I thought Aizawa would at least give us a break before the final match! I'm tired and I need a drink!
"Hold up." I stand and walk over to my seat where my water bottle is. "Can't we at least wait ten minutes? Ya girl's tired." I gesture to Bakugo as I take several gulps of water. "It's not as if we're cut for time, we've still got the whole of third lesson. And I think even Bakugo still needs to recover after his and Kirishima's match."
Bakugo sighs a 'hmph', but doesn't get angry or object.
Aizawa sighs. "Fine. I need to sort out some stuff with the footage anyway...and can someone wake up Ojiro?"
I spend my ten minutes in conversation with Midoriya, Ochako and Momo while I do a load of stretches. On the other side of the class, Bakugo is also preparing with Kirishima and Sero. Aizawa sits in the corner, sitting with the camera and a laptop.
"If anyone stands a chance against Kacchan, you do," Midoriya encourages.
"I don't know. I feel Ojiro would do better. He was wiping the floor with me."
"Yeah," Ochako says. "But you also beat him fair and square."
"You'll be fine, don't worry!" Momo adds.
After the ten minutes are up, Aizawa returns to address the class, but before he can say anything, a deep voice resonates throughout the gym.
"I am here!"
"It's All Might!"
"He's back!"
"What are you doing here?" Aizawa says coldly. "You're meant to be r- elsewhere."
All Might laughs as he walks to the front of the class. "I could hardly miss the final match now, could I?! Now then, who is it." He looks over at Bakugo, then glances expectantly at Midoriya.
"Kurono and Bakugo."
"Excellent! Come here, you two."
Bakugo and I look around hesitantly, before walking up in front of the class.
"Now then!" He places a hand on each of our shoulders. "Congratulations for making it this far. Being the top of your class in hand-to-hand combat is quite a feat, you should be proud of yourselves."
"Er...thanks."
"I don't need your praise!"
All Might's voice turns slightly more serious. "I want a nice, clean fight. Let me make that overtly clear."
Oh, this is what it's about. I guess it makes sense, Bakugo doesn't exactly play nice and I'm not known for being particularly honourable either. All Might encourages us to agree to it and shake hands with each other.
Bakugo crushes my hand in his grip.
We take our places. Bakugo stares me down from across the stage. Aw, he's trying to psych me out. Let's think about this; honestly, I reckon I can match his skills, but he's going to be very fast and maneuverable. That's how he uses his Quirk, so the rest of his body will have to be able to move like that too. Fast reactions, powerful strikes, quick to anger.
That's both his strength and his weakness.
Bakugo has so much tenacity, he gets very emotionally involved. Whenever there is the slightest hint of competition, he wants to win. And he always has. But why? What has caused him to set such high expectations?
I need to get inside his head.
"Begin!"
Bakugo runs towards me with gritted teeth. With an angry shout, he leaps forward with that famous right hook. I bring up both arms to block it - Jesus Christ, even that hurt - and then use them to whip his arm round in front of him, spinning him round and exposing his ribs. I hit them twice.
Bakugo stumbles back a few steps, and there's about a second of regret and questioning why I'm here, before he jumps forwards again. He punches this time with his left, then with his right, and then kicks. Despite what I first thought, his attacks aren't as fast as I expected them to be. They're still fast, and they come in a continuous stream, but I can still block and dodge them.
I've fought worse.
"STOP MOVING!" After another series of attacks, Bakugo jumps into the air and brings down a heavy punch. I step back, wait for the force of his punch to carry him down, then return a punch to his face.
"You're sounding a little angry. Concerned you haven't landed a punch yet?" I laugh. Internally, I'm screaming at my bad decision of playing with fire.
"Arghhhhh DIE!"
I dodge to the side of another punch. I guess Monoma and I aren't so different. "That's not very heroic of you. And besides," I shoot my arm out to land another hit to his face. "It's not as if you're actually going to kill me, so stop exaggerating."
One thing that is quite concerning is that, although I've landed more punches, they don't seem to have had any effect.
Bakugo growls, lets out a war cry and darts to the right. If I can make him fuel a different kind of anger, he'll lose focus. The rage he usually has riles him up for a fight, but if that is replaced by that feral animosity I'm so familiar with, it will make him more dangerous, but less disciplined. His flawless technique will go out the window, and I can win.
He punch again, and uses my block to strike at my ribs. I dodge just in time, struggling to keep a calm and collected face. As he takes another step forward, I kick my foot up into his chin.
"You're standards are slipping. I expected more to be perfectly honest." She says, barely getting by, riding on sheer dumb luck. I think it's working though. "Even Midoriya would've been a more interesting fight."
This seems to hit a nerve within Bakugo; I thought it would. The veins across his arms and on his forehead begin to pulsate as any humanity leaves his eyes.
"Don't you dare compare to that nerd. He failed like the loser he is, AND I'M GOING TO WIN THIS ENTIRE STUPID COMPETITION!"
One final push. "You'll want to set lower expectations of yourself. Everything about you is so obsessed with winning, you know that? Here, allow me to get this through that thick skull of yours." I dart forward and throw a dummy punch towards his stomach, which he instinctively blocks. Barely a moment later, I land a right hook against his temple. "You'll never be as good as the person you aspire to be-"
Boom!
And everything was going so well too. However, if there's one thing Kurono learnt from Kurogiri, it's how to get inside one's head.
Just a reminder that from now on, I'll be releasing chapters every three days. Don't forget to leave a review and ask questions for the Christmas Q&A! Have a great day :D
