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Chapter 7: A Team Effort
With the help of Sero and Kirishima, Katori lifts Bakugo in the air as the head of their calvary plan. Katori grunts as she holds onto Bakugo's heavy leg. "Why the hell are we holding up your heavy ass? I'm the smallest one here!"
"Pipe it down, Copy-Paste, you're the one who wanted to be on my team!" Bakugo barks with eyes fixated on Midoriya. Katori scoffs as Kirishima shrugs with a laugh at Bakugo's delusional mind.
"Do you really think it is a good idea to be wasting our time on Midoriya?" Katori begins, "Everyone is going to be going after him. If we focus our attacks on the other—"
"We're here to be Number One, Copy-Paste!" Bakugo snaps at her.
They begin running towards Midoriya with the rest of the students competing for the ten million points. Katori's eyes flash around at all the competitors, reading their Quirks as she attempts to grab one that will give her the most advantage in this game.
Before she can make her first assault on someone's Quirk, she feels a weight lifting off of her arms. She looks up trying to process what is happening when she looks up to see Bakugo launching himself into the air as he tries to grab for Midoriya's team while they evade the attacks of several others.
"What the hell are you doing?" she screams at the hot-headed idiot.
"Don't think for a second you're safe!" he yells up at the boy as he reaches for his ten-million-point headband. "I've got you!" he declares as he extends his arm outreached towards the headband. Tokoyami's dark shadow is quick to defend, and Bakugo's fiery attack explodes before him with no hit to Midoriya or the others.
"Grab him, Sero!" Katori shrieks as Bakugo begins free falling towards the ground. Sero is quick to move, using his Quirk to grab onto the boy and launch him back in their arms.
"Woah nice catch!" Kirishima says with a smile reaching his face, but Katori is not as pleased.
"What the hell was that?" she growls at him. "You need to communicate, you idiot!" The two begin arguing when they hear that they are still in the race since Bakugo didn't touch the floor, and this ignites the boy with ideas of pulling this stunt again.
"I can do whatever I want, Copy-Paste. Be useful and drain some of these losers!" he yells looking down at her.
"Woah, Bakugo that's not—"
Before Kirishima can finish scolding the hot-headed boy, she argues over him. "You didn't even know what Tokoyami's Quirk is! If you did, you wouldn't have been so stupid as to pull a stunt like that! Let alone one that you didn't warn us about! This is a team effort! You need to communicate."
"Why don't you stop arguing and—" before he can finish, a chill flows up his back and a soft breeze flows through his blonde hair as the headband is snatched before he can process what is going on.
Katori's eyes follow the thief to see a blonde boy from class 1B placing the band atop his head. "Your class is too small minded. Think bigger," he teases them as he moves away from them.
"What did you say? Come back here!" Bakugo howls back at them with wild rage filling his eyes.
The boy smiles at their tenacity, "Midnight said the obstacle course was just the first game, and we figured they wouldn't cut that many of us right off the bat, would they?" he says looking back at them with dull gray eyes. She looks onto his eyes, reading his Quirk and scoffing. "Assuming they'd keep at least 40 contestants for the next event, all we had to do was make sure we stayed within that group as we ran. From our spots in the middle ranks, we could fully observe the Quirks our rivals had and judge their capabilities. Only a fool would obsess over winning the preliminary rounds, wouldn't you agree?"
"You planned this as a class?" Bakugo asks with slight shock lacing his tone.
"It wasn't entirely a unanimous decision, but I'd say it's playing out well," he begins pressing Bakugo's buttons, teasing him for the folly plan of going after Midoriya, and for being attacked by some sludge monster that she has no knowledge of, but whatever it is, it is clearly making Bakugo steam with frustration as he grows darker.
"Kirishima," he growls with a red-hot intensity that brings a shiver down her spine. "We have a change of plans. Before we get Deku, we are going to kill every one of these b-list idiots."
"Monoma, don't provoke him, man. That's the kind of thing he would do," one of his underlings tells him.
"Yeah, I guess you're right, it's not very heroic of me. Besides, you know how these things work, heroes are always being hounded by moronic villains desperate for some kind of revenge."
Katori feels a hatred boiling in her gut as she thinks about her father and how everything she is doing is in the name of revenge. It is not moronic, and she knows that it means something. She knows her role in this plan is important, and there is nothing this idiotic blonde can say to make her think otherwise.
"Oh, I get it," she says with a snarky smile reaching her lips as the boy's eyes land on hers. "You're covering up your lack of talents and sad excuses of a Quirk by pretending you had a real strategy there," she begins and Bakugo looks down at her with shocked eyes. "If that's what you need to make yourselves feel better about living in the shadow of our class, I totally understand, and hey, it's a great plan!" she says with fake niceties in her tone. "But in the end, you can't hide from the inevitable realization that you will all be eternal sidekicks at best." The plain blonde from 1B watches her with harsh eyes and she matches his glare.
Bakugo releases a triumphant cackle at her words, "Couldn't have said it better myself, Copy-Paste."
"I don't know, Katori," Kirishima says hesitantly, "That was kinda harsh."
She frowns looking over at the red-haired boy, having got into Bakugo's head and taking it a bit too far, blacking out from the rage as she thinks about her father's role in all of this. She thinks about him and what he would do in this situation. She reminds herself that he would keep a level head, and not allow anyone to get to him.
Bakugo on the other hand begins boiling over as he releases an explosion between his palms, roaring in hatred as he commands them to continue. "Get after them, Kirishima!" he commands the boy and Katori grits her teeth with worry.
"Please don't make us regret this!" Kirishima groans as they begin running towards the team.
"You think you're so tough?" he pulls back his arm, preparing himself to release an attack when Katori calls out to him.
"Bakugo, no!" but she is too late, and the boy attempts to hit the other with a vicious blow.
The blonde boy from Class 1B easily diverts the attack with a simple push of his hand as he leans back from Bakugo's war path. He pushes off his back and when Bakugo turns to attack the boy once more, the plain blonde sends an explosive attack in Bakugo's face, stunning him instantly.
"Huh, wow, I see why you like this Quirk," the plain blonde says with a smile lighting up his face.
Bakugo grunts as he gains control of his surrounding when Katori notices the plain boy touches Kirishima. Like her father, his Copy Quirk relies on physical touch. She wonders how long the boy can hold the Quirk, as her father trained for years to hold his for twenty minutes.
"Woah, that's weird," Kirishima shouts, "That guy has your Quirk."
"No, he's—"
"Damnit!" Bakugo growls, sending an attack at the boy before she can warn him that he as a Copy Quirk as well. He lunges at the boy, smashing his fist into the boy's direction, but the plain blonde blocks the attack with his arm held up in defense. As the dust settles, Katori notices that he uses Kirishima's hardening to block the blow.
"You both have impressive power, but I think you'll agree that mine's better," he teases the boys.
"What? Mine too?" Kirishima grumbles, as the realization of what his Quirk is hits him.
"Bastard," Bakugo complains. "You think you're strong with some generic ass copy quirk? You're just a discounted version of Copy-Paste here!" he teases the boy as his dull grey eyes flash over to Katori's.
"Oh, I see," he says with a lopsided smirk. "That explains how you were able to use fire and explosions during the preliminary round. I just assumed that was part of your Quirk."
Her eyes flash at his, wanting to wipe that shit-eating grin off of his face. "Let's kill 'em," Katori says under her breath.
"Speaking my language," Bakugo says as they begin charging at the boy as a raging roar lifts from Bakugo's chest.
Before they can reach the plain boy, they are captured in a strange white sludge by another team from Class 1B. Katori looks down at her feet as the sludge entraps her from moving towards their target.
"No hard feelings, right?" the boy says, looking back at them with that shit-eating grin of his. "After all, you provoked us!" he says as they get away, "What was it you said in that little speech before the games?" he says pretending that he doesn't remember for the sake of enraging Bakugo further. "Oh yeah, oof," he says with a snarky smirk as he moves away from the group sitting at zero points.
Katori steals the sludge-slinger's Quirk before they manage to get away, pushing the white goo away from their feet and mobilizing them once more. "Bakugo, we only have ten minutes left," she reminds the seething boy as they begin their charge towards the Class 1B students.
"Insanity!" they hear being cried out as they jump at the sound of Present Mike echoing through the arena while a crowd of roaring fans deafen the students. "Todoroki's team has the ten million points, and Midoriya's team is suddenly left with nothing at all!"
"Damn you, Icy-Hot!" Bakugo roars as he begins shaking with absolute loathing.
"Bakugo, focus!" Katori snaps at the boy. "Midoriya is undoubtably trying to gain his points back from Todoroki, so going after them right now with what little time we have left on the clock is going to ensure our loss and keep us out of the final round. If you want any chance of getting into the last round of this, we have to focus on those 1B kids and get our points back. Then with whatever time we have left, we can shoot for the ten million points."
"I'm with Katori on this one," Kirishima says looking up at the steaming blonde.
"Same here," Sero says with a pit growing in his stomach as the realization of them sitting on zero points sinks in.
Bakugo looks down at the purple-eyed girl, knowing that she is right. He wants nothing more than to murder Icy-Hot and Deku, but that will have to wait. His eyes move from hers and to the scoreboard where Discount-Copy-Paste and his team sit. If they can steal a chunk of their points, they will be sitting at second place and secure their spot in the final round. But that is not good enough for him. He needs to destroy that bastard as well as the others. He will dispose of them all, but he will start with the smug bastard for thinking his Quirk was better than his.
"Losers!" he calls out to the blonde from Class 1B. "Get back here!" Before she can process his shout, Bakugo launches himself out of their grip with his Quirk, lurching towards the class with white rage in his eyes.
"Hey, don't just fly off on your own!" Kirishima growls at the explosive blonde.
"Tsuburaba, stop him!" Monoma commands without a beat. Quickly, the boy at the head of the calvary puffs out his cheeks and blows a weighted breath. Katori grabs his Quirk instantly as the air he blows out turns into a hardened disk that Bakugo smashes into.
Without hesitation, Katori blows a disk underneath Bakugo to support him in the air. He glances down, seeing the step and smiling to himself. He plants his feet solidly on the disk and begins punching the one blocking the 1B students with as much force as his fists will let him. Within seconds, the disk shatters and Bakugo grabs onto the headbands around the plain blonde's neck.
He falls back from the force of tearing off the headbands but Sero is quick to catch the boy in the air and bring him back to Kirishima and the team. "I told you to tell me when you were going to jump!" Sero complains.
Katori watches the leaderboard change as they advance, "We're in third place! We are going to the next round!" she calls out excitedly.
"We're not done yet, Copy-Paste!" Bakugo growls with a frightening intent in his eyes. "We still have Deku and Icy-Hot to kill. We are going to be the indisputable champions of the game!" he says hitting Kirishima on the head to command him to move faster. "We'll get our points back from this idiot, then go for the big one!"
Katori glances over at the boy who holds two more headbands. They are no longer a threat but it seems to be the principal of the matter for Bakugo, and he is not one to listen to reason, so she goes with his plan. They do not have time to fight Midoriya or Todoroki, but as far as she's concerned, they've secured their spot in the final round, so anything after this has minimal import.
"Elbow guy! Tape 'em!" Bakugo commands as Sero reminds him of his name, while still complying to his orders.
"You missed!" the plain blonde taunts as he looks back at them.
"Copy-Paste, you still got Air-Boy's Quirk?"
"Yeah—"
Before she can say more, he continues, "Make us a surf board out of the air!" he commands and she blows a disk before them. Kirishima jumps atop the air disk and Sero's tape begins retracting them, launching them at a high speed towards the team. Bakugo releases explosive strikes behind them to propel them even faster and Katori's heart races at the sheer speed they are travelling as her eyes water and she has no choice but to close her eyes.
Bakugo roars out a war cry as he sends an explosion at the team, shattering their air defenses and tearing the remaining headbands from the plain boy's neck. Katori's eyes widen as they stagger away from the team while Present Mike announces them in second place.
"Now, we're going after Deku and Icy-Hot!" he commands his team as they move their formation towards the battling two.
"Bakugo," Katori says quietly, looking at the ground as she thinks of Todoroki and his Quirk. "Todoroki is weaker on his left side," she says unable to tell him anymore. She feels a lump in her throat, feeling guilty divulging the information that she learned while he was nice enough to train with her, but she knows the importance of advancing on. He has his father's hero agency to fall back on, whereas Katori has nothing.
Bakugo nods once at her and launches himself in the air without a second to spare. "Bakugo!" Kirishima yells at the crazed boy as he flies towards the other two battling teams.
"Who's got the points?" he asks himself frantically as he looks between the two teams.
Katori looks back at the board, "Todoroki!" she yells up at Bakugo as she watches the blonde head for Midoriya.
"Damnit Icy-Hot!" he cries out as he changes his course, launching himself towards the left side of the two-toned boy as Katori warned him.
Katori watches with baited breath as the three boys face each other. Bakugo comes flying in from the sky with unmatchable speed, while Midoriya challenges the two-toned boy from the ground with his jet pack as his throttle. Lastly, Todoroki stands planted and still with a large iced over metal rod to fight them off.
She holds her breath as they all come together for a final showdown, when the deafening roar of the timer cries out, causing them all to jump at the siren. She blows out the breath as Bakugo falls to the ground with a heavy thump. She winces at the sight and they all run towards the blonde who throws a tantrum on the ground.
Present Mike begins announcing the placements of the winning teams. Katori offers Bakugo a hand, but he smacks it away as he sulks on the ground while he sits up and rages at their feet like a child.
"Nice work Bakusquad!" Kirishima says with a hand in the air begging for a high five.
"Bakusquad?" Katori huffs with her hands crossed over her chest. "We practically lost because of this psycho!"
"We did lose, you losers!" Bakugo yells out ever so eloquently. "We didn't get first place!"
Katori turns away from their fearless leader to listen to the rest of the placeholders. Her lips turn upwards when she hears the Midoriya's team managed to snag some points from Todoroki before the timer was up. She looks forward to seeing them in the next round.
She looks down at Bakugo as he perks up at this information, seeing that he too is eager to fight Midoriya in the next round.
She glances over at Todoroki, excited to see him advance and eager to fight him since he aided in her training for the event. She moves to congratulate the two-toned teen; however, he turns away from her before she can get close to him. She watches him curiously as he walks away, seeing the stiffness in his shoulders, and questions why he would appear to be so angry after winning first place.