Paint the Stratosphere Red

16

Aizawa sets down another potted plant in front of Eri, directly in her line of view.

"Come on, once more," he prompts. "Eri, I know you can do this."

She shakes her head, looking nervous. "I won't be able to turn it off. I'm never able to."

There are two other plants—well, more like pots with soil—in the corner of the room, shoved aside for later disposal.

"Try to imagine it," Aizawa advises, crouching down so that they're face-to-face. Eri is situated in a chair in front of a low table, tailored for her to sit comfortably and have her feet touch the ground, considering her height.

"What do you mean?" she asks.

"As in, try to put your power into a picture in your mind," Aizawa explains. "You may not know how to control it yet, but you do know how to turn it on, so what do you see?"

Eri frowns, closing her eyes for a moment. Her quirk is a form of energy... it flows freely, fluidlike. It's almost like the rush of a river, quick and noisy. But water is useful. It's a resource that all living things on Earth need to survive. People drink water, every day, and it nourishes them. No, her quirk is more like the passage of lava. Destructive, hot, and harmful. It's very similar to lava, but much faster, too. Although... her quirk can help people. Right? She's not sure. She understands what Aizawa is trying to help her with—he wants to teach her how to regulate the energy in order to be able to help people. So, it's not necessarily a bad thing in itself. That means that it does indeed resemble water. Potentially hazardous in large amounts, but massively useful in reasonable quantities. It's like when she uses the tap to wash her hands. In the sink, there's a handle she can move to turn the water on and off, and that's how she's able to modulate the course of water. Relating it back to her quirk, she can see the parallels. Aizawa is the adjuster, and she is the main focus. Opening her eyes again, she relays her thoughts to the man, and he gives her a small smile.

"That's good," he acknowledges. "Now, what I would like you to do is to use Rewind as you're comparing it to the faucet. You know how to turn it off in your mind. Try to do the same physically."

Eri nods, looking back at the plant. It's a fern, this time around.

"Whenever you're ready."

She exhales deeply, gaze pinpointing the target.

Unlike Aizawa, her eyes don't change color when she's using her quirk. They stay the same plain red hue all throughout the process. (Which she's happy about, because they match Katsuki's crimson ones, and having something in common with him makes her feel even more connected to him, regardless of whether or not they have a blood relationship.) Her horn, however, emits sparks of yellow, and the glittering is the telltale sign of an activation. It's just like in all the picture books she reads about unicorns—the sparkles are what emphasizes their magic. There's a steady static hum that overrides the silence, and she can feel the release of pure energy drifting through the air, reaching green leaves. If she knows what the sensation of using Rewind feels like, then she should also be able to recall experiencing her baseline, her level of normalcy. All she has to do is stop the reversion in time, so that she'll have a smaller plant, not something that isn't there at all. That's the goal for the day. To pause at any point in between the plant's original state and when it's just beginning to sprout. She waits a few moments, and then refers back to her analogy. The tap. She knows how to turn it on. Now she just needs to do the opposite. Digging through her memory, she concentrates on what it's like to be calm and relaxed, unhindered by all outside factors. She tracks that stillness and mentally seeks out for it, fingers grasping at an abstract concept. It's there—she senses it near. She reaches, reaches, and reaches. And then, as if nothing ever happened, she pushes her way through the threshold, and ends up right where she started.

At status quo. How things are meant to be.

To her side, Aizawa's looking at her with nothing but fondness. He reaches up to pat her head.

"That was amazing, kiddo."

"I did it!" she giggles, grabbing his palm and putting her own on top.

Looking over at the plant, she can see a hint of green peeking out from the soil. The process may have taken her longer than she wanted, but a success is a success.

She can't wait to show the boys.