Snipe knew it hadn't been a good idea to come today. He just knew it. But there were 3 quizzes in his classes, in addition to quirk training, and he didn't want to worry his students, or his coworkers. He fought through the day with a laugh and a wince as the ache slowly grew, traveling up his spine. He gave advice and a joke as he tried to ignore the bee stings worked their way into his bones. He gave tips on how to ease the body strain the students put on themselves as the dull whine grew into an unstoppable roar. Hado had noticed his unusual subdued nature first during PE.
"Are you alright, Snipe-sensei? You aren't usually this quiet during training!" He shook his head, causing a swarm of all new discomfort to go through his skull, as he replied,
"I'm fine, Hado. Remember: visualize, focus, act." By 3rd period, he could barely move. Togata asked,
"Do you want some tea? It's a cat cup Aizawa-sensei got me for my birthday, but he thinks I don't know!" Snipe nodded, grasping the cup with his left hand and then moving his right hand onto it.
"I'll take the tea, thanks. How's the sensation of falling? Have you gotten better at adjusting so you don't panic?"
"Oh, yeah! Watch this!" Snipe took a sip of the tea, trying to focus on what Togata was showing him and calling out suggestions to him, and not on the stabs going up his spine. Oh, basil-tumeric, with honey inside.
"Togata, where did you find this tea?" He grinned happily, halfway out of the ground.
"Nezu suggested I make you a cup, but I saw Aizawa drinking it first." Ah, the one who knew Snipe too well, and the one who liked sweets. "Do you like it?"
"It's good-watch your surroundings." Togata phased right through the wall. Snipe winced as more spikes shot up. By 5th period, he was ready to rip out his spine. Amajiki nervously stepped towards his desk as the class first started, whispering,
"D-do you want some chocolate? I-I have dried ginger, too…" Snipe smiled at the nervous kid, fighting a wince that threatened to break out. He said comfortingly,
"Thank you, Amajiki. If you could just put it on my desk and be seated and ready for your test." Amajiki nodded and quickly found his seat. He stood to dismiss them from the class, but sat down as his break period came around, gripping his skull. He muttered in English, "Shoot, I need my meds, but they're all the way in my office…" He pulled out his phone, texting,
'at the range: meds pls?" It was not even 2 minutes later Ectoplasm came in with the small box of medication, eyebrow raised in concern. Snipe pressed his hands together with a relieved,
"Thank you, kid…" in Japanese.
"How bad?" Ectoplasm asked tensely, Snipe saying easily, not wanting to worry anyone,
"It's a 3 out of 10." Ectoplasm corrected to a far more accurate,
"So a 6. You can go back to the dorms, Snipe-sensei. You know that, right?" Snipe scowled: like hell was he going to leave when there was only 2 hours left of the day.
"No, it's fine. Thanks for grabbing my meds." Ectoplasm bowed at the sharp tone.
"Of course, but let someone know if you're in major trouble, okay?" Snipe gave a curt nod, and Ectoplasm headed off. During 6th period, Hado gave Snipe a set of 2 tea cups with a smile as Snipe felt the aches start growing in intensity more rapidly than before.
"I figure since I broke your last one, I should get a replacement!" Snipe was sure it was 'embarrass your teacher' day with all these gifts. That or they all knew about what was going on but wanted to respect him and not bring it up directly.
"Thank…thank you, Hado. If you could be seated and ready for your test." She beamed and took her seat happily. He somehow managed to get through 7th period by some miracle, all 3 of his students filing out and talking excitedly with each other. He smiled softly, then winced as the pain stabbed into him. Not yet: he had work to do. Snipe wanted to curl into a ball and die as the needles slowly worked their way up to his shoulders, snapping at his neck. He wanted to fade into nothing as his hand's bones burned as it twitched uncontrollably, his back screaming at him as he tried to focus through the pain on grading these quizzes. He groaned, squeezing his eyes shut as the migraine built to a crescendo, thighs gnawing at his tail bone in resistance to the slightest movement. He struggled to get out his phone, tears building behind his eyes. He got to his emergency contact.
"hurts. meds ASAP" He pressed send, and grunted as agony drove a spike into the center of his back, swearing quietly. Just a few minutes… just a few minutes. Hold on, hold on. He swore as another spike was dug into his forearm, nearly bursting into tears. His hand felt as if it were burning to a crisp, knees cramping to where no position would give him relief. He pushed his skull into the desk, biting his lip as he tried not to scream, covering his skull with his arms as he tried to bury his body into the solid wood. He heard the door creak open, and moaned out,
"Come in." He heard the half-sadistic, half-truly concerned laugh, and knew there was only one person who could make a chuckle sound like that. "Midnight…how's your day?" He heard a gentle tap on the desk from a plastic pill container.
"It's fine, old man. Nezu sent me. Here are your meds, and I'm going to use my quirk to make you pass out."
"Thank you, queen." He barely managed to get the pills down, and laid his head on the desk. He inhaled as she said,
"You really do matter a lot to us, old man-sensei." He smiled softly as sleep claimed him.