Chapter Text
Unable to fall asleep, Izuku stood at the place where the sludge villain attack occurred just two days prior. This was where Kacchan was attacked. This was where Kacchan almost died. And Izuku wasn't there to help.
Izuku winced at the memory of his confrontation with Bakugo earlier that evening. "Don't feel fucking sorry for me, you quirkless loser! The hell could you have done to help anyway? The damn pros couldn't even fight the damn thing! If you want to play hero so much, why don't you climb on the school roof, take a swan dive off, and pray for a Quirk in your next life?"
It was true, Izuku couldn't have done anything to help. But Izuku couldn't help but regret not getting the chance to try. Watching his friend suffocate at the hands of a villain on live TV... It was worse than any abuse Kacchan had ever put him through. If only Izuku had been there.
If only he had a quirk.
"You have a tendency to mutter." Izuku whirled around, staring at the silhouette of a large man in an alley a dozen feet away. He was shrouded in darkness, hidden from the radiance of the street lights by midnight shadows. "Forgive me, I don't mean that as a bad thing. Quite a harmless quirk, I would say - unless you intend to keep a secret, that is."
The warning bells in Izuku's head were muted by his confusion and curiosity. His muttering wasn't a problem? Except for - wait! "I can keep secrets plenty well."
"Oh? Like what?" The stranger leaned forward, still well outside of any illumination that would reveal his face.
Izuku resisted the urge to massage one of his lingering burn scars. "I - I'd rather not say."
"Of course. Then it wouldn't be a secret..." A hint of amusement crept into the stranger's voice, though his tone was no less professional than before. "Unlike you being quirkless, which is a secret no longer." The stranger held up a nonthreatening palm in the light when Izuku's face paled. "Don't worry, my intentions are noble. One might even say... heroic."
Red and black tendrils snaked through the air from the man's palm.
All For One could tell he had the boy's attention. Rather than fear, the kid's expression radiated wonder and curiosity. He would be an easy target.
"I can grant you a quirk. I'm afraid it would be rather weak, at first, and not without it's drawbacks – but with dedication, you would be able to strengthen it into a power worthy of a hero." The kid's eyes were beaming. All For One smiled in the shadows, pleased. He had done it. He had found a traitor to plant within U.A. One even better than his previous choice.
Better than the child All Might chose as a successor.
Bakugo was pissed.
First, Deku announced that he would be trying to enter U.A. right after Bakugo declared his own intentions of joining U.A. — Did the nerd think he was better than Katsuki? Or did he just want the class to associate any attempt at attending U.A. with the scrawny, quirkless loser, thereby equating Katsuki with fuckin' Deku?
Katsuki threatened the shitnerd and blew up his stupid diary, so it doesn't matter anymore. It's done, it's solved, everything is fine.
Wrong.
Second, Katsuki gets fuckin' jumped by a villain in an alleyway and his friends run away and leave him to fucking die. But it's fine, because he's the fucking best, and he can get free on his own. He just needs to be left alone and not have extras interfere.
But then a bunch of extras, mostly F-rank heroes and civilians, show up to watch the struggle, staying close enough that Katsuki's explosions would FUCKING KILL THEM, making it impossible for Katsuki to escape, yet not actually trying to do anything to save him. But it's fine. An actual decent hero will show up and fix things, and in the meantime, nothing else will go south.
Wrong.
Third thing that happened? A french Twink runs up, throws a backpack at the slime and claws at it pitifully. The slime villain nearly murdered the kid by forcing Katsuki to use an explosion, and he's only saved because All Might — God damn it, Katsuki inconvenienced the number one hero because he couldn't escape a fucking sentient must puddle — dashed between him and the explosion, then destroyed the slime with a single punch.
Come to find out, the Twink was fuckin' quirkless, so what exactly did he plan to do there except drown in living sewage? All he did was hurt himself and Katsuki's reputation (not his pride, though — Katsuki is secure and confident in himself, and he would murder anyone who said otherwise).
Fourth, the fucking Deku himself shows up at the hospital (which Katsuki did NOT need to visit) to tell "Kacchan" how sorry he was for him, and how much he wished he could have saved Katsuki's pathetic ass. The fuckin' nerve to act like he could have handled the situation any better...
And now fifth. Katsuki couldn't sleep for the god damn second night in a row, so he went for a midnight run to tire himself out. And this fucking dog keeps barking when he runs past it's fucking house and a fucking hero can't be reported for a FUCKING NOISE COMPLAINT because a FUCKING EXTRA can't teach their FUCKING DOG WITH WHAT SOUNDS LIKE A FUCKING BARK AMPLIFICATION QUIRK THE FUCKING DIFFERENCE BETWEEN A FUCKING THREAT AND A FUCKING JOGGER SO KATSUKI HAS TO FUCKING TURN AROUND SO HE DOESN'T FUCKING MAKE THE FUCKING DOG FUCKING BARK!
Bakugo halted his pace by a tree, panting, then slammed a fist into it's bark. Damn it, he thought to himself, pull yourself together. You'll end up setting off explosions and waking up the neighborhood anyway.
As with all things, might was more important than popularity for a pro hero, but there was a reason All Might was first and Endeavor was second. Katsuki would never be the favorite, but he would be respected. He wasn't losing that respect from a fucking noise complaint.
During his internal monologue, a figure sped down the hill at high speed, prone, screaming as they tried to slow themselves down before reaching the bottom. They wiped out, groaning from the impact. Katsuki scoffed. Just some loser goofing around with their quirk and getting themself hurt. Bakugo made his way to the figure.
"Hey loser. You're going to get yourself killed if you —" Bakugo stopped cold, unable to process the sight before him. Was that... Was that Deku? With — With a skateboard wheel sticking out of his forearm?
Since when did the nerd have a quirk that made wheels?