I almost forgot to stay behind when classes ended. Everyone streamed out while I packed my things slowly. Mr. Aizawa walked in not too long after.

"Good, you remembered." He placed two pieces of paper in front of me, sitting at Uraraka's desk. I looked them over. "This an exercise regimen and a nutritional plan."

They were incredibly detailed!

"It won't be easy." He continued, tone as bored as ever, "But don't you think you'd lose less energy if you trained yourself to be faster outside of your quirk? That you could accomplish more if you were stronger?"

"Absolutely."

"I consulted with a few heroes whose quirks also burn through a lot of energy and put these dietary recommendations together. Everything you see there is something you can get from the cafeteria."

"Awesome." I was in awe of the details. There were lots of options and he'd done research too. I would never have thought of asking heroes who may deal with similar side effects to my own. When had he had time to do this? Were all the teachers here so serious about their jobs?

"There are also a few things you can do to regain energy after using your quirk, other than sleeping. We'll try a few different things, but staying hydrated and eating something right after should help stay your exhaustion."

"Oh, I can definitely start brainstorming some things for that. Should be portable too…" Snacks maybe? Maybe it was time to become a fan of granola bars.

"Since I don't want you practicing your quirk in the mornings yet, I've allowed some time for that in the afternoon." He tapped the exercise regime, "Instead, I'd like to to do these brief exercises to start strengthening your muscles. If you stick to this every day, we'll start to see some improvement."

"Thank you so much for doing this, sir." I said, putting them into a fresh folder, and labelling the folder Quirk Counseling. Honestly, I couldn't wait to start implementing it.

"Now that that's settled, come with me. We'll be working outside today." Ah, so not a talking session after all. I wasn't sure if I felt relieved that my classmates weren't around to watch me, or increasingly nervous that I was the only one for the teacher to focus on.

He took me to the same field where we'd done the quirk apprehension test.

"I'd like you to try jumping and activating your quirk before you reach the ground again. Let's see how quickly you can get it to go." I nodded seriously and focused. It took a few tries but finally I pulled it off. Everything slowed and my feet were off the ground. I tried extending my legs but felt wobbly. I let go of the sensation and fell on my knees, laughing.

"How did that feel?"

"Very cool, very fun." I said, "But getting back on the ground was tough." I stood and dusted myself off.

"Remember that though slowly, you're still subject to force and acceleration. Try swinging your foot to the ground this time and give it a moment to get moving."

"Right." Again, it took a few tries to stop myself in midair, but once I did, though I wobbled, I did as he said. At first I thought I was still stuck, but then my leg followed, down toward the ground, and I followed the movement until I'd stepped on the ground, forcing my other foot down. I resumed time.

Dirt flew up from my left foot and I coughed.

"You lowered your other foot too quickly." Mr. Aizawa explained, "If you want to remain stealthy, you'll have to keep your movements fluid and not jerky."

"Got it."

"Now…" he bent down and picked up a rock. He showed it to me clearly. "I'd like you to try and take this rock from me."

Suspiciously easy.

"Now?"

"Yes, go ahead." I expected him to close it in his fist, but he held its flat on the palm of his hand. I took a breath.

I was startled that by the time everything froze, his scarf was inches away from me. That was close! I backed up from it and walked around until I reached him. No booby traps? It's not like he could do anything while I was at this speed, right?

I plucked the rock from his palm and exhaled.

Instantly, his scarf wrapped tightly around my waist and the arm holding the rock. I felt my feet leave the floor and he calmly turned to glance at me and took the rock back.

"Ah." I said, "Right."

"It's of little use if you complete your goal without getting to safety." He lectured, letting me down, "Try again."

I returned to my starting position and breathed in…

Was the expression on his face different? I walked forward this time, ducking under the restraints and reaching for the rock…

Time resumed suddenly and my wrist was caught by the scarf and yanked up. Dang it, so close!

"What?" I puzzled. I certainly hadn't pushed myself hard enough to slip out of the state of speed. Mr. Aizawa's eyes were glowing red. "How did you…?"

"I triggered my quirk the moment you took your deep breath." He said, "So while yours activated a millisecond before mine, you clearly didn't move quickly enough and stayed within my line of sight."

"Oh, whoa." I said, astonished. Now I really wanted to get that rock. "Can I try one more time?" He released me but kept his red eyes on me.

"Go ahead."

This would be fun.

So to get a chance, I'd have to make sure he looked away from me. Surely, he had to blink at some point, right? If I triggered my ability the moment that happened, I'd have a real shot. But until then, I'd have to avoid his restraints.

I feinted left before ducking right. I hopped over one end of the scarf, but it followed me up and wrapped around my ankle. With a small tug, I toppled to the ground. He then pulled me up by my ankle and elbow. Less than comfortable and certainly not flattering..

"You lack combat instincts." He lectured. I watched his face closely, "You'll have to react more quickly if…" He blinked and I hurriedly inhaled.

Okay, I didn't have long and I was still very stuck. Plus I was in the air which meant nothing to push off from. A few tugs at the scarf made it obvious I wouldn't be able to pry it off, so I decided it would just have to come with me. I was nearly upside down in my position so I kicked my leg as hard as I could and rode the momentum around until I spun straight onto the ground. My elbow had my arm at an awkward angle, but there wasn't as much resistance from the scarf as I'd feared. They needed his input. I kept low to the ground when I noticed his eyelids were a tiny bit more open than before. I hooked my free arm around all the bits of scarf around me and pulled toward him, almost tripping over my still-restrained ankle. His eyes were half open now, but staring up at where I'd been. I stayed low.

The restraints were tightening, had he already noticed I'd moved? Had he expected as much? I reached out to the rock, I was so close… Argh, his arm was just a little too high. I used some of the extra scarf I'd gathered to hoop around his wrist, pulling down. I grabbed the rock, then looked around at the tangled mess I'd left behind. His eyes were red by now, but the pupils hadn't moved. There was no way I was going to get untangled. So I hid the rock in my pocket.

Panting, I let things go.

SNAP!

I was still shocked by the sound as Mr. Aizawa turned to look down at where I was crouched. Instantly, all the restraints tightened and pulled me back into an airborne pretzel. He glanced down at his arm and slowly unwrapped it. Was his wrist… swollen?

I was fully upside down now, so it was hard to see.

"Oh god, did I…?"

He lowered me to the ground and I sat up, heart pounding, dread filling me to the brim.

"Do you have the rock?" He asked. I pulled it out of my pocket.

"Very impressive, Ms. Manderly." His eyes were smiling, if not the rest of his face. "It seems you're getting better at movement, I didn't expect you catch on so quickly."

His wrist was definitely swelling. He wasn't moving his arm.

"Mr. Aizawa…"

"Not only did you learn from your mistakes and persist after being caught, you astutely found an opportunity and acted upon it. You should be proud of yourself." I wanted to enjoy what he was saying but all I could do was wish for him to yell at me and stare. I bit my tongue to stay calm.

"Your wrist."

"Yes. You broke it." The words hit me like a kick to the chest. He, however, seemed wholly unconcerned, "Don't worry, it'd be a shame if you focused on that." Seeing that that was exactly what was happening, he sighed, "Do you know how my wrist snapped?"

"I… I used your scarf to pull down your arm and… and then…"

"Take a breath." He advised. Clearly, my panic was showing despite my best efforts. I choked the sensation down so it would be out of my throat, though it stayed bright in my chest. Then I nodded and obediently took a breath. "Correct, you applied force to only my wrist and at a very high speed. My hand didn't have time to catch up properly, so the wrist broke. Does that make sense?" I nodded again. "Then stop sulking. This is an important discovery. Since I was your opponent, this works absolutely fine. But if you're ever going to try to move others at your speeds, namely civilians or allies, you'll have to be careful and aware of their bodies. If you had more slowly lowered my wrist, by supporting my hand and arm as well, there likely would have been a lesser injury, if any at all."

I nodded yet again.

"Alright, we'll call it a day for now. Chin up, there are few students in this entire school who can say they bested a teacher." With that, he walked inside and I sat on the grass, waiting for the bad feeling to pass.

Eventually, not wanting to be caught staring into oblivion, I dusted myself off, though my uniform was definitely still a mess. The dirt had gotten everywhere. I walked over to pick up Moe.