Author's Note: Hello everyone! I apologize for the sudden break in updates. The last two weeks have been incredibly busy, and I like to spend time proofreading and editing each chapter before it goes up. That said, we're back in business. Updates may be every other day instead of daily for a while longer, but I'll do my best to keep them consistent.

Enjoy and have a lovely day,

~The Cursed One

I'd seen a lot of frightening things, heard more than my fair share terrible sounds. But nothing was quite as unsettling as an invincible man dripping blood and, grin still on his face, muttering a curse.

"Excellent attempt!" He said suddenly, like nothing had happened, "Made me bite my tongue!" He gave a big laugh but coughed, covering his hand in blood.

"Sir?" I whispered, alarmed and, frankly, scared.

"All good." His voice was forced, "No need to worry. Why don't you run some laps while I…" he coughed more harshly now, and seemed to be shaking, "Not here…"

With a burst of steam and smoke, the hulking hero doubled over and became a dangerously skinny man. I certainly hadn't done THAT. I staggered back, half searching for a villain with a weakness-inducing quirk. All Might continued to cough up blood and I came to my senses.

"Let's get you inside." I said, "Would the infirmary be good?" The man kept his gaze down, and his voice was unsettlingly sobered up,

"…No. I'll be fine."

"It's windy, at least somewhere warm." So I walked with him inside, into my secret lounge of all places. He found some tissues and cleaned himself up, then gave me a very serious look with his sunken eyes. It really did look like All Might had deflated, like he was juice box someone had emptied and crushed. I had the feeling I'd have no trouble pushing him over in this state.

"…thank you." He said finally, as I prepared some hot tea for us both, "I'm afraid I'm going to ask you not to tell anyone about what you've seen."

"Of course." I murmured. Too much of our current society's sense of calm was reliant on the invincibility of the man I'd just seen cough up half a lung.

I waited until I'd handed him the tea and sat down myself, across from him, before I asked what I needed to know,

"Is it an illusion?"

"Not in the sense you're thinking. When I'm powered up, I'm just as strong as I seem. But it seems I can't maintain that as often anymore. Less and less every month. I'm down to six hours a day." I wasn't sure if I was comforted or terrified. "I would have lasted another hour, but you hit me right where it hurts the most." He lifted his now too-big shirt to reveal a nasty purple scar. I'd hit him there repeatedly. "Gross, isn't it? The result of a battle some years ago."

"I'm sorry." I said, "Obviously, I didn't mean to…"

"Of course not." He comforted, and he really was a completely different person, "And if I hadn't done so much hero work this morning, I likely would have been able to keep my composure. It was just bad luck."

I asked something very unkind, right then, but my mouth just didn't give my heart a chance to stop it;

"Is that why you were late that day?"

His eyes widened, just a little, then turned downcast. Just as he usually had a permanent smile, now his face seemed fixed on a frown.

"Yes. That fight was a closer call than I'd like to admit." My hands shook and I smiled humorlessly, leaning my head onto my knees before I let out a long curse. "Language, Manderly, please. Like it or not, I'm still your teacher."

"I had I feeling." I said, staring at the floor, "This terrible fear that maybe you weren't invincible after all. But I figured it was just in my head. It's not, though. The world is as exactly as dangerous as it seems." A thought occurred to me and I looked up quickly, "Sorry. That wasn't aimed at you. You must have so much pressure on your shoulders. I'm grateful for how far you've been pushing yourself to uphold the peace of mind of so many. I wish you didn't have to."

"That's very kind of you to say, Young Manderly." He told me, "I'm only sorry I couldn't help you."

"You're only human."

What a terrifying thought.

.

All Might headed out, but I stayed in the lounge, curled up and upset. I knew my brain would be taking all the wrong lessons from this; I had still somehow managed to hurt the one person who was supposed to be untouchable. Not to mention I wasn't as safe as I thought.

"Ugh." I lied face down on a couch, waiting for the discomfort to go away, for my head to shut up.

The door eased open and I didn't look up.

"Would you like to talk about it?" Mr. Aizawa asked, tossing a blanket onto me. I shook my head into the cushion. "Alright, you have ten more minutes, then I'm sending Moe to take you to lunch." With that, he stepped out.

It took a lot of inner negotiating, but I convinced myself that I was no worse off now than I was a few days ago. I spent the rest of that day just working out, got a very good night's sleep, and faced the next day with steely determination. Moping would do me no good; if I wanted safety, I'd have to provide it myself.

I worked on my speed, had Moe time me. I worked on the effect of the momentum, what I could do to minimize or maximize it. Then I approached Kirishima.

"Spar? Really?" He seemed hesitant, "You sure you're good with that?"

"Don't baby me." I told him lightly, "We only have two days before the tournament and I need to rip off the band-aid."

"Okay." He then grinned "Alright! Let's do this!"

I was so concentrated, my mind so narrowed, that I just about forgot about my fear and nervousness; there was only anger determination.

Uraraka offered to be referee and we began.

Kirishima hardened instantly, before I could reach him. After working with All Might, though, I knew what to expect from a tough stance. So I backed up and waited for him to come to me. He gave a little grin and dashed forward, faster than I expected. I dodged under his swing, sliding on my knees to knock into his supporting leg.

He rolled onto the ground, but the whole thing likely hurt me more than him. He grabbed my ankle right then, with a victorious look. I mirrored it. Returning to my speed, I kicked up as much dirt as I could, moving with his hand smoothly to ensure I didn't get hurt. He coughed and his grip loosened a bit. I was just about to jab him in the eyes when I noticed bright red on my arm.

"Stop." I said sharply, and Kirishima did, releasing me, surprised.

"You good?" He asked. I inspected myself. My arm would be getting bruise from battering into him, but where was the blood coming from?

"Oh." I said flatly. I pulled up my sweatpants to reveal my brutally scraped knees, "Note to self: don't slide during superspeed. Ow."

"Oh my gosh!" Uraraka said, kneeling beside me, "I'm glad I brought a first aid kit. Stay still, okay?"

"Thanks, Ochaco." I said, touched. "Sorry about that, Kirishima, I wasn't sure where the blood was coming from."

"No problem, you totally had me on the ropes!"

"Yeah right."

Ochaco patched up my knees and I paced in front of the lounge, wondering if I needed it or not. I decided to go celebrate with Moe instead.

"I didn't freak out." I told him, "I mean, a little, I stopped the fight in the end, but I… I was okay. I think I've got this."

Moe got me a double helping of ice cream.

.

The day before the tournament, there was another issue entirely; I needed a babysitter. All my classmates would be competing, Ms. Joke was doing hero work since so many heroes were going to be spectating, and even Mr. Aizawa would be helping Mike with commentary. Who did that leave? All Might? No, he'd be in his deflated form, no doubt, which did not inspire confidence, not when it came to keeping Moe contained.

Who could possibly keep up with him?

A thought occurred to me and I laughed quietly. I could think of one person. As if I didn't owe him enough. Lucky for me, a more practical contender showed themselves.

.

Moe and I sat in the dorm lounge, cross-legged, staring each other down.

"What are they doing?" Kaminari asked, whispering.

"I think you have to have siblings to understand."

"So," I said, serious, "You want to go watch the festival?" Equally serious, Moe nodded. "You understand that it could be dangerous, right? I might fall over, get banged up, I might even have to fight. What do you do if that happens?"

No answer.

"Moe…"

"…nothing." He grumbled out.

"That's right. At most, you can ask your sitter for permission to go backstage, but what happens if you go off on your own?"

"Cold shower."

"And?" He puffed up his cheeks in protest. Some of my classmates snickered. "Morland, what's gonna happen if you try to go off on your own or interfere in any way?"

"…miss Joke gets a child leash."

I grinned widely.

"That's right! So, knowing all of that, do you still want to go?"

He nodded heavily.

"Okay. Deku's mom is going to come out to watch him, but she's not going to chase you down. So you have to listen to her, okay?"

"Okay."

"Atta boy." I ruffled his hair and he seemed annoyed. "Now go do your homework. We've got a big day tomorrow."

My smile fell a bit after he ran upstairs. Asui sat on the floor beside me.

"Nervous?"

"Oh yes." I confirmed, "But weirdly calm. I'm as ready as I can be. You?"

"Pretty okay, actually," She croaked, "I think I work well under pressure."

"Let's do our best then." With a fist-bump, it occurred to me that I felt more support around me than ever before. And that, with support, I'd be able to go further than I ever could have by myself. So yeah, I was ready.