"Kid."
Izuku whipped his head back, and the tall, bulky figure of Banjo Daigoro, the fifth user of One For All, appeared in his vision.
Izuku then registered his surroundings: he was standing in complete darkness, apart from the dimly lit, floating concrete floor. He recognized the place immediately as the subconscious realm inside One For All.
The boy focused back on the fifth, the vestige's presence making his mouth sour.
Izuku shut his eyes close, "...Why did you help me? If you just let me lose the round, or maybe just manifest a day later, All For One wouldn't have saw--"
"Woah, hold yer horses there, young man," Banjo snapped, jabbing a finger at Izuku, "I'm not the one who busted out there, being like, 'whassup I'ma expose the new holder of One For All'; you were the one who searched for us and the core these past weeks; YOU were the one who yanked me and Blackwhip out and asked for our help just now!"
Izuku bit his lower lip, then sighed, "Sorry for blaming you, I-- I was angry. Not at you, at myself."
Banjo calmed down, lowering his finger, "I know, kid. It's frustrating. Sometimes things don't go yer way. You wanted to help that poor brainwasher boy reach his dream, and you instead got the attention of a psychopath villain who will do anything to demolish the entire world. But hey, ya gotta see the bright side of things! Outta every single quirk in One For All, you pulled Blackwhip out first!"
Banjo tossed his head back with a laugh, "The other holders must be so jealous, seeing that both times you wanted my quirk first."
"I don't think they care about those things enough to get jealous..." Izuku muttered, but then it hit him.
"Wait... did you say 'both times'? You know about my time travel?!"
"Duh," Banjo rolled his eyes, "We know yer thoughts. We see bits and pieces of yer memories. Also, how else would 'ya have discovered the core so quickly if ya haven't used our quirks before?"
"Then... you know what All For One is planning to do. And... how I messed up by exposing us so early on."
Banjo suddenly scoffed, "Ha! Yer smart enough to awaken the other quirks but dumb enough to ignore the fact that All For One would've known sooner or later about Blackwhip with all those eyes and ears he has around? He doesn't gain all his information from a stupid live TV channel, y'know."
"I..." Izuku blinked, then rubbed his face and realized that he was so focused on getting stronger and awakening the other quirks that he underestimated the enemy.
"Hey!" The fifth holder barked, making Izuku jump, "Man up, you stupid kid! So what if that villain knows that you're our successor and can access all the quirks? You can't hide that fact forever! But is that gonna stop you, stop us, from winning?"
"I know I will win, cause I'll do whatever it takes," Izuku blurted, "but the villain can still hurt my friends and family! I'm not strong enough to protect them now."
"Then get stronger, you annoying, whiny child," Banjo huffed, "you have us now, don't you? That's what you awakened us for."
Izuku stayed silent for a while, then nodded.
"Now," Banjo said as his image became blurry, a wide grin spread across his face, "Show the world you're here, and give 'em someone to believe in."
•••
"You're back..." Uraraka said, her face pale.
Izuku sat down, confused. "What happened?"
"Todoroki happened," Iida pointed to the arena. There was a mountain of ice blocks that the teachers were hurrying to clear away for the next round.
"It was so scary..." Uraraka said, her soul not yet settled back in her body, "The round started, and the next moment there was a wall of ice an inch away from my face."
"You didn't get to see it, man," Kirishima said, "That iceberg was SO huge. Sero lost the round in less than 2 seconds."
"Why weren't you here, anyway?" Iida asked Izuku, "I didn't think you were hurt really bad from last round."
"I fainted," Izuku replied half-honestly. Right after realizing that All For One saw Blackwhip, he did faint, since he had the conversation in the spiritual realm of his quirk. "I guess using Blackwhip was a bit tiring for me."
"Blackwhip..." Bakugo said in a low growl, "Another secret."
"But seriously though, it's so dope!" Kirishima beamed, "it's gonna be an epic round, between you and Todoroki!"
Izuku smiled at the compliment and looked away.
•••
The door squeaked open and Uraraka watched as Midoriya and Iida walked in.
"How are the rounds going?" She asked with a weak smile.
"It's a stalemate between Kirishima and Tetsutetsu from class B right now," Midoriya replied, "How are you feeling?"
"Terrified," she said honestly, "nobody walks out unharmed from a fight with Bakugo."
"Surely Bakugo won't use the full might of his quirk on a female opponent?" Iida asked.
"He will." Midoriya said simply, then turned to Uraraka.
Her heart dropped at his expression. His bright green eyes were filled with concern.
"Kacchan won't back down, and you might get hurt," Midoriya said solemnly, "but just remember to keep going. You're much stronger than you realize. And I can speak for Kacchan, I know he respects you and sees you as a worthy opponent."
"Bakugo respects me?" Uraraka said incredulously.
"It's true," Midoriya nodded, "so show him what you got."
"I—" her words were cut off as the green-haired boy pulled her into a hug.
"Be careful, okay? You got this." He said and pulled away.
She felt her cheeks heat up at the brief embrace but nodded and gave the two boys in the room a big thumbs up. "Thanks, guys. I'll see you in the finals."
•••
She pressed her trembling fingers together.
"Release."
The audience roared in surprise as the rubble, previously floating high in the air unnoticed, rained down.
Bakugo didn't even flinch. The icy calmness that settled over him since the cavalry battle remained. He lifted his arm toward the sky and focused on the falling cement, then released his quirk to its full extent.
The force of the explosion blasted Uraraka away and she flew backward. Pain racked her body as she tumbled on the hard ground, bits and pieces of blasted rubble flying everywhere and whizzing past her. She felt the arena ground underneath her shake violently at the explosion, or maybe all the pain and exhaustion was making her hallucinate.
The rubble blasted away, and some pieces disintegrated into a shower of dust.
Uraraka was sprawled on the ground, her body aching as she struggled to move.
Bakugo stood calmly at his original position, eyes devoid of sympathy.
Throughout the entire round, she wasn't even able to touch him, let alone attack.
Huh, she thought, so much for reaching finals.
Suddenly she heard Bakugo's voice mutter something almost inaudibly.
"Should've expected it," he scoffed, "spending time with Deku probably means you've got those annoying plans, too."
She felt hopeless. But she couldn't give up.
Deku told her to keep going, and it wasn't just an empty suggestion for her to do her best. It was an affirmation. Like anyone else here at this festival, she wanted to become a hero.
Bakugo scowled as Uraraka heaved herself up from the ground. He growled in annoyance, stretching his hurting arm to prepare his quirk again.
She stumbled but stood up on quaking legs. Bakugo wouldn't have been surprised if she simply crumbled at the spot.
"Why do you hate Deku so much?" She asked, her voice trembling with exhaustion and a tinge of exasperation.
The question caught him off guard, but his scowl returned. The way the girl stood in front of him now... It reminded him too much of that stupid nerd Deku in his childhood years. Battered, but standing nonetheless.
"None of your business, pancake face. Now let's finish this," He stepped forward and pulled his arm back, sparks flying from his palm.
She clenched her jaw and lifted a slab of broken concrete, weightless from her quirk.
He blasted his explosion at her, and she met the attack with the concrete, which blew apart in pieces.
"I understand that Deku keeps secrets, but that doesn't mean he's not trying his best all the same," Uraraka suddenly shouted, "so if there's anything that he taught me, is isn't to make a bunch of strategies, it's to work for what you care about, no matter what!"
"You're as annoying as he is --"
"Everyone wants to be a hero here, even me! " She yelled, her voice still shaking, but full of determination, "I'm the one standing here now, not Deku!"
She rushed forward and Bakugo prepared to confront her, but her legs finally gave out and she crumpled on the ground.
He waited for her to crawl back up again, like the roach she was, but she didn't move.
"Uraraka is unconscious," Midnight announced, raising her arm, "Bakugo proceeds to the next round."
Bakugo stared at the unconscious girl. Her words echoed in her mind, and they irritated him. Even worse, her words exposed him -- exposing his own thoughts deep down and yanking them to the surface.
Since some point in time, all he could think about was that he hated that damn nerd and he needed to beat him. Since some point in time, beating Deku had become Bakugo's subconscious image of winning, which meant that Bakugo had at some point in time accepted his own defeat.
•••
As Bakugo made his way up the stairs, bushy green hair caught his attention.
"Hey nerd," he snapped, making Midoriya stop in his tracks.
"...If you thought I made up Uraraka's plan just now, you're wrong. It was all her." Midoriya said quickly.
Bakugo lifted an eyebrow, "I'm not stupid, Deku. The way she acted, only an idiot would still think it's your plan...Why are you looking at me like that, scumbag?!"
Midoriya blinked and shook his head, "I just didn't expect you to say that."
Bakugo scoffed, then continued on his way back to the audience stands, passing the green-haired boy.
"I'll beat your ass up in finals."
He didn't wait for Midoriya's reaction and simply walked away.
On the other hand, Izuku was gaping.
"Did he just... imply that I'm going to finals?!" He muttered. Was that... acknowledgment? If it was the old Kacchan he knew, he would've said something along the lines of 'Too bad you're gonna die next round.'
Everything felt so weird. It was as if the fight with Uraraka was a tipping point for his childhood friend. Izuku shook his head. Kacchan still sees me as a lying loser... right?
Suddenly, Izuku slammed into something and realized he bumped into a person.
"Sorry, I wasn't paying attention—" his words stopped once he looked up and saw Endeavor, the number one— no, number two — hero.
"There you are," the fire hero said gruffly, the bright orange flames twitching as if displaying his irritation, "I've been looking for you."
"May I help you?" Izuku replied, then mentally slapped himself for forgetting that the worst thing you can ask Endeavor is whether or not he needs help from a frail teenager.
Luckily for Izuku, Endeavor ignored the question. "I saw what you did back there. Your quirk is very impressive."
"...Thanks?"
"Your speed is phenomenal, and those black... whatever those are — are extremely powerful as well."
Izuku knew where this conversation was going.
Endeavor continued. "Your teacher on the speakers mentioned it was a super strength quirk. Considering your performance and the nature of your quirk, you are a worthy opponent for Shoto, as his life goal is to surpass All Might."
Izuku tried not to roll his eyes. "I assume that you will follow these compliments with an 'encouragement' to give my best in this fight with your son?"
"Precisely."
"...As your son's classmate," Izuku said calmly despite feeling irritated at the hero's overbearing attitude, "I think it's obvious that... as long as your son uses his fire, he will definitely surpass All Might."
Endeavor raised a flaming eyebrow.
"But... the reason he doesn't want to use his fire... Well, you probably understand it better than I do," Izuku said with an innocent shrug.
From the speakers, a voice announced that there was one more minute till the start of round two.
"Excuse me, I have to get to my next round," Izuku bowed slightly and hurried away, "It was nice meeting you, Endeavor, Sir."
Endeavor huffed and turned away, not bothering to reply.
Izuku arrived at the stadium and entered the arena as the crowd, once again energetic after the break, cheered at the two contestants.
"Hi Todoroki," Izuku said at his classmate from across the arena so they didn't just stare at each other awkwardly.
Todoroki just frowned at him, which made things even more awkward but Izuku was more or less used to it. Like father, like son, I guess.
Finally, the countdown began. Izuku took a deep breath, then concentrated on his opponent and his own quirk.
This was an important fight. But unlike last time, he was going to win.