Chapter 7: Casual Training
The next morning of her vacation she got to sleep in and have a relaxing morning alone with Jack. In fact, she made her own lunch at home and basically stayed inside all morning, one of her favorite things to do. After lunch she collected an excited Jack and headed off to the beach again to meet Toshinori. The temperature was a bit warmer this late in the afternoon and she breathed in the salty air, happy to be out in her element again. Soon enough, Maddie and Jack arrived at the Dagobah beach pier. The little dog barked and dashed about, chasing seagulls and little crabs in the sand. His ears stood erect and he barked excitedly when he spotted his friend, All Might, standing on the pier, waiting for them. The thin man bent down to greet and pet the little dog.
"He really likes you," Maddie said as she approached him. "You know, dogs are an excellent judge of character. I'd never trust someone my dog didn't like."
"Glad to know I'm in the clear," Toshinori said, straightening back up. "I've never owned a dog, but I like Jack a lot."
"Well, you can hang out with him anytime you'd like. In fact, you can even pet-sit him for me sometime."
"Sure, he's welcome at my place anytime," Toshinori agreed. "So, you look ready for action."
She glanced down at her sports shorts and short sleeved shirt. "Yep. Thought this would be more appropriate than a dress."
"I did like the dress, especially when it got a little wet," he winked.
"Oh my," she teased, "Is the great All Might, savior of hundreds, flirting with a lowly science teacher?"
"What? I can't compliment a lovely woman? It gives the common folk a morale boost when I notice them."
"You really are full of it," she tsked. "So, how are you going to help me train today?"
"Let's go see what you got," he said. They walked down the pier and into the sand, searching for a more secluded spot. There were a few more people out at the beach today, and the water was a touch warmer.
"You know, this weird thing happened last time I was here," Maddie said while they were walking. "Jack started going crazy and took off and I had to chase after him to see what he was barking at, and there was this man on top of the sea wall watching me. He looked super thin and had lots of hair—hey! That was you wasn't it?!" she just realized. "Creep on people much?'
"Oh!" he chuckled nervously. "Well I was just taking a walk and I saw you playing around in the water. It was very mesmerizing so I stopped to watch a little, but then you saw me and I had to take off. I didn't want you to figure out it was me."
"All right, whatever you say, stalker. Is this good?" she indicated a section of empty beach.
"Yes, this is fine," he said. "So, what did you do the rest of the day yesterday?" She started stretching out her muscles and warming up for training, bending over and reaching down her legs. Those shorts made her ass look amazing, he observed, watching her stretch.
"Yesterday? Oh, I went to the mall with Midnight. Bought some underwear, talked about you."
"Huh?"
"Hey are you going to stretch out too?" she said, deliberately not answering his question. "You're not getting out of this training either you know. I'm not doing all the work while you just stand there on the sidelines and boss me around."
"Oh, sure," he said and scrambled to stretch out his legs as well.
"Ok, all warmed up. So, for defense, what would you suggest, since that's probably what I'll be doing the most of," she asked.
"How long can you hold up a water wall for? And how long can you keep the current rolling in it? A water shield seems like a good defensive option, especially if you can block attacks. Why don't you throw one up and I'll try to smash through it?"
"Alright," she said, using her quirk to pull water from the ocean and put it up in front of her, forming a fluid and raging wall of water as a shield. Toshinori powered up, expanding into his baggy clothes, and smashed his shoulder into her wall, trying to break through. Maddie had to take a step back due to the force he hit the water with. He was so strong! She realized she had never really been on the receiving end of his power since high school…this training session could be fun.
After only a few seconds he pushed through her wall, stopping his fist right before it contacted her face. "Not bad," he said. "Now, try some offensive defense. If I stand still and brace for it, can you knock me over?"
She sent a jet of water shooting forward and he braced his arms across his chest, taking the full brunt of it and standing his ground. She had only pushed him back an inch or so. "Damn that's still cold!" he shivered, shaking out his arms.
"Hmmm," she frowned, looking down at her hands. "I thought my water jets had more power than that."
"Don't feel too bad, I am the mightiest hero in all the land," he smiled broadly, lifting up a bicep for her viewing pleasure.
"Oho really?" she scoffed. "Think you can take this?" She shot several jets of water around his legs and he moved in surprise right into another powerful geyser, knocking him off his feet.
"Ah very clever!" he said, sputtering in the surf while she gave him her best smug smile. "I think all you really need to do is focus on thinking of ways to manipulate the water creatively, ways your enemies wouldn't expect and can't defend against. You have a fantastic mastery of your quirk and lots of versatility. Defensive and offensive, you've got what it takes."
"I suppose, I'm just not comfortable doing people harm."
"That's what's great about your particular quirk. You can use it in so many ways, such as to disarm and stop people without causing any real damage. Just knock them over, or…you know…drown them a bit."
"Drown them a bit? How would one do that? You know you can be kind of morbid for the symbol of peace," she shook her head.
"Look I'm just saying that it's ok to defend yourself. You shouldn't be afraid of hurting someone if your life or the lives of the students are on the line," he explained.
She sighed, "Well I've done a lot of damage before…a lot more than I meant to." She looked down at her hands, remembering what it was like to… no, she couldn't even bring herself to think about it.
"What do you mean?" Toshinori asked, getting up and walking towards her. He could tell something about her quirk, or something she had done, was bothering her more than she was letting on. "You want to talk about it?"
"No, not right now. I don't want to bring that up right now. Besides, there's no need too. It will never happen again," she clenched her fists closed with her words and set her face firm. She then turned and smiled at Toshinori with another mischievous grin. "Want to see the wave?" she asked, changing the subject.
"The wave?" Toshinori asked, letting the previous topic drop.
"My signature move," she smiled. "Can you stand against that?" She spread her arms out wide, digging deep into her power, and the ocean began to drain away from the beach, instead forming a wall of water behind her.
Toshinori rolled his muscled shoulders and grinned. "All right, you can splash me. But face towards the ocean and away from the city," he added, moving into the waves, his back to the sea.
"Right," she replied, turning her building wave and facing Toshinori. "Jack, here boy!" she called to her little dog. Jack, knowing what was up, came sprinting towards her and stood between her legs to avoid the waves' onslaught.
She didn't hold back and with all her frustration and emotion she sent the enormous water wave she had built smashing down. "Tsunami Wave!" she yelled as the towering wall of water avoided her and Jack, crashing down on Toshinori full force.
If he had been younger and if he hadn't just given One For All to Midoriya, maybe he could have withstood the full force powers of nature. Being as he was, however, the wave knocked the All Might right out of him when it hit him full on with an icy rage. He was forced into his true form, spitting up blood from the rock hard slam of the water to his chest, and soon felt himself tumbling head over heels in the violent current.
As soon as Maddie realized what had happened, she rushed forward into the raging aftermath of the surf. "Toshi!" she screamed, suddenly genuinely afraid for him. Shit, she shouldn't have used full force! She was so obsessed over bragging about her powers and trying to flush bad memories out of her mind that she had forgotten he wasn't as resilient as he used to be.
Jack barked shrilly at the waves, trying to follow her in and go after Toshinori, but Maddie pushed him back. She activated her quirk, feeling the waters currents and vibrations until she sensed his struggling presence. She pushed the water around him forward and towards the shore, sending his skeletal frame shooting back to the beach and dashing after him.
"Oh my god! Are you alright?! I'm so so sorry!" she yelled, sliding up to him on her knees where he lay face down in the sand.
Toshinori groaned and tried to turn himself over but his arms where giving out in the soft sand. Maddie grabbed him around the middle and helped him sit up and he coughed up sea water and blood as he sat back on his hands. "I guess I should have braced myself more," he choked.
"I'm so glad you're alive! I thought I'd drowned you!" she cried out again and pulled his soggy wet frame to her chest, pressing him close in a tight embrace.
"You can't get rid of me that easily," his muffled reply came.
She released him from her arms and he smiled, wet and waterlogged, covered in sand with seaweed sticking out of his hair. He looked like a sad little puppy, and she couldn't help but giggle with relief at the sight of him, so incredibly happy that he was ok.
"Hey, what's so funny?" he exclaimed.
"Nothing," she continued to giggle, "you just look so sad and wet, its cute."
"Cute?" he asked with a light chuckle, "Well I don't get that very often."
"Jokes aside, are you sure you're alright? Do we need to get to Recovery Girl?"
"No, I'm alright. Don't feel bad, I asked for it, and I must say, I'm even more impressed by your quirk. I'd find it hard to stand against even if I was at one hundred percent. You really shouldn't be afraid to use it more often."
"Yeah well…why don't we get you out of the ocean and talk about it more once you're dry," she said, pulling some seaweed from his tangled mess of hair. "I am a nurse, and I think I know just the perfect medicine for this. What do you say we go get some ice cream?"
"Ice cream? I'm freezing!"
"Come on, get up," she said, standing and pulling him to his feet. He staggered up and they walked further onto the warm sand where she pulled all the excess water from his clothes and body. Soon he was dry and could feel warmth seeping back through him.
"Now, you'll be a little salty and still smell like the ocean…and there's nothing I can do about your hair," she added, trying to comb her fingers through the mats. "But at least you're dry. Now one last thing." She lifted his shirt and put her hand over his scar, pressing firmly and using her healing power to calm him and give him some extra energy.
A small stream of blood trickled from the corner of his mouth as she worked. She had no idea what she was doing to him. To her, she was healing him, taking care of him, just doing her job as nurse and support, but it felt like so much more to him. She had held him close and showed real concern for his well being, he couldn't forget the relaxing warmth he had felt when she had smiled and run her hands through his hair, or how his heart had raced when he saw the worried look on her face…and when she had said he was cute. His blue eyes watched her as she healed him and he wondered if he would ever be able to tell her how much it all meant.
"There, good as new," she said stepping back.
"See, no need for Recovery Girl at all," he smiled.
Jack began to bark and they glanced towards him and saw that other beach-goers were starting to approach, curious about the enormous wave they must have just seen. Looking back at the beach, it was covered in seaweed and driftwood that Maddie had washed up with her wave. There were also several fish flopping around in the sand. "I'm starting to think that Tsunami Wave was not the best idea I've ever had," Maddie observed.
"Quick, let's get out of here," Toshinori concurred, grabbing her hand. Jack followed them as they moved through the sand and back up to the street.
The three of them finally found an ice cream cart out in a nearby park. Maddie bought a small vanilla cup for Jack and a chocolate cone for herself. Toshinori got strawberry. They walked through the sunny park and soon found a nice bench to sit in the shade. Jack eagerly went after his own ice cream, and once done, begged for seconds from his human friends.
"Sorry, kid. You're a dog, you can't have chocolate," Maddie said. "You'll have to ask Toshi."
"Well, I guess you can have just a bit," the thin man gave in. Maddie laughed as Jack took way more ice cream than Toshinori had intended. "Easy, boy!" he exclaimed, pulling the ice cream cone away.
"Well, feeling even better?" Maddie asked.
"Yes, you were right, this was perfect."
"Great," she said, then was silent for a moment.
"So, I had a question," Toshinori started, "I've seen you rehydrate plenty of things, you use it in healing, and your quirk is water manipulation which is pretty broad. So, could you possibly dehydrate things with it?"
A strained look crossed Maddie's face and she sighed. "I guess I owe you an answer, though I'm hesitant to talk about it, but I'll tell you about something that happened to me a long time ago. Another reason I'm not so keen on using my quirk in a fight. I think you'll find your answer in this story."
"After I moved back home to the US and finished school, I was walking home one night and I was attacked. I was scared…and he had me pinned down. I had an idea of what he wanted with me, and I couldn't fight him off, he had some sort of vaporizing quirk that turned all the water I threw at him to vapor. I was completely helpless. So I…fuck…" she paused, gathering her thoughts, and Toshinori could see her eyes filled with pain just talking about it. "I panicked, I didn't have any more water to use…and I pulled it from the only source I could think of, his body. It was horrible. He stopped attacking me when he felt the pain of every cell in his body being drained of water. His skin and organs wrinkled up…but I couldn't stop. I was so angry and afraid and he just shrunk into this withered and leathery form before me, like a mummy straight out of its sarcophagus. His screams slowly faded as he lost all ability to make any sound until he was nothing more than a pile of leathery skin and bones. He was dead. I had killed him. I had never wanted to hurt anybody, and here I had killed someone in such a horrific way. The police understood, I got in trouble but not very much. Not as much as I deserved. The worst punishment was that I had grown afraid of my quirk. It has a dark side to it that I hadn't realized, I could kill with it. It still makes me wary to this day and I have never taken water from a living thing again for my own uses."
She turned to look at Toshinori, eyes filled with sorrow and hands trembling slightly. "I don't list that ability under my special skills and I avoid talking about it as much as I can. I don't want people to think I'm a monster. I'm not a villain. I would never use this against a student, or anyone else for that matter. I've got it under control."
Toshinori swallowed and placed a large hand over one of her smaller ones. "Take it easy, it's alright. I understand why you're afraid to hurt someone, and I think knowing that you are afraid of it is why we can trust you. Lots of people can kill with their quirks, it's not something new, and it's the people who are respectful and mindful of that power that we call heroes. Just like you." He breathed out a soft burst of air and smiled at her gently, "Thank you for telling me about your story. I feel like I learn something new about you every day and I come to understand you more."
"Thanks for listening," she replied with a sad smile. "And for your words."
They finished their ice cream, each taking a moment to sit in silence and think about each other and all the new things they had learned by spending time together. She couldn't believe she had just come right out and told him something that haunted the depths of her soul so easily. He really was easy to talk to, and there was something about him that made her feel like he would never betray her, maybe that's why she had told him. Maddie decided she liked Toshinori very much and she regretted not becoming friends with him sooner. Things had certainly changed between them, she had told him about one of her most disgraceful acts and he hadn't shied away. Hell, she had nearly drowned him and he still went for ice cream with her. There was a strong bond of trust slowly building between them and it felt nice to have someone to confide in.
