Once More (My Hero Academia)

9: Deku 2.0 vs. Kacchan

Izuku already knew where the fake weapon was, but he didn't want to look like he cheated, so he took the same route they did last time. Their footsteps echoed through the dim hallways.

As they neared the place where Izuku knew Bakugo would jump out and ambush them from, the green-haired boy signaled for his teammate to stop and listen carefully.

Sure enough, there was the muffled sound of boot heels, and Bakugo leaped out.

The explosion of his quirk seemed to rock the entire building. Its sound pierced Izuku's eardrums.

But the hero team was prepared and dodged easily to the side.

"Uraraka, GO! Stick to the plan!" Izuku shouted and threw himself in between Bakugo and the girl, who scrambled off immediately.

Bakugo didn't even try to chase her.

"You think you can take me on alone?" Bakugo hissed.

Izuku peeked behind him to see if Uraraka was gone.

"Ha!" Bakugo gave a bark of laughter, "Go to hell, Deku."

Izuku looked back at his childhood friend, but quicker than a breath, Bakugo was in front of Izuku, his palm glowing dangerously.

Strengthening his body, Izuku leaped above and over Bakugo, then flicked his finger at the blond boy's back, creating a beam of air that knocked Bakugo off balance, making him trip. Izuku propelled himself towards Bakugo, who turned around, his palm already building up an explosion.

Bakugo was good, but Deku had a year of experience ahead of him. Easily seeing through his move, Deku turned abruptly, flashed towards Bakugo's side, and kicked off the wall, using the rebound force to send a strengthened punch to Bakugo's side.

Bakugo landed hard on the ground.

"By the way," Izuku said calmly as the other boy hauled himself up on his elbows, "I know you don't care, but, I've changed my opinion on the name of Deku."

Izuku took out the capture tape, but Bakugo was already up, his chest heaving hard. Izuku's brows furrowed as Bakugo hooked a finger on the trigger of his grenade-like gauntlet.

"Kacchan stop! You don't wanna do this." Izuku said, but knew it was useless and prepared to dodge the explosion anyway, "it's gonna cause a huge amount of damage to the building --"

"Shut up." Bakugo pulled the trigger, and the sound of All Might's warning from the broadcast was drowned out by an earth-shattering explosion.

Izuku launched himself sideways to dodge, but he made a mistake. His body, still pretty weak, was literally blown off balance by the wind force of the explosion.

Izuku tumbled across the floor, which had rubble scattered all across it, blown apart by the explosion. Sunlight spilled in from a giant hole in the side of the building.

Izuku barely had time to stand up straight when Bakugo blasted directly at him again. Seeing no other option, Izuku dodged as fast as he could. That meant more power from One For All, and pain shot through his body like a dagger.

Gosh, this stupid body!

"Have you been tricking me all these years?! Keeping your goddamn quirk and fighting skills a secret and laughing behind my back?!" Bakugo was nearly screaming.

"I told you! I told you about my quirk as soon as I got it--"

"Dammit! Cut the bullshit, Deku," Bakugo yelled, "Fight me, give me everything you've got with those fancy new moves of yours. You'll never beat me."

"Kacchan," Izuku felt himself raise his voice as well, "I've looked up to you all my life, but I wanted to be a hero all that time as well! That never changed, and never will."

"You think I give a--"

"You're a jerk, Kacchan."

Bakugo's eyes widened with shock. He probably always got called a jerk, but never so directly by Izuku.

"Now," Izuku continued, the green light of his quirk shining brighter as he heightened One For All to 8%, "swallow that stupid ego of yours and see for yourself. I'm ahead of you now, so what are you gonna do to keep up? Throw a tantrum on me? Or learn from your mistakes for once?!"

With a sudden burst in speed, Izuku instantly closed the distance between the two boys, caught Bakugo by surprise, and tackled him by his waist. Bakugo was knocked back, and Izuku quickly stepped out of the way, but when Bakugo tried to get up and fight back, he realized with a jolt that the capture tape was already wrapped firmly around his waist.

There was a pause for a split second, and All Might's voice boomed from the broadcast, "Bakugo is out!"

Bakugo stared incredulously at the tape, then back at Izuku. Bakugo's expression was utter denial.

When Bakugo finally exploded and started screaming obscenities, Izuku already leaped away.

The training wasn't over yet.

Each step was agonizing. Izuku limped upstairs and pressed on the communication device in his ear.

"Uraraka, did you find the weapon?"

A few seconds later, Uraraka's voice screamed back, "Yeah, near the middle of the fifth floor. But I'm having a hard time with Iida!"

Izuku could tell she was struggling, "Hold on!"

Moments later, Izuku arrived at the location of the fake weapon. Iida was a mere blur as he blasted around, and Uraraka, with nothing to use her quirk on, was dodging Iida's capture tape as if her life depended on it.

Izuku ignored the pain in his body and darted towards Iida, sending a barrage of attacks at him. Iida, who was caught off guard, barely had enough time to realize he lost track of Uraraka before she launched herself in the air, flying weightlessly above the two boys, and landed softly on the fake weapon.

A large horn blared in the training ground, signaling the end of the training.

All Might announced, "the Hero team is the winner!"

"YES! Deku we won!" Urarka cheered. She seemed to enjoy calling Izuku by his nickname.

Iida sighed in frustration, took off his helmet, and adjusted his glasses. He then walked over and congratulated Izuku.

"Thanks," Izuku smiled brightly. Iida nodded back.

Uraraka was bouncing up and down and shrieking like a three-year-old. Then her face suddenly turned green as the side effects of her quirk took over, making her nauseous. Iida helped her downstairs.

Izuku was happy, but he sighed.

He knew there was one person that would not take the result of this training session lightly.

...What would this do to Kacchan?

The mock battle went almost completely different from last time, and Izuku tried not to think about the consequences.

He also wondered for a brief moment whether it would be wise to tell Bakugo about One For All sooner, or maybe even his time travel.

"Come on, Midoriya!" Iida called.

Izuku nodded. A cloud passed in the sky and the room dimmed. The afternoon continued.