Red Like Roses // BNHA × OC //

{2} Sunrise Training

    My legs pushed against the sandy ground as I jogged through the empty beach shore. I threw my arm up to combat the bright glare of the morning sunrise, but I still only regretted bringing only my old glasses with me. I thought I didn't want to risk damaging my sunglasses during training, but I was starting to dread that decision.

    When I stopped my run as the ocean tide pulled into view, I felt my hair sweep against my shoulders. I wasn't sure if I would ever get used to not feeling the weight of my long and thick hair pulling me down; it certainly made my outside training cooler. Still, it was a change I had to adjust to.

    Don't get me wrong, though. I was glad I went through with it. Making my own decision even over something small gave me a sense of control. Although, even if it relieved a lot of stress, damn was this humidity killing what was left of my hair!

    For the last couple of months, I've shown up to Monu Beach for training with class A's homeroom teacher, Shouta Aizawa. The man was strict when it came to attendance, so Q helped make sure I always arrived early.

    As I moved around the shore, I made a mental note to keep away from the water. But the sand wasn't much better for my prosthetics. At the least, it was a fine way to keep me on my toes. I continued walking until I could see Aizawa's figure waiting by the water.

    "You're late." His dull and blank eyes flicked up to just above my eye line as I stopped.

    I internally panicked before I checked my watch. The time was a minute after I had arrived so technically I was on time, right?

   When Shouta Aizawa didn't elaborate, I turned my focus around to see Shinso running up from the boardwalk to our meeting spot. If I knew I was late to training, I'd be booking it too.

    By the time Shinso made it up to the beach where we waited, Aizawa repeated his warning as Shinso caught his breath. "You both know how I feel about attendance. Just because this is your last day, that doesn't excuse either of you to start slacking. It's imperative to hold yourself to high expectations from here on out, got it?"

    Shinso and I both nodded. I've learned that usually when this guy asked us an indirect question, the last thing he wanted was anything more than a quick agreement.

    "Good," Aizawa continued. He released his hold on a duffle back off his shoulder, throwing it against the ground ahead of our feet. "You know the drill by now, so hurry up and get started. Warm-ups will stop in two hours." With both of us having spent the first semester in lower classes, we missed out on so much 1-A had been through. That led Aizawa to center his lessons around the hardest part of Hero work:

    Endurance training.

    Hardcore exercises lasted for hours of the day while I subtlety prayed for death towards the end. Workouts like this would have been fine if it was just that, a normal workout. However, it wasn't like Aizawa to go the easy way when training us. That's why he insisted Shinso and I complete all of our training with compression weights strapped to our arms and legs.

    We started with five-pound weights, but as each week passed, he increased the weights by the amount of progress we were getting. If it looked like we weren't as miserable while sprinting across the beach with ten-pound weights on us, then Aizawa would increase it to fifteen. Whatever it took, this man was determined to push us past our limits.

    I found my limit on the last day as I strained myself to complete another twenty push-ups. It felt as if I had been doing them for forever, but as I struggled to pick myself and my weights up after each downbeat, it looked like Aizawa was ready to push me further.