It was surprising to be a bit afraid of Midoriya, as he was adorable, kind and easily embarrassed.

That's why Hailey adored him as a friend, he was a genuinely good person.

He still is.

That's why him criticizing Todoroki for not giving this battle his all, by using only half of his quirk and claiming that wouldn't allow him to win this competition.

"So come at me with everything you've got!" Midoriya shouted, clenching his broken hand.

Todoroki charged at Midoriya, but some noticed that his movements were slower.

"He's cold." Hailey realized, "He's getting tired."

Once close enough, Midoriya charged his fist and punched Todoroki right in the stomach, as an opening was created to attack. Todoroki was able to freeze some of Midoriya's arm before he skitted on the ground.

Hailey held her breath as she watched, even though she claimed she was going to the waiting room, she was captivated by the battle. She let out a shaky breath once hearing Midoriya let out a scream of pain, the blood on the ground suddenly more evident to her.

It physically hurt her to watch him get hurt, her first real friend since coming to this school. Her first real friend on her journey to becoming a hero.

Midoriya inspired her in so many ways, he reminded her to have the courage to always fight for her dream.

He was always physically hurt by his quirk when following his dream, yet he still fought to be a hero.

"Midi." Hailey trembled and covered her mouth with her hand. His injuries looked bad and she was filled with worry.

Not only for Midoriya, even though Todoroki persisted to shut her out, she still saw that four-year-old version of him promising to be the best hero once he got his quirk. They had promised to become heroes together. Heroes that could cry with each other. Save people from bad guys. And never lie to each other about anything.

"Hey Rosie, you okay? You should probably sit down." Kirishima asked with concern, making Hailey realize how her hands trembled and her breathing was uneven.

"I-I-"

"I refuse to use my left side!" Todoroki growled at Midoriya.

"It's yours! Your quirk, not his!" Midoriya yelled back at Todoroki, catching Hailey's attention.

'It's what you make of your quirk that makes you a hero! That's what All Might says!'

'The smile on your face when you said that, we didn't exactly understood what it meant back then, but Sho, he's right!' Hailey thought to herself before shouting.

"BE THE HERO YOU PROMISED TO BE, SHO!"

Suddenly, flames erupted from Todoroki's left side. They burned brightly and the heat contrasted the chill that everyone had previously.

A breath escaped Hailey and her body settled as she watched in amazement.

"Thank you, Midi." She whispered, grateful that Midoriya was able to help Todoroki use his flame that he was rejecting for so long.

But with his help, Todoroki unleashed a powerful explosion with the use of both his quirks, pushing against the crowd and creating a dust that covered the field. As that dust settled, Midoriya was revealed to be slammed into the wall, out of bounds and knocked out.

"MIDI!" Hailey gasped as he fell to the ground.

"Todoroki wins! He advances to the third round!" Midnight proclaimed.

"Chocolate milk!" Hailey then exclaimed, making her classmates look at her in sudden confusion. "I need.. chocolate milk." Hailey then left the stands and rushed down to the waiting room.

She used the phrase 'chocolate milk' whenever she needed to get out of social situations that made her uncomfortable. And from her hands that still shook from the 'excitement', she knew her body was stressing out.

"You're fine, you're fine, you're fine, you're fine." Hailey lowly repeated to herself as she shook her arms in hopes of relieving her stress. "You survived a villain attack and you didn't freak out during that, so don't have an attack over this."

"Okay think about good things, good things only!" Hailey sighed and tried to switch her mood, "Luka and Yuri are watching, mom is watching and people will be impressed when I go out there. I am happy, I am happy."

Hailey opened the door to her designated waiting room, only to see Endeavour there with Todoroki.

"Oh, I'm sorry! I can wait-" Hailey 'eeped'.

"Little Roselle, it's been a while." Endeavour greeted her, not in a warm tone. "You remember Shouto from your younger days, right?"

Todoroki looked up at her in surprise but proceeded to glare at her.

The tension in the room increased

"U-Um yeah, I kind of do." Hailey nervously answered.

"You two were rather inseparable, you both wanted to follow in the footsteps of a hero. I'm sure you could tell Shouto about the legacy that your mother is helping you follow." Endeavour's tone was harsh and knowing. "Perhaps it would convince him to-"

"I don't need your damn input!" Todoroki barked and pushed past Hailey.

"Sho- wait!" Hailey followed him down the hall, only to be guard off guard by Todoroki slamming his right hand against the wall in front of her, frost radiating off his palm. Hailey froze, feeling trapped between the wall and her classmate.

"Stop acting like you know me! I don't owe you any type of friendship or whatever it is you want! I refuse to be a pawn in his game, but you persist." Todoroki scowled coldly at Hailey.

Hailey tried to squeak out an apology, but Todoroki interrupted, "The fact that you allow yourself be used disgusts me. Your smile, your offerings, your invitations are all fake so you could slime your way into my head and change my mind. I despise you. Never speak to me again after this. Hope that the teachers put you down in 1-B or kick you down to general studies to make it easier on yourself after I beat you." He seethed.

Her heart felt like it stopped for a moment, tears burned her eyes as she was hurt by Todoroki's words.

He turned and walked away from Hailey, leaving her head filled with chaos from all of the accusations Todoroki had thrown at her.

This situation between the two of them was more complicated than what Hailey initially thought.

"I am sorry for what he said." Endeavour stated as he walked outside of the waiting room, "Would you like me to contact your mother?" He inquired, noticing Hailey's emotional state.

Hailey sniffed, shaking her head and rubbing her tears away. "N-No, I'll be fine. I just.. hoped that he wouldn't be so different..."

"11 years can change a person." Endeavour remarked before turning and leaving Hailey as well.

Taking a moment to calm herself down, Hailey stood up from the wall and decided that she needed a quick fixer-upper.. maybe Midoriya did too.

She had time now while they repaired the field.

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It was easy to locate where Recovery Girl's temporary office was, due to the loud exclamations of some of the Class 1-A students.

Hailey peered in through the open door, "Knock, knock." She smiled, her hands full, each holding a carton of chocolate milk. "Is Mr Double Break His Fingers in here?"

"Hailey?" Midoriya asked, the group of students stepped aside to show that it was indeed her.

"Oh that's what you meant when you shouted 'chocolate milk'." Uraraka noted back to Hailey's sudden behaviour. "I thought it was a codeword for something."

Hailey let out a small chuckle, "Yeah, it's codeword for 'I need chocolate milk'. I always have it when I need to cheer up or reward myself, so I figured I'd give Midi a carton too."

"Well he can't have anything right now, I need to get ready for surgery! Out all you noisy kids!" Recovery Girl scolded.

"Can I stay one more minute please? I promise I'll be quick and he can have the chocolate milk after." Hailey begged the shorter old woman.

Recovery Girl huffed and agreed while she kicked out the other students. Hailey sat on the edge of Midoriya's bed, where she could see his injuries closer up, causing her to frown.

"Did something happen, Hailey?" Midoriya asked, "You look.. discouraged."

Hailey blinked and rubbed her eyes, "Like I said, the chocolate milk is for when I need cheering up. You don't have to worry about me, Midi." She tried to assure him. "I brought you a carton, because I wanted to say thank you, for helping Todoroki. And this is also a sorry for it causing you to get hurt."

"You don't need to feel responsible for that." Midoriya interjected, but Hailey shook her head.

"But you're my friend, someone I care about lots. You did a good thing and I want you to know that no matter what, I'll always support you." Hailey smiled and stood up, "Looks like my minute's up, get rested up so that I don't have to worry about you for the rest of the day, alright?"

A soft smile found its way on Midoriya's face, "Okay, good luck."

"Thanks." Hailey waved and left the room, leaving one of the cartons on the counter.

Part of her felt a lightness once again as the weight of her previous stress lessened.

Now she could go and battle Iida with a clearer mind.

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The time for the next battle was here.

Hailey stood on the field with Iida opposite to her. As the battle began, Hailey charged up three translucent boost wavelengths and Iida charged up his recipro burst before charging at Hailey. She jumped over him and out of the way, using Iida's shoulders to push off of and flip herself around. As she landed on the ground, she kicked the ground in Iida's direction and released three bright wavelengths like she did in her previous match, but Iida used his jet legs to jump to avoid her attack.

Hailey charged up her right wrist and her left foot with another three wavelengths. Once Iida landed, Hailey boosted her leg, to add more power to when she kicked out Iida's legs.

Once he lost balance, Hailey punched Iida in the chest, launching in out of bounds.

"Iida is out of bounds, Roselle goes onto the next round!" Midnight announced.

Instead of feeling excited, Hailey felt a chill of dread run down her spine. Her next opponent would be Todoroki.

She gulped but rushed over to offer Iida a hand up.

"Thank you for doing your best, Iida." She offered a weak smile.

"Same to you, Roselle." Iida accept her hand and was brought to his feet. "Are you alright? You look kind of pale?" He inquired, noticing her expression.

"I-I'm just nervous is all." Hailey lied, rubbing her hands together anxiously. "I'll see you back up with the others." She turned and rushed across the field to the waiting room at which she was assigned to.

The next battles commenced, but Hailey didn't watch anymore, instead, sitting out in a vacant hallway and trying to convince herself that she was alright. Her body violently trembled as her mind only thought of Todoroki's hateful attitude towards her, how their interaction in the hallway reminded her of incidents similar. Only this time, Luka and Yuri weren't there to save or comfort her.

"You're fine, you're fine, you're fine, you're fine. He's not here, he isn't here." She murmured to herself, her hands pressed her face as if she were praying.

"Hailey, are you okay?" A familiar voice asked as her eyes welled with tears.

"M-Midi-" Hailey glanced up to see him all bandaged up. "Y-You're out of surgery, did it go well?" She asked, changing the focus from her.

"It did, but you didn't answer my question." Midoriya repeated.

Hailey took in a long breath of air, "I'll be okay, just... overthinking. It might be my third quirk, I'm really good at it." She weakly laughed at her attempt to lighten the mood with a joke.

Midoriya's sympathetic stare proved that he wasn't leaving until she told him what was wrong.

"I messed up, Midi. I'm not able to reach Sho.. Todoroki like you did. I thought that he would remember when we were younger and the best of friends.. but.. I've been selfish in expecting him not to change in 11 years." Hailey confessed, wiping tears that welled up in her eyes. "Now he hates me, like really hates my guts and I don't know what I've been doing wrong."

Midoriya was taken back, at first because he this was the first time he had seen through Hailey's front and saw her sadness, but also at her complicated relationship with Todoroki. He knew that she constantly tried her efforts to get the two of them on better terms, the method partially worked on Bakugou of all people, but Todoroki was insistent of giving her the cold shoulder.

"You're doing all that you can, Hailey. You've been sweet, you've been generous and you've been kind. I don't know what's going on in Todoroki's mind, but if he can't see how honest you are, then maybe it's his fault for not understanding." Midoriya suggested, trying to cheer her up.

Hailey stared at her friend as she considered his words.

Midoriya was right.

Her methods of being nice weren't working and Todoroki was the one making things way too personal now.

"You're-You're right, Midi." Hailey wiped her eyes and stood up to her feet. "I can't change how Todoroki feels about me, but he's got no excuse to treat me like crap for no reason."

Midoriya nodded, "Right."

"You want to know what the messed up part about this whole this is?" Hailey inquired, "Is that if I'm not sad, I'm going to turn mad, and anger isn't an emotion I can deal with well."

"What do you mean by that, Hailey?" Midoriya asked.

Hailey took in another breath, "Things never go well, is what I learned, so hopefully, I can control myself and beat him."