Chapter Text
“I pledge— That I’ll be Number One.”
“...and now that the UA’s finest said his piece, let’s welcome the finest student of the Kimetsu Academy team to say his pledge! The Hate-Vanquishing Hero, Hantengu!”
…
“Brutal fiends who torment the weak are atrocious, offensive… to the extreme. It will be our job to show that it’s inevitable and natural that there will always be a hero mightier than them. As a student of Kimetsu Academy I pledge to show the strength needed to save all the people out there who may need my help and I expect nothing less from any single one of you!”
***
Bakugo Katsuki was born a winner. Everybody knows it.
Men aren’t born equal, Katsuki’s known it as soon as his childhood friend, Izuku, was diagnosed as quirkless, while he inherited the best of his parents’ genetics, manifesting Explosion, a quirk perfectly suited for a boy destined to become the new Number One Hero.
Granted, winning the genetic lottery doesn’t mean everything is to be handed to him by default. Former Number Three Hero, the Quirkless Hero, Hinokami, was a testament to that, wielding terrifying strength for someone without a quirk, and Katsuki respected that strength and the man’s skill to use it, before he went rogue. That’s why he didn’t discount Izuku when he challenged his status as the smartest student in their middle school, when he challenged his status as the most physically adept student in the class. He refused to be surpassed, and so he worked his hide off until he became unreachable, like All Might is unreachable for Endeavor.
He scored the highest on the UA Entrance Exam.
He won every training exercise in the first term.
He easily made it into the UA Sports Festival Team to represent the First Years in a competition against Kimetsu Hero Academy, the second rate school Izuku seemed to be geeking out about for some unfathomable reason. Though no one could blame him for his poor taste, we have all our guilty pleasures. Except Katsuki, of course.
“Out of my way, you stupid extras!”
Katsuki breezed through the first two challenges of the Sports Festival, he made it into the Fighting Tournament and it’s all but a certainty that he will make it to the finals and will win the tournament to show them who will become the next Number One.
“That’s a neat party trick you have. Trying to sound like the best, working a quirk like the best, but however you try, copycat, YOU CAN’T BE THE BEST!”
Round One. Wakizashi. The Kimetsu Academy student with a long mohawk and a voice annoyingly similar to his own copied his quirk (by cutting and chewing Katsuki’s hair, which is just gross) , but even using his support gun and blade he could never measure up to Katsuki’s ingenuity and knowledge of his quirk’s strength and weaknesses.
“The greatest honor I give to you, round cheeks, is respecting your strength and not holding back!”
Quarter-Finals. Uravity. A fellow student who, just as Katsuki himself, holds nothing back. Of course, the audience is charmed by her pretty face and boos him when he “toys” with her, but Katsuki doesn’t let it waver him. What are words but useless waste of air when it’s a hero’s actions that define them? Then again, teams of both schools shunning the audience and supporting Katsuki, Wakizashi and that dumb Deku first of all, warms something in him that isn’t the sweet-smelling glycerin.
Katsuki doesn’t toy with Uraraka. He acknowledges her strength and he overcomes her. Sometimes your best efforts aren’t enough, but it’s no shame to lose to the absolute best.
What is a shame is not even trying.
“...you put out your flames. You dare mock me!” Katsuki snarls, shaking Todoroki Shoto, the disgrace who lost his fight against him in the semi-finals without using the flame half of his quirk when he’s just shown it before, fighting quirkless Deku. Todoroki doesn’t bother resisting, looking at Katsuki with boredom in his mismatched eyes, like Katsuki’s the stupid one here. “Disgusting. At least the finals will have someone worthy of my time.”
Katsuki lets go of Todoroki and the other falls to the ground on his back with an absent expression on his face. When the boy then crosses his arms on his chest as if he’s laying on a beach, the blonde can’t help but snarl at the audacity.
“Hyo-hyo! What an exciting battle! You guys sure train them well here at UA, Mic!” one of the announcers, that fishface Gyokko, cheers. “But we’re about to see how well your kids truly measure up to the best of Kimetsu Academy in the next round!”
“Ah-ah, Gyokko, don’t forget the Third Place Playoff!” Present Mic laughs. “And then it'll be the time for the tournament’s grand finale!”
Katsuki grins. Then it’ll be the time to cement his triumph.
***
“Ladies and gentlemen, it’s the moment we’ve all been waiting for!” Present Mic’s joyful voice rings through the stadium and the crowds cheer in return. “The final fight of the grandiose Fighting Tournament of UA Sports Festival!”
“On one side, the light of UA Hero Academy, the self-assured and determined youth appearing in the fireworks of his explosions, the Explosive Hero, Dynamight!” Gyokko announces and the crowds cheer.
Katsuki, to the cheers of his own team, or at least some of them, throwing a sharp grin to Izuku who responds with a thumbs-up, leaves the team stands to enter the arena, at the edge of which the reptilian referee, Spinner, is already standing, awaiting the challengers. The blonde greets him with a scoff that only makes the hero smile somewhat fondly, though Katsuki can’t help but see condescension in it.
Then Present Mic announces the other finalist.
“On the other side, the might of Kimetsu Hero Academy, the righteous and decisive, the Hate-Vanquishing Hero, Hantengu! The sixth of his name, youngest son of the famed Sentiment Hero!”
Katsuki’s final opponent steps into the ring with determination in his yellow eyes with red scleras. The boy’s shorter than Katsuki but, standing that close next to him and not just watching from the stands, he’s definitely more well-built in muscles than him, which for the briefest moment makes the blonde jealous. There are two curved horns on his forehead, right under the bushy hair.
Just like every Kimetsu Academy competitor, he wears a green sports uniform with the kanji of “OBLITERATE” in a red circle on the left breast.
“Ready to lose, pipsqueak?” Bakugo smirks smugly.
Hantengu’s intense gaze that would have made grown men shiver, almost appears to glean into and study Katsuki’s soul, searching it for imperfections. “Tough luck, you’re not finding any.”
“The outcome of this fight is already decided, Dynamight,” Hantengu states seriously and the other sneers at the condescension. “Don’t hold back on my account, you’re the closest thing to a competition I’ve had. Show me all of your self-proclaimed might.”
“You might not handle all of me,” the other cackles viciously, but it doesn’t change Hantengu’s severe expression.
“Alright, you two, let’s see if your bite is worse than your bark!” Spinner intervenes with a laugh. The Swordplay Hero then spins and smashes his enormous sheathed sword against the ground, ringing the start of the final match of the tournament. “Begin!”
In a blink of an eye, Katsuki positions his hands behind himself, releasing explosions to dash towards Hantengu. While the chances of succeeding in what he attempts are low, they’re worth trying to fling Hantengu outside the arena before he activates his quirk. It’s something the four eyes, Iida, attempted in his fight against Hantengu, but it didn’t bear fruit then.
It doesn’t bear fruit for Katsuki either, when the short boy leaps into the air, rising to the heights that would make Bakugo’s frog-like classmate jealous. While in jump, his quirk finally manifests, and five drums with the kanji of “HATRED” manifest behind him, connected by a floating wooden ring. Hantengu wastes no time striking them with one of the bone-like daggers previously hanging off his hips and that’s when the actual fight begins.
Massive snake-like dragon heads erupt from the ground, reaching for Katsuki, trying to swallow him whole. One of them erupts right under his feet and Dynamight has to use an explosion-enhanced jump to leap away at the last moment.
“Look at that!” Present Mic shouts out. “Hantengu went to summon four mighty dragon heads at once! That’s the most anyone forced him to up until this point! Isn’t it a little bit of an overkill?”
Gyokko laughs in return.
“Why, gracious Present Mic, it only means that the boy makes the right conclusions after watching Dynamight’s fights, which were a spectacle of brilliant explosions, and takes him seriously!”
Katsuki grins as he uses his explosions to jump from one dragon head to the other as they try to snap uselessly at him, while Hantengu stands high above on the fourth dragon head, with his arms crossed like he’s a higher force of judgment, too out of reach for Katsuki to reach and the entire idea makes Bakugo’s entire being furious, making the blonde’s red eyes twitch. “...how dare that stupid dwarf LOOK DOWN ON ME?!”
“Get down here, you little shit!” Bakugo shouts, his palms sparking with explosions as he flies straight at Hantengu, too fast for massive dragon heads to catch up.
Hantengu strikes the drums.
The head he was standing on suddenly reforms to create a protective shell around its master, but Katsuki’s already been expecting either an attempt at a counterattack using that head or, just as it happened, a protective move, and he’s got enough nitroglycerin sweat stored up for a strong close-combat Ultimate Move.
By focusing his Explosion in a single point, Katsuki creates a focused blast. It’s been enough in training to melt cement and while he had his support items then, even on his own the strength is more than enough to burn through Hantengu’s wooden protection.
“He IS right, the outcome of this fight IS decided. However you turn it around, fire beats wood and he can’t stand up to my Explosion with his wooden dragons.”
The wood flies outwards like shrapnel from the force of Dynamight’s explosion, though he’s surprised to find the shell to be empty, with Hantengu under him in freefall, still drilling his soul with his severe gaze as he holds his arms crossed.
“As I said, don’t hold back on my account!” the boy shouts as he falls. “SHOW ME YOUR STRENGTH, DYNAMIGHT!”
Mid-flight, Hantengu flips around and begins drumming all five drums behind him furiously. The ground begins shaking, the entire stadium rumbles to the crowd’s tension and excitement and Katsuki’s red eyes widen in shock at what he sees.
The entire arena cracks, ruptures and explodes, dozens of giant wooden dragon heads ripping out of the ground, flying at him like an all-consuming swarm, with Hantengu landing gracefully in the middle of the wooden storm, feet firm against the ground, and looking up at his enemy. Golden eyes watch Dynamight carefully as he jumps from one dragon head to another, cracking them with his explosions. They snap at him without care for each other, crushing each other and having that debris impede Katsuki’s descent into the eye of the storm to blast at the smug troll. He’s not struggling under the intense pressure, HE’S NOT.
Hantengu begins drumming again, forming layers upon layers of protection around himself. With defenses much sturdier than he’s seen before and with countless amounts of dragon heads trying to chew him up at every turn, Katsuki has no room to use his concentrated AP Shot again, nor is he assured it will even have the proper effect. Hantengu has already exploited Katsuki’s own weakness, as he realizes now, making him exert himself against the mass of dragons. His palms are starting to throb from all the explosions he produced and he can’t keep it up forever. Thus, what he needs is one big break, a finisher just like the one he served that smug half-and-half bastard, Todoroki.
Pushing himself off of one of the dragon heads, Katsuki propels himself into the air, spinning and using explosions to turn himself into a tornado, into a massive fiery drill that shreds the wooden dragons approaching him and perforates layer after layer of the great wooden shield created by Hantengu.
A massive explosion resounds, pieces of wood raining outwards of the arena, and Katsuki lands, wavering, but never falling from exertion, with a wild grin on his face.
“Yeah, that’s how it goes, little wooden troll—”
Katsuki chokes when Hantengu emerges from the smoke with an unexpected punch to the gut. He let his guard down, what a rookie mistake. And it almost looks like his attack, while devastating his defenses, hasn’t actually done anything against Hantengu himself, which just can’t be true. His quirk can’t be that strong and he couldn’t possibly escape the impact.
Dynamight’s palm glows, ready to unleash a Stun Grenade technique to put them into equal circumstances. Golden eyes catch it quickly and when the shorter teen opens his mouth, Katsuki thinks he’s about to receive another dose of condescending trash talk.
…what he receives instead is a blast of sound that jerks him upwards, launching Katsuki into the air to the shock of the crowd. “What… what was that?”
“Wow-wow!” Present Mic shouts from the commentator’s booth. “Now that’s a new one! I thought the kid had a wood control quirk! Where did that little listener’s mighty shout come from? Almost looks like what Hantengu V has!”
“Feeling jealous, Mic?” Gyokko chuckles, the smug fish aware of Hantengu’s true power. “No one ever said his quirk was Ligneokinesis, did they now?”
As Katsuki flies through the air, he forces his body to flip around.
Hantengu strikes a drum behind him and the wooden dragon head that forms behind him opens its maw to shoot an array of lightning, all aimed at Katsuki who can’t hold back the startled pained scream. It’s even worse than to be on the receiving end of his electric classmate’s attacks, if only because they feel much less focused.
Bakugo crashes to the ground, wheezing and shivering, forcing himself to stand on his knees, trying to stand up.
“I remember watching a news report last year, where a boy just like you was captured by a sludge villain,” Hantengu says severely and Bakugo snarls viciously at the reminder of his weakness against the first villain he ever encountered. He’s finally back on his legs out of sheer spite and outrage, shaking, but undefeated yet and ready to cave in Hantengu’s stupid face. He doesn’t get to swear him out as his opponent strikes his drums once more and his dragon shocks Katsuki, throwing him into the raw upended ground, close to the edge of the ruined arena. Golden eyes judge him and despite his title as the Hate-Vanquishing Hero, Hantengu’s intimidating aura projects nothing but hate and animosity.
“You pledged ‘to be Number One’, didn’t you? Arrogant and selfish. What does it mean for you, being Number One? Dominating the weak? While it’s a pleasant pastime, you should get the fuck out of UA because when it’s your sole focus, what difference is there between you and the villain who overwhelmed you?”
“W-Wha…” Bakugo wheezes, scratching the earth, forcing his twitching, tired and overwhelmed body to work for him and stand up again. “W-Whaddya k-know about it— s-stupid little fuck…”
“Pray tell, why would Shoto ever need to use his flames against you? Anyone with half of a brain can deduce you’re weaker in the cold, but you just wanted a challenge,” Hantengu scoffs and logically, Katsuki realizes he’s right. Todoroki might have actually taken him seriously by only using his ice, but the fact that only Deku got to see his flames… it’s unfair, as childish as it may sound. “Well, here’s your challenge. One you cannot measure up to.”
While he himself is a mess, plus his uniform is torn to hell and back from these unexpected lightning strikes, the horned Kimetsu Academy barely sports a burn from Katsuki’s own explosions. The spite and wish to put at least one solid tear on his pristine form make Bakugo shakily stand on his feet once again, only to see that Hantengu is already standing on the head of his wooden dragon, out of his reach.
“There’s always someone stronger than you out there. There’s always an All Might to reach towards. What will you do if you never reach that coveted spot? Why become a hero at all if what you seek is mere recognition of your strength? I know that even if I’m not the strongest, I fight for the righteous cause, to protect those weak and afraid, like the boy captured by sludge. Why do you fight, Dynamight?”
Why? Because it will be a sign of weakness to not even try. Hard work brought a quirkless hero to Number Three spot, Katsuki is destined to be Number One, the mightiest hero, the terror of villains, he’s a winner in life!
…though as he gazes at the massive wooden dragon looming over him, feeling the intimidating oppressing aura of the diminutive Hate-Vanquishing Hero, for the briefest of moments Katsuki wonders if he’s chasing a shallow childhood dream after all, to be Number One in a world where people like Hantengu VI exist. …like an All Might to his Endeavor.
The Kimetsu Academy student snarls.
“Disgusting.”
Hantengu strikes his drum and Katsuki defiantly charges at the dragon with his palms lighting up to unleash his final explosion. As he launches it, he feels the heat of the attack envelop him instead when instead of the expected lightning or even the sound waves shown before, the dragon releases a violent, stormy gust of wind that launches Katsuki out of bounds of the arena with ease like he’s a fallen leaf.
The world goes dark for him the moment he crashes into the wall under the stands and right through it.
***
“Kacchan!” Izuku shouts in terror, seeing his childhood friend absolutely pulverized and almost casually flung out of bounds of the devastated arena. Tanjiro, who’s been allowed and welcome to accompany his new friend in the UA team stands for the final matches, lays a reassuring hand on his shoulder.
“Don’t worry, Izuku-kun,” the burgundy-haired boy reassures him. “Zohakuten knows his strength. After a trip to Recovery Girl, I’m sure your friend won’t have any lingering pains. …except the ones to his pride, I imagine.”
Izuku glances at Tanjiro and at the arena where the slightly stunned referees, sans Spinner, who comes from Kimetsu Academy and seems to have expected Hantengu’s show of strength, announce the tournament’s victor.
Midnight explicitly goes to check on Bakugo while Cementoss begins cleaning up the ruined area.
“I hope so…” Izuku breathes out, rubbing his forehead.
“Well, at least I can say that I’m happy not to reach the finals,” Tanjiro jokes and the quirkless student can’t help but chuckle awkwardly. He barely stood up to Todoroki in the quarter-finals when the boy used ice alone and dipped immediately once he got him to finally unleash his flames, something his classmate desperately needed. Against Bakugo Katsuki or Urami Zohakuten? …yeah, that would suck.
“Me too, Tanjiro-kun, me too.”