Team A: Midoriya Izuku and Yaoyorozu Momo
Team B: Shoji Mezo and Todoroki Shouto
Team C: Iida Tenya and Uraraka Ochako
Team D: Bakugou Katsuki and Mineta Minoru
Team E: Aoyama Yuga and Ashido Mina
Team F: Sato Rikido and Koda Koji
Team G: Kaminari Denki and Jiro Kyoka
Team H: Tokoyami Fumikage and Asui Tsuyu
Team I: Ojiro Mashirao and Hagakure Tooru
Team J: Kirishima Eijirou and Sero Hanta
"The first battle will be… Team D as the Heroes, versus Team A as the Villains!"
"So… How would you like to do this, Midoriya-kun?" Momo asked hesitantly. She did not have a good feeling about this match, considering his reaction to her earnest wish for cooperation.
"Don't ask me," Midoriya-kun muttered, leaning against a pillar in the bomb room. "I'm not good at this planning shit. I don't do traps."
"Well, my Quirk lends itself very well to ambushes."
"Then, go do your thing, and I'll do mine." With that, he plopped down on the floor and closed his eyes.
...How frustrating.
Nibbling at her nails, Momo decided to do as suggested, and quickly boarded up all the windows, layering the floor with caltrops, tripwires, and fly paper. It took the entire five minutes and then some to prepare the room by herself, and so she set up a few simple alarms in the hallway outside the door. If someone tripped over any of those wires, a series of bells would ring, alerting the Villains to when the Heroes were nearby. Preparations done, Momo sat down on a crate and waited. Midoriya-kun opened a single eye, observing her handiwork, then closed it without a comment. Momo was beginning to feel a bit irritated.
"You know, Midoriya-kun, this is supposed to be a team exercise," she said, a bit of an edge to her voice.
"Hn."
"That means we have to work together."
"Hn."
"As a team."
Midoriya-kun lifted his head, opening a single emerald eye to glare at her harshly. "Will you shut up? I heard you the first time."
Momo covered her mouth with a hand, taken aback at the rudeness. "Well, I was simply making sure, seeing how you're still sitting there, without doing anything."
Midoriya-kun rolled his eyes. "Right, I'm not doing anything. Least it's better than doing useless shit, like that." He waved a hand, gesturing at all of her traps.
"My preparations are not useless!" she cried indignantly.
"Like hell they aren't. Weren't you paying attention during the Quirk Assessment? Katsuki's Quirk is Explosions. He'll just burn everything to ashes if it gets in his way."
The two Villains glared at each other for a moment longer, before simultaneously turning away, with a scoff and a huff, respectively. They sat in silence for at least five minutes, before Midoriya-kun tilted his head in consideration.
"Katsuki's just reached the third floor, approaching the stairwell on the opposite side. He's checking every room, so it'll be awhile before he gets here. I give it ten… No, he sped up. Eight minutes before he gets here, probably. Can't hear that midget- his footsteps are probably too light, but only one door is opening at a time, so maybe Katsuki left him behind."
Momo blinked. "...What?"
"What?"
"What are you talking about?"
"Weren't you listening?" Midoriya-kun asked, annoyed.
"I was," Momo shot back sharply, "But I don't understand how you know all that."
Midoriya-kun made a face. "I literally said I heard him. Are you friggin' braindead?"
"I am not!"
"So then how did you not understand that?"
"Because I don't know what your Quirk is! It was unexpected, that's all!" Midoriya-kun rolled his eyes, and Momo found herself hoping they would fall out of his head.
"It's General Physical Enhancement. My whole body gets a boost; strength, speed, senses, everything."
"And what about your brain?" she asked, surprising even herself with how snide she sounded.
"Oi. I'll friggin' maim ya, Spiky Ponytail. Keep talkin' shit."
"Wha-!? Spiky Ponytail!?" Momo shouted, completely ignoring the threat of bodily harm.
"Yeah. Ya know, you got the whole…" he made a swirly gesture behind his head, "thing goin' on. It makes sense." Momo self-consciously caressed her hair, and found that it did make a surprising amount of sense. That didn't mean she had to like it.
"It does not!" she cried petulantly.
"It totally does! What else do you call that hairstyle!?"
"It's… Um…"
"Exactly," Midoriya-kun said, smug tone grating on her.
"S-Shut up! At least my hair doesn't look like... Broccoli!"
"Hah!?" Momo smirked at his flabbergasted expression.
"I'm right, aren't I?"
"Like hell, you damn exhibitionist!"
Momo's face lit up a bright red, and she wrapped her arms around her exposed stomach. "I already told you, this is necessary for my Quirk!"
"That doesn't change a damn thing! You're still wearin' it, ain't ya!? I'm pretty sure even Midnight covers up more than you! What, hoping to become the next R-Rated Hero?"
"Absolutely not! I would never!"
"Uh-huh, keep tellin' yourself that-" He cut off suddenly, head whipping to the side of the room, startling Momo.
"Midoriya-kun?" she asked, hesitantly.
"I hear… Breathing? It sounds like it's right outside the window…" He got up and went to the door, then began circling around the room, sticking close to the wall. He carefully picked his way past all the traps, then peeked outside. With a cry of shock, he leapt clear across the room, landing halfway up one of the pillars, digging his fingers into the concrete so he stayed there. "What the fuck!?"
In the gap between two boards, a set of purple eyes was peering into the room, staring straight at Momo. She hopped off the crate she was sitting on and ducked behind it, arms clasped over her chest.
"W-What is that!?" she shouted, chancing a glance over the crate.
"Like I know!" Midoriya-kun snapped. "Whatever, I'm fuckin' killin' it." With that, he launched himself at the window, lashing out with a powerful kick that ripped through her barricade like wet paper, shattering the glass behind it. A high-pitched voice screamed, the sound getting quieter as it approached the ground, before cutting off completely. For a moment, the Villains were silent, simply looking at each other in disbelief.
"Is… Is he… Dead?" Momo asked hesitantly, shaken by the possibility. The fact that Midoriya-kun had to check did nothing to reassure her.
"Uh… He made a cushion of those purple ball-things. He's fine. I think."
"...What about the glass?"
Midoriya-kun shrugged. "What about it?"
"What if it hurt him? He was sticking right to the window."
"Sucks to be him, then," the green-haired teen said noncommittally. "It's his fault for bein' such a creep, anyways." With that Midoriya-kun returned to the center of the room, sitting on the floor and reclining against a pillar. Momo hopped back up on her crate.
"Don't you think it's a bit violent to kick someone from so high up?" Momo asked curiously. She wasn't actually sure if she wanted to know his answer.
Midoriya-kun fixed her with a confused look. "What're you talkin' about? It's only five stories."
"...People can die from falling two stories," she replied blankly.
Midoriya-kun blinked. "...Oh. That's nice."
They were silent for a while, until his words finally clicked in her head.
"What do you mean, that's nice!? Mineta-kun could've died!" Momo exploded.
"And!? You act like that's my problem!"
"It is your problem! You just almost killed one of your classmates!"
"Who the fuck cares about almost!? He's still alive, isn't he!?"
"That's not the point! What if he's traumatised!?"
"Will you two SHUT THE FUCK UP!?"
Startled, the Villains turned toward the third voice.
"Oh, hey Katsuki," Midoriya-kun said casually.
"'Sup, dickwad," Bakugou-kun replied, strolling into the room. "Jesus, I could hear you fuckers screaming at each other from down the hall. The hell is your problem?"
"Your teammate was being weird, so I kicked him out the window." Midoriya-kun pointed at the shattered pane, and Bakugou-kun grunted.
"Yeah, that fucker said something about climbing up the side of the building to do surveillance. I tried asking him what he saw, but the only thing I heard was heavy breathing, so I just shut off my coms." While the two friends were chatting, Bakugou-kun had been picking his way through the traps surrounding the objective. Momo just stared at the blond, shellshocked by his audacity. Was he planning on simply walking past them? Thankfully, Midoriya-kun chose this moment to act, because Momo was a bit too shocked to do the same. Unfortunately, his course of action involved grabbing the crate she was sitting on, and chucking it at Bakugou-kun, dislodging her in the process.
"Tch!" Bakugou-kun leaped into the air, aided by an Explosion, completely clearing the projectile. It shattered against the wall, chipping the concrete. "I was hopin' you'd just lemme through," he muttered, but the cruel smile on his face told another story.
"Since when did you try to avoid a fight?" Midoriya-kun asked, noticing the same thing.
"I ain't avoidin' shit!" Bakugou-kun cried. "I'm just bein' smart!" With that, he angled his gauntlets behind him, and rocketed towards the massive paper-mache bomb. Thankfully, Midoriya-kun was much faster, covering the distance between them in the blink of an eye. He grabbed Bakugou-kun by the back of his shirt, and with a spin, hurled the blond out the same window he had kicked Mineta-kun through.
The Villains stared at the window, then glanced at each other.
"What is with your penchant for defenestration?" Momo asked, exasperated.
"Hey, it worked, didn't it? Quit bitchin'."
Before they could continue with their bickering, Bakugou-kun Exploded back into the room, heading straight for the objective with a single-minded focus. He didn't even manage to get halfway across the room before Midoriya-kun had him pinned to the ground.
"Sorry, but I ain't in the mood for this shit right now." Bakugou-kun was swearing loudly in protest, wriggling like an eel, but Midoriya-kun calmly pulled out his roll of capture tape and tied the blond's arms behind his back. His arms had been too close to his body to risk using an Explosion too strong, and the weaker ones would've done absolutely nothing. So, although it stung his pride, Bakugou-kun could only writhe futilely until the job was done.
"THE HEROES HAVE BEEN RESTRAINED! THE VILLAIN TEAM WINS!"
"Now, would anyone like to take a guess as to who the MVP of this match was, and why you think so?"
A girl with crooked elbows raised her hand. Momo thought her name was Asui. "The MVP would have to be Bakugou-chan, kero. He tried to take the path of least resistance by avoiding a fight, and prioritized capturing the objective. With his Quirk, he understood a fight would cause unnecessary property damage, and fighting in the room with the bomb would have risked it going off. At least, that's just what I think, kero."
All Might pointed at her. "Indeed, Asui-shoujo! Bakugou-shounen evaluated the risks and went with the safest option available to him! Mineta-shounen was… Otherwise distracted, and did not help his teammate in the slightest. Meanwhile, although Midoriya-shounen disabled both Heroes, and Yaoyorozu-shoujo did set up obstacles that worked to hinder the Heroes, the two of them were arguing for most of the exercise! Teamwork is vital, and many times, the only reason a group of Villains is taken down is because they are weakened from infighting. Now, let's get to the next match!"
Momo crossed her arms and glanced at Midoriya-kun, slightly disgruntled at being called out. The teen noticed, and scowled at her.
"Got some shit to say?" he muttered, taking a step closer so they didn't have to speak loudly, and draw attention.
"Yes!" Momo whispered back harshly. "We could have done so much better if we'd simply worked as a team!"
"We won, didn't we? Does it really matter how?"
"The end does not justify the means!" Momo hissed. "Was it right for the United States to drop two atomic bombs on us to end World War Two?"
Midoriya-kun rolled his eyes, but he didn't snap back, so Momo felt slightly vindicated. The larger part of her regretted resorting to such an extreme example, though. "Alright, whatever. If we ever work together again, I'll play nice. But that's only if we're paired up again."
Momo sighed, the tension draining from her frame. "Thank you. That is all I'm asking."
"...Next time, though, don't make me do all the work."
"What are you talking about!?" Momo seethed, suddenly angry all over again.
"I had to take out both Katsuki and that short fuck! I was waiting for you to fight Katsuki- why else do ya think it took me so long to throw his ass out the window?"
"I was having a hard time believing that he would simply walk into the room and go right past us! I thought you were in the same situation!"
Midoriya-kun sneered. "Right," he said sarcastically. "C'mon, you're learning to be a Hero, ain't ya? Ya can't be surprised by every little thing the person you're fighting does, or you're never gonna get anywhere."
Momo exhaled through her nose. "I'll keep that in mind," she acquiesced, turning her attention to the security cameras to watch the current match. She was too tired to keep arguing, and it seemed Midoriya-kun was the same, because they remained silent for the rest of the exercise.