Chapter 10 - Deku versus Kacchan, Round One!
Despite the fact that U.A. is a hero school, they're still required by law to teach traditional high school courses, such as English and Math. The requirement for this exists so that students can still be given a traditional high school diploma.
"Woah, you're really good at chemistry, Chopper!" Ochaco noted, looking behind her desk to see Chopper creating advanced medicinal compounds made of who knows what.
"Ah! Don't think you can make me happy by complimenting me like that, you big jerk!"
"Uh… this is an English class." Present Mic muttered, "Ten points to Slytherin, I guess?"
Not only that, but thanks to having access to Lunch Rush's quirk, at lunchtime, students are able to eat top notch food in the cafeteria for dirt cheap… and while most students have decided to take up this offer, Chopper and Ryuko both had different plans.
"During every lunch from now on…" Aizawa began, speaking in the school's gymnasium, "I'm gonna be teaching you how to effectively use my binding cloth, and other techniques which allow us folk without combat enhancing quirks to get by. This'll be tough, so you're gonna have to work harder than anyone to get through this! Got that?!"
"Yes sir!" Ryuko shouted confidently, "I've gotta get stronger… so that nobody can beat me!"
Meanwhile, Chopper was in the nurse's office, learning all the medical techniques he could from Recovery Girl.
"I must say Chopper, your medical expertise exceeds mine already… I'm not sure how much I can teach you!" Recovery Girl admitted.
"Don't worry ma'am!" Chopper stated with an innocent joy, "You've got a whole lot of medicine here in Japan I've never even seen before back on the Grand Line! Plus, your quirk seems to be very interesting as well… Do you know the specifics of just how it works?"
And, in the block for afternoon classes, the most exciting class of all takes place… Basic Hero Training!
"I AM HERE…" All Might shouted, "Walking through the door like a normal person!"
"Woah, that's All Might!" Sero shouted.
"He's really gonna teach us!" Mina also saw.
"That costume looks awesome!" Kaminari shouted, "So retro!"
"You already know the details, don't you dear reader?" All Might shouted, "Let us begin the Battle Training!"
Each of the U.A. students got dressed into their costumes, with each of them looking like they could be real heroes!
Izuku himself was currently sporting his Beta hero costume, as he had a good amount of time to hone his hero costume during his training with All Might and Gran Torino before the U.A. Entrance Exam.
"This uniform... it feels way more comfortable before. It's almost like my stamina's leveled up!" Izuku noted, "I've heard that the Kiryuin Conglomerate's costume technology was different from any other place's... but this is nuts!"
"Woah, that's an awesome costume Izuku!" Chopper said, with stars in his eyes.
Chopper's own hero costume looked stereotypical of what a hero should be, as he wore a black mask on his face and a red cape on his back. Beyond that, he wore his usual attire that he donned during the Entrance Exam.
"Thanks Chopper! You're looking mighty heroic too!" Izuku responded.
"Aw don't make me…" (you know his shtick)
Chopper quickly jumped on Izuku's shoulders in order to get a better view of the entire crowd, "Everyone else looks so cool as well… that guy over there's even wearing knight armor!"
Chopper, too excited to stay still, quickly rushed towards the one in knight armor, who looked flashy and fabulous.
"I agree with Chopper, that is a pretty awesome costume, Deku!" Uraraka said from behind Izuku, who turned around to see her, "I wish I had been more specific on mine… it's a bit too tight!"
Izuku, upon hearing this, was pretty embarrassed, but, even while turned away, he tried to find a way to say words of encouragement, "W-well, I think it came out pretty nice, at least!"
"You think so?" Uraraka said, smiling, "Thanks!"
"Alright! Everyone's here then?" All Might questioned, "Good!"
Upon seeing her hero in person, the girl in the twentieth seat of Class 1-A felt nervous.
"Yeah… that really is All Might, in the flesh…" Ryuko noted, "I can't believe I'm stuck wearing these gym clothes and not an actual hero costume now that I'm meetin' him!"
"Young Midoriya and Young Chopper seem to be doing just fine…" All Might noted, grateful that the pair of them were adapting to the hero course with ease.
"Sir!" Ida called, drawing All Might's attention to him, "These are the same grounds as the Entrance Exam! Will we once again be performing cityscape maneuvers?"
"Woah, Ida's costume looks cool!" the duo of Izuku and Chopper both thought in unison.
"Not quite, young hero! Today, you'll be participating in indoor anti-personnel battle training!" All Might announced, "While most villains tend to appear outdoors, statistically, the most heinous villains tend to appear inside of buildings, lairs, or other such places! Thus, it seems only logical that you must learn the skills and limitations that are required to combat villains indoors!"
All Might, finished with the premise, began explaining the rules of the lesson, "The rules are simple! You'll be split into two teams: hero teams and villain teams, and go head to head in three-on-four battles!" All Might explained.
"So we won't be going through basic training?" Tsuyu Asui asked.
"This experience is designed for you to be taught the basics in real combat!" All Might elucidated, "Get used to fighting merely disposable robots, and you'll never learn how to properly combat human opponents!"
Suddenly, students began piling questions onto All Might.
"What determines victory?" Momo Yaoyorozu asked.
"What are the limits of how much you can hurt someone?" Bakugo asked.
"Are you gonna threaten to expel someone, like Aizawa?" Uraraka asked.
"How fabulous is my cape?" Aoyama comically asked.
"One at a time, one at a time!" All Might said, quickly beginning to be overwhelmed.
After a moment of respite, All Might continued.
"Listen up, here's the deal!" All Might began to explain, pulling out a script, "The villains have hidden a nuclear bomb in the hideout. The heroes have to go to take care of it! In order to achieve victory, heroes must either capture the villains or simply touch the weapon… villains must either capture the heroes or protect the weapon until the time's up!"
"How will we be deciding teams?" Ida asked.
"Drawing lots!" All Might swiftly responded.
"Is that really the best way to…" Ida began to ask, but Izuku answered his question before he finished asking it.
"Real pro heroes have to team up with others on the spot in a crisis, so this seems to be just like that!" Izuku explained.
"I see… my apologies." Ida said, obviously apologetically, "But wouldn't the format you suggested give an advantage to the four person villain team?"
"Teams will be altered as I see fit based on both your Entrance Exam and Quirk Apprehension Test results." All Might explained, "Beyond that, the villains are at a disadvantage too, seeing as all the heroes have to do is merely touch the nuclear device… therefore, both teams have their own set of advantages to exploit!"
"Ah… I see!" Ida responded.
"No worries! Let's just get on to picking the teams!"
There were six teams, divided up into A, B, C, D, E, and F. Team A, C, and E were hero teams, while Teams B, D, and F were all villain teams. The teams were split up into the following groups:
Team A: Izuku Midoriya, Ochaco Uraraka, and Ryuko Matoi
Team B: Denki Kaminari, Kyoka Jiro, Hanta Sero, Eijiro Kirishima
Team C: Tony Tony Chopper, Mezo Shoji, Rikido Sato
Team D: Katsuki Bakugo, Tenya Ida, Momo Yaoyorozu, Koji Koda
Team E: Mina Ashido, Tsuyu Asui, Fumikage Tokoyami
Team F: Shoto Todoroki, Mashirao Ojiro, Toru Hagakure, Yuga Aoyama
"Nice!" Uraraka said to Izuku, "Must be fate that we're put together!"
"At least I got someone I know." Izuku noted with a nervous smile, "And it's nice to partner up with you too, Matoi! Let's get along well!"
"Yeah, whatever." Ryuko muttered back.
"Moving on… the first two teams up first are…" All Might began to shout, "Team A, and Team D!"
Both Izuku and Bakugo flinched at this realization.
"I'll be facing off against Deku…"
"That means I'm up against Kacchan…"
Their next thought was shared between the two of them.
"This battle… it's going to be between us."
"So… we simply have to guard this?" Ida said, touching the mock nuclear weapon. As Ida was looking over at the boy, Koda merely nodded, nervous to speak.
"It seems so. The other two don't seem to have strong combat quirks, but that Izuku Midoriya will be a challenge." Momo noted, the end of her sentence sparking Bakugo's attention.
"So… that crappy Deku has a quirk, huh?" Bakugo said with a sadistic smile through gritted teeth.
"Of course… you saw it earlier, didn't you?" questioned Momo, "It's not just that, he seems to be quite powerful, and has great control with it as well."
"Heh, great control my ass." Bakugo replied.
"Bakugo… I'll only ask once, don't charge straight in at Midoriya." Ida tried to say, but he was merely speaking to a brick wall.
"So… that nerd's been deceiving me this whole damn time?" Bakugo thought, "That fucking Deku…"
"So, what's the plan?" Ryuko asked.
"With these blueprints… things'll be a lot easier." Izuku remarked, the blueprints in his hands vibrating faintly, "Without a type of sensory quirk, there's nothing more we can do to find the bomb than search the entire building… so we'll split up. I'll go on in my own, then you two can go together."
"Hey! Don't underestimate me, I'll be fine on my own!" Ryuko shouted at Izuku.
"T-that's not what I was implying-" Izuku nervously retorted back. Uraraka noted that Izuku was reacting more nervous than usual.
"Deku… are you alright? You seem to be shaking a little." Uraraka questioned.
"That's because… that plan I stated earlier… it's accounting for my relationship with Kacchan as well." Izuku stated.
"Your relationship?" Ryuko questioned.
"Y-yeah… he picked on me a lot as a kid, but I learnt how to fight back after meeting someone in Elementary School who inspired me to become a hero…" Izuku began to explain, "Even though he's a jerk, I still can't help but think that Kacchan's amazing… his goals, confidence, his strength… he's stronger than me in every way."
Izuku then looked up ahead at the building, "It was only recently that I was able to grow as strong as I am now, since I got a lot of help from someone… so Kacchan is probably gonna be even more angry at me, since someone who was previously no more than an 'extra' has been above him ever since he entered into this school." Izuku professed, "He'll come for me right away, and initiate a fight with me and only me… so to get him out of the way, I put you two together."
After Izuku finished his speech, Ryuko flashed a cocky smile.
"So what you're saying is, you wanna fight Bakugo all by yourself!"
Izuku was caught a bit off guard.
"Y-yeah! I guess so... and I don't plan on losing!" Izuku affirmed.
"Wow… fated rivals… so cool." Uraraka faintly whispered.
Hopping in through a window, Uraraka whispered,
"Infiltration successful."
Uraraka was the last of Team A's three to enter into the building, as Ryuko and Izuku had both used Uraraka's quirk to stealthily make their way onto the second floor before her. The basic plan was for Ryuko and Ochaco to scour the top floors while Izuku made sure nothing was at the bottom.
"Kacchan'll probably be here any minute now…" Izuku began, but he was cut off, as a sort of pain went off in his head… and in an instant, his mind told him what was happening.
"No… in ten seconds! Both of you, hide now!" Izuku whispered with an urgent tone.
"How the hell do you know that?!" Ryuko asked.
"I don't know… just trust me!" Izuku argued.
Deciding to have faith in their teammate, Ryuko and Uraraka both nodded.
After Izuku knew the pair trusted them, Izuku quickly ran away from them with five percent of One for All. Beyond getting into a suitable position to fight Bakugo, this was also to ensure that he was a good distance ahead of Ryuko and Uraraka so that Bakugo wouldn't find them, in case the explosion boy decided that a sweeter victory than beating Izuku would be ensuring that his entire team was taken out.
Faintly, Izuku heard explosions in the distance as he made his way to the stairs which led up to the third floor.
"Once he jumps down the stairs, he'll use an explosion to reposition himself, and that'll be my moment to strike…" Izuku thought, "I don't know how I know that, but I'll trust it!"
The prophecy that Izuku had thought up soon came to pass.
Bakugo jumped down the stairs, and then used an explosion to reposition himself before he hit the ground, allowing himself to stay airborne at the cost of being a sitting goose for a brief moment; but that was alright if nobody was around.
To Bakugo's surprise however, Izuku had expected and prepared for this, and was currently in the air, accumulating momentum with front flips in order to attack his foe.
"Straw Hat… SMASH!" Izuku thought with vigor in his head, as he hit Bakugo straight on his head, and down straight into the ground.
"Now's our chance!"
Taking advantage of Bakugo being stunned, Ryuko and Uraraka came out from hiding, and ran to the staircase past the boy.
"Good luck, and tell me if you get caught!" Izuku yelled up to them.
"Thanks for the luck, but we won't be getting caught any time soon!" Ryuko confidently smiled, as she quickly pulled out her scissor blade.
"Don't get cocky, nerd!" Bakugo yelled with a muffled voice, as his face was currently buried in the ground below.
Using his explosions, Bakugo shot straight up from his position in the ground, and straight into Izuku. Without so much as a moment to dodge, Izuku was thrown into the stairs behind himself. Not wanting to take a moment to rest, Bakugo turned towards Izuku quickly, and propelled himself to the boy who was stuck on the stairs.
"He's going to use it!"
Pushing his left hand into the ground behind himself with 5% of One for All, Izuku used the force in order to roll away from a right hook which Bakugo aimed at him… but, Bakugo wasn't so unshakably confident in his own abilities that he didn't see this coming.
Using his left hand, Bakugo grabbed Izuku's back, and wordlessly slammed him onto the ground behind himself, face first.
"You're not bad, for a damned nerd!" Bakugo said, smiling confidently, "But you'll have to do better than that to graduate just being a punching bag!"
"Hey, Bakugo, update us on the situation!" Momo said through Bakugo's communication device.
"Shut up and keep watch! I'm gonna wreck this damned nerd!" Bakugo shouted straight back.
"Keep your emotions in check, we have to-" Ida tried to say, but suddenly, Bakugo clicked off his device, "Did he just hang up on us?!"
"In that case, it seems we'll have to adjust our plan." Momo noted, "Bakugo's strong, and is the only one who can feasibly face off against Midoriya... but I'm still unsure if he can win a fight against him without our aid."
From what Team D could gather, Bakugo and Midoriya were currently facing off against one another. This left Ryuko and Uraraka at an unknown position, meaning potentially, they could be closing in on the bomb at any moment... but that wasn't what was most important.
While Ryuko seemed good in a fight, she was also quirkless, and thus, could have her weaknesses exploited quite easily.
Meanwhile, Uraraka seemed to not have much fighting experience to begin with.
As it stood, any pair of two from Team D could likely take on Ryuko and Uraraka with ease. The real issue was Izuku Midoriya.
With physical aptitude only rivaled by the classes ace, Chopper, it seemed as if he was a superhuman among superhumans. If he were to go unchecked, then he could likely enter the room and secure the bomb from their group before they could even blink.
The only leverage they had against Izuku was Bakugo and Ida. Individually, their Entrance Exam and Quirk Apprehension Test scores suggested that they would individually lose to Izuku in a fight, but together, it's more than likely they'd be able to defeat him.
According to Momo, the issue now was that since Bakugo was facing off against Izuku by his lonesome, if Bakugo were to be taken out, they'd have little defense against an attack from Izuku; he could likely get right past all of them without so much as a scratch. It is from this perspective that she made her next move.
"Ida! You're the only one fast enough, can you make your way down and aid Bakugo?"
"Of course!" Ida responded, "I'll keep an eye out for Uraraka and Matoi along the way… I just hope that Bakugo won't reject my help, or worse, have already lost when I arrive at his location!"
"If he can't be reasoned with, return swiftly! We'll need your aid if we want to win!" Momo yelled out to Ida, who had already sped off out of the room, "I guess it's just you and me now, Koda."
"U-um…" Koda tried to say.
"Yes?" Momo said, noting Koda's nervous face and smiling slightly, "You must be nervous… but don't worry, we're all in the hero course here! The least we should be able to do is respect the thoughts of others."
"T-thanks…" Koda meekly responded, "Well… I've contacted all the bugs in the area… and they've informed me where Ryuko and Uraraka are!"
Uraraka and Ryuko were running quickly, scanning every room for the prop-bomb in the process.
"Thanks for making my clothes and scissor blade all lighter!" Ryuko commented, "Makes it a lot easier to run around."
"Not a problem!" Uraraka whispered back, "I'll make it heavier once again if we ever get into a fight-"
"Get into this room!" Ryuko quickly whispered, pulling Uraraka into a side room, causing her to land on top of Ryuko, to the embarrassment of the former. Shortly afterwards, Tenya Ida passed by them.
"Good thing his engines make a lot of noise… but, since he came from upstairs, that also means that we can ditch this floor and just head up!" Ryuko remarked, as she noticed Uraraka's compromising position and helped her get up.
The duo got up and ran directly up the stairs, but to their surprise, the second they got to them, a voice called out to them,
"As I calculated… your position was obvious." Ida said in a voice which showed that he was clearly trying too hard to be a villain.
Both Uraraka and Ryuko let out a noise of surprise.
"The hell?!" Ryuko let out, "How did you know we were here?"
"You think I'll tell anything to you hero scum?" Ida began, beginning to walk towards both Ryuko and Uraraka, "I wouldn't even if my life depended on it!"
As Ida finished his statement, his engine flared up, as he began to rush towards the pair... but specifically, Uraraka. Noticing this, Ryuko dived into Uraraka, knocking her out of the way before it was too late... but Ida didn't stop.
"You won't get away, hero scum!"
"Uraraka!" Ryuko shouted, lifting her Scissor Blade above her head, "Go, now!"
Behind Ryuko, Uraraka quickly nodded her head, running to the stairs and quickly doing a 'release' motion.
"Where do you-"
Before Ida could finish his sentence, Ryuko's scissor blade instantaneously gained weight, and fell directly on Ida's armored head. This caused Ida to recoil in pain temporarily, at least for long enough that Uraraka was able to travel up the stairs.
"Not so fast!" Ida stated, his engines flaring up once more, prepared to dash after Uraraka, "You won't-"
"Quit ignoring me, dammit!" Ryuko shouted, as she launched her Scissor Blade at Ida's front, though he quickly dodged her blow by jumping backwards.
Placing the hand which wielded her Scissor Blade on her shoulder, she pointed with her other hand at Ida.
"I'm your opponent now, so you better start acting like it!"
Quickly, Izuku dashed at Bakugo, while Bakugo dashed right back. Both extended their fists, and attacked the other in the face. Izuku's base attack did more damage, but Bakugo added on his explosion, which launched Izuku backwards, and ended up doing more damage in the long run.
"I can't beat him… not in these circumstances!" Izuku believed.
While being knocked back, Izuku did a quick flip to grant himself a safe landing. It was there that Izuku realized he was right beside the stairs, and then decided to jump up them, "I have to escape… but that might just endanger everyone else!"
"Where do you think you're going, Deku?!" Bakugo yelled, as he propelled himself towards Izuku before the boy could even react.
"He's too fast!" Izuku noted, but he realized a way to turn this situation around, "SHAVE!"
Losing track of Izuku, Bakugo was firmly hit in the stomach as penance, as he began to fall down to the bottom of the stairs. The moment he was about to touch the ground however, Bakugo flipped backwards, and used his explosions to cancel out his downwards momentum, and then rushed back to Izuku, who was running away on the third floor.
"Is there any way that I can get out of here without jeopardizing the others?!" Izuku thought, using Shave once more to escape another attack from Bakugo, then making his way into a hidden room on the floor.
"Izuku!" Ryuko yelled to him on the radio, as Izuku had nearly forgotten about their own mission. Needing to be silent to hide from Bakugo, Izuku only whispered.
"Yeah?"
"Ida's on my ass! I sent Uraraka ahead, but she still has to deal with the other two!" Ryuko shouted.
"Uraraka, what's your status?" Izuku questioned.
"I've found the weapon! Fifth floor, right in the center, but Yaoyorozu and Koda have got me!" Uraraka shouted.
"The fifth floor… got it!" Izuku said, looking upwards, "Just hang in there!"
Up on the fourth floor, Ida and Ryuko were clashing in a completely one sided battle. While Ryuko could block and parry each individual attack Ida threw at her due to their telegraphed nature, Ida's speed and ability to launch combo attacks made Ryuko not only unable to find an opening to attack, but unable to defend against every one of Ida's attacks... but still, so long as his attacks were telegraphed, it was only a matter of time, right?
"Give it up, hero scum! For I, Tenya Ida, will defeat you here and now!" Ida shouted, still in that same villainous voice from before.
"Jeez, can't you just shut up?!" Ryuko shouted.
"So long as it annoys you, I will not, hero!" Ida commented, as he rushed towards Ryuko, prepared to launch an airborne roundhouse kick.
"An opening!" Ryuko thought.
As Ida extended his leg forwards and launched it at Ryuko, Ryuko spun around with her blade in order to hit Ida's leg with maximum force. That wasn't all however, as now that Ida was stalled in the air, Ryuko spun around yet again, and hit her blade firmly into Ida's chest, afterwards launching him into a wall.
"How'd ya like that?!" Ryuko shouted.
"Not bad at all." Ida responded, "But as a hero, you'll have to do better than that to stop me!"
"Shit. I might be actin' tough, but this guy's armor is tough as nails! I can't land even a single solid hit on him!" Ryuko thought, "Meanwhile, I'm out here accumulating a crap ton of damage! I don't like this, but I'm probably gonna have to rely on those other two here!"
In the center of Floor Five, Uraraka stood, face to face against both Momo Yaoyorozu and Koji Koda.
"Give it up, Uraraka! You won't be able to defeat us. It's two against one, and we've completely cleared this room of any and all spare objects; your quirk is useless against us!" Momo monologued.
"Crap… she's right!" Uraraka thought, before she realized something, "But, back at the Entrance Exam, Deku was able to make it all the way through without using his quirk until he saved me… and then, there's Ryuko! She's going head to head with Ida without any quirk… so if they can do all that…"
Uraraka then leaped forwards into action, utilizing her quirk to make herself move just a little bit faster than usual. This shocked Yaoyorozu, who hadn't expected Uraraka to make such a bold move.
"W-what?!" she cried.
"Then why can't I take these two on, all by myself?!" Uraraka thought, as she jumped into the air, released her lighter weight, and then tackled Yaoyorozu.
Koda was on the sidelines, too afraid to fight due to his pacifist nature.
Thinking fast, Momo summoned a taser, quickly attempting to incapacitate Uraraka with it, but just as she did, Uraraka used her zero gravity quirk to make the taser float up. Running away from Momo, Uraraka saw an opening.
"Now's my chance! If I can just touch the weapon…"
But before she could, suddenly, an army of birds attacked her. All Uraraka had to do was push her hands forwards, but due to the sudden attack, she was caught off guard and unable to, as she recoiled backwards in shock.
"Good job, Koda!" Momo shouted, revealing the source of the birds to be from Koda, who blushed mildly from the praise he had received.
Momo, now having reclaimed her taser, rushed towards Uraraka.
"Crap, not like this!" Uraraka thought.
"If we can knock out Uraraka… we should be able to-"
But before Momo could do anything, she was knocked out… she wasn't the only one who fell victim to this however, as so too was Koda... and Uraraka was knocked out too; everyone was.
Back at Izuku and Bakugo's earlier confrontation, right after Izuku had stopped talking to both Uraraka and Ryuko, he heard a voice in the background.
"Heyy!" Bakugo shouted, "It must have been fun, tricking me this whole time, hiding just how flashy your quirk was?! What, did you want to hide it to prove you were better than me even without a quirk, or was it something that damned Luffy told you to do?!"
Bakugo smirked, and released two explosions from his palms, "Doesn't matter! You're not better than me… you're no more than a pebble, you fucking nerd!"
"Uraraka's on the center of the fifth floor…" Izuku thought, "There's no way I can beat Bakugo in the time we have left, but… we can still win this! It'll just take sacrifice, and careful positioning…"
Izuku continued, "Thankfully, I wrote down notes on Bakugo's fighting style… so, it'll be easier than I think it'll be… I'll fight him here and now, with all my might, otherwise, we won't be able to win!"
Izuku then opened the door from his hiding place, shocking Bakugo by his casual exit, who looked at Izuku and smirked.
"Finally, you've stopped hiding."
"Bakugo…" Izuku muttered, as Bakugo stopped smiling to listen to Izuku.
Izuku now became louder, "This time… I'm not gonna run away!"
Bakugo's smirk returned, "You better not, you damned nerd, cause I'm gonna crush you like the bug you are."
Izuku smirked right back. He was reminded then that he was more than the worthless, quirkless Deku that he was in the past. He was a Deku that would do his best, no matter what; someone who could fight even Kacchan.
"I'd like to see you try!"
Their emotions running high after meeting each other head on, the wills of Izuku Midoriya and Katsuki Bakugo began to collide. While neither understood the fight that was going on between their wills before their true fight had even started, their will to become conquerors; their conflicting desires to both become the next Symbol of Peace fought against each other… with each holding untamed ferocity which spiraled out of control, and went rampant on everyone else in the building.
"Come at me, you damn nerd!" Bakugo yelled.
Staring the fight, Izuku utilized the Shave technique, approaching Bakugo, but the explosion hero saw this coming. Launching upwards so that he could completely dodge the attack, he then fired a barrage of explosions below him, which he knew Izuku would inevitably come through. He was right, and Izuku was knocked onto the floor which was right below him as pennance.
"Damn, that hurt!" Izuku thought, "Just how can I get up… wait a second!"
"DIE!"
The falling Bakugo aimed another explosion at Izuku, who was below him, but it was no use.
Activating twenty percent of his power for a brief moment, Izuku elbowed and broke the floor below him, thus breaking Bakugo's clear shot on him, and thus, his attack as well.
Izuku fell through the floor as well, but he quickly flipped back up, and Bakugo followed. Both landed on the ground in an upright position.
"...The room to the right!" Izuku thought, being sure to keep his face on Bakugo as to not give away his plan, "It's right where Uraraka told me the weapon was… that's our key to victory!"
"You said you weren't gonna run... are you going back on your word already, damned nerd?!" Bakugo yelled at Izuku in response to him breaking the ground, but Izuku quickly utilized the Shave technique, getting to straight to Bakugo's right side, contrary to his expectation.
Izuku then kicked Bakugo in the direction of the center room below where the weapon was, as Bakugo ended up right in front of the door to it. Bakugo began to get up, but Izuku sped back towards him, this time without Shave.
Seeing opportunity in this, Bakugo quickly got up and used an uppercut explosion as he did, forcing Izuku to dodge underneath Bakugo's legs, straight into the closed off center room, as per not only Izuku's… but Bakugo's plan as well.
"Guess you know from all your stalking, but…" Bakugo began to explain, as Izuku contemplated his next move while Bakugo monologued, "The sweat glands on my palms secrete something like nitroglycerin. That's how I make my explosions."
Bakugo then clicked the grenades which were on his arms into place, as Izuku realized what Bakugo's plan was.
"Wait... you mean…"
"Assuming they honored my design requests… then this gauntlet has been storing that secreted material-"
"Bakugo, stop it!" A voice belonging to All Might rang in Bakugo's ear, "Are you trying to kill him?!"
"He won't die, IF he uses his full power!" Bakugo yelled sadistically, pulling the pin on the grenade strapped to his arm, unleashing the massive blast which was sure to stop Midoriya in his tracks.
"Crap… I don't have time to think!" Izuku thought, as in order to try and minimize the damage done to his arms, Izuku activated approximately eighty percent of One for All, and attacked Bakugo's explosion directly, resulting in a massive clash of explosive material from Bakugo's attack and a blast of air which resulted from Izuku's own.
Izuku had put effort into not damaging his left arm, but nonetheless, it was still broken after his attack. Using the smoke provided by Bakugo as cover, Izuku activated his earpiece.
"Can anyone respond? Uraraka? Matoi?" Izuku questioned, but it was useless… Everyone was offline, "Seems I'm on my own..."
"That's better… I wanna crush you at your strongest, DEKU." Bakugo said with a smile on his face, "So quit it with that wimpy form of yours... use your quirk, full power!"
"Crap, you're still up?!" Ryuko yelled, now at the top floor, as she saw that Momo Yaoyorozu was, though breathing heavily and somewhat tired out, now up.
"The taser… it flipped around and shocked me instead of Uraraka when I was knocked out… it's ridiculous, but I can still win because of that!" Momo thought, "No more holding back!"
"My communications are down because of that huge burst of energy earlier… so I don't know what's going on..." Ryuko thought, "But it seems that Uraraka and Koda were both knocked out by it too... then maybe Deku and Bakugo are also KO'd?"
Quickly, Momo summoned a cannon, which she aimed at Ryuko.
Ryuko was shocked, and since she was standing at the entrance.
Momo instantly attempted to fire at her, but Ryuko quickly jumped out of the way, now being blocked from Momo's line of sight, and also successfully avoiding the cannonfire.
"You have a frickin' cannon?! How's that fair?!" Ryuko yelled.
"In the world of heroes and villains, there is no such thing as fair and unfair!" Momo shouted back.
"What… can I even do without a quirk?!" Ryuko thought in her mind, desperately… However, suddenly, Ryuko heard a 'thud', and peered into the room.
"The hell?"
"TIME TO CRUSH YOU!" Bakugo shouted, as he shot directly towards Izuku. Izuku prepared to counterattack with Shave, but Bakugo then used an explosion before Izuku expected, and by doing so, both redirected himself upwards and stunned Izuku temporarily.
Using this redirection to jump behind Izuku, he then aimed an explosion directly at Izuku's back, dealing mild damage to him.
Izuku reacted the instant after this however, as quickly, he spun around and kicked Bakugo in the side, knocking him into a nearby wall. Izuku jumped to the opposite side of the room from Bakugo, giving himself space for the last part of his plan.
"My last attack… it shouldn't have worked! You're still looking down on me!" Bakugo yelled.
"It's not that at all, Kacchan!" Izuku yelled right back, "You're awesome! You're a hero who triumphs against every obstacle you can, that's why I wanna beat you, you idiot!"
"Don't think you can look down on me like that, shitty Deku!"
The words shared between both Izuku and Bakugo allowed both to understand each other even more than ever before, and with another burst of their spirits colliding with one another, the final attack was soon to come, with a whirlwind of thoughts and emotions going into it from each competitor.
"DETROIT…*" Izuku yelled, "SMASH!"
"EAT THIS!" Bakugo yelled right back.
"Both of you, stop thi-" All Might yelled in their earpiece, but neither listened.
"Anyone who's still conscious, get out of the center room!" Izuku yelled through his earpiece, as while Bakugo aimed his attack at Izuku, Izuku aimed his attack straight upwards with seventy percent of his power; the perfect amount to destroy the floors above, but not fatally incapacitate anyone who would be above.
"HUH?!" Bakugo shouted.
Every floor above shattered, as Momo, Uraraka, and Koda, who were all knocked out yet again from that last burst of spirit that Bakugo and Izuku exerted, fell through the floor alongside the weapon.
"Oh no you don't!" Ryuko yelled, as she dived down the hole quickly.
Izuku looked up, activating five percent as fast as he could.
Bakugo looked up, catching the scene at just the right moment to see Izuku touch the weapon with his feet. He didn't just touch the weapon however, but he knocked it away onto a higher floor in the process to prevent it from crashing and detonating if it were the real thing.
"No way… I… lost?" Bakugo questioned.
"The bomb's secure…" Izuku noted, "Now I just have to save everyone else!"
His body taking over before he could think, Izuku rocketed off to catch Uraraka on his back (he couldn't use his arms since both were broken).
Ryuko, who had previously dived, had done so to catch Momo. When she caught her, she held onto her with one arm and jammed her scissor blade into a nearby wall with the other so she could stay suspended in the air without going 'splat'.
Despite all of this, Koda was still falling, with nobody to save him.
Izuku, without an arm to spare, dropped Uraraka off on the second floor, hoping to save Koda in time... but to his surprise, Bakugo had already rocketed up there, and saved him before Izuku could even attempt to.
"...Hah." Izuku muttered with a smile.
"THE HERO TEAM… WINS!" All Might shouted, as the noise rang through everyone's ears.
Due to now having two severely damaged arms, Izuku continued to smile, beginning to nervously laugh a bit, and then fell to the ground afterwards.
After saving Koda and setting him down beside Uraraka, Bakugo, having just lost the battle against Deku in the most embarrassing fashion, just breathed in, and said down to Izuku.
"You really learnt a lot from Luffy back then, didn't you?"
Izuku ceased his laughter, looking up at Bakugo, whose face suggested that he was both completely pissed off… and in complete and utter shock.
"Next time… you won't catch me off guard, Deku." Bakugo vowed, "And I'll kick your ass."
All Might then arrived, putting a hand on Bakugo's shoulder.
"Let's head back Bakugo. It's time for your grading." All Might announced, as Bakugo obliged silently, "Whether you win or lose, you can always come out ahead by learning from the experience."
While Bakugo and All Might walked away, Izuku got up.
"Kacchan…" Izuku mumbled, as Bakugo turned back silently yet again, "When that happens, I'll be stronger. And I won't lose."
After all, he had to be stronger… because ever since Sabaody, he had a reason to become stronger. There were people all around the world who needed saving, who Izuku couldn't help now because he was too weak. He needed to be the strongest hero, who could save everyone with a smile.
Bakugo, looking back, just turned around and continued walking away, with no snarky remark following him.
"Well, I'd say that the strongest player in this battle was debatable, but after careful consideration, I've decided the VIP to be… Koda!" All Might announced, as the boy was shocked by such praise.
"Not anyone on Team A, even though they won?" Tsuyu asked, confused.
"I wonder why!" All Might asked, "Can anyone explain?"
Momo quickly raised her hand, "It's as Koda was able to adapt to whatever was happening on the battlefield at any given moment." she began to explain, "Bakugo's actions were all motivated from an obvious personal grudge. As you mentioned before as well, using destructive attacks indoors is also extremely foolish."
She continued, "Midoriya's performance suffered from the same faults, albeit he worked alongside that grudge much better than Bakugo. There's also Uraraka. She made a strong impact in attempting to seize the weapon, but her inability to follow through due to Koda's distraction, alongside a lack of other substantial moves make her not a good fit for the VIP qualification. My own performance suffered similar faults, as regrettably, my only substantial act was keeping Ryuko out of the room temporarily at the end."
"H-holy cow! She's analyzing the entire match better than even I could!" All Might noted.
Yaoyorozu then continued some more, "Besides that, Ryuko, Ida, and Koda's performance were all exceptional. Ryuko acknowledged her own skills would be ill-suited to obtaining the weapon, and instead stalled an opponent that would be sure to give her team trouble, while also getting in position to obtain the weapon near the end, yet her inability to attain it was her only flaw."
Only one more dialogue blurb to go, damn you VIP discussion!
"Ida, while knocked out by that unknown wave of energy, still did incredibly well. He performed a counter-strategy for Uraraka, which was essential in her not achieving the weapon earlier on, however, his main flaw was how he got stalled by Ryuko, when he should have found a way to run back up to support his team… then finally, that leaves Koda, who accurately gathered information on Uraraka and Ryuko's location, allowing Ida to nearly catch both, and then, once Uraraka arrived, Koda, while not reacting initially, was able to stop Uraraka from getting the weapon through a bit of quick thinking. Despite being knocked out by that unknown energy wave, he was the one who played with the least flaws."
There was a silence… because holy that was long.
"U-um… y-yes! You're correct!"
"You did all that analysis on the match in an instant like that?" Ryuko noted, "Damn, you're really somethin' else, aren't you?"
"Well, if we don't all learn from the mistakes of ourselves and others, then we'll never be able to become proper heroes!"
With the first match of the Battle Trial completed with substantial injuries, two more remained.
"Now, let's draw lots for the next battle… it will be… Team E versus… Team B!"
Team E, consisting of Ashido, Tokoyami, and Asui, was to face off against Team B's Kaminari, Jiro, Kirishima, and Sero! This battle was sure to be a treat, but the one after was sure to be an even greater one!
The fight I'm talking of is one where Team C, consisting of Chopper, Shoji, and Sato, will fight against Team F, consistent of Todoroki, Ojiro, Hagakure, and Aoyama… a battle where the star players of each team would have to make expert use of their supporting members to claim absolute victory! Tune in next time, where hopefully, I won't break the fourth wall nearly as much!
END OF CHAPTER NOTES:
'...and Izuku, right then and there, decided to name his attacks after those he wanted to save.' (excerpt from Chapter 8)
' "DETROIT…*" Izuku yelled, "SMASH!" ' (excerpt from this chapter)
No, Izuku does not want to save Detroit. He's simply borrowing All Might's attack here.
Well, that's all for Chapter 10. Looking back on this chapter, I could've probably changed the story here by making the main fight be Izuku and Bakugo vs Chopper... but, I feel that the fight in the Battle Trial of Izuku vs Bakugo is far more important in the grand scheme of things.
You'll notice that the title of this chapter is "Round 1"... and yeah, that's because there's going to be more Deku vs Kacchan coming up. One of the biggest focuses in this earlier portion of the story are the subtle differences between Izuku and Bakugo in comparison to their canon selves due to interactions with Luffy and each other, for example, you might not have noticed, but I wrote Bakugo to be slightly more mature and more skilled than his canon counterpart to boot. Having Izuku challenge him all his life did a number on his superiority complex which slowly crumbles as he continues to go to UA.
Past this point, battles will begin to change from what we've seen in the canon MHA material. Team C vs Team F, USJ, and the Sports Festival are all completely different to name a few changed parts of the story.
I also hope that you guys enjoyed my depiction of Ryuko in this chapter. I feel having a character like Ryuko in the story is massively beneficial for the U.A. portion of this story, as it gives an avenue to explore the problems with this hero society in regards to those who are quirkless. Plus, I also really love Ryuko's character in the original Kill La Kill, so I'll try my best to do her justice in this story!
Phew, I wrote those End of Chapter notes a while ago. I'd just like to apologize for the delay with Chapter 10, but I also released Chapter 11 alongside it, so I hope that makes up for it.