Notes: I'm back! Sorry for the delay! was in Japan for two weeks and after getting back, have been struggling with what to put to page! But I will explain what happened after! Enjoy!

The mood for the class A students had certainly improved recently. In the several days after the commissions failed attempt to blackmail the school and heroes (Much thanks to one's monthly spending budget), the students had been quite busy actually getting their minds back to the festival they had been preparing for… which was happening in just two days.

After the dilemma with everything, many of the classmates were going double time with their practice for the festival. Some of them stayed up late to make up for the lost time, the music going long and loud through the evenings. And whether it was Jiro leading the band members in music rehearsal, or Mina leading the others in the dance number to go along with the song, it never ended. For one of them, however, it just wasn't working out.

Moving one of the decorative boxes out of the gymnasium, Katara looked over to see Shoto standing beside the wall, his vision unfocused and lost. Sighing, she walked over to him, feeling her chest tighten as she saw him staring at the light burns across his left hand. "Hey…" She said, touching his shoulder. "Are you alright?"

Shoto gave a small exhale as he clenched his fist, remembering who it was that gave him these burns. "Is this really what we should be focusing on now?" he asked, "Dancing and playing music while he's out there somewhere?"

Frowning, she turned and leaned against the wall beside him, rubbing his arm to try and relax him. "I understand how this must feel to you, but It's not like you can go out there and just catch him, Shoto. He's completely disappeared and no one has seen or heard anything from him or the others of the league."

Glaring at himself, Shoto looked to the side as Kirishima was moving a few of the other prop boxes to the side, waiting until they were alone once more before speaking once more. "I just… how am I supposed to just go on doing day to day things like this while he's out there?"

Katara let out a breath and leaned against him, breaking his thoughts. She knew he'd been holding in these frustrations with Touya coming to light ever since she told him that night. She knew he hadn't talked with his other family members about it, unsure what to even say to them about their missing sibling coming back. He certainly hadn't talked with his father about it, with Endeavor having gone completely silent since then. She had seen the torment behind Shoto's eyes, the teen needing to face the demons of family past, and she would be there to help him.

"Because you are not a prisoner to your brother's anger, Shoto. Whenever he shows himself again, we will stop him together. Until then, we will continue to train and get stronger so we will end this and bring him to justice." She gave him a playful shove and chuckled, "During that time, there's nothing wrong with having a little time to clear your head and enjoy yourself."

Shoto stared at the girl beside himself for a few moments before he took a deep breath, letting a small smile creep across his face. "Why do you always know what to say?"

Because I'm me," she giggled as he blushed when her hand touched his cheek. "And I always do what I can to be there for you. Sometimes… you just need to take your mind off of what's bothering you. A day to destress and just enjoy yourself."

While it seemed like a crazy statement to go by when you found out your brother was a crazed villain… Shoto knew she was right. If he simply continued to worry and stress about the situation, it wouldn't do anything to help him now. It could be many months before anything from the league was heard like last time, and if he just sat and stewed over it himself, he would be reverting back to the way he was before Katara came into his life. She had been the one to pull him out of his horrible mindset before, and she continued doing that for him even now. He knew he had to do better to show he wasn't the same as before, to be someone Katara deserved.

"You're right…" he said, reaching up and gripping her hand. "I'll do my best to just focus on this here."

"I mean this concert was your suggestion, so you need to be part of it." Katara teased him, smiling more when he gave a small chuckle. Leaving to let his frustration come down, Katara went back inside of the gymnasium where everyone except the band members were. She watched as Mina walked down the line like a stern drill instructor, watching the movements of each person following the music on a stereo she had.

"Two steps, pop! Two steps, pop! Right there!" Mina cheered as Shoji and Toru moved in sync, before she flicked Tenya in the back of the head. "Quit dancing like a robot!"

"This is still so unnatural to me!" Tenya shouted and chopped in frustration. "Dancing was never in my curriculum in training when growing up, therefore it comes to me far more difficult than others!"

"Then get your head out of books and have fun! That's the way dancing is supposed to be! Even Midoriya picked it up really fast!"

"That sounds kind of like an insult…" Izuku muttered in confusion from the side.

As a few others chatted back and forth about how the dance was going, Katara chuckled as she took in everything around her. After all the craziness she had dealt with over the last few weeks, the tension of her secret coming out, and the commission talk, she actually was looking forward to something like this to take her mind off everything. Walking over and grabbing a water from the table, she looked over to Ojiro who had a puzzled look on his face. "What's wrong?" she asked.

The tailed teen placed a finger to his chin. "I was going through the costumes and saw we are missing one…"Ojiroresponded, "there are only five girl outfits but there are six of us."

"Huh?" Katara turned to the large rack of matching yellow outfits that were ordered for everyone. "Was there a mistake in the ordering?"

"There shouldn't be, I gave the list to Ashido after we all got our measurements." Shoji answered.

Before anyone could say anything, Mina, Uraraka and the other girls gave a quick grin at each other, something Katara noticed immediately. "What?"

Uraraka gave a small giggle as she held her hands behind her back. "Well… we thought since we already have so many of us dancing, we thought one of the girls should go on and represent us in another event."

"Huh?" Katara said. "What other event?"

Mina snickered and pointed at the waterbender. "We thought you should go on and compete in the beauty contest!"

Katara's eyes widened in both confusion and surprise. "Huh?! The what?!"

"There's a beauty contest that is being held between girls from different classes who want to compete. We thought it would be great if you entered it!" Uraraka said.

"Well this is good." Sero chuckled from the side.

"Where did this come from?" Kirishima asked.

"But… why?!" Katara threw her arms up in confusion. "We've been doing practice for the dance this whole time, and now suddenly you want me to go into some beauty battle?"

"Technically it's a contest. Ribbit." Tsu commented.

"What made this come up all of the sudden?" Katara asked, seeing a light sigh from Kendo.

"Well, I've been talking with Setsuna about what they are doing for their festival play, and I kept hearing her bragging that Ibara is going to dominate the beauty contest, so I told Ashido about that and it turned into all of us discussing this."

"And it turned into me competing?" Katara said in surprise. "Why me?"

"Uhh because you're freaking hot," Mina teased as a few of the girls giggled. "You got the looks, the hair, the body. What else do you need to ask for?"

"Yes…" Mineta whispered under his breath, his mind already imagining Katara showing off in a beautiful dress. "...So hot."

"Are you suggesting Katara be used as a trophy to be stared at?" Tenya sternly asked. "I shall not approve of her being used as a prize for teenage males to drool while they observe her on stage?!"

"Dude, they aren't auctioning her for sale." Kirishima grunted.

Kendo chuckled at the thought that came in her head. "This is a great chance to make sure you keep Monoma pissed. You can't let class B have all the glory there like he would want."

"I think it's funny how you were the one mentioning that when that used to be your class." Toru laughed beside the red head.

"It would've been kind of fun to challenge my old class, but as our class rep, she should be the one representing us."

Katara looked back and forth between the many eyes staring at her, frowning at how they didn't even talk to her about this. "So I guess this was talked about without me?"

"Oh come on, it will be amazing! I heard Nejire Hado is also going to be competing!" Uraraka happily said. "I bet you would be just as stunning as her!"

Izuku's ears perked up when she said that. "Yeah, I heard that from Mirio as well. Apparently she's competed every year in this contest."

Looking behind Katara, Sero snickered and crossed his arms. "What does the lover boy think about the suggestion?"

Eyes widening, Katara turned around to see Shoto standing there, his face somewhat blank before he gave a small smile. "I think you are the perfect choice for something like this."

While she felt her cheeks warm when he said that, Katara frowned slightly and grip her arm. "I don't know. It just… it's not like I have much practice doing something like this."

"It's not like we had practice for villains when they attacked us, and yet we got through that pretty good." Shoji shrugged from the side.

Tsu touched her chin as she thought about that. "I mean, Katara did."

"But what do I do? Just walk on stage in a dress for everyone?" Katara asked.

"Well, kinda. You do a performance however you want with your quirk to show off your own beauty." Mina said, happily weaving her hands in front of herself. "You could do a sweet water dance show for everyone and make their jaws hit the floor!"

"Ooh, that would be awesome and stunning!" Toru added.

Despite never being one to want to show off in front of others for looks, Katara looked around to all the different eyes on her and saw how excited they were for her to do this. And while she was going to do it with everyone, she honestly wasn't too keen on a big dance routine in front of the entire school. Even though it would just be her doing this, she didn't want to disappoint everyone's new hopes for her… and she could do a much shorter performance than the concert dance would be.

Taking a breath, she shook her head playfully and gave a small smile. "I guess it wouldn't be so bad to do something like this."

"And got her!" Mina cheered in success. "Now if you would be so kind, could you go practice looking good as us dancers do our thing?"

"Oh, so I just got kicked out now?" Katara joked as a few others laughed. "Fine. I guess I can begin thinking about something to do."

"Oh, don't worry. We will give you ideas of what could be really cool!" Uraraka chimed in. "As soon as we finish this routine we can help you out with whatever you need."

"Well, I thank you for that." Katara asked before she began thinking. "So do I just…"

"Oh!" Mina's eyes widened suddenly. "You gotta go to the office by the cafeteria. You have to sign up by today to be entered in!"

"Fine…" Katara waved her hands and sighed. "I'll go get this done. For our class's honor I will compete for you all." As some of the others in class began asking questions about the sudden change, Katara turned and walked towards the exit door once more, patting Shoto on the arm. "I guess you guys will handle this play without me."

"We will do our best to not disappoint you. And I know you won't disappoint us with your performance." Shoto responded, earning a raised brow from the waterbender.

"Shoto, was that flattery coming from you?" She teased, laughing as his cheeks reddened slightly before she patted him once more. "I will take that from you. Thank you."

Making her way through the campus, Katara couldn't help but laugh to herself over this sudden change. "A beauty pageant… at least they could've given me a little more time to prepare for this." she muttered to herself, still wondering why she even agreed to this at all. "Ashido could've just done this herself if she wanted to." Sighing out, she went on, eventually finding her way to the correct room where other people were turning in files of whatever they were planning for their festival events. After a few questions she found the right area, she was looking for, seeing the sign up for the beauty pageant contestants. Sure enough, on the list she saw both Ibara Shiozake and Nejire Hado there.

"I faced her at the sports festival, and facing her again," Katara laughed as she put her name down. "I wonder if she's going to be upset at me for that." Once she finished up with that, she Exited the busy room, figuring she could head back towards her dorm. As she did, however, she stopped when she saw a familiar face passing by. "Tensei!"

The older Iida brother turns as he sees the waterbender running his way, smiling and coming to a stop. "Hey Katara."

As she came up to him, Katara noticed a few things instantly about the speedster. First off was the new and clean suit he was wearing, the navy blue blazer fitting perfectly even with him in his wheelchair. His face looked far cleaner than she had seen in a long time, shaven clean of any scruff he had let grow over the months. Even his hair had been freshly cut, lined up and making his appearance even more professional. She couldn't help but smile happily with him looking so cleaned up, especially with the news she had heard. "Looks like you really do fit into the role pretty well."

Tensei couldn't help but laugh. "Well, it's not a role yet. My class doesn't start for another week. I'm just getting stuff situated and getting a feel for where everything is. It's a lot different mindset than when I was here at your age. But… I may as well look presentable as I should be."

It was truly a shocking and surprising fact for her and Tenya to learn Tensei had been offered a job by Nezu, but it surely wasn't unpleasant. "It's a bit crazy you're going to be working here now. But we get to see you more at least."

"I know. It's been too long since we could just talk and enjoy each other's company. Oh, by the way…" Tensei playfully glanced around before looking back at her. "... It's Iida Sensei to you, now."

"Fine…" Katara frowned at him, making him laugh.

"What are you doing here? Aren't you all supposed to be practicing your concert?"

"Well, we were…" Katara gave a small shrug, "... Now everyone convinced me I should enter the beauty pageant to compete."

Tensei's brow raised at her statement. "Oh really? Now that isn't what I expected to hear."

"I didn't either until like twenty minutes ago. Guess we both are a little surprised."

Smiling, Tensei gave her a two-finger salute. "Well, I won't keep you waiting then. You should get yourself prepared for your big event."

"Alright then. I'll see you soon. I can always do another healing session on you sometimes as well." Katara said as she waved goodbye.

"Bye the way, don't forget…" Tensei quickly mentioned before she left, grinning slightly, "...I have access to your grades now. I'll be seeing if you slack off on your studying at any point."

Now Katara frowned for real, knowing he probably would push for Tenya to give her more private tutoring lessons when he saw how much lower her grades were than most of the class. "Great… I can't wait." She sarcastically muttered as she walked away, sighing when she heard him chuckle behind her. "Now I got both of them here to get on my grades…"

Walking back through the school grounds, she saw the many different classes preparing their events for the festival. Some she thought looked like an obstacle course set up, or others being dressed up in some kind of horror event. There were many other things around the campus she had no idea what they were building, making her more curious to what was going to be made in the final days leading to the festival itself. Even with this sudden change she now had to do, she actually had a little excitement for something lighthearted as a festival to look forward to.

Before she made it all the way to her dorm, Katara realized she not only forgot her phone but her entire backpack back in the gym with everyone else. Pouting, she made her way back through the campus once more, backtracking her steps until she saw the gym again. Outside the doors she saw izuku standing there, talking with a familiar tall blonde.

"Oh, Katara! You remember Mirio, right?" Izuku asked.

"Hey!" Mirio yelled out when he saw Katara approaching, smiling and waving at her. "It's been a while since we last saw each other! Haha, sorry about your stomach still."

Katara laughed and rubbed her abdomen. "It's no big deal. It was just training."

Mirio gave a happy chuckle as he placed his hands on his hips. "So, Katara, right? I've Been hearing a lot about you after we met! I'm really happy to see you up and about! How are you doing?!"

"I'm doing much better now, actually…" Katara sighed in relief. "It has been a bit of a relief ro have something calm like the festival. What are you doing here?"

"I just came by to check on Midoriya and see how everything was going. You all getting your performance ready?"

Izuku chuckled lightly and rubbed his head. "Actually, the girls convinced Katara to enter into the beauty pageant."

"Really?" Mirio laughed in surprise and amusement at the news. "That's awesome! You and Nejire will be going head to head. I think it will be great to have you in there as well!"

"Thanks." Katara said. She was about to say something else in response, but her eyes caught the slight movement behind Mirio's legs. "Hmm?"

Noticing where her gaze was, Mirio stepped back to the side to reveal the companion with him. Immediately Katara's eyes widened when she saw the tiny girl standing behind him in a red pinafore over a white shirt. She was no older than six or seven from what she could tell, with long grayish-white hair running all the way down her back. Just below the tiny horn on her forehead, a pair of large and innocent red eyes stared up at the waterbender, making her heart melt immediately.

"Katara, this is mine and Midoriya's good friend Eri."

A large smile spread across the waterbenders face at the little girl in front of her, her initial reaction to drop down and cuddle her up. The moment she even motioned to kneel down to just say hi, however, she watched as the small girl moved back slightly, gripping onto Mirio's pant leg in hesitation. Katara still kept a smile on her face and knelt down to eye level with her, making sure to stay calm for her. "Why hello there. My name's Katara. Your name is Eri?"

Eri simply stared up to the waterbender in caution, breathing a little harder as she gave a small nod. "Mhm…" she muttered under her breath.

"That's a really cute name." Katara happily said, "Are you here to watch everyone dance?"

While nervous, Eri did feel a little calmer with the way Katara was talking to her. The teens warm face and kind voice did ease her tension. "Mhm… are… you dancing with Midoriya?" She asked, her voice barely over a whisper.

Katara gave a small giggle. "No, I am going to be doing something else. I'm doing a beauty pageant."

"Yeah, remember when we met my friend Nejire earlier? She's going to be really pretty up on stage for everyone to see just like her!" Mirio happily told her, patting the tiny girl's shoulder. Despite not getting a reaction, the older teen kept his excitement. "It's going to be awesome to watch them perform, won't it?"

Izuku stepped forward towards her as well. "If we all get ready in time, I promise it's going to be the greatest show you'll ever see."

While she kept smiling, Katara couldn't help but feel her heart tighten at the look Eri had. The entire time they were talking, nothing more than a fearful gaze left the young girls face. Not even the closest thing to curiosity or a smile even came close to appearing, completely uncertain just talking to the waterbender. Katara almost wanted to just hug her to calm her down and let her know she was friendly. But Katara had seen trauma before, and it was more than obvious this girl had plenty of that. If she tried to force the frightened child to open up, she would retract even further. Instead, she kept her smile warm and kept her gaze with the frightened girl.

"I will do my best to put on the best show for you to watch. If I do really well, can we get an ice cream together after?"

While her eyes widened slightly, Eri kept her head low and nodded. "Okay…"

"That's amazing. I want an ice cream too!" Mirio laughed as he lightly patted Eri's shoulder. "Well, we should get going and see Aizawa Sensei again. See you guys later!"

"Alright, you have fun with Mirio and I'll come by later." Izuku happily said to her.

"Yeah. I hope to see you again soon, Eri." Katara said to her, holding her hand out to shake. Eri stared at it hesitantly for a moment, looking over to Izuku for confirmation. After he smiled and nodded, she slowly reached out and grabbed the waterbenders hand. Katara's smile almost faltered when she felt how weak and frail her grip was. As Mirio led the tiny girl away, Katara's face hardened as she turned to Izuku, seeing his pained expression like her. "Is she…"

Izuku gave a nod to her. "Yeah. She was the one we rescued from the Shie Hissaikai. She's… been through so much."

Katara had heard some of what happened over the last few weeks about what Izuku and the others went through… including how Mirio had lost his quirk in the battle. And she had heard about the young girl that had been rescued by all of them, one who apparently been experimented on for pretty much her whole life. "She's so frightened…"

"It's just… with everything she went through, Mirio and I want her to see how fun life can be. If we can make her remember how to smile, that will be all we need."

Those words made Katara's mouth fall open in shock. "She what?" She asked, earning a solemn nod from Izuku.

"This festival isn't just for the students here. If we can bring happiness for just one girl who has never experienced it, that is just as important as the entire school."

Katara turned to see Mirio in the distance, excitingly saying something to the small girl beside him. Despite his ecstatic personality, she couldn't see any excitement coming from Eri looking up at him. Her heart ached just seeing someone so young, so innocent, and yet she was in so much pain. A child like that should be ecstatic and happy about the smallest of things, and yet there was a girl here who didn't even know how to smile. Just what in the world did she experience from that place she was being held a prisoner?

As Izuku said his goodbye and went back inside the gym, Katara stood there for a moment as she took in Izuku's words. He really believed a show like this could be just as important for a single child as it would be for an entire crowd. And she believed him, because she knew how much a single thing could change one person for the better. She then imagined Eri's face, something so cute yet filled with so much pain and fear. If that could simply be turned into a face of happiness, that would be something she would find much joy in as well. She thought about her own performance, a smile spreading across her own.

If she could do something wonderful for that little girl to watch, perhaps she could help bring a smile to her life.

The next day

Enji todoroki groaned as his eyes slowly drifted open, his vision blurred and unfocused. His hand reached up gripping his hair, feeling like his mind was pounding from the inside. He was up for no more than ten seconds before a vile taste rose up in his throat, turning over and nearly losing everything he had in his stomach, which was practically nothing. He gagged and covered his mouth, coughing hard as he struggled to keep it inside. After a few moments he breathed slowly, calming his stomach as he slowly woke up.

"Ugh…." He grumbled out, his eyes slowly focusing. The first thing he saw was the glass of water beside him, his parched throat screaming at him. He shakingly grabbed it and chugged it down, coughing as he drank it too fast. After finishing the glass off, he took a moment and realized he was inside his bedroom, not even remembering how he even got here. His pained head continued to pulse as he looked around, only to have his eyes widen when he saw his top sidekick sleeping in the chair beside him. "What are…?"

Burnin was sitting there out of costume in black leggings and brown tank top, her eyes stirring at the noise beside her. As soon as she saw him up, she glared and crossed her arms. "So look who finally returned…" She growled out.

"Burnin…" Enji muttered, grunting as he sat up in pain. "What… what happened?"

"Well, after you were drunk off your ass when I got here, I nearly got thrown through a wall the next day when you fought your way for another bottle of sake. Once you finished that one, you finally went out and now just got up." She said in frustration.

"What?" Enji asked in shock, "How long was…?"

Burnin tapped her finger against her arm as she sighed. "Two days ago."

Enji's mouth sat open in shock at her statement, never remembering her even coming here. The last thing he remembered was…

Closing his mouth, he turned away in pain and clenched his fist. "Sorry. But… please leave. I will be-

"On no. I'm not going anywhere." Burnin stated, getting out of the chair and standing over him. "You've been completely off the grid for like two weeks now. I almost called up that son of yours and his girlfriend to see if they'd heard from you. You're not going anywhere until you tell me what the hell is going on."

Hearing the mention of Shoto and Katara only made Enji's heart clench up once more, his chest tightening as he clenched his teeth. His mind went to imagining the horrific images he was trying to avoid by drinking, not wanting those to return. "I need you to go, Burnin. I… don't want you here now."

"So you can go back to sucking down another bottle? I don't think so!" Burnin sternly stated. "You're going to tell me what the shit you are on right now!"

"Just leave!" Enji shouted, his voice cracking from exhaustion and frustration. "I need you to-

WHACK!

The loud smack across Enji's face cut off whatever tangent he was going to go off with. His dazed eyes turned to see Burnin pulling back, the woman huffing in her own frustration. She wouldn't deny she normally would've been utterly terrified of being torched right then and there for what she did, but now she simply couldn't hold back her own frustration.

"I've been working for you for years, and I never have ever had the nerve to do what I just did…" Burnin growled out, only for her gaze to soften in pain. "... And yet I've never seen you in a state like this before. You're one of the toughest bastards in the entire world… you… were my favorite hero growing up…" She huffed out,"...but quit being so goddamn stubborn when you got people there to help you!"

Enji stared at his sidekick in awe, seeing a loyalty he honestly never even noticed before. He saw for years she was someone who simply did her job under him, as his focus was on himself that whole time. Now he saw she truly did look up to him and would be there for him. The only problem however… was she couldn't be behind him after this.

"Burnin… I can't…" Enji hissed out in guilt. "...I can't. You can never understand how much I have screwed up. You won't believe the shit I have done…"

Burnin could see the utter pain on her bosses face, frowning and sitting back on the chair. "Try me."

Notes: Phew!

A few changes here and there! Katara gonna be challenging for the beauty contest?! and her finally meeting our little special girl?

Endeavor's mental struggles and Burnin's words? What will come from this?

So yes, I had been struggling with writing lately. for days I would stay staring at the computer for days, and have only two paragraphs written. and literally got over the hump this last week, and wrote 80% of this chapter since wednesday. I hope you aren't disappointed with the short length.

But good news, I want to have another chapter out next weekend. Yes, next weekend. Already began writing it and can't wait to get it to you!

Also, check deviantart as two new manga pages are being uploaded! Please, if anyone wants to help create more, the go fund me is still open for help! the more that comes, the more art can continue at a nearly weekly rate!

Please leave your thoughts and reviews/comments!

Till next time!