AN: This chapter contains direct quotes from "My Hero Academia" anime English Dub Episodes 91, 97, and 98. This also contains spoilers for the Joint Training Arc for MHA. I do not own the words or the characters.


"Now, finally! It's Class A versus Class B! Our first joint combat training! You're finish–"

"That's enough." Aizawa's scarf whipped around Monoma's neck in a stranglehold before he could finish his statement.

Joint training. That's what they were doing here. At the end of this week, all U.A. was supposed to be released on Spring Break, but Uraraka wasn't sure if she would go home. In fact, many of her classmates were considering remaining in U.A. and using the time to continue their internships and training. Something big was approaching. Everyone could sense it. Pro-Heroes kept popping in and out of U.A., and the teachers were also leaving campus more frequently.

They had also started emphasizing group training amongst the hero students, with Pro-Heroes and other teachers sitting in and observing. If she was being honest, she was one hundred percent on edge since her encounter with Toga.

She was worried.

No.

She was scared.

Absolutely terrified.

If Toga's taunting was to be believed, the League of Villains had ensured that both Uraraka's parents ended up in the hospital, enough to rattle Uraraka and catch her alone so that Toga could take vials of her blood. Blood that she could then use to transform into her and do God knows what.

She felt violated. There was anger so fierce bubbling beneath the surface, and it scared her almost as much as the League of Villains. Uraraka wasn't an angry person. Nor was she vengeful. But seeing her parents hooked up to machines, bruised and scratched, had done something to her and hardened her in a way she didn't like.

"Oh ho ho!" The excited noises coming from Deku and Ojiro brought her attention back to class.

Hitoshi Shinso approached their combined classes. Uraraka had heard the murmuring around school that Shinso was attempting to switch to the Hero Track. She had assumed that hadn't happened when she didn't see him in Class 2-A or Class 2-B, but here he was now.

She must have been staring at him pretty hard because he locked eyes with her and smirked, making Uraraka blush involuntarily. She quickly looked away, her eyes landing on her boyfriend, who was scowling in their direction.

Aizawa finished introducing Shinso, and the purple-haired boy addressed both classes, announcing his intention to become a hero. "All of you are hurdles I must overcome. I'm not here in search of friends." His voice was steady. Confidence radiated from him. "Thanks for having me."

As she joined the other students in applauding, Uraraka realized he was just as cocky as Bakugo but much quieter about it. The thought made her smile, remembering how often those two threw slights at each other in the school's cafeteria. Shinso seemed to enjoy pushing Bakugo's buttons just as much as the so-called Baku-squad, and she did. No wonder Bakugo was seething where he stood.

"Time for combat training!" Class 2-B's homeroom teacher Vlad King began reciting the instructions and scenario for today's joint training. Once teams were divided, everyone broke off into their respective groups to begin strategizing.

Bakugo was in a team with Jiro, Sero, and Sato. He didn't seem particularly happy, but Uraraka thought it had less to do with his team and more with hers.

Things between Deku and Bakugo had settled recently, especially after Toga and Blue-Haired Boy attacked Uraraka. She had been curious, but Deku was a topic that she and Bakugo had somehow managed to avoid discussing. Uraraka was not keen on talking about her first-failed crush and how he kindly rejected her. Being rejected so nicely somehow stung worse. Given their history, Uraraka was also positive that Bakugo had no desire to bring him up either. He had an idea that she initially liked Deku because he brought it up to her that first night in his room, but that was the first and last time.

Since she and Bakugo began dating, she still hung out with Deku, and Bakugo would give them a wide berth but never said whether it bothered him. Maybe she should have asked.

"Oh yay, Chako-chip! This is going to be so much fun." Mina bounced next to her. Uraraka smiled at her energetic friend before turning to Deku and Mineta.

"It'll be you and Shinso's first rematch since the Sports Festival, huh?" She asked Deku, trying to get her mind back to the present.

"Mmhm." Deku nodded, still staring in Shinso's direction, "I can't wait to see how he fights!" His voice had that excited tilt that he got whenever he met someone with an exciting quirk pulling out his notebook and pen. "I wonder what new abilities he learned."

"Where were you keeping that?!" Uraraka asked in mild shock. There was no way that notebook was in his back pocket. His suit didnt even look like it had pockets, to begin with!

Thoughts of League of Villains and cranky, potentially jealous boyfriends were pushed aside with the announcement that the first round would begin. Uraraka was thankful for the distraction, she didn't think she could take much more of the introspective mood she had been in since the attack.

Everyone in the training ground shifted their attention to the ensuing battle. This would be the first time the students would see Shinso fight since the Sports Festival, and Uraraka could admit she was intrigued to find out how his quirk would translate to the battlefield.

As the first round crescendoed in action, Uraraka became aware of Deku's furious scribbling and equally fast mumbling next to her, making her laugh. Her light chuckle seemed to make Deku aware of his surroundings outside of the battle in front of him, and with a blush, he apologized, making Uraraka laugh louder. There was a comfort in the familiar, and there was something to be said about Deku being just as bright-eyed and excited about quirks as he was on their first day of school.

The first round ended with a 4-2 victory in favor of Class 2-A, and everyone cheered.

"Way to go, babe!" Mina's excited voice carried all the way toward where the round one participants were approaching the rest of their classmates. Kirishima's all-tooth smile came easily, and he beamed in their direction.

As all the students gathered, Aizawa asked them to reflect on the match. As each student spoke, Uraraka became increasingly aware that someone was staring at her. When she turned to see where the source came from, she landed on two pairs of red eyes. He seemed aggravated. How long had he been staring at her?

Uraraka didn't get to think about it much longer because the second round was announced to be starting shortly.

"Hey." A familiar voice came from beside her. She turned to see Shinso settling into the empty spot next to her left after Mina went to join Kirishima's side to watch the second round.

"Hi." She smiled up at him. Uraraka hadn't really talked to Shinso much, but he was always nice to her. She knew he seemed to enjoy getting a rise out of Bakugo, although it never felt malicious in nature. "You did really good out there!" She added.

Despite not knowing him well, she always admired his determination to become a hero. He had joined U.A. under their General Department course and had worked tirelessly to get the opportunity to transfer into the Hero's Department.

"Thank you." He mumbled, sounding slightly embarrassed. Before she could continue their conversation, Deku used her comment as an opening to start hounding him with questions about his quirk and his training. Uraraka gave him an apologetic smile at Deku's unbridled enthusiasm, but Shinso smiled and shrugged, answering some of Deku's million questions. Once more, she felt the weight of eyes on her back, but this time she chose to ignore them.

The second round came and went with Class 2-B's first victory. Uraraka was awed at the display of Class 2-B's quirks. Everyone seemed to be getting stronger. Smarter when it came to fighting and strategizing. She could tell that, similar to her class, they all trusted each other's abilities. It was a grim reminder of the times in which she and her classmates were growing up.

"Chako Chip! Come join us!" Hagakure's cheerful voice drew her away from her thoughts. It seems that if given a moment alone, her mind would return to the impending battle with the League of Villains.

Uraraka moved to join the Class 2-A girls as they prepared to watch the third round. As she approached them, her eyes wandered to find her boyfriend. As the day progressed, he seemed to have been getting increasingly agitated, and she wasn't exactly sure why. When she finally located him, he was talking with Deku and All-Might. Well, talking seemed like a stretch. Bakugo seemed to be yelling something at Deku before storming off toward Kirishima, Kaminari, and Sero. If he felt her looking at him, he deftly ignored it.

Uraraka tried to force herself to pay attention to the third round. It was an intense battle with Iida, Todorki, Shoji, and Ojiro, representing Class 2-A. Both sides seemed to be neck in neck. Iida sped by, faster than Uraraka had ever seen him go, to help Todoroki's unconscious body from being caught in one of Class 2-B's quirks. Iida attempted to leave with Todoroki, but Class 2-B's student - Juzo - was able to soften the large pipes that covered the battle area and yelled at Tetsutetsu to push it before losing consciousness. Tetsutetsu was able to follow his teammate's directive before he, too, lost consciousness. Uraraka and the rest of the Class 2-A girls gasped when the large pipe fell on top of Iida and Todoroki. Iida made attempts to break free but was unable to.

The battle ended in a draw, with 1-1 on each side.

Aizawa announces another break while the unconscious and injured students are transferred to Recovery Girl. Uraraka gave Momo's hand a squeeze. The creation quirk user had been trying to maintain her composure throughout the battle, but seeing Todoroki be knocked unconscious threatened to break some of it.

"He's going to be fine," Uraraka reassured her friend. Although not as open as Mina and Uraraka were with their relationships, Momo and Todoroki had quietly agreed to begin seeing each other in a more romantic sense. If it wasn't for the fact that Momo had told them a couple of weeks ago, Uraraka was positive, no one would have known. At least in public, everything between them remained the same.

"I know," Momo nodded, "Doesn't mean I like seeing him get hurt." She said softly, but Uraraka could already see their class representative regaining the cool, calm poise they were used to seeing.

"It's just the way these things go, right?" Mina mused, her eyes wandering over to where Kirishima stood, having what seemed to be a light-hearted conversation with Koda and Kaminari.

"True," Jiro said, "Well, I guess it's my turn now." She said casually as she waved at the girls before heading over to where Bakugo, Sero, and Sato stood, stretching before their round. Uraraka allowed her eyes to follow Jiro as they allowed her a look at Bakugo. He seemed more at ease now that it was his turn than he had all class. Uraraka casually wondered if one day she would possess the same innate confidence that Bakugo had in his own abilities. His demeanor as he took his team's lead made people want to follow him, despite his abrasiveness and loud mouth. His strength is palpable. Even without knowing who he is, someone would know he was not one to take lightly.

Uraraka was having difficulty being the cheerful, bubbly girl her classmates knew her to be in the last couple of weeks since being attacked. It was all made worse by the fact that besides, Bakugo, Deku, and Todoroki, no one else was allowed to know about this attack. Aizawa had instructed them to keep this secret as the heroes looked into the League of Villains. She was trying so hard to let it go, to put it behind her, to use it as fuel to work harder, but all she could remember was the fear that settled deep in her bones at the knowledge that both her parents were injured and in the hospital. Toga's taunt played over and over in her mind, and the more she thought about it, the more she was certain that the League of Villains had orchestrated her parents' accidents to get Uraraka emotional enough to go off on her own to ambush her and take her blood.

Her blood. That was another thing that weighed her down. Whenever she thought about Toga and the League having her blood, Uraraka wanted to vomit. The more time passed, the more stressed she was becoming. Irritated at her shortcomings and severely annoyed at her continuous failures, her mind would wander to what-ifs. What if Bakugo had been the one that was ambushed? Or Deku? Todoroki? She was positive if it had been any of them, Toga and Blue-Haired Boy would not have been able to take their blood.

Vlad King announcing that Class 2-B was currently in the overall lead drew her back to the present.

Round four was about to start, and despite the glee in Class 2-B, Uraraka was positive that Bakugo's team would be winning this round.

Uraraka watched as Bakugo took the lead but also, surprising a lot of the people around her, supported his team. Long gone was the Bakugo, who viewed everyone around him as extras and losers. Bakugo seemed to be aware of each of his teammate's quirk strengths and quickly assessed his opponents. Uraraka saw how quickly he could adjust, go from covert to in their faces and literally blast through his opponents' expectations of what he would do. Bakugo was the pillar, and his team worked smoothly around him. Each student had their opportunity to shine and show their quirk, but it seemed to be Bakugo that created the circumstances that allowed this to happen. Seeing the Round 4 team work flawlessly together, each complimenting the other, with Bakugo as the linchpin, they efficiently finished the Round with a 4-0 victory.

Uraraka willed the self-doubt that seemed to be constantly hanging around her nowadays deep into the recesses of her mind to cheer along with her class properly. The Round 4 team had done amazing! Everyone seemed to be hovering to congratulate them. Even All-Might and Deku approached Bakugo.

She wanted to join them and congratulate him like Mina had Kirishima earlier, but something was off between them today. Since the beginning of class, things seemed tense, and it dissuaded her from approaching.

They could talk later. Besides, it didn't seem like Bakugo wanted to look at her, and her team was next.

"Ready, Uraraka?" Deku's light voice came from behind her.

"Yes," She said with forced enthusiasm. "We got this!" Fake it till you make it or whatnot.

If she was honest, she was worried. And not just by Shinso being on the opposing team; Class 2-B had other quirks that could be used for ambushing. Uraraka voiced her concern as they entered Ground Gamma. In fact, besides Deku, Uraraka, Mina, and Mineta's quirks seemed to put their team at a disadvantage.

"We can't lie in wait and can't attack…" Uraraka tries to strategize, but she's drawing blanks. The self-doubt she had been able to quash earlier came back in full force. Despite seeing four full rounds ahead of them, her team seemed to have difficulty developing a strategy.

"I can act as the bait," Deku said, suddenly appearing before them. He had entered Ground Gamma before them in an effort to test out his quirk, claiming it had been acting weird earlier. She hoped it was back to normal now, or whatever Deku considered normal because if not, they were truly screwed.

With a strategy in place, Uraraka and her team felt more confident moving forward through Ground Gamma to begin their battle against Class 2-B. Her team splits up, and Uraraka feels herself letting go of everything other than the present moment. She couldn't afford to be in it one hundred percent. Her team depended on her to do her part.

Neito, or Shinso?, seems to be provoking Deku up above while she, Mina, and Mineta are left to deal with the rest of Class 2-B. Mina stops a barrage of flying objects being hurled at them with her acid quirk, but Class 2-B's Kodai uses her quirk to change the size of the flying projectiles' mass. Uraraka quickly uses her Zero Gravity before they land on her and her team.

Her team is struggling to hold back Class 2-B, and she still can't figure out how they found them so fast either. Everything happened so quickly.

In a small moment of reprieve, Uraraka tries to locate Deku. To her and everyone watching's horror, mysterious black tendrils overflow from Deku's arms, whipping and waving dangerously across Ground Gamma, destroying everything it touches. At first, Uraraka is unsure of what is happening. Deku's black tendrils were attacking Class 2-B, but Deku didn't seem to be controlling their direction. The black tendrils begin to whip much more erratically, almost hitting her and Mina in the process. Uraraka jumps out of their way, eyes still trained on Deku as he hovers above everyone. He seems to be in pain, and there is fear in his eyes.

Deku is in danger.

Uraraka acts before her mind can catch up; all she knew was that she needs to help him. For some odd reason, at that moment, all Uraraka could think about was being younger, seeing her parents exhausted from working so hard, and how the exhaustion and sad smiles drained her emotionally. She didn't like to see people sad. When she saw heroes in action, while everyone else looked at the hero save the day, Uraraka would look at the crowd around her. Their excitement, their happiness filled her. Seeing people happy is what motivates her to become a hero. Heroes made people smile. Gave them hope.

But who would be there to help the hero when they needed it?

She rushes toward Deku despite Mina and Mineta's protests. She can barely hear them through the pulsing in her ears and the raging black tendrils whipping at violent speeds around her. Uraraka dives straight toward Deku in an effort to restrain him. Holding on to him, she quickly realized that this was not Deku's doing and that he had zero control over what was happening.

The black tendrils are biting into her skin, but she can't focus on the pain right now.

How is she supposed to stop him? Stop this?

His quirk is out of control, and, once again, she is not strong enough to do anything about it.

Was she even meant to be a hero?


Hi! Quick Update: There will be a total of 59 chapters. I also have planned about 5 one-shots that will continue the universe past the end of this story and lead us to a sequel (!) which is currently in the planning stages. I will try to be consistent and true to the posting schedule, but as you can see today I was a day late. I'm only human lol Good news is everything up until the end of this story and the one-shots, have all been rough drafted and I am now going through them and making edits before publishing :) I appreciate comments/reviews but as always they are not necessary. And thank you again all once again for your continued support!