"Why the fuck are we here?" Bakugou scowls at the gathered teachers, Midnight being the one standing directly in front of them.
Shouto is wondering the same thing, though refrains from saying anything.
"Quite frankly it's because everyone saw both your soulmarks, and it would be irresponsible to let the two of you fight for the final match." Midnight' strikes a pose with her cat of nine tails pointing at the two seated boys. "As such we were hoping for something a little more friendly to determine the winner."
"What no! We can fucking fight! Just cause we're fucking soulmates doesn't mean we have to baby each other! Fuck off! And let us fucking fight already."
Shouto looks down at his lap quietly, not certain he agrees with Bakugou, but also not sure if the teachers intervening like this is the best thing either.
On the one hand he doesn't want to be like his father, hurting someone he's supposed to care for and cherish, Bakugou is one of his precious soulmates afterall.
On the other hand though is how Bakugou treats Midoriya, their third, someone that Shouto feels needs the most protection. Yes, his quirk is strong, but he's small and tends to let Bakugou stomp all over him without a care. Despite Midoriya's protests, Shouto can't help but think of his father.
"Oi, Half 'n Half, you just going to sit there, say something you jerk."
Looking up, Shouto blinks, it would seem the teachers are waiting to hear is opinion on the matter. "I already fought one soulmate today, and it would be unfair to both of us if we were not given equal opportunity to show off our skills during the sports festival."
"Wait, fought another soulmate?" Midnight looks confused to the other teachers, Cementoss is there, as is Thirteen, Snipe, and Present Mic.
"Did Recovery Girl not mention it to you? Midoriya is our third." Shouto looks down at his lap once again, feeling both upset and confused.
"Midoriya! Really!" Midnight brings her cat of nine tails to her chin, tapping it there for a moment. "Well I suppose if you both agree. But know this, if things start getting out of control we will step in. We don't want you injuring yourselves unnecessarily."
They both nod before being sent off to prepare themselves for the final fight.
Walking side by side, Bakugou's hands stuffed into his pockets, Shouto takes the opportunity to steal glances at his violent soulmate.
"The fuck do you keep looking at me like that?"
"I'm just concerned."
Concerned? The fuck are you concerned for? Worried you're gonna lose?"
Shouto levels a small glare at Bakugou. Bakugou glares right back.
He then heaves a sigh and relaxes his tense shoulders, head falling back to watch the ceiling as they walk through the corridors.
"Look, if this is because your dad is a bastard, stop. You're not him and I'm not your mom. This situation is a lot different than some asshole beating on his wife and kid. It's a controlled environment, it's safe, and it's not like we're out to hurt one another. The best way for us to be stronger, to push ourselves to our limits and be the best heroes we can be, is to face one another. There aren't many on our class than can push us, our quirks are too strong with the control we have over them. It's sparring, just with a different prize for the winner, if you want the winner can have the honors of treating us all to our first date, got it?"
Shouto blinks. That, actually makes a lot of sense. Abrasive as he may be, Bakugou at least understood why Shouto is hesitant to fight him. Putting things into perspective as he did, it helps.
"And you better not hold back on your damn fire, I'll be pissed if you hold back just because of your daddy issues."
Shouto smiles a little, thinking about Midoriya's words earlier and Bakugou's words now. Perhaps he should listen to Bakugou and give him what he wants, besides, the winner gets to treat the others to a date he said. That would be something he definitely wants.
"I don't have that great of control over it, so I may be sparing with it."
Bakugou makes a weird hurmph sounding grunt, scrunching up his shoulders and scoffing his shoes. "Of fucking course not." He straightens out a bit and looks over at Shouto. "Safe word then, if it looks like I can't handle your flames or they start going out of control, Endeavor sound good?"
Shouto blinks at his soulmate, not quite sure what he is talking about, but he nods regardless.
Bakugou must have noticed his confusion as he scoffs. "We don't need the teachers jumping in if things start to get unsafe, with our quirks and how they jumped between you and Deku, it would only make things worse. We can be adults about this and stop ourselves if things get too dangerous. If one of us yells Endeavor, it means things have gotten out of hand and we both stop and figure out another way of ending the fight."
"I'll agree to that, should we tell Midnight?"
"Nah, they don't need to know."
Shouto smiles softly, it would seem Bakugou, as caring as he is, doesn't want people to know that outside of a select few.