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Cough cough
Smoke.
Dust.
Pain.
Those were the first things Bakugou Katsuki sensed the moment he opened his eyes.
It was a normal Saturday for the Bakugou and Midoriya families. The five of them strolling around the mall, getting snacks and shopping for clothes. Izuku staying away from Katsuki, and Katsuki being civil with him, a far cry from the usual situation in school.
The 13-year-old boys were choosing their ice cream flavors when a villain crashed into the store and caused the building to collapse. Thankfully, it was a small one-story place, so not many people got seriously hurt.
Katsuki was one of the few lucky ones who weren't struck by big pieces of debris and only obtained a few scrapes and bruises here and there. Nothing severe enough for immediate medical attention, but the paramedics on the scene patched him up, one of their quirks healing him, reducing his pain to nothing.
Now sitting alone in the ambulance, he looked up from his newly bandaged knees and saw a hero he didn't recognize fighting against the villain.
He watched in awe as the hero kicked, dodged, punched, and subdued the villain, finally putting him in quirk-suppressing handcuffs.
Seeing the police take the villain away, Katsuki took his chance and ran to the hero. “Hero-san! I'm Bakugou Katsuki and I'll be the number one hero!”
The hero looked at the child behind him. “A hero hopeful, I see.” He grinned at the beaming boy, crouching down to his height.
“Katsuki, yeah? I'll remember that name.” He took a piece of paper conveniently lying on the ground and wrote a short message. He signed it and gave it to the child. “Here. I'll be waiting for you.”
And with a grin and a farewell, the hero left.
Katsuki grinned as he read the message and carefully tucked the piece of paper into his pocket. Deku would be so jealous, he thought.
He turned around to find his childhood friend. He looked at the crowd of people being treated, the paramedics and rescue teams moving to help. After looking all over the place, he realized he couldn’t find Deku anywhere.
He was just about to abandon his search when he spotted a burst of green on the pavement a few meters away from him.
Something was wrong.
Katsuki wasn’t sure what, but the sight gave him a bad feeling.
He ran towards that shock of green with his heartbeat ringing in his ears.
When he got close enough, he could finally see.
It was Deku.
He was on the ground, unconscious with half of his body under a pile of rubble, his hair becoming darker from the blood pouring out of the wound.
“DEKU!” Katsuki screamed, frantically looking for someone from the rescue team around the area.
Fortunately, a medic heard his call and came over. After seeing the situation, she immediately called over some people to help her lift the slabs of concrete on top of the child.
“Hi, I’m Ria. What’s your name? Do you know him?” The medic asked Katsuki as she assessed what she could from the visible half of the unconscious boy in front of her.
“Bakugo Katsuki.” He replied, an almost unnoticeable tremble in his voice. “He’s…”
He paused. Deku was his friend, right? Yes, he made Deku cry, and you aren't supposed to make friends cry. But that was only so he won't get himself killed later. Even the teachers approve of it! So yes, Deku is his friend. “…my friend.”
“Nice to meet you, Katsuki. Can you tell me what you know about him? Name and quirk or allergies?” Ria smiled at him and started to patch up the head wounds.
“Midoriya Izuku. He’s Quirkless-”
“Quirkless?” Another medic who helped clear the rubble scoffed. She took a step back from the now uncovered boy and walked away. “I can’t believe I wasted my time on a useless pest.”
“Who are you calling a pest?!” Katsuki snarled at her.
Ria grit her teeth as she continued to clean the wounds. There was no one left to help her rescue this child and it was a feat she knew she couldn’t do without help. “Katsuki, look for a man with pink hair and tell him to come. Hurry.”
Hearing the tone of her voice, Katsuki pushed down his anger and ran. He ran as fast as he could until he finally saw the pink-haired man in an ambulance caring for another patient.
“Old man with the pink hair!” Katsuki screamed, waving his hand as he barreled toward him. “Ria said she needs you! And hurry!”
The man left his patient in the other nurse’s care and rushed to Katsuki. “Lead the way.”
They hurried to the other side of the incident to see Izuku, still unconscious, with his shirt ripped open and Ria putting pressure on a stomach wound.
“Hiroshi! We need stitches!” Ria called out as soon as she spotted him.
The pink-haired man took out his kit and took over applying pressure on the wound as Ria quickly prepared the stitches.
As she did, Hiroshi took a quick assessment of the injuries, eyes stopping on the bruises littering all over his chest. “Did the villain fight any of the bystanders before he was caught?”
“No,” Ria answered, ready to start stitching.
“But these are-”
“I know.”
Dropping the topic, they continued to clean and bandage his wounds until a voice suddenly interrupted them.
“Katsuki! You brat! Where were you?!” Mitsuki yelled as she ran over to hug her son.
“Are you hurt?” She asked, looking over every inch of skin she can see.
“I'm fine! As if that weakling could hurt me!” Katsuki struggled to get out of her embrace. “Old hag, get off me!”
Mitsuki released him and smiled. “Good.”
She then looked over his shoulder and saw the medics working on Izuku.
“Izuku!” She gasped, horrified. She quickly got her phone and called Inko to come over.
“Is there anything I can do to help?” she asked Hiroshi, who looked the less busy of the two. “His mother is just around the corner. She'll be here soon.”
“That’s great. He's responding well to the treatment. The bleeding has stopped and his vitals are stable.”
“But he will have to be admitted to the hospital for monitoring,” Ria added.
“Izuku!” A panicked Midoriya Inko ran over to them, immediately clutching onto her son's hand and sobbing. “My baby!”
“Midoriya-san, Izuku is holding up quite nicely. He should be okay in a few weeks, but we’ll need to monitor him for a few days.” Ria calmed the mother as she finished administering first aid to the child. Once done, Hiroshi carefully moved him to a stretcher to bring him to an ambulance.
Before Inko could follow them, Ria stopped her. “May I speak to you for a moment?”
“Is this about Izuku?”
“Yes,” Ria replied and paused to choose her words carefully. “While I was treating your son, I noticed there were injuries on him that could not have been caused by the villain today.”
Inko looked at her confused.
“He had bruises the size of tiny fists and starburst burns around his upper body, all at different stages of healing.
At that, the woman in front of her inhaled sharply, tears slipping from her eyes.
“He said they stopped.” She whispered to herself. “Thank you for telling me.”
With a nod, Ria walked Inko to the ambulance carrying her son and helped her inside.
“Did you tell her?” Hiroshi asked from beside her, as they watched the vehicle leave.
“Of course.”
“I feel so bad for her.” Ria lamented. “How can someone do that to a child? Those injuries were worse than the work of some villains.”
It was a comment not meant to be heard, but there was one other person who heard it.
And the blonde heard it loud and clear.
Katsuki frowned.
He was the cause of those burns. And they were worse than what a villain would do?
But he wasn't a villain.
……………
He was not a villain.
He was a hero.
Katsuki lay on his bed with Ria's words looping in his mind.
Worse than a villain?!
What the hell was she saying?! He was a hero damn it!
He was saving Deku from getting killed. Lots of strong heroes get hurt or killed while fighting the villains. Even All Might gets hurt sometimes! So what’s Deku gonna do with those weak arms and legs? Run away?! Nah, he’d get killed before he can try!
He can’t even kill a fly without crying after doing it! What’s he gonna do to actual people?! Sob while he pulls his already weak punches?! He doesn’t even bother fighting against his bullies! So, how can he protect other people when he can’t even protect himself?!
Deku can’t be a hero! He was doing the right thing to stop Deku from wanting to be a hero! Even the teachers are saying he’s doing a good job. They even allow their other classmates to hit him. At least his quirk doesn’t hurt that much. Seriously, why do people get so whiny when they get burned, it only stings a bit.
Deku’s weak! That’s why! So, he’d just have to crush that hope so that he won't-
Katsuki paused at that thought. What did that hero write again?
Katsuki got up from bed and scrambled for the paper with the hero’s autograph on his desk.
“To my young hero Katsuki, I’m sure you’ll be a great hero one day. Keep fighting your dreams and give people hope. You can do it!”
Give people hope. Is that part of being a hero?
He turned on his computer and searched: What is a hero?
“A Pro Hero refers to those who take heroism as a profession.” *
“Heroes are individuals who are licensed to use their quirks to protect civilians from villains, natural disasters, and/or any other kind of harm.” *
Looking through the hoard of articles, essays, and dictionary definitions, a famous line one of the first heroes said caught Katsuki's eye:
"As a Pro Hero, we are the first ones people see after calamity. To arrive at a scene of destruction where the people are in despair and have lost the ability to help themselves, we have to be their symbol of hope that they can go back home safe that night."
Katsuki frowned at the screen with clenched fists.
Was he wrong?
Scrolling further, he noticed a video of an interview with Present Mic.
[ "Hey listeners! How are you doing? Can I hear a YEAAAAH??!”
“YEAH!” The audience screamed back to the hero.
“Yeah!!!!” The interviewer joined in, with a huge smile on his face. “Welcome back to Hero’s Podium! It’s always so lively when you’re our guest!”
“It really is a shame that you can’t come by so often,” the host continued. “But at least your fans get to hear from you every night in your Put Your Hands Up Radio Show, am I right?”
The crowd cheered in agreement.
“Now, I’ve listened to it several times myself. My kids love it too! How do you still have the energy to do that on top of the hero work that you do?”
“Well, I always have energy for music.” Present Mic smiled at the sounds of approval from the audience. “And how could I deny the little listeners who wait for my show every night?!”
He grinned at the roaring crowd and waited for them to calm down again. “But really, as important as my patrol and villain takedowns are during the daytime, I find that my radio show can matter a whole lot more to many people. Being a hero isn't all about fighting against villains, the most important part of it is saving people. And it’s not just villains and natural disasters that people need saving from. Sometimes, it's the people around us or our own minds that are the biggest threat to ourselves. So, if my show can give people the strength to hold on just a little bit longer, or the courage to fight for a better life, then every ounce of energy I can squeeze out is worth it.” ]
Yeah, Deku still can't fight, but saving people? He'd be good at that.
Katsuki typed in his next question, pausing as he hesitated to click search. He wasn't sure he wanted to know the answer but he needed to know.
Click.
What is a villain?
"Villains are people who use their Quirks to commit crimes, cause destruction, and potentially put innocent lives at stake."*
"Everyday villains refer to the people among us who cause harm or ruin."
Those two definitions were enough.
Katsuki closed his computer and laid back on his bed.
He hurt Deku. He hurt him a lot. He didn't mean for him to feel pain.
...well, he did, but he didn't burn and hit him because he wanted Deku to be in pain, it was so that he would see that he wasn't strong enough to be a hero and give up being one.
But that wasn't right. What he did was what people did that landed them in jail.
He shouldn't have done that to Deku, to Izuku. Katsuki realized, feeling the guilt he'd shoved down and ignored every time he saw Izuku's face.
Even if the teachers said it was good, he shouldn't have done it. Besides, after all he's read, Deku would make a good hero. Still weak, so he'll just have to be stronger to protect him then.
But first, he needs to apologize.
Katsuki grimaced as he got ready to leave. Ugh, this is gonna be hell.
……………
Katsuki knocked on the Midoriyas' door, dreading the conversation, but also eager to get it over with.
"Katsuki?" Midoriya Inko opened the door, surprised at the visitor. "What brings you here? Izuku's not home from school yet."
"Hah?" Katsuki looked at her confused. Both of them were in a villain attack. Everyone that got caught in one gets a few days off school, that's why he was able to think about everything the last two days, and Deku should have gotten more because he only got out of the hospital the day before.
"The school didn’t give him a break because of the attack?"
"The school said he needed to be in school the day after he gets released from the hospital, or his absence will be marked." Inko said with sad knowing eyes. "I told him to stay for a few more days, but you know Izuku."
"Tch." Of course, they didn't give him a break, they let people hit him, so why would they let him rest? And of course, Deku went to school, he never knew how to take care of himself.
With a goodbye, Katsuki left the doorstep and walked toward the school. It was already after school hours, so Deku should be on his way home.
Halfway there, he spots the figure limping towards him.
"Kacchan," Deku said when he sees him.
"Deku," Katsuki said back, then cringed remembering the meaning he put on the name.
"Izuku," He corrected himself. "I'm sorry."
Finding courage at Izuku's surprised face, he continued. "You can be a hero. You're still weak and can't throw a punch, but you can save people so you can be a hero."
"Kacchan-"
"I shouldn't have used my quirk on you or hit you." Katsuki steamrolled over Izuku to make sure he actually gets everything out of his mouth. "The other losers shouldn't have hit you too. The teachers are jerks too. But I hurt you a lot. Sorry."
Izuku took a moment to look at his childhood friend. His childhood friend turned bully who was so full of pride and arrogance but was there in front of him to own up to his mistakes and apologized. Twice.
"You hurt me." Izuku stated. "A lot."
"New bruises and burns constantly show up on my body that I don't know how it felt like to move without pain anymore." He continued tonelessly.
Katsuki flinched at that. He really messed up, didn't he?
"You hurt me so much. But somehow, I could never hate you. I forgave you a long time ago Kacchan." Izuku said sniffling, unable to hold back his tears. "All I want is my friend back."
Stubbornly holding back his own tears, Katsuki looked at his friend with relief and gratefulness. He'll never know how Izuku can forgive so easily, but he'll cherish it and make up for all he's done for the rest of his life. "I'm gonna be the best friend in the world then!"
"I'm sure you will." Izuku softly smiled.
"Just watch me, De-Izuku!"
"You can still call me Deku." Izuku grinned at him. "Before you said that it meant useless, you called me Deku as a nickname because you read my name wrong. I used to love it when you called me Deku. If you use it like before, maybe you can make me learn to love it again."
"Okay, Deku." Katsuki slowly said, testing out the familiar yet unfamiliar name.
Looking down at his hands, he made a vow at that moment. Thrusting his fist out to Deku, he declared, "I hurt you with my quirk, with my hands, but from now on, I'll use them to save people."
Beaming at the statement, Deku bumped his fist with his own. "Let's save people together Kacchan."
With the deal sealed, they grinned at each other as they parted.
Katsuki stepped back and walked past him to go back home with his hands in his pockets and his head held high.
Izuku looked at the back of the boy walking away for a moment.
Then he turned back to return home with a smile.
That was the boy who he never thought would change but could never let go of that small hope that he would.
No, Bakugo Katsuki was not a hero.
But he can be.
He will be.