The crowd seemed restless for the next fight, knowing it was bound to be interesting.

"Man, people are really excited for Bakubro and Shinobu to fight, huh?" Kirishima asked, looking around at the crowd chattering, and even his own classmates.

"Well, duh!" Mina said, "They're probably the two most aggressive people in this school! Look at what she did to us!" the pink haired girl had a point. Between a broken jaw and a concussion, Shinobu had definitely not gone easy on her opponents. The same could be said about anyone unlucky enough to fight their angry classmate.

"Who do you think is gonna win?" Sero wondered curiously, "I'd have to put my money on Bakugou, for sure."

There was some discord between the group, seemingly divided on who was gonna win.

"How about you, Deku?" Uraraka turned towards the mumbling boy, who seemed deep in thought. "What do you think?"

Midoriya snapped out of his trance, seeing the rest of his classmates staring at him for his opinion, "W-well, I mean, Kacchan is very strong but...I think out of everyone, Shinobu-san definitely has the best chance of beating him. From what I've seen, she's pretty smart with her quirk, and she's definitely capable of handling herself."

Kirishima laughed at that, wincing shortly after at the pain in his head, "Yeah, I still don't really understand how she managed to fling me that hard into the wall, but that definitely hurt a lot! She's pretty manly!"

"THE FIGHT YOU'VE ALL BEEN WAITING FOR! THE EXPLOSIVE CLASS 1-A STUDENT BAKUGO KATSUKI, VERSUS, SHINOBU KOU, CLASS 1-B OUTSTANDER!"

Back in the arena, the two students were glaring at each other, obviously prepared for battle. The signal START! was all Bakugou needed to launch one of his explosions straight at the girl, holding back no force and leaving a loud BOOM echoing the stadium.

The fog cleared up, everyone's eyes adjusting to see a relatively unscatched Kou smirking back at him, wiping the soot that had gathered off her face. "Is that seriously all you got?"

"SHINOBU STANDS! WHAT A SURPRISE! NO ONE'S BEEN ABLE TO WITHSTAND HIS EXPLOSIONS SO FAR!"

"WHY YOU-" The two lunged at each other, going straight into a flurry of kicks, punches, and explosions that left the crowd a bit dizzy at what they were watching.

"You know, Baka-gou," she sneered, punching him square in the jaw with a reinforced fist, sending him flying back a couple feet, "If I knew you were going to be this weak I would've trained a little less; class 1-A really is nothing special, huh?"

Kou was lying through her teeth. His explosions hurt...a lot. Thank god she had a good poker face, but her Nen could only protect her so much from the physical force of his quirk.

Not that Katsuki was any better. He didn't know what the fuck her quirk was, but the white aura around her fists seemed to pack the strength of 20 punches in one, and he was getting more and more pissed as the fight went on.

"LOOKS LIKE THE TWO OF THEM ARE AN EQUAL MATCH! BOTH PARTIES ARE COVERED IN INJURIES- WHO WILL WIN?!"

"You talk too much," he growled, spitting the blood that gathered in his mouth out on the ground, "Shut up and fight me you extra!"

The girl laughed, wincing slightly at her injuries, goddamn it. "What do you think I'm doing now, you idiot? Not only are you weak, but you're also stu-"

"DIE!!!!" Katsuki yelled, fed up with her talking. He launched another explosion at her, seeing an opening as she was distracted. Kou barely had enough time to redistribute her Nen evenly throughout her body, blown back a couple metres and onto her ass, ending up on the floor. Before she could get up, the angry blond had launched himself at her through the smokescreen, landing on top of her and holding her down with his arms.

For a second, Kou was immobile. He'd trapped her arms and legs, and he was too far to headbutt.

"WELL WOULD YOU LOOK AT THAT! BAKUGOU HAS SHINOBU IN A BIND! WHAT WILL SHE DO NOW?!"

"SHUT UP!" They both screamed at the announcer, annoyed at his incessant commentary.

"He's so goddamn fucking annoying," she grumbled, and Bakugou couldn't help but agree. He didn't let it distract him though, launching another (smaller) explosion straight to her face.

Kou was pissed. Not only was she trapped, but he seriously wanted to wreck her face. What the hell was he trying to do? Trying her hardest to extend her aura from her hands to her face, she had just enough time to block the impact.

"What the fuck?" he exclaimed, his hold loosening on her for a second in surprise that his explosion didn't reach her. Kou used this to his advantage, ripping free from his grip and kicking him in the balls.

"OOH! LOW BLOW!"

"YOU FUCKING BITCH!" Bakugou dropped to his side, clutching at the...affected area and groaning. "I'M GOING TO FUCKING KILL YOU!" He was greeted with a rather harsh kick to the back, letting him fall to the ground with a thud.

"I could launch you straight out of here right now, you know that?" Kou taunted, "I could win this fight right now if I wanted. But I want to beat you without any tricks."

Katsuki could barely hear her over the searing pain in his entire body. His ears were ringing, and his hands were trembling from overusing his quirk. At this moment, he really wanted to kill her, but he couldn't help but respect her resolve. She wanted an indisputable win, not through pushing someone out of bounds; but a knockout.

"You think I'm that easy to beat?" he growled at her, shakily standing up and facing her, "You think a fucking loser like you could defeat me so easily?"

Kou's glare became even more angry, if that was possible. She hated being called a loser. She especially hated it when someone like him was the one calling her that. Using her Nen, she wrapped around him even tighter, the blond wheezing as he lost his breath. She lifted him up, slamming him into the ground with enough force to leave cracks.

"Call me a loser again," she threatened, eyes dark. Bakugou smirked at that, seeing he was pushing her buttons.

"Loser."

Kou temporarily forgot to control herself, her anger overflowing and making her aura stronger. She barely noticed when she tightened her grip on the blond, only noticing when he made a pained gasp at the crushing feeling in his ribs. Promptly letting go of him, she gave him a couple seconds to collect himself.

"Your quirk..." Bakugou rasped, clutching on his side, "It's so stupid. What the hell are you doing to me?"

The girl actually laughed wholeheartedly at that, finding it hilarious that he managed to be an asshole even when he was injured. "If it's so stupid why are you on the verge of passing out?"

"Shut up!" he yelled, forgetting his pain, "I'm winning this fight! Just because you managed to get a few hits in doesn't mean shit!"

"Okay then," she stepped back a bit, giving him room to ready himself, "Come at me."

The spectators didn't know what to think at this point; no one expected Bakugou to get so hurt, not that Kou was any better. This fight was almost as brutal as the one between Midoriya and Todoroki earlier; going on for almost as long too.

"I'm pretty sure one of them is going to kill the other by the end of this," Kaminari whispered, earning some nods from his classmates, "They're literally bleeding and broken everywhere and they're not stopping."

"I don't think I've ever seen anyone stand against Bakugou this long," Kirishima added, unable to take his eyes off this fight, "She really is strong."

"That's not it," Midoriya corrected, also not taking his sight off the match, "Shinobu-san said herself that she's not that strong. I think...she just really wants to beat him. She's just as badly injured as him, if not worse."

Upon closer inspection, his classmates determined he was right. The girl in question was putting up a brave front, smirking and taunting her opponent like nothing was wrong. But you could see her legs buckling, and her breath hitching everytime she moved. It was a miracle she hadn't passed out yet. Bakugou was relentless in his explosions, sending one after the other in her wake, the girl having almost no choice but to withstand it.

Kou cursed to herself, feeling her Nen weakening with her fatigue. Had she been stronger, she could've possibly absorbed the shock of his quirk and sent it back to him full force. She could have gotten closer and used her Bungee Gum-

To what? She'd already promised to herself that she'd win this with a K.O. Sending him out of bounds felt like a cheat somehow, and she didn't want to beat him that way. But she was slowly losing energy, dodging and withstanding his blasts getting the best of her.

"You're not passing out on me, are you?" the evil blond cackled, a murderous look in his eyes, "I thought you said this was nothing; doesn't look like nothing to me!"

Kou really wanted to kill this bastard, even more than she wanted to just give up and pass out on the floor. "Fuck you." she ground out, struggling to stay up. Using what little energy she had left, she jumped towards him, focusing her Nen in her fist for one last punch.

At this point Bakugou knew how she operated. With all her energy focused on her right fist, that left her entire body open for a hit, which he used to his advantage. Dodging her punch, he kneed her in the stomach, making the girl crumple to the ground, coughing up a bit of blood in the process.

He kicked her again in the back, causing her face to stick against the floor, the wind knocked out of her. "Still nothing?"

Kou could feel the heat of his quirk on her back, the blond preparing to send another explosion straight to her. She didn't know if she had enough energy to block it.

"Why don't you beg me for mercy?" he taunted, foot digging into her back, "Beg me and maybe I won't explode your ass right here, in front of everyone."

Kou was seeing black spots at this point, barely able to form a coherent sentence. However, she managed to choke out a "fuck you," which made the blond chuckle darkly.

"Still a bitch even when you're about to lose, aren't ya?" he asked, and Kou wanted nothing more than to wipe that stupid look off his face. God she hated him.

"You're not going to beat me," she said slightly louder, trying her best to muster up enough Nen to knock him off. "I'm not going to let you."

"Oh really? And what exactly are you gonna-"

The brunette used the last of her power to send him flying off, enough for him to land a couple metres away on his feet. He'd fallen on his ass, unable to keep balance at his surprise. How the hell had she not passed out yet?

Kou stood up, slowly, and Katsuki couldn't move from where he was standing. It felt like something was holding him down, like if he moved he'd die. It was like a cloud of contempt was surrounding the two of them, choking him. He'd felt this same feeling when he confronted her before his fight, but this was stronger.

"I'M NOT A FUCKING LOSER!" She screamed, her voice echoing loud enough for some of the spectators close to the stage to hear, "I DON'T CARE IF I HAVE TO DIE TO PROVE IT, YOU'RE NOT WIN-"

A loud explosion cut her off, Katsuki using the last of his energy to send a powerful blast straight to her stomach, the girl too exhausted to stop it and sending her flying. Kou could feel her body being launched out of bounds, bouncing off the ground a couple times and finally landing somewhere a couple metres away on the dirt. The last thing she heard was the announcer saying Bakugou had won that round before she passed out.

Bakugou looked at the girl on the ground, face flat on the ground and covered in soot. In that moment, she didn't look like the person he'd spent the last 20 minutes fighting brutally; she looked like an injured animal. She'd definitely passed out after that. What an idiot, he thought. She was so confident in herself, despite clearly being the weaker one. He'd be lying if he said he wasn't about to pass out either, but he wasn't going to admit that.

He'd won, just as he promised. All he had to do was win the finale and he could keep true to his word.

__

Kou groaned as she woke up, feeling like she'd just been run over by a truck. Jesus christ how did every part of her body hurt all at the same time?

"What the fuck," she grunted, slowly cracking open her eyes to see her fellow classmates surrounding her.

"Shinobu!" Tetsutetsu and Kendo said at the same time, wide smiles on their faces, "You're awake!"

"Shut up!" she groaned again, trying to sit up but failing, "My head's killing me!"

"Sorry," Tetsu apologized, smile still on his face, "You were amazing out there! You got third place; the only person outside of 1-A to get that far!"

Kou felt sick when she remembered her defeat, angry at herself for not being stronger. She'd been so close too; if only she'd stayed awake for longer, if she put in more effort-

"Don't beat yourself up over it!" Kendo reassured, "You were amazing out there, I'm not sure anyone could've lasted as long as you against that crazy dude from 1-A."

A couple of her classmates made noises of agreement at that, recalling how brutal Bakugou had been.

Monoma decided to make his presence known, dramatically making his way to the front of the group and standing in front of Kou, ready to say something before she interrupted him.

"I don't want to hear anything come out of that dipshit's mouth," she growled, already closing her eyes and lying back down.

"Hey!" Monoma yelled defensively, "I was just going to say I'm glad we had someone from 1-B prove themselves today! We really showed those 1-A bastards who the best class is!"

"Who got first?" Kou asked, completely ignoring the blond's praise, much to his annoyance.

"Oh, Bakugou-san won. Todoroki-san passed out before they could have a proper fight so it was more of a technical knockout if anything," Ibara chimed in.

Kou laughed quietly at that, "So that hedgehog looking fucker didn't actually win."

"Well, I mean he did-"

"That candy cane looking dude passing out and him winning by default doesn't count!" she smirked darkly, finding it hard to laugh with her injuries but managing a pained chuckle. Before she could continue her sentence, a teacher called out to the group, telling them it was time for closing ceremonies. Tetsutetsu and Kendo helped her up and towards the room where the top three were staying.

"We're proud of you, Shinobu!"

"Yeah, you did 1-B good!"

Kou let out a few grunts of acknowledgement before she entered the room, the sight that greeted her making her eyes bulge.

To the left, was the Ice boy. He seemed in the pits of depression, a blank look in his eyes. Kou didn't know what kind of midlife crisis he was going through but that just made the appearance of the boy beside him that much more funny.

There was Bakugou, screaming and thrashing around as his entire body was restrained with chains and his mouth muzzled. He really looked like a wild animal, and if Kou could take a picture and hang it on her wall she would.

"Looking good, Baku-mono," she smirked, earning an even louder growl of anger directed at her. She was almost glad he was chained up, because she was sure he would have jumped her.

Kou stepped closer to the two, looking between them. Todoroki was too out of it to realize she was there, and Bakugou was still throwing muffled curses at her. "I heard you won because the other guy passed out before you could fight properly," she smiled at him, "that's pretty lame if you ask me. Can you really say you're first place then?"

The angry blond continued screaming at her, desperately trying to break loose and pummel the shit out of the girl who was taunting him. That's the exact reason he was chained up in the first place; he'd been so angry about how he'd gotten first place he was ready to massacre everyone. Having that bitch rub it in his face further made him even angrier.

"Shinobu! Get to your stand! We're going live in one minute!" one of the teachers called out, prompting Kou to stand to the left of the rabid boy.

The ceremony went as planned, the only shock coming from the feral winner of the festival grunting and growling the whole time.

"Congrats young Shinobu," All Might had said, placing the third place medal around her neck, "I'm sure you made your class proud today. You were quite an impressive fighter today."

This was the first time Kou had seen the Symbol of Peace in person, and she'd be lying if she said she wasn't in awe. She'd never really been a fan of heroes-she didn't even know the names of most of them-but seeing All Might in the flesh was something she never thought would happen. She simply nodded her head before he moved onto the other two guys.

Third place, huh. It wasn't exactly what she wanted, but Kou was surprisingly okay with her loss. She knew she'd earned it; Bakugou really was strong. She'd definitely get stronger, and beat him next year. She'd use this as motivation to become better.

Hearing Bakugou's incessant yelling at his own teacher in protest also managed to lighten her mood a bit, too.

__

A/N: AND WE'RE DONE THE TOURNAMENT ARC