Chapter 11: The Art of War

Generally speaking, Izuku Midoriya was a respectful young man with admirable qualities that made people comfortable in his presence. He was a good friend, son, and budding hero, and he strived for the best each waking day.

In the same breath however, Midoriya was also an obsessive, one-track, anxious little dweeb with the social skills of a hermit. As many people could say Midoriya was a model student, and a person they could count on in a time of need, there were equally as many people who could say he was a fanboy with a glorified power quirk, only focused on his one true goal, negligent of anything else outside of it. And while both of these sides of Midoriya were present, he successfully learned to mask being a little creep long enough to be accepted into the very society that once laughed at him.

Did any of Midoriya's negatives make him a bad person? No, not at all. In fact, his friends could look past his habitual muttering and weird ability to read people for who they really were. It was because Midoriya was such a good and lovable person that the duality of his personality was the very thing that made him a formidable opponent.

Katsuki Bakugo knew this all too well. As someone who had been in battle with Midoriya his entire life, Bakugo thought he had a pretty good run-down on Midoriya's battle tactics, but every fucking year the guy had some new shit to pull out of his ass and once again, Bakugo had to pump out his perfect essence twice as much to even catch up.

It never helped Bakugo whenever Midoriya claimed he idolized him. He figured it was part of Midoriya's war tactic, a move that would always pour salt in the already deep, infected, oozing wound that was Bakugo's pride. And now, for whatever reason, Uraraka was now in the middle of it.

She didn't know it of course, but the boys had finally reached a point where the actions of each other finally made sense, and on one chilly Saturday afternoon, it clicked.

This meant war.

Uraraka looked in the large mirror propped against Mina's bedroom wall. She second-guessed her outfit choice, a cream turtleneck sweater neatly tucked into a hunter green corduroy miniskirt paired with pale yellow thigh-high socks and brown platform loafers, for the thousandth time that afternoon, when a cry from Mina caused her to turn abruptly.

"Found it!" Mina exclaimed, clutching a black article of clothing to her chest. Uraraka rolled her eyes playfully, and returned her gaze to the floor-length mirror, fiddling with the small necklace she wore that faced backwards. The pendant was a small gold star, a gift from Midoriya during their second Christmas in the dorms. She remembered when he awkwardly thrust the box in her hands, running away before she could even open it. She laughed to herself, thinking about how the boy was such a nervous wreck sometimes.

"What's so funny Chaks?" Mina finished tugging on the tight mock-neck sweater dress she had been digging around her room for. She snatched up a pair of black fuzzy socks that lay on the desk beside Uraraka and plopped on the floor.

"I was just remembering how awkward Deku was when he gave this necklace to me." Uraraka turned around. She watched Mina aggressively tug the socks on then scramble across the room for a bright red pair of Air Forces.

"He's always pretty oof-" One red shoe pulled on. "-awkward isn't he?" The second shoe was on, and Mina stood up triumphantly.

"Yeah..." Uraraka trailed off. She looked down at her phone to see a text from Bakugo, asking her what the hell was taking her and Mina so long to come downstairs.

"It's kinda cute though, dontcha think?" Mina asked, clasping a thin gold chain around her neck.

"W-what?" Uraraka stopped texting mid-sentence.

"Midoriya? He's kinda cute isn't he?" An impossibly perfect mascara application and a puff of a very loud perfume accompanied Mina's question.

"Yeah, I g-guess?" Uraraka shrugged nervously, waving away the perfume. Mina stopped adjusting her dress and looked at her friend for a second.

"Not as cute as Bakugo though..right?" The question came out as one sentence, but the implication was very heavy. Uraraka nodded furiously.

"Yeah! Totally, nothing better, can't think of a single person coming close. Speaking of..." Uraraka pushed the subject away. Mina grabbed a small red purse from thin air and opened her bedroom door.

"Yeah, yeah, I get it, let's head out girly."

The rare occasions students left the dorm on the weekends was to go out, have some fun, or see family. As they got closer, Bakugo and Uraraka managed going out together with the rest of the Bakusquad, granted Mina and Kirishima were both aware the two were seeing each other. It was good for Uraraka, she got to form a close bond with Mina and Kirishima, and she even found herself training with them throughout the week. Bakugo was more inclined to go out, and with Uraraka around, he was a much more amicable person, willing to do activities he would've normally cussed Kirishima out for.

This Saturday's outing was a simple trip to the mall, after hearing Mina complain about her winter wardrobe for 3 straight days, the boys decided they would have to take her to the mall, or they were going to lose it holed up in the dorms for another weekend. So with permission granted and wallets ready, Uraraka was invited and they set off. A normal day of shopping, food, and jokes.

Who knew the fucking mall could be the next warzone.

Everything had been going great, everyone had splurged, even Uraraka, who used a bit of the money she had been saving to get Christmas gifts for friends and family. The group had eaten and stuffed to their heart's content, walked their lunch off, making jokes and acting silly. Denki and Sero were in the middle of recreating some viral video, forcing Bakugo to record, when the electric blonde bumped into someone walking through their video.

"Kaminari! Hey, what's going on?"

Of course, Bakugo sighed, shutting off the recording. He tossed the phone back to Sero and took a defensive stance next to Uraraka.

"Midoriya, dude, what's up?" Denki gave a quick fist bump to Midoriya, who awkwardly returned it.

"Just out, Asui- I mean Tsu, Iida, and Todoroki wanted to get out of the dorms for the day." Midoriya said. He flashed a small smile to Uraraka. "Hey, Uraraka." He blushed.

"Hey, De-"

"Of course you'd be here." Bakugo cut Uraraka off.

"I'm out with our friends, Kacchan. Uraraka, I texted you earlier and asked if you wanted to come, but.." Midoriya trailed off, fishing his phone out of his pocket.

"Oh! Sorry, Mina kind of snatched me up this morning." Uraraka lied plainly. She didn't know why she lied, because she did see the text, right after she saw and agreed to Bakugo's. Part of her knew her choice to ignore Midoriya would bite back at her, but she didn't think it would be so quickly. The air was growing thick, the small interaction a tad awkward to Uraraka. The intense energy radiated from Bakugo, and the forced conversation with Midoriya let her know that something was wrong, she just couldn't really figure out why. The group of teens stood around for a bit, making mindless small talk, when Bakugo coughed loudly, grabbing Uraraka by the arm.

"Alright dipshits, we done here or what? This kinda blows now." Bakugo called out, clearly annoyed. The very presence of Deku was throwing him off, it was like the idiot planned to be there the same day he was.

"Yeah dude, we can go." Kirishima grabbed his bags and Mina's who wearily trudged around in a circle.

"Yeah, let's go, I wanna go get some ice cream before it gets dark!" The alien girl perked up at the mention of leaving.

"You guys are leaving?" Midoriya piped up. "Hey um, Uraraka, before you go, are you um, are you free tonight?" He rubbed the back of his head nervously.

"She's not." Bakugo said quickly. The world around them stopped for a second. The sinking feeling Uraraka was feeling began to grow stronger.

"I uh, was really asking Uraraka-"

"And I fucking answered. Got a problem with that, Deku?" Bakugo stared at Midoriya, red eyes blazing with intimidation.

Midoriya knew how the battles started before they began. Bakugo's strategy was simple at times, engage, antagonize, fight. It wasn't hard to start a fight, but it was nearly impossible to prevent one. Midoriya knew at this moment, the smart move was to cower in fear, and back off until he could talk to Uraraka alone. But he didn't want to forfeit yet again, not when Uraraka was on the line. He was already behind enough, he couldn't afford to walk away anymore. The obsessive, creepy, and slightly irritated side of Midoriya threatened to show itself, he was just so sick of Bakugo's attitude. He watched Bakugo boss around his friends, strangers, his parents, and now Uraraka for too long, and he couldn't stand it.

"Y-yeah, I do." Midoriya mumbled. Bakugo raised an eyebrow.

"Oh yeah? And what the fuck are you gonna do about it?" Bakugo teased. He knew Deku's strategy, it was acting like a little bitch, growing a pair of balls for 2 seconds, then having some shitty extra come in at the last second and save him. He was so sick of watching his friends, teachers, and even Uraraka fawn over the fake puppy-dog skit every single time. It was annoying, and a waste of his time. Bakugo knew the reason this rivalry went on for so long was because Deku had spent their whole lives pulling the victim card, making Bakugo out to the be the bad guy every time. Sure, Bakugo had been a bully once or twice in middle school, who wasn't? It was just the fact that Deku could hold his own in every single predicament except theirs, and it honestly prodded at Bakugo's ego ruthlessly, and he convinced himself that Deku didn't perceive him as worthy enough to take on in a real fight.

"Guys.." Uraraka said quietly. She was growing a little upset, and she didn't know why out of all times, these two had something to settle now. She figured whatever the issue was pertained to her, and she felt responsible for the weird incidents that kept happening anytime the two talked to each other in her presence. Her conscience told her the reasonable thing to do was stop them from arguing and just go home with Bakugo, but she couldn't help but to wonder why had Midoriya reared his curly green head suddenly. He had plenty of time to do something, but he never did. He played his role as her best friend, and played it well. There were so many times Uraraka could recount where if Midoriya had spoken up for once she was sure it would've ended up in mutual happiness. But someone always got too nervous, someone always backed out, and they would retreat and wonder what could have been.

The fact that now, when Bakugo had entered the equation, Midoriya decided to be a stupid hero in the name of romance at the mall of all places made Uraraka a little mad. Not even a little actually, she was furious. How dare he crash her happiness like this, it was selfish, it was useless, dumb, rash-

And yet, she didn't exactly stop it. Part of her first-year self still resided in her, the part that followed Midoriya wherever he went, no matter what. She still admired his determination and infectious desire to succeed, and he was one of the closest people to her. It made sense that they would end up together somewhere down the line, practically everyone was rooting for them.

Everyone except Bakugo. It was similar to the way he hated her fake bubbly personality, he equally hated the fact that she was ever attracted to Deku. And it wasn't for his personal reasons, it was the fact that anytime Bakugo decided to give the idea of Uraraka and Deku two seconds of thought, he came to the same conclusion every time. Before Bakugo knew he even liked Uraraka, he could tell Deku wasn't going to be good for her. No amount of love and kindness in the world was going to make him a suitable partner for someone like her. Uraraka was too strong, too self-reliant, and way too self-motivated to be with someone who needed to be a hero 24/7 to satisfy his ego. Bakugo recoiled every time he witnessed Uraraka praise Deku as if he was motivational god, someone who inspired anyone around him. It was not only belittling to Bakugo, because he felt as if he could be an inspiration for anyone to try to come second best to the almighty DynaMight, but he knew it was belittling to Uraraka as well, because she had so much potential no one ever really gave her credit for. The idea that a relationship between Uraraka and Deku would be built on a one-way road of respect disgusted Bakugo, and he told himself if he were ever going to have a woman like her, he would make sure no one would ever subject her to treatment she didn't deserve.

So he stood tall in front of the one person that threatened a relationship he had yet to initiate, and he held his ground proudly.

Midoriya stood just as tall, not yet ready to back down to someone that had stepped on him his entire life.

For a second, Midoriya considered the possibility that maybe he was just doing this to have an advantage over Bakugo, and he felt the guilt creep in when he realized that meant he was just using Uraraka as leverage in this on-going war. But he looked at said brunette, her wide brown eyes glistening with worry, her small arms wrapped around one of Bakugo's, and he decided he was doing this for her. He knew the kind of woman Uraraka had become since they first met, and he was willing to go the lengths to finally secure the relationship they had been dancing around for so long. He turned his head towards her, and asked her once more if she was free later that night.

"Hey! You ignoring me, Deku?!" Bakugo roared, clenching his fists. He hated being ignored, especially by someone as shitty as Deku.

"No, I'm asking Uraraka what she wants." Midoriya replied confidently. The look of surprise from Bakugo and his surrounding classmates let Midoriya know he had temporarily advanced in this battle.

"I told you, she's not fucking free, so fuck off." Bakugo stepped in front of Uraraka, physically removing her from the argument.

Midoriya reached forward and grabbed Uraraka's arm that had been sticking out from behind Bakugo, dragging her between them. "I want to hear it from her myself, Kacchan."

Uraraka looked between the two boys. One looked at her like she was a prize, bright green eyes twinkling with anticipation. The other looked at her like she was something to protect, intense red eyes glowing with dominance. Uraraka sighed internally, she was quite literally caught in between two people who made her feel like she was everything for different reasons. She was a best friend and sidekick to one, and a powerhouse and partner to the other. Her most recent weeks spent with Bakugo pushed her mind to turn and choose him, but the years of friendship with Midoriya made her want to turn the opposite direction. It was frustrating that she had to make a choice in the first place, and she was a little disappointed in both boys, she wasn't something either of them could have. She understood they had their reasonings for wanting her with them, but she was Ochako Uraraka before anything else, and she was the only person who decided who was going to have a place in her life.

"I want to go home." Uraraka said quietly. Both boys stiffened, then Bakugo reached a hand out to her.

"Then let's go, Chee-"

"Alone." Uraraka said. Bakugo paused, then returned his hand slowly. Uraraka planted her feet firmly between the two, and continued talking. "I-I'm not something to have, I'm someone."

"Uraraka, we don't think-" A wave of her hand cut Midoriya off.

"I'm still talking." She said a bit louder. Her friends around her grew rigid, they had never felt such a controlling aura from Uraraka before, she was normally such a peaceful person to them. "I respect both of you, and I'm sure both of you respect me, but I am going to do what I decide is good for me, not what's good for you." Her cheeks slowly gained color as she released her frustrations. "It's a little irritating and honestly childish for both of you to put me in this situation. I came to UA to become a hero and support my family, not be an accessory to either of you. Now if you'll excuse me, I am going to go back to the dorms, and to my room." She turned on her heel, her shopping bags swinging violently, and breezed past the dumbstruck boys beside her. Mina and Tsu made an effort to go after her, but she raised a hand. "I would like to be alone tonight, if anyone could respect that."

Bakugo and Midoriya watched her leave, neither daring to make a move until she was out of sight. Midoriya felt a little defeated, and ashamed of himself. He felt as if he insulted Uraraka, and that he shouldn't have said anything in the first place. As much as he wanted to go after her, he stayed put, wondering how he would make this incident up to her. Bakugo huffed, and turned back to his friends. This was nothing to him, she had made up her mind and acted on it, something he had no choice but to respect. It was a little upsetting that she didn't choose him immediately, but the fact she made a decision for herself for once impressed the blonde, and his heart swelled with admiration. He wanted to race after her and scoop her up in his arms to tell her how proud he was of her, but he knew his boundaries and figured that she would come around when she was ready to. Bakugo gave one last glare at Midoriya and spit in his direction, then turned and walked away with his friends. Tsuyu, Iida, and Todoroki surrounded Midoriya, giving him knowing nods before heading off in the opposite direction.

The battle had ended for now, neither army gaining ground on the other. But this was war, and with war came a stalemate every now and then.