Chapter 17
Masaru had somehow been able to convince Mitsuki that watching their son's Sports Festival would be a good idea. She still didn't know why she agreed, maybe it was motherly obligation or maybe she just wanted to see Katsuki do some good for once.
To be perfectly honest, it seemed doubtful that in such a competition Katsuki would display anything but the all too familiar need to win. She did take partial blame for that, after all it was her who had told him that if he got into any fights it'd be alright so long as he won.
And he won every fight.
Yet, that wasn't enough for him, he had to be the best of everyone... Where had she gone so wrong?
At least Masaru was there to correct her and teach their son some humanity.
She loved him so fucking much.
If only Katsuki had turned out to be more like him then everything would be easier.
Maybe he wouldn't have turned out to be a murderer.
Still, she loved him with all her heart. He was her baby, her little firecracker and his actions had tore her into two. She knew Masaru felt the same way, but he was the type who would stand by Katsuki until the day he died.
Through thick or thin, her husband was one of the most loyal men out there. It made her fall in love with him a little more.
"Mitsuki, it's starting!" He called to her from the other room where their television was set up and ready for the livestream.
His excitement was adorable. Despite the conflicting circumstances haunting Mitsuki, she couldn't help but smile at her soulmate. If he had somehow miraculously dodged all of her strong attempts to get with him, she knew she would be a miserable woman by now.
Even early on, she knew just how to pick them.
She situated herself next to him on the couch he was eagerly sitting on.
His hands were all jumbled on his lap, and he had one of those nervous smiles plastered on his face. He didn't even notice when she sat down, probably being nervous enough for the both of them.
"Come on, Masaru, we both know the camera's not going to be on our little brat the whole time, you can relax." Mistuki sighed, leaning her head on her husband's shoulder in a comforting manner. She knew him well enough to know what worked to calm him and what didn't.
"It's just… all so exciting!" He smiled brightly, "I've noticed Katsuki's been training for this for a long time. There are only so many loud bangs he can get away with at 3am, so I want to support him."
Mitsuki chuckled, how their son thought he was being discreet, neither of them knew. It wasn't much of a surprise to them when he had started to use his quirk again, but maybe that was because when Mitsuki and Masaru first saw it happen they were half asleep at 5am and not in their right minds. Or maybe it was because they raised such a stubborn boy that they knew he wouldn't just back down.
In either situation, they knew his self-placed restrictions weren't going to last long. In Mitsuki's eyes she saw that once you got a taste of power it was hard to let it go.
If only her son would.
Mitsuki would personally like it if he could give up on his dream of becoming a hero, he was far from one with the way he had acted. He had never been a savior of any kind, never been the type of person you'd rely on for justice or promise.
He was a troublemaker child who grew into a bully, and Mitsuki wasn't sure how long he was going to keep up the charade of pretending to be a hero. He might have been enrolled in the General Education course, but Mitsuki knew her son better than even he did… Whose to stay he ever had any intention of staying there?
But no matter what he did, he had still taken someone else's innocent life. Purposeful or not, damaged or not, it was not just for him to do that to his Quirkless best friend growing up.
That is, if they ever really were friends. Izuku and Katsuki were always together since birth, Izuku always chasing after her son's back like a lost puppy.
Now, she supposed, it was the other way around.
Katsuki was chasing after Izuku's dream, after their old dream.
It didn't matter if it was a fruitless or plentiful chase, her opinion on the matter wouldn't change so easily. Her very own son had murdered her best friend's son, and now he wanted to save other innocent lives.
Inko may have forgiven him somehow, needed to forgive him for her to move on too. But Mitsuki was far from forgiving it, and was never going to forget.
Because of it, she couldn't tell if him using his quirk again was a blessing or a curse.
All she knew was that if she mentioned it to Masaru, all he would say is that it was both.
Those thoughts banished from her mind once she saw the camera, which had been fixed on a commercial, was now hovering over the hero Present Mic's face.
He gave the rather boorish and over dramatic introduction to the Sports Festival, how it would work, and what the audience could expect. Very quickly he lost her attention, so she turned to chat with Masaru.
Instead, she found him captivated by all of the knowledge being shared on-screen.
She smiled to herself, further settling into his embrace, not caring about how boring the television was. Mitsuki found it crazy that all her worries could simply disappear just by being with Masaru.
But if anything, he would be the only somewhat interesting thing throughout the majority of their viewing. The class introductions were nothing outstanding and the obstacle race was uneventful except for when they hovered over Katsuki for a long period of time. She found his way of cutting the rope cruel but strategic.
Had she taught him how to be like that?
Half of her was proud, the other half horrified.
"I see where he got that idea, but it would've been better for him not to waste speed." Masaru commented with a slight tone of disappointment.
"He did take out a large number of his opponents though." Mitsuki mused, "Still, should've focused on what's in front of him rather than behind."
That was a flaw he had, focusing on the past, what was behind him, what he could've done, or what he shouldn't have. Instead, focusing on what was directly in front of him would allow him to move on, learn, and embrace what was in store for him.
That was where mother and son differed, their views on lifestyle.
But, then again with the situation he was in, she wished he would never forget the look on Midoriya's face, never forget what he had done and what he had the potential to do. Even if he did start to forge, she wouldn't let him. She couldn't let him, for Inko's sake. Even if Inko was still hellbent on the idea that Kastuki deserves a second chance, Mistuki didn't buy into it and would protect her best friend even after her son had ruined her family.
But enough of that, she wouldn't let herself grow so bittered that it was the only thing on her mind. She had a Sports Festival to watch as promised, and a husband to be with.
However, as she watched the Sports Festival more and more, she felt annoyed. Mitsuki wouldn't lie and say she wasn't proud of her son because he did have some badass moments but she was... Disappointed so to speak. Not once had he used his quirk or even tried to do something showcasing any possible progress he'd made.
So far it was only him being a sneaky bastard and blocking off an access point and him teaming up to form some elaborate plan that still ended up in him losing.
How he even got that team together was a shock for Mitsuki who had wholeheartedly doubted her son could make connections with others.
It wasn't that she hated her son or had no confidence in him, it was because she was hyper aware that all of his friends in the past, excluding Midoriya, had all flocked to him because of his quirk. She would daresay that for a long time, his quirk was his identity and others would cling onto that to promote their own social status.
However, the second her son had decided he was no longer going to use his quirk, she knew he wouldn't have it easy anymore. All the issues that were building up inside of him were now breaking free.
It was about time too.
Call her a bad mother to let her son handle his issues, but she knew he was too prideful to come to her for anything, maybe Masaru, but that was also doubtful.
They weren't the perfect family, she knew this. Katsuki was so alike to her that she didn't know how to deal with him and Masaru had to deal with double the chaos.
She didn't know how he did it.
Well, it didn't surprise her how amazing her husband was, one thing about her family is that they never settled for anything or anyone that was less than the best.
"Look! It's starting! Wasn't that boy on Katsuki's team during the last event?" Masaru reminded her, as the commercial break had just ended and the screen cut back to the awaited Festival.
"Purple boy? Shinsou was it? Yeah I think so." She affirmed. He must have a subtle quirk because it was hard to even tell what he could do based on what she had seen during the broadcast.
What she would've paid to see this live, it would've been much more interesting than the small amount of clips actually shown on the television.
But she'd just have to settle with what she had.
Turning her focus to the television, she was amused to find the match didn't last long. The obvious "winner" most people would have assumed would be the sparky Pikachu, Kaminari. However, the underdog had usurped him with the powerful abilities of mind control, as she had learned.
So this was one of Katsuki's friends, huh? The social outcasts? Considering him, she wasn't all that surprised.
"Good to know Katsuki has friends who can keep up with him."
That was an understatement.
Shinsou could more than keep up with him, if what Mitsuki had seen was any implication of that. That being said, she was glad to know about it too, that Katsuki at least had one person he could rely on from time to time, no matter how much he wanted to protest it.
Even then, she couldn't help but feel a little bit skeptical about the two of them. Strictly speaking, a brainwashing quirk was absolute shit in terms of societal expectations. If an explosion quirk was considered to be hero-like and strong then a brainwashing quick would be villain-like and weakening to others.
Katsuki and him were polar opposites in terms of ability and ideals.
Mitsuki knew Masaru sensed it because at certain points his face would contort info a frown and he'd focus very hard in the television as if he were watching for one minute detail.
He knew Katsuki well enough to know when something was off, even with the limited clips being broadcast on television. But he hadn't yet thought about how different Shinsou was and how much that truly mattered.
"I'll be right back, going to make snacks" Mitsuki dismissed herself to think for a little and be free from distractions.
A quirk didn't define a person, but it most definitely led them to however society had seemed them to be based on their quirk's characteristics. This hard truth many others would not accept was one Mitsuki had to learn early on, and one that had treated her well.
The issue was that it had never been given to Katsuki. He had bullied a quirkless boy to death for goodness sake, she didn't know how he would react against a so called "villain quirk" or what he would do.
It made her worry over Shinsou's wellbeing as well as her son's.
Shinsou could control her son.
Her son was notorious for being discriminatory against quirks he thought were useless.
A bad combo.
Fuck, what if they were paired up in a match against each other?
As much as Mitsuki's motherly instincts worried, she was also excited to see the possibility of that happening.
Cutting up some assorted fruit into rough shapes, she chuckled to herself.
Her son, declaring he wasn't going to be a hero, was now participating within the Sports Festival made to showcase heroes. The cherry on top is that he kept going, defeating heroes in training, and general classmates.
She should really stop thinking and just enjoy the ridiculousness of her son's actions when weighed against his words.
Worst case scenario he loses and mopes for a few weeks, nothing new or wins and gloats all week, also nothing new. Best case scenario, he learns a lesson from it or grows in some way.
Psh what was she kidding? This was Katsuki, her hardass son she was talking about.
Scooping the fruit into a bowl, she set the cutting board and knife aside.
Upon her return to the couch where her husband awaited... And he was not pleased.
"You missed Katsuki's match." He sighed, clearly exasperated.
"Oh, did he win?" She popped a strawberry into her mouth.
"He did, but that's not the point, we're here to support him, Mitsuki."
"That's all that matters, it's fine." She sat back down on the couch, ignoring the unpleasant look she was receiving "I'll just watch the rerun of it later online and he'll never know."
Masaru sighed, reaching over to grab his own strawberry chunk.
They sat there, munching on their strawberries in a comfortable silence as the other matches passed. Both of them were curious as to who Katsuki would be going up against next, although to the credit of the students, the other matches were getting more interesting. Not enough to dissolve Mitsuki's growing curiosity at the next pairing but enough to keep her mind busy. It was like a sports game, there were certain teams she cheered for and some others she didn't particularly care for.
After a while, the matches began to come to an end, only so many people had made it to this last battle stage after all.
It wasn't until what she assumed would be closer to the end of the last battle when Mitsuki reached over her husband to put the empty bowl on the table for storage that he started to shake her.
"It just ended, look!"
And sure enough, the new matches had popped up on screen. And just like Mitsuki hadn't hoped for, right next to her son's name was the familiar name of a certain purple-haired boy.
"Oh shit."
After delivering his monologue to Bakugou, Todoroki felt relieved, yet also slightly peeved. Based on the other boy's attitude he wasn't expecting a great reaction and yet it was seemingly more irritating than planned for. Nevertheless, when he saw not Bakugou use his quirk openly, not even a few hours later, it annoyed him.
He had said they were similar in the fact that both of them showed hesitancy with quirks due to a sort of trauma. It was written all over his face, a face that Todoroki had seen all too often when looking in the mirror.
And yet there he was.
Freely using his quirk like nothing had happened. As if all of the pain evidenced on his face had been erased in a second. He couldn't help but envying and despising him for that. To be able to live freely in a match, even for a second, seemed like nothing but a faraway dream that he could never achieve. Todoroki swore he would never use his father's quirk precisely for that reason. If he couldn't have freedom, he would drag down his father's legacy right with him.
Childish? He supposed it could be seen that way. But with the way his mother, sister, and brothers were treated, he couldn't simply stand and become a hero.
He had seen how heroes were and had no interest in becoming one for anything other than his mother's own abilities.
Is that what resentment looked like? Did he resent Bakugou for being able to move on, as he never could? It was possible, and even if that was the case, he would hardly be admitting it to himself, much less anyone else. In fact, he would prefer to ignore the possibility of him being so swayed by another person's actions. They had no bearing on his life, and there was no reason for him to feel such… loneliness at the pit of his stomach.
Even since he began training with his father, Todoroki became good at pushing down his own pain. Whether that was mental or physical, he adapted quickly enough to his environment that even now he preferred to just ignore his feelings, they would go away.
They always did.
However, maybe, just maybe, if he could beat the other boy when they faced each other with only his mother's quirk he could prove himself and feel proud. He could prove that he won't fit into the mold his father forced him into, and even those who could move on from their trauma stood no match for him with his mother.
He had made it this far with only a drop of fire being used, and even then it wouldn't have mattered. He could make it even further and keep breaking the expectations that were thrust onto him from the very moment he turned four.
Yet, he couldn't stop the little voice in his head from reminding him that Bakugou had made it this far too. He had used his quirk for some of it, but for most of it he devised a way out of it.
He didn't know if that made the other boy better or worse than him, but he chose not to compare them. Instead, he would focus on himself. The feeling as the ice bolstered over his skin and broke free from the ground's shallow confines.
At the same time, he could ignore his competition. They were simply different in approach. If anything to be admired, Todoroki could silently find the tenacity and creativity of the other boy interesting. He had been accused of being too simplistic, drastically different from the chaos Bakugou brought, but he knew that when the situation called for it - his talent and quirk usage could get hard to keep up with.
He had come to that understanding through his studying of how opponents in the past reacted to him once he amped up his power, deciding to go all out.
They never lasted very long.
But watching Bakugou's latest matches lazily, he quickly realized it would take more effort to crush his spirit and his body with ice than he'd intended. Their chat had done something to affect the boy's psyche, although unintended, but he seemed much more unaffected now than he was before. Almost as if he had lost any desperation and replaced it with pure concentration instead.
How curious.
Todoroki often liked to pretend he was oblivious, but simply because he was socially... inept, didn't mean he hadn't learned to pick up facial and body language cues in order to prevent getting on Endeavor's bad side.
But don't get him wrong, he was still completely terrible about reading the room or talking with any person whether in a group or through one-on-one conversation. Basic body language and expression reading came much more naturally to him since Endeavor only had three specific moods, but the typical human displayed much more.
He rather liked thinking about Endeavor not being human, it would make his life more pleasant. Especially if he got taken away for testing or holed up in a lab to protect people against his be fair, aliens were cool, but not when they were his aggressive father. He didn't want to ruin aliens too.
Snapping out of the rabbit hole he was going down, he noted that through these subtle displays in Bakugou's behavior, Todoroki would've never known anything even remotely negative had happened between him and any other opponent he had faced. Instinctually, Todoroki felt like something was off about that statement, that he was missing something big but just couldn't pinpoint what it was or how to figure it out. Even looking back on each match was of little use. If he could recall correctly, Bakugou had an aura of uneasiness when the first match started, getting agitated quickly and pushed into seemingly uncomfortable situations he wanted out of as fast as possible.
That all changed after his battle with the purple haired boy, cheering stature affixing itself to him. Maybe it was the win?
That didn't seem to be it because no other round had made him give that reaction.
If anything that knowledge just solidified the gut feeling of suspicion arising in Todoroki.
He just had to connect the dots he already had.
Bakugou's demeanor only changed after the match with Shinsou had ended and it was maintained throughout his entire battle with Uraraka, never faltering one bit.
Was Bakugou secretly dating Uraraka? And was that why they both went all out against each other?
The more Todoroki thought about it, the less it made sense. Bakugou couldn't have known he would get placed against Uraraka so if it was true, his presence would have remained the same at the end of his match against purple hair turnip. Not to mention, Uraraka deciding to date Bakugou was unlikely so early into the school year and with his personality traits as they currently were.
Todoroki would get to the bottom of it, but it would have to wait until after volleyball was over. Win or lose, he was interested to know what exactly was going on in the head of Bakugou Katsuki.
It seemed everything he stood for was contradictory. A puzzle, so to speak, of actions and words that didn't coalesce but instead clashed completely.
He wondered if Katsuki using his quirk openly, after they had their conversation, was fate trying to prove to Todoroki that he too should be using the right side of his quirk.
Even the sounds of that just sounded pathetic.
It would not be happening at all, whether now or later he was resigned to only his left side. But even then, Todoroki had a gut feeling going against Bakugou would be more challenging than any of his previous matches.
Still, by not using his right side Todoroki had given himself a large weakness that could be exploited, he was greatly aware of this. He just needed to compensate for it with his power and tactical approach. Despite that, he knew Bakugou himself also had his own weaknesses to be exploited. The boy was lacking with his training and was reluctant to resort to his quirk at times of dire need, resulting in a brash decision. All of which, if pressured, could make him fall apart. When silently observing the matches Bakugou had participated in, to pick up on these slight details, he inferred that since Bakugou had just begun to use his quirk again he lacked an understanding of it which everyone else was privy to. Against someone who had trained with his quirk since the age it first manifested, there was no competition.
Not to mention that similar to his quirk, Bakugou was a ticking time bomb that was just waiting to set off, and each small disturbance just sped the timer up ever faster. It made the usage of his quirk something to be wary of, but nothing else could be changed for it.
Todoroki had a sinking suspicion that Bakugou was aware of the fragility of how he chose to use his quirk and how little experience he had, simply due to how he could adapt and manage himself.
He just didn't know exactly how that changed Bakugou's performance overall; him being aware of his faults were one thing, but almost showcasing them were in a whole other ballpark.
Due to this, no matter what he did, Todoroki thought that Bakugou would always remain somewhat of a mystery to him.
Of course sometimes what Bakugou displayed in his matches, even in his unconventional ways, appealed to a certain logic Todoroki could get behind, (in his mind the easiest strategy was to get things over with, as a hero he wouldn't have time to mess around) however he couldn't wrap his head around how the other boy was able to come up with it. How did he decide to do certain things? Or was it all purely chance? That itself was hard to determine.
Take his match against his classmate, Uraraka.
It made no sense for him to toy with her and drag on the fight when he could have cleanly blasted her with the giant explosion he had used to clear the rocks she had placed over his head in the beginning. If he had been able to prepare that all along it made no sense for him to stall using it, even if it required a large charge, Uraraka had lost to her own exhaustion against Bakugou's stamina, nothing else.
Todoroki could pick out even more reasons why Bakugou had interested and confounded him with his simple and calculating thinking. To him, an opponent should be dealt with as swiftly as possible through whatever means possible.
If anything, the huge ice blocks he had created during his matches showed evidence of that thorough swiftness. But, the same trick wouldn't work everytime. Using the giant ice block would end his fight against Bakugou too easily, he was sure it would be going on for much longer due to the unpredictability of the other boy, no matter how much Todorki had observed or talked to him, he still couldn't get an accurate reading. Maybe that was because he was generally bad at that type of thing, relying on words rather than emotions, but he had a feeling it wasn't that at all. He expected this match to be much longer than all the others he had been in, and yet for some odd reason he strangely didn't mind.
All of that brought him back to the current moment, their brutal fight.
Todoroki could only go on for so long before the burden of his ice usage came to weight down on him. Unfortunately, being able to use both ice and fire required his body to be at a stable temperature for both and if he wasn't careful that delicate balance between the two elements could be off-set just as easily.
Damn it, it was hard. He was being thrown in all directions, explosions coming from the right and left. He had to beware of the moves Bakugou chose to make. At the beginning of their match, he had managed to use explosions to accelerate himself into a dodge. From there he had used the momentum he gained to throw Todoroki across the stadium. If he hadn't caught himself with ice and spun around, the match might've already been over. Those types of attacks were always possible but he wasn't sure if he would be able to watch for them all. It didn't matter much anyway to Todoroki, as he had been trained sufficiently in close combat. Even then his long range attacks were where he shined, so long as he could keep Bakugou far enough away from him that the only thing getting blasted was ice, he would win.
That's what he thought.
It proved to be easier done when Bakugou was adept at scuttling around and creating himself openings using his reflexes. Already Todoroki had to brace himself with ice while sending spikes back simultaneously instead of being able to focus on just one task and put all of his effort into it. Both his offense and defense were made up with ice spikes, having no choice but to structure them that way, forcing himself to disregard the effectiveness of each spike and instead hone in on the sheer number of them. Unfortunately he was erecting them almost as fast as Bakugou could decimate them, almost as if it was a race to see what could be left standing, the more ice spikes, the more Todoroki was winning.
In his mind, it was childish to go by those standings, so he was measuring it as a battle of stamina to replace those thoughts. Every quirk had a drawback, neither of them could continue this charade forever and he was just waiting for that crack in Bakugou's armor. The one chance for him to get a permanent upper hand and immobilize his opponent.
However, with how hard he was breathing and the slight coating of ice slowly starting to grow on his limbs, he wasn't sure if he could make it before Bakugou. From across the stadium, it was hard to tell but Bakugou seemed to have labored breaths, deeply inhaling and exhaling, which meant that Todoroki was giving him a workout. Working his mind, quirk, and body all at once were sure to tire him out easier than just one of the necessary components in a fight similar to theirs. But if he could tell all of that, he was sure Bakugou would be able to see that he was not doing well himself, being eaten alive by his mother's quirk was not something he intended to display during this Festival or ever if he had his way, but his quirk wasn't on his side.
It never was.
He was determined not to let his stamina be the first to run out, not let his quirk consume him as he was striving to prove that he can survive without any fire. Already he was going down a dangerous path, but he refused to let it control him.
What he hadn't accounted for was for all of those statements to come crashing down the second Bakugou turned his focus right onto him, eyes piercing his own and pinning him in place. Even if he wanted to, Todoroki felt somehow frozen in place with the glare the other boy was sending him. What was this feeling? And how come he suddenly got the feeling that Bakugou wasn't going to make use of this opportunity to fight him… but as a few moments passed his prediction came true as Bakugou didn't move to strike. Instead he stomped his back foot roughly, fists clenched, and eyebrows furrowed deep. Todoroki didn't know what made him angry so suddenly, but that's when Bakugou decided to open his mouth and yell.
His action, that itself, was when the battle truly started.
"You've got to be kidding me." Katsuki clenched his fists tightly, the longer the match had gone on the more his victory seemed apparent. His blasts were wearing down icy boy more and more, and his ice strikes were becoming more sluggish the longer they fought. He didn't seem like he was even trying to hit Katsuki anymore, aiming so far off.
And whenever Katsuki got close he could see. The frost he had been using was now collecting on his arms, face, and clinging to his body desperately. His opponent was wearing himself out too quickly. "That's all you got? Seriously?"
Icy boy with a side of trauma looked up, a faint glimpse of surprise written on his face.
"You think this is fun?" Katsuki sneered, "Why don't I use only one half of my quirk and be a fucking bitch about it so that everyone who loses feels shitty about losing to such a pathetic half baked bastard. And everyone who wins feels shitty because you didn't even try."
He will admit, his voice was very mocking and whiny, but that was completely on purpose. He wanted to serve as a wakeup call to this idiot who thought it would be a good idea to not utilize his full potential.
"I will not use my right side." Icy boy was too adamant on it, his stubbornness was surely inherited from that disgusting father he mentioned.
Low blow?
Maybe, but Katsuki was feeling too spiteful about this complete idiot to care about how considerate he sounded in his head. In fact, he was saying much worse things that he would not want to recollect.
Wait a minute… Icy bot just said something that Katsuki could work with, finally. He remembered Deku's parting words,
"You have to convince him that it's his power, not his father's. That's the only way you can win satisfactorily! It's my only advice, I'll be cheering for you."
It gave him pride to admit that yeah, the nerb was right.
"Are you deaf?" Katsuki yelled, exasperated, "Did you just hear yourself? I will not use my right side."
Icy boy was visibly confused, eyes squinting as frost started to grow on his arm and spread towards his shoulder. He probably thought Katsuki was lulling him into false security with this talk, or something similar.
Was he not being blunt enough?
"Fucking idiot." He swore, "You just said, it was your right side. Not your father's, not your mother's, but yours. Honestly, can your father use fire and ice at the same time? His quirk's called Hellfire not icy hot or whatever the fuck."
Katsuki could see the moment of realization dawn upon the other boy. If they were closer he would probably be able to see him tremble ever so slightly under the heavy words.
He didn't care what made icy hot boy use his quirk, he just needed it to happen in this fight. If he could help the other boy make some realizations about himself, that didn't matter. All that truly mattered to Katsuki at this present moment was a fair fight where he could prove he made it. It wouldn't count unless this bastard gave it his all.
"I will not use it." He repeated.
Katsuki cracked his arm and turned his head from left to right. "When are you going to get it in that stubborn ass head of yours?"
He sighed, raising his arm in front of him with his fingers splayed out as he cupped his wrist with his other hand. He let off sparkles of explosion from the cupped hand as a warning threat.
He tried to channel what Deku would say. He was much better at this than Katsuki, but if he were on the stadium grounds aiding him, it wouldn't be fair at all.
He had to be the one to convince icy boy. To build him up only to break him down again as he gets crowned the ultimate winner of the first year's Sports Festival against the wishes of every single onlooker.
"I used my quirk. You don't understand the fucking history around it, and why I never used it before, you idiot." He hissed, "Stop assuming you're the only one born with misfortune and own up to the fact that you've never caused any of it. Reevaluate how you choose to fight me, because I'm going all in. Are you a pussy or will you do that too?"
It pained him to share even the smallest details from a personal story, but it seemed to be the only thing that would get through this boy's thick skull.
Make him look pathetic for not using his quirk, and then reaffirm it's his quirk not his fucking father's. He could do this, it might work.
"So let me say it again."
He paused, breathed deeply, and shouted at the top of his lungs. "IT'S YOUR POWER, NOT HIS."
He hoped his words had as much effect as he thought they did. Katsuki had never thought that he of all people would be able to say something that had both good intentions and sounded powerful, but maybe it was just the nerd rubbing off on him.
It almost seemed like something he would say, ever the inspirer.
Icy boy kept quiet, eyes wide as the plate Katsuki used to eat for breakfast that morning.
Had he come to a revelation or had Katsuki sparked some repressed hatred in him that makes him want to rage for retribution.
No, he wouldn't do that.
Katsuki, from far away, may not have seen that sparkle in his eyes but he could certainly feel that it happened, he knew he had just helped icy boy click the final piece into place. The foundation for his quirk usage had been missing for so long that led him to believe complete bullshit.
Well, the same could be applied to Katsuki himself, couldn't it? Of course he would never outwardly express that he ever had the slightest inclination that his ideals were bullshit. Because he lived by them and they had helped to keep him from tipping off the deep end, he had to hold onto what he knew as survival, but it was a tempting mindset to adapt to.
A sudden flash of orangish yellow grabbed Katsuki's attention from where he had been waiting from and he shifted into a battle stance.
Even when he was thinking in the midst of a battle, his body was always alert and ready to pounce or dodge the second his brain could catch up.
Yet, at the moment, he was mesmerised.
Fire was curling off of icy fire's arm as it snake ditself around his body and wrapped around his torso, tendrils reaching up and flowing off his frostbitten cheeks and red hair.
Ice slowly receded from his arms where it had been cutting into him earlier, sapping his stamina and strength. Katsuki could even see the frozen breaths the other boy was taking suddenly vanish, his body balanced out as it was supposed to be.
Katsuki wouldn't dare call icy fuckface pretty in any circumstance, yet he couldn't find another word to deceive the hot flames that were dancing on his body.
It was hypnotic.
There was no other way to describe what he was seeing.
The swirling patterns of fire, the way that time stood still for a few moments to leave Katsuki in silent contemplation and the fact that he had been the one to bring all of this out for a fight. They were going to fight, he was going to go up against these enchanting flames and ensure himself a victory that would please both him and Deku.
He would be the first person ever to encounter these flames, and just as they blossomed into a powerful technique, Katsuki would strangle them down and prove himself.
Still, the sight of it simply couldn't be ignored.
The pure power and independence oozing off of the icy boy was immense.
He knew that audience members agreed with his sentiment as a collective gasp rose. Katsuki tore his eyes away from icy boy, maybe not the smartest move, and scanned the audience ever so briefly. He saw what he needed to see, most audience members had their eyes open wide in shock, some had faces plastered with fake smiles that were all too happy to profit off of this new revelation presented to them.
All that being observed, now was as good of a time as ever to do what he came here to do and stop admiring the quirks of his opponent, he wasn't Deku after all.
"Oi! Pretty boy." Katsuki yelled out, twisting his wrists until they cracked, "Done showing off now? Ready to fight me seriously this time?"
Too late Katsuki realized he may have provoked the other boy too early, not quite ready to utilize the dangerous attack he had long been working on.
Icy boy didn't let him down, responding to the provocation with a burst of flaming energy as ice began to crackle from his left palm. No matter which side he attacked from, Katsuki knew he would be in a world of pain.
Luckily, Endeavor (he didn't think he'd ever be using those two words together) interrupted the skirmish they were about to begin.
"SHOOOOOOTO!" His loud yell bounced off the stadium walls, making sure icy fire boy heard it loud and clear. Almost immediately, his head whipped in his father's direction. "MY SON, YOU HAVE EMBRACED-"
He may have been bought some time, but Endeavor was still a complete asshole and Katsuki was waiting for the satisfaction of shutting him down. He was almost ready to execute his special plan, palms warming up the point where Katsuki was probably burning himself too, but he didn't care. Right now it was his honors to loudly proclaim to Endeavor,
"OH JUST SHUT THE FUCK UP WILL YOU? WE'RE IN THE MIDDLE OF SOMETHING HERE."
Katsuki cleared his throat, changing up his footing as he prepared for the few seconds he would have before everything in this match would be over - win or loss alike.
With great pride, he could now look back and say he shut up one of the greatest assholes to ever exist in Japan, and he did it while preparing for a nasty tornado of power to be hurled right into his son's face.
"Fucking silence, now that's better."
He muttered it under his breath and fixed his gaze to look at icy hot straight in the eyes. They were so full of hidden emotions that Katsuki couldn't see from his distance, but could almost picture it just standing there.
His emotions were rolling off of him like waves, telling everyone near him exactly what he was feeling. In any other situation, Katsuki knew he would have run far away from the pure bloodlust and angered pain his opponent was sending out with fiery bursts.
But, Katsuki could tell without any hesitation, that he would get the fight he wanted, nevermind the pain he might go through.
And that made him grin with absolute glee.
Icy boy was finally coming out of his igloo and ready to challenge Katsuki head on.
Well, he wasn't completely right about that because he knew how much dedication and time it took to get used to a quirk you never used and swore not to
But none of it mattered because he took the first step, one that would lead Katsuki to complete victory against the entirety of his quirk, not just that half of it.
This would be his last push from the cliff into a free fall that he had been preparing for for these past few weeks.
And so, with a rivaling smirk, he stopped looking at icy hot and stopped paying attention to what he had been doing. Instead letting himself strew in the emotional stress he went through to convert it into something else - energy.
The explosions in his hands started to crackle with the build up of energy, he was going to go all out. No promises he would be able to recover after this attack, he was prepared to use everything... Which meant there was no way he could mess it up without throwing the match completely.
But he didn't have any worries, Deku was on his side, watching him, and this time he was the one in control of his quirk; it wasn't in control of him.
Nor would he let it.
His crackling skin, sparkling palms, and steaming skin were all something he could control. And he'd even prove it with the final shot he was given, the final chance for him to show off and truly explode.
He felt hotter as he increased the combustion of his sweat to even greater lengths.
He had pushed himself off of the ground and then used his right and left hands to take turns blasting explosions, ensuring he wouldn't be thrown to one particular side. Instead, his explosions kept him balanced as he ended up swirling in a cyclone-type environment.
The explosions rising from him were so large that the air was starting to swirl too.
However, it really didn't help that icy fire boy was steadily stroking his fire as well, which also consumed large amounts of oxygen for strength, both of them sucking in air through their quirks as quickly as possible.
Katsuki's delicate plan relied on air. He needed it or else it wouldn't be as successful, which meant he couldn't let icy hot take it all for his own quirk, It might even be something so small seeming as that which would decide their fate against each other. Katsuki couldn't leave it up to chance, he had to turn everything in his favor.
He would use himself to create a whirlwind of air, naturally, and explosive power which he would lay right on top of his opponent.
He had never tried this at such a large scale but he had to do it in order to win this once and for all. He may not be sure if explosions of this nature would even do much against the mysterious fire and ice combination.
Still, it would be worth every shot he had to pull it off.
As such, he ensured that he would be floating and swirling just like the winds. He would become the center of this hurricane of attacks, the closer he was to his opponent the more accurate his attacks would become. And because there was no way he would be able to angle his crazy cyclone, he just had to actively steer it and go in for the kill as he descended upon the flaming figure that soon would be placed beneath him.
It was commonly said that the eye of the storm is the calmest part of it, but Katsuki had proven he was anything but calm.
He was a fucking monster and he would prove it, right here, right now. He didn't care about anything but Deku and winning, otherwise it was all meaningless.
The fact that his body was about to collapse was another fact he had buried deep, running on adrenaline and determination. He couldn't think about exhaustion, it was the last thing on his mind.
He just kept going, kept blasting from both hands again, again, and again. The shape had long taken shape, winds whipping and explosions rumbling. All he needed to do was make it stronger and make sure it went to the right place. That would be directly into icy hot's face, preferably, anywhere on his body would work too.
He didn't have to wait much longer either, as his spiralling was closing in. Icy boy was making his move too, sending blocks of ice and waves of flame.
What he hadn't expected from Katsuki though, was for him to barrel right through the ice blocks, the power of his explosives had tunneled, leaving no harm at all to Katsuki. And because of the winds circling around him, the fire had little effect except to get absorbed in the power Katsuki already wielded.
No matter what his opponent started to throw at him, none of it could hinder Katsuki's momentum except maybe chip away at his total power. Even that wouldn't be enough to stop him, he would plunder through and pulverize icy cold, winning the battle once and for all.
However, his issue was that he underestimated his opponent too much.
From what was mentioned earlier, he had been working on his quirk the second he had presented it because a certain shitty flame hero had forced him too. In that time, he would clearly have a few tricks up his sleeve.
And soon, ice was whipping all around him, flame quickly accompanying it.
The issue when combining ice and fire was that it produced water, which was able to slip through any crack in Katsuki's defense, drastically reducing his effectiveness.
Fuck it, he couldn't lose any power now.
The explosions around him began to hiss, cold water and melty ice flooding his perception, all of his senses overwhelmed.
But he wouldn't let anything stop him. He wouldn't get sidetracked, he still had the upper hand with his aerial attack. Worst case scenario, he would just end up knocking icy boy down and from there he would be able to strike hard when least expected.
He didn't have a plan for the situation that he would be too tired to actually finish the fight, but that didn't matter. Because that situation, the worst case, was never going to happen. Katsuki would defeat his opponent as he had done with the previous ones.
After building up a sweat from the earlier fight, Katsuki still had enough sweat dripping through his fingers to ignite and give him more power.
Icy boy could only rely on his water trick so many times before he would be knocked on his ass. By Katsuki.
Although, it seemed like icy boy had one last trick he was going to try before time would run out. It was an old trick, one Katsuki had seen before. But used in this situation? It's power would be multiplied by tenfold.
It seemed as though icy boy learned his lesson. The best shot he had of winning wasn't blowing out the burning candle that was Katsuki, it was cutting the wick completely.
As such, he pulled out the oldest trick in the book.
By the time Katsuki had realized what was happening it was too late. He was seconds away from hitting his opponent, but a huge block of ice was thrown up right in his face.
An ice spike.
He could obviously make it through the spike, but accounting for how much power he would lose as he drilled through was enough for Katsuki to roar out in anger. He didn't have time for this. These games were over, and he was going in for the kill.
Thrusting his arm forward, he used the last of his saved up energy to successfully blast through the ice in front of him. He wouldn't use any more unnecessary power if he could just as easily avoid it with his own methods.
He wasn't tired, he would keep going until he saw this through.
Even still, as she shot forward ice was closing in on him, chilling his bones and dampening his explosive power that had been tunneling as desired.
But it was enough.
Enough to buy his opponent the time to devise a new plan, to completely overwhelm him with his quirk, nevermind the consequences.
The explosions may have been ongoing but the sudden blast of fire and ice working as a combined force was enough to practically knock Katsuki out of the sky.
Luckily, it didn't. Katsuki's balance was too great for something like that to happen.
He flew forward, saved energy flowing back through him as he aimed all of it.
All of the air, all of the explosive power, all of the fire.
He aimed it right at icy boy and pulled the trigger, explosions splashing in front of his face, colliding with the other flashes of fire and ice.
The last thing he fully remembers is screaming, "FINALLY."
And then his senses froze.
He knew he hadn't passed out during the battle because his brain was still awake and trying to make sense of the situation. But instead of time freezing, it seemed to have sped up, but that could be because of Katsuki completely phasing out by the overwhelming of his senses, particularly sight. It wasn't what he intended to happen, but he couldn't help his brain turning to mush, fuck and it was at the end of the match too.
Speaking of the end of the match, Katsuki groaned, what the fuck just happened?
No answers were popping up.
Katsuki would be perfectly honest, all he had seen was bright flashes of orange clashing with a blinding blue-white.
And then nothing.
He was steering in the dark except the dark was searing light and even hotter flames. He had to rely on his instinct and memory when aiming his explosive blasts, and he was sure that icy boy had to do the same.
Neither of them could really be sure about this inevitable showdown because much of it remained unseen.
But now, the final blows had been thrown.
Katsuki was aware of that.
Ice striking, fire sizzling, explosions booming.
There was nothing left, and Katsuki wasn't even able to tell where he was.
In bounds out of bounds, was he even at the stadium anymore?
A strong ringing sound had covered up all of his senses, so even when he opened his eyes he still couldn't focus on anything around him, both the ringing and residue from the bright lights hindering his sense of touch and hearing.
In his mouth, there was only a bitter charred taste.
His body was exhausted, pushed beyond all of the limits he had set before. His control was slipping and he was overwhelmed by the duality of his ringing ears and blinded eyes.
He wanted to get up, needed to stand up and keep on fighting but there was nowhere for him to draw strength from.
Before a plentiful well, now all dried up from overuse.
Yet he couldn't bring himself to care about his condition, only about the results of the awaited fight between the unknown General Studies student and top Hero Course student.
"Had he done it? Did he win?"
The words echoed in his head incoherently before coming to a complete stop as Katsuki completely lost consciousness.
Moments later, he was crowned the victor against Todoroki Shouto who had passed out not even two minutes earlier.
It was over.
After both boys had passed out, they were brought back to the infirmary where Recovery Girl deemed them unfit for more healing.
Neither boy had much energy and trying to heal them would only deplete them further, so she made sure both had adequate fluid in them, but otherwise wasn't able to do much. (Still, when they both later woke they would find a bunch of princess bandages stuck onto their small wounds and cuts.)
Unfortunately, there wasn't much time either boy was allowed to rest as there was a need to wrap up the Sports Festival with the infamous Awards Ceremony where each student would be awarded their medal for 1st, 2nd, or 3rd place.
Half asleep, from the infirmary they were shepherded off onto platforms with the intention that there would be a large show as they rose to accept their award.
But for Katsuki and icy boy, they were practically falling asleep at their posts. Katsuki himself just wanted to crawl into bed for the rest of his life, he was so exhausted.
He wasn't even that pissed or excited when his podium finally rose and he became face to face with All Might. The Hero Students were used to him teaching them, why should he act any different around the number one hero?
He may have been fanboying inside but no one needed to know that.
Except maybe Deku, but that's only because he was sure the other boy would be able to tell anyway, hiding shit from him was easier the older they got, but now that they were so close it was practically impossible.
Regardless, one thing Katsuki was paying attention to, as All Might placed the medal on him (it was heavier than he expected and thus made him want to collapse under the excess weight) was the audience's reaction.
There were polite claps, but nothing like icy boy had received, not that he was expecting anything of that sort. It was just nice to get noticed every once and a while.
However, out in the crowd one voice's cheers rang loud and clear. Deku made use of his innate ability to never shut up to make sure he would be the loudest for Katsuki.
Katsuki half heartedly snorted.
That was the only validation he needed.
Not even All Might's shitty speech after giving him his medal could change the happiness he currently felt. (Although looking back on it later, it was pretty fucking rude of him to half-ass it like that).
His goal was to prove to Deku that he too could fight, that he could be his hero and his hero alone after what had happened.
And he did just that.
Deku had acknowledged him. Yet he knew there was still a storm coming. The thought of it wasn't enough to overshadow his pure excitement, but Katsuki knew that using his quirk this much and repressing his emotions and memories that accompanied it, especially when he used it not just as practice, but against people… real people who have lives and could get hurt. He had repressed all of that he had been feeling, simply unable to process it all when he had to jump from battles or matches, never letting his mind catch a single break. Unless Deku was involved, then his brain would get distracted and overthink without a single care in the world.
Speaking of Deku, there was so much unresolved tension they had to discuss with his seemingly new ability to control whoever's body he stepped into… or was it just Katsuki's body he had free reign over, he didn't know.
What Katsuki did know though was that whenever he woke up, when he had overcome this tiredness and when he was finally able to internalize everything he had gone through and caused, that's when it would all happen.
It would all come spilling out, the dam in his head finally breaking and making way for a flood.
That wasn't a scary thought whatsoever.
Nevermind the future, right now he was Bakugou Katsuki, winner of the Sports Festival, best friend of Midoriya Izuku, and he was going to pass out from exhaustion.
The nation was panicked, after all something that had never happened, and probably shouldn't have happened, did happen.
Someone had made all of the Hero Course students look like a fool.
That someone was none other than Bakugou Katsuki.
There had already been news reports and coverage for the spectacle that was him, up on the podium, accepting the first place medal instead of any of the numerous Hero Course students who had made it to the final matches.
It was a very mixed batch so far. SOme news reports were speaking positively about the representation of other strengths from classes shown and how Bakugou could inspire, others talked about how brutal he was and that'd why he wasn't let into the Hero Course, more negative ones began to criticize U.A and the teaching there for letting such a 'pathetic' student win against future heroes, the most common opinion was that his win was propaganda, a fluke, and shouldn't be counted.
Still, during the first two events, Bakugou's ability to make it through could be explained by chance just fine, but not with the one on one matches. There was no room for mistake or cheating, only the skills and talent the students already had access to. A fluke couldn't explain it, no matter how it was framed at the end of the day Bakugou had come out on top.
Even then, it was unfair to begin with because General Education students were not taught to defend themselves or how to fight, even though it wasn't a bad skill for anyone to have, so already they were disadvantaged greatly.
No one would defend such lowlives in a society functionsing around heroes though, and these issues were only brought up because it was the ego of heroes that had now been impacted.
And yet, despite all of the odds that would have been against him from the very start, Bakugou was able to rise and beat everyone in his way.
It would be highly inspirational if it hadn't been causing so many problems.
A staff meeting had been called. It was scheduled for not long after all the heroes, sponsors, and families were to vacate the stadium and the cleanup was to begin.
That was how fast the media had spread, there wasn't any rest for the administration and faculty as they had to sort out this issue immediately.
The Sports Festival had ended with an unlikely victor after all, there was much to discuss for the future.
Although, the faculty all had a feeling that the meeting wasn't about how they might have seemed stupid as a school because a General Studies student was able to climb the way up the ladder and beat every Hero Student had had come across.
It would probably be about how someone with such a quirk was in that course to begin with. He had the capabilities, so why wasn't he already there?
Well, part of that blame would fall on the homeroom teacher, in this case Cementoss, for not bringing it up in many of the potential chances he had. But, his reasoning is very likely understandable. Most of the experience any person of authority who works at U.A has had with the explosive boy, was him chewing out every single hero teacher who put their students into danger after a villain ambush.
Admittedly, that hadn't left the most positive of viewings on the angry boy. Even if what he said was right, adults were adults. And adults would make excuses for their fuck-ups which children had to sit and watch it all unfold. Except, this time the children wouldn't just sit by and watch.
In this case, angering the Pro Heroes who had been doing their job for years was now a kid who had proved himself as worthy, in a sense, through his achievements during the Festival.
Even as the assorted teachers walked to an isolated meeting room, where the assembly was to adjourn, many of them wouldn't help but think similarly.
A kid who had a quirk that could beat Endeavor's son and he had never aimd higher than General Studies. Why not? There were numerous answers, all of which were internally brainstormed before being dropped. Speculation could oftentimes be a downfall when handling the complete unknown.
Only one teacher out of the many held answers to that question.
He was wrapped in bandages and slouchy dark clothes.
Shouta Aizawa knew better than anyone that some people were not cut out to be heroes. Having a powerful quirk meant shit, especially in the current society where it was assumed a quirk gave you everything, the rights to do anything, and more power meant more heroism.
That wasn't the case.
He doubted their principal would care, his brain was eons above theirs but oftentimes he missed the emotional side. Aizawa wouldn't claim to be the best at emotional judgement and empathy, but he knew better than some street bear rat who had been experimented on coldly by disgusting humans.
And that is why when he found himself at his destination after a short walk in the unusually empty U.A halls, among all the other teachers in the room he couldn't bring it in himself to feel surprised. Especially not at the room's dim lighting and the back of a massive chair staring them down. Nezu did have a knack for the dramatics.
The door closed behind all of them, and the chair slowly turned to reveal their boss with a steaming cup of tea perched delicately from his paw.
He gestured for all of them to take a seat at the long conference table which divided the room into two. It wasn't large by any standards, but it was big enough to accommodate them all.
"I have called you all here today." Nezu took a sip from his teacup, a mischievous glint in his eyes, "To talk about Bakugou Katsuki."