Chapter Text
Katsuki Bakugou had seen some shit.
He’d seen shit that no human, animal, or living thing should ever see or experience in their life. He wouldn’t wish the shit he’d seen on his worst enemy.
But this was his life. This is the way he’d lived. He hadn’t known anything else.
It all started when quirks first manifested the world. People didn’t know what to do. They hadn’t experienced life with superpowers before. Eventually, people began to get power hungry and the world had become almost destroyed by villains. Except for a single country. Panem.
Panem was soon separated into 13 separate districts and the Capitol. The Capitol was where those with strong quirks lived. The ones with the strongest quirks felt that they had superiority over the 13 districts and commanded them to provide them with material goods and resources, in exchange for protection over the rest of the crumbling world. The districts complied for several years, putting up with the hardships and mistreatment. Until District 13 had enough.
District 13’s rebellion resulted in a severe civil war, causing the deaths of some of the highest ranking individuals with the strongest quirks. Eventually, after years and years of civil war, the Capitol came out victorious.
After the Capitol’s victory, the districts were restored and District 13 was eliminated. A man with several powerful quirks was put in charge of Panem. His name was Shigaraki, but he went by the title of “All For One”. As a punishment for the war and the deaths of the high-ranking individuals, All For One instituted the Hunger Games: a yearly event where every district must sacrifice 2 children ages 12-18 to fight to the death for the Capitol’s entertainment.
Katsuki Bakugou was born ages later into this society in District 2. District 2 was hated amongst the other districts for its close relationship to the Capitol. The children with the strongest quirks were trained early on to win the games, as District 2 took great pride in their victors and saw entering The Games as an honor.
At age 4, Katsuki had watched a rerun of a prior year’s Hunger Games and had seen the victor Yagi Toshinori (better known as “All Might”) take down all his opponents with vigor and style, all whilst smiling. That’s when he knew his life’s goal.
He knew he wanted to enter and win the Hunger Games, much like his idol.
Every year, he’d find joy and excitement over watching the Hunger Games. He’d gotten overjoyed when his quirk manifested and was proven to be strong. He’d worked hard in his training academy and beat the other children every single time, causing him to be arrogant.
When others questioned his ability or even mocked it, he’d become insecure and irrationally angry as a result. Every year since he turned 12, he’d pray that the mentors at his academy would allow him to volunteer to enter the games. But they never did. And almost every year, the volunteers would be beat by a kid from some other district.
Katsuki had more potential than these kids. He could do better than them and would win the Hunger Games no matter the cost. He didn’t care if he had to betray his allies, or even his own district member. But he was running out of time. He was 16 and was still deemed too unworthy to volunteer by his mentors. What did the mentors even know, anyways?
But this year, it’s all going to change. The mentors had finally allowed Katsuki to volunteer. When he first heard the news, he was elated that he would finally have the chance to enter the games. But it was all a matter of being the quickest to volunteer. He'd need to make sure no one else volunteered before him.
But he was running low on time to form a strategy. And the reaping was going to begin at any moment.