The smoke thinned.
Bakugo stood in the center of the hallway like a statue dedicated to human rage. His chest heaved. His shoulders trembled. A thin line of blood ran from his split knuckles where he'd punched the wall instead of Izuku's face.
Izuku examined his nails as if they were the most interesting thing in the building. "You done?"
Bakugo's hands sparked.
"Genuinely asking," Izuku continued. "Because I've got places to be. Momo's probably already secured the weapon by now. You know, the actual objective of this exercise?"
That got a reaction.
Bakugo's face went from red to purple. The veins in his neck stood out like cables. His teeth ground together loud enough to hear from across the hall.
Beautiful.
Like watching a kettle about to explode.
"You think you're so fucking smart," Bakugo snarled. "Hiding in smoke. Running around like a rat. Using those cheap tricks because you can't actually FIGHT."
Izuku raised an eyebrow.
"I just hit you like six times."
"FROM BEHIND!"
"That's called tactics, Kacchan. Not my fault you never learned the concept."
Bakugo took a step forward as another explosion popped in his palm, filling the air with the smell of burned sugar and ozone.
"You're still the same." His voice dropped. Got quieter. More dangerous. "Still hiding in the shadows. Can't even fight me face to face like a man. You'll always be that same defenseless little Deku, running and hiding behind your stupid toys."
Izuku's smile flickered.
Just for a second.
Bakugo saw it.
His grin turned vicious.
"Yeah. That's right. You can dress yourself up in all that fancy gear. Play ninja. Act tough. But you can't actually fight me without them, can you?"
The hallway went quiet.
Somewhere in the distance, the building creaked.
Izuku looked down at the escrima sticks attached to his belt. The collapsible metal glinted under the emergency lighting. Then he looked back at Bakugo's face.
That smug, triumphant, absolutely punchable face.
Well.
Okay then.
Izuku unclipped the sticks. Dropped them. They hit the floor with a metallic clatter that echoed down the hall.
Then he reached for his utility belt. Unclasped it. Let it fall too. The belt hit the ground with a heavier thud, all those carefully packed tools useless on the carpet.
Bakugo's eyes widened.
Just a fraction.
Like he hadn't actually expected Izuku to take the bait.
Izuku cracked his knuckles. The sound was obscenely loud.
"Fine. You want a fight?" His voice came out quiet. Flat. "Let's fight."
Bakugo's face split into the most unhinged grin Izuku had seen since they were ten years old.
The same grin he wore right before he tried to murder someone on the playground.
"FINALLY!"
Bakugo launched himself forward.
No preamble. No warning. Just pure explosive propulsion that sent him rocketing across the hallway like a missile with anger issues.
His right fist came around in a haymaker that could crack concrete.
Izuku sidestepped.
Grabbed Bakugo's wrist mid-swing.
Twisted.
Used the momentum to drive his knee straight into Bakugo's ribs.
The impact made a sound like a baseball bat hitting leather.
Bakugo's breath left his lungs in a whoosh. His eyes went wide.
Izuku let go.
Bakugo stumbled back three steps.
"Point," Izuku said.
Bakugo's response was a wordless roar.
He came back harder. Faster. A flurry of punches backed by micro-explosions that made each strike hit like a freight train. Left hook. Right cross. Spinning backfist.
Izuku blocked the first two. The third one clipped his shoulder because blocking all three would have required being in two places at once, which wasn't in his skill set.
Yet.
The explosion scorched his suit. The heat seared through the fabric and bit into his skin. His shoulder screamed. He ignored it.
Bakugo saw the opening. His face lit up like Christmas morning.
He lunged.
Izuku stepped INTO the attack.
Took the glancing blow to his already burned shoulder. Let it happen. Used the momentum to get inside Bakugo's guard where those big stupid gauntlets became a liability instead of an asset.
His fist drove into Bakugo's solar plexus.
Not a normal punch.
A Tile Breaker.
Bakugo's eyes went HUGE.
He doubled over.
Made a sound like a dying balloon.
Izuku planted his foot behind Bakugo's ankle and shoved.
Bakugo went down hard. His back hit the floor. The impact knocked dust from the ceiling tiles.
"Point," Izuku said again.
Bakugo rolled. Came up swinging. Detonated an explosion at his feet that launched him upward like a rocket. His leg came down in an axe kick that would have caved in Izuku's skull if it connected.
Izuku crossed his arms. Caught the kick on his forearms.
The force drove him down. His knees bent. His arms felt like someone hit them with a sledgehammer. The shock traveled up his bones and rattled his teeth.
But he held.
Bakugo's face twisted into something between fury and disbelief.
"HOW?!"
"Never skip leg day," Izuku grunted.
He threw Bakugo's leg aside. Swept low. Caught Bakugo's other ankle.
Bakugo hit the ground again.
Izuku didn't give him time to recover. He was on him immediately. Elbow aimed at Bakugo's face.
Bakugo twisted. The elbow hit the floor instead. Concrete cracked.
Bakugo's palm ignited point blank.
Oh that's gonna hurt.
The explosion went off six inches from Izuku's face.
The world turned white. Then red. Then a ringing silence that felt like someone stuffed cotton in his ears and set it on fire.
Izuku rolled away on instinct. Got his feet under him. Blinked away the spots in his vision.
Bakugo was already up.
They circled each other.
Both breathing hard now.
Izuku's left arm hung a little lower than his right. The burn on his shoulder was blistering. His forearms were already bruising where he'd blocked that axe kick.
Bakugo wasn't much better.
Blood ran from his nose. His movements were slightly hunched, protecting those ribs. A massive purple bruise was blooming across his torso visible through the torn parts of his costume.
They looked like they'd been hit by a truck.
Several trucks.
Maybe an entire convoy.
Izuku smiled.
"You done yet?" he asked. "Because I can do this all day."
"Shut up," Bakugo spat. Literally. Blood hit the floor. "Shut the hell up."
They moved at the same time.
Bakugo's right cross met Izuku's left jab. The collision sent a shockwave down both their arms.
Izuku ducked under Bakugo's follow-up hook. Drove his elbow into Bakugo's kidney. Bakugo grunted. Grabbed Izuku's collar. Detonated an explosion that threw them both backward.
They didn't go around the wall. They went through it, the drywall exploding into a cloud of chalky white powder.
Izuku hit a desk. Rolled over it. Landed on his feet.
Bakugo came through the dust cloud like an angry ghost.
His kick caught Izuku in the ribs.
Izuku's kick caught Bakugo in the thigh.
They separated.
Crashed together again.
Punch.
Block.
Explosion.
Dodge.
Counter.
Miss.
Hit.
Bakugo grabbed Izuku's wrist. Tried to blast his arm off.
Izuku twisted free. Caught Bakugo's throat. Drove him backward into a cubicle wall.
The wall collapsed.
They went down together.
Rolled.
Came up swinging.
Bakugo's fist connected with Izuku's jaw. Stars exploded behind his eyes. His mouth filled with copper.
Izuku's fist connected with Bakugo's cheek. Bakugo's head snapped to the side. Spit and blood flew.
They stood there.
Three feet apart.
Both swaying slightly.
Both a complete mess.
Izuku's suit was torn in six places. His arm was burned. His lip was split. Blood ran from his nose. His ribs screamed every time he breathed.
Bakugo looked worse.
Which was saying something.
His nose was definitely broken. Both eyes were starting to swell. His breathing came in ragged gasps. The bruise on his torso had spread.
But he was smiling.
That same unhinged smile.
Like this was the best day of his life.
"You're better than I thought," Bakugo admitted. His voice came out rough. Wrong. Like it hurt to talk. "Still not good enough."
"That's adorable," Izuku said. Smiled with bloody teeth. "You're having fun."
"Fun?" Bakugo's laugh sounded like gravel in a blender. "I'm gonna destroy you."
"You can try."
They stared at each other.
Neither moved.
The comm in Izuku's ear crackled.
"Midoriya-san." Momo's voice. Calm as ever despite probably watching two idiots beat each other half to death. "I've reached the fifth floor. The weapon is in sight. Iida is guarding it but I have a clear path if you can maintain Bakugo's attention for another ninety seconds."
Izuku tapped his earpiece twice.
Ninety seconds.
He could last ninety seconds.
"You were always a nerd, Deku."
Izuku blinked.
Bakugo was talking again. His voice had changed. Gone from angry to something worse.
Calculated.
He raised his arm. The massive grenade gauntlet gleamed under the emergency lighting.
"Always scribbling in those pathetic notebooks. Analyzing everyone's Quirks like some creepy stalker. So you should know EXACTLY how my Quirk works."
Izuku's eyes went to the gauntlet. Really looked at it for the first time.
The thing was huge. Easily three times the size it needed to be for purely aesthetic purposes. And it had been on Bakugo's arm this entire fight. Every explosion. Every movement. Every drop of sweat.
"These beauties?" Bakugo's thumb moved to a pin on the side. "They've been storing up my sweat this entire time. A whole fight's worth of nitroglycerin, just waiting for me to pull this little pin."
The hallway went very, very quiet.
"One shot," Bakugo continued. His smile was pure venom. "Enough explosive force to level a building. And you're standing right in front of me. No toys. No tricks. No way out."
Izuku stared at the gauntlet.
At the pin under Bakugo's thumb.
At Bakugo's face.
That smug, triumphant, absolutely insufferable face.
Well.
This was a problem.
A big problem.
Run? Not fast enough.
Block? With what, his face?
Dodge? The blast radius would be massive.
Talk him down? Bakugo wasn't exactly in a listening mood.
"Any last words, Deku?"
Izuku looked at Bakugo.
At the gauntlet.
At the pin.
And he smiled.
"Yeah, actually. Just one question."
Bakugo's eye twitched.
"Did you clear that with All Might?"
The pin stopped moving.
"Because that seems like the kind of thing that would DEFINITELY be against the rules. You know, the whole 'leveling the building' part. Property damage. Potential injury to other students. The paperwork alone would be insane."
Bakugo's face went through several interesting colors.
Red.
Purple.
A shade of crimson that probably had its own medical term.
"I'LL KILL YOU!"
"See, that's ALSO against the rules."
The comm crackled.
"I have the weapon," Momo announced. "Hero team wins."
All Might's voice boomed through the building's speaker system.
"TRAINING EXERCISE COMPLETE! HERO TEAM WINS!"