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Some months ago before the entrance exams Bakugou was feeling a bit lacking. No matter how much he practiced his quirk it didn't feel like he was making any significant progress. He was exhausted and sweating buckets next to the river he was practicing next to. The problem wasn't anything based on his quirk; his blasts were powerful and there was no doubt that there were few people who could walk away from his attacks unscathed. It frustrated him to no end that the answer was escaping him when he was aware of the problem existing. He went broke and decided to call somebody he valued as a source of wisdom. Picking up his bag and towel he reached for his phone and picked out a contact to call as he wiped his hair dry while going home before his mom got into another mood about him coming home late.

The Next Day

Bakugou was in a windbreaker and track pants as he started stretching and warming up for his impromptu lesson that morning. He called Haru and asked if he could ask for something that he wasn't exactly sure of about his own combat abilities. Haru made good on the boy and told him to give him a moment while he rescheduled his previous engagement for another day to come and help the blonde out of his rut. The ever familiar van pulled up to the curb nearby with its owner hopping out the drivers side and locking it with a press of the key fob. Reflecting Bakugou was Haru in the same type of wear in all blue.

"Morning! You're certainly eager for some knowledge this morning. What exactly is it you wanted help with?"

"... Haru-san?"

"Yeah?"

"How did you learn how to fight? Like, y'know, your style and training or whatever…"

Haru figured that Bakugou was eventually gonna figure out the major weakness he had as a combatant. The boy lacked any formal training with him mostly taking on fights on his own and learning his own sort of style by instinct. A rather long overdue lesson that Haru was now charged with as an obligation.

"Years of trial and error with a ton of patience and diligence. Guessing you figured out that swinging your arms around wildly wasn't as effective as it was before, huh?"

All it took was the shake of the head from Katsuki with his eyes cast down for Haru to see that the boy felt like he was admitting defeat by asking for help. He knelt down to the boy and just told the blonde differently.

"Hey, you're asking for my help; not my money or belongings. So chin up, and let's start our first official lesson!"

The both of them found a large enough clearing in the playground area for them to safely use as a crash pad of sorts. Haru was standing face to face with Katsuki a few meters away while he began his first lesson.

"Okay, first things first. When you get in a fight; what do you keep your eyes on when your opponent tries to slip you side-to-side?"

"Uhhh… You just need to look at them, right?"

"Couldn't be more wrong."

His first lesson was to then get into a boxer's stance and rephrase the question for Bakugou while he held this pose.

"Right now, where should your eyes be to keep track of my movements?"

There wasn't a single possible answer the boy thought was right that passed by his head. All he could do was shrug with both hands in his jacket pocket. It was time for Katsuki to see what his lesson could bring for the teenager.

"Alright then. Keep your eyes on my chin."

He did as Haru instructed as the older man began to shadowbox in front of the young blonde with an invisible enemy right in front of him. Through the tight motions and swings that Haru demonstrated there was a small but noticeable difference in what focusing on that point on the body could do for a knowledgeable fighter. He stopped boxing and stood up straight before asking the question once again.

"What about now?"

"I saw it. I could just barely see which direction you were about to move in, but I saw it."

"Well, well, well; guess you're not all spitfire and rage after all."

Bakugou already possessed a great amount of fighting experience to begin with. All Haru had to do was help the boy refine and direct that knowledge into forms and techniques to polish off the rough edges he had with his current fighting style. Once a week they spent a few hours going over his progress and physical training to better utilize his movements and reflexes. It wasn't anything too extensive or extreme by any normal standard; but there was a significant improvement with learning the basics of a fighting style as well as training the body to react and notice only necessary information. It was exactly what Bakugou felt as though he was missing from his lack of growth.

Going over the many possible styles that would have benefitted from Bakugou's quirk; it eventually was determined to be best for him to learn something heavily associated with his fists while still taking into account his tendency to take to the air as well. A style that was basically dead and forgotten was determined to be the ideal catalyst for Bakugou to take advantage of.

Present Time

Izuku was helped up by Ochaco while Katsuki steadily approached the duo. He had a cold determination that contrasted heavily with his usual fiery demeanor. Bakugou just flexed his hands and was getting ready to throw down with both of his opponents. The two heroes were forced to back up further down the hall and away from the stairway behind the advancing villain. Bakugou was at an advantage as now all he had to do was keep them here on the third floor for just about fifteen minutes to win the exercise. It sounded rather unfair that Bakugou was facing a two against one situation; he felt like it wouldn't have mattered if there were twenty of them. His training made him feel fucking invincible.

Retreating backwards was not how either hero was expecting to do for this class assignment. Izuku was the only one of the two who had an enhancement type quirk that could help him take a beating against Katsuki. Ochaco was less fortunate as a blow from Katsuki meant so much more to her than him. Without much time to think his mind scanned the space around them and came up with something that was rather straightforward and would be dangerous for both of them if he didn't follow through enough. There wasn't a bounty of options available for them to pick from, so the plan he hatched was their best option.

"Uraraka-san. I have a plan…"

From Bakugou's perspective it looked like they were whispering to each other with the girl looking a bit hesitant before they both focused in and looked ready to charge the blonde down the narrow corridor. Now it was his turn to put his new training to the test. He put up both fists wide and up like he was boxing; though his hands were facing the wrong way if he had been going for a boxer's stance. His arms were even farther apart and higher up than any boxing stance Izuku knew of. Katsuki lowered his stance slightly and got ready for anything Izuku had planned for him. A moment of tension before the thread snapped and launched everybody there into action.

"Now!"

The familiar glow of One for All washed over Izuku as he bolted straight into Bakugou at a speed that caught the boy a bit by surprise and allowed Izuku to clench Bakugou by the waist and distract him by pushing him back towards the stairs a bit before the blonde found his footing again to stop his backwards progression. Behind him he heard footsteps running away and fading quickly. He looked around to see that this was all to give Ochaco a window of time to get past him and at least somebody going towards the goal. He was starting to lose his cool now and was done biding his time with Izuku. Rather than hitting or using his quirk to get free as Izuku expected; he felt his head being grabbed and pushed back up and out of his clench. Before he could get back at a safe distance Bakugou grabbed the boy by the back of his head with both hands and threw his knee right into Izuku's face.

None of this was recorded in any of his notebooks. Bakugou was somebody who took pride in his quirk and would always depend on it when he got into a fight. This was the first he's seen the blonde spitfire using any sort of close combat and it was unlike any other fighting style that he had seen before. He barely got his hands up in time to block the heavy blow. It only barely blocked the hit with his head and hands now aching from such a well placed knee strike. Katsuki didn't let Izuku recover by landing a punch right onto his head with a blast to increase its lethality. The head was still trapped in Bakugou's left hand and allowed him to get a bit more leverage in hitting his opponent in the head as hard as he could. If it wasn't for his quirk being active, Izuku would have certainly suffered a heavy concussion with just that one blow.

Inside the monitoring room, the rest of the class was both amazed and intimidated by how well Bakugou was doing against his opponent. Mina and the others in her circle were shocked and worried that this was something that would leave Izuku badly injured at this rate. All Might was the only one shocked at the boy for having made so much progress himself since it was unlike anything he's seen from any hero in training before now. The use of his explosive quirk in combination with his rather well trained movements told him that this wasn't just Katsuki being gifted as a fighter. He was clearly using a fighting style that he would have no access to unless somebody trained him in that style. If he remembered correctly from some research a few years back, that style was…

Months Ago

"Ludway? The hell is Ludway?"

A painful flick snapped Bakugou right in the center of his forehead. The nail was the only point of contact and it made Katsuki recoil back in pain with both his hands nursing the sore spot.

"Lethwei. Pay attention, kiddo."

"I am paying attention! You're the one hitting me for no reason!"

Week three of Bakugou's training was when Haru thought it appropriate to teach Bakugou something that would help the boy refine his movement as well as give him more options against tougher opponents. It was about ten AM and they were now next to a river at the bank for the next part of training. Bakugou was dressed in a sweater and sweats while Haru was in a white windbreaker with soccer sweats in black. It was still rather nippy and the sun was the only source of external heat from the weather.

"Anyways, I'm going to teach you the basics of lethwei for you to use."

The pain subsided for the boy leaving only a small red mark on his forehead. Bakugou grumbled and just moved on begrudgingly.

"Ugh. Okay, I'll bite. What the heck is lethwei? It sounds like some sort of weird jungle dish made out of bugs or something."

"It isn't. It's a fighting style from a country called Myanmar. It goes by other names as well; those being either Burmese Boxing or The Art of the Nine Limbs."

Those names caught the interest of Bakugou in comparison to the word lethwei, which sounded rather limp to the teenager.

"Why didn't you just say one of those other names? Lethwei sounds lame; I totally would have thought it was more badass had you just-"

Haru's hand went up into a flicking position and silenced the boy's attitude almost immediately. With that out of the way he began his explanation of the style.

"It wasn't a style as popular as Muay Thai when martial arts became prevalent throughout the world. After quirks became a staple it fell off the map completely with all the practitioners being unable to pass it onto another generation. In east asian martial arts the common way that they reference a part of the body they use to hit with is as a limb. The most common forms utilize only eight limbs with the fists, knees, legs, and elbows. Lethwei was the only martial art at the time that utilized the head as a form of offensive striking."

That bit of information got Bakugou to go from mildly interested to totally invested. It sounded like something the boy could get behind as a basis for his new fighting style.

"That sounds badass! I could totally use that whenever I needed it. Like, just beating my enemies with my head is hardcore."

Moving the conversation along was all Haru could do to keep things from derailing out of Bakugou's lack of focus.

"Focus. So it's a bit of an intense form of striking, even by the standards of most martial arts at the time. Reason I'm teaching you is because it uses wider motions and stances in comparison to Muay Thai or any other martial arts that uses direct punches and kicks. It was a performing style originally and so it's ideal for somebody who moves around a lot like you while using motions you would benefit from since your quirk comes out of your hands."

For all the impatience and attitude he gives everyone around him, Katsuki was just as capable of being serious when he wanted to be. This was the next step for him to gain another bit of progress towards his goal of being the top hero to live. He looked down at his hands and stared at the open palms before clenching them shut and giving Haru a look of sheer determination as his way of saying he will succeed in absorbing and utilizing all of this to its fullest potential. There was never a doubt in Haru that Bakugou was anything less than perfectly capable.

"Alright then, let's get started."

Present Time

Izuku could only see stars for a moment before he caught himself from falling back on his ass. Half of his hero mask was blown off from the attack and it was a miracle that he didn't lose his face along with the destroyed fabric and polymer. Still being on his feet was nothing short of sheer will on Izuku's part. Katsuki saw an opportunity to get another few strikes in and went in for the kill while Izuku stumbled backwards. The green haired boy forced both his feet to the floor and reactivated his quirk just in time to swing his right fist where Bakugou would have had his head hadn't it been for his reaction to stop himself just before then and back off to create some much needed space. His fists and stance were right back to where they were previously as Katsuki was staring down Izuku with a smirk that was less extreme than his usual crazed smile while fighting while being all the more confident at the same time. He could already feel the difference of speed and power with his new fighting style.

That initial strike took the air out of Izuku's lungs and left him a little disoriented until he just stopped for a moment to collect himself and reassess his approach here. It seems as though he had either overestimated his own progress or underestimated Bakugou in thinking that he could exploit weaknesses that no longer existed for him to use against the blonde. His options have narrowed and it was likely that he would have to take on his opponent in a straight up fight.

It was a really bad idea since he was not only at a disadvantage with the other boy having literal firepower loaded into each of his punches; he was going up against somebody who was trained in actual fighting while he did nothing of the sort for months on end. Rather than closing the gap between them, it seems like the space was wider than ever.

There was no time to think as Bakugou took to the air in an instant and aimed right at Izuku for another blast of his quirk. One for All activated and allowed Izuku enough speed to backpedal away before the attack connected. Izuku was back on the defensive as he was dodging to the best of his ability everything coming his way. The use of other forms of hitting like elbowing and kicking was what really threw off Izuku as there was too much to keep track of. A kick to the side here and an elbow to the cheek there began to wear Izuku down little by little. He needed space and he needed it now. He took his second gamble of the day and just grit his teeth as he swung his fist into Bakugou's face once more. This left his left side open for a knee to come flying in and connecting with his ribs this time. He was ready for that and was able to commit enough to return his own punch to Katsuki right into his face.

There was a definite difference between being punched by a fist and being punched by a fist wrapped up in the power that Izuku had used to enhance himself. Katsuki had been caught off balance and went stumbling backwards only to then fall and tumble to the floor with his ears ringing and vision going white for a few moments. Shaking his head to help clear his senses he saw nobody else around him in the hallway. Behind him he could hear footsteps running up the stairs. Izuku had slipped him at the last moment and now was on his way up to the objective.

"Damn!"

Having an enhanced body didn't make it any easier to breathe when your ribs get cracked. Izuku sprinted up the stairs with One for All being the only thing that kept him from doubling over in pain. He wasn't sure that his punch had done anything to begin with as it really was a hail mary to get past Katsuki and help Ochaco with getting to the objective. Even that was a fleeting hope as Bakugou was right behind him as Izuku took one step onto the fourth floor. His fist was already cocked back for another shot at Izuku's head.

"Where do you think you're going?!"

A Few Minutes Earlier

Taking a stealthy approach in getting to the bomb was rather easy since there was only one other person to account for. She was already able to get inside the same room as the goal and snuck up behind a pillar to spy on Iida. He was left alone with his thoughts and was debating on what he was to do now that Bakugou left him on his own.

"Without any sort of communication it's easy to assume that Bakugou has already assumed the role of a villain. He's always been a very intense individual and it looks as though this exercise will be a good match for somebody like him…"

His thought process was always to reach a conclusion that would yield the best results asked of him. This made him rather direct as he couldn't afford any sort of deviation in how it was he went about achieving his results. This class assignment was no different as he saw it.

"So for somebody like me, I must live within the space of a villain in order to best replicate the scenario. To push my boundaries and grow as a hero, I must first shed my ideals…"

He turned around with a crazed look in his eyes.

"I too must become a villain!"

An impressively maniacal laugh filled the room with Iida getting lost in the role he assigned himself. Mind you this was not part of the assignment. Ochaco saw Iida devote himself so much that it was adorably endearing to see his honesty extend to such bizarre territories. She couldn't stop her laugh at how much of an honest boy Iida was to a fault. It was right in her realms of things she found cute.

"Huh? You've finally arrived, Uraraka!"

Her short lived stealth was cut short by her naive but understandable response to Iida's method acting. She had no other options aside from coming out of hiding and preparing for battle. A finger and dramatic expository speech were all par the course of his version of a sinister enemy.

"Alas, your heroic plans have rendered you at my mercy! I knew that you knew that Bakugou would have likely split off as our plan of attack! In order to render you powerless; I have gotten rid of all items you could use in this very room!"

The floor looked like it was waxed as well. He actually integrated cleaning an empty room and polishing it's floors as part of his villainous scheme. To be fair, he really did do a good job in getting a lustrous and reflective shine on the tiles. That was not an easy feat in itself. A bigger mystery was how he even managed to do this when there were no cleaning supplies stored in the empty building to begin with. Questions like these were better left ignored.

"Your little tricks won't be able to help you here! A weakness such as yours will be the key to my victory!"

Well, now she felt a little retribution for laughing at her friend when it seems as though she really was taking this seriously in his own unorthodox way. It still didn't negate how campy and schlocky his evil laugh was.

Present Time Fourth Floor

Izuku went flying towards the concrete wall as Bakugou managed to land another blow on Midoriya's back this time. He was still conscious with his reinforced body taking the damage well enough; though it still hurt like nothing else to take such an impact. Colliding with the wall allowed him to use it to prop himself up a bit and keep himself from collapsing to the floor. His opponent didn't let up and even through a left straight right where he was. A quick forward roll and handspring let Izuku flip himself around and out of the way of another punishing blow. All of this made Izuku double over in pain as now he could even feel his ribs creaking against each other.

Bakugou got back up to his original stance and stared down Midoriya while keeping his focus on everything the boy did to retaliate. Izuku realized that this was nothing like how Katsuki used to fight. He didn't take to the air constantly to gain the advantage in speed or height. There was more groundwork which increased the already immense speed he possessed to start with. A noticeable increase to his reactions and judgment which allowed him to get away with nothing but a single punch to the head. Even that was well worth it for Bakugou as now Izuku was nursing his side and what was at least one cracked rib. On top of it all, even when there were moments where he thought he could exploit the blonde's usual temper; every effort he made to get an advantage was met with more punishment.

Whatever fighting style he was using was actually benefiting from Bakugou letting his temper loose once in a while. It increased the strength of his blows if anything. It only confirmed Izuku's suspicions that he wasn't the only one that Haru had trained through all those months. He only received words of advice while he was busy trying to build up his physique. Bakugou was already refining his skills with somebody who probably had more experience than anybody he knew of when it came to raw fighting. Results spoke volume as now Izuku was now backed up against the wall and Katsuki was still fresh while exploiting every window of opportunity without hesitation.

Izuku didn't have a choice anymore. He let One for All wash over him again and raised both fists to meet Bakugou head on. The pain was helped a little with the quirk numbing the more extreme spikes and peaks. Fighting the urge to just fall onto his knees clutching his side was something he still was struggling with; but at least he was able to stay focused on the fight.

What he saw in Katsuki's eyes was a calm strength that was new to Izuku. Like a river that looked peaceful under the surface while possessing a current below so strong that it would drag the strongest of swimmers down to it's depths. It was like Izuku wasn't even there for him; he was looking through the boy and just fought with an intense level of focus. His childhood friend had not been idle for the past few months. There was no way that Midoriya would just turn tail and run after everything he also went through to get here. Both knew that the other had something they were fighting towards, but here their paths crossed and neither were willing to back off.

Monitoring Room

Everybody in the monitoring room had their eyes glued to the fight between Izuku and Bakugou. They were both fighting with everything they had and it was Bakugou who was coming out on top so far. They both were at a level that nobody in that room had expected from their peers.

"Wh… What the heck is this?!"

Kirishima was the first to break the silence as he was witnessing a brawl that was far more technical than even some hero fights he's seen. Everybody else chimed in with their own thoughts on the matter as well.

"They're both attacking and defending at ideal moments at an increasingly faster pace."

"Not only that; their movements are unlike anything else. Especially Bakugou's. He's using his more conservative movements so efficiently with his quirk while controlling his opponent's space."

Their observations were all out of awe as they could barely keep up with the both of them. Todoroki even had something to say as well.

"I thought Bakugou would have been somebody who favored flashy movements and larger attacks. He's been on the offensive this whole time and striking at his opponent with extremely precise movements. Yet it's like he hasn't even broken a sweat yet. On top of that his quirk has been used so tightly and efficiently that it's nothing short of perfect in inflicting the highest amount of damage possible."

All Might heard all of their commentary as the brawl continued on screen. Their criticism of what they expected things to go would have been valid had it been some months ago. He knew where it was that Bakugou picked up all of his new tricks and skills. He simply didn't expect such drastically different results from what he thought was possible. This fighting style was even considered to be extinct with no record of any current lethwei fighters existing anymore. Something he knew from when he first sought out styles of combat at the start of his heroic ventures. Only videos online from decades ago existed now, but just learning from such a poor source of information would never have brought Bakugou to the level of performance he was displaying now. He couldn't help but think that perhaps he had taken Izuku down the wrong path when Haru himself had trained another to a level of skill far above his own student in less time.

Training Arena

A moment of silence before Izuku and Bakugou ran straight for each other and engaged in a straight fist fight. Izuku had the speed advantage and was even able to slip in a punch and knee here and there while Bakugou just kept up just as well with his own form of melee. Katsuki looked as though he was going for a straight cross which Izuku tried to defend with both his arms. Instead Bakugou unleashed two blasts from both of his hands which were still up and next to his head. This caused Izuku to close his eyes for a split second; when he opened them Katsuki was gone. What told him the blonde was still in the fight was a sharp pain coming from the right side of his abdomen.

Below his periphery, Bakugou was down lower and had his left fist buried right underneath the boy's ribcage. He didn't hesitate to take advantage of the stunned boy and slipped behind Izuku so that they were back to back. Without turning around Bakugou raised his right arm up like he was about to attack the empty hallway in front of him. The blast produced instead launched his elbow painfully into the left side of Izuku's neck from behind. Midoriya's eyes began to roll back into his head with the double shot to his vitals.

Monitoring Room

This sudden ingenuity by Bakugou was a marvel to behold for everybody in the room.

"What just happened? Did I blink because I didn't catch all that…"

The blonde boy in the room was answered by Momo, who had her battle partner openly gawking right at the opening in the front of her uniform. Some distance away Haru felt his blood pressure rise and was sure that somebody out there was gonna get some shit their way coming right from him. He just didn't quite know who or when it was to happen.

"Bakugou utilized his quirk as both a movement and as a form of distraction to get past his enemy's defenses. By distracting them with the blast he also used it to lower himself below his opponents guard and stuck at an exposed opening. After that though…"

"He got behind Midoriya as fast as possible. Moving that fast took away his ability to turn, so to compensate he used his elbow in combination with his quirk to strike from behind. Even I would have trouble getting an attack off behind an opponent that quickly."

Todoroki helped Momo finish her explanation with his own observation of events. It was a help to her as further explaining how Bakugou was hurting Izuku was hard enough as it was. She was being analytical to help distance the knowledge that it was Izuku taking the beating. Explaining it to everyone was more of a reflex to answer a question more than anything. Her hands tightened into fists as she crossed her arms. There was nothing she could do but watch with the others as somebody she cared for was taking a beating unlike anything else she's seen before. A small and cold metallic touched her from behind and in between her shoulder blades. It startled her for a second, but she knew who it was that was touching her there. To her left was Kyoka and she had one of her ear jacks on her friend's back to calm her down. It helped to know she wasn't the only one suffering by her lonesome.

This was almost too much for the legendary hero to watch anymore. His lack of insight as to what Izuku needed to prepare for had led him to underequip the boy with the necessary training for something like this. He was even the one to insist that muscle training be the sole focus against Haru's suggestion to at least interweave some combat training for the young Midoriya. That decision was followed through with since Haru made it a soft recommendation and not a strict essential since he too didn't want to risk Izuku's physical well being if this was all to protect the boy. There were some serious doubts going through his head if he indeed was the right teacher for the boy.

Training Arena

"Izuku? Izuku?!"

Ochako couldn't get any response from her teammate. Iida was just coming towards her with what he thought was a sinister expression and gesture of sadism. It was more like a creepy molester with a cartoonishly evil laugh. She was on her own like Iida was; the difference was that Izuku was unable to respond while Bakugou just didn't want to.

Racking her brain with possible ideas, one came to her almost instantly. It was a bit of a low blow because it depends on her using Iida in a way she would rather not. There was plenty of time to think it over as Iida was just trying to get more into his role rather than just engaging Ochaco in a straight battle. It wasn't the only reason, but it was something that would have stopped Uraraka from enacting her own idea had she known about it. A small peek to her left and it was enough to get the villain's attention to see that something else just entered her peripheral vision.

"Ah, Watch out! Behind you!"

"Huh?! What?! What is it?!"

Without a moment to spare she used her quirk to make herself weightless and leapt up into the air right over Iida's head and straight towards the bomb. Taking advantage of somebody's naivety was one thing; it was another when that person was also a friend who trusts you enough to buy into almost anything you said. He wasn't all hat and no cattle when he realized that there was nothing there. He saw his supposed friend in the air and well on her way to grabbing the objective without any resistance. He was quick on his feet to then grab the bomb itself and move it out of her path of collision. No pun intended. He was on the other side of the room with the bomb back on the floor before he pointed at Ochaco with an accusatory glare.

"What was that?! That was cheap! Are you some sort of villain?!"

"Uh, no. You are."

"Oh, god; right, sorry!"

He slipped back into character while Uraraka couldn't help but note how cute it was that Iida was still trying to fulfill the role of the villain in this exercise. His maniacal laugh and groping hands were all back and in full form.

"Mwahahaha! Foolish hero; all your efforts are naught but in vain! All I have to do is keep this away from you for another five minutes and It will be all over!"

As comical this all was; the very real threat here was the fact that she really was at a disadvantage without some way of getting something to use with her quirk. Iida was skilled and fast enough to run circles around her with the bomb and all she was able to affect was herself. She was already a bit light headed from her own weight and still there was a massive gap in advantages that leaned heavily towards Iida.

Training Arena Fourth Floor

Coming out of the darkness after being knocked unconscious was not a luxurious experience for anybody. First there was the confusion and disorientation, followed up by the pain finally registering to the conscious mind. Izuku felt like absolute hell and was already clutching his abdomen as now both of his sides were now stricken with a massive amount of pain. Breathing was now one of the more painful things he could barely manage to do as he got his bearings straight.

Bakugou was nowhere to be seen as all he could see was the wall right underneath a window. Their scuffle had pushed them to a room that was connected to the outside by a series of windows. He needed to get up as it was clear that this exercise wasn't over and he needed to go help Ochaco if Katsuki was heading to the top floor. Every little movement he made caused him to wince as there was a significant amount of both fatigue and injury riddling his body. Worst of all it was mostly his torso that was injured; so even movement of his arms and legs went straight to his abdomen and clenched those subtle muscles he used to move around.

"Took you long enough."

There was an instant reaction from Izuku for him to turn around and get into a fighting stance. He was only able to manage just one arm up as the other went across his midsection to cradle the injured torso he had. What he heard was Bakugou who had made himself known for the two of them to continue their fight from earlier. Sizing up the blonde only revealed to Izuku how little of an effect any of his attacks had on the other boy. Maybe a small scratch or bruise here and there; other than that it looked like he was only able to inflict surface level injuries on Katsuki. The worst injury was on the boy's face where he actually caught him by surprise in exchange for his own broken ribcage.

It was likely Bakugou had been waiting there for Izuku to wake back up after he had been knocked out. Now it looked like he was challenging the green haired mophead to another bout. The less injured of the two got back into his fighting stance with both fists up and center of gravity slightly lowered. What went through Izuku's mind wasn't a feeling of intimidation or fear. There wasn't even any anger of frustration as he stared at his oldest friend with a stare that Katsuki saw as an odd reaction from somebody who he beat half to death.

"You know something, Ka-chan?"

His childhood name for Bakugou got the boy to snap out of his focus for a split second as he saw that Izuku was just trying to speak from the heart. The least he could do was listen.

"I always admired how strong you were. Anybody that came your way was fought off without any hesitation from you… Which is why I'm so sorry."

The familiar incandescent glow of One for All washed over Izuku with a stronger reaction than was there before.

"After all I've done; I still didn't realize how important all of this was to you."

It was pride that Bakugou saw in his friend's face just now. Izuku was now worse for wear; in Katsuki's eyes, he never looked stronger than he ever had up until now. The energy was ramped up in Izuku as he increased the amount of energy his quirk was giving him. Bakugou stopped his previous method of focusing on his opponent and actively looked Izuku in the eyes as he prepared to fight for real now.

"I'll stop holding myself back. You better return the favor, Ka-chan."

Years ago the idea that the shy and withdrawn Izuku standing up to him would have been laughable at best. He was made aware how unique his abilities were from everybody around him praising his natural abilities. He felt invincible as a child. The fact that Izuku was found to be without a quirk didn't change his mode of thinking either. For a while he felt like he was untouchable by anybody or anything. When Izuku started to show him sympathy, he felt something in his pride crack and hurt as the boy did so knowing his abilities were far above the boy. He began to rebuff Midoriya with hostility and was at one point about to start bullying the boy with wild abandon. He would have followed through as well; had it not been for somebody that to this day he looks up to.

That day next to the river made him humble more than anything. He learned that his previous prejudice against quirkless people had hurt his mentor as well. The adult had also put the young Bakugou in his place as he was easily beaten without him even landing a scratch on him after what felt like forever. Nakamura Haru. The man who would always be there to set him straight no matter what.

His previous invincibility was nothing more than an illusion that he let himself believe. Feeling powerless for the first time then made him realize that maybe he really wasn't entitled to act out or do whatever he wanted. It hurt like nothing else to hear the confirmation that Haru had trusted him without telling him anything; and that he was the one who broke that trust when somebody he cared about expected better from him.

As a mentor, Haru never allowed Bakugou to stoop low with his actions and kept him from going too high with his ego. He never talked down or berated him out of frustration or impatience. He treated the boy as somebody who knew better and was someone who was better than just an inflated ego that everybody else fed. Looking at Izuku with such a commitment to his own journey to being a hero made him feel guilty for denying his presence for years on end. It was all to be settled here and now.

The room swirled and dimmed as the two childhood friends faced off with their hearts on their sleeves and an honesty that was missing between them for the longest time. Green light with pops of orange and yellow were illuminating the room as the two of them were ready to make their next and final strike count for everything. The tension was stretching out to its utmost limits with the two of them waiting for the right moment to unleash their strongest attacks.

Even with the wind and air pressure creating a cyclone in that room; these two were so aware of their surroundings that if a fly was in the room they would both be able to point it out immediately. It was about to happen. It just went silent for them until that very split moment that would decide everything.

"DETROIT-"

"BREACHING-"

They didn't hold back with either of their attacks. They gave it everything as they faced each other with their souls on the line. Every step and every bit of distance closed was all there was between them. It was now that they would fight for themselves and their place here in life.

"-SMASH!"

"-CHARGE!"

The attacks each had their own effects. Bakugou had developed a new attack that focused the energy of his blast and didn't just make an explosion like he was used to. This increase of power was something that took quite a bit of effort for him and Haru to develop during his training. One attempt after another with days on his own being spent to find the method to get this sort of reaction from his explosions. Months and months of grueling training and exhaustion for this new skill he now possessed. It was a far more powerful blast that was able to direct all of its energy into a single direction and produced far more force than his usual attacks that just expanded from his hands. With his new training it was a deadly combination for him to unleash on any unsuspecting enemy.

In a strange turn of events, the attack that Izuku had prepared didn't go straight like he expected. The ceiling above suddenly disappeared in a blast of air and crackling energy from his quirk. The sky was even visible now and it revealed Iida and Ochaco surprised by the disappearance of the floor. Ochaco was the more prepared one for this as just a few short moments ago Izuku whispered to her over the comm link to stand flush against the windows smack dab center of the room she was in. She wanted to ask why he sounded so hoarse and tired; but she didn't get a call back from Izuku after that. Deciding to trust Izuku had apparently paid off as now she had a plentiful supply of debris and other things her quirk could utilize.

Seeing one of the pillars now knocked free from the floor was an opportunity for Ochaco to take advantage of. She made a giant bat of sorts with the impractically large pillar with her touch and gave Iida a rather intense surprise of her own making.

"Special move; Cosmic Home Run: Improvised Edition!"

Chunks of concrete and steel rebar flew and hit the teenager at the same velocity as one would expect from baseballs being hit out of the arena. It was far from being lethal, but it wasn't exactly a painless experience either. The armor that Iida had on him was even lacking to dampen the impact of the fist sized rocks that pelted him en masse.

"That name is too long!"

While the boy was shielding his head from the projectiles, he failed to notice that Uraraka was already up in the air and right above the bomb when she released her quirk and dropped right onto the bomb itself.

"Retrieved!"

"Noooo!"

Iida was still a bit committed to his role when the exercise was over with the heroes as the victors. Just below them was Izuku and Bakugou still frozen in their delivered attacks. Izuku was successful in launching the attack he had planned and it cost him dearly. His entire right arm was the same burgundy color as before with bones likely pummeled to dust on the inside. This wasn't even his worst wound as just a little lower was Bakugou's attack aftermath.

This was truly their final stop as Bakugou struck with the intention of being as hard hitting as he could be for Izuku. On one of his gauntlets, blood poured out of Izuku's nose and mouth as Katsuki landed a direct hit on Izuku's stomach with his newest attack. Seeing the crimson caused Bakugou to look up at the barely conscious friend of his and saw another look that he couldn't process then and there.

"... Huh, still can't beat you. That su-"

The boy fell backwards and landed with a thud as it was clear who the winner was here. An announcement was made to declare the event as completed.

"Winner: Team Heroes. Exercise now completed."

The same woman who saw this all transpire then made another call to the medical team through her earpiece to then move in and get their job done.

"Medical. Fourth floor. Critical condition. Extraction now."

There were two medical staff on standby that came storming out of the tent with belts equipped with some sort of device with a gun for each. They aimed their rifles up right at the space in the middle of the fourth and fifth level. Two sharpened harpoon bits shot right into the solid concrete surfaces and secured themselves with retractable barbs that hooked into the bored holes they made. They removed the spools in their guns and locked them into their belts that began to wind up and allowed the emergency team to run up the side of the building towards the fourth floor. The two medical staff members crashed through the windows and identified their patient on the floor right next to the still frozen in place Bakugou. They sprinted to the injured boy and began their work to identify his injuries.

"Abdominal aortic aneurysm, Pneumothorax, High amounts of internal bleeding and organ damage. Exhibiting seizures as a primary symptom"

All of this was diagnosed through their heads up display. They were trained without the masks to identify symptoms as accurately had they not had the helmets. All of them still had to wear the masks and use the system as per the course, regardless.

"Beginning stabilization."

The other member who diagnosed the injury quickly turned around to present their backpack and allowed the other medical team member to get to the necessary equipment to keep Izuku from dying. The first thing they got out was a syringe gun with multiple cartridges in their other hand for the gun. It was almost blinding how quickly each dose of medication went into Izuku's torso with an empty cartridge hitting the floor every quarter of a second. There were roughly six shots administered and with them Izuku's seizures began to slow down.

There was foaming at the mouth with Izuku shaking rather significantly as his body couldn't handle the extreme stimulus it just received. The medicational solutions inside Izuku slowed the functions of the organs and nerves to a dangerously low speed. With this extreme reaction down and the signals to the brain being muted they proceeded to the next part of the treatment.

The next tool of use was another gun of sorts with an odd looking design. It was like it had a stick jammed through it from the top. It's purpose was made clear as the gun was used to latch onto every piece of broken rib in Izuku's chest and yank it up to the surface with the stick shortening after every shot. There was a little plastic tab that pulled the pieces of broken rib to the surface and secured it above the skin. After the dangerous pieces were pulled out of dangers way; a roll of what looked to be clear film was retrieved and draped over Izuku's chest. This material then measured the dimensions of his chest and shaped itself to the rough dimensions of his ribcage before it was broken. It had an error of a few micrometers, but it was still enough to avoid any further puncture wounds caused by the ribs.

It grabbed the plastic tabs and secured the bones as close to the skin as appropriately possible. These two worked to address any other potential life threatening conditions before the one administering the treatments pulled out two rods that he flicked to extend and place at each side of Izuku's unconscious body. A web like fiber shot from one side to the other and began to connect underneath the body as the threads melded together. It was an instant gurney that didn't require them to move the patient onto another bulky carrier. They both took a side with handles to lift the boy and counted down to lift him.

"Three, two…"

They carried the boy gently to one of the open windows. The one who was ahead was the one to exit the window once again as they both gently placed the boy back onto the floor. The mesh material had hardened at this point and served to protect Izuku from any sort of immediate impact if he were to be dropped. Two brackets were pulled out of the medic's own pack from the sides and were secured in appropriate heights above. Once secured and buried deep into the building the operative retrieved two spools of cables of sorts. They hooked the devices to the ends of each bracket and retrieved a pair of thin cables that were then moved into the center window that was broken from the inside by the other medic and got the four cables attached to the carrier at each handle.

It was just a matter of being careful but quick as they got the carrier with Izuku in it out the window and down to the ground level where the second set of medics took Izuku and brought him into the tent for a stabilization treatment before being finally being transported to the official facility where he would be healed properly. All of this was done under a minute as part of their minimum requirements. It actually was less than half that time for Izuku's extraction.

Back up on the fourth floor, Katsuki was still standing in a catatonic state as his loss was announced. A voice that he fought with on a daily basis was starting to render him deaf with how loud it was starting to get. It just kept repeating the fact of his loss over and over in his head to a manic degree. He looked down at his hands as he could barely think as the voices were all crowding in his head.

He wasn't unfamiliar with the concept of defeat. Losing was a necessary part of life and he was taught that years ago. As Bakugou was now it was everything to him that this assignment he was prepared for was met with defeat. His vision was starting to fade out ever so slightly as those voices made him dizzy as they just kept accusing him of being weak and lazy. You couldn't even do this! How long did you train for; only to lose in the end? Where was your conviction, you pathetic shit? What would they think of you now that you're producing fuckall as your results? The voices crescendoed to a single voice that just said one thing to him.

You let him d-

"Let's go back for your grading, Bakugou-san."

A solid hand slapped down onto Bakugou's left shoulder and knocked him out of his trance. Katsuki realized where he still was and that Izuku was nowhere to be seen. The blood on his right gauntlet made him feel sick as he didn't see how badly Izuku was injured by his attack. He rubbed the caked-on material off to the best of his abilities; it just resulted in his left glove being stained and stinking of blood from somebody he finished off. He wanted to throw up right now.

Monitoring Room

The three contestants entered the advanced looking room one after another. Right as Bakugou entered he was struck with an open palm that sent him crashing to the floor with how much force was behind the blow. While he was on the floor; a certain pink girl began screaming at him with true venom and vitriol over what he did.

"You bastard! He was your friend, you monster! What you did! Do you even know what you did?! You're nothing but a rotting piece of shit! You're just-"

From behind her she was yanked into a hug by Kyoka. There was struggling at first; Mina eventually gave up and just openly cried into her friend's shoulder over seeing Izuku almost die and was unable to do anything about it as the ESD medics were in and out before she could absorb what had just transpired in front of her. He was likely to survive under their care, but it was something far too extreme for what was supposed to be a simple class exercise. Nobody could look at Bakugou without feeling something wrong towards the blonde. Mina was in tears and a lot of people there were rather put off with how serious Izuku's injuries were from the looks of it.

Katsuki only picked himself off the floor without any emotions and just went over to the other contestants to stand next to them for their final grade. The same woman who had been outside of the building came up on the monitor and gave her assessment for the three students.

"Hello, students. I will announce completion times as well as total damage liability for each individual hero caused during the exercise."

She opened a window for the class inside the monitoring room to see a statistical chart. Only person not looking at the charts was Mineta who didn't see this woman from the start and was enamored by her strict looking beauty.

"Bakugou Katsuki. Your total damage liability is roughly estimated at sixteen thousand yen."

There was a short replay of the event where he smashed out the lights and held himself up as part of his ambush strategy. That was a startlingly small amount to what other people assumed would have happened.

"Uraraka Ochaco. Your total damage liability is roughly estimated at seven hundred and fifty thousand yen."

That was surprising. What revealed itself on her replay was her swinging the pillar and causing those rocks to be launched for her strategic approach. The rocks cracked the wall and damaged the door behind Iida with all of the debris combined. Not only that, the pillar she made weightless was tossed to the side and canceled for being weightless; making it land onto the floor in the corner of the room where it damaged the flooring with its weight. A rather careless mistake for such an expensive repair job.

"Tenya Iida. Your total damage liability is roughly estimated at negative seventeen hundred yen."

So much of the class were startled that such a score was even possible in this exercise. What on earth qualifies as a negative price?

"I… Uh… Wh-"

The footage played back and showed Iida swiping up all the loose debris of the room and even pulling something from his costume to help in cleaning the floor with his superior speed. It was still impressive in it's own weird way.

"We have estimated the cost of labor as well as the task completed and determined that with what he had accomplished; the value of his work has equated to an hour's worth of work for somebody working within the economic hourly range of seventeen hundred yen."

It was kind of an endearing thing that the ESD lady was even rewarding Iida for being such a diligent boy. At least for those who were able to focus on such a thing at the time.

"Midoriya Izuku. Your total damage liability is roughly estimated at thirteen thousand and seven hundred thousand yen."

It wasn't much of a surprise there since he took out the roof and fifth floor of a building replica.

"Midoriya Izuku has surpassed the current allowance of one million yen for an acceptable grade. He is disqualified from receiving a passing grade for the exercise."

After everything they all witnessed, this seemed to be a bit of an extreme measure for Izuku who really didn't do all that badly in terms of performing as a hero. Some even wanted to voice their opinions and spoke out against the evaluation that knocked Izuku out of the race entirely.

"No fair! Doesn't he at least deserve a second go?!"

"He did way better than some of us here could have done in his place."

"What is this? How was that deserving of failing?"

"Some exercise, this is such a rigged thing!"

The woman on screen simply adjusted her glasses as the students in the monitor room got rowdy. It became silent amongst the students as she spoke over the class.

"The world we live in is dictated by a very specific system that sees everything as a fixed value in order to keep order in our society. As heroes, you all should be seen as representatives of this value in order to uphold peace to its fullest extent. If you were to act outside of such parameters…"

Her eyes on the screen dug into every single child in that room. A gaze that felt both sinister and professionally powerful weighed heavily on all the students; regardless if they had spoken out or not.

"... Would you not be classified as simple villains? I certainly hope not…"

Nobody under the age of sixteen inside that monitoring room had the ability to look up at the screen. Such a piercing gaze to render them all silent was something that no ordinary person at a desk job was capable of. It was a loud clap that made everybody jump in their skins and turn to All Might for what it was he got everybody's attention for.

"Thank you so much, Ms. ESD Agent! I think that it's best that we start on the next exercise; don't you agree?"

The woman composed herself and set her gaze as it was before as she began the selection process again for the next exercise.

"For this exercise, would the following student's please step forward?"