Controlee

47. Erasure

Rule 73: Just like in poker, a straight face can take you far, a careful misdirection will take you farther.

"Shouta," Midnight interrupted, the hand she rested on his shoulder finally enough to stop him from asking the same question for the fourth time, "the only person in this school who would teach any of those kids a kidney punch, is you. None of the rest of us can get away with it, so we never learned or we've forgotten. It's seen as a dirty move, you know that."

Every teacher. He'd gone around and asked every teacher, even the ones he wouldn't suspect of being capable of teaching a move like that. Nobody taught Otsuka a kidney shot, and he knew for a fact Edgeshot would never encourage a tactic like that. No, the only person who taught future heroes 'dirty' tricks like that was Aizawa, because being an underground hero meant he could get away with it in a way heroes in the limelight couldn't.

If All Might tried a kidney punch, there would be massive uproar. People would call him dishonourable, like there was any such thing in a real fight, his position as Symbol Of Peace would be torn down or destabilised at least. It was entirely illogical, but the world saw doing whatever it took to make it out alive as a bad thing.

And that was the trouble, the conundrum spinning around and around in Aizawa's head. Otsuka— mind a muddle of fun card games and heavy grief, half-blind with tears, and spooked by him coming up behind her— had moved so smoothly, shifting around behind him to jab right where it would hurt. Every motion looked practiced, easy, fast. It was a reflex, one that she must've drilled into her body.

Except Aizawa, All Might, and Vlad King, they were in charge of her practical training. They knew there were no hours spent going over that singular move until it came naturally.

And nobody else at UA had taught her either. So there inlay the question: if nobody at UA had taught Otsuka a kidney punch, then who did?

***

The day of the practical exams had finally arrived and Otsuka had been brimming with excitement all morning. Her quirk was fluttering near the surface, eager to be let loose on some robots she could tear holes through without so much as a thought.

Yamada had spent the morning quietly chuckling at her as she sprinted around the apartment, making her way to the door four times before she actually had everything she needed for the day. She'd even brought a few snacks she could eat in the mid-morning when she wasn't still full from breakfast.

With the doctor who'd prescribed the sleeping tablets saying she should only use them after a nightmare to ensure she slept well the rest of the night, she'd been reluctant to take one as soon as she'd finished training with TT last night, but she'd wanted to be sure she slept soundly. The exams were important, she wanted to be well-rested for them and— considering the nightmares had become an every night thing— making the assumption she wouldn't sleep well without a pill wasn't going to do any massive damage. Plus she made sure to follow the advice on how often to take them. Not only had she not used any the previous night, she'd also avoided using them the two nights before that, just to be absolutely sure she wouldn't unintentionally hurt herself by taking it. 

She'd woken up this morning feeling better than she had in far too long. She was ready to beat this practical to a pulp. Whatever robots they put her up against would have nothing on the Indestructibles, and even those things fell to her mist if worst came to worst. She was going to ace this test.

And then Aizawa, with his signature grin, just had to ruin it all. She felt like driving her head into a wall. The class had been so sure it would be robots she hadn't even considered the rumours might be wrong, and this was the punishment she got for putting faith into words without evidence.