Chapter Text
Bakugou hated Deku, resented him. At first it was because he was weak, why would someone so easy to hurt want to become a hero? And someone who’s quirkless. He couldn’t understand the fact why he kept continuing wanting to be hero after every insult was thrown at him, the times he was beaten senselessly for doing anything wrong, the destroying of his weird books? Someone who cried over every little thing wanted to be a hero.
Bakugou thought about this for hours. Wondering and wondering why he kept trying, and getting up every time he was beat. Staring at his ceiling remembering their childhood before the news of Izuku being quirkless got out.
He always wondered and imagined how different life would be if Deku wasn’t quirkless but instead got a quirk similar to his mothers or fathers or both of them combined. Would Bakugou still somehow end up ending the friendship and still beating him like he does now? Or would they continue being friends, and enter U.A together?
Those thoughts made Bakugou make his breath hitch, there are times when he’s alone with his own thoughts and feels guilt about his bullying. But his mind would immediately trash those feelings and make himself remember that he’s weak and quirkless so it’s justified. Right?
But then he passed the entrance exam.
He felt lied to, he felt betrayed. The second he heard Deku passed the entrance exam, his stomach dropped. He couldn’t believe it, there was no way a quirkless loser like him got in? Was Deku lying about not having a quirk at all? Why is he so strong? Where did this come from? Has he had a quirk all this time? He has too many questions to ask but doesn’t have the nerve to ask, or it was the fact he didn’t want to seem weak or become vulnerable asking deep and personal questions suddenly.
When he saw the softball shoot as far as his did, he was at a loss. He saw Deku’s quirk in person, not from someone who was there to witness it. He saw the way his fingertip lit up, the way it broke after. He couldn’t believe what he just saw was real, the defenseless quirkless Deku has a quirk.
The rage bubbled in his stomach, all of the questions pouring into his mind when he went into a rage outburst. The heat of his skin heated up in his hands as he launched himself towards Deku, asking him questions. His mind simply couldn’t process someone he knew for 15 years who couldn’t defend themselves over anything has a quirk. It was like a short circuit in his brain.
His rage built up even more, the way he got attention and was praised for his quirk made him even more mad. Then when they fought during the battle trail. He wanted to beat him more than he ever has, he wanted him to give him it his all. No half assing, he didn’t care about the dumb Hero vs. Villain shit, his mind was fogged to the brim of rage. He was practically twitching when the battle started. He couldn’t wait to beat Deku. He ignored everything around him, just focusing on Deku. His mind only focused on Deku. And beating him.
Then they fought, and fought. The moment he swung his right hand, his body was being thrown to the ground. Thoughts swarmed his head, how could he know? He isn't that good. Then pain erupted in his spine and back, his body slammed onto the concrete ground. Deku’s stupid voice hit his ears, “You can call me Deku. But I’m not that same helpless defenseless kid anymore! You hear me, I've changed!” his words echoed in his brain, starting to even ingrain into his brain. Childhood and middle school memories flooded his mind. To now, he has changed.
But he can’t accept that, or even begin to process it. “From now on, Deku is the name of a hero!” He started to seethe, what the hell happened? Why is everything so different? He was supposed to get into U.A, become the number one hero and prove Deku that he is better than everyone. Doubt swirled in his brain, he couldn’t lose. He can’t, there’s no way. He has to win.
He stared into his big stupid green eyes as he yelled at him. Deku stared back with no fear, but he was trembling. He had changed in ways but still the same middle school Deku in ways he used to know. His teammate in his ear spoke, he couldn’t care less about the test he wanted to beat Deku, his mind only focused on that.
As his leg connected with Deku’s arm, he saw the capture tape about to wrap around his ankle. He thought fast and threw a punch, but Deku dodged. His rage bubbled even harder now. He remembered his weird books. He cursed quietly to himself. He watched as Deku ran away.
He wanted to fight for so long, to be able to destroy him. But he’s running away, he ran after him as he called out his name. He started to run aimlessly down hallways, “Dammit! You've been tricking me for years by acting weak. Bet you've been laughing behind my back, huh?” His voice boomed in the empty hallways. He continued to run down hallways, yelling threats and questions as his voice became hoarse.
He blasted doors open as he taunted Deku. His booming voice filled the echoey halls of the building. He breathed heavily as he searched for him. Waiting to see a speck of his half burned off green hero suit of his around whatever corner he turned or behind every door he blasted open. He was filled with anticipation. Waiting and waiting to use his quirk on him. He started to become even more angry each time he blasted a door open to an empty room, or turned down an empty hallway.
In each footstep he took, memories flooded his mind. These memories caused him to become angry and even an unrecognizable feeling in his heart. He felt it every time he thought or was near Izuku, he hated the feeling so he ignored it. Could be anything, right? “He’s just a little bug” He muttered to himself while another memory played.
“Wow, you're so awesome!” Izuku yelled, watching Katsuki play tricks with a ball. “Whatever, this is nothin’.” Katsuki responded back as he continued to do more tricks with the yellow ball. Somehow Izuku fell, his green ball rolling away as Katsuki let out a laugh watching Izuku putting his hand through his green curls.
“Jeez, Izuku. You really can’t do anything right, can you?” Katsuki asked with a small smile. “Look! You can read the last part of Izuku’s name as “Deku.” Katsuki said as he pointed to Izuku’s name on his bucket. “Whoa, so you can read that?” One of Katsuki’s friends asked, Katsuki smirked. “Well, obviously.” He responded back with a smug face.
He turned his attention back to Izuku, “Deku. That must be what you call a helpless loser who’s completely useless.” Katsuki watched as Izuku’s smile dropped as his friends laughed, Izuku slouched. “Why are you being so mean, Kacchan?” Izuku asked, the question echoed as another memory played.
Bakugou skipped a rock near the edge of the river, his friends gasping with amazement. “Whoa!” They all yelled as one of the boys spoke up. “Dude, that has to be a new record.” Katsuki put his hands on his hips as he answered with a smile. “I bet it is.” The rest of his friends shouted compliments, watching Katsuki to see what else he would do.
“Where’s yours?” Katsuki asked, turning his head towards Izuku. Izuku’s smile dropped, he slouched again. “Well, uh it sank.” Izuku responded with a frown, and the rest of the boys laughed at Izuku. Katsuki turned his head away smirking. Another memory played as Bakugou took another step down an empty hallway.
Katsuki looked down at his hands as they lit up with small pops of explosions. Everyone around him looked at him in awe, teachers and his classmates complemented his quirk and how powerful it was. “Flashy quirk for a future hero, perfect.” His teacher's words stuck in his head for years, “Yeah, you're right! I am amazing! In fact, I bet there’s no one as great as I am” Katsuki thought as he smiled imagining himself as a hero, being even more popular than all might himself.
“Wow, you’re so lucky!” Izuku said as they walked through the woods, “Your quirk is amazing, Kacchan!” When I get mine, I hope it’s just as cool!” Izuku yelled with a smile. Katsuki strided, turning back to answer Deku. “Whatever, Deku, No matter what power you end up with, you’ll never be able to beat me.” Katsuki said with a smile.
The memories stopped as Bakugou found some stairs. “A worthless bug for me to smash.” Bakugou thought as he started to walk up the stairs. Halfway up the steps, he remembered when the news of Deku being quirkless got out.
“Hey did you hear? Deku doesn’t have a quirk. Like, none.” One boy spoke, “Really?” asked another kid. “Yeah, it’s called being “Quirkless.” he answered. “That’s dumb” “What a loser” “He's so lame” Voices spoke as Izuku was surrounded by his classmates while he sat there, stiff as cardboard. Katsuki was staring at Deku, with a small smile on his face. “Don’t worry about it, okay, Izuku?” His teacher tried her best to comfort young Izuku.
“You’re a total failure, Deku” Katsuki thought as his smile got bigger watching as his teachers snickered to themselves trying to keep quiet so the Deku didn't hear them. By the time Bakugou got to the top of the steps, a certain memory came to his mind. The day he started to hate Deku even more than he did before.
“Forward march and here we go, members of the Agency Bakugou. Sound o-” Katsuki had slipped off the overgrown log, as he hit the water it made a big splash. His friends looked concerned, Izuku’s eyes widened as he went unnoticed by the other boys as he ran down towards Kacchan to help him.
“Kacchan!” “Hey. You okay down there?” The two other boys shouted, kneeling down to inspect closer. “ Oh, don’t worry. Kacchan is super tough! See?” The other boy next to them shouted, as Bakugou grunted as he stood up, shaking his head to get the water off of him.”I was just fine on my own, Deku,” Older Bakugou thought as the memory continued.
“Hurry and get back up here!” One boy yelled, Katsuki looked up and smiled. “Sure! Just gimme one second.” Katsuki yelled as his smile got bigger. He heard splashes of water, he opened his eyes to see Deku. He was extending his hand, worry filled his eyes and face. “Are you alright? Are you hurt?” Deku asked, anger filled Katsuki. He stared back at Deku’s big dumb green eyes, dumbfounded.
Katsuki’s face fell, “I was worried you might’a hit your head or something” Deku spoke softly as he waited for an answer from him. Katsuki’s face scrunched up in anger, “You looked at me like I was some kinda weakling” older Bakugou voiced as the memory ended. “I’m so much better than you are!” Bakugou angrily muttered to himself as he continued to search for Deku down the halls.
He would never admit it, especially now. But he missed it, the times before Deku being quirkless got out. The sleepovers, when Deku would follow him everywhere, when they played as Hero and villains at their mother’s houses, watch All Might fight’s on a computer as they wore All Might pajamas. He grieved those memories for a period of time, before middle school.
Those thoughts left immediately when he finally found him. A smirk formed on his face as Deku finally noticed he was there.”I'm all loaded up.” Bakugou said flatly, raising his right arm as Deku got in a fighting stance. “What does that mean?” Deku asked, Bakugou scoffed under his breath quietly. “Why aren’t you using your fancy quirk?” Bakugou asked, avoiding Deku’s previous question.
“Don’t tell me you’re underestimating me, Deku.” To Izuku, Kacchan looked so fueled with rage and pride he was starting to worry even though he had seen that look millions of times throughout the years of knowing him and the years of bullying. “Get over here and show me what you’re really made of.” Izuku’s body trembled, reminding him of the millions of time’s his body trembled from his words and actions alone.
“Kacchan. I’m not scared of you anymore.” Izuku yelled, body still trembling. Bakugou hated that, his stubbornness. How he wouldn’t just change his mind about something or wouldn’t give up so easily like how he wished he would so many times over the years. He also hated how quickly Deku decided he wasn’t afraid of him even though he still acted like his middle school self, just because somehow he now has a quirk he can suddenly stick up for himself? Suddenly be able to fight him?
Bakugou growled, as his face turned into a scowl. Then his face constructed into a smirk. “Since you're such a stalker, by now you probably know how my quirk works. Explosion, works. I secrete nitroglycerin-like sweat from my hands and make it blow up. Imagine what I could do If I had a lot of it.” Bakugou yelled, as he pulled back a part on his gauntlet. Extending his arm as he started to speak again.
“That’s right, these gauntlets aren’t just for show.” Bakugou stated as he got into form, starting to speak again. “They’ve been storing my sweat inside for one monster blast.” Putting his index finger though the pin, excitement ran through his body like electricity waiting to see his gauntlet work and see Deku fail.
“Young Bakugou. Don’t do it! You’ll kill him!” All Might's booming voice spoke into his ear through the ear piece. “He’ll be fine as long as he dodges!” Bakugou yelled back as he slowly started to pull back the pin even more. Finally pulling the pin out, he watched with excitement as the explosion started flying towards Deku while destroying the walls and floor in the process.
He felt as the whole building shook around and under him. Pure adrenaline filled him as it reminded him how powerful he really was. Bakugou walked towards the room where Deku’s voice came from,”These are awesome.” Bakugou laughed as he continued to walk towards the room. “The more nitro sweat that’s stored in these gauntlets, the stronger the explosion is.”
“Go ahead. Use your stupid quirk on me, Deku.” Bakugou trailed off as he finally stepped foot in the room, “Even if you give me everything you’ve got, you’ll never beat me.” Bakugou said with a smile. Izuku looked in his rage filled eyes, he had the same look he had on everyday of middle school. Bringing back memories he had dug in his mind forever.
“What’s the matter, you look scared. You dodged the attack, so you can still fight, can’t you? Come and get me.” Bakugou shouted with a smile, he watched as Deku lifted his hand to his ear piece and asked a question. Bakugou was a little ataken back, his eye twitched in annoyance “Are you ignoring me again? I’ll get your attention.” Bakugou growled.
“Bakugou. Use that stored up power again and I’ll stop this fight. Your team will lose.” All Might spoke. Bakugou hated to lose, everyone who knew him knew that. Even if he won he would still be mad, only of the fact if his opponent wasn’t giving him their all. He saw it as an unfair fight. “Huh?” Bakugou yelled back. “To employ such a strong attack indoors is inviting the destruction of the stronghold you should be protecting. That’s a poor strategy, whether you’re a hero or a villain. The penalty would be a massive loss of points.”
At the start of this test, Bakugou was clouded by the desire to win. Fogging his thought process, or strategic ways of thinking. Only Deku was on his mind, and winning this. But winning this was more on the back burner of his mind. Bakugou’s head dropped, as he scowled. His shoulders and eventually his entire body trembled as he yelled. He started to fly towards Deku. “We’ll fight hand-to-hand!” Bakugou yelled.
Deku tried to throw a punch, but Bakugou used a minor explosion to flip over Deku. Using his other hand to move back as he was behind Deku using a slightly bigger explosion than the last on Deku’s back.
Deku screamed in pain, “Here it comes, nerd!” Bakugou yelled as Deku looked back. Bakugou ran towards Deku, “The famous right hook you were whining about!” as Bakugou’s hand connected with Deku’s right arm. Deku yelled in pain once again. Bakugou grabbed Deku’s arm and used his quirk on his right hand to spin himself counter clockwise. “Deku. Don’t you ever forget what you are!” Bakugou yelled as he started to throw Deku down to the ground.
Deku yelled even louder now when his body connected with the ground. Pain erupting through his entire body, the wind being knocked out of his lungs as his body bounced off the concrete ground from the sheer power of the throw. “You’re a weakling!” Kacchan words echoed through his mind.
His vision going blurry, even black for a couple of seconds. Deku started to pant as he sat up, he started to run away. Stopping near the window as Bakugou strided towards him in annoyance. “Why won’t you use your damn quirk against me? Still think you can stop me without it?” Bakugou shouted. Deku started to slouch, dropping his head down as Deku looked at the floor.
“That’s not it” Deku responded back, “You’ve been hiding your true power for years. What’s the deal Deku? Did you think you were better than me this entire time?” Bakugou shouted as Deku started to scowl. “That’s what you think?...” Deku trailed off, “You idiot.” Deku raised his head back up, Deku stared into Kacchan’s anger filled eyes.
“You’ve always been stronger, Kacchan. I know that you’re better than me.” Deku shouted, Bakugou scowled as Deku balled up his fists. “Can’t you see? That’s why I wanna beat you. Because you’re amazing!” Tears welled up in his eyes. “You’re even more of an idiot than I realized. Come at me!” Bakugou snarled.
They ran at each other, pops exploded out of Bakugou’s hands as his hand started to heat up as Deku’s arm lit up. They started to yell, Bakugou excited to finally beat Deku. “Both of you, stop-!” All Might got cut off, “Uraraka, now!” Izuku yelled. As Bakugou’s arm extended to Deku’s face, Deku started to yell again. “Smash!”
Bakugou felt the wind hit his face as Deku upper cut the air, before Bakugou could think the ceiling above them broke in pieces. And the rest of the building. Bakugou’s eyes widened, letting out a small gasp, he realized what Deku had done. Bakugou focused his attention on what he had done, staring up in disbelief as he scowled.
“This was your big plan… From the very beginning, wasn’t it?” Bakugou sneered as he looked back down to where Deku was. “You were playing me this entire, you bastard.” Bakugou shouted. “I wasn’t… going to use it.” Deku responded, Bakugou grunted in response as the smoke in front of him started to clear slowly.
“Because I can’t control it” Deku whimpered, Bakugou could only see a glimpse of Deku’s broken purple arm. “My body just can’t handle… the backlash of my power yet.” Deku grunted, Bakugou’s face constructed into a scowl and a little bit of worry in his facial features. A small pool of worry in his stomach bubbled.
“Mr.Aizawa said I’d be useless.” Deku trailed off, the smoke in front of deku cleared a bit for Bakugou to see a small portion of his face. “But this was all… that I… could think of.” Deku spoke, Bakugou’s stomach dropped and so did his face. Worry swirled his head and his heart started to hurt seeing Deku’s face. Bakugou let out a gasp, his body starting to tremble. “This is the only way… I had of winning.”
His face was not constructed into a scowl nor did he feel any happiness of seeing Deku’s defeated face. He felt worried, he felt guilty. He had the urge to apologize, he watched as Deku fell unconscious. “You did it” All Might’s voice spoke in his ear. His eyes followed as Deku fell to the ground, barely being able to breath seeing the sight in front of him. “The hero team… Wins!” All Might yelled.
Bakugou couldn’t move, he was frozen. His mind was blank, he didn’t know what to think or even feel. He could only feel the pain in his heart, the feeling of the wind being knocked out of his lungs at the sight in front of him, he could feel his heartbeat in his ears. The loud pounding going at a fast rate.
He only was able to move to stare at the hand that harmed Deku. He was shaking, pupils smaller than a penny. “My attacks… Deku predicted them. He made me look like an idiot. And somehow managed to win the exercise.” Finally being able to form a thought, he focused on the winning part. Not what he felt when he saw that look on Deku’s face. Or the worry he felt.
Deku’s words echoed through his mind, he balled up his fist. His breathing became heavier and faster, his mind flooded with Deku’s words, their childhood, the words he said before he passed out, the look on his face. His mind raced, a million things at once. His mind became clouded, his chest started to hurt, his ears hurt.
His breathing was going so fast he couldn't and didn’t know what to think or focus on, his chest hurting, his ears started to ring, he wanted to throw up. He felt a big hand on his shoulder, he let out a gasp as he looked up. His mind started to clear, “Young Bakugou. Cool your jets.” All Might spoke.
“Let’s review your work. Whether you win or lose, you can always take something away from an experience like this. As long as you’re open to learning.” All Might’s voice spoke clear in his clouded mind. His breathing still uneasy, as he stared at the wall in front of him.