Sooooooooooo yeah. It's been a little longer than usual. Sorry about that but there isn't much I can do about it. Life sucks and it's scary sometimes. But even with all that I never stopped writing. So what do you say we get back into it, eh?

I only own my OC and the plot of this here story. All characters and locations in the MHA world are property of Kōhei Horikoshi. Star Wars is owned by Disney. Enjoy the new chapter!

Patterns of speech:

Normal – May the Plus Ultra be with you.

'Inner thoughts with single quote marks', "Radio speak, transmissions for double ones" – May the Plus Ultra be with you.

All Might – May the Plus Ultra be with you.

R3 – May the Plus Ultra be with you.

Binding The Galaxy Together

Chapter 25 – Battle Trial (Part 2)

The stage was set. Both sides had done all they could do to prepare…for the most part. Tenya had taken over most of the prep work himself while his partner, if he could even be called that, ran off to go on a solo manhunt for Izuku. But there was no more time to dilly dally around. The clock started ticking and now both sides were aiming for a win.

Thanks to Ochako's Zero Gravity, getting up to one of the higher floor windows was a cake walk. Both Izuku and Ochako floated up to the second floor and began to sneak around the maze of walls. The inside of the building was dimly lit.. Par for the course when it comes to the hero course, they supposed. Everything had been planned out in a way to test them. The only thing that wasn't planned was who would be fighting who. And that was what Izuku and Ochako were both dwelling on.

Izuku had his thoughts focused squarely on not using his power. Even if he was going against Katsuki in this battle, One For All was too big a wild card right now. Yeah, he wanted to win, but he also didn't want to be responsible for the murder of his former friend. On the other hand, Izuku just knew that at this very moment, as he and Ochako were passing through the hallway maze, he was out there. Katsuki was walking these same halls hunting him down like a lion stalks the gazelle. Silent and ready to pounce when the time was right. It was a scary thought but it was one Izuku had to face. Katsuki had been waiting for this since he learned what U.A. High School even was. Being able to use his quirk so freely and openly on other people is what got a lot of kids excited about the hero course. Izuku was nowhere near that level of excitement yet. He couldn't even begin to get there until he got a better handle on his own quirk. He knew that, Ochako knew that, All Might knew that, and even Camilla knew that.

They turned another corner, stepping as quietly as they could. But then out of Izuku's peripheral, he saw him. Katsuki had rushed in from around another corner right by the two and thrashed a harsh hand towards them. His palm glowed orange with an explosion about to fire. Right before Katsuki made contact with Izuku, Ochako tackled him out of the way. And they were covered in a cloud of smoke while the building rocked.

As the smoke cleared, Ochako and Izuku were both upright once more. The latter had the hilt from her belt now detached and fully in her grip. She kept her eyes on the smoke waiting for Katsuki to walk or rush through. With the gentle press of a gray button in the center of the hilt and a flick of her wrist, a telescopic metal blade like an oversized baton extended out. Ochako then took her weapon into both hands and stood in the Form Two ready position.

"Deku, are you alright?" she asked.

"Fine. He just got my mask." he replied.

Katsuki stepped through the smoke and aimed a glare for Izuku.

"You think you're so damn smart don't you, Deku? But you still don't have the guts to stand up and fight me, right?!"

Izuku shook his hand and leaned further down into his stance.

"I knew you'd come for me first, Kacchan. You always like using the element of surprise whenever you can."

"I won't hurt you too much that All Might will force me to stop! But I can still get close!"

Ochako was more than ready to take a step forward and swing that metal blade of hers right for Katsuki's head. He was more than asking for it now. However, Izuku moved faster and closed the gap between him and the explosive blonde. Once Katsuki threw out his right arm to try and attack, Izuku shocked both him and Ochako by grabbing that same arm with both of his own and maneuvering himself into position.

'What?! This can't be right! He's not good enough! How did he know what I was gonna do?!'

With as much strength as Izuku could muster, he threw Katsuki down, slamming him onto his back and effectively knocking the wind right out of him. The ninth holder of One For All would've been lying if he said he didn't take great pleasure in watching his current opponent bounce off the hard floor. Despite that, he kept his smile internal and tried hard to stay focused and ready.

"You always start a fight with a big right hook, Kacchan. Every time since we were kids, that was your opener."

As Katsuki sat back up, he just grew more angry by the moment. Was this nerd really trying to call him predictable?

"You remember that journal of mine that you burned? Inside it there are notes about every great hero I've ever seen. And that includes you. I've watched you for years taking notes about your quirk and fighting style because you're so good."

As he kept talking, Izuku could feel himself getting more and more solid with his words as he spoke them to the one who had bullied him relentlessly since they were toddlers.

"You can call me Deku all you want, Kacchan! But I'm not that same helpless kid anymore! From now on, Deku means 'you can do it'!"

Two different reactions happened once that was said. The first from Ochako. Still keeping both her hands on her saber, she listened to every word Izuku said while her eyes stayed locked on Katsuki in case he made any sudden moves. The moment she heard her friend declare he would only let the name Deku mean what she believed it could be, she felt something in her chest. At first she thought it was the fabric of her skintight suit irritating a part of her skin. It would last for a moment, stop, then repeat again. After a few more times she realized it wasn't anything on her skin that was acting up, it was underneath. She had never felt it before so it was a brand new experience to know how it felt when her own heart started to flutter. Thankfully that was all she could notice. If anyone else had caught the blush currently burning across her face, she probably would have preferred to die here in this exercise.

The second reaction from Katsuki couldn't be more opposite than that. Deku meaning "you can do it"? It was honestly the sickest he had felt in a long time after hearing that sort of bullshit come out of the loser's mouth. And here No-eyes told him that she had nothing to do with his current attitude. It had to be a lie and this was only further proof. The quirk, the backbone, and now the rejection of what his name truly meant. The real Deku would never have any of these things and he was sure of it. As he got back to his feet, he kept his glare focused solely on the green haired boy in front of him. The explosive teen could easily tell that behind his brave declaration, the look on his face told another story. He was still afraid. His mind flashed back to a memory very similar to this moment of a four year old Deku standing up to him despite being powerless and scared out of his boots.

"Deku…" Katsuki snarled. "…nothing's changed with you. Ever since we were kids you always stood in my way. Every time you would forget your place and try to defy even though you're nothing. Even now you still stand there and wanna take me on despite being so scared!"

Tiny little explosions set off on both palms as Katsuki leaned over, ready to break this worthless nerd out of whatever trance that blind bitch had him under.

"That's why I hate you!"

He raised a foot to take a single step but before he could even land his foot on the ground, he heard a couple of fast ones close in behind him.

*SWOOSH!*

Just barely in time, Katsuki sidestepped to dodge an overhead slash from Ochako and her metallic saber. Annoyed, Katsuki was set to thrust an explosive palm in her direction and blast her away but something made him stop. When Ochako moved her legs and turned around, her face was expressing all sorts of anger from top to bottom. Then she stepped again and swung at Katsuki horizontally. She aimed right for his head but the explosion user was once again able to dodge the metal blade. Now, Ochako stood there crouched down with her saber in hand intent on acting as a shield if she needed to be for Izuku against Katsuki.

This only made him even angrier. First No-eyes and now Round Face was getting in his way.

"First and last warning, pink cheeks. Get out of my way or I'll be sure you hurt just as much as Deku will."

Ochako wasn't deterred.

"You say that, but he's the one who just threw you to the ground like a rag doll."

The fuse was once again lit and it was burning fast. Izuku could see it in Katsuki's eyes. Not good. One of the parts about his plan was starting to unravel and he needed to stitch it back together fast. If Ochako got between him and Katsuki both literally and figuratively, then there wouldn't be a snowball's chance in hell of winning this fight. So he did the only thing he could think to do in this situation.

"YAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!"

Izuku moved. He grabbed Ochako by the wrists and dragged her with him. When they both dodged by Katsuki, Izuku turned back and swiped the other saber off Ochako's waist. Pressing the button and flicking it made the metal blade extend out just like its twin. Just as Katsuki began to give chase, Izuku whirled around and swung the blade downwards. The middle of the baton-like blade made contact with Katsuki's ankle and threw him off balance. As he tumbled, Izuku took this chance to grab Ochako again and sprinted away as fast as he could, making sure to get out of sight.

"You and Round Face are both gonna pay for that, Deku!"

Katsuki skidded to a halt. He looked down the hallway and saw no one there. There were more openings that led to even more corridors before it came to a dead end. And for the life of him, he couldn't guess which one they went down next. Hit and run tactics? Was Deku fucking serious here?! He couldn't even gather up the spine to face him head on like a real hero?!

"RrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHH! DEKU GET YOUR ASS OUT HERE!"

His voice echoed out through the entire floor and eventually traveled far enough to reach the part of it where Izuku and Ochako were crouched and hiding. The freckled boy was steadying his breathing trying to stay quiet as he listened to the rage of his former friend ring down the corridors. Great. Just as he was hoping, if he was angry, he could capitalize on it. Ochako just had to play her part in it.

"Go, Uraraka."

Ochako looked at her friend in surprise, hoping she had misheard him on some level.

"Um…Deku when you say 'go', you mean-"

"I mean go. You're the best chance we have right now to win. You have to go find Iida and the bomb."

It was a good thing they had to whisper right now otherwise Ochako was sure she would have given away their position the moment Izuku stopped talking.

"You can't be serious."

"I'm not kidding, Uraraka. Kacchan came after the two of us completely on his own. Knowing him, he's probably gone rogue and left Iida to fend for himself. That's good. In a one-on-one match, you should be enough to take Iida on with your quirk and sword skills and win. I'm sorry to put this all on you, but really, right now with Kacchan being so angry, securing the bomb is the easy part. It won't be easy to keep him at bay but I think I can manage it. No matter how badly he has it out for me, I need to face him anyway."

As Ochako listened to her friend whisper the plan to her, she hated that she agreed with a lot of it. Tenya was alone somewhere right now, probably with the bomb even. Seizing the chance to face him in a solo fight with him rather than two on two would be a lot more manageable. Sure, he'd be hard to land a hit on with that speed of his Form Three, but, what little she knew should be satisfactory to handle it. Katsuki was definitely known for letting his anger dictate his actions. It gave him tunnel vision but it also granted him a furious tenacity. Meaning to her, if they went through with this, and a vengeful Katsuki got his crosshairs locked on Izuku, there was a good chance Mrs. Midoriya would be called in to U.A. to identify her son's body. And that was definitely not an image she wanted to see become a reality.

"Deku, I don't know what you're seeing right now, but let me tell you what I'm seeing. Bakugo isn't just trying to win this fight. He's out for blood. Specifically yours. Not to mention…I don't mean to bring this up but this is the truth. You still don't have a decent clue on how to really use One For All yet. If he's really as unhinged as you claim, Deku, and he gets his hands on you with no backup right now, he could really hurt you! You need backup!"

Closing his eyes, Izuku was hoping he wouldn't have to push for Ochako to leave. He really didn't want her to but there was a bigger picture to be looked at here.

"Do you trust me, Uraraka?"

Ochako tilted her head.

"Deku, what kind of question is that? Of course I do."

"That's good. Because I need you to trust me when I say I can deal with Kacchan."

The boy turned around and looked Ochako in the face. Half of his own was still covered by his torn mask.

"We can win this. We just have to divide and conquer right now. I may not be able to face him in a fight, you're right. But I don't have to. We have that capture tape. All I have to do is capture him. Once I do, I'll meet up with you wherever you are, and we'll face Iida together. Deal?"

She shouldn't agree to this. She most definitely shouldn't agree to this. But that determination in Izuku's voice couldn't help but overtake Ochako and wash away most of the fear she was feeling before. She cared a great deal about the boy, yes, but part of being a hero was this sort of danger. All he wanted to do right now was prove that he could handle it. She had to grant him that.

"Alright. Deal. I'll let you know when I find Iida."

Ochako was about to stand up to move, but right before she could, she looked down and noticed something that made her look a little bit away from Izuku.

"But uh….there's something you should probably do."

"What's that?"

"Umm….you need to let go of my hand."

Izuku blinked. He blinked again. After the third one his head tilted down and he saw what Ochako saw. When he grabbed her to start running away from Katsuki, he wasn't exactly sure what part of her he took hold of. He wasn't even thinking of anything other than run. The effect of noticing was simultaneous. Both Izuku's and Ochako's faces went from normal toned to redder than an apple in less than a second. Izuku was just barely able to contain himself and not shriek out in alarm. He had been holding her hand for well over a minute straight now and he didn't even realize it.

But now that he had, he needed to let go.

Anytime.

She had a job to do.

Why did holding her hand feel nice?

That last thought finally made Izuku summon enough willpower to pry his fingers free and let Ochako pull her hand back. Still blushing, he handed the gravity girl back her other saber. She thanked him, collapsed the blades down, and attached them back to her belt before standing up.

"S…sorry…." Izuku squeaked out.

"N-no! Deku, it's…it's alright. I know you didn't mean anything by it," Ochako assured them. It didn't help that they were both still blushing. Shaking her head, Ochako tried to get her head on straight.

"I'm gonna go. Deku, you can do this. I'll keep in touch."

She turned to head the other direction with her face still much pinker than usual as she thought about the grip Izuku had on her hand. It was firm but it didn't hurt, like he was crushing her. Izuku's hands were gentle. Even though he was wearing those gloves the feeling of his hand on her own felt…really…gentle…

"BAD, OCHAKO!"

This was definitely the wrong time and place to let that get in the way of this exercise. First, find Tenya, get the bomb under the heroes control, then maybe sort out feelings. Maybe.

Back in the viewing room, seventeen out of twenty one students plus their teacher stood still with nearly every pair of eyes locked onto the array of screens showing the four combatants. Needless to say, they were all pumped in their own way to see the hero course live up to its reputation. Free quirk use was a really big draw-in for a lot of kids who joined it. Being able to actually do it was gonna be a ball.

First things first though, they had to wait their turn. And seeing how all four of the current fighters had amazing quirks, they were hoping for quite a spectacle. And boy did Katsuki deliver on that front right off the bat. Though some of them weren't exactly in support of how he did so.

"A sneak attack, Bakugo? What kind of man pulls that sort of cheap crap?" Eijiro Kirishima was not very thrilled.

"Sneak attacks are a viable strategy. He and young Iida were told to act as real villains would, and he is doing so."

"He wasn't fast enough. Uraraka got them both out of the way." Mina said.

"Well that isn't stopping him. There he goes again." Denki Kaminari observed.

Just about three quarters of the kids whooped and cheered when Izuku threw the literal walking bomb over his head and slam him to the floor like it barely took any effort. Even All Might himself couldn't help but smile a little wider after watching his successor begin to hold his own against one of the most destructive quirks this class has to offer.

Then Katsuki got back up and through the screens, the kids could see his lips moving but there was no audio to accompany it.

"Hey, what are they saying? And why can't we hear them?" Eijiro asked.

All Might sighed, gaze fixed on the screens. He should have figured someone would ask..

"All four of the current fighters each carry a radio comlink in their ears so they can communicate with one another. They each also carry a map of the building they're in and this; a roll of capture tape." He held in his two fingers a small roll of white colored tape that wasn't sticky in the slightest. "Should one of the opposing team members get this tape around one of their opponents, that person is then 'captured' and eliminated from the rest of the game."

Each of the kids took that into consideration when thinking about their upcoming battles. They could only wish they were paired against teams that wouldn't be too much of a hassle.

"So there's a fifteen minute time limit for the heroes to find out where the weapon could be hidden right?" Mina said, pointing to the ticking clock. "That means the villains already have the upper hand, doesn't it?"

All Might nodded. "Outsmarting villains is what we heroes have to do day in and day out. The odds aren't always going to be in your favor whenever you enter a fight. It's how you deal with those disadvantages and your ability to turn them around that determines just how far you'll go in this line of work."

The kids nodded. Then their attention was pulled away quickly when someone pointed back to the screens.

"Check it out! Uraraka's on the attack!" It was Toru's voice that drew everyone back. On screen they saw Ochako take a strong swing at Katsuki with her metallic sword. She missed, but her face and pose were still a couple of things that made the crowd watching look on in interest.

"Whoa, I never would've taken her for a sword user." Kyoka said.

"Same here. Her quirk is making things weightless so one doesn't really compliment the other." Fumikage Tokoyami said.

As most others agreed, the lone Jedi in the class couldn't help but smirk as she heard the others talk about Ochako's skills.

'You show em', Ochako."

She still had her concerns over the match, but Camilla held faith that Izuku and Ochako would be able to show Katsuki and the rest of the class that they could contend with the best. This was the first step and she was convinced it wasn't a coincidence. It was the will of the Force pulling Izuku towards Katsuki like this. She accepted it, but she sure didn't like it. Last night's accusations thrown at her by her explosive classmate still sat heavily in her mind. The guy was a walking ball of pride and ego. Izuku was pretty much the exact opposite in every way. Now here they were facing each other as if it had been coming for years.

As she kept her eyes shut, Camilla's mind stretched out so she could sense through the Force the emotions of those in combat. Through her years of training, she found a decent enough analogy to describe how it felt to sense the feelings of others. It was like being near a flame. The more intense someone's feelings, the hotter it got inside her one out of the four burned like an inferno, and it wasn't surprising who.

"Wait now they're running?! After all that?" Hanta cried. "Midoriya just pulled off that sweet trip on Bakugo. Why are they retreating?"

Everyone else was wondering that themselves. Izuku and Ochako seemed to have gotten the drop on Katsuki with that little swipe at his legs from the former. So why was that same green headed boy pulling Ochako away from the fight by her hand? What changed? Oh how they all wished they could hear what was being said. They felt that especially when the cameras showed the two of them hiding and talking a bunch. So many flaps of their lips and not a single syllable heard.

"Oooooh come on! Do something! Don't just sit there!" Denki complained.

This thought was mirrored by mostly the rest of his classmates. However that thought was soon interrupted when the image of Izuku and Ochako blushing was captured by the cameras.

"No, no, no. Sitting there more is just fine with me." Mina smirked.

"Yes. I'm all for more of this right here." Toru agreed.

"This is supposed to be hero class. Not a romantic comedy." Fumikage said, unimpressed.

As the words of her classmates rang through her ears, Camilla kept her eyes sealed and her thoughts as clear as they could be. She too wanted to know what was going on in Izuku's head that was causing him to act like he was. It was hard to pinpoint. So many different feelings were swirling around in that dome of anxiety Izuku called a head, she couldn't get a decent read on what was causing it. When she tried to sense Ochako, there was a lot of the same. A lot of panic, fear, and….excitement? Just what was going on with her two friends?

"So they're splitting up now? Is that really the best strategy against someone like Bakugo?" Rikido Sato wondered.

Some agreed, thinking Izuku was making a bad decision, but All Might and Camilla knew better. Electing to take on someone like Katsuki alone couldn't be made on a whim. Not when Izuku Midoriya was involved in that decision. He had a plan. He had to. He hardly made a choice without one. They only hoped that it was a good one. The number one hero, while he couldn't read his successor's feelings like his Jedi friend could, he could guess just what was going through his head right now. That look on Izuku's face that could be seen on the screen, it looked just like the one All Might himself wore on his first day of this class years ago. He was nervous, sure, and there might not have been any unintentional hand holding, but that look, he knew it. Izuku was out to prove he could do this. To show that the odds meant nothing to him.

'Remain calm, young Midoriya. I know you can do this. I read all those notes you took on every hero you saw in that book of yours. All that knowledge and time, you've internalized all that. All that fanboy knowledge of his is paying off. But let's hope it's enough to pass.'

Izuku stayed still. His breathing was back under control and his mind was getting back in the game. Right now, the plan was a go. Now he just had to make sure nothing made it veer off course. A tall order, considering Katsuki as his opponent. But Ochako was counting on him just like he was counting on her. He had to be ready now.

"You bastard!" Bakugou roared. His voice bounced off the walls, crackling with a rage as hot as his quirk. "You've been lying to me all these years, haven't you, Deku?! Pretending to be weak so you can laugh behind my back! You even got Round Face and No Eyes in on it too, didn't you?!"

Izuku was certain the walls of these corridors were distorting his former friend's words. He couldn't actually believe all of that nonsense he was spouting, did he? He didn't really believe Izuku thought so little of him, did he? Because he didn't. It was the opposite. Always had been. He'd always looked up to Katsuki since they were just kids. What the hell made him think this? Was it Izuku getting into U.A.? Something else? What?

"WHERE'S THAT STUPID QUIRK OF YOURS, HUH?! POWER OR NOT YOU'LL NEVER BE STRONG ENOUGH TO BEAT ME, DEKU! NOT YOU! NOT ANYONE!"

Katsuki's pride was so thick Izuku was certain it would take nothing short of Camilla's lightsaber to cut through it. Still though, he had to try. The clock was ticking and it had no intention of slowing down.

"Kacchan…I should've told you from the start…." Izuku rose, slowly. "Everything I said to you before– about not wanting to get in your way, about not trying to compete with you? I take it all back!"

He wasn't sure if Katsuki could even hear him or not. The sound of explosions still rocked through the hallways as he presumably blasted door after door off the hinges. As he looked, Katsuki fumed over the developments that have been happening with Izuku. He was all but certain Camilla didn't tell him everything that was going on. And he was also damn sure that she did in fact, in her words, "mind trick" him. Deku was a bug. Nothing more nothing less. As insignificant as salt in the ocean. Then this blind bitch had to come in out of nowhere and fool him into thinking he could ever be more than that. The only thing that really pissed him off even more than that was the quirk. Power like that is hard to emulate, even with a telekinetic power. So did Deku really just bloom late, just at the right time? Bullshit. There was something else, obviously. But answers would come later. All Katsuki wanted right now was to find Deku and kick his ass.

"Bakugo, come in." Tenya's voice ringing into his ear through that radio was probably going to make him blow his top far sooner than he wanted to. "Talk to me, Bakugo. What's happening down there? Have you apprehended Midoriya or Uraraka yet?"

Katsuki pressed his finger to his earpiece.

"Just shut the hell up and defend the weapon, you damn extra!"

Up on the fifth floor, Tenya Iida was one very insulted student right now. Despite that he still had to try and communicate with his partner. Every aspect of their actions in this test was being graded after all. Teamwork had to be a big part of it.

"Bakugo! Bakugo do you read me?! Wha…are you serious?! He hung up on me!" More than insulted, Tenya was no awash with new feelings of great frustration towards his teammate. "We're supposed to be partners! How am I supposed to learn anything if he just goes off on his own?!"

As he continued to air his grievances about the situation aloud, Ochako had all the chance she needed to sneak into the room undetected. She hid behind a pillar in the room and peeked out to see Tenya chopping his arms in the air like a madman. Slowly, she pressed a finger to the radio in her own ear.

"Deku, it's me. I'm on the fifth floor. Iida and the bomb are both here." she whispered.

"Has he seen you yet?" Izuku whispered back.

"No. He's talking to himself. It looks like Bakugo is getting on his nerves too."

"Perfect. It's just as I thought. Kacchan and Iida aren't working together as a team. That plays to our advantage. Kacchan is still trying to find me. Stay where you are and try to keep a low profile."

"Got it."

The two cut their communications there. Ochako leaned out to take another peek at Tenya, who was still venting his frustrations to seemingly no one. The heavily armored hero in training was not at all satisfied with how team matchups had played out for him. He was all but certain that literally any other student in the class would be easier to work with than Katsuki. Yeah, he scored the most villain points on the entrance exam but that seemed to be his only positive quality. He was vicious in a fight. Everything else was a big zero.

"No. I can't think like this. You're better than this. Bakugo may be the living definition of loose cannon but the guy still got into U.A. to be a hero. And he is doing his part to win this fight. Albeit those methods are quite violent and juvenile, but I suppose he is still trying his best. In that case, I must as well." Tenya turned on his heels and stood in attention. "All Might did tell us to embody villainy in the spirit of this test. So that is what I must do!"

Ochako was then given a show as she watched her new friend lean backwards and throw his arms up in the air while he laughed like a madman.

"To bring honor to the Iida family name, I will now embody villainy to the fullest intent! Behold! I am now the most evil of evildoers! Bwa-ha-ha-ha-ha!"

The absolutely ridiculous voice was what killed Ochako. Try as she might, she let a few snickers out loud at the sheer absurdity of Tenya trying to act like a villain.

'Oh my god, Iida! What was that?!'

"Huh! Uraraka! You're here!"

"Eep!"

Realizing Tenya could see her, Ochako walked all the way out and showed herself.

"So you have come here alone! Just as I suspected! Well here's how this is going to go down, hero!"

As Tenya kept going on about he had cleared the room of every object but the bomb so Ochako couldn't use her quirk, the brunette just kept her mouth as straight as possible hoping not to break out laughing again.

'Oh my gosh I wish R3 was here so he could record this!'

Pushing back the hilarity, Ochako brought her hand up to her ear.

"Hey, Deku? About the whole 'keep a low profile' thing. Iida found me. Sorry."

"It's okay. Just keep him busy and try to go for the weapon if you can."

"Got it."

The transmission switched off once more and Ochako returned her attention back to Tenya. Apparently he had been so busy with his "villain speech" he didn't even notice her talking with her partner right in front of him. Not that it made that much of a difference, anyway. Ochako was on her own one way or another. So she couldn't let Izuku down and lose this for the both of them. If he was confident enough to take on Katsuki and his explosions on his own, she could handle Tenya and his speed.

"So go right ahead, hero! Just try to win! I assure you it will not go in your favor!"

The voice was still hilarious. But now Ochako wasn't paying as much attention to it. With the moment passed, she didn't see her friend Tenya in front of her. She saw an enemy to get past and a nuclear weapon waiting for her to take. She plucked the saber hilt off the right side of her belt and flicked it open. With the blade extended, Ochako fell into the Form Two starting pose. It was a little awkward in these new boots, though. Tenya, on the other hand, was surprised this is the route Ochako had gone with. He knew her quirk was nullifying gravity and did his best to remove anything that she could float. But he hadn't known she had skills as a swordfighter.

"A friend of mine always told me while I was training with her; do or do not. There is no try."

Tenya was going to be a tough opponent with those engines in his legs. But Ochako was confident enough with herself to take him on. She had Camilla's training and her quirk to back her up. She just needed to keep her eyes on Tenya and hope her arms could keep up with his legs.

"Very well, do-gooder."

Tenya leaned over into a position of his own and got ready to run while the engines within his body could be heard roaring to life.

Izuku ran. He had no idea if he was going in the right direction. He wasn't even sure what the right direction was. Was he running closer to Katsuki, or further away? Izuku had no clue. All he could do right now was move. He had to keep Bakugo distracted long enough for Ochako to secure a win. So that was what he would do. Keep running.

He kept those thoughts going as he rounded the corner.

*WHAM!*

And got immediately clotheslined by Katsuki's giant grenade gauntlet. All the air left Izuku's chest and he fell on his back, wheezing. When he opened his eyes, he stared dead into the furious gaze of Katsuki..

"No more running or hiding, coward! Either fight me or stay still so I can kick your ass!"

He raised one of his boots and threw it down towards Izuku's face. But Izuku was able to dodge in the nick of time, rolling to his side. He scrambled to his knees and flicked his wrist, throwing his capture tape towards Katsuki's ankle. Before it could wrap around his boot and eliminate Katsuki from the game, he pointed his palms and blasted himself up in the air with a series of low powered explosions, jerking his foot free.

'What the hell is going on?! He could never take a hit from me and get back up! What the shit did No-eyes do to him?!'

Izuku's thoughts were elsewhere as he took the capture tape into both of his hands and stood back up.

'Hero Analysis For the Future number ten, page eighteen! Seeing Eraserhead's moves up close let me understand more how that cloth fighting style of his works. Kacchan was still too fast to get out of it, though. But now that he found me and we're alone, trying to get away from him again isn't going to work. I need a new plan!'

He was so lost in thought, he didn't even notice Katsuki's right gauntlet light up in red.

"That's it. I'm fully loaded."

'Loaded? What is he talking about?'

"You're underestimating me, aren't you? Why else aren't you using your quirk, Deku?" Katsuki taunted. "Too afraid to take me on by yourself? Good! You should be!"

Izuku glared at Katsuki. In the past, he would have just tried his hardest to convince him that it wasn't true. Here and now though, he was definitely trying his hardest to win. But Katsuki had a point. Not using his quirk in this fight could be taken the wrong way for those who don't know fully about One For All. Hopefully one day, Katsuki would learn too.

"I'm not afraid, Kacchan," Izuku declared. "Not anymore."

Once again the mere words out of Izuku's mouth were enough to make Katsuki's anger spike. But the latter decided to toss it away for now and give Izuku what he wanted. He's a nerd about quirks, so he was gonna explain what his new gear could do with it.

"Since you say you've been watching me for years like a damn stalker, that means you know how my quirk, Explosion, works. I secrete something identical to nitroglycerine from my palms and make it blow up on command. But everything you've seen is just what comes off my palms alone. Imagine what I could make happen if I was able to store a lot of it up somewhere."

Katsuki lifted his right arm and took hold of one of the safeties on his gauntlet and pulled it back, exposing a pin trigger. As he put his finger in the pin, Izuku's face dropped into horror. He was looking down the barrel of a cannon. Katsuki's grin turned downright feral, then.

"That's right, Deku! These gauntlets aren't just for show! They've been storing up my sweat as it comes off my hands for one giant blast! If the specs are just like I asked for, then you get to be the first one to have a taste of this!"

"Young Bakugo, stop! If you fire that thing at close range, you'll kill him!"

Not even the words of the number one hero in his ear could stop Katsuki now as he pulled the pin free.

"He'll live as long as he dodges!"

Before Izuku could even register it, the entire hallway he and Katsuki were standing in became completely engulfed by a fiery blast that barrelled right towards him.

'MOVE!'

It had been going so well in the viewing room. Observations were made, All Might was passing on tips and pointers whenever someone in the trial did something worth pointing out, and overall the class felt like they were learning more about fighting and about four of their new classmates.

"These are some interesting developments," Fumikage noted. "My guess is Uraraka was meant to keep a low profile but Iida somehow got her to reveal herself."

"I think that was a complete accident," Tsuyu said. "Ribbit. Did you see those weird movements Iida did? It looked like she was just laughing."

"I suppose when everything is said and done, it still is a mock battle." Momo commented. "Still though, Uraraka is handling herself quite well against Iida."

"What do you mean? She hasn't even landed a single hit on him yet. Iida is too fast for her." Hanta countered.

That was true. If anyone looked at the screens, they saw the former literally running circles around Ochako while she tried hard to stay firm in her stance and swing her saber to land a hit. She was having trouble locking down where Tenya was going to be and ended up hitting nothing but air with every swipe. Even with that, Camilla still smirked as she listened to her class paint the picture for her.

"I think she's missing on purpose." Shoto said, speaking up for the first time all day. "She's trying to determine Iida's pattern. Even though she has some skills with those fake swords of hers, going up against an opponent this fast has to be a challenge. Trying to gauge them first, find out what their preferred movements are, that's the mark of someone patient. Iida has speed but with time and observation, it can be easily countered."

Camilla's smirk grew just a tiny bit. That was one of the earliest lessons the Jedi gave to Ochako while they were swinging those wooden bokken swords against each other on Mandalore Island; always try to see if your opponent has a preferred pattern they like to follow, ten exploit it.

'Atta girl, Ochako. Keep an eye on his movements.'

"Iida's not the one that has me concerned right now. Bakugo sure is going crazy trying to find Midoriya." Hanta frowned, gesturing at the other screen.

Katsuki's anger was clear as daylight on his face as he blasted down every door in his path trying to look for Izuku. The guy did not look right in his head. Even All Might had to admit the boy seemed overly obsessed.

"He's certainly not making this easy for Midoriya." Mashirao winced as he watched Katsuki blow another door off its hinges.

"What happened between them to get him pissed off so much?" Kyoka wondered.

"It doesn't really matter if you ask me. If Midoriya isn't gonna use his quirk, Bakugo is gonna blast him to bits. You agree with me, right Koda?" Denki looked over to his large classmate.

Koji Koda, a boy with a very bestial like appearance, timidly nodded as he didn't like being put on the spot for some sort of answer.

"As harsh as he may be, Bakugo's drive to win is what's giving him an advantage." Momo agreed.

"No...that isn't it."

Camilla knitted her brows, lips pursing. She felt every gaze in the room zero in on her, bafflement rising like suds in a tub that was on the verge of overflowing. The intensity of it was overwhelming, and she had to pause, center herself.

"What do you mean? This is a mock battle and the point for either team is to win. Sure I may have only known the guy for a day but Bakugo seems like he wants to win more than any of us. Maybe if you could see, you'd know that."

That solicited a reaction from the blind girl. Slowly, Camilla's eyes opened up and she turned her head in Momo's direction. The tallest girl in the class, along with several students near her, all looked surprised that a pair of blind eyes could seemingly drill holes in their heads.

"I don't need my eyes to know what's happening, Momo." Camilla said quietly. "Your comments adding in with what I'm sensing are more than enough to paint a picture for me."

Everyone listening looked at the girl a bit confused. What was she trying to imply?

"What do you mean 'sensing'?" Eijiro asked his fellow redhead.

Camilla internally shrugged, deciding to tell a bit more about her power to those who don't know.

"My power allows me to sense the emotions of anyone within my range. I've been reading all four of them the entire time."

This took a lot of them by surprise. Even Shoto had an eyebrow raised as this girl began to talk. Yesterday during that quirk assessment, she had exhibited quite a few different abilities that didn't really seem to go together at the time. They thought she had shown all she could do. Was she really trying to stand there and say there was still more?

"So on top of everything we all saw yesterday, along with the seeing without eyes thing which is still…you know. What?! You can also sense feelings?" Toru asked, standing directly in front of Camilla.

"That's right." she confirmed. "Even before the battle began, I could sense it coming off Katsuki like he bathed in it. His anger, his hatred, nearly every drop of it is centered on Izuku. He's letting his emotions dictate his actions. And it's not giving him an advantage. It's making him dangerous. Maybe he wants to win this trial, but right now, I think it's a good guess that's only priority two."

As she gave her little explanation, the rest of the class was looking back and forth between the blind redhead and the screen that currently showed Katsuki's enraged expression in its full view. Momo was looking a bit concerned, mostly because that her assessment was probably off and Camilla's senses were more on point than her observational skills. Still though, even through some sort of empathic power, emotions only told part of the story. She supposed neither of them would have the full detail until the match was over.

"Well then, what's priority one?" Rikido dared to ask.

Camilla just sighed. She didn't like thinking it so she knew she wasn't going to like saying it either.

"He's just out to hurt Izuku. Everything else be damned to him."

Suddenly a fair bit of them were very nervous. If Katsuki really was just out to beat up Izuku, then there was a good chance this match could get really messy really fast.

"Young Sharro, tell me. Is Midoriya in danger of being seriously hurt by Bakugo?"

It was a fair question. Unfortunately Camilla could only give the number one pro a shrug in response.

"I'm honestly not sure. Between Katsuki's rage and Izuku's anxiety, it's unclear what can happen. Believe me I'm trying to see it."

Trying she indeed was. Maybe a little too hard to see into the future and know the outcome no matter good or bad. But the Force wasn't granting her anything like that. All Might had to take that as the best he was gonna get for now. The clock still had some time left so he had to trust Izuku could turn this around. Either that, or Katsuki would end this when the chance to do so presented itself. He did strike the pro as the kind of guy who would keep the fight going intentionally just to dish out a few more punches. If that happened and it was clearly seen, his grade would be docked, whether or not he was aware of it.

Though she didn't want to dwell on it more than she had to, Camilla couldn't help but think more about Katsuki's unrelenting rage against Izuku. The Force was telling her to trust him, but try as she might, with these thoughts running through her head, it was hard to even entertain the idea of doing so. As upset as it made her to focus on it, Katsuki's negativity did something more to the Padawan. It confused her to no end. Master Yoda had taught her and every other youngling around her the same lesson when it came to the path to the dark side. Anger and hatred are what lead to it but they both stem from one thing; fear. So far all she's been able to sense without really trying was the hate. But now that she thought about it, the Padawan could definitely sense there was some fear behind all that anger. Once again, it confused her. What was Katsuki afraid of?

As the two ran into each other again, everyone directed their vision back to the screen and Camilla's own eyes closed once more. A few moments later, she felt a strong pang of fear not from any of them but rather All Might right next to her.

'What is he doing?! Using a move like that is too dangerous!'

Immediately he brought the mic to his mouth.

"Young Bakugo, stop! If you fire that thing at close range, you'll kill him!"

The response he got back only made him fear the outcome more as the pin on that grenade gauntlet was pulled.

*BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM!*

The sound of a loud explosion followed by the ground beneath their feet rumbling was enough to throw most of the kids watching and even All Might off balance a bit. Some like Momo thought that Katsuki would have the sense to stop once All Might ordered him to but it seems not. The guy was crazed, almost gleeful as he pulled that trigger. That was a lot of things but right was not one of them. Reckless or insane maybe. Definitely not right though.

"Whoa whoa whoa! Is he crazy?!" Minoru cried.

"What is Bakugo thinking, pulling a move like that?" Mezo asked.

"Is Midoriya alright? Did he get out of the way in time?" Rikido asked anyone.

That was a question all of them wanted the answer to. Most of the cameras in the vicinity were taken out and the ones that weren't could only pick up a cloud of smoke blocking everything else from view.

"Midoriya! Midoriya, do you read me?!"

As they all stood there waiting, Camilla was focusing less on gauging the combatant's emotions and more trying to keep her own under control. Both of her fists were clenched so tight they were starting to shake. While she couldn't make out the very motions Katsuki had just taken or how he did what he did, she was still falling into a pool of white hot anger. All Might clearly said that using whatever move he used would kill Izuku if it hit. But apparently he did it anyway. She could make out his rage so easily in the moment, anyone trying to claim it was an accident was an idiot. Katsuki had just deliberately unleashed a potential fatal blast at a friend of hers.

Boy did she want to tear him apart now.

"Look! There! He got out of the way in time!"

Hearing Mina's relieved voice brought down her rage a bit, but it was enough for her to refocus her power. There they were indeed. Izuku's emotions were all over the place, as to be expected. After surviving whatever it was Katsuki just shot at him, anyone would be feeling relieved and very scared at the moment. As she herself took a sigh of relief, Camilla thought about last night, when Bakugou showed up on her porch and how much she wanted to level his ass. Now that feeling was increased tenfold. Only difference, she was hoping it could still be managed by Izuku. Nothing would be more humiliating for him than that

All Might was staring at the screens with similar thoughts as he looked upon his successor's current state. Thankfully, he looked perfectly fine. The most damage he got seemed to be on his outfit alone. Secretly, he was happy about that. The kid needed a better costume anyway. But the fact that Katsuki still went ahead and fired that blast after he was clearly told not to was very disturbing. Was the boy seriously so lost in his own ego and power that anything he did was thought to be acceptable? Gritting his teeth, All Might held the mic back up to his mouth.

Up on the fifth floor of the building, Ochako and Tenya had just recollected themselves after the 'earthquake' rocked them off their balance and sent them tumbling to the ground. Thankfully Tenya wasn't running at the time. Otherwise he could have accidentally run out the window of the building. As he got back to his feet, he pressed a finger to his ear.

"Bakugo, come in! What was that just now? Was it you or Midoriya? Say something!"

Alas he got no response. Rather than be worried that it was because his partner was too injured to say something, Tenya was annoyed because he correctly assumed Katsuki was just purposefully ignoring him. Unfortunately that was all the moment Ochako needed to get by him. Saber still in hand, she ran for the weapon and took another swing at Tenya's leg. This time, she made contact, sending him off balance and giving her some time to get closer to the weapon.

"Almost there! I got it!"

She reached out a hand to slap to the fake bomb's surface but right before she could, it was swept away as Tenya sped by and pushed it all the way to the other side of the room. Ochako tripped over her own legs and rolled into the wall causing her helmet to fly off her head. Quickly she got back up and reclaimed her dropped saber into her hands. Only problem was she was now nowhere near the bomb.

"Hahahaha! Nice try, Uraraka! But as you can see you are nowhere near fast enough to outmatch me in speed!"

'Dammit. He's right. I need to get in close but he's so fast I can barely see him move. Tracking his pattern like Camilla taught me isn't doing me much good! I gotta somehow surprise him.'

It was a long shot, but Ochako had an idea. She let her left hand release its grip on the saber and then grabbed the other one still clipped on her belt. She flicked her wrist and an identical metal blade telescopically extended out of it. With both her swords at the ready, Ochako dashed forward.

'I'm not gonna be the reason Deku and I lose this fight!'

Right when Ochako charged, Tenya dashed forward too, ready to close the gap quickly and keep her at a distance. He was even sticking to that ridiculous voice.

"I told you! I am the superior runner here, hero! You will never-!'

"JAR'KAAAAAAAI!"

When she got closer, Ochako positioned her arms to swing both her swords in tandem with each other. The mere display and volume Ochako just gave off was more than enough for Tenya to stumble.

"Jar what?!"

*KONK!*

*KONK!*

The first slash from the left arm impacted Tenya's chest while Ochako swung her right saber upwards and impacted the helmet of the speedy student. The helmet went flying off his head and rolled over to a nearby pillar. Still disoriented, Tenya wasn't fast enough to stop the third strike. A well placed kick to his center sent him stumbling backwards and off his feet. As he sat there rubbing his stomach, he opened his eyes to view Ochako standing before him in another ready stance with her faux weapons. She just went from single to double wielding so quickly. This girl was definitely well trained. But then again, probably a good number of his classmates were. And he liked to think so was he. He was the youngest in a family legacy that he has to uphold. Standing back up, Tenya readied himself to run again, revving his engines. The bomb was still behind him. He just had to make sure Ochako stayed in front of him.

Down in the lower levels where the monstrous explosion took place, Izuku had finally calmed down a bit in his place on the floor after he realized that he was in fact still alive. That was something he was really grateful for at the moment. He was sure after seeing a literal wall of fire come rushing at him that it was time to meet his maker. Or become one with the Force. Honestly either one sounded appealing at this point. The green haired boy dared to open his eyes and saw the room was still very much covered in smoke. With what was clear, he could make out most of the walls burnt and torn apart, a huge hole in the side of the building, and various debris scattered all over the place like a war had just been fought in here. Some of the ash still hung in the air and tickled his throat as he tried to breathe.

"Aha…ha! AHAHAHAHAAAA! These things are awesome!" Katsuki's silhouette drew closer. "The more I sweat the bigger the blast that comes out!"

Finally stepping through the smoke all the way, Izuku reeled back a bit freaked out by the expression Katsuki had on his face. Seeing it now unobscured by his gauntlet only made it worse.

"Go ahead, Deku! Use whatever power you want on me! It doesn't matter what you do! You hear me?! Even if you come at me with everything you got and then some, you'll never be strong enough to beat me, you damn nerd!"

He was right. Izuku knew he was right. Katsuki's quirk was just too powerful.

'With those gauntlets he can use long range attacks now. I'm not safe no matter how far away I am now. He really thought ahead. He knew exactly what his quirk could and couldn't do and asked for support gear to help round his explosions out into the ultimate tool for battle.'

As he got to his knees, Izuku couldn't help but be impressed.

'It's just like I thought. Kacchan's amazing.'

Quickly, he slapped a hand to his ear. Thankfully the blast didn't damage his radio.

"Uraraka, come in! What's the situation?!"

"Ngh! Still haven't gained any ground! Iida's too fast! Whenever I get close to the bomb he just zips it away!"

Judging from the background noise and his friend's grunts, it sounded like Ochako was knee deep in a fight of her own against Tenya. But there was nothing he could do right now to help her with that.

"Where on the fifth floor are you?"

"Are you ignoring me, you bastard?! I'll teach you to-"

"Bakugo!"

The sound of the number one pro coming through the building's speaker system, which was somehow still working, stopped Katsuki in his tracks.

"If you use that stored up power again then I will stop this fight and your team will lose!"

Katsuki looked up to the speakers in shock. What the hell had he done that was so wrong?!

"Look at the damage you have done to the stronghold that you are supposed to be protecting. That is a poor strategy whether you are a hero or a villain!"

He already had a feeling some of those weak extras would criticize him for '"going too far" with his power here. But Katsuki wasn't expecting All Might of all people to have those same thoughts. He was the number one hero! Shouldn't he have been impressed with how much power he just showed off rather than try to reprimand him? It didn't make any sense! All it did was make him angry.

"Stay near the pillars if you can and wait for my signal."

"FINE!"

The transmission came to an abrupt end when Izuku looked forward and finally remembered his old friend was there. Only now he was charging forward.

"WE'LL FIGHT HAND TO HAND!"

Izuku kept his eyes dead on Katsuki and saw him rear his arm back for another strike. One For All's ninth bearer raised his own arm to strike back when the time came but Katsuki proved to be ahead of him now. Rather than strike right for his front, he used a blast to redirect himself over Izuku's body. Then he aimed his other arm back and let loose another powerful explosion right into Izuku's back. Instantly, Izuku felt a world of hurt and pain wash all over the whole backside of his body as the flames from the blast engulfed him. He couldn't even try to get his footing back before he felt something harshly impact his right elbow causing him to recoil again and let out another painful cry.

"HOW DOES THAT RIGHT HOOK FEEL NOW?!"

Not good would be Izuku's immediate answer if he had the ability to speak. Those gauntlets, on top of being powerful, were very hard. Izuku was sure something in his arm was broken. But he couldn't think. Yet again Katsuki was refusing to give his opponent any time to relax. He grabbed Izuku by his other arm and turned around with a small series of explosions from his free hand giving him more momentum to get the green boy over his head.

"LET THIS BE YOUR FIRST LESSON AT U.A., DEKU! YOU'RE BENEATH ME!"

With all his strength, Katsuki threw Izuku down to the ground just like he was earlier, causing the latter to bounce high off the hard ground. As he laid there in too much pain to move, the successor to All Might writhed as he tried his damndest to think of something.

'It's no use. He's just too strong. I can't beat him without a quirk after all. I don't have a choice…I have to use it!'

Still in immense pain, Izuku still found what little strength he could to start crawling away from Katsuki.

"You still aren't using that 'oh so amazing power' of yours! Why?! Are you underestimating me, Deku?!"

As he crawled through the rubble, a few broken pipes from the ceiling rolled away from Izuku. Katsuki just kept walking after him waiting for any sort of answer.

"You spent years hiding your true power from me! Laughing behind my back! Is that what you thought?! That I was funny?!"

Izuku finally reached the broken wall and began to stand himself back up. But Katsuki and his boot refused to let him. A harsh kick from the angry boy made Izuku fall back down quite painfully.

"I don't know what the hell Round Face and No-eyes ever saw in you. But I guess I can't blame them. After all, it takes some real stupidity to want to be friends with you!"

Izuku's eyes flew wide open. A moment later, the pain dulled as a new set of emotions completely overwrote what he was feeling not two seconds ago. He didn't notice his burns, he didn't notice the boot print left on his back, and he didn't notice the throbbing pain in his right arm. All he noticed was the boy behind him who just started to bad mouth two very important people to him. That was all Izuku could see. He didn't even see his own hand start to reach for another piece of broken pipe less than a foot away from him.

"You know I had a little talk with that eyeless trash last night. All the crap she said to me was nothing but nonsense. 'If you wanna be a hero, no chart really matters.' That's what she said! What kind of moron thinks like that?! Nice to know she's not only dead in her eyes but part of her brain too! And Round Face is no better! Telling you things like 'you can do it'! Trying to make you think your name could mean anything else! You're a loser, Deku! Always have been always will be! And those two bitches you hang out with are-!"

*KONK!*

Izuku spun back around and swung something in his hands upwards. Whatever it was hit the underside of Katsuki's chin so hard, it felt like he got whiplash from how harsh his head bent back. As he stumbled off balance, Izuku took that as his chance to spring forward.

"RrrrrrrrrrrAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHH!"

With a cry of fury and effort, Izuku rushed his old friend and jabbed the end of the broken pipe into Katsuki's stomach. Thankfully it was capped so there was no risk of him getting impaled. But with as much strength as Izuku put into that move, Katsuki was forced back a good distance before he fell backwards and rolled over onto his knees. One hand was over his stomach and the other went to his chin. He didn't feel any of his teeth loose. But he could taste something metallic on his tongue. He couldn't believe it. Deku drew blood. Turning to the side, he spat it out on the floor. Katsuki tried to get up, but the pain in his stomach refused to subside and he stumbled.

"I warned you, Kacchan."

The explosive blonde momentarily faltered as another first from his former friend shocked him. In all his life, he had heard Izuku mumble, cry, and shout out in pain. Never once did Katsuki ever think in his lifetime the day would come when Izuku Midoriya growled out his words. Looking up, he saw how Izuku was standing now. He seemed to tower over him, gripping the pipe in the same fashion Ochako did with her sabers. Their stances were eerily the same. Then there was his face. The eyes, the grit teeth, the wrinkled forehead, Katsuki for a brief moment thought he was looking at a mirror of his own expression.

"You can beat me up. You can burn me. You can turn me to ash. I don't care. I've spent the last decade getting used to the kind of pain you dish out."

His legs widened and Izuku's grip on the pipe got tighter.

"But when you start laying down insults about the people I care about, especially Uraraka and Camilla, then make no mistake! I WILL MAKE YOU HURT!"

For the first time in this whole fight, Izuku finally took a turn to be the attacker instead of defender. And for Katsuki, he already didn't like being on this end. Raising his arm, his left side grenade gauntlet blocked the pipe as Izuku swung it down on him vertically. No longer minding his stomach pain, Katsuki then tried to counter by thrusting his palm out and trying to land an explosion. Izuku avoided by sidestepping it to his right and spun around to pull off another swing with his weapon. It hit again, this time right behind his old bully's left shoulder. While the other boy lay sprawled out on the floor, Izuku switched back to a ready stance.

'Cleaning up that beach wasn't the only thing I did in those ten months. Watching Uraraka and Camilla on Mandalore Island really helped too. They repeated so many of the same moves with Form One and Form Two, it was impossible not to commit them to memory.'

While his overall form may not have been exactly what his two friends have shown off before, Izuku did come pretty close when trying Form Two. He was sure if Camilla could see him she would get into him about it but on screen she couldn't. That also was not something he should've been thinking about. He focused on Katsuki who was growling like a feral dog and getting back to his feet.

Katsuki was seeing red and nothing but when it came to this nerd now. Everything he was seeing, Izuku's stance, his voice, his tight grip on that pipe, and that scowl on his face of sheer contempt, only one word was what the walking bomb could think of to properly describe this view. Wrong. Oh so very wrong. This wasn't Deku. It couldn't be. The Deku he knew would have been a sniveling mess on the floor at the very start of this match. This one in front of him, not only was he outsmarting him and outmaneuvering him, but he was also landing hits that Katsuki could feel. As he rolled his shoulder to see if it was dislocated, which it wasn't, Katsuki was reminded that this was the second time he had seen Izuku look like this. The first time was three weeks ago, when he had the nerd pinned up against the wall and the argument ended up leading to the wimpy teen throwing a punch that connected. Then he remembered what was said that made it happen.

'So that's what gets him going, huh? Just insult those girls. That's good to know for future reference.'

Shelving that thought for later, Katsuki turned his head back when he saw Izuku begin to rush him again. Reaching the pipe behind his back, he swung once more for Katsuki's side. This time though, he dodged it and grabbed his opponent by the wrist. Using an explosion from his other hand to build momentum like before, Katsuki spun around and threw Izuku away towards the wall again. Hitting the ground made the pipe jump out of his grip. Katsuki stalked close again. As Izuku got back up and saw his approaching enemy, he finally realized how long it's been. The timer had to be dangerously close to zero by now. With probably a matter of seconds left for all he knew, Izuku knew he had to act fast. He could only hope Ochako was ready to do her part.

"I'm still waiting for your damn quirk, loser! Or was that all really just a lie back there to try and make me fall for it? You aren't better than me! You never will be!"

He could still feel some of the pain from the earlier strikes. But they were dulled by Katsuki's sheer willpower now. Nobody ever tried to attack him. Nobody ever landed a hit on him. Nobody ever inflicted even a dash of pain on him that meant anything.

Izuku just broke all three of those rules.

"I'm ending this, Deku. So get ready!

"You think I lied to you?"

Katsuki kept on approaching as he heard Izuku talk.

"I can't believe you, Kacchan. The things you say sometimes, I just can't believe. You actually believe that I thought myself above you? I've never once thought that! How could I?! After everything you put me through since we were kids, how could I ever think of myself as better than you?! It's true that I want to beat you, but it's for the exact opposite thing you think! I wanna beat you because I know you're better than me! I wanna beat you, Kacchan, because you're so damn amazing!"

As genuine as Izuku sounded right there, Katsuki was still too lost in his rage to buy a single word of it. All it did was make him angrier and angrier until he just decided to charge. A second later, Izuku did the same with his right arm clenched. As One For All began to charge through his arm for the first time in this battle, the raw energy caused the rest of his sleeve to tear apart and his skin to tingle with power. Katsuki's own palm glowed orange with an explosion on the precipice of being unleashed. Whatever kind of fight these two wanted to have now, they only had seconds in which to do it.

A few of those in the viewing room were not faring so well in terms of staying calm. Even after seeing Izuku was okay, some were still very much concerned with how eager Katsuki looked when he unleashed that blast. Yeah, Izuku survived, but now they were concerned just what the fiery blonde would do next. What they were given did not ease up their minds at all. Sure All Might warned Katsuki with an automatic loss if he tried to pull that stunt again, but that only seemed to make the boy angrier. Right now such a thing seemed impossible. So the battle recommenced.

People were hoping for something a little less one sided here. They were also waiting to see Izuku finally use his power. The next few seconds didn't easy any of them as they saw Katsuki flip over Izuku and blast him in the back before slamming him into the ground like he was minutes prior.

"Why is he going so hard against him? Doesn't he just have to wrap tape around him to win?" Mina wondered with fear dripping out of her voice..

"I guess it's like Sharro said. Bakugo really is just out to hurt Midoriya." Eijiro declared.

The girl mentioned was clenching her fists again.

"Midoriya was off to a good start but Bakugo really turned the heat up on him. But I guess their difference in power is just too-"

*CREAAAAK! CRUNCH!*

Denki didn't get the chance to finish his sentence. The noise caused everyone else in the room to look to the left. One of the metal panels in the wall of the room was just ripped from its place and crumpled up like a wad of old paper before crashing down on the ground. For a moment, none of them had any clue what caused that to happen until they remembered one of their classmate's quirks was extremely powerful telekinesis.

"Young Sharro?"

Calling upon the Force once more, Camilla looked over and saw what everyone else did. A bit of the wall ripped out and discarded, exposing circuitry and wiring underneath. Sensing the fear of the others around her, she took in a couple of deep breaths and calmed down a bit before turning to look at her teacher.

"Forgive me, All Might." She bowed her head to the pro.

"It's no harm." All Might waved it off. "I'm fine with letting you gauge their emotions, just so long as you remember to keep yours under control as well."

Nodding, Camilla looked away once more and closed her eyes again to sense her friend. The rest of her class just kept looking at her with varying feelings of their own.

"Are you and Midoriya close?" Toru asked.

Calming herself a bit more and opening her eyes once again, Camilla turned to face her "invisible" classmate and nodded.

"He and Ochako have been friends with me for close to a year now." she replied.

"So, does that mean you also know what's going on between him and Bakugo?" Mashirao asked.

"I do." Camilla answered again. "But it is not my place to talk about that. So I won't."

All Might agreed with her. That was definitely not what was important right now. He called attention back to his class just in time for everyone to watch Katsuki slam his boot down on Izuku's back. None of them took that sight positively.

"Can't you see he's had enough, you jerk?! Just put the capture tape around him and end this!" Kyoka angrily cried.

"Bakugo sure is acting like a villain. He's not even letting Midoriya get back up." Fumikage commented icily.

"Are we sure it's just acting at this point?" Hanta added.

At the console, All Might was gripping that mic in his hand a little tighter than he meant to. As the teacher, he was supposed to remain unbiased but he couldn't help but find himself agreeing with the commentary of his other students.

'Dammit! I should have ended this by now! But…at the same time…I can't do that to him! As harsh as he's getting hurt, he needs this! So for his sake, I'll let it go on.'

Earlier, All Might was worried Katsuki would forgo trying to use the capture tape just so he could keep fighting. Turns out those worries were warranted. Given the state Izuku is in now, the explosion maker had plenty of chances to end this and eliminate the boy from the challenge. But that wasn't his goal here. He was definitely writing this down in his notes on the class. Even then, despite how badly he wanted to call this whole thing off, he couldn't help but think about his successor and how badly he needed this fight to end on his terms. If All Might stopped it, it would be a step backwards. No. As painful as this may be for Izuku, he needed to ride it out. He could only hope Ochako and Camilla would understand why he allowed Katsuki to go so far.

Speaking of which, the latter of the two was still feeling quite a bit of rage build up in her again as she listened in to her classmate's colorful commentary. Hearing that Katsuki was literally hitting Izuku while he was down, that was low, even for him. This wasn't supposed to be a real fight to the death or anything like that. This was training and nothing but. Even the harshest of lessons from her masters back on Coruscant never allowed her to go this far against her fellow younglings. Why was he doing this? And why was All Might letting it happen?!

Before she could raise her voice to beg All Might for answers, Camilla stopped as she felt something else spike within her dear friend.

"Whoa….that's new." she softly murmured.

Soft as it was, some nearby still heard her.

"What is it? What are you feeling now?" Mezo wondered.

"More anger."

This came as no surprise to everyone else as they assumed where it came from.

"Well that's not really-"

"It's from Izuku."

Camilla didn't care that she cut Tsuyu off. Feeling anger coming from her friend was too odd. Now that she had pointed it out, the rest of the class did share her feelings. Now it was Izuku that was angry? What happened now? They could see Katsuki's mouth moving so he was definitely talking. Was it what he was saying that was triggering it?

They got their answer when Izuku grabbed a busted pipe and clocked Katsuki in the jaw and stomach with it. Some of the kids couldn't help but cheer at the sight.

"Alright! Midoriya finally landed a hit!" Rikido cried.

"But he's still not using his quirk. Quite odd." Shoto was more focused on other things.

"Well at least he's finally fighting back." Momo also commented.

That was a thing All Might was happy about too. Seeing Izuku finally get into the fight was very satisfying to see. Only thing that bothered him was why he did it in the first place. Hearing Katsuki insult Ochako and Camilla was apparently what set the other boy off. While no one else could hear them, he could through the identical earpiece he was sporting. Now there were two students who were letting their emotions get the better of them in the middle of a fight. If that went on for a little bit longer, that could spell disaster.

For the next few seconds, the show of Izuku swinging a pipe against Katsuki was what the class was given until finally the latter tossed his opponent back to the wall again. Now here they were, charging each other one more time after tossing back a few more heated words to each other.

'He's using that tone again. I hear it every single time he talks about being a hero. Whenever he uses it he acts like there's nothing that could stop him from achieving that dream.'

Admirable as it may have been, it did little to ease the number one hero's mind. He could clearly see on screen Izuku's power start to surge up his arm and Katsuki's palm readying what looked to be a very strong blast.

Camilla's eyes shot wide open as she registered Izuku's determination and anger mixed together led her to one conclusion. Frantically she whipped her head in All Might's direction.

"You gotta stop them! This isn't about winning some trial anymore for either of them! They're out for blood!"

She was right. All Might had the same sense as he looked at their faces and brought the mic up to his mouth.

"That's enough! Both of you-!"

"NOW, URARAKA!"

As Izuku's voice rang loudly into All Might's ear, the pro halted his attempt to stop the fight. What was Izuku planning now?

Izuku could only hope Uraraka was ready for her part as he got within inches of Katsuki's perimeter. Ready to gamble his team's victory in this match, he threw his arm to the ceiling right as Katsuki threw an explosion right for his face.

"Detroooooit! SMAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAASH!"

Up above on the fifth floor, Tenya was at a loss for words. Ochako had been giving him a run for his money with her impressive show of swordsmanship. Despite that he was still able to keep her away from the weapon long enough. Now he just had to hold her back for a few more seconds until he and Katsuki won by time up. He was doing a good job of it too. Only now she just…stopped. Rather than try to strike at him again, Ochako chose to slam her telescopic blades to the ground and make them fold back into the hilts. Then she ran to the nearest pillar in the building and began to hug it. He was so confused by her choice of actions the only thing that came to his head was to just stick to his part.

"I don't know what you're up to, hero! But whatever you have up your sleeve will be no match for me!"

Ochako only curled her lips in to force the laughter down her throat. Then she and Tenya both felt the rumbling beneath their feet. The intensity of the shaking grew very strong very fast before it felt like a full blown earthquake tore the floor between them and everything else in the room apart. Tenya brought up his hands to shield his unprotected face from the debris for a few seconds before he brought them down again and saw the complete and utter destruction that fell upon the room.

"WHAT IS HAPPENING?!"

He was off his game. Ochako knew now was the time. With her hands still attached to the pillar, she brought her pinky fingers down to its surface and activated her quirk. The pressure in her stomach was definitely noticeable, but she kept persevering through it as the now weightless pillar felt like a feather in her grip.

"Time to end this, Iida! Improvised special move! Zero Gravity: Shii Cho!"

The pose and swing were similar enough to Form One for Ochako to name a special move after it. With one swing, she impacted a lot of the chunks of concrete that were still traveling up the hole thanks to the force of what she assumed was Izuku's One For All. Hopefully he wasn't hurt too bad. All at once, the chunks all flew at Tenya who once again shielded his face from the heavy bits of cement and metal. Distracted, Ochako dropped the pillar and then turned her quirk on herself once more as she leapt over Tenya and latched onto the side of the fake bomb.

"I've got it!"

As Tenya looked on in horror at the weight of his blunder, Ochako turned off her quirk and slid down the side of the bomb with a heavy load of nausea pressing down on her whole body.

"Deku…I did it…we URP!"

While her face turned green and one of her hands flew over her mouth, Tenya wasted no time rushing over to rub his friend's back.

A few floors down, the other two participants of this exercise were not faring all that better. Katsuki was at first looking up to the huge hole in the building with complete shock that this all happened because of Izuku's quirk. Quickly though, that shock turned to rage as he realized that once again, he had fallen right into where the nerd wanted him to be.

"You….you bastard." he growled. "You played me. All this time you had this planned didn't you?!"

"I….I tried so hard…to not use it…"

Finally the smoke around Izuku cleared and Katsuki could see up close the state Izuku was left in after that attack. The arm that threw the punch was discolored from his fingers to his shoulder and the other one was scorched from blocking the explosion that was aimed at his face. Yet he was still just barely standing.

"My body…just can't control it yet. The blacklash of my power is too much for me. Mister Aizawa…he said I would be useless if I used it like this…but this was all I could think of. This was the only chance I had to win."

"Izuku's path is his to determine. Not yours, not mine, not anyone else's. His and his alone."

As No-eyes' words rang through his head once more, Katsuki could only look at Izuku in a way that could only be described as sheer and utter panic. This…none of this was right. He was supposed to win this entirely. This was supposed to be his moment to show all these second rate extras just how much better he was than them. But this damn Deku took that from him. He didn't do anything he set out to do. The only thing he did do was something he had never done before. He lost. Just like when he got the results to the entrance exam and saw his name next to that number two, Katsuki felt the world around him crack as if it were made of glass.

Relief. That was the biggest thing everyone collectively felt in that viewing room when they saw Ochako grab hold of the weapon. Finally it was over. Overall though, All Might and Camilla were feeling that relief a bit more than the others. The young Jedi had to ask what it was that just happened since all the swirling emotions in that one moment made it impossible for her to focus. So she had to rely on her classmates' words. Toru decided to explain it to the blind girl that Izuku punched a hole through several of the building's floors to act as a distraction for Ochako to seize control of the bomb. The hero team got the victory. Happy as she was, that vanished a second later for Camilla as she realized what that meant. Izuku used One For All. So he was probably in a lot of pain right now. The thought of it made her instinctively trace her fingers over the pouch on her belt that carried a few of her bacta vials inside.

The symbol of peace was a different story. Yes he was worried for his student's current physical state but more than that, he was proud. Izuku probably didn't plan to go into a grudge match against Katsuki today but he still managed to come out of today's lesson with a victory in his corner. Though he would definitely have to work with him on making less of a mess of his surroundings and his body.

'Young Midoriya…you did it.'

Once more, he brought the mic up to his mouth.

"The hero team wins!"

A/N

Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaand we are done with fight numero uno! Sorry again for the longer than normal wait on this one. Hopefully the wait for next time won't be as long. Obi-Wan Kenobi comes out in ONE WEEK! So that's sure to give me some good fuel.

A big thank you to my beta reader Kat as well!

Don't forget to leave a review! Also head over to this very same story on archiveofourown to see some new artwork!