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A fact that sometimes unknowingly flew above other people's heads was that being a U.A. Hero Student meant more than just learning how to fight villains. It was more than just keeping innocent civilians safe and happy. Yes, it was undoubtedly an important step to becoming a hero, but it wasn't the essence of it.
It was more than just keeping innocent civilians safe and happy. To them, students, it seemed obvious, but some people only looked at the surface of a much more complicated case.
Living as first year Hero Students meant that some sacrifices had to be made. Nighttime didn't take place if you had an upcoming test or homework to do for the next day. Strict, special diets to uphold, brain-numbing training, exhausting tests, and the list just kept going and going.
Being a Hero student meant putting work, sweat, blood, and tears into everything you did. If you couldn't make it there, at U.A., then working as a Pro Hero was just plainly suicidal and idiotic.
Aizawa Sensei made sure to drill that fact into their brains at the start of the year.
The man was no stranger to the difficulties and dangers of working in the industry. Hell, he was an Underground Hero for fucks sake. He was the one who had to face the most horrendous and dangerous villains or crimes ever encountered. If civilians knew the truth about the people who lurked in the shadows of their hometowns, the world would erupt into chaos.
Heroes were something more than society deemed them to be. They were pillars. They kept everything in its designated place. Hero work wasn’t easy but, oh, it could be so rewarding.
The job was hard and had many discouragements. It wasn’t for everyone. People without determination, ambition, and the ability to focus solely on the task at hand often get crushed by their shattered dreams and plans for the future. It was how life worked. Hero school wasn't for the weak. It wasn't supposed to be fun. Death on the job surely wasn't.
Another thing that was extremely important to learn in order to work in this industry was following instructions, setting their ego aside, and putting their sense of self-preservation to work. After all, professionals often didn't work by themselves.
It wasn't uncommon for Heroes to have their own team of emergency analysts, hackers, and sidekicks on the line so they could focus more on doing the saving than thinking up the strategy to do that. This technique was more commonly used in complicated and urgent operations where time is of the essence. In times like that, Heroes just couldn't rush in and risk injuring civilians.
The ability to put down their own pride and judgments in order to listen to commands from people who had the whole image of a situation from other heroes in the area could save a lot of lives.
So that's the exact reason why they were here, in Gym Gamma, at precisely 11:40 AM. Aizawa Sensei decided to organize a lesson in which two randomly assigned classmates would have to collaborate in an attempt to defeat the opposite team, quirkless, of course. Both of the participants would get an earpiece to communicate. One person from the pair would instruct the other on what to do to win the fight.
Which meant that people with more advanced analysis skills would have a greater chance of winning. Naturally, after learning that obvious fact, everyone began to stare pleadingly at Izuku Midoriya.
The teen never showed anyone his analysis notebooks except for Katsuki… and Nedzu because of their private lessons. The blond understood his reason for not wanting to show them to anybody. He remembered all the awful things their old classmates,those fucking extras, said about the books. But even though, on a very rare occasion, someone would get a glimpse of the writing. Every time it did occur, Class 1A shared the information on their special group chat.
And oh boy, it was pure chaos.
The things they saw were only snippets of information that the notebooks possessed, yet surprisingly, their classmates were smart enough to acknowledge that Izuku's analysis skill was horrifyingly good. The writing was detailed and precise. Facts, hypotheses, every detail on the quirk, combat styles, moves, details about behaviors, charts on speed, strength, stamina, and other elements.
His abilities could be compared to those of professional analysts or maybe even more advanced people.
Still, Izuku wasn't very talkative and open about it in public. He would never upfront ask questions about quirks, interests, relations, nothing. He never drew attention to himself wherever he was. Old habits from primary and middle school, Katsuki guessed. The greenhead was terrified to even share his work with class 1-A because what if U.A. becomes like Aldera again?
Even when Katsuki tried to help him overcome the fear, Izuku just couldn't do it on some days. And who could blame him? The teen lived his whole life around people who literally shouted in his face that he was a useless, quirkless, and creepy stalker. But Katsuki made a promise to himself that he would make Izuku realize what a fucking genius he was.
Ever since they were young children - ever since the boy could hold a crayon - Izuku loved to analyze every single little thing and trait about people and basically everything that existed. Quirks and heroes were number one on the nerd's list. He put them apart in his cute notebooks and always strived to learn just one more thing, one more piece of information.
It was admirable, really. The blond would never admit that, but he was truly impressed and proud of his best friend. He could stare at the nerd for hours upon hours as he wrote, biting the pen sometimes or furrowing his brows if he couldn't find a solution.
Katsuki knew there were stars in his eyes when he looked at Izuku. But for once, he didn't fucking care.
He wanted to show the nerd that his analysis skill was something to admire, not to fear or hide away because of other people's words. Thanks to Nedzu, who had taken Freckles under his wing, it was getting better. Izuku was improving at lightning speed with his writing. His drawing getting more complex and descriptive. Izuku was smiling so widely when he showed Katsuki new pages he had written about some of their classmates. He was happy, and it was the part that mattered the most to the blonde.
It was getting better. Little by little.
Aizawa's voice pulled Katsuki from his thoughts. Their teacher stood in front of their class, which filed into the gym after changing into their respective blue uniforms minutes ago. "Is everyone here yet?" The man asked, his voice rough and tired, like he hadn't had his cup of coffee. He probably hadn't.
Four eyes stepped in, more to the front, fixing his glasses before answering. "No, Sir! Midoriya is still missing. Would you like me to retrieve him from the locker room?"
Aizawa Sensei just groaned at the information, rubbing his temple. In his left hand, the teacher held a white wooden clipboard,d which probably contained the list of pairs. "Always with that damned kid." Aizawa muttered.
Suddenly, a voice made them all turn their heads to the entrance of the building. "A-Ah! I'm so sorry, Aizawa Sensei! " It was Izuku. Green hair jumped as the nerd ran to join the group.
Freckles bowed twice and began muttering something about a kid he had to help. Katsuki just sighed and walked up to Izuku. „Just let Hobo Sensei start his lesson, nerd.”
The green head bowed down one last time and stepped closer to his taller friend. His face showed obvious signs of embarrassment and excitement. The latter was an expression that Katsuki loved. God. Why did he think that? He whispered a quick „hi.” before fully focusing on what Aizaws Sensei was telling them.
” Right,” Their teacher said slowly, turning his head away from the pair. „Since everyone is finally here, I can tell you the list of pairs. After that’s done, find your pair and wait for the following orders. Is that clear?”
Everyone shouted out their consents in tandem.
And with that out of the way, Aizawa started assigning the pairs.
List of Pairs
Kaminari Denki and Yaoyorozu Momo VS Jirou Kyoka and Tokoyami Fumikage
Aoyama Yuga and Uraraka Ochaco VS Shoji Mezo and Shinsou Hitoshi
Todoroki Shoto and Ashido Mina VS Koda Koji and Hagakure Toru
Ojiro Mashirao and Sato Rikido VS Iida Tenya and Kirishima Ejiro
Tsuyu Asui and Sero Hanta VS Bakugo Katsuki and Midoriya Izuku
After their teacher announced his selections, everyone started hunting for their pair. Red as rubies eyes instantly found their way to emerald green ones, which sparkled with loud determination.
Both of them thought the same thing; Them being paired together was undoubtedly the best thing that could come out of this exercise.
Katsuki and Izuku weren't strangers to sparring quirkless. Katsuki knew they would undoubtedly kick everyone asses.
When the explosive teen found out that his best friend and future Hero Partner, in fact will not be getting a quirk any time soon, he wasn't confused or angry. He didn't turn against his friend. There was no feeling of being betrayed. Katsuki wasn’t like that. No, the boy simply drew a new Hero costume for Izuku with more support items, knee pads, weapons, and gifted it to his friend next time they met. Izuku cried happy tears after receiving it.
Whenever someone gave Izuku trouble upon learning his quirk status, Katsuki would beat the shit out of them while gaining a few detentions here and there. Of course, the principal quickly erased them from the blonde's record after Auntie Inko threatened to sue the whole school. That was a nice day.
Izuku and Katsuki practically lived in each other's spaces. They grew, trained, and learned together as if they couldn't live without one another. And maybe that was the reason. Bakugo couldn't imagine his life without the nerd. Well, how could he? They both knew everything about the other. Every secret, lie they told, treasured memory, and feelings.
Hell, the day All Might left Izuku on a rooftop, which was really high above the ground, by the way, and the sludge incident occurred, they had a night-long conversation about what happened and how they felt. That phone call changed both of them. Katsuki couldn’t remember the last time he cried that much. All the bottled up feelings from that day just made their way out.
That night, the blond learned about the national secret that was One For All. A sacred power, passed on from generation to generation, that compiled energy in order to fight evil hidden in the underground.
Izuku was scared, which is what he told Katsuki. At first, when All Might brought up the suggestion, the nerd panicked. He didn’t know what choice he should make. It was stupid to decline the offer but a the same time barring a quirk this powerful would be the biggest responsibility he ever held on his shoulders.
There was also another problem; Izuku felt as if, somehow, All Might wasn’t telling him everything. He knew it couldn’t be that easy, it never went that way, there had to be a ”but”. It was just a gut feeling that maybe changed the course of events.
After further investigation, All Might admitted that there was something insanely dangerous he would be inheriting with the quirk, although it should be a problem anymore. Five years ago, before their meeting, All Might [] a fight with the villain that haunted the world since the Dawn of Quirks.
All for One was a devil with a power that surpassed every other one. He could steal quirks and give them to others.
Thanks to his personality and power, he was able to manipulate the world. For years and years, All for One ruled Japan. He spread terror and death everywhere he went. No one was safe.
All Might told them how One for All was created by that monster and how the fight lasted for eight generations. All Might was the one to end the cycle. He killed him. There was nothing to worry about anymore. At least that's what the hero told them.
During the following 10 months, they trained together for U.A. at Dagobah beach. Izuku cleaned trash with All Might to gain muscles to get One For All, while Katsuki taught the green head how to fight. They could move in a smooth, practiced ease, fighting alongside one another after all that time. The blonde walked with the greenhead on the Hero path from the very beginning. It was the path that was destined for them.
Now they could show off their abilities together. And it was the perfect opportunity for something else, too.
“Hey Izuku,” Katsuki stated, glancing at the teen with a calm and gentle expression. Izuku was already mumbling strategies, as it was pretty much obvious that he would be the one to give instructions to Katsuki. The explosive teen smiled and scoffed.
” Izuku,” He repeated, finally pulling freckles out of his thoughts into reality. The nerd's green eyes shone with excitement as he looked into red ones. Katsuki knew his pupils dilated.
” Yeah? What’s wrong, Kacchan? Do you feel okay?” Izuku answered in a soft voice.
The explosive teen moved closer to the other so no one would be able to eavesdrop on their conversation. Their bodies touched slightly. Katsuki's hand brushed against the other's, and his mouth was near Freckles's ear. There, on Izuku's face, a subtle blush appeared. Cute.
„If I win,” He started, heart racing. This was it, the moment he was waiting for. He couldn’t fuck it up. „I want you to go on a date with me.”
Silence.
"You what?" Izuku whispered-shouted, flabbergasted. The small blush shifted all over the face and the tips of his ears. Katsuki smirked and shortly laughed.
” You heard what I said, Nerd.” He was smiling so damn much.
Izuku covered his face with his own hands due to embarrassment, probably. „Well, y-yeah! But.. But I, what? You need to stop joking, Kacchan!” At that, Katsuki furrowed his brows.
” You think I’m joking?” The blonde asked, looking at Izuku skeptically. He made the teen look up at Katsuki by taking his small, scarred hands away from his red face.
The nerd looked up at him nervously with a questioning look. “Well.. are you telling me you’re.. not?”
Katsuki broke out in a laugh. ”I thought it was obvious ‘zuku. I'm serious as ever.” He knew his hands were sweating, and all the while he was holding Izuku’s wrists, but he couldn’t make himself move away.
Freckles looked at him with his wide pretty eyes like he couldn’t believe what the fuck was going on. “You’re serious?? I-I.. huh?????” Izuku was freaking out and it was horrifyingly funny and cute. His blush deepened. Both of their hearts racing now. “Are you.. Really sure about this??”
“Yeah.” He responded calmly without a second thought. Katsuki was looking straight into Izuku’s eyes while smiling gently. The nerd's face showed questions like 'Why?' “Why not? Maybe I should just marry the fuck outta you at this point if you're up to it, Freckles.”
Izuku let out a squeal and turned his head away. “Kacchan! ”
Katsuki laughed and covered his mouth with his fist. "Well? Are you up to it?”
” T-The marriage thing?!” His nerd asked, ridiculed, and blushed even harder.
The blonde sighed softly and wiped his face with his hands. “No, dumbass!” He stated, visibly amused. "The date thing, obviously." Katsuki questioned why he had fallen for such an idiot. (Well, in fact, he could recite from memory every one of the reasons he did)
It was pretty cute how Freckles looked away with a weird, soft smile and shrugged. "U-uh, Yeah. Why not?" And then, his eyes looked up into red ones. Izuku's smile widened, the corners of his mouth lifting in an angel's curve. God, Katsuki loved him. His silly and intelligent personality, his scars, face, and mind. He could kiss freckles on his face for hours upon hours. Counting them every moment he could, just to be sure there was no more to mark. Katsuki loved Izuku Midoriya. He loved him so damn much.
The explosive teen smiled happily, trying to compose himself. He still had a fight to win. "Good."
And just as they finished, Aizwa started to talk. He listed rules and more clarifying instructions so nothing could go sideways with the exercise. Aizawa sent them away to their respective spots.
But just before the fight could begin, Izuku whispered something to the comms.
"Make sure to win, Kacchan.
He damn sure will.