MHA/BNHA react to For The Want of A Nail by Clouds part 1

Izuku should be scared.

He was about to face the kid who had made his life miserable for ten years, the one who had given him more scars than anyone else, the one who told him to take a swan dive off the roof, and, of course, the one who as chomping at the bit to teach him a lesson. He should be absolutely terrified, but instead he was just angry.

Bakugo: Finally you're learning you stupid nerd.

Across from him, Katsuki was already popping tiny explosions in his hands threateningly. He looked absolutely pissed, but then again, Izuku had been doing things all day that he knew would set him off, so he supposed on some level he'd known this would happen, even if he didn't deserve it. No one deserved to have their dreams trampled on and told they were less than a pebble on the side of the road just because of the way they were born.

Iida: Yes no one deserves that.

So what? Izuku had found friends and done well in the other rounds, but that had very little if nothing to do with his former bully, so Katsuki had no right to be angry. He'd won the first round by accident, and the second for Shinso, and even if annoying Katsuki had been a nice side effect, that wasn't why he wanted to do his best.

No, Izuku was doing this for himself.

Midoriya: Yeah...

He didn't allow himself to collapse in on himself like he would have back in middle school. As he waited for Midnight to begin the match, Izuku held his head high and threw his shoulders back, which seemed to annoy Katsuki even more. He probably wanted things to go back to the way they were, the good old days when he'd been the top of the food chain and Izuku had been nothing, and it was pissing him off that those days were over. Izuku had friends now. He had a new dream that he loved and that had nothing to do with Katsuki and he wouldn't give that up for the world.

Hagakure: Yeah!

"I'm gonna kill you, Deku!" Katsuki growled, quiet enough that it was almost completely drowned out by the roar of the crowd. "I'm gonna explode your quirkless ass so hard they'll have to send your ashes home to Auntie Inko in a takeout box!"

Inko: Katsuki!

Izuku's glare hardened, but otherwise he didn't change his expression. Katsuki continued spitting insults as they waited for the fight to begin, but Izuku just let them wash over him, far too familiar with Katsuki's particular brand of verbal violence to be bothered when he knew that Mei was waiting with the rest of their class to see him after the fight. Maybe Katsuki should research trash talking to make his words a more effective weapon against villains, because they weren't going to work on Izuku anymore.

Bakugo(bluescreening): Wait I can do that?

Midnight: Well if it's part of your brand I guess you can try trash talking villains.

Aizawa: Did you seriously have to give him that idea?

"Alright! I want a good clean match!" Midnight announced to the crowd. "Same rules as the last round apply! You win by forcing your opponent to leave the ring, knocking them out, or making them surrender to your will! Whoever wins these matches moves on to the semi finals! Begin!"

As soon as she cracked her whip, Katsuki immediately launched himself forward, using his explosions to propel himself as he anticipated the beatdown to come, "Die, Deku!!!"

The rules dictated that opponents must stay on their side of the stage before the match, but there was no rule on exactly where. Most students chose to wait in the middle of their space, giving themselves good options for both evasion and attack. It was a good strategy, but Katsuki was so concerned with beating him that he'd failed to notice exactly how close to the line Izuku was standing until he took a single step backwards over the line, maintaining eye contact the whole time.