"Come on Slugger! You've almost got it! Just a few more reps! Don't give up and quit on me now! Not when you're so close!"
Izuku strained against the weight in his hands as he managed to finish off the last few reps of a rather exhausting set. Several dozen pounds had been shoved into his hand before Yang ran him through a small routine that she joined him on; tricep curls, doing sit-ups with weights hanging just behind his head in his hands and good old fashioned regular bicep curls. Yang, unsurprisingly, had finished way ahead of him on those and had spent the remainder of the time it had taken him to finish trying to help egg him onto the finish line. Izuku felt It a combination of enlivening, hearing her shouting at him, and a bit disquieting but it seemed to have the desired effect. As he felt like he couldn't lift another weight in his entire life he somehow, 'somehow' manage to curl the heavy weight up to his chest before his arms collapsed onto his side, letting the weights drop to the floor with a clang as he fell onto a seat behind him, his arms feeling like spaghetti noodles.
"Good stuff there Izuku, good stuff. I think we're getting close to a breakthrough." He looked up at Yang, a genuine smile on her face as she looked down and nodded at him. He tried his best to smile back as he did so, nodding a bit stiffly himself.
"You really think so?" It'd been hard work so far but he felt good to hear that someone thought he was making progress. He Knew that on some level he was making progress but that could be hard for him to take in when, well, he was in the middle of feeling like he was tearing his arms apart.
True in 'a lot' of training situations for him those days, actually.
"Totally. Give yourself a small break to let your muscles build up and then 'bam' soon enough these weights won't feel like anything to you." The idea actually made him smile a bit... before a feral grin came across Yang's face. "And then we can start moving the weights up so that you don't start gettin' soft on me there Slugger."
...
'Why is life pain?'
"PUT YOUR BACK INTO IT MAGGOT, I WANNA SEE YOU BEG FOR MERCY!"
"NORA PLEASE STOP BEING SO HORRIFYING WHEN WE SPAR!"
Maybe that's because it's the life of a Huntsman. He thought after the spar had begun and him and Nora went right at it. The barrage of blows they both had sent flying at each other last time had been, honestly, exhilarating and had been a big boost to both the speed the spar had transpired with and the amount of effort he'd been forced to put in to try to keep Nora off of him. As mindbogglingly scary as Nora could be when she really got 'in' to a fight, it was still an experience that he wouldn't pass up. While everyone he'd sparred with or worked with pushed him to his limits, Nora seemed to do so just because the young woman barely had an in-between state about her when it came to fighting. For Nora it was either going as hard as you could and giving a fight every little bit of energy you could muster or she was relaxing and just being her bubbly self. Honestly, that describe a lot of how Nora lived her life, he'd realized.
So when Nora swung Magnhild effortlessly three times at him, he'd come to expect it. Still his first attempt at dodging Magnhild didn't... go well, let's say. He tried to predict where Magnhild was going, exactly, but he just ended up basically walking right into it anyway as Nora just swung and swung 'hard' at him. He felt his chest give a bit before his Aura pushed back against the head of the hammer, the breath being forced from his lungs before he got back to solid footing. The next two swings he was definitely keen on 'not' seeing hit him head on. With his hands raised and at the ready they dashed about, catching Nora's weapon by its handle and pushing it away as it came for him or, the second time, bouncing it off the side of Emerald Gust to keep it from striking him. The pain in his chest kept him aware of his surroundings as he did so, even as his breath became haggard.
Finally it was time for him to counter and by gum he certainly gave it his all. Both of his fists were on point as he swung twice for Nora and, were it not for the fact that he knew he wasn't going that fast, he would swear he heard the air whistle around his fists as they approached. Nora managed to dodge out of the way of one, leaning back to avoid it. However the motion only left her wide open as she was forced to bend over from the force of his second punch, Izuku giving it just about everything he could as he drove her fist into her gut. The shotgun misfired a bit, most of the clip skidding off the side of her Aura while the rest didn't find much purchase. Still, it was a solid hit and one landed way earlier than their last spar. Little by little, he knew he was improving.
Or at least that was his thought process before Nora gave him a wide, wild grin, her eyes shining with violent intent as she started swinging Magnhild again. Izuku's own emerald eyes went wide in disbelief as he saw the grace with which Nora swung her heavy weapon through the air, the head of the hammer practically flying as it glided around and around, each time attempting to clock him. His first move was to parry the head of the hammer and, with some effort, he managed to do so. However, he knew for a fact that the force of the blow knocked him enough off course that he couldn't possibly respond to the other two hits. He was forced to watch as Magnhild crashed into his back, feeling a slight 'pop' and then another as his Aura tanked the hit and then fixed whatever minor damage was done to his body in a near instant. Still, he knew that hit was about the last he could take and yet Nora's still had another coming, he knew that...
Which is why he was surprised to see Magnhild stop in mid-air just before the last swing hit him, Nora taking a deep, long breath as they both hears the little signal going off on their scrolls and on the screen above. Nora gave him a smile, one slightly uncertain, but one which immediately grew as he smiled to reassure her.
"Well, you beat me again Nora. Congrats." Izuku heaved a deep breath as he tried to catch it, wiping the sweat off his brow as he watched any uncertainty on Nora's expression give way to her usual bombastic self.
"Same to you Fearless Leader! You managed to clock me good there way earlier than in the last fight!" He smiled as best he could; hit or no, it was just the one hit before Nora managed to put him down...
But still, she did have a point. He did managed to catch her that time. In a way, it was still a small bit of improvement.
"Thanks Nora. Pancakes?"
"Pffft, you even have to ask?"
He smiled as he shrugged his shoulders. As rough as training could be, and as much as it felt like his progress was only a little bit here and there... he could be glad that he at least was making that progress alongside his new friends. That he was being supported every step of the way now instead of being discouraged like back at Mountain Glenn.
It felt... nice. It felt really nice.
"SMAAAAAAAAAAAASH!"
Still, even if the support of the people around him could keep him going in part, he knew he had to keep pushing himself forward. To accomplish his dream and to become a Huntsman worthy of succeeding Toshinori, he had to push his body as far as it would go and further. If he didn't put his all into it, even with how little progress he might make or how slow things might go, then he wouldn't ever break those walls.
"SMAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAASH!"
Izuku had to keep the pressure up. He had to keep moving forward! He spent ten months before Beacon's Initiation pushing himself as hard as he could and, with some breaks, he'd kept up his pace after entering Beacon. If he couldn't spend as much time as before, what with being a leader, a member of a team and having honest to goodness friends around, on his training then... well, that just meant he had to train harder when he did have the time. When he could give the time to train.
"SMAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAASH!"
As those thoughts ran through his mind he took deep, steadying breaths. Glynda had just finished patching up his hand again. Yet he felt so close. So close he could taste it. He could feel the breakthrough right at the tip of his fingers. It... it was what he'd been working toward all these weeks. What he'd been aiming for. While the finish line when it comes to One For All was still so far away that goal, that immediate goal that he'd set for himself... it was right in his grasp. He could 'feel' it there. Just waiting for him to take it.
It was with that in mind that he begged Glynda Goodwitch to let him have just one more go. To have just one more chance at it. He wasn't ruining his arms anymore and even most of his hands seem to be coming out better and better as he pushed himself.
He just needed one last try.
One more try.
"Mr. Midoriya..." She sounded skeptical. He knew he'd been saying that at times in previous bits of training with One For All. That he could make his progress with just one more swing or one more try. That time however, that time he meant it. That time he 'felt it'. He was not sure what it was that caused her to sigh, shake her head and, after finishing up bandaging his broken hand, send him off to break the other one. His insistence? His determination... that odd, nostalgic gleam behind her eyes. Whatever it was, he didn't intend to waste it.
As he brought his hand up and began channeling One For All down into his finger, down into the very limit of his being, he tried his best to contain it there. To keep it 'right there'. If he could do that, if he could just do that...
'THEN I KNOW I CAN DO IT!'
"SMAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAASH!"
A whirlwind of air blows throughout the room, a small 'boom' erupted. His previous efforts produced much more sloppy results as he failed to actually mold One For All meaningfully. Something would give or break in his attempts and the energy scattered throughout, producing a weak effect that doesn't befit the damage he knew he could do with his arm...
But now? Now he was met with a result that hadn't felt all that different from Initiation. Just that instead of pain shooting all the way up his arm...
He couldn't help the tears that squeaked through his eyes. A combination of pain and pride hitting him at once as he slowly turned to Glynda Goodwitch as the blond woman just stared at him in surprise.
"Professor Goodwitch..." He grit his teeth a bit. Despite how many times he'd broken his bones now, how many times he'd utterly shattered his arm, it still hurt... but that time, it was less so. And he showed it off as best he could; by tightening his hand into a fist, only one broken finger standing out from the rest of the limb. "I did it. I can still move."
As he ended up moving over to get his finger braced and bandaged, he couldn't help but notice the small grin that marked Glynda's face.
"Alright. The next person up for a Spar is Izuku Midoriya. Is there anyone who'll step up to challenge-"
"I'll kick Deku's ass."
Izuku's blood nearly froze over when he heard it, his eyes went wide as he felt his breath catch in his chest. He already knew who it was; out of everyone here at Beacon, there was only one person he knew who would call him that name. The only person with that tenor in their voice. Izuku swallowed a nervous lump in his throat as he slowly turned his head to face his opponent.
'Kacchan.'
...
Izuku swallowed nervously as he slipped on Emerald Gust, his weapons feeling heavy on his limbs as he adjusted them. It... it was a fight he expected to come, but not necessarily one he was looking forward to having. Bakugo was the strongest Huntsman he knew, or at least, the strongest he knew before coming to Beacon. Even after Beacon, even after everything, he was still one of the best Hunters in the school. Whether or not he was better than Pyrrha was an open question in Izuku's mind, but still, he knew for a fact that in a one on one fight Bakugo was more than a match for him.
"Don't worry Deku. I'm just gonna hurt ya so bad that Goodwitch will stop the fight early. It won't last long."
His friends seemed ready to back him up if he had decided to dodge the fight. Not just because they knew as well as he did that a fight with Bakugo wasn't likely to go his way, but because they knew that Kacchan... he wouldn't just beat Izuku like Owari did or Mitsu would try to do. Katsuki would beat him down, try to crush him under his foot in a fight. Try to show how much better he was than 'Deku'. They had already known they were going to 'hate' what they were going to see and hear, mostly because they all didn't seem to take Bakugo's attitude well to begin with...
But Izuku couldn't back down, not from that.
Kacchan was the person who, right alongside Toshinori, Izuku held up as an example of what a cool, capable Huntsman could be. Someone who was strong and always won in contrast to how Toshinori always saved people with a heroic smile. Even as he bullied him, he could see that Bakugo's pride, his ability, it wasn't bluster. He was the best in their school, there was nothing to doubt about that boast.
If Izuku was going to be the next #1 Huntsman, if he was going to be worthy of One For All... he had to surpass his old friend. He had to beat him. Whether that was today or later didn't matter. He had to try at least. He had to give it his all and then some if he was ever going to reach that goal, just like the others.
If that meant taking some lumps... well, he'd take some lumps.
Finally he exited the locker room, his own thoughts having slowed him down sufficiently that he trailed behind Kacchan. Eventually he made it to the floor of the arena where Bakugo'd been waiting for him. Whereas in the stands he showed off a cocky demeanor, the look he gave Izuku was serious; Kacchan intended to throw everything at him to show just how far below him 'Deku' was.
Izuku intended to give as much back. He'd thought of a plan and he thought of a good one. He couldn't beat Kacchan in a one versus one... but he could make him exhaust himself a little bit. Make him really go to the mat and tire himself out before he moved in. Katsuki's abilities require energy from himself and, while he's got a lot of it, he still only had a finite supply. If Izuku could make him burn through it by exploiting his aggressive fighting style, he might just be able to earn a win by virtue of draining his Aura.
It was a long shot, but he knew it was his best chance.
"Are both students ready?" Izuku nodded nervously whereas Bakugo nodded firmly, separating his hands from his side as he got into his own fighting stance. "Very well... let the match between Katsuki Bakugo and Izuku Midoriya begin!" With Glynda's signal, the fight was on.
And Bakugo sure as Hell let Izuku know it.
"GET OVER HERE DEKU SO I CAN BEAT THE CRAP OUT OF YOU!" Bakugo immediately charged forward, screaming at the top of his lungs as Glynda immediately jumped away from the action. Izuku grimaced but held his ground; the first part of his plan was to meet him head on. He wasn't going to be able to get away from him just by running or jumping, Bakugo's faster than him in that regard. His only chance was if he could manage to throw him; do that and he'd buy himself the precious time needed in order to get away and really start pelting him from afar. As Katsuki reared his right arm back... Izuku's body moved before he even really thought about it. Bakugo always lead with his right arm in a fight, always moved in for a big right hook. That's how he started his fights.
So Izuku quickly brought his hands up and under Bakugo's arm, ducking just beneath it and used Emerald Gust to easily bounce the blow away. Surprisingly enough, it didn't seem like Bakugo wanted to lead with one of his Explosive Impacts. Either he was taking it lightly and thought he didn't need it... or he wanted to make sure that the fight lasted.
Either way he immediately turned on Izuku, a serious look on his face as he roared and immediately let loose a volley of fists. Izuku ducked and dodged where he could, deftly avoiding some of the hits. In fairness, they were pretty far off, Bakugo trying to read Izuku and missing the mark. Still as one fist closed in toward Izuku's position he grinded his teeth and just bat it away again, the explosively tempered young man in front of him being thrown off by the glancing parry...
That's when he saw it. An opportunity. He quickly moved in and grabbed Bakugo's arm as it bounced off, his guard wide open after his failed assault. Katsuki's eyes went wide as Izuku slid in right next to his body, turning to face away from him as he violently pulled on his arm. There was a scream equal parts surprise and anger as he flew over his shoulder, the toss sending him over Izuku and into the ground back first.
CRICK
The breath left Bakugo's body all at once as he gasps and, presumably, as they both hear the crack in his back. Both of their eyes widen; it's rare but there are times where there can be a localized failure in Aura. A wrong hit... or in some cases a 'right' hit and one could do some concentrated damage in just the right spot. A joint in the back overly exposed when hitting the ground, a blow striking the Aura at such an angle that it powers through to a joint. Izuku imagined much the same had happened there; something's been shocked out of place in Katsuki's back, the pain apparently on his face as he bounced off the ground. Between that and the force of his throw... he could tell.
'He's stunned. He's stunned and until his Aura fixes up whatever's wrong with his back he might not be able to get back up and challenge me again.'
His stomach sunk; that was luck, pure and simple. He 'just' managed to be in the right place at the right time with Bakugo's back somehow exposed to leave him in that state. He was open to be wailed on, to get some, essentially, free hits in while he was completely stunned. But Izuku... he...
He looked him in the eye and saw the look he was giving him. It wasn't warning him off , not warning him to hang back. It was egging him on. Telling him to 'take it'. Something clicked in Izuku's mind as he clenched his fists. Katsuki would be pissed about it. He'd be roaring in a pissed off fury because he somehow managed it. He'll try to take every punch Izuku landed and throw it right back in his face...
But he'd 'hate' it, if he was shown mercy right then and there. If Izuku didn't use that opportunity to try to win.
"Take this!" It was cheesy, but it was the best he could manage as he screamed at the top of his lungs, his eyes meeting Bakugo's as he glared back. There was nothing fanciful about it as he just laid into Bakugo's chest, landing blow after blow onto it. The punches did harm for the most part but it's his shotgun blasts that really ate through his Aura.
Until he noticed it. Bakugo's frown turning from pained grimace to enraged snarl. He was ready to get back up. After the last couple blows Izuku moved on to the second and third parts of his plan, ducking back and away from Katsuki as he did so. It took a moment as Bakugo was slow to rise, his steps somewhat shaky from the combination of the sharp pain to his spine and the blows he suffered.
"You... you bastard Deku... how... how are you avoiding me?! How did you follow all my moves?"
"How could I not Kacchan?" He answered back, causing Bakugo to pause in his steps. "I've analyzed every amazing Hunter I've ever seen or met, like you. Because I wanted to learn everything I can from you! You always lead with a right hook in your fights and you always try to throw this wild array of punches to try to overwhelm your opponent! I know it by heart by now after all these years. It's all in the notebook that you tried to burn and throw away!" He saw a glower come across Bakugo's face as he spoke.
It turned almost murderous as he turned his gaze up to face him.
"But that... back then, I was different. I'm not the same person I used to be! I'm not some defenseless kid anymore! So call me Deku all you want... but..."
"My name is Izuku Midoriya: that's the name of a Huntsman!"
A slight silence follows it as Bakugo forced himself all the way back... with the tiniest sparks of explosions forming in his palms.
"You say all that shit... but you're still shaking in your boots Deku." Izuku grimaced; he was still shaking. Despite that turn of luck, he knew that Kacchan was still capable of turning that fight around if allowed to. "And despite that... you still want to fight me..." Finally, Bakugo's hands withdraw into his gauntlets and Izuku's breath hitched red eyes turned to him.
'Well... I guess I got what I wanted. Kacchan's pissed.'
"THAT'S WHY I HATE YOU!"
Katsuki just glared at him, his teeth bared as he held onto his right hand, the telltale sign of his Aura building up inside the gauntlet.
"So you've been watching me Deku?! Well then I guess you know what this is don't you, ya bastard!" He reared the gauntlet back behind him, preparing for the swinging motion that would send the shot out. "You saw how much it fucked up the Runt in our fight so I don't exactly expect you to take it nearly as well... but it'll be fine, RIGHT!?" An almost manic expression crossed Bakugo's face as he said that, his guys glued onto Izuku's as he grinned. "YOU'LL BE FINE AS LONG AS YOU DODGE! CAN YOU DO THAT BETTER THAN THE RUNT, DEKU?! LET'S SEE IT!"
He was too far away for Izuku to get close up and, even if he could, a look up to the screen told him that he hadn't taken nearly enough punishment for one more to put him down. So instead... instead Izuku took a deep breath and reached for his left gauntlet's safety. With the flick of a switch, Emerald Gust's left hand guard slid back and away from his hand, exposing his fingers. 'Thank you Mei, you crazy, crazy gadget girl.' He stood his ground unflinching and Bakugo's eyes hardened as he did so.
"DIE DEKU!" With a swing of his arm the glow left his gauntlet... but Izuku knew better. He knew it was heading right toward him. 'Just look for the spark... I know it's coming... I know it's...'
'THERE!'
He saw it, just before it exploded. The spark of his attack, the feel of his Aura, as it flew to in front of him . Izuku took a deep breath as he brought his left hand up, positioning his left index finger against his thumb as he charged One For All into it. It ran down his arm, the power of his Semblance, of Toshinori's Semblance, burning through hi as it flew into his index finger, making it glow with power. Grinding his teeth he braced himself as he raised his hand up to aim.
And then he clenched his butt cheeks and yelled from the depths of his heart.
"GLEEEEEEEEENN... SMAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAASH!"
The explosion went off first, a giant fireball threatening to overtake Izuku as he fired off the Smash... but after that, there was no sign of the fireball left. A sudden, explosive gust of wind immediately circled out from the point where his finger flicked the air, a near typhoon blowing out from the point of impact to the rest of the arena, in Bakugo's direction, as the following shock wave billowed at him. The force of the blow wasn't much stronger than Katsuki's, the shot of air heading toward him being entirely absorbed by his Aura, before it petered off against the walls of the pitted arena...
But that didn't matter. What mattered was that, even with a broken finger, even with a shattered digit... Bakugo's attack didn't hurt him.
In a way, he came out on top; Kacchan wasted his energy on that attack and it did nothing... meanwhile Izuku...
He clenched his fist, broken finger and all, as he cautiously reached his hand over and switched the safety again.
"So... that's it huh. That's the big deal, is it Deku?!" Izuku looked back over at Kacchan, a few labored breaths leaving him as a wide grin formed on his face. "Your Semblance! The big, impressive, all mighty Semblance that took down that Giant Nevermore!? Is that what you've got Deku!?"
"... No. I wouldn't use it on you directly Kacchan, or as big as it can go... I can't control it... even using it like this... it'd kill you and break me." A grimace formed on his lips, one out of anger rather than fear, as Izuku said that. "Still, against those kinds of attacks from you... it's the only chance I have of winning."
"Don't you give me that shit... you'd kill me?! Who do you think you are? You think just cause you pulled some random power out of your ass that you're better than me Deku?! Is that it?!"
"... Is that what you think... you IDIOT!" He turn his gaze over to Bakugo, meeting him dead in the eye. "You're stronger than me Kacchan! Even with that luck I need every advantage I have to make sure you don't blow me away! THAT'S WHY I WANT TO BEAT YOU! BECAUSE YOU'RE AMAZING"
"You're even more of an idiot than I realized...!" Back with that almost manic look in his eyes, Bakugo glared directly at him. "COME AT ME!" With that Katsuki charged after him earning a grimace.
Izuku considered a few options; if he used Glenn Smash right now, he had no doubt that he'd pierce through Bakugo's Aura. Which wasn't an option... but that was fine. He had his shotguns and even if he got up close... Bakugo had taken all the damage that fight. Still if he gave Katsuki even the slightest opening and he'd try his best to take the fight back into his hands. With that in mind he grimaced as... Kacchan... didn't run as fast as he could, pacing himself. As he noticed it, he just raised his arm back and opened fire with Emerald Gust, sending a spray of bullets Bakugo's way. Then watched as his old friend turned bully grimaced and, with a burst of Aura, deftly dodged out of the way of all six pellets that had been so nearly right on top of him. Izuku bit his tongue as he sped up his approach right afterward, the blond bomber jumping up into the air as he prepared his assault. He reared his right arm back, getting ready for that swing again. Izuku readied himself as he-
-Took an explosion to the face from the other hand. He cried out in pain as he felt the fire and smoke just blast him right in the face, burning his eyes, nose and mouth as he felt the force of it. It wasn't damaging as his Aura managed to bounce it back... but it wasn't meant to be powerful, he realized. It was meant to irritate him. To make his eyes water and his breathing hard.
Because now Bakugo was right behind him, having blasted himself over Izuku using the explosion that he'd 'also' used to distract him and suddenly Izuku was no longer certain he could bat the hits away. In some desperation he moved in for some swings, trying to finish him then and there. Bakugo just growled and easily sent one hit flying while he dodged out of the way of another, his movements quick and precise. Izuku's eyes went wide as Katsuki roared, his fists flying. One swing from his left went far off and he couldn't tell if it was meant to trick him or not... but...
"HERE IT COMES NERD! THAT FAMOUS RIGHT HOOK YOU WERE WHINING ABOUT!"
He felt the explosion on his ribs as Bakugo buried his right fist into his side. It wasn't an explosive shot, even without being able to see he knew Katsuki just didn't have the Aura left to pull off that kind of move.
"DEKU! DON'T YOU EVER FORGET WHAT YOU ARE!"
It was quickly followed up by his left hand burying itself into his gut and another miniature explosion going off, rocking his body. 'Holy woah...' Izuku was all too aware of what Katsuki could do but, from the way he felt it, that was practically half of his Aura entirely gone in just two hits. The only other person he knew who could do that to him was Nora... and she used Magnhild.
Kacchan was just used his hands and some 'minor' explosions.
"YOU'RE A WEAKLING!"
Izuku ground his teeth as he took the blow. Tightening his fist as far as it could go until he could practically feel his palms bleed from the force his fingernails dug into them. A linger of doubt began to crawl up his spine...but-
'No. I've come so close! Even with that luck, even if it was just luck getting me this far, I am so close! A chance to show how far you'd come, a chance to show that you'd changed!'
In the back of his mind he felt his soul sing and, distantly, he felt One For All radiating like a roaring flame.
Izuku clenched his fist and reared it back, roaring as he sent it flying forward, shocking Kacchan. He drove it into his stomach and... and he was too weak to harm him. After those two giant swings, He was just not positioned well enough or powerful enough to take the final step against him.
But he couldn't help but smile as the click of Emerald Gust followed soon behind.
One roar of his shotgun later and Bakugo was sent stumbling back, holding onto his gut tightly. And in that moment, the world stopped for Izuku.
'...'
'Kacchan'
'...'
'He's'
'...'
'Bleeding.'
'...'
'Have...have I-'
However as Glynda removed Bakugo's hands from his gut and the both of them took a close look, Izuku sighed in relief; it was a surface wound. Somehow he'd managed to find just the right spot in his Aura again...
"Katsuki Bakugo's Aura has fallen into the red and has been momentarily pierced. Izuku Midoriya wins the spar." Glynda declared in her even tone, readjusting her glasses as she did so. There was dead silence from the rest of the crowd, even his friends seemed slightly surprised by the show they'd just witnessed.
Still, in a matter of moments, they all started cheering. While some of them made efforts to include Bakugo's name in it, the loudest among them were screaming Izuku's name a lot louder. The rest of the room just lightly applauded, clearly still in shock, as Kacchan just stared down at the floor.
"Both of you did as well as you could in this fight. Izuku Midoriya, you recognized your opponents strengths and did you best to play to them. Your... Semblance is still quite... new to the floor. I appreciate your thought in restraining your use of it." Izuku recognized she was saying that for the students here, as the both of them had gone over that before. Still, he smiled. "Your foe was categorically faster and stronger than you but by thinking cleverly and exploiting openings both of your own making and offered by the luck of the field of battle, you carried the day. Well done." He nodded before turning to look over at Kacchan, the blond's head still lowered.
"Katsuki Bakugo... it was an unfortunate fight. Your opponent managed to slip through your Aura twice and inflict, if not serious harm in one case, then a debilitating enough hit that it allowed him to even the playing field. In addition your opponent's Semblance was brought to the floor for the first time at a moment you might not have been expecting it... regardless, given that information, you performed admirably. You didn't let your ill luck slow you down and, upon realizing Mr. Midoriya had a counter... however harmful, to your attempts to attack him from distance, you showed your precise control over your Semblance in your attempt to lower his defenses to allow you to quickly finish the fight before it could finish you. There's no shame in losing a fight like this." Bakugo's teeth bared themselves as he still faced the floor, his fists clenching for a moment... before they just went slack.
"You are both dismissed." Izuku swallowed nervously as he followed Bakugo back to the locker room. He expected him to blow up, to scream, to get angry and curse... instead... instead he just kept that silent look, his eyes lowered as he put his weapons back in his locker and slammed the door shut. From there he just... walked off. Back towards the seats in the arena, to be certain, but not even addressing Izuku at all.
Izuku bit his lip as he closed his own rocket locker...
He swallowed that nervous lump in his throat as you closed his locker door. 'No... no it probably wouldn't be a good idea to walk up and approach Bakugo while he was like this.' For a moment he had considered the possibility of walking up to him and saying 'good fight'... but he quickly realized that would probably end with Bakugo trying to tear his throat out. A thousand other different ideas flew through his head as he thought as hard as he could about how he could try to fix things, how he could talk to Kacchan. For as many years as he spent as his bully, he was also your oldest and, before Beacon, only friend. Sure, that relationship was pretty much outright gone but... well, there were still things about Katsuki that he admired and emulated.
It didn't feel necessarily right to leave things like that but... he just didn't know what to do or say or how to approach the situation. So he just did his best to stay quiet and hang in quietly behind Kacchan, walking along as he did so. No words passed between them, both dead silent as he stalks forward head lowered to the ground and hands shoved firmly in his pocket. Izuku was glad to see that he was heading the same way as him; back toward the arena. He supposed whatever funk Kacchan was in that nothing's was going to stop him from going back and observing more fights. It was how he was going to keep on improving... though the silence still ate at Izuku.
Finally the silence and the rhythm of their footsteps was disrupted. Not by something either of them did or said, but by the introduction of a third set of footsteps.
His emerald eyes blinked in surprise as his fellow leader, Ruby Rose, stepped out from a nearby hallway.
Ruby first looks surprised and then... genuinely stunned. Izuku could perhaps understand the surprise; she and everyone else had probably figured that Bakugo was at his throat or that the two of them would be picking up their fight out there in the hall. Honestly, He might've expected the same thing out of Katsuki, if not for the fact that he was so... unusually quiet. It's that second look, that momentarily stunned expression, that really made him just wonder what was up. As soon as a second had passed and Katsuki still hadn't said anything, just stopping in his boots and looking ahead toward Ruby, his shoulders tense and fists lightly clenched in his pockets, Izuku expected him to start screaming again.
Thing is, he didn't. His shoulders stayed slack as he kept hunched over and his hands still hung limply in his pockets. Ruby turned to Izuku, an almost apologetic look in her eyes. 'Does she...?'
He shook his head. Trying to convey that no, he wasn't trying to talk to Bakugo. He was just passing on by. She nodded and looked off behind her. It didn't take a lot of thinking to realize what she was asking for. He didn't say anything, for fear of triggering Bakugo, and quickly moved on ahead. As he passed Katsuki by he risked a quick glance behind him...
He almost stumbled when he saw the look on his face.
He did stumble a bit when Kacchan turned to look at him, a hint of the usual rage he associated with Kacchan burning just underneath the surface of his eyes. Izuku swallowed a nervous lump in his throat and walked on past, muttering a quick 'good luck' to Ruby who seemed to just nod a bit stiffly herself. When He was a ways down the hall he could hear the faint echoes of Katsuki's shouting. He thought It was... kind terrible that he'd passed off a problem he started onto Ruby, but he knew he couldn't have done anything there. He just hoped that it didn't go too terribly for Ruby.
When he returned to his friends in the arena seating, he was immediately almost bowled over by various questions-
'What the Heck was that, how did you do that, that was amazing, was that really your Semblance, how did you beat Bakugo, hey where the Hell is Bakugo, where's my sister, did you see them-.'
It was all something of a blur, that he really couldn't even remembered who asked what. When he muttered about the encounter in the hall and how Ruby signaled him to leave, everyone, especially Yang, seemed worried.
When he'd barely whispered how he'd heard shouting, Yang seemed apoplectic and was about ready to charge right back out the arena door. Just at that moment however Ruby and Katsuki walked through the door. Yang was immediately relieved when Ruby wasn't walking in with a shower of tears and barely holding herself together as she likely feared she'd see her, rather the young girl just smiled at her sister, nodded and rejoined, going to talk with everyone. There was a slightly thoughtful expression on her face, a latent curiosity, but it didn't seem like it was coming forward at the moment. Bakugo on the other hand...
Well, when their eyes met, he couldn't help but swallow a bit. But... honestly, he was kind of glad to see him like that. It fit the Bakugo he knew far more... even if it meant that he was pretty much pissed.
Such was life.
"You both have serious issues, you know that right?"
"Yeah..."
Izuku spent a bit of Friday evening finally getting down to sparring with Weiss to help her improve her combat basics. The girl really Didn't know much about Brawling at all so he was keeping it at a slightly lower burn of a pace like Yang did for him. No shotgun bracers and he was more focused on fixing up her form than on necessarily beating her... though he was trying to beat her, make no mistake about that. She needed to feel pressured if she was going to improve... or at least that was the lesson he'd taken away from his own lessons. It was actually a very slow paced affair. It wasn't like with him and Yang or Nora where yeah, he knew how to fight well enough so that there was actually a lot of action going on. Weiss was just barely starting to learn; she really didn't even have good enough form for blocking his blows with her own hands so she relied on dodging and using her Aura to boost her out of trouble. It was a slow going affair where he touched up her form here and there so it allowed for a conversation to bubble up between the two of them.
Namely, about Bakugo.
"I mean really. Your tormentor, your 'bully' is someone you admire so greatly, that you've written about at such length, that you've memorized his own fight patterns. Someone who, despite this show of appreciation, still wants to drill you down into the ground so that you feel like you're nothing compared to him. I absolutely cannot wrap my mind around that Izuku." Weiss threw a punch at him and, to her credit, it was on point and he was out of position to really parry it away... but it didn't matter so much because her form with the punch was so poor that when it impacted his chest his Aura absorbed it without even breaking a sweat.
"You see, what you're going to want to do is throw a bit more of your back into it. While punching is done with the arms, the other muscle groups help. You've gotta step in with it and throw your back into the punch if you really want to do some damage." Weiss grumbled for a moment before nodding... only to have to try to dodge two quick punches in succession from Izuku. One she boosted out of the way of... the other managed to catch her in the stomach, causing her to grunt. She'd switched from her own fancy dress to something a bit more appropriate for a brawl borrowed from Ruby, the only girl they all knew who was really Weiss' size-
Izuku felt the beginnings of a blush form on his cheeks, before shaking his head as Weiss tried to recover from the hit, 'get your mind out of the gutter. Weiss is your teammate.'
At least he didn't have to feel bad for messing up her dress in a brawl.
"Sorry."
"Don't apologize, this is what you're supposed to be doing!"
"Right, sorry!" Weiss rolled her eyes slightly, more amused than annoyed, before bringing her fists back up. "But... I guess you've got a point. Kacchan and I don't exactly have a great looking relationship-"
"Not even just not great looking, it's not great Izuku." Weiss said firmly as he just nodded.
"I know, I know. But... well... I dunno. Kacchan really was my only friend by in the day. We used to do a lot of stuff together with a lot of the other neighborhood kids. Even back then he was brave and pretty strong... I remember this one time, there were a bunch of first graders who were trying to pick on us and Kacchan took them all on at once by himself."
"Where were your parents? Surely you all were being watched?" Weiss asked, throwing another punch that he, that time, deftly knocked away.
"At home mostly. We usually were just kinda let out to wander around town by ourselves most days." Weiss seems slightly flabbergasted by that idea and the distraction was enough to keep her preoccupied while he landed another punch on her, though that one was neatly absorbed by her own Aura.
"I can scarcely imagine parents doing something like that... still, my point remains Izuku. Who cares? That was a long, long time ago and Katsuki's has been treating you like this for what sounds like years. I really don't understand why you insist on calling him such a cutesy nickname like Kacchan or why you still insist on looking up to him." Weiss shook out her head as she deftly went in for a punch that he blocked, before she dodged one of his blows with her Aura, the other missing wildly.
"... It's hard to explain. In a lot of ways, Kacchan's what I think of when I think of a cool Huntsman, a Hero. He never gives up and he's always so confident in himself. He works just as hard to achieve his dream as I do... and he really does want to be a Huntsman. No matter what, that's been consistent. Plus... well, to see someone with such a strong Semblance when, for the longest time, I thought I couldn't have one... that was another reason to look up to him." He parried away another of her punches before delivering one of his own, his fist thudding against her ribs as she grimaced a bit. "I guess no matter how he's treated me that's just always remained a constant for me. I know he's a jerk and that he's hard to get along with, if not impossible... but I still look up to him in so many ways. He's still a goal I'm chasing to be a better Huntsman myself."
Weiss seemed quiet for a moment as she took that in before she sighed. "Well... just don't let yourself get influenced by his other facets. I swear if you start walking around swearing like a sailor, I'll skin you alive myself." He chuckled nervously as Weiss said that, though the look in her eyes told him that 'she's not joking'. They both got back into their spar, one that he pretty easily won considering Weiss' lack of skill of proper strength, before the two turned in for the day.
E/N: For all that the beginning of the chapter reads like a training montage, the Workout with yang actually failed to improve Izuku's strength, meaning it had no effect on the fight. That is one of the awkward Mechanics vs Narrative issues that cropped up in the quest every now and then, But since this is a proper story format we can just pretend it did have an effect on his fight.
-Shovern
One thing that is unique about this story is how MHA's second most important character has seen his role greatly reduced. Bakugo has gone from having his own story by nearly as important as Izuku's, and the two driving one another's development, to being slightly more down the totem pole. This is a result of both the structure of RWBY, with heavy importance placed on Teams, and the choices of players on Spacebattles.
While this lack of focus did affect several other characters, it was most noticeable with him and one other character that I will comment on later. This is the most up front moment of development that Bakugo gets for a while, though he does come back in a really fun way in the future of the semester. And that...well that would be spoilers.
-Wind-Waker