The Meowsketeers meet Mirai and the Big Three, and things get a little bit heated! Maybe, just maybe, the trio need to take a bit to examine how they feel about themselves and their abilities.

I'm so sorry for the lateness on this chapter, my past couple weeks have been murderous at work with a rush project (damn you New York changing regulations with no warning!) and just had no time or energy to write, but I finally managed to finish this chapter!

"I dunno Toshi, feels like we're being singled out too often," Ochako remarked, rubbing the back of her neck as she followed her mentor down the hallway.

"In some ways you are, yes, due to your unique circumstances. But this isn't about that, to be honest. Mirai will be doing coaching sessions with everyone from 1-A and 1-B, it's just you three will be first," Toshinori explained. "But with how skilled he is with more difficult to master powers, he'll be able to help you three in ways I can't."

"I don't think you're doing a bad job though," Izuku protested, their instinctual denial of any faults in All Might making Himiko hold back an amused snort, and even Toshi, without the benefit of the bond, was rolling his eyes with fond amusement as he knew why Izuku was protesting.

"Maybe so, but I simply am not qualified to help with each of the varied powers you're gaining mastery of. And Mirai has his own insights about which powers you should work on copying…some powers, as we've explained, probably wouldn't be worth the effort or work well for you. So determining which would be a benefit, and while Nezu already has ideas, you learning how to determine it for yourselves would be the best choice in the end."

"Makes sense, I guess," Ochako murmured. "But what's this about the Big Three? You mentioned them but not who they even are?"

"That's the unofficial title for the three best students in the third year. The ones closest to becoming full fledged pro heroes upon graduation," Toshinori explained. "I'm not familiar with them myself, but that's part of this whole discussion. Mirai thought it'd benefit those three to meet me and get some insight."

"Sir Nighteye trained one of them personally, right?" Izuku asked, eyes wide with excitement.

Toshinori chuckled. "Yes, that'd be Togata."

"Togata, Togata," Izuku murmured under their breath, one hand on their chin as they tried to remember that name. Something about it struck them as familiar…the frustration of a thought that was just barely out of their reach made them pull out one of their notebooks, the one dedicated to notable UA students from the sports festivals they'd watched before. (Unbeknownst to them, Himiko, Ochako, and Toshinori were still confused as to where that specific notebook had come from.)

They started rapidly flipping from page to page, desperate to find the triggering memory, and then the sudden 'aha!' feeling that came across the bond made both Ochako and Himiko look at them…followed by a lot of confusion as Izuku was suddenly very confused.

"Um…isn't Togata the one who kept losing his clothes during the sports festival?" Izuku asked, confused.

Toshinori let out a loud guffaw. "Well, yes, prior to his work study under Mirai. You were busy on your internship so you missed it, but he took first place in the third year festival this time, a truly dominating performance, only possibly matched by his two friends Hado and Amajiki, who took third and second place respectively."

Izuku muttered to themselves, flipping through their notebook and finding their pages on the other two names, and continued to be confused. "Really? Cause in prior festivals, they didn't really do that great…"

"Yeah, we have tricky Quirks, but once we got the right help we really bounced back!" a voice said from the left, making the trio look over to see…a face sticking out of the wall.

There was a moment of silence as their brains processed the sight, before all hell broke loose. Himiko shrieked, leaping into the air out of shock, coming back down and falling onto Izuku's back, clinging to them as the fur on their ears and tail stood on end. Ochako leapt backwards, Izuku instinctively catching her in their arms, her own ears laid back and tail twitching rapidly. Izuku, now having two more sudden sources of weight on them, felt their knees buckle and lost their balance, sending the trio falling to the ground in a tangle of limbs.

"Oops!" the face said cheerfully, still smiling with an uncanny grin.

Toshinori sighed, facepalming as he looked at the face. "Mirai told you to do that, didn't he?"

"Sir always says we need smiles and laughs to make sure this world has a bright future!" the face replied. The trio slowly clambered to their feet, still weirded out by the strange talking face in the wall. The face continued speaking. "Well, you're almost here, I'll see you in a bit!" and without warning, vanished back into the wall, disappearing from their sight and leaving them staring blankly at the wall.

"...uh…was that one of 'em?" Ochako asked.

"That was Togata," Toshinori confirmed. "Mirai is a strange man…very stern and strict but firmly believes in joy and laughter. He loves to play pranks or crack jokes, but only when you least expect it. It seems he passed that quality down to Togata." As they continued on towards the door at the end of the hall, Toshinori shrugged, hand on the handle. "Still, why don't we get started?" With a push, he opened the door and the trio followed their mentor inside.

Ochako wasn't sure which of them had the more…interesting…partner. They'd met the very intimidating Sir Nighteye, and at first there was no denying how on edge he put the trio. But, with the clear joy Toshinori was exuding, it became pretty clear early on that he had, as Himiko put it, 'resting bitch face' but wasn't actually as angry as he looked. Honestly, he'd given some really helpful suggestions for them to try out with their Quirk combinations that she was looking forward to testing.

Which was when things went really weird. Each of them got paired up with one of the Big Three, and she was starting to wonder if it was a requirement that the school's top students every year were weird. Because, yeah, arrogant it might be but simply due to how busted OFA was and their Quirk sharing powers, she knew Izuku, Himiko, and herself were the strongest first years. Aaannnd…yeah, she wasn't gonna pretend they weren't weird as all hell either.

But damn the Big Three beat them out by a wide margin, she swore. Togata was exactly as he'd been described…energetic, smiley, cheerful, and impossible to hit, something which was annoying Izuku to no end as they sparred against the upperclassman. Nighteye was examining the fight with a critical eye, calling out both suggestions and openings Izuku was leaving as he stalked around the ring. In fact…Mirio kinda reminded her of Toshi, when he was in his full All Might mode and being as over the top as possible.

Himiko got paired with Amajiki and that apparently was a disaster for the both of them. The poor young man was so wracked with anxiety he made Izuku look balanced, and there was no way he could really manage Himiko's high energy. Himiko was trying not to be as over the top as she usually was, easily able to sense how off balance the upperclassman was, but even her toned down seemed like too much for him…that is, until she sparred him, and quickly found out why he was one of the Big Three.

No knife could hit its mark, as shells simply appeared in place to defend. She couldn't sneak up on him, enhanced sensory organs from various animals visible when needed. And she spent more time dodging than attacking with the half dozen octopus tentacles whipping about in ways that Izuku could probably learn from! Though he was quiet, he wasn't mute…he kept pointing out where Himiko could attack from and how her lines of attack were too straightforward, always seeming to know where she was going to teleport to before she did.

Ochako couldn't pay too much attention to them though. Hado, or Nejire as the blue-haired young woman insisted they call her, was mentally exhausting with her endless curiosity and spastic movement, and physically exhausting because nothing tired her out! Yeah, she'd already explained that her Quirk keyed off her stamina but good god Ochako could not keep up with her!

Ochako was physically stronger thanks to Galactic Shroud, and faster too. And her gravity powers, both the removing it and increasing it, should have given her what she needed to ground her upperclassman, but nope. Nejire could fly out of range of it before it could fully take effect, and since Ochako never could stay still long enough to focus due to Nejire constantly blasting her, she couldn't use the new move she'd created for finals, her Gravity Well, the ability she used to make a barrier of focused, increased gravity that deflected attacks coming at her.

But nothing was working and it was so frustrating! She just couldn't hit her upperclassman! It made her feel so stupid, she was trying so hard and didn't land a single hit! Every bit of rubble she threw Nejire could dodge, and though she could fly faster than Nejire she still somehow couldn't catch her because she was turning so rapidly in midair and had such crazy movement Ochako couldn't predict her moves, and GAH, she still wouldn't shut up!

For the first time in a long time, she felt outmatched, and it was so ungodly annoying! Maybe she should have kept her temper better…in hindsight, when she looked back, she could realize she hadn't really been paying attention. Because Izuku and Himiko were frustrated, annoyed, angry, and it was all bleeding together, whipping them up, piece by piece and step by step, planting tiny little explosives one bomb at a time.

Izuku was getting reckless, their whips growing with frustration, their telekinesis grabbing bigger and bigger pieces of the training grounds. Himiko was practically snarling, her eyes slitted, her fur fluffed, fangs bared, the speed of Gear Shift applied to her and now changing the pressure and force of her impacts. Ochako was losing her grip on her power, the gravity in the area starting to twist and entwine, to shift and bubble, as she felt her own anger filling her chest, her heart, her voice, until all she could see was red red red red red red-

She had enough. With a scream of rage, she slammed her fists into the ground, Galactic Shroud having risen beyond anything she'd ever touched upon. The fury in her breast, matched by Izuku as they spun in a circle, kicked so hard they formed a massive sonic wave across the area, matched by Himiko as she moved so fast she vanished from even Toshinori's sight…and everything erupted.

Concrete exploded, windows shattered, the very air and earth below and above them now turned into a twisting monstrosity of a weather pattern, so much dust and debris sent flying up that Ochako lost sight of everything and everyone, only now feeling a cold chill run down her back as she suddenly realized what she'd done. The roar of the blow blotted out every other sound, and the wind that swirled around her made her have to fall back and away from it, barely able to stay standing.

It was seconds later she felt it…droplets of water, falling from what were previously clear skies above, a gentle rainfall washing the dirt and debris off her. She ignored it, looking about with wide eyes, fearful eyes, afraid she'd gone too far afraid of the world of cardboard, afraid she'd actually hurt someone…but a tap on her shoulder made her spin about, to see her cheerful, blue-haired upperclassman grinning at her as she floated just above the ground behind her.

"That was really awesome, Uraraka! Big boom! But I think you hurt yourself, your hands are purple, is that normal?" Nejire asked, tilting her head to the side as she spoke. Ochako glanced down at herself and finally saw it…her wrists were bent the wrong direction, her fingers not moving right, and only then did the surge of pain hit her. She bit her tongue to avoid crying out as she let out a whimper, falling to her knees and curling in on herself.

She wanted to stop any pain from going across the bond, but she couldn't hold it…not that it helped much, because it seemed she wasn't the only one. Out of the corner of her eye, Amajiki was helping hold Himiko up, her girlfriend favoring her visible abdomen, where Ochaka could see her girlfriends ribs, one of them jutting out in a way that just was wrong. And Izuku, their right leg broken, Togata looking down at them nervously as he tried to help Izuku sit up.

"...well. That…could have gone better," Toshinori said with worry in his voice, audible across the now quiet field.

Nighteye pushed his glasses up on his nose. "I think it's best we get them to Recovery Girl, before we try to unpack what just happened."

Toshinori nodded, the UA robots already moving towards the trio and with careful movement, putting them on stretchers to start transporting them to the nurses office. As Ochako was starting to be pulled away, Nejire floated beside her for a moment, her habitually bright smile dimming and softening slightly as she leaned down to whisper. "We all get mad sometimes, it's okay. But you did great out there, and I hope we can spar again sometime! See you later Uraraka!" With a casual salute, she floated off towards Togata and Amajiki, leaving Ochako to think back on what happened.

"Alright. Let's address what happened there," Nighteye began, after the trio had endured a round of Recovery Girl's healing combined with a very long lecture.

"...I got mad," Ochako muttered, refusing to look up.

"That was evident," Nighteye replied drily. "Was your anger solely your own, or were you two also angry?"

"...yeah I was getting upset too," Izuku admitted. Himiko just nodded, fiddling with her tail.

"And why were you angry?" Nighteye asked.

Ochako squirmed, feeling uncomfortable at having to address it. "I dunno," she said.

"That is a lie. You know why you got angry. Why did you get angry?" Nighteye repeated, narrowing his eyes at her.

"...cause we couldn't do anything!" Himiko finally snapped, crossing her arms over her chest and collapsing back against the wall behind her cot.

"Why did you think you could? It was your first try sparring with the three best students in the university. Why do you expect you could have combated them on even terms?" Nighteye asked, looking from each person one by one. The room was silent, the trio feeling rather sullen because none of them wanted to say it out loud…but Nighteye had no such compunctions. "It's because you thought that thanks to One For All and your combined Quirks, you should have been able to win, right?" He didn't wait for a reply, continuing on. "Or at least, be able to do something. And yet, you couldn't. Why do you think that is?"

Izuku twisted their fingers on their hands back and forth nervously. "...because I'm still bad at using it, and maybe it messed up-"

"No, and stop the self-pitying nonsense. The issue is not your skill at utilizing One For All itself. While there are weaknesses and room for improvement, you have a fair mastery of the base concept of your various empowerment techniques. Your skills with the other Quirks you have recently gained need serious work, but that will take time and you know that. Your skill with your base Quirks also is in a similar state as One For All…it's basic, but effective. That is not why you were losing."

Himiko snarled. "Then if you're oh so fucking smart, why couldn't we do shit?!"

Nighteye pushed his glasses up on his nose. "Experience. With enough power, you can brute force many issues. But not all. When you face both power and experience, the ones with the experience will triumph every time, even if their power is less. Experience encompasses many aspects of your career; martial arts, predictions, learning conservation of your own stamina, how to reliably work with the terrain around you, etc. The simple fact is you lack these things. That is why, even though Mirio, Hado, and Amajiki are not quite as strong as you three are in a pure power stance, they were able to easily adapt to your abilities and prevent you from utilizing yours to the fullest extent. And then you let your emotions blind you and disabled yourselves."

The room was silent for a while, as they tried to digest what Nighteye was saying. "...then why did you have us fight them? Couldn't you have just told us that?" Izuku asked.

Nighteye arched an eyebrow at them. "Did you not hear what I said? 'Experience' is the key term. What better experience are there of the benefits of experience than to have you actually find out how that experience gave them the advantage against you?"

"Still coulda told us you expected us to get our asses kicked," Ochako grumbled.

"That would defeat the purpose. You needed to see what it's like for your classmates to fight you. Are you saying you don't think you learned anything from today's battle?" Nighteye pressed.

Ochako felt it through the bond…all three of them were feeling rather sulky and it was making it difficult to really absorb what Nighteye was saying, but…that was them being arrogant and they all knew it. The fight for the finals kinda did make them feel a bit…too strong. And she had been taking pride in her strength, and maybe…maybe she needed knocked down a peg. Maybe they all did.

She let out an annoyed huff as she thought back to her fight with Nejire. "I guess…I learned that I gotta really work on my maneuverability in the air, and that I won't always have time to concentrate to pull up my moves. I need to be faster in general."

"You should also focus more on not relying so heavily on those moves. You are still mostly a short-range fighter and you should take advantage of that. Hado was able to blast you from a distance with impunity because you tried to face off against her with her speciality…long range endurance matches. Never fight someone else on their turf…make them fight you on yours," Nighteye lectured.

"I don't know what more I could do to Amajiki though! He had an answer for everything!" Himiko exclaimed, waving her hands in frustration.

"He has limited duration on his manifestations. In many ways he's the opposite of Hado…endurance and range are not his specialities. You had the opposite problem of Uraraka. Your preferred fighting style was negated by Amajiki's abilities. You need to learn other styles, other methods of combat, because you will not always be able to simply blitz someone from stealth."

Himiko paused, thinking about it as she relaxed her shoulders slightly. Ochako could almost see the wheels turning in her girlfriend's head as she thought back to her fight, nodding slowly as she thought about it. Nighteye turned to look at Izuku.

"I intentionally made sure you fought Togata for a few reasons. One is he is, as you may have noticed, a lot like Toshinori as a person, and I expected that subconsciously that would influence you. Secondly, his Quirk is a near perfect counter for almost any physical Quirk which is what you mostly have access to. Thirdly, he simply is far more experienced in fighting and martial arts, and that showed itself today. While you were able to start predicting his movements and that was a good sign, you still never were able to capitalize on them."

"But…how can I? He just slips through everything!" Izuku protested.

"He has to solidify to actually land a hit. And he cannot guard what he cannot see. He does not have your Danger Sense, nor Amajiki's extra senses. You need to learn, quite like Himiko, how to use other fighting styles and techniques, rather than getting stuck into one style."

"...yeah, okay, makes sense," Izuku muttered, their hand twitching as if they wanted to take notes.

Nighteye let the room stay silent for a minute, before nodding at the trio. "All that said, you did fairly well for what you faced. I will be doing small group training sessions with various members of your class and class B over the next few weeks, but we will have time for more sessions after hours if you're willing. And you should be aware that Togata, Hado, and Amajiki enjoyed your spars and hope to repeat them. Well, Togata and Hado did. Amajiki I believe was too busy attempting to escape to hide under his covers." Nighteye's lip quirked slightly, but his dry tone never changed.

Still, it pulled a giggle out of Ochako, feeling a similar rush of humor from Himiko and Izuku. It faded a moment later…the healing had exhausted her, on top of the adrenaline rush fading, and she knew she wanted to just get back to the dorms, take a shower, and crawl under the covers with her partners for now. She needed to get some sleep and think about it in the morning, because for now, she just wanted her cuddles.