Hello all,
It's me again, hitting you with another chapter of Duality. This will be taking place in between the day after the USJ incident, so it will be a filler before we jump back into the plot of the show. There will be an interaction between our main character Izumi and Bakugo, this will be the beginning of where they'll slowly start to get to know each other.
If you're looking to find out when I'll be updating, you could follow me to see when I start and when I'm close to posting the next chapters.
On another note, my new job is very taxing and physical so I've been having trouble finding the energy to writing. So please forgive me if it takes a bit longer than the previous chapters before, I know you all would like to read the next chapters as so as possible - so I'm trying to keep myself from falling off the wagon.
Thank you and enjoy,
Moon.
Chapter 8
The news was buzzing about the USJ incident that just happened the day before, the public was shocked that something like that could happen at U.A. While the media was broadcasting everything to the public, the teachers at the school were trying to pinpoint where The League of Villains came from and who they were. The police were doing all in their power to find out all the information that would be helpful in exposing and getting rid of the threat.
The school was closed for a bit since the USJ attack, Izumi was trying to take it easy with those days off - but it was hard since she had kept thinking back to everything that happened that day.
Laying down on her bed as her navy blue eyes stared up at the ceiling as her train of thought continued to wander in all kinds of directions. Luckily, her mother was pretty busy during the evenings and early mornings so she hasn't really heard much. But that wouldn't stay like that much longer - once her mother heard about what happened, Izumi was sure that they would have a heavy conversation about it. Something that would surely end in a fight.
With a sigh, the teen got up and decided that it would be a good idea to try and avoid her mother when she got home, which would be pretty soon. Putting on some comfy pants and a baggy hoodie - she made her way out the door and left her apartment building. Wondering where she would go Izumi began to just wander around the area trying to find something interesting to do or be in.
After 20 minutes of walking, she made her way closer to downtown, hoping to go to an arcade and then get some food. That was the plan until she walked into the arcade building and spotted someone she didn't think she would run into.
'Oh my god, it's that...is that Bakugo?!'
The ashen blonde was playing some first-person shooter game and was focused on beating the game to have noticed her come inside. Hoping to avoid him and dealing with his horrible attitude before school - she snuck by him and made her way towards the fighting games where she could let loose and relax. Taking a seat she put in her change and pressed start to begin, letting her mind just turn off and enjoy one of her favorite pastimes. Maybe around the 15-minute mark, she received a challenge from the other player sitting across from her at the other facing machine. A confident smirk grew on her face and accepted - preparing to thrash the person who dare think they could beat her. Her name was in the top 3 highest scores in this fighting game, only to be topped by two other people, one being her old friend from middle school and the other was a regular player that she would chat to from time to time.
Once the character select screen passed and the stage was loading, Izumi moved closer to the monitor and her hands gripped the joystick firmly - making sure that her hand wouldn't slip off giving her opponent an advantage. The stage was set and the two video game characters faced off against each other, and as soon as the signal was given she was charging her fighter forwards. A punch was given throwing the other fighter back a bit before it got up and used a leg sweep to counter, she jumped the last second before landing another blow.
Next followed an uppercut sending her opponent into the air, right where she wanted him.
'I've got you, as soon as you get in the air - I plan to keep you there!'
Making her character jump, she smashed the buttons quickly performing combo after combo - juggling the other character in the air, and he could do nothing about it for he was stun locked. Izumi could hear growls of frustration across from her, she had her challenger flustered and angry at what was happening on the screen.
'Perfect, that's right. Get angry, you'll lose faster that way.'
The sounds of buttons being hit furiously from the other side, the opposing character finally managed to get a hit in stopping the flurries of attacks that kept him in the air. Her character landed on the ground on her back and in that time her opponent was already kicking while she was down.
'Don't panic, just calm down and notice the pattern that they're doing. That tiny opening I'll turn the tide in my favor.'
The very next attack she saw that opening and took that split second to strike, performing a backflip causing the other player to shoot up into the air. She landed the finishing blow with a high jump kick, and it was over. The announcer declared K.O and the match was done, looking up from the screen Izumi smiled in victory before standing up to see who was her opponent and say a few words. Just as her eyes reached over the machine - she saw who was on the other side...none other than Bakugo himself. And from the looks of it, he was shaking in fury about losing, his crimson eyes narrowed as his hands were still clenched around the joystick.
Quickly ducking back down into her seat Izumi was having a mental freak out about what to do next.
'Goddamnit! Why did it have to be him of all people, I thought he was playing that damn shooter game! Time to make a quick exit!'
Keeping her body crouched down to avoid her classmate from seeing her, she quietly as possible made her way from the fighting games. Sadly, Izumi didn't move fast enough and just as she was about to make a clean getaway the sound of speedy footsteps coming over to her side and stopping. Seeing that she had no choice but to face the music she stood up before the boy could reach her, she closed her eyes and sighed as now he was in front of her.
"Hello Bakugo, I see that you were my challenger and you lost." her voice exasperated, she knew that a fight was incoming.
"What the HELL?! You think you're better than me with that bullshit you just pulled?! You would have gotten your ass beat if you didn't use that juggling crap to stun lock me!"
"Look you, idiot, what I did was totally 100% legit, hell even in tournaments the pro gamers use those kinds of tactics all the time. It's not my fault you couldn't get yourself out of it, now please move I don't want to have to deal with you before school starts up again." she tried to sidestep around him but he blocked off her path.
He stepped closer hoping to intimidate her as he got up in her face, seeing that something was about to go down the other people around them started to crowd around.
"Listen here Shadow Witch, I bet I can beat you at any of these fucking games in this arcade." his voice was low and threatening as his face was pretty close to hers.
Seeing how close his face was Izumi couldn't help but notice that he was actually kinda good looking. But she sure as hell wasn't going to tell him that anytime soon, knowing that hearing compliment would probably inflate his ego to the point of no return.
"Fine fine, whatever you want. Just stop being so close - you're in my personal space." she turned her head to the side hoping to put some distance between his face and her own.
"Get ready to have your ass kicked cause we're going to play that!" he pointed over to the racing game where players to shoot weapons that the other racers. Hearing that a battle was going to the people that formed the circle cheered and were abuzz with excitement.
The two teens made their way over to the racing game and sat down in their chosen seats before starting it up. Picking their chosen drivers and carts - they then picked which Grand Prix they wanted to play, only selecting the hardest one in the game. And with all that out of the way, the race was on!
"I can't believe we're tied for first place..this can't be happening right now.."
"Damn right it can't! How the hell do you have the same amount of points as me! I'm fucking better than your dumbass!"
"Well, this 'dumbass' is neck and neck with you. So the final race is going to be the tiebreaker, get ready to get stomped!"
"Like fresh hell, I'm going to let that happen!"
The two teen had a competitive aura surrounding them as they gripped the steering wheels tighter, ready to show the other that they were going all out. Once the light turned green it was a mad dash to beat each other, not wanting to lose. Izumi was making sure to stay behind Bakugo, who was in first place, and while he was there - he laughed loudly throwing insults at her. How she was a shitty driver and how she couldn't hit him for a dollar, but she was just biding her time, waiting once again for the right moment to show him who's boss. And finally that moment happened close to the end of the third lap, it was the final stretch of the race and she got the item was she hoping for. She threw her weapon at him a few feet from the finish line, his cart tumbled in the air - stopping him dead in his tracks as she blazed past him.
"You damn BITCH! Where do you think you're going, huh?!" his hands started to stem and smoke flow from his fingers as his grip on the steering wheel looked like it was about to crush it.
Bakugo quickly caught up to her and it was once again anyone's game. They rounded the final turn, Izumi drifted and manage to get a boost of speed putting her just ahead before the raging boy next to her and she passed the finish line first.
The crowd that was watching the entire thing were cheering and clapping seeing how close that last race was - leaning back into her seat she turned to look to see what might happen next.
Not a second later. "WHAT HOW COULD THAT BE?! I WAS FUCKING FIRST THE ENTIRE TIME!"
His head snapped to the side and red-eye pierced through her as he growled in anger and frustration at losing to her again.
"As much as I enjoyed winning, I'm outta here. I got other things to do today, so-" her sentence was cut short.
"One more game.." the boy's dusty blonde hair now covered his eyes and his clenched his fist.
"Wait, what? Look Bakugo, I had fun but now I'm done okay? I wanna go eat food and stuff.
"One More Game!" he wasn't taking no for an answer.
"Fine fine, but I get to pick the last game we play. Got it?"
"Sure, yeah whatever. All I know is I'm gonna wipe the floor with you!"
Izumi knew the exact game she wanted to play, it was always the one she plays before leaving the arcade so she would be a good mood. Plus she didn't think that Bakugo was skilled with his feet besides when he was fighting - so it might be some good practice for him.
"We'll play DDR!"
"WHAT?! That shit game?! Don't think so, choose something else!"
"You said and I quote 'Sure, yeah whatever. All I know is I'm gonna wipe the floor with you!' when you said I could pick the final game we play. Back out now?"
"HUH!? The fuck you say?! Fine, I'll crush you at this game! Don't go crying when I beat your ass!"
"Trust me, you'll never see me cry."
They made their way to the DDR machine, upbeat J-Pop music coming through the speakers as lights were flashing to the beat.
"Now then, time to pick the song and difficulty - and I know just the song to pick too. The hard setting should be enough for you right, Bakugo?" her voice was sweet to goad the teen into shouting.
"Yeah, sure. Pick your shit song and let's do this thing."
Seeing the song that she wanted show up on screen, she quickly hit the enter button and everything was set. Izumi was smiling as she went over to her area before she did some light stretching to warm up her body. If she was gonna win and beat Bakugo at this game, she was going to do it in style - no holding back.
"Oh man, I can't believe we get to see Hara break out her dance move on this loser. He won't know what hit 'im!"
"Totally, he's gonna get recked so badly - but that's what he gets for letting her choose this game. She's the highest scoring player on it, he's doomed.."
More and more people started to murmur about the situation and the aggressive boy heard almost every single word that was coming from the crowd around them. Finally, having enough with the chattering, he whipped his body around as he let off a few explosions in the palm of his hand.
"Shut the hell up, you extras! I'm not gonna let her beat me so easily! Just watch as I beat the shit out of her!"
The sound of the music started to play signaling that it was just about to start. Turning his attention back to the screen in front of him, Bakugo was more than ready to show them all that he was going to thrash Izumi at her own game.
Colorful arrows flew over the screen at a swift pace, on Izumi's side of the monitor she was hitting all the arrows with perfect timing while his own - he kept missing some arrows but he was managing with the speed. He looked to his side, hoping to see his opponent struggling - but that wasn't the case at all. She..she was actually dancing to the music while hitting every single prompt.
Her moves are sharp and fast, her feet seemed to have a mind of their own as they move effortlessly on the floor. Hips swaying and arms flowed like water as her dancing kept up to the beat without a care, to say he was upset would an understatement.
"Are you taking this seriously?! You're just showing the fuck off, huh?!"
"Yes, yes I am - but I'm also enjoying myself. So keep on stepping or you'll never beat me." Izumi let out a light laugh and continued her dancing to the music. Doing spins and turns like it was the most natural thing in the world.
Having enough of her taunting and not wanting to lose once again, Bakugo did something he normally wouldn't do. He got down on his knees and used his hands to hit the arrows.
"Hey, what the hell asshole, that's cheating!" she couldn't believe what he was doing.
"Shut up! I ain't cheating, I'm being smart!"
"Whatever, I'm gonna kick your ass by winning the real way!" her moves started to become a bit more aggressive.
The song was reaching the end and now the points were getting higher and closer to each other than before, feeling a small amount of panic rising in her chest Izumi was intensely focused on what was happening in front of her that she made a misstep. Her ankle buckled to the side causing her to fall over, she was about to hit her head on the hard metal platform of the DDR machine. Her eyes closed as her arms started to come up to protect her head, but she didn't feel any impact at all. At that moment, Bakugo had seen that she was falling and about to hit her head - luckily since he was already on his knees, he was able to catch her before anything could happen.
The music was done playing and the crowd around them watching voiced concerns about the girl, hoping she was alright. Some of them even clapped as Bakugo caught her, which the boy act quickly enough to help.
"Watch yourself you dumb idiot, that's what happens when you're not paying attention dumbass."
"I told you, don't call me a dumbass. And I was paying attention!"
She picked herself up from the ground and dusted off her clothes making sure everything was alright. Her dark blue eyes trailed up to the boy who just helped her from getting a pretty nasty bump on the head, her arms crossed over her chest as she stared him down.
"Thanks by the way, for catching my head."
"You're damn right you should be thankful!"
"Aaannnddd now I regret thanking you, way to be humble Bakugo. I'll make a point not to thank you in the future."
She turned her attention back to the screen which was now displaying the scores of the two players. Her mouth dropped slightly at what she was seeing, that moment when she slipped and fell caused her to lose. She couldn't believe what was happening, the selfish asshole had beaten her at her own game!
"Oi, look at me when I'm talking to you-" he turned to see what she was looking at so intently.
" FUCK YEAH! Look at that, I totally beat your ass! That's what you fucking get for showing off you dumb idiot!"
"I can't believe this is happening, all because I fucking slipped."
"Huh? What was that, you swearing now? I thought you were too good for that shit!"
The feeling of horror came over her as Bakugo continued to gloat about his victory in her face. She didn't hear a word he said as she was trying to absorb everything that was going on around her, her phone vibrated in her pocket which snapped her out of her thoughts.
"Shush, I'm taking a call!" she pulled out her phone and hitting answer.
"Huh?! What the fuck did you just say to me?! Hey, I'm talking to you!"
Izumi rolled her eyes at him before turning and walking away from all the noise to get some privacy. Unfortunately, someone couldn't take a hint.
"Hello?"
"Hi Izumi, it's me. Where are you right now?"
"Oh hi mom, I'm out right now. Why did you need something?"
"I was just wondering where you were since you aren't home now. Listen I need to talk to you about school."
The feeling of dread started to flow throughout her body as she knew what her mother wanted to talk about.
"Okay, what about U.A.?"
"I don't think you should go there anymore. I heard about what happened at work and I don't want you to back. I told you that choosing that work path would be dangerous and look what happened! A villain attack at school, where you're supposed to be safe."
"Can we not walk about this please, I don't want to get into another fight right now." Izumi turned around only to see Bakugo was still behind her, but he was strangely silent. The look on his face was serious as well, hoping to not have him around - she shooed him away but he wasn't moving.
"You don't understand what I'm saying at all, you don't know what you're getting yourself into by choosing to be a hero Izumi. You think you know what you want, but you don't - I'm telling you this for your own good."
"I'm not going to change schools just because you don't like what I'm doing okay? I know it's dangerous and I don't care about that! I told you that I wanted to be a hero and you were okay with that, now you're saying that you don't want that. You can't just change your mind!" her voice was getting more and more irritated by the second, her feet moving quickly to the exit. Once she made it outside she went into a side alley next to the arcade where it would be a bit more private.
"Izumi, you don't know what the real world is like! Why don't you listen to when people are trying to help you?"
"You're not trying to help me, you're trying to keep me from doing something that I want to do with my life! It's my choice to do what I want!"
"I don't know where you're getting these ideas from, girl. And don't give me attitude Izumi, now listen to me. I don't want you going back there to U.A."
She let out a growl as her hand gripped her phone tighter, "I'm not leaving U.A. I'm done talking about this. Conversation is over, okay?"
Her anger was rising quickly and she could feel her shadows starting to act out, the inky blackness swirled around her feet where she stood and her body was leaking misty black smoke.
"Why do you always cut off people when they're trying to talk some sense into you?!"
"It's done now, we're done talking about this. I'll be home later, I'll see you when I get back."
"Okay alright fine, I'll see you at home then."
"Good, bye." and with that, she hung up.
Her body was filled to the brim with tension as her anger simmered, without a thought her arm was surrounded with condensed shadows before smashing it against the wall behind her. After letting out a small bit of her rage she sank down the ground, pulling her knees up to her chest and tried to calm down. She didn't like it when she was angry, many people around her own say that she was scared and she needed to control her anger. But she thought she had great control, never once had anyone gotten hurt since her incident back in her second year in middle school. That was in the past now, nobody needed to know about what happened at all. The sound of shuffling feet continued to go by her as she continued to sit on the ground as she was calming down from that phone call.
"Oi, what the hell are you doing? Your old hag piss you off or something?" looking up to see who was speaking to her, none other than Bakugo.
"I thought I told you to leave me alone."
"I don't have to listen to anything you say! You can't tell me what to do!"
"Yeah yeah okay, you can't be tamed." sighing before dropping her head onto her knees.
Hearing him come closer to her, he just stood next to her as they didn't speak for awhile.
"So was that it?" his voice sounding bored like he had nothing better to do.
"Was that what?"
"Idiot. Was your mom pissing you off? I heard you talking a bit before you came outside. Was it about that shit that happened yesterday?"
She couldn't believe what she was hearing, Bakugo, the self-centered asshole of Class 1-A actually had a decent conversation with her.
"Yeah, yeah it was. But it's nothing."
"Didn't sound like nothing, fine - you don't have to tell me jack shit."
"Exactly, I don't have to tell you anything." a smug smirk bloomed across her face.
Seeing her smug attitude, he let out a tsk, "Fucking fine then, last time I'll check to see if you're alright."
Picking herself off the ground before dusting her bottom off and she started to walk away from the ashen blonde boy next to her.
"Good, cause if you did then I would think something was seriously wrong with your brain."
With that said and done she waved goodbye to him, then she stopped to turn back and call out to him. "Hey Bakugo, don't think you're so great by beating me at DDR. You won by a freak accident - next time you won't be so lucky!"
"HUH?! Me beating you had nothing to do with luck, Shadow Witch! I was just better!"
"Sure, you keep thinking that, whatever helps you sleep at night! See ya!" lifting her hand she continued on her way from the arcade building and heading somewhere to eat.
She wanted to go somewhere that served her favorite food, before heading back home to deal with her mother. Despite not really saying anything about what happened to Bakugo, he managed to take her mind off of the conversation and helped her relax. She was somewhat thankful to him, but she kept her word about not thanking him again. She'll just thank him in her head instead.
