𝓼𝓮𝓷𝓼𝓲𝓽𝓲𝓿𝓮 ~ 𝓲𝔃𝓾𝓶𝓲𝓷𝓪

kyoto

"Your acid samples have been thick lately," Ms. Awata said from her desk. Her large desktop computer hid the woman's frame. You could still hear her clack away on her keyboard as she typed a report for her intern. "High viscosity isn't suitable for quirks that function based on secretion."

"Viscosity?" Mina said from the corner of her office. She made herself comfortable on one of Ms. Awata's ottomans. Mina was on the edge of her seat, constantly refreshing her main group chat to see if Jirou and her band got the gig they applied for. Mina knew how much music mattered to Jirou, and she wanted to be there when she got it and comfort her when she didn't.

"Viscosity, the measure of how thick a liquid is." Ms. Awata said matter of factly. " We covered it in your last visit here." She cleared her throat, finally darting her eyes towards her busy pupil.

"Right, sorry," Mina said softly.

"Do you know how to control your viscosity?" Ms. Awata grabbed the papers resting on her printer and flipped through them. "We can work on that today if you'd like."

"Really?"

"I don't see why not," Ms. Awata shrugged. She gathered the papers and gently tapped the ends on her desk before sealing them in a folder. "I had no solid plans today for me and you."

"If you're up to it, meet me outside behind the building; we'll need some space, yeah?" With that, her mentor disappeared behind the door, leaving Mina alone in the office. She stared down at her palm, focused her thoughts, and tried to allow more acid to flow through her. The feeling of her acid coursing through her wasn't a comforting wave like it always had been, but more of sticky goo crawling through her body.

"Come on, Mina, pull yourself together!" She slapped her hands lightly on both sides of her face. "All this bullshit is getting to you too easily; it's affecting your acid!"

After pushing through the door, she ran over to the bathroom. She splashed some cold water on her face to wake herself up. She took a paper towel from under the sink and began to pat her face with it lightly. She examined herself closely in the mirror. Her horns had slowed down on its growth for now, and that annoying pimple from last week was gone.

She smiled. She was going to give it everything she had during training today.

---

"Faster." Ms. Awata commanded.

Mina stifled and groaned but continued flinging the substance from her skin at the dummy. Half the yellow training dummy's face had dissolved, but she was still going. Her skin prickled with that familiar stinging feeling; despite this, she held her head up high and continued to draw acid from her body.

"You have to exercise your quirk regularly," she paused. Otherwise, your substance can clog up in your body. Take a break, and come over here," she ordered. She sat on a bench near the agency's exit door and motioned for her mentee to come over.

Following her mentor's orders, she flung one last glob at the disheveled training dummy before grabbing her water bottle and walking to where she was. Her mentor frowned when she came near.

"If I'm pushing you too hard, Ashido, I want you to tell me." The older woman shook her head. Overexertion leads to severe injuries; you should know that."

Mina cringed at the reprimand but shook it off. "I'm not... tired," she heaved. I haven't used my quirk in a bit, that's all." She shrugged it off and avoided her instructor's gaze. To tell the truth, she was grateful that Ms. Awata gave her a break. Her skin stung violently, and it was causing a searing headache.