Fighting Fears

Chapter 19

All Might's POV

"On your left!" I called as a distraction. Winter's ear flicked to the left, but she looked right, ducking to avoid a blow from Bakugo. "DAMMIT!" He growled. Winter froze her tail, slamming it into his side like a club, knocking the boy to the ground. His costume's gauntlets had thrown him off balance. "End the match! Bakugo, you've got to learn how to balance your weight while being thrown about and wearing those gauntlets at the same time." I said, walking up to the two. "And how do you suggest I do that while I'm being attacked too?" He snorted. "Swing your arms with the movement. If you're hit on the right, swing your left arm forwards to balance you out." I said. "Like this. Winter, gimme a dumbbell of ice." I said. She shrugged, doing so. I took it and held the object improperly. "Now attack." Winter did so, hitting my right knee. I felt myself falling, so I swung my right arm forwards, the left back to yank myself upright, in the process hitting Winter, who rolled to avoid hitting the ground too heavily, jumping back up to her feet. "Excellent!" I praised her. "You think you can handle that?" I looked at my other student. "Sure." He grunted, repeating the same process. This time, he tried swinging his arm, and kept himself upright, shooting a blast at Winter's back. She hit the ground. "Nice one." She coughed, taking Bakugo's hand as he helped her up. "Kaminari you're not going to be able to fight if you can't control your electricity!" Aizawa whacked the short-circuited boy on the head. "Ow!" He came to. "Try focusing on a single point." He said. "Winter, Bakugo, switch up."

Bakugo's POV

"Hey Kirishima!" I called. He turned to me. "Fight me?" I asked. "Sure. You wanna be defense or offense?" He questioned, getting into position. "I'll try defensive." I decided.

The whole class had been working non-stop on improving not just our quirks, but our reaction time and such too. Winter and I had suggested doing short swims in the ocean to sharpen our minds before we paired up to mock battle. It seemed to be doing it's job, oddly enough. I was able to think more clearly than usual. I actually thought before throwing random blows. "You have to get in close if you want to hit me, you stupid hedgehog!" I yelled at my opponent. "I know that! But you're doing too good a job defending yourself, I can't get in!" Kirishima yelled back. "Then try harder! Outsmart me!" I snapped. We had also been offering battle strategies to each other since our teachers had their hands full and couldn't instruct all of us at once. I was proud of myself for actually developing a plan if I were cornered. That was one of the purposes of our training. We had to be prepared for every situation to quickly outsmart a villain. "AGH!" I whipped around, trying to hit Kirishima, who had snuck in behind me. "Speed it up, Bakugo!" He said. I stopped for a moment, listening to his movement.

Left!

I turned left, hitting him in the chest with an explosion, causing him to fall. "Dangit! How'd you know where I was gonna attack?" He gasped for air as we stopped our fight. "You're too noisy, moron. Anyone would've heard you coming." I snorted. "Good point. I focused more on being faster than you, and you figured out where I was going next since I wasn't being very stealthy." He nodded as I helped him up. "Congratulations, you're not dense." I said. "Hey! I- TODOROKI!" Kirishima ran off.

Todoroki's POV

Kirishima you didn't have to announce my presence that loudly.

I thought as I quietly walked over to my classmates. "You're okay!" "How do you feel?" "Are you gonna train with us?" "What took you so long?!" "GET OUT OF THE WAY MORONS!" "ALL OF YOU BACK THE FRICK UP! Give him air!" Winter shoved everyone out of the way. "Hi." I said plainly. "Hey! You look well." She dipped her head in acknowledgement. "Thanks. So... what's going on?" I asked. "ALL OF YOU GET BACK TO YOUR TRAINING!" Mr. Aizawa yelled at the group. "We're duo training. One of us works on offense while the other practices defense. Both you and your partner yell at each other tips and what they can improve on. Our goal is to be able to outsmart and quickly capture a villain, so we're developing techniques, strategies and plans. Secret moves too, but those kinda show up on their own." Winter explained. "Mineta quit doubting yourself! Use your height to your advantage here!" All Might shouted. The small student did as told, quickly darting in and out of Sato's reach, slowly trapping him in those weird sticky balls. "Ashido, can you come melt these?" The retired pro asked. "Where should I start?" I asked. "You can start with either your ice quirk or fire. I'd say work on your fire. You're welcome to pair up with me." She offered. "Won't I burn you?" I frowned. "You might've been able to before. But I've been building up my heat tolerance and can now deal with up to 600 degrees Fahrenheit." Winter grinned. "Oh. Okay." I prepped myself. "Alright, try and attack me so I can't fight back." Winter said. I nodded, immediately shooting a burst of flames at her in attempt to obscure her vision. Taking the opportunity, I ran in to her side. "Gotta be quicker if you're gonna do that!" Winter dropped to the ground, kicking my feet out from under me. I fell to the ground, snow flying up around me. I felt a sudden weight pin me down. "Rookie mistake. You expected the fire to mess up my line of sight, but I could feel the vibrations of the heat shift as you came in to attack my side." Winter smirked, in the form of a cougar. She stepped off of me, changing to her human form. "Try again. Maybe distract me." Winter offered. I nodded, trying again. This time, while her vision was definitely blocked from the fire, I shot another burst of flames towards her right side, quickly diving in towards her left before she could react. I kicked her leg out from under her, knocking her over. "Good job. You tried to make me focus on my right side, didn't you?" Winter chuckled, getting up. I nodded, panting. "Excellent. Now, do it a few more times!"