Behind him, Bakugou looked like he was about to explode like a nuke, though Kirishima seemingly hadn't noticed that fact.
"I… Suppose that's all true enough."
...
"Man… How did it feel to face Stain of all people? I saw the video, and how Iida was… Oh, shit man, I'm sorry Tenya!"
"It's alright… I will not deny my failures."
Izuku looked from Iida, whose forced expression did not fade, back to Kirishima, before he answered.
"Um… Well to be honest? I… Don't really remember much of the fight. I was… Kinda bleeding out from blood loss, so it's a bit fuzzy… I do remember I didn't know who he was though… I just thought he was some random villain… It wasn't before I read the news that I realized he was a big deal."
There were several reactions to that, some impressed, some gobsmacked, and some with the clear thought "Is he for real?" Behind the expressions.
"Wow… So you just… Just jumped in to defend him, even while delirious from blood loss?"
"...Yes?"
"Man, you ARE manly one Midoriya!"
Izuku blushed a bit at that praise, the huge grin returning.
Uraraka smiled, just looking at him, as he got asked several more questions about the night.
About Stain, about the Nomu, about a lot of things that had happened in Hosu that night.
Some of it brought him down, some of it made him smile, and some of it just…
Uraraka frowned.
Maybe she was reading him wrong, but to her, there was something a bit off about Izuku's expressions.
No, not his expressions, but how he reacted to what was being said.
Izuku… Did not react to the praise of his victory with joy. He did react with his usual, adorable, bashful manner when their classmates complimented him, but he did not react with joy at being reminded of his victories in and out of themselves.
On the contrary judging by his expressions, his victory over Stain, dealing the man a concussion that ultimately had taken him out, was something he was neutral about, not really mattering much to him, while he actively seemed to get sad whenever the Nomu was brought up.
He did not seem immensely proud of his victories, which she had assumed was the reason he was so happy, but no… There was something else.
What was it that Tsuyu had said?
You haven't checked out Mina's social media in the last few days, have you?
She turned to ask Tsuyu to clarify what she meant by that comment, only to be halted by the sight of said pink girl appearing through the door, and looking around clearly looking for someone.
The girl, who had gotten nearly as much press as Izuku had, rather than come talk with her girl pals as Uraraka would have expected, instead got a huge, mischievous grin on her face, and with quite some speed, and not a sound being made sneaked up on Izuku, standing behind him looking at the oblivious boy like she was a cat and he a mouse she was playing with.
The fact everyone else was focusing on Izuku just made the whole scene even weirder.
Then, in a flash, two, strong pink arms had wrapped themselves around Izuku's neck in a hug, while her head now rested itself firmly on his shoulder.
"Hiya guys!" She exclaimed cheerfully to everyone else around the room, wearing the most cheerful expression imaginable.
Uraraka just stared at her, suddenly feeling… Very, very empty inside.
Then, Mina leaned in, and wearing the slyest expression imaginable, she said in Izuku's ear:
"Hey, Midori~♡"
This finally managed to bring Izuku back to his regular, bashful state, as his entire face went as red as his shoes.
Uraraka, her jaw hanging open, ended up just staring at the two of them along with most of the class.
Uraraka didn't quite manage to catch the next part, the only words that managed to pierce their way into her ears being that someone, she wasn't sure who asked the two of them if they were actually together now.
The response that was Mina's huge grin, Izuku's shy expression, and both the two of them nodding managed to hit her harder than Venom had when he had pummeled her in the arena during the tournament.
---
Katsuki Bakugo fumed.
That was not a new thing for him.
He fumed a lot. He was easy to anger, even at the best of times, when he did not have a lot of stuff to be angry about. Today was not the best of times for him.
He had interned under Best Jeanist, one of Japan's absolute top heroes, hoping to learn how to better his combat capacity after that damned loss during the tournament… And all he had to show for it was this damned haircut!
It had been a gigantic waste of his bloody time!
And if that fact hadn't been clear enough as he was forced to listen to the rest of the class around him talk about their own damned experiences last week, then the sight ahead of him drilled it into his skull like a jackhammer.
Everyone had been so damned interested in the fact that Deku and Black Cat's raccoon-eyed daughter had hooked up. As if who the hell Deku wanted to fuck was of ANY consequence to anything.
It seemed to him that HE was the only one who was able to focus on what ACTUALLY mattered. Deku's defeat of Stain and several Nomu!
Somehow that tiny little detail had seemingly been forgotten in the midst of something as banal as a couple dating. Wasn't this supposed to be a Hero school? It was Deku's combat abilities that should be the criteria for how he was judged, not his bloody dating life!
The bastard had grown exponentially. Far, far more than anyone else in the class.
That thought HURT. It made him RAGE inside.
It was a thought he had to acknowledge, but he refused to accept.
The first big challenge they got after getting back to school though… It showcased just how bloody far Deku had gotten.
The exercise was simple. Just a race to the middle of a heavily dense mock factory area that Yuei used for such exercises.
To his further annoyance, there had also been given clear instructions from All Might to NOT cause property damage, which had been bluntly directed in his direction, which did NOT help his mood.
And what actually happened once the first group started moving towards the target beacon… Didn't help his mood either.
Deku… Deku fucking blew everyone out of the water.
It was astonishing how well he moved through the city landscape, making everyone else seem sluggish and slow by comparison.
While he'd been wasting his time with Best Jeanist and the idiots at his agency, Deku had obviously gotten the luck of an actual, effective teacher in Black Cat.
He'd pulled ahead of him. Again.
As he stared at the screen showcasing Deku's damned movement through the city, Katsuki Bakugo felt his hand clench into a fist, and his molars grind together.
This… This had to change. He refused to let it continue like this.
The only question that remained now… Was how the hell he was going to go about it?
...
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