"I think it's time to kick this up a notch."
Bakugou backed up instinctively at those words, that damned grin– and no sooner than he had moved, the air began to crackle and snap, like it was being pulled taut by invisible forces that went unseen. His hair stood on end, and his explosions died before they could even break forth past his skin.
Looking at the Uchiha was enough to tell him why this was happening, he was covered, at least partially, in blue lightning. His arms were the only part he could see covered at that moment, extending to his sword. The blue energy looked violent, barely controlled, snapping at the air around him like it was just waiting for a fight.
"You know, Bakugo," Izuku said as he walked forward slowly, his eyes never leaving Bakugou's own, "There are quite a few aspects of my quirk I haven't mastered yet, healing, for example, I can only do for small cuts right now. I'm nowhere near the level of being able to heal a broken hand yet."
Ignoring the fact that this guy could self-heal, he was silently very glad that he couldn't do it in the first place. Going up against someone with offensive capabilities and defensive ones was always dangerous. Bakugou knew it all too well, his quirk was purely offensive, and while he could use it in defensive ways, it was sorely lacking in that area.
That's what made the Uchiha so dangerous.
Bakugou had done his research, a whole compound on the outside of the city? A kid that could fight some pro heroes? Something didn't add up, and while information was sparse regarding them– insecure bastards– he had eventually found out enough to satiate his need for information.
Tomoe, one of the only recorded Uchiha to have gone pro. Seemingly having worked with All Might on many occasions, that was enough to partially earn his respect, partially, he valued actions after all. And funnily enough, the mother of one, Uchiha Izuku.
Anything else he could find could be gleaned from half assed news articles and clips from the internet. But one thing was for certain when it came to these people;
The Sharingan, as Tomoe's quirk was called, and probably Izuku's as well, was strong. Abnormally strong, too strong, while some would say the same for All Might, it wasn't the same. This was… different. It could do too much, and he got the feeling that he hadn't seen nearly anywhere close to what Izuku was fully capable of.
His thoughts were interrupted by the swing of Izuku's electrified sword, going past his nose by mere inches. He struck his leg out, hoping to sweep the young Uchiha's footing out from under him, worst case, he would jump, or step back, and avoid it.
He didn't expect him to counter it.
Bakugou should have expected it, if his eyes could really see so much, whatever that pertained to, then this shouldn't have caught him off in the least. So when Izuku simply stepped back, avoiding the sweeping kick, and lifted his own foot, he had no time to move when Izuku brought his foot back down on his ankle.
He grimaced, he'd put quite a bit of power into that, but not enough to break it.
"You should have hit harder," He growled, getting ready to set off more blasts around his foot and ankle, to either throw Izuku off or to push himself out of harm's way. But before he could even begin to generate more explosions, a quick shock shook his system.
"You're not the only one who's been working on versatility," He didn't need to look at Izuku to know he was smirking, "You're smart, very smart Bakugou, I'll freely admit that," Izuku leaned forward, putting more weight onto his ankle, eliciting a stifled groan from the blonde, "but you should stay down, it won't end well for you otherwise."
"Like hell!"
In theory, if Izuku could do one of two major things with those eyes, first of those being: seing things with an increased perception, leading to enhanced reactions. Or two, he could see things in advance, like a type of precognition. He would be willing to bet that it was a bit of both, but he was leaning more towards the latter.
He just needed a way around it.
Baking for another shock, he generated explosions on the bottom of his feet, feeling the edge of a shock as he blasted backward across the ground– ouch– and sending Izuku tripping over himself, while he stood after his explosions ended.
"Why don't you fight me for real?" Bakugou sneered, eyeign the blade in Izuku's hand, "Or is that piece of metal just for show? Don't tell me you thought that was gonna scare me?"
Bakugou barked out a laugh, and Izuku stiffened, he could see the way his eyes were spinning, literally. Something new entered his features, like a pilot light had been lit underneath him, the start of something that would soon grow into something much larger.
"I can assure you, it's not just for show," He held it up in his right hand, his left hand, and seemingly arm, hung limply at his side, "If you want' to be cut down, I'm happy to oblige," HE smirked, and Bakugou couldn't help but return it.
"Then come at me, nerd,"
"Fine, you asked for it, just don't get scared when I get going!"
The two quickly devolved from talking to clashes of blows against the other, punches, or kicks in Izuku's case, combined with explosions and steel, they were fought so differently, had such different strengths in such different areas that it was almost like fighting a polar opposite. Bakugou would parry the sword with his gauntlets, silently thanking the support course for building something so sturdy to withstand a lightning charged sword.
Izuku, however, was always able to find a way in, to find that exact opening. So he took it, dropping his sword, and grabbing Bakugou by his wrist and threw him into the air through the giant hole he had made in the ceiling, quickly grabbing his sword and jumping after him. While still in the air, cut him shallowly at several points across his body, finishing with a large arc using the flat of his blade. Slamming the blonde backward and onto the ground of the second floor.
"Had enough yet?"
—
"Had enough yet?"
"Not even close."
"These guys are insane!"
It was Uraraka who spoke then, Shinsou noted, his eyes glued to the fight between his friend and the blonde headed bomb, indeed, Uraraka was correct. These two were nuts, and that was putting that into the most minimal sense of the word. Both were holding back, he was sure, he didn't have the most concrete of reasons for believing it, but… you didn't use the flat of a blade if you wanted to end the fight.
"The way they're fighting…" Shinsous paused when all eyes turned to him, seven All Might's, who gestured for him to continue, so he did, "It's almost like they're trying to make the other improve? As if they make each other better? Like they're teaching each other?"
All Might guffawed, making Shinsou cringe ever so slightly, for a moment thinking that he had looked like an idiot, but the hero's next words dispelled these thoughts, "Indeed, young Shinsou! You have quite an eye!" He turned his gaze back to the screen, Watching Bakugou bear down on Izuku until his sword cracked, and finally, snapped. Bakugou seemingly didn't want to waste the opportunity, using the window to put a strong blast into the raveonettes gut, sending him careening into a wall.
"That is the duty of rivals, they may not even know it yet, but they unconsciously push themselves to be better! To reach new heights! While this may look like a grudge match, or senseless violence, it is no such thing! This is a battle to better oneself, and to see if the other can match up!"
His classmates murmured around him, not quite convinced, but honestly? Shinsou could see it, there was no malice in either of their postures, hell, they were both smirking at the other, enjoying beating each other into the ground.
He remembered something Izuku and told him once, not long after they had met and became friends;
"The Uchiha are born for battle, wired for it, I'm no different."
Indeed, Uchiha Izuku was living up to his previous words in full.
—
"You're good," Izuku said, seemingly not having tired all that much, the damn bastard just had monstrous amounts of it apparently, stamina, that is.
"Save the compliments, I'm still gonna put your ass in the ground," Bakugou popped off more explosions, mostly with slightly less vigour than before.
Izuku scoffed, trailing his sword across the ground in a way that made Bakugou's ears feel pain, before he brought it back up and slung it over his shoulder, "A tree cannot stand against the wind of a hurricane, Bakugou."
"Trees bend," Bakugou said simply, bring up one of his hand level with his opponent, "I'm never bowing in defeat to you, damn nerd,"
"Yes, you're too proud for that," Izuku added, "So, it's time for the final bout I suppose?"
"Something like that," Izuku watched Bakugou's hand slowly reach for the pin in the side of his gauntlet, and not for the first time during the fight, he wondered if they were actually functional in some way or other.
"I suppose your gauntlets must have some sort of use then," He asked, being as nonchalant as he possibly could be.
Bakugou just laughed, a laugh that sent shivers through people watching in the observation room, and one that made Izuku shudder minutely, "Of course! I had the support course make something that could store my sweat and discharge it all in one gigantic blast!"
Izuku, for the second time in this fight, was surprised, "Are you insane? If that's storing your sweat from this fight, you could bring the entire building down on top of us." He was surprised Bakugou's pride would even allow him to use an item to enhance his own strength, he just didn't seem the type.
Suddenly, the comms that the two were wearing sprung to life, "Young Bakugou! Do not fire that gauntlet! In an enclosed space like that he could get killed!"
Bakugou, however, was undeterred and continued to slowly pull at the pin, "Please! He'll be fine as long as he dodges!"
Quickly, as fast as he could possibly move, Izuku activated his comm, "Jirou, I don't know what you're doing, but you should really cover your ears!"
There was no response, so he could only hope that she was able to, otherwise this might hurt quite a bit. So, as naturally as breathing Izuku formed a series of hand signs, still unable to perform this particular jutsu without any hand signs. In the future though, hopefully he could.
In the observation room, a few of those present recognized what Izuku was doing as soon as he started, and it wasn't long until a sound started to permeate the air. The sound of a thousand birds, all chirping at once, drowning out any and all other sounds.
It was no sooner than Izuku finished that Bakugou pulled the pin on a literal grenade, the rush of fire and smoke that burst forth from the small device was enough to remind him of something, or maybe remind was the wrong word, it was more like a misplaced sense of melancholy.
Suddenly, the lightning died from Izuku's hand, and for a moment, he feared that he might actually die. But before the flames could even begin to exert their heat upon him, Izuku felt himself pulled into the mindscape, he whipped around, it was dark, almost pitch black. He could see the familiar material underneath his feet, but he had no idea why he was here.
"Oh, you've gotten yourself into quite a mess, huh?"
Izuku whipped around again, not finding the source of the voice that had spoken to him just then.
"You're not going to see me, I'm still locked away, but I think I can let you borrow my eyes just a bit early. I'll deal with the consequences later."
Before he could even ask what that meant, he was back in the waking world, the giant fireball still hurtling towards him. There was something new, however, a pressure, building up behind his eyes. He took less than a second to think, his brain in overdrive, and then, he let it go, and when he did, a voice spoke through his mouth that certainly wasn't his.
"Authority of the Gods,"
All around the flames, a swirl of nothing formed, literally, nothing. It was as if space itself was folding and shrinking around the large mass of flames. But in the end, it seemed to do the trick, the flames were gone, and he was unharmed.
Well, except for the sudden fatigue that hit him, causing him to drop to one knee, panting in exhaustion. He had no idea what he had just done, but whatever it was, he wanted to do it again. His eyes were really hurting though, he'd need to look at them later.
"What the hell was that?!" Bakugou shouted from the other end of the hall, stalking toward the fatigued ravenette, ah, for a moment he had almost completely forgotten about the fight that was going on. Either way, he couldn't stand right now, and he certainly didn't have the energy to fight, it looked like he had–
The building shook, once, twice, and then a third time before a hole opened up in the ceiling, from the third floor. And through it, fell Denki, right on top of Bakugou, and while he doubted that it was intentional, Izuku couldn't help but laugh.
Interestingly enough, Denki was completely unconscious. Although with his opponent being Jirou, he shouldn't have been surprised all that much. Speak of the devil, Jirou herself dropped through the hole a moment later, wincing slightly when she landed. Without sparing a breath, she waltzed, waltzed, over to Denki's unconscious body and wrapped his hands with capture tape.
Bakugou, although dazed, was not knocked out by a literal human falling on top of him like that. However, this was quickly fixed by Jirou giving him a swift kick to the face, if he looked closer, Izuku would have seen the brief flickers of lightning that danced around the girl's boot.
After that, she quickly wrapped up Bakugou, and All Might announced them as the winners. Jirou, seemingly noticing him for the first time, quickly rushed over to him, pulling him up to his feet and helping him leave the building.
"What happened to you, Greenie?" She asked as they descended the stairs, "You look like you got hit by a bus."
Izuku silently shook his head, "I don't know."
—
"That idiot," Sasuke hissed as he viewed the events of the physical world through Izuku's eyes, his now, damaged eyes.
"I'm going to kill him,"
"Aren't we all already dead?"
"I'll kill him again,"
"Dear, please…"
"He used a power that Izuku wasn't ready for, if, and it's a big if, any of those abilities had to be used, it should have been Amaterasu!" Sasuke threw his hands up in the air, pacing the floor of the room they currently occupied, "He could have just burned the explosion away."
"You know that wouldn't have worked," Anko added from her spot on the couch, arms behind her head, front to the ceiling, "it would have taken too long."
"I've done it,"
"Izuku isn't you, Sasuke," Hinata said.
"Thank god for that," Sasuke paced the length of the room, barely paying attention to its other two occupants within it.
"If he tries something like that again, then we can flay 'im" Anko laughed through her teeth, and for once, Sasuke found himself agreeing with the Snake Princess.
He was here to protect Izuku, not to let him get hurt because an idiot couldn't make smarter decisions.
—
Izuku was looking out the window near the bed he was currently occupying, he felt fine, save for some blurred vision that seemed to come and go. But other than that, he felt like he was in good shape, so he didn't really see why Recovery Girl seemed intent on keeping him there for so long.
Well you were bleeding from your eyes.
He didn't particularly want to bother himself with that line of thought at the moment, not when those voices in his head were silent, and certainly not when they were most certainly keeping something from him. If anything, this was something he needed to look into on his own.
That power he had felt, the way he had bent the world to his will in such an absolute, unchangeable way. He wanted to know what that was, what was going on, and he had a feeling that he would need to know it sooner rather than later.
If this ominous feeling he was getting recently was anything to go by, then he would need every scrap of power he could get, and then some, but the question was: what could he do about it?
"Kill your best friend."
Izuku's head whipped around, "Who said that?" His eyes scanned the room, but it was empty, not a single person in sight. No signs of movement, and with the brief activation of his Sharingan, no sighting of any recent lingering essence.
"I must be going crazy."
Izuku shook his head, blaming his imagination for whatever had just happened, he needed to focus.
He needed information.
And to do that, he would need access to the Uchiha Grand Library.
—
Omake
—
[evacuating a building]
Sasuke: *picking up children* Grab the small ones first! Their tiny legs are useless!
Anko:
Anko: *looks at Naruto*
Naruto: Don't you fucking dare!