"Ryugamine-kun, what's our mode of action?"
Outside the building, Hiro and Momo began their discussion as the prep time started to tick away.
"Yaoyorozu, you don't have to be too formal. Aren't we already friends? Just calling me Ryugamine is fine. Ryuga or Hiro is okay too."
"Fr-friend?"
"Ah, sorry. Was I being presumptuous? Then I-"
"Nonono! It's not that! I mean…yes. We are friends already, aren't we? Along with Ashido-san, Jiro-san, and the others…"
Momo placed her hand over her ample chest, a warmth spreading over her whole body.
Friends. That's right. They're friends. They've talked about their hobbies and interests, hung out, and even work together towards a common goal. That's something only friends do, isn't it?
"T-then, I'll call you Hiro. Y-you can also call me Momo or something, friend."
"Alright, Momo-chan."
Hiro gently smiled. Momo is really so naively cute.
Momo suppressed the bubbly feeling welling inside her. She must focus. They were still in the middle of class.
Though after this, maybe she could ask Hiro and the others if they want to hang out this weekend. They could study together at her house! Maybe even have a sleepover?
"Momo? Momo! Earth to Momo!"
"Oh! Ah, my apologies, Hiro-kun. I just spaced out."
"It's fine. Now, let's talk about our strategy…"
—
Minutes passed and soon, there were only a couple of seconds left before the preparation phase.
At the end of the corridor leading to the main entrance, Bakugo gasped as he tried to catch his breath. His whole body was soaked in sweat, having done nothing but run during the entire preparation phase.
His Quirk causes the sweat glands from his palms to secrete a nitroglycerin-like substance. And the gauntlet on his hero costume can store these sweat. After focusing on storing the sweat for 5 minutes, its power was already enough to blast apart this whole building.
Although unwilling, he knew he would have a hard time against the white-haired bastard in a head-on clash. With that guy's speed, he won't have any time to react before getting bodied.
To win, he needed to maintain as much distance between them as possible, and a powerful enough long-range attack to take him down.
"5 minutes are up! Heroes, take action!"
As All Might's signal sounded through the earpiece, Bakugo steadied his breathing. He raised his palm at the direction of the door, ready to unleash his attack at any moment.
Everything was in place. With the arrogance of those two, they'd definitely not think of entering through the window. He only needed to wait-
The door suddenly slammed open. Then, a small object whizzed through the air and exploded not far from him.
"GRAAHHH!"
Bakugo's vision became filled with white. His head buzzed and his whole body became disoriented.
A flash bomb, he realized. Those fucking cowards somehow learned his position and threw a flashbomb to blind him.
At the last moment before he fell to the floor, he let loose his fully charged attack as a final, desperate counter-attack.
The recoil from his own blast caused his unstable body to ragdoll through the air. He spit out a mouthful of saliva, his vision fading as his back hit a wall.
Meanwhile, Hiro and Momo watched as the right side of the building exploded. Momo had to grab onto Hiro's arm as the explosion caused the ground to quake.
"Bakugo-kun…he planned to use such an attack against us?!"
Momo said, her tone angry, mixed with a tinge of fear. This was only battle training! How could he use such a move!?
"All Might-sensei didn't stop him from using it, so it's highly likely he had no plans to directly hit us with it."
"Still…it's thanks to Hiro-kun for detecting his position early. Otherwise, if we entered cluelessly, we may have already lost."
"Haha, it's hard not to notice him when he's panting like a dog in heat. And your flashbang was a huge help as well. I'd say we make a pretty good team."
"Hmm!"
Momo smiled in agreement as she and Hiro entered the building. At the end of the corridor, they found Bakugo lying among a pile of rubble.
The front part of his grenade gauntlet was blasted open, and his right arm was mildly burned. Other than that, he had no other visible injuries.
"Kacchan!!"
Just as they were about to come check his condition, Midoriya's voice sounded further ahead. The freckled-face boy rushed down from the stairs, having heard the explosion.
He didn't even look at Hiro and Momo, instead quickly ran and knelt beside Bakugo's prone body to try help him.
"Deku, get the fuck out of my way…"
These two people really seem to have a special relationship. Just after hearing Midoriya's voice, Bakugo regained his consciousness.
He stumbled as he tried to stand up, swatting away Midoriya's arm which tried to help him. Then, with a feral glare, he turned to Hiro and Momo who were now standing just a meter away.
"Bastards, I'll repay you for that."
"Please, we haven't even mentioned your earlier attack. And what makes you think you'll have that chance?"
Hiro's figure blurred. Bakugo, who was still feeling weak, could only generate a few sparks on his uninjured hand before his eyes rolled back and he face-planted on the floor with a loud thud.
"Detroit Smash!"
Midoriya screamed. Although surprised by Hiro's sudden attack, he didn't miss the opportunity when his attention wasn't on him, and launched a punch towards the white-haired boy.
This was their only opportunity to win! He aimed towards Hiro's shoulder, his fist glowing red as OFA was activated.
"Bang!"
A low explosion resounded. In Midoriya's stunned gaze, his fist was firmly caught by Hiro's palm.
"Holding back against me…what a shame. Let's fight again when you have more control over your powers, Midoriya."
Hiro said, glancing at Midoriya's still intact hand. He pulled backwards and raised his knee, hitting the seaweed-haired boy in the gut.
With that, he and Bakugo were both knocked out.
"The match is over! The hero team wins!"
—
That was boring.
Back in the monitoring room, Hiro idly thought as the post-review of their match began.
He honestly expected more from facing the two protagonists of the show. But he seemed to have set too high an expectation for them. After all, school had just started.
"For this match, the hero team did great! Tell me, does anyone know the reasons for the villain team's loss?"
At the front, All Might asked everyone. His gaze swept across the students, pausing briefly on the downtrodden Midoriya, before stopping on Shoji.
"It was their lack of teamwork. At the start, Bakugo ran off on his own and left Midoriya to guard the bomb. If they worked together from the beginning, the outcome might have been different."
"Well said, Shoji-kun! Any other observations? Yes, Iida-kun?"
"Sensei! It's because of…"
Hiro raised an eyebrow as his shoulder was tapped from the side. Turning his head, he saw Mina looking at him with an odd gaze.
"What's up?"
"Did something happen earlier? Why did Momo-chan suddenly invite us to have a study and training session this weekend?"
"I don't know, why don't you ask her? We just had some normal, friendly conversation."
"Hmm…"
Seeing Mina not say anything else, Hiro turned his attention back to the ongoing discussion. But from the corner of his eyes, he noticed her still occasionally glancing back at him. But when he tried to make eye contact, she'd divert her eyes elsewhere.
Thus, amidst this strange atmosphere, the post-match review ended and the next teams began their battle.
A/N: Advance chapters can be found at patreon.com/Ked2002