A/N: lol this was not supposed to be so long, but i kinda got into it, wanted to make the match longer (it was orig quite a fair bit shorter and had a lot less dialogue, but i thought this was better, more "show,don't tell" n truer to their characters haha), and had some fun ideas for the aftermath too so here we go! consider this extra long chapter to make up for the slightly shorter chapter last time :D

lot's of action this time, so get ready!

They had a bit of time to plan before the test officially started, and Midoriya immediately put it to use, as they quickly hashed out what to do. First, they each gave a rundown on all their equipment, Midoriya going first before asking Uraraka for hers.

It turned out Uraraka had taken some of his earlier advice about her quirk to her, and even came up with some ideas of her own on top of it, which she'd applied to her costume. Her helmet used pressure points and aromatherapy to ward off the effects of Zero Gravity on herself, which was quite important when paired with her the sleek white backpack she had on. This was actually a jetpack, which would give her the needed propulsion to allow her to fly with her quirk.

While it did have a maximum usage time of about forty five minutes, before its batteries ran out, and it could only be used continuously for about ten minutes at most before it overheated, even with these limitations, it was an incredible piece of equipment.

Aside from that, she had two incredible support tools to help her out too. One was a futuristic looking gun that would shoot out tiny balls made of rubber (metal was rejected for being too dangerous) she could use her quirk on to greatly increase their speed and effectiveness. While the other was basically a grappling hook with variable retraction speed that she could use for mobility if her jetpack was unavailable.

"Wow, your costume is even more amazing than I thought," Midoriya exclaimed in awe. "I can't believe you've actually got a real-life jetpack as part of your costume!"

"Yours are cool too! Especially those different bombs of yours," Uraraka returned the compliment earnestly, adding, "And I wouldn't have gotten that jetpack if it wasn't for your advice about my quirk."

Midoriya give a slightly embarrassed laughed. "Well, I'm glad you thought my ideas were helpful. Speaking of, I actually have some ideas for how to beat Kacchan and Iida, especially with your quirk and that equipment…"

The green-haired boy's usual rambling tendencies proved to be quite helpful, because he was able to explain everything he'd needed to say just in time for the test to start. Uraraka thankfully, had no objections, and the both of them nodded determinedly at each other as they prepared to execute the plan.

-o-

Unsurprisingly, Bakugou and Iida's partnership was not going quite as smoothly in comparison. All of their previous interactions had been quite antagonistic and unfortunately for them, this was not an exception.

"Just fucking stay in your place and guard the shitty bomb, while I take them both down, Bitchy Glasses." Bakugou growled as he paced back and forth impatiently.

While part of him was tempted to go racing down the halls to find them and fight them, he knew Deku would be coming for straight him, considering his current quirk.

"How dare-?!" Iida spluttered indignantly. "That is not my name! And that is hardly a plan!"

"Tch, you're bitching yet again, Bitchy Glasses," the blonde pointed out with a condescending scoff. "And I don't need a fucking plan to take down Deku and Gravity Girl."

Smirking, he lit up his fists, setting off a few small explosions. "Not when I can fucking do this."

Needless to say, Iida was not appeased by any of this, and continued to argue his point. Bakugou rolled his eyes, considering stalking right out of the damned room just to piss the other boy off more. If Deku didn't show up in the next few minutes, he'd probably do it, screw the consequences, anyway.

Fortunately or unfortunately, Bakugou would not be kept waiting for much longer.

-o-

For the first step of their plan, the both of them were tied together using Midoriya's handkerchief rope, before being made weightless with Zero Gravity. As they started to float in the air, Uraraka activated her jetpack to direct them both skyward, up the building, right to the very top, in the span of less than a minute.

They both landed on the ceiling, whereupon Uraraka released Zero Gravity's hold on the both of them. There was a slight tinge of green on her face after she did so, but it only took a few deep breaths before she was back to normal, and giving Midoriya the OK to proceed.

Once more, he activated his quirk, confirming the villain team's positions near the top floors. Then, his focused his senses on the hot air being released through the exhaust ducts, tracking the flow of air from the ducting system running throughout the building, until he found the vents that lead directly to the ceiling on the floor where Kacchan and Iida where. It was close.

Their path secured, they wasted no time heading for the closest duct. After using Zero Gravity on the both of them again, they slowly and stealthily floating themselves down until they reached the right branching opening to lead them to their targets. With Midoriya's quirk still activated, it was easy to make their way to the right vent in no time. Through the metal slits, they could glimpse Bakugou and Iida down below, looking more like they were getting ready to fight each other than the hero team.

As Uraraka quietly released her quirk and regained her bearings, Izuku pulled out one of his metal playing cards and began to unscrew the vent as quickly but sneakily as he could. They only had one chance to do this sneak attack right.

Once he managed to get the screws off, he carefully slid it aside open just enough to be able to drop one of his bombs into the floor below.

Namely, his blue sleeping gas bombs.

-o-

"What on—?!"

"Fucking cheat—!"

-o-

Immediately upon impact with the hard ground, the small blue bomb exploded and released the gas into the air. As the sleeping gas worked its way into the lungs of the two people on the ground, Midoriya and Uraraka were safe in the vents, each with a colorful handkerchiefs tied over their nose and mouth to make sure any stray fumes didn't affect them.

Once the lingering smoke dissipated, they would drop down from the vents and make their way over to the bombs, having bloodlessly secured the villains with a sneak attack.

Or, at least, that was the plan.

Instead, while Iida began to droop, clearly affected by the gas, Bakugou fiercely resisted the effects, and with a wave of anger-fueled strength, sent an explosion from his hands right at the ceiling above—straight for the vents Midoriya and Uraraka were still hiding in.

Thankfully, with Heat Detector activated, Izuku had been able to sense the buildup to his explosions, and he was able to quickly drop down, pulling his partner down with him, just in time to avoid most of the blast radius.

Less fortunately, they could not quite avoid some of the debris, or the sheer concussive force of the explosion blowing them away from each other, and the bomb they were aiming for.

Midoriya was now experiencing some serious throbbing at his side, and quite a few cuts and scratches from the debris. Unfortunately, Uraraka had gotten off far worse, having been hit in the head by some of the debris during their fall, and so, was momentarily down for the count. Hopefully, she would stir soon, because he could really use her and her quirk right about now.

At least Iida had been taken out too, as he was lying on the ground, fast asleep from the gas and completely unaware of what was happening, though how long that would last with all the noise and damage they were making was another matter.

Because Bakugou, who was quickly rushing at him with more explosions coming from his hands. "YOU DAMNED CHEATING DEKU!"

Midoriya avoided the initial swipe thanks to years of experience, and managed to dodge most of the attacks that followed too, in part thanks to his quick allowing him to easily track the other boy's body and movements. But he knew that if he didn't so something different, it would only be a matter of time until Bakugou took him out with his superior firepower by sheer brute force.

So, during a pause between attacks, he took the chance to throw his smoke bomb, creating the perfect cover for him to run as fast as he could for the bomb. After all, the point of the exercise wasn't to beat the other boy in a straight up fight, but to secure the bomb.

Unfortunately but unsurprisingly, knowing him all too well, Kacchan had anticipated this move, and he'd started heading for the bomb to as well.

"I'm not letting you get away, Deku!"

Using his previous knowledge of the location to rush at him with his explosive hands, Bakugou could effectively cut him off. Midoriya was close to the bomb, but still not close enough.

Knowing he wouldn't make it in time now that the blonde was flying right at him, Midoriya quickly decided to change strategy and go for the attack instead.

The smoke was already beginning to get dissipated by the shockwaves created by the blonde's explosions, so he only had a small window of time to make use of the smoke's effects still.

Good thing, he had just the thing to help him out, He threw the capture bomb next, hitting Bakugou right in the chest and causing him to suddenly get enveloped in a net. The suddenness of it threw his existing momentum into chaos and he tripped on his next step, the explosions in his hands sputtering out.

Giving a victorious grin at the direct hit, Midoriya nonetheless did not wait to see the results, and quickly ran for the bomb.

He was close, and all he needed to do was run a little bit closer. For a moment, it seemed like he would make it, as his hand hovered a scant few inches away from victory.

But a series of explosions reached his ears, quickly followed by a large ball of heat coming his way which blared like sirens on his quirk-enhanced sense—-and he was forced to quickly dodge the oncoming blast instead. He managed to roll out of the way just in time to avoid it.

BOOM!

By his estimation, the explosion had been almost perfectly sized to avoid the bomb itself getting caught in the radius. It was enough not to cause him to lose this exercise, but it would've still certainly been a suicide move if this were the real scenario.

Midoriya had little doubt breaking the spirit if not the letter of this exercise was going to get Bakugou much points, but regardless, he was now back to nearly step one again with this move.

The smoke from his bomb was gone now, and Bakugou had managed to break free of the capture net by letting loose an explosion close to himself, judging by the slightly singed state of his costume. Considering both the net and the costume were supposed to be fire-resistant, Midoriya could only stare. Kacchan really is a monster, he thought, with a slightly hysterical laugh.

"Seriously, Kacchan?" He asked incredulously. "We would've both died if that was a real bomb, you know."

"But it fucking isn't, is it Deku?!" Bakugou replied, completely unrepentant and also completely enraged. There was a savage grin on his face as he proclaimed loudly, "I'm not fucking letting you win this, Deku!"

Even though his two plans had just failed, and both their partners were out, Midoriya only felt his own blood pumping high in response to this blatant challenge. Grinning his own wild grin, he shot back, "Too bad, Kacchan, because I'm definitely not going to lose."

-o-

"Aww, I thought for sure Midoriya had it!"

"Woah, nothing keeps Bakugou down!"

"Man, and I thought Bakugou was the scary one, but did you see Midoriya's reflexes and that creepy smirk at the end!

-o-

Needless to say, Bakugou was pissed off at that, abd came flying right towards him again, screaming bloody murder.

Using the brief time he had before the other boy caught up to him, Midoriya took out his "magic wand" from his belt clip, swiftly flicking the switch that turned it into a bo staff, just in time to defend against Kacchan's explosive flying kick.

Now with a weapon in hand, he was able to withstand the onslaught slightly better.

In truth, Midoriya was hardly an expert in wielding the bo staff. He had taken some classes, but barely a year's worth, and it had been a sporadic schedule too. Frankly, all he could really do were straightforward attacks and defenses. But even that was incredibly helpful in a fight. Considering this Bakugou, the monster who resisted sleeping gas, dissipated smoke and escaped fire-resistant nets, he needed all the edge he could get.

"Tch," Bakugou scoffed. "Using a fucking weapon now? So you know your quirk is weak as shit, after all. Why don't you just fucking change your quirk already?"

"Kacchan, are you actually giving me advice in the middle of a fight?" Midoriya asked, knowing that it would irk the other boy.

"Fuck you!" The blonde screamed right on cue, following it up with a particularly violent explosion Izuku just barely managed to dodge.

"I just want to fight you at your fucking best, dumbass Deku!" He added with a huff. "Winning against you when you're weak is obviously fucking pointless."

Coming from Bakugou, that was actually a pretty sweet sentiment. Not that Midoriya agreed with it at all.

"You know, Kacchan, just because my quirk isn't offensively powerful, doesn't mean I'm weak." Midoriya explained calmly, following his statement up with a sudden jab of his staff, knocking Bakugou back, and sending his explosions briefly sputtering out. "Besides, you realize I nearly won a while ago, right? All using Heat Detector as my quirk."

"You tried to knock me out with sleeping gas, and then you threw a smoke bomb and a fucking net, you damned shitty cheater!"

This explosion was followed up by a literal one that came far too close for comfort, but Midoriya was hardly intimidated, and he shot back, exasperated."And you sent an explosion right next to what is supposed to be a nuclear bomb, that is way worse!"

Kacchan didn't bother replying this time, aside from another fierce attack Midoriya had to fend off that is. Despite all his words, he was well aware that if he did not do something soon, the other boy would end up winning this exercise after all.

At this point, the only support tools he hadn't used were his playing cards, which weren't much use at close range, and his flash bomb. Perhaps he could temporarily blind him long enough to try another rush to victory? Or he could just use his capture bomb again, since he did still have a few more of those, and while Kacchan could get free, it still took some time, and hurt himself in the process.

Midoriya quickly ran the different possibilities in his head, careful not to let himself get too lost in his thoughts as he kept up the fight with the other boy. Even with a weapon, he was just barely managing to defend himself, let alone actually counterattack.

All he needed was an opening to win. But Bakugou was not letting him have one, as he kept up a steady onslaught of attacks that left no opportunities for him to go for his support tools.

To make things worse, Midoriya could also sense Iida's form, growing steadily more erratic as their fight dragged on and the noise grew louder, but he could hardly worry about that.

Because he noticed another figure nearby was also stirring. To his relief, Midoriya realized that Uraraka was regaining consciousness.

To be precise, he could sense her heat signature gaining energy and movement, meaning she was awake, but he couldn't actually see what she was doing. Part of Midoriya was tempted to look and try to somehow signal her to go for the bomb while he kept Bakugou busy, but he knew it was way too risky.

The fact that Kacchan had yet to realize she was back in the game was their biggest asset right now. If Midoriya wanted to keep it that way, he needed to make sure the blonde's attention didn't waver from this current fight.

Good thing that wasn't exactly hard to do.

"Didn't you say something about me having no chance with my quirk being Heat Detector?" Midoriya asked lightly, with a taunting smirk, right after avoiding a swipe from the other boy.

As predicted, Bakugou exploded right on cue. "Fuck you, Deku!"

-o-

Uraraka woke up with a throbbing at the back of her head.

It wasn't the usual headache and nausea she'd come to associate with her quirk, but the kind that came from hitting her head hard, she realized, as everything that had happened came rushing back to her.

Battle training!

Her and Deku were up against Kacchan and Iida. They'd just managed to pull off the sneak attack Deku planned when the blonde had managed to resist the effects of the sleeping gas long enough to send an explosion straight for them. She remembered that her partner had managed to drag her out of the way in time, but nothing after that. She must have gotten hit by some of the debris.

But what happened after she lost consciousness?

Head aching, she tried to focus and figure out what was happening now. Breathing through the pain, she looked carefully around her. She quickly saw Midoriya and Bakugou locked in a fierce fight. The former was using a weapon, some kind of staff that looked like a giant magic wand, and was barely holding off the latter's explosions.

At the sight of her partner in danger, she nearly leapt towards him in response, before she caught sight of his face. Deku did not look panicked or worried at all. Indeed, he seemed to be taunting the other boy, and despite looking worse for the wear, he still proclaimed complete confidence in his team's victory.

His team's victory.

Uraraka had nearly forgotten the conditions for winning this exercise. Once she did, she realized what would be the best course of action would be.

-o-

It was at this point in peak chaos that Iida started to stir, groggy voice full of confusion as he struggled to regain his bearings. "...what just happened?"

His groggy gaze took in Bakugou and Midoriya wrapped up in an intense fight, and he quickly snapped to attention. They were having battle training! He and the blonde had been fighting over the plan, when he'd suddenly lost consciousness. The last thing he'd seen before everything turned black had been Bakugou fighting hard against the effects of unconsciousness himself.

Clearly, he had managed to succeed somehow, if the sight before him meant anything.

But this was no time for confusion observation, he swiftly realized. Iida needed to act now. Quickly standing, he was ready to join in and help his partner defeat the green-haired boy when he noticed some movement in the corner of his eye.

His eyes widened in realization, and he quickly activated his quirk, the engine's on his leg heating up as he prepared to dash at Uraraka.

But it was too late. Though he tried vainly to rush after her regardless, she was going too fast for him.

While Iida had momentarily frozen in confusion, Uraraka had quickly used her quirk on herself to turn herself weightless, turned on her jetpack, and rushed towards the bomb to immediately claim victory for their team.

-o-

HERO TEAM WINS!

Midoriya breathed a huge sigh of relief, finally deactivating his quirk, feeling ready to collapse right then and there, as his adrenaline began to fade and all his aches and bruises rushed in again. He had a killer headache and some serious nausea going on too, from using his quirk so much while moving so fast.

Meanwhile, Bakugou had frozen midcharge at the declaration booming out.

When he glanced to see Uraraka hugging the bomb, realizing what had happened, he screamed out in frustration, "DAMN YOU GRAV GIRL!"

Showing that the month of contact she'd had with both boys was a terrible influence on her, Uraraka grinned fearlessly at this explosion of anger, echoing Midoriya's previous words at him again. "Don't be such a sore loser, Kacchan."

At this, Midoriya let out a loud, definitely hysterical, laugh. But who could blame him? Aside from Kacchan himself, of course.

"FUCKING FUCK TOO, DEKU!" Bakugou snapped, glaring darkly at him for this, looking between him and Uraraka, clearly wondering who he should be attacking first. His fists lit up with angry sparks.

It probably said something that neither him nor Uraraka were even the slightest bit intimidated by the sight of this.

The 3 UA Amigos descended into full-on chaotic banter at this point, with Bakugou looking like he was going to keep fighting any second now despite the exercise being over.

Meanwhile, in his own sad little corner, Iida could mutter a series of increasingly stern reprimands against himself.

-o-

The four of them were back in the viewing room with the rest of the class, after that.

Both Midoriya and Uraraka were looking slightly worse for the wear, but neither of them were really hurt beyond some cuts and scrapes. Their worst issue was some quirk overuse.

Meanwhile, both Bakugou and Iida were completely unharmed. At least, physically. Their emotional state and egos were definitely feeling thoroughly bruised after the exercise. Though the blonde looking angry wasn't too unusual, poor Iida looked like he was ready to cry at any moment after he realized what had happened during the match.

Once everyone settled down some, All Might began the discussion for the match, "That was quite an interesting match! Who would you say was the VIP for the battle?"

"Certainly not me…" Iida muttered dejectedly.

Feeling a little guilty considering it was his plan to use the sleeping gas bomb, Midoriya gave him a consoling pat in the back. Honestly, Iida's response was perfectly normal. Kacchan was the monster who could somehow resist the effects of the gas.

"Hmm.. it's gotta be Uraraka!" Kaminari suggested confidently. "She was the one who got the win by touching the bomb!"

"But Midoriya nearly won all on his own before! So manly!" Kirishima added, with an admiring grin. "Though Bakugou's counterattack stopping him then was super manly too!"

"Midoriya was the one who lead the initial sneak attack, and managed to keep up with Bakugou's counter attacks after long enough to give them the opportunity to win." Tsuyu pointed out bluntly in response. "If it weren't for him, Uraraka would not have been able to get to the bomb at all."

"Indeed, both members of the hero team displayed admirable planning and adaptability. The decision to use a sneak attack was wise considering the superior offensive capabilities of the villain team." Yaoyorozu commented, summarizing the match neatly as she continued. "Iida was taken out almost immediately thanks to this plan, and though he was able to quickly take in the situation and nearly stop Uraraka at the end, it was not quick enough. While Bakugou was able to resist and counter, even taking out Uraraka in the process, he clearly ignored the scenario's conditions. Creating such an explosion so close to a nuclear weapon would've been incredibly dangerous, after all."

At the criticisms, Iida drooped even more, while Bakugou gritted his teeth, glaring darkly at anyone who dared to look at him. Yaoyorozu didn't even seem to notice the reactions as she went on explaining.

"Even within the confines of the test, however, he let himself get caught up in the fight with Midoriya, failing to notice that Uraraka had regained consciousness and gone for the bomb. He didn't seem to notice his teammate waking up either" Finally, she concluded. "Thus, the title of VIP should go to either Midoriya or Uraraka, with the former being slightly more appropriate, as he displayed great strategic thinking throughout that also kept the scenario in mind. While he did seem to get a bit caught up in the fight with Bakugou, this worked in his favor as it allowed Uraraka to freely reach the bomb and ensure that they won. "

There was a moment of silence, as everyone registered this rather long-winded answer, before All Might reacted. "Indeed, that is correct! I would also add that the villain team should not have been fighting with each in the beginning, and taken the time to plan like the hero team instead!"

"I agree! We must all start at the bottom and work out way up together." Yaoyorozu nodded seriously. "If we do not earnestly help and cheer each other on, we will never be top heroes!"

Everyone gave a vague smile or cheer at this, but no one even half as enthusiastically as Midoriya.

"Plus Ultra!" Midoriya cheered, sending the girl a smile as he told her. "That was an impressive summary and analysis of our fight, Yaoyorozu-san. You really noticed a lot of details, and make quite a few accurate inferences from what you couldn't see too."

She gave a smile in response. "Thank you, Midoriya-san. Your plan was good, and you managed to react well to the unexpected. Though your quirk is completely different from yesterday, you managed to use it remarkably well. Ah, I also noticed you pulled out a bo staff during your match with Bakugou."

"Thanks! I've had a lot of practice with my quirk changing all the time, so I've become pretty good at adapting to new quirks by now," Midoriya explained with a grin, "And yeah, because my quirk is so unpredictable, I wanted to have a backup plan of attack, so I thought of using a weapon for times when I don't have a good offensive quirk, The bo staff seemed like the best choice. It's great for extending my reach, functions well for offense or defense, and it's an effective enough weapon even with only a little training."

"Yes, I noticed it seemed like you did not have much formal training with it, possibly only a year or so of training?I use a bo staff as my primary weapon as well, but I've been handling it for years, so I have some expertise in the subject." She stated matter of factly, a far cry from the arrogant bluster he was used to from Kacchan.

"Oh, that's so cool! We should definitely try sparring with other some time! I'd love any tips you can give me! What martial art styles have you been practicing?" Midoriya replied enthusiastically, beginning to bounce on his feet. "I've gone to a local dojo for some bojutsu and karate classes this past year, but not that regularly, since I've been focusing more on honing my quirk for the entrance exams. I've been thinking of going more often though, and maybe taking up Aikido too."

"A sparring match would be most appreciated. I've been trained in several types of martial arts since I was young, including bojutsu, aikido, jiu jitsu, and karate." She responded, eyes lighting up as she explained, "I think you would greatly benefit from practicing martial arts more seriously, and I greatly recommend taking up aikido, as it is quite well-suited to those with smaller or leaner builds."

As the two delved enthusiastically into a detailed conversation on different martial arts techniques that somehow morphed into talk of fighting philosophies and historical battles, everyone else in the class gave them all quite a wide berth.

"Looks like you have some competition, Uraraka-chan," Mina teased the other girl, observing the two geeking out together with a smirk.

"It's not like that! We're just friends," Ochako protested. "And Deku can make all the other friends if he wants to!"

Having somehow lost control of the class again, poor All Might's mental state seemed to be taking some hits too. Thankfully, he managed to pull himself together and regain the students' attention, coughing loudly, before somewhat awkwardly announcing, "Anyway, now that the discussion is over, the next match will begin now!"

-o-

Midoriya watched everyone else's fights eagerly. Compared to his own, the other matches went by in what seemed like a flash.

Lamenting his lack of a physical notebook, Midoriya made several pages worth of mental notes keeping track of everything happening. He and Yaoyorozu traded off making the most detailed analysis of each match's strategies, successes and failures. Often, they added upon one another's words, bouncing ideas off each other and building a clearer picture of the events together.

After a while, All Might had simply let them take over the bulk of explaining each team's actions.

The most interesting match was probably Todoroki and Shoji versus Ojiro and Hagakure. Though really, it was basically just Todoroki against literally the entire building, as he encased literally everything in ice, completely incapacitating the enemy without engaging in combat.

It was Midoriya's intentions, but executed with incredible power. Though he'd managed to beat the other boy during the Quirk Apprehension Test using Elemental Cycle, even if he still had that quirk now for battle training, Midoriya didn't think he'd be able to match that sheer power.

What would the result have been, if he had fought Todoroki instead? Truthfully, Midoriya didn't like his chances at all.

From the way Kacchan was gritting his teeth, he was clearly thinking the same thing.

"The other recommended student, huh?" Midoriya mused, "He's definitely got a great handle on his powerful quirk."

From beside him, Yaoyorozu nodded in agreement, "Indeed. During the Recommendation Entrance Exam he did quite well in nearly all areas."

"I'm not surprised. He performed really well in the Quirk Apprehension Test yesterday. If I hadn't had Elemental Cycle then, he would've totally beaten me. Though, of course, he still wouldn't have beaten you, Yaoyorozu-san!" Midoriya said with a laugh, clearly not bitter about losing the top spot unlike a certain blonde. "You've got a really incredible quirk!"

"Thank you, Midoriya-san," she said, looking pleased and just a little embarrassed at the enthusiasm, "You have quite an incredible quirk, yourself. I've certainly never heard of one like it."

This time, the two began a discussion comparing their quirks, and once more, Mina nudged Uraraka suggestively. "Wow, look at those two go, already comparing quirks with each other!"

Uraraka merely sighed, utterly exasperated by the teasing, "It's Deku! He's a quirk-obsessed fanboy. He'll probably start going crazy about your quirks soon enough too!"

Indeed, pretty much as soon as the two teams returned to the room for the discussion, Midoriya called out, "That was a crazy powerful display of your quirk, Todoroki-san!"

The boy was as cold as his ice, however, and in the face of such enthusiasm, he merely answered calmly, "Yes."

Despite the cold reception, Midoriya was not deterred, and merely continued, with the same level of enthusiasm, "You very effectively overpowered your opponent into submission, which is a perfectly valid strategy if you've got the the sheer power you have, of course. But a lot of it was sort of wasted effort."

Todoroki stilled at the criticism, looking like he was finally actually looking at Midoriya now.

But the boy in question was too deep in analysis mode to sense the change in mood, and he barely paused to take a breath as he proceeded to take down Todoroki's seemingly flawless take down.

"I guess there's the intimidation factor to consider, but you also have to consider property damage. Even if the ice can be melted right after, the sudden change in temperature and humidity might leave some permanent effects on the structural integrity."

While obviously lives were the priority, keeping property damage to a minimum was also very important since livelihoods were dependant on it.

"Really, icing over the entire building was just pure overkill, and you probably could've isolated only the very floor the villain team was in, especially since your partner could use his quirk to scout ahead. You didn't even need to ice the ceiling, just their feet, as you pointed out, or just their entire bodies to truly ensure they wouldn't move. There's no guarantee villains wouldn't think the risk of damaging their soles is worth a surprise attack to take you down, after all."

In the silence that followed this analysis, you could've heard even the tiniest of pins drop.

Clearly, Midoriya realized now what his words had done. Looking suddenly sheepish, he faced Todoroki again, "Well, that's what I think you could do to improve next time, anyway. You've still done a pretty amazing job, of course! Definitely the fastest win we've seen in this exercise so far!"

For a long moment, Todoroki only stared at the other boy. Before finally, he replied, somewhat ominously, "I'll remember next time."

"That's… good?" Midoriya said uncertainly, watching the other boy walk away. He wasn't sure if he'd actually angered the ice user with his words after all.

"Wow, Deku! You really are amazing!" Uraraka told him.

"Tch, whatever." Bakugou grumbled to himself, barely heard over the din of the others praising Midoriya.

It wasn't like it had never happened before, since, while people had always been impressed by his quirk, he didn't exactly have the kind of personality that encouraged others to crowd around him and coo over him (not since he was a little kid and all his fiery confidence was considered cute instead of scary). But this time, it was happening right after a defeat, so this was all adding insult to injury on his poor pride. Seeing Todoroki's casual display of power, and knowing he couldn't match it pissed it off further. Not even Midoriya taking the guy down with his usual nerdy word vomit made him feel better, since it was Midoriya doing it, after all.

"Yeah! First Bakugou, now Todoroki! You really have no problem challenging the powerhouses, huh?" Sero asked, looking impressed.

"Ugh, forget the guys, Midoriya somehow managed to get both the top girls' attention!" Mineta complained. "How did he reel in both Uraraka and Yaoyorozu so quickly?! What's the secret?"

As the chaos began to descend on the class once more, All Might attempted to bring some order back in "...Erm, please everyone, get ready for the next matches! We still have some more to go before the end of battle training!"

-o-

If the matches before seemed to go by in a flash, they seemed to go even faster now. Until, finally, the last match ended, the discussions right after were finished, and All Might was congratulating them all on a job well done.

Since it was the last class of the day, everyone could leave right after. But most everyone stayed around to linger anyway, all eagerly talking about the Battle Training that happened.

Midoriya was, unsurprisingly, the subject of many a talk. Well-used to it, he let himself get dragged into the crowd of admirers, happily talking himself up (Kacchan was a bad influence on his ego, really), though he made sure to point out all of Uraraka's contributions too. "Really, the only reason the initial plan worked so well was because of her, and she basically got the winning point for us too!"

The praise and talk about how well the two worked together as a team drew more teasing from the girls. Though this time, they included Midoriya and even Yaoyorozu in them too, making the green-haired boy seriously wonder why his love life was such a favorite topic of people. Popularity was such a double edged sword, he mused, as the .

"Boy, you and Bakugou really went at it, huh?"

"I can't believe you managed to face him head on in a fight like that!"

"He literally shrugged off sleeping gas like it was nothing!"

"Yeah, honestly. You know, despite everything and literally knowing him since we were toddlers, even I was surprised by how he managed that," Midoriya admitted, before giving a smirk, "Well, not that it helped him in the end."

"Oooohh! What a burn!"

"Damn, Midoriya, you are one serious badass!"

It was then, seeing no explosions come his way after his comment, that Midoriya realized Bakugou had long abandoned them all to go home.

-o-

"Damnit, Kacchan! We were supposed to go home all together this time," Midoriya groused to Uraraka later, as the two of them packed up to walk to the station together.

Though they lived fairly far away from each other, they could at least walk to the closest station together and part ways there, at least.

"Well, he is pretty impatient." Uraraka pointed out, knowing this fact clearly after only a month. "I'd be more surprised if he did wait for us."

"Yeah, I guess. But still!" Midoriya shook his head. "Honestly, he's probably just sulking about losing the battle training. So he's being even more of a jerk than usual."

-o-

The UA 3 Amigos Chat

Midoriya: u left us behind! ૮( ᵒ̌▱๋ᵒ̌ )ა

Bakugou: Because you both were being slow as shit

Bakugou: Talking to all the fucking extras

Uraraka: wait, both? ┌╏ º □ º ╏┐

Uraraka: did u just acknowledge me as not being an extra? ヽ( ω )ノ

Bakugou: …..

Bakugou: Whatever.

Bakugou: You make a decent sidekick, Grav Girl

Midoriya: wow, that's Kacchan speak for:

Midoriya: "you're awesome, so im acknowledging u now" ¡( •̀ ᴗ •́ )و!

Uraraka: lol yh, Deku, no need to translate. this one's pretty obv (๑◡๑)

Uraraka: did i also just get another nickname? Σ(･口･)

Uraraka: r u srly too impatient to use my full nickname now?（；¬＿¬)

Bakugou: I hate you.

Midoriya: aww, Uraraka-chan, u got another nickname too! ヾ(。◕ฺ∀◕ฺ)ノ

Midoriya: w8, i just realized i don't have a nickname for u?（＊〇□〇）…！

Uraraka: yh, Deku, y not? (๑´╹‸╹`๑)

Bakugou: Bc he's a loser

Bakugou: With shit taste in nicknames

Midoriya: Hey! ( ≧Д≦)

Midoriya: I can't believe ur ganging up on me? (っ- ‸ – ς)

Midoriya: idk if i should feel annoyed or proud 〈(゜。゜)

Uraraka: lol

Midoriya: n hmm… how bout Ura-chan? o (^‿^✿)

Midoriya: sort of has an "uwaahh" feel to it? ｡ﾟ✶ฺ.ヽ(*´∀`*)ﾉ.✶ฺﾟ｡

Uraraka: aww, like Dekiru for Deku ヾ( ^▽^ )ノ

Uraraka: i like it! ₍՞◌′ᵕ‵ू◌₎

Bakugou: That's basically just her fucking name.

Uraraka: omg did u just acknowledge that u actually do knw my name? щ(゜ロ゜щ)

Midoriya: ur just jealous she likes my nickname better than urs! (• ৺ •)

Bakugou: I hate the both of you

Midoriya: u totally love us (✿´ ꒳ ` )

Midoriya: even if we did beat u in the battle training ( ◠ ◡ ◠ )

Uraraka: omfg (」゜ロ゜)」

Bakugou: FUCK U DEKU

Bakugou: I'LL BE THE NO. 1 HERO N I'LL BEAT U N GRAV GIRL

Bakugou: N EVERYONE FUCKING ELSE TO DO IT!

Midoriya: lol glad to see u've got ur energy back ల(*´= ◡ =｀*)

Midoriya: i was kinda worried tbh wen u didnt insult me at all

Midoriya: Or try to attack me during the discussion after

Midoriya: U didn't even get angry at Yaoyorozu for criticizing u? （○□○）

Midoriya: n then u just got all quiet

Midoriya: which is so unlike u? ( ꒪Д꒪)ノ

Uraraka: yh, even i know that

Bakugou: ….

Bakugou: Whatever

Bakugou: So i was having a fucking off day

Bakugou: Don't let it get to your damned head

Bakugou: I'm fucking beating you both and all the other shitty fucking extras in Class 1-A in the next one!

Midoriya: aww, wouldn't have it any other way (︶.̮︶✽)

Midoriya: bc its so much more fun to beat u wen u get angry abt it ✌(-‿-)✌

Bakugou: FUCKING DIE IN A PIT DEKU!

Uraraka: lol

A/N: is anyone really surprised Deku & Uraraka won, tho? lol. i did consider having Bakugou win instead, since it's honestly pretty close bet the two but I decided this worked better for the plot. also, Uraraka gets to shine! ...tho poor Iida really got the short end of the stick in this match D: (he'll get some more focus next chapter, dealing with the stuff here, to make up for it!)

tbh, interactions for all of class-1A is reaally hard to do bc there are so many of them. i really just have to pick and choose who to focus on unfortunately. this time it's yaoyorozu+todoroki, and some of the baku/dekusquad (bc they are loud n make great commentary lol) poor quiet bbys in the class get no spotlight D:

also, i keep adding chatfic sections to this bc i have no self control, huhu. tbh i have way more stuff i want them to say in chat but i'll prob save those for the chatfic i've actually done for this fic lol (mild spoiler: get ready for a class chatfic soon!)