Summary/disclaimer: Time for another chapter of Inky Hearts. Enjoy the 2200-word chapter. I don't own MHA Shonen Jump, Kohei Horikoshi and a few others do.

Aquatint sighed while he started to clear his throat. He almost wondered if Nejire had a weakness in combat. He hadn't yet spotted it nor found a way to whittle down her stamina.

'Nejire says it uses her stamina? She doesn't seem even winded. My drawings also aren't making a dent in her defenses. I'm curious if she thinks I even had a chance of beating her in a fight.' Aquatint thought before he sent another bird at the woman.

"Huh, your pretty tough," Nejire said while her fellow hero panted in exhaustion. "Hey, I thought your quirk was controlling ink," Nejire stated to herself while her energy danced across her fingertips.

"Yeah…" Aquatint stated while he slowly started to sit up. "It is about controlling ink, the drawings I make are made of ink. Uh… I don't think I can fight you now. I'm too worn down." Aquatint added before he started to think of what to do next.

He watched as Nejire started to drum his fingers on her legs before she started to float towards him. Aquatint sighed while he started to slowly walk back and forth.

"Are you ok?" Nejire asked as the ink-themed hero nodded towards her. "Maybe we take another break?" Nejire questioned while her friend collapsed to the ground.

'She's almost inhuman with how much strength and skill she has. No wonder she's part of the Big Three at school.' Aquatint said before he sighed to himself.

Still? If she offered him a chance to pick himself to his feet and start to think of his next move. He was aware of his next move before too long.

"Ok." Aquatint stated as he slowly started to stagger towards one of the trees. "I'm still curious about something." Aquatint stated before he cleared his throat.

Nejire looked to her friend as she passed a sigh through parched lips. She knew she had had power and skill beyond what a lot of students had controlled. She was well of what happened next if she drew this battle out any longer than it had been.

It still annoyed Aquatint how powerful his friend was compared to him. She wasn't someone who could be beaten in combat. It didn't seem at all possible for her to lose considering the power her quirk granted her.

"Why did you ask me to battle?" Aquatint asked while he raised an eyebrow as he sighed to himself. "I'm no match for you. Not even one of our classes is. I am wondering what happens if we don't win. There's not a single member of the class that's on the big 3's level." Aquatint stated before he pulled his legs to his chest.

The pain from before started to wash over his body. He didn't want to admit she had battered him. His body felt like a drum that was being slammed around over and over. He didn't let her see it for a while as he cleared his throat and raised an eyebrow at her.

She smiled at her wounded and winded friend who had been at odds with her cheerful and carefree personality now.

"You, ok?" Nejire asked as she rested her hands on her knees.

"Yeah," Aquatint responded with a nod a few moments later. "Sorry. I don't know what to do at the time. I'm really surprised you aren't tired yet." Aquatint said before he cracked his fingers and prepared for the next part of their battle.

"Well. It took a LONG time to train." Nejire said before she flicked her fingers towards him.

This almost sent him flying back as another shockwave wracked his body. If there was any chance that he wasn't going to beat her? It was the fact that nothing he seemed to try on her fazed her. He did enjoy the fact that he had been forced to get rather creative to keep pace with her in battle. It was a rather nice way to hone his skill at the end of the day.

"Ready?" Nejire asked to which her friend nodded.

"Ow… Yeah." Aquatint before he unleashed a trio of birds at her.

He forced the birds to spread out and keep their distance from her before they came too close to her. He was aware of what happened if she fired, and he had found the best way to counter her power was at a safe range. It helped that they had battled for a bit when it came to it.

"That's still pretty cool," Nejire said before she glanced at the doves. "So, is it always birds?" Nejire asked to which her friend nodded.

"They're the easiest to make honestly." Aquatint stated with a frown as he did so. "It's not easy being able to control the ink." Aquatint stated while he sighed to himself.

"Well. It's neat." Nejire said while she started to float in the air with her shockwaves. "Still? It's fun to fight crime." Nejire said to which her friend was only able to raise an eyebrow.

He said nothing as he waited for her to make a move. The longer they had been able to distract her. The easier it was for him to make another move.

"So, Can I mention something?" Nejire asked to which Aquatint simply shrugged and nodded a moment later. "It's about the drawing. I'll mention it after training, k?" Nejire questioned which made him tilt his head.

'Does she hate it? Did I mess up one of the details in it?' Aquatint asked himself mentally before he sighed to himself.

Nejire unleashed another shockwave into the sky which vaporized one of the doves before another slammed into her. it threw her along the ground in a manner that almost made him wonder if she was enjoying this.

'This woman scares me more than the league of villains. I'm almost scared to wonder what happens if she DID join them.' Aquatint mentally thought to himself before he realized that she was going to attack once more.

It almost shocked him that she was so fast and able to attack and defend against his attacks. It was far too much in his mind for this to properly damage her while he frowned as he pondered to himself. He cleared his head before he started to glance around the room. He wanted to continue the battle as he did so. He glanced at her with interest as she tilted her head to the side. He wanted to be ready, and he wasn't at all ready for this to end.

Nejire fired another shockwave toward him before he rolled out of the way and dodged the attack which passed by him. He was already ready to end this while there was a chance to do.

Still? This ended here and now before it went too far. He let another cry from his lips and started to lash out with more tendrils of ink which she started to twirl around as she prepared what to battle her once more.

He frowned and started to blink while he tilted his head as he tried to start slashing at her with more ink as she frowned and started to ponder how best to battle him.

"Damn it…" Aquatint stated before he rested his hands on his hips and smiled at her. "This is weird. I feel as if this battle is honestly more interesting than it seems. I'm honestly having fun if I'm not lying since it comes down to it." Aquatint added while he tilted his head to the side and brushed off his armor and costume while he smiled once more.

Nejire nodded and greeted him once more with another shockwave.

She was aware of her limits as it came down to it. She was rather happy to battle her friend as he hummed to himself. She was rather interested in how he was rather determined in battle. He was scared to ponder as he battled her with little fear despite the gap in their talents as it came down to it cleared while she floated into the air. She glanced down at him while he rested his hands on his hips and raised his eyebrows at her while she smiled at him. The tendrils of ink started to dance around her. He was rather happy if not terrified before he tilted his head and managed to knock her backward slightly with the ease of what it'd take to knock a fly from the air. Nejire was thrown across the ground in a way that sent her spinning like her quirk.

She was thrown across the area and seemed to dig a trench as she slid across the ground. Aquatint worried for a second that he had harmed her despite his best efforts and yet he pondered if she had cared. She seemed rather upbeat as she slowly started to flip onto her feet within a second.

Still? It made some of his fears ebb away if she was this capable of shrugging off his best tactics. She tilted her head at him while he began to manipulate the ink once more. She had a lot more on her mind than him it seemed, and it showed in her demeanor. She had yet to show any real pain which meant she probably didn't get hurt in any real manner that put her in danger.

'Nejire is something else. How in the world do you even stop someone who doesn't run out of energy? I can't even try outlasting her long enough to get a hit in. That and her quirk gives her too much range and mobility for me to get a hit on her anyway. I feel like I'm fighting a tornado, and seeing her float around like that? It probably isn't that different.' Aquatint stated before he cracked his fingers and faced her once more. She had honestly seemed to be taking this fight less seriously than him.

Then again? He could barely put a stop to her as she was, and this wasn't seeming to help. She probably considered anything he did to be a warmup that she could power through with enough time and effort. It had been a hard enough battle, telling her to take it far more seriously than she had been? Not at all what he cared to be doing when it came down to it.

Though if she wanted? She'd probably be able to blast apart his head in a moment.

She will be interested in how this combat was to end at the end of her life and he was interested. He glanced at the woman who stared down at him while she threw more shockwaves at him while he rolled to the side. He was rather hopeful as he continued to draw more tendrils as she floated.

She dodged in and out of the tendrils which lanced into the air after her and stopped her from narrowing down his location. He was honestly hopeful this battle told him how to battle better when all was said and done. If he was to be 100% honest? She'd probably slice him in half before too long. The second is that she couldn't properly handle it when it comes down to it.

He conjured another tendril of ink and slammed it down on Nejire while trying his best to put more distance between him and her. The second she recovered was the second she'd counterattack him, and he didn't think he'd properly be able to predict that when it came down to it.

Still? He found so much amusement between them at the time. She was a lot bubblier than someone whom he expected to be a lot more uptight when it came down to it. The fact that she was to properly try and dice him to pieces.

"We need to practice more." He heard before he turned to see that Nejire had gotten up despite ink covering her which made her look more like a bubbly blob of ink rather than one of the top heroes in the business.

"Uh… Maybe we should take a break? That stuff doesn't come off that easy. Trust me, I had to make a special costume when it comes down to it." Nejire heard from Aquatint as he sighed and seemed to roll his eyes himself.

He watched as Nejire seemed to raise an eyebrow at this before she realized he had swamped her with ink. It wasn't exactly something that he had wished to do. Yet? If it stopped the match and gave him a second to catch his breath? He'd take full credit for it intentional or not. There weren't many reasons he had to try and stop it either way. He was bothered by it, yet she had a lot to handle.

He sighed and fell over.

Author Notes

Phew. Another chapter is done! I want to point out that the next chapter will be delayed and will show both Nejire and Aquatint talking more about the story. The next chapter is 900-6500 words in 2-10 months. Until then, Lighting Wolf out!

P.S: Should I make a Uraraka story?