Let The Class Begin | Part II
My held breath fills the room with love, it hurts in ways I can't describe. My heart bends and breaks so many, many times and is born again with each sunrise.
100 years by Florence and The Machine
As Florence explains the rules for a no quirk spar, she starts to separate them into pairs. She pairs them up on size regardless of which class they are from. Some of the larger or smaller students are a little harder to pair, and she politely asks the invisible one (a girl named Hagakure, she learns) her height and weight to better gauge a partner for her. The angry blonde gets paired with a just as (if less vocally so) upset blonde from Class B. The one with lots of appendages with the hairy one. She only has to think a little harder when it comes to the very small grape-colored boy, who she eventually pairs with the frog-like girl.
By the time she is done, each pair is evenly spaced out from each other with plenty of room for them to move. She looks them over once more, making minor adjustments here and there to the pairings, before being satisfied with the result.
"Treat it like any other spar in any other class. The only difference is that you are not to use your quirk. For those with multiple appendages, keep the ones you use to a minimum. Begin."
With that mark, the spars begin. Some are a bit more hesitant than others while others aren't shy about immediately lunging for their opponent. The latter being primarily the pair of blondes that she knew would immediately go all out, but by pairing them together, she feels she can get a better gauge at where each of them are at. After all, that is the whole point of the spar. She needs to see where to begin with the class, who needs more help and will benefit from extra classes, and how to adjust her course accordingly for the first years. She has done the same with the second years; who made it clear that they could benefit from an evenly split course of combat and strategy. She imagines that the third year will be more efficient in combat with more focus on strategy.
Watching the spar, she is not surprised that it looks like the first year will be geared with a bit more focus on combat with some strategy. A bit of a shame. She would have loved to immediately jump into strategy since the sooner that they start to learn it, the more likely it is that it will sink in.
She makes her way casually through the room, not bothered by the clashing students, offering bits of advice here and there, but she makes it clear that today is not a graded spar and simply an assessment; she doesn't fault those who stumble or fall, but she does make a note of whose opponent helps them up and who doesn't care. She tries not to focus too long on any particular pair.
She won't admit it to Nezu, but the years on her haven't made it any easier to train children for a job that they shouldn't have to do. Each time she looks a little closely at one of their faces, she sees baby fat still clinging to their cheeks or hears voices that are just shy of puberty. Children.
She has taught children before, even if it has been centuries since then. Xavier's stands out the most to her; a time when quirks were still hidden away like dirty secrets, forced out of them by trauma. Those kids had always been some of her favorites and when she blinks, she caught a glimpse of a certain teacher from that time. A teacher - a friend - something more - that is already long gone, their bones since turned to fertilizer. She catches glimpses of students forced out of their homes by scared families. Students that clung to her like family. Students that she failed.
Her heart aches deep in her chest. She knows that she will never be able to stop what the current society has created and what the hero commission endorses. The least she can do is make sure that none of these kids die. She refuses to fail like that again. She resists the urge to run her hands through her hair. She told herself that she won't get attached.
She's drawn out of her thoughts when one of the red haired students uses his quirk to take a blow from his opponent, his skin hardening.
She immediately catches his eye and he corrects himself, turning his body back to normal with an immediate, sincere apology to her.
"It was an accident, Professor Talbot, it's a force of habit. It won't happen again!"
She decides to believe him - for now. Accidental quirk usage, while not ideal, cannot always be helped. She sighs, but accepts his excuse with a sharp don't let it happen again or it's detention for a month. She admits that she shouldn't have been so lenient, but considering how sincere the boy was, it was hard not to be. She watches for a moment and when it doesn't happen again, she continues on her rounds through the class until the small purple boy catches her eye.
The small boy is clearly taking advantage of the spar in ways that make her boil, his partner visibly uncomfortable as she tries her best to tell him to stop with a swift hit. She hates that she will have to learn his name now as she calmly makes her way to the pair. She puts her hand on both of their shoulders, putting the spar to a stop.
"I saw that." Her voice is soft, directed at the small boy, but her voice cuts through like a knife in the small space between them as she leans down to their level. "And I won't tolerate that type of behavior or any inappropriate comments."
The boy mumbles an insincere, if a bit annoyed, apology, but Florence continues, "Detention for the month. If I see or hear anything about this behavior again, I will talk to Nezu personally about a stronger disciplinary action. If he refuses, you have detention with me for the whole year. Whether it happens again outside of my class or not, I will find out. Do I make myself clear?"
"That's a bit harsh, isn't it?" The girl ribbits, looking at Florence with a tilted head. Florence sighs deeply, squeezing the boy's shoulder in a not so subtle warning.
"No. Sexual harassment, comments, or worse is no behavior for any decent human being, nevertheless one trying to be a hero. And it is certainly one that I won't tolerate."
She takes a moment to look around before stopping a nearby spar. She instructs the large hairy one to spar with the boy while the froggy girl goes to the one with the appendages. She hopes with the partner switch, it will deter the behavior and at the very least, the large beast of a student will scare some sense into the other one.
She continues to let the spars continue for half of the class of the time before she has had enough. The students are left obviously a bit tired and she doesn't shy away from inviting them to the water bottles in the corner to at least refresh themselves. Training, after all, shouldn't leave them too dehydrated considering it is a class and they are kids.
Everyone watches her closely to see what their next instructions are and she sighs deeply, crossing her hands behind her back, "That was pathetic. Decent, maybe, for a school yard fight against a thirteen year old bully. Beyond that? I'm amazed most of you haven't broken your thumbs yet from the way you throw a punch. Very few of you actually did a passable job, be lucky this was only an assessment or you would have failed."
The class visibly deflates at the feedback, most having expected at least something positive. Florence doesn't seem bothered by the class' obvious drop in morale. What she said was the truth - at least, most of it. She did notice a few students who seemed to have more hand to hand combat training than others, likely from martial arts classes, and those few held a bit more potential in her eyes than the others. But as a whole, their age and lack of experience are glaringly obvious. She swallows down the reminder of just how young their faces are when they look at her for further direction.
"Since most of you don't know how to throw a punch, that's where we will start for today. Then next time you come in here, the real training begins. Start by going back to your partners and standing over an arm's length away from them. When practicing our punches, you will not actually hit anyone. Instead of being your opponent, your partner will serve as an extra pair of eyes and mind. If you notice something that needs correcting in your partner, speak up and learn from each other."
She continues with instructions as everyone begins by facing their partner. She works by showing them the proper technique and on her cue, the room is full of arms being thrust out in mock punches. When someone doesn't put their strength behind it, she reprimends them. Her golden claws still attached to her hand are used to tap the underside of arms that aren't as level as they should be.
That is when she notices the angry blonde one - one who she knows now will be a definite problem child. Despite following her directions loosely, his fist lands centimeters away from his opponent's face, a devious smirk plastered on his face.
"Don't push your limits." Florence's voice cuts through, inches away from his ear from behind him. "Three more steps back or detention. Your choice."
The kid makes a scoffing noise from the back of his throat and when he corrects himself, his fingers spark and ignite, eyes glaring into her harshly. She raises a single eyebrow and he looks at her almost nonchalantly.
"Accident." He grits out through his teeth.
She sees right through him too clearly, crossing her arms against her chest, "Don't bullshit me, kid. Detention this week and think twice about silently threatening your teachers."
His expression bursts into obvious anger, and when he opens his mouth to scream something at her, she cuts him off sharply.
"-Don't make it for a whole month. Now get back to work."
That is now at least three students that she will be forced to learn the names of, aside from Yaoyorozu, who at least had a good reason for her to ask. She takes a deep breath in through her nose, knowing in her gut that it won't be as easy as she thought it would be to keep these students at an arm's length.
At the end of the class, nearly each student collapsed to the floor. Some were more visibly exhausted than others, but each of them eagerly took any water offered. Florence took pity on them by handing the water out herself instead of making them get it themselves. She is thrilled at least to know that by the obviously tired group that at the very least, they didn't half ass it. Which is the bare minimum that she expects and asks for.
"Before class ends, there are a few more things to address. Aside from having my class twice a week, I also offer additional classes on both Friday and Saturday. One for strategy and one for combat. These classes will be mixed with the other years, but will offer an additional education in this course that is vital for some of you. You can optionally join either class, or both. Sign up sheets are by the door."
Florence continues, looking at the students evenly, "Some of you, however, will not have an option in joining either class. Some of you I will assign it to be mandatory. This will either be because you are falling drastically behind your peers or because you show potential for the course in a way that either impresses me or catches my attention. Good luck finding out which."
Her smile is predatory, sharp teeth with a gleam in her eyes that drains the blood from their faces. When the bell signaling the end of class rings, she's not surprised when only a select few actually bother even looking at the sign up sheets. She will be curious to see who signs up by the end of the week and which ones she will have to drag there herself.
Izuku is thankful that Professor Talbot's class happens toward the end of the day, he isn't sure how much more he could have taken of it. His arm is still sore from the first assessment test that Aizawa had made them take; thankfully, Recovery Girl's quirk took the brunt of it away. If Professor Talbot had continued, he knew that he would have to see Recovery Girl again and he would hate to have to bother her twice by the second day of school.
He lets out a tired yawn, trying desperately to stay awake for their last class of the day. Many of the others had spent each free moment chattering about Professor Talbot, depending on who it came from, it ranged from good to bad. At the very least, Iida is vocal in his support of her course and insists that her strict instructions are just to be expected from an UA teacher. It's not until Momo voices her own opinion that strict or otherwise, Professor Tablot's course is needed as future heroes and that they should be grateful that she is putting so much effort into making sure that they will be prepared. That gets most of the negative chatter to begrudgingly quiet down.
Izuku's eyes flutter nervously toward Kaachan. His friend has lashed out at anyone, including him, who tried to mention anything about the detention that he will be serving with the new Professor. The others may not know it, but Izuku knows that the idea of detention has to be bothering him. Kaachan never got detention in school, even though sometimes he should have. He almost admires the Professor for being so bold in doing so and he wonders if her decision in not letting them use their quirks helps keep her unbiased toward them. And if that would change if she knew just how powerful Kaachan is.
He nervously bites at the end of his pencil as he immediately starts jotting down his notes on the teacher. She's obviously a new staff member, just like All Might, even if she wasn't mentioned in any of the letters or in orientation. He's researched UA and its pro heroes extensively since he was a child, he knows exactly who each staff member is, how long they've been there, and what they do as a pro. But the Professor?
Her page is pretty barren. He writes down small notes about her general personality so far, including her strict attitude and her apparent lack of caring about quirks. He noticed the golden claws that she wore and wrote them down as her support item, which leads him with more questions, but for now, he writes it off as her being a hand to hand combat expert. She has to be at least, considering the course she's teaching. Having something sharp on her at all times like that would give her a decent advantage.
He doesn't know her quirk yet which leaves most of his notes pretty empty. He doesn't even know her pro name; Florence Talbot isn't even a name that he recognizes off the top of his head. It is not too surprising, since she is foreign and aside from the top international pro heroes, he doesn't pay much attention to the other ones (otherwise there would be too many heroes for even him to keep track of).
"-Whatcha writing, Deku," Ochaco leans over to him, whispering in his ear curiously.
His face flushes bright red, going up to his ears, "O-Oh it's nothing, I - I' m just writing some notes about our teachers, that's all. Analyzing pro heroes has always been quite fascinating to me, but Professor Talbot is proving to be a challenge since we don't even know her quirk or pro hero name."
Ochaco hums for a moment, head tilted, "Maybe if you just ask her, she might help. She said she won't answer questions that aren't about the course, but this feels like it's great for strategy so she might. Worse case, she will say no, but I don't think she'll give you detention over a few questions."
Izuku lights up at the suggestion, if a bit hesitant, "Y-Yeah, I guess it won't hurt to try."
Besides, even if she did end up giving him detention, he thinks that he would be able to survive.