The next matches of the first round were both quickly finished. Although Kaminari had been training, he was no match for Izuku, who quickly defeated the golden-haired student via ring out. The results of the next match, however, were much more surprising than what most were expecting. Yaoyorozu vs. Eijiro. Due to the nature of his Quirk and its effectiveness in combat, many assumed that Kirishima would defeat Momo. But to everyone's shock, Yaoyorozu was able to beat the Hardening hero by creating a combination of items to both stun and confound Kirishima before pushing him out of the ring.
"And Momo is the victor of the third battle!"
The class stared dumbfounded at their classmate, her opponent, who was lying on the ground in defeat, panting lightly.
Izuku smiled softly at the girl. He remembered back to the Sports Festival. Momo had participated in the tournament then as well, but she hadn't made it far as she was matched against Tokoyami. The hero of Creation could hardly do anything as her defenses were swiftly overwhelmed and she was defeated, in part due to her nervousness. Now there was no sign of the anxious Momo from before.
As Eijiro stepped out of the ring, his face now matching his hair color, Present Mic announced the final match of the first round.
"And now, for our final battle of round one, Noikari versus Bakugo Katsuki!"
The crowd cheered at the announcement, many eager to see the young child in action. The two boys, sitting next to each other, could only grin in anticipation. It seemed that there was still some unfinished business after the battle in Ground Beta. Taking another quick glance at Bakugo, Noikari hurried around to the other side of the arena while Bakugo walked into the ring. Stepping in himself, Noikari clenched and unclenched his fists, the bones inside popping as the cheers and shouts of the crowd began to fade away.
An eerie silence slowly wrapped itself around the arena, the only noise being Noikari's cape gently flowing in the wind. It was as if time itself had stopped, allowing these two students to fight. Bakugo thought back to his fight in Ground Beta. This time, he didn't have a team to fight Noikari alongside him; it was just himself. Perfect. Clenching his fists as they began to sweat and fuel his Explosion, Bakugo smirked as the light surrounding his hands grew ever brighter.
Noikari took a deep breath as he prepared to finally show everyone how much he had grown. Now he no longer had an audience of solely his classmates. Now he had people all over the world that wanted to see him grow stronger. He knew that this meant that his performance in this fight would be highly anticipated. So instead of holding himself back anymore, he decided to use everything he had. Conjuring two deployable shields which firmly strapped to his arms, Noikari prepared for hell.
For a moment, both sides were utterly still and silent. Waiting. Neither boy dared to make the first move, not wanting to give away any hints to the other. However, just when they thought the tension could stretch any thinner, the two both heard Present Mic yell, "Ready, set, go!"
Almost instantly, both students charged forward at the same time, neither wanting to lose to the other. The distance of feet between them dwindled down to inches as Noikari attempted to strike the first blow. Bringing an arm forward, Noikari swiped at his blond classmate, but Bakugo slid under the blow, planting one hand into the ground, halting his momentum. With his free hand, Bakugo began firing rapid-fire blasts of fire. With only a second to react, Noikari placed one of his shields in front of him, effectively blocking the AP Shot: Auto Cannon. As the attacks grew in number, Noikari was forced to bring both shields to his frontside. The projectiles burst into puffs of smoke as they collided with Noikari's defense. Undeterred, the Explosion hero continued to barrage his enemy. Before long, the bombardment actually began pushing Noikari into the sky. After what felt like an eternity, Bakugo cut off his attack, sweat running down his forehead. Dropping his shields as he stared down at Bakugo, Noikari concentrated as his wings formed beneath his cape, unfurling at the ends. Shooting downwards, the child attempted to smash Bakugo through the arena, but the hot-headed teen rolled out of the way, with Noikari's impact creating a brief shower of debris and smoke.
As Bakugo got back to his feet, Noikari used his Quirk to conjure a lance, hoping to use it to gain an advantage over his foe. Before the boy could even attempt to wield it, Bakugo lunged forward and yanked the weapon out of Noikari's hands, throwing it aside. Without wasting another minute, Bakugo closed the gap between them once again, preparing a devastating right cross. As Noikari prepared to retaliate, he was left speechless as Bakugo launched an explosion from his arm to jump above the boy, spinning around as he brought a single leg up. Slamming it down, Bakugo's leg impacted harshly with Noikari's back and slamming him into the ground hard. Smashing into the gravel hard enough to actually bounce, Noikari had no time to react as Bakugo followed up with a powerful punch directly into his abdomen. Gasping for air, Noikari briefly stayed planted on Noikari's fist before the ensuing shockwave sent him sprawling across the ring. When he looked back up at Bakugo, the boy was already walking towards him slowly, a wicked grin on his face.
It didn't take long for Noikari to get himself up again, though he had trouble breathing. His eyes narrowed with determination as he tried to push the pain and the fatigue he felt out of mind.
He would win.
Bakugo's shouts tore him from his thoughts. "No more tricks, Noikari! I'm not playing your game anymore! Show me what your real strength is, without your little toys!"
Noikari seemed shocked at Bakugo's words before smiling.
"Alright then. Let's do this."
With the true nature of his Quirk, Noikari's hands became bathed in a purple glow as he took a fighting stance, ready to clash head on.
Noikari and Bakugo both stood silent, daring the other to make the first move. Neither of them moved for several moments, making sure they were truly ready for their next clash. A few seconds later, Bakugo let out a roar as he shot forward with his fists, aiming straight for Noikari's torso. The boy lurched forward as he felt the punches rattle his muscles painfully, but he pushed his body past the pain as he used his shorter stature to hit Bakugo with a headbutt to the chest. Stumbling back as Noikari attempted to shove him away, Bakugo brought a knee up and drove it into his face. The force was so strong that Noikari fell backwards onto the ground, barely avoiding falling out of the ring. Slowly raising back to his feet, he was subject to more attacks from a very angry Bakugo.
"Stop holding back, Noi!" Katsuki shouted as he struck Noikari hard across the face, sending teeth flying and blood spraying from his nose. "Show me what you can do!"
Noikari spat out a mouthful of red before trying to respond, only to feel another fist plant itself into his face, forcing the child to stumble back several steps. Desperate for a momentary reprieve, Noikari tried to scramble away before he felt a hand grasp his neck, hoisting him upward.
"If you really want to win this, then you better give me your all! This is embarrassing, and if this is all you have, then I'll just kill you!"
Angrily, Bakugo cracked his head across Noikari's own, causing the child to scream in pain, only to be silenced as Bakugo's fist buried itself into his chest.
Outside of the ring, those who were watching felt their hearts race uncontrollably as they watched the battle unfold.
"What's Bakugo doing?" Kaminari yelled out, his voice cracking slightly in fright. "Is he trying to kill the kid?"
Sero was equally as scared, his grip on Kirishima's shoulder tightening, causing Kirishima to wince in pain.
Iida looked to Yaoyorozu beside him. Her mouth was agape, her eyes wide in horror as she watched the scene unfold.
"What should we do!?"
Standing next to Aizawa, Mirko turned to him questioningly as Bakugo continued wailing on poor Noikari. "Can't you call off the match? He's taking this too far!"
Aizawa kept quiet for a few moments, pondering his options. If Bakugo wasn't going to stop himself from acting like an idiot, what could he possibly do? And while he didn't want to intervene, neither did he want his student to get hurt. His expression hardening, Aizawa turned his attention back to the fight. If it came down to it, he would intervene.
But something in the Pro Heros gut told him that he wouldn't have to.
As Bakugo landed another blow to Noikari's face, he saw that the child's struggles had almost completely seized. His hands dropped to his sides as his body went limp. Seeing this, Bakugo could only growl as he prepared the final blow.
"I can't believe someone like you could be so weak. I don't know what Aizawa saw in you, but I can see that he was wrong. You don't deserve to be here. You should've stayed in that lab rotting away like the waste that you are."
At this point, Noikari was practically motionless, his eyes now dull. Hearing Bakugo finish his last comment, a feeling of anger began to slowly boil up from within him.
"And what are you worth?"
Noikari's voice hardly came out as a whisper, yet Bakugo heard the message loud and clear. For a moment, Bakugo seemed stunned that the boy could even speak in the sorry state he was in, as his hands trembled in rage. Taking a deep breath to compose himself, Bakugo glared at the boy.
"You wanna say that again?"
Noikari's voice remained soft but firm. It had lost all emotion, save for its underlying hatred and frustration. Still struggling against his opponent, he managed to look Bakugo dead in the eye.
"You were so used to having people commend you for your Quirk when you were younger, you didn't have to spend your whole life alone and in pain. . ."
Bakugo tried to silence Noikari with another punch, but it was effortlessly caught, shocking him as Noikari shouted at him.
"So don't you dare say that I'm worthless!"
An aura of power forced Bakugo back a few steps, causing him to stumble and lose focus momentarily. Recovering quickly, Bakugo readied himself to pounce forward, but was quickly stopped as he saw Noikari's appearance.
The right side of his face was engulfed in the same purple glow that permeated around his hands, the flame-like waves swirling and flickering. In shock, Bakugo continued to back away as Noikari spoke once more, tossing his cape aside as he began to slowly move forward.
"You choose to act like a bully because that praise you once received made you have unrealistic expectations for yourself, which you can't live up to. For all of your pride and arrogance, you fear your own insecurities, and so you use the insecurities of others as an outlet. That way you can justify your actions and justify why you think you're worthless. But even after everything you've done, you still refuse to change. So you can shut your damn mouth, Bakugo! Because you know nothing about worth!"
Bakugo's eyes were practically red with fury as he brought his hands forward, his nitroglycerin-like sweat glands fueling his Explosion even further.
"JUST SHUT THE HELL UP!"
The hot-headed blonde angrily began to fire blast after blast of explosive energy towards Noikari. The child made no attempt to dodge or block as he continued his slow march towards his opponent as the Auto-Cannon AP Shot approached him. The boy disappeared from sight as the attacks connected, sending bursts of flames and smoke as each and every blast struck home. After roughly 30 seconds, Bakugo finally stopped firing, waiting to see the results of his handiwork as the dust almost encompassed the whole ring.
A purple aura expanded outward and blasted the smoke cloud away, revealing an uninjured Noikari, who continued to approach Bakugo. The boy's face appeared unharmed, with his hair disheveled from the blasts, his clothes slightly singed and covered in soot, and his face was stained with dirt and dried blood. Otherwise, he was fine.
Still glaring at him, Bakugo slowly backed away as he felt a sudden sense of dread. His gaze locked with Noikari's as he spoke with a menacing tone, one that sent chills through his entire body.
"Now, where were we..."
Desperate, Bakugo propelled himself forward with Explosion, planning to attack again and hopefully drive Noikari back. However, right as Bakugo launched himself, Noikari suddenly stopped walking. When Bakugo finally got close enough, Noikari raised a single hand up, grabbing Bakugo by the neck and keeping him suspended in the air. He then pulled his open hand back, channeling all of his power into a powerful uppercut that sent Bakugo soaring through the air as he was sent flying out of the ring. Pointing his hands at the ground, Katsuki attempted to use Explosion to launch himself back into the ring, but as the explosion reached its peak, he felt something kick him in the back. The change in momentum was too sudden for Bakugo to cease his attack, and instead of blasting himself back into the arena as intended, his own Explosion instead launched him downward, forcing him to make a painful collision. . .
Outside of the ring.
For the first time since the match began, the Sports Festival Stadium fell silent as Bakugo slowly realized what had occurred as Present Mic briefly held his mouth agape before announcing the results.
"A victory by ring out! Noikari is the winner!"
The crowd erupted into cheers as those of Class 1-A wondered what would happen now between Noikari and Bakugo. None of them knew what caused Bakugo to lash out at the child like that, but they couldn't help but wonder how things would play out from here.
Laying on the ground, Bakugo gritted his teeth as he rubbed his bruised jaw, wincing in pain at the soreness of his injuries. The Explosive hero could inwardly fume to himself as a new feeling slowly crept into his conscience. Deep down, he knew that feeling was guilt. Noikari's words had struck deeper than he had thought, and although his pride wouldn't allow it, he was furious because he knew.
He knew that deep down, Noikari was right.
As the crowds continued to clap and cheer, Noikari walked out of the ring victorious, although he didn't feel like it. Feeling dejected as Bakugo's word replayed in his mind, the boy walked past his classmates, beginning to leave the arena.
"Noikari!"
Momo stood from her seat, her eyes pleading with him to wait for a second. She was worried sick over him, wondering if he might need help. But before she could ask anything else, Momo was quickly silenced as Noikari brushed his way passed her without sparing her a glance. As he left, the familiar voice of Present Mic echoed through the building.
"And with that, we shall now begin the first match of the Semi-Finals! Izuku Midoriya versus Shoto Todoroki!"
Izuku watched his friend depart, wishing he could help him. Unfortunately, his match with Todoroki was next, forcing him to go to the arena, but not before shooting one last glance towards the direction which Noikari had gone. As he entered, he noticed Bakugo walking back to the rest of his classmates. What shocked Izuku the most was the fact that Bakugo seemed. . . almost sad.
Once outside of the stadium, Noikari leaned against the wall and sat down, not saying a word. Tears started to well in his eyes as Noikari shut himself off, sitting with his knees to his chest, attempting to calm himself down.
But no matter how much he tried, the words of Bakugo still rang in his ears. Noikari almost broke as a thought entered his mind and refused to leave.
He was worthless.
Bakugo marched back to the stands, still feeling not only the pain from Noikari's attacks, but also the emotional burden of his actions. As he reunited with the rest of Class 1-A, he noticed that most of them, including Aizawa, were glaring at him. He immediately knew why.
Bakugo started to speak. "Look, I'm not in the mood to talk about thi-"
He was instantly cut off by Momo, who in a rare show of anger, grabbed Bakugo by the shoulders.
"What do you mean 'you're not in the mood'?! Do you have any idea how awful the things you said were?"
"Get your damn hands off me!" Bakugo angrily yelled as he tried to shove her arms off him. "It wasn't my fault he-"
"Yes, it was." Came a cold reply as Mina interrupted their conversation.
Bakugo glared at the group behind her and opened his mouth to protest, but was interrupted by Shoji, the ends of his tentacles forming into mouths to allow him to speak.
"We heard all of it. Every last word. That kid saw you as a friend, and now because of you, he probably hates himself and thinks he deserves whatever he was put through," Shoji stated in a cold tone, causing Bakugo's glare to become even more intense.
The blonde looked as if he was ready to strangle someone, but he stopped as another voice, one much softer yet just as commanding rose above the group.
"That's enough."
Aizawa stepped down as he spoke, making his presence known as everyone turned to look at him. As he stared ahead at everyone, the tired man let out a sigh, rubbing his forehead.
"I understand all of your feelings towards Bakugo at the moment, quite frankly I don't blame you," the Pro Hero remarked as he cast a sideways glance at Bakugo, who had taken a step back when he saw his teacher coming. "But I can tell that you also feel anger towards yourself." Aizawa finished as he addressed the blonde directly.
Bakugo turned away with a scowl, staring down at the ground. "Tch, so what?"
Aizawa stared down at his student, placing a hand on his shoulder. Unlike before, Bakugo didn't fight to escape his grip as his teacher gave him a light squeeze. "You realize now that Noikari's words were right, and you actually wish to make amends.
Bakugo turned away from his teacher, a very faint hue of red staining his cheeks.
"Yeah, what about it?" Bakugo asked in a defiant manner, hoping that Aizawa wouldn't try to lecture him once more.
"If you do truly feel guilt for what you've done, then you should go apologize to him."
"Are you kidding?" Bakugo exclaimed as he glanced at Aizawa. "He won't listen. Not after what I said."
Eraser Head sighed. "Regardless of what you say or how badly you hurt him, if that's what he needs to hear at this stage, he'll find a way to respond to it, regardless of whether you're telling the truth. You cannot ignore him forever."
Bakugo looked at his teacher, and then turned to the rest of his classmates. In a swift motion, he shot an angry glare at Kirishima, who was getting ready to make a snide remark.
"Don't you dare."
Kirishima gulped visibly under Bakugo's harsh glare before nodding slightly. Satisfied, Bakugo nodded back before turning his attention back to the Pro Hero.
"Fine." He replied, "whatever. I'll do it."
Aizawa nodded and stepped aside as Bakugo walked past him, going to find Noikari. His mind thought back to the fight with Noikari minutes prior, his words replaying in his mind like a record.
𝘠𝘰𝘶 𝘤𝘩𝘰𝘰𝘴𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘢𝘤𝘵 𝘭𝘪𝘬𝘦 𝘢 𝘣𝘶𝘭𝘭𝘺 𝘣𝘦𝘤𝘢𝘶𝘴𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘱𝘳𝘢𝘪𝘴𝘦 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘰𝘯𝘤𝘦 𝘳𝘦𝘤𝘦𝘪𝘷𝘦𝘥 𝘮𝘢𝘥𝘦 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘶𝘯𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘭𝘪𝘴𝘵𝘪𝘤 𝘦𝘹𝘱𝘦𝘤𝘵𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘴 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘳𝘴𝘦𝘭𝘧, 𝘸𝘩𝘪𝘤𝘩 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘤𝘢𝘯'𝘵 𝘭𝘪𝘷𝘦 𝘶𝘱 𝘵𝘰. 𝘍𝘰𝘳 𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘰𝘧 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘱𝘳𝘪𝘥𝘦 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘢𝘳𝘳𝘰𝘨𝘢𝘯𝘤𝘦, 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘧𝘦𝘢𝘳 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘰𝘸𝘯 𝘪𝘯𝘴𝘦𝘤𝘶𝘳𝘪𝘵𝘪𝘦𝘴, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘴𝘰 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘶𝘴𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘪𝘯𝘴𝘦𝘤𝘶𝘳𝘪𝘵𝘪𝘦𝘴 𝘰𝘧 𝘰𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘴 𝘢𝘴 𝘢𝘯 𝘰𝘶𝘵𝘭𝘦𝘵.
Katsuki walked along the concourse as he searched for the youth. Eventually, he got far enough away from the center of the arena to where the sound of Izuku and Todoroki's battle were almost completely muffled. For a moment, Bakugo looked behind him, still able to see the hallway in which he had entered from. How big was this place? The blonde shook his head, getting rid of those thoughts as he continued his search. After several minutes of aimless walking, he finally found Noikari, who was sitting against the wall, knees brought up to his chest. Judging by the boy's puffy eyes, he had been crying not too long ago. Bakugo approached slowly, watching as Noikari lifted his head at the sound of his footsteps.
"Hey." Bakugo muttered, sitting down across from Noikari.
Noikari turned his head away from the blonde, not wanting to make eye contact. He remained silent for a while, and only spoke up when he felt like it was the time to speak.
"Why are you here?" Noikari mumbled quietly, keeping his gaze pointed at the ground, though he could feel Bakugo's eyes upon him as well.
Bakugo took a deep breath, glancing around as he tried to form any sort of response. What exactly did he want to say?
Finally, he came up with something that sounded decent enough.
"...I wanted to apologize. . for what I said earlier." He explained quietly.
Noikari remained silent, not daring to meet the blonde's gaze as he heard what Bakugo was saying.
"Look, Noikari," Bakugo began, feeling awkward as he struggled to gather his thoughts. "What I said... I shouldn't have done all of that, I know. But-"
"Stop."
Bakugo looked at Noikari in surprise at his sudden interruption.
The teen sat there for a few seconds in complete silence, until finally raising his head and looking directly into Bakugo's eyes with clear, sharp eyes.
"Just stop it. Stop trying to make excuses for yourself."
Bakugo retorted, annoyed at the sudden change in tone, and at Noikari's words.
"So that's it, huh? The one time I actually throw my pride away and try to apologize and yo-"
"Don't say anything else. I know why you're doing all these things. And I really don't want to hear it." Noikari blurted, interrupting the blondes train of thought.
Bakugo stared at Noikari in anger, his eyes widening as suppressed growls exited the crevasse of his mouth. Just as he looked ready to explode, his gaze softened, and a rare look of sadness washed over him.
"Look," said Bakugo, his voice barely above a whisper. "What I said was. . wrong. I have no excuse. I don't expect you to forgive me, even if I deserved it. And even if I did ask you to, you wouldn't because there's nothing I can offer you that would ever be worthy of your forgiveness. But if.. If I'm making things worse by talking about whatever I have to say, then I'm sorry. Please understand that." He finished awkwardly, unable to look directly at Noikari, but instead fixating his gaze on the concrete beneath his feet.
Silence filled the air once more, neither one speaking a word for some time. At length, Noikari raised his head again, staring straight at Bakugo, unable to process what he had just heard.
This was coming from the most brash, arrogant, hot-headed, self-absorbed, egotistical person he had ever met! And yet, Noikari could sense the genuine regret and sorrow in Bakugo's voice. His anger began fading rapidly, replaced by a strange feeling in his gut. It wasn't an unpleasant feeling. But rather, a pleasant one. Like a small spark igniting in the depths of his heart. But Noikari still couldn't bring himself to accept Bakugo's apology, not fully anyways.
I. . I'm sorry. I can't accept your apology."
Bakugo looked at Noikari in surprise, his eyes wide and unblinking.
"What? What the hell do you me-"
"Not yet anyways." Noikari interrupted, not giving Bakugo a chance to continue. "I don't know how long it might take until I can fully forgive you. If you want my respect back, you need to earn it back."
Bakugo was silent for a second, before sighing in defeat. It was better than nothing, he supposed.
"Alright. I think I can manage that. I guess."
Noikari smiled softly as he stood up from the floor, brushing off any dust that clung to the fabric on his pants. He was shocked to find Bakugo extending a hand out, a gesture of goodwill. Noikari stared at the hand for a moment. Slowly, he reached forward, grasping the fingers in his own smaller ones. He nodded curtly. Although there was still uncertainty and tension between them, it seemed as if they had come some sort of agreement. As the two silently made amends, they heard Present Mic's familiar booming voice, despite how far away they were.
"Izuku Midoriya is the winner! The next match will be Noikari versus Momo Yaoyorozu!"
Both Noikari and Bakugo's eyes widened as they both prepared to return to the arena. Exasperated, Bakugo turned to the boy beside him, only to find out that he was gone. The blonde was surprised as he turned back to see Noikari already making a mad dash for the arena. Despite his speed, Bakugo knew that it would take too long for the kid to make it back in time.
Unless he had help.
Bakugo pondered his choices for a moment, sighing loudly as he thought of an idea. Although normally his pride wouldn't allow him to do something like this, he knew that ultimately, it would help him regain Noikari's trust. Thrusting his hands back, Bakugo activated Explosion to propel himself forward, his speed increasing as the distance between himself and Noikari closed rapidly.
As Noikari continued to run, he suddenly felt something grab the back of his collar before it picked up speed, dragging Noikari along with it. The child shouted in alarm as Bakugo dragged him along.
"What are you doing?"
Not really caring as he fired another Explosion with a single hand as his other hand stayed clasped around Noikari's collar, Bakugo answered him simply, continuing to drag Noikari along as his speed increased once more.
"Hoping that we reach the arena sooner rather than later." Bakugo replied nonchalantly. "I mean, if you don't hurry, you'll lose..."
Noikari tried to protest but could only give up after seeing the grin that appeared on Bakugo's face, although the blonde did let go of Noikari, determining they were close enough for the boy to walk now as they slowed down. Now they had gotten close enough to the entrance of the arena where they could make out the outside.