One year ago...
"I just wanna say...I'm gonna win," a stoic, emotionless blonde boy announced from the podium.
Annoyance burned in my throat as I watched the annual U.A. Sports Festival from my laptop. What the hell? Who says something like that before the Festival's even started? Over a hundred students are participating. Does he seriously think he's gonna beat them all?!
I blew a piece of turquoise hair out of my face as I set up screen recording so I'd be able to replay it later. I'd watch the matches over and over, screenshot combat styles and ultimate moves, study them until I'd memorized every student's quirk and abilities.
It's important to know your enemy. If I'm gonna be admitted into U.A. next year, I need to prepare.
I flushed awkwardly when I remembered the conversation I'd had with my mother just moments before the Festival began.
"Are you sure this is what you want, Hibiki?" she'd asked, concern etched on her face. "With your grades, you could join any school you want."
"I know. That's why I'm applying to U.A."
"But why the hero course? That career path is so dangerous."
His eyes flashed in my mind. Sunset orange. Just like mine. The smile I was responsible for keeping on his face. After what happened all those years ago...how could she ever ask me that?
"It's the only way I'll get stronger," I replied. Strong enough to protect people. Fight the bad guys. Stop other people's worlds from crashing down on them. Like mine did.
"I really wish you'd choose something different. Safer - "
" - Yeah, well I wish things were different too."
"Your father wouldn't have wanted this for you."
I gritted my teeth. "Dad would understand why I need to do this. Just stay out of my way!"
I got my quirk from him. Reciprocation. The power to absorb, double, and return the force of an attack. My father was an American soldier who'd been stationed in Okinawa. That was how my parents met. He moved around a lot so I didn't get to see him much but when I did, he told me all about his travels. Brought gifts back for me from the countries he'd visited. Showed me photos he'd taken. My dad was the ultimate adventurer.
My hero.
He'd been about to retire. Come home for good.
Then, when I was eight years old, we received the call.
My father's presence had been requested at a military ball. His last volun-told event he'd have to attend. Several high-ranking generals and important political figures went to that party. But an enemy infiltrated the party and set off a bomb.
The party was held in a fifty-story hotel. Hundreds of people came, and hundreds more were staying in the rooms. Ordinarily, my father could've absorbed the blast and shot it into the air, out of the way from everyone. But if he shot it up, he'd cause countless casualties. The deaths of civilians.
He absorbed the explosion and kept it locked in his body to stop it from escaping. He'd managed to contain the explosion to where he'd been standing.
There hadn't even been enough left of him to fill an urn.
I pressed my fingers to my lips and poked a photo of him I kept on my desk. I'll get into the best hero school in the country. I'll graduate with honors, get stronger and become someone you'd be proud of. I promise.
I sat down in my desk chair and stared at the screen intently. The first event was an obstacle course. A glorified footrace.
I didn't allow myself to blink except during commercials. The boy who'd boasted at the start and a guy with a scar on his face held the lead for quite some time. But a boy with green hair and freckles ended up being the winner. He'd used the obstacle course to his advantage to pull ahead. He hadn't even used his quirk yet. He didn't look like much but he was smart. I'd have to keep an eye on this one. I committed his name to memory. Izuku Midoriya.
Next was the cavalry battle. It had been close, but the scarred boy's team won. Once again, he was one of the festival's top competitors. Another person I had to watch out for. Shoto Todoroki, son of Endeavor, the number two hero.
Both events had been exciting to watch, but their true purpose was to separate the weak from the strong. Finally, it narrowed down to sixteen people. Almost all of them were from Class 1-A, except for a few 1-B students, a girl in Support, and a guy from General Studies. Midoriya won his duel but ended up breaking his finger in the process. Still, he was resilient.
I gasped as Todoroki won his battle almost instantly with a giant wall of ice. Yeah, definitely have to watch out for him. He was stupidly powerful. But still, as long as he didn't implement his fire-power I had a fifty percent chance of beating him if we ever faced each other in a one-on-one fight.
The rest of the battles went pretty quickly, except for one between two guys who basically had the same quirk. After regaining consciousness they arm-wrestled to determine the winner.
I mentally reviewed what I'd learned so far. Shinso's quirk was powerful, no question. But since he was in the General Studies course he wasn't my direct competition. Besides, once you knew his quirk, it was easy to avoid. His power relied too heavily on the ignorance of his opponent.
Sero was defeated very quickly. I made a mental note. Immobilize him and he was basically helpless. Kaminari's quirk rendered him useless, too. It would be interesting to see if my Reciprocation quirk would work against him. I'd never tried it on an electrical power before.
Yaoyarozu's quirk, if applied well, had the potential to be the most formidable, but she was indecisive. She took too long to plan her next move and didn't strategize well under pressure. I didn't know how my reciprocation would fare with Tokoyami's dark shadow, but he seemed very respectful. He'd won his match in the quickest, kindest way possible and didn't even inflict any injuries onto his opponent. It could be that they were friends or shared some form of camaraderie from being classmates, but even so, I didn't see Tokoyami as being a malevolent person. So far, I was able to strategize a way to win against the people I'd seen.
Until now.
A brown-haired girl who had influence over gravity stood facing her opponent. The blonde boy who'd declared he would win the entire Competition.
I sat up in my chair, my heart pounding. This was his first duel. The fight I'd been waiting to see. His quirk was my weakness. The hardest power for me to reciprocate.
Explosion.
Fire was bad enough. I'd be out in minutes if I returned a fire attack more than twice. Holding that level of heat in my body, multiplying it and sending it back vaporized water and boiled my blood. If I was lucky, I'd pass out from dehydration. Worst case scenario, it would kill me.
But explosions were even worse. On top of the heat it generated, explosions were pure, kinetic energy. It was a strain to stop, contain, then shrink all that power to prevent it from killing me, let alone shrinking it only to multiply it again and send it back. Reciprocating an explosion attack would take every ounce of my will and concentration, and that was under ideal circumstances. Add the stress and anxiety of a combat scenario, the possibility that another attack was sent at me before I could reciprocate the first one, and the fact it put severe physical strain on my body, and you got a recipe for disaster. An explosion-based attack took my father from me. Even after decades of practice, he couldn't survive it.
And I didn't have decades. I had one year.
My blood ran cold at the sight of him before the fight even began. Katsuki Bakugou was the only student enrolled at U.A. who had the power to kill me.
She lunged forth, running at him. "Giving up isn't an option for me!" she cried.
"And now you die," Bakugo answered darkly.
I clawed into the arms of my chair as I watched the girl's repeated attempts to charge at him. The hell?! Did he really just say that?! What's wrong with this guy?! My gaze moved back to the girl. Due to the nature of her quirk, her strategy was obvious. All she had to do was touch him and send him out of bounds. But Bakugo's reaction time was inhuman. Just when I thought she'd finally gotten close enough or caught him off guard he shot an explosive attack at her. Some of them straight in her face. His tenacity was palpable. He wasn't considerate like Tokoyami, or chivalrous like Kirishima. He would do whatever it took to win.
The camera panned up, and I saw all of the rocks she'd been secretly holding over Bakugo's head. I gasped and jumped out of my chair when I realized the girl's true plan.
She pressed her fingers together and the rocks Bakugo himself had formed by tearing apart the arena started raining down from the sky.
I broke out into a smile. Her plan was brilliant. Even if the meteor shower didn't immobilize him, even if he somehow managed to dodge every piece of debris, she'd created dozens of openings for herself. Relief brushed over me like a summer breeze, warm and welcome. She was going to win.
Bakugo was beatable, just like everyone else.
Then he raised his hand up and shot out an explosion bigger than all of his previous attacks. Every rock was incinerated, falling to the floor as tiny, smoking pieces of rubble. The smaller pieces didn't even make it that far...they'd been reduced to ash.
I shuddered in horror as tears flooded my eyes. He...he destroyed them all. With one hand. In one blow!
The announcer's voice bellowed, "Bakugo bangs out a huge demonstration of power! He blasted apart Ururaka's finishing move and remains untouched!"
I couldn't comprehend that amount of strength. That level of control over his quirk. The speed of his reflexes. His quick thinking. The force of the blast blew the girl across the floor.
The girl tried to take a step forward but collapsed, falling unconscious to the floor.
"Uraraka is doooown!"
"No!" I cried out, even though no one could hear me.
She crawled across the floor, struggling to stand. But it was clear. The fight was over.
"Uraraka is K.O.d! BAKUGO ADVANCES TO THE NEXT ROUND!" Midnight declared.
I slammed shut my laptop as panic constricted my heart. I fell to my knees. Tears streamed down my face. My hands clenched into fists as I tried to stop them from shaking. No matter how deeply I gulped for air I felt like I couldn't breathe.
A person like that should never have been allowed into a school for training heroes. He's dangerous. Evil. Just like the man who…
I roughly wiped my face and got to my feet as a snarl rose up in my throat. For the next twelve months, I would do nothing but study that monster. I'd be prepared for the day we came face to face.
Not only did I have to get into U.A...I needed to get him out.
In the darkness of my room, I glared at my laptop. "I'm coming for you..." I promised breathlessly. "Katsuki Bakugo."