What the Heart Longs for 2

Star Skyline pulled the sunglasses back on her face as the two men faced off.

They were exact opposites in every way. Hitoshi was calm as ever, and Bakugo had anger and determination rolling off of him in waves. Bakugo's fingers twitched as he crouched in preparation, and Hitoshi stood tall with his hands in his pockets. One was growling, one was smirking. Star shook her head. This was going to be terrible.

"So, Hot-Shot, we meet again." Hitoshi smirked. Star knew that the second he got under Bakugo's skin, he won. And there was nothing Hitoshi loved more than doing just that.

"I saw you were able to put your ego aside long enough to rely on your teammates. Color me impressed."

Bakugo twitched, but stayed quiet. Had he already figured out Hitoshi's quirk? How did he know?

Hitoshi's tone turned amused, but Star recognized the note of anxiety hidden in it. "Mmm, I knew there had to be brains to back up that ego. If I had known you were smart, I wouldn't have used it on you earlier. Mm, no matter. I doubt you can keep that mouth shut for long."

"Begin!"

"You're lucky to have been so blessed, Hot-Shot." Hitoshi started, shifting into a defensive stance as Bakugo flew at him. "Thanks to the way my quirk works, I've always been at a disadvantage. But someone as blessed as you wouldn't understand that!"

Star saw Bakugo's lip twitch, but he said nothing. Aiming an explosion at Hitoshi, he was caught off guard when Hitoshi deflected his arm, pushing it to the side as the blast went off. Looks like his training with Mashirao had paid off.

"You're lucky enough to have a heroic quirk! It'll be so easy for you to reach your goal!" Hitoshi yelled.

"You can do it!" She yelled. There. He never said she had to say his name. Amature.

Bakugo looked her way as his blast went off. Hitoshi took the hit to his arms as he covered his face and braced himself.

Suddenly, Star's view of the match was blocked by two figures. She jumped in her seat, heart racing, until she saw their uniforms.

"Are you Star Skyline?" The first officer asked. She reached out, and the second officer offered his hand. It's already a good sign that they knew her quirk, but she checked anyway as she touched him.

Finding nothing suspicious, she removed the sunglasses and hat, letting her hair fall. "Yes."

"We will need you to come with us to the station to ask you a few questions." The first officer replied, frowning.

Cursing that she had kept drinking in order to stay at the festival, instead of reading their minds, she had to ask, "Why?"

The two officers exchanged a look with each other, before answering.

"We think we have figured out the Hero Killer's target."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Hitoshi Shinso noticed as Hot-Shot's focus shifted to Olivia after her cheer.

It gave him enough time to put his arms up in front of him and block the incoming blast from hitting his face. Suddenly, Hitoshi knew what would get him to talk. Olivia had told him to do whatever it took to follow his dream, and that was permission enough to use her against the hot head, in his opinion.

"Mm, you're trying to play nice with Olivia now? Do you really think that'll work? That a bully like you could ever understand her?" Hitoshi taunted.

Noticing the furious expression on his opponent's face, he continued, egging him on. "You think dragging a small part of the truth out of her, after yelling that her struggle to be here is an insult to your precious little dream, suddenly means you understand? You understand NOTHING of what happened that week!"

Bakugo opened his mouth to speak, barely a sound coming out, but it was enough. Hitoshi activated his quirk, and mid-swing, Bakugo went still.

Hitoshi could still hear the voices in his head as he used his quirk. Could still feel their stares.

-"It's the perfect power for a villain to have."-

-"Sounds criminal."-

-"Watch out, he's going to make us his slaves!"-

Hitoshi looked at the blank man in front of him. The one Olivia called strong, ambitious, and determined. The one that told her to leave UA. The one that carried her to safety when Hitoshi and Mashirao weren't able to. The one who put two weeks into training with her. The one who yelled at her after the race. The one Hitoshi watched as he put a band over her scar. The one that obviously liked her as much as she liked him, but seemed to have no idea how to handle it. Hitoshi saw his blank expression, and sighed.

"It's nothing against you, Hot-Shot. I just never stood a chance at passing the entrance exams. They used robots… Not much I can do, you see." Hitsohi pinched the bridge of his nose, knowing Olivia would probably kill him for telling him this. "I don't take back what I said, you haven't seemed to grasp what I've been trying to tell you. And I really shouldn't tell you this, but…"

Hitoshi looked over to Olivia before he continued, but was caught off guard. Olivia had taken off her disguise, and was walking away between two officers.

Has something happened? Was Mashirao okay?

He was so distracted that he didn't see Bakugo's fingers twitching, or his eyes move over to the same scene he was already looking at. When he turned back around and saw the firecrackers along Bakugo's hands, it was too late.

Bakugo shot forward with a furious roar, letting explosion after explosion off. Hitoshi held his own for a few moments with what he had learned from Mashirao, but it wasn't enough. Every word he tried to say, Bakugo made sure to make his explosions louder.

Finally, he was pushed out of the ring.

"Hitoshi Shinso is out of bounds, Katsuki Bakugo is the winner!"

Hitoshi looked at Bakugo, both of them panting after the fight. "You're not supposed to be able to fight back… Olivia was right… Your mind… is wired differently." Hitoshi panted, hands on his knees. The red marks on his body were aching. Bakugo didn't respond, wiping the sweat off his face with the one sweatband he still had.

Mashirao walked over, and Hitoshi sighed in relief. He was okay. He hadn't been taken by a villain. And Olivia was just here, which meant she wasn't taken either. They were okay. As the worry faded, a new one replaced it as Mashirao pulled him to the stands, grinning proudly. Hitoshi couldn't help his lips twitching down nervously.

He felt his heart clench as he braced himself for what people always said:

-"It's the perfect power for a villain to have."-

-"Sounds criminal."-

-"Watch out, he's going to make us his slaves!"-

But… Instead, he heard something that made his eyes widen.

"With a quirk like that, it would be very simple to catch dangerous criminals, wish I had it."

"I can't believe they stuck him in general studies, the idiots."

Those were… Pros!

As Hitoshi turned around, he realized the entire stadium was cheering. The sound was deafening in his ears, and his lips parted in shock. He felt a hand on his shoulder, and turned to see Mashirao smiling.

"You'll be a great hero, Hitoshi. You did it."

And Hitoshi let himself believe it. As he looked at Mashirao's proud face, and the cheering crowd smiling down at him, he felt a genuine smile on his lips.

"Oi, Brainiac. What you said..." Bakugo stubbornly approached him, like he was trying to put together a puzzle that was bigger than he realized. "Why does someone like you even want to be a damn hero?"

Hitoshi debated, before answering honestly. "You can't help the things your heart longs for, Hot-Shot."

And Hitoshi didn't miss for a second when Bakugo's eyes shifted to where Olivia had been sitting.