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[Challenge]
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…
After Midoriya left, All Might gave Taka a gentle pat on the shoulder and a wry smile.
"You look a bit weary, young Takahashi. Any lingering issues from your fight at USJ? Do you need Recovery Girl to take a look?"
"Not really. My schedule just got tighter, that's all."
All Might blinked, then his eyebrows shot up. "Ah—yes, the Sports Festival. I was just discussing it with your classmate, young Midoriya."
Taka raised an eyebrow, unimpressed.
He couldn't remember exactly what this scene had been about in the show, but he was pretty damn sure it hadn't been a casual chat about the upcoming event.
Maybe All Might wasn't lying… but he was definitely leaving something out.
—Not that he cared much. It probably was something along the lines of Midoriya being his successor and having to aim for first place. Normal shonen stuff.
"Well, since we're on the topic," All Might continued, "that's actually why I asked you to stop. There's a favor I'd like to ask of you, young Takahashi."
Taka blinked.
The All Might, needing something from him? Weird.
He had made sure he and all his classmates knew he was hella strong, but All Might wasn't exactly the type to need backup.
So what—
'Ugh. It's probably more paperwork for the class rep,' His face twitched.
All Might noticed and sweatdropped. "D-don't worry. It's not too much... I think."
He cleared his throat, shifting into a more serious posture.
"You're strong, young Takahashi. Perhaps even stronger than I was when I was studying here."
"That much I know," Taka answered without hesitation.
"Ahem—anyway. The point is, your strength is exceptional... And not only that. From what I was able to gather since we met, you possess both the experience and instincts to accompany your grand power, making you, not exaggerating, already ahead of many pro heroes."
All Might then sighed, his face turning faintly worried.
"Big-name heroes will almost certainly be fighting over who gets to intern you after the festival. But your classmates, even though they are at a level expected of them at this point… may not be so lucky."
Taka's eyes narrowed. He could already see where this was going.
"The contrast will be too big," he muttered.
All Might nodded.
"That's why I wanted to ask you to help them grow in the time left before the festival... Especially those who are struggling."
Taka caught the tone instantly, eyebrow rising. "Like Midoriya?"
"E-erm."
A snort escaped Taka before he could stop it.
'This guy seriously sucks at acting.'
He forced the laugh back down and managed to recover his poker face, though All Might looked even more helpless than before.
"I know it's asking a lot," All Might continued, "and it's time you could be using to prepare yourself for the Sports Festival, but—"
Taka lifted a hand, stopping him.
"I already planned to."
"O-oh? Really?" All Might brightened instantly.
Taka nodded. "In front of an event this important, as a class representative, isn't it my duty to help my classmates prepare thoroughly so they can achieve their goals?"
"Young Takahashi..." All Might looked touched.
—At least, until Taka spoke again, freezing All Might mid-smile.
"Don't worry. From what I've seen, Midoriya's control over his Quirk is terrible. But while two weeks might not be much, by the end of it, I assure you, you'll have a Midoriya who can actually fight like a hero."
All Might lifted a hesitant finger. "A-and your other classmates too, of course. Don't forget about them. Young Midoriya is just one of them."
Taka suppressed another snort.
"Sure."
All Might looked dissatisfied with the curt answer as if he hadn't actually managed to clear up the "misunderstanding," which, of course, wasn't a misunderstanding at all.
But in the end, he simply sighed.
"Then, I thank you, young Takahashi. Now go, classes are starting soon. Don't let me keep you."
"Then, see you, All Might," Taka nodded, turned around, and walked off with his usual calm.
Though if All Might had been able to see his face, he could have caught the small smirk that took over Taka's lips as he left.
He couldn't, though, so he missed it.
Only once he disappeared around the corner did All Might finally exhale.
"That young man is far too perceptive…"
…
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| Minutes later… |
…
After lunch, everyone returned to the classroom, waiting out the last two hours of the day.
Taka was the last to enter—not by choice, but thanks to All Might's little detour.
The moment he sat down, he noticed a certain greenhead sneaking very obvious glances his way.
Given that Midoriya sat right in front of him, it wasn't subtle at all.
"You want something?"
"Huh?!—Ah… yes?" Midoriya stammered, already thrown off. "U-uhm… what did you and All Might talk about?"
Taka stared at him. 'What are you, his jealous girlfriend?'
After a beat of silence, thinking of something, a faint smile tugged at his lips.
"Not much, he just said something about making me his next successor."
"W–WHAT?!" Midoriya nearly toppled out of his chair, eyes wide with terror and disbelief.
"I'm joking."
Once again, Midoriya almost fell from his chair.
He actually let out a tiny sigh of relief before shooting Taka a wry, tired look.
'Caught you lacking. Still too green it seems… though, I guess that's your natural color,' Taka thought with a snort.
"He asked me a favor," Taka clarified. "Which, actually, involves you."
"Eh?" Midoriya was startled.
Taka continued regardless. "I've noticed your control over your Quirk is pretty lacking. Like Aizawa-sensei said last week, it's more a hindrance than help at this point."
Beneath his desk, Midoriya's fists clenched in frustration, eyebrows creasing.
He didn't like what he was hearing, but he couldn't deny it. It was the truth.
As he was now, he couldn't even count on his Quirk since it destroyed whatever part of his body he used it on
While powerful, it was a one-time-use card.
But what could he do? The output was just too much for his current body to bear!
Regardless of his feelings, Taka went to the point.
"... So, how about I help you train during the next two weeks until the Sports Festival?"
"H-huh?!"
Silence fell upon the two.
Actually, not just the two, the tables around fell into silence as well.
It wasn't just Midoriya who looked stunned. Those around looked pretty gobsmacked as well.
Which was to be expected, actually, the classroom wasn't particularly big, and Taka's voice was pretty distinct.
Still, he didn't look worried about the fact that others had been overheard, and instead simply glared at Midoriya with a questioning gaze.
His eyes seemed to say: Are you in, or are you chickening out?
Naturally, in front of such a piercing gaze, and the fact that All Might himself seemed to have asked him to do this, Midoriya just couldn't find it in himself to refuse.
"U-uh... I mean, I don't see a problem with it?"
"Then it's settled." Taka let out a quiet huff along with a nod. "We'll go over your Quirk when training starts."
"... Okay?"
'Fortune smiles on me again,' Taka thought, leaning back on his chair.
Just when he had been agonizing over how to approach this, All Might arrives and hands Midoriya on a silver platter.
Actually, not just Midoriya, but the rest of his classmates as well.
He now had a proper justification to force them all into proper training by his hand until the sports festival.
He didn't know if his position as class rep had helped All Might make that decision, but if it had, then he was glad he was elected as such.
…
Actually, not that grateful. Just like, 1% grateful, maybe?
This didn't offset the pain in the ass that was handling the menial tasks of being a class rep of a class of heroes in training. All the paperwork he had to check and then hand to everyone, the constant pressure of being the one in charge of others, especially those more volatile, like Bakugo or Todoroki, who didn't like making things easy for him.
'Ugh,' Taka groaned, already fed up with thinking about his responsibilities.
Thus, with the matter of putting his classmates through hell so they could become worthy opponents resolved, Taka decided to close his eyes and go for his usual session of meditation until class started.
Aka, not knowing what else to do in the meantime.
At least, that was the plan, until—
"Hah?! Train Deku?!"
A very distinctive voice came from two seats ahead.
Taka cracked one eye open and, as expected from the volume, saw the class hothead glaring back at him.
Bakugo.
He shot up from his seat and stomped down the aisle toward Taka. "I've had it with that high-and-mighty attitude of yours already… You think you're some kind of hotshot, huh?! That you're so superior you can just go around offering training?!"
He stopped beside Taka's row, looming over him. Taka only stared back with a bored expression, which did absolutely nothing to calm the situation.
"And that silent, shitty attitude—like talking is beneath you. The way you close your damn eyes as if nothing here is worth your time… And worst of all, that look you're giving me right now." His voice sharpened. "You think you're better than me, don't you?!"
"K-Kacchan—" Midoriya tried.
"Shut up, you extra! This doesn't concern you!"
Midoriya shrank back instantly.
Silence fell for a moment. Neither blinked. Neither looked away.
Then—
"Gkh—?!"
A burst of aura slammed into Bakugo—so fast he couldn't even process it—shoving him back just enough for Taka to have space to stand.
"Better than you…" Taka muttered, eyes narrowing as the two stood face to face. "Am I not?"
A vein throbbed on Bakugo's forehead as he pushed forward again, this time grabbing Taka by the collar. Small explosions popped threateningly from his free hand as a manic grin spread across his face.
"Maybe we should settle this right here, huh?! I'm done waiting for the teachers to give me a proper chance to smash your face into the pavement!"
"What do you mean?" Taka replied calmly. "There's one right ahead."
"Ah?!" Bakugo's frown deepened.
It took him a second—then it clicked, his angry expression freezing for a moment.
The Sports Festival.
Taka didn't look away—if anything, his gaze sharpened into a challenge. "If you want to prove you're not a weakling, that's your chance."
Bakugo growled. "Look at you, trying to weasel out of this—Hngh?!"
Another burst of aura snapped outward—this time wrapping around Bakugo entirely.
In an instant, he was shoved downward, forced onto one knee.
Shock flickered across his face as he struggled to get back up, muscles straining.
Only for him to not budge even a bit.
Bakugo's eyes shot up toward Taka with fury, any sort of restraint gone.
Yet, as he tried to attack now that Taka had thrown the first blow, he realized the hard truth.
His hands, stuck on the floor, couldn't lift and attack, no matter how he struggled.
He was utterly paralyzed.
In that position, he suddenly saw Taka's eyes land on him, disdain gleaming in them.
"What's wrong? Did you find something there on the ground?"
"Y-YOU BASTAAARD!" Bakugo screamed in agony at the humiliation, muscles fighting with all they had to get him back to his feet.
Yet, he failed.
"T-takahashi-san... I think that's enough," Midoriya said with panic, eyeing with worry his explosive bully/friend.
Kirishima also joined to help Bakugo. "Y-yeah. I think he learned his lesson... Didn't you, Bakugo?" He ultimately asked, hoping the explosive would know when to give up.
"Shut up!!!"
He didn't.
Seeing his pathetic state and the uncomfortable looks of his classmates, Taka exhaled slowly, then kneeled as well, lowering himself to eye level.
"You get it by now, don't you?" he said softly, staring straight into Bakugo's eyes.
"... Let me go, you piece of—!"
"You're not on my level."
"...!" Bakugo's fury faltered.
Those words had struck a part of him he had been hiding.
He wanted to deny it. His whole life, he had been the prodigy—the untouchable talent destined for the top. Not just because of his Quirk, but because he was Bakugo Katsuki.
He was amazing at everything he did. Combat instincts, firepower, intelligence, even menial stuff.
He was simply a step above the rest, made different from birth.
But then, amidst his perfect world—he showed up.
He saw Taka's results in the Quirk Assessment Test.
He watched him fight Todoroki.
He watched him battle the Nomu and real villains on a level completely different from his.
And now, being pinned to the floor like a weakling, unable to lift a hand against someone his own age, the realization that he had been suppressing until now crept in, cold and undeniable.
He was inferior.
Even if every part of him refused to accept it, the reality he had faced since entering U.A. gave him no room to deny it any longer.
Ultimately… he wasn't up to par.
'No,' The thought echoed in his head.
His teeth ground together, fury flaring back onto his face, not quite ready to yield just yet.
But before he could act on it—
"You've got two weeks," Taka said as he stood up, gesturing upward with one finger. Bakugo was suddenly pulled to his feet as well—still unable to move even a single muscle, but at least, back on his feet.
With them face-to-face again, Taka let out a faint smile.
"Stick this in your head. You are not, and never were, the main character. That was just a delusion created by a fortunate environment."
He stepped forward, eyes shifting into a deep crimson.
"You're a weakling."
Anger flickered in Bakugo, fighting against the desperation of being unable to move.
He wanted to shout, to deny everything, to push back.
But he couldn't.
He couldn't speak. The sheer pressure Taka emitted, for once, made his fiery spirit settle for once, and listen.
And in Taka's voice, he didn't find arrogance, but rather, pure certainty.
For Takahashi, he—Katuski Bakugo, the supposed prodigy he thought he was—was a complete weakling, despite the combat skills he had shown since the start of the school, despite showing he was clearly better than all the extras in this class—in whatever twisted perception Taka had of the world, he, for some reason, remained a complete weakling.
Since U.A. started, the constant reality checks he experienced had been making the illusion he'd been clinging to crumble. What remained was a hollow shell of confidence propping up the idea of "Katsuki Bakugo"—the always advancing, always dominant one.
But a hollow shell in the end, one that couldn't withstand the certainty and power backing up the claim that Taka had just uttered.
So all Bakugo could do was grit his teeth in silence, glaring at Taka with venom mixed with helplessness.
Finally, Taka pulled back. The red glow faded from his eyes until they returned to black.
"But as I said, you have two weeks," he said, tone loosening. "Whether you become someone noteworthy or stay a weakling… that's on you."
"...!"
That single comment snapped Bakugo out of his spiraling.
He remained angry, obviously.
Yet, as Taka sat down again while he remained stuck in place, something flickered across Bakugo's face.
Challenge.
His crumbling confidence had been given a chance. A chance to prove reality, and the bastard in front of him, that what he had always believed was true.
That he was cut above the rest.
For once, Bakugo didn't deny what had been obvious for a while now.
That Taka was stronger... Much stronger.
And that he was undeniably a weakling right now.
But that didn't mean he had been wrong.
Two weeks, he had been given two weeks to show not only this bastard, but to reality itself—
That there was no one like Katsuki Bakugo.
"Alright," A manic grin mixed with pure unrestrained fury passed by Bakugo's face as words were finally able to leave his mouth, his confidence surging. "... I'll make you understand to put you in your place at your precious sports festival!"
Taka raised an eyebrow at the shift in attitude from someone who had been looking like he might cry a second ago.
But in the end, he shrugged the matter off with a snort.
Whatever he was thinking, Taka didn't care.
"Great—now sit. Class is about to start."
Dismissively, he flicked his hand to the side.
In one motion, Bakugo was dropped back into his seat and forced to remain there against his will.
And right then—
The door opened, and Ectoplasm walked in. "Good afternoon, class. Let's pick up where we left off last week."
He paused, scanning the room and noting the awkward atmosphere.
"… Hm? Did I miss something?"
…
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| At that moment, somewhere else… |
…
A door swung open, and a small figure rushed inside.
"Gentle, Gentle, I have urgent news!"
The sound of a teacup being set down followed.
"What is it, La Brava? Can't you see it's tea time?"
"Ah—I'm sorry! I've committed a grave mistake!"
She dropped to her knees, bowing deeply.
A low, amused chuckle escaped him.
"It's quite alright, La Brava. We are human; mistakes are part of us. If this news has you so shaken that you interrupted tea time, then I suppose it must be worth the pause. Go on."
La Brava shot upright, practically vibrating.
"I-it's our great rival! He's been acting suspiciously since yesterday!"
"Nani?! Rockinesis, my greatest rival, has returned to action?!"
"N-not exactly as Rockinesis. He's still a normal U.A. student right now. But he's been moving oddly. I think he's preparing for a comeback, Gentle!"
Silence, heavy and growing thicker by the second, befell the room.
Then—
"…Is that so? Excellent. This may be our opportunity, La Brava. Our chance to shake the world once and for all."
…
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-To Be Continued...-
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(A/N: Had a fun time writing this one. Hopefully it wasn't cringe or anything.
Anyway, see you next chap.)