Cold hard on your back. Blunt against your squirming limbs.
Poor little girl, you look pathetic. Stop crying.
Just stay still.
It burns.
It aches.
Make it easy for him.
He doesn't want to hurt you. He just needs the money.
Stop crying.
It will stop hurting soon. You heal better and better every time.
The training will be worth it.
Your daddy isn't coming.
Katsumi woke up in tears.
"Did you not sleep well last night?"
Yawning, Katsumi turned in her seat to Momo, "Uh, yeah," she sighed, rubbing the side of her eye. "I've got a bit of insomnia and I woke up at like- four and couldn't fall back asleep."
"Oh dear," she said, touching her chest with one hand, "do you take any sleeping pills or some other sort of supplements to make it easier to sleep?"
"I got some pills that relax your body but I try to take them as little as possible," Katsumi replied, still rubbing her temple.
"There's no shame in it you know?" Momo smiled supportively at Katsumi. Her face fell after a moment, "I wouldn't blame you for feeling stressed… in lieu of recent events."
"Uh-huh," she nodded absentmindedly.
Still, she had absolutely no idea what to do about Tomura. Another thing she had realised she had to worry about was getting specifically alone time with him. She couldn't really start planting the idea of running away from the League with Kurogiri watching over him like a hawk.
The thing that had started playing back over in her mind, again and again, was actually something Kurogiri said.
'It was against my advice that Tomura Shigaraki decided to come and meet-'
Come and meet her right? Clearly that's what he was about to say, so he did want to see her! But he was still acting like a real bastard, trying to punish her with the silent treatment? How petty. Childish.
That was fine..! Sure, she could work with that. All she needed to get started was a reason for her to be around him so she could slowly rebuild a connection. Seeing as he didn't want to give her one, she just had to get a little creative.
"Everyone!" Katsumi looked up, one eyebrow raised, to see Iida walking to the front with a small box in his hands. "Please write your numbers and put them in this box!"
"Uh, Iida, didn't I say I'd do that?" Kirishima asked, sounding a little disappointed.
"As class President, it is my responsibility to ensure we all can communicate with one another!" He pounded his fist against his heart. "Thank you for your effort though, Kirishima."
The red-haired boy's shoulders slumped, "Yeah…"
"Wait what's this for?" Sero asked, ripping a piece of paper out of his notebook.
"This isn't for that stupid group chat, is it? I want out already." Bakugou huffed as he leaned back in his seat.
Katsumi rolled her eyes, "If only I was so lucky."
Bakugou swung around, towering over Izuku's green head to yell, "I heard that you bleach hair bitch!"
"Excuse me?" She fired back, cocking her head, "You outa watch your mouth if you don't want an ass-kicking!"
Izuku turned his head to give her a clearly uncomfortable wide-eyed look as his childhood friend leaned over him to snarl at her. Katsumi's lips stretched into a grin.
"You-"
"Goodness, will you two stop it!" Iida shouted, interrupting the explosive boy, "Bakugou stop insulting Katsumi-san and Katsumi-san stop riling him up."
"Ha ha." Katsumi leaned back in her chair, still grinning, "He shouldn't make it so easy."
She should be thankful for Bakugou really. Messing with him was a great distraction for everything going on right now. He turned around shouting some insult back at her, Katsumi just smiled and waved back at him.
Iida's number collection was going smoothly until he reached a certain cold boy who flat-out told him he had no interest in a group chat. Iida, taken aback at the bluntness tried to explain the concept of teambuilding but was pretty obviously talking to a pure wall of ice.
"Ahem, alright everyone! Please take your seats now and stop talking!" Iida said as he dropped the box of numbers to Ashido, "Homeroom is about to start!"
"Iida," Tsu replied, "you're the only one not in your seat."
"Shoot!"
Katsumi snorted as Iida quickly took his seat. She was starting to get used to him, he seemed less annoying now. In fact, he was quite entertaining to watch with his strange over-the-top robotic movements. In a way, it was almost endearing.
"I wonder who will be teaching the class," Momo pondered aloud.
The foggy image of their homeroom teacher being carted off by Tsu and the purple ball kid that sat in front of her blighted her mind. She wished she had taken more notice of his injuries, the poor man. But she was much too distracted to notice much other than the figure of her old friend.
Just then the door opened.
"Morning." A muffled voice from a mummified Aizawa Sensei greeted them as he walked through the door. Katsumi's mouth dropped as she took in the sight of a completely wrapped-in-bandages Aizawa, both arms held in a cast in front of him to boot.
"What a pro!"
"Aizawa Sensei!" Iida called out, one arm held up straight in the air, "I'm glad you're okay!"
Who calls that okay? Surely Tomura didn't do all that to him?
"My well-being is irrelevant. What's more important is that your fight is not yet over."
Katsumi's brow furrowed. What did the school have planned? She wasn't sure how much more she could deal with at the moment.
"Our fight?"
"Don't tell me…" Izuku leaned in, fists clenching.
"Not more bad guys!?" The purple ball kid cried, clutching his head.
"Dude…"
Aizawa spoke plainly, "The UA sports festival is drawing near."
Katsumi's expression didn't change.
"Hell yeah!" Kirishima cheered.
"Why scare us like that?!"
Kirishima grinned, shouting loudly, "Let's go kick some ass!"
"Wait a minute." Kaminairi interrupted, shoving his hand onto Kirishma's face to shut him up. "Is it okay to have a sports festival so soon after the villains snuck inside?"
Katsumi pursed her lips. Would he try that? Would she have to help him? No, he was still injured, and all their underlings were gone, surely it would be fine.
"Is that really a good idea? What if they attack us again?" Jiro asked.
"Especially seeing as we're all in one place," Ojiro added. Oh yeah, Ojiro, that was the guy who got thrown into the fire dome with her. She should thank him for his help the other day, it was the least she could do seeing as she was technically in some way responsible for the attack.
"Apparently the administration thinks this is a good way to show that the threat has been handled and the school is safer than ever. Plus their beefing up security compared to past years. Security will also be strengthened to five times that of previous years. Above all, our sports festival is a massive opportunity for all students attending UA. It's not an event to be cancelled because of a few villains."
"Erm I'm sorry but why not?" The short boy in front of Katsumi asked, "It's just a sports festival."
"Mineta," Izuku asked, turning around in his seat, "you've never seen the UA sports festival?"
"Of course, I have! I know it's important, I just don't wanna get murdered!"
"You don't have to worry about that," Katsumi smiled, leaning over her desk as he turned around to look at her, "the villains would probably mistake you for a kindergartener and spare you."
"What?! You're horrible!" he cried. "How are you All Might's daughter?"
Katsumi smirked, "I know right?"
"Our sports festival is one of the most watched events in the entire world," Aizawa Sensei said, going on to talk about the replacement of pre-quirk sports events such as the Olympics with Hero School events. As he spoke Katsumi mourned the fact she wouldn't be able to see her teacher's handsome face for at least the next few weeks. Another reason to be pissed at Tomura.
"Of course, all the top heroes around the country will be watching." Katsumi turned to see Momo with an intense expression on her face. "This is where you get scouted!"
"Unless you're dead!" Mineta huffed. He was so annoying; Katsumi had caught him ogling the girls' costumes multiple times before they got to USJ, and that was when she was distracted. She had very little sympathy for him.
"She's right. After graduating, a lot of people join pro agencies as a sidekick!" Kaminari went on. Katsumi stopped listening at that point, everything everyone was saying was pretty common knowledge. Her dad had already talked to her about getting scouted, but she wasn't too bothered. To care about getting scouted she'd have to care about being a hero. For a while, yeah, she did, even if she had been forced into it in the first place. But now? There was just so much going on that she didn't have the energy for that.
"That means you better not slack off on your training." Aizawa reminded the class, Katsumi looked up for a moment before returning to picking at the clear nail polish on her fingernails.
Training, did she have time for that? She supposed she needed to keep up appearances that everything was normal, besides she could only work on her secret mission once her dad was in bed. There was plenty of time before that.
When she wasn't going to school she could train whenever she wanted, now she had much less time. Not just that but she hadn't done much in a while seeing as she had been sick from that quirk the last week. Now she needed a new schedule, some routine would be good for her at the moment.
If she got back home at four thirty, rest till five she could train in her dad's gym till eight, have dinner, relax, do homework or whatever till her dad went to bed. That would be around ten, so leaving the half an hour to make sure he was asleep she could leave about ten thirty to go to the bar.
She couldn't know how long she would stay at the bar, it could vary each day. Training would already wear her out, and with this Sports Festival, she couldn't take it easy. By the time it rolled around, everyone would know she was All Might's child, and she wasn't about to embarrass her dad by performing badly. She'd already failed him enough. It was time to get stronger.
Thinking about all the training she would do was a good distraction from both her troubles and the boring normal classes they were subjected to. Cementoss, the hero who had saved her father from having his other form exposed, taught their modern literature class. Katsumi had never had a problem with any sort of literature subject in her life, it was easily her best subject. All that to say she didn't feel like ignoring the teacher's bland drabbles to write out a training program for the next few weeks would hit her grades too badly.
As she wrote she kept yawning. Maybe she should just give up and start taking the pills again. The only problem was they made her dreams worse. Last night her dream was foul, she had awoken gasping with hot tears rolling down her face and a cold sweat having soaked through her clothes. It was an old memory jumbled up with all the past and current fears and anxieties that tormented her mind. It was just foul, she didn't want to think of that time ever again.
She rubbed her hand along her arm, skin smooth and unmarred, with no trace of the countless injuries it had attained. At least it had made her stronger right?
Katsumi's eyes widened.
"That villain stuff sucked sure, but I'm hella pumped for these games!" A group rallied around Kirishima as they chatted enthusiastically about the Festival. Seems they weren't too traumatised by the events of the other day, good for them.
"We put on a good show and we're basically on the road to bein' pros!" Sero smirked.
"It's why I'm even here in the first place!"
"We will only receive a few chances. We cannot afford to miss this."
Katsumi walked past the boys towards the front of the class.
"Oh man!" Hagakure, exclaimed, "Ojiro I'm getting kind of nervous now. I need to stand out at the sports festival!
"Uh, maybe you should be looking for a shinier costume or something?" He offered a little awkwardly to the excitable girl standing in front of him.
"Stick a piece of paper with your name on your back." Katsumi butted in, perching on the desk next to Ojiro's.
"Katsumi!" Hagakure whined, "Be serious! Not everyone has a flashy quirk like you!"
"Oh, Yagi," Ojiro greeted, not having noticed her approach.
"I told you you can call me Katsumi," she said, raising an eyebrow. "Anyways," she scratched the back of her neck. "I just wanted to say thanks for your help the other day."
"Well, really it was you that-"
"Oh yeah," Hagakure jumped towards her, "Ojiro said you were badass! Breaking away glass so you guys could climb away from the villains! How awesome!"
"Where'd you end up Hagakure?" Katsumi cocked her head as she looked at where she assumed the transparent girl's head was, "Were you okay?"
"Yeah, I was fine! I ended up with Todoroki- thats the ice guy at the back- and he froze all the villains immediately. It was insane! You should watch out for him, he's too strong."
"Thank you for the advice," Katsumi chuckled, eyes glancing to the back where Todoroki sat in solitude. She really didn't like him, despite never exchanging so much as a word with him. He had beaten her at the entrance exam, she couldn't wait to even the score. Thinking about the exam- where was that guy she had spoken to back then- Oh it didn't really matter did it?
"Everyone," everyone turned to the back of the room as a girl's voice shouted out, "I'm gonna do my best!"
Katsumi's face darkened into an irritated scowl as she saw the brunette Uraraka pumping her fist with an intense look on her face. The students around cheered for her as she repeated herself. She was awfully pumped for this.
For a moment the possibility of Uraraka being a rival in the realm of strength crossed Katsumi's mind. Nah, if her performance in the battle training the other day was anything to go off, she was nothing to worry about.
"Hey Uraraka?"
"Mhm?"
Katsumi had decided to tag along with Izuku during lunch, though now she was almost regretting it. Walking next to Izuku, just dragging behind she had been dutifully listening to Iida discuss the scouting process at the Festival after Katsumi made an offhand comment that she didn't listen. Thankfully Izuku had interrupted him, but to ask the short brunette also in the group a question. They all stopped walking along the corridor as Uraraka turned round.
Even with everything she had on her mind, she was able to get annoyed by this new girl who had befriended her Izuku. Maybe that was something she should work to get over? Nah.
"What made you decide to come to UA?" Izuku asked. "What made you wanna be a pro hero?"
Ugh, why did Izuku care? No, the two were friends now, there was no point in wallowing about it.
Uraraka looked away, cheeks flushing pinker than usual at the question. That better be because of the content of the question, not the person asking it. Katsumi took in a deep breath, resetting her face as she had felt tighten into a scowl.
"Money huh?" Katsumi scoffed.
"You want to become a hero so you can get rich?" Izuku asked disbelievingly.
"If we're cutting to the chase, yeah…" she admitted, scratching the back of her head. "I'm sorry if it sounds greedy!" Sweating, she waved her hand in front of her before she turned away, hands cupping her face. Katsumi rolled her eyes.
"You all have such admirable motivations, I hope you don't think less of me now."
'Uraraka, I couldn't possibly think less of you.' That's what Katsumi wanted to say. Instead, she kept her lips sealed.
"Not at all!" Iida chimed in seriously, "Your goal is to support your well-being. A perfectly admirable ambition to have!"
"As long as you don't end up like one of those sell-out heroes that only appear in magazines who cares?" Katsumi shrugged, not sure why she was even saying anything.
"That's surprisingly nice Katsumi," Izuku said as he smiled at her, making her heart skip a beat. She was still embarrassed from the other day. She turned away, "Uh whatever," she mumbled. She was lucky he didn't notice her strange reaction, or if he did he didn't say anything, just turned to Uraraka and commented on how her reason was surprising.
"You see, my family owns a construction company, but we haven't gotten any work at all, so we're flat broke." She said, a little sad smile on her face, "Sorry, this isn't really something I normally tell other people…"
"Construction, eh?" Iida said thoughtfully.
Gasping, Izuku turned to the taller boy, "With her Quirk, if she gets licensed, then it'd bring costs way down, right?"
Izuku really loved talking about quirks in any capacity it seemed.
"She could make any raw material float," Iida added, sharing in the nerdy boy's enthusiasm. "They could sell their heavy equipment."
"Right?" Bouncing, Urakaka exclaimed, "That's what I've been telling Dad since I was little! But…" she paused for a long moment. Suddenly she clutched a fist and declared, "I'm definitely going become a hero and make money so my parents can take it easy!"
Iida cheered, "Bravo! Uraraka, Bravo!"
Huh, Katsumi pursed her lips as she looked from Iida to Uraraka and finally to Izuku. He smiled as Iida cheered for the girl.
She had a better reason than Katsumi, that was for sure. They were complete opposites, in both aspiration and upbringing. Katsumi would never have chosen the path in her life to help her parents, well, at least her mum. Neither of her parents would ever need financial help anyway. It was clear Uraraka had led an extremely different life than her.
Before she could think about it much more they were interrupted by a booming voice, "Young Midoriya is here!"
"All Might?"
"Dad!?" Katsumi's eyebrow furrowed as the sight of her father peeking from behind the wall appeared. He became so weird as soon as he turned into his All Might form.
"That's so weird," Uraraka laughed brightly, turning around to Katsumi, "he really is your dad!"
"Uh, yeah."
"What's the matter All Might?" Izuku asked, glancing around awkwardly. Katsumi could tell he was wondering if it was safe for him to be talking to him like this.
"Lunch!" he smiled, pulling out a bento, "Wanna eat together?"
"That's adorable!"
"How about it?"
"Uh-" Izuku glanced to Iida who nodded, "Sure"
Katsumi cleared her throat as Izuku began to walk away, "You're gonna invite this rando but you're not your own daughter!?"
"Oh sorry!" He laughed, "You can come too."
"Only fifty minutes?"
"Yeah… That's about how long I can use my power now. I overdid it too many times. That Nomu was a real tough customer. Took a lot out of me. At this point, I can just barely look like All Might for an hour and a half."
Sat on the sofa next to Izuku, Katsumi stared at the floor of the lounge. She didn't say anything.
"I'm so sorry," Izuku earnestly apologised, "I should have just-"
"Ah ha!" Katsumi jumped as her dad's explosive laugh made Izuku yelp beside her. Blood spurted from her father's mouth as he laughed. Katsumi winced at the sight.
"You don't have to apologise for anything! And Katsumi stop looking so guilty! Man, we three really are alike, even though I know you don't think so Katsumi." He smiled before passing to cups towards them, "Have some tea."
"Thanks."
Sipping at the tea Katsumi stayed quiet, the horrible feeling in her chest and stomach had returned to full force. A heavy weight placed inside her that burdened her every breath. Fifty minutes. Her fault, again.
"I brought you here to talk about the sports festival. You still can't fully control One For All, can you? So then, what's your plan?"
Katsumi watched as Izuku looked down, dejected. Suddenly he gasped, "Wait, I did once! When I aimed a smash at that brain villain, there was no backlash."
"Oh yeah, you mentioned that!" Her dad nodded, "What was different about that smash?"
"Different…" Izuku thought, "We were falling real villains and I didn't have much time to think, but maybe that's part of it- since I knew this wasn't just more training…" He looked down at a fist, his words serious, almost dark, "This was the very first time, ever, that I used my power against a person."
That thing he punched was no person, at least anymore. Katsumi wondered how long it would take for the police to realise that.
"Hmm… Sounds like you succeeded subconsciously putting on the brakes so you wouldn't have to kill anyone. Hey, that's some kind of progress at least," he shrugged. "Tea's getting cold."
"Oh, right, thank you." Picking up the cup, Izuku still seemed slightly sombre. Katsumi took another sip of her drink as her dad stood up and walked towards the window.
"To be frank, I don't have much time left as the Symbol of Peace. Soon I'll have to put that title to bed."
"No way…"
"Dad…" The weight was only getting heavier. She wanted to say something to him but didn't know what. Wasn't this what she kinda had wanted all her life, for her father to be just that, her father? But she could just about hear the concealed sadness in him, the tension of his shoulders and the melancholy in his words.
"And some villains out there are starting to notice that." Katsumi looked away from his back, "Someone has to step up and keep people safe."
She turned her head at that, her eyes drifting to Izuku. He didn't look at her, instead standing up as her father turned.
"I gave you my power for one reason, " All Might said to Izuku, eyes grave and serious. A different ache began to pain the girl, but she remained seated as she watched the interaction quietly. Maybe she shouldn't have come along to this, she wasn't invited after all.
"I gave it to you because you will be the hero who takes my place," All Might spoke with words full of faith, "Do you still feel the same as you did when we met, young Midoriya? Do you still want to be a hero?"
The ache grew as Izuku stepped closer to All Might.
"Yes."
"Then," he nodded, "the time has come for you to prove it. This sports festival is something pro heroes… no, the whole country is watching closely." All Might's eyes were filled with more conviction than she had ever seen, the bright blue glowing in the darkness of his sunken eyes as he looked at the boy before him. "I want you to think about this Sports Festival as your debut. You are the fledgling Symbol of Peace… The next All Might! Izuku Midoriya. I want you to tell the world, I am here!"
He really believed in Izuku.
Good.
"Tomura."
She was back, standing exactly behind the young man with pale blue hair sat at the bar. Kurogiri stood silently, dutifully working on his seemingly unending task of polishing glasses. Katsumi didn't wait for the man to respond, to even turn his head or turn towards her.
"I need to talk to you about something."
"I don't need you." She hadn't expected a response. His dry, raspy voice dripped with irritation and he spoke without so much of the tiniest movement. She was not unsettled by the declaration of his apathy towards her. Her face stayed stoic. After all, he was sitting at the bar and not resting, he expected her to come. He was there because of it.
"But I need you," she stepped forward. "Well, I'd like you to help me," walking up to the bar she leaned against it, right beside him.
"The UA Sports Festival is coming up. I wanna get stronger…" she held her hand out in front of her, staring at it, "In that specific way."
He snorted at that. It was a mean, uncomfortable sound that should have sent her turning around and walking the other way. She didn't move. Instead, she held out her hand to him.
"You know what I mean, like old times," she almost laughed. "It was always cleaner when you did it."
Tomura stayed still for a moment, staring at her. A painfully long moment passed. Katsumi kept her gaze steady.
"Ha…" his shoulders twitched as he slowly began to laugh. "Why not?" She could hear the grin on his face as he reached out and wrapped his hand around her wrist, each fingertip connecting with her skin.
A/N this will be the last chapter I'm releasing till the new year just because of Christmas celebrations and stuff. Also, I'm getting a little burnt out with writing this so a break will be good for me. Thank you to all those who read this (who aren't bots or trying to scam lol) I really appreciate it. This fic is also available on ao3, wattpad, quotev, fictionpress (which is literally only used by bots it seems lol) if you'd rather read there. Same title and username. Quotev has some of my own illustrations for this book too. Anyways, thank you for reading and see you in the new year!