❛ we could live like legends. ❜

☤

I WAS AT the edge of my seat, watching as the first battle started. It was Midoriya and someone I had seen in passing. He wasn't a hero student, or I would've recognized him immediately. I listened to what Present Mic and Aizawa were saying about him.

Brain washing? That's amazing. Midoriya was completely frozen! It was such a powerful quirk, I couldn't believe he wasn't within the hero classes. At the last minute, Midoriya freed himself and won the match. On screen, I could see his finger was busted.

This child will be the death of me. I waited with my equipment ready as Midoriya entered my office.

"Dr. Kataoka. Woah, your hair?" Midoriya said, pointing at it while moving toward a bed. He stared for another second, then smiled. "I like it!"

I put a stethoscope around my neck and grabbed my medical cocktail. It was an extremely sweet gesture for him to say that and it eased my insecurities a little. I added a pulse ox reader to his other hand.

"Why thank you, Midoriya," I said, laughing a little at his compliment. I handed him a cup with my blood in it and he sipped.

"Alright," I said, sighing. "You need to be careful. I know you want to win but your finger is going to be very sensitive."

"Yes, Dr. Kataoka. I'll— I'll try my best," he said, the hesitation in his voice leading me to believe he wouldn't be careful. I took his blood pressure and then All Might burst in.

They began discussing Midoriya's quirk, which was beyond me. I tried not to pay too much attention and not eavesdrop. I started writing his report, but kept it in a tab, because I had a strong feeling he would be back later.

The two left my office still talking with each other and discussing strategy for the upcoming matches. A couple of other students trickled in, but just for bandaids. Then, it was Uraraka vs. Bakugou.

I stood up from my chair, unable to stay seated for this match. All of these students were so powerful. If they didn't have control, they could destroy each other. Especially that Todoroki kid.

Bakugou was extremely aggressive, not relenting on Uraraka. I watched, pacing as she took blow after blow. He's out of control! He's going to seriously injure her! I watched her last ditch effort to win, but it was futile. I covered my mouth watching her try to stand again.

I ran out of my office to meet with the stretcher halfway. I decided an I.V. was the best bet to help her. She was still conscious. I began checked her vitals.

"Hi, Dr. Kataoka— c-can you call m-my dad? Tell him I-I'm okay?" She asked me, blinking slowly. I made sure the I.V. was secure in the hall.

"I won't need to do that, you'll be feeling better soon enough," I reassured as we entered my office. I took gauze soaked in my blood toward the more superficial injuries and started wrapping where I needed to. I was correct, it didn't take her long to perk up.

"Wow! I do feel better already!" She said, smiling brightly at me and hanging her feet off of the bed. She wasn't as injured as I thought, just completely exhausted.

"See, what did I say?" I smiled, filling out her report. Since she lost, I was planning on submitting before I heard some sniffles. I turned around to see her large eyes watering. I scooted over on my chair with some tissues.

"You did so well out there," I said softly, handing her one. She had a hard time making eye contact.

Uraraka took a tissue and sniffled again. I watched as she bit back tears. Nothing I can say will make her feel better.

"I— I'm just hurt is all," she said, trying to brush off her emotions. I patted her shoulder and nodded.

"I understand."

The rest of her time in my office, I tried to talk to her about other things such as her family and how amazing her quirk was. By the time she left, she was happily waving to me. I exhaled, seeing that the next match was Midoriya again I had no time to rest.

Against that Todoroki kid?! I slumped in my chair, trying to organize my equipment but feeling even more nervous than before. The battle started off with a bang, but Midoriya kept enduring.

I leapt to my feet, watching the chaos unfold on screen. I thought this kid only had ice?! He has fire too?! I started going through a treatment plan for both of them, thinking they would just destroy each other. I didn't know what that meant yet, and I would find out later.

Cementoss created a huge wall as I gasped at their battle. I was scrambling to collect items, my heart hammering in my chest. I had already set up two drips and was ready for anything. Then, I felt my feet rock beneath me, the television screen cutting out. Another shock wave?!

When the smoke cleared, there was Todoroki, still standing. Midoriya was down for the count and I put on some gloves, leaving the room in a rush. This time, I really would have to meet them halfway.

I started treating him immediately and I rushed him to my office. He was going in and out of consciousness, speaking gibberish to me every so often. I think he was trying to apologize but I couldn't tell. His blood pressure was low, but it wasn't dangerous. I would have to physically go in and fix his injuries myself.

All Might came in and when he was stabilized, I got to my feet. I pointed a finger at him, anger rising in my throat. "You are pushing him far too hard. He is destroying himself!"

All Might's shoulders slumped, opening his mouth to respond but I put my hand up. "I will not allow this any longer. You must not praise him for this."

"Yes, Doctor," he said with a solemn tone. The anger I felt began to subside. I exhaled and then crossed my arms, actively trying to relax my facial features.

"I know he's just trying to be like you. But it's really hurting him. He's going to become a great hero, he just can't do it from a hospital bed," I said, catching his eyes. Toshinori perked up a little bit and nodded again. I thought for a moment before speaking.

"He cannot use it like you can. He will have to find new ways of using this power or his arms will be unusable."

I could see a lightbulb go off in All Might's head. He was starting to think more intensely and as he was saying thank you, a huge flow of footsteps erupted at my door.

"Dr. Kataoka! Is he going to be okay?!"

"Yeah!"

"That was wicked!"

I tried to use my crowd control training. "I know you're wondering how your friend is doing," I said, kind of waving my hands so they would leave. "And he will be okay, he'll just require some surgery."

"Surgery?!" They all yelled in unison. I recognized Uraraka and Iida, but the others I had met in passing during my presentation.

"Yes, surgery. Once it's over, he'll be able to return to the stands and you'll be able to see him!" I said and they got the message, beginning to walk off. I exhaled, changing my gloves and returning to the room.

As I was washing my hands, I watched All Might and Midoriya speak. The poor kid was almost crying and I tried not to pay attention, not wanting to infringe in the moment. Midoriya is trying to help Todoroki, but why?

Once All Might left their heart to heart, I proceeded with a procedure I had invented several weeks ago. I had some robotic assistants help me with the anesthetic process, but I went in and fixed the wounds with a combination of my quirk and traditional means.

It came out perfectly and would allow him to go about the rest of his day without trouble. I wrapped his wounds and finished the process, typing in how it had gone and the rest of the treatment plan. I ended up calling his mother again.

"Hello, Mrs. Midoriya, this is Dr. Kataoka from U.A. High-school?" I listened to her panicked voice over the receiver. "Your son is just fine."

I outlined a plan for her like last time and tried to quell her worries, but I understood. She revealed to me, even though I already knew, that they never expected him to have a quirk. I did my best to reassure her but I, myself, had the same concerns.

He finally woke up, looking alert and bright eyed. I did a couple of more tests and made sure everything was healing pretty much automatically like I planned.

"Now, Midoriya," I started, lowering my mask. "I am not pleased with this. You blatantly ignored my advice to protect your finger."

He blushed, obviously embarrassed. His eyes began to water a little bit and I felt my heart hang low. "I-I'm sorry, Dr. Kataoka. I— I just wanted to help him and w-win."

"I know, but you cannot keep doing this. There's only so much I can do. You have to learn control," I said, putting a hand on his arm. "You can do it, I know you can!"

With encouraging words, he left my office with a little spring in his step. The other matches were fairly alright but my nerves began to build as I figured out who would be fighting next. It's going to be Todoroki vs. Bakugou.

I was right. As they stood, facing each other in the arena I felt my body tense. I had already cleaned up and I was on my feet again. They were going extremely hard, explosions of fire and ice filling the screen. Then, I watched as Todoroki stopped using fire. He stopped completely! What's happening?! Why is he stopping!

"Bakugou is going to destroy him!" I said out loud, covering my mouth again in shock as I watched.

Todoroki was blasted out of bounds and Bakugou approached him, shaking him as he was unconscious. I prepared again, taking a deep breath. This school is so violent, I can't believe they allow this to happen.

I started treating Todoroki as soon as he arrived at my office, setting up a quick I.V. and starting on his superficial wounds. A man entered my room, casting a huge shadow. I turned around slowly, coming face to face with Endeavor.

"Will my son be alright?" He asked, his face hard and unwavering.

I stared for a second, not really knowing what to say. He stared back, his arms crossed. "Hm?"

"Oh! Oh, yes of course he will," I said, going back to treating wounds. He stalked out of the room without saying anything else and what Midoriya said made sense. He was refusing to use his fire quirk. Did he really hate his father that much?

Todoroki was a quiet kid. After I treated him, I asked some basic questions and encouraged him about his performance. He didn't say much except for a thank you and left. That kid, I'm concerned for him. I hope he's alright. That was a gnarly scar around his eye.

I had met the two successors to two insane legacies. Those poor kids had so much pressure and weight on their shoulders, I couldn't imagine what they felt. Too much pressure for kids. I remembered my dance days, and even though it wasn't the same, even I felt impossible pressure to be the best dancer I could be.

And then there was Bakugou. Funny enough, I saw him on my list of children to counsel. How am I supposed to counsel an actual ticking time bomb?! I had faith though. All of the children had so much potential and I knew we had a bright future ahead.

The rest of the events were for the older children and I saw many of them too. Amajiki had come to see me before his time at the arena.

"Dr. Kataoka?" He had said quietly, looking rather pale. He rested his hand against the doorway and I approached him carefully.

"Hello, Amajiki. Are you alright?" I asked, bending over to try to catch his eyes.

"I— I think I'm going to be sick," he said. "There's so many people."

I walked him inside my office, sitting him down on my bed. I took his temperature and then showed him. "See? Normal."

I smiled as he stared at the wall, aggressively rubbing his arm.

"Just be a hero. Be Suneater today. You don't have to speak to anyone. Just imagine you're fighting villains and this is a strange test to defeat them, okay?"

He nodded as we worked on breathing together. I did a couple of more anxiety easing exercises and he left with a more relaxed demeanor, thanking me. I hated to admit it, but I was biased, I cheered for him the whole time. And he was extremely powerful.

The closing ceremony went well, each student that had found a place on the winner's circle was given a medal by All Might. I packed up my things and began leaving the office.

I was always the last to leave. It took a long time for me to get everything together and clean up. But, I was kind of a neat freak. So, I cleaned everything at least three times.

By the time I got out, it was really late. I crashed into my apartment, barely doing any of my night time routine and fell asleep. My dreams were not about villains, luckily. Instead, my head spun with the futures of all of the students I had witnessed.

Some had already seen evil, others were strong fighters and prepared for anything. I had never been that engrossed in hero culture before yet there I was. I was becoming an integral part of U.A. High school, whether I wanted to realize it or not.

( ;; i know this was a long chapter !! this is just a quick note for those that are still reading — thank you !! things are gonna start to get spicy !! )