Chapter Text
“Izuku Midoriya?”
Izuku winced softly at the sound of his name being called by the teacher, he looked up from his desk.
“Yes, sir?”
He hadn’t been listening, as always. Sitting at the back of the class gave him that opportunity.
The teacher sighed, "You registered to apply to UA?”
‘Oh shit.’
He felt his stomach drop, the air seemed colder as he started to sweat and turned his eyes in the direction of Katsuki Bakugou, “Kacchan”. Who, to his credit, kept his anger in, even if his hands were crackling and glowing. That was worse for Izuku though, that meant that he was really in for it when the bell rang. Luckily it was the last lesson of the day. Maybe if he ran out of the room quick enough he could escape? No, Kacchan was faster than him. He might as well accept it, if he didn’t fight back maybe the bully would go easy on him-
“Midoriya.” The teacher repeated blandly.
“Uh- No! I don’t know why that’s there, I could never get into UA anyway, haha..”
The teacher at his desk turned back to his files. ”I see… So only Bakugou is applying? Probably for the best, he is the brightest out of all of you, only he……..”
He stopped listening again. Soon after the ordeal, Izuku's sensei went back to lecturing the class on Aldera’s low grades, and how they had to get their grades up for the final exams for their schools reputation, but Izuku couldn’t listen. He was too busy contemplating the ass kicking he was going to receive after school. He looked up at the clock, the bell would ring in 2 minutes.
He slowly started closing his pencil case, praying it didn’t make a sound followed by closing his book, and his campus notebook, it had taken him at least a minute and-
A sharp piercing trill echoed through the hall outside.
‘Here goes nothing.’ He thought to himself hopelessly.
He shoved his books in his yellow bag as quickly as possible and got up, swinging it over his shoulder, bowing his head slightly to the teacher before walking away.
He passed one desk, then two, all the other students still packing their bags slowly. He turned to see Katsuki doing the same.
He took another stride when all the sudden he lost his balance, tripping over something. He hit the floor, his chin hitting the hard wood with a crack, he felt his teeth smash together. He looked up to see one of Bakugou's lackeys, the fingers kid ”stretching” as he pretended to yawn. Foot outstretched directly in Izuku's path, giving him a small smirk.
He winced and rubbed his chin where it hit, he thought he might have chipped a tooth. All his classmates walked past him, they knew what was coming for him and weren’t going to risk getting in the way.
He started picking himself up when he felt a force pull him to his feet from the handles of his backpack, followed with a bitter chuckle.
“You gotta start tying your shoelaces, Deku.” Katsuki’s hand placed itself on his shoulder. Izuku could hear the fabric of his uniform softly sizzle under his palm, even if it wasn’t burning him yet. He didn’t mind much, it was just yet another to add to the collection of scorch marks on his mangled outfit.
“Y-Yeah, Kacchan.” He gulped softly, he tried to convince himself he wasn’t scared, as he did every time he eventually got on his old friend’s nerves again.
Out of the corner of his eye he saw the teacher pick up his bag along with some papers and a coffee cup and walk out of the room, oblivious.
As soon as he was out the door, the hand on his shoulder gripped him hard and he heard a bang, followed by a sharp pain under the still glowing hand. Izuku cried out and fell backwards as he lost his balance.
”Who the hell do you think you are, applying to UA?” Katsuki spat.
Izuku winced as he wiped down the soot from the new burn in his uniform, it stung slightly. “I applied at the start of the year, I’m not trying to go anymore. I’m sorry-“
”What you are” Katsuki cut him off, “Is fucking delusional if you ever thought you’d make it into UA. They have standards, no quirkless wannabe loser like you could ever get in.”
Izuku hid his eye roll as he started to get back up, ”Like I said, I’m not going to go-“
”Don’t talk back to me you little shit.” Katsuki kicked Izuku in the back, making him fall once more as the contents of his bag spilled out onto the floor while he slumped onto the ground.
‘I thought I closed my bag properly..’ He thought as he rubbed his head where it hit the ground a second time, he had a headache.
He looked up, he hadn’t seen but Katuki’s two friends were waiting, watching the spectacle like kids at a circus while sitting on one of the desks.
‘Circus, huh? Guess that would make me the freak, would that mean Katsuki’s the ringmaster?”
He looked back up at Katsuki who started walking towards him. Izuku squeaked and backed up until his head hit the wall behind him. He winced as his headache got worse. The bully leaned down, instead of aiming for Izuku though, he picked up his Campus Notebook that had fallen out of his bag.
Izuku panicked as Bakugou read the title. ”H- Hey! Don’t touch that-“
”What’s this? ’Hero Analysis for the Future’? You fucking liar, YOU THINK YOU’RE BETTER THAN ME?” He shouted as he kicked Izuku in the stomach, making him cry out once more, he curled up into a ball and wheezed, the air kicked out of him. The shouting only made his headache worse.
“WELL? ANSWER ME, DAMN IT!” He screamed. Raising his foot to kick the pathetic kid in front of him.
Izuku shook his head profusely, “N- No! I promise!” He gasped out as he wheezed. He covered his face with his hands as Katsuki raised his leg up higher, getting ready to strike again.
Izuku squeezed his eyes shut and waited for the pain of the impact as Katsuki growled, but instead, it never came. He opened one eye slowly to see Bakugou leaning down, he grabbed Izuku by his collar and pulled him to his feet.
He wiped down Izuku’s uniform shoulders harshly, pushing into the small fresh burn.
He tensed up, avoiding all eye contact with the boy holding him in place.
Katsuki stepped back from him, glanced at the notebook in his hands, and back at Izuku. A sinister grin formed on his face as he raised up the notebook until it was in between his two hands.
Izuku’s eyes widened as he realized what he was about to do. “Hey, wait!” He reached a hand forward but it was already too late.
A loud bang and a flash of white light blinded Izuku for a second, when his eyes unblurred, all he saw was a singed, scarred husk of the notebook that was perfect moments before.
His hand was still reaching out to the book, he was frozen in shock.
Katsuki held the book out for Izuku to grab. He reached for it before Katsuki pulled it back, staring dead-eyed at Izuku.
“Don’t even think of trying out for UA. If you don’t die in the exams, I’ll kill you myself.”
The comment stung more than the new bruises all over his body, he reached out once more limply for the notebook, he felt so pathetic.
Instead of handing it to Izuku, he turned calmly towards the window, and tossed it out, emotionless to the wide eyed, hand outstretched, miserable boy in front of him.
He turned to his “friends” who immediately chimed in with laughs and small jabs at Izuku; “Serves him right for lying to you.”. They started walking out the room, leaving the frozen ‘Deku’ to stare at the window.
Katsuki was in the doorframe when he stopped, the snickers following him stopping along with him.
“You know” He turned around. “There might still be a way for you to become a hero.”
He left a deafening second silent.
”Pray for a quirk in your next life, and take a swan dive off the roof of the building.”
He waited a second, searching the boy’s movements for any sign of a reaction, but he got none.
They waited in intense silence for what seemed like forever, before Izuku finally turned around.
The boy turned slowly, staring at his shoes, clenching his fists.
”You got a problem, Deku?” Katsuki growled.
The tiniest hints of a smile played on the edges of his mouth, his whole body seemed to relax before he said, calmer and more level headed than he’d ever heard himself speak,
“Not at all, Katsuki” He looked up, smiling brightly.
“I’ve never felt better.”