The problem with the brush used to clean the pool was that the actual brush part was at a weird angle from the stick, and combined with the width of the comb head itself made drawing with it really awkward. She was honestly surprised that she had gotten any spells to work the first time, but given the sheer number she tried to draw at once, it shouldn't be a surprise that a few went off.

Izumi stared at the long plastic yellow pole that she and Momo had been experimenting with, the black threaded nub at the end made it easy for them to test designs on what would work well with this new aspect of her quirk. They had tried a fuzzy cludge like design that looked like she was wielding a giant toilet scrubber, a trident like design, a design that looked like a giant hand, one that looked like the muzzle of a minigun, and countless others.

But the truth remained. No matter what her and Momo came up with, nothing was as effective as a simple broom. There were numerous reasons why the design was the best. All of the tips were of similar size, length, and were facing the same direction. In short, it worked because a broom was a bit like a giant paintbrush, and her quirk was effectively calligraphy that could make things explode.

Only she couldn't make things explode yet.

"Gah! I don't want to be a witch though!" Izumi swung the poll around in frustration and paced around the gardens of Momo's back yard. This was one of the areas where she really didn't want to make anything accidentally explode or anything bad, but the woods were a quick walk if they wanted to get really serious.

Momo looked up from the table that they had commandeered for today's adventures, snacks and tea rested on a tray, while their homework was left largely unattended, and a pile of potential staff heads was left in a bin waiting to be destroyed. "What do you have against being a witch?"

"Because they're creepy! And they like, brew potions and stuff and I'm really really terrible at chemistry! And they like, have a really big nose! And they're just not hero-like at all!" Izumi pouted and hugged the pole tight against her chest. She really didn't want people to think that she was a witch, they'd be thinking that she was evil and stuff. "And they turn people into frogs! I don't think I can do that! Nor do I want to."

"Okay, okay, but, I'm just saying you'd be a super cute witch." Momo gave a joyful laugh that seemed like the perfect noise to make in anticipation of summer.

"That doesn't mean much coming from you!" For some dumb reason, Izumi decided to hook her foot around the base of the pole and then kicked it out from under herself, and because she was holding onto it so tight she effectively flipped herself onto the ground with a thud. "You always say I'm super cute! You said I was cute in the morning, and I've seen what I look like in the morning! I'm not cute."

Momo giggled again. That was part of the problem, Momo, Momo was cute as hell and she was so pretty.

"I'm starting to think you need glasses." Izumi glared up at her friend from the ground and gave a long desperate sigh. "I did go as a witch for Halloween once."

"Oh, and umm, was, he there?"

"Yep."

"I see, is that why?"

"I don't know! I'm like, about to hit thirteen and I'm waiting for a reason to wear a training bra!" She flailed her arm and thus her pole around in the air in front of her. Partway through she activated her quirk and drew a simple spell. "Besides! Just because he's a dick doesn't mean I can blame everything on him!"

Light, forward, ball.

A large ball of light, this size of a beach ball shot out from in front of her and sailed upwards at a slow steady pace, the bright late spring day saw it vanish quickly into the sky, well before it reached any sort of limit.

"Hmm, well," Momo stood and stared down at her, her bright smile putting Izumi to ease just a bit. "I'm not sure what I can do to help with some of that, but, I do mean it when I say you're always cute."

"Guh! That's just because you're my friend!"

More arm flailing followed by yet more arm flailing.

"And because you're adorable, now come on," Momo offered her her hand. "Do you want to try casting some spells with your broom?"

"Can we call it a giant calligraphy brush?"

"Nope."

"Meanie."

"Only when it's for your own good."

Izumi stuck her tongue out before she accepted Momo's hand. Grabbing the regular plain, wooden handle, nothing special about it straw boring broom they ventured towards their usual spot in the woods. Here a few tree branches had been blown off and there were holes in the dirt and even a catapult that Momo had made for target practice. It was easily one of her favorite spots to relax on a weekend. And she was here every weekend with Momo, it was pretty much accepted that at this point, Izumi stayed the night every weekend.

Much like she had done hundreds of times in the past, Izumi spun the broom around like it was a staff, it was awkward and she nearly fumbled, but she managed to get the broom under control before she glanced back at Momo. "Soooo, what should we do?"

"Umm, well, why don't we just see what happens when you do your least dangerous spell?" Momo offered with a shrug. "You know, the one that doesn't break things. Or just try drawing with the broom and see what works?"

"Okay," the first step was going to be how to hold the broom she guessed. With her wand or a paintbrush, she just held them like a pencil allowing her wrist to do most of the work. But with something as large as a broom it was different, she had to use two hands, and her elbows were going to be doing most of the work? Or was it her shoulders? Her stomach? How should she move?

With her lips bit Izumi began the clumsy process of drawing with the broom once again. Despite discovering the trick a few weeks ago, she hadn't really had a decent chance to practice it, mostly because of tests and swim club.

With one hand near the back of the broom and another towards the middle, she found that the end was unwieldy.

A dip here.

A swoop there.

A swish there.

Light, forward, arrow.

Most of the time casting light had no real effect on her stamina, even when she made a bunch of spheres as fast as she could she could barely feel the drain. In theory, she should have been okay.

In theory.

But, theories were designed to be tested.

And this theory failed.

Hard.

She saw the blade of light shoot from the tip of the broom, hundreds of little rays all bound in a tight, slightly wide clump that looked like someone was waving a flashlight at a camera. For what felt like a few seconds she was able to smile at her work.

And then things felt cold.

Ahh.

She was going to pass out.

Again.

XXXX

It felt like she had just swum a thousand laps as fast as she could without stopping in the coldest water she could possibly find. All of her muscles felt tense, both numb and sore and even her bones were aching. Her mouth was dry and her head was pounding. But, above anything else was the feeling of the complete lack of energy inside of her.

Every part of her body felt like it was being weighed down by sand and she could barely even open her eyes to see herself staring up at the ceiling of one of the rooms in Momo's house.

A breath through the nose and a wonderful scent filled her to the brim.

Food.

She turned slightly and saw those snacks she absolutely loved waiting for her next to fruit, tea, and a few other items that she was going to be hankering for.

With a burst of strength, Izumi flung herself forward, rolling off the couch with a thud and grabbing a handful of stuff to shove into her mouth. She didn't even taste it. Almost like it knew that any energy it spent now would be refunded quickly enough, Izumi found her second wind hitting hard and she cracked open a bottle of tea and chugged it in record speed.

"Yes, we were practicing her quirk, yes, I have her inside, yes, I'll let you know if—" Momo entered the room, phone against her ear. "Well, she woke up and is currently stuffing her face." Momo blinked as Izumi stared at her with a bit of a wild look in her eyes. "Yes, I'll let her know not to overdo it in the future. We'll be taking the rest of the day off. Yep, yep, I'll make sure she eats well and gets plenty of rest."

Izumi looked at Momo with wide eyes, her cheeks stuffed with as much food as she could stuff into her mouth for a few long seconds. She swallowed and stared at Momo for a few seconds. "Was that my mom?"

Momo raised an eyebrow. "No, it was Ms. Byleth."

When did Momo learn sarcasm? Who corrupted her? Oh, wait, probably her.

"Sorry," Izumi muttered, putting down the food for a moment. "I guess I'm still not strong enough to try and use the broom yet. Probably should have thought that out more."

"Don't worry about it." Momo flexed her arm and gave her a cheeky wink. "I'm getting used to carrying you around."

Izumi just pouted for all of two seconds before her stomach growled and reminded her that there was food and tea to be drunk.

"Oh, dinner is on its way soon so—" There was a buzz and Momo jumped. "Oh, I guess it's already here! Sit tight."

Izumi grunted and let herself lull in place a bit as she felt her energy return to her.

She was ready for a peaceful afternoon with Momo now. Just talking, watching movies, and not doing anything that could make her pass out again. They might actually go to bed at a reasonable hour this time.

Probably not, but they might.

That notion was completely and utterly screwed over when Izumi realized just who exactly was bringing them dinner.

Nejire bounced into the room carrying some bags that had super large bowls of ramen in them. She had a big smile on her face and her hair was pulled into a ponytail. "Nejire-Chan's super duper awesome a speedy ramen delivery service and super duper sleepover improver is here to make your night super extra amazing!"

"A," Izumi opened her mouth but really couldn't think of anything to say at that moment so she just made a random pointless noise.

She watched as Nejire moved the snacks out of her reach and placed a large bowl in front of Izumi. The seal on the top was popped off to reveal the still steaming ramen that had been hidden. A blast of powerful aroma hit her right in the face and her stomach twisted to make room for the feast she was about to partake in.

"Here," Nejire held the chopsticks in front of Izumi and smiled. "I know what it's like and nothing will recharge you better than Hanayama Raman! Momo texted me saying that you fell down and I was going to get some anyway so now I'm here and we're going to have a great time!"

Izumi barely heard what Nejire was talking about, she was too busy eating.

"And she wants my help in dressing you up as a witch!"

She did hear that.

AN: I'm going to put her in a witch hat.