Chapter Text
Katsuki could probably trace his love for training all the way back to his teenage years.
Back then, the ardour served as a taster of the real world. The adrenaline was a reminder of what he was pouring his blood, sweat and tears towards. He could channel his bubbling rage into something admirable, something that wouldn’t make people cower the way his words do. Sentences are clunky and words always come out totally wrong, whereas actions never misconstrue Katsuki’s true intentions.
Even as the taxing routine that already stole so many of his daylight hours began to bleed into the night, Katsuki still lived for his dream. Most of the kids in Katsuki’s first year class had loathed training sessions and by third year, everyone but he and Kirishima did. Katsuki used to think his peers were lazy, destined to rot in the low ranks. Now he’s keeping secrets for the government, so he guesses it evens things out.
Sometimes Katsuki looks back on his early days and wonders where the spark fizzled off to. He isn’t quite sure when training stopped being preparation and started becoming an escape.
Maybe it was when they started to prioritise maintaining good relationships with other powerful parties over working in the public’s best interest. Or maybe it was when they stopped putting him on the frontlines because his political presence mattered more than his duties. Or maybe it was when he finally accepted that protecting national peace is inevitably more important than undoing certain injustices. That this level of moral ambiguity now comes with the territory.
Training is simpler. When Katsuki trains, he no longer has to worry about lawsuits and press conferences, or how that mother who watched her daughter die is going to sleep tonight.
Over the next few weeks, Katsuki trains so hard that he almost manages to forget about what’s been asked of him (sure, he signs his third NDA agreement with a rage more terrifying than anything he’s ever felt before, but still. He forgets.)
It’s only when he’s being presented with the nth legal document of the week does Katsuki realise that the time to actually meet these fuckers is growing close and sure enough, Yao-Momo’s approaching him with a set date.
“Two days?!”
His outburst causes multiple heads to snap in their direction and a deep flush colours Yao-Momo’s cheeks. Katsuki supposes he probably should’ve taken the fact that they’re sitting in the middle of a public cafe into account. Actually, fuck that. Yao-Momo’s the one who should’ve taken their location into account before springing this upon him.
“Yes.” She responds, posture stiff with what looks like embarrassment. People are still looking. “You will be formally meeting in two days time.”
Two days, Katsuki whispers to himself. He once had a therapist tell him to take deep breaths when it feels like he’s about to fall back into his old ways of letting his mouth take the wheel and worrying about the wreckage later. It doesn’t work.
Beside him, Kirishima doesn’t look at all fazed by Yao-Momo’s words. He only stops munching on his cupcake when he notices Katsuki looking at him like he’s grown an extra head.
“You’re okay with this?” Katsuki splutters, like he believes his words will make a difference.
Realistically, Katsuki knows that this isn’t a matter of being ‘okay’ with anything. Once you pass a certain threshold and become involved with larger projects, you start losing the room to object. Still, he can’t help but think that this level of unprofessionalism is unacceptable —and that’s coming from him, the guy who once blew up a courthouse.
(It’s a long story, involving: a villain, poor communication between Katsuki and his teammates and a detrimental miscalculation. Katsuki doesn’t like to talk about it.)
They haven’t even hosted any training sessions on how to handle villains you aren’t actively trying to incapacitate, for crying out loud.
Kirishima, always the pacifist between the two, just shrugs. “It is what it is, man.”
“‘It is what it is’?” Katsuki repeats, eyes flashing, and he suddenly feels like he’s missing something. He must be. Maybe he’s the crazy one and everyone else is reacting to this madness appropriately. He takes a deep breath, “She wants to send us to a black site with no fucking training, a protocol that we use for rescue missions gone wrong and no hero back up. But ‘it is what it is’?”
Villains have killed his friends. Villains have left him with enough trauma for a lifetime. The same goes for Kirishima— Yaoyorozu, too. That alone should explain why this is a terrible, terrible idea.
Yao-Momo interjects, eyes shimmering with guilt. It’s like she knows what Katsuki’s thinking. But then she’s speaking in that robotic tone again and any understanding Katsuki may have been feeling vanishes. “I apologise, Mr. Ground Zero, but we simply cannot afford to run this as a typical operation.”
“Call me Bakugou, for fuck’s sake!” Katsuki explodes, uncharacteristic as of late. He just hates the blank look on her face, the one that airbrushes everything the three of them have been through together with professionalism. “You’re the one who kept insisting that we were friends.”
“But-“ Yao-Momo’s objections melt into a heavy sigh when she catches Katsuki’s piercing glare. The business look fades into something a little more human. “Look, Bakugou… I know I’m asking the impossible of you right now. I know that this goes against everything you believe in, and I’m sorry .”
The raw sincerity in her voice catches Katsuki off guard and when he chances a glance, Kirishima looks just as surprised. It’s been a while since he last heard her sound like that. He takes a long moment to consider his superior’s words. What does he believe in?
His knee jerk reaction to that kind of question would be justice. Honour. Pride. The obvious things. His core values. A long time ago, when Katsuki was still a boy, an old friend had asked what lengths he’d go to in order to protect the things that mattered to him. Katsuki had told that friend that he’d do anything. That he’d become a hero like All Might, one that could take those leaps to maintain balance. Justice. Honour. Pride. Maybe this is one of those leaps.
Yao-Momo’s head still hangs low as Kirishima carefully starts, “He gets it, Yao-Momo. We both do. It’s just a lot to take in.”
He’d never admit it out loud, but Katsuki’s glad to have someone who understands him the way Kirishima does. Someone who can take his jumbled thoughts and articulate them in a manner that can be well received. At Kirishima’s words, Yao-Momo blinks up at them and the air begins to clear.
“Thank you.” She finally breathes, eyes fluttering shut like a tremendous weight has just been lifted off of her shoulders. He wonders how serious the situation must be for her to need them that bad.
Katsuki just hopes he’s doing the right thing.
-
Since he can remember, Katsuki has always been a lone wolf. He hates leading but he loves being the best, though he prefers solitude to all else. Naturally, he thinks his reaction to the words ’we are entrusting them under your care for the next three months’ is pretty warranted.
“Ha. Tell me another one.” Katsuki deadpans. This ordeal has taken everything out of him - he doesn’t even have the energy to lose his temper.
“I’m being serious, Bakugou-san.”
Just to rub salt in the would, Yao-Momo also takes this opportunity to tell him that the lead generals have assigned him a team of soldiers larger than he’s ever seen, much less handled. He’s more than uncomfortable with the fact that he now has the added responsibility of thirty extra lives clipped to his belt.
From what he’s already seen, Katsuki can tell that he’ll have his hands full with the villains alone — he had barely been on the compound for ten minutes when he’d been alerted that Todoroki Shouto had managed to take out a good five members of their team before they whipped him so hard he passed out. Needless to say, their meeting is rescheduled to a later date.
Uraraka Ochako is so ordinary that it almost unnerves Katsuki. Nothing about her, from her demeanour to her appearance, indicates that she’s the owner of the extensive list of offenses Katsuki was required to read through prior to their meeting. She only ever speaks when spoken to, so that should give a rough hint as to how the interrogation went.
Ashido Mina complies well enough that Katsuki actually manages to get a few words in. It goes pretty well until she attempts to seduce him and the shitty briefing Katsuki had received ten minutes prior allows him to recognise this behaviour as a warning sign that she is quickly becoming bored of their interaction. He promptly remembers what happened to the last team. Katsuki calls an end to the meeting.
Much like Todoroki Shouto, Katsuki fails to actually meet Kaminari Denki when the time arises. Apparently, the promise of exciting company triggered his slight tendency towards short circuiting the entire building. By the time light had been restored, the blonde still hadn’t recovered from over exerting himself.
Katsuki quickly learns that the only thing they really have in common is that they all refuse to discuss their family history.
That leaves one last person. Midoriya Izuku.
Katsuki already can’t stand him. What kind of supervillain is shy, for fuck’s sake?
In the rare occasion that he speaks during the meeting, it’s with this nervous stutter that leaves Katsuki feeling severely underwhelmed. The only request he has is to be called Izuku, which Katsuki vehemently denies and claims that Deku is fitting enough. He’s fucking embarrassed that these are the people he was making such a big deal over— Deku can barely even look him in the eyes.
It’s only when Yao-Momo plays a gritty video on her phone screen does the supervillain offer any significant reaction.
The video is grainy, but the green tufts of hair are unmistakeable. Deku appears to be having a heated confrontation in the middle of a hero agency reception, but the quality doesn’t give much grace for detail. Katsuki fails to realise what’s actually going on until it’s too late and the entire reception is obliterated.
The screen goes black.
“That person’s gone.”
Deku’s voice is unlike anything Katsuki has heard from him so far. This time, his tone is flat, dead, much more fitting for a villain.
“And yet, here you fuckin’ are.” Katsuki spits. He doesn’t know what it is about Izuku that makes his blood boil. Startled, Yaoyorozu places a gentle hand on the table between them and Katsuki glares at it. It’s not like he’s going to jump the kid.
“Bakugou-san, maybe I should talk to them.” She offers and Katsuki just sinks into his seat with a grumble. He probably shouldn’t be picking fights with supervillains (however wimpy they look) on his first day on duty.
It’s safe to say that Yao-Momo and Kirishima handle the rest of the talking from that point onwards.
So, that concludes roll call.
Time for some real fun.
-
“They’re off.” Yaomomo states, clipboard in her grasp. “What are you gonna do now?”
It’s raining and they’re well into the evening, but Yao-Momo had insisted that they couldn’t afford waste this opportunity to test their new subjects’ abilities. The sound of the arm guards clattering to the floor echoes in the tense quiet, the soldiers surrounding them gripping their guns even tighter than before. Everybody’s nervous. Everyone except Todoroki, it seems.
Now freed, the villain nonchalantly stretches his arms above his head, eyes fluttering shut as if he isn’t one wrong move away from guaranteed death. Weighted anticipation collects in the air as they all wait for his next move.
Katsuki almost allows himself a sigh of relief when nothing happens, but then Todoroki‘s turning to Lieutenant Asshole with such finesse and speed Katsuki’s trained eye is barely able to catch the movement. The tips of his fingers lick with unpredictable flames.
Every gun is locked, loaded and aimed by the time Asshole’s even registered that his life is in serious danger. If they had the time to waste, Katsuki would’ve taken a moment to appreciate being given a well trained team.
Unfortunately, they don’t. Katsuki can already feel his patience wearing thin.
“Everybody calm the fuck down!” He yells into the rain. Nobody moves. “Asshole, tell your men to stand down.”
Todoroki’s eyebrow quirks like he’s challenging the lieutenant. Like clockwork, Asshole — who clearly doesn’t take kindly to the nickname, not that Katsuki gives a fuck — yells the order. In total synchronisation, all weapons drop.
Smirking, Todoroki extinguishes the flame, clearly relishing in the fear that melts off of the lieutenant’s face. This is definitely a long awaited power exchange. At least they share a mutual dislike for this guy.
“When you guys knocked me out earlier, you injected me with something, right? Drugged me. Limited my capabilities.” The villain walks to the middle of the arena, where the rain appears to be falling the hardest. He holds his hand out and a decently sized flame rises from his palm, struggling against the force of the rain. “This is as big as the flame gets, I’m guessing.”
“You’re completely right.” Yaomomo breathes and Katsuki’s eyebrow quirks. At her words, the entire team noticeably relaxes. Maybe this unit isn’t as well trained as Katsuki had originally thought. “Why would we let a infamous villain do as he pleases?”
Satisfied, the villain clenches his fist and suffocates the flame, only for his other hand to shoot up and blast a flame so large that it’s probably visible across the sea. The force of the eruption defies the efforts of the rain, igniting the night sky and warming Katsuki’s skin. It roars for barely a second more until the excellent spark dies in the air.
Katsuki exhales in wonder, lungs devoid of oxygen.
The corner of the villain’s mouth quirks. His eyes are wide, mirroring everyone else’s. For the first time, Katsuki sees some real emotion on half-and-half’s face.
“So, heroes really are insane.” He scoffs, tone singed with disbelief. In their crowd of thirty, Yao-Momo is the only one who looks unfazed. That is, until Todoroki joins her, boredom striking his features again.
“Now, you know what you’re buying.” He holds both of his hands out and waits to be cuffed. “I’d like to go back inside, please.”
Katsuki and Kirishima make eye contact.
Well, that’s one way to sell yourself.
-
The rest of the tests go similarly.
Kaminari solves an age old puzzle box that even the most skilled of tacticians have been left stumped by. He also manages to swipe the keys to his cell in broad daylight and is only found out once full body searches are conducted. That’s some serious skill, Katsuki must admit.
Uraraka leaves the whole team with reprehensible motion sickness that puts them out of commission for a good few hours, while Ashido Mina intimidates their best interrogator into conceding.
All of it is filmed and sent to the higher-ups as further proof that Yaoyorozu’s idea could really work. Katsuki has to give it to her— he’s seen enough to know that these guys are the real deal, regardless of their intentions.
-
Izuku’s eyebrows furrow. “Aren’t you gonna make me use my quirk?”
Honestly, Katsuki would love to see it. He’s only ever heard stories of Deku’s great power, how it rivals seeing All Might in action. Only, one fought for world peace and the other’s causing destruction for god knows what reason. Katsuki doesn’t ever bother himself with the motivations of villains.
Unfortunately, Yao-Momo says that they can’t risk it. Neither of them have the clearance to learn this information, but Yao-Momo tells Katsuki and Kirishima that the only reason they’re able to contain Deku is because he’s willing. If he wanted, he could break out of here and murder all of the security while he’s at it. They don’t know why he stays, but they aren’t about to challenge him.
“A blind man knows what you can do, Deku.” Kirishima says, not unkind.
Katsuki’s surprised to see that they’re still going to town with the mutual trust gimmick. Deku isn’t so much as restrained. Don’t get him wrong, they’re still accompanied by thirty heavy duty soldiers (because Deku’s strong, but he’s not invincible. He’s human, after all. Thirty machine guns will probably do the trick.) but he’d have thought the number one supervillain would require stricter security measures.
“So you don’t wanna see? It’s been ages since I last had some fun.”
The words are ominous, sure, but Deku mutters them in the least threatening way possible. Katsuki almost feels bad for him until he remembers that the man opposite him is a fucking supervillain.
“It’s common fucking knowledge.” Katsuki grumbles and Deku fails to meet his eyes.
Yao-Momo rushes to save the day. “What he means to say is that we are already aware of your capabilities.”
The rest of the conversation fades into white noise as Katsuki takes a moment to really look at Deku. He takes in the freckles adorning the other man’s pink cheeks and the way the green strands of hair fall into his eyes. Objectively, Deku is attractive. Anyone with eyes should be able to admit this simple fact. He doesn’t fit the description of a supervillain.
Katsuki just doesn’t like that he feels intrigued. He tells himself it’s because Deku’s one walking oxymoron. Pretty eyes with a dark vision. Short stature and an unimaginable wealth of power at his fingertips.
It’s fine. Katsuki wouldn’t be a hero if evil didn’t intrigue him a little.
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