Chapter Text
He put his bag on the ground near the shoes in the entrance. Walking to the living room because of the Hag’s command felt like walking on Mars, each step heavier and harder to take. His head filled with static slowly, and his hearing slowly faded as the fear crept in as he sat on the ground in front of her.
"I got a call from your school," the Hag said slowly and with held-back rage, "You attacked a student, defaced school property, and humiliated the Bakuguo name because you felt that you deserved to be the only student with talent. News flash! YOU WERE NEVER SPECIAL!! You are a WORTHLESS, NO GOOD, UNGRATEFUL BRAT!!"
Her hand came quickly and expected, forcing his face to the side. He said nothing. Normally he'd yell back, demanding she stop, hoping she'd listen, but he was tired. He finally got into UA, his dream school, and on the first day he felt betrayed. Deku was different; his classmates were annoying, as usual, but different; teachers were harsh but different. It was all different and wrong. Hobo-sensei talked to him after he lunged at Deku and warned him that if he attacked a student again in his class by using his quirk, he'd be expelled. Katsuki doesn't understand. He didn't do anything different. And yet..
So, he takes his mother's hits and verbal anger. And vows to find out why it was different. He wasn't no. 1 in junior high for nothing. He never accepts ignorance.
"Look at me," the Hag demands, slightly out of breath. Katsuki glances at her from the corner of his eye. She forcefully grabs his chin to make direct eye contact. Her red eyes glow with irritation and her previous wrath.
"Never embarrass me again."
He nods slowly, engraving her serious eyes and tone into his mind. Cementing another rule.
She releases him from her grasp and says,
"Go."
He scrambles to his bag and then takes measured steps to his room. He slowly closes the door behind him as he reaches his only sanctuary.
The ceiling of light casts an orange glow across the room, and the smell of paperback books is a welcome change compared to the living room. His All Might poster is taped on the wall perfectly; every book on the shelf is spine out and organized by author; the bed is made; and his desk is all aligned.
Perfect.
Nothing out of order or misplaced.
He puts his school bag on a hook next to his desk, grabs his headphones from the nightstand, and sits in the desk chair to start his homework or future studies. He prefers to be ahead.
Most teachers turn their backs to teach. And that isn't a problem for most, but it's a challenge for him.
A weakness, the Hag says.
So, he studies. Knowing the material before the teacher says anything helps when they ask him to answer a question on the board. Or a classmate wants to copy notes. Not that he lets them. Usually an explosion backs off their greedy hands.
Touching, grabbing, demanding his things, his time, his space.
But he can't do it at UA for some reason. He knows heroes help and that there is a higher standard. What are the rules there? Why is it different?
He stands, trying to not make too much noise, and opens his closet door. He grabs a hidden flathead screwdriver from behind a box on the other side of his closet before prying a panel hidden underneath some old, dirty clothes. Reaching inside and pulls out a laptop from the opening. He slides things back in place and sits at his desk again.
Still perfect.
He researches. Finds articles on discrimination and quirk usage. Finds that all the shit he did should have been stopped by someone before Hobo-sensei. Like way before. Then, he looked up his junior high, then elementary, and made connections himself. They were streamlined. Found some alumni. Jail. Jail. Dead. Missing. Missing. Jail. More missing and even more jailed. 2 UA. Only 2.
Ever. Just 2.
He looked up other schools. Nekimora, Somei, Lexington. All had more than 30 in the last 5 years who went to UA.
It's him that's wrong...
He shuts down.
The Hag slams his bedroom door open and yells for him to get his ass to school yesterday. He doesn't remember going to sleep. School bag is packed, laptop hidden, room still spotless. Good.
Memories flooded back as he got dressed and nearly ran out the front door, forgoing breakfast.
UA isn't different from the schools in the area. Teachers just didn't let students use their quirks or say shit as he did in junior high.
He walks to the train station, slow and quiet. Watching the world move faster than he's used to. He gets his pass scanned and boards the train heading near UA. He watches. A girl with red shoes smiles ear to ear as another chatters away to her. A young man gives up his seat to an elderly man. And other kind and soft actions that speak kindness.
Weakness, his mother whispers in his ear. Be number one, she demands.
His eyes close briefly and open again. A new leaf. He needs to change. Not sure how, not how much, but he will be an amazing hero.
He steps off the train to UA.