"I'm going to be honest with you, Izuku…I don't like this." Tokage frowned at her boyfriend while the two walked down the hallway.
"I know." Midoriya replied a bit too casually for her liking. "I don't like it either, but it was bound to happen sooner or later."
"You could've just said "no"."
"I could have…but then Bakugou would've tried something else to piss me off."
"Didn't Nezu-sensei already tell you guys that Bakugou was in trouble anyway?" The green-haired girl questioned. "We all know that you're more powerful than him. This whole thing kinda seems like-"
"Like adding injury to insult?" The boy momentarily interrupted.
"Yes!" The girl pointed at him. "That's exactly what this is!"
The two then came to a sudden halt just a couple of meters away from the door. For some unknown reason, Midoriya decided to grab Tokage's hand before looking at the girl right in her moss-green eyes. Although Toakge still wasn't used to this amount of forwardness from her boyfriend, she certainly wasn't going to be complaining about it anytime soon.
"I get why you're mad, I really do. But this is just something I need to do. The sooner I finally take Bakugou down a peg, the sooner he'll stop bothering me. And everyone else."
'What the hell has gotten into him lately?' Tokage wondered.
This kind of behavior was so unlike Midoriya. Usually, the boy was a lot more calm and forgiving. But right now, it was clear to her that he was not going to back down on this. Granted, it did make sense to her as to why. Bakugou has practically been begging for another chance to fight the 'telekinesis' user ever since the end of the Sports Festival. On top of that, he's been openly antagonistic towards Midoriya for the entire school year. Even so, this kind of…passion from Midoriya was strange to see. Honestly, it was the first time Tokage could remember seeing him so riled up about something. And in her opinion, it was kinda hot….
'I wish he'd put this much energy into our nonexistent sex life- no, no! Now's not the time for that! We can worry about that later. Right now, I need to focus on being a supportive girlfriend. God…I need to go rub one out soon. I can't think straight when I'm all pent up like this.'
After letting out a rather exaggerated sigh, Tokage quickly got herself back together. The girl knew that there was nothing that she could do to stop this, so her only job right now was to just make sure that he was going to be alright.
As for Midoriya, the boy did genuinely feel bad about the entire thing. But right now he needed to take a stand and prove a point. Even if the chances of Bakugou beating him were pretty slim he still needed to show his former friend and bully that he was not going to stand for it any longer. And this student challenge was exactly what he needed to do that without getting into trouble. Besides, this was a perfect opportunity for Midoriya to put into practice a new set of skills that he had developed alongside Yanagi and Fubuki. And given the nature of Bakugou's quirk, he was the perfect person to test them on.
"So…" Tokage then said. "You're heading over to Ground Beta right now?"
"Yeah." Midoriya nodded. "I still have about thirty minutes before I need to be there. But I need some extra time to make sure I'm good to go."
"It sucks that the teachers won't allow the rest of us to watch. Kinda lame if you ask me." The girl folded her arms in displeasure.
"Apparently, Aizawa-sensei was the one to shut down the idea of letting you guys watch. It doesn't matter though, it'll be over with quickly."
"Wow…where's all this confidence coming from?"
"How can I not feel good about my chances when I have such an amazing girlfriend cheering me on!" Midoriya said with a wide smile. The kind of smile that only he could somehow make look cool despite saying the cheesiest line ever.
Cheesy or not, the comment was more than enough to cause a bit of redness to form on Toakge's cheeks. Hoping to avoid any further embarrassment, the green-haired girl quickly leaned forward and gave her boyfriend a nice, long kiss.
"Knock 'em dead freckles, see you in a bit!"
"Yeah, you too!" Midoriya replied as he watched Tokage walk out of the door and begin making her way toward the 1-B dorm.
With that now out of the way, Midoriya took a few seconds to shake off his nerves before turning around and making a beeline towards the Ground Beta. With a look of determination on his face, the boy strode down the hall with all the confidence of a man who was hellbent on completing his mission.
'Alright, Bakugou…let's put an end to your nonsense once and for all.'
[Training Ground Beta Observation Tower]
"I can't believe we're doing this shit…" Aizawa groaned while slowly crawling out of his sleeping bag.
"Oh calm down!" Kayama waved off the man's complaints. "This is only the second student challenge of the year. Usually, we have no less than five by the end of the first semester."
"It has been rather tame this year, huh?" Snipe questioned before remembering all of the other nonsense things that happened over the last few months. "Well…as far as academics go."
"I can't believe that Midoriya agreed to do this." Chiyo Shuzenji, also known as "Recovery Girl", said from her seat right next to Nezu's. "He never struck me as the type to willingly go into a fight for no reason."
Yamada quickly filled in the blanks for the elderly woman. "The two of them have bad blood as it turns out. And Midoriya already embarrassed Bakugou once during the Sports Festival. From what I can tell, this was bound to happen sooner or later."
"In any case, I'm sure that we're going to be thoroughly entertained by what we're about to witness." Nezu finally spoke up. The nondescript mammal was sitting in his giant red leather chair and pouring himself a cup of tea. "If I'm not mistaken both of them have developed some rather interesting skills over the last month or so. I can't wait to see them in action."
All of the teachers knew that this entire fight was just an excuse for Nezu to have fun torturing the students by letting them beat each other up. However, none of them were brave enough to say that out loud. Even then, the majority of the staff were quite interested in seeing how this fight played out themselves.
Most of the last few weeks of hero training have been limited to simple exercises and quirk refinement. So the first-year students have had plenty of time to develop their skills in new and creative ways. How those ways manifested themselves was a complete mystery to the majority of the faculty members present, so they were more than a bit curious about how two of the strongest first-year students improved.
Tsunagu Hakamada, known to most as "Best Jeanist", was also interested in how this was going to go.
The current number three hero was invited to witness this fight by Nezu thanks to the deal that the two of them had struck. Naturally, the 'fiber master' quirk user was disappointed to hear what his newest pupil tried to do. And he fully supported the plan that Nezu put in place to help towards the boy's eventual reformation. However, he too was curious about what kind of progress Bakugou had made with his fighting abilities. The information he was going to gain from witnessing this fight would surely prove to be useful in the future.
"Alright, let's go ahead and get this out of the way!" Power Loader stood up as he went around the room with a metal box in hand. "You guys know the drill! Write your predictions down and put them in the box. Once the fight is over, whoever was the closest gets the prize at the end! And no, Nezu-san is not participating this time!"
'Thank God!' Kan, Yamada, Snipe, and Lunch Rush silently cheered. At least now they finally have a chance at winning this time.
Five minutes later, once all the teachers had placed their bets, Kayama walked over to the main monitor of the room. On the screen, she could see both Midoriya and Bakugou in their designated starting positions. The two looked like they were ready to start so she saw no point in delaying the inevitable any further.
The "R-Rated" heroine then looked back at her boss, to which Nezu gave her a silent nod. With the green light, Kayama pressed the button on the main panel and spoke into the microphone.
-(o)-
"Midoriya-kun, are you ready?" The voice of Kayama rang out over the training ground.
All Midoriya did was give the woman a thumbs up. The green-haired boy had a look of calm confidence on his face as he casually floated just above the roof of one of the artificial buildings.
"Bakugou-kun, are you ready?"
Bakugou responded with a feral grin and nod while letting off a few small explosions in his palm.
"Then without any further ado, 3…2…1…begin!"
-(o)-
'This is it! This my chance to finally expose that bastard, Deku, for what he truly is!' Bakugou mentally shouted while wasting no time preparing his first attack.
The 'explosion' quirk user had been looking forward to this fight ever since the principal came to his dorm room a few days ago. The man basically offered him exactly what he wanted on a silver platter. A chance to go toe-to-toe with Deku in a straight-up fight without any lame rules or stipulations attached. And more importantly, a chance to show everyone that he was right all along.
Katuski Bakugou had a very simple philosophy when it came to the world of heroics. Heroes win, villains lose! That's it! Anyone who dared to call themselves a hero should be able to put down any obstacle that came across their path. And villains were the ultimate losers in his eyes. That's why All Might was the greatest hero of all time. It was because he never lost. Even in his final hour the man once known as the "Symbol of Peace" stood victorious over his enemies. And that's exactly what Bakugou planned to do right now.
It was all so perfect. By winning this fight Bakugou would prove once and for all that he was right and that Deku was a villain. Then, the source of all his misfortune would be forced to admit to all of his wrongdoings. And with that admission, Bakugou would be vindicated. No one would dare question him and his heroic aptitude ever again, especially not those loser classmates of his.
As Bakugou charged up his attack, he could faintly see that green-haired loser floating atop the building directly across from him. Roughly four hundred meters of distance separated the two of them, but that didn't matter. In fact, the distance was only going to make this even more spectacular. Bakugou had been working on this ultimate move for months, and now he was finally going to use it the way that it was intended to.
To keep it simple, this new attack was an upgraded version of "AP Shot". By significantly increasing the amount of sweat that he could use thanks to his gauntlets while clasping both hands together to increase the internal pressure Bakugou was able to dramatically alter the power in which the explosion came out. So much so that the attack could barely be considered an explosion anymore.
"AP Shot: Shaped Charge - Level 3!" The 'explosion' quirk user shouted as he fired off his attack directly at his opponent.
The spectators watched as a laser of explosive force zoomed across Ground Beta at blistering speeds. For a brief moment, some of them were concerned about the other student who was surely about to be on the receiving end of the attack. However, their fears proved to be pointless as they watched the powerful laser that Bakugou created quite literally bounce off of Midoriya and get redirected into the air.
"What the hell?!" Bakugou shouted in disbelief after witnessing one of his strongest attacks dissipate into the afternoon sky. "How?!"
[Blizzard Hero Agency]
"So that's how your sister was able to avoid getting hurt all those years?" Ozehana asked her boss as the two sat at their desks finishing up the day's paperwork. "She constantly had a psychic barrier around her body whenever she got into a fight?"
"Not constantly." Fubuki replied in between sips of her sparkling water. "It's something that you have to actively maintain and think about when using it. Honestly, in execution, it's the same process that we use to fly…except in reverse. "
"I see."
"I can only do it for no more than forty-five seconds at a time, and that's if it's the only thing I'm focusing on. Trying to do it in the middle of a fight is way too damn hard. Onee-chan could hold the barrier for five minutes at the most."
"What about your brother?"
"He was able to maintain it for up to a minute last time he told me. But even then, the strain that the technique puts on the body means that you can't defend and attack at the same time. Which is something he's trying to get over."
"What's this technique called again?" The 'flame control' quirk user then inquired just as Lily entered the room with a bag full of Korean takeout.
"Onee-chan called it, 'Simple Domain'. I think she got the name from an old manga or something."
Across the training ground, Midoriya maintained a calm exterior. Now that the focus was solely on him, the teachers finally noticed that the boy wasn't wearing his signature helmet. They were all aware that Midoriya used the support item to both protect himself and aid him in areas of low visibility. So the boy deciding to forgo the device was certainly a confusing choice.
'Sorry, Bakugou…but physical attacks like that don't really work against me anymore.' Midoriya thought to himself with a sly, Tatsumaki-esque grin. 'I may not be able to maintain it for long, but my new defensive technique is the perfect counter for anything you can do.'
Now that the fight has officially begun, Midoriya saw no point in delaying the inevitable. Although there were a few long-range attacks that the 'telekinesis' user had at his disposal that would've worked against his opponent, he wanted to play things differently. Bakugou was the kind of person who wouldn't be satisfied with anything less than a heads-up fight. And Midoriya had no issues with giving his former bully exactly what he wanted.
Midoriya then used his quirk to launch himself through the air and quickly closed the distance between him and the Bakugou. In less than a few seconds, the two students were face to face. Both looked each other right in the eyes as they prepared for what happened next. But not before taking the opportunity to exchange some quick words.
"So, you want me to kick your ass up close and personal huh, Deku?!" Bakugou barked as a series of small explosions popped off in his hands. "Well, that's fine with me!"
Midoriya scoffed. "As if! I just wanted to get this over with quickly."
Bakugou did not like the way that this villainous bastard was speaking to him. The condescending look on his face coupled with the flippant tone of voice that he was using really irritated the 'explosion' quirk user. This was not like the Deku he used to know. And that thought alone really pissed him off.
"Are you looking down on me, you loser?"
"Literally, or figuratively?" Midoriya tilted his head in fake confusion. To be fair, Midoriya was technically looking down at Bakugou since he was currently floating in the air above him.
"Doesn't matter!" Bakugou retorted. "Once I beat you you'll never be able to think that you're better than me again! I'll show everyone once and for all that a loser villain like you will never be able to come close to me!"
Midoriya didn't care for all of this nonsensical villain talk from Bakugou. Although the greenette did completely understand how and why Bakugou could've concluded that Midoriya was a potential agent for the villains, it didn't matter to him whatsoever. In his opinion, this whole thing was just an excuse for the 'explosion' quirk user to try and harass him.
"You usually never run your mouth this much." Midoriya then said with a slight grin on his freckled face. "It almost sounds like you're nervous."
That comment seemed to set Bakugou over the edge. The ashe-blonde teen quickly got into his fighting stance and began piling up his sweat into his right palm.
"You're really asking for it, aren't you loser? Good, I wouldn't have it any other way!"
"I want you to remember one thing Bakugou." Midoriya then pointed his finger directly at his opponent. "You challenged me!"
The second Midoriya finished that statement Bakugou immediately went on the offensive. The 'explosion' quirk user used his powers to create a thick cloud of smoke by releasing a series of powerful explosions into the air around him. In barely a few seconds the entire area within a ten-meter radius of Bakugou was completely covered in darkness.
'He's starting off with the same tactic he used in the Sports Festival.' Midoriya briefly thought to himself.
Under normal circumstances, a strategy like this one would be perfect to use against someone like him since his quirk heavily depended on his line of sight. However, Midoriya had long since learned how to deal with something like this. With a simple wave of the hand, the boy created a wave of telekinetic force that instantly blew away the cloud of smoke. Surprisingly though, once he did so Midoriya quickly noticed that Bakugou was nowhere to be found.
Realizing that he was in trouble, Midoriya then activated his new defensive technique. Doing so just in time to avoid getting hit with three improvised grenades that Bakugou had attached to his belt. The explosions didn't leave so much as a scratch on Midoriya though. And the resulting follow-up attack that Bakugou attempted immediately after only yielded the same result.
The 'explosion' quirk user quickly backed off from his opponent to reevaluate his strategy. However, Midoriya wasn't about to give the boy any time to think. The 'telekinesis' user was quick to close the distance between the two of them before outwardly extending the range of his "Simple Domain". By doing this, he was able to exert the force of his quirk onto Bakugou's body, pushing the ashe-blonde teen through the air before propelling the boy into the closest building.
'I guess what they say is right.' Midoriya thought to himself after letting up on his attack, allowing Bakugou the chance to pull himself out of the crater that his body created on the side of the building. 'The best offense is a good defense.'
In practice, "Simple Domain" was a defensive technique that created a barrier all around Midorya's body. One that he could extend and retract at will depending on his desires. With the barrier up, he was able to stop any physical attacks that might have come his way. There were two main problems with this new skill of his though.
First, it took a lot of focus to maintain. The amount of pressure being exerted on the body was actually difficult to deal with for prolonged periods of time. And that constant pressure made it difficult to properly use his quirk. It was like trying to hold your breath while boxing.
Second, it was a one-way street. While using this new move of his, Midoriya couldn't simultaneously use his quirk in other ways. The best way to explain it was that "Simple Domain" used psycho-waves to repel things away while most of his other techniques used them to pull things towards him. And trying to use his quirk in two opposite directions at the same time was basically asking Midoriya to give himself an instant migraine.
Luckily for the greenette, "Simple Domain" still allowed him the ability to fly since he was pushing everything away from him in all directions. Which meant that he was able to move around, albeit a bit differently than what he was used to.
Now that he had a moment to catch his breath, Bakugou once again went on the offensive. The boy used his quirk to set off another series of explosions to create an improvised flashbang to momentarily blind Midoriya as he repositioned himself directly behind the green-haired teen. Once Bakugou was out of his opponent's line of sight, he then charged up another attack.
"AP Machine-Gun!"
The series of rapid-fire explosions that Bakugou aimed at Midoriya once again bounced off the invisible barrier that protected the boy's body. Something that pissed the ashe blonde teen off even more.
Midoriya simply stared at Bakugou with a nonchalant look on his face as he watched the explosions dissipate into the nearby air. Seemingly unphased by the onslaught that his opponent was trying to hit him with. However, on the inside, Midoriya was actually analyzing the different ways that Bakugou had used his quirk during the fight so far.
'I hate to admit it, but it is impressive how Bakugou is able to use his quirk in so many versatile ways. It has both offensive and defensive applications that most people wouldn't normally consider. Even if he is an asshole, you can't deny his talent.'
Five seconds later, Bakugou let up on his attack and tried to move to hand-to-hand combat. Unfortunately, this proved to be a fruitless endeavor when his first attempt at throwing a punch quite literally stopped mid-air barely a meter in front of Midoriya's face.
"You're too close…" Midoriya then said calmly before waving his hand in front of him. This resulted in yet another wave of telekinetic pressure hitting Bakugou with enough force to send the boy flying into the ground. The impact of this attack created yet another human-sized crater that Bakugou found himself in.
'What the fuck!' The 'explosion' quirk user internally shouted. 'None of my attacks are working. I can't even get close to him because of his stupid quirk! He's got some kind of barrier around him. I need to find a way to get around it.'
-(o)-
"That's quite an interesting application of telekinesis." Nezu chirped in between sips of his tea. "Midoriya-kun's found a way to temporarily repel all physical attacks. Although it's incomplete, it seems to be very versatile in application."
"He's been working on this ever since that raid he participated in with his classmates." Kan chimed in. "He can't hold it permanently though. I think he said trying to maintain it was like trying to hold your breath while fighting. Yanagi can also do the same thing, but she has to apply their quirk in a different way to get the same result."
"Interesting…"
Best Jeanist was the next to voice his thoughts. "That defensive skill that Midoriya-kun is using is actually the perfect counter to Bakugou-kun's quirk. Since all of his attacks are physical in nature, as long as Midoriya-kun has that barrier up then Bakugou-kun's quirk is basically ineffective."
"It does seem that way." Snipe then added. "Based on what we've seen so far I doubt that any of my bullets would be able to get through that there defense of his."
'This fight is starting to look rather one-sided.' Best Jeanist thought as he watched Bakugou pull himself out of the crater and get into his fighting stance. 'I thought Bakugou-kun would have a better performance than this, but I guess there's only so much that you can do against someone like Tatsumaki's brother. Fortunately for him, the boy isn't as ruthless as his sister. Otherwise, this would've been over a while ago.'
Best Jeanist quickly surmised that this sort of outcome was for the best. Thanks to his obvious talent, there were few in his generation who could give Bakugou a run for his money in a straight-up brawl. But, the fact that the boy was getting so thoroughly humbled by one of his peers was going to be a benefit for him in the long run. After all, unchecked arrogance needed to be snuffed out before one could be built back up. Only then could someone begin walking down the path of a true hero.
'I guess I'll have my work cut out for me with Bakugou-kun. That's not necessarily a bad thing though.'
-(o)-
As Midoriya looked down at a now bruised and shaky Bakugou, the boy couldn't help but be impressed with how resilient his former bully was. The guy managed to get back onto his feet after being thrown across the map for the second time in five minutes. That kind of durability could only be matched by guys like Tetsutetsu and Shishida. It did make sense though, that's just the kind of person that Bakugou was. He wasn't the kind of guy who'd go down so easily.
"So…would you like to keep going?" Midoriya then said to his opponent while casually floating in the air with his hands tucked behind his back. Trying his best to appear as nonchalant as possible. Normally, this kind of subtle yet disrespectful behavior was out of character for him. However, thanks to the elements of Tatusmaki's personality still running through his brain, Midoriya was making an effort to show his former bully how unphased he was by all of this.
"Shut the hell up, nerd!" The Bakugou barked back while getting ready for another attack. "I don't care what kind of defense that shitty quirk of yours gives you! I'll find a way around it soon enough!"
Midoriya quirked an eyebrow. "Is that right?"
The boy knew that playing defense the entire fight was basically the same as kicking the can down the road. Eventually, he was going to have to start dealing out attacks of his own to show Bakugou that he couldn't keep up with him. And now seemed as good a time as ever to do so.
"If that's the case, then how about I start focusing on offense instead?" Midoriya continued by raising his right hand into the air.
Something in the back of Bakugou's mind screamed at the boy to not let Midoriya execute whatever he was planning on doing. So the ashe-blond teen shot off another series of explosive blasts in the Midoriya's direction. Mostly as a way to break his concentration. Surprisingly, the 'telekinesis' user actually dodged the attacks instead of just letting them hit him.
'He's not using his barrier. Now's my chance!' Bakugou was quick to recognize the opportunity and tried to close the distance between him and Midoriya. Whatever his opponent was about to do, it gave Bakugou the opening that he was waiting for. And the boy was ready to take full advantage of it.
Unfortunately, Bakugou wasn't quick enough to avoid Midoriya using his quirk to fling the ashe-blonde teen into a nearby building before continuing on with his next move.
"Onee-chan told me about this a few weeks ago and I haven't had the chance to use this in class before. So congratulations, Bakugou, you'll be the first to see it in action!" Midoriya explained as the air around him suddenly became thick with some type of unknown pressure. A type of pressure that felt completely different from what it normally felt like when he used his quirk.
Back in the observation tower, the teachers stood up when they noticed that all the cameras surrounding the two students began violently shaking and losing focus. Whatever Midoriya was about to do, they could that it was something big.
With a smile on his face, Midoriya gave Bakugou one last look before dropping his right hand.
"Psycho-Zone: Gravity Well!"
A/N: Well, here it is! The long-awaited showdown between Midoriya and Bakugou. If you've been following the story for this long then you obviously could've foreseen that this wasn't going to be a very fair or drawn-out match. It's not really a fair quirk match-up to begin with. As I said in the notes for the last chapters, this fight is mostly just an excuse for me to give Midoriya some new moves since I haven't done that in a while.
1. As many of you have no doubt figured out, Midoriya is currently using a scaled-down version of Gojo Satarou's "Limitless" technique from Jujutsu Kaisen. Similar to the way he used it before his run-in with Toji. I tried to keep it as scaled and realistic as possible in its application, but I feel as though someone with a quirk like his would eventually learn to use it in this fashion. And I wanted it to function in a way that doesn't break the logic of the story, which is why Midoriya can't have his "Simple Domain" constantly activated. It's not a passive skill.
2. I teased the "Gravity Well" move that Midoriya is about to use back in chapter 57. I also gave a little preview of what it can do way back in chapter 37. I'll leave you guys to guess what it can do. Personally, it's something I wish I had come up with before the Sports Festival.
3. The next chapter will be the conclusion of the fight, followed by some Class 1-B shenanigans to lighten up the mood of the story a bit. There's a scene that I've had on my mind for a while and I think (hope) you all will find it funny. I'll also touch on the Bakugou stuff sooner rather than later. Aside from that, it'll mostly be fluff/romance stuff from here on out. Now whether or not I can execute in a decent way remains to be seen.
4. For those of you wondering, yes, Best Jeanist wasn't forced to go into hiding by Hawks in this timeline since there have been a few deviations from the canon story. I'm going to give an update on the MLA/Unohana situation after the next chapter (I think). But just know that he's still out and about like normal.
Anyways, like always thank you for taking the time out of your day to read this dumpster fire of a story. Feel free to leave a comment/review if you want. I actually enjoy reading your guys' thoughts and they keep me motivated to keep writing this thing. Thank you and have a wonderful day!