Chapter Text
His fingers moved between the mouse and the luminous keyboard frantically while his crimson gaze, desirous of virtual blood, was focused on the battle: Near the end of the game, the map had brought them together and the winning team would soon be decided.
"Kirishima, defend the structure!" Katsuki had called him by his real name, so this was serious.
“Fuck, I’m dead!” The user with the nickname: Cellophane shouted from his microphone.
"Damn, and where the fuck is Kaminari?!” Katsuki questioned, who in the game called himself Lordexplosionmurder.
Katsuki, seeing himself vulnerable, began to build, along with the enemy team, a structure with the aim of gaining height and protecting himself from the shots.
Another of his companions had fallen and the sound caused Katsuki to tense up.
"Dude! That was wild! He shot me down with one hit!” Kaminari who was nicknamed the name: ChargeGODlight exclaimed with indignation.
“Yes! One less! There is other one down here with me!” said the user RedRiot, his name in real life was Kirishima, who marked on the map the location where the members of the enemy team were supposed to be.
Out in the open, the initial 4vs4 battle had been reduced to 2vs3, after Cellophane and ChargeGODlight went down.
"I got you, motherfuckers," Katsuki muttered after coming face to face with two players from the enemy team.
Katsuki started to attack, however both players had skill. Taking advantage of his number against Katsuki, they began to fire at him at the same time.
"Damn cowards, stop attacking me in pairs!" Katsuki exclaimed when he found himself in his predicament, they had broken his shield.
Katsuki took a couple of grenades from his inventory to throw at his enemies in order to buy time by distracting them so he could build a cube made of metal around himself in order to heal himself.
"Kirishima! I need you to come up, I have two against me!” Katsuki exclaimed from his cube as he tried to heal as the bullets began to tear down the metal walls around him.
At that, Katsuki saw how RedRiot's shield was broken and his health had been cut in half.
“Wait! Someone attacks me from below!”
“So what?! That doesn’t matter! Go up and with height we kill it!” Katsuki exclaimed.
The fallen members watched as from Katsuki's point of play, how his wall had been knocked down giving the enemy access to start attacking him directly.
“Damn it! Hurry up!” Katsuki having them so close changed the assault rifle for the shotgun.
With the help of structure editing he began to play against them making them dizzy and confused, Katsuki had started a face to face battle with one of them. Then the second was about to attack when Kirishima arrived to prevent his partner from being harmed.
"Bakugou! Here I am, I can do this!” Kirishima yelled ready to take down his enemy.
In that moment the game ended, both were dead and in second position after the player, who Kirishima had mentioned to Bakugou before, took advantage and killed them.
"You said you could do it!" Katsuki exclaimed.
"I was talking about the one in front of us!" Kirishima replied.
Outside of the immersion of the game, Katsuki in real life took off his helmets to lean on the back of the chair watching in frustration as on his computer screen where that asshole who had knocked both of them down was happy and dancing on his defeat.
"Where did that son of a bitch come from?! Didn't you kill him?!” Katsuki snapped, full of anger and indignation.
“No, Bakugou, you told me to leave him and help you instead.”
“Exactly! Kirishima just followed your orders!” Kaminari defended.
"Come on! You couldn't kill a single asshole, when I was up against two at the same time?!"
“Because the one against Kirishima was very good. You have to admit that you are wrong, you forgot there was one down and you only had pressure because you were against two,” argued Cellophane who in real life was Hanta Sero.
"What the hell are you implying?!"
"Hey, calm down! We can catch up on the next one,” Kaminari said, intending to dispel Katsuki's anger. “In fact, we still have 30 days left until the tournament qualifiers close.”
"I shouldn't have listened to you," Kirishima snapped reproachfully, causing Katsuki to purse his lips and his face to turn red.
“Good! Then go to hell if you don't want to listen to me! Go to hell! I don't need a shitty team to qualify for the tournament!” Katsuki exclaimed to leave the game, remaining alone in the lobby.
Katsuki, a 17-year-old boy. A UA high school student, from the small town of Musutafu, he had been playing Fortnite competitively for more than 2 years, a game that at first glance had seemed stupid, however, after trying it with his friends there was no going back and now it had become a drug as he spent an insane number of hours a week on it.
The team was made up of his friends from school: Kirishima, Kaminari, Hanta and himself. The 4 formed a good team as each one had unique abilities and skills, however, the pillars of the team were Bakugou and Kirishima, being the most strategic, aggressive and experts in construction and editing.
Yes, Fortnite was a game, but it wasn't a game like any other. It was a game that allowed the best to win high sums of money because in addition to online cups, tournaments and game modes, every year the qualifiers for the Fortnite World Cup were opened in Los Angeles, where not only an exaggerated sum of money, but also the prestige and glory of the players who managed to succeed were at stake. With this in mind, wanting to gain glory and be the best, Katsuki had decided to train with his team to qualify for the number one spot in the World Cup.
Realistically, Katsuki didn't need the millions from the prize, his parents were well-known designers and his future was guaranteed thanks to them, the only thing he needed and wanted was to rub everyone who could achieve pride, recognition and fame from something that he loved and most people saw as a waste of time.
Hell no, Katsuki would show them how wrong they were and rub the prize in their faces, especially in his mother's.
"I don't need you fucking idiots," he groaned as he slurped every last drop from that can of energy drink he had on his desk.
He opened the game menu and in it began to look for the mode in which he could play.
Arena, no, it was the same as every day.
Could be public server’s?
It could be a good option to get out of the rut, join public matches and humiliate newbies. At the thought a crescent smile crossed Katsuki's lips.
However, that fun did not last very long because the solo games were quite monotonous, predictable and boring. No one was on his level.
After 7 wins in a row, Katsuki went back to the lobby to open his friends list where only: RedRiot, Cellophane and ChargeGODlight. Apparently the 3 had no intention of inviting him to play or "apologizing", although they didn't have to, after all it had been Katsuki's decision to leave.
This time he chose duos, perhaps it would be more interesting to team up with a random person.
Katsuki waited for the game to match him up with another player until the screen finally lit up showing the rest of the players that they were waiting for the player counter to reach 100 to start the match.
“Hi! Lordexplosionmurderer?” A high-pitched voice spoke from his hooves, extremely loud for Katsuki.
"Uh-huh," Katsuki muttered to look at the username: Izuku15.
“Hi! We're partners, right?!”
"Obviously," Katsuki muttered to see how the user was wearing a default outfit, that means, he hadn't bought any in the game store.
Also, it was level 1 in the season.
“Great, a newbie”
Katsuki thought rolling his eyes.
"Lordexplosionmurder." Yes, he said it quickly and without spaces. “I'm sorry, but it's my first time playing at this and...”
“What? It's your first time? What have you lived under a stone to never have played Fortnite?”
"Oh you'll see! I had not get the opportunity to have a new console in a long time and my mom just gave me a Nintendo Switch, unfortunately she only could buy me a digital game called Animal Crossing, I was going to download it, but I saw that this game was free so it made me curious, especially because the online stuff and then…”
"Yeah, yeah," Katsuki snapped, dizzy that this "Izuku" guy was so talkative. “You are lucky that I’m your partner and not your enemy.”
“Cool! So, are you good at playing Lordexplosionmurder?” Izuku asked.
“Uh-huh, look, I marked a point on the map. You're going to jump off the bus and we're going to meet you at that mark.”
A few seconds after the game started, Bakugou marked the meeting point on the map.
"You have to jump."
“Oh God! It goes very fast! I'm going to die!” Izuku yelled making Katsuki squirm at hearing such a loud voice.
“No idiot! Use the triggers on your controller to be able to use your glider.” Katsuki rolled his eyes at having to explain something that was obvious enough to be explained.
“Oh! I see! Thank you very much Lordexplosion...!”
“Lord!” Katsuki sighed. “Lord is enough, you don't have to say the full name!”
Once Katsuki landed on the map mark he had made earlier, he began searching for weapons, heals, ammo, and his favorite items for the match.
“Move fast! Where the fuck are you?”
“I'm coming!”
“AHA...”
Izuku began to walk hastily through the forest until he finally found his partner on his back.
"Now or do you need more fucking time?!" Katsuki asked, with the help of the pickaxe, he destroyed trees, rocks and practically everything in his path.
“Hello!” Izuku spoke causing Katsuki to be startled by how loud his voice was.
"Ugh," Katsuki complained.
“Did something happens?” Izuku asked, worried that his partner was hurt. “Are you okay?”
“Nothing, I’m good.”
“I’m glad! So how do I attack?”
"Well maybe looking for weapons," Katsuki replied sarcastically.
"Oh, I have a pickaxe! Should I attack with the pickaxe?”
"No, no, the pickaxe is for ugh... forget it." Katsuki rolled his eyes.
"Okay," he replied shyly.
“Listen, first you have to find a weapon. The damn pickaxe is for gathering materials and building structures to defend, the gun is for shooting obviously," Katsuki explained. “I'll give you one, but only because I don't want to waste my fucking time reviving you.”
They were both walking through a forest, called: Wailing Woods.
"Hey Lordex- I mean Lord! Thank you very much!” Izuku said to take the weapon that Katsuki had given to him.
"Take this, too." Katsuki dropped a couple of blue bottles. “These are chug jug’s, if you look closely you have 2 bars, one is for life and the other for shield. You have to know that if they break your shield you are screwed and practically dead.”
“Oh gosh, okay I’m going to put attention at my shield!” Izuku would definitely follow the advice of an expert. “So do you play this a lot?”
“Yes.”
"Oh, and do you play other games?"
"Mmm sometimes," Katsuki muttered, concentrating and analyzing the scene. “My specialty is shooting games.”
“Cool! For me, I love all kinds of games! As I was saying, I had not a new console until today. In fact, I have a Nintendo Wii with many games, that I used to play until… Well, it's not important, the fact is that I loved playing Animal Crossing, Kirby, Mario, sometimes Zelda and Super S-.”
“Wait!” Katsuki let out, silencing his partner to mark the area where 4 people were, that is, 2 teams. “They’re there! There are two teams, you attack from below and I attack from above.”
“What? No! I'm scared!” Izuku exclaimed, sticking close to Katsuki.
“What?! Come on! It's just a fucking game!” Katsuki yelled.
“But, but I don't know how to play.”
Katsuki rolled his eyes and without a choice began to attack.
"Just aim and shoot them with the trigger!" Katsuki ordered and Izuku, not knowing exactly how to do it, proving to be lousy, he began to attack.
However, Katsuki soon had to take charge of the situation.
“Yes! We did it, we are a great team!” Izuku celebrated.
“We did it?” In fact, Katsuki had done everything.
“Yes! We are a great team! Don’t you believe it?”
“AHA...”
The further they moved across the map, the more things Izuku learned from Katsuki, including a couple of important rules:
Rule #1
You always need 3 weapons, a shotgun for close range, a rifle for medium range and a weapon that allows you to see from afar as a sniper.
Rule #2
Always take chug jug’s and medkits.
Rule #3
Get to the safe zone and avoid being killed by the storm.
Izuku was extremely talkative, far surpassing Kirishima, Sero, and even Kaminari, which was beginning to wear on Katsuki's patience. He liked a silent game experience or focused on the game, he was not interested in talking about his life and less with a stranger.
"Hey Lord.”
“What?”
“We can be friends?”
“Friends?!” Katsuki repeated.
“Yes! I mean, you're been very kind, you've been taking care of me and teaching me how to play” Izuku confessed a little sadly. “Also, I would like to play with you again after the game is over.”
Soon a friend request appeared on the screen, Katsuki sighed in annoyance as he didn't accept requests, especially from casual players like Izuku.
"I'm not being nice, I just told you how to play so you don't get killed and look like an idiot," Katsuki muttered. “I also do not accept friend requests.”
"Oh, but why? I promise I'll be a good partner, okay? Let's be friends," Izuku protested worriedly.
"Because I only play to win and kick ass, not to make friends," Katsuki said, aiming his sniper scope at a couple of enemies.
"Um okay..." Izuku muttered to keep quiet.
That silence didn't last long.
"You can fish here too!" Izuku exclaimed as his character was in front of a lake with a fishing rod. “In Animal Crossing it's the same, only you don't eat them, but you sell them or take them to the museum, I've seen videos and it's like that. It would be great if you could celebrate me today on my island! "
“Celebrate? Do you mean in the game?” Katsuki asked.
Even he knew what Animal Crossing was, but he had never played it to know that information.
“Yes! In Animal Crossing they celebrate many festivals and special dates, that includes your birthday!” Izuku was excited. “They put on fireworks for you, your neighbors bring you cake and presents, everything is so cute!”
"So today is your birthday?" Katsuki would feel like an idiot if the answer was yes.
“Yes! Today I turn 18! That's why my mom bought me a Nintendo Switch, I always wanted it one and since she can't be with me all day today, she gave it to me. Surely at night when she comes back she will bring me a cake!”
“Well, congratulations…” Yes, he had been an idiot.
"Thank you very much Lord!"
“Hey.”
“Yes?!”
"So does that mean you're alone?"
“Oh no! Well before this game I was, but now I'm not alone because you're here with me Lord.”
Katsuki sighed softly, relaxed and for a moment took off his headphones, strangely he had regretted being an idiot.
"Okay," Katsuki muttered to slide the cursor and accept Izuku's request.
“Oh my God! You accepted it!” Izuku exclaimed excitedly upon receiving the notification instantly.
"Anyway, don't say anything."
"That means we're friends!"
“In the game...”
“We are friends! It's so cool that-I ah...!” The shout made Katsuki pay attention to Izuku's life bar since his shield had been reduced when he was shot.
“Shit! Why the hell did you get so far away?!” Katsuki reprimanded him when visualizing Izuku's location, they were separated by almost 200 meters.
“I am sorry! It's just… oh!” His shield was already broken. “You were going too fast and I didn't know how to catch up with you!”
"Don't tell me... You don't know how to run?!" Katsuki questioned as he start ran towards where they were attacking Izuku.
“No! I do not know how!” Izuku yelled.
“Ugh! You are a fucking noob! On the lever, the lever has a button, you have to press it to run!”
“It is true!”
Finally, Katsuki arrived, put together a couple of structures and managed to kill the duo to get closer to Izuku.
"Aren't you planning on healing yourself?"
“I don't want to eat the fish. They’re so cute”
“Ugh! Take this and give it to me!” Katsuki replied throwing a first aid kit at Izuku.
Izuku threw the fish at him and began to heal when suddenly the victory sign appeared.
“What?”
"Hey, we win!" Izuku exclaimed to use a dance emote.
"What the hell! That idiots died in the storm!”
"Can we play another one?" Izuku questioned.
Katsuki honestly didn't want to play with him again, it had seemed like a desperate experience. He was going to be sincere and cruel until he remembered what Izuku told him:
“Well before this game I was, but now I'm not alone because you're here with me Lord.”
He didn't like the idea, but he had been cruel to the boy, so by way of apology he agreed to play with him.
The games were extremely casual, so Katsuki decided to be Izuku's teacher, teaching him what to do, how to attack, where, everything he needed to play decently while Izuku did his best.
They played so much that when Katsuki looked at the clock he was surprised that more than 2 hours had passed, in which Izuku was now laughing.
“That was great! We blew up a gas station! You saw it? Everything started to blow up!” Izuku exclaimed, already in the game lobby.
"Yeah, I saw it all," Katsuki muttered.
"Hey Lord! And how can I change characters?”
"You mean the skin?"
“Oh! Yes, a skin!”
“The skins cost.”
"With the coins that come out on top? And how do I get them?”
“With real money, it's an online game you don't want everything to be free; Deku!”
“Oh...”
"Yes, this game is not for the poor."
Silence.
Once again Katsuki regretted it, he was never tactful.
"Sometimes they give you coins for playing." He tried to fix what he had said.
"No, it's not just that…" Izuku began. “You gave me a nickname, a very cute one. I had never been given a nickname.”
Oh no, that wasn't cute, especially if the nickname has such a horrible meaning as; Useless.
"Can I give you a nickname too?" Katsuki was trapped, he had no choice, it was his price for being an asshole.
"Fine, my real name is Katsuki.”
"Hmm let's think, could it be...! Kat...? Katchaan? Kacchan! Yes! Is perfect!”
"Kacchan? No way! Sounds very childish!”
“So you think? Oh no, well, could it be Ka-?”
"Ugh, Kacchan is fine," Katsuki said, stopping Izuku from continuing his monologue and starting to recite a bible to him.
"Kacchan, time went by very quickly playing with you, it was great," Izuku confessed.
"Yeah, I guess it was good."
“Will we play again tomorrow?” He questioned excitedly.
"Uh, maybe."
“Maybe? You have things to do? Are you busy?”
“Maybe!” He snapped, shutting him up. “We will speak later.”
“OK! Well um! I'm going to disconnect and...” Although Izuku knew that the other didn't see him through that screen with his hand he made a farewell sign. “Goodbye Kachan! I hope we play soon!”
"Goodbye Deku" Dry as always Katsuki closed the game window and simply got up from the chair to stretch and fall on the bed. “That was exhausting, ugh, at least make things up a bit.”
Katsuki would not play with Izuku again, he was of few words and little patience contrary to the stranger. He wasn't interested in forming a bond with anyone, least of all with such a casual player.
It would only hinder him in his objective.
For his part, Izuku in real life left the game to turn off the portable console and hug it to his chest.
"I made a friend," he murmured from his bed.
Izuku stretched a little to take his cell phone from his nightstand, checking the inbox:
Uraraka 💕✨ :
Izuku! Congratulations, I hope you continue to have a nice day!
I love you very much!
Iida 💫🏃🏻 :
Midoriya! Have a great birthday! Remember not to overdo the sugar!
Shouto ❄️🔥 :
Midoriya I already bought Animal Crossing, tell me when you want to play.
Izuku was ready to answer the messages when he heard the apartment door. He carefully sat on the bed and with both arms he took a small walker that served as a support for him to walk.
“Hi Mom!” said Izuku Midoriya, a young man of short stature, white skin, green curly hair like his eyes and cheeks decorated with freckles.
"Izuku! Be careful, you are not used to using the walker yet!” That was Inko Midoriya, Izuku's mother, a small, plump woman with hair and eyes the same color as her son.
"It's okay mom," Izuku replied trying to reassure his mother.
“Come here” Inko approached her son and carefully guided him until Izuku took a seat in one of the dining room chairs. “I have a surprise for you, so close your eyes and I'll count to 10 until then you can't open your eyes, okay?”
"Okay," Izuku said and closed his eyes to listen to how his mother counted.
An amused smile crossed his lips as he heard the front door open and some footsteps.
“Seven! No cheating Izuku!”
“Without cheats!”
“Ten!”
"HAPPY BIRTHDAY IZUKU!" When Izuku opened his eyes he could see how in front of him was a beautiful cake decorated with white cream, strawberries and chocolates. Also, all of his friends and his family were there.
“Guys!” Izuku was excited to see his only friends: Shouto, Iida and Ochako. “I thought you guys…!”
"Izuku! It's your birthday, of course we come!” Ochako Uraraka, a beautiful young woman with brown hair and rosy cheeks, clarified.
"Uraraka is right!” Iida walked over to the cake to stick the candle in.
That night the group of friends had a great time playing board games. In the majority Shouto won, causing both Iida and Uraraka get angry.
Izuku burst out laughing every time they argued.
Inko only saw them for a few moments as she talked to Ochako's parents, Shouto’s mother and Iida's mother.
"And how are you, Inko? You look tired,” Rei Todoroki, Shouto’s mother, murmured.
"No, I'm fine, it's just that I'm glad Izuku is happy after all," Inko clarified, although she sounded distressed.
"I'm very sorry, Inko, I can't imagine how difficult a situation like this must be for you," Ochako's mother whispered.
"Thank you, but I'm not sorry for myself. I do it for Izuku, I wish I could cover that operation so that he could lead a normal life, like any teenager...”
“Inko, don't lose hope. Izuku is very strong and he will recover step by step, you'll see...” Iida's mother encouraged.
When the party was over, Izuku didn't hesitate to pick up the things helping his mother.
"Thanks for everything mom, I really liked the party and also the gift," the freckled man admitted, smiling broadly.
“You don't have to thank my little one, you are the best son I could have wished for” Inko said hugging him sweetly.
"And you the best mom" Izuku returned the hug. “In the afternoon I was playing online with a friend.”
“A friend? Did you play with Shouto?”
“No, I downloaded a free game, online and through the microphone I met a guy.”
“What? You mean someone real?”
“Yes! Now we are friends!” he exclaimed enthusiastically. “It was very exciting because he taught me how to play…”
"Oh dear, that sounds nice, but I'm worried you might have contact with someone you don't know. I mean, he could be a bad person and take advantage if he knows about…”
"Mom, I didn't tell him about this," he answered ruefully. “I didn't even remember it while we were playing.”
“I'm sorry, forgive me Izuku” Now Inko seemed guilty for ruining her son's happiness.
"Don't worry, I just wanted to tell you. I had a lot of fun, plus he was amazing. Kacchan was amazing.”
Izuku remembered how much fun he had had by Kacchan's side and how that had even made him forget about his condition.
Soon, Izuku fell asleep as he thought that maybe tomorrow he would play with Kacchan again.
His new friend.