Chapter 12

The morning of the examination, Kaiya dragged herself to school with a massive headache. She had barely slept that night and her stomach was in knots. She had practiced morning and night on her adaptive skills to ensure she would be ready for anything; but doubt still crept in her head. "Ugh stop overthinking everything…" She mumbled to herself as she took her place outside with the students and teachers.

"What is happening?" She asked Momo who looked just as worried as she did.

"We are changing the practical examination up a bit. You will be paired off and matched up to a teacher." Aizawa explained as Nezu nuzzled against his scarf.

"This way we can challenge all your skills against an actual Pro who knows how to manipulate your Quirks. Please see the matchings here." Nezu explained, showing a screen of names and teacher assignments. "These match ups have been carefully constructed by your teacher. Good luck."

Todoroki and Kaiya were paired together against Aizawa and Kaiya could not think of a worse outcome for her nerves. Everything she was confident in just vanished; her training with Endeavor, her fight against Stain and all the tricks she had picked up along the way. "Shit." She said to herself as Aizawa's eyes shot over to her subtly. She was clearly overthinking her next move; something he knew he had to challenge her on. "I'm going to throw myself off a cliff now." She said under her breath.

"Are you okay?" Todoroki asked her, but she refused to look at him. "I have a plan. Don't worry." But before Kaiya could argue, Aizawa spoke up.

"The first exam will begin in ten minutes. Plan accordingly." Aizawa instructed them, dismissing the class. The pair met up at the entrance of their exam and Todoroki could see Kaiya was still in her head.

"What is it?" He asked her, seeing her pull at her hair ends.

"I can't do this." She whispered. Todoroki paled and wanted to ask more but their timer started and they took off running through the training ground.

"Alright, I have a plan to get us to pass. Keep testing your Quirk and when your elements stop; that means Aizawa is around." Todoroki explained to Kaiya. He felt her tense behind him and mumbled to herself, but chose to ignore her. "Come on, gather some wind or shake the ground or something." He told her.

"Right, sorry." She mumbled, looking to the ground. She hated how weak she looked right now; especially in front of Todoroki. She rumbled the earth enough to know her Quirk hadn't been erased yet as she followed dutifully behind Todoroki.

"Just stay by me and when I tell you, run to the exit and we'll pass." They started running through the exam area and Kaiya managed to keep a slight breeze blowing too when she finally broke the silence.

"I don't expect any less from you Todoroki. You managed to come up with a plan easily against Aizawa; just like you did the first time we fought together." Todoroki glanced back at her as she spoke, hearing the sadness in her voice.

"Then you snapped at me and my interest in you piqued." He told her, still running toward their goal. "You're not snapping at me now."

"You're better than me and in more control." She finally said, stopping Todoroki in his tracks.

"Is that what's going on in your head?" He asked her. Kaiya's face paled and a hindering sadness painted her eyes as Todoroki looked her over. "This isn't like you."

"You have more practical skills than me; and more physical strength." He gazed at her words then realized the earth was barely moving. "I told you I couldn't do this. We were both recommended and I can't measure up to you."

Todoroki's eyes softened as he saw how broken Kaya looked at that moment before realizing the ground was now still. "The ground stopped moving. Aizawa is here!" The ice boy said as Kaiya profusely apologized to him for being distracted.

"If I'm here, you should be attacking." Aizawa instructed, attacking Todoroki.

"Kaiya, run!" He told her, kicking at Aizawa. She took off down the road towards the exit like he had told her without an argument.

"This is your plan? I was always going to attack you; you being the offense and all." Aizawa explained, throwing his bandages around the boy and stringing him up in the electrical wires.

"I can burn through these in an instant." Todoroki snapped at Aizawa.

"Be careful where you land then." He replied, throwing caltrops beneath the hanging teen.

"She just followed your orders without a care? It was nice of you to be considerate of the girl; but she's better than a running tactic. You know that and I know that. But we also know her confidence is shaky." Aizawa told him, dropping eye drops into his eyes. "Maybe you should have talked this over with her before ignoring her again. It's amazing what trust in another person could do for that person's confidence." Leaving Todoroki dangling, Aizawa ran after Kaiya.

Kaiya was running so fast, she wasn't thinking. With the distance between Todoroki and Aizawa, clarity hit her like a train. She just blindly followed Todoroki's orders like at the sports festival and with Stain; but she had a better plan and she knew it but couldn't bring herself to speak up for some reason. She gritted her teeth together as she sensed Aizawa near her. "Running away Kaiya? That's not like you." He taunted her. Her Quirk hadn't been erased so she threw some earth at him. "Too scared to think for yourself? Still so unsure of yourself? Can't face your problems?" He continued to taunt.

"I'm not listening to you!" She shouted back at her teacher who smirked at her, dodging the flying earth fragments she threw at him.

"Really? You're so easily swayed by what people think of you. Now you stop listening?" He rebutted, seeing Kaiya's eyes flash red. Got her.

"Yes I have." She told him and formed a wall to buy herself some time while she ran back to Todoroki. "I'm done being ignored." Aizawa smirked at the returning confidence in her eyes; climbing over the barrier Kaiya had created.

"Good for you."

Todoroki remained hanging from Aizawa's trap with his mind whirling from his teacher's suggestions regarding Kaiya. He trusted Kaiya's instincts and had seen first hand her ability to adapt to attacks with Stain. He hadn't realized that Kaiya fed off of knowing that she was doing something right until Aizawa pointed it out. It made sense that she craved affirmation from people she trusted; he was just annoyed that he couldn't see it for himself. Suddenly, Todoroki saw Kaiya running back to him with Aizawa hot on her trail.

"Todoroki! I'm sorry I couldn't do what you asked!" She cried out, gritting her teeth together. "I thought I couldn't do this...I need to be stronger!"

"Kaiya! I want to know how you plan on getting us out of here. This is just you and me; no one else matters right now." The panic in her eyes broke his heart as she knew that she wasn't sure of herself at all; and that was partly his fault for not supporting her. "Kaiya, look at me." Her wavering green eyes met his mix-matched eyes and she took a deep breath. "Remember you were asking who your second vote for class rep was? It was me because I know you can lead. I've seen it! Tell me what to do."

A flash of fire erupted out of Kaiya's hand and temporarily blinded the approaching Aizawa. He rubbed his eyes roughly as Kaiya's eyes focused, running over to where Aizawa had tied his scarf. "We'll run and hide." She untied Todoroki from Aizawa's bounds and Todoroki followed her through the neighborhood.

"Wait what?" He asked, confused about how that was going to work.

"I've been meaning to try something for a while. I've noticed Aizawa can't erase for as long since the USJ attack, so our window of opportunity is wider than normal. Hear me out." They huddled together as they saw Aizawa approaching quickly. She explained her plan quickly and Todoroki couldn't help but be impressed by the logic. "Sounds good?"

"Sounds perfect." He nodded, running over to his hiding spot.

As Todoroki took his place, Kaiya remained in her spot out in the open and met a puzzled Aizawa. "Alone Kaiya? This was your plan? One on one battle while Todoroki makes a run for it? A bit reckless isn't it?" The teacher asked, throwing his bandages her way.

"Oh yes it is; good thing that's not my plan." She smiled, circling her hands to trap Aizawa in a wind barrier as she got closer to him. Aizawa backed off slightly but stopped immediately as fire colored the wind as Kaiya walked through the tornado. The handcuffs in hand, Kaiya attached the handcuffs to her teacher quickly before she lost an opening to escape and before Aizawa could catch up to her plan. "This was my plan." She smirked, seeing a subdued Aizawa at the center of the twister. Todoroki came up beside Kaiya with his fireside dwindling with a satisfied look on his face. Kaiya threw water into the tornado and it slowly died down as Todoroki analyzed her swift movements.

"Well done. Your plan worked really well. Too well." He mused, narrowing his eyes at Aizawa. "He didn't try to erase your Quirk?"

"I thought the same thing, I was surprised he didn't jump out of the tornado either before the fire took over." Kaiya replied, also narrowing her eyes at the teacher. "He's normally faster."

"With fire, it's hard to judge what it will do. Mixed with wind, it can become a very powerful and unstable weapon. I didn't know if I'd get hurt worse by jumping out of the way or by staying put; knowing you wouldn't intentionally hurt me." Aizawa explained. "Also, I didn't know if it was your fire or Todoroki's fire I had to erase, which is I think the reason you decided to use your fire. To confuse me." Kaiya felt tears threatening to fall at his words, knowing that he figured out her plan but he continued. "It was a very good plan Kaiya. Well done and great control over the element you use the least." The tears escaped down her face as she turned away from both men.

"Are you ok? Do you feel nauseous?" Todoroki asked, reaching for Kaiya. "There's a pressure point you can..."

"I'm fine!" Kaiya managed to say through the sobs. Kaiya knew what Aizawa did was for her confidence, but the plan was still good and they pulled it off. She was grateful for this teacher who refused to show her special treatment; he just wanted her to succeed.

Later on that night, a text from Aizawa alerted Kaiya during her usual night training. She read the message over and her heart swelled.

"Stop thinking too much. Just react. You're very quick and clever with your elements. Don't compare yourself to others because there is no one like you." She texted back a quick thank you and felt her eyes pool at the care that her teacher had for her.

"He is a softie."

Later on in the day, Kaiya met up with Misa for dinner outside the school grounds. A tense silence hung between the two girls before Misa finally broke it. "Today sucked." Kaiya spluttered her food out in laughter while Misa eventually joined in. "It really did."

"You did well though I did too…but damn it was difficult." Kaiya smiled, spooning some takoyaki into her mouth.

"Yeah but I should have been better. Thankfully Kirishima and I worked well together, but I nearly broke my body trying to get away from Present Mic. His voice was faster than my speed! Not to mention…I think I'm still partially deaf."

"Kinda like what Jirou did on the first team match up with All Might?" Kaiya asked, remembering Jirou plugging her ear jack into the ground and shattering Misa's hearing while she was spying on her and Kaminari. The feline teen shuddered at the memory and nodded her head.

"Impeccable hearing can be a curse." She mumbled, twirling her noodles lamely. "I heard Aizawa speaking well of you though. Despite your shaky confidence." Kaiya groaned and shook her head sadly. "Hey come on. You made our teacher says something."

"More importantly, I stood my ground with Todoroki." Kaiya smiled, earning a laugh from Misa. Suddenly, Misa's phone sounded and she read the message with a wide smile. "What is it?"

"I get to go to I-Island! My Uncle pulled some strings and since I'm an up and coming hero…I scored a ticket!" Misa cheered happily. Kaiya knew of the reputable I-Island convention well. All the new gadgets, spyware and Hero supplies were presented there while the Heroes paraded around for their fans as well. It was a highly prestigious convention that was very hard to get into.

"That's amazing! I hope you report back to me all the new things to look out for." Kaiya smiled, seeing the excitement brimming off her friend.

*Notes*

Hi everyone! Thanks for sticking with this story. I love working on it and try to update as often as possible. The next chapter will include the Two Heroes Movie. So if you haven't seen it; spoilers. Plus...way more Todo/Kaiya interaction. Please rate and review :)