A/N: Hey everyone, welcome back to The Crow's Atonement, because Chapter 20 is here. Also, damn, you guys are such a blessing, I never expected this story to get the attention that it has. I mean 543 reviews, 2,052 favourites and 2,572 followers. Really, wow, thank you all.
Disclaimer: Like everybody else on fanfiction, I own nothing.
"Standard" - Normal Speaking
'Italics' - Thoughts
"Bold" - Super Moves
Katsuki stepped back, wincing under the sheer volume of heat that rolled over him as Shoto pretty much spontaneously combusted, producing a wall of raging orange-yellow flames that were as wide as the street and as tall as the nearby buildings. If he'd been any closer, the fiery outburst would've burned away his eyebrows.
In hindsight, pissing off the Half'n'Half bastard probably wasn't the greatest idea, but the end result was fucking awesome. Why on earth would the dual-haired moron want to hide this sort of power from anyone?
He knew Explosion was powerful, but deep down, and it hurt to admit, even if he wouldn't say it to anyone's face, but the sheer firepower that came with controlling two powerful elements was something to be reckoned with.
'Something that could put Explosion to shame,' Katsuki bared his teeth, taking a step back as the inferno before him continued to rage, dwarfing the emotions which were raging within him, 'And I bet the Half'n'Half knows it. After all, unlike the extras, only him and Trench Face were the ones unimpressed by what they saw when I fought Shitty Deku and Ponytail. He thinks... no, he knows he could do better than me.'
And Katsuki had just forced him into removing his one handicap.
'Come at me, Half'n'Half. I'll show that being the son of the No. 2 hero means you still ain't anything special!'
The firestorm rippled, then began to shrink in size, getting smaller and smaller until Shoto was visible; flames curled around and rolling off his left arm. His face was tight, lips pulled into a thin line as he tried to burn a hole through Katsuki's skull with just his eyes and half of his hero outfit had been incinerated, with the remainder of his white shirt being charred and on fire.
Katsuki held his hands up, grinning as mini-explosions leapt from his hands, sounding like the crackle of firecrackers, "You ready to stop having one hand behind your back, huh!?"
Shoto didn't move, instead continuing to glare at him, "You're disgusting, you know that. People come here to become heroes, because they aspire to help others and to be better, but you don't give a damn about either, do you? You see your classmates as far below you and only want to help yourself. And then you torment me? You call yourself a hero-in-training?"
"Eh, who gives a fuck about all of that shit," Katsuki spat, aware that Shoto's earlier outburst had caused him to sweat like crazy, refilling his remaining bracer, "I'll leave that stuff to the extras. I'm only here to become No. 1 and right now, you're in my way."
He blasted himself forwards, prompting Shoto to rear his fist back and then thrust it forwards, launching a stream of flames towards him.
"You know you've got a major problem in your class, Aizawa-kun?"
Shota Aizawa huffed, facepalming as he watched the live feed of the 2nd Battle Trials in the Teacher's Lounge with Principal Nezu sat besides him, ignoring the jolt of pain that sparked through his face from doing so. Normally, the animal-like staff member would be perched on his shoulder, but after the fiasco at the U.S.J., his body was still hurting and Shota didn't want to prolong his recovery.
The sooner he got back to managing his class at 100% and terrifying the problem child, the better. And he wanted out of the bandages wrapped around him too. leaving only his eyes and mouth exposed.
But right now, he had two, maybe even three problem children.
"Thank you, Principal," he grumbled, sipping at his coffee as he watched Katsuki and Shoto try their hardest to kill each other, "I was well aware."
"Just making sure you noticed." Nezu chirped, too cheerful for Shota's liking.
Problem Child 1 - Izuku Midoriya - a nervous, socially anxious wreck who physically crumbled under pressure. He'd have to beat that out of him before he became a Second Year student. Idolized All Might way too much and possessed a quirk, apparently called 'Superpower' if the public records were anything to go by, that broke him whenever he used it. It seemed like the child had made some progress, but was faulty in the decision-making department.
When Tsuyu Asui had caused a partial collapse, there had been no reason for him to throw away his arm when he could've simply leapt out of the way. Nobody else but himself had been in any immediate danger, but he'd made himself a liability for no reason at all.
'Why couldn't Kan have gotten the troublesome, problem children? I'd take the sensible ones, like the bright Kendo girl and the quiet Honenuki boy.'
Problem Child 2 - Shoto Todoroki - a ball of emotional trauma and familial issues who was more quiet than he'd been as a student at U.A. Shota had guessed that he could control fire the moment he saw his red hair, and although it frustrated him to not see the boy use it, he understood why after contacting the boy's older sister and doing some research of his own.
At the moment, it seemed like Katsuki had taken a verbal sledgehammer to his trauma and smashed it without any intent to do any good. Shota knew, without a doubt, that once this fight was finished, Shoto would retreat back into his shell of emotional trauma and become even more of an antisocial loner.
He would be the hardest nut to crack.
'The boy desperately needs counselling and therapy before he leaves U.A., but Hound Dog won't be any good for him.'
And then there was Problem Child 3 - Katsuki Bakugo - a walking, talking bundle of arrogance, insecurity and a superiority complex whom should've been expelled from day one.
Shota could care less about whatever history there was about Problem Child 1 and Problem Child 3, but it was clear that Katsuki was as troubled as Problem Child 2. Still his overall attitude, whether or not it was a mask to hide his true self, grated on his nerves, calling his classmates extras and generally being dismissive of his superiors, and Shota would've expelled him after the end of his match against Izuku and Momo if All Might hadn't convinced him otherwise.
Shota had seen people like Katsuki and their stories never ended well.
Or, if his own arrogance didn't kill him, the boy would end up like Endeavor or Mirko. Angry and bitter or loud, brash and a rulebreaker whom the general public were terrified of.
Especially the latter. Nobody wanted to upset the foul-mouthed rabbit-lady who could break your face with a single kick.
The boy also needed help, but it couldn't be forced upon him. With problems like his own, he needed to first acknowledge that there even was a problem, then seek out help.
He heard Nezu let out a small sigh, "After what we've just seen and heard, which is disgusting and shocking, I know you have a punishment lined up for him already. Expulsion, perhaps?"
"You know me too well," Shota deadpanned, "I was considering it, but I'll leave his punishment to Class 1-A's representatives. I want to see what they do."
And with that, he got up and hobbled out of the room.
"How much do you know," Shoto inquired, scowling harder than before as Katsuki dodged his latest stream of flames, "you said you read his police report. What did you see?"
"Exactly what I told you. Your old woman couldn't handle the pressure of being the spouse of the No. 2 hero, nor could she manage four kids, especially her volatile eldest."
Shoto huffed, 'Of course, as the saying goes: History is written by the victor. And when it came to that bastard and my mother, she lost. Of course he would omit the abuse and torment he inflicted upon her. He wouldn't be the No. 2 if he had.'
It infuriated him to no end, but he wasn't at all surprised. Why would Endeavor incriminate himself in any written report?
Even if the man and his actions had led to Rei doing what she did, the man, first and foremost, was still going to look out for himself and his massively successful career.
And it's not like he could've said anything at the time, as he would no doubt be dismissed as a traumatized little boy, distressed by being 'attacked' by his mother.
Hell, he couldn't try saying anything now. His father would end his hero career before it started and the sheer army of lawyers the man would be able to shore up with his money would simply steamroll him.
Elsewhere, as he trapped a band of low-level villains in a ring of fire, Endeavor felt the sudden, overwhelming urge to yell out the name of his youngest child.
"Hey, Mir Endeavor, we're-"
"SHOTOOOOOOO!"
Itachi stared down All Might, who even after having heard the nonsense Katsuki had spouted, resulting in Shoto unleashing the other half of his quirk, still refused to end the match right then and there. He wasn't sure if the man was stupid or simply negligent.
"All Might-sensei, I'll ask again, why haven't you stopped the match?" He asked, pressing the mute button so the class was now deaf to whatever was being said.
Cringing at crimson orbs that were trying to stare into his soul and the dangerous undertone in his student's voice, All Might turned back to the live feed. He knew he should stop the match, but after Shoto had gone up in flames, he wanted to see what the boy was capable of and how Katsuki would handle this new development.
Looking back at Itachi, All Might wilted under the sheer disappointment he was radiating.
Even Young Momo Yaoyorozu appeared to be doubting his ability to teach, and All Might couldn't blame her, but this irresponsibility was one of his defining character traits, but one he wasn't exactly proud of.
He had been born with it, Master Nana had tempered it over Gran Torino's fruitless attempts to beat it out of him, and it had drawn him to Young Midoriya who had been incredibly irresponsible about his personal safety, yet brave when it came to trying to rescue Young Bakugo from the Sludge Villain.
Also, teaching wasn't really his thing.
Big, grandiose speeches about bravery, heroism and justice were more his thing. That and punching villains in the face.
He'd applied to teach at U.A., largely to help Young Midoriya with One For All.
Everything else was secondary, but All Might could now see that not prioritizing everything else as much as Young Midoriya's development had been a colossal mistake, especially after not addressing the obvious problems of Young Todoroki and Young Bakugo from Day 1, as it had now spiralled into a fight which could end with two students killing each other.
"Whoa, they're whipping out some big moves there!" Young Ashido suddenly cried.
The less-than-excited expression on her usually cheery face had All Might turning back to the monitors at breakneck speed, but he only managed to catch most of the live feeds shifting to displaying nothing but static, while others only showed dust and smoke.
In his peripheral vision, he caught Young Yaoyorozu shake his head and glare over at him.
"Young Yaoyorozu?" All Might murmured, turning to meet his eyes which were their usual black.
A chill ran down the length of spine as a dull BOOM echoed through the walls of the observation room, causing it to shake lightly.
"Whoa," Minoru gaped, "was that the shockwave from whatever they did? But they're fighting so far away, there's no way..."
"All Might," Momo started, her voice low and sharp like a knife, "after what I just saw, you'd be lucky if Todoroki-kun and Bakugo-kun haven't killed or horribly maimed each other. I suspect Todoroki-kun's team may have been caught up in that explosion. Please, get out there and make sure everyone is okay. And since you cannot be trusted to take control in a dire situation that doesn't involve actual villains, case in point when you let Bakugo-kun off with a mere warning after he attempted to wipe Midoriya-kun off the face of the Earth during our first Battle Trials session, the fourth match of this exercise will not be happening."
Mina and Momo's would-be teammates didn't look like they were going to argue against her.
All Might couldn't find it in himself to argue against her either, thought he took stock of the apologetic light in her eyes. She didn't want to talk down to him, but after what had just happened, she'd needed to assert herself a Class 1-A's representative.
"And assuming you haven't lost a student, we need to decide on an appropriate punishment for Bakugo-kun's actions. We've let everything before now slide, but this needs to be end with punishment so he knows his actions are not acceptable." Itachi added, voice cold and unforgiving.
"Hey, Yaoyorozu," Eijiro piped up, walking towards Itachi, "what kind of punishment-"
A sharp glare from Itachi cut him off and in the next second, All Might was gone.
'Huh, look likes the Half'n'Half bastard doesn't want to talk anymore. That's fine by me.' Katsuki thought, smirking as he glared over at Shoto who looked slightly unsteady on his feet, as if the constant, unregulated use of his flames was leading to heat exhaustion.
Flexing his fingers, he watched as the heterochromatic boy forcefully exhaled, then dipped his head and tightened his left fist, causing his flames to grow in intensity.
Biting back whatever he was going to saw, Katsuki chuckled lowly when the flames suddenly went out.
He cocked his head to one side.
"Eh, what's the matter, Half'n'Half, you ran out of juice already," the blonde sneered, "I thought we were just getting started."
Suddenly, Shoto's head shot up and he swept his right arm back, dropping the temperature of the air around him and sending out massive waves of ice surging out in every direction. The floor instantly frosted over before being encased in a thick layer of ice, forcing Katsuki to blast himself upwards to avoid being trapped, and behind Shoto, multiple ice pillars rose up from the floor, almost enclosing him and resembling a mini-Fortress of Solitude of sorts.
He didn't need to speak a word for the explosive blond to understand that the sudden display of power wasn't for nothing, his opponent wanted to end their fight in a final, large-scale attack.
'Huh, is that it, you just wanna blow me away, Half'n'Half. We fuckin' bring it.'
And Katsuki Bakugo was more than happy to respond in kind.
After launching himself backwards to increase the distance between himself and Shoto, Katsuki launched himself straight up until he was about 90 metres in the air.
Then, arms stuck out behind him, Katsuki blasted himself towards Shoto, corkscrewing himself as a fired an explosion from one hand, then the other; same hand as before, then the other, and so on until he spinning so fast that he'd created his own, personal twister which grew and grew in size, more and more oxygen being added with each full rotation.
'Tch, I'd hoped not to use this until the Sports Festival, but I'll gladly show this off if it means knocking you down a peg, Half'n'Half.'
Shoto suddenly swept out his left arm, abruptly switching to his fire side and unleashing so many flames that one could be forgiven for believing he had just strapped a high-powered booster rocket to his back from the sheer volume of flames that were shooting off behind him.
The cooled air, introduced to new, intense heat, began expanding to form a bubble of superheated air. The tip of the twister that Katsuki had formed crashed into the heated bubble, and for a moment, the twister seemed to punch through it as Katsuki set off an explosion from his hand, igniting the collected air and setting off a colossal explosion one might expect from a missile strike.
"Eat shit and die, Half'n'Half bastard! Howitzer Impact!"
Both boys were blasted back by the explosion and lost sight of each other as a mushroom cloud formed, obscuring each other from view.
Kyoka had the misfortune of waking up just in time for the explosive blast to rock her incredibly sensitive hearing, sending spikes of pain shooting through her skull as one of her eardrums burst, prompting blood to leak out of the afflicted ear.
She curled up into a fetal position, fighting back tears as she whimpered and fisted her jacks, hoping to keep them from picking up trace sounds.
Looking around, she felt like she was in a warzone.
The air was tinged brown with dust and she could taste the smoke that saturated the air, making it difficult to see. But what she could see wasn't any better: ice and shattered concrete was all that remained of the streets, lampposts had either bent over in the middle or blown clean out of their bases.
Vehicles had been crumpled as they'd been thrown away like toys with their windows shattered and paintjobs ruined, and several buildings had even been levelled, reduced to nothing but rubble and those further out had shattered windows and damaged brickwork.
Feeling her heart leap into her chest as she remembered her teammates, Kyoka scrambled to her feet and hurried over to Fumikage who eyes were blown wide as Dark Shadow, who was curled protectively around him, crowed as he saw her.
"Jiro." Fumikage muttered, and she was grateful that she could still hear in at least one ear.
"Tokoyami," she replied, "are you alright?"
Dark Shadow let out a pitiful whine as Fumikage narrowed his eyes, his gaze shifting towards her bloody ear.
"Aches and pains, but I'm doing better than you. I'm guessing that explosion blew one of your eardrums?" He inquired.
She nodded, "I'll live, that's what Recovery Girl's for, right? Still, no rock music for a week for me now, huh?"
Fumikage nodded, a hint of a smile playing at his beak, "No rock music for a week for you."
Mirio only got a warning worth about a second when the wall nearest to him suddenly burst inwards, disintegrating under explosive overpressure and looking like a highly detailed sakuga sequence in an anime.
He blinked as brick, stone, fire, glass and ice flew towards him.
Activating his quirk in an instant, Mirio bid farewell to his clothes as the explosive debris harmlessly passed through him and absolutely shredded his clothes, then shifted so he could retrieve his boxers from where they'd fallen through him and settled underneath his rear.
'Well, at least I won't be butt naked... but what the hell caused that explosion?'
A smile on his face, Mirio marched through the hole - at least it would've been a hole in the wall if the entire building hadn't been blown away - to investigate.
Katsuki jerked awake, eyes darting left and right as he scrambled to his feet, ignoring the way his body protested against the movement. He wasn't concerned with any injuries he might've sustained in his clash with Shoto, but whether he'd beaten the 'Half'n'Half bastard'.
'The hell was I on my back for? I must've blacked out momentarily after the explosion, 'cause there's no way that asshole could've knocked me out.'
Getting to his feet and ignoring the sudden spike of pain in his chest, Katsuki thrust his arms out behind him blasted his way through the smoke and dust, propelling himself forwards until he came across an unconscious Shoto who lay on his back, blood dripping from a cut by his temple.
A quiver of excitement shot through the blond, a dangerous grin making itself present on his face as he stalked over to Shoto and grabbed fistfuls of whatever remained of his hero costume and shook him back and forth.
"You see that, Half'n'Half, I fuckin' beat your ass," Katsuki sneered, grinning, "I put you in your place after you spent so long looking down on me. Looking down on me as if I was some kind of extra. Look at you, fuckin' pathetic after being knocked off your-"
A hand fell onto his shoulder.
"Hey, come on, buddy," a warm, cheery voice said, "that's enough of that."
Katsuki let go of Shoto, who flopped to the floor like a dead fish, and swung at the offender who let his fist pass through their face.
Mirio didn't even blink as Katsuki's fist passed through his face as if he wasn't even there.
"Hey, buddy, what's the problem? From my perspective, it looks like you-"
An explosion blasted through him.
"Fuck off, asshole!" Katsuki spat, hands smoking from the explosion he set off. He kept his eyes focused on Mirio's chest, noting how his pants had fallen off after his explosion had passed through him without causing injury.
"Hey, dude, chill. I don't want to fight you, like, seriously, you don't want to fight me either." Mirio said casually, grinning.
A vein throbbed in Katsuki's temple and he saw red.
'Who the FUCK does this guy think he is? Doesn't want to fight me, huh? He's looking down on me, like I'm some kind of extra."
His hands crackled with mini-explosions and Mirio's face tightened a fraction, though his smile never left his face.
'We're really doing this, huh?"
Katsuki roared as he swung, throwing a wild haymaker that Mirio blocked with his forearm. Without another word, the taller and older blond stepped into his guard and slammed his fist into his stomach.
He stopped seeing red.
Katsuki's breath left him as he fell to his knees, wheezing and retching as his lunch vacated his stomach. His mouth was bared into a snarl as he glared up at Mirio who stepped back, still smiling, and retrieved his pants.
And then, in a sonic boom that blew away most of the smoke and dust that lingered in the air, All Might appeared so fast that it looked like he simply materialized in place, his sunken eyes glowing with sadness, remorse and a hint of anger.
"Young Togata?"
Mirio straightened like a soldier under watch of an aggressive drill sergeant as Katsuki continued to retch behind him.
"All Might, I don't know what's going on," Mirio started, "but after the building I was in was absolutely levelled, I went exploring to see what had happened. Found this guy shaking the life out of that kid. I tried to stop him but he attacked me. Obviously, he didn't and couldn't hurt me, but when he looked like he wanted a fight, I acted in self-defence after that."
Katsuki didn't need to look up to see All Might's disappointed expression. He could feel the emotion rolling off of the man.
"Young Bakugo," All Might said, his voice firm, "can you stand?"
Katsuki hissed as he forced himself to his feet, unable to stop his hand from flying up to clutch at his chest as pain jolted his body.
"I think you may have broken a rib. Come, let's take you to be healed up by Recovery Girl."
"I don't need the help of that old hag, do I look like Shitty Deku to you?" Katsuki snapped, fighting to keep the pain off of his face.
Mirio's eyes narrowed slightly, "Dude, come on, you're clearly injured. Put your pride aside or you'll just make it worse."
"I'm not fuckin' going." Katsuki insisted.
All Might chuckled as if he found the whole thing amusing, but it just upset the fiery blond even more, "Ahh, the stubbornness of the youth. Okay, we'll go to the Observation Room to, uh, discuss the events of this match and then you'll go and see Recovery Girl."
Katsuki let out an angry huff.
"Fine."
Mirio suddenly brightened as he remembered something, "Oh yeah, these matches are 1 against 4, right? What about the other 3 students?"
"We're right here."
They all turned to see Rikido approaching them, Fumikage and Kyoka held in a protective bearhug in each arm. All Might's sunken eyes immediately zeroed in on the blood that was dripping from Kyoka's ear and in a sudden burst of speed, he appeared before them and gently prised her from Rikido's hold.
"Young Jiro," he said, voice incredibly soft, "are you alright?"
She nodded slowly, "Could be better. That explosion blew out one of my eardrums."
All Might nodded, then looked at her teammates, "Young Sato, Young Tokoyami. Are you both well?"
Rikido nodded with a grin and Fumikage just crossed his arms and hummed in the affirmative.
Satisfied that they all appeared to be healthy and fit, Kyoka's burst eardrum notwithstanding, All Might made his way over to the unconscious Shoto Todoroki and gently gripped his shoulder as the boy began to shift and stir.
"Young Todo-"
All Might grunted, recoiling as Shoto jerked awake and swung his left arm in a panicked manner, sending a burst of flames racing towards his face. Allowing the flames to wash over him, the No. 1 hero waited for the boy to calm himself down as the flames were abruptly extinguished. Still smiling, he watched as Shoto looked up at him with a mix of anger and regret.
And then this eyes seemed to zero in on Katsuki.
Shoto launched himself into a seated position, body steaming as he used his ice to cool himself down, "You-"
"The match is over, Young Todoroki," All Might cut in as Katsuki tensed, almost ready for another fight, "there's no need to continue fighting."
"But he-"
"We heard and saw. Before we head off to the Observation Room, are you injured?" All Might inquired.
Shoto shook his head, taking several deep breaths to calm himself, lest he lash out again, "I'm fine... j-just please, don't tell him."
All Might nodded, "Worry not, Young Todoroki. Nobody but myself and your classmates will know about this."
All of Class 1-A, including those who had been injured in their fights and were being treated by Recovery Girl, were present in the Observation Room. Recovery Girl had initially been reluctant to let them move about, but soon allowed the recovering students to go since none of them had injuries on their lower half of their bodies, though when the participants to Match 3 returned, she threw a fit about Katsuki's broken rib and Kyoka's burst eardrum.
Itachi and Mirio had shared a high-five upon seeing each other.
Itachi had also apologized to Mashirao after he turned up with both of his arms wrapped up in medical slings, though the latter was easily forgiving and held no grudges.
And Katsuki couldn't bring himself to look at the rest of the class when he felt their judging gazes fall upon him, 'Tch, the hell do I care about the opinions of a bunch of extras?'
All Might had been about to start speaking, when the Observation Room's automated doors slid open and Shota Aizawa shuffled in looking like a vengeful demon with the bandages wrapped around his face, the menacing glare enhanced by the red glow of Erasure, his gravity-defying hair and capture weapon which floated around him as he directed it to lash out and ensnare Katsuki.
"Hey, what the hell!?" Katsuki grunted, struggling against the capture weapon and glaring back as he was dragged over until he was face-to-face with his Homeroom Teacher.
"Don't you 'what the hell' me," Shota growled, staring his student down, "you absolutely disgust me. I heard everything you said to Todoroki and I've run out of patience with you. Frankly, someone like you shouldn't be anywhere near this prestigious school. You're smart and talented, yes, but you, Bakugo Katsuki, are an embarrassment. I have half a mind to expel you where you stand, but I won't."
"Huh, why not?"
Katsuki felt himself be drawn a little closer as Shota blinked, leaving him staring into his bloodshot, dark eyes, but he didn't dare use Explosion to free himself.
"Because if it were up to me, you'd be given a permanent expulsion and a warning about your behaviour would be sent out to every hero school in Japan to ensure you can't enrol elsewhere," Shota sneered, his voice devoid of emotion, "but don't think you'll be getting away with this unpunished. Therefore, I want your Class Representatives to decide on your punishment."
The blond froze, feeling his armpits heating up as he turned and stared at Itachi who stared back.
"I think," Momo began softly, "this should go with a class vote."
Itachi nodded, "Agreed. A vote for a week-long expulsion. Bakugo-kun can return to class the day before the U.A. Sports Festival. I was contemplating a two week-long expulsion, but allowing his talent to go missed by pro heroes would damage his long-term career prospects. And another vote for two-hour detentions after school every day for a month after his return to school. And, of course, given the person in question, Bakugo-kun doesn't get a vote."
Mina whistled, "Ooof, somebody's in trouble."
"Be quiet, Ashido-san." Itachi admonished, getting snickers from some of the other students.
Katsuki bristled as he glared at her, itching to wipe the smile off of her face.
"And therefore," Itachi continued, "should a vote end up in 9 for and 9 against, my sister's vote, as Class Representative, will serve as the tie-breaking vote."
Shota let out a considerate hum as he released Katsuki who stumbled as he regained his footing and glared at the floor.
"All in favour of a week-long expulsion, please raise your hands." Momo said.
Several hands went up into the air, with Momo's hand rising last once she saw that there was already a majority in favour, prompting Katsuki's simmering temper to ignite once more as he looked up.
"Thank you," Momo continued, "lower you hands now, please. All against a week-long expulsion, please raise your hands."
All remaining hands went up, before being lowered seconds later.
Katsuki bit his lip, drawing blood and wishing for all this to end so the extras would stop trying to humiliate him, 'Fucking assholes. Especially you, Shitty Deku, I bet you're just enjoying something like this. The power you have over me right now, to kick me out of school for a week. Well, fuckin' savour it, because your ass is grass and I'm gonna smoke it.'
Shota swept his eyes over the class, "In favour of expulsion to against: 17 to 2. Bakugo Katsuki, don't bother checking into U.A. until the day of the U.A. Sports Festival. We'll be revoking the clearance on your security card until then."
"Yeah, whatever." Katsuki sniffed, shrugging off the comment.
Class 1-A proceeded with their second vote.
Shota eyed Katsuki who made a point of looking anywhere but his way, "In favour of detentions for two hours after every school day for a month: 15 to 4. Treasure whatever quiet moments you get. You'll be getting lines whilst being looked over by Present Mic, and I'll make sure he talks your ear off for each of those two hours. Now, go and get out of my sight, boy."
Katsuki clenched a fist, itching to throw a punch at the nearest person as Shitty Hair and Pikachu walked up to him.
"Hey, sorry man," Eijiro said, awkwardly grinning as he ran a hand through his red hair, "I mean, sure, what you did wasn't cool or manly, but I don't think you should be expelled over it."
"Fuck off, Shitty Hair, I don't need your damn pity."
Eijiro backed up, hands in the air as he smiled, "Hey, I get it, bro, you need space."
Denki just shrunk back as Katsuki stormed past him, "Hey, dude, I only voted against those proposals 'cause while your vocabulary may be a steaming pile of shit, I'd rather not end up on your- Yeah, cool, just ignore me..."
Katsuki didn't even hear his words as he stormed over to Izuku, the green-haired boy's eyes widening with nervousness and curiosity.
The blond twitched, wishing he could knock that doe-eyed expression off of Shitty Deku's face, 'This fucker, he wasn't lying during the first Battle Trials when he said he wasn't afraid of me anymore. Is that it, Deku, you looking down on me too? You think you're fucking better than me?'
"Young Midoriya." He heard All Might murmur from somewhere behind him.
Katsuki also couldn't feel his explosive sweat being produced by the pores in his hands, alerting him to Erasure's use, and he could hear Shota's capture weapon brushing against itself
Izuku steadied himself as he looked the blond in the eye, "Kacchan?"
"You think I didn't see you at the back with your hand raised twice," Katsuki sneered, leaning in, "I know what your play is, Deku. You're just trying to get back at me. Get back at me for those days when I showed you how worthless, pathetic and weak you really were. You think having this secret quirk changes anything? Well, guess what, it doesn't. You still are, and always will be a-"
"That's enough!"
Katsuki rounded on Momo who took a step back.
"Or what?"
She straightened her back, causing him to scoff with disgust at the self-assured and confident front he could see her putting on towards him, "I'll call for another class vote. And this time, I'll make sure you miss the U.A. Sports Festival."
Katsuki growled, but backed down.
"You, all of you," he spat, "I hope you have fun without me. Because when the stupid Sports Festival comes around, I'm going to make an example out of all of you. I'm going to show you that you are all extras. That none of you are better than me. I'm going to show all those pro heroes why their attention should be focused on me. I'm gonna put you all in the dirt and make sure you can't climb back out."
"And I'll be sure to put out extra effort for you." He growled, making a point of glaring at Shoto, Izuku, Momo and Itachi.
Giving Mirio the stink eye, and finding his anger rising to new heights when the taller blond continued to smile at him, Katsuki turned on his heel and stormed out of the Observation Room.
The entire class seemed to let out a sigh of relief once the automatic doors closed behind him.
All Might let out an uneasy chuckle.
Shota continued to glare at the doors for a few seconds, then deactivated Erasure and blinked several times, trying to ease his dry eye before he administered his eye drops.
Momo massaged her temples as if she was nursing an oncoming headache.
Shoto quietly left the room, not in the mood to speak to anyone.
Mirio walked over to Itachi and let out a laugh, "Wow, Itachi-san, the dude's got some serious issues."
Itachi grunted, pocketing his density seals which he'd been fully prepared to use if Katsuki attacked his sister, "I'll be honest, Mirio-san, a brute like Bakugo-kun shouldn't be here. If I were in my sister's place, I would've given him a month-long expulsion."
"I know you would've," Mirio said, "and what's with the long face? He's not here. Come on, smile."
Itachi shot him a deadpanned stare, "And ruin the calm and collected image my class has of me? Absolutely not. I'll smile in front of everybody when Batman laughs."
Mirio chuckled, brushing off the curious stares he was getting, "Huh, I didn't think you read comic books, and he actually has, but in the movie - Batman: The Killing Joke."
"Still not doing it, Mirio-san."
A/N: And that's Chapter 20 for you guys. Yeah, compared to when Izuku helped Shoto get past some of his problems with his quirk and they continued fighting because they wanted to win, Katsuki wanted to make a statement while Shoto wanted to hurt him for all the trauma that was brought flooding back. And Aizawa leaves the punishment to the class - he's only had them for about a month and he's already done with their shit.
Anyways, you won't have to wait too long - I hope - for the U.A. Sports Festival arc. No more crazy, unplanned fillers! See you all soon, and if I haven't post by then, Merry Christmas.