The training ground's climbing wall towered above Ochaco as she attached the last safety line, pulling her UA tracksuit top tighter around herself to ward off the late afternoon breeze. She suppressed a shiver, more from the nervous excitement surging through her body than the cold, and focused on the wall in front of her – the last of the tests she and Deku had faced today.

Taking a deep breath to calm herself she methodically tested each knot to make sure they'd been fastened correctly and, once she was satisfied, waved upwards to signal she was prepared.

Far above her, from the platform on top of the wall, she heard Deku call down. "Are you ready to start?"

"Yeah, ready when you are!" she shouted back.

"Ok, on your marks…"

Ochaco scanned the wall one last time, searching for the easiest way up – the little outcroppings to gain purchase were all awkwardly positioned at irregular intervals.

"Get set…"

Settling on a path that looked slightly less treacherous than the others, she puffed out her cheeks and squatted down on the balls of her feet, waiting intently.

"Go!"

Immediately she sprang into action and dashed over to the edge of the wall, where a mannequin had been positioned. When they'd been talking through ideas for the training last night Deku had made the point that they should try and make the tests as realistic as possible, to best replicate a hero's work. On its own reaching the top of the climbing wall would have been easy for her, since she could just use her zero gravity and float to the platform, but the challenge was to get to the top carrying an unconscious civilian with neck and head injuries, hence the need for the dummy.

That made the climb a lot more complicated. Using her quirk to levitate the dummy was out of the question, as without proper bracing its head would loll around dangerously. Not to mention the risk of it hitting an outcrop of the climbing wall as she floated it up. So that meant she had to climb her way up the old-fashioned way.

Carefully she lifted the mannequin onto her back, tying some rope under its arms and clipping it to her safety line to secure it, and hoisted herself up onto the rocky outcrop. Even in the first few moments Ochaco could tell this test would be harder than she'd first assumed – the dummy was heavy and the handholds were spaced far enough apart that it forced her to stretch for the next one. She hauled her way up, letting her legs take as much of the strain as she could, but with every motion the mannequin on her back was weighing her down. At this rate she was going to run out of stamina by the time she got halfway.

'This isn't working,' she thought to herself, frustration building at the lack of ground she was covering. 'To reach the top quickly I need to use my quirk, but I can't use it on the dummy unless I find some way to support it…'

After a few agonising moments an idea popped into her head. Making a snap decision, she found a sturdy pair of footholds and pressed herself close to the wall, releasing her grip with her hands. This was going to take some improvisation – she wished she'd taken a few extra seconds at the bottom of the wall to plan, rather than grabbing the mannequin and climbing straight away. She could almost hear her parents speaking in her head, chiding her impatience.

Taking care not to jostle the mannequin on her back she unzipped her tracksuit top and removed it. Grasping one end in her teeth to hold it steady, she held the other end in her hands and pulled it tightly around the mannequin's neck, forming a makeshift neck brace – it wasn't perfect, but it would have to do. At the same time she pressed her fingertips against the dummy and activated her quirk.

As the dummy became weightless she pulled on the rope attaching it to her and positioned the human-shaped figure tighter against her back so she wouldn't have to worry about making its 'injuries' any worse. It helped a little, but even weightless the dummy was still cumbersome and its limbs jutted out awkwardly.

Sucking in a gulp of air and trying to ignore the pressure building in her leg muscles, Ochaco clung tightly to the wall and resumed climbing. The exertion was causing her fringe to stick to her forehead with sweat and she was dimly aware of Deku's shouts of support from above, but right now all her attention was on keeping her grip and searching for the next foothold to use as leverage.

She banged her elbow painfully against a jagged edge on the wall and cursed under her breath as she realised she'd come to a dead end – the next handhold was too high for her to reach and she couldn't risk jumping with the mannequin on her back. She tried to visualise the view of the wall from the bottom, when she'd been looking for the best route to the top. Where had she gone wrong?

Calves straining as she held herself in place, she realised her mistake and retreated down a few notches, angry at herself for wasting valuable time. If this was a real injured person this sort of decision making could be the difference between life and death.

Shuffling sideways she finally found the path she'd originally chosen and began to make progress again, trying to ignore the burning of her muscles. Straining with all her might to keep her legs from buckling beneath her, she edged her left foot across to find another ledge and hauled herself up.

How far from the top was she now? It was hard to guess, but she had to be close, right? She didn't dare look up any further than the next handhold in case the sweat from her forehead trickled down and obscured her vision.

"You can do it, Uraraka!" She heard Deku's voice cheering her on but couldn't tell how close he was with her heartbeat pounding in her ears. "You've almost made it! Keep going!"

'Just one more pull,' she thought to herself grimly, her arms aching as she lifted herself up for what felt like the thousandth time. The same thought repeated in her head over and over as she dragged herself up another handhold, and another.

Yet another pull upwards, clinging on with her fingertips. And just when the burning in her arms became an inferno, she felt a strong hand clasp her wrist. She saw Deku's encouraging face and in a last burst of energy scrambled upward, reaching the top and flopping onto the platform like a fish. It wasn't the most dignified arrival, but she was far too tired to care about anything other than the sweet relief of not having to climb another inch.

Gasping for breath she gratefully accepted the water bottle Deku offered her, taking a long and unbelievably welcome swig. "How… did I… do?" she panted.

Deku knelt down alongside her and checked a stopwatch in his hand. "Five minutes and forty-eight seconds," he told her, offering a supportive arm. "That was a good time."

Ochaco managed a tired laugh and with his help got back to her feet, wobbling a little but just about keeping steady. "I got stuck part way up. Stupid of me."

Deku helped her untie the knots keeping the dummy in place on her back. "You still made it up here fast. That was a good idea to use your quirk on the mannequin and keep it on your back to stop it floating away."

"You could tell I was using my quirk from all the way up here?" she asked, startled.

His cheeks went pink. "Umm, it was too far away to see for sure, but the way you were climbing changed part way up. You started moving easier, less jerky motions, so I figured that you must have done something with your quirk to make the difference."

Ochaco took another drink of water, quietly marvelling at his powers of observation. In some ways they were even more impressive than the crazy bursts of physical strength he was capable of.

As she caught her breath Deku pulled on a safety harness and handed her the stopwatch. "I guess it's my turn now?"

She passed him a safety line for him to clip onto the belt around his waist. "Yep. See you back up here soon!"

He carefully stepped over the brink of the platform to abseil down it, the mannequin propped on his back, and gave her a nervous grin as he disappeared over the edge. She tried to ignore the little flutter in her stomach at the warmth of his smile – she'd been so focused on their training that she'd managed to keep her feelings around him in check all of today, but little moments like this were a reminder that they were still unresolved. In a strange way confessing to Tsuyu and Mina yesterday had helped a little – now she felt… not liberated exactly, but less constrained, less like she had to constantly fight to keep her emotions in check. She still hadn't decided if or when she was going to act on them – she felt her face heat up just at the thought – but that was a bridge to cross another time. For now, she had her training to concentrate on.

Inching forward she peered over the platform edge and watched as Deku reached the bottom, wondering how he'd approach the challenge. Raw strength alone wasn't the answer here. She knew he was capable of leaping all the way to the top in a single bound – she vividly remembered how he'd leapt the height of several stories to slam the giant robot back in the entry exam – but he'd ended up ruining his legs so surely that was out of the question. Would he do the climb without using his quirk at all?

Once he was in position she called down to him. "Are you ready?" Seeing him raise his arm in a thumbs up position, she held the stopwatch close. "On your marks… Get set… Go!"

Deku's first action was to kneel down and remove his tracksuit top to secure it around the dummy's neck, just like she'd done – evidently he wouldn't make the same mistake she had of doing it halfway up, though a small voice in the back of her mind insisted that even without prompting he wouldn't have made such an error.

But then Ochaco frowned to herself, puzzled, as Deku didn't secure the dummy against his back, instead hoisting it into an improvised fireman's lift with the mannequin draped over one of his shoulders. It would mean that he'd be able to move his torso more easily, but that he'd need one arm to hold it close to him. Was he going to attempt the climb one handed?

If his choice of hold had been unexpected, what Deku did next absolutely floored her. His body began crackling with sparks and he squatted down, keeping a firm grip on the mannequin. 'No way,' she thought to herself, eyes wide. 'He's not going to…'

"Full Cowl!"

In a blur of motion Deku leapt upward, so fast that she almost missed it. In a single jump he'd leapt about four stories high, reaching almost a third of the way up the wall, whilst cradling the mannequin's head and neck protectively. The whole wall shook slightly from the impact and Ochaco nearly dropped the stopwatch, mouth agape. It wasn't just the height he'd achieved, it was the precision – he'd clearly landed exactly where he'd aimed and he didn't seem to have suffered any of the injuries he used to receive when wielding his quirk.

From his position on the wall Deku began to climb – though climb was almost the wrong word for it. His movements were so agile, swinging a leg up onto the next foothold with his body still cloaked in sparks, and in one continuous motion he arced up his free hand, reaching for a higher ledge. The resemblance to Bakugo was uncanny – he had the exact same explosive power matched with control.

Ochaco watched in stunned silence as Deku surged up the wall with barely a pause. It was incredible, like watching a monkey swooping through the treetops of a rainforest. He even let out a shout of excitement as he soared through the air from one edge of the wall to another.

Finding her voice at last she yelled out encouragement to him and with one final bound he sprung up onto the platform, stumbling a little as he landed.

"Deku, that was amazing!" she cheered, rushing over to help him put down the dummy. "The way you jumped up from the ground, it was like a rocket!"

Deku flushed at the praise. "Ah, it wasn't all that special. I put too much force into that first jump and nearly went overboard – if I hit the wall any harder I probably wouldn't have been able to hold on. I got lucky in the end."

She stared at him in disbelief. "Are you kidding? You were almost flying you made it up here so fast!"

He went even redder but accepted the compliment with a shy smile. "Thanks. So, uh, what was my time?"

Ochaco looked down at the stopwatch in her hands. "You did it in – whoa, two minutes and twelve seconds?!" She gaped at him in astonishment. He hadn't just beaten her score; he'd obliterated it in less than half the time it took her.

"Really, that fast?" Deku asked. To her amazement he only sounded mildly surprised. "Huh. I guess all the training I did in my internship must've paid off."

"Duh, of course it did! Either that or you're part mountain-goat or something!"

Deku almost choked on his water bottle and after Ochaco snorted back laughter the two of them lapsed into a comfortable silence, taking in the view from the top of the wall. The training grounds looked so small below them, but even so the scale of the UA grounds were awe inspiring, stretching out as far as the eye could see. Despite the tiredness of her muscles Ochaco felt privileged to be her. And even if it was just a tiny step, today she had made some progress towards her goal.

Deku stretched his arms above his head, gazing out over the campus from their vantage point. "I think we made some good headway today. I hadn't realised how many areas I could still improve."

"Same here," Ochaco hummed in agreement. "Now that I have a better idea of my weaknesses, I can work harder to fix them."

Deku stifled a smile. "You almost sound like Iida."

She shot him a mock glare. "Hey, you're more like Iida than I am – you started as class president before he took over, remember?"

"I – that didn't mean I was any good at it!" he protested.

She laughed at his reaction and took another swig from her water bottle, enjoying just being in his presence. Although she'd been confident yesterday, at the start of the day she'd been apprehensive about training alongside Deku. She would've hated to look weak in front of him – or even worse, to hold him back from his own training. And there had been a few moments where she'd been fully aware of the power gap between them. Certainly in the tests relying on speed or power he had been formidable; their very first trial of the day had been a punching strength test, with an electronic monitor attached to a punching bag to measure the force, and she'd almost jumped out of her skin when he'd hit the punching bag so hard that the monitor exploded. His horror-stricken expression at already breaking something on the first day of training, despite Mr Aizawa's stony-faced instructions yesterday, had her torn between laughter and sympathy.

However, much to her relief she had mostly managed to hold her own, and to her surprise even managed to outscore him in a couple of the tests. Her zero gravity had helped give her an advantage in the ones involving evasiveness and reconnaissance and it was gratifying to know that she could at least keep up with Deku, despite his incredible power.

But throughout the day there had been a restlessness inside of her. Keeping up with Deku wasn't enough for her. She didn't want to just keep up with Deku; she wanted to prove herself his equal. And in her mind there was only one way to do that, no matter how daunting it seemed – to fight him, one-on-one, and come out on top.

She glanced across at him. This was it – the moment of truth. "I – I think that's enough for a break. We still have one test left."

"Ah, right. The sparring." Deku looked back at her, his eyes hard to read. "You ready?"

She clasped her hands into fists to stop them shaking. "Yeah."

He nodded briefly. "Then let's go."

The two of them descended down the wall, Deku seemingly lost in his own thoughts, and Ochaco could feel the tension mounting inside her gut like a coiled spring. They reached one of the training zones which had a raised podium, similar to the arena from the Sports Festival, and they paused at the edge of the ring.

Ochaco broke the silence, trying to keep her voice steady – panicking now was the last thing she needed. "Are you ok with the rules we talked over yesterday. The first one of us to land outside the boundaries, to be knocked out or to submit loses?"

Deku nodded his assent but looked a little troubled, shifting his weight from one foot to another. "Ok. But, uh, before we start, I – well –"

She looked across at him, surprised by his sudden nervousness. "Is everything ok, Deku?"

Deku tugged at his sleeve, struggling to find the right words. "I just – I wanted to say… after you challenged me to fight with you… I promise I won't hold back!"

She took an involuntary step back at his sudden declaration. "W-Wha–?"

"Last night I don't think I was fair on you. I don't want you to feel like I'm just sparring with you because you want me to do it – I want to challenge you as well!"

"O-Oh." Ochaco's cheeks flushed pink. Deku wanted to face her? Looking at him closer, she could see something in the way he held himself, in his face, in his eyes. It reminded her of the way he had looked at Todoroki in the heat of battle – the competitive spirit that signified a rivalry. "Thanks. That's… that's good to hear. I… I won't hold back either!"

He flashed her a shaky thumbs up. "Good luck, Uraraka."

She offered him an equally shaky grin. "You too, Deku."

Together they stepped forward and took their positions on opposite sides. Taking a deep breath to prepare herself, she thought through her strategy for what felt like the thousandth time. She had started planning yesterday evening; after they'd finished mapping out their training regime together she had gone back to her room, sat at her desk and tried to think of every tiny thing that she had to give her the edge over Deku.

It hadn't been a long list. As she'd stared with increasing anxiety at the few lonely looking bullet points, written in her neat handwriting at the top of the page, she had the horrible sensation that she'd bitten off more than she could chew. Deku had her beat in just about every category: speed, strength, endurance, combat experience. He was versatile, able to fight at a distance or hand-to-hand. Even the terrain was against her – there was nothing on the training grounds they'd agreed to use that she could use her zero gravity on and she knew that Deku wouldn't fall for the same rubble trick she'd attempted against Bakugo. It had seemed like she'd set herself an impossible task and a tiny, cowardly part of her had wanted to throw in the towel before she'd even started.

But she'd shaken her head angrily to banish those negative thoughts before they could take hold and tried to look at where she did have an edge. Formal martial arts training was one – her internship with Gunhead had taught her to grapple with opponents bigger than her and use their momentum against them. Whilst Deku's shoot style kicks were impressive, they were also one of his very few vulnerabilities – she'd heard a few of the UA teachers mention to Deku during training that he tended to overstretch, leaving himself open.

And, secondly, she was used to fighting in midair thanks to her quirk. Deku was incredibly manoeuvrable, but if she could draw him into an aerial fight it would nullify much of the power of his shoot style, since he wouldn't have the ground to kick off from. From there, all she needed to do was use her quirk on him and push him out of the ring. In theory, at very least.

Her thoughts were churning almost as much as her stomach, but she was here, she had a plan and she wasn't backing down. Despite her nerves, she wanted this. She wanted to win so badly that it was a physical ache.

"Ok, on the count of three," Deku answered. He squatted down into a fighting stance. "One…"

Ochaco rocked back on the balls of her feet and settled into her own stance, doing her best to stay limber. "Two…" she called out, a tiny bit proud of the resoluteness of her voice.

They locked eyes and both shouted it at the same time. "Three!"

The second the word had left her lips Ochaco wasted no time, pressing her fingertips together and activating her quirk in readiness to push off with her feet to fly into the air. She was anticipating that Deku wouldn't wait to close in and swing at her with his shoot style, so the quicker she was airborne, the quicker she could get out of range and force him to fight on her terms.

But to her surprise Deku wasn't leaping towards her. Instead green sparks were shimmering around one of his arms, outstretched towards her with his finger and thumb poised as if he was about to flick…

Ochaco realised his intent and her eyes widened. "Release!"

She dropped down and her feet hit the ground – right as Deku yelled, "Smash!"

A blast of air pressure hit her head on, the force almost knocking her off her feet, and she stumbled backwards. She nearly lost her footing and came perilously close to the edge of the ring, but she just barely managed to regain her balance in time.

Her heart beating about a thousand times a second, she let out a relieved sigh. That was much, much too close – if she had been half a second slower at releasing her quirk she would have still been weightless and swatted out of the ring like a fly. She'd spent so much time considering her own plan that she hadn't even considered that Deku might have a countermeasure to her zero gravity. She should've known that he would have something in mind to stop her getting into the air – he was Deku, he always had a plan up his sleeve. Now she needed to think of a new strategy of her own, and quickly.

Looking across at Deku, she could see that he was still in the same stance, finger and thumb poised. It looked like he hadn't done himself any serious damage either; he was wincing a little, but the days when he tore his body apart every time he used his quirk were long behind him and Ochaco felt her resolve strengthen. She knew how much he had improved – now it was her chance to show him her progress.

Deku's finger flicked forward again and another gale-force burst of air came her way, but this time she was ready for it. Hunching her body over as low to the ground as she could, she took the wall of air head on, covering her face with one hand to avoid getting dust in her eyes. Although the attack buffeted her it couldn't knock her back and she smiled tightly. She wasn't going to get caught unaware a second time.

As the wind pressure lessened she began to move cautiously towards Deku, awaiting his next move. To her surprise a third blast of wind hit her and she held her ground, digging her heels into the surface of the arena for extra purchase.

Her eyebrows knitted together as she straightened up slightly, the wind dissipating. It wasn't like Deku to continue with a strategy when it wasn't working. Now that his finger flicks no longer held the element of surprise he must know that he wouldn't back able to knock her out of the ring. Was he trying to keep her at a distance because he saw her quirk as a threat? It sounded ridiculous in her head – Deku, threatened by her? – but he seemed reluctant to let her get any closer and engage in a close range fight. As of right now it was a stalemate and the two of them circled each other warily, eying each other from across the arena and waiting for the other to make the next move.

As the seconds stretched it was Deku that acted first. With another shout of, "Smash!" he fired a fourth shot at her. But this time he had misjudged and directed the air just a fraction too far to her right.

'Now's my chance!' With a nimble sidestep she pivoted left to avoid it. For a split second Deku was caught off guard and Ochaco seized the opportunity, dashing forward. She wasn't going to get a better chance than this to close the distance and use her quirk on him – she had to take advantage and end it right now.

Seeing her closing in, Deku's eyes widened in alarm and he launched forward to meet her head on, aiming a knee strike at her stomach. She blocked it with her palm, hoping to grab it to activate her quirk, but Deku withdrew it quickly in anticipation and didn't let up, jabbing at her repeatedly with a barrage of punches, trying to keep her on the defensive.

It took everything she had to keep up, frantically ducking, weaving and blocking, but somehow she managed. He managed to get a few solid hits on her – a right hook that impacted against her shoulder made her hiss in pain and a particularly fierce kick almost knocked her off the edge of the ring as she tried to catch his leg – but she was competing with him. Her hair was wild and her T-shirt was sticking to her with sweat, but this was exhilarating.

And suddenly Deku sent his right leg arcing towards her in a powerful but overly extended roundhouse kick. Before she could think her instincts kicked in – with a single motion she blocked his leading leg with her forearm, ducked down low and swept his standing leg in a textbook counter. Gunhead would've been proud – she'd lost count of the amount of times he'd made her practice that technique.

Grunting, Deku fell to the ground. Before he could draw his leg back and scramble away from her Ochaco moved, reaching her arm out and brushing her fingertips against his ankle.

"Got you!" she cheered breathlessly. Her quirk activated, Deku floating upwards with a startled yelp and Ochaco felt a surge of elated triumph. She'd done it! Against all the odds she'd managed to find a way to win! Once he had floated outside the boundaries, she could release her quirk and –

"Smash!"

Ochaco's thoughts of victory were cut off as Deku hurtled at her like a human cannonball. Her eyes widened as she realised that he'd fired one of his finger flicks into the air – because his body was weightless it had propelled him in the opposite direction, straight towards her.

She brought her arms up to defend herself but it was too late. His body slammed into her midriff and even though he was weightless the collision knocked the wind out of her, causing her to momentarily lose her focus. Her quirk deactivated and that was all the invitation Deku needed. Whilst she was still reeling he ducked inside her guard and clutched hold of her wrist. Frantically she tried to grab him to reactivate her quirk, but it was too late – with a wordless shout he threw her over his shoulder. The edge of the arena loomed large and before she could even blink she had sailed past it. With a thump she landed, flat on her back and outside the ring.

And just like that it was over. Ochaco lay dazed and panting on the ground, mouth agape in despairing disbelief. In the space of less than five seconds she'd gone from the verge of victory to an overwhelming loss. It was nothing short of crushing – this had been her one shot to prove herself and to come so close, only to lose because of her own lack of focus, was agony.

From behind her she heard Deku's footsteps and wished more than anything she was on her own. She didn't want him to see her like this, defeated, raw and vulnerable. Despite everything she'd still come up short and the inferiority was like hands around her neck, strangling her.

She braved a glance at him and her heart clenched painfully as she saw the expression on his face – he was staring at her with something that was almost wonder. "Wow…" he breathed out, running a hand through his sweat-soaked hair. "That was… wow! How did you learn to fight like that?!"

If anything the awe in his voice made her feel even worse and the hands around her neck tightened. She clenched her jaw and willed herself to smile. "Well, guess you won fair and square…" Her voice faltered and she hated that she couldn't entirely mask the dejection in it.

He laid a concerned hand on her shoulder. "Uraraka, it's ok –"

Something brittle inside her cracked. "No, it's not ok!" she interrupted. She felt bad for raising her voice, but no words of sympathy could lessen the sting of her loss. She'd been able to hide the pain of defeats before, this time was different. This time it was Deku that had beaten her and it felt like it mattered so much more.

He flinched a little at the sound of her voice, but didn't let go. "I'm sorry…"

She swallowed thickly, already regretting her outburst. "No, I'm the one that should be sorry. I… The whole point of this training camp was to push my limits. I promised my family I'd succeed for them, to be the best hero I could be to give them a happy life, but so far, every time I've needed to win, I've not been good enough…" She let out a sigh of frustration and slumped forward.

His grip on her shoulder tightened a fraction. "Does… Does it really mean that much to you? Beating me?"

She nodded. "Yeah. If I'm aiming for the top, that means beating the best. Sometimes I feel like I don't even belong here at UA… Everyone else is stronger, or faster, or tougher, and I'm just… me."

"You're not just you." He sounded bewildered, as if he couldn't understand her way of thinking. "You're the one that made my hero name mean something – without you, I'd never have come this far. You get so hard on yourself, but… you're so determined, it's incredible. You were the one that had the idea for this summer training, not me. Everything you're doing to try and improve… It makes me want to do my best as well, to match you."

Uraraka felt her face heat up and she dropped her gaze, biting her lip. She didn't feel worthy of his praise. "I still lost though," she mumbled. "I was the one the challenged you. It was my only shot and I couldn't win. Nothing can change that…"

Deku sat in silence for a moment, hunched over in thought. "Who says it's your only shot?"

"Huh?" She glanced sidelong at him, confused. "What's that supposed to mean?"

"Well… why can't we have a rematch?"

Her head shot up and she looked at him in disbelief. "A rematch? You mean you –?"

"Sure," he nodded, smiling enthusiastically as he warmed to the idea. "I know we only planned the one fight, but there's still a bit more time before the sun goes down and I really wanna see more of those counters you used. That leg sweep totally got me and it'll help me improve my footwork – which I'll need when I'm fighting more agile opponents – and if I can –" Catching himself as he began rambling he stopped in midflow, embarrassed. "Umm, unless you'd rather not?"

Ochaco didn't think she had ever wanted anything as much as she wanted to hug him in that moment, but just about restrained herself to reaching for the hand on her shoulder and giving it a squeeze. This boy was just – how could he be so thoughtful and sincere and wonderful? "T-Thanks," she whispered, offering him a small but genuine smile. "A rematch sounds… perfect. You always know the right thing to say."

Deku flushed, quickly withdrawing his hand and laughing nervously. "I, uh, I don't know about that… I just wanted to help. So, you ready for round two?"

She flashed him a grin, a newfound wave of confidence surging. "Definitely. And this time, I won't lose!"