Thin Ice Rivalry

Sore Loser

December 9th, 2021

MIDORIYA'S POV

"One of these years, we'll be able to win both games we play against them," I muttered, lining up for the handshake that they still make us do.

They won the last game we played, but tonight, we took the victory. Bakugo and I got into four fights, each spending time in the penalty box. Coach is going to chew my ass out, and I know I deserve it, but in my defense, Bakugo started it today.

Our rivalry has started to turn into pure rage and hatred, and whenever we see each other now, we do nothing but fight. Today, when he tripped me for the first time, I got back up and got to him before my teammates did. I threw my stick on the ground, shrugged my gloves off, and grabbed the front of his shirt.

The crowd cheered, both of our teams joined in, and the refs were yanking us apart. That's all I could think about when he and I stopped by each other, grabbing the other's hand. We paused for a moment, letting them snap their pictures today.

"Nothing snarky to say?" I asked, squeezing his hand tightly.

"Did you expect me to congratulate you for winning?" he asked, squeezing back just as tightly. "You got fucking lucky today. But the rest of your season stats? Not doing so hot."

"Aww, you check my stats?" I teased.

"After you claimed to be the superior player between the two of us? Of course. If I don't bring you back to reality by reminding you that your stats suck, who fucking will?" he bit out, yanking his hand away.

I whistled and flashed him a smirk. "Someone's a sore loser."

"Fuck off," he muttered, moving further down the line. Smiling to myself, I joined the rest of my team and headed back to the locker room.

Everyone broke up into a celebration. As I predicted, coaches got on my ass for spending too much time in the box, but nevertheless, we won. Coach tells us to enjoy our day off tomorrow, but I probably won't. I have a photoshoot for a new sponsorship and then a charity event. The charity event is for Feeding America, which is a hunger relief charity. Once invited, you can choose to purchase a ticket for two hundred dollars, or you can write a check. There's the third option of ignoring it, but we're encouraged to give back to charities somehow. Some of us volunteer, others choose to go to charity events. I usually don't care, but when my invitation came with a free plus-one, I decided to go since my best friend has been dying to see what one of these fancy charity events looks like. So, I told her I would take her.

As soon as I finished showering and putting my suit on, Coach told me that I was wanted for an interview because, of course, I was. Bakugo would also be there, which is why I didn't hesitate to fix my tie and head out to the press. We usually do the interviews right after the game, but sometimes, they like us to shower and change first.

When I stepped into the hallway, I could hear the cameras around me, but none of them had their flash on. "Midoriya," my favorite reporter, Momo Yaoyorozu, said to me. "How does winning against long-time rival Katsuki Bakugo feel? I looked around for him, but he was nowhere to be found.

"Winning is always a great feeling, especially because of my amazing teammates. I'm thankful we won tonight, no matter what team we played against." I paused for dramatic effect before adding, "But the fact that it was Vegas makes it a whole lot better." She laughed before asking me a few more questions, most of them being about the rivalry and how we plan to ensure our winning streak. As usual, I told her that, win or lose, I stand with my team and will always work toward the next win.

After ten minutes, I was dismissed and headed back to the locker room to grab my bag and head home to change. I'm already going to be late for meeting the guys at the bar, not that it matters. I'll drink a few rounds with them before picking a puck bunny to follow home.