Muse

Chapter 22

Prior to helping Izuku practice his diagonal cuts, I was sitting in an empty rec room for almost two hours before anyone else showed up. It wasn't unusual for me to be early since on a normal day I left straight from work, but I could not spend another moment with my mother, not when she was going to stand there and remind me of everything that I hated about myself. So I was here a little bit earlier than I was used to, my lightsabers and exercise bag heavy on my back as I sat in my usual spot against the wall and supply closet doors. I needed to vent, and putting my body through grueling training with plastic swords sounded downright therapeutic to me. I tried using my techniques for coping and tried to calm myself down, deep breathing meditation and by distracting myself with favorite TV shows like watching Friends reruns on my phone while I worked on comic pages, though I had to stop once people started showing up since I had accidentally left my headphones at home. There were at least three paper cranes in front of me, leftover from the last of my MRI candy and absolute silence for a good long while before the usual stream of people trickled in, setting up in their respective corners of the room as they pulled on their gear.

So you could imagine my surprise when I saw Izuku standing there, cutely poking his head in the doorway like he was somehow being rude by intruding on our class. Once I was over my shock, my mood did a complete one-eighty for most of the class. By him just being there, his very presence acted like a soothing melody that made me down right giddy. How the hell had he done that? My downward spirals usually wiped me out for the rest of the day, but one surprise guest appearance from him and my day was made. What was wrong with me?

Calm down, Alyssa. You're just excited that your friend is here. No need to scare him off or over-analyze why you can't react like a normal human being. He's just being nice, I kept reminding myself while I practiced, alternating roles from being the attacker or defender. Once he got the hang of things, he was a quick study. A few more weeks coming to lessons and he probably wouldn't need me anymore.

"Okay everyone, circle up. It's time to play King of the Hill." Everyone dropped what they were doing, including the Form VIs that were gathered outside. We stood in the center of the room, creating a large circle as our headmaster, Mikaeru Miki, explained the rules. "As a refresher, the point is to stay in the circle for as long as possible without dying. Losers do five down and backs. If I catch anyone doing head-shots, it's ten down and backs. I don't want a repeat of last time. We don't need anymore Chisukes," he warned, referencing a former student who was known for hitting people in the head with a lightsaber so hard that it actually drew blood; it had become a bit of an in-joke label towards people who kept hitting people in the head, an illegal sword move. I didn't need to be looking directly at him to know that his eyes were on me as he was stating this, instead keeping my eyes towards the other students.

One of the Form IIs, a guy I knew by the name of Yakobu, stood in the center of the ring as the first obstacle. We didn't talk much, but I knew that he had French and Italian fencing training and was capable enough in it to be considered as a replacement instructor for Form II. He would make for a challenging first opponent. Nervous but eager for some action, I took the plunge and stood in front of Yakobu, who wore his usual impassive expression that I always had trouble reading. Form IIs were the mortal enemies of Form Is, our equal opposite as they were light on their feet and a very aggressive form that could create fast, one-handed, streamlined attacks that were very hard to block unless you knew how to maneuver the blade efficiently. His curved, obsidian handle lightsaber hung from his white gloved hand like a true Italian fencer as he tucked his other arm behind the small of his back in his own version of engarde. If this had been been a spar, we would have bowed to each other. However, since this was a free-for-all, all we did was ignite our sabers and wait for either to make the first move.