Chapter Text
The so-called “evil lair” was quiet, and noticeably more… solemn. Much to Katsuki’s relief, everyone managed to flee before being arrested at the USJ attack. Something told him that it might have been more intentional than Aizawa let on. No one got captured, and the fifteen that took up Shigaraki’s offer regrouped within the day. By all accounts, it was a victory.
Well, not all accounts. For one, the UA teachers were freaked, even if they didn’t let much on. No one got majorly injured, but it was unnerving. Their relative sense of peace was shattered though the attack was technically ineffective. So many questions were left unanswered. How did some random villains make the Nomu that rivaled All Might’s powers? Could they get access to the school’s events again? Would the man leading the charge be bold enough to try that same maneuver again? Not to mention that the students and their parents, whether directly involved or not, were terrified.
It was even worse from the perspective of the gang of villains who cared for Katsuki. Many times, he had tried to assure them that he forgave them. After all, they switched sides the moment they saw children.
Their crushing remorse about the hand they had in the USJ event had been the leading conversation in the week after the attack. Honestly, it was getting pretty annoying to dodge their attempts at apologizing.
Cho was the most difficult of them, having convinced Roomba to take the job even after he expressed concern about Shigaraki’s motivations. She was already terribly nervous and hovering, but her guilt dialed those tendencies up to eleven.
Needless to say, Katsuki was looking for an excuse to get out of the lair. He even went to his actual house in an attempt to escape. The crushing weight of neglect got old fast.
The Midoriyas would have no qualms about taking him in of course, but Deku didn’t need to be worrying on top of his already jam-packed schedule training with a new quirk. Training for the upcoming festival kept him occupied during the days, and when nights came around, well… sleeping outside wasn’t so bad for a few days.
It was a relief when the Sports Festival finally came around.
When his exit was blocked by a bunch of extras out for his blood, he wasn’t bothered. All of them except 1-B were just bugs to crush beneath his boot. On the other hand, he was significantly more bothered when the icy bastard decided he wasn’t worth declaring war on. The extras’ fury and his indifference reinforced his need to make a declaration. To the other classes, to his own peers, to the world.
“I just want to say, I’m gonna win.” Most of the crowd started booing, and his classmates seemed even more pissed at his wild arrogance than before. A few more eyes than he expected looked understanding. He had to win, to be the indisputable champion.
“Bold words, Bakugou. What else could I expect from you?” Kirishima patted Katsuki on the shoulder as he passed by. “I wouldn’t make promises I couldn’t keep though.” The challenging look in his eyes was playful, but unexpectedly genuine.
“Oh, are you threatening me? If so, I should warn you if you get in my way, you’ll end up dead .” He gave his best sadistic grin, but Kirishima didn’t show any signs of fear.
“Wouldn’t have it any other way!” They gave each other a final look before Katsuki made his way to the back of the crowd, sparing a glare for the audience. He scanned through the arena, and his eyes locked onto a giant banner spelling out “BAKUGO KATSUKI”, everyone holding individual letters. Each one held by a giant row of villains. In the middle of a tournament filled with heroes. Katsuki vaguely registered that his mouth was hanging open in disbelief.
“Woah, Bakugou, looks like you already have a fanbase. How’d that happen?” Electric guy asked, bringing a terrifying amount of attention to his idiot family. “Weird, I think I recognize a few of them.” After being recognized at the USJ attack, what in the hell were they thinking?
Luckily, Midnight interrupted everyone’s train of thought with her introduction to the first challenge. An obstacle course. Simplistic, but at least it was a decent way to weed off the weaklings. Everyone in class 1-A would be able to make it to the next round. Personally, he was more adept at combat himself, but his quirk was more than versatile enough to come in first by a long shot.
Icy Hot seemed to disagree, thinking he could wipe out everyone with his continual attacks. He was grateful that it cleared the field enough so he could use his explosions without worrying about killing some extras.
For the entire course, Katsuki was neck and neck with the ice boy. Then Deku smacked his damn shield on a mine, exploding on his face. Not only does Deku beat him out, but Icyhot lands second place by a hair. He nearly lost his head, but everyone in the top 42 made it through, so it’s not like he didn’t still have the chance to come in first. Plus, despite the idiocy, the giant banner cheering him on was maybe a little encouraging.
More importantly, Deku would be at a massive disadvantage in the cavalry battle with his 1 million points. If Katsuki sat on his points, unless someone wracked up a massive amount of headbands, keeping his own would likely be enough. That wasn’t the Bakugou Katsuki way though. He wasn’t about to waste the people lining up to join his team to rest on his laurels.
“Remind me of your names and quirks again.”
“Are you kidding? We’re your classmates!” Pink hair exclaimed, offended. He did observe most of their battles in the Heroes vs Villains exercise, but most of them didn’t have a proper chance to show off the expanse of their quirk’s abilities. “Well, I can melt Todoroki’s ice if we get stuck.”
That was a pretty good pitch, honestly. Not only that, but her team easily crushed the heroes in their original combat exercise.
“I’ll take you.” He said bluntly, at which she cheered, apparently in a constant state of excitement. Ear girl was at the back of the group, but didn’t bother to speak up. “Ears, get up here.” She jumped up, pointing to herself questioningly.
“Me?”
“Obviously I’m talking about you, idiot!” One more. He tapped Tentacles on the shoulder. Kirishima has already assembled a group, so a front rider would be hard to find.
“You’re a big guy, can you take a blast to the back?”
“As long as it’s not too intense, I should be able to take it.” His hand extended and turned into a mouth to talk to him. He assumed the guy’s quirk had to do with his giant body, but apparently he could grow orifices on his hands. Creepy, but there was probably a use for that somewhere.
So, his team was decided. With the lineup he put together, they would blow the other competitors out of the water .