Every square inch of Katsuki's hands were hurting. His fingertips felt numb, his knuckles ached and seemed stuck in a slightly bent position, and his digits trembled no matter how hard he tried to hold them still. While slinging massive explosions took its toll as well, utilizing smaller, controlled bursts taxed him in ways he couldn't quite put into words. Everything about the fight was becoming irritating, most of all the fact that he could actually see himself losing if Daisuke couldn't keep Himiko in check. Though he was fairly certain he could handle Mashirao in a hand-to-hand bout, the unpredictability of the other boy's tail and backup from Himiko was enough to make him wary of his opponent.

Katsuki let out an animalistic growl as he rushed in, throwing punches while advancing. With a quick blast off to one side, he slid along the floor and channeled the momentum into a spinning back hook kick, which Mashirao turned to block. The tailed novice hero barely got his arm up in time to protect his head, but had no time to counterattack as Katsuki spun into a sweep with the same leg. Mashirao leapt backward, only to realize that his opponent had cleverly put himself between him and Himiko. Katsuki's continued advancing strikes only solidified the idea that he was deliberately trying to force him away, and so, Mashirao began to push back with a flipping overhead tail slam.

Just as the tail thumped into the floor, Katsuki took a hard step forward and stomped down upon its tip. He swung hard with a hook into Mashirao's jaw as he landed, scoring a direct hit and unbalancing him. Mashirao reeled backward and yanked his tail out from under Katsuki with great force, only for the other boy to step off it and cause a massive overcorrection. Mashirao felt an explosion-propelled elbow sink into his stomach before he hit the floor in a heap, the back of his head smacking off the gym mats as he drew in a pained breath.

"You done?" Katsuki asked as he stood over Mashirao.

"…not quite," he answered with a hiss as he put a hand on his side. "You're quick, though. Really impress-"

"Shut up," Katsuki interrupted. "If you're not done, then get up and square up."

Mashirao watched as Katsuki put his fists up into a classic boxing stance. As he curled his fingers inward, Katsuki had trouble closing his left hand fully and clenched his teeth. The struggle didn't go unnoticed.

"…seriously, are you okay?" Mashirao asked as he got to his feet and dusted off his pants. "Maybe we should stop, and y-"

"Shut up!"

Mashirao put his hands up to brace for impact, blocking once again as Katsuki went in with renewed fervor.

Daisuke hated what he was seeing. His warped reflection stood across from him, wearing an expression of masochistic glee that he sincerely hoped he never actually made himself. Everything about Himiko's imitation of him was just wrong, from the way she stood to the orientation of her tail against the ground. Absolutely none of it reflected him outside of the most basic, surface level, and the sight almost offended him. As she started to speak in his voice, that feeling only grew stronger, and Daisuke grew more and more uncomfortable.

"Like what ya see?" Himiko teased. "It's almost a shame we have to fight. I could have so much fun with your body…"

Daisuke stiffened at the suggestion, doing his best to hide his disgust. He spoke in the most even tone he could muster, though a bit of an edge crept through.

"What are you even talking about? Stop stalling!"

Himiko threw her arms forward in an x-shaped configuration, rustling up a gust of bright green wind that spiraled into a small dust devil. The student-sized storm whipped its way toward Daisuke at an appreciable speed, growing larger and larger as it approached, but he didn't bother to move. With a snap, he threw his right arm out to the side and the spinning wind split into two smaller spirals that passed harmlessly around him before fizzling out entirely. No damage was done beyond tossing his fluffy hair about, and Himiko paled as Daisuke gave her a glare with narrowed eyes.

"You have no idea how to use my Quirk," he accused. "The amount of work it took to make it even mildly threatening…"

"Uh… Mashy!" Himiko called as she backpedaled and looked over her shoulder to find her partner on the floor with Katsuki standing over him. "We gotta trade dance partners!"

Himiko jumped out of the way as a literal wall of turbulent wind erected before her, pushing her back toward Daisuke. With a hard swallow, she put up her fists and faced him down as he moved his arms out to either side to trap her within a semicircle of rushing gusts.

"Not happening," Daisuke said firmly. "You're not getting Bakugo's blood."

"You'll be so screwed when I do," Himiko insisted. "Can't really fuck up explosions. As for your Quirk… fine. It's hard to use, but that doesn't mean I can't figure it out!"

Himiko put her palms together into a clawed double-clawed configuration and thrust them out hard, manifesting an orb of emerald wind that sped toward Daisuke. Again, he moved his hand to dispel the projectile, though instead of scattering it, he met the sphere with a larger one of his own. The orb dissipated its smaller cousin and careened into Himiko's chest, knocking her backward into the wall of wind and causing her to lose her balance as she stumbled forward.

"…copying moves from old video games isn't going to make them hit harder!" Daisuke accused.

"I was going for an anime thing!" Himiko whined as she used her tail to rebalance herself. "Like the guys with the really spiky hair do!"

Daisuke rolled his eyes and ran in, lifting his extra appendage to glide above the ground on a tailwind as he did so. Just as he got within range, Himiko expended a massive effort to try to spin into a tail strike of her own. Daisuke stopped his momentum and stared as he watched the pitiful effort, which went exactly as well as he expected it to. Himiko quite nearly fell over mid-spin, the massive, scaled tail barely dragging along the mat and resisting her efforts to weaponize it as it remained mostly in place like a small sleeping bag full of soil.

"Dude! Your tail sucks! This is nothing like his!"

Quite suddenly, Daisuke understood just how Katsuki could get so angry so quickly. The surge of frustration in his chest wasn't entirely unfamiliar, but rarely did it come on so immediately and intensely as it did at Himiko's words.

"Yeah. I know."

Faster than Himiko could react, Daisuke closed the rest of the distance between them and twisted his body in much the same way his opponent had. A rush of wind carried his tail around him, adding considerable force to its lashing weight. Though Himiko put her hands up to block, she stood no chance at staying grounded as the limb collided with her and sent her flying end over end across the room. Daisuke dispelled his wall of wind and kicked off the ground, pulling the green streaks to envelop his limbs and rocket him forward to where Katsuki and Mashirao were trading blows.

Katsuki saw an expression of surprise and fear on Mashirao's face before he realized that his friend was on the way. Though he heard the rush of whistling wind somewhere behind him, he manifested a growing explosion in his palm before bringing a clawed hand forward. Mashirao was too late to react in his moment of distraction, and Katsuki crashed his hand into the other boy's chest.

"Go down!"

Katsuki kept his teeth clenched as the burgeoning explosion fizzled out within his palm and he ended up gripping one of Mashirao's pecs with his stiffened fingers. The only indication that time itself hadn't stopped was Daisuke flying past the pair of them, though his maneuver had become totally uncontrolled. No seemingly magical wind was around him, and he careened straight into one of the mats up against the wall at the end of his wild flight. Katsuki watched with worry and confusion, only to notice that Himiko was sitting off to the side with her knees bent inward and one hand over her exposed lower body, while her other arm shielded her bare breasts from view.

"What in the actual hell…?"

Daisuke's eyes widened as he laid on the floor, staring upside-down at some figure in the doorway. He quickly rolled onto his stomach and righted himself before stooping into a low bow.

"Oh god! Professor!"

"All of you, turn away and allow Miss Toga to dress herself in peace," Professor Shota Aizawa said boredly as he kept his eyes firmly locked upon the three boys.

Mashirao's eyes widened as he finally noticed his classmate sitting unclothed on the floor, and he immediately turned away and brought his tail up to cover his eyes.

"Sorry, Professor! It isn't what it looks like!"

"He knows, dumbass," Katsuki muttered as he, too, faced away from Himiko. "He's the one who stopped our Quirks with his. That's what Eraserhead does."

"And I was unaware that stopping Miss Toga would result in that," the man agreed as he kept his eyes closed. "Let us know when you are decent."

"I'm good!" Himiko said cheerily after spending a few moments to pull her underwear and school uniform back on and stand up. "No harm done. Besides… I don't really care if they see me."

"That's none of my business," Professor Aizawa answered as he opened his eyes once again and folded his arms over his chest. "All of you. Come here."

The teens did as they were told, though each had a wildly different reaction to their instructor's appearance. Daisuke was the first to approach, keeping his eyes away from Professor Aizawa and looking both worried and ashamed. Katsuki moved slowly, seeming more annoyed than anything. Mashirao also dragged his feet, though his expression was one of dread. Himiko skipped her way over, entirely unconcerned and all smiles.

"What's up, Teach?"

"…sparring with Quirks involved comes with a set of specific rules here at U.A.," Professor Aizawa said as he gave the girl an unimpressed side eye. "Rules that we haven't gone over yet, as we didn't expect any of you to start training so soon after unpacking. It's barely dawn…"

"Apologies, Professor," Daisuke said immediately as he offered the man another bow. "We were reckless."

"Did I say it was a bad thing?"

Daisuke slowly straightened up, the statement doing nothing to dispel his apprehension.

"…you're not upset with us?" Mashirao asked, his tail swishing lightly behind him.

"Nor did I say that," Professor Aizawa warned, his expression unreadable. "There is both good and bad here, though I suppose none of it is particularly surprising given that three of you are from the Zero-Point Villain crew. Your impulsiveness and eagerness to train is something I honestly should have seen coming."

"We don't like to sit around doing nothing," Himiko chimed in as she slung her arms around Daisuke's neck, only for him to gently push her away. "We were just getting to know each other in a fun and interesting way. That's all."

"Is that so?" Professor Aizawa asked as he turned his attention to Katsuki. "Mister Bakugo. You've been quiet, despite being the ringleader, previously. You and Miss Kan had no shortage of things to say throughout the audition process, particularly when you were under a microscope. What changed?"

"I have nothing to say," Katsuki answered with a shrug. "You saw us fighting, you stepped in, and now you're telling us there are rules we don't know yet. I'm just wondering what the point of this conversation is if you're not going to give us those rules and we're not in trouble. Are you just trying to intimidate us?"

Daisuke brought a hand up to his forehead in disbelief. A band of sweat was forming beneath his hairline as he gave Katsuki an uncomfortable look.

"I don't think I could intimidate you, outside of a threat of expulsion," Professor Aizawa answered coolly. "The point of this conversation is to make you think. I won't be giving you all the rules now. I dislike repeating myself, and they'll be covered on day one of class. Instead, I'm going to ask you this- at what point were you planning to stop sparring? I did indeed see the four of you fighting for longer than you might realize, and I intervened because things were beginning to escalate to dangerous levels. What was your victory condition?"

Mashirao cleared his throat.

"I… don't think we really established any?"

"When they gave up out of fear, or because they couldn't handle it anymore," Katsuki answered. "Same way you end fights with villains."

"Are those the only ways to victory, other than violating the law?" Professor Aizawa asked. "I'm not looking for an answer, but I am asking you to consider the question. It may be one you have to ask yourselves in the future."

Katsuki made a frustrated noise as Professor Aizawa spoke again.

"For now… I would advise you all to head back up to your floors and keep an eye on the news. Others are starting to wake up, and it's going to be a rough day for many of you. Keep your friends close."

"…and your enemies closer?" Himiko asked.

"…no," Professor Aizawa answered flatly. "Not in this case."

The students each gave their professor a bow- some more formal than others- before making their way out of the gym and back into the hallway. Professor Aizawa shut the door behind them, leaving the four teens alone.

"What did he mean keep an eye on the news?" Daisuke asked. "Is something happening that any of you know of?"

"I have a guess," Katsuki answered as he made his way back toward the stairs. "And if I'm right… this is gonna be a really shitty day..."

"Hey, you two?" Mashirao asked as he joined them on the staircase. "Good fight! You're both really impressive."

"Thanks," Daisuke said uneasily. "You too…"

Katsuki rolled his eyes, stomping up the steps as he did.

"Shut up…"

Author's Note:

Next time- a quick check-in on Mirio, and then branching out to some other characters that haven't gotten focus in a while.

-RD