Once Again From Better Days

Katsuki walks into the arena. His hand barely hurts now. He supposes he has the painkillers and adrenaline to thank for that. But he doesn't know how long it will last if he uses his quirk with already-fractured fingers. He spares one glance towards the audience. From this distance, he can't tell if Izuku is back from getting his injuries treated or not. Katsuki roughly pushes the worry away.

Uraraka enters the arena from the other side, and she looks terrified. Her hands are clenched into fists at her side, but they're shaking. If he remembers correctly, her quirk takes actual contact to activate. That's the one thing he has to watch for.

Katsuki stares her down. "Oy, floaty, if you want to withdraw, you better do it now," he warns. "But if you don't, you better come at me with all you've got."

She pauses for a moment, before her face goes from scared to resolved, her eyes narrowing slightly and her mouth settling into a firm line. "There's no way I can withdraw here," she says.

Katsuki watches for the moment her weight shifts and moves in response, sinking his weight into his knees and pushing off. He brings his right arm down in a large arc. If she was friends with Izuku, she would know this is a habit of his. This time she's never met Izuku. Katsuki controls the explosion so it's just enough to throw her back. He sees her stumble as she tries to regain her balance.

She tries to attack him again, this time from the left side. He uses his left hand to repel her, and he feels a small spasm of pain. At this level, it's hardly something to notice, but he still hesitates for a moment. He needs to be in top form for the matches after this. For now, he'll try to favor his right, and he'll try to finish this match quickly.

The next explosion sends her to the ground. She gets to her feet again slowly. The look in her eyes has dulled from determination to something edging on panic. Instead of waiting for her to run at him again, he takes the offensive and throws her back. He lets go of some of the caution he'd had in the beginning of the match, when he was waiting to see how she would walk into battle. Instead of letting her breathe, he rages ahead. He fires explosions once. Twice. Three times. 

The smoke and ash left over from his explosions is heavy in the air. Katsuki stills; he knows he heard her stumble. When the smoke clears, he sees her lying on the ground. There are pieces of the arena floor around him. She considers them for a moment, before she reaches for them, sending them skyward. It's the good idea, but they're too far into the match. Uraraka claws her way to standing until she stands before him, legs trembling slightly. Her eyes have gained back some of their resolve.

Katsuki walks forward. She takes a couple steps back, raising her hands. When Katsuki passes under the rubble, she lets her fingertips touch. Without looking, he lifts his right hand and obliterates it with a single explosion. The particles of dust rain upon him, too small to cause any harm.

"Right idea, too slow," he comments.

She makes a last-ditch attempt to make him float, her hand reaching toward him with her fingers outstretched. In her current state, injured and with no plans left to try, her movements are slow, and Katsuki sidesteps her easily.  He forces her down with a final explosion that she doesn't have the strength left to evade.

Midnight announces him as the winner, and he watches someone from the medical staff help her to her feet and lead her out of the arena. Uraraka Ochako is not weak by any means of the word, but she is not strong yet either. He sees the makings of a someone with a sense for strategy and someone who will grow into her quirk until she is a force to be reckoned with. She already possesses some of the drive to become a hero, but the passion in her eyes is weak.

Katsuki leaves the arena slowly. He was never Uraraka's friend, but she was Izuku's. In their other lifetime, she could hone her own observational and strategic abilities alongside Izuku who'd spent his life watching and analyzing. In this lifetime, she hasn't had the chance, because Izuku is in 1-C not 1-A. That's probably Katsuki's fault. Without Izuku, 1-A has no unified purpose, no one to gather them together and force them to get stronger in the same way, no one to inspire them with outstanding determination and an unwavering spirit.

He looks up, to where the others in class 1-A that aren't the 1-A students they have the potential to be. They were stronger with Izuku in their midst, and without him they are a scattered class, collecting in twos and threes. If they are to face the battles that will no doubt be as difficult as they were last time, they need to be stronger–he, Katsuki, needs to be stronger. He stares at the place where Izuku's class is sitting. It still feels wrong that they are in different classes.

Katsuki tries to clear his head. The next round is the semi-finals, and he has no time to be concerned with the future or what could have been–or what was last time. The four that are left are Katsuki, Izuku, Todoroki and Tokoyami. He waits for the announcement of the match-ups with anticipation beating in his c.h.e.s.t. He will be up against Tokoyami, which leaves Izuku to fight Todoroki–All Might's disciple against Endeavor's son. It's a fight that was fated in any version of events.

Katsuki makes his way to a seat with 1-A. Izuku will fight Todoroki, and Katsuki wonders who will win this time. Izuku is different for sure, but is half-and-half? Kirishima sits down beside him, interrupting his train of thought.

"Your Midoriya is a tough one," he complains. 

"F.u.c.k off," Katsuki yells, shoving Kirishima away so he doesn't see the red light up Katsuki's face. Your Midoriya .

Kirishima recovers quickly. "And congrats, man!"

"You really went all out against a fragile girl. How could you?" Kaminari's voice cuts in.

Katsuki has half a mind to blast him out of the stands. He thinks of the fight he just left, and while she wasn't as strong as Uraraka Ochako can be– 

"Where the hell do you see fragile?" Katsuki asks. "Plus, didn't you didn't get your a.s.s handed to you by a 'fragile girl?'"

Kaminari's shoulders slump as he mutters excuses, but Katsuki has already refocused his attention elsewhere. There are three matches left, and the day is over. Katsuki clasps in his hands in his l.a.p. In all the storm of his emotions for Izuku, he wants to fight him, too.