Chapter 17

The class of 1-A all stood next to each other inside of gym gamma. They were waiting for Aizawa's instructions to start their training for the day. It has been three days since Tsukauchi dropped the news of Izuku's father on the two boys. After that they haven't heard a thing about the investigation, which had them both on edge.

The rules for their training was simple. They were all divided into groups of 5, making 4 groups in total. Each group had a team leader—who held a colored flag—and the rest of the team members had to work together in order to protect it. If an opposing team got to the team leader and managed to steal the flag, the team that lost the flag would get automatically disqualified. The team to capture all other three flags would be the winner.

The teams were:

Team Orange: Yaoyoruzu, Aoyama, Tokoyami, Sero, and their team leader, Iida.

Team Blue: Kaminari, Shoji, Uraraka, Hagakure, and their team leader, Jiro.

Team Purple: Kirishima, Mineta, Koda, Tsuyu, and their team leader, Katsuki.

Team Red: Mina, Todoroki, Ojiro, Sato, and their team leader, Izuku.

Aizawa stood by the sidelines accompanied by All Might. Everyone got in their respective positions. Once everyone was settled, the teacher gave a once over before blowing a whistle. A few battle cries were heard throughout the building, making Aizawa roll his eyes as his students charged at each other.

Izuku held the flag firmly as he noticed Iida's team making their way to him. Being the flag holder, he could only defend himself if his team failed to do so. So, he stood there in a fighting stance, eyeing his surrounding as an ice wall got in between him and Iida's team. Todoroki fought against Sero and Tokoyami, while Mina and Ojiro went to attack Katsuki's team. Sato stayed by his side, eating candies he had in his pockets to activate his Sugar Rush.

Feeling a presence coming his way, he jumped back when Tsuyu appeared beside him, stretching her tongue towards the flag. He made sure to move it out of her reach each time she would reach out for it.

"Behind you," a voice spoke from behind him. Startled, Izuku dodged just in time to see a rock hard fist almost hit him on the side. Kirishima offered him a toothy grin before launching himself towards the greenette. Izuku managed to kick him in the stomach, sending him flying backwards while also avoiding Tsuyu's tongue.

"I've got you, Izu-babe!" Mina said right before shooting some of her acid towards Tsuyu. Out of the corner of his eye he could see Sato charging towards Kirishima, while Ojiro went to fight against Hagakure and Todoroki took a defensive stance next to him.

"You holding up alright?" The heterochromatic asked, earning a chuckle from the greenette.

"It's not so bad," Izuku shrugged. The sound of a whistle resounded throughout the building, Aizawa's voice following after.

"Jiro's team is out." The teacher announced, just in time for Ojiro to come running towards him with a blue flag. The boy had a smile on his face, handing it to Izuku before taking a defensive stance next to him as well.

Jiro's team went to the sidelines with All Might and Aizawa, all of them having pouts on their faces and apologizing to Jiro. She would brush them off, bummed about being the first team out, but not really blaming any of them. They took a seat and watched how the training continued.

Katsuki was currently blasting off the faces of Sero and Aoyama, who were desperately trying to make an opening to snatching his flag. Annoyed, Katsuki yelled at the rest of his team. "Oi, you extras! You're supposed to be protecting me!"

Tsuyu and Mineta quickly came to his aid, getting the two boys off his back. Clicking his tongue, Katsuki crossed his arms in annoyance. He hated having to be the team leader and stand there being a useless target. He wanted to fight!

Todoroki was doing a great job protecting Izuku, using his ice to either block or freeze anyone coming their way. Izuku kept his guard up as he now held the two flags, knowing that many people would target him. It gave him flashbacks of the sports festival.

"Watch out!" Todoroki exclaimed, grabbing his elbow and pulling him against him. Tokoyami's Dark Shadow almost got a hold of him, but Ojiro and Sato were quick to drift him off. Izuku looked around, and noticed that all of Iida's team members were busy fighting others.

"Iida's free. You and Mina should go after him," Izuku said to the heterochromatic boy. "I can defend myself in the meantime."

Nodding in agreement, Todoroki went to Mina and they both charged over to Iida. Izuku couldn't just stand there and watch for long, as Kirishima went back to attacking him along with Koda. The greenette used blackwhip to hold the flags out of their reach as he fought against the two. He had to concentrate on evading Kirishima's hits while also evading a few birds trying to snatch the flags away.

Another whistle was heard, Aizawa announcing that Iida's group has been disqualified. "Only two teams remain. Since both teams got two flags each, the teams leaders are allowed to engage in combat to retrieve the other's flags."

Letting out a silent curse, Izuku jumped out of the was as he heard explosions heading his way. "Get over here, nerd!"

"Sorry Izu-babe! Tsu-chan got a hold of Iida's flag before we could." Mina apologized, joining Izuku and Todoroki.

"It's alright, we just have to prevent Kacchan from getting to me." Izuku said. Sato and Ojiro were busy holding Mineta and Koda back. Kirishima was still trying to get a direct hit on him, but Mina tackled him to the ground and started fighting him.

Katsuki flew through the air with his quirk, heading straight towards Izuku, but before he could reach the greenette an ice wall blocked his path, making him click his tongue in annoyance. "Fucking half and half!"

"Bakugo," Todoroki acknowledged, avoiding a few blasts headed his way.

"Out of the way, bastard. Those flags are mine!" Katsuki exclaimed, securing his flags on his waistband and charging at Todoroki.

Izuku's feet gave up from under him as Tsuyu's tongue wrapped around them and pulled. He was quick to his feet, though, and flicked his fingers in her direction causing a massive wind to knock her a few feet back. A hit to his back had him stumbling forward, catching his footing just in time to see Mineta throwing one of his sticky balls at him.

The other students were cheering on both teams from the sidelines. They all watched the events unfold in front of them with excitement. Things were starting to get intense.

Ojiro whipped his tail towards Mineta, knocking him over to the side and giving Izuku a thumbs up. Izuku nodded in response, offering a quick smile before looking over at Todoroki. He seemed to be struggling against Katsuki's relentless attacks, so he went to his aid. Izuku kept on holding the flags with his blackwhip as he rushed to the blond.

"About damn time you showed up!" Katsuki smirked, avoiding Izuku's kick. He blew Todoroki a few feet away and turned his attention towards the greenette. Izuku readied himself when he saw Katsuki's fist heading its way towards his face. He instantly dodged but let out a small shriek when Katsuki's other hand appeared in front of his face and let out a blinding explosion.

Izuku jumped back and blinked a few times to regain his vision, glaring over at the blond that flew towards the flags he held with blackwhip. Pulling the flags back towards himself, Izuku used a 'Smash' to push Katsuki away with the wind.

Grabbing the flags with his hand, he waved them tauntingly at Katsuki with an innocent smile. "You've got to do better than that, Kacchan."

"Midoriya!" Sato yelled in warning, catching Izuku's attention. He noticed a few birds and small animals rushing towards him while Koda fought hand in hand against Sato. Using blackwhip, he grabbed onto one of the gym columns and hauled himself towards it to avoid them, latching onto it successfully. Todoroki was quick to repel the animals using a small amount of his flames, scaring them off easily.

Katsuki was back on his heels, punching a hole through an ice wall Todoroki built to try and stop him. The blond had a sinister smile on his face as he approached Izuku, managing to knock him out of the column. The greenette held onto the flags as if his life depended on it while they both fought mid-air. Izuku managed to land a few punches on Katsuki's body, but they barely had any effect on the blond as they approached the ground.

Deciding to use the same move he used back when they fought at ground beta, Katsuki grabbed Izuku by the collar of his shirt and used his explosions to turn them around mid-air. Izuku's back was facing the ground, ready to hit it at full force, but he activated his blackwhip to wrap the black tendrils around the blond and toss him aside.

He got ready for the impact, but Todoroki made an ice slide just in time to get him to the ground safely. Thanking the heterochromatic, Izuku turned his attention back towards Katsuki who was already blasting his face again. The greenette managed to kick Katsuki in the stomach, making him stumble a little on his feet to which Izuku used to his advantage. Activating blackwhip once more, he encaged both of Katsuki's arms and legs with the quirk, making sure to hold on tightly.

The rest of his team members kept Katsuki's team at bay, giving Izuku the time he needed to stand in front of the struggling blond with a triumphant smirk. Katsuki glared down at him, trying to use his explosions to get rid of the black tendrils but failing. "Let me go, you bastard."

"Not before I get this," Izuku said, taking one step closer and moving his hand towards Katsuki's lower back. The blond tensed up when Izuku got closer, their breaths mingling together and chests almost touching. He stared at the greenette wide eyed, face staring to flush in the slightest.

Grabbing Katsuki's flags from his waistband, Izuku held them up in the air, still looking at the blond with his triumphant smirk. "I win."

Aizawa blew his whistle and the rest of the class cheered. Izuku's team was declared the winner. The greenette deactivated his quirk and stepped back, instantly getting tackled by a cheering Mina. "You did it Izu-babe!"

Katsuki stood there dumbfounded, staring at the greenette who was being surrounded by the rest of their classmates. Somebody punched him in the shoulder, making him snap out of it and glare at the person.

"What happened to you there, Bakubro?" Kirishima asked, draping an arm over his shoulders. Irritated, Katsuki ignored him and smacked his arm away, stomping over to where the greenette stood.

Izuku was chatting with Uraraka and Todoroki, smiling at them both. Uraraka was the first to notice the blond heading their way and slightly flinched away from his dark aura. Katsuki stood right behind Izuku, leaning down to whisper right next to his ear. "I'll get back at you, you sneaky bastard. Be prepared."

Having felt Katsuki's breath right beside his ear sent a chill down his spine. His face immediately flushed as the blond walked away, leaving him all flustered and covering his face in embarrassment.

"Everything alright, Midoriya?" Todoroki asked, gauging his reaction and staring at the blond's retreating back.

"Y-Yeah, don't mind him," Izuku said with a dismissive wave, silently begging for his heart to slow down. Aizawa ordered the class to change back to their school uniform and called it a day. Uraraka waved at them and promised to hang with them later as she headed towards the girl's dressing room.

Inside the boy's dressing room, Katsuki kept ignoring the non-stop questions from his group of friends. They couldn't believe that Izuku had cornered him like that and actually stole the flags from him. In fact, he himself didn't know what caused him to let his guard down like that. He could only replay the closeness of their bodies and the mingling of their breaths.

Looking over at Izuku, he wondered just what was the greenette doing to him.