Chapter Text
Izuku ducked just in time to not get an explosion directly to the face. Katsuki had launched himself forward, palms popping loudly. Izuku, now crouched, looked back to see Katsuki’s feet barely planted on the ground. Before he could make another attack, Izuku spun his leg around and knocked his feet out from under him. Katsuki grunted as he hit the ground, moving to try and get up but finding himself unable to as Izuku had crawled onto his back and pulled his arm back at a weird angle.
“Ow ow ow, Damn it, I yield! I yield! Get off me, ya damn nerd!” He barked, squirming under the weight of the other boy. Izuku let go of his arm but didn’t get off. Instead, he crossed his legs and leaned over a bit.
“Is everything ok, Kachan? Even for you, that was a bit sad for a spar.”
“What’s that supposed to mean?!” Katsuki shouted as he bucked up, tossing Izuku off him.
Izuku yelped as he fell, but popped back up and stood. “The way you fight always reflects how you’re feeling at that moment. For example, when you’re just generally annoyed or feeling neutral you open a fight with your signature right hook but when you’re happy or excited you try for something new or unexpected, and when you’re really mad or upset you charge in more recklessly but you’re scarily aware of everything which makes you a lot more dangerous, so when you charge right in but aren’t aware like you are today it usually means you’re stressed or not really paying attention although even then you last at least a little longer than just now, so obviously something must-”
“Deku, take a second to fucking breath, damn,” Katsuki cut in while tossing a water bottle over. Izuku caught it before it nailed him in the nose, gasping in a breath he didn’t realize he needed after all the muttering. As he screwed off the lid and chugged the water, he walked off the thick floor mat and over to where Katsuki was squatting next to their bags. As if reading his mind, Katsuki was already holding a rag out to him over his shoulder as he rummaged around in his own gym bag. Izuku graciously took it and wiped the sweat off his face, still eyeing Katsuki worriedly.
“You didn’t answer my question.”
“Because I don’t fucking want to. If you think I’m doing so badly, we can call it for the day and go home.”
Izuku bit his bottom lip, trying to form a response. However, he didn’t need to.
The doors to the gym opened, the sound of it echoing through the large space. Their homeroom teacher poked his balding head in, eyebrow raised and lips pursed. “Bakugo, what are you still doing here, school ended twenty minutes ago.”
Both the boys took note of how the man didn’t address Izuku in the slightest but chose to ignore it. Katsuki stood and responded, “We have permission to use the gym after school on Wednesdays, sir. For training purposes.”
“Do you have a form stating this permission?”
“Yes, sir,” Izuku answered, rummaging in his bag for a moment before pulling out the paper.
Their teacher glanced at Izuku, the only acknowledgment he gave, before looking back at Katsuki. “What made you decide to do this?”
Katsuki scoffed while starting to pack away his things. “To give us a controlled place to prepare for UA, obviously.” Izuku looked between the two, a tad concerned. As their teacher mulled over his thoughts, he awkwardly retracted his hand and squatted down next to Katsuki to slip the form back into his bag along with his other things.
“Is there anyone else that you train with?”
Katsuki looked up with a warning glare. “No. Why would I need some extra when Deku is the only one that gets me to even break a sweat?”
The teacher tensed, looking over to Izuku again for a split second, his face resembling one that you’d wear when stepping in something a dog left behind. “I see. Bakugo, could I talk with you a moment?”
“No. We were just leaving. If you want to talk, you can say it with Izuku here or wait until tomorrow in class.” He stood and looked down at his friend with a raised eyebrow.
Izuku tensed, getting the hint and putting things away faster.
“Actually, I think you’d benefit from hearing this.”
“Then why can’t the nerd hear it, too?”
“Kachan, seriously, it’s fine,” Izuku scolded, zipping up his bag, “Stop making such a big deal out of everything.”
“Don’t you move one muscle, you little green shit,” Katsuki spat, “If you go, I go. If you stay, I stay. Got that?”
Izuku rolled his eyes at the melodramatic tone, slinging his bag over his shoulder before standing to be level with him (well, as level as he could be), and looked to their teacher expectantly.
They heard a small huff. “Fine. I won’t mince my words, I think you’re wasting your time. Training with Midoriya will not help you improve, and if you want to get anywhere you should start working with students that can actually get you farther.”
Izuku bit back a response with ease since these comments weren’t exactly new, but from the way Katsuki’s breath caught, he knew that he was barely keeping his temper under control. So, he placed a hand on Katsuki’s shoulder and gave it a small squeeze. His shoulders slowly rose and fell as he took a steadying breath. Without any further response, the two went to walk straight past their teacher, giving him the same amount of attention that he gave Izuku. Before they could fully leave, the teacher placed a hand on Katsuki’s shoulder.
“I don’t want to see you waste your potential, son. You’re the strongest our school has, I’d hate to see you throw it away for some quirkless brat.” His tone sounded sympathetic as if he was warning a student against smoking.
“What the fuck did you just say?!” Katsuki turned with palms crackling.
“Whoah, Kachan,” Izuku cut in, grabbing him by the arm, “You’re mom’s gonna be waiting for us, we should head out.” He tugged him a bit, making a pointed look. Katsuki grumbled and let himself be pulled away, either not noticing their teacher’s look of terror or not caring.
Before the blonde could change his mind on taking the high road, Izuku led the way out of the school and towards Katsuki’s house. Once they were a solid few blocks away, Izuku glanced over to Katsuki, taking note of his pout and how he wasn’t really looking where he was going but was instead kicking at rocks on the sidewalk as he followed Izuku. If this kept up, he was bound to do something dumb. Whether that was running into a pole or getting into a fight, no one could say. He cleared his throat.
“So… Are we gonna talk about what’s up, or are you gonna keep moping?”
“I don’t mope,” Katsuki muttered.
Izuku scoffed, “Yeah, and I’m All Might.”
Katsuki chuckled dryly and responded sarcastically, “So great to meet you, I’m such a big fan! Would you sign my face?”
“Well,” Izuku hummed and pulled a pen out from his backpack, “Only if you insist!” He grabbed Katsuki’s shoulder and inched the pen towards his forehead, purposefully giving Katsuki a chance to look up at what was happening.
“Hey, I was joking! Get that shit away from me!” Katsuki barked with a poorly-suppressed smile as he shoved Izuku away.
He didn’t listen, now chasing Katsuki down the sidewalk while doing his best All Might impression. “No no citizen! I must insist! You’re only resistant from the shock of meeting me, you’ll regret passing up this chance!”
“Not on your life, you bastard!” Katsuki yelled back, glancing back to smirk at him.
Izuku’s eyes widened as he slowed down. “Hey wait! Look out for that-”
SLAM!
Katsuki ran face-first into a lamppost.
He knew he shouldn’t laugh, but he couldn’t help it. Izuku was on his knees cackling, beating his fist against the ground with how hard he was laughing. He was practically hyperventilating. Meanwhile, Katsuki was slowly sitting up, rubbing his nose with one palm as the other crackled subconsciously. He glared over at Izuku, who had collapsed onto his side and was earning concerned looks from the people walking by.
“Oi, what’s so funny? You’re the one that was distracting me, this is your fault. If my nose is broken, I swear to God-”
“You’ll what?” Izuku wheezed, “Run into another pole while chasing me?”
Katsuki glowered before finally breaking and smirking a bit. He shoved himself up and walked over, extending a hand to Izuku. “Whatever. Let’s go, the hag is gonna wonder why we’re taking so long.”
Izuku took a shuddered breath before sitting up and taking the outstretched hand. Katsuki pulled him up and stood for a moment before punching Izuku in the face and running off.
“Hey! What kind of person just punches people?” Izuku shouted and chased after him, the sound of Katsuki’s laugh echoing back to him.
“That’s what you get, Deku! You’ve bitten me for less!”
“You’re in for it now!” He yelled, gaining ground fast. Katsuki may be stronger, but Izuku was definitely the faster of the two. He caught up just as they reached the Bakugo household, Izuku tackling Katsuki into the front yard. The two started wrestling, tumbling around in the grass and dirt until a shout made them pause.
“KATSUKI! WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU DOING, BRAT?! GET OFF IZUKU AND GET INSIDE!!”
They looked up at the porch to see Katsuki’s mother, Mitsuki, standing in the doorway with her hands on her hips.
Katsuki dropped the handful of Izuku’s shirt he was holding, making him flop onto the ground, and gestured over with both hands. “What the hell, Hag, he’s the one that started it! We were-”
“I don’t CARE who started it, I’m ENDING it! Now BOTH of you get inside before I DRAG you both in!!” She stomped her foot and pointed inside the house. Reluctantly, both the boys untangled from each other and slinked past Mitsuki into the house. As they walked past her, she plugged her nose and grimaced. “Before I even think of feeding either of you, you’re gonna have to go shower. I’m not letting stink like that into my kitchen.”
“Oi quit it!” Katsuki snapped, kicking off his shoes, “We need to work on our UA applications, we don’t have time for that.”
Mitsuki’s face shifted for a moment, but she corrected her expression before either boy could question it. “Well, you’ll just have to wait. Go. ” She pointed up the stairs.
Izuku nodded as he moved his and Katsuki’s shoes in line with the others by the door, following him up the stairs once he was done. As they climbed the steps, Izuku snuck a sniff of his shirt and almost gagged. Alright, maybe Mitsuki wasn’t exaggerating too much.
The boys went into their respective rooms, Katsuki into his bedroom and Izuku into the guest room that practically was his, and gathered their normal clothes before bathing quickly. Once they were both clean and changed, Katsuki in a black tank and jeans and Izuku in sweats with a shirt that read Hoodie , they smushed together at Katsuki’s desk.
They scrolled through the UA website for the millionth time, checking the requirements for entry against their transcripts to ensure that they weren’t missing anything. As usual, they had everything needed, and all that was left was to fill out and mail their applications before the end of the week. With that, they pulled out the forms and continued where they last left off.
For a high school, UA sure had a lot of paperwork. After spending an hour every day for the past three days, they were barely past half the forms. Still, that didn’t deter them from working through it, confirming their answers with each other and critiquing each other. They actually were able to make a lot of progress, getting through an entire quarter instead of just a sixth like usual.
After an hour and a half, they heard Mitsuki yelling from the bottom of the stairs that it was time to eat. Izuku stretched his arms up and puffed out his chest, holding the position for a moment as he sighed. “At this rate, we’ll be able to get our applications in just in time, maybe even earlier!”
“Of course we’ll get them in on time, you think I’d let us miss on UA from late paperwork?” Katsuki massaged his hands as he stood and walked across the room, pausing at the door to wait for Izuku. “Are you spending the night?”
Izuku stood and followed. “No, my mom wanted me to come home and clean my room.”
“Did you let it get all dirty again? Why can’t you keep that place neat for one damn week without me there?”
“Hey, I get busy, okay? Not all of us go to bed at eight, some people have hobbies.”
Katsuki scoffed, “Hacking into heroes’ personal accounts to perfect your analysis on them isn’t a hobby, it’s an obsession. There’s a difference.”
“You say tomato, I say free therapy.” Izuku nudged past Katsuki and slipped down the stairs.
“Or you could just go to therapy,” Katsuki countered close behind Izuku, “Ever thought of that?”
“With our wild schedule? I’ll pass.”
“I’m able to do it. Work on your time management, Deku, it’s not that hard.”
Mitsuki looked up at the appearance of the two as they reached the bottom of the stairs. “What are you guys talking about?”
Izuku smiled, taking a seat at the table. “Nothing, Auntie. Just our schedule.”
She shook her head, moving the bowls of food to the table. “I swear, you two must be the most self-disciplined middle schoolers ever. School, training, homework, assessments, research, and all that before six pm.”
Katsuki fell back into his chair, pulling his feet up to sit crisscrossed. “We have to do it if we want to be heroes. This is nothing compared to what things will be like in the future.”
Mitsuki bit her lip, but said nothing and instead looked up at the clock. Masaru walked into the dining room and took his place next to his wife, noticing her stressed expression and placing his hand over hers. She nodded, looking over to the door as it creaked open.
“Hey, guys!”
Everyone at the table turned to see Inko Midoriya slipping off her shoes.
“Mom? What are you doing here?”
She looked over and smiled. “What, am I not allowed to have dinner with my best friend and her family?”
Izuku shrugged but noticed a tenseness to her face. He glanced at Katsuki to see if he noticed too, and they both shared some sort of silent conversation.
Is it just me or is something off?
Yeah, no shit something’s off, your mom’s here and my parents are acting weird.
Do you think we’re in trouble?
I haven’t done anything, so unless you fucked up then it must be something else.
Yeah, but what?
I think we’re gonna find out.
They turned back to the table as Inko sat next to Izuku. “So, Mitsuki, how was work?”
“Nothing to complain about. Got some new designs finished for next winter’s collection so we can get those sent out for approval.”
“That’s nice, can we hope for some free samples? I’ve been thinking of getting a new sundress.”
“Of course! Have I ever let you down?”
The conversation carried on like this, with small questions and bits of stories. Though the adults were all acting normal, there was a tension at the table as they all ate. Inko’s shoulders were too stiff, and Masaru was refusing to make eye contact with anyone. Even Mitsuki, who usually had an air of confidence to her, seemed like she was waiting for a bomb to go off. After a few tense minutes, Katsuki slammed his bowl down, making everyone flinch.
“Alright, cut the crap, what happened?”
The adults looked between each other before Mitsuki sighed and placed her bowl down gently.
“You know we want you boys to succeed. You’re ambitious and work for your goals. No one would fault you for all your hard work. It’s admirable.”
Katsuki folded his arms impatiently. “Get to the point. What is it?”
Inko sighed. “We don’t want Izuku to go to UA.”
Eight words. Eight words and Izuku shattered. His mother. His aunt. His uncle. None of them believed in him. Sure, he was used to people doubting him, ever since the day he was declared quirkless everyone thought he was the scum of the Earth. But, he had thought that his family would have been different. He’d been working so hard for the past ten years, yet they had been waiting for him to fail this whole time. Not one of them had thought he could succeed, and just let him carry on. He felt like the room was spinning, getting faster and faster and faster and faster and why was no one else feeling as sick as he was and when did it get so cold and so hot and why did he feel like he was going to pass out-
“Well, too bad.”
Izuku looked up as the world halted, seeing Katsuki standing with a dangerously calm expression. “Kachan?”
Katsuki looked down, his fists balling at his sides.“Deku doesn’t need your blessing. Being a hero is all he has wanted for his whole life. He’s been pushing himself for years, and you’re going to just stop him when he’s at the cusp of achieving his dreams?” His hands were shaking, trembling, and his voice was starting to waver, yet he didn’t pause or hesitate. “I thought you loved him. That you all wanted him to be happy. Well, this is what he wants, and what’s gonna make him happy. I never took you guys for being so selfish.” He slammed his hands down onto the table, throwing his head back to show tears welling in his eyes despite the anger etched into every crevice of his features. “HOW CRUEL CAN YOU BE?!”
Mitsuki was so shocked, she couldn’t even scream back. The three adults had expected backlash, but not like this. They thought Izuku would screech and cry about how much he wanted this, but instead, they were getting chewed out by Katsuki.
Inko was surprisingly the first to find her voice. She clasped her hands together as if she was pleading. “Katsuki, I love Izuku with my entire being. So do your mother and father. That’s why we don’t want him to go through with this. He’s quirkless , for goodness sake, he’s going to get hurt! I don’t want him to get killed because of a pipe-dream.”
“Do you really think I’d let that happen?!” Katsuki’s nails dug into the wood of the table. “I’ve been pushing him through this, training by his side for years, pulling him along when he was at his lowest. I’m not going to abandon him!” He straightened, tears finally streaming down his face. “Deku is going to be the number two hero, right by my side. I’m going to make sure of it!”
“Kachan, I-”
“SHUT UP!” Katsuki snapped, jerking his head towards Izuku, “I saw your face after what they said. You believed them, didn’t you? You were gonna pull out weren’t you?”
“No, I-”
“You’re not allowed to leave me, either! We’re supposed to have each other’s backs. We’re in this together!”
Izuku didn’t realize he was crying, but there were definitely tears falling down his cheeks like waterfalls. He smiled, giving a small kurt nod and standing up. “Till the end, Kachan.”
Inko’s eyes widened. “Izuku, honey, I-”
“No, Mom. I don’t care what any of you say. Whether it’s with your support or in spite of the lack of it, I don’t care.” He balled his fists, raising one into the air dramatically. “I’m going to become a hero!”