Chapter 14: The Finals: Bakugou vs. Midoriya
There was cheering on both sides of the competitors, as Midoriya and Bakugou stared each other down at opposite ends of the arena neither of them could really hear it.
Deku stared Bakugou down, eyes full of an eagerness that was usually reserved for Hero Training. It was an eagerness born from years of being told that he could never be a Hero, that he should quit. That he was lesser than.
Bakugou stared Midoriya back down as well, his eyes full of contempt. Contempt that someone who he had suspected of looking down on him for years was now openly trying to surpass him. It was an offense for which Bakugou Katsuki could not stand.
"FIGHT!" Midnight cried.
Midoriya raised his hand for Mjolnir, but as the hammer hit his hand, Bakugou was already there, one hand on Deku's face, the other on his outstretched arm. "HOW DO YOU LIKE THEM COCONUTS?!"
Two huge explosions unlike any the crowd had yet seen threw Midoriya backwards towards the edge of the ring.
Bakugou grinned through the smoke he created, right up until Deku flew back through it, thrusting Mjolnir against his chest and throwing him backwards instead. "I hate them coconuts," Deku spat.
Bakugou skidded backwards on his feet, growling all the while. "I DIDN'T COME THIS FAR TO LOSE TO A SHITTY DEKU!"
Katsuki lunged forward again, moving faster than Deku had ever seen him. He grabbed at the green-haired teen's chest to blow him to pieces once more.
I don't have time to think! Deku grunted as he jumped over Bakugou as an explosion rang out under him. He spun Mjolnir once and threw it down into the smoke .
Bakugou jumped backwards, dodging the hammer as it shattered the surface of the arena, sending cracks along the stadium floor. "TOO SLOW!" He launched him up into the air after Deku.
Deku summoned Mjolnir back and shot lightning at Bakugou when he was a few feet away. Bakugou vaulted himself over the lightning and flipped himself right over Deku.
"YOU ALWAYS THOUGHT YOU WERE BETTER THAN ME!" Bakugou screamed, raining a pair of explosions down on top of Deku's head. There was nowhere to go, and the force of the blasts thrust Deku into the ground.
Midoriya crashed down to the cement, and stared up at the blue sky for a moment. "... better than you?"
Bakugou appeared over him in the sky, and began falling towards him with an explosion, looking to repeat the way he had defeated Tsuyu.
Rising to his feet immediately, he spun Mjolnir over his head. Instead of creating a mere wind blast, he created a wind vortex over his head that immediately sucked Bakugou in and spun him place. "You thought I WHAT?!" Midoriya yelled, shaking again.
Deku swung Mjolnir down, and the vortex snapped down to the pavement, slamming Bakugou against it.
"You blonde IDIOT!" Deku yelled, jumping into the air, looking to slam his weapon down onto Bakugou's chest.
Bakugou blasted himself backwards to dodge the attack, but that was as Deku expected. Midoriya landed on his feet instead and sent a huge blast of lightning that sent Bakugou flying backwards towards the edge of the arena. "YOU ABSOLUTE IDIOT!" Deku roared. "Looked down on you? WITH YOUR POWERFUL QUIRK AND ALL THE PRAISE?!"
Bakugou was up on his feet and charging back at Deku. Deku sent another blast of lightning, but Bakugou strafed to his right, and lunged for Deku's exposed left side. Midoriya turned to defend himself, but it took too long for him to pivot. Bakugou used an explosion targeting Deku's open left side to send him flying back.
Deku hit the pavement hard but pushed himself off immediately and threw Mjolnir at the oncoming Bakugou. Katsuki hadn't expected such a quick recovery, and was only able to partially dodge Mjolnir as he propelled himself upward; the hammer struck his left ankle, sending him flipping over in the air and onto his back .
As Bakugou struggled to get back to his feet and put weight on his ankle. Deku recalled Mjolnir. The two made eye contact again, and Midoriya spat, "You were the strongest person I knew. Why do you think I followed you around?!"
"SHUT UP!" Bakugou screamed, and he pushed his hands into the pavement and used an explosion to dislodge a chunk of concrete, just like Deku had done in his match with Todoroki. Using another explosion, he sent rocks and shrapnel towards his green haired foe.
Deku's eyes widened and he spun Mjolnir in front of him to push the shower of cement away with a gust of wind. As he did, Bakugou was suddenly approaching from his left again, too quick for Midoriya to change strategies. "You should have never underestimated me!" Bakugou seethed as his hand hit Deku's cheek and ignited.
Midoriya flew over the side of the ring, but was able to quickly use Mjolnir to fly up and away from the grass, saving himself from losing. "I underestimated YOU?"
He flew towards Bakugou, who backed up defensively. Midoriya threw Mjolnir down at Bakugou's head, causing Bakugou to dive backwards. But as Deku had thrown Mjolnir, he dove forward himself, aiming for where he predicted Bakugou would dodge to.
He had been right; as Bakugou leapt backwards away from the hammer, Deku himself tackled Bakugou to the ground. Deku sat on Bakugou's chest, Katsuki's eyes widened as Midoriya's arms covered themselves in electricity - he seemed to have no problem using his lightning without Mjolnir right now.
Before Bakugou could raise a hand to defend himself, Deku punched him across the face, sparks crackling off Bakugou's skin. Both boys could smell burnt flesh as Deku followed up with a punch from his left hand, repeating. "I SPENT MY WHOLE LIFE LOOKING UP TO YOU!" Deku screamed
WHAM!
"YOU HAD EVERYTHING!"
THUD!
"A NICE HOME! A QUIRK! A FATHER WHO WAS THERE FOR YOU!"
THUD! THUD THUD! Every sentence was punctuated by an electrified fist against Bakugou's head.
Bakugou, nose bloodied, looked up at Deku through glazed eyes. Deku met his gaze and finished. "I wanted to BE you Kacchan. You were always what I wanted to be."
The dazed look in Bakugou's face vanished and his usual scowl returned, surprising Deku. "Keep dreaming, Deku! YOU'LL NEVER REACH MY LEVEL!"
The momentary surprise was enough to Bakugou to put his hands on Deku's chest and let off a huge blast.
The crowd gasped in shock as Midoriya was thrown a few feet in the air landed hard on his back, a small trickle of blood coming from his mouth.
Bakugou sprang to his feet, but stumbled as he did as his nose trickled with blood. Still, with Deku stunned, he decided it was now or never.
Launching himself into the sky, he began rotating horizontally into the air, creating a black funnel cloud for his Howitzer impact move. As he began spinning he launched himself at Deku.
Deku stood up to see what was happening as Bakugou came rocketing towards him. He stared at the black funnel cloud racing towards him, but merely grinned and wiped the blood from his chin. "Reach you? I ALREADY PASSED YOU!"
Reaching out for Mjolnir, his eyes began to spark and glow blue as he charged the cloud. As soon as he reached the cloud and saw Bakugou reaching for him, Mjolnir hit his hand and he swung. The hammer slammed into the side of Bakugou's head, sending a current of electricity through the blonde.
His attack immediately halted, Bakugou was thrown across the cement, skidding off of it, and onto the grass below.
"THAT'S IT!" Midnight called, nervously. "If that kept up, we'd have to call the match," she muttered to herself, relieved.
Deku collapsed to a knee as he caught his breath, the crowd cheering wildly.
--
"YES!" Thor shouted, jumping to his hands and feet and fist pumping repeatedly. "YES! YEEESSSSSS!" Valkyrie jumped to her own feet and started repeating and echoing the sentiment.
Inko was sobbing happily next to him, at a loss for words.
Loki just shook his head as he looked at the other three. Still, he was wearing a smirk all the same.
A few rows down, Bakugou Mitsuki stood up, yelled, "FUCKING BULLSHIT," and stormed out of the arena.
No one noticed or heard her over the cheers.
--
Midoriya was lead to the back of the arena as they cleared out the stage to prepare things for the award ceremony. Even with Mjolnir's accelerated healing, Recovery Girl still wanted to give him treatment for the rather nasty burns Bakugou's explosions had done on his left side.
As he sat in the infirmary, he saw that both Asui and Todoroki had been released, to his great relief. As he waited patiently for the healing hero, she opened one of Bakugou's eyelids and shined a light at it.
"Looks like you left him with a concussion," she said, evenly.
Deku gulped. "Is he gonna be okay?"
"He's lucky that my healing can take care of those, and you managed not to give him a major one, somehow," Recovery Girl sighed. "Otherwise he'd be out of class for awhile. Come on, let's get you fixed up..."
As she began smooching at his wounds (which itself was uncomfortable), Deku stared over at Bakugou somewhat guiltily. He had definitely let a lot of his pent up feelings of resentment and aggression towards Bakugou boil over after what the blonde had done to Asui.
He wondered if he had perhaps gone too far, but considering the intensity of the fight, things would have only been reversed if he hadn't. I'd be the one knocked out here. Probably scarred forever or something.
Deku was cleared not long after and was more than happy to leave the sterility of the medical room. He always hated hospitals.
Still, he almost ended right back in the medical wing as he walked out of the door; most of class 1-A was waiting for him and nearly gave him a heart attack as they crowded him.
"MIDORIYA, MY MAN!" Sero screamed, practically bouncing. "THAT WAS THE COOLEST FIGHT I'D EVER SEEN!"
"YOU PRACTICALLY TORE THE HOUSE DOWN!" Uraraka added, next to the taller boy.
Most of his classmates added similar praise, and Midoriya could do no more than turn crimson and rub the back of his neck in embarrassment. He looked around and noticed Asui, Iida, and Todoroki were missing from the group.
Before he could get a word in edgewise to the group, Midnight approached and cleared her throat. "Now now, give the man some room! He needs to come with me for the award ceremony."
Deku internally sighed in relief at the rescue. "Thanks," he muttered as they left the earshot of the class.
"Come now," Midnight laughed, "if you're going to be a Pro with those skills, you'll need to learn to handle the crowds and press."
It still felt surreal to Deku; that it was over, that he had won over all the first years at UA. His head still felt airy and blissful, his steps lighter than they had been before any of the other events of the day. And part of him dared not believe that it was real, lest he wake up to find it had all been a dream. Still, he could not stop smiling.
Midnight led him downstairs, explaining they had a podium set up that would rise from the grounds of the stadium.
"Oh yeah, I saw that they did that last year!" Deku exclaimed, excitement replacing some of the post-fight guilt and jitters he had.
Down below the arena, he saw Asui and Todoroki were waiting. As soon as Deku and Midnight entered the room, Asui's eyes met Deku's, and she gave him a grin he hadn't seen on her before.
Whoa, he thought, losing his breath for a moment before smiling back at her. I don't think I need a medal. That's enough.
"Originally, we would have had these two have a match to determine third and fourth place. But neither of them were cleared by Recovery Girl, so they will both be presented with the third place medal. Anyway, you three wait here," Midnight advised. "I'll go see if your classmate is done with Recovery Girl yet."
As the teacher left, Midoriya turned to his classmates. While they seemed better, Asui had a bandage running up her neck, while Todoroki's left hand was still heavily wrapped, "Are you guys alright?"
Todoroki looked hesitant to answer, to Asui piped in first. "Yeah, Recovery Girl fixed me up pretty quick, kero." Her grin broanded, making Deku's chest tighten. "Just in time to watch the finals. You were so cool, kero."
"Th-thanks Tsuyu," Deku replied.
There was a brief pause, Deku and Tsuyu becoming very aware that Todoroki was still there and watching them.
"Hey, Midoriya," Todoroki called, finally.
Deku gulped, hoping he didn't look as nervous as he felt. While not to the level as his fight with Kacchan, he'd lost his cool and let his emotions get the best of him during his fight with Todoroki, too. "What's up?"
Todoroki took a deep breath, and to Deku's surprise, he bowed. "Thank you."
"I-I don't think you should be thanking me," Deku replied, a bit embarrassed about how formal his classmate was being. "I broke your wrist. I'm sorry."
"Well, yeah that wasn't the part I was thanking you about," Todoroki smirked, straightening back out. "Just... you were right, out there."
"What do you mean?"
"Well... about taking things lightly." Todoroki admitted, looking to the ground. "I was so caught up in my issues with my father that I was looking down on everyone in the class. Thinking I could steamroll everything with my ice. I was treating everyone as this obstacle to show up Endeavor, and I was being an ass to you as part of it." Todoroki looked up and his smirk turned into a grin. "Next year, I'll make sure to tackle this with my full power. You better be ready."
Midoriya chuckled. "I'll be ready!" He held out his hand for a handshake. "Let's get stronger together, okay?"
Todoroki's eyes widened slightly. Apparently, gestures of friendship were completely foreign to him. Still, after a pause he shook Deku's hand, grinning wider. "Sounds like a plan, Midoriya."
"Aw, that's what we like to see."
The students jumped as Midnight made her way back, quietly. Bakugou followed behind her, looking down at the ground, silently. "Now, everyone get in your places. Todoroki and Asui, you go to that platform. Midoriya, you in the middle. Bakugou, that one, if you would..."
As everyone took their spots, Midoriya tried to sneak some looks at Bakugou, trying to figure out what was going on with him. He'd been expecting Bakugou to come in here screaming for a rematch, enraged at the things that had been said.
Instead, Bakugou stood, unmoving and silent, as the platforms began to rise to the cheering crowd.
All Might jumped from the stands to the adoration of the crowd, and gave a small speech about the bright future these students inspired as Heroes. Midoriya only caught bits and pieces of it, the feeling of being in a dream returning to him as he looked around to see the cheering crowd. It had been a moment he had dreamed of since he had first watched the UA Sports Festival as a boy.
As All Might placed the gold medal around his head and embraced him. Midoriya felt the need to rub his eyes as his hero pulled away; it was only then that he realized a few tears had escaped his eyes.
"Thor chose wisely with you, young Midoriya," All Might added, so only the two of them could hear.
"Th-thank you." Deku beamed.
--
The closing went with a blur; before Deku knew it, he was back in his casual clothes, heading out to the front of the arena. There, waiting for him...
"MIDORIYA!"
Deku turned and was met with a bearhug from both Thor and Valkyrie.
It was a heartwarming scene for all the observers.
Including Bakugou Katsuki, who raised his eyebrows at the matter. Growing up, he'd known very well that Midoriya only had his mother around. The few times he'd been to Midoriya's place as a kid, he'd sneer at Deku for having such a small place, but always loved going over there because the green haired boy had the best All Might toys.
Earlier in the day, Bakugou had eavesdropped on a conversation Midoriya and Todoroki had, where Deku had been accused of being the love child of Thor. While Bakugou knew this was garbage, this tall blonde stranger hugging Deku made him curious.
Quickly, Bakugou took out his phone and took a picture of the two.
This warranted research.