maybe | hitoshi shinsou x reader

~chapter 10~

Uraraka and Bakugou stand on opposite sides of the stage. You, Midoriya, and Iida sit on the edge of your seats, endless what-ifs running through your minds without refrain.

It's not that you don't believe in Uraraka, or that you don't think she's a wonderful and capable person, but Bakugou has an entire aresenal of explosives at his disposal. One little miscalculation on his part and Uraraka's severely injured. Or worse.

You have to bounce your leg to keep your anxiety from overwhelming you. Midoriya's muttering half-cocked strategies under his breath and Iida's tight-lipped and stony. Anticipation's filled the air, heady and electrifying and giving you goosebumps.

Present Mic calls out their names, adds some rambling epithets, and the battle is on.

Uraraka's off like a light the moment the word "start" leaves Present Mic's mouth, running at Bakugou and keeping her body at a tilt close to the ground. Bakugou doesn't flinch at her approach, and—predictably—releases a powerful explosion. The boom draws up dust and smoke, covering the ring in a fog and erasing Uraraka and Bakugou from your sight.

Beside you, Midoriya mutters even more, almost furiously, and you can't help but agree.

Then there's a break in the mist and  Uraraka's behind Bakugou, inches away from tapping him and sending him floating, before Bakugou reacts with lightning speed and sends her back with another explosion. It throws her to the ground, hard. Covered in miscellaneous bruises and scratches from the impact, Uraraka stands up and charges once more. He lobs another explosion, and she stands up again. And again, and again, until it looks less like a battle and more like a beating.

But she gets up again.

And so loud it even reaches you in the stadium seats, winded, she says, "I'm still standin'!"

And you don't know why but it makes you heart clench.

The crowd is uneasy. Where they were once rowdy they've become unsettled. It feels like a bloodbath, and no one likes the fights where the underdog gets beaten to a pulp. Even Present Mic's boisterous attitude has stagnated, and his commentary grown more pessimistic.

All the while Bakugou is throwing more explosions, and Uraraka's dodging them by a hair's breadth.

Some people even stand up, chanting about how unfair it is, how Uraraka's at a "disadvantage", how the match should just end already. They boo Bakugou.

And, they just don't get it.

Like, sure, Uraraka can't really touch him right now and she's got some scrapes and you're worried for your friend, but you can't just give up on her. It's a fight, and she's giving it her all and Bakugou can tell. He's on the defensive.

Well, as on the defensive as Bakugou can be.

And maybe you don't want to see Uraraka hurt anymore, but she's giving it her all. And you believe in her. You want to see her win. Because she can.

You don't want to let them take Uraraka's chance at victory away from her.

Thankfully Aizawa uses his teacher voice and hushes the people who booed, making them feel reasonably ashamed in the process.