Stronger Together

Forty-One : Training Our Quirks

 The bath was...interesting. I tried to stay on the edge in my towel, but Mina wanted me to come toward the middle with her...which resulted in my towel falling off. Let's just say I left early and went to bed. 

The next morning, we were woken early by the Pussycats. Once all together, we were all told that today we were going to better our quirks. Aizawa mentioned how strong physically we've grown, but our quirks have stayed the same since school started. He said we needed to push past our limits in order to better them. I groaned at that, knowing someone would make me run until I fainted. 

Class B showed up this morning, but we had no time to converse (thank god). We were all separated into groups or pairs in order to better our quirks. I went with Mandalay up to a fairly secluded area a bit away from camp. With a grin, Mandalay handed me a piece of cloth. In confusion, I asked, "What is this?" She laughed at me.

"It's a blindfold. Today you're going to work on dodging and attacking without sight. Your quirk makes you part snake, correct?" She asked, earning a nod from me.  "Then use your snake senses to avoid getting hit." She uncovered something that looked like a tennis ball shooter. "We'll start slow and work our way up. Put the blindfold on and we'll get started." I did as told and covered my eyes. Immediately, I felt my tongue trying to pick up smells since I couldn't see. All my senses became more sensitive when my eyes were covered. I could hear each of Mandalay's footsteps as she went to turn the machine on. "Ready?"

"Yes," I nodded and got into a prepared stance. The machine whirred to life and shot the first ball. Using my senses, I dodged it at the last second. This went on for a little bit and I only got hit once or twice. I heard Mandalay shut off the machine so I lifted the blindfold. The sudden light was bright, causing me to have to squint. "Is that it?" I ask.

"Oh, no," she said with a smirk. "You're just getting started." I watched her uncover two more shooters. "Right now, you're just dodging from one direction. Now you need to avoid them from three directions." I pulled the blindfold back down and took a deep breath. Three times I heard her flip on a switch. Based on the sound, she turned their speeds up as well. This time, I was constantly moving. I either was dodging or blocking them from hitting me. If I stopped for even a second, I was hit with a ball. Each time I was hit, I'd get angry and start lashing out at the balls. The more I dodged, the more tired I got and the more I got hit. 

"Mandalay!" I called out, feeling a ball graze my cheek. "I can't take much more of this!"

"Good!" she replied. I could hear the smirk in her voice. "That means you're getting to your limit. Now you really need to push yourself." I nodded and started focusing more on the balls flying at me. My chest was burning, but I pushed it aside so I didn't get hit. "Good!" I hear Mandalay say. Her words distracted me and three balls hit me in the back. I hissed and started hitting the balls faster. "Don't get distracted! Work on blocking me out and hearing both me and the machines!" I took her advice and listened for her footsteps as I dodged the balls. Once I heard her stop moving, I caught a ball and chucked it in her direction. "Try again."

This went on for a while. I was surprised the machines didn't run out of balls earlier, but when I took my blindfold off, the sky was already getting dark. "You did quite well, Taya."

"Thank you," I panted, resting my weight on my knees. 

"You surprised me when you started throwing the balls at me," Mandalay said as we walked back to camp.

"How many times did I hit you?" I asked following after her. She smirked and rested her hand on my shoulder.

"A good amount, but I hope you can get more tomorrow." I nodded, feeling determined even though I was exhausted. Once back at the camp, I excused myself from the pro-hero and walked up to Eijirou, collapsing against his back.

"Taya? What happened to you?" He asked turning around and catching me in his arms. "Your arms are covered in bruises." I groaned and cuddled into his chest.

"Mandalay blindfolded me and put me in front of some tennis ball shooters and told me to dodge. I did alright," I explained with a loud sigh. "But now I'm hungry." I closed my eyes and listened to the sounds around me, Eijirou's heartbeat being the loudest. I heard someone walk up slowly. They seemed in pain. Based on the footsteps and the smell, it was Hakai. I opened my eyes to confirm my guess and smiled. "Hey, Hakai. How was your training?"

Hakai sighed loudly before responding. "Everything hurts!" I nodded in agreement and lifted myself from Eijirou's arms. 

"I'm starving!" Eiji said with a frown. I bump him with my elbow with a small smile.

"You're always hungry," I joke a bit. 

"It's time for you kittens to be self-sufficient! From now on, we won't be serving your food anymore!" Pixie-Bob shouts over us all. I turn to Eijirou and see tears running down his face. 

"If you guys want to eat, you'll have to make it yourselves! Starting with...curry!" Ragdoll announces before leading us to where the food supplies are stored. Before anyone can complain, Iida starts separating everyone into groups and assigns jobs to them so we can eat quickly. I turn to Hakai.

"Hey, Hakai! I'm gonna help with serving food later. Wanna help?" I ask. Hakai smiles and nods. 

"Sure!" At her response, we both walk over to where the plates are and start getting the dishes ready. Once everyone had finished eating, the students who failed the exam had to go to their remedial lessons. This made me a bit sad since Eijirou and I were going to hang out after dinner, but I told him I'd wait until he was done anyway. I made my way up to the top of the hill by the girls' bedroom and laid down. The stars were out and they were beautiful. Hopefully, Eijirou would finish soon and come out here, but until then, I guess I could close my eyes for a bit.