The third day at U.A. started without the usual pressure of an imminent challenge. For once, Class 1-A walked into the classroom not expecting to be crushed under a trial. The atmosphere was lighter, charged with something bordering on curiosity and camaraderie.
Conversations sparked across the room. Kaminari and Sero were laughing about something Mineta had said. Yaoyorozu and Iida stood near the front, discussing yesterday's quirk exercises in formal tones, while Ashido tried to braid Uraraka's hair and made a mess of it.
Takuma sat near the back, a pencil tapping idly against his notebook. He was mostly tuned out until Kirishima flopped into the desk beside him, grinning.
"You totally shredded yesterday," he said. "You and Shoji had some crazy coordination!"
Takuma glanced at him, blinked, and gave a small nod. "We made a decent team."
Kirishima laughed, unbothered. "C'mon, you can let loose a little. It's not always a test."
Across the room, Jirou slid into her seat and caught the tail end of the conversation. Her lips curled faintly. "That's just how he talks, I think."
"Yeah," Kaminari chimed in from his seat. "Stoic and mysterious—what a heartthrob."
"That's enough out of you," Jirou muttered, hiding her flushed cheeks behind her collar.
Ashido suddenly perked up, eyes gleaming. "Wait—wait a second. Jirou… did you just defend him?"
Jirou froze. "No? How is that me defending Takuma?"
"Liar!" Ashido sang, leaning forward dramatically. "You two are on a first-name basis already!"
The room buzzed with interest. Takuma's brow arched, but he didn't say anything.
Jirou groaned and turned to face the window. "You guys are worse than middle schoolers."
But despite herself, her gaze flicked toward Takuma — and for just a second, he met her eyes and offered a faint smirk.
It was enough to make her ears go red.
Takuma didn't escape the teasing, either. Kirishima leaned over, elbow on the desk. "So? Jirou, huh? You two been vibing or what?"
"She's tolerable," Takuma said plainly.
Shoji turned his head slightly. "That's his way of saying he likes her."
"Damn," Kaminari snorted. "Cold delivery, warm heart."
Chrrrrk
The door slid open, causing everyone to scramble to their seats. Lethargically walking through the door, Aizawa cracked the faintest of smirks. "Three seconds, you're improving."
The smile faded. "Today, we are doing a simple ruitine of quirk training with Cementoss. I've arranged for each of you to have a little time to speak with him regarding your quirks."
That got some surprised murmurs from the class. "He may not be able to fully help you all, but nevertheless he will at the very least provide sound reason as far as defense and proper safety. Change into your exercise uniforms and report to site Beta."
---
The training was calmer that Takuma thought it would have been. Most of the time he wasn't even using his quirk.
Of course, he spent plenty of time speaking with Cementoss about proper safety and defensive measures, but the man's manipulation of concrete was far to different compared to him to be able to gleam anything from it.
So, most of his time actually ended up being used practicing a practical martial arts with Aizawa. The man was brutal.
He held nothing back, and he still managed to throw Takuma around like a ragdoll- and leave no bruises whatsoever.
Takedowns, defensive maneuvers, tactics, high speed combos, even a simulation on taking on multiple foes, which the man seemed to have plenty of experience doing.
All in all, he was preparing Takuma for the moment when his quirks fails him, or the moment when he wouldn't be able to use it, even if he wanted to.