petals for armor, shoto todoroki.

03. mind over matter.

━━

"No."

Karin sat on the very edge of her seat as the long expected response left her mother's mouth. She'd expected resistance when she came to her with the forms she'd carried around for several weeks now, they'd weighed so heavy on her and now that she'd finally revealed her intentions to her mother she thought she'd finally be able to breath, to relax. And yet...

She shook her head rapidly, avoiding her mom's eyes,"You can't say no."

"I'm your mother, it's my right." Sana Kobayashi countered her daughter as she tightly gripped the U.A. application in hand.

"No—" Karin took a deep breath before reiterating firmly,"No. You may not like it, you may disagree, that is very much well within your right as my mother, but to simply deny a choice that is mine alone to make, i-it's wrong, it's cruel—"

"Cruel would be for you to put me through this life once more, Karin. You remember what happened, you know what that life brings, it ensures pain and suffering for all those involved." Sana expressed her concerns.

"That may be so, but it's still my choice to make!" Karin stood up,"I have been the best daughter, listened to your every teachings, respected the fact that you chose to leave your life as a hero because of all it brought you, all the pain, but it can't have been all bad! You used to help people, mom! The world loved you! Young girls looked up to you... I have observed, through you, through other heroes and people, there are many things I could do with my quirk, and I don't want to be a bystander, mom, I want to be strong, I want to be brave, I want to be..."

Sana closed her eyes,"Don't."

"A hero." Karin pushed on, she walked over to her mother and kneeled beside her on the couch,"This is something that I need to do, please."

Tears pooled in her mother's eyes,"Why?"

Karin shrugged, smiling sadly,"To prove that I can? Because all my life I have been told to repress a part of me that is dying to see the light. Because it is all I have ever been able to think about doing for as long as I've wanted to do anything." She held her gaze,"Because I can't stand to think that I have this power and not do anything with it."

"You really won't change your mind?" Sana held out hope.

"I can't know that for sure, especially not if I don't try." Karin explained,"I need to try."

"You'll be safe?"

She frowned,"I can't know that for sure either, you better than anyone know that."

Sana nodded, a single tear dropping from her right eye, she gripped her daughter's hand and looked down at the papers in her hand. "I'm extremely proud of you, you know?"

Karin laughed,"I haven't even gotten in yet."

"You will." Sana said with confidence, she wiped her tears away and held out her hand for the pen her daughter was holding. With a slight tremor, she signed her name at the bottom of the page asking for a guardian's permission before meeting her daughter's eyes again,"You're the daughter of two heroes, after all."

She held out the completed application, but Karin let it drop in favor of jumping into her mother's arms.

One trial passed. One step closer.