EXPLOSIVE INSIGHT

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"Bakudan (Explode)!" ...Because no matter what, Bakugo Katsuki had a temper short as the fuse on a stick of dynamite and a personality sour as a TNT Sour Chew. Even as a girl. [Fem!Katsuki]

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10
Competition

"Bakugo-chan, where are you going?" Katsuki twitched at the honorific. No matter how many times she said not to, the red-haired idiot would use it. It made her wonder what went inside of his brain. He pointed back with his thumb,"The cafeteria is that way,"

"My bottle. I left (more like threw) it somewhere," Katsuki grumbled. The last time the girl recalled, she had it before the start of the second round when she was annoyed about getting third… just thinking about it made her angry.

"Oh. Do you want help looking for it?" He said, scratching his face.

"No thanks. Just go already,"

"Are you sure?" He asked again, looking uncertain.

"Yes!" Katsuki nearly shouted, "Just go and eat with the others! You're hungry, aren't you? So just go!"

"But you are…" He stopped as his stomach began to grumble, "Hehehe…"

"Idiot," She sighed, "I'll go after–if you're going to battle me in the next round, you're going to need all the strength you can get,"

"Eh… okay, I'll save you spot then!" With a cheerful wave, he left and Katsuki was finally alone. She made her way to the arena and began walking the perimeter of the entrance. Her eyes spotted shining silver by the wall and she went to pick it up. The girl scowled as she saw the large dent in her bottle, which she had only bought two weeks ago, not to mention, pretty expensive.

"Damn," She muttered. Now she'd have to buy another one and Katsuki didn't want to explain to her mother that she had damaged yet another bottle. But right now, she needed lunch; the girl was starving!

As she was about to exit, she noticed two familiar figures at the corridor, staring face to face at each other. It was half 'n' half and the green haired nerd, the two people who stole first place from her. What were they doing here?

"–Neither Iida, nor Kaminari, nor Yaoyorozu, nor Tokoyami or Uraraka had felt it," Half 'n' half said, "Only I had ever felt it, All Might's power, up close,"

The first thing she did was make a mad dash as quietly as she could behind the wall. She blinked blankly; what were they talking about? All Might's power? She had got to see it up close too–and damn, All Might was strong. He wasn't the number hero in the world for no reason.

"So… What is it… you want to say?" Deku asked cautiously.

Katsuki had suddenly realized that she had been ears-dropping on their conversation. Any normal person would have felt thought this was wrong and felt guilty but Katsuki was far from normal. The exchange of words sounded interesting and so the girl continued to listen.

"You… are you All Might's illegitimate child or something?" The guy with the ice-quirk had said it so seriously, that something in Katsuki had snapped and she had to bring her hand to her mouth to stop laughter from escaping. Oh gosh, seriously?! Deku as… All Might's child?! Pff… She'd be damned if that nerd was her idol's offspring.

Though, Katsuki had never met Deku's father before. They were neighbors and for her whole life, the topic about 'fathers' between the families was taboo. If she didn't know him from childhood, she might have thought of something similar but she did know him, so that was out of the question.

At least she wasn't the only person who though the nerd and All Might had some type of fishy relationship. It was like the hero favored Deku…

"W-what?! Y-you've got that wrong!" He stuttered, waving his arms furiously, "That's not it! …And also, why me? I mean…"

"The way you said that… it means you have some kind of connection with All Might that you can't talk about. Whatever that is," The other teen replied, "You must know my father, Endeavor,"

Wait. His father was THE Endeavour?! The second best hero in Japan?! What. And how come Katsuki didn't know this earlier?!

"The number two hero. And if you're connected to the number one hero, that means… all the more I need to win,"

This was a declaration of war. It didn't involve her what so ever–she was just some bystander who had overheard all of this. And that annoyed her, the fact that she was some minor character in this storyline. Which is why she had to force her way into this narrative and beat them all, just like she had planned to at the beginning.

"My old man will do anything to advance his position. He made a name for himself during his hero career using brute force but that was nothing compared to the legend, All Might," Half 'n' continued, "So, he devised a plan,"

Deku questioned, "…What are you trying to tell me exactly, Todoroki?"

"You know about 'Quirk Marriages', right?" He queried. Katsuki knew what they were; when the first quirks were discovered, scientists found that quirks could not only be passed down by blood but also enhanced and created by doing so. They were ridiculous marriages based on solely the person's quirk, "As a man of merit, he easily ingratiated himself to my mother's family… and took possession of her quirk,"

Shit. That was…

Todoroki's voice was raised as he spoke, raw anger dripping from his each of his words, "He wanted to slake his own thirst by raising a hero which would rise above All Might. Fuck him! I'll never, never be that piece of shit's tool!"

…wrong. Really wrong. Even someone like her could tell just how utterly… unacceptable, for that lack of a better word, it was.

"In my memories, my mother was always crying. She told me that my left was ugly… and dumped boiling water on me," Katsuki shifted uncomfortably; the weird scar on his face… was caused by his mother. That's even more messed up! "The reason I want to beat you is for a personal reason; I won't use my shitty old man's quirk… or rather… I'll become number one without needing to. This is my total disavowal of him,"

Was that the reason he aimed for the top? Compared to him… Katsuki was… her goal was… nothing.

No. No, no, just no! She wouldn't think like that; Katsuki was (and she knew,) a head-strong, independent woman who never wavered about her emotions nor goals. The girl wanted to be the best and the best she would be–not, of course, without hard work and perseverance which both she had.

She let out a breath she'd held back unconsciously and leaned against the wall. For a second there, she nearly…

"…I," Deku started, gaining the attention of the leaving half 'n' half and Katsuki, "I've been the beneficiary of outside help all this time. The reason why I'm standing here… is because someone always saved me. I've always wanted to be someone like All Might, to save the day with a smile and to do that, I need to be someone strong enough to be called the number one hero. It may be a trifling motive compared to yours but…"

Katsuki peered from the corner, staring at the back of her childhood friend; messy green hair and a short figure, standing tall and proud.

"All the same, I can't lose. Not only for myself but to pay back the people who've helped me along the way! I'm going to take that declaration of war of yours… and echo it. I'm going to beat you, too!"

He's changed, the girl realized, from the powerless nerd in middle school to this current version of him. Yet, he's exactly the same as she remembered; stupid and all goody two shoes, doing what he thinks is right.

(It wasn't until a while after they left when Katsuki's stomach growled and the girl noticed that she had forgotten about her hunger.)

"Bakugo-chan!" The red-haired idiot yelled across the room, "You're finally here! Come, join us!"

"Too noisy," She grumbled as she took a seat next to him, placing down the tray of goodies. Katsuki promptly started digging in, starting with her fried rice. Her eyes flickered to Half 'n' half and Deku for a short moment as they ate at their own respected tables then back to her food.

The lunchroom for students was busy, with chatter from all the students, it started to give her a headache. "...That includes you,"

Somehow recognizing that the sentence was direct to her, the girl lifted her head, "What?"

"The 'cheering battle'. As a girl, you have to do it–eek, d-don't glare at me! I-It's what Aizawa-sensei said," The shorty with the purple hair that looked like grapes stuttered.

Katsuki, wearing a freaking cheerleader costume? The school uniform was one thing but some skimpy two-piece garments? She squeezed the all the milk from its cartoon with one fellow motion and spat out the two words which said everything, "Fuck no,"

"Bakugo-san!" The girl with black swirling hair in a ponytail sternly said, reminding Katsuki faintly of her mother, "You must participate in school activities!"

"School activities, my ass..." She said with disgust written all over her face, "I'm not wearing that... thing. Besides, isn't that sexist? Having girls do some stupid shit like that while guys don't have to do anything. Sounds fishy if you ask me,"

"But Aizawa-sensei said so! Mineta-san is proof of that," One look at his nervous face sweating bullets under her harsh gaze gave it away.

She turned away coldly, "Whatever. Do what you want, just count me out. And don't regret it later,"

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"What's happened, Class A?!" Present Mic half-screamed at the microphone and the attention was brought to the 1-A's female students, wearing flashy cheerleader outfits and had colorful pompoms in their hands.

"Mineta, Kamimari! You tricked us, didn't you?!" Katsuki, in the meantime, snickered under her breath.

As a group, all the first year students made their way to the front where Lady Midnight stood on stage, holding a box. The last round was going to begin; a tournament, where she'd get to face her opponents in a one-vs-one battle.

Suddenly, a hand rose from the crowd. It was the tail-guy, who looked a bit like a monkey, "Um... I-I don't want to participate,"

"Ojiro why?!" Someone shouted, most probably from her class. The girl had to admit, she was pretty curious too. This was a big opportunity for aspiring heroes and missing it could mean missing out on great chances for future employment.

"The truth is, I don't remember what happened in the Cavalry Battle. I think it has something to do with that guy's quirk," He gestured to a guy behind him, with the pale skin and purple hair, "I know it would be stupid to walk away but... everyone here gave it their best to get so far! I'll never be able... to do the same,"

"You don't have to do that!" The invisible girl said in her cheerleader outfit, "There's no problem if you do your best from now on!"

"No, it's not like that! It's a matter of dignity..." Although it was stupid, Katsuki could somehow relate to that; her morals came first. It didn't matter if everyone looked at it one way, if she looked another way, she'd stick with it.

Then, another guy who was chubby and short spoke up, asking for the same thing. The ash-blonde teen recognized him from the same team a the freaky purple guy, "I agree with that! I'd like to resign too... to let someone win without them doing anything, doesn't that go against the spirit of the Sport's Festival?!"

"What innocent words," The female hero's expression is dark before she flashes out her whip with one a glee, "I like them! Very well, I accept your resignation!"

And in place of them were some students from Class B–one with the steel quirk and another with the long, green plant-like hair. The pairings were shown soon after and Katsuki scanned the board for her name.

Huh. The girl was placed in the very last spot, next to some person named, "...Uraraka? Who the hell is that?"

(Meanwhile, Uraraka froze in place. You've got to be kidding...! Out of all people, she had to be paired with her?! Oh god, what was she going to do? And seriously! Did she not know her name...?)

Ironically, Deku was chosen first and Half 'n' Half, third; they would be facing each other in the second round, a little soon for such a big fight but Katsuki was more concerned with who the winner would be. She would most likely face that person in the finals and she wanted to be ready for anything.

Deku was not exactly strong nor weak but he was smart and could use his brain, unlike some people in her class. She remembered that he was also a big nerd about heroes and quirks, taking little notes whenever possible. Although that seemed stupid in her head, it could prove beneficial in the long run. He also had his own quirk; insane strength for the cost of a limb. While it was a double-edged sword, if used properly, it could be very powerful.

Half 'n' half was stronger in terms of physical strength and quirk use; he had fine control over his ice quirk from what she could tell from the previous rounds not to mention it was over-powered. It would be a different story if he used his other quirk, fire manipulation or whatever it was, Katsuki had no idea about; all she could really tell was that it was similar to Endeavour's quirk and her own.

When the girl over-heard both of their speeches, more specifically, Half 'n' Half's, Katsuki felt a little conflicted because of the fact that she had a second quirk. She hadn't shown anybody it and didn't plan to anytime soon; a secret weapon which she'd had practiced and honed in secret for at least two years now. At first, it was because the teen wanted some sort of trump card or an 'ace up one's sleeve' like the heroes in the comic books did but now, she was almost certain about keeping her 'Blood Fire' under lock and key.

Katsuki was a girl of morals; she'd fight and win, fair and square against all of them then rise to the top like a superstar.

Before the actual tournament started, there were recreation events that were optional. Being one of the competitors, Katsuki didn't participate in them and instead, relaxed outside with a soda (she knew that was unhealthy, to drink right before her fight but YOLO, right?) while thinking of battle strategies.

The girl then decided to call her mom, after the idea popped into her mind, "Bring! Bring! Brin–Hey, darling, how are you doing?!"

She immediately regretted it, hearing the woman's voice; was she drunk? She sighed, "Hi, mom, doing just fine–more importantly, did you see me on TV?"

"Yep~! Good job, kicking ass! You showed them what momma's daughter could do! I'ma proud of ya!"

"Mom, I came third and second," Katsuki bitter said, "That isn't worth anything,"

"Don' matter!" Her mother croaked, "What does matter is that ya tried and that my little girl has grown up to an even bigger little girl!"

The 'even bigger little girl' groaned into the phone, "Moooom!"

"Hahahaha! Anyway, you better get–hic–going! 'member your fabulous, awesome-looking mom's watching you live on da tele'! Go on and kick booty! Hahaha–Beep!" The call ended with another beep and Katsuki was left alone once more, sitting on the ground. She gulped down another mouthful of soda, wiping her mouth with her sports jacket's sleeve.

Shit. She forgot to tell her about the bottle. Oh well, she could tell her mother at home, after the Sport's Festival was over.

There were moments of peace for the girl to lounge, to close her eyes and have some time to think but that was disrupted by footsteps. One the rustling of grass stopped, she opened her eyes; she only knew one person with half white, half red hair–and said person was standing in front of her, towering over the girl who sat, legs crossed.

"You? What do you want," She muttered, annoyed that her time of solitude had been broken.

He replied with another question, "You were there, weren't you?"

"What?" Her blood ran cold and she froze on the spot for just a moment, before returning to her usual, scowling, self, "I don't know what you're talking about; care to elaborate?"

"When I was talking to Midoriya," Half 'n' Half promptly explained, "I saw you behind the wall,"

He must have seen her when she peered from the corner to get a better look at what was happening. Damn it. She should've not done that. There was no point trying to deny it now so Katsuki just crossed her arms and huffed, "So? What does it matter?"

"You're not denying it," He brought up.

"No, I'm not,"

There was a pause of silence before he asked, "...How much did you hear?"

"I dunno, around half of it?" She guessed, "Anyway, I'm not going to say anything so if that was what you wanted, you can go ahead and be on your merry way,"

He didn't leave.

"Did ya need something?" Katsuki after a few moments of awkward silence.

"Midoriya. How do you know him?" It seemed like he wouldn't leave until he got what wanted and she wasn't exactly a patient person.

The teen sighed, "We're childhood friends, I guess. Why?"

"He's... different,"

'Aren't we all?' or 'is that a good different or a bad one?', Katsuki wanted to say but instead, she asked, "What's the point of telling me that?"

"I'm going to beat him and then, in the final round, I'll defeat you," Stated Half 'n' half in a monotone voice, "Without using my left side,"

"And how do you know we're both going to be in the last match?"

"You're strong," He pointed out like it was the most obvious thing in the world (which, it is) and the girl realized that he hadn't understood that she was referring to him.

"Without your left side, huh?" She stood up, "I'm going to make you eat those words. If you wanna fight and win against me, you're gonna have to use it–no, I'll make you use it. 'Cause you're going to need as much of an advantage as you can if you want to win,"

He stayed quiet, not moving from his spot, "Why do you want to win?"

"What?"

"I've heard Midoriya's motive. What's yours? Is it similar?" The boy questioned her and it was then when she became aware of his eyes gazing directly into hers.

"I'm not like him," Katsuki started, saying words that first came to mind, "Who's doing for the goodness of his heart or you, as a form of vengeance of sorts; I don't have a reason. There's no need to have one, either. I simply need to become stronger, to get to the top,"

"...Is that so?"

"Yes," She confirmed despite knowing fully that it was all lies or rather, not the complete truth.

He seemed to notice the same thing as the girl began to leave, he spoke, "I don't think that's true,"

"And what would you know? You don't know shit about me,"

"That may be true but... if that was the case, you wouldn't put nearly as much effort," Her blood began to boil, somewhat literally as hands felt moister than ever before. Who was he, to speak like he had known her his whole life? Because he didn't yet act like he did and that annoyed her; no one could say they knew her, not even her own mother! True, Katsuki seemed like an open book, with all her hard-headedness and profanities which came out of her mouth but even she had her insecurities–to have someone... seem like they had breached her iron walls was unsettling and made alarm bells ring in the girl's mind.

There was a glaring competition between the two students and tension began to rise as the cheering from the extra events were nothing but muted whispers in their heads.

Katsuki was the one to break away as her mind started to clear up. She walked away like nothing happened, taking more deep breaths then she'd like to admit. Her soda was left leaning on the wall, forgotten.

Although it was him who visited, it was her who left.

Katsuki sat in the bleachers, where all her classmates sat in their divided section. They had been given a spot near the very front as participants of the game, so she had a good view of the arena–soon, she'd be the one fighting instead of doing the watching like the girl normally did all those years ago and until now.

"Ladies and gentlemen! The finals which you have all been patiently waiting for is now starting!" The crowd cheered wildly, some even standing up and waving their arms, "Now, the first match! Even though he's done well so far, what's with that face? From the hero course, Midoriya Izuku!"

From one side of the stadium, a single figure walked out from one of the many corridors; even though she was so far away, the girl could clearly see a mop of messy green hair a shade darker than the grass floor. From the camera's zooming in on his face, Deku looked to be more than just a little intimidated by the sheer amount of eyes he had on him.

"And on the other side, from the General Department, Shinso Hitoshi! Now... game start!"

Then, from what Katsuki could observe from where she was at, as soon as the match begun, the nerd's face of anxiousness had turned to anger and he lashed out against his opponent. It had seemed like he had been provoked by the general department student, which was a pretty amazing feat as Deku wasn't exactly known to be the one who gets mad. What was more interesting was after just a few moments, the boy had stopped moving entirely.

"What's this?! Midoriya has... completely stopped moving?!"

That was weird. It probably had something to do with that guy's quirk. It must be pretty powerful to make him stop moving like that though... Deku then turned around slowly and began to walk towards the way he had come in. If this continued, he'd walk straight over the lines, out of bounds and lose.

Deku then turned around slowly and began to walk towards the way he had come in. If this continued, he'd walk straight over the lines, out of bounds and lose.

The purple-haired guy must have done something to make the nerd do what he wanted... like a... mind control quirk?

All of a sudden, a bunch of smoke was created by the green-haired teen and Katsuki could see that his fingers had been damaged; must have used his own quirk to snap himself out of the mind control, then. Now free to move as he pleased, Deku charged towards the other teen on the field, battling in physical combat.

In intervals, she felt an intense gaze boring into the back of her head during the match and she didn't need to turn around to know who it was. It was god damn creepy, even more so than how the pale skin, purple haired freak down at the battlefield looked.

She tried to ignore the growing discomfort, watching the match; at that time, her childhood friend had grabbed his enemy's arm and proceeded to flip him over.

"Ah," The girl had let out unintentionally. That move was pulled on her once, during All Might's challenge near the start of the year.

"Shinsou's out!" Lady Midnight, who had been judging from the ground, stated, "Midoriya passes to round two!"

It was Half 'n' half's turn to battle now and Katsuki sat on her seat, body tense; she wanted to get as much information on his quirk possible, with the chance of him being her future opponent. He was fighting Tape-boy, who had been her teammate in the Calvary Battle.

"W-what?! What the hell is this?!" Present Mic screamed in the speaker what most people had been thinking at that very moment. The battle had barely started when with a single blow, a huge glacier of ice had been formed, growing above the walls of the stadium.

What the fucking hell. That was possible?

Powerful, was the first thought that her mind had come up with, that quirk of his was just plain fucking overpowered. It was abnormal though since usually, Mr. Ice-guy had delicate control over his quirk; to Katsuki, it looked much more like an action fueled by rage then a showcase of power–it was safe to say that he was more than just pissed off. At what? His father?

Following the match right after that incredibly short one, when Half 'n' half had returned to the benches, Katsuki looked at him and bluntly said, "You should really keep your shit together,"

"Bakugo!" Shouted the red-haired idiot next to her, "You shouldn't say things like that!"

"Meh," She shrugged. Just then, from the corner of her eye, she saw a person standing up and leaving; it was the brown haired girl that always followed Deku around like a lost puppy, who was also her first opponent, "I'm getting a drink, fill me on the details later,"

"What? Um, okay!" Kirishima awkwardly said, moving his hand in a short wave.

The fights were getting pretty boring, anyway.

A/N: Oh. My. God. 100 Reviews, 151 Favourites, and 198 Followers! You guys are the BEST! Anyway, I have broken my largest word count with 4,513! Yahoo!Next chapter, we get to have some real action! Until the meantime, you're just gonna have to wait!