Chapter 86
[Silence]
Toshinori Yagi was in his Hero costume, though it was too large for him in his skinny state. He wore it now because it was a special occasion. A meeting with an old nemesis, who was currently bound everywhere except his mouth and head. He was still on life support, but could have a conversation just fine. "The second semester must be starting soon. Or has it already begun?" Said nemesis wondered. "I had assumed that you would devote yourself to teaching now. And yet you've come to visit me."
"I'm here so we can get a few things straight, All For One." Toshinori said to him.
All For One decided to just speak his own peace, rather than let his nemesis ask him anything. "Do you know how stifling this place is, All Might? If I so much as try to scratch an itch, by rubbing my body against this chair, then every gun muzzle in my cell block suddenly points at me. My brain waves are constantly being monitored, as well as my vital signs. One thought about activating my quirk, and I'll likely be put down, like a rabid dog. Imprisoned deep underground, smothered by high tech security. Not even a bit of stimulation for my mind. The world likens this place to something out of a Greek myth, calling it Tartarus. That's the name of the Underworld prison where kings and titans are punished. Escaping would be a struggle, even for me."
"You're trapped here. You'll never go free." Yagi told him bluntly.
All For One let out a chuckle. "I'll let you believe that. So what now? Let's hear what you have to say. Where's Gran Torino? You came here alone? And in a costume no less. Please. Don't tell me you're still trying to be a Hero with that feeble body."
"You're chatty." The former Number 1 Hero commented.
"Don't feel flattered. I just haven't had anyone to talk to in a while." The Villain told him.
"I want answers." Toshinori stated. "Tell me where Tomura Shigaraki is hiding right now."
"Haven't the slightest." All For One answered. "Unlike your bird, mine left the nest and makes his own decisions."
"What were you trying to achieve? What are you hoping for now?" Yagi questioned. "Your body should have died a long time ago, yet you preserved it. You devote your time to exploiting and controlling people, toying with innocent lives for no reason. Why?"
"Of course you came here with a tired topic." All For One replied. "Even if I told you the truth, you wouldn't be satisfied. There are some people who will never understand each other."
[Play Boku no Hero Academia OST The Power of All For One]
Toshinori sighed as the Villain continued. "We are the same, though you would never admit it. Just as you longed to become the Hero of Justice, I long to be an all powerful Devil. It's that simple. I had an ideal, and the power to see it enacted. If I could live forever inside my dream, then why would I begrudge the effort to make it a reality?"
"Why would you need a successor then?" Yagi pointed out.
"You of all people ask that?" All For One responded before chuckling at that. "What a laugh. It's because you took everything from me. Look at my body. I'm alive, yes, but only because of tubes and machines. After you appeared, my 'infinite potential' suddenly became finite. It's normal to pass on your work to someone else, now that the end is near. Think of it as inheritance, like the estate you'd pass down, or the well sewn field, planted by one person and cultivated by generation to generation. I'm just trying to do what everyone else on this world is doing, nothing more."
"You've got three minutes left, All Might." A guard spoke to him on a speaker.
"Oh, come now. Don't put a damper on things. I want to keep talking." All For One said. "This world was probably pretty shaken up by your retirement, so let's hear it. How are things actually looking on the outside?"
"We're keeping him isolated from the news." The guard stated. "Please refrain from giving him any information."
"You heard the man." The former Pro Hero told his nemesis.
"Alright. Be that way. But then, I have an active imagination." The Villain said, deciding to give his best guess as to the current state of the world. "Right about now, the media's concern about your absence is mixing with their worry about Endeavor as the new de facto leader. It's making them question the union of Hero Society. Meanwhile, those lurking in the shadows have been listening closely. They sense the growing instability caused by the vacuum you left, and are compelled to act. They think this could be their chance to change how the world works and are starting to band together. I think Tomura and his group will continue to hide for the time being, slowly getting stronger and ensuring that it will be THEIR organization that gets to the top. Everyone will naturally want to increase their influence, so there will be some fighting among the factions. If the scenario I composed plays out as I intended it to, even accounting for one unpredictable factor, then I know everything that's going outside these walls. Do you know what I love most about this? Any crime that rises moving forward is due to you concealing your fading strength. And now, you won't be able to save anyone. You've been relegated to the sidelines, doomed to watch society fall apart, as Villains and Heartless monsters flourish because of your arrogance, powerless for the rest of your days. So tell me, how does that feel, 'Hero'?"
Toshinori clenched his fist, and stood up with an angry look on his face. "All Might. Don't approach the glass." The guard instructed him.
"That's all I needed. I can see it written on your face." All For One said to him. "You're nothing now. You're finished. Bet you really want to punch me, huh?"
[Silence]
Yagi took a deep breath, then responded to his nemesis' claims. "You think you know everything, but as always, you underestimate people. I understand your twisted plan very well. You want Shigaraki, my master's blood relation, to kill me, or kill me and Young Midoriya, all the while you want Vanitas to destroy Young Sora, so he doesn't interfere with your ambitions. That's what you plotted."
"Perhaps." The Villain answered.
[Play Boku no Hero Academia OST Forever No. 2]
"I won't be dying anytime soon." The former Number 1 Hero declared to him. "Especially not by Shigaraki's hand. I will not be killed so easily, and I refuse to let the future you imagine come to pass."
"You said you came to set a few things straight." All For One reminded him. "But THIS is really what you wanted to say."
The door behind Toshinori opened and the guard spoke up. "Time's up, sir. Please exit."
Yagi turned towards the exit. "I'll smash your plans and thwart your plots. I am relentless. You're the one who will watch, helpless from a cell, for the rest of your days."
The door began to close as All For One let out another chuckle. "Rest of my days, huh?"
[Silence]
Toshinori was escorted out of the supermax prison and was being driven back to U.A. by Naomasa. As they were on the road, the former Pro got a message on his phone and saw a picture of a provisional license with a familiar face on it. "Young Midoriya." He looked proud.
[Play KH 358/2 Days OST Afternoon Streets]
By the time that Class 1-A had returned from the stadium, it was almost nightfall. While almost all of the class had gone back to their assigned Dormitory, Sora decided to take a detour to another Dormitory. He knocked on 3-B's door and he was greeted with a familiar voice on the other end. "Who's there?"
"Sora." The Keyblade wielder replied.
"Sora who?" The third year responded.
"So R yA you gonna open up the door and say hi to me, Mirio?" The first year played along with the knock knock joke, using his hame as a pun.
Togata then opened the door and greeted his underclassman. "Good one."
"I try." Sora said, before pulling out his license. "So, guess who can now legally save the day from evil?"
"Nice job, Sora!" Mirio was happy to see that his friend passed. "Now that you have a license, you could also do the work studies too."
"Work studies?" The Keyblade wielder was confused.
"You know, the thing I said I was doing while you were interning at Sir's agency?" Togata reminded him.
"Oh right, that." Sora remembered. "I can do that now?"
"Yeah." Mirio confirmed. "All you need is the license and permission from your teachers."
"If that's the case, then I better wait until tomorrow to ask about that." Sora said. "Aizawa looked a little grumpy on the trip back. Probably didn't get much sleep."
"Speaking of sleep. You should probably get some." Togata suggested. "No doubt you worked hard to get that license, so you're probably tuckered out."
"Well you're not wrong." The Keyblade wielder didn't deny it. "Man, tomorrow is gonna be busy though."
"How so?" Mirio was curious.
"Well, I'll be going back to training tomorrow. Probably on my own for a bit before I ask others to join me." Sora explained.
"Cool. What kind of training?" Togata asked.
"Combat and quirk training." The Keyblade wielder answered. "Just because I got my license doesn't mean I'm done learning. I can get more experience with it now, but I can still at least train here when I'm not out there. You know?"
"I know exactly what you mean." The blonde boy agreed with his friend's idea. "And with that new experience you gain..."
"I can turn it into power, and become an even better Hero." Sora finished.
"Then you better get some rest. You'll have a busy day tomorrow." Mirio suggested.
"You think you can tell Nejire and Tamaki that I passed, for me?" The Keyblade wielder requested. "I might be too busy tomorrow to visit them."
"Knowing her, she'll run up to you during lunch and ask you in person." Togata referred to Hado.
"Well, if we have the same lunch time." Sora said.
"We do." Mirio confirmed. "We see you sometimes, but I let you hang out with your classmates without us interrupting."
"Huh. I didn't know that." The Keyblade wielder noted. "I guess I'll look for her then and tell her."
"Alright then." Togata replied.
Sora was about to head back to his dorm, but then had one more thing to ask. "Uh...hey, Mirio?"
"Yeah?" The blonde boy said.
"I know that we're still students and all. So, when we're doing the work studies, are we titled something different than Pro Heroes?" Sora wondered.
"The only thing that comes to mind is sidekicks, but other than that, no." Togata answered. "Why? Is there something that you thought we would be called?"
"...Nope. Goodnight Mirio." The Keyblade wielder left it at that, not wanting to bring up an annoying memory of a certain title he was given back in Olympus.
[Silence]
Sora had reached the 1-A Dormitory and when he entered, he saw everyone hanging out in the common area. After a quick change out of his school uniform and into his gym pants and a red t-shirt, he decided to hang out with them. "So we're back to normal classes tomorrow, right?" Kyouka said.
"I suppose there's no rest for Heroes." Momo pointed out.
"Man, I could use a vacation." Rikido said out loud.
"We're real legit now." Mina commented.
"I'll not forget this summer, the rest of my life." Fumikage said.
While Ochako and Tsuyu were with Koji, petting his rabbit, Sora was leaning on the back of the couch that Toru and Mina were on, listening in on the conversation, while Izuku was on his phone. The Keyblade wielder was about to call his friend over, "You." but then he heard Katsuki's voice over the chatter. "Meet me out front later. We need to have a talk about your quirk."
"Um...okay?" The One For All user nervously responded.
Thanks to the rest of the class being preoccupied with one another, the only person who had actually caught that interaction was Sora. At first, he wanted to approach his friend to ask him what that was about, but he took a brief glance at Bakugo and noticed something.
[Play KH Project Destati: DARKNESS -Cavern of Remembrance-]
It was faint, but there was a sliver of Darkness that came off of him. It was visible, but not noticeable enough for anyone else to see it.
He of course was concerned, but if he were to show it right now, then people might ask what's up, and considering that Katsuki had mentioned a talk about Midoriya's quirk, then this might end up having to do with the explosive student actually figuring out a rather important secret. So, he played dumb and when Denki noticed him staring away from the group, he spoke up. "Yo, Sora. What's got your attention?"
"Hm? Oh, nothing. Just wondering why, Izuku has been staring at that picture of his license ever since he took it." Sora pointed out. "It's not healthy to stare at things, ya know."
"Huh?" Izuku snapped out of it, hearing what the Keyblade wielder said before nervously rubbing the back of his head. "Sorry. I'm just...caught up in the moment."
"Yeah, well, don't just focus on that one thing." Sora advised him, with a smile on his face but a glint in his eyes that was more serious than usual. It reminded the One For All user of how he had interacted with Shigaraki, back at Kiyashi, where he acted friendly, but knew something was wrong. He realized that Sora must have heard what Katsuki said. "So, you gonna keep staring at your phone, or...?"
"I think...I'll go to bed." Midoriya said, putting his phone away.
"Not a bad idea. I think I'll do that too. Gonna need the energy for later." The Keyblade wielder agreed. "Goodnight, guys."
As the members of Class 1-A said their goodnights to the two boys, they entered the elevator together, hitting the buttons to their floors respectively. When the doors shut Izuku spoke up. "You heard, didn't you?"
"Yep." Sora confirmed.
"What am I going to do?" Midoriya looked very nervous.
"You're gonna talk to him." The Keyblade wielder didn't beat around the bush. "The two of you, alone."
"But, what if..." Izuku was interrupted.
"He'll find out anyway, whether you tell him or not." Sora pointed out. "Better that he gets out the feelings he's holding in right now. I don't want it building up any more than it already is inside him."
"It?" Midoriya repeated, but before he could question any further, the elevator reached his floor. He stepped out and looked back to his friend.
"Don't keep him in the Dark." Sora told him with a serious look, as the elevator doors shut.
Eventually, the elevator went up to the top levels and Sora exited, seeing Katsuki walking into his room. Sora silently walked to his room and got on his gummiphone. He sent a message to his offworld friends, explaining his passing of the license exam, and left it at that. He sent the message, then turned off his lights and leaned next to his window.
The next few hours felt like days to him. The ticking of the clock in his room was all he could hear, as he counted down every second, not moving from where he was. He thought about what he was about to do and how very, Rikuesque this was. Watching a friend from a distance, and only choosing to come in if necessary. Once he heard footsteps from his floor, he listened as they got further away from him. Bakugo was on the move.
After a few minutes, he glanced out his window, peeking through the curtains to see Katsuki and Izuku in the front, but they began walking away from the Dormitory.
[Silence]
Sora snuck out of his room, taking care to not wake Shoto or Rikido. Thankfully, the drone that Mei had built to patrol the area was not on this floor at the moment, and he used that opportunity to get to the ground level, using the stairs. Once he reached the first floor, he quietly moved through the common area and looked out one of the windows, seeing the direction that Bakugo and Midoriya were heading. He quietly left through the front door and waited until they were very far, before he followed the pair.
The sounds of crickets and birds were heard by Izuku and Katsuki, as the former spoke to the latter. "Kacchan, how far are we going? We shouldn't be walking around in the middle of the night." He didn't get an answer. He wasn't even told to shut up. "Hello?" The usually explosive student remained silent, just continuing his walk while his long time childhood 'admirer' followed. After a long while of walking, they reached the location. "You brought us to...Ground Beta?"
"This is the place where we had our first Combat Training. Where I fought you and lost." Bakugo reminded him of the building they were standing in front of. "You've always made me sick, you know that, right, Deku? You were useless. No power at all. A joke. So now, you're gonna tell me how you managed to get into this damn school, with a brand new quirk, that came out of nowhere." He remembered something that Izuku had said to him, about how his quirk was given to him, and how he intended to master it. "I didn't understand what you meant back then, because what you were saying made no sense. But still, you kept climbing higher and higher, always looking so satisfied with yourself."
[Play Boku no Hero Academia OST Evil of Psychology]
Unbeknownst to the two of them a certain Keyblade wielder was there too, who was close enough to listen from an alleyway. Katsuki continued talking, the Darkness beginning to show ever so slightly. "Ever since that Sludge Villain...No. It actually started when All Might came to town. Better and Better...until finally you passed the licensing exam, while I failed...how the hell is that even possible?"
"That wasn't a matter of ability though." Midoriya pointed out.
"SHUT UP AND LISTEN, YOU DAMN NERD." Bakugo ordered, his Darkness briefly rising, before receding back down. "It pissed me off that I had been beaten by such a pathetic weakling, but after seeing what happened to All Might at Kamino Ward, I began to understand." He looked back at Izuku. "I've been giving it a lot of thought. You got your quirk from All Might, didn't you? He gave you his power."
The One For All user's face said it all. But Katsuki kept talking. "I heard about the boss Villain. Apparently he has the ability to steal a person's quirk and give it to somebody else, which sounds kind of crazy, but one of those old cat ladies had her power taken from her and can't work anymore. And then you met All Might, and you started changing. Then he lost his power and had to retire just like her. I remember what he said after he beat the big bad. We all heard it. Back then, you were the only one who really understood what he meant. There's more evidence too, like how those Nomu monsters have multiple quirks, even though it seemed impossible. Besides...All Might and that Boss Villain knew each other, before that fight. Quirks can move from one person to another, All Might knew the guy that could do it, and somehow it's all connected to how you said you got your quirk from someone else."
As Sora realized that Bakugo connected the dots, he heard him continue talking. "I asked All Might about this, in a way. But he wouldn't give me a straight answer. That's why you're gonna tell me the truth." Izuku's face showed conflict, which Katsuki noticed. "You're not trying to deny anything, which means I must be right. So say it."
Midoriya clenched his fists and mentally berated himself and accepted that this was the consequences of his own actions. "Okay. What if it's true?" He responded.
Bakugo's glare hardened and his Darkness began to rise, but only the Keyblade wielder could see it still. "You and I both wanted to be just like All Might when we were growing up. But I was the one who had the potential. Then somehow, a little nobody like you was singled out by the person I admired the most, and I didn't even realize it. That's why we're here." He got ready to fight. "You and I are settling this. Right here. Right now."
"Wait, what?!" Izuku was not prepared for this. "How is that the best way for us to work things out?! No. This is bad. We're not even supposed to be at Ground Beta by ourselves. Why don't we talk about this during one of our free periods? We could reserve a training room or something. There's no reason it has to be right now."
Katsuki's darkness began to steadily rise, unbeknownst to the two of them. "If we fight for real at school, we'll be stopped. I want to know what made All Might give his power to a loser like you. Let me see for myself. Is it because you looked up to him more than I did?" His face made him look like he was having an internal crisis as he spoke. "And if that's the case, does it mean that everything I've done to be like him is wrong?"
As The two boys looked at each other in silence, Sora, who was still hiding, was debating with himself at this point. What Midoriya said was true. This was not really the best idea, as they could get in serious trouble, and they aren't going to be holding back, which means they could actually break themselves doing this. But on the other hand, Bakugo had points too, and he was beginning to descend into Darkness. If this isn't handled now, then the explosive student may lose himself to it later. The biggest problem the Keyblade wielder had with letting this happen though, was that he cannot interfere, and has to make sure that nobody else does until the fight is over. He mentally cursed what his heart was telling him and he used his flowmotion to dash up the building to get a better view. He's going to need it if he's going to let this fight happen, and to potentially stop anything that would get in the way of it.
[Play Boku no Hero Academia OST Iron Battle]
"Y-You really want to do this?" Izuku was still unsure about fighting his classmate.
"If you don't want to get hurt, punch back." Katsuki told him as he stretched his arms. "Oh yeah. You switched to using kicks more these days, didn't you?"
"Come on, stop!" Midoriya didn't want to do this. "This isn't smart!" Bakugo blasted forward. "Kacchan!"
Katsuki went for his right hook again, but when Izuku predicted that it would be a feint, he was surprised to see the palm emit sparks, then explode. The One For All user jumped back, but he was still grazed by the hook. "You know your problem? You're always overthinking things. Just FIGHT ME!" The explosive student demanded.
"You're serious?" Midoriya replied. "You wanna spar?"
Bakugo blitzed towards him and nearly managed to strike his opponent, but Izuku managed to dodge the attack. Katsuki didn't let up however and began making more explosions to try and hit the One For All user that way. As the explosions began to break buildings around the two, Sora had moved away and landed on the ground, out of their sight. But then he heard something nearby. "Two students from class 1-A identified breaking curfew at Ground Beta."
The Keyblade wielder saw a small drone with a camera head. Acting fast, he got in front of the drone, summoned the Kingdom Key and said "I'm sorry, but don't stop this. This needs to happen." then smashed it before it could attempt to do anything else.
Back in the 1-A Dormitory, Eraser Head heard a small alarm go off in his room while he was grading papers. He heard Sora's voice and him saying not to stop this, whatever 'this' is, before hearing smashing sounds. "Are you kidding me?" The Homeroom teacher was about to go to Ground Beta, but when he left the front door of the Dormitory, he saw Toshinori there.
Back at Ground Beta Midoriya once again tried to negotiate. "You have to stop this. Why hurt each other when we could just talk things out?" Bakugo's hand sparked up, but some of the sparks were beginning to flicker purple instead of their regular orange color. "You were right to look up to All Might the way you did! I know just how much he meant to you when we were growing..." He couldn't finish that as the explosive student propelled himself up and then blasted himself towards Izuku, who used full cowling to avoid him. "I told you to wait!"
Katsuki growled, growing more and more frustrated, as his Darkness began to slowly rise again. "You were stuck to me. I couldn't get rid of you. No matter how much I tried, you kept coming back!"
"Listen to me!" Midoriya dodged another attack.
"Stop running!" Bakugo demanded, his Darkness growing even more. "STAND UP AND FIGHT!"
As Sora was about to check up on the fight, he noticed something out of the corner of his eye. Pairs of yellow eyes and pitch black puddles began to appear from an alleyway close to the fight. "Oh no no no no no no no." He used his flowmotion to blitz over there and just as the Heartless were starting to crawl out of the black puddles, he destroyed them before they could even have a chance to bug out. More puddles began to form in an adjacent alleyway. "Dang it, Izuku. Just fight Katsuki already."
"We both admired him...so why?" Bakugo said out loud as he went for another attack. "Why?!" He reached Midoriya, but the One For All user stopped him from swinging his arm, only for the explosive student to kick him. "WHY?!" He went to blast his opponent in the face, but Izuku kicked his arms up and the blast missed him. "TELL ME!" Katsuki screamed out, before tripping on back and falling down.
[Silence]
Midoriya took that instant to catch his breath, before deactivating full cowling and running to help Bakugo up. "Hey. Are you alright?"
Katsuki's Darkness flared up, so much that it was now visible to Izuku, and the explosive student swatted away the One For All user's hand. "Don't you dare worry about me!" He told his opponent as he struggled to get up. "Attack me! Why won't you fight back?!" He got to his feet, but didn't attack, instead choosing to scream out his frustrations. "WHY DID I END UP HAVING TO CHASE SOMEONE WHO WAS ALWAYS SO FAR BEHIND ME?! Why did a damn small fry like you get strong...and become the Number One Hero's Sidekick...his favorite...? You got so much better, AND I DESTROYED ALL MIGHT! I admired him so much..." His Darkness reached a fever pitch at this point, as he looked to his opponent, with guilt and anger plastered all over his face. "BUT IT'S BECAUSE OF ME THAT HE ENDED UP LOSING HIS POWER!"
[Play Boku no Hero Academia OST Loneliness]
Bakugo didn't stop berating himself, nearly about to cry. "If I had been stronger...If I hadn't been kidnapped by Villains, then neither would Sora have for coming after me, and it never would have happened." As Sora and Midoriya both heard what he thought about himself at the moment, he whipped his eyes and kept belittling himself. "All Might knows it was my fault but hasn't said anything. EVERYONE HAS TO KNOW THOUGH! I CAN'T GET IT OUT OF MY HEAD! IT'S LIKE IT'S CONSTANTLY PLAYING ON LOOP! SO WHAT THE HELL AM I SUPPOSED TO DO?!" Tears fell from his eyes.
The Keyblade wielder didn't have time to fully process what he just heard, as he had to avoid a Shadow's claw and then strike it down with the Keyblade, before continuing to slay the Heartless that were getting attracted to this place by his classmate's growing Darkness.
As the two All Might admirers stood silent for a moment, Izuku's body lit up as he activated Full Cowling again. Katsuki ran towards him, but to his surprise, he got a roundhouse kick to the face, and it knocked him back and made the explosive teen smile as he was getting what he wanted. It also subsides some of the Darkness around him, which the One For All user noticed. He knew that this fight wasn't about who won or lost. His classmate, his friend, just needed to vent out his stress right now. And the best way to do it would be through a no hold barred fight. "If I'm gonna do this, I'm going all out. I refuse to be your punching bag, Kacchan. Let's go!" He was ready to actually fight him now.
As Sora heard that, he knew that what was about to happen next was only going to be stopped if either the Heartless intervened, or if Aizawa did. He could deal with the former, and probably the latter as well, but he really hoped that he wouldn't have to deal with the latter until the aftermath. For now, he focused on the Heartless that were still appearing in the alleyways, and made certain to not let them get anywhere near these two while they dealt with their problems by beating eachother up.
Bakugo blasted himself up then blitzed for Midoriya, who backed off, but was instantly pursued by his attacker. He barely managed to avoid Katsuki's hand from grabbing him, but the explosive teen got around and behind Izuku and then struck him in the gut with a strong cross, knocking the wind out of the One For All user, who slammed into a fence. He took a breath in, but immediately had to avoid Bakugo blitzing him and blowing up the spot where he was. He wasn't fast enough and got grabbed and thrown away. Katsuki's body hit the fence from throwing his opponent full force.
[Play Boku no Hero Academia OST Combat License]
As Midoriya pushed himself to his feet, Bakugo pushed himself off the fence. Izuku had noticed the improvements that both of them made. "I guess I shouldn't be surprised that we've both been getting stronger." He smirked.
"What are you smiling about?!" Katsuki yelled out as he blasted himself towards his opponent and knocked him back down with another explosion. "I thought you weren't gonna be my punching bag!"
"I'm not!" The One For All user got back up and rushed his opponent.
"I bet you've got some kind of plan up your sleeve!" Bakugo used his Stun Grenade ultimate move to blind Midoriya, before punching him in the face. "That's one of the things I hate most about you!"
Meanwhile, as the two of them kept going at it, Sora picked up the pace with his exterminating of the Heartless. With Izuku needing to focus solely on his opponent, not being given the time to think or observe his surroundings, and with Katsuki ignoring his surroundings and constantly attacking, to make sure that his opponent has no think to strategize, they were both too focused on their fight to really give a damn about anything else. And with how loud they were being with the explosions and yelling at each other, and with the dust and smoke that really obscured the battlefield, The Keyblade wielder didn't need to worry about being quiet. He just needed to keep the Heartless from getting close to the pair while they beat each other up. Sora rolled out of the way of a Neoshadow that went for him and casted Fire towards it at the same moment that the explosive teen shot another blast at the One For All user. The Fire connected and destroyed the Neoshadow, before Sora stabbed a Shadow that leapt towards him from behind. The dust and smoke covering his fight with the creatures of Darkness, as the two U.A. students continued their brawl.
"I can never tell what you're thinking!" Bakugo said as Midoriya avoided another blast made by him. "NO MATTER HOW MUCH I BEAT YOU UP YOU KEEP COMING BACK! IT'S OBVIOUS YOU'VE LOOKED DOWN ON ME, EVEN WHEN WE WERE KIDS!" As Izuku landed, with a shocked expression on his face, Katsuki kept screaming. "You think you're better than me! But if you seriously think that you're gonna surpass me as a Hero, EVEN WITH YOUR NEW POWER, YOU BETTER THINK AGAIN, DEKU!"
"Wait..." The One For All user was surprised to hear that. "Is that what you actually believed? All this time?"
As the battle began to slow down, Sora had managed to take out the Heartless in the street and move out of sight by the time the smoke cleared around the pair he was protecting. There were no Heartless in the alleyways, but he then noticed a pair of yellow eyes up above and saw some forming on the rooftops. Acting fast, the Keyblade wielder activated his flowmotion and blitzed towards the monsters.
Meanwhile Midoriya spoke to his opponent. "Think about it, Kacchan. If I looked down on you, I wouldn't want anything to do with you anymore. But I'm still here. I noticed things you couldn't, all those years because I had nothing at first. There were things I hated about you sure, but I could clearly see how amazing you were." His body began to glow that familiar green glow. "You had so many things going for you that I didn't have." He then ran towards Bakugo, unknowingly a bit faster than before. "All Might was my Hero, but you were the one ACTUALLY IN MY LIFE!" The extra bit of speed caught the explosive teen off guard. "I thought you were incredible, Kacchan. I wanted to see what you'd become!" Izuku landed another strike, even though Katsuki had his arms up to block the kick, it still hurt and some of the Darkness around him faded again. "THAT'S THE REASON I KEPT CHASING AFTER YOU!"
[Play Boku no Hero Academia OST All Might with U.A. Students]
The force of the kick pushed Bakugo back, and he had that excited smile on his face again, even though he was angry that Midoriya surpassed him in power at that instant. He got back into the fight, blasting himself forward, while his opponent charged at him with full force, both of them letting out a battle cry as they kicked it into an even higher gear than before.
Up on the rooftops of the buildings, multiple Shadows and Neoshadows charged towards Sora, but the Keyblade wielder could hear the fighting begin to ramp up again down below, so he was free to kick it up a notch up here. He quickly switched to Second Form and then charged the Heartless, meeting the creatures head on and striking down the ones that were in the front almost immediately, before getting in the middle of the group and using Stun Impact to destroy the Shadows and daze the Neoshadows, giving the Keyblade wielder an easy time disposing of them, at the cost of transforming back to his base power.
Back on the ground, Izuku landed a reverse blade kick on Katsuki, and then spun himself in the air to give himself enough momentum to execute a devastating axe kick. Bakugo had avoided the kick by the skin of his teeth before raising his palm and making a powerful explosion that was point blank in Midoriya's face. Both boys were blasted away and the force of the explosion cracked the building around them. As Katsuki skidded on the ground, more of his Darkness fell off, but he pushed himself back up while Izuku had managed to recover before him and blitz towards the explosive teen. "IS THAT ALL YOU'VE GOT!?" The One For All user screamed out.
As Bakugo got up and was ready to continue fighting Midoriya, Sora had moved to an adjacent rooftop and continued to engage the Heartless. However as he continued to fight them, he noticed that there weren't as many coming anymore. Since he was more focused on the Heartless at the moment, he wasn't able to see the progress that Izuku was making right now, but judging by the fewer and fewer amounts that are arriving to try and prey on the people here, Katsuki's Darkness was being handled with, and that gave the Keyblade wielder some relief. He sidestepped a Darkball forming next to him and trying to bite him, then split it in two with the Kingdom Key, before building enough energy to transform into Second Form again, and this time hold onto it, as the Heartless were now more focused on him, than the fight down below.
Sora ran towards the next group of Heartless, consisting of Flutterings and an Invisible. He used his flowmotion to latch onto one of the Flutterings and spin around, shredding the Fluttering he had latched onto while destroying or significantly damaging the others. The Invisible went to attack him with its sword, but the Keyblade wielder blocked the blade with his own and then casted Fire point blank, blasting it away. Some Flutterings went to attack him, but Sora saw them coming and doge rolled out of the way before dashing towards them and cutting them apart. He felt his stockpiled energy rise enough for him to use a move, better than Stun Impact, but he waited until the right moment.
Back on the ground, Izuku jumped up, and Katsuki followed, knowing he had the upper hand in the air, but Midoriya didn't jump without a plan. Bakugo was prepared for another kick, as he saw his opponent in a prime kicking position in the air. He had his guard up on his left as the kick would come from there, but at the last moment, right when the two were practically face to face, Midoriya formed a fist, catching the explosive teen off guard. The One For All user then threw his fist forward, and punched Katsuki on the unguarded right side of his face, which drew some blood and knocked off enough Darkness that the young Hero couldn't see any more on his opponent, but he kept pushing. This wasn't going to end when the Darkness he saw was off. He was fighting to win, and he was not going to be nice enough to just let his opponent pummel him to work off some stress. As he kept pushing, wanting to beat Bakugo because he was the best, and Midoriya needed to, if he wanted to meet the expectations the pair's shared Role Model had for him.
Back on the rooftop, Sora had just slashed the last of the Flutterings, and then saw the Invisible dash towards him again, choosing to end this fight now, he used the power he stockpiled up and thrusted towards and through the Heartless multiple times, executing a devastating Sonic Blade that easily destroyed the dweller of Darkness. He looked around and only saw a few Shadows left, but nothing else arrived with them. He used his flowmotion and got ready to finish them.
Back on the ground, "I...WON'T LOSE TO YOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOUUUUUUUUU!" Katsuki roared out, as he grabbed Izuku's arm, kicked him in the gut, got on top of him, and then blasted them both to the ground with his free hand, slamming Midoriya on the concrete.
[Silence]
Bakugo then pinned him down, holding one arm with one hand and keeping his face on the ground with the other, and using one of his legs to pin the other arm down while his other leg pressed down on Izuku's gut. As the two panted from near exhaustion, Katsuki tightened his grip to keep his opponent from moving, before speaking up. "That's it...We're done here. I won this fight." Even though he won, he didn't sound too pleased. "You have All Might's power, but even...using his strength, even after making it your own, somehow you still managed to lose to me." A tiny amount of Darkness was still coming from the explosive teen as he asked "Why?...How could you lose?"
"Stop this, right now. Both of you." An adult male's voice was heard by the pair, who both recognized who that was. "I'm sorry, but I heard what you've said."
"All Might." Bakugo uttered out.
"When did you get here?" Midoriya weakly asked.
Yagi approached the two as they got up. "I didn't notice before. I should have."
"It's too late now." Katsuki softly told him, looking away, and towards the boy he had just won against. "Why did you pick Deku? It started when the sludge Villain came, didn't it? So why him?"
"He was powerless, but still more heroic than anyone else." Toshinori answered. "I knew you were strong. That much was obvious. You were someone who could already fight. So I decided that he should have a chance to stand in the ring."
"And now you know I'm weak too." Bakugo said.
Before anything else could happen, a Shadow fell to the ground, catching all three of their attention, but then the Kingdom Key slammed through it, and Sora slammed it down further until the Shadow was destroyed. "And that's the last of them."
"Wha...Sora?" Izuku was surprised to see him here.
" What the hell are you doing here?" Katsuki questioned.
"I followed you two here." The Keyblade wielder told them, before looking at Bakugo. "I noticed that you were dealing with some Darkness of your own, but I also knew that talking to you or stopping this fight wouldn't have been the right call. Then the Heartless showed up, because of the Darkness coming from you beginning to grow from all your pent up guilt and anger, So I dealt with them while you two kept hitting each other."
"I suppose it's a good thing that you decided to do that." Yagi commented.
"By the way, I heard everything too." Sora said. "I already know about the connection with All Might and Izuku, so I don't need an explanation for that."
"Of course you knew." The explosive teen realized.
"But there's one thing I've gotta ask you, Katsuki." Sora said. "If you hate and blame yourself for what happened to All Might, then why don't you hate me too? We were both there, and I was on the verge of giving up after the thrashing I had taken from Vanitas. But you haven't shown any anger to me. Heck, you've shown me more respect than anything else. You don't even call me 'Toy Sword' anymore."
[Play Boku no Hero Academia OST Resting Symbol of Peace]
"Don't be an idiot, Sora. You weren't the weak link in that situation." Bakugo told him. "It's obvious that you could hold your own and stand with the Pros. Hell, you proved that when you got yourself out of Vanitas threatening your life in front of them, when the other Pros couldn't. You got banged up, sure, but even at death's door, you kept fighting and made sure that you wouldn't lose to Vanitas. And the only reason you were thinking of giving in was because you were worried that you couldn't protect me from him. I always wanted to be like All Might, which meant being as strong as possible, but look at what I did to him...because I'm not good enough."
Toshinori stepped in and spoke to Katsuki. "This is not your fault, Young Bakugo. I was always going to lose my power. You couldn't do anything to change that. You are strong, but I focused too much on your physical strength, and overlooked what was important." He put an arm around the explosive teen and gave him a hug. "This isn't your burden. I apologize. Sometimes I forget that you're children."
As Sora saw this happen, he also noticed that the small amount of Darkness around Katsuki had practically faded away. It wasn't protruding from him anymore. It wasn't gone, as nobody can just get rid of their Darkness that easily. But for now, it wouldn't be leaking out of Bakugo anytime soon. The explosive teen soon pushed himself off the hug, mainly because he didn't want to be seen as totally pathetic, even though his pride was basically broken at this point.
"After being a Hero for so many years, you learn a few things." Yagi spoke again. "Striving to be the best, like you, Young Bakugo. And caring deeply about people, about rescuing those that are in trouble, like you, Young Midoriya. Both of those feelings are necessary in a Hero, otherwise they'll never truly be able to represent justice. That's why you admire his strength so much, Young Midoriya. And I know that's why you've always feared his heart and spirit, YOung Bakugo. Now that you've laid your feelings out on the table, maybe you can understand each other. If you have mutual respect and focus on making one another stronger, I have no doubt that you'll become the ultimate Heroes, winning and saving people at the same time."
[Silence]
"Damn it. That's not what I wanted to hear." Katsuki sat on the ground, before talking to Izuku. "You..." That made the One For All user nervously look at him. "You had the strongest guy in the world lay out the groundwork for you. Don't you dare lose again."
Midoriya looked at his friend and calmly replied. "I'll work harder, so that I can beat you."
Bakugo sighed, before talking to Toshinori. "Okay, so talk. Who knows, about you two?"
"Recovery Girl, Principal Nezu do." Yagi answered. "As far as students go, only you and Sora."
"And you don't want this to get out, cause that would be bad." Katsuki noted. "Don't worry. Your secret's safe with me. I won't tell anyone what's going on. Unlike Deku, I can keep my mouth shut. This will stay between us."
"Ouch, right for the throat." Sora commented. "I guess it's not as hard of a secret to keep as the World Order, but still."
"The World what now?" Bakugo questioned, as Midoriya and Yagi both looked at Sora with the same 'are you serious?' look on their faces.
Sora sighed and slouched down. "I said that out loud, didn't I?"
[Play Boku no Hero Academia OST From Me To You]
After a summarized, but still long explanation from Sora later, Katsuki was now caught up on Sora's story, how the Keyblade worked, and the other worlds. Bakugo looked understandably annoyed as the Keyblade wielder basically casually committed a universal taboo with that side comment. "Are you fu...god damn it! Why would you say something at all like that out loud? Who knows about that?"
"Well, the staff here do. Sir Nighteye, and you and Izuku." Sora answered.
"So basically just everyone that you had extended periods of time with here." Katsuki pointed out. "Are you shitting me? Why don't you just tell our whole class at this point?"
"Wait, should I?" The Keyblade wielder was wondering about that suggestion.
"NO, YOU DUMBASS!" Bakugo screamed out. "Half of them can't keep their mouths shut and your Order would be even more screwed than it already is!"
"Okay! Okay! I get it! I'll be quiet." Sora said.
Katsuki groaned. "How were you even qualified to do your job if you can't follow that one rule?"
"Hey. I've kept it secret on other worlds." The Keyblade wielder defended his case.
"Those two extras you mentioned probably had to shut your mouth for you before you spilled." Bakugo commented. When Sora's response to that was a nervous laugh, the explosive student held his head as he stood back up. "You're giving me a damn aneurysm with how stupid you are. This would be a real pain if this, or All Might's secret got out and messed stuff up. At least remember that when you decide to talk about anything related to either of those topics."
As the four of them walked back to the Dormitory together, Toshinori explained his relationship with Izuku, and how they ran into Sora. He talked about what the two of them were going up against and how they were going to inevitably face the great evils ahead. "If this got out. People would be confused and start wondering where the power is." Katsuki said, talking about One For All. "You idiot. What were you thinking when you first told me about it?"
Yagi then spoke up again. "It was my own choice to use up the last of my abilities. I said this earlier, but that was in no way your fault."
"It doesn't change what I have to do." Bakugo told him, referring to when he declared how he was going to strive to be the Number 1 Hero.
"True. You're right about that." Toshinori agreed.
"Things aren't gonna be the same though, Deku. You got that?" Katsuki said to his rival. "You've been watching me and everyone around you, absorbing what you see in order to get stronger. Well I can do the exact same thing and keep getting better myself. I go higher than even you, or Destiny's child over here." He referred to Sora.
Midoriya took that in, then gave his response. "Right. Then I guess I'll just have to be even better than that."
"You what?" Bakugo did not immediately get that.
"I have to go higher than Sora and you." Izuku summarized.
Katsuki got annoyed with that. "DAMN IT NERD! I JUST SAID THAT I WAS GONNA BE THE ONE TO SURPASS YOU!"
"I know!" Midoriya replied. "And now I'm saying I'm gonna go beyond that level!"
"WHAT?!" Bakugo responded.
"Well, since you both want to get really strong, I guess now is a good time to mention that I'm looking for some training partners." Sora interjected.
"Training partners?" Izuku repeated.
"When and where?!" Katsuki immediately jumped at the opportunity.
"The monetary room, every other day, after school." The Keyblade wielder explained. "Moogle lets me use the Datascape to train the whole day. Right now, I'm using it to learn how to fight Vanitas at his current level."
"You're what?!" Midoriya was surprised.
"Tomorrow or two days from now?!" Bakugo wanted to know.
"Uh. Tomorrow, I guess?" Sora answered.
"Don't you dare be late, Sora!" Katsuki told him.
"Wait. I should be the one telling you that." The Keyblade wielder commented.
"I'm gonna train with you too, Sora." Izuku spoke up. "We'll both end up fighting Vanitas anyway, considering his ties to the League. Better that I learn alongside you, than in the heat of a fight against the real thing."
"Wait your turn! I said I'd train with him first!" Bakugo barked out.
"I'm not letting you pull even more ahead!" Midoriya barked back.
"We can all go on the same day." Sora stopped the two of them from arguing again. "Besides, I do more than a few matches. I keep going till sunset. That's a few hours of fighting Vanitas in a bunch of matches. I can switch between you two every break between the fights."
"Before you start talking about your future training sessions, you might want to focus on what you're going to say to your Homeroom teacher when you get back to the Dorms." Yagi pointed out.
"Oh, yeah." Sora realized.
"Oh no." Izuku also remembered.
"Oh crap." Katsuki groaned.
[Silence]
Once the group was back at 1-A's Dormitory, where they were brought to a small medical wing on the first floor, and when Toshinori explained the situation to Aizawa while Sora healed Midoriya and Bakugo, all three of them were bound up by the Homeroom teacher's capture scarf, rather tightly. "You two fought the night you finished the Provisional Licensing exam?" He referred to Katsuki and Izuku on that one. "And you decided to not only allow the fight to continue, but also smash the drone that reported the incident to try and stop us from interfering?" He referred to Sora on that. "I'm glad to see that you three have so much energy." He was very much lying and was in fact very pissed off.
"Aizawa, wait! Hold up with those restraints. It's my fault that Young Midoriya and Young Bakugo sparred in the first place." Yagi explained.
"Your fault? And how is that? And what's your excuse for Sora?" Aizawa questioned, not letting the three of them loose.
The three boys looked a little worried, as they just had a discussion about keeping All Might's secret. Yagi then quietly spoke to Aizawa. "It seems like Young Bakugo felt that he was somewhat responsible for my retirement. He had to face the licensing exam with those pent up emotions, then his inferiority complex exploded and this happened. And for Young Sora's excuse, he saw Darkness emanating from Young Bakugo and decided to follow them. When the Darkness grew from Young Bakugo's deteriorating emotional state, Heartless arrived and he had to deal with them. It's all because I didn't realize I was being negligent. This whole fight and unchecked security break was brought on by the failure of their teacher."
The Homeroom teacher listened to reason and released them from their restraints. "I understand that they felt they had to break the rules." He was still very angry though. "But this isn't something I can just ignore. There must be a suitable punishment. Who threw the first punch?"
"I did." Bakugo answered.
"I also went pretty hard. It wasn't just him." Midoriya admitted.
[Play Boku no Hero Academia OST U.A. Highschool Support Department]
"You three are on House arrest! Four days for Bakugo, three for Midoriya, and two for Sora, because of his destruction of U.A. property and intention to let your fight draw out as long as it did! During that time, you three will clean the common areas and dorm rooms both morning and night! Plus, I want a written apology! If there are any injuries that Sora missed and need to be checked out, head to the infirmary! But don't rely on the old lady's quirk, this time! Figure out a way to heal yourselves! And Sora, you will not be allowed to use your quirk to speed up the cleaning or heal those two!" The intensity of that made the three boys shrink a bit, before Aizawa calmed down. "That's all. Go."
And there we have it. The talk has been talked, the fight as been fought, and now Katsuki knows about the World Order, as well as One For All. Originally, I wanted Bakugo to know about Sora's secret during the Hideout raid arc, via Vanitas telling him and basically calling Sora secretive and distrustful, but then I decided againstit, in favor of Sora just spilling the beans, like the dunce he still is. What do you guys think? Was this better, or should I have done the Vanitas tells him route? Anyway, aside from that. The Heartless show up outside of a major Villain attack now. Expect them to pop up every now and again, but don't expect a super detailed fight for every encounter. Aside from that, the next chapter will be a bit more...Villainous. Hope you enjoyed this chapter and until I decide to upload again. ;)
[Play Boku no Hero Academia OST Among Kosei]
When morning came at U.A. and all of the students were awake, they noticed Sora, Izuku and Katsuki, all cleaning the common area, instead of getting ready for classes. When asked why, they told them about the fight. "WHAT?!" Most of them exclaimed.
"You guys threw down, and Sora let you two keep going?!" Mina was exasperated.
"And now you guys are on house arrest?" Toru was also surprised.
"Hilarious!" Denki resisted the urge to laugh at the three of them.
"You three are really morons for that." Hanta said.
"Pinnacle of stupidity." Fumikage agreed.
"Look! I thought that those two just needed to get it out!" Sora tried to defend his case while vacuuming. "It's not like me getting in the fight would have made it any better."
"Still rather stupide, Sora." Yuga said.
"So, did you guys make up after, or...?" Ochako asked.
"Well, it wasn't that we made up, exactly." Midoriya answered. "It's kind of hard to put into words."
"You're lucky you three got away with house arrest." Tenya told the trio. "Though this does mean you'll miss the opening ceremony we'll be going to right now."
"Bakugo. What about our extra classes?" Shoto wondered.
"SHUT UP ICY HOT! THIS HAS NOTHING TO DO WITH YOU!" Bakugo yelled out as he had it with the talking at this point.
"Kay, well, thanks for cleaning up." Kaminari said.
"Please try not to make too much of a mess for us, okay?" Sora requested.
"No promises." Minoru said with a mischievous glare that basically told the Keyblade wielder that he was going to be cleaning up a bunch of his 'messes'. It made Sora shutter at the thought of what the purple pervert had in mind for what is most likely going to be payback for all the times he foiled Mineta's schemes involving the girls.
[Silence]
When the class had left and the three were left alone in the Dormitory, they continued cleaning, with Sora choosing to go upstairs to clean the dorms while the other two decided to stay down here to clean the common areas. "So...about my shoot style...what did you think of it?" Izuku wondered.
[Play Boku no Hero Academia OST Anguish of the Quirkless]
It took a while for Katsuki to respond."...Your movements are too obvious. Even when you got faster, I was able to dodge them. You're not gonna win any fight that way."
"Oh. Right..." Midoriya understood.
"And when you added in punches, it really pissed me off." Bakugo added.
That comment was all the One For All user needed to hear to know how he could improve in a fight. It made him smile. "Got it."