I've been thinking hard about what I want Izuku's hero costume to be like recently. I want it to have a hint of the demon slayer style with modern things added. Also the sword that can channel his quirk was a last second idea. I hope you all are liking the story as usual.
Chapter 23: Izuku vs Katsuki
Izuku stood in front of the changing room mirror and admired his hero suit. He remembers talking to Iroh and Kyojuro about how to design it for his needs. Kyojuro suggest that he make his suit the demon slayer uniform but he didn't want to necessarily be a demon slayer since they are all gone. He wants something more modern that will fit his skills with a blade and his fire/electricity quirk. He did ask Kyojuro for something important to add to the suit for a nod to the slayers.
He wears black military issued pants with dark green metal knee pads and various pockets full of tools. The shirt is a black long sleeve that has dark green metal elbow pads, a dark green metal chest protector, and one on his back, with black and dark green fingerless gloves, and black army boots with dark green laces and dark green metal heels and toe guards. He wears a dark green haori that has a hood on it that is made of fire resistant material along with the rest of his hero suit minus the armor.
He smiles at his reflection while picturing his own nichirin blade strapped to his waist. Another male student with red hair whistles at him in respect. Izuku looks at the boy with a awkward smile and nods back to acknowledge his costume as well. The red head wears gear shaped shoulder pads with a sash that connects to the right shoulder pad to the belt. His pants are black and made of a thick material having a large red R on the buckle.
"Dude, you look so manly! Kinda reminds me of those assassin games I used to play back in middle school."
Izuku smiles at the compliment and gives the other boy a thumbs up. They leave the dressing room to join the other students in the hall. All Might waits for the other students to finish changing into their hero suits and talks to the other students who are fanning over him. When Izuku sees Katsuki's hero suit he lets out a tired sigh. The blonde is wearing baggy black pants with metal pointed knee pads and black boots with orange designs. He also has a black tang top with a orange X on it and a metal shoulder brace around his neck.
The most noticable part of his hero suit are the large grenade shaped gauntlets on his hands and forearms. All Might gathers everyone's attention and explains where the challenge will be taken.
"All right young heroes, off to ground beta for the exciting battles!"
-Training Ground Beta-
All the students stare at the fake city in shock and disbelief. Izuku can still remember running around the streets while destroying the point robots during the physical exams. Kyoka taps him on the shoulder to snap him out of the memory. He notices her hero suit looks like she's going to a rock concert. The look fits her very nicely in his opinion but he quickly focuses back on her.
"Looks like I keep bringing you back from the clouds."
She says playfully while fiddling one of her jacks around her finger. Izuku chuckles a bit at hearing that and nods in agreement. The bus ride to the training ground allowed them to talk a bit more before everyone entered the watch room of the fake city. Izuku can feel Katsuki glaring daggers at the back of his head and smell the smoke coming from his hands.
"Listen up young heroes! We will have the computer randomly pair you with another student and then choose your opponents! Remember this is only an exercise so no lethal attacks that a hero wouldn't do!"
The large hero says in his loud excited voice. The students all murmur in anticipation at the man's words. Izuku notices Ochako making her way towards him and Kyoka much to the punk girl's annoyance. He notices that her hero suit is a skin tight astronaut like suit in a pink color. He nods at the design but feels a small jab from one of Kyoka's jacks in his neck making him yelp.
"I wonder who will be going against each other."
Ochako says in a excited tone. Katsuki punches his fist into his palm making a loud explosion causing everyone to look at him. The pink girls excitement turned into nervousness at the thought of having to fight the blonde. The computer screen flashes and shows the names of all the students. In a display of switching out names to pair and go against one another the students watch closely.
"First match, Izuku Midoriya and Kyoka Jiro vs Katsuki Bakugo and Denki Kaminari! First pair heroes, second pair villains!"
The computer says loudly making Izuku curse the universe silently. Katsuki let's out a happy chuckle as small pops are heard coming from him. The look that Kaminari has is a mix of relief and annoyance do to being paired with the class hot head. Both Izuku and Kyoka smile at each other and fist bump making Ochako roll her eyes.
"Ok, villain team enter the building and protect the bomb. Hero team will go in after you in ten minutes!"
All Might shouted in pride. Katsuki and Kaminari walk off towards the building with kaminari trying to talk to Katsuki. The look on the explosive boy's face didn't sit well with Izuku at all. He can already tell that the angry blonde will be coming for him as soon at the match starts. Kyoka looks at him and shrugs her shoulders in a nonchalant fashion.
"Alright green, what's the plan for anger issues and dunce face?"
Izuku covered a laugh at hearing what she said about his old friend. He is glad that Kyoka is his partner in the training battle. He takes out a small black ball from one of his pockets and hands it to her. She looks confused but takes the ball anyway, looking it over. He takes out another one and shows her closely.
"This is a highly condensed smoke bomb. Katsuki will most likey come straight for me when the match starts so that'll give you the opportunity to sneak past Kaminiari. Based on the way he puts his phone charger in his mouth he has a electric type quirk."
She nods impressed at the boy for making a plan so quickly. They spend the ten minutes going over strategy for both opponents. When the alarm goes off signaling the start of the battle both of them enter the building. Izuku signals for Kyoka to go on up the stairs to locate the bomb. He continues to walk up the stairs slower to allow the blonde to find him.
"There you are Deku!"
The sounds of explosions rip through the air as the blonde flies towards Izuku with a high kick. Izuku is surprised that Katsuki found him so quickly but manages to duck under the kick at the last second. Once on his feet Katsuki stares at Izuku with intense hatred while the other is staring in determination. The look on the greenette's face only fuels the anger that the blonde feels inside. Izuku gets into the stance that Kyojuro showed him, his left hand stretched out with his right crossed over his chest just above the left arm. (Ip Man's Wing Chun stance)
The stance makes Katsuki's eye twitch making him think that Izuku is mocking him. The blonde gets into his own stance with his bent to his sides palms facing upward. The pops of small explosions come from his hands making the room heat up a bit. They stay in their stances staring each other down for what seens like an eternity. Then at the same time as if a switch was flipped they both charge at one another, the blonde making a battle cry.
'He always starts a fight with a right hook.'
Izuku thinks to himself as he sees the explosion fueled attack coming towards him. The boy ducks under the punch and grabs onto his arm while using the blonde's weight to flip him and slam him onto the floor. The look of shock on Katsuki's face made Izuku want to laugh but he kept silent. As quickly as he was downed, Katsuki got back up with a kick at Izuku's legs. He jumps back avoiding the attack swiftly. The greenette gets back into his stance with calculating eyes.
"What's with that look nerd?! You got lucky with that move!"
Izuku doesn't say anything. If he wants to win the match then he'll have to use the blonde's anger against him. Katsuki puts a hand behind him and uses an explosion to launch himself forward. Izuku raises his hands up to make a wall of fire causing Katsuki to throw his other hand downwards to launch himself above the wall with a explosion. Once he's in the air Izuku does a spin kick at the blonde's head. Katsuki raises his arms and blocks the kick while grabbing onto Izuku's leg.
Izuku takes in a breath activating total concentration feeling the blood in his body pump faster. He performs a back flip with Katsuki still holding onto his leg but lets go when he is slammed against the ceiling. He let's out the breath he took with smoke leaving his mouth. Katsuki slowly gets up from the ground while breathing heavily. He stares daggers at Izuku who only gets back into his stance. The blonde stands up and gets into his own stance once again.
"You're different from the last time we fought. That doesn't mean you're better than me though!"
Katsuki rushes towards Izuku with a flurry of explosive punches. Izuku does his best to dodge and parry like Mr. Lee taught him. Katsuki throws a hard right punch to which Izuku parry's only for the blonde to take hold of his wrist. With a series of small explosions the angry blonde uses the momentum of the blasts to throw Izuku against the wall causing it to crack. Katsuki grins like a maniac with smoke leaving his palms. Izuku lets out a painful breath hoping that Kyoka is doing better than him.
Before Izuku can get up Katsuki rushes in and kicks him in the ribs making Izuku grunt in pain. Before the second kick lands he catches the foot and punches his knee while pushing him back. Katsuki stumbles back only to jump out of the way when a large fireball flies towards him. Using the distraction Izuku uses his hands to lift himself up and swing his leg to send an arch of fire at the blonde. Katsuki leaps over the attack again but didn't expect Izuku to leap at him sending a knee to his gut.
Before Izuku can back up Katsuki aims one hand at him and fires an explosion at him. Izuku is sent flying back from the blast but still holding onto his old friend. Before crashing into the wall Izuku flips them midair and uses Katsuki to cushion the impact. They both land on the floor with a painful grunt. As they catch their breaths Izuku is the first to get up to his knees and look down at Katsuki who is also getting up.
"What happened to you Katsuki? We used to be really good friends but now you look at me and others with such hatred."
The greenette asks the blonde while holding out his hand. The blonde looks up at him and glares angrily. A flashback pops into Katsuki's head to when they fought for the first time. The image of Izuku holding out his hand to him basically calling him weak makes his blood boil.
"You stupid nerd! Stop looking down on me!"
Katsuki shouts while swinging his fist at Izuku's gut. He catches the fist but doesn't have the time to block the explosion from the blonde's other hand. It's not strong enough to send him back but it still does damage to Izuku's side. Thankfully his quirk helps block out the heat but it still hurts like hell. Izuku stumbles back clutching his side giving Katsuki enough time to stand on his feet again. Izuku puts his hands up in a boxer stance and begins to gently hop on his toes.
"I never looked down on you! I always thought you were amazing with how strong you are! But you had to be better than everyone."
Izuku says with anger showing in his eyes. The memories of all the times Katsuki bullied him and others go through his mind. Katsuki raises an eye brow at the new stance and gets into his own. Before Izuku can fight in anger he remembers something that Iroh told him.
'Fire bending comes from the breath not the muscle.'
Izuku takes a breath to calm his nerves and get control over his body. As soon as Katsuki rushes with an explosive punch Izuku ducks and sends two jabs to his ribs and finishes with a kick to his knee. Katsuki grunts in pain as he uses both hands to aim and the ground and blast himself away from Izuku. The area is covered in smoke from the explosion making it hard for both of them to see.
'Huh, guess I didn't need to use my own smoke bomb.'
Izuku thinks to himself as he puts up his hands in a boxer guard position. He slowly moves around the room trying to find Katsuki's location. The sound of loud foot steps tells Izuku where the blonde is and he ducks under a high kick. When he stands straight up again a fist connects with his face causing him to stagger back. Another fist to his gut makes him cough but he manages to roll out of the way from a blast from Katsuki's palm.
"So you were hiding your strength all this time, huh? All these years and you were holding back!"
Izuku raises an eye brow at Katsuki as he lowers his guard. He has no idea what he's talking about with hiding his strength. The way that he got stronger was through hard work and determination. Katsuki glares at Izuku more and aims his palm at him with a crazed grin. Izuku knows that look from the blonde.
"I'm sure you figured out that my quirk works by igniting my sweat, right? The more sweat I make the stronger the explosion. Now imagine what I can do with my gauntlet full of my sweat!"
Katsuki places his hand on the pin connected to the gauntlet and yanks it out. All Mights voice can be heard from the intercoms telling Katsuki to not use his special attack. Izuku can feel the heat coming from the gauntlet and thinks about retreating. Suddenly a thought pops into his head from his training with Iroh. He remembers how the old man taught him how to extinguish flames that another fire user may use against him. The explosion that comes from Katsuki's gauntlet is more powerful tnan any other he has made before.
Izuku is shocked at the size of the attack and almost rethinks his plan. Movings his arms with his hands out in circular motions makes the blast go around him. He closes his eyes in concentration and moves in a way similar to the dragon fire dance. To Katsuki's surprise the explosion damaged everything but the intended target. Izuku falls to his knees in exhaustion at controlling the blast away from his body. He couldn't extinguish a blast so large or moving so quickly at him.
Katsuki walks closer to Izuku with a scowl on his face. He raises his hand so the palm is pointing at Izuku's chest. The greenette is too tired to stand so he looks up at the blonde with no fear in his eyes. The looks only makes Katsuki angrier as he raises his fist to punch Izuku in the face. That one second of Katsuki changing his mind is all that Izuku needed to shoves his hands forward and sends a bolt of electricity towards the blonde. Katsuki lets out a pained scream before falling to the ground unconscious.
"How's that for being a Deku?"
Izuku askes between breaths. He falls back to his knees with a heavy thud. Using total concentration to help calm his breathing he tries to stand back up to find Kyoka. Once back on his feet he takes a few steps only to fall again. All Might's voices booms throught the intercoms again making Izuku smile in triumph.
"The bomb has been secured! Hero team wins!"
What did you all think of the fight between Izuku and Katsuki? I kinda went on the fly with that part but I think that it went pretty well. Also been thinking of how to mix modern stuff for the hero suit with a demon slayer spin on it. Next chapter will ho over what happened with Kyoka and Denki so stay tuned. See you all in chapter 24!