Katara is laying down in bed like a lump, thinking about her old friends and the adventures they had. She also thinks about Aang and wishes she could hold him one last time. She opens her sketchbook to look at Aang's face and sighs.
She decides to sketch Toph today, determined to remember each of their faces even as the years pass and her memories fade.
Katara is determined to remember them. She sometimes looks at other people, trying to suss out whether any of them could be her reincarnated friends.
"Do you really think friendships can last more than one lifetime?"
Katara thinks it's true, so she patiently waits for her friends to return. She can't be the only one, right?
As she sketches, she thinks back to the exam, wondering how she did.
Katara surprised herself, taking the UA exam. She was originally going to go to the closest high school to home, Somei Private High School, but Endeavor's sexist comments lit an old fire under her.
She remembers fighting for recognition as a woman her entire life, even after her adventures with Aang put her in the public eye.
She's not entirely sure she wants to be a hero; she feels selfish for a moment, possibly taking a spot from someone who deserves it.
Someone's knocking at her door. She quickly hides the sketchbook and opens the door.
Fuyumi says, "Hikari, your acceptance letter from UA is here!"
Katara says accusingly, "Fuyumi, did you open it?"
Fuyumi laughs. "No, I didn't, just a feeling. Here!" She hands it over to her.
Fuyumi hesitates for a moment, standing at Katara's door. She says, "No matter what the results are, I'm proud of you."
Fuyumi pauses and then continues. "I used to get the feeling you weren't thinking about the future much, but this has really reassured me that- that you're going to be okay."
Katara feels a bit guilty. She probably shouldn't tell her that she did all of this just to spite Endeavor. She says, "Thanks sis."
Katara goes back to her room, sits at the kotatsu, and opens the letter.
She sees All Might and freezes.
He says, "Young Hikari! I am here, in hologram form!"
"Ahem, UA would like to inform you that you have been accepted into class 1-A. While you didn't get many points from robots, we set up the scoring system to reward heroism and bravery."
"You saved young Bakugo from falling at a great height and made an incredible display of your quirk healing another boy. Your total score was 67 points, fifth out of our applicants in class! Welcome to your Hero Academia."
Despite how much she hates Endeavor, she can't wait for him to find out.
She decides to reveal it simply, leaving the letter on his desk. She'd rather not speak to him if she doesn't have to.
Katara bets Endeavor is going to love that All Might is teaching at UA.
She laughs a bit to herself and then sits down to sketch out her hero costume—her summer robes from her past life.
That night, Endeavor comes home, sees the letter on his desk, and barges into Katara's room while she's sleeping.
Rude, she thinks, rubbing her eyes.
She stands up to greet him properly.
He says, "It's 6 P.M., why are you asleep already?"
She says, "Because I felt sleepy."
He scowls and says, "You need to maintain a proper sleep schedule, Hikari. Especially if you're going to be a hero."
Oh no, she thinks, he's going to try to mold her in his image like Shoto.
She doesn't say anything back to him. He says, "You'll be the best prepared combat medic, even with your pathetic quirk."
Her eye twitches a bit, but she doesn't say anything back. She knows that it's better to be silent and let him interpret it however he likes.
He says, assuming that she agrees, "Good. We need to start on your quirk training and combat training. You're too far behind Shoto. If I'd started your training earlier, maybe you wouldn't have gotten fifth place."
She just knew he was going to mention that. Bingo.
He takes her silence as an affirmative and says, "Good. We'll start tomorrow."
He leaves.
She tries to go back to sleep but finds herself wondering how bad the training will be. She doesn't get to see much of Shoto or his training.
The next day, she regrets agreeing to his demands. Endeavor is a bastard. He has her doing punching and kicking drills with him until she can't move her arms or legs anymore. After that, he measures her exact maximum amount of bendable water and tells her to bend it until she can't anymore.
Over the next few weeks, she finds the maximum water she can bend improving, but she is loath to give Endeavor any credit.
She gets to see Shoto more too; the training dojo is in his wing of the house. He's quiet too, not saying much to her or Endeavor.
Endeavor eventually has her spar with Shoto. She loses each time, but she's slowly getting better. Endeavor doesn't see it that way; he keeps calling her a failure each time she loses, telling her to do better.
Out of all of her teachers in both lives, she would put Endeavor at the bottom.
The first day of UA's semester, she and Shoto are being driven to the school in a big black SUV. It looks like something a diplomat would be driven around in. Endeavor can only give the best for his masterpiece, she guesses.
They're sitting in silence.
She can admit that she resents Shoto. He gets all the special training his entire life, his own wing of the house, and other special treatment like getting to take the recommendation exam.
"My Father says she was born lucky. He says I was lucky to be born."
She feels bad for him too, she knows he must have struggled being alone most of his life.
Shoto says, "So, are you excited for the first day of school?"
Katara blinks and says, "I guess I am."
The ride continues in silence, with Shoto muttering to himself something quietly.
He says, "Your quirk, it's interesting that you have two abilities as well. It reminds me of something. Thanks for healing me that day."
Katara pauses then says, "Oh, you're welcome. No need to thank me, I'd do it for anyone."
The awkward silence continues. Katara feels a bit guilty for blowing him off, but she can't help herself. She barely knows him, they barely talk, and suddenly he's acting like a nice guy.
They arrive at UA, and Shoto quickly walks off towards the school. Katara pauses for a moment to take it in. She made it in despite her weak quirk. She wonders whether Aang, Sokka, Toph, and Zuko would be proud of her right now.