Welcome back to…
Fridays with the Waifus!
Today's guest is… Ryoko! Welcome back to the show!
The girl blinked a few times as she appeared on stage.
'Oh… This place again…?'
Hey! Welcome back!
'Yay! You're paying attention this time!'
Of course! I even have some questions from the audience for you, too.
"Out of all the other waifus, which do you like to visit most?"
"If Izuku was forced into a karaoke match, would you forcefully transform him so you can also participate too?"
"How pissed off were you at the other Waifus when you found out that they caused the watch to lock you all up in your own habitats?"
"Through Izuku, did you finally get to try Soba like you wanted to?"
Those are today's questions!
'Hmm… The first one's hard…'
Take your time!
'We-e-e-ll… Rias is kinda boring—she's just reading manga that she won't let me see and giggling all the time… and Medaka is always going through those boring encyclopedias…'
Well, isn't that ironic that they're both reading all the time?
'Baiken and 2B don't like it when I visit. I'm apparently "too loud" and "wasting her time" with them…'
That's… Unfortunate. What about Hinata?
'She's great!'
The blue-haired girl beamed as she continued.
'There's always something interesting to do in that weird museum of hers! She treats me like a guest whenever I show up, too!'
Isn't that nice of her!
'Right?! No complaining about me being a distraction or anything! As long as I leave her paintings alone, there're no problems!'
Well, while that's definitely interesting, I must insist we move to the next question. We only have so much time for our segment, you know?
'Oh, sure…! Just… What's Karaoke?
You don't—Of course you don't know… Hmm… Well, karaoke is a mysterious ritual humans do to entertain one another. When men and women do it together, it can indirectly lead to babies, even!
Behind our host's back, visible only to the camera, a sign appears with the following text:
"People have karaoke dates, right?"
"Well, it doesn't matter. She's wonderfully gullible!"
You should absolutely ask Izuku about the connection and how humans have babies. I'm sure he'd be happy to answer the question.
'Really?! That sounds super interesting! I always wondered why humans have mini-people everywhere!'
In fact, you may want to ask Rias to be there too, so you can ask him together! It'll be helpful for Izuku to have someone else to help explain!
'Awesome! Thanks Mr. Host-guy! Sorry about beating the crap out've you last time!'
Ahem… Yes, well… Next question!
'Well, I was really mad for a while… I may have blown up everything in the cave for a few days… I mean, I wasn't even there, and I get punished for it?! It's so unfair!'
I feel a 'but' coming…
'Hmm? No, that's it. I was really mad for a while, and then I got over it. It's pretty simple!'
…Huh. I'm not sure what I was expecting, but it wasn't… that.
'Should I go to the next question now?'
I guess…? Not much else to say about the last one, it seems.
'Okay!'
Ryoko tilted her head to the side, clearly trying to remember something.
'Soba is that noodle food, right?'
Correct. Soba is a noodle dish.
'Oh! Then Izu-chan still hasn't let me have any. It's ridiculous!'
Has he given a reason why he hasn't let you try it yet?
The girl gave a pout and shook her head.
Maybe he's forgotten? You might want to try bugging him about it.
'That sounds like a great idea!'
Of course it is! I came up with it! For now, though, I think it's time to wind up the show.
'Show? What show?'
We've been live this whole time, so feel free to say goodbye to everyone at home!
'Umm… "Goodbye…?" I still don't see anyone…'
Well, anyway…
On with the show!
This was going to be an interesting match, All Might knew.
As soon as the girl walked onto the beach, he knew she wasn't 'just' a random high schooler that Bakugo had developed some interest in. From the way she carried herself to the look in her eye, the man knew that she had potential beyond the norm…
But that instantly lead to the question of 'how much?'
Talent was a dime a dozen in this era—a wonderful thing to consider, given what it implied about this peaceful age—but that meant that the standards for being truly talented were much higher. Things only get messier when you consider the fact that determination and drive can more than make up for lack of talent, causing a far more complex formula for the nebulous concept that was 'potential to succeed.'
What surprised him more than anything, however, wasn't anything to do with the girl his student was about to fight. No, it was her companions, or rather, one of her companions…
What is Enji's son doing here…?
Before he could ponder the subject any further, his student exploded forward, starting the fight with a bang.
Izuku stepped to the side, 'blade' held between herself and Bakugo's trajectory in pre-emptive defense. Between the way her coat swished through the air along with her hair and the casualness of her motion, she took on the appearance of a matador.
Remember the plan…!
"Tch… Someone's in a hurry," she said mockingly as the boy flew past her, Baiken's speech patterns actually serving as a boon for the first time.
The blonde landed several meters away, skidding across the sand as he twisted around to face her. He was scowling, as expected, but didn't rush her instantly, which was not expected.
"With how you're dressed, I just assumed it was an invitation to get up close and personal," the boy shot back smugly.
Izuku's brow twitched involuntarily.
"What? Am I wrong?" the blonde continued with a knowing smirk.
'Don't let him get to you, Boya,' Baiken commented. 'This plan of yours is only going to work if you can keep a cool head.'
"Assumin' it is," Izuku began, already cringing at what she was about to say for the sake of shifting the banter in her favor. "Then what's it say about you that you're failing at it?"
A tick mark appeared on the teen's forehead and—
Before she had a chance to react, the boy was already upon her, savage strikes flying at her rapidly.
With a smirk forming on her face, Izuku started dodging.
It's working…!
Shoto stared at the fight as it progressed, his expression placid and cold.
A part of him wondered what he was doing here in the first place, watching a fight with stakes as ludicrous as this when he could be doing something more important with his time. He had his own fight to worry about after all…
On the sands, he saw Izuku duck and dodge—avoiding blows without responding and fully embracing the role of matador as Bakugo kept charging bullishly.
There was just… something about Izuku that made him want to stick around the—usually—boy. Ever since that first fight they'd had that ended in a draw, he'd found himself confused but intrigued by the green-haired teen.
The boy's obnoxious quirk aside, Izuku was just weird. What kind of person declares they want to help you while you're assaulting them…?
Izuku, apparently. That was before taking into account the good cheer and incessant smiles. It was almost creepy how happy the teen usually was—like he was at peace with the world in the same way mythical sages were.
It was ludicrous. People just weren't like that. They were selfish, prideful things that only cared about themselves. Even heroes weren't exempt from this rule—as Shoto knew quite well from all his tutors and his father—they were just better at hiding it than most.
As if to further defy this perspective, Izuku hadn't ever actually asked Shoto to do anything. In fact, when they agreed to train together, Izuku may have been the one to posit the idea, but he'd suggested it as a way to help Shoto… not himself.
Izuku seemed to pick up on the fact that his helpful nature grated against Shoto's sensibilities, so he even went out of his way to make excuses—saying that his offers would help both of them and that it was really just a trade. Such suggestions were always an afterthought though, added after the boy had already offered even more kindness. That backfired, though, and only raised the frighteningly high pedestal Shoto had begun to place the boy on. It was enough to make him occasionally wonder if he'd just invented a friend in his imagination because of his enforced solitude.
So it truly was a relief when Izuku asked for help with this duel of his, being properly selfish for the first time.
It was a shame though…
There's no way he can pull this off with a mere week's training…
Izuku simply wasn't strong enough to beat his opponent. Bakugo was holding back a lot right now. It was clear as day to Shoto's experienced eyes. In fact, it was… possible, though highly unlikely, that the blonde might even be able to give Shoto a challenge in a straight-up fight. It would be an interesting first to have someone his age be in his weight class… but it probably wasn't the case… Probably.
Regardless… that wasn't important.
Some might see the draw that Izuku had pulled off in his fight with Shoto and assume they were equals, making it a surprise that Shoto expected Izuku to lose this fight. However… Between having the advantage of flight—making Shoto's ice-powers much harder to use effectively for offense—Shoto's preceding exhaustion from his stress training, and Izuku losing control of that monstrous destructive power that redhead body had… he'd still barely managed to even achieve a draw in a stamina match.
Against Bakugo, Izuku had none of those advantages.
The blonde was, presumably, completely fresh, while also being a close/mid-range hybrid fighter that could dance around Izuku with his superior mobility. On top of this, he also had much more experience along with an advantage in overall firepower, if Shoto's assumptions were correct. Really, the only reason Izuku wasn't face down in the dirt right now was the fact that Bakugo was, above all else, arrogant.
He was holding back against an inferior opponent, trying for whatever reason to get a better fight from the experience. This is what gave Izuku a chance…
Now, to see if he could take advantage of it.
"What—"
A wild haymaker sailed over Izuku's head as she dropped low.
"—The hell—"
She deflected the next strike with her 'blade,' applying as much force as she dared to re-direct it away from her.
"—Are you doing, Pinkie?" Bakugo shouted angrily.
Izuku jumped over a straight punch, sailing over the blonde's head in a graceful somersault and dashing out of the way of Bakugo's predictable reaction—a 180-degree spinning kick—granted its initial centrifugal force by an explosion in his palms.
"Warmin' up," Izuku declared, taking full advantage of Baiken's natural smirk.
The other teen's face twisted into a deeper scowl, exposing his teeth a bit as his eyes narrowed.
"So what you're sayin' is…" the boy declared menacingly. "I should turn up the heat!"
Good… It's working…
Bakugo rushed forward, using multiple explosions to fling himself forward, and unleashed a flurry of strikes from a multitude of unconventional angles, counterbalancing himself with multiple tiny explosions in an incredible feat of control.
A blast above flung him to the left, allowing a follow-up to charge a diagonal hook aimed at the inside of Izuku's leg—
The pink-haired girl slid the limb out of the way abruptly, exposing Bakugo's ribs as his momentum carried him past her.
Not yet…
The other teen, now a good meter or so away and in the air, opened his upraised fist and flung out the other one to control his motion, a dual explosion launching his outstretched leg directly at Izuku's head in a blindingly fast spike-like heel kick that would have been impossible to dodge if she'd pursued the 'opening' a moment prior.
Because she hadn't tried to hit the boy in the ribs, she just barely had the time to angle her head out of the way of the blow, the rest of her body following a moment later as she spiraled out of the boy's—
Bakugo's arm was held out at an angle, aiming to clothesline Izuku in the off-chance that his kick missed, narrowly missing the freckled girl by pure chance as she ducked beneath the blow. The blonde really was kicking it up a notch…
It's not enough. He needs to be much angrier…
Bakugo's foot smashed into the ground, sending sand up into the air and obscuring his form for a moment.
…What am I missing?
—FLASHBACK—
"Very well. We have the beginnings of a simple plan…" Shoto began. "But we're missing one key detail. How exactly will you anger Bakugo?"
"Umm…" Izuku mumbled uncertainly, no longer in Baiken's form now that training was over. "I… I don't really know. I've never really thought about how to upset someone."
"I mean, I haven't either… but it's pretty simple, isn't it?" Uraraka interjected. "You just need to understand how someone thinks and then poke the buttons they don't like being touched."
"Though I would have put it differently, she is correct," Shoto agreed. "Ask yourself what makes Bakugo tick, and what his weak points are, and you'll have your answer."
—FLASHBACK END—
The issue was, Izuku had barely any idea how the boy thought.
The blonde was confusing, and Izuku had never been good at understanding the way people think. Bakugo was almost perpetually angry, and it made absolutely no sense to Izuku. The boy had everything! Smarts, athletics, an amazing quirk… He had it all, yet he never seemed to be happy with that. He still wanted something else, and the temporary girl had no idea what it was…
Well… there was one thing she knew about how the blonde 'ticked.' The boy hated the idea of anyone thinking they were better than him.
When teachers talked down to him as a kid, he'd yell at them to their faces. When high school delinquents thought they could mess around with the 'blonde middle school brat' he'd beaten them to tears. The boy had always hated it when someone looked down on him, even more so when he had determined that the person was 'worthless' or weaker than him—which pretty much amounted to the same thing in his mind from what Izuku had seen.
Time to be a lot more direct… It's easy! I just need to talk like Bakugo!
"Is that it? Honestly, I expected more from you!" Izuku said patronizingly, forcing herself to be far meaner than she'd ever been in her life. "You're just jumpin' around in the air like a circus performer… Eh… Nah, that's too good for ya. You're more like a clown that's—"
A fist rocketed out from the sand cloud, coming from a completely different angle than Izuku expected. Clearly, the boy had taken the brief moment he had while obscured to reposition for a surprise attack.
Izuku spun out of the way of the blow, feeling the heat emanating from the boy's fists as they trailed just barely past her cheek, and whirled her coat as part of the motion—again embracing the role of a matador fully.
"Gonna have to try harder than that!" Izuku said with a confident laugh, only managing to maintain her verbal composure because of Baiken's speech patterns. It was frighteningly difficult to fight like this, and she was already starting to feel the strain it put on her body.
Another tick mark joined the others on Bakugo's forehead, steam beginning to emanate from his ears as his hands started to twitch with anger.
The blonde rushed in again, making creative use of his blasts to rush down at Izuku's feet, prompting her to jump out of the way of his low—
Boom!
Another explosion altered the boy's trajectory, launching him up at Izuku directly. His fist was aimed square in the center of Izuku's face, primed to break her nose if it made contact with the ridiculous force it had behind it.
There was no way that she could dodge, but she had to if she was going to win this—
Bakugo was pissed.
The girl was making a mockery of their fight with her refusal to actually attack. More than that, she was clearly looking down on him… Like he was some kind of extra!
That simply wasn't acceptable.
He'd gone out of his way to gradually ramp up how much force he was using and how seriously he was taking the fight. With All Might watching, he was going to do the best he could to meet the man's standards, which meant there was no way he could forgo all of their discussions of threat assessment and overkill, no matter how frustrating it was.
With the previous fight he had with Baiken, he hadn't taken her seriously enough to properly gauge her strength before she got her lucky hit in—and he still wasn't too great at assessing threat levels at a glance—so the 'responsible' thing to do would be to test her limits as he had been for the last few minutes of the fight, but…
She was infuriating.
He was tempted to skip ahead on his mental list all the way to using everything he had… but he kept himself in check. So he stepped it up another notch, adding much more force to his blasts to propel himself faster. As his fist approached her, a feral grin of satisfaction came to his face. With this, he was certain he'd knock the condescending smirk off her face.
There was no possible way for her to dodge from her position mid—
Baiken pushed off the air and dodged his blow, the wind whirling around her briefly from the sudden change in direction.
WHAT THE FUCK WAS THAT?!
What was that?!
Izuku landed on the ground softly, her instincts maintaining her balance in spite of her surprise.
'Huh. I didn't expect you to manage an air dash this early,' Baiken commented.
A what? You never mentioned that to me!
'I didn't mention a lot of things to you, Boya. I only gave you basic categories of my skills,' Baiken stated. 'However, you really don't have the time to worry about that...'
As Izuku's attention returned to her surroundings, she noticed that Bakugo had landed on the sand close by and was standing there… twitching with repressed anger.
"You're still holding back…?" he growled.
"Why wouldn't I?" Izuku shot back, once again abusing Baiken's cocky mannerisms. "I haven't needed to use anything special, Blondie. Honestly, I'm startin' to think you were lucky to last as long as you did in our last fight."
Never mind how close she'd been to losing that match or how hard it was to fight as she was right now…
Was that enough…? I really don't like doing this…
As the boy let out a raspy breath of rage, flames in his eyes and smoke trailing from his fingertips, the pink-haired girl knew she'd finally gotten to him.
Bakugo had snapped.
'This is your chance, Boya,' Baiken interjected. 'Don't screw it up!'
This bitch!
He didn't care anymore.
I fucking tried to be nice.
So what if he had a lot of power to worry about misusing if he didn't fucking use it?!
No more holding back…!
Orange light sparked from his form as energy built up in his hands, a massive attack charging up within the constraints of his ability to use his quirks together. A full one percent of One For All gathered in the palm of his hand.
His rage had boiled over, well past his ability to control it.
As the light grew brighter around him, illuminating his form from below as his already spiky hair shook from the restrained forces within him, he saw the girl's eyes widen in understanding. He relished the look on her face—the smug grin all but gone as the consequences of her actions quickly became apparent.
He let out a confident laugh… and then he let loose.
"DIE!"
Time seemed to slow down as All Might watched his student lose control of his temper.
His eyes widened as he watched the boy start powering up One For All, supercharging his own quirk with the wild energy and pulling his one arm back in preparation—ready to unleash the incredible blast from his palm.
Despite this, the hero sat there, hesitating.
Can the girl handle this…?
Even now, he knew he was still fast enough to intervene… but it would be at the cost of his cover of 'Mr. Yagi.' He may be able to get away with it if no one noticed the 'former hero' disappearing from his seat after 'All Might' showed up… but there was no way to be certain.
It's worth it if it'll save her life and keep my student from becoming a murderer… but is that even a risk right now…?
The girl's expression suggested she was panicking, unable to handle the incoming blow, but All Might's instincts told him to wait.
…Just a little longer.
The man leaned forward in his chair, his spindly fingers gripping the cushion with more force than their appearance suggested they ever could… but he still had more than enough milliseconds to jump in, despite how time crept forward.
…She still has time.
Baiken's expression firmed up into a resolute wall as she stepped forward, her weapon-bearing arm raised up in a defensive posture. Though All Might couldn't see it, all of his years of experience told him that the girl had something charged and ready. She was going to be fine, and even if he'd need to have a stern discussion with his student later to make sure he'd understood what he was doing… he wouldn't need to consider more serious punishments.
Ah… That's a relief.
Izuku's eyes widened as she saw the boy charging up his attack. The power evident in the thing was far beyond anything she'd ever seen from Bakugo—beyond anything she'd ever seen personally, even. The closest thing she'd witnessed were Tesla's bolts of electricity at the power plant, magnified as they were by the electrical grid, but even that wasn't fully comparable.
Perfect…!
Stepping forward and bracing herself, the pink-haired girl followed her plan.
"DIE!" Bakugo raged.
Everything in her field of vision disappeared from her thoughts as Izuku focused solely on her objective. She needed perfect timing for this and that required immense focus. The boy was incredibly close to be unleashing an explosion of this scope, so the delay would be small, but still present enough that it had to be accounted for.
The world went orange as Bakugo unleashed his attack.
"Izu—!" Uraraka began, her eyes wide with worry.
She was cut off by Shoto covering her mouth with a hand, his gaze fixed upon the massive explosion that was about to burst forth from his friend's opponent.
Did you pull it off, Izuku…?
"AZAMI…!"
The pink barrier appeared in front of her with perfect timing, and the entire blast disappeared, nullified by the parrying ability.
NOW!
Before Bakugo had a chance to react, Izuku stomped forward—lashing out with her 'blade' of rebar as fast as she possibly could. Straining her body to the limit, the freckled girl went for an upward strike that caught her opponent's chin with the tip of her 'blade.'
The force lifted him from the ground, smashing his jaw shut, and opened him up long enough for her to continue with two more slashes—one a downward strike to his collarbone and the next a sideways strike to his ribs—unintentionally forming a reversed 'Z' with her motions.
Pushing even further beyond what she had managed in practice, Izuku grit her teeth and forced herself to go faster, stepping past the boy and catching him in the gut with the pommel of her weapon as she moved.
Spittle and a bit of blood flew from the boy's mouth as he crumpled midair, still struggling to respond to the situation.
Izuku twisted forward into her step, placing her back to her opponent's to maximize the momentum for her next—
Twin explosions erupted from Bakugo's hands and Izuku's 'sword' met nothing but air, the blasts having flung the boy out of the way.
The boy landed on the ground a good distance away, breathing heavily, and wiped the blood from his lip—spitting out the rest of his mouth's contents onto the sand.
"You…" he growled.
"DIE!" he screamed as his attack finally exploded forth.
It rushed at his opponent, crossing the distance in the blink of an eye and—
Disappeared.
The entire blast just… Disappeared.
WHAT THE FU—?!
Frozen in complete, dumbfounded, shock, the boy didn't react in time to Baiken's follow-up. The impact to his chin clacked his teeth together painfully, sending him into the sky as his brain struggled to catch up to what in the ever-loving fuck was going—
Another blow struck him in the shoulder, causing him to let out a pained grunt that shifted into a gasp as the next hit landed on his rib-cage—forcing him to draw in a breath even as it rattled his insides.
MOVE, MOVE, MOVE, MO—
The pink-haired girl stepped forward, the butt of her weapon impacting him right in the solar plexus and cutting off all the air he'd been forced to inhale with her previous strike—emptying his lungs and sending the bloodied contents of his mouth flying. Despite his efforts, Bakugo couldn't muster the focus to activate either of his quirks—leaving him at his opponent's mercy for another few moments.
FUCKING MOVE IT!
Baiken's movement continued, placing her squarely behind him and primed to—
MOVE!
Orange electricity sparked and explosions burst from his palms, launching him away in a blur of super-charged motion. He landed awkwardly, already feeling the burden of his new injuries and the strain of using One For All along with his quirk twice in quick succession. A moment later, he spat out the blood from the new cut in his mouth.
As he stared at his opponent, utterly incensed… He made a realization.
She was planning for this the whole fucking time…!
Oh… Crap.
It wasn't enough. Bakugo was still standing.
"You…" he began, clearly enraged. "You were planning this, weren't you?"
"Tch…!" Izuku grunted, though inwardly she was panicking.
What do I do?!
The plan she had come up with alongside her friends had assumed she would be able to take him out in one combo, using the opportunity brought from the shock of his most powerful attack being nullified to overwhelm him with damage and take him out of the fight in one go… but… it didn't work.
"So you were…" the boy said, taking Izuku's cluck of annoyance as confirmation.
'You adapt or you die, Boya,' Baiken stated. 'It's the only thing you can do when your plan goes to shit like this.'
Bakugo took a deep breath, rearing back for some kind of battle-cry or shout of—
"BWAHAHAHAHAHAHA!" the blonde laughed.
Blink…
Blink…
…Is he…? What…?
The boy would not stop laughing, and it was wrong. Bakugo never laughed. The most he did was chuckle menacingly to intimidate people, not… this. What the hell was going on?!
"That's fucking great!" the boy declared.
'I… don't know, boya.'
"No one has ever been ballsy enough to pull that shit with me!" he went on, dragging his hand through his hair as he guffawed.
"Uh… Thanks…?" Izuku asked more than stated.
"Sure, Pinkie, enjoy it…" the boy continued as his laughter died down. "Just…"
His expression reverted to a tightly controlled scowl as he returned to a fighting stance. That odd orange electricity crackled around him as he edged forward, eager to return to the fight.
"Don't expect that shit to work again."
Majin Smoke was just your average, everyday E-rank villain, making his living off of petty thefts and the occasional robbery. Like his father before him he was a bulky man with dark purple skin, an oddly rounded head with a fleshy tassel that draped from his bald scalp, imp-like ears, and multiple natural holes in his shoulders.*
Dressed in a vest for the sake of comfort, he was leaning back on his stash—several duffel bags full of cash that represented his life's savings, or rather, life's thievings. Swishing the three cigarettes he had sticking in his mouth to the side, he let out a puff of smoke as he stared up at the dinky lightbulb above him—which flickered on and off every few minutes or so.
He didn't choose this life, nor had his father—who was rotting in prison currently—no, their quirks had chosen it for them, given how 'freakish' they looked and how the smoke they regularly emitted from their extra orifices 'only worsens the environment.'
They'd never really had a chance at a normal life.
He lived here, in the abandoned old boardwalk off of Dagobah beach, specifically so he could avoid the cops, heroes, and assorted busybodies that tried to keep him from making a living. No one showed up here anymore, now that the beach had been closed down for a while. Some big-name hero had a fight over the ocean a few miles out and caused some damage to the seafloor a few years back, altering the local currents and causing all the trash to start piling up on the shore.
It was funny, honestly. Just like every other problem the world had, people just left the issue to rot instead of putting in the work to fix it…
"Bah! The hell'm I doin', reminiscing? I've got groceries to grab, shit to steal, and—"
He was cut off as the wall to the building he'd set up shop in exploded inward, a person crashing in along with the cracking rubble. The building he was inside currently was something of a shack—used as a ticketing booth back when the boardwalk was still running—so the walls weren't all too thick. Still, that had to hurt.
After a moment, the dust cleared and he managed to glimpse some details of the person who was forcing herself to her feet.
The girl had ridiculous long pink hair, matted with bloodied sand and grime, and was dressed in what looked like designer clothes to Iru's thieving mindset. They were partially torn and ratty, clearly from whatever she was fighting, and she had a slightly bent stick of rebar clenched in a death grip by her left hand.
Ugh… a hero…
There was nothing else the girl could be, given her over-the-top looks and condition. The determined look in her eyes only served to confirm that, even if the effect was diminished by her labored breathing.
"Get out here, Pinkie!" A voice roared from outside. "I know that wasn't enough to put you down!"
Panting heavily, the girl wiped some sweat from her brow, eyes locked on the entrance as she stood there. After a moment of respite, she rushed out of the hole she'd entered from.
Huh… Wonder who she's fightin'...
This little area was his turf, and all the local villains knew that. Sure, he wasn't all that big a deal, and he stayed out of the way of the scary types like everyone else in the underbelly of society… but this was still his territory. He owed a lesson to whatever punk had let his tussle get out of control…
And maybe I can take out a hero, too… Hehehe. That'd make me a risin' star! Hell, I might even get a bump to D-rank!
With a new plan in mind, he carefully slipped his stash under the floorboards, nestling them into a small compartment he'd made to keep it all safe from the weather and—more importantly—prying eyes.
It was time for him to Smoke out his competition.
Izuku was losing.
It was frustrating, but a fact. The fight had taken a turn for the worse, shifting greatly in Bakugo's favor once he started taking the fight seriously. Thankfully, he didn't seem capable of spamming monstrous blasts like the one she'd countered, but he more than made up for it with raw aggression and absurd athletics.
It was clear, now, that the boy had been holding back earlier in the fight, for whatever reason. The way he fought now was incomparable to how the duel had started. Faster movement, stronger hits, and most importantly… He was using his explosions as actual attacks now.
Blinding flashes of light, deafening sounds, and raw concussive force were all things he took advantage of, directing them in varying creative ways to constantly overwhelm Izuku. There was never a moment's rest, always a constant onslaught of physical strikes from unconventional angles with disabling or flat-out painful blasts mixed into the incredibly chaotic but still controlled assault.
Despite the fact that Bakugo was still clearly pissed to some extent, he was ruthlessly in control of his own emotions now. As he'd stated, there was no chance Izuku would be able to make another opportunity like that again…
Which meant she needed to beat him at his full strength.
Rushing out of the shack she'd been launched into by the boy's latest blast, Izuku barely managed to avoid Bakugo rocketing down from above, his feet crashing into the wood where she'd just been standing and shattering the old planks like crackers.
"What's the matter, Pinkie?" he taunted. "You've just been running now! What happened to 'warming up?'"
Their fight had leaked out of the initial arena by now—Bakugo's blasts launching them both down the beach as Izuku struggled to stay in the fight. She'd lost track of how far they'd gotten, but the abandoned boardwalk they were on wasn't within viewing distance of where they started, so… probably somewhat far, now.
It was impressive, and just a little bit intimidating, how far Bakugo's explosions could launch them when it couldn't have been that long since he started taking this seriously.
Izuku lashed out with her 'blade,' paying no mind to the bend it had developed from overuse in the fight, aiming to hit her opponent anywhere she could.
The blonde ducked beneath the strike, launching forward with a blast and reaching for Izuku's face, an explosion already forming in his open palm.
The pink-haired girl flung herself out of the way, wincing as the heat caught her right arm and singed her skin.
Need… A plan…
Before, Izuku had been able to maintain her bull-fighting strategy, admittedly with difficulty, but now it was a struggle to keep up even with less restrictive tactics. Sweat trailed down her forehead as she panted, struggling to come up with something that would give her the upper hand.
Azami requires too much focus to use without a setup…
Bakugo sent a careless blast at her, using the concussive force to launch some loose debris from the boardwalk's floor at Izuku, forcing the temporary girl to deflect the items with her weapon and opening her up for another assault.
I still can't pull off Garyou Tensei…
Without hesitation, the blonde took advantage of the chance he'd made, rushing in and unleashing a flurry of punches, kicks, and explosions from a multitude of angles—hopping around with his quirk such that there was no way for Izuku to do anything but defend fruitlessly.
He was simply too agile for her to contend with right now.
Is there anything else…?
If Izuku had been able to train for longer, spend more time mastering Baiken's form… Then she could have fought Bakugo on more even grounds, but there was no use worrying over 'what ifs' in her current circumstances.
What can I—?
Before Izuku could finish the thought, she was blasted away by an explosion that slipped through her guard while she was distracted, launching her away and into another wall.
Spots floated across her vision, the world around her moving in triplicate after the impact.
Blinking forcefully and trying to regain control, Izuku noticed the echoing 'thumps' of Bakugo approaching.
Come on…! Move…!
It was no use, unfortunately. Her body simply wasn't responding.
Her well of energy, the thing that powered her transformation and abilities, had been steadily declining as the fight went on. As of now… she had a bit under a tenth of her energy left. With how battered Izuku had become, the rate at which she used that energy was steadily increasing, making the situation even more dire.
No, no, no…!
Above all else, more important than winning the fight, even, was keeping Bakugo from finding out 'Baiken's' identity. It would be a pyrrhic victory if she won the battle but lost the war. As such, maybe it would be better to just stay down…?
"Is this it…?" Bakugo asked, sounding almost… disappointed… as he stood over the temporary girl.
Turning up to face the boy, Izuku sent a rebellious glare as best she could between shaky breaths. It felt like all she could do at the moment.
Is this the end…? Have I… lost…?
"Tch…" the boy muttered, turning away with a look of disgust.
From there, the boy started to walk out of the hole he'd made with Izuku's flung body, hands shoved in his pockets even in spite of the pained twitches and ginger motions that required. Izuku's long chain of attacks before had hurt him, even if it hadn't quite stopped him from turning the fight around.
Too bad it wasn't enough…
"Guess I was wrong about you," the boy stated with a scowl, spitting on the ground before stepping back outside. "Worthless…"
I guess… In the end… It just wasn't enough…
Slowly, she let her eyes begin to slip closed, content to let the fight end—
'Is this all you are, Boya?' Baiken asked harshly. 'A weakling? A coward?'
No, I just—
'A "useless Deku?"' The woman continued without pause.
The freckled girl halted in her tracks at the incredibly familiar phrase.
Izuku wasn't normally a competitive person. She preferred to move at her own pace, learning or performing as best she could before moving on to whatever was next. Friendly competition was one thing, where the only reason the participants cared about the result was so that they could drive themselves to grow even more…
But at that moment… hearing the blonde's words repeated back at her… Izuku needed to beat Bakugo.
Down to her very bones, the temporary girl was filled with a desperate need to win, to show her arrogant former friend that he was wrong. Even if that wasn't possible, she still had to try her hardest, because no matter what, she could not let the fight end in such an unsatisfactory manner.
Not even if doing so would risk her identity…
'Good!' Baiken exclaimed, an audible grin in her words. 'Wipe the floor with that smug brat!'
Stabbing her rebar 'blade' into the floor with surprising ease, she used it to lever herself to her feet.
"Where the hell're you goin', Blondie?!" She shouted.
For once, Baiken's speech mannerisms weren't too far off from how she actually felt… Their meanings were rather aligned, even if the phrasing was a bit rougher than Izuku would normally prefer.
Bakugo stopped moving, just outside the building, before turning around with a condescending look of disapproval.
"What're you doing, Pinkie?" he asked. "You lost."
He took a step forward.
"Don't fake it. I know you've got nothin' left in ya," he declared. "It's stupid to—"
White smoke suddenly enveloped both of them, cutting off their lines of sight entirely with its density and making it much harder to breathe through the cloud.
"What just—?"
Before Izuku could continue, a thick pair of hands wrapped around her. One went around her torso and left arm, restraining her movements, while the other slid under her other arm—forcing it upward—and covered her mouth.
Smoke wafted into her nostrils and partially covered her mouth like it was being directed there by some nefarious force. Blackness began to drift into her vision as the girl strained to stay conscious, desperate to find some way to fight back.
"Don't move, little miss hero," a gruff voice whispered in her ear. "You won't like what happens if you do."
Where the fuck did this shit come from?!
Bakugo let out a growl, warily examining his surroundings as best he could.
"What just—?" he heard Baiken start to exclaim before she was cut off by something.
Instantly, Bakugo's mind began to draw connections.
Shit, she didn't make this crap… That means a third party did… Fuck, are we dealing with a villain…?!
Backing up slightly, Bakugo pulled back an arm, already powering up an explosion. This one would be focused less on brightness or how quickly it propagated its energies, and more on how much force it could spread out over an area.
First thing's first… Gotta get a better idea of what the hell's going on.
He unleashed the blast, blowing another hole in the gift shop he'd knocked Baiken into a few moments prior and blasting away the vast majority of the smoke that was inhibiting his senses.
…Shit.
Standing in the center of the wide room, admittedly somewhat startled, was an unfamiliar man with some kind of mutation quirk. He had dark purple skin, a weird bald head with a tassel, and was rather widely set.
Far more notably was the fact that he'd entrapped Baiken with his pudgy—but no doubt sturdy—arms, holding the girl in place. On top of that, the girl was clearly too exhausted to fight back, and the smoke that wafted out of his shoulders and drifting directly into her nose wasn't helping matters in the slightest.
"Back off, boy!" the villain barked. "I don't know why you brought your tussle inta my turf, but now I'm gonna get the credit for takin' the hero down. Get outta here if you don't want to get a beatin'."
…Hero? The hell is he—Ah, shit. Her clothes do look kinda like a costume, I guess… Wait, is this fucker assuming I'm a villain?!
His twitching fingers spread out like claws as he aimed his palms behind him subtly. Using One For All to subtly supercharge his quirk—using roughly half a percent to do so and wincing internally from the pressure it caused—he prepared to make his move.
"Y'see, the thing is…" Bakugo trailed off with a bloodthirsty grin—his eyes thinned into enraged slits.
The explosions went off, flinging him forward faster than the villain could respond and placing him exactly where he wanted…
With his foot centimeters in front of the imp-bastards face and moving at ridiculous speeds—beyond anything he could manage without One For All.
The heel of Bakugo's boot smashed into the villain's nose, the rest of his foot making contact milliseconds later as his incredible momentum transferred into the man's head—flinging him away and through the other wall of the gift shop.
"I'm a hero too, dumbass!"
A moment later, Baiken collapsed to the floor—retching and coughing for several moments before she gasped down several breaths of clean air.
Bakugo didn't do anything to help her up or check on her, choosing instead to watch for the purple-skinned man's re-entry. This was his first fight with a villain, and he was not going to do something as stupid as assuming he could one-hit KO'd the bastard.
"You good, Pinkie?" the boy asked, his eyes glued to the surroundings.
"Hah… Y-yeah, Blondie. I'm good," she said with a cough, reclaiming her stick from the floor and getting back up with almost shocking ease.
She was barely able to get off her ass a minute ago… What the hell…?
"You gonna be able to handle yourself?" the blonde asked. "I can't be babysittin' a stagehand while the main characters are fightin'."
"I-I'll be fine," the girl stated shakily, which didn't really make her all that convincing.
"Feh," Bakugo snorted. "Good enough, I guess."
Kirishima was in awe of his friend.
The blonde boy was clearly someone impressive, he'd known this from the start… but the sheer degree was well beyond his expectations. The boy had never taken one of their spars as seriously as he was taking this fight with Baiken.
At first, he'd thought that the pink-haired girl might actually win when she tricked his friend into firing recklessly, but the fight had swiftly gone in Bakugo's favor after he'd escaped the girl's flurry of blows.
It was somewhat awe-inspiring to see how the boy could use his quirk with so much control and focus—the product of years of work, no doubt—so that he could maneuver as erratically and effectively as he did. Like a cat playing with its prey, he'd knocked the girl up and down the beach, long since taking the fight beyond the initial arena.
Now, Kirishima and the other spectators were racing to catch up to the duo.
There weren't any agreed-upon rules besides the bet, so they hadn't been actually required to restrain their duel to the haphazard arena, but…
"Why did they need to go so far…?!" the girl jogging nearby asked, clearly starting to feel out of breath given how long they'd been going.
The fight had gotten far enough away that they weren't actually visible anymore, so they were running blind; waiting until they caught sight of—
"Up ahead…" the twin-toned boy running next to the girl stated dryly.
Kirishima noticed what the boy was referring to—a pier up ahead with several buildings built along it, as well as a few abandoned carnival rides. It was still a few minutes away at their current pace, but they had no way of knowing if the fight was actually—
An explosion rang out audibly, even if it wasn't visible.
"It seems they are indeed continuing their fight over there, young man," Mr. Yagi said from the rear. The older man could only keep up so well because of his physical condition, and was a few meters behind the rest of the group because of that. "I'll need to have a talk with them about damaging public property, but that place has been abandoned for a while, so there's no need to interrupt them."
"We've still gotta get up close so we can keep watching!" Kirishima declared. "Their fight is so manly!"
Bakugo bounced back, retracting his outstretched arm as he used the other to counterbalance himself midair. Using a double-blast, he flung himself forward again, seeking to catch the villain off-guard with an axe kick after the man had slipped away from his recent blast and dodged toward the edge of the roof they were all upon.
Before he could get close, however, Baiken rushed in and swung at their opponent with her stick—forcing Bakugo to try and backpedal at the last second to avoid hitting her.
The girl made contact, smacking the purple-skinned man in the face and knocking him to the side—
Bakugo crashed on top of the girl, only having managed to halt enough of his momentum to avoid kicking her but not enough to stop himself altogether.
They both took a tumble, landing with Bakugo on top of the girl briefly before his kinetic energy forced him further—rolling off onto the rooftop they were all standing on.
"The hell was that, Pinkie?!" he shouted as he returned to his feet.
"What're you on about, Blondie? You missed your attack and backed up, so I tried to cover you—"
"It was obvious that I was about to go back in, you—"
"Shut up!" the villain interrupted angrily.
Both teenagers whipped around to glare at him for interrupting their argument.
"You brats come inta my part of town, make a mess of my place, and then have the gall to team up against me?!" he continued angrily.
"And?" Bakugo asked arrogantly. "What're you gonna do about it?"
"You must think yer hot shit, brat!" the man shouted. "I've been a villain for longer than you've been makin' shit explode! My name's 'Majin Smoke,' and you're gonna regret pissin' me off!"
"Tch," Baiken cut in. "Never heard of you."
The man turned an ugly shade of blue from his rage, a tic mark appearing on his forehead as he scowled.
"You're gonna regret that, brat."
As he spoke, he reached for a lever to his side and yanked it down. Immediately, lights burst into existence along the entire pier as the hum of machinery coming to life filled the air.
"The hell's that gonna do?" Bakugo taunted.
With a snarl the villain replied.
"This…!"
The floor beneath the duo fell away, and they both began to plummet downward. Bakugo instantly tried to use his explosions to maneuver away, but Baiken immediately latched onto him for no reason he could discern, stopping his plan in its tracks.
"Are you kidding me-e-e-e-e—?!" Bakugo shouted as they both disappeared into the darkness.
Izuku hit the ground with a painful 'thump,' Bakugo landing directly on top of her less than a second later.
The pain and loss of breath may have sucked, but at least the blonde wasn't hurt. It's why she grabbed him as soon as they started falling—her 'saving people' reflex acting in full force to prevent someone nearby from getting hurt.
Even if it was Bakugo…
The boy rolled off Izuku quickly, getting up and looking around in the darkness immediately.
"The fuck did you do that for, Pinkie?!" he growled somewhat quietly, mindful of the villain discerning their location from his volume.
"Sorry…" Izuku groaned as she sat up. "Just a reflex."
"Yeah? Well, your reflex got us both trapped wherever the hell—"
Light suddenly filled the room, revealing a seemingly infinite series of mirrors. Thousands of duplicate teens filled the space from a multitude of angles, reflecting off the multitude of glass surfaces such that it would be impossible to navigate effectively.
Even the floor was reflective!
"Eep!" Izuku squeaked, sounding utterly ridiculous in Baiken's voice.
I-Is… Why is so much exposed?!
Seeing herself from a multitude of angles made it clear how much her clothes had taken a beating from the fight. Her coat was partially in tatters, with one sleeve missing and burned at the base, while her skirt barely managed to do its job as a covering with how much of it had been burned away. Her stockings had a multitude of holes singed along its length, while her vest was quite literally holding itself shut by a thread.
'Why do you think I wear baggy clothing that's tied shut by a sash?' Baiken asked rhetorically. 'When it gets damaged it manages to function much longer than the well-fitting crap.'
"The hell was—" Bakugo began, whirling to face Izuku.
Clearly, he'd expected something more serious, so when he came face-to-face with a red-faced teenage girl that was trying to cover herself up…
"...Seriously?" he asked in disbelief. "You've been fighting in that crap for a while, and now you give a shit?"
Izuku didn't intend to respond to that, but Baiken's mouth went on for her.
"S-shut up…"
The blonde just turned away at that.
"I can't believe it… He was right about her bein' a Tsundere…" the boy muttered.
D-did he just call me a—
'The hell is a "Tsundere?!"' Baiken exclaimed in annoyance.
Before the situation could get any more awkward, the duo was reminded of the current threat by the gradually increasing presence of smoke. It coated the floor, barely a centimeter of the gaseous substance, but it was steadily rising.
"SO YOU FINALLY NOTICED, HUH?" The villain declared, his voice echoing loudly from multiple hidden speakers. "THIS IS WHAT HAPPENS TO IDIOTS WHO BARGE INTA MY TURF!"
As he spoke, he appeared everywhere, reflected on the many mirrors with the same clarity as the teenaged duo. Unfortunately, it was impossible to tell where he actually was, for the same reasons it was impossible to tell where they were.
"Get off your ass, Pinkie, we need to move before this place fills up," Bakugo ordered harshly.
He's not wrong, but does he have to be so rude?
Outwardly, Izuku grumbled indistinctly at the command but still complied.
…What am I talking about. It's Bakugo. Of course he has to be rude.
"DON'T BOTHER TRYING TO ESCAPE," the villain stated. "THE MAZE TAKES UP A THIRD OF THE BOARDWALK, AND THE GLASS IS REINFORCED. THERE'S NOTHIN' YOU CAN—"
"WOULD YOU SHUT THE FUCK UP ALREADY?!" Bakugo interrupted loudly.
The blonde rushed forward, a blast already coalescing into his palm—
WHAM!
Only for him to smash face-first into a mirror a few meters in front of him.
"WHAT WAS THAT, BRAT?" the man's voice echoed throughout the building, a sense of smugness pervading his amplified voice. His reflection showed a nasty smile on his purple face, reinforcing the tone.
Ignoring the commentary, Bakugo peeled himself off the glass, now visible differently from the others because of the coating of condensation and spittle across its surface. That still left the multitude of perfectly clean mirrors everywhere else that were impossible to properly tell apart and… the blonde teenager with anger issues.
"DIE!"
He started flinging blast after blast at the glass, choosing quantity over quality with his barrage of explosions. So far, it had yet to do anything more than rattle the thing repeatedly.
"THAT'S NOT GOING TO WORK—" The villain declared, getting cut off by Bakugo slowing down slightly for the sake of larger explosions.
"I ALREADY TOLD YOU IT'S REINFOR—" he tried, getting cut off by Bakugo slowing down even further and pushing the force he could generate even harder.
Meanwhile, the smoke had still been rising the entire time, reaching midway up their shins by now.
Bakugo looked ready to pull out the big guns at this point, since the glass still hadn't budged. In fact, he paused to do just—
"I TOLD YOU TO STOP!" the villain shouted, his voice echoing everywhere at once even as he appeared from nowhere to wallop Bakugo with his meaty fist—smoke wisping out of his shoulders constantly.
They never noticed him coming in the first place, between the mirrors making his presence impossible to see and the loudspeakers making it impossible to locate him by sound…
"Gah!" Bakugo grunted, reflexively flinching away.
Taking that moment of opportunity, the villain darted away in a cloud of smoke—moving back into the maze of mirrors.
"Shit," Izuku cursed, rushing over to check Bakugo.
The blonde pushed her away immediately, looking around with fire in his eyes.
"Where the hell did he go?!" he growled.
Before he could do anything, however, Izuku stopped him.
"We don't have time to chase after him, Blondie," she declared.
"The fuck you mean we don't have time?! I'll make time to—" Bakugo started angrily.
"Look at the ground, idiot," the temporary girl continued, wincing internally at her mouth's bluntness.
The smoke was past their knees now, and slowly climbing up their thighs.
"...Shit." the blonde muttered.
"Listen, can you do that super-blast thing you tried earlier?" Izuku asked. "'Cause if you can do that, I think we can break out of this."
"Why would that make any fuckin' difference?" Bakugo asked with a note of suspicion. "Everything I tossed at it before didn't do jack shit. Usin' that much firepower might not be enough, still."
"WHAT'RE YOU TWO BRATS WHISPERING ABOUT?" the villain demanded.
"I know the material used to reinforce the glass, and I'm certain that it can't handle much more than what you were giving it," Izuku continued hurriedly.
'Guess that Support study crap of yours comes in handy sometimes,' Baiken commented idly.
"So just point your biggest attack in one direction and we're sure to hit the wall eventually," Izuku finished.
"And what're you gonna be doing?" the boy asked somewhat mockingly. "Squeeking about modesty or some crap…?"
"What?! No!" the pink-haired girl denied with a slight blush.
She paused to glance around briefly.
"I'll—"
"ALRIGHT, THAT'S IT!" the villain declared, appearing in person from seemingly everywhere with his heavy fist primed to bash in Bakugo's head from behind.
Izuku slipped between the two, swinging her 'blade' with as much force as she could muster at the man's outstretched purple arm.
WHACK!
"FUCK!" the man shouted in pain, withdrawing into a cloud of smoke a moment later.
"That's what I'll be doing." the pink-haired girl said with Baiken's usual smirk.
Bakugo grit his teeth as he powered up his next blast.
WHACK!
"OW!"
He'd lost track of how many he'd made now, and it was torture to keep going. Reinforcing even a single blast with One For All at one percent caused an ache. It was better than when he'd first developed the technique, and he would make sure it got better as he trained more, but as it stood, it hurt.
"Back off!" Baiken shouted.
WHACK!
With how many he'd made already, it was starting to feel like he was tearing his arms apart just to move his muscles, while his bones were cracking in the face of the force. Wincing pre-emptively, he let off the latest super-charged explosion.
BOOM!
The massive detonation tore through several mirrors, opening the way for the teenaged duo to move forward a few more meters. Unfortunately, there was no telling how much further they had to go… and with the smoke climbing steadily past their armpits now…
F-fuck… This sucks…
"SHOULD WATCH YOUR SURROUND—" The villain declared, appearing to assault Bakugo while he was distracted.
WHACK!
"FUCK, THAT HURTS!"
Baiken's efforts were making it much easier, loathe as Bakugo was to admit it. Keeping the villain from attacking let him focus his all on breaking through the mirrors. It grated that he needed to rely on her for that, but what was more notable was that she was actually managing to fend off the man.
He wasn't all too strong, definitely a gimmick fighter, but Baiken had clearly been at the end of her rope earlier… but now?
Well, she was quickly getting exhausted again, but it seemed like she'd gotten a lot of her stamina back before fighting the villain. Was it just a second wind…?
No, it couldn't be.
She was moving faster and hitting harder than she had in their fight, so… what the hell was going on?
WHACK!
"STOP THAT!"
Shaking away the unnecessary thoughts, Bakugo returned to charging his next explosion. He was starting to run low on energy… Well, One For All never seemed to run out of energy, so that wasn't quite accurate. It was more accurate to say Bakugo was reaching his own limit for how much energy he could channel.
Damnit…!
This next blast is gonna have to be the last one.
Uraraka let out a grateful sigh of relief as her feet touched down on wooden planks.
The cheerful redhead just wouldn't. Stop. Running… So the rest of them had been forced to keep up with him.
Granted, it was probably a good idea to try and keep an eye on the fight—the brunette didn't trust Bakugo not to try anything funny—but that clearly wasn't why the sharp-toothed teen was so keen on spectating. His regular exclamations about 'manliness' made that very clear, even if it didn't actually clear up what he cared about the fight for. Actually, that brought up a good point…
Why did the redhead and the older man care about Bakugo?
Oh, er, that sounds kind of rude…
A better way to put it, then, would be… What was their connection to the blonde? Given what little she knew about him, he didn't seem the type for friends of any sort, so it was… surprising… to see him with two people at his back when they arrived.
Then again, it wasn't really her business.
"...Where are they?" Shoto asked with a reserved tone, glancing around the boardwalk.
"When in doubt with Bakugo, follow the—" Kirishima began.
A massive explosion shook the entire pier to its foundations, making the entire thing rock back and forth upon the ocean as light bloomed out of the side of the largest building on the boardwalk. Wood, drywall, glass, and other assorted debris rained down upon the water while the three teenagers and the adult behind them all covered their ears reflexively.
A few moments later, torrents of smoke wafted out of the new opening…
"—Explosions…" the redhead finished with a spiky grin.
Izuku let out a cough, waving away the dust and smoke around her.
T-that was… a lot bigger than before…
Whatever Bakugo had done to charge up his explosion was scarily effective. The detonation was easily two, maybe even three, times larger than the blast Izuku had canceled out with Azami earlier.
"GRRRAAAAHHH…!" Bakugo screamed through his clenched teeth, his arms cradled to his body as he collapsed to his knees.
Izuku stumbled over to him to try and help, her own exhaustion finally hitting her.
For whatever reason, the temporary girl had gotten something of a second wind once she got back up in the face of Bakugo's taunting, but whatever energy she'd gained from that was easily spent by now—used to fend off the villain.
"Well, well… Lookit what we got 'ere…" a familiar voice asked, no longer channeled through the speakers.
The pink-haired girl awkwardly turned around, exhaustion slowing her notably, with her rebar 'blade' held tightly in her grip as she took a defensive stance in front of Bakugo. The boy himself was too focused on his pain to be of any use right now.
As she stared down the villain, who only sported a few bruises from the fight so far, Izuku was filled with a burning passion to win. With an injured person, someone that—at this moment—needed saving, sitting behind her helplessly… she needed to win down to her very core.
The man took another step forward, an ugly grin across his face. He was certain he'd won the fight.
Every atom of Izuku's being railed at the very idea. The bad guys never won… and she was going to make sure that statement remained true. Without conscious thought, she reached within, pulling for every last drop of energy that she could and—
Something popped, and suddenly… what once was a well had become a lake.
With a single step, she felt like she'd crossed the world, but found herself just a few paces beyond the villain. Thrumming with power not her own, she sheathed her completely bent rebar 'blade' in the belt of her tattered skirt… and then the lake drained back into the well.
"...Garyou Tensei."
The villain let out a pained gasp before smashing into the floor—a bone-deep bruise cutting across his entire torso. Around them, every mirror in the room fell into two distinct pieces as light poured into the space. On top of that, the top half of the building slid forward several meters before friction kept it from falling any further, revealing bits of the sky through the massive new opening.
Everything had been cut in half with that single strike—the villain only surviving from a combination of his unusual hardiness and the weakness of Izuku's 'blade.'
'HAHAHA! Finally!' Baiken exclaimed. 'You finally did one of them right, Boya!'
Blackness started to fill Izuku's eyes as she fell backward onto her rear.
'Sure, it wasn't all that strong yet, but that was right!' the woman continuously joyously.
It was rather creepy to hear her like this, but Izuku didn't have the energy to—
Oh.
Oh no.
Izuku was out of energy.
She could feel it. With the lake of energy she'd gained briefly gone, it'd left nothing in its wake… If she pushed herself any more, the transformation would end. Honestly, it was a miracle that it hadn't ended already!
"W-what the fuck was THAT?!" Bakugo exclaimed from his own position on the floor.
Izuku let out a shaky cough in lieu of response.
The boy forced himself to his feet, creating a make-shift double sling from his shirt before stomping over to his opponent.
"I asked you a question, Pinkie!" he shouted. "What. The fuck. Was that?!"
"Umm…" Izuku trailed off.
"Ugh…! What the fuck am I talking about?! Obviously, that was some kinda bullshit super move," Bakugo went on. "So why didn't you use it in our fight?!"
Izuku just sat there and blinked, trying to form words of excuse. Unfortunately, her exhaustion was making it harder than it already was for her to come up with something like this on the fly.
"Were you still holding back?!" he yelled. "You were, weren't you?!"
He was clearly furious now.
"Get up," he spat.
"W-what…?" Izuku stumbled, caught off guard by the sudden shift in volume.
"Clearly, we didn't finish our fight."
"Tch." Izuku denied, shaking her head. "I can't."
She had no energy to fight him with, after all…
"No," Bakugo said, flat out refusing the idea with narrowed eyes. "Get up. If you can pull off whatever the fuck that was, you can keep fighting."
The temporary girl shook her head.
"My legs aren't listening anymore," she stated truthfully. "So I…"
I was really hoping I could turn it around but…
"I lost…" Izuku whispered dejectedly.
"SHUT UP!" Bakugo yelled, startling Izuku with his force.
Izuku stared, wide-eyed, as the boy continued.
"You didn't lose!"
"But—"
"No! I won't accept it!" Bakugo continued shouting. "You could have beaten me with that attack!"
Izuku's thoughts stopped when she heard that statement.
H-he… He thinks I could have won…? W-what…?
Bakugo would never say something like that, no matter his opponent. He always won, or at least, that's how he acted. He would never admit someone could be better than him.
"Now get up and fight me!" Bakugo kept yelling.
"I…" Izuku trailed off, still dumbfounded.
"FIGHT—" the boy started to shout, ripping one of his arms from his sling and letting off a blast to be more convincing—
Bakugo's face became a rictus of pain, his eyes visibly filling with tears as a pitiful whine echoed from his throat. Instantly, he'd cradled the arm in the sling again and was hugging it to his chest protectively.
After a moment, it hit him how that had all looked. His face purpled with rage, eyes lighting with flames before—
"Damnit!" he yelled.
He hopped slightly, bending his legs beneath him so he landed in an extremely low crouch—his arms still cradled to his chest.
"Here's the deal, Pinkie," he growled. "I can't fight either, so we'll call this a draw… but I hate draws. It means we both lost, 'cause we failed to get the cleary victory we wanted… So how about this?"
Izuku stared agog as the boy kept going.
"Since we both lost," he explained. "We're both gonna pay our penalties. I'll give your stick back, and you're goin' on that date… but!"
A feral grin returned to his face, replacing the furious scowl that was already there.
"After that happens, we're gonna have a rematch… without any bullshit bets or wagers to interfere… Just you and me, fightin' to see who's really better," he stated. "No holding back, no bullshit tactics, and no stupid interruptions… Got it?!"
The pink-haired girl nodded hesitantly.
A-at least I'm getting my bokken back…?
"...Good."
With that, the blonde turned around, hunching forward.
"Get on," he ordered.
"W-w-what…?!"
The blonde glanced over his shoulder.
"Get. On," he repeated in annoyance. "My arms aren't workin' right now, and your legs aren't either, so I'll carry you until we find All—The others… Once we find them, I'll dump you with your little pals and show my teacher the villain."
"R-right…" Izuku stuttered.
Why does he have to make sense?
The temporary girl slung her arms over the boy's shoulder, clasping them together near his collar bone. Holding herself tightly against him and hating what that meant her chest was doing, Izuku let the boy stand up with her hanging off like a cape.
She wasn't lying earlier. Her legs really weren't responding to her anymore. In fact, they were starting to feel a little… tingly… And that could only mean one thing.
I'm running out of time…! I can't keep this up much longer!
Unfortunately, there wasn't much she could do about that unless—
"Hmm…" A familiar voice declared from just outside the hole in the building. "I see you really do apply seduction tactics with every teenaged male you fight."
Bakugo turned to glare at the boy. Well, that implied he was glaring over Shoto's comment, but he was already glaring before he turned to look, so it was just a continued nasty look.
"Here, K-pop haircut," Bakugo said, stomping over to the exit he'd made in the wall. "Take her and piss off. I've got a villain to report to—"
"Did you just say a villain?!" A red-haired boy asked, popping out of nowhere and nearly startling Izuku enough to let go of her hold.
"There was a villain…?" Uraraka gasped as she appeared as well. "Is that why you two look so terrible…?"
"Are you okay…?" A tall blonde man asked hurriedly as he joined the group. "I never would have allowed you out of sight if I was aware this was a villain's hideout!"
Who is he…?
"Yeah, yeah, whatever," Bakugo said dismissively. "We took 'em out no problem. He's over there—"
The boy gestured with his head back at the unconscious man.
"—so you just need to call in the cleanup crew."
The tall, gaunt-looking, man rushed over to the villain, pulling handcuffs out of one of his coat pockets—why does he have those?—and rolled the purple-skinned criminal over to put them on. As he did so, he whipped out his phone and dialed someone—presumably the police. The redhead scampered over, poking the villain childishly.
"Yeah, it's me, Tsukauchi…" the blonde man began before Izuku tuned him out.
The temporary girl's attention was far more focused on trying to stay awake.
"K-pop-cut," Bakugo said suddenly.
Shoto looked up, slightly annoyed.
"My name is Shoto."
The blonde boy rolled his eyes.
"Yeah, whatever," he said. "Just take Pinkie, would ya? She's fuckin' heavy."
"Is she okay?" Uraraka interjected.
"Hell if I know," Bakugo replied unhelpfully. "Just seems exhausted, but you might wanna get her checked out."
'Oh, look. Your boy toy gives a shit,' Baiken commented.
Not you too…
"J-just help me stay upright and I think I can limp along now," Izuku suggested.
"Hn," Shoto grunted before walking over with Uraraka.
The duo helped the temporary girl off of Bakugo's back and let her wrap her arms around their shoulders for support. The blonde angled his head and cracked his neck, grateful to be without the extra weight again.
"We need to leave," Izuku whispered. "Quickly…!"
She could feel the tingling sensation spreading gradually as she put weight on her legs again. Every moment she spent like this was bringing her closer to the forced end of her transformation.
Without a word, the trio started walking away.
"Wait!" Bakugo ordered.
Shoto and Uraraka paused, much to Izuku's stress.
Crap…!
"Kirishima!" the blonde shouted. "You still got her stick?"
The redhead perked up, sliding the cloth bundle off his back and flinging it to the blonde with a wide grin and a thumbs up.
"Of course!"
The bundle smacked into Bakugo's scowling face since he couldn't lift his arms to catch it.
"Ugh…" he groaned in irritation.
With a no doubt stinging face, the boy flung the bundle at Shoto with his foot.
"That's my half of the deal, Pinkie!"
Shoto caught the bundle with his free arm, glancing inside to make sure the high-quality training blade was actually there—which it was.
"You'd better keep yours!" Bakugo continued.
The pink-haired girl winced, trying very hard not to think about it, but nodded anyway.
"I-I will, Blondie!" she replied.
"Good!" Bakugo confirmed. "I'll see you…"
"At the Joint School Festival."
AN:
No Omake today, because this chapter is ten pages longer than normal… But that's not so important.
What is important is explaining why I missed my planned upload date.
I initially planned to upload last Friday (the 7th) as I mentioned in my last Author's Note. Unfortunately, while I was partway into writing this chapter, I came down with a nasty cold. It was bad enough that I needed to get a Covid test, even. Thankfully, it was just a particularly bad flu, but that combined with the fact I've been extra busy with personal business lately is what caused the delay.
Unfortunately, I think I need to slow down my upload rate for a month or two until things calm down a bit. Instead of weekly, I'll be shifting to bi-monthly with a chance of extra updates. This means that there will be a new chapter at least once every other week, but if I have extra time then I'll fill in the empty space on the schedule with a chapter. If not, it'll still be bi-monthly.
Anyway, that's it from me for today!
I hope you had fun—I know I did!