Katsuki Does Not Dream of Pink Cheeks

Chapter 26: Declaration

"It's time for the second years' introductory speech!" began Mt. Lady with feigned enthusiasm, waving to the audience with clear pageantry.

"I'd bet anything she did all the pageants back in her day."

She certainly seemed the type. If Katsuki had to pick pageant fiends out of a lineup, the blonde pro hero was the very first one he was calling out. Though, given recent lineup struggles, maybe he was giving himself far too much credit.

"And for the student pledge, we have… Katsuki Bakugo!"

There had been a noteworthy delay while Mt. Lady simulated excitement over the news. A tinge of dread bled through her words, implying the chief umpire remembered the boy after all. This wasn't exactly shocking since his previous encounter with the pro hero hadn't exactly been a pleasant one. Whether it was from her guest appearance at U.A. or last year's sports festival, Katsuki knew he couldn't have made a great impression. In fact, there was a decent chance he'd made the worst impression, given the feedback he'd received from the young pro hero last year.

"Bet she just agreed to be chief umpire for free food…" he heard Ballhead mutter cynically.

"No surprise there," Jiro commented from his right. "You did win last year."

"I honestly thought they'd go with the runner up after his pledge last year…" Kaminari chimed in from beside her.

"Talk less and try not to get one shot this year." Katsuki retorted snidely as he turned to make his way to the podium.

They'd changed it up slightly from last year. Now the stairs were to the sides and the podium faced both students and audience alike. This meant the students had their backs to the audience this time around. He wondered if this was done to make his more faint-hearted classmates rest easier at the start or if it was just change for the sake of change.

Needless to say, Katsuki preferred the former setup. The thought of looking to his fellow students while he spoke offered him no satisfaction, hormones or no hormones. He didn't need to look at them to tell them who the winner was going to be. His words alone sufficed.

The blonde stole a glance at Jiro as he passed. He still admittedly found her attractive, - even in attire as standard as the U.A. training uniform - but his worst fear didn't come to fruition. On the contrary, apart from mild embarrassment over having fallen for the hearing hero the day prior, Lobes elicited the reaction he'd hoped for: None. From where it counted most, that is.

Katsuki shot out a few more sly glances as he coolly maneuvered through the crowd of students, hoping to catch one of the other Four Horsemen; His Triggers. This proved to largely be to no avail until familiar fiery locks caught his eye once he'd reached the stairs to the podium. Kendo was apparently too busy debating whether or not to chop down Copycat to notice his gaze. Just as well. Eye contact wasn't necessarily required for the test he was conducting.

Though he wasn't able to get as good a look at the ginger as he had at the sassy musician, the end result was seemingly the same. Nothing on two counts. That was encouraging. It was unknown whether this would translate into long term endurance over the full course of the festival, but it was undeniably encouraging.

"I was gonna lose my shit if Jiro gave me another hard-on." Katsuki thought with relief as he reached the podium, as well as his next trial.

The Chief Umpire, Mt. Lady. What were the odds? Of all the heroes they could have gotten, it had to be the first person he'd pleasured himself to? He'd been led to believe the norm was for U.A. staff members to take the gig, but given the rising tide and regularity with which his class was now interacting with guest pro heroes, - through both lectures and work studies - it wasn't the most surprising shakeup the boy had seen of the school's status quo.

Bakugo braced himself for the unforeseen ordeal as he looked toward the chief umpire. The last week had been full of wild changes for him, but few had been so dramatic a change as his complete 180 on Mt. Lady. There was nothing gradual or even natural about the transition in his eyes. Overnight, she'd transformed from another annoying naysayer to a flaxen-haired goddess. Seeing her up close and in person was the ultimate reminder of this evolution. In her skintight bodysuit and domino mask, she unwittingly brought Katsuki back to all the times he'd fantasized about her and Kendo over the last week. Even now he hadn't the faintest idea why his mind had drawn such a parallel between the two. Though the masks were similar, they weren't exactly uncommon. Kendo's quirk was basically partial gigantification, so maybe that had played a part in the mental connection.

Mt. Lady looked to him with grim amusement as he drew nearer. Her face seemed to both fret and eagerly await the boy's impending announcement. Katsuki couldn't deny it. Even while in a borderline comical state, it was quite a face. Like her body, it seemed to belong to someone inhuman. She looked more like a model than a hero, in many respects. Being able to pull off both roles only served to make her more attractive to the young man.

His eyes more than liked what they saw, but fortunately Bakugo had prepared for today. Even flaxen-haired dream fodder like Mt. Lady couldn't get in his way now. Stopping at the mic stand beside her and turning to face his opponents down below, he couldn't help but feel empowered. That is, until Mina Ashido caught his eye from the crowd.

At the front of the pack, Alien Queen had positioned herself where she simply couldn't be missed as he said his piece. Her smirk and crossed arms greeted him along with a visibly sadistic aura. Or at least, what Katsuki perceived as aura. He couldn't be too sure, for all around her shifted into the pink ethereal peripheral view he'd experienced once or twice before.

"I'll make it worth your while!" Mina's voice sang through his mind.

Bakugo may have been conflicted when it came to swimsuits, but the blue U.A. training uniforms were another matter. It suited her more than anyone else. The fit was incredibly flattering. And equally persuasive.

"Ask me out when you take the stage tomorrow," she purred again. "In front of everyone."

Katsuki's member surged forth violently, undercutting every measure taken beforehand. Just like that, Mina Ashido had effortlessly given him a stiffy in front of everyone - and depending on where the cameras were, perhaps even for the whole world to see. Rather than the utter panic he would have anticipated deriving from this development, Katsuki felt lighter. Every shred of rationale he had left to him strongly urged him to stop and look away. Unfortunately, every shred of rationale also happened to be muted. Nothing that made sense was getting through. Only the nonsense seemed to pierce through and form cohesive thoughts.

Bakugo was possessed with an incredibly foreign desire to drop to his knees, drool openly over the succubus known as Ashido, and comply with her each and every demand. The prospect of being brought to his knees normally would have ignited his soul and sent the blonde into a fury, but as things stood, the premise only made him harder as Katsuki gawked at his classmate.

"Stupid body's getting back at me for this morning…"

After a brief panic over the state Mina had left him in the night before, Bakugo had made his first masturbatory concession in an effort to placate his urges and get him through the festival. He'd allowed himself to think of Ashido in order to get off. And now he was paying in full force for that concession. Setting a precedent for satisfying himself to her may have been the nail in the coffin for him.

"Why do I… Want her so bad?"

Taking note of the dead air, Mina's eyes widened and she seemed to physically squeal while raising hopeful fists to her chin. Any doubt she may have harbored seemed to be rapidly evaporating. In its place, a starry-eyed brand of giddiness became visible.

"Fuck… I want this so bad… How do I do this without looking like a fucking idiot?!"

He practically leapt at Mt. Lady's unexpected touch, a shiver running down his spine as her hand smacked his back.

"Never took you for the shy type, Kid."

"Tch. As if!" Katsuki replied, purely by instinct.

As he looked back to the pro, the boy was filled with something he hadn't felt often. A poignant notion of gratitude. One he'd felt toward All Might and Best Jeanist before her. While he deeply regretted needing the help to begin with, Katsuki Bakugo had long ago come to a point where he was able to accept help from others. Images of Kirishima reaching out from above and Jiro and the others helping him in their bout against 1B came to mind. Then more recent images of Ivy saving him just days ago. All Might and Endeavor as they'd taught him, the former who'd been incredibly supportive, and the latter, whose more frank disposition and teaching style had helped him in the places where the former No. 1's had come up short.

This wasn't the first time Mt. Lady had helped him either. At Kamino Ward she'd gotten up with her battered body and blocked the League of Villains from pursuing him and his classmates. Back then, the boy remembered always resisting the help of others with every fiber of his being. If holding All Might back against All for One hadn't outweighed maintaining his pride, Katsuki likely wouldn't have even accepted help then. Thanks to that initial acceptance of a helping hand, Bakugo had been able to come a long way.

"Even Deku… Hmph. If I can even accept help from that nerd, I really have made some progress."

This bittersweet train of thought proved to be a great relief for the young blonde student, for even sentimental distractions had become welcome in Katsuki's headspace so long as they could battle his infernal hormones. Thanks to this shift in focus, looking to Mt. Lady for a moment hadn't proven near so treacherous as it may have otherwise. It was bad enough to get aroused at all on the podium. He didn't want to know the impact a bombshell like Mt. Lady could have on his lustful copilot if he so much as looked at her the wrong way.

"Shaddup already!" he finally barked into the mic, instantly silencing the crowd of students. "You all better put up a fight this year. You're all stronger than you were, so if this is a cakewalk again, I'm gonna kick each and every one of your asses! Bring it on, you got that?!"

Surprisingly, his opening declaration got a much warmer reception than it had last year. There were still more than a few hecklers to be heard, but they were largely drowned out by the more vocal majority, who accepted his challenge.

"You got it! Just you wait!"

"I'm taking you down this time!"

"How could you be so crass again?! You're representing all of us!"

"Try me!"

"Bakugo-away!"

"Yeah! Let's do our best!"

"I'm coming for you, Class 2A!"

Katsuki could've sworn he picked out Glasses' and Uraraka's voices from the amalgam of shouts. The reaction seemed to be a mixed bag, but still notably more positive than that which preceded it. Granted, he might have actually been hard pressed to get a worse reception than last year, so perhaps better results had been inevitable. Inevitable so long as he'd managed to shake the idea of fulfilling Ashido's request, at least.

"Really reeled the ego in for that one, huh, Kid? Coming from you that was almost magnanimous." Mt. Lady commented from his side.

The students and crowd above were still blurting out incoherent phrases that all meshed together with no end in sight. He doubted anyone had heard her. Or that they'd hear him - Unless he inhaled the microphone. Not that it mattered. What he had to say to the flaxen-haired hero was long overdue, regardless of who heard him.

"Thanks… For before."

"Huh? You lost me?" she asked, equal parts confused and skeptical.

"I never thanked you… For Kamino Ward, I mean. So thanks…" Katsuki replied, turning to exit.

"Hey, Bakugo." Mt. Lady called after him, as if weighing over a gamble.

He promptly turned to acknowledge the beautiful pro hero, who subtly pulled him aside to speak.

"What is it?"

"How about you work study for me sometime? It may not be as glamorous as what you're used to from Endeavor and Best Jeanists' agencies, but working with more grounded heroes could do you some good. Can't always count on partnering up with the best of the best in a crisis. Being able to work with and utilize big and small talents alike is crucial for any pro. So what do you say?"

Truth be told, Katsuki hadn't expected anything so profound from her. What's more, the words coming from her in particular hit him differently than they would have from other pros. For obvious reasons.

"...Yeah, sure." Bakugo replied awkwardly, his face burning.

Mt. Lady's kind smile shifted to a look of faint amusement after assessing his response.

"What do you know. Looks like you are human."

Her candid observation struck a chord in Katsuki, further embarrassing him in addition to unraveling his remnants of recovered composure. The boy's face grew hotter still when he allowed his eyes to wander to the flaxen-haired hero's relentlessly enchanting bosom. Assets that were already awe inspiring in fantasies seemed to be in a whole different league now that they were here before him in the flesh.

"SO HOT!" Katsuki thought, on the verge of drooling as trepidation stormed through the back of his mind.

Another massive erection reared its head while the explosion hero stood there, paralyzed as he lusted for Mt. Lady. The focus of his desires observed him in thinly veiled amusement for a few moments longer before putting a hand to his shoulder and drawing in close. It was all he could do not to go in for a kiss, but his paralysis didn't seem to be amenable to that idea. Even so, her face coming so close drove Katsuki absolutely crazy.

"Everything okay over here?" she whispered into his ear, sounding more reassuring than concerned.

"...Yeah!" Bakugo blurted, dazed beyond belief as he stared at the breasts just below his face.

She'd leaned in and hunched over in order to talk into his ear as she had. Effective in terms of privacy, catastrophic in terms of Katsuki Bakugo's tattered endurance.

"Good," Mt. Lady replied, as if praising a dog. "Then do you think you can do me a favor?"

"You got it…" he replied, hypnotized.

Her irresistible body turned him on. Her breath against his ear turned him on. Her tone of voice and authority turned him on. Each and every thing about the enchantress enticed him. His peripherals were completely blocked out by a glaring and bright pink aura. It was like what had obscured his vision before on steroids.

"I'LL DO YOU EVERY FAVOR IN THE FUCKING BOOK!" he mused drunkenly in his shattered headspace.

"Can you get back down there so I can announce the first stage?"

"Sure…"

Katsuki sounded out of breath as he stepped back and took one last longing look at the chief umpire. Her violet eyes were hard to read, but he managed to glean hints of pity and amusement from them. An impatient hand came to her hip as she waited for the shaken boy to comply with her request. Normally he would have been full of snappy responses and pushback, but a deep lust had drained him of his typical impulses. For the first time in his life, Bakugo was relishing in taking orders.

"Why is it so hot when she tells me what to do?!" the teen wondered in frustration as he exited the podium and rejoined the students below at the nearest edge where he thankfully recognized no one.

Wild snickering and general mockery didn't reach his ears, so he hoped with an unprecedented amount of optimism that both his bouts of downstairs turmoil had flown under the radar somehow. Last year had been a cakewalk; This year, even something as simple as the beginning announcement was a struggle.

"And with that out of the way, it's time to get started!" Mt. Lady carried on enthusiastically, cuing the screen that appeared behind her. On it was a spinning box meant to select the first event of the festival. "What'll the first challenge be this year?!"

In no time at all the box stopped and revealed to all the selection: Egg Hunt.

"And there we have it! All eleven classes will be gathering eggs! The objectives will be set in the stadium in thirty separate piles! Your goal will be to obtain all the eggs you can within a ten minute interval! Only eggs you have on your person when time's up will count toward your final score and broken eggs are out of play, though cracked eggs that remain in tact are fair game! This will be a free for all, so your individual scores are the only means by which you can move on to the next round! Now then, everyone take your places by forming a tight circle where you are! The eggs will be set shortly and I'll set you off on the count of three! Get ready!"

AN:

The Preview:

With the U.A. Sports Festival finally underway, Katsuki Bakugo finds himself already struggling to clear unexpected hurdles. As he revs up for the festival's first event, will he be able to keep a cool enough head to stay at the top of the pack? Find out by tuning in next time as our young hero encounters unexpected challengers in his battle for egg supremacy!

Yours Truly:

Thanks for your continued support everyone! Followers old and new, I can safely say we probably wouldn't be this far without you. All your thoughts and enjoyment of the series are always the foundation for that next chapter. Appreciate you all following me this far. We're in the final stretch now! Tell me all your hopes and dreams for the endgame, I'd love to hear your theories! Planning to drop the next chapter on either Christmas Day or New Year's Eve! Happy reading everyone!

- ER

Review Responses:

Ultimatrix bearer - Aptly put! And wouldn't you know, Bakugo's confusion is certainly progressing! Haha

Ultimate Savior - I'm anxious to show you all! Glad you got a kick out of Bakugo's eagerness and thank you for the review!