I swirled my body, landing a solid kick to his forearm. He cringed. "What's eating you today?"

I reformed and sighed, running a hand through my bangs. "Mina got Katsuki and I to get our fortunes told with her at the festival."

He raised a brow after I paused for a moment too long, "and?"

I crossed my arms under my bust. "She said that she only saw death in our future. Was that my death? Katsuki's? Are we going to be doomed like you and Mom?" My chest rose and fell with heavy breaths as my words tumbled out. I had run through every possible scenario in my head and each one ended horrifically. Were we going to die at the hands of Mom or Akari – or after we graduated?

Sirius hummed, rubbing his chin. "So that's what's been pissing him off. Thought it was because you didn't win the pageant. Well – it's hard to say what will happen. Quirks that look into the future are usually very limited in the scope that they can see – like Nighteye's. She could have seen either of you beaten after a tough battle and assumed you were dead. I wouldn't dwell on it too much. Besides, you have to think about where you want to do your next work study if Eraser and Redemption can't convince Nezu to let you do it with us."

"What are you talking about? Work studies have been paused for first years." I shook my head. How could he just brush off hearing that one of his daughters may die early?

"The hero commission is going to request that all licensed first years participate in a work-study in the new year. Shigaraki decimated Deika city," Sirius stretched his neck. How did he know that? "We gotta get dark matter going before then."

I sighed. "How do I know when I've got it?"

My father held up his arms and shrugged his shoulders. "Hell, if I know. Theoretically, since you've super condensed your atoms, our defensive move won't work."

I flexed my hands, "So it's all in on defence or offence." Sirius nodded. Would using dark matter be worth it if I lost my defence? If I had to fight Mom or Akari, it better be.

[B&M]

I sat on Katsuki's lap, my head tilted back as he kissed me. Our lips moving together in a slow rhythm. Our tongues exploring each other. His hand rose and adjusted my hair over my far shoulder. He left my lips, trailing kisses down my jaw until he got to the crook of my neck. My skin felt like ice but where his lips hit – shocked with warmth. He stayed in one spot, sucking and biting at my skin. My head lulled, giving him more real estate. I let a hand fall from his and ran over the exposed skin on his leg. I felt him shift below me.

In an instant, Katsuki had lifted me off his lap, and ran into my bathroom, locking the door. I stared at the door - shocked. What happened? "Ka-Katsuki, are you okay?" I heard the shower turn on. Why was he taking a – oh. OH! I covered my face with a hand, feeling the heat radiating off me, and gave him some privacy. I grabbed a hoodie and stepped onto my balcony – the cold winter air hitting me. We had been dating for a few months already. I hid my face in my hands. Mina and Kirishima have been dating a month longer than us, and were well acquainted with the other's body. This was the first time Katsuki kissed me like that. I flushed, squatting down in embarrassment. I didn't, not, like it.

The water turned off. I heaved a sigh and stood up, leaning over the edge of the railing. Come on Makoto – do not make this awkward. It was weird enough already. A few moments later, Katsuki emerged from my bathroom, drying off his hair with a towel. His cheeks were still stained pink. "What are you doing out there? Get back inside before you catch a damn cold." He crossed to the balcony, reaching out to take hold of my wrist, and pulled me back inside gently. His skin was ice cold. He closed the sliding glass door behind me.

I bit the inside of my lip. Taking in a breath as I stared into his crimson eyes. "Sorry for that."

His gaze hardened for a moment as his cheeks and ears flushed further. "Forget about it. Please." I sighed, breathing out his name. His jaw tightened and his hands moved to gently grip my upper arms. "Look, I really, really fucking like you. I already told you that I wanted to share all our firsts together – and I mean that. But I don't want you doing anything before you're ready yourself. I'll wait." I stood up on my tiptoes, brushing my lips against his.

[B&M]

I slipped on my new suit. It would be far easier to do the moves that Dad had taught me with fewer atoms in the way – at least until I can use dark matter. The bottom of the suit had been cut into shorts that just covered what they needed to. The top of the suit cut drastically from my armpits to wrap around my neck in a thick-necked halter. Thankfully hiding the hickey Katsuki gave me last night. There was no back to the suit from the bottom of my shoulder blades up. I ran my hands over my hips. This really did not leave much to the imagination. My boots were still the same heeled ankle boots.

"Aren't you going to be cold in that," Yaoyorozu asked as she wrapped a large cloak over her shoulders.

I shook my head, "I'll be fine once I'm moving." The moment I used my quirk, I would lose all sense of temperature now. Currently, my sense of temperature would come back after an hour if I did not overexert myself. Mina's costume was the only other one that had changed, but not nearly as drastic. I slipped on a set of tight fingerless gloves. Sirius had the idea that if I was in a jam, I could break these atoms down to use while keeping my disembodied hands protected.

"Doesn't it feel weird going up against the other class?" Uraraka set her helmet on her head. I paused before putting my empty case away. How would this go against Honenuki and Akari's other classmates? We all exited out of the change rooms and stepped up onto the observation deck in the cityscape.

Katsuki stalked over to me, staring past me. "What the hell happened to your suit? It's supposed to be winterized." His suit had changed minimally – just adding sleeves and a high collar.

I smiled up at the boy, "with my new style of fighting this is easier for me to wear. What's wrong with it?" I laid my hands over my hips and twisted my palms up. He pointed to Mineta who was drooling. Mineta caught Katsuki's glare and immediately ran to hide behind Mina.

"Why do you even need so much skin exposed anyway?" He was irked.

I balanced back on my heels and grasped my hands behind my back. "You'll have to wait for my fight to see." He flicked me in the forehead. I fell back on my feet and rubbed the spot of impact.

"Whoa, there's class B," Kaminari gawked from behind Katsuki. I looked over my shoulder as they approached. Honenuki was solely focused on me. Aizawa, Vlad, and Shinso approached, explaining how the class versus class brawl worked. Shoji was in bed sick back at the dorms which left our classes with equal numbers once again. I tapped my toes inside of my boot as our teachers drew the teams from the box.

"Team three will be Ojiro, Todoroki, Satoshi, and Iida." Aizawa yawned. I looked across to the other class – Akari's ex-boyfriend would be on that team. His eyes connected with mine and lowered into a glare. I felt Katsuki's arm move around my shoulders, his gauntlet resting against my elbow. Vlad nodded before they went onto the fourth pair up. Katsuki's name was drawn with Sero, Jiro, and Sato. Honenuki smirked, crossing his arms over his chest. I reached up and intertwined my fingers with Katsuki's. Honenuki will be aiming right for me. What did Akari say his quirk was? It was softening or something like that. Shinso joined our class for the first match, with Kirishima, Kaminari, Tsu, and Koda. They won while the second group to go lost.

Katsuki crossed his arms and looked down at me, "you better win."

I smiled and nodded. "Count on it." I followed the boys as we walked to our end of the cityscape. We were well-rounded. Todoroki was good for long-distance attacks, Iida had his speed, Ojiro was great at close combat, and I was our scout.

"Satoshi – you should go on ahead to see what they're planning." Todoroki tilted his head as he eyed me. "Did they give you your summer suit by mistake?"

I shook my head, opening my mouth to speak. Dust began to rise in the sky as loud metal-on-metal clanging sounded. "That's Tetsutetsu." I sighed. Buildings began to fall in his path. We had just been told to keep damage to the minimum.

"He's a good brawler. They must intend to fight us head-on." Todoroki said from my right.

Ojiro took a stance to run: " If that's the case, I welcome their approach. It'll make it easier for us to deal with them."

"Alright," Iida took a step forward and turned to face me, "Makoto – your quirk isn't really fit for combat like this, is it?"

I frowned and dissipated down to my hips. "I'll be fine." I had yet to use any of the techniques Sirius and I had worked on.

"Well then. Let's go team three!" Iida and the others took off running. My body twisted as I shot forward, after them. Todoroki froze our opponents on ice and Iida rushed out across the slippery surface. Honenuki activated his quirk and the ice softened into mush – preventing Iida from running across the ice. Ojiro was stuck in a fist-to-tail fight with Kaibara. Iida became trapped in the softened ice. Pony shot her horns at me, but they phased right through my body. She stared at me in shock, her horns flying back to move through me again. I grabbed her by the waist and took off to our prison. Four against three. Iida came shortly after I placed Pony in jail and deposited Kaibara. Four against two – we were doing really well.

"No fair," Pony pouted as Iida rushed back into the fight. I remained, watching her over my shoulder. "You were supposed to be the easy one." An explosion of flames went up in the center of the city.

"Is that what my sister told you?" I frowned. "I recommend rethinking everything she told you." I faded to atoms and rushed back into the fight. The entire area around Todoroki and Tetsutetsu had erupted in flames. I floated high above as the pipes and buildings burst. Tetsutetsu glowed from the heat. The fire vanished in a blink of an eye. Honenuki resurfaced from the ground. No way. His softening had somehow extinguished the flames. Pipes and debris began to fall from the unstable ground. Iida was quickly approaching with Ojiro on his back. I rushed in, solidifying myself in front of Honenuki. Grabbing his head, I slammed his helmet into my knee. Iida ran past and picked up an unconscious Todoroki.

Honenuki groaned. "You're always ruining everything. Tetsutetsu – hit that one!" Honenuki cringed as he shouted. He moved to throw a punch at me. Too slow. I phased. Tetsutetsu ran into a large metal silo – headbutting it. The building swayed for a moment before it began to topple. No. Iida, Ojiro, and Todoroki were in the way. I rushed past Tetsutetsu, swirling around the silo. The entire building dematerialized. Good. Iida and Ojiro would get Todoroki to safety. I reformed the silo in its place and grabbed the unconscious Tetsutetsu, my arms locked under his armpits. "A villain isn't supposed to win."

I froze, turning toward my sister's ex-boyfriend. He was trying to pull himself toward us. Part of his helmet cracked, falling away. "Good thing I'm not a villain then."

Honenuki snarled, "You're the reason why Akari got kicked out. She was helping you with everything. You should have been the one to leave!"

My chest restricted. "I'm sorry you fell for my sister's lies. Yes, she was kicked out of the hero course, but she was the one who chose to leave to join the League of Villains."

His face fell, faltering for a moment before anger overtook him. "Why should I believe you?!"

"Because I was the one that tried to stop her!" I shouted back. His jaw loosened. "She told me Vlad kicked her out. I tried to stop her – tried to tell her we'd talk to him together – but she's not herself anymore. She's changed. Akari's not the same sister I grew up with. She laughed at how pitiful I am and left. I couldn't do anything to stop her then." My lips quivered. Tears formed in Honenuki's eyes. I adjusted my hold on Tetsutetsu and rushed off to the prison. I got there just in time for it to count for our team. We won three to zero.

I solidified myself and rubbed my face as the infirmary-bots took Todoroki and the other unconscious boys away. Iida gripped my shoulder. "You've gotten much stronger Makoto. I've never seen you manipulate something that big before."

I bit my lip, turning it into a smile. I had not noticed then. But he was right. "I guess I have."