Bessie was used to a five day school week, but was aware that Japanese schools had optional class on Saturdays. There was no way she was missing it. Even though it was a school day like any other the knowledge that it was technically optional made it seem more relaxed.
At lunch time she sat at the table and waited for Todoroki to join her. Instead he appeared in the doorway and waved at her.
That's a strange wave, Bessie thought, but smiled at him and waved back. He looked puzzled and waved at her again.
What..?
"Why is Todoroki-kun beckoning you, Bessie-chan?" Tsuyu croaked. "And why are you just sitting there?"
Oh, right. Todoroki was, in fact, not waving. That was the way people beckoned in Japan and Bessie was not used to it. She quickly stood up and rushed toward him. "What's up, Sho-kun?"
"I didn't want to say anything in front of the others. Some of them can be a bit immature. It's about tonight. What kind of movie should we go see?"
"I like action movies. The crazier the better!" she answered.
"Does seven o'clock work for you?" he asked?
"Seven is perfect," she affirmed.
"Cool. Meet you at the cinema." He said. The two of them returned to their friends in the dining hall and enjoyed lunch.
The practical lesson at the end of the day was presented by Midnight.
"More often than not success or failure in hero work, whether it's a chase or a battle, can come down to who can hold out the longest. So today we'll be taking a challenge in endurance training. You'll each be given a set of moderately heavy weights. You'll have to carry the weights while on a treadmill, and the conditions will change at random instances. How you carry your weights – or if you carry them at all – is up to you. But if either they or you fall off the treadmill you're out."
The provocatively dressed teacher noticed Bessie's nervous looking gaze.
"And don't worry. I'll not be using this." She said, waving her whip next to her face.
Once the challenge began, Todoroki coated his weights in ice and pushed them out in front of himself. Uraraka used her quirk as well and her weights drifted lazily around her head. Mineta stuck his weights together in a shape that was easy to carry. Sero used a similar technique. Tsuyu carried her weights inside her hardy stomach and with her hands free she was able to use her frog hop means of locomotion, tiring out more slowly than the average student. Yaoyorozu dragged her weights behind her on a small wagon. Ashido took a leaf from Todoroki and used a mild, slippery acid to push her weights across the treadmill as well. Izuku's quirk allowed him to carry the weights with ease, as did Sato's and Kirishima's. Small bursts from Tenya's engines made running easier. Tokoyami's Dark Shadow did the carrying while he focused on running. Koda tried recruiting a passerby animal to carry his weights but nothing showed up that was sufficiently large. Ojiro coiled his tail around his weights, gaining extra balance and leaving his arms free to run normally. The rest of the students relied on ordinary physical prowess for the whole of the challenge, not wanting to give up just because they could not come up with creative applications of their quirks on time.
A few minutes into the challenge Midnight flipped the switch for the first conditional change: everyone's treadmills went from smooth to bumpy – much like cobblestones. Ashido's weights scattered from slipping on the uneven surface and Yaoyorozu's wagon lost a wheel, spilling the weights. Todoroki did not experience the same problem as Ashido seeing as his weights were cemented to one another and did not separate from the uneven floor as a result. Ashido quickly gathered up her weights and continued running, carrying them in her arms. A while later the next condition changed: The room turned uncomfortably cold. Bessie and Todoroki were able to keep themselves warm thanks to their fire abilities. A few of the students dropped out – such as Jiro and Kaminari – who could not gain an advantage from their quirks. Koda and Aoyama dropped out for the same reason.
The next change was simulated rain. The moisture proved too much for Uraraka, who was already starting to feel nauseated.
Next was blistering heat, which Todoroki was able to counteract with his ice, and Bessie was able to resist due to being used to high temperatures. Asui dropped out on account of the extreme heat combined with the weights bouncing around inside her stomach. The ice encasing Todoroki had used to secure his weights began to melt, but he created more ice to maintain it.
The heat was lifted, and as a result Todoroki's treadmill – soaked from the melting ice – began to freeze over due to the ice he was pushing along. His weights froze fast to the treadmill and refused to budge. He quickly melted it again before it reached the end of the treadmill, but this resulted in all of the ice melting and many of the weights falling off the sides.
More students eventually tired out until only Sato, Ojiro, Mineta and Ashido remained. Ashido was in top form physically, but having lost her quirk advantage early on she was the next to tire out. It was down to Grape Juice, Tail Man and Sugar Man.
Sato had a bag of small candies which he would periodically eat from to keep his strength up, but it was beginning to take its toll: His decreased cognitive function, paired with the fact that he was only carrying his weights with one arm, caused him to react too late as his largest weight went off balance. It fell to the ground and he was out.
"I don't get it." Jiro commented. "Mineta's not usually that strong physically. What's keeping him going?"
Minoru panted, giving it his all. His eyes remained locked in front of him, where Midnight was surveying the two remaining students. As far as he was concerned he was running toward her. Eventually even Mashirao's energy gave out and the winner was Mineta, who promptly fainted from exhaustion.
Getting ready for the date, Bessie could barely contain her excitement. She carefully picked out what to wear and made a point of not overdoing her makeup.
In accordance with Bessie's response Shoto picked out the action movie that was showing. He also treated the two of them to popcorn, snacks and beverages. After the movie neither of them felt like parting ways for the evening yet, so instead they strolled through the mall, chatting about the movie.
Don't hold his hand in public. Don't hold his hand in public… Bessie did her research prior to the trip and found that England and Japan held varying opinions of what they considered "normal".
"Thanks for tonight, Todoroki-kun." She said eventually. "It was a real treat."
The next moment a palm and a set of fingers clasped Bessie's hand.
"Todoroki-kun…" This… is a big deal…
When Bessie got back to her dormitory she spread out her arms and fell back onto her bed. She appeared to sink into her soft mattress as she sighed.
Bessie knew, even as she was getting ready, that she would be in no mood to pack her things once she got back from her night out. So she did the smart thing by getting ready quickly, leaving her with enough time to pack beforehand. After almost half an hour of recollecting her evening and daydreaming (or rather, night-dreaming) she finally gathered up the willpower to ready herself for bed.
This week was like living in a fantasy world, she thought. Tomorrow is the long flight back to reality.
A bittersweet concept. Although she missed her home and her family, there were other things she would never miss more than the world and people of UA.
Want to go home… want to stay… she thought as sleep eventually conquered her.