Chapter Text
“Tokage! Midoriya! Your strategies were both flawless, I’m extremely proud, but are there any takeaways the four of you have? Or you, Team Jiro?”
Bakugo bristled. This was supposed to be his team but in his arrogance and tunnel vision, he’d left leadership to Jiro.
“Is there anything you kids think you learned or would do differently?”
“I let myself get suckered by Shinso’s quirk. I literally saw him using that special mask a dozen times during the last match. I really feel like an idiot even if Tokage managed to cut a hole in Shinso’s strategy,” Kamakiri sighed.
“Don’t beat yourself up too much man, that trick is literally meant to catch people by surprise. You managed to do more to us than we did to you,” Shinso replied.
Kamakiri smiled lightly.
Jiro huffed. “As much as I want to blame our loss purely on Bakugo, the four of us could’ve played things differently or at least tried harder to talk him down from focusing only on Midoriya.”
“The tape trap was probably a dumb idea. Especially when one of us literally pointed out what Kamakiri’s quirk was. I acted out of habit and assumed my usual strategy would work regardless of my opponent.”
“At least you tried to be productive, aside from brainwashing Kamakiri, I really didn’t do anything. Hell, the binding cloth should be stronger than the tape based on what Aizawa-Sensei told me. I could have caught Kamakiri if I tried and at least slowed them down long enough for Jiro and Sero to escape. Sato probably would’ve bore the brunt of that attack still, but he would’ve had someone watching his back at least, but I froze when I saw how fast he was. I was scared of what could happen if I acted. If I’d made a mistake and got one of us hurt.”
“I freezed up once Shinso took over Kamakiri. Once Kamakiri immobilized Sato, I thought we had the match won, I wasn’t expecting for them to try a comeback and had no idea how to respond once they retook control of the match,” Bondo explained, holding his head down in embarrassment.
“Midoriya, Tokage, Bakugo, do you three have anything to add?” Vlad asked.
“I’m pretty happy with the way things turned out, when our opponents retook control from us, I took it right back. As far as letting Midoriya run off with Bakugo, we talked about it before our match. We knew that the minute Bakugo saw Midoriya he’d come out swinging, so I encouraged him to talk smack to him as we made our way into the training grounds to make him more interested in picking a fight with Midoriya. I had every confidence that he could at least hold him off if not outright beat him and I think my confidence was proven correct.”
“You still could’ve ganged up on him, four against one,” Vlad pointed out.
“We could have, but Bakugo’s a powerhouse with a quirk very well equipped for combat. Midoriya and I agreed in advance that it would be better to keep his attention on a 1 v 1 and then make it 4 v 1 if we managed to take out the rest of Team Jiro.”
Bakugo grumbled. It was supposed to be his team.
“Midoriya?”
“I probably could’ve used Black Whip earlier, but I wanted to hold it back for a bit just for the sake of psyching out Katsuki. I wasn’t sure what he knew about my quirk, but I was sure he knew about the strength enhancement aspect. My quirk didn’t come in until not long before the entrance exam, so I knew seeing my strength would be a huge shock to Katsuki in and of itself, holding off on Black Whip until the fourth quarter seemed like a good way to keep his focus on me in case he was thinking about running away to help his team. Plus the slingshot trick was just something I’d been workshopping with Kendo and Shoda in our offtime. I really thought I’d had a handle on it, so I kind of wanted to give it a try and it worked out great both times. My only real regret is that I might’ve put too much power behind that last attack.”
Aizawa stared at Bakugo, eyes brimming with cold rage.
Bakugo looked away. He knew the lecture was coming but he still wasn’t ready to hear it.
Finally Aizawa grabbed Bakugo with his own binding cloth while also activating his quirk. “Katsuki Bakugo. I told you three times to stop fighting. The only reason I’m still talking to you is because Midoriya cut off my final warning which I’m entirely sure you would’ve ignored, but seeing as how I don’t know that for a fact, you’re only getting a three week suspension with two weeks of detention following it. When the match is over, the fight is over. You abandoned your team to fight Midoriya because of some strange personal grudge and therefore cost them the match. I expect better of a UA student, I expect better of a hero student, and I especially expect better from my student. I’ve called your mother and father already. They will be waiting for you at the UA entrance. The school day is done for you but before you go, you will apologize to your teammates for letting them down and you will apologize to Midoriya for attacking him after the match was done. Have I made myself clear?”
Bakugo nodded, his arms being spread wide and his head being forced to look up at Aizawa by the cloth. “You have sir. I’ll comply.”
“Good,” Aizawa closed his eyes and withdrew his capture weapon.
Katsuki let out a deep breath.
“Jiro, Sero, and Sato, you guys are my classmates and I should have been looking out for you, but instead I ran off to fight a guy I had a grudge against. That was stupid of me and it cost us the match, I apologize,” Katsuki lowered his back, bowing to his fellows.
“Apology accepted man, just be better next time,” Sato replied.
Sero and Jiro exchanged looks. They weren’t as impressed.
“We’ll let you know what we think after you get back,” Jiro replied.
Katsuki groaned. That was fair. It pissed him off, but it was fair.
“Shinso, you’re the only one here who’s never been involved in real hero training before today. I set a bad example for both my class and my course. I should’ve been there to help guide you through the proceedings, instead I acted like an arrogant vigilante, who thinks they can do what they want as long as they have a good reason. That was improper, and I apologize to you as well,” Katsuki bowed once again.
“Yeah, I’ll be honest, if I do get accepted into the hero course after this, you’ll probably be a big factor in me choosing 1-B over 1-A. Sorry guys.”
“No need to apologize man, we completely understand,” Sero dismissed.
“Midoriya.”
Izuku quirked an eyebrow. All that and it was still only ‘Midoriya’ instead of ‘Izuku’?
“I’m sorry I attacked you after the match was done. I knew my loss was my own fault for focusing on attacking you during the match instead of working with my team, it made me even angrier and I lost control,” Katsuki bowed a third time, his posture even more rigid than it had been with the rest of this group. “It was unprofessional, it was unheroic, and it was uncalled for, and I wish I hadn’t done it.”
Izuku nodded. “Okay. I’m glad you said that.”
Katsuki grit his teeth. “Will you accept my apology?”
“I’m not sure if I should,” Izuku shrugged. “You repeatedly insulted me, you called my class rep a bitch, you accused me of lying about my quirk status, and that’s just what you did during this match, we both know our history stretches further back than that.”
Katsuki’s eyes were burning with the same rage from before. Of all people, Deku had to accept his apology. He could accept not being forgiven by Ears, Soy Face, and Eyebags, but not Deku. Deku had to forgive him. It didn’t matter if he deserved it, Deku had to forgive him. “I sincerely regret that behavior as well, Midoriya. My arrogance blinded me to simple realities and my words were unacceptable as well. Please accept my apology as I work to better myself in the future.”
Izuku felt conflicted. He wanted to forgive Katsuki, not for him, so much as for himself. He didn’t want to hold a grudge but he also felt like accepting his apology would be calling this something that was unimportant now. The way Katsuki had treated him for 11 years had hurt him. Katsuki used to be his best friend in the world. They’d been to each other’s homes, had dinner together, and prayed together. They’d played together. They’d watched TV together. And then all of that went out the window just because Katsuki was born with a quirk and he wasn't?
Izuku sighed. “I accept that you’ve apologized to me and I appreciate that you’ve chosen to do so.”
Katsuki let out a sigh of relief. “Thank you, Midoriya.”
“Dismissed,” Vlad King announced.
Once the teachers had walked away, Izuku stepped back into Katsuki’s space.
“But I meant what I said earlier, the bridge between us is gone, and it’s going to stay gone. We’re done. We’re not friends. We’re not rivals. We’re not enemies. We’re just two guys that go to the same high school,” the green haired boy whispered.
Katsuki wanted to strike Deku again but swallowed back his rage. It pissed him off to hear that but it also made sense. If he was in his shoes, he’d probably say the same.
“See you around, Midoriya,” he replied, venom dripping from his voice as walked away, shoulder checking his former victim as he did so.
Jiro rolled her eyes.
“I’ve got half a mind to transfer because of him, good game, Midoriya,” the purple haired girl offered, saluting her middle school acquaintance.
Izuku let out a small laugh. “Good game, Jiro.
Kyoka bit her lip and fidgeted for a moment. “Hey man, I’m sorry I never said anything back in the day. I saw the way everyone was treating you back at Aldera but I never did anything to stop it. And I should have. I was wrong to let it just happen.”
Izuku nodded and smiled at her. “I appreciate you saying that, Jiro. Thank you for apologizing to me, but for the record, I never held any of it against you. I hope you and I can be friends though.”
”Agreed.”
Izuku returned her salute and moved back to his own group.
Monoma and Setsuna smiled at Izuku.
“Good for you my friend,” the other loud mouthed blonde offered, shaking his friend’s hand.
“I’m glad you got that out of your system,” the other green haired nerd applauded, giving her new boyfriend a hug.
Izuku let out a heavy sigh. “Telling him to F.O.D. wouldn’t have felt right, but it felt good to finally put our story to an end.”
Now they could all focus on the reason they were actually here. Not settling old scores, being heroes. Not paying penance to old schoolyard bullies, stopping real villains. It was time to let the past be passed and focus on the future.