Notes: BACK! back again!

to all those still reading this story after these long hiatuses, i truly thank you. keep up the wonderful support!

Jumping off the rooftop, Katara fell for a moment before flipping her gauntlet open and shooting

Water towards the wall beside her and stopping herself, swinging sideways before shooting another stream and redirecting herself. As she flipped through the air, she looked to the side as Sero sped by, shooting out his tape from his elbows and wrapping around a flag pole to yank off.

"You've picked this up really quick," Sero chuckled as he flew up before Katara matched his pace, both pulling themselves onto a rooftop. "Phew! You look like you have almost mastered this already."

"Kind of," Katara muttered and pulled the water back into her gauntlets. "Still feels awkward at times and unbalanced."

Sero laughed and scratched his nose. "That's just all with practice. First couple weeks I tried doing it, I crashed through every tree in my neighborhood."

"I felt that when I started. Although the one picking it up quickly is him," Katara smiled as both of them looked over to the ground, seeing Izuku scribbling more notes down in his notepad. Leaping over the side, both of them slowed their descent and landed in front of their other training partner, the green haired teen watching them with a hard stare before looking back to his notes.

"Using their weight as a fulcrum to swing through the air as they use their free arms to redirect the direction they go while also having to counter the momentum created by their body weight compared to their velocity along with air resistance which is minimal but depending on the day would come into play but most crucial is force to weight ratio that is very different between users that-

"And it's back…" Sero whistled in amazement how fast his friend could talk when in the moment. "You'd make one heck of a salesman as a side gig."

"Sorry…" Izuku chuckled and rubbed his head. "Just watching you two do it is so different from what I do and I need to keep that in consideration."

"I think that's the thing; you're thinking too much about it since we are different." Katara suggested. "I needed Sero to give me tips on pulling myself through the air, but the way we do it is a lot different. In fact, your quirk is more like my technique."

Izuku gripped his chin as he thought about it. In the few days since he'd come to train with them after school, it took some time for him to get a hang of even getting blackwhip to aim in the direction he wanted, a few times completely missing the target he was trying to hit. But after watching Katara, he observed how she could guide her water in the direction and shift it how she wanted to, something he could actually do with his blackwhip as well. After a bit of tweaking and taking his time, he could now almost keep with both of the pairs now thanks to his strength boost he had. But perhaps because of that difference he shouldn't just try and use their style and movements. Much like he had to do with One for All as well.

"I guess you're right. It's just been so used to having to jump and punch that swinging around is just very new to me." Izuku said and stood up, stretching his arms and exhaling. "I should try and make it my own."

"There we go. Practice is always the best answer. In fact…" Sero chuckled and cracked his knuckles. "How about a little race to end today's practice and see where we are, huh?"

Katara laughed and nodded. "I'm good with that. I feel you've been a little cocky these days and need to be taught a lesson."

Sero raised his brow at her taunt and grinned. "What, the master has to keep his students in line. You best learn to mind that tongue, young one."

"Master's a strong word." Katara joked.

Laughing, Izuku gave a small shrug. "I think this is a good idea, too. Maybe a little competition will make me have to improvise on the spot."

"Sounds good to me," Sero turned and looked through the training area, pointing to the tall tower in the middle. "We reach that point, then turn around and end up here again. First one back wins."

All in agreement, the trio lined up in their spot and readied themselves. Katara stretched her hands and flipped her gauntlets open as Sero cracked his elbows and knelt down. Looking at the two beside him, Izuku took a breath and clenched his fist.

'Even if it's fun, this is the perfect training I need to get this down…' He said internally, focusing on the new power inside of him. 'Use it as an extension of myself… and control where it goes!'

At the same time, all three of them shot their quirks or bending out as they started, latching onto different structures and pulled themselves off the ground. Katara quickly shot out several streams of water, pulling herself away from the others to get space as she swung through the sky. The black tendrils from Izuku's arm yanked him over the hanging rail and through the air, looking over as Sero's tape whizzed by.

"Remember, no running the whole time!" Sero laughed and shot out another strip.

"I got that!" Izuku laughed and released his hold on the building beside himself, shooting out his quirk from his other hand and pulling his body through the sky. Yelping as he kicked off a low hanging wall and readjusting his body swinging over a rooftop and onto the next tall structure. Out of the corner of his eye, he couldn't help but watch as his friend did her thing as well, able to actually watch it from the air. "Whoa…"

The young waterbender spun through the air as she yanked herself over an exhaust pipe, shooting the water around a chimney stack and propelling through the smoke on top. While moving, her other streams of water shot down and pulled herself down underneath an overpass, even passing up Sero as they neared the tall halfway point. What he took note of most though was while Sero's tape was pretty much stuck at going a straight direction, Katara could guide each stream however she wanted.

Much like what he could do with blackwhip.

"Come on… focus where it goes," Izuku growled as he took a deep breath, eyeing one of the tall pipes beside Katara and brought his hand back. "Guide it like water!"

The dark quirk burst from Izuku's hand and rushed through the air, ensnaring the pipe and tightly wrapping around it. Quickly retracting it, he launched himself over the many buildings and spun through a narrow pathway, flipping forward and shooting his next blackwhip strand passed Katara. Her eyes widened when she saw the motion beside her, causing her to smile. "Someone's getting it now!" She shouted and shot whips from both her arms forward, reaching onto the tower and swinging through the air around the spot and flipped over Sero as she headed back towards the starting point.

"Damn, better pick it up!" Sero yelled at himself as he had to avoid Katara passing by him already, now watching as Izuku swung himself around the tower as well just ahead of him. He couldn't help but chuckle seeing both of them already faster than he was, thinking maybe he should be the one getting lessons soon.

Katara kicked off a low hanging rooftop and dove towards the ground, shooting out her water and yanked forward, corkscrewing between pipes and shot another stream and pulled back up off the roadway. She almost forgot she was racing for a moment, yelping in excitement just from the thrill of what she was doing. Just experiencing this new style of movement was so fun and made her excited to keep getting better at something like this… but the moment she saw the shadow pass over her, she grinned and got back into the mindset.

"Don't think you have this win!" Izuku laughed as he pulled himself faster, spreading his legs and leaping over another exhaust pipe.

"Guess we will see at the end!" Katara responded and shot two streams from each hand, grabbing onto two different buildings and pulled herself back up towards the rooftops. Spinning through the air, she bended her water whips and flung herself towards the finish in the distance.

While Katara certainly had more control so far compared to himself, Izuku was keeping close behind her. In fact, he knew he could've gone much faster if he used full cowling and boosted his strength, but he wanted to do this without it this time, pulling his arm back and gaining ground on the waterbender. Sweat fell down both of their faces as they tried getting further ahead. As they came to the final stretch, Katara gathered her water into two solid streams and shot them as far as she could… only for her eyes to widen as the stream of blackwhip shot even further than the water she had could reach.

"Come on…" Izuku gritted his teeth as he pulled as hard as he could, yanking his body through the air while Katara's water yanked her towards the finish line. They both flung themselves one last time as they flew towards the spot.

And Izuku touched the ground a split second before the waterbender.

Both tumbled and rolled from their speed, panting as they crawled up from the ground. Katara and Izuku looked at each other, and neither couldn't help but laugh at the situation as they sat up. "I gotta say… that was a good race." she said to him between breaths..

"Yeah, I barely caught up in the end." he said before exhaling out, standing up and offering his hand to pull her up. At that moment Sero landed on the ground beside them, certainly far more graceful than the pair of them did and also not out of breath. "Phew! Someone looks like they need something to drink now." he chuckled seeing them both breathing hard.

"Still getting a bit used to the feeling of this, but it's certainly getting better." Katara stretched her arms a few times as she looked to the sky. "This has been good practice today."

"Yeah, I have to thank you guys. It's been a huge help with figuring this out for me." Izuku said happily, glancing down at his hand. "It would've taken me a lot longer if you two weren't practicing with me the last few days."

"I feel I'm gonna need lessons from you guys if you keep this up for long," Sero laughed and turned to walk to the side. "I'll grab our bags real quick."

As he walked away from them, Katara noticed Izuku squeezing his hand several times, tilting her head in concern. "Does it hurt?"

"Huh? Oh, no!" he chuckled and lowered his hand. "It's just getting used to the sensation still. It's becoming a lot more natural."

"I'll say," She laughed and bended the splashed water around her back into her gauntlets. "You started practicing this after me and passed me in speed already."

Izuku quickly glanced towards Sero to make sure he was out of range before whispering to her. "I mean… blackwhip itself is much stronger than normal because One for all, so it wasn't really a fair comparison. And if you had more water you could've had more reach than you had now."

"And now you're just taking away your credit. You did good." She responded and patted his shoulder. "But maybe we can try another race sometime with both of us going all out."

"Not sure that would be a good idea…" Izuku muttered, wondering what a full cowling black whip and spirit boosted waterbender would do to the training area.

As Sero brought their stuff back over, he handed them their bags and felt his stomach growl. "Well, I didn't really get breakfast. I'm hitting the kitchen for a bite to eat if you wanna join."

Thinking about it, Katara quickly grabbed her phone to see the time, her eyes widening when she saw it. "I gotta get going now, actually."

Sero's brow raised, knowing where she was going next. "You know you're going to need to rest sometime."

"I'll be fine." Katara responded, adjusting her bag and nodding to both of them. "We can do more of this through the week, deal?"

"Absolutely. Looking forward to it!" Izuku exclaimed, waving as Katara went on her way to her next destination.

Sero sighed out and cracked his neck, looking up to see the sun beginning to lower in the distance. "She sure is determined to keep going."

Yeah…" Izuku agreed, but more in turn with the waterbender walking away. While he certainly wanted to continue doing training with them here to master black whip, he also knew he had to continue building up his physical strength training as well. With Katara's aid, he was pushing to forty percent without too much injury, but that was somewhat due to her healing him as he fought. He didn't want to be stuck at that limit, and knew he had to keep improving how high he could push the percentage of One for All. The only problem was only a few here knew of One for All, so he had to pick through the ones who did to really get a feel of what he was trying to do.

Suddenly, he had an idea of who to ask… immediately feeling the lump in his throat tighten in terror.

"This is probably a terrible idea…"

Reaching the large dirt training zone, Katara looked around for a bit, exhaling fog into the chilly air. After a moment she saw exactly who she was looking for, seeing Shoto coming down the path behind herself. "I thought you'd be here already," she said surprised.

"Sorry, I had to finish things for my class for my license tomorrow," he sighed out, "Once I get that license finally, there will be nothing left to distract me with this."

While Katara felt happy he was finally getting his situation with his hero license done, she could tell from his face that was the last thing on his mind now. After their talk that morning, they both knew they had to get stronger, because whenever it did come, they would be facing the threat that had been after them for the last year. "Well once you are done with it, there will be more time for us to do this."

As he approached and watched Katara lower her bag to the ground, Shoto noticed the small amount of sweat that was already on her forehead. "You did your other training today as well?"

"Yeah, We just finished a little bit ago. I didn't want to be late coming here."

"We already have intense training some days in class, and along with what we said, you're doing your maneuvering training," he said, frowning somewhat. "You don't need to push yourself too hard, Katara."

Sighing, she gave him a stern look. "Yeah, I actually do. And If it becomes too much, then I need to push harder until I can handle it."

While he and Katara had made the plan to start intense training together, he disagreed with wanting to let her try and do two different sessions at the same time. But he also knew she was too stubborn to give up, so trying to talk her out of it was certainly not an option. Chuckling, he put his backpack on the ground beside hers, removing his jacket as well. "Alright then. Lets get started."

Both of them made their way towards the center of the large clearing, the space certainly large enough for them to not worry about surrounding damage. Once where they needed to be, Katara cracked her knuckles and looked over towards him. "Don't start out lightly. Let's jump straight into it today."

"Only if you are certain," He sternly responded, wanting to make sure she was ready.

"I am…" She quietly answered, taking a deep breath and holding her hands in front of herself. "Let's do this."

Nodding, Shoto's right side immediately activated, the frost from his hand expelling as he stepped forward and swiped his arm. In a single moment, an entire glacier burst out from the ground and exploded towards the waterbender. Katara didn't budge as the mountain of ice careened her direction, instead closing her eyes and focusing on the force inside of herself. Opening her eyes, the bright glow of her spiritual energy activated once more, yelling out as she thrust her hands out and split the ice down the center. The attack continued pressing her direction, rushing on each side of her before she swung her arms and shifted it all to water, the gargantuan streams like two separate rivers flying straight back towards Shoto.

Quickly activating his fire, Shoto let the flames burst outward and clash against the massive water strike. He felt his body heating up from his quirk, gritting his teeth and also focusing on his right at the same time. Ice struggled to form on his arm not just from the heat melting it away, but from so much focus onto the fire to block her technique. He knew he had to do this, however long it took to master it, it didn't matter. He needed to maximize not only his heat output, but for how long he could do it for.

He needed to do it for her to keep her safe.

"Come on…" he gritted through his teeth, sweat both dripping and evaporating from his face simultaneously, "Both at the same time… hot and cold working together!" The ice on his arm grew thicker, fighting against the intense heat pooling inside his core from pushing his flame side at this pace.

From the other side, Katara continued pushing the large stream of water through the air and slamming into the inferno before her. While still thrusting it forward, she began pulling with her other hand the enormous cloud of steam and vapor forming from the clash back towards herself, shifting it back into more water and directly to the current she was guiding. Just as soon as the water itself was gone, another ice mountain burst through the flames, giving no break for her and had to force it back as well. Sliding back from the force, she yelled out and split it down the center once again, repeating the process she did before. She felt her forehead sweating from the strain of his attacks, but also the energy being sapped from her using this form. But still she didn't stop. She needed to get used to tapping into her spiritual reserve of energy so she had control of it.

Both of them continued this process for the rest of the evening, pushing their quirk and bending to not be such a strain on their body and to build its strength. They needed to push themselves to be able to use their power to the fullest, for they knew some day, it would be needed against another fire coming to burn down what they cherished.

The next day, UA office

Before school was set to start, a special meeting was called in Nezu's office with several staff members. Sitting around the table were Aizawa, Toshinori, Snipe and Midnight, all turning to see small creature walk inside and hop into his seat.

"Thank you for coming so quickly before school starts this morning," Nezu happily stated, "I know this is last minute, but before we start, we just have one more coming in."

On cue, the door to the office opened up, revealing Tensei slowly walking inside on his cane. "Sorry I'm late. It… took a few extra minutes for me." he joked, waving his hand as Midnight prepared to get up to help him.

"You should be careful straining yourself too much," Aizawa warned him, "you've got too much ahead of you to get hurt again."

"Sometimes you have to push yourself to get where you want even when it hurts." Tensei responded, grunting as he sat down in the open seat.

"So how is your new position doing for you?" Nezu asked curiously, earning a chuckle from the newcomer.

"Honestly, it's something I never really knew I would enjoy so much. I wanted to thank you for the opportunity for this."

"I'm glad to hear that," Nezu said as he clasped his paws, "Now to all of you, however, there is an important reason I called you all here. it seems we have quite the guest wanting to talk to us this morning." A few moments later, the screen behind him began peeping, making the small creature sigh. "I hope we can keep this civil, please…" he muttered and pushed the button beside him, answering the call and lighting up the video call. Immediately all of them widened their eyes when they saw who it was on the call, certainly not expecting this when they came in.

"Goodmorning, madam president. How are you this morning?" Nezu happily asked the elderly woman.

"I was expecting a call between just us," the commission president grumbled, looking around to all the eyes staring at her. "You never said all of them would be involved as well."

Nezu gave a small shrug. "You never stated they shouldn't be involved with this call, and it's better than having me try to explain to everyone."

"What the hell is going on?" Aizawa growled, sitting up and glaring towards the screen, having a similar look to Tensei's face.

Sighing, the president clasped her hands and leaned onto her desk. "It seems we have been at an impasse since our last meeting."

"Impasse is a nice way of stating it," Tensei hissed out, "another way of meaning "My blackmail didn't work.""

"It's good to see you doing well, too," the president muttered out, her sarcasm certainly not missed by the table. "I will admit, I did not expect this to go on for so long since I was there last."

Toshinori took a breath to calm himself. "You'd be surprised how far people go to do what is right. That is what heroes are supposed to do if you remember."

Fighting back her glare, the president took a breath and sat up straight. "I shall just get to the point, then. It seems there have been developments in the league of villains activities. While we are still investigating, we know for certain something big is happening,and we want everyone to be prepared for when that day comes."

"And the reason you are calling us at the school…" Snipe asked, tapping his finger on the desk. "You mean "everyone.""

"Correct. It is not confirmed, but we believe the league is planning something massive, and we are needing everyone ready for when the time comes."

"Quite bold to just come in and demand something like that after everything that happened." Midnight responded, "You were ready to cast us aside the moment we didn't follow in line, and now you are trying to act like nothing happened."

"I'm trying to give warning for something that is certainly coming, looking at the big picture in all this. Therefore… we here at the commission believe work studies shall be implemented once more for in field training for your students once more."

While the statement was certainly surprising to hear, all of the teachers there gave looks to one another disapproving the idea. Aizawa scratched his head in annoyance before looking back to the screen. "So you come in guns blazing back then, wanting to take a single student because she was something different you didn't understand. When we didn't roll over for you, you assumed money was going to be the thing that broke us. And now that plan failed, you are going at it by trying to-

"To what, get your student into the open and take her?" The president growled, "If that were our intention, we would've grabbed her when you took her off site for new years."

Tensei glared, hearing they were obviously watching them, gripping the cane in his hand tightly. "I assumed you had surveillance on us, but don't try and think because you didn't try anything it makes me any less cautious of you."

"You can think whatever you want, but the truth is the reason I am calling now is for the safety of our country. We must be ready for the league before they strike, something I plan on pushing through the minute we have confirmation on what's going on."

"Of course."

All eyes on the table and the screen turned to Nezu's answer, all surprised by the smile on his face. "That sounds like a wonderful idea."

"Nezu, you can't be serious with this," Midnight asked him. "After what she tried doing?"

"On the contrary. While we have done great with them, all our students need real world experience more than class training to get better. It would be wonderful to have that implemented once more."

The president was certainly surprised by his sudden answer, expecting him to make her work a lot-

"Of course several stipulations are to be put into place before anything like this is agreed to," Nezu chirped out before she could even say anything. His tail swung in amusement when he saw the annoyed look on her face, tapping his thumbs together. "First, this petty tactic of cutting funding to our school salaries will end today, as it's obvious there's nothing from it that will hurt us. I just feel embarrassed a student is covering that cost for us, and therefore that will end today. I assume that is the least you can do for our troubles. But of course… the whole point of your plan is for my second and most important point."

The president didn't even need to guess what he was going to say, closing her eyes in annoyance. "And this you're certain of?"

"Of course; all actions of having Katara come to the commission will end here on out. I think a student should be allowed to train outside school without having to look over her shoulder, don't you agree? I believe this video call being recorded will suffice enough of a verbal agreement to your word."

Even outside her job, losing was something the president rarely ever let happen. Just just because she had to keep up with the rules, but because she simply didn't like to. Having this school's principal casually talking to her and putting down rules like this just made her blood boil, but at this point, she knew even the other board members of the commission were growing restless with this plan she had. Sighing, she reopened her eyes, staring at the little creature smiling up through the screen. "To think so many heroes I've known over the years chose to disobey orders, I never expected."

"Then perhaps you didn't know us that well…" Toshinori stated, standing up from his seat. "If you blindly follow orders despite knowing what is right, that is not what makes someone a hero. I know that myself and seeing so many others."

Huffing out, the president tapped the desk in frustration before taking a moment to finally accept this was it, clicking her tongue in defeat. "Deal."

Tensei felt his heart jump from the answer, not expecting the end of this game from her. "So that's it? You will leave her alone from now on?"

"We shall allow her to continue her training and studies under your watch, but there are still things I want from you in that regard; I want actual answers to what this power she possesses is, with more than just something from you."

"You could simply come in yourself and talk to her. Did you ever consider asking nicely for something like that?" Nezu sarcastically asked the president, "I'm sure Katara would happily have a cup of tea with you over it."

Frowning at the statement from the principal, the elder woman gripped the bridge of her nose. "Fine. Reinstatement of payments will continue as soon as this week finishes. And approval for work studies will continue from here on out. When the call comes to mobilize, you will answer, is that clear?"

"Of course. But one question, madam?" Nezu asked, "what kind of tea would you like made?"

Growling at his comment, the president sighed and sat back, turning her gaze to the recovering speedster. "With this agreement, all responsibility to anything that happens with her is now on you and your parents. I hope you know this with their recent filings."

Nodding, Tensei tapped his cane to the ground. "Of course. We wouldn't have it any other way."

And with that, the video call was cut, leaving the room of teachers sighing in relief. "So that's it then? It's all over?" Snipe asked.

"Perhaps, although being cautious would be a wise idea." Nezu mentioned. "I doubt though there will really be anything else she will try."

"Thank goodness." Tensei mumbled in relief, although Aizawa looked at him curiously.

"What did she mean by what she said to you? About the filings with your parents?" he asked.

Tensei couldn't help but get a large smile on his face, shrugging to the dark haired man. "Well… apparently, my parents made the choice to actually… make Katara a part of the family."

"You mean…?: Midnights face blushed as she gripped her face in happiness. "Aww! That is so wonderful!"

"Adoption?" Toshinori's own face gained a large smile. "This is amazing. I'm really happy for you."

"After a while it felt like she was part of the family anyway, so this just made it official for us."

"This is wonderful news! And what perfect timing with this as well," Nezu exclaimed. "It seems this year is starting off with quite the positive switch from before."

"Please don't jinx it." Aizawa muttered. "Let's try to just to the end of the school year in peace."

Later in the morning, the news of the sudden change for work studies began passing through to all the different classrooms, most excited they could finally get back out there and practice being heroes once more. But in class 1-A, the reaction was a mix of that but also concern.

"Sir! I need to ask this!" Tenya quickly stood up from his seat. "With everything that has happened, is this something safe?"

Aizawa sighed at the question, "You are referring to Katara, yes?"

Tenya clenched his fist, looking over to Katara staring up at him in concern. "Of course. What if this is just a ploy for them to get to her?"

"This has already been discussed, and a deal has been made that will put an end to that predicament. That also includes funding," He looked over to his smartest student in class. "At this moment, Yaoyorozu, your support has come to an end. Thank you."

"Are you sure?" Momo asked, "It's all finished?"

"I mean, if you need somewhere to spend money still…" Mina teased, holding her hand out. "Your best buddy could use some aid."

"Anyway…" Aizawa turned his gaze to the waterbender in the classroom. "It has been determined you're safe from that, and you no longer have to worry about that now."

"Really?" Katara asked, smiling to her friends around her. She looked over to Shoto, happy to see his genuine smile as well. She sighed in relief before looking back to their teacher. "This is wonderful. Thank you."

"And that means we get to go back in the field now? Hell yeah!" Kirishima and several others cheered out, excited to finally get off school grounds for action again.

"Today, you will be expecting calls from your studies once more, and those who didn't have any will be given chances to find some as well. Everyone will be getting in field experience this time." Aizawa confirmed… of course hiding the truth to why work studies was started again. He needed his students to train, but putting in the even remote chance this meant facing the league again, he didn't want too much panic. "This is the time where you take what you've learned and push yourselves even further."

While Many began chatting excitingly about what was happening, Katara and Shoto looked at each other once more with mixed feelings. All this meant they were going back to his father, one who was connected to all of the pain that had happened recently to them. But even Shoto knew in the end with no personal need to get closer to that man, he knew the truth was he was the strongest hero in the country, and if anyone could push them to reach the next level of power for the pair, he was the one who could do it. And with everything that had happened, Katara was going to be wherever Shoto wanted to go, to fight alongside him whenever the time came.

As the day went on, Katara and many of the others gathered around during lunch, chatting about what places they were going back to or what places they could possibly go to. "This is sweet! We get back to working with Ryukyu!" Uraraka happily cheered out.

"We get to kicking butt on the street! This is awesome!" Kirishima agreed with her.

"Hmm…" Tenya said as he scratched his chin. "I still feel you should be careful, Katara. I can always accompany you and make sure-

"I think I'm okay." Katara lightly chuckled, "I appreciate it, though."

"I mean, whatever is going on, it must have been taken care of," Momo added, looking over to the grin Mina was giving her. "What?"

"Well, my birthday is coming up so…."

"Back to the money, ribbit." Tsu chimed in.

Mina sighed and pursed her lips out. "Well, I just feel bad if the money doesn't go anywhere."

"Uh huh…" Momo laughed, "I guess I'll be heading back with Edgeshot once more. I can't wait to try my gift you got me in the field."

Izuku chuckled at that, "I hope you get all the practice you can."

Katara began thinking about Izuku's situation, remembering everything that happened. "Midoriya, do you have a place to go back to right now? Because with what at your place, are you…?"

Izuku gave a sigh out, knowing she was offering about possibly going to their agency. "Actually… I do have an idea what to do now. And this is perfect for training for me as well."

"Really?" Momo asked in surprise. "Who is it?"

That evening, Izuku walked through the UA grounds until he reached the ground Gamma facility, the same industrial district he'd been training in. Today, he was skipping the maneuvering training, preparing to do another style that he needed to focus on as well. As he walked through the street, he kept his gaze open, waiting for anything coming his way. "I hope this is a smart idea."

After a few moments, he heard footsteps as well, turning and seeing the one he was looking for. "So, here we are now..." he said.

Coming forward from the shade was Bakugo, the teens hands in his coat pockets. "So we are, Deku..." he responded, "Don't think this is going to be easy."

"I planned that, and that's what I need." Izuku responded, his eyes widening when he heard wind whipping behind him. On instinct he activated his full cowling, spinning around and swinging his leg up and colliding with the incoming kick from above. Gritting his teeth, he felt his body shaking from the intense impact, looking straight at the massive grin below the tall white ears.

"You certainly got guts for wanting this, kid," Mirko chuckled out. "Most would go crying just thinking about this."

"I guess I'm not most..." Izuku hissed through his clenched teeth, giving a small grin himself. "Besides, I need someone who knows what my power is."

"Heh..." Mirko laughed and lowered her leg. "I'd been wanting another spar with you once you healed up, so this will be the perfect chance for this. Seems like both of you don't mind having a death wish. Perhaps I could get a workout from this as well."

Both Izuku and Bakugo glanced at one another before looking back to their Work Studies mentor, knowing they were in for one hell of a training course.

Notes: phew! more changes and progression for our characters, preparing for what comes next for all of them!

The pace towards the final arc is going to pick up, as I said, many differences to the canon are happening for the finale. hope you enjoy!

Also as a note, working on final art piece for quite sometime, as funds for this have run low with everything in life of course. priorities take charge. If anyone would want to help contribute to future art, the fund link is still up and would truly be appreciated.

All of you fans who stick around for this are what gives me the motivation to keep going. I really do love the support everyone has given and thanks for it all.

Please leave your thoughts and comments on what happened and what comes next.

Till next time!