48 - martial dead

Chapter 48: Term Finals Part 2

Katsuki spat out some blood, and rubbed his jaw. "Nice cheap shot De—"

Izuku moved up and grabbed Katsuki by the metal collar of his costume and shoved him against the wall. "Don't you ever talk about Uraraka like that. Apologize right now!" Izuku hissed between his teeth.

Katsuki just scowled and grabbed Izuku's arms. "Let me go, or I'm turning you into fucking ash."

Both Izuku and Katsuki, too distracted with each other, didn't hear the pop hiss that ripped through the hallway. They did feel it when a pair of bright yellow boots smacked them both in the head, separating them from each other.

Both boys turned, seemingly ready to tear into the person that had butted into something that didn't concern them. However, when Gran Torino glared back at them, they stopped.

"Gran T—" Izuku started, but he was cut off.

"Other wall, now." Gran Torino pointed to the other side of the hallway. "And you," he addressed Katsuki, "you stay right there."

When Izuku didn't immediately move, Gran Torino looked at him. "Kid, I'm not playing around right now. Wall. Now."

Gran Torino could see Izuku was fighting back saying something. He could almost hear the kid's teeth grinding together. But eventually cooler heads prevailed, and Izuku took a few steps back until he was against the other wall in the hallway. Gran Torino didn't show it, but he breathed a sigh of relief, because he did not want to have to try and force Izuku to listen to him. Right now, he only had a small mess to clean up. That, that would have been a full on shit show.

"Alright. Now, if this was the old days, this would get solved in a couple of ways. Either I shove the two of you into a room and let you beat the crap out of each other. I'd beat the crap out of both of you, or I'd wait until one of you is the winner, and beat the crap out of that one." He kept his eyes on both so that they knew he wasn't playing around. "But this isn't the old days, and you two have shit you need to take care of."

"Why are you here, Gran Torino?" Izuku asked tersely. The tone in his voice was strange to hear for Gran Torino. During his time training him, Izuku had spoken with respect and excitement. Clearly, the boy was pissed.

Not good, all things considered.

"Apparently I'm here making sure you two don't fail your tests before you even step foot on the field," Gran Torino huffed. He was about to add that Miruko had noticed the two leaving the control room and had 'politely' told him to go make sure 'the kid the Runt wants doesn't get himself into trouble.' He wasn't going to add what Miruko said after 'wants.' That woman needs to learn about age appropriate conversations.

Katsuki glared down at the old hero. "Of course he's fucking here. All Might's teacher, right? And All Might took you to see him." Katuski shifted his glare up. "He's fucking in on the whole thing, right?"

Gran Torino blinked and glanced over at Izuku, but the boy was still glaring daggers at Katsuki, before looking back. "'In on it?' Kid, whatever conspiracy crap you got rattling in your head is no excuse to be making a complete fool of yourself. You do realize the thin ice you're on right now? I'mwilling to send you two back to the control room and pretend like nothing happened. Your teachers on the other hand, they might decide that you need to have some kind of punishment. U.A.'s gotten pretty stringent about kids fighting, last I heard."

Katsuki crossed his arms. "Finally someone that can at least sound convincing when he's lying. Deku and All Might can't even get a story straight."

Gran Torino regarded Katsuki coldly. "Kid, you don't know jack about what you're talking about."

"Oh, I know," Katsuki replied with certainty.

There was a change in Gran Torino's voice. An old coldness that reflected some dark times in his past. "No. You really don't. If you knew anything, you wouldn't be screaming at the top of your lungs that you did. So stop acting like a child. And—" Gran Torino powered on when Katsuki opened his mouth, "if I thought you did know something and you were going on like this, you'd be shut up by now."

"Is that supposed to be a fucking threat?"

"Kid, when I threaten someone, they know," Gran Torino finished.

Katsuki and Gran Torino traded glares, before Katsuki cliched his tongue against his teeth with an audible tch. "Always read that you older guys played by some different rules."

"You have no idea the rules I play by. Now, despite you being a loud mouth, you seem like you got a brain in there. You looked at the puzzle and got all the edge pieces put together. So let me make this clear. Congratulations. Now before you start trying to dig into the rest. Drop. It."

Gran Torino sighed, and let himself lean on his cane. "Now, this is done. For everyone's benefit, this is done. Straighten yourselves out, go back to the control room and try behaving like you aren't in elementary school."

"No."

Gran Torino blinked. After a second, he blinked again when he realized that it wasn't Katsuki that had said that. Turning around, he looked at Izuku in disbelief. "What?"

Izuku stepped away from the wall and towards Katsuki, his hands clenched into fists. "I'm not going back anywhere with him after this."

"Kid…"

Izuku ignored Gran Torino, gave Katsuki one last look and then turned away, walking down the hall.

Katsuki sneered, "Don't pretend like you're on some moral high ground, Deku. You're the one lying to our fucking class. You don't have a leg to stand on here. All your fucking secrets and shit? The only one here that should be pissed is me. You're the one breaking trust here."

Izuku paused and Katsuki kept going. "You just don't like I fucking called you out over it. If you wanna act like a freaking crybaby, why don't you try and hit me again. Maybe this time I'll actually feel it."

Izuku didn't turn around when he finally spoke up. "You have no idea how hard I can punch now."

Gran Torino's eyes went wide, but Izuku kept walking away. Katsuki took a few steps to go after him, but Gran Torino blocked his way. Though he still yelled after Izuku, "Where the fuck do you think you're going?!"

"Leaving."

"Leaving? What the hell is that supposed to mean?"

"Exactly what it sounds like. After what you just did, I'd rather fail this test then team up with you."

"This is all your fault, Kirishima!" Mina screamed as she and Eijirou dived for cover when the gigantic draconic form of Ryukyu dive bombed and splintered the trees around them.

"How is this my fault?!" Eijirou shot back. "My plan was perfect!"

Scrambling to her feet, Mina stuck out her tongue at him. "Perfect?! Your 'plan' was 'let's go fight a dragon like those fantasy movies!' That's not a plan!"

Picking bark and twigs out of his hair, Eijirou pointed back. "It's better than your plan was. Running for the exit isn't manly at all! Now we don't even know where the exit is because we're lost in this forest!"

"You wanna tell Toga she wasn't manly for reaching the exit? Or how about Uraraka?" Mina countered.

"Er…" Eijirou coughed into his hand. "I'm just saying at this point the only chance we have at winning is bringing her down."

"Oh? And how do you plan on doing… Hey, where are you going?!" Mina waved her hands around as Eijirou began climbing up one of the trees.

"When she dives at us again, I'll just jump onto her!" Eijirou said with confidence.

"Are you crazy?" Mina called up to him.

"Ha! Crazy like a fox. Watch this!" Eijirou was now perched precariously on the upper branches of the tree while he checked the sky, looking for Ryukyu. She was already coming back down for another pass.

"You are going to die!" Mina said with utmost certainty.

"Nah! I got this!" As soon as Ryukyu was only yards away, ripping the tops of the trees abart with her body, Eijirou leapt up, and got immediately steamrolled. His body hurtled through the air off into the distance.

Mina groaned. "… I swear, if he's sticking out of the ground when I find him, I'm leaving him."

A horn blared over the forest training zone, "Team Ashido and Kirishima retires due to running out of time."

Mina growled and pulled at her hair. "Not just leaving him, gonna bury him deeper."

Mei tilted her head to the side. "Man, those guys didn't work well together at all."

Recovery Girl grunted. "Just because you're friends and get along, doesn't mean it's a recipe for a good team. They spent so much time arguing that they didn't have a chance at escaping or capturing Ryukyu."

Miruko grunted. "This is why I hate teaming up. Makes crap too complicated and you end up not getting anything done."

Recovery Girl looked over at her. "Well, aren't you just a shining example for the future."

Miruko just grinned, but didn't have a chance to say anything as the doors to the control room opened and Ochako strolled in. "Oh no, Ashido and Kirishima didn't pass? That's horrible… wait, Miruko?!"

Ochako gasped when she saw the rabbit hero, then felt some dread when she saw the smile on the other woman's face. It was the same smile she had whenever she ended up kicking her through something. "Hey there Runt, watched your exam."

Ohhh this is either good or bad. Ochako put on a brave smile. "You did? What'd you think?"

Miruko smirked. "Grapples are a neat touch, and those spikes are nasty. You diiid miss that kick I taught you, though."

"He he he," Ochako laughed nervously as Miruko got closer. "Well, I did win."

"Oh sure, but if you're gonna use one of my moves, you're not gonna miss with it." Miruko put a hand on Ochako's shoulder. "Sooo, next time you got work studies or internships, I'm just gonna have to remind you how to properly use that move."

Ochako gulped, flashing back to the kicking training Miruko had put her through those last couple of days. "O-oh… great." I'm going to die.

Desperate for some kind of salvation, Ochako looked around the room, looking for the person she had come to the room to see in the first place. "Um… where's Deku?"

"Oh! He and the loud one went to have a talk like a while ago. They haven't come back yet."

"Deku and Bakugou went to have a talk?" Ochako frowned, not liking the sound of that.

"Oh yeah. The loud jerk looked pretty mad about something. Not sure what though," Mei answered off hand.

Ochako gleaned back towards the door. She hadn't seen or heard anything on her way back, but there were other hallways someone could take to get to the control room. "How mad?"

Mei had her hands in her pockets, and was leaning back in her chair. "Slightly above normal? I dunno. Midoriya didn't seem too phased by it, though. Though they are taking a while. They missed the whole exam."

"The whole…" Ochkao blinked. That means that they've been gone for over thirty minutes. Turning on her heels, Ochako was about to walk out of the control room, but Miruko grabbed her shoulder.

"Runt, don't. Those two needed to work something out, so let them. They're big boys, they need to solve their own issues."

Ochako narrowed her eyes a little at the hero. "With all due respect, there's a lot of history there. I'd feel better if I knew everything was alright."

"Of course you do. Figured you'd be all mommy bear over this, so I sent that short old guy to check on things."

Ochako blinked. "Short old… Oh, Gran Torino? He's here?" Izuku had talked alot about the old teacher. So while she didn't have a lot of experience with him, she knew from Izuku's and All Might's description that he'd make sure Izuku would be okay.

"STOP FUCKING TELLING ME WHAT THE FUCK TO DO!"

The scream that reverberated through the door and into the teachers' waiting room made more than a few heads pop up. Midnight looked over at Snipe while Aizawa tried to bury himself deeper into his sleeping bag. Nezu just seemed amused as he sipped his tea. Cementoss decided to ignore everything.

All Might scratched his head. "Was that my imagination, or did that sound like Young Bakugou?"

Then a new voice joined the screaming student. "Kid, I swear to god someone at home doesn't smack you around enough."

"She hits like a bitch!"

"I'll buy her some brass knuckles then! Shut up. Stand there. And let me see if I can get this mess cleaned up."

All Might sunk into his chair. "Aaand that's Torino…. This isn't going to be fun."

Knock

"All Might, you decent in there? We got a problem."

Gran Torino's knocking and question had All Might jumping to attention and buffing himself up. "Yes! Come in Gran Torino!"

Gran Torino walked into the room, with a very unhappy Katsuki following. That in itself was a strange sight to see. All Might looked between the two, noting the serious look on his old teacher, and when he looked at Katsuki, All Might noticed that the boy's lip was swollen. In fact, the way a couple of the other teachers leaned over to get a better look at Katsuki, they noticed it too.

"Gran Torino. Young Bakugou. What's going on?"

All Might really hoped that the old man hadn't done something to his student. Unfortunately with the way Katsuki liked to mouth off, it wasn't hard to imagine Gran Torino giving the kid a good kick.

"There's a situation that you need to deal with," Gran Torino said, "between this one and… Midoriya."

"A situation? What kind of situation?" All Might did not like the sound of this. Especially since Gran Torino was taking it so seriously.

"A… delicate one. One that might be better done in private."

Gran Torino was choosing his words carefully. So that was just making All Might more nervous.

Before he could say anything or Gran Torino could explain further, one of U.A.'s small security robots rolled into the room. "There is an unauthorized withdrawal from the testing facility." The robot tilted its head up and projected a video, taken from security cameras it was linked to. "Student of 1-A, number 18 Midoriya Izuku, has left the training zone."

Every teacher in the room looked at the projection, then turned to look at Bakugou.

"The fuck you all looking at me?"

"What is going on?" Aizawa was out of his sleeping bag, not looking like he was in the mood to deal with this.

Midnight frowned, holding her hands up. "Now hold on. Midoriya might just be getting some air. No need to make a big deal about it."

"The kid decided that failing the test is better than teaming up with this bundle of positivity," Gran Torino finally said as he pointed his thumb at Katsuki.

"What?" All Might couldn't believe what he was hearing. In fact, none of the teachers could. To just decide to fail a test, let alone a term final, was not something Izuku would normally do. They knew the boy had worked hard just to be sure he'd even be allowed to take the test.

"Look, the kid is pissed. So he's not thinking straight. I think it would be a good idea if you," Gran Torino pointed his cane at All Might, "take this one and we go talk to him. Like I said. Talking in private might be good. Give everyone a chance to air out some crap."

All Might raised an eyebrow. Again, Gran Torino was pushing for a private talk. And when he looked at Katsuki, the boy was giving him a very strange look. Like he knew something.

Oh, this isn't going to be a fun conversation, is it.

Midnight leaned over to get a better look at Katsuki. "What happened to your lip, Bakugou?"

Tch, Katsuki clicked his tongue against his teeth. "Don't know what you're talking about."

"Son," Snipe said simply. "We know what it looks like when someone got popped."

… Oh holy shit.

"The two of you," Aizawa began, "were put together for a reason. Plenty of pros don't like one another, but when there is a job to do, they do it. If you aren't able to show that kind of maturity at this point, then you fail the exam. And it seems," Aizawa glanced at the projection, showing Izuku continuing to walk away from the building, "that Midoriya is fine with dealing with those consequences. And if the two of you have been fighting, you should expect more consequences. I'll expel you both."

Katsuki opened his mouth, but Gran Torino coughed into his hand. "Kid. For the love of god. Learn when to shut the hell up and let an adult deal with this."

Aizawa regarded Gran Torino briefly before looking at the security robot. "The building is monitored. Show me what happened before Midoriya left the premises."

The robot chirped and beeped before the projection changed into a static image reading 'File Not Found.'

"Huh?"

"Eh?"

"Oookay?"

"Well that's something."

Aizawa sighed and turned to Nezu. "You're not even being subtle about it."

Nezu, though, held up his paws. "I can assure you this isn't my doing."

"Uh huh. Well who else would be able to hack our security?"

Midnight leaned back in her chair. "Did we ever install those upgrades after the sports festival?"

In the control room, Mei sneezed as she kept her eyes on the exam. Pocketing a small device.

Nezu chuckled, "Well since there doesn't seem to be any proof of a fight, unless Bakugou would like to report something?" Katsuki's silence spoke volumes. "Then I suppose that only leaves the issue of the exam."

Nezu tapped his paws on his desk, acting like he was thinking, "Midoriya and Bakugou's exam is last, so there is plenty of time before they are required to be at their station. Technically, until their assigned time, they're free to come and go as they please. So," Nezu looked at All Might, "if everyone is on the bus to be taken to the exam I don't see any reason this should become an issue."

"Thank you, Principal." All Might sighed with relief.

"However, if Midoriya still insists that he does not want to take this exam, that is his choice. And what ultimately happens will fall under Aizawa's decision."

Katsuki sneered. "So I'm screwed because of his choice?"

Nezu poured himself some tea. "Teammates are responsible for more than just themselves. Midoriya not taking the test fails himself and you. But that goes both ways, if you want to pass, you need to make him want to pass. Some might say this isn't fair but," Nezu took a sip, "the world isn't fair. Something I think Aizawa has told your class on multiple occasions. But you have a unique situation. Unlike so many, you have a chance to correct this. Understand?"

Katsuki huffed and crossed his arms.

"Good. Now if you three want to reach Midoriya before he gets too far away, I suggest you leave now."

When the teachers were alone, there was silence. Until Midnight spoke up, "So, who had Midoriya getting into a fight with Bakugou on their bingo card?"

Cementoss asked, "Does a punch count as a fight?"

Snipe scoffed, "No chance. Bets still on."

"You're only saying that because you'd lose if it counted."

Snipe shrugged. "That's fair, but now I want to change my bet."

Nezu shook his head. "All bets are final I'm afraid."

Midnight sighed. "I thought for sure Toga would be the one to get into a fight with Bakugou first. Did anyone bet on Midoriya?"

"Not a single person. Even All Might bet on someone else."

"Who? I can't remember."

Snipe pointed his thumb over towards Nezu. "He and Principal Nezu both bet on Uraraka."

Aizawa looked at his fellow teachers and rolled his eyes. Not wanting to deal with their childish behavior, he just walked back over to his sleeping bag.

"Did you think things would get this bad?" Midnight asked.

Aizawa crawled into his sleeping bag. "No. I expected arguments, but not a physical confrontation. They both seemed to have dealt with the worst of their issues during the sports festival."

There was an understanding between the teachers over the two's shared past. After some casual observations from Aizawa and the topic being brought up by Himiko to Midnight, the school did a little digging. There were no official reports, nothing on their school records, to say there were issues. But a few pointed questions painted a pretty clear picture.

"Something is different now," Aizawa concluded. "For Midoriya to act out physically—"

"Allegedly," Nezu added.

"—Means that this is a new issue. Something entirely new. Something he doesn't have experience dealing with."

Midnight hummed to herself, thinking she might have an idea. Her last talk with Himiko had been… enlightening to say the least. "And you're fine just giving them both the same punishment? I doubt Midoriya instigated anything."

"One could accuse you of victim blaming," Cementoss added.

"Is that how you all see it?" Aizawa asked.

"Kid got pushed, and he pushed back. Some would say it was deserved," Snipe offered.

"Nemuri, how often did you get called a slut when you were on patrol?"

Midnight growled out, "More than a few times."

"How about by reporters?"

"…Your point?"

"How many of them did you punch in the face?" Aizawa rolled over to look at Midnight. "None. Because you're a professional hero. You understand that you're held to a higher standard. This is something Midoriya is going to have to learn. Just like those people deserved to be punched, just as I'm sure Bakugou deserved it, Midoriya can't let his emotions dictate his actions. Because slip ups like that will destroy him. That's what I'm trying to teach. Either the press will rip him apart, or if these distractions happen while he's working, a villain might."

Aizawa rolled back over. "I have enough to worry about with this kid tearing himself apart. Not going to tolerate him causing issues for other people."

"So, who wants to tell me exactly what's going on?"Now that they were out of the teachers room, and walking at a hurried pace down the hall, All Might was ready to get a better idea as to what was going on.

"The kids were—"

"You and Deku fucking suck at getting your stories straight. Deku tells me one thing and you say something completely different."

"Huh?"

Katsuki looked over his shoulder, and very pointy, laid out how All Might and Izuku had fucked up. How, if they were still lying about something, made it pretty clear there was more going on. And how whatever was going on was royally fucking over the time he and the rest of the class, got to spend getting trained by All Might.

"I'm fucking done being lied to and screwed over. This gets taken care of now," Katsuki declared before he rocketed off ahead, speeding up to make sure 'that annoying Deku' didn't get too far.

"Well… crap."

"That kid has got too much brain to be making basic mistakes like that, Toshinori," Gran Torino said with a sigh. Now that Katsuki was out of earshot, he could finally say his piece. "This is a huge screw up."

Rubbing his brow, All Might had to agree. "Too many bread crumbs. This feels like Principal Nezu all over again."

Having someone just put the pieces together on their own, instead of being brought into the fold, was rare. When it had happened to All Might, he had decided that being open with Nezu was the best option. A good decision in hindsight. But unlike them, Izuku and Katsuki have history.

Bad history.

"So how bad is the blood between these two?"

"It's not pleasant, though last I was aware, things had begun to improve now that they had taken the mantle of rivals."

"Toshinori, I didn't break up an argument between rivals. The kid, Midoriya, was pissed off. I saw him take the swing then grab that boy and shove him against the wall."

All Might shook his head. "That doesn't sound like Young Midoriya at all."

Gran Torino nodded. "I was too far away to hear what exactly was getting talked about, but the kid isn't happy about that boy sticking his nose into this."

"Young Midoriya holds the legacy of One for All in high regard. I suppose thinking someone outside learning about it, and it being someone he is only just beginning to repair his relationship with… could have set him off… But this must not be as bad as it looks. A misunderstanding? Or the stress of the exam and everything just making Young Midoriya be on edge…"

"… Can the kid control One for All yet?"

All Might blinked then shook his head. "No. while I feel we're close to a breakthrough, he can't use it yet. In fact I've forbidden him from using it until after these exams, when we'll have more time to work on it. Why do you ask?"

Gran Torino sighed. "Cause the kid said that Bakugou has no idea how hard he can punch now." When All Might's eyes bulged, Gran Torino added, "I don't think the kid was serious. Just blowing hot air since he was done and walking away, but that Bakugou was still poking him. Was more of a 'polite' way of telling him to fuck off."

Shit.

Even if it was a comment made out of hand, it was still concerning that Izuku was mad enough to even make it. He knew Izuku. He would never intentionally make a threat like that.

Kouji looked over the railing of the small dinghy he and Fumikage were on. Below the surface of the water, were schools of fish swimming round, and out of the corner of his eye, he saw the splashes of more aquatic life. While he waved happily at the fish, Fumikage was observing their surroundings.

Their dinghy was left in the center of the USJ's Flood Zone. Scattered around the gigantic mock maritime environment were other ships of varying sizes. The giant water slides, designed to replicate rapids and waterfalls, dropped gallons of water into the small sea, sending up a mist that gave the whole area a salty ocean smell.

Dark Shadow looked over the boat's edge. "Were there always fish here? Or is that new?"

Fumikage ignored his Quirk and kept his eyes on the horizon. At the water's shore was a large gate, their exit. It's also where Gang Orca had been. "Kouda, did you see where Gang Orca went?"

Kouji's head snapped up and he frantically looked around before shaking his head.

"Tch, I was afraid of that. We should have kept an eye on him when we got sent out here." Fumikage crossed his arms. "Where could he be? He's not on the shore… or on any of the boats that I can see. Maybe he's up above on the slide, readying to attack from above?"

Kouji looked up, fingers drumming under his mouth as he was tempted to start chewing on his nails nervously. The idea that that villainous looking hero might drop down on them was pretty scary.

"Hey, just a thought but, isn't he part whale? Wouldn't it make more sense for him to be under the water?"

Kouji and Fumikage both froze.

"Team Kouda and Tokoyami, practical exam. Ready, go!"

No sooner had the announcement come, signaling the start of the exam, before one of the boats suddenly exploded in a shower of water and foam. As the debris fell into the water, out from the foam and mist, a black dorsal fin breached the water's surface, splitting the sea as it rocketed away from the sinking remains.

Fumikage turned and pointed towards the nearest boat. "Dark Shadow! Go! Drag us over!" Dark Shadow flew over the water, and latched on to the other boat. "Come Kouda, we can't stay here!" Kouji nodded and quickly wrapped his arms around Fumikage before the two were pulled off the dinghy.

Their feet skimmed the water's surface before Dark Shadow pulled them onto the deck of the small fishing boat. But Fumikage knew they couldn't stop there. "Move, move!"

Dark Shadow was already soaring over to the next boat, while Kouji hadn't let go of his classmate even when they had landed. Their feet were off the deck when behind them, the small dinghy they had been on exploded as Gang Orca breached through the flimsy plastic hull. The students' eyes met the terrifying hero's before he dove back into the water, making a beeline straight for the boat they had just left.

"Dark Shadow! Faster! We can't let him catch up to us!"

Behind, the fishing boat was cracked in half as Gang Orca swam right through it before he ducked down into the water, deep enough his fin disappeared from sight.

The pair's landing was much rougher this time. Fumikage winced at the pained grunt Kouji made as he hit the deck. He would make sure to apologize after the exam for that. Dark Shadow was already racing out to the next boat, and Fumikage was making sure his grip on Kouji was still solid, when the large boy began shaking his head frantically.

"Huh? Are you injured?" Dark Shadow paused his flight while Fumikage looked him over, but Kouji shook his head, while at the same time moving his hands erratically.

Maybe the jumps are making him sick? But we don't have time to…

Kouji was pointing towards the right now. He looked scared but he wasn't just flailing around. Fumikage frowned. That boat is off the path towards the exit. But, he knew they couldn't wait any longer. "Dark Shadow, head right!"

The living shadow banked right and pulled the pair towards the next ship over, a larger yacht ship. They were still in the air when the original pontoon boat they had been about to land on was ripped apart as Gang Orca breached through the haul and landed on the sinking remains. He watched the pair sail on by and land on the other boat.

"Hmph."

"Holy cow!" Dark Shadow exclaimed. "That was close!"

"I see. We were going in a straight line, so it was easy for him to figure out what ship we would jump to next and cut us off." Fumikage finally understood why Kouji had been insistent on shifting their course. Kouji's nods also reaffirmed this. "Dark Shadow, keep getting us closer to the gate, but avoid a straight line if you can!"

"On it! Here we g—"

Boom!

Suddenly, the three closest boats were ripped apart, one after another, in a spray of water and foam. A black fin split through the water at alarming speed as it went from one boat to the next before turning after the last. Right for the ship the pair were on.

"Brace!"

Dark Shadow whipped back around at Fumikage's call and pressed two students against the side of the boat, and held them down with its body. But after a few seconds, the ship wasn't hit, cracked in half, or splintered into a million pieces like the others. The delay was long enough that Dark Shadow pulled away so thatFumikage and Kouji could look around.

"Did he miss?"

"Perhaps he doesn't know we're here?"

"Oh," a new voice entered into the conversation, followed by wet footsteps along the wooden deck boards. "I know exactly where you are." Gang Orca, fresh from the salt water, strolled up towards the pair, giving off an aura of menace as his red eyes bore into the two students. "Congratulations on not making the most basic mistake you could have made. Allow me to reward you."

Kouji's legs gave out as he fell to the ground, utterly terrified. Any other situation, Gang Orca would have felt a little guilty making the boy so afraid. He had read his file in great detail and after his talk with the boy's teachers, knew that Kouji wasn't a fighter. But Aizawa was also right that he needed some experience. Better now in a controlled environment than a surprise attack where his life was in danger.

Fumikage stepped forward, with Dark Shadow bristling above him. He glanced over to the side. "Kouda… do you think you could swim the rest of the way? Or maybe have some fish carry you?"

Kouji, still shaking, wasn't able to pull himself up to get a clear look over the railing, but he could turn his head to see the edge of the exit gate. About a hundred meters away. It would be a swim, and not a fast way to escape and end the match. But… Kouji nodded. He was pretty sure he could reach the gate. Maybe even call for help if all the fish and animals hadn't been scared away by Gang Orca.

Fumikage nodded. "Then as soon as you find your legs, make a run for it. Dark Shadow and I will hold the line."

"Oh? You'll hold the line?" Gang Orca's footsteps came down hard. Making the wood boards crack from the strain. "And how exactly are you going to do that?"

"GO DARK SHADOW!" Fumikage pointed his hand out and Dark Shadow immediately rocketed towards Gang Orca, claws extended and ready to tear into the pro hero. He was brought to a sudden stop as Gang Orca extended a hand and caught him by the head, his shadowy tail coiling up around his body like a spring. With devastating force, he slammed Dark Shadow into the deck, driving him through the wood.

"Pathetic." Gang Orcas stepped forward, over the buried shadow, towards Fumikage. "And now you're defenseless."

The wood decking exploded as Dark Shadow erupted out and wrapped his body around Gang Orca. "Don't get cocky!"

Dark Shadow began to pummel the top of Gang Orca's head, each blow making a hard crisp crack! Gang Orca grunted as he took a step back, turned and drove his back, along with Dark Shadow, into the nearest wall of the yacht. He kept moving backwards, going through the yacht's bridge, before hitting the other wall and crashing through it, ending up on the other side of the yacht. The chain of impacts dazed the Quirk, so he was slow to react when he was hit in the face with a blast of hypersonic waves from Gang Orca's forehead. Stunned, Dark Shadow's grip loosened, and he was pulled off and slammed into the ground. Gang Orca took the extra step of pressing his foot down onto the shadow, driving him into the deck.

"Dark Shadow!" Fumikage, who had chased after the pair, was shocked to see his Quirk get overpowered so easily.

"Why didn't you try to drag me into the ship at the start of the fight?"

When Gang Orca took a step towards Fumikage, he drove Dark Shadow deep into the deck before the shadow was pulled back into Fumikage's body. The boy knew he wasn't going to be able to bring him out for some time now. At least not before the exam was over. But the question made him hesitate. "What?"

"Out in the open, your Quirk is weakened by all this light," Gang Orca motioned to the ceiling, where all the giant lights bathed the area in simulated sunlight. "The very first thing you should have done, was try to get me pulled inside of the ship. Rip open a hole in the deck and take me below into the dark, and away from the light. If you had, you would have had a fighting chance."

Gang Orca had closed the distance and had grabbed the stunned avian boy before shoving him into a wall that cracked under the force. "Are you afraid of your own Quirk? Will you let that fear keep you from doing everything you can to win?" Gang Orca growled while Fumikage clawed at his hand. But even if he didn't have the hero's hand at his throat, he wouldn't be able to answer.

He and Gang Orca knew this.

"You need disciplinary action," Gang Orca lowered his head, and got ready to blast Fumikage with a wave or paralyzing hypersonic waves.

Pop!

Gang Orca blinked, as did Fumikage. As both turned to look at what had made that sound, they saw Kouji, right next to Gang Orca, his fist pressed into the large hero's side. Kouji had thrown a punch.

"Kouda? Why didn't you run?" Fumikage asked. He wasn't mad or anything. Truthfully, he doubted he had stalled the hero for anywhere near the amount of time for Kouji to have made it to the exit gate. He was just confused.

Trembling, because he was deathly afraid, Kouji spoke, something that Fumikage was sure no one had actually heard. "I… I couldn't leave you."

It was the truth. Because when Kouji had finally gathered the strength to stand up, he found that his legs couldn't take him into the water. No matter how hard he tried, that wasn't where he was supposed to go. Instead, he was driven forward, into the giant hole in the side of the ship, after his classmate.

Gang Orca looked down at the boy, and grunted. "I can respect your loyalty to your friend, and willingness to get involved in the fight."

Fumikage's eyes went wide when Gang Orca turned his head to face Kouji. "Kouda, look out!"

But his warning did little good, as the hero's hypersonic waves had already slammed into Kouji, sending him tumbling backwards until he was slouched over the deck railing, looking down into the water. Gang Orca watched him for a few seconds, making sure the boy wouldn't fall into the water. "My Orcinus lets me produce waves that can paralyze an opponent. He'll be staying there for the rest of the exam."

Crack!

Fumikage threw a punch that connected to the side of Gang Orca's jaw. It didn't do much of anything. "Hmph, going down fighting. A good way to end it." His grip on Fumikage tightened. "You have a strong Quirk, but you're afraid to use it. Not a good idea when you rely too much on it. You're completely defenseless without it."

Fumikage clenched his teeth, readying himself to get blasted as well.

Waaoaooooooooooo Waaoaoo!

Gang Orca paused, while Fumikage blinked rapidly. That was a very distinct sound. An animal call that almost anyone would recognize if they had visited an aquarium or watched a nature show. That was the haunting sound of a blue whale.

Suddenly, the water beside the boat began to bubble and writhe, before the over seventy feet long, three hundred thousand pound giant leapt out of the water. Crashing back into the water sent waves slamming into the boat. The sudden bolt to the ship made Gang Orca lose his grip on Fumikage as he fought to keep his balance.

Fumikage, now on his feet, was also struggling, but with much less success. Stumbling back, he tumbled out into the deck, his back hitting the railing. Now outside, his eyes went wide. It wasn't only a blue whale that was jumping out of the miniature sea. All the animals in the water were going berserk. Fish of all sizes were skimming the water's surface, leaping up and slapping into the boat. Dolphins circled the boat, leaping higher and higher into the air.

The giant blue whale was back up to the surface, its tail raised high into the air, before it crashed down hard, hitting the boat. Fumikage tried to keep himself from getting thrown into the water, but it was all but impossible. But he was just able to do it, since he kept a steel-tight grip on the rail.

But while he was able to hold on, and Gang Orca was still inside the ship's bridge, it suddenly dawned on him that Kouji was hanging off the edge, unable to protect himself. When he looked to where his classmate was, he only just got to see his feet disappear over the side of the boat. "KOUDA!"

Gang Orca, hearing Fumikage's cry, turned and swore. With Kouji paralyzed, he would most certainly drown. Rushing at full speed, Gang Orca leapt off the side of the boat, chasing after the young man.

He didn't see behind him, a silver streak sail through the air. A dolphin, leaping high enough to snag Fumikage's cloak and pull him into the water.

Kouji hung over the railing, dizzy and weak, his body no longer able to move. Behind him he could hear gang Orca talking to Fumikage, as he got ready to do to his classmate what he had just done to Kouji .

Kouji closed his eyes. Not being able to move, meant there was nothing else he could do to help his classmate and himself win this exam. They were out of options.

Fwissshhhh!

Some sea mist smacked Kouji in the face, making him open his eyes, and he gasped. Under him, just breaching the surface of the water, was the broad back of a giant blue whale, its blowhole spraying up a mist of sea water. Around it, Kouji could see schools of fish and, darting to and fro, a pod of dolphins.

Kouji's jaw felt so numb. Just moving his mouth took so much effort. The effect from Gang Orca's attack was so devastating, that it was almost impossible to say anything. But Kouji wasn't going to let his classmate down.

If there was ever a time to go plus ultra, it was now.

"My friends of the sea, please lend me your aid!"

Diving into the water, Gang Orca began to frantically look around for Kouji, knowing he needed to get the boy above water as quickly as possible. But as he looked around, he couldn't see the body.

Where is he? Where—!?

WAM!

From behind, Gang Orca was struck in the back, sending him tumbling through the water. Reorienting himself, Gang Orca was just able to avoid the next attack as a dolphin streaked by him.

What is going… wait?

Off in the distance, rocketing away from the ship and towards the shore, Gang Orca could see Kouji andFumikage getting carried away by dolphins. Watching that, it dawned on him just what had happened and what was going on. Huh, well done young man.

As more and more of the sea moved to block Gang Orca, he sighed, letting a few air bubbles escape his mouth. He could of course give chase. He'd even probably catch up. But he'd have to fight through a lot of fish and dolphins and a particularly annoyed looking whale that probably wasn't too happy with all the noise he had been making in the water.

There is always a time to know when it's time to step back, and at this moment, Gang Orca knew that it was that time. He had delivered his message to one student, and had moved the other to action.

"Team Kouda and Tokoyami have passed!"

Izuku fiddled with one of the pouches on his harness. He had made it to the road that would take him back to U.A.'s main campus, and was debating if he should go ahead and turn off his phone. He imagined that sooner or later, he was going to start getting calls. And he really didn't want to talk to anyone.

Especially if they were going to try and convince him to come back and take the exam with Katsuki.

Which was not happening.

"…"

Izuku thought back to the incident and watched it over in his head. And with hindsight being 20/20, it was pretty clear he could have handled things better.

"Could have punched him again instead of going for the grab. A good left hook would have knocked him flat."

"I AM HERE!" The ground exploded into a cloud of dust as All Might crash landed. "To make sure you take your test, Young Midoriya!"

Izuku blinked from the ground, thrown to the ground from the shock of the entrance. "A-All Might?!"

As the dust began to settle, Izuku saw that it was indeed All Might standing there.

Why is he here? …Wait, he said why. How is he here so fast?!

"I fucking swear to god, put me the fuck down right now!"

"I have jets in my feet, you didn't need to grab me too!"

…Oh.

All Might put the two, less than happy, passengers down. "Come now. This was the quickest way to get to Young Midoriya." All Might chose to ignore the angry looks and focus back on Izuku. "Now, Young Midoriya… Um…"When All Might looked back where Izuku had been, he saw the spot was empty. Looking around, he finally found him. Walking down the road away from them.

Katsuki eye was twitching. "Did he really just fuck off?"

"…"

Katsuki looked back at All Might. "The hell? Why does he look so freaking sad?"

Just like Katsuki said, All Might looked downright pitiful, slouched over and looking like he was about to cry. Gran Torino scratched his head. "Pretty sure the kid gets excited every time this guy does his big 'I am here' entrance, yeah?"

"Uh huh? Wait, he's depressed that Deku blew him off?"

"Seems like it."

"… Screw this." Katsuki turned around. "I'm dragging Deku back." Katsuki took off before either adult could tell him that was a horrible idea.

"Deku! Oi! Stopping acting like a little shit and—"

"Kacchan," Izuku turned and glared at him. "Shut up or I'm punching you again."

"No punching!" All Might called out as he put a giant hand between the two. "No punching. Everyone is here to talk."

Izuku crossed his arms. "And if I'm not interested in talking? Or hearing anything he has to say. Unless you're here to apologize?" Izuku made sure to pointedly look at Katsuki for that last bit.

"Get fucked," was quick to retort.

"Then I'm done." Izuku turned but was stopped when All Might reached out and put his hands on his shoulders.

"Young Midoriya, please. You worked extremely hard to get here today. Don't throw it all away. At the very least respect yourself enough to try and come to an understanding. You deserve to be able to take this test. You earned it."

Izuku huffed. "I am respecting myself by not hanging around him. I'm not putting up with him over this, after what he said."

"Kid," Gran Torino cut in. "We get it. Look, just listen, alright? Like it or not, this is part of growing up. Sometimes you have to deal with shit people," Gran Torino ignored the angry 'Oi' from Katsuki, "to get the job done. It's not just what heroes have to do, it's pretty much a part of life." Gran Torino sighed. "And honestly, while you might not like this, you did such a bad job at keeping things under wraps. So that's something you have to deal with."

There was a pause before Izuku turned to look at Gran Torino. "You're telling me what I have to deal with? I'm pretty sure I'm the one that gets to make those choices."

…Did the kid just use the 'I have One for All so I'm in charge' card?

"Young Midoriya, you're right. Ultimately this is your decision to make. I'm just asking you to listen before you make that decision."

Katsuki frowned. "His decision? Why are you two acting like he's in charge?" Glancing at the three, Katsuki didn't see anything from Izuku to dispute the idea. Hell, he seemed to be pushing the idea. And All Might seemed to be reinforcing it. Hell, even the pain-in-the-ass old man seemed to be stopping short of straight up telling Izuku what to do. And Katsuki knew the old fart had no problems being a bossy son of a bitch. "The fuck is going on?"

One awkward silence later.

"Just say what you want to say already," Izuku sighed. Figuring this would be the quickest way to deal with this.

All Might sighed in relief before turning to address Izuku and surprising him as he bowed. "Young Midoriya, I've put you in a particularly awkward situation. By no fault of your own, you've been thrust into something that has unfairly put you under the scrutiny of your fellow friends and classmates. For that I am deeply sorry."

"Huh?" Izuku, despite not being in the best of moods, was not prepared to see All Might apologize like this. Thrown off by the display, he almost missed what he had said. "What do you mean by scrutiny?"

Katsuki crossed his arms. "You think I'm the only one to notice that All Might spends way more time with you than the class he's supposed to be teaching?"

All Might nodded. "While we came to find you, Young Bakugou… painted a rather unpleasant picture of things. Explaining that my negligence in my duty as a teacher has resulted in some feelings of abandonment with your classmates."

Izuku glared back at Katsuki. "You explained…? Explained what? You expect me to believe that my classmates are mad at me?"

With a huff, Katsuki glared back. "They fucking should be pissed off at you. But everyone is being understanding and shit when they should be confronting the problem head on."

"Name one," Izuku challenged.

"Ponytail Girl, Lightning Dolt, Half and Half and how about fucking Four Eyes?" Katsuki listed off four names instantly. "They all brought it up. Once All Might started training you, suddenly he's not around to teach our fucking class."

Izuku's eyebrows went up, his scowl from before changing into a look of shock. "They said… Wait, no one's brought this up to me. If they were upset they would have—"

Katsuki threw up his hands. "No one's saying anything because you keep fucking yourself up and can't control your Quirk for shit! No one wants to be the one to say something and then down the line, you end up fucking dead because of your fucking martyr complex." Katuski pointed. "But if you really thought our class wasn't going to notice that suddenly they weren't getting taught by All Might, but by the other teachers, you're more of a dumb ass than I ever expected."

Katsuki walked up and jammed that finger into Izuku's chest. "We come here, and get told that the number one himself is going to teach us how to be heroes. You take that away and think everyone is going to be alright with it? Anything not him is a fucking downgrade."

"Young Bakugou, as I told you already, any fault in this situation is on my shoulders. I was the one who failed to ensure I had enough time to perform both my duties."

Katsuki huffed, and then looked back at him. "That's another thing. What the fuck does you having enough time have anything to do with this?"

A pause.

"Oh for fucks sake," Gran Torino groaned, covering his face with his hand.

Katsuki glared at All Might before turning to look at Izuku. "You need to face some facts. Whatever the shit thats going on here, you're fucking up a lot of people with it. Because news flash, the extras in class. Not all of them are fucking dumb. If you think I'm the only one here that's put this shit together, you're not just a dumbass. You're fucking delusional."

Mei hummed, looking down at a device that she had made to track and record Izuku's Quirk usage. It could also act as a GPS if she fiddled with the settings. At the very least, it looked like Izuku was still on site.

"Duck!"

Mezou grabbed Shouto and threw the two of them to the ground, just as a bullet ripped through the trunk of a tree behind them. On the ground, Mezou's arms extended out, all but one tipped with a large ear that twitched as they listened. "Snipe-sensei is roughly… a hundred meters to our right."

Shouto nodded and was about to get up to continue their chase, but Mezou held him down. "Hold on… he's doubling back. Stay low and let him close the distance."

"Just tell me when to attack."

The entire exam had been like this. Snipe had kept himself at a distance, far outside of Shouto's reach, and had been taking pot shots at the pair while ducking and dodging through the trees. Always on the move, his shots were keeping the pair from making it to the exit gate. But with Mezou's Quirk, they were able to track Snipe through the dense forest.

This cat and mouse game had been going on for a long time now, with both students sure that they were running out of time.

"Todoroki," Mezou's moved his hand out and started to point off in a direction. Shouto nodded and put his hand on the ground, frost already starting to form on the grass. A few seconds passed, and then Mezou began to count down on his hand.

Five.

Four.

Three.

Two.

ONE!

Mezou's hand gave one final jerk, and Shouto took that as his signal and unleashed a wave of ice that rushed out, freezing the ground as it went on.

"Oh HECK!?" The yell was still a ways off. Shouto was impressed that Mezou was able to find a target so far away.

"We got him!" Mezou yelled.

Shouto was on his feet now. "Sensei," he called out, "drop your gun and surender, or I'll freeze everything over there."

There was a pause, before Mezou gave a thumbs up. "I heard him drop it. Let's get him."

A short while later, the announcement rang out, "Team Todoroki and Shouji have passed."

"So you know someone else that's suspicious?" Gran Torino asked.

"And if I fucking did? You gonna sick your serial killer on me?"

Izuku growled, "Be nice to Toga."

"Right, because she gives a shit if I call her names."

"No, she doesn't. But I do."

"Getting off track here kids," Gran Torino cut in. Which Katsuki seemed to agree with.

"Look, Deku. You don't get to stand there and lie to me about," he waved his arm over towards All Might, "whatever the fuck this thing is. Not when you've done jack all to be competent and keep it an actual secret. Man the fuck up and accept some fucking responsibility instead of being a whiny little bitch and running off."

"While not the way I'd put it—t all in fact—there is a point to be made. There comes a point when attempting to keep things hidden does more harm than good."

"Smartest thing you've said in a while," Gran Torino grunted.

"…Can you not undermine me in front of my students please?"

Gran Torino just snorted.

Izuku looked at All Might, looked at Gran Torino, then looked at Katsuki blankly. "I haven't disagreed with a single point you've made, you know that right?" The three stared at Izuku. "Aaand" Izuku powered on, "after you confronted me, did I say anything like, 'you're wrong,' or 'I'm not telling you anything?'"

Katsuki frowned. "No, you ran off like a bitch after getting all pissy."

Izuku took a deep breath, then exhaled through his nose. Twin tongues of flame flickered out as he did. "Kacchan. I. Do. Not. Care. If. You. Know. At. This. Point."

…

"You don't?"

"At this point, you not knowing is more of a pain in the butt than dealing with whatever happens after I tell you."

All Might clapped his hands. "Then problem solved… I think?" All Might had a feeling that Ochako might not be exactly happy with how this had all gone down. He got the feeling she didn't like Katsuki all that much.

"But I'm still not taking the test with you."

And all progress was immediately dashed. "WHY THE FUCK NOT?!"

"BECAUSE YOU STILL HAVEN'T APOLOGIZED FOR WHAT YOU CALLED URARAKA!" Izuku spat fire as he yelled back.

"I'm sorry, what?"

Gran Torino looked at Izuku, before he threw up his hands. "Oh all the stupid—!"

"ARE YOU SHITTING ME?!" Katsuki fired back, hands crackling and popping to match his frustration. "THAT'S WHY YOU'RE ACTING LIKE A FUCKING DUMBASS?!"

All Might quickly moved to separate the two boys. Or more precisely, to get Izuku away from Katsuki. Because Izuku looked like he was ready to square up and take another swing at Katsuki, and this time, it looked like Quirks might be involved. If that happened, forget failing the test, there were far worse punishments the two could end up facing.

"Alright enough!" All Might's voice boomed, making both teens step back. Now that he had both their attention, he lowered his voice. "It seems that what we thought was the issue, wasn't the issue. Or at least, wasn't the most pressing one. Young Midoriya, Young Bakugou. What else were you two fighting about, then?"

Katsuki jammed his thumb in Izuku's direction. "I needed to make sure this shitty nerd wasn't still freaked out just because Round Face is—"

"Anything that's going on between Uraraka and myself is our business and has nothing to do with you, All Might or anything school related," Izuku cut in, a dangerous edge to his voice. "So you keep whatever you heard that night to yourself."

"You think I want to talk about this shit?" Katsuki countered back.

All Might looked down at Izuku. And noticed that despite the young man looking just as angry as ever, there was a little bit of color to his cheeks.

Okay, let's think this through. Something happened recently between Young Uraraka and Young Midoriya… Hold on, All Might cleared his throat. "Er, would whatever it seems Young Bakugou overheard have anything to do with… you asking me for advice yesterday?"

Gran Torino coughed, "Well, that's a mistake."

Izuku didn't answer right away. He just kept glaring at Katsuki. But before All Might had to repeat himself, Izuku muttered, "Yes."

Oh…boy this just got complicated.

"But, I am not going to talk about that. That's an extremely personal topic between Uraraka and me. And has nothing to do with anything." Izuku made his position extremely clear on that. "The issue is I will not put up with the way he disrespected Uraraka."

"For fuck sakes are you—"

"You crossed a line, Kacchan!" Izuku bit back, cutting Katsuki off. "I let you get away with a lot, I won't let you get away with this."

Katsuki sneered ugly. "You let me? Who do you think—"

"Time out!" Gran Torino stepped up and asked Izuku, "What exactly did he say?"

Izuku's face twisted, like he just took a bite out of a lemon, peel and all. "I'm not going to repeat it."

"I called her—"

Izuku's hands went up, ready to throw down, but Gran Torino was already dragging Katsuki away. When they were a good distance away, he said something to Katsuki. The boy's face soured just like Izuku's. Then he leaned over and said something into Gran Torino's ear. Gran Torino took a second to digest what was said. Then wacked Katsuki over the head with his cane.

"You shitty old geezer!"

Ignoring him, Gran Torino walked back over to Izuku and All Might. "Okay. I now know exactly what was said."

"And?"

Gran Torino pointed his cane at Izuku. "Kid had every right to deck this little shit in the mouth for it."

"OI!"

"But kid. Throwing the exam is dumb. And I get the feeling that as soon as that Uraraka girl hears why you did it, she's not going to go after this bundle of joy. She's going to come for you, and kick your ass. And after seeing how she fights, she would destroy you." Izuku crossed his arms in a huff, but didn't argue the point. He was being selfish, sure, but everyone has that straw that finally breaks the camel's back. And this was that straw.

"So, let's get you both back to the building already. I'm guessing either you'll want an apology or something else for what was said. So," Gran Torino gave this some thought, "how about you get to call his brat's mom the same thing he called Uraraka. That way you're even."

The silence that followed was so quiet, you could hear all the bugs in the trees stopping to gawk at the idea.

"He calls my mom that and I'm fucking killing him!"

"Why would I ever want to call Mrs. Bakugou that?! She's nice!"

Izuku and Katsuki screamed at the same time. Then Katsuki blinked. "The fuck do you mean that old hag is nice?"

"Or," Gran Torino went on, "I could go find that Miruko lady. She seems to have a soft spot for Uraraka. I'm sure she'd have no problem taking a pound of flesh out of the brat here for what he said."

"I'll turn her into bunny stew!"

"I don't want other people dealing with my problems!"

All Might stepped in, stopping any more of this from getting any more insane. "Hold on, before we listen to any more brilliant ideas, if what was said was so bad, would a simple apology even fix this?"

"I mean yeah," Izuku said simply. Which got him some looks of disbelief. "What?"

"You throw this kind of a fucking fit, punch me in the fucking mouth, and act like you're ready to throw down at a moments notice, and you expect me to believe that all I have to say is 'I'm sorry!'"

"I mean… yeah?"

Katsuki threw his hands up in the air, not believing a word of it. "Okay, then. I'm fucking sorry. Happy, you little shit?!"

"I forgive you, Kacchan."

…

"WHAT?!"

"Hold on, Young Midoriya," All Might looked genuinely confused, "I… that's it? That's all you want?"

Izuku, who now looked like he was back to his normal chipper self, just smiled and nodded. "Yup."

"Really?"

"All Might, I can count on one hand the number of times I've heard Kacchan say he was sorry for anything. We've known each other for over ten years and I wouldn't even need all my fingers. I'm taking the win."

"I'm going to fucking kill you," Katsuki seethed.

Izuku didn't look bothered in the slightest. "Uh huh. You might wanna rethink that."

"Give me one good reason."

"I'll give you two. If you kill me, then we'll fail the exam."

"…Fuck."

"And," Izuku went on, "if we win, I'll tell you the whole story."

Katsuki blinked. "Say that again?"

Izuku sighed. "At this point, All Might's right. You're so obsessed with this, I'm worried it'll start affecting your schoolwork or whatever thing we have now. So, if we can work together and win,I'll tell you."

Nezu sipped from his cup of tea, looking completely and honestly sad at the state of things. Honestly. He was really broken up. Totally.

"Oh dear oh dear," Nezu said, completely sympathetic to the utter devastation around him. "I seem to have gone and over did it." He took another sip. "But I can't be blamed for those two getting all tangled in tape trying to swing away. Everyone knows you shouldn't be around a building when it's collapsing. And all that electricity, not my fault at all. I mean whatever was Kaminari trying to hit? All he did was zap poor Sero. Shame shame."

The intercom inside the giant crane crackled to life, and Recovery Girl's voice came in. "You know no one believes a word coming out of your mouth, right?"

Nezu smiled. "Oh, whatever do you mean? I even went and left them a completely viable escape route."

"Uh huh."

…

"Have the robots been able to dig the pair out of the rubble yet?" Nezu asked as nonchalantly as if he was asking about the weather.

"Just about," Recovery Girl said with an annoyed sigh.

"Then everything is completely fine."

Needless to say, Denki and Hanta had both failed. It was a complete devastation on their end.

The doors to the control room opened again as more of class 1-A filled into the now quickly shrinking space.

"Oh come on!" Mina grumbled. "Isn't there another room you all can watch the exam?"

Mina's ire wasn't directed at her classmates, but at all the teachers and heroes that had decided to watch the exam.

"That's what I'm saying!" Minoru complained as he worked to try to find a spot where he'd be able to watch. He yelped as Shouji picked him up and got him on his shoulder. "Hurray for tall friends."

Ochako and Himiko pushed their way to the front, finding a little space next to Recovery Girl and Mei.

"So this is kinda insane," Himiko grumbled.

The doors opened again and Himiko threw up her hands. "No vacancy! Get lost!"

Above the crowd noise, there were some startled yelps from students and heroes as a short yellow old man bounced from head to head until he landed next to the pair. Recovery Girl eyed the old man with strained annoyance. "I assume we're all good to go then."

Ochako frowned, keeping her eyes on Gran Torino. Something the hero was well aware of. "It's all okay. Things are taken care of."

"So nothing serious then. Pre exam jitters?" Ochako asked.

Gran Torino looked at Ochako. "It's all dealt with. Now let's just worry about watching this thing. Though something so big, just watching a video is a bit of a let down. At least we could get some drinks here."

Recovery Girl rolled her eyes. "You don't get drinks during a school event."

"…Riiight," Gran Torino said, not believing that for a second.

Mei hummed as she leaned over and started to play with the control panel Recovery Girl was sitting at.

"Aaaaaaand there," Mei said as she played with some settings. "We have sound."

Gran Torino blinked. "Wait, you can just do that?"

"I'm in the support class. I can do anything."

"Hey look!" Denki shouted over the noise of the crowd. "It's starting!"

As the giant gates behind Izuku and Katsuki closed with a metallic clank, Izuku took the chance to take stock of the situation. He was taking the exam, a small miracle after earlier. Katsuki had also been thoughtful—no. Quiet? No. Non-confrontational?

…

Yeah, Izuku would go with that.

Katsuki had been non-confrontational the whole walk and then bus ride to the testing area. When Aizawa had contacted the bus mid drive, there had been a moment of apprehension. No one on board was sure what he was going to say.

"Is the issue dealt with?"

"It is." All Might had answered simply. Not going into detail.

"Midoriya, Bakugou." Both students flinched at their teacher's voice. "I'll respect All Might's word that the issue between you is settled." Both hoped that would be the end of it but Aizawa apparently had messages for each of them.

"Midoriya, I won't ask what caused you to seriously consider withdrawing from the exam. I am aware of how hard you've worked these past few weeks. For you the issue must have warranted the reaction. However I am glad you've chosen to reconsider.

"Bakugou," Katsuki crossed his arms as he looked over at the speaker Aizawa's voice was coming from, "you have raw talent but all of it won't do you any good if you sabotage the very path you're walking on. Something you'll need to learn is that the path you walk is shared with your fellow students. Sometimes to succeed you must ensure they succeed."

Katsuki grumbled but didn't exactly fight the idea.

"As for both of you. If you wish to be rivals, start acting like it. You can't be a rival if you can't both be working towards the same goal."

Those words still echoed in Izuku's ears as he looked out at the deserted mock city.

"So let's hear it then," Katsuki growled out.

"Eh?" Izuku had to do a double take. "You talking to me…?" Izuku almost smacked his head, because unless Katsuki was talking to some ghosts, then yeah he was talking to him. "I mean… What do you mean?"

"Your plan. You always have one, so let's hear it."

"O-oh! Yes, a plan…" Izuku suddenly wasn't sure he wanted to stand where he was. He got the feeling he was in the blast radius. "I… don't actually… have one."

Izuku waited for the explosion to come, but it never came. Only because, when Izuku braced to look, he saw Katsuki looking at him in utter and complete shock. "W-what?"

"You don't have a plan? You? You're a damned nerd and you don't have a plan?!"

Izuku shrugged. "I mean, when did I have a chance to come up with one with you?"

Katsuki growled. "…Well do your stupid mutter thing and come up with one before—"

"Team Midoriya and Bakugou, practical exam. Ready, go!"

"—Before the exam starts… Fucking hell."

Izuku scratched his chin before he snapped his fingers. "Okay, I have an idea."

"Well what is it?"

"We'll do what you always do and wing it."

…

"That's the smartest fucking thing you've ever said," Katsuki said with a ferocious smile.

Ochako smacked her head while Himiko started to cackle.

"At least this won't be boring. So who wants to take bets for this being over in under five minutes?" Ochako turned to glare angrily at Miruko, which just made the hero's smirk get bigger. "Kid, your friend is screwed."

"You don't know that. Izuku's been in a lot of bad spots before, and has gotten out of them," Ochako countered.

"On a stretcher maybe," Himiko deadpanned.

"Grrrr," Ochako growled. "Deku's strong and he's smart. He'll figure something out. So stop just assuming this exam is over before it even starts. What's the worst that could happen?"

Ka-BOOM!

No sooner did those words leave Ochako's mouth than the whole building suddenly shook, the people fighting to keep their balance. As the shaking soon stopped, the heroes and students collected themselves.

"What the heck was that?" Denki asked.

"An earthquake?"

"It sounded like an explosion."

"Is everyone alright?"

"Holy…fuck," Himiko's jaw was on the ground and her hand was pointing up at the screen. "What the fuck happened to the city?"

Heads turned and eyes went wide.

Ochako stood in dumbfounded silence while Mei whistled. "That. That's the worst that could happen."

The only warning Izuku and Katsuki had before everything went to hell was the cracking snap of the sound barrier breaking, followed by a wall of rushing air that ripped through the city street, tearing apart the sides of buildings, shredding the road and picking up anything, even if it had been anchored to the ground. Including Izuku and Katsuki, as they were thrown into the air and hurtled backwards, landing amongst the rubble.

Katsuki swore loudly as he pulled himself to his feet while Izuku spat out a mouthful of dust. "Wha… what was that?"

"Shit, you seeing this? Look at the fucking buildings." Katsuki would have been impressed with the destruction if he hadn't just gotten his bell rung. Even with the dust still settling, the damage that had just been done was obvious.

"It's like something just split the city in two…" Izuku said in awe. However, he quickly shook his head and got to his feet. "But what—-"

"Who gives a damn about damaging the city." The voice that echoed out from the dust made both Izuku and Katsuki's blood run cold. All Might emerged from the dust, his trademark smile not offering any form of comfort towards the pair. At that moment, it was the terrifying grin of death.

"Y-you have got to be kidding. A-All Might?" Izuku gulped.

All Might stamped his foot down, sending out a shock wave that almost bowled the pair over, while clearing away the dust giving them a clear picture of what he had just done. It was less like the city had been split in half and more like someone had punched a hole through it.

"If you two make the mistake thinking this is just an exam, I promise you, you'll be sorry. I am a villain. Think of me as anything less, and your grades will be the least of your worries. It'll be your very lives at risk."All Might stretched his arms out, welcoming the pair. "So, who wants to be the first to fall?"

Izuku felt his lungs freeze. At that very moment, he wasn't standing in the mock city taking an exam. He was back at the USJ, under the shadow of the monstrous Nomu. A moment when The Reaper himself had reached out and tried to pull Izuku down into the dark abyss.

But it hadn't.

Nor had The Reaper been able to pull him into the abyss in Hosu City.

In those moments, Izuku had been afraid. Afraid and not able to do anything. Too slow to move or unable to. But now, he was neither of those things. And an instant later, that cold icy fear that kept him from breathing, burned away as Izuku roared. A low, dark, thunderous bass ripped out from the very core of Izuku's being and was expelled as an infernal stream of emerald fire. That hit All Might dead center.

Hot hot hot hot hot!

All Might hissed as he put his arms up to defend himself from the fire. He had expected their hesitation to be longer. But it seems like Young Midoriya's past experiences have helped him overcome my intimidation… Okay, he's still breathing fire, Young Kyouka's lessons truly paid off… OW, REALLY HOT!

All Might started to push back against the flames, smoldering but otherwise unharmed. "If all you're going to do is scream at me then—"

"DIE!" The scream came from above as Katsuki had launched himself into the air. "Let me show you some real firepower!" Katsuki had a hand on his Grenadier Bracers, pulling the safety back. Katsuki yanked the pin out, and fired the stored up explosion right into All Might.

KA-BOOOM!

Twisting as he landed, Katsuki eyed the smoking area while Izuku walked up beside him. "So we both know that probably didn't do anything, right?"

"Tch, so what."

"Did you even hit him? I couldn't see," Izuku asked.

Katsuki frowned, not entirely sure. "Fuck if I know, all your fire made it hard to aim at him. But it still felt fucking good to blast him," Katsuki answered.

"I hope it was worth it then. Since you missed."

Izuku and Katsuki's eyes went wide as All Might's voice came from behind them. They both turned, to see All Might, a little singed around the edges, but completely unharmed. Arms held up across his body like an X. "Carolina Smash!"

All Might chopped down with both hands, and smacked both Izuku and Katsuki away before they could react. Both were hurtled into opposite buildings so fast they punched right through and crashed inside. All Might looked back and forth between the two holes, waiting to see which of his students would burst out first.

Pop!

Katsuki exploded out, propelling himself through the air as he closed in on All Might. "Bastard!" All Might didn't wait for him to get close though. Turning, he rushed to meet Katsuki head on and faster than the boy could dodge, grabbed him by his head, and slammed him into the ground. Then with a dismissive kick, drove his foot into Katsuki's side and sent him tumbling down the road.

Then the other building started glowing green. The glow started to expand to the area just outside the gaping hole in the wall as rubble began to lift off the ground. All Might couldn't see inside, the glow was too bright, but he assumed that Izuku was picking up a lot of stuff.

"Delaware Smash!"

The side of the building was ripped apart as Izuku fired the rubble, all of which was just added to the attack.

All Might smirked, before he turned and raised his fist. "Texas Smash!"

All Might punched the air, sending a blast right into Izuku's attack. The force of All Might's attack completely overwhelmed and powered right through Izuku's. Even after pulverizing the rubble Izuku had thrown, the blast of air kept going straight into the hole in the building and blasted Izuku through the back of the building, right through another wall where he landed outside, back on the street.

The control room was strangely quiet as the dust settled. Even some of the more rowdy heroes were taken aback at how brutal All Might was handling his exam. Recovery Girl in particular looked like she was ready to reach through the screen and bash All Might over the head with her cane.

"Calm down, Shuuzenji. I'm pretty sure getting all upset isn't good for your blood pressure at your age," Gran Torino said. He was one of the few people in the room that didn't seem all that concerned at what he was watching.

"This is ridiculous. This is supposed to be an exam. Instead it's like the sports festival all over again. A school activity shouldn't be this violent." Recovery Girl was seething. "I'm ending this nonsense." She reached up, ready to enter into the control room's system to signal the end to the exam, but Gran Torino grabbed her arm.

"And what good will that do? Do that and you undermine everything those boys worked for."

Recovery Girl wretched her arm away. "My job is to ensure the safety of these students. If I feel that an exam has gone too far, I have the final say if it's to be ended or not."

"Except those two are already back on their feet." Gran Torino motioned to the screen, showing Izuku and Katsuki were already back up. "So just hold your horses before you do something that'll affect those boys' future."

"I don't need to be lectured by you over this," Recovery Girl snapped back.

"The kid's been training for this day, for this fight in particular, because of you. If you suddenly just pull the rug out from under him, well, whatever trust he has in you is gone," Gran Torino answered back coldly and quietly. "Or did you forget you're the one that threatened to never heal him again if he kept getting himself hurt?"

Recovery Girl almost growled back, but she suddenly knew she was cornered.

"The kid is in a situation where going overboard could probably get him the win, but he would be doing exactly what you told him not to. All Might's going this hard just so the kid can show you he learned his lesson. You stop the exam before he has a chance to show he's learned anything, and he's just going to think there isn't a reason to even try. And if I know that, then so should you."

Reluctantly, Recovery Girl pulled her hand back. Which made Gran Torino sigh in relief. All The while, neither hero noticed that Ochako had taken her eyes off the screen and was coldly boring a hole into Recovery Girl's back.

Not going to heal him?

"God fucking damn it!"

"Kacchan, look out!"

Crash!

Izuku and Katsuki's bodies ripped through the air as they both slammed into an overturned bus, knocking it over onto its roof. Izuku pulled himself out of it first, hissing as he landed onto the road. "Kacchan."

"Fucking what?" Katsuki growled from inside the bus.

"Winging it isn't working." Izuku Groaned as he got to his knees and tried to catch his breath. Looking down the road, he expected to see All Might walking towards them, but he wasn't there. Izuku didn't have time to wonder where the hero had gone off to as there was a horrendous crunch as All Might landed on the bus.

"Do you really have time to be taking a break, Young Midoriya?"

Oh no!

The side of the bus blew open as Katsuki ripped himself through, pulling Izuku along with him. "Put up a damn shield!"

Izuku did exactly as he was asked, and the air around them shimmered as he made his psychokinetic barrier. "Kacchan, what did you—-?"

"FIRE IN THE HOLE ALL MIGHT!"

"Eh?"

All Might leapt off the bus just before it suddenly exploded, ripped apart into shrapnel that sprayed everywhere. Izuku hissed as it all bounced off the barrier. "Kacchan, what was that?!"

Katsuki pointed towards his belt that was lined with small grenade looking devices. "You think these are just for show? Now where'd All Might g—!"

Thud!

All Might landed right on the barrier, directly over the pair. "Ooooh that's not good," Izuku winced. All Might lifted a foot, then stomped down hard. Izuku hissed as the ground around them cracked as the barrier was pushed into the ground. That, that had hurt. All Might raised his foot to stomp down again, but Katsuki rolled over and leveled his other bracer at him, hand yanking back the safety.

"Drop the fucking barrier!" Katsuki screamed. Before Izuku could, All Might leapt away, removing himself as a target for Katsuki's attack. "Damn!"

Izuku frowned as he watched All Might soar through the air, putting several yards between them. All Might doesn't just out class us in strength and speed. He can out maneuver us out here. It's… it's too open.

"God damn you! Get back here and stand still, coward!" Katsuki seethed.

All Might scratched his head. "That's… not what that word means, Young Bakugou. But," All Might vanished as he launched himself up into the air. "If you'd like me to come back, I'd be more than happy to oblige!"

Izuku, thinking fast, shoved Katsuki away with his Quirk while also pulling himself back so that the spot where All Might landed was empty. Katsuki yelled something, Izuku assumed it was a curse, but it was lost in the loud thud of All Might's landing. Katsuki went for his bracer again, but All Might moved, and for a second Izuku was sure Katsuki was going to blast him by mistake. Fortunately, Katsuki was able to stop himself from pulling the pin.

Unfortunately however, he wasn't fast enough to stop himself from getting jumped by All Might, who grabbed him by the leg and swung him like a bat, straight into Izuku. The two collided with a crunch and were sent tumbling down the destroyed road.

Laying in a tangled mess of limbs, Izuku finally decided something, after he stopped being dizzy, of course. We need to find a way to keep All Might in one place.

Out in the open, All Might had no boundaries. That, coupled with his incredible speed, made any kind of victory impossible. But knowing what the problem was, and coming up with a solution, were two different things. It wasn't like Izuku was going to just look down the road and find the answer to his problems.

Then Izuku opened his eyes and found a solution right in front of him. A building that hadn't been hit by All Might's initial attack. A place that might, just might, be able to at least take away the hero's mobility.

"An underground garage…"

"The hell did you just say?" Katsuki grumbled as he pulled himself free from their tangled mess. He looked over at Izuku, but stopped himself from asking anything else. It would have been wasted breath since Izuku was starting to mutter. He could make out a few words, but stopped himself from actually trying to understand it in full.

Damned nerd, if you're coming up with a plan, do it faster.

As Izuku muttered, Katsuki kept an eye on All Might, who was now simply walking up to them. "Any day now, Deku."

"Kacchan," Izuku said, as he snapped back to reality, "get ready to fire your bracer."

"What do you think I've been trying to do?!" Katsuki snapped. "He jumps around too fucking much for me to get a clean shot."

Izuku stood up, his aura flaring up. "I'll give you your shot. Just make sure you're ready to fire when I tell you to," Izuku ignored Katsuki grumbling about him telling him to do anything, "then, as soon as you fire, we make a break for that garage."

Katsuki blinked, looked over at the garage Izuku was looking at and had immediate opinions on that. "Yeah, fuck no."

"Kacchan."

"Fuck. No. Are you crazy? Thats a fucking death trap."

"Kacchan, do you really think I'd suggest it if I didn't have a plan?"

Katsuki growled, teeth grinding together. "God. Fucking. Damn it. I swear to god if we lose because of this I'm kicking your ass."

"Just get ready to fire," Izuku said as he took a few steps forward while Katsuki pulled the safety back and put his finger into the firing pin.

All Might raised an eyebrow at the two. "Again with the bracer. Don't you think you should try something new. Since you haven't hit me once with it—URK!"

Suddenly, the weights around All Might's wrists and ankles glowed green. The ones around his ankles felt like they were anchored into place, keeping his feet locked where he stood, while the ones on his wrists were pulled down, forcing All Might to kneel before he stopped himself. "Wha?"

"KACCHAN NOW!" Izuku screamed.

Izuku had a hunch. Those weights were supposed to be strong enough to slow All Might down. So they had to be strong enough to withstand all the power All Might had when he was throwing punches. So, in theory, they would also be strong enough to hold him in place.

So Izuku focused all of his will into them, and pulled down, confident that the weights wouldn't break from the force. Izuku knew that he wasn't going to be able to hold All Might for long, maybe for a second, and that would just be from the shock. But that second just might be long enough to give Katsuki his opening.

"FUCKING DIE!" Katsuki screamed as he pulled the pin and fired the bracer.

Oooooh, this is going to suck.

The blast hit All Might dead on with a deafening Ka-BOOM!

"Holy fuck that actually worked?" Katsuki huffed. However, he didn't have long to think about it. Izuku grabbed him and started pulling him towards the garage.

"Hurry! We don't know how long that will give us!" Even as the dust was settling, Izuku swore he could make out All Might's form from inside the dust cloud. He was kneeling, but that didn't mean much for them at the moment.

"The hell? Stop pulling me, let's just go cuff him!"

Izuku ignored that idea. They needed to take their chance now and escape to a better fighting position. "We need to go now!"

All Might laughed mockingly as he watched the pair take off. "And where do you think you two are going? Running away?" Standing up, All Might winced. Okay, those things pack a wallop. Doesn't help that Young Midoriya kept me from defending myself either… good plan.

Katsuki was about to scream something but Izuku grabbed him by the shoulders and practically threw him in the opposite direction as the two took off. "Stick to the plan!" They needed to get into that underground garage. At least that way they would remove some of the mobility All Might had out in the open city. Why was that so hard to understand?

…Wait…?

"Hard… soft…?" And then something from earlier clicked.

"You know Deku," Ochako was still swaying her shoulders, but was now looking at him. Not directly, but her eyes were on him. "When all this is over… I wouldn't mind letting you find out. What's hard… and what's still soft."

Izuku's face lit up like a christmas tree. "Oh my god, was she flirting with me?! DID SHE SAY SHE WANTED ME TO TOUCH HER?! HOW DID I MISS THAT?!"

All Might, who had finally made it to his feet, tripped and fell flat on his face, while Katsuki just did what he always does, and exploded, "WHAT THE FUCK ARE YOU TALKING ABOUT?!" before shoving Izuku on with a few small explosions.

All Might was left, face first in the road, wondering if he was going to need to start taking extra precautions with Izuku. Because it sounded like someone was raring to go with the young man. The problem was, was it Young Toga who had made the offer? Or could it have been Young Uraraka? Either way, that poor boy is going to get eaten up before he reached his next semester at this rate.

Mina laughed. "Damn, Toga. You teased Midoriya so hard you got that delayed reaction."

More than a few of Izuku's classmates and some of the teachers were chuckling at the sudden distraction that had come over Izuku. Cementoss wondered if perhaps it might be prudent that the students get some sex ed lessons in the future, which made Midnight grin at the idea.

But while everyone was either laughing at poor Izuku, who didn't know that they could hear what he said, or just trying to watch the exam, two people had their eyes off the screen.

Midnight was looking over at Himiko, expecting to see the young woman gloating. However, Himiko was looking at Ochako instead, who was as red as a tomato.

"What did you say to him?" Himiko asked, looking way too proud at the moment.

Ochako just chirped and tried not to meet Himiko's eye, not wanting to let on that she was actually really happy that Izuku finally got what she had said to him. Even if it took him until damn near the end of the test day.

With each hurried step, the two of them descended deeper into the garage. Taking the spiraling ramp, they went lower and lower underground. As the pair kept going, Izuku's mind raced. Getting into the garage was one thing. Using it to give them a chance to pass the exam was another. Izuku needed to think, and he needed to think fast. In theory the closed off area should help them, but how were they supposed to use that?

Off-handedly, Izuku reached down and touched the cuffs hanging on his belt. Before the exam, he had figured that if the opportunity arose, he'd use his Psychokinesis to attach them to All Might. But once the fight started, cuffing was the last thing on his mind.

Izuku needed to fix that. He now knew how All Might was fighting, and he needed to use everything he'd learned to come up with a strategy.

Or… I could focus on the gate…

Capture was only one of the ways they could win. The other was escaping. Of course, that brought up a whole new set of problems because after how they had gotten tossed around, there was no way one of them would be able to hold All Might off long enough for the other to reach the gate. They would have to find a way to keep him in one place.

Then Izuku blinked.

Hold him…

That one thought led to more and as Izuku's mind began to work, his feet started to slow down until he came to a stop.

"The hell are you doing?" Katsuki asked as he skid to a stop. Izuku didn't answer. He was already back to muttering to himself.

"For fucks sake."

Step

All Might's footsteps echoed in the garage. There was no hurry in his pace. As far as he was concerned, his students had just made themselves fish in a barrel.

"Well shit, he's right behind us. Well, Deku. You brought us down here, so what do you have to say for yourself?"

"Kacchan, you want to win, right?"

Katsuki had to actually do a double take at the absurd question Izuku had just asked him. "What the fuck kind of question is that?"

"Ummm, Deku, please don't make me agree with Bakugou here," Ochako groaned, while behind her, Himiko patted her shoulder in support.

Izuku looked down the parking lot, towards the descending spiral path, where All Might was about to walk through. "Kacchan, yes or no?"

"…Yes." Katsuki had to pause before he answered, because Izuku had a look on his face. He looked a lot like how he had, during their fight back at the sports festival. There was a crazed glint in his eyes. "The fuck are you planning?"

"Kacchan, how do you want to win?"

Step

All Might was getting closer, but Izuku was starting to smile. His mad lad switch was flipped and he was ready to get crazy. "I can see two ways for us to win, but we're only going to get to use one. So, do you want to go for the gate or capture?"

Katsuki clicked his tongue against his teeth. "You're talking about two ways to win, when you just made us run into a freaking death trap. You sure you didn't suddenly get brain damage?"

Izuku smiled. "I didn't suddenly get brain damage, Kacchan. Coming here was the safest place to fight All Might."

"Until he brings the whole thing down on our heads."

"Kill me," Ochako groaned into her hands, "I'm about to agree with another thing Bakugou just said."

"He can't," Izuku said simply.

"…Holy shit you actually do have brain damage." Katsuki pointed upwards to the surface. "Do you not remember what he fucking did up there?"

"All flash and no crash. It was a scare tactic. Neither of us was even hurt after that. Getting All Might in here gives us a huge advantage," Izuku explained simply, like he was saying the weather was nice. "He won't be able to move around like he was without really wrecking the place. He'll even have to watch out how he attacks too."

Izuku could hear Katsuki getting ready to make his point again so he kept going, "All Might will do everything he can to not let this place collapse. He might be playing the role of a villain, but he's a hero. Collapsing an underground garage with us still in it? No chance he'd do that. So on top of the weights he's wearing, he's going to have to make extra sure he doesn't do something that puts us in unnecessary danger."

Katsuki frowned, and looked around. "And what about us?"

"Oh, we can go all out, no problem. Cause even if we do something that'll threaten the structure, All Might will just rescue us."

"…Fuck me if that all doesn't make sense."

"…Is this Izuku fighting dirty?" Himiko asked.

Ochako nodded.

"That's fucking hot."

Ochako nodded.

"Alright so what are your plans?" Katsuki asked, keeping his head on a swivel as he looked between Izuku and the ramp.

"I collapse this garage on All Might. While I'm doing that, you're going to need to worry about blasting us a way out through the rubble before we get buried too."

Katsuki didn't reject the idea flat out, he imagined that it'd take All Might at least some time to get out of all this steel and concrete. And he knew he'd be able to blast through enough to get a path out before it all came down. "And you'd be able to bring this down. This whole thing?"

Izuku smirked. "I'd only have to destroy the support pillars. Not the whole building."

"And the capture? How's that one work?"

"Well… I'll need to borrow those grenades…"

Chapter 301 - 48