Era

31

They'd been gradually increasing the number of rounds they sparred in a row, and it was beginning to show in the tremble of Shinsou's limbs, the moments of hesitation between strikes where he tried to conserve his flagging energy. A sheen of sweat coated his face, plastering his hair to his skin wherever a loose strand fell.

"You should really cut your hair," said Era, stepping in to launch a quick jab before dancing away once more. Shinsou grunted and barely managed to deflect it off of his raised guard.

"Really? Why do you say that?" he gasped, eyes darting towards a weakness in Era's defense. "You don't think it looks nice?"

Era didn't respond, instead closing the distance once again with the exact same move, letting her arm drop slightly to expose her side. As expected, Shinsou seized upon the opportunity, ducking beneath her blow and throwing a fist, but at the last moment Era twisted to catch his outstretched arm and slammed him into the mat.

"You yield?" She planted her knee into the small of her back as he began to struggle fruitlessly.

With a final token effort, Shinsou went limp on the floor. "You know, I feel like this isn't really a fair match-up when you already know my quirk. It's not like you can stop using yours."

Era twisted the arm further behind his back. "Do you yield?"

"Fucking- yes, fine, I yield."

Helping him up, Era tried to ignore the way Aizawa's eyes burned into her back. She hated that he had to watch, hated that he could see every mistake that Shinsou hadn't pressed, hated that he knew how to punish her for that. And yet he never did, and she hated that most of all.

"Good job." Aizawa walked over to them, glancing over at Shinsou as the boy rubbed his new bruises with a wince. "Do you need to see Recovery Girl?"

"No, sensei."

"Good. I'm glad that Suzuki is showing some restraint."

Era wrinkled her nose. "It was one time."

"It was several times," countered Shinsou. "I would know."

"Don't be such a baby about it, I didn't even break anything."

Aizawa gave them both another one of his signature long-suffering sighs, the kind that Era prided herself on prying out of him. "Spars are not for breaking bones. Or spraining wrists," he added pointedly after Era opened her mouth to object. "Or dislocating joints, especially your own. I still don't know how you managed that."

"You said to break the hold," said Era with a huff. "I broke the hold."

"My intention was to demonstrate a hold you could not get out of."

"Well maybe you should have used a better hold."

"Of course. My mistake." He pinched at the bridge of his nose. "The Sports Festival is in two days. Tomorrow's a rest day, so I trust you'll actually be taking it easy and not doing something incredibly stupid." He fixed them both with a pointed stare.

"Hey, don't look at me!" Shinsou spluttered, waving in Era's general direction. "She's the one who climbs tall buildings for fun."

"...excuse me?"

Era shot him a grin and an easy laugh. "Geez, old man, haven't you ever heard of parkour?"

"You know what? I'm going to pretend I didn't hear that, for both of our sakes," said Aizawa, glancing at his watch with a frown. "We have time for another spar."

Shinsou groaned, flopping onto the floor. "Actually I have an appointment with death."

"Tell him hi from me," Era said with a snort, sparing Aizawa an appraising glance out of the corner of her eye. He... didn't seem to care about the show of disrespect. He never did. Of course, Shinsou had never directly disobeyed either, just gave dramatic shows of resistance before quickly applying himself to the task. She assumed that an outright refusal would be met with something very different.