𝐖𝐑𝐀𝐈𝐓𝐇 || ᵇ.ᵏᵃᵗˢᵘᵏⁱ

XVIII

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The battle between Bakugou and Tokoyami didn't last long at all. Tokoyami's dark shadow shied away from the light caused by Bakugou's explosions,  basically rendering Tokoyami useless as he was simultaneously knocked out and thrown out of bounds. Bakugou stomped back up the the stands and Present Mic announced a short break for the two remaining competitors to prepare.

"Kiri," Aeri called, catching the attention of the red-haired male who was lounging comfortably in his chair. "Can you watch over Jungwon's blades when I'm fighting? He's not back yet and I know he trusts you." She continued.

"Of course! I'll guard them with my life." Kirishima beamed, holding his arms out. Aeri returned his smile and handed over all of Jungwon's holsters. Kirishima set daggers in his lap and rested the swords by his leg. Aeri began strapping her own holsters to her body, tightening them so they wouldn't slip, she could feel eyes on her and turned to the person staring.

"How come you're allowed to use them in the sports festival? We aren't allowed to wear our hero costumes so we wouldn't have an unfair advantage over everyone else, but you're allowed your weapons." Sero asked.

"It's part of their fucking quirk idiot." Bakugou glared. "They have perfect aim because of their quirk or some shit." He looked to Aeri for confirmation who smiled. The rest of the class looked at him strangely—never did they expect Bakugou to defend someone other than himself.

"There was actually a debate between the teachers on whether we should be allowed them but principal Nezu decided that we were allowed because aim using weaponry is in our official quirk description." Aeri explained.

"I guess it's really no different to if I made a weapon with my quirk," Momo pointed out. Aeri smiled and nodded, grateful for her understanding before turning to Bakugou.

"Are you ready?" She questioned, tightening the last of her holsters.

"Ready to beat your ass." Bakugou snapped back, fire burning in his eyes. He began to walk out of the stands and Aeri followed him.

"Good luck!" their classmates shouted after them.

"I'm excited to go up against you for real," Aeri started, speeding up to walk at his side. "We've never fought with our quirks before."

"If we ever used our damn quirks against each other you'd lose." Bakugou bantered, smirking.

"Whatever helps you sleep at night." Aeri winked as they paused at the end of the hall where they'd split off. "I'm not gonna go easy on you, Bakugou." She blew a cheeky kiss and began walking backwards so she could see his reaction to her words.

"I never expected you to, Aeri."

Aeri smiled and turned, disappearing down the hall and coming up to her opening to wait out the few minutes she has until her name would be announced. She sat on the floor and began to think. She knew that if she lost, she wouldn't hold it against Bakugou because he would've won fair and square, but she was worried that he wouldn't do the same. Aeri valued their friendship and didn't want to lose it over some competition—that being said she still planned on winning. If it came to it, she'd focus on fixing their friendship later.

"First out we have the fiery Bakugou Katsuki!" Present Mic yelled, the crowd clapped and whooped as he entered. Once he reached the territory, Aeri was called out.

"And the beautifully stealthy Moon Aeri!" Aeri stepped out into the light and the crowd went wild, cheering and chanting her name. This time, Aeri paid them no mind and focused her eyes on Bakugou who stood smirking at her from across the battlefield. She paused when she passed the white line and waited for the call. She wanted to think of a strategy but Bakugou had been relatively unpredictable in his matches so far so she'd have to be smart about it.

"And now, our final first-year battle. Match... start!"

Bakugou, unsurprisingly, charged first with explosions crackling in his palms. Aeri knew he expected her to teleport directly behind him like she'd done in her other matches so she teleported to the other side of the battlefield and readied a few shurikens. Just as she suspected, Bakugou turned at the last minute, just after she teleported, and sent a blast directly behind him, only to hit air. Aeri's shurikens flew through the smoke moments later, too fast for Bakugou to fully dodge. He blasted one away but the other two sliced his forearm and bicep causing him to hiss in pain.

He charged again, angrier this time. Aeri saw how much blood dripped down his arm and knew she'd cut deeper that intended. She began to sprint forward to meet him in the middle of the territory—the further from the edge the better.

Bakugou's palm shot out, sparks coming off his skin as they were about to collide. Aeri dropped down at the last minute and landed a slide tackle on his legs just as the explosion went off, missing her by a hair. Bakugou fell forward when her feet crashed into his shins, with the speed both of them had been running at, it didn't take much force to make him topple over.

Aeri sprung onto his back immediately holding his arms down out to the sides so he couldn't let off an explosion anywhere near her and digging her knees into his back to keep him on the ground. Bakugou growled and used the strength in his legs to lift himself into a standing position. Aeri linked her legs around his torso as he stood and strained to keep his arms out to his sides as he let off explosions to try shake her off him. Her ears rang painfully at the loud blasts so close to her and she almost let go of him just to escape the noise and save her poor eardrums, but she had to execute the final part of her plan.

In this position, she teleported them from the middle of the territory towards the white line, knowing Bakugou would need a few moments to recover. She swiftly jumped off of him and landed a double-footed kick to his back. Bakugou threw his palm back and let off an explosion just as his foot stumbled over that dreaded line. Aeri was blown back just as her win was secured. She skidded on her knees, cutting them up through the material of her pants.

The crowd began screaming and clapping their hands together as the winner of the sports festival was confirmed. "Bakugou is out of bounds! Aeri wins first place!"

Aeri stood and began to dust some of the dirt off of her sliced palms and knees, cringing and the little pebbles of mud that had lodged themselves in her wounds. She'd have to get them cleaned immediately so that they didn't get infected. She heard Bakugou's yell of rage too late and she let out a noise of confusion when he gripped the front of her jacket and pulled her towards him.

"You didn't fucking give me a real fight, you took the easy way out!" He shouted, snarling as his face got closer to hers.

"Since when was being smart and thinking of a strategy an easy way out? Using brute force to hurt for opponent isn't the only way to win Bakugou, and it certainly isn't the only method that's considered a 'real fight'." Aeri narrowed her eyes at him and placed her hand over the one that was holding her jacket.

Bakugou wasn't hearing a word she was saying as his scowl deepened, he lifted a crackling palm upwards as if he was prepared to hurt her.

"The heroes are running towards us right now so unless you plan on being tackled to the fucking ground and restrained, I suggest you let me go and take second place graciously." Aeri lowered her voice, her free hand hovering over a dagger. His head whipped backwards and sure enough, there was Eraserhead and Cementoss behind him. He shoved Aeri away and stomped past the heroes who watched him cautiously.

Present Mic cleared his throat over the speakerphone. "Alright then, please prepare for the podium where our top three students will receive their medals!"

Aeri huffed out a deep breath and walked towards the medics, kind of sad that Bakugou would throw away the friendship that had been slowly building over a competition. But if that was how he planned on treating her, then maybe it was for the best.

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