Solstice and Eclipse: Part III

Chapter V: Warmth

The next morning (L/N) was set back to work in the mines. As much as he hated to admit it, he had to credit Aizawa for coming up with such a unique training regiment for him. The work demanded a delicacy (L/N) was unfamiliar with coaxing out of his quirk, which required his full focus, and the nature of the task helped build these skills through hours of repetition. What was more, the limited exposure he had to sunlight over the past two days meant there was little chance for him to lose control and end up hurting someone. Alas, the sheer scale on which his quirk operated meant disaster was never more than one stone's toss away. The rock dust in the cave had been irritating his nose all morning, and a single sneeze was all it took to shake his hand enough to cause a small cave it. He emerged coughing from the tunnel entrance, a small cloud of dust trailing after him.

"It's just as well." Aizawa said when (L/N) told him what had happened. "I was just about to come get you. Lunch is in five minutes. After we eat, you'll be moving onto a different exercise. One that factors in the power up you get from the sun's energy."

"I'll clear out the rocks now, then."

"Leave them." Aizawa said. "I'll have Uraraka clear them out as part of her endurance training."

After lunch, Eraser Head led (L/N) to a small field of solar panels that provided the camp with most of its power.

"Before now you've been working with high power, low precision, but that was just to help the school set a baseline for your abilities. Low power, high precision is going to be the key towards helping you control your quirk." Aizawa said. "As you get better, we'll slowly start adding the power back in until you have full mastery over your abilities."

He was given a portable electric meter which measured the campsite's production and consumption levels and was instructed to provide a continuous stream of power, so the two numbers matched. This meant he would have to continuously alter his power output as the energy levels were in constant flux. If there wasn't enough sunlight to meet energy needs, he'd add his own power until there was. And if the panels outpaced usage, he would need to limit the amount of sunlight energizing them.

"All right, let's see how you've been doing." Mr. Aizawa said, coming to check up on him after six hours. "Hmm, not bad." He said, checking the data recorded by the meter. "But there's still room for improvement. You'll keep at this until your margin of error is less than two percent."

After dinner they had even more training scheduled. They'd all gathered in a small clearing about half a mile/0.8 kilometers away from the main camp to listen to Pixie Bob explain the rules. Partner work, because of course it was, and it involved people jumping out of bushes trying to scare him. Perfect. The only way this could be any worse would be... yeah, he should have seen that coming. The universe really liked kicking him in the balls. Maybe someone would be willing to trade partners.

"(L/N)." Mineta came shuffling over to him. "Please switch me partners, I should be with her!"

(L/N) slowly backed away from his drooling classmate, wrinkling his nose in disgust. A few paces away Yaoyorozu mimicked his actions, eyeing him nervously. As much as he didn't want to be partnered with her, he couldn't in good conscious allow the alternative.

"It's no fair!" Mineta cried, flailing in the air as a sphere of hard light carried him far away from the pair. "Why do you get Yaoyorozu all to yourself?"

[My Hero Academia]

Needless to say, Yaoyorozu was relieved to find (L/N) willing to partner with her for the test of courage. Or at least, willing enough to spare her from Minoru Mineta's perversions. But as they walked down the dark forest path in tense silence, she almost found herself thinking she would have preferred the dwarf's not so subtle attempts to feel her up. Almost.