Notes: Wow. I can't believe it. At this moment, A Waterbending Quirk is now the most reviewed, most followed, and most favorited MHA x ATLA story on fanfiction. I can't thank you all enough for the support you are giving me. the fans, the fan art you are all delivering. it's amazing.

Soon, I will have a special thank you chapter with a breakdown of the story so far and a tease of what's to come. Now, enjoy!

Entering into the testing site, Katara took a breath as she walked alongside Kirishima. The pair walked down the road beyond the entrance as she tried keeping her nerves down, already knowing just how powerful the teachers here were. Her partner however didn't share her worries.

"Ah yeah! Let's get this going!" Kirishima laughed as he punched his palm. "Time to kick some ass!"

Katara raised her eyebrow at his enthusiasm. "You're excited about this?"

"How couldn't I be? We get to take on a teacher today!"

She rolled his eyes at his comment. "You know this isn't just a practice fight. And we are against a teacher."

"Uhh… I know. I just said that."

"Which means this is going to be really hard.." Katara explained. "Have you seen how strong they are?"

Kirishima chuckled and cracked his knuckles. "Yeah, but have you seen you?"

Katara tilted her head at him. "What?"

"You are like one of the toughest in class. With your water and my hardening, we got this match in the bag!"

While she liked the compliment, Katara couldn't help but feel like something was off. She looked around herself seeing they were in what looked like a large city, just like the one from the entrance exam. After a few more moments, she noticed something else that made her worry. All she could see around herself were buildings.

And everything made of stone, steel and glass with no green in sight.

Located in the center of the multiple testing sites, a monitor room was set up for the school nurse to watch the matches in case she was needed to go and heal any injuries. Any other students who wished to watch the matches progress were allowed to join as well. Most were out focusing on their own matches, but a small group was waiting inside wanting to see this first match go down.

Midoriya held his chin as he analyzed the screen, standing alongside Tenya, Uraraka, Shoto and Tokoyami. He himself knew talking with Bakugo was pointless, and he was very interested in seeing how the other matches were going to go.

"It's got be hard for them since they didn't have much time to plan." Midoriya said.

Tenya nodded in agreement. "Indeed. Being the first match means they have to go right into the match up."

"Yeah, you're right." Midoriya turned to look at his friend. "Don't you want to get ready for your match with Ojiro?"

Tenya gave a small smile. "I will. But I need to see Katara's performance."

"Yeah…" Midoriya smiled in return. "To see her facing a teacher will be interesting. And with Kirishima they have a balanced match up."

Shoto watched as Katara and Kirishima made their way deeper into the city, curious to see how she was going to do. "To see her and Kirishima as a pair again is interesting." be commented.

"Yes, it is…" Tokoyami responded, still keeping his eyes away from his set partner. "I faced them together before."

"I remember. After this we can discuss our plans of how to deal with Aizawa."

Exhaling, Tokoyami crossed his arms under his cloak. "Fine."

Shoto looked over curiously from the tone in Tokoyami's voice. The others looked over as well, but they all stayed silent as the announcement for the first match was sounded.

"Wait, that isn't a plan!"

"Sure it is! If we take down a teacher, it will be so much easier than running away!"

Katara frowned as she ran alongside her partner in the street. "Why don't we try and escape instead? Fighting him will be too much."

"Oh come on! This will be the fastest way to beat him!" Kirishima grinned out. "we can break through whatever he sends our way. Besides, we don't even know where the exit is anyway."

"That doesn't mean we just go for him, though," Katara rolled her eyes. "If we try and fight that will- Woah!"

Both of them yelped out in shock as the ground beneath them suddenly rumbled, shifting out and forming a concrete wall. "Oh shit, heads up!" Kirishima yelled and jumped back.

Katara caught her balance and opened her canteen up. She watched as the ground dropped back down, the concrete rolling like a wave and revealing Cementoss in the center of the road. His hands laid on the road as he controlled the hard material, eyeing the two teens that came his way.

"So you decided to come straight to me. I expected that from you." Cementoss calmly stated as he raised his hands up. "Quite a foolish choice."

Grunting in annoyance, Katara bended out the entirety of her canteen and formed a water whip around herself. "Looks like we ended up finding him." she sighed out.

"Looks like we did." Kirishima ginned and hardened his body. "Let's take him down and end this!"

Cementoss narrowed his eyes as he watched the red head seem almost excited to fight, while his partner was stepping back in caution. 'It seems Aizawa was right about them. I can see why he put them against me.' he said to himself before dropping his hands back to the ground. Immediately, the concrete road began erupting with thick walls erupting up between him and the students. Katara watched in amazement how fast the concrete barriers formed up, giving off a strange sense of familiarity.

'It's almost as…' Katara swallowed the lump in her throat, a mix of caution, but also of nostalgia. 'he is earthbending the ground.'

"Here it goes! Time to for us to pass our test!" Kirishima yelled in excitement before running forward despite his partner calling for him to wait. Slamming his fists into the first wall, he broke through the barrier before rushing to the next one.

Rolling her eyes, Katara realized she couldn't leave him alone and ran forward as well. Swiping her arms, she slashed through one of the rising barriers and leaped over the top, spinning around and repeating the process. Soon the pair were breaking through wall after wall at a surprisingly fast pace. But as they continued, Katara began noticing her water was slowly dissipating from use despite just starting. As she cut through one more, she looked forward at Cementoss just sitting still, not moving as the ground continued shifting out from himself.

"He's not even trying against us…" She said out loud as she dodged another wall and slashed the one behind it. She took a deep breath as she felt sweat falling down her head from forcing water to move this fast. "...He's trying to tire us down!"

"Yeah? Then we outlast him!" Kirishima growled out in frustration, he himself not seeing an end the walls coming. "Just…a little more until we catch him!"

Katara could hear him panting as well, knowing full well they both would be out by the time they reached the staff member. She knew they had no chance to actually fight him… just like that time with Endeavor.

"We have to run."

Kirishima's eyes widened when he heard that, turning back to Katara frowning. "What? No we can do this if-

"If we stay, we will be finished!" Katara shouted as she swiped through another incoming wall, looking down to her water now to half of its supply. "He isn't even tired from what he has done, and he has plenty of material to work with!"

Before he could respond, Kirishima felt the ground beneath him rumble, looking down in shock as the concrete began opening up for him to fall into. Before he could fall into the hole, a stream of water wrapped around his waist and yanked him up and out of the street. Katara flipped around and tossed him onto the nearby sidewalk outside of the affected concrete, but then felt the ground below her shifting. She quickly pointed her right hand up, opening her gauntlet compartment to shoot out another thin stream of water and attach to the closest light pole and pull herself off the street.

Landing next to her partner, she dropped down and pulled him back to his feet. "Come on, let's get back and figure something out!" She turned to pull him along, but gasped as a massive wall of concrete rose up blocking their path.

"I can't just let you run so easily." Cementoss calmly mentioned as he stared down the trapped pair.

Glaring, Katara looked up to the building beside them and then down to Kirishima still in his hardened state. "Don't stop using your quirk for a moment, okay?"

"Huh?" Kirishima at her in confusion, but then his stomach was encased in water once again. "Wait, what are- woah!"

He screamed out as he was suddenly lifted off the ground and thrown through the second story window. Once he was through the broken glass, Katara retracted the water partially and hooked onto the ledge and yanked herself up after him, leaving Cementoss with a small smirk.

"Trying to run through a building is pointless. The entire foundation is mine to use."

"Good move, Katara! Escaping was the logical choice against him!" Tenya yelled at the screen.

"Wow, that was a close one. They almost got caught!" Uraraka gasped out.

Sighing in relief, Tokoyami watched as Katara argued with Kirishima on what to next. "If she had more water, she could possibly face up against him easier."

Midoriya held his jaw as he analyzed the fight, looking at the surroundings and everything in the zone. "There is no water for her to gather. They chose this location specifically for her."

As the others gasped, Recovery Girl nodded to his conclusion. "Precisely. Kirishima has an amazing defense, but can't hold it forever and has the habit of rushing into battle without a plan. Katara on the other hand may be lacking academically, but excels when it comes to combat knowledge. Unfortunately for her as well, she is stuck to a limited amount of supply in this zone for her quirk while their opponents supply is limitless."

Clenching his fists, Shoto glared at the screen as he watched her hands waving on screen, frustrated seeing her cornered. 'If we were partners, I could give her enough ice to make up the difference. Come on, Katara… fight.'

Catching his breath, Kirishima looked over his shoulder to the broken window to see if they were being followed. Thinking they were clear, he relaxed and looked over to Katara as her hands swiped in the air and began forming small balls of water out of the air. "Damn, that's sick right there." He chuckled to himself.

Katara however didn't smile, instead was frowning at how little she was gathering. "This takes too much time to just do all the time. And the air here is dry, so there isn't much to gather anyway." She responded as she bended the accumulated water into her canteen, filling it up three quarters of the way. "Well, that's better than nothing at least."

Slamming his fists together, Kirishima growled out loud. "Damn that cement quirk is annoying! Next time we take him on, I'm going to-

"Have you not learned anything?" Katara glared at him. "Let's get out of here and to the exit instead of fighting."

Kirishima glared back in annoyance. "You want to run? But if we can simply get those cuffs on him we end this!"

"I don't have enough water to fight through to him, and your quirk takes too much energy to fight that long. We would both fail if we tried that."

Gritting his teeth, Kirishima looked away and grunted. "Sucks we have to run, but you are probably right."

Both of them suddenly felt as if the entire building was shaking, looking around in panic to what was going on. It didn't take long to realize the walls behind them began shifting, changing shape before rushing towards them. "Okay, you are definitely right! Let's run!" Kirishima yelled out and took off.

Katara gasped and was right behind him, jumping over the rolling ground. "This building is cement! Are you kidding me?!" She screamed in frustration.

"Hey, you were the one who threw me in here!" Kirishima growled, earning a sharp glare from his partner.

"I didn't think he could do that to the building!"

"Whatever, I'm getting us out of here!" Re hardening his body, Kirishima charged forward and slammed through the far side wall breaking to the outside. As he fell down, Katara jumped down after him and used her water to catch the building to slow her descent. As soon as they both reached the ground, they turned around in shock to see Cementoss rushing towards them, the ground beneath his feet pushing him forward.

"Shoot, come on!" Katara yelled out and released all of her water from her canteen and gloves, forming a small ice board below to pick her and Kirishima up before pushing it with the remaining water. While it was faster than running, Katara was struggling to keep the balance for both of them with such a small amount of water. As they rushed down the street, she tried to turn down an alleyway but yelped in shock as the water shifted too much before making them both fall to the ground. She crawled back up to her feet, gasping when she saw Cementoss right behind them. "Come on, we have to go!"

Kirishima grunted as he jumped back to his feet, He looked back and forth between Cementoss and Katara, knowing they didn't have enough water to carry both of them fast enough. If he didn't do something, they were going to fail, and he wasn't going to sit by and let that happen.

"You go and get to that exit, alright?" He told her and slammed his fists together, "I'll keep him busy!"

Katara's eyes widened when she heard that. "Wait, what are you doing?!"

"RAHHH! Come on, let's go!" Kirishima roared out and charged the teacher head on, ignoring Katara's calls for him as he crashed through the first wall of concrete. He threw another punch shattering another wall, not stopping as he ran towards his target. "Keep going! I'll keep him here until you get to the gate!"

Watching him run away sent a cold feeling through Katara's stomach, not wanting to leave him behind. She knew though if she stayed to help, they would both be done for. The only thing she could do was find the exit fast enough, hoping to reach it before he was captured. Turning forward and sprinting away, she smiled back towards him. "Kirishima… thanks." She whispered out before rounding the corner, pulling all of the water with her. She only made it two steps however before she stopped again, clenching her fists in frustration.

Seeing her gone from sight brought a grin to the red heads face, turning back and punching over and over. His body was growing tired however, his quirk draining too much energy as he broke wall after wall. Eventually, his quirk turned off, leaving him drained and helpless before he looked up and watched as a wave of cement rushed towards him.

"You ran at me knowing full well you couldn't defeat me, all to give your partner a chance to escape." Cementoss commented as he stared at the boys face locked on the concrete before him, "That is very admirable of you. I applaud you for something truly heroic. Unfortunately, I can't make it too easy for your friend still." the teachers eyes went wide as several ice spikes launched towards him, forcing him to form a wall in front of himself.

"What the?" Kirishima gasped in shocked before he was suddenly grabbed by a stream of water and pulled back by his waist. He yelped as he flew through the air before being caught by a familiar face. "What are you doing?! You should be heading for-

"Not without you! We are finishing this!" Katara retorted as she stood him up. "Come on!"

Running as fast as she could, Katara panted as she looked up and down the roads to find the exit. Every street however seemed to be the same, just filled with buildings and metal. She needed to find it soon, knowing Kirishima wasn't going to last long alone. He was panting hard as he ran with her, his quirk taking out most of his energy. She was almost to the end of the facility when suddenly she noticed something to the left, looking over and seeing the colorful gateway ahead. "Finally…" she smiled and ran straight towards it, realizing victory was so close and-

BOOSH!

Gasping out, Katara jumped back as a wave of concrete nearly engulfed her, looking to her right in shock to see Cementoss standing there. "You're… here already?" she mumbled out in disbelief.

"I can't simply let you make your way out of here. If I did that, what kind of villain would I be?" the stone headed teacher calmly stated as his hands touched the ground once more, creating a hardened wall rushing towards them once more. Katara jumped back to give herself space, but Kirishima knew he couldn't move fast enough, yelling out in determination and hardening his body once more.

"Come on!" the red head roared out and ran forward breaking through the center of the wall, but immediately was engulfed in concrete before he was tumbled around.

"No!" Katara screamed as she shot a water whip to try and grab him. By the time it reached however, he was already swallowed entirely except for his head sticking out from the concrete. Her heart sank as her water struck the thick cement, and grabbed his exposed neck, only to find he was completely locked in with no escape.

Seeing Kirishima was already beaten, Katara swallowed the lump in her throat as she stepped back. She was only about thirty paces from the exit at this point, so she had to be quick about whatever she did. She flicked her canteen open and shot the water towards the ground, leaping onto it and skating as fast as she could. She watched as the ground erupted in front of her blocking her path, quickly flipping her left gauntlet open and latching the water onto the top to pull herself over the top. Kicking off the hard surface, she flipped down and shot forth once more, dodging a rising column of cement and leaping over a fractured section of the road.

Cementoss eyed her movements with awe, watching her weave her way through the constructs he formed. If he had to guess, it looked as if she had done something like this before.

"Interesting. Let's see what you can do about this."

Sliding his hands forward, two thick streams of cement blasted forward like gray snakes straight towards the waterbender. Katara lowered her body to go faster, ducking underneath the first stream and slashing her water through the next one. Within moments however the concrete simply continued coming, rushing forth and knocking her off of the water stream. She grunted out as she bounced on the ground, crawling back to her feet and running once more. She opened her remaining gauntlet and slashed through the incoming concrete, keeping it at bay while moving. The exit was only steps away from her, just within reach until she felt something ensnare her foot.

"No!" She yelled out, looking back to see the concrete crawling up her right foot. She yanked over and over, but the hard ground was only crawling up further.

"I would be careful pulling too hard. You can damage your leg." Cementoss warned her as he approached the struggling teen. "It would be best to surrender, since without water you-

The small stream of water erupted out from Katara's closed fist and straight into the teachers eyes, encasing Cementoss's brow and freezing instantly. The shocked pro stumbled backwards from the sudden attack, giving Katara the chance to gather enough water from the air to slash through the cement around her foot to break it free. She flipped around and ran, jumping across the line. And passing the test.

"She did it! She did it!" Midoriya cheered out as he watched her cross through the gate.

"OF COURSE SHE DID! THERE WAS NO WAY KATARA WOULD FAIL THIS TEST!" Tenya screamed out as he chopped in glee, his smile reaching ear to ear.

"Wow, that was incredible! That was so close!" Uraraka sighed out from the stressful match she watched.

Recovery Girl chuckled in amusement. "Very clever. She kept a small amount of water hidden in her hand as both a final emergency ration and to make her opponent think she was out."

"Now that is adjusting for a fight! Great job, Katara!" Tenya continued on with his praise.

"Amazing… she was able to overcome that challenge for herself with so little water." Shoto quietly said behind the others, a small smile forming on his face. "She truly is incredible."

Tokoyami gazed over to Shoto for the praise he gave Katara, feeling his stomach tighten as he looked away. "Yes. Yes she is."

While he was pleased to see her succeed, Shoto clenched his fists after seeing how close she was to losing. "If even Katara struggled that much, I can't imagine how difficult the rest of these tests will be."

Huffing out, Tenya stuck his chest out and stood proud. "Indeed. They are trying hard to make it difficult for us. I wish I could await to talk her myself, but I must go and prepare with Ojiro for our match!"

"Oh yeah, you are up soon. Good luck out there, Iida!" Midoriya smiled and gave him a thumbs up.

Uraraka nodded in agreement. "You got this! Don't give up!"

As Tenya left the room, Shoto looked over to his own partner, knowing it would be best to get ready as well. "Perhaps we could come up with a plan. With us facing Aizawa sensei, this will be a difficult match."

Taking a breath, Tokoyami spun around and headed towards the door as well. "Fine." he quietly muttered, never once looking to his partner.

Shoto stood there in silence as Tokoyami walked out of the room, staring in confusion as he was left behind. Midoriya and Uraraka were looking as well, the gravity girl looking back and forth between them. "Is Tokoyami okay? He seems kinda dark lately. Well… Darker."

"I know…" Midoriya responded. "He has been keeping whatever is bothering to himself."

"Something is bothering him?" Shoto asked, furrowing his brow and walking towards the door after him. "I can try and find out."

"Oh, good luck Todoroki!" Midoriya quickly called out.

"Thanks." Shoto gave a small nod of approval and left as well, leaving through the sliding steel door after his partner.

"I wonder what's going on," Uraraka pondered as the door closed behind the departing students. "Tokoyami just looked a little upset."

Midoriya stared at the door for a few moments, unsure what was going on. He had been noticing the last week how Tokoyami was more distant than usual, and it always seemed to be related to Todoroki as well. He just hoped this didn't affect their teamwork somehow. He turned back to the screen as the second match began, unable to contain his smile as he watched a certain black haired girl come into view.

Hopping alongside her partner, Tsu kept her eyes busy looking around for their opponent. The large indoor facility they were inside seemed harmless enough, the wide open rooms and long hallways giving them plenty of time to see anyone coming. "At least Ectoplasm sensei can't sneak up on us here." She said out loud as they entered another large circular room.

Momo was also analyzing their surroundings as well, but her conclusion was much different than her friend. "No, this is all at his benefit." She responded as she came to a stop.

"Ribbit?" Tsu tilted her head in confusion. "His?"

"We are completely in the open, with no place for cover. And..."Momo's words trailed off as white clouds of smoke suddenly formed all around them, both her and Tsu feeling their hearts jump as the flowing masses shifted into taller shapes. "And he can form his clones instantly."

The first clone manifested and stepped forward. "Very perceptive of you, Miss Yaoyorozu. Now that you know, what will you do now?"

Both Tsu and Momo backed into each other as the many other clones took shape, soon they were encircled by more than a dozen Ectoplasms. Shifting in place, the frog girl watched as the first few stepped closer, balling her fists in worry. "Ribbit. Looks like we don't have a choice to run or fight now."

"Yes we do." Momo declared, earning a confused look from her partner as she continued. "We have to get away from these clones and change the match to our favor."

"And how do we do that?"

Taking a deep breath, Momo clenched her fists together as they began to glow inside. "When you see your opening, attack and go straight through."

The next moment, the creationist whipped her arm around and unleashed a barrage of shuriken outward. The first few clones were struck all over and dissipated, leaving a small gap for Tsu to leap forward and swipe her tongue and strike another one. While extended out, she shot her tongue out and latched it onto the nearby wall and yanked herself up and over the crowd. Still on the ground, Momo spun her body around and whipped out a chain from her hand, keeping the front line of clones from approaching too quickly.

"Yaomomo!" Tsu yelled out as she shot her tongue back towards her partner on the ground, Momo halting her spin as the tongue wrapped around her waist and pulled her off the ground. As she was hoisted up, Momo clenched her hands closed before holding her new items.

"Tsu, cover your eyes!" She yelled out and pulled the pins from her pair of flash bangs, chucking them into the mass of clones below as she was thrown to the next floor above. Tsu's eyes widened when she saw the items bounce on the ground before she brought her one hand up shielding her eyes, the blinding flash overtaking the room. The many clones below gasped from the intense light stifling their vision, clenching their eyes closed as the creationist landed on her feet above. Grabbing the tongue, she tugged on it signaling her friend to come. "Let's go, come on!"

"Ribbit…" Opening her eyes, Tsu quickly climbed up the wall face and landed next to her partner, looking back down to the many Ectoplasm clones shaking their heads. "Good move there."

"We aren't done yet," Momo glared as several more clones began forming in front of them. "We have to move fast." Charging forward, the tall teen launched out a pair of nets ensnaring the first two just as they manifested. She charged by them and formed a steel gauntlet and struck the next one the moment it solidified. She exhaled as she looked forward, eyeing another about to form while Edgeshot's words rang inside her head.

'Your quirk takes time to manifest, meaning you have to act first. Don't give your opponent the chance to counter your weakness, instead use it to catch them off guard.'

"Attacking them before they fully form… it's the best chance we have!" Momo yelled out and launched a steel rod forward striking the next clone, destroying it before she conjured a shield to block an incoming kick from another. The replica teacher went to attack again, but was kicked away as Tsu slammed into it's body.

"They are still forming fast…" Tsu mumbled as she shot her tongue out and knocked a freshly made clone over the railing. "But you are right. If we wait, we will be overwhelmed."

"We can do this. As long as we stick together, we will get through this exam." Momo created several more shuriken in her hands and stepped forward. "We can do this!"

Midoriya's eyes couldn't peel away from the screen in amazement, seeing a different side to Yaoyorozu he never saw before. The once cautious girl was now heading straight forward into battle, not letting her hesitation slow her down. The others were shocked as well, watching as the two students continued fighting their way through the testing ground.

"Hmm, this is quite interesting," Recovery Girl commented as she leaned forward. "While Yaoyorozu is brilliant I had the assumption she would let herself be overwhelmed with multiple targets, and yet she is the one initiating the fight. Young Asui I assumed would have been the more forceful fighter here."

"This amazing! Yaoyorozu has completely changed her approach since the festival!" Midoriya cheered, "Her training with Edgeshot really has helped her! And Tsu is balancing her perfectly with timed assisted attacks!"

While she frowned slightly at how excited he was watching Yaoyorozu, Uraraka couldn't help but stare at the screen impressed as well. "They are working really good together. If they keep this up, they will definitely pass this test."

Recovery Girl smirked at their comments. "Don't push your luck too much. Don't be forgetting the teachers at UA are pros for a reason."

Jumping up and latching onto the hallway ceiling, Tsu kicked off the surface past the next three clones and slammed into the farthest one in the back. Her tongue shot out wrapping around another clone and throwing him into the wall. In the meantime, Yaoyorozu was fighting off another one of the clones with a steel pole, spinning it around her body as she kept its peg legs at bay. Another powerful kick from it sent her back several steps, but she quickly whipped her arm forward and threw a net ensnaring it.

"Tsu, duck!" Momo yelled as she chucked her pole and skewered the clone past the frog girl, the form dissipating in a cloud of white smoke.

"Thanks for that." Tsu nodded back to her partner. "Looks like we got these ones down."

"Yes, but they will be back. Ectoplasm sensei can make more still." Momo said as she wiped her brow dry, panting lightly as she looked down the hall. "They are coming even faster now. We have to be close to his main body." As they ran down the hall, Momo felt a slight headache suddenly come over her, taking a deep breath and clenching her fists.

'It's not that bad yet. I can keep going with my quirk.' She told herself, ignoring the feeling she was having as they came into another large room, looking down to see a single Ectoplasm standing by the escape gate. "There, that has to be the real one!" She yelled out.

"Ribbit. You must be right, that's why he's guarding the gate personally." Tsu added, staying back from the railing as the teacher below stared at them.

"Not bad. You two are doing much better than I predicted," Ectoplasm chuckled out. "But if you got through those, try this now!"

The two teens eyes went wide as a massive cloud erupted out of Ectoplasms mouth, rising up and forming into a single giant clone towering over them. "Wh-what is that?!" Momo gasped out.

"He can do that?" Tsu mumbled as the monstrous clone stared down towards them. "He's big."

"Yeah, that's an understatement." Momo growled out and stepped back, swallowing as she felt her body tremble to the giant form coming closer. "Go right, now!"

"Detention bite!" The gargantuan clone yelled out as it lurched forward mouth open. Tsu leaped out as fast as she could to the right while Momo shot out a grappling hook and pulled herself to the left. The two barely escaped as the large mouth bit down through the platform they were on, the frog girl leaping down and sliding along the wall face to the ground. By the time she landed, one of the massive peg legs came swinging towards her.

"Ribbit?!" Tsu gasped and ducked underneath the leg as it slammed into the wall above her head. She kicked off the ground and landed below the giant clone, staying beneath the legs as it tried maneuvering to get her. Suddenly, the outside of the clones legs erupted in explosions, forcing the massive figure to stumble over and collapse into the side wall. Tsu stared in confusion before looking over to see Momo standing there, the black haired teen holding onto a cannon. "Thank you."

Panting, Momo smiled at her. "It's okay. You don't have to- Look out!"

Tsu didn't have time to turn around as the real Ectoplasm leaped forward and kicked her into the downed giant, the form suddenly shifting into a sticky mass entrapping her inside. "Tsu!" Momo screamed.

The frog teen strained against the strange material, but she was unable to break free at all. "I'm stuck here…" She groaned out.

"No…" Momo looked over and sweated as Ectoplasm stared her down, aiming her cannon at the teacher and firing again. The teacher however casually dodged the blast, rushing forward and kicking the cannon from her hand. She gasped as she stumbled backward, forming a shield and blocking another incoming kick.

"My clones are effective, but they are far less durable than normal people. Dealing with me is something else entirely." Ectoplasm growled out and slammed his leg into the shield once again.

"Yaoyorozu!" Tsu yelled in worry as Momo was thrown to the ground, struggling hard to free herself from the sticky substance. She knew she had to do something, even if she was stuck here.

Crawling back up, Momo panted as she formed gauntlets over her hands, sweating more as her quirk continued to drain her body. She didn't have time to think more as the pro hero leaped forward and swung his peg leg at her forcing her arms up to block. She yelped from the hard hit, forcing her back every time he landed. 'He's certainly hitting hard. Much more than Edgeshot did with me.' She hissed internally as her arms grew sore from blocking.

As she watched her partner struggling, Tsu began shifting her stomach internally, gagging as she forced up something she swallowed as soon as the match started. 'I didn't want to lose these, so this was easier.' She groaned as she felt the metal crawling back up her throat.

"Ahh!" Momo screamed as she was slammed backwards, falling onto her side hard and looking back to the teacher blocking the gate.

"You are at your end with your quirk. If you keep at it you are going to pass out, putting yourself in harms way." Ectoplasm scolded her as she struggled to stand back up. "Are you going to let that happen?"

Momo clenched her fist in frustration, panting as she regained her balance. She glared up at the teacher, thinking back to words she heard from her classmate that resonated with her. "If I want to be better, I have to keep going. If I give up, I will never become who I want to be." Her hands glowed bright, thinking back to what she heard during her internships. "A real hero… would fight until there last breath no matter what the odds!"

Ectoplasm braced himself as she threw forward several more items, grunting seeing she was trying flash bangs once more. Before he covered his eyes however, he noticed the different color and rounded shapes. "Wait, those are-

BOOM!

The teacher jumped backwards as the first grenade detonated in front of him, staying back as another erupted to his left. He growled out and kicked the remaining away before it went off, looking back to the teen just before he was cracked in the stomach with a steel pole. He gasped out from the attack, looking down as Momo pushed him further back.

Straining against his size, Momo pushed as hard as she could to shove him back. Her head was spinning but she didn't stop, not until she knew they were close enough. "Do it now!" She screamed out.

Ectoplasm's eyes widened when he suddenly felt something clasp around his left leg, shoving the teen away from him and looking down. His eyes shot down below his trench coat, seeing a long pink tongue pulling away from him back towards Tsu. He then looked back to his leg, groaning to what was there. "It seems I was wrong about you…"

Momo dropped to her knees in exhaustion, gasping for air as she looked over to Tsu. Even though they were both drained, they couldn't help but smile as they turned back to the cuffs dangling from the teachers leg.

"She did it! They both captured him!" Midoriya jumped up in excitement as the match came to a close. "That was amazing!"

"Well, I certainly am surprised," Recovery Girl chuckled to herself. "To think Miss Yaoyorozu was able to come up with ideas for every scenario. She really has changed quite a lot since the sports festival."

Nodding in agreement, Midoriya couldn't keep the massive smile off of his face. "That was incredible. Even when they were overwhelmed in the end, they were able to still back each other up. Tsu and Yaoyorozu did incredible!"

While she slightly frowned at how excited he was getting (specifically for Yaoyorozu), she could not lie and say she wasn't amazed either. "They did amazing. I thought they were going to be captured for a moment. Ectoplasm was really strong."

"Yeah…" Midoriya clenched his fist as he watched the teacher move, seemingly unhindered by the compression weights they were wearing. "And they are carrying half of their body weight while fighting. They really are pros for a reason."

His eyes then wandered over to Momo on screen, smiling once more to seeing her victorious. From the girl crying in the hall back to the festival, it seemed like she had overcome whatever was holding her back. He couldn't wait to talk to her later about it.

Walking out of her zone, Katara sighed in relief that she was able to scrape by that match. After talking with Cementoss for some time about her performance, she tried rush back and find the observation room in time to watch the other matches commence. Since Kirishima wanted to rest a bit, she was on her on, feeling bad at how he looked when she left.

"He looked really depressed afterward. I hope he still passes since I got through the gate." She said to herself in worry. After a few moments she found her way through the large sliding doors and was met with Uraraka and Midoriya.

"Katara, I'm glad you made it!" Izuku shouted in excitement. "You did incredible!"

"Yeah, good job! Cementoss is really strong but you got through!" Uraraka added.

Katara smiled at their praise. "Thank you. That was really close though, and I feel bad that Kirishima got captured."

Midoriya pondered that as he turned back to the screen. "Well, they said if one of us makes it through the gate we pass… but I don't know if that counts for someone captured either."

Sighing, Katara could only hope it worked out for him as she turned to the screen. To her shock, she watched as Tenya was already standing next to Ojiro as they chatted with Powerloader, the field devastated behind them. "Wait, Tenya already finished his match?"

Midoriya nodded and smiled. "It was amazing. I thought they weren't going to get through the destroyed land, but Iida was able to launch Ojiro across the field and through the gate."

While she was disappointed she wasn't able to see his match, Katara smiled at the screen. "That's great! What about Tsu and Yaoyorozu? How did they do?"

"They both passed also," Uraraka answered, "It was close but-

"It was great! Even though they were overwhelmed, they kept going! Yaoyorozu never gave up even when she was drained from her quirk! She was able to push back Ectoplasm Sensei and allow Tsu to capture him!"

Katara chuckled at how excited Midoriya was getting while talking about Yaoyorozu, seeing his eyes light up in happiness. She did however notice the small frown on Uraraka's face, especially when he started talking about their other friend. The waterbenders smile faded when she immediately saw what was going on.

'Wait… Uraraka must…' she then thought back to the many times in school where she was around her and Midoriya, how she always asked to wait for him and tried to be on his team. Katara then thought back to the beach where Uraraka went and purposely sat next to him as well. She then remembered how Uraraka was friends with Midoriya… before Yaoyorozu was. Just like how…

Looking back up to the screen, Katara's stomach tightened when she saw Shoto and Tokoyami walking into the residential themed training grounds. Now she understood what Tokoyami was talking about when he told her in the hall yesterday. She then felt a pain in her chest realizing why he was so upset she was spending time elsewhere… especially with someone else in particular.

"Tokoyami…" She whispered out, reaching up and grabbing her arm in pain. She now understood why he was upset.

Walking through the alleyway, Shoto looked back and forth into the street looking for their opponent. He activated his right side, keeping a small amount of ice constantly active. "If our quirks deactivate, we know Aizawa Sensei is nearby." he said to his partner behind him.

Tokoyami sighed and looked to the side. "I know the plan."

Shoto turned around to the remark as dark shadow emerged from Tokoyami's body. He had noticed the entire time he explained what he thought they should do against Aizawa, Tokoyami just went with whatever he said without any feedback. He had never talked to Tokoyami much through school, so he couldn't really tell how his personality really was. What he could tell was he was seeming to avoid wanting to talk to him.

"Is there something I did to offend you?" Shoto asked, earning a grunt from his partner.

"It's not important. Let's just get through this test." Tokoyami said as he walked by, earning a confused look from Shoto.

"It is obvious something is bothering you. If you-

"Hey, how about you buzz off?!" Dark shadow hissed at the fire and ice user, sticking its tongue out before turning away. "Just go and shoot your fire away from me, why don't you?"

"Dark shadow, enough…" Tokoyami grunted, ordering his quirk to come closer. Shoto sat confused before frowning and walking after him.

"If you are unfocused we don't stand a chance against him. Something is bothering you, and it seems that I am the cause of that." Shoto reached out and grabbed Tokoyami's shoulder stopping him. "What did I do to make you angry?"

Tokoyami clenched his fist as he looked back at Todoroki behind him, but seeing the confused look on his face snapped him out of his frustration. He sighed out and looked to the ground. "It is not important now, or your business to be asking. I can deal with what I have now myself."

"If there is something I have done, then tell me…" Shoto glared in annoyance, before looking down at his right arm on Tokoyami's shoulder. His eyes widened in panic when he saw there was no more ice. "Shit… he's here!"

Tokoyami's eyes shot open and looked to the left, locking onto Aizawa staring at them from a rooftop through his goggles. "Shit…"

"You obviously have a lot on your minds, not even looking around as I approached." Aizawa growled out and leaped off the roof towards them. "You always must mind your surroundings!"

Shoto gritted his teeth in frustration, angered he didn't notice his quirk was deactivated. "Damn it! Lets get out of here. We were supposed to face him separately while the other supported from the distance."

Tokoyami however only glared and leaned forward. "I will grab him now. Dark Shadow!"

"Don't!" Shoto yelled to stop him, only to be ignored as the shadowy figure raced through the air towards the teacher. Aizawa quickly shot his gaze forward, forcing dark shadow to freeze midair before the teachers boots slammed into its face. The bright flames from Todoroki erupted upward trying to engulf him, but Aizawa quickly spun midair ducking underneath kicking dark shadow up into the flames.

"Ow, stop!" Dark shadow cried out.

"Damn it…" Shoto growled and stopped his flames. He yelled in anger as he tried creating more ice but was still unable to, his body suddenly encased in bindings and thrown into the light pole before being ensnared at the base.

Tokoyami glared and launched dark shadow towards their teacher, but Aizawa simply turned and locked his gaze onto him next. Almost instantly, dark shadow collapsed onto the ground in a limp mass, not moving even as Tokoyami ordered him to move. "Dark shadow, come on… Get up!"

"Foolish of you…" Aizawa scolded as he whipped another one of his binding cloths out and captured Tokoyami by the torso and yanked him forward.

"Come on…" Shoto growled and activated his left side, burning through the bindings and breaking free. He ran forward and prepared to shoot a stream of fire out, but he pulled back his fist as Aizawa pulled Tokoyami forward and used him as a shield. "Grrr…" he grumbled in frustration, instead stepping hard with his right foot and unleashing a path of ice instead.

"You are better with your ice. However…" Aizawa kicked Tokoyami forward towards the ice, forcing Shoto to halt his attack before running forward himself. "If you only rely on your quirks, you will never excel."

Shoto gasped as Aizawa blitzed him, his quirk deactivating once again leaving him feeling helpless. He tried dodging the incoming cloths, but they were too fast and ensnared him by the wrists before he was whipped up into the air and slammed back into the ground. He grunted in pain before he was picked up again and whipped back and slam into the nearby wall. Aizawa grunted as he watched the teen gasp from the wind being knocked out of him.

"Both of you are offensive quirk users, but the moment your powers are countered you fall apart miserably." He jumped into the air avoiding dark shadow from catching him from behind, dropping down and slamming into the shadow birds back and ensnaring its claws together. He turned and ran towards a mortified Tokoyami, seeing the panic in his eyes. "Without your quirk, you lose all faith in your own abilities."

Grunting, Tokoyami tried to evade the punches Aizawa threw at him, but he was nowhere near as skilled in hand to hand and was quickly struck several times before being captured in a choke hold from behind. He struggled for air as he pulled at the arm around his neck, not even budging his teachers grip. Even as dark shadow broke free and charged, Aizawa jumped back along with Tokoyami in grip before kicking at the quirk to keep it back. "You let yourselves fall victim to your own weaknesses." Aizawa bluntly stated.

Coughing from the pressure on his throat, Tokoyami glared out. "So… you are scolding us on relying on our quirks too much?"

"Yes, but also your attitude…" Aizawa spun into a wheel kick slamming into dark shadows head and pinning it to the ground. "...and allowing your emotions to cloud your willingness for teamwork."

Tokoyami's eyes widened in shock. "Wh-what?"

Crawling up from the ground, Shoto winced from the pain in his shoulder, gripping his arm as he looked over to Aizawa holding Tokoyami. "No…" he groaned out and ignited his left side, slamming his left hand down and unleashing a large wall of fire out. Aizawa looked over and glared, both in annoyance to the flames blocking his view, as well as the choice of attack.

"Fire will only hurt your teammate, and it weakens his quirk at the same time. No thought was put into how you-

His words were cut off as a barrage of ice burst through the flames straight towards him, forcing him to release Tokoyami and just back out of range. Coughing as he regained his breath, Tokoyami crawled back up and looked over through the dissipating flames to see Shoto standing there.

"Let's go. We have to get away from him and rethink our approach." He insisted, running over and offering his hand to the downed shadow user. Grunting out, Tokoyami grabbed hold and pulled himself up, running after his partner as Shoto formed an ice wall behind them blocking their path.

"They got away…" Midoriya sighed in relief. "I knew Aizawa sensei was good, but..."

"Yeah, Aizawa sensei sure is scary sometimes…" Uraraka shivered as she watched their teacher leap over the ice in pursuit of the others. "Todoroki and Tokoyami couldn't do anything against him."

The older nurse nodded in agreement. "Aizawa is truly spectacular. His talent in dealing with quirks is truly amazing. Both Todoroki amd Tokoyami are indeed powerful, but they are long distance fighters with their quirks who rely on keeping their opponents away. Take that away and they are left struggling what to do next."

As she changed the camera to follow the fleeing teens, Recovery Girl eyed them curiously before they went into an alleyway outside of the camera angle, but she herself could still hear the audio of the students. 'Hmm… something else seems to be off, though. Tokoyami in particular is quite confrontational, where I assumed Todoroki would be the one hard to work with.'

As the pair disappeared from view, Katara rubbed her arm as she just watched them struggling much more than she had in her match. It wasn't just from dealing with Aizawa himself, but from the lack of teamwork between them. She looked down to the floor in pain as she now understood why Tokoyami was acting the way he was with her, making those comments about Shoto and wanting to keep to himself now. And she could see why he was hesitant with working with Shoto here as well.

Her fingers squeezed around her arm tighter as she thought back to what he said to her, understanding now what would push him to be so upset. Why he became upset when she was spending time with Shoto more recently, in fact seeming… jealous.

She exhaled as she now knew that Tokoyami had feelings for her.

Hiding out of sight, Shoto and Tokoyami panted as they slumped against the wall. Rubbing his shoulder, Shoto winced as he felt it pop. "Damn it… that was too close."

"It was close. He was certainly hard to deal with." Tokoyami rubbed his neck at the soreness from being choked.

Shoto glared at the ground before looking up to Tokoyami. "We were supposed to go out separately so one of us could attack from range away from his erasure quirk."

"You didn't have to follow me out, you know…" Tokoyami grunted.

"I wouldn't have if you weren't troubled by something." Shoto retorted. "What did I do to you?"

Gritting his teeth, Tokoyami looked away scowling. "It's not like you care. People like you wouldn't understand."

"What are you talking about? What did I do to you?"

"Just shut up…" Tokoyami stood up and stomped away. "Normal people like you will always be respected more."

"What?" Shoto stood up in complete confusion, reaching up and pulling Tokoyami back. "What the hell are you talking about?"

Slapping the arm away, Tokoyami's angry gaze turned back to Shoto. "I was Katara's friend back when you didn't even respect her, and yet she is already so close to you."

"Why the hell does that make you upset with me? What does her being my friend have to-

"Why is it that Katara would care for someone like you, when she would never care for a freak like me?!"

The air went silent as both of their eyes widened in shock to the outburst that came out, Tokoyami in particular feeling his chest tighten from finally yelling out his feelings. "I… I mean I…" his mouth trembled as he stumbled back and fell against the wall.

Shoto remained quiet as he stared at the shaking teen before him, watching Tokoyami grip his head in frustration. "Tokoyami… why would you say that about yourself?"

Squeezing the feathers on his face, Tokoyami clenched his eyes closed. "Someone who looks like me, even if I try, will never be considered normal. You don't even have to try, and yet I always hear the other girls around school mention how attractive you look."

"I don't care what others say. I never have. And why are you involving Katara? What does she have to do with this?"

"She has everything to do with it…" Tokoyami whispered, looking back to his partner in guilt. "I am sorry. I-

The bindings wrapping around Tokoyami's face cut off his words, pulling him forward and slamming him into the ground. Shoto gasped as he looked past to see Aizawa leaping straight towards him, once again unable to activate his quirk before he was slammed into the wall as well.

"If you were trying to hide, arguing was not the thing you should have been doing." Aizawa said as he rushed forward, flipping Shoto onto his stomach and wrenching his arm behind him. The teen gasped in shock as he felt his wrist straining, unable to move with his teachers weight on top of him. "Clearly you were trying to solve whatever issues you had, but that should never interfere when you are facing an enemy. Now… you are both finished."

As he pulled the final bindings off, Tokoyami looked up and glared up at Aizawa. He was more angry with himself however, realizing this situation was all on him because he was so distraught with himself. He was the one causing them to be distracted, unfocused from his match because of his feelings. He had to do something now, but as long as Aizawa could see him, it was-

"Wait…" His eyes went down to the cloak around his body, realizing it was the only way to get close. He pulled off the cloak and launched dark shadow forward, grabbing the cloth and pulling it open in front. Aizawa turned back when he sense movement, but was shocked when all he could see was the flapping cloak heading straight towards him and blocking both the shadow and Tokoyami from his sight.

"Not bad…" Aizawa grumbled and was forced to release Todoroki, throwing another strand of his bindings out and ensnaring the cape and ripping it down. When he pulled it away, he was caught off guard as Tokoyami jumped towards him just behind the deactivated dark shadow and leaped onto his body. "The hell?!"

Shoto grunted as he crawled up from the ground, panting as he watched Tokoyami grabbing onto Aizawa's hair and yanking it hard. "Tokoyami, what are-

"Ow, son of a bitch!" Aizawa growled out as he tried pulling the teen off of his head, glaring out as he felt his hair gripped tighter. Tokoyami gritted his teeth as he felt his hands slipping, wrapping his one arm around Aizawa's head and wrenching it close.

"Todoroki, do it now!" Tokoyami yelled out, making Shoto's eyes widen.

"Do what? I can't do anything you there and-

"Freeze him! Freeze both of us!" Tokoyami felt his arm grabbed, struggling to keep it there. "Do it now!"

Glaring in frustration, Shoto saw they had no other choice, slamming his right hand into the ground and creating an eruption of ice rushing forward. Aizawa had barley removed the arm from his head when he was engulfed in a cold force surrounding his body. Both he and Tokoyami were launched off the ground, swallowed by the cold glacier until they were carried into the air and frozen in place. The erasure teacher gasped from the cold sensation encasing his whole body, the only part of him freed being his head and neck. He shivered as he looked over to his left to see Tokoyami frozen as well, both of them now sitting seven meters off the ground.

"You… sacrificed your own s-safety to help capture me." Aizawa hissed out as he gave up trying to free himself before smirking. "Th-that is your best strategy yet."

Shoto exhaled a cloud of frost as he stood up, panting in relief now they had Aizawa stuck in place for once. He ran up the small glacier to Tokoyami's position, placing his left hand down and melting the ice to release him. Tokoyami shivered as he stood up from the ice, rubbing his arms to warm himself up while keeping his eyes down.

"we did it," Shoto sighed in relief. "We caught him, and passed the test."

"No…" Tokoyami mumbled and walked past him down the ice. "We almost failed because of me."

Shoto watched as his partner dropped down to the alley below, walking away with his head hung low. "Tokoyami… I don't under-

"Todoroki."

Looking back to his teacher calling his name, Shoto sat silent as Aizawa panted next to him. "This… is something h-he must do… on his own. L-let him open up to you… or… your mutual friend."

Clicking her earpiece off, Recovery Girl sighed as she stared at the screen showing the glacier standing above the buildings. After hearing what went on during the match, she couldn't help but feel a sadness in her chest. She looked over as two of the students in the room with her went on explaining how excited they were of them passing, she noticed her new student sitting in silence, a look of pain etched onto her face.

"Katara…"

Katara yelped in surprise to her name, looking over to her mentor. "Y-yes?"

the older nurse gave a small nod. "Perhaps you should go and talk with him. There are things you must clear up between them."

Felling her throat tighten up, Katara was confused how she knew, but then realized she must have been listening to whatever they were arguing about on screen. Whatever it was, she knew she was right and nodded in return. Katara turned and walked out the door from the room, Midoriya looking back in confusion.

"Where is she going?" He asked.

Uraraka gave a small shrug. "I don't know. I need to go to my match now, but I can go and see if she is okay."

"You should leave her be," Recovery Girl ordered as she turned back to the two. "There is something she has to do on her own, so please just focus on your own match."

"Oh, okay then…" Uraraka was confused but didn't question it, looking back to Midoriya with a smile. "Well… wish me luck then, Deku."

Midoriya smiled in return and gave her a thumbs up. "You got this. Go and get it!"

Feeling warm to his words, Uraraka walked out of the room and off to her own testing grounds. She only hoped she wouldn't disappoint herself, taking a deep breath as she got prepared.

Icing the sore spot on his shoulder, Shoto winced from the stinging pain before it subsided after a few moments. He sighed as he stood back up, looking over in the waiting room to Tokoyami sitting alone on the side bench. The feathered teen stared at the ground, haven't said a word since they left the testing ground and returned here. Whatever was bothering Tokoyami had to do with him for some reason, and Katara as well. Why it would he didn't understand, especially to what he said about himself.

Walking over, Shoto leaned against the wall nearby and looked down to his partner. "Are you alright?" he asked.

Grumbling, Tokoyami didn't know how to answer that. He rubbed his head and looked away. "I'm sorry for how I was. I… it was wrong for me to do that."

"It's fine." Shoto responded, earning a grunt from Tokoyami.

"No. I… said things about you that were wrong. Not just to you… but…" he looked away, clenching his fists once more. Shoto noticed the action, looking at the frustrated shadow user in confusion.

"Why did you say that about yourself? And why does Katara have anything to do with this going on?"

Before he could answer, the door to the room opened up. Tokoyami's eyes widened when he saw the girl in question standing there. "Katara?" He whispered out and stood up. "What… what are you here for?"

Shoto looked over in surprise as well. "Katara?"

Katara took a breath as she entered the room, not sure if she was ready to talk about this. She looked over to Shoto before she finally exhaled. "Can I please talk to Tokoyami alone? I have to talk with him, please."

Both teens widened their eyes at her request. Shoto was in confusion to what was going on, while Tokoyami was at a mix of shock and fear. He worried that what he said she had heard on the screen somehow, looking down in shame at how he behaved. Feeling the tension filling the room, Shoto realized he should leave them be and let them figure out whatever was going on. He stood up straight and nodded to Tokoyami before walking towards the door. "Congratulations on your match. You did good." he said before he walked through.

"Thank you. You too." Katara answered quietly as he past her. She then shut the door behind her and locked eyes with Tokoyami staring at her, the bird headed teen frozen on the spot. She sighed and walked over and sat down on the bench by him. "Want to sit?" she asked

Tokoyami swallowed as he sat next to her, looking away as he felt his neck sweat. The two of them sat in silence for what felt like a few minutes before he finally spoke. "I watched your match. You did very well."

Katara rubbed her thumbs together as she thought of the best way to ask her question, none of her options feeling right. "Tokoyami… can you tell me why you were upset with me?"

The feeling in Tokoyami's chest tightened from her question, swallowing the lump growing in his throat. "I wasn't… upset at you personally. It's just when I saw you were spending so much time with Todoroki, I just…"

Hearing him trail off without finishing made Katara frown, knowing why he didn't want to answer. She needed to hear it though. "You were jealous?"

"No…" Tokoyami grunted, tightening his fists as he sat there. "I just-

"Please don't lie to me." Katara demanded. "Tell me the truth."

Tokoyami's breath faltered as he heard the tone in her voice. He looked over and saw her staring at him, pleading him to be open for once. He looked away and stared at the ground. "I was."

Hearing his answer only made her guess that much closer to being true, feeling her own breath quicken. "And you were jealous why?"

Shaking his head, Tokoyami stood and began walking waking away. "I'm sorry for how I was. I will go apologize to-

"No…" Katara reached out and grabbed his arm stopping him. "Please tell me why you were acting like that! I need to hear it from you!"

"Because I like you!"

The air stood still as he finally revealed his feelings, both teens remaining in silence while they looked at each other. Tokoyami felt his heart rate increase while he felt her hand tighten, unable to take his eyes off her. "Ever since the USJ. I… couldn't help but realize how much I really cared for you as a friend. You were always there to help others, and even looked past how dark shadow almost attacked you. You saw me and not a monster. You are so kind and generous. And… you are very pretty."

Katara's chest tightened as she listened to him, blushing and looking away as he continued.

"I was confused by my feelings, not sure what they were until after the internships and I watched you improve. I… I had no idea what to ever say to you. You were my friend and I didn't know what you would think of me. But when I saw you were becoming so close to Todoroki, I just felt angry."

"Tokoyami…" Katara stood up and faced him. "Why would you-

"Even after he treated you like an enemy, you were so quick to forgive him and grow close to him. The way you look at him… you never have towards me."

"What?" Katara looked at him in confusion. "What do you mean?"

"Katara… it's okay." Tokoyami pulled out of her grasp and walked away. "I understand why you would not see me as someone like that. Look at me, how could someone like me be attractive to anyone."

Katara's heart felt a sharp pain when she heard the words he just said, her mouth falling open in shock to his reason. "Tokoyami, how could you say that?!"

"Look at me!" Tokoyami yelled out in fury, his hands coming up and feeling his face. "Look at me. I was born with this. This… head. I have a birds head on a human body. All I ever heard growing up were comments and insults, how a 'bird boy' can't even do what a bird can. They would pour bird food on my lunch, and…"

Katara brought a hand to cover her mouth, her heart aching to the pain in his voice. She watched as he shook

"I barely spoke to anyone growing up, keeping to myself to avoid trouble. One day in middle school, several of them followed me and harassed me. They cornered me in an alley, not letting me leave until I would eat a worm. I got so angry and… it was almost dark. Dark shadow came out and kept them away, but he almost hurt all of them. After that, no one talked to me in school at all. They were afraid of me. I was… a freak."

"Don't say that…" Katara's eyes were watering at this point, grabbing his shoulder and making him face her. "You are not a freak. You are an amazing person and never deserved what happened to you. I never thought of anything horrible like that about you. Any person who said or did that to you doesn't deserve to know the real you."

Tokoyami's heart ached when he saw her moist eyes staring at him, the sight making his own vision blurry. "Once I came to UA, it all was different. How we could show what we could do, and people finally saw me. You and Ashido didn't seem afraid. You just… saw me for me and not what I was."

"Exactly. You are so much more than that. We have been through so much ourselves, and I have always cared for you. I will always be there to help you when you need it."

He felt somewhat better to her words, but he knew the truth to what she was going to say. "But you don't see me as…"

Katara's jaw clenched at the pained look he gave, taking a breath before rubbing his shoulder. "You are such a great person, Tokoyami. You were actually one of my first friends that I made here in Japan. And the way you look has nothing to do with what I saw in you. But… I'm sorry. I just don't have those same feelings for you."

The words struck Tokoyami's heart hard, taking a breath himself to keep composed. While it did pain him, he somewhat expected this to be the answer. He gave a small nod and looked away. "It's okay. I… understand."

"Hey…" Katara reached up placed a hand on his cheek and made him look back her way. "I want you know you that you will always be a good friend to me no matter what. I will always be there to help you. Besides…" she rubbed her hand along his feathers, chuckling as he blushed. "Someone will fall for those cute feathers soon."

Forcing out a chuckle himself, Tokoyami's heart warming up to her words. She pulled him in for a hug, surprising him at first before he felt his chest swell up. He closed his eyes to push the few tears free, reaching around and returning the embrace. "Thank you, Katara."

Smiling, Katara laid her head against his shoulder and comforted her hurt friend. She wanted to show he was still important to her, and she would always be there to help him. She didn't even remember his comments he made about her and Shoto, right now her focus on making sure he knew he wasn't alone anymore.

Notes: AHH! Tokoyami! why did I do this?!

The MHA world is cruel, and the manga lately really shows that. (No spoilers for anime only viewers please)

To be honest these matches were so hard to write, I actually didn't enjoy writing these. the rest however... I feel like I did okay. And now we finally have some feelings revealed, and we have truth coming out.

there is new fan art made for this story as well! on my profile will be the links to them. thank you!

Love to see your thoughts on this chapter. Till next time!