Todoroki sat across from her in the waiting as she stored energy, chin resting in her palm as she gazed outside the sunny window, zoning out but listening to Present Mic in the commentary. He found it hard to concentrate on what Present Mic was saying when she was sitting in front of him, hair a little disheveled with soot on her freckled nose but beautiful as ever.
She let out a huff, and metallic eyes drifted towards him. They stared at him, making his stomach twist and turn.
Is this what butterflies feel like?
Todoroki recalled Midoriya telling him and Iida what it felt like to be around Uraraka when they started dating. He mentioned butterflies. Todoroki was sure this was what butterflies felt like.
Todoroki held her gaze, not looking away for a second. Suddenly, she smugly smirked with a 'heh'.
"Huh?" Todoroki looked at her, confused.
"Nothing. Just thinking about how much I'm going to enjoy beating you."
Well, aren't you a lot like Bakugo??
"Er... Thanks...?" Todoroki muttered, unsure of what to reply to such a statement.
"I'm bored." She lamented. "Tell me something interesting."
"Like what?"
"I dunno. What do you like doing in your free time."
"I like reading." He replied.
"Really?" Yoshiko perked up, leaning in closer to the table. "What do you read."
"Pretty much anything." He shrugged. "My favourite genre is fantasy."
"I love the fantasy genre too!" She exclaimed, surprising Todoroki. "Have you read Six Wings? It's so fucking good!"
"Yeah," He couldn't help but feel jittery at her excited face. He opened his mouth to tell her which character was her favourite when Present Mic declared the winner.
"BAKUGO KATSUKI HAS WON THIS MATCH!! WILL HE WIN IN THE FINALS AGAINST WHOEVER HIS OPPONENT IS?!"
They could hear the faint cheers and chants of Bakugo's names from the waiting room. Yoshiko got up, the light in her hair fading. "It's our turn now." She said, opening the door and walking out.
She didn't look back as she confidently walked out into the sun, making her way up the concrete fighting stage, hands in her pockets. Todoroki came up from the other side. "NOW FOR THE FINAL MATCH OF THIS ROUND. THAT MATCH THAT DECIDES THE SECOND QUALIFIER FOR THE FINALS, TODOROKI SHOTO AGAINST AKIMITSU YOSHIKO."
"Start!" All Might exclaimed.
As soon as the words left All Might's mouth, Todoroki tapped his foot on the ground, sending a large wall of ice towards her. Yoshiko anticipated that move. She knew he usually went for big ice attacks as soon as he started fighting. She held both palms out and answered with an equally big explosion, shattering his ice into crumbs.
She let out a cold breath as ice fell down upon them like shaved eyes, sparkling like glitter. She propelled herself forward with her explosions. When she got close, Todoroki created another small wall of ice, having her punch ice instead of him.
Yoshiko exploded herself into the air and landed behind the wall. Todoroki summoned fire on his left arm. He swung his fiery fist at her. She threw an explosion at him, having him go crashing into the ice wall behind him. The wall cracked when Todoroki's back met it.
He saw her summon four light balls with a wave of her hand, his eyes widening. Before she could have them explode, he surrounded himself in a small but strong dome of ice. The balls exploded, cracking his ice in the process. The dome somewhat protected him. If it weren't for it, Todoroki's limbs would have said goodbye.
His eyes caught Yoshiko propelling towards him at full speed, fist ready at the side. He quickly rolled out of the way and encircled her in a circle of fire. He saw her wince at the heat, but she wasted no time in flying upwards and out of it. She had her body spin like a tornado mid-air, aiming for him.
Todoroki ducked and created a slope of ice, which she crashed into. He heard her groan and curse him colourfully. He skated out from underneath the ice slope. Before she could turn around, he greeted her with a wall of fire, the sleeve of his uniform burning in the process.
Yoshiko defensively covered her face from the fire. She felt her shirt slowly burn. If she let herself stay behind his burning wall any longer, she'd probably burn her hair.
"MAN, I'M FEELING BOTH HOT AND COLD AT THE SAME TIME!!" Present Mic yelled.
'Yeah, no shit,' Yoshiko thought.
Yoshiko held both hands up and created many balls of golden light. She manipulated them into spinning like a tornado. When they spun, they took in Todoroki's ice and fire, looking like a fiery orange tornado. As the wall of fire cleared in front of her, she met Todoroki's heterochromatic eyes, his forehead gleaming with sweat whilst he blew out cold air.
She smirked at him and snapped her fingers. The balls in the tornado blasted, creating heat waves and air pressure, sending Todoroki flying backwards. He created a wall of ice behind him, so he crashed into it instead of falling out of bounds.
"RAHHHHH, I'M GOING TO FALL OF MY SEAT!! THIS IS SO EXCITING!"
"Shut up, Mic."
Todoroki tapped on the ground with his foot again, sending ginormous icicles her way. Yoshiko held both palms in front of her, blasting the icicles away. Todoroki skated up to her at full speed, accompanied by a fiery fist on his side. Yoshiko twirled behind him and grabbed his right side arm, pulling it behind him and twisting it slightly. Todoroki let out a gasp and almost froze her fingers when she quickly retracted her hand and kicked him in the back instead.
Todoroki fell to the cold ground on his face, his eyes widening when he saw her going to throw an explosion right at his already fried face. He rolled to the side, increasing the flames on his left side, so the temperature on the stage increased, melting all his ice and steaming the water.
Yoshiko panted amongst the flames. Most of her top burnt away, leaving her in her almost burnt tanktop.
'He's strong.' She thought. She felt her ankle burn and jumped away when she saw a flame lick her pants. She saw him send a wall of ice at her, which she blasted sway as soon as it came towards her. A smirk overtook her features. 'But I'm stronger.'
She created hundreds of tiny light balls that looked like golden stars whilst throwing explosions at Todoroki and dodging his attacks. She kept on creating them without him knowing, having them float up.
"WOW, LOOK AT THAT GALAXY AKIMITSU HAS JUST CREATED!! I WONDER WHAT THAT DOES."
"Huh?" Todoroki looked up in confusion, his eyes widening at the sight above him, tiny golden balls of light like stars right above the stage. His head snapped back to Yoshiko to see her wave her hand. The stars aligned in front of him. Todoroki quickly created a protective ice layer in front of him, but it was of no use.
The balls might have been small, but they were more concentrated and energy-rich than her usual light balls. Yoshiko had one explode, which resulted in a chain reaction. Explosion after explosion took place, blasting them both in opposite directions.
Yoshiko kneeled down and put her hands behind her, making explosions so she kept in place instead of flying backwards. She saw Todoroki's ice wall burst, and he went flying backwards as the stars followed him and kept making huge explosions. She merged them into one large and concentrated light ball and had it explode.
The concrete cracked and went flying everywhere. The smoke made it difficult for the audience to see. Todoroki soared out of bounds, his body crashing onto the grass with a painful thud, rolling a few times before it finally came to a stop.
"Er- Can't really see what's going on." Present Mic said. Everyone on the edge of their seats waited for the massive amount of smoke to clear out before bursting into cheers.
"AKIMITSU YOSHIKO HAS WON THIS MATCH YET AGAIN!! NOT TO PICK FAVOURITES OR ANYTHING, BUT I HAVE MY FINGERS CROSSED FOR HER IN THE NEXT ROUND!! ISN'T IT GOING TO BE EXCITING, TWO BOOM BOOM STUDENTS AGAINST EACH OTHER??"
Yoshiko's vision grew blurry as she tried to focus on Todoroki's unconscious form some metres away. She felt most of the energy she stored drain away. She stumbled face-first onto the broken concrete, going out cold.
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Yoshiko let out a groan as she opened her eyes, greeted by the white ceiling of the infirmary. She sat up, rubbing an eye. She looked down to see that her tank top had been removed, leaving her in her grey sports bra, which was fortunately not burnt. There were random bandages on her arms and stomach, most likely from Todoroki's burn. She poked on a bandage on her arm. It didn't hurt, which meant Recovery Girl most likely healed her.
"Oh, you're up." Recovery Girl's chair rolled towards her as she sat on it. "How do you feel?"
"Shit," Yoshiko replied. "I'll be fine after storing more energy and food."
"Ah, please do that." Recovery Girl said. "As for food-"
The door slowly opened, revealing Shinsou with a bag of food in hand. "Well, your friend already brought you some. I'll leave you to rest. When you're done, please call for me so I can let them know you're good to start your next match."
"Thanks," Yoshiko said.
Recovery Girl left the room, and Shinsou sat on the office chair beside her bed. "Got you chicken skewers. Knew you would grump when you woke up."
"Man, you know just what to bring." She hungrily took the bag from him, taking out a chicken skewer and taking a big bite of juicy, meaty chicken. Shinsou rolled his eyes at her and walked over to the window to turn the blinds up and open it so sunlight fell directly on Yoshiko's bed.
"Fanks." She said through a mouthful. She stored some light as she ate.
The door was suddenly kicked open, revealing none other than her opponent for the next round, the Great Bakugo Katsuki. Yoshiko blankly stared at him as she ripped another piece of chicken from the skewer.
"Whaf?" She said, munching.
"Came to check if your ass is healed enough to fight me," Bakugo said, crossing his arms across his chest.
"Awwwww, aren't you the sweetest pomeranian?" Yoshiko said teasingly.
"I AINT A GODDAMN POMERAINAIN!!" Bakugo shouted, Making Shinsou cover his ears in annoyance.
"God, shut up, Bakugo," Shinsou muttered, annoyed.
"WANNA SAY THAT AGAIN?!"
Shinsou rolled his eyes and gave one more look to his bestie in the bed. "Good luck with your match. Please don't die."
"I won't die, but he fucking will." She pointed a greasy finger at Bakugo.
"I ain't fucking dying! You're leaving with broken legs and arms!!" He retorted.
"Bad Pomie!"
"WHAT THE FUCK?!"
"... Either way, I'm leaving. Good luck." He ruffled her hair before giving Bakugo a look of distaste. Stupid potty mouth. He left the infirmary, closing the door behind him.
"So, you came here because you care about me. Hmm?" Yoshiko went on with her teasing
"Fuck you."
"No thanks."
"WHAT THE FUCK, SOLAR PANEL?!"
She let out a giggle, which suddenly made Bakugo freeze. Cute, he thought.
WAIT. NO.
THAT WASN'T CUTE, BAKUGO FUCKING KATSUKI. SHE'S THE LAST PERSON ON EARTH THAT I'D CALL CUTE. YOU STUPID MORON!!
"I just came to make sure that wrinkle pea healed you enough to make sure you can fucking fight me at your fucking best!" He yelled, turning his back to her and shoving his hands in his pockets to hide the blush that bloomed across his cheeks.
"I'll be ready after I store enough energy," Yoshiko replied, her eyes drifting to the window, unaware of Bakugo's wild blush.
"Whatever. Not like I fucking care." He muttered and stepped outside the infirmary, closing the door with a bang. Yoshiko looked at the door with a frown.
Sometimes, Bakugo made zero sense. She shrugged and finished eating her last bit of chicken. Fighting Bakugo was going to be no easy task. But she was ready as ever.
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Yoshiko called for recovery girl and changed into a new sports uniform after she stored enough energy to go boom boom. Recovery Girl gave her a thumbs up.
"WE'VE FINALLY MADE IT TO THE FINAL ROUND WHERE TWO BOMBS WILL FIGHT EACH OTHER, KING AND QUEEN OF EXPLOSIONS, BAKUGO KATSUKI VERSUS AKMITSU YOSHIKO!!" The audience roared and cheered names, most having already picked their sides. Yoshiko and Bakugo locked lethal gazes across from each other as they made their way up the stage.
Oh, they were so ready to kill each other.
As Yoshiko smirked at him, hands in pockets, Bakugo punched into his palm, smoke dispersing from his fist. They were finally going to settle who was the stronger one between them.
"START!!" All Might yelled.
Yoshiko and Bakugo both propelled themselves forward at once, throwing an explosion at each other as soon as they came close enough. Yoshiko flew up into the air and made a hole with one hand, putting a palm behind it, shooting rapid-explosive light bullets at him. Bakugo answered with bullets of his own, which Yoshiko dodged by flying around.
"WELL, LOOK AT THEM AGRESSIVELY TRY TO DOMINATE EACH OTHER!!"
'Mic-sensei, that sounds a little wrong.' Yoshiko thought as she dodged another one of Bakugo's bullet showers.
Bakugo threw an explosion at her whilst she was still in the air. Yoshiko moved to the side, the explosion missing her. She aimed her foot for Bakugo's face to stomp his pretty little nose. Bakugo, unfortunately, ducked. She landed a little distance behind him.
They both shared a knowing smirk. Both teenagers took to the air and propelled forward in a circular motion, like human tornadoes, aiming for each other.
Howitzer impact.
Bakugo didn't want to teach Yoshiko that move, so she practised and practised after school until she was able to get on his level. Did it irritate Bakugo, you ask? It sure fucking did.
They collided with each other. The concrete beneath them broke into pieces, creating a crater. They went flying backwards from the impact but were quick enough to blast themselves forward again.
She was mid-air when Bakugo grabbed her by the collar and slammed her down. A gasp escaped her lips as her back painfully hit the broken concrete below. He put a foot on her stomach, slowly pressing down. He held both his palms facing her. Yoshiko's eyes widened when she saw him build up heat to blast her.
She quickly threw an explosion at him and slid out from underneath his foot. She dashed behind him, but Bakugo was quick to turn around and take her wrist. He moved behind her and grabbed her other wrist, locking both of them behind her.
"We're gettin' handsy now?" She laughed teasingly. Bakugo's death grip on her hands grew stronger, and he let out a low growl at her.
Yoshiko didn't need to have her hands apart to create her golden light balls. She created one behind him without him knowing. She let it blast, and Bakugo let go of her hands to move out of the way.
The spectators watched the two in awe as they attacked each other with incredible ferocity. With every explosion the two let out, the arena shook. Watching them, one thing was clear. The two were on the same level. They were evenly matched in every aspect. Power, speed, technique, endurance, and stubbornness.
Yoshiko and Bakugo panted across from each other. Bakugo spat blood onto the ground as Yoshiko bared her teeth at him. "We'll never beat each other," Yoshiko stated.
"Hah?" Bakugo snarled. "The fuck do you think I'm fightin' you for?"
"Correction, we'll never beat each other if we dont go above and beyond." Yoshiko took several steps back, putting more distance between them. Bakugo's eyes widened when he realized what she meant. He also stepped back.
"What are they doing...?" Present Mic said in the commentary. The audience watched, on the edge of their seats.
"Give me the biggest explosion you can manage," Yoshiko smirked, her silvery eyes locked with his blood-red crimson.
"Break a leg!" Bakugo exclaimed.
"Likewise."
With aching muscles, both held their arms out. They would throw their biggest explosions at each other, and the one who fell out of bounds would lose. They'd have to fight against the recoil of their own quirk as well.
Light balls spawned on the broken concrete. Yoshiko held her palm out, one hand behind her. Bakugo also put his palm out, one hand behind him. The hand behind them served the purpose of blasting them forward so they didn't go flying back.
All Might's eyes widened when he realized what was going to happen. He should have stopped them earlier, but he didn't know they'd resort to this. "Young Bakugo! Young Akimitsu!" He yelled in warning. Too late. He sprinted as fast as he could into a tunnel under the bleachers.
"SUPERNOVA!!"
"CLUSTER EXPLOSION!!"
The entire stage broke off into pieces, a massive cluster being formed where their explosions met, creating an intense shock wave that shook the entire stadium, hot wind blowing to the spectators' faces. The drones flew back so they didn't get caught in the ginormous explosion, trying to capture the entire scene.
"OH MY GOD!! WHAT ON EARTH?! THAT WAS THE BIGGEST EXPLOSION I'VE SEEN! ISN'T THAT DANGEROUS?"
The explosion was so strong that Bakugo and Yoshiko both underestimated what would happen when their explosions met. They went flying in opposite directions, unable to fight off the result of their own explosions.
They both went crashing into the bleachers opposite from each other, losing consciousness when their heads hit the metal bars. The heroes watching rushed over to the two on each side.
Yoshiko's body slid down, leaving a trail of blood as she slid down. She could see a blur of her mother yelling something at her. Yoshiko felt warm liquid drip down her forehead. Her entire body shook with pain. She looked away from her mother and right across from her, where heroes were gathered around another person in tattered clothes. Bakugo.
So they both fell out of bounds, huh?
Yoshiko's eyes slowly drifted shut, tuning out all the noises around her.
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