Losing was not an option, neither was failure. Hell, 'loss' and 'fail' were never even a part of his vocabulary. They were terms Bakugou had no affiliation with, and he had no intention to acquaint himself anytime soon. He'd always been ahead of the game; his quirk control training started when it developed at the age of four. Physical training following shortly behind. He had no time to distract himself with anything asides from achieving his ultimate goal. And he met every goal with victory.
Not receiving his Provisional License in his first year was just a... test. Yeah, that's it. It was not a loss. It was a test that was enabled him to learn the what kinds of quirks those extras from Shiketsu had. The experience had even taught him a thing or two about how to further exceed his limits. Best of all, it was a chance to learn about IcyHot's weakness and, ultimately, eradicate his existence during their second year Sports Festival.
Hell, even acknowledging Deku had some sort of new strength was a victory for Bakugou. It didn't make him weak. Oh, no, quite the opposite. He found another reason to train until his veins were ready to burst from his arms to ensure absolute defeat on Deku's part. He would never let Deku take the spotlight. That twerp.
Whatever. Not that he posed as a threat. Well, maybe he did, but Bakugou would never - could never - admit that. Because Bakugou Katsuki didn't lose. He couldn't; especially since he was going to be the number one hero. Everyone thus far has been a stepping stone leading up to his throne at the top. But something just didn't sit right with him. It annoyed him immensely, actually. Totally pissed him off, to be specific. It was not a feeling of loss he was experiencing, he already ruled that out. He was flooded with an anger that he was not too familiar with, though, and that was what threw him off.
And Bakugou was a bundle of all sorts of anger. Yeah, he cooled off now that they were in their second year at U.A, but he absolutely still had a short fuse.
"That was great, Uraraka! Let's try it again!"
His brow twitched in annoyance. There was that feeling again that always followed right after hearing that fucker's voice. What was his name? Whatever, it didn't matter. Bakugou shrugged off the feeling and focused on the task at hand. The guy was just another extra he was inevitably going to blast out of existence. He didn't matter.
Until he heard her giggling.
His eyes shifted towards the all too familiar voice, glaring at the duo on the other side of Gym Gamma. He watched as Uraraka high-fived that quaking bastard from Ketsbutsu. He resisted the urge to gag when the idiot shot her a wink along with that filthy smile. Ugh. What was Aizawa thinking. Just because they were familiar with them from the Provisional License Exam last year doesn't mean they can teach them anything. They were defeated. They had nothing to offer. He totally fucked off to do his own thing and left these fuckwits "in charge" of the class.
Uraraka let out a squeak, and somehow Bakugou's glare increased atUraraka and Shindo as he placed his hands on her waist and tossed her weightless body above him. The fucker really seemed to enjoy how her hero costume clung to her every curve. It didn't help that she was exceptionally curvier than the girls in their clas-
"Uh, sorry to interrupt your lil' starefest," Camie's voice brought Bakugou's focus back to her. She stood with one hand on her hip and the other pointing at him accusingly. Right. He was partnered up with this nightmare. She wasn't as bad as half of the other idiots he's had to pair up with, but she was...she was like a female Kirishima. Except much worse.
Bakugou's brow twitched again and he growled. "I wasn't staring."
Uraraka's laugh brought his attention back over to her and that stupid fuck. Camie was suddenly right in front of him, clapping her hands loudly. "If you wanted to, like, be with him instead you coulda bounced, bro."
Bakugou clenched his fist, bringing it up in front of his face, tiny explosions crackling. He opened his mouth to tell her off, but she cut him off.
"-Unless," Without moving, she turned her head to look at Uraraka holding Shindo's hand in attempt to keep him upright while under her quirk's influence. "You were checkin' out that lil cutie with him."
That unusual anger filled Bakugou's chest and he snarled. He could feel his ears getting hot, but that was just because he was pissed off that they were wasting time.
Right?
"I was not staring!" He barked.
Camie laughed, poking his nose. "No worries, lil Bakubro, I dibs as wingman." He swung his arm at her, setting off an explosion. She continued laughing and dodged his attacks. Meanwhile, his anger bubbled like a geyser. "The fuck are you talking about?!" At this point, his outburst had they'd attracted an audience.
Kirishima stood laughing loudly, hands on his hips, with Yoarashi, the rest of class 2-A seemingly unphased by Bakugou's behaviour. The remainder of students from the other schools stared at the scene, exchanging concerned glances. "Nothing to worry about!" Sero smacked the back of one of the students. "At least you didn't get partnered with him!" They seemed to blanch at the statement. On the opposite side of the gym, Uraraka brought a green-faced Shindo back to the floor, releasing her quirk. He dropped right to his knees and heaved over. She smiled sheepishly at him, kneeling down beside him with a hand on his back.
"I told you the side effects weren't pretty." Shindo lifted his head and struggled to bring a smile to his face. "N-no kidding." She rubbed the back of her neck, almost feeling sorry.
"Let's get you something to drink. You'll get dehydrated otherwise." Shindo nodded weakly, bringing himself back to his feet. Stumbling, he grabbed her shoulder. Before she could steady him, a loud explosion went off, followed by a string of curses.
The corners of Uraraka's lips curled. She looked over to Bakugou throwing explosions to the girl from the provisional license exam. Camie, she believed was her name. She wasn't too familiar with her, but she seemed nice enough. Thinking back, she wasn't particularly fond of her at first, what with how she behaved around Deku. It was petty jealousy on her part. She was so caught up in what she thought was a crush, but turned out to be admiration. She wanted to be just like Deku. She wanted to be strong, to be courageous. And, just like everyone else, she was determined to be a great hero.
She glanced over to where Deku was sparring with Todoroki. She had her family to care for and, for a moment, she had her priorities out of whack. It had taken time, but once figuring out that her feelings for Deku had stemmed from admiration, she felt lighter. She no longer felt shy and awkward around him, but rather more confident. Another explosion brought her back to Bakugou's tantrum. She laughed lightly, impressed with how unphased Camie seemed with 'Lord Explosion Murder''s anger.
Bakugou was someone else that Uraraka admired. Ever since the All for One incident, she noticed Bakugou changing. He wasn't lashing out all the time and it seemed to take a bit more to set him off in BakuRage mode. They weren't exactly close, but it wasn't as if they weren't friends to some degree. More so, around him, she felt like she was an equal. Respected. Blergh.
The wretched sound tore her from her thoughts. She scrunched her nose and looked at poor Shindo, still green in the face, hanging off her shoulder.
"Whoops!" Uraraka wrapped her arm around him to actually help support him up. Shindo groaned with every step, making Uraraka feel even worse for not paying attention to him. Every so often, he would pause to raise his hand to his mouth. The feeling would subside, she assumed, when he lowered his hand and let out a sigh. They made it as far as the lockers before he dropped to the floor again to expel the last of his lunch. Uraraka reached into her pocket and pulled out a handkerchief that was in there for this exact reason. She could never be too careful. She bent at the knees, handing it to him apologetically. Having a quirk like his, though, she was surprised at how sick he was.
"Everything okay?" Kaminari called over from his spot against the wall next to the bathrooms, chugging from his water bottle. Mineta followed out close behind already a little too excited seeing Uraraka in such close proximity. Without looking up, Shindo finished wiping his mouth and gave a thumbs up.
"My quirk doesn't exactly make it easy to work with, sorry." Uraraka gave a small bow. "Let me grab you a drink." She pivoted, lightly jogging over to her bag by the back doors of the gym where the girls' lockers are. Mineta squealed with every sway of Uraraka's hips as she retreated. He animatedly smacked Shindo on the back repeatedly.
"You're so lucky! Just...just look at those hips. Her small waist." Drool dripped down to his chin and his fingers twitched in her direction. "The shape of her thighs. Just imagine being the one looking down at her under yo-"
BOOM.
Just as quickly as he appeared, Mineta was blasted into the bathroom door. Kaminari quickly wiped his own drool from his face and stared wide-eyed and terrified. Tiny crackles crawled up Bakugou's extended arm as he readied to let off another big explosion.
"Move outta my fucking way, dirtbag." He looked down to Shindo, who in return was glaring up at him from his position on the floor. "And you stop being so fucking useless."
Kaminari raised his hands defensively, waving them. "I'm innocent, man!" "Tch." Bakugou shoved his hands into his pockets and looked over to Uraraka out of the corner of his eyes. Sighing, he stomped back to where Camie was waiting. She was sporting an all-knowing smirk giving him a thumbs up.
Before Bakugou could flip her off there was another explosion.
This one wasn't him.
The back wall crumbled. Bricks and foundation blowing into the gym, the force of the explosion knocking everyone to the floor. Blue flames licked the walls and filled the room. Sunlight shone in through the gaping hole in the wall. Dust circling the debris parted as the flames rose to the top of the pile of bricks. Dabi emerged from the flames and stood at the top of the heap. He had that trademark shit-eating smile plastered on his face.
"Hello, Bakugou." The staples in his face stretch with every syllable that slid off his tongue.
Instincts screaming, Bakugou threw his hands behind him and used his explosions to propel forwards, letting out a feral growl. He was going to blast that fucker's face off.
As expected, Deku and Todoroki clearly had the same warning signals and immediately sprang into action. From behind Dabi, villains started pouring into the destroyed building. Before he could reach Dabi, another villain threw a small ball, releasing an enormous amount of light. Bakugou squinted his eyes, but it was impossible to see.
"Shit!"
He threw his hands to his front and let off explosions. Even in blindness, there had to be a chance of hitting the target. When the light died down, Bakugou's explosions hadn't hit someone, but rather something.
There were dents in what looked to be a wall of light. Bakugou's eyes widened. 'A forcefield.'
Sunlight reflected off of the invisible wall like glass, taunting Bakugou. He sat himself low, letting out a growl and began throwing explosions at Dabi. But there Dabi stood; untouched. His blue flames still coursing through the gym around the class as they fought off the flood of villains.
"Kacchan!" Deku appeared beside Bakugou at the forcefield with a flash of green light.
"Back off, Deku!" the name leaving his mouth laced with venom and his palms flashing bright orange. "He's mine!"
An earthquake suddenly rumbled throughout the gym. Bakugou dropped his hands down and fired himself upward, but the floor only fell apart on the opposite side of the wall. Dabi lost his balance and fell from the rubble. When the rumbling subsided, he landed back on his feet and his eyes searched wildly for the source.
Black hair swayed in the breeze coming in from outside of the gym. Shindo stood shakily in front of Dabi, slightly hunched over, obviously still recovering from the aftermath of Uraraka's quir-
Uraraka. Bakugou's red eyes darted around the side of the gym where Dabi and Shindo stood. Where could she be? She was just over there. Did she escape? Did she get blown back into the gym by the force of the explosion?
Bakugou's heart sank and anger flared as his eyes landed on bright pink lying among the rubble off to the side. Her costume was ripped along her legs and there was a huge gash in her back. Her back was facing him and her brown hair splayed across the floor, some strands soaking in a small pool of blood.
"U-Uraraka..."
Deku's stuttering voice broke through Bakugou's thoughts. Figures he'd find her at that same moment. Fire boiled in the pit of Bakugou's stomach as he took aim for Dabi's head through the lightscreen. He set off a series of explosions in hopes to break it down.
"Kacchan!" Deku's legs sparked green. "We need to think of a plan!"
"Tch."
He obviously knew that. He obviously knew they needed a way around this thing. He looked back at Uraraka before letting off another huge explosion. It annihilated the floor under the light shield.
"Th-that's it!" His eyes never left Uraraka as he nodded for Deku to continue.
"There's no light under the floor. It didn't pass through a solid object." Deku didn't need to finish that thought. Bakugou knew exactly what needed to be done.
He aimed his glowing hands to the bottom of the shield and began his assault on the floor. Green light flickered across Deku's entire body as he followed suit.
They paused when blue flames and a head of black hair smacked against the wall in front of them, sliding to the floor. Shindo slammed his hand to the floor to activate his quirk, but only a small crack appeared behind him under the shield. Flames consumed him once more before he slumped over, unconscious.
Dabi looked at Bakugou and Deku, satisfied with their struggle. He scratched the back of his head and mumbled. "Better make this quick." He shoved a hand in his pocket and made his way towards Uraraka.
Bakugou stopped his abuse on the screen, uncontrollable anger building up.
"Don't you fucking touch her!" Bakugou barked, pounding on the invisible shield with his fist separating them, firing off explosions with every hit.
Dabi ignored his shouts, reaching down and tangling his fingers in Uraraka's blood soaked hair. He took his other hand out of his pocket and hoisted her up over his shoulder by her waist.
"I'll be taking this." He looked back and smirked at Bakugou before a black warp gate opened before him, stepping through.
One last flick of brilliant green hit the shield and a loud crack rang through the building. Like glass, it shattered to a million pieces, gently falling to the floor.
And just like that, she was gone.
"URARAKA!"