"Young Manderly! I heard you were looking for me!" The to do list I'd been writing gained a jerky line and some juice stains as I dropped everything and quickly scrambled off the bleachers to greet the man. Sometimes, he felt like a caricature, sometimes, just another teacher, and sometimes… like someone who had been late.
"Yes, sir." I said breathlessly, "I was, um…" Why was this so much harder to say with him? I cleared my throat, "I'm training for the sports festival and, well, just in general, and I was hoping… that is, if you're not busy, I was going to ask for your, um, help."
"All in the job description! How can I help?" At least he was as friendly as he seemed.
Playing with my hair and looking away, I managed to mumble out,
"Since the USJ… I haven't been able to… I mean… I've had trouble fighting."
"Ah." I didn't think he was capable of such an awkward sound.
"Yeah. Um, since my quirk is all about speed, and since I'm trying to find a balance where I'm effective without hurting anyone, I was wondering if… I could practice with you?" It seemed so stupid when I said it out loud, "Trust me, I realize it's overkill. But I know you'd be able to challenge me without either of us getting hurt. Does that make sense? I just…" I wanted to bail already.
"Of course!" He said, "A reasonable instinct!"
"And, um, apologies in advance if I… become frazzled."
"No need to apologize. Let's start with some running!" I looked up at him, startled.
"Oh! Um, okay."
"I'd like you to go to the teacher's lounge, fetch something from Present Mike's desk, and place it here by that juice box, then back to the teacher's lounge. I'll be going there as fast as I can, and I'd like you to try and beat me there."
Wow, not pulling his punches after all. Or if he was, I didn't want to know the alternative.
"Okay." I said, "Say the- hey!" He started moving and I sucked in a breath to slow him down. As I moved past him, I looked to try and gauge what I was working with. His running was sharp and efficient, but he moved only about as fast as the Nomu; still incredibly fast, but not gaining on me like Hawks.
Right, time to focus.
I ran into the building, wove through other students, hopped up stairs, and made it to the teacher's lounge, already out of breath. I moved to try and find Present Mike's desk. Not too hard; he was seated at it, leaning back in his seat, mouth open. I took the orange pen he was using to grade, and turned on my heel, rushing back out, seeing All Might at the stairs. Crap!
I left the pen by the juice box and ran back.
We arrived at about the same time. I winced as the force and wind blew my hair into my face, and I gripped the doorframe, panting. My back seized in protest as I struggled to stay on my feet.
The other teachers looked up and even All Might seemed surprised to see me.
I took a moment to catch my breath.
"Good work! You can cool down by walking back to the track, let's go." Once he saw and inspected the pen, he nodded and handed it to me. "Go ahead and return this please. Fast as you can."
Oh boy.
I sped to the office and returned the pen, then sped back.
"Now, how many classrooms do you suppose the building has? Do you think it would take you more seconds than classrooms to count?"
.
By the evening, I'd arrived at the teacher's lounge with the most recent task (a heavy load of printing paper), then quickly snuck into the space between Mr. Aizawa's desk and the wall, hidden from view. The anxiety lounge wasn't for this type of exhaustion, and I was too gross and easy to find for my bedroom.
I leaned against the brick, exhausted and sweaty, eyes closed.
"Hm, gone already?" All Might asked at the door, "There's the paper, she must be on her thirteenth repetition of the circuit. Only fifteen to go."
Mr. Aizawa grunted in agreement, while Present Mike shrugged.
"Eraser," He whined, "lend me one of your paper weights, my assignments have gone everywhere with that pair's regimen."
"No."
"But-"
"Keep it down or you'll give me a headache." I felt his gaze briefly on me, but he said nothing more.
One very stiff neck later, my discomfort woke me up. I groaned softly and stood slowly. Present Mike nearly fell from his chair.
"How long have you been here?!" I shrugged, not entirely sure.
"Don't forget-" I didn't let Mr. Aizawa finish.
"On my way to the cafeteria now. I'm gonna need some fuel after that."
"We'll let All Might know you finished the circuit."
"I owe you a life debt for that." Running my fingers through my hair, I wobbled to the cafeteria, and ordered the day's designated dinner.
.
"I know I was flustered," I said to Asui when we had breakfast, "But I'm pretty sure I said that fighting was what I needed help with. I mean, the physical conditioning is obviously not a bad idea, but I've been doing that already. Not at All Might levels but still."
"Maybe he thinks he'd hurt you."
"Maybe, but why wouldn't he just say as much?" Like a poltergeist, the haunting smile appeared at the door with a chorus of whispers.
"Manderly!" I resisted the urge to crawl into my cereal.
"On my way!"
Before he could outline the day's torture regimen, I spoke up,
"Um, since there's so little time before the festival, and I feel like it's my biggest block, would it be okay to focus on sparring today?"
He look on his face told me he'd full planned on skipping that today too.
"If you'd rather not, that's okay. Just let me know and I won't insist anymore."
"Apologies, Manderly. I only hesitate to place you under duress before you're ready." Ah. The opposite position to Mr. Aizawa.
"I have to start sometime."
"Alright." He agreed finally, "Then your goal is to try and make me fall over. For now, I'll only defend."
"Yes, sir!"
Slight problem: no matter how fast I was, All Might still stood like a mountain, and I'd never have to brute strength to get him to move a finger if he didn't want to. That meant he'd have to be the one to initiate movement, and I'd work from there.
"I'm growing old here!" He teased.
I sped up and moved gently behind him, so he wouldn't feel the breeze. I climbed onto his back and blew into his ear. Letting time resume normally, he cringed and turned so I quickly slowed him down again. One foot had slightly lifted off the ground, and he was off center.
I reminded myself it was pretty much impossible to hurt him, and hugged one of his arms, pulling as hard as I could. It sure didn't feel like I was having any effect, so I resumed time to check.
Almost instantly, his arm whipped up, dragging me with it. My grip slipped and I flew through the air. I braced, covering my head, and handed roughly in the field.
I took a moment, heart pounding, body aching, disappointment boiling.
"Young Manderly?" I forced a smile and looked up.
"I'm good!" I called, jogging back, "Didn't expect it to work on my first try."
"That's the spirit!" He encouraged, "Try again!"
I very much did not want to; heart pounding painfully. But I grit my teeth and slowed time.
That afternoon, I wordlessly walked into the secret lounge and put my head in my hands.
.
Though dread gnawed at me during the next training session, I was determined to push through. Campus was mostly empty; a lot of kids had gone home for the weekend, or elsewhere to train. All Might stood like a stupid statue and I let my frustration fuel me.
Running as fast as I could around him, three times, I placed my hands on his stomach and pushed. Time continued normally and the momentum actually made him take a step back, surprised.
I did it again, doubling the momentum, wincing as my body protested.
His hand raised to cover his stomach and again he began to step back. I slowed time and pulled his shoe off, setting it on its side for him to step onto.
It worked; he lost his balance.
Running once again to gather momentum, I thew myself against him with all my might.
The titan teetered, but his other leg shot back and he regained his footing. Before disappointment could fully settle in my throat, a drop of red fell on my arm.
I stared at it for only a moment, but it felt like forever. That was... but it couldn't...
Cold, I looked up.
All Might winced as he wiped his mouth and saw his hand smeared with blood.
"…shit."