Izuku Midoriya pressed his back against the cold concrete wall, his heart hammering in his chest. The building's narrow corridors seemed to close in around him as he tried to steady his breathing. Beside him, Uraraka stood in her pink and black space-themed costume, her face a mask of determination.
"We need to come up with a plan," she whispered, glancing nervously around the corner. "Iida-kun is probably guarding the weapon, but Bakugo..."
"Kacchan will be hunting for us," Izuku finished, his mind racing through possibilities. "For me, specifically."
His fingers twitched as he recalled Yukio's words from the Quirk assessment test. A terrible exchange rate. An emotional bet. The casual way Murano had dissected his power, reducing it to a simple cost-benefit analysis.
Was that all One For All was? A power that cost more than it gave? A liability?
Izuku flexed his fingers, feeling the immense power thrumming beneath his skin. All his life, he'd dreamed of having a Quirk—any Quirk—and now he possessed the most powerful one in existence. Yet he couldn't use it without destroying himself.
Maybe Murano-kun was right. I can't afford to break myself again. I need a plan that doesn't end with me in the nurse's office. I need to be... efficient.
"Uraraka-san," he said, voice steadier than he felt, "I think Kacchan will come after me first. You should try to find the weapon while I keep him busy."
Uraraka frowned. "Are you sure? That seems risky, Broccoli."
The nickname still startled him, but he managed a nervous smile. "It's our best chance. Kacchan is... unpredictable right now."
More unpredictable than usual, at least. The memory of Bakugo's face after his fight with Yukio flashed in Izuku's mind—the shock, the rage, the disbelief that someone had actually beaten him.
"Okay," Uraraka nodded, her brown eyes serious. "But don't try to be a hero." She caught herself and giggled. "I mean, you know what I mean. Don't get yourself hurt."
"I'll be careful," Izuku promised, though he wasn't sure if he could keep it.
They crept forward through the dim corridors, the silence broken only by their footsteps and the occasional crackle of static from their earpieces.
"The fifth floor is likely where they've set up," Izuku whispered, recalling the building schematics All Might had shown them. "If we can make it to the—"
An explosion rocked the hallway.
Izuku shoved Uraraka backward just as a section of wall erupted in flames and smoke. Heat seared his face as he raised his arms protectively.
Through the clearing smoke, Bakugo emerged, his lips pulled back in a snarl.
"Found you, Deku."
Izuku's eyes widened. Bakugo looked... wrong. His stance was too rigid, his movements too jerky. The usual confident swagger was gone, replaced by a coiled tension that threatened to snap at any moment. A fading bruise marked his cheekbone—the physical evidence of his fight with Yukio.
"Uraraka-san, go!" Izuku shouted, pushing her toward an adjacent corridor. "Find the weapon!"
"But—"
"Go!"
She hesitated for only a second before running, her footsteps fading quickly down the hallway.
Bakugo didn't even look at her. His eyes, burning with hatred, remained fixed on Izuku.
"You've been hiding your Quirk from me all these years," he growled, his gauntlets gleaming in the low light. "Looking down on me, laughing behind my back!"
"That's not true, Kacchan," Izuku said, slowly shifting into a defensive stance. "I never—"
"SHUT UP!" Bakugo roared, launching himself forward with an explosion. "I don't want to hear your pathetic excuses!"
Izuku dodged to the side, feeling the heat of the blast rush past him. He needed to be smart about this. Efficient, as Yukio would say. No broken bones. No self-sacrifice.
Bakugo spun, his face contorted with rage. "Fight back, damn it! Stop running away!"
"I'm not running," Izuku said, pulling out his capture tape. "But I'm not going to let you win either."
Something changed in Bakugo's expression—a flicker of surprise quickly consumed by anger. He lunged again, this time with a sweeping explosion aimed at Izuku's legs.
Izuku jumped, higher than he meant to, One For All surging through his body in response to his adrenaline. He nearly hit the ceiling before coming back down behind Bakugo.
The opening was there—just a split second, but it was enough. Izuku darted forward, capture tape stretched between his hands, aiming for Bakugo's wrist.
Bakugo sensed the movement and twisted away, but not before the tape grazed his arm. He responded with a vicious backhand, his palm sparking with small explosions.
The blow caught Izuku on the shoulder, spinning him into the wall. Pain blossomed across his back, but he pushed it aside, focusing on the fight.
"That all you got, Deku?" Bakugo taunted, advancing slowly. "Where's that punch you used on the giant robot? Too scared to use it on me?"
Izuku scrambled to his feet, mind racing. "I don't need to hurt you to win, Kacchan."
"Hurt me?" Bakugo laughed, the sound sharp and jagged. "You couldn't hurt me if you tried!" His eyes narrowed. "Not like that white-haired bastard..."
So that was it. Yukio's shadow loomed over this fight, driving Bakugo's rage to new heights.
Izuku faked left, then darted right, trying to circle around Bakugo. But Kacchan was too fast, too experienced. He anticipated the move and intercepted Izuku with a powerful explosion that slammed him into the ground.
Before Izuku could recover, Bakugo was on him, pinning him down with a knee on his chest. His right hand hovered over Izuku's face, small explosions crackling between his fingers.
"You and that pretty-boy bastard," Bakugo snarled, his voice trembling with fury, "you both think you're so much better than me, looking down on me! I'll show you! I'll show you both what real power looks like!"
Izuku struggled, but Bakugo's weight kept him pinned. Through the earpiece, he could hear All Might's voice, telling Bakugo to stand down, but his childhood friend seemed beyond hearing.
Bakugo raised his gauntlet, the one designed to store his explosive sweat. His eyes were wild, unfocused.
"Kacchan, don't—"
"SHUT UP!"
The world narrowed to that moment. Izuku could see Bakugo's thumb hovering over the pin of his gauntlet. He knew what that weapon could do—Bakugo had bragged about it during the design phase. One pull, and a concentrated blast would demolish this entire section of the building.
And Izuku with it.
===
Katsuki Bakugo's world had collapsed to a pinpoint of rage. Everything around him—the training building, All Might's voice in his ear, the stupid fucking training exercise—none of it mattered. All that existed was Deku beneath him and the white-hot fury consuming his thoughts.
Crush him. Break him. Prove to everyone that Deku is nothing. Prove that Murano's lucky shot was a fluke. Prove that I am the strongest.
His thumb hovered over the pin of his gauntlet. He could feel the stored nitroglycerin sweat inside, ready to be released in a devastating explosion. One pull, and it would all be over. He would win. Decisively.
And yet...
As his thumb moved to pull the pin, two images flashed through his mind with crystal clarity.
First, Murano's face. Not his usual smug smirk, but the cold, dead-serious look in his eyes as he had whispered, "I'll fucking kill you." It wasn't a boast or an idle threat. It was a promise. For a split second, Katsuki remembered the genuine flicker of fear he had felt.
Then, Principal Nezu's smile. That cheerful, terrifying smile as the rodent-like principal had laid out his choices. The memory of his words echoed in Katsuki's mind: "Expelling the two students with the highest potential... would be inefficient." And the final, humiliating verdict: "Dishwashing duty."
Katsuki's thumb trembled over the pin.
If he pulled it, he would prove he was the strongest. He would win. But he would also prove Nezu right. He would prove he was reckless, predictable, ruled by his emotions. He would give that bastard Murano the satisfaction of being right about him.
And then he'd have to face the principal's "inefficient" wrath.
And then... dish duty. The thought of having to wash dishes next to a smirking Yukio after getting expelled for this... was somehow more humiliating than losing the fight.
"Young Bakugo!" All Might's voice crackled in his ear. "Stand down immediately! That level of force is prohibited!"
Katsuki let out a roar of pure, frustrated rage. He lowered the gauntlet. He didn't pull the pin.
Instead, he channeled his fury into his legs and free arm, creating a massive explosion that propelled him upward. He twisted in mid-air, turning the momentum into a powerful kick aimed at Deku's chest.
It was still a devastating attack, but it wasn't the building-destroying force he had contemplated just seconds before. It was the first time Katsuki Bakugo had ever shown restraint.
===
Izuku saw the change in Bakugo's eyes. The gauntlet lowered, and for a split second, Izuku thought the fight might be over.
Then Bakugo launched himself upward with an explosion, twisting in mid-air with impossible agility. Izuku barely had time to roll away before Bakugo's heel crashed into the concrete where his head had been a moment before.
The impact cracked the floor, sending chips of concrete flying in all directions.
Izuku scrambled to his feet, mind racing. Bakugo had hesitated. He'd pulled back from using his most devastating attack. Why?
No time to think about it now. Bakugo was already charging again, palms sparking with smaller, controlled explosions.
"Stop running and fight me, Deku!"
Izuku darted down the corridor, trying to put some distance between them. He needed a plan, a strategy that wouldn't require breaking his bones.
His earpiece crackled. "Broccoli!" Uraraka's voice came through, breathless with excitement. "I found the weapon! Fifth floor, east wing. Iida-kun is guarding it, but he hasn't seen me yet."
That was it. They didn't need to defeat Bakugo. They just needed to secure the weapon.
"Can you reach it?" Izuku asked, ducking into a stairwell as another explosion rocked the hallway behind him.
"Maybe, but I'll need a distraction. Iida-kun is taking his villain role very seriously."
Izuku glanced back at the doorway, where Bakugo's silhouette was already visible through the smoke.
"I'll keep Kacchan busy," he promised. "Give me two minutes, then make your move."
He ended the transmission just as Bakugo burst through the doorway, eyes wild with fury.
"Where do you think you're going, Deku?"
Izuku took a deep breath, One For All humming beneath his skin. He wouldn't use it to attack—that would only result in more broken bones. But maybe, just maybe, he could use it defensively.
"I'm not running anymore, Kacchan," he said, facing his childhood friend squarely. "I'm standing right here."
Bakugo's eyes narrowed suspiciously. "What game are you playing?"
"No game. Just a fight between heroes."
"You're not a hero," he growled, but the words lacked their usual venom.
"Not yet," Izuku agreed. "But I will be. And so will you, if you can control that temper."
Bakugo's face darkened. "Don't lecture me, you—"
"Is that why you didn't use your gauntlet?" Izuku interrupted, taking a calculated risk. "Because you knew it was wrong? Because you knew a real hero wouldn't—"
"SHUT UP!" Bakugo roared, launching himself forward with an explosion.
Izuku braced himself, channeling One For All into his arms—not to strike, but to block. The impact was still devastating, sending him skidding backward up the stairs, but his bones remained intact.
"Stop trying to analyze me," Bakugo snarled, advancing up the steps. "You don't know anything about me!"
"I know you're better than this," Izuku said, backing up another flight. Just a little longer. Just enough time for Uraraka to reach the weapon.
Bakugo laughed, a harsh, bitter sound. "Better? Is that what you think? That I'm holding back? That I'm trying to be 'good'?" He launched another explosion, this one aimed at the stairwell rather than Izuku directly. "I'm not like you, obsessed with playing the perfect hero!"
The stairs crumbled beneath Izuku's feet. He leapt upward, grabbing the railing of the next flight to pull himself to safety.
"Then why didn't you use your gauntlet?" Izuku asked, genuinely curious now. "You had the chance to end the fight."
Bakugo froze, his expression darkening. "Because I don't need it to beat you."
But there was something in his voice, a hesitation that told Izuku he wasn't being entirely truthful.
Before Izuku could press further, his earpiece crackled to life.
"HERO TEAM WINS!" All Might's booming voice announced. "THE WEAPON HAS BEEN SECURED!"
Bakugo's face contorted with shock, then rage, then something that might have been despair. "What? No!"
He whirled around, as if he could somehow see through the building to where Uraraka must have reached the weapon while he was distracted.
"THE BATTLE TRIAL IS OVER!" All Might continued. "BOTH TEAMS RETURN TO THE MONITORING ROOM IMMEDIATELY!"
Izuku sagged against the wall, relief flooding through him. They had won, and he hadn't broken a single bone. Not efficiency by Yukio's standards, perhaps, but progress nonetheless.
Bakugo stood frozen on the stairs, his back to Izuku, shoulders rigid with tension.
"Kacchan," Izuku started, not sure what he wanted to say.
"Don't," Bakugo cut him off, his voice low and dangerous. "Don't you dare pity me, Deku."
He turned, and Izuku was startled by the raw emotion on his face—not just anger, but something deeper, more complex.
"This isn't over," Bakugo said, each word carefully controlled. "Not between us, and not with that white-haired bastard either."