Katherine Ride: Battlefield *BOOK TWO*

Season Four- Encounter of the Scaly Kind

"Are you kidding me?" Katherine hissed as she walked down the hallway. "You insisted we look for the Black Death together, and now you're abandoning me?"

It was the end of another school day, one in particular that Katherine and Shoto had previously planned to begin their search for the Black Death on. Though she was currently frustrated, she had been thrilled when he suggested they do this together. Unfortunately, an announcement during afternoon homeroom shattered their deal.

"I'm not abandoning you, Katherine. How was I supposed to know my remedial course would be starting this afternoon?" Shoto asked, also mildly irritated by the change in plans.

She huffed, her wings puffing up. "Well, what do we do now? Push it to tomorrow? It's the weekend, so it might be easier."

"We can't. You have training with Kirishima and guitar lessons with Jiro, and I'm studying with Iida and Tokoyami in the afternoon."

"Right. Ugh, it was such a good plan! Why didn't EraserDad say something earlier? Then we wouldn't have this problem."

Shoto glanced at Katherine, her downcast expression making him soften slightly. He wrapped an arm around her waist and pulled her toward him, kissing her on the forehead. "Don't worry, my love. We'll start looking some other time." He pulled away and smiled. "In the meantime, I'm going to catch up with Bakugo so we can discuss training."

"Something tells me you'll be doing most of the talking," she mentioned, brightening slightly. "Alright, have fun, baby."

Katherine kissed him on the cheek and waved as he walked away, smiling softly to herself.

Shoto's so sweet. How did I end up so lucky?

Yeah. Too bad you won't be able to look for the Black Death, though.

And now I'm upset again. Thanks, Nightmare.

Happy to help!

Maybe it's for the best. Let's be honest, trying to insert yourself into a Black Death's territory isn't the best thing to do, especially given what happened last time.

And thank you, voice of reason.

"Hey, Katherine!"

Katherine turned quickly at the sound of her name and saw Midoriya approaching her. Behind him was Mirio, watching from a distance. "Oh, hey, Midoriya. What's up?"

"Guess what? I just talked to All Might and Togata, and I'm planning to start my work-study at Sir Nighteye's agency tomorrow!" he exclaimed.

"Oh, really? Congrats!" she chirped, Midoriya's excitement contagious as ever. "You'll have a great time. Mirio's told me all about Nighteye; he seems like an awesome mentor!"

"Well, I wanted to ask—have you chosen a hero to do your work-study with? I was thinking maybe we could go to Sir Nighteye's agency together!" Midoriya told her. "Togata's offered to introduce us both. Think about it! We'd be able to work on strengthening our quirks under the same Pro!"

Katherine blinked, an apologetic smile forming on her face. "Aw, I appreciate that, Midoriya, I do. But I don't think I'll be participating in the work studies with the way the faculty vote went."

"What? But Mr. Aizawa said we could still do them as long as the agency had a good track record!"

"Yeah, but the majority of the teachers voted in favor of us not partaking in them at all. Plus, my dads are pretty iffy about the work studies in their own right. With what happened over the summer, I kind of want to give them a break from worrying about me. Given the circumstances, I've decided to just stick with trying to improve on my own or with the rest of the class." Katherine reached up and ruffled his hair. "But you go get 'em, tiger! Don't worry about me; show Sir Nighteye what an awesome Number One Hero you'll be!"