ꜱᴛᴇᴀʟ ᴍʏ ꜱᴏᴜʟ (ʙᴀᴋᴜɢᴏ x ꜰᴇᴍ ʀᴇᴀᴅᴇʀ)

The River's getting Low Now

The Sports Festival was unknown to you, even though they mentioned it every day before the actual event happened. 

You made your way up to the final tournament, where all the greatest UA students participated and fought their way to the top. You didn't have any proper training under your belt, minus the few training sessions with Aizawa and the USJ attack. You also hadn't collected enough information about the rest of your classmates to properly judge their abilities. 

You saw All Might amongst the crowd, waiting just like you for the fighting tournament to begin. You had teamed up with Shoji's team for the cavalry battle, but you lost to Midoriya's team since they still had the 10,000,000 point headband. It was an intense battle, but you managed to snatch a few headbands from other players to snag third place. 

You were wandering around the arena during the interlude, where you were trying to find All Might to get your water bottle. You had to hydrate yourself as much as you could for the tournament ahead without peeing your pants. 

Sure enough, All Might was speaking to a few other pro heroes, all making polite conversation. "Ah, there's L/N!" All Might waved you over to where he was standing, your purple plastic water bottle in his hands. "I thought you might need this while you're getting ready for the battle."

You grabbed the water bottle, sipping as much water as you could manage. "Did you see the bracket?" All Might asked. 

You nodded. "I'm fighting someone from Class 1-B first. I haven't seen who they are or what their quirk is, so I need to gather as much information as I can before the battle. Wish me luck!"

"Break a leg!" One of All Might's acquaintances called after you, which made your stomach ache for a second. Why would he want you to break your leg? That reminded you of Midoriya when he broke his fingers on the exam day. 

Your battle with the student from Class 1-B went surprisingly well. Her name was Itsuka Kendo, her quirk being Big Fist. The fight wasn't long-lasting. You used your water to send waves her way, which she tried to push away. You eventually gained the upper hand when she got distracted, and the waves pushed her past the boundary line. All Might cheered for you in the crowd, as he did for Midoriya, his successor. 

You exited the arena, but not before congratulating Kendo on a good game. You didn't watch the rest of your classmates fight. You really just needed some water to continue fighting. 

Aizawa was set on teaching you, amongst other things, to use up your full capacity of water before refilling. He had a theory that using up all your stored water could make room for more, even when you were already drained. It didn't make much sense to you, but that seemed like a theory to test when you were alone and not in front of thousands of people.

Even though you were practically drained after all your fights, you made your way up the bracket until you were fighting Bakugo, the irregular student in Class 1-A. Maybe you could get to understanding his behavior through his moves. 

What you didn't plan for was the quickness of his attacks. He was almost never touching the ground for more than three seconds. Sure, the water caught him by surprise a few times, but he was still prepared for any attack you sent his way. 

You tried to fight against the explosions, but he had the upper hand with more training. Eventually, he sent enough explosions to throw you against the wall, which was past the boundary line. 

You walked back to Bakugo, who was silently cheering and smirking. "Hey, Bakugo-" 

"Save it, nerd!" He shouted in your face. "I know you're jealous of my amazing quirk. Too bad your parents didn't give you a better one so you could catch up to me."

"Quite the contrary," You smiled. "Your quirk may be super cool, but that doesn't mean you should be arrogant about it. But it's okay. Everyone's different. Congratulations on the win. You deserved it more than I did."

He scoffed, angrily stomping away from you. You tilted your head, exiting the arena in the opposite direction of him. It was odd how he acted, almost hating positive feedback. The only words he knew were ones related to himself. 

You walked around the arena until you saw All Might intently watching Midoriya's match against Todoroki, which began right after your fight with Bakugo. 

"That was a great match!" All Might congratulated you, saving you a spot beside him to watch the fight. "You've really improved since your first day here."

"Thanks," You said simply, your eyes glued to the therapy session in front of you. Midoriya and Todoroki were talking throughout the match about Todoroki's fire power, which you had questions about for your notebook. You took note of the words he said about his father, the Pro hero Endeavor. "Midoriya's fingers are broken again."

All Might let out a small sigh. "Yes, they are. We're still working on using his power without breaking any bones."

"It's crazy how many bones he's broken in the past week alone," You added. "I really hope he starts caring about his body and not just his dire need to become the next symbol of peace. He's still just a child."

"That may be," All Might shrugged. "When I gave him my power, he started to feel the need to impress me every chance he got. He's still beginning to realize how he's already impressing me every day."

"He just doesn't know it-" You and All Might said at the same time, which made him chuckle. "Yes, exactly."

"I'm going to find a place to fill up my water bottle," You muttered, grabbing the water bottle in All Might's hand. "Do you know where a filling station might be?"

"Try the concession stand," All Might suggested. "There may be a water fountain there you can use."

Bakugo's win didn't shock you as you made your way back to your spot. You saw the blond standing on the podium, a muzzle placed on his mouth. His anger hadn't amounted to anything. Maybe you were missing something in the matter. 

"Congratulations on winning first!" You hummed as Bakugo passed by, the golden medal in his hand. "I knew you could do it!"

"I don't need your support, extra," Bakugo scowled, walking away from you. 

You shrugged at the encounter, hoping that one day Bakugo would just let other people talk positively about him without his selfishness.