Training

After morning classes, everyone used different facilities in U.A. to train on their Quirks. Mika and Koji entered the gymnasium in their gym uniforms. Mika looked around and saw Mezo lifting weights with his dupli-arms.

Mika looked at the fighting mats, "These will do..." she said lowly as she walked towards a fighting mat and began stretching. Koji followed Mika and did the same thing, "Just so you know, I'm very serious about my hand-to-hand combat training." she said.

Mika finished stretching and turned to Koji, "Are you ready for this?" she asked; he was nervous but nodded. Mika smiled a bit, "Good." she said, "Now then... I want you to hit me."

Koji panicked and quickly shook his head, making Mika sigh, "Don't worry, I can take a hit." she said as she made a fighting stance, "Now, come at me." Koji was shaking, but he nodded; he closed his eyes and sprinted towards Mika.

Koji went for a right hook, but Mika dodged it; he threw more punches nonstop. As Mika kept dodging, she noticed Koji's eyes were still closed; as he did his last punch, she dodged it. Mika grabbed Koji's right arm and flipped him on his back, making him hit the mat hard.

Koji looked like he was seeing stars over his head. Mika sighed, "I hate to say it... but your kindness is getting the best of you." she said as she helped Koji off the ground. Koji turned to Mika and got worried, "*What do you mean?*" he signed.

Mika looked at Koji, "When you were flailing at me, you had your eyes closed." she said, "I get it, we're friends and you don't want to hurt anyone that's close to you. But... what if someone that's close to you turns out to be a villain?"

Koji didn't think about it and looked at the ground. Mika sighed, "However, in this case, our classmates are competition." she continued, making Koji look at her, "A hard pill to swallow, but it's the truth; even you and I would have to face each other at some point."

Mika held her clenched fist out to Koji, "When it comes to hand-to-hand combat, you face your opponents head on and not hesitate when attacking... like a true gladiator with no weapons fighting for honor." she said.

Koji looked away as he processed Mika's words and took a deep breath. When Koji exhaled, he looked at Mika with determination; she smiled as she walked towards her side of the mat.

Mika turned to Koji, "Let's try this again." she said as she made a fighting stance, "Show me what you're really made of." Koji nodded as he closed his eyes; he took a deep breath and exhaled.

When Koji opened his eyes, he charged towards Mika; he went for a right hook, but she blocked it with her left arm. As Mika went for a right hook, Koji backed up towards the center of the mat; she charged towards him and sent him a barrage of punches.

Koji dodged some of them, but he got hit by the others. Koji made a fist with his left hand and punched Mika in the stomach, making her move back.

Mika charged towards Koji and tried kicking his face; he dodged it, but he started losing his balance. When Mika saw the opportunity, she wrapped Koji's leg with her leg and pushed him, making him hit the mat hard again.

Mika was out of breath; she looked at Koji and held her hand out to him. Koji looked at Mika; as he reached his hand out, he grabbed her lower arm and flipped her on her back, making her hit the mat hard.

They were on the ground and out of breath; Mika turned to Koji, "Caught me... off guard... that's smart." she said with a wry smile. Koji blushed a bit and smiled, "That was impressive." they looked up and saw Mezo with water bottles and towels in his hands.

They got up with Mezo's help, "How long... have you... been there?" Mika asked. Mezo handed them the water bottles and towels, "Long enough to see the entire thing." he said, "That was cool, it almost looked like you two were in the tournament of the sports fest."

Mika finished drinking from her water bottle and smiled, "Thanks Shoji." she said. Koji finished wiping his face with the towel; he turned to Mika, "*How did I do?*" he signed.

Mika turned to Koji with the towel wrapped around her neck, "Well... there are things that we definitely need to work on." she said, "But all in all, you did pretty good."

Koji blushed a lot and smiled, "For now, we'll work on parts of your combat you're weak on, but we don't have to rush things." Mika continued, "We only have two weeks before the sports fest." Koji nodded as they continued combat training.

(Time Skip)

The day before the sports fest, both Mika and Koji trained hard on hand-to-hand combat and their Quirks. Today, they trained on their Quirks in the forest.

Mika was in her tiger hybrid, testing her power and skills on the trees. Koji sat on the ground and watched Mika's training with the comfort of small animals.

When Mika finished her Quirk training, she sat next to Koji for a brief break; he looked at her tiger ears for a bit. Koji looked at Mika, "Hey Lyoko, I have a question... about your Quirk." he said; she turned to him, "What is it?" she asked.

Koji looked at Mika's tiger ears and tail, "When you transform into hybrid animals or complete animals, does it hurt you?" he asked. Mika tilted her head, "What do you mean?" she asked.

Koji scratched the back of his head, "Well... I know that some animals have unique bone structures like birds and reptiles, and other creatures don't have bones at all. So-" Mika moved her tail in front of his mouth, making him stop.

Mika moved her tail away from Koji's mouth, "Say no more, I get your question now." she said. Mika looked at the sky, "When my Quirk manifested, it... hurt me a bit when I transformed into either form or if I was using a trait." she continued.

Mika looked at her hand, "But when I got older... the pain was gone." she said, "I don't know if it's because I've grown used to the pain or from something else, but I don't feel it anymore."

Mika saw her hand and other parts of her body turn back to normal. Koji panicked a bit, but they turned their heads and saw Mr. Aizawa with the jacket of a gym uniform over his casts.

They stood up, "Is something wrong, Sensei?" Mika asked. Mr. Aizawa stared at Mika, "Apparently... we've made a mistake to your gym uniform, Lyoko." he said.

Mika was confused, "What do you mean, sir?" she asked. Mr. Aizawa held the jacket out to Mika, "Your gym uniform is supposed to have holes on the back for your Quirk." he said.

Mika took the jacket off of Mr. Aizawa's cast and looked at the back. They saw holes on the back of the jacket, "Are you wearing a tank top with holes on the back under your uniform?" he asked.

Mika nodded, "Yes sir." she said; Mr. Aizawa nodded, "Good... switch jackets and give your old one to me." he said. Mika nodded as she took her old jacket off; she put the new one on and placed the old one on Mr. Aizawa's cast.

Mr. Aizawa nodded, "Now activate a wing trait." he said. Mika nodded as hawk wings came out of her back. Mr. Aizawa nodded, "Turn to your side." he said, "I need to see if the holes line with your wings."

Mika nodded and turned to her side; Mr. Aizawa examined her jacket and nodded, "Now you two keep on training; tomorrow is the big event." he said as he walked away.

They looked at Mr. Aizawa, "Yes sir!" they shouted until he was out of their sight; Mika deactivated her hawk wings, "I'm gonna train on my animal traits." she said. Koji nodded as they continued their Quirk training.

(Time Skip)

Back in class, Mika held a stack of papers in her hands, "Alright..." she said lowly. Mika looked at the others, "Listen up, everybody." she said.

They looked at Mika, "As Class 1-A's secretary, Iida has given me the task to handle the forms for Support Items Requisition." she continued, "If you're wanting your support items for the sports fest, then please fill out this paper."

A few students got up and took a paper; Mika took a form as well to fill it out for the Normalizer, "What's this for anyway, Lyoko?" Eijiro asked.

As Mika finished filling out her form, she looked at Eijiro, "Apparently, students in the hero course have to fill this paper to use their support items." she said, "However, students in general studies or the support course can use their support items as long as they made them."

Eijiro nodded, "Do they allow the use of hero costumes?" he asked. Mika shook her head, "Students must wear their gym uniforms." she said.

As their conversation finished, some of them handed their forms back. Mika sorted the papers and handed them to Tenya, "Here you go, class rep." she said.

Tenya nodded and took the papers, "Thank you, Lyoko." he said, "I'll give these to Sensei immediately." Mika nodded and returned to her seat, "I hope my support item gets accepted." she said.

Fumikage looked at Mika, "What happens if your support item doesn't get accepted?" he asked. Mika scratched her hand, "Well... if it doesn't get accepted, then I would have to rely on my animal traits." she said, "And if I plan on transforming into a hybrid, I can't turn back."

Izuku got his personal notebook and pencil out and turned to Mika, "Really?" he asked. Mika nodded, "Whenever I use my Quirk, it doesn't just change my appearance." she said, "It also changes my bone structure and DNA too."

Mika rubbed the back of her neck, "If I didn't have the collar during the fight against Todoroki, well... Sensei would scold me for lying to him and use his Quirk on me so I can turn back to normal." she continued.

Izuku finished writing his notes and looked at Mika, "Fight? Against Todoroki?" he asked. "That's right, he wasn't there when you were fighting." Rikido said.

Mika nodded, "Remember combat training with All Might, when you and Ochaco were against Bakugo and Iida?" she asked. Izuku remembered the fight and nodded, "I went up against Todoroki, and won." Mika said; he was shocked, "What! Really!" he shouted.

"That's right." the group turned to Shoto; he looked at Mika, "However... that plan won't help you this time." he said, "I don't plan on losing." Mika was scared on the inside, but she nodded, "Nor will I." she said. Shoto nodded and stared at Izuku, making him panic a bit.

Mika sighed and looked at Shoto, *He'll be a tough opponent along with Bakugo and the others.* she thought. Mika clenched on her fists, *But, I have to find their weaknesses quickly.* she thought as she looked away.

(Time Skip)

During the walk, Mika was in thought, "Something wrong?" Koji asked. Mika shook her head, "It's nothing much... just thinking about some things." she said. Koji looked at Mika, "Is it about the sports fest?" he asked.

Mika nodded, "I know I said that we have to think of our classmates as competition, but it's hard for me to accept it because I grew close with some of them." she said.

Koji rubbed his arm and nodded, "Yeah..." he said, "Hey Lyoko, I've been wanting to ask you something. Well... not ask, more of a promise."

Mika looked at Koji, "A promise?" she asked; he nodded, "Promise me when we face against each other... you don't hold back." he said. Mika was surprised and tilted her head, "Where is this coming from?" she asked; Koji stopped walking, making her stop.

Koji turned to Mika, "When you saved me in the entrance exam, I admired your abilities." he said, "And during combat training, I was amazed even more. It's why I wanted to learn more about hand-to-hand combat in the first place."

Mika got worried and looked away, "Koda..." she said. "I'm not jealous of you." Koji said, making Mika look back at him, "I just want to prove to myself that I can do things on my own. I want to prove to myself that I can be a great hero and be just as good or better than you are."

Mika looked forward and thought about it. Mika sighed and ruffled her hair, "Alright... I promise that I won't hold back when we face each other." she said; Koji held his pinky out to her and smiled.

Mika smiled and wrapped her pinky around Koji's pinky, "Try not to lose before our fight, Koda." she said. Koji giggled a bit, "Same to you too, Lyoko." he said. They giggled a bit before they let go and continued walking to the train station.