Chapter 4

A few days after the USJ attack once everyone had healed and rested, the students in Class 1-A sat patiently in their seats. Kaiya still felt tired but she just kept replaying Bakugou's statement about endurance. Her Quirk took a lot out of her only because she hadn't trained as much as everyone else. She didn't know the history behind her Quirk or have anyone to help her train; so it was all trial and error for lack of a better term.

Todoroki looked over at Kaiya sitting at her desk, seeing she was in deep thought. Seeing her burn on her forearm at the USJ really stuck with him that day; so much so he couldn't sleep the night after the attack. So many questions ran through his mind; who hurt her? Why? Her recoiling from his touch at the USJ affected him more than he cared to admit seeing as she was the few students Todoroki could tolerate. Kaiya realized that Todoroki was staring and cracked a smile in his direction.

"Can I help you Todoroki?" He shook his head to clear his mind and cracked a small smile in return. "You were staring at my forearm." Kaiya stated simply. He couldn't help but blush at her words and broke eye contact.

"I'm sorry, I didn't even realize I was." He mumbled.

"It's okay; with my hero costume being so revealing; it was bound to happen eventually." She whispered, tracing her scar through her sleeve.

"What happened?" He dared to ask. Kaiya paled and cleared her throat, preparing herself to be honest. However, Mr. Aizawa made his way into class completely covered in bandages, his appearance silencing her. Todoroki had heard that his teacher took an incredible beating from Nomu; but Eraser Head was smart and strong, so he knew Aizawa would bounce back. "We must begin preparing for the Sports Festival." He announced as the class erupted into cheers.

The Sports Festival had become more popular than the Olympics since the rise of superpowers and it also helped future heros secure a spot in a good agency. Kaiya knew it was coming up; but after the USJ attack, she had thought they would cancel it or postpone it.

"This will showcase what you have to offer the hero world. You cannot slack off on your training now." As always, the ever practical Mr. Aizawa continued on with their assignments; ending the class on a last reminder to train hard.

During lunch, Todoroki met Kaiya at her usual table, her nibbling on a piece of bread half-heartedly. "If I tell you something, will you promise not to judge me?" Kaiya blurted out to Todoroki.

"I'm not one to judge Kaiya." He replied, sipping on his tea.

"I am extremely nervous for the festival." She mumbled, a searing blush on her cheeks.

"Why? Your Quirk is impressive." Todoroki shrugged his shoulders, but Kaiya's eyes were pleading and Todoroki could see the lack of confidence creeping into her piercing emeralds.

"I have never received formal training. I'm sure it's obvious I don't have the utmost confidence in everything I do with my Quirk; and my endurance is lacking as pointed out by the ever subtle Bakuguo." Kaiya explained, pulling her hair in frustration. "The festival is where I need to shine so that agencies notice me so I won't be pushed to the side." Todoroki was soaking in her words and could see that she was earnest in her fear and her drive to be better; but she was a confusing girl. She gave off a confident aura, but deep down inside she really was unsure of herself. "I just wish I had the training you seemed to have; you're amazing." She mumbled, tucking a strand of hair behind her ear.

"Okay. So breathe for a second." Todoroki told her gently, sipping on the cooling tea. Kaiya sighed heavily and threw back her own tea to calm herself. "I'll tell you something I don't admit to many people." Todoroki mumbled, looking around for any eavesdroppers. "Do you know of the number two hero?" He asked quietly.

"Endeavor? The big, flame guy?" Kaiya asked, stuffing a sushi roll in her mouth.

"He is my father." Kaiya almost choked on her food, but regained her composure at the boys' serious face. "He trained me extremely hard when I first found out my quirk. He had bought my mothers' family for the sole purpose of producing strong children with my mother." He sighed, anger pulsing through his veins as the words came out. "My siblings didn't make the mark; so he concentrated on me when I proved to be useful." Kaiya's eyes were sad, but there was a sense of understanding coloring her face; not sympathy. "I was robbed of a childhood for the sake of being number one; to take over All Might. It's why I don't use my left side." Todoroki growled. "I assume you had one? A childhood?" Kaiya froze at his question, seeing an internal battle within her brain. There was something deeper about Kaiya and he almost got to the root; but her walls stayed up.

"Not the most traditional of upbringings, no." She answered honestly, avoiding the heterochromatic gaze.

"I'd probably still trade it for mine." Todoroki mumbled, pulling at a piece of chicken. Kaiya looked as if she wanted to argue, but she held her tongue for the moment. "My point is, I may have the training that you want or need; but there's things you have that I wish I had."

"Like what? What could you want that I have?" Kaiya snapped back almost immediately.

"Your ability to be happy. You smile, you look happy. People seem to be drawn to you." He explained easily. Kaiya took a breath, probably to gather her thoughts at the honesty. "I keep my distance for a reason." Todoroki shrugged.

"People won't always hurt you Todoroki. You are a stoic, hard person at first glance. However, the past few weeks you have shown me that you are capable of being kind. I mean, look at how patient and kind you've been with me." Kaiya shone her smile at the half and half teen and he could feel his cheeks turning red. "Crack a smile once in a while and people will come to you." She chuckled at the blush he had on his cheeks. "Anyway, I'm going to work really hard to build my endurance up and train my Quirk. It's tough because I don't know my full ability; but I'll do what I can." She averted the conversation away from Todoroki for which he was glad.

"Do your parents not have similar Quirks?" Todorki asked innocently and Kaiya froze again. He noticed each time her family was brought up she tensed and tried to advert the conversation somewhere else. She was hiding something.

"They didn't get around to teaching me." She mumbled, dodging Todoroki's questioning eyes. The bell rang and Kaiya tossed her tray quickly and jogged out of the cafeteria, leaving Todoroki to wonder about her. He knew that she was keeping a key part of her life close to the chest and normally he wouldn't care to find out. However, something about Kaiya made him think and feel differently than with any other person.

During Present Mic's English class, Kaiya was extremely distracted. She had come up with a training plan to help with her endurance; but she knew she was going to need some pointers. Asking Todoroki would be a good idea, but she didn't want to take advantage of his kindness as he had already done a lot for her recently. She looked over a few rows to see Bakuguo spinning his pencil half-heartedly in boredom and a light suddenly appeared over Kaiya's head.

After the class, she found Bakuguo hunched over a textbook in the courtyard and sighed heavily as she gathered the courage to ask a favor from the quick tempered teen. "Hey, Bakugou?" Kaiya asked quietly, placing a hand on his shoulders; expecting him to jump in surprise.

"What's up?" He asked, not looking at her.

"I was wondering if you could give me some pointers on endurance training since the festival is coming up?" She breathed, steadying her voice. The boy turned to her and narrowed his brows in confusion.

"Why would I help my competition?" Kaiya stood back in surprise and cleared her throat to stop her temper from rising.

"Classmates should help one another. I'm sure there's something I can do to repay you?" Bakugou got close to Kaiya's face and whispered low in her ear.

"You can't be number one while helping others be better. Figure it out for yourself." Kaiya's anger bubbled up in her chest as she pushed the boy back a few paces. People started to notice the confrontation and started whispering as Kaiya poked Bakugou hard in his chest.

"You know, not everyone is out to get you or to challenge you shit face." The boy looked taken aback at the girls' words and opened his mouth to argue but the flash of red in her eyes stopped him. "You're not as important as you think you are Bakugou. A few pointers is all I asked for, not intense training, not a god damn marriage proposal. Just a little help." Kaiya spat with her hands on her hips.

"Now just wait a second girl…"Bakugou looked ready to explode right there but she was not done.

"I have exhausted every training that I know and I want to get better; I thought you out of everyone would understand that. You are amazing and more people would appreciate that if you just kept your damn temper in check and your mouth shut. I didn't realize you were this selfish. But sorry I asked. I won't bother you anymore." Kaiya turned on her heel and pushed through the small crowd that had gathered from her outburst. Days of pent up frustration since the USJ attack bubbled to the surface and Kaiya felt much better even though she didn't get the help she was looking for. "I'll take care of myself." She mumbled as she left the courtyard.

Bakugou was left pondering the girl's words and realized that people were staring at him. "What do you want huh!?" He roared, scaring everyone away. He didn't realize that Kaiya was in this by herself; but he wasn't here to make friends. However, the flash of red in her eyes he saw at the USJ was there again while she was yelling at him. It did something to him and almost made him regret saying no to her. Almost.

Kaiya was cleaning the last training room and the sun was setting when her stomach growled. She hadn't had anything to eat yet; but she needed to train before eating or she would be sick. Her left hand shook as she stood in front of the training dummies and aimed an attack at it. A powerful gust of wind knocked over the dummy and she smiled as she played catch with the dummy via wind. She knew she wouldn't get far in the festival only using wind and earth; so she needed to work on the other elements she was not comfortable with. She was scared; but her fear would drive her to be the best she could be. She took a deep breath and stretched her hands out; willing the correct element to come out of them.