Watching that last match between one of his best friends and his childhood tormentor had Izuku sitting on the edge of his seat the entire time. With each blast of Katsuki's hands made him cringe, old memories of those same hands being aimed at him came creeping up to the surface in his mind. But it had been years since the blonde had been physical with him and it didn't bother him anymore. Well, at least not as much.

But Hitoshi had done it. He had won. Izuku wondered what his friend said to finally get Katsuki to respond. He figured it had to have been some kind of insult as that would be the best route amongst the many other methods they had talked about when brainstorming ways to get people to respond to him. It would make the most sense to take advantage of the natural level of anger in the explosive teen and turn it up to eleven. A risky move but one necessary to take at the time.

At the call of Hitoshi's win, Katsuiki being Katsuki, charged towards the purple haired boy despite the match being over. Izuku's fists were anxiously balled tightly on his knees, knuckles white in strain under his gloves. Mei comfortingly placed her hand on one of his but didn't tear her eyes away from the ring. Midnight, true to form, knocked him, and subsequently Hitoshi as well, out to prevent the attack.

Due to one of the finalists being unconscious, a break was announced until Hitoshi woke up and was deemed fit enough to fight by Recovery Girl. Izuku did want to visit his friend but ultimately decided against it. They were going to be fighting against each other next after all. And even though the other was his friend, Izuku had no intention of going easy on him. Besides, Hitoshi would be asleep anyway.

Instead, the greenette decided to use the extra time to do a final check on his Support Items and mentally prepare to fight one of his best friends. Izuku bid a goodbye to Mei and his classmates wished him good luck as he left. He couldn't help but smile as he told them he would do his best. It was nice having classmates who supported him for once.

Heh. Supported by Support.

The Support student walked through the empty halls toward the room assigned to 1-H in no particular hurry. The quiet was calming and centering in a way. He could do this. He could fight Hitoshi. Izuku knew all about Hitoshi's Quirk and the other knew all about his Quirk status as well as was familiar with his Support Items. Well, most of them anyway. There was one that he wasn't.

"Excuse me," a voice called out, breaking Izuku from his thoughts.

The greenette turned around to find it was Ojiro who had spoken to him. What does he want?

"Yes?" Izuku asked with a tilt of his head.

"Sorry, you don't know me," Ojiro began, not knowing in reality that Izuku did actually know him. "My name is Ojiro Mashirao. I'm in the Hero Course Class 1-A."

"Oh, I'm Midoriya Izuku from Support Course Class 1-H," Izuku replied. The pair exchanged bows in greeting. "Um, what is it that you want?"

"I'm here to offer you some advice," Ojiro answered solemnly. "And a warning."

Warning? Warning about what?

"Oh?" was his response.

"You're going up against that Shinsou guy from General Studies in the final round, right?" Ojiro inquired, earning a nod from the other. Where is he going with this? "You need to be careful with him. Something about his Quirk is…off."

What.

"What do you mean by 'off'?" Izuku asked, his brows slightly furrowed. The tail boy may have taken that as the greenette having concern for himself when in reality he had the beginnings of looking at the other boy in angered disbelief.

"His Quirk. I think it's some kind of mind control," Ojiro stated with no hesitation. "That if you respond to him verbally, he can take control of you and make you do whatever he wants. At least I think so because during the Cavalry Battle, he used his Quirk on my team and the next thing we knew our headband was gone. And with these last few rounds he's obviously gotten the others to respond to him and made them go out of bounds. It's all kind of…shady."

WHAT.

Obviously Ojiro thought he was helping but in actuality he was being incredibly rude. It seemed that this entire day was filled with people who were there to make Izuku mad. Mineta, Endeavor, and now Ojiro with this sudden Quirk discrimination. Against one of Izuku's best friends no less.

"'Shady' as in 'Villainous'?" Izuku probed, hoping he was wrong but had an inkling he wasn't.

"Possibly," Ojiro confirmed with a serious tone.

Remember, Izuku, he thought to himself taking a centering deep breath. You're not allowed to fight anyone outside of an official match. Taking one more breath to calm down he turned his focus back to the other boy.

"You know that's Quirk discrimination, right?" Izuku pointed out with a glare. The other boy flinched at the accusation. "A Quirk doesn't make one Heroic or Villainous. Only the person themselves decides to be good or evil. By their choices and actions. And I would appreciate it if you wouldn't talk about my friend like that."

"Your…friend…?" Ojiro murmured, his shock clear on his face.

"Yes, Hitoshi-kun is one of my best friends," Izuku revealed, trying his very best not to growl. "He's had to deal with people judging him by his Quirk his entire life. Labeled him a Villain for it. Yet all he's ever wanted to be is a Hero."

Just like me.

The look of shock on Ojiro's face turned into embarrassment.

"I'm sorry," the tail boy apologized. "I didn't mean to come off like that. I only wanted to warn you like I did the others so it would be fair."

"'Like I did the others'?" Izuku seethed, full on looking at the other boy incredulously. "Who else did you 'warn' against my friend's Quirk?!"

"Tokoyami and Bakugou," Ojiro admitted, bowing his head in shame. "I thought I was helping."

Deep breaths, Izuku. Deep breaths.

"That was very rude of you, Ojiro-kun," Izuku scolded. "This is a competition and the use of Quirks, any Quirk, is fair game in an official match. There was nothing you needed to 'warn' about because everyone entered this festival on equal ground."

"But the others in the top sixteen knew each other's Quirks already," Ojiro shot back to try and justify himself.

"The one's in your class maybe," Izuku retorted, folding his arms in frustration. And me because I've observed all of you as Hiro but Ojiro-kun doesn't know that. "Ashido-san didn't know Shouda-kun's Quirk and vice versa. Iida-kun didn't know what Mei-chan would do and her Quirk doesn't even help with physical combat anyway. Kirishima-kun and Tetsutetsu-kun only learned they had similar Quirks for the first time today. Also, you didn't warn Shiozaki-san when she went up against Hitoshi-kun. You said you only told Tokoyami-kun and Katsuki before me. Not to mention you didn't warn me about Kaminari-kun's, Ashido-san's, or Shouto-kun's Quirks before my matches with them."

Ojiro looked more and more ashamed at what he had done. As well as shocked that Izuku knew of the other contestants and apparently was on a first name basis with a few of them.

"So, tell me, Ojiro-kun," Izuku continued, glaring at the other. "How exactly is it fair to warn only the people in your class and then me about Hitoshi-kun's Quirk and only his?"

The tail boy was obviously completely regretful of his actions now that Izuku had laid out everything and he apologized sincerely complete with a deep bow.

"I know that you now realize what you did was wrong," Izuku said, placing a consoling hand on his shoulder. "But I'm not the one you need to apologize to. Hitoshi-kun is."

"Y-you're right," Ojiro conceded solemnly as he stood up. "I'll apologize to him as soon as I can."

With a reassuring smile and a pat on the shoulder, Izuku bid the other boy goodbye and continued his way through the halls.

...

Red eyes slowly blinked awake to the sight of white ceiling as Katsuki came back to consciousness. He lazily looked around him and judging by the other beds and medical equipment, he figured he was in the nurse's office. His barely awake mind tried to piece together memories of what had happened to have led him here.

It was his semi-final match up against that purple extra with the weird mind Quirk. Something to do with talking or other according to that Monkey extra. Whatever it was, it shouldn't have been much of a match to his own Quirk. The blonde remembered a lot of explosions and the dull ache in his arm joints acted as evidence of that fact. And then…

…that Troll Doll fucker brainwashed me!

Katsuki shot up in a rage and scanned the room for the damn extra with his hands readied to explode the fucker. Red eyes spotted a flash of purple and found the prey he sought lying unconscious in another bed across the room. The explosive teen moved to attack and yell at the bastard who cheated Katsuki, the future Number One Hero, out of his win. Only to be sharply whacked on the head by something blunt and solid. He turned around glaring to find that it had been Recovery Girl who hit him with her syringe-like cane and she did not look pleased.

"That's enough, young man!" the Youthful Heroine reprimanded with a frown. "You are both injured, Shinsou-kun is unconscious, and there is no fighting outside of an official match. Control yourself! Now, let me check you over."

Internally Katsuki was seething but this was an adult, a Hero, and he knew he needed to behave. Somewhat. With a huff, he allowed the nurse to examine him for any additional damage. Over all, he felt fine besides the aches in his arms but that was normal for him when he used his Quirk too much. Which he didn't expect to have to use his explosions as much against the mind fucker but the extra had managed to avoid most of them somehow.

That Quirk of his is a total cheat. He didn't win with his own physical strength. He got lucky, that's all. I'll never fall for that trick again.

A few more checked vitals and the blonde was deemed fit to leave. Recovery Girl gave him an irritating peck on the cheek, dulling the ache in his arms further, and discharged him so he could watch the final match. Adding on a warning to not attack another student or there would be consequences. Yeah, right. He waited until he left to let the irritation show on his face.

The final match was up next as soon as Troll Doll woke up. That purple extra was moving on to the final fight. Up against Deku. And where was Katsuki? Not in the final match, that's what! What the fuck was up with that? He was the best! That's what everyone told him growing up. That he was strong and powerful and he would make a great Hero. Hell, even Katsuki had declared he would be the winner of the day.

But he wasn't. And he can't be now. He was out. He, Bakugou fucking Katsuki, somehow lost in the semi-finals and the fight for first was now left to that useless Quirkless fuck and his shitty mind controlling friend. How the hell did those two extras make it to the finals above all the students in the Hero Course? Above him? Again, there was only one answer that made sense to Katsuki. They were cheating.

This insulting charade has gone on long enough, he thought as he stormed down the hallway.

Intending to hunt that shitty Deku down, he trudged through the halls in search of the nerd. He wasn't sure exactly where the other boy was but it had to be somewhere around the prep rooms. Katsuki stalked his way there, red eyes scanning the area for any sign of the Quirkless cheating fucker. Each passing moment his anger and frustration grew until finally he saw a flash of green down the hall disappear into a room.

Finally. Time for some fucking answers.

...

Izuku had decided to stop by the prep room assigned to 1-H to do one last check of his gear before moving to one of the waiting rooms until the final match. Seemed a good thing to do seeing he had the time while Hitoshi was recovering. Though, the greenette didn't necessarily plan to use really any of his Support Items when he went up against his best friend. Except one in particular that hadn't made an appearance yet. But he wanted to still wear his gear because once he was a Hero, he would have to regardless if he used the Support Items or not. It would be good practice for the future. Or at least the one he hoped for.

Once he arrived, the greenette walked into the room strewn with boxes and moved toward the table his own container was on. He started to take off each of his Support Items one by one and laying them on the table next to his box. Starting with his shield followed by his Tape gun, escrima rods, and Jet shoes. His Fire Breath mask was still around his neck, goggles on his head, belt around his waist. He was about to take off his gloves when it happened. In the distance, he heard a yell.

"DEKU!"

Oh no. Izuku froze in his actions at the sound.

"YOU SHITTY!"

Why here? He let out a sigh.

"FUCKING!"

Why now? He adjusted the goggles down a little further onto his forehead.

"NERD!" Katsuki yelled as he slammed open the door, looking absolutely feral.

Why ever? He pressed two buttons on the side of the goggles. The one activated the recording feature he had added to them while the other sent out a signal that was sent to a certain hobo looking Hero's own pair of goggles. Taking a deep breath, Izuku slowly turned and looking at the ticking time bomb that had just entered the room.

"What do you want, Katsuki?" Izuku asked flatly.

"Explain yourself, Deku!" Katsuki snarely as he entered the room and slammed the door shut.

You have your entire life to be a jerk. Why not take today off?

"Explain what?" Izuku shot back as he crossed his arms.

"Tell me how you're doing it," the blonde demanded, stalking over to the greenette. "How the hell you managed to get into the finals, you Quirkless cheating fucker!"

Cheating? Seriously?

"I'm not cheating, Katsuki," Izuku insisted, glaring at the other. "I fought my way to here same as you."

"You're a filthy fucking liar, Deku, and you know it," Katsuki declared with a sneer. "There's no way a Quirkless worthless ant like you could get this far without cheating. It's all that dumb crap you've been using, isn't it?"

"This 'dumb crap' is allowed in case you forgot," Izuku retorted while rolling his eyes. "I'm in the Support Course and therefore am authorized to use any Support Item I have made myself."

The blonde clicked his tongue.

"That's a stupid ass rule," Katsuki chided as he crossed his own arms in annoyance. "This is a competition to show off Quirks which you don't have. You shouldn't have even been allowed to compete in the first place. Only those with the strongest of Quirks are destined to win."

"I'd agree with you, but then we'd both be wrong," Izuku snarked with a huff and a shrug. "In case you haven't noticed, you got taken out by Hitoshi-kun despite your 'strong' Quirk."

And despite Ojiro-kun's discriminating warning.

"That fucker has to be cheating too," Katsuki declared, unraveling his arms and clenching his fists. "How else could two extras like you and that Troll Doll be the ones in the final? This is a Hero school and a Hero competition. Only those from the Hero Course should have been allowed to compete since we're the ones who are getting scouted."

"I'm trying my absolute hardest to see things from your perspective," Izuku retorted, staring at the other boy in front of him with a quirked brow. "But I just can't get my head that far up my ass. Do you seriously believe the crap coming out of your mouth? The Hero Course isn't above the other courses. This is a festival for everyone to compete and show what they can do. To prove something."

Katsuki growled and took a step forward threateningly.

"And what exactly are you here to prove, Deku?" the blonde snarled.

"That me being Quirkless doesn't define who I am or what I am capable of," Izuku stated, a look of determination on his face. "That, despite what people like you say, I am not 'useless' without a Quirk. That I have what it takes to be a Hero!"

"There's that load of crap again," Katsuki drawled, rolling his perpetually angry red eyes. "You can't be a Hero, Deku! And there's no way for you to be since you're not in the Hero Course. Hell, you didn't even try for the practical 'cause you already knew your Quirkless ass would fail. Either you pass the Hero Practical or you don't have what it takes to be a Hero."

Izuku couldn't help but snort at the other's ignorance.

"What's so funny, nerd?" the blonde sneered.

Oh, sweet exploding summer child, you know nothing Bakugou Katsuki.

"Don't you remember I told you that wasn't the only way into the Hero Course?" Izuku giggled. Katsuki quirked an irate but curious brow. "There is a clause in the UA bylaws that states if a student in a course other than the Hero Course places high enough in the Sports Festival, they can be offered the chance to transfer if they want to. And would you look at that? Here I am waiting to fight in the final match. I'd say placing first or second is high enough to be noticed, wouldn't you?"

Katsuki growled and step forward again, getting right into the greenette's face. But Izuku stood his ground and glared up at the blonde, not letting those angry red eyes or their two-inch height difference intimidate him. He refused to back down and was done hiding from Bakugou Katsuki.

"The only reason you are here, Deku," Katsuki spat out with a growl. "Is because of your shitty gear. Take that away and you are nothing. Weak. Useless. Quirkless. Deku."

"You're wrong, Katsuki," Izuku shot back with a scowl. He lowered his arms and clenched his fists in irate determination. "I may be Quirkless, but I am not useless. Mei-chan says that I am a 'blank canvas' and because of my lack of Quirk, I have the potential to do anything. Yes, I don't have a Quirk, but that doesn't mean I can't fight. Having a Quirk gives you an edge. A tool you can use to fight. I just happened to make my 'edge' instead of being born with one. An edge that has helped me to get where I am now. And there's nothing you can do to stop me."

Katsuki was shaking in anger and his rage was causing him to sweat. The room was filling with the sweet scent of nitroglycerin. But still, Izuku did not back down and continued to stare into challenging red eyes. The greenette could see the gears turning in the other's head, trying to make sense of his words. He secretly hoped that maybe, finally he had gotten through that thick egotistical skull of his.

He should have known better.

Rather than actually using his brain, Katsuki, as always, let his anger take control over every other emotion and acted on instinct. The blonde, for some reason, suddenly lurched forward and grabbed Izuku's right gloved hand letting off an explosion to destroy it. The electrically charged glove short-circuited and delivered a nasty shock to Izuku's hand. He let out a screech of pain, kicked the other away on reflex, and then yanked the glove off. His hand was covered with jagged red burn marks from being electrocuted by his own gear.

"What the hell, Katsuki?!" Izuku yelled. He clutched his injured hand close to him and glared at the other.

The explosive teen had been surprised when the Quirkless boy had kicked him away, but he recovered quickly. Izuku expected to him to come at him again and took as best a defensive stance as he could with his injured hand. Instead, Katsuki went for his other Support Items picking up his Tape gun from the table and exploding that too before letting it fall to the floor in pieces.

"You say these are your edge in a fight, right?" the blonde sneered, picking up one of his Jet shoes. "Your substitute for the natural power of a Quirk. So, if you no longer have this edge…"

He exploded the shoe in his hand.

"…that means you won't be able to fight."

He dropped the ruined gadget to the ground.

"You'll only be…"

He grabbed the other one.

"…as you always have been…"

He exploded that one too and dropped it same as the other.

"…a useless Quirkless loser."

The Support student stood there frozen in shock and watched in horror as Katsuki picked up his Support Items one by one. Each invention, weeks of hard work, met a fiery explosive end within seconds as soon as the blonde took hold of them. Tears started to build and fall at the loss of the fruits of his weeks of labor and training. His lips quivered in fear and disbelief that his once-childhood friend would go this far just to prove he was right. That Izuku really was a Deku.

That. Is. It.

"BAKUGOU, ENOUGH!" Izuku snapped, bitter tears turning into ones of anger.

The sudden use of his family name and not his first caused Bakugou to flinch. That sour feeling in his gut returned and had grown bigger for some reason.

"Now listen here, nerd…" Bakugou started, but Izuku wasn't going to let him.

"NO, YOU LISTEN, BAKUGOU!" the greenette screamed with a swipe of his good hand. The fact he had yelled back managed to get the blonde to shut his damn mouth for once. "I'm sick and tired of you and all of your bullshit!"

The explosive teen growled but didn't interrupt. Not that Izuku would have let him.

"We've known each other for a long time," Izuku continued, clenching his good fist. "We used to go on adventures together all the time. Catching beetles, exploring the woods, playing Heroes. We used to be friends! We were going to be Heroes together!"

A scowling blonde brow twitched.

"But you…you changed when I was diagnosed Quirkless," Izuku choked out, bitter tears once again building in his eyes. "When I didn't get a Quirk, you dropped me like a bad penny. Became a bully to me. Gave me that belittling nickname to label me and show how useless you think someone without a Quirk is."

The other boy cringed slightly at the word 'bully'. He did not like that word. Especially not to describe himself.

"You even gave me a bit of advice once," the greenette stated, forgetting he was recording and spoke the words he had never repeated to anyone before. "'If you want a Quirk so bad, why don't you take a swan dive off the roof and pray for a Quirk in your next life.'"

A fleeting expression of guilt flashed across the blonde's face.

"You're lucky I'm too stubborn to ever actually do that," Izuku continued, the look of regret did not go unnoticed but did nothing to lessen his ire. "Nor could I ever do that to my parents. By the way, did you know that same day I got attacked by a Villain?"

Bakugou stared at the shorter boy in dismay. He didn't know the other had gotten attacked.

"Don't worry," Izuku assured seeing the look on the other's face. "I was saved by a Hero quickly and he took the Villain out."

Izuku didn't care to share the fact that the Hero had been All Might who then had proceeded to crush his dreams and leave him on a roof. Not the best place to leave someone who was recently told to jump off of one though the Hero hadn't known that. Nor that Akaguro had come soon after to encourage him to keep fighting for his dream. The irony of being told 'no' by the Number One Hero to only then be told 'yes' by the Villain known as the Hero Killer was still baffling to the Quirkless boy. But the bully in front of him didn't deserve to know any of that.

"I tried…for so long I tried to be friends with you," the greenette said, a forlorn expression on his face. "But after what you said that day and after I met Mei-chan, I came to realize we weren't friends anymore. Hadn't been for a long time. Not since we were four. You were no longer the boy I knew. And now, after this…"

Izuku gestured to the bits and pieces of gadget debris around them.

"…I realize I don't know you at all anymore."

Another flicker of guilt flashed in red eyes.

"You're not Kacchan," Izuku went on with a resolved look. "You're not even Katsuki…you're Bakugou! The one who has treated me like shit ever since a little quirk of genetics decided that I would never have a Quirk of my own. The one who told me since we were four that I was useless because I was Quirkless. The one who used his Quirk on me until I learned to fight back. The one who claims to want to be a Hero but acts like a Villain!"

Again, the blonde flinched at the use of his family name and the sour feeling intensified. Then cringed at being labeled a Villain. Again. But he wasn't! Right?

"Why do you hate me so much?" Izuku demanded to know, sorrowful tears starting to fall down freckled cheeks. "What on earth is making you go this far? I have done nothing but try to be your friend and yet you still treat me like trash! WHAT DID I EVER DO TO YOU, BAKUGOU?!"

"I THOUGHT YOU WERE LOOKING DOWN ON ME!" Bakugou blurted out.

Green eyes stared wide at the other boy in front of him. The boy he had known since they were in diapers. And yet, after all these years, he never knew that this was what the other thought of him.

"You…you thought I looked down on you?" Izuku muttered in disbelief. "That I have this whole time?"

"I thought you saw yourself as above me despite being Quirkless," Bakugou confessed, the charged moment forcing him to be even so slightly vulnerable. In an angry way of course. "You were always happy, smiling. Saying you wanted to be a Hero even though you have no power to actually become one. Thought that a weakling like you could become a Hero same as someone like me with a strong Quirk. As if you thought you were better than me. Me! The future Number One Hero!"

What?!

"Are you an idiot, Bakugou?!" Izuku snapped. "I LOOKED UP TO YOU, DUMBASS!"

Bakugou was taken aback as his sudden outburst.

"You have always been strong," Izuku confided, keeping eye contact with the other in order to stress he was being genuine. "And I've always known you would make a great Hero."

This time red eyes widened in shock, peering into green in bewilderment.

"But you've let your ego take over, Bakugou," the greenette said with a furrowed brow. "You care more about being the best rather than what's most important about being a Hero."

"Oh, and what's that, shitty nerd?" Bakugou asked, trying to hide in his anger again. As he always did. Not liking the implications he's in the wrong.

"Heroes are meant to save people, Bakugou," Izuku insisted with furrowed brows. "Strength helps, sure, but you won't be a true Hero with your head so far up your ass that you don't realize the way you're acting is nowhere near Heroic. Do you know who you remind me of, Bakugou? Endeavor."

That spurred the explosive teen up and Bakugou shot forward. The blonde rammed his right arm across the front of the shorter boy's shoulders, pinning him against the wall, while he held his other hand threateningly close to Izuku's stomach.

"Don't you dare compare me to that bastard," the blonde seethed.

"So, you were listening," Izuku commented, confirming the fact that the boy in front of him had eavesdropped when he had talked to Shouto. "That was a private conversation, Bakugou."

The explosive teen clicked his tongue at being caught but said nothing.

"But there's nothing we can do about that now," Izuku stated, making no move to push the other boy away. "That man is a bastard with what he's done. A flaming pile of trash. And if you continue as you are, that's how you'll end up too."

Bakugou growled as a warning but the greenette pushed on.

"You need to rethink why you want to be a Hero, Bakugou," Izuku said with conviction. "Do you want to be one to help people like All Might? Or do you want to be one to be the best like Endeavor? The choice is up to you."

Once again, Izuku could see the gears turning in the other's head. Trying to process his words as best he can with all their other drama swirling around in his head. There was still a small sliver of hope that maybe he could inspire the other to change his ways but it was wavering as the seconds passed by. Because Izuku knew that Bakugou has hidden behind his anger for so long that he didn't even think the other knew how to emote any other emotion anymore. Or ever did for that matter.

As always, the blonde's temper won out and several things happened all at once. Bakugou screamed and ignited an explosion with the hand held up against his stomach. Izuku instinctively stiffen in an attempt to protect himself from the blast. The door to the room slammed open and two figures, one black and one yellow, barreled into the room. A flash of red and whip of white shot forward, pulling the explosive blonde off of the greenette. Though his mind was still trying to catch up with what happened, Izuku knew he was now safe.

...

Tumblr blog name: ja0-s-blank-canvas-fic

Notes extension: post/640766523379744768/chapter-51-sports-festival-confrontation