The next game was a tournament, one-on-one battles. This is what Katsumi had been waiting for, the event that made getting through the others more than worth it.

Everyone in the teams that made it through the last round would be up against each other in one-on-one battles, the winner of each proceeding to the next- etcetera, etcetera. There was a lot of standing around and waiting for either Present Mic or Ms Midnight to finish talking. Katsumi was itching to get this over with.

Ms Midnight explained that those participating in the next round would be able to sit out the recreation games if they wished. That caught Katsumi's (who was admittedly only half listening to the teacher) attention. She didn't even know there were recreational games, safe to say she did not want to join in. Stuffing her face would be a better use of her time than running around with an egg on a spoon or whatever other games they had planned.

"Now, come closer and draw lots to see who you're up against," Ms Midnight said, holding up a box. "I'll start with the first-place team-"

"Um," a voice interrupted, "excuse me?"

Great, time to drag it out this even more.

The voice belonged to Ojiro, the guy Katsumi had ended up with during the… USJ attack.

"Sorry, but I'm withdrawing."

Katsumi thought the in-unison gasp from all the students was a little much, but she did raise her eyebrow. She was standing just behind him to the left, so she could just see his expression- brow knitted, gaze firm. He obviously wasn't pulling out because he was nervous.

"Ojiro," turning around, Izuku gaped at him, "no way."

"But this is a rare chance for you to get scouted," Iida protested.

Ojiro shook his head, "It just wouldn't be right."

Katsumi's brow furrowed slightly as he went on to say that he couldn't remember a single thing about the Cavalry battle until the end of it. Apparently, some guy's quirk did it, though Katsumi had no idea who this 'guy' was.

"I know this is a great opportunity, I wish I could take advantage of it. But my conscious won't let me."

Izuku shook his head, "Think about this-"

"There's always next year."

Ojiro turned to Katsumi, who shrugged.

"Thank you, Katsumi," Ojiro nodded to her. "Everyone gave their all in round two, but I was just someone's puppet. No way, I don't want to advance if I don't even know how I got here, it wouldn't be fair."

"You're making way too much of this!" Hagakure argued. "Just kill it in the finals and prove you're meant to be here."

"Yeah, what she said!" Mina agreed.

"It's my pride," Ojiro admitted, "I refuse to give that up."

Katsumi wanted to bang her head against a wall. Sure, personally, she wouldn't be doing what Ojiro was, but why everyone was getting in his business was beyond her. His dropping out wasn't going to decrease anyone's chance of winning, he'd only be replaced with someone on a losing team. Safe to say they would probably be weaker than Ojiro, if anything, it was upping everyone else's chance of getting a weak opponent.

"Um, I think I should withdraw for the exact same reasons," a short boy with pale hair from 1-B spoke up. "It would go against the values of the festival to advance without earning my spot."

"Listen to these guys!" Kirishima choked, "They're so manly."

"This sort of talk is incredibly naive, my boys!" Ms Midnight said. "That turns me on! Shota, Ojiro, you're withdrawn!"

What..?

Ms Midnight then moved up a member from the sixth place Calvary team, after the fifth also decided that they didn't do enough to be worthy of it. Katsumi wondered whether they would have done that without Ojiro's inspiring little speech. At least no one tried to talk them out of it all that much. Ms Midnight only moved up one from the sixth group because they had an odd number of contestants before, which would have complicated the tournament too much.

After much too long a wait, the brackets were finally revealed. Katsumi went to look for her name, but not before subconsciously glancing for Izuku's. He was against someone called… Shinso. Well, she had no clue who that was.

Who she was against, however, she did.

Kaminari gave her a wink. Katsumi returned with a grin. He didn't know what he was getting himself into.

Looking at back at the other matchups, Katsumi was already placing bets on who would be advancing to the second round. Shinso and Izuku, well, she'd hope Izuku, but she didn't know who this Shinso guy was. Sero and Todoroki- poor Sero was getting stomped. Her and Kaminari, well, Sero and he were friends, so it was fitting they had the same fate.

Hatsume and Iida? That was hard. She hadn't really seen much of Hatsume's actual combat abilities. Katsumi hoped it would be the strange, zany support student girl who came on top, it would just be more interesting. Aoyama and Mina- Mina. Momo and Tokoyami? Momo, after all that training she'd done, she had to take it, she would. Then there was Kirishima and another person she didn't know. Well, it all depended on their quirk, but she had faith in Kirishima, with how high his defence was, she'd assume he'd be able to put up a good fight against just about anyone. Then the last match-

Bakugou verses Uraraka.

Katsum's gaze drifted to the blonde guy, who stood looking up at the screen.

"Uraraka? Who the hell's that?"

The aforementioned girl stared at him, eyes wide, mouth open.

That was… unfortunate.

Katsumi felt bad even thinking it, but yeah, she'd assume Bakugou would take that. She might not like Uraraka, but that didn't mean she wanted to see her get beaten up. In fact, it probably would make it even more uncomfortable to watch.

Looking at the brackets again, Katsumi came to an interesting realisation: Izuku was going to fight Todoroki. She bet Todoroki was coming up with a victory monologue right now.

Presumably, the winner would be… Well, Todoroki. Izuku was smart; he was very smart, his tactics were creative, and he thought them up quickly. Yet, as long as he broke his bones whenever he used his quirk…

Honestly, as bad as it was, Katsumi almost wanted to Izuku to lose, in a way. She wouldn't mind fighting Todoroki, there were some ideas budding in her head she wanted to see his own thoughts on. That and the fact that she really didn't want to fight Izuku.

"Katsumi? Why are you just standing there?"

"I was just thinking," Katsumi laughed, rubbing her neck. "I don't ramble out loud like you," she teased, "I do it in my head."

"I don't-" Izuku stopped, cheeks flushing. "Uh, well, are you going to join in the recreational games?"

"That's funny," Katsumi said, patting Izuku on the shoulder as she turned him around and headed for the stalls. "Let's go."

"Really? Okay."

"Where were you during lunch?" She asked as they walked across the field.

"Oh, uh," Izuku laughed, his gaze darting away from her, "I was just in the toilet."

So he was lying to her.

"For that long?" She asked, raising her brow.

"Well- I'm a bit nervous so I, well, y'know."

"Loose bowles?"

Izuku winced, "Yeah…"

Katsumi burst out into laughter.

"You're Midoriya, right?"

Katsumi didn't recognise the voice. The two turned to a boy with crazy purple hair. He smirked at them.

"A pleasure, so are you excited?"

That must be Shinso, she thought as she noticed someone's shadow approaching them from behind.

"Uh-"

Before Izuku could answer, Ojiro's tail covered his mouth.

"Not so fast."

Shinso chuckled as he walked away. Ojiro released his tail from around Izuku's mouth.

"What was that?" Katsumi asked, turning to Ojiro.

Ojiro glanced at her for half a second before looking seriously at Izuku, "You can't say a word to him."

Katsumi looked at Ojiro, and then at Izuku. She thought for a moment before she made a decision.

"I'll leave you two to it," she said, stepping back, "good luck, Izuku."

"Oh," he nodded, "okay! See you later, Katsumi."

Izuku didn't need her around all the time. She'd go prepare.

Katsumi sat in the stalls alone as everyone else partook in the recreational games, either that or were doing god knows what somewhere else. She had brought extra food with her in her bag and was forcing herself to eat as much as she could before her first fight. Maybe she should probably should actually plan a little with her time too.

She was the third match, so she had more than enough time to think of a strategy, especially since she was skipping the recreational games. Kaminari was only dangerous because of his quirk, in the sense that all she needed to do was avoid his electricity, get close and either knock him out or get him out of the arena. She'd go for getting him out of the arena, she didn't really feel like beating him up that much.

Right, all she needed to do was stop the electricity from electrocuting her. That was simple. Honestly, she wasn't all that preoccupied about Kaminari. It was her possible third fight that she was interested in.

After a while, the games were over, and the rest of her class came to sit in the stalls. Momo and Jiro came over to her.

"Oh so this is where you were. Did you not feel like joining in the recreational games, Katsumi?" Momo asked.

"Nah, I wanted to prepare for my matches," Katsumi replied as the two girls sat down.

Jiro peeked over from her seat next to the black-haired girl. "Please beat Kaminari into mush for me."

Katsumi grinned at her, "Of course."

"I heard that!" Kaminari shouted from the row above.

"It would seem that what we studied together with will come in handy," Momo smiled.

"Mhm." Momo wasn't as good as a teacher as those old professionals her Dad got to talk with her last year, but she had seriously been helpful. Katsumi only hoped she had helped her out, too.

"I wanna see you use what I taught you too, throw a mean punch for me Momo."

She laughed, "I will try my best."

"The first match will be soon," Jiro said, a slight smirk on her lips. "You worried about your boyfriend, Katsumi?"

Katsumi frowned, "Oh, shut up."

Mina appeared, leaning over the chairs from her seat above them, "Shh, don't say that, you know Katsumi likes them older-"

"Mina," Katsumi's face went bright red, "shut up!"

"What we talking about?!" An annoying voice piped up, "Katsumi likes older men?"

Jiro grimaced, "Mineta, no one was talking to you."

"It's an inside joke," Katsumi said, trying to do damage control as she glared up at a giggling Mina.

"What sort of inside joke is that?"

Cementoss was building a stage in the middle of the arena, and it didn't take long for him to be done. Good, Katsumi couldn't wait for these idiots to shut up and watch the match.

Izuku didn't come back to the stalls, Katsumi should have guessed that she supposed. She had wished him luck, but it didn't really feel like enough. Oh well, there was no time now.

Ojiro, however, did come back, and Katsumi waved him over as he did so.

"What were you talking with Izuku about?" She asked as he took a seat next to her.

Ojiro frowned and looked at the arena, "The guy he is fighting, his quirk, I believe he can brainwash people if they answer one of his questions."

"Oh?"

Jiro raised her eyebrows. "Scary."

"But I've warned him now," Ojiro said, "so it should be fine. All Midoriya has to do is keep quiet."

"Well, that won't be hard for him at all," Katsumi chuckled. Despite how much he rambled, if he knew the guy's quirk, he would keep his mouth shut.

"It's time for the real battles to begin!" The screaming voice of their English teacher roared over the speakers. "Can you feel the excitement!?"

Present Mic was a real hype man; the crowd's cheers were deafening.

"Our competitors were on their own now! Sometimes heroes only have themselves to rely on. Heart, skill, strength, wisdom, courage, they'll have to use all these things to rise to the top!"

Some people were severely lacking in some of those things. Judging by Katsumi's own bets for the winners, the only thing needed was skill and strength. Or maybe she'd be proven wrong. She wouldn't mind being proven wrong.

The fire that roared out of the corners of the stage was a bit surprising. UA really liked its theatrics, huh? Katsumi ignored the big screen with Present Mic's face on as he welcomed the first fighters to watch the entrances to the arena carefully, wondering which on Izuku would come out of. She regretted not going and wished him luck properly now.

"Woah- he looks kinda scared in that picture, doesn't he? It's Izuku Midoriya from the hero course!"

Okay, that made Katsumi look up at the screen. A giggle escaped her lips at the sight of a stiff-shouldered Izuku with his eyes wide. The giggle disappeared when she realised that they had never actually posed for photos. What the hell was her picture like?

"Verses, Hitoshi Shinso from general studies, who really hasn't done anything to stand out yet!"

Wow, what an intro.

"The rules are simple: immobile your opponent or force them out of the ring! You can also win by getting the other person to cry uncle!"

Izuku and Shinso stood a couple of meters apart from one another, Ms Midnight situated on one side of the stage on her own platform.

"Bring on the injuries because we have our very on recovery girl waiting on standby. So, put your morals aside and don't be afraid to play dirty! But of course no life threatening crap folks, it's not allowed. Real heroes use their power-"

"Oh my god," Katsumi groaned, "does he ever stop talking?"

Jiro chuckled, "You not used to it by now?"

"I'll stop anyone that tries to get too rough." Cementoss added.

"Ready? Fight!"

First match of the day. Exciting.

Really, it should be over quickly. It would be, as long as Izuku doesn't open his mouth. Yet, despite feeling confident that the contestant she was hoping to win would succeed easily, Katsumi found herself holding her breath as Izuku ran towards Shinso and-

Froze.

"Ugh!" Ojiro leapt up, grabbing his head in frustration, "I warned him not to say anything!"

"He-!" Katsumi blurted out, her brow flying up. He hadn't even realised what had happened, had he said something? Seriously? Seriously Izuku?

"Hey hey? Whats the dealo? This is the first match, it should start out with a bang!"

Katsumi saw Uraraka and Iida stand up as well, trying to get a better look as Izuku stood still in the middle of the stage.

"So what, he said something and now that Shinso can control him?" Katsumi questioned Ojiro, hitting his arm a little too aggressively to get his attention.

"Well- yes. I guess so." Ojiro grimaced, collapsing into his chair, "Damnit, Midoriya!"

"There's no way to break it?"

"I think if you come in contact with something- but that won't happen in that arena, will it?"

"...Fuck."

Well, it seemed that Todoroki wasn't getting his epic Shounen battle after all. Katsumi sat back in her chair. What else could she do? In and out, she took slow, deep breaths as Izuku turned around and began to slowly walk out of the arena.

"No Deku what are you doing!"

"He can't walk out of the ring! He'll lose the match-!"

"No shit!" Katsumi snapped.

She wondered what the hell Shinso said had to him to make him open his mouth. This event meant so much to him, she hoped at least he wasn't conscious of what he was doing right now. The helpless feeling of not being able to move while being completely aware was something she could empathise with. Damnit, this sucked. This really sucked. Izuku was going to beat himself up over this for the rest of forever. Yeah, there was 'next year' but… Izuku wanted to win. Or at least, not lose like this!

There was this horrible lump in her chest as she watched him get closer and closer to the edge of the arena. God, Katsumi wouldn't feel nearly as much sympathy for anyone else, she was sure of that.

She had to avert her eyes as Izuku's feet reached the edge of the stage-

WOOSH.

"Huh?"

"What's this? Midoriya stopped just in time!"

He used One For All, that had to be it, only that could have made such a disturbance in the air. How though? Oh well, did it matter? He was moving again.

There was a loud cheer from the crowd, and Katsumi found herself grinning ear to ear.

"Hoo, that just about killed me." Sitting back down, Ojiro smiled, relief washing over his face.

"All he's gotta do now is keep his mouth shut."

When Katsumi saw Izuku cover his mouth with his hand, she snorted loudly. At least he was learning, that idiot.

There was a bit of a squabble before Izuku threw Shinso over the line, but he did throw him out, and so he won.

Katsumi leapt up, cheering.

"Izuku!"

Katsumi was still grinning as she burst into Recovery Girl's office, the door slamming open.

"Katsumi!" Her dad scolded, standing up from where he had been leaning against the desk. "Don't do that!"

"Sorry!" Katsumi said as her gaze locked onto Izuku sat down in front of Recovery Girl. She ran over to his side, tightly wrapping her arms around his shoulders.

She whispered in his ear, "Not really lol."

Izuku went stiff.

"Oh dear, you're going to give the poor boy a heart attack," Recovery Girl laughed, shaking her head as she put the bandages she had been using on Izuku away.

"Heheh," Katsumi grinned. Her Dad stared at her and raised an eyebrow. Katsumi's grin faltered as she removed her arms from around Izuku, her face going pink.

"Anyway-" Katsumi coughed. "Well done! You won your first battle!"

"Really?" Izuku's face scrunching up as he stared at his bandaged hand.

"Uh, yeah? I mean you did win, not before royally fucking up though."

Toshinori groaned, "Katsumi!"

"Wow," Recovery Girl looked to Toshinori, "this one's got quite the vocabulary."

"Thank you Ma'am."

"No, you're right," staring at his hand, Izuku sighed. "It wasn't the best match I could have had."

"Well-" Katsumi bit her lip, the expression on Izuku's face was a bit too downcast for her liking. "It could have been worse. I say breaking free from a mind control quirk was pre-tey impressive."

Izuku looked up at her, a soft smile on his lips, "Thank you Katsumi."

"...No problem."

"Oh yeah- that reminds me!" Izuku turned to Katsumi's dad. "All Might, I had some kinda vision during the match."

"A vision?"

"There were… people, maybe eight or nine of them. I'm not sure. When I was under Shinso's control, it felt like my brain was full of fog or something. But, when the vision appeared, it completely drove the fog away. That's when I was finally able to move-"

Visions of people? That had to be One For All related.

"One of the figures had eyes just like yours All Might. Do you think that all the people who have used One For All in the past were there pushing me on, like spirits?"

Katsumi looked from Izuku to her dad, who stared wide-eyed at the boy.

"Spooky! I'm a ghost?"

Katsumi snorted.

"I thought you'd have answers!" Izuku apologised, shocked at Toshinori's fright.

"Actually-" her dad cleared his throat, "I saw something like that too, in my younger days. It's a clear sign that your getting closer to making One For All your own."

"Whoop! Maybe you'll stop breaking your bones soon!" Katsumi said, scruffing up Izuku's hair, much to his embarrassment.

"So what is this vision then?" She asked her dad.

"I believe it's a trace of the previous users' spirits that is left behind in One For All when it is passed down. Don't worry, Midoriya. It won't interfere with you or your progress in the future. In other words, that vision wasn't what got rid of the brainwashing; regardless of what you saw out there, it was your passion that allowed you to overcome Shinso's quirk."

"Man, that explanation is so not satisfying."

"I agree."

"Forget about it! More importantly, shouldn't you be worried about who you're fighting next."

"Ew," Katsumi muttered under her breath.

"You too Katsumi! Get out of here, both of you."

"Yeah yeah!"

Toshinori watched them both leave, shutting the door behind them. He couldn't help but smile. He never got to experience that sort of young love. No, his one relationship was the total opposite of their sweet friendship. Thinking of that-

"Shit!" He slapped his forehead, "I forgot to tell her about her mother!"

Recovery Girl looked up at him, "Do you think that's wise? Shouldn't you wait till after the festival? You wouldn't want to distract her, would you?"

"Oh, yeah, you're right," Toshinori sighed, he wondered how long Asami would be staying in Japan. She said she had a place to stay, but he hadn't actually asked how long she'd be here, and of course, she didn't bother telling him herself.

"I should probably get back to her."

"Good luck."

"Thanks."

/

Coming back to the stalls and seeing the arena full of ice was not exactly what Katsumi had expected.

"Good luck when it's your turn to fight him Izuku."

Izuku stared off at the arena, his eyes glazed.

"Yeah…"

He was thinking about what Todoroki told him, huh? He was too sympathetic.

"...Don't worry, you were passionate enough about winning to break though brainwashing, I'm sure it's enough to defeat that asshole."

Turning to her Izuku gave Katsumi a quizzical look, "Asshole?"

"I really don't like him," Katsumi deadpanned.

"Well- that's-"

"Oh- also that's not to say if you lose it's because you're not trying hard enough- he is just stronger than you."

"Yeah," Izuku stammered, before sighing, "well I know that."

Wow, well done, Katsumi. She laughed, at herself really. It was a bitter laugh, but it's self-deprecation would be easy to miss.

"I'm great at hyping people up, aren't I?"

"You're not bad."

"Hehe."

Katsumi tapped her fingers on her knee. She really should be going.

"Right!" Katsumi jumped up, "Imma go get ready for my fight."

"Oh, right!" Izuku seemed to snap out of it, giving Katsumi a big smile. "Good luck! I can't wait to see you fight!"

Even if she wanted to, Katsumi wouldn't have been able to stop the goofy grin that grew on her face.

"Katsumiii!" Mina shouted after her. Katsumi turned to see her, Hagakure, Momo and Jiro waving at her.

"Good luck!"

"Don't beat Kaminari up too much!"

"Yeah, Todoroki's already gone overboard- we don't need you to as well."

"I'll try!"

The ice took a while to clear, and Katsumi sat alone in the waiting room till then. She had ran into Kaminari on the way, who acted just as cocky as she expected him to. Now, finally, after what felt like so much time waiting, she was gonna get a real fight. She was getting kinda excited as she made her way to the arena entrance.

"Katsumi!"

The sight of her dad barreling towards he as she walked down the dark tunnel to the entrance gave her a bit of a shock. Seemed he had been waiting for her.

"Oh, hi."

"Oh, hi? Come on! Let's see some enthusiasm!" He pumped his fists, laughing in his over-the-top manner.

"Woo!" Katsumi cheered half-heartedly.

Her dad put his hand on his head.

"How pathetic!"

"Should you really be wasting your All Might time for this Dad?"

"Uh- well-" He hesitated a moment before deflating. "Yeah, you're right."

"I know."

Her dad rolled his eyes.

"Uh- excuse me?"

"Come on- we don't have much time," Toshinori interrupted. "Now, I don't doubt you'll do well, you've done fantastically so far! But-"

"Don't let my guard down?"

He grinned, "Exactly! You want to finish a battle as quick and clean as possible! Try and show off sure- you don't know who's watching- but make sure you win above all!"

"I understand," Katsumi nodded. "It's not this fight I'm all that worried about though-"

"Yes but, I believe Yamada- uh, Present Mic will be subtly revealing, well, y'know…"

Katsumi pursed her lips, "Yeah, I know."

Her dad sheepishly grinned, "So just don't let that put you off your game! Ignore the crowd, and focus on the fight!"

"That's great advice Dad," Katsumi said, raising her eyebrows, "is that how you won all three of your festivals?"

"Exactly!" Her dad gave her a thumbs up, "That and wearing a smile!"

Katsumi laughed.

"Well, then, good luck!"

He may be a bit of an idiot, but thanks to her dad's over-the-top enthusiasm, Katsumi did walk out with a smile on her face.

"Welcome back to the finals, everyone! Sorry for the long wait! The insane amount of ice from the second match has finally been cleared, so it's time to welcome new competitors!"

"The boy with the electric personality, a hero in the making, Denki Kaminari! And who is he facing? None other than the relentless brawler with a quirk only limited by imagination! Oh- and who just so happens to be the daughter of none other than our number one hero, Katsumi Yagi!"

The length of descriptions didn't sound all that equal, at all. God, this was kinda embarrassing.

The cheer was deafening. Katsumi avoided looking, like she had been doing so far through the festival. Instead she quickly took a glance at the screen to see her own photo. She was grinning, one hand on her hip as she looked to the side. Seriously, when was that taken? At least she didn't look bad.

"Keep those eyes peeled, I wanna see a super flashy battle this time!"

Was the giant wall of ice not flashy enough? Oh- was he just saying that for a pun about Kaminari's quirk?

"I would say I feel bad beating up a girl," Kaminari smirked, "but I know I can't hold back on you, Ms All Might junior."

Katsumi's eyebrows raised as she brought her attention to the human electrical outlet in front of her.

"Ready?" Present Mic's voice rang over the speakers.

"Who my Dad is has no bearing on the humiliation you're about to go through."

"You sure?" Kaminari laughed, "Sorry, but this will be over in two seconds!"

"Fight!"

"Indiscriminate shock-"

Katsumi knelt down and held her arms crossed in front of her face. Before Kaminari managed to charge up and shoot out his electricity, wood spouted from Katsumi's skin, branches twisting and knotting together to create a shield.

The electricity shot past her. Of course, he would use his strongest attack first. In a minute, he would wear himself out, fry his brain, then all she'd have to do was throw him out of the ring without getting electrocuted.

It was a little disappointing, really, how easy he was. It was like fighting a level 1 Pikachu with a Groudon. The crowd cheered as she kicked him off the stage, literally. She created a wooden shell over her leg and roundhouse kicked him off. He lay on the ground, completely out of it and drooling.

"Kaminari is out! Katsumi Yagi advances to the next round!"

"I can't believe you kicked me so hard! My back still hurts!"

Katsumi had waited for Kaminari to come out of Recovery Girl's office after the match. He was barely recovered from frying his own brain, but was already complaining about the single kick Katsumi hit him with.

That fight was… too quick. Not nearly as exciting as Katsumi wanted it to be. She was left slightly bummed out as they returned to the stalls.

Jiro rolled her eyes as they approached, "I wish you'd stayed longer in the infirmary."

"Why are you so mean!?"

"Because you sucked!"

"Katsumi! You were awesome!" Izuku got up from his seat, a wide smile on his face, "You too Kaminari."

Too cute. He was like a puppy.

"Ohhh you're so awesome Katsumi," Kaminari mocked under his breath, "you're so cool, I'm totally in love with you."

Katsumi brought her fist down harshly on his head.

"Ouch!"

"What?!" Izuku gasped. "Why you do that?"

"Don't sweat it," Katsumi answered darkly.

"Oh, Katsumi! Midoriya was totally analysing you're moves like a psycho!" Urakaka giggled. Izuku's face went pink.

"N-no! I just-"

"Oh yeah, he does that," Katsumi shrugged. She hadn't even noticed that Uraraka was there.

Katsumi took a seat next to Momo, which just so happened to end up sitting her beside Uraraka. She moved her attention to the fight that had already started, Hatsume versus Iida, it was the one Katsumi wasn't sure how it would go-

"Wait, what the hell is happening?"

Iida was covered head to toe in what Katsumi was able to pretty quickly identify as… Hatsume's support items? He was darting from one side of the arena to the other, but seemingly not by his own will. Hatsume stood in the middle of the stage, her voice amplified by some speaker somewhere so everyone could hear her.

"And this baby has the ability to ensure the wearer-"

Was she… advertising?

"Bhahahaha!"

Katsumi burst into laughter, seeing the uptight, straight-laced class prez desperately trying to overcome the inventions strapped onto him.

"Yeah," Momo winced, "yes, this has been going on for a while."

"Wow," Katsumi grinned.

"She's impressive, isn't she?" Izuku nodded, already writing something in his burnt-up notebook. Katsumi suddenly had a sour taste in her mouth.

"Oh, yeah, totally."

Uraraka was between them, so Katsumi couldn't avoid looking at her as she talked to Izuku. That meant she could pretty clearly see the worried look on her face as she stared half-blankly down at the arena.

Poor girl. Her fight with Bakugou was coming up soon.

Back to the current fight, she wondered if Hatsume was actually planning to win this battle. It seemed she was more worried about showing off her 'babies'. So, she'd probably let Iida win, right? Wouldn't be very fair otherwise.

Iida, that's who she'd be up against next. Then, most likely…

Katsumi glanced at the top left corner of their stalls. Todoroki stared forward, eyebrows knitted, gaze cold.

Well, he wasn't in a good mood.

"I think I should go start getting ready," Uraraka said suddenly, standing up from her seat. Katsumi shuffled back in her seat to give her room to pass.

"Oh, alright," Izuku said.

Uraraka nodded to him before she left.

Katsumi tried to wait there and watch the 'fight' between Iida and Hatsume, well, for a minute or so, but…

"Toilet break," she announced as she stood up.

"Thanks for telling us," Sero shouted from the back.

"No problemo!"

Katsumi caught up to Uraraka quickly. She was just walking down the corridor to the prep room when Katsumi found her.

"Hey!"

Uraraka turned round, eyes wide.

"Katsumi? Hi!"

Katsumi hesitated a moment, scratching her neck. Why the hell had she followed her? It was silent in the empty corridors, and suddenly speaking out loud felt unnatural.

"Uh, just wanted to wish you luck."

Uraraka stared at her a moment before she smiled, "I'm not as much of a match for Bakugou as you are, am I?"

"Well-" Katsumi started, her words catching in her throat.

A part of her was annoyed by the girl's comment; if she trained as much as her, maybe she'd be a match for him. Fuck, she was an asshole.

Katsumi sighed. She'd probably not get the chance to actually fight Bakugou, unless it was in the finals. That was sad for her, but for Uraraka, it would have been a blessing. Even one match before facing him would have been better than the luck she had been dealt.

"Your quirk's incredibly powerful," Katsumi told her. "There's no reason you can't be as strong as me, it's just I think what you just lack- and not just you, the other girls too, is the same combat experience. I've been fighting for years, so I got an advantage. But that's what UA is for! Training, learning, whatnot. So take this as a, uh- Like in a video game where they have you fight the big boss on the first level so you know what you're levelling up to be able to fight." Katsumi blinked; she was just rambling now. "Ah, shit, do you even play videogames?"

Uraraka stared at her, lips parted. Then, she giggled, her already pink cheeks darkening a little.

"No, but, I get what you mean. I won't lie, I didn't think you'd be the type to play them."

"Oh, yeah," Katsumi mumbled, "well, when I get time… Well, anyway, I'm not trying to be patronising by wishing you luck, but I just wanted to, well, yeah."

Smiling, Uraraka nodded, "I appreciate it! Good luck for your next battle, just in case I don't see you before then."

"Yeah," Katsumi nodded back, turning around. "Thanks."

God, how awkward. Katsumi was internally punching herself as she walked back through the corridors to the stalls. She hoped by the time she got back, Iida and Hatsume's match would be over, so she could decide how she'd proceed next.

She still didn't like that girl.