@Nectar:
Reread the chapter and get what you guys are saying. Hope you're right actually. As the Count said, Bakugou's character development will make me happy. But, Bakugou is still going about it selfishly, trying to justify his bad behavior towards Deku. His bruised ego from Deku passing and him not is part of this. I think if Bakugou passed the exam he wouldn't be fighting Deku.
Hope this ends with Bakugou being humbled and even apologizing to Deku. This could be the start of Bakugou and Deku becoming actual friends rivals (becoming true friends seems like a stretch at this point).
But it's not just the exam though. It's the final straw that broke the camel's back, sure. But various stimuli in regard to Deku have been built up to the point. Such as End of Term Exam. Deku failing to save Bakugou, with the latter telling the former to not rescue him. Yet Deku managing to do so later in the next arc. Seeing All-Might's true human form and realizing how flawed his idol was (and I bet seeing that made him start to seriously start to realize that Deku originally being Quirkless was not a sole weakness), along with gradually putting all of the pieces together. Bakugou briefly talked to Deku during the Hero License Exam about how his "inherited Quirk" was working out for him, hinting that he already put the clues together. He also talked with All-Might before school started after the Kamino Incident about his relationship with Deku.
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So even if Bakugou passed along with Deku, this confrontation would have still happened at some point. Bakugou failing the exam while Deku literally has proof of being more qualified to be an active hero in public is merely a catalyst for it to happen now, not the sheer cause. He wants to realize and confront the truth about One for All and Deku's integrity now after both putting all the pieces together and acknowledging how much Deku has grown in strength, temperament, and respect from others like their mutual idol All-Might.
He's not trying to justify his bad behavior per-se. He's initiating this battle in the first place to finally force himself to realize that his behavior was bad. It's just how his personality and mind works with how battle-oriented he always is and how he shows respect and acknowledgment of others in battle. His bruised ego is a part of it, but unlike most of the other instances, it's no longer the sole focus with how much character development Bakugou has gotten. That is the major takeaway from this chapter. Bakugou is doing this more as a way of introspecting into himself in terms of why he's come this far and if it was ever enough or the proper way, not for the sake of bringing down Deku. What All-Might sees in Deku that Bakugou couldn't reciprocate for the same role-model, like Baroness added.
There's a very SLIGHT possibility Bakugou could become worse or even full-on villain at some point if we're acknowledging statistics for the sake of statistics. But I'm confident in Horikoshi knowing what he's doing from how he incorporated yet twisted so many shonen tropes to his advantage of having a uniquely passionate and philosophical superhero story.
@sgamer82:
Changing gears a bit, I wonder if Deku will actually start fighting back. He's trying to avoid it now for reasons both pragmatic and moral, but I think even he's admitted that Bakugo brings out the worst in him. He may yet her provided into taking action, for better or for worse.
Like I mentioned earlier in this thread, I fully expect this battle to basically be a do-over their first battle in the Battle Trial arc since it takes place in the same area. Deku and Bakugou were both chastised back then for letting their externally-influenced emotions provoke them too easily and recklessly using their Quirks in an area meant to simulate having an active bomb several floors above and hostages that could have been destroyed by their collateral damage. So as a parallel to how this battle will showcase how far they have grown both in power and mentality, I expect their battle to showcase how they won't make the same mistake with their emotions and attacks. Which means minimizing ranged collateral damage this time around and more focus on agility and precision in attacks.
So basically, yes, I expect Deku to fight back. Sticking to Full Cowl/Shoot Style without going 100% like in the Battle Trial arc is going to extremely help him not be as destructive as last time. The real question is if this situation ends up being similar to how Kakashi showed up at the last minute to stop Naruto and Sasuke's first Rasengan/Chidori clash or if one of the new villains we saw a couple chapters ago show up just because. Or even the mole if we're acknowledging every possibility lol.
But I hope the fight is not interrupted. I want a definitive outcome of either Bakugou losing or at least a draw so that Kacchan can finally make monumental progress in reforming the motivation behind his aspirations to become a hero and how he acknowledges Deku. I don't expect an immediate change either if that occurs as soon as the fight ends (since that's obviously going to be an emotional moment that both kids will need to process. Keep in mind that Deku could finally defeat the person he's always looked up to and feared since childhood right now after struggling with the insecurity of his dreams of following a similar path to glory being hopeless), but when they meet again afterwards in the next day or arc or so.
And someone made a good point here about how the dorms should be monitored to keep track of the potential mole. So it would be reasonable if Deku and Kacchan's rematch was being surveillanced. What if the Pro-Hero in charge of surveillance happens to be the (or a) mole who lets the battle happen without pause? cue dramatic sound effect