Before Uraraka went into the fight, she had a talk with Deku and Iida. Sam decided to wait for her to finish before talking with her.
Finally, she exited—and froze when she saw Sam waiting.
"S-Sam! What are you doing here?"
"I can tell you're nervous. That's fine," Sam said calmly. "But don't give up. Remember to use everything around you to your advantage. You have a smart head—use it. Find a way to make the environment your weapon. Food for thought."
Sam headed back upstairs and sat down.
'I have a feeling those fucking hero pricks will boo Bakugo for going rough,' he thought, already sighing at the idea.
He watched Present Mic's biased entrance announcement. It was obvious who he wanted to win.
'Just by looking at Bakugo's face, I'm certain he'll go all out. Good.'
Sam smiled.
'Maybe this Chihuahua has a friendly side to it.'
He could feel Uraraka's resolve from where he sat—ready to fight until the end.
It started simply enough, with Bakugo blasting her. Sam watched the smiles on the heroes' faces disappear.
'Just as I thought.'
Sam rubbed his temples.
"Yeah, it's pretty brutal seeing him do that, huh?" Kaminari said, noticing the gesture.
"No," Sam replied flatly. "What's grinding my gears are those frauds in the stands getting ready to boo Bakugo to hell. Uraraka looks like a puppy. To them, Bakugo is beating up a defenseless puppy. It's incredibly unacceptable—but it's going to happen anyway, because those so-called heroes are assholes."
Sam's gaze burned toward the stands.
Then Uraraka made her move—throwing her jacket, sneaking in an attack, and launching debris into the air.
'Smart girl,' Sam thought.
Still, Bakugo kept pushing her back, no matter how hard she pressed.
Then came the moment Sam had been dreading.
"You're bullying her!"
"Villains hurt poor, innocent girls—not heroes!"
"Boo!"
A vein throbbed in Sam's head.
Luckily, Aizawa stepped in.
"Who said that?" he demanded. "You should hang up your cape. You're not qualified to be a hero if that's what you think. Bakugo is going hard on her because he acknowledges her. And besides—have you still not figured it out yet? Look up."
The heroes finally saw it.
Understanding spread through the stands.
Bakugo looked shocked—then smiled.
'He's acknowledged her,' Sam realized.
The match ended moments later. Bakugo struck hard enough to incapacitate her.
Sam clapped.
For both of them.
'It's strange… I'm glad I saw this. I want her to grow stronger.'
He sank back into his seat, a faint smile on his face.
'I'm really going soft for these kids, aren't I?'