛𝑔?" 𝐻𝑒 𝑙𝑖𝑓𝑡𝑒𝑑 ℎ𝑒𝑟 ℎ𝑒𝑎𝑑 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑚𝑜𝑣𝑒𝑑 ℎ𝑒𝑟 𝑏𝑎𝑛𝑔𝑠 𝑠𝑜 ℎ𝑒 𝑐𝑜𝑢𝑙𝑑 𝑔𝑒𝑡 𝑎 𝑏𝑒𝑡𝑡𝑒𝑟 𝑙𝑜𝑜𝑘 𝑎𝑡 ℎ𝑒𝑟. "𝐼.. 𝐼 𝑔𝑜𝑡 𝑎𝑐𝑐𝑒𝑝𝑡𝑒𝑑.." 𝐾𝑢𝑟𝑚𝑎𝑟𝑎 𝑚𝑎𝑛𝑎𝑔𝑒𝑑 𝑡𝑜 𝑠𝑎𝑦 𝑎𝑠 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑡𝑒𝑎𝑟𝑠 𝑐𝑜𝑛𝑡𝑖𝑛𝑢𝑒𝑑 𝑡𝑜 𝑓𝑎𝑙𝑙 𝑏𝑢𝑡 𝑠ℎ𝑒 ℎ𝑎𝑑 𝑎 𝑠𝑚𝑖𝑙𝑒 𝑜𝑛 ℎ𝑒𝑟 𝑓𝑎𝑐𝑒. "𝑌𝑜𝑢 𝑑𝑖𝑑?" 𝐻𝑒 𝑞𝑢𝑒𝑟𝑖𝑒𝑑 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑠ℎ𝑒 𝑛𝑜𝑑𝑑𝑒𝑑 𝑤ℎ𝑖𝑐ℎ 𝑚𝑎𝑑𝑒 ℎ𝑖𝑚 ℎ𝑢𝑔 ℎ𝑒𝑟. "𝑇ℎ𝑎𝑡'𝑠 𝑔𝑟𝑒𝑎𝑡! 𝑌𝑜𝑢 𝑑𝑖𝑑 𝑖𝑡!" 𝐸𝑢𝑛 𝑠𝑞𝑢𝑒𝑒𝑧𝑒𝑑 ℎ𝑖𝑠 𝑠𝑖𝑠𝑡𝑒𝑟 𝑎𝑠 ℎ𝑒 𝑙𝑎𝑢𝑔ℎ𝑒𝑑 𝑤𝑖𝑡ℎ 𝑒𝑥𝑐𝑖𝑡𝑒𝑚𝑒𝑛𝑡. "𝐼 𝑑𝑜𝑛'𝑡 𝑡ℎ𝑖𝑛𝑘.. 𝐼 𝑤𝑜𝑢𝑙𝑑'𝑣𝑒 𝑏𝑒𝑒𝑛 𝑎𝑏𝑙𝑒 𝑡𝑜 𝑑𝑜 𝑖𝑡 𝑤𝑖𝑡ℎ𝑜𝑢𝑡 𝑦𝑜𝑢." 𝑇ℎ𝑒 𝑡𝑒𝑒𝑛 𝑣𝑜𝑖𝑐𝑒𝑑 𝑎𝑛𝑑 ℎ𝑒𝑟 𝑏𝑟𝑜𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑟 𝑠𝑡𝑜𝑝𝑝𝑒𝑑 ℎ𝑢𝑔𝑔𝑖𝑛𝑔 ℎ𝑒𝑟 𝑡𝑜 𝑙𝑜𝑜𝑘 𝑎𝑡 ℎ𝑒𝑟.

"𝐼'𝑚 ℎ𝑜𝑛𝑜𝑟𝑒𝑑 𝑡𝑜 ℎ𝑎𝑣𝑒 𝑏𝑒𝑒𝑛 𝑎𝑏𝑙𝑒 𝑡𝑜 ℎ𝑒𝑙𝑝 𝑦𝑜𝑢 𝑔𝑒𝑡 𝑜𝑛𝑒 𝑠𝑡𝑒𝑝 𝑐𝑙𝑜𝑠𝑒𝑟 𝑡𝑜 𝑎𝑐ℎ𝑖𝑒𝑣𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑦𝑜𝑢𝑟 𝑑𝑟𝑒𝑎𝑚." 𝐻𝑒 𝑝𝑢𝑡 𝑎 ℎ𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑜𝑛 ℎ𝑒𝑟 ℎ𝑒𝑎𝑑 𝑏𝑒𝑓𝑜𝑟𝑒 𝑔𝑟𝑎𝑏𝑏𝑖𝑛𝑔 ℎ𝑒𝑟 𝑖𝑛𝑡𝑜 𝑎 ℎ𝑢𝑔 𝑎𝑔𝑎𝑖𝑛, 𝑚𝑎𝑘𝑖𝑛𝑔 ℎ𝑒𝑟 𝑔𝑖𝑔𝑔𝑙𝑒.

Kurmara let out a breathy, content sigh before stretching one of her hands out. "One step closer.." She whispered before closing her eyes, falling asleep.