Earth, Wind & Fire

Ch-Ch-Ch-Changes

"Catalina-san, are you okay?" Deku asked as I pulled my magenta locks into a high pony.

I let out a long breath before I nod and center myself to fight.

"Offense or defense?" I asked.

Deku squared himself into his stance and then said, "Defense."

I let out a smirk before I raise my hands in the air.

Today, we were practicing fighting without the use of our quirks. Aizawa-sensai warned us about villains using quirks that could cancel out our own.

We circled each other briefly before I struck a carefully placed punch to his shoulder.

When it connected, he let it hit him before stepping back and punching my stomach. I dodged before it could hit me and let my other hand swing to his jaw.

He fell back hard, hitting the ground with a smack.

"Oh, I didn't know we were going all out today," he said meekly, rolling out as I stomped the ground where his stomach used to be.

Sweat beaded at my temple as he kicked his feet out and swept me off my feet. I landed next to him with another loud smack.

He got on top of me, straddling my hips before landing a few blows to my chest. I raised my hips, jerking him upwards before swinging an arm out and knocking him off me. His face hit the ground as I mounted his back and bent his arm behind his back. I leaned forward, my breath fanning his ear before I whispered, "Plus ultra, baby."

"Uncle," he whined as I stretched his arm behind his back.

I rolled off him and stood up, wiping the sweat from my brow. My body still tingled on high alert from a certain blonde-haired boy's ministrations. I needed to get him off my mind. What did that mean? Why him, of all people? Mated to Bakugo would have bothered me more if he hadn't shown me how horrible his mouth really was. It was all I could see when Izuku stepped forward and threw a punch so hard it knocked the wind out of me.

I bent over, trying to catch my breath, when he kicked my legs, knocking me off my feet.

Izuku stood over me, dropping his defenses. "Are you sure you're okay?" he asked, scratching the hair at the back of his neck.

I wiped my brow again before accepting his outstretched hand and pulling myself up. "I'm fine," I ground out.

He refused to look convinced. Why was everyone so worried about my feelings?

I leaped at him, striking out with my palms to his nose before I kneed him in the groin. Then I grabbed the back of his jacket, pushed him to the ground, and straddled him. He grunted, trying to wiggle out of my hold. Then he went still.

"Look, I quit. I won't force you to pay attention if your mind isn't in it."

I sighed, putting my hands to my face. "I'm sorry," I said.

"Is it because of Kacchan?" he asked.

I gasped, "How did you know that?!"

He shrugged with difficulty. His body was still mushed into the ground. Suddenly, I realized how toned his body was despite looking small.

"Mina announced that she saw you heading up the boy's elevator. She's kinda the gossip around here."

"How do you know it was Kach-Bakugo that I was talking to?" I asked.

"He was the only one still upstairs and an early riser. So I just guessed, really."

"Yeah, he accused me of cheating my way into the hero course," I said, slowly getting off him and sitting beside him. I pulled my legs up, wrapped my arms around them, and put my head on my knees.