AY YOOOOOOO WE'RE BACK AND EARLY THIS TIME. It's officially June and 6 months into 2022. Look at me I'm on a roll.
Hopefully I can finish up the tournament next chapter or whatever because this is getting too long. Don't you agree? Leave a comment or smth telling me to hit the skip button because maaaaan I want to as well.
But we got a long and I mean a looooong chapter today. The fabled fight between the two idiots and hey, maybe a special surprise at the end. I'm happy I managed to get this out after a stressful 4 hour exam today, man I am tired. Anyways folks, enjoy the episode!
~{Some random warehouse, I'm too lazy to say where}~
"How interesting…" Dabi put a hand to his chin after catching up on the sports festival.
The duo had been watching the sports festival from the start til now. After all, the talk with Kazuya had been in the morning but that wasn't established because no one knows how times work. Either way, the Todoroki and Midoriya fight had just finished and both were pretty invested in the fight.
"Shoto Todoroki… hm," He scoffed. "His flames seem weaker than mine"
Meanwhile, over to the other person…
"Hey, hey. Dabiiii," She went over to him and nudged his shoulder. "Don't you think that boy was pretty cool~"
"Oh god," The man muttered under his breath. "You're just saying that cause he was bleeding and had broken bones aren't you?"
"Izuku Midoriya…was that his name? It's pretty cute don't you think?" The crazy girl formed a sadistic smile on her face.
"You're not even listening to me," Dabi sweatdropped.
"It sucks he lost. I was hoping he'd win so he could show me more~" I mean…I don't even want to describe what she was doing. You can imagine it for yourself.
"And that's the last time I'm helping anyone…" He sighed.
"Eh? Awww, Dabi! You're so mean!" Toga crossed her arms and pouted, looking away from the man.
"Shush, it's almost time for the next match," Dabi turned his head towards the tv as the commercials ended.\
~{Back at the stadium}~
Kicking off to where we were last time, Shinjiro and the others were walking to the infirmary to see Midoriya.
While the others were talking amongst themselves, Iida saw a chance and walked up beside Shinjiro.
"Hey, Shinjiro," Iida said. "Excuse me for asking but, how do you think the match went?"
"Hmm," Shinjiro put a hand to his chin to think for a second. "In terms of an actual fight, pretty bad. If we're focusing on the emotional aspect then it was good."
"Actual fight…what do you mean by that?" Iida asked.
"If this was a situation where they were fighting to severely wound each other, then it would not work out," Shinjiro held up a finger. "Both wounded themselves more than each other. Midoriya blew up his fingers and his arms while Todoroki was too stubborn to use his fire which rendered him too immobile to fight back once his ice built up. Anyone could have capatilized on that chance and won instantly."
"I see…so in this instance neither had the upper hand once their weaknesses showed," The boy said.
"Yup. By the way, why'd you ask me?" Shinjiro turned his head to Iida.
"Well, you proved to be great at the analytical side of the fight. You really surprised me when you countered Yaoyorozu's comment during the battle trials. On top of that, you're fast and strong, you could possibly contend with the strongest of our class," He explained.
Shinjiro let out a chuckle.
"I have high expectations huh?"
"And yet…you've never tried," Iida turned his head so their eyes would meet.
"What do you mean?"
"Well…we've all been trying our best to win, however, you seem like you're not trying at all. During the race and during the cavalry battle, I could tell you were trying. But after that, it seemed like you weren't in it. To everyone else it looked like you were, but after seeing how you handled those villains and have such great leadership…makes me wonder why aren't you giving it a hundred percent?"
"You're quite perceptive yourself Iida," Shinjiro formed a small smile on his face.
"Guess I haven't been paying attention to myself. I guess even Iida could tell something was wrong," He thought as he balled his fists, his mission just keeps getting harder and harder.
"Shinjiro?" Iida waved a hand in front of his face, snapping him out of his trance.
"Hm? Oh, sorry. Just…thinking," Shinjiro cleared his throat before continuing. "But… I guess I have been out of it. Things come up you know? Then when it does, your brain isn't in on it 100 percent"
Iida nodded. "I understand what you mean. I've experienced that a couple of times where my focus wavers."
"Really?" Shinjiro was intrigued. "I didn't think you were the type of person to"
The president chuckled. "Well, despite my upbringing, everyone will have those issues"
"You're not wrong," Shinjiro and Iida continued talking with each other as they walked down the hall. But, we'll leave them to it. Let's check back on our favourite cinnamon roll.
~{Infirmary}~
"All right, you're good to go," Recovery Girl had just finished bandaging Todoroki up from his minor injuries.
"Thank you," Todoroki bowed before looking over to the unconscious Midoriya. "Is he going to be okay?"
Recovery Girl sighed. "He'll be fine. It's just that he's a handful sometimes you know?"
Todoroki nodded." Yea, but…that's what makes him strong"
The door to the infirmary slid open. Toshinori came rushing in like a storm and went right to Midoriya's side.
"Is young Midoriya going to be alright?" He asked, out of breath.
"He'll be fine," Recovery Girl assured. "But right now, I need to perform surgery before his health gets worse"
"S- Surgery?" Toshinori almost coughed out blood at the statement.
Todoroki narrowed his eyes and brought a hand up to his chin.
"I see…" He muttered to himself. "Then, I'm off"
He said before heading out of the room and sliding the door closed. With the boy now gone, Recovery Girl used this chance to stab Toshinori in the foot with her cane.
"Ow! What was that for?" Toshinori yelled out in pain while holding his foot with both his hands.
"For being such a bad influence! Look at him now!" She pointed to the bedridden boy with his arms and legs in bandages.
"R- right. Sorry," The hero apologized.
"A- All Might…" Midoriya's voice was weak.
"Young Midoriya," Toshinori looked down to see the boy.
"I- I'm sorry…"
"Sorry for what?"
"I shouldn't have meddled in Todoroki's business. If I had just kept my head low I-"
"Let me cut you off there," Toshinori held up his hand. "It's true that this was a disappointing outcome and some may call you a fool. But in the end, you did what you thought was right. Your meddling in his affairs helped him in the long run. Sometimes, we heroes need to meddle in the affairs of others, and while it may not be pretty…it's also an essence of a hero"
Midoriya grit his teeth in frustration as a single tear rolled down his cheek. Toshinori, sensing this, placed a hand on his head.
"Don't feel so frustrated about this. You'll come back from this stronger, I know it," The man smiled.
Then the door sild open once again.
"MIDORIYA!" Multiple voices shouted. Iida, Uraraka, Tsuyu and Mineta came barraging in like the FBI.
"Agh!" Toshinori jumped.
Recovery Girl groaned in frustration. "Shh!" She silenced the chaotic bunch.
Unfortunately, none of them seemed to listen as they went straight to Midoriya and asked how he was feeling.
"This is too hectic…" The medic shook her head and sighed.
"I know right…" Shinjiro appeared by her side, folding his arms. "Even in the tunnel on the way here, they were loud…"
Recovery Girl facepalmed before moving towards the group. "Alright, I know you're worried but I have to perform surgery now"
"SURGERY?!" The four exclaimed in shock.
Shinjiro sighed. "All right, all of you out. We've gotta let the doctor do her thing"
"Hey, wait! We haven't even gotten a chance to talk to him yet!" Mineta cried out.
He started to help push the others out of the infirmary despite their protests. Before fully making it out of the door, he turned his head and winked at Midoriya before forcefully pushing the four out of the room and closing the door behind him.
Toshinori sighed in relief as Recovery Girl started to get to work on Midoriya. While that happens, it's finally time to move on to the rest of the battles.
~{Match 2: Tenya Iida V.S. Eijiro Kirishima}~
Oh yes, finally. It's the speed maniac against the hard boy. We're going to skip the introductions, you know who they are, I know who they are, let's just get to the fight.
"Aaaaaand start!" Mic shouted.
"Come at me with all you got!" Kirishima grinned as he hardened himself, ready for Iida's attack.
Iida immediately got into a runner's stance and dashed forward, activating his legs thrusters, and quickly closed the distance between him and Kirishima. He instantly brought a leg up to kick Kirishima but the boy brought up his arms to deflect the kick. The shockwave sent the red-hair boy backward but he recovered quickly to try and land a punch on Iida.
Iida, predicting this, sidestepped Kirishima's special right hook and kicked him in the side.
"Oof!" Kirishima grunted as he stumbled off to the side.
He recomposed himself and went in for another hit on Iida, who boosted his gears into overdrive to zoom around Kirishima and leg swept him right off his feet. He landed on the ground with a hard thud.
"And Iida starts off with a strong attack to knock Kirishima off his feet," Mic announced as Iida stepped back to analyze his options.
"Go Iida!" Uraraka shouted.
"Oh, the match already started," Shinjiro said as he pocketed his phone and walked down the steps to a nearby seat.
"Shinjiro-san," Uraraka waved to the boy.
He gave her a small smile as he lifted his hand up. He turned his head towards the match as Iida was easily dominating the slow and defensive Kirishima.
"Engine…Burst!" Iida shouted as he steamed forward with his boosters, gathering enough momentum for a massive kick. Kirishima lifted up his arms again and braced for impact as a leg slammed into his arm shields and sent him back a couple of feet.
However, the kick wasn't strong enough to knock the boy out of the arena nor was it enough to knock him out entirely. Kirishima panted as he had defended another attack from Iida. But, it was only a matter of time before he would be knocked out of bounds.
"Kirishima's staying very defensive against Iida's speed. Could he be trying to tire Iida out?" Shinjiro put a hand to his chin as he thought of what the two could be planning.
Kirishima revealed a toothy grin as he lifted up his arms, hardening himself once again, and slammed into the ground creating a massive earthquake.
"What?" Iida, who was caught off-guard, lost his footing in the shockwave and basically allowed Kirishima to land a free punch to his face. Of course, he wasn't hardened when he delivered the punch because we want to keep this fight PG.
Iida then countered with a kick of his own, kneeing Kirishima in the side and then grabbing him and trying to swing him out of bounds.
"Hmm…" Shinjiro narrowed his eyes. "He's not using it yet…"
"No, you don't!" Kirishima quickly hardened his legs to grip the ground before turning around and going for another punch. "Ora!"
"Nngh!" Using a little power from his boosters, Iida managed to dodge the attack and reset himself.
"Now's the right time!" Iida thought as he quickly positioned himself in a runner's stance, promptly alerting Kirishima that another attack was incoming.
"Recipro…Burst!" He shouted as his boosters kicked into overdrive. He quickly gain enough speed to reach Kirishima, who was suprised at how fast Iida had travelled, and shoulder charged right into him.
The force knocked Kirishima off his feet and he sailed through the air. He fell off the arena stage and landed on the floor, slightly bouncing off it before coming to a stop.
Midnight raised her whip. "Kirishima is out of bounds! Iida moves on to the next round!"
"Yay, Iida!" Uraraka cheered along with a couple of their classmates.
"I see," Shinjiro muttered. "He purposefully drained Kirishima's stamina along with his own to get him closer to the edge before pushing himself to finally get rock-steady out of bounds. Heh…clever"
His thoughts were cut off when his phone vibrated in his pocket, prompting him to pull it out and check. It was a text message from an unknown number. Instantly, his brain went into overdrive, who was it? Could it have been Kazuya? Was he even watching him as he sat in those stands?
He gulped and tapped on the message, allowing his phone to open up the text chat:
?: Hi hi! When you coming over to our side to enjoy the match?
Shinjiro breathed a sigh of relief, he couldn't imagine what'd he do if he really was being watched.
Shinjiro: Dammit, Setsuna. How'd you even get my number?
Setsuna: How'd you guess it was me?
Shinjiro rolled his eyes as he read her message.
Shinjiro: Who else would text me asking that kind of question?
Setsuna: Mmm, Kendo probably
Shinjiro: Is that how you got my number?
Setsuna: Yeppers!
The boy sighed internally. "This girl…"
Shinjiro: Fine, I'll come over for the next match. I'll be leaving early since my fight is after that.
Setsuna: Okie! See you soon!
Shinjiro turned his phone off before getting up from his seat at the same time as a bird and Pinkie Pie.
"Everyone, wish me luck!" Ashido waved happily before skipping off to prepare for the match.
Tokoyami didn't say anything as he walked off but not before exchanging glances with Shinjiro who gave him a slight nod as he walked past. After their brief exchange, Shinjiro quickly left as well and made his way over to class B's seats.
Let us flash forward a little bit to when Shinjiro finally gets to class B's seats due to some off screen shenanigans. No I'm not going to tell you what he's doing.
Either way, he was on his phone doing who knows what. As he was about to reach the seats, some blonde idiot blocked his path forcing him to look up to his face.
"What do you think you're doing here?" Monoma asked, his intimidation tactics off the roof.
"Walking?" Shinjiro furrowed his brow in confusion.
"Well, it seems to me that you're walking over to our class seats. But you're not from our class are you?" The boy started to get up all in his face.
Shinjiro just stared at him, dead silent, for a couple of seconds before peeking his head over his shoulder and shouting to Kendo.
"Kendo! Can you come clean up this copycat trash? I have no idea what's saying cause all I hear is rubbish!" He cupped his hands to amplify his voice so that he could get Kendo's attention.
"What?" Monoma was taken aback before grabbing his collar in anger. "Why you-"
"Monoma!" Oh, here comes the big sister to clean up the mess. "Stop antagonizing him!"
Monoma let go of Shinjiro's collar and turned around to greet the angry girl.
"Kendo, but he-" Monoma tried to negotiate with her but was met with a chop to his head. "Ow!"
"Sorry about him Shinjiro," The girl apologized before turning her head to her classmate. "Now come here, I bet Yuko would like to teach you a thing or two"
She promptly grabbed him and dragged him off to whatever punishment awaits him.
"Hm, it seems the negotiations were short," Shinjiro muttered to himself.
Too bad, I'm never going to let you think to yourself because quick footsteps approached him. Next thing, you know he was basically tackled from behind causing him to fall forward. He was about to fall down multiple flights of stairs if it wasn't for floating, dismembered limbs keeping him from doing so.
"Really Setsuna?" He deadpanned after his near death experience to a handful of concrete stairs.
"Haha! Got you this time!" She exclaimed.
"Yeah, you literally got me," He said as he looked down to the multiple limbs holding onto him. "Now, you mind getting off?"
"Hehe nope~" She cheekily said.
"Why you-" He was about to retaliate before someone else cut him off.
"Oh, Shinjiro-san. We meet again," A girl appeared right in front of him. It could have been a new girl but the vines on her hair should give it away.
"Oh hiya, Shiozaki," Setsuna waved with…whatever spare arm she had.
"Hey again…plant girl," Shinjiro ached as he was starting to struggle with Setsuna doing whatever she's doing. I'll leave that up to your imagination.
"I believe I have told you to call me by my name last time," The plant girl said.
"Oh right sorry"
"You guys know each other?" Setsuna asked, slightly surprised.
"Entrance…exams…" Shinjiro grunted as he pried a piece of her body off his body.
"Oh, I see," The lizard girl seemed to understand. "But did anything happen afterwards?~"
"S- Setsuna-san!" Shiozaki shouted at her with a growing blush on her face. "We did not do anything!"
"And yet in the way that you said that sounds like we did," Shinjiro sweatdropped.
"What's this I heard about?" Kendo's voice interjected as she walked up to them with her arms crossed.
"Setsuna's mind going to the deep end again," Shinjiro blankly stated.
"S- Setsuna! Your mind can't keep going there all the time!" Kendo lectured. "And get off Shinjiro. He's practically getting crushed."
"Awww, but I wanted to hug him some more," She pouted.
"Do you do this with everyone?" Shinjiro had gotten rid of all the limbs on him and was now struggling to get the koala off his back.
"Yup!"
Kendo sighed. "Alright come here you," She said as she tried to pry Setsuna off Shinjiro.
"Why do you have to ruin this toooo!" Setsuna complained as she was gripping onto Shinjiro's back for dear life.
"I knew I should have never come here…" Shinjiro facepalmed.
Shiozaki stayed silent as she watched the three being playful.
"Could I ever be like that?" She wondered.
"Shiozaki watch out!" A shout cut her off from her thoughts as suddenly Shinjiro was sent barreling down the flight of stairs and going to fall right on top of her. The girl closed her eyes as Shinjiro slammed right into her and they were sent tumbling.
In an attempt that breaks physics as we know it, Shinjiro managed to grab Shiozaki and shield her with his own body, placing one hand on her head and angling himself to take all the hits. Classic situation where falling downstairs into a girl will always make up for awkward situations.
Fortunately, they didn't fall down very far and came to a stop real soon. The audience next to where they fell were startled by the sudden action and moved out of the way to give the two space.
"Ugh…I hate anime tropes," Shinjiro grunted as he was somehow staying conscious. "Shiozaki you alright?"
"I- I think so…" Shiozaki nodded before opening her eyes. However, I guess seeing Shinjiro's face so close to her made her freak out.
"Eek!" She screeched before pushing herself off him and getting up. She put her hands together before praying. "I'm sorry my lord for I have sinned"
"Can we call off the match now? Ugh…" Shinjiro put a hand over his face as he sudden got a headache.
"Shinjiro! Shiozaki!" Kendo shouted as she ran down the steps.
"You guys okay?" Setsuna followed suit.
"U- Um…yes," Shiozaki responded.
"I want to die…" Shinjiro groaned.
"O- oh…pl- please don't," The vine girl said shyly.
"Damn, you really took a hard fall there Shinjiro," Setsuna remarked. "You sure you're okay?"
Kendo stuck out her hand for him to grab and pulled him up. As he stood up, Shinjiro got one hell of a headache. That's what you get for allowing excessive brain trauma to happen to your head.
"Are you sure you don't want to go see Recovery Girl?" Kendo asked concerned.
"No, no…I'm fine," Shinjiro waved it off.
"Alright everyone, sorry to keep you waiting but the final two rounds of the quarter finals are happening real soon!" Mic's voice echoed through the arena.
"Ow…" Shinjiro plugged his ears as his head ringed.
"I- I'm sorry…" Shiozaki looked down, feeling bad for him. She felt a hand on her shoulder and looked up, seeing Shinjiro in front of her.
"Don't worry about it. It's not your fault. If you had hit your head I wouldn't forgive myself," He managed to crack a small smile on his face despite the pain. "Come on, let's go watch the match"
He walked up the stairs as she stared at him from behind. A small blush crept up onto her face when she realized what she was thinking before she shook her head from side to side.
"Come on. You're better than this," She chastised herself before following the others back up to their seats.
~{Match 3: Fumikage Tokoyami V.S. Mina Ashido}~
Did we really need to do a time skip here? I mean the match was about 5 minutes-
"Go Dark Shadow!"
"Roger!" Dark Shadow emerged out of Tokoyami and started bee lining to Ashido.
"Eh?!" Ashido started to panic and threw balls of acid at the sentient quirk.
"This. is. Ez!" Dark Shadow said as he swerved and dodged a couple of her acid balls.
It then used its body to slam right into Ashido causing her to be launched backwards.
"Whoa!" The girl shouted as she flew back and landed on her butt which was just outside of the arena lines.
"GG no re," Dark Shadow lifted up a peace sign in front of him.
"Ashido is out of bounds! Tokoyami moves on to the semi-finals!" Midnight shouted with a crack of her whip.
"He won in an instant too?!" Mineta's eyes comically bulged out of his head.
"Tokoyami's Dark Shadow is pretty strong kero," Tsu commented.
Over to Shinjiro now and…I have to say he's not feeling too hot. The headache probably transitioned to a migraine as the noise around started to irritate him and make it worse.
After Tokoyami won, the crowd erupted causing him to erupt as well and shot up from his seat.
"Shinjiro?" Kendo asked. "You okay?"
"Y- Yea," He said, bringing two fingers up to his eyeballs and rubbing them. "My match is happening soon so I'd better get ready"
"Good luck, Shinjiro," Setsuna wished him.
"We'll be cheering for you," Kendo added.
Before he could leave the seats, however, Shiozaki grabbed his hand.
"Hm?" He looked down to see the shy girl struggle to get her words out. The corner of his mouth perked up as he used his other hand to head pat her.
"?!" The girl was slightly shocked at the sudden gesture but didn't say anything.
"I know, I'll do my best," He said before she released her grip on him.
As he walked off, Kendo and Setsuna stared at him.
"Why couldn't he head pat me?" They both collectively thought.
We shall now cut to Shinjiro walking to the bottom of the arena and getting ready for his fight against Bakugo. Or so he thought.
"Shinjiro-san?" He lifted his head to see Midoriya in front of him, all bandaged up and drowsy from the surgery.
"Midoriya," Shinjiro said. "You're out early"
"Yea… Recovery Girl healed me enough so that I could walk," Midoriya explained. "However…"
He looked down at himself and the state he was in.
"I told you not to overdo it anymore. After all, I've already permanently scarred myself"
"Of course you have," Shinjiro said. "Going all out on Todoroki was bound to cause you permanent damage. But…be proud"
"Huh? Be…proud?" Midoriya was perplexed.
"Be proud of those scars," Shinjiro said walking up to him and putting a finger to his chest. "Those scars happened because you helped Todoroki after all. He's in a better place thanks to you. So take pride in it."
Midoriya looked up to the boy, his eyes seemed to sparkle as if new life had be brought to him. "Thank you Shinjiro-san. I'll definetely prove myself!"
"Great, now if you would excuse me-" Shinjiro flinched as he clutched his head, it started to ring again.
"Sh- Shinjiro-san? Are you okay?" Midoriya used his free arm to hold onto Shinjiro's shoulder.
"Ugh…I'm- I'm fine…" The ringing seemed to stop and he lowered his hand from his head. "I just…fell down the stairs earlier"
"Eh?! Then we gotta get you to Recovery Girl!" Midoriya started to pull Shinjiro away but the boy just undid his grip.
"Sorry, but my match is up next." He said.
"But-"
"It's him," He insisted with a hint of venom in his voice. "I won't get a chance like this ever again"
"Chance?" Midoriya asked but it didn't take him long to figure out what Shinjiro was planning. "No…you can't. Please…"
"Sorry Midoriya…" He apologized before starting to walk off. "It's been kept in for far too long. Ugh…this headache doesn't help either."
"Shinjiro-san… if you're really going to do it then…"
Shinjiro stopped in his tracks to hear what Midoriya was going to say. The boy's voice was muted by the ringing in his ears but he heard what he said perfectly. Word for word.
"I see…" Shinjiro muttered to himself before walking away for his match.
Midoriya watched as he turned around a corner. "I know I can't stop you Shinjiro-san. But…I trust you"
~{Match 4: Shinjiro V.S. Katsuki Bakugo}~
"Alrighty folks! It's time for the final match of the quarter-finals!" Mic announced leading the crowd to rile up once more.
Shinjiro and Bakugo walked up to their respective sides looking like the calm before the storm. Both would probably snap once the match started.
Shinjiro had his hands in his pockets acting all cool. What a loser.
Bakugo cracked his knuckles while waiting for Mic to start the match.
"On one side, it's the explosive boy himself! Katsuki Bakugo from the hero course!"
Bakugo stared at Shinjiro, trying to study him but the kid was just utterly unreadable. Bakugo could not understand what Shinjiro was thinking.
"I can't understand this prick at all…"
"And on the other, a certain suprise to be sure but a welcome one. It's Shinjiro from the hero course!"
Shinjiro took a deep breath and removed his hands from his pockets. He loosened his body up and stared back at Bakugo.
"It's time"
"Shinjirooooooooooo! You can do it!" Lunch Rush shouted, while holding up the banners Nezu made.
Up in the stands, everyone was in their seat eagerly anticipating the fight. Midoriya himself managed to make it to the stands in time.
"Midoriya!" Iida called out from behind him as he too just made it out of the tunnel.
"Iida-san," Midoriya turned his head to greet his friend.
"It seems the surgery was a success. Thank goodness"
"Yeah, thank you"
Iida looked down at the two fighters. "Shinjiro against Bakugo. I wonder who'll win"
"Yea…I wonder too," Midoriya said sadly, knowing what would happen.
"It's time to get wild!"
Bakugo immediately got into a fighting stance while Shinjiro calmed himself one more time with a deep breath. After exhaling, he lifted his arms up but didn't bawl his hands into fists. Instead, he maintained a calm and cool pose and taunted Bakugo by gesturing him to come closer. He swore he saw a cross vien appear on the angry boy's forehead.
"Aaaaaand fight!"
An imaginary bell ringing signalled the fight's beginning.
"SHI-NE!"
You know what happens when fights start, Bakugo is blasting his way to the front. Which was exactly what he did. He used his explosions to propel him towards Shinjiro and pulled his hand back for a strike.
"Too slow," Shinjiro said before quickly dodging Bakugo's palm strike and gave him a little push to send him to the farthest regions of the arena.
"Nngh!" Bakugo grunted as he twisted his body around and used his explosions to bring him to a halt.
Shinjiro turned around to face him, lifting up his hand and flicking some debris off his shoulder.
This seemed to set Bakugo off.
"DON'T SCREW WITH ME!" He shouted before lunging himself at the teen.
He launched a fist at Shinjiro's chest which was quickly deflected before Shinjiro thrusted his palm forward and hitting Bakugo in the stomach. It knocked the wind out of him for a couple seconds as he stumbled back.
Bakugo recovered and followed up with a right hook to which Shinjiro countered by lifting up his arms and simply moving with Bakugo's momentum, causing the boy to completely miss. Shinjiro then pushed him away from his body, allowing him to gather more space.
"YOU LITTLE-" Bakugo turned around to see Shinjiro's palm in front of his face, causing him to widen his eyes in response. Almost in an instant, Bakugo instinctively jumped back to avoid whatever was coming his way.
But nothing came.
All he got was Shinjiro forming a finger gun and 'shooting' him mouthing the words 'bang' as he did.
Up in the stands, Monoma was slightly shocked at Shinjiro's little stunt, reminding him of the first time he showed off his copy quirk to Bakugo by blasting him in the face during the cavalry battle.
"Interesting," The blonde thought.
"You little fuck!" Bakugo spat before lauching himself at the boy again. "Stop playing around!"
The angry boy moved to punch Shinjiro but the boy caught it easily and pulled him towards him.
"Where's that number one I heard about?" Shinjiro whispered into his ear.
"Gh!" Bakugo flinched, he didn't anticipate his enemy to do something like that.
"You've grown weaker…Kacchan."
Hearing that name sent Bakugo into a frenzy.
"HOW DO YOU KNOW THAT?!" He shouted, before lifting his free hand and set off an explosion right into Shinjiro's torso. Smoke immediately filled the arena as a medical team was called to standby in case anything else happened.
All the spectators cringed at the sight, not wanting to imagine how hurt Shinjiro could be. Midoriya clutched onto the railing as he watched his friend get blown up, slightly worried for what's to come.
"And Bakugo with a point blank explosion to Shinjiro's chest! That's gonna hurt in the morning!"
"Come on…is that all you got? I expected more from the one who said he'd be at the top!" Shinjiro's voice boomed throughout the stadium.
Bakugo flinched as the explosion he had caused didn't seem to affect Shinjiro at all. Sure his uniform was a little bit torn, but the boy himself seemed perfectly fine.
Shinjiro cocked a fist back and punched Bakugo square in the face. The boy hit the ground as Shinjiro stumbled backwards, holding a hand to his head.
*Riiiiiiiiinnnnngggg*
His head stung, and the headaches were coming back even stronger now.
"I guess that's what I get for…falling down stairs and getting hit point blank by an explosion. But…" He shook his head and lifted it up to see Bakugo getting up from the floor.
Bakugo cracked his head as he got up, looking even more pissed than usual. Sparks crackled in his hands and he got ready to turn it up to the max.
Shinjiro saw the look he had, he remembered it all too well. The face of an enraged Bakugo was something that Shinjir had seen time and time again.
"This kind of takes me back," He reminisced. Back to the time when he'd always take Bakugo's hits for Midoriya, sometimes pissing him off even more when the kid would take it over and over. Sometimes he reveled in seeing the look on Bakugo's face as he continued to up his burning.
Ok masochist.
However, that reality isn't a reality anymore. Midoriya had been the only one that was bullied by everyone else. He had to endure everything all over again, this time without emotional support. All the pain he bottled up…and how close he was to ending it.
Time seemed to slow when Shinjiro remembered when he met Midoriya in this new world once again. The stories he had been told by him made his blood boil.
The ringing in his head didn't help either. In fact, it was so bad a flashback started playing.
~{Flashback}~
A fist slammed into a set of rocks, slightly cracking it.
"Dammit…so things really did change," Shinjiro said in anger.
"Yea…" Midoriya looked down.
The duo were at the beach after some training. It was only their second day together but they had gotten along just like old times. The mood instantly turned sour when Shinjiro asked Midoriya how his childhood went.
As Midoriya kept talking, the more angry Shinjiro had become. Because he was the only outcast, Midoriya was the only subject to the bullying. Basically, it's canon all over again.
They sat in silence after Midoriya finished, looking out to the rising sun that seemed to creep out of the ocean.
"I'm sorry," Shinjiro said, breaking the silence.
"Huh?" Midoriya turned his head in confusion. "What do you mean?"
"If I had just…" He sighed. "I don't know what I would have done but…I wasn't there for you. If you'd had jumped…"
"I'm sorry too," Midoriya interjected. "Wh- When All Might told me that it wasn't possible for me to become a hero without a quirk…I guess I lost all sense of reasoning within myself. I'd never thought that that was where it'd put me."
Midoriya seemed to choke on his words as Shinjiro stared at him. He saw the hurt in his eyes before wrapping an arm over the boy's shoulder.
"It's all good," Shinjiro tried to cheer him up. "You managed to reason with yourself in time and look where you are now. You're All Might's successor so now you can lift your head high."
Midoriya nodded before standing up from his seat. "You're right."
"I'm going to show the world that I am here!" He shouted into the far ocean. He then turned to Shinjiro. "Shall we train a little more before All Might gets here?"
Shinjiro cracked a small smile on his face. "Yup"
Deep down though, he knew the scars would never heal. His and Midoriya's would begin to surface when either one of them would see Bakugo again. He knew Midoriya would be fearful of him but it was his job to get over that.
As for Shinjiro? The pure rage he has in heart never stopped growing. He understood everything, after all he had been there since the start.
That was when he vowed to himself. He would stop Bakugo by all means necessary.
"STOP SPACING OUT DAMMIT!" Bakugo screamed before he was inches away from Shinjiro.
"SHI-NE!" A large explosion rattled the arena as Bakugo had set off yet another explosive in front of Shinjiro's face. Smoke and ash instantly filled the arena even more than how it was in the beginning.
"Ooh, and another explosion to the face! Hey, kid, you sure you're alright down there?"
*RIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIINNNNNNNNGGGGGGG*
Ok, can this stupid ringing please shut up it's pissing me off-
"Heh," Oh wait, what's going on? "Hehehe…"
I think it's safe to say the silence in the audience means they are slightly freaked out by one of them laughing pretty creepily.
Out of the smoke came Bakugo jumping back to gain some distance, people were hoping the random laughing would stop but-
"Hahahaha!" Do we…have a Joker on the loose?
"What's going on?" Mic said. "Why is Shinjiro going loco?"
"The explosions Bakugo set off were dangerously close to him. The impact of the explosion must have caused him to become delirious," Aizawa theorized.
"What the hell?" Bakugo said, confused. "Stop laughing or I'll kill you!"
"Hehe…" Shinjiro slowly stepped out of the smoke, he clutched his head and his hair covering his eyes. He had suddenly stopped laughing once Bakugo made his remark.
His arm dropped to his side as his body stopped moving. Honestly, I don't know what's going on in his head, he's never done this before.
"Kill me?" He said, his voice supringingly the same. He lifted his head, revealing his face somehow not burnt but instead it was his eyes burning with rage.
With a simple scoff, he disappeared and suddenly reappeared right in front of the confused Bakugo. In an instant, he grabbed the boy's neck and choke slammed him into the ground. The boy, who wasn't ready at all, got the wind knocked out of him and his throat started to burn.
Shinjiro leaned closer to him. "I wonder why you're so fascinated with killing. Villian behaviour perhaps?"
Bakugo retaliated by raising his free hand to blow an explosion in Shinjiro's face, but the boy expected it and grabbed it and pinned him down to the floor. Bakugo was frantically thinking of ways to escape the strong grip Shinjiro had on him.
"Who the hell is this guy?"
"Listen here you little shit," Shinjiro spat, the venom in his voice really coming out now. "I know you're never going to change but let me leave you with this…you'll always be weak"
Hearing that made Bakugo's blood boil. He mustered the rage in him to let go of the hand that was holding Shinjiro's arm from fully knocking him out and punching him in his face again.
The knockback loosened Shinjiro's grip on the boy before Bakugo threw him to the side. As both fighters struggled to get up, Bakugo started screaming at him.
"Weak?!" He shouted. "How dare you call me weak!"
"Because that's all you are!" Shinjiro shouted back. He pushed himself off the ground and slowly got back up. "Seriously do you ever stop to think about what you're doing?"
"URUSAI!" Bakugo lunged at him again but Shinjiro, despite all the rage building up inside him, calmly deflected all of Bakugo's punches.
Up at the stands, the audience slowly got over their uncomfortable feeling and watched curiously at the fight. However, there was still a mixed reception amongst the classes watching.
"I didn't even know Shinjiro could snap like that. It was kinda scary," Setsuna commented.
"Yea…" Kendo watched as Shinjiro continued to be on the defensive. "What happened to him and Bakugo?"
"That's not very manly of him to call Bakugo weak," Kirishima said with his arms crossed.
"Well, he did get hit by so many explosions and withstood them all," Kaminari recounted. "Maybe he's riling him up some more to get hit more?"
"I didn't know he swung that way," Mineta said and was quickly slapped by the nearest classmate.
"I wonder why he's being so defensive though," Jiro twirled one of her earjacks. "He had Bakugo there, I don't know why he isn't finishing him"
"Wait…I see!" Ojiro said excitedly causing everyone to turn their heads to him. "He's using martial arts!"
"Martial arts?" Ashido asked, confused. "What do you mean?"
"You see what he's doing right now?" Ojiro pointed down at the movements Shinjiro was doing to prevent Bakugo from blowing his face up. "It's called Wing Chun"
"W- Wing?" Hagakure tilted her 'head', question marks sprouting.
"Wing Chun, it's a Chinese martial art. It requires the form of quick arm movements and strong legs while also keeping a calm and a certain softness to the techniques," The monkey explained. "He's trying to tire Bakugo out by constantly deflecting his attacks but also trying to not tire himself out by Wing Chun"
"I see," Yaoyorozu brought a hand to her chin. "By utilising that technique, he is actively preserving his energy while Bakugo gets more tired and sloppier in his attacks, allowing Shinjiro to most likely get a final hit on him."
"Although, I'm not sure it works well when Bakugo is busy trying to explode him," Ojiro sweatdropped.
Another explosion went off as soon as he said that. Back to the fight now, and Bakugo is looking as tired as Shinjiro wanted him to be. The boy was panting as his explosions started to get less and less explosive. Meanwhile, Shinjiro took another deep breath in and continued to maintain his fighting style.
"Coward!" Bakugo shouted. "Fight me properly! You called me weak but aren't you the one who's running away!"
"I thought you were smart Bakugo," Shinjiro said. "You should've seen what I was doing minutes ago"
Bakugo looked at him with a confused look. Fortunately, it didn't take him to long to figure out what Shinjiro meant as his legs suddenly gave way and he dropped to the floor.
"Bakugo has gone down due to exhaustion! Maybe scary Shinjiro could beat him!"
"I underestimated you. I thought you'd actually prove yourself against me. If only you didn't have anger issues. Maybe none of this could have happened," Shinjiro said, a hint of sadness in his voice.
"The fuck you talking about?!" Bakugo spat, even when he's incapatitated he can still be a prick.
"Do you remember? By the stream, so many years ago," Shinjiro started to slow walk towards Bakugo. "When you showed your true colors for the first time"
Bakugo rummaged through his brain to figure out what he was talking about. Despite his issues, Bakugo was still a smart boy so he understood what Shinjiro was talking about.
"So? What does that got to do with this?"
Shinjiro smirked. "You thought yourself number one. The best of the best and your quirk was there to prove that. Until, at least, he came"
Bakugo's eyes widened. "How do you-"
"You thought he was looking down on you," Shinjiro said, reaching him and crouching down to his level. He started to speak in a lower voice so no one in the stadium would hear him. "But Midoriya was never…never looking down on you"
"How do you know that!" Bakugo lifted his hand only for it to be grabbed by Shinjiro.
"Heh, of course you wouldn't know. But don't worry about the tiny details. I just need to ask: Why did you bully him? All the years of him suffering under your rule and yet you still have your sights set on him. Why?"
Bakugo grunted. "Because he's-"
"Deku…right?" Shinjiro calmly said. "But that leads me to the point… if he's just a pebble for you to kick. Then why is the pebble still there?"
Bakugo was speechless. He could only stare and listen as Shinjiro kept talking.
"If he really was just a pebble on the road, then why didn't you carry on? Why did you keep kicking him over and over again? If he really meant nothing to you then why didn't you move on?"
The tight on Shinjiro's grip grew harder and stronger, Bakugo slightly winced at the grip tightening around his arm.
"Shouldn't you be working harder to reach number one? Instead of doing exactly that, you bullied and tortured Midoriya just to prove a point. And you did…yet…he's here. Do you want to know why? Because he moved on, he found a new purpose in life and worked hard for it. Now he's here, standing in this very moment."
"You little-" Bakugo was clearly having none of it and tried to break free, having had time to collect his strength. Shinjiro realised this and delivered a swift headbutt to Bakugo's own head. Bakugo's head hit the floor while Shinjiro stared at him as a single blood drop ran down his head.
"I'm not done," He said before lifting Bakugo up by his collarbone and standing upright. "Midoriya's reaching towards his goals. What are you doing? Stooping down to such a level to continue to ruin his life. That makes you weak."
"Just shut up…" Bakugo growled. "What do you know of me?…of him? HOW?!"
He proceeded to press his hands onto Shinjiro's torso and let off smaller explosions. While Shinjiro was visbly in pain, he held it in before cocking his fist back and punching Bakugo in the cheek, causing the boy to flail his arms and stop his attack. Not wanting to let the boy fall, Shinjiro resumed his grip onto Bakugo and pulled him closer.
Shinjiro panted before letting out an exasperated sigh. "I can clearly tell most of what I'm saying isn't going to your stupid head. So here's what we're going to do. You're going to win."
"Wha-"
"I don't care anymore. I've gotten my point across and I didn't want to get too worked up and hurt him," Shinjiro shifted his head ever so slightly to gesture towards Midoriya.
The boy was visibly distraught as he could vaguely tell what Shinjiro was doing to Bakugo. Although, he hasn't shown any emotion to anyone around him, his body sure did as he started to lose balance.
"Mi- Midoriya! Are you okay?" Iida quickly came to his aid and helped him up.
"Y- Yea…I guess that was the medicine kicking in," Midoriya apologized.
"For now, I'm going to hold onto you so that you don't fall," Iida insisted leading Midoriya to form a small smile back.
Shinjiro pushed Bakugo away from him, dragging the match out even longer with both sides starting to feel the effects of exhaustion.
"Who…are…you?" Bakugo asked between breaths, the anger in his voice still building.
"Should…you really be asking this question now?" Shinjiro panted.
"You seem to know everything about me. So tell me! Who the fuck are you!" Bakugo shouted at him.
"Shouldn't you know who I am? We've been in class together for quite some time already," Even now, he still has time to be an ass.
"YOU LITTLE FUCK!" Even Bakugo's had enough as he started blasting his way over to Shinjiro.
Shinjiro got in his defensive pose again.
"You calling me weak?! Stop defending and fight me already!" Bakugo screamed as he held up his hands in front of him.
"Stun grenade!"
"Oh shi-" Shinjiro thought as he held up his arms to block the incoming attack.
Bakugo let off an explosion but instead blinded everyone in the audience with his attack. Everyone shielded their eyes from the blinding light as Shinjiro did the same.
Bakugo used this chance to charge up an explosion and pelt Shinjiro with it. Confused and dazed, Shinjiro had no time to anticipate and block the attack causing him to get hit and flung backwards.
But Shinjiro stood his ground as he skidded to a halt just outside the arena.
"You got your fight Bakugo…" Shinjiro said. "You just haven't realised yet"
"SHUT UPPPPPP!" Bakugo used all his strength to boost forward and prepare for one final, ultimate finisher.
"Bakugo is going all out! What's going to happen?!" Mic shouted as Bakugo got closer and closer.
Shinjiro held his arms up in front of him as he watched the boy draw nearer. He knew he wasn't going to beat it, he was almost over the line already. Plus, it'd be a fruitless endeavor to continue fighting. He softened up his stance just a tad bit as he waited patiently.
"SHI-NE!"
Then…impact.
*RIIIIIIIIIIINNNNNNNGGGGGG*
The explosion threw Shinjiro out of the arena and he slammed straight into the arena wall, shattering it. A mixture of dust, smoke and debris filled the arena.
"Come on! Are we really having a destroyed arena for the second time today? Seriously EraserHead you need to teach your students to not destroy everything!" Mic complained. "The budget is going through the roof!"
No one could see what happened but one thing was for sure: there was no way Shinjiro avoided that blasted. As expected, standing on the arena platform was none other than Bakugo himself.
Seeing this, Midnight cracked her whip. "Shinjiro is out of bounds! Bakugo moves on to the next round!"
The audience blasted into screams and shouts, having no idea what the two were conversing earlier. Some of the audience and even some students from both classes were slightly concerned for Shinjiro.
"I hope he's alright"
"Yea, he really took an ass beating there"
"Even with all the shit talking as well. He should've backed up his statements"
Midoriya's stomach churned as he feared the worst. He suddenly sprang out of Iida's hold on him and sprinted down the tunnel to get to the lower levels.
"H- Hey! Midoriya!" Iida called out to him in worry.
"Shinjiro-san…" Midoriya thought as he ran.
Down at the arena, Bakugo continued to stare at the broken wall. He squinted his eyes to see past the smoke and dust. His focus was just on it, drowning out any kind of sound he was hearing. Somehow, he knew it wasn't over.
"Ugh…"
Bakugo's eyes widened as he saw Shinjiro stumble out of the rubble clutching almost every part of his body. He dropped to one knee and panted before looking up to the surprised Bakugo.
"Pull your punches a little," He groaned but the noise from the audience drowned out his words. He gathered his strength and pushed himself off the floor, lightly smacking a medical droid coming to get him and limped away into the tunnel.
"My strongest attack…didn't work?" Bakugo was real shocked as he had never seen someone beat the strongest attack he could ever pull off. He bawled his fists, enraged once again. "DAMMIT!"
"You're weak Bakugo," Shinjiro's words rung in his head.
"How dare he…he'll pay…HE'LL PAY!"
Shinjiro stumbled into the tunnel, holding onto the walls as his support. His energy was draining, and it was draining fast. All the adrenaline in his body had worn off after continuously taking hit after hit from Bakugo, there was only so much that he could withstand.
"Shit…that final hit took everything out of me," His pace slowed to a crawl and he felt the light leaving his eyes fast. It didn't take before long before he passed out in the tunnel.
~{Infirmary}~
Shinjiro slowly opened his eyes to the sight of a white ceiling. He quickly deduced where he was and let out a sigh.
"How many times? How many?"
"Oh, good. You're up," Recovery Girl came into view as she stared down at him.
"Ugh…how long was I out for?" Shinjiro pushed himself up into a sitting position.
"Not long," The medic replied. "You were lucky to not sustain as many injuries as I'd thought."
She lifted up his cane and smacked him on the head.
"Ow…what was that for?"
"For doing stupid things. You've both been in here at least ten times combined!" She complained.
"Both of us?" Shinjiro asked.
"Talk to the kid who brought you here," Recovery Girl said, opening the door to the infirmary.
"Shinjiro-san!" Midoriya rushed in to meet the boy.
"Oh…Midoriya. Uh, hey," Shinjiro nervously waved at the kid.
"Shinjiro!" Another voice boomed. In came Iida as well, much to Shinjiro's…chagrin as evident by the latter covering his ears.
"Iida's here as well…I was wondering how you could carry me with a broken arm," Shinjiro commented.
"Yea…Iida followed me after I ran off trying to find you," Midoriya said, rubbing the back of his head. "I knew you'd try and act all strong so I rushed to the entrance tunnel just in case."
"We found you in the corridor passed out. Therefore we brought you over here," Iida finished.
"Well…thank you," Shinjiro thanked.
Midoriya then turned to Recovery Girl. "Is he going to be okay?"
"If he's sitting up already then he should be fine," The medic crossed her arms. "I treated all the burns on your body and made sure to check for any broken bones. Luckily that explosion didn't damage any vital organs either. But you need significant rest after this, no more getting up and doing anything stupid."
"Not like I can anyways," Shinjiro stated. "I lost anyways"
"Oh yea, about that," Iida interjected. "What were you talking to Bakugo about?"
This peaked Midoriya's interest as well, having not heard most of the conversation due to it being under wraps.
Shinjiro pondered for a bit. "Well, we knew each other from kindergarten so I wanted to catch up"
"By calling him weak?" It was Midoriya's turn to interject. His facial expression staying serious, wanting to understand what Shinjiro had said.
"Of course, I just wanted him to give his all after all," Shinjiro perked the corners of his mouth to form a small smile.
"Oh..I see-" Iida's sentence was cut off when an announcement came on.
"Alright folks! Luckily the arena wasn't as badly damaged as we thought we can kick off the semi-finals early!" Mic's voice boomed throughout the stadium.
"Seems like you need to go," Shinjiro looked at Iida. "Good luck against Todoroki"
Iida smiled back and bowed a full ninety degrees before walking out of the room to his fight. However, Midoriya stayed keeping eye to eye contact with Shinjiro.
"Shinjiro-san," He said. "Please tell me…everything you told Kacchan"
Shinjiro's shoulders drooped as he leaned back in his bed. He let out a deep sigh.
"I guess…I can't hide it forever huh?" He diverted his eyes away from Midoriya. "You should know…that I was there with you through the entire thing. I was there to witness everything."
"Which means?" Midoriya pressed him for an answer.
"I just never understood why Bakugo kept bullying us. Sure we were quirkless but he'd always pick on you and not me most of the time. I tried to recollect all my memories and tried to think of the exact moment when he really leaned into the…whole…angry thing. That was when I realised…it never truly started til you became you," Shinjiro looked back up at Midoriya again.
"What do you mean?"
"W- Well, you should know that he has a superiority complex," Shinjiro started to make random hand gestures to explain himself. "All the adults and kids constantly praising him to…make him feel great and everything. After the developed his quirk, things started ramping up but it was nothing too drastic until…"
Shinjiro's voice went silent, contemplating if he should tell Midoriya or not.
"Until what?" Midoriya asked.
"The creek," Shinjiro stated. He waited for Midoriya's revelation but…it never came.
"The…creek?" Midoriya tilted his head sideways.
"You…"Shinjiro looked him dead in the eyes, shocked and confused. "...don't remember?"
Midoriya blinked. "I mean…it's hard to remember a specific moment in time from just that word alone"
"Fair…" Shinjiro said. He paused for a bit before sighing and rubbing his eyeballs.
"Y'know what…let's just…start from the beginning so I can explain to you my thoughts," He said before starting to explain to Midoriya about why Bakugo started his bullying spree.
~{Somewhere in Hosu}~
An arm hit the floor, the metal creating a clanging noise as it flopped about. Someone in a suit lied in a puddle of his own blood, drained of energy and knocked out.
A shadow flashed out of sight after seeing that his work was done. He landed on a tall building's water tower and stared out into the city below.
"Akaguro Chizome," A man's voice called from behind.
The figure turned around, ready to pierce his sword through the invader's chest. However, all the sword impaled was a bunch of metal in front of him.
"I'd very much appreciate if you don't destroy my creations," A man stepped out from his makeshift shield. He signalled his hand as the shield disintergrated and rested on his palm.
"Getting the jump on me huh?" The figure's voice was hostile.
"I am doing none of the sorts," Kazuya said before lifting his arms up in surrender.
"What the hell are you doing here?" The man, now known as Chizome, asked.
"My superior has taken some interest in you," Kazuya said.
"Hero Killer Stain"