It was almost sundown when the students finally reached the camp, trudging and dragging their feet as they came upon the clearing. That test was no joke.

It seemed that right when they entered the forest, hundreds of tree monsters blocked their path, forcing them to fight their way out quickly. They just kept coming, with no sign of stopping. It was honestly a miracle everyone made it out so quickly.

Amari clutched her chest, feeling the effects of her pills wear off ever so slightly and caught a glance at Todoroki who was also struggling for breath. They shared a look between each other and nodded their heads, as if saying they were both alright.

Reaching the clearing finally, Ragdoll, perked up. "Congratulations everyone. Although it would've taken us only three hours to complete the course."

The class around them groaned, obviously not pleased that they weren't getting any recognition for what they just faced. "Were you just trying to boast about how much better you are?!"

Although the cat girl could only laugh, now pointing in the direction of Todoroki, Bakugo, Deki, Ida and Amari. "I will admit though, you all are impressive. Especially you five. You acted without any hesitation. Was it because of your experience?"

Then before the five could register anything, the woman started going around and kissing the top of their heads as some sort of award, a reward that no one really wanted.

Although luckily enough, Deku was able to stop her actions with a question, now pointing towards a stranger that was watching them. "Wait, I have a question. Who's kid is that?"

The red cat, Mandalay, answered him shortly afterwards. "Oh, he's not one of ours. He's my cousins kid. Kota, go ahead a greet everyone."

Deku smiled at the child he now knew as Kota before walking over to him extending a friendly hand. The boy looked annoyed but maybe he was just shy? "Hello, I'm Midoriya from U.A.'s hero course. It's nice to meet you."

But instead of the boy accepting his hand, Kota returned the gesture by kicking the poor green haired boy straight in the balls, causing him to crumble over in pain.

Then, the boy just turned around before muttering darkly. "I don't intend to be friends with guys who want to be heroes."

Everyone saw this and gasped, accept for Bakugo who smirked at the action, liking his fire. "That kid's got spunk."

Although Todoroki couldn't help but feel amused by his words. "Isn't he kind of like you?"

This caused Bakugo to tick his brow in annoyance, shouting back to him. "Shut up, you bastard!"

Even Amari couldn't help but crack a smile at Todoroki's joke, moving over to Deku and extending her hand. "Are you okay? Here, take my hand."

The boy accepted as Amari couldn't help but feel a frustrating ich in the back of her throat at Kota's words. That boy didn't know anything about heros.

After she lifted her friend back up, she turned to the small child before speaking. "Hey, you need to apologize to my friend. Also, what's your problem with heros anyways?"

Her words caused Kota to freeze in his spot, finding the idea funny to him. "I don't need to apologize to anyone. It's his fault for wanting to become a hero."

This got Amari even more irritated. Yes he was a child but he wasn't understanding why they were doing this. "What's so wrong with wanting to be a hero? All we want to do is help people"

Kota only narrowed his eyes though, recalling some rather unpleasant memories. "And who can you help? You don't look like much to me."

At his harsh words, Amari's stance grew more deflated, like the boys words really pierced her skin. Of course she didn't look like much to a child.

Although before she could speak, Bakugo moved in front of her, anger now etched in his eyes. "Hold on a second kid, you better watch your mouth. This brat doesn't look like much but that doesn't mean she can't kick your ass."

She looked at her brother, partly surprised he was defending her when another voice entered the space, touching her shoulder slightly. "Yes, I think you owe her an apology."

Amari looked to her right only to find Todoroki beside her, also defending her from that child's cruel words. Maybe they knew how much that kind of thing affected her.

Kota looked between the two scary boys before balling his hands in a fist, knowing he couldn't match up to them. He didn't even understand why they were so touchy about that girl. She didn't look all that impressive to him.

Then before they could speak anymore, Kota turned away from the group, running off into the house, causing Amari to call out. "Wait, Kota!"

Although it was too late, the boy was gone from their sight, just leaving behind an awkward air.

Amari couldn't help but stare in the direction he went, wondering if there was something else to that boy then just anger.

After a huge dinner and some much needed sleep, the next day of training came faster than expected as they all met Mr. Aziawa. The sun had just begun to rise so that meant that they certainly had a long day ahead of them.

Raising his head to the sky, the man spoke. "Aright it's time to start your trainings to build up and strengthen your quirk. There is only way that you can achieve that…"

The students all listened in carefully as Mr. Aziawa then darkened his expression, his voice full of malice. "And that is it break yourselves. You'll feel like you're dying but please refrain from actually dying."

Their eyes grew hollow as the teacher then began to explain just what they would have to do in this training camp, and it wasn't going to be pretty.

A couple hours had passed since they last started and everyone was giving everything into their training, now sweating and breathing heavily.

Bakugo was tasked with throwing his hands into boiling water to extend his sweat glands before letting off huge explosions into the sky. His screams of determination echoed further than any other student.

Todoroki was thrown into a tub of water in order to control the temperature of his quirk, rapidly throwing ice and fire in a repeated fashion.

Breathing heavily, he heard a loud scream which caused him to pause for a moment, knowing that voice anywhere and feeling his heart rate pick up.

Stealing a glance at Amari, Todoroki saw her struggling through her quirk, quickly covering herself with her gold matter before throwing explosions at the same time. The fact that she was even able to use two quirks together was impressive. He still couldn't do that.

She groaned in frustration as Mr. Aziawa walked over to her, leaning down. "Is that all you have? Don't tell me your giving up Bakugo?"

At his words, the girl felt a newfound determination inside her, screaming back as she threw another explosion with her protective shield, this time bigger than the last few. It looked like it physically hurt her to continue but she wasn't about to give up.

Her chest screamed in pain but the girl pushed through, knowing that her brother was watching everything. She couldn't let him down.

Another explosion later and the rest of the class couldn't help but stop and watch the girl who was giving it her absolutely everything as her veins popped from her skin. Bakugo Amari was really something else.

Feeling the heat overtake her body, she stopped when a cold hand rested on her shoulder, snapping her out of her own desire. "Amari.."

Blinking a few times , Amari forced her woozy eyes into the boy who called out to her, now letting her quirk diminish slowly. Her mind snapped back into reality as she silently understood what he was trying to say. You are pushing yourself again.

She took a shaky step forward before nodding her head back to him. "I know, I'll take a break."

Todoroki couldn't help but internally feel relieved for her compliance. A couple weeks back at his father's agency he practically had to drag her away from her desire. At least now, they had an understanding between them. She shouldn't use her power so rapidly, especially since her pills were rejecting her body.

Placing a hand to her chest, as if it was on fire, Todoroki grabbed a water bottle next to him before allowing her to take a really needed to take care of herself.

Suddenly a voice called behind them, making Amari's eyes widen all at once. She must of been hearing things, maybe her mind really was messed up. "Long time no see, short stuff."

She turned back towards the voice and couldn't help but gasped at the sight before her. "Shinso? What are you doing here?"

Shinso only smirked though, pointing back towards the other Class 1-B students that had just arrived. "Class 1-C had a little competition before final exams and the top ranking student in our class got to join Class 1-B for training over break."

Shaking her head in disbelief, Amari replied. "And you won?"

The boy crossed his arms across his chest proudly in response. "Of course I did. I already told you, I'm going to be in the hero course someday. This is just the first step."

Blinking a couple times, Amari couldn't help but admire his dedication, now slapping his across the shoulder playfully while whistling. "Wow, I gotta say Shinso, I'm kind of impressed. Look at you."

Nodding his head back, he couldn't help but look down at the girls state. She was sweating profusely from activating her sweat glands and looked incredibly pale. It kind of worried him, especially since he now knew about her condition. "What happened to you? You look like hell."

Sneering back, Amari scoffed. "Gee, thanks. You don't look that great either. Did walking all this way tire you out already?"

Shinso noticed the slight sweat on his brow before wiping it off. Physical exertion was not his strong suit. "Shut up."

Amari couldn't help but crack a smile at that when a cluster of voices stopped her, now turning to the right and frowning. Just a couple feet away from her was a large group of Class 1-B girls, and they were circling Todoroki.

Narrowing her eyes, Shinso couldn't help but notice her change in attitude, now looking to where she was. "It didn't take long for the wolves to descend."

She remained silent which caused the boy to speak again. "If it bothers you so much, why don't you go over there and play the "he's mine" card."

This caused Amari's face to flush, covering her embarrassment with her hand. "Oh my god, would you stop with that?! I can't do that…"

Noticing her apprehension, he spoke. "Why not? You like him, right? Unless you want me to use my quirk again and.."

Although Amari beat him before he could even finish that sentence, slapping him in the chest in warning. "Don't you dare. Like I need that again."

Shinso meant it as a joke but she seemed really bothered by it, watching the girl sigh sadly. " I can't do anything. I have no right. Maybe it would be better for him to find someone else, someone to be with him after I die. Maybe then that would ease the pain."

The boys eyes widened at her words, now realizing why she wasn't stopping those girls. She thought that he needed to find someone else for when she left. It was kind of heartbreaking to have that kind of mindset. It was no secret that she loved him.

Todoroki saw their interaction as well, vaguely hearing the Class 1-B girls trying to talk to him about various useless things. Why was that guy here, and why was she talking to Amari so closely? He didn't know why, but Todoroki didn't like him.

Shinso was about to comfort the girl from her words when Amari slapped her face, as if snapping her out of her own delusions. "Alright! I think that's enough of a break. I'm going to get back to training. See you Shinso!"

Then before he could reply, she was gone from his sight, with only a huge pit of anxiety in his chest. He silently wished he never found out about her condition.

Because now, he couldn't help but worry about her.

Deciding to take a walk in the woods later that night, Shinso tried to quell his overwhelming anxiety from his earlier conversation with Amari.

He couldn't help it, after finding out about her, he found himself worried even when she trained. He didn't particularly love the girl and still found her annoying but that also didn't mean he wanted her to die either.

He sighed to himself when the boy couldn't help but catch a small light from behind a nearby tree. That was odd. Everyone else was supposed to be sleeping by now.

Deciding to take a closer look, he heard the loss of breath first, followed by a bright flash of light and someone muttering to themselves quietly.

But when Shinso turned the corner, he had definitely not expected to see Amari a couple feet away from him.

She hadn't noticed his presence yet and even though it was the middle of the night, the girl was still training. Beads of sweat dripped from her forehead as her hands shook, speaking to herself. "Come on Amari. You can do it."

Then he watched her let out a painful grunt, throwing her hands out in a small explosion as her gold matter formed around her body, cracking and breaking around her slowly. It was like it pained her to keep that position.

Shinso knew he probably should've made his presence known but somehow, he couldn't stop staring at her determination and drive. Little did everyone know that while everyone else was sleeping, this frail girl was giving her everything day in and day out. It was almost inspiring.

Taking a step forward, he heard a twig snap next to him and Amari sharply turned her head to meet his, now jumping back in surprise. "AHHH.. Shinso? What are you doing here?"

He strolled her to her slowly as she grabbed a water bottle from the corner. "I was just taking a walk. What are you doing? Aren't you supposed to be sleeping?"

Casting her eyes down, Amari replied. "I don't have time to do that kind of thing. I have to get stronger."

No time to sleep? That sounded odd, although it wasn't like he could judge. Shinso didn't get the best sleep either.

Amari thought for a moment before placing the bottle down. "Don't say anything about this, especially to Shoto. He wants me to take it easy, but I just can't do that."

Then she picked up a small notebook next to her, causing Shinso to question. "But don't you feel bad about hiding this from him? Isn't he your loving boyfriend?"

Closing her eyes as if in pain, Amari spoke back softly. "He'll only worry. I have far too much to do before...well...you know…"

Just then, she changed the subject, crossing her arms across her chest. "I saw you training today. I gotta say, you kind of suck."

The whiplash of the conversation caused him to take a few moments before realizing what she just said, now slightly annoyed. "I'm just not great with hand to hand combat. It's always been my weak point. That's why I didn't get into the hero course in the first place."

Amari nodded her head, thinking for a moment before smirking, now coming up with an idea. "Nah, it's not that. You just need someone to show you how it's done. That's what happened to me.."

Just then, she readied her fists. "Here, come at me."

Blinking in surprise, Shinso out his hands out, shutting her down. "I'm not going to fight you Bakugo."

This only caused her to give a sly smile, coaxing him on. "Ah come on, are you afraid of getting your ass kicked again by me? I didn't know you were such a chicken, Shih Tzu.."

At the sound of her nickname for him, the boy did feel tempted, although he couldn't help but remember her condition. "Oh please, I just don't want to beat up a sick girl. Do you really think you should be using your quirk like that?"

His words only made her smirk though before picking up her box of pills and throwing them to the side. "Fine. We'll make it fair. No quirks, only hand to hand combat. That way, this sick girl can kick your ass correctly. Any objections?"

Her conditions seemed fair, so much so that Shinso felt like he couldn't reject, now moving towards her slowly. "Fine, but I'm not going easy on you."

Yet once again, Amari could only laugh. "Funny enough, I was about to say the same thing."

Shinso narrowed his eyes then, throwing a fist in her direction only for her to dodge easily. He whirled around once, twice, three times, trying to hit the girl but it had no effect. She blocked every single one.

Then he watched her smirk, turning around and kicking his legs from under him and tumbling to the ground. She was so small, how could she even be that fast?!

Standing above him, Amari spoke, confident and smooth. "Oh would you look at that, two out of two. I win. You really have to stop underestimating me."

Shinso dusted himself off, feeling the utter embarrassment from getting his ass kicked by such a small girl, not once, but twice now. It was like she was in a different league. "Did you do this just to embarrass me again?"

Although he was surprised when Amari extended her hand, leaning forward so he could grasp it. "What? Of course not. I'm going to help you."

The words sounded strange to him. "Help me, with what?"

Amari answered back shortly, pride in her stance. "With training stupid. Come on, I'll show you how to really fight. That way you'll be another step closer to the hero course."

She was going to help him learn how to fight hand to hand combat? Shinso alway just believed that wasn't possible for someone like him. She was going to waste her time. "My quirk wasn't made for that kind of thing. Just forget it."

Although Amari only narrowed her eyes in anger, crouching down beside him. The close contact kind of made him slightly uncomfortable, especially from her stare. "Hey, do you think my body was made to be a hero? No. But even so, do you think I let that stop me? If you really want this Shinso, then don't give up. You have to fight with everything you have, or else you'll never improve."

That's when she extended her hand again before smiling. "A long time ago, someone gave me the chance to change. Now, I want to give you the same."

Shinso looked down at her hand and couldn't help but feel this new found hope from her words. If this kid could break through every barrier, tear down every wall and push herself to get what she wanted, then why couldn't he? The truth was, he wanted to change.

Slowly moving his hand up, he grasped Amari's all at once, allowing her to lift him off the ground with a soft smile. "There we go."

He felt the warmth between her palm all at once, motivating him to be better, as she was doing. This girl, he hated to admit it, but she was an inspiration.

Just then, she pulled away causing his hand to run cold again, although the determination was still there. "Bakugo…"

Turning her head towards him, Amari called back. "Yes?"

Shinso then felt his own lips curve into a small smile, wanting to show her what her gesture meant. "Thanks."

Amari blinked in surprise, realizing she'd never seen him smile before earning a grin of her own. "Don't thank me yet. If you think I'm going to go easy on you then you have another thing coming Shih Tzu."

Right so I know that Shinso isn't supposed to be in this arc but as I said before, I want to add to his character more as the anime did him so dirty. The friendship between him and Amari is so fun to right and he can't help but feel inspired by her.

Next chapter: Jealously? And a realization.