Chapter 18: Rivals

"I suppose there isn't much point in theatre. Would anyone like to explain why young Midoriya is our MVP for the first match?" All Might asked the assembled students.

Zoning in and out of the conversation, I tried to ignore the throbbing in my head as a few students shouted the obvious, such as Kaminari's blunt 'Because he beat the shit out of them,' or Asui's enlightened realization that 'His team won the match.'

It had taken roughly half an hour for All Might to prepare another building for the next match. By the time All Might started his review of the first exercise, Iida had returned, his mild concussion and bruised ribs having been healed by Recovery Girl who, much to All Might and I's dismay, had followed Iida back to the training ground after she finished healing Katsuki. Despite my reasoning that I needed to be coherent enough to observe the following exercises, Recovery Girl insisted on healing my injuries immediately.

As expected, this had been immediately followed by an attempt to give me a concussion as looks of disbelief on the rest of the class' faces when the pint sized old women had then accosted All Might almost made the assault worth it.

Barely managing to keep myself awake through the aftereffects of Recovery Girl's quirk, I was roused from my stupor when Momo spoke up.

"Going through the other participants first; Bakugou's judgement was clouded by a personal grudge against Midoriya. This resulted in him not only launching a foolish opening attack that threatened the stability of his own stronghold, but he then utilized that same attack a second time, under even worse circumstances. Even if Bakugou had been a real villain and held no regard for the wellbeing of his comrade, his attack still would have destroyed the weapon he was supposed to be defending.

For his part, Iida assumed that Midoriya would be occupied with Bakugou after the former openly declared his and Uraraka's plan of attack. He began monologuing instead of attempting to neutralize Uraraka, and was completely oblivious to Midoriya's deception.

Uraraka's performance was acceptable, and improved markedly as the match went on, but she hesitated at multiple points in the opening minutes. It was also unnecessary to prioritize the restraint of an already incapacitated villain when both an active villain and the bomb were still in play. Though, as I said, her performance improved notably in the final minutes. Midoriya could have completed the mission by himself, but she made it significantly easier on him by showing immense courage to reenter the collapsing building and assist in retrieving the bomb.

For Midoriya, his plan to take advantage of Bakugou's grudge against him to split the opposing team was sound, and he adjusted well when that plan failed at first contact. He utilized deception to lull Iida into complacency and neutralized him in a single blow, then handled Bakugou's reckless final attack as well as could be expected given the circumstances. Even after the match had effectively ended, Midoriya found a way to secure the objective while prioritizing the safety of his classmates. All around, his performance was exceptional." Yaoyorozu finished.

Silence fell over the class as most of the students stared dumbly at Yaoyorozu's analysis. I stifled a chuckle at All Might's disgruntled look, but sobered when I caught Todoroki's eye. I didn't remember what Izuku and Shoto's first canonical interaction had been, but since my return from the exercise, Todoroki had been appraising me as if he had noticed my existence for the first time.

Beside me, Iida's self-reproachment had intensified at Yaoyorozu's assessment while Uraraka continued to stare ahead blankly, still battling quirk exhaustion induced nausea from the match.

The corners of All Might's mouth twitched, and he fumbled for a reply to the thorough hijacking of his role as instructor. "Yes, well, you overlooked a few things. Young Midoriya could have taken the rubble he was holding to a safer location, so as to limit the structural collapse to the uppermost level, but otherwise you nailed it!"

"Easy for you to say, Mr lifts buildings with his pinky." I grumbled under my breath, eliciting snorts of laughter from the nearby Jiro and Hagakure.

The rest of the matches varied in how interesting they were, but with how inexperienced the class was at this point in time, most tested my ability to resist the fatigue from Heal.

Watching some of my classmates was a sobering reminder that most students, even those from U.A., never rose beyond sidekicks or formed teams with other heroes who likewise could never hope to make it on their own.

I suppose it makes sense. Top heroes hold places in the double and single digits for years. There's around forty hero graduates every year from U.A. alone. The overwhelming majority of aspiring heroes end up as C or D listers that never even crack the top one thousand.

Realistically, the only ones in the class that stood a chance at breaking into the top one hundred were Todoroki, Katsuki, Yaoyorozu, and maybe Kirishima.

Releasing a sigh of exhaustion, I turned my head towards the setting sun on the horizon. My body was screaming at me to lie down and go to sleep, but I had forced myself to remain conscious as I waited on the front steps of U.A. Mercifully, All Might was waiting to drive me home himself once my business was finished, otherwise I would have hunted down one of Aizawa's spare sleeping bags and just went to sleep in the classroom.

Finally, with the courtyard bathed in the last rays of orange sunlight, Katsuki emerged from the main schoolhouse, his eyes fixed on the ground in front of him as he slowly made his way down the stairs with a hitch in his step and his right arm secured in a sling.

Pushing myself off the pillar I had been leaning against, I made my way to stand in between Bakugou and the main gate. Without raising his head, Katsuki came to a halt, the soft evening breeze washing over us as we stood in eerie silence.

"What was the verdict, detention?" I asked plainly, leaving the potential alternatives unsaid.

Regardless of the fact that he was the only real casualty, Katsuki's personal grudge could very well have gotten him and other students killed. It wasn't until after he was wheeled off to the infirmary that I realized it was a distinct possibility that Katsuki could be suspended or potentially moved to a different class. Expulsion wasn't likely, but Aizawa had almost certainly given him an earful.

Katsuki remained silent for several long seconds, but just as I began to worry that the consequences had been worse than I expected, he replied, his eyes still fixed on the concrete beneath his feet. "Detention for the next month. I've been awake for hours, but Aizawa made me watch the tape of all the matches and even the review when all of you were talking about our fight. He nearly fucking killed me with that freaky-ass scarf of his."

I was surprised when Katsuki's voice choked up and he continued through clenched teeth. "You came in first during the entrance exam and then beat me in that stupid test, but that's not enough! When Aizawa was making me watch the other fights, I realized I couldn't beat that ice guy in a head to head fight either!" Katsuki paused briefly before clamping his left hand over his face and shouting in frustration. "Fuck! I even agree with what that girl said during the review. My attack was so stupid! Damn it! DAMN IT!"

I observed Katsuki for a moment as he clenched and unclenched his left hand in frustration, miming the action he usually took to create explosions. Considering my words carefully, I decided to roll the dice.

"Yeah? Well, it serves you right." I chastised with a scoff.

Katsuki's head snapped up to cast me a withering glare through his tear filled eyes, but before he could say anything, I pressed the attack.

"That was stupid of you. You're lucky you didn't cripple yourself permanently. Who the fuck am I supposed to use to push myself if you're not here? The Prince Zuko cosplay? The princess? Fucking need for speed?" I challenged, narrowing my eyes.

My words caught Katsuki off guard, and instead of retorting he merely growled and turned away.

"I know." He snapped through grit teeth.

Feeling some of the tension in my shoulders dissipate at my gamble having paid off, I pressed home the advantage.

"I get it, shit's changed and you're pissed. Use that to make yourself better and kick the shit out of me. Don't just blow your own arms off." I said scathingly.

Keeping his eyes fixed on the treeline in the distance, Katsuki sneered but didn't reply.

Watching him for a moment longer, I turned and began to make my way towards the staff parking lot, but before I could take more than a few steps, Katsuki called out. Looking over my shoulder, I watched as he made his way towards the main gate.

"Next time, I'll kill you. You hear me?" He declared without looking back.

The corner of my mouth curved upwards at the return of Katsuki's usual arrogance.

"I'm counting on it, Kacchan." I replied tauntingly.

Halting in his tracks, Katsuki looked back at me with narrowed eyes before he huffed angrily and continued stomping off.

"Whatever, Deku." He grumbled, barely loud enough for me to hear.

My smirk lingered as he disappeared past the trees. Maybe he isn't a lost cause after all.

Author's Note:

Izuku/Katsuki friendship status?

It's complicated.