Reina stood with her hands balled and stuck deep into her jacket pockets. She stared at the shifting crowd ahead of her uncomfortably, glancing over at her father next to her as the man cleared his throat. He looked as incredulous as she felt.

[color=a187be]"Wow, guess you're something of a celebrity now, Rein,"[/color] he said.

The girl looked back to the crowd without replying. She had suspected that something like this might eventually happen--a sensible occurence when one associates with one of the most popular heroes in the country. She had even thought about how she should carry and present herself in front of cameras, to start building her image as a hero on the right foot. 

This though... it was a little much, and a little soon. While the crowd wasn't necessarily there for [i]her[/i], she was part of the reason for it, and there was little doubt she'd be veritably swarmed the moment she stepped towards the building and was recognized. 

Reina's father spoke again, breaking her from her thoughts.

[color=a187be]"I'll walk with you to the door, alright?"[/color] he said, the concern in his voice apparent--at the moment, the girl wasn't doing a great job of hiding her nerves.

She shook her head. [color=b16edd]"No, it's okay."[/color] She gave her father a small smile, as reassuring as she could manage, and he nodded in response, understanding. She wanted her first public appearance as a potential hero to be as strong as she could manage; appearing to be babysat during it wouldn't help.

Reina wasn't ready for this, she thought, but before letting herself hesitate she gave her father a small wave and started to quickly make her way into the crowd and to the hero agency. Her thoughts focused on her quirk, keeping her gravitational field as close to neutral as possible--she found herself dreading the thought of slipping up and causing someone to lose their balance and injure themselves, especially [i]now[/i] of all times.

[color=b16edd]"Excuse me,"[/color] she said repeatedly as she pushed through the crowd, apologizing as her orbs made contact with people. She swallowed hard, keeping her head down as she strained to keep her gravity as consistently weak as possible.

[color=7ea7d8]"Ms. Mori? Ms. Reina Mori!"[/color]

As focused on her quirk as she was, she jumped slightly at being called out by name, turning her head quickly to see a middle-aged woman with a microphone being followed by a camera man.

[color=b16edd][i]Here we go...[/i][/color] she thought, preparing herself to speak as confidently as she could. She could make a good first impression, she [i]had[/i] too.

And then she realized she had turned tail and was pushing through the crowd directly [i]away[/i] from the reporter that had recognized her.

[color=7ea7d8]"Ms. Mori![/color] the reporter called again, clearly trying to catch up.

What... what the hell was wrong with her? Reina had made [i]direct[/i] eye contact with the reporter. It was completely clear she had seen the woman and knew she was calling to her. The girl tried to stuff her hands further into her pockets, feeling trapped by the decision she had taken with no thought. She really didn't feel like facing the reporter after that, but the woman wasn't giving up, having called Reina's name two more times already.

Annoyingly persistent. Reina bit the corner of her mouth in embarrassed frustration and decided it was best to cut her losses. Fighting to keep herself from visibly shaking, she turned around to face the camera that was following her.

The girl's eyes widened as she saw there were three cameras pushing towards her now, as well as two more reporters--the first reporter's yelling had brought some extra greatly unwanted attention clearly.

[i][color=b16edd]Weak gravity, weak gravity, weak gravity...[/color][/i]

Reina all but shut down as they pounced on her, a deer caught in the headlights as three competing questions came at once. It took all she had to fight the instinct to push them all away with her quirk. Why were they interested in [i]her[/i], of all people? Surely there were others recruited by Tumble that were more deserving of the attention of these cameras.

[color=b16edd]"Excuse me?..."[/color] she managed, having understood none of the overlapping questions through the noise of the crowd.

All three came at the same time again, causing a twinge of annoyance to replace some of the anxiety that had gripped the girl. Her eyes narrowed and she managed to look the reporters in the eyes.

[color=b16edd]"One at a time,"[/color] she said, far more forcefully than she thought she could manage, even taking the reporters aback slightly--that was fine, forceful was better than pathetically meek. She eyed the first reporter who had found her, indicating she had the first question. 

The first two questions were nothing much. The woman asked about the incident Reina had been caught up in a month before, and the second reporter asked for her thoughts on what Tumble was trying to accomplish with the sudden recruitment of her and the others. Reina answered them as best she could, settling down quickly as she began to force herself to get over the fact that she didn't feel like this attention was deserved. She wasn't as eloquent as she would've hoped, but she thought she at least didn't make a fool of herself. She turned to the third reporter to hear him out.

[color=8493ca]"You've been rejected by numerous high-profile hero academies in the past--how does it feel to be picked up by Tumble despite that?"[/color] he asked.

The girl stopped, glancing away from him immediately as the sting of the question hit. These people had really dug into her past. A part of a hero's job that she'd have to accept if she hoped to become one... but it felt violating.

[i][color=b16edd]Why do you care?[/color][/i]

[i][color=b16edd]I'm nobody.[/color][/i]

[i][color=b16edd]I know I shouldn't be here.[/color][/i]

[i][color=b16edd]I know I'm not strong enough.[/color][/i]

Reina bit her lip, at least raising her head but looking away from the cameras as she answered.

[color=b16edd]"I'm grateful to her for the chance. I'll work hard to try not to waste it."[/color] Professional and truthful, if a little curt. The girl had plenty more to say, but now was not the time--if there even [i]was[/i] any appropriate time to voice her thoughts.

She wanted to be elsewhere now more than ever. With an unenthusiastic nod of farewell to the reporters, she quickly made an exit through the crowd towards the hero agency, hoping they'd leave her alone.