Morals

Fifteen

A/n-unedited

Ever since that day I heard her crying, the pretty extra's been training like hell. She comes in every day with bruises and small cuts. I've known her for a few months now; she's a perfectionist.  She's hard on herself even for the smallest mistakes. If she isn't the top of our class in something, she goes to train. If she is a point off on a training exercise, she trains. If she misses something on homework, she works herself to death. Denai's going to burn herself out before she gets to become a hero. 

Today, we were doing a rescue exercise. We're in pairs, and we have to save a civilian trapped under debris. It's to analyze our skills in search and rescue. Denai and I were teamed up for the exercise. We made our way to the start point. For the most part, the extra did say a word to me, but as we got closer to the building, she stopped to ask me a question.

"Katsuki?" She started

"What do you want?" 

"I need your help..." She looked up at me, fidgeting with her hands.

"Huh? Why would you need my help?" I asked

"Because you're good at battle. You know how to read the flow. You don't let your nerves get to you as often as I do. The truth is, whenever I fight someone, I overthink every move, which makes me slow and weak. I get it in my head, and I want to overcome my weaknesses as soon as possible, so please?" She looked at me with pleading eyes. Heat rose to my cheeks, and I turned my head. 

"If I help you, you have to do something for me in return. I'm not doing it for free, dumbass!" I shouted

"Okay, what do you want?" 

"You have to tell me the truth." 

"I ca-"

"Then you don't need my help." 

"Alright, I'll tell you everything." 

"We'll finish talking about this later. We have an exercise to finish."

"Right"

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

We got the best score on the exercise. She did most of the heavy lifting since my quirk isn't built for rescue. 

We were sitting outside in a new training spot. She stood only a few feet from me. We were focusing on how to read our opponent's moves without overthinking them. She was also teaching me a technique to use my quirk more with fewer drawbacks. 

"Katsuki, can you really help me?" Her voice carried doubt, more than she's ever shown before. I'm not used to her fumbling with her clothes with a look of desperation. It was starting to irritate me.

"Tch," I scoffed, the sound sharp in the quiet space. "I said I'd help, didn't I? Stop wasting time with stupid questions." Her flinch was microscopic, barely a flicker in her eyes, but it pissed me off.

"I know that..." she murmured, fingers finally freeing the fabric. "It's just... what if I can't learn? What if I'm... slow?"

"Forget about the 'what ifs, '" I snapped, stepping closer. The late afternoon sun threw long shadows across the rubble-strewn ground. 

"You wanna stop freezing up? Then stop *thinking* about freezing up. Your problem isn't your reflexes, it's that giant fucking panic button you keep slamming inside your skull." I jabbed a finger towards her temple. "You see an opening? Take it. Don't debate it. Don't wonder if it's a trap. Just *move*."