Up in Smoke (Soulmate AU)

The Battle: Part II "My hero"

He knew the more sensible thing to do would be to ask her if she was okay. I mean a part of him genuinely wanted to know ~ This was the most beaten up he had ever seen her and as much as he knew how capable she was at handling herself, it was only human nature to empathize with another. Not just another, his soulmate. His wrist still throbbed and the bloody nose she don made his jaw tighten.

"You look like shit."

Nailed it.

She let out a humored sigh and gestured toward him. "Thanks. You're not too bad yourself."

He glanced down at himself. Realizing how filthy and scratched up he really was. His ash hair literally covered in ash, a cut stationed at the rim of his cheekbone leaving the skin under his right eye slightly raised. One of his wrists had worn and now made a little pop! Whenever he moved it. It was almost as if he had just risen from the dead. They all looked like shit.

And speaking of shit.

Deku steadied himself back to a stand. Seizing strings of green light convulsing throughout his body as he met Bakugou with an unwavering glare. He hadn't come late for the little exchange they were sharing. He knew full and well that he was interrupting something and boy was he glad to have nipped that shit right in the bud. Though he had to admit, Deku was becoming bolder ~ more dauntless in the eyes of his equally intrepid rival. The glare he wore said everything: You are a threat to me. I will not lose. He had become nearly indomitable, willful and unflinching. Damn shame he wasn't like this growing up. He could almost say he liked this side of Deku. It made him more intriguing, easier to respect. If not for the circumstances, he would have commended the bastard.

But the circumstance, as it was, was a fight for something that had already been his in the first place. That thought had been solidified the moment his wrist started acting up. The realization that he was physically connected to this person ~ The bee stings still somewhat present in his left arm. She was ingrained into him, and he her. It was nothing but logic that the two were meant to be ~ down to a science.

And maybe even more than that.

"Hey, dickwad." Bakugou sneered at him. "You looking for a fight, huh?"

Deku's scowl deepened. (Y/N) couldn't help but think he didn't look like himself.

He laid out a hand for his opponent, ushering him over with a cocky grin. "Then come at me."

(Y/N) found herself stepping forward, opening her mouth to intervene, but was pushed back before she had the chance. Deku had lunged for him, despite himself, and already had him halfway across the field. Nipping at each other's throats, a fight that seemed a little more than mere course training. They were hitting each other hard. So much so that she internally debated with herself if she should just break them up. But the pacing footsteps at her side quickly broke that chain of thought.

(Y/N) avoided Uraraka's attack with a brief shuffle of her feet, latching on to the girl's forearm (careful to avoid her fingers) and flipping her on her back to the other side of her. (Y/N) couldn't help but grimace at the attack. It seemed too sloppy for a girl of Uraraka's skill set. Quick combat was her friend's forté ~ she, at the very least, should have gotten her down to a kneel with that run-up. But instead she just...flopped.

She glanced down at her, noticing the totaled condition in which the poor girl underneath her was in. The glass on her helmet was partially gashed. The scabbing around the wound in the helmet left in blackened jagged chips. Some of her outfit was pretty jarred which led (Y/N) to conclude she had taken a direct blast from her not-so-level-headed soulmate. The hit must have weakened her. She barely had a leg to stand on.