"Using his least favorite close combat to end the match like that? That's bold, Todoroki."
Mezo Shoji was honestly surprised. Because up until now, Shoto Todoroki had almost never thrown a punch. Everyone in Class A knew his hand-to-hand wasn't great. But it made sense, how many people could even get close to him?
Outside the ring, Yoarashi Inasa struggled to get up, slammed the ground, then fell back down. "Damn... I was so close."
Then, to Yoarashi's surprise, Shoto Todoroki walked over and offered his hand.
At that moment, Yoarashi felt like maybe this guy wasn't so bad after all. He grinned and grabbed it.
After getting up, the two walked into the contestants' tunnel as the crowd cheered.
Cementoss sighed and started repairing the destroyed arena.
Meanwhile, Present Mic announced, "Next up is the final match to decide who makes it to the finals! Class A's Arthur versus Katsuki Bakugo! Both students, please get ready to enter!"
Thump.
Katsuki Bakugo stood up suddenly, giving off major 'stay away from me' energy. He couldn't be bothered with the tunnel and just jumped straight into the arena.
"Kacchan..."
Izuku Midoriya's expression was complicated.
"Whoa, Bakugo seems really fired up, he just jumped right down!"
Present Mic played up the hype.
"Where the hell is that bastard?!"
Katsuki Bakugo craned his neck toward the entrance tunnel, but Arthur was nowhere in sight.
"Did he not hear?" Ochaco Uraraka asked.
"I'll go check," Momo Yaoyorozu said, starting to stand up.
Luckily, at that moment, Arthur slowly walked in from the right entrance tunnel.
He was wiping his mouth with a tissue, and in his other hand, he had a cup of iced cola. He tossed the tissue backward, perfect shot into the trash can in the corner of the tunnel.
A flash of gold, and with a pop, the bottle cap flew off.
Arthur took two sips, then tossed the whole bottle into the trash with the tissue.
"This... this guy..."
Katsuki Bakugo gritted his teeth.
He was about to fight him, and Arthur still had time to go grab a snack?!
"Both contestants are in position! They've both shown insane results in their previous matches! Oh man, you guys are hyped for this, right?"
Present Mic worked the crowd, stepping forward until Shota Aizawa grabbed his belt and yanked him back. "Move. You're blocking me."
"This is the third one! The third opponent facing Arthur!"
Present Mic shifted slightly but didn't lower his volume at all. "In this match, will Bakugo finally reveal the truth behind Arthur's mysterious Quirk?!"
"Shut up and start the damn match!!!"
Katsuki Bakugo screamed at the commentary booth, his hair bristling.
Present Mic looked awkward. Aizawa's eyebrow twitched.
Even though he also thought Present Mic was annoyingly loud, a student publicly yelling at a teacher like that was not okay.
Even the audience looked stunned. They were getting impatient too, but they didn't expect a U.A. student to talk to a teacher that way.
Add that to Bakugo's brutal fighting style against Itsuka Kendo earlier...
Everyone couldn't help but wonder again why Katsuki Bakugo had even been accepted into U.A.
Izuku Midoriya frowned deeply and muttered, "Kacchan's getting anxious. Even though he always tries to act calm, when he actually has to face Arthur, he starts losing it."
Maybe Bakugo's parents didn't know their son as well as Izuku did. Their relationship was something else.
Present Mic pinched his goatee and laughed. "Hahaha, what an impatient kid! Alright then... 'Start!!!'"
The explosive beginning of the match made everyone forget Bakugo's attitude for a second, and the crowd went wild.
Everyone was stunned by the crazy scene unfolding.
At that moment, Shoto Todoroki and Yoarashi Inasa, who'd gotten basic first aid, returned.
"Can he figure out the secret behind Arthur's Stand? Bakugo, he..."
Shoto said in a low voice.
He had to watch closely. This would be key to whether he could beat Arthur in the next round.
Without even realizing it, everyone had already put Katsuki Bakugo in the loser's spot. They just wanted to use him to uncover Arthur's secret.
At a certain villa.
A woman with a slim but curvy figure, hair styled almost exactly like Katsuki Bakugo's, looking under thirty, nervously watched the live broadcast on screen.
"Katsuki, be careful... don't get hurt..."
She murmured softly.
"I don't need to bring out [The World] for this guy, do I?"
Arthur thought to himself as he looked at Katsuki Bakugo across from him.
To Katsuki Bakugo, that was even more infuriating!
"You looking down on me? You twin bastard!"
Katsuki Bakugo roared.
"Huh? No, I'm not."
Arthur's tone was calm, like stating a fact as obvious as pulling your pants down to use the bathroom. "I haven't put you in my eyes from the start."
"Damn it," Izuku Midoriya thought. He knew trouble was coming.
Sure enough, hearing Arthur's words, Katsuki Bakugo started fuming.
His lips trembled, veins bulged on his forehead, and his eyes went bloodshot. "You... what the fuck did you say?"
"I really hate repeating myself, Durian Head."
Arthur tilted his head. "Just attack already. I don't expect to learn anything from fighting you."
"Die!!!"
Katsuki Bakugo shouted his catchphrase. His left hand blasted an explosion that launched him forward at high speed, while his right hand formed a claw, aiming straight for Arthur's face.
It was pretty intimidating. If his opponent were a female student, a lot of the audience would probably already be praying for her.
But this time, it was different.
...
Re@d adv@nce ch@pters on p@t
guilt_free_daoist
Jo!n d!sc0rd I!nk in synops!s.
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