Hope you all enjoy this chapter! Please let me know what you think as your comments inspire me to write more!
Chapter 9: Words of Encouragement
Katori's eyes glance over at Midoriya as he mumbles to himself, scratching notes in his notebook during the match. She can feel Bakugo seething near her, and she cannot help but smile at how angry his quite muttering is making him. She gets up and steps over the empty seat next to Kirishima to sit herself next to Midoriya. The green-haired boy doesn't notice her until she taps on his shoulder, making him jump at her contact.
"Sorry I scared you," she says nicely. "I was just wondering what had you so invested in that book.
"Oh," he says smiling back at her. "Well, I've been keeping a journal of all the Quirks I've come across. I even have all of our classmates," he turns the book and holds it out to here. "Here's your page!" he says happily as he shows her a page full of wildly placed notes and a crude drawing of her.
Drains Quirks of others. Eyes turn red when draining Quirk. 3 AT A TIME! Loses Quirk when blinks. Hair lifts like Aizawa! Sometimes turns white. Drain them until Quirkless?
The last comment is circled and she swallows hard, wondering the same. Her eyes turn to the drawing to see that her hair is lifting in the air, making her look as though she is falling or underwater.
"That's pretty cool," she says flipping through the book when she lands on Bakugo. She begins laughing when she sees the drawing of him. She turns around in her seat, holding the book up at the boy, "Bakugo, your head looks like a pineapple!"
He glances over at her and erupts when he sees the drawing, "It does not!" he erupts at her.
Midoriya begins panicking as Katori shows him the book. "It totally does!" she laughs. "It's fitting since you're as dumb as one!"
"Whaddaya say to me?" he barks at her.
"I said you were dumb!" she yells back slowly at him. "Are you hard of hearing too?"
"I'm going to kill you!" he declares angrily and she turns away from him, satisfied with her teasing.
She hands Midoriya the book, noticing that the book says it's the thirteenth edition, "You should get it published. I am sure a lot of people would like to see an encyclopedia of all their favorite hero's Quirks in one place."
"You really think so?" he asks her with hopeful green eyes.
"Yeah, totally!"
"You're against Yaoyorozu in the first-round, right?" he asks her and she nods at him. "What's your strategy? She doesn't have a physical Quirk like those you're used to draining. Which means that you will have to rely on someone else. But then from your positioning in the arena, will you even be able to drain someone from the stands? You might be able to evade her if she goes for an offensive attack. Using her offenses against her with agility and speed—"
"Midoriya," she says waving her hand in his face as he zones out in a tangent.
"Oh sorry!" he lets out embarrassed. "I'm just really excited to see everyone's Quirk at work.
She smiles at him, only to quickly drop down to a flat line. "I am not sure what I have planned. I don't think I will have a chance to steal someone's Quirk in the stands," she says, quickly changing the subject. "Whatever the outcome, I'm just happy to go against someone as great as Yaoyorozu. Everyone from our class will be great!" she smiles, keeping her mind off of the fight. "I better get ready," she says as she watches the fifth round begin.
"Good luck!" he calls out cheerily to her as she gets up.
Kirishima fist bumps her as she squeezes past him in the aisle and she smiles down at him. "You got this," he nods at her reassuringly.
"Copy-Paste," Bakugo calls to her as she walks past him. "You better not lose. Don't forget, I still gotta kick your ass."
"Thanks, Bakugo, you've always been one for encouraging words," she returns in a snarky tone that he huffs at.
It isn't long until she is instructed to head down to the stage. Her heart races as she begins walking out towards the arena. She reminds herself that her father is watching, and thinks about his encouraging words on how she can win this fight. She knows that even if she loses against Yaoyorozu, her father will still be proud of her, and that brings her nerves some comfort.
Once she exits the threshold of the hallway and into the large opening of the arena, her eyes begin desperately searching the arena for a Quirk that will be beneficial to her in this fight. To her absolute dismay, all the collective blobs of faces out there are too far for her to drain their Quirk. She is unable to focus on any one person's eyes to drain their Quirk for her own.
She begins to sweat as she approaches the middle of the arena, where she is placed even farther away from the crowds, with the overwhelming feeling of dread sinking into her knowing that this fight will be over sooner than she would have liked.
'Consider your other options and your surroundings. People in the crowd, moving in unpredictable ways, causing distractions, or draining her of her own Quirk,' she hears her father's advice to her.
She swallows hard, balling her fists at her sides as she thinks of a strategy. The people in the crowd are out of the question, so she will have to move quick and erratically. She will need to distract her. And if she can, she will need to drain some of her Quirk and get her out of the arena.
"From the hero course, with eyes that can drain and copy, our next contender is a wildcard to be reckoned with! Give it up for Katori Satsuma!" Present Mike announces her with his boisterous voice. "Versus, the great creator! She was admitted because of recommendations, and I think we can all see why. Also, from Class 1A, Momo Yaoyorozu!"
The crowd goes wild and Katori's eyes once again search for someone she can drain, but there is no one's eyes that she can focus on from this distance. Her gaze turns to Yaoyorozu and she figures she needs to move quickly. She will create an offensive item at first; a sword or spear, and attack her. She will need to move faster than the creationist can think of things to create.
"Begin!" he announces and Katori springs into action. She attacks low, charging at the girl and swiping her with a kick that knocks her off of her feet. Yaoyorozu falls to her hands and knees and Katori turns around, noticing the girl creates a shield to fight back against her. Katori runs after her when Yaoyorozu swings the shield at her, smashing into Katori's face and sending the girl flying back.
Katori's back takes the brunt of the hit as she coughs at the breath leaving her lungs. She quickly lifts herself up and runs towards Yaoyorozu, darting back and forth to disorientate the girl. Katori launches to the ground, sliding next to her. Yaoyorozu quickly jumps out of the way, thinking a tackle to the ground Katori's intention, but instead, Katori snatches the shield from her as it was her true target all along.
With the shield, Katori begins running around Yaoyorozu in circles, hitting the shield periodically to disorientate her even further as she changes her course regularly.
Yaoyorozu shakes her head, trying to focus on thinking of components of items to use against the girl, but cannot focus with her erratic movements or piercing noises.
"She's not giving Yaoyorozu a moment to think," Midoriya notices as the students watch from above. "She's blocking her ability to use her Quirk by attacking her with loud distractions that block her concentration," he says as he frantically scribbles in his notebook.
"Keep it up, Katori!" Kirishima cheers, despite knowing that she cannot hear him from their distance to her.
Katori watches as Yaoyorozu begins to create a large metal rod from her arm. She needs to act quickly. She launches the shield out of her hands and across the arena, causing Yaoyorozu a moment of pause as she watches the shield bounce against the cement of the arena floor.
Katori swiftly grabs onto the end of the pole, forcing it back into Yaoyorozu's arm with as much strength as she has. Katori begins pushing Yaoyorozu with as much force as she can, dragging her towards the end of the arena. Yaoyorozu begins to panic and when her eyes reach Katori's she begins using her Quirk on the creationist.
Her eyes flash red as her hair stays in place thanks to pulling it back for the festival. She feel's Yaoyorozu's power surging through her body, but there is nothing she can do with it. She just continues to drain her Quirk beyond the typical threshold she is used to. Her eyes begin to water as tears begin to form around the corners of her lashes, but she continues to press forward and keep her gaze on the girl.
She continues to push Yaoyorozu out of the ring, shoving her shoulder against the girl's arms as Yaoyorozu attempts to push back against Katori, but cannot with the power draining from her body.
Finally, Katori hears the words that she's been waiting for, "Yaoyorozu is out of bounds!" Instantly, Katori closes her watering eyes, saturating them as tears fall down her cheeks.
Katori takes in a deep breath when a shrill cry is heard as it echoes throughout the arena and Katori's heart races, recognizing the scream as that of someone in sheer pain. Her eyes dart over to Yaoyorozu to see her holding her arm limply as the metal rod remains sticking out of her forearm.
"I can't make it go back!" she shrieks wildly as Midnight rushes to her. "My Quirk…" she cries as she looks up at Katori to fix her.
Katori's heart races wildly as she runs towards the girl with panic constricting her chest. "Stay back, Satsuma!" Midnight hisses angrily and she staggers away from them with shattering worry. She hears Midnight commanding Cementoss to take her to Recovery Girl while Midnight approaches Katori, escorting her out of the arena.
Katori heads to the waiting room where her heart races as she holds her arms closely to her chest, pacing back and forth with a constricting lump developing in her throat. She is unable to think of anything that has just transpired, too afraid to let her mind replay what has just happened.
She hears the click of the door opening when she sees a bandaged Aizawa walking in. Her eyes widen when she sees him, stepping towards him with shaking hands. "Is she alright? Will Yaoyorozu be okay?" she asks him with wide wet eyes.
"Her Quirk is slowly returning. She was able to pull the rod out slowly with the help of Recovery Girl," he says in a leveled tone and she exhales the built-up breath that constricted her airways. "Katori, what you did was very dangerous. Had you continued, Yaoyorozu could have never regained her Quirk and she could have lost her arm," he says sternly, driving the severity of this issue.
"I am so sorry, Sir," she begins, bowing her head apologetically. "I didn't know she would be affected that way, I just wanted to weaken her."
Aizawa sighs, sitting down on a chair next to her, inviting her to do the same. She reluctantly sits down and he sits there for a moment in silence, thinking about his sister. Finally, after a long pause he speaks up, "Your mother was able to drain the Quirks of people until they became Quirkless," he tells her, confirming the information her father always kept from her. Katori gasps and he continues, "It was mentally and physically taxing for her and she had only done it once to my knowledge," he says thinking of her crying to him when she drained a fellow classmate, forcing them to unenroll from the hero course. "Had she known what she was doing, she would have been expelled, but she was allowed to stay on the condition that she would never use her Quirk in such a way again."
"Am I going to be expelled?" she asks him with a frown taking over her face.
"No," he sighs looking at her through the bandages of his wounds. "You took it too far in this battle," he tells her sternly. "But you did not know the extent of your mother's power, and I am to blame for that," he says and she looks up at him with shocked eyes. "You have had no one to guide you with your Quirk, and I have been too prejudice against your father to act as your guide. I am here to apologize, not expel you."
She places her head down, unable to look at him as he apologizes to her, still feeling the sting of guilt stacking on her chest. "Yaoyorozu is never going to forgive me."
"Of course she will. You are all still learning here, and she understands that just as well as you do," he says carefully. "What matters now is learning from your mistakes and moving forward." She thinks about her father and his similar words to her when she pushed herself too far with Todoroki. She finds her father and Aizawa to be so similar, wishing that in another world they were able to set aside their differences and raise her. She would like to know Aizawa more as her uncle.
"You will be allowed to compete in the sports festival with the promise that you will not use your Quirk in a similar fashion again."
"I promise," she says with a saddened smile reaching her lips.
Aizawa lifts himself from the chair, "Afterwards, I am going to tell you about your mother and father," he says before leaving her in the room to her own thoughts.
After a while, Katori returns to the stands with the rest of her classmates, her head hanged low as she sits herself farther away from everyone else. Kirishima is battling while Bakugo is in his waiting room before his fight. She feels alone and doesn't feel as though she deserves to talk to the others after what she did to Yaoyorozu.
She holds herself closely when she hears someone shuffling next to her. She looks over to see that it is Todoroki of all people. "Your Quirk is really strong," he observes in a flat tone, and she is unsure if it is a compliment or not. "Your fight with Yaoyorozu was very strategic, considering you were unable to copy her Quirk. Keeping her distracted from creating was very well planned."
"Thanks Todoroki," she says halfheartedly.
"I wouldn't let what happened affect you. Yaoyorozu will be fine, and I don't think she will be angry with you," he says with his signature monotone indifference. "We are all here for the same reason, and you gave it your all."
She smiles at him, feeling his words to make her feel better, even though his delivery was flat. "I know what you're going through," she tells him and he blinks at her. "We are both living in the shadows of our fathers' legacy," she begins and he glances away from her. "I know you are not using your left side because of your dad, but you gotta give it your all too," she tells him with a soft smile. "I know that you think using your left side gives your father power over you, but that is not true," she says looking at him with soft eyes. "Not using your fire gives him power over you, because you're letting him win." She frowns, seeing the hard look in his eyes, "In the end, you're not Endeavor's son. You're Shouto. And that's what matters most."
He blinks at her once more, unsure how he feels about his father's Quirk and using it in the festival, still feeling unconvinced with using his power to gain anything here. He will not give him that pleasure. He turns to her, "You're not your father either. You're a hero," he tells her and she turns away from him, watching the unwavering match between the two hardened boys. She feels a constriction in her chest at his words. She is not a hero. She is not here to make friends and learn to be a hero. She is here to help her father kill All Might. But she's having so much fun with them all; they are her friends. But for how long? Will they still be her friends if they find out the truth?
"In the end, the best form of revenge is indifference," she says looking down, knowing that she will never be able to take in her own advice. "Once you stop giving that person the power of enraging you, they lose all their power over you." She wonders if the same goes for her with All Might. Can she ever forgive him for arresting her mother and leading to her death? If she stops hating him, will she stop hurting so much when she thinks about her?
"They knocked each other out," Katori says flatly, pulling herself from her thoughts of her mother as she watches the match between Kirishima and Tetsutetsu end with a draw.
"That means the next match is Bakugo and Uraraka," he says glancing over at the board with their photos displayed.
Katori leans forward, feeling nervous with how this will pan out.
The match is quick to begin and Katori winces when Bakugo moves without hesitation and sends an explosive attack straight for Uraraka's face. She flinches as the girl is thrown back from the blast, tensing her shoulders as she continues to watch, listening to her classmates as they jeer against Bakugo's harsh moves.
She notices that Uraraka stays low, with each of his attacks tearing up the concrete of the arena in a large cloud of debris that obscures the fight at some points. She thinks about fighting Bakugo herself and how she would approach this situation if she were her. Katori overhears Midoriya and Iida speaking with one another, formulating her plan to be sending Bakugo out of bounds with her antigravity Quirk. The only problem being that she will need to figure out a way to touch the explosive teen first.
The match continues with deafening blows as Bakugo will not allow her to come anywhere near him. He understands her Quirk, and what she needs to do to gain the upper hand on her, and he will not allow her to have a window of opportunity.
Katori notices a few pieces of debris lifting when her eyes follow the block into the air, only to see a massive pool of debris weightlessly hanging in the air above them. She nudges Todoroki who glances over to her, watching as she points in the air to the debris. "Looks like Uraraka has a plan after all."
The crowd begins booing at Bakugo and Katori frowns at them, not realizing that Uraraka is not helpless down there, and she has just as strategic as a plan as he does, but Aizawa snatches the microphone and quickly put the audience in their place when Bakugo notices at the same time as they do, the looming attack waiting above him.
Katori stiffens, waiting with baited breath as Uraraka sends the debris raining down on Bakugo. She begins running towards him, charging while he is stunned by the raining debris. Katori holds her breath, waiting for Uraraka to touch Bakugo and send him floating to the edge of the arena. She leans in, however, just before Uraraka can reach him, Bakugo reaches to the sky, and blasts the debris with a single massive attack.
Katori covers her eyes as the blast blows all the way up to their seating section. Once the wreckage settles, she watches as Uraraka falls to the ground, attempting to claw her way to Bakugo. She frowns at the girl, secretly rooting for her, but grateful at least that Bakugo gave her a glorious defeat.
Once the fight is over and Kirishima beats Tetsutetsu in an arm-wrestling match, they have their next round of the festival. She looks up to the bracket to see that she is against Tokoyami. She knows that his Quirk is not like Yaoyorozu where she needs the knowledge of the items to use her Quirk. She wonders if she will be able to copy her own Dark Shadow to fight him, and smiles at the idea.
She notices that Todoroki has left, preparing himself for his match as he is the first of the second round. She looks up to see who he is against when her heart flutters to see he is against Midoriya. She smiles to herself, figuring this should be good.
Bakugo returns from his battle with Uraraka to the sneers of their classmates. "Hey Bakugo, playin' the villain, huh?" Sero says looking back at the blonde. "Must have been tough."
"Even if it was just because of who you were up against, you did make a convincing bad guy," Tsu mentions.
"Shut up you idiots, or else!" he explodes on them.
"For real, dude. I don't know how you were able to aim a powerful blast at a frail little girl like that," Kaminari scolds him as Bakugo slumps down next to Katori. "I couldn't help but hold back against Shiozaki."
"She completely overpowered you, Kaminari," Tsu reminds him.
"Can't you just let me have this!" he snaps at her.
"I definitely wouldn't call that girl frail," Bakugo says lost in thought at just how difficult she had made the fight.
Katori glances over at him and quietly under her breath so no one else can hear says, "You did good out there. You showed everyone here just how powerful her Quirk can be. I am sure Uraraka is grateful."
"Yeah, whatever," he grunts as he leans back uninterested in his chair.
She turns her attention from him and to the arena where Todoroki and Midoriya prepare for their battle. She gulps audibly at the pending fight, excited for this match over any. "Who do you think is going to win?" she asks, not glancing at Bakugo as her eyes are fixed on the two boys.
He does not answer her, as his gaze is also fixated on the match. Whoever wins, will get closer to him in battle, and he cannot wait to destroy them both.
Katori wonders if Todoroki will use his fire, or if he will solely rely on his ice to compete against Midoriya. With his Quirk being as powerful as it is, Todoroki will have to bring more than just his ice attacks if he hopes to beat Midoriya.
The match begins, and in an instant, Todoroki launches an ice attack at Midoriya, that the green haired boy quickly deflects with a massive wind attack. She watches as Midoriya cradles his fingers, figuring that he is prepared to break his bones to fight back against Todoroki. With two broken fingers already, Midoriya doesn't have many available fingers to attack with. His only hope is to get Todoroki to over exert himself with offensive assaults and attack when he is weakened. The only question now is whose Quirk will hold up the longest.
"Oh man I'm missing it!" Kirishima groans as he runs down the stairs next to Katori and Bakugo.
"Hey Kirishima, nice job on winning the round," Kaminari congratulates the crimson boy.
"Thanks man, looks like I am against Bakugo in the next round," he says looking down at the blonde with a teasing tone.
"I'll kill you," he deadpans, eyes not wavering from the fight.
"Heh, yeah sure in your dreams," he says puffing his chest with his hands on his hips. "No but seriously, it's crazy how you and Todoroki have moves that blast the whole stadium. Must be pretty nice," he grumbles, still wishing he had a flashier Quirk.
"Plus, you don't have to pause between attacks," Sero joins in.
"It's not as easy as you think, ya morons," Bakugo grunts. "If you overuse your muscles, you risk tearing them apart. If you sprint too much, you run out of breath," he says eyes still on the match below them. "Quirks are physical abilities too. They can get warn out; you can't just use them nonstop."
"Makes sense when you put it that way," Kirishima begins. "I wonder if that's how Midoriya thinks he's going to beat Todoroki.
Katori shields her face as Midoriya uses his entire fist to punch against Todoroki's ice attack. The wind blows icy cold air all the way up to their stands where they sit. She watches them carefully, understanding the power that he holds, and realizing that Midoriya is more powerful than Todoroki.
"His entire arm is broken!" Katori says wide-eyed as she sees the bruising on the boy as soon as the dust settles.
"Midoriya's not gonna last long," Kirishima groans as they all lean forward in their seats, anticipating the next moves of the two boys.
"Todoroki is still not using his fire," she says quietly, "He's reaching his limit with his ice. He needs to regulate his temperature with his fire, or he's going to lose."
"Why isn't he using his fire?" Kaminari asks while Katori glances over at Bakugo since they are the only two that know why he truly holds himself back.
She watches as he sneers at the boy as if Todoroki could see him. She knows he wants him to give his all in this fight, and he is not because of his feelings with his father. It's clear that her words to Todoroki didn't seem to stick, and he is still allowing his father to control this fight, even though he believes not using his fire is the way to keep his father from controlling him.
"All Midoriya's fingers are broken. This match is over," Sero says with a frown, however, before any of them can respond, Midoriya sends another attack Todoroki's way, nearly launching him over the edge of the arena before Todoroki lifts a block of ice to hold him up.
Katori gasps as she sees that Midoriya uses his already broken finger to defend against Todoroki's attacks, seeing that he is willing to shatter every bone in his body before giving up to the two-toned boy. Katori wonders why he is going through all of this trouble for this fight. She understands Todoroki's goal is to show his father that he can be number one without using his Quirk, while Bakugo's motives are his simple hunger to be the number one hero, but are Midoriya's as simple as that? Is he really willing to destroy his body so that he can call himself Number One?
She sees that they are talking, and she hates that she cannot hear what they are saying, wishing she knew what was going on down there. But whatever Midoriya is saying to him, she can tell that it is bothering the two-toned boy. "Come on, you guys," she whispers encouragement. "Give it your all." As she says this, Todoroki launches himself at Midoriya with another icy attack. "He's slower," she breathes with furrowed brows as she sees Todoroki running for Midoriya.
Bakugo glances over to her, noticing the same, but keeping his words to himself as his eyes leave her and return to the fight.
Midoriya crouches down, laying lower as Todoroki launches for him. Katori grips her fingers into tight fists as she places her hand against her lips, anticipating the attack. Midoriya's fist meets Todoroki's stomach as he sends a hurling attack to the boy's core. Todoroki flies backwards but not before he freezes Midoriya's broken arm.
He sends another icy attack his way, but it is clear he is reacting much slower than he did at the beginning of the match. Midoriya keeps fighting on, despite the fact that his body cannot and should not take anymore damage. Katori's worried that if he continues, this Quirk will be the end of his career before he even begins.
She watches as they speak with one another again, only this time, whatever Midoriya seems to say to Todoroki is received with less hostility. Finally, she hears as Midoriya yells loud enough for all to hear, "It's yours! Your Quirk! Not his!"
She leans forward and watches Todoroki, her heart racing as a wave of fire emanates off of his left side. "Yes!" she calls out lifting herself from her chair as she cheers for Todoroki. Her smile reaches her eyes as she jumps up for him. "He did it! Midoriya got him to see!"
Her smile quickly turns to a worried frown as the boys begin powering up, knowing that neither of them are in the condition to fight one another.
"Oh man, they're going to kill each other!" Kirishima groans as they all watch with wild eyes at the impending attack.
Todoroki sends a massive ice attack now that he has been able to regulate his temperature, and Midoriya springs into the fight with his power flowing through his limbs. Todoroki moves towards his fire, preparing for a full-fledged attack when Cementoss finally intervenes, placing walls of concrete to absorb the attacks between the two sparring boys. A colossal shockwave returns as both boys impact the walls with their full one hundred percent power. Katori covers her eyes as a wind storm follows the tremors as she is unable to see the result of the attack.
Finally, when the dust settles, her eyes hungrily search the arena for the winner when she sees Midoriya standing against the wall with a broken arm and leg. He is knocked out of bounds, while Todoroki is firmly planted in the middle of the arena.
"Todoroki wins!" Midnight announces and Katori smiles happily, eager to fight him if she advances in the next round.