A/N: Quick announcement - This story is now uploaded on AO3 if that's your preference! It can be found under Aesthete under (please forgive this cringe nickname) bakubitch1203
-Now, continuing on with the story-
Jirou and I had initiated our game plan immediately, both finding ways for our quirk to compliment each other before we entered the building.
She plugged her ear jack into the wall, I had my hand hovering above her, ready to protect ourselves if Sero and Kaminari decided to launch at us in any moment.
She shook her head and whispered, "They're up at the top floor with the object. I don't think they want to come down."
A bit odd, but nonetheless, we progressed upwards occasionally making small talk and moving carefully along the ground. Jirou explained that Sero's quirk was projecting tape from his elbows, he was efficient at offense and capture. She mentioned how Kaminari's quirk, Electrification, was powerful, yet he could only hold out for so long before becoming "short-circuited." She giggled at that part; I figured she must've found his setback amusing.
I occasionally checked the status of my quirk by producing small violets as we moved on higher grounding before making a stop to the entrance of the top level.
"They're waiting for us, I think. Should we just barge in?" She asked, eyeing me skeptically.
I nodded, we had no other choice and I could instantly move Jirou out of their way or encase us in vines if they attempted to use their quirks. With that, we ran in, hearing Sero yell, "Get them!" I looked around at the relatively, empty room. The only notable objects were Sero, Kaminari, and this huge rocket-looking thing. I ran towards it with Jirou following closely, but felt the hair on my arms raise as a signal. Shoot. I wrapped both arms around my partner, creating a wall of vines just by thinking of them as it projected from my wrist bands and absorbed most of the electricity user's power.
"Damn it!" Kaminari yelled in frustration, but before I could process anything, I felt Jirou slam her body into mine, falling on me as tape flew directly above her head.
That was close. I raised my hands and pointed to two areas, one above each person of the opposing team. Come on, stupid stones, appear anytime now. Luckily, they did and I watched as the hard rocks slammed into their heads, resulting in their cries and creating an onslaught of electricity and tape charging at Jirou and I simultaneously. I didn't bother to think about anything but shielding her, I yanked her arm roughly and towed her alongside me, letting thick vines wrap around her. Running towards the object as Sero yelled in anger, I grabbed Jirou's waist and launched her in the air using the strength and sturdiness of a boulder in mind, watching her land perfectly as she released a war cry of happiness.
I hadn't realized that in those few seconds, Kaminari released his voltage anyways and I soon felt a sharp current running through my body. Shit, this really hurts. I groaned, my knees hitting the floor as I could do nothing but feel the sharp jolts flow through my limbs, making me feel as if I had been placed in a microwave.
It vanished after three seconds, and I heard a yelp as Jirou yelled, "Are you that much of a sore loser, you moron? We won and you still electrocuted her!" She was angry, but I didn't mind, I realized that he must've had his offensive tactic in motion without realizing we completed our goal. I tried to reorient myself into a calm state, summoning wisps of aloe vera to sooth my insides that felt like they'd been roasted.
I was staring at the ground, focusing on my breathing before I saw a hand grip mine and pull me towards them. I was surprised to hear Kaminari's voice let out a weird giggle and then Jirou's followed closely after. "Oh God, he short-circuited," she choked out and with that, she rolled around the floor, peals of laughter hitting the air while Sero joined her. I watched Kaminari, his eyes looking absolutely dazed with black marks scuffing his face. He flashed me a clueless grin, while holding two thumbs up and coming across as someone who was stoned.
I didn't miss it though, the worry in his eyes despite his seemingly drunken state. I moved without processing my actions, reaching both palms to grip his face.
Maybe this will help him, I thought as I called for the healing quantities of yarrow and calendula and the soothing qualities of chamomile to embrace his presence.
His expression shifted from worry to embarrassment as his features seemed to return to his normal countenance. When I was certain he looked back to his usual self, I released him with a sigh.
Kaminari's eyes were wide as he asked, "How did you take away my short-circuiting?"
"It's an aspect of my quirk, don't worry about it, you just looked sad so I didn't want to leave you in that state." I had stepped back, but found him stepping closer with a saddened look. "You okay?" I questioned, watching the way his face contorted to a pout, looking as if he was about to cry.
"You're the first person that doesn't laugh when I short-circuit." He said quietly and my heart squeezed in sympathy.
I liked my classmates' company but how cruel of them to laugh at someone for one of their setbacks when using their quirk. That's just unfair.
"It didn't look like you found it funny, so why would I laugh?" With that, I turned away to pull Jirou and Sero off the floor and we began heading back to our class and teachers.
-
After listening to Mr. Aizawa lecture on about how I needed to improve my strategic attacks, I took the advice in mind, reflecting on the rushed battle that was surprisingly easy, searching for ways that I could've ended it in a shorter time frame.
Oh well, I'll do better with whoever I fight right now.
We entered a large gym that stretched over at least a good half mile, encasing the place with different battle stations that were mixed with messy terrain or had nothing but cement in place. It seemed to be a perfect expansion for anyone to train, but I watched as we grew closer to a square box lifted a foot off the ground. There were three thick wires surrounding it and I came to the realization that it was a boxing ring.
It took everything in me from clapping my hands in excitement, this was my specialty. I remembered the U.S QAP President calling me weak the second he laid eyes on my small, shrunken figure after a particular incident that brought out the recognition of my quirk. From that point on, the QAP removed me from schooling for a year, teaching me material I would learn in Japan at home, and spent ten hours every home-school day to beat me to the ground, knowing I would begrudgingly stand back up and take more blows. Although it was exhausting, being crushed after every sparring session and having insults hurled at me for my lack of competence, my abilities heightened after eight long weeks. I began developing moves and quick attacks I would use to finally fight back and spent the rest of the ten months honing my quirk and expanding on my flexibility, mental energy, and physical endurance so when the time came, I could give anybody a challenge if they went against me.
I was a bit prideful of my development, but I knew my goal was too far to attain just yet, so I settled for the constant training, always looking for novel ways to use my power in any situation.
Snapping me out of my memories, I heard my teacher's voice.
"Katsuki Bakugo. You're up against Reyna, you have to pin her or incapacitate her for at least three seconds to win. Same goes for you, Reyna."
I'm.... going against the angry blond?
I felt his red eyes land on me with a bloodthirsty smirk.
How should I feel about this? I now had mixed feelings for the situation, I knew this fight would be bad because Bakugo already declared his hate for me and I couldn't deny that the feeling was somewhat reciprocated. Then again, if I let my irritation of him get the better of me, he might use some fast move to immobilize me. Wait, what's his quirk?
I ignored the multiple questions roaming around my brain as I stepped inside the ring, I watched as Bakugo stood directly across me, eyes calculating me as he grunted out, "You'll lose so fast you won't know what hit you."
Although my irritation spiked, I looked neutral as I simply shrugged. I really didn't have the patience to toss jabs at him back and forth, I was trying to remember if my classmates had mentioned his quirk at all.
I think he ... uses explosions? Someone said he was the definition of a firecracker so I assumed his quirk played a role into that nickname dubbed for him.
Midnight stood in the center as a sort of referee, before her signal to begin pierced the air. Bakugo wasted no time as I saw sparks emerge from his open palms, he ran towards me with a smug look, blasting me to the other end of the ring with a loud explosion.
I ignored the way my ears rang, and felt a vine recoil in my leg, preparing to wrap around his body. Debating whether to add thorns to my green extension, he yelled out, "Fight me, you annoying brat!"
Ever the demanding. I decided to abide him, shooting out the vine to wrap around his legs, causing him to fall over as I used the opportunity to kick him roughly in the head.
He barked out a laugh, and lifted his palm backwards, projecting another explosion that once again sent me flying.
That's a great quirk, it's too bad the explosions really didn't affect me much, every time he shot one off I summoned large palm tree leaves to block the heat and fan the smoke away. It seemed humorous, randomly large leaves appearing out of nowhere as I beckoned slabs of granite to go flying in his direction.
I knew one successfully landed on him when he released a wounded grunt, I used the opportunity to approach him and grip his wrists, using thorny stems to wrap around them as I sent my knee into his chest. Stumbling back, he shot me a go-to-hell look.
I made a mistake. I didn't back away quick enough and hissed when his fist connected to my face, leaving me stumbling as he added a strong explosion so my cheek burned immediately.
I touched the tender area of my face, applying aloe vera leaves while shutting my eyes, trying to regain my focus and strength. Damn bastard, you got me good. I continued forward, ducking his extended arm and rolling near his side, using my fist to jab his ribcage with the stiffness of a dark tinted stone as it coated my knuckles. He fell on one knee, affected by the impact and finally looked at me with an unrecognizable expression.
"You still try to keep going, huh? Maybe I shouldn't hate you that much."
The hell? Was I hearing right? Mr. Prick wanted to suddenly talk nice? I'm sure he was just trying to distract me, because the next moment another explosion rung by my ears, causing a scowl to morph on my face as I backed away.
The anger I was experiencing was allowing me to move faster, I kept shoving the toughest stones I could conjure at an intense speed, all while focusing on the trajectory. If I targeted his arms and head while using vines to force him to fall or be thrown, I could tire him out. I moved in and out of his line of vision, trying to use the smoke as a screen where he couldn't determine my next attack. His raging screams increased the more I became successful, but I felt my body prickle with the numbing sensation that notified me that I was about to overuse my quirk.
I stopped and so did he, both of our chests heaving up and down as we waited for the other to make the next move.
"Tired already? Still haven't said a good sentence to me, are you some fucking mouse? You can't speak? You damn rat!" Bakugo exclaimed, and whether it was his intention or not, I finally snapped.
"I'm not losing to you." The words were simple, I didn't yell it or lace my sentence with venom. My tone was smooth and clear, but I looked at him and finally decided to show how I felt.
My brows furrowed and I narrowed my eyes as I lunged at him, his eyebrows lifted in surprise as he took a step back. What he didn't realize was that I manifested a thick, stone wall behind him and watched as I shoved two thick vines out, pinning him to the wall with a hard slam. Using the vine around his waist, I brought him near me and my gaze never left his as he produced explosions, anything to try and release my rigid hold. It was useless though, I had my vines lower him harshly into the floor as I jumped in the air and slammed into his stomach. My hands created stone to anchor his wrists down, rendering his quirk useless for God knows how long.
Just three seconds, please.
One. He was quiet for once, only his body contorting to move from under me as his wrists remained pinned above his head.
Two. Explosions aimed beneath the stone that encased his hands, but there was no point. I produced the stone just as fast as he destroyed them so he remained held down no matter what.
Three. A shrill whistle sounded, ending the match as nothing but silence ensued. I removed the stone from his hands, lifting myself off him as his shocked gaze didn't leave from my face.
Without asking for permission, I yanked his arms upward. Grabbing them tightly as his mouth opened to release curses and protests. I rapidly channeled aloe vera on his wrists due to the slashes of the thorns grazing his skin. I let go, and turned to walk away before he yanked me back around.
"Stupid rat-" he began, but I didn't give him the chance to finish. Stepping closer, I blinked and let the words slip from my mouth. "The name's Reyna. I told you I wouldn't lose."
Bakugo began calling me names but I ignored it to match the gaze of the green hues I've grown accustomed to. Izuku Midoriya only stared at me with a thoughtful look on his face, but said nothing and turned away.
At once, the girls cheered loudly for me while Kirishima screamed that I was the manliest girl he's met, along with Kaminari's and Sero's, "Yeah, show it to him, queen!" I sighed, only lifting my eyebrows and saying, "Thanks, guys," while walking back towards Mr. Aizawa and Midnight.
"Quite impressive, Reyna. Bakugo is ranked number one in the class," Midnight stated while patting my hair as a congratulatory gesture.
"It's not over yet." Mr. Aizawa began, scanning me up and down to see if I donned too many injuries.
"Can you go against Izuku Midoriya next?"
I blanched without meaning to. Him?
I was accepting of fighting anybody, it was always a chance to look for more ways to improve and have different quirks targeting me, but fighting Midoriya? For some reason, I felt uneasy. I frowned without realizing it, but said, "Yeah, I'll go against him."
Midnight held up both of her hands, signaling that I had ten minutes to get myself together. With that, I walked towards a cart with bottled water, and downed one in a fast gulp. Water helped my quirk recuperate faster so I didn't hesitate while I became pensive.
What plan did I have against Midoriya? He showed me his journal of heroes because he consistently studied quirks, so it was safe to assume his analytical skills were through the roof. He probably already came up with a fool-proof plan to beat me. I bit my lip, assessing any opening in our conversations today where he mentioned his own quirk but he didn't.
That's weird, he was so inquisitive about everyone's abilities but didn't mention his once. I hummed in disappointment, realizing I was completely screwed. As I threw the bottle in the trash turning to walk back towards the ring, a hand squeezed mine too tightly; I pulled away in surprise and looked to see Bakugo staring at me with a calm expression.
"Yes?" I asked, not really mad, only wondering what he approached me for. I decided after I won, that I wouldn't filter my thoughts with this boy. He irritated me, but I saw that he wasn't condescending during battle. He gave me a good fight and despite his insults, I understood that we both shared the same fear: neither of us wanted to be known as failures. I could tell by the way he threw explosions in my direction nonstop and never underestimated me.That's probably because he hates you. Filtering that thought out, I patiently waited for him to respond.
He took a while, glaring at the ground before saying, "His quirk, it's so damn weird. He injures himself with it but he packs a punch. I'm only telling you because you remind me of a stupid mouse. Too idiotic to figure it out."
I lifted my eyebrows. Was this his way of helping me? He would probably never admit it out loud, and neither would I, but I could grin right now with the small advice he bestowed on me.
Staying quiet, I spun on my heel and walked away, but before I created too much distance, I spoke.
"Thank you, Bakugo." With that, I entered the ring. Mina went up to me briefly and wrapped her arm around my shoulders while leaning her head on me. "You got this, Reyna. Take three wins today!" With that, she departed, leaving me to meet the gaze of my final opponent.
Izuku Midoriya. The boy had his gentle appearance in tact, but I didn't miss the spike of determination radiating from him. It nearly pinned me to my spot, I was so caught off-guard by the deep intensity of his eyes that I didn't hear Midnight yelling, "Go!"
Midoriya didn't begin running or even attempted to make a move. He was just as still as I was. That was his plan wasn't it? To let me initiate the fight and create some sort of counterattack. I recalled what Bakugo mentioned; if his quirk harms him, he's attempting to use it as a last minute defense or offense.
With that, I held a hand out, letting vines project from my wrist and wrap around his limbs. Lifting him in the air, I heard him mutter something, attempting to writhe from my vines' grasp.
As I tried to reel him in with my vineyard extensions, I watched as his fingers wrapped around them. He tugged violently; I couldn't control the way my body flew to him as he aimed a sharp kick into my wrist that expanded to my whole body, sending me face first to the floor.
I was right, he's way too damn smart for his own good. I grunted, releasing him to fall as I got back up. Propelling slabs of granite, he dodged them all smoothly and caught one before hurling it my way.
Freckles, you're getting on my damn nerves!
I ducked from the granite and imagined dirt and dusty debris appearing in front of him, it worked and I heard Midoriya coughing loudly. Using the distraction, I jumped on his back slamming him to the ground as my feet stepped on both his wrists.
One. Nope, he propelled himself into the air, forcing me to fly off his back as I landed safely on the opposite end. This battle was different from Bakugo's.
Bakugo was so forward and clear in his fighting, his power and speed compensated for his transparency, but it was still a fight I could handle.
Midoriya was different, I couldn't expect anything from him because he was way too fast at counterattacking my moves that it left me dazed.
I had a trick up my sleeve, but he would have to let me near his face long enough for it to work. I ran to him, feeling the rough texture on my knuckles appear before I threw punch after punch on different parts of his body.
"Reyna, if you want to take me out, you're gonna have to try harder."
I pulled back, miffed, but he used my shock to throw a heavy-weighted punch in my face, forcing me to stagger back. Using this to his advantage, he jumped on me while wrapping his fingers around my wrists, pinning me to the floor.
No! I heard the counting. I shot out a thick vine from my ankle to wrap around his stomach, throwing him in the air as I quickly regained my previous stance. This fight won't end like this. Your company is nice but I won't lose, Midoriya.
He fell to the floor, groaning in pain. He still pushed himself onto his knees, but I couldn't waste time. I flitted to his side and spun on my heel to send a kick to his head, I didn't want to hurt him too harshly but I just needed him to lose.
He sensed me, and grabbed my ankle pulling my body towards him as his fist drilled into my chest, sending me towards the opposite end to crash into the floor brutally. I heard a small squeak escape my lips. He isn't holding back, either.
I didn't want to do this, but he ticked me off enough to where I manifested three huge stones to rise from the ground, encasing him completely in a pyramid-like structure. I trapped him, and if he took three seconds too long, victory was mine.
Unfortunately, God didn't allow this to work in my favor as the stones shattered, sending debris flying in every direction. How the hell did he do that? I studied him, seeing his arm tint with an odd glow. My eyes widened, that's his quirk? Super strength or something? My face burned in anger when I realized he was limping towards me weakly, but still had his fist tight, refusing to back down.
I raised both arms, producing a stony pillar to charge at him on my right while a thick vine on my left also swiftly approached him. I wanted to end it now; my arms were going numb. He ran faster raising both fists to crash against my natural extensions. The power behind his punch was so intense that my pillar crumbled and my plant withered, I felt my body recoiling in pain as my head hit the cold ground, blood instantly dripping from my forehead.
Was this even allowed in school? I didn't think of anything else as I tried to get up, Midoriya looked just as strained as I did and my eyes widened, mouth flying open when I finally realized the state of his arms.
They were a sick purple as veins protruded in an unnatural manner.
He broke them.
I gasped, feeling the pressure behind my eyes, but ignoring it. I slowly regained my footing, before we both shuffled to each other one last time. You're the problem child Aizawa was referring to.
I used a quick, floor stone to propel me into the air as I flipped my body to face Midoriya's backside. Our bodies colliding once more, I wrapped both arms around him and became deadweight.
One. He was flipping like a fish, trying to throw my weight off him.
Two. "Reyna, I can't lose either," he whispered softly, still trying his best to be rid of me. My heart churned at his words, but my pressure on his body didn't lessen.
Three. Midnight announced me as the victor; the second I heard that, I flew off Midoriya and flipped his body to where his face met mine.
I heard indistinct yelling and chattering begin, Aizawa calling both our names but I could only glare at the boy with a crooked smile in front of me. He reached to tap my shoulder lightly and say, "You won them all. Congratulations, Reyna."
"Screw that last win." I bit out, I couldn't help it. He hurt me. Not by fighting, but by the way he injured himself. Who recklessly throws their body on the line like that for a simple sparring session? He winced, realizing I was upset but I ignored it to tug on his hands. With that, I invested every last ounce of strength I had to heal him, even if it was only slightly aiding him. I felt my body going numb entirely before I collapsed beside him.
I watched the steady trickle of blood that flowed from my forehead graze my eyelashes as it continued to saunter down my cheek in a mocking manner. Blinking, I demanded in a soft voice, "Don't put your body on the line like that ever again when we fight. You hear me, Midoriya?"
I heard an airy laugh from his behalf. "I can't promise that." Unsatisfied, I turned to shoot him my infamous death stare. I shifted my head upwards to see Aizawa staring down at the both of us in frustration. "Both of you. Recovery Girl. Now." With that, he walked away and Kirishima and Jirou entered the ring to help Midoriya and I get up.
-
Meeting Recovery Girl was surprisingly pleasant, the old woman said I was too pretty to be getting injured the way I did. I scoffed in disbelief and raised my eyebrow in amusement when she smacked Midoriya's head. He seemed to be a frequent visitor, and I enjoyed my sensations returning as I laid on the nursing bed that was adjacent to his. She also thanked me for healing Midoriya the best I could, saying it made handling his injuries easier.
"Reyna." I heard him, but shut my eyes, still annoyed with how he responded to my request earlier.
I felt his finger tap my forehead bandages lightly. "I'm sorry about that," he began, and I opened my eyes to see him frowning, looking distraught.
I wanted to laugh at that. "It was a fight, what did you expect? We can injure each other-" I used this to drop my voice into a frustrated tone, "-not to injure ourselves."
He laughed, moving away to sit back in his own bed. "I'll handle my quirk eventually, I can tell you have really good control over your power. It's amazing to see, Reyna."
Before I could respond, Recovery Girl reentered and said we were free to leave. Sitting upright, I walked to Midoriya's bed, grabbing his book bag along with mine. I wasn't trying to be overly nice, but the guy obviously injured his arms and I'm not a prick. Despite his protests, I bid my farewell to Recovery Girl and left, walking towards the exit. I had changed from my hero costume to my uniform, so I didn't need to make anymore stops, neither did Midoriya.
"I can carry my book bag. Hey, I'm fine. I can even carry yours!" He whined, unenthusiastically. I relented, handing him his bag. He walked beside me as we exited U.A., the sun beginning to set. Already? Wow, we really overstayed at the school. I looked to Midoriya and mumbled out a quiet apology.
"What for? If anything, I should be the one apologizing to you." I ignored that remark and settled for silence instead.
When we reached a stop sign, I felt him tug on my elbow. I looked up at him, raising a brow to allow him to continue.
"Thanks for walking with me. I hope your head feels better." His tone was soft, I watched as the sun illuminated his smile and made his freckles more prominent.
"Midoriya, what's your quirk?" I asked, and studied his reaction. The pupils widening slightly, the slight part of his lips, and the seemingly insignificant crease of his eyebrow. He was about to lie.
"Just a strength quirk, is all," His eyes darted in between mine, I played it off and showed indifference. I wouldn't push him with his personal life, whatever it was, I'm sure he was capable of figuring out himself. I shrugged, accepting his answer.
Midoriya shook it off and gave me a bright grin that let one side of his lips lift higher than the other. "See you tomorrow, Reyna." Nodding, I began to walk away, but paused.
"Florence."
"Hm?"
"Call me Florence."