The weekend passed, and classes resumed again on Monday. It felt like the outing to Koburi Pass happened weeks ago. Deku had already set the date to enact the plan tonight. Nobody was absent from attendance, and the conditions, so he said, were favourable.

'Bakugou, let's spar!'

Uraraka approached Katsuki after their practical lesson in Gym Gamma, her disposition ever cheerful and sunny. The field hadn't been cleared yet, but all of the students had exited. He cocked his head to one side and applied a guttural growl to his speech.

'Why? You wanna rematch from the sports festival?'

Uraraka didn't deny it. Her smile waned as she fumbled with her hands, stroking over her fingers slowly. 'It's just, what if I meet the traitor, and we're caught in a fight? I need to keep up what I learned with Gunhead, so I wanna learn with you, and become familiar with your style...'

'Why me?' he leaned in, now that she was speaking so quietly. From bold, she went straight to bashful. He never quite understood her.

'You must think I'm the traitor.' he said.

'N-Never!' she exclaimed, punctuating it with a small gasp. 'I admire how you fight.'

'Then you want to be a coward and emulate me, like that damn nerd.'

'It's nothing like that,'

'You piss me off. If you want to say something, just say it already.' You remind me of Deku, he wanted to say. The same blind admiration that Deku had for him, she had for Deku, so he thought. Or maybe this time it was different.

Uraraka spoke softly, and she could feel her body trembling. 'When I think back on how I did at the sports festival, I noticed there were a lot of things I could have done better. Before the real battle even began, I had already reached my limit. It was unfair. It was frustrating… I honestly, truly, want to have a rematch.'

Her stance shifted, taking off the jacket of the UA uniform to reveal a familiar black tank top. He remembered this from the sports festival — that she used her jacket as a decoy, and he could feel the blood boil under his skin when he recalled how the match went. The jacket was thrown off, and it almost looked like it was affected by her quirk in how it fluttered away so breezelessly.

'Alright. I guess I can't keep you waiting until next year. If you wanna play at that game, I'm ready.' Katsuki bared his teeth in a grin, eager to take on the challenge. He responded in kind, tossing his own jacket aside.

'There won't be any tricks this time!' she said.

'Good. Then that means I won't hold back on you!'

Bakugou made the first move. He created an explosion directly in front of them, creating distance between them immediately. Uraraka now moved with lightness in her body, lacking the urgency that she displayed in their first match, and showed no fear for his explosions.

Judging from the last match, she's most likely to want to create an opening with her quirk. I can't afford to stay on the defensive if she's lost her sense of desperation.

Palms behind him, he shot out like a rocket, expelling a continuous trail of explosive power, and propelled directly towards Uraraka, with horrifying speed and sound that accompanied him.

'DIE!'

Uraraka did not move from her position, but only awaited Bakugou to come towards her, hands held out, the rest of her body relaxed and malleable.

As he rushed towards Uraraka, it was only at the very last second that she revealed her plan. She kept her body low – and dodge-rolled beneath Katsuki. He saw pink palms reaching out for his leg that was stretched out, and reflexively made a micro-adjustment, dodging her touch. He tilted, narrowly changing his course, and made an impromptu landing; skidding on the ground with a trail of dust behind him. He heard the sound of his own, heavy breath, and felt a trickle of sweat at his temple.

She hasn't lost that desperation at all. The difference is just her technique.

'So close!' she panted hard, dusting herself off. She wiped her cheek, but instead of the urgent glare that he saw at the sports festival, it was a determined smile.

'I'm not letting you try that again,' he declared, gritting his teeth in anger. If Uraraka as so much touches him with her quirk, he would be at a disadvantage.

'You're going to have to!' she yelled, wide-mouthed and playful.

He came at her at a different angle, pivoting like a boxer, mobile on his feet. He kept his attack concentrated, never relenting with creating explosions that would deter her from him. He would have to do this by attrition; wear her down like before. Creating as little wind-up as possible, he plunged his fist into the ground, and light appeared underground, before he exploded everything in concentric rings outwards from him. If she didn't move fast enough, she would need a trip to the infirmary afterwards.

Ash grey smoke clouded his vision. He couldn't see where she was at first, and then he looked above. His eyes widened. There was a huge chunk of debris that was suspended above him, and he saw a glimpse of her round face looking. She must have taken care of the surroundings, and when he made his last attack, she used her quirk on it and waited for the explosion to propel herself up further.

'It's my–' Uraraka put her fingers together. '–victory!'

The debris free-fell, and Uraraka jumped out. Reflexively, Bakugou blocked her attack, allowing her to touch him. His entire demeanour was calm, even when her quirk activated and he floated in the air.

I can't lose my cool.

'HOWITZER––' a threatening flash of light appeared in his palms. He propelled himself in a corkscrew motion, fueling the air behind him as a tornado. All Uraraka would be able to see was the burning red glow that threatened to burst at any moment.

'––IMPACT!'

The air behind them exploded, but she had fell backwards. As the smoke settled, Bakugou had Uraraka pinned to the ground, his hands grasped firmly around her wrists to prevent use of her quirk. He was still floating, but Uraraka acted as his anchor to the floor. Like a mad dog that refused to let go of his prey, he kept a firm grip over her wrists. His tenacity forced Uraraka to surrender.

'R-Release…'

'That's right.' His voice was guttural and rough with aggressive superiority. 'It's my victory.'

Uraraka's face scrunched up, and her bottom lip trembled.

'Ochako, are you–'

'B-Bakugou, please get off me–!'

He soon realized the problem as her cheeks swelled up, and released his grip. Uraraka scrambled away from Bakugou, and all he heard was the sound of her throwing up. He got up, and grabbed his UA jacket (he found Uraraka's first; it had her name written on the label, and that was how he told the difference). Not once did he take his eyes off the girl, who continued to throw up. As though it was the first time he ever felt guilty, he walked towards Uraraka, and dropped the jacket over her shoulders as though he was afraid to make contact with her.

'Sorry – I'll just... take you to the infirmary.'

'N-No it's fine.' she panted, after a particularly liquid vomit. The worst of it was over, and she sat up, rubbing the gastric acid and saliva from the side of her mouth with a sheepish little smile. 'It tends to happen when I overuse my quirk.'

Even though he won, her last words and her smile dampened his victory. He regretted even apologizing or even feeling sorry to her.

'If you're fine, get up!' he shouted, embarrassed for showing any sincerity at all. 'I don't have time to baby you all day!'

Uraraka shot up immediately as though Katsuki was an angry drill sergeant.

'I'm surprised that you uh,' the blush deepened on her cheeks. 'Called me by my first name.'

It would take more than that to move Katsuki towards showing an emotion he would consider weak. He scratched his cheek and glanced away.

'Your first name was just easier to say than 'round-face' or 'Uraraka'.'