His whole body ached. It felt as if it was throbbing like his own heart. That didn't matter. The pain was nothing. Midoriya was surpassing him. He couldn't lose to him. As much as he swallowed his pride before, everything in him raged at the idea of Deku beating him. Even if he wasn't allowed to be in the Sports Festival, he would work his body to the bone. He would perfect his new form. He would perfect Death Body. He swung his feets up and over the edge of his bed, wincing as he stood up. He could hear his mom moving around, talking about something stupid again. He glanced over to see the clock. Nine o'clock. He had gotten too used to sleeping in. Before the entrance exam had started, he was waking up at five and training at the gym. He threw his school uniform on and threw some gym clothes in a bag.
"Hey, mom." He slid the door open. "You better have gotten eggs–" He walked to the kitchen and opened the refrigerator door to look inside. "Wanted to make an omelet before I went to school. Mister Ninja said I could come in at twelve–" He shut the door and turned around after pulling a dozen eggs out. "He said I needed to catch up on some things—!" Round Face's brown eyes caught his attention. Bakugo's eyes turned to his mother.
"Good morning, sunshine…" Katsuki's mother grinned. "Miss Uraraka brought us some cards from your classmates. Isn't that nice?" Ugh. He dreaded the conversation he would have with his mother about Uraraka later and whether or not she was single. His mother had been bugging him about grandchildren already.
"Cards?" He opted to ignore his mother's statements. "They made cards for me?" He crossed his arms, placing his right hand on one of his burns that scarred him.
"Yeah!" The rosy-cheeked girl nodded gently, handing him one. It had big black letters on it. GET WELL SOON, BAKUGO! Below were everyone's signatures, all of them varying in size and neatness. Round Face's signature was written in a dark pink color, probably with a marker. A slight smile creeped onto his face. He pulled himself together, pushing the warm feelings down into his stomach.
"I guess I'll have to read them on the way over." He couldn't distract himself. He looked at Round Face. "Come on, I need to get to class anyways." He lifted his bag over his shoulder as he walked to the front door of his house.
"What about breakfast?" His mother commented, making him turn around. His classmate had already grabbed her things.
"I'll eat lunch instead. Not that hungry."
"How have you been feeling?" Uraraka was the first one to talk. Considering how explosive Bakugo could be at times, she was surprised by how quiet he was. She had never really thought about this side of him until now. The two of them were walking down the sidewalk as cars whizzed by in the morning sun. Her classmates still smelled like a mix between pine trees and smoke. She still wasn't used to the explosive splattering on his skin, almost like red flakes that dotted his face like freckles on pain. "The USJ attack and your recovery—we've all missed you."
"I'm ready." Bakugo's voice had an edge to it. "I've been letting Deku get ahead of me for three weeks. I can't let that last any longer." Not that she was surprised, but the spiky-haired blond still had plenty of fire in him. He smiled again, although didn't have the same level of simple joy of the one that she had seen before. "Even if I'm not in the Sports Festival, I'm going to be the number one hero–regardless of Deku's Plot Armor." As Uraraka listened to his passionate display of his love for winning, she didn't expect the long sigh that came after. A few moments passed that felt like hours to her.
"Your scar on your hand–" Her eyes trailed down to her braced hand. She had been wearing it to support her fingers. It also covered up a chunk of it, hiding quite well. "-It makes you look cool—don't let any idiot tell you otherwise. You have that cuz you're strong."
"T-Thank you, Bakugo."