Chapter 118

A security bot catches the brawl on camera and pings Shota Aizawa to come break it up. He leaves his room, only to be intercepted on the way by a familiar figure.

Izuku has barely slipped Katsuki's opening explosion and is nursing the wound it opened on his leg. He insists his rival's ambitions were never wrong. Katsuki ignores that and fires again, and this time Full Cowl gets Izuku clear. Memories surface: a childhood where Izuku shadowed him constantly, undeterred by beatings or dressings-down. Katsuki demands he fight while chewing on the fact that they idolized the same man and Izuku still pulled ahead. He recalls what All Might told him back at the end-of-term test: the anger traces to Izuku's sudden growth, and a person at level one and a person at level fifty cannot climb at the same pace. He rushes in with his right arm cocked, Izuku moves to block it, and the swing turns out to be bait for a right kick to the face. Katsuki goes for the follow-up on a defenseless opponent, only for Full Cowl to power a back handstand that flings him to the ground.

Izuku's first instinct is to ask whether he is hurt. That enrages Katsuki, who demands a real fight and orders him to quit fussing over anyone else. Getting up, he cannot square how the boy who spent a lifetime trailing him ended up in front, and the reversal infuriates him. Worse is the question of why he became the cause of All Might's end. Had he been stronger, there would have been no kidnapping, and All Might's career would be intact. Carrying the secret alone has been grinding him down, and Izuku recognizes how long that weight has been on him.

Katsuki attacks again. Izuku shifts into Full Cowl - Shoot Style, landing a kick to the face that halts the charge. Win or lose, the fight settles nothing, and Izuku knows it, but he also knows he is the only person able to read what Katsuki is feeling here. So he commits. Full Cowl floods his whole body and he tells Katsuki that neither of them is holding back now.

A security bot alerts Shota Aizawa to the fight, but someone intercepts him before he can intervene.

Katsuki voices his fury at being surpassed by the boy who spent their childhood trailing behind him.

He admits he blames himself for All Might's retirement, since his kidnapping set the events in motion.

Izuku recognizes the burden Katsuki has been carrying alone and decides to fight him seriously with Full Cowl.

Titled Meaningless Battle, the chapter runs fifteen pages and appeared in issue 1 of 2017 on December 5, 2016. It is collected in Volume 13 within the Provisional Hero License Exam arc, sitting between Chapter 117 and Chapter 119.

Shota Aizawa, Katsuki Bakugo, and Izuku Midoriya appear on the cover. The Deku vs. Kacchan 2 battle continues at Ground Beta, and Full Cowl - Shoot Style features. The anime adapts the material in Episode 61.

Kohei Horikoshi's author's comment congratulates his siblings, noting that his sister married and his brother had a child while he feels left behind.