Chapter 31: Rematch

"You sure we shouldn't go check on Izuku? " Hitoshi asked. He had surprised them by fitting in perfectly in their group. As Denki said, all he needed were friends.

"Nope, trust me. You'll get yelled at by recovery girl or something," Watanabe replied.

"How do you know?" Shouto asked.

"We've met..." He replied off-handedly. He still remembered her telling off All Might and yelling at all of them for causing too much of a ruckus while Izuku was healing, "Speaking of! Denki, I believe you owe me something!" Watanabe said with a cheeky grin.

Kaminari grumbled, "Fine, I'll pay for pizza,"

Shouto looked at both of them with a questioning look, "What was that all about?"

"Oh, I bet Denki that Izu will break his bone by overpowering his quirk. Now he has to pay for 5 pizzas whenever I want," Watanabe explained.

Hitoshi shook his head, "You guys are weird,"

"Aww, you'll get used to it!" Watanabe comforted with a grin. Hitoshi just shook his head while Uraraka chuckled. Shouto... was unsure what to think of the bet.

"Now, for match 5! Two members from each team come up!" All Might announced.

"You go, Asui," Watanabe said with a smile.

"Call me Tsu-chan!"

"Oi, shitty hair, I'm gonna destroy them!"

Kirishima laughed, "Sure dude! Go on."

Tsuyu threw paper, Bakugou threw rock. "Hero team!" Tsuyu said extra cheekily.

"So, what's your quirk?" Tsuyu asked.

"Huh?" Watanabe snapped out of his thoughts. He smiled, "Sorry, could you repeat that. I wasn't listening,"

"What's your quirk?" Tsuyu repeated, "Yours is one of the only ones no one could figure out from the quirk apprehension test. At least the rest showed some aspects of their quirk,"

"Ah, my quirk is eye color changing," Watanabe replied with an eye smile.

Tsuyu stared at him, waiting for him to go on. The two stood in silence for a while before Tsuyu realized that Watanabe wasn't going to explain. She twitched but decided to go on, "Can you tell me what your quirk does?"

"Sure," Watanabe smiled back, "My quirk is basically vision change. I can see in X-ray, UV vision, and infrared vision up to now but I'm sure there are more visions I haven't found yet. We think my quirk works by absorbing different wavelengths. That's why my eye color changes according to my vision change," Watanabe explained.

"We?" Tsuyu asked.

"Me and Izuku,"

Tsuyu huffed, "Why didn't you tell me the first time I asked?"

Watanabe's smile didn't waver, "I did. You asked my quirk. Eye color changing is basically my quirk,"

Tsuyu realized he was right but was still annoyed, "People tend to get annoyed by that, you know?"

Watanabe's smile did fall this time, "I believe in making people ask the right questions instead of asking half-assed ones that leave the other party to deduce the rest. There are a lot of conflicts that could be resolved if people just asked the right questions instead of leaving it up to implication," Watanabe explained.

Tsuyu gave Watanabe a calculated look. At first glance, he seemed normal. Once you watched him a bit more, he seemed chaotic and mischievous. But from what she was seeing now, that was all just a mask. Underneath, he was smart, calculating, and had a good grasp of reality. Not that it seemed to stop him from causing as much chaos as possible. He just had an underlying reason for it.

"I suppose you are right about that. With your quirk, we can easily get the location of the bomb right?" Tsuyu asked.

"Yup," Watanabe replied, "But you should go for the bomb. I'll take care of Bakugou,"

Tsuyu raised her eye, "I don't think it's a good idea considering the history between you two," Tsuyu said remembering Kaminari's words.

"Yes, that's why he'll probably be after me. It won't do for both of us to get held up like what happened in the last match. So you go for the bomb and I'll head off Bakugou," Watanabe explained.

"You will still have to provide me with an opening. Are you sure you can do that?" Tsuyu asked hesitantly.

Watanabe smirked, "I don't need to. Their bomb's on the second floor!"

"So...?"

"Your tongue extends right? I saw you extend it during the quirk apprehension test," Watanabe replied off-handedly. Tsuyu nodded, skeptical of Watanabe's plan. She gulped in fear as Watanabe replied, "Perfect!"

"FIFTH MATCH START!" All Might's voice rang out.

The students watched from the viewing room, "Where are they?" Ashido asked not seeing Tsuyu or Watanabe anywhere near the entrance. All Might frowned slightly, "I'm not sure..." he switched through the cameras. He couldn't find them, so he zoomed out to view the entire model city. "There they are!" Sero pointed out. The two were on a roof adjacent to the building the bomb was in.

"Oh shit," Kaminari muttered.

"What? What is it?" Hitoshi asked.

"Wait and watch," Kaminari said.

Tsuyu uncoiled her tongue fully. Watanabe grabbed it and resisted the urge to puke. The tongue was just so slimy! He grabbed Tsuyu's tongue and ran at full speed right to the edge of the building. He stopped short as Tsuyu's tongue reached its elasticity. The sudden stop pulled Tsuyu along with her tongue and propelled her over the roof. Watanabe controlled her direction and threw her straight through the window of the bomb site.

"Bakugou! They are already in!" Kirishima shouted on his comms as he saw a figure rise out of the glass.

"HUH! WHAT DO YOU MEAN!? I'M RIGHT HERE AT THE ENTRANCE!" Bakugou yelled.

"They came in through the window,"

"Shit," Bakugou cursed and ran to the stairs to get back. However, Watanabe was still on the roof and used his X-ray to trace Bakugou's movements. He ran along the edge of the roof and just as Katsuki reached the flight of stairs, Watanabe leaped off the roof. He broke through the window beside. Bakugou stared in shock, unable to react fast enough. Watanabe used his momentum of the fall to drill in a kick straight into Katsuki's face.

Bakugou was sent flying back and crashed into the wall. Watanabe offered no respite and caught Bakugou's stumbling figure with his chains. He pulled Bakugou to himself and delivered another kick straight to the ribs. Bakugou spat up some more blood but this time he used his explosions to stop himself from flying off. He ducked beneath Watanabe's oncoming punch and let off an explosion straight to Watanabe's stomach. Watanabe felt his breath leave his body as he staggered back from the recoil of the explosion. Luckily, his armor suit had stopped him from too much harm.

Katsuki smirked. Sure, therapy and rehabilitation with Orca had helped him, but right now he really wanted to let loose and win.

Kirishima gave a wide grin as he readied his quirk and faced Tsuyu, "Sorry, but I want to win. Let's have a manly fight!" he said with passion.

"But, I'm not a man," Tsuyu tilted her head. Kirishima face faulted, "That's not what I-" he started to stay but was slapped by Tsuyu's tongue. Tsuyu brought her tongue back like a boomerang to catch Kirishima by surprise again. He quickly jumped above her tongue and took a stance, "That was an unmanly move. You purposely put me off guard,"

Tsuyu grinned cheekily, "If that's what you think, you'll be having a hard time with villains,"

Kirishima grinned and activated his quirk, "I believe even villains can be manly,"

Tsuyu nodded and charged at Kirishima. She hopped onto the walls and jumped off of them like a spring. She frowned. Kirishima still hadn't moved and was only watching her movements carefully, "Does he have a quirk that is dangerous in close combat?" she asked herself. Tsuyu warily lashed out her tongue at high speed. It hit Kirishima dead on and recoiled off of him. Tsuyu jumped back down to the ground and recoiled her tongue. It was stinging like hell. It was like she had hit a rock or something. Realization dawned upon her, "A hardening quirk, is it?" she asked.

Kirishima grinned, "Yup!" he gave a confident smirk.

Tsuyu sighed, this was going to be hard.

Watanabe and Bakugou clashed in the middle of the hall. Bakugou growled as the two separated. Even with the enhanced momentum from his explosions, Watanabe was still able to stop his attacks. Granted the explosions weren't up to his full capability since he couldn't yet control the extra momentum. Meanwhile, Watanabe felt relief wash over him in his mind. He was so glad that he had gotten that titanium alloy armor. He could feel the sting from the explosion on his skin even after all those layers of protection.

Bakugou snarled. If he couldn't get to Watanabe with hand to hand, he would use his other moves. He checked his grenade launchers and grinned. He had enough sweat stored, "You know, these aren't just for show," he showed off his grenade launchers, "They have a special compartment to store my sweat in case I need it later on,"

Watanabe's eyes widened as he realized what he was planning to do. He swiftly switched to infrared and confirmed his suspicions. All Might had realized too apparently because he yelled into the comms, "Bakugou! Do not use lethal moves!"

"He'll live! It's not enough to kill but it will hurt!" Katsuki replied and let off an explosion that rocked the building.

Kirishima fell back in panic. He had heard All Might yell at Bakugou followed by the building rocking. Did Bakugou really explode Watanabe? Tsuyu also stood hesitantly, almost waiting for All Might to call off the match. Both of them heard nothing and hesitantly clashed once more.

Meanwhile, All Might and the rest of the students hesitantly waited for the smoke to clear. Once the smoke receded, there was no sign of Watanabe. "No way! Did Bakugou actually-" Hitoshi started, outraged was stopped by Denki, "Look to the side,"

Hitoshi did as he was told and saw the cabinets on the left had been smashed. He grinned as he realized what happened. The next moment, Watanabe smashed in from the cabinets behind Bakugou and shifted his full body weight onto Bakugou's spine. Bakugou smashed into the floor and used his explosions to put some distance between both of them.

"Bakugou! If you pull something like that again, I am disqualifying you!" All Might warned.

"Tch," Bakugou spat.

"You know, I wasn't going serious on you," Watanabe addressed Bakugou coldly.

"Heh, as if. We're going blow to blow,"

"Yup. Maybe combat wise we are equal, but you seem to forget," Watanabe paused, "I have support equipment too," he finished as he withdrew his swords and loosened his chains. Bakugou paled. "Ok, I can't let him anywhere near me anymore. Last time he fractured my arms by targeting the weak points. If I get close again, he can probably deal quite a lot of damage," he analyzed. He wasn't going to be underestimating Watanabe again.

Without a word, Watanabe flew towards Bakugou whose eyes widened. He narrowly dodged Watanabe's fist and ducked behind the follow-up. He aimed an explosion at Watanabe's feet and dropped him to the ground. He smirked and went for another blow to the head but Watanabe tucked and rolled away. Bakugou snarled and held his right arm in pain. it was bleeding.

Watanabe held up a dagger connected to his chains. He had snagged it across Bakugou while rolling away. Watanabe decided to counter by using his swords. Watanabe rushed at Bakugou with his swords ready to slash him. Katsuki took a defensive stance and prepared to destroy the blades with his explosions. Watanabe activated infrared vision and dodged the explosions. He ducked underneath and instead went for the legs. Bakugou yelped as his feet were taken out from under him.

Watanabe gave Bakugou no respite and attached his chains to Bakugou's shirt. He pulled Bakugou back up and delivered a roundhouse kick. Bakugou coughed up some blood but countered quickly with another explosion. Watanabe swiftly dodged it with the aid of his infra-red vision and his reflexes. He slid through Bakugou's legs and slashed his calves with his sword. Bakugou fell painfully to the ground. He tried to get up but couldn't stand. Snarling, he turned around and got ready to use the sweat built up in his other gauntlet. However, Watanabe was quicker. He jumped up and slammed both of his legs into the two gauntlets. The gauntlets broke on impact, much to everyone's surprise and the stored sweat fell right on Bakugou. Katsuki was too late to react and ignited the sweat on his hand along with the sweat that had gotten on Watanabe.

Bakugou's scream of agony caused All Might to wince. Fortunately, Watanabe was unharmed due to his armor. However, Bakugou's left arm was almost entirely burnt. Yagi got ready to call off the match but saw that Tsuyu had captured Kirishima, "HERO TEAM WINS!" He yelled before rushing to the building to help.

"Why? Why can't I defeat you!?" Bakugou demanded, "We're both the same! We both want to win! You used your skill to beat up people too, so how are we different? My quirk's better as well!"

Watanabe sighed. It irked him that Bakugou was still on what is a better quirk but he let that slide since it was technically true, "You're wrong. I used my skills to help those who got bullied while you used yours to torment. Even now, your attitude hasn't changed. Honestly, if you got Izuku as your opponent, you would have treated him like a ragdoll for not telling you about his quirk,"

Bakugou gritted his teeth, "Yes," He replied in a small voice, "But I've changed! Orca, my stupid therapist, all of them helped me realize what I did was wrong! But it still hurt that Izuku didn't tell me about his quirk when I was his friend,"

"FRIEND!?" Watanabe spat venomously, "YOU FUCKING TORMENTED HIM FOR YEARS AND YEARS! IF I HADN'T SHOWN UP, YOU WOULD HAVE FUCKING ENDED UP KILLING HIM!" Watanabe said enraged.

Bakugou gulped, "But, he did think we were friends, so shouldn't he have-"

"He owes you nothing! NOTHING AT ALL! You're the one who owes him everything," Watanabe said and started to walk away.

Bakugou felt his tears well up again, the same way it had at Aldera, "I'm sorry," he whispered. Watanabe heard him and stopped, "Tell that to Izuku, not me," he snarled and left. All Might came out of the corner he had been hiding in. He waved the medic robots in. As he was being carried out, All Might gave Bakugou a stern look, "Watanabe is right you know," he said and left. Bakugou might be his student but it would take some time for him to forget about what he put his successor through.

"Now then, Watanabe," All Might addressed as the three students stood in front of him, Bakugou having been sent to the infirmary, "Your reflexes and combat skills were top-notch. However, you showed little use of strategy besides the fact that you threw Tsuyu in through the window. However, that was also your downfall as it was a very risky and harmful entrance. I know you had... personal reasons but I expected much better from you, mentally. I expect you to do better next time,"

Watanabe nodded solemnly.

"Tsuyu! You are the top performer! The way you used your tongue to capture Kirishima instead of going head-on was a splendid choice. There really isn't much to add except that you should have gotten Watanabe to use the team more," All Might said. Tsuyu nodded. Watanabe muttered an embarrassed apology to Tsuyu who brushed it off with a smile.

"Kirishima. Just because you have a hardening quirk doesn't mean you are invincible. I'm giving you the same advice as Sato, use your brains more. Since you can get hard, use it to your advantage to get close and finish the fight instead of dragging it out!"

Kirishima nodded, "Yes sir! I am extremely sorry for my unmanly performance!"

All Might nodded, "Now, Mineta and Ashido, please come up and choose your sides,"

Mineta won and chose the hero side, "Ashido, you have 5 minutes extra to set up since you are alone," All Might said. Ashido nodded and headed that way.

"I expected your fight to be more flashy," Denki said to Watanabe as both he and Tsuyu walked to them. Watanabe smiled, "Bakugou's quirk was the only one that was flashy. Mine isn't exactly that flashy,"

"Speaking of, what is your quirk? You didn't mention it or use it in the apprehension test," Uraraka said.

Watanabe smiled, "You two want to know too, I guess," Watanabe asked Shouto and Hitoshi.

"Yeah, I want to know what your quirk does," Hitoshi replied curiously. Shouto nodded, "Me too. I doubt you dodged all those explosions through reflex alone. Your quirk must have played a part, so I want to know its use,"

Watanabe burst out laughing. "Has he gone mad?" Hitoshi asked Denki who just laughed back, "No, no. It's just that you are the first two people to ask Watanabe the right question,"

"What do you mean?" Shouto asked.

"Normally, people ask him what his quirk is, like Uraraka. He simply replies by saying eye-color changing quirk and they think it's a useless dimwit quirk. In reality his vision changes. When he sees infrared, his eye color becomes darker, when he sees UV rays, his eye changes to purple, for X-ray another color, and so on. We think his eye colour changes to pick up the different wavelengths but Watanabe never changed his official quirk so eye-color changing just fools people,"

Hitoshi whistled while Shouto nodded, "That is a good idea... to hide your quirk,"

"But don't people get annoyed?" Uraraka asked.

"That's what I said too, kero," Tsuyu said, "But Watanabe said that wrong questions lead to too many misunderstandings which leads to a lot of conflicts."

Watanabe nodded, "Yep! This way I can make people adopt the norm of asking proper questions to the point,"

"Yeah, but other people will keep us asking us normal questions so doesn't that outweigh your purpose?" Uraraka grinned.

"I tend to use quality over quantity. People are more likely to adapt to someone who keeps annoying them," he grinned causing Denki to sigh.

Hitoshi shook his head, "And they called me the crazy one,"

A/N: Please leave a review.