By the end of the day, Katsuki saw that this went about as he expected it in terms of socialization. Itsuka was the closest thing he had to a friend in the class, he got on someone's bad side, slightly, and he could barely remember the names of the rest of the class. There was one he had memorized because of how stupid it sounded, but that was about it.
In contrast, when he saw Izuku it further confirmed what he thought, the nerd had a certain charisma to him, as he managed to form a little group of friends consisting of the two people he mentioned from the entrance exam as well as the girl he met on the subway.
However, there was one thing outside of social groups that was very clear, considering Katsuki had been waiting at the entrance of U.A for ten god damned minutes and only recently did the nerd show his face.
They were doing something while he had to suffer through the ceremony.
During the whole process of getting the details of what class 1-A was doing, he got acquaintanced with Ochako, Tenya and Kyoka.
Once he knew what happened, he didn't envy the nerd as much. A test where the last place would be expelled. Supposedly. Izuku apparently had managed to convince the teacher not to do it, which prompted the guy who placed last to pester him about some ways in which to pay back.
Katsuki wasn't entirely sure whether he should feel glad that he wasn't there to get second hand embarrassment from that, or disappointed that he wasn't there to laugh at the nerd's misfortune.
Either way, that conversation didn't last long as a good amount of the group had to go their separate ways, they ended up back in a familiar situation. In the subway, the three of them who lived in Shizuoka, in a thankfully uncramped space.
There was a slight problem in the blonde's mind.
"I'm starting to regret making you two talk to each other." Katsuki said in a small moment of silence in the group, around five minutes after they boarded the subway.
"Huh?"
"Why? Are you mad I stole your friend?" Kyoka said with a teasing smile.
"Nah. Just not a fan of your attitude."
"My attitude? How do you deal with yourself, then? Did you forget the first thing you said when we met was "Who is Cheeks, and Glasses?" I'm pretty sure if you didn't know my name beforehand you'd have called me Ears or something."
"Ding-ding. He did exactly that." Izuku chuckled.
"Tch. You're also spreading it to the nerd."
"I'm not spreading anything." She shrugged. "As soon as he got over his girl phobia he started acting more like that."
"It wasn't a phobia! I-I'm just not a very social person, that is all!" The nerd protested with a blush on his face.
"Yeah, right." The punk deadpanned.
"I wouldn't sarcasm the guy that knows what kind of songs are in your playlist."
That got Kyoka to point her jacks at Izuku with a small blush of her own, the freckled teen merely smiled at the display, not that worried about the unspoken threat that was heading his way.
"You look really calm for someone who knows what happens when I jab my jacks into someone."
"I just like the reaction I got out of you more than I fear the pain. Besides, I didn't plan on spreading your secrets anyways, so you can calm down."
"You see what I mean!?" Katsuki gestured vaguely at the two of them, "How the fuck is someone supposed to join a conversation like that one?"
"Huh… I thought it was just that mellowed out attitude you have when you're bored, not that you didn't know when to talk," the nerd said sheepishly.
"Yeah, no. I just don't fit in your chats. Thing is, I can deal with being quiet while you're doing it, but I just know that it's gonna get worse."
"Worse…? What do you mean?"
The blonde gave an unimpressed stare at his childhood friend, wondering if he was attempting to mess with him before remembering that this was in fact Izuku Midoriya who he was talking to.
"Right, should have figured you wouldn't see what's happening. You, who barely ever talked with people…"
"Hey! You aren't any better in the social department! Up until recently we were each other's only friend."
"The difference is that, unlike you… I didn't talk with other people because I don't like the idea of talking with them."
"Wow," Kyoka piped in, "So you just don't like people…? A bit of an odd trait for a hero."
"Tch," Katsuki didn't want to honor that with any more of an answer.
If that's what she wanted to believe, she was free to go ahead and do just that, he wasn't gonna go and correct that. It was his philosophy about other people's opinions, he didn't care about them so it didn't matter to him whether they were slandering him or praising him.
"It's not that," Izuku said, sensing the shift in the mood, "His introductions to most people were not… eh, the greatest. And Kacchan can hold grudges for really long. But, uh, we derailed the conversation a bit." He turned towards his friend, "What did you mean by worse?"
"You'll figure it out."
"Is that something that only concerns you two as childhood friends or should I start getting worried?"
"... You didn't have many friends, either, did you?"
"And from what I'm hearing neither did you! So don't act like that's why we don't know what you're on about."
"Yeah, whatever, I'm not telling, so buzz off."
The silence he got as an answer, accompanied by Izuku's confused stare and Kyoka's raised eyebrow was a nice opportunity to pull out his phone and tune out the small discussion those two will have about what he was talking about.
It would seem that his best friend was getting along great with the rest of his class from what he could tell. It was a weird realization in a way, maybe it felt that way because this was an example of what it really meant that they were assigned to different classes. They'd still be friends, but most of their time would be spent with their new classmates. Classmates that he personally considered for the most part to be little more than strangers. He didn't see himself being the one to approach them casually. He wasn't the type of person to be that talkative and even when he was, he wasn't that good with words either and didn't bother to clarify what he meant.
Yet, he wasn't worried, because soon he would make proper introductions, not with words. Because while today technically would be referred to as the first day of school, tomorrow would be more fitting of that description. Where they'll actually be starting to be taught heroics, and where he won't have to be sitting still while the headmaster goes on and on about the values of the school and their compromise of forming a new capable generation of heroes or whatever.
He wanted it now, he could just jump at another chance of feeling the fruits of his labor, to show them what he felt was him at his purest, and he could just feel how it would be so-
-boring. Of fucking course. What else did he expect? He read the damn curriculum. Heroics class was at the very end, after lunch.
Math. Literature. English. Even art. Those were taught before that, and the only difference between them and his classes at middle school was that these were taught by Pro Heroes, who also were far more competent than his teachers back then.
It was hard to tell if that spoke more in regards to how good U.A was or how bad his middle school was. Probably both.
At least lunch was really good, and another good point of comparison between U.A and other schools. He would be inclined to point out the absurdity of how a Pro Hero alone managed to feed over a hundred people better than a full staff, however, it was Lunch Rush. Even if it was only as a thought, he suspected the nerd would come out of nowhere to point out how the Cook Hero once managed to make enough food to feed a whole crew of stranded sailors or something along those lines.
Either way, Katsuki was understandably bored as hell before now, back in his seat, waiting for heroics class to begin. At least that long period of nothing helped him rest from the morning training that he did. If he had any luck, this class was actually going to be a practical subject, and he would get another chance to see the results of his training. It better be.
"That's certainly an expression," Itsuka said once she got a glance at him, turning around her seat to chat, "What has you that excited? Know something I don't?"
"Nah, just hoping this heroics class is something practical."
"Ah, gotcha. Yeah, I feel that, too. Don't know if it's being too impatient, but I do wanna start getting to hero practice soon."
"How's that impatient?"
"Because, you know, it's only the second day."
"And as far as I'm aware we only got three years of this, with breaks and everything we got like, what? A little less than a thousand days? If anything we're being really fucking patient by not asking why we haven't really done anything yet."
The small discussion was cut short as the door of the classroom opened, Vlad King stepping inside. Itsuka used the small window of time it took the hero to get to his desk to go back to a proper sitting posture, as did everyone who had decided to have a chat while waiting for him to arrive.
After a quick scan of the room once everyone quieted down, he nodded and then spoke, "I hope you've had a fine day so far, class. However, as we all know, now is time for the subject that separates us from the other courses, and I personally believe in learning by doing."
Katsuki was starting to like this guy.
"We'll engage in a practical exercise, for that…" As he trailed, the wall began to move, four compartments sliding out, showing cases labeled from 01 to 20. "You'll need the right gear. Change into those and meet me at Ground Gamma."
The changing into the costumes was done fairly quickly, mainly due to the fact that most of the class was excited to try them on, Katsuki included, even if he wouldn't admit it. Once they got there they gazed upon the very industrial area that was Ground Gamma, the whole thing looked like a whole giant set of interconnected pipes with the occasional big building in between them.
It was hard for Katsuki to tell how faithfully this was supposed to recreate actual industrial areas, but he wasn't that bothered by a lack of realism in this moment. He adjusted his gloves once more.
They were long gloves that reached all the way to the middle of his bicep, attached to it was bits of metal, mainly in the back of his forearm and hand, as well as some on his fingers, though rather than being defensive they were supposed to act as some sort of brass knuckles. The padding between the metal and his arm was a bit uncomfortable, but he supposed he could get used to it.
"That's… More simplistic than I was expecting from you," Itsuka said looking at the rest of his costume.
It was for the most part only a tank top, black baggy pants, steel toe boots and a utility belt. Also the black mask, if only to make sure he wasn't mistaken as a civilian when he actually got to use it.
There were hints of orange along his costume, which served absolutely no purpose, but he didn't want to be plain.
The blonde turned to look at her costume. "I wasn't expecting your costume to be discount Chun Li."
"I- No, no, it's not that similar! I don't have the puffy things on my shoulders." She said while looking at her clothes. "And the color it's darker."
"Yeah, right. Also, the fuck did you mean by more simple than expected? You think I'm gonna have some loud ass costume or something?"
He received a blank stare, he would have responded, however, Vlad King spoke, catching the class' attention.
"Very well, class, good to see you looking proper," there was an approving nod before he continued, "Now, onto the exercise, we'll be familiarizing you with the most common kind of confrontation a Hero faces, indoor confrontation. For that purpose, you'll be split into pairs, and before you ask, I'll be determining the pairs as I see fit. Two pairs will enter one of the buildings equipped with communication devices, both teams will be competing to fulfill the objective before the other team does, sabotaging them or fighting them if deemed necessary."
Before that, you'll have five minutes to discuss strategy and coordinate with your partner on how to complete your mission. Any questions so far?"
There were plenty of hands raised, however, judging by the way Vlad King was smiling, Katsuki had an inkling that he knew what the question that was plaguing their heads was.
"What is the mission?"
"It will depend," their teacher said proudly, "Not every battle is going to be the same, could be capture, weapon planting and defusing, or a race to get a specific item. It'll depend on what you pull," as he said that he produced a box with slips of paper visible in it, "Now, for the first match: Monoma, Bakugo, Tetsutetsu, Kendo, come here."
Doing as told, the four students stepped closer, and once they were in front of the Blood Hero, he continued speaking, "One of you pull a piece of paper."
Katsuki, Tetsutetsu and Neito all moved to do so, and noticing the competition, the three of them moved faster, their arms touching as they put their hands inside the box, however, it was the quirkless who managed to get a paper out of it first. It was folded up a good amount and seemed completely blank from the outside. Smirking at his competition, he began to unfold it.
"Treasure retrieval," he read outloud. It was only that short phrase, in neat handwriting, but only that.
"Good, it's a simple one, before I explain it however, Kendo, Tetsutetsu, since the other team pulled the scenario, I'll let you choose whether you'll be playing the role of the heroes or villains in this scenario." He then mumbled, "not that it will change much, but I've had plenty of students who liked to roleplay these exercises."
"Heroes, obviously!" Tetsutetsu said right after Vlad King finished speaking.
"You could ask for my opinion before deciding," Itsuka said with her arms crossed. "But, yeah, that sounds about right."
"Very well," the Hero said, "For this scenario there is a black box hidden inside the building, signifying the treasure, both teams will be racing to get their hands on it. However, merely putting your hands on it won't be enough for a victory, you'll have to get out of the building and get one hundred meters away from it with the box still in your possession and intact. Damage to the box will be considered a failure to both teams.
As I explained before, you can try and stop the other team, either by defeating them or trapping them, whichever you see fit. You may also wrap capture tape around your opponent to signify that you have captured them. If you're captured, you're not to engage in combat any further. Any questions?" After the silence that followed, the Hero pointed towards a nearby building with his thumb, "Then go, your planning time begins now. The villain team will enter from the back and the hero team from the front."
The back entrance to the building was as unremarkable as one would expect from an unspecified industrial facility. A red door was ajar, showing a large room with some sort of machinery pretty much everywhere. There didn't seem to be any sign of windows on this side of the building.
"Bakugo, was it?" Neito Monoma, his partner for this exercise, spoke. There was something about this guy's smug expression that kinda ticked Katsuki in the wrong way. "Can I know the specifics of your Quirk? You know, just so I can keep my distance if I need to."
"Hell no. Though I can say that as long as you're away from punching distance you should be fine."
Katsuki felt a hand upon his shoulder, while Neito was giving a smile, "Aw, c'mon, don't be like-… Huh. That's…" He looked confused, moving his hand away for a second before touching his partner's shoulder again.
"Great. Just fantastic," the Quirkless blonde groaned, "You got, what? A copy ability or some shit? Well, you're outta luck, you're not gonna be able to use it on me."
"You're Quirkless." Neito said plainly.
"Got a problem with that, huh!?"
"No. Not a personal one, at least. I was just hoping to have another ace up my sleeve for this exercise."
"Another…?"
"Nevermind that," Neito smiled, "My point is that we're less prepared than I'd like. Do you have a battle plan for this? I can tell we're against quite the physical powerhouses, so I don't particularly think we should try a direct confrontation, maybe we should avoid them and try to find the box stealthily."
"Won't work, at least for me, never been one for the subtle approach and even if I was going to do that…" He took a couple of steps around his partner, his footsteps quite clearly heard, "These boots ain't for sneaking, less so in a place that's probably gonna echo like hell.
You can try and avoid them, hell, you're even dressed the part. I'm gonna look for them and fight them, maybe they'll be separate, maybe they'll be together, whatever, I'll take them on. Quicker that way."
"That's not a plan at all. If they find you, they'll wonder where I am and maybe they'll send one of them to specifically look for me. Even if they don't, with numbers and all, you'll be quickly dealt with and leave only me to complete the rest of the mission, and I'm not that much of a direct fighter. The only way I'd win either of those situations is if I find the box and get out without being seen by them. I don't like to go with the plan with only one way to win if I can avoid it."
"Well, I told you, I'm gonna go fight them, if you want to try to be sneaky while I go at it, go ahead, you already said why you think that's a bad idea, and I already said why both of us trying to be sneaky is gonna go to shit."
"So, you want us both to look for them and fight them…?" The raised eyebrow and frown more than made it clear that Neito was very much against the idea.
"Yeah, did you really need me to spell it out for you?"
The two of them stared at each other, each one trying to see which one would waver, however, that small mental confrontation ended when Neito clapped his hands, putting on a small smile.
"Well, what is one to do? I guess I'll go along with your idea, given our options, it is the most likely way we'll win."
Despite the friendly tone in which that was said, Katsuki narrowed his eyes. His duo was clearly up to something, but he couldn't really tell what, but it was surely something that went against the simple plan of attacking. Either way, even if he couldn't trust Neito, he could put trust in him. While his ability to read people was not the greatest, there was a really important aspect that he caught onto.
This guy hated losing.
He felt comfortable working with someone like that.
"Time for planning is over! Begin!" Vlad King's voice was heard through the communication systems they were handed, and Katsuki didn't waste a second to rush in, Neito following soon after, a bit taken by surprise by his immediate rush.
"I see why you were so against the stealth approach…" His partner deadpanned, looking around the building, mapping it out in his head. "It really sounds like you want to be loud"
"Shut it! I am being loud on purpose, they'll come looking for us, that'll save time."
He was running faster than his companion and he was heading through various doors and hallways towards the middle of the building, vaguely at least. This place was a maze in its uniformity, the walls painted the same, the only indication that they weren't running in circles were the abbreviations on the doors. GNRT, SCRT, OFFC. Stuff that he saw and thought of why they didn't just write what those rooms were for in Japanese, or at the very least plain English.
His complaints didn't change the fact that they were pretty much wandering aimlessly through the building, until they arrived at a split in the hallway, one path to the right, and another one to the left.
As they briefly stopped to consider their options, they noticed the sound of footsteps fast approaching, followed shortly by the appearance of Tetsutetsu from the right path, who quickly recognized them and exclaimed, "Found you, Villains!"
The silver haired teen rushed towards them, his body shifting into a metallic composition, his footsteps growing louder, he reeled back a punch that was met by one that Katsuki threw, both of them took a couple of steps back, the blonde quickly shaking his hands a small way to alleviate the pain.
"Ha! You're gonna try to match my steel!? Bring it on!"
"I already punched through metal with my bare hands… You really want to feel that confident?"
Katsuki glanced at his partner, or rather, where his partner was. Somehow, in that brief moment, Neito has managed to sneak either past them or away. It didn't matter at this moment, he currently had another problem.
Focusing back on Tetsutetsu, he assumed a stance, his opponent merely going for another straight punch. Sidestepping it and redirecting it, Katsuki then threw a punch toward the stomach, making contact and attempting to drive the impact further, he met great resistance only to then receive an elbow to his jaw.
Stepping away and holding his face, he looked to see if he made any significant damage to his opponent.
"Punched through metal…? Aluminum maybe, but this!?" Tetsutetsu banged his chest. "This is pure steel!"
"Start bragging once I've given up. As it stands… Your words are only a challenge."
He straightened up, preparing for another small confrontation. He now confirmed it, strength and durability was something he couldn't win in, however this guy was predictable and slower. He had to use that, maybe he could exhaust whatever was fueling his Quick. He bounced on his step a little bit, trying to be as flexible in his movement as possible as his opponent charged with a roar.
"I should have figured…" Itsuka grumbled as she ran after Tetsutetsu. "Of course that guy rushed in, didn't even help me look through the rooms."
It was the third time she has led out a complaint like that, but she needed to vent a little.
As she turned a corner towards the center of the building, her instincts flared, turning around quickly, she grabbed the hands of the assailant, tossing him aside, the object he had in his hands falling in between them.
"The capture tape? Really?"
Neito laughed as he stood up, "Why the indignation? Is it not within the rules of this exercise? Don't tell me you're the type to say "that's not fair" when someone doesn't play the game like you do."
"You're trying to rile me up. It is working, but it's just gonna get you punched in the face, you know?"
He got into a position, his sly smile taunting her, "I'll try and pretend that's threatening."
With no more words she quickly closed the distance, and attempted to make good on her word, but keeping a close eye on her opponent, not fully trusting someone who invites an attack towards himself.
He ducked under the punch looking to give her an uppercut in retaliation, only to be surprised by a knee towards his chest. He didn't bulge, however, and she was surprised to experience a sharp pain on impact. Shortly after she received the impact of the uppercut, Itsuka did her best to roll backwards to avoid taking the full brunt of the damage while also making some distance from the now metallic Neito.
He was looking at his new appearance, opening and closing his fist. "My, it's like a suit of armor, yet it feels weightless to me! But I know my own strength and that was not it, probably increases my strength so that being made of steel is comparable to my usual weight."
"You know you haven't knocked me out, right? So you can save your observations about Tetsutetsu's Quirk for later," she said as she enlarged her fist. "I think I'll stop going easy on you now."
"That so?" He slowly shifted back to his normal appearance and mimicked her pose, large fists and all. "I guess I'll have to return the courtesy."
She slowly approached him again, wary of whatever trick this guy might have up his sleeve. He threw the first punch, she deflected and attempted to hit back with a straight, only for him to quickly shift back into steel. He couldn't use the two Quirks at the same time, and so he was now on the defensive, pushing past the small pain of punching something so solid, she unleashed a barrage of punches, ones that for the most part were being blocked by his arms.
While it looked like she had him on the ropes, it was only for a moment, as Neito went from blocking with his forearms to intercepting one of the punches with his elbows. With Itsuka momentarily flinching in pain, the blonde took the opportunity to get on the offensive, dropping the Steel form to enlarge his fists and retaliate with a similar barrage of punches that the girl had more trouble simply blocking.
Itsuka felt herself getting pushed back by the attack, yet she didn't allow herself to give into panic, while similar, Neito's attack lacked technique. Pure strength had to be absolutely overwhelming to overcome technique, and so far, this wouldn't cut it.
She turned and grabbed onto her opponent's right arm, using the momentum of the punch to her advantage to throw Neito towards the floor. He had time to switch back to Steel, yet still felt the air escaping him as his back hit concrete, and Itsuka still hadn't let him go. Gritting her teeth, she held tightly and pretty much slammed him against a nearby wall, before spinning and launching him to the opposite wall.
Calming her breathing she watched carefully as the boy's body went back to normal, and he stayed on the ground, nodding to herself, she kept running in chase of Tetsutetsu.
"Stop! Moving! So much!" Tetsutetsu yelled as Katsuki weaved under another one of his punches, and then received a quick jab to his left cheek.
He didn't know what was worse, failing to even hit his opponent more than seven times, or the fact that his face was bloodied, worse still, not even by his own blood!
The blonde's knuckles were dripping with blood, and he didn't look like he had any intention of stopping anytime soon.
"Not my fault you're so sloppy even a blind sloth could dodge you."
"Hey! At least do some good damage to me if you're gonna talk like that!"
They've been going at it for a while now, and both of them were starting to feel tired.
"I know you can't keep at it forever. You'd be using your Quirk all day otherwise. And I swear… Each time I punch you it feels ever so slightly softer." Katsuki grinned excitedly. "Looks like I'll be punching through steel now!"
Or so he said, yet he knew he wasn't doing that good either, going at it, dodging attacks that he now knew from experience would make his vision blurry for a couple of seconds and punching what was essentially a wall while doing it was starting to take its toll.
He embraced the pain in his knuckles, trying to somewhat channel it into concentration, focus. A way to not waver, for his legs not to shake and for his strength not to fade. Whether it worked or not he would see.
He focused back on the flow of the battle, Tetsutetsu was coming at him like a raging bull, while Katsuki still had to be like a flowing cape, avoiding the powerful strikes and using whatever little window he had to hit back. Jaw, neck, stomach, sides. He didn't need to completely overcome Tetsutetsu's defenses, just chip at them little by little.
Movement behind his opponent distracted him for a second and he felt a steely fist grazing his face, centimeters away from actually bashing his head in. He retaliated with a strong punch towards the chest, using the impact to take a couple of steps back and take a look at the situation.
"What the? Kendo?" Tetsutetsu asked while glancing at her, "Where were you all this time?"
"As it turns out, you not saying anything other than "I'm going in!" and rushing inside doesn't actually let me know where exactly you're going." She huffed. "I had to deal with Monoma on my way here."
The blonde eyed them carefully, taking a couple of steps back. One versus two. He hadn't even managed to visibly damage Tetsutetsu and wasn't even consistently avoiding his attacks, adding another person to the mix didn't look good for him.
"Hey! I'm still not done with you!" Tetsutetsu yelled while rushing towards him, ready to keep their fight going.
"But I am," Katsuki went to block the punch with two hands, ducking and slipping them past the fist and into the forearm, after that, he stepped back as quickly as possible, yet that move was looking to earn him a right hook to the face.
"Tetsutetsu has been captured!" Vlad King's voice rang through their devices again, making said teen stop in confusion moments before he hit Katsuki.
"What!?" He then glanced at his arms, and more specifically, the tape that was wrapped around it. "Aw! C'mon, man! That's cheap!"
"Two on one is also cheap so cry more," Katsuki said, slapping the fist that was about to hit him away. "Had to do it to one of you to even the odds and you're the idiot who rushed in recklessly."
"Wait! Couldn't you have don-?"
"Yes, but I wanted to actually beat ya. You're lucky Kendo arrived, it saved you an ass beating."
"As fun as it is to watch you two explain this," Itsuka said while tapping her foot on the floor, arms crossed. "I still want to win this, so can you get out of the way, Tetsutetsu?"
Tetsutetsu began to walk out of the room, but not without having a final word, "I want my rematch, got it? I would have won!"
"Yeah, yeah, whatever makes you happy." Katsuki said while looking at his next opponent, he didn't want to risk an attack while he was distracted.
Instead of attempting that, she took her capture tape, and tossed it behind her, smiling while assuming a stance. "Not too tired, are you?"
"Kinda," He raised his arms, prepared to fight, grinning in preparation. "I guess that makes it an even fight."
Slowly, they approached, Itsuka was way more measured than Tetsutetsu, he could tell. She was waiting for him to do the first move. He attempted a faint, only for her to go straight through it, punching him straight in the chest, he got knocked back and did his best to get his guard up in time, he felt a heavy punch hit his left forearm, the armor doing his part on taking most of the impact.
"Even fight…?" Itsuka said with an easygoing smile.
"Obviously!" He yelled, ducking under her next strike and delivering a punch to her stomach. She did her best to turn around and deflect it, but the sudden offense took her by surprise.
Capitalizing on this, Katsuki kept going, constant but measured strikes, doing his best to keep her on the back foot, swift but firm, giving her no opportunity to turn this back on him. If she got back on the offensive, he was screwed, simple as that. Both he and his body knew it.
While for a while it seemed that his simple strategy was working, Itsuka then put her open right palm in the middle of a punch, enlarged her fist to then close it firmly, catching Katsuki's on her own. Gritting her teeth, she reeled back with her other enlarged fist to attempt to punch her opponent and knock him out.
The blonde, however, quickly grabbed onto her right wrist with his free hand and ducked under that strike, pulling on her arm to then headbutt her. While his impact ran true, Itsuka held firmly onto his hand, unwilling to set him free, so after recovering from the impact, she simply squeezed hard and twisted.
Katsuki felt himself slowly following the twist and feeling himself pretty much just locking up. There was a little give to try and move his body to escape but by that point he felt a strong hit to his stomach, one that knocked the air out of him and made him drop to his knees. He remained there for a good while, clearly attempting to recover, but between how tired he was, the grip Itsuka had on him and that recent hit, he pretty much remained immobile.
"Bakugou has been defeated!" Vlad King's voice announced.
At that, Itsuka's eyes widened. There was a small panic in them as she looked around.
At that moment, he let out a dry chuckle. "I see. Sneaky bastard only played dead, and you fell for it. Oldest damn trick in the book,"
"Oh, shut up! I just have to-"
"Monoma has recovered the box! Villain team wins!"
"-... Nevermind."
"I can't believe I lost like that." Itsuka said once they got back with the rest of the class.
"Yeah!" Tetsutetsu practically yelled, "I get why you did it but c'mon! We gotta have that rematch soon to fix this!"
"If it makes you happy, I don't consider this a win at all." In Katsuki's eyes, he lost the fight. Both of them, in fact. Couldn't defeat Tetsutetsu before back-up arrived and couldn't deal with Itsuka on his own. "I'll gladly have a one on one with you to prove I'd have beaten you into scrap. That's gonna be a well deserved fucking victory.
"I personally consider this to be quite a success," Neito, the only one who seemed happy with the result, replied smugly.
"You only say that because you have no honor!" The Steel user pointed.
"Oh, hey, I know a place where we could do some Quirked sparring." Itsuka interrupted before an argument could start, "As long as we don't damage it, of course. How does about Sunday?"
"Seems you're getting that ass beating sooner than expected, eh, Tinman?"
"Tin!? Don't sell me that short-!"
Vlad King cleared his throat, bringing the class' attention back to him.
"Very well, does anyone want to comment on the fight we just witnessed?"
"It does seem that only Monoma kept in mind that they were supposed to look for the box," Shiozaki said, "While his methods were definetely underhanded, he kept true to the mission instead of getting lost in an unnecessary fight."
"Did he really need to fight Kendo if that was his objective, tho?" Sen asked.
"I did," Neito said, clearly proud that his scheme came to fruition. "If she didn't know where I was she might have panicked and started to look for me. I took advantadge of the fact that she was fighting Bakugou to find the box and leave. Maybe I wouldn't have won the race if she had known I was still part of the game. Besides, if I did manage to best her, then I could have gone back and dealt with Tetsutetsu! It was all insurance! I would have won no matter what!"
He really was enjoying it too much.
"Still, even though you've won," Vlad King interrupted, "like I said earlier, there are degrees of success and failure to this exercise, if I were to grade each one of you individually it would be:
Tetsutetsu, 4 out of 10, you left your partner behind and rushed in for no reason looking for a fight rather than the box. Not to mention that you completely forgot about the capture tape, making it easy for you to be put out of the fight.
Bakugou, 6 out of 10, while you did coordinate more with your teammate, you extended the fight way more than you should just to try and prove yourself, maybe you would have fared better against Kendo had you not wasted that much time and energy on capturing Tetsutetsu.
Kendo, 7 out of 10, failing to properly capture a fallen enemy can have dire consequences once you're a real hero. Let this be a lesson.
Monoma, 7 out of 10, while successful, had Kendo been more careful, your whole plan would have failed, not to mention that keeping your partner in the dark about your strategy might have caused him to accidentally go against it. Just because that didn't happen doesn't mean you should feel proud about a plan with flaws."
They heard their critiques in silence. Katsuki didn't regret doing it the way he did, he felt it was necessary, he needed to feel it, the steep climb that was in front of him.
He had a better idea of what he had to overcome, and he knew he was already starting to slowly but surely crawl up, improving bit by bit, and that knowledge, the idea that he was hanging in there by effort and willpower… That motivated him.
A/N:
Hello, hello!
Gonna be honest, I had a bit of a complicated time getting a feel for exactly how 1-B has classes. Maybe I had forgotten it, but the way I remember it, they have heroics at the same period as 1-A, but because of how things turn out, they obviously have a bit of a different system, otherwise they'd have accompanied 1-A at USJ.
I also feel like while perhaps with a similar guideline, they would also be taught at least a little bit differently, given that well, Vlad King is a bit more experienced than All Might in teaching. I know the spirit of it it's the same, but I felt like a small twist on the whole bomb thing might have been done. Who knows?
Either way, I'll go back into hiding, hope you enjoyed the chapter, bye-bye!