[OP: "Soldier, Poet, King"--The Oh Hellos. Animatic by cherry.]

Momo tugged Camie's arm.

"Come on..." she said. "Surely you can talk him out of it."

"Is it really 10 meters long?" Camie asked Omoi.

"That's what you're worried about?" Eichi had a valid question.

"Yeah..." Omoi said. "I think Lord Ay fought it once... Only the strongest Jonin fight that thing."

"Sounds perfect," Bakugo said.

Camie swallowed. "Uh, Bae...you know I support you and all, right?"

"So?" Bakugo looked at her with an expression that meant "what do you want?"

"But don't ya think this is going a little far to prove a point?" Camie said nervously. "Like...there's such a thing as over the top, right? If they're making you do that just to show you're tough, then they're the ones who are cowards."

"Exactly, and I'll make them regret it," Bakugo said. "Their Village doesn't respect us. I'll teach them a lesson."

More of the Cloud started laughing, but they weren't nice laughs.

"We'll miss him when that thing swallows him whole," said one of them.

"Shine wouldn't let you do this." Camie tried the fallback.

"It's not illegal. She can't stop me," Bakugo said. "Just call her and see what happnens. I might not forgive you for that." With a glare.

"You won't forgive me? I might not forgive you if you do it!" Camie said.

"That's just too d--n bad then." Bakugo wasn't backing down.

Camie threw her hands up.

"I give up," she said to Momo. "I can't stop him."

"But...you're his...girlfriend," Momo said.

"Look, sis, it's great being a girlfriend and all, but, the thing is, at the end of the day, you can't control someone else just because you make out with them," Camie said. "I mean, that would make life easier, but, like...uh...it's not real. Anyway it would be a little weird if I could do that..."

"So you're okay with him dying?" Hanabi said.

"No, but I'm not gonna cry and give those jerks something else to make fun of." Camie crossed her arms. "If he's gonna do it anyway, then I might as well take it like a queen. Anyway, what if they try to cheat? Gotta keep a level head."

"Cheating is frowned upon in this sport," Omoi said. "It takes away from the authenticity of it, they say."

"Good to know..." Eichi said helplessly.

"Fine, if you won't do something, then...I'm getting Shoto and Dabi," Momo said.

She ran back towards them.

"Sure, that's what an empowered woman would do," Camie said. "Get the men to handle it."

"Well, they are a lot stronger than we are," Hinata said. "At least...with brute force...and I can't block his chakra points--that doesn't work on you."

"It doesn't?" Omoi said.

"Shut up," Hanabi said. "This is your fault! You started this. I ought to beat you up!" She made a fist.

"Whoa, whoa." Eichi grabbed her arm. "Don't make the guy who can use lightning strikes angry, Hanabi."

"She really is a firecracker." Omoi backed up. "How old is this girl, again? 14?"

"Going on 15 soon!" Hanabi said.

"She's pretty intense," Eichi explained, as Hanabi squirmed. "But she's fearless...so don't underestimate her."

"She's a Hyuga, right? I wouldn't dare," Omoi said. "Even a small one might be a problem...something that you better hope is true of your Bakugo friend."

"Shut up, Lollipop Idiot," Bakugo said.

"This will be a short fight," Sumo said to his friends. "But everyone made sure you got it in writing that he agreed to it. You know, can't have the Kage looking into this later."

"Can you just sign this?" one of them with the notebook asked Bakugo.

"Bakugo, don't do it!" Naruto said. "I would normally do it too, but these guys aren't honest guys, no way. I mean, look at them!"

They did look pretty mean.

"Yeah, they're hoping you die!" Karin cried. "Suigetsu, tell him."

"What am I supposed to do about it?" Suigetsu said. "It's the shark I'm worried about. Bakugo, this is animal cruelty. What would Jugo say?"

"Frick what he would say," Bakugo said, signing the paper.

"Did you even read the fine print?" Karin yelped.

* * *

"Why is he signing something?" Shoto asked.

"A bet, maybe?" Dabi said. "I'd bet you 2 bowls of soba he's gonna do this for real."

"I told you he wouldn't be so stupid," Shoto said. "And I'm going to go over there and prove it--hey, Momo is coming back this way."

Momo ran up and slipped on the sand, she was in such a hurry.

"You have to get over there now!" she gasped. "Bakugo says he's going to fight the biggest shark of them all!"

"The 10-meter one?" Mabui said, with a raised eyebrow.

"Did you say 10 meters?" Dabi nearly choked.

"Yeah, that one!" Momo said. "They're putting money on it! It's awful, and he won't listen to us. We all told him it was a bad idea."

"How much did you tell him it was one?" Dabi said. "Did you say he'd get himself killed?"

"Something like that," Momo said. "I said we couldn't let him do this."

"Oh, crap, no wonder he's doing it anyway," Dabi said. "Don't you know anything about Blasty? Why didn't you try to make it sound like stupid idea because it was waste of time? Now if we try that, he'll be too stubborn to listen."

"That was your plan?" Shoto asked him.

"Well, did you have a better one?" Dabi shot back. "Go freeze him in place--that'll go over well. He'll probably kill you when he gets out, but anything to save us from what the DJs will do to us."

"Can we call them?" Momo said. "They'll stop him."

"He'd never forgive you for it if you do," Dabi said. "But hey, take that risk if you want."

"Didn't Shine ask you to call her if something went wrong?" Shoto asked Dabi.

"Yes...well, Shine and Bakugo are both about equally terrifying," Dabi said. "However, Shine doesn't burn, so..."

"You're unbelievable." Shoto took off toward the water.

"Yes, really!" Momo said. "What is wrong with you, Dabi?"

She followed him.

Dabi just laughed.

"You're taking this lightly, considering," Mabui said coldly. "That boy is no match for that shark. I wonder how Omoi is letting this happen."

"Omoi? Oh, he thinks it's funny. See the look on his face?"

Mabui did think he looked amused.

"It would be pretty funny normally," Dabi admitted. "I used to watch fights like this while I was on the streets... Never participated in one, though. A shark is new... I guess I will catch it later if I don't tell them what's going on, but it's no use. He'll just come back another time if we stop this now, if I know him."

"What kind of hot-headed idiot would do that?"

"I can tell you're not the type to fight people on purpose. If you were, you wouldn't need to ask that question."

"I never saw the point of meaningless shows of strength," Mabui said haughtily.

"Then you also really shouldn't be here," Dabi said.

"I didn't come here by choice!" she replied.

"And why aren't you telling your boss about this?"

"I can't just... Lord Ay wouldn't stop this," Mabui said. "In fact...he might actually just place bets... If I told him, that would just encourage them to keep going."

"Great to know that's the standard for being here," Dabi said sarcastically. "I just love this Village more and more. Well, Crazy would like it here--everyone just does whatever they want. You have paper, right?"

"Yes...why?" Mabui held up her clipboard.

Dabi took it without even asking her and scribbled something on a blank sheet.

She frowned at him.

Then, to her shock, the sheet disappeared out of his hands.

"What...? How did you...do that?" She blinked. "You can teleport?"

"No." Dabi didn't have the time or the wish to explain. He shoved the clipboard back at her before he ran off after the others.

Shoto was having no more success than the others. Bakugo said he'd kill him if he tried to stop him.

Bakugo was surrounded by a crowd of the locals now. They were laughing more and more at what he was saying.

Some of them might have kind of liked it, but others thought he was an idiot.

"I'm sure Suigetsu and I together could stop you," Shoto insisted. "Bakugo, this is not the expected behavior of our team. We don't do meaningless things just to show off."

"Oh, shut up, it's not meaningless," Bakugo said. "You're just too much of a girl to see it."

"Excuse me?" Hanabi said.

"All right." Dabi joined them. "What's the big problem, Blasty?"

"Stay out of it, you burnt chicken nugget," Bakugo said. "I'm still gonna fight the d--n shark, and a wimp like you wouldn't understand."

"But how big is this thing?" Dabi said. "It's 10 meters long. How wide is it?"

"See for yourselves," Sumo said.

Someone had finally let the shark in question out.

Its dorsal fin had now broke the water.

The fin was almost as tall as Bakugo himself was.

Momo looked more wan than before. "That's...just the fin?"

"Yikes," Camie said. 

"He's getting riled up," Sumo said. "They put the chum in the water to stir up his fighting spirit since it's the middle of the day. Are you sure you want to do this, kid? Last chance to back out."

Maybe he felt a little bad; he almost didn't sound sarcastic there.

Mabui had followed them finally.

"This is unethical," she said stiffly. "He's just a boy. Using your biggest challenge on him--"

"He asked for it, lady," Sumo said. "Don't I know you from somewhere?"

"That's the Kage's assistant," Omoi said. "You know her."

"Oh, right, I've heard you got a sword up yours," Sumo said. "Well, even so, this has been done by Lord Ay himself. He's a real man."

"Ugh," Dabi said. "I hate it when other men say that. Do you know how weird it sounds?"

"Who are you anyway, pretty boy?" Sumo asked him.

Dabi frowned. "I'm the guy that'll burn your eyebrows off if you call me that again." Blue fire flickered into his palm.

Sumo backed up. "Just a joke, all right? All of you are so high strung."

"You know, endangering people who are not shinobi is frowned upon," Mabui said. "He's not a licensed Chunin."

"No?" Sumo said. "Well, he signed the waiver, so it's fine. He says he can handle it."

"I can't kill the shark, right?" Bakugo said.

"Nope," Sumo said.

"Can I maim it?" Bakugo said.

"I guess, but you know we'll take damages out of your cut," Sumo said. "This is a legal business after all."

"This is evil," Momo said.

"Bubbles, why aren't you more upset?" Dabi noticed Camie was oddly calm.

"I'm in the zone," Camie said. "I'm checked out." 

She did look kind of spaced out.

"Blasty, your girlfriend's trauma response just got activated. I hope you're happy," Dabi said.

"Like you know what therapy words are," Bakugo snorted.

"I should--they forced me to go," Dabi said. "Are you sure you want to do this? Even if you win, you'll get in big trouble later."

"I can handle them," Bakugo said. "You think I can't take that little shark?"

"Little?" Hinata repeated.

"At least let us fight with you," Naruto said.

"No way, it's one on one. That's the rules," Sumo said.

"If you interfere, I'll kill you too, Noodle Boy," Bakugo said.

Naruto recoiled. "Why are you such a jerk?"

"He sounds Iike Sasuke," Shoto said.

"Why?" Sasuke was suddenly behind him.

"Ah!" Momo jumped. "Why are you here? I thought you went with the others."

"No, I got bored, so I followed you," Sasuke said. "Also, I thought this sounded like a trap. Looks like I was right. What is that thing?" He was staring at the shark fin.

"That's the Mega," Hanabi said. "Bakugo-san is going to fight it."

"Sakura will be sorry she missed this," Sasuke said. "What do you get if you win?"

"Money," Bakugo said. "And respect."

"Sounds fair," Sasuke said. "But I thought water was bad for your...quirk."

"Eh, I can handle it," Bakugo said. "It's not like we don't train in water at UA."

"Sasuke..." Momo said, "I...well, appealing to you is probably a bad idea, but, you don't actually think this is a good decision, right?"

"As you just said, why ask me? Am I known for making wise decisions?" Sasuke replied.

"You know, it pisses me off that you're owning that instead of feeling ashamed of it," Dabi said. "You're missing the whole point of your training."

"I thought the point was that people aren't perfect," Sasuke said, "and the past was a mistake... If this turns out to be a mistake, it'll be in the past, so I can't really say anything about it."

"That doesn't make any sense," Shoto said.

"Yeah, I don't think you have that right..." Hanabi said.

"He's saying that it's my freaking decision," Bakugo said. "That's the first thing he's said I agree with. So all of you cry babies can back off."

"Not crying," Hanabi said.

"I might," Momo said. "From frustration!"

Bakugo ignored her.

"I can't exactly write this up if he signed the waiver..." Mabui was reading it. "It says here they gave him full disclosure about the risks... There's nothing I can do."

"A lot of help you are," Dabi said. 

"I didn't see you do anything either," she replied, with a frown. "Except what you did before."

"Hey, kid, you can get in the water any time," Sumo said. "Are you ready?"

Bakugo had been stretching.

"Yeah, any time," he said. "This'll be over real fast. I'm betting the shark will quit. If he quits, I want triple what you said."

"He won't quit that easy," Sumo said. "Mega has eaten people before, so he likes humans."

"I'm pretty sure Bakugo would give him indigestion even if he ate him," Dabi said.

"How can you be so calm?" Momo said.

"Do you remember where I spent most of my teenaged years?" Dabi said. "This really isn't that big a deal."

"This is our friend!" Momo said.

"Yeah, but he's not our pet," Dabi said. "Do you really think you can stop him by force?"

"You're too chicken to try," Bakugo said.

"Shut up," Dabi said.

But it was kind of true.

"Well, he's dead." Karin threw up her hands. "I'll miss him, almost, when he's gone, I think... Though he's been a pain in the neck ever since I met him."

"I'm still more worried about the shark," Suigetsu said.

"Why?" Karin said.

"You really think Bakugo's going to lose?" Suigetsu scoffed. "What about Mega? He's expecting a nice shinobi fight, not a fight with...whatever a living chihuahua-human hybrid is."

"You're no help at all!" Karin cried.

Bakugo headed for the water.

Camie sighed. "Well, they say in for a penny..." 

She blew a cloud of smoke that turned into a sign that said: "Go, Bakugo! Go!"

"I think I finally understand why they're a couple," Dabi remarked.

"You're the worst," Shoto said. 

"And why didn't you freeze him?" Dabi asked.

"He said he'd kill me if I did," Shoto said. "I don't want to have to fight him while all these people are watching... Think how it would look to the Village."

"That's what you're worried about?" Momo said.

"Maybe we can just freeze the shark," Shoto said. "I mean, they'll be angry, but at least he won't die."

"If you interfere in there, you have to pay us," Sumo said. "And there's a fee for cheating."

"How is this legal?" Suigetsu wondered.

"It's starting," Hinata gasped.

It was.

https://youtu.be/HcwDe4NRu6M

[Bakugo AMV to "Sharks"--Imagine Dragons. AMV by Game On.]

Bakugo went to the end of the kind of dock they had built into the beach to launch people into the bay where the shark was waiting.

The jumbo shark was swimming around restlessly already.

Bakugo jumped over the water using his quirk.

The shark must have heard or smelled or seen him, because it suddenly lunged out of the water.

The sight of the size of its jaws nearly made the girls pass out.

It was at least 2 meters wide, if not bigger, and the teeth were 10 centimeters long, they thought. (Maybe they exaggerated it a little in their heads.)

[Scale image to give you an idea of how big it would be, but it's probably bigger even than this, plus I'm not sure this scale is accurate. The big one doesn't look 5 times as long as the human.]

It also looked angry, though that also could have been their imagination.

The shark snapped at the air where Bakugo had been, but he'd already moved.

He was a little surprised by how big it really was, but he just chuckled. "That's a real fight."

"Huh," Dabi said. "Somehow I didn't actually believe it would be that huge."

Mabui cast him a look like he was an idiot.

"I really thought he'd run once he saw it," Omoi said. "I mean, you can put this much up to youthful bravado and misinformation, but you'd think reality would be hitting him right about now."

"You don't know Bakugo as well as we do," Shoto said.

"I feel kind of sick," Hanabi said.

Hinata looked dizzy, and then she fainted.

"Hinata!" Naruto cried, picking her up.

"That is a big shark," Suigetsu told Karin. "But I could take it."

"Who cares? Bakugo is going to get eaten!" Karin shook his shoulder. "Why don't you do something about it?"

"What do you want me to do? Go ask the shark nicely to back off?" Suigetsu said. "He's all stirred up now."

The shark was moving fast at Bakugo.

Bakugo was just dodging its attacks so far and gaining more height while he was doing it.

Then he was out of reach and just maneuvering around it, keeping the shark from really getting close to him.

"Huh," Sumo said. "I wasn't expecting him to stay above the water."

"Isn't that against the rules?" Mabui asked.

"No, it's one of the only ways to survive the fight," Sumo said. "But you said he wasn't a Chunin, and any Genin would have a hard time maintaining that kind of attack for this long, I'd think... Must be special. Most people stand on the water and use swords to fight the jumbos, or else they use some other weapon they have or some attack that's not lightning. But he's not even attacking it. How long is he gonna stay like that?"

"He's just trying to keep it interesting," Dabi said. "Giving you a show. I can't believe I was worried. Bakugo is going to win this fight in one move."

"What do you mean?" Mabui turned to him, utterly puzzled. "The water is going to block his attacks unless he uses something else."

"Are you not watching what I'm watching?" Dabi scoffed at her. "I thought you were supposed to be smart. Don't you see what he's doing? It's kinda genius. I wish I'd thought of it before he started."

"No, I don't see what he's doing at all other than avoiding it," Mabui said.

"Is being dense a Cloud thing?" Dabi asked.

"What do you mean, Carrot Top?" Sumo had decided that Carrot Top was safer than Pretty Boy, apparently.

Maybe it was; Dabi didn't bother to correct him.

"Like I'd give away the big finish," he said. "Eh, Bakugo is one crazy SOB, but the annoying thing about him is he's just as good as he thinks he is."

Shine suddenly appeared. No one had noticed the light flash because they were so engrossed in Bakugo's fight.

"Did I miss it?" she asked. "What's going on? Ah!" She gaped at the shark. "That's...wow...you weren't joking."

"Nope," Dabi said. "But, we have nothing to worry about after all. That shark is as dumb as they're supposed to be."

Shine's eyes followed Bakugo's movements.

"I see," she said. "That's true... You're right, he's fine."

"You see it also?" Mabui asked. "I don't understand--he's just dodging the attacks."

"If you look at it only one way," Shine said.

Momo had her eyes partially covered.

"Is he eaten yet?" she asked.

"No, he's doing fine," Karin said. "But guess that shark has chakra."

"She's right." Sasuke's eyes had turned red. "I thought it was weird I could track its moves so easily... It is infused with chakra. That's not a normal shark."

"Did the fact that it's about 30 feet long not tip you off to that?" Shine said dryly. "Why did you all just let him do this?"

"We tried to stop him," Naruto said. "But he wouldn't listen. He's a jerk. He even made Hinata faint."

"I think that was the shark, actually," Suigetsu said. "Go, sharky!" he cheered.

"Do you want him to get eaten?" Karin said.

"No, but I hope the shark gets at least a few good licks in," Suigetsu said. 

"You're terrible," Eichi said. "Bakugo-san is barely holding on."

"Ah, kid, you're too new," Suigetsu said.

Bakugo was still staying out of the shark's reach.

"Quit dancing with him and actually fight!" Sumo said.

"Yeah, we're getting bored!" other people said.

"They're gonna wish they hadn't said that in 3 seconds," Dabi said.

"Really, 3 seconds exactly--" Mabui began with an air of scorn.

But even while she was speaking, Bakugo had suddenly put both his hands forward and blasted directly at the shark's face.

The shark loathed him even more and dove at him actually out of the water, like a flying fish would.

Bakugo was still in the air, and he angled himself and put his hands together.

An AP Shot came blasting out of his hands right through the roof of the shark's mouth, like it was a fish hook.

The Cloud all gaped in astonishment.

Because to do this was pretty much impossible for a ninja. You could have different kinds of attacks in the same style, but none of them knew how to modify their attacks while they were using them to be something more precise, not if it was an attack like Bakugo's. Once you made the hand signs, it was pretty much finished.

But Bakugo, once he had the AP Shot in, pulled back, and then he blasted and pushed the shark's whole head backward.

But he realized the shark already was writhing from the AP Shot.

It squirmed almost like a small minnow or trout might have, like it was on an invisible line.

Then it lowered itself into the water and disappeared under the surface.

Everyone thought it would come back, but it didn't.

The fin even disappeared too.

"...Two, one," Dabi said, smugly. "Told ya."

Mabui was staring, and then she turned to look at him strangely.

"Ouch," Shine said. "I really do feel sorry for that shark." [I swear no real sharks were harmed in the writing of this chapter.]

"Ah..." Suigetsu said. "Mega didn't even get the chance to do something to that arrogant jerk. No fair."

Karin was staring also.

Bakugo blasted his way back over to the shore and landed.

"That's how you freaking win a fight with a freaking shark!" he said to the Cloud, who were all staring at him in astonishment. "You pansies take notes on that?"

"Is...is he dead?" one of them asked.

Someone, who's job must have been to check the water, popped out of it.

"No...honestly, he's not even bleeding much, probably since the blast burned the wound shut..." he said. "But he's real docile. Spooked."

Sumo swallowed. "I guess...technically, he won then... Uh...seems like it shouldn't have been that easy..."

"HA!" Bakugo said. "Suck it, you prick!"

Sumo wasn't happy.

But most of the Cloud crowd started to cheer and then laugh, and then they said:

"He's as good as a Cloud after all."

"That kid has moxie."

"So he was really that good. Dang, he must be a Jonin or something where he comes from."

"That took guts, I admit."

Mabui shook her head.

"Hey, all you losers are gonna pay up, right?" Bakugo said.

The Cloud cooled their fervor a little, but then they soberly started to shell out the money.

Apparently being a sore loser was not a trait they admired.

"Well, I guess you showed us up." Sumo finally got over his disappointment. "But that was still a pretty good show, even if it was short. You little blighter, you knew the whole time it would be that easy for you, and you had all your friends try to talk you out of that so we'd put more money on it. I ought to dock you for that trick."

"Ain't my fault it worked," Bakugo said

Momo looked like she wanted to scream.

"Wow, shameless," Hanabi said. "What an ass."

"Hanabi, please." Hinata was recovered enough to tell her not to swear.

"I wish I'd put money on it now," Dabi said.

Shine smacked him in the arm.

"What?" he said.

"That was still reckless," she said. "What are you here for if not to stop them from doing things like that?"

"Hey, since when did I become a babysitter?" Dabi said. "I forgot where I put 'responsible adult' on my resume when I joined this team. I'm not their older brother."

"Yes, you are," Shoto said.

"Just yours, and I'm not responsible for you," Dabi said. "Please, as if the old man would even allow that."

"Probably would want it the other way around," Shoto said.

"Shut up," Dabi said. "The point is, Shine, this is not on me. Bakugo is responsible for himself."

"Why didn't you call me sooner?" Shine said. "I can see that you waited till it was too late."

"Well, you could have stopped the fight if you really wanted to," Dabi said. "You let him do it. You knew he'd be fine."

"Why do I even try?" Shine cried. "What did I expect?"

Most of the Cloud were still congratulating Bakugo on his win and saying he was pretty tough, when he suddenly heard her voice say, "KATSUKI!" in the same tone his mom would use.

Bakugo frowned.

Even the Cloud backed up, like they knew not to get in Shine's way just on instinct.

She marched up to him.

"I saw that," she said. "What were you thinking?"

"I was thinking that the shark looked like a pansy." Bakugo wasn't backing down. "And it was. And I just got a bunch of bread for that. You should be thanking me."

"Thanking you for what?" Shine said. "Showing off? Haven't we talked about not needing to prove this kind of thing before?"

"Not to you, but these idiots thought we weren't tough enough to swing it in Cloud Village, and I proved them wrong," Bakugo said. "Didn't I?" with a glance at the Cloud.

Some of them, again, backed up.

"That kid is scary," one muttered.

"It was still a 30-foot long shark," Shine said. "And if you'd slipped and fallen into the water, it would have eaten you."

"Look, Shine, it's like David and Goliath," Bakugo said. "It sounds like a bad idea on paper, but with God, it's all good."

"Does he really expect that to work on her?" Shoto asked.

Sasuke frowned. "I think it will."

"Why would it?" Karin asked.

"It did when Hanabi said it," Sasuke recalled.

"Yes, but...that was for a real fight," Hanabi said. "I mean...one we had to do."

"And there was Samson--" Bakugo wasn't stopping. "He didn't have to box up all those Philistines, but he did. Wasn't that the same thing? And David, he boxed up 200 more just to get married. And there was Elijah, and then there was Jonathan and his armor bearer--"

"Stop." Shine held up her hand. "Don't you quote the Bible back to me, Katsuki. I've been reading it longer than you have."

"Then you know that it ain't against the Bible to fight a shark," Bakugo said. "Jonah and the whale?"

"Jonah never fought that whale," Shine said.

"Jonah didn't have a quirk," was Bakugo's airtight defense.

"That's the stupidest thing I've ever heard," Shoto said.

"You haven't known Bakugo long enough," Dabi snorted.

Shine finally started laughing, to their surprise.

"Fine." She threw her hands up. "You want to play that card? I guess I'm not one to talk. I hope you're happy."

"You this kid's mom or his sensei?" Sumo asked.

"I wear many hats, but technically I'm his sensei," Shine answered dauntlessly.

"Right...your kid is insane," Sumo said. "You need to teach him some manners."

Shine narrowed her eyes at Sumo. "Are you the one who let him fight?"

"Yes," Sumo said. "Well, he offered."

"Are you in the habit of letting children fight these things just to prove your Village is better than them?" Shine asked.

"Hey, anyone can fight," Sumo said.

"Do you have any children of your own?" Shine asked.

"Yes, a couple..." Sumo said. "Why--?"

"So I should go to your house and ask them if they want to fight one of us?" Shine said. "Is that okay with you?"

"Hey, you leave my kids alone!" Sumo cried angrily.

Shine's eyes flashed, and he stopped.

"Then you leave mine alone," she said in a cold voice. "In the future. Do you understand? Or do I need to speak slower and more dumb for you?"

Some others snickered, but Shine stared at them and they stopped.

Sumo looked a bit nervous. "Lady, it's all in good fun."

"I asked if you understand me?" Shine's tone darkened.

"I get what you're saying, but it's not our fault," Sumo said.

"So you didn't give him the paperwork?" Shine asked. "Miss Mabui, is his name on it?"

"It is," Mabui said.

"And if I go to the Kage and ask him why you engaged a young person without asking his team leader first if that was all right, you'll have an airtight excuse?" Shine said. "I think I can make a case for him not fully knowing the dangers."

"But he did," Sumo said.

"Maybe he did," Shine said. "Maybe this time it's all right because clearly it went off well, but, if I hear about you pushing any of our other students into a fight like that or doing anything similar to them or with them, you'll have me, my partner, and the Kazekage to deal with. I can assure you of that. Do I make myself clear?"

Sumo looked uncertain. "Uh...yes, ma'am..."

"Good." Shine smiled in a scary way. "Katsuki, I hope this is the last you'll see of this...gentleman here. Tell him goodbye and we're going."

"Aren't you painting this a little too strongly?" Bakugo said. "It's just a fight."

"Don't make me repeat myself," Shine said sharply.

Bakugo almost flinched. "Fine, I'm done here anyway. So long, suckers."

"Let's go." Shine pointed at the incline back to the main Village. "I'm sorry for that poor shark anyway. I hope it's all right. That's the most inhumane practice."

"That's what I said," Suigetsu said. "It's cruel, isn't it? Now he's got a hole in his nose, and all he did was what they told him."

"I see how you can relate to that," Shine said.

Suigetsu winced. "Ouch...she's in a mean mood now."

"Sorry," Shine apologized. "That came out wrong... Let's go, I said."

No one argued with her, not even Mabui or Omoi.

But Omoi thought he'd gotten off scot free--until...

"By the way," Dabi said, once they were on their way up the incline, "remember Omoi is the one who had the bright idea to bring us here to see this."

"I figured as much," Shine said. She turned to Omoi. "Do you have anything to say for yourself?"

"Hey, it worked out fine, Omoi said. "He even got some cash out of it."

"Yes, but I don't like you doing things because you were thinking to either scare us or get us to hurt ourselves," Shine said.

"I never thought he'd do it," Omoi said. "It was just a little joke. Just to show you the spirit of Cloud Village."

"I'm going to show you the spirit of Team Zoe when it comes to people who try to harm or else intimidate one of us," Shine said. "You aren't welcome in our house anymore, not till I get some kind of apology or atonement for this incident."

"It was fine though," Omoi said.

"Bakugo might be fine," Shine said, "and it could be he was not really in danger. But that's not what you intended, is it? And I care a lot more about intentions than I do about results. You're just lucky I'm not the type to visit retribution on you for such a trick as that. Now get out of my sight."

Her eyes flashed again.

Omoi was scared of her now. He was not the bravest man when it came to angry women, not if they were more clever than Karui was.

"All right, sheesh..." He backed up and veered away. muttering about "temperamental females".