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At the age of four, Katsuki thought himself to be smarter, stronger, and just in general, better than the rest of the kids in town. Still small, and only just showing signs of a quirk with incredible potential, he felt that he could take on the world, because the world was his to walk on and rule. Of course, "the world" for the most part meant the neighborhood park, the school grounds, and whatever path he decided to walk on. But to him, that was more than enough. For now.
He had chased many of the older kids away from the park, at least the ones that directly challenged his authority-like those stupid big kids that thought they ruled the world just 'cause the presented as Alphas, as if that alone entitled them to boss Katsuki around. He himself might not have presented yet, but he and everyone else who knew him could already tell what he would become-loud, aggressive, confident, and most importantly, strong? All signs of a future alpha. And he made sure that he stepped up to those expectations. He wouldn't let anyone push him around or tell him what to do. If those stupid big kids were actually as tough as they made themselves out to be, they should have put up a real fight when Katsuki first chased them off.
And so, the park was left to him, the group of kids that always seemed to follow in his shadow and the few other stranglers than came in and minded their own business.
Oh, and Deku.
Small, Quirkless, soft and weak Deku. Everything that Katsuki was not.
He was nothing special, someone that will probably grow into an everyday, average beta that didn't do anything noteworthy or of great importance to the world. He couldn't seem to do anything for himself, always sniveling and whimpering at the slightest injury and tripping over virtually nothing at every turn. He even looked plain, with curly dark hair, a round face splattered with freckles and green eyes that looked borderline black on most days. At first glance, in an every day setting, Izuku Midoriya was someone that could be easily overlooked, just another bland face in a bland world.
And yet, Katsuki always seemed to be aware of him. While the other kids were always there, he never really cared to notice them, to notice if one of them was ever missing on a specific day. Apparently one time, one of them had gone on vacation for a week, and when he came back, he had asked what he had missed. Katsuki hadn't even been aware that someone from his followers had up and vanished.
But with Deku, he would often find himself turning to look over his shoulder and throw something unbelievably witty at the nerd, only to come up short when he isn't there. Suddenly, strutting around the forest and battling imaginary villains wasn't as fun anymore. And he would be in a weird mood for the remainder of the day, until the next day came and Deku was back, looking at Katsuki with that ever present admiration, with no explanation about where he had been.
Deku was a plain, annoying nerd. Their entire class pretty much overlooked him and other children never seemed to feel like approaching them on their own. But, there would be times when some of the older kids would notice him, and it confused Katsuki. He could remember this one time that a kid that couldn't have been more than two years older than them, having already presented as a beta, had been crying on one of the swing sets. Katsuki normally wouldn't have acknowledged it, and would have continued on his merry way leading his band of disciples. That is, he would have if Deku hadn't stepped out of formation and hesitantly made his way over to the sobbing kid.
Katsuki had watched with absolute exasperation as the bland nerd had sat himself on the swing next to the kid, had said something to draw their attention, and then gave a small, shaky smile when they looked up. Katsuki hadn't been able to hear what Deku had said, but whatever it was had seemed to instantly dry up the kids tears and bring a smile to their own face. And it was then that Katsuki started to notice a pattern as this continued to happen as they got closer to the presenting age; not only with strangers, but within the group as well. Two of his lackeys had at one point started to argue and squabble with one another over something so trivial that Katsuki couldn't remember.
But he remembered how it had gotten heated and had started to get violent-until Izuku stepped in. He had been shaking and clearly uncomfortable with confronting the fight head on, but with a "You guys shouldn't fight! You'll hurt each other, and friends shouldn't do that" said in a quiet, but urgent voice, the tension had instantly been dissipated. Katsuki had seen the expressions on lackey #1 and #2's faces as they looked up at Deku, and had felt an annoying bubble of something form in his chest as they look at the nerd like something unbelievably extraordinary. They seemed to instantly forget whatever it was they were fighting about and were pretty much in a daze for a few minutes, just looking at Deku.
And Katsuki didn't know why. And he hated not knowing something. Especially when it involved Deku.
Things like that just kept on happening though, and Katsuki kept on feeling thrown off and confused whenever it happened. Why Izuku seemed to be able to draw a smile from someone who had been on the brink of tears, or to calm someone with nothing more than a few kind words and a shaky smile of his own.
It wasn't until a week after he turned six and two days after he presented-Alpha, as expected-that he got a glimpse into what others seemed to see. It hadn't been instantaneous, but he began to notice these little things. He began to notice that he ... wasn't as plain as he had originally thought. Like, how in a certain lighting, Deku's dark curls seemed to have a glimmer of green to them, or how when they were walking through the forest and the sun came streaming down in bright beams onto them, his freckles looked like stars lining his cheek bones. Or how, when he smiled up at Katsuki, his eyes still filled with that annoying admiration that Katsuki was beginning to loathe, those eyes seemed to shine as a vibrant green. The same color as the leaves when the sun shown through them.
He was still so easy to overlook for others, but Katsuki knew what to look for now. And he hadn't realized how blind he had been before he presented, looking at the world with a new pair of eyes that could see farther, clearer and in more detail than before. And it wasn't just that either. When he had woken up on the his presentation day, he had been able to hear his mom and dad talking in the kitchen on the floor below or the sounds of a bird flying above his house; or how how it had felt like his sense of smell hadn't even existed before that day. He could suddenly pick up on such small minuscule smells that he didn't even know existed-and finally understood why his mom always yelled at him to clean his room, it smelled horrible.
He had eventually gotten a better handle on his newly advanced senses, so he didn't get headaches from all the overwhelming smells and sounds, and was able to filter out anything he deemed unimportant.
But, yet again, he couldn't seem to ignore Deku. But now on a whole new level.
He found himself eavesdropping whenever he picked up on Izuku's voice from down the school hallways, his attention immediately being captured no matter how deep in thought he had been. And how he found himself a little disturbed at this new habit of sniffing in Deku's direction every once in a while. Before he presented, he knew that everyone had their own distinct scent, but he hadn't realized how intricate and specific each one could be. Like the scents of a pair of twins in the class next door, they were alarmingly similar, but still completely different, but Katsuki didn't care enough to figure out exactly how.
But Izuku's scent, he found himself slowly getting addicted to. It had a calming affect that didn't necessarily make Katsuki stop screaming and yelling on the outside, but it soothed the boiling magma that seemed to constantly be boiling just inside his chest. He couldn't pinpoint exactly what smells made up Deku's scent, since it seemed to constantly be shifting and altering, not to mention that outside scents also affected it. One day, he smelt like cinnamon and hot chocolate, another day he smelt like cucumbers and lemon, one day he smelt like straight up sugar.
It had frustrated him, because he could always pick out that it was Izuku's scent, even if it never seemed to stay consistent. Late one night, he embarrassingly found himself googling it. The answer turned out to be incredibly obvious, and Katsuki felt slightly stupid for not having thought of it before he went and wasted his time looking it up.
It wasn't for another few weeks, but Deku was going to be presenting soon. And the shifting smells was a sign of that. It didn't happen with everyone, but it wasn't necessarily unusual either. There had been a long, scientific explanation behind it, but Katsuki had lost interest in the reasoning behind it after reading a few of the big words that had been used in the first sentence. Something about chemicals and hormones and a bunch of other junk that Katsuki didn't really care about.
Izuku's birthday came and went, and the nerd didn't present within the usual time frame that other kids did. While Deku didn't necessarily seemed all that worried about it, he along with everyone convinced he'd turn out as a Beta, just like both his parents, there was a certain tension he noticed in a few of the teachers. He didn't know exactly what for but he noticed them side glancing at Deku at different times throughout the day. He didn't really get it, but he knew that Deku was, once again, an odd man out. No Quirk, and late to present. What a loser.
But then one day, Izuku didn't come into class. None of the other students seemed to really care to ask the teacher, and Katsuki certainly wasn't going to, but he found himself listening a little more carefully when the teacher brought Deku up towards the end of class.
"Midoriya will not be coming to class for the next few days," the teacher's lazy drawl immediately silences the chatter in the room. "I'm under strict instruction to tell you that he will be returning in the following week and to tell you nothing more. With that, you're all dismissed."
Katsuku had clicked his tongue and packed up his things, making haste as he left the classroom. He hadn't been in the mood to interact with the other idiots of the school that day, his temper sitting a little closer to the surface than it had been for the last few weeks (and he refused to even consider that it had to do with Deku and the absence of his soothing scent and presence). He had needed to pass by the Midoriya's apartment building on his way home, and hadn't been able to help stopping and turning to look up at the unit he knew belonged to them.
He had briefly considered going to the apartment and seeing what the hell was up, but had just as quickly shaken off the idea and stomped the rest of the way home.
It was the weekend now, the last three days seemingly dragging on forever, and Katsuki and three of his lackeys were lying spread out on the park's grassy field, catching their breath after running through the forest for the last few hours. But then something ... woodsy smelling filled the air-which was normal considering where they were, but it was different from the smell around them. And then the distinct sound of footsteps shuffling and stumbling over grass in their direction peeks Katsuki's attention and he immediately knows who it is. He didn't want to seem so ... excited, but he finds himself jerking into a sitting position, eyes locked on the green haired boy standing a few feet away from him.
Deku is twitching and fidgeting his hands at the sudden intensity aimed at him, and seems to avert his eyes on instinct, before hesitantly raising them to meet Katsuki's own through his bangs. The color that Katsuki was only used to seeing when the light hit them a specific way, or if Izuku was being especially excited, was a very solid color on its own now. The hair that usually just seemed dark now had a glossy green life to it that had been muted before, and only showed in specific lighting.
Izuku suddenly looked a lot less plain, even though he still looked exactly the same. It was just ... he gave off his own damn sunshine.
And that wasn't even the biggest part of it.
His smell. Deku presented; and he was in no way a Beta.
"H-hi ..." Deku offered in response to the silence his arrival was met with, lifting a hand to wave a little awkwardly at his side.
The other lackeys had jumped to their feet and approached Izuku with an enthusiasm they didn't normally have, at least pertaining to the loser. Katsuki watched with a sort of heated bubble resting in the center of his rib cage as Deku scrambled at the sudden attention being crowded around him, the bubble expanding and retracting with each breath he took. Whether it was a good thing or just another form of his temper, he wasn't sure. But it was there, and he didn't know how to react to it; so naturally, frustration returned to the surface.
"Oi, deku! Where the hell have you been?!"
"Ah, Kacchan!" The nerd's attention was immediately drawn away from the the other three boys and straight to Katsuki, who had also gotten to his feet to stomp his way towards the group. "Um, Mom took me out of town for a few days-to see a doctor-and we didn't get back until earlier this morning."
The nerd was fiddling with his fingers, his gaze flickering around the field spasmodically, like he couldn't focus on one specific thing.
"A doctor? What for?" one of the boys butted in, unknowingly cutting Katsuki off before he could speak up himself.
"O-oh, um ..." Katsuki watched as Deku dropped his gaze to his own fidgeting fingers, suddenly looking a lot more uncomfortable. "N-nothing really. It's not i-important or anything ..."
"Ha? You hidin' something, Midoriya?" another one of the boys piped in, bending into Deku's space - Katsuki didn't want to acknowledge how it made him bristle and his teeth clench just a little tighter.
"N-no! Nothing like that!" Deku jerked himself back a few inches to place a bit more space between him and the group, a look of conflicted confusion twisting his features, his nostrils flaring a little too rapidly to be normal. Katsuki's eyes were immediately drawn to the hands that Deku held pressed to his chest, clenched and trembling only slightly so that only if you were looking you'd notice.
So Katsuki did what he did best.
He brought attention back to him.
"Who cares anyway?" he snarled, storming straight between the group and marched passed Deku, making his way back towards the park entrance. "You guys are lame. I'm going home."
"W-wha?! But, Kacchan ...!" he heard a series of complaints from the other behind him, but that didn't stop his confident stride towards the exit of the park. He did, however, notice the faint sounds of one pair of feet shuffling quickly after him; and a smell that seemed to physically hit his back tagging along.
Katsuki looked over shoulder to see that Deku was following a couple feet behind him, looking less nervous than he had when the other extras had been around. And now, without the other three around to muddle up the air, Deku's scent was even more noticeable. He wasn't really able to get a good whiff and actually figure out exactly what the nerd smelt like, what with him walking ahead of Deku, but he knew that it made his nose tingle and made his heart beat a little louder in his chest. He quickly whipped his head to face forward again after meeting Deku's eyes for a few second; just enough that the nerd knew he should keep following, and kept his pace towards the direction of his house.
He completely ignored the front door and instead walked towards the backyard. There really wasn't anything interesting back there, except a stone patio his dad had installed earlier that year so they had somewhere to grill food, and a rather large hill giving them a sense of privacy from the houses on the other side. Stuffing his hands into his shorts' pockets, and one glance back to make sure that Deku was still behind him, he stomped up towards the top of the hill and plopped himself down in the nice little pit he'd been digging for himself over the past year.
After a few silent moments passed, Katsuki whipped his head up to stare at the nerd, who was awkwardly shuffling back and forth on his feet on the lip of the pit.
"What are you waiting for, stupid? Sit." He grumbled, turning his head enough that it wasn't obvious he was still watching Deku as he rushed to sit himself down next to Katsuki. "Now, spill. Where the hell have ya been?"
Izuku seemed to start at the calling out, but he wasn't fidgeting nearly as much as he had back at the park. Sure, he was twiddling his thumbs with his head ducked a little, but Katsuki could see that he wasn't any more nervous than normal. Katsuki intentionally ignored that he himself was carrying less tension in his shoulders, in comparison to how he'd been quite literally five minutes prior. Instead, he waited for Deku to find his words, unconsciously finding himself basking in the soothing sent that just emanated from the other boy.
"Well, it's l-like I said, Mom took me to see a doctor out of town." his tiny hands clenched together, another small silence filled the small gap between them. "They gave me some medicine, and it put me to sleep, but when I woke up, I presented!" Katsuki watched as a smile finally spread across Deku's face.
"The hell? How'd that work?!" Katsuki exclaimed in exasperation. Presenting didn't work like that, at least, not the last time he checked.
A flush suddenly spread across Izuku's face, the smile only wavering slightly.
"Mom said they had to ... 'force' my presentation, or else it might have started to hurt me ..."
"Well, that's stupid," was Katsuki's ingenious response, but it wasn't nearly as harsh as it could have been.
Instead, they lulled into a quiet silence. Deku noticeably relaxed even further, going as far as slumping back against small wall of the pit and looking like he was almost ready to fall asleep. And Katsuki took an unusual amount of pride in that; he had worked hard to make sure that the pit was perfect and comfortable, and while he didn't often let people into it, it was almost a sort of validation that Izuku-an Omega- found himself comfortable enough to sleep there. Actually, the fact that Izuku felt comfortable enough let his guard down enough to sleep around Katsuki, was flattering in its own subtle way.
Of course the nerd turned out to be an Omega. Katsuki and several others had been convinced that Deku would present as a plain old beta, unable to actually do anything outstanding in life. But after disappearing for a few days, turns up out of the blue as something special. A boy Omega. And it was almost like the universe was spiting him, making Deku's scent so ... so something.
He couldn't pinpoint exactly what the smell was this time, at least, not at the distance that he was at. He knew that it would probably settle into something a little more substantial after a few weeks, but right now, it was all over the place and it was making Katsuki's head spin a little. With a huff, he crossed his arms behind his head and dropped down right next to Izuku. And if he found himself close enough that their shoulders occasionally brushed, he wasn't going to say anything.
But he definitely took advantage of their close contact and took a few deep breathes, holding them in before slowly breathing out.
The scent was nothing solid. But there was an underlying woodsy sent, which threw Katsuki back through the different adventures they had playing in the woods, or when they'd just laze around doing nothing in a field. It just smelt fresh, but comforting, and the closest thing Katsuki could compare it to was grass or something. But that wasn't it either.
But either way, it seemed to help pull him into an impromptu nap alongside Izuku. And if he dreamed of running through a field of tall grass that smelt of mint and morning dew grass, well, he sure as hell wasn't going to mention it.