Chapter 22

As I watched the match between Deku and round face, I couldn't help but take note of a few things. For one, that girl thinks she's so clever with trying to set up debris traps. And the other thing was how sloppy Deku's moves were. He's still dragging his feet when he runs. It doesn't help that his overthinking was slowing him down. God! He's such a nerd.

The way he scaled the outside of that building clearly meant he had done this before. But when has he… Oh that bastard. Was that how he was able to escape his mom and me those few times last year? Then the way he rode that door. He's so off-balanced, and yet neither of the idiots was able to knock him down. He was practically throwing his weight around, and nobody was stopping him. Pathetic. Same old Deku.

While the teams walked back to join the class, I couldn't help but notice how close that round face was to Deku. In fact, it somehow annoyed me. But when she hugged him, I felt my body burn when anger. How dare she hug Deku! She doesn't even make sure Deku eats his lunch! At that, she didn't even win this match. No way she deserves a hug for her horrible behavior!

She had yet to prove herself as a worthy friend to the nerd. Four eyes has been proven to be a better character than her. But here she is, daring to steal a hug from Deku without earning it. How dare that bitch to behave in such a way. When Deku pulled away from her, I couldn't help but smile. That's right, round face! You're not allowed to hug him.

As I started heading to get my match out the way, round face stuck her tongue at me. "What the hell!" So, she wants to fight me! That has to be it! Well, extra! Who am I to turn down a challenge by a stupid nobody? But before I could go up to her, something sticky wrapped around me and pulled.

When I looked down I saw some white-looking cloth was what was wrapped around me. But it wasn't like the cloth around Sensei's neck. At that, it was sticky. Almost like tape. I looked behind me and saw that whatever this stuff came out from my teammate's elbows. Eww. Gross. Yet, as I was being dragged I had an idea.

Since I had some arm movement, I reached for one of the laches that I learned my tanks had. Taking out some sweat collectors, I put a few of them in the grenade shells I had. The rest, I tried to see if they would stick to whatever this thing was around me. To my delight, they did. Was this some kind of tape? Maybe this time I will win this training class, unlike last time.

When we reached the building we were using, is when my teammate started to free me from this tape stuff. But I was at least happy to see that the collectors still stick to it. "What are you thinking?"

I didn't look at the extra as I gathered the tape and my collectors. "This might not be enough. But it'll do." That's when I did look at him. I handed him the tape back. "Make yourself useful and set these on the stairway that you use." He just looked at me before looking at what I gave him.

"What are you talking about, man?"

"Don't be an idiot." We then went off to different stairways on the way to the base. If that extra did what I said then I could blow up the staircase. Since that round face thinks she could be smart by setting traps. Let me show her how true genius sets up traps that will work. When I got to base I saw the extra didn't have the tape. "Once the timer starts, I'm heading out. You set a spiderweb."

"Why a spiderweb?" I looked at him. But before I could say anything the timer went off. So, I headed to the staircase he would have used. Thankfully I was able to see where he left the tape. At that, the end that had my grenade was at the start. So I activated as I ran down the stairs. It went off with a bang and broke parts of the stairs. Now, I needed to hurry because the hero team would have heard that. Not to mention, that grenade set off the domino effect I was after with the other collectors.

As I tried to outrun the domino effect of my grenade I went into the second floor. Running to the other staircase, I could hear the other team. I could fight them here and now. But I'm not repeating the same mistake twice. So, I carefully avoided them as I finished heading to the staircase. Thankfully we didn't cross paths, and they weren't near the staircase. At best, four eyes and pinky are going to be faster than me if they want to win.

Without any issue, I was able to collapse the second staircase and made it back to base. When I did, I was disappointed that the idiot didn't do anything while I was gone. "What the hell, extra?" And this is why I don't get why I had to work in teams. This would be so much easier if I was alone. But after that long conversation I had with sensei on Tuesday, I had no choice but to deal with working in a team. I walked over to extra and got within arm's reach. "You keep an eye on the windows. I'll deal with the door. You can do that much."

"You're not the boss of me, man. And we have to do this as a team."

He's being so annoying. "Shut your face and do as I say extra. Those other idiots are bound to show up soon."

The extra dared to push me away. "Get off me, man. And how are they going to get here if you blow up the staircases?"

I will ignore the disrespect since I really need a perfect score today. "Stop being an idiot for once, and get ready." Without looking at him, I walked back towards the door. As I tried to keep my ears open for any sound, I rubbed my palms together. When those extras finally showed up, I needed to be ready to react quickly. If I remember correctly, four eyes was my teammate the first time. At that, he was fast. Then there's raccoon eyes with her acid.

I won't fail this time. And Deku, you better be watching carefully. Your sloppiness will not be tolerated. For I want a proper rematch next time. At that, I hope to face you during the sports festival.

Before I knew it I heard what seemed to be a crash. I looked behind me and saw that four eyes came through the window. I knew it. But where were raccoon eyes? I quickly braced myself when I heard the door open. She tried to get around me, but I easily shot a blast to knock her back.

I looked to see where four eyes was, and he was taped up by my teammate. I couldn't help but smile. That perfect score is looking better by the second. I quickly brought my attention back to pinky and shot a few small blasts to keep her back and down.

We kept them back effortless until the timer was up. "Villain team won." With that, we headed back to the rest of the class. As we did so, raccoon eyes walked alongside me.

"That was so amazing, Bakugo." I didn't even look at her as she kept talking. Her voice was so scratching and high-pitched that it was hurting my ears. So, I tried to drown her out as I thought about the match. Maybe there could have been more I could do instead of waiting around. I felt so restless just standing there. But I didn't want to risk another lecture.

When we reached the rest of the class, I stared directly over at round face. I take it back. I want to fight her during the sports festival. Especially to put her in her place. She needs to learn that she has to earn being close to Deku. No way was she going to be friends with the nerd if she couldn't get past me.

After All Might and Sensei went over our match, I was disappointed I didn't get a perfect score again. What the hell! What did they want from me? I didn't beat the shit out of the other team this time. I held back a lot. Yet it still wasn't good enough. Something about I wasn't being a team player. How the fuck? I told him what to do and everything.

I angrily walked to the back of the room, but not before I shoulder-bumped round face. She looked at me, and I glared into her eyes. Daring her to say something. That scared little shit just backed away. This is the kind of behavior that makes her worthless in being Deku's friend.

While the next match went on, I stood in the back of the class. I didn't even watch the screen as the match went on. Instead, I was being annoyed by shitty hair and raccoon eyes. They went on and on about how impressive I was during my match. But I completely ignored them since I had the perfect view of Deku. He was going about writing his notes. Not to mention speaking with that round face extra. Why staring at them had me grinding my teeth? I never did this before, but somehow I just didn't care.

"Yo, Bakugo." I felt something poke the side of my face and saw it was shitty hair. "Since it was your birthday yesterday—" I didn't hear the rest of what he said, with how fast I covered his mouth.

"How the fuck you know that?" I looked back at Deku in annoyance. Then I stormed my way over to the nerd. I grabbed his shoulder and forced him to look at me. "Did you tell the extras about my birthday?" Deku kept trying to look away from me. I grabbed his shoulders and shook him. "Answer me, nerd!"

Deku tried to push away from me. "I didn't say anything, Kacchan. I swear."

"Don't lie to me." I raised my hand to punch him. But I was quickly grabbed and pulled off the nerd. "Deku!"

Instead of shaking in fear, like usual, Deku puffed up his chest and walked in front of me. He even got in my face and spoke in a tone he never used before. It was clear and sounded like he was mad. "I didn't tell anyone anything. I know how you feel about your birthday. So, why would I do something so stupid behind your back?" I've heard him be mad before, but it was always layered with tears. Yet this was very different. For once, I didn't get angry back. Instead, I felt this strange sense of fear. That shouldn't be the case.

But I quickly pushed that emotion down as my anger returned to full force. I got out of whoever was holding me and towered over Deku. "If you didn't tell anyone, then how do the idiots know?"

Deku pushed me back as he spoke. "How about you ask them!" He then made the motion that he was about to turn away. But I quickly grabbed him. I went to throw a punch, and he grabbed it. HE GRABBED IT! At that, his voice carried that angry tone that had my spine shiver. "Back down." Which I did.

I stood there in shock for a moment before looking at to shitty hair. I then stomped over to him. "How did you find out about my birthday?" He looked over to raccoon eyes, which was also shaking. I looked between the two as my anger began to rise again. "One of you answer me."

It's then that raccoon eyes stepped in front of shitty hair, with her hands up in defense. "We may have overheard you and Midoriya yesterday." At that moment, I felt cold all over. Did someone hear my interaction with Deku yesterday? Someone actually witnessed my pathetic behavior. So did that mean these two were now mocking me?

I started to walk past them. "Leave me alone."

"Wait." I felt someone grab my shoulder. I tried to get away, but they wouldn't let me go. So, I looked back, and it was raccoon eyes. "We wanted to invite you to karaoke after school to celebrate."

She then let me go, and I turned away. "No thanks." I was still in disbelief that someone actually saw my interaction with Deku yesterday. They probably think I'm weak. That has to be it, and why they were mocking me today. It's why they didn't fear sitting with me at lunch. They were pitying me. I can't make that mistake again. Heroes aren't supposed to show weakness. Now nobody would respect me. Now more than ever, I have to stay on my game. I can't show that level of weakness again.

At the end of class, I gathered my things to leave. As I did so, I happened to see everyone talking among themselves. It was probably some stupid thing that extras took part in. But for some reason, I couldn't help but feel sad. Even though I shouldn't care. What the extras did in their little friend groups was none of my concern. It doesn't matter if I felt lonely and left out. I have just to keep pushing forward and not deal with pathetic behavior.

But as I started making my way to the door is when shitty hair approached me. "Hey, bro. Give us your number for the class group chat."

"Why should I?" He didn't respond. But just as I was about to open the door, I overheard round face asking the same to Deku. Oh no, you don't! I will not stand for this! So, I pulled out my phone from my pocket and shared my number with shitty hair. "There. Happy now?"

Shitty hair smiled as he held out his fist. "Yeah, bro." I just looked at the fist. What was I supposed to do with this? That's when I recall how sometimes Kato and Saito did this thing called a fist bump. Is that what shitty hair wanted me to do? I tried it and saw shitty hair's smile turn to a toothy grin. Does that mean I did something right?

With that, I made my way to the shoe locker and changed into my boots. But it was after I locked the locker back up that I saw Deku was next to me. It's then that I recalled our interaction from earlier. It was then that I felt my cheeks slowly start to burn, and I felt nervous. Why was Deku here? Was he still mad at me?

I was surprised that Deku hadn't said a word the whole time. In fact, he was silent throughout the trip back to our neighborhood. But when we got to the corner before our homes I decided to face him. I couldn't take the silence any longer. "Spill it, nerd."

He started to fidget with his book bag straps, which was cute. It didn't help that his cheeks were slightly pink. His freckles had them looking like strawberries. Deku didn't look at me for a while. So, I decided to walk towards him and force his head up. "I'm sorry." That was not the response I thought I would get.

"For?"

I let him go. I then watched as Deku let out a sigh before straightening his back. The shade of pink left his cheeks as he stared directly into my eyes. Why was I starting to get nervous now? Especially with the way Deku stood there. Before my very eyes, he went from looking like a cute little nerd to something completely different.

At that, I don't know how I would even begin to describe the way he looks right now. All I did know was that my palms were starting to sweat, along with under my arms. Why was I sweating all of a sudden? The only time I ever sweat this much was when I was fighting.

But here I was, just waiting for a response from Deku. It was also very confusing how hard it was to breathe while staring at him. For some reason, it felt like I was trapped by his gaze. At that, it was confusing how much I was liking this look on Deku. "I'm sorry I didn't get you a gift this year."

I couldn't help but blink a few times. Did my ears try to trick me? Did Deku really just apologize for not giving me a birthday present? I wasn't sure what to feel now. Should I feel happy that he apologized? Or maybe I shouldn't even care? I just don't know what I'm supposed to feel or do at this moment. But for some reason, I got angry. And snapped out of whatever pathetic trance I was in. Pointing a finger at Deku, I yelled. "Well, you better not do that again."

It was then that Deku held his usual smile before dropping his shoulders. "I promise, Kacchan." I can't put my finger on it, but something about how he said my name right now was different. In fact, it had my cheeks burning up again. Let alone this strange feeling of wanting to hear him say my name like that again. But I quickly push that emotion down. Whatever that was, was pathetic and useless. "Is there any way I could make it up to you right now?"

Is there something he can do? I looked away from Deku for a moment as I thought. Then I had the perfect idea. Looking back at him, I tried not to focus on his face. Something about staring at it now made me feel something I did not want to address. Can't believe I'm now scared to look this nerd in his face. I'm so pathetic. "Just this once, I will allow you to give me birthday punches."

Usually, Kato and Saito gave me birthday punches when we were in elementary school. But I quickly put a stop to that because the old hag told me to. "Are you sure about this?" I took my chances and looked at Deku. Why was he suddenly cuter than he was growing up? The way his eyes glowed in the sunset was so unfair. Yet there was something else, and I did not want to pay attention to that.

"Either do it, or you have to get me two gifts next year."

"Ok." I turned to my left side, so he could hit that arm. Watching as Deku gave me one more look before looking at my arm was nerve-racking. But it was the moment that his fist made contact with my arm that I automatically regretted my decision. The nerd was stronger than he looked, which was a huge understatement.

With each punch, I was able to feel it down to my bones. How was he so skinny and small, yet hits so hard? Maybe it was due to him being so bony? Then again, he was training all last year. That could be it! And when he was done punching me, I was left with another strange feeling. For some reason, I felt giddy.

That's strange. Why would I be giddy that Deku's punches hurt? Or the fact he's stronger than he looked? He was still sloppy and couldn't throw a punch properly. Yet I still felt the strength behind each of his movements. It was both frightening and exciting. Which I still don't get where the excitement and giddy feelings are coming from. "I hope I didn't hurt you too badly."

I looked back at Deku, who seemed to have a small frown. Should I tell him that his punches hurt? On second thought, I should keep that little information for myself. "You call those punches. A baby could do better than that." At that, Deku's frown deepened for a moment before he smiled at me. Oh god! That smile was behind his typical cuteness. How I wish I could take a picture of it and be able to see it forever.

What was I saying? I mentally slapped myself as I watched Deku leave. What is wrong with me? As I made my way into my house, I was greeted by my old man. "Well, someone must have had a good day."