Bakugo's Start Line

**Bakugo's Start Line**

(スタートライン、爆豪の. *Sutāto Rain, Bakugō no.*?) is the eighth episode of the My Hero Academia anime.

## Summary

The exercise between teams A and D has been completed and All Might declares Izuku Midoriya and Ochaco Uraraka as the winners. Katsuki becomes distraught over the fact that he lost to Izuku, starting to hyperventilate at the thought of possibly losing again. All Might consoles Katsuki, telling him that it is time for his critique. While Izuku is taken to the nurse's office, All Might tells Katsuki that whether he won or lost, he must take a look back, reflect on the experience and move on with life.

Back in the monitor room, All Might declares Tenya Lida the MVP of the exercise and asks the class why they might think that is. Momo Yaoyorozu, one of the four students to be admitted to U.A. based on recommendation answers the question. She says that Katsuki Bakugo and Izuku using large ranged attacks in an indoor area were too foolish. She also notes Ochaco let her guard down too early and her final improvised attack was too reckless. Despite losing, Momo explains that Tenya was the best for adapting to the situation and respecting the spirit of the exercise. All Might is extremely impressed with her answer and moves on to the next matchup between Team B and Team I.

Mashirao Ojiro and Toru Hagakure make up the villains team. They enter the building and gather around the payload on the fourth floor. Toru removes her clothes completely to maximize the effectiveness of her invisibility Quirk. The hero team, Shoto Todoroki, and Mezo Shoji enter the building minutes later. Mezo uses his Quirk to discover Team I's location and informs his teammate. Shoto instructs Mezo to exit the building for his own safety and proceeds to use his own Quirk to completely freeze the building and his opponents almost instantly. Mashirao and Toru's bare feet are stuck to the ground, giving Shoto an easy opening to touch the payload and secure the victory for Team B.

All Might praises Shoto for his technique. Katsuki and the class watch in awe of his incredible Quirk. Once all exercises are concluded, All Might praises his class for their efforts and sends them back off to their homeroom class. He narrowly escapes from the class before reverting from his hero form. All Might makes his way to the nurse's office where Recovery Girl complains about Izuku getting critically injured for the third time. She mentions that All Might shouldn't indulge Izuku just because he's inheriting One For All, but All Might tells her to keep her voice down because hardly anyone knows about the Quirk.

Izuku awakens later that day and returns to class. He is met by compliments from his classmates, but he notices that Katsuki isn't among them. Ochaco tells Izuku that Katsuki has already left, and Izuku leaves to find him. He finds Katsuki just outside the school and decides to tell him the truth: that he obtained his Quirk from someone else and had not been lying to Katsuki. However, Katsuki refuses to believe him and responds by admitting defeat.

Katsuki's pride has clearly been damaged, he begins to cry while he explains that Shoto's powers, as well as Momo's critique, has made him realize he still has work to do. Before storming off, he warns Izuku that he's just getting started, and will not lose again. All Might arrives to console Katsuki again, but Katsuki refuses him and promises to surpass the number one hero without his help.

Somewhere unknown, a mysterious person reads a newspaper about All Might becoming a teacher. He poses the question of what would happen if the "Symbol of Peace" got snuffed out by villains.