The silence was tense and thick. There was no talking between the two as they made their way back to the apartment. Kayda still had her eyes lowered to the ground as she followed in Eraserhead's footsteps down the sidewalk.

Anxiety wracked her body as she started to assume the worst out of the conversation they would be having when they arrived home. Would she be homeschooling again? That was the question that had her wringing her hands raw. As much as she enjoyed learning from her foster father, she desperately craved socializing with people her age.

"You're breaking the ground Kayda. Calm down." Aizawa's gruff voice brought her out of her thoughts.

Surprised, Kayda looked at the ground to see tiny fractures in the sidewalk where her feet were. She felt red coat her face in embarrassment.

"S-sorry." Kayda mumbled.

Aizawa sighed and continued walking. This time though, he made a point to slow his pace to keep even with the white haired girl.

"Why did you do that today?"

Kayda's green eyes widened. She thought he would at least wait until they got back home for the upcoming lecture. She felt her heart start to pound hard in her chest, words starting to spew out with no control.

"I-i... the boy next to me started to run and I couldn't stop myself from running after him. I thought maybe, I could protect him and we could get that kid out of the villain. Or maybe just provide the heroes a way to save him... I know it was super stupid and I-" she started to ramble off her reasons

"Kayda." Aizawa cut her off. "What you did back there was stupid and reckless..." he said, cold and stern. The voice a father would take with a child who was in serious trouble.

Said girl looked down again, feeling tears welling up in her eyes, preparing for the worst.

"I know. I'm sorry." She said quietly. "I just couldn't let them get hurt."

Aizawa hummed softly, as if considering something. "Do you still want to be a hero?" He asked, not looking at her as they kept walking.

Kayda looked up at him, curiously, he hated the subject of her becoming a hero, mostly because he felt like he shouldn't be making these decisions with her, her parents should be.

"YES!" She said quickly, and a little louder than she intended. "I really do."

Aizawa looked at her out of the corner of his eyes. Kayda could swear she saw the faintest upward twitch of his lips.

"While I don't approve of what you did today AT ALL," He fully turned his gaze to her to show he was serious, "I was watching the fight on the news... you worked well under the pressure, and did a good job keeping that boy safe."

Kayda felt herself smiling a little as he spoke. Aizawa struggled with praising her often, and this was some of the highest praise she had gotten.

"I was also impressed that you kept your other quirks at bay under that stress." He continued, "I think you've grown enough that you should be able to control those voices, and start training to be a hero. I-"

Aizawa grunted as Kayda slammed into him with a tight hug. She buried her face in his hero costume. He smiled softly putting a hand on top of her head for a brief second before pulling her away to look down at her seriously.

"If you want to go to UA, you need to turn your application in by the end of the week," he started, her green eyes staring up at him, shining brightly with unshed tears of happiness. "You're not getting in on my recommendation. I want you to earn this like every other applicant and prove yourself."

Kayda grinned sheepishly, taking her large brown schoolbag off of her back. Aizawa stared at her curiously, cocking an eyebrow, as she opened the bag and was gently sifting through folders. After a few seconds she pulled out a white folder with the UA logo on it. She handed it over to Aizawa, still looking like a child caught in the cookie jar. As he took the folder and opened it, he saw the completed application sitting neatly in the folder, along with the small essays required with the application.

"I... um... I've had this filled out for about a month." Kayda said rubbing the back of her head.

Aizawa couldn't help but grin at this. "I shouldn't be surprised honestly. You haven't really kept it a secret that you've wanted to become a hero."

Kayda smiled sheepishly back at him. Taking the folder back and putting it safely in her pack. After that was done, the two started walking again, the atmosphere vastly improved from when they had first started the trek back home.

"You'll have to start training more seriously if you want to pass the exam." Aizawa said. "We will need to set up a schedule for you to train with me and spar with as we progress. Are you going to be able to handle the new workload and keep up with your school work?"

Kayda nodded excitedly. "Yes! Of course!"

She started the next day. She woke up at the same time as Aizawa, before the sun rose. He had determined to strengthen and build her in Hung Ga, since she used the basic forms and stances to control her earth manipulation quirk better.

Her legs and arms were shaking as Aizawa had her move larger rocks from one pile to another, while in horse stance. While moving and manipulating earth was part of her quirk, it still burned her muscles after continued use. She wanted to get it over with and just move the whole pile over, but Aizawa said this was about building endurance and control; so she lifted each rock one at a time.

"The rock is shaking. Keep it steady." Aizawa commented, "Your bridge form is getting weak, keep those arms strong."

Kayda nodded, furrowing her eyebrows and tightening her muscles as she went to her bridge stance. Her muscles were on fire but she only had 5 more rocks. She tried her best to keep them steady as she moved them from one pile to the next, but her thighs and arms were shaking so hard. She fell to the ground once the last rock was moved. Sweat coated her body making the cool morning air feel like ice against her burning muscles.

Aizawa stood up from where he had been sitting, "Good. Go get ready for school. We will do some sparring when I get home today."

"Again" Aizawa said as he stood up straight after having swept Kayda's legs out from under her.

Groaning, Kayda sat up. It had been a few weeks since they started sparring (no quirks or tools allowed), and she had yet to land a hit on her foster father.

She pushed herself up, muscles protesting the entire time. She sank back down into a defensive stance, protecting her core by keeping her arms close to her middle.

Aizawa said nothing before he began his barage of kicks and punches. Kayda was wobbling under the pressure of each hit, but she widened her stance further to give her more stability. She moved her arms slightly to counter act each incoming attack. She had learned early on not to give let her core be undefended during a spar after she received a swift kick her first day, resulting in her lunch coming up.

She kept her eyes open, trying to take in his every movement, just waiting for any opening. One punch, a kick, another punch. Kayda's eyes widened in a split second when she decided to take him down, rather than land a hit.

Aizawa brought his leg up, aiming for her shoulder. Kayda brought both of her arms up to the side to block, and then swiftly wrapped one arm around the leg, hugging it into her side, while using the other arm as a bar so he couldn't pull free. She quickly pivoted so Aizawa didnt have time to recover.

Her tactic worked, as her opponent's free leg came out from under him and he fell to the ground with a grunt. Kayda smiled wide, wiping the sweat from her brow.

"FINALLY!" She cheered, and then fell to the ground next to her foster father, flat on her back and arms spread out.

Aizawa didnt bother getting up, and just rolled over to be on his back as well.

"That was a pretty smart move you pulled there. I'm glad you finally stopped trying to land a hit on me." He commented, turning his head to look at Kayda.

She had a big, proud grin on her face, and was still trying to catch her breath. Her arms and legs were bruised and shaking from this spar as well as all of the other spars they have had in the past weeks. But nothing could break her smile.

"I figured it would probably just be smarter for me to incapacitate my enemy rather than deal damage." Kayda explained between breaths.

"Mmmmm" Aizawa grumbled, approvingly.

He slowly stood up, brushing the dirt off of his clothes and arms. Afterwards, he held out his hand to Kayda, helping her up.

"Let's go get food to celebrate." He said attempting to be nonchalant.

Kayda's green eyes lit up, "Really?!"

Aizawa nodded "Yeah, because next time we spar, you get to use your quirk with it."

He didn't think it was possible, but Kayda's smile grew even larger. Time to burst her bubble.

"And I'll be using my capture weapon." He smirked, watching as realization and dread settled on her face. He couldn't help but laugh at the sudden emotion change. "Come on, let's go get ready."

"I see you're covered in more bruises today, Ky."

Kayda looked up from her school work, which she had taken to doing during her lunches so she could have more time training, to see her friend standing in front of her. His tired lilac eyes took in the bad condition of her arms, his frown ever present. They had been in the same school together for the past 3 years, and he was by far, her closest friend.

"Hey, Hi-chan." She smiled up at him, then gestured to the seat next to her. "Yeah, they are a bit beat up. But the UA entrance exams are getting closer and closer, so I don't have time to relax."

Shinsou set his books down on the table, and rested his elbows there as well, using his one hand to prop his tilted head up as looked at his friend with half lidded eyes.

"Why put so much effort into this? With your quirk, you'll definitely get into the hero course." He looked away from her eyes as he finished that sentence.

Kayda frowned, tucking a peice of her white hair behind her ear, "You know, you could also end up in the hero course."

Shinsou scoffed as he sat up and ran a hand through his hair, obviously frustrated. "How am I supposed to use my quirk against robots?"

Kayda was able to go with Aizawa to work one day, and was able to pressure a second year into telling her what the entrance exams were like. She immediately went to Shinsou with this information since she knew he had also applied to UA.

Kayda rolled her eyes at him and jabbed his forehead. "Come to training with me. Aizawa is constantly throwing new scenarios at me and I'm not even allowed to use my quirk for most of the things. I'm sure he could help you."

Shinsou rubbed the spot that she jabbed while glaring at her. "Your foster father seems to be pretty busy just training you. I don't think he would want to take on another student."

Kayda shrugged, finishing her homework and putting it away in her binder, neatly. "You never know unless you ask." She opened up her bento box and started digging into the broccoli. "Just come with me after school to ask. I know you aren't okay with 'Just being in a support class' like you say." She mumbled with her mouthful of food.

It was Shinsou's turn to jab her in the forehead, which earned him a green eyed glare.

"Don't talk with your mouth full, it's rude." He smirked before going back to being serious. "Yeah, I guess you're right, there isn't any harm in asking at least."

Kayda stopped rubbing her forehead to smile at her friend.

"5 more minutes." Aizawa called while laying on the ground, staring at his students.

Kayda was sunk down in a horse stance, one arm outstretched with her hand in the tiger pose, while the other arm was pulled into her side, palm up, also in tiger pose. Sweat was running along her face and glistening off of her arms as she focused on a giant wall of mud she had created.

Shinsou was alternating between kicking and punching at the wall while Kayda had to maintain the wall's integrity. Aizawa had immediately taken to Shinsou, teaching him various skills and techniques that he had picked up in his time as a pro hero, and giving him homework to study multiple styles of martial arts.

"Two minutes left, Kayda switch to bringing up pillars in random positions near Shinsou. Shinsou, switch to Muay Tai."

Kayda shifted her stance, pivoting her hips and turning her torso until she was in her Settling bridge stance, fists pulled into her sides, waiting for the okay to begin this last exercise. Shinsou in turn started bouncing on the balls of his feet to loosen up, before settling into an almost boxer like stance.

"Begin."

Immediately Kayda punched out, sending a pillar right for Shinsou, who kicked through it as it came closer. Kayda brought her fist upwards, causing a pillar to raise up to the side of her classmate. Shinsou turned and punched through the wall of mud.

This continued for the next two minutes, with Kayda raising pillar after pillar and Shinsou kicking on punching through it. Clumps of dirt were flying everywhere as the pillars were battered by her friend.

"And stop." Aizawa said as he stood up. "Nice job you two."

Kayda and Shinsou smiled at the praise, and bumped bloodied knuckles with each other. The two teenagers walked over to their teacher as he beckoned them over to talk with them more.

"As you know, there are only 5 days left until the entrance exam." He looked between the two, watching as nervousness flicked across both of their faces. "I want you two to use this time for light training only. Just practice your forms," he said as he looked pointedly at Shinsou, "And basic quirk use," he turned towards Kayda. "There is no point in over exerting yourself this week and being left helpless at the exam."

"Kay." Shinsou agreed, while Kayda furrowed her brows and nodded in determination.

Kayda woke up before dawn, and proceeded to stretch as she had done every morning for the past 10 months. She had put in her ear buds to drown out the anxiety of taking the exams. A loud guitar squealed in her ears as she finished up her stretches and moved into a light warm up before she needed to get ready to leave.

Once she finished her work out, she took a quick shower, changed into her school uniform, and put her medium length hair into an easy ponytail. She stared at her self a little longer in the mirror. She hadn't yet put on her navy blue school jacket, so she was able to see what ten months of training had gotten her.

She smiled fondly as she looked at the muscles she saw in the mirror. She was proud of what they meant, proud to be able to visualize the months of hard work and daily training all to begin her career as a hero.

She finished getting dressed as she heard a knock at the front door. She quickly grabbed her book bag, put on her shoes, and tugged a beanie on her head before exiting her house with a smile.

"Ready?" Shinsou asked with a sleepy smirk.

Kayda smiled wide. "Of course!"

Kayda stopped and stared at the entrance of UA. Sure, she has been there many times, staying with Aizawa while he finished grading class work, helping him with tasks. But now? Now she was here for herself. She sat at the entrance and took in the feeling of her heart fluttering with excitement.

Hitoshi had already gone ahead to grab seats for them. Most likely wanting to be alone so he could think and calm himself down before the practical exam. Kayda knew he was still anxious about if he would be able to keep up with those who had physical quirks. But she didn't doubt it for a second.

Kayda smiled, ready to head inside.

"Hey, you." A gruff voice registered somewhere in the back of Kayda's mind.

She kept walking forward, excited to get in the building.

"CRAZY GIRL." The voice sounded right behind her as her beanie came off her head.

Kayda whirled around green eyes narrowed as she looked at who called her that name, and had the audacity to take her hat. When her eyes landed on the sludge villain kid she loosened the tight fists she subconsciously made.

He was wearing a black uniform jacket and a cream scarf. His red eyes were narrowed at her, and he seemed to almost be puffing himself up. He was trying to seem bigger than Kayda, and she hated it. He stood there dangling her hat in front of her.

"Ah, how is my biggest fan girl doing today?" She said with a smirk, quickly snatching her beanie out of his hands.

His eyes widened a fraction at how fast she grabbed the hay, before narrowing when he realized what she said.

"I am not your fan!" He shouted, nostrils flaring with anger.

"What do you want, Katsuki Bakugo?" Kayda asked, hat back in place, folding her arms across her chest. Her annoyance showing on her face with a deep scowl.

The boy stopped and looked genuinely shocked for a second. "You remember my name?"

"Of course. It was blaring on every news station for a week after that incident. Now what do you want?" She slowly articulated each word of her question.

"What you were doing here." He said, red eyes narrowing on her again, as if scanning her for the truth.

Kayda scoffed and vaguely gestured around her. "What do you think, sludge boy?"

The name seemed to make him flinch ever so slightly, before a new wave of anger took over him and he started storming away without even a single angry word. Kayda frowned at this behavior, before jogging to catch up to him.

"I'll make you a deal." She said as she kept pace with him. She saw his angry red eyes slide over to her, and took it as a sign to continue, "I won't call you that any more if you agree to never call me crazy girl again." She watched the boy's eyes loosen up a bit from their glare before he nodded his head.

They entered the building and followed the signs leading them to the room for the written exam.

"Good luck." Kayda said as she went to go grab her test from Cementoss, who was at the front of the class.

Bakugo scoffed, "I don't need it."

Kayda rolled her eyes and took her seat, ready to start the first part of the exam.