Yawning, Katara stretched her arms as she stood in the elevator next to Jiro and Kaminari. Now that they were getting ready for class, it was finally time for them to get back to studying and school work, not that they were too excited for that part. But as they came down for breakfast, what surprised the waterbender was outside the door to the elevator opened, and the mop splashing across the floor in front of her.

"Sorry, just watch out for the water, there." Izuku warned them as he swished his mop across the ground.

"Oh, thanks…" Katara thanked as she stepped out, still surprised at seeing him pulling his bucket of water back. Two days had passed since the event with Bakugo and Izuku had occurred, and most of the class was still confused as to why this had happened. Whenever someone did try to ask, Tenya made sure to remind them they had to face their punishment and leave them be. Sighing, Katara walked by him and headed towards the kitchen, seeing Sero, Tsu and Uraraka already making breakfast.

"Yo, you guys want some eggs?" Sero asked, "We got a bunch ready for everyone!"

"I got some toast ready too." Tsu added in.

"Hell yeah, dish me some up!" Kaminari happily accepted as he walked past Katara and grabbed a plate.

"I'll just grab some coffee." Jiro said.

"I'll take some, please." Katara responded as well, following them in and grabbing some food. As they ate, some of the others came in as well and quickly made their breakfast. After a few minutes, Shoto came down as well, his eyes locking with Katara immediately. The pair stared for a moment before they gave a quick nod and smiled to one another, the fire and ice user coming in and grabbing a plate. "Good morning. How'd you sleep?" She asked him.

"Not too bad. Was thinking about what our first day back is going to be like." He responded.

"Yeah, we have the opening ceremony to go to today! We missed the first one when school started because of Aizawa sensei's quirk test." Uraraka added in.

"What's supposed to happen in it?" Katara asked curiously.

Sero gave a shrug as he ate. "Eh, who knows. Maybe it's just what we are supposed to do this year living here."

"Well we shouldn't wait too long then," Katara said as she finished her plate. "We can-

"Everyone! Our class rep has ordered us to head to class!" Tenya announced to everyone with a demanding chop. "Finish eating and grab your bags so we can hurry to school!"

Katara frowned at the declaration as everyone either chuckled or groaned in annoyance. As they began standing up from their seats, they were all surprised by the tray slamming on the table in the middle of all of them.

"But those damn dirty dishes in here! I'll finish that shit!" Bakugo yelled out, snatching all the empty plates and stacking them on the brown tray before carrying past everyone to the kitchen sink. The group of students watched in surprise as the explosion teen viciously scrubbed at the dishes, soap flying in the air as he attacked the butter-covered plates.

"This is so strange…" Kirishima scratched his head as he watched his friend clean up.

Tokoyami gave a nod in agreement. "It is quite an odd sight."

"I'm kinda getting a kick out of it." Jiro laughed out.

"AHHHHH! DIE YOU DAMN EGGS!" Bakugo screamed out as he raced through plate after plate, soap splattering through the air from his scrubbing.

Shaking her head, Katara stood up from the seat and grabbed her backpack. "Guess we are going then."

"Everyone, it is time to grab your bags and head to class! Let's go!" Tenya declared out, walking ahead and holding the door open for the class. "Time to start the new semester!"

Laughing at his antics, Katara rolled her eyes and slipped her bag over her shoulder. Deciding to just let the two teens clean, the rest of Class A headed out through the door and off to their first day of the second semester… all except for Momo as she drank her juice. "I'll be there in a second. I just need to finish this real fast."

"Oh, we can wait outside for you, don't worry." Katara said as they walked outside, the door closing behind them and leaving the room silent once more. After a few moments, Momo let out a small sigh and glanced over to Bakugo. The two of them locked eyes for several moments before the creationist turned back to her crush. Huffing out, Bakugo dropped the sponge he was holding in the water.

"You got something you wanna say, Ponytail?" Bakugo asked, scoffing at the glare she gave him. "Or did Deku already tell you what happened?"

Squeezing the mop in his hand, Izuku gave a small nod. "She knows now, Kachaan."

Looking back to Bakugo, Momo took a breath and rubbed her arm. After Izuku told her everything that happened that night, she certainly didn't expect to be sharing the secret with Bakugo. "So you had to pick a fight with him after all. Just for a different reason it seems now."

Frowning, Bakugo gripped the sink edge and looked away. "I'll keep Deku's power a secret. I'm not a blabbermouth like him."

Nodding, Momo grabbed her bag from the seat. "Good." Walking over to Izuku, she gave him a quick kiss on the cheek. "See you after school, alright?"

Blushing, Izuku gave a goofy smile and nodded up to her. "Y-yeah. See you later." He said as she walked past him and out the door.

"God, you're gonna make me sick." Bakugo growled out and went back to scrubbing. "All that power and still act like a damn nerd around a girl."

"Hey, th-this is different!" Izuku muttered out and splashed his mop in his bucket. As the water swirled around, Bakugo eyed the liquid curiously before frowning again.

"You've been keeping Hairloops secret from your girl as well. Think you can keep that up?"

Izuku froze at the statement, his eyes widening in worry from both Bakugo's curiosity in Katara… and his statement in general. While he had been keeping the secret with Shoto and Tenya, he knew it was only a matter of time before others found out as well. Was it better to keep this all from everyone, or Should Katara come forward to everyone else and hope for the best?

An hour passed before class 1-A actually made it to their classroom, having to go to the opening ceremony in the front of the school along with the rest of the student body. As they expected, most of the speech made by the principal was simply explaining to everyone the changes they would have to deal with now, living on campus and the rise in villainous activity. But there was one thing that confused a lot of the younger students, not just Katara and her classmates. Something that was mentioned about… work studies?

As they got back to class, they all took their seats as their teacher slowly trotted in behind them all. "Alright everyone, be quiet and take your seats." Aizawa stated as he got behind his desk.

"Sir!" Tenya raised his hand in the air. "We are already in our seats and have prepared ourselves for class!"

"Did I ask for an announcement?" Aizawa's hair stood on end at the remark, causing Tenya to shiver in fear. "How about stay quiet and let me speak." Deactivating his quirk, Aizawa scratched his cheek and adjusted the papers on his desk. "So, I don't need to explain much more than what the principle already said, but we have now entered the second semester of school. While we are continuing school classes like normal, the difference is living on campus means a more hands on approach to everything."

"Sir, I am confused about something, though," Tsu asked from her seat. "The principle mentioned something about hero work studies."

"I was also confused, sensei." Momo added from the back. "Is this another internship program?"

Aizawa gave a nod to their questions. "You are close. This is just like it sounds, work outside of class. For your internships you were guests at a hero's agency, where now because of your licenses, you actually have the ability to participate in real emergencies. This also includes engaging with villains if it comes to that."

While Katara felt relieved to the part with having the license, she couldn't help but look over to Shoto beside her. Since he didn't get his license, she knew this was now something he would not be part of now. While she could sense his disappointment, he was obviously doing his best to hide it with his monotone expression. Sighing to herself, she looked back forward to Aizawa as he continued explaining.

"These work studies are more difficult to obtain as well, because you will use your invitations from the sports festival to find an agency willing to accept you. Unlike the internships, however, only agencies with reputable track records will be accepted, or if you receive a respected invite from agency now. So those of you who didn't receive invites at the festival are going to have a hard time finding a location. But for now, I'll leave it at that for you all. While Midoriya and Bakugo have their punishment to deal with, I simply don't want to have to explain everything multiple times."

As Aizawa went on to explain the day's schedule, Shoto's fist tightened at the statement just made, but it wasn't for himself. He remembered the events that forced Katara to have to go work for his father, and the story they had to go by to try and hide it. While it certainly wasn't the best cover, it helped lower the questions regarding why Katara was there in the first place. He looked over to the waterbender beside him and immediately saw the look of frustration on her face. He didn't even need to ask what was bothering her, because it was obvious she was thinking the same thing.

To keep face with the public, Katara was made to go and intern under Endeavor to appear they were on better terms than the truth really was. With everything that had happened and was still going on, she knew the school would make it so she would have to do it once more, to keep her story intact and make it look better for both her and the new number one hero. She couldn't help but feel her stomach tighten more knowing the difference this time, however. This time… she would have to do this without Shoto beside her.

Later that evening

Yawning out, the sidekick Burnin popped her neck as she came through the doors to Endeavor's agency. After finishing up a few minor cases, she had gone on to clear up some of the other sidekicks dealing with their workload for the day. Now that she was done, she was ready to kick back and let the lower ranks deal with the paperwork. She glanced around at the dozens of desks as the other employees were answering the non stop calls and typing away at their computers, happy she had others she could put the workload on as she went and grabbed some food.

"Hey, Burnin!"

"Huh?" Burnin grunted at her name being called, turning to see Kido staring her way. The mummy looking man was at his desk as she nodded his way. "What's up?"

"We got a report from UA about the outcome of the license exams. Apparently they have the results of who passed and not."

Burnin couldn't help but smirk at his statement. "Oh did they now? They are getting us ready for those Work Studies they do every year. Looks like we are having Shoto coming back here soon." She let out a small laugh as she thought back to the last time they had students come here. "Maybe we will have our little water friend back too."

Kido frowned underneath the wrappings around his face to the idea. He was always cautious about the whole situation with this Katara girl, not knowing what had really gone down between this girl and his boss, but he never had the nerve to confront Endeavor on what had happened. And what he found in this letter he was certainly not in the mood to say anything either. "H-hey… can you take this and-

"Nope," Burnin cut him off as she cracked her knuckles. "I finished my shit for the day. You can finish up whatever you got and tell me about it tomorrow."

"Wait," Kido yelled as she began to walk away. "I… I got the results and saw that…"

Burnin raised her eyebrow at his stuttering. "Dude, just spit it out now or I'm heading up to-

"His kid didn't pass."

…

…

"PFFFT! HAHAHA!" Burnin couldn't contain the laughter that escaped her throat, almost falling over in shock and pleasure. "What?! Haha! The little bastard failed?! God damn that's surprising!"

"I don't see what's so funny about this…" Kido responded in surprise. "You know he won't take this well."

"Yeah I know, haha!" Burnin chuckled as she placed her hands on her hips. "Let me know the look on his face when he reads that letter."

"Yeah, about that…" Kido took a deep breath and held the paper up. "Can you take this up to him?"

"Huh?!" Burnin frowned at his request. "Dude, get your ass up from that seat and you take it to him"

Kido quickly shook his head. "Oh no, I'm not taking it to him. He's already been upset these last few weeks with everything, and I'm not gonna add this on top of that."

"And so you put that shit on me?" Burnin glared at her subordinate.

"Hey, you're number two here. If anyone won't get roasted, it's you."

Burnin clicked her tongue at the comment, glancing around at the other sidekicks avoiding eye contact. "So none of you pussies gonna take it up, either?" Despite the multiple frowns and glares she received, not a single one of them opened their mouths against what she said. Grunting, she snatched the page from his hand and stomped away from the row of desks. "Fine. All of you owe me a drink each later."

Making her way to the elevator, Burnin sighed and clicked the button going up to her bosses office. "Damn pansies can't even face the big man." She growled to herself, tapping her foot as she watched the small number on the screen go higher as she climbed. While waiting, she flipped open the page and read over the names, seeing that Kido was telling the truth and Shoto's name wasn't there. She snickered at the situation, not thinking the prodigy kid would be one to fail when the rest of the class passed.

"Huh… who would've thought the little sucker missed the cut." She chuckled as the door opened up, revealing the sprawling office of Endeavor before her. Walking inside, she immediately locked onto the fire dancing in the back of the room, the flames rising from Endeavor's shoulders from behind his desk lighting up the darkening space. Walking over, she stood at attention and gave a salute. "Afternoon sir! How was your patrol earlier?"

Endeavor sat silent for a moment before he looked up to his sidekick standing there. "It went fine. I finished off earlier than expected."

"Of course! What else would be expected from the number one hero?!" Burnin chimed in to try and cheer him up, only to frown when he simply looked out the window with no change in expression. Ever since the Kamino incident, she had noticed his normal confidence hadn't been radiating like normal, as if something was missing now. Now she was somewhat concerned about breaking the news to him. "Sir, we received a letter from UA about the outcome of the license exams. Seems your boys test didn't go as-

"I know."

Burnin's eyes widened in surprise at the statement, half expecting his head to explode when he heard. "Oh… You already got the news?"

"The principal called me earlier. I know what happened with Shoto and his exam." Endeavor stood up from his seat and walked towards the wall of windows overlooking the city. "He explained to me the outcome of the results, and how Shoto did not meet the requirements."

'Wow, this is not what I expected…' Burnin mumbled internally.

"He also requested I keep up this act that we established back then," Endeavor growled out, his fists clenching behind his back. "He asked that I once again bring Katara back here to prove she is no threat."

While she tried to hold it back, Burnin couldn't keep the smirk growing on her face. "They trying to stick the little ice chick here on us again?" She contained the chuckle that formed in her throat as she expected him to torch the room down… only for her grin to disappear as he hardly reacted to the comment. "Uh, sir? Is there something that's-

"Clear my schedule for Tomorrow, Burnin. I need to clear some things up for myself before I call the school back with my answer."

The sidekick sat in silent surprise to her bosses… seemingly calm personality to what she would've expected from learning about his son's failure. She almost didn't know what to say, especially hearing the school wanted him to take Katara back under his wing once more to keep up whatever story they made for this girl. While she herself didn't have a problem, in fact she got a kick out of the hot headed water girl, she figured Endeavor would have had to remodel his office after hearing she would have to come back. She didn't expect him to be so… casual about it.

"Uh… Yes sir!" She answered with another salute and turned to leave, catching another glance at her boss before walking towards the exit. As the door closed behind her, Endeavor took a breath and closed his eyes, bringing his arms up and crossing them across his chest. He sat in his quiet office like that for several minutes before he finally looked out once more, going over his thoughts on the girl he used to hate even seeing her face whenever it came up.

Used to.

Now, his mind was confused in how he was supposed to feel about her, his feelings of doubt beginning to fade away after everything that had happened. He always thought he was able to get a good read on who a person was, but for the first time in quite some time, he realized there was something more than to what he thought before. Now he was more concerned with something more than the story he was trying to keep up for the public. Now… he was curious to see if he was wrong about what he thought before.

Grunting, he walked back to his desk and picked up his phone. Going back to his call log, he stared at the certain number for a few moments before clicking the call back button. After a second or two, he heard the phone ring before the receptionist answered on the other end. "This is Endeavor. Transfer me to Nezu, I need to speak with him."

Standing in the center of the dojo mat blindfolded, the ninja hero Edgeshot listened for the faintest of sounds, holding his breath as he waited. Suddenly, a flurry of loud pops rang in the room, his ears picking up the hissing of air as he ducked down, feeling the draft of the arrows missing his body. Spinning backwards, he unsheathed his sword and slashed out, blocking arrow after arrow before flipping up in the air as a pair shot at his ankles.

"Faster!" He shouted out, his ears noticing the increase in arrows flying out, activating his quirk as he slipped between the flurry of steel tipped projectiles without getting grazed. Reforming his body, he turned towards the last arrow coming at him and slashed down the center, splitting the arrow in half as it passed by each side of him. Taking a breath, he lifted off the blindfold and sighed. "I thought I had the speed of those increased last week." he mumbled in frustration to the line of automated crossbows hanging from the ceiling.

"You did, sir," His assistant from the side responded, "You're already pushing these to their limit to how fast they can shoot. Either you need more set up around your facility, or you just switch these out for machine guns."

Laughing out, Edgeshot sheathed his sword on his side. "I'm not bringing those things here in my dojo. Just have two more crossbows installed this week."

While jotting down his notes, the young assistant couldn't help but raise her eyebrow at the statement. "You don't want guns here and yet you had a walking bomb train under you." she sarcastically said, making Edgeshot chuckle once more.

"That walking bomb just needed some extra guidance. Both of them did." he answered as he walked off the mat to the side, the crossbows rising up into their storage compartments in the ceiling and closing back up. He looked back to the center of his training ring, remembering where the patch that had to be fixed was as he thought back to that week with his two students. Now that the new semester at school was approaching, he knew the time for work studies had come now. But while he was interested in having Yaoyorozu come back for training and experience, the same couldn't be said for his other choice.

It had nothing to do with not wanting Bakugo to come back here and train under him any longer. In fact, there was so much more he wanted to try and teach the teen about the next step in becoming a hero. The problem however was in how the teaching would go. Yaoyorozu was a bright girl with an amazing power, but she also is the kind of person who works best as a team player and is the perfect sponge for absorbing lessons. She was always ready to listen to constructive criticism, and once she learned what her faults were, she was a patient listener and took everything he said to heart.

Bakugo however wasn't that kind of student. In the time he spent here, Edgeshot learned the hot headed teen was much smarter than he originally thought, one who took note of battle to an almost instinctive response. But he wasn't struggling because of his temper, the ninja hero learned. It was that Bakugo was a hands on learner, one who needed real experience to grow and to push himself to the next step. While he could be one to do that, he knew Bakugo needed someone who was not afraid to push back against his loud personality. Someone who was just as stubborn as he was and could match his drive and teach him the way that best suited him.

He couldn't help but smile as a certain hero came to his mind immediately.

"The only one I know who's probably as crazy as that kid," he chuckled to himself as he pulled his phone out and went through his contacts. Once he found the one he was looking for, he called it and waited for the answer.

"Yo. What's up?" A gruff voice on the other end answered, their voice already seeming irritated by his call.

"Hey there. Are you busy?" Edgeshot asked. "I have a proposition for you if you're interested."

"Ugh… I already told you I'm not joining your little boy band you're setting up. You asked twice already, so why do you think the third time will make a difference?" The voice shot back.

"Oh don't worry. I know you rejected the offer. I mean it still stands if you change your mind," He joked. "I'm not calling you about that."

"Well, the hell are you bothering me for then?" The annoyed voice asked.

"The hero work studies are coming up now, and there is someone I think you'd be interested in getting to know." Edgeshot said, his eyebrow raising from the laugh coming from his phone.

"Excuse me?! Hahaha! I work alone from heroes already, the hell makes you think I want some annoying little brat following me around all day?"

"I think having someone with you may do you good. It may actually make you learn how to play with others."

"You out of your damn mind? I don't want some pansy little twerp following me as I'm trying to do my job. I do things my way at my pace, and I'm not letting some kid slow me down."

"And that is why this is perfect," Edgeshot smiled underneath his mask. "He is unlike any student at UA. Bakugo was one of the two who were taken during the Kamino incident. In terms of power he's already at the Professional level, and you're the only one I've met more stubborn than him, that's for sure."

"What, you want me to give the kid a medal or something since you can't handle him?" The voice snickered out, making Edgeshot roll his eyes.

"I'm saying that this kid is probably the closest thing to you that I've seen in a long time. While I have shown him a great deal, it seems that he is the type who needs a hands on style of experience on the streets to grow. He needs challenge, and while we differ on our ideas of doing things, no one is as straightforward as you when it comes to fighting villains."

"Wow, did you have that shit written on a note card for when you said it?" The voice laughed at his grunt. "Bakugo… that's that bomb bastard from the festival, right?"

"Yes, and he is truly something, I'll tell you. I think you may actually get some enjoyment from him." Edgeshot explained, the silence on the other end making him grin, and the fact he hadn't been hung up on showed there was some form of interest. "I know if anyone can get through his head and teach him more, it's going to be you."

Hoping his word games were enough, Edgeshot stood there waiting for the hero on the other end to give an answer. Knowing how competitive this hero was, Edgeshot knew throwing in a challenge would certainly help his odds of getting Bakugo an offer. After a few more seconds of silence, the sigh he heard was enough to show he was successful.

"This kid's temper match how he was at the festival?"

"Oh yes, and so much more." Edgeshot responded.

"Hmm…" A small laugh came through the phone. "Alright… I'll bite. What else is this brat like?"

The next morning

School came fast for the students of class 1-A, sitting down in their seats just before the bell rang. Now that Izuku's house arrest had ended, he was now among the students as they waited for their teacher to arrive. While he was eager to be back and catch up on the things he missed, he couldn't help but glance across the class towards Katara. Ever since Bakugo's comment to him about her "secret", his mind kept going over the entire situation over and over, so many things coming up about what could happen if everyone found out. Even though he wanted to talk to her last night, he just never found the time or the courage to bring it up to her, especially since some of the others were around her. It was pretty obvious though she must have been thinking the same thing as well, knowing something had to be done instead of just continuing this story with all their friends.

'Maybe she's been thinking about this as well…' he said internally, glancing around to others like Mina, Momo and Tokoyami, 'Does she tell only a few people, or should everyone know?' His thoughts were cut off as the door to the class opened up and Aizawa made his way inside.

"Alright everyone, now that Midoriya is here, I want to explain some more how the work studies will be for you all." he stated as he moved behind his desk.

"Sir!" Tenya raised his hand up immediately. "Is it smart to go into detail before Bakugo has returned to us? You stated how you wanted to wait for him to explain it once!"

"I did, and I also received a call from the principal that Bakugo will be given instructions on what is occurring, therefore allowing me to continue my class. And now that we are here, I have some guests to explain to you what you should expect from your work studies."

The door to the class opened once more, all eyes turning as three students made their way inside. Katara immediately felt the presence of them as they came inside, their aura giving off a feeling unlike the other students she had met. The lead blonde teen strolled in oozing confidence, his smile lighting up his face as he came inside. The blue haired girl behind him happily walked in after, her bright eyes scanning the class curiously as she looked back and forth. Then the final teen came in, his shoulders hunkered over and eyes to the ground, not hard to tell he was not comfortable around others. What she could tell was they certainly weren't first years.

"Here we have third years that stand far above the rest of the student body. These are the top students among not just everyone here at UA, but all the students in Japan. They are also known as… the big three."

Many of the students stared in awe at the trio before them, many of them so shocked to see them all here. Katara was surprised by their reactions, but to see these were the top students across all of Japan was amazing. She leaned up to Kendo sitting in front of her and tapped her shoulder. "You know about them?" she asked.

Kendo gave a small nod. "A little. I heard they are all extremely strong, even above most pro heroes. They say the three of them will easily become top heroes when they graduate."

Katara's eyes widened in surprise hearing that, looking back up to the three standing there. She could tell they were strong, but to hear they were that strong made her curious now. When they began speaking, however… She and the rest of the class were surprised once more by their contradicting personalities. The shy teen, Tamaki Amajiki, was even more frightened by crowds than Katara had thought, the tall teen literally trembling before the class and having to turn around and face the wall avoiding eye contact. The blue haired girl, Nejire Hado, seemed friendly and happy, although was probably the most blunt girl she had ever met besides Toph.

"Wow, those horns growing out of your head! If they break off, do they grow back?" She asked seeing Mina before turning towards Shoto in the back. "Whoa, look at that scar. How did you get that?"

Katara frowned at the insensitive question, glancing over to Shoto to see his mouth fall open in surprise. But before he could even really process what she said, she was onto commenting about Shoji's multiple arms out of curiosity. Now Katara realized she wasn't being mean, but was simply that much of an airhead; she didn't even think about what she was asking and just stated the obvious things she saw. "She doesn't really think about anything before she speaks…" Katara couldn't help but sigh as the girl bounced from one student to the next, before the final third year raised his hand.

"Not too much Nejire, you're scaring them," Mirio Togata chuckled out and turned to the class, his bright blue eyes just screaming excitement and joy. "It's great to meet you all today! I was blown away by all of you at the festival, and have been really curious to get to meet all of you! And now I bet your day is going to be…" he paused as he waited for the class to answer, only for none of them to in confusion. "Awful! That's what you're supposed to say, hahaha!"

"What's with this guy?" Kirishima asked as the third year laughed out loud.

"Wow, this is awkward now. I must say, it's really surprising to see so many first years getting their licenses already. It seems you all are pretty strong," Mirio gave a small smirk and gripped his chin. "I'm curious to see where everyone is. So how about I fight all of your class at once!"

"HUH?!" All of the class gasped out at once, completely caught off guard by his request.

"You want to fight us?!" Kirishima muttered in confusion.

"Like… now?!" Sero added.

"This seems way too crazy!" Uraraka yelled out.

Mirio nodded and smiled towards the teacher. "Well, if you want them to learn about our experience, this is the most rational way. Right Erasurehead? Rational!"

While it certainly wasn't the original plan, Aizawa didn't see anything wrong with this idea and gave a nod of approval. "You can do whatever you want as long as they understand." Turning to the class, he stepped forward and pointed at them. "Alright, go and change into your gym uniforms and meet at the gym Gamma."

Once changed, the class made their way into the large training building as they stood across from the confident teen as he was stretching his legs. Katara stood towards the front of the group as the others eyed Mirio curiously, wondering what this guy was thinking trying to take all of them at once. All of them except Bakugo… and Shoto.

Glancing to the side, Katara stared at Shoto as he chose to sit the match out, figuring he didn't earn this privilege to join this training exercise. Standing on the side with Aizawa, Shoto locked eyes with her for a moment before he nodded, letting her know he would be fine and to focus on the match before her. Taking a breath, she nodded back and looked forward once more, adjusting her canteen on the side and observing the stretching Mirio. "He really wants to take all of us on?" She asked out.

"You may be underestimating us," Tokoyami said out loud. "We all have experience ourselves."

"Yeah, and we have taken down our share of villains before." Kirishima grinned and cracked his knuckles.

"Oh I know you are all strong, and that's why I gotta get loose," Mirio laughed and continued his leg stretches. "I want this to be a good match for everyone."

Kendo eyed the third year cautiously, the fact he was so confident against all of them made her on edge. She exhaled and cracked her own knuckles readying herself. "So how are we doing this, all at once?" She asked out loud.

"We don't even know his power, so we should not just rush." Katara added and opened her canteen.

Nodding, Izuku stepped ahead of everyone and readied his quirk, his energy flowing through his body. "I'll go first and engage. Watch what his power is and then we can make a plan."

Nodding, Katara waved her hand and bended out a large ball of water above her head. The others in the class all readied themselves as well, with Mina readying the acid in her hands and Mineta pulling off several balls from his head. Others like Ojiro and Kendo got in their fighting stances and Tenya ignited his legs ready to run forward. Soon every member of the class was ready to engage, Mirio standing straight up and smiling. "Alright then. Let's get this going! Whenever you are ready, go for it!"

Deciding to not wait, Izuku kicked off the ground and leaped straight towards Mirio ready to strike. As he did, however… He gasped in shock as the clothes over the third year seemingly fell off his body.

"AAHHHHHH!" Jiro screamed out as she nearly caught sight of the older teens junk, covering her eyes and turning away.

"What in the?!" Katara almost dropped her water in shock as Mirio laughed out and bent over to pull his pants back up.

"Oops, sorry about that. I hate when that happens." Mirio chuckled and tightened his pants back up. Izuku however saw the opportunity as his guard was down, bringing his leg forward and swinging at the older teens head… only for his foot to pass straight through Mirio's head.

"What?!" Izuku gasped in confusion as he felt nothing, yet he saw his foot pass directly through the teens head.

"What just happened?!" Momo shouted in disbelief at what she saw. "Was that an illusion?"

Izuku skidded to a stop behind Mirio, looking back in surprise as attacks from Sero, Mina and Aoyama all blasted forth and all passed right through the third year as well. "It's all going straight through him." he said in amazement.

"How the heck is he doing that?!" Mina shouted out as her acid did nothing.

"What kind of power is that?" Kaminari yelled out.

Katara stared in shock as the attacks all seemed to go straight through Mirio, the older teen now turning his attention to the class. "Here he comes!" She shouted and spun her hands forward, shooting forth a water whip at him to keep him at bay. Like the other attacks, it passed right through him and struck the concrete wall behind him. She pulled it back to strike him from behind, but even as he ran forward the water struck nothing and pulled straight through his chest. "What is he?!"

The next moment, Mirio dropped through the ground and vanished from sight, the only thing left there was his pants floating down. The class all stared in shock as they looked around trying to find the missing foe, their eyes darting back and forth and-

"AHHH!"

Everyone turned around to Jiro's loud scream, shocked to see Mirio come up behind the earphone teen in the back of the crowd. "How did he get back there?!" Tokoyami shouted and shot forth dark shadow's arms at the third year. Before his quirk could make contact, Mirio burst forward straight through dark shadow's arms before delivering a powerful punch straight to Tokoyami's stomach.

"Tokoyami!" Katara yelled out as her friend buckled over in pain, the large blonde bursting forward and delivering more punches to Tsu, Aoyama and Sero in the matter of seconds. "Get back!" Katara shouted as she shot out several ice spikes at Mirio to keep him away from Jiro and Kaminari, but even as the ice passed through his head and chest he still landed powerful blows to their stomachs. "How is he hitting them still?!"

"What kind of power is he using?!" Momo yelled before she saw Mirio turning her direction, creating a chain and swinging it at him to try and keep him back. Dropping the weapon, she conjured forth a large riot shield to try and block his punch as he threw it, but she gasped out in pain as his fist passed through the shield and still landed hard to her gut.

"Momo!" Izuku screamed as he saw his girlfriend slump to the ground, kicking off himself and swinging his fist straight at Mirio's head. Before he could land however, Mirio dropped down and fell through the floor once more.

"Where did he go?!" Kendo yelled out as Izuku knelt down to Momo's side, looking around as the third year suddenly appeared up and slammed his fist into Mina and Mineta's stomach's. Yelling out, she expanded her hands and attempted to grab him to keep him from moving around, but she only felt nothing as her hand passed directly through his body. The last thing she took note of was the large smile on Mirio's face as his fist drove straight into her stomach making her nearly pass out as she collapsed.

"You're all pretty fast. This is a good challenge!" Mirio giggled as a stream of water shot right through his face once more, turning to face Katara as the stream swung back and forth trying to hit him. "You keep trying to find out how to hit me. That's a good idea in a fight!"

"Is this a lesson?" Katara asked in surprise and pulled the water back around her body, confused how she couldn't hit him and yet he could hit them. As he leaped right at her, she quickly formed a water shield around her body and spun it around, making sure she was completely surrounded and keeping him from-

"Nice technique, this is cool!" Mirio said as he phased straight through her barrier and delivered a hard blow into her stomach, knocking all the wind out of her and shoving her back through her own attack.

"Katara!" Tenya shouted from the side of the arena as Katara rolled across the ground, the water splashing down and pooling around her slumped body. Shoto's eyes also widened in anger seeing her injured, his fists clenching watching her struggle to get up.

Coughing out, Katara couldn't do anything except clutch her stomach, the impact feeling even harder than Tenya's kick during the festival. She heard several other gasps as she looked up, now seeing Kirishima, Shoji and Toru drop from the powerful shots they received from him. His speed was unreal, moving from student to student before they could even see him, and if they did they could do nothing to hit him. Glaring, she forced her hand to move and summoned a ball of water and shifted to the side. Bringing the water to her stomach, Katara immediately began healing herself, the pain slowly dissipating as she looked up to see the damage now.

"Recipro bur- GAH!" Tenya gasped out as Mirio landed a hard shot to his stomach before dropping through the ground as Uraraka tried touching him to make him float. While the others began panicking again, Izuku began seeing a pattern to this technique.

"He goes underground and always comes back up…' Izuku flipped around and brought his fist back, Just as Mirio popped up from the ground. "From behind!"

Mirio's smile dropped in surprise at the reaction, seeing Izuku had predicted his location. 'He knew where I'd come up? Pretty smart!' Mirio couldn't help but laugh in excitement as Izuku's fist went straight through his hand as he pointed his hand right at Izuku's face. "Special technique; Blinding eyeball poke!" he shouted as Izuku closed his eyes in reaction, leaving him exposed as Mirio aimed his fist directly at the green haired teens stomach… but was shocked when a stream of water gripped his wrist just before contact. "Huh?"

Katara was back to her feet, pulling hard and forcing Mirio's arm back from Izuku. "So you can be hit!" Katara yelled and swung her other arm whipping forth a stream to ensare Mirio, but once more both this and the first stream suddenly phased through his body. Glaring, she pulled the water back and formed a massive stream circling around her body, punching it and shooting ice spikes at the laughing and charging Mirio.

"Wow, you're already up? You must be pretty strong to get up so fast!" He happily exclaimed as he ran straight through the incoming attacks. He quickly fell through the floor once more, Katara readied herself and pulled the water over her body, covering herself completely like armor. Somehow, he was passing through anything and yet still making contact with them. If she kept her body encased in water, then there should be no way for him to-

"Flying water uppercut!"

Katara coughed out all her air as the rising punch rose up from the ground and plowed into her stomach, Mirio's fist passing through her body armor and yet still hitting her in the gut. She felt her feet come off the ground from the impact, this one harder than the first one and making her vision go blank.

"Katara!" Izuku shouted before he himself gasped out from the shot to his stomach, Mirio standing triumphantly above the downed class 1-A.

"POWER!"

The rest of the day passed relatively quickly for Katara, luckily the pain in her stomach only lasting for about ten minutes along with the rest of the class. After their experience against Mirio, she and the others were blown away by how strong he was. What was even more surprising was learning how his quirk, permeation, was what gave him the ability to pass through anything at will. He was using it to phase through both the ground and their attacks while materializing whenever he needed to land his own strikes. What was shocking to hear though was that his quirk was never strong to begin with. In fact, he was at the bottom of his class when he first came to UA. What made him strong was creativity and years of dedication and hard work.

And now, he was already being considered as a candidate for the top hero in the country.

After school was over, Katara and the rest of the class were all changed and relaxing in the common area of their dorm, unable to stop talking about how incredible the third year was.

"Dude, if he is this tough while still in school, imagine what he's gonna be like in ten years!" Kirishima chuckled in amazement.

"I think he was incredible! He was like, zipping in and out of the ground like a groundhog, yet, he wasn't a groundhog!" Toru exclaimed out, earning a blank look from Tsu.

"That was a strange comparison. Ribbit."

Katara chuckled at their exchange, glancing over to Shoto beside her. "Perhaps you could have jumped in and tried landing a hit on him."

Sighing, Shoto looked down at his hand in wonder. "I'm not sure it would have made a difference. He was able to go through everything and anything. My ice and fire would be no different than the ground he went through."

Katara gave a small shrug. "It could have thrown him off a bit at least."

"It's incredible, though, how such a basic quirk can be used to that extent." Momo explained, thinking about her own ability and the limits she always believed she had. "He used to say he was always held back by his power, and yet he modified it to become something incredible. If he can do that with his power, imagine what we could do with ours."

Izuku couldn't help but beam in excitement to her explanation. "I know. It's so amazing what people can do with their powers when they push them to their limits!"

While all the other students began chiming in agreement, Katara took a moment to really think about what she just heard. Sure she didn't have a quirk, but the logic was the same to her bending. Pushing the limits to what she could do would only make her stronger, and that is something she needed to do for herself to protect those close to her now. She thought of all of her abilities, remembering how far things like her healing had come since she had began training under Recovery girl. But then, her heart jumped when she remembered what happened after Kamino, the revelation she discovered residing inside her mind.

'Kyoshi…'

It had been over a week since she had been able to communicate with the former avatar, not being able to reach her since that night. So far she had tried on three separate occasions to meditate, unable to find the connection she had made after moving into the dorms. But while she was unable to each time, she was able to sense something there, and it grew stronger every time she tried to speak to the tall warrior. While she didn't know what Kyoshi meant when she wasn't ready yet, she was going to be whenever the time came when she was able to communicate with her again.

As she brought her attention back to the class, she jumped in surprise as Bakugo suddenly entered the room holding a large trash bag. "Hey, who needs trash taken out?! This is my last round before I'm done with this shit!" He yelled out in rage, ready to be done with his house arrest.

"There's no need for that anymore," the deep voice from behind made the class jump up, turning to see Aizawa strolling into their dormitory. "You can set that down Bakugo, I'm calling an end to your house arrest."

"Thank god…" Bakugo scoffed and threw the bag away and towards the door. Rolling his eyes, Aizawa turned back towards the rest of the class.

"While all of you can try and use your requests made during the festival, I'm here because there are some of you who have already received requests for your work studies." Aizawa announced, receiving multiple wide eyes from the class.

"Already?" Kaminari asked, grinning. "Hopefully a few called me back and-

"You didn't get an offer," Aizawa cut him off, ignoring the whine from the electric teen. "As I stated, there are a handful of you have offers. Tokoyami, you have one."

The shadow user raised his eyebrow in surprise. "From whom?"

"The number two hero; Hawks."

Several others gasped in amazement, having such a famous person asking for their classmate. "Whoa, that is so sweet! He's so cool!" Mina exclaimed in excitement, patting her friend on the shoulder. "Look at you becoming so famous!"

Chuckling internally, Tokoyami stood up from the wall and nodded at his teacher. "I accept the offer. Thank you."

Nodding in return, Aizawa then turned to the pair of girls across the room. "Uraraka, Asui, both of you have a request to go and meet with Nejire Hado tomorrow."

"Hado?!" Uraraka gasped out in shock as Tsu put a finger to her chin.

"She was the girl from earlier. Ribbit. Why does she want us?"

"The hero she works with is interested in meeting you. And the same goes to Kirishima; You are to go and meet Amajiki Tamaki as well." Aizawa said, earning another amazed gasp from the red head before turning his attention towards the new student in class. "Kendo, you have a request as well."

"I do?" Kendo asked in surprise, not expecting an offer since most of her offers after the festival weren't that impressive.

"Yes, from Shishido."

Kendo's eyes widened in disbelief. "The lion hero?! He's… he's the thirteenth ranked in Japan!"

"He says he's interested in having you come to work with him. And Yaoyorozu, Edgeshot has requested you return to him."

While Momo couldn't help but smile in excitement, Bakugo's eye twitched in annoyance when his name wasn't mentioned along with hers. 'What the hell? Ponytail gets called back but I don't get one?' He spat internally, before he noticed Aizawa looking directly at him.

"Bakugo, Edgeshot has given a personal request to where you will be going for your work studies."

"Huh?" Bakugo tilted his head in confusion. "Where I'm going? The hell does that even mean?"

"It means your location has been determined to where you will go." Aizawa had to fight back the small grin fighting to show up on his face as he thought back to what the principal told him earlier. "Along with a personal vouch from Edgeshot, principal Nezu believes this will be a good experience for you as well."

"Well who the hell is it then?" Bakugo growled in annoyance.

"It's been requested that their identity be kept secret until you arrive."

"What?!" Bakugo yelled in anger. "What do you mean I don't get to know them?! How about I just say no?!"

"Unfortunately with everything going on, you don't get that choice. For your own safety, we require that a high ranking pro be the one to keep an eye on you… and I think you may finally learn some respect working for them, so you're going."

Katara couldn't help giggle as Bakugo ground his teeth in frustration, always finding a little enjoyment seeing his temper being put in place. She did stop laughing when she realized his situation was exactly what happened to her; not given a choice where she was going and had to go to a place she didn't want to.

"Katara."

Katara's heart jumped when she heard her name, turning towards Aizawa as she expected the same news. "Yes?" she responded.

"Both you and Iida come with me. I need to speak to you in private about a personal matter." Aizawa stated before turning to leave the room, leaving both Katara and Tenya confused and concerned to what he was referring to. The others in the class stared at them as well, watching as they got up from their spots. Once through the doors, their teacher outside turned to face both of them.

"Sir, is something wrong as to why you needed to speak to us in private?" Tenya asked, receiving a head shake from the eraser hero.

"Nothing too concerning, but I received word that your brother is leaving the hospital today." Aizawa said, noticing both of his students eyes burst open at his statement. "They said his surgery was a success."

"It… it worked?!" Katara gasped in glee, her hands clasping together, "I can't believe it! Is he-

"Don't jump to conclusions just yet. We heard they have successfully reconnected the spinal column together, but taking steps is still not guaranteed. They just wanted to announce he will be going home now."

Tenya almost leaped in the air in excitement at the news, "I can't believe it! Thank you for the wonderful news, sir!"

"Yes, and while that is news for you both, I did bring you out for another reason, unfortunately." Aizawa said, both of their smiles fading from their faces. "I needed to get katara out here as well to speak to her away from the others as well."

The waterbender felt her stomach tighten when she heard that, already having a feeling of what he was going to tell her.

"With everything that has happened since you've arrived, it's been getting quite hard to keep everything under wraps. With what happened in Kamino, now your face has been seen all across the country now."

"This was not Katara's fault sir, you know that!" Tenya announced in anger, "She didn't want to-

"I'm not saying it's her fault, but having your exploits shown across to the world certainly isn't helping keeping you a low profile. In all honesty your time at Endeavor's did help ease the tension from your first night here, and that is why I have to say that you'll be doing it again."

Katara's fist tightened at the announcement, sighing and looking away. "They want to make look good for him, don't they?" She growled out.

"It's for you as well. And it isn't just about your image, but safety. With you being personally targeted, I actually suggested that you and the others who were targeted stay within the school for own safety. Nezu and the others still suggested that experience in the field is the best way to make you stronger. So with that in mind, you three are all required to be with high ranking pros for your work studies. And Endeavor himself sent in a request for you to come to his agency."

Now that was something Katara did not expect, thinking he would be doing anything to try and avoid her from coming back to his agency. After everything that Shoto had told her about what happened when he was younger, she wanted to say no and refuse to even go to these work studies that were being discussed. Another part of her however… wanted her to go.

She wanted to face this man and confront him on how she felt about everything. And now, it seemed she was going to have her chance.

The Previous Night

Dabi growled in annoyance as he felt his body bounce up and down as he was carried through the darkness. It has been close to twelve hours since he had encountered the pair of hunters in the alleyway, the two of them saying they were taking him to their leader. That journey however included taking him to different parts of the city, unable to even tell where he was going by that point. It was obvious they were dragging out the time it took to get to their location, throwing off his judgment to tell how far their base was from where they picked him up so he didn't know where it could be.

During the second break they took on the way there, he nearly lost his cool and was ready to burn them both right there. Instead however, he kept his patience, taking all his willpower to not do anything to blow this opportunity. He had heard that they were efficient with their skills, and he wanted to see what they could do. But that didn't make it better as the large crocodile jumped down suddenly, the landing causing Dabi to gasp out.

"God damn it… I'm tired of this shit!" Dabi snapped out and reached for the bag on his head. "I'm done with this! You bastards have been dragging me across this fucking city for too long!" Before he could pull it off, he yelped out as Rogue suddenly shifted and dropped him onto the ground, his back landing onto the cold concrete in a loud thud.

"Damn, you could have put him down easier, Rogue." Haraka laughed out at the sight, earning a growl from the crocodile.

"I'm tired of carrying this bastard around. You get that job next time." he snapped out

Dabi quickly stood up and ripped the bag off his head, his face etched in anger. "You drop me like that again, and I'll burn you where you stand, you bastard!"

"You go ahead and try that." Rogue growled out and flexed his claws as Dabi's hands ignited. Suddenly, some clapping was heard from behind causing Rogue's eyes to widen in worry. Dabi raised his eyebrow as the crocodile stood back from their standoff, the fire user turning around towards the noise. He then realized he was inside a dark warehouse, the lights barely bright enough to see the whole building. What he did see was the large figure leaning against the wall clapping his hands together.

"Took some time for you to get here, Haraka," The figure chuckled, moving off the wall and into the light. The man wore an open black vest revealing his ripped core, his muscular arms leading to his green clawed hands. His red eyes peered through the faint light towards Dabi, his red hair standing above his head. "You've kept us waiting a while."

"Hey, you all were the ones who made that idea of keeping people from knowing where we meet." Haraka sighed out.

Dabi stared up at the man on the balcony curiously, noticing several other figures standing around the room. Through the shadows, he could see what looked like a scorpion tail on one, and another appeared like a man until his lower snake half. Even after the annoying time it took getting here, he couldn't help but feel excitement realizing he finally had found what he was looking for. "So, you're these hunters I've heard about. So what finally made you bastards want to talk to me?"

"Oh I would have simply let you walk around for the next week, but she is curious to meet you, so you should be thanking her." the red haired man said, his razor sharp teeth exposed with his smile. "Just watch what you say to her or I'll rip your throat out."

"Don't be too harsh to him, Muteki," a voice from above echoed out, "He's our guest."

Dabi looked up towards the ceiling above, his eyes focusing through the darkness and seeing another figure floating in the center. He stared curiously at the woman as she seemingly floated towards him, now seeing thick lines of webbing coming from her hands holding her up in the air. Her body was covered in a tight black dress accentuating her curvy body. On her arms she wore deep red gloves, still showing her sharp fingers at the end of her long hands. But the part that stood out the most on her was beneath her wavy black hair, where six large yellow eyes stared down towards him.

"I've been waiting to see you, Dabi," she said as she approached the ground, straightening her posture before touching the floor. Now that she was here, Dabi could tell she was especially tall, well over two meters at least. "It's a pleasure to finally meet the "famous" league of villains."

A mix of chuckles rose in the room from the other members at the comment, Dabi letting out a laugh himself. "I didn't pick the name, lady, I just do what I want under that cover."

"As I can tell," the woman grinned. Just then, four long purple and red spider legs folded out from her back, dropping down and silently touching the ground. She released her webs and walked towards the surprised fire user on her arachnid legs. "And what do we owe the pleasure for you coming to us?"

At first caught off guard by her extra appendages, Dabi grinned as the leader of the Hunters approached. "I have a proposition I think you will be very interested in."

Notes: We are here... we have reached the Hunters Arc. I truly can't wait to get to the rest of it!

Sorry if this chapter felt clunky. there's alot of set up i had to do and now it is out of the way. Not gonna go on much more because I wanna see all your thoughts! review and comment!

Also, new fanart of Katara's hero costume can be found on my deviantart! link in my profile!

Till next time!