What a terrible turn of events.

After the confrontation with Endeavor, Ritsu and Iida wished Midoriya luck and headed to the stands while he headed to the stage. That was when they ran into a problem. Because instead of Todoroki waiting for Midoriya like expected, it was Bakugou. Who, with a sneer, had loudly asked:

"Deku? Where the fuck is Porcupine?!"

Ritsu had been walking behind Iida up the stairway between the stands when he foolishly decided to turn around toward the noise. What else was he expecting to see other than Bakugou glowering at him?

Everything after that happened quickly. Yaoyorozu had said something to Iida which immediately had him turning around to usher Ritsu toward the feral blond.

"They changed the order of the fights! You're going up Kageyama!" Iida had hurriedly explained while he urged Ritsu back down the steps and past an equally confused Midoriya who was making his way up them.

Now that he was standing in the center of the stadium, Ritsu figured that the circumstances which got him here didn't matter. He was here now and there was nothing he could do to change it.

Still, he hated it.

He hated that he was in a different world. He hated that he didn't pay attention to Present Mic over the speakers. He hated that thousands of eyes were on him. And most of all, he hated UA and its 'twists'.

"WITH A FACE ONLY A MOTHER COULD LOVE, BAKUGOU KATSUKI! VERSUS..."

Bakugou smiled wildly at him, clearly enjoying the turn of events.

"THE UNFASHIONABLY LATE, KAGEYAMA RITSU!"

UA, being the absolutely unpredictable school that was, decided that the twist for the year's tournament would be holding the fights out of order. At any moment your match could be called and you had to be ready to fight; an evil tactic meant to keep everyone on edge.

Ritsu brought his attention back to his opponent. He just had to forget that it was Bakugou he was up against, even if it seemed impossible when the blond was starting to become a natural repellent. Breathe, relax, and get out.

"START!"

Bakugou started the fight with a bang. Multiple ones. A culmination of loud explosions that filled the stage with smoke and made Ritsu's eyes water. The blond's strategy was clear: overstimulation.

The smoke engulfed Ritsu, further restricting his eyesight. Furiously blinking away tears, he waited expectantly for the attack that was bound to come.

It came from his left. He had barely been able to register Bakugou's face emerging from the smoke before an explosion hit his side and sent him flying across the stage.

Hot pain erupted in his torso. It felt as though he was being stabbed by hundreds of tiny knives and he couldn't help but wonder how Uraraka had been able to survive against what must have been dozens of these explosions.

He could hardly even regain his breath before Bakugou came running after him again. Not wanting to face the searing pain again, Ritsu dashed out of the other boy's path. There was no way that the blond would be able to slow his momentum quick enough to redirect his attack.

But, just like how you wouldn't expect someone to eavesdrop on a private conversation or for a hero student to be a bully, Bakugou went against basic reasoning. The blond set off an explosion to his side and its kickback forcibly changed his trajectory back toward Ritsu.

"You aren't getting away that easily Porcupine!"

Bakugou grabbed onto the collar of his shirt and yanked him back toward an explosion that Ritsu barely ducked even though he was still in the boy's grip.

They were close to the edge of the boundary. Close enough for Bakugou to push him out, or maybe even flip him like Midoriya did to Shinsou. Instead, Bakugou pushed him back toward the center of the stage, a far cry from what out of bounds meant.

Ritsu wanted to shout at him. Ask why Bakugou couldn't accept his victory when it was so close. It hurt enough losing to him so why couldn't he just make it quick?

"Are you going to fight back or what?" Bakugou asked as he moved to stand across from Ritsu once again.

Ritsu couldn't answer that question. Not in a way that would satisfy the blond. He needed to play his cards right. So instead of speaking, he got down into a basic fighting stance; knees bent and arms up. He looked at Bakugou with the false message of, "Come at me."

By the smile that spread across Bakugou's face, it seemed to do the trick. He launched himself at Ritsu, once again going on the offensive, all while keeping eye contact. It was a game of chicken that Ritsu intended to lose.

When Bakugou got close enough he set off one huge and loud explosion. Ritsu didn't make the same mistake twice.

He stayed still.

"A KILLER EXPLOSION FROM BAKUGOU! WILL KAGEYAMA BE ABLE TO STAY IN BOUNDS?"

The blast had sent him flying. Much farther than the first one. Despite the barrier he put up to lessen the blow, it still shook his core. What it didn't do was send him out of bounds. The reason being the sweaty blond right in front of him.

Bakugou was holding onto the front of Ritsu's shirt, keeping him steady and, more frustratingly, from getting out.

"BAKUGOU'S STOPPED KAGEYAMA FROM FALLING OUT OF BOUNDS! AND IT SEEMS LIKE THEY'RE...TALKING?"

"What did I say about half-assing?" Bakugou seethed as he dangled him over the boundary line. His eyes bored into Ritsu's.

"It's kind of hard to even think when you're attacking me like that," Ritsu simply replied.

"You've had enough time to think now and you still haven't attacked me," Bakugou shot back.

And he was right. Dang it.

"Are you looking down on me or something?" asked the boy who was literally looking down on Ritsu. Then, a look that could only be described as uncertainty fell onto Bakugou's face. It was so unnatural that Ritsu had to blink to make sure he wasn't seeing things. "We aren't buddy-buddy remember? So get that out of your head."

That's what Bakugou was hung up on? Out of all the things he's done to make Ritsu look at him in a negative light, having a panic attack wasn't one of them. Honestly, it annoyed Ritsu more than anything that Bakugou was more hung up on that rather than his other moral failings.

"Don't worry," he scoffed, "I'm not interested in becoming 'buddy-buddy' with a bully."

Bakugou scoffed back. "You too? I'd think that with how you were shouting earlier that you'd have more faith in Round Face."

Round Face? Did he mean Uraraka? He gets called a bully and all he can think of is that?

A scowl found its way onto Ritsu's face. "You're joking right?" he bit out. Bakugou must have noticed that he was becoming angry because he brought his other hand up to Ritsu's face; a silent promise of fire if Ritsu tried to attack him.

Ritsu barely spared it a glance. "You can't seriously forget what you've done, Bakugou." He cocked his head at the other boy and spoke softly. "Does you telling Midoriya to take a 'leap of faith' off of a building not ring any bells? Or do you just tell people to commit suicide so regularly that you can't remember?"

Bakugou froze with a jolt of realization. His grip on Ritsu's shirt loosened just a bit as remorse flashed across his face. Only for that remorse to disappear in the next instant. Which was exactly what happened when Ritsu talked to him about eavesdropping earlier.

Was this a trend? Bakugou doing something terrible or violating and hardly allowing himself to feel sorry? Did he even realize that something, deep inside of him, felt bad for the things he did?

Anger bubbled up in Ritsu's chest. He was so done. So done with Bakugou and his nonsense. That anger moved his body to right itself and he barely even processed the feeling of Bakugou's face against his knuckles.

A clean punch. No telekinesis. No psychic enhancement.

It almost felt insulting.

In the distance, Ritsu could hear a faint voice that sounded a lot like Uraraka shout, "He actually did it!"

As the crowd went wild from the sudden blow, Bakugou turned his head back to Ritsu. Blood was dripping down his nose, he looked livid, and Ritsu had to go.

Ritsu flew into the air and pushed Bakugou back in one telekinetic motion. He landed a ways away from the boy and stood ready for attack. In that second, he decided that their game of cat and mouse was over. Ritsu was going to give Bakugou the biggest piece of his mind before bowing out on his own terms.

Bakugou ran after him, explosions already going off in his hands. Ritsu smoothly lifted up the concrete stage in front of him to act as a shield that the blond easily broke into separate pieces with one powerful explosion.

Now Ritsu had ammunition.

He created more space between himself and Bakugou before lifting up the chunks of concrete and sending them hurtling toward the boy.

"OH-HO! LOOKS LIKE KAGEYAMA IS PULLING A PAGE OUTTA URARAKA'S BOOK! BAKUGOU'S DESTRUCTIVE QUIRK IS ONCE AGAIN BEING USED AGAINST HIM!"

Ritsu made sure to not send all of his ammunition out at once. That would just allow Bakugou to destroy them all in one go like he had with Uraraka. Instead, he sent the glowing concrete after him in a barrage, knocking him back with each hit.

Bakugou let out an enraged shout as he set off another explosion to destroy the rocks. He then began to create seemingly haphazard explosions, but with the ash building up in the air and getting into his mask, Ritsu knew what he was trying to do.

"Bakugou's also pulling from Uraraka's book." Aizawa spoke in his usual analyzing tone. "Like earlier in the fight, he's using his explosions to create a smokescreen; making it harder for Kageyama to accurately fight back."

Ritsu looked cautiously from side to side trying to find the blond. Not that it would help with all the smoke. He couldn't hear anything either due to all the shouting from the crowd. He was practically a sitting duck. The glowing pieces of rubble around him, signaling his position, didn't help in the slighte—

Wait no. They could help. They could help a lot.

Surrounded by darkness, Ritsu could only hear the muffled sound of an explosion destroying the rock decoy he set up and a disgruntled shout from Bakugou saying, "Where the hell are you?!"

"KAGEYAMA HAS COMPLETELY DISAPPEARED FROM THE STAGE!"

Ritsu moved underground, pulling the same move he had on Teruki. Eyesight was crossed off the list of senses he could use, but his disappearing act quieted the crowd enough to allow him to hear Bakugou's angry footsteps.

He was tunneling around under the stage, trying to find the best place to reappear, when he came to a stop. What was he doing? He should be letting himself fall out of bounds, not attempting a sneak attack on Bakugou. He was creating such a big fuss that he was bound to get attention. So much fighting for something so small in the grand scheme of things. What was he hoping to gain out of this?

His breathing slowed down and the pain in his side reappeared. Had he really been that angry that he forgot about his aching body? Bakugou really was something else. And even though it was foolish, Ritsu really wanted to stick it to him.

Ritsu re-emerged from the ground with this goal in mind. He'd make it clear that the other boy couldn't go on with his terrible behavior and expect no one to do anything.

"There you are!" Bakugou yelled, a wicked smile on his face as he watched him re-emerge from the stage. The moment he moved to attack him again, Ritsu lifted up a large slab that the blond violently crashed into midstep.

"SHIT!" Bakugou let out a harsh shout. He stumbled out from behind the wall of concrete holding his nose. The skin on his forehead was peeling back and beginning to bleed from the collision. The hand that held onto his face was bloody when he removed it and his already bloody nose was even bloodier. "You fucking bastard! I'll kill you!"

"You say that to a lot of people. They all look fine to me." Ritsu had absolutely no qualms stoking his fire.

He went into offensive this time, running toward Bakugou while hurling debris toward him. The blond couldn't split his attention between the attacks and the attacker, so once Ritsu got close enough, he went to punch him again.

But Bakugou caught his arm with his bloody hand, opened up Ritsu's stance, and punched him in the stomach instead. A punch that hurt a lot more than Ritsu had been expecting.

He coughed, a good amount of saliva wetting his mask. The combination of spit and ash was a terrible one and Ritsu wanted nothing more than to remove the mask but the fist to his face distracted him.

Before Bakugou could move to strike for a third time, Ritsu telekinetically removed the boy's hold on his wrist and pushed him back. With the space between them, he removed the mask from his face and spat out the mix of blood, ash, and saliva in his mouth.

This wasn't working. Although Ritsu did get some sort of twisted satisfaction knowing that the blond was far more bloodied up than he was, Bakugou was clearly the better fighter between the two of them. If he wanted to get his message through, he couldn't just rely on fists.

"You're not a good person Bakugou," Ritsu finally said. He straightened up and looked directly at the blond. "You need to take a real good look at yourself and see if you're actually fit to become a hero."

"What did you say?!" Bakugou yelled as he came after Ritsu, explosions at the ready. Because, like how you could trust the sun to rise everyday, you could trust Bakugou to solve his problems with violence.

"Did I stutter?!" Ritsu asked as Bakugou crashed into him at full force, pushing him back. He wasn't going to back down just because he was getting attacked. "You don't care about others! That's the exact opposite of being a hero!"

Bakugou set off another explosion on Ritsu's bruised side with a shout, "DIE!"

Ritsu shook with the blast but didn't crumple. He sent a rock to hit Bakugou over the back of the head as he responded, "That's not a proper answer!"

Bakugou snapped his head back up. He had a snarl on his face that revealed his bloody teeth. "GO TO HELL!"

Ritsu just barely avoided an explosion right to his face by pushing the blond's arm back with telekinesis. He shouted back, "Why are you yelling?! Do you think you're the only one who can yell?!"

Bakugou, apparently losing all of his senses except anger, just yelled. Loud and hard. Like he was saying a strong "Yes!" in response to Ritsu's question.

Ritsu, apparently losing himself to a similar anger and completely fed up with Bakugou, just yelled back. Maybe not as loud, but just as hard. Like he wanted to tell Bakugou he was wrong in the blond's own language.

"IT APPEARS THAT THE TWO HERO STUDENTS HAVE GOTTEN INTO A SCREAMING MATCH! Uh...any comments about your students, Eraserhead?"

"No comment."

They continued screaming at each other as the taller boy put his hand back on Ritsu's shoulder and pushed him further and further back. Ritsu couldn't ignore the approaching boundary line any longer. He no longer wished for Bakugou to get him out. He wanted to step out of the ring himself and on his own terms; an ultimate slap in the face to the blond.

"You're so annoying!" Ritsu finally formed coherent words as he landed a punch to Bakugou's cheek. "You have to be the worst teen in this world!"

"Eat shit!"

"What a beautifully articulated and absolutely profound response, Bakug—!"

All of Ritsu's senses were struck with the feeling that something overwhelmingly powerful was close. Something dangerous mixed with something familiar. Something that was distinctly psychic.

He faltered as realization flooded him. It was enough of a blunder for Bakugou to send a final explosion to his exposed gut.

"Kageyama's out! Bakugou advances to round three!"

Midnight's voice was barely even a whisper to Ritsu as he lied on the ground over the boundary line. No, the name that echoed in his brain rang far too loudly for him to hear anything else.

'Shige-nii.'


The van, dented and smelling of burnt tire, pulled to a stop in the middle of a parking lot. Teruki stepped out the side of the car and into the empty lot and almost laughed at how cliché the abandoned and broken down the place was. The only thing that was missing was a pitch black night and a lone moon.

He stretched his limbs next to Toga who had been the first to eagerly jump out of the car. She waited patiently for Dr. Ikande to step out and when she did the girl moved to stand right next to her. Teruki came to her other side so that they were both flanking the doctor.

The driver leaned against the hood of the van, his hand reaching for his pocket which presumably had cigarettes at the same time Dr. Ikande said, "Don't." He froze and turned back to look at her. It only took a moment for him to seemingly remember the punch to his face. He dropped his hand, grumbling to himself.

Not even a second later, another car pulled into the empty parking lot. The small white car—a much less conspicuous vehicle to drive in broad daylight than a black van, in Teruki's opinion—came to a stop next to them. A single man stepped out of the driver's seat and Teruki had to bite on his tongue to keep from gasping.

The man was dressed like a bartender, wearing a button up white dress shirt, a black waistcoat, and a striped tie. That wasn't what made Teruki struggle to get his breathing back to normal. No, what made him try to take in every little detail about the faces, cars, and scenery around him was that the man was made of mist.

"...the USJ was attacked by villains who are a part of the League of Villains or, as you put it, the 'crazy villain cult'. Among the dozens of villains there, the most notable ones were a man covered in purple mist who can make portals..."

"...a man covered in purple mist who can make portals..."

Ritsu's voice rang in Teruki's ears. This was the man involved in the attack at the USJ. This was the man involved with the League of Villains. This was—had to be—the man involved in making the portals between worlds.

"It's a pleasure to see you again Doctor," the man said with a mouth hidden behind dark fog.

"I can't say the same, Kurogiri," Dr. Ikande replied, because of course they already knew each other. She was also involved with the League.

The man, Kurogiri, calmly walked over to the driver and handed him a wad of cash as though he wasn't kidnapping someone. Then again, Teruki had a strong feeling that this wasn't the man's first time.

While the driver gleefully counted the money, Kurogiri made his way over to the three of them. Teruki found himself standing straighter under his attention.

"Thank you," he said to the two teens. "I can take her from you now." The villain reached out for the doctor's arm and she pulled it back with a scowl.

"Don't touch me."

Dr. Ikande sharply turned away from him to give Toga a hug that the girl gladly returned. She mumbled something into the blonde's ear before turning to Teruki. The doctor made no move to hug him and instead stuck out her hand.

Teruki appraised the gesture. It was open for him to deny and very much the opposite of how you would treat a 'fetus'. He couldn't help but appreciate it. Reaching out for her hand, he knew that this wouldn't be their last time seeing each other.

However, when they finally made contact...

A little girl, around seven years old looked up at him. She had her hair tied into two big coily puffs and her tired brown eyes were filled with a hesitant curiosity as she asked, "Who are yo—"

Wait no. She had spoken in English. Yes, and with an English dialect that he couldn't quite place.

"W-Who are you? Where's Amaechi?"

He looked down at her, wondering if his senses were playing tricks on him. Could it really be this little gi—

"I thought I was done," the girl said with a frown and the dark circles under her eyes popped out at him. "He said that I was done."

"I'm sorry, but I don't know who you're talking about. My name's Teruki Hanazawa." He crouched down to the little girl all alone in this strange world in a strange room. Although he had no idea what was going on, he would try to help. "I don't know where Amaechi is but I can help you find her. What's your name?"

"No, it's..." she rubbed her droopy eyes, "It's fine. Amaechi said that she'd be back and she always keeps her promises." The girl then straightened up a bit and quickly stuck out her hand, but fatigue still clung to her. "Oh, and I'm Kendi."

He took her tiny hand in his and...

And...

He couldn't remember.

It felt like it was right at the tip of his tongue, moreso his brain, but he couldn't remember. Was that even real? If so, when did it happen? And why was he thinking of it now?

"Hey, kid." A finger snapped in his face, breaking up his train of thought. Dr. Ikande was slightly frowning at him. "You okay?"

He realized that his handshake with the doctor had ended and that he'd just been staring into empty space for who knows how long. Embarrassment washed over him, amplified by the ever-concerned brown eyes of Dr. Ikande focused directly on him.

Familiar brown eyes.

'Amaechi.'


"EVERYONE GIVE OUR TWO FIGHTERS A BIG ROUND OF APPLAUSE! WHAT AN EXCITING MATCH!"

Katsuki stood on one side of the broken and ash covered stage. His chest was heaving, his heart was racing, his hands were shaking from overusing his quirk, and his head hurt like a bitch. It didn't help that the crowd was cheering far too loudly for him to think straight. The only thing he could focus on other than the iron in his mouth was the sight in front of him.

Across from him stood Kageyama; back on his feet after his pathetic fall out of bounds. His hand in his hair and he was lightly bouncing on the ball of his foot. The anger on his face was gone, replaced with neither frustration or sadness. It didn't look like he even heard the cheering crowd or the not so quiet whispers of pros. Even worse, he wasn't even looking at Katsuki.

Only moments ago they were fighting, and it was great. There were fists and fire, things that every good fight had. He had never been made to bleed that much in his life but that only pushed him further. And the pain was worth it if only to see Porcupine show some fucking emotion. Katsuki finally got to truly see the anger the boy had shown a sliver of in the waiting room.

Then again, that anger—the whole fight, in fact—had only been brought about because Porcupine was angry for Deku. Because Deku had to find some way to follow Katsuki around in everything he did, didn't he? Even when it had nothing to do with him.

It pissed him off a lot. Yet, somehow, that Deku-motivated anger was far better than what Katsuki was seeing now. What he saw now was even worse than Kageyama's clear bullshiting at the beginning of the match that wasn't worthy of someone who placed second in the entrance exam. Because he looked distracted.

Kageyama was looking everywhere but at him. It was discreet, with only his eyes moving, but the blond could tell. Midnight even had to remind him to make sure he headed to the infirmary because even though Katsuki was visibly more injured, at least he actually looked like he was present instead of staring at—

The ground. First he was looking to the sky, then the stands, and now, Kageyama was looking at the torn up, ash and blood covered ground.

Katsuki wanted to explode.

He wanted to shout at him all over again.

'Get your head outta your ass and look at me!'

What the hell was that asswhipe so focused on? Dammit! The audience's cheers were so fucking pointless when Katsuki only only won because his opponent apparently didn't find him important enough to pay attention to. He won because, in the midst of getting punched and the threat of an explosion to the gut, Porcupine got distracted. Even now he was still fucking distracted.

"We need some time to reset the stage," Midnight announced after the clapping had mostly died down. "We'll be quick and start the next round soon!"

Once she said that, Kageyama quickly pivoted on his heel to walk out of the stadium; like he'd been waiting for her to finally say those words. And, shit, he probably had been.

Katsuki watched his back grow smaller and smaller. He still couldn't get over the fact that Porcupine didn't even look at him. Did he think he was better than him? That he wasn't important enough to look at? Or at least not compared to whatever had him distracted. But that just meant that there was something, maybe even someone, better to focus on then Katsuki. And who the fuck was better than the best?

His mind was made up just as Kageyama disappeared through the entrance way. Instead of turning around to head through his own exit, Katsuki marched forward, set on making the other boy explain what the hell was going on. He couldn't go and insult him like this and think that he could just walk away.

Katsuki shut out the confused whisperings of the crowd and began to walk even faster until he too disappeared through Kageyama's entrance way. He turned right, expecting to see Porcupine heading toward the nurse's office, and instead found the boy pacing back and forth in the hallway, mumbling to himself with an arm wrapped around his side and a hand frantically raking through his gelled hair.

'What?'

The boy was clearly going through something, but Katsuki couldn't find it in himself to care. That something robbed him of a proper fight and he wanted answers.

"What the hell was that, Porcupine?" he asked, voice rough from all the shouting earlier.

Kageyama jumped a bit at the question. He turned, barely looked at the blond, and went back to combing his hand through his hair and mumbling about needing water.

Katsuki had to resist lunging at the boy. "Fucking answer me!" He walked toward Kageyama, cutting off his pacing and demanding his attention.

Porcupine jumped again when he saw him, hands still in his hair. He stared at him like he hadn't heard Katsuki shout at him less than a second ago. It was a thought that was so infuriating that the blond had to stomp it down before it made him lose focus.

He took a deep breath and spoke through clenched teeth. "If I have to repeat myself, I'll blow your head off."

What he got wasn't an answer. Not even words telling him to back off. What Katsuki got was hands grabbing onto his head and combing through his hair.

Fuck deep breaths and shaking hands, he's going to kill Kageyama. He yanked the shorter boy's hands down and out of his hair and held onto them. He'd force Kageyama to get his head out of the clouds.

"What the hell was that, dipshit!" he snapped. When Kageyama didn't answer because he was busy looking at Katsuki's hair, the blond responded with what always worked best: violence.

"Ow!" Kageyama yelled, as he reeled back from the sudden headbutt. Katsuki made sure to keep his fierce hold on him because there was no way he was getting away that easily. This left the other boy to glare at him with a forehead that was red with Katsuki's blood as he asked, "What was that for?!"

"Are you deaf or something?" Katsuki snapped back. His own head was pounding even more from the collision, but it was worth it to get Kageyama to fucking look at him.

Kageyama groaned in response. He looked at Katsuki as though he was dealing with a child. "I don't really feel like having another intense conversation in this hallway today. I'm busy." He then shook his captive wrists. "So if you could please let go of me, that would be much appreciated."

Katsuki responded with a sneer and tightening his grip. Kageyama didn't get to pull this put-together bullshit when he was just talking to himself like an insane person mere moments ago. They were both bruised and angry, even if the other boy didn't want to admit it.

"What the hell got you distracted in the middle of a fucking fight?" Katsuki said for what felt like the millionth time. "I'm not asking you again."

"None of your business."

Kageyama might as well have spit in Katsuki's face. What utter bullshit.

"None of my business?" He tightened his grip on the other boy. "I'm the one you were fighting! Of course it's my business!"

"Well the fight's over now."

"Because you got fucking distracted!" Katsuki shouted, releasing his hold on the boy to throw his hands in the air. "Who does that?!"

Kageyama, tense and rubbing his wrists, then had the audacity to say, "Just accept your win, Bakugou."

Katsuki lunged at him, shoving him to the wall. It was a dance that was growing familiar to then, it just needed music.

"You call that a win?!" he spat into Kageyama's face. What type of delusion was the boy living through?

"You're going onto the next round, aren't you?" Kageyama didn't shrink under Katsuki's anger.

"For the last time, you got distracted! How can I say I beat you if you didn't try your hardest?!" The blond was as blunt as he could be since logical conclusions seemed to fly over Kageyama's head.

"You got 76 points in the entrance exam! You were supposed to challenge me! But you didn't even try to fight me at the beginning!" he shouted on when the shorter boy didn't respond. "The only reason you finally decided to fight back was because of fucking Deku and his—!"

Kageyama cut him off with a shove.

"Midoriya? You think the problem is Midoriya?" he hissed. He looked just as angry as he did during their physical fight on the stage and their verbal one earlier in the hallway. "The problem is you, Bakugou!"

He jabbed a finger into Katsuki's chest. Glaringly similar to their last argument.

"You're the one who decided to tell Midoriya to commit suicide! You're the one who decided to become a bully because you thought he was quirkless!" He punctuated every accusation with a jab and a step forward. "And you're the one who got me to fight back, Bakugou!"

With a final jab, the roles were reversed. Katsuki had his back to a wall and Kageyama's burning gaze pinned him there. "I meant what I said," his voice was deadly soft. "You've got to be the worst person here."

Katsuki's lips curled down. He was the problem? But he always did what he intended and what he intended was never wrong. Kageyama just had the details twisted. He might've told Deku to kill himself but what other option did the loser have? Kill himself and get reborn with a quirk instead of being a waste of oxygen, that was his best path to becoming a hero.

All Katsuki wanted a challenge, was that too much to ask for? That's why he made sure to piss everyone off with his speech. So that they would come at him with their best. Which worked! Round face got serious. She pushed herself to exhaustion and kept on pushing even after, and she was better for it. The fact that Kageyama was actually fighting because of him just proved that his method worked!

"What are you thinking?" Kageyama asked softly, looking at him with disbelief. "Because you have this stupid look on your face. Like you're missing the entire point of what I'm saying."

"Stupid?!"

"Again, you're focusing on the wrong thi—"

"THE STAGE HAS BEEN RESTORED!" came the voice of Present Mic through the speakers. TODOROKI AND MIDORIYA ARE UP NEXT, SO EVERYONE CHEER 'EM ON!"

At the announcement, Kageyama clamped his mouth shut and pushed away from Katsuki. He mumbled angrily to himself as he began walking toward the infirmary, clutching his side and taking slower, unbalanced steps, indicative of how injured he truly was. Before he could disappear down the hallway, he turned back to the blond.

"You want to become the number one hero when you can't even be a good one. Being a hero takes much more than pure strength, and I don't know how long you'll be under this delusion that it doesn't." With that, he walked away.

Katsuki looked on with a boiling anger that he didn't know how to release. He could ask Kageyama who he thought he was, telling him that he couldn't be a good hero? Or about how being a hero obviously took more than strength. It took hard work, dedication, and skill, all of which Katsuki had. But he doubted that it would mean anything to the other boy.

"You need to take a real good look at yourself and see if you're actually fit to become a hero."

He ruminated over the words. Kageyama wanted him to do introspection? Fucking soul searching? Katsuki wasn't a hippie. There was no way that he was going to listen to Kageyama and his bullshit when the boy couldn't even—

"You still haven't answered my question!" he shouted into the hallway at the realization.

"You don't deserve an answer!" Kageyama's voice returned. Then there came a softer, "Oh, good luck with your fight Midoriya."

Shit, Deku was coming. He did not want to deal with him when he was already so thoroughly pissed. Katsuki began to make his way back to the stands, only stopping when he realized that he still looked like a bloody mess, his nose was probably misaligned, and his head still hurt like a bitch.

Fuck. He had to go to the infirmary too.


Ochako opened the door to a silent infirmary. The sound of Recovery Girl typing away at her computer was the only thing to fill the air. Along with the old hero were two beds pressed against the wall. One had its cubicle curtain drawn and the other had Kageyama, who was glaring at a burnt PE shirt in his lap.

To say that the atmosphere was tense would be the understatement of her life.

She softly shut the door behind her as she stepped in, only gaining a brief glance from Recovery Girl. While Midoriya had insisted that both she and Iida go visit Kageyama, they ignored him and decided that she would go alone and Iida would stay to cheer on their friend.

In retrospect, she should've thought ahead about what to say to him. He seemed so angry during his fight. And loud. It was weird seeing him be so expressive and she wasn't sure if she would be able to console him after such an emotionally charged fight.

Ochako shook her head. She was thinking too much. Kageyama was her friend. All she needed to do was provide support and encouragement, just like he had for her.

"Kageyama-kun!" He looked up at her as she walked over to his bed. His mask was gone and although he wore a brand new PE jacket, there were traces of ash covering his face and dried blood on his hands, wrists, and forehead. Ochako pushed his appearance aside and smiled. "You did great out there!"

Kageyama winced a bit and grabbed his head. Not the reaction she was going for.

"Sorry!" she exclaimed, making sure to be quieter than before.

He waved at her dismissively. "I just have a bit of a headache, don't worry about it."

"Well I'm not surprised after that fight." She laughed a bit. "You were really going after him weren't you? I still can't believe that you actually punched him!"

Kageyama laughed with her, traces of his bad mood fading away. He opened his mouth to say something but was cut off when the curtains of the other bed were violently pulled back.

"I'm right here ya know!" Bakugou shouted. His face was covered in more blood than Kageyama and he looked much more messed up from up close.

Ochako turned her gaze away from him, only slightly embarrassed that he heard her. She refocused her attention to Kageyama and found him glaring like before but at the blond this time.

The tension returned to the room.

"Oh quit your shouting." Recovery Girl hopped out of her seat with a bowl of water and a rag. She placed both of them in Bakugou's lap. "You wouldn't have heard that if it hadn't taken you so long to come here."

The boy frowned as she gave him one of her healing kisses. "I wouldn't have taken so long if Porcupine wasn't so handsy." He wet the rag and began wiping at the blood on his face.

'Handsy?'

Kageyama scoffed as Recovery Girl gave him his own water and rag as well as a healing kiss. "That's only because you can't seem to stop yourself from cornering me in hallways."

'Cornering?'

Ochako watched Kageyama as he wiped the blood from his forehead, revealing nothing but smooth skin. She then looked at Bakugou's own forehead which was already cleared of blood but had a nasty looking scratch on it.

'Huh?!'

What did Bakugou mean by handsy? What did Kageyama mean by cornering? And why did Kageyama have blood on his forehead if it wasn't cut?

She grabbed her face. Damn, she was overthinking again. Kageyama's probably just healing faste—

"You both don't have a lot of stamina so you'll have to let the minor wounds heal naturally." Recovery Girl's voice broke through her thoughts. The woman went up to Bakugou and placed a bandage over his forehead and handed him a small cup of water.

"Luckily, well unluckily, most of your injuries were internal," she said as she moved over to Kageyama and handed him another cup of water. "So only your mouth is bleeding. Wash it out with this."

'HUH?!"

So if Kageyama was only cut in his mouth, that meant that his head was never bleeding. Which meant that the blood wasn't his. Which meant that it was Bakugou's, whose head was bleeding. Which meant that—

"Uraraka? Are you alright?"

She responded in frantic strings of not-words while pointing between him and Bakugou. Kageyama paused the hands that were rubbing water through his hair and just stared at her, visibly growing more confused. She finally focused her attention on him and mumbled.

"H-handsy?"

In a flash, the confusion left Kageyama's face and was replaced with a grave seriousness. He leaned forward, sloshing the bowl of water in his lap, and grabbed onto her shoulders. Looking her dead in the eye, he said, "Uraraka. I would rather die."

Ochako nodded along with a frightened smile. "A-alright."

"What are you two bitching about?"

Speak of the Devil.

Kageyama kept his hands on her shoulders but turned his head to face Bakugou. He glared at him, sending a silent message that Ochako knew only the two of them could decipher. Then, saying nothing, the glowing blue cubicle curtain pulled closed on the blond's affronted face.

She could only imagine how that looked like from Bakugou's point of view.

Laughing in an attempt to bring down the awkwardness, Ochako grabbed onto Kageyama's wet hands and slowly removed them from her shoulders.

"You really did do great out there," she repeated. Even if he wasn't looking at her, she really wanted him to see how great he was. "The way you traveled underground was super sneaky! You're really creative with your quirk!"

Kageyama finally turned toward her. His head was down but she could still see the way his face flushed and even a small smile as he replied, "Thanks."

With him looking so flustered, could anyone really blame her for hugging him?

"Too tight! Too tight!" he gasped, clawing at her arms.

Ochako released him with a small "Sorry" that probably failed to come across as genuine with the large smile on her face. She laughed and pulled lightly on his arm.

"You ready to go?"

He twisted his body, most likely checking for any remaining pain. When nothing happened, he looked up at her and nodded. She stepped back to allow him space to get out of the bed and together they went and bowed to Recovery Girl after she gave Kageyama a new PE shirt.

"Thank you for healing me."

"Thank you for taking care of Kageyama-kun."

The youthful heroine smiled at them. "Aw, how sweet. You'd be surprised how rare it is for me to get thanked." She said the last part while pointedly looking at Bakugou's bed.

"I know you're talking about me hag!" The blond pulled open his curtain and launched out of bed. He stretched a bit before marching toward the door, softly thanking Recovery Girl and sneering at Kageyama.

"Finally," Kageyama sighed when the door slammed shut.

Ochako nudged his shoulder with her own. "Come on, let's go watch Deku-kun's fight."

The two left the infirmary, not prepared in the slightest for the truly insane fight they were about to walk in on.


Ritsu was already in a bad mood. Between losing to Bakugou and having to shout some sense into Bakugou, mixed with the bursts of what had to be his brother's aura, there wasn't much to be happy about. Uraraka had helped improve his mood a bit though, albeit she thought that he and Bakugou were—he didn't even want to think about it.

Bottom line was that Ritsu wasn't feeling too good, but he was better now that he has his maybe-friends with him. Uraraka and Iida, both a bit roughed up from their fights but sensible and safe.

His improved mood didn't last long.

He forgot that he had a third, deeply reckless, maybe-friend.

The dread that filled his body at the sight of Midoriya was enough to make his stomach churn. The boy's entire arm was a bruised, red mess hanging limply at his side. His other arm wasn't much better with the fingers of that hand all a nasty purple color.

"Iida," he didn't remove his eyes from Midoriya as he spoke, afraid that if he turned away the boy would somehow gain even more injuries. "What's going on?"

"He...Todoroki—" Iida cleared his throat. "Todoroki hasn't touched him. Midoriya...it's his quirk. He did that to himself."

Ritsu, leaning too far forward, fell back into his seat, dumbfounded. Midoriya's quirk was doing this to him? He knew that it broke the boy's finger during the aptitude test, but this was far worse. Who in the world would give him a quirk that his body obviously couldn't handle? He clenched his teeth. Why did Midoriya have to push himself this far?

"I'm going to become a hero. And he can do nothing to stop me."

He almost wanted to laugh at himself. Of course Midoriya would push himself this far. Not even his body could stop him. Ritsu bit on his lip as he leaned closer to the fight. Even so, that didn't mean that he wasn't worried about the boy

Todoroki took a step forward, making shards of ice emerge from feet that raced toward the freckled boy. Midoriya, instead of trying to jump out of the way with his two working legs, lifted up his broken fingers and flicked.

"SMASH!"

The wind shattered the shards and pushed Todoroki back far enough that the boy had to create a small wall of ice to keep himself from falling out of bounds.

Midoriya's hand was trembling now but he barely seemed to notice it. His attention was focused solely on Todoroki.

"You're shivering," he gasped out. "Quirks are just another physical function, meaning that there's a limit to how much cold you can take. But you could just fix that with the heat from your left side, right?"

When he didn't get an answer, Midoriya continued, "Everyone's giving it everything they've got!"

Ritsu winced out of guilt and the relief that came over him knowing that Bakugou was able to get him out was new but welcome.

"They're doing it so that they can get that much closer to victory! They're doing it so that they can be number one!" His voice grew loud enough for Ritsu to hear clearly from the stands. "You think you can win using only half your power, but you haven't been able to put a single scratch one me!"

Midoriya raised his purple fist. He held it steady and looked on at Todoroki. "So get over here and fight me!"

Todoroki did just that. He crouched down and dashed at Midoriya, ice at the ready and a crazed look on his face. Midoriya ran toward him too, his own much less threatening fist at the ready. And yet, when the two got close enough, Midoriya was the one to land a solid punch to Todoroki's gut, sending him far back across the stage. This time, his arm didn't break.

"OOOH! A BITTER BLOW TO THE BODY! BET YOU ALL FELT THAT ONE!"

Midoriya got into a ready stance as Todoroki righted himself. Ritsu was still trying to grasp the fact that Midoriya successfully went on the offensive in his state and that, by the looks of it, he was going to do so again.

Todoroki stomped, shooting out pillars of ice toward Midoriya. Ritsu watched the other boy's hand try and fail to form a fist and thought, this was it. But then, Midoriya brought his broken thumb up into his mouth and pushed against the inside of his cheek until the thumb flicked out, creating another blast of powerful wind to destroy the ice.

This was all growing too much for Ritsu.

As Todoroki flew back with the wind, Midoriya raced toward him.

"I wanna become a super cool hero!" the boy shouted. He punched Todoroki again while his defenses were down, sending him soaring. "That's why I'm giving it my all!"

Todoroki skidded to a stop and looked up at Midoriya, who was still charging at him.

"So I think that the idea of you becoming number one only using half your strength, just to disavow someone, is a fucking joke!"

Ice clung to Todoroki's shaking right arm. He looked even more crazed—desperate—as he stared at Midoriya. "Shut up."

Midoriya didn't listen. He came up, fist drawn back to punch the freezing boy. "That's why I'm going to win!" he yelled, landing another powerful punch on Todoroki and making him fly even farther. "I'm gonna surpass you!"

Todoroki, on the ground and looking absolutely defeated, weakly tried to push himself back up. "My father—"

"IT'S YOURS!" Midoriya's voice was hoarse. "IT'S YOUR POWER!"

In hindsight, Ritsu doubted that Midoriya had any idea of what those words would actually release. He doubted that the boy thought that Todoroki would unleash a fire which practically set the whole stage ablaze. One that was so incredibly hot that the gust of heat it created dried Ritsu's eyes all the way in the stands.

"I..." Todoroki said, standing tall. His right side covered in ice and left lit with a blazing fire. He looked at Midoriya and spoke, far stronger than he had before. "I'm gonna become a hero!"

"SHOUTOOO!" A loud voice filled the stadium, ruining such a beautiful moment.

The source of the noise was Endeavor, who was marching down the bleachers between the stands. His fire was brighter than ever and a wide smile sat unnaturally on his face. "So you've finally accepted yourself! Good! Excellent!"

His voice rang in Ritsu's ears, reawakening his headache and worsening his mood. The man was so annoying. No, annoying was what he used to describe Bakugou. Endeavor was despicable. Here he comes, boasting about Todoroki like he didn't traumatize him. Like everything he's done to the boy has been worth it for this moment.

Ritsu couldn't stand it. He couldn't stand him. The day wasn't even over and he was angry and tired and confused and his patience was drawing thin.

"Now this is your true beginning!" the man continued, grating on Ritsu's ears. "You, who holds my blood, surpass me! Realize MY true ambitions in yourse—"

"SHUT UP!"

Ritsu, standing in his seat and leaning over the railing, hollered this all the way across the stadium. His patience was gone. The sight of a small freshman so rudely cutting off the number two hero drew the attention of the entire crowd. He ignored them in favor of staring directly at Endeavor who looked absolutely livid.

It was only when the firm hands of Yaoyorozu and the large ones of Iida began grabbing at his sleeves and pulling him down that Ritsu managed to gain a semblance of shame. The president and vice president immediately began drilling into him about respect and how students of UA don't shout such things at pros, but their voices just mixed with the exclamations from the rest of his classmates and the whispers of the crowd whose attention he definitely gained.

"WOW! KID'S GOT SOME NERVE!"

He dropped his face into his hands, already deciding that this would be his last day alive. It was only when Uraraka began shaking him back and forth that Ritsu removed his hands from his burning face and shouted, "Pay attention to the fight!"

Everyone's focus returned to the two boys on opposite ends of the stage that faced each other with a smile. Midoriya's looked nervous but accomplished. Todoroki's almost looked freeing.

"Why are you smiling like that? In your current position, with wounds like that, you have to be absolutely nuts." Todoroki said. "But whatever happens, I don't care."

Ritsu knew what that implied. It implied broken bodies and two kids pushing themselves to their limits. And all he could do was watch as Midoriya, body bruised and covered in a strange lightning, charged at his opponent once again.

Todoroki sent chunks of ice after Midoriya that flowed like waves. The freckled boy jumped up and began to run on the icy platform, not relenting in his charge.

Cementoss, who sat in a large cement chair next to the stage, burst out of his seat and began to manipulate the cement around him. He called out to Midnight who was already pulling at the sleeve of her costume, releasing a purple gas. The two pros were trying to stop the fight, but Ritsu knew that it was already too late.

With the air significantly chilled and Midoriya racing after him, Todoroki created a powerful current of fire. His fire and Midoriya's fist collided with the multiple thick walls of cement created to separate the two and—

Ritsu quickly caught a chunk of cement headed for Iida's face. Similar chunks—none traveling as far as the one he had—were blasted all across the arena from the massive explosion generated by the collision. The hot gust it created was enough to get under his eyelids and lift him a few inches out of his seat.

"What...What the hell is your class, man?"

"He simply applied heat to the air he cooled down, which then expanded."

"SO THAT'S HOW HE MADE SUCH A FIERY WIND BLAST!" Present Mic quickly returned to his usual commentary voice. "DAMN THAT'S HOT! I CAN'T SEE A THING!"

The stage below was hard enough to see through his tears; the smoke that encased it did nothing to help. After placing down the rock, Ritsu wiped his watered eyes and waited for the air to clear.

The first thing he saw was Todoroki. He was a mess and the left half of his uniform was completely burnt away. The only thing keeping him in bounds was the ice encasing his lower body.

The next thing he saw was Midoriya. His head was hanging down and both his arms and legs were a bruised color. He had his back against the side of the stadium, far out of bounds.

"Midoriya is out of bounds!" Midnight called out. "Todoroki advances to the next round!"

The crowd erupted into a flurry of whispers and Ritsu watched in horror as the freckled boy crumpled to the ground. Why was everybody just talking? Someone had to go down there to help him.

Finally, medical robots entered the stadium. When they hauled Midoriya onto their stretcher and began making their way to Recovery Girl, Ristu marginally relaxed. Midoriya was in good hands, he'd be fi—

Two figures appeared on the stage and the sensation that had struck Ritsu during his fight returned tenfold. The powerful aura—auras—felt like hands on Ritsu's head, forcing him to turn and look.

A girl dressed in plain white pajamas with white hair and purple skin stood on the ruins of the stage. Her red aura matched her glowing eyes, frightening Ritsu to his core. It was so overwhelming that he gagged. A cruel smile spread across her face as she looked down gleefully at the limp body of a boy with a bowl cut.

"If you don't need this body anymore," she spoke with a deep layered voice that didn't belong to a teenager and grabbed onto the boy's—Shigeo's—head with a possessed purple hand to lift him in the air, "why don't I take it off your hands?"


MOB'S (body's) HERE! MOGAMI'S HERE! This is why I was so pumped for the MidoTodo fight! Ritsu will get no room to breathe :)))

I'm high- key considering having Rit and Bkg intern together. And like, they won't realize until they get off at the same stop and then they'll be like "What are you doing here?"

But I also really want Ritsu to do his internship with Uraraka. I honestly think that it would be good for Ritsu to learn hand to hand combat from Gunhead. Plus, I do need more moments of Ritsu hanging out with his core friend group.

Gahhhhhhhh. I'll figure it out later. I might even finally watch season 4 to see more heroes. Especially since one of them can see the future.

Bakugou actually told Midoriya to take a swan dive off of the building but that imagery just hurts the top of my head. Plus, leap of faith makes sense since it was pertaining to being reborn with a quirk.

I was planning to write Uraraka's scene from Ritsu's pov but then I realized how incredibly strange things would look for an outside perspective.

Whenever I write Ritsu telling Bakugou to go fix himself, I'm like "Yeah! Give it to him! Make him do some soul searching!". Then I immediately remember that I'm the one who has to write that character growth. T_T

Sometimes I worry that I write Ritsu as too friendly. Then I remember that he has no friends in season 1 so we don't really know how he'd act with 3 of them. Plus he ended up befriending a kid who beat him up.

Also I had him tell Endeavor to shut up. Like what? I was reading the chapter for the MidoTodo fight and was like, what if someone told Enji to just shut his mouth? Then I realized that Ritsu was exactly in the mood to do so :)

Oh, speaking of the MidoTodo fight, I know some of you aren't familiar with mha. The "strange lightning" around Midoriya is just something that his quirk does, I'm pretty sure it's just aesthetics. As for the purple gas that Midnight released, she can generate sleeping gas from her skin.

Teruki is just going through the ringer. Like, who's the kid? Where in this world did he meet her?

Gosh, the rough draft for this is so spotty, mainly toward the beginning. I had to rewrite Bakugou's pov like 3 times and I still need to fix it up in editing. And I just skipped the whole intro for Ritsu and hopped straight into the fight. Which was super fun to write btw. Editing will be fun but I'll get this chap in before the 15th and hopefully the next one will be in before June.

What did you think of the chapter? How was Ochako's pov (Bkg's was hard to do this time an idk why)? What'll happen with Mob? Or Mogami? What will happen to Ritsu?

Also, round two line up:

—-—

Bakugou vs Kageyama

Midoriya vs Todoroki

Iida vs Asui

Kirishima vs Tokoyami

—-—

Thanks for everybody's input on the Asui vs Ashido fight! If you have any thoughts about the outcomes of the Kiri vs Toko and Iida vs Asui fight, feel free to express them! :)

Favorite, follow, and review for a healing kiss from Recovery Girl! (She'll be very upset if you refuse)