The Following THREE Chapters are available for Patrons.
Chapter 12 (Emotions on edge), Chapter 13 (Everything is going according to plan... apparently) and Chapter 14 (U.S.J: The Consequences of a Butterfly's Wingbeat (1/3)) are already available for Patrons.
Patreon: patreon.com/Subaru710772142
***
He had been observing him since the moment he discovered who that boy was. How could he not? After all, Bakugo Katsuki had surpassed his idiot old man.
It may have been in a meaningless practical exam, and at the time, Endeavor was just a teenager, but the significance of that event was clear. Someone of the same age and inexperience had proven to be superior to Japan's current No. 2 Hero.
And that alone was enough for Todoroki Shoto. If he was going to surpass that man, what better way to start than by defeating someone who had already surpassed him at the same age?
"Do you think they got trapped?"
Todoroki snapped out of his thoughts upon hearing his teammate's question.
"No, Bakugo wouldn't get caught in that attack." Without even looking at Tokoyami, Todoroki walked toward the stairs.
"Right." Tokoyami followed a few steps behind. "Stay alert, Dark Shadow."
"Got it!"
***
Lifting his hands from the ground, Bakugo looked around the room, confirming that his attack had completely destroyed Todoroki's ice. Satisfied with his control, he stood up and turned to Momo, who remained still with her head down, clearly shaken.
"Are you okay?"
Momo lifted her head, blinking a few times as if waking up from a trance. "Uh—Ah? Oh, yes, I'm fine."
Bakugo narrowed his eyes, analyzing her for a moment. "Are you sure? I didn't hurt your feet?" He gestured with his chin toward her scorched boots, which had only now caught Momo's attention.
"N-no," she stammered, lifting one foot to check better. "It just burned the sole a little. Your control was exceptional, Bakugo-san."
Momo straightened up, but her gaze still carried a mix of embarrassment and guilt. "I'm sorry for my incompetence. We almost lost because of me."
"Tsk," Bakugo grumbled irritably. "Stop apologizing. It's useless. Now, do you know what you did wrong?"
Momo hesitated for a moment before answering. "I... created an ineffective plan and wasn't fast enough to fix it. I froze, and that left us vulnerable."
"Yeah, more or less." Bakugo took another step forward until they were only a few centimeters apart, his eyes locked onto hers with an intensity that made Momo hold her breath. "Do you remember what I said about your quirk?"
'Why are you bringing that up now?' Momo wondered uncertainly, not understanding why that mattered at that moment. "You said it was useful."
"If you know how to use it properly," Bakugo completed the sentence, making her raise an eyebrow. "I don't know what kind of life you've had until now, Yaoyorozu. And honestly, I don't care. What I do know is that you don't have practical experience. And because of that, you're too stuck in theory."
Before she could say anything, Bakugo raised his hand and lightly pressed a finger against her forehead. "In here, everything will be perfect. Everything follows the plan, no surprises, no failures, no mistakes."
Momo's eyes widened at the gesture, but she remained still, absorbing every word.
"But the real world doesn't work that way. That's why we can't fully trust what our brains tell us," Bakugo continued, lowering his hand until it touched her chest, right above her heart. "In a fight or a rescue, we have to, above all, trust this. We have to let our instincts and hearts lead us."
Momo felt her heart race, and not just because of the contact. "Let instinct and heart lead," she repeated in an almost inaudible whisper, more to herself than to him.
"Exactly." Bakugo nodded. "You're smart, Yaoyorozu. Smarter than anyone here. But until you learn to trust yourself when your plans fall apart, you'll keep making the same mistakes."
Momo pressed her lips together, murmuring almost inaudibly, "I... understand."
"Great!"
After a few seconds, Momo lowered her head, and he noticed that her face was turning redder and redder.
"Hah?!" Bakugo frowned, confused by her reaction. "What is it now?"
Momo nervously fidgeted with her fingers and murmured weakly, "B-Bakugo-san... can you move your hand now?"
His eyes widened as Bakugo realized that his finger was still—pressing, inadvertently, against Momo's chest. '...big'
***
"He... is touching her chest?!"
In the monitoring room, the silence was shattered by Mineta, who nearly fell to the floor, pointing at the screen with an expression of pure shock and hatred. 'Damn protagonist!'
"Bakugo is indeed... a fearless man," Kirishima murmured, his respect for the boy increasing.
"He's just a lucky bastard, that's what he is," Kaminari said beside him.
'Why... why am I angry?' Uraraka wondered, not understanding why she suddenly felt like punching something.
While the students were arguing, All Might, who stood at the front of everyone, couldn't help but let his smile grow a little wider. He was the only one who could hear the conversation between Bakugo and Momo and knew exactly what was happening.
'Ah, these youngsters...' he sighed, shaking his head. 'Always so quick to come up with absurd theories.'
At no point did it cross his mind to clarify what was actually happening.
***
"...sorry." Bakugo slowly pulled his hand away and turned his back to Momo, disguising his embarrassment. "A-anyway! They must've gone up a few floors by now."
"Y-yes," Momo said, still trying to regain her composure. "W-what should we do now?"
Bakugo frowned, noticing the hesitation in her voice. 'She lost the motivation to lead.' He walked over to one of the windows and opened it. "I'll do whatever you tell me to do."
"W-what?" Momo blinked, surprised. "But I thought I wasn't ready—"
"Then get ready!" Bakugo shot back, his voice firm as he climbed onto the window ledge. He looked over his shoulder, his eyes burning with determination. "This is the moment for that. You can do it, Yaoyorozu. I know you can."
Momo's eyes widened at his words. The unexpected confidence from Bakugo caught her completely off guard. She clenched her fists, feeling the doubt gradually being replaced by something stronger: determination. 'Trust… in my heart… and what it's telling me now is—'
***
'This was the floor where I felt my ice being destroyed,' Todoroki thought, his eyes carefully scanning the third-floor hallway.
Tokoyami followed silently, with Dark Shadow floating restlessly by his side. The shadow was larger and denser due to all the building's windows being covered in ice, making the interior darker.
"This place is too quiet," Tokoyami broke the silence.
"I know," Todoroki replied, keeping his gaze fixed on their surroundings.
As they turned the corner, the two suddenly stopped. In the distance, voices began to echo through the halls. It was hard to make out what they were saying, but the agitated tone indicated they were arguing.
"Did you hear that?" Tokoyami asked.
"Yeah." Todoroki narrowed his eyes, tilting his head slightly to try to catch the words more clearly. "It could be Bakugo and Yaoyorozu."
Todoroki started moving again, this time with even more careful steps, his senses on full alert.
As the two got closer, the voices became clearer. It was Bakugo, no doubt, his rough, authoritative voice resonating through the corridors.
"Be quick, Yaoyorozu! We don't have all day!"
"I'm trying, Bakugo-san!" Momo's voice responded.
"They're right there," Tokoyami whispered, pointing to the only door without ice.
Todoroki signaled Tokoyami to wait. "I'm going to freeze the room."
"Understood," Tokoyami replied, preparing Dark Shadow to attack if necessary.
Taking a deep breath, Todoroki exhaled a cold gust of air. With a fluid motion of his right arm, he unleashed a powerful wave of ice that surged through the hallway like an unstoppable tide, covering the walls, floor, and shattering the door to the room ahead.
The sound of ice forming echoed through the space until the room was completely engulfed and sealed by the crystalline layer.
"Let's go—"
But before he could take another step, a loud, growing crackling sound erupted above them. Tokoyami's eyes widened in alarm as Dark Shadow instinctively expanded to shield him.
BOOM!
The ceiling exploded into a shower of concrete, dust, and sparks, and Bakugo burst through from above, a fierce expression on his face and smoke rising from his hands.
'I expected an ambush!' Todoroki prepared to freeze Bakugo mid-air, but the ground gave way when a cannonball shot between him and Tokoyami. 'Yaoyorozu!'
Bakugo took advantage of their fall and propelled himself toward Tokoyami with an explosion.
Dark Shadow hesitated between protecting Tokoyami from the fall or attacking Bakugo in the air, and those few seconds of indecision were all the explosive boy needed to get right in front of them.
Bringing both hands together in front of his body, Bakugo shouted, "Stun Grenade!"
A blinding light burst from Bakugo's hands, forcing Dark Shadow to retreat into Tokoyami's shadow, leaving him unprotected for the subsequent explosion.
BOOM!
"Argh!" Tokoyami was slammed hard against the ground, and before he could even try to recover, he felt a tape being wrapped around his wrist.
"Bakugo-san, I got him!" Momo said as Bakugo landed in front of them.
"Good work," Bakugo said with his back turned, focused on Todoroki, who was staring at him. 'Well, that was actually pretty good for twenty seconds of planning.'
"Tch." Todoroki moved his foot forward, releasing a blast of ice toward the three of them.
'Too bad the space is small.' Bakugo smirked and pointed his hand forward, unleashing an explosion that made the entire building tremble.
BOOOMM!!!
***
In the monitoring room, the atmosphere was tense. The students of Class 1-A watched the battle with wide eyes, stunned by the chaos unfolding on the screen.
"Damn, they're going all out!" Kirishima exclaimed, leaning forward as if he wanted to jump into the screen.
"Did you expect anything else from them?" Sato asked, arms crossed.
"Ah, I think I get it," Mina said to Uraraka beside her. "Todoroki-kun is trying to avenge his father!"
"Sensei... isn't this getting a bit dangerous? Kero," Tsuyu commented, placing a finger against her cheek.
"Indeed... this is getting out of control," Iida declared, adjusting his glasses.
'They're right. If this keeps up, the building is going to collapse!' Izuku concluded, watching how every time Todoroki attacked and Bakugo defended, the building shook a little more.
***
Another ice blast surged forward with force, but it was once again destroyed by an explosion. Bakugo had already lost count of how many times he and Todoroki had repeated this relentless exchange of attacks.
The second floor of the building was in ruins: pieces of walls hung precariously, the ground was littered with debris, and the air was filled with a mist of steam and dust.
'Todoroki doesn't care about the lesson anymore, he just wants to defeat me,' Bakugo thought, wiping a drop of sweat from his forehead. 'So much that he's fighting without thinking.'
Bakugo squinted. The dust made visibility difficult, but he could still see Todoroki a few meters ahead. 'Well, I think this has gone on long enough. I'm ending this now.'
***
"Haah... haah... haah." With each breath, a cold mist left Todoroki's mouth. His right side already showed signs of freezing due to the overload of attacks, but he didn't care. His eyes remained locked on Bakugo. There was no room for weakness. He had to win.
Todoroki moved his foot forward, releasing a new ice blast that swept through the floor like an unstoppable wave. At the same time, Bakugo began running toward the attack.
"You're not stopping me with that!" Bakugo shouted, blasting the ice apart.
But Todoroki wouldn't back down this time. Gritting his teeth, he extended his arm and intensified the attack, sending out a continuous barrage of ice. The ice was reforming faster than Bakugo could destroy it.
Bakugo immediately noticed the difference. Every time he detonated an explosion to break through the ice, another layer formed right behind it.
'Gear shift.' Deciding on another approach, Bakugo unleashed an explosion that sent him flying into the air, spinning at high speed.
'Good thing I ate lightly.' He thought before his hands began firing consecutive explosions, turning him into a sphere of pure destruction that tore through the ice barriers like they were glass.
Todoroki, in turn, tried to react as soon as he realized he wouldn't be able to stop him. 'I need to retreat—' The thought was cut off when he saw that Bakugo was already right in front of him. 'Damn!'
Before he could react, Bakugo halted his frenzied spin and grabbed the collar of Todoroki's uniform firmly. A wild grin spread across his face. "Explosive Speed!" he announced, aiming his free hand at the ground.
BOOOMM!!
The impact launched both of them upwards with overwhelming force. Todoroki barely had time to process what was happening before he was carried by Bakugo, who positioned him on top, using him as a human shield.
Todoroki grabbed Bakugo's arm and started freezing it just as their bodies hit the ceiling, crashing through the concrete of the third and then the fourth floor.
CRAAAAAASH!
"ARGH!" Todoroki's scream echoed through the air as they broke through the last layer of concrete, bursting out of the building and into the sky.
Bakugo seemed completely indifferent to the ice spreading over his arm, his eyes locked on Todoroki, who, even struggling to stay conscious, was still trying to freeze him. 'You're really strong, Todoroki. Our fight would've lasted longer if you weren't blinded by rage.'
The two soared a few more meters before the momentum slowed. At that moment, Bakugo twisted in the air, repositioning Todoroki's body below him.
"Ready for impact, Todoroki?!" Bakugo shouted as they began to fall.
Todoroki, barely conscious, felt the wind slamming against his back. "No... it's not over yet..." he murmured weakly.
Bakugo's eyes widened when he saw Todoroki's left hand moving toward his face.
'Ah, shit.'
***
Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters or songs featured in this fic. Additionally, I do not claim ownership of any products or properties mentioned in this novel. This work is entirely fanfic.