A Blossoming Lotus

2. Awakening the Rain

With every passing day, I could feel myself becoming stronger. I could feel a power within me growing.

Most of my time was spent training with Backdraft, Kemuri, and Bolt if we were all free. Every day I could see myself getting closer and closer to their level, but I could never quite beat them, aside from Bolt. We would practice with some rescue operations or just sparing against each other. Most of the time I spent sparring with Bolt was just him getting on my nerves though, with his stupid snarky and cocky comments. However,  I've managed to get up to his level, so I can at least kick his ass now whenever he irritates me.

It's been about three months at this point in time, I still had about seven months left until the exam. I felt nervous about taking it, but I knew I had improved, and I've been looking into some other schools, like Shiketsu High, just in case I bust with UA. Not ideal, but at least I'd have a backup plan.

The next few days seemed to pass incredibly slowly. I felt more overwhelmed. Even though I was more confident in my abilities, I still lacked some key skills required to be a good hero. I wasn't sure if I would actually be able to cut it with UA High.

Backdraft told me that I should start trying to have small talk with some strangers on the street, to help me with my people skills. He told me it would be a good idea to work on those since I would need to learn to communicate if I became a hero.

I agreed with him, unfortunately, that seemed to be incredibly hard for me to do on my own. I wasn't brave yet, and I hadn't talked to many people in the last three years, aside from Backdraft. I had no idea how to properly communicate. After a couple more days had gone by, Backdraft had another day off. He asked me if I was doing okay, going out of my way to talk to strangers, but I told him I wasn't able to build up the courage.

He sighed. "Amena..." he spoke softly, almost angry, but with a hint of maybe sadness or disappointment. I looked down at the floor, feeling upset with myself. I never meant to let him down.

"I know it's not your fault." He began to speak up. "Come with me. Let me help you out." He turned to walk out the door and I quietly followed suit. "Ya know. It doesn't have to be much." He spoke once we closed and locked our dark brown wooden door.

The house was a bit darker than most of the buildings down this street, so it was easy to spot, but not too over the top. The design was pretty generic overall. Except the door was very elegant, which added a hint of fanciness to the entire place. I'm honestly not sure how Backdraft could afford a place like this since most people could only afford apartments.

"I just..." I sighed and looked down at the grass beside us. "D-don't know how to start..."

"It's okay." He put his hand gently on my shoulder. "Just... look." He pointed to a woman walking by with a black and white Shih-Tzu. The dog had a black leather collar with a matching leash. It looked well groomed.

"Watch me," Backdraft said as he approached the woman. "Your dog is so cute." He told her gently. "It looks well groomed. Is it okay if I pet it?"

The woman gasped, "Hey! You're the support hero Backdraft! O-of course you may pet her!"

Backdraft then gently petted the dog after letting it sniff him, he bowed and thanked the kind lady before walking back to me. "See?"

I paused before answering. "I... I guess, but, you're a hero, so people will usually be nice to you anyway..."

He seemed taken aback. "Is that really what you think?" He questioned me. "Amena. Not everybody loves heroes, ya know?" He started. "Some people feel like we don't do enough to protect. Other people become villains and break the law. To them, we aren't heroes. To them, we could be considered failures. Not everybody will like you just because of a hero's status."