Chapter Text

“I wonder when I got so used to you,

That my mind just assumes you are right behind.

Though I did realise when I turned around,

I left you far out of reach.

Are you still coming?

Please, your place is right next to me.”

-RB.

Bakugou Katsuki always knew. 

He knew that he was not like these other extras, he was strong, really strong. Not only physically but his quirk too. He knew he was smart, smarter than average people. He was confident in his abilities. He was a skilled fighter. He was tenacious. He never gave up. And he always won. Always. 

And Bakugou Katsuki knew all of that because everyone always told him so. The teachers from kindergarten, the teachers from other grades, all the students, their parents, strangers hell even the pros had said so. And most of all Midoriya Izuku had told him so. And so Bakugou Katsuki knew.

The other thing Bakugou Katsuki knew was that Midoriya Izuku was born to be a hero. 

He saw it in the tremble of his scrawny body as he stood up against the bullies for kids who could not stand up for themselves. He saw it in the wobble of his lips as he tried to stop the tears from overflowing his strength, the strength he had for the sake of others. He saw it in his endurance as he took all the hits so the others needn’t. And he heard it in his uneven voice as he threatened to be unforgiving yet forgave before even waiting to be asked for forgiveness. 

That’s why Bakugou Katsuki always knew. Knew Midoriya Izuku was born to be a hero. His rival and his partner. They were going to be pros together. Of course Bakugou would be the number one hero, the greatest of them all, and Midoriya could be number two, right behind him.

But Midoriya Izuku is Quirkless. And bakugou’s not sure what it means. Till he does. He hears the whispers of the adults and he sees the pity glances towards the green. And he realises the voices and the stares are not the same as the ones that are directed towards him. It’s the opposite. And Bakugou is smart and has always been, so it doesn’t take him too long to figure it out. That if the voices and the stares are opposite to his then so is Midoriya. If Bakugou is amazing then Midoriya is just whatever the opposite of amazing is.

“Tragic” “Unlucky” “Pitiful” “Weak” “Poor-child” “Worthless”

Midoriya Izuku is worthless, Bakugou decides it's true. Because the adults, they whisper it in the shadows and behind his back. They treat Midoriya like he is made of glass. And they only ever look at him in pity. So Bakugou decides it’s true. Because the adults said so, and adults don’t lie. They can’t. Because if they do then it’s a lie Bakugou is all that too. So he’s decided that all that the adults say must be true. And so Midoriya Izuku is worthless.

But it’s a hoax. Bakugou knows. It’s like a party trick that’s waiting to be revealed. And so when he looks at Midoriya and he offers him a smile, he can’t help the snarl that takes over his mind. He knows he thinks and it pisses him off, the explosions that pop he doesn’t want them to stop. The noise of his explosive drowns everything out so he doesn’t hear the hurt or the sound of his heart.

Till one day. He is at UA. Like he was always supposed to be. His legs on the bench, the ground has got nothing on him. He scoffs and takes in his competitors for the coming three years. His eyes land on the girl with pink cheeks and nervous demeanour. Green his mind suddenly fills. And he listens in closely as she talks to the other stoic guy.

“Ah, he’s not here, huh?” She rubs her neck as she looks inside giving an overall to the class,

“That weird kid?” The guy with rectangular glasses asks with a chop of his hand.

“The small one, with curly hair and freckles on his cheek.” She nods along as she gives looks from one corner of the class to another as if she just can’t believe he is not here.

“I guess he didn’t have enough points, I did hear him say “please, just one point”.” Replies the glasses guys, chopping the air some more.

“I guess,” she finally stops looking around and looks at the guy in front of her, “I did ask the teachers about transferring some of my points to him-.”

“What? Is that even a possibility? Wouldn’t it be-..”

“He saved my life.” She replied suddenly too loud then softer, “But they said they couldn’t because he was Quirkless.”

“Quirkless?” Now the glasses is too loud too.

“Apparently.” She sighs sadly and gives a pitiful smile, the same smile that everyone has always given towards Midoriya. And it pisses Bakugou off. He decides he doesn’t like her. 

“No wonder he was so jumpy.” The glasses concludes pushing his glasses back.

They start talking about something else and Bakugou tunes everything out, till he hears 

“Kacchan,” 

Bakugou’s heart picks up the pace, and he looks around and sees a red head boy watching a video on his phone and he realises bitterly it’s from the slime villain incident, Bakugou grits his teeth in frustration. He can feel the smoke coming off his palms.

“It’s him! That’s him!” The same girl yells like she had just discovered the truth of the universe.

“Is it?” The red haired boy looked towards her and grinned with his shark like teeth, “I didn’t mean to eavesdrop but I heard you and thought, it reminded me a lot of this kid.”

He points the screen towards her and continues speaking, “I was so inspired by this kid, apparently he is Quirkless and has no training or anything whatsoever but when he saw the other kid in danger he jumped in without even thinking. How manly is that?” He completes with a completely impressed grin.

Seeing the expression on the shitty red hair guy, Bakugou decides he doesn’t dislike him.

When the teacher rolls in with his yellow sleeping bag, and the class finally settles Bakugou realises his heart hasn’t. He knows he is not nervous. Why should he be? This is the place where he belongs and the place where he is supposed to be. So just why is he so unhappy? What’s the emptiness and how should he fill it?

He looks around the class from one seat to another. To the back of the class and the front of newcomers. 

“What the hell is the nerd doing? The class is about to sta-.” His thought stops and he blinks his eyes. He doesn't have time to think too much as another thought abruptly comes in full swing.

“He is not here, he is not following you, he is not looking at you. Not anymore.” 

When his chest aches some more, he denies the thought. Tells himself he doesn’t care about the little green boy whose eyes followed him around watching his every move and praising him every second, he doesn’t care he repeats and if it hurts more than before he’ll just blame your over active imagination.

But I know and you know that Bakugou Katsuki Knows.