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“Katsuki please....”
“HELL NO, OLD MAN!”
Middle school Katsuki stood red-faced as he looked down at the sight of his father kneeling on the ground before him, one hand tugging at his pants leg and the other delicately grasping a Golden Age All Might poster. Mitsuki sat a couple of feet away on their couch sipping coffee as she watched the debacle between her husband and son.
Masaru looked up with tears flowing down his face with a hiccuped, “It’s for your father...”
“Katsuki, I don’t see why this is such a big deal. It’s not like you’re NOT also an All Might fan,” Mitsuki remarked between sips, “He probably has people asking him for autographs all the time.”
“I haven’t even taken the entrance exam yet, old man! And you have no say in this, old hag!” Katsuki barked, the tips of his ears glowing red.
Katsuki couldn’t just ask All Might for an autograph! Not with what’s on the line. His reputation! His future hero career! He has to distinguish himself from all those extras at the entrance exam to secure his spot at U.A., and asking his future teacher for an autograph is exactly what he should NOT do. He would appear just like pathetic Deku , who would probably combust into tears if All Might even showed up at the entrance exam. How pathetic.
And Katsuki Bakugou was not pathetic.
Katsuki Bakugou was pathetic.
He sat numbly on the concrete of the shopping plaza as All Might man-handled the sludge villain into a bottle to give to the authorities. Deku sat next to him reduced to tears as pro heroes berated him for being so reckless to try to save Katsuki.
Katsuki didn’t need stupid Deku’s help! He had it all under control until the nerd decided to meddle in his problems. Sure, he was grateful that a pro hero actually decided to intervene— took them long enough —but he didn’t need any more help than was necessary. Deku apparently didn’t get the memo.
His eyes wandered across the crowd of civilians and reporters, no doubt cramming to get a look at the victorious hero at the scene.
All Might.
Katsuki’s eyes drifted to the back of his savior, who was preoccupied with the dozens of reporters now swarming him. It wasn’t surprising, it’s not every day that the number one hero made an appearance in Musutafu. It would’ve made local news if the hero had announced his visit. His father would’ve had a field day with this if Katsuki wasn’t on the brink of suffocation minutes prior.
His father.
Katsuki groaned inwardly as he debated whether or not he should approach the hero. This was a good opportunity to make a good impression on All Might to boost his career in the future, but a tiny part in the back of his mind was paranoid that his mouth would say something stupid to his idol.
His ability to choose was taken away as All Might wrestled his way out of the crowd of reporters and walked towards him. Deku had already sulked away by now, so Katsuki made sure to stand tall, shoulders back, and head up as the number one hero approached him.
“Young man! That was quite the scare back there, how are you holding up?”
Katsuki had an answer ready on his tongue but apparently lost the ability to form words as he looked up to face the tower of a man before him.
He opened his mouth. And shut it. Then opened and shut it again. All Might nodded sagely as if he understood. A large hand patted his shoulder with a reassuring smile, “Good job holding up back there, young man. Unfortunately, I have to make haste. Heroes don’t do what they do by staying in one spot too long!”
All Might left the scene before Katsuki could say a word, wisps of smoke billowing in his wake.
Months later, Katsuki watched with pride as he saw his acceptance letter to U.A., with All Might’s holographic smile beaming back at him. His father undoubtedly watched the video an unhealthy amount of times like the nerd he is, but no matter. He was on the right track to becoming the number one hero and leaving everyone else in the dust.
“If you love it so much you can keep it, old man,” Katsuki scoffed, vaguely gesturing to the hologram device that carried the image of the household’s hero.
Masaru looked up from where he was hunched over with the device at hand, and a small smile bloomed on his face.
“Make sure you stay safe and have an open mind while you’re studying, Katsuki,” Masaru said gratefully, clutching the device close to his chest.
Now, the hologram has taken its long-awaited place in Masaru’s extensive hero merch collection.
Katsuki’s acceptance letter is proudly framed on the wall next to Masaru’s bedside.
Two years ago, if you asked Katsuki if he would ever willingly set foot in Deku’s room, he would’ve gagged and exploded the building. Maybe both. At the same time.
But second-year Katsuki was not gagging, nor was he blowing up Deku’s room at the moment. Deku landed himself in the hospital wing after a bad mess up at hero training and had
kindly
annoyingly
asked Katsuki to pick up his analysis notebook from his room. And like the mature, reformed,
sensible
rival that Katsuki is, of course he agreed.
(Agreed, as in Recovery Girl threatened and strong-armed him into retrieving Deku’s belongings, lord knows how he’s scared of and respects that woman.)
Katsuki shivered slightly at the memory of Recovery Girl while he was loudly stalking to Deku’s dorm room.
On the bright side, he could make some use of this opportunity , he thought, his face contorting into a smirk.
The nerd never said he couldn’t snoop through his things while he was looking for his analysis notebook though!
Katsuki knew he shouldn’t snoop, but secretly he was dying to know what makes the nerd tick.
One peak can’t hurt, right?
He paused to look around for any presence of the nerd, and slowly picked up the damaged notebook in his hands.
Delicately, he examined the state of the notebook, a rush of guilt striking through his chest when he remembered who left this notebook in such a state. He made a mental note to buy Deku a much more quality notebook later.
He started absentmindedly flipping pages, normally filled with barely legible scrawls and detailed accounts of fights and illustrations.
Until he saw one particular page that stood out.
The page did not have any hero analysis commentary at all. It wasn't even in Deku’s handwriting!
All Might’s oversized autograph stared at him from the page, almost blinding him in its glory. He gaped at it and flipped the page back and forth to be sure it was real, and yup, it was the real thing alright.
Of course, Katsuki can’t be too surprised. He already knows that the two are close because of One for All, and Deku probably has a million other autographs of his favorite hero scattered around this very room.
But one thing about this specific autograph struck him odd. He read the entries before and after the autograph, and they all dated to middle school, nearly a year before they took the entrance exam. He spurred the cogs and gears in his mind trying to figure out when the hell Deku would’ve gotten this damn autograph.
All Might hasn’t had any official signings or public appearances since the summer of that year, he recalled. He only appeared at that year's hero con for a brief time, but even then Katsuki couldn’t go because it overlapped with the last two weeks of school. He knows fully well that Deku didn’t go either, because the nerd has never been absent a day in his life! Also, the fact that he signed Deku’s run-down notebook meant that Deku didn’t necessarily plan on meeting him at the time of the autograph, because the nerd would’ve surely prepared a poster for him to sign beforehand. That means...
Katsuki let out a groan as he recalled the day with the sludge villain.
“Unfortunately, I have to make haste. Heroes don’t do what they do by staying in one spot too long!”
How the hell did Deku have the balls to ask for All Might’s autograph and he didn’t?!