Hello everyone, just stopping by to say that my original story, Apocalypse of the Scarlet Curse, now has six chapters. If you're interested in an apocalyptic story with monsters worse than zombies, take a look.
The Following TWO Chapters are available for Patrons.
Chapter 11 (The battle of the strongest (2/2)), and Chapter 12 (Emotions on edge) are already available for Patrons.
Patreon: patreon.com/Subaru710772142
***
All Might stood with his hands on his hips, watching his students emerge from the tunnel. "They say clothes make the man, the young, and the women," he said. "Be aware that from now on, you are heroes!"
All Might's smile widened slightly. Seeing the students standing before him, their faces full of anticipation, reminded him of his own beginnings. "Alright, everyone! You look great! Now, shall we begin, zygotes!?"
***
At the back of the group, Bakugo observed everything with a cold, focused gaze. His mind was fully concentrated on what was to come. 'The first time, I was one of the first to be drawn... this time, I'll wait to be the last.'
'Sorry, Izuku,' he thought, his eyes briefly shifting to the green-haired boy who was chatting animatedly with Tsuyu, his face completely red. 'Our fight wouldn't be fair if we faced each other now.'
Bakugo understood how important that moment was for Izuku. In the original timeline, it would have been Izuku's first victory over him—the mark of his evolution, the moment when Izuku would face, as an equal, the person who had mocked his weakness the most.
His thoughts were interrupted when something yellow entered his field of vision. He blinked, snapping out of his trance, and looked up to meet All Might's bright smile.
"Your turn, Bakugo-shonen!"
'I need to stop getting lost in my head,' Bakugo thought, reaching into the box. 'Let's see...' His fingers pulled out the last slip of paper, marked with a "G."
"Great! Now that everyone knows their team letter, find your partner!" All Might exclaimed, walking back to the front of the group.
"Who's in team C?"
"I got D."
"Here, I'm C!"
As the pairs began to form, Bakugo remained still, unwilling to speak up. Sooner or later, his partner would appear. No need to bother asking.
'I'll just enjoy this moment of silence—or maybe not,' he almost sighed when he saw Uraraka approaching, Momo at her side.
"Bakugo-kun, what's your team?"
"G," he replied curtly.
"Oh..." Uraraka deflated, visibly disappointed. "I'm in team E."
"Ah! I'm also in team G!" Momo exclaimed, clapping her hands in excitement. "Looks like we'll be working together, Bakugo-san."
"Lucky you..." Uraraka commented with a flat expression.
"You said you were team E? Kero." The three turned to the girl approaching them.
"Yes? You too?" Uraraka asked.
"Yes," the girl confirmed, raising her hand. "Asui Tsuyu, but you can just call me Tsu."
"Oh, nice to meet you, Tsu-chan!" Uraraka responded with a smile, shaking her hand. "I'm Uraraka Ochako, and these are Yaoyorozu Momo and Bakugo Katsuki."
"Nice to meet you, Tsu-san," Momo said with a polite nod, followed by a nearly imperceptible gesture from Bakugo.
"Pleasure's mine, Yaoyorozu-chan and... Kacchan."
"Ungh!?" Bakugo choked loudly on his own saliva.
***
In the monitoring room, all eyes were fixed on the big screen as the latest footage showed Team A, composed of Hagakure and Mineta, being completely defeated by Team D, formed by Kirishima and Ojiro.
The silence that followed the end of the match was broken by Kaminari, who shook his head. "That was..."
"Faster than expected," Mina completed, with a tone of surprise.
"It was an unfavorable combination from the start," Iida analyzed, adjusting his glasses while holding the helmet of his suit under his arm.
"Indeed," Momo agreed, with a thoughtful tone. "Team A's members have abilities more focused on infiltration and rescue. Putting them against direct combatants like Kirishima and Ojiro was an obvious imbalance."
"Especially since Kirishima is literally a walking wall," Izuku added, quickly writing in his notebook. "There wasn't much Mineta and Hagakure could do besides trying to catch him off guard."
"But they tried, kero," Tsuyu said, recalling Hagakure's attempt to wrap the capture tape around Kirishima. "But then Ojiro reacted quickly and... well, hit her straight in the face with his tail."
An awkward pause took over the room, while several of them thought the same thing: There was really no way.
***
"What did you think of the fight?"
"Team A had the advantage."
At the back of the monitoring room, Bakugo and Uraraka were leaning against the wall, a little away from the rest of the group.
"Advantage? Seriously?" Uraraka asked, tilting her head, clearly intrigued. The whole class seemed to agree that Team D was superior, but Bakugo saw things differently.
"If Mineta had managed to trap Kirishima or Ojiro with one of his balls, it was game over for either of them. After that, Hagakure just had to use the capture tape to finish it."
Bakugo crossed his arms and closed his eyes for a moment. "They had the advantage of being the villains. That gives time to plan and prepare ambushes. But instead of working as a team, Mineta must've said something stupid, and Hagakure decided to go alone against two close-combat fighters. That was dumb."
Uraraka blinked, absorbing what he said. While everyone else thought Team A simply had no chance, Bakugo managed to see where they could have won.
"That makes... a lot of sense," Uraraka murmured to herself, looking at him with bright eyes of admiration. 'He's also amazing at reading the situation...'
Bakugo turned his head towards her, sensing her intense gaze. "What? Why are you looking at me like that?"
"Ah! N-nothing!" Uraraka quickly replied, her cheeks turning pink as she looked away, trying to hide her embarrassment.
Bakugo huffed, turning his attention back to the big screen. "Anyone paying attention to the details would notice that." He pointed at her with his thumb, without taking his eyes off the screen. "You can too. You just need to stop focusing on what quirks do and start thinking about what people can do with them."
"What people can do..." Uraraka repeated softly, looking at her own hands. "Thank you, Bakugo-kun," she said with genuine gratitude.
He looked at her suspiciously. "Why are you thanking me? I didn't do anything."
"You did. You gave me really good advice. I'll work on that!"
"Do whatever you want," he replied, turning his attention to the front and watching All Might getting ready to draw the next pair.
"The next battle will be between—" All Might pulled two balls from each box. "Team G, as villains, against Team B as heroes."
The silence in the room was palpable, all eyes moving from the screen to the four students who had been announced: Katsuki Bakugo and Momo Yaoyorozu vs. Shoto Todoroki and Fumikage Tokoyami.
"Hey, hey, they're the four strongest in the class!" Kaminari was the first to speak.
"This is going to be incredible!" Mina exclaimed, bouncing in place.
"Or disastrous, kero," Tsuyu murmured.
"It's like watching a championship final right at the start," Sato said, clenching his fists in excitement.
"I want to see this one," Jiro commented, crossing her arms.
'This fight—'
'Will show us—'
'How far ahead they are!' Iida and Midoriya thought at the same time, focused on the screen.
***
Already inside the building and in the bomb room, Momo studied the environment with meticulous attention. Her eyes scanned every detail: the walls, the floor, the pillars, the windows.
'Hmm... only one door, but six large windows that provide a clear line to the outside.' She placed her hand on her chin, reflecting for a few moments.
'Better start blocking everything.' Choosing to focus on defense, Momo extended her arm, which began to glow softly as a metal bar emerged.
"Bakugo-san," she called, not taking her eyes off her work.
"What?"
"We need defense at the vulnerable points. I thought of creating barriers to protect the windows and the door. Could you set them up while I create them?"
"No."
"No?!" Momo froze, her concentrated expression breaking as she looked at him for the first time since entering the building, noticing that he had raised the collar of his suit, leaving only the top of his head uncovered.
'Looks like Best Jeanist—No! Focus on what matters, Momo!' Stopping the creation of the barriers, she turned completely to Bakugo. "Could you tell me why you don't want to follow my plan? I thought it through, I'm sure that—"
"It's a dumb plan."
Momo was silent for a moment, surprised by Bakugo's bluntness. "What?!" She frowned, clearly offended.
"In ten seconds, Todoroki will freeze this entire building. What are you going to do?"
"What? But that would be—"
"9."
"Are you serious—"
"8."
'Is he messing with me? But Bakugo doesn't seem like the type to joke—'
"7."
'What do I do? Should I scrap my entire plan?—'
"6."
'Think, Momo. If Bakugo is telling the truth, then Todoroki's power level is—'
"5."
'Create, I need to create something—'
"4."
'But what should I create?! Something to protect the bomb?—'
"3."
'No, if he freezes everything, I need to protect us—'
"2."
'So I...'
"1."
'I...'
"0."
As soon as Bakugo said zero, Momo froze, her eyes widening as she realized she hadn't made any decision.
[You may begin!] All Might's voice echoed, signaling the start of the battle.
Bakugo stepped forward, adjusting his gloves. "This is what happens when you overthink."
Before Momo could regain her composure, a thunderous sound erupted from outside, accompanied by a sharp cold that swept through the entire building.
The floor of the room began to freeze, and in the same second, Bakugo crouched down and placed both hands on the floor. "Land Mine Blast!"
A powerful explosion burst from his palms, spreading violently across the ground and shattering the entire layer of ice that had formed. The impact reverberated through the room, dissipating the cold in that area.
***
"Strong," Kirishima vocalized everyone's thoughts in the monitoring room after watching Todoroki's attack that froze the entire building.
"He froze everything in seconds!" Mina exclaimed, her eyes wide.
"Seriously, it's surreal," Sero added, leaning closer to the monitor. "Look at the range of that attack... it's like the whole building turned into a giant freezer!"
"And even so, Bakugo-kun managed to nullify Todoroki's attack in the bomb room!" Uraraka said, her fists clenched in excitement.
"He didn't hesitate when he saw the ice forming," Kyouka pointed out Bakugo's quick reaction. "Yaoyorozu-san would have lost if he wasn't her partner."
"True, the second-best in the class would've been defeated in less than a minute," Sato agreed, nodding.
'If Kacchan wasn't so precise, he could've taken down the entire floor of the room along with the ice!' Izuku, oblivious to the others, made his own analysis of the fight. 'Incredible... these two are incredible!'
***
"What a... devastating attack," Tokoyami murmured, standing a few inches behind Todoroki.
'That should have been enough to open our fight.' Todoroki slowly removed his hand from the wall of the building and looked toward the staircase leading to the second floor. 'Bakugo Katsuki.'
***
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.