Chapter Text
Katsuki Bakugou has been a blessing to everyone since he was born. Great quirk, loving and rich parents, good look, and intelligence there was nothing stopping him from being a hero. His life was filled with love and adoration never knowing any hardship. As even his powers were made perfectly for him just the right amount of flashy and powerful.
He's even fought kids much older than him when they think they can bully him because he is younger. His friends praised him and that made him the best, he knows he is going to become the greatest hero.
…So why is he playing nice with the weirdest kid of all? One with a mom always looks so miserable and everyone claims he has a dad that he has never seen. And the kid in question?
There is something very wrong with him.
His name is Izuku Midoriya. Being around him made Katsuki's skin crawl even as Izuku excitedly asks to play. Those green eyes staring at him with excitement despite this feeling of wrongness in them. At first Katsuki did try to ignore it but the feeling never went away and when he said something to his parents he just got scolded for some reason. Even though he can tell they see the same thing that he is, they claimed he was just imagining it.
So Izuku and his family must be hiding something but Katsuki knows better than to reveal what he knows. As it seemed no one else was willing to say anything about it, too intent in keeping the peace. It felt dangerous to ignore and he can’t just stand by and pretend he doesn’t notice something weird is going on. He just needed to figure out what it was and keep some distance between them.
Unfortunately his attempts to make Izuku back off with a nickname like Deku failed, as well as mean-spirited teasing and sometimes outright meanness didn’t work. Even though he was making it quite clear he didn’t want him around as subtle as possible he still hung out. And unfortunately he can’t refuse because of his STUPID parents!
"Ugh, do I HAVE to take him out? I already have my other friends coming with me," Katsuki huffed. He had just got his powers but his mom was still making him hang out with the weird kid with the weird mom. He doesn't even know how his mom befriended the other mom, she looks like she's close to crying half the time!
Then again that's probably why Izuku looks like he's about to cry. The big baby.
"Katsuki, you two are friends! What is with you lately you've been so fussy since you got your powers," Mitsuki huffs as she was fixing up his bug catching set. Not that he needs it, he could have caught them with his bare hands. But it was much more fun to catch them with the net anyway.
"He's weird! So is his mom she keeps looking like she wants to cry!" he shouts not too eager now that he realized something was wrong. Yes at first he was alright with Izuku as didn't mind the weirdness but now he just hates it. Someone else can be his friend! Why did it have to be him?!
He got a swat on the head for his troubles eliciting a small 'ow' as his hands rubbed his head.
"She's going through a rough time, Katsuki! Try to be more considerate," she chides as she puts sunscreen on her son ignoring his protest before trying to push him out the door. "Now go on, have fun. I got a text literally a minute ago that Izuku is outside with your friends. Inko dropped him off."
Katsuki huffs as he crosses his arms at this point pouting that he was forced to hang out with the quirkless weird kid. He guessed he could force Izuku toward the back of the line so he doesn't have to look at his face. That is one way to avoid looking at him and feeling so uncomfortable he wants to throw a fit.
As soon as his mom opened the door it was Izuku who greeted him with that bright smile. Unable to help but feel ruffled wondering why he was so overly familiar towards him.
"Kacchan!" Izuku chirps happily only to suddenly be pushed to the side by his other two NOT weird friends.
"Hey Kacchan! Let's catch all the big bugs!" They spoke excitedly, able to block Izuku from being directly in front of Katsuki. Much to the blond's relief as he always got a bit too close and now was able to breathe. His eyes sparkling with excitement as he wiggled in place as if it was time to be the leader.
"Right! I'm going to show you guys the best place to catch the bugs," he shouts with glee already having a very specific place in mind. Though of course his mom just had to be a buzz killer.
"You BETTER not go into that gated off forest. I know you've been looking at it, there's a fence for a reason! Just go to the park," Mitsuki warns as if knowing exactly what her son was thinking. He huffs wondering why she got to be like that when he knows what he is doing. He didn’t need her nagging!
"I know mom! Bye!"
As if he would listen to her when she never listens to him, she wasn't ruining his plans! Already making a beeline to the gap in the fence he had found with his mom. Though considering the circumstances once they got to the fence he immediately turned to his friend group.
"As the leader I'll be in front! I'm the one with a super awesome quirk after all! And Izuku!" he pointed at the male who looked startled. Those dumb green eyes widen as was singled out pointing to himself as Kacchan declared, "Since you don't have a quirk you are last!"
If only he had instead chosen to ditch him that day.
It started out fun enough as they entered the forest. Letting out small pops of sparks in front as he leads them around.
He will keep them safe even the weirdo as long as he doesn't complain! That is what heroes do after all!
Though one misstep and he fell right into the small stream letting out a small noise but that is it. He didn't cry, he didn't fuss, all that happened was that he got a little wet which sucked but it was a hot day. So he wasn’t too bothered as he shakes his head and goes to look up at his friends.
"You alright Kacchan!?" His friends questioned and Katsuki smiled. He had to assure them he was A-Ok after all he’s the strongest, "Obviously! It just a little-"
Suddenly there is a hand being extended toward his face as if contradicting his very words. Izuku was in the water with him staring in concern as if a small like that could have hurt him. All his other friends trusted him to be alright yet not Izuku the weirdo kid. Red eyes stared at the extended hand as Izuku tried to act like his hero.
"That was a big fall let me help," the other's voice was small and meek yet here he was extending a hand. As if desperate for some kind of validation for 'helping' when Katsuki didn't ask nor need it! In this moment he saw red as if he had just been insulted.
Of course he was mad. How dare Izuku act like he was some damsel in distress!? Katauki grits his teeth and smacks Izuku's hands away with all his strength. To make it clear he didn't want his help as he tries to get up by himself. Trying to salvage whatever pride he had left after the other embarrassed him like that.
"I didn't ask for your help!" He shouts, unable to hide his contempt for the boy who always just feels wrong. Inhuman and yet he was acting like he was some hero!? What a joke.
But the expression on Izuku's face slowly turned pale. Looking at his own hand as if Katsuki had done the unthinkable. Looking nervous the other stepped back, good! Maybe he will finally get the hint that he doesn’t want him around.
"I don't need your help, Deku! And stop looking like you're about to cry, it's embarrassing!" Katsuki shouts with a huff but the feeling of wrongness grew as his friends came down. Likely to try and back him up since they can see it was escalating but it was because Katsuki was putting distance between them.
They knew he didn't like Izuku though they tended to have no fear in how they handled him. As if they were also unaware that there was something deeply wrong with Izuku. So they were simply imitating rather than truly understanding just how dangerous he was. Today though Katsuki didn't feel like controlling the situation, the indignation made him watch without a care.
A small sniffle escaped Izuku as he pulled his hand back to his chest with such a pitiful expression. It wasn't at all what he expected. A tinge of guilt fell in the pit of his stomach but he ignored it. He should have known better than to look down on him. Katsuki was more than able to get up onto his feet just fine, he was a future hero.
"I-I just wanted to help you up Kacchan. You could have gotten hurt," Izuku whimpered softly.
As if trying to explain himself as if he had expected that it would somehow pacify him. Katsuki didn't know what to say knowing that the other probably WAS trying to help. Thankfully his actual 'friends' understood that he didn't want it as they went to tell him what for.
"What makes you think he wants help from a quirkless weirdo!?" It was making it clear though when he heard a shove and splash Katsuki tensed. Turning in horror, realizing he should have stopped them as Tsubasa had shoved Izuku. They got too violent, "No one likes you!"
It's too late. Izuku fell back onto some rock and a loud cry escaped from him. He was bleeding as the sharp edge of the rock got underneath his shirt and sliced his side. All the kids looked shocked and horrified at what had happened, but it was only a prelude to the actual horrors.
Those actions seemed to have triggered something as the whole sky turned red as an unholy screaming escaped. It wasn't the others' normal pathetic sobbing, more like a banshee wail making them back up as Izuku was holding his side. Wheezing and gasping between screams as if in absolute agony.
And for the first time. Katsuki had felt true fear erupt in his entire body as something monstrous emerged from the water around Izuku. Slowly the water turned into a black tar like substance thickening as it slowly traveled toward their legs. Katsuki could feel it, snaking and growing with malicious intent like vipers to strike.
They needed to get away.
"Run!"
Katsuki shouts as he grabs his friends to force them to start running to the stream's edge. Climbing out first he planned to help his friends out by using his strength to lift them out quickly.
He was the strongest he could pull them out and if they kept running-
There was a scream. Every hair on him was standing on end at the sounds of his friends screaming. Before he could even turn to see what had happened something grabbed his leg. Its grip was so tight it was painful making him cry out as it dragged him back into the murky waters.
It's grip tightened as it began to drag him back toward the stream where Izuku still stood. His friends were in the creature's grip as well, having been unable to escape with Katsuki clearly about to be next.
"Let us go!" Katsuki screamed trying to hide his fear as his friends struggled and cried for help. Izuku was trembling, shaking his head as if he was somehow scared of what was happening despite the fact he is the one doing this. Yet the boy who had been crying before seemed to have stopped only with small sniffles as the appendages wrapped around his friend's throat. Then...
SNAP
Katsuki grew quiet, staring in shock as he tried to process what exactly he was seeing as friends' heads lolled to the side unnaturally. No longer screaming or crying anymore just quiet, silence even as there was no life in their eyes. Even Izuku had gone quiet as the large tendrils held onto the bodies almost mockingly.
To actually go and hurt his friends like this that he couldn't even believe this had happened.
"G-Guys? Hey speak up," Katsuki stuttered, hoping it was some big prank just a game they did with the nerd. That he could smack them over the head but there was no noise not even as they were dropped unceremoniously into the tar like water around him.
Katsuki was only four years old when he learned what death truly means.
He never truly understood the concept of death. It was something heroes dealt with and he promised to never lose in such a way. Yet he had lost innocence as he stared at his friends' broken bodies unmoving in the tar water. It clicked that this was real.
This was reality.
His eyes made contact with Izuku's own wanting to know why. Yes they were being a bit mean but why did he do this when all they were asking was to be left alone.
As their eyes met the feeling of wrongness grew as the appendage around his ankle began to tug him closer. Even as Izuku looked scared with tears in his eyes as if unable to understand himself. Shaking his head like it wasn't on purpose and that made him all the more dangerous if he can’t control himself.
He could end up killing him.
"Let. Me. GO!"
With Adrenaline pumping through his veins he suddenly lets out the strongest blast he's ever released. He felt so much pain in his hand as he pressed it against the tentacles but it seemed to work.
As instantly as the appendage recoiled in shock at the sudden heat. While in turn Izuku let out a pained cry at the action, guessing it was in the end controlled by him. At least the one that grabbed him so he can assume it is the same for his friends. But it gave him his chance to escape.
"Kacchan! Come back, wait! I'm sorry!"
That weak and pathetic voice wasn't going to fool him. He hated that he ran but it was all he could do. He ran as far as he could to still feel the tendrils on his heel.
Only to have to stop when one appeared in front of him as if to block his way. Izuku wanted him, he doesn't know why but Katsuki was feeling dread in his chest as they closed in. Able to feel if these catch him they will soon end his life.
Pressing up against the tree as there was no way to avoid them as they slowly moved in as if cautious of being blasted yet not dissuaded... He could only go up.
He blasts the tendrils that had been closing in, able to watch them screech and recoil. Before he turns to his one salvation digging his nails into the tree he begins to climb higher and higher. Even as wood and splinters dug into his hand he was able to ignore the pain as feels the tendrils smack at where he had once stood.
Seems he can't see him from this far or above, resting on the branch he just holds onto it as he listens to the crying and screaming in the distance. The damned howling that will forever be in his nightmares to haunt him. His vision blurs as he clings tightly to the branch wondering what he is supposed to do now.
"I want my mama..." he whispers only to himself regretting coming into this forest when she said not to. No one will know where they are and he wonders when Izuku might find him.
It became so dark and lonely without anyone around.
Minutes turned into hours even when the sky returned to normal it was dark. Much too dark and Katsuki couldn't bring himself to climb down, his hands now bleeding and filled with splinters. Everything hurt as adrenaline left him as his whole arm ached from the strain.
Completely and utterly alone.
It was hours before he saw the light of someone's flashlight scanning the forest floor as a beacon of hope and he called out the only thing he wanted.
"Mama!" He shouts louder than he ever has in his life. Trying not to end up crying once more as he sees her face coming beneath the tree. Practically jumping out of it into her arms just wanting the comfort of something familiar.
"Katsuki! You had me scared half to death- What happened to your hands!? Did you get stuck in a tree!?" His mother was frantic as she caught and held him close trying to assure him that he was safe. Tears were in Katsuki's eyes, unable to speak as he sniffled as his mom tried to fix his hands.
"M-Mama, T-Tsubasa and Taichi are gone," he whispers before he notices Inko holding her son, the very source of this tragedy. It was all her and her freak son's fault just seeing them there acting like they were normal pissed him off. Feeling his vision turn red as he shouts,, "Izuku killed them! He got weird tentacles and took them out!"
He expected a stronger reaction for them to be as horrified and angry at him as he felt. Instead there was confusion on his mother and the other adults faces. As if they didn't know what to say before his mom asks softly.
"Who is Tsubasa and Taichi...?" She questioned and Katsuki realized at that moment the world had gone insane.
"My best friends! You know them! Mama this isn't funny-" he shouts looking around only to look at Inko. Her eyes were wide and her mouth opened in horror and realization. No one noticed but Katsuki did as she looked at everyone with understanding as holds her son tightly to herself.
She knows...
Inko, who was staring at him, was not vouching for him, while holding the spawn that had done this. They had found Izuku first and whatever happened they no longer knew his friends.
As the way Inko holds her 'son' her expression wore the look of someone knowing this is wrong. As if she understood what had happened made her just as guilty. Katsuki wasn't ok with being the only one who knows.
"Keep him away from me!"
Katsuki screeches terrified of whatever the other would do to make him forget. Thrashing in his mothers arms looking away as he can still hear Izuku's whimper. Even his mother couldn’t get him to calm down anymore as he screamed not wanting to forget.
He didn't know how to explain it, he didn't know what to say, all Katsuki could do was scream for them to keep him away. Away from the monster that had killed his friends and tried to do the same to him.
As he sees something dark hanging behind Inko the sight seems to be something no one else is noticing. He knew it was because of Izuku, whatever that thing was, it wasn't a person.
He won't let Izuku forget what he has done.
-----
Yet only Katsuki can remember that his friends exist.
Talking to his mom about all the things he used to do with them and she would say she really doesn't remember. She looked genuinely concerned asking if getting stuck in the tree was that terrifying. Not at all believing him when he said they DID exist but Izuku made them disappear.
It didn't make sense, it wasn't fair! There were still so many questions he had that were unanswered.
Was what he saw a quirk? It seemed way too powerful, too strong, nor like anything he had ever seen. It stretched so far as if without any limit yet he still looked like himself after all that. And the ability to make everyone forget that his friends had been with him wasn't at all matching the tentacles.
He wanted to confront Izuku.
Though for a week since the incident Izuku wasn't at school. It was only through his mother that he learned what had happened. Inko seemed to have just snapped and attacked her son so she was sent to the hospital. Apparently Izuku would be raised by his father- The man that Bakugou had never seen once in his life.
Even his mother admits she hasn't seen the man but that he definitely exists which was bizarre. Making him wonder if whatever Izuku is, it is related to this mysterious unknown man.
Izuku eventually returned to school with a miserable expression. Though it definitely wasn't one of guilt as if wondering why all this had happened to him. Such a pathetic and self-pitying expression despite all the terrible things he has done.
Not even upset at the fact he likely had been the one to hurt his mom. That poor woman that he thought was covering for Izuku turned out to be a victim instead. It pissed him off wondering where the other gets off feeling sorry for himself.
He killed two kids and likely is the very reason his mother went mental yet is trying to throw himself a pity party. His hand tightens into a little fist as saw those eyes look at him as if somehow he would be able to comfort him. The small hint of nervousness in those green eyes tries to approach him.
"Kacchan-" Izuku spoke as if they were friends trying to approach him with such an innocent gaze. As if he hadn't killed Katsuki's friends in front of him then made everyone forget they existed. He hated those eyes.
"Go away!" He shouts loudly making sure all the other kids see him. Because if they know to keep away from him then they should be safe. Katsuki has to make it clear to everyone not to get close to him.
"I know what you did. You don't get to act like you're innocent," Katsuki hisses almost like a cat with fur standing on end. Confusion shows on Izuku's face as if he hadn't done anything then a moment of guilt finally shows. As if recalling why as he shrinks back when Bakugou lets out some spark.
If anything Bakugou considers himself to be trying to be nice right now as he was tempted to blast the other in the face. But he was better than that as he had to be careful to not show his back as clearly they were not friends anymore...
If only it would have stayed that easy...