Chapter 9: their starting line final part
She winced as she picked herself up onto her knees. The teeth slid out of the bandage before she started spinning it off. There wasn't any pain on the outer layers, but as they unraveled, it began to get hotter and more painful. Her hands never wavered as she was fully in control.
'It's hard to think how much I relied on magic to dull pain. Going from high on morphine at command to at the mercy of your senses is quite the change.' Her hands began to shake ever so slightly as the layers reached a depth that loosened the wrapping against her skin.
As it peeled from her skin, the cooler air ran along the reddened burn. She bit back any visible reactions while she kept her hands moving.
"It looks like it's healing nicely. One more round should do it." Recovery Girl stated before puckering up. "Smoooch."
Tanya flopped back onto the bed as she felt her soul practically leave her body. At least her back stopped hurting.
"I'm sorry sweetie, it's just how it works. On the bright side, you're healing up wonderfully." The nurse said as she fixed her glasses. She was straining her eyes to watch the red recede beneath the skin.
"Than you doror." Tanya muttered from the pillow. Her wings flopped over the edges of the bed.
"Get some rest, please. You did well today, it was a stroke of bad luck." Recovery Girl left again, she had a certain giant blonde to yell at.
All Might dashed across the school in search of his students. 'Find 'em, find 'em, find 'em.' He chanted to himself as he sped around corners and dodged students and faculty alike.
"Young Ashido! I found you!" He declared as he manifested behind her in his proud pose.
"Might Sensei!" Mina cheered as she spun around.
'A nickname! So cute!' He cleared his voice, he had a job to do. "Young Ashido, I'm sure you're aware of why you failed today, yes?"
The smile dropped off her face instantly. Underneath was a face of guilt and sadness. "I nearly melted Tanya with my Quirk today. That's why I failed…"
All Might waved a finger. "You're only half right. You failed today, not because of your Quirk, but because of your application. Any Quirk can be dangerous. Tell me Mina, who do you think is the least threatening in our class?"
"They're all so amazing though!" Mina replied. "But, if I had to pick, probably Koda?"
"All Koda would have to do is give one misspoken order and a flock of birds will give their lives to take your eyes." All Might stood up to full height. "Any Quirk can be dangerous, we are here to train our techniques and application!"
He gazed into her pitch black eyes. "Mina Ashido, I'm sure you experienced a taste of what threat your Quirk poses. It may not be as flashy as Bakugo or Todoroki's, but it's dangerous all the same."
Mina gave a weak nod.
"Take Young Tenikari's wound to heart, as evidence of your power. Power can be used to hurt and to help, we'll learn how to do both." He leaned back to give a full hearted laugh. "So pick that chin up! There's more to learn!"
The smile snapped back up as Mina fist pumped the air. "Yeah! Let's give it our all!"
"Now, where are they?" All Might asked as he sped away, his massive cape flooded the air behind him.
He dashed towards where 1-A would be getting out of homeroom.
Uraraka stood at the window. She winced as she lifted her ice pack from her head.
"Young Uraraka!" All Might cheered as he flipped over her to stick a perfect Y-shaped landing. "I've come to talk about today's exercise!"
"We failed. What more is there to talk about?" Uraraka gently asked. There was defeat and determination in her voice, the desire to overcome. She just didn't know what though.
"It is because you all failed that we must talk. Do you know why you failed?" All Might asked as he didn't indulge in the window view, but maintained eye contact with her.
"It was my stunt, wasn't it?"
"It was your recklessness. Your Quirk is incredibly versatile and defies concepts of power." All Might began. "You failed, not necessarily because of the stunt you performed, but because there was no control over it."
"Hmmm?" She hummed as she adjusted her ice pack.
"Sure, leveling the building may not have been the optimal option, but you showed eagerness, competitiveness, and quick thinking. Those all are great traits I want to encourage. However, your attack was indiscriminate and potentially lethal. It wasn't the stunt, it was the performance of said stunt that failed you today."
"Young Uraraka," All Might spoke with clarity and strength, "You are an amazing student. You have everything you need, except for experience. That's why you're here after all! Ha!" He threw back his head with a sharp laugh. "So look forward! Improve! You showed a bit of it today, but using your Quirk as a scalpel or a hammer, that's the best strength your Quirk offers. Apply that and there's no limit to what you're capable of!"
Uraraka beamed at him, her full smile could match the brightness of his own. "I will All Might Sensei! Go Beyond!"
"PLUS ULTRAAAA" He replied with a yell as he backflipped away before running off to the nurses office.
Rikido was walking from the medical ward, head held high with a natural expression. It only brightened into a small smile on the arrival of the number one hero.
"Yooooouung Sato!" All Might yelled as he sped down the hall towards his student. Without even a grunt of excursion, he stopped all his speed the moment he was next to Sato.
"Good evening sir!" Rikido said as he gave another tiny nod.
"I'm sure the news got to you that you failed today's exercise?" All Might cut to the chase. "Do you have any idea why?" He kept his tone calm and comfortable.
Sato rubbed his arm as he avoided the piercing gaze of the number one hero. "I… I wasn't strong enough? Compared to Midoriya's Quirk, mine doesn't really do anything powerful."
"Tell me Sato; do you have pride in your Quirk?" All Might asked straightforwardly.
The orange light of the afternoon sky filled the hall. The two giants stood and waited. The larger than life one stayed quiet as he waited for the answer from the smaller one. They scrunched up their face as they tried to choke back the truth… and failed.
"No." He said without emotion despite the sadness in his eyes.
"Why." All Might didn't ask, he prodded.
Sato snapped, tears rolled down his face. "IT'S WEAK! Only strong enough to bully others! Only good enough to push people around till they fight back! I have no control over it! Five times multiplier, brain limiter, and I'm supposed to fight people like Mido -" He was stopped.
All Might gently clutched Sato's shoulder, his smile never wavered. "Five times strength sounds like a perfect starting point."
"But -"
"Do you think my Quirk was always this strong?" All Might stopped him with a question. "There was a time when I wasn't much different from you. I dove headfirst into my training, only strong enough to get by but not to go big, not at the time."
Sato sniffled.
"If you don't believe me, you can look up the old spots festivals and compare them to where they are today. I wasn't much older than you now, and man was I weak compared to today. Reckless mistakes, nearly lost to a trickier opponent." All Might chuckled at the memory.
"My brain limiter though?" Rikido asked. He hoped for something to help him, to tell him there was a way to continue without that horrendous drawback.
"I didn't think it limited your heart." All Might stated. "Every Quirk has its drawbacks, even mine. But we train our Quirks till our weaknesses disappear. I don't think your opponents will be thinking about your mental limits while they're worrying about your strength."
"So remember Young Sato," He patted the young man's shoulder, "Listen to that heart of yours. It'll guide your strength. UA will sharpen your instincts, strengthen your already strong Quirk. Stick to your training."
All Might poked Sato's chest. "As long as you listen to your heroic heart, your strength will never be misplaced."
Rikido rolled back his feelings. He looked his hero in the eyes and proudly declared, "Yes Sir!"
"That's the spirit I want to see!" All Might responded with an infectious pride as he walked into the medical ward.
'You have no idea how much that means to me.' Rikido thought to himself as he watched All Might nervously approach Recovery Girls office.
The door creaked open as he poked his big head in.
"Do you have anything to say for yourself?" Recovery Girl questioned sharply. Even in her old age, she scared him a bit. "Three students were sent to my ward in their first class."
"They were all so strong though." All Might wearily defended as he stepped in. "I didn't know just how strong."
"Oh, so you plan on letting the injuries stack up then. Test their limits by breaking them?" She stalked up till she was under him. Her big, gray glasses peered into his soul to find the part of him that was still scared of the dark.
"O-of course not!" He nervously waved in defense. "Now I know everything I need, I promise the next exercise won't be so dangerous!"
She slapped his knee with her syringe staff. "You just confirmed my fears!"
"I'm here to see Young Tenikari." All Might tried to change the topic. "I wanted to talk to all my students who struggled today."
Recovery Girl sighed. She lifted her glasses and pinched the ridge of her nose. "She's in the rest ward."
All Might squeezed past her towards the foggy glass door that separated the rest ward from Recovery Girl's office.
"And All Might." She said softly. The tone caused him to stop and listen to her. "Please, be gentle with them. I know what you've been through, but not everyone is built like you."
"Of course," All Might replied. "Everyone is different, their Quirks are evidence enough of that."
"I'm not talking about their Quirks… I'm talking about their hearts. Not everyone is unbreakable like you." Recovery Girl's soft tone reached into All Might's heart and dragged out the memories of his grandma.
He thought back to Sato, who despite his great physical performance, had his spirits crushed. There's more to a person's strength than their body and mind.
"I know." All Might smiled. "Don't worry, everything will be fine. I'm here after all."
Tanya finished buttoning up her coat. 'If I waste time going to the locker room, I won't be able to make it to my train on time. I also gotta ask Aizawa if I can have a copy of the footage of the fight, gotta figure out why we lost.'
She was already planning her next route to victory. Wasting time and energy moping was inefficient and counter productive. Something for the sappier hearts.
Her heart nearly froze as All Might's massive frame squeezed into her ward.
"Young Tenikari," He stood up to full height. "I've come to talk."
Outside, under the golden light of the afternoon, two young men were spilling their hearts to each other for the first time since they were children.
Bakugo threw back his head and laughed in an attempt to hold his heart at bay, his spiky, hay colored hair shone like gold in the light. Unlike Midoriya, puberty hadn't granted him much he didn't already have. He stood at 5'11, always irked that he wasn't 6 foot. His musculature was top heavy with well defined shoulders. Even beneath his saggy coat, they still were broad and strong.
"Man, I messed up today!" There was something falling apart behind his eyes. "Beaten by you! Of all people, you! Even that extra, Sato, was doing better than me! Bhaaahaaaha!"
"I was so close to passing too! All I had to do was talk to either of them, but I was so caught up that I couldn't even do that!" Bakugo glared at Midoriya, his scarlet eyes bored into the emerald eyes. "You were too powerful! What happened!?"
Midoriya glanced at Bakugo's shivering hand. He knew what each twitch meant. "I'm sorry. It wasn't a fair fight."
"DON'T GIVE ME THAT CANNED SHIT!" Bakugo spat. He swung his bag off his shoulder and began gesturing wildly. "You blew us away, end of story! So how! All these years, you were 'Quirkless, Defenseless, Pitiful, Deku', now you show up and blast apart buildings! What were those years! Were you just building up pity! EXPLAIN YOURSELF!" He ended with a shout.
"This power isn't mine!" Midoriya cried out. "It's just a gift, nothing more."
Bakugo huffed as he looked away. "So you think I'm an idiot."
"I'm telling you the truth!" Midoriya tried to put his heart out. "Last month, I couldn't do any of this! This power, it's not mine!"
He turned away from Deku, whatever that meant now. "Mark my words Deku; this will be the last time you pull a win over me."
With his line drawn, Bakugo threw his bag up over his shoulder again and strode off. He had to rest up before he went back to winning. Midoriya could only stare as his childhood friend walked away.
"Do you know why you failed today?" All Might asked Tanya.
Tanya stood at attention in his presence. Inside, her mind was racing to come up with a plan. 'Shit, shit, shit! I need him to like me! He's a teacher, so I have to give him the reins of this conversation. However, I can't come across as dull.'
"We lost today." Tanya began her explanation. "I underestimated Midoriya's strength and led the team to defeat."
"Winning and losing were not the metric for passing and failing." All Might responded. He noticed her wings droop a little. 'She's like Young Bakugo, perceiving victory as the end goal, and not the path to it as any more important.'
'W-what?' Tanya could feel the rug pulled out from under her. 'If losing wasn't why I failed, then why?!'
"You failed as a leader." All Might answered the invisible question. "Your strategy was sound, and your fighting exemplary. However, I saw how you took control of the group. A good leader does more than come up with plans and give orders, and a good hero does more than beat up bad guys."
Tanya gulped as she felt her goal shatter around her. 'He… he doesn't like me… my route to retirement. No! It's not over yet!'
"Sir, I had failed to readjust my strategy on the fly!" She interjected. "They were operating under flawed orders! After Midoriya's first attack, I should have rotated to a full 3v1."
All Might put up his hand and waited for her to stop. "You're missing the point. You failed to read their hearts. Again, you succeeded as a fighter, as a strategist, and your desire to improve is proof of your success as a student. However, a leader, like a good hero, must take heart into account."
'Who?! Where did I mess up!' Tanya racked her brain as she hunted for memories of their expressions. 'They pushed forward, their morale was fine!'
"Both Sato and Bakugo were going off the deep end and pushing themselves too far." All Might began to scare Tanya as he seemed to pluck her thoughts out of the air.
"I won't go into the realm of 'had you's as that is a realm of too many possibilities. I'll tell you this though, had you taken the hearts of both your team, and your enemy, into account, you could have won." All Might placed his hand on her, comparatively, tiny shoulder.
'It's worse than I thought.' Tanya admitted defeat. 'I failed to achieve expectations I hadn't even known were there. I had to find a way to defeat Midoriya.'
All Might watched her wings sag further. "Don't worry though! I'm sure you'll do better next time! We're a school, failure is part of the learning process!"
He removed his hand and turned for the door. "All Might, AWAAY!" He cheered before awkwardly ducking out the door.
'I… failed, and I didn't even know why.' Tanya felt frustrated. Frustrated, small, and alone.
She could practically feel Being X's influence looming over the school. She felt it every day. Even though they hadn't spoken in years, a creature like him could wait as long as he wanted. His influence even wormed its way into her name. Tenikari; borrowed. Or, and what scared her more, Ten Ikari; heavenly anger.
As she left the ward, she thought to herself. 'I see that fighting him is going to be harder than just winning over the favor of the number one hero. Of course that would have been too easy.'
On the other end of the nurses office, a creature of soot, ash, and bright pink dreads was forcibly walked in.
"Hey Doc." Power loader greeted the nurse as he refused to let go of the creature's shoulder. "Could you look after her, I don't think she's doing so hot."
"It was one miswire!" Mei tried to justify. "I'm fine!"
"She's been grumbling something about a Customer X , ruining her '6 to 72 sleep/awake ratio'. She almost got herself electrocuted, she needs rest." The tiredness was more prevalent in Power Loader's voice than in any of Mei's actions.
"X?!" Tanya muttered to herself in shock. She immediately regretted her slip up as the girl's bright yellow eyes seemed to light up.
She ducked and slipped out of Power Loader's grip, his fingers left a trail of not soot marks on her shoulder. Like a blur that rivaled Tanya's speed, she dashed up to her. "I knew I wasn't crazy, you know him too!"
Tanya felt confused once more as Mei started rambling about 'free work, invasive tactics, and failed business model'.
'She knows him!' They both thought.
Author's note; Tanya takes her first L to plot-doriya. She'll get stronger, everyone does, it's shonen. How different are Mei and Tanya, really speaking?
I realized that, because they're in college now, some of the students are going to look a lot different. They're 18 now, not 14. Some of them aren't going to change much, others will change a lot. I'll save some descriptions for when the 'camera' is more focused on them while also not damaging the pacing.
Weekly Power Status
-- Power
Ranking 
-- Power
stone