chapter 12

***This chapter contains profanity.

What have I gotten myself into...?

At the sound of Mr. Aizawa's voice, Katsuki Bakugou immediately dashed forwards from his lunged position. His hands exploded with a fiery power that Shimamura recognized from the Sports Festival. The explosion propelled him forwards almost double the speed he had started at.

Shimamura retracted her hands from her face and put them down to her sides. She gracefully, yet quickly, sidestepped and narrowly missed Bakugou's explosive impact. The hot sparks skimmed her cheek. She dipped her head away and raised her hands back to her face, but not touching her skin. Her fingers flexed a bit.

She was tired from the last sparring match with Kirishima and Ashido. She had believed that was going to be the test Aizawa had cautioned her about. But this was greater. She had used up all her energy from kicking and dodging... what more could she do in this fight?

Although she was only against one person now rather than two, Bakugou's skill and power doubled Kirishima's and Ashido's combined—or perhaps Shimamura just believed that because she was so depleted from the last match. But there was only one attacker now. She'd have less to avoid and counter. But Shimamura's dodging wouldn't be enough to beat him or keep him away for very long. If she kept up... she might have to resort to using her quirk.

Everything could change in mere moments when it came to Shimamura.

Bakugou touched down on the edge of the sparring square, skidding along the ground on his heels. He growled and spun back around. Shimamura now stood at the opposite end, facing him with a perplexed expression. Bakugou's nose scrunched up as he reeled his elbow back, sparking more explosions within his grip.

"DIEEEE!" He yelled.

He burst forwards again, aiming directly for Shimamura's head. But again, she dipped down and dodged him. She straightened up again rather quickly. Trying to trick her, he sent an explosion to the side to turn himself around in a split second. With his opposite hand, he aimed for her back, grinning.

Now I got you—!

Shimamura swung her upper body down and rolled to the side. She spun on her knee and faced him from a few feet away. She knelt on the ground and put her elbow on her knee, resting her chin on her fist. A sly smirk crept up into her expression. Suddenly, she was cocky.

Bad move when facing Bakugou.

He bared his teeth. "You think this is funny?!"

The blonde exploded up into the air on total offense. Shimamura pressed her hands to the ground and put all her weight onto them. She hopped up onto her hands into a handstand as he approached from midair. His hand grazed her jacket but didn't make contact with her body in any way. Shimamura balanced on her hands for a few moments until spinning on them and launching a full forced kick at Bakugou, nailing him in the back as soon as he touched the ground.

Bakugou gasped as the air was knocked out of him from a single kick. He hunched forwards, blinking black dots out of his vision, trying to regain his focus. He screamed at the ground in frustration.

First this girl wouldn't stop dodging every move he made. Then she goddamn laughed at him. And now she hits him with that?! Who the hell does she think she is?!

Bakugou scraped at the ground and turned to send a direct hit at Shimamura's legs. She sidestepped but he knew she would. She was predictable by now.

With his free hand he sent a more powerful blast towards her stomach... finally making contact.

Shimamura yelped and was knocked backwards. She stumbled and fell back, hitting the ground on her back. A scorching pain emanated from her stomach cavity. It burned like fire but it stung like a thousand pins being pressed into her all at once. She groaned and bent upwards, feeling a bruise already forming.

In a blink of an eye, Bakugou was up again and charging at her. Although it hurt, Shimamura fought through and rolled to the side. His fist came down into the ground mere seconds after she moved. She blinked a few times, trying to refocus herself.

This isn't working... He knows my moves now. I need to stop blocking. I need to start hitting. I need to do something. But I can't use my quirk... I can't... But I have to.

Shimamura stood upright. She put her hands up to her head again like a boxer, flexing her fingers. Her pointer and middle finger extended on both hands but every other finger was loosely closed into a fist. Her blue eyes went cold and clouded, as if she planned for them to suddenly grow dark with her new attitude.

But no, they just happened to be that way. Luck was in her favor.

Bakugou smirked from where he stood, clenching his fists. He opened his palms, flexing his fingers into claw-like positions. His crimson eyes shimmered with his competitive nature shining through.

"You were an idiot for even coming here, Whitey." He mocked her white hair color.

He drew his elbows back, bending forwards. "Now DIE!"

Bakugou, again, blasted forward from his standing position. Shimamura was ready this time. She lifted her foot as if she was going to finally kick him—finally go on the attack—but the second he got too close for comfort, she didn't. She put her foot back down and pushed off on it. Shimamura sidestepped quickly and extended her hands from her face.

Her fingers reached for his head as he passed her by, aiming for where she previously stood. Her fingertips grazed his hair and then—

Bakugou growled and glared at her from the side. He leaned his head away from her and took her wrist in his gauntlet covered hand. Her hand was ripped away from his face by his and she lost her balance as he yanked her forward. With his other hand he pressed it against the side of her skull and set loose an explosion.

Shimamura could feel the heat suddenly swarming next to her ear and cheek. The explosion hit her just the same as it did before... just in a more sensitive area across the side of her face. Just as the explosion went off, she could hear the sound of cracking next to her ear. Her heart sank.

He dropped her wrist and let his explosion send her flying to the opposite end of the lined match area. Shimamura tumbled across the cement floor, scraping up her entire body. She tried to slow herself to a stop but couldn't find the strength to. She fell across the arena floor like a doll someone threw away. Shimamura finally stopped once her backside suddenly rammed against the side of one of the cement pillars that had been risen from the ground. She sucked in a shaky breath of air as the wind was knocked out of her with such an impact. She left a considerable dent in the cement block, but that was the least of her concerns. 

Her knees bled through her uniform and her leg that had been exposed from her burnt pant leg was scraped till one couldn't tell what her skin tone was anymore. There was a dusty explosion mark across the side of her face and a part where blood now dripped from. Her ears were ringing. Shimamura moved her hand to her cheek, trying to rub the dust off. Just like during the Sports Festival and the last match, the pain came second in her mind.

She was distracted by something else.

The cracking sound that she had heard after the explosion was none other than her bean shaped black contraptions which covered her temples. The carbon fiber material had cracked and nearly half of it was gone while the other half was hanging off of her ear where the link to the choker was hidden behind. She didn't dare touch her ear or the hanging temple covers.

Shit.

"You tried to use your damn quirk on me?!"

Shimamura looked up to see Bakugou yelling at her, storming over with his fists balled. He was still angry despite the fact that he just blasted her across the gym.

"Don't even fucking try it! You're useless! Can't even win your own goddamn bloody fight!" He yelled as he got closer.

"Bakugou! Hey, man. Knock it off. She's down! Alright? You got her!" Kirishima rushed up and tried to block him from Shimamura.

Kirishima stepped in front of his friend and put his arms out as a wall. Bakugou tried to shove him out of the way but was unable to. Kirishima activated his hardening as Bakugou tried to blast him. Sero and Kaminari ran over to try to help as well.

Aizawa very slowly and calmly walked over to where Shimamura struggled to stand up. He walked past Bakugou and didn't say a word to him. Half the class expected him to scold Bakugou for hurting Shimamura so badly, but he didn't do a thing. Uraraka offered Shimamura a hand up, but Shimamura was hesitant.

Instead of accepting Uraraka's help, she retracted her hand to herself and didn't take Uraraka's. Shimamura shrank away and used the wall for support to lean upwards again. Uraraka frowned and pulled her hand back. But Shimamura tried to offer her a smile as thanks anyway, which Uraraka took gladly.

"Shimamura," Aizawa called out. "Get yourself to Recovery Girl. You're done for the day."

Shimamura nodded to him. She wanted to say she was fine... but she really wasn't. If it was up to her, she would've stayed and sparred with Class 1-A to her heart's content. But the aching in her back from the cement wall was a bit much for her to handle at the moment. Her mind didn't want to look past the obvious pain.

"Ok... Thank you, Mr. Aizawa." Shimamura sat up from where she leaned on the wall and walked towards the exit.

A shooting pain sparked across her back, but she kept walking. Her walk turned into a bit of a limp but she was otherwise okay. The black temple cover that had been hanging against her ear finally fell off. The other side was still intact, thankfully, but she needed both. She needed them now.

Shimamura pursed her lips in thought and stared at the ground as she walked away. Her eyes were glazed over. She knew how to get to the nurse's office no problem. It was second nature to her at this point.

Shimamura walked past Bakugou without even a second glance. He glared at her as she walked by, but didn't bother saying anything. She was distracted as far as he could tell. She wasn't crying. She didn't even look like she was hurting anymore. Just thinking...

"Bakugou!" Ashido scolded, smacking his arm. "You were so harsh on her! What gives?!"

"She's new! You can't expect her to beat you after fighting with the others!" Sero groaned.

Koda nodded frantically in agreement. Kirishima crossed his arms, no longer having the need to harden them to ward off Bakugou's attack.

"You didn't need to go that far, Bakugou. I held back in the beginning, sure, but I toughened up when I realized how good she was. But I didn't go all maniac on her." Kirishima frowned.

Bakugou was a lot calmer than before. He sighed, shaking his head. "Someone scrawny and pathetic like her doesn't deserve a spot in the Hero Course if she can't even defend herself... If she actually belonged here, she would have defeated me."

"Actually," Aizawa butted in.

He slouched over from the side with his hands in his pockets. "Shimamura has beaten greater foes than you, Bakugou. If anyone was holding back... I would say it was her."

Bakugou glared at him, narrowing his eyes. Then he clicked his tongue. He turned away from Mr. Aizawa, glaring at the ground. Liar.

· · ─────── ·𖥸· ─────── · ·

"So many injuries! If I knew you were going to get beat up this bad, I would have never condoned you entering that Transfer Program mojo!"

Recovery Girl complained with puckered lips as she peppered Shimamura's cheek with kisses. Shimamura squinted with one eye as she did so. Regardless of how many times Recovery Girl has bandaged her up, she would never get used to it.

White bandages now covered her shins and hands and Recovery Girl was taking out more to paste onto her scraped up cheek. Her stomach also had some gashes that needed fixing too, but they hadn't gotten there yet. Class 1-A was probably back in the locker rooms by now. Shimamura likely wasn't returning to class for the day... though she wished she could.

"Aizawa warned me about today. He said it would be difficult," Shimamura mumbled.

"Did you doubt him?!" Recovery Girl shook her head.

Shimamura shrugged. "No, I just underestimated what he meant by 'difficult.' Everything was fine until my sparring match with Bakugou—the boy who won the Sports Festival—"

"Yes, I'm aware of him."

"Right... Aizawa said he was going to test my abilities against someone other than him or Shinsou or the other teachers we faced. He said it'd be a different feel."

"And was it?" Recovery Girl asked, mid-bandaging.

"Not until Bakugou," Shimamura repeated herself. "He could predict my blocks and kicks after a while. He knew my quirk was coming when I went for him too."

Recovery Girl shook her head again, making a 'tsk' sound. "He's a smart one. that Katsuki Bakugou. I'd watch out for him."

Shimamura scoffed. "That's exactly what my Aunt said."

Recovery Girl halted. Shimamura looked towards her with a raised eyebrow. Recovery Girl closed her eyes and sighed... then smirked.

"Oh, then get in close!" Recovery Girl grinned.

Shimamura narrowed her eyes at Recovery Girl quizzically. Recovery Girl shrugged upon noticing the look she received.

Recovery Girl admitted her truth, "You know how I feel about that woman, dear. Anything she tells you to do... do the opposite."

Shimamura relaxed her expression. She turned her head and stared at the edge of the bed, frowning. Maybe she should listen to Recovery Girl... but Shimamura couldn't help following orders.