Chapter 16
The next morning, training started bright and early. "We are going to increase your strength and skills exponentially so you can all get provisional licenses. Look alive Bakugou." Aizawa said, tossing him a softball. "Throw that for me."
"Like in the fitness test?" Bakugou questioned, readying himself for the throw.
"Yes. Your record was 705.2 meters. Let's see if you've improved." Aizawa told him.
"Oh. we're measuring our progress." Mina said as Bakugou threw his ball to a length of 709 meters.
"That's it?" Kaiya whispered, not believing that one of the best students only improved slightly. "I'm screwed."
"You've had a whole semester at UA. You all have improved in technical skill and mental prowess with a slight increase of stamina along the way."Aizawa continued, darting his eyes over Kaiya as he spoke. "Your Quirks themselves haven't improved on a fundamental level." Kaiya's heart dropped at the accusation as the students all looked deflated. "We are here to improve your Quirks. This will be hard and you'll feel like you're dying. Let's hope you all survive."
"I'm going to die." Kaiya mumbled, feeling the heat in her palms increase. They all were separated to train specifically for their Quirks; some with very strange techniques. Kaiya wondered where she would be instructed to go until Mr. Aizawa came over to her.
"Kaiya. You're with me for right now." He mumbled, leading her off to the side away from the other students. She was confused as to why she would be training with him specifically but she dared not argue. He turned to her and sat on the ground, looking up at her. "Sit." She bent down and joined him in the grass.
"What are we doing?" Kaiya asked as Aizawa unwrapped his scarf, trying to get comfortable.
"We're talking. I have debated telling you what I'm about to disclose; but I feel as if it is only fair for me to be honest and open when you are working so hard to better yourself." He explained while Kaiya looked at him concerned. His eyes were less tired than normal, more caring as he took a deep breath and pulled out a worn picture of a man and woman. "These are your parents." Kaiya took the picture shakily from his hand and committed the image to memory.
"I look like my dad." She whispered, her fingers ghosting over the image of a tall man with black hair and green eyes. Her mother was shorter and very skinny with purple eyes and red hair; nothing like Kaiya. However, she saw that her mother had the ring on her left hand in the picture and she shared Kaiya's smile. "How did you find this?" Kaiya's voice barely whispers.
"Your mother was pregnant with you in this photo, we have done a lot of digging and this is all we could find. I'm sorry. I can give you their names if you'd like?" Aizawa offered but Kaiya shook her head slowly.
"I don't think it would make a difference." She said quietly.
"Do you want to know what happened to them?" Kaiya froze at the thought of finally having some closure about why she was abandoned, why she had to survive on her own, and why she had a huge sense of resentment towards her parents. However, she felt as if now wasn't the time.
"Can I get back to you on that one?" She asked, focusing on her mothers' smiling face. Aizawa nodded slowly, looking at the sadness painted on his students' face.
"Of course. Would you like to know why UA took a special interest in you?" Aizawa followed up.
"It isn't just because of my Quirk?" Kaiya asked quietly, still tracing the picture with her fingers. A cloud of apprehension formed in her heart as Aizawa took another breath.
"Not just because of that; even with how versatile it can be. When your teacher recommended you in junior high then told us your story; Nezu became concerned that you would become a target for villains." Kaiya's heart began racing at this admission and her eyes shot up to Aizawa's glare. "We don't think you're a villain or that you would ever become one; but your Quirk can be used as a weapon and most villains prey on younger people with bad backgrounds. Nezu was being precautious." He explained, holding his hands up in defense as anger replaced the sadness; her eyes flashing red.
"Do you think I'm dangerous?" Kaiya asked him, keeping her temper in check.
"I just said we…"
"No. Do you think I'm dangerous?" Kaiya repeated.
"No, I don't think you are. I think you are very powerful and very clever with your Quirk. I am proud of how far you've come with specialized training in a short time." Aizawa told the student, his tired eyes burning into her angry ones. Kaiya searched for a sense of deceit in them, but all she saw was truth.
Her eyes turned green again when she spoke. "So now what? I just continue training like normal with you all watching over me just in case I go over to the dark side?" She snarked, a hint of sarcasm in her voice to which Aizawa rolled his eyes at.
"I suspect that this new information will only improve your motivation to be better. I don't tell my students this much, but I do see a bright future for you. I'm not worried about you." He almost allowed himself to smile, but corrected himself with a cough. "Now, go over to that mountainside and start target practice and combine the elements; even when you feel tired, keep going. Your endurance is the thing that needs the most work." He instructed. Kaiya stood up and handed the picture back to him but he shook his head. "You keep that. It's yours."
"Thank you sir, for more than just the picture." Kaiya smiled, heading over to the mountainside Aizawa pointed out.
Hours went by and she took a break sitting in the shade, stretching her palms out. The earth around her was scattered and broken as she had combined it with wind for the last hour, but the tree she was sitting under remained intact. Kaiya heard shuffling as she opened her eyes to see Bakugou approaching her. "What do you want?" She asked, closing her eyes again.
"Figured we should...I don't know...talk maybe?" He growled, sweat glistening off his body as he sat beside her at a safe distance in case she would swipe at him.
"About what?" She asked, leaning her head back on the tree.
"We haven't really spoken since the sports festival where you almost bit my head off." He replied, not looking at Kaiya.
"You deserved that. You were being a world class asshole." She replied back, still not looking at him. She could feel the teen tense next to her and waited for him to lose his temper at her tone. "Why does it bother you that we haven't spoken much? We aren't friends." Kaiya asked him. "You've made that perfectly clear."
"I don't know. I guess I said something that struck a nerve with you and I'm curious as to what it was." He mumbled, his eyes glaring at the ground. Kaiya finally opened her eyes and regarded Bakugou carefully.
"You truly want to know why I got so upset? You won't use this against me in a fight in the future?" She asked, arching her eyebrow at him when he finally looked her way.
"I won't." Kaiya sighed heavily and turned to him, her eyes finding a blade of grass and focused on it. "It's a big deal isn't it?" He asked, seeing her hesitation.
"It is. But I need to share it; I made a promise to myself. I don't want to be a mystery to anyone anymore." She said, finally looking up to see Bakuguo's normally fire red eyes, turn soft. Kaiya told him of her story and as she finished, he looked as if he was more comfortable around her. "So? What's on your mind now?" She asked, pulling at her hair gently.
"Everything makes more sense now; everything you did at the festival. Why you and Icy Hot are close. Why you work so hard to prove something." He explained, scratching at his neck in thought. "You're certainly not weak." He mumbled to himself.
"Did you think I was?" Kaiya laughed in shock.
"Kinda at first, but only because you couldn't control all your elements. But now, there definitely is a difference." He shrugged his shoulders. "You look stronger."
"A compliment from Katsuki Bakugou? I'm such a lucky girl." Kaiya winked at him, nudging him playfully.
"Shut up Green Eyes." He mumbled, but didn't move away from her nudge.
"Where did that name come from anyway?" Kaiya smiled at him. "It's nicer than Icy Hot and bastard that you keep throwing around." Bakuguo sucked his teeth and got to his feet.
"Your eyes were the first things that made me lose focus at the festival." He admitted.
"Aww Bakuguo, that's kinda sweet."
"Shut up." He growled, turning away from the giggling girl. "I meant because I notice they turn red when you're angry or use your fire. I prefer the green."
"Oh, I forget they do that sometimes." Kaiya shrugged then nudged Bakugou again. "I won't tell anyone about your little soft spot for me." Kaiya whispered, earning a string of curse words from him. Getting to her feet, she rolled her eyes and caught his arm before he could stalk too far away. She pecked a small kiss on his cheek and he froze at the action. "Thank you. Now I know how to calm you down." She giggled, flipping her hair and walking back to her mountainside.
Bakugou was left with a tingling feeling on his cheek from where Kaiya had kissed him. He didn't know why she did it, maybe just to tease him but he couldn't understand the feeling that was in his stomach. He stalked back to where his cauldron full of hot water was and took a deep breath. Whatever feeling this was, he was hoping that intense training would wipe it away.
Kaiya wandered back to the scattered groups of students and giggled when she saw Todoroki in a drum of water. "What are you doing?" She asked, seeing beads of sweat roll down his face.
"Regulating the temperatures. This sucks." He groaned. His arms were shaking as he pushed himself out of the water and onto the ground next to Kaiya. "What were you doing?" He asked, seeing Kaiya's cut and bruised hands.
"Fighting against a mountain. I think the mountain won. Everything hurts." She told him, stretching out her palms.
"Did you use your mind trick?"
"I notice it works well with earth but not so much on the other elements. Working on that." Kaiya answered. "I hope lunch is soon, I'm starving." Todoroki nodded his agreement as his eyes danced around the area. "What are you looking for?" Kaiya asked him, but instead of a response; Todoroki placed a quick kiss on her lips.
"In case anyone was around." He whispered, noticing Kaiya's blushing cheeks. "I'll see you later for dinner." He nodded and walked towards the group of students, leaving Kaiya with butterflies in her stomach.
"He's...so sweet." She whispered.
For dinner, the students were instructed to make a curry for themselves. Kaiya began lighting her group's fire pit when she felt someone brush up against her. A warm sensation crept through her as Todoroki crouched down and lit Mina and Ochako's fire next to her.
"Here. Let me." He said as his palm lit the coals. The girls cheered and thanked him as a small smile broke through; sending shivers up Kaiya's spine. He looked over at her and kept his smile lingering. "Do you need help?" He asked a dazed Kaiya.
"Hm?" She mumbled, forgetting her hand was also on fire.
"I think your pit is on now." He pointed at the large flame under the pot, bringing Kaiya out of her daze.
"Whoops! Got distracted." She chuckled nervously as Tsu began giggling behind her. Todoroki smirked at the effect he had on his secret girlfriend and went down the line to help light the other student's fires. Kaiya grumbled to herself for making a fool of herself as she stirred the curry. "That couldn't have been more embarrassing." A loud explosion interrupted her as she noticed Bakugou stomp away from a blackened fire pit. "Well...I stand corrected."
Their curry was finished and they were happily enjoying it together as the rest of the class came up with their own variations. "I'm not a chef, but this could be worse." Tsu mumbled, spooning a mouthful.
"Yeah, we all did okay!" Kaminari smiled while Kirishima shoved more food into his mouth. Kaiya smirked at the hungry boys, wondering where they found room in their stomachs for all they ate. "Hey, what did you do to Bakugou earlier? We saw you talking to him then he started his training back up more intense than usual." He laughed, eyeing the explosion boy further down the table. "Lots of explosions…"
"He said something nice to me so I gave him a peck on the cheek and he froze." Kaiya whispered, laughing at the two boys' reactions in front of her." "It meant nothing; but it was super entertaining to watch. He hasn't been able to look at me since though."
"You are a cruel woman Kaiya." Kirishima laughed. "But at least we know what will shut him up."
"I said the same thing! But I won't make a habit of it." Kaiya pointed out, sipping on her tea.
"Saving your kisses for someone special?" Kaminari asked, nudging Kirishima next to him. Kaiya arched her eyebrow curiously at him and saw who the two boys' were eyeing from down the table. Todoroki sat with Midoriya and Iida eating his dinner and Kaiya's cheeks heated.
"We're friends." Kaiya lied, spooning more rice into her mouth. Kaminari and Kirishima shared knowing looks but didn't press any further for which Kaiya was thankful.
That night, Kaiya ventured outside to gaze up at the stars. She sat on the deck stairs and took a deep breath. "I knew I'd find you out here." A low voice sounded from behind her. Todoroki stood in his usual white tank and sweatpants, leaning on the door frame.
"Hi there." Kaiya smiled as Todorki came to sit next to her. "Good day?"
"Yeah, it was harder than I thought it would be." He answered her, his knee touching hers. "I missed you." He admitted quietly. Kaiya chuckled at his words and nudged him gently.
"We were around each other just as much as usual."
"Yeah...but now we're together." He reminded her, a warm feeling settling in Kaiya's stomach at his words. "It's different." He whispered, looking up into the stars. Kaiya smiled warmly at Todoroki while the starlight painted his face. She could get used to this feeling; but didn't want to hide it much longer.
"I want to tell people." Kaiya told him, leaning into Todoroki's side. His eyes never wavered from his star gazing while he nodded.
"Me too." Kaiya smiled warmly and nuzzled against Todoroki's shoulder; smelling the fresh scent of his soap wafting in the wind.
